After running hot with Cat Stax Fever last summer/fall, the rise of Landstill decks brought an end to me running Shops. Knowing that Noble Fish and its stable of Tarmogoyfs and Trygon Predators generally match up well against Landstill I decided to bring that deck out of retirement for the remainder of 2011. Aside from narrowly missing Top 4 on breakers in a small Vintage tournament in New Jersey, I finished mostly in the middle of the pack for the remainder of the year. No big deal there, you can’t Top 8 every tournament. However, I tilted pretty badly at the final Blue Bell tournament after getting unceremoniously blown out of a couple of matches.
After calming myself down, I made one New Year’s resolution that would be easy to keep: play more broken blue cards. I perused the Top 8 lists from that final Blue Bell tournament and eventually settled on my good friend Matt Elias’ “Gro” list (which, not surprisingly, I lost to in Round 1 that day).
I liked the deck for three reasons: First, it plays a fair amount of creatures, including my two favorite blue creatures of all time, Dark Confidant and Tarmogoyf…
I wasn’t quite ready to pick up a potentially more powerful TPS or East Coast Wins-style deck, where one mistake pretty much equals defeat. I wanted a deck that could still smash face if needed. Second, it played plenty of broken draw spells. Noble Fish was pretty much limited to Ancestral Recall. Third, it had the “oops, I win” Tinker/Blightsteel combo.
That it also won the tournament wasn’t lost on me either…
After durdling away the last two weeks of the year in Florida (where it was 80° on Christmas Day, unreal!), I came back to the Keystone State refreshed and ready to go. For the inaugural NEVS event at Top Deck Games I sleeved up Matt’s same 75 from Blue Bell. I finished 4-2 on the day, including a win against Mr. Elias himself in Round 5. Not too bad for my first games of Magic in almost a month.
After our match, Matt and I discussed the changes he made to the deck since Blue Bell. He replaced two Dark Confidants with a second Jace, the Mind Sculptor and a second Trygon Predator. Two Trygon Predators in the sideboard became a Sower of Temptation and a Nihil Spellbomb.
Then during the week I read Brian DeMars’ article detailing his Top 8 in the Meandeck Open with Midrange Bant. My main takeaway from the article was the following:
The only difference being that instead of playing Tendrils of Agony, I wanted to play Time Vault and Voltaic Key, since if there were going to be decks packing Remora, Flusterstorm, and Mindbreak Trap floating around, comboing with Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Key-Vault would probably be tactically much easier to execute than ten spells and Tendrils.
Brian hit the nail on the head with that one. I felt the deck could definitely support Vault/Key as a second “oops, I win” condition. Though the deck doesn’t have the Gifts, Top, Tezzeret, or Imperial Seal (maybe) that traditional Key/Vault decks do, we’re not talking about the deck’s primary win condition here. The tutor package the deck does run is more than ample.
Now that it’s settled, what exactly do I cut? I decided to cut one Tarmogoyf, figuring that with all the card draw and tutors I’d have no problems finding one. The second cut was a little tougher. I considered Ponder, Preordain, and one of the Mystic Remoras, but in the end, I decided to channel a little Jake Gans chi and run 61. I figured the mana requirements of the deck were friendly enough for it to not be a big deal.
So without further ado, here is the 75… er, 76, I sleeved up for the second NEVS event in the Empire State.
Deck
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Gush
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Mental Misstep
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Mystic Remora
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Fastbond
3 Tarmogoyf
2 Trygon Predator
1 Black Lotus
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
Sideboard
1 Flusterstorm
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Dismember
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Yixlid Jailer
3 Nature’s Claim
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Forest
We set up a carpool of me, World Phucking Champion Mark Hornung, Mike Noble, Joe Brown, and Allen Fulmer. I assumed we’d all be cramming into my fun-to-drive but notoriously-unreliable VW Passat until Mike arrives and volunteers to drive his car. Sweet! And because I’m the only enormous one in the bunch I’m guaranteed shotgun seating for the whole ride. After we play a little musical cars to get everybody else’s cars in my driveway we pack up and off we go. We make it about half a block before I realize I’ve forgotten the guest of honor! I am of course referring to...
Salty the train! Mike, being the gentleman and scholar that he is, throws the car in reverse (literally) and allows me to run back in and get him.
Our first stop is pretty much the standard for all our road trips… Wawa! Mike fills up the gas tank while the rest of us go in and load up on vittles. Upon coming out I decide to throw my coat in the trunk as Mike’s car is plenty toasty and I’ll feel far less enormous without the heavy winter coat on. So, I place my coffee on his curved roof and go about my business. I close the hatch and reach for my coffee when suddenly a gust of wind blows it clear off and spills it all over the ground, as well as Mike’s jeans and my brand new Dave Hester “YUUUP!” shirt. Mind you, this is something I’ve pulled off dozens of times with the curved roof of my own car without incident. Mike would hear none of that.
