[Report] Just Missing the Cut at Hadley

[MadManiac21]

Pre-Tourny Ramble (Better than the actual Matches!)
Sometime on Friday night my friend Loren (Sympathy4TheDevil I believe) tells me that he's coming back from NMH this weekend to play in the mox tourny at Hadley. It turns out that since I have developed acid ulcers in the past week (stress and exhaustion!) I haven't yet finished my AP US history term paper. My conscious has a very strong hold on me. After fighting with it for awhile, and then my mother, I come to the conclusion that I'm not going to go to Ben Kowals and chill with him, Loren, Bryce, Ray, and other Bhampton dudes playing magic all hours of the night. Instead I decide to go play poker (closer to home) and make 8 dollars in 30 minutes. I then go out with my friends to the local dragging flats, where we speed around for a bit. One of my friends then notes that he doesn't know how to drive a stick, so I throw him in the front seat of my car and set out to teach him. About 1/2 a mile down the road he stalls out when trying to figure out slowing down/down shifting/stopping. No biggy, I start to talk him through the process. A truck starts to pull up and Dave (my friend) decides to wait till it passes us to start up again. The truck stops. Suddenly, we hear a voice say, "You boys alright out here?" Of course its not only a cop, but one of the "Environmental Police". This is what ensued.

Cop: What are you boys doing out here?
Dave: He's teaching me how to drive a stick.
Cop: What?
Me: I'm teaching him how to drive a stick shift.
Cop: Do you know what time it is?
Me: Uh... 11:30?
Cop: Umm....
Dave: Wanna see my license?
Cop: (Everything checks out). What are you doing out here?
Me: Well see, we were on our way back from.... (here I almost say "Playing Poker")... catching a movie, and Dave told me he doesn't know how to drive a stick. So I figured I'd teach him out here.
Cop: Why?
Me: Because its a remote quiet area, and there are not any cars around.
(Just as I say this, my three friends we were racing with who were back up the road drive by us - having seen the blue flashing lights decide to FLEE the scene).
Cop: Doesn't look too deserted to me. Why not do this during the day?
Me: Well I have school, and then homework.
Cop: Um, what about tomorrow?
Me: Well its the weekend....and uh.. I need to write a term paper.
Cop: OK. Can I see your license?
Me: Sure.
Cop:.... Which one of you knows how to drive?
Me: Me?
Cop: Why don't you go home now, and take your friend with you.
Me: (Elated) Yes Officer.

So we drive down the road, meet up with our friends again. I see another car, parked, without its lights on, and it looks like another cop. I put on my lights to pull out when I notice its two people making out. W/e. I do some donuts right in front of them just to mess with their heads, then take off. Go home and sleep.

Boring morning stuff happens. I'd borrowed a bunch of artifact cards from my friend, and decide to play Ur Trinistax.

KowalThinksThisPileIsBad.dec

4 Tangle
4 Stack
4 3Sphere
3 Sphere of Resist
3 Chalice
2 Slaver
1 Jar

3 Thirst
1 Frantic Search (SO GOOD!)
1 Recall
1 Time walk
1 Wheel
1 Windfall
1 Tinker

4 G. Welder
1 P. Angel
1 Trike
1 Karn

1 Sol Ring
1 Mana crypt
1 mana vault
1 monolith
2 waste
1 strip
4 mox
1 black lotus
4 Volc
4 workshop
2 Strand
1 island
1 mountain
1 Academy

SB:
1 Sundering Titan
1 Bosh
1 Trike
2 BEB
1 REB
3 Blood moon
3 R&R
2 Crypt
1 Sphere

Yes, I know the deck is over 60 cards. I tried to get in as much testing as I could in 1.5 days, but couldn’t bring myself to cut it to 60. The whole deck is uber-brokeness anyway, so no big deal. I get a crap load of cards for people. Turn in my deck reg, and then we start.

