Hi all,
sorry for posting this report a bit late, but I had too few time to write Magic-things during these days.
Last week we had two tourneys in two different cyties and I feared about the flop of one of them because of the obvious split of our players.
I was totally wrong.
We had 114 players at Turin and 81 players at Florence, for a total of a bit less than 200 people that played “vintage� in Italy, instead of going to have funny with their girls. WHOA!
I was able to collect a lot of data about the Turin's one, while I have less informations about "the minor's" one in Firenze.
Here I start.
Turin's Top8 Results1 Alberto Bertinetti (Welder Mud)
2 Danilo Benvenuti (4C-K-eeper)
3 Giacomo Mallamaci (TPS UB)
4 Alessandro Testa (Slavery – No ManaDrains – see above)
5 Marco Marotta (Welder Mud)
6 Dario Contadin (Control-Madness URG)
7 Alberto Ferloni (UR-St4ck$)
8 Danilo Scuri (Monobrown-Stacker) 9 Simone Girgenti (TPS UB)
10 Gigi Buonaiuto (Monobrown-Stacker)
11 Gregorio Adezati (4C-Hulk Smash)
12 Luca Chiassoni (3C-DARgon)*
13 Andrea Galati (Welder Mask)
14 Francesco Messina (3C-DARgon)*
15 Pietro Cavalletti (TPS UB)
16 Humbert Milazzo (ControlFastbond-Neo)
17 Gabriele Magliano (Food Chain Goblin)*
18 Alessandro Filippini (Aggro Madness RG)
19 Giampiero Ronzo (MW-Slavery)
20 Mauro Bonino (3C-DARgon)
21 Davide Alfonsi (MW-Slavery)
22 Andrea Garella (TPS-UB)
23 Maurizio Ruetta (3C-DARgon)*
24 Andrea Cadioli (Agrro-Madness UG)*
25 Fabio Asinardi (Gay-Red)*
26 Luciano Roggero (4C-K-eeper)
27 Yann Levet (Draw7)
28 Gabriele Piva (Gay-Red)
29 Damien Levet (TPS-UB)
30 Luca Lo Bianco (TPS-UB)
31 Enea Salvaderi (UR-St4ck$)
32 Dario Rigacci (UR-Control-Denial)
33 Jeanpaul Allasinaz (TPS-UBR)
34 Daniele Zubiani (Cobold Tendril)*
35 Jurij Gosso (MW-Slavery)
36 Ivan Di Domenico (Gay-Red)*
37 Daniele D Vernetti (RG-Beatz)*
38 Federico Chirichelli (4C-Hulk Smash)
39 Marco Chialvetto (TPS-UBR)
40 Alessandro Mennella (4C-K-eeper)
41 Walter ZarĂ (Control-Madness URG)
42 Filippo Benvenuto (UW-Control)*
43 Jacopo Costantini (Gay-Red)*
44 Riccardo Timellini (Food Chain Goblin)*
45 Biagio Fraudatario (UG-Control-Oath)*
46 Frida Betti (Vengeur Masqué)
47 Andrea Canessa (Monobrwon-Stacker)*
48 Francis Husson (T1T-UBR-Tog)
49 Alessandro Pessina (Monobrwon-Stacker)
50 Marco Ellena (UWR Control)
51 Marco Peretto (MW-Slavery)
52 Michele Zannino (Welder Mud)
53 Mirko Parasiliti (3C-DARgon)*
54 Giovanni Bissolino (4C-Control)
55 Ivan Curina (5C-Affinity)
56 Eugenio Mosca (4C-K-eeper)
57 Stefano Biasio (4C-Hulk Smash)
58 Fabrizio Galliani (UR-Control-Denial)
59 Domenico Montanaro (Gay-Red)*
60 Alan Nervoso (Reanimator)*
61 Luca Salvemini (Food Chain Goblin)*
62 Alessandro Navone (UG-Control-Oath)*
63 Luca Simone (TPS-UB)
64 Marcello Gentili (Mono Blu)*
65 Granata Ruben (3C-DARgon)
66 Mathias Demomi (3C-DARgon)*
67 Andrea Vercellotti (4C-Control)
68 Stefano Savio (WW)*
69 Guido Bertero (WGB-Enchantress)*
70 Alessandro Scarafia (Gay-Red)*
71 Armando Amodeo (Aggro-Madness RG)*
72 Maiolatesi Lorenzo (BR-Aggro-Hate)*
73 Alessandro Bazzoli (Mask-Naught-UB)
74 Bertinetto Luca (3C-DARgon)*
75 Stefano Tosco (TPS-UB)
76 Fabrizio Morina (3C-DARgon)*
77 Diego Ferrara (TPS-UB)
78 Andrea Aillon (Mono Black)*
79 Efrem Perotti (UR Scepter)*
80 Emanuele Mastaglia (Fish URW)*
81 Stefano Matotea (Vengeur Masqué)
82 Claudio Veltri (Goblin)*
