Dawn of the Dead @ Myriad 8/16/08

[FadeToBlack]

This was my second Vintage Tournament ever, coming fresh off a top 8 at Pandemonium Games. I piloted Dawn of the Dead, a GBw creation I found while lurking around here on the Drain with some minor modifications. After getting off to a late start and reaching Myriad Games just before 11:30 with my 3 buddies, I was ready to sling some cardboard.

Dawn of the Dead

3 Scrubland
3 Bayou
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Riftstone Portal

4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Gaddock Teeg
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob

2 Zombie Infestation
2 Life from the Loam
4 Thoughtseize
3 Duress
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Lotus Petal
1 Pernicious Deed
4 Swords to Plowshares

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Extirpate
4 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Ray of Revelation
2 Oxidize
1 Krosan Grip

For what its worth, the Lotus Petal should probably be Mox Diamond and Pernicious Deed should be Balance, but I did not have either of them (and can’t really say that the swaps really bothered me at all). And to display my total newbness, I can tell you that I have no clue what the Ray of Revelations are for (Leylines maybe?), but they were more or less space holders that never left my deckbox. My game recaps may have minor inconsistencies, as my notes were sparse and my memory not the greatest.

Round 1 vs Oliver Beaumont with Painter

I win the roll open the game with a mulligan into Thoughtseize, Delta, Pernicious Deed, STP, Squee, and Goyf. I Thoughtseize away his Ancestral Recall, seeing Grindstone, Duress, Mana Crypt, Sapphire, Strand, and Island. He Duresses back, taking my Deed. I proceed to rip a Riftstone Portal off the top and drop my Goyf. He’s able to force and Drain the rest of my relevant threats (including Confidants and the such), but I ride the Goyf for the full 20.

I side in my 2 Oxidize and 1 Krosan Grip, removing my 2 Zombie Infestation, and I believe a Loam.

Game 2 I again open with a Duress, taking a Force while seeing Mana Drain, 2 TFK, a Darkblast, and Island. I drop a Confidant which he Drains (later admitting that he should have just Darkblasted), and follows that up with an Extirpate. Hes able to counter my next threat in the form of Tarmogoyf, and plays Lim Dual’s Vault. He searches along and eventually settles after taking 4 or 5 points. He proceeds to Extirpate away my Goyfs,and leaving me with just the Teegs to win (I had pitched Ruby to my Bazaar, and Infestations were boarded out). I retaliate on my turn with a Thoughtseize. He TFK, and is instantly depressed at the fact that he knows he is drawing into the Yawg Will he stacked on top via Vault. Sure enough, I dig to a Teeg through my Bazaar engine and he is safely landed. He lands a Grindstone and we begin to edged it out, with me racing him from 13 and him Grinding me + my own Bazaar Draws. I am able to Oxidize away a Painter when he tries to combo off, and with 6 cards left in my library, I wasteland away his Academy and Krosan Grip his Grindstone to seal it up.

1-0   (2-0)

Round 2 vs Kirk Olsen with Elves

Kirks a nice guy who is back playing after something crazy like a 10 year layoff, so I’m kinda curious to see what creation he might be piloting. He opens with Fyndhorn Elves and Wren’s Run Vanquisher, but I Deed for 2 off Black Lotus. I cast off a Thoughtseize seeing Timberwatch Elf, Wirewood Pride, Berserk, Elvish Champion, and 2 Molders, stealing the Champion. He never gets his third land and I ride Goyfs and Confidants to the victory.

I don’t sideboard at all, as I’m not really prepared for this sort of matchup.

Game 2 starts off with a Thoughtseize on turn 1, taking a Wren’s Run Vanquisher while leaving Forest, Lifeforce, and 3 (!) Imperious Perfect. Leaving the Lifeforce is weird, but I rationalize that he’ll have to tap out to ever do anything relevant, so I’m not too fearful of it. I have Wasteland for his fresh Bayou, Strip Mine for his Forest, and then lock him with Loam+Strip. A few beats later and this game is over.

