You still have to play three extra. It's the same as with every other alternative casting cost, e.g. Force.

I played the exact list in Hanau, was 4-1, could not draw in and had to play, and lost against Snapcaster control. My another loss was against Dregde, where I kept hands that relied on Oath, and he had Darkblast to keep it never triggering. I felt that with just a little tighter play those both matches could have been winnable.

Wonderful, I was just about to PM Stephen about his new sideboard plans, and he responds with an article!

Your latest list has 61 cards. I cut Ponder and didn't miss it when I went 4-1 with a similar list last Saturday.

Enemy colour talismans. Come on, one time!

One small thing that hasn't mentioned yet is that you can still ramp Powder Keg under Null Rod even though you can activate neither. Obviously no difference unless you have another way to remove Rod, which most decks have post-board.

Checked science and IT as I teach them in elementary, but could've checked "other" as well, as most of it is just shepherding kids.

I like 3rd Ring effect in place of a Badland. SB cards I mostly want are red or colorless anyways, Tabernacle in particular was sweet. I'd play Mana Crypt if I had room. My SB plan against Oath has been to ignore it and I have yet to lose a match against it. I'd go with 3 Gargadons if I suspected heavy Oath meta, along with Mazes if I still have then.

But with Lodestone Golem around, I think we have to rethink if this one is the best approach to Shop archtype or is more aggressive version better. I have already played similar BR list with just Juggies instead of Stacks and had positive results.

I still dislike the lack of synergy between Moon effects and 5 islandwalkers.  

I played BR Stax and went 4-2-1.

At least a handfull of players will be coming from here Finland. I for myself find the dates great, because it is difficult to me skip any days at work, but I have long semesters like every teacher does.

I don't know about how the exact situation went and was resolved, but here is how official documents put it.


The penalty can be downgraded by head judge if infraction (SB cards in) is noticed when drawing an opening hand, otherwise it should be a game.

Well, I can tell. In our top 8 match I mulled to 5, Malin had two Bazaars, and I drew no mana other than my opening Waste+Shop. Second game I keeped Bazaar and Leyline, hoping to draw into Waste. It never came up. In finals I watched Malin win through three consecutive Wastelands and Triskelion removing his board and two Bridges just before it. That guy is just invincible, he topdecks like a pro all the time.

Helsinki is in Finland, Swedes were mentioned only as rare non-Finnish players.

Hannu's list should have 4 Daze in it.

Because the Tezzered player playing against him in semis was a kid inexperienced with the deck. No idea how that kid won against Uba Stax, though.

Do note how poorly Tezzeret did in face of that much artifact disruption. It has to do with the fact that many seasoned vintage players opted for workshops, but workshops really kept Tezzeret in check in this tournament.

There were 33 players in attendance, two from Sweden and one from California if I recall correctly. Standings after six rounds swiss:

                                            Tie 1    Tie 2    Tie 3  Matches
Rank Name                         Points     OMW%     PGW%     OGW%  P/W/D/B

