[Report]Gay/r/w, 1st Place, The Gathering Ground, St. Louis

[PucktheCat]

I decided to take Fishhead's lead and post this in the Open Forum, for the same reasons.

I am writing this report because I want people to know these tournaments exist. THIRD SATURDAY EVERY MONTH.

Saturday I played in my first tournament in a while. The St. Louis T1 scene has been reviving itself and I decided I wanted in. I have spent the last month trading and selling to assemble a deck out of the few cards I own plus some a High School friend of mine who no longer plays gave me. With the five proxies that were allowed I was able to assemble an ideal version of the deck I wanted to play, which made me happy. The only flaw was the Pyroblast over Red Elemental Blast in the sideboard. Unlike PTW I don't run a mix to keep people guessing or get around Meddling Mage. I run the one Red Elemental Blast I own then two Pyroblasts. Sometime I will spring the $0.25 for another REB, but not today.

The turnout and quality of player at this tournament were much better than I expected. I hadn't heard of a T1 in St. Louis getting much over 8 people in a while, so somewhere around twice that was a pleasant surprise, and the decks that were played were generally close to fully powered with the proxies. If The Gathering Ground continues to sponsor five proxy tournaments on a regular basis I think a really interesting and good metagame could develop here.

I played my current variant of Phantom Tape Worm's creation:

Beatdown (20):
4 Grim Lavamancer (co-MVP)
1 Gorilla Shaman
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spiketail Hatchling
2 Meddling Mage
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Faerie Conclave

Disruption (16):
4 Force of Will
2 Daze
2 Swords to Plowshares (co-MVP)
3 Null Rod
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

Draw (11):
4 Curiosity
4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Library of Alexandria

Mana (13):
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
1 Mox Sapphire

Sideboard:
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Sword of Fire and Ice (should have been two)
3 Seal of Cleansing (should have been Rack and Ruin)
1 Null Rod
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Gorilla Shaman
0 Decree of Justice (should have been one)

The maindeck was absolutely great all tournament, every card pulling its weight. Meddling Mage was probably the weakest link overall, but he gets a bit of a pass because of the horrible errors I made every single time I had to name something with him. More on that later. I only drew Daze a couple of times and never cast it, but there were a couple of situations where I made critical plays that Daze could have backed up if necessary, so overall I felt like it was a good 2-of. Misdirection and Stifle would have been horrible against this field.

The sideboard should be different. I went by the last tournament at The Gathering Ground a month ago (I couldn't play but I wanted to see what was up) and I got the impression that Workshops weren't too popular but that Dragon might be. So wrong. In the end it didn't matter though, because Swords to Plowshares is very good against Workshops too (even Slaver goes to a man-plan in this matchup).

On to the matches. I didn't take any notes beyond life-total, so this is from memory. I apologize if I missed anything important.

Round 1: I pair with bye. You can provide your own joke personifying Bye here. This is about the best thing that could have happened to me, though. Not only to I avoid a very random first round pairing, which this deck hates, but I get to scout the whole field. For the rest of the tournament I know what every one of my opponents is playing. Here is the breakdown:

1 7-10 Spilt (maindeck Trinisphere)
1 Mono-Brown aggro (Juggs, Platinum Angel)
1 Dragon (good version, powered)
1 Unpowered Dragon (proxied Bazzars)
1 Kobold-Clamp
1 W/r creature slowness
1 Non-T1 U/G Madness
2 Isochron Control
1 Gay/r/w (me)
1 Gay/r
1 U/r/w Exalted Angel Landstill.dec
1 Rector Trix
1 R/G/u creature pump beatdown
Edit: 1 "Crazy Keeper" - U-based control with Darksteel Collosus (thanks Chaz)

My play errors: 0
Opponent play errors: 0

Round 2 (vs. Mike, Mono-Brown): I think I played Mike in a T1 top-8 back in 1998 when I last played seriously. He doesn't remember, but he says has done a lot of acid since then. Fair enough.

Game 1: I get rolled by a Juggernaught. My life goes 20, 15, 9, scoop. His goes 20, 19, 18, 17, win.