2-0 (4-0)

Round 3 vs Sara Yarrington with Belcher

Sara is the wife of Dan, the owner of Myriad Games and the creator of TMWA, and I saw her playing in the previous round, so I know what I’m up against. I mulligan a hand of some Goyfs and Confidants, fearful that 2 turns of unmolested hands for Belcher would destroy me. I mull into some business, kicking it off with a Thoughtseize for Welder, leaving Petal, Rite of Flame, Shusher, and Land Grant. She plays out her hand drops the Shusher. I drop a Confidant and she follows it up with another Shusher and Lion’s Eye Diamond, completely out of Gas. I trade the Confidant for a Shusher to save some life points, and then Deed the table clear. I get a Goyf down with some other business to back it up and that’s good enough.

I sideboard in 2 Oxidize, 1 Krosan Grip, 4 Thorn of Amethyst for 2 Zombie Infestation, 2 Life from the Loam, and 3 Squee, Goblin Nabob. I’m not really sure if I should bring in the Leylines/Extirpates here, so if anyone has thoughts, share em =P

Game 2 I feel good with 2 Duress effects in hand and a confidant, but the game ends before I can do anything via something like SSG, Rite, Rite, Taiga, Belcher, LED..or similar shenanigans. I make her mill the deck, seeing Maguses also packed in there.

Game 3 I open with a Duress seeing an unkind hand of 3 Welders, Ruby, Pearl, Belcher, and Taiga and seeing myself in a very poor situation. I wisely take the Ruby, though it took me more than enough time to come up with a fairly obvious decision. She drops a Welder of Taiga and the Pearl. I wasteland the Taiga and Thoughtseize away the 2nd Welder. She beats with the Goblin and passes. I Seize again for the 3rd Welder seeing the scary Magus in hand, and play Thorn of Amethyst. She taps her Pearl and Welds it for a Ruby and attempts to Manamorphose, but I remind her of that silly Amethyst and she burns. From there, I get a STP for Welder and get a second Thorn, always just 1 mana ahead of her (glad to not see Tinder Wall rear its face). Teeg, Confidant, and Goyf all arrive soon enough to end this.

3-0(6-0)

Round 4 vs Eric Dupuis with Control Slaver

ID

3-0-1 (6-0-1)

Round 5 vs Tyler Huff with “Frank” (Painter Slaver)

ID

3-0-2 (6-0-2)

Top 8 vs Jared Carter with Ichorid

While I was none too happy to play the lone Dredge deck in the top 8, I was happy enough to be entertained by Jared and his Hammerhead Shark shenanigans. On the plus side, he made it no secret that he’d probably be playing anything else in the Top 8 as there was no telling what my semi-rogue pile could be packing. And after a solid 2 hour break, the cardboard slinging began again…

Game 1 Jared mulls only to 5, killing my main win condition in the first game (mull to oblivion) and opens with a Leyline in play. I mulligan to a Wasteland and some other junk on 6, hoping that it might be good enough. Unfortunately, Wasteland on Bazaar just doesn’t quite cut it when he has enough power to back it up and I cannot land any real clock against him.

I sideboard in 4 Leyline, 4 Thorns, and 2 Extirpates for 4 Squee, 2 Loam, and my Thoughtseizes. Also not sure if this is correct, perhaps I should’ve kept in the Seizes to hope to steal his Leyline removal, but once again, maybe someone else can shed some light.

I mull away a first hand of Confidants and Goyfs, and then a hand with no lands. But boy, do I have a nice 5, graciously dropping Leyline, Jet, Pearl, Thorn, Wasteland on turn 1. I waste his Bazaar, which I’m pretty sure was a mistake, as I should’ve waited for a real mana source. If I had done this, I think I could’ve had the game, but hindsight is just there to bother me. To continue my pro-like drawing streak, I rip Vamp Tutor off the top. Another fork in the road…do I go Confidant to fuel some business, or a 2nd Wasteland and just assume I can continue to topdeck better? I go the Confidant toute, and rip Goyf and off the top next turn, though he has a Gemstone Mine. I lay some beats, and he has a Chain of Vapor for my Leyline. I rip a Lotus, but am one mana short of playing it and being able to replay Leyline, which would surely be game. Unfortunately, his next dredge yields triple Bridge with 2 Ichorids coming backing. I throw up some prayers to hope to rip Deed, but am void of a response and lose.

3-1-2 (6-2-2) , 8th Place

So, tough way to end the day that started out so well, but I guess that’s Dredge for you. And as crazy as my mulligan was, Oliver and Jonathans match next to me was just nuts (check out either of there reports for game 3).

