[Report] 1st-place, Somers CT (55 people)

[Whatever Works]

I have been reading articles on the manadrain.com for a long time, and finally decided i would write a tourney report. I was inspired by the great report by PTW so hopfully i can provide some quality information about the deck, and maybe even improve it by posting the list.

I played Germbus (4cControl), but i did not run the usual card for card net-deck that you can find almost card for card in a European top8 list. I cant say that my deck had any metagame choices, because it was my first time to Somers so i prepared for the generic matchups I would have seen had I been going to Waterbury.

4cControl

Mana Base: (The most solid part of the deck it was amazing all afternoon)
(27 Cards)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring

2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 City of Brass
1 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Wastelands
1 Strip Mine

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Cunning Wish

4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Skeletal Scrying
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor

1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mind Twist
1 Balance
1 Time Walk
1 Fire/Ice
2 Swords To Plowshares

3 Exalted Angel
1 Decree of Justice
1 Gorilla Shaman

SB:
2 Flametongue Kavu
3 REB
1 BEB
3 Rack and Ruin
1 STP
1 Disenchant
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Coffin Purge
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Crucible of Worlds

Before i get into the report here are a few explanations on some rather different card choices, or rather the # of cards used.
2 Skeletal Scrying- The number i chose was two, because the card is not always the best early game card, and with testing i found that having three in the deck could put extra stress on the mana base (lame reason for running only two). i also chose to drop the number because running two seemed to be rather sufficient. The number worked perfectly in the tournement though if i had to play another tournement today i would probably raise the number back to three. I realized this right after i submited by deck list, and decided to play the mirror vs. John Longo who i brought with me to the tournement. i lost two of three practice games to him when he made a rather odvious yet interesting point that whoever resolved the first Scrying won.
4 Tundra- Playtesting against the mirror, and heavy playtesting against G/Red showed that four worked better than three, and i notice that even if you have 2 white sources and 1 black source they will take out the white source.
1 Gorilla Shaman- I was the only 4cControl deck to run 1 of these maindeck, and the only deck that didnt run any in the sideboard. Is this the best choice? I dont know but i won the tourney and they didnt, but my choice to use just 1 was because i felt rather confident about my matchups with Slavery/Affinity/Stax.
Crucible of Worlds- I decided to put 1 of these in my sideboard for the Fish/mirror Match, and it was AMAZING. i would like to make very very clear however that it does NOT deserve a spot in the maindeck because a lack of synergy.

The day started with me waking up to 4 alarms and i was picked up by John Longo to go to the tournement. He was playing 4cControl for the first time in a tournement (while i have been playing the deck for over 4 months and had reached the top8 the last 3 times playing the deck). I was blasted by a million questions about what to sideboard against what, and how i would play out specific situations. It was really ennoying, but it helped me when i was playing in the tournement, because i had already explained how to play specific situations that i found myself in during the course of the day. I registered quickly and played a few mirror matches, and lost 2 of 3 games. This really raised my confidence for the tournement.

Round 1: Stompy

Game 1: He lays a forest, and i new immediatly what he was playing. (I watched him beat Ray Robillard (IamFishMan) in a WestCon tourney playing stompy. He went on to play a Birds of paradise and passed the turn. I dont remember exactly how this game played out, but i went Time Walk... Demonic for Lotus... 2nd turn Angel. i swing twice then have it swords away(white was sprinkled in deck for swords/balance it seems). this caught me offguard, but at 25ish life, and on turn 5 i was given a steady mana base to kill with a large decree.
+2 Flametonge Kavu
-1 Cunning Wish
-1 Gorilla Shaman
Game 2: This game was similar, accept the opponent (joe i think?) was mana screwed. he appeared to keep a hand with 2 Bird of Paradise that by turn 3 were both rancor'ed... i had been pretty much ignoring what he cast knowing that it was more of a raise for me to resolve angel. I demonic for a Fire/Ice and kill both birds with 1 card. Resolve angel > Stompy. The guy was very cool as he was at the last tourney, and we wished each other good luck the rest of the way.

