[Report] 11th with GushMan in Breda, the Netherlands

[Duncan]

Today i played in Breda, the Netherlands, in a 12-proxy tournament. About 23 people showed up to win the first prize Mox Ruby or Mana Drain for the runner-up. I decided to play GushMan. I've been wanting to play Bomberman for quite some time, but never felt really confident playing it. The GushMan build from the Open Forum seemed fun to play so i gave it a go today.

Here's the list:

4 Flooded Strand
4 Island
1 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus

2 Auriok Salvagers
1 Darksteel Colossus
4 Trinket Mage

1 AEther Spellbomb
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Engineered Explosives

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Gush
3 Merchant Scroll

4 Force of Will
3 Duress
3 Mana Drain
1 Echoing Truth

1 Fastbond
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Sideboard:
1 Claws of Gix
2 Extirpate
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Pithing Needle
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Balance
2 Ray of Revelation

And a short summary of my matches:

Round 1: Arjan with GAT; 0-2
First game he just has more broken things to do than me. He wins with a berserked dryad when i'm at 10.
-1 Truth, -1 Vamp, +2 Extirpate
Game 2 i have to mull and never get really back in the game. I get beaten down by two dryads. He has fastbond shennaniganz.

Round 2: Twan with Ichorid; 2-1
He quickly wins game 1.
-3 Duress, -3 Drain, +2 Jailer, +2 Extirpate, +1 Needle, +1 Explosives
Game 2 open with lotus, brainstorm and play trinket mage for needle on bazaar and drop Tormod's Crypt. Shortly thereafter I have a Jailer and Explosives. That's enough to win this one.
Game 3 I have lotus and drop Jailer. He plays contagion, i bounce the jailer with truth and he cabal therapies it away after some dredging that turn. I vamp for YawgWill eot and replay lotus, jailer and vamp for needle (or crypt, dont know for sure) on my turn. I beat him to 0 with Jailer and Trinket Mage.

Round 3: Martijn with Gush Storm; 2-0
He starts with land and mox, but doesnt draw another land (only after some sleight of hands and brainstorms). I do not give the tempo advantage away and combo out with salvagers.
-1 Vamp, -1 Scroll (i believe), +2 Extirpate
Gamw 2 I start with 3 Force, Island, Sapphire, Trinket and Drain. I get an early Trinket for Crypt to shut off his will plan. He tries to resolve ancestral but he has single backup and i can counter twice. I do resolve my ancestral and trinket beatdown gets me all the way.


Round 4: Dennis with Tyrant Oath; 1-1
He opens with thoughtseize and follows with duress turn 2. He then resolves ancestral, casts oath, and plays Will after some oathing.
-1 Merchant Scroll, -1 Tinker, -1 Colossus, -1 Crypt, -1 Truth, +2 Ray of Revelation, +1 Claws of Gix, +2 Extirpate
Game 2 i start with duress on turn 1 and 2. He plays oath and i vamp for Claws of Gix (i'm impressed by this card) before he gets an orchard (had no white mana for Ray). Later he duresses me, I show Ray, Extirpate and Spellbomb  He's a saad panda. I bait a reb with gush and later try to resolve ancestral when he's got 2 cards in hand and i know he doesn't play misdirection. But it turned out he had another reb. I destroy 3 Oaths with Rays, but don't get the chance to extirpate them. I eventually beat him down with a trinket mage. This game took some time so we didn't get to play game 3.

