Mods: Please feel free to move this to the tourney report thread, as I do not have access to it.

I started to write this on Saturday night, but when I went to finish today TMD made me log back in and I lost my whole post. So I will recap again the experience I had

First off I want to thank Keith, Ray, Steve H and anyone else involved with the development and tunign of the deck. I have known Keith and Ray a long time, and it was great of Keith to give me a few pointers on Wednesday. The list I used was pretty much right off the SCG Power tournament list. I would re-type it, but I wont unless I have a request to later.

Drive up sucked as Mapquest failed to add a street to the directions. Luckily I wandered aimlessly in the right direction and found the place in time. We start about 40 minutes late, but that gives me time to play the deck a little as I have not had a real match with it yet. There were 19 of us, so that meant 5 rounds of swiss and a cut to top 4. I never liked the top 4 cut, but alas that is what it was.

Round 1 Mike playing U/R Fish

Game 1: he is playing a pretty standard fish build. He plays a conclave on turn 2 and swings turn 3. My first three turns set up my combo, and I combo-off on my turn 4 having a FOW for his counters.

Game 2: Fish at its best a turn 1 and 3 Mishra's factory and he swings for the win after dropping a null rod.

Game 3: neither one of us have anything early as we both set up mana bases. He eventually gets out 2 lavamancers and swings as he has no graveyard. I take some Crypt burn over 2 turns, and finally wish for lim duls vault to set up the win.

1-0 (2-1)

Round 2 Eric playing U/B Reanimator

Game 1: consisted of me hitting the combo turn 3 with help from a lotus and a couple of moxen. He had played 3 swamps, so I was unsure what he was playing at this point.

SB +2 T. Crypts -1 D. analysis -1 Thirst for knowledge

Game 2: He opens with a turn 1 entomb, and I realize what I am in for. Akroma sitting in the yard. Luckily I open with T. Crypt to settle things down as well as top and a mox. His turn 2 was zombie infestation as he knows reanimating will do no good. On my turn 3 I drop a helm and sit back with a drain in hand. He discards 3 fatties and a land to have 2 2/2's ready to swing. Which he does on his next turn. I top to find Future sight and cast it with Academy mana and combo off for the win.

2-0 (4-1)

Round 3 Corey playing WW

Game 1: He drops a Leonin Skyhunter followed by emperyial plate turns 2 and 3 while I set up, but have no counters. Crypt burns be once, and he swings at me for 8 taking me to eight. I wish durin his end step  to go for Lim Dul's vault which sets me up for the combo a turn before he goes for lethal.

Game 2: Again he drops a turn 2 Skyhunter, and I have mox, lotus, Academy, intuition among other things in hand. his EOT I intuition for AK and manage to pull a top and helm. He drops turn 3 Hound of Konda and swings. I combo off turn 3 after a thirst gets me future sight. He tries to abeyance me prior to brain freeze, but I wish for flash counter to seal the win.

3-0 (6-1)

Round 4 Charles playing Control Slaver

Charles was a really cool guy. He was at least a level 1 judge if not higher, and had the rules database on his palm pilot. Very good guy, and a pleasure to talk to and play against.

Game 1: He has 2 early welders but no graveyard to abuse. It takes me forever to set up through drains/FOW. I am sitting at 8 from welder and fetch beats, and finally find a wish to Lim' Duls vault and go to 3 before finding the right 5 to allow me to combo off.

Game 2: He mulls to 6 on the play which sets him back a bit, until he recalls and gets back. Gain he has welder and rack/ruins one helm and a top to really set me back. we trade mana base acceleration for a few turns until I can set up again and combo off.

4-0 (8-1)

side note...if he finds ANY discard effects this match is probably very different, and at least goes to 3 games.

Round 5 Jason playing TPS

We are the only 2 4-0 players so we ID into top 4

After 5 rounds the top 4 was

Me 4-0-1 with Sensei Sensei
Jason 4-0-1 playing TPS
Charles with CS 4-1 *my round 4 opponent
Joseph with Mono-U control 4-1

Top 4 Joseph with Mono U Control

Game 1: This is a game in which Mono-U dominated with too many counters, and an ophidianfor card advantage. A morphling follows and I succumb to it shortly after

Game 2: I have to deal with 2 wastelands and a chalice for zero. The game drags on until I try and power through the chalice and go for the combo. Having a helm and top on the board I go for the F. Sight and find it. I cast it with 1 mana floating and he is tapped out. I find candleabra and cast for free which allows me to untap my academy and combo off.