Me: 1-0 (2-0)
John L: same deck: 1-0 (2-0) (first round vs. Sui Black --> lucky bastard)

Round 2: RED DECK WINS

Game 1: I kept an opening hand that looked like this:
3 Wasteland
1 Tundra
1 Gorillia Shaman
1 Mox Ruby
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Mind Twist (draw)

I took this hand, and was like WOW I win!!! he plays first drops a mountain, and a jackal pup. I am greatly dissapointed knowing that i am totally screwed, but decide i will try and play the game out knowing that my wasteland suck. the shaman chump blocks, and he quickly goes and lays down more sligh creatures. late game i cast ancestral and he REB's it. I asked him if he forgot to unsideboard, and he said nope i run them maindeck. I give an uncomfortable laugh, and ask him if he plays a Price of Progres to. He laughs and i know he does.
+1 STP
+2 Flametongue Kavu
+1 BEB
+1 Vampiric Tutor (Wanted to be extremely agressive vs. deck)
-3 Wasteland (out of pure dissapointment and anger)
-2 Cunning Wish (whats left to wish for?)

Game 2:

I play first and go Tundra, Sapphire, Timewalk... Next turn i lay down a sac-land, Mox Ruby (top-deck). and play a morphed angel. He takes his first turn trying to cast a lackey and I BEB it. He laughs, and i flip an angel and take over next turn.

Game 3:

The last game was similar to game 2 he over-extended, maybe out of nerves or in reaction from the last game. i balance away 2 lands and 3 creatures leaving an ancestral in hand that leads to a scrying/angel/lotus, and i had a decree in hand.

Me: 2-0 (4-1)
John: 2-0 (4-0) John beat the mirror this round.

Round 3: HULK (table 1)

Game 1: I get to the seat still excited that i am at table 1 (its always a cool feeling no matter how good you are). The guy i was playing against was a really cool guy, with even cooler card sleeves that had dragon artwork on them. I lose the dice roll, and he starts with a jet/underground + ancestral that i had no counter for (he discarded a Deep Analyis. I am now sure that he was playing hulk, i try to resolve an ancestral at the end of his turn he forces it it a deep analysis. the game has a small standoff, as he stalls following 3 strip effects and no black sources. i resolve a cunning wish eventually, and grab vampiric. I grab angel, and resolve it before he resolve tog. He gets a tog on the board 2 turns later, and i drain his desperation Intuition into a decree of Justice.
+3 Reb
-2 STP
-1 Fire/Ice

Game 2

By now my confidence has gone up a bit in what i considered a bad matchup. I understand Zerbus' thought that 1 scrying can be equal to a couple of AK's, but i feel that its hard to resolve bombs like that vs. a deck that outdraws you early game. This game plays out similar to the second game, but it retains a constant land destruction theme. He never gets more then 2 land on the board, and on turn 3 i demonic for a wasteland, and the gorilla shaman has already eaten a couple of moxes. I got a very strong hand, but i was suprised at the ease.

Me: 3-0 (6-1)
John: 3-0 (6-1) (beats Gro-A-Tog)

Round 4: Me vs. John (mirror)

We both had been playing so well we new we would eventually face eachother. we both felt very confident that we could reach the top 8, and decided to draw knowing that we would only have to win 1 of the next 2 rounds to get top 8. we did play a few games and watched the other players at the top table. im glad i drew because it gave me a chance to trade for a chinese BB Mind Twist from Scott Limoges (sp?) who was a very cool guy. He had a match next to me round 1, and was playing the new version of Gro-A-Tog (4 serum visions/Night's whisper vs. landstill. He lost the round because of constant wastelands thanks to CoW, but the deck played much faster then i thought.

Me: 3-0-1 (6-1)
John: 3-0-1 (6-1)

Round 5: Affinity

Game 1:

This guy appears to be more of a type 2 player, and he played his deck incredibly fast as if he was a type 2 player with affinity (forgetting that FoW exists). He plays 4 artifacts turn 1, and ancestrals before i can respond he draws his 3. i tell him to play slower so i can respond to his plays, but i dont call a judge about the ancestral because after turn 1 it looked pretty ugly. I lose turn 3, but i felt ok i could come back and win.
+3 Rack and Ruin
+1 Vampiric Tutor
+2 Flametongue Kavu
+1 Swords
-3 Cunning Wish (bad habit/recurring theme)
-1 City of Ass
-1 Brainstorm (random card i took out that i felt guilty and cried later)
-1 Island (this is just being tired)

Game 2:

1st Turn Shaman off a ruby... play a wastland and cast sol ring.
His first turn consist of a glimmervoid, and a mox which in responce to me eating he sacks it to cast shrapnal blast on the shaman. He then lays down another land (bringing him to 3, and 2 being artifact lands). the next turn i draw into another wasteland, and play an angel before he ever regains control.

