Shuffle and Cut is holding a Vintage tournament on November 14, 2010 at our La Habra store.

Where:
Shuffle & Cut Games
2121 E. Lambert Rd. Suite 305
La Habra, CA 90631
562-694-9500
Open at 12:00 PM

What: $25.00 Vintage with 10 proxies (Please use a basic land and write the oracle text of the card legibly and clearly. No paper inserts and please don't use a ballpoint as it indents the cards) If you are in doubt about whether your proxy is considered marked or not JUST ASK!
Decklists Required (Please mark your proxies on the decklist)

When: Sunday November 14, 2010.
Registration starts at 12:00 PM and Tournament starts at 1:30 PM
Prizes:
1st Time Vault (Unlimited)
2nd Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3rd Tropical Island or Volcanic Island
4th Tropical Island or Volcanic Island (dependent upon what 3rd picks)

We need at least 15 people for this prize pool, anything less and the tournament will become more top heavy (No 3rd and 4th place prizes) At 20 people we will add more prizes to the prize pool and payout to 5th and 6th, adding another Tropical Island and Volcanic Island. At 25 people we will add even more prizes and payout to the entire top 8 adding two non-blue dual lands.

We will be using the following tournament structure:
9-16 people: 4 Rounds with a cut to top 4
17-32 people: 5 Rounds with a cut to top 8 and prizes for 3rd/4th and 5th-8th based on standings prior to the cut.

Any questions please feel free to call or reply in this thread. Hope to have another great turnout!

Shuffle and Cut is holding a Vintage tournament on October 17, 2010 at our La Habra store.

Where:
Shuffle & Cut Games
2121 E. Lambert Rd. Suite 305
La Habra, CA 90631
562-694-9500
Open at 12:00 PM

What: $25.00 Vintage with 10 proxies (Please use a basic land and write the oracle text of the card legibly and clearly)
Decklists Required (Please mark your proxies on the decklist)

When: Sunday October 17, 2010.
Registration starts at 12:00 PM and Tournament starts at 1:30 PM
Prizes:
1st Bazaar of Baghdad
2nd Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3rd Force of Will
4th Force of Will

We need at least 15 people for this prize pool, anything less and the tournament will become more top heavy (No 3rd and 4th place prizes)

Any questions please feel free to call or reply in this thread. Hope to have another great turnout!

Great report man, and congrats again on your finish.


Note that Deed is actually terrible at answering Jace.

New prize structure added!

Due to some other events we're trying to get into the works, that weekend ended up being the most optimal time for this tournament for us.

Raise your hand if you're a NorCal player and you would travel down here for a tournament like this? We'll be posting a tournament report and lots of pics so everyone can see how it goes. Good luck to everyone who attends the Superstars event on the same date, as well.

SoCal Vintage lives once more!

The prize this time around is an Unlimited Ancestral Recall. Here's the skinny:

Prize Structure:
1st - Ancestral Recall
2nd - Mana Drain
3rd - Tropical Island
4th - Badlands

Entry: $25
Proxy: 10
Start: 1pm (sign ups will start at noon. Be early!)
Phone: (562) 694-9500
Where:
Shuffle and Cut Games
Suite 305, 2121 East Lambert Road
La Habra, CA 90631

The Ancestral is guaranteed for a turnout of at least 20 players, with other prizes paid out to the top 4 (to be announced). I don't even want to discuss prizes for less than 20 people, cause that'd just be sad and lame (okay okay, probably store credit or some other prizes, to be announced).

We got 11-12 players last time we did this with only 3 days notice. I'm calling out to our Northern and Southern brothers to come throw down the gauntlet and duke it out for some Power!

Don't forget to check the twitter and facebook for the shop for current promotions and sales!

Great report Stan.

While we've talked a bit about this in person, I'd like to elaborate a bit on them here.

After our playtesting, have you reconsidered the presence of Planeswalkers in your deck, or the addition of Red?

Also, I think you mean Spawning Pit, not Spawning Pool

Wouldn't this cause issues if they stuck a CotV @ 2? At least Show and Tell gives you another way to get your guys out.

I'm all about resurrecting the Vintage scene in SoCal again. It's been long, long overdue. Perhaps we can entice some of the Northern folk to come down as well?

