Amazing tournament even though I founded, wrote the divine scriptures for, and started accepting membership dues to the 0-2 Drop Cult... I mean Club.

Thank you so much to everyone who came down and especially to Justin for making it happen. It was a pleasure as always and I look forward to the next one!

(Way to represent those beautiful and talented Tropical Islands, Anthony!)

If you plan on maintaining the black splash, Dark Confidant seems like it'd be really good for this deck.

Thanks to everyone for showing up; it was a pleasure to see so many new and familiar faces and we really hope to get turnouts like this (and bigger!) in the future.

As always Justin, amazing tournament and thank you once again for going above-and-beyond (pack of Legends as a door prize? Unreal!) and for making sure everyone had a great experience.

See everyone next time.

Gracias to everyone who showed up, and congratulations to all who placed.

It was good to see a few faces from the past (namely a certain TracerBullet), and a thousand thanks to Justin for holding another awesome tournament.

We all look forward to the next one!

See you there.

Excellent tournament, Justin; we all had a lot of fun.

With any luck, we'll get quite a few more than eleven for the next one.

Sorry to hear you can't make it, but thanks for the support, and the TO (the new owner of DMF and a swell guy) has assured me that your requests will be as well met as can be accommodated.

See you tomorrow, southwestern Vintage players.

Southern California will be there, of course.

Anyone from a bit further off plan on attending?

You have to ask yourself: why is this better than Ichorid?

If put in to topdeck mode (not terribly unlikely, since you only run four disruption spells), you have twenty-four dead draws.

Also, it seems like a mistake not to include Dark Ritual.

I'm always surprised to see blue splashes that do NOT utilize Ancestral Recall... it must at least be better than Stifle #4, right?

Is it due solely to proxy limitations?

I'm a huge Landstill fan, but I've never actually played the deck in any competitive environment... that being said, I have a few questions / suggestions:

- Is there a reason for the absence of Mox Pearl? Proxy limit, maybe?

- It seems like this deck would benefit greatly from the addition of Mystical Tutor; you could very easily dig up the necessary Balance / Chain of Vapor / Ancestral, et cetera.

- I believe it's been suggested, but Tinker seems like it would be pretty swell in this list, though with your current low amount of artifacts, it might be hard to make it consistent. Still, I think it'd be worth it to find room for Tinker and DSC (adding both Mystical and the additional Mox may make Tinker more reasonable... and Tinker -> Disk?! Unstoppable! )

Shawn, I'm so happy to be hearing from you.

That's a whole lot of awful stuff to have gone through in such a short time, and no amount of consolation I can offer can really do it any justice, but just know that John is right: you have absolutely nothing to apologize for (as you may be aware, I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to the word "sorry", so trust me on this); neither you nor anybody else said or did anything wrong.

I'm really sorry about your mother-in-law... at least she's stable and peaceful for the time being, and that's a nice situation given the circumstances. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that your depression has mostly subsided; we were all really worried for you during those times, but in the end you really handled it and handled it well, even with so many forces at work against you. It was impressive to say the very least.

The shop means a lot to all of us, but your health means a whole lot more, and I'm really glad to hear that things are looking up for the first time in a long while. Don't worry, though, it's still "Shawn's".

If you ever feel like throwing around some cardboard on a lonely Saturday night, it'd be a pleasure to see you again.

Unfortunately, the delayed draw is too much of a disadvantage in my opinion, but thanks for the suggestion... if Serum Visions ends up being ineffective, I may give this a shot, but I'm not so sure if it'll be able to stand up to other options like Sleight of Hand and Opt.


Root Maze is a possibility, but since I'm already running five Fetchlands (and I kinda' like it that way), it might not be ideal. In addition, this deck might not be able to take advantage of it speed-wise in a way that other decks might.


While I agree that Seal is pretty good, I don't think it is simply better than Repeal. While Repeal might not be useful against a Tinkered or Oathed creature, I think it is considerably more versatile than Seal. It's never a dead card (cycle it by targeting a Mox) and can grow a Dryad at instant speed, making it useful for defensive combat tricks (in addition, Repeal still fits two of the items on that list; blue, bounces Oath, bounces Dryad, bounces Welder / Chalice). The fact that it does deal with Chalice is really too important to ignore.

I'm surprised that Seal has so much support, as I hadn't really considered it prior to it being mentioned. In light of that, I will test it out next time I play the deck (probably Saturday), but I have a feeling it won't quite do the job that Repeal does. I could definitely be wrong, though, and it wouldn't be the first time.

