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« on: August 15, 2004, 06:57:27 pm » |
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Table Top Games in Lakewood Washington had a tournament for Black Lotus August 14th.
Beware: The following report is quite long.
Background:
I hear about a 12-proxy Lotus Tournament in Western Washington about an hour south of where I live. I decide to go (secretly wishing it wasn’t SO many proxies as I’m fully powered, but at least this way I don’t need to pick up random cards for SB, etc)
So I wasn't sure what deck to bring to the tournament. Given the madness surrounding crucible in recent days, I was sure that it would be predominant. Hence, as JPMeyer said, I must play a deck that plays it myself. Given the recent SCG tournemnt, and the fact that Fish, and 4cc were big there, I expected to see a lot of them. I have been playing a control deck similar to 4cc in the last few months that my team (Team White Lotus) developed, but I didn't think it had been tuned recently to deal with Crucible, so I decided that I would have to take something else. I had been following the thread about Crushing Chamber in the Open Forum, and i liked what it looked like, so I added it to my list of possible decks to play: Fish, 4cc, Crusher, and Stax(the other deck which I think is a strong contender right now).
The tournament is Saturday morning, and I still haven’t decided what to play. Thursday night I build Fish, Crusher, and 4cc in order to force some casual player friends of mine to test with me. (My teammate is on vacation, and #tmdgame isn’t very busy/you can’t guarantee play quality). I don’t have the cards to build Stax as well, so it drops out of contention as something I can play. I expect a lot of 4cc and Fish at the tourney, and I hope to bring Crusher if I can tune it so that it consistently beats fish, 4cc.
I play test some games against fish, and just roll it. The only game that it wins is one where it gets a nullrod online turn 1. The backup plan of crusher beatdown is hindered by not being able to resolve a crusher due to strips. Besides that, in this matchup, a later null rod can hurt your mana base/ability to use equipment. Bringing in more fat men(trisks/duplicant) may be an idea. In general, not much needs to be done about the matchup though.
I then start playing against 4cc. With my original configuration (using 3 crucibles, and no ravagers), I’m able to win pre-board most of my games, but post board they bring in 3 rack& ruin, a few swords, and maybe disenchant. It’s just too much, and there aren’t enough good threats in the deck. Also, I’m drawing crucible too much, as a 2nd one is totally dead in your hand. The first one didn’t prove spectacular much anyways. I think that crucible may be the weakest part of the deck. I’m not sure what other disruption might prove better though.
So I end up toying around with cutting a nexus, then I try cutting a crucible, which seems ok, but I miss the nexus. Then I decide to add in ravagers because they up the number of threats significantly. Also, my Myr enforcers still cost too much when I have them in my opening hand usually (unless I get an early active genesis chamber), so I cut one of them. After these changes, reverting some of them, and testing, I end up with the list below.
I play the post sideboard match vs 4cc for hours upon end, and end up leaving the QFC that I’m testing @ with my friend at 3:30am. Whoops. I have no idea exactly where the tournament is, if it’s really 1 or 2 hours away, and I’ve been sick recently, so not getting much sleep is a bad idea. I resign to the fact that I may not be able to get up for the tourney in the morning, set my alarm for some ungodly hour (9am), and put it right next to my ear, so I might just get up.
Day of:
*ding ding ding* God this sucks…
I have to interject a story here: I wake up to my cell-phone alarm. I HATE mornings. Can’t stand them. People say good morning, I call them an oxy-moron. Anwyays, so once I was at this restaurant on a date, and I’m talking to the girl and then suddenly I’m just getting pissed at what she’s saying. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just aggravating me. Wait… then it’s ok again… that was weird. A few minutes later… ARGH WTF!!!1!!... wait… it’s ok again. When it happens a third time, I perk up, and I hear this alarm sound going off. We’re sitting by the kitchen, and the fry timer has the same alarm as my cell phone. Apparently I have associated that sound with hell and hatred.
*ding ding ding* turn that crap off.