Game 3: Honestly very very fuzzy, but I get the combo off after casting a Y. Will with A. Recall, top, helm, among others in the yard.

Finals Jason Playing TPS.

Game 1: I have an amazing draw and combo off turn 2. I am feeling pretty good about it as that was the fastest the deck hit the combo all day.

Game 2: Just when I was feeling good TPS crapped alll over me. Hit hit Turn 1 combo and I didnt have a FOW. So onto game 3

Game 3: Neither one of us is lightning fast off the start and take a few turns to set-up manabases. Then it gets interesting. He DT's for Necropotence *he told me later* and tries to get it through, but I have a drain. The drain mana allows me to play Future sight which reveals top which reveals mox which reveals a tutor for the helm and I combo off for the win.

In talking after I though he was going to go for a duress to clear his path as he commented that he had other combo pieces in hand. I did have a force and a blue card as well, but I am sure it would of changed the game given I needed the force later.

So I took home the Bazaar and now have only 3 to go.

Props:

To Keith Ray and Steve H for providing a very intuitive deck that has a good amount of redundancy. Even when I took a chance the deck was there to support my move. I enjoyed it alot.

That's entertainment for putting on a good tournament. The store was very cool, and all of the people were great. I would recommended the store for anyone in the area.

Karma...seriously I was in Mcdonalds Friday and saw an older couple who was very upset that the fish was no longer on special and they only had $6 to eat for the two of them. So I gave them $5 that I had left so they could get the fish sandwhiches that the wanted. The lady was shocked at the gesture, but you could tell it made her night. Now to show how that fit in besides winning the tournament I won the door prize of an itialian legends pack...so the pack was crap..black mana battery, and no good uncommons, but I did get a flash counter that I had to proxy for the tournament so it all worked out in the end.

Slops:

Mapquest for the lack of correct directions

Play area...the store was great but the room we were in would not of been able to handle much more than what we had. I am not sure if they had another room or not.

All in all a great day, and a great store. Thanks again to everyone, and I apologize if this report was not 100% accurate, but as I said my notes and memory are kinda fuzzy.

Thanks,

Jason

Ray,

   thanks for giving those of us not on the tournament forum a chance to vote!! I am just happy that i will be in town for the next Waterbury, and I am looking forward to the insanity that will incur.

   Even though I know day 1 will last until day 2 I would like to see the later start time to help everyone coming from god knows where. I know when I am travelling the late start is a real boon.


Jason

Now just for reference these results were not in a large tournament, but in a weekly tournament at a local shop here in CT.

A friend of mine played an adapted Legacy deck against a field of T1 decks including CA, Oath, Belcher, CS and others, and made the top 4.

Granted the suprise factor had alot to do with it, becasue really who metagames for Angel Stompy?

If he reads this perhaps he can put up his decklist.

I have seen that a WW deck can be successful, and deadly. It is not Teir 1, but if piloted and built properly it can make a big splash.

Jason

   
      I would have to say that I do agree with your thoughts on the mindset of some players who own and have owned power over the years. I do take pride in the fact that I get to play with cards that I have won or traded for over the years. I do not mean to portray that as being arrogant and condesendign towards players without power. As I said before having a 10 proxy enviornment is an important step towards bringing newer players into the format. Even with the proxies you do have to make a considerable investment in order to play in this format. Hi-Val is 100% correct, and as I said above I think my words were taken differently than they were meant. I look at the tournaments now and smile because of how it has grown in the last few years. having 10 proxies overall is probably the right choice from a player perspective, and will lend to a much more stable and innovative format due to card pool access.

     As far as wanting to beat people up with smaller bank accounts that cannot be farther from the truth at least in my case. I simply enjoy the different thought processes that go into preparation for the different enviornments. As well I happily proxy the cards I do not have to make a deck I want to experiment with.

   In regards to the unlimited proxy tournament there were multiple reasons for the bad experience. For one we do play a Collectible Card Game hence meaning that you should have to acquire the cards to play. Allowing 10 proxies to level out the power is one thing, but letting people proxy seals of cleansing and counterspells is another. From a business perspective shops are in the business to make $$, and if players never have to buy the cards to play there would be a reduced secondary market, and less incentive for stores to support the format. I guess that is me playing devil's advocate from that standpoint. From a purely player standpoint I can see it being great to not have to worry about owning cards to play in a tournament, but something about that just does not sit right with me. Just my opinion.

