1st place UR(g) Landstill @ NJ NEV series May 19th

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

The night before this event I had UR landstill with Null Rods ready to rock this event. And decided at about 2 am the morning of the event to run green as a splash and use engineered explosives over rod. I went with green for instant speed shops hate as that was lacking in times before. Grudge is an all around amazing card and I absolutely love artifact mutation as a card and the artwork aswell! So here is the list and report that took down the event. There was only 28 players but there were a lot of ringers and one of the strongest top 8's in a long time!

UR(g) Landstill

4 Standstill
4 Force of will
2 Mental misstep
2 Red elemental blast
2 Misdirection
2 Mindbreak trap
4 Mana drain
4 Jace, the mindsculptor
2 Crucible of worlds
4 Engineered explosives
1 Hurkyl's recall
1 Chain of vapor
2 Fire/Ice
1 Ancestral recall

1 Black lotus
1 Mox sapphire
1 Mox ruby
4 Scalding tarn
1 Polluted delta
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Tropical island
3 Volcanic island
4 Mishra's factory
4 Wasteland
1 Strip mine
1 Library of alexandria

SB
4 Leyline of the void
2 Grafdigger's cage
3 Ingot chewer
1 Artifact mutation
2 Ancient grudge
2 Lightning bolt
1 Tropical island

RD 1 Seth Levy on Intuition AK Drain tendrils 2-0 win
Game 1 - I have a strong hand and we have a midgame counter war over a yawgs will. There were about 7 counters on the stack and I won that war. He follows that up with tinker for BSC with 1 card left in hand. I am holding chain and jace. I lead with chain which he drains, then resolve jace and coast to victory.
Game 2 - I board in 2 bolt and 2 cage. I control his mana with waste effects, and resolve a standstill and jace. He tries to resolve tinker but fails.

RD 2 Some guy on aggro shop with revolvers panthers, etc. 2-0 win
Game 1 - We both have wastelands early and mid game I answer all of his threats and drop a standstill. He realizes he has more wastes/factories left in his deck then me. So we play draw go for like 10 turns. I hit land drops and finally he hits factory. I am at 5 life and I pop my own standstill at the end of his turn killing factory with fire. My turn I follow it up with crucible and jace and a lot of counters in hand. I waste lock him and control from here on out. Shops players are in a lose lose position in games like these because if they try to play the standstill game with me I am able to build my resources and not care if I eventually let them draw 3. And if they pop it early I have clear advantage.
Game 2 - The obvious cards come in. I have a hand of 6 with recall 2 lands and bolt. He mulls to 5 with revoker on jace go. This game goes down hill fast for him. I recall into lotus, and jace. Bolt his revoker and land jace. He has another revoker which says hi to my chewer. And I draw grudge somewhere here too.

RD 3 Jack on gush tps 2-0 win
Game 1 - I control this whole game denying him of yawg will and twister and necro. While drawing a lot of cards. I follow up with attacking with lands and he scoops
Game 2 - Cages come in and I resolve cage and standstill in first few turns. Then a midgame jace. He flashes me after the game he was holding yawg will and tinker. So cage did some early work here.

RD 4 ID With Micky Mhar

RD 5 Jon Jones with turbo tezz 2-0 win
Game 1 - I have library this game and bury him in card advantage and resolve a jace and she gets there ultimate style.
Game 2 - Grudges, trop and bolts come in. I have library again, but he has a turn 3-4 tezz and gets key, my factory and fire kill tezz. Then he tinkers for vault. I then grudge and he is blown out. I follow up with Jace and he can't come back.

I am the 2nd seat going into the top 8. So I will be on the play for most of my matches. Turns out I was on the play for all of them!!!

Top 8 Matt Elias on RUG Delver 2-0 win
Game 1 - I have mountain, 2 factory, standstill, force, ee, misd. I keep this because ee is a blowout for rug delver. I draw a fetch and land standstill. I pop 2-3 standstill this game and 2 jace. Jace does work on a goyf bouncing every turn and same with the 2nd jace then I hit ee and win from there.
Game 2 - I have recall, ee, Jace, force, etc. I think I hit lotus this game and ee kills a goyf or 2. This match and game is kind of a blur but ee and card advantage from standstill win it.

