Hello and welcome to my report. My name is David Feinstein, and I'm a type 1 noob. Someway, somehow, after the 8 rounds of swiss at Waterbury, I was sitting in first place. This is my story....
Let's say you own absolutely no power, but you've been given the chance to borrow all of it plus have access to anything else you wanted to incorporate into a type 1 deck the day before a giant tourney. What would you play?
You would play Oshawa stompy, right? RIGHT? Good, because the above scenario was mine and that's what I chose to play. I didn't play a tried and true form of stompy either... no sir, I turned it into a glorified draft deck. When I was done building my version of stompy, half of the deck and sideboard came straight out of mirrodin block. Why would I want to turn an already "terrible" (more on this later) T1 deck into an even more terrible deck? Simple, when you do over 300 drafts and go green in 99.999999 percent of them, your whole life starts to turn green. You look at everything and everyone from a green perspective. You might call my condition 'Andy Stokinger Syndrome,' or A.S.S. This syndrome can have debilitating effects, such as wearing green shirts to magic tourneys without even conciously making the decision to do so. So because I was under the influence of A.S.S., I made the decision to go O stompy at 2 AM in the morning the day of the tourney. I go to sleep that night knowing that one day, my green bias will overcome me and take my life. Maybe a tree will fall on me or I'll succumb to a rabid squirrel.
So I wake up fresh as a daisy, or in my case, rusty as a memnarch, and call upon everyone's favorite atog and mini-van driver extraodainaire, Rich Shay. Just before Rich leaves to pick me up for the tourney, I give him a call...
Me- "Hi Rich!" Rich- "Hi Memnarch! What did you decide on playing today?" Me- "Well, I need you to grab some things for my deck before you leave" Rich- "Sure, what do you need?" Me- "Well, I need some null rods and basking rootwallas..." Rich- "You're going with UG madness. A fine choice..." Me- "I also need squees, suvival of the fittest, and root mazes." Rich, in worried tone of voice- "I see where this is going..."
*hangs up phone*
An hour later and Rich picks me up. What do you get when you put together an atog, a memnarch and a mini-van? Bad timez. Well, it would have been if I let Rich drive. I graciously offered to drive the entire way and back, even if I got so tired that I couldn't keep my eyelids open. I didn't make this offer because I'm a nice guy, or because I'm a cheap Jew who doesn't want to chip in for gas and makes up for it by driving... I made this offer because very few things scare me in this world, but Rich Shay's driving is one of those things. So we're off, and not surprisingly, we have absolutely no goddamn clue where we are headed within a mere 20 minutes into the trip. I thank Mapquest, once again, for that. An hour and a half later off some good guesswork and we arrive. We go inside and it's crammed. Rich wasn't able to come up with some of the needed materials for my deck. Whether he didn't have them because he genuinely didn't own them, or he didn't have them because he explicitly hates the color green, is up for debate. Some last minute borrows and I'm still short some cards, but I make due and come up with this absolutely amazing masterpiece:
Draft Deck Stompy:
3 Oxidize
2 Troll Ascetic
3 Survival of the dead card, I mean fittest
3 Null rod
3 Squee. goblin nabob
4 Arrogant wurm
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
4 RIVER MVP BOA!
4 Elvish spirit guide
4 Hidden Gibbons
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Bazzar of Baghdad
12 Forest
Sideboard (made with only the freshest mirrodin limited ingredients)-
2 Viridian Shaman
2 Oxidize
3 Viridian Zealot
2 Troll Ascetic
1 Survival of the Fittest
2 Root Maze
3 Spike Feeder (What can I say, I'm terrible)
This deck is clearly not in optimal form, and since this tourney I tweaked it to include even more mirrodin draft first picks. So while I chose to go with stompy, Rich decided to play Control Slaver...
oh wait, no he didn't. At the last minute he randomly decides to forego the deck that made him famous and instead play a deck featuring...
Sundering Titans. At this point I suspect that I may not be the only one in the room who was influenced on their deck choice by their first pick draft preferences. Upon being asked why he choice to go '7/10 split,' Rich replied "I wanted to go beatdown today." Our tourney results would end up varying...