Props:
-   Myriad Games and Dan Yarrington for running this awesome event
-   All 30 players who provided endless fun all day
-   My buddies for making the short trip with me and hanging around even after they were out of contention
-   Jared Carter for giving me tips with Dredge, and being more racially complex than even I
-   Olli and Jonathan for the best game of Vintage I’ve seen in my short career

Slops:
-   My random misplays and lack of knowledge on how to properly sideboard
-   Silly traffic at the New Hampshire border

Feel free to share your comments and questions, especially if anyone knows how I should be sideboarding or has any recommendations for the deck. Thanks!

[Polynomial P]

Congrats on the T8 with dawn of the dead. I suggest running 4 extirpate over leyline vs ichorid. They have ways to deal with leyline, but cannot get through extirpate. With waste, strip, STP, and bazaar, you shoudl be able to find two extirpates before they can really kill you. Choose what you extirpate wisely though, so that you get as much time as possible to find 2 before they get a creature in play.

Also, i would not side in extirpate vs. belcher. By the time they put something in the yard its too late. Even if you duress, they have 2x win conditions and infinite mana sources. Extirpate does nothing vs them.

Also, why not play null rod? It seems like it would be amazing in this metagame.

[NicolaeAlmighty]

Damn! He beat me to it. Null Rod should definitely be in here...

Have you found yourself being too hurt by splash damage such as Leyline or Crypt? Could do that... umm... green Naturalize that just shuffles it into the library as a utility in the main. Deglamer! I would think that would be a nice one or two of to combat Colossus or Oath or Leyline or whatever.

It really is too bad that Jotun Grunt and Goyf don't get along too well. The game where you apparently won against Painter with 2 cards left in library could have been very easily remedied by Mr Grunt... Maybe as a two of? How has Teeg treated you?

[Polynomial P]

The problem with deglamer is that it is a 2cc removal spell in a deck that scoops to chalice at 2. I've actually been pretty high on the green seal of cleansing (cant remember what its called). It can get in there early, under spheres, under chalice, etc...and sit there till you need it. I think thats better than any other 2cc artifact/enchantment removal.

[FadeToBlack]

I suggest running 4 extirpate over leyline vs ichorid. They have ways to deal with leyline, but cannot get through extirpate. With waste, strip, STP, and bazaar, you shoudl be able to find two extirpates before they can really kill you. Choose what you extirpate wisely though, so that you get as much time as possible to find 2 before they get a creature in play.

The problem is that against Dredge you have to mulligan aggressively...and while drawing 2 Extirpates may seem reasonable with the Bazaars and such, its a bit more of a task than first glance makes it seem. For example, take a look at what happened in my game 2. I had to Mulligan to 5...and an Extirpate for Leyline there would arguable have been much worse. I realize that they can't really play around it, but you need to guarantee you get 2 (Bridge, and then Ichorid) to seal the deal, while a Leyline that holds for 3-4 turns should be good enough. And the Thorns support Leyline much more comfortably. Truth be told, I'd almost rather have 2 Jailers either in addition to the rest of the hate or in place of Extirpate (though I'd probably drop the Rays first).

Also, i would not side in extirpate vs. belcher. By the time they put something in the yard its too late. Even if you duress, they have 2x win conditions and infinite mana sources. Extirpate does nothing vs them.

Actually, was moreso referring to possibly siding in Leyline? Seems OK against Welder, but probably not good enough to dedicate 4 slots.

Also, why not play null rod? It seems like it would be amazing in this metagame.

Theres a few reasons behind this. First off, it wasn't in the original list, so I can't say that the card instantly jumped out at me. Secondly, the deck is a lot more about digging for Duresses than permanent based disruption. Third, I'm not sure what I would even cut for it...thoughts? And fourth, I think there may have only been one Shop deck (and yes, I know the Rod hates other decks than just Shops) out of the 30, so its presence would've been slightly weakened.

Have you found yourself being too hurt by splash damage such as Leyline or Crypt? Could do that... umm... green Naturalize that just shuffles it into the library as a utility in the main. Deglamer! I would think that would be a nice one or two of to combat Colossus or Oath or Leyline or whatever.

