With last week in
Somers being a total blowout for me, I was really pumped about this event. It had been the first time since origins I’d played in a tourney, and I went 1-2 drop with GAT. Disgusted, I decided to shelf GAT for a bit, despite doing well for me at origins. Looking into my personal options, Four Color Control looked like the most solid of all, especially to bring into a random metagame. The night before I have a few people over my place, including Scott Limoges, Mike Small (firefall26), Eastman, and Matrix. I make the final decision to play 4c Control after testing 25+ games with TPS and finally figuring out that I’m just never going to be able to play combo- I can’t stand inconsistency, and I’m too much of a control player at heart.
Here was what I played:
//Land/Mana4 Polluted Delta
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
2 City of Brass
2 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
//Counter4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Wil
//Draw4 Brainstorm
3 Skeletal Scrying
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
//Tutor3 Cunning Wish
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
//Removal2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Fire/Ice
//Win3 Exalted Angel
1 Decree of Justice
//Utility/Other2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Mind Twist
1 Time Walk
//Sideboard3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Flametongue Kavu
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Disenchant
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Blue Elemental Blast*
1 Gush
1 Fire/Ice
1 Gorilla Shaman*
*BEB #2 and Shaman were added to the sideboard on-site after seeing over 6 control slaver decks. I had to cut the 2 crucible to add these, but there was a lack of fish, so I didn’t think it would be a huge deal.
Well, Mike, Scott, and I wake up around 8 and shower/dress/etc. After cleaning up the ridiculous mess that happens after you have a bunch of people playing cards in your cellar, we head to a local diner for breakfast. We get there at like 11, and I decide to get lunch. Lunch > Breakfast. By 12, we’re on our way to the Cape, an hour ride. We’re rocking out, and right before we get to the bridge leading into the island, there is bumper to bumper traffic, as far as we can see. We move 5 miles in about an hour, and make it to the tourney by 2:15.
The tourney starts at about 4, and the TMDers in attendance includes (but not limited to) ELD, Kowal, The Atog Lord, The Hamburgler, Matrix, Firefall26, and Dionic.
Round 1: Rich Shay (The Atog Lord) playing Control SlaverGame 1: He mulls to 6. I get a first turn Ancestral and second turn Shaman, Drain a Tinker and a Force into a big Scrying, and win. At one point, he plays a desperation slaver, but I have Wish --> Disenchant.
Sideboarding: -2 Swords to Plowshares -1 Mind Twist -1 Decree of Justice -1 Wish +2 REB +1 BEB +1 Fire/Ice +1Gorilla Shaman
Game 2: He mulls to 6, but draws 7. He tells me to call the judge, and he is forced to mulligan to 5.
Obviously, this isn’t a very eventful game, and I get first turn Shaman (proxied on a white bordered Island). He can’t do much to overcome the mull to 5, and loses.
1-0
Round 2: Chris playing Control SlaverGame 1: I get out a first turn Shaman, but he is able to Duress/Force through a Tinker --> Sundering Titan (?!) on turn 4 or 5. He takes out 4 out of 4 of my lands, and I scoop.
Sideboarding: -2 Swords to Plowshares -1 Mind Twist -1 Decree of Justice -1 Wish +2 REB +1 BEB +1 Fire/Ice +1Gorilla Shaman
Game 2: It seems that I have control early, but we have a counterwar over a welder (him having a juicy graveyard). I lose the war, and he has 1 card left it hand. It is blood moon. The next turn, I topdeck Cunning Wish (I had a sapphire), but I was in a lose/lose situation. Either, kill the Welder and let moon sit there, or Kill the moon and get rocked by welder/slaver. He gets the one, but he ends at 3: I beat with a morphed angel for awhile, and topdecked the lotus one turn too late.
1-1
Round 3: Jui playing Stax[/u]
Game 1: I play first. I play City, Ancestral, Jet, Lotus, go. He plays Shivan Reef, Mox, Mox, Sol Ring, Fact or Fiction. I sac lotus, Drain, and Brainstorm. During my turn, I tap the Jet and Mind Twist him for 4, taking his whole hand. I play a waste on his land, then cast a shaman and eat one of the moxen. He draw-go’s for a few turns, and after being permanentless for a bit, he scoops.