I've already started talking to some of the usual suspects about getting their Vintage feet wet again. Let's do this!

Took 2nd at a small tournament this last weekend with Ben's list. Wrote up a report here: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=40889.0

Most of this was a message going to a buddy who will be attending Gencon this year, and halfway through I realized I might as well post the whole thing on
here.

Finding out about this tournament just a couple of days prior, I was pretty convinced I wasn't going to even be playing in it. I hadn't played Type 1 in over a year, and not seriously for closer to a year and a half. I had spoken with my friend Stan Chen some months ago about his success with Oath. I was a bit disappointed by this as I've always hated Oath, being that it's the bane of Stax's existence, and Workshops are where I call "home." I had heard from more than one person that Oath was "the best" deck in format right now, and while I love playing Shops more than anything, I didn't feel comfortable just losing games to the die roll. I consulted John Harduvel about the matter and he had enough cards to fill in the gaps I was missing, getting me under the 15 proxy limit.

I did some research for this, to see what the big names were going with. I checked the Introduction to Oath thread here http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=40610.0 and ultimately, I chose to go with Ben Carp's list, as it looked the most solid. I consider him the authority on Oath as he's played that deck religiously for the past eleventy years, and figured he knew what was best. I changed Darksteel Colossus to Inkwell Leviathan since I knew there would be some Jace, The Mind Sculptors running around all over the place, as well as some home brews packing efficient removal.

We got 11 people, and the tournament was under way.

Round 1: Greg Hatch with a Key/Vault control deck w/ Bob

Having played a lot of Standard and 1v1 EDH lately, I had almost forgotten how good Vintage cards are. Ancestral, Force of Will, and their new friend Spell Pierce (a card I hadn't had the chance to try out yet) helped me draw me lots of cards and stick Oath of Druids. While Bob got in there several times to my face, he wasn't much of a match for a huge rampaging elephant. Game 2 was even quicker, and I was impressed with what Spell Pierce had shown me so far.

Round 2: Josh Stewart, 5C Stax

Josh wins the die roll, and I end up mulling to 5 in hopes of finding a Force. His first turn play involves Gemstone Mine into Crop Rotation, which I highly consider Forcing, but I know Josh is a clever player and could be holding something back for me. He gets Bazaar, plays some moxen and a Welder. And passes... doh. Not very impressive at all. I play a basic land (iirc), pass, and he uses Bazaar again on his turn dumping Tangle Wire in the grave. I go to my turn, play Orchard and stupidly Time Walk instead of my Oath, hoping to draw into anything else. He Welds in Tangle Wire and buys himself several turns. By this time he's gotten Duplicant into his grave and I just scoop to go to the next game.

Yup, shaking off the rust hurts sometimes.

Game 2 I board out Key/Vault stuff and bring in Nature's Claims. My notes show him going to 24 life, and then down to 15. I'm pretty sure I Claimed a Jester's Cap and then Oath'd up a big ass elephant with friends that game. I decided to just go the aggressive route and blow up my entire board, and rush him. Apparently that's a solid plan, and We were off to game 3.

This game was pretty epic, actually. I had Iona in my opener, but the rest was solid from what I can remember. I ended up drawing into Inkwell, which elected me Mayor of Frowntown. He plays an early Jester's Cap, which I counter, but then follows it up by another one next turn. I can't stop it, and he caps me taking 2 Terastodon and 1 Show and Tell. He's spent, with no real board presence nor cards in hand. We draw go for awhile, and I have an Oath on the table, but no one has any creatures. I build my manabase up pretty high, and finally Brainstorm into an Orchard, putting back Iona. Iona comes into play on my next upkeep, naming White to stop Balance, and I just hardcast the Inkwell. The game was over shortly after.

Round 3: Robert the Swordsman, playing UG aggro.

Game 1 is counter-tastic, but I eventually get Inkwell in play and he scoops as he has no answer for it.

Game 2 involves me putting a big ass elephant into play, blowing my Oath and some lands. He has Seal of Removal for Terastodon, but I'm confident the tokens can get there, as he's Hellbent. Until, of course, he topdecks Echoing Truth like a champ. I'm never in the game again, as Dryads and Goyfs smash my face in.

