[Report] 1st place in Hengelo with Tyrant Oath (with t8 lists)

[Duncan]

Yesterday (16 december) a vintage 5 proxy tournament was held in Hengelo, the Netherlands. After my 3rd place finish in Breda two weeks ago (http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35049.0) I wanted to play DeezNoughts again, but this time I had 7 proxies less to use and I couldn’t get the cards I missed in the meantime so I had to choose another deck. For a while I had been following the discussion about Tyrant Oath with interest so I decided to give that deck a try. Again I didn’t have (took) the time to test the deck so just as two weeks ago my first games with Tyrant Oath were to be played in the first round of the tournament. During the day lots of people were surprised and asked me why I didn’t play DeezNoughts, because I had such a good finish with it. Maybe this helped me a bit through the first rounds. On top of that I asked some people of they could borrow me a Goblin Matron for the day (it was actually for a friend of mine who wanted to see if he wanted to play magic again and played his first event in more than a year).

Let’s take a look at my list:
 
Main Deck (60)
2 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Triskelion

4 Oath of Druids
1 Fastbond
1 Engineered Explosives

4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
4 Gush
2 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Flash of Insight
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Research/Development
1 Echoing Truth
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Time Walk

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Island

Sideboard (15)
4 Oxidize
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Wipe Away
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
2 Extirpate
1 Platinum Angel
1 Sundering Titan
1 Blazing Archon
1 Island

It’s basically the list Jeff Carpenter (Harlequin) finished 1st place with in Salem with some minor changes. I didn’t have the third misdirection and some sideboard cards so Saturday night I pmed him if he wanted to give suggestions for replacements and share some sideboard strategies. He kindly did and I would like to thank him for that!

Round 1: Twan Koperberg with GAT

I kicked Twan out of top 8 in Breda so he was trying to get his revenge. I figured he was to play GAT again like he did there and he was one of the guys who was surprised that I played another deck.

Game 1: I win the die roll and start with an island and pass the turn. He drops a sea and says go. On my turn I drop a sea and a mox, scroll for Force (I have ancestral in hand) and pass. He brainstorms end of turn and I respond with recall. He forces, I force back and recall gives me oath and time walk. He plays dryad on his turn (he still doesn’t know I play oath) and I play orchard, oath and time walk. I oath in a Tyrant, play Gush bouncing his dryads and when I play the Yawgmoth’s will I drew off Gush he scoops.

-1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Gush, -1 Triskelion
+2 Extirpate, +1 Sundering Titan

Game 2: My opening hand is perfect this game: Lotus, Orchard, Oath, Gush, Force, Brainstorm, Time Walk. He opens with tropical and tries to play a fastbond, but I force pitching gush. I play Orchard, Lotus, Oath, Walk and pass the turn to myself. I oath in Titan nuking his Tropical. He plays land and says go. End of turn I play brainstorm and give him a second token. I oath in tyrant, pass the turn and he plays sea and duress. In response I brainstorm into Extirpate. I remove all his tropicals from the game, bouncing his two lands with Tyrant. I see he has nothing relevant in his hand and he scoops.

1-0-0

Round 2: Kevin van Houts with Ichorid

I’ve never played Kevin before and he tells me this is his first vintage event. I ask him what he played against last round and he tells me he won against Ichorid. I tell him I think that’s one of the less fun decks to play in vintage, not knowing what he was about to show me.

Game 1: I lose the die roll and have to mulligan. My hand is tropical x2, oath x2, brainstorm and gush. He leads with bazaar, chalice for 0 and smiles at me, he’s playing Ichorid too! I play trop and pass the turn. He activates bazaar eot, discards two Grave Trolls and in his upkeep and draw step he puts like 20 cards in his graveyard, but no Ichorids, Therapies or Narcomoebas. Then he plays Dryad Arbor. I brainstorm end of turn, play oath and pass the turn. He puts another 20 cards in his graveyard but all he sees is one Ichorid. By this time I have one mox and demonic tutor in hand and I’ll probably be crushed by an army of zombies with a flame-kin leader next turn. On my upkeep oath gives me a Tyrant, I draw a merchant scroll and combo out: Demonic for mox sapphire (bouncing chalice), create infinite mana, scroll for flash of insight to give me Trike and kill him. I know I have been very lucky this game. Would he have dredged a bit better, I probably would have lost. Would he not have played dryad arbor, I probably would have lost. Would I have oathed in Trisk instead of tyrant, I probably would have lost. If I hadn’t topdecked merchant scroll, I probably would have lost. But fortunately everything worked out for the best.

I boarded like this:
-2 Force, -2 Misdirection, -2 Tyrant, -1 Triskelion
+2 Tormod’s Crypt, +1 Needle, +2 Extirpate, +1 Platinum Angel, +1 Blazing Archon

Game 2: This game is just as strange as the first. He mulligans twice and I keep a hand without oath, but with vampiric and demonic tutor. He starts with dryad arbor and passes. I play delta and pass. He does nothing and eot I vamp for oath. I play oath and he plays emerald charm. Next turn I demonic for oath and pass. He tries to build up his hand to discard dredgers and does nothing. I play oath, which he tries to emerald charm again, I force. He then plays reverent silence and my second oath is destroyed. I draw a pithing needle and play it naming Bazaar. He draws bazaar which is useless right but still plays it. I draw Yawgmoth’s Will, play it, replay an oath and pass. He is out of hate by now, I oath in a platinum angel, and he scoops.