-2 Daze
-2 Meddling Mage
+2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Gorilla Shaman
+1 Null Rod

Game 2: I get an early Null Rod that makes Arcbound Ravager look pretty silly. He gets a Trinisphere, which is the beginning of a theme for the day. We trade beats for a while but he is not finding any gas and my little men are beating his little man. He also makes a play error by casting a Chalice for three. He thought it worked with Trinisphere as a lock. Without that I may not have won this game.

Game 3: He gets a Trinisphere before I resolve anything, but it seems like it is slowing him down as well. He has an active Ravager, though, and he makes moves suggesting he his hoping it will go all the way. It nearly does, too, but my 3cc Swords leaves him mana screwed and no cards in hand, and I think I might get back in this game afterall. I start a painfully slow beatdown and we both accumulate cards in hand. Unfortunatly, some of his cards are Mishra's Workshop, Metalworker, Platinum Angel and none of mine are answers.

My play errors: 0
Opponent play errors: 1

Round 3 (vs. Jack, non-T1 U/G Madness): This could actually have been a tough match for me, because the main cards his deck is missing (in addition to the power) are Null Rod and Force, neither of which are all that great against Fish, and the replacements are more big bad men. It ends up okay though. Jack is pretty new to tournament Magic, so I try to help him out a bit. I hope he will come back, because he actually played pretty well and his deck wasn't that bad.

Game 1: I trade a second turn Spiketail for an Aquamoeba, then make Clouds while he makes another 'moeba. He makes an error by attacking with a 3/1 Aquamoeba into my Cloud (he forgot I could fly) and I get to attack for a few turns while he builds up the mana to flashback a Roar. I cast a Meddling Mage here that should have named Roar, but I named Wild Mongrel instead. By the time the Roar resolves I can race it though, so I get away with one.

-2 Daze
-3 Null Rod
+2 Swords to Plowshares
+3 Sword of Fire and Ice

Game 2: I made my favorite play of the day this game. He gets a quick start with two Wild Mongrels (one of which I Force) and two Rootwallas. I take seven in one turn then four the next to take me to 7 before I am able to get something that looks like it might be able to compete. My board is Lavamancer and Spiketail equipped with Sword of Fire and Ice. I have only two cards in the grave for Lavamancer. He attacks and I block the Mongrel with the Spiketail. He pumps the Mongrel to 4/4 but I finish it with my Lavamancer. He pumps one Rootwalla (all he can) and I am at 3. He casts Quiet Speculation and I have to let it go. He gets Roar, Roar, Deep Analysis. I equip my Lavamancer, play a Wasteland and say go. I have no cards in the graveyard for Lavamancer. He attacks with both Rootwallas and I block one. He pumps the other, thinking I have no way to ping it and in response I Wasteland my second Wasteland, and remove them from the game to kill the Rootwalla. So sweet. Next turn I attack for 5 with Lavamancer and play Meddling Mage naming Roar of the . . . oh wait, Wild Mongrel. I really am an idiot. He flashes back the Roar and I Swords it. My turn I play 4x Curiosity on my Meddling Mage and attack for 7 and five cards (!). That puts me firmly in the driver’s seat for the rest of the game, although I do have to Swords another damn Wurm to seal the deal.

My play errors: 2
Opponent play errors: 2

Top 8 (Kyle, Dragon): Byes are the tech! I make top 8 despite having won only one match. Kyle is a T2 player, and as far as I can tell a pretty good one. He hasn't spent the time to get completely familiar with the complicated timing rules that govern his combo though, and that costs him in this match. Also, before the tournament we had had quite a good little debate about whether Library of Alexandria could be unrestricted.

This is what I know made the Top 8:
Gay/r/w
U/r/w Exalted Angel
Dragon (the powered one)
7-10 Split
Mono-Brown
Darksteel Keeper

I don't know what the other two decks that got in were.  One of the Isochron control decks might have made it.

Game 1: I get my best hand of the day. Going second against Dragon I have Library of Alexandria, Grim Lavamancer, Swords to Plowshares and Force of Will. He gets an early Swarm that I have to make a decision on. Since he hasn't discarded a Dragon yet I save the Swords for a Dragon and wait a turn so I can kill the Swarm with the Lavamancer. That was the only real opening he had to win the game, and he can't take advantage of it. When he finally gets his stuff together he simply walks into the Swords. Not really his fault since he hadn't seen the white yet. My Library drew me four cards this game, and Kyle made a tally for each one. I wonder if he still thinks Library should be unrestricted.