83 Simone Bronzino (5C-Affinity)
84 Claudio Ferloni (Monobrown-Stacker)
85 Franco Traversario (Elfi)*
86 Vittorio Perera (PT Funk)*
87 Daniele Verra (4C-Control)
88 Emanuele Lach (3C-DARgon)
89 Valerio Martino (Cobold Tendril)*
90 Alex Robino (Fluctuator)*
91 Cristian Tonello (UWB Control)*
92 Mattia De Angelis (Control-Madness URG)*
93 Alessandro Mola (Elfi.dec)*
94 Emilio Cirillo (3C-DARgon)*
95 Paolo Cadioli (BR-Aggro-Hate)*
96 Marco Perlino (Mono Black)*
97 Daniele Martini (Millstone.dec)*
98 Matteo Grella (UR-Control-Denial)
99 Alessandro Storti (4C-K-eeper)
100 Massimiliano Sturla (BR-Aggro-Hate)*
101 Riccardo Rolla (UW Control)
102 Simone Bonandini (Goblin)*
103 Alessandro Brera (TPS-UB)
104 Stefano Fusani (Zoo)*
105 Pier Cristiglio (Cobold Tendril)*
106 Edoardo Cavallotti (3C-DARgon)*
107 Andrea Preda (Goblin)*
108 Calvi Matteo (Null & Void)*
109 Matteo Savoldi (2c-Affinity)*
110 Enzo Zibetti (3C-DARgon)
111 Vu Vuong Chan (4C-Hulk Smash)
112 Stefano Marcolongo (Sligh)*
113 Lorenzo Valentini (Rebel.dec)*
114 Nicola Bertolazzo (Reanimator)*
* = Unpowered
-114 Players.
-K24 Tourney with 2 lvl2 Judges and some “Judges’ slaves� for the minor instances.
-This time we had some players coming from Lione ( France ) and Switzerland. They placed really well, but none of them have been able to top8.
Final Standings1)
4C-K-eeper - Danilo Benvenuti 19 (58.9116)
2)
Welder-MUD - Marco Marotta 18 (56.4628)
3)
TPS_UB - Giacomo Mallamaci 18 (52.7211)
4)
Drain-Slavery - Alessandro Testa 17 (67.3469)
5)
MUD-Monobrown - Dario Contadin 17 (58.9569)
6)
UR-$t4k$ - Alberto Ferloni 16 (69.3878)
7)
Welder-MUD - Alberto Bertinetti 16 (60.5442)
8)
MUD-Monobrown - Danilo Scuri 16 (58.8435)
9)
TPS-UB - Simone Girgenti 16 (55.1020)
10)
MUD-Monobrwon - Gigi Buonaiuto 15 (62.3129)
11)
4C-Hulk-Smash! - Gregorio Adezati 15 (61.6327)
Here is the Mini-report of the Winner of the tourney: Alberto Bertinetti aka "AlbertoBertinetti" on IRC, playing his WelderMUD's build.
He tried to abuse of Serum Powder, with the goal in mind of rising the rate of having those "MUD-god-hand" that can win entire games by themselves against almost anyone.
On the other hand, under 3Sphere, Serum Powder revealed themselves to be as good as a Mox, while they were a lot better when a Karn resolved.
1° Round - Food Chain Goblin - Unpowered DeckGame 1I won the roll and went first. Serum Powder gave me an hand with a first turn 3Sphere and a second turn CoW. After those 2 spells, I was able to lock him down without any problem, crushing his mana base and protecting mine from his possible denial. Karn and Sword of Fire/Ice helped me to get rid of two of his goblins in the middle game and win in a single turn.
Game 2He resolved a lot of mana on his first and second turn and a couple of hasted hungry goblins. I resolved 2 Wires to stop the possible rush of his weenies while a Smokestack for 1 slowly eated all his permanents. At some point, CoW hit the board and his recurring power prevented me to lose a single permanent from my own Smokestack. Karn, unanswered, won the game singlehandly
Matches 1-0-0 - Games 2-02° Round - 4C-K-eeper with maindeck CoWs but no Angels.Game 1&2 I don't remember a lot of those two games, but I lost to a good combinations of Islands, Shamans and CoWs. I was unable to gain permanents’ advantage and I was defeated by some stupid Soldiers.
