Inspired by Robert Vroman's creation
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=33875.0and after watching him play it at Gencon a few matches, I decided to throw it together. After a couple of days of working with it I went with this list:
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Maze of Ith
4 City of Brass
2 Badlands
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Riftstone Portal
3 Mishra's Factory
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Dark Confidant
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Duress
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Crop Rotation
1 Life from the Loam
1 Balance
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
Sideboard:
1 Ray of Revelation
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
3 Engineered Plague
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Oxidize
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Diabolic Edict
Card choices:
-Caves of Koilos: Scrubland makes Massacre work.
-2nd Riftstone Portal: Cut Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth for this, as I was finding myself wanting a Portal a lot.
-1 Wasteland: I cut the 4th Factory for this. I wanted more land killing effects. Pat Chapin says I need even more Wastelands.
-3rd Plowshares: Cut Darkblast on Eric Becker's recommendation.
-1 Ray of Revelation: Might play against Oath.
-Tormod's Crypt: It seems redundant with Leyline and Chalice, but I still wanted more for Ichorid.
-2 Grudge, 1 Oxidize: Stax might Chalice 2, so there's an Oxidize that can get us out of that scenario.
-Diabolic Edict: I predicted some random Oath, and the Canadians bring a UG aggro deck with Nimble Mongoose. This card wasn't very good.
Round 1: Josh Franklin playing Gushes, Psychatogs.
It's Franklin, and Gush is unrestricted, so I put him on Tog with no Dryads. He would.
Game 1: I answer his Psychatog with 2 Swords to Plowshares (first one is countered,) he Wills to replay Ancestral Recall, but can't come up with another threat.
Out: 4 Grim Lavamancers, 1 Ancestral Recall In: 1 Swords to Plowshares, 3 REB/Pyroblast, 1 Tormod's Crypt
Game 2: He opens with a first turn Quirion Dryad. Unexpected. I try to Swords to Plowshares it, he Force of Wills, and on his turn he Scrolls for Ancestral Recall and plays it, and attacks for 4. On my turn I try to Swords to Plowshares it again, this time resolving. He plays a Psychatog and passes. I topdeck Red Elemental Blast and kill his guy. He does some stuff, then DTs and passes. He probably got Fastbond, but without a Chalice or Duress I just hvae to deal with it. He indeed Fastbonds and Gushes many times, but ultimately doesn't get anything going and I win once I get the Loam online and put several threats into play.
1-0
Round 2: Paul Mastriano playing GAT.
Game 1: I start with Grim Lavamancer and Duress seeing some moderately broken stuff, some mana, some tutoring, etc. He Scrolls up a Recall and passes with U open. I topdeck a Duress and play it. He Brainstorms and shows me basically nothing. He draws and plays the Recall and starts doing things. My second Lavamancers starts attacking since I only have one Red per turn, but my clock is fairly quick. On one turn I resolve a Tutor, but out of fear of a counterspell, I obtained Maze of Ith and played it. I also resolved a Dark Confidant at some point, on one of the last turns. At 8 life he starts trying to go off, he starts with Fastbond and into Yawgmoth's Will, some Gushes, Ancestral Recall, and Empty the Warrens. To get to 2 mana to Time Walk he'd need to play 2 lands and drop to 2 (from 4,) so he plays one land down to 3 life and passes. I end step shoot him, which empties my graveyard (not too important,) and attack with Confidant and Lavamancer, which puts them into the graveyard and lets me activate the other Lavamancer.
