Quick Report: Top 4 at Xtreme Games

I wrote this for another board, so I figured I'd port it here. Why not.

I decided to play my version of European Combo for the Xtreme Games event, which is here:

// Lands
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
4 Island
2 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
1 Tolarian Academy

// Creatures
1 Vedalken Archmage

// Spells
3 Mana Drain
1 Lotus Petal
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Force of Will
1 Frantic Search
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mana Crypt
3 Spell Pierce
1 Timetwister
3 Repeal
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ponder
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mind's Desire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Brain Freeze
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild
1 Tormod's Crypt

// Sideboard
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Rebuild
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Empyrial Archangel
SB: 1 Gaea's Blessing
SB: 1 Inkwell Leviathan
SB: 1 Tinker
SB: 1 Krosan Grip
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 4 Oath of Druids

Vedalken Archmage was actually insane. I easily won games because of this guy.

Anyways, I didn't have a really good sideboard against Iona Oath, because I didn't test much against it and didn't want to devote too much to it.

We had 16 people, which is just enough for 4 rounds + cut to top 8.

Round 1: Vroman (Iona Oath)

Game 1:He wins the die roll, and makes it look easy. He has turn 1 Lotus, Orchard, Demonic, Ancestral, Jet, Vampiric, and then cycle rebuild. He has turn 2 Oath with Spell Pierce backup. Iona hits play, and I can't beat it.

GAme 2: I can't remember it, but he smashes me with a quick oath again. (landed by turn 3?)

Round 2: Jimmy McCarthy (Dragon)

Game 1: I keep a control-heavy hand and sit on repeals, letting him cast all his spells. The game ends when he animates dragon, I let it resolve, then attempt to repeal the Animate with Dragon's CIP Trigger on the stack. Jimmy Chains his Jet, Emerald, Sapphire, and Mana Vault, and I think lotus or some other blue source before he removes his permanents. He then plays his artifacts and goes to combat, and casts wipe away on my lotus. Thank god its a mana source, so I repeal his mana vault. He's stuck with only Jet untapped, so he has to play mana vault and pass. On my turn, I play Vedalkan Archmage and a bunch of artifacts.

Game 2: Jimmy and I fight hard, but he eventually animates dragon after thoughtseizing me.

Game 3: I Open with double force, resolve gifts, and extirpate Dragon.

Round 3: Ben Carp (Mono U)

Game 1: Ben goes Island, Ruby, go. I play land, go, and he does nothing. So I play a second land and a ruby. I eventually use a ponder to bait out a Spellstutter Sprite and cast Recall in response. I end up killing him with Vedalkan Archmage + a ton of artifacts.

Game 2: I'm being beaten down by 2 Spellstutters when I EOT Repeal Back to Basics and then I timetwister. I resolve gifts through double fow's, and get Desire, DT, Hurkyl's, Brainfreeze. I had enough mana to play DT+Will or Desire for 8, so he gives me Hurkyl's + Brainfreeze. That gives me *just* enough to brainfreeze him for lethal.

Round 4: Ryan Forstburg (BUG)
ID

Top 8: Josh (Steel City)

Game 1: He plays Island go. I play Island go, and Spell Pierce his Recall. He misses a land, and I hit lands. I Spell Pierce his Brainstorm, and make winning very easy from there with Vedalken Archmage + hurkyl's.

Game 2: This is the game with the ridic Fact or Fiction. Anyway, I get Archmage down after again resolving an Ancestral off Merchant Scroll, and I fact into Will, Desire, Top, Drain, Tinker. I take the Stack of Not-Yawgmoth's Will, and Play Archmage. I end up drawing 22 cards off Archmage and repeals, and double brainfreeze him with Tormods also in play.

Top 4: Vroman (Iona Oath again)
Game 1: I mulligan to 5, but he doesn't have an insanely fast oath. I play control, and beat him down to 6 with spirit + his own effects. I get some gas going, and cast Desire for >15. I hit 2 counters, and Brainfreeze. I freeze him out and play Tormods out ofmy hand afterwords to dodge his Pernicious Deed. He realizes I have Counters for Reclaimation, and scoops.

Game 2: I mulligan to 6, and we try to fight for awhile. I counter his early oath, repeal a couple times later, and finally he's in topdeck mode. He hits an Oath which I counter because my other cards can't beat his 2 Spell Pierce (Which were revealed by my extirpating Force of Will earlier) and he draws Timetwister, and resolves it (with Time Vault in play). He hits Voltaic Key, which I drain. I regrowth my drain and pass back, when He casts Lat Nams EOT, which resolves. He goes to his turn, and vamps in upkeep. I let that resolve, and then Brainfreeze him to get rid of it. Turns out instead of anything really too relivent, it was ancestral. I'm releaved when he mills out Demonic, an oath, and Ancestral. Unfortunately for me, he already has Yawgmoths Will.

Game 3: I open island go. He has Sapphire, Jet, ORchard, Oath. I Spell Pierce. He spell Pierces back. I think I'm fine since my Tinker + Tormods Crypt on turn 2 beats his Iona. I go to my turn and play Tormods. I then cast tinker. He forces. Goddamn Nuts draw.

So I leave with a beat Tropical Island.