2-0-0

Round 3: Frank van Rijn with GAT

Game 1: He wins the die roll and has to mulligan once. I can’t remember very much of this game but things go back and forth for a while and we both counter some things. He manages to get a dryad into play and grows it while I can’t get an oath on the board. When I’m at 13 life and he plays his time walk making the dryad 7/7 I scoop.

I boarded like I did in the first round:
-1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Gush, -1 Triskelion
+2 Extirpate, +1 Sundering Titan

Game 2: Frank is a friend (maybe teammate) of Twan and says he hopes I don’t get all broken with lotus, time walk and oath like I did against Twan. I say I hope I will and smile when I see my opening hand. I lead with Orchard, Lotus, Scroll into FoW, play oath, he forces and I return the favor pitching Tyrant (I also had a brainstorm in hand but wanted to keep it to rebuild in case he has double force). I keep him off his lands and it’s over shortly thereafter.

Game 3: He starts with land, mox and scrolls for gush. I open with orchard, mox oath. He forces and I force back. I oath up a Tyrant and he Red blasts it. I extirpate his red blasts,  oath up my second Tyrant (I have Titan in hand) and stack my deck with a flashbacked flash of insight (giving me a force). I play my second mox and cast the titan. He gushes and I force it.

3-0-0

Round 4: Zagar Zeeman with Platinum Oath

By now there are two rounds left (there were 31 people I believe, just below the 6-round border) and four players with 9 points. 10 players are at six points and 1 is at 7 (with low resistance I think). Therefore we can draw this game with the four of us and do the same next round because we will be paired against each other. We play it safe and ID.

3-0-1

Round 5: Goswin Zeeman with MUD

ID

3-0-2

It all worked out as planned and I get in top 8 at 4th place.

Top 8: Goswin Zeeman with MUD

Two weeks ago he defeated me in the top 4 so I was hoping to get my revenge this time.

Game 1: I win the die roll and he has to mulligan. I lead with Lotus, land, mox, oath, time walk. During my next two turns I start digging for an orchard with ponder, brainstorm and ancestral while he plays Sphere, Thorn and Tangle Wires. I can’t find one, not even after yawgmoth’s will into lotus, ancestral, ponder, brainstorm. By now I’ve seen about 30 cards of my deck but the orchards are hidden very well. I fear he will draw a smokestack before I find my orchard, because that probably will win him the game. Finally I draw a Demonic Tutor and get my orchard. I oath op Tyrant, play echoing truth on sphere bouncing thorn with the tyrant and go infinite.
 
+4 Oxidize, +1 Hurkyl’s Recall, +1 Island
-2 Misdirection, -1 Fastbond, -2 Gush, -1 Research/Development

Game 2: He has to mulligan and I keep a hand with Tropical, Vampiric, Orchard, Island, Mox, Brainstorm and one card I can’t remember. He leads with workshop and staff of domination so I figure his hand wasn’t very good. I open with orchard, mox and pass. He wastes my orchard and in response I vampiric for oath. I oath up a tyrant and fly him to the win, bouncing his disruption with double force backup.

Top 4: Arjan Bos with GAT
I haven’t got much note of this match and the next. We were the last top 4 match to end so I couldn’t write some things down afterwards. Much of what I say here is based on what I think that happened. I do know that this games were very fun but intense. Arjan is a nice guy and he knows his deck very well.

Game 1: He wins the die roll and after we both play some lands and things like brainstorm he tries to resolve ancestral. He wins the counterwar and my hand only has a land and an ancestral left. He has two lands untapped and 4 cards in hand. I know my best chances of resolving my ancestral are at this moment. He already used one of his two misdirections and if I won’t do anything he will just control and outdraw me for the rest of the game. I play and expect him to drain or force. What he does is much worse. He plays vampiric for misdirection, brainstorms into it and takes my ancestral too. From here on he duresses me like every turn, but cannot put much pressure on me (at one point he played Yawgmoth’s will, but forgot he already played a land so the only thing he could do was a single Gush). I topdeck an oath and he drains it. With the drain mana he plays a dryad and starts to grow it. On my turn I brainstorm into both tinker and oath. I put the oath on top and bait his force (pitching force) with the tinker. If he hasn’t got a second counter and my oath resolves, I can oath up a tyrant and bounce his dryad. He brings me to 9 life with his 5/5 dryad and plays the psychatog he just drew. That’s too much and I lose the first game.

I think I boarded like this:
-1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Research/Development, -1 Gush
+2 Extirpate, +1 Blazing Archon
I boarded in the Archon, because I saw his only outs against this one were his berserk and single echoing truth.

Game 2: I think I played a first turn orchard, mox oath here and he didn’t have the counter, I did. I fly my Tyrants to the win within a few turns.

