[Report] 1st place with Control Slaver in Tucson 4-28-04

[KSesler]

Here is my report of a tournament I won in Tucson, Arizona on 4-28-04 at Kards4you, a Sports Card/Magic Card shop just north of the University of Arizona.

It was my 37th tournament victory (36 were Type I), although most of those wins occured before I "unretired" from a 7 year hiatus.

Here is the deck that I played, with explanations:

Land (17)
3 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
4 Island
1 Mountain
1 LOA
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Flooded Strand

Mana-Producing Artifacts (9)
5 Mox
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus

Blue (21)
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
2 Cunning Wish
4 FOW
4 Mana Drain
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker

Black (2)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Red Spells (5)
4 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman

Multi (1)
1 Fire/Ice

non-mana Artifacts (5)
1 Memory Jar
2 Mindslaver
2 Pentavus

SB:
1 BEB
2 Blood Moon
1 Duplicant
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Fire/Ice
2 FTK
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Rack and Ruin
3 REB
1 Tormod's Crypt

Notes on the Deck:

When I started playing this deck a few weeks ago, I noticed that the deck was a bit light in red mana, which is needed for the Welders and much of the Sideboard Cards.

One of the people I playtest with runs Keeper, which made this weakness of the deck very visible.
He quickly learned to use his 5 strip effects to attack my 4 volcanics, and his 2 MD Shamans wreaked havoc on much of the artifact mana.

At first, I tried to counter this by adding 2 Shivan Reefs, but that did not help much, as I would only get one use out of those too before they were wasted.

One other problem I noticed with the deck was that it seemed light on mana in general.

The solution I finally came upon was to replace one of the 4 fetchlands with a basic mountain.
This gave me a reliable, unwastable red source of mana, and it has seemed to help.

The Tolarian Academy was just a throw in prior to the tournament in place of one of the islands.
It proved to be an MVP, giving me tons of mana, especially with all the Pentavites I was able to keep in play.

Pre-Tournmanent Commentary:
While the tournament was in Tucson, I live in work in Phoenix.
So, I left work around 4:30pm for the two hour drive to Tucson.

For those who have not driven it, this is one of the most boring stretches of road in the country (and I have driven throughout all 50 states).
The "highlights" of the trip are the Ostrich farm and the collection of odd 'artwork' in one spot along the way.

The Tournament:
There were 14 people at the tournament.
This store does not allow proxies, but the majority of the decks had at least some power.
Price to enter was cheap $2, and store sold cold pop for 50 cents/can to the players.

The Matchups:

Round 1 vs Sui Black (David)
David's deck featured 4 Juzams, 4 Negators, 4 Shades, 4 Hippies, Lotus, Jet, and various standard SUI cards.

Game 1:
I played first and got out a land and a couple of artifact mana.
In successive turns, David played a Negator, Juzam, and a Shade, all of which were Mana Drained or FOWed.
Eventually I got out Welder and Pentavus, and just won.

Sideboard after Game 1:
In: Fire, 2 FTK
Out: 2 Cunning, Jar

Game 2:
Game 2 was tighter as he was able to resolve a Negator.

He got me down to 5 life, but lost all of his permanents except the negator along the way.
I had a welder out, and he chose not to attack.
I got a time walk and Pentavus out next turn, did stupid welder tricks with a Mindslaver in the graveyard, and just won.

Matches 1-0 Games 2-0

Round 2: Mickey playing Tog
Mickey had a fully powered Tog deck, which carried a couple of wastelands. He is a grad student at U of A, and was a very pleasant person.

Game 1:
I cast a mindslaver, he counters, I bring it back with Welder, and do silly things following turn.  My win follows shortly after.

Sideboard changes:
In: 3 REB, 1 FOF, 2 Blood Moon, 1 Tormod's
Out: 2 wish, fire, jar, vault, pentavus

Game 2:
He resolves a late game Tog and wins

Game 3:
Blood Moon resolves. I win
Games 2-1
Matches 2-0

Round 3 vs Slivers
Not much of interest to discuss here.
I ended up with armies of Pentavites and won both games handily

Round 4 vs Sligh:
Cursed Scrolls, burn, mogg Fanatics, Pups, firestorm, etc.

Game 1:
He gets me down to 8 before Pentavites/Welder/Mindslavers go to work

Sideboard:
In: 2 FTK, Fire, BEB
Out: 2 cunning, crypt, Jar

Game 2:
I get a slow start, and he gets me down to 1 eventually.
FTKs beat him down to 0.
Matches 3-0 Games 2-0

At this point, final four determined.