   1 Malin, Antti                     15  53,8889  73,3333  54,7581  6/5/0/0
   2 Salmi, Toni                      14  62,0370  66,6667  55,6140  6/4/2/0
   3 Järnfors, Esko                   14  58,3333  59,2593  55,8256  6/4/2/0
   4 Laine, Hannu                     13  64,4444  64,5833  59,1852  5/3/1/1
   5 Rikola, Paras                    13  62,0370  62,2222  55,9877  6/4/1/0
   6 Lagerspetz, Simo                 13  42,0370  60,7843  46,1728  6/4/1/0
   7 Samuelsson, Rickard              12  60,1852  64,2857  56,4797  6/4/0/0
   8 Ihonen, Juha                     12  54,8148  66,6667  53,8652  6/4/0/0
   9 Ranta, Teemu                     12  45,3704  57,1429  47,5926  6/4/0/0
  10 Hyvärinen, Mikko                 12  43,5185  61,5385  45,1852  6/4/0/0
  11 Sarlin, Markus                   10  63,3333  62,2222  59,2070  6/3/1/0
  12 Rautiola, Joonas                 10  46,2963  58,3333  46,4965  6/3/1/0
  13 Tiinus, Joona                     9  62,4074  50,0000  58,2656  6/3/0/0
  14 Vänni, Tommi                      9  61,1111  50,0000  56,7346  6/3/0/0
  15 Yliajo, Ilkka-Aleksi              9  52,7778  53,3333  49,2030  6/3/0/0
  16 Niemi, Miikka                     9  51,8519  43,7500  51,9180  6/3/0/0
  17 Rimpilä, Raine                    9  50,9259  50,0000  51,7379  6/3/0/0
  18 Rautiainen, Antti                 9  41,6667  50,0000  42,2222  6/3/0/0
  19 Räsänen, Ilkka                    9  39,8148  53,3333  42,1510  6/3/0/0
  20 Jokinen, Kosti                    7  58,5185  42,2222  55,0414  6/2/1/0
  21 Sjöblom, Max                      7  54,6667  52,7778  53,8706  5/2/1/0
  22 Ruppell, Timo                     7  46,6667  42,2222  46,7412  6/2/1/0
  23 Niemi, Joni                       6  55,5556  40,0000  51,4095  5/1/0/1
  24 Tuomi, Sami                       6  52,0000  53,8462  51,7179  5/2/0/0
  25 Hopponen, Juha                    6  50,0000  33,3333  51,0236  6/2/0/0
  26 Tuominen, Kari                    6  44,6667  33,3333  49,1282  5/1/0/1
  27 Saaristo, Juha                    6  41,6667  38,4615  43,1481  6/2/0/0
  28 Sutinen, Antero                   6  37,7778  35,7143  41,2479  5/1/0/1
  29 Chen, Stanley                     4  48,3333  23,8095  49,3529  6/1/1/0
  30 Pehkonen, Petri                   3  63,3333  33,3333  57,2261  4/0/0/1
  31 Muroke, Tuukka                    3  55,5556  28,5714  55,5556  3/1/0/0
  32 Louhio, Jaakko                    3  46,2963  38,8889  46,6600  6/1/0/0
  33 Valori, Kim                       1  70,3704  37,0370  59,1049  3/0/1/0

Top 8 played out as following:

Malin (Ichorid) vs. Ihonen (Workshop Aggro) 2 - 0
Salmi (UR Stax) vs. Samuelsson (Red Stax) 0 -2
Järnfors (Uba Stax) vs. Lagerspetz (Tezzeret) 0 - 2
Rikola (Ad Nauseam) vs. Laine (UR Goblins) 2 - 0


Malin vs. Rikola 2 - 0
Samuelsson vs. Lagerspetz 2 - 1


Malin vs. Samuelsson 2 - 0

Antti Malin took it home once again! It seems that you can even win a tournament with Manaless Ichorid, if you're a World Champ.

Prizes:

1st place any Mox other than Sapphire
2nd Mana Drain
3rd-4th Volcanic Island
5th-8th Flooded Strand
9th Conflux Fat Pack

Meta breakdown:

9 Stax variants (4 top 8)
7 Tezzeret Control (1)
5 Oath
2 Ichorid (1)
2 Goblins (1)
2 Servant-Grindstone
1 Ad Nauseam (1)
1 TPS
1 Intuition Tendrils
1 Old School Academy
1 Remora Control
1 Affinity

Decklists (proxies marked with asterisk):

Winner: World Championship Antti Malin
Manaless Ichorid

4 Bazaar of Baghdad 3*
4 Dryad Arbor
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Cephalid Sage
3 Ichorid
4 Narcomoeba
2 Flame-Kin Zealot
1 Angel of Despair
1 Street Wraith
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Unmask
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Serum Powder
4 Dread Return
4 Bridge from the Below

Sideboard:
4 Oxidize
3 Contagion
2 Sickening Shoal
4 Reverent Silence
2 Bayou

Finalist: Rickard Samuelsson (SWE)
Swedish Stax

4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
5 Mountain
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt

2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Smokestack
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Tangle Wire
1 Memory Jar
1 Trinisphere

4 Goblin Welder
4 Juggernaut
3 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem

Sideboard:
3 Greater Gargadon
2 Duplicant
1 Triskelion
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Rack and Ruin
2 Viashino Heretic
2 Tormod's Crypt

Top 4: Markku Rikola
Yo dawg I herd yo liek incestinsects so we put ants in yo pants so yo can drive yo nutz nutz
(Ad Nauseam)

4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
2 Swamp
1 Island

3 Chrome Mox
1 Mox Sapphire*
1 Mox Jet*
1 Mox Ruby*
1 Mox Pearl*
1 Black Lotus*
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
4 Dark Ritual
3 Cabal Ritual

