Mox Ruby at the COD

So in the last month i basically have played little to no magic as i was being swamped with school and fraternity obligations since i am the vice president of my chapter. I decided last minute though that i was going to attend this weekends tourny since i finally had some free time.

I really wasnt sure what the field was going to look like but i expected there would be plenty of people playing new ichorid lists and probably a little bit of flash so i wanted to make sure i played something that would have good game against both. With this in mind i decided to not play my u/r slaver list that has been putting up really good results and go back to playing a variant of pitch long.

So from 2am to about 7am saturday morning i worked on building a deck for the tourny. This is what i came up with....

5 mox
1 lotus petal
1 black lotus
1 sol ring
1 mana vault
1 mana crypt
4 polluted delta
1 bloodstained mire
3 underground sea
1 swamp
1 island
1 tolarian academy
4 Street wraith
4 dark ritual
3 cabal ritual
1 ancestral recall
4 brainstorm
4 force of will
1 mystical tutor
1 vampiric tutor
1 chian of vapor
1 rebuild
2 tendrils of agony
2 grim tutor
1 timetwister
1 yawgmoths will
1 demonic tutor
1 minds desire
3 duress
1 tinker
1 memory jar
1 necropotence
1 yawgmoths bargain

This was unfortuneately only a small tourny with only 15 people coming out but it was still a pretty solid field. I think the field basically looked like this

3 shops
3 slaver
1 ritual gifts
2 oath
1 flash
1 ss
1 pitch long
1 gwsx
1 u/w/b fish
1 Doomsday

The top 8 looked like this
manuel (u/w/b fish)
dan carp (oath)
me (pitch long)
Dave carhart (Slaver)
Rhyno (Slaver)
Jeff (SS)
Jeff (shop)
Owen turtenwald (Ritual Gifts)

Top 4
Me VS Dave Carhart
Jeff (SS) vs Rhyno

Finals
me VS Rhyno

Here is avery brief recap of my matches seeing as i didnt take very good notes.

Round one (AJ with slaver)

Game one - he goes library pass i play mox land cabal necro he forces removing a misderection. I cycle my street wraith into a lotus petal and follow up with petal ancestral. i am able to win the game a turn or two later.

Game two - is pretty boring me and aj are both a little land stalled i end up casting 4 brainstorm by like turn 5 and am able to fianlly find resources quicker than aj. Although he is sitting on counters i am able to get off a desire that leads to the win.

Round two (dave carhart with slaver)

Game one - he plays island and upkeep and ancestral on my turn. i draw a fow and go ritual ritual into a jar he fows i fow back and he fows again. im not to wrried quite yet seeing as the one card in my hand is demonic. he plays a academy and some moxen and thinks about playing somting. i draw a duress and am pretty sur the spell he thought about playing was gifts so i decide to paly duress. he gifts in response and after the duress resolves he is left with a welder and thirst in hand. he draws a volc and plays his welder and passes the turn. i draw cabal but see im one short of thresh so i cant do much so i demonic for will and have to pass the turn. he draws and plays his thirst whihc hits him a titan and a merchant scroll for drain game over for me.

Game 2 - i mull and keep a bad 6 card hand and this game is never even close.

Round 3 (tony with gwsx)

Game 1 - i end up resolving a bargain off a twister and am able to win after having to will and replay twist since the bargain didnt hit anyting but gas and will.

Game 2 - he just plays land go and my hand is pretty nuts... i play lotus academy tap the academy for blue than sac lotus for black and play 2 dark rituals into a jar. i then brainstorm and break jar in response with 2 black still floating. i get a good jar hand and kill on turn 1.

Round 4 (Jeff with shop)

Seeing as its only a 4 round tourny there is a clean cut to top 8 so everyone draws thisn round so we can start the top 8 right away.