Top 4 Jones on turbo tezz again 2-1 win
Game 1 - I have library again, and we both agree I am getting lucky to get that every game against him. I control this game and win pretty easily
Game 2 - Grudges and trop come in. I have library yet again and he has recall lotus etc. I only see 2 traps by the time he plays a turn 4 yawg will, and thats the game.
Game 3 - No library this game, but I have turn 2 standstill and waste effects. He is mana short and I land a crucible mid game with strip mine. And follow with jace. This is over after that.

Finals Seth on DT again 2-0 win
Game 1 - I have a good hand with control and standstills so this is over from the start.
Game 2 - Cages and trop come in. He mulls to 6. I have turn 1 lotus into stanstill he forces and I have a second standstill and I waste his land next turn and he pops my standstill in the next turn or so for sapphire, crypt, jet, into intuition for AK's. He passes turn with no land to cast AK. I play ee on 0 and clear his board of artifact mana. I play jace next turn and ultimate him later for the win.

Only lost 1 game on the day and that was to Jon in the top 4. This deck is so good and is a great choice in the meta game!

[chrispikula]

I cannot imagine playing anything besides Landstill or Espresso Stax at this point. 

[TheProfessor]

I cannot imagine playing anything besides Landstill or Espresso Stax at this point. 

I agree

[Pokey]

Congrats on yet another win!  I noticed that you weren't running Time Walk though.  Just curious about the reasoning for this.  Is just getting an extra land drop most of the time not good enough value?

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Congrats on yet another win!  I noticed that you weren't running Time Walk though.  Just curious about the reasoning for this.  Is just getting an extra land drop most of the time not good enough value?

You nailed it. The plays with time walk aren't exciting enough. I also am running 4 Jace now. Time walk in a broken deck is nice setting up with tinker or resetting and slamming will on the walk turn etc. In landstill most of the time it was another land drop or factory swing, so I cut it for more Jace copies making the deck more consistent at executing the game plan! 4 jace in the deck at the event was insane! I always drew jace or standstill every single game

I have heard criticism for doing this from some people, while some people agree with me. I like it without so I will continue playing without it!

[Samoht]

I think 4 Jace might be one too many, but that's my two copper pennies.

[Pokey]

Congrats on yet another win!  I noticed that you weren't running Time Walk though.  Just curious about the reasoning for this.  Is just getting an extra land drop most of the time not good enough value?

You nailed it. The plays with time walk aren't exciting enough. I also am running 4 Jace now. Time walk in a broken deck is nice setting up with tinker or resetting and slamming will on the walk turn etc. In landstill most of the time it was another land drop or factory swing, so I cut it for more Jace copies making the deck more consistent at executing the game plan! 4 jace in the deck at the event was insane! I always drew jace or standstill every single game

I have heard criticism for doing this from some people, while some people agree with me. I like it without so I will continue playing without it!

Seems fair.  Also, I've been playing 4x Jace for the past couple months.  He's just that good!

[cvarosky80]

I have heard criticism for doing this from some people, while some people agree with me. I like it without so I will continue playing without it!

I find it amazing that ANYONE would continue to criticize your card choices in this deck, considering the sheer volume of success you continue to have with it. If you had just won maybe 1 tourney with it, a little criticism might be warranted, but at this point, you have far from proven that you know what you are doing, and I congratulate you for it. The run you have been on the past 12 months is absolutely jaw-dropping.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

I think 4 Jace might be one too many, but that's my two copper pennies.

Well I'm not sure if you knew this...but I have had success before jace, with 1 jace, 2 jace, 3 jace, and now 4 lol. All of these numbers have put up results for me with landstill. As I cut cards like brainstorm, mystical, walk...I started adding more and more jace and it has tested well ever since.

