Tourney Report (3rd in VA Mox Tourney)

[KrauserKrauser]

This Saturday, 8/21/04, Imperial Outpost 17 in Gloucester, VA had a Mox tourney that I could actually attend for once.  After being tempted by JPMeyer's most recent mono green survival crucible thing I decided to come to my senses and play something I had some experience.  So this is what my sleep addled brain came up with for the Tourney:

Deck: Food Chain Goblins w/ Crucible

Mana:
5 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
1 Elvish Spirit Guide

Non-Goblins:
4 Food Chain
4 Crucible of Worlds

Goblins:
4 Goblin Recruiter
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Piledriver
3 Goblin Warchief
2 Skirk Prospector
2 Goblin Matron
2 Siege Gang Commander
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Gempalm Incinerator

SB:
1 Oxidize
2 Artifact Mutation
1 Rack and Ruin
4 Red Elemental Blast
2 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Goblin Vandal (MISTAKE)
3 Tormod's Crypt

Ok let me explain my changes to the deck:

4 Crucible of Worlds: OK 4 is too many but good grief I love this card.  3 is probably the number I should have but I blame it on JPMeyer as I had just read his Mono Green Pile and kept thinking of the number 4.  I would replace the 4th Crucible with either Incinerator #2 or Prospector #3.

Sideboard:

My sideboard was actually the same one from about 6 months ago when I played in a Dragon heavy meta which was beginning to shift to more Workshop decks so it was most definitely not up to date.  I blame my 3rd place on my Sideboard, not me, but the cards that didn’t want to be useful.  Goblin Vandal turned out to be absolutely worthless along with the Crypts.  I never used them and never wished I had been using them.  I didn’t see any Dragon or Rectors so my Crypts were the useless.

On to the tournament report:
 
I get there about 3 minutes before the start time and end up playing my crappy extended decks fro a good 45 minutes till they call the start.  In that time I see a few people I recognize from the area but all in all a lot of new faces.  I see a few fish decks, a Man show from the originator Eric of Team Shortbus and a couple of 4C Control decks.  All in all I’m ok with my choice on deck, not that I could change at the time.  

Round One: Stephen with Artifact Beatdown (???)

Game 1:
 
He gets skullclamp with Ornithopter and some Myr Servitors in play.  I get my Goblin Sharpshooter active and wreck him.

SB:

-2 Crucible -1 Food Chain -1 Goblin Recruiter
+1 Oxidize +2 Artifact Mutation +1 Rack and Ruin

Game 2:

He starts out strong with a couple of Blinkmoth Nexus and a Cranial Plating.  He gets me down to around 9 when I topdeck my Artifact Mutation for his Plating followed by a Food Chain for the win.

Standings: 1-0


Round Two: Da Somethingorother (I so could not pronounce or remember his name; Member of Shortbus) with Mono Brown MUD

Game 1:

I don’t remember this round much, I know I won this game without going combo on him.

SB:

-1Crucible -1 Food Chain -1 Goblin Recruiter -1 Goblin Lackey
+1 Oxidize +2 Artifact Mutation +1 Rack and Ruin

Game 2:

Around turn 3-4 he combos out all over my face with a Metalworker, Staff of Domination and 3 Artifacts in hand.

SB:

No change.  I pray for divine guidance.

Game 3:

I get a pretty nuts draw with a 1st turn lackey followed by a 2nd turn Crucible with Strip in hand.  I win and he loses.  I proceed to comment on his deck and generally make him feel bad about himself.

Standings: 2-0


Round 3: Some guy I’ve played against before in Newport News playing 4C Control.

Game 1:

In his opening hand he has Land, Mox, Mox, Ancestrall, 3 other cards.  I know this because he fiercely showed me this much to my dismay.  A mix of swords and wished for Hydroblasts kill my initial lackey and 2 piledrivers.  I lose, I cry.

SB:

-1Crucible -1 Food Chain -1 Goblin Recruiter -1 Goblin Lackey
+4 Red Elemental Blast

This was a mistake, why I decided to take out a lackey is beyond me.  I only wish it had mattered.

Game 2:

Ok here is why I hate and love and hate Type 1.  First turn I land go after keeping a hand with a good selection of threats.  He goes Underground Sea, Mox Sapphire.  Next turn he drains my Piledriver and on his turn proceeds to Mind Twist my remaining hand away.  F---ing brokenness.  Oh well I still had a chance to get Top 4.

Standings: 2-1 3rd going into round 4


Round 4: Eric of Team Shortbus with The Man Show

Game 1:

I knew what Eric was playing going into the match having seen him in the SCG tourney not too long ago.  Honestly I can’t remember this game.  If I remember correctly I know I surprised him with my Crucible secret tech and then top decked Strip Mine.  Win me!

SB:

-1Crucible -1 Food Chain -1 Goblin Recruiter -1 Goblin Lackey
+1 Oxidize +2 Artifact Mutation +1 Rack and Ruin

I took out the lackey due to the likelihood that he could land first turn fat that I would rather have an answer for.

Game 2:

I’m not exactly certain but I believe I lost this game.  I have a vague recollection of him beating me with big fat men.

SB:

I can’t remember if there was a game 3, how should I know if I changed anything.

Game 3:

Ok this match I semi remember.  I lay down a first turn Lackey followed by a top decked Siege Gang on turn 2.  Following up that with a Lackey’ed in Ringleader that got me a Warchief, Piledriver and a Prospector.  He responds with a Titan totally owning my mana screw of Taiga, Mountain.  I play draw go until I topdeck a Taiga and oxidize tat big nasty 7/10, winning the game shortly afterwards.

Standings: 3-1 I advance!


Top 4: Some guy with another Food Chain Goblins deck.  (The mirror!  Who God why!!!)

