Indeed, it was a good tournament, despite the low attendance. Unfortunate for the orga (Sapphire as first prize for 13 players !!). The "metagame" was only powered (except for Dredge obv) and a good training for BOM this week. And again, nice players.
Hasselt Blue is still a pain in the ass :-s

It doesn't appear in your stats, but we started playing Jotun in France for two months to test it. Meta is very aggro and full of Selkie. The choice was made to hose Tarmo after sideboarding, enabling to name Tarmo with Mage and to eat the GY. It is also helping against deck base on Ghast, but that is not that relevant.
Against Dredge, Jotun is not that good, but I think that now, Dredge has become clearly the worst MU : its ability to ply 4 CoV or to start dredging as hell after being hated is pretty good. Even Wheel can be too slow, whereas it used to be gamebreaking.

Amazing job you did Storm !
You could also add a French tournament in Paris. Only 26 players but level is very good.
Link to the lists : http://solomoxen.com/forum/index.php?topic=11386.0

Indeed, a Selkie mirror comes down to two things :
- who has Jitte on the table first
- who has an exalted Tarmo
Swords is a must in the mirror.

However, if you are anticipating a meta with a lot of Selkie, playing a version with Ninja/Cursecatcher is certainly a good choice (this deck won the French Championship).

I totally agree with CWH. THe theoritical reasons for running ET in the side were exactly the same. Having more copies of your "bombs" against specific match-ups after side : Flux, Jitte, Wheel, Relic. By having one ET you can run one less copy of each and thus you can have more SB cards against different MUs.

I clearly won't advocate to run this tutor MD as it would often be a dead card or such a loss of tempo. After side, the loss of tempo is the cost to get your best answers against a MU. It is worth running a tutor to get cards that could be game breaker against a specific opponent.

The strength of this deck is to have a high level of synergy, cheap disruption cards a very good level of redundancy. By putting dedicated answers in your MD you will certainly ruin the general strength of the maindeck.

The question of how multiples of ET could be run is difficult. Without testing I won't go above 2. More than 2, and you will lose some slots for SB cards that can't rely on ET : creatures, Trap, StoP...

Interestingly with regard to your discussion on Ichorid side strategy, all other Selkie decks in the French Vintage Cup had Wheel of Sun and Moon in their side.
Our test and tournament experience since May in Europe shows that it is a solid choice that most Ichorid players find really difficult to answer (especially when you also run Wasteland, Stifle and StoP).
For the French Vintage Cup, we also played with an idea that is subject to critics : Enlightened Tutor as a one-off for Jitte, Energy Flux and Wheel (not counting Rod). Card disadvantage on one side, allowing to find a game-breaking card on the other.

Regarding the Selkie version that won the tournament, it was more designed for an aggro environment, especially with Selkie-like decks (this tournament metagame is traditionnally quite specific). It was less designed to fight Shop and Stax decks. In the end it was the appropriate choice to do. All over the day, Trygon was not as useful as it was for previous tournaments. However, it still didn't understand the impact of Regrowth.

As Stifle+Wasteland is great, Stifle+Spell Pierce, Stifle+Null rod... also are great combinations. It is just a question of synergy. As a matter of fact, I think there is no good number of Stifle in a U-Fish build. It could be a question of taste. Whereas you have lot of tricks available to you with Stifle (against Oath, Tangle...) and could have some effects throughout the whole game, Spell Pierce is a bit less situational and less tricky to play with (unfortunately almost unuseful after a few turns).

A very good idea Nico, thank you for the whole community.
As a premium member, I don't really understand how an interview of a "public" figure (as new American Vintage Champion) of the Vintage scene could be premium.
A good move, that enables the whole community to discover a bit more about our Japanese friends and their metagame.

Thank you Klu.

We were looking for a Fish deck efficient against the expected meta in tis tournament and tested several versions of Noble Fishs starting from Stormanimagus decklist. We tryed different approaches (like putting Jotun in the main to enhance the Ichorid MU which was a real concern for us, Aven against TPS...), but ended with a similar list you Top8ed with. As we acknowledged it was the most efficient Fish deck for us.
We cited your two names in the different reports and forums as builders of this original (and as stated in the threads on metagame and new B&R, underplayed) concept, as well as thanked you at the start of each relevant article on the deck. Unfortunately, it's in French and I didn't have the time so far to translate the report to post it in this thread.

I will try to do it asap, as it could have an interest for US players as well. We didn't use Mage in the same way (Tinker was the primary target, followed by YWill). And Wheel is clearly the game winner against Ichorid. This MU results are enhanced above a 75%/25% post side.

After two tournaments results (a small one and the 351 players one), we really think that the build is quite optimal (Blast seems random at first, but helped against Confidants, Ichorid or when facing a wall of creatures and an opponent below 4 PV). We could add 2-3 Qasali Pridemage instead of 1 Blast and 2 Trygon (more Oath sideboards than a month ago), but that's all.