Gracias, sorry about that.


I've always liked Null Rod in this style of deck, but currently, the idea of adding more small blue spells seems more appealing than a mana denial strategy, especially given the current meta. If I were going to use Null Rod, I'd play three of them and all five Strip effects (like I said, all or nothing). However, to accomplish this, I'd be cutting artifact mana due to obvious lack of synergy, and I think the speed it grants is too valuable to lose.

Still, I wouldn't mind trying a few games with +3 Null Rod and all five strips as a sort of alternate version; I'll let you know how it turns out if I do.


Thanks!


Pithing Needle actually seems like a cool idea; it's an inexpensive answer to a lot of things that give this deck trouble (such as the aforementioned Explosives). At the very least, it could probably be a legitimate Wasteland replacement. I'll check it out.

Thank you very much.


Have double blue up is pretty difficult, and it is even less likely that either of those mana sources would be untapped on an opponent's turn. Force of Will is pretty much always okay (and even so, it seems awfully necessary), though if I end up with Force + Force + blue card in hand, I'll generally pitch one Force to the other because I don't count on seeing an additional blue card to make the second FoW useful.

I actually tried Mana Leak in the beginning, but even then it was rare that I had the resources to make use of it (that's okay, though, Tarmogoyf is the green Duress). By turn three, Leak may be decent.


The deck is actually somewhat mana-source-heavy for an aggro deck, and thus far, Stax has been fairly race-able; if you can get down a high-power creature (or two) early, it alone can be enough. Tangle Wire is pretty dangerous, though, and a Moon towards the beginning of a game is difficult to deal with, so if this becomes more prevalent, the mana may require some adjusting.


Thank you very much.


After some thought, I've managed to come up with a few reasons.

- As far as I can tell, GAT is the only deck in the history of Magic to run five creatures and still be called "aggro" (though "aggro-control" is pretty fitting). This deck is not very similar to Gro-a-Tog in the sense that it plans on playing multiple small creatures on the first few turns defended by free or cheap spells, and in my opinion, it's actually much more comparable to Fish (though a lack of pro-active elements like mana denial and a seemingly different intent separate it from the archetype).

- Partially due to the above, the deck seems to have a better game against Stax and matchups that are traditionally difficult for GAT.

It certainly isn't better than GAT (though I haven't given up), but I think it can excel in areas where GAT might have some trouble. This is to be continued, however.

--

So far, I’ve made one change, which is as follows:

- 1 Wasteland
+ 1 Gush

That means I’ve got one Wasteland that seems pretty random, and so this is what I’d like to test in the future

- 1 Wasteland
- 2 Rancor
+ 3 Serum Visions

Like I said before, I’ve kinda’ been wanting more small blue spells, especially ones that draw cards, and Serum Visions is useful for growing both Dryad and Tarmogoyf (sorcery), though I’m open to any suggestions regarding an alternative.

Unfortunately, school has just started, so I’ll have a little less time to devote to the deck, but I will keep it up as best I can.

Thank you all very much for your input, and I’d be happy to hear any more thoughts you may have.

Hi.

Roughly a month ago, I put together an aggro-esque deck based on taking advantage of Gush and other cost-effective blue spells. Turns out that Gush actually didn't end up helping at all, but the rest of the deck turned out to be playable, so here is the current version.

glue.dec (green + blue; clever, no?)

4 Quirion Dryad
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Mongrel

2 Rancor

4 Daze
4 Force of Wil
3 Repeal

4 Brainstorm
3 Street Wraith
2 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth

4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
1 Breeding Pool
1 Island
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Lotus Petal

Sideboard
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Energy Flux
2 Null Rod
3 Oxidize

A few explanations:

No Gush?
Unfortunately, as I was saying, Gush was not what this deck seemed to want to do. Ideally, the pilot would want to be able to cast a Brainstorm and a Grizzly Bears on each of the first four turns, and this is not a strategy that Gush perpetuates. In testing, it would set me back at least a land-too-many in most cases, and threats would be coming down a turn later than they ought to have been. In addition, Daze really is extremely valuable, though admittedly, four may be excessive.

Still, I am very much considering running one Gush as a Merchant Scroll target.

Dryad
Although obviously not as potent as it is in GAT, it can easily see three or four counters by turn three or four, and this is generally enough to make it effective. On the other hand, Dryad is probably the last creature you want to see when pulling cards off the top late game. In the end, I've yet to be too disappointed by it.