Round 5: Same Sligh guy
Game 1: Nothing terribly exciting here. He gets me down to 2 before infinite mindslaver/welder/pentavites kick in

Game 2: Game 2 was rather amusing.
I mindslaved him, and he fired off his instants for me.
He has a whole bunch of mountains, but not much else.
I draw a chain lightning for him.
I chain him, then use 5 mountains and a Ruby to chain him 3 more times for 12 damage.
Next turn, I Yawgmoths' Will, and have a ton of mana, partially due to the Tolarian.
I play 2 welders from my graveyard, then 2 FTKs (targeting the welders), then a shaman, and timewalk. 9 damage next turn and game over.


Round 6:
I am in the final round against my round 1 opponent, the SUI deck.
David concedes on the spot, and tournament came to an abrupt end.

Somewhat anticlimatic, but a win is a win.

Summary:
FTKs were very useful against Sui and Sligh.
Tolarian Academy allowed me to accelerate my game.
5th Red Mana Source (Mountain) proved useful, and I was only light on mana one game whole night.

[Eddie]

Congrats on the win.

I've also been trying out a basic mountain. Yes, it is a great red source. It can't be wasted and back to basics does not affect it. But there's just one big problem with it: it doesn't produce blue mana. No really, a lot of times I had the mountain out, I just wished it could produce blue. I've been more colour screwed with it than without it. Shivan reef is a better option than the mountain.

Also, I'm testing with 5 blue fetches at the moment. This helps to play around the problem instead of solving it the hard way. Keep the fetch on the board until you need the red mana. Don't just sac it right away. This may all seem very basic to some, but I've seen a lot of people saccing their fetches when there is no need to, making them vulnerable to wasteland and other. Just sac it when you need to resolve a red spell. It doesn't matter that much if it is destroyed afterwards.

The basic mountain is not bad, but not good enough in my opinion. It only will be when wizards decides to print blue-red fetches.

[KSesler]

Eddie:
I tried the Reefs for a bit, but just wasn't satisfied with them.
Currently, the mountain is providing much better results.
Further playtestesting may change that, but it stays in for now.

You are right that some people do not know how to use the fetchlands properly.  

Eventually, they will learn the hard way through the consequences of their play mistakes, and it will finally sink in with them.

[yodoblec]

Was that little damage doing that much?

[Eddie]

It's not the damage, it's the vulnerability of the reefs.

[Machinus]

Great report, I enjoyed reading it. I am interested to know if the Tog matchup was close, or if you felt like the build was outdated.

[KSesler]

Machinus:

Yes, the Tog build was a bit outdated.
For starters, he had no Mana Crypt and no Deep Analysis.

He also was too quick to play a Pernicious Deed against me game three.
I was holding a threat in my hand, and waited to play it until after he used the deed. This may have cost him the game.

In general, though, Control Slaver seems to do very good vs. Tog.
One of my playtest group members plays a build with 2 Deep Analysis and a Crypt, very close to Smemmens' build.
Post-sideboard, I win at least 3 out of 4, and I win over 50% pre-sideboard.

[The Atog Lord]

Congratulations. I'm currently running six Islands in my build, but getting an additional red source would be nice. My first inclination would be to try a 5th fetchland, becaue they are excellent with Brainstorm.

In general, Control Slaver should beat Tog most of the time. In the hands of a skilled player, however, a Tog build tuned against Control Slaver can bring the matchup to about even.

[jazzykat]

This was my manabase for the past waterbury:
4 Islands
4 Volcanics
1 Shivan Reef
1 LOA
4 Polluted Deltas
2 Underground Seas


I encountered minimal strips and was running only 3 brainstorms. I played with 2 mox monkeys to actively break other peoples mana. The mana base was excellent as with 25 mana sources there were times when I drew too many land.

I believe that as long as you don't face stifles as well as strips(ie most keeper builds) you should be fine if you are smart about your fetches. If you see stifles as well, then you need the 26th mana source which I think should be a fetch.

I still play blood moon against tog and gat with impunity because I usually have 1 basic island to play my draw while they are fucked. I just pitch my drains to forces, and casting welders becomes a non issue :B

Then again I wonder if I play the deck right sometimes because I sometimes tinker for an early pentabus and wreck someone. With force and drain protection.

Anyway, Good job with first place!

[The Atog Lord]

Then again I wonder if I play the deck right sometimes because I sometimes tinker for an early pentabus and wreck someone. With force and drain protection.

This is often the best way to play the deck.

[CrazyCarl]

They don't fetch basic islands obv, but how about Bloodstained Mire instead of blue fetches?  Gets your basic mountain(more important than island probably) and all of your duals.

just a thought

[Eddie]

They don't fetch basic islands obv, but how about Bloodstained Mire instead of blue fetches? Gets your basic mountain(more important than island probably) and all of your duals.