Game 3:

This was probably the most interesting game of the 3 where i kept this hand just because of its odvious potential.
2 Rack and ruin
1 Wasteland
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mind Twist
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Brainstorm
(Top card Tundra)
I lacked the red source to play rack and ruin, but i new that i had a very good chance of getting it off the brainstorm (i really only needed to find a black source because i could demonic into a volc/ruby). I ended up brainstorming into an STP/Shaman/time walk. the affinity deck layed down 2 ornithopters first turn with an artifact land playing sol ring. he didnt play anything to big so i felt confident. i stalled for 3 turns using the STP on a myr enforcer. and finally getting the red source and quickly was able to win afterword.

I was kinda freaked out when my opponent started swearing (to himself) after losing, because he was a big guy, but overall he was a cool guy who came back after realizing he wasnt being a good sport and shook my hand not 1 time but 2 times. i told him good luck, and i hoped to see him in the top8.

Me: 4-0-1
John: 4-0-1 (beating Hulk very quickly... opponent skooped to quickly to tell after early angels). you probably see the recurring theme here with similar records.

Round 6: What round 6? we both draw in to top 8 going 4-0-2.

Top 8: Ted with Stacker (from boston very cool guy also undefeated after swiss)

Game 1

Long game where he has very quick start. he goes first turn workshop playing mana vault, and dropping a chalice for 1. then follows up with a metalworker. i play a mox/sol ring and tundra, and take a time walk. i knew the trick to winning the matchup was to try and get alot of permanents on the board quickly. the next turn he lays down a city of traitors, and a trinisphere (bit to late to be extremely effective. under the sphere i hardcasted a lotus and demonic'ed for a decree of justice. during his turn he cast smokestack. i sac an island, and then cycle decree during my mainphase for 6 (stupid but i thought i had a good reason at the time). I beat away, and stall with counter backup till he dies.
+3 Rack and Ruin
+1 Crucible of Worlds (not 100% sure it was good move but never used)
-1 STP
-1 Cunning Wish
-2 random lands (seemed to be no land destruction in deck)

Game 2:

This game was similar to last with me resolving a sol ring and a mox before his 2nd turn trinisphere. only difference was that i was able to rack and ruin... yawgs will to just cast rack and ruin... and cunning wish the next turn to rack and ruin again.

Brackets So Far:

4cControl (Me) beats STAX
Fish Beats Hulk (i think hulk)

4cControl (John) beats Hulk ---> still recurring theme
Gro-A-Tog beats Dragon

Inbetween top 8 and top 4 i spend 15 minutes explaining how the stack worked to John for dragon, but then Dragon (played by walking dude lost). Walking Dude was a very cool guy, but i explained to John that 4cControl has a VERY good matchup vs. dragon.

Top 4: Fish

Game 1

G/Red does its job and acts gay.
+3 REB
+2 FTK
+1 Crucible of Worlds
+1 Vampiric Tutor
+1Skeletal Scrying
-3 Cunning Wish
-1 shaman (i dont no...)
-1 Island
-1 City of Brass (this is shameful)
-1 Brainstorm
-1 Flooded Strand (Damn you stifle even though i found out he only ran 1 maindeck??? no idea why but better for me)

Game 2

I get first turn library. he plays a conclave that i waste during my turn and draw a card. i lay down a mox and sol ring. His turn he wastes my library. By now he has no permanents to my 4. I resolve a Crucible and bring back library and win. Crucible has a place in the sideboard as when it hits play it instantly becomes good, but i considering whether its really worth the slot, but im pretty close to convinced.

Game 3

This game isnt very close. I get turn 2 angel dazed, and then go turn 3 angel and win.

Finals: Gro-A-Tog (Grand Inquisitor)

This is upsetting because i was hoping John would win, but instead he got completely trashed in the semi's. when talking to John he said that he felt like he controlled the game, and then the deck would just go off on him. i got a first hand taste of how that is true, and i also got a slight break. I offered a split, and it wasnt accepted (im not stupid was my thought, after playtesting this was my worst matchup, and i knew it.) the inquisitors reason was based on "principle."

