23rd at Eternal Weekend

[Soly]

Quite honestly, I don’t believe 23rd out of 233 is really that respectable and worthy of a report.   I had written a large paper to submit to Jaco for Eternal Central, but my career, issues with an ex, and etc got in the way of that.  I won’t bore you with details. However, at the eternal weekend, several people told me they actually enjoy my writing style, and Smmenen has been harassing me via twitter to finish and submit it, so I am going to trim the fat, and outline how Eternal Central went for me.  

The event preparation actually started for me in September, when Smmenen contacted me on Facebook and said he had a sick deck that he knew I’d love, but he can’t share it with me until after the Eternal Weekend.   Everyone here knows Steve loves to talk (and Steve, don’t deny it!), so I didn’t take much heed.  At the time, I was sold on playing Long, because I had been successful for the most part with the deck.   However, I was very worried about the Mono-brown Menace and also felt that BUG Fish had a very good matchup; so I started to scheme.  

I eventually two-fisted a list against Shops and Bug Fish, and realized that with some tweaks, I could bring back Pitchlong, a deck that hadn’t seen the light of day since Tommy Kolowith and Paul Mastriano had their successful runs at the Vintage Championship in 2008.   I ended up cutting the 2 Chrome Moxes, Lion’s Eye Diamond, 2 Duress Effects (I usually play 5), and Tinker and Memory Jar from the stock list in order to add 4 Force of Wills, 2 Misdirections, and 1 Chain of Vapor.  

I IMed Steve on Facebook and basically said that I had a sick deck, and unlike him, I don’t care who sees it, so I posted the list to him.  I didn’t get a response, and I posted on Facebook that I had a sick deck that I was super excited about, and then this happened:

We talked for a little, and decided to keep this quiet.   Long story short, Steve pulled the trigger, but I didn’t.  
--
The night before champs, I was not quite sold on what to play.   I was staying with JR Goldman, Jason Jaco, and Sam Krohlow, who eventually convinced me to play the deck I am good with.  So Sam and I started designing a Doomsday Deck.  After a long discussion, we decided that instead of adding extra artifact removal in the Main, that we would just cut it altogether and just design our sideboard to beat them.   We also decided that having a Swamp maindeck was good, as it protected us from Wastelands;  against BUG you really want to be able to Thoughtseize or Duress them early, and not get blown out by their Wastelands.   We also opted  to play the 2 Rituals that I played at Gencon and NOT Imperial Seal because in the Grinders we saw a LOT of Jace the Mindsculptors.  (In fact, I lost two matches in two separate grinders because of JTMS).

 Here’s the list we came up with:
3 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tropical Island
2 Island
1 Swamp
3 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
2 Dark Ritual
1 Fastbond
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Gush
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Gitaxian Probe
2 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
4 Force of Will
2 Mental Mistep
2 Flusterstorm
1 Misdirection
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Tendrils of Agony
4 Doomsday
SB:  4 Ingot Chewer
SB:  1 Ancient Grudge
SB:  2 Hurkyl’s Recall
SB:  1 Rebuild
SB:  1 Mountain
SB:  1 Extirpate
SB:  2 Snuff Out
SB:  2 Defense Grid
SB:  1 Thoughtseize

I can discuss card choices if you want later.  But for now, here’s how the tournament played out for me:

Round 1:  Derek Wochinski:  5c Shops
Derek is a local player from my area, and I assisted him in building his deck, so thankfully I know his list.  Jimmy McCarthy decided to tell Derek what I was playing (Which is awesome:  Key for you all, don’t trust even your closest friends), but it didn’t help him much.  
Game 1:  I play a fetchland, pass.  Derek plays a Lotus and Wasteland, and then plays a Welder and a Crucible of worlds, and passes.   I endstep Mystical Tutor for a Dark Ritual.  My hand consists of a second land, a doomsday, and a Gush, so the game ends with the standard stack of Recall, Lotus, Lab Maniac, Gitaxian Probe, and I threw a Force of Will in there just in case.  
Game 2:   This game goes long.  At one point he has a Welder, a Lodestone Golem, and Bazaar, and resolves Demonic Tutor.  I know immediately that he will get Sundering Titan, and attempt to Hurkyl’s him in response to the weld.   It resolves, and I can play through the Sphere of Resistance he will replay, but unfortunately for me, one of his unknown cards is a Workshop so he can replay the Golem on top of the Sphere, and although I give up a great fight, I can’t stop the 7/10 from eventually killing me.
Game 3:  Derek doesn’t do much of anything as I ancient Grudge his two threats and counterspell a welder.  I turn into the Mana Crypt + Ancient Tomb aggro deck as he dies without me doing anything.
1-0:  2-1

