Where did we go right?
or
Spring Time for Ichorid: A Myriad Tournament Report
“Perhaps this isn’t my best idea, but maybe, just maybe, I can dodge a few bullets this time. After all, it can’t be worse then Waterbury.”Okay, so not the most inspiring thought to have on the eve of a tournament. But seriously, really,
it can’t possibly be worse then Waterbury. Oh Waterbury, dear sweet Waterbury, where a full third of the deck lists were packing
Leyline of the Void.
This of course then begs the question; why, after such a train wreak of a weekend, touch Ichorid ever again? The answer has nothing to do with the deck itself, but rather the venue. As I explained in my last (ironic) transmission from Myriad entitled
“Shattering the Glass Jaw, Or - Why I won't be playing Ichorid at Waterbury”…
I think the deck is better then my record suggest. Playing 6 rounds against 3 salvagers and planar void MD.deck can't be normal. I'm pretty much of the opinion that this is a classic glass jaw deck; meaning over the short term YMMV. However, depending on how the meta-game holds up, over time I think you could do well. It also means that every once-in-a-while you will hit two almost unwinable matches (or one nightmare match and one mulligan self destruct) and be unceremoniously jettisoned from contention, making this deck anything but consistent in anything above 5 rounds (playing this at Waterbury = CRAZY). However in the more standard 5-round events, this could be a very solid choice for someone who is looking for a tactical edge on the meta-game and a 3-0 -> draw into the top 8.Playing Ichorid at Waterbury was a mistake. Not only was the buzz about Ichorid at an all time high thanks to the recent Menendian articles on SCG, but also we had 9 rounds in addition to the new X-1-1 cut off system for the top 8. This is a terrible combination to beat. I had planed to play Dragon, but at the last moment, literally the night before, I audibled into Ichorid thinking that perhaps I had over estimated the buzz. I couldn’t have been more wrong and obviously paid the price. However wrong (or right depending on the context) I was about Ichorid and Waterbury, I am still a strong believer in the deck’s ability to perform well at comparatively smaller venues, like, you guessed it, Myriad.
Sure, Myriad may not be the full 9 rounds of magic extravaganza that Waterbury is, but look at what you do get. You get the best Type I players in the world (New England obv. obv. –jk), a nice clean store with lots of space and a friendly staff, 15 proxies (OMG), tons of side events including tumbling dice, free re-pack drafts from the dark for a tropical, Packs of Time Spiral for bringing new players, a Bonus pre-reg dual, and of course challenge games against the owner Dan for free Myriad Gear. Don’t just take my word for it, look at what Dan Gaooch says.
Myriad CommercialFor reference, here is my list. It draws heavily on earlier versions of both Cookie Monster and Mana-less Ichorid.
// Save the Cheerleader, Save the World
// Lands
1 Strip Mine
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 City of Brass
2 Petrified Field
3 Mishra's Factory
// Creatures
4 Ichorid
4 Shambling Shell
4 Nether Shadow
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
2 Sutured Ghoul
1 Sundering Titan
// Spells
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Serum Powder
2 Dread Return
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Unmask
2 Dragon Breath
// Sideboard
SB: 3 Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 Chain of Vapor
SB: 3 Putrid Imp
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 2 Tormods Crypt
So, with all that being said, onto the match reports. Word of warning however, I took terrible notes, often nothing more then recorded life totals with occasional abbreviations to connote from whence the damage came. My memory being what it is, I may get some things wrong; feel free to correct me via responses. All my apologies in advance, hopefully this dancing Brassman (not embedded, but rather a link due to board restrictions) will help make up for it.
Dancn' BrassyI hear it would make an excellent Avatar. Hint Hint
Match: 1
Belcher c/o Scott
Game 1: There is a tense moment right off the bat when we both keep and Scott goes Land Grant -> Bayou reveling the following: Channel, ESG, Chromatic Star x2, and Vampiric Tutor. I sigh heavily and resign myself for the turn 1 loss that will inevitably ensue. Amazingly my opponent goes Bayou -> Vamp directly for the Goblin Charbelcher leaving him 1 mana short to hit the win that turn. I get to play my turn which consists of an unmask; followed quickly in successive turns with more discard and a win on turn 3. Whew.
