[Report]Team GRO's GAT takes NYC's Workshop.

[Ultima]

As it always happens with these things, I got up to consider what to play before I candidly admit to myself that I have to and always end up playing GAT to these things.   Sorry, I can't disclose the list this close to Gencon.



Round 1- Mono Red Artifact Crusher, Genesis Chamber Deck

Game 1- I play a dryad and counter his chamber. I beatdown to a win when he runs out of chumps.

Game2- He gets out a chamber and a crusher with 3spheres and sphere of resistance to back it up. I concede when crusher gets too big.

Game3- He tries to bait my opening force with a shaman. C'mon now. I force his spere of resistance and mana drain his 3sphere. Tog and Dryad beat him to death.

1-0

Round 2 - Rector Trix

Game 1- He mulligans to 6 or 5 while I play fastbond and dryads. I gush and get nutty. I kill him the turn before he could go off.

Game 2- He smacks down a turn 1 negator and i berserk it to kill it. I daze his second and mana drain his third within the first 4 turns. I get a tog going and start beating down. I duress his hand and see he has rector. My tog starts to scare him though and needs another mana source . He topdecks a mox but chooses not to play his rector thinking I'm holding a counter. But he doesn't see a blue card for his force and i daze his rector. Tog goes in for the match.

2-0

Round 3- Suicide

Game 1- I force his first turn hyppie and daze his shade. I drain his sinkhole and force his hymm to protect my will. My dryads and togs beat him down.

Game 2- He plays a first turn shade which i smother. I counter his spells of consequence while he edicts my men. I don't care though as I have will in hand. He wills and replays a hymm, shade, and waste. I will and win the game.

3-0

Round 4- Draw- I was 1st seed and knew that 11 points could make top 8.

3-0-1


Round 5- Draw- I was happily playtesting Marvel which was a bit more exciting really. Marvel is alot of fun.

3-0-2

Top 8

Quarter finals- 4CC

Game 1- He mulligans into ancestral to which I respond with ancestral of my own. I play fastbond which he forces. I play a dryad which he drains. I brainstorm into lotus, will, whisper. I will and win on turn 5.

Game 2- I get a dryad that's big and start beating. I duress to see garbage and take his force. He forces through his recall while I see no more counters, only draw spells. He balances away my hand and board then wills. I at 4 when I brainstorm into fastbond and mystical. End of his turn I tutor for will to which he scrys for 2 and taps out. I will and win the game at 1 with a huge tog.

Semi-Finals- Lanstill

Game 1- He had a shitty hand I guess. I play island and sapphire and proceed to cantrip into recall and play tog. On turn 4-5, I berserk it over for the win.

Game 2- He starts off with factories beating me. I start ammassing tempo with draw spells and cantrips and play a dryad. He has tropical to which I know he might be waiting to cast oath of druids. I duress him to take the oath but only see the colossus and chain of vapor, which I take. I play another dryad and proceed to beat down. He plays a COW and keeps recurring his chump blockers though. I vamp for wish and that's game.

Finals- 7/10 split

Game 1- I play first turn dryad. He plays a 3sphere. He counter his thirst and recall into more counters. I counter the rest of his stuff and beat him to death with time walk.

Game 2- I get a dryad going that starts to beat him down. When he's in kill range with my berserk in hand, he plays a titan. We sit there while I look for a oxidize or naturalize with him taking crypt damage. I wished for the berserk and he knows he can't swing. He scoops.


So that's how GAT took another NYC tourny.

Final observations-

The metagame seems odd to me right now.  With the biggest decks being 4CC and Fish, it feels like there's another half of the metgame that should be there but isn't.  Tog is declining, while I don't really see why it is.  GAT I think, is the tog of the moment, and while I think that's always how it should be, I don't feel its been earned.  GAT isn't the boss now because it took the title but rather because the real boss, Hulk, decided to take a vacation.

In reference to match ups, I really think that the right way to play this deck now is with 3 COLORS with all the wastes and COW's everywhere.  Red doesn't seem worth it at the moment.  Basics exceptionally powerful and shouldn't be underestimated.  In response to the current topic in the T1 Forum, I agree that its not totally been optimized but I do feel that with enough playtesting, only 4CC and Trinistax have a chance at beating this deck, even then with 4CC being even but Trinistax being the worst matchup.

