[Report] FCG in East Hartford 5/2/4

[Nantuko Rice]

Although I did say I was quitting Magic after I won a lotus, I changed my goal. I got to collect every power card. No, I must win every power card and then quit (preferably in order or greatest to least).

Last week I was extremely lucky, like I usually am but unfortunately there were others today who had better karmic values. Karma plays a big role in Magic games (i'm actually atheist though).

Karma: No, not the white weenie card that shuits down suicide black. The balance of good and bad deeds in your life that justify good/bad actions later on.

The Deck: FCG, this time without vandals and 2 prospectors instead (still no sharpshooter). For some reason artifact decks have vanished. I don't see workshops anymore when I am expecting to see tons. Oh well. With prospector or vandal, I saw no real difference. I played prospector like twice the whole day. It was useful once when I was in the top 8 and it didn't have much of a difference.

 = = =

Round 1: John the Greek of OMNI (tendrils)
Game 1: He has xantid swarm out, Tinkers into a memory jar. Force of WIlls my food chain with another force when he could have hardcasted it. "I capitalize on his mistakes" I play a second Food Chain. Up to this point all I've done was play lands while he's been drawing 7 and doing tons of stuff. The turn after my Food Chain resolves, I go crazy on him. Afterwards we also realize he forgot to take a time walk turn.
Game 2: He Time Walks. I go lackey. He wins on turn 2.
Game 3: I mull to 6 and then to 5. I go mountain lackey. He casts a Vampiric I think and I say "Oh boy, Jar" but he grabs a timetwister thus completely negating that I mulliganed to 5 by giving me a new hand. I swing with lackey and on his turn he plays diminishing returns. I REB. Swing for lethal next turn.

John signs one of my goblin tokens. Yay.

I because of Karma. I offer to keep track of his mana for him because I noticed he wasn't and I let him take back a Dark Ritual even though he casted it but he wanted to take it back. He admits afterwards that all my niceness and generosity was to overwhelming for him and making him nervous. Be the nice player and you are rewarded.

Round 2: Kyle with Kee....Error. Repair. Kyle is relieved that he doesn't play FCG but I tell him that Heeper has a really good matchup against FCG. He doesn't believe me. Ok..... fine.

Round 2: Kenton (UWR Landstill)
Game 1: Lotus chief mountain lackey. Drops a factory and mox. Incinerator owns factory because it has summoning sickness. I try to incinerate another factory but he stifles it. I use Goblin Tinkerer to eat his factory. Muahahaha. Let's see Mox Monkey eat a Factory.
Game 2: I REB his Standstill. He mystical tutors very early on for a balance which he doesn't play until ten turns later. I have two lackeys against his lone factory and swing. Warchief comes out. He finally balances after I play a recruiter. I keep a tinkerer in my hand and he has to sac stuff. The next two turns I kill his artifacts with Tinkerer while he counters both of my drivers. I play another Goblin Tinkerer and eat two disks. We're both in topdeck mode. At one point I have twice as many lands as he does. I look at his graveyard three times before wasting his two tundras and breaking standstill. I play a ringleader, he counters, I blast. Ringleader with haste swings for the win.

Kenton starts to sign a Goblin token, then he rips it up into 100000000 pieces. karma prevails again..... Yeah... seee.... it was fate that Kenton would rip up my goblin... so that's why he lost..... yeah..... or maybe he commits more evil acts than I do and thus has a lower Karmic level.

Round 3: Pete (STD's....Show & Tell Deck)
We playtested wednesday and were coming up 50-50. We are pretty suure that 3-0-2 can make top 8 so we ID.

Round 4: Jay Buda (Gro)
When we playtested wednesday, I was trying other budget decks that got wrecked. Let's see how FCG does. (note: we had the entire Team Dubya in the to pseats and comments such as the following could be heard "We make it on top and then start screwing each other. Oh god why do you have to go so deep")
Game 1: FCG combos out for the kill. I went really deep... into the deck.
Game 2: Wastelands own. Next we have a dispute about who is luckier, Me or Jay. Apparently I am.

jay signs a token and then keeps it. Jerk.

Round 5: Micah (urphid with tinker/colossus)
ID. We also playtested wednesday and were doing 50-50. The games where he got colossus out 2nd turn he usually won. he gets out colossus pretty often.

Top 8: Micah (3-0-2) and I make top 8 (3-0-2). pete comes in 9th with (2-0-3) or something like that. Jay loses to 'Mono Green Beatdown.' We laugh at him. Another friend, Henry, playing Gay/R unfortunately draws with Dan Richardson (also playing fish) in round 5 so now neither one makes it. That was quite surprising. Fish vs Fish should be faster one would think.
 
