[Results] June 17th Minneapolis Monster Den Results w/ Rector Flash

[moxpearl]

This is less a tournament report, and more simply an update on the ongoings of Vintage magic in the Twin Cities Minnesota and my take on Rector Flash.  Unfortunately, Vintage is in a bit of a lull right now…Legacy is the popular eternal format with the Monster Den regularly holding “Big 4” tournaments (top four prizes are singles or dual land sets worth $80-$120.)

*** Tournament results ***
16 people showed up on Father’s day to play in the monthly vintage tournament.  The metagame:
1 Rector Flash
2 GAT
1 Oath
1 Bob Tendrils
1 TPS
1 Mean Deck
2 Doomsday
2 UB Fish
1 UW something
1 Dry Slaver
1 UR Slaver (with workshops?)
1 Bomberman
1 Ichorid

So, I guess the metagame was more normal this month.    No TMWA or other hate decks.  Jason, the owner, decides to have four rounds of swiss followed by a top 8 again.  I’d prefer a top  4 to make the Swiss matter more, but alas, the tournaments and people are always fun.

Top 8 were:
GAT vs. Bob Tendrils – Tendrils wins
Rector Flash vs. UB Fish - Rector wins
Ichorid vs. TPS – Ichorid wins
GAT vs. Slaver – Slaver wins

Top 4 split a $200 purse.  It’s almost become common place for the top 4 to split even with not necessarily that much on the line.  And given it was Father’s Day, both myself and (I think) the owner were looking forward to head home for the evening to spend time with our families.

*** My tournament report (if you can call it that) ***
Match 1 – UB Fish
Game 1.  Turn 2 flash.  Bargain to 6 life and win.
Game 2.  Turn 2 Razormane Masticore off ritual beats for the win. 

Match 2 – Another UB Fish
Game 1.   I daze his ancestral and then flash the next turn.  Bargain to 7 life and win.
Game 2.  He drops Leyline and Pithing Needle on Bargain.   I cabal therapy for confidant seeing 2 counterspells and cutpurse.  With daze and force, I’m able to punch through Razonmane.  He’s actually able to duress twice with counterspell protection and I have to sac my Razormane during upkeep.  However, I draw merchant scroll -> ancestral -> vampiric -> Razormane #2 for the win.

ID  x2.  I test against GAT (thatoneguy) three games pre-board and lose 1-2.   On my win, Bargain to 3 life and win.  His wins consist of lots of gush, draw, and fastbond.

Quarterfinals  - Same guy I played the first round.
Game 1.   I get turn 2 flash, cabal therapy away a stifle, and flash for the win.  Bargain to 2 life and win.
Game 2.  Turn 3 Razormane off Tolarian and Sol Ring beat for the win.
(noticing a repetitive pattern here?)

I quick test against the Bob Tendrils player and win a no sideboard match in what felt like 10 minutes.

So, yes, a monotonous tournament for me.  6-0 in games against UB Fish, 3 with rector flash, 3 with razormane masticore.
 
*** Ms. Rector Needs a Shave ***
I’ve been playtesting with Rector Flash a bit, reading the rector/flash postings, and I’ve come to like this deck.  You get to use the full compliment of power and restricted cards, a quick win, Vintage brokenness, coupled with the use of a white card that has some respectability in this format dominated by blue and black.   Maybe Ms. Rector is going to replace Mr. Salvagers as my card of choice.

3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Dark Ritual

4 Flash
4 Academy Rector
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Form of the Dragon
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Cabal Therapy

4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Brainstorm
3 Merchant Scroll
1 Gush
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth

Sideboard (largely for the Den metagame):
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild
2 Massacre
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Gush
2 Duress
3 Razormane Masticore

Some personal takes on this deck. 
I like Daze in the deck.  After reading about all the Dazes at the Columbus Grand Prix, it seems like a great protection card for a win condition that only needs one mox and one island to win turn 1 or 2.  Daze’s advantage over Duress or more Cabal Therapies is a more stable mana base and the ability to win without needing one black mana at sorcery speed for protection/disruption.

I decided to try a quasi-transformational sideboard strategy bringing in Gushes and Razormane Masticore against Fish and SS type decks (so common at the Den.)  The deck is hated out by so many cards – Tormod’s crypt, Stifle, Leyline of the Void, Extripate, Pithing Needle on Bargain, Meddling Mage on Flash, Avin Mindensor, Chalice at two, the list goes on and on and on.  So, what card avoid all that hate, slices all those annoying 2/1 and 2/2 creatures, is castable off rituals or off-color moxen, is flashable at instant speed during combat or upkeep, and the downside is not terrible since you can dump dead cards anyway?  Razormane Masticore.  What card gives card advantage and can feed Razormane’s hungry appetite?  Gush.  Now Fish opponents have to think twice about boarding out their creature removal and how much to dilute their postboard deck trying to fight two completely different win conditions.