Thankfully that is the only travesty of the drive up. I’m afraid we’ll hit more traffic than usual on I-278 in Brooklyn due to leaving later in the day, but fortunately that is not the case. In fact, there was less traffic. Also, no tanker fires on the LIE are always nice.
We arrive at Brothers Grim at about 11:30. The Vintage main event normally starts at noon, but because Nick is also running a Standard event today the starting time is pushed back to 1. A smart man would take advantage of this extra time to get some more testing in, but that is the last thing on my mind. It wasn’t a total durdle-fest, as we help Rich set up his camera for some online feature-match goodness.
Round 1 pairings go up at about 1:30, as the one hour later start time still isn’t enough to stop some slackers from showing up late. I’m paired against Paul Mastriano. We then learn that our match will be the feature match of the round, to be played on camera! Paul as I’m sure you know is no stranger to this but it is a first for me.
(FYI my semi-final match with Mr. Hornung in last year’s Vintage Championship was scheduled to be played on camera but right before we were to get started Menendian won his Top 8 match and, well, let’s face it, Mastriano vs. Menendian is a far sexier matchup than Glackin vs. Hornung. I accept.)
Here are links to my two games vs. Paul.
Game 1Game 2Let’s just say I was shocked when Paul led out a Qasali “Gay” Pridemage. Though I had read DeMars’ article on the deck, I still didn’t put Paul on the deck until well after the match.
1-0, 2-0
Round 2: Win 2-1 vs. Dan Mason (Espresso Stax)
I’m trying to recollect as much of this match as possible through my scoresheets. My memory is failing me. I do recall Mystical Tutoring for Tinker, then promptly shuffling it away after Dan Wastes one of my fetchlands and I respond by cracking it. Derp derp. Autopilot disengaged. I believe I won Game 3 with a fast Tinker/Blightsteel set up by Fastbond.
2-0, 4-1
Round 3: Lose 0-2 vs. Justin Leshen (Dredge)
Game 1 Dredge does what Dredge does. I’m a little disappointed that he doesn’t have to mull. Game 2 he keeps his seven again. I lead with turn 0 Leyline and have a Flusterstorm to protect it. Or so I thought. He goes to Claim the Leyline with one mana up. I Flusterstorm it for 2. He pays for 1 and Mental Missteps the other.
He then goes on to Dredge perfectly. I don’t see another turn. This was the kind of blowout loss that would have put old me on tilt. This time, I accept my ass-pounding and move on.
2-1, 4-3
Round 3.5: Blowout win vs. Volcano Burrito from insane Mexican place next door!
Round 4: Win 2-1 vs. David Ata (Espresso Stax)
Again, I’m going off my scoresheets here. I lost Game 1 to fast Lodestone beatings, won Game 2 after sticking an early Trygon Predator, and won Game 3 after being beaten to within an inch of my life by Lodestones, then Gushbonding into board control. Hurkyl’s Recall was probably involved.
3-1, 6-4
Round 5: Win 2-1 vs. Allen Fulmer (East Coast Wins)
Damn, it sucks that this wasn’t one round later where we could just draw in. Unfortunately, Allen mulls this match like my Dredge opponent did not. Game 1 I land a Turn 1 Jace against his mull to 5 and fateseal away. Allen wins Game 2 on a mull to 4 after managing to Tinker for Blightsteel. After soaking up two shots from Blighty with 6/7 Tarmogoyfs I draw and resolve Merchant Scroll. After one pass through my deck…
Allen: Glackin, you didn’t board it out did you? (referring to Hurkyl’s, obv…)
Me: MWM…
For Game 3 I put Hurkyl’s back in. Allen mulls to “only” 6 this time. We exchange Jaces then Allen is able to storm for eight Goblins with Empty the Warrens. A couple turns later I am able to set up Key/Vault and beat through the Goblins slowly with Goyfs.
4-1, 8-5
Round 6: ID with Bryan Brady (Hermit Druid combo)
4-1-1, 8-5
While waiting for Top 8 to start I watch a little Saints v. 49ers and engage in some degenerate gambling in the form of Screw Your Neighbor/King of the Castle/Pass the Ace/whatever it’s called in your area. It’s degenerate, but not high-stakes: I end up -$2. I hear that Saints-49ers game had a pretty exciting ending!
