The Mountains Win Again??? Double Top 8 Weekend

Going into this weekend I was not sure what deck I wanted to play, I hate playing Gush decks and I wanted to take a break from playing Bomberman so I decided to play TMWA!

1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Null Rod
4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth
4 Fire/Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Misdirection
4 Stifle
1 Time Walk
2 Island
3 Faerie Conclave
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Strip Mine
4 Volcanic Island <---------Mountains!
4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Steam Vents <------Mountain that stings!

Sideboard
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Leyline of Singularity

Changes for Hadley Tourney: -6 Leyline, -3 Rack and Ruin, -1 Threads of Disloyalty,+2 Energy Flux, +2 Shattering Spree, +4 Pyrostatic Pillar, +2 Flametongue Kavu

Well, Ok, I'm sad to say it but MAYBE I actually played Landstill and not TMWA. I wanted to name the report The Lands win again but Dan Yarrington insisted on TMWA considering my deck did contain numerous mountains. The mainboard is pretty much the same as Shockwave's Gencon List but I revamped the sideboard.

As for the games, I usually don't take notes so my recounts will be short and also if any opponents want to chime in if my details are wrong, feel free to say so.

ELD tourney on Saturday

Round 1 Gush Combo

Game 1: Wasted his first two lands, stifled a Fetch and he never found another land, probably took less than 10 minutes, thereby the setting the world record for fastest Landstill win.

Game 2: Pretty much the same as Game 1, my opening hand had Library and a Wasteland. I wasted his first land then next turn dropped Library. I stifled a fetch a turn later and wasted another land He got a fastbond out but only had one land which I eventually wasted. Another quick game won by ridiculous land destruction.

Record 1-0

Round 2 Scott Hughes with 5c Stax

Game 1: Scott unfortunately has to mulligan to 4 and I quickly drop a null rod. He is completely mana screwed and the lands bring it home.

Game 2: Scott opens with Bazaar of Baghdad. His next turn I believe he goes Shop-Crucible which I force then next turn I wasteland his shop. He plays a Mox and on my turn I drop Null Rod leaving him with no mana sources. He bazaars away about 15+ useless artifacts over the next few turns. I drop a Standstill and just beatdown for the win.

Record: 2-0

Round 3 Dan Cunningham with Bomberman

Game 1: I waste a tundra, stifle a Fetch and eventually drop a Null Rod, which really stings the ass of all Bomberman players. He eventually finds some lands and drops a few Mindcensors/Trinket Mages which I either burn away with Fire/ice or uses as chump blockers. He tries to bounce the null rod with Repeal but I counter it. He gets active LOA going but manlands beat down in time before he could get a lot of cards.

Game 2: I mulligan to 6 with a very slow hand (even by Landstill standards) and he comboes me out in turn 4 or 5.

Game 3: Dan drops Chalice for two early which hits about 5 out of 7 cards in my hand. We draw go for a while and I end up Misdirecting his Ancestral Recall. Let it be noted that here I screwed up big time and simply forgot that I could have Echoing Truthed the Chalice and stifled the Chalice trigger but 1. I haven't tested Landstill in three years and 2. My playskills have been rusty since I never have time to play anymore. Dan starts swordsing my guys and he finishes me off with a swam of angry Salvagers.

Record: 2-1

Round 4 Ryan Marek with Gush Flash

game 1: I wasteland and stifle a few of his early lands and drop null rod, killing off a mox. He starts to assemble his combo via Brainstorm/Merchant Scroll while I get a massive hand of counterspells via Standstill. He casts Summoner's pact fetching the Hulk and casts Flash but I plow through his counters and he dies on his upkeep to Pact.

game 2: He goes turn one Ancestral which I Misdirect and then on my turn I cast my own Ancestral Recall. I stifle and waste a bunch of his lands and grind the game out for the win.

Record: 3-1

Round 5 ID for 3-1-1 record

Top 8 Bill Copes with 5c Stax

Game 1: He casts first turn Sphere and first turn Smokestack while I have no counters. He keeps ahead of me in permanents and blows me up.

Game 2: I play a land for my first turn and so does he. I drop another land and on his turn I drain his sphere of resistance. Using the drain mana I drop Null Rod and Standstill. The Null Rod stops a lot of his next draws and he is completely helpless for the rest of the game.