A parting comment is I’m still unsettled as to what to use as (or even if you should run) a second enchantment in the deck.  Form of the Dragon works well against aggro decks and is a safety net in the event Bargain craps out, but you can’t recast it if it gets bounced.  Null Profusion seems nice as a secondary card, but haven’t practiced it with it too much.

So, there you have it for another month at the Den.  Props as always to Jason and the local players.  Slops to a top 8 format that allows two ID’s in four rounds.

[EKM_Ichorid]

Any idea is that UW deck was Commandeer Control?

[Sarah Angel]

Thanks for the awesome report!  I play flash/rector and a very similar build to yours so I have plenty of questions...

Two of your wins seem to have been aided, if not made possible by, cabal therapy, yet you run only 1.  Whereas you only mention 1 daze (stopping an ancestral).

Are there other times where daze saved you that you didnt mention?

I choose to run 2 duress and 2 cabal therapy, finding that daze does little as the games gets longer, but a therapy or duress can still kill a FoW/misdirection, etc...

Also, you mention having a more consistent mana base with daze, but you run the same base I do (though I use a basic swamp in place of one basic island) and I've never had a single problem getting a black mana first turn or a blue and black together second turn.  Have you had problems with this in the past?

How's yawg will working out for you?  Did you use it much on games that you flash>rector>bargain>tendrils?  I took it out, then put it back in and keep going back and forth on whether to stick with it.

Imperial Seal - why are you not running this?  Too much card disadvantage?  Life loss vs. having to use bargain?  Just curious.

Mana Vault - this has helped me on alternate win conditions (hardcast bargain and or rector), plus it seems to go well with masticore.  Though I suppose it is limited in its use.  But a net 2 mana acceleration is pretty nice.  Again just wondering your logic for not using it.

On games when you didnt use razormane, how much did gush help?  Did it ever make/break the game for you?

How are 4 dark rituals working out?  Have you previously used less of them?  Did you ever find yourself having any in hand at the end of the game (not having used them?).

And lastly, I have Form of the Dragon in my sideboard for matches against stax.  I assume you didnt use it against fish?  I would tend to think it belongs in the sideboard.  I only run 1 enchantment (bargain) main deck.

Sorry for all the questions, but hopefully you will have time to respond.

Thanks!

[moxpearl]

To Sarah Angel.  Thanks for your questions...it actually gives me a good basis to provide more of my take on this deck.

I think there were a couple more dazes in my games, but I can't remember.   I also didn't mention in my report where I had Daze protection for a spell and they were tapped out, but they ended up not having a Force.   Some other thoughts on Daze:
* Daze > Duress/Therapy when you pass the turn after Flashing Rector. 
* I don't like having to fetch for an Underground Sea on my main phase turn 1 that can get wasted. 
* I'm more comfortable keeping a 1 island or fetch hand.  Allows you to play a basic island turn 1 to scroll or brainstorm. 
* Vs. basic swamp, two blue on turn 2 gives you more options. 
* I play Gush, so I don't like the basic swamp.  I think this also answers your question about the mana base...yes, we play the same number of lands and basics, but my strategy is less dependent on needing black mana on turn 1.

I would NEVER cut Yawg's Will.   Not only does it make storming so much easier in a deck that has so many blue spells, but it also replays from the yard if you lose the counterwar on an initial flash.   I almost always use it on my Bargain wins...probably sometimes out of laziness because I don't want to think of a creative way to build storm.   Also, against beatdown decks, you'll need Will if Bargain can't get many cards.

Imperial Seal - again, with the daze and gush strategy, Sorcery for black is not good.
Mana Vault - not many spells to cast with that net 2 colorless mana (often as the loss of a blue or black mana).   I don't play for the hard cast Academy as much, since I only run 1 therapy.
Gush maindeck - in my limited testing with this card, I just thought the deck needed one more draw engine card.  Gush is free and you don't those islands in this low mana curve deck.
Rituals - I know Methuselahn (who also plays here at the Den) doesn't think they're necessary.  I've never tested without it, but with my Razormane stategy, I prefer them in.  Also, it's so much easier to storm out (which can get awkward at times.)  Maybe I'm not being creative enough.  In my playtesting and games, I've never regretted having them.
Form of the Dragon - All this card really does for me is give me comfort that I have an enchantment target if Bargain is trapped in my hand or if Bargain fizzes after drawing a bunch and you can flash rector again to get Form into play.  As for whether the times it's used > it being replaced with some other card, I'm not sure.

Those are my thoughts.  Happy to hear what others think.

Any idea is that UW deck was Commandeer Control?

I don't know.  He beat (or tied?) Doomsday by not losing (Orim's Chants, Balance, Forces, Aura of Silence.)  He lost a close one to GAT, but I think GAT player said he never saw any creatures.  I only briefly saw the deck in action.  I have no idea what the win condition was.