-Ultima

PS, I sold the workshop about 5 minutes later.  Man, people really want those.

[Zherbus]

Tog is declining, while I don't really see why it is. GAT I think, is the tog of the moment, and while I think that's always how it should be, I don't feel its been earned. GAT isn't the boss now because it took the title but rather because the real boss, Hulk, decided to take a vacation.

Well said, but the reason Tog is declining is because it lack either threats or solutions where it's card draw is. GAT runs Dryads as a threat to fill in that gap, while Tog spends it's time drawing cards. In todays metagame where tempo is king, Togs card draw just isn't enough.

[xrobx]

wow, those are very nice results!  I was also going to run GAT in that same tourny, but it turns out the date was yesterday

Round 3- Suicide

Game 1- I force his first turn hyppie and daze his shade. I drain his sinkhole and force his hymm to protect my will. My dryads and togs beat him down.

This is a bit..extreme??  IF you have Force (+pitch) and daze and drain and force (+pitch) in hand on first turn/second turn, you have a damn lucky hand (6 blue cards right there, so you played it on 1 land?); which the usual player wouldn't play (one land hand, unless you had recall), but hey, whatever works

On further notes, congratulations, now trade/sell me that workshop!!?

[AngryPheldagrif]

This is a bit..extreme??  IF you have Force (+pitch) and daze and drain and force (+pitch) in hand on first turn/second turn, you have a damn lucky hand (6 blue cards right there, so you played it on 1 land?); which the usual player wouldn't play (one land hand, unless you had recall), but hey, whatever works

He didn't counter those in the first 2 turns, he most likely countered one each turn over the first 4 turns. Considering how much draw the deck plays, getting those 6 blue cards is not a problem in the least bit.

[Ultima]

Well said, but the reason Tog is declining is because it lack either threats or solutions where it's card draw is. GAT runs Dryads as a threat to fill in that gap, while Tog spends it's time drawing cards. In todays metagame where tempo is king, Togs card draw just isn't enough.

I feel this is a very true statement.

Maybe it just needs a different strategy.  Like back when JP put out his Neo-Tog build with LD and stifles.  A sub-strategy to help engage the primary strategy.  I think the deck just needs to impliment different tools and answers to facilitate its gameplan.

[Mixing Mike]

Are you saying that by adding more pro-active disruption you can fill in the lack of threats Hulk has?

I always thought that was the complete opposite of Hulk's goals.

[TrixR4Kidz]

Red doesn't seem worth it at the moment.

Well what do you run in your sideboard? I would definately say red is still worth it, you need rack and ruins sideboard, also you need REB's sideboard, for they are the best sideboard card EVERRRRR...also, is there a gorilla shaman main? cuz if so, you can't cut that, workshop decks are on the rise right now, and red is the best way to deal with em....you can cut it if ya want, but your gonna find yourself wanting a rack, REB, or a fire/ice now and then...just my opinion

[Ultima]

Well, I not saying that Tog should start things playing like Swords or something.  But I do think that there other routes that Hulk should explore before most players right it off as not being viable or as viable as 4CC, Fish.

[DavidHernandez]

Ultima does it again!  Well done John!

Dave

[Ultima]

Thanks Dave.

@ Trix

I think red isn't playable right now, not because it doesn't have anything to offer, but rather because 4 colors is too unstable.  With wasteland being as prominent as Force of Will, it just isn't worth it to make your manabase more fragile.  Red doesn't do you alot of good if you have no mana.

I can tell you this, which may come as a suprise.  My manabase is 3-colors, exceptionally stable, and I did not see mana problems all day.  Playing Landstill, 4CC, 7/10, and other LD decks and I did not have mana problems at all, rather my opponents had wastes that weren't doing anything alot of time.  Now here's the suprise, I only run 19 mana sources in my GAT.