Once more and in English, thank you

I forgot to thank you Steve for the work you put in collecting and analysing this data.
Rather than a sharp increase in Drain decks and a decrease in other competing decks, I view your data in a different way :
- where there were 2 blue decks based on Gush and Drain (25%+15%), the same players are using now only Drain (40%+). However Drain category encompasses different builds. In fact, they are as different as Gush and so-called Drain decks were during the Gush era. Remora, Tezz and Painter should be listed separatedly to have a fare comparison
- surely, the Shop decks dropped from 25% to 15%. At the same time, Ichorid numbers increased from 5% to 15%. It is only my opinion, I think that Ichorid would have higher numbers, should the Vintage community as a whole think that Ichorid is a true deck, requiring true build and play skills to win tournaments. As Shop was the natural hater of Gush decks, Ichorid could be the hater of Drain decks. So now, you have two archetypes at 15%, facing a broad category of Drain decks. We can't reduce the metagame to one Drain deck dominating at 40%+ and Ichorid only other deck at a significant level.
- where are the Fishs decks ? in the remaining 20%+. I still think the issue lies here. Some Fish builds have currently a strategic advantage against Control decks relying on Moxen, Vault+Key, Tinker and Remora (not exclusive, nor exhaustive). However, these decks are clearly underplayed compared to their potential (shown by too few results in the US and in EU). I don't see the best players switching overnight to a Fish build to beat the current meta full of Control decks. Moreover, in a proxy environment, who wants to play a Fish deck (6 power cards, but no broken cards outside) when we can play decks that give us a feeling of power and brokeness ? Too few again.

As a lot of people in France, I really think that the problem is not the dominance of Drain decks (which is true) : we have answers, it is up to the players to use them. However, the Vault+Key is just completely stupid, unfun and quite boring. Once it hits the table, you have no chance of finding a solution anymore (and it is easier than Tendrill to pull off) unless you have a Rod on the table (Tinker has solution after it is cast).

Just to add a few things on what Neonico said on the European meta.

To give an example of what kind of deck can beat Drain decks... With other French players we tested the Selkie deck (designed mainly by Stormanimagus and Harlequin, thanks again to them) at the last European tournament (BOM III, with 351 players and 9 rounds before top8). One made 1st at a small tournament 2 weeks before (5 rounds + top8). Only two of us brought the deck to the BOM 3 tournament. Our results were 6th and 24th (2nd and 24th in the rounds). I lost to an Aggroshop in the 1/8 (the tournament winner actually).
During our testings and tournaments, what did we see ? We consistently beat Drain strategy currently used : Remora.dec, Tezz.dec. The deck with our sideboard has a highly favorable MU against Ichorid in G2 and G3. Shop MU is tougher. And U-based Fish are a slightly favorable MU. Oath is terrible match however.
We spent all the day beating Drain decks, and guess what guys ? The deck is really fun to play.
For one thing, this deck is a very good US innovation. Should you really want to beat Drain decks, why don't we see more Fishs decks in your meta ?

We always speak of the bias of the best players playing the best deck. I really think that we miss a point : overall, the best players won't often play hate decks. They would rather play Control decks because they think it is funnier than playing with a bunch of creatures. The Vintage community has also a sheep behaviour. And until a well-known player in your community advocates a Fish deck or put a solid result with a deck like this, fewer people will invest time in designing, testing and playing Fish decks, whereas it is currently a rewarding strategy.

My 2 deniers.

3 Phantas + 4 Myr seems to be very solid. You only need 10 dredgers (using Thug over Shell) and 10-11 lands. This way you are still able to run Leyline.

Neonico's list is very consistent, can play around Needle and TC very well, survive to Extirpate, while keeping a lot of disruptive elements against Gifts (CotV, Leyline, Unmask/Therapy). The deck is well balanced IMO. Ghoul is the best way to win so far (and the easiest).

A few questions on your recent developments, especially regarding the SB :

- Strip mine MD ou SB : I rarely played it and only when I couldn’t played a better land (BoB, Field of Factory). The few times I did, it was not relevant in the game. Is it very useful to run it at all ? Actually, I don‘t see the point in putting it in the SB. It's either in the MD or nothing.
- Ancestor’s Chosen : I see the interest against EtW. However, your choice is either Chosen, either the Ghoul/Titan. I would think it’s better to win on the spot (Ghoul) or disrupt (Titan). What is the advantage of Chosen over Ghoul to your mind ?
- Neonico : why do you feel that Stifle is really better than Needle ? The first drawback I see is that you need to wait and keep Stifle in hand (especially vs Crypt), but usually you have no hand left after T2. I would like very much to have your arguments for it

Finally, for Meadbert : 2 (Ghoul+Dragon Breath+Dread Return) is definitely the best option IMO.