Top 8 (Dan carp Oath)

Game one - i dont remember how the early game went exactly it was something like i played a land and mox and passed after i had mulled. he played a land and passed back. i didnt have any other lands in hand so i decided to get a nonbasic which i didnt want to have to do and i played brainstorm eot. i played another land and had to pass but i was set up to play a twist with protection the next turn. dan unfortuenatley strings a few draw spells together and playes a waste on his turn. we go draw go for a while. the imprtant turn of the game came when i had a hand of fow, fow, inker, twist, duress, rit, rit and had jsut played a land so i had blue again. i play the rit praying he lets it through but he counters it i fow back pitching tinker and he counters back again. on his turn he oaths up a guy and plays vamp for walk. the walk would make him lethal so i have to use my other fow pitching my other bomb. my only hope is to rip will at this poiint and i dont so its game over.

Game 2 - my opener is insane. i start with lotus into necro dan says sure im a little surprised but decide to still follow it up wtih mox, mox, petal into a twist. the twist hits me academy and recall. i have to burn for one though and jsut take some cards off necro. after this insane start dan is still able to play a waste chalice and fow something with his twister hand and it stalls me into turn 3. i set up a desire for about 7 or 8 i think under a will. the desire hits me some helpful stuff but i jsut cant seem to find tendrils. i end up hardcasting jar and missing once again. so i do my best to keep thining my deck befor ei cast my twist out of yard. i basically have to hit either my brainstorm, one of my 2 tendrils, or my demonic off this twist to win pretty much. i twist and hit the brainstorm atleast. i also realize since im at 2 life the bargain i iht can also draw me one card. so i play the bragain for the cantrip and then brainstorm and thankfully i finally see my tendrils. there was onyl about ten cards in my deck at this point.

Game 3 - dan starts with a leyline in play and a land and passes after mulling to 6. i dont remember this game that well except we pretty much played draw go for a while with my hand being duress, trip dark rit, fow,fow and his hand was like fow and an unkown formt he last duress i played. i fianlly hit demonic and play my rit and duress and start looking trhough my deck. i really have 2 choices at this point a desire for 6 or i can grab bargain with one black still left and im at 16 life. i grab the bargain and draw about 8 cards. i hit some good stuff but no gas i just play duress so i dont burn and hit his last card in hand. dan draws and passes and i am able to combo out pretty easyily.

Top 4 (dave carhart Slaver)

Game 1&2 - i remember nothing about this match except for the fact i had much better hands then when i played him in the swiss and was able to win both games without a big fight.

Finals (Rhyno with Slaver)

Game 1 - i have a solid hand... the game gets two about turn 3 i had jsut palyed a brainstorm eot and my hand is now 2 cabal rits 2 drak rits demonic and a duress. i play reit into the duress and grab rhynos drain. but he still has thrist mana open and can hit a fow off that. i decide to just go all in. he doesnt hit the fow an di win.

Game 2 - rhyno keeps his 7 and i take a look at petal, rit, necro, crypt, sol ring, vault, grim i think for a while and decide to be a little ballsy and keep. he plays land and i think brainstorm and passes. i draw a off color max and immediately go for necro. he says sure and then is a little surprised when i drom the rest of my hand but the grim. i take 10 life and keep a solid hand. i start off by playing demonic which i grab desire with. i then play lotus ritual and a mox. i have two cards left in hand desire and grim. i play grim rhyno thinks for a while and decides to drain grim. so i fire off my desire for 7. i dont get the for sure win but i hit my titan, 2 brainstorms, street wraith, rebuild, some gas and a land i think. i play a few things and then play rebuild. rhyno has a board off volc, academy and a crypt, so he has the dellemma of having to decide wheather or not to crypt me because if he does he takes out his academy as mana and i hit his other land with titan. then titan and wraith give me a two turn clock. he decides not to crypt me so i play my other brainstorm and jsut flip over the will i knew i had on top of my deck.

Ovrerall i was very happy with the deck. it performed great all day long. I wasnt sure how much i would like the streetwraiths but they were solid the entire day. i couldnt believe some games jsut how quick my cabal rits were threshed.

And of course ICBM made good on proclamation of guaranteed victory and we will be having are sweet grill out at spooky's Tommorrow.