Out: 4 Grim Lavamancers, 1 Ancestral Recall In: 3 REB/Pyro, 1 Tormod's Crypt, 1 Engineered Plague
Game 2: He Force of Wills my first Duress, I resolve a Chalice, and we both play lands for the first couple turns. I resolve a Mindcensor, and he uses Brainstorms and fetchlands to hit all of his land drops. On one turn he taps out for a Quirion Dryad. On my turn I cast an Engineered Plague. He thinks a little and lets it resolve. I name "Dryad." I continue to attack with Mindcensor, but my clock is slow. On one of my end steps he Cunning Wishes for a Rushing River, and on my next end step he Extirpates my Riftstone Portals and kicks Rushing River to remove Chalice of the Void and Aven Mindcensor (no white to replay it due to Extirpate.) On his turn he Yawgmoth's Wills, Rushing Rivers my Plague, plays a Dryad, Extirpates my Maze of Ith, and starts drawing cards. He plays a Lotus, uses it for UUU, plays Opt, then Brainstorm, then he taps his Sea and Emerald to play Time Walk. He says he is ending his turn and is discarding, I say that he mana burns for one from the Lotus' third blue mana. On my turn I finally get Loam going, and add a Factory to the board. He Merchant Scrolls for a Fire/Ice, then Mystical Tutors for a Demonic Tutor. I Duress, he Force of Wills and goes to 1 life. He draws and passes. I topdeck Duress and play it, he Ices my Factory, and I take the Demonic Tutor. Time is called at some point, but it's mostly irrelevant. On the next turn I attack with both Factories, and he laments that the mana burn on the Will turn might have cost him the game, as he couldn't use a Fetchland at the end.
2-0
Round 3: Mark Trogdon, playing his Workshop aggro deck.
Game 1: I start by activating Bazaar of Baghdad. I discard Leyline of the Void, Riftstone Portal, and another card. I play Mox Sapphire and Ancestral Recall, then Mox Ruby and Grim Lavamancer, then a Chalice of the Void for zero. Justin Droba called it the awesomest turn one he's ever seen.
He plays a Mountain and a Mana Vault and passes. My turn 2 is a Dark Confidant, and I pass with red open for Lavamancer. He plays a Workshop and a Triskelion. He shoots my Grim Lavamancer, I respond by shooting his Triskelion. This way if he wants to kill Confidant his Triskelion will die. He taps his Mountain for a Gorrilla Shaman and passes. Confidant gets me a card, I draw, but don't have much to do and pass. His next turn is even more brutal, he eats my two Moxes, shoots my Confidants, and taps his Workshop to play Trinisphere. I topdeck and land and Balance his two guys away, with each of us having 2 cards and 3 lands. His next play is a Sword of Fire and Ice and a Wasteland for my Bazaar. I draw and pass, can't play anything on two lands. His next play is Magus of the Moon. I draw a nonland and pass. He equips and attacks, and being at 12, it's exactly 2 turns. I don't draw an out and lose. My turn one was pretty good, but it all fell apart to Triskelion and Gorilla Shaman.
Out: 4 Leyline of the Void, 2 Duress. In: 2 Diabolic Edict, 2 Ancient Grudge, 1 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Oxidize.
Game 2: I play Dark Confidant on the first turn. He starts with Mana Vault. I attack for 2 and add nothing to the board except for a land. He Sudden Shocks my Confidant. I attack with Factory and pass. He plays a Gorilla Shaman and Wastelands one of my colored sources. I attack with Factory and pass. He plays a second Shaman and a Strip Mine for another colored source. He's at 14, I'm at 16, I can try to race, but I know it's not going to work. I attack, he attacks, I stop attacking once he leaves mana up for another Sudden Shock. He adds Solemn Simulacrum on one turn and Triskelion on the next. I still have nothing but 2 Factories. He attacks with everybody (I'm at 10,) I put a 4/4 Factory in front of Triskelion. He shoots me with all three counters, dropping me to 3, and plays a second Triskelion.
2-1
Round 4: Ray Kher playing Flash with Sliver kill
Game 1: I mulligan on the draw and start with Leyline (first time! Yeah!) He Brainstorms and Mystical Tutors for Ancestral Recall, and plays a Virulent Sliver. I play Confidant. He Recalls and plays Sylvan Safekeeper. I add a Factory and pass. He plays Elvish Spirit Guide, I play Aven Mindcensor. I continue to draw gas and add to the board, he hits a dead end on his Brainstorms and concedes when I play a Grim Lavamancer.
Out: 1 Ancestral Recall, 1 Crop Rotation, 1 Life from the Loam. In: 2 REB, 1 Engineered Plague
Game 2: I open with Leyline again, and attempt a first turn Engineered Plague (how lucky, a one of) with a Mox, land, and Petal. He Force of Wills it. I add a Mindcensor, and he concedes soon after, as the Leyline and Mindcensor combination is hard to get through.