Top 8 Round 1: Matrix (Humility Keeper)
Game 1: I win die roll. Lackey gets swords. Food Chain is drained. Second Chain is forced. He drops a humility vs my 3 now 1/1 goblins. He plays a scepter with swords. Turn after turn I drop goblins (1/1's). I swing for three and he can only remove one per turn. He goes down to 5. I miss a goblin drop and then he fires my men and swords the remaining. Curses. Matrix has 4 cards left in his library and I have 6 goblins in my hand. I can hold off right? I'm at 24 life. He decrees for 8, I play my 6 men. he decrees again and has 3 cards left in his library. Curses.
Game 2: I get the feeling that Matrix is an incredibly nice guy. His karmicl evel must be much greater than mine. I need to boost mine up to match his. I offer to buy people drinks. I get a friend a drink and then we sit down for the next game. people are astonished as he mulligans and then keeps a janky hand. I win .... cause of Karma. yay.
Game 3: I waste his library, then I give up on taking notes because I bring out an onslaught of men that he just murders. I try to do the "mini-combo" with Prospector and no Food Chain out. He forces my warchief and I know he has a mana drain in hand from mystical tutor. I sac my men to play 2 piledrivers. They get plowed. I sit there and cry since at this point I've lost most of my goblins.

Matrix goes on to win the tournament. So I was right. He must have saved a bus full of nuns or something right before the tournament. I know I did when I went to Waterbury.

All-in-all.... it was a good day and FCG has proven itself again by top 8ing. Ok, so maybe it's luck. But I'm poor and I play budget. We'll see what I bring next time.

[InZane]

it was some really good reading... i have a friend that are going to play FCG in the swedish championship so i think it's nice to read about the deck...=)

[dmessiah]

Nantuko, it could just be me, but having people you beat signing your goblin tokens might be a little condescending or insulting.  I'm not sure everyone would feel this way, but I'm not surprised someone tore up one token and someone else stole another.  It's not something I would ask anyone to do if I expected pleasentness.

[Nantuko Rice]

Well, whether I lose or win, I ask people to sign one. It's not as if I only ask people to sign if I win (I forgot to include that I had Matrix sign one after he kicked my ass). I've met people who had me sign Savage Beatings, people who have Transcedences. Both of the people I knew though. Kenton I see regularly but don't know very well, and I'm on the same team as Jay. Oh, and they're not real special goblin tokens. They're Goblin Strikers that I picked up from drafts lol.

[Ivantheterrible]

Another friend, Henry, playing Gay/R unfortunately draws with Dan Richardson (also playing fish) in round 5 so now neither one makes it. That was quite surprising. Fish vs Fish should be faster one would think.

You obviously haven't seen Dan Richardson play all that much. He's really slow.

Anyway

Congrats on top 8 oh- well guesse you can't win them all, having troble having first turn lacky every game I guesse.

[dmessiah]

Eh, well, if you have everyone sign them, I guess that isn't so bad.  But you might want to tell the people you beat that so they don't tear up your precious 1/1 haste first strike for 2 (phear!).  God I hate those things in draft - they turn up all over the place.  At least someone is putting them to use.

[Morpheus31]

Good playing but there is nothing you can do about humility.  If humility becomes more pop then the deck might have to sb naturalize but i dont expect thaat to happen.  
Good report.  Try out sharpshooter it allows you to win after you attack.  Sometimes you attack with lacky and you can drop a recruter and you draw into the nuts. this is another reason why you would play prospector.  
Ex:
u drop lacky turn 1
u attack on turn 2 drop rinleader or recruter.
If you have a food chain in your hand then u can play it and go off.
if u drop ringleader and draw into recruter and ringleader and have a food chain the u can play it.
If you drop a recruter and have a ringleader then u can win with sharpshooter on that turn.  that turn could be important if you play against combo.
Sorry to ramble but just trying to voice my opinion

[Pern]

You obviously haven't seen Dan Richardson play all that much. He's really slow.

True that.

Game one I came from way behind with a single Firewalker.
Game two he got three Grims and it was over pretty quickly.
Game three turn five I had two active pingers on the table to his none,
but I could only get him down to 1 life.
I saw a distinct lack of Fire all match.

So it goes.

Nice job again, Jason.
Game one you very nearly beat him right through the Humility.

[Nantuko Rice]

Thanks, I was really hoping to beat him too

Hmmm... he had 16 soldiers and I was at 18. he had 3 cards left in his library. I trade my 6 for his 6, i would go down to 8. Yeah, I had no chance left. :-\

[Matrix]

Good Job Jason.  Well played. You almost had me.  Those matches were tense and a blast.  To make the story even more crazy, I threw away first turn humility when he bought everyone sodas(drawing the lotus as card number eight when I gave it a peek).

Also, I will never play Mystical.  :lol:

And, Morpheus31 would it kill you to pull the plug out of your brain?  

[Morpheus31]

Hey im skullclamped and ready to go matrix. (look at the art on skullclamp it looks like a matrix rip off)[/quote]

[MatzeXXL]

What is "the "mini-combo" with Prospector and no Food Chain out" ?

[Nantuko Rice]

The "mini-combo" with no food chain out is...

Mountain, Prospector.
Mountain, Recruiter. Put a warcief, ringleader, 4 piledrivers on top.
Mountain, Warchief.
(mountain or no mountain)Ringleader, play the piledrivers by saccing recruiter, ringleader, and prospector last. Swing with 3 drivers and the chief. If you drop a 4th mountain you drop a 4th piledriver.

Personally I don't like doing this.