So onto the actual tourney. 150+ people showed up for this tourney. It started promptly. Before I go any further I must thank the TO, Ray. This man is very very very very very good at organizing tourneys. I'm not going to go into great depth on most of my rounds because I don't remember all of the details. I don't even remember some of my opponents names and might even mess up the order of who I played what round. So if I do any of the above I would like to note that all of my opponents were fun to play against.
Round 1- ??? with Food chain Goblins
He was about 14 and had his friend watching with him. When he dropped the taiga and mox ruby game 1 I inwardly frowned. Food chain goblins can be a very tough matchup for stompy, unless they drop a turn 1 sylvan library. Now if I wanted to be a real prick, I could make fun of a casual kid playing a sylvan library on turn 1 in food chain goblins. I will do so now:
Just kidding.
He actually seemed like a very competent player and the rest of the decklist looked to be fine. He didn't seem to get very optimal draws so I just ran over him. This seemingly good fortune against FCG would come back later on...
1-0
Round 2- Justin Tussi with workshop slaver
This guy was really cool and I would end up talking with him throughout the day. Game 1- He chalices for 2 but I take care of it with oxidize a few turns later. I start laying threats but the chalices et me back enough to where he set up a pentavus + double welder combo and I scoop. I side out survival of the fittest. Game 2- I'm stuck on one land but my hand is a bunch of hidden gibbons, oxidizes and rootwallas. I start laying them one by one and he sets up a chalice for two. I remain stuck on one land for the rest of the game but he activated some gibbons and subsequently dies to them. Game 3- I get a good start with oxidizes and some beaters. He goes to a low life fast but gets out a platinum angel. I get rid of it and start going after him again with little green men. He is forced to block with his summoning sick goblin welder in order to survive. He'll be dead on my next turn unless he pulls something out of his buttocks... he plays wheel of fortune with a workshop and island left untapped. "Only one thing that can save me now", he says. We discard our hands, his which was empty and mine that contained 2 more oxidizes, and draw 7 new cards. "Here it is", he says. He drops another workshop and has exactly enough to play his SECOND platinum angel. Wonderful. Shortly after time is called and I'm forced to dig for answers to clear his angel. I try to shaman it and it's countered. On turn 2-3 of extra turns I topdeck my last oxidize and it resolves. He dies on turn 5 of extra turns.
2-0
Round 3- Ethan?? with Hulk tog
I wish I was positive his name was Ethan, because this was another person who I talked with throughout the day after our match.
Game 1- He draws something like 14-15 extra cards in the first 8 turns but can't find and answer to 2 boas. I sideboard out survival of the fittest. Game 2- He is landscrewed and I run over him.
3-0
Round 4- Really Happy Guy with Workshop Slaver
This guy was very very friendly and smiled alot. His name might have been Jason, but I'm going to call him really happy guy because he smiled alot even when he got completely and utterly land screwed. In both games he drew a total of 3 lands and I had a wasteland or strip mine ready both times. This was unbelievably unlucky for him and I felt bad, but he really took it well and it was a pleasure to meet him. This just in, Survival of the fittest was sideboarded out.
4-0
Round 5- Eli Kasis with Dragon
I had the chance to actually put ground seals in the board before the tourney, but I didn't actually think dragon would be making a competitive appearance. Round 1 I saw eli playing next to me with dragon and realized I was wrong. Eli Kasis is a very very very skilled type 1 player. I watched him play Rich in the top 4 at Stokinger's tourney. Eli was playing tog in that tourney and despite the fact that tog is a cakewalk for control slaver, Rich BARELY beat him in 3 tight games. Sitting across from this man round 5 did not exactly thrill me. He's very polite and quiet, but had that intense hardcore type 1 player aura around him.
Game 1- I drop little men and he can't seem to the combo together. The turn before I kill him he decides to necromancy a dragon into play with only dragons being in his graveyard. He now informs me that this game is a draw. Since Worldgorger dragon isn't green and I never drafted with it, I call over a judge to explain why the game is suddenly a draw. After a lengthy explanation on the stack (I am such a noob), I agree with my opponent and we're onto game 2. I sideboarded out survival of the fittest. Game 2- He's land screwed and I run over him. Game 3- I lay little men and he gets out 2 active bazzars. He's drawing boatloads of cards but can't draw a black mana source. He drew thirteen extra cards in the first 5-6 turns of the game but just couldn't find it. He became very frustrated at losing this match, and I can't really blame him. He's a far more experienced T1 player and his deck should theoretically own me. I fully expected him to make it to the elimination rounds and wished him good luck. A few minutes later, I walk by and overhear his girlfriend say the following to him: "That guy was terrible. I can't believe you lost to that." It's not easy being green.