3-1
Round 5: Ichorid
Game 1: He mulls twice and Serum Powders twice, and I mull to 5 looking for a Leyline. I find one and he concedes before either of us play a main phase.
Out: 4 Duress, 4 Chalice of the Void. In: 1 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Ray of Revelation, 2 Tormod's Crypt, 3 Engineered Plague, 1 Ancient Grudge (no idea why..)
Game 2: He mulls and Powders once. I don't have a Leyline, but I do have Wasteland and Tormod's Crypt. He plays a Bazaar and taps it, putting Bridge from Below and two Dredge guys in the graveyard. I Wasteland the Bazaar and Crypt his graveyard. He plays a Taiga and passes. A play Confidant and pass, he passes back. I Loam up the Wasteland and kill the Taiga. My attack force is Confidant, Mindcensor (nice 2/1 for 3, I had to leave it in...) and Factory. He Contagions down my 2/1s, making my clock much slower. He discards a Stinkweed Imp to hand size. I add a second Factory and attack with the first for three. He Dredges into no other Dredge card. I attack and pass. He draws and concedes.
4-1
Round 6: Josh Racine playing Mana Drains and Intuitions
Intentional draw
Quarterfinals: Tommy Kolowith playing Dryad-less Gush
Game 1: I keep a sketchy hand: black Mox, red Mox, Confidant, 2 Duress, Lavamancer, some blank. His turn 1 is uneventful, thank god he didn't Duress me. I don't know why I kept this hand. Anyways, I lead with Confidant and he Force of Wills. Probably should have played Duress and Lavamancer, oh well. My turn 2 is that, Duress and Lavamancer. I take his Tinker. His next turn is Scroll and Recall. I Duress again his hand is fairly strong: VT, MT, Library, Time Walk, Duress. I take Time Walk and pass. He Duresses me, takes Swords to Plowshares (seeing my Riftstone Portal I chose not to play, as well as Mindcensor and some other bad card,) and passes. I draw Swords to Plowshares and pass, he Mystical Tutors for Regrowth, and Tinkers for 11/11. He's out of cards. I don't draw a white source and pass. He draws Brainstorm and plays it, plays Volcanic Island, attacks and passes. I don't draw a white source and die. The City of Brass was on top, so it Confidant stuck and drew me one extra card, I might have won. But I made too many mistakes, didn't deserve to win.
Out: 4 Grim Lavamancer, 1 Ancestral Recall. In: 1 Engineered Plauge, 3 REB/Pyroblast, 1 Tormod's Crypt.
Game 2: I mulligan two unplayable hands into these five: City of Brass, Mox Ruby, Dark Confidant, Chalice of the Void, Demonic Tutor. Insane. Confidant resolves, Chalice resolves. He starts with Fastbond and an Island, making my DT for Strip Mine play not insane any more. I reveal artifact mana to Confidant, and draw a land. I attack, play the land, and pass. He starts doing things, Brainstorms, and Scrolls for Recall. I reveal Black Lotus and draw Mox Pearl. I DT for Bazaar of Baghdad and use it, drawing Mindcensor and REB, pitching 3 artifact mana. Attack for 2 and pass. He plays a Pithing Needle and names Bazaar. I get a Duress and see Tinker, Mana Drain, three artifact mana, and something else. I take Tinker and attack and pass. He does nothing, I attack again, play Maze of Ith and pass. The turn I find Loam he's taken himself off Mana Drain mana by Firing Confidant on his turn. I Loam up Factories and use them to win in the next couple attacks, as he's drawn no business.
First game three of the day.
