Jank Golem
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« on: September 24, 2007, 09:03:16 pm » |
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I played Grow-A-Naut previously at Myriad Games a month ago because I didn’t feel my usual Fish jank could cut it in in a format with Gush. At Myriad I began 2-0 before dropping 3 straight games putting me out of T8 contention. I felt like the deck was still powerful however. We messed around with the list a little and realized we had the cards for two identical GAN decks, so my friend Justin decided to take a break from red cards and play GAN as well.
We meet the night before and dismantle GAT for spare parts to build a second GAN deck for Justin. We then test the most inapplicable match in Vintage, the GAN miror. Here is the list we decided on. GAN (Grow-A-Naut)
4 Flooded Strand 4 Polluted Delta 3 Volcanic Island 3 Island 3 Underground Sea 1 Library of Alexiandra 1 Black Lotus 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Mox Ruby 4 Wee Dragonauts 1 Psychatog 4 Gush 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 4 Duress 2 Pyroblast 2 Disrupt 2 Psychotic Fury 2 Lava Dart 4 Merchant Scroll 1 Vampiric Tutor 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Mystical Tutor 1 Ancestral Recall 1 Yawgmoth's Will 1 Time Walk
Sideboard 4 Annul 3 Leyline of the Void 3 Blood Moon 2 Empty the Warrens 1 Pyroblast 1 Lava Dart 1 Echoing Truth
Leyline of the Void should be at 4, proxies issues forced us to run 3. In the board we considered both Annul and Goblin Vandal as Stax hate. We eventually decided on Annul, but Goblin Vandal might be optimal. Blood Moon in the sideboard is to attack the mana base in the Gush mirror, with 3 basic Islands it should in theory hurt them more then us. I expected vast quantities of Gush to bring in Blood Moon against, but instead the metagame had only a few Gush decks and tons of Stax. I did see plenty of other Gush hate including Extirpate, In the Eye of Choas, Disrupt and Encroach. Empty the Warrens is brought in to totally foil any attempts to attack your creature base.
The maindeck draw and disruption package is fairly standerd for Gush decks. I chose not to include green for a lone Fastbond because I felt it was not worth screwing over your manabase for a single broken spell. Disrupt is there as an early cantrip and counterspell to get the deck rolling and help draw the relatively small number of mana sources. Lava Dart is removal vs. Mindcensor, Bob or an ungrown Dryad and helps to combo win with Dragonauts. Psychotic Fury helps the deck pull off quick wins with Dragonauts, allowing it to play as Combo Control instead of Aggro Control like Dryad would in GAT. Psychatog is your late game win condition when the game is stuck in stalemate; a situation where Dragonauts is weak. I wouldn’t make any maindeck changes given the experience of the tournament, except maybe adding another mana source in the form of Volcanic Island or Mox Jet. I don’t know if the deck be better or worse then GAT on the whole, but it is certainly different.
On to the tournament. We leave at 10:00 planning for a 12:00 start time, which actually turns out to be at 1:00. On the drive down we discuss important issues such as the War in Iraq, the Vintage B/R list and how Swedish Fish are actually made in Canada. We arrive an hour early giving Justin time to use his OCD skills and organize my binder. People begin trickling in and we finally begin at 1:00 with 26 players.
I apologize for any names or game details I missed. My memory isn’t great and I wasn’t taking game notes.
Round 1 vs. Belcher Game 1: I Duress and take Demonic Consultation. He Land Grants and draws some off Chromatic Star, but Dragonauts gets there before he can get his plan off the ground. Game 2: I don’t board in Annul or anything else here because I didn’t see anything to indicate it was Belcher Game 1. The significant play was countering Belcher, and then Lava Darting Welder. This stopped him long enough to have Dragonauts go the distance.
1-0
Round 2 vs. The Jeff with Stax Game 1: I keep a risky hand on the play with just Library of Alexiandra for lands. I was under the impression my opponent was not running Wastelands, which turned out to be incorrect. Either way the hand should have been mulliganed. I play Library and pass; Library then promptly gets destroyed with Ghost Quarter. I find an Island and cast Brainstorm EOT hitting the two other mana sources I need. Lock pieces and counters are played on both sides with Mana Crypt/City of Brass slowing pinging his life total away. He resolves 1Sphere and 3Sphere but I stay in the game with plenty of mana sources. EOT Lava Dart eventually wins for me. Game 2: I board in 4 Annul but still to turn 1 Smokestack. This is one of the drawbacks of Dragonauts; you don’t run Moxen or Fastbond like GAT does to help win the permanent war vs. Stax. Game 3: I am stuck without a black source to cast Demonic or Vampiric Tutor. I finally manage to draw Gush with three lands in play. I float two mana and cast Gush, he REBs and I FOW back. Gush resolves, I play my land for the turn and cast ETW for 6 guys. I attack with tokens bringing him to 1. He resolves Platinum Angel, which I have double Lava Dart to blow up. Goblin tokens go to the red zone for the final point of damage.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Dan Gagooch with Gush Tendrils Game 1: I pull off a relatively quick combo win with Dragonauts backup with Duress and counters. Game 2: I cast an early Ancestral which is Forced. I have the opportunity to Force back but decide not to. I then cast Blood Moon, brought in from the board, backed up by my Force He plays Sapphire, Petal. He has three cards in hand and I decide to force Sapphire and keep him off a blue source. This turns out to be a huge play mistake when he plays another Mox casts Tinker for 7/10 and wins. Game 3: I cast Blood Moon again, owning my mana base. He finds basic Island and ETWs for 16ish to win the match. In retrospect Blood Moon is not nearly as strong against Gush Tendrils as it is against GAT. The moral of the story is not to rely on Blood Moon too heavily against Gush Tendrils or even GAT, especially if they know you have it.
