[Report] Ugw Gro Undefeated into Top 8 in Flint Lotus Tourney

…But first the report you didn’t expect. If Bardo can write an 8 man report, I’m going to write a 5 man, round robin report. Good decks were present so its worth it.

5 man RR at Pande, Thursday, Sept 7

My List for 4c Thresh/gro

Lands
4 Deltas
4 Strands
4 U seas
4 Trops
4 Tundras (Who cares about wastleland)

Critters
4 Mongoose
3 Dryad
3 Bob
2 Mage
1 Werebear (whatever)
1 Mystic Enforcer

Standard 12 Cantrips
4 Stp
2 Vindicate
1 Needle

Board
2 Geddon
2 Worship
2 E Plague
2 Needle
3 Stifle
3 Grunt
1 Mystic Enforcer

The only reason I’m there is to test Dryad VS Wearbear to make a final decision for Saturdays Lotus Tourney.

Round 1
Joel playing UGR Thresh

Game 1- I lead with Polluted Delta and pass the turn. Joel follows suit. We crack at his EOT, me for Tundra, him for Volc. On my turn I drop a Trop and Dryad (resolves). He does the land go thing. I drop my third land and Dryad #2 (resolves), he responds to Serum Visions and the Dryad triggers with Fire targeting both Dryads. I Force and swing for 3. Two more turns of Dryad beats draw the Concession.

-2 vindicate
-1 needle
-1 U sea
+3 Jotun Grunt
+1 Enforcer

Game 2 He gets a first turn Goose, so do I. He cantrips leaving Volc untapped and passes turn. I drop Dark Confidant-he bolts it. My turn 3 Dark Confidant also meets a Fiery end. He swings with goose on his turn and I’m happy to trade. Turn 4 I Vindicate his Volcanic and Drop Goose v1.2. We play draw go for a while my goose is only getting in there for 1 point per turn. I finally rip a Dryad-he bolts it. I rip dryad 2-it sticks. I then rip Grunt and commence the beatdown.

2-0 games 1-0 matches

Round 2
Austin playing The Rock

It doesn’t take a genius to know this is not a good match for me, and Austin is a very competent pilot.

Game 1- Austin wins the roll and drops a first turn Bird. I fetch a tundra and brainstorm into Stp and Mage. He drops SoFI to which I reply Nooo! Birds of Fire and Ice. On my turn I Serum Visions leaving Needle on top. He attempts to equip Birds- I StP. On my turn I play Mage naming Putrefy and Needle naming SoFI. He drops a Hippie and passes turn. I rip Stp for the hippie and Mage gets in there. He rips Deed and wipes the board. Treetop Village equipped with SoFI wins the game.

+ 2 Needles
+ 2 Armageddon
- some such nonsense

Game 2- on the play I cantrip early while he fetches Bayou and passes. I drop Turn 2 Mage naming Putrefy, turn 3 Needle naming Deed. Turn 4 Dryad followed by StPing his Hippie and a Brainstorm reveals StP and Armageddon. Turn 5 I swing in and he chumps Dryad with Eternal Witness (his only non-land permanent), I Geddon-He Scoops.

-2 Armageddon
+2 Worship
-1 Dark Confidant
+ 1 Enforcer

Game 3 My notes are sketchy because we were nearing time so notetaking is minimal. His beats come fast and hard while I’m stalled trying to counter 2 Chokes in a row. He plays witness getting back Choke and it resolves with three of my lands still untapped. I rip Vindicate and stabilize at one life with a Needle on Deed and Mage on Putrefy. My next two draws are Goose and Worship. I cast worship, He replies with “Damn, I sided out Naturalize after game 2”. Sideboard shenanigans for the win!

4-1 games 2-0 matches

Round 3
Ricky playing Vial Ravager Affinity

Game 1 Ricky wins the roll and leads with Vault/Lotus Petal/Thopter/Cranial Plating. I Force the C.P. On my turn I drop a strand and pass turn. He casts Disciple(resolves) I fetch Tundra and StP the damned thing. He runs out of gas while I start beating on turn 4 with a threshed goose. He finally drops an Enforcer which meets StP and I drop Goose #2 FTW.

