[Report] GP:NJ Type 1 Side Event

After scrubbing out day 1 of the GP it was time to try my hand at Type 1 which have had a lot more luck with than sealed. Here is the version of Pitch Long that I played.

Pitch Long
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Enchantments
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Ritual
1 Chain Of Vapor
4 Dark Ritual
4 Force Of Will
3 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Grim Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Infernal Contract
1 Mind's Desire
2 Tendrils Of Agony
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Basic Lands
1 Island
1 Swamp

Lands
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Trickbind
1 Bayou
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Massacre
3 Xantid Swarm
3 Duress

Round 1 – Meandeck Gifts

Before the round I heard my opponent talking to a friend about how the field was going to be jank like UW Fish and decks from two years ago. While I don't agree with his sentiments about Fish I now have a pretty good idea he isn't playing Fish which is quite good for me. Game 1 was very unexciting for me as I run out some threats in the first two turns but then run out of gas while he is restocking with Scroll and Gifts.

Sideboard: -1 Timetwiser -1 Imperial Seal -1 Infernal Contract -1 Swamp -1 Cabal Ritual
+1 Bayou +3 Xantid Swarm +1 Trickbind

The only new addition to the Gifts matchup is Trickbind which is nice at dealing with Tormod's Crypt and Tendrils if they put a lot of resources into a Will turn. This was my first time testing Trickbind so I'm still not sure how good it is.
In Game 2 I sculpted the perfect hand with BS fetch BS fetch. Then I went for the turn 3 win when he had Drain mana open because I had Misdirection backup and lots of threats to throw at him. The first thing I did was run out a Dark Ritual which he countered with Mana Drain. I was quite excitied by this because I had another Dark Ritual and a Cabal Rit so that spell was largely irrelvant. I played the Dark Rit which resolved then ran out the thresholded Cabal Rit into Grim Tutor. He went for a Force which I Misdirected and then he used another Force pitching the Ancestral he scrolled for earlier. I was just dumbfounded because after he countered the first ritual I thought I had the game in the bag. From that point on it became a topdeck war where I drew a Cabal Rit and then Memory Jar and won the game two turns later.
The third game was pretty lackluster as I had first turn Xantid Swarm and won on turn 2-3.

Round 2 – UW Salvagers

My opener for this game was really solid it was BS, Lotus, 2x Dark Rit, Island, Fetch, and Mis-D. I mainphased the BS because if I hit a threat and a blue card then I could easily get a turn 1 with Mis-D backup. Unfortunately it was more ritual effects and Chain of Vapor. After cracking the fetch next turn all I drew for the rest of the game was mana and scopped in response to a lethal Brain Freeze. For some reason he was running Cunning Wish -> Brain Freeze as the win instead of just drawing his deck and beating with men.

Sideboard: -1 Timetwiser -1 Imperial Seal -1 Infernal Contract -1 Swamp
+1 Bayou +3 Xantid Swarm

Since he didn't know what deck I was playing he didn't sideboard for Game 2. The second game was quick and brutal as Xantid Swarm showed up first turn and he didn't have the force. Winning while goldfishing is a breeze with this deck.
In Game 3 his first turn was quite broken with first turn Trinket Mage for Tormod's Crypt. After doing all that he only had three cards in hand so the odds of Force+Blue were pretty low. I ran out the turn 1 Necro off Moxen + C. Rit and he didn't have the Force. It didn't matter though as I drew Mis-D that turn.

Round 3 – Ur Control

His deck was like old school Mono U control splashing Red for sideboard options. All I really remember about Game 1 was that I had an early Memory Jar turn 1-2 and passed the turn that I played it. On upkeep I cracked the Jar and he Mysticaled for Force. I played some ritual effects and then went for Grim Tutor -> Yawg's he played the Force pitching Misdirection which was quite a relief because it meant he probably didn't have any other free counters. I used the Force that I had and won. I was pretty lucky the he didn't hit more blue spells because all his deck has is blue spells and mana.

Sideboard: -1 Timetwiser -1 Imperial Seal -1 Infernal Contract -1 Swamp
+1 Bayou +3 Xantid Swarm

My Xantid Swarm's were working overtime at this tourney as around 60% of the field were Drain decks. Game 2 was the first game where my first turn Xantid Swarm didn't win the game. For two turns I was fetching out Duals and ran a few threats into his counter-magic. Then the turn before I was going to really start going broken he dropped Blood Moon. My mana sources were 2 off-color Moxen, 2 Underground Sea and a Bayou. I now needed to topdeck Mox Jet, Lotus, or Petal to have shot to win the game as I boarded out my Swamp. The turn after he dropped Ophidian and started drawing DI cards and there was nothing I could do. After the game I was so upset about losing to a jank card like Blood Moon when the main reason that Pitch Long is better than Grim is the solid manabase. Because I was on tilt I didn't even look at my sideboard where the Swamp still remained.
During Game 3 I sacced a Polluted Delta looking for the Swamp and realized it was still in my sideboard which made me even more upset at myself. This game he got an early Ophidian scrolled for Force and rode him to victory.

Round 4 – Erik Williams with SS Salvagers

Erik is the friend and teammate that I came drove from Rochester to NJ with. We decided to draw this round and give both of us a shot at making the Top 8 if we won the next round. Here is how I sideboard for this matchup if anyone out there is interested.

Sideboard: -1 Mind's Desire -1 Infernal Contract -1 Timetwister
+2 Hurkyl's Recall +1 Chain of Vapor
It would seem like bringing in Massacre would work well since they run Plains but since most players will board out Salvager they will never fetch for the Tundra. If your playing against a weak player or a player that you expect to have Meddling Mage instead of Chalice then bringing in Massacre would make sense.

