Hey Everyone,
Thought I'd write a small report, not bc my finish was amazing, but bc the deck i played was a slightly different take on painter than what everyone else seems to be playing. the list:
3 painter's servant
3 trinket mage
1 goblin welder
1 grindstone
1 darksteel colossus
1 pithing needle
1 sensei top
4 thirst for knowledge
1 ancestral
1 mystical tutor
1 merchant scroll
1 brainstorm
1 ponder
1 tinker
1 echoing truth
1 time walk
1 demonic tutor
1 yawg's will
4 force of will
3 red elemental blast
2 pyroblast
2 misdirection
1 tolarian academy
1 academy ruins
2 flooded strand
2 polluted delta
1 underground sea
3 volcanic island
3 island
3 ancient tomb
5 mox
1 lotus
1 sol ring
1 mana crypt
sb
3 master of etherium
3 arcane lab
2 rack and ruin
2 commandeer
2 threads of disloyalty
1 pithing needle
1 relic of progenitus
1 tormod's crypt
I didn't plan on doing well, so i have no notes on the day, and a bad memory. anyone i played against, feel free to fill in the blanks.
Rd 1 vs. mono r shop aggro
-game 1 i win fairly quickly with painter + trinket for grindstone
-game 2 i paris to 4... i almost make it out, but seriously- i paris'd to 4
-game 3 i kept a hand which i convinced myself was good: tolarian, mox, tomb, volc, threads, thirst, reb. threadsing a welder or shaman seemed like a good way to win, especially with a quick tfk... except that i played a land and passed, and my opponent cast a 1st turn chalice@1, magus, and something else... i never had a blue mana source after that
Rd 2 vs. TPS
-game 1 he keeps a hand with a slow start. I may have misdirected an ancestral, and eventually all the rebs in my hand become hard counters with painter on the table.
-game 2 commandeer and arcane lab come in. he starts somewhat slow again. key play is when i reb gifts and commandeer duress in the same turn. that was pretty much it.
Rd 3 vs. mystic remora blue
-game 1 i win a major counter war over misdirecting an ancestral. and then i think i played my own ancestral...
-game 2 my opponent plays a few remoras, but meditates once or twice too. although he drew quite a few cards, the xtra turns with him tapped out allowed me to power out the combo. 13 counterspells after sideboarding didnt hurt either.
Rd 4 vs. mystic remora blue
-game 1 was very funny. i win the die roll and have a hand of volc, island, tomb, trinket mage, time walk, fetch, and misdirection. i play a first turn island and pass. my opponent plays mana crypt -> painters servant, mox -> grindstone, mox, land ! 1 mana short of activation! i had time walk + trinket mage which means i can get the pithing needle and cast it with tomb on my walk turn, but it was almost a quick win for him. then on my upkeep he recalls, which i get to misdirect. out of my 4 new cards i see a reb, so i walk and then untap, reb his grindstone, and trinket mage for my own grindstone. on to game 2.
-game 2 i cast very few spells due to at least 1 remora being in play at any time, sometimes 2. i play a grindstone which lets my opponent draw a card. then after a few turns of draw go, i play a painters servant, which doesnt trigger remora
my opponent counters it, and then i play a welder. next turn i activate grindstone and then weld it out for the servant.
Rd 5 vs. tezzeret + tinker -> leviathan + dark confidants
-game 1 i dont remember anything except playing a turn 1 sensei's top and winning with grindstone
-game 2 i dont remember much about either. at one point my opponent was able to cast tezzeret and fetched out time vault. on my turn i was able to tinker in pithing needle on tezz and then kill him with a creature... eventually i find grindstone and activate it hoping my opponent doesnt have a gaea's blessing boarded in. he didnt
Rd. 6 vs. slaver + time vault
-game 1 i had both misdirects in my opening hand, eventually drawing a reb. my opponent has a lot of mana, and casts gifts maybe around turn 3- i had a choice of reb-ing gifts, effectively cancelling out the effectiveness of my misdirects. i let gifts resolve hoping he goes for ancestral in his pile, which he does. i give him recall and tinker. on his turn he recalls, i misdirect, he drains, i misdirect, he forces, i reb. i get 3 cards. and one of those 3 was a second blast for the tinker. and then next turn i think i drew my own recall...
-game 2 i remember nothing about. i think my opponent had to paris, and i think my hand might've been even better than in the first game.
Rd. 7 - ID
T16 vs. Bomberman + tinker ->leviathan
-game 1 i have a thirst, reb x2, tinker, mana crypt, island, volc or something. i figured a turn 2 tinker with 2 rebs to protect my colossus was safe enough. and it was. i had to use both rebs and a force to counter 2 trinket mages from my opponent, thinking he may have an aether bomb. anywayz colossus and 3 counters was enough to win.
-game 2 i thought i had control but ran out of counters and end up losing to a tinker ->leviathan, even with a grindstone on the table and 3 turns to try to find an answer
-game 3 i keep a risky hand of painter x2, tomb, mana crypt, mystical, volc, and something i forgot. since i was on the play, i decided to keep it thinking turn 1 mystical, turn 2 tinker + painter. I took a chance hoping that in the 8 cards my opponent would see, none would be a force of will. i played a volc and passed, he plays library, taps to draw, and plays sapphire. on my upkeep he ancestrals! ok 8 --> 12 haha. i had to go with the same plan though, so i mystical eot for tinker, play my crypt and tinker, and it resolves (grindstone)! then i play a painter, which also resolves. my opponent then tinkers in a pithing needle on grindstone. i rip a blast, kill the needle and play a second painter (no mana to activate stone that turn). my opponent searches but cant find an answer, and im on to t8.
T8 vs. sligh
-game 1 i keep a decent hand with alot of mana and a sensei top. my first trinket mage gets reb'd. my second one resolves and i fetch and cast grindstone. i proceed to lose to a mogg fanatic and a goblin cadet that were cast early (opponent on the play), and 2 price of progresses (the second of which got forced). i had a sensei top and shuffle effects and couldnt find answer.
-game 2 i paris to 5 and proceed to draw a few more lands, while i lose to 2 jackal pups and a grim lavamancer.
So, i lost 5 games all day, and almost all of them were to mono red something
The deck was fun to play, and i think having a lot of red blasts is really good for the metagame right now, not to mention how they double as removal with painter. people have asked about the singleton welder- ill agree its somewhat random, but with ruins and will, it makes the 3rd recursion card, which seems about right. not to mention there's nothing great to fill the slot with (4th painter, 2nd stone, 2nd top, fof??) the moral of the story is: if you play this deck and have a little luck, you can draw a lot of red blasts and do well at a tournament.
Big thanks to Ray for always putting on great events, and everyone who shows up and makes them fun, including roland chang (who usually shows up but didnt bc it was his birthday!) and the forinos who make me play magic, and the Li crew who make me come to these things. and war mammoths.
josh
