100-card tourney

[Razvan]

For all of you familiar with the Stratford-Listowel-Bingemans circuit, you are well aware of the 100-card tourney coming up shortly at Stratford. Essentially, here's them rules:

100-card minimum
No sideboard
Wishes can only wish for cards removed from game (maybe even banned completely)

Now, last time (Bingemans), JM Babin won with a Workshop based deck, essentially TnT and wMUD shoved together. Here's my new attempt at some sort of deck. It has 106 cards (even in 100-card, I can't find stuff to cut). Bah.

First, a full decklist.

16 Creatures

4 Psychatog
4 Werebear
4 Shadowmage Infiltrator
4 Flametongue Kavu

20 Card Advantage

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Brainstorm
3 Intuition
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mind Twist

15 Counterspell

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Counterspell
3 Misdirection

12 Destruction and Utility

4 Fire/Ice
4 Pernicious Deed
3 Naturalize
1 Berserk

43 Mana

4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
1 Taiga
1 Bayou
1 Badlands

4 Polluted Delta
2 Wooded Foothills

10 Islands

4 Wastelands
1 Stripmine
1 Library of Alexandria

4 Mox (minus Emerald, don't have it)
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus

Then some individual analysis:

4 Psychatog: This dude is a pretty nasty sucker. Although this is not a win-immediately kind of deck, he still is a hard critter to kill. I really liked him last time around.

4 Werebear: The Werebear was a throw-in for no reason other than I thought it might work well. And oh, boy, did it ever. Although it often has poor synergy with Psychatog, this is a good killing critter for certain. He does get big fairly fast, and can produce mana in a pinch.

4 Shadowmage Infiltrator: I lack Ophidians. That is sad. Also, that being said, I do think the Shadowmage is a great replacement. The ability to generally always go through is nice, and the ping damage with every hit is just as nice. I replaced the 4 Quirion Dryad with this guy (and I really would like to fit the Dryads back though).

4 Flametongue Kavu: Last Bingemans I missed the masters by one game (I was 8-3, then foolishly played another game against Ryan Hall). I lost my first game to utter land screw (1 land in 25 turns... wtf? how did I last so long). I lost another game to a first turn Isochron / Orim's Chant (I manage to come back, drawing 21 cards in a turn, but managed to lose to an nblocked Morphling). I also lost to this elderly gentleman playing Shadow creatures.

This will address the later loss. Arend (specialK) and I discussed the situation afterwards, and concluded that red is a required color. Enter the venerable FTK. This dude is good. It can nail most creatures, and can swing for 4 (rarely, but possibly).

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob: I have long advocated using this Draw engine for more than just Dragon, and it NEVER disappointed me. It's fairly uncounterable, it's at the tap of a card. And the below card has shown it's resiliency in Dragon.

3 Intuition: This is a triple tutor. It's really good for Squees, or setting up a nice Yawgmoth's Will.

4 Brainstorm: This is becoming standard fixing for most decks, and this is no exception.

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor: I would maybe like to fit Vampiric in, and a couple of Merchant scrolls. But these 2 are pretty standard.

1 Yawgmoth's Will: This, as usual, is broken to hell. I don't really need to explain this. It's usually game over if this resolves.

1 Ancestral Recall: Crappiest card-drawing spell... ever... oh, wait! I actually forgot to include this the first time around.

1 Mind Twist: Not the best spell, however, still a very strong card advantage tool.

4 Force of Will: The glue.

4 Mana Drain: The backup glue. Although not terribly needed in the deck as in other decks, the extra mana still helps somewhat, especially given the Pernicious Deeds.

4 Counterspell: You need more than the 8 required counterspells in 100-card. This is it. The third best counterspell.

3 Misdirection: This has originally been tried as 3 Mana Leak, although I believe this is a stronger choice. Since, unlike the other 2 parts of the circuit, Stratford allows power 9 cards, and thus Ancestral Recall, these are that much stronger.

4 Fire/Ice: More red was needed, and this card is just about as good as they come. Both parts of the card are great against a variety of targets, and now Ice can even tap the mighty Trinisphere. This is good. Fire, of course, is just as usable.

4 Pernicious Deed: People play with permanents. Deed is the most powerful permanents destruction spell printed. 4-of are needed, especially given the vast ammount of Goblins there. Is good. Between Fire/Ice, FTK's and the Deeds, creatures should be no problem. Unless they bring something like Morphling. Ugh.

3 Naturalize: People play with Isochron Scepter. And other nasty crap. This helps.

1 Berserk: I only own one. And it's in.

10 Islands
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island: Blue is the main color. Blue lands are needed. This is them.

1 Taiga
1 Bayou
1 Badlands: These are fetchable, in case I really need the colors. It's too bad you can only have 4 of each dual in the deck.

4 Polluted Delta
2 Wooded Foothills: These fetch. I was considering going up to 7.

4 Wastelands
1 Stripmine: Mana denial. Always useful. Also good against annoying Workshops and enemy Bazaars.

1 Library of Alexandria Why the hell not? It's good.

4 Mox (minus Emerald, don't have it): I do need an emerald over a Pearl. Hell, might even consider a Mana Crypt.

1 Sol Ring: This, yet again, beats out Mana Crypt. Too bad.

1 Black Lotus: The reason to play Type 1.

Phew, that was long. Any suggestions?

Q1) I need to make it 100 card. Now it's 105 or 106. It's legal, but 100 would be better.

Q2) I would like to fit in 4 Quirion Dryads.

Q3) I would like to maybe fit in 3 Mana Leaks.

[Jacob Orlove]

Decks for non Type 1 formats go in casual.