Out:
1 strip mine, 2 fields, and a single shadow
In:
4 Duress
Game 2: John goes first dropping a sol ring, a land, and something else giving him four mana right off the bat; however he has no gas. With that much mana he has plenty of auto win top decks, but unfortunately for him I draw an extremely disruptive hand. I manage a Chalice, duress -> channel (again in the opening 7!), Cabal Therapy for 2x dark rituals, and Cabal Therapy again for a Cabal Ritual, all in the first three turns. I again win on turn 3, but by then he had drawn the Goblin Charbelcher and was only a single mana off from wining. So goes it, I take what I can get.
Matches 1-0
Games 2-0
At this point in time I’m feeling good, real good, Denny Crane good.
You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter lets him in. Sees a guy in a suit making closing argument. Says “who’s that?” St. Peter says “Oh, that’s God. Thinks he’s Denny Crane”-
Denny CraneBelcher in testing is a 50/50 match-up. Sometimes your chalice at zero will matter, sometimes it won’t. Sometimes you get the turn 3 win on the play; sometimes they get the turn 3 win on the play. The die roll is frustratingly important here, perhaps even more so then in the classic ritual combo sense. You known you have to have a fast hand to win, but unlike decks with normal mulligans, you have less of a chance to “shape” your hand to anything beyond the simple Bazaar of Baghdad “y/n”. Duress is my catchall combo hate card so in went 4 for game 2. Out came fields with little worry of wasteland, and with them went stripper. I don’t want to cut combo pieces (Breath, Ghoul, Return) because I want to stay fast, disruption gets sided in so I keep that and the mana to cast it, therefore that only leaves a creature to sideboard out. I choose Shadow because it’s the slowest of the three animate sac targets main deck, rarely being active on turn 1. Belcher is a far more random match then I like to see, so getting out of there with 2-0 is solid.
Match 2:
Gifts c/o Unknown (Although I know I have seen him at multiple events)
Game 1: Game 1 is trick-sey for a moment, but really doesn’t deviate too much from the Ichorid v. Gifts match-up. Get a Bazaar, lay early beats and disruption, and finally swing for the win. There was a critical moment where my opponent snagged tinker with a top deck tutor, effectively hiding it from my duress effects. On my turn I choose to animate a titan instead of a ghoul to keep him off mana should he try and Time Walk. It works, and the Iron Giant hits the board with out a walk. My next turn I am able to animate a Ghoul with haste and trample, and then swing with both it and the 7/10 for the win.
Out: 2 fields, 1 stripper, 1 Breath, 1 Shadow
In: 3 grudge, 2 chain (Leyline unlikely, assume crypt, SB in chains against DSC/needle)
Game 2: This could be a point of contention, and I’m curious to see what others think. My opponent is on the play, and manages a first turn needle on Bazaar. Not to shabby. The needle was good, stranding 3(!) Bazaars in my hand after my first draw step. However what plays out later is an example of why focused hate can be bad. All of his gas gone, he desperately waits for a top deck which never comes. In the end he is beaten by Cabal Therapies for FOW, ancient grudge on his needle, and then a normal style win from there.
Matches 2-0
Games 4-0
Okay, sure, the needle was good and all. Nailing 3 bazaars all at once is nothing but gravy. However, what I question here is the amount of resources it took to get there. Turn 1 my opponent blows a lotus, recall, and a demonic tutor before burning for 1 after the needle and passing the turn. I can’t help but feel there was a better play there, perhaps something that facilitated a faster kill rather then a retardation of my game plan. Truthfully, who really has the inevitability here? All in all this decision is tough to gauge considering I’m not sure exactly what he had in hand at the time, or what he drew off the recall.
Match 3:
Goblins c/o unknown (sorry about the name again)
Game 1: I win the roll, snag a bazaar in 6 cards, and call it good. Yet again I find myself in trouble right off the bat. My opponent opens up with a mountain and a lotus. The Hero (who roots for Ichorid?) valiantly blows the Lotus for a Goblin Warchief that is followed by a recruiter. This could be terrifying, except that the stack is only 3 pile drivers. I admit, I’m slightly confused, and honestly I was expecting more of a combo kind of finish, but since I have no idea exactly what is in his deck, and it’s a turn 3 kill, trying to figure out if he has a combo kill is the least of my worries. It quickly becomes a moot point however when I play out a second Bazaar (how nice) instead of a stripper, Dredge multiple trolls (so good) and trample over for a turn 3 win regardless. Not gonna lie, it was fairly close, and in the end it came down to Dread Return being the LAST of 38 cards dredged on turn 3.
