To my knowledge, Eric was the Only American, and I was the only Canadian.

Hope this helps,
Glenn

Yo Brennen, Lou,

@Lou - There were 148 at this event, and from what I saw, most of the decks had few to no proxies.  From my records, none of my opponents had any.

@Brennen - Yes indeed, the ravager first made people scratch their heads a bit, and it totally can mess up combat against fish decks. There was a lot of laughter when I sacked a 7/7 Ravager to put tokens on the trike...my opponent just smiled and shrugged... Magic can be SO much fun sometimes... to quote a famous Steve...

"SO many insane plays"...

Cheers,
Glenn

Actually, I didn't consider it, I might give it a try, but to be honest, I like the consistancy of the 3 SOFI.

But having said that, yes it's worth some testing, if only to buy time in the combo matches.

Perhaps I'll try it out and post results if anyone is interested?

Cheers,
Glenn

Tournament Valencia - Glenn Miller (Ottawa, ON, Canada)

Obligatory Overview
The day started out well, I had been gold fishing forever, reviewing my sideboarding notes, and just starting to get bored.  I wanted some real life players to be sitting across from me, to see how well the deck was actually going to perform.

I remembered most of the issues brought up in testing, to look for outs, to take my time to maximize any plays, to always think about what the opponent might have to stop me.

Breakfast was good, the camera was charged, and I set my sights on playing against some of the top talent in southern Europe and area.
As I sat waiting for the event to begin, a cool guy walked up and started speaking in Spanish. As it turns out, he was also pretty good in English, so we struck up a conversation, and he asked to play some games.
I agreed, and we shuffled up. He told me that he was playing combo today, a match up that I didn't have a lot of practice against, so I looked forward to a few casual games to see how game 1's might go.
He was shaking his head after I went 4-1, and mentioned that my aggro deck wasn't like the others, and that he only hoped to see me again...if it was in the finals.
I was made an honorary member of team Mathula (sp?) for the day... Go Me!

Tournament Begins

Round 1
Opponent : Saul
From: Madrid. Spain
Deck: Red/White/Green fish
I lose the Rock, Paper, Scissors, and he chooses to go first. (I have 2 sets of Rock Paper Scissors from Unglued, and it makes for a lot of laughs)

Game 1:
We both Mulligan to 6, and he begins play.
He opens with a goblin vandal, and I'm sitting there thinking, that it's going to be a very long day.
I opened with Pearl, Ruby, Welder and wasteland, and pass the turn
He attacks with the vandal, and I decide that losing a welder is ok, as my second turn play will be a Jens. I block, he looks at me strangely, and passes the turn.
I play a mountain, drop Jens and pass the turn
He plays another vandal and passes
I draw for the turn, and play trinisphere.
we both proceed to ramp up a bit, but my creatures are just larger. he plows a juggernaut, but the Jens are just doing too much damage.
He dies game 1 and I'm at 23 life.
Game 2:
He mulligans to 6, and I keep my opening hand.
He starts the game with a Leyline of the void, and an Aether Vial. I drop a mountain, a Mana Crypt and an Archbound Ravager.
we go back and forth on the red zone a few times, but again my creatures are just too big to handle and his life total goes 18, 17, 12, 6, 0

Record 1-0
Games 2-0
Off to a good start for the day

Round 2
Round 2 is interesting as I sit, win the Rock, Paper, Scissors, then proceed to hear that there is a round 2 re-   pairing...ick.

Round 2 - Again
Opponent : Pietro
From: Madrid. Italy
Deck: Tyrant Oath
I win a die roll, as he refused the almighty unglued Rock. Paper, Scissors.

Game 1:
Game one is close until the end, as he had a hard time finding an Oath. I beat him down to 2, then with a Tyrant, he went off, bouncing my stuff, and locking up the game.

Game 2:
See game 1, again, I got him down to 3 life, and he stabilized, bounced my side, and swung in for the win.

Record: 1-1
Games: 2-2

Round 3

Opponent : Eduardo
From: Spain
Deck: Staff - Metal Worker Combo
I win Rock, Paper, Scissors, and choose to go first.