Problem is that you need those islands in a lot of matchups. Certainly when you are playing Blood moons in the side. The idea isn't that bad. I'm going to try out a mixture of fetches. 2 blue based and 2 red based and a basic mountain instead of my shivan reef.

[KSesler]

Carl:
That is a good idea.
Instead of having my fetched Volcanic Island get only one use before it is wasted, I would have a mountain that would stick around longer to use for more welders, rebs, or BM in future turns.

If Blood moon is already on the table, my blue based fetches aren't going to fetch me any basic islands anyhow.

[The Atog Lord]

Carl,

Very clever idea. Granted, I'm not sure that a basic mountain should be included that all. If a basic mountain is to be included in the deck, then that would seem the best way to include it. Having a basic mountain without any way to fetch it makes little sense, but this could make the idea work.

[KSesler]

After further testing, I have changed my mind about the use of Mountain.

It DOES definitely help in the Keeper matchup, and sometimes in games against other decks.
However, it is the SOMETIMES that bothers me.

Control Slaver tends to be a somewhat inconsistent deck, and the Mountain has made it a bit more inconsistent.
(Ex: Mountain in hand along with a bunch of blue cards, when a fetchland would better smooth the manabase to fit my hand).

Since consistency is a GOOD thing in Magic, I have changed my land mix to the more traditional:

Land (17)
3 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
4 Island
1 LOA
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Flooded Strand

Other thoughts:
I am considering replacing the Memory Jar with Windfall.
Windfall is 2 mana cheaper than the Jar, meaning I can cast it more quickly and protect the casting of spell with a counter more easily.
Also, it pitches to FOW when needed.
I would appreciate any thoughts on this.

Sideboard Thoughts:
It would be nice to have some mass removal in the deck, especially against Food Chain Goblins, a deck that shows up everywhere.
My two thoughts were:
Starstorm may be an option: Getting the 2 Red not a problem against many decks.

Thoughts?

[The Atog Lord]

I've been satisfied with Memory Jar myself, though I do board it out in many matchups. Cutting it from the deck could certainly be justified; still, its ability to allow the deck to do broken things has kept it in my build thusfar.

If I were to bring another card drawing card into the deck, it would be Fact or Fiction. Unlike Windfall, it benefits only you. Also, Windfall is better in decks that empty their hand. Further, it has been very strong in my testing so far.

[KSesler]

Atog Lord:

Regarding Fact or Fiction:
How about cutting one of the 2 MD Cunning Wish for a MD Fact or Fiction?

With all of the FTKs, Blood Moons, etc., in my sideboard, I have far fewer wishable sideboard targets than a deck such as Keeper.

[Alandovos]

Here's the reply I sent to Keith when he asked me offline, specfically he asked vs FCG (which I play):

Starstorm is the winner in my mind, but thinking about it I see arguments for both.

Speed - Starstorm
Starstorm - Instant.  You can use it on an opponent's turn.  When you absolutely need something dead it cost 2 + damage.

Masticore - Creature.  Only use on your turn plus killing ONLY A SINGLE ONE TOUGHNESS CREATURE costs 7 when you really need it done.   Or if you tinker/weld it out you're still looking at 2/4 to kill a single creature you
really want dead.

"Deadness" - Tie
Starstorm - cycle if they did a transformational sideboard on you
Masticore - I've heard swinging for 5 is good

Tutorability - Starstorm (only because you can get it game 1)

Hate - Starstorm
Starstorm - In response what does FCG do other than die?
Masticore - Sharpshooter, Incinerator, RnR, Shattering pulse, Artifact Mutation, do I need to go on?

Negative impact to your gameplan - ???
Starstorm - Ooops your welders/pentavites die
Masticore - Don't you want to be tinkering/welding a mindslaver?

Hope that helps, I've changed my mind on this a number of times while crafting a resposne.

Zach

[jazzykat]

RE: Memory Jar
Hmmm...cutting a welderable,and tinkerable draw 7. Not me, not ever!

Windfall is cute, by why not wheel of fortune first?

RE: Starstorm
Interesting, Ihave a firestorm in my board to deal with FCG and other beat down decks. It also helps to put fat in the yard.

The only problem I see with firestorm is it kills your welders
Otherwise it is probably wicked card advantage and I am thinking of trying it actually. Welders be damned!!!! In the face of a beat down army.

I think others have tried the academy and with the amound of welding you want to do, I am not sure how good it really is.

[Garth One Eye]

There are two valid schools of thought regarding the Academy; I tend agree with Keith's take due to the fact that with the Pentavus it can create sick amounts of mana and break open a lot of games.  Plus it prevents your opponet from playing theirs, and it is another target for Strip/Waste (so you have a better chance of keeping LOA on the board).