We only had 11 show up for the tournament, but that being said, is one of the better attendance records in quite a while in the Chicago area. We had a few last-minute cancellations, so I hope for a better turnout next month.
The tournament was 4 rounds of swiss, cut to top 4.
The metagame breakdown was:
2 Workshop/MUD
1 Doomsday
2 Mentor Remora
1 Mentor/Lotus Cobra/Soulfire Grand Master Conrol
1 R/U/G Delver with Pyromacer
1 Mono Blue Belcher
1 U/R/B Control
1 Oath
1 R/U/G Delver with Tarmogoyf
Top 4 was:Alex Franson w/Mono Blue Belcher vs Jason Jaco with Mentor Remora - Alex won
John Beste with Mentor/Lotus Cobra/Soulfire Grand Master Control vs Danny Friedman with Mentor Remora - I won
In the finals I played Alex in three games. Game one I believe he mulled to 4 and I won after a very slow game that ended in Alex conceding. Game two I kept a weak 7 that I should have mulled (but was on the verge of drunk and should have mulled, but didn't) and I believe I lost on the second turn. Game three Alex mulled, I believe to 5, and I won with Tinker.
This is the list I played.
Main Deck:
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Brainstorm
1 Dack Fayden
2 Dig Through Time
1 Fire // Ice
2 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Mana Drain
3 Mental Misstep
1 Misdirection
3 Monastery Mentor
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Mystic Remora
1 Pyroblast
2 Repeal
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Sol Ring
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
Sideboard:
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Ingot Chewer
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Serenity
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Wear // Tear
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Hurkyl's Recall
Jaco's 3/4th Place list:
Business (37)
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
3 Mental Misstep
2 Flusterstorm
1 Pyroblast
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Repeal
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Mystic Remora
2 Preordain
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Dack Fayden
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Dig Through Time
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Monastery Mentor
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
Mana Sources (23)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Flooded Straand
3 Volcanic Island
2 Tundra
1 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Plains
Sideboard (15)
1 Mountain
2 Wear//Tear
4 Ingot Chewer
3 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Containment Priest
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Stony Silence
John Beste's 5th-8th place list:
Dudes
3 Monastery Mentor
4 Lotus Cobra
1 Soulfire Grand Master
Mana
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
3 Tropical Island
1 Island
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
Cards that get cards
4 Gush
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Regrowth
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Preordain
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Tinker
Counters
4 Force of Will
2 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
Cards that do other things
1 Fastbond
1 Time Walk
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 2 Nature's Claim
SB: 2 Steel Sabotage
SB: 3 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Rebuild
SB: 1 Forest
SB: 3 Swords to Plowshares
Explanations:When I first saw Monastery Mentor spoiled, the first thing I thought was "Finally, a great creature to play U/W Remora with." Kevin Cron clearly thought something similar and beat me to the punch. That being said, there are some pretty major differences between my deck and his Monastery Mentor/Mystic Remora build.
Even prior to Treasure Cruise restriction, I was not playing the card because I wanted something that could be played at instant speed, specifically a draw spell/bomb that could be played the turn that Mystic Remora's upkeep could not be payed (in response to the Remora upkeep trigger). Dig Through Time seemed like a pretty obvious inclusion. I also did not want to play 4x Gush. With Remora being such a mana-hungry card to play, I wanted lots of permanent mana, and I didn't want to be returning it back to my hand. I wanted to play a single Gush for circumstantial value, but wasn't able to fit it. I also ran 2 Mana Drains, and really wanted to always have as much blue mana available at all times as possible. And for all the naysayers, Mana Drain was amazing.
This list also plays Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus. Having that in my deck directly won me three or four games in the tournament. It is such a powerful combo, and between 2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Brainstorm, there are enough ways to get a drawn BSC back into the deck. I would have loved to play a Thirst for Knowledge, but there just wasn't room.
After initially testing builds of this deck as only U/W, I found myself unhappy with my sideboard against Workshops and I was aching for Pyroblast/REB. I added red so that I could add a Dack Fayden, Pyroblast, and Fire // Ice to the main deck. These were all amazing. Dack was incredible all day in the tournament. Fire // Ice was amazing in testing, but it didn't come up much in the tournament. In testing, I have killed Mentor tokens, tapped opposing BSC to live for another turn, killed planeswalkers, and many other plays. It's an extremely versatile card and I love playing it. Red gave me Ingot Chewers, Wear // Tear, and Red Elemental Blast in the board. Originally, the three REBs were Rest in Peace, but I came to the conclusion that no one was playing Dredge at the tournament, and quickly swapped them out for REB. Pyroblast would have been much better for Mentor triggers, but I didn't have them quickly available to me, so I made do with REB.
Remora was amazing all day, but anyone who has ever played it should know that. The card is bonkers.
That is about all I can think of right now. If anyone from the tournament would like to post their deck lists, I can add them to this post.
Thanks for reading this.
- Danny