There's nothing special about my SB.  Just a berserk, some removal, for angels and artifact destruction.  The board is decent but not stellar, its really the only thing I think needs more work.

[TrixR4Kidz]

Yea, but what is your mana base.... how many basics do you run...I still don't see red as a cuttable color, it has way too much to offer...I understand the LD, but that doesn't support the arguement of 4Cc winning alot of tourny's either....I know 7/10 is mean to your lands, but mutating a 7/10 is pretty sweet as well...the 4th color shouldn't make your mana base THAT much more unstable to the point where it's worth cutting those great red cards

[DavidHernandez]

I've been arguing for the inclusion of red for the last year. The difference between Ultima's 3 color and my 4 color is very simple: his wins tournaments.

Dave

[jpmeyer]

Artifact Mutation is amazing and all, but it's hard to fit basics and Strips (in order to facilitate Crucible) into a deck when you need to support 4 colors.

[Ultima]

@Trix

The fact of the matter is that LD prevents you from using the Red to its fullest advantage.  The question still comes around, would rather have red tools or a manabase?

[Abhorsen105]

congratulations on the win.

In reference to match ups, I really think that the right way to play this deck now is with 3 COLORS with all the wastes and COW's everywhere.

I agree, and I also think more artifact spot removal (oxidize, naturalize) should be added to sideboards. I see 7/10 doing well, does your version beat it consistently?

The metagame seems odd to me right now. With the biggest decks being 4CC and Fish, it feels like there's another half of the metgame that should be there but isn't.

I think the other half of the metagame is workshops in general.

[Ultima]

Our GAT has a pretty good game against it.  I would definitely say its favorable.  In our testing, 7/10 (various builds with wastes, COWs, Bloodmoons MD, FOW) GAT usually loses about 1 out of every 4-5 matches.

In regards to the metagame, I don't know.  There are so many decks that should be around but just aren't.  Madness, Masknought, and Slavery are just a few that feel like they should be around but aren't.  Its very strange and interesting at the same time.

[skecreatoR]

At least, I figured that it was UBG, played Drains and Daze's and could cast a Smother turn1?

EDIT: http://www.neutralground.net/Forums/ForumItem.asp?NewsID=2406&BackupLink=Main.asp

[Necropotenza]

The Neutral Ground list lacks 1 card in the MD. I guess it's Library of Alexandria.

Congrats on the win!

[MarkPharaoh]

Ultima doesn't have full membership because certain people with persuasion on this site don't like him.  And no, i'm not pulling this out of my ass either, thats as much as i'll say on the subject..(waits to get yelled at over PMs again)

Well done Ultima, nice to see you winning these things

PS: We haven't played over MWS in a while, we should catch up

Mark, you've had enough chances and warnings here; you're done. Not only was your statement baseless and plain ridiculous, but it was posted in such a way to get a public reaction. Your little stunt did absolutely nothing but get yourself banned.

-Zherbus

[pocketmoxen]

Just wondering Ultima, wasn't there a match where you Naturalize'd one Oath of Druids, Yawg Will'd, and nabbed the other Oath of Druids? This was in your Landstill match.

-jkn

[Ultima]

Actually, what happened was I never used naturalize against the landstill player.  When I saw that he had a tropical island, it was rather obvious.  So when I played my first dryad, I used duress the same turn to nab the oath that I thought was in hand.  Turned out all he had in hand was the colossus itself and a chain of vapor i took.  He didn't draw into any oaths I think because shortly after my men beat him down.

That was game 2, because game 1 happened so fast, I didn't side in the naturalize because I didn't think it was needed.

[x3n0n]

He smacks down a turn 1 negator and i berserk it to kill it.

??

Berserk:
  Info: Color=Green     Type=Instant               Cost=G               ABU(U)
Play only before the combat damage step.
Target creature gains trample and gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is its power.  At end of turn, destroy that creature if it attacked this turn.

I assume that means you took 10 from it on turn 2?

[Ultima]

Yeah, I ate 10.  On turn 2.

[DavidHernandez]

Yeah, I ate 10. On turn 2.

...and still won the game (and match). Sometimes you have to make a call like that in order to survive and win.

dave