-2 Daze
-1 Gorilla Shaman
-2 Standstill
+2 Swords to Plowshares
+3 Seal of Cleansing

Game 2: I mulligan, but my six card hand has two Swords so I feel fairly confident. I don't have much early pressure though. He Duresses me and sees the two Swords, taking one. He then proceeds to make a series of inexplicable poor plays that cost him a game he should have at least drawn. First, he Animates the Dragon thinking he could just leave it in play and beat me down with it. Then when I Swords the Dragon in response to the comes into play trigger he doesn't Force it even though he apparently had one available. Next turn I play Null Rod and begin the beatdown.

I think Kyle was thinking that he could avoid having his permanents removed by somehow not entering the combo. Then he didn't counter the Force because he had a Mox and a Land to try for the win next turn. Since he didn't have a way to draw his library on the board the right play might have been to draw the game with the loop. I am only glad that he didn't confuse me, because was so busy trying to figure out what he was up to that I was seriously at risk of making a horrible misplay (see the finals for an example of how opponent errors can distract me from my own board position).

My play errors: 2
Opponent play errors: 3

Top 4 (Ryan, 7-10 with maindeck Trinisphere): Ryan had a good deck, played carefully and knew the rules. The second game against him was one of the best I played all day.

Game 1: I Force a first turn Trinisphere and a second turn Chalice for two. My Null Rod slows him down quite a bit and saves my men from his Triskelion. I Swords the Trike and continue the steady few points a turn. Eventually he resolves another one and a Sundering Titan as well but I have enough men to take a few hits then chump block until he his life total reaches 0. I made an error here by trying to pump a Mishra's with its own ability. I think he let me take it back. He may have gotten a Trinisphere down late in this game, but it didn't affect anything.

-2 Meddling Mage
-2 Daze
+2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Gorilla Shaman
+1 Null Rod

Game 2: I think I mulliganed this game. First turn Trinisphere hurts and second turn Chalice for two makes it worse. I also Swords something early on here - a Platinum Angel I think. This game actually comes down to my failing to draw red mana though. I get out a Lavamancer before he Wastes my Volcano. I am attacking with Mishra's and Lavamancer every turn for 4 turns while he gets nothing. A second Angel gets Swordsed in here somewhere. He casts a Welder and I have to choose whether to Force or not. I am still hoping for a red source and there is nothing dangerous in his 'yard so I let it go through. I use the Force next turn on a Fact or Fiction. Eventually he uses the Welder to weld back his Lotus and make the mana he needs to cast Titan. That pretty much seals the game. I die with a hand full of 2cc spells and a Gorilla Shaman I can't cast.

Game 3: He mulligans and keeps a weird hand with Lotus, Brainstorm and Workshop. His Brainstorm gets him a first turn Trinisphere (his third in three games) and I can't stop it. Once again, however, I have the Wasteland and this time he doesn't recover. Eventually he builds up and casts something big (Sundering Titan?) but I just Force it and go in for the win.

My play errors: 3
Opponent play errors: 3

Finals (Chaz, Exalted Angel Landstill control): Chaz was playing a deck that looked very like mine at first glance, but was actually very different. He had manlands, Standstill and Grim Lavamancer but also Mana Drain, Serendib Efreet and Exalted Angel. To support the expensive creatures he also ran fast mana - at least Mana Crypt, Lotus, and the on color Moxen. I am not sure Stanstill is the right draw engine for his deck, but he did well with it this tournament. It was for just this kind of matchup that Decree of Justice was in the running for the sideboard, but I cut it at the last moment because I was expecting to face a lot of random creatureness and I wanted the third Sword of Fire and Ice.