I get up, print out mapquest directions, go back to sleep for an hour. Then I get up, and leave for the tourney. I arrive at the tourney, say hi to some of my friends, and wander around trying to get a feel for what I’m going to be playing against. I see someone proxying curiosity, about three people registering 4cc, and a guy building dragon. Looks pretty much like what I expected. So I go back over to my friends, and still ponder about what to play: In #themanadrain I had asked people what I should play if I had no idea what the metagame would be like. The answer: a resounding 4cc. We all know it’s a strong deck, and if played right it is brilliant. It also is very fragile though, and I haven’t tested the mirror with it at all. My friends ask what I’m playing, so I tell them I’m considering Timmy.dec or 4cc. One of them says he wants to see it, so I tell him I’ll play a game so he can watch. Depending on how that game goes, either I’ll play Timmy.dec or I’ll play 4cc. I get a hand that just dumps 2 frogmites on the first turn w/ a genesis chamber and an active skullclamp. Two turns later the game is over. My friends all like it, and say go for it, so I borrow some of the stuff I don’t have, get my ravagers from my car (they were proxied as tangle wires at first… some guy is like “How are you swinging with a tangle-wire… I’m so confused� while watching that test game), and I register my deck. I pay my 20$ and think to myself that I’m throwing it to the wind, I can’t believe what I’m doing, lets hope it works out…
Deck Name: Crusher
Deck Name Origin: I registered it as: Business.dec aka: Mono-Brown-Aggro (MBA):: Business… yea it isn’t great, but it’s why I registered as Business.dec. I think Crusher is a better name. Crushing Chamber is too long. Henceforth I’ll be calling it Crusher.
Decklist:
Mana Base: 28
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
4 Mishra's Workshop
3 Ancient Tomb
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Crucible of worlds
Utility: 16
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Memory Jar
4 Skullclamp
4 Cranial Plate
3 Genesis Chamber
Threats: 17
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Crusher
4 Frogmite
3 Myr Enforcer
2 Ornithopter
Total: 61
SB:
4 serrated Arrows
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Tormod's Crypt
2 Triskelion
1 Duplicant
The tournament has 56 people, but I don't know what % of decks played. Decklist registration was required, so these numbers may become available.
Before the first round there were 2 repairs because of some problems w/ the DCI software.
Round 1 vs Chris: With 4cc
Chris is a cool guy that I met at PT Seattle playing some Type 1, and I can’t remember how we met. Before the game he shows me “you traded me this,� and pulls out an unlimited Tundra from his deck. Hmm, looks like I’ll be playing against 4cc, we’ll see how this goes. Anyways, we get to playing, and here’s how the games went:
Game 1: I try to limit his mana development of white/red because I know that rack/ruin, and swords are my enemy. He counters a few threats, and I'm beating him down for 2 a turn with a frogmite while being bolted by my own mana crypt repeatedly (Crypt hates me). He balances a turn after I resolve a ravager. I eat my own mana crypt, and he loses all but 1 of his lands. I resolve an ornithopter next turn, which hits him w/ a leftover cranial plate for 6. Next turn he fires the ornithopter when I attack, and I resolve another. He has no answer, and my plated thopter finishes him off.
No SB changes.
Game 2: He goes Blue dual, go. I play a strip mine, and dump my whole hand including a crusher. He tried to brainstorm into an answer but found none. He plays a wasteland and time-walks. I strip his colored source EOT. He can't find enough colored mana or answers fast enough for my huge plated crusher and frogmite finish him on turn 4. He takes 9 for 3 turns in a row.
Throughout the day I chatted with him between rounds. He’s a cool guy, and I hope to see him again at other tournaments.
Games: 2-0 Matches: 1-0-0
Round 2 v Alex: w/ Landstill (Oath transformational SB)
Alex was very quiet. Even when playing, he would say stuff quietly. One time I missed his attack because I didn’t hear him. Later on when I talked to him he was pretty cool, but just one of those people with a more introverted personality.
