Forward:
This sort-of article follows a game with a light to analysing play descisions based on choice of role and looking at various lines of play into the mid to long term. It is a reasonably long Vintage game of over 20 minutes in which I take 9 turns. This is probably not anything too helpful to many on TMD, it is intended more to explore descision trees and role assignment to newer players while providing an example of a game which did not end early, nor constantly swing this way and that due to splashy cards, to newcomers to the format who may feel that makes up Vintage in its entirety.
I'll go ahead and be honest. The existence of this article owes itself to my urge to write while this game happened to be on my mind more than anything else. I hope it is at least enjoyed. My opponent's play is not perfect, nor is mine.
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The game is a Gro-A-Tog mirror match which I start on the play. I fan open a dodgey 7 containing cheap/free disruption, but only one land and no brainstorm: flooded strand, duress, misdirection, mystical tutor, gush, gush, mana drain. Though both GAT and any hand containing 2 Gushes and a Mana Drain desperatelly needs two islands, I note that duress and misdirection should get me through my second turn. If I still need to I can then Mystical Tutor for Ancestral and cast it on the third turn, which should surely net me my second land drop. I decide the hand is probably about as strong as the average 6 card mulligan hand and am not in the mood for 50/50 odds. I keep*.
I open with flooded strand into underground sea and cast duress. Duress shows me Quirion Dryad, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, Daze, two Brainstorms and an Island. I can't prevent my opponent from Brainstorming, and both Scroll and Mystical have the same target at this point in the game (ancestral recall). I anticipate that I will be trying for Ancestral first, so my Misdirection should trump his Daze. Since he will likely try for Ancestral after establishing a broader mana base, Scroll's lack of inherent card disadvantage and reliance on the draw step inclines me to select it over Mystical. I do so and pass the turn.
My opponent draws a card, plays Island and passes the turn.
I draw Duress. I now have two options: I can cast it, or hold it back and cast Mystical Tutor for Ancestral Recall during his end step. While the latter play is more likely to win me a land drop for my third turn, which is basically neccecary to play my deck, I note several things. First, casting Duress should gain me tempo which will offset the loss of tempo from a delayed land drop. Secondly, aside from the card he has just drawn, I know my opponent's hand and can can guess as to his probable lines of play. I feel he would most likely Brainstorm in response to my Duress, minimizing the worth of his second Brainstorm. The only usable known gas card available at that point, and probably the most tempo-efficient available, is Mystical Tutor. The likelyhood he will play Mystical on my end step at next opportunity seems high, especially since it provides a shuffle effect. My duress would push him in a direction he is already leaning: attempt Ancestral. I also know his hand presently contains only 1 piece of disruption, and his Mystical Tutor will probably prevent a draw step from being unknown. The need to retain land reduces the chance of Brainstorm increasing his countermagic suite. And, finally, my passing the turn without making a land drop will tempt him to push his advantage and bury me. I feel that by Duressing away Daze, I can tempt my opponent to walk into Misdirection. If he connects the dots and sees through my ploy, my Duress still increases the likelyhood of my own mystical->ancestral resolving and gains me tempo by causing him to hold back one of his strong cards.
This is an issue of role assignment. I can blast away with my own cards and try to race towards playing lots of spells, or I can hold back, try to influence my opponent's options, and seek card advantage. I feel my hand very strongly suggests the Control role at this time, and playing disruption now to dictate how the next turns unfold is stronger than seeking tempo through land drops. Knowing my opponent has a creature in hand and I do not, Aggro seems especially incorrect. I firmly place the mantle of Control about my shoulders.
I cast Duress. My opponent Brainstorms in response, as predicted. I am shown Quirion Dryad, Brainstorm, Daze, Mystical Tutor, and two land. I note that one is a shuffle effect and one is not, allowing for the possibility that 2 cards are "hidden" on top as well as the possibility he drew terribly off his Brainstorm and will shuffle the second card away. Neither possibility changes my plan for the moment and I select Daze, then pass the turn.
My opponent draws, lays Underground Sea and passes the turn. I realize I neglected to note that his non-shuffling land was not green, and only the fetch would have allowed him to play Quirion Dryad this turn.
I draw Black Lotus and cast it, enabling Mana Drain. Not the land I would prefer, but having protection for my Misdirection makes me feel more confident. On my end step, my opponent casts Mystical Tutor for Ancestral recall.
My opponent draws his card, puts Polluted Delta into play, and cracks it for Tropical Island. He casts Quirion Dryad and passes the turn with an untapped Sea. I realize that, even had his other land been capable of producing green, this play would be stronger than casting Dryad last turn as it comes out only one spell later, but allows him to await an opportune moment to cast Ancestral much earlier.
I draw a card and attempt to pass the turn. My opponent casts Brainstorm on my end step. Unfortunately for me, he will not blindly walk into my trap. He then untaps, draws, and casts Duress. Clearly, I can't allow that to resolve... the secrecy of my Misdirection is too important. I crack Lotus for Mana drain. It resolves, and my opponent moves to his combat phase to clear my mana pool. In response, I use the remaining blue mana to cast Mystical Tutor. My opponent responds with Ancestral Recall, perhaps fearing a search for Misdirection plus a cantrip. I respond with the Misdirection already in my hand, pitching Gush, and proceed to draw 3, then search out my own Ancestral and put it on top.
As an aside, I had hoped to Misdirect Ancestral, crack lotus for drain to protect it, then use the remaining mana to Mysical up Ancestral before my Misdirection resolved, then cast my own Ancestral with my land and draw 6 cards all at once. Duress proved its worth as a tempo card, disallowing me this small gain in tempo even while failing its main purpose.