Top 8: Win 2-1 vs. Corey Mann (Nick Detwiler’s foiled, foreign-ed, Beta-d out Espresso Stax)
Corey’s not on Kithkin, so I feel I have a chance…
Corey locks me out of Game 1 like a good Espresso Stax player should, eventually beating down with Karn and his animated buddies. Game 2 I Gushbond myself down to 1 before winning by way of Tinker/Blightsteel. Game 3 I am able to fight through at least two Spheres and a Tangle Wire to set up Vault/Key for the win.
5-1-1, 10-6
Top 4: Win 2-1 vs. Justin Leshen (Dredge)
Oh boy, here we go again! Game 1 Dredge does what Dredge does. I try to put up a bit of a fight with a Mystic Remora and some counterspells, but I’m not able to draw into any business. Game 2 I mull into a Turn 0 Leyline and Jailer. I play extremely defensively this game, probably more than I had to. Blightsteel was in my hand and Tinker was pitched to Force, which didn’t help things. Jailer beats came to an end when he is able to cast Narcomoeba and Stinkweed Imp. I continue to draw blank after blank and my life total is dropping precariously low from repeated Narcomoeba stings. Finally I am able to set up Key/Vault and win that one. Whew!
Game 3 gets off to an inauspicious start. Justin is on the play, and takes a looooong time before deciding to keep his 7. Meanwhile I have a Turn 0 Leyline… or so I thought. Justin asks, “turn 0 effects?” and I say, “you’re up!” then try to drop the Leyline. Justin calls for the judge and Mr. Paskoff no-sirs me on the Turn 0 Leyline. Let me be clear: I have no problem with the ruling. Brian’s ruling was 100% correct. I’m just mad at myself and hope this doesn’t cost me the tournament.
Now, on to the game. Justin leads with an Undiscovered Paradise and passes. I draw Force of Will, lead with Underground Sea and Sol Ring, and pray for a second black source to hit. I have a Tropical Island in hand, but no more Seas or fetches. Justin draws and passes. Luckily I find a fetch land, get a second Sea, and cast Leyline, which I can now protect with a Force. I wouldn’t have been able to do that had I dropped it Turn 0. I eventually draw into a Trygon Predator and a Tarmogoyf and smash into the Finals.
I’m not sure what Justin’s plan was for Game 3, but let me say this: I have lost to a Dredge player keeping a post-sideboard, decent-sized, no-Bazaar hand before. It can happen.
6-1-1, 12-7
Finals: Win 2-1 vs. Dan Mason (Espresso Stax)
Game 1 starts out with Dan playing an early Lodestone, but a Goyf is able to grow big enough to keep it in check. I eventually land a Trygon Predator and it starts putting in work. A couple turns later Dan finds a Metamorph to copy my Trygon and put an end to that. After that Smokestack goes to work on my board, with his Crucible keeping him ahead enough to eventually win. I don’t remember a whole lot from Game 2, but my scoresheet doesn’t show many life changes. I believe I was able to Tinker for Blightsteel and Force his Metamorph trying to copy it. Game 3 my draw is just plain filthy. Dan mulls to 6 and I keep a hand of four lands, Fastbond, Gush, and Goyf. As long as Dan doesn’t play a sphere effect I’m good to go. He does not, leading with a Mishra’s Factory and Mana Crypt I believe. I Gush into another Goyf and a Sol Ring. By the end of my first turn I have 2 2/3 Goyfs on the battlefield. They would get bigger in a hurry as I find a Dismember to take out his Karn. He plays another Karn, but then a Vamp Tutor finds Time Walk and that’s all she wrote!
7-1-1, 14-8
Man, that felt good! That was one brutal Top 8, let me tell you! I lost 2 of the 3 die rolls and 3 of the 3 Game 1’s. It sure is nice to once again own a piece of power! Real life got in the way of me keeping the Time Walk I won in an NYSE a couple years back. Hopefully I can hang on to this Sapphire for a while.
If there was one word to describe this deck, it would be “forgiving.” I made a ton of play mistakes throughout the day and managed to recover from most of them. As I mentioned earlier, I shuffled away a freshly tutored-for Tinker. I missed Remora triggers like a champ. Never mind screwing up the Turn 0 Leyline play! Many times, the deck was like “way to screw up Glackin, here’s a Goyf, you win anyway!”
Unfortunately, the tournament ended too late to go to our new favorite post-NYSE hangout,
Port Royal Grille. So instead we settled for that other dinner of champions, Taco Bell! Afterwards, we start the long drive home. It’s a fairly ordinary drive home until we’re back on the NJ Turnpike. All of a sudden, flashing lights appear behind us. Yep, we’re getting pulled over, but what for? Mike wasn’t speeding. The offense? Failure to keep right. Yep, he went there. Luckily, the trooper lets Mike off with a warning.
Well, that about wraps her up. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
- Ryan Glackin