Game 3 we both mull. My hand is decent, but I'd prefer more mana sources. I believe this is the game where I get Stripped, Wasted, and Wasted for the first 3 turns. I finally get another land and Orchard out. My hand is Oath, Force, 2 Pierce. I just need to draw another land so I can play Oath with double counter back up. I don't draw the other land I need to cast Pierce, but try going for it. The counter war ensues, and he's got the 2 counters. Dryad beats my face in and I die.

At this point I'm 2-1, and we're going into the last round. Due to funky pairings drama, I end up getting paired down against Harduvel who scoops to me. We play for fun, and he gets it 2-1 due to some misplays on my part that involve a creature in my hand and Oathing into oblivion. Keeping those lessons learned in mind, I patiently await the results for top 4.

At 3-1, I make it into top 4 along with Sperling with Tezz, Matteo with MUD, and Rob.

Top 4: Robert the Swordsman

This time I avenge my loss in the swiss with balls to the wall Tinkerness involving a certain Leviathan both games, getting this round 2-1. Sadly, these games weren't very exciting. It was strictly business on both sides and the games were determined quite shortly.

Finals: Matt Sperling with Tezz

Game 1 is very short, as I Tinker for Leviathan turn 1 with double counter backup. Nice game.

Game 2 comes down to Key/Vault... on Matt's side. Yup, Vintage is awesome.

Game 3 ends up being an incredibly close game. I board out Oath's and board in Jace & Tezz #2, Show and Tell, and a Nature's Claim. I'm mostly in the lead this game until it comes down to the crucial decision that will determine the game. I have a hand of Yawgmoth's Will, Nature's Claim, Tinker, Force, and blue card (I think it's Pierce). I gun for the Tinker sacrificing Mana Crypt, which he tries to counter and I protect. I have two choices at this point: play it safe and get Inkwell Leviathan (Crypt has been hitting him this game, and it seems feasible that I can take him out in 1.5 swings) or try and go for the Key/Vault combo by getting Lotus, breaking it into Yawgmoth's Will >> Crypt + Lotus + Fetch >> Tinker for Vault, Vamp for Key, Ancestral into Key, play Key, pass. I tank pretty hard, and weigh each choice. He knows what my hand is from an early game Thoughtseize, and he could be baiting me into overcommitting to the Yawg Will plan, blowing me out pretty badly. Apparently I didn't learn my lesson from Round 2 and assume he's got more than he really does, and I go with the conservative Inkwell play. Next turn he drops his entire hand of 6 cards into multiple jewelry, Academy, Mystical for Hurkyl's Recall, and Ancestral into the Hurkyl's Recall.

Well, shit.

The game goes back and forth for a bit longer, but he's got Top keeping strong disruption on the top of his library. I try putting a Jace out there, but to no avail. Eventually he gets out Tezzeret, and starts searching up artifacts (he knows I still have the Nature's Claim in hand, making the Vault/Key plan potentially moot? Though I'm sure he had enough disruption on top to protect it). He plays things much more conservatively than I had, and doesn't kill me when he has the opportunity to for 2 more turns. Unfortunately, I can't capitalize on this as I draw blanks and next thing I know all his artifacts become /5s and smash me to death.

I take 2nd place with a good deal of store credit, and a reminder that fortune favours the brave, not the cautious.

--

Looking forward, I would change a few things about the deck.

1.) I feel Library was weak, except in the control matchup. And even then, you have to be aggressive vs Control since you're going to end up topdecking creatures here and there, where they are not. That kind of edge on you makes the game worse for you as time goes on. I think I actually activated Library two times during the whole tournament, and that was in one game. I would much rather have had Strip Mine ever other time I drew it.

Strip Mine is also great for the mirror, as it always comes down to Orchard supremacy. It's great vs combo since their manabase is light as it is, and you have Spell Pierce for their accel. Lastly, Strip Mine is great vs Ichorid, which is a problem matchup. I didn't play the one Ichorid deck all day, which was probably lucky since this board is light on the Ichorid hate.