-2 Swords to Plowshares -1 Mind Twist -1 Cunning Wish +1 Gorilla Shaman +2 Rack and Ruin +1 Fire/Ice (Icing Trinisphere = the win, plus welder kill)
Game 2: I force his turn 1 tri-sphere, then play a turn 1 Shaman, Mox, and eat his mox. He lays a land, says go. I waste, eat the remaining artifact mana, and he is already pretty much out of the game. I think a few turns later I do Lotus, Angel, Walk, Will, Lotus, Ancestral, Walk… or something.
These were probably the sickest games I’ve ever seen Keeper manage. I finish first in the round, despite a Belcher deck and a TPS deck in the pool.
2-1
Round 4: Gay/R[/u]
Game 1: This is a battle of wastes. He gets 3, I get 4, and we’re pretty much sitting there with nothing going on for awhile. I fire/ice a couple of his dudes, lay a morph, and flip it up in the face of his Cloud and Spiketail. He loses.
Sideboard: -2 Swords -1 Decree -2 Shaman +2 REB +1 Fire/Ice +2 FTK (mis-board, as I discover later)
Game 2: He starts off with manlands and double fairie, and I FTK one. I am able to drain a Null Rod into a 6 point Scrying a little later, and I am at extremely low life, but recover with a morph and a FTK on one of his dudes, flipping it next turn to hold off his team. Exalted > Fish. While FTK’s were actually spectacular here, they definitely should not come in, seeing a Lavamancer shoots them down, and the majority of Fish’s threats have evasion anyway. I’m not entirely sure- if I was playing in a meta without a million control slaver, the Crucibles would be brought in in their place.
Round 5: Mike Small (firefall26) with 4c Control (we had the same list)[/u]
We ID into the top eight.
Standings going into the t8] Top Eight: Mike Small with 4c Control[/u]
Game 1: I havn’t played the keeper mirror in FOREVER. He gets 3 early brainstorm/fetch actions, with me seeing zero. The first big spell that is cast is my own Scrying for 4, which he responds to with Scrying for 3. I Drain the Scrying, and he FoW’s my Drain. I REB his Drain, and he FOFs in response. The FOF resolves, then he casts Ancestral (still with everything on the stack)!
The Stack That also resolves, and he Forces my REB, thus letting his Scrying Resolve. My Scrying also resolves, and I draw Walk, Swords, Angel, and Brainstorm. My hand had been exceedingly good due to all the Draw-Go’ing, so during my turn I brainstorm into Lotus, and cast the angel + walk. During my Walk turn, I cast Mind Twist for 7, then Will.
Sideboarding: -2 STP -2 Shaman +2 REB +1 Fire/Ice +1 Gush
Game 2: This game begins as the battle of the wastes. He sees 2, and I see 2. I drop LoA with a full grip, and he has the waste for that too. We both idle for a bit, building resources. I try to go a little more aggressive, casting the first huge spell again, a Scrying. He wins the counterwar, which Includes him FoWing with FoW and Draining. My next turn, I cast Will, which he has another Drain/FoW for! He scryings for a lot, then on my next turn I cast Mind Twist for 6. He Forces. On my
next turn, I cast Angel. He Drains (I absolutely could not put him on having the drain, so I played it face up, rather than waste a turn- I was still mana light for the 4cC mirror). This Drain gives him another disgusting scrying, and he gets it.
Game 3: I play first, and lead with a fetch. He plays Waste, go. I play another fetch, and he plays another waste, go. I take my turn, play a Tundra, then a Lotus. I sac both fetches and cast an Angel (I had FoW back) on turn 3. He lets it resolve. A few turns later, he attempts Cunning Wish, but then I use the FoW. 2 turns before he dies, he plays a morph. When he is at 4, he has enough mana to Morph it and turn us into a stalemate: but I have Ice. Good game.
I make it into top 4 and we decide to split up all the money evenly, grabbing $112.50 each.This tourney was very well run, and was the best Cape Cod tourney I’ve been at so far. The juding was excellent, the organization was excellent, and overall it was just a good time. Yeah, and free pizza too.
Props:
Matrix and Mike Small, for driving
Control Slaver, for making up 3 top 4 slots (what the fuck metagame is THIS?!)
99 Restaurant, for being directly next to the store, and extremely tasty
The Gathering, for running a GREAT event
Kowal, for playing MONOU TRIX (<33 Molot)
Slops:
Having to ride home with 6 people in the car (oh well)
Cape Cod, for being hard to find our way out of
Brian “hulk3rules� Phelon, for calling me out then getting owned