Round 5: Mark with Ichorid; 1-1
He wins the die roll and opens with Leyline, Chalice @0 and dryad arbor. My hand contained Island, Emerald, Lotus, Trinket Mage, Demonic and 2 other non-FoW cards. Turn 2 he topdecks Bazaar and starts doing his thing. I draw no second land and scoop in response to his cabal therapy.
-3 Duress, -3 Drain, +2 Jailer, +2 Extirpate, +1 Needle, +1 Explosives
I keep a hand with Jet, Vamp, Scroll, Demonic, Force, Truth, Jailer. I play Jet go. He therapies me which i force. eot i vamp for tundra and play Jailer during my turn. He had no Contagion in his sideboard so he has to win with arbors and hardcasted creatures. He has 2 arbors and hardcasts a Stinkweed Imp and starts beating down. I can't block with Jailer and draw an incredible amount of lands.. later i chumpblock with a second jailer, get a trinket mage and a salvagers, but he extirpates both spellbomb and crypt. I do remove imp with explosives, but cant remove his thugs, because my jailer is 2cc as well. He thinks he can delay me enough with 2 thugs, recurring each other, but i topdeck tinker and finally get to beat him to death. It was obvious to me for like 10-12 turns i was going to win this game, but i just kept drawing lands and other nonsense. Just like round 4 we don't get to play game 3 and i miss t8 because i have 8 points (i'm pretty sure i wouldve been able to win g3 vs. ichorid or oath). I finish 11th.

Good thing about our draw is that Guus, the person i drove to Breda with, now gets into t8 because he was at 6 points going into round 5 and won his last round.

The deck did what i expected it to do most of the time. Some games i drew too much mana however, which surprised me because I only have 21 mana sources. If i were to play the deck again i might add a Sensei's Divining Top to filter late-game draws. Perhaps i will replace the fastbond, which didnt really impress me all day.

I never used the goyfs in the sideboard, but that was because i wasn't paired against either stax, or fish. In testing they were good versus goblins, so i think they deserve the slots. I don't know about Balance yet and i'm curious about the flash matchup. Only 1 game i combo'd out with salvagers, all others were won with trinket beatdown or tinker DSC.

Over all i had a fun day.

Duncan

[Mantis]

Guus here.
Must say, it definately was a fun day! Also, Duncan got a bit screwed over in his last two rounds, which I had the chance to watch as my games were over pretty quickly. Round 4 against Tyrant Oath; his opponent seemed to really want a draw and Duncan told me afterwards that was in fact his aim. He was dead on board and he knew he didn't have an answer but kept on playing anyway playing a Flash of Insight, a Merchant Scroll and a Brainstorm while he could have just scooped. A bit ironic that despite his effort to make the game end in a draw he finished outside the T8 and now both got nothing.

In his round 5, his opponent played some Extirpates and he somehow did see Duncan had a Tinker but not a Darksteel Colossus, so he didn't scoop earlier. He was dead on board as well and chances of him winning were very slim, if exsistant at all. Ofcourse, this opponent didn't make T8 either because of that draw. If he would have scooped earlied he might have pulled out a gamewin in G3 and won the game.

So Duncan's last round opponents screwed up for themselves, but took him down as well. A pitty and frustrating for Duncan I guess, but it happens.

Personally I finished 7th with Gob-Lines (with Therapies instead of Vials; definately a good call for this tournament I think). Leylines were awesome but I should have played a bit more mana sources. Manascrew lost me a few games. Overall I was happy as I haven't played Vintage in about 2 years.

That's all,
Mantis.

[Anusien]

Awesome, glad you liked the deck.  I think the way you won game 3 against Ichorid round 2 is pretty funny.

It's really, really unfortunate that you didn't make T8, because it sounds like your matchups were about perfect for what you wanted.

Against GushStorm, I'd probably cut an Echoing Truth instead of a Merchant Scroll for the other Extirpate.  Then again, depending on their build I consider bringing in Needle to hit things like Jar, Bargain and Necro.  Scroll will get FoW though, so I want all the ones I had.

Tarmogoyfs were pretty good to me in the Stax matchups, but I'm considering going down to 3 to fit Leylines in the sideboard.

Anyway, any thoughts you had on the deck?