2.) Manabase. I was pretty happy with the basic forest, but I missed the presence of REB quite a bit. My game 3 loss in the finals to Sperling might have been prevented had I drawn a REB at any point. While I'm sure he had some business on top of his library waiting to be Topped into his hand, I was just completely cold to the Planeswalker otherwise. An instant speed vindicate for Tezz (Or Jace) would be incredibly helpful, as I had absolutely no outs to them other than Terastodon.

I was also pretty underwhelmed by Tolarian Academy. It was a useless 0 producing land twice during the tournament. While that could have just been bad luck, I did actually have to mull quite a bit during the day. When you mull to 6 and have an Academy with no artifacts, it's really like a mull to 5. Awful. A Volcanic Island would be much better suited in this slot, I feel.

Basic Forest was awesome, and it never conflicted with Mana Drain on turn 2 once.

3.) Regrowth was underwhelming as well. I get that this is also a combo deck and all with Key/Vault, and it allows for broken Gifts plays, but I think this could be turned into a Jace #2, See Beyond, or Show and Tell. I think Iona has a serious crush on me, because she was in my opening hand 5 games out of 10 while testing with Harduvel later that night. Another way to compensate for creatures in my hand needs to exist. I'm inclined to try out See Beyond, as it seems like it should fit into this deck quite well, at least on paper. It's also the cheapest answer of the 3, making it a better option against Shops.

4.) Inkwell was good for what it is. Knowing I can count on it sticking around regardless of the removal they have is exceptionally nice. However, the flying/lifelink/first strike of Sphinx of the Steel Wind is also very appealing. I would like the opportunity to test vs decks with Swords/Duplicant/etc more often so that I can determine which of the two is the best choice. Colossus is not an option for me whatsoever.

My changes will probably go something like this:

-1 Library
-1 Academy
-1 Regrowth
+1 Strip Mine
+1 Volcanic Island
+1 See Beyond

My SB for the event was as so:

1 Show and Tell
1 Mindbreak Trap
3 Nature's Claim
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Terastodon
2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Massacre
1 Relic of Progenitus

With the changes to the main deck, I will be fitting in 2 REB effects into the board, and potentially a Firespout. I will also be fitting in a Show and Tell, and trying to find a way to make my Ichorid matchup more solid. Any suggestions for this would be much appreciated.

All in all, it was great to play Vintage in SoCal again. I liked the deck a ton more than I thought I would, probably due to it feeling more like a true control deck with Mana Drains. Hopefully we can turn this into a regularly run event with enough support. Thanks again to Shuffle and Cut Games and Sperling for making this happen!

I read the following article many, many years ago. It changed my perspective on gaming, and especially Magic, in a profound way.

Playing to Win part 1: http://www.sirlin.net/articles/playing-to-win-part-1.html

There were also a few follow ups that are also worth reading,

Part 2: http://www.sirlin.net/articles/playing-to-win-part-2-mailbag.html
Part 3: http://www.sirlin.net/articles/playing-to-win-part-3-not-playing-to-win.html
Survivor: http://www.sirlin.net/articles/playing-to-win-example-richard-hatch-on-survivor.html

So, how about those decklists?

I trust that Harduvel put a note on his deck registration sheet that I named his deck, and that he's not trying to take the credit for that. I mean, I know he'd never do that. Just saying.

Excellent tournament as always, Justin. Props to Andrew and Patrick for driving so damn far for the tournament. Hope to see you guys again next time!

We've quite the diverse field at DMF, consisting of Ichorid, Tezzeret, Combo, Painter, Oath, and various home brews. I can't wait to see what people from the surrounding areas will bring to OC next week.

I agree with most of the things you said, except this statement. Activating Slaver will always happen later than getting Triplets into play. That is, to say, there will be plenty of opportunities to get Triplets into play early in the game where Slaver would sit around waiting for the appropriate mana to activate. It requires no mana investment at all to use. It is 'hands free.'

Considering everyone and their mom seems to be playing Null Rod strategies to stop Tezz, Slaver would end up being hated out as a bystander. Triplets gets around this.

The biggest thing this has going for it over Mindslaver, in my eyes, is that it finally gives Slaver a chance to truly compete with TPS game 1. Slaver was often too slow to activate against them, thus being useless. TPS can even win through Sundering Titan most of the time. I can't see how they could win through this.