4 Duress
4 Pact of Negation
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Merchant Scroll
3 Tendrils of Agony
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Ad Nauseam
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Necropotence
1 Imperial Seal*
1 Timetwister*
1 Ponder

Sideboard:
2 Bayou
3 Xantid Swarm 1*
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Slaughter Pact*

Top 4: Simo Lagerspetz
Tezzeret Control
(This is Jimmy McCarthy's exact list, he just asked me some deck overnight)

4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Regrowth
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Echoing Truth
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Brainstorm
1 Misdirection
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Pithing Needle
1 Voltaic Key
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Time Vault*
1 Sensei’s Divining Top

1 Mox Ruby*
1 Mox Emerald*
1 Mox Pearl*
1 Mox Sapphire*
1 Mox Jet*
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt*
1 Mana Vault
3 Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus*

Sideboard:
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Tarmogoyf
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Yixlid Jailer
3 Annul
2 Krosan Grip

Top 8: Esko Järnfors
Uba Stax

4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
4 Mountain
2 Mishra's Factory
4 Barbarian Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Smokestack
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Null Rod
3 Uba Mask
1 Trinisphere
4 Goblin Welder

Sideboard:
4 Viashino Heretic
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Jester's Cap
1 Null Rod
4 Red Elemental Blast

Top 8: Toni Salmi
(UR Stax)

4 Mishra's Workshop*
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
4 Volcanic Island
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Black Lotus*
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire*
1 Mox Pearl*
1 Mox Jet*
1 Mox Ruby*
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt

2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Smokestack
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
3 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Powder Keg
1 Memory Jar
1 Trinisphere
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall*
1 Mindslaver

4 Goblin Welder
2 Razormane Masticore
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem

Sideboard:
1 Triskelion
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Viashino Heretic
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Defense Grid
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Pitching Needle
1 Razormane Masticore

Top 8: Hannu Laine
UR Goblins

4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Vandal
3 Mogg Fanatic
2 Siege-Gang Commander

4 Daze
4 Force of Will
3 Fire // Ice
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk*

4 Volcanic Island
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Wasteland
3 Mountain
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Strip Mine
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby*
1 Black Lotus*

Sideboard:
3 Shattering Spree
3 Null Rod
3 Gempalm Incinerator
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Goblin Tinkerer
1 Stingscouger

Top 8: Juha Ihonen (me)
This year you'll sit and take it - and you will like it
(Workshop Aggro)

3 Wasteland
2 Barbarian Ring
1 Strip Mine
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Badlands
4 Mishra's Workshop*
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl*
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt

3 Bazaar of Baghdad*
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere
4 Null Rod
3 Crucible of Worlds

3 Juggernaut
4 Dark Confidant
4 Goblin Welder
1 Duplicant
1 Razormane Masticore
2 Sundering Titan

Sideboard:
2 Duplicant
3 Viashino Heretic
3 Darkblast
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Eon Hub 1*

At least here in Finland, Workshops are the decks to beat. I think the list I played was amazing except SB Eon Hubs, which should have been Jailers. Null Rod and Bazaar + Confidant are so strong, and SB Darkblasts were essential in the meta.

The tournament itself ran very smoothly. Atmosphere was very casual while games remained competitive. There will be more of these to come.

Welcome, kooaznboi1088! Feel free to PM me if anything.

Upgrade: Guaranteed prizes.

Mox Jet/Ruby for the winner
Mana Drain for the runner-up
A dual land (most propably Volcanic) as a door prize

Other prizes based on attendance. Drain and Volcanic do not count, so the prize pool for places 2-8 will be entry fees -Mox -judge food.

This event is only six days away! There will be about 90 € in the prize pool in addition to entry fees. If we got over sixty players, we'll move the last tables to the corridor, so don't hesitate to come, there'll be room for every one in the tournament.

Bump. By request, here's a straight link to the main tournament info and discussion: http://vaihdetaan.kapsi.fi/forums/index.php?topic=58993.0 (linking an URL with a question mark didn't work somehow - hey, now it works  ). Though discussion there is mostly Finninsh, post your questions/rant/thrash talk in English and you will be answered in English.

There will be at least some Swedes in attendance in addition to us Finns. Looks like the event is really catching on!

Time: Saturday 7th of March 2009. Starts 12:00 am, site opens 10:30 pm and closes by midnight.

