I think everyone can agree that the most recent 100% proxy tournament in Columbus was a blast. I certainly enjoyed seeing fellow TMDers, several of whom I had only read their posts but had not met in person.
Twenty-four players, five rounds of Swiss and then Top 8. I Smurfed into Top 8 with a deck, that by all rights, is quite a pile:
Smurf Acne.dec
4x Force of Will
4x Mana Drain
2x Stifle
3x Orim’s Chant
4x Meddling Mage
2x Back to Basics
4x Brainstorm
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Deep Analysis
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Time Walk
1x Enlightened Tutor
2x Exalted Angel
3x Null Rod
2x Damping Matrix
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Pearl
1x Black Lotus
1x Sol Ring
4x Tundra
4x Flooded Strand
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
4x Island
4x Plains
SB:
4x BEB
1x Stifle
1x Deep Analysis
1x Seal of Cleansing
3x Dust to Dust (savage tech)
3x Stp
2x Exalted Angel
When one glances over this decklist several questions should spring to mind, not the least of which is “THAT top 8ed?”, along with “Why Smurf Acne?” The second answer is much simpler that the first—It’s mostly blue, but it’s the white stuff that’ll keep you from going to the Prom. The first question really boils down to meta—it was a full proxy tournament and I was expecting Tog, Slaver, and combo. Look over the deck again. Was this a heavily meta-ed deck? Of course. In fact one of the original name choices was Meta.dec. But it worked.
Is it simply EBA without Black? I feel the differences are pretty profound, but I also see the similarities. I wanted the safety of non-basics, as well as the freedom to run B2B myself. Besides, look at awesome combo potential here: Exalted Angels with Damping Matrix; Back to Basics with Tundras; and the game sealing ability for first turn Mox, Sol Ring, Null Rod. Pwn!!11
Obligatory pre-tournament ramblings: I made the drive from Cincinnati to Columbus the night before and made some quite spectacular trades at my old high school hang out, The Guard Tower (2 non-blue duals for $50+ in cards… twist my arm). Saturday morning I woke up, finished throwing together a SB and ran Map Quest to find The Soldiery. I turned a 20 minute drive into 45 because I can’t follow basic instructions (“Bikers… I’m an idiot”). I filled out a decklist form and began chatting with some friends from Cinci as well as fellow TMDers as we waited for pairings. Much laughter was had at the expense of Smurf Acne.
“My whole deck is tech—I just don’t have any win conditions”
[For the record, my notes are sketchy at best. Any inaccuracies are in no way intentional and I welcome corrections or comments. Flame towards my deck design can be sent to
please_audit_me@IRS.gov]
Round 1: I faced off against Ryan and his STAKS variant with Mindslaver
Game 1: I won the coin flip. Second turn I drained a Trinisphere, followed by third turn Meddling Mage (MM) naming Welder. MM beats go the distance, with adequate control back up.
Game 2: I Parised to six cards keeping Fetch, Pearl, Ancestral, 2 Orim’s Chant, and Brainstorm. Pretty solid, right? Not when he drops Chalice for zero and wasteland. I then had to decide if I wanted an island for Ancestral or Plain for double chant. I go for double chant and scoop three or four turns later due to no more mana and savage artifact beats. But I’m not sure the Ancestral would have been much better.
Game 3: Ryan was forced to Paris to 5, while I kept an opening hand of Mox, Land, FOW, 2 Brainstorm, MM, and Damping Matrix. I topdecked or brainstormed into a 2nd land which allowed for 2nd turn Damping Matrix. I Forced his Trinisphere and Goblin Welder met BEB. Fourth turn Angel proceeded to beat. I attempt to flip angel only to learn that Morph abilities are “activated creature abilities” and Damping Matrix doesn’t play well with others.
“Reading my own cards is tech”
MM and Morphed angel beat down for the game.
Matches: 1-0
Round 2: Oshawa Stompy played by a guy whose name escapes me at the moment. This match I realized how important it is to a) remember what MM named and b) call the correct card when MM resolves.
Game 1: I Forced his early Troll Ascetic realizing I don’t have much to defend against the beast, although this does allow a Survival to resolve soon after. I draw several MM’s and name, in order, Troll Ascetic, Arrogant Wurm, and Wild Mongrel. He survivals for several Basking Rootwallas, but soon after I drop Damping Matrix. I can’t afford to trade, even at 2:1, due to Mages stopping more creatures from dropping. It becomes draw-go for several turns until, with a twist of key tech, my opponent begins to hard cast ESG’s. Matrix prevents my angel from flipping over and becoming useful, so my colorless Gray Ogre takes out an ESG, but eventually I’m forced to trade some mages. His horde is unleashed, and we move on to game 2.
Game 2: My opponent keeps a hand of multiple survivals and Squee but no real “threats.” I cast first turn MM naming Survival (at least I learned from game 1), and Meddling Mage beat down commences. He ends the game holding all four Survivals and cursing my silly mage.
Game 3: Much like the second game, an early Mage prevents Survival, counters hit opposing big creatures, and some combination of MM’s and Exalteds swing for the kill.
A lot of this match was luck, I admit. But I also wasn’t too prepared for this match-up.
Matches: 2-0-0.
Round 3: I get paired against Meandeck Slaver, played by Kevin (I think); I believe his TMD handle is CHA1N5--- sorry about not writing your name down, it was a fun match.