Game 3: He has an early fastbond which I force, but he forces back pitching gush. During his second turn he scrolled for gush, which I extirpate after he plays it. I see he boarded out his berserk, so his only out to Archon is a single echoing truth. His hand is now Tropical, Sea x2 and Truth. I can resolve my ancestral and get an oath on the table. It gets me Archon, he tries to bounce it and I force/misdirect. It’s over shortly thereafter.

Top 2: Zagar Zeeman with Platinum Oath
We discuss a split, but I decline it after some thinking. I came here to play and I’ve got the feeling I can win this match. We take a look at each others decklists and he notes it’s impossible I only play 6 disruption spells. I tell him it got to the final table so that must show it can be enough .

Game 1: This games is a total disaster. He starts with a mulligan. I win the counterwar over my ancestral and he takes a look at my graveyard. I already used a force and a misdirection so he thinks he can play his ancestral quite safe. I have my second misdirection in hand so I draw another three cards. I’m way ahead of cards, but I’ve got one problem: we both got an orchard but I’ve got two more tokens so oath is not an option yet. He gets down an oath and it gives him a platinum angel, which I Echoing Truth. He oaths up his second angel and has 6 cards left in his library. I take a look at his graveyard and there must be 1 pact of negation and 1 force of will in his hand or library. In his upkeep he uses flash of insight to stack his library so he must have at least one counter in his hand, maybe two. I’m holding Yawgmoth’s Will, Oath of Druids, Mystical Tutor and Krosan Reclamation. I want to bait his counter and play will to bounce his second Angel and win the game. In my upkeep I mystical to find an answer (I should have put echoing truth back with reclamation before the mystical, I figure this out while searching my library and am mad at myself for this). The only thing I see is an engineered explosives so I put a demonic on top to get it. I play demonic into explosives (again I should have put echoing truth in my library, but again I forget it, which makes me even more angry) and play it, he doesn’t counter. I try my Yawgmoth’s and of course he uses his pact of negation. I still could have won this game easily by activating explosives during his turn and using my orchard afterwards (he would have done the same, but that leaves him with a token and a creature and me with just a token). Then I could oath up tyrant, play a spell to bounce his Angel and win. I was so focused on the counting of the tokens that I forgot the angel and thought we’d both have 1 creature after the explosives, so I didn’t even try (someone who was watching the game pointed me at this afterwards). He flies his angel to the win.

-1 Fastbond, -2 Gush, -1 Mystical Tutor, -1 Research/Development, -1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Hurkyl’s Recall, +2 Extirpate, +2 Oxidize, +1 Wipe Away

Game 2: I keep a hand with Emerald, Sapphire, Brainstorm, Ponder, Misdirection, Time Walk and Triskelion. I lead with sapphire and ponder. I look at my top 3 cards: Force, Force and Force, how bizarre! I was digging for a land, but I just couldn’t shuffle these cards away. In my second turn I brainstorm into an orchard, play it and pass the turn. During his second turn he tries to tinker, I respond with ancestral, he drains, I misdirect his drain to his tinker (I’ve wanted to make this play forever and finally I managed to do it), he forces, I force back. I end up drawing 3 cards and he burns for 3. His hand is depleted and I still hold force and Trisk. I counter his thirst for knowledge hardcasting force and draw my second misdirection when I’m looking for my sixth land to play Trike. He topdecks merchant scroll and grabs ancestral, knowing that I already used 3 forces and 1 misdirection. I hardcast misdirection, and his ancestral gives me the land I was looking for. I hardcast Trike and ride it to victory.

Game 3: This game was much shorter. He does something like land, go and I play first turn orchard, oath which resolves. I think I also got counterbackup. I oath up tyrant. He scrolls for ancestral, I scroll for misdirection. I oath up Trike (the second tyrant was in my hand) and try to go infinite with two moxes and trike. He ancestrals, I misdirect it and he scoops when he discovers the combo. I was also holding Yawgmoth’s Will so he needed two counters to prevent me from winning.

It’s done. I win for the first time in a tournament (actually the second, I won last Friday in a official tournament, but there were only three other players: one 9 year old kid playing legacy belcher (I think he didn’t knew it was vintage), one 12 year old playing koboldclamp for the first time and one 40-50 year old playing a keeper like deck with lots of alpha and beta cards, but the deck was very slow and outdated). I win the damaged beta Timetwister and start my ride back home.

About the deck: it was very solid all day long. I’ve played angel oath in the past, but this felt much better. You don’t have to gamble as much on quick oaths, since oathing once can mean good game. There was one card I didn’t like very much. I never used Research/Development all day long, so I think about cutting him for Cunning Wish and add a Brain Freeze in the sideboard.

I again had a great time and would like to thank the organisation and my opponents. I know there were pictures taken (also from the big counterwar in the second game of the finals) so I’ll post them when I can get them.

Final standings were as follows:
1: Duncan Keijzer – Tyrant Oath
2: Zagar Zeeman – Platinum Oath
3/4: Arjen Ruiterkamp – Dawn of the Dead
3/4: Arjan Bos – GAT
5-8: Goswin Zeeman – MUD
5-8: Dennis Bijkerk – Workshop Aggro
5-8: Frank van Rijn – GAT
5-8: Lex Bergsma – Sliver Flash

Top 8:
Duncan beats Goswin
Arjan beats Dennis
Zagar beats Frank
Arjen beats Lex

Top 4:
Duncan beats Arjan
Zagar beats Arjen

Finals:
Duncan beats Zagar


That’s it! I hope you enjoyed reading my report and feel free to comment on my plays/boarding strategies/things I covered wrong or anything else you’d like to say. Thanks for reading!

