This was actually my first large T1 tournament (100+ people) and I wanted to complement Ray on a job well done; even though my friends went a combined 10-18 in matches, they still had a great time.
As for the pretourney stuff, I didn't really do anything besides help a friend with a Gay/r deck. He realized when we got there that he actually didn't have any of the cards, and played Elfclamp instead.
So, without further ado:
Round 1 vs Tariq with HulkDie Roll: Him
Game 1: He started with a first turn Ancestral Recall; I Forced, but he Forced back. He dropped a Mox off the Ancestrall, and passed the turn. I laid Volcanic Island, then a Factory on my next turn and started taking bites out of his life total. He Regrowthed his Ancestral then Time Walked, and Dropped a Lotus. He took the Walk turn, dropped 'Tog, go. On his next turn, he sacs the Lotus and Twists my entire hand, Misdirecting my Force of Will. He dropped his 3rd Mox and Yawgmoth's Willed for Ancestral -> Time Walk -> AK for 3 -> AK for 2, and I conceded.
Me: 20 Concede
Him: 19 17 16 14 13 11
Game 2: I keep a questionable hand with Wasteland, Faerie Conclave, Mox Pearl, Ancestral, Misdirection, Factory, and Drain. I lay the Conclave, but he Duresses the Ancestral. He drops some Jewelry then Mind Twists a couple turns later, catching me with my pants down. I'm left with Volcanic Island as my only card in hand. I topdecked Maze of Ith, but he stripped it and laid a 'Tog. He dropped a Deed to stop my manlands from taking him out, then Yawgmoth's Willed for plenty of damage before I could swing with my Conclave for the win.
Me: 20 19 Concede
Him: 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 7 5 3 2 1
0-2, 0-1
Round 2 vs. Gary? (TMD - Doomhed) with SlaverDie Roll: Me
Game 1: He laid a first turn Library, which really scared me. I dropped an Island, then attempted to Stifle his fetch (which he FOWed). He laid a second land, then cast Ancestral which was Misdirected, which basically ended the match. He managed to get a Platinum Angel, but I Disked it away. 4 soldiers cycled off a Decree of Justice ended the game.
Me: 20
Him: 20 19 14 10 6 5 4 0
Game 2: He managed to get an early Welder, which turned his Mox into a Pentavus off a Thirst for Knowledge. I dropped a Disk off a Mox on turn 3, and he swung with Pentavites + a Welder to bring me to 13 before I blew up his board. I made 4 soldiers off a Lotus and Decree, and he conceded soon after.
Me: 20 14 13
Him: 20 19 18 14 13 9 5 Concede
2-2, 1-1
Round 3 vs. ??? with Control SlaverDie Roll: Me
Game 1: I go aggro mode, beating him down to 9 with a Mishra's Factory. I kept my hand full with Standstills, while he goes to 2 or 3 cards in hand. I drained a Thirst for Knowledge, but he dropped a Welder (which I Forced) and a Slaver. He Slavered, playing Standstill, breaking it with Standstill, breaking that with a Swords directed at a Factory, and Misdirected (pitching Force) at my other Factory. Needless to say, I conceded.
Me: 20 19 Concede
Him: 20 18 16 14 13 11 9
Game 2: I beat him to 9 again with a Factory, but I don't draw enough counterspells to handle his threats. He goes infinite after a Yawgmoth's Will for double Welder. I concede again.
Me: 20 19 Concede
Him: 20 18 17 15 14 12 10 9
2-4, 1-2
Round 4 vs. James with Mono Green BeatsDie Roll: Me
Game 1: He dropped some elves early on, and a Winter Orb with me tapped out. I untapped enough lands to Disk his board away. I Drained his 2nd Winter Orb into 3 Angels with the help of a Lotus and won with an alpha strike of manlands.
Me: 20 19 18 17
Him: 20 18 14 0
Game 2: I get 3 Factories and a Maze of Ith to take care of his creatures, and Annulled two Winter Orbs. I drop 2 Angels, and he can't take care of my man lands plus the fliers.
Me: 20 19 18
Him: 20 16 12 16 2 0
4-4, 2-2
Round 5 vs. Nick with StackerDie Roll: Me
Game 1: I handled his early threats, Swords taking out his Juggernaut and his Metalworker. I Disk away his mana and Drain a Trike off a Grim Monolith + Mishra's Workshop, which resulted in 6 Soldiers. I wasted the Factory, and took him out with Soldiers and a Conclave.
Me: 20 19 18 17
Him: 20 18 23 24 18 10 2 0
Game 2: HE dropped a Juggernaut and Su-Chi off a Workshop Mox start, but I have a Lotus which results in a turn 2 Disk, and a Maze of Ith on my side of the table. I Maze the Juggernaut but take 4 from Su-Chi, then Disk away everything. I Annul two Juggernauts and Drain a Trike. Factory and Conclave go all the way.
Me: 20 19 18 14 11
Him: 20 18 14 12 10 8 6 2
6-4, 3-2
Round 6 vs. David with Sui BlackDie Roll: Him
Game 1: He starts out quickly, using Sinkhole to take out my early Library of Alexandria before it gets active. I misdirect the next Sinkhole, and Drain a Hypnotic Specter to make 2 Angels, which swing for the win.
Me: 20 18 17
Him: 20 12 4 0
Game 2: He starts quickly with Ritual -> Negator which I force, followed by Wasteland on my only blue source. I hit him with a Factory a couple times, but I can't come up with a colored source to deal with his stuff. He drops a Negator, then a Hippie, and I concede at 10 life.