Game 3: Bill starts with City-Goblin Welder. I have two Forces, a Fire/Ice and no other blue cards in hand. Bill seemed pretty content with his hand so I thought the Welder would be trouble so I decided to force it, it would take me two turns to Fire it so I felt to play safe. I didn't draw a blue card for my turn, rendering the Force in my hand useless. Bill rips a Workshop and casts Crucible and I really wish now I didn't counter the Welder. I draw for the turn sadly and do not get another blue card. On his turn Bill casts crop rotation for Strip Mine and a Sphere of Resistance and I know I'm screwed. I fight off the strips with Fetches/Stifles and manage to get his crucible out of play by chaining it, dropping Standstill and then Forcing it when he recasts it. Bill hardcasts a Titan which luckily did not hit any of my lands. I chump with Factories for a turn or two. If I drew a bounce spell, I could have hit the Titan then forced it but sadly I die to 7/10 beats.

I was sad I didn't win my top 8 match but getting this far with no playtesting felt pretty good. I was very happy to grab a Foil Steam Vents for my top 8 Prize due to the fact I had to proxy a Steam Vent.

Hadley tourney on Sunday

I was very unhappy with some of my sideboard choices, especially the Rack and Ruins, so I revamped the board. The Sunday sideboard I felt was much better.

Round 1 Dan Cunningham with Bomberman

Game 1 and 2: Read above for almost exact results. Game 1 I destroyed him with mana denial, Game 2 He comboes me out very fast.

Game 3: I cast an early Recall and hit him with a Stifle or Waste. He casts a Salvager which resolves. I untap, play my 4th land and drop Flametongue Kavu. BOOM! HEADSHOT! On his next turn he drops another Salvager! I drop a Standstill and attack into his Salvager with my FTK, he blocks and they both hit the yard. He casts yet another Salvager and gets the Spellbomb draw engine going. I drop another Standstill to stall him and draw some cards of my own. He casts a Trinket Mage which I counter, saving myself from destruction. I get LOA going but can't find an answer while he sits back and draws cards. I topdeck Flametongue Kavu and nuke his Salvager from orbit, just to be sure. I managed to draw a stifle too which stopped his Spellbomb from saving his dude. Two turns later I swing in with FTK and lands for the win.

Record: 1-0

Round 2 Justin with Wee Dragonauts

Game 1: I stifle one of his lands and he gushes in response to my wasteland. I drop a null rod but he never plays any artifacts and instead drops lots of land. He begins to build up card advantage with gush and he manages to force through a Tog who tears through my manlands and beats me down.

Game 2: Pretty typical Landstill game, I wreck his manabase with stifle/wastes and keep dropping Standstills to fill my hand. He hits 3 mana and drops a very scary Bloodmoon, I counter it thankfully. I did not expect Bloodmoon whatsoever so I sided out all my bounce, leaving me with no answer to it. The lands win again.

Game 3: Details are fuzzy on this game but I manage to drop a Pyrostatic Pillar early while were both at healthy life totals. I sit back and draw cards off Library and attack with my lands. He decides to try to save himself by going off. He casts brainstorm, then Duress to see my lovely hand of 6 counterspells and Vamp Tutors for a total loss of 8 life. On the end of his turn I burn him out with Fire/Ice

Record: 2-0

Round 3 Scott Hughes with 5c Stax

Game 1: He has a great start of Tolarian Academy, a few Moxes, a Sensei's Divining Top and a Sphere of Resistance, ouch. He soon casts Crucible and a Gorilla Shaman. He slowly beats me up with Shaman beats and Wasteland recursion. I slowly get some lands to stay in play through Fetches and Stifles. I manage to drop a null rod into play which greatly stunts his mana. He casts a Goblin Welder but I force it. He drops another Welder and I get enough mana to Fire the Shaman and the Welder. I eventually bounce his Crucible, play a Standstill and then draw into counters to force the replayed Crucible. I keep dropping Standstills and manage to stop him from playing any further threats, the lands win again.

Game 2: He drops a first turn Sphere and a second turn Crucible. I shattering spree the Crucible on my turn. He casts a Jar on his next turn and passes the turn. I Shattering Spree again, saving my ass. I manage to get my 4th land into play to drop an Energy Flux which completely annihilates his board over the next few turns. I drop some Standstills, counter his junk and slowly beat him down.

Record: 3-0

Rounds 4 and 5: ID 3-0-2

Top 8 Jeff Carpenter with Tidesprout Oath

Game 1: Jeff casts first turn timewalk into second turn Oath with Orchard. I lose pretty fast

Game 2: Jeff plays Library and Mox Jet, I waste the Library and vamps on my end step. On his turns he casts Oath with Forbidden Orchard, I lose fast again. Sigh

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the deck. The only match I was disappointed was against Oath because of his brutal starting hands which Oath will sometimes get. The sideboard was much much better on Day 2, the Leylines for ELD's tourney were for Ichorid which I never played. I think I would rather just not run Sideboard stuff for Ichorid and just accept the loss if I somehow get paired against them, devoting 4-6 slots for one random deck is ridiculous. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions on my build or just post in this thread. Thanks for reading.