The only time I faced down a Leyline was against Dredge g1, and thats basically a no hope situation anyhow. The Loam/Squee situation doesn't usually kick it unless the game proceeds past turn 4 or so (that I've found), so its not as core as it might appear. You'll win a lot of games just holding 2 Duress effects and either Confidant or Goyf in your opening - Bazaar to dig just keeps the gas coming while your guys get there. And as Polynomial pointed out, Chalice at 2 is a wrecker, so Deglamer isn't so hot. Another silly reason that Deed may be better than Balance, but I'm not sure if thats relevant. I also don't think Naturalize effects are necessary maindeck...while Chalice is a beating, you can get it via Duress effects or tutor up the misers Deed. Oath held no presence at the tournament, Leyline is covered above, and Colossus can be raced with you men (while chumping with Zombie tokens to force 3 swings),STP'd, or just taking their Tinker with your discard effects.

It really is too bad that Jotun Grunt and Goyf don't get along too well. The game where you apparently won against Painter with 2 cards left in library could have been very easily remedied by Mr Grunt... Maybe as a two of? How has Teeg treated you?

I could see Grunt as a possibility, but hes really eats away at the symmetry of my deck. He'd start shipping back my Squees (or dying first), Goyf food, and Loam/targets. You must also consider the extremely rare circumstances of the game, where he was decking me via Grindstone the fair way, and I was drawing out my deck while riding Teeg as my only possible win condition.

As far as Teeg, he was just fine all day. Its good to have a third dude for crazy circumstances like M1G2, he was an auto-win if he stuck against Belcher, and he kept Dread Return unactive against Dredge which bought me some time. Unfortunately, I didn't play him against Combo all day, where I assume he shines (and there were plenty of Long decks running around).

[Sean Ryan]

Rules question: When you discard from Bazaar does it trigger Zombie Infestation?

[NicolaeAlmighty]

Rules question: When you discard from Bazaar does it trigger Zombie Infestation?

No. Zombie Infestation has an activated ability completely independent of Bazaar. When you activate Bazaar, you are only using it's ability- not Infestation.

[Sean Ryan]

How necessary is Infestation? Seems like cutting Squees ZI for Null Rod, ect. would be better

[NicolaeAlmighty]

How necessary is Infestation? Seems like cutting Squees ZI for Null Rod, ect. would be better

Then it wouldn't be Dawn of the Dead now would it?

[Sean Ryan]

Then it wouldn't be Dawn of the Dead now would it? Razz

No, it would be better.  At least without Squee, possibly one Zombie Infestation.  Has anyone tried adding Rod?

[NicolaeAlmighty]

Razz

Razz? Wtf is that? LOL... Honestly though, Infestation is a finisher and was amazing in the world full of Stax/ aggro that it debuted in. Nowadays though... I can understand not wanting it to clog up the main.

[FadeToBlack]

Then it wouldn't be Dawn of the Dead now would it? Razz

No, it would be better.  At least without Squee, possibly one Zombie Infestation.  Has anyone tried adding Rod?

I can honestly say that Squee should stay...I could see cutting one, but even that seems just silly. The whole reason digging with Bazaars works is because you can stay above -1 cards in hand due to Squee. Sure, you can point out that I can use Loam to negate this issue, but that takes a draw step (aka one less chance at a duress effect/something relevant) and Loam costs mana, something that the deck really doesn't use a whole lot of.

How necessary is Infestation? Seems like cutting Squees ZI for Null Rod, ect. would be better

Infestation is perfectly fine as a 2 of. When you play against Shops, or any aggro matchup for that matter, it is the key card to winning. While its presence isn't really shown in my report, it's largely due to the lack of Shops on that given day (whether or not thats typical for the local meta, I have no clue). Additionally, the deck doesn't have many threats, so in something like M1G2 (where I coincidentally sided them out not expecting Extirpate), they would have been huge.

[Sean Ryan]

I'm going to test cutting the Squees for Rod and keep the Zombie Infestation. 

[credmond]

Null rod is great as a singleton, but if you go for more than one you might as well play fish or landstill to more fully implement a mana denial plan around null rod with stifles, 5 strips, counters and disruptive creatures. I am a big advocate thouigh of null rod as a one of in the right deck and since you play black for tutors it will give you something to tutor for.

Squee is the engine to the deck. Without squee, zombie infestation is very weak card. Losing squee will take the deck in a whole new direction which is fine but then you are dealing with another archetype.

Raven's crime could probably go in this deck as a one of as well. And that is another great tutor target.