Game 1: I get a first turn Lavamancer. He drops Mana Crypt and Serendib Efreet. I lay a Factory and examine the board. With my Lavamancer and Factory vs. his Efreet we each have 3/turn beats, but he is also taking 2.5 a turn on average from his own permanents so I decide Standstill is in my favor. He apparently agrees, because he Forces it pitching a Force (ouch). He holds back the Efreet to stop my guys but the damage starts to add up. Eventually he attacks and I can swing freely. I don't remember anything else of note happening this game, just his Crypt-Serendib combo killing him while my deck didn't kill me.

-2 Daze
-1 Gorilla Shaman
-2 Stanstill
+2 Swords to Plowshares
+2 Pyroblast
+1 Red Elemental Blast

I decided to keep the Null Rod over the Sword of Fire and Ice, which I think was correct. Especially since I found out later that he had Sword of Fire and Ice himself.

For the following game pay attention to my Grim Lavamancer and see why he gets a co-MVP mention.

Game 2: He drops a Conclave and says go. I get another first turn Lavamancer. He lays a Mishra's Factory and plays Standstill. I play Wasteland, which simultaneously gives me a kill against one of his manlands and makes my Lavamancer active along with the Fetchland in my 'yard. He continues laying manlands until he has two Conclaves and two Factories. After a while I get a second Wasteland and take out both his Factories. That lets me attack with my Lavamancer because he hasn't the mana to active a Conclave. Next turn he gets his first non-man land and swings with a Conclave. At this point he has seven cards and has layed a land this turn so I decide it is time to play a spell. I Swords the Conclave and he draws up to 10 cards then Forces the Swords. I don't Force back because I don't really care if the Swords resolves, and he thinks for a while then discards a fetchland. Now I demonstrate why cheaper spells work well with Standstill both early in the game and late by dropping my entire hand - Cloud of Faeries, Spiketail Hatchling, Lavamancer #2, Mox Sapphire, Land, Standstill - leaving me with a Force in hand. Next turn Chaz cracks my Standstill with Lotus and tries for an Exalted Angel tapping all his lands except a Tundra, including a Volcanic Island. I Force and he Red Elemental Blasts. That doesn't work, of course, and I am put in an akward position. Since I think the game is definatly mine if the Angel is countered and probably mine otherwise and I am up a game already I decide to let him play the Blast and the Angel Resolves. The observant reader might notice that my Spiketail was sitting there the whole time. Horrible. Next turn I attack with everything and he blocks a Curious Faerie then loses his Angel to double Lavamancer. My play error ends up giving him eight life, four from the Angel gain and four from the Lavamancer damage that would otherwise have gone to his dome. After that Chaz is basically done. He has only four mana available and one White and the remaining gas in his hand is and Exalted Angel. My Lavamancer has that well in hand. At one point he plays a Lavamancer as a speed bump, but that is all. In the last few turns of this game our life total records kept drifting off from one another, but I think we gave Chaz the benefit of the doubt each time.

My play errors: 4
Opponent play errors: 4

The prize is a percentage of the entry fees in store credit that I use to pick up a Mana Crypt and black border some of my deck.

Thanks to The Gathering Ground for sponsoring this tournament and everyone I played. I had a great time.

Leo

[wuaffiliate]

nice one man, congrats

[Phantom Tape Worm]

I'm glad to see you finally got around to playing the version that splashes white   GREAT JOB DUDE!!!   Nothing is cooler on these boards than seeing a person talk about an idea and then seeing that player succeed with that idea.

Mad props w/the white splash!!

[MrZeroPing]

I was that the tounrament that day and I was the character playing Rector TRIX .
But I stayed around to watch the finals and I was really impressed by the performance of the deck. Most of the matches were close but was slightly in favor in my opinion. Especially after sideboarind.. Null Rod really saved the deck against the 7/10 player and STP was serious tech in the final match. All around those were a excellent couple of games to watch and I'm glad I stayed.

Next month if you go to this tournament expect to see Tog. There wasn't any this tournament (very strange...) but most players stated "next month i'm making tog" or other similar comments. Look forward to playing again next month.

[ChazzyChaz]

Well nice job again.  I really enjoyed the whole tournament and was very impressed with Leo's deck and the way my deck preformed overall.  To any who might be intrested the deck list is posted below.  I felt like Leo truly outplayed me in the finals dispite a mess of errors on both sides.  I really liked my chances going into the matchup but my play was stifled by early lavamancers both games!  No worries tho.  You will see the sideboarding changes below.  Since i was not able to watch Leo's matches at all except for the last one i'll give you a little insight into my deck and its day at my shop.

