Tyrant Blue Strikes again! Top-8 at Myriad.

< I'm on my way home now, so the deck list and some pre-thoughts are going to be added tonight or tomorrow. but here is the match breakdown >

Round - Zombie-light Dawn of the Dead.

I have an early remora fueled by tons of lands. He has Bazaar/Squee online but I can tell hes reluctant to feed remora. I repeal remora and replay it, and eventually drain a 2cc and get Tinker online. My opponent has 2 turns comming thanks to Meditate - and I have the option for Tinker->DSC or Mindslaver. I have remora down, he has a full grip with 3 mana and bazaar. I opt for Mindslaver, knowing that I will be able to draw a bunch of cards off remora and get rid of the most dangerous 3 cards at least. I'm rewarded for my decision because he has both balance and swords in his hand. I have him play a few duresses to draw me cards merfolk looter style and pass the turn with him having only 2 squee's in hand. Within a few turns I S&T or hardcast a tyrant, and the game is too far in my favor for him to recover.
I board in Spell Snares and Tormod's Crypt for G2.
I have an early Remora again, but this time he fires off Confidant, confidant (i counter the second), Tarmogoyf. I lose to beats.
Game 3 I don't do much, he has tripple Cofidant on the board by turn 4. Confidants bring me to 3 life and him to 5. He swords one of his own guys at my EOT to go to 7 life and lethal dudes.

Round 2 - Scott Playing Flash
Jer had just lost to Flash, so he was having a mini-panic attack. But I wasn't worried.
Game1 Scott has a mediocre hand. We have a counterwar over Merchant scroll, he wins it without pact but with 1 card in hand before it resolves. He gets flash. I'm not sure what to think he has two tapped mana in play, I could have sworn he was going to get ancestral. He must have a hulk as the other card in hand? I pass the turn, with 3 open mana and repeal with heartslivers name on it I also have brainfreeze in hand. So If he has to play alot of spells to get to his win, I might be able to brainfreeze in response to the hulk trigger and get lucky. He untaps and gushes floating 2 blue. Then plays a land and burns for 2. I topdeck Meditate, and decide that its now or never to get a counter in hand. I meditate into 3 mox, and a land. With the mox, and repeal on mox I have enough storm to mill about 21 or 24 cards. I hit 3 verlents and his heart sliver and he concedes.
I board in 3 Spell Snares and 3 Brainfreezes
Scott keeps another risky hand, I have no turn1 counter - but I have remora. He luckly does not win on turn 1. He burns a lotus on turn 1 but comes up short on a land drop. I feed remora, while scott is in topdeck mode for a land. He gets a land, and we have a mini-war over his ancestrall. I end up winning a misdirrect. I assemble Tyrant+Show and tell and pass the turn with only a plable brainstorm in hand. I keep the brainstorm to bounce the heart sliver with tyrant, and I keep swinging. I draw into repeal and know that so long as I do nothing I have plenty of bounce power in hand to not worry about him getting his combo in play.

Round 3 - Sensie Sensie
Game 1 - I get way ahead of the race with an early Remora, the when it dies I have Jace and Library active. I find a second remora and tinker for a quick DSC win.
Board in Snares and Brainfreezes
Game 2 - I have almost all my moxen in play early. I have remora online. I mediate a few times, and spell snare a Helm of awakening. I let remora die, and draw into Brainfreeze. He EOT intuitions for Futuresight x3. I have two counters in hand and brainfreeze. I have no win condition in sight when he casts Helm and futuresight. I could counter and draw things out, but I decide to risk the brainfreeze win (which I would not have done if I was down a game). He asks me if I know the combo, and I ask him to please play it out. I let him get about 15 draws or so and see that he has revealed 1 cunning wish. He has exactly 2 blue and a bunch of colorless open (he is playing his mox out). He used his ancestral earlier. With a Top activation on the stack, I brainfreeze him. He thinks a bit and cunning wishes, and I counter, he then brianfreezes me in response. I let that resolve (dumping my deck). He passes the turn .. and I ask him how he intends to resolve his top's draw. He realizes whats going on and I win.

