[Tournament Report] Bittersweet Musings On My First T1 Event

Well, here’s my first attempt at a TMD tournament report:

Background – I started playing MtG in ’94 and was quickly hooked. I had the full P10 in a few months and built up a nice collection. Other priorities, however, came up in my life (new job, new wife, new car payments) so I sold my cards and didn’t think much more about Magic until about three years ago when I noticed some of my 10th graders playing. I started playing with them and soon I was trading on MOTL and placing in T2 events. T2 was perfect for me at the time as I had a good knowledge of game strategy, but a limited card pool. But I longed for something more… I started building budget T1 (Sligh and then Sui) decks and helping other players playtest between rounds and after tournaments. Then I found TMD and I started to lurk. I saw PTW’s Gay Fish primer and I knew that I must come out of the closet. I had to make a return to T1 (of course it wasn’t even called T1 when I left). I picked up a flyer at Dream Wizards and noticed the bi-monthly five proxy T1 event. I checked my calendar and saw that I was free that afternoon; nothing on the schedule until a 5:30 diner party.[/foreshadowing] Rounds would be based on attendance, but as this was my first T1 event, I was just hoping to go 2-2. I packed up my trusty Gay/R deck and made the 45 minute drive from Frederick to Rockville. Anyway, here's the decklist:

Maindeck
4 Mishra’s Factory
2 Faerie Conclave
3 Polluted Delta
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Grim Lavamancer
2 Voidmage Prodigy
4 Force of Will
2 Daze
2 Stifle
1 Misdirection
3 Null Rod
1 Black Vice
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Curiosity
4 Standstill

Sideboard
3 REB
2 Fire/Ice
2 Maze of Ith
2 Goblin Vandal
2 Waterfront Bouncer
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Misdirection
1 Stifle
1 Teferi’s Response

Comments on my decklist: I run the 1 Foothills and Mountain to insure that I’m able to keep Lavamancer’s ability consistently online. I don’t think you want to lose their ability for even a single turn. Also, thanks to Hi-Val for the Vandal suggestion; they are golden (but I do think I’ll move the Vice back to the board).

Round 1 – U/B Dreams

Game 1
My opponent drops a first turn Vice and I take a bunch of damage from it over the first few turns. I allow a Howling Mine to resolve along with some of his artifact mana. I start throwing down weenies and beating face. Thanks to the Howling Mine, I have plenty of counters in hand and on the board to deal with whatever else he tried to play. He goes down to a swarm of faeries and hatchlings with a Kai and Lavamancer providing support. I sideboard in 3 REB.

Game 2
My opponent leads off with a bunch of quick mana and a second turn Vice. I play a Null Rod on the third turn to slow down his mana and then start working over his lands with my Wastes. My early Voidmage gets Smothered and I allow an Underworld Dreams to resolve. I get some weenies down and start hitting. I then get baited into wasting a Force on something stupid and am quickly comboed out with a pair of draw sevens.

Game 3
I play Island-go and get hit by yet another turn 1 Vice. I’m able to quickly get out a Cloud and a Null Rod. I start the slow and steady swarm of Hatchlings and Man-lands. His Memory Jar is useless thanks to the Rod and a Standstill ends any questions about where this game is headed…

Matches: 1-0   Games: 2-1

Round 2 – Sui with Green

Game 1
After some early hand and land disruption, this game stalls out with his Shade looking across at a few of my weenies. I’m eventually able to get a Lavamancer down and I’m able to finish off the shade by an EOT ping followed by another ping on my turn and a Time Walk for the last untap needed to ping the thing out. My weenies then sweep through for the kill. Out come the Null Rods and in comes Fire/Ice for the Shades and Negators and Misdirection for the Hymns and Sinkholes.

Game 2
I soon find out at least one reason why green is splashed in his deck. My opponent drops a Bayou and a quick Jet to play a River Boa and follows up with another one on the next turn. I play some Faeries and Man-lands and we are quickly trading swings. Lucky for me, I’m able to strip out his only source of green mana and I get a Lavamancer active before the Boas finished me off. Time is called and I don’t remember if the game is technically finished, but I have the win in hand.

Matches: 2-0   Games: 3-1?

Round 3 - Hulk

Game 1
This is a good match up for me and it basically goes like this: I play lots of creatures/man-lands and he draws lots of cards (but not the right ones). He asks me not to attack, but I do so anyway. I board in REBs, MisD, and my Mazes (I can’t remember what I took out).

Game 2
My opponent Wastes my first turn Volcanic Island and I respond with Ancestral Recall. My opponent responds with his own Recall and I attempt to FoW it but he counters with his own Force so we both end up drawing 3. I get down a few weenies (including a pair of Lavamancers), but they end up getting Fired and Blasted. My third Lavamancer sticks to the board. My opponent resolves a Tog, but I REB it EoT, to which he states, “Oh, it is blue isn’t it.” I resolve a couple more weenies and Force my opponent’s Deed to seal the win.

Matches: 3-0   Games: 5-1

Because of the number of participants I find out that there are going to be 5 rounds before cutting off to top 8. Initially I had heard that there would only be 4 rounds and that cut off might be only top 4. I begin to think that I’ve got a shot at T8, but I realize that I’m going to have to leave the store before I have a chance to win any prize. I decide to play out a couple more rounds anyway to see how well I can do…

Round 4 – WelderMUD against Corwin

Game 1
My opponent (Corwin) drops early Workshop and some Moxen to get out a Sphere and Chalice for 2 (which ended up countering his own Chalice for 1). My Lavamancer doesn’t make much of a dent in his life total before Stax and Tangle Wires wreck my world. Out comes Kai and Vice, in go the Vandals and Rack and Ruin.

Games 2 and 3
Vandal plus Null Rod both times equals gg. We both demonstrate our superb Magic skeelz: I break my own Standstill one time and Corwin casts a (legendary) Mindslaver when he already has one on the board. The critical play of the match was during game 2: Corwin cast his Mindslaver instead of playing a Chalice for 2. I savagely rip Null Rod off the top of my library and the Slaver just sits there looking pretty for the rest of the game.

Matches: 4-0   Games: 7-2

Round 5 – Mirror match against PTW

Game 1
I resolve a Lavamancer first.

Game 2
He resolves a Lavamancer first.

At that point it’s after 4:30 and I’ve got to go, so Marc allows me to call the match a draw.

Matches: 4-0-1   Games: 8-3-1

Here’s what I learned from my first T1 event:
Don’t use a Mox instead of a land when casting a Cloud of Faeries.
Island-Go is stupid good. Being able to Stifle an opponent’s fetch land and/or Daze their Moxen is fun times.
Everyone keeps repeating, “It’s T1, broken stuff happens!” PTW showed me that Conclave-Go is one of the most ridiculously strong plays in the format…

So there it is. I did so much better than I expected, but I had to walk out when I would have been the number 1 seed for the T8. Marc signed my Cloud of Faeries as a consolation prize. Next time I’ll make sure I can stay for all my rounds.

Well, any constructive critique of the deck or write up would be great. Thanks for taking the time to read this!