Game 1

This game lasted an hour by itself, and it was possible the shortest game. He gets land screw and through 16 cards of his deck he had hit 2 lands and 1 of them were wasted... i resolved an angel and i took the game. this is a brief summary of the game, but this report is to long already!
+2 FTK
+3 REB
-5 Forgot for now

I seriously asked if he still wanted to split, but he still liked his chances of winning 2 straight and i still didnt feel confident about the matchup.
Game 2

This game was longer, and we both made some key play errors. in short we fought over a few cards forever, and when he had about 15 cards left in his library he took over by resolving a yawgs will, i drain, he force, i force again, and he rebs. he then gets tog/time walk/and he maindecked beserk (im 99% sure).

Game 3

1 and 1/2 hour game, and by time it ends nobody is left to watch cept John whos played 15 games vs. some kid who destroyed 4cControl over and over with some random ankh sligh deck.

Game 3 has a bunch of random plays for the first hour. then magically we find 6 tokens wacking the Grand Inquisitor down to 3 life. i thought i had the game at this point but he had a full hand to my 5 cards. he yawgs, i force and he REBS... does same thing as last game, but was unable to find the mana to lay down time walk and the tog on the same turn (possibly play error, and he most likely would have won but this is inference because i never saw his hand.) he beserks tog at my 3 tokens now (recasting demise etc.) and he scoops knowing his tog has summoning sickness. the guy was cool overall, and had a good sense of humor. so i won!

I end up taking $550 instead of lotus, and me and john celebrate to the roaring applause of ...err.. nobody. the finals lasted 3 hours from 6:00 to about 9:00

Props:
John for running a good deck
Me for winning
the tournement organizers! amazing job! very smoothly run!
my opponents who were very funny and enjoyed the game
Walking Dude for explaining dragon strategy
Grand Inquisitor for messing up

Slops

Inquisitor for making a misplay (come on man your to good for that
Me for sideboarding like a 5 year old
John For only having 1 FTK sideboard

If you have any thoughts/questions/suggestions concerning the deck i woudl be happy to hear em. if you read this whole thing you need a life, and you cant tell me to get 1 for writting this much because i already know i dont have a life   .

[PandaPokemon]

Congrats on your win.  Sorry for being very quiet in the quarter finals but I was really tired as I played in Cape Cod the night before and I didn't want to make play errors and lose in the Top 8 again due to my own play mistakes. Glad to see you won something this time =P  I was wondering what you thought of my deck.  Is stax a hard matchup for you or did you have just a good draw?

You had Mox Something, Mox Ruby and a Sol Ring first turn to escape the trinisphere and be able to rack and ruin early if I am not wrong both games.  I was wondering if you had experiences with other Stax decks and what your opinion of the matchup was.

PS:  I should have left in Sword of the Ages in the sideboard heh.
PPS: I think you started the first game versus me where you went Mox, Sol Ring Time Walk before the Chalice for 1 was down or else the Sol Ring would be coutnered.  I also have on my sketchy notes that you played the first game first.  This was why I did not play Trinishere first turn as you already had two turns, lots of mana, and I wanted to stop your Mox Monkey.  Oh how I wished I won the die roll  

[Moxlotus]

I don't know how you can be siding out your mana sources, especially against decks packing wastes and decks where you are bringing in three 4-costing creatures.  That just seems like it begs for mana screw.

[Shock Wave]

Long game where he has very quick start. he goes first turn workshop playing mana vault, and dropping a chalice for 1. then follows up with a metalworker. i play a mox/sol ring and tundra, and take a time walk.

??? . The Sol Ring resolved with CotV for 1 in play?  

[Nantuko Rice]

Game 1 of your Top 8... your opponent had a chalice for 1 out and you cast a Sol Ring. If you didn't have that sol ring, do you think you would have been able to defeat the stax palyer who got smokestacks out the next turn? Would your decree and such been large enough?

[Phele]

First: Congrats on the great tourney-result and an even better report. Was really a nice read. I'm trying out Crucible in the 4CC-Sideboard too in the moment and so far has worked pretty well against as you said fish and the mirror. Another 5D-Card I'm testing - but maindeck - is Engineered Explosives instead of the second StP. It weakens your Dragon-Matchup, but seem to improve the rest. Further testing will show.

Some sidenotes: As said before, I don't agree with siding out so many manasources leaving you sometimes with only 24 of them wich is definately not enough for 4CC. Other sometimes better candidates are one Angel, Mind Twist, the Wishes (at least 1/2 of them), sometimes the Balance, StP it depends on the matchup, but as hard it often is in 4CC better keep your hands of the manasources even though you had nice experiences with it this tourney.

