[Premium Article] Examining Every Option - A Vintage Tournament Report

[Disburden]

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/13150.html

Word was sent out that RIW, locating in Livonia, Michigan, was going to hold a Black Lotus tournament to celebrate its ninth anniversary. Coincidentally, this was the first weekend in some time that I was free to travel to attend a Magical tournament. On Saturday I drove up to Toledo, met Paul Mastriano, and we trekked the remainder of the journey to Detroit. We arrived just in time to watch the semi-finals and finals of the Michigan State Championship match – a fun Flare versus Glare match (I think that's what those decks are called). We headed back to Brian DeMars's place, played some Type Four - I fell asleep in the middle of the game - and readied ourselves for a great tournament.

One of the best Tournament reports I have read in some time. I wish all reports were as analytical as these. A very good read! I do find Library of Alexandria to be interesting as it is in the deck for right now. I thought five Islands was just better. Thoughts on the article? Demonic Tutor for Crypt or Library?

[sean1i0]

This was a very good article.  As for Library, I'm honestly not sure.  I could see both ways, but this is the real crux of the matter:  Adding Library makes your control matchup better (in theory), but every other matchup a *little* worse.  How much worse is a little worse though?  I honestly don't think that Library is necessary, but if the difference isn't really noticeable and its presence in some of the longer games would make matchups easier, then I'm all for it.  Otherwise, I think it needs the axe.  Having said that, the only way I'll be able to decide where it falls is by testing it until I drop whenever I actually get to play a game of magic again.

As for the demonic tutor, I think that hindsight being 20/20 and all, the Mana Crypt would have been the better play, but I can definitely see going for the Library in the middle of the game.

[Evenpence]

Library should definitely be in.  I was talking with Desolutionist a week or two ago about how Meandeck Gifts should run -1 Island +1 Library.  Stax is at an all-time low in popularity, and for good reason.  It blows.  In some matchups, Library will absolutely win you the game, much more than in the other matchups where it will extremely seldomly lose you the game because of random wasteland.

I don't even play more than 2-3 Wastelands in my Stax builds because everyone is running 30 fetches, 20 basics and 2 duals.

Steve cites the right reasons for playing it.

[brianpk80]

I don't even play more than 2-3 Wastelands in my Stax builds because everyone is running 30 fetches, 20 basics and 2 duals.
Steve cites the right reasons for playing it.

That's right on.  I don't even play Wastelands in my Fish builds anymore because the extreme adaptation to Wasteland has weakened it so much.  It's hard to justify playing a watered down mana denial strategy in a format that often makes 6 mana on the second turn. 

On the other hand, I have been running Library of Alexandria in Fish for months now.  It's a great card.  Great v. control, aggro control, and occasionally amazing against Stax and other random things.

-B

[adrienger]

Just had to say I feel this article is the first steve's one in a while that was not totally written to make some $$$

I really,really enjoyed that one!


As for LOA, I like that card a lot but not maindeck. Sometimes you just keep a poor seven hand that wins if there is no wasteland on the other side but you dont know if you play against stax or slaver.
On the other hand, against combo you want UU open turn 2 (and thus to be alive at that point) and LOA fails to do that. Combo can also make you trash your hand to disrupt them, LOA doest shine here!


a card that i don't want to see against combo, stax and fish is a sideboard card.

[Gandalf_The_White_1]

I think that if Library of Alexandra does belong in Gifts, it certainly doesn't in place of an Island. 

The deck has enough non-blue mana sources as it is.  In my testing, the card that I marked out as Loa/Island was almost always better as an Island; as Loa it often resulted in mulligans due to coloured mana issues or was drawn later in the game where its drawing ability was useless and I really didn't need another colourless mana source; this deck wants all the coloured mana it can get. 

So, if included, it should probably be in a spell slot rather than a mana slot, and I'm just not sure that it's a good idea to cut a spell that is usually useful for Library, which most of the time is going to be a wasteable mana source that costs a land drop and only produces 1 colourless mana.  Library is simply too conditional to merit inclusion in the Gifts maindeck, IMO (even if drawn in one's opening hand with other coloured mana it still sucks against Workshop or Combo as previously mentioned; it only really shines against control; perhaps it would be more useful as a sideboard card).