2-1
We both have a fair amount of time after Justin quick win and my quick loss. I get Asian food and Justin gets Greek food in the culturally diverse food court. Justin also purchases a Monster, which should cause him to crash around round 5 and further hinder his blue card playing skills.
Round 4 vs. MaskNought Game 1: Lava Dart takes care of some Bobs and I counter Illusionary Mask. I resolve Ancestral, and then cast Yawg Will several turns later. And finally win with Dragonauts. Game 2: Lava Dart eats even more Confidants. I tutor up and cast Ancestral and eventually Dragonauts beats win.
3-1
Round 5: ID vs. Ray Robillard with TMWA We take a look at the standings and my tiebreakers were high enough to make it in. Ray’s were lower, and he looks at the odds of drawing in vs. playing it out and eventually decides to ID. Unfortunately he doesn’t end up making it in.
With this time I go watch Justin play his final match against MaskNaught. A win for him would mean two Dragonauts in the T8. He drops the match 0-2, so I am forced to represent Dragonauts alone.
3-1-1
T8 vs. Kowal with SSB: Game 1: I keep a risky hand with only 1 Volcanic Island. I hit no more lands with Brainstorm. He draws a ton of cards, activates Mindslaver and owns my board. Game 2: I get the broken nuts of first turn Dragonauts, Ancestral. I slow play it to ensure a win and furious Dragonauts wins turn 3. Game 3:I get active Library on the draw. He casts a fair number of draw spells as well but is hitting mostly mana sources. I Mystical for ETW and cast it for 10 goblins backed by several counters.
We wait for the other matches to finish and all parties agree to a T4 split. We then begin the two hour trip home, and mentally try to prepare for school the next day.
Props The store and TO for hosting the event. My Mom for driving. Justin for playing blue cards and almost T8ing Wee Dragonauts for being playable jank. Lava Dart for killing Platinum Angel, Dark Confidant and my opponents.
Slops Mana Crypt for not killing my opponents faster. Decklists only for the T8 and not for the whole field. Tim and Emery for being at school and not attending.
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« Last Edit: September 25, 2007, 06:14:36 pm by Jank Golem »
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moxpearl
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« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2007, 09:32:33 pm » |
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Thanks for the report and Congrats on the top 4.
I was reading your report and thinking Wee Dragonauts was some funny code name for some old vintage card. Surely Wizards wouldn't literally name a card "Wee Dragonauts." Then I keep reading and start thinking maybe it's an actual card. I then page up and see the Psychotic Fury and immediately head to the card database search and, lo and behold, it's an actual card (you can see I don't play standard.) What in the world is that a picture of? Two kids hanging from a flying saucer?
Anyway, I would have loved to see that deck in action. Tendrils on a fairie.
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Sextiger
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Posts: 338
My nickname was born for these days
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« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2007, 07:27:08 am » |
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Great job on creating a fun and actually pretty competitive deck, I always thought Nauts would be cool in some deck but I'm glad someone actually implemented them.
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"After these years of arguing I've conceded that Merchant Scroll in particular can be an exception to this rule because it is a card that you NEVER want to see in multiples, under any circumstances. Merchant Scroll can be seen as restricted in a way because should you have 2 in a hand, only one is really useful (that is, only one can get Ancestral)."
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Gaagooch
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« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2007, 05:57:15 pm » |
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I was your Round 3 opponent. In game two I had cast the Petal first, then the Sapphire, had they both resolved i was going to cast Mind's Desire for 3 with Tinker->Titan backup next turn. Once you countered my sapphire i had no other real choices than to Tinker that turn. It was a very good match, and you played it very well. Congrats on your Top 4 Split with GAN.
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--Team Perfect Scrubs--
--I am the walrus..Goo Goo Gaagooch--
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Jeffro
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« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2007, 07:57:38 pm » |
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i was your round 2 opponent, u were a competative player, the nauts were confusing to see first game but my 2 main deck swords took care of them only to die to my mana crypt. 2nd game u couldnt do much smokestack is harsh, then 3rd game was indeed an intense battle, one more turn i might have pulled out. but kudos to the deck and it was good playing with you.