[Razvan]

Dude, this is Type 1. And it's a fight-for-a-Mox tourney. It's just got a special caveat to make it a bit more interesting.

This is in no way casual. I might be wrong, but it might be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Type 1 tourney on the east coast. I think at least 150 people show up. Last one had almost 200?

Anyhow...

[Jacob Orlove]

"Casual" includes all decks built for special formats, like this one. They can be as competitive as you like, but if they aren't standard type 1 decks, they go in here.

[Ephraim]

What is a standard Type 1 deck? One that is competetive in sanctioned play? That seems kind of hypocritical to me, since many respected, non-casual tournaments allow 5 proxies. Why is it not "casual" for one deck-construction rule (no proxies) to be broken outright while it is considered "casual" for another deck-construction rule to be modified?

[Jacob Orlove]

Proxies don't affect the rules the decks are built under. All type one decks still have to follow DCI limits, rules, and minimums, whether they use proxies or not.

A 100-card minimum, however, is a completely different format than DCI type 1.

[Matt]

You're playing Intuitions, Togs, and NOT Accumulated Knowledges?

I think you could do well if you focsued your entire deck on the graveyard, instead of being the unfocused aggro-control it is now.

[Razvan]

Matt: I had AK's for a long time. And yes, they were good. Except they were a liability in the mirror match, or against a blue draw/counter deck. So now I am thinking of taking them out

The difference between 60 cards and 100 cards is insane. That's why this unfocused aggro-control deck is probably stronger than either an aggro deck or a control deck. Since decks are a lot less tight, stuff needs to be done a bit differently.

At least that's what I think. We shall see...

Oh, and the format is best 1/1 for open-round play, where you play as many games as you can. Then best 2/3 in Top 32.

[Jacob Orlove]

Oh, and the format is best 1/1 for open-round play, where you play as many games as you can. Then best 2/3 in Top 32.

See, this is completely different from a sanctioned DCI event. You want to be able to win very, very quickly, because that's the only way to get a record good enough to make it to the top, but you also need to be able to do well there.

[Razvan]

See, this is completely different from a sanctioned DCI event. You want to be able to win very, very quickly, because that's the only way to get a record good enough to make it to the top, but you also need to be able to do well there.

And yes, I stopped wanting to argue the point with you about where this belongs (I can't really win, now can I? ).

Well, okay, you need to play 10 games. 8-2 always makes it, and 8-3 almost always makes it. Usually, 7-3 is good enough as well.

Keep in mind that for a normal game, you have one hour, so this comes to 20 minutes max a game, no? This gives you a bit more time (you have 210 minutes (maybe 250?) to play 10 games, and this usually does easily happen. Some people even get to 17 games or so (crazy, eh)?

It's pretty fun actually. The field is a bit slower, since you cannot always get really good hands.

[Drogo]

This format is a blast (as evidenced by the massive turnout it generates).  

You don't have to worry about being fast, as Razvan noted the way the time constraints break down you actually have MORE time per game than in sanctioned play.  Only the slowest of decks have trouble getting 10 games in.  If my record is 8-2 or better after 10 games I keep playing until I get my third loss since X-3 will always make the cut as long as X is greater than 8.  I usually get about 15 games in (with mono black Void) and a pure aggro deck like gobbos or sligh can easily play 20-25 games if they desire.  

Anyway...Raz's deck.  

Utility 'Tog.  I think the concept is fine, lets just concentrate on cutting some cards.  

-3 Misdirection

Yes it is a powered environment but power is still relatively rare (a third of the field at most) so MisD'ing Ancestral, while wonderful in theory, is virtually never going to happen.  Also consider that the best aggro deck, by far, is goblins.  They will have few, often ZERO, Misdirectable spells.  

+1 Intuition

Too good not too with 'Tog and the Squee/Bazaar engine.  Tutors are that much better in 100 card.  I want to add Vampiric but you are already pressed for space.  

-1 Beserk

Great card but you can't intuition for it with one copy and that leaves only a Mystical and Demonic to find it with.  Are you really going to have it when you need it?  I think it is situational enough to safely drop.

-3 land

43 mana sources is a little heavy, I think you can get by with 40 considering how your curve looks and your card drawing.  Which land...I dunno, you can decide that better than me I'm sure.

That would get you down to 100.  Heck, you could probably go down to 35 mana sources, it isn't like anyone plays Void there.  

Tony

[Razvan]

16 Creatures

4 Psychatog
4 Werebear
4 Shadowmage Infiltrator
4 Flametongue Kavu

21 Card Advantage

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Brainstorm
4 Intuition
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mind Twist

12 Counterspell

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Counterspell

11 Destruction and Utility

4 Fire/Ice
4 Pernicious Deed
3 Naturalize

40 Mana

4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
1 Taiga
1 Bayou
1 Badlands

4 Polluted Delta
2 Wooded Foothills

7 Islands

4 Wastelands
1 Stripmine
1 Library of Alexandria

4 Mox (minus Emerald, don't have it)
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus

Hey Tony. Thanks for the suggestions.

So this looks like it, I guess. Hm... Only 12 counterspells does seem a bit on the light side though, but I think the fact that I have a lot of red direct damage should help.

The Berserk was cut, in the end, but it was a funny addition. At Bingemans, I used it twice. Once to kill off an attacking Goblin Warchief (yep, no more 3 Piledrivers next turn), and once to get a lethal Tog (what a total shocker ). But yes, way too unreliable.

I didn't like the Misdirections in there either. They were mostly from an old idea in a 60-card Tog/Mage deck. Out.

Let's see how this does on sunday. Now I just hope I can make it.