Game 1: I drop my hand and I'm swinging for 10 on turn 3. He annulled a ravager I believe, interesting maindeck card. He plays a mishra’s factory to try to block my plated beats, I waste it, and attack for the win.
No SB, I think he’s playing WTF, as I saw a tropical and a mishra’s.
Game 2: I play out some utility pieces early. He resolves a 2nd turn oath of druids. We Know what's coming out if I cast a creature. I look at my hand 2 crush, 2 frogmite, and only three mana. I can't race that beating. I hit him once with a plated nexus, which then gets wasted. I'm looking for another, or a way to race him while he draws counters, and smashes my face with a factory.
SB: -2 Orni, -2 Ravager.... 4 Chalice
Game 3: I side in Chalice of the void knowing that that’s the only way I can stop the oath. I go first and I drop a threat and a skullclamp. He takes a hit, but mana drains my cranial plate into a disk. He blows the disk and has enough counters to beat me down while I am in topdeck mode. He had oath of druids in hand if I had resolved an ornithopter or something.
We talk a bit about how we sideboarded. I hate losing though, so I shake his hand, and then skulk to myself a bit, telling my friend KandyKid “I hate losing�, which he responds to with “Everyone does.� That didn’t help. Stupid Canadian. (jk)
Games: 1-2 Matches 1-1-0
Round 3 v Josh: with Fish
I don’t remember too much about this matchup. All I had to eat all day was a donut, and my notes gradually got worse. I apologise for any errors, but I believe that the below captures most of the truth of the games (from what I can make of the life totals/damage source notes.)
Game 1: I get a broken hand, dumping it all, using genesis chambers, and affinity creatures. I have 1 mana open extra the entire time until at the end my clamp is dazed... dang. I swing for 7-8-game.
-3 genesis chamber, -1 orni: +4 serrated arrows
Game 2: He starts with mox monkey. I drop a mishras ws and pass. He curiositys the monkey swings and draws. I try to resolve a crusher, which he forces. He then gets another curiosity on the monkey (and eats my mana crypt). I have utility, but no threats, so I play them out. He resolves a hatchtail, then gets a curiosity on it as well. I hear that "drawing cards is winning.� And he was drawing a ton of cards.
Game 3: I cast a crusher, which I then make huge with affinity creatures, and chamber. He can’t find an answer. On turn three I plate it and swing for 18. No possible recovery.
Games: 2-1 Matches 2-1-0
Round 4 vs Matt: w/ Zombie Infestation
Matt is one of my friends, and it stinks that I have to play him. We’re both 2-1-0, and so whoever loses this may be knocked out. We’re both playing rogue-ish decks, so we give it a go:
Game 1: I drop a first turn crusher and ornithopter. I then proceed to make the crusher huge while he plays zombie infestation, and tries to throw chump zombies in front of the trampler, but to no avail. 3-4 turns of an unanswered crusher is game.
-4 sphere of resistance: +4 Tormod's Crypt
Game 2: He opens with a bazaar, and uses it. I play out a frogmite (using tormod's crypt to fuel my affinity). He plays an island and passes. I try to resolve a plate, and he bazaars casting circular logic, in response I crypt nuking his squee, and my plate resolves. I then equip the plate on various creatures (and flying nexuses which he can't block w/ zombies.) He's able to make chumps, but card short of being able to hang on (making 2 tokens to stop a ground pounder, and one to block the flier with a wonder he had in hand), but just doesn't have the cards.
We play another for fun, and he gets crazy card advantage with his horrors, and squees ; zombies owning my face. I didn’t get a crypt in time, so it’s just a lost cause. Thankfully for me that didn’t happen in the real game, but the deck is interesting, and it’s cool to see people playing rogue concepts.
Round 5 v Darren: Mono-Red Stax
Darren is one of my friends. I haven’t tested against STAX at all, and I’m thinking about welders and Trinispheres, and how that doesn’t sound like a great situation to be in. I ask him to draw so that we can both go on possibly, and he agrees since he doesn’t like the idea of the matchup too much either.