[Mantis]

From the games I saw, against other blue decks such as GAT and Oath, you sometimes end up in a topdeck situation. I suggested to Duncan he might want to run a singleton Sensei's Divining Top to win in this kind of situations. Trinket Mage can fetch it and with your ton of shuffle effects (Vamp, Demonic, Trinket Mage, Fetch, Merchant Scroll, Salvagers) you will end up drawing a lot more gas than your opponent. I'm unsure but perhaps a Salvagers could be cut to make this possible? Anyway, I didn't play the deck, but Duncan agreed that it might be a possibility.
Mantis.

[Duncan]

Against GushStorm, I'd probably cut an Echoing Truth instead of a Merchant Scroll for the other Extirpate.  Then again, depending on their build I consider bringing in Needle to hit things like Jar, Bargain and Necro.  Scroll will get FoW though, so I want all the ones I had.

Game 1 he didn't play all that much, so i wasn't sure what he was playing. I could be GAT, GushStorm or perhaps even TS Oath (not likely). I did leave Truth in to have a way to answer a tinkered colossus. The scroll for FoW argument sounds good though, maybe I should have boarded out another card. Now that I think of it, spellbomb answers Tinker too ofcourse.
Needle doesn't sound that good to me. You have to name 1 of the 3 cards you mentioned before one of them is played. Most of the time Bargain wins that very turn and necro can be used in response to needle. It could be used to answer jar, since they pass the turn half the time to activate in during their upkeep. Over all, needle just doesn't seem that good to me in the Storm Matchup.

Tarmogoyfs were pretty good to me in the Stax matchups, but I'm considering going down to 3 to fit Leylines in the sideboard.

Do you want the leylines to address the Flash matchup? I haven't played that one so I can't say whether I need them. Cutting a Goyf seems ok to me, since you don't bring it in against GAT, Oath, Ichorid and Combo. It's not that versatile.

Anyway, any thoughts you had on the deck?

I think the Top over the 2nd salvagers Guus brings up is an interesting point. It definately deserves some testing I believe. Most games I won without comboing, so cutting down a salvagers wouldn't hurt that much.

[Daedalus]

On the forums of www.magicbrabant.nl I found the decklists of the Top 8 (mine included... ) and a breakdown of the metagame. In total there were 24 players.

I really enjoyed the tournament, it was worth the 3-hour traintour and getting up at half past six. I also had the most weird standing for going into a T8, 2-0-3... 2 of those draws I went to time (although I would have killed one of my opponents the next turn, the other one I probably would have lost), the last one was Intentional.

Metagame breakdown:

Gushman 1
GAT 3
Ichorid 4 (1 mana'd, 3 manaless)
TPS 1
MUC 1
W.B.Agrocontrol 1
Tyrant oath 2
Shopdeck 2
Nextlvlblue 1
Landstill 1
Nokillblue 1
MBC 1
Flash 2 (1 Sliverkill, 1 Reveilark)
Royalflash 1
Goblins 1
Fish 1

Top 8 Lists:

1. Steffen van de veen
'royal flash'

1 black lotus
1 mox pearl
1 mox emerald
1 mox ruby
1 mox jet
1 mox sapphire
1 mana crypt
1 mana vault
1 sol ring
1 lotus petal
1 memory jar
3 cabal therapy
4 dark ritual
1 tendrils of agony
1 imperial seal
1 vampiric tutor
1 yawgmoth's bargain
1 yawgmoth's will
1 necropotence
1 demonic tutor
1 mystical tutor
1 time walk
1 chain of vapor
1 ancestral recall
1 rebuild
1 mind's desire
1 tinker
3 merchant scroll
3 flash
4 brainstorm
4 force of will
4 academy rector
1 tolarian acadamy
1 flooded strand
4 polluted delta
1 island
1 swamp
1 tundra
3 underground sea

Sideboard
4 leyline of the void
3 mystic remora
1 sundering titan
1 balance
1 echoing truth
1 repeal
1 rebuild
1 trickbind
1 yixlid jailer
1 tendrils of agony