Benefits of Sen Triplets, over Tezz:
1. Creatures cannot directly attack Triplets.
2. Can be discarded to Thirst.
3. Can be Welded in.
4. Can be Tinkered in.
5. 'Wins' independently of another card [Time Vault] being in play/library.
6. Cannot be Needled.

Drawbacks:
1. Affected by some creature removal.
2. Affected by artifact removal.
3. Not as easy to hard cast.

I think the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. Also consider that they can be Welded in on your opponents end step after TFK, being used right away.

I think this card could make Slaver viable again.

This first part is absolutely right. Pithing Needle makes this deck significantly worse. This deck also needs answers to Oath. Leyline is rough for this deck, as is Chalice @ 1. This deck looks like it needs serious help against Ichorid, as well.

Any veteran Vintage player will see the SotF played, and think "Oh, TNT," so you'll only get away with that with newer Vintage players.


I agree with this as well. 1 Squee is enough for the Survival engine.

The last time I ran this deck [long ago], I ran 2 In the Eye of Chaos in the main, and 1 Tinker. While Tinker probably isn't viable since this list is low on artifacts, ITEOC should be an auto-include. With the inclusion of Tarmogoyf, you can throw down a combination of ITEOC and Null Rod, and beat your way to victory. ITEOC is incredibly strong against Control, and not terrible against Combo game 1. I would find a way to work 1-2 Ancient Tomb in, as well. Probably starting with -1 Bazaar.

Lastly, I'd add more utility creatures as well, such as Mogg Fanatic [which is incredibly good against Ichorid if Leyline is absent] and/or Duplicant.

It'd only be fair, after all the driving we've done for you NorCal guys Hope to see you there, sir.

In theory, if your opponent's best play is Null Rod game 1 you're probably winning. I'd think they'd board Rods out, anyway, game 2 & 3. Could be trash, could have some potential. Either way, it's still cool as hell.

This is by far the coolest Ichorid variant I've ever seen. Have you put any testing into this, yet?

No. Just because it's a service/business, doesn't mean it's a very well run service/business. It doesn't mean it's a service/business that's worth our time or money. If you went to a restaurant that gave you decent food and all your friends went there, but it was expensive and the service sucked, yeah, you might continue to go there if it was the only restaurant around. However, if you all found another restaurant that gave you better food, lower prices and excellent service, why wouldn't you all move to the other restaurant? You absolutely would. It's not that we're spoiled. It's that the best business is getting our patronage. Natural Selection, in the business world.


Of course we expect prizes. We go to the tournaments that give us the best return for our time and money. That's business and economics at it's basest level. The issue was not with the amount of prizes offered. It was that 80+ people showed up to his tournament, and he kept the prize structure the same [if I read everything correctly]. If that many people showed up to a tournament that I was running, I'd throw some better prizes in to thank my attendees. Yes, thank them. Businesses do this all the time. I cannot count how many free drinks from Starbucks or burritos from Chipotle I've been given for being a regular, in the past. Yes, it made me come back. The $6.03 Chipotle gave up for that free burrito pales in comparison to all the times I came back and paid for my food. It's buying customer loyalty. Imagine how stoked the players would have been to go to the next Past Times tournament if Alan had said, "I want to thank you all for giving this tournament such a great turnout. The prize structure has been upgraded as the following..." The funny thing is, even if he hadn't upgraded the prize structure that much, most would have been thankful for those few words and the gesture.

Also, it's obvious that Vroman's statement wasn't intentionally racist. Throwing insults is clearly a poor way to express dissatisfaction, but many did approach the situation the way they [Shockwave, etc] should have: telling him to explain himself.


Because he very likely could have given out more. When he came on, he blew any chance of disarming the situation [and having some return customers] by entertaining each insult and jab at his business with a sassy response of his own. His explanations almost would have been enough, minus the 'I need to feed my kids' stuff that no one cares about. Nor should they. It was totally irrelevant. He could have easily shut everyone up on the spot by laying out the various expenses he had to incur to run the entire thing, so that people could better understand that he wasn't just keeping half the prize money for himself.

He chose not to do that, and he'll find out if it makes a big enough difference in the future whether that was the right move. It's absolutely his right as a business owner to choose to run his business however he wants. Just as it's our right as a customer to evaluate if giving that business our money is worth it.