I would say I am utterly blown away by how great 4 jace has been. It pitches to your 6 pitch counters in the deck, it does not care often times if the first gets countered because you drop it again next turn, and finally it deals with creatures until a permanent answer or a counter is found. This happened in the top 8 against Matt Elias where I bounce a goyf 3 straight turns then played another jace. Then I found a drain and ee eventually. Additionally when I ran 3 jace I would sometimes have games where I would open with a hand of all control and never hit a standstill or a jace and just lose. That coincidence is lessened greatly with Jace #4 in the deck! Criticism is welcome, I would expect nothing less  

Thanks for throwing me your 2 pennies though!

[Samoht]

I think 4 Jace might be one too many, but that's my two copper pennies.

Well I'm not sure if you knew this...but I have had success before jace, with 1 jace, 2 jace, 3 jace, and now 4 lol. All of these numbers have put up results for me with landstill. As I cut cards like brainstorm, mystical, walk...I started adding more and more jace and it has tested well ever since.

I would say I am utterly blown away by how great 4 jace has been. It pitches to your 6 pitch counters in the deck, it does not care often times if the first gets countered because you drop it again next turn, and finally it deals with creatures until a permanent answer or a counter is found. This happened in the top 8 against Matt Elias where I bounce a goyf 3 straight turns then played another jace. Then I found a drain and ee eventually. Additionally when I ran 3 jace I would sometimes have games where I would open with a hand of all control and never hit a standstill or a jace and just lose. That coincidence is lessened greatly with Jace #4 in the deck! Criticism is welcome, I would expect nothing less  

Thanks for throwing me your 2 pennies though!

I wasn't suggesting you put in Brainstorm, Mystical Tutor, or Time Walk. I just felt as if four Jace would lead to getting hands with 2-3 Jace's and not enough protection - more on this later.

I am aware that you have put up results with the deck at varying levels of Jace. As a blue Control player I follow your success quite closely. It's always nice to see blue taking things down. But, to be fair, the fact that you put up results with one to four Jace's is against an argument that four is inherently correct, right? One, two, or three has won - so four isn't right just because it worked this time. Your skill and familiarity with the deck and its strategies will win you more games than the second, third, or fourth copy of Jace. What I was suggesting was attempting to maximize the win% that you could acquire from your deck construction.

I don't believe that four Jace is ideal. I only play 2, and often feel as if I have an extra one. I definitely wouldn't want to have a Jace on board with two or three more in my hand, especially if I'm locked into a -1(if we're behind on board/attempting to tempo) or +2 modality(this isn't used enough by most players). Sure it pitches to FoW and Misdirection, but that doesn't mean that we should just ramp it to the max.

I can accept that you had some unfortunate games with 3 Jaces and being unable to find one, but have you had any games with four Jaces where you are Jace flooded (in testing, I'm aware you only dropped one game at the event)? Isn't that nearly as likely? I'm sure you could slot in a utility card in that slot and do quite well. What that card is, I'm not entirely certain. I could offer suggestions, but it would be better for you to decide what you think you need. Something that replaces itself or directly affects a broad set of matches would be my suggestion, but again I only have these two copper penneis.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

I have been searching for a card for that slot and the 4th jace has felt right. It does everything. Sure there are games where I get more then 1 in hand. If I have 2 in hand it's not always the worst as the first for example can be counter bait for my opponent or just pitch to my own counter. Now 3 in hand is a clear problem but doesn't happen too often. I have tested clique in this slot as well but 4th jace has felt better. I'm sure I will modify the list as the meta continually changes.

Thanks for the 2 pennies again!

[Shock Wave]

I don't believe that four Jace is ideal. I only play 2, and often feel as if I have an extra one.

I feel the same way. When I put a 4-of in Landstill, I often ask myself: Do I really want to see this in my first hand? If the answer is no, then 4 to me cannot be the right number. I almost never want to see Jace in my first hand, since in the early game, I am more interested in preventing my opponent from resolving spells, and Jace doesn't seem to help achieve that goal. That being said, perhaps setting up a turn 2 Drain into Jace works more often than not, although I cannot say I am convinced. I'll have to try it out.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

I was skeptical of this idea at first too then I tried it in testing and it was really good. So I brought it out to an event. Even with 4 Jace in the deck having one in the opening hand isn't bad as most of the time you have enough control beyond that to not matter and like you said draining into jace is very common. Best thing for u to do is test it out and make a decision for yourself. I tested it out vs good opponents and made my decision, and 4 Jace has been good!