And I agree that you messed up a few things in the Stacker-Report. The Sol Ring/CotV thing has already been mentioned and I would like to add that you sacced an Island to the Smokestack the turn after i came into play, what is not possible.

However, again: Great Report with a great deck!

[Whatever Works]

Long game where he has very quick start. he goes first turn workshop playing mana vault, and dropping a chalice for 1. then follows up with a metalworker. i play a mox/sol ring and tundra, and take a time walk.

??? . The Sol Ring resolved with CotV for 1 in play?  

ack!!! that was an error in the report i think. I knew i played sol ring in 1 of the 2 games, and being my notes were sloppy i must have mixed up what i did in which game. instead of the Sol Ring it must have been a 2 mox hand. i knew that i had good acceleration both games though, and i know that the Stax player wouldnt let me get away with playing sol ring with chalice (i accidently cast brainstorm with chalice and had been corrected once).

To answer Ted's question about the 4cControl matchup vs. Stax i would have to say that 4cControl has a slight edge, but having ALOT of play experience vs. the deck helps. I dont want to start a flame war by posting %'s, but if i had to i would say about 50/50 first game, and 60/40 for 4cControl after sideboarding. Yes i had good hands btw

The entire matchup is based on a few things happening in the matchup vs. any artifact deck to be broad. having as many permanents on the board as you can as 4cControl player helps.

Stax wins if:
1.) get turn 1 trinisphere
2.) get turn 1 tanglewire (and have decent good hand)
3.) resolve a chalice for proper # (3 is best late game imo) stops wish/Rack and ruin.

4cControl wins if:
1.) good opening hand (good is determined on how permanent heavy)
2.) 1st turn shaman + 1 or more wastelands in first 2 turns
3.) hand with moxes/lotus/sol ring etc... if u can cast wish before any lock occurs your in really good shape.

In my testing of Engineered Explosives it has been either really good or really bad (kinda like isocron scepter (sp?) was in alot of decks). I found that the card was in my hand, and i often didnt want to cast it because i wouldnt be able to counter anything afterword, or that i would rather play something more broken. I was dissapointed alot with the card because even when it did resolve i wouldnt have the mana afterword to hit the targets that i would usually want to hit, and would have rather just preffered a swords. STP seems like the better metagame choice atm vs. the darksteel 11/11 that just keeps getting more and more play, and vs. the first turn lackey, dragon, early dryad etc... the list goes on...

Concerning dropping/adding mana in the board:

i was running 27 mana sources, and it seemed to be more then ennough in curtain matchups, i usually took land out in matches where the opponents had no strip effects. my reasoning isnt amazing for this, but i tested the deck with as few as 24 sources and it ran fairly well (would never play that few in a tourney.) knowing i could drop 3 lands effectively, and being extremely tired i said whatever and dropped them. I at times was over agressive sideboarding (fish/Red Deck Wins), but i did that because i wanted to raise my threat density if that makes any sense? i knew after losing game 1 that i would have to X amount of things by turn 3 if i was going to win, and i chose to drop lands. I usually face more control matchups where i could drop a swords, but against those 2 matchups if i had a 4th angel sideboard i would of put 1 in instead of taking 1 out.

2 Flametongue Kavu in the sideboard worked great, but i might move the # up to 3, because of its quality in almost every creature matchup. I will have to reconsider what to take out.

[skecreatoR]

Good report.

I would rather next time, though, that you actually wrote a LOT about the finals (especially versus such an opponent as G.I.(Btw dude! PM Me - I keep forgetting it!)) instead of just writing a few lines. Who cares about stompy, fx, anyway?

I was wondering, what is the point of you siding in BEB? This makes sense in the way that you had 3 tutors (Mystical, Vampiric, Demonic) and no Cunning Wish. Is that play smarter, as now you have it MD and still 3 search engines to get it, but with Wish you have a whole bunch of possible solutions. Why play transformational sideboard when you don't want to use it?

[BigChuck]

What were the prizes for 2-8?