Game 1:
I drop turn 1 Thorn of Amethyst, and pass
He plays a land and passes.
I play wasteland on his land turn 2, and follow it up with a turn 2 Thorn.
He play a land turn 3 and passes
I play a strip mine on his land turn 3, drop a ravager and pass the turn.
he is stalled for lands, I drop a Duplicate *it DOES hit for 2 a turn, and swing with the ravager.
He stays stalled out, goes into EOT discard mode, and Ravager and duplicant and a factory go the distance
Game 2:
He opens with a Pithing needle naming Goblin Welder, and I happen to have one in my opening hand.
I play a turn 1 welder, a turn 2 Sword of Fire Ice.
I follow it up with 2 Sphere of Resistance along the way.
I waste his next 2 land drops, and swing with a Welder equipped with the Sword, and on turn 5, the game is over

Record: 2-1
Games: 4-2

Round 4
Opponent : Gavin
From: Belfast
Deck: Mono Red Workshop Aggro
I win Rock, Paper, Scissors, and choose to go first.

Game 1:
We are chatting a bit about how it's a pain to have to play each other, because we had been discussing a bit of our decks with each other in detail. I was fairly sure that I had the faster deck, but then again, anything can happen.
I open with lotus, strip mine, juggy and pass the turn
Gavin opens with Sapphire, Jet, Pearl, and passes the turn.
I don't remember all of the game plays, but my notes show me that the life total for my opponent went 18,11,0
We laugh a bit and head to the board
Game 2:
I mull to 6, he keeps.
He opens with Jet, Pearl, mountain, and Magus of the moon.
This was REALLY good for me, as I was off red mana, but was holding 2 Rack and Ruins.
I drop a turn one ravager, ramp up my mana, play one of the rack and ruin's, and ride the ravager and trike for the win.
We talk after the match, and agree that my deck is faster, and has a few more "tricks" because of the ravager.  I get asked for my decklist after the event, and happily write the list out.
Record: 3-1
Games: 6-2

Round 5
Opponent : Oscar
From: Spain
Deck: Belcher
I win Rock, Paper, Scissors, and choose to go first.

Game 1:
I mulligan to 6. Welder and mostly land.
Notes are sketchy, but I opened with a welder, but no stall.
Oscar plays a turn or 2, then combo's into Charbelcher and activates for the win.
Game 2:
Oscar Mulls to 6.
I open with lock pieces and drop a Jens,  then another Jens, and ride them to victory with a factory for support.  Thorns and Spheres really helped slow his side of the match and prevent the win.
Game 3:
First game 3 of the event. I look at my opening hand, and have welder and Thorn first turn.
Oscar plays first, and had exactly the cards to tendrils me out on turn 1.
Although a bit disappointed, it's ok, because that's why we play the game. I drop my cards on the table, and he looks at them and says "if I didn't win turn 1, you would have won the match". I smile, shake his hand, and realize that top 16 is now gone. I have to laugh though, because anything can happen in Magic.
Record: 3-2
Games: 7-4

Round 6
Opponent : David
From: Valencia, Spain
Deck: Gat
I win Rock, Paper, Scissors, and choose to go first.

Game 1:
He opens with Island, Jet, Sapphire, Ruby and passes the turn.
I open with Ravager and pass the turn.
A few wastelands, some thorns, and I ride a Jens, Ravager, and Trike to the win.
Game 2:
He mulligans to 6 I believe, plays a land and passes the turn.
I open with Thorn, and a forced Juggernaut.
He draws and passes the turn.
I drop another thorn, and proceed to start unloading my hand.
At the end of this game, the following play took place:
I swing with Juggy, Jens, and a Factory with a +1/+1 Counter on it. He takes 10, and taps 3 mana for Brainstorm.  After it resolves, I realize that he only has 2 mana open.
I sac the Jens to the Ravager (just summoned), and draw a card. It's a Trike!.
With him only having 2 mana open, and 2 thorns in play... I decide to end the game on the spot.
I play the Trike, sac all the artifacts to the ravager, then sac the ravager to itself. I put all of the counters onto the trike, and ping him for the win.
Record: 4-2
Games: 9-4