2. Sebastien van Kaam
'Fish.hate'

4 dark confidant
4 meddling mage
3 jotun grunt
3 kataki, war's wage
4 force spike
3 stifle
2 swords to plowshares
3 duress
1 echoing truth
1 repeal
1 time walk
1 ancestral recall
4 force of will
1 demonic tutor
3 spell snare
4 wasteland
1 mox jet
1 watery grave
1 hallowed fountain
1 godless shrine
1 swamp
1 island
1 plains
1 mox pearl
1 mox sapphire
1 black lotus
3 flooded strand
4 polluted delta
1 strip mine

Sideboard
2 extirpate
2 leyline of the void
2 energy flux
2 tormod's crypt
2 burrenton forge tender
2 swords to plowshares
3 threads of disloyalty

3. Wouter Oorthuis
'flash'

1 black lotus
1 lotus petal
1 mana crypt
1 mox emerald
1 mox jet
1 mox pearl
1 mox ruby
1 mox sapphire
1 body snatcher
1 carrion feeder
1 demonic tutor
2 duress
1 vampiric tutor
1 ancestral recall
1 body double
4 brainstorm
4 flash
4 force of will
4 merchant scroll
1 mystical tutor
1 chain of vapor
4 pact of negation
1 elvish spirit guide
4 protean hulk
3 summoner's pact
1 mogg fanatic
1 reveillark
2 city of brass
3 flooded strand
1 island
2 polluted delta
2 tropical island
2 underground sea

Sideboard
2 bosejiu, who shelters all
2 chain of vapor
1 echoing truth
3 oxidize
1 platinum angel
1 tinker
3 stifle
2 tormod's crypt

4. Frank van Rijn
'flash'

4 flash
4 protean hulk
1 hearth sliver
1 trygon predator
1 elvish spirit guide
4 brainstorm
1 ancestral recall
4 merchant scroll
1 mystical tutor
1 vampiric tutor
3 summoner's pact
4 pact of negation
4 force of will
1 chain of vapor
1 black lotus
1 lotus petal
1 mana crypt
1 mox sapphire
1 mox emerald
1 mox jet
1 mox pearl
1 mox ruby
3 flooded strand
3 polluted delta
2 island
2 tropical island
3 undeground sea

Sideboard
3 thoughtseize
2 hurkyl's recall
1 rebuild
1 sylvan safekeeper
1 echoing truth
3 reverent silence
4 leyline of the void

5. Remco van Stein Callenfells
'G.a.t.'

1 demonic tutor
4 duress
1 imperial seal
1 vampiric tutor
1 yawgmoth's will
1 ancestral recall
4 brainstorm
1 cunning wish
3 daze
4 force of will
4 gush
4 merchant scroll
1 mystical tutor
2 ponder
1 time walk
2 psychatog
1 fastbond
4 quirion dryad
1 black lotus
1 mox emerald
1 mox jet
1 mox ruby
1 mox sapphire
3 flooded strand
1 island
1 library of alexandria
3 polluted delta
3 tropical island
3 underground sea
1 volcanic island

Sideboard
2 pithing needle
4 leyline of the void
1 echoing truth
1 berserk
1 ancient grudge
1 firestorm
2 pyroblast
1 rack and ruin
2 red elemental blast

6. Gerwin Ruiterkamp
'ELD mana ichorid'

4 bazaar of baghdad
4 gemstone mine
4 cephalid coliseum
3 city of brass
1 angel of despair
1 flamekin zealot
2 cephalid sage
3 ichorid
3 golgari thug
4 golgari grave troll
4 stinkweed imp
4 narcomoeba
1 black lotus
1 mox sapphire
1 lotus petal
1 ancestral recall
3 dread return
4 breakthrough
4 carefull study
4 cabal therapy
4 bridge from below

Sideboard
4 chain of vapor
4 wispmare
4 leyline of the void
3 contagion

7. Guus de Waard
'Gob-lines'

1 bloodstained mire
4 wooded foothills
2 rishadan port
1 mountain
1 barbarian ring
4 wasteland
1 strip mine
4 badlands
3 goblin vandal
1 siege gang commander
4 goblin matron
2 mogg fanatic
4 golin lackey
3 goblin ringleader
4 goblin piledriver
4 goblin warchief
4 earwig squad
1 black lotus
1 mox jet
1 mana crypt
1 mox ruby
4 leyline of the void
4 cabal therapy