[JDawg13]

I'm not sure what the prizes for 2-4 were, but all I know was that the prizes for the rest of the top 8 were TERRIBLE.  I stayed for the first round of top 8 as one of my friends was playing.  He ended up losing and got for his effort a SINGLE pack of Fifth Dawn, or its 3 dollar equivalent in trade.  I was absolutely dumbfounded by this fact, especially considering the tournament on Cape Cod the night before was able to give back entry fee to everyone that top 8'ed, and their turnout was considerably less than this one.  Additionally, this same "prize" was given out to everyone all the way down to 18th place.  How does that make sense?  The 5th place player who busted his ass and made top 8 gets the same prize as someone that, comparatively, scrubbed out?  I was very disappointed in this prize structure and hope for better in the future.

[Zherbus]

Excellent report!

[PandaPokemon]

Yeah I am sure I wouldnt have let him got away with the Sol Ring chalice for one. =P I remembered in the first game I had (from the best of my memory)

Workshop, Mana Vault, Chalice, Trinisphere, Metalworker, 2 other cards.  

Seemed a pretty good hand, till he timewalked and put down a Sol Ring before I could start ramping his mana to like 5 I think.  That is when I put the chalice down for one.

Second game, I went first but did not have the Trinisphere in my first 7.  I drew into it in the second turn, which by then he had about 5 mana as well. =(

Yeah he drew very well too.  When I was going to lock him down with Tangle Wire Smokestack, he drew into his only decree and we all know how I like decree. =P

Edit : Yeah I got only a pack as a prize and the cards were so expensive I think I could have maybe only gotten a foil land for trade. =(

[Whatever Works]

What were the prizes for 2-8?

1st = Lotus
2nd = Booster Box
3rd/4th = split 20 booster packs
5-8 = 1 pack each?

I realized that i put more analysis into the first couple rounds then i did into the later rounds (especially the finals) this was probably out of exhaustion, and writing reports that long are sad. i will make a post later today with a much more exstensive report of the finals, because those were the 3 most exciting games i have ever played, and also the longest.

[Dante]

I'm not sure what the big deal here is....with the exception of some well publicized, big-ass tournaments, prizes for 5th-8th place is usually not-so-hot or non-existent.

Bill

EDIT - to put that in perspective, top 8 out of 55 is the top 15% of the field.  Placing there is good, but it's not like "wooooo I'm in the top 15% I should get a big prize"

[Whatever Works]

Good report.
 Why play transformational sideboard when you don't want to use it?

It's great to have a tranformational sideboard game 1, and i really like my sideboard. It played out alot better than i made it seem in the report. I used every card at least 1 time (with the acception of disenchant that is good in the random matchups).

My view on the sideboard is that you got alot of answers, but realistically your only wishing for 2 cards consistently. Scrying/Vamp. You grab scrying to break a game open, and you grab vamp if your in big trouble to grab a balance or yawgs will to just win if your playing something that isnt blue (which is rair).

This may be a poor reason, but it made alot of sense at the time, and ended up working great as seen in the match. I put it in because i was talking out the wishes, because they were just to slow in the matchup. When a player runs maindeck REB's and 4 Price of Progress i was just scared of tapping out ever. So i thought that if i had that much mana out to cast a cunning wish he could probably deal me in the 6-10 damage range. I decided to go with alot of tutors to make sure i could get an angel/decree on the board fast, and i left my wastelands untaped most of the time in case he used PoP (so i could waste my own lands in responce to save 4 damage).

The Affinity matchup i didnt give alot of detail on, but the decklist was most similar to Rosseta's (Sp?) who has done alot of work on the deck for this forum. The deck was very fast, but post sideboard it just gets crushed. The deck has been rather easy to hate out, and the hate can target almost any of there permanents. while affinity has not found much to prevent this accept BEB etc.

I'm not sure what the big deal here is....with the exception of some well publicized, big-ass tournaments, prizes for 5th-8th place is usually not-so-hot or non-existent.

The tourney organizers made almost nothing, but were very hospitable. Top4 got relatively good prizes considering, and with the raising price of power, (and booster packs) its hard to expect them to give away more then the lotus (that to save them the hastle of finding another sold back to them for $550), and 2 booster boxes.

I would also like to point out that the same people are running 2 more of these tourneys over the next 2 months or so. They will happen in the same place, and the next one will occur in a little under a month. The tourney ran incredibly smoothly, and top 8 started at 5:00 (and in my case ended at (9:30) lol. The Lotus was in great shape, and this suprised me because most lotus prizes that are for tourneys usually in awful condition. This tourney would be a great warmup tourney for GenCon too.