Game 1:  ( He wins roll, I prepare for loss.)

He topdecks Incinerators and Sharpshooter while I topdeck land and land.  I lose.

SB:

-2 Crucible
+2 Gempalm Incinerator

Game 2:

I have a pretty nuts draw with first turn Warchieff after he had mulled down to 5.  I win by beating him in the face.

Game 3:

The results of game three are simple.  He drew 2 Food Chains and topdecked a Matron with Ringleader in hand.  I drew mana and all the ingredients for a good start.  Sadly none of those ingredients got me the Food Chain I needed.  I get a little bit of combo sprayed on me as I get slaughtered.

Standings: 3-2 (Playing for 3rd! Go me!)


Top 4 (The sucky side): Da Somethingorother (I so could not pronounce or remember his name; Member of Shortbus) with Mono Brown MUD

I wasn’t exactly happy about seeing this deck again but luckily Da (Insert Last Name here) was a really cool guy.  

Game 1:

We comment on the weak prize structure and begin the game.  I have the first turn lackey followed by Siege gang the next turn.  He has scooping his cards after a few turns.

SB:  It didn’t matter we were playing for a FoW at this point so I don’t Side in anything.  Mistake!

Game 2:

He has something crazy like first turn metal worker followed by comboing out all over me.  It’s really messy.  I have to clean my shoes.

SB:  I actually want my FoW because 4th place gets zilch.  What can I say I’m greedy.

-2 Crucible -1 Food Chain -1 Goblin Recruiter
+1 Oxidize +2 Artifact Mutation +1 Rack and Ruin

Game 3:

He comments how he has problems with first turn lackey.  I follow up with first turn lackey, making him a sad panda.  His Crucible and Trinisphere don’t help too much as a bash his face in with little red men.

I win a Force!  I’m feel almost happy!

Mandatory props and slops:

Props:

Team Shortbus for two things: Losing to me and being awesome people.
The other FCG player:  He had some nice Secret Tech in Sulfuric Vortex.  It was the correct choice for the meta.
Goblins: For being both hungry and awesome.
Imperial Outpost 17: You ran a solid event.  Run some more, I need power.

Slops:

Exalted Angel:  Why do you have to be so good!
Crazy Prize structures:  FoW?  In a Mox Tourney is that really the best you can do?
Goblins:  For betraying me and beating me in Top 4.

All in all I liked the Crucible and the adjustments I made to accommodate it in the deck.  Going forward it will only have 3 in it just so I don’t hands with 2 of them as they are not goblins and therefore violate the law of FCG: Only mana, food chain and goblins allowed.  But you know what I think Crucible deserves an exception to the rule.

[Nantuko Rice]

Does anyone see how Crucible is distorting the metagame yet.... it seams like every single deck si running 3-4 crucibles in them now. Even if it means taking an aggro deck and making it into an aggro-control deck.

I wonder what's getting restricted soon.

[Klep]

Does anyone see how Crucible is distorting the metagame yet.... it seams like every single deck si running 3-4 crucibles in them now. Even if it means taking an aggro deck and making it into an aggro-control deck.

I wonder what's getting restricted soon.

Oh man! an FCG deck with 4 Crucibles placed third in a 4-round tournament which cut to Top 4!  Clearly this is a sign that something must be restricted!  We don't need to wait for the GenCon lists!

Not that I want to diminish the performance.  Good work Josh.

[jpmeyer]

What I think is more telling is just the fact that you've got a combo-y deck that still would like to have the ability to just get random wins with it.

[monSt4r]

Whats secret about Vortex ?
Isn't it good against Angels ?

[LoA]

While Crucible is a solid card, it seems to me that it's getting placed in just about any deck.  Some of that is that it makes sense in some decks, some of that is it's a good way of getting around your opponent's Crucible, and it seems to me, some of it boils down to "flavor of the month."

This isn't to say that FCG can't use Crucible.  To a degree, I see its role in this deck to approximate Patriarch's Bidding in Type 2.  It gives the deck a mid- to late-game strategy.  In Type 2, that's an overwhelming creature advantage; in Type 1, that's an overwhelming resource advantage.

I think it's far too early to see if Crucible needs restriction.  I'm sure it hasn't been fully broken yet and I'm also sure that decks will become more and more resiliant as the meta evolves.

[KrauserKrauser]

LoA is right on the money on the impact of Crucible on FCG.  It simply serves the purpose of counter other people's Crucibles and at the same time making sure I don't run out of mana when needed.  Only twice did I get the Crucible Strip going and even then I was winning anyway.  It might be just a win more card for the deck but so far I like it compared to what it replaced in the deck.

[martyr]

This is silly. KrauserKrauser and LoA are both right. A lot of decks in T1 run Brainstorm. Not because it locks the opponent down, and not because it wins you the game, but because it counters disruption and is a solid card on it's own. Same thing with Crucible. Most of the decks running it these days seem to be running it more for a random win off Wastelands, but that will change.

People will play more Wasteland-proof mana bases, or ones that don't rely so much on lands. Decks that can't deal with this will fade, and decks that can will flourish. It's how it goes.

Seriously, compare it to Chalice of the Void: any deck can run it and steal random wins off your opponent having a bunch of 1cc cards in hand, or moxes on the opening turn and you playing it for the right number. So go cry about it. Things happen like that in T1.

Crucible is great, currently. It'll likely always be good, but unless you can support the disruption it provides in combination with other cards with either more disruption (ie, duress, artifact removal) or pressure, then it's not doing all that much, given what other 3cc T1 cards can do for you.

Decks just need to adapt to the point where it doesn't provide enough disruption for it's cost, both in terms of mana and deck-slots. And given that it attacks something as versatile as lands, that shouldn't be that hard.