Out: 2 field, 1 stripper
In: 3 Grudge (Leyline unlikely .: assume crypt)
Game 2: Same thing as before with a Lotus from the Hero again, however this time its Warchief + a Fanatic. Again, the Villain has a turn 4 win, but I am short on life from
Piledriver beats. Still, everything is looking peachy until he hits his last possible draw step, smiles, and lays a Sharpshooter. GG boys, there is my first loss of the day. I even try to play it out hoping that he will miss play and give me priority to sac my critters, but he plays it smart, stacks the triggers correctly, and kills with exactly enough damage from the sharpshooter. Mad props.
Out: 2 Grudge, 1 chalice 1 unmask, 1 Breath, and 1 Shadow
In: 3 P-I-M-P (2/2’s are nice against sharpshooter, plus I know he plays waste), 3 chain
Game 3: I turn 1 Bazaar finding a Chalice, and pitching dredgers. He sighs. Would have played 3 Tormod’s Crypt AND a friggn Bloodmoon on his first turn! (mize) He does manage to waste a Bazaar, but it’s to little to late, and evil triumphs over good once again for the match.
Matches 3-0
Games 6-1
Game 1 in my opening 6+2 I had managed to draw both a second Bazaar and a Stripper. Remembering that my opponent had stacked 3 Pile Drivers, and had a board of Warchief and recruiter with only 1 Mountain, I had two options. Option one is the safe play, it’s the go big or go home, do what this deck does play, which is play the second bazaar and try and beat the now 2-turn clock. With a fairly anemic graveyard off the first discard (shambling shell only), this could be big trouble. If I don’t hit a troll off the shambling shell there is very little chance I’ll snag the W. Option 2 is a little more tempo oriented. Play the Strip, hit the Mountain, and hope that I strand the Pile Drivers in hand for at least 3 turns. This option is attractive because I can still bazaar normally with the single bazaar on the table, and in all likelihood still get the turn 4 win. However this is balanced by the fact that he could have a red source somewhere in his 3-card hand. What would you have done?
Match 4:
UWB fish c/o Chad
Game 1: Score, the UW(ish) fish match-up. I know from earlier conversations that Chad forgot his graveyard hate that morning when making his sideboard so I’m feeling rather good. Still, considering he is a teammate, there is talk of an I.D., but we figure even if we lose we still have a great chance to Top 8. We vote to play it out. We go to draw our 7 seven, which I then toss back 3 times with Serum Powder RFG’ing 21 cards. Oh joy. Eventually after a mull to 6, I get a decent hand and we are off to the races. I Bazaar -> good stuff, and Chad looks worried. He passed the turn with little resistance. I swing, and start to feel good. Chad then plays out a Meddling Mage on Dread Return; big frownz. I continue to dredge thinking that I still have the game. I dump all but three cards into my graveyard preparing for the win with beats next turn. I’m thinking that Chad has no outs. To my dismay (and chagrin) Chad Mystical Tutors for an Ancestral Recall, targeting me, and killing my on my draw step. Oh golly, how embarrassing. I even knew he had the Mystical, but dismissed it as a non-threat when forcing discard. So Bad, and yet (foreshadowing) not the last time overconfidence will lose me the game.
Out: 1 stripper, 1 breath, 1 factory, 1 shadow, 1 field, 1 shambling shell
In: 3 chain, 3 P-I-M-P (wasteland and unknown hate)
Game 2: Chad gets multiple Joten Grunts and Mages out, but I manage to kill them either with starvation or Ichorid beats. A 7/10 that knocks out 3 lands takes it home for the team.
Game 3: I start with a slow hand, and Chad starts with lots of beaters. I can’t break though the wall of Mages and Grunts, and conversely, Chad cannot attack with out fear of a return alpha strike. Turns are called, and though careful management of my graveyard, he can’t keep his grunts alive long enough to win. This one ends in a draw.
Matches 3-0-1
Games 7-2-1
Something I’ve talked about before in the Salvagers match-up, but I wanted to bring up again here is the usefulness of Grunt in the Ichorid match. While I admit they can be a hassle to deal with, often it’s an issue of timing. Grunt is hardly the end all, be all of answers that fish has, and yet many still consider it the Bee’s Knees. The problem with Grunt is two-fold. On the one hand if it comes down on turn 1, good luck keeping it alive against Ichorid. I’ll just starve it out, with the loss of a turn barely registering. After turn 4 it’s most often far to late to make a difference. If my graveyard hasn’t been sculpted by then, something has already gone wrong. Grunt is the most useful on turns 2-3, but even then it’s not impossible to play around. Chad got around this problem (in my view correctly) by assigning Meddling Mage a higher value of importance. Meddling Mage on Dread Return cuts off the easy turn 3 “combo” win, and forces Ichorid to interact during the combat step. There are only so many creatures that you can RFG to Ichorid’s ability, and eventually, often more quickly then one would assume, blockers start to matter. Chad realized that it wasn’t the Grunt that was wining; rather it was simply the clock (albeit with a nice side ability). Mage was doing all the dirty work.