Round 1: Cowboy (Boasnapes) w/ Big O
He tells me before the match that he MD a lot of stuff to combat artifact and control decks even MORE so than usual Big O. Greaaaat.
Game 1: I drop a volc, he drops some little dudes, unsuspeting of my brown craziness. Turn two I go something like workshop-mox-solring-vault-jar, preparing for a huge turn three. He doesn’t drop null rod. I jar, play a monolith and thirst. I then have to think real hard about playing a smokestack or double sphere or resistance. I had already dropped a wire this turn, and he only had 3 mana sources (2 forest and a sol ring) along with 2 dudes. I have way more permanents than him, but I figure that double sphere will shut him down long enough for me to find more brokeness. So I do. I pass the turn, he taps his d00ds, and 2 forests. He then goes fores-remove-ESP-null rod. I look at my board of tapped crypt, vault, and monolith, and cry. I draw wheel and drop anothing volc, having no other gas left in my hands. He wastes a volc. I scoop after 2 turns of beats and my own mana crypt hitting me for 9 damage. Had I dropped the smokestack, I could have gotten rid of my crypt along with almost clearing his board.            
Game 2: I early tinker for P.Angel, he oxidizes. He drops some dudes, naturalizes something else, and goes to town on me. I draw tangle after dropping a stack when he has lethal damage on the board, slowing him down long enough to clear what he’s got and leave me at 2 life. Unfortunately I don’t draw any gas and go-draw-go for a couple turns. He then double-oxidizes my entire board. I lose. Ugh.

0-2, 0-1

Round 2: Frank? (Jazzy Cat) w/ Draw7.dec
We introduce ourselves, exchange TMD names, and talk a bit about lots of different decks and stupid plays. Lots of laughs this round. Jazzy was a really cool dude. I heard him say “Tendrils you for twenty!” Earlier in round 1, so I know I’m looking for one of my 7 spheres.
Game 1: He smiles at his hand, and I drop sphere of resist turn one. His face drops a little, and he forces pitching tinker. He then goes land-sol ring go. I drop another sphere and a welder. We both laugh. He tendrils me for 14 on his turn. I drop monolith and weld it into a second sphere when he has no cards in hand. He scoops. We joke some more about how big turn one is in the match up, whether I drop a sphere or he wins.
Game 2: He goes land-rit-lotus-LED-D.tutor. I don’t bother making him get will and do ridiculousness.
Game 3: I go turn one trinisphere. The turn two blood moon. We laugh somemore, talk about the meta in Hadley, an Andy Stok’s janky never ending disk deck.

2-1, 1-1

Round 3: Sam Antill (abhorson15) w/ Gro-a-Fro
Sam is our resident Team Hadley Ninja, along with being an all around kool kid. We do a good amount of testing, so I know what he’s playing, and I know that most of my deck wrecks him.
Game 1: He forces turn one trinisphere. I then drop a stack and a wire next turn. Welder soon joins the party, along with a chalice for two. I win.
Game 2: He drains a chalice for two into two dryads and a damping matrix. I had discarded a slaver and a titan into the yard with a welder on the board. I’m not too concerened as I soon after drop chalice for two, trinisphere, tinker for P. Angel, and play a trisk. Sam doesn’t see a third land after I drop trinisphere, so he can’t pump up his dryads. I find a R&R before he finds a third mana source. Game.

2-0, 2-1

Round 4: Andy Stok w/ Never ending Nev’s Disk (mine name for it).
He uses some ripple card and darksteel citadel to continuously disk the board. Problem is, my deck likes playing against blue cards.
Game 1: He mana leaks my early sphere of resistance. I then drop a trinisphere, which he has no answer for, and a chalice for two shortly thereafter. He scoops to chalice.
Game 2: I get chalice for 2, jar, welder, titan beats, trinisphere, and a wire within the first three turns due to uber-brokeness. He never gets over three lands thanks to the 7/10 beast.

2-0, 3-1

Round 5: Justin Zheng w/ FCG
This is an awful matchup for me. Justin is the top 3-0-1, and everyone is sure that even if he scoops to me he’ll make it. He’d either play or draw, but drawing may keep me out as I have the second worst brakers of the 3-1's. So I play.
Game 1: He goes turn one mox-lotus-lackey double piledriver. Screw that.
Game 2: I play a bunch of high casting cost stuff, mainly double trisk and p.angel. I win this one.
Game 3: I go volc-ancestral, and don’t see a second land. He first turn wastes. I’m too slow downed by not having the mana to make a comeback, and ringleaders do me in.

1-2, 3-2

So I just barely miss making the t8. Handshakes and “Good try”’s around from other Hadley members. Uber brokeness from goblins is evil. Fortunately since I lost my best friend got in, and ended up nabbing 2nd with Ninja Mask (getting him a berserk). Mad props loren.

Overall a fun tourney. Not too many showed up. Kowal ran it well. I especially liked when some kid didn’t understand the mask text, and ben straddles the high wire, blindfolded through a ring of flame, and recites to him anything and everything oracle has written on the card.