Matches 1-0-1 - Games 2-23° Round - Luca LoBianco - TPS UBGame 1 Serum Powder gave me a good-hand ( not a “god-hand� this time
). I resolved a first turn 3Sphere with some mana accelerations and a second turn Smokestack. Luckily for me my third card drawn was CoW and I completely locked him down.
Game 2 He went first and resolved some mana accelerations, preventing me the proper use of my strongest card against him: 3Sphere. I tried to slow him down with a Wire and I resolved a Metalworker to be able to explode on my next turn. Unluckily for me, I put too little pressure to him and he waited the slow deflating of my Wire. He let me resolve anyone of my spells after I activated the Metalworker, while sitting on some open basic lands. "The Inevitability" happened and he Rebuilded back all my artifact during my EoT, leaving me with an useless Welder in play. He tried a Draw7 in his following turn and went of with a lot of spells.
Game 3 See game Won. Serum Power = God!
Matches 2-0-1 - Games 4-34° Round - Enea Salvaderi aka "FANTAMAN" on IRC - UR-$t4k$Game 1 I lose in 5 turns. Broken things happened
Game 2 I won in 3 turns. Far more broken things happened
Game 3 Double mulligan for him and a single mulligan for me ( no SerumPowder this time
). He should have kept a shitty hand because he was totally screwed and he couldn't be able to resolve a single spell in the entire game. My lock-components didn't help him to recover and he scooped.
Matches 3-0-1 - Games 6-45° Round - Pietro Cavalletti aka "Elric" on IRC - TPS-UB Game 1 It was a long match. I could not be able to totally lock him down in the early game and he was a bit unlucky not being able to resolve ten spells after one of his Bouncers in my EoT. I tried to re-lock him a bit with all the artifacts in my hand ( with the help of 2 Workers ) but it was to late and he let me resolve all my spells except for 3Sphere ( we both have a lot of lands in play ). On the next turn he sadly won with only 3 spells...
Game 2Serum Powder seemed to give me an edge on him another time. I forced me to "mulligan" into a seven cards hand with a 3Sphere in it. I removed my hand two times but my last one, luckily for me, was far more broken then I could have expected. During this process, I removed 3 Welders and 3 Smokestacks plus 2 Metalworkers and many other minor locking-elements. My last hand contains two 3Spheres. I went first and he FoWilled my first Sphere. He layed land and passed the turn. I resolved my second turn 3Sphere and I quickly locked him down with Wires and Strips effects. I won the entire game with a fast Juggy in no more than 3 turns.
Game 3 He started Duressing away one of my threats but he wasn't able to resolve some cc0 artifact-mana. I resolved Sphere of Resistance and Trinisfere in my next turns and he was slowed down really too much to put some pressure. He missed 2 land drops too and I won after “Captain.Karn� ordered to his unanimated army of 3/3s and 4/4s to attack for the win.
Matches 4-0-1 - Games 8-56° Round - MW.SlaveryGame 1He went first and started with MW, Mox, Mox, Gilded Lotus, Thirst, drawing three and discarding Pentavus. The match went on for a bit, while he drew like a mad and I tried to slow him down somehow after is strong start. He played too broken spells and finally resolved a Midslaver activating it in the same turn.He resoled a Welder too starting the infinite recursion with the Pentavus in the grave; Welder coupled with Mindslaver quickly stole all my future turns.
Game 2I sided out all my 3Spheres and started in my “aggro mode-on�. I resolved two fats and a Welder in two turns, starting the beat-down. He didn't found a Welder or a Pentavus or a Mindslaver and scoop.
Because of the luck involved in this matchup, I proposed the Draw to my opponent and he agreed. Cool!
Matches 4-1-1 - Games 9-67° Turn - 3C-DARgonGame 1 I have to win this match to be able to play in the Top8s. Facing combo in this last match wasn't one of my luckiest pairings... Of course he won the roll and resolved some mana accelerations in first turn. I did as much as I can, but he showed me a second turn Bazaar + Animated Spell that let him discard his combo and win.
