Going into the pastimes tournament, I assumed there would be a lot of Dark Confidants and Tarmogoyfs in the field. I took a look at a lot of European decklists for ideas, knowing the prepare usually to play against unpowered aggro decks. I have a massive erection for Repeal, so I decided to be European and/or Brassman for the day, and run repeal as a more than 1of. I also settled on Viashino Heretic in the maindeck, due to Null Rod / Pithing Needle / Explosives@2 / Cannonist / being a 3-butt.
The list I ran:
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Time Vault, Which Stephen Menendian Single-handedly rescued from Oblivion,
1 Voltaic Key
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Duress
1 Vampiric tutor
1 Yawgmoths Will
1 VIASHINO HERETIC (I must thank an Atog for the Maindeck Technology)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
1Echoing Truth
4 Mana Drain
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Repeal
2 Tezzeret, The Goddamned Nuts
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
9 Artifact Mana (no petal)
2 Flooded Strand
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 TolarianAcademy
2 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
--------------
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Ingot Chewer
2 Pyroblast
1 Rack And/Or Ruin
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Thoughtseize
3 Sower of Temptation
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Pithing Needle
1 Tormods Crypt
So 17 people show up, and Round 1, AGAIN, I get paired with a teammate.
Round 1: Mat Endress (GWS Artifact Aggro)
Since we know what each other is playing, we both first pile shuffle our decks face up. It got a laugh out of people.
Game 1: I elect to play first, and open a hand thatis INSANE since I know my matchup. I drop 3 moxes (one being sapphire), a sol ring, and an Island. My two cards are thirst and DSC. Unfortunately for Mat, my play made his Chalice and thorn he revealed a lot less exciting, and he plays a dude and cranial plating, and passes. I thirst into the nuts (gifts, Drain, tezzeret). I shuffle in DSC (obv), and then draw Demonic Tutor, and pass turn. He attempts another cranial plating, which I drain, and then he hits me. Unfortunately for Mat, my deck gives me time vault, and he never gets another turn as the tezzeret decides to untap time vault, rather than tutor for it.
In: 1 Rack and Ruin, 1 Ingot Chewer, 1 Pithing Needle (Only boarded one because if I draw it late, it's dead against his equipment).
Out: 3 Duress
Game 2 he opens off a Mulligan to 6 into land, chalice @ 0. Unfortunately for mat, my hand is Sapphire, Pearl, Island, Tinker, Repeal, Force of Will, and Thirst. This game ends after I repeal his chalice, and Tinker DSC with Force backup.
2-0
Round 2: Josh Rayden (Tezzeret)
Josh forgot to register 3 cards, but I wasn't sure which. They turned out to be Ponder, Misdirection, and Tinker. I didn't know he had misdirection main. Frowntowns game 1.
Game 1 (or game 2): Josh elects to play, and I open my hand of Recall, Tinker, Drain, Yawgmoth's Will, Island and other blue stuff that weren't force. I decide to keep, figuring that he will either Force my recall and be down cards, or I'll draw an Island for it. I elect toplay Land, go. Not upkeep casting ancestral. I figured I could draw 22 cards here that would allow me to either drain or tinker, or recall with backup. He has misdirection. I scoop when I have 7 cards in hand but no lands, and he's got 9 mana on board between academy and artifacts, and lands.
Game 2 (or game 3): Game three goes my way, as I have slightly more control, and resolve a will which gives me Time Vault (Which, if you haven't seen, was rescued from oblivion singlehandedly by one Mr. Steve Menendian
) and Voltaic Key.
Round 3: Ben carp.
Game 1 I draw 6 mana in a row after having the game cleaned up, and watch it slip away to a Tarmogoofus.
Game 2 I draw a nutty hand that's light on mana. Ben Carp's deck with 14 blue sources draws 6 of them, 3 being force of will. Oh, and he had ancestral. I hate when bad decks beat me.
Round 4: Brad (Plats pact)
Game 1: He opens with Recall, which I force. He Misdirects. And I force. I'm left with Jet, Sapphire, mystical Tutor. He plays mox go, and I m,ystical for recall and cast it. I'm head the whole game from this, and I win when he imperial seals, and I cast gifts. He's got 2 lands in play as well as a fetchland and mana c rypt, and I know his only card in hand is pact. He pacts it, and I draw my card for turn. It's merchant scroll. I cast it, get repeal, and bounce his crypt, killing him with his own pact. Even if I drew dead, he'd have to fetch to pay for pact, losing his imperial seal card.
Game 2: I open up with a good hand, and get off recall as he plays Needle on Tezzeret. I play a Viashino Heretic, and start eating away at his board. At one point I gifts for Red Blast, Pyroblast, Duress, and Ancestral. I get two blasts, and counter his counterblaance with reb, and force his (removing his recall). I win with key - vault shortly. after
Round 5: Jamison Bryant "I can't believe it's not extended...".dec
We ID.
Top 8: Brian Fisher (GWS tezzywezzy)
Game 1: Brian just outguns me with counterspells. His impulses find him gas. I lose.
Game 2: It's my turn to control the game, as I set up a lock with quad counters.
Game 3: I'm in possition to win, but I didn't know his hand was force force force drain drain drain, land. He's able to cast all 3 drains and a force, and he rips merchant scroll for fact, casts it, and flips the goddamned nuts.
My hand: Echoing Truth
his fof: Pyroblast, Sapphire, Emerald
Tinker FRICKEN YAWGMOTHS WILL.
I take 6th, and again get nothing for my troubles. Oh well.
Props:
An Atog for giving me heretic technologies.
Slops:
JACO
