Top 8 at Myriad with Janky Combo

Here is the janky decklist to start:

4 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
5 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mana Crypt
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Dark Ritual

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
4 Repeal
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Ponder
3 Duress
2 Extirpate
2 Misdirection
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Memory Jar
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Frantic Search
1 Darkblast
1 Mind's Desire

Sideboard

3 Spell Snare
3 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Rebuild
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Yixlid Jailer
1 Platinum Angel
2 Tormod's Crypt

The deck is probably terrible in terms of a proper combo deck. I usually play Bomberman or some other control style deck so I built it from the point of view of a control deck that won with storm. I'm sure there are better versions or other approaches that do this better, but onto the tournament.

Round 1 : Jason - Mana Ichorid

Game 1 he does his Ichorid thing and I am deck in a couple of turns.

Game 2 I get a jailer down early but he has the chain of vapor and therapy to get rid of it right away and kill me quick.

0-1

Round 2 : Craig - GAT

So after a repair I get to play a teammate who I tested this matchup against thoroughly on Friday night - fun times!

Game 1 - He mulls to 3, but even after I resolve ancestral and a couple of ponders all I'm seeing are mana sources. I extirpate his gushes leaving him drawing off the top. I eventually try for jar but he has maindeck stifles and stifles the activation. I then play colossus and he echoing truths it and then when i replay it the next turn he forces it. In the meantime he gets a dryad and although I repeal it three times I still see nothing and his dryad takes the game.

Game 2 - This is lucky for me as I duress him early seeing a one land hand with brainstorm and merchant scroll and 2 gushes. I'm in trouble if he sees a second land, so I take brainstorm. I then force a ponder in a turn or two and he is stuck on one land while I desire uneventfully for 7 and then jar for the win.

Game 3 - Craig mulligans to 6 and after some slow buildup on both are parts we have 7 cards each and in my turn he goes for an Ancestral but I have a misdirection and 2 forces with three blue cards to stop his 2 counters and I steal three cards. He doesn't recover and I strom out on turns.

1-1

Round 3 : Mike - Manaless Ichorid

Game 1 - He does his Ichorid thing by turn 3 and I'm down a game.

Game 2 - He mulls to 5 and I lead off with some moxen and an island. I cast mystical during his end step after he dropped a dryad arbor, getting tinker and tinker up platinum angel, which I rid for 5 turns for the game.

Game 3 - He mulls to 6 after serum powdering away a dread returns, 2 therapies and a bridge. He then proceeds to dredge the rest of his dread returns into his graveyard along with an angel of despair, which I tormod's crypt away. I then demonic tutor for jailer and tinker for platinum angel. He scoops it up as his only out to platinum is the angel I crypted as he had sided out the contagions because he had not seen jailers game 2.

2-1

Round 4 : Chris - Flash

Game 1 - I win the die roll and I know my opponent is playing flash. I gamble that he doesn't have the turn one kill and keep a hand with no black mana but 2 duress and extirpate. He ponders first turn and doesn't find the kill turn 2. When I can duress him turn three I see that he is land heavy with a flash but no Hulk, so I take the Flash and then proceed to combo out of of Will in a couple of turns after duressing him again.

Game 2 - He leads with a ponder again and I repond with a duress seeing many lands again. He merchant scrolls for ancestral turn 2 but I vamp in my upkeep for misdirection and when he casts the ancestral next turn I steal it. I cast a threat which he pact of negations with 4 lands and a mox on the board. I show him the mystical for repeal to have him die to his own pact and he scoops.

3-1

Round 5 : Ron - Goblins

And again I must play against a friend, this time to see which of us can draw into top 8. He has a favorable matchup as Earwig Squad wrecks me.

Game 1 - I force a turn one lackey, which was probably a mistake, as I have repeal in hand. He then drops matron for the Squad and although I cast Ancestral, Brainstorm, crack a fetchland and Brainstorm I can't find either a win condition or a Force of Will, so I scoop to having no outs to a 5/3 next turn.

Game 2 - I play some mana artifacts and time walk turn one, into a ponder turn 2. He then duresses me on his first turn. I am forced to counter it as I have Will, Demonic Tutor and Tendils in hand. Next turn I am one spell short of lethal and Tendrils him down to 1 life. Next turn i get very lucky and rip TInker off the top for Darksteel. He had an out in Matron for Stingscourger, but couldn't get it because he couldn't crack his fetchland at 1 life, although the mana crypt required for the play would have likely killed him in afew turns.

Game 3 - Turn 1 he cast lackey and on my turn I drop 2 moxes a land and repeal it on his next turn. He recasts it, but is stuck on one land. I then cast Ancestral and Tinker getting Darksteel. I drew into the Time Walk, although I had Demonic Tutor for it, as well as 2 counters for any threats he had. I got very lucky having a god hand against an abyssmal matchup.

4-1

Round 6 - ID

4-1-1

Top 8 : Corey - Control Slaver

Game 1 - I have weak hand and am on the play, I lead with ponder and see a tendrils in the top three; given that my hand is all mana and a Darksteel, I take a risk - for some reason I just had a gut feeling he had duress and went in on a mini tendrils for 10. I'm right and he duresses me the next turn whiffing on my land and Darksteel. Unfortunately for me he draws a Trinket Mage to get Tormod's Crypt to shut off my Will and draws enough counters to force through a Tinker for Darsteel to kill me.

Game 2 - I have turn 1 ancestral but do not see a second mana source. He goes for turn 1 tinker which I force. I then ponder on turn 2, but fail to see a land, he welds back in his lotus turn 2 and casts Will, geting Tinker for Darksteel that I can't stop. Unfortunately i had Extirpate in hand and could have dealt with the Tinker if I hadn't pondered. YOu live and learn I guess.

All in all I liked how the deck played, but I feel that I'm not that suited to playing combo and if I were I would have built the deck more agressively to combo off.

Thanks again to all my opponents and to Dan and Myriad Games for another awesome event.

Oli