Game 2&3 I can summarize those two games with three cards: Serum Powders, Blood Moons and Tormod's Crypts. The first one gave me a good hand full of hate. The second ones slowed down his entire engine ( I resolved it in my second turn ) and the latter prevented him on comboing me out when he luckily found his only Swamp. Karn resolved eating all his artifacts while a Welder and a Wire prevented him on having some mana opened during his main-phase. He continued to have too mountains in play to do anything and he lost.
Matches 5-1-1 - Games 11-7Quaterfinals - Marco aka "partizan" Marotta - Welder-MUDGame 1 He kept a risky god-hand with only zero cc artifacts but with Welder, CoW and Smokestack. I prevented him any one of those possible plays with my own 3Sphere. He didn't draw lands until it was too late...
Game 2 I was a bit lucky in this game, because he mulliganed twice keeping an hand with only a mountain and a Welder as possible first turn plays. He cursed all the deities that he knew because of his 2 unlucky series of draw, but this voodoo-rite didn't prevent me to kill him after 5 or 6 rounds.
Matches 6-1-1 - Games 13-7Semifinals - TPS-UBI'm sorry but my memories fade away.
Game 1He won as usual
Game 2&3 Serum Powder plus CotVs plus 3Sphere plus Spheres plus a bit of luck locked him too fast and too heavy to let him recover.
Matches 7-1-1 - Games 15-7Finals - Danilo aka "Benga" Benvenuti - 4C-K-eeper with CoWs maindeck but no Angels at allWe choose to play a single Post-Side game to declare the winner of the tourney for time reasons. We split the prizes.
Final MatchSee the final match in the next report… Matches 8-1-1 - games 16-7This is the list that he played this time:
"SERUM-MUD"
Maindeck
9 Mountain
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Serum Powder 1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
4 Goblin Welder
4 Metalworker
4 Juggernaut
2 Karn, Silver Golem
2 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan4 Trinisphere
3 Tangle Wire
3 Smokestack
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Mindslaver
1 Lightning Greaves 1 Memory Jar
Sideboard
3 Blood Moon
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Viashino Heretic
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Sphere of Resistance
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Here is the report of the second placed. He played his usual 4C-K-eeper deck, with no Angels but only a few Decrees as winners. He simply added one CoW in the maindeck and he felt ready for the tourney. How lazy is playing Magic…
He played this build without spot removals ( if we exclude Balance and Fire/ice as the only weapons against aggro ) to made space to additional search elements to be able to rise the quality of the draws. He almost rely on his denial plan and on his huge experience with this deck to win almost every match.
1° Round - RG-Beatz - UnpoweredIt is a bad match-up because of his main-deck configuration.
Game 1Aggro went first laying Taiga and playing Hidden Gibbons. I Stripped his Taiga and pass. He played a Kird Ape and pass. I layed land and pass the turn. He lost a land drop but resolved another Kird Ape. I Brainstormed into my own CoW resolving it starting to recycle my own Stripmine.. He continued to beat me down but with only 2 1/1s. He remained without lands for almost all the game while at some point I killed the stupid weenies with my FIre/Ice. I Wished for StP to kill the fresh 4/4 token in play. I was at 13 life and he had no permanents in table. He conceded.
Game 2 I had a god-hand with Wasteland, Lotus, CoW, FoW plus blue card and Fetchland. He layed Mishra and then passed the turn. I resolved my CoW and passed the turn. He cannot be able to deal more than 4 damages in all the game thanks to my recurring Wasteland. I won.
Matches 1-0-0 - Games 2-02° Round - Monoblack-DragonGame 1&2I didn't remember a lot of these games, but I Wasted all his Bazaars with ease and my Purges took care of his Dragons.
Matches 2-0-0 - Games 4-03° Round - Levet Damien - TPS-UBHe played a build a little different from ours. He had 2 Skeletals and some Impulses maindeck instead of some draw7 and other “unknown� cards. It didn’t work so well IMHO…
Game 1I started with only a land and then pass the turn, with a Braisntorm ready to be used. He Duressed me on his first turn thanks to his own Mox Jet and I hide my Drain on top of my library. He discarded my FoW and then passed the turn. I sit on my Drain and passed. He tried a Vampiric Tutor on my EoT and it resolved. During his own turn he exploded with some cheap mana accelerations and tried to resolve a Time Spiral which I Drain.
With all that mana in my mainphase, I Wished for R&R to crush his Sol Ring and his Mana Crypt and I resolved another Wish for my sided Skeletal Scrying. We draw-go for two turns but I resolved a Skeletal Scrying for 5 to refill my “so-so hand�. He tried to explode another time, but my hand was full of counterspells and I was able to block his 3 threats. Some Soldiers won the game for me.