Duncan

[breed]

Thanks for the report! It seems that Oath is back on top.

Anyway, is it possible to get the top 8 lists?

 

[XdeckX]

Hey Duncan,
Great job delivering the first loss to Zagar on that day. That boy just had an easy walk into the top 8 with 1 bye, 2 wins and 2 ID's

excellent report and eventhough I hate oath to death it still does its thing quite well.
 
Congratulations on winning the beat beta twister

My top 8 report + decklist can be found here.
I typed both the report and the decklist from memory and I might have missed something. I'm not even sure on the exact numbers in the maindeck

[Duncan]

@breed: i will post the t8 lists when the organisation puts them up.

@dennis: thank you! Congrats on your finish too! I enjoyed reading your report. Always like to see people posting reports zagar came into top8 quite easily indeed, but he still managed to win every match he played until the finals, including top8 and top4. So i guess he still deserved the t8 place. However, I'm glad I managed to beat him.

[Duncan]

Here are the top8 lists:

1. Duncan Keijzer (Swiss: 3-0-2)
MainDeck (60)

Creatures
  1 Triskelion
  2 Tidespout Tyrant

Spells
  1 Fastbond
  1 Yawgmoth's Will
  1 Time Walk
  1 Research/Development
  2 Merchant Scroll
  1 Demonic Tutor
  1 Vampiric Tutor
  1 Mystical Tutor
  1 Echoing Truth
  1 Engineered Explosives
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Mox Emerald
  1 Mox Jet
  1 Mox Pearl
  1 Mox Ruby
  2 Misdirection
  1 Black Lotus
  4 Oath of Druids
  1 Tinker
  1 Flash of Insight
  1 Krosan Reclamation
  4 Brainstorm
  4 Gush
  1 Ancestral Recall
  4 Force of Will
  2 Ponder

Lands
  2 Island
  4 Forbidden Orchard
  3 Polluted Delta
  3 Tropical Island
  2 Flooded Strand
  2 Underground Sea

Sideboard
  1 Island
  4 Oxidize
  2 Extirpate
  1 Pithing Needle
  1 Platinum Angel
  1 Sundering Titan
  1 Blazing Archon
  1 Wipe Away
  1 Hurkyl's Recall
  2 Tormod's Crypt


2. Zagar Zeeman (Swiss: 3-0-2)
MainDeck (60)
   
Creatures
  2 Platinum Angel

Spells
  1 Mox Emerald
  1 Flash of Insight
  1 Mox Pearl
  1 Mox Jet
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Mox Ruby
  1 Time Walk
  1 Echoing Truth
  1 Black Lotus
  1 Sol Ring
  1 Mana Crypt
  1 Lotus Petal
  4 Oath of Druids
  4 Brainstorm
  1 Tinker
  4 Force of Will
  4 Pact of Negation
  4 Mana Drain
  3 Thirst for Knowledge
  1 Ancestral Recall
  1 Mystical Tutor
  1 Vampiric Tutor
  1 Demonic Tutor
  3 Merchant Scroll
  1 Misdirection

Lands
  4 Forbidden Orchard
  2 Polluted Delta
  3 Flooded Strand
  2 Island
  1 Underground Sea
  1 Tropical Island
  1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard
  1 Ancient Grudge
  4 Leyline of the Void
  1 Hurkyl's Recall
  1 Tidespout Tyrant
  3 Energy Flux
  1 Rushing River
  1 Trickbind
  2 Extirpate
  1 Simic Sky Swallower


3-4. Arjan Bos (Swiss 3-1-1)
MainDeck (60)
   
Creatures
  3 Quirion Dryad
  2 Psychatog

Spells
  2 Misdirection
  4 Force of Will
  4 Gush
  1 Mana Drain
  4 Merchant Scroll
  1 Echoing Truth
  1 Mystical Tutor
  1 Time Walk
  1 Berserk
  1 Fastbond
  1 Black Lotus
  4 Brainstorm
  1 Ancestral Recall
  1 Yawgmoth's Will
  1 Vampiric Tutor
  3 Duress
  1 Demonic Tutor
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Mox Jet
  1 Mox Emerald
  4 Ponder
  2 Thoughtseize

Lands
  3 Flooded Strand
  2 Island
  3 Polluted Delta
  3 Tropical Island
  3 Underground Sea

Sideboard
  3 Pithing Needle
  1 Hurkyl's Recall
  2 Smother
  2 Spell Snare
  2 Trickbind
  3 Trygon Predator
  2 Tormod's Crypt


3-4. Arjen Ruiterkamp (Swiss 3-0-2)
MainDeck (60)
   
Creatures
  4 Tarmogoyf
  4 Dark Confidant
  4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
  2 Gaddock Teeg