Of course a lot of time goes into it. It's called a 'service.' That's like saying a banker is doing us a favour by managing our money for us, or the chef is doing us a favour for making some food for us. Self interest, in the form of making money, is the driving force. Not the goodness of making a bunch of Type 1 guys happy by offering up a tournament they can play in.

A service for money is never a favour, regardless of how much a person appreciates it. The best businessmen are the ones that get you to thank them for taking your money.

Razormane Masticore in a Workshop deck is one thing. Razormane in Tezzeret is a completely different story.

I'm a huge fan of Bridge, personally. I'm currently running 4 in the board, but I can see running some in the main. Leviathan seems incredibly good vs Shops in general so this might be the way things need to go from here on out.


Good call, re: Tyrant Oath. Seems that guy has been all but forgotten since Empyrial Archangel was printed.

What would you say are your worst matchups, and why?

Glad to see that Workshops still have a champion holding up their name.

A quick set of questions for Vroman:

1. The Ichorid matchup continues to be a problem, it seems. Mogg Fanatics are a nice touch. Are they enough? Have you considered Tabernacle or Powder Keg in the board?
2. The Oath matchup: Are 2 Duplicants enough, MD? Have you considered Greater Gargadon in the board?
3. Rack and Ruin: Is this better than Shattering Spree?

My list, then some discussion:


1  Tolarian Academy
2  Flooded Strand
4  Polluted Delta
2  Island
1  Snow-Covered Island
1  Swamp
2  Underground Sea
2  Tropical Island

1  Darksteel Colossus
1  Trinket Mage
2  Tezzeret the Seeker

1  Black Lotus
1  Mana Crypt
1  Mox Jet
1  Mox Sapphire
1  Mox Pearl
1  Mox Emerald
1  Mox Ruby
1  Sensei's Divining Top
1  Pithing Needle
1  Sol Ring
1  Voltaic Key
1  Time Vault
1  Vampiric Tutor
1  Demonic Tutor
2  Night's Whisper
1  Yawgmoth's Will
1  Ancestral Recall
1  Brainstorm
1  Echoing Truth
1  Hurkyl's Recall
1  Merchant Scroll
3  Negate
1  Time Walk
4  Mana Drain
3  Thirst for Knowledge
1  Tinker
1  Gifts Ungiven
4  Force of Will
1  Misdirection
1  Regrowth

SB:

2  Tormod's Crypt
1  Relic of Progenitus
3  Duress
2  Yixlid Jailer
3  Krosan Grip
2  Threads of Disloyalty
1  Inkwell Leviathan
1  Ensnaring Bridge



1. Green.

2. Red wasn't doing enough. The extra artifact destroyed with Rack & Ruin is gladly sacrificed for the uncounterability of Krosan Grip. Blasts don't help me with any of my bad matchups, but makes my already good or favourable matchups better. The same is said for Gorilla Shaman [though I have an extreme love affair with that ape]. The only truly unique card I give up in Red is Fire/Ice.

White is also not enough. The playable benefits from White I see are Canonist and Mindcensor. Seal of Cleansing has a green cousin that's just as good. While Mindcensor seems amazing right now, I don't think the weaknesses of the deck are made better by either of these cards.

The best cards Green has to offer that I can see are Krosan Grip, Seal of Primordium, Oxidize, Goyf, Trygon Predator, and Regrowth. Deed is a stretch, but it seems every 2003 Tog Player and their mom is trying to make 2009 Tezzeret look exactly like it..

3. Current SB is:

2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Inkwell Leviathan
3 Duress
2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Krosan Grip

4. SB Plan is, as follows:

Stax:
-1 Darksteel Colossus, +1 Inkwell Leviathan, -1 Misdirection/-1 Regrowth/-1 Etc, +X Krosan Grip
~This matchup is already quite favourable. Leviathan is un-Weldable and often game-winning. Same said of Tezzeret.

Ichorid:
-4 Mana Drain, -1 Misdirection, +2 Crypts, +1 Relic, +1 Jailer
~These should be obvious. Mana Drain is notoriously awful vs Ichorid. I keep in Whispers in the hopes of drawing a Crypt or Relic to buy time. This matchup is a true race.