Game 2He resolved a pletora of Braisntorms and Impulses but I was sure he made some crucial errors because he jump at least 2 land drops in his first 5 turns without doing nothing especial. I sit down waiting for his attack with a good hand containing double Drain but an useless Skeletal because of my empty graveyard. I have only lands and counters in hand, without being able to capitalize the advantage of his lazyness. He tutored his own Y.Will waiting the needed black mana to resolve it. In the end, he drew into one of his Fetchlands, but I Wished for Stifle to block his attempt of searching for his Underground Sea. He Forced the Stifle back and layed Underground Sea. He tried to resolve his Y.Will but I Drained it. Of course, he had his second FoW and resolving Y.Will AND some goodness in the grave being able to do ten spells and winning the game.
Game 3 I kept an hand with Vampiric Tutor, FoW and Brainstorm plus some lands. He didn't Duress me in his turn, so I Braisntormed during his EoT. I drew Black Lotus keeping it in my hand. During my upkeep, I Vampiric Tutored for Mindtwist resolving it for 3 and forcing him to discard lot of good spells. He tried an unprotected Necropotence one turn later, but I have a Mana Drain ready for it. We draw-go for a bit while he tried to refill his hand with broken spells. On the other hand I have a really good hand with 3 Drains and 2 ReBs. Unluckily for him, I was able to resolve a Tutor for my Y.Will that won the game for me, while he slowly died from his own Man Vault.
Matches 3-0-0 - Games 6-14° Round - Ivan Curina - UR-AffinityGame 1 I mulliganed once and kept a decent 6-cards-hand but with nothing expecial except for Balance. I layed land and said go. He layed land and passed the turn, but he tried an Ancestral Recall on my upkeep which resolved. He had 9 cards, while I had only 5 cards. I layed land and resolved Balance, “mindtwisting� 5 of his cards. During his turn he resolved Crypt, Ravager, Welder and Ornitophter completely empting his hand. I had Fire/Ice ready in my hand and I used it on both his Welder and Ravager. Of course he shifted the counters on Ravager on his own Ornitopter and started to beat me down a bit with his creature. Ornitopher attacked 3 times but finally I drew into one of my Wishes and I Wished for R&R, crushing both his Mox and the creature. My board continued to develop well while his one consist only on a couple of lands. He conceded after my own Ancestral followed by Time Walk with too many cards in hand.
Game 2He mulliganed twice but he luckily started with MW, Ravager and Ornithopter. I Wasted his land while he attacked me with his little army. He layed another land, but I Wasted it too. He didn't topdeck lands for two turns, while I continued to made lands drop after land drop. He continued to attack me with his tiny creatures but when he finally drew into some lands, I had my CoW waiting for them and he scooped after I Wished for R&R, killing both his men.
Matches 4-0-0 - Games 8-15° Round - Alberto aka "Gaea" Ferloni - UR-$t4k$I offered him the Draw, but he refused it and he wanted to play.
Game 1I kept a good hand with some cheap spells and a FoW. He started with Sapphire and Ancestrall which I stupidly FoWilled, but instead of passing the turn, he layed Mox, Mox, Sol Ring and 3Sphere, revealing me that he kept a risky hand without lands but with plenty of accelerations and threats. I sadly looked at my useless Wastelands while laying my own fetchland and passing the turn. He resolved his CoW soon after and then passed the turn. I layed another land but he resolved a Wire too. I layed another land again without doing nothing. He drew land and layed it passing the turn. I Wished for R&R on my upkeep but I have to pass without resolving it because of Wire and 3Sphere. He topdecked Tinker, which search for his Titan that destroy all my lands. I lose the entire game because of his single-turn-good-timing.. ď?Ś.
Game 2I mulliganed once but, this time, he did the same. He kept an hand with a single land and a CoW. I luckily Forced his CoW and Wasted his land. He scooped soon after with too many overcosted spells in hand.
Game 3He resolved a first turn Smokestack. I Wasted his MW and then passed the turn. He seemed not to have not so many lands or spells because he mubled a bit on his subsequent upkeeps, but he pumped the Smokestack during anyway pn turn 3 and turn 4. I removed one of my lands because of it and after 2 turns we had zero permanents on boards. Unluckily for him, I was full of lands in my hand. He jump a couple of land drops again and lose the match because of my quick and strong recover.
Matches 5-0-0 - Games 10-16° Round – 3C-DARgonI was paired down, so we have to play this match too.