I would like to say that I really enjoy the engaging conversation, and I am not looking to force my opinion here, and if I am coming off that way it is certainly not meant. I welcome any PM's if anyone wants to talk off the boards. Steve you and I had good conversation during round 7 of Waterbury, and I am enjoying it here as well.

Jason

I think that you took my statement a bit harsher than it was intended. Even though I do not have a team to work with I enjoy the different metagame states that exist between 5 and 10 proxy enviornments. I am fully aware that 2 different proxy enviornments cannot exist if there is to be a stable and growing type 1 format. However I will enjoy it while it lasts. When we do have a consistent format and number of proxies, and I believe the right decision from a playing field aspect to be 10 proxies then I will embrace it, and not have to worry about a differing metagame based on the tournament.

I fully understand taking months to tune a deck and keeping up with the shifts of the format. Having played keeper since before it was called keeper I can relate having to consistently tune a deck, and learn all of the ins and outs of it. In fact it is the proxy enviornment that allowed me to explore other deck options, and that is a great thing.

I apologize if I did not put my thoughts and expressions out here in the right manner.

Jason

I must be in the minority then. I have almost a complete set of power, although no Workshops or Bazzars, and I love the game more now than I did at any time in the past. In addition I really dont salivate when I play against someone who does not own all of the power. I like to see the decks players come up with when looking past the power.

5 Proxies of course lends itself towards players who have the expensive cards. And I do sometimes wish there were more tournaments with 5 proxies...heck I saw Ray put up the sanctioned T1 tournament sign-up sheet at Waterbury and almost fainted. Due to time I could not play, but I loved to see that. I miss the days of no-proxies, but as we move further and further into the future and new players are introduced into the format we have to have proxy tournaments for the format to survive due to the finite pieces of power.

I will say this...playing with proxies is a 2-way street. The players with the cards should be understanding towards players who could not afford the power, and players without the power should respect the feelings of players who have been collecting for years, and were able to obtain the power cards.

I am happy to see a mix a 5-10 proxy tournaments, and I think that the two can co-exist.

On the other hand I went to 1 unlimited proxy tournament, and it was possuible the worst experience at a type 1 tournament that I can remember.

Jason

I can see both sides to this arguement, and from the point of view from a player without a team to have to wory about building decks for it comes down to knowing what metagame to expect from a 5 and 10 proxy tournament.

Honestly I will go to a 5 or 10 proxy tournament as long as I can get there, and the number of proxies will almost never deter me from playing a certain deck. However I do feel that the overall metagame is vastly different. From what I have seen in a 5 proxy enviornment you see more DDay, FCG, and Oath as those decks dont need the complete power 9 +MWS to be effective. In a 10 proxy enviornment you have to figure that the entire field has the abiltiy to play almost whatever deck suits their fancy. Thus trying to predict the meta can be challenging. I saw this in Waterbury, as I and many others were expecting alot more MWS+ 3sphere on turn 1.

I feel that 10 proxie does allow for a wider variety of innovative decks because you are not as worried about actually having the cards. In a 5 proxt enviornment you have to have at least some power, or play a deck that does not require it all. Thus limiting your options somewhat.

Personally I prefer 5 proxy enviornment. However if T1 is going to continue to grow new players to t1 have to be able to play decks they deem "teir 1" and thus the 10 proxy enviornment suits them. this brings more $$$ and people to tournies and thus grows the community as a whole.

Jason

Based on the thought process that was raised in regards to the "Best" card being a card that is NEVER dead would Black Lotus be ranked ahead of A. Recall?

I know that this is a truly subjective topic, but there are times where a Lotus does not provide anything more than the 3 mana. Granted in the right deck at the right time it can be devastating. However I have never been upset that I drew my A. Recall.

Just a thought.

Jason

In regards to the 4 cards that were posted above I would say Tinker followed VERY closely by Y. Will.

I think in the early game Tinker can cause alot more problems for your opponent, where Y. Will is more of a mid to late game card unless you are playing TPS or Belcher.

However I do feel that overall the card I want to see in my opening hand every game is A. Recall. Hands down one of if not the most powerful card in the game. It single handedly provides card advantage with minimal cost, while most of the time filling your hand with threats or answers.

Jason

Congrats on the Ruby, and the report was a nice read. it was interesting to see your change from ophidian. I agree with it, but I have still seen many of them ran in the EBA-style deck.