Spells
  1 Mox Jet
  4 Swords to Plowshares
  3 Zombie Infestation
  1 Lotus Petal
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Mox Ruby
  1 Mox Pearl
  1 Demonic Tutor
  1 Balance
  1 Vampiric Tutor
  3 Duress
  1 Mox Emerald
  1 Black Lotus
  2 Life from the Loam
  4 Thoughtseize

Lands
  1 Strip Mine
  1 Plains
  1 Swamp
  3 Bayou
  4 Bazaar of Baghdad
  3 Bloodstained Mire
  3 Scrubland
  2 Wasteland
  2 Windswept Heath

Sideboard
  3 Oxidize
  4 Leyline of the Void
  1 Seeds of Innocence
  3 Ray of Revelation
  4 Thorn of Amethyst


5-8. Goswin Zeeman (Swiss 3-0-2)
MainDeck (60)
   
Creatures
  2 Karn, Silver Golem
  4 Juggernaut
  4 Metalworker

Spells
  4 Chalice of the Void
  4 Sphere of Resistance
  1 Trinisphere
  4 Tangle Wire
  3 Smokestack
  3 Crucible of Worlds
  1 Memory Jar
  1 Mox Jet
  1 Mox Emerald
  1 Mox Pearl
  1 Mox Ruby
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Black Lotus
  1 Mana Crypt
  1 Mana Vault
  1 Sol Ring
  2 Thorn of Amethyst

Lands
  4 Mishra's Workshop
  2 Mishra's Factory
  4 Ancient Tomb
  4 Wasteland
  1 Strip Mine
  3 City of Traitors
  1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard
  4 Leyline of the Void
  3 Serum Powder
  3 Eon Hub
  3 Staff of Domination
  2 Duplicant


5-8. Dennis Bijkerk (Swiss 4-1-0)
MainDeck (60)
   
Creatures
  4 Goblin Welder
  4 Solemn Simulacrum
  4 Juggernaut
  2 Arcbound Ravager
  3 Triskelion
  2 Duplicant
  2 Gorilla Shaman

Spells
  3 Sphere of Resistance
  1 Trinisphere
  4 Sword of Fire and Ice
  1 Mox Emerald
  1 Mox Jet
  1 Mox Pearl
  1 Mox Ruby
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Black Lotus
  1 Sol Ring
  1 Mana Crypt
  1 Mana Vault
  4 Thorn of Amethyst

Lands
  4 Mishra's Workshop
  1 Strip Mine
  1 Tolarian Academy
  4 Wasteland
  6 Mountain
  2 Mishra's Factory

Sideboard
  3 Tormod's Crypt
  3 Red Elemental Blast
  3 Orb of Dreams
  3 Rack and Ruin
  3 Mogg Fanatic


5-8. Frank van Rijn (Swiss: 3-1-1)
MainDeck (60)
   
Creatures
  4 Quirion Dryad

Spells
  1 Tendrils of Agony
  4 Force of Will
  4 Duress
  2 Misdirection
  4 Brainstorm
  4 Sleight of Hand
  4 Gush
  4 Merchant Scroll
  1 Yawgmoth's Will
  1 Fastbond
  1 Regrowth
  1 Mystical Tutor
  1 Vampiric Tutor
  1 Echoing Truth
  1 Demonic Tutor
  1 Imperial Seal
  1 Time Walk
  1 Ancestral Recall
  1 Lotus Petal
  1 Black Lotus
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Mox Emerald
  1 Mox Jet

Lands
  2 Island
  3 Underground Sea
  2 Tropical Island
  1 Volcanic Island
  3 Polluted Delta
  3 Flooded Strand

Sideboard
  1 Volcanic Island
  4 Leyline of the Void
  2 Extirpate
  2 Red Elemental Blast
  1 Empty the Warrens
  1 Rebuild
  1 Hurkyl's Recall
  3 Ingot Chewer


5-8. Lex Bergsma (Swiss 3-0-2)
MainDeck (60)
   
Creatures
  1 Elvish Spirit Guide
  4 Virulent Sliver
  1 Heart Sliver
  4 Protean Hulk

Spells
  1 Ancestral Recall
  1 Black Lotus
  1 Chain of Vapor
  4 Brainstorm
  1 Demonic Tutor
  3 Duress
  4 Flash
  4 Force of Will
  1 Mana Crypt
  4 Merchant Scroll
  1 Mox Emerald
  1 Mox Jet
  1 Mox Pearl
  1 Mox Ruby
  1 Mox Sapphire
  1 Mystical Tutor
  3 Summoner's Pact
  4 Pact of Negation
  1 Vampiric Tutor

Lands
  3 Flooded Strand
  3 Polluted Delta
  1 Island
  2 Underground Sea
  2 Tropical Island
  1 Volcanic Island

Sideboard
  2 Chain of Vapor
  1 Rebuild
  1 Red Elemental Blast
  1 Pyroblast
  1 Massacre
  4 Leyline of the Void
  1 Hurkyl's Recall
  2 Gorilla Shaman
  1 Echoing Truth
  1 Sylvan Safekeeper

[breed]

Thanks for the lists!

[Zieby]

[/quote]
Top 4: Arjan Bos with GAT
I haven’t got much note of this match and the next. We were the last top 4 match to end so I couldn’t write some things down afterwards. Much of what I say here is based on what I think that happened. I do know that this games were very fun but intense. Arjan is a nice guy and he knows his deck very well.