Round 7
Opponent : Walter
From: Italy
Deck: 5 color Stax
I win the die roll, as he refused to play Rock, Paper, Scissors, and I chose to go first.
Game 1:
I open with Welder, but not much gas. A long game ensues, and he eventually has double welder, double Chalice, and double tanglewire.
I get trapped under the wires, and conceed the game at 16 life to speed things up.
Game 2:
I open with trinisphere and he comments that he sided his out, and thought that I would do same.
I follow up with a few wastes, drop moxex with the Shop, and quickly end game 2
Game 3:
He opens with land go, I open with waste, vault, ravager, sac the vault, pass the turn.
My second draw is a Thorn, and I follow it up with wastes and Spheres. His life total goes quickly 19, 18, 17, 12, 5, 0

Record: 5-2
Games: 11-5

Final Thoughts
The deck is quick... in my opinion quicker than both 5 color and other mono red versions.
There are so many different ways to win, but as with all decks lacking blue, there are few ways to deal with combo, besides winning the die roll, and getting the stall pieces in place before they can combo out.
The deck treated me well all day long, and was easy to pilot on the brain. It did put up good numbers, and except for the 1st turn loss in game 3, there isn't much that the deck did to let me down.
If I had an event to play again, today, I would still choose this deck to play for a few reasons:
1) It has great synergy with all of the pieces
2) It doesn't require a huge amount of brain power to pilot
3) It all moves forward to take 20 life from the opponent before they can get their game online to kill you
Props:
All of the people at the event, each and every opponent all day long was very reasonable and accommodating my lack of Spanish.
Gavin and His crew, as well as Team Muthia for being such good players, and good sportsmen.
Valencia is a beautiful city, and there are many good magic players who attended the event. if I have the chance, I would return for future events here.
Slops:
The 2 bad calls in the top 16 round...ELD almost got hosed.
My round 5 opponent for not giving me the chance to win...just kidding


Decklist
// Mana - 28
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
6 Mountain
3 Mishra's Factory
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

// Stall Pieces - 9
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere

// Creatures - 20
4 Goblin Welder
4 Juggernaut
3 Triskelion
4 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Arcbound Ravager
2 Duplicant

//Other - 3
3 Sword of Fire and Ice

//Sideboard - 15
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Magus of the Moon
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Rack and Ruin
4 Pyrostatic Pillar

@ Phele :  I'm going to take a look at your sideboard to see how it interacts with my metagame (I like the Labs). Also, when I ran red, it could be a house, since I also ran fling... I will also try the Imperial Seal to see if that assists in the clock or at least in assembling the pieces. Mystical is another way to grab a Time Walk or Ancestral - the only way I could beat the dragon deck piloted by Noah was with a Time Walk ...he had me dead to rights...and the end step Mystical saved the day...the spot for Mystical is almost cast in stone. As you mention: Chalice is worth investigation, if only to slow the opponent down for a turn or 2, and it might be necessary to splash red for R&R (a one time use), or the like.

@Phele:  Have you tried Lim-Dul's Vault...It has served me quite well in getting the stack together for a "lethal turn"..just remember to board it out against Slaver...bad things can happen *Jeremy...I coulda swore I boarded it out.

@cssamerican: You are correct that it takes more main space to assemble the pieces...I just got tired of Gifts and Slaver and wanted to try something new.  4-2-1 at Rochester Day 2 just made me think...was something missed that could make the deck more competitive.  Your point is well taken...but if no one tries anything new..then it gets stale very quickly.

@Chamelet: Diving top as a 1 of is not as good as you might think...I've never run into the case where a Bob'd FoW was game ending, and I'd rather have something more pro-active than a top.

@PurpleHat: I assume that you're answer is that this deck is not viable, I thank you for the input. By the way, around here some people actually counter Bob since they don't like me getting more free cards.  Masks aren't really dead are they?