The deck plays like fish with the man lands, standstill and early creature based advantage, however insted of running light, weaker creatures the deck runs moxen and powerful threats.  Heavy guns like Exalted Angel, Serendib Efreet, and the Sword of Fire and Ice poise to take over the game once they hit.  They are accelerated out through the mana drains and artifact mana present in the deck. Grim Lavamancer wipes up aggro and welders among other things and the meddling mage, although much maligned, is a star in many matches if it is played right.  Standstill was a recent addition (acually thats an understatement.  The deck didn't run standstill until at least 4 minutes before my first match started against MrZeroPing).  Standstill seemed like a naturally fitting engine for the deck.  Before that addition i got the feeling like the deck would stall out at times leaving me with none of the grade A prime rump roast that i so desired...didn't come out so well.... I have found through testing that Sword of fire and ice is an absolute house.  It is a clock like none other.  Just laying that baby down and dropping a standstill is so sexy you can't even discribe.  The pro blue comes in handy against tog not only because of the pressure that it places on them, but also because it forces them to berserk (not always an easy task when they have to constantly wish for answers to your mages).  The null rods are in the sideboard and come out against workshop based decks.  I have found that not having them in the main and being able to run artifact mana is better than not having artifact mana to pump out the beats.  This deck is not fish and that should be the most important statement.  There are really no strips, mana denial is not as important.  This is just a powerful aggro-control deck that  has the versitlity to go toe to toe with the whole feild.  So without further ado:

Star.Dec

The Creatures

4x Grim Lavamancer
4x Meddling Mage
3x Serendib Efreet
3x Exalted Angel

Spells and such

4x Mana Drain
4x Force of Will
3x Swords to plowshares
4x Standstill
3x Sword of Fire and Ice

Braaaaazoken

1x Ancestral Recall
1x Time Walk
1x Fact or Fiction

Manas and Menchildren

1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mana Crypt
1x Sol Ring
1x Black Lotus
2x Faerie Conclave
4x Mishra's Factory (4 seasons Biatch!)
4x Tundra
3x Volcanic Island
1x Plateau
3x Flooded Strand
2x Polluted Delta

Siziid Bizord

4x Null Rod (the pwn toni)
3x Rack and Ruin
3x REB
3x BEB
1x Mox Monkey
1x Strip Mine

(new board takes out a BEB and a REB for 2x pyroclasm (aggro tech), and a mox monkey for a fire/ice)

NOW for the Matches

Round 1: VS. MrZeroPing with RectorBargain

Now i have the habit of thinking everything that plays a blue based dual is tog when i first play it.  I have no idea why but this definatly would not be the first time i have made that mistake.  We start off the match amicably.  I congragulate ZeroPing on having 20 life and we start the match.  A first turn duress reveals a hand full of my goodies and i recall he took a standtill in shock.   He really had no idea what the hell i was playing and i still thought this cat was going to do the tog dance on me.  I lay a mage for tog and then lay an some men-land-chillins and start the beatdown.  He cabal therapies me and i realize my mage mistake.  He then tutors for a necropotence but its already too late for him to use it as he dies to my beats.

Game 2 was like this.  Ping takes one look at his hand and says hokay i love it.  I think great as a look at my mage with fow backup.  He fetches a scrubland and first turn therapies for a fow.  I discard it and know exactly whats in his hand.  I lay the mage for rector after a long conversation with him trying to deduce if he ran the old-skool trix kill or the newer tendrils one.  It was all for naught as i swooped in to kill my stalled out opponent with angels.

1-0

Round 2:  VS Big dude with powered Dragon Combo

So i feel like i know what to do against this matchup.  Dragon doesn't like disruption and it doesn't like creature removal and i have both.  I have tested against dragon and won many a times.  The first game just was domination on my part.  I countered his business and showed him how nasty an angel with a sword can be.  The standstills were showing me tons of love so far and i was feelin the love.  I didn't feel the love the next game.  He went brazoken on me.  I'm talking quad-squee brazoken.  I felt really out of my rhythm he was gaining so much card advantage that he was controling me with counters and duress.  Much to my dismay i lose that matchup.