Tarmogoyf
Drop-dead awesome. I'm kinda' in love with this card; easily a 4/5 on turn two, and in multiples, it's even more beastly.

Hounds
I was actually pretty convinced that these were only temporary for the sake of getting the deck going, and that they'd eventually be replaced, but I've actually grown fond of Mongrels. Early game they're almost guaranteed to be bigger than whatever is on the other side of the table, and thus you can fend off Creature - Human Wizards all day long or swing pretty safely, though the damage can be underwhelming. Late game, a topdecked Mongrel can win you a game against an opponent who is at five or six life. So far so good.

Rancor
I won't defend it. Well, maybe a little... Rancor usually makes your creature better than your opponent's creature, and trample can actually save me some time. It probably won't make the final cut, which is a shame because it's so cool.

Street Wraith
Good synergy with Tarmogoyf; I've never had a problem with this card, and I've kinda' tended to run it in everything I've built since its creation. Three seems to be the right number due to previously discussed reasons (Brainstorms and mulligans; Street Wraith, vile temptress! You'll probably cycle in to a land... right?)

Repeal
This ended up being added later, and somewhat in Gush's place, and I've ended up liking it. It ended up being a reasonable answer to Chalice 2, which was instant-game-loss if played early enough. In addition, it cantrips, pumps Dryad, and clears out defending creatures when making essential swings. Three might be too many, though.

Wasteland / Strip
To my surprise, two Wastelands and one Strip have been pretty cool; I'm very much all-or-nothing when it comes to Strip effects, and had planned on pulling them for something / increasing their number as time went on, but currently, I'm satisfied (this is subject to change). If I did up them, though, I'd also like to run Null Rod... just something to consider.

Matchups / Conclusions / Notes

One problem I've encountered is that there are still some things that the deck auto-loses to, and I hate that. Salvagers + EE = autoloss, as well as Chalice 1 + Chalice 2.

Bomberman is really tough, and this is something I'd like to improve on; I've only played a few boarded games against it, but Engineered Explosives is a house, and I end up playing really conservatively due to that.

Stax is an interesting matchup, and even as far as I can tell (and tends to be a tiny little bit in my favor against Tangle Wire-less builds). The deck can recover from having its board wiped if it holds back at times, and Tarmogoyf can go toe-to-toe with Triskelions and Karn'd artifacts. Also, Rancor is tech against Smokestack...

Tendrils combo, as sparse as it is within the metagame, is definitely tough. I've been trying to see what I can do about it, but luckily, I don't run into it particularly often.

As it just so happens, I've yet to play a single game against either GAT or Flash. The latter would probably readily destroy me (at least pre-board, or so I hope; I'm running the 8 "of the Void" plan), and I'm pretty eager to try it out. Moreso, I'm curious about how this deck will fare against Gro-a-Tog, and the more fear-inducing question: why play this over GAT? Luckily for me, I don't have an answer for or against it yet.

EDIT:

Results

Last weekend, I played it in the last two tournaments in the Eudemonia series. Saturday was for a 'Twister, and Sunday was for a Lotus. The first day wasn't much to speak of, and I honestly don't remember much about it. The second day, however, proved to be far more successful, so here is a mini-report for integrity's sake.

In the first round, I played against a u/B aggro deck running Sarcomancy, Negator, and draw spells (I believe the player recently posted it on one of these forums, though I totally forgot his name and I apologize for that). I went 2-1, and recall that Negators and Flesh Reavers aren't too fond of Tarmogoyf. For the record, though, this player ended up doing better than I.

1-0

In round 2, I played teammate Chris Tolar playing Stax. Game one went to me, with Daze stopping what would have been an extremely timely Balance. I believe I lost the second game, and I got the third by an extremely close margin, with much credit going to Energy Flux. I love that card.

2-0

In round 3, I played Brett Allen with Bomberman. Amazingly, I ended up winning this (what I assumed to be my worst matchup) 2-0; the first game involved a bit of back and forth, but the second involved two turn-one Tarmogoyfs off a Lotus. Preeetty lucky.

3-0

Round 4, I played 3-color fish, and experienced an even more broken first turn, which included Lotus, Mox, Land, Ancestral, 'Goyf + Mongrel, followed by another Mongrel. Unfortunately, that would be the limit of my success, and though I thought I had a pretty good game against Fish, I proceeded to lose the next two games at the hands of superior removal spells and Human / Bird Wizards.