Game 3: I start with a Leyline. He opens with a Tropical Island and a Pithing Needle (Wasteland.) Pretty good, as my opening hand contains Life from the Loam and the Wasteland. He Force of Wills my first Dark Confidant. He Brainstorms and Scrolls for Recall, I get Bazaar and Loam online, and resolve a Chalice on zero, and Strip Mine something. He Scrolls for a Gush and passes with a board of Mox and two tapped duals. On my turn I dredge Loam, and cast it, targeting only Strip Mine. I Strip Mine something, he Gushes. I play Balance, my last card a Riftstone Portal (the other in the yard,) so if Balance resolves, I Loam infinitely and he'll have no lands and one card. It's not that easy, he has Force of Will. He draws and plays a Fetchland and passes. I continue to Bazaar and Dredge and whatnot, and find Aven Mindcensor. He passes without playing a land. I continue to draw cards and add mana. He plays an Island, I Strip Mine it on my turn while still drawing cards. He plays a Dual and a Brainstorm, holding the same 6ish cards he's had for awhile. I Red Blast it, play Mindcensor, and eventually win.
Semifinals: Juan Rodriguez playing Goblins
Game 1: I mulligan on the draw. He starts with Mountain and a Goblin Lackey. My first turn is Black Mox, Red Mox, White Mox, Dark Confidant, Mishra's Factory. I don't play Chalice zero and pass. I figure I'd get to block with one of them, but he has Wasteland and Mogg Fanatic, then Black Lotus, Goblin Warchief, attack. He puts Gempalm Incinerator into play and passes. I topdeck Black Lotus (didn't play Chalice..) and use it to Loam up the Factory, replay it, and activate it to not burn. He plays Strip Mine, gets my Factory, attacks, and puts Siege-Gang Commander into play. I don't draw Balance or Demonic Tutor and lose.
Out: 4 Leyline of the Void, 4 Duress. In: 3 Engineered Plague, 1 Swords to Plowshares, 2 Diabolic Edict, 2 Ancient Grudge
Game 2: I open with Factory, White Mox, Lotus, Demonic Tutor for Plague, play Plague. He plays a Mountain. I attack with Factory, he plays Pyrokinesis. I play a Grim Lavamancer, then another, then Mindcensor, and the Lavamancers shoot at his Ringleaders, Warchiefs, and him, while Mindcensor attacked enough times. I lament about playing into another Pyrokinesis as we shuffle up for game 3.
Game 3: I mull into Black Lotus, 2 Engineered Plagues, 2 lands, and something else. Maybe I can win. I play Lotus, Plague, land, pass. He Strip Mines me. I play a land and pass. He plays a land and passes. My plan is to find some mana, if it's green I can Loam up the Badlands. I just play a second Lavamancer and pass. His turn is a disaster, land, Mox Ruby, Blood Moon. Stuck on two lands, I start discarding to hand size to get Lavamancer working, but he starts Ringleadering and whatnot and gets some damage in a few points at a time. His Vial reaches 5 and Siege-Gang Commander enters play and trades with my Lavamancer, and I'm in bad shape. I topdeck Ancestral Recall, play my Blue Mox and play it, and draw more Mountains. His next turn is 2 Piledrivers, to go with his 2 Ringleaders, presents lethal on the board. I do not draw Lotus Petal or Mox Jet and I lose.
Spectators ask me if I could have tried to wait on the Plagues. It's possible that he might not have Strip Mined me on turn 2, and that I might have gotten to 6 mana by turn 5ish. I might have won if I hadn't slammed Plague on the table on turn 1. Definitely something to think about in the future. Also, I might want to board in Ray of Revelation and might want to leave Duress in (can hit Blood Moons, Pyrokinesis, and Aether Vial if I'm on the play.)
The top 4 finishers drafted their prize, the pool was an Ancestral Recall, a Time Walk, a Mox Sapphire, and a Timetwister. I split the 3rd/4th prize with Josh Racine, we ended up with Time Walk and Timetwister. The finals was RG beats against Goblins, a match many people thought was a joke of some variety. It was definitely real.
Props:
-Robert Vroman for making the deck. It's awesome.
-Everybody that drove a long way for our tournament.
-Everybody on GWS that drove out from forever far away.
-Mitch and Droba for lending me cards.
Slops:
-Josh Wludyka, for not winning a match day 2 of Grand Prix San Francisco.
-Diabolic Edict for not being good.
-My ridiculous fear of losing to Misdirection, such a fear that I boarded out Ancestral Recall so much.
Thanks for reading.
