(Tournament Report) Low-Roller Long

[policehq]

I think everyone by now knows that I'm nuts over Trinket Mage. I wanted another way to break him that is a little more impressive than grabbing a Sensei's Divining Top (weak) and a little more creative than a Phyrexian Dreadnought.

So the first time you play him, you grab a Black Lotus (why I didn't do this before, I don't know). Typically, draw-7's cost 3 mana, so it is easy to get a storm count up to 3 or 4 before drawing 7 more cards.

Alternatively, sacrificing him to Diabolic Intent will tutor Yawgmoth's Will, allowing you to replay Black Lotus, replay Trinket Mage tutoring for Lion's Eye Diamond, replaying Diabolic Intent for Tendrils of Agony.

Finally, you can play the draw-7 and the Diabolic Intent rather easily on the same turn and get the best of both worlds.

So I loaned out my Illusionary Masks to borrow Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, and Timetwister from Aaron, who rode with me to Georgia for the tournament (and also played Trinket Mages).

Here's the decklist:

mana: (30)
2 bayou
2 polluted delta
1 tolarian academy
2 tropical island
4 dark ritual
3 cabal ritual
2 land grant
2 elvish spirit guide
1 black lotus
1 chrome mox
1 lion's eye diamond
1 lotus petal
1 mana crypt
1 mana vault
1 mox emerald
1 mox jet
1 mox pearl
1 mox ruby
1 mox sapphire
1 sol ring

combo/win: (9)
4 trinket mage
3 diabolic intent
1 yawgmoth's will
1 tendrils of agony

disrupt: (6)
4 duress
1 xantid swarm
1 chain of vapor

break it: (15)
1 ancestral recall
4 brainstorm
1 crop rotation
1 demonic tutor
1 mind's desire
1 time walk
1 timetwister
1 tinker
1 windfall
1 necropotence
1 yawgmoth's bargain
1 memory jar

sideboard:
1 darksteel colossus
2 elvish spirit guide
1 swamp
1 island
2 hurkyl's recall
3 chain of vapor
1 xantid swarm
2 defense grid
2 massacre

There were 34 people there, so we played 6 rounds before Top 8s.

I'm not entirely sure that any card needs explanation. The only questions people might have are why not more of: bounce, Xantid Swarm, land, Cabal Ritual, etc. I guess. I just can't find the room. We'd done a lot of testing with the concept before the tournament, just enough so that whoever played it wouldn't fizzle out from stupid plays and such, but we didn't test this particular list, which Aaron built under my supervision as I was driving.

The sideboard was because of random Aggro, particularly with Wasteland, Meddling Mage, and Null Rod. The only other problem really is Force of Will, so I fill out the Xantid Swarm slot as needed.

I didn't bother with names.

Round 1: Oath of Druids
Game 1: I win the dice roll. I mulligan into something like Mox Jet, Tolarian Academy, Dark Ritual, Duress, Trinket Mage, [draw spell]. Turn 1 I play Mox Jet, Duress, and he plays Tropical Island, non-blue Mox. Turn 2 I play Academy, Ritual, Trinket Mage, Black Lotus, Windfall, etc. Tendrils.
Sideboarding: -1 Xantid Swarm, 1 Chrome Mox, +2 Hurkyl's Recall
Game 2: He plays Delta, Sea, Mox, Imperial Seal. I play Mox Sapphire, Brainstorm, Land Grant, Bayou. He plays Oath and Null Rod. I don't get an answer to Null Rod before he gets a Forbidden Orchard.
Game 3: On the play again, and I resolve Tinker for Memory Jar early on after no land drop and get Tolarian Academy.

Round 2: R/G Beats
Game 1: He plays an Orcish Lumberjack, Tinder Wall, and Rumbling Slum. I play a bunch of rituals and get Yawgmoth's Will.
Sideboarding: Nothing
Game 2: He Land Grants for Stomping Ground, plays Birds of Paradise and Root Maze. Unfortunately he gives me plenty of time to find Chain of Vapor, and while I was at it, I sacced two lands to re-play Moxen.

