two quick reports

[bebe]

I will present two quick tournament report. First we played a tournament at Leon's last month and only six people were around. But they all sported good decks.

The first match was against Sui which was very quickly locked down with a double token Stack. Tog finished the match. Game two was much the same with Trisk finishing off.

The next match was Keeper. Game one was slow but eventually with multiple Grids, a 'Tog, a Stack a Wire and a Trisk I was able to kill the Morph one turn from death.
Game two Cap got the win conditions quickly asnd it was just a matter of time. Trisk/Copy win.

Third round Sligh. Ugh. Two straight loses to topdecked Fireblasts. Despite both games being close I never saw my Universe or Gnome.

Finals -  the same Sligh deck guy who managed to hit me both games with three PoPs - talk about a great top deck. I managged to win one game with Trisk/Copy action.

So I decided to make some changes. Again we held ourr impromptu tournament as UI was preparing for 401's tournament on Sunday. I added a Gnome main deck  having learnt my lesson well last time out.

Must be meant to be - I draw Sligh first match again ( everyone is testing Ankh Sligh around here). I squeel game one through thanks to early Tog and Stack. I win with three life and sack my Gnomes once ( Welders are killed quickly). Funny had he burnt me instead of the Welders he might have won although it seemed the right move at the time.
Game two - after siding in the mirror and Gnome it was no contest. He was reluctant now to burn the Welders thinking to burn me instaed after game one. The Mirror came as a complete surprise. How I love Tinker.

Playing Gro - two very hard and long games.
Game one - He got the cards he needed and finished me with a Dryad before I could finish him. Never saw early Grids or Stack. But eventually I started to draw. Too little too late.
Read game one ...

U/W control came next. Read my Keeper report. Defense Grids really screw this deck around. Not that difficult a win.

Gro again. Same Guy. This time I win game one but have the same result game two and three. He sides in a ton of artifact hate for me.

Some thoughts - Chronotog despite the naysayers was great except against those damn StPs. Karn killed once or twice but Trisk/Copy rocked. Thank G-d I never drerw Parfait.
Berar in mind these were informal tournaments although the competition was good. The numbers were low though as they were spontaneous and unannounced. It did give me an insight into some of the new decks though. Amnmkh Sligh is beatable but we need to prepare to see it more now. Grow with white is very tough. Enforcers, Dryads, Mages, and StPs along with siided in artifact hate can hurt big time.  If you expect to see Gro or Parfait a lot in your meta this is not the deck to play. Still against combo, control and aggro it still rocks.

Lock, Stock and Four Smoking Barrels
 

Mana Sources: 27
 
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Volcanic Island
4 Shivan Reef
3 Island
2 Ancient Tomb
2 Mountain
Tolarian Academy
Black Lotus
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Sol Ring
 
Lock and Kill: 29
4 Goblin Welder
4 Meditate
4 Smokestack
4 Tangle Wire
4 Defense Grid
2 Copy Artifact
2 Triskelion
2 Fire/Ice
Karn, Silver Golem
Chronotog
Bottle Gnome

Restricted BS: 5
Tinker
Timetwister
Ancestral Recall
Wheel of Fortune
Time Walk
 
total - 61
 
SB: 4 ReB
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 Jester's Cap
SB: 2 Maze of Ith
SB: 2 Rack and Ruin
SB: Mirror Universe
SB: Bottle Gnomes
SB: Black Vise
total - 15
 

TnT   - 4 Grids - 1 Wheel of Fortune - 1 Timetwister  
      + 2 Maze + 2 Tornod's Crypt +  2 Rack and Ruin
 

Mask   - 4 Grids -1 Wheel of Fortune -1 Timetwister
       + 2 Cap  + 2 Maze  +2 Rack and Ruin
 

Parfait   - 4 Grids  
            + 2 Caps + 2 Tornod's Crypt
 

Aggro  - 4 Grids  
       + 2 Maze of Ith + 1 Mirror Universe + Bottle Gnomes
 

Sligh   - 4 Grids  
        + 2 Rack and Ruin  + 1 Mirror Universe + Bottle Gnomes
 

Monoblue  - 2 Fire/Ice - 1 Timetwister -1 Triskelion - 1 Copy Artifact  
          + 4 ReB + 1 Black Vise
 
Dragon   - 4 Grid
         + 2 Cap  + 2 Crypt
 
Keeper   - 2 Fire/Ice - 1 Timetwister -1 Triskelion - 1 Copy Artifact  
         + 2 Cap + 1 Black Vise  + 2 ReB

This is my own deck that we have been tweaking for the
last two months.I have heard cthat the deck is
inconsistent and that Meditate is a very conditional
card. This just isn't so. With eight cards in the
deck that can abuse Meditate it is pure card
advantage at its best and an instant to boot. I would
love to add a Time Vault but there really isn't a
single card I'm prepared to remove for it at this
time. Amnesia looks very starnge in the deck (it's
the 61st card) but I always like to add one card that is totally unexpected. It has proved it's worth from time to
time and replaces the fourth Defense Grid.
The inspiration for the deck comes from Psyduck's Duck Tape deck. He was the first to propose breaking Stack/Wire with Meditates and now a number of decks have evolved from his original build.


It is interesting to note that Workshop decks have been
successful though any number of incarnations. They are still doing well at major tournaments.

[Fishhead]

Quote Grow with white is very tough. Enforcers, Dryads, Mages, and StPs along with siided in artifact hate can hurt big time.  

Back when DuckTape was being tuned I remember playing against it with Gro.  It was a terrible matchup for the Gro player, just because of the small number of permanents Gro puts on the board.  Losing even one land to a Tangle Wire or a Smokestack really put a crimp in your game and the Mis-D's were useless.  

Looking at your short description of the games I'd suspect you were more unlucky than outmatched?

[bebe]

I would have thought the same but he packed enough artifact and creature removal that he needed only a few good hits to finish me off. It was not what i would call a typical build. He seemed to have Naturalizes, Seals, and StPs with Auras in the side. I think he was metagaming for Ankh Sligh and TnT.
The decks you see usually reflect the decks you expect to face in Toronto so some rather unusual builds are fairly common. After all, who plays my deck. But enough people have seen it to side against it. Maybe it's a bi9t unfair but that's the game.