5-0
At this point, I'm informed that I get a prize for beating Eli, since he was the highest placing person to show up from the last mana drain tourney and I was the first person to beat him. They then announce this over the loud speaker, and Ray points to me. A bunch of people look at me and I shout out the first thing that comes to my mind. "I love type 1." A brilliant man am I.
Round 6- Michael Sanchez with broodstarrunner
Michael reminds me very much of myself. He just started playing type 1, is serious about the format but not to the point where he's hardcore, and most importantly, he's also running a glorified mirrodin draft deck.
Game 1- He parises but drops mana vault and metal worker turn 1. I die shortly thereafter. I sideboarded out survival of the fittest. Game 2- I get the jump on him but he gets another nut draw with tangle wires and myr enforcers. This game was close but shamans and zealots seal it for me. Game 3- He parises into a first turn juggernaut but I have the oxidize ready. He plays another juggy soon after but I once again oxidize it. After that I win with boas on the board and shamans in my hand.
6-0
Round 7- Franco with control slaver
I offered Franco the draw, but it turns out he got paired up to me and didn't want to draw because he already had one. Unsure of being able to make it in on a 5-0-3 record, he opted to play which I understood and respected. Game 1- I get out some little men but I'm low on lands. He gets out a quick active slaver and slavers me twice. He had the chance to do it three times but was running very low on artifacts to sac to welder. His last choice was a mox, and since it was one of only 4 mana sources left on the board, he chose to pass the turn. As soon as he says go I topdeck a nullrod, play it and win comfortably. Normally if you're mindslavered twice in a row, you lose. Against stompy, that just doesn't happen. It's usually just a missed attack step, as was the case here.
As I begin to sideboard out my survival of the fittests, I decide to offer him a draw because he seemed like a nice guy and I was in no matter what. I basically told him that he was my best possible matchup in this room and if he chose to play out the other games he was probably going to lose. He mulls it over for a few seconds then shakes my hand and we draw. I'm such a nice memnarch.
6-0-1
Round 8- Guy with ugly French beret, playing keeper
Ok ok, I knew exactly who this was going into the match. Carl 'I'm so hardcore I play with barbed wire stuck in my back' Winter was my final opponent. We were both in win, lose or draw, so we agreed to draw.
At this point, I embark on a wonderful journey through the streets of waterbury. I chose to go to Mc Donald's and told Rich I was going. He was using my goblin deck in a type 2 tourney, so I offered to get him food. He accepted the offer but wouldn't me the keys to his mini-van, since apparently I'm a much more dangerous driver than him *SARCASM*
So I'm forced to hoof it. I inform Ray Robillard of my journey to fast food so I'm covered in case I make it back to the top 16 late. Thank god I talked to Ray before I left... 5 blocks later and there is one very exhausted memnarch on the streets of Waterbury, huffing and puffing. I have no goddamn clue where I am and luckily decide to stroll into a Shaw's plaza where, lo and behold, a McDonald's lies on the furtherest end of the plaza. Like an oasis in a mirage, I slowly approach this wonderous golden arch. I order my food, then get directions back to the tourney site. The directions were as follows- "Go straight down that right for 2 lights and you're there." Silly memnarch, directional skill is for kids.
My trek back to the site was 20 minutes faster than my trek to McDonalds, and the total time to get there and back was 45 minutes. As I walk into the building, Kerz informs me that they've started and I have a match loss. My face starts to go red and I'm ready to go aggro on something, but this dude that looks like an undercover cop out of the Beastie Boy's "Sabotage" video informs me that Kerz was just kidding, and that they just started and I'm fine. Upon further inspection, this man, who I mistakenly thought went by the name Cochese, turned out to be Eastman. I thanked him, swore at Kerz and went back into the tourney prepared to go out in a blze of forests.
6-0-2
It turns out I came into top 16 as the first seed. Ray decided to make this tourney top 16 in order to keep people from attending another lotus tourney later that day. This was a brilliant strategy and I commend him for it. The downside was that since it's now top 16 instead of top 8, I have to play an extra round to be guaranteed any power. So I face seed number 16....