Game three was one of the worst cases of roll missassignment = game loss.  I was reeling from that game 2 loss and you could say i was on tilt.  He got 1 squee in the grave along with the kill and i immediatly felt like i needed to answer will card advantage.  I had an irrational fear that i needed to put him on a clock before he started to gain squee advantage over me even tho he just had one in the grave.  So on turn three I decide to tap out and play sword of fire and ice with the rationale that i will play a 4th turn  standstill and attack with an equiped manland.  I had Fow backup and felt ok with the gamble.  Well the man rivered the blue card he needed to get his fow online and then played the animate dead.  I fowed and he fowed for the win.  

My hand when i lost: FOW, Stanstill, BEB, Mana drain, Tundra

Thats bad magic and i was frustrated with my mistake beliving that there would be no t8 and i would be stuck with a consolation prize.  On to round 3

1-1-0

Round 3: VS Old-Skool Keeper w/ morphling

Well this match was pretty breezy i will not get into it because i don't really remember anything of importance except for when he tapped out to play a morphling which i sworded eot.  I said whew cause i had no answers for that.

2-1-0

We ended swiss and went on to the T8.  I was paired against another Keeper deck however i had no idea really what i was facing until late in the second game

Top 8: VS crazy keeper

Game 1 was a mess of craziness.  He first turned LOA and i was regreting that i took out the strips from the deck.  i dropped som nasty shit to say the least.  I went mox, tundra, lotus, sac for morphed angel and ancestral which resolved.  He couldn't find any other land with his LOA so was forced to drop some moxen and artifact mana which he then used to tinker for a darksteel colossus to the extacy of the surrounding fans.  This was met with shock and awe as i eot sword to plowshared targeting the 11/11 indestructable.  The game ended soon after that as i had the angel and he had the nothing

So based upon game 1 i really could only guess he was playing some Workshop deck so i sided in the null rods and the rack and ruins.  Well this paid off unexpectedly.  The man whose name escapes me plays mana vault, mox, sol ring and a land.  I drop my 2nd turn null rod and he contests with me weather or not he could use his mana.  I said no i'm sure you can't and i was backed up by my surrounding posse.  I proceeded to beat this man with a nastity exalted angel weilding a sword of fire and ice.  Oh the sweetness.  I win 2-0.  On to round 2

Top 4: Vs Don Mcclean and TNT_MUD

Oh holy hell and damnation i was beaten to hell and back first match.  We're talkin about fire and brimstone smash face slaughter.  First turn trinisphere followed by 2nd turn chalice for 2 is the nuts imo.  He then dropped metal worker and then on the ensuing turn wasted me down to 1 land then played karn, juggernaut, and random other brown stuff for the win.  I conceed before he could acutally do me in and we move on to game 2

This is where it all changes.  I side out angels a mage mana crypt and the sword of fire and ices for 4 null rods, 1 mox monkey and 3 rack and ruins.
My hand was more or less very good untill a chalice for 2 made most of my hand null (forgive the pun).  My grim lavamancer picked off his first metalworker but as i expected he had a 2nd and i had no cards in my graveyard.  On the ensuing turn i draw a fact or fiction.  I have no mana in hand and 4 mana on the board.  I FOF and then get what i needed, a delta in the pile with 3 cards.  His metalworker gets toasted and he sighs with dismay.  I take advantage with hard beats and win.

Game 3 shows me a stellar hand of moxen, null rod, rack and ruin, and a sol ring among other things.  Don McClean plays a chalice for 1 on his first turn and amasses enough mana to poop out a juggernaut too thanks to mana crypt.  I then stupidly play my moxen, land and then play a sol ring which is countered by the chalice.  This misplay would be the winner for me it turns out because next turn he chalices for 2.  On my turn i sumgly rack and ruin the chalice for 2 and his jugg which leaves him high and dry.  My null rod seals his fate as his mana crypt kills him along with help from my men chillins

So i am now in the finals.  I see the Leo is finishing up and i am excited and surprised that 2 u/w/r decks will be going toe to toe in the finals.  I feel like he summed it up well in his report as Leo really took me and made me say mama with his superior play.  However in the end i still felt that my deck has the better matchup overall simply because my creatures are bigger and fight him in the air where he doesn't face much resistance normally.  The new sideboard will help tremendously when i face more fish decks to come at Origins and Starcitygame's tourny.