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TFD 4E <3
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Dr_Tongue
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« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2007, 09:39:55 pm » |
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Nice job on the strong finish! I myself played a Wee Dragonauts deck the same day, in a different part of the US, getting into the T8 with it. I thought perhaps they would list the decks but since they haven't I'll list what I ran. I've been playtesting it for about 2 1/2- 3 months, although I never thought of including Psychotic Fury. Thought of using a wish mainboard to get the PF? It would free up a spot (or two) and ramp the spell count 1 more as well.
I ran the following: (61) 4x Underground Sea 4x Volcanic Island 2x Tropical Island 4x Flooded Strand 2x Island 1x Jet 1x Ruby 1x Saphirre 1x Emerald 1x B. Lotus
1x Fastbond 1x Quirion Dryad 3x Wee Dragonaut
4x Brainstorm 4x Force of Will 2x Misdirection 4x Gush 4x Accumulated Knowledge 4x Merchant Scroll 3x Fire/Ice 1x Mystical Tutor 1x Echoing Truth 1x Ancestral Recall 1x Time Walk
3x Duress 1x Vampiric 1x Demonic 1x Y. Will
SB: 3x REB 1x Shattering Spree 1x Ancient Grudge 1x Rack and Ruin 1x Energy Flux 1x Eathquake 1x Smother 1x Naturalize 1x Compost 2x Engineered Plague 2x Tormods Crypt
Nice to see 2x decks with the same kill yet different approaches (well about 10 cards anyways). I might try the Wishable board next time with mine with PF in the board. Do you think that a bounce spell is wise mainboard, such as Echoing ? I was suprised you had nothing main.
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They don't need to burn a book they just remove em.
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Yare
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Playing to win
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« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2007, 09:48:40 pm » |
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I just wanted to say that I think the build you have is fairly innovative, especially with some of the instants you chose to run. Good preliminary deck discussion as well.
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Jank Golem
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« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2007, 02:57:42 pm » |
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Nice job on the strong finish! I myself played a Wee Dragonauts deck the same day, in a different part of the US, getting into the T8 with it. I thought perhaps they would list the decks but since they haven't I'll list what I ran. I've been playtesting it for about 2 1/2- 3 months, although I never thought of including Psychotic Fury. Thought of using a wish mainboard to get the PF? It would free up a spot (or two) and ramp the spell count 1 more as well.
I ran the following: (61) 4x Underground Sea 4x Volcanic Island 2x Tropical Island 4x Flooded Strand 2x Island 1x Jet 1x Ruby 1x Saphirre 1x Emerald 1x B. Lotus
1x Fastbond 1x Quirion Dryad 3x Wee Dragonaut
4x Brainstorm 4x Force of Will 2x Misdirection 4x Gush 4x Accumulated Knowledge 4x Merchant Scroll 3x Fire/Ice 1x Mystical Tutor 1x Echoing Truth 1x Ancestral Recall 1x Time Walk
3x Duress 1x Vampiric 1x Demonic 1x Y. Will
SB: 3x REB 1x Shattering Spree 1x Ancient Grudge 1x Rack and Ruin 1x Energy Flux 1x Eathquake 1x Smother 1x Naturalize 1x Compost 2x Engineered Plague 2x Tormods Crypt
Nice to see 2x decks with the same kill yet different approaches (well about 10 cards anyways). I might try the Wishable board next time with mine with PF in the board. Do you think that a bounce spell is wise mainboard, such as Echoing ? I was suprised you had nothing main.
Interesting list, glad to see Dragonauts representing coast to coast. I agree that although we both run Dragonauts as a win the two builds play out very differently. The main things I see are the presence of Accumulated Knowledge, Misdirection and Fire/Ice in your list. I would hypothesize this makes the deck play a slower more controlling game like GAT. The mainboard Psychotic Fury and lower mana curve make my list play a more Combo role, capable of racing the opponent or even winning slowly in some cases. I would never think of boarding Psychotic Fury in my list for this reason, taking an extra step to tutor for it slows you down considerably. Maindeck bounce is something I was also considering, but ultimately giving the relatively aggressive nature of the deck I decided against it. I still think being able to run Blood Moon to board in against GAT is worth the cost of not running green for Fastbond. A resolved BloodMoon usually has little effect on you, leaving you free finish the game with Dragonauts unhindered by the opponent. Fastbond's effect is also very powerful of course, and might end up fitting my deck better then Blood Moon.
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Outlaw
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It's always better when their crying.
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« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2007, 03:10:02 pm » |
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Wouldn't Lava dart warrant running 4 as it builds your naughts twice in a single turn and adds 2 dmg? Thought that was like the premise of the deck?
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Team GGs We'll beat you, throw an after party and humiliate you there too.
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I've bumped rails longer than your magic career.
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Jank Golem
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« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2007, 08:38:34 pm » |
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Wouldn't Lava dart warrant running 4 as it builds your naughts twice in a single turn and adds 2 dmg? Thought that was like the premise of the deck?
Lava Dart and Psychotic Fury are great aggressive components of the deck, but I can't afford to go all in there. When Dragonauts is not in play I would usually prefer to have Pyroblast in hand instead of Lava Dart. Basically Dart and Fury are dead cards unless Dragonauts is in play and the deck needs to be able to function without Dragonauts in some cases.
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