Still, I respect a turn 2 Rumbling Slum from Orcish Lumberjack.

Round 3: U/W Fish
Game 1: He plays Library of Alexandria, Forces Xantid Swarm, Duress resolves. He Meddling Mages Dark Ritual, and I resolve Trinket Mage for Black Lotus and play Diabolic Intent for the play described above.
Sideboarding: -1 Tinker, 1 Memory Jar, 1 Chrome Mox, +2 Massacre, 1 Swamp
Game 2: He plays Chalice of the Void for 0 and Aether Vial. Meddling Mage names Dark Ritual, and he offered that I concede with no mana sources, but I Massacre his board. My life is wittled away, but Duress resolves, Xantid Swarm resolves, and he has no Swords to Plowshares. I play Yawgmoth's Will to Duress again for Stifle.

Round 4: Mishra's Workshop/Metalworker/Jester's Cap/Uba Mask
Game 1: I win the roll, mull to 5, get Capped and take Mana Crypt beats for the loss.
Sideboarding: -1 Xantid Swarm, 1 Chrome Mox, 1 Yawgmoth's Bargain, 1 Lotus Petal, 1 Mind's Desire, +2 Hurkyl's Recall, +2 Elvish Spirit Guide, +1 Darksteel Colossus
Game 2: Turn 1 Trinket Mage for Lotus for Tinker for Darksteel Colossus.
Game 3: He plays Chalice for 0, Wasteland, Metalworker, Staff, but doesn't have enough artifacts to go off. I Hurkyl's Recall him, then play Moxen, Yawgmoth's Will, Hurkyl's Recall myself for BB, Tendrils.

Round 5: 4/5c Madness
He needs an ID to move on, and I give it to him.

Round 6: Ichorid
Game 1: He turn 1's a Breakthrough keeping Bazaar of Baghdad, turn 2 dredges for 16, turn 3 attacks for 9. He can't activate 2 Ashen Ghouls in the graveyard. I mox, mox, Trinket Mage, Black Lotus for a mini-Tendrils, then SWING with TRINKET MAGE for the kill after my life-boost since he has no blockers during my turn.
Sideboarding: -1 Xantid Swarm, 1 Chrome Mox, 1 Mana Vault, +3 Chain of Vapor
Game 2: He opens the game with Leyline of the Void, which I've never had to play around and obviously can't. I lose.
Game 3: I get a Trinket Mage for Lotus and have Dark Ritual and resolve Yawgmoth's Bargain with something like 13 life, draw 8 cards, and win through Chalice @ 1 and Null Rod.

Finals:
7/8: Bird S***
Game 1: Wasteland, Null Rod, Stifle, Orim's Chant, Daze, Meddling Mage
Sideboarding: Didn't matter, but -1 Chrome Mox, 1 Lotus Petal, 1 Memory Jar, 3 Diabolic Intent, +1 Darksteel Colossus, +2 Hurkyl's Recall, +2 Massacre, +1 Swamp
Game 2: Same as Game 1.

So I did the best out of the Swiss and lost to my poorest match-up, which is not bad.

I underestimated the deck, thinking that I needed Diabolic Intent too much, but Trinket Mage for Lotus for a Draw-7 is quite sufficient to win the game early.

Aaron split a box of [Asian] Dissension with MaskNought (facing Bomberman in the finals), and he gave me 3 packs. I have no idea what the rares are.

I was happy to see Gruul + Orcish Lumberjacks and Tinder Walls.

My sideboard needs work. Namely:
-1 Island
-1/2 Xantid Swarm
+ ?

Possibly Defense Grids, since they don't activate Oath of Druids.

Chrome Mox didn't stick around for many matches either, so I'm not sure about its place in the deck.

Anyway, if you can't afford Grim Tutors and can proxy up power, I highly recommend that you test this deck a lot and play it. It's a lot of fun.