Match 5:
Gifts c/o Andy
Game 1: Andy knows what I am playing, and I know what he is playing. He looks at his hand, shrugs, and lays down a Ruby, Sol Ring, Land -> Empty the Warrens for 6 on turn 1 on the play. Honestly I’m not sure I can pull it out considering my goldfish is somewhere around 3.5, and Andy has it in four. I Bazaar, do the normal thing, and then on turn 3 manage to Swing for the win though goblin tokens. Of note was that Andy didn’t expect Mishra’s Factory that enabled me to both Cabal Therapy for Force of Will and then also Dread Return on turn 3. I think Mishra’s Factory is the most underrated card in the archetype. It’s flat out better at providing turn 2 disruption then main deck Duress, it enables faster Dread Returns, and it has synergy with the already main deck Petrified Fields.
Out: 2 Field, 1 Stripper, 1 Factory, and a Breath
In: 3 Grudge, 2 Chain (commenting on how I don’t expect Leyline from Andy)
Game 2: I know something is up when Andy tutors for Twister but fails to play it against me with a stocked graveyard. Warning bells are going off in my head as I choose to grudge a mox (to keep him off Twister mana) rather then hard cast Cabal Therapy from hand after he passes the turn. As expected Andy counters the Grudge, but I got what I wanted with him burning a FOW, RFG’ing a blue card, and losing a point of life. The downside arose when Andy then proceeded to cast Extirpate on my end step targeting my Nether Shadows. Big frownz considering 2 of my Ichorids are RFG’ed to powder, and I side boarded out a factory. I scoop to save time for game 3.
Out: 3 Grudge, 2 Chain, 1 Shell, 1 Chalice
In: 4 Duress, 3 P-I-M-P (extirpate hate)
Game 3: Extirpate is never a factor. By the end of turn 2 I manage to have 3 Ichorids and 3 Shadows ready to activate on turn 3, as well as multiple combo pieces already assembled in the graveyard. Andy had to mull to 5 to get even a decent hand, which was nowhere near quick enough to deal with the incoming hoards. He scoops after his third draw step.
Matches 4-0-1
Games 9-3-1
So, Extirpate, the supposed Ichorid killer, I suppose I should talk about that. Well, obviously it is good against Ichorid, but like most of the hate it can be overcome with a little planning. My maindeck had 4 Ichorids, 4 Shadows, and 3 Mishra's Factory. My sideboard had 3 Pimps and 4 Duress. The idea is to do the following if you expect/know extirpate is coming. Force early discard before there are relevant targets in the graveyard with the extra duress effects. Then provide more creatures to Dread Return, lowering your reliance on Ichorid and Nether Shadow. Mishra's Factory and Pimp both feed the flashback cost on dread return just as well as Ichorids and Shadows do.
If the Extirpate targets your ghouls, that’s fine, you just win normally. If the extirpate targets your Ichorid, you still have 10 creatures, same deal with Shadows. If two Extirpates get fired off, it does obv. become more of a problem. That’s the plan at least. However, none of this matters if you don’t realize Extirpate is there. So in theory it feels like a good plan, but there really isn't significant experience to back it up.
Honestly I’m not that worried about Extirpate. If you want to pack a 4-of in your sideboard that will be good against Ichorid, run with Crypt. It not only is good against Ichorid, but you can use it in other match-ups also with out losing the SB space. I look at Extirpate like I look at Leyline. It’s good at what it does (neuter graveyards), but very narrow, and hardly unanswerable.
Match 6:
Staxless Stax c/o Ray
Game 1: I save the cheerleader, save the world.
Game 2: Ray is on the list.
Game 3: Someone flies. Someone dies.
We draw in favor of getting food at the local mall. Doing well early does have its perks I suppose. Brassman is kind enough to let Dan, Ray, and I bum a ride to the mall for tasty treats, and while there the subject of ritual based combo decks comes up. Much is made of the theory “everything old is new again” considering the first attempts to break Gifts were not Drain, but rather Ritual based. Also covered was the topic of convergence, and the theory behind speed v. card choices in Ritual based decks. Why do I mention this here? Simply because otherwise I would have no place to put the following video.