Sideboard
3 gempalm incinerator
3 magus of the moon
3 pyrokinesis
2 shattering spree
4 thorn of amethyst

8. Martin Nuyten
'MBC'

1 mox jet
1 chrome mox
1 lotus petal
1 black lotus
4 duress
1 demonic tutor
4 hymn to tourach
3 cabal therapy
4 sinkhole
3 diabolic edict
3 extirpate
3 dark ritual
4 dark confidant
4 hypnotic specter
3 phyrexian negator
1 strip mine
4 wasteland
15 swamp

Sideboard
3 damping matrix
2 infest
3 smother
4 leyline of the void
3 offalsnout

Enjoy!
Gerwin

[XdeckX]

Great reading your report Duncan and I again enjoyed playing against you (the tyrant oath dude)
Anyway... I sucked horribly... might be because it was my first tourney in about 4/5 months. Instead of picking up a deck I know how to play I desided to play one of the decks I hate the most, but I just didnt know what else to bring. I've been a fan of workshop decks for quite some time but with flash, ichorid and oath running wild the last couple of tournaments I just didnt feel confortable playing with broken lands and big robots.

A little report
rnd 1 - gerwin playing mana ichorid
g1 I loose the roll and keep an OK hand. He starts with city of brass and plays some spells. He gets an ichorid in play but can't find enough dredgecards. I eventually oath a Tyrant into play and after a Time Walk it goes all the way.
g2 I get rolled by 3 wispmares... I cant keep an oath in play and die.
g3 I manage not to die to beats in extra turns and we draw.
0-0-1

rnd2 - mark playing manaless ichorid
g1 he mulls to 3 or 4 and starts with bazaar into nothing. I get a fast oath and combo out with brain freeze
g2 I extirpate his bridges and I win at some point
1-0-1

rnd3 - pim with turbogush
I drove to Breda with Pim so we knew what the other was playing.
both games I had too much counters and too much speed for him to stop me. His deck sure wasnt kind to him both games.
2-0-1

rnd4 - duncan playing gushman
see the opening post.
2-0-2

rnd5 - sebastien playing fish hate
g1 I keep a bad hand and cant get an oath into play. I die after small beats
g2 I get the best hand I've had all day. sapphire, ruby, orchard, oath, recall, brainstorm and something. I lead with sapphire->recall. I draw useless cards. I then drop orchard and ruby and play oath. I was quite shocked to see a FOW. Great reading my play. He drops a confidant on his first or second turn and turn 3 bob filps an extirpate. After seeing that I just scoop up my cards... with an oath in my graveyard I will never be able to win before I die to creature beats.
After loosing this match I'm also out of the top8. Drawing might have put me in but that wasnt even sure so we just played for it.
2-1-2

I end up in 10th place and even get 3 boosters which give me a Breeding Pool.

It was a great tournament again and I've enjoyed meeting the dutch magic players again.

[Anusien]

Back when I originally played the deck (Gushless version), I had a Sensei's Divining Top.  It got cut because of lack of space.  I'd love to have it back in the deck, but I think in the place of a Salvagers is generally wrong.  Plus nowadays I can't imagine Trinketing it out.  Generally #1 gets Lotus, and #2 will either get Crypt, Explosives or Spellbomb.  Top was my 2nd bullet, but the format was slower...

Basically, Echoing Truth is in the deck as a maindeck catch-all, but also to answer Null Rod and Leyline of the Void.  The deck is stronger against both of them than it was pre-Tinker+Colossus; I think just having it in the maindeck is a decent idea.  Plus you have Scrollable answers to EtW and such.  You leave Aether Spellbomb in every match, so you're not just going to flat-out lose to Colossus if you board out E-Truth.