[Report] Show and Tell: BULK takes MN proxy tourny. ha!

[Methuselahn]

Ok, so I get to Dreamers like 4 hours early off work. Today was the day for their monthly T1 proxy tournament. There is an unlimited number of proxies allowed for this tournament.  To be honest, I wish there were more of the regulars there, but the opponents that I faced were seemingly dedicated Type 1 players.  So, it looks to be a good time.

Here's the list I used:
Bulk.dec

SB: 4 Chalice of the Void
SB: 2 Propaganda
SB: 2 Damping Matrix
SB: 1 Coffin Purge
SB: 1 Stifle
SB: 1 Fact or Fiction
SB: 1 Demonic Consultation
SB: 2 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Echoing Decay

4 Darksteel Colossus
4 Show and Tell

2 Future Sight
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tinker

4 Force of Will
4 Duress
1 Damping Matrix
1 Mind Twist

4 Brainstorm
2 Cunning Wish
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Impulse
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor

7 Solomoxen
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
4 Underground Sea
4 Island
1 Swamp
1 Strip Mine
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand

Bulk is a great deck.  It has obvious similarities to Mask-Nought.  However, the combo is so much more resilient to hate once in play.  I'm not going to go into specifics about the deck here because this is but a simple tournament report.  One of the major steps to mastering this deck is knowing what to show out and how to do it.  Do you Show and Tell out a Future Sight or a Colossus?  

Round 1: Mike with Keeper (scepters and future sight). Mike's a pretty good player. I see him make but one error during the day.
-Game 1: He seems pretty content with first turn scepter w/Vampiric, this taps him out tho. Next turn, I play Damping Matrix. He draws into a good mix of brokenness and mana to go with it, he plays Future Sight and overwhelms me.
-Game 2: I combo out on turn 3 or so and swing twice with an 11/11
-Game 3: He opens with Ancestral, Time Walk, then Future Sight 2 turns later. Again, overwhelming me. I never saw my own Sights. boo.
0-1-0
1-2-0

Round 2: Jim (jdl) Jim is good, ask anyone in the area. He generally plays a workshop deck, today is no different. He's playing with U/R Trinistax.
-Game 1: Longest Game Evar. No real broken starts, we trade cards a bit. He gets a Sphere and Tangle Wire out, I somehow manage Showing a Future Sight, he drops a land. I end up having to Wish for Echoing Decay during my upkeep with a FS out to maximize my permanent advantage. This gives him some warning which he can capitalize on, but my Echoing Decay wrecks both of his 2 Welders. Eventually I Show a Colossus and get to swing freely.
-Game 2: He goes nuts and ends up with like 15 perms on the board to my island and swamp. I scoop in hopes of winning game 3.
-Game 3: I'm not totally sure how it played out, but I go broken and combo out very quickly. Time is called, Jim casts Ancestral. Any number of cards could have stalled out the game for a draw but he gets nothing and Colossus beats down.
1-1-0
3-3-0

Round 3: Nick playing budget tog. I don't get this. The tournament is unlimited proxy and this kid is playing with no proxies, no power, no mana drains, Standstills, and some other garbage.
-Game 1: I don't really remember much. I know I don't counter a key spell and end up getting flattened by a lethal Tog on like turn 10. UGH.
-Game 2: My game plan works perfectly. I show a future sight, he shows a tog. (turn 2) FS throws out more stuff than he can counter. He eventually finds a Wish, but I hang on to my lone Force of Will because his only StP is obviously in his SB. I win.
-Game 3: To be honest, I'm trying to forget this one. I start with turn 1 time walk, then Mind Twist for 4 or so. Pretty good right? He drops Standstill. I show the big dude, he shows LOA. I end up casting Yawg's Will, Mind Twist again for his whole hand. He Vampiric's in response for Tog. Somehow, despite the fact that i cast Will AND Twist for 4 against really bad Tog, I lost. pbbt.
1-2-0
4-5-0

Round 4: Name? Playing U/R Workshop with Bosh. I'm not sure, I really smashed some serious face this match.
-Game 1: This is my first turn: Mox Jet, Duress, Fetchland for island, Mana Crypt, Tinker the Crypt for Colossus. Next turn, attack with colossus then show out another. Utter ownage.
-Game 2: Future Sight gets Colossus out not nearly as fast, but I still beat down for victory.
2-2-0
6-5-0

Somehow, I make it into the top 4. Yea, top 4 only.