-whatever
+ more Needles!
+ Enforcer

Game 2 He drops first turn Ravager. I drop First turn needle naming Ravager. He drops second turn Jitte. I topdeck Needle 2 and play it naming Jitte. I spend Turn 3 hitting threshold and Drop a turn 4 Mystic Enforcer. I rip Enforcer #2 on Turn 5 and the twins swing for the win.

6-1 games 3-0 matches

Round 4
Rob playing Stasis. ZZZZZZZZ
Game 1 (and only) I’m soooo bored by this match that I don’t bother taking notes. I remember dropping a turn 2 Mage naming Stasis only to find out he’s also playing white for StP and Wrath. Boo Hoo. He resolves the lock. We go to time because I win the counter battle on his win conditions.

6-1-1 Games 3-0-1 Matches.

This is the part where I decide to drop Vindicate and Bob for Disenchant/Naturalize/more Mages and switch over to UGW Gro before going to Flint. Dryad is really good and I’m sick of worrying about post board crypt. Also, I flipped FoW 3 times to Bob during that tourney despite all my manipulation. That was more than enough of an omen to drop the black splash.

On to the Lotus Tourney

Here’s the list I switched to

UGW Gro

Lands-18
4 Tundra
4 Trops
4 Windswept
3 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Forest

Trips-13
4 Brainstorm
4 Serum Visions
3 Portent
2 Mental Note

Beats-12
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Quirion Dryad
3 Meddling Mage
1 Mystic Enforcer

Control Elements-17
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
2 Counterspell
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Pithing Needle
1 Disenchant
1 Naturalize ( This should have been another Disenchant…we all do dumb things sometimes)

Sideboard
2 Hydroblast
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Worship
3 Armageddon (the only card I never boarded in…High Tide combo was a no show)
1 Pithing Needle
1 Meddling Mage
1 Mystic Enforcer
3 Jotun Grunt
Before this tournament I was sick of being land screwed so I added another land. I was also sick of being boned by equips/Chalice/and other R(avager)andom A(ffinity)rtifacts. So I decided to maindeck removal.

Round 1 (My notes say, “Table 2. Hope I’m here all day”)
Joe playing Mono Black LD

Game 1- Joe wins the roll with “Swamp, go” and I’m thinking Deadguy. Luckily I kept a 3 land hand with trips. I go turn one Trop, goose and pass. He drops another swamp and targets my Trop with Blight (thinks to self ??? this is not deadguy) I daze the blight. On my turn I fetch Island, cantrip twice into more lands and another goose. He untaps, drops swamp 3 and Icequakes my Trop. I have no counters so it resolves. Turn 3 I untap, draw Goose, fetch a Forest, Brainstorm into Needle and Dryad, and drop Goose #2, I have Threshold now so goose gets in for 3. On his turn, he rituals out a Helldozer. I look at the Needle and StP in my hand and pretend to be frightened. I untap, draw Dryad, Needle the dozer, fetch Tundra and pass the turn. In his precombat main, he puts Last Gasp on the stack. Needless to say, the only legal target was Dozer. He doesn’t want to swing in after that so on his endstep I StP the 3/2 Dozer. 2 geese and Dryad go the distance.

Game 2 goes so much the same that its not worth talking about. This time He dies To Mystic Enforcer.

2-0 Games 1-0 Matches

Round 2
Wilkerson Playing Ravager Affinity

Game 1
Wilkerson wins the roll while we discuss the various stories of of past. I remind him that the first time I met him he was playing Affinity in the top 4 of Pande’s FNM, making play mistakes and still winning.
Anyway, he dumps his hand on turn 1 topped off with a Myr Enforcer. I crack a Flooded strand for Tundra and Stp the Enforcer. He does’nt do much while drawing a couple consecutive lands while I build threshold and drop a Goose. He lets the Goose through a couple of times, wanting to keep his Ornithopter or Blinkmoth around( I forget which). At some point I rip a Meddling Mage and think, “What is the card I fear most right now?”, mage names Cranial Plating. Wilkerson reveals the card he rips…its Plating. Soon after, I drop a Mystic Enforcer and win.

+ Needle
+ Enforcer
- some jank or other

Game 2 Wilkerson rolls quickly into a Frogmite which I, in turn StP. He resolves some other beats and gets me down to 5. I finally Needle Ravager and Plating, gro a Dryad to 7/7 and beat him down. With lethal on the stack, Wilkerson asks, “What would you do if I Shrapnel Blasted you for the win right now?” I ponder this for a moment, having no counters in hand, and he scoops it up. Whew!