Preface:

I've been messing around with various versions of Mask, on and off for about a year now.

I've tried a 3 color version (Red/Blue/Black), but the manabase always seemed to be a little bit too unstable, regards of the metagame it was tried in.

After a less than dismal performance at day 1 of the Rochester event. Mike and I (MGouthro on TMD), sat in our hotel room and decided to build something fun to play on day 2.

Since I knew that 3 color wasn't going to cut it, I decided to try a more controlling version of mask, trying to abuse Bob for card draw. Also, from day 1, I also knew that the board had to be built to challenge and put a clock on the CS decks, as well as the combo decks (notwithstanding Grimlong).

Here's what was built for day 2: (22nd place on day 2 of SCG Rochester)

Maindeck:

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
4 Illusionary Mask
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Artifact Creatures
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought

Creatures
4 Dark Confidant

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force Of Will
2 Impulse
1 Lim-dul's Vault
4 Mana Leak
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Duress
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Basic Lands
3 Island
2 Swamp

Lands
2 Flooded Strand
1 Library Of Alexandria
3 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
3 Underground Sea

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Phyrexian Negator
1 Chain Of Vapor
1 Darkblast
1 Rebuild
1 Duress


What I liked about the deck is the ability to drop mask-naught go, and just smash face
What I don't like about the deck is the collateral damage from the artifact hate in the environment.

So by analyzing the board, you can see that for those decks which pack massive artifact hate and null rods, we side out the masks and naughts for crypts and negators (which can be a house against CS, gifts, etc). 

Question to the masses:  At first glance, do you think that this is as good as this deck can become?  I do know that Steve mentioned adding an additional tutor (Grim or Seal, I can't remember off the top of my head).

Was there something obvious missed in the development of the deck?
Any thoughts or ideas for further development and testing would be appreciated.

Glenn
P.s. It was good to see many of the U.S. guys, and hook up with the Toronto and Montreal crew...cya at Gencon

Personal Collection : all 40 (working on upgrades to Revised)

Trade Binder #1: 7 Plateau, 1 Tundra, 1 Volcanic Island,1 Bayou, 1 Savannah, 1 Badlands
Trade Binder #2: 4 Badlands, 4 Bayou, 4 Scrubland, 4 Tropical Island, 4 Tundra, 4 Volcanic Island

Total: 76

Tetre

Fow the choices you've laid out, I would go with the Sapphire, as it allows for first turn Drain.

Notwithstanding the choices you've given us, I'd put the power in the following order:

Ancestral Recall  - 3 cards can just win you games
Mox Sapphire - Turn 1 mana drain is always good
Timewalk - Faster mana development early, at worst a free card draw
On color Moxen for the deck you play
Off color Moxen
Black Lotus
Timetwister

Now people are going to question the lotus being so far down the list.
The number of times you have a lotus in your hand is quite small, and although it allows you to do some AMAZING turn 1 plays, IMHO it does not show itself enough to warrent being an early purchase.

If you play alot of combo, feel free to move the Twister in place, right after the On color Moxen.

I gathered my Power this way, and am pleased that I did so.

Cheers,
Tetre

Big events are about the people and the fun...flipping cards is a bonus.

I won't be at the next SCG P9, only because I will be on vacation (A suntan > mising a Yawg's win.)

Last year, Ottawa --> Origins (Flying works for me with free tickets)
This year, Ottawa --> Gencon (Again, free flights make it more practical)

As a side note: My clients end up giving me the free tickets as a result of flying all over the damm place to make them happy. Trading in europe is kinda cool too! (so I'm a lucky son-of-a-bitch, not a spoiled little rich boy)

I, as well as my friends, pick the events we wish to attend the most, and I add in either Origins or gencon to the mix. With Toronto being just down the long highway, the larger events will start to me me as a regular particpant.  

Syracuse is equally as feasable to travel to, but sometimes work gets in the way.  I really don't mind a couple of hundred bucks for 4-5 days of fun, but I know that it is not within the realm of possibility for everyone.  When possible I try to load up the car and go.  When I fly, I try to make it possible for others to go as cheaply as possible.