Round 5: Mike again with Keeper. This time he gets to find out that I also have Future Sight in my deck.
-Game 1: Mike has a bunch of acceration but no business spells. I start swinging for victory.
-Game 2: Whoa, we both manage to cast not only Future Sight but Yawg's Will as well. I topdeck like a madman getting counters when I need them. I decide to Demonic Tutor off a FS for a Force of Will which turns out to be the crucial play. He thought I tutored for Show and Tell, but you don't need to with a FS on the board. This and other topdecked Forces counter StP and other annoying things.
3-2-0
8-5-0

The Finals: Name? playing Gay/R. I get to see this guy's gaming aptitude with a few games of chess before the tournament. He seems quite smart. However, he bluffs poorly at M:TG.
-Game 1: We both mulligan. I end up getting no land but a Mox Jet and 3 Duress. Very risky to keep. I topdeck 3 UnderSeas, but he Wastes them all!!! Ouch. I duress 3 times and break a standstill he drops. He can't counter my Tinker, so I win.
-Game 2: I draw a broken opening hand. He goes first with an island. I follow and my fetch get's stifled. grrr. He stunts my mana development for a little while. Eventually I am able to Wish for FoF. His friend tells him he will lose now, he says he will just counter whatever I wish for. Good thing I am holding Colossus, FS, FoW, and an Island? I pitch FS to FoW when he attempts to counter. FoF nets me multiple search and a Show and Tell. He looks at his hand then enters his scoop phase.  

Obligatory Slops and Props:
Slops:
-a bad tog deck beating me despite very good results in testing vs. optimal Tog.
-me: for choosing to play this deck despite the meta I was expecting.
-Bulk.dec: for giving me carpel tunnel syndrome. You just don't get the full shuffling experience in apprentice.
-waSP: for not being there. I really wanted to run him threw with a colossus.

Props:
-Team Reflection for innovation.
-Dreamers in MN: for having 5+ vintage tournies a month.
-Chris Byrnes (Monotone) for playing Kobold-Clamp-Tendrils. It's nice to see fun decks at the only monthly non-sanctioned tournament.
-me: for choosing to play this deck despite the meta I was expecting.
-Bulk.dec: for cutting down to 2 colors and avoiding the Wasteland mecca known as Minnesota.
-To you: for making it this far into the tourny report.

[Matt]

Go team!

[waSP]

laff, Jeff, I wanted to build a deck like that but I've been too lazy.  I like it, it's random and funny.  I hope you play it on Sunday to destroy the metagame (what'll get you?).

I"ve had too much magic in the past year, I can't stand to play as much anymore.  Going out for dinner and then taking in a movie (The Big Lebowski anyone) sounds like a lot of fun to me.  I'll have to apply some beats(z?) to you tomorrow.

Fun report.

You said it very well Jeff, MN is the Mecca for Wastelands.  I'm not sure if any decks don't run them (the bad ones?).  That is probably non aggressive strategies struggle so much.  You hesitate, you get punished.  Take that Rico .

[Dr. Sylvan]

Wow. That'll teach WotC to keep printing these b0rken >10 power d00dz. ;)

How has Echoing Decay worked for you? I've seen it popping up in other sideboards, too (IIRC two different Hulk decks), so I'm curious to learn what people are using it for/in place of.

What does the Mystical Tutor usually get?

Congrats on the win.

