I was planning on going to gencon and taking a carload of people down with me.  However, due to an incredibly inept website, I am having trouble figuring out the costs of this tournament.  I basically just want to know price of admission for Saturday and Sunday.  If anyone can help me out, that would be superb

Thanks
Ryan

This is a very interesting post Gabe, and I'd imagine time consuming as well!  I can throw a few border-line cards at you and let the debate begin!

Torment - Category 3 - Putrid Imp - Potentially deserving of a spot on the list for it's role in ichorid.

Coldsnap - Category 3 - Perilous Research - Currently unplayed due to legality, but will almost forsuredly see extensive vintage play over the years.  However, research could take the spot of the grunt, as I am not sure its role in type one.  Care to explain?

Ryan

@ Eric

I have only been back on the vintage scene for a couple of months now, and started with CS to learn to format.  I quickly turned to Grim Long as that is more my play-style, and when I saw this list, well, there truly is such a thing as love at first sight.

Since then I have not been able to put this thing down, and have done relatively extensive testing - less the bazaars since I didn't really understand them at the time.  Most of my testing has been done versus oath, and I find this deck to be about 70%.  Drain simply isn't relevant, you out-counter the control player 7-4.  Nonetheless, the deck seems to treat me right, and   I figure the least I can do is share some of my results.  I have played in one tournament (a 35 man one, small but relatively skilled).  Here is how it went:

Round 1 - DEVASTATED by UBW Fish (0-2):

Rods, Chalices, Mages, Duress', Force of Wills, Stifles, and on top of that the Wastes and Strip that usually just do not matter.

Round 2  (2-0) - I don't know what he is playing, I won the dice roll, and the match consisted of him playing a wasteland and watching me kill him . . . twice.

Round 3  :lol: vs Oath.

A very close match, but the Misdirections were golden, and her mana drains were never a factor.  I did not sleep the night before, so some rounds are hazy to say the least.

Round 4  vs Meandeck Tendrils (2-1).

I kill him on turn one of game one.  He kills one on turn one of game two.  In game three, I force his yawgmoth's will, he can't recover, and I can act like a control player and establish something busted and win the game on turn 3 or 4.

Round 5    vs Gifts (2-0).

By far the most fun round of the day, and a round which truly shows the strenght of this deck.  I lose a very critical counter-war, and my will ends up in the bin.  He Has Drain, Misdirection, to my Will, and misdirection.  My hand is a Mox Emerald.  Fortunate for me he needs a turn to find gas and set up.  I draw cabal ritual,  .  He tinkers out DSC, im at 13.  I draw a delta, he smacks me down to two and passes.  I end up at one, because I am not in any position to draw another land to accompany my mox and ritual.  I rip . . . Demonic tutor.  I DT for tinker, Tinker away my crypt for jar (needing storm 10 here, and not having a twister left to replace will.  I jar into the nuts, which includes ancestral, I ancestral into lotus, tendrils, force of will, and I have UUBBB up in case of any shannanigans.  GG.

Round 6 - ID

Top 8 - Versus Gifts  (2-0) - not even close.

I get misdirection for his Recall game 1 on his mulligan.  He decides to force it, and I decide to force that.  He has no hand.  I have a hand.  I win.  Who is the one playing control anyways?  Game two, he mulligans again, and I have a nut draw which involves t1 bargain, play it safe, and t2 win.

Top 4- Versus Stax w Pillars.  (1-2)

Game 1, soft locked on turn 1.  Game 2 I win on turn 1 - Hooray for goldfishing.  Game 3 we both mulligan, but he won the dice roll, so he gets to play - mox, mox, shop, cap, chalice zero.  I have the turn one in my hand, but sadly it involved mox, lotus, crypt.  I lose

A few things about the deck that I am still bad with.  First and Foremost- Time Walk.  Is Walk the Sixtyth Card?  I read your post about pre/post draw 7's, but I am still unconvinced of its merits.  Can you provide me with a play situation or two?

Also, I am concerned with the fish matchup after getting devastated like that.  How can I address this matchup for better results?

Thanks
Ryan

Hey,

My points about your decklist:

1 - Meddling Mage NEEDS to be in this deck.  You're looking for an answer to combo?   He is your main man.  Remember that your FoWs and Stifles will almost certainly be duressed away when they combo you off, and often prove ineffective on their own.

2 - Is Aether Vial really worth not including null rod?  I guess I am looking for an explanation here as to why your fish deck does not have null rod.  I realize your chalice attacks mana-bases effectively, but seems weak on its own.  Chalice is proactive, null rod is both reactive and proactive.  In other words, if you're on the draw, Null Rod is not "dead".  At the very least, you need gorilla shamans with your chalices.

Ryan

Interesting that you point this out FlamingCloud, as Stax has seen a revitalization in my area of late.  Some of our more-talented players have noticed this trend with mana-bases, and used stax to obviously attack them.  As history shows, this trend is far more likely to accelerate, then to simply disappear. 

Additional SB spots dedicated for stax in most decks maybe? . . .

Probably not yet, but basics are an auto-include in control decks.

Ryan

Hey All,

I am also a Canadian Vintage Player, and I have found that I agree with DicemanX in that no one is going to cut the LoA up here.  The LoA seems more Explosive, the Strip seems more consistent.  I would have to say that this is 100% a preference pick for the player playing the deck, and that either is completely acceptable.  We all know that Library can RUIN the mirror and gifts matchups, but it very rarely is something that can be abused by a will and never by a crucible (if you choose to run one). 

With all that said, despite it sounding like I favour the strip, I will inexplicably continue running the Library.

Ryan

Hey

First time poster Here 

I must say this is the first full post ive read since becoming a member of TMD and I am very impressed.  Im not only new here, but to the Vintage community in general.  Being a long-time competetive player, Im quite interested in jumping in head first and learning a new format, and who could refuse playing a deck like this!  Frankly, Intuition Tendrils was one of my primary draws to come (back) to vintage, and well horden tendrils just looks more fun.  Great Primer, and I look forward to contributing to its evolution after I do some testing

-Ryan