Do what you can, and don't sweat what you can't. Going broke or not eating for a month does in no way outweigh playing a cardgame.

Cheers,
Tetre

p.s. Pierre, Ottawa will be ready for you

Excellent Article, I really enjoyed it.

Actually, I printed several copies for some of the emerging players in my area to read and digest.

Keep up the good work.

Tetre
p.s. Next article...Top Picks for 5 proxy events, and why/when to play them.

I can see it working in Madness:

Attack with Flying Moeba/Mongrel/Root, exchange Root for Ninja of the Deep Hours, discard root to Mongrel, tap blue, curiosity the Ninja of the Deep Hours, GO

I see this as potential HUGE card advantage

Tetre

Even though it's a powered build, this is close to what I'm running now (I don't really wanna post my up-to-date list until after the next big event) I'm a punk right now

http://www.401games.ca/features/glennmiller.html

The spell and crit base is what matters anyway (B2B and Flux in the main).

The board is now NOTHING like I ran at the Toronto event

Notice that it's still a 5-proxy build, and with little re-work it still runs pretty good non-powered.

Cheers,
Tetre

For the Sideboard....Gilded Drake instead of Masticore.

If you have bouncers in the main as a madness outlet...after the board, you get to push through a drake for their fat, and at the same time....you can bounce the drake back to your hand (worst case...at the cost of a land )

I know that Flux main always gets some stares...but giving game 1 to affinity, stax, etc. is just plain wrong....or at least I think so.  Running the Flux in the main at the very least prevents you from losing to type II "affinity cause i don't have a good type 1 deck.dec".

If you don't need the Flux in game 1...you can always chuck it to Fow. If you do need it..yer happy that it's there in game 1, giving you a chance to win game 1 and 2, not forcing you to win games 2 and 3.

Hope this helps,
Tetre

A good Start to the deck, but I do have a few comments. I hope not to offend you.

This is a U/g madness build I've been working on, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
// Creatures
3 Wonder                   - I'd drop this to 2
4 Roar of the Wurm    - Roars time was in Standard...While it can be a big beatstick, I don't see how you will have enough Mana to make it work.
4 Basking Rootwalla    - Agreed
4 Arrogant Wurm        - 4 Seems too many (Some builds don't run any..Mine for example:) )
4 Wild Mongrel            - Best 2-drop Evar! IMHO
// Card Drawing
3 Deep Analysis          - Cards are good
4 Careful Study          - Drop to 3
// Countermagic
4 Circular Logic          - OK
4 Misdirection             - OK
4 Force of Will            - OK
// Mana Sources
1 Lion's Eye Diamond  - Speed is good
1 Tropical Island         - Up this to at least 2
9 Forest
10 Island
// Sideboard
3 Masticore                - Costs A LOT!!
4 Energy Flux            - You don't mind losing game 1 to Artifact decks..ok
4 Naturalize              - OK
4 Chill                      -ok

You currently have no way of dealing with bigger fat.  Bouncers are amazing...as are Gilded Drakes. Try to fit some bouncers in the main to replace either Roars or Arrogant Wurms (My advice is to axe the Roars)

Dropping one of the Deeps allows you to run GUSH!!!!! which at times will be an amazing game finisher when you draw it.  You can also mess with combat match by using it in the mirror match.

On to the land...Try to acquire at least 2 Deltas and 2 Foothills, they make a difference, subtle but it's still there.

There are still free slots...you have many routes available in U/G, you can (In no particular order):
a) Maindeck Flux - It's blue and pitchable, and gives you strong game against artifact.based.deck.dec
b) Add Stifle - Hoses turn 1 fetches (some good I hear)
c) Add aquamoeba - 4 more outlets for Roots/Logics
d) do other stuff like berserk

Either way, I really have a hard time with the roar crit in the build...and dropped arrogant wurm right off the map of my build.