Round 4 - Ichord. Time for revenge.
So while we're shuffling up I mention that my deck has abouta 1 in 3 testing record against manaless ichorid... So I'm due for a win.
Game 1 ... I lose to Ichorid. No suprize there I have about a 1 in 15 chance on the draw game.
Board in 4 Crypts and 3 Brainfreeze
Game 2 - He fails to find dredgers for many turns. I have an early crypt down with tons of mana. I have Force, and MisD and Drain in hand. So I'm feeling good. He finally starts rolling, and decides to Ancient Grudge my Crypt. I count up my mana an realize I'm exactly 2 mana short of hardcasting Tyrant. Seems like a good time for drain! I drain, save the crypt, draw meditate and hard cast tyrant. I have crypt and Sapphire down when I untap so I decide that now is a good a time as any to meditate for a 2nd crypt or one of my 4 brainfreezes. I get a freeze and win.
Game 3 - I have lotus, land, drain, MisD, and Brainfreeze x2 (and some other stuff). Brainfreeze x2 is really good for me especially because I have lotus. The plan is to deck him in turn 2 before his turn 3 kill (or deck him on my turn 2 with enough mox and stuff). Luckly he has a very slow turn 1 and 2, so I can extend my kill zone one turn. I pick up Meditate and tinker, and I have 6 mana open with a land in hand. I am 1 mana short of tinker->slaver... so I can't do that. I forget what I did, but I spent some mana, I think I have exactly 5 open including the lotus.
Well it comes time to Do or Die. He gets a single bridge and an Ichorid, and 2 cabal therepies. He casts Therepy. Now I have a big decision to make... I really need to get a deck count on him - but I don't want to ask before the thepy resolves because he will surely name brainfreeze. So I ask him for a second to think, and quickly (but carefully) start counting his graveyard, RFG, and in play cards. I count exactly 33. So 27 cards to mill thats 3 spells and brainfreeze for 4 then 5. With only 5 mana, I have I need him to therepy twice so I can misdirrect in order for this to work. After some quick deliberation I allow the therepy to resolve and hope he names Force of Will - which he does (and is probably the right call because I have a grip of 7, haven't forced yet, and just spent a good 30 secs thinking). At this point I have the game, and I show him my hand. And double check the # of cards in his deck by having him count.
A) If he casts the 2nd cabal in an attempt to hit the Brainfreezes I misdirrect pitching tinker and then cast my brainfreezes.
B) If he doesn't I get another turn, and Tinker for Slaver. Or Meditate hopeing to hit two playable spells, Tormod's crypt, brainfreeze #3 of, or Repeal (for 2 spells)... roughly one of 1/2 the cards left in my deck. I can also tinker for Tormods crypt after I meditate and keep the brainfreezes in hand if I don't get enough playable spells. In all likelyhood I'd just go for Slaver, mill 18 cards. If he still has Cephalid Sage in the deck, then I win. If not at least I burn all his flashbacks - then brainfreeze him to death on my next untap.

So at any rate, he ends up casting the Cabal therepy and I deck him exactly. One quick "Untap, Upkeep, draw, pass the turn" and I win!

Round 5 - ID with ELD.

We chat about the match I just had, and about metagame manipulation, and about shops, tyrant, and GAT...

Top 8 - Dan with Tyrant Oath.

I'm glad to be against Dan actaully. Nice guy, great opponent, and playing a deck that I have tested well against.

Game 1 - I mull my first hand of 3 lands, a mox and 3 creatures. Seems poor. I mull into Land, Brainstorm, and some counters. I topdeck remora so things are looking up... until I don't find another land. Brainstorm reveals 2 turns of playing draw-go. And I get oathed.
As an interesting asside, as Dan is oathing he notices a misplaced Pithing Needle in his deck. Dan Yarrington the TO has been using the March 1st rule about not properly unsiding - so this is now a warning, not a game loss. Dan fixes his deck and we re-oath. Dan appolgies for 'winning' that game because of a rule change. I'm really not upset. I had already lost that game... hard. So its really no big deal to me.
* all in all I think the rule is interesting. Its odd because it promotes honesty at the cost of it being easier to cheat. Its give an take, but ultimately if you are a cheater and its revealed that you are a cheater then you still will be treated like a cheater. I like that in encourages honesty... instead of rewarding dishonesty like the old system did.

Anyway spell snares and brainfreezes in. Now it comes down to the most contraversial side-out for this match. Dark Steel colosus. So DSC is terrible against Tyrant Oath. I would basically never tinker for him unless I already burned slaver. The theoretical use is that If we both deck the other eachother with brainfreeze in the same turn (remember post board I have 4). I will have a draw, where my opponent will not. I just need to be able to answer Krosan Rec.
So we accumulate cards. I have active library up and not a whole lot happens in the first few turns. I also have brainfreeze in hand so I'm keeping my mana options open. Now the game gets interesting, and I wish I had better notes:
So Dan casts Oath (with orchard), and I spell snare back. He REBs. Here is where I have a really important decision to make. At the end of some brainstorm/fetching I have Force, Brainfreeze, Tyrant (a fair amount of mana six I think), Medidate, Repeal. I'm pretty sure I want to force now. he had 8 cards at the begining of this, and I want to keep the counterwar going - hopeing to get enough to brainfreeze. If I pitch Tyrant, then I have to win the counterwar and I'm dry on counters. Also If I can't deck him... that meditate has to really give me good cards AND the top two cards are not amazing. If I pitch meditate I have to hope to find mana. I decide rather quickly to pitch Meditate (which I think was a mistake). I kinda forget the rest of the stack, I think I poped my lotus, ancestralled and brainstormed. I think I forced another spell of his pitching Tinker. The top cards of my library were land, DSC. But ultimately I allow the stack to resolve which gives him the oath of druids. And at the end of it all I was able to I swoop in with my lethal brainfreeze. Now I've already basically punted the game. I should have kept the meditate #1. I didn't have enough forsight to see that... no mater what I do, I'm going to get the lethal freeze - even if its after he oaths. After that Meditate is my win condition (ie skipping turns). The thing is, I have no counter for Krosan... so I'm Screwed either way. Next way I punted. I should have targeted myself with 1 copy of brainfreeze, and shuffled my Darksteel. That way I wouldn't draw it. The third way I punted was not just leaving the DSC on top of my deck, and saying "F repeal". So thats what happened, I repealed and drew DSC passed the turn with no counters and lost to hardcast tyrant out of the yard with brainfreeze as his only way to win.

Oh well.