[Dante]

I'm not sure what the big deal here is....with the exception of some well publicized, big-ass tournaments, prizes for 5th-8th place is usually not-so-hot or non-existent.

The tourney organizers made almost nothing, but were very hospitable. Top4 got relatively good prizes considering, and with the raising price of power, (and booster packs) its hard to expect them to give away more then the lotus (that to save them the hastle of finding another sold back to them for $550), and 2 booster boxes.

right, my point was directed at the people who were upset at the 5th place and below prizes....

Top 8'ing in a 55 person tournament is good, but it's not like it deserves a real prize.  That's what things like 1st and 2nd are for, maybe 3rd and 4th.  When you've got good prize support like a lotus and $550, what more do you want?

[PandaPokemon]

I would have personally preferred not a pack from 5-18 but perhaps slightly more for those who topped 8.  I admit the prize support was decent overall and understand they were probably trying to make as many people happy.  But having some slight prize differential between 8th to 18th would have made me feel better. =P  The superb prize support that Cape Cod had the day before was also fresh in my minds perhaps.  Everyone who topped 8 got their money back.  (Or maybe I am just bitter because the past 3 top 8s I played, I have lost to the deck who got #1 eventually heh)

Also the prices of the cards were really high probably because they thought they were the only dealer on site.  I tried to support the dealer by buying cards from them, but some of the stuff I feel were really priced way out there.  The organiser was pretty well organised and had the tourney started promptly which was really good.

[Whatever Works]

Regardless of my result in the tourney I was able to notice a few things that might be relevent at Gencon. The new GAT versions were very impressive, and i must say ALOT faster then they look on paper. the Grand Inquisitor who i played in the final was the only version i noticed that ran mana drain.

I feel that by adding mana drain your trading speed for consistency, but when you consider that GAT (with mana drain) can play as a combo deck some games, a control deck other games, and then play the early aggro is what sets it ahead of so many other decks in the format. Over the weekend i was able to test both versions, and dropping the mana drains adds speed though im not exactly sure how much it really helps the deck.

I did a guantlet with both decks and got these results using a GAT list similar to Eastmans, and then a list that i considered close to Grand Inquisitors (with 4 mana drain and 4 Night's whispers though im not sure he ran 4 of them) I did this to get an overall idea of the power of the GAT decks with the new aditions from 5th dawn.

Here is a list of testing where i tested both decks and put which version had the better results vs. the deck. These with rather typical lists, and havent tested actual card choices yet. I am looking forward to see the top8 lists, because i am a fan of the Grand Inquisitors build that was very strong, and very very explosive with a strong late game (that the versions without drain didnt have by testing).

4cControl: GAT + drains
FCG: GAT (no drains)
HULK: GAT + drains
Workshop Slavery: Push (without drains slightly better)
Drain Slaver: Push (with drains slightly better)
Fish: GAT (no drains, but both did pretty well in testing)
Landstill: GAT + drains
Dragon: GAT + drains

[Pest]

you shoulda done a mirror of Gat w/ Drains vs. GAT w/o Drains to see which one was better in the mirror. This is one of my all-time favorite decks and I love it to death, and I hate to see Drain taken out of it.

Anyways, congrats on the high finish. I love the SB btw, it's so tight. FTK is my MVP of the SB, well that and REB. What did the MD Fire/Ice do for you? Did it really help alot? I usuallylike having the one in the SB because it's an easy wish Target. Aso, how does only playing 2 Scrying MD do for you? It just doesn't seem like enough and I'm surprised you did so well in the mirror with only 2, but maybe I'm just talking out of my ass.

[Whatever Works]

. What did the MD Fire/Ice do for you?

Maindeck fire/ice was poor at times, but also was great at other times. I never had a chance to face any Slaver matchups, but that was the matchup i like to have it maindeck again. The card is great against FCG/Random.dec but then again i have a very good matchup against both of those decks to begin with.

Aso, how does only playing 2 Scrying MD do for you?

It worked very well actually, and i believe in most matchups 2 is a very viable number. However, that is against only some matchups. I personally didnt like getting scrying aton early game, and was a real irriation so i dropped the # down. Getting scrying in the opening hand is almost like getting yawgs will opening hand. I think to myself "ya, this is a broken card... to bad it wont do crap for me until turn 3+." following this i often put it 2 cards down with a brainstorm.