Game 1: He wins the die roll and after we both play some lands and things like brainstorm he tries to resolve ancestral. He wins the counterwar and my hand only has a land and an ancestral left. He has two lands untapped and 4 cards in hand. I know my best chances of resolving my ancestral are at this moment. He already used one of his two misdirections and if I won’t do anything he will just control and outdraw me for the rest of the game. I play and expect him to drain or force. What he does is much worse. He plays vampiric for misdirection, brainstorms into it and takes my ancestral too. From here on he duresses me like every turn, but cannot put much pressure on me (at one point he played Yawgmoth’s will, but forgot he already played a land so the only thing he could do was a single Gush). I topdeck an oath and he drains it. With the drain mana he plays a dryad and starts to grow it. On my turn I brainstorm into both tinker and oath. I put the oath on top and bait his force (pitching force) with the tinker. If he hasn’t got a second counter and my oath resolves, I can oath up a tyrant and bounce his dryad. He brings me to 9 life with his 5/5 dryad and plays the psychatog he just drew. That’s too much and I lose the first game.

I think I boarded like this:
-1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Research/Development, -1 Gush
+2 Extirpate, +1 Blazing Archon
I boarded in the Archon, because I saw his only outs against this one were his berserk and single echoing truth.

Game 2: I think I played a first turn orchard, mox oath here and he didn’t have the counter, I did. I fly my Tyrants to the win within a few turns.

Game 3: He has an early fastbond which I force, but he forces back pitching gush. During his second turn he scrolled for gush, which I extirpate after he plays it. I see he boarded out his berserk, so his only out to Archon is a single echoing truth. His hand is now Tropical, Sea x2 and Truth. I can resolve my ancestral and get an oath on the table. It gets me Archon, he tries to bounce it and I force/misdirect. It’s over shortly thereafter.
[/quote]

Hi Duncan,

Thx for the nice words but i made a few big play errors game 2 and 3 agianst you in the top 4 match.
Game 1: with the Yawgmoth's will I counted the mana in mi GY but i forgot that i cound't cast fastbond that was in the GY because i was tapped out after casting Will.
Game 2: I was holding Merchant Scroll, A Recall and a Manadrain. their where 2 lands untapped. I should have pas the turn to you so i would have drain mana open when i cast A recall but i was to greedy.
You played very well.
Game 3: That was a uphill battle from the start for me and you played it very well, congratz on the winn this time and maybe i can get mi revanche in breda next time.

On the Subject Oath.
It is for sure that this deck is a big contender in the current Meta Game. It has a Favorrable game against GAT, Dawn of the Dead, RG beatz, Goblins and all the other aggro decks. Combo is hard for Oath but that is Hardly played at the moment in our Meta Game.

Kind Regards,

Arjan Bos

[XdeckX]

Now you have another person to beat in the near future Arjan. Our debt is settled with you defeating my in the top 8. I would rather have played you in the finals but that wasnt to be. I dont even feel bad for losing because it was such a close final game. It could have gone either way.

[breed]

@Zieby: How did you feel you GAT list at this event? Why playing 1 mana drain and 5 duress effects? Also, is really better to have 2 Tog than 4 Dryad?

Thanks for answers, I like your berserk main.

 

[Odd mutation]

Hi,

Congratulations everybody with the great finishes! Nice to hear that many of the great people from the Breda tournement did well again.

Duncan: congratulations especially for you! Again a great finish. You're just upping the stakes for beating you in our next encounter!

Arjan: looks like you stayed with the main deck from Breda. Since I've been playing the deck a bit more, I'm thinking about cutting the Mana Drain. I'm not sure with what I'll replace it but Misdirection is candidate. I'm also still thinking about cutting the Cunning Wish for a main deck Berserk. I don't seem to be wishing for outs that often. Well, I'm 'wishing' to draw outs sometime but I don't have the mana to spend on a 'cunning wish'.
I'm playing 4 Dryads now, as I wasn't happy with the Tarmogoyf. I haven't been missing the Tarmogoyfs.
I'm thinking about putting 1 Massacre in the sideboard, because fish has been giving me headaches. The matchup is definitively winnable but I've been wanting one  Massacre to tutor for.

How many people were in attendance?

Robrecht.

[Zieby]

@ Robrecht: There where 31 people

1) How did you feel you GAT list at this event?

2) Why playing 1 mana drain and 5 duress effects?

3) Also, is really better to have 2 Tog than 4 Dryad?

4) I like your berserk main.

Question 1: It felt realy sollid. Basicaly i realy want to change only 1 card, but more on that Later. For the Sideboard i'm not sure. I need more answers for Oath, maybe some one can give me any thought's about this. The Trygon's are really Good they won me 3 games in the Tournament, Needle, Hurkyl's recall and Crypt are also good. I think i need one Smother Less instead of a Snuff Out. The Trickbind is useless so they will go. Spell Snare realy impressed me again so they will go up 1 to a count of 3. So their is only one open spot what would you people play for that last sidboard slot. I'm thinking about a Rushing River.