4-0 Games 2-0 Matches

Round 3
KC (kilz88) playing Vial Gobs…(I expected the UGW mirror because that’s what I’ve seen him playing lately)

I didn’t take too many notes because this is a hard match for me and requires some serious attention.

Game 1 KC comes out fast and I watch my lifetotal go down to 13 before I set up with two threshed geese and 3! Dryads, one of which is a 7/7. I’ve managed to sneak in a few times and have him at 10. We’re at a stalemate when he drops 2 consecutive Siege Gang Commanders and swings in with everything. I chump two Piledrivers with Dryads, another with one of the Geese, my big Dryad and the other goose take down the SGC’s. He has one mana untapped and only 11 damage gets through. I untap with a 7/7 dryad and a threshed goose who promptly turn sideways to go unopposed to the dome.

-3 Mages
-2 Counterspell
-2 Disenchant/Naturalize

+4 blasts
+1 Needle
+2 Worship

Game 2 My opening hand consists of Needle, Worship, Goose, 2 Trops, 2 Trips. He plays Wasteland, Vial. I follow with Trop, Needle wasteland. He plays a Piledriver and passes the turn. Expecting him to Vial in a Lackey EOT, I Brainstorm into a couple of Fetches, so I know I’ll be getting Worship down turn 4. I drop goose and pass. EOT he vials in Fanatic. Skipping directly over turn 3, I do indeed drop worship and KC scoops its up. I concede game 3 and tell him to win out.

6-1-0 Games 3-0 Matches

Round 4 (I get paired down)
John playing 43 Land

Game 1 I drop a turn 1 Goose and a turn 2 Dryad while he does the land thing. He tries to cast Life from the Loam a couple times and I counter it just to keep him from getting going and to gro the Dryad. He gets a Maze of Ith down and manages to stop the Dryad for a turn. I find a Needle and put an end to that, beating him down while my life total remains at 19, I guess I cracked a fetch.
+ 1 Mage and 3 Grunts
- some less useful stuff

Game 2 Much the same really. I get a turn one goose, turn 2 Mage on Life From the Loam, and crack myself down to 16, while he does the land thing. I tried to bluff StP, swinging in with an unthreshed goose but he activates his Treetop Village and blocks. Oh well, at least I have threshold now. I drop another goose and a turn of 2 later Jotun Grunt shows up for the party. John doesn’t like the people at the party and leaves for Scoopsville.

Games 8-1-0 Matches 4-0

Round 5 + 6
Phil Cape and Kyle Boggemes playing Ravager Affinity

We I.D.

Top 8
Wilkerson playing Ravager Affinity(again)

Game 1 I lose to triple Thoughcast and my inability to match that kind of tempo. I remember having to StP Erayo before it wrecked my day but I was already digging my grave.

Game 2 Wilkerson out tempos me again with Ravagers, an Enforcer, and Ornithopters which are soon carrying modular counters. At 5 life I brainstorm into Worship and play it. Wilkerson asks, “did we do it?” I reply, “We did it”. I then examine the board and feel only a moment of comfort as I see 4 damage coming on the wings of Ornithopters which would leave me at one. Slowly the realization hits me that Disciple will trigger when Wilkerson sacs his lotus petal in post-combat main. I say, “you did it”, shake his hand and scoop em up.

The only thing I regret is not having tested more against Affinity. I am now considering Kilz88’s tech (Kataki, Wars Wage) as a way to improve the Affinity match as well as St4ks, Angel Stompy, and Sea Drake Stompy. The maindeck Disencant/Naturalize were good, but maybe not good enough.

My deck played very well and the Dryads screwed over a good many players sideboards against me. In the little action the Grunt saw, I fell in love with it and I’m now on a quest for Grunt foils. I realize the cantrips were kind of weird but Portent was a holdover from my 4c build. I will probably change 2 of them to Predict and add another Mental Note.

Going with one Naturalize was stupid. It does not give Dryad a +1/+1 counter and this did affect one of my games against Wilkerson. Cest la vie, Je suppose.

Lastly, I have read a few comments that UGW thresh is no longer very good. This is absolutely not the case. I firmly believe that UGW is still the strongest deck in the format. What we are witnessing, IMHO, is an increase in bad players netdecking and playing the deck poorly.