The correct number may just be 3.65 Jace in the deck! 

[jlim17]

Congrats on the win!

Fwiw, we came to the same conclusion about the deck wanting 4 jaces. Aside from the above reasons, with a heavy blue meta, and most blue decks running only up to 2 jaces, you should win a crucial jace war, esp with 2 rebs. In a mirror, which seems likely after this event, I imagine that most of those games will be determined by jace, and if you only have 2 and your opponent has 3 or even 4, the odds should be against you.

So in the end, how was artifact mutation? Did you ever want it to be a 3rd grudge or were the tokens generally better than destroying 2 artifacts instead of one? Or perhaps want the 2nd grudge to be a 2nd mutation?

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

That's a good point I forgot to mention. Against big blue you need to win the jace war and 4 clearly wins that. When I was running 2 and 3 sometimes I would lose to jace. You don't always stop a jace from resolving and if it does you need multiple man lands to beat it. Now with 4 jace and rebs and lands you do beat it!

As far as mutation is concerned I am not saying that card is right or wrong. I just like the card what it does and the artwork so I wanted to run it. I do think more then 1 is wrong as it is very color intensive. It may be nothing more then just cute haha

[John Jones]

I was actually surprised there was no flusterstorm. I suppose it is worth without Gush.

I agree with the timewalk
I agree with 4x Jace
I agree with cutting mystical
Brainstorm is interesting but with 4x Jace I guess it's not needed.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Yeah reb and trap are just better in this deck and if flusterstorms was played it would only be if I expect storm. Trap over all is better in this deck as late game it's a hard counter for anything. And sitting under standstill my opponent generally tries for 1 turn of a bunch of broken plays. Sometimes ending in a planes walker or key vault and sometimes fluster isn't as good there. You would be surprised how often trap is hard casted! It works really nice

[JACO]

Awesome report, and congrats yet again! You seem to be the man to beat.

[serracollector]

I been testing your build a lot and I really like it.  With the increase in cavern/tribal decks EE is really good atm.  I just had two peices of thought/questions.

In all my Landstill builds I still run Merchant Scroll.  Cutting Mystical I can see, but Merchant gets that Fire/Ice or gets that FOW in hand so you can protect/kill anything.  I really like Merchant scroll, and I think you could replace 1 of the REB's for 1 Merchant Scroll.

Also, 2nd thought, with the increase in critter decks, would 2 pyroclams over the 2 lightning bolts in the SB be better?  Or are the bolts necessary for Lodestones/Trygons?

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

I been testing your build a lot and I really like it.  With the increase in cavern/tribal decks EE is really good atm.  I just had two peices of thought/questions.

In all my Landstill builds I still run Merchant Scroll.  Cutting Mystical I can see, but Merchant gets that Fire/Ice or gets that FOW in hand so you can protect/kill anything.  I really like Merchant scroll, and I think you could replace 1 of the REB's for 1 Merchant Scroll.

Also, 2nd thought, with the increase in critter decks, would 2 pyroclams over the 2 lightning bolts in the SB be better?  Or are the bolts necessary for Lodestones/Trygons?

I never really liked scroll in landstill a 2 mana sorcery isn't too appealing to me, but it's not the worst. I wouldn't cut reb as it answers jace and trygon if they resolve. Also you nailed it the bolts are more diverse in the board as it comes in vs lodestone. I beat RUG delver in my win and didn't need pyroclasm. Between 4 ee, 4 jace, 2 fire/ice, and bolts on the board it has been fine. I would put scroll in over a jace before cutting a reb. But that being said I like 4 jace.

Thanks on the props and glad u like the deck!

[Samoht]

Out of curiosity, why Chain of Vapor over Steel Sabotage? What non-artifact non-land permanents are you looking to bounce, Oath?

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Out of curiosity, why Chain of Vapor over Steel Sabotage? What non-artifact non-land permanents are you looking to bounce, Oath?

Oath, Jace, Stony Silence, any releavant creature...I sometimes run sabotage but chain is better in a diverse field (which it somewhat is right now).