Round 2:  Michael Ruggiero:  Grixis
Michael is an awesome dude from New Jersey who has collected for a long time, and just started playing vintage.  He had very nice cards, and was generally passionate about magic.  It was great to meet him, and when he mentioned he’d like to play more Vintage, I introduced him to the Forinos, Greg Fenton, and Nick D.  I hope you guys see Michael at more events.
Game 1 and Game 2 are not really impressive.  Both games I have complete control, resolve Doomsday, and the game ends.  
2-0:  4-1

Round 3:  Taylor Pratt:  Blue Angesl
Game 1:  I let Taylor resolve a Vendilion Clique while my hand has Doomsday, and a bunch of Counterspells.   In this game, my reluctance to use Pass the Turn Doomsday Piles bites me, as I he Cliques my Doomsday around and I die 3 points at a time while I draw a bunch of my Permission Package and not another Doomsday.
Game 2:  The game goes back and forth, but eventually I grind down his hand and fire off a Gitaxian Probe and see a bunch of uncastable spells, so I cast a Doomsday and the game ends.
Game 3:   Taylor boarded in Annuls, which is awkward as he annuls my Sensei’s Top, and we get into a position where I am against the wall, and have to Extirpate him.  I knew he had another annul floating around, but since the card is usually terrible against me combined with the fact he had Brainstormed and then fetch, I decide NOT to extirpate the annul, and then got blown out by the Annul on my Lotus, which prevents me from casting Doomsday.
2-1:  6-3

Round 4:  Obert Chen:  Martello Shops
Game 1:  Obert has a bunch of sphere effects, but I counter his Karn and turn into Ancient Tomb + Mana Crypt Aggro, and he dies.  I am now 2-0 against workshop players in Game 1 without having a threat.
Game 2:  He has a Karn, and attacks me.  I blow one up, and he plays another.  I hardcast an Ingot Chewer and blow up Karn, and he plays ANOTHER Karn. I try my hardest to do smart blocks and get myself into the game, but I cannot.
Game 3:  I open up a hand that is  Fetchland, Underground Sea, Sapphire, Lotus, Brainstorm, Doomsday, Snuff Out.   I don’t memorize piles, but I come up with a Pile that allows me to turn 1 him if I fetch for a Tropical Island, so I set this up:
-Top-
Gush
Gush
Fastbond
Lab Maniac
Gitaxian Probe
-Bottom-
I cast brainstorm, and  after drawing 3, my hand is Gush, Gush, Fastbond, Snuff Out, Underground sea;  I put back a gush and a snuff out, and then play the Fastbond and the land,   My pile looks like so:

-Top-
Gush
Snuff Out
Lab Maniac
Gitaxian Probe
-Bottom-
I cast my gush, and then Replay the lands, cast another, and then hardcast the Maniac and then Probe my opponent.
TURN 1 KILL!  
3-1:  8-5

Round 5:  Pat Henry:  Landstill
Game 1:  He mulligans to 4, and I worry he’s  trying to find a Bazaar. Thankfully, he isn’t, and I am able to kill him with a Fastbond-Gush chain.  
Game 2:  We get into a weird grinding situation where he resolves a Standstill.  I let him get up to 7, and then EOT cast a Vampiric Tutor.  He draws up to 10, and then Force of Will’s the Vampiric Tutor.  I Extirpate the Force of will, and suddenly his hand of Force of Will, Force of Will, mana Drain, Jace, Standstill, Wasteland tuns into a MUCH worse hand.  I untap, and then attempt to cast a fastbond.  He thinks for some time, and then drains it.  If he doesn’t drain fastbond, I can’t really kill him;  however, he assumes I am playing Gush Storm, and stopping fastbond means I can’t really kill him;  unfortunately for him, I am on Doomsday, so I resolve the Sorcery and the game ends.
4-1:  10-5

Round 6:  Jeff Anand:   Tezzeret
Game 1:  Jeff and I go back and forth.  Jeff has one card in hand with Demonic on the stack, which resolves.  He passes the turn, and I draw and Duress him.  He drains it, and has one card left in hand.  I think this is Yawgmoth’s Will, and hardcast force on his drain.   I am entirely next-leveled here as his last card is Mystical Tutor, and he casts it for Yawgoth’s Will.   He tutored for the Drain to protect his plan of casting Will on the following, which I wasn’t expecting. Despite his best efforts to punt with three different ways to win the game in the Graveyard, I can’t come back and die.
Game 2:  I play a land, and pass.  Jeff plays a Land, and a Lotus, and attempts Jace.  I figure now is a good time to respond with Ancestral Recall.   My best case scenario comes true as he Forces my Recall.  I misdirect his force to his Jace, and he slumps in his seat as I draw 3, and he is out of it.  I end the game shortly.
Game 3:  We go back and forth again, as we both depleted each other and are attempting to draw gas.  He unfortunately draws more haymakers than I do, and resolves Tezzeret with Time Vault in play, and I see my dreams of Top8ing this tournament vanish.
4-2:  11-7

Round 7:  Warren Connell:  Gush Pyromacer
I don’t recall this matchup at all, but I won 2-1
5-2:  13-8

Round 8: Shawn Griffiths:  Grixis, maybe?
Shaun Mulligans to 4 and then 3.  We don’t have any games.  I don’t know what he was playing.
6-2:  15-8

Round 9:  Mark Tocco:  BUG Fish
So I’m playing for top 16, and get paired against BUG Fish.   And I get smashed.  I didn’t even put up a fight.  In one game, he wastelands me and despite drawing 12 cards, I never draw another land, and in the other he’s just fading me with duresses.  
6-3: 15 – 10

I take 23rd.  