[FadeToBlack]

People have brought up the Retrace cards, and Raven's Crime seems reasonable. Anything more than a singleton seems like too much, though I'm not sure how much the effect of a one-of will even be noticed. Definitely worth testing out though.

[credmond]

The deck plays black and can support a lot of possible tutors (vampiric tutor, imperial seal, demonic tutor, demonic consultation, entomb) so playing some singletons that totally hose complete strategies makes sense.

darkblast (best method of attacking welders and bobs)
raven's crime (combos with life from the loam to decimate control decks)
null rod (hurts combo, shops, and slaver)
balance (hoses aggro decks)
zombie infestation (hoses shops and aggro)

Null rod is both one of the most powerful of these weapons and one of the riskiest since dawn of the dead likes to play a lot of artifact acceleration in order to secure a solid chance of a two mana opening (for double duress or dark confidant or teeg or something like that) and you can hurt yourself more with it than your opponent sometimes. I can see null rod as a singleton since it works really well against a lot of the field, and if it cant be used in any one game it can always be bazaared away anyway.

Basically you want to mix the singletons in to the main deck in relationship to the metagame you play in. If its combo heavy I would rather have a null rod and a raven's crime than a darkblast or zombie infestation. For CS heavy metas,  darkblast and null rod are superior to raven's crime and zombie infestation.

[Myriad Games]

Thanks for the report, Jason, and congratulations on your victory at your first Myriad Games Vintage event!

[Sean Ryan]

The deck plays black and can support a lot of possible tutors (vampiric tutor, imperial seal, demonic tutor, demonic consultation, entomb) so playing some singletons that totally hose complete strategies makes sense.

darkblast (best method of attacking welders and bobs)
raven's crime (combos with life from the loam to decimate control decks)
null rod (hurts combo, shops, and slaver)
balance (hoses aggro decks)
zombie infestation (hoses shops and aggro)

Null rod is both one of the most powerful of these weapons and one of the riskiest since dawn of the dead likes to play a lot of artifact acceleration in order to secure a solid chance of a two mana opening (for double duress or dark confidant or teeg or something like that) and you can hurt yourself more with it than your opponent sometimes. I can see null rod as a singleton since it works really well against a lot of the field, and if it cant be used in any one game it can always be bazaared away anyway.

Basically you want to mix the singletons in to the main deck in relationship to the metagame you play in. If its combo heavy I would rather have a null rod and a raven's crime than a darkblast or zombie infestation. For CS heavy metas,  darkblast and null rod are superior to raven's crime and zombie infestation.

In response to your comments on Rod,

This comes up quite a bit, and at first glance seems sound, but it plays out differently.  There are three general scenarios here, the first two are the most common and they reward you for playing both Moxen and Rod.  Moxen let you accelerate which is a necessity in the early game, like you stated, but later on they are not essential if you are hitting your land drops.  However, moxen are often essential for your opponent.  Moxen get you to a place where you can start winning.  If Null Rod is in play you are already winning.  The fact that you run Bazaar only strengthens this position allowing you to discard unusable moxes.  The only situation where this hurts you is when you draw little land, with lots of Moxen and a Rod without other threats.  Oath is another example of a deck that can utilize this strategy effectively.

[ReAnimator]

Razz

Razz? Wtf is that? LOL... Honestly though, Infestation is a finisher and was amazing in the world full of Stax/ aggro that it debuted in. Nowadays though... I can understand not wanting it to clog up the main.

Just to elaborate a little bit on this. When this and the subsequent versions debuted the meta was  fish/birds*it , stax, landstil, CS and Gifts.
ZInfest was really really good vs a lot of those decks as they essentially had no out to a resolved one ever. Even against something like CS or Gifts where they need 3-5 turns to kill you, sometimes just dropping a ZI and making a ton of dudes over a turn or two was enough to race them. The initial lists had Krovikan Horrors as well so it was not unusual to be making 2 zombies a turn and not loose any card advantage.

@Fadetoblack
Nice report, and welcome to T1

[Sean Ryan]

Thanks for the context.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to consistently beat TPS which should be seeing lots of play now.

Back to the drawing board.

[credmond]

If you want to beat TPS and long combo, try orim's chant in the Dawn of the Dead shell. It's probably stronger these days than zombie infestation or swords number 3 and 4 and it has interesting unexpected synergy with the deck (if you have bob or bazaar + squee going this deck loves getting time walks in the form of chants on opponents upkeep).