Painter:
-1 Darksteel Colossus, +1 Inkwell Leviathan, -3 Negate, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Hurkyl's Recall, +5 Krosan Grip/Duress
~Taking out Negate is a hard choice, as several counters are often enough to overpower them with card advantage. The drawbacks is that REB still counters for 1 less, and Painter is a creature. I think Duress can replace these, easily. Krosan Grip is pure gold, here.

Oath [Overlord/Akroma builds]:
-2 Night's Whisper, -1 Regrowth, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Trinket Mage, -1 Hurkyl's Recall, +3 Krosan Grip, +1 Ensnaring Bridge, +2 Threads of Disloyalty
~A much easier build to deal with than Tyrant Oath, though still a tough one. If Krosan Grip can get online, we're in good shape. Threads on Akroma is obviously the most optimal. If they board into the Empyrial Archangel plan, we gun it for Bridge and/or Grip.

TPS:
-1 Darksteel Colossus, +1 Inkwell Leviathan, -1 Hurkyl's Recall, -1 Pithing Needle, -2 Night's Whisper, -1 Tezzeret, +3 Duress, +2 Tormod's Crypt
~Post board, our disruption suite looks like: 4 FoW, 4 Drain, 3 Negate, 3 Duress, 2 Crypt, which is quite good. I've considered taking Thirsts out for Whispers, as well. It's not uncommon to have 4 mana sources out with Negate in hand, where Whisper is much better than TFK. Still testing this out.

Fish:
-1 Darksteel Colossus, +1 Inkwell Leviathan, -3 Negate, -1 Tezzeret, -1 Hurkyl's Recall, -1 Regrowth, -1 Thirst for Knowledge, 2 or 3 Duress, 2 or 3 Krosan Grip, 2 Threads of Disloyalty
~Pretty much if Tinker resolves, it's 95% likely that it's game. To accomplish this, we bring in Duress. The basic Swamp in the main no longer opens you up to Wasteland, which ends up making a huge difference. Whisper is great. Grip for Null Rod is great.

Mirror:
-1 Darksteel Colossus, +1 Inkwell Leviathan, +6 Duress/Grip, -6 XYZ
~Play style truly determines the boarding config in this matchup. Night's Whisper is really, really good in this matchup, as well as Negate. Those always stay in. Regrowth, while situationally good, can probably go in place of another Grip or Duress.

5. Night's Whisper, Negate, and Regrowth are my personal touches.

Negate - Could have been Leak, especially since Fish is one of my hardest matchups. However, it ends up making other matchups worse as the game progresses. This can be exceptionally bad vs Stax or Combo.

Night's Whisper - In discussing the other possible draw engines for the deck, I seriously considered Intuition/AK. Once I tested it on paper vs Whisper [I'm constantly wondering why most people other than Ochoa aren't running this card], I came up with the following:

Whisper #1: Draw 2, 1 more than 1st AK
Whisper #2: Draw 4, 1 more than 2nd AK
Whisper #3: Draw 6, break even with 3rd AK
Whisper #4: Draw 8, -2 than 4th AK

AK isn't worth the investment. Intuition can speed this up, but is too slow. By the time you get to the mid game, you should be winning already. AK doesn't do enough to help you get there. Whisper does. I'd see Intuition/AK being fine in a Mono U build, but what would be the sense in that?

Regrowth - It's been surprisingly great in the main. It's far better than Relearn. Getting back Academy, Vault, or Tezzeret end up making the difference. It allows for a game winning Gifts pile, outright. Ultimately, it's great vs Control. It has always been useful game 1.

No Explosives - This card got replaced by Hurkyl's Recall. Null Rod and Bob are the two biggest problems I face, Null Rod being the worst of the two. Explosives does dick with Rod out, which is often the case against Fish, letting Bob survive anyway. Recall also hits Needle/Crypt/Explosives which I had completely lost to in testing when more than 1 of those were on the table. It's also added protection against the mirror if they're tapped out and target Vault w/ Key, at worst. I haven't missed Explosives whatsoever.


1. Absolutely. Common targets include Wasteland, Flooded Strand, Grindstone, Welder, Engineered Explosives, Bazaar..

2. I don't believe they're 100% must play. While I think play-style has a bit to do with it, I believe Leak/Negate to be better overall. Negate helps you get to 2nd turn Drain, while Duress can close that window for you should they reveal Wasteland. I believe that's the most important reason to run it.