Location: Uusi ylioppilastalo, Mannerheimintie 5a, Helsinki, Finland. It's in the very centre of Helsinki. Take the door on the left side of restaurant Virgin Oil Co. and climb to the 5th floor.

Cost: 10 euros.

Prizes: Regardless of attendance, Mox Jet/Ruby of winner's choice. Other prizes based on attendance: Mana Drains, duals, fetches, maybe even another piece of Power.

Proxies: 10. Write on basic lands. Full art proxys on iconic cards as well as gold-boarded cards also qualify as proxies, as long as they are not marked from the back of a sleeve. CE/IE NOT allowed as a proxy.

Judges: Though tournament is unsanctioned, there will be at least two DCI qualified judges and other judging staff.

Preregistration: There is room for 60 players. Preregistration is not needed, but you can log in to vaihdetaan.net (the #1 Finnish MTG forum) and tell us that you are coming.

Food: Soda and snacks well be sold at the site for a reasonable price. There are numerous restaurants and fast food bars next to the site. You can bring your own food/drinks to the site.

---

This is our first Mox tournament and the second in our country ever. But there will be more, if it all goes well.

I went undefeated on a small local tourney with a list like above. I had 2 'seizes and no Colossus, a lone Cabal Ritual instead of I. Seal and Extirpate in place of boarded 'seize. The Extirpate didn't really convince me, but the 5th ritual was phenomenal. My board was great, I lost like every game on and won two post board. Confidants really are the way to go.

Why is no Flash player running Ponder? I have had totally positive experiences with the card in the deck. Theory supports them as well as practice.

I'd play budget Flash without a blink. You only need two duals, you can play Petal, Chrome Mox, Mana Crypt and two ESG:s as you acceleration, and the rest of the deck costs just peanuts. I have a really nice budget list which got me 2nd in local tourney, PM me if you are interested.

And Goblins just needs MD Leyline at it is the only turn 0 disruption they can have.

I think win conditions should not occupy more than two slots, so Tinker-Colossus would be the first to cut. Please at least consider Fact and Twister in the deck, draw power they give is just ridiculous. We have played with similar manabase -Library -Sol Ring -card +Crypt +Petal +land. Crypt may be liability without Tinker, we have not made final judgement on it.

Our disruption base differs so that we run second Misdirection and 0-2 Drains, and Chain of Vapor has been our MD bounce of choice. But they are somewhat meta dependable like having F/I or not.

My friends have been developing a deck similar to this couple of months already. The main difference is that we play lone ETW as the only win condition main deck and opt for more draw in form of Fact and Twister instead. The philosophy behind our deck is to run as few blanks as possible. This has an edge against GAT because it has the same engine and same disruption, but it draws into real business when GAT draws into green and filler cards.

We have tried to make creator of the deck to make a thread about it here, but he felt his English is too poor or had some other lousy explanations. Hope he'll finally open his mouth here.

I've played Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey for years and I'm definitely in. I'm used on Rotisserie type of league and I would prefer that to Head-to-Head setting.

Windborn Muse might be better than Ghostly Prison, because it's not that much harder to cast and is less dead in other matchups. That is, if it's propanganda effect we are looking for, which might not be the case.

How about Orb of Dreams? It could be very effective against GAT, but it has to come down really soon to be effective. It also slows Ichorid down a bit though is not a definite answer.

I thought 9 spheres would work very well versus GAT. The problem is that they only have to resolve one creature as they can easily afford to pay 2 colorless to make it attack.

After latest unrestrictions, this deck begins to look more and more appealing. Couple of questions:

1. Ghostly Prison. While obviosly good against Ichorid and to some extent goblin tokens and randomness, does the card really have place in maindeck? It does nothing to stop Tendrils, and GAT only needs to attack with one creature as they have time to build it up.

2. Morph creatures. What's wrong with the good ol' Jotun Grunt? He costs less and has often positively relevant ability to boot.

3. No Strips? You won't always have Magus.

4. The SB seems rather weak and I believe much improvement can be made here.

5. Any change to build the list without moxen? I was thinking of replacing them by Chrome, Diamond and some Cities of Traitors. Do you think it would be workable enough?

I'd cut Seething Songs first, because they are the worst rituals. You should have plenty of mana even without, and won't lose so much when one is countered. I'd leave in 3-4 Chromatics though, they are still needed and provide some card draw with Welder if things go ugly.