We play out a bunch of games. I lose the one pre-board, but win the majority post-board. If I can stop welders, and drop my stuff before Trinisphere, then I win. Trinisphere sucks for this deck though. You can’t explode, and then you’re getting your head beat in with Juggernauts.
ID 3-1-1
Round 6 v Josh: playing 4cc
I know Josh from the 1.5 tournaments that I play in. He’s pretty cool, and he’s very much into foils. Whatever deck he plays shines much more than mine in general. I talked to him a few weeks before, so I think he’s playing fish, because that’s what he was testing.
Game 1: I start and I'm swinging with a clamped frogmite, which goes farming. (no draw from skullclamp dang). I resolve an enforcer, and begin to swing with it. He yawg wills to swords it as well. I can't resolve another threat for 5 turns because of his counters while I die from my mana vault. I finally do, but his scrying lets him swords it, and then he resolves an angel. A few turns of angel swinging and I'm done.
no SB
From what I’ve found about this matchup, if 4cc can stabilize and build up their mana base, you pretty much lose the game. A flipped angel usually means game because Rack & Ruin, swords, and a life-gainer usually is enough to win it. My version cuts some of the ornithopters, so you don’t have as many ways to plate + kill an angel.
Game 2: I get and early turn crusher beatdown hand which gets huge quickly, and beats him. I seem to remember that this game wasn’t that easy at the time, but my notes on it suck. I think we fought over mana bases for a while, stripping each other’s sources. Plate makes everything big.
Game 3: We fight over each other's mana bases early again. I cast early utility. He is able to double fetch, and he resolves an angel and starts swinging. He's at 24, I'm at 14, but he's left me with a clamp, a chamber, and a crusher that I just resolved. He has 1 card in hand that is a land, because I could tell when he was looking at his graveyard and hand (crucible in play) which land he should play. So I know he can’t counter. I am able to go clamp/chamber crazy, ramp up to about 20 permanents, (my enforcer became a 16/16 from free creatures/tokens). I resolve a ravager as one of the creatures, resolve a cranial plate and the frogmite, a cranial plating, and crusher gives me game. If he had had any tricks, my ravagers could have finished it anyways. If the deck can go off, it’s ridiculously giant, and hard to stop.
Games: 2-1 Matches: 4-1-1
I’m Rank 7 in top 8… I have a chance at the lotus or emerald! At least I’ve made my money back as store credit.
Top 8 are: (I believe in order)
Animal Farm
Landstill
Fish
Stax(u/r)
Tog
Stax (mono r)
Crusher
Gay/r
Top 8: v Alex with landstill (same as above) 2-0
Game 1: I resolve a clamped frogmite fist turn (had 2, 1 was annulled) and start swinging while wasting his mana. I resolve a plate 2nd turn, and he scoops. It seemed a bit early to me for him to scoop, but he said he wouldn’t be able to deal with it (I guess his only removal was disk)
-2 frogmite, -2 orni: +4 chalice.
I know he has oaths, and that I lose if he can resolve it.
Game 2: He plays a tropical island to begin. I waste it fearing oath. He plays a fetch and passes the turn. I dump a frogmite, and don't play my wasteland (mistake). EOT he fetches trop, and casts ancestral. Had I played my waste instead of holding it for surprise value, he wouldn’t have been able to ancestral, and have the land. His turn, he brainstorms!!! (Wow, he doesn’t have a land), plays a factory, and then discards a card. I waste his green source, cast cranial plate, and he scoops again, showing me that his top 2 cards are darksteel colossus which meant that he'd have nothing to oath up as an answer. He had to resolve an oath that 2nd turn, or he would lose.
That seemed way too easy. I hated that match-up the first time. I count my lucky stars, and watch a few other matchups.