Question 2: 1 Mana Drain is for the bluff to your opponent and for the Agro and stax match-up. If he see's 1 in game one he will always be carefull if you have 2 u open. But i can also see Robrechts point here:

Arjan: looks like you stayed with the main deck from Breda. Since I've been playing the deck a bit more, I'm thinking about cutting the Mana Drain. I'm not sure with what i'll replace it but Misdirection is candidate.

and i like the tought behind it.
The 5 Duress was to Much, I think it is better to play a split of 2/2 for discard effects and for the spot that gets free.... see question 3

Question 3: 2 Tog is IMO really good. Tog is Deadly from turn 4 and later, But i often wished i had one extra Creature in the Main because the fact i was surging a lot for one. so 4 Quirion Dryads will come in for testing. if this isn't working the way i would hope i will test a third Misdirection or a impereal seal in its place.
Maybe the Seal is the Way to go, You can search the creature or the bomb you need at that moment.

Question 4: The Berserk in the main is a Killer It was never a Dead card and it won me 4 or 5 Games on the spot.

Thx for the questions, i hope mi answers are good for any discussion.

One playstyle Thing: Most of the Time i play the Deck in a realy controllisch way

Thx and with Kind Regards

Arjan Bos

[TRb]

Hey, I have been testing a similar list and had some questions, considering you have some tourny experience.
1.) In all of your games you didn't mention your fastbond. Did you like it? I have found it to be a dead card.
2.) Echoing truth. Did you ever wish it was wipe away? Was the "every other permenant" part useful?
3.) Trisk. Did you like him? I never really liked him and was thinking of cutting him and adding a research // development to the SB so you can go infinite turns. In testing, it was a bad flip.
4.) If you want to keep him, would Triskelevous be better?
5.) How did you feel without the Leyline of the Voids in the SB?

Thanks in advance for helping, I really appreciate it.

[Duncan]

Hi!

Sorry for the late answer, but i had to do family things b/c Christmas. Merry Christmas everybody!

Hey, I have been testing a similar list and had some questions, considering you have some tourny experience.
1.) In all of your games you didn't mention your fastbond. Did you like it? I have found it to be a dead card.

Well, I almost never found it to be dead, but it isn't as great as in GAT either. You can gain lots of tempo by chaining scrolls and gushes like they do, but you can't combo off like them. This is one of the reasons i'm considering to add a single cunning wish back to the maindeck. Fastbond is also great first turn, it is a must-counter for them (supposing they don't know you play oath) and that will give your second turn oath a greater chance to resolve. Concluding: It is not an MVP, but it is useful.

2.) Echoing truth. Did you ever wish it was wipe away? Was the "every other permenant" part useful?

I think i never wished it was wipe away. The "every other permanent" works against spirit tokens, etw and 2/2 zombie tokens. (i might have never used it this tournament, but it is good to have answers). It is also 1 mana cheaper so much better vs stax (also bouncing multiple spheres).

3.) Trisk. Did you like him? I never really liked him and was thinking of cutting him and adding a research // development to the SB so you can go infinite turns. In testing, it was a bad flip.

I think the infinite turns with research/development is too much of an effort. As I said i'm thinking about adding the Wish back main to have the brain freeze kill and more versatility pre-board. I honestly don't know if the second wish is better than the trisk ( i have only played the version with trisk).

4.) If you want to keep him, would Triskelevous be better?

I think Triskelion is better suited than Triskelavus. Triskelion is easier to hardcast and his ability is free. The flying ability is not needed, since you can combo out when you've oathed twice.

5.) How did you feel without the Leyline of the Voids in the SB?

Thanks in advance for helping, I really appreciate it.

This is what Harlequin told me about leyline:

@ 1 Extirpate & Leyline.  Don't run leyline, any deck that fears leyline will have an answer for enchantments.  I would run 1 tormod's and maybe use the other meta slot for a 2nd Tormod's.  Tormod's helps the combo too ^_^

I didn't really miss it. I must say I haven't played against Flash with the deck so i don't know if it's needed in that matchup. Against Ichorid Tormod's Crypt/Extirpate is good enough I think. Extirpate is also good vs. control decks and Leylines clog up your sideboard too much i think.

Good luck and i'd be happy to hear some of your thoughts/results.

[TRb]

Sorry for the late answer, but i had to do family things b/c Christmas. Merry Christmas everybody!

Don't worry about it. Happy Holidays to everyone aswell.

Well, I almost never found it to be dead, but it isn't as great as in GAT either. You can gain lots of tempo by chaining scrolls and gushes like they do, but you can't combo off like them. This is one of the reasons i'm considering to add a single cunning wish back to the maindeck. Fastbond is also great first turn, it is a must-counter for them (supposing they don't know you play oath) and that will give your second turn oath a greater chance to resolve. Concluding: It is not an MVP, but it is useful.

My problem with Fastbond is that there are many "Must Counter" cards in vintage. I think that it is not good enough. In my testing, I have never been able to chain gushes and scrolls with the fastbond. It has always been a card that is more of an exploration due to the 16 lands that are run.
@ "Must counter" Status: I think that this is an overrated concept. I would rather run more answers than bait. As much as the useful card and must counter card is great, a situationally great card but mostly ok must counter card may not have a place in this deck. In cutting it I did not find myself missing it, but I can see how forcing their counterspells is useful.