The move to combat phase proceeds and my opponent swings for 4 before passing the turn, bringing me to 15. I untap and draw
Recap: My opponent controls a 4/4 Dryad, three lands, and no longer has any known cards in hand. All previously revealed cards have been accounted for and therefor were not Brainstormed back. My opponent has had 2 draw steps, and his Brainstorm replaced itself. His two mystery cards and the Duress he just cast were the best 3 of the 4 he has seen, and the two cards in hand are surely not a combination of pitch counter and blue card.
I control an Underground Sea. My hand of six contains Gush, Ancestral Recall, Psychatog, two Quirion Dryads and a land. I cast Ancestral Recall and draw Mox Sapphire, Time Walk, Force of Will. I play a fetch for Tropical Island, drop my mox and cast Time Walk, untapping to draw Mox Emerald (
note: I realized later we had both forgotten the 1 Mana Drain mana. It would not have enabled any different plays, nor would the 1 burn have effected any descisions, but still.). I play it and then cast Psychatog. With Gush available to provide additional card advantage, provided I don't need to pitch it to Force, I have a hand size advantage of 1-2, a mana advantage of 1 and a bigger creature. At this point I'm feeling confident. Though the game is hardly in the bag, I've leveraged playskill into a tangible advantage despite a starting hand which is probably inferior. I pass the turn.
On his upkeep, my opponent casts Vampiric Tutor and draws the card he finds. He then Gushes on his main phase... without first tapping the bounced lands, probably an error as he then plays Mox Sapphire and uses it to cast Opt. He taps his remaining land to cast Time Walk and untaps without attacking... my 'tog is bigger without eating into hand size than his 8/8 Dryad. He draws his card, Brainstorms, the announces Duress. I respond by tapping my untapped land for blue, then Gushing. My hand is now Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Quirion Dryad, Quirion Dryad, Force of Will, Underground Sea, Tropical Island. I decide to allow Duress to resolve before casting Brainstorm... as it stands, I can't be prevented from casting Brainstorm by Duress and I felt casting Brainstorm now would force me to bury the very cards I'd just drawn. My opponent chooses to force me to discard one of my Brainstorms and allow me to keep Force of Will. He then passes the turn, and I use my floating mana to cast my remaining Brainstorm before untapping.
I draw my card, and lay my Underground Sea. With my Tropical Island still in hand, my options are limited. His Dryad is 10/10 at this point and would already cost me cards from my hand to kill with my 'tog. However, he has seen my two Dryads in hand and must realize that if I have a chump blocker down, he is inside Tog range at 17 life and could lose his Dryad to a forced block. Unfortunately for me, this play spends my graveyard and part of my hand to remove a blocker, leaving me with a much smaller 'tog and less able to defend it. Going aggro doesn't seem correct just yet... ceding the control role with only a slow and unprotected threat feels weak.
I cast Imperial Seal. I consider the obvious target in Yawgmoth's Will, but calculate myself as a mana short of tutor chaining to Berserk and attacking next turn. I was also concerned with a non-lethal Yawgwill depleating my yard and forcing me to use too much of my hand to defend against a very large Dryad, costing me whatever card advantage I might have gained. I decide to tutor for Chain of Vapor. This will not allow my 'tog to attack for the win directly, but it will force him to chump with a much smaller Dryad. I put Chain on top and pass... I probably should have cast my own Dryad in case he decided to suicide his Dryad into Tog and cost me my yard in order to gaurd against Yawgmoth's Will. My instinct not to reveal my transition into attack mode with such a play won out before I fully thought it through. It would have required him to grow the Dryad to 12/12 to force a block, not terribly unlikely even with 2 cards in hand after drawing but not staring me in the face.
My opponent fetches for Volcanic Island on my end step. He then begins his turn with Gush, following it up with laying a land and passing the turn. 11/11 Dryad, not quite lethal.
I draw my Chain, lay my Tropical Island, and cast Quirion Dryad. I then cast Chain of Vapor targetting the opposing green creature, which meets the Red Blast obviously intended for my Psychatog... taking Brainstorm with Duress a couple turns ago suddenly now seems terrible as I back up my bounce with countermagic that could just as easily have defended my creature. Had he Duressed Force, his Red Blast could have removed my blocker and made his Dryad lethal all in one. I counter the Blast, Chain resolves, and my opponent sacrifices Volcanic Island to copy the effect and bounce my 'tog. I pass.
My opponent draws his card and replays his briefly 12/12 monster as a lowly 1/1, then passes the turn.
I draw my card and attack with my Dryad, which is a 3/3. I elect not to recast Psychatog as he is the only blue card enabling the Force of Will I've just drawn. Instead I opt to cast a second Dryad and pass. This may be a second error, as my opponent appears to be running Daze over Drain and does not have 5 mana. Tog's return should go unopposed. However, with two Dryads I should still be able to attack for a timely win, and keeping Force up prevents getting blown out by a restricted bomb.
My opponent draws and Brainstorms into Duress. I reveal my two card hand and lose the reason Tog isn't on the table looking mean. Oh well. My opponent ends his turn without attacking; he has been reduced to 13 life and rightly fears my Dryad tag team.
My position is strong. I will momentarily have a third creature on the board, now that Force is no longer a consideration, and 'tog easily handles his 3/3 Dryad without running out of graveyard. Feeling confident, I untap and mise up Yawgmoth's Will. My opponent's hand is 1 card and he is tapped out. With access to Lotus, Time Walk, land, and tons of cheap-to-free draw out of the yard, the game is over. Two huge Dryads smash through without aid from Berserk or Psychatog.
* I began to analyse this descision as a footnote to this post, but it quickly expanded beyond the scope of the astrix-able. Discussion of this opening hand's merits can be found
here.