Currently, the Meta is one of:

"I'll just Cast Doomsday"
"I'll Oath ...Oh look Spirit of the Night...I'm so lucky"
"Turn 1 Trinisphere...wow what a mise"

U/G Answers:
"Doomsday...I'll Logic/FoW that"....assuming you have a hand left
"Nice Oath...Gilded Drake?...Roshambo you for it"
"Trinisphere..ouch...Get to 3 mana and drop Flux..better yet go first and drop it turn 2 (Lack of accelleration) )

Keep up the good work though,
Tetre

For Oath and Stax, the first thing I side out is Wonder.  Evasion is only needed when you get into the Mirror...good point, I think I'll look into a wonderless madness build.

I like Flux, since It causes Stax to start sacking and reverses the first turn acceleration.  Stax can still weld in under a Rod though..so caveat emptor.

Tetre

Doomhed, sorry you don't like the deck

If you read the event report, I bet with the odds in my Stax matchup, and they went against me in what should be one of this decks best matchups  sh*it happens, oh well

It's been a month since that list was valid, newer additions and modifications have been made (Wurms aren't needed for example).

I did try a black splash for Planarvoid in the board, and some tutor effects main....tried is all I did, there wasn't enough gas after the boarding in most matchups (plus the mulligan factor).

Yes, Curiosity has been bumped up, and even some room was made for gold ole Berserk. A new splash gives one of the Oath players in my area fits.

If I had to rate this decks matchups, I'd do it as follows (Testing notes are not in front of me):

Stax  - Better than avg, I've gotten a TON of scoops
Oath - Game 1 mondo tough, after the board, more than 50-50 in your favour
Fish - Fish has a really tough time getting rid of a mongrel, so that's that
TPS/Doomsday - make the right counters and go for a smoke

In pure terms of aggro-control, this is a BLAST to play, runs in 5-proxy domain, and has maindeck hate for the field.  As Steven said, decks need to run at least 5 basic lands to have a chance these days. I agree with that statement.

Turn 2, with acceleration is all about getting the piece of hate you need, critters follow later.

Daze is amazing in the early game, and a turn 2 Rootwater thief makes oath go "oh crap"....I leave it to the audience to figure out where the Rootwater Thief goes. (Hint, Maze of Ith was the single biggest disappointment I had with the build).

Anyway, for a deck that started as a challange to fit Flux and B2B in the main, I had a good time working on it. I've seen people have a crap when a curiosity is cast on a Mongrel, and had Oath players switch decks because they are tired of getting hammered by various builds of madness in our area.  

Like all decks, you must build it to be as consistant as possible, and the board you build makes all the difference.

I keep a madness build in our gauntlet box, because some of the people in the Ottawa meta have started to copy it.  Fish is all but gone in our meta, and has been replaced by the tons of "Drones" tm (Shock_Wave) running either Stax or Oath.  This keeps them on their toes.

Anyways, for those who take up the madness and work on it...great, for those who don't ...that's fine too, magic is suppost to be fun.

Cheers,
Tetre

Interesting,

Have you given any thought to COncordent Crossroads?

A) It's Green
b) It costs 1
c) It's an enchantment
d) You don't wait to "go off"

Cheers,
Tetre

Shawn,

One again, congrats on winning the Lotus.

Are you coming to Ottawa for the Event this Saturday?

Cheers,
Glenn
p.s I want a second chance at you if you play Stax

@ Jazzykat

I have looked around many times while in Vienna (I was there 5 times in the last 8 months), and I didn't find anything.

Let me know if you find anything however. I might even just send you a mail next time before I go over to just have some beers and playtest.

Cheers,
Tetre

http://www.originsgames.com/

The Magic stuff is up

Cheers,
Tetre

p.s. Smemnarch <hehe> I'll have a nametag.

Greetings,

As Origins is about 8 weeks away now, how many people from TMD will be attending?

As there are 4 Type 1 events, I guess that this will be a good chance to see what impact 5th Dawn will have on the environment.

Also, any early bets on the metagame?  Since these will be sanctioned events, do you think that the lack of Proxies will have a huge impact on the decks played?

Cheers,
Tetre