Top 16- Tom with Food chain goblins
He was super nice and I was super exhausted. As he laid the taiga, my hopes and dreams of a piece of power started to evaporate. Sadly, he lays no turn 1 sylvan, instead opting for a goblin lackey. He come out with more little red men but I manage to hold him off with some arrogant wurms. He lays a food chain and I brace for the worst. Then the recruiter comes down and the end is near... or is it? Apparently, he stacked his deck backwards so that the ringleader came up last. This ended up costing him the game because he drew the ringleader far too late and the 4 cards he flipped over were all lands. Game 2- Oh wait, I have to sideboard something out. Hey look, survival of the fittest! In- spike feeders, because I don't really have anything else, or so I thought. Game 2- He is tied up on 2 lands for a very, very long time and I manage to strip one of them away. While I'm doing this I bazzar up a storm of cards, but never see squees or Arrogant wurms. He manages to draw some moxen and actually comes back from a game that I had in the bag.
So now we're going into game 3, having both won a game where the other guy should have won. As I look at my sideboard, I go for a very unorthodox strategy. I take out the spike feeders and bring in the oxidizes. Zealots and shamans also went in. My thinking was this:
The matchup is horrible and I'm only going to get him off attacking the mana source. Even then he'll probably have prospectors to mise out of it, but I really have no other choice here. Hidden gibbons is terrible against him so in come all of these great mirrodin draft picks.
Game 3- I drop a forest and a basking rootwalla. he does taiga sol ring. I oxidize it, drop a guy and say go. He draws and says good. At this point, I do a little dance, make a little love and get down tonight.
As if it couldn't get better, I draw a wasteland and nuke the taiga. I win shortly thereafter.
7-0-2
At this point, I'm guaranteed a piece of power since at worst I get 5th, and 5th gets a timetwister. I'm looking forward to playing top 8 since it's apprently a bunch of sardines. Of course, instead of playing one of those fishy people I get...
ANOTHER FOOD CHAIN GOBLINS?! WHAT THE FIZZLE.
Jeff Zheng?- Food chain goblins
Jeff is tom's teammate, and as soon as he sits down I'm aware that I can't win. He told me that he was rooting for me to win, because his version of food chains is more aggro than Tom's and therfore it's more favorable. Let me make something clear: As long as you aren't running sylvan library in your food chain deck, your matchup is favorable against stompy. Basically I crack 100 million jokes since at this point I've assembled quite a large crowd around me and since I know I'm going to lose, I might as well grandstand :-p Jeff makes short work of me, and I wish him goodluck in the top 4.
7-1-2
I end up 5th and get my unlimited timetwister from Ray and my foil Karn from Jeff, both excellent people might I add. I'm ready to go home, but before before I do, I ridicule Rich for a couple minutes about his deck choice. For those who care, he ended up 3-3 drop. Silly, silly atog. :-p As much as I don't want him to drive home, I literally am about to collapse so I begrudgingly let him man the wheel. Twenty minutes into our ride home he's hit the brakes like 10,000 times, and an hour later he's riding the ass of some random cabby. After he misses the exit to providence, I force him to pull over and take over driving at 1 am. I drive the rest of the way back, and shockingly, we almost die when Rich actually isn't the one driving. Some jackoff truckdriver chose to cut ahead of us and came flying into our lane, forcing me to swerve into a guardrail. *dramatic pause* Luckily, I don't lose control of the wheel and somehow manage not to actually crash into anything. Memnarch and Atog live on! I beep the horn about 1,000 times at the retard. Who tries to manuver around cars when he's piloting a big-rig? SERIOUSLY?!
Anywho, I get home around 3ish and sleep soundly. Aww.
I'd like to thank Ray for his professionalism on running an amazing run tourney. I'd also like to thank him for being a cool guy. I'd also like to thank all of the other very cool people I met for being cool. Of course I have to thank Rich for being an atog. Lastly, but most importantly, I need to thank whatever being it is up in the clouds who decided to lend me a helping hand, because there was definitely some otherwordly force guiding me through those rounds. I'm such a lucksack.
Thanks for reading my report, and remember-
When forced with what to play in type 1, choose the limited deck.
- David Feinstein