-hq

[LotusHead]

Congrats, man!

I love Trinket Mage too, and love reading about newish deck types trying to breaks it's brokenness.

One thing though....

My life is wittled away, but Duress resolves, Xantid Swarm resolves, and he has no Swords to Plowshares. I play Yawgmoth's Will to Duress again for Stifle.

Swing with Swarm? 2nd main phase Will for Duress for Stifle? lol!

[Dante]

FYI - Tournament report submissions from non-full users go here per the rules.

[policehq]

FYI - Tournament report submissions from non-full users go here per the rules.

Thank you. I believe that is a new rule since I registered.

Regarding Xantid Swarm, my notes are hazy. Most likely I made that play mistake, because it is a habit to repeat Duress after Yawgmoth's Will for whatever reason. He might not have attacked, though, and I might have noted the lack of Swords to Plowshares after the Duress.

But Trinket Mage is amazing. He's a Priest of Gix that also adds to the storm count, and with Diabolic Intent (and in some lists Culling The Weak) he gets even meaner. Sometimes I wished I had Sensei's Divining Top or Chromatic Sphere because with one other card I could win, but I don't know what to cut.

Also Wheel of Fortune was an option considered and tested well sometimes but other times having to crack Black Lotus for RRR limited every play I could make with the next seven cards.

The deck, including the sideboard, was modeled after the Infernal Contract decks seen in Germany, but I don't have Cruel Bargains.

I think, though, that U/W Fish is on a decline because of Massacre and Darkblast and the deck is almost ready to go to 5cc with Burning Wish and Wheel of Fortune.

-hq

[Moxlotus]

By Diabolic Edict I assume you mean Intent

Have you tried Culling of the Weak?

Do you lik ethe draw7s better than a set of Grim tutors?

[policehq]

By Diabolic Edict I assume you mean Intent

Have you tried Culling of the Weak?

Do you lik ethe draw7s better than a set of Grim tutors?

Yes, I make the Intent/Edict mistake pretty much every time I type it... Thanks.

I did play Culling of the Weak but found that Diabolic Intent was better since it, combined with Trinket Mage, gave me Black Lotus, Lion's Eye Diamond, Yawgmoth's Will, and Tendrils of Agony.

Draw-7's net more spells to play than Grim Tutors. I can only play with Grim Tutors online since I cannot find unsanctioned tourneys (that is, until SCG Charlotte), but I think if I owned them I'd still play Draw-7's.

Diabolic Intent is the better comparison to Grim Tutor than Draw-7's. It has the drawback of only working with five cards in my deck, but I don't lose games after resolving it.

The deck doesn't have to resolve Diabolic Intent, though. Most hands consist of 3 mana, Trinket Mage, and either a Ritual + Bargain or Necropotence/Windfall/Timetwister/Tinker for Memory Jar. Once I get the new 7 cards, Diabolic Intent can pop up and serve as a 2-mana Grim Tutor which breaks Yawgmoth's Will even more by replaying Trinket Mage and a 0-1cc artifact (Mox Jet, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Lion's Eye Diamond, Mana Crypt, or Lotus Petal).

Overall I feel like transmute-Long (other decks that work around Sanctioned tourneys and not owning Grim Tutor) and Grim Long are leaning on one bomb alone and that is Yawgmoth's Will, whereas Draw-7's give you room to work around after Force of Will.

Force of Will is still a massive pain, though.

I think it was your team that came up with The Man Plan, so for what it's worth: thanks.

-hq

[LotusHead]

I did play Culling of the Weak but found that Diabolic Intent was better since it, combined with Trinket Mage, gave me Black Lotus, Lion's Eye Diamond, Yawgmoth's Will, and Tendrils of Agony.

This is deck design coming to life.  (not the best deck yet, but a new deck with BorKenness). Great job!

[Tobi]

Game 2: Turn 1 Trinket Mage for Lotus for Tinker for Darksteel Colossus.