Round 5 – Member of Team Blitzkrieg with UW Salvagers

I was surprised to see 3 people out the 29 that showed playing this deck because it doesn't seem to be that popular at most tournaments that I attend. I don't really remember the games that I won very well but I do remember the game that I lost so I'll talk about that one. He had a relatively slow start just laying out some lands and playing a BS. On my turn I play a Cabal Ritual which he thinks really hard about and finally lets it resolve. After that I played Mana Crypt and Mox Pearl and layed the land for my turn and showed Mind's Desire for 4. He Mana Leaked 1 of the storm copies so it was only for 3 which is very borderline. The first card I hit was Bargain so I thought the game was over. The other two cards were a Ritual and Tinker. I got really lucky with this Desire hitting two huge threats with only three storm. Excited I ran out the Bargain which he Forced. What I should have done was play the Tinker get Jar into play and then go for Bargain. This way if he does have the Force I can crack Jar and try to hit one of my seven pitch spells. Instead I was forced to Jar and then Timetwister all the while having infinite mana and storm but not seeing any tutor or Tendrils. I cycle a Rebuild and missed one more time, I then play a Sol Ring and Mana Vault so I didn't burn as much. The next card I drew for the turn was the Tendrils.
While I did get unlucky seeing at least 15 cards and not hitting one of my seven outs I still made the misplay and lost because of it. Despite this I still took down the match and made Top 8.

Quarterfinals – Ur Control from Round 3

After my sloppy sideboarding in our previous match I really wanted to play tight this time around. Game 1 he got down a Tormod's Crypt and early Blood Moon but it wasn't nearly as bad this time because I had some basics in play. I can only imagine what a beating that card is for Grim Long. A few turns later I had a lot of ritual effects and Chain which I used to bounce some Moxen and his Blood Moon. I could have went for the Crypt but it didn't really matter as I DT->GT->Tendrils to storm at 10.

Sideboard: -1 Timetwiser -1 Imperial Seal -1 Infernal Contract -1 Underground Sea
+1 Bayou +3 Xantid Swarm

This time around I made sure to take out a Sea instead of the Swamp to make sure I didn't get owned by Blood Moon. In Game 2 he mulled to five but had a solid hand of first turn Ophidian to try and restock the grip but I had a Force. I did some boring stuff and on his turn he plopped down another Ophidian which resolved. On my turn I drew BS and messed up a little by putting the land into my hand instead of the Chain. Playing the land this turn didn't matter as it was the only second land I had so waiting till next turn and bouncing his guy would have been better. It just meant he got to draw an extra card before I went off but luckily for me it wasn't a relevant spell.

Semifinals – Joe Davis(ashiXIII) with Meandeck Gifts

Some people were trying to work a 4 man split where each person got $125 and 6 packs but I decided that I would rather play since I had a decent matchup and came all the way from Rochester. If I did win then it would $250 and 6 packs. Another incentive to play was that I knew his deck had a transformational sideboard into Oath which takes up at least 10 slots meaning that it was a pretty good chance he didn't have many sideboard slots for combo.
My opening hand in Game 1 was really crazy I honestly don't know what the best way to play it is or that it is even a keeper. I decided to rock it and see what happened. The hand was Mox Jet, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Grim Tutor, Dark Ritual, Force of Will, and Mind's Desire. My play was Jet-> Ritual playing Grim Tutor filtering a mana through Ruby. He played Force and I had to Force back as if Grim was countered my hand had nothing. Now I have Mox Sapphire in hand and 1 black floating so I couldn't go for Tinker which would have been my best bet. Instead I got Ancestral and drew into Mana Vault, Ritual, and Memory Jar which was pretty nutty. I dropped the Jar and went of that turn.

Sideboarding:-1 Timetwiser -1 Imperial Seal -1 Infernal Contract -1 Swamp -1 Cabal Ritual
+1 Bayou +3 Xantid Swarm +1 Trickbind

Game 2 I mulled into a lackluster hand he got down the big man he killed me in a few turns.
My hand in Game 3 was a skill tester; it had Delta, BS, 2x Xantid Swarm and some business spells. I decided to fetch for the Bayou because I have more U sources than Green and it I get the Xantid Swarm through I have a good shot of winning. He Forces the first Xantid which is really awesome for my hand and the second 1 gets through. Unfortunately I couldn't draw a blue mana source to save my life or any ritual effects. My hand was all threats and blue spells but no mana except 1 C. Rit. He goes for a defensive Gift's pile that was Tormod's Crypt, Duress, Yawgmoth's Will, and Recoup. I know for sure I'm not giving him the Will and I know I am giving him Duress because my hand has lots of threats. I decide to give him Recoup instead of Crypt because it gives me 1 turn to top deck a Dark Ritual or Lotus for the Win because I have Will in hand. This split also has the bonus of making him go for an early Will when his graveyard didn't have a lot of business. I don't draw the Ritual on my turn and he plays the Will getting back the Crypt and Duressing me again. A few turns later I draw Dark Ritual and cast a Grim Tutor filtering through a Mox. I still have the C. Rit in hand and want him to crack in response so that my Yawg's will be relevant and here is where I make my big mistake. I look at Necro and Memory Jar as my two main options and I don't think he will crack the Crypt in response to my C. Rit because he knows I have the Yawg's Will so I go for Memory Jar. He does decide to crack the Crypt and I end up burning for 3. This was a huge mistake because Jar and Necro are both huge threats and either one would have won the game but if he does crack Crypt then I can't cast the Jar. My life was around 14 so I definitely had a lot of room to play around with. I wasn't very upset about losing because I knew it was because I made a mistake. I walked away with 6 packs of Italian Legends which I sold to the dealers for $10 a piece.