Game 1: An early Damping Matrix slows him down a little, and his own Mana Crypt deals some considerable damage. MM names welder and more beats. I run out of counters for his Wheel of Fortune, however. He drops stuff, stuff, and more stuff, including Academy. I’m holding a Null Rod off the wheel and as he begins to tap out without much an actual threat on the board I begin to get my hopes up. It’s amazing how Time Walk can suddenly turn everything around. He untaps and does what workshop decks do. I loose.
Bonehead play of the day: As SBing for game 2, I notice that both of my DA’s are still in the board. My third Stifle had remained in my maindeck instead of coming out after my match with Stompy. I inform my opponent, and I take the match loss.
(We play another game for fun, SB’ed, and I managed to eek out the win—I still wonder if I could have pulled the win without that screw up.)
Matches: 2-1-0
Round 4: Dave with a Twister-Tendrils variant.
Game 1: I have no idea what Dave is playing, and he ESG’s for a turn 1 Fastbond followed by no land. I scratch my head and play land, go. Realizing he is playing some type of combo and is waiting to draw his final piece, I’m forced to play a blind Meddling Mage to start the beats. I name Twister, which while not a horrid choice, upon reflection is pretty bad. But the beats ensued. I end up holding a fist full of counters and Dave casts mystical for Yawg Win followed by Brainstorm. A counter war over Brainstorm results in Will sitting on his top deck for another turn. I drop Mage naming Will, and life is good.
Game 2: I keep a hand with drains and Stifle, but no FoW (I’m a bad player). First turn Xantic Swarm, second turn he combo-ed off.
Game 3: I Paris to 6, but manage to draw seven cards. Oops. So we throw that hand back in and I end up keeping 3 lands, 2 Stifle. At least I’m going first, right? He drops an early Xantic, but can’t find the necessary combo pieces. After floating several mana, my opponent cast Wheel of Fortune, which resulted in Stifling the Swarm and Mana Drain. My opponent is out of cards and burns. I end up dropping Mage naming Tendrils. A couple turns later, a very unlucky Diminishing Returns results in Burning Wish being removed from game. Before scooping however, my opponent realizes he can still beat me with savage ESG beats. He still has 6 or so mana floating from the Diminishing Returns and he cast Sol Ring. I have a fresh fistful of cards and I respond with Orim’s Chant. He had two tutors in hand and enough mana to hard cast at least two ESG’s. He burns for a bit, and MM beats. To add insult to injury, my fresh MM named ESG
Matches: 3-1
Round 5:
After entirely too much deliberating, arguing, and general nonsense, we factor that my opponent and I can ID into the Top 8. I’m tempted to play it out, as I’m not a huge fan of IDing, but how can I pass up Smurf Acne in the Top 8?
3-1-1.
I end up paired against Smmenen (Feel free to call him Cinnamon—he likes it. Really.) This is his chance for paybacks from Origins, when his mighty STAKS fell to the wonders of my TurboNevyn. After some friendly jibes about the condition of my 3-year-old Dragon Shield sleeves, comments on the communicable diseases contained therein, the illegitimacies of Smurf Acne, and entirely too much shuffling, we finally played Magical cards.
Game 1: I cast an early Ancestral, Steve responded with FoF, and I forced. Wasteland took out his Academy and left him with Volcanic (Shivan Reef?) and Workshop. Exalted beats sealed the deal as Steve struggled to find more mana sources.
Game 2: I end up with land flood, and Steve asks if I’m sure I’m playing with 25 mana sources and not 30. Oh, and I did I mention how much Chalice for 2 sucks? MM, Null Rod, Mana Drain… just a few cards. Savage beats= game 3.
[Steve’s report differs from mine slightly. I think one or both of us is mixing up games 2 and 3, but it doesn’t matter too much. I scooped in game two well before “recurring slaver,” and my notes indicate that his Slaver into my topdecked Ancestral was game 3. But all in all, no inaccuracies of consequence from either point of view. His
report.]
Game 3:
I parised to 6, playing first turn land, Mox. 2nd turn I dropped a Morph creature and FoW the opposing Thirst for Knowledge. And then my notes get really sketchy and again, Steve and I don’t have the same records. I drop a Mage for Welder and unmorph my Angel. At some point I get up to 30+ life before a 5/5 Pentavis stops me cold. I had sided in all three Dust to Dusts verses three different opponents and had yet to see one. While I wait for D2D, Steve drops a boatload of mana and Slaver. He slaves, topdecks my Ancestral. Two or three turns later I finally see my D2D, but it gets Forced. Meanwhile 5/5 Pentavus has whittled my life points down to single digits. Fat swings for the kill.
The moral of the story? Don’t leave Ancestral Recall on the top when your opponent activates Mindslaver. That’s just being a bad player.
I had to work 3rd shift Saturday night back in Cincinnati, so after my match loss I swing by to see my parents whom I missed Friday night, grabbed some free food, and made the two hour drive to work, where I typed most of this tournament report. I didn’t even know my rank was 6th until Sunday evening when I woke up and checked the web.
All in all, not a bad bit of work. And I didn’t netdeck
And congrats to Doug Linn who split the top prize and helped me put this deck together. And it’s not Mint Skittles, however much you’d like to believe it.