3. Mostly, the suck. It opens you up to Waste. You often have to Force something, getting out of activation range. There are better proactive answers. Library is fine in decks with Intuition/AK, but I'd rather run better lands like Strip Mine. As it is, basic Swamp took Library's place in my main.

4. I've had a decent time with Bridge [better protected w/ Negate], and Threads.

5. Extra damage kills Painter and baby Goyfs.

6. See above.

Discuss!

I'm starting to agree with this, again. Which is good. I've been advocating Mindcensor from the beginning. I loved it so much, I even tried it in 5C Stax.


I can definitely see the merit of Mage as a multipurpose SB card, but I'm beginning to think that Bomberman, as a deck, is versatile enough that it doesn't need more versatility out of the board, but very specific answers. This is the build that I've been running for awhile:

Mana//22
4 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Plains

1 Black Lotus
5 Mox
1 Sol Ring

Creatures//10
4 Trinket Mage
3 Meddling Mage
3 Auriok Salvagers

Tools//5
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Æther Spellbomb

Spells//23
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Mana Leak
2 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Echoing Truth
1 Repeal
1 Fire/Ice
1 Red Elemental Blast

SB [changes every tournament, depending on who shows up]
3 Spell Snare
3 Seal of Cleansing
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pyroblast
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Rack and Ruin
2 Pyroclasm

The inclusion of Red has been great for me. No one expects REB in the main, and it's single handedly won me control mirrors. I used the 4 Leak/2 Drain configuration for awhile due to wanting a more controlling turn 1 off a land and mox. My meta has been shifting more towards control and away from Fish, lately, though. So I'll be going back to the reverse configuration of that to better deal with control and combo.

Changes I'll be testing when I come back from vacation:

Main:
-3 Meddling Mage
-2 Mana Leak
-1 Tundra
+3 Aven Mindcensor
+2 Mana Drain
+1 Underground Sea

SB:
-3 Spell Snare
-2 Pyroclasm
-1 Pithing Needle
-1 Rack and Ruin
+4 Duress/Thoughtseize
+3 Massacre

I've also considered 4 Dark Confidant in the board, which would come in vs Stax and Slaver, but my game vs Stax is already pretty good and I think the 4 Duress/Seizes will suffice vs Slaver. I'm also considering 1 more Sea either in the main or out of the board, but I'm not sure I'll need it. It'll be interesting to test.

It does stop them from flashing back Therapy off a Narcomoeba or Ichorid, though, and making a bunch of zombies for free from Bridge. Most of the time, it doesn't really matter if Therapy hits something or not. The zombies are the bigger, more immediate problem.

 

Therapy enables Dread Return by a.] making zombies to sac, b.] clearing Force of Will out of their hand to stop it. I've tested this matchup and Therapy has always been my first naming with Meddling Mage, with Dread Return coming second [if I find another Mage].


Honor the Fallen is win-more. Every time I've used it, I was already in a favourable position anyway. Bomberman has a better matchup vs Ichorid than any other control deck, & I'd rather spend my board slots fighting Fish and Long.

I've been running Meddling Mage in the main, instead of Mindcensor, to test it out and see if it was worth it. I've come to the following conclusions:

Slaver: Mage sucks, Mindcensor is great.
Bomberman: Mage is too situational, Mindcensor wins this matchup.
Long: Mage can be good with an experienced player, but Mindcensor is far better all around.
Uba Stax: Mage can be great if you keep them off Barbarian Ring. Mindcensor sucks.
5C Stax: Mage is terrible, and Mindcensor actually keeps them off their tutors [somewhat], and is better.
Goblins: Mage can be good, but is mostly for chump blocking. Mindcensor flies over them, and stops Matron. Decent, but both mostly suck.
Ichorid: Mage names Therapy and DR. Mindcensor is useless.
Fish: Mage can name Grunt and Bob. Mindcensor is okay.

On the whole, I'd say Mage should be in the board, and Mindcensor in the main. Almost everyone seems to be playing Slaver and Long nowadays. It's too 'hands-free' not to be good.