Jason

Regardless of what will or will not get restricted there will always be decks that rise to the top. A piece of that was evident in Waterbury. There were not as many Workshops or Trinispheres running around, and CS went wild. Restricting cards isn't always the answer to problems. Creative usage of cards available can help even out the playing field.

Jason

Going onthe premise that the above cards were actually going to get axed I would play U/G/B Oath, or FCG. Both of which make top 8's now, and would be uneffected by the above named changes.

Control Slaver would probably run rampant since as mentioned before it runs none of the above cards.

Jason

Allow me to preface by saying that this is my first "report" so to speak to regards to my tournament experience. I have been playing in Ray's Waterbury Tournaments since he was struggling to get 16 people, and it is where I won my first piece of power many moons ago. I thank Ray and friends for putting on a hell of a tournament time and time again.

I am not what you would call a "Tier 1" player. I do not have a team, and my full time job and fiance keep me pretty busy. I do test with a few friends, and play when I can. I latched onto Oath about the same time Team Meandeck broke it open and put their name on it. I have top 4'd and 8'd with the U/G version in the past, but I thought for Waterbury playing the U/B/G to add duress and scrying would give me added disruption and allow me to cut AK and not worry about an AK war. So here is the list that I played

4 Oath of Druids
1 Akroma
1 Spirit of the Night
4 Brainstorm
4 FOW
4 Mana Drain
4 Duress
5 Moxen
1 Lotus
1 Timewalk
1 A. Recall
2 S. Scrying
1 G. Blessing
3 Cunning Wish
1 Stifle
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Pernicious Deeds

4 Forbidden Orchard
4 Fetchlands
4 Wastelands
1 Stripmine
2 Underground Seas
2 Tropical Islands
2 Islands

SB

1 Platinum Angels
2 Pristine Angels
1 Stifle
1 Coffin Purge
1 REB
1 BEB
1 Fire/Ice
1 Oxidize
1 Naturalize
1 S. Scrying
3 Energy Flux
1 Echoing Truth

I did keep some notes, but instead of going match by match I will say that I went 3-4-1 overall. this was after being 3-2-1 after 6 rounds, and feeling good about the opossibility of grabbing 3 packs for making top 32. I want to keep this geared towards changes I will make before heading to my next tourney stop.

1, The decision to add black was one that I thought would pay off, but in the long run did not help as much as it could of. The Duress on turn 1 was nice, but due to the lack of combo *overall*  it did not disrupt as much as I had hoped. The deeds were very good, but could of been replaced my an Engineered explosives for 1 or 0 to get rid of welders or moxen. I was expecting more trinispheres turn 1, and the deed is already 3 and would slip by. of course I faced not 1 trinisphere all day, so that idea went up in smoke. If I had to do it again I would of chosen which black cards I used more carefully.

2, Stifle MD was a bomb on a few occasions. I used in in every match I played. From stopping a Mindslaver, to tendrils, to stopping a fetchland after I wasted away the other two an opponent had it was a star all day long. I wish I ran at least 1 more.

3, Runnign 3 cunning wishes was too much. I should of ran two and another card. Potentially a Stifle. There were too many times that I had two of them in hand wishing I had not had both of them. I am certainly cutting down to two. Personally I dislike the bastadization of the SB. However with Oath I have found that the deck can accomplish it's goals without needing to have alot of support from the SB, so one-of's work well.

Overall I had a great time, I went with a couple of buddies and had alot of fun discussing the tournament, and rooting for the one of us who was 5-2 but lost last round.

Props

Ray for running a hell of a tournament.

Steve and Mike for coming with and sharing joy and pain with.

Packs being bought out of shirts. *I refrained, but it was interesting to see*

Smmenen for being a cool opponent and good conversation in Rd 7

Slops

My 2 torn ligaments in my ankle getting the best of me on a couple of occasions. I am truly sorry to a couple of my opponents that i was very irritable around.

Me for leaving the wrong Mox untapped in Rd 7 against Smennen that cost me the match.

The number of Slavers that turned out.

Dont hit me too hard due to the lack of round-by-round coverage. Any thoughts would be welcome.

Jason

Rich

    I had the opportunity to watch a couple of your matches on Day 2, and it was nice to see some a top player so willing to discuss deck choices and options so freely.

    Thanks for the breakdown and reflections on the choices. I too made a metagame choice to run duress, and aside from being really useful on 2 occasions I would of wanted something else.

Jason