I think i never wished it was wipe away. The "every other permanent" works against spirit tokens, etw and 2/2 zombie tokens. (i might have never used it this tournament, but it is good to have answers). It is also 1 mana cheaper so much better vs stax (also bouncing multiple spheres).

I can see where your coming about with the one mana less and token goodness but one of my main worries has been Chalice. It is not uncommon to see a turn 2 Chalice at 2. Without a counter this could be VERY bad for you as your only out is EE, R/D'ed Wipe Away or hardcasted Tyrant. Another game one fear is the ∞/∞ dryad or ∞/∞+1 Tog. The Wipe away could also provide an uncouterable solutotion.
I think that the Echoing Truth is more like a Engineered Explosives in the fact that it is a global answer. I think that this deck needs more targeted answers to couple with the global answers. The Merchants scrolls and tutors allow you to put different cards for different roles and not require overlapping. I fear that Echoing Truth overlaps on EE's ablities and the Wipe Away is a answer for different cards that the EE or Echoing Truth cannot reliable handle. I will test both and just the Truth for a while though.

I think the infinite turns with research/development is too much of an effort. As I said i'm thinking about adding the Wish back main to have the brain freeze kill and more versatility pre-board. I honestly don't know if the second wish is better than the trisk ( i have only played the version with trisk).

Agreed. The ∞ turn is LOTS better on paper, worse in cardboard.

I think Triskelion is better suited than Triskelavus. Triskelion is easier to hardcast and his ability is free. The flying ability is not needed, since you can combo out when you've oathed twice.

You can usually combo out after oathing twice. My point is that when you are trying to stall for the 2nd oath or facing lots of guys, being able to create creatures that go the GY (Ichorid MU) ping for 1 (Gobbos/Fish) and block (Goyfs) seems good on paper. I also like the idea of him not having to fight his way through creatures.
Most of the games I have gotten an oath to stick was either really early in the game where the game was pretty much locked up or really late where I had nothing but an oath and some lands. In the first situation and the second it could be said the Triskelavus is better. I do see what your saying about the hardcast-ablility and agree with you there. I think that testing would prove which side weighs out more.

I didn't really miss it. I must say I haven't played against Flash with the deck so i don't know if it's needed in that matchup. Against Ichorid Tormod's Crypt/Extirpate is good enough I think. Extirpate is also good vs. control decks and Leylines clog up your sideboard too much i think.

My problem with that thinking is that the Ichorid/Flash player will reactively sideboard in the enchantment hate and most likely not the artifact hate. While you are slowing him/her down considerably with a crypt or well placed extripate you don't make their answers blanks because they will be able to slow you down considerably by killing your Oath. I think that I will rely on my good old Leylines because I feel their more global answers, even if they are hated against.


I will be testing the deck (hopefully) alot tom. and plan on reporting about those. I should be testing against Goyf/Bob lists, Stax, Aggro Stax, GAT, and maybe Flash/Ichorid.

One more thing, how was tinker? I have really not been liking it because I feel Trisk. is not the gamebreaker that he used to be and there are just too many creatures to reliably go all the way with him unless its really late game, in which I might still want another card. Thoughts?

_{*Sorry for the long thoughts. I was just typing what I was thinking.}

[Harlequin]

I just want to chime in on Leyline.  There are a few small problems with leyline... and one glaring issue. 
- Small problem 1: It's not a playable spell.  When you draw it post-tyrant, you can't play it bounce something.  Tormod's Crypt and Extripate are.
- Small problem 1b... Etirpate + Tyrant:  With Tyrant on the board extirpate is unbeivable insane.  The way split second works, you cast Extirpate and that triggers the Tyrant.  So you target something to bounce - lets say its an untapped, non-sick welder.  Because Extirpate is on the stack when the trigger resolves your opponent can NOT respond to the bounce.  Extirpate not only is splitsecond and uncounterable, but it gives you an uncounterable bounce too (like stapling on a 0cc wipeaway).
- Small problem 2: Leyline does not benefit from Ponder, Brainstorm, scroll->recall, Gush, etc...  You have to have in your opening grip.  After that it's dead.  This lessens the value (in terms of opportunity cost) of your draw spells.
- Small problem 3: By cutting Extirpate for Leyline, you are leaving yourself painlfully low on cards to board in against the most commonly T8ing deck in the format: GAT.  I really like Extirpate in oath against GAT.  I venture to argue that in reguards to GAT, Extirpate as an answer is only good IN Oath. 
- Small problem 4: I like boarding 1 or 2 extirpates in against Staxs.  Hitting thier wastelands means that you can save your precious Needles to name welder.  Also hitting random lock peices will alow you the chance to poke holes in thier lock-armor. 

Now for the big glaring problem:
... I don't see why I need leyline.  If flash was in the format in force, then I would rethink it.  But combinations of cards I have right now, seem to offer exactly the disruption package I need.  No more no less.  I don't see what matches need improvement.  Ichorid?  I wouldn't sacrafice any ammount of consistancy in my GAT AND Gush-tendrils AND Staxs for any amount of consistancy against Ichorid.  It just seems backwards to me.