May I present, a video exclusive with Outlaw of the GG’s explaining in detail why Necopotence is not included in CrossLong.
Why did the GG's cut Necropotence in a Combo Deck?Matches 4-0-2
Games 9-3-1
First Place in the Swiss Rounds!
Top 8Match 7:
BW Stax c/o Billy
autumn wind--
death draws closer
with every year-Kobayashi IssaGame 1: I roll Mr. Bill in 3 turns with little resistance. I belive I did end up trampling over a Confidant, but by then it was moot.
Not much to see here kiddies, just keep moving. Just to spice things up however, Bill sideboards in like infiny cards against me making me sweat. Still, as every great Surfer thinks while looking at the big wave a-coming,
“No fear in these eyes guy, run it”.
Out: 1 Breath, 1 factory, 1 stripper
In: 3 Grudge
Game 2: I manage to mull to two cards (grudge and field). Ouch, the mulligan monster strikes again. Yet, amazingly Billy has a terribly slow hand with his first two plays being basic land, pass. Finally I Unmask myself, drop dredger in the Graveyard. Eventually I draw bazaar and a real mana source. I almost win it out against Juggy beats, but a timely Chalice of the Void @ two saves the day for our hero Bill. I’m feeling a little like frown town until I realize that I almost had it with a two-card non-bazaar hand. I feel good, real good, if I can only keep a decent hand…
Game 3: La-de-da, a walk in the park. Nothing against Bill (who is an extraordinarily nice fellow), but his side boarded Orb of Dreams aren’t that good against Dread Return. He knows it too, but ended up betting on there being little Ichorid (and besides me, he was right). I do know he stole a game against Dragon with them earlier, so they aren’t all bad. Long and the short goes a little something like this. Sometime around turn 3 or four, I am convinced I can’t lose the game. I have a stocked graveyard, and have wreaked Bill’s hand with discard effects. The only permanents he has left on the board are Mox Pearl and Tolarian Academy. He had managed to draw one unknown card since the last time I had seen his hand, but in my arrogance I assume with his board position it can’t possibly hurt me. I go for the big flashy combo win. Sac my critters to Dread Return -> a ridiculous ghoul RFG’ing all my creatures in the mean time. I plop down the massive hasty, trampln’ creature and move to say GG. Bill calmly looks at me and then asks if the Ghoul dies can I still win the game…uh oh kids, not good.
Yes, Bill was holding (and 5 pts. to you who guessed it) one of his (two-of post board I later found out) Swords to Plowshares. Oh golly gee, I just was owned.
Matches 4-1-2
Games 10-4-1
5th Overall
What can I say; Bill beat me fair and good. He knew coming into the match that it wasn’t favorable, but played not to lose eventually giving himself the opportunity to win. Can’t knock that. Plus, Bill is an excellent fellow (even though this is the second time in a row he has crushed my hopes and dreams with Ichorid – Damn you Billy! -jk), and top four couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I can’t help but comment however that Stax, Bill’s build especially, should be a push over in every sense of the word for Ichorid. Unless they are running some kind of dedicated hate (Extirpate, Leyline, etc.) there is no way a board control deck can compete against Ichorid; essentially a deck with out permanents. Obviously variance (and poor play on my part) can and will take over now and then, but all and all it should be positive for the bad guys. Things in my experience that don’t work against Ichorid are big Platz (grudge), Orb of Dreams and Caltrops (dread), and Bloodmoon (not really fast enough). Things that do work are Ensnaring Bridge (with Bazaar), and Memory Jar (with Welder).
Final Thoughts:
Looking back on the list, I can say that I’m fairly happy with it. I still go back and forth on main deck Ashen Ghoul v. main deck Mishra’s Factory, but I am fairly certain that at least one of the two belong; certainly at least over Duress. If you couldn’t tell, I do have a definite sideboard strategy, but it tends to be somewhat organic, changing, depending a lot on what I suspect my opponent is bringing in. Tells are everywhere if you know where to look, and if all else fails, just try and make an educated guess. While I never did have a chance to use Tormods Crypt, they are there for both the mirror match and surprisingly enough, Dragon.
Both my opponents and the venue were nothing short of exemplary, and hence I had an excellent time. Wining is certainly not everything, but it does feel something good. As a parting shot, I’ll leave you with some extra videos I have floating around, followed by a farewell Haiku.
Peace
-Carter
Cross (Cross) and Travis (JuggernautGo)
Cross (Cross), Travis (JuggernautGo), and Speed (Outlaw)Under cherry trees
there are
no strangers.- Kobayashi Issa