Couldn't you just have tinkered for DSC without playing Mage? Anyway, it's a permanent more. 


Have you tried Force of Will in place of Duress? You have enough blue cards to support FOW, and it's great with draw-7s.

[Shades]

I'd even consider to cut green at all and replace the Swarms with Cabal Therapies, which look great additional to Duress and even more with Trinket Mage to pay for the flashback cost.

[policehq]

I'd even consider to cut green at all and replace the Swarms with Cabal Therapies, which look great additional to Duress and even more with Trinket Mage to pay for the flashback cost.

Green is there for Land Grant and Crop Rotation, not Xantid Swarm.

Xantid Swarms might get the cut because one of the decks that would be countering my spells is Oath, and I don't want a Xantid on the board for them.

However, I do not have enough creatures to support Diabolic Intent and Cabal Therapy. Opening hands with Diabolic Intent and no Trinket Mage/1 Xantid Swarm are scary already.

RE: Trinket Mage -> Lotus -> Tinker -> Colossus vs. Tinker -> Colossus
Having a Trinket Mage on the board opens up a lot more options after things like bounce and Swords to Plowshares, if they do occur.

-hq

[oneofchaos]

Another great report, bean keep at it!

[tehmajickguy]

If you're thinking about cutting Xantids but want to not reduce your creature count, why not try Dark Confidant? I know everyone says to but him in everything, but he can wind up being a duress or draw engine that has synergy with your Diabolic Intents.

[Moxlotus]

Whatever you do, under no circumstance, should you try Priest of Gix or Blood Pet.  We tried those in GrimMen and they sucked bad. 

[policehq]

Whatever you do, under no circumstance, should you try Priest of Gix or Blood Pet.  We tried those in GrimMen and they sucked bad. 

Neither of them replace themselves mana-wise AND with another card, and besides, I have problems fitting in cards that actually belong and have been established as good cards in Tendrils combo (Wheel of Fortune, Burning Wish, Vampiric Tutor/Imperial Seal, Dark Confidant, Frantic Search, Time Spiral,  etc. etc.).

As an Oath player, and since this is a deck that can race Oath, how do you feel about a change from Xantid Swarm to Defense Grid? You can ignore the Diabolic Intent factor; the whole point is that I don't want Force of Will cast, and I don't want to activate their Oath of Druids.

Trinket Mage is a different matter since playing him means I'm on my way to winning, and usually during the same turn.

-hq

[Tobi]

Defense Grid is usually only good against Fish-type decks that play with few mana. Against all others, you will find your opponent build up mana quickly and be able to FoW for 3.

Try Forces in you own build, replacing Duress. You will find out they serve combo pretty well. I changed from Duress to FoW in Horden Tendrils and never looked back. You are the aggressive player and your Forces are better than the opponents one. You cast a bomb, opponent forces, you force back - win. Sometimes it even gives you the storm count needed 

[policehq]

Defense Grid is usually only good against Fish-type decks that play with few mana. Against all others, you will find your opponent build up mana quickly and be able to FoW for 3.

Try Forces in you own build, replacing Duress. You will find out they serve combo pretty well. I changed from Duress to FoW in Horden Tendrils and never looked back. You are the aggressive player and your Forces are better than the opponents one. You cast a bomb, opponent forces, you force back - win. Sometimes it even gives you the storm count needed 

Actually, it's the Fish decks that are keeping mana open for things like Stifle (Sullivan Solution) and Spell Snare (U/G, U/R), which are annoying.

The problem with Force of Will is that usually I'm trying to resolve a blue spell (a Draw-7) and under most circumstances I'd rather let that spell go and play the other blue spell in my hand than remove it from the game. It's something I haven't been able to figure out playing Meandeck Tendrils and Grim Long. I understand the problem of having to remove a Draw-7/Brainstorm/Ancestral/Tinker if the opponent is going to win resolving the spell and that generally Duress is a turn 1 play, pass, leaving me open to Wasteland. I will test it, but it will be done so reluctantly.

-hq