Top 4: v Darren (same as above) with Mono Red Stax
Game 1: I play a first turn crusher. He plays a first turn razormane (making my crusher 3/3). I play a sacrificial frogmite which he shoots. He swings for 5 which I take, and then drops brokenness (academy, lotus) and resolves 2 juggernauts coming at my face. I play a blinkmoth nexus, and pass. He swings for 15, I kill a juggie. Dropping me to to 4 life (mana burn from the frogmite off my workshop). I use my ancient tomb, and go to 2, in order to cast a myr enforcer. He shoots the enforcer, and attacks with both, which die to my enforcer, Huge crusher (11/11). I then roll over him the next 2 turns while he wonders how to deal with the 11/11 crusher.
-4 sphere... +4 serrated arrows
Game 2: He opens with welder. I play a first turn crucible. He plays trinisphere and beats with the welder (I am cursing orni in my hand (another mistake, I kept it in case I topped a crusher)), and wastes my tomb. I replay tomb, and then play a mox. He casts a juggie, and I cast the ornithopter. He swings with juggie I chump, he welds out my crucible for the orni. Dang... mistake to block there, now I can’t recur my blinkmoth to keep blocking his juggernaut. I draw into my serrated arrows, but tangle wire finishes me off while his juggernaut beats me down.
I realized that before when I had sideboarded, that the genesis chambers helped him too much and the ornithopters cost 3 too often, so I changed my sideboarding plan.
-1 orni, -3 genesis chamber... +4 sphere
Game 3: I dump my hand, and I'm attacking for 11 on turn 2. He can't answer that speed, draws his card and scoops.
Top 2: v Chris w/ Tog
Chris is 16 I believe (someone said that), and recently won a PT Seattle qualifier. He tells me that this is his first type 1 tournament ever. He asks my friend why he plays type 1: To win, or for fun. My friend says for fun. I say that I play for both: I have fun winning. He says that he hates losing. I offer to let him resign, but he declines. He tells me that he likes playing when money is on the line because people tend to crack under the pressure, “but I’m sure that won’t happen to you.� LOL, a true type 2 player, playing the game before the game even starts.
Game 1: He forces my first turn genesis chamber, but I resolve a frogmite. My mana vault and sol ring (and perhaps my nexus if I’m stupid) get in danger when he casts a pernicious deed with 3 mana (which becomes 2 from my waste). I play ravager and he blows the deed for 2 in response. Nexus, ravager, and frogmite go all the way.
-2 orni, +1 trisk, +1 duplicant
I want more threats to draw his counters, so I cut the thopters.
Game 2: He duresses me, taking my genesis chamber (over my mana crypt). I get out genesis chamber, and play crusher (3/3), frogmite. He racks them, making my token a 4/4, and then I resolve another frogmite. He resolves a tog, and then slows my attack since they're all small creatures (and he gets a token from my chamber). He resolves a 2nd tog, then eot he wishes for the Rack & ruin which he removed w/ the first tog. Then he yawgmoth's wills into a double ancestral (w/ wish), and then can win next turn since I've been dying from my mana crypt bolts.
Game 3: I resolve 2 clamps first turn, but then forces my frogmite. He plays a land and passes. I topdeck crusher, cast it. He plays another land. I strip one of his sournces, then I then cast an enforcer, and clamp both. I start swinging. My next turn, after my attack I cast duplicant (I was going to save it for his tog, but then I wanted a target for the modular in case he had a rack and ruin even though I would draw 4 cards. I should have thought about it more before attacking because it was 1 damage difference). He can wish for a rack, but can't cast it. Even if he could, I would draw 4 cards from the skullclamps that are on the creatures. Gg.
So I win the lotus and that is sweet. I stick around and trade (ended up getting rid of it, in a big deal involving me ending up with a beta ancestral that I need to finish my beta power ((minus twister, but who needs twister)) )
Props:
Purplehat, JDawg13, policehq and everyone else who worked on Crusher
Table Top games for hosing the great tournament
All the players there for being cool
The Mirkwood Games crowd for lending me stuff, and convincing me to play Crusher
Slops:
Play mistakes by me
Sideboarding: The hardest part of magic.
Forgetting to eat all day because you’re nervous about making Top 8.
Gas prices
All in All a great tournament. Thanks everyone, I hope you enjoyed the report.
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