Thanks to all that came out and congrats Leo!

Peace, Chaz

[PucktheCat]

Thanks for the replies guys.  wuaffiliate and PTW, good to see the Gay solidarity.  Dare I say Gay pride?

Zero-Ping: It's interesting to hear that people were talking about bringing Tog next time.  I hope that isn't why you asked me about 5-proxy versions of Tog.  JP and crew aren't lying when they say 5-proxy tog is not good.  I think you need at least one piece of power to play Tog with 5-proxy so you can have 3 Moxen, Lotus, Walk, Recall.  With Crypt and Sol Ring that is probably doable.  2 Moxen really isn't enough though.

Oh, and sorry about the Tendrils/Trix mistake.  Edited.

Chaz: Great job with your deck.  I disagree that you have the advantage in this matchup, though.  I seriously own your draw engine as it stands, with my Clouds and Wastelands.  Pyroclasm and Fire/Ice would be a step in the right direction I think.  I faced almost no removal all day, and I don't think I ever lost more than one creature to a single spell.

Do either of you know what the top-8 decks I am missing are?

If either of you guys (or any other serious T1 people from St. Louis) want to do some testing drop me a PM.  I seriously want to shake the dust off my tourney play - I hate play errors, and making 4 bad ones in 5 matches really pisses me off.

Leo

Edit:

4x Mishra's Factory (4 seasons Biatch!)

Oh man, those were the tech!  I about shit myself when you layed one, 'cause I know they hit for like 5 a turn and pump +2/+2.

[Jacob Orlove]

Good job on the tournament, and on the report. It's nice to see more fish variants succeeding.

I notice you have a 6/6 split between duals and fetches. How is that working out for you?

[PucktheCat]

Jacob: never has been a problem.  I can count on one hand that was maimed in a freak chainsaw accident the number of times I have gotten to the point where I couldn't fetch anything in testing (I have been playing this mana base for quite a while now), and the times it has mattered have been even less.  Not having enough duals of a specific color has occasionally been an issue, but only very rarely.

I absolutely love fetchlands, though, so feel free to disregard me.  I love the turn to turn playskill of timing the sac to maximize my odds of getting land or spell depending on what I need at the moment, I love the Lavamancer food that opponents forget about, and I love, love, love the fact that it is extremely unlikely that I will draw two lands colored lands in this deck and not see all of my colors.

Leo

[TheAdvantage]

Hmm...lots of Tog next month...I guess I wont bring mine then.  I was going to show up, but I decided to go to Wild Country(friday night) at the constant begging of my friends instead.  Thong contests>Magic.  Sorry guys, its true.  This caused me to not wake up until approximately 12:30 the next day.  Anyway, the guys from Belleville, Il keep talking about how we're going to make it over and always forget.

Are there really only 15-16 people showing up?  Are they all 5 proxy, cause that would make me feel damn proud of owning 4 pieces, lol.  Count on at least 3-4 more for next month's, I promise!  5 Rounds are tech.

Puck:  Have you ever been to any of the KC tournaments, your name seems oddly familiar, but I cant place your face.  We normally make the KC tournaments and were also at Hannah's a couple months ago for the signed Sapphire.  Congrats on grabbing the Crypt and some black border stuff!!

[ChazzyChaz]

Leo i'm most defiantly down for testing. Then we shall see whose deck will prevail! LoL. I stepped back a bit my conclusion is that my sideboard will look like this now

4x Null Rod
3x REB
2x BEB
3x Rack and Ruin
3x Fire/Ice

I think that this sideboard makes things very very balanced. Oh and by the way its official. Every third Saturday of the month The Gathering Grounds, on Hampton rd. half a mile south of highway 44 in St. Louis, will be holding 5 proxy tournaments. There will be no more switching back between proxy and non proxy. So make sure to come out next month prepared.