[Smmenen]

The event preparation actually started for me in September, when Smmenen contacted me on Facebook and said he had a sick deck that he knew I’d love, but he can’t share it with me until after the Eternal Weekend.   Everyone here knows Steve loves to talk (and Steve, don’t deny it!), so I didn’t take much heed.

 Actually, at the time, you and Kevin were the only people I told I had found a sweet deck to play.  Also, you told me you weren't going to the event, so I was being more forthright with you than anyone else!  I was very distressed when you told me you were playing Pitch Long, as that was the same conclusion I had come to.  And because you like to talk (not me) I thought you'd lead alot of people to a similar conclusion

I eventually two-fisted a list against Shops and Bug Fish, and realized that with some tweaks, I could bring back Pitchlong, a deck that hadn’t seen the light of day since Tommy Kolowith and Paul Mastriano had their successful runs at the Vintage Championship in 2008.   I ended up cutting the 2 Chrome Moxes, Lion’s Eye Diamond, 2 Duress Effects (I usually play 5), and Tinker and Memory Jar from the stock list in order to add 4 Force of Wills, 2 Misdirections, and 1 Chain of Vapor.  

Eric Becker played PItch Long first at the SCG p9 tournament in 2006 to a first or third place finish (I can't remember which, but it's in my tournament report), and then Tommy Kolowith and Paul both got top 8 at the Vintage champsionhip that year (just a few months later).  You had the narrative right, but the wrong year.  

I IMed Steve on Facebook and basically said that I had a sick deck, and unlike him, I don’t care who sees it, so I posted the list to him.  I didn’t get a response, and I posted on Facebook that I had a sick deck that I was super excited about, and then this happened:

We talked for a little, and decided to keep this quiet.   Long story short, Steve pulled the trigger, but I didn’t.  

Yeah, I had a bunch of decks I developed, but this was the one that performed the best in testing and had the largest margins against the field I felt.  You should have played the same deck!

We also opted  to play the 2 Rituals that I played at Gencon and NOT Imperial Seal because in the Grinders we saw a LOT of Jace the Mindsculptors.  (In fact, I lost two matches in two separate grinders because of JTMS).

I don't think that really matters.  You play Imperial Seal on turn one alot, and when you don't, you have Gush and Preordain to find the card you tutored for immediately.  I agree with your plan to focus on Workshops post-board, but I'm not a fan of what you guys did  The Doomsday deck I played in the first 32 person grinder to a top 4 finish is in my report, but I obviously prefer that list  

Although, I think your latest list is better than your Gencon one.  I use the same mix of Duress and Thoughtseize, although I have a few counterspells than you have.  I also think the deck needs 4 Seas, but that's neither here nor there

I also don't like Defense Grid in your sb.  I think the answer to more controlling decks is to have more dense countermagic and leverage your superior virtual card advantage and mana advantage of Gush. 

[Mith]

Kudos Soly...you know I love this deck as well, though my poor record versus Shops has led me to shelve this.

I like your list but still think the second Ritual and the Top are superfluous. I'd rather have more countermagic in the slots, and be able to tutor for the Ritual if needed. I also agree with Steve on the DGrids...this deck has a rather respectable matchup versus control, and I've always wanted to see more discard spells and mana-efficient counters in the matchup. I like DGrid better in decks that are much more control-light.

Congrats on the a very respectable run!

[Soly]

For the record, in hindsight I don't agree with the Defense Grids;  it was a replacement to Xantid Swarm since a lot of decks on the East Coast have a large number of Mental Misstep, and I also realized that Lightning Bolt is another card that a lot of decks were throwing around.  The grids themselves assist greatly against Landstill, and even more-so against BUG Fish as it shuts off their ability to realistically cast Abrubt Decay or use Snapcaster to flashback Flusterstorm or Spell Pierce, etc. 

I probably would make a significant change to my sideboard.  I really liked the Ingot Chewers but would probably go down to 3, and have access to Ancient Grudge.  I might convince myself that sideboarding City of Solitude would be half-way decent, but I think overall I'd just have some Cabal Therapies out of the sideboard.

I might consider either Maindecking or Sideboarding Dark Confidants.