Running 2 in the deck lowers that problem and helps for a more consistant early game against a good portion of the field, but i am going to be forced to go back up to 3, because having a 3rd has been very beneficial in the mirror match, and against tog. the 3rd scrying after further testing after the tourney is needed because they help you in the harder matchups where cards like fire/ice wont.

the mirror match with 4cControl is basically the first person to resolve a Scrying for more then 4 cards wins.

I love the SB btw, it's so tight

thank you, and i still believe its the best sideboard currently for an *Uknown* metagame.

[TheBrassMan]

First off, congratulations on the win.  I had to leave early, but I was hoping you or John would go all the way.  

Onto buisness... My Hulk's pretty metagamed for control, and most people are saying that it's a favorable matchup for the Tog deck, but John (who was playing the same list as you more or less, right?) beat me up in the Top 8.  One of the games was a very poor mulligan decision on my part, but game three the deck just out-powered me.  You both seemed to do pretty well against Hulk in the Swiss, too.  I'm curious, what's your board plan look like against Hulk, and how do the matchups usually play out?

[Whatever Works]

My Hulk's pretty metagamed for control, and most people are saying that it's a favorable matchup for the Tog deck

In the tournement me and John went 4-0 vs. Hulk, but i still believe that it usually a very tough matchup for 4cControl. The games almost ALWAYS play out in one of the scenarios

1.) Hulk outdraws 4cControl early and combos out before 4cControl can stabalize.
2.) Hulk resolves intuition at some point late game while holding off an angel (either counters/ghastly demise etc.) and grabs Deep Analysis then wins.
3.) 4cControl gets a fast angel that somehow resolves gains 8+ life, and makes it incredibly hard for Hulk to come back, because they using alot of there card advantage searching for an answer.
4.) 4cControl makes up for early draw by hulk with a large skeletal scrying or a fact or fiction (often off mana drain). from that point on card advantage is nullified and keepers cards are usually just more broken.

In short 4cControl has to really be agressive vs. Hulk or has to resolve a bomb in order to win hulk matchup (in most scenarios) the strip effects also give the deck a better chance, because of hulks weak mana base.

This arguement kind of hurts my own reasoning for not running a 3rd maindeck scrying, but i realized that to be the scenario a week ago.

Sideboarding vs. Hulk you usually put in something along the lines of...
+3 REB
-2 STP
-1 Wish (well i would at least) or -1 Land (due to no strip effects)

FTK i usually dont side in, because good players play the tog the turn before they win, and time walk. so FTK is usually a dead card even though some (not many) argue that it forces to players to discard cards from there hand. again if they have so many cards to discard then they are either way ahead or will counter... so i dont see the point of adding the card in personally.

Hope this information helps you prepare for 4cControl in the future. but if playing vs. the deck i find playing togs agressively after game 1 is effective because 4cControl players sideboard out STP.

[Shades]

Your SB plan seems okay, but I have a problem with leaving Cunning Wish in the deck but not being able to fetch an REB with it. I often play Cunning Wish just to get REB to protect my next big draw spell.

My SB plan with your Sb would simply be:

-2 StP
+2 REB


I was wondring if Crucible is useful in this matchup, too, but I dont think so...


Have you already tested Engineered Explosives instead of Fire/Ice or one StP in the main? I think they are definatley worth a look at.

[Whatever Works]

I was wondring if Crucible is useful in this matchup, too, but I dont think so...

You are 100% correct Crucible is usually not a helpful card in this matchup, and this also helps my other arguement that Crucible does not deserve a maindeck spot, because it can be dead wait. I would rather be playing an angel. or a cunning wish at the EOT in most scenerios.

Have you already tested Engineered Explosives instead of Fire/Ice or one StP in the main?

Yes i have done a little testing with the card (in the STP spot), and i have had very mixed results. I personally preffered running the STP, because it can deal with alot of things that Engineered Explosives cant deal with. I have found that Engineered Explosives can get stifled, and can be occasionally slow.

I preffer STP for the main reason that it can take out any creature, and is an excellent answer vs. dragon, (faster vs. welder/lackey/lavamancer/etc.)
Also consider that i know explosives can take out multiple cards at 1 time, but then again there arent that many cards that really affect 4cControl that much. Null rod, and other hate cards for curtain deck usually dont impact 4cControl, and i find rack and ruin a more efficent option. however, i do feel that engineered explosives has potential.