Notes on Cards: I don’t know why people DON’T play frantic search. It’s so good. Karn didn’t make a good showing, but then again I think I only played him once all day.

That’s all. Hope this was a good read.

[jazzykat]

Well I am glad you posted this deck, I think it is a kick in the balls to control and at least the tendrils decks, maybe dragon. I am sorry that you were not able to t8, I actually thought you were going to take it all.

[Nantuko Rice]

Hey... my names Jason not Justin. Ugh, why does everyone do that.

I agree, frantic search is a great card. Especially since you have welder and stuff out. It's like a free thirst.

You forgot to mention in game 2 of our match, i mulll to 6, you cut my ddeck and I draw the uber-broken hand again but the sphere you had was enough to stop me from going crazy. And then I played something stupid when I should've R&R'ed.

I could've made top 8 if I gave you win, that is true (possibly with slim chance of me not making it). And I was stupid for not doing so. It had come down to either you or your friend Loren was going to make top 8. I shoulda let you in instead of your friend. See, if you told me he was playing Ninja Mask, the deck that FCG dies too, I woulda given you the win.

And so since I was a jerk, entering the top 8, my first matchup was againt Ninja Mask and I die.. (i'm writing a reportl ater, got a type 2 to go to today... I hate type 2 but I wanna play my piledrivers as much as possible since they're so fun   ) .. or we coulda drawn even though I won, which is what I shoulda did. That would have increased my chances of playing the other people who had 11 points... sui or something else.

[Kowal]

Lots of shit dies to Ninja, yo.

...Like everyone at Hadley, in one point or another.

Caleb, you mistyped game three.  I was watching since it was the only match that actually mattered for T8 purposes, and here's what went down...

Caleb's opening ancestral finds him moxes but his hand is kinda ballsack.
Jason poops out a first turn Lackey.
Caleb drops a workshop and some stuff that isn't Tangle Wire, and Jason wastes the shop and swings to put a Siege Gang in play.

The game pretty much ended there.

[Smmenen]

How did you get away with playing that deck without Mishra's Workshop?

Steve

[RoadTrippin]

It adds up to 57, he mentioned it's over 60- it makes sense there are 4 shops there, especially if you look at the # of mana sources. Not being an ass, just trying to avoid confusion.

[Diakonov]

Hey, great job Caleb, I was rooting for you the whole time.  Steve (Grand Inquisitor) and I were testing the deck a few weeks ago and found that Ancient Tomb was almost always a nice draw.  Nearly ensures a first turn Trinisphere every time you have it (not like it was very bad odds to begin with), and still provides a lot of mana for stuff like Thirst when there's a Rod on the table.

[MadManiac21]

My mistake Steve; I forgot to type in the workshops in my sunday morning hour-of-lost-sleep haze.

@Matt: I totally agree with the arguement for the ancient tombs, and I know Smmennen would scold me for not running them. I claim that the only ones I owned were recently sold in a small collection I got rid of, and at the time of the tournament I was looking for more important cards... name a 3sphere, chalice, some thirsts, and a couple pieces of power. It definately helps get around rod. I'll throw some into this as soon as I fine them; I'm sure testing will show they are gold, as life isn't all that big to this deck.

@Ben: He never found a siege-gang. He kept casting ringleaders, and them daming his luck at not finding one. I recall after his 3rd (!!!) ringleader he smashed his deck in frustration, calling forth all the powers that be to bring him a gang-banger. He then realized he had lethal damage and swung anyways. But yea, recall got me no brokeness, which doesn't make sense, as that is all this deck is.

[Danzig]

What car do you drive that does donuts?

[MadManiac21]

My friend brian drives a souped up 1990 Honda CRX with a b18c, exhaust, AEM cold intake, chameleon paint job, etc.  He let me do some loops cause he didn't have the nuts to piss the people off.

It's small, fast, loud. That's all I know.

[Nantuko Rice]

no game 3 was like...

waste yur tropical
mountain prospector
into a warchief next turn
then lackey
then ringleaders and .......

[factorx]

Off topic:
Civics are gay and for people who cant handle real power, B18c's are for cars that are worth driving, especially type r b18c's.  

On topic:
Now I understand why you guys were trying to calculate the results before actually playing.  In the end, it was better that you just played anyway.  I like the build caleb, i was playing a similiar deck and placed 11th.