3-1

In round 5, I was paired against teammate John Hodge playing GrimOath (a deck of his own devise, one which I'm a big fan of and can be found in the Eudemonia top-8 lists), and our records were identical. I ended up conceding in order to guarantee him a top-8 spot (he deserved it a bit more than I), and it worked out pretty well.

3-2

Round 6, I played Goblins. I don't remember much except that, game one, off one Mountain, my opponent played Lackey three times and had it bounced three times, and if I'd found a green source, I could've put an end to it (this prompted the addition of Breeding Pool, which I'm actually very happy with). Game two, I have no excuse; I lost handily.

Final: 3-3

Thoughts?

Thank you very much.

Since some interest has been expressed, I figured I'd make the mistake of posting what I played at the Lotus tournament.

Perhaps a clever name will come to me in the near future.dec

4 Quirion Dryad
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Mongrel

2 Rancor

4 Daze
4 Force of Wil
3 Repeal

4 Brainstorm
3 Street Wraith
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth
1 Time Walk

4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
3 Island
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Lotus Petal

I quite enjoyed playing it, and ended up 3-0 going into round 4, which I unfortunately lost. In round 5, I ended up paired against a teammate, and I conceded so he'd have a guaranteed shot at it (he deserved it a bit more than me).

I'm not going to tell you Rancor is good; it's not, I just like it a lot.

As far as Wastelands go, I think I'd prefer all or nothing, and I'd definitely like to fit in another Merchant Scroll and cut some Islands (I'd actually like to play one Breeding Pool, the new U/G dual). I also think I could afford to cut a Daze.

Still a work in progress, but like I said, fun to play.

Thank you very much.

Also: 200th post. Awesome.

Very good times, and congratulations to the winners. Two of LA's finest (John Hodge and Josh Stewart) seemed destined to meet eachother in the finals, but alas, that's the way it goes.

Despite my mediocre performance, I had an awesome time.

I look forward to being up there again.

Though the drawback of life loss isn't something to be too worried about, I suspect that cycling two or three of these could have an actual impact if you're sitting across from Fish or someone who plans on spreading some Goblins across the table.

Regardless, this card is extremely awesome. It'll probably spawn some kinda' hybrid archetypes, if not an entirely new one. Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but it seems awfully powerful.

I'm a huge fan.

Dear Mr. Fantazy is actually in Orange County.

Weekly, there are Vintage tournaments on Saturday night (very late, usually starting around 10PM); infinite proxies, $5.00 to enter.

Unfortunately, there really hasn't been much action at all... we've been getting 4-6 people at most for the last few weeks, so admittedly and tragically, the scene is dying.

Still, myself and a few others play as often as we can, so if you're interested, feel free to contact me.

Also, LotusHead: ye be too kind, sir.

I was sooo tempted to vote for Jotun Grunt.

Sergio Leone - The Ecstasy of Gold

This is exactly what I did.

The way I feel about it is that they could both each be appreciated as their own piece, and if only one existed and not the other, either one would still be pretty good.

The graphic novel, however, simply had more there. It allowed for an amount of depth that a two-hour movie really just can't convey.

Also: everyone go see Blood Diamond, still!

I'm surprised to see such little mention of Blood Diamond. It was truly exceptional.

Also, not to sound cliche, but V for Vendetta was completely spectacular.

Islandwalk.

Heavenly - Keepers of the Earth

Whoa, we're up to ten TMD opens now? Awesome.

Raging River... "place creatures on the left and right sides of the river"... it has to be read to be truly appreciated.

Also: Dead Ringers (Apocalypse). "Destroy two target nonblack creatures unless either one is a color the other isn't." Oh, and they can't be regenerated.

This deck could benefit from Night's Whisper... also, seventeen swamps seems like a few too many... at least some ought to be cut for Fetchlands, I think.

Rock Hydra.

When it comes into play, put "X +1/+1 counters (heads) on Hydra", and "each each point of damage Hydra suffers destroys a head". On top of that, "during your upkeep, new heads may be grown for RRR a piece".

Everything in quotations is exactly as it is written on the card.

Also, Cold Storage, an artifact (from Tempest, no less) with the following INCREDIBLE ability:

"3: Put target creature you control on Cold Storage."

That's right, you can put your creatures ON Cold Storage... far too broken if you ask me.