Me: 20 19 14 12 10 Concede
Him: 20 18 17 16 14 13
Game 3: He starts quickly again with Ritual -> Hippie, but I Force it and drop a Factory. He tries again with Ritual -> Negator, but I Force a second time. He tries to Hymn to Tourach, but I Misdirect, and I hit him with a pair of Factories and a Conclave until he dies.
Me: 20 19 18
Him: 20 18 16 14 12 9 5 0
8-5, 4-2
Round 7 vs. ??? with GATDie Roll: Me
Game 1: I start by attempting to Stifle his Fetch, but he Forces. He Duresses me, taking Standstill. We have a counterwar when he drops a Dryad (which he wins) but he's left with no cards in hand. We trade damage for a bit (my Factory and his Dryad) when I drop a Standstill. We continue to trade damage, and he eventually breaks my Standstill with a Brainstorm. He plays Yawgmoth's Will, but I Swords the Dryad in response then Drain the Will. Factores go all the way.
Me: 19 18 17 16 15 14 11
Him: 19 18 16 14 12 10 8 7 8 7 2 0
Game 2: He starts out strong with turn 1 and 2 Duress, taking Force of Will. I topdeck Standstill and drop it. Again, we have a counterwar over Dryad (which he wins again) but he only has one card in hand. I waste two Lands, and drop another Standstill. Factory beats him for a little bit, and he wishes for Fact or Fiction. I Drain it, he Forces, and I REB the Force. I Decree for 2 Angels for the win.
Me: 20 19 18 17
Him: 20 19 17 15 13 12 4 0
10-5, 5-2
Round 8 vs. Andrew (TMD - Boas and Apes) with Oshawa StompyDie Roll: Him
Game 1:He starts quickly with a Turn 1 Wild Mongrel off a Lotus, and a Rootwalla to prevent from taking burn. I swords the Mongrel, and counter two more. I drop a Standstill, and he breaks it with a Hidden Gibbons. I drop a Disk to take care of the Gibbons another creature. After a couple turns of swinging with a Rootwalla, he gets Squee x3 / Bazaar of Baghdad going. He gets enough card advantage to overwhelm me with threats.
Me: 20 19 18 17 16 13 10 9 6 5 3 2 0
Him: 20 22
Game 2: He mulls to 6, and lays a second turn Bazaar. I manage to Waste it, but he drops Gibbons. I get a Standstill out, and he breaks it with a Null Rod, which I Drain. I cycle Decree of Justice for 2 Angels and they go all the way.
Me: 20 19 17 15 14 13
Him: 20 19 18 15 12 8 4 0
Game 3: Game 3 was one of the craziest games I've ever played. We have about 5 minutes left, so we're both just tossing out threats all over the place. He starts off with a Mox Emerald, Forest, Mongrel, and lays an Arrogant second turn. I take hits from it for a while and Disk his stuff away. He gets the Survival chain going; the only creatures that I let him resolve are a Hidden Gibbons and a Mongrel, and he ends up hardcasting ESG (one of the last creatures in his deck). I drain something into 3 4/4 Angels, and trade with his Gibbons. I swing for 8, then play Decree for another 4/4. I swing with all 3 of my 4/4s, block his lone mongrel with my Mishra's Factory, and swing for the win on the 4th extra turn.
Me: 16 10 8 7 4 2 1
Him: 24 26 18 6 0
12-6, 6-2
So I miss Top16 on tiebreakers
and I get two Darksteel packs. It was annoying since I faced Slaver / Tog / Slaver for my first three games, while I expected aggro pairings early and control pairings late, not the opposite.
Anyway, hopefully I'll get to play for power next time.
Props:
-Ray, for a great tournament / first experience
-Insane prize support
-Decree of Justice
Slops:
-My friend James for being the luckiest kid on the earth. (He looks at a kid's foil Pristine Angel, decides he likes it, buys a SINGLE pack, and pulls a foil Pristine.
) Today he manages to get second to last place and STILL win the foreign Abyss.
-Genesis Chamber, for being in my Darkstill pack.
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I played UWr Landstill, which performed pretty well later in the day:
// Mana Sources (28)
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
3 Volcanic Island
3 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Faerie Conclave
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
// Card Drawing (5)
4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall
// Countermagic (11)
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Misdirection
// Utility (6)
2 Decree of Justice
4 Stifle
// Removal (10)
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Fire/Ice
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
// Sideboard (15)
4 REB
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Annul
3 Maze of Ith
2 Teferi's Response
A couple things about the deck:
- White is good. Honestly, it's really good. Decree of Justice can speed up Landstill's clock so that it can actually win on time, and Swords to Plowshares is obviously awesome.
- Stifles are really, really good. Honestly, they're useful in every situation. They've saved me more than once against Oshawa by either a) Stifling Madness creatures or b) Stifling the Troll Ascetic's regeneration ability. I'm trying to fit 4 in all my Landstill builds.
- The mana base was great, considering how shaky it looks. It's nice to run 3 Fetches, and I found that running 4 Volcanics / 2 Fetches and 3 Volcanics / 3 Fetches feels about the same, except you can get Tundras if need be. I only saw Blood Moons once, and I Annulled it before it hit the board.
- Annul is also awesome. I'm honestly thinking about maindecking it, possibly in quantities of 1 or (most likely) 2. They take out Blood Moons, Slavers, even Moxen if you're desperate.
Anyway, thanks for reading my report, and if you have any suggestions for the deck (or my playing) please let me know.
