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ReubenG
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« on: August 28, 2011, 03:49:30 pm » |
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The Vintage tournament at Monster’s Den comes around only once or twice a year, so I rarely get to play Vintage in a tournament, but it’s my favorite format so I follow it on the sidelines year round.
Going into the tournament, I was expecting a mix of MUD aggro, Tezz/Vault, Gush, and Dredge. I figured blue decks to be the majority of the field with a small mix of MUD aggro, dredge, and storm combo. Turned out to be much more Slash Panther than I expected (probably 30% of field and at least 3 of top 8)
I was planning to play MUD, Gush or fall back on my pet deck The Deck. I started work on tuning my deck to see if I could match the metagame, but I felt like I wasn’t exploring my options enough. MUD didn’t fit my play style being aggro, and I didn’t have Smokestacks or Welders to make it more interesting for me. So I started to work on Gush.
Looking at all the top Gush decks, and reading Menendian’s Book on Gush (which helps with the play techniques and deckbuilding), I wanted something in between Steve’s Bob/Gush deck or Shay’s Gush/Tendrils deck. Menendian’s deck was going to be pushing aggressiveness too much for me, and Shay’s deck was more my speed with Jace and Drains, but I didn’t have the time to put into playing enough games to get comfortable with a tendrils win and the nuances of that streamlined of a list. What I settled on was taking Pikula’s winning deck as my starting point. Here is his list:
Deckname: 4-3-2
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
2 Island
6 Fetchlands
Tolarian Academy
5 Moxes
Black Lotus
Sol Ring
Mana Crypt
3 Dark Confidant
1 Blightsteel Colossus
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
2 Mental Misstep
2 Spell Pierce
2 Mana Drain
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Preordain
4 Gush
Brainstorm
Ancestral Recall
Mystical Tutor
Time Walk
Tinker
Fastbond
Time Vault
Voltaic Key
Sensei's Diving Top
Nature's Claim
Hurkyl's Recall
Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
2 Trygon Predator
1 Nature's Claim
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Mental Misstep
2 Sower of Temptation
I really liked the deck especially the main decked Mental Missteps, Drains, and Jaces. I really needed to just change the side board for the metagame I expected and possibly the main. Looking at the other Bob/Gush lists, they didn’t have Mana Crypt, and I wondered if the life loss with Bob, Gush, and Crypt together would be too much, so I decided to cut it. After loosing Crypt from the list, I cut the Academy in favor of another fetchland because I didn’t want it to turn off Gush. I then fit 2 Trygons main to fight the MUD decks and cut an island for it since Steve and Pauls Champ’s lists ran 13 and 14 land perspectively and I felt losing the 15th wouldn’t be much of a problem. For the sideboard, I chose to splash red in the main to get access to Grudge.
Here is the list I sleeved up with (pasted from Cockatrice):
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Island
3 Polluted Delta
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
3 Dark Confidant
1 Blightsteel Colossus
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
2 Mental Misstep
2 Spell Pierce
2 Mana Drain
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Preordain
4 Gush
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Time Vault
1 Tinker
1 Fastbond
1 Voltaic Key
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Nature's Claim
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Volcanic Island
2 Trygon Predator
4 Scalding Tarn
SB: 2 Mental Misstep
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 1 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 2 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Ancient Grudge
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 1 Pyroblast
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
Round 1 Win: Oath with Iona/Painters Servant
Game 1 I was able to Pierce his opening Black Lotus. I realize he is oath when orchard comes down on turn 2, and he Consults for Oath of Druids. I exiles Iona and bins Painters Servant resolving Consult. I follow up with a trygon and next turn attack to blow up the Oath (leaving a Grindstone which had resolved), and was able to win shortly after with trygon and spirit beats.
Game 2 was interesting in that I mull to six and keep Gush, Vamp, 3 land, Mox. Turn 2 after I get land and mox in play he is able to thoughtsieze, I vamp in response to get drain. I pass next turn with 2 island and drain up, drain his Oath and after he passes I top deck Will. I won shortly after. (I tanked a bit on what to vamp for but drain felt right as he had orchard in play already and I had to counter the follow-up Oath). What would you have vamped for?
Round 2 Loss: MUD with Slash Panther
Game 1: I believe I loose the die roll, but am able to get Bob on board. I failed to draw into much business and with tangle wire, beats, and Bob damage, I loose.
Game 2: I am able to play land, mox, Time Walk. Then follow up turn I have a choice. I have FOW, Gush, Time Vault, Hurkly’s but no land. I decided to land Time Vault now and before I get locked out from playing it and have force for the next threat. Next turn he drops revoker on time vault. I decide not to counter as I can hurkyl it away, but then he casts a sphere of resistance. I decide to counter the sphere pitching Hurkyl’s since I wanted the Gush for more land. I don’t draw into land for 3 turns and loose to cat beats. Looking back I maybe should have pitched Gush and played the waiting game with Hurklys. Any thoughts?
Round 3 Draw: Gush (Storm? I only saw Blightsteel win)
Game 1: Plays out like a typical Gush mirror. I loose a counter war and can’t stop Blightsteel.
Game 2: Again plays out as a typical mirror, but I am able to drain into a will turn and win.
Never got to game 3 due to time.
Round 4 Win: Bob Gush (Menendian’s List)
Game 1: Again plays out like a mirror match, but I am able to put together Vault/Key
Game 2: Same as before, but he gets Vault/Key
Game 3: If I remember correctly I win with Blightsteel
Note: Mental Misstep was great in this matchup.
Round 5 Win: Tezz/Vualt
Game 1: Blue Mirror what I was able to eek out the win with Bob after I had to tinker for top to loose from his draws.
Game 2: Goes to turns, but with Bob out I am able to Will a huge turn and win with Tinker into Blightsteel.
Top 8
Quarter Finals Loss: Keeper
Game 1: After a counter war where he tries to land Tezz unsuccessfully, he follows up with Jace and Fateseals for the win.
Game 2: After much work I am able to get Bob in play and then a land a Time Vault. I my turns, I am able to dodge 4 blind Bob flips at 2 with only a Preordain until I get top and win with Bob….Foreshadowing.
Game 3: After an early stripmine on my first land which sets me back a few turns I am able to again get bob down on the beatdown plan. I use the Fastbond engine to dig for a win, but draw into several lands. He is in topdeck mode, and lands an EE to blow up my mox. Next turn I draw into a Tinker, with no artifacts. I have him down to 7 life with Bob beats, but I’ at 5 life and now can’t use the tinker I top decked to get top. I drop the top card for Bob and reveal a FOW.
Even though it was the first time I have played Gush in a tournament, I felt comfortable with the plays and the power of Gush. I don’t know yet if Bob is the way to go as I didn’t get to cast him often and when I did…died to him a few times. If I continue to run Bob I would probably find room for another Top in the main. Mental Misstep is great and unexpected for many players. I also really like having the red splash for REB, and grudge, but probably didn’t need a 4th Mental Misstep (maybe the 3rd trygon). I also need to test more against MUD as it feels like such an uphill battle.
I will also add it was hard to loose to a keeper deck in the Top 8, as it was so much like my pet deck I have run in the past (including Engineered Explosives). Getting Mind Twisted games 1 and 3 really sealed the deal. I actually think it is fairly strong in the current metagame with access to counters and LD.
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