[Methuselahn]

Echoing Decay kills utility dudes like Welder, which can take down the big guy.

Mystical fetches Show and Tell most of the time vs non-blue.  Against blue, it depends on board and hand position.  So it is hard to say.

[Rico Suave]

You said it very well Jeff, MN is the Mecca for Wastelands.  I'm not sure if any decks don't run them (the bad ones?).  That is probably non aggressive strategies struggle so much.  You hesitate, you get punished.  Take that Rico .

Well you know, I don't see any Wastelands in first place...

What does the Mystical Tutor usually get?

Tinker. TINKAR![/color]

[FreeZRManX]

I'm Chris by the way. I was your finals opponent. By the way, bad bluffing was more of 'terrible play by keeping no-counter hand against combo and drawing awfully.'

Nifty deck, by the way. It seems like Mana Drain would be really useful - with so many places to drain the mana (Show and Tell, Cunning Wish, Damping Matrix, Future Sight, Yawgmoth's Will, Mind Twist, Chalices in the sideboard). Also, if you added Mana Drain and thus moved farther into a control idea, Skeletal Scrying could be rather strong as a card drawing engine.

EDIT: Also, it seems like Demonic Consultation would be better than Impulse maindeck. Though this might be really terrible in conjunction with Mana Drain - again considering the Control vs. Combo dichotomy.

[firebird365]

Good report, but how did you manage T4 with a 2-2 record? Good tiebreakers?

Anyway, your deck looks fun but the threat count seems low when I look at it. Are you able to get the Colossus out consistently, or are you searching for it a lot? I guess adding more creatures would mean turning the deck into more of a Skull variant.

[Phantom Tape Worm]

Awesome job Methuselahn!!  And that's a hell of a great deck!

[Methuselahn]

Chris!  That's it!  sorry I'm bad with names sometimes.       Perhaps your bluffing wasn't poor, just your hand at the time.  Your deck would have been much more scarier to me if you had been running Hatchlings and Voidmage Prodigies.  

I'm not sure the deck can handle mana drain, or wants it.  I can usually cast Show and Tell turn 2 or be busy tutoring + disrupting by then, which seems to be ideal.  As far as Drain helping Wish, yes perhaps, but Wish may get cut soon.  I like the scrying idea, i may have to test it.   Consult is back in MD.

firebird365:  Lets take a look at the threats available vs control.  It's not too lacking I think.  Searching for colossus isn't nearly as difficult as getting it on the board
4 Colossus  (on the remote chance that I hardcast them, which is possible)
2 Future Sight
4 Show and Tell
4 Duress
4 Force of Will
2 Cunning Wish slot
1 Mind Twist
1 Damping Matrix (not as much vs control, I'll admit)
SB 3-4 Chalice for 1 (for stp)

[Rico Suave]

firebird365:  Lets take a look at the threats available vs control.  It's not too lacking I think.  Searching for colossus isn't nearly as difficult as getting it on the board
4 Colossus  (on the remote chance that I hardcast them, which is possible)
2 Future Sight
4 Show and Tell
4 Duress
4 Force of Will
2 Cunning Wish slot
1 Mind Twist
1 Damping Matrix (not as much vs control, I'll admit)
SB 3-4 Chalice for 1 (for stp)

Meth has issues about forgetting Tinker exists.

Oh yea, and Yawgmoth's Will and Ancestral.  

And the rest of the deck is practically search to find those cards.

[jdl]

Re: Round 2 - U/R Trinistax

I'm not sure why I never realized that you are Methuselahn.  Always seems to be a good match when we meet.  The first game really was a marathon.  Smokestack vs. Future Sight made a good battle.  He had unplayable land rotting on the top of his deck for several turns after the Future Sight came out, which almost let me pull it out.  Destroying both Welders sealed the game.

[FreeZRManX]

LOL Exactly. My deck ran three of each. *sigh*. Sometimes its just not meant to be.