Game 1 He won the dice roll and he kept an hand with two Bazaars. On the other hand I drew all my 4 Wastelands in the first 15 cards of my deck and I could be able not only to deal with them but I leave him in a terrible colour screw. Soldiers and a Shaman gave me the first game.
Game 2I Wasted his first Bazaar, but this time he had a lot of lands to use. I had only a FoW and some good business spells, but no removals or Drains. When he layed his third land, he dropped lotus and tried to resolve HIS OWN DRAGON!!! I FoWilled his attempt to put in play that monster but he Forced back. So the DRAgon resolved and I had 3 turns to find one of my solutions to it. I thought that it would have been really easy with the cards in hand… but… Unluckily for me I didn’t find single white mana after all those turns. During his first attack’s turn, I Iced the dragon, virtually gaining an entire turn. During his EoT I resolved an Impulse, that find Mystical Tutor for me. I Mystically Tutored for Ancestral. I resolved Ancestral that revealed me another Impulse and Time Walk. I resolved both of them but ONLY this second Impulse showed me my first white mana ( a Mox Pearl ) needed to kill his dragon. Of course, None of my removals showed up. He attacked once and I took 7 damages. When I revealed Y.Will and the opportunity of playing some more turns AND killing his dragon he scooped. I don’t know why he played in such a “strange� way against me…He lose the entire match because of his unorthodox move
Matches 6-0-0 – Games 12-17° Round – Drain-Slavery ID with one of my teammates
Matches 6-0-1 – Games 13-2I was first after the Swiss’ rounds and I played against the eighth
Quaterfinals – MUD-Monobrown – Danilo ScuriGames 1&2 Note of MaxxMatt :
Follow their broken plays in one of the Features’ Matches some lines under these ones .
Matches 7-0-1 – Games 15-2 Semifinals – Slavery – No Mana Drains but Intuitions+AKGame 1I started laying land and Sapphire so he was a frightened by a possibile quick Drain and he didn’t try nothing special in his first turn. On the other hand, I resolved 2 Brainstorms, 1 Impulse and 1 Mystical tutor in my first two turns. I have arranged a good hand while he played and resolved only a lot of mana fonts. I had 2 Drains, Skeletal, Mindtwist and some other cards in hand. I tried a Skeletal for 3 during one of his EoT, leaving 2 Mana Opened to eventually Drain. He tapped 5 mana to hardcast a FoW. I mumbled a bit if it would be safe to counter the FoW back, but because of his choice of tapping him out, I let him counter my Skeletal to be sure of protecting my own Mindtwist. So, he had 5 cards in hand and he is totally tapped out. I tried to resolve a Mindtwist for 4 that resolved without using my own Drains. It resolved and I forced him on playing in a bad topdeck condition. He scooped a few turns later without gas.
Game 2 Unluckily for him, he mulliganed to 4!!!! He showed me every one of his mulliganed hands. He had Ancestrall in ALL the previous hands but NO LANDS to at least try to resolve it. He kept his 4 cards hand, layed Island AND Ancestral Recall another time!! WTF!!! Of course I had no FoW and it resolved. Retrospectively, I made a little error in my first turn. Instead of lying one of my fetchland, I played Tundra and passed the turn. I played in this way because I would like to optimize my next turn Brainstorm. I didn’t think about on of his most broken plays in his first turn of the game. He claimed that if he would have drawn a single Mox in his Draw Phase, he would have probably won the entire game. He mise like a mad and drew that damn Mox and then played Mox, Mountain and Blood Moon. I responded with a Brainstorm hoping in a lucky FoW. I didn’t find anyone of them. Blood Moon resolved and I started to lose… [ If I would have chosen to play Fetchland, I could have broken it for my lone Island, letting me to play some spells in the following turns… � ). I did nothing for too many turn. He resolved 2 Welders, a Memory Jar, some draw spells and won after an extremely long game. I did not draw into one of my FoWs or Fire/Ices during the entire game…
Game3 No memories of this game. I won.
Matches 8-0-1 – Games 17-3 Final Match – WelderMUD with Serum PowderFinal Match He won the dice roll and started with a Mountain and a Welder which resolved. I layed Volcanic Island. He played Mountain, attacked once and passed. I played another volcanic island and I passed the turn. He played Wasteland on my land and I Ancestralled in response. He layed a Mox and tried to resolve a Blood Moon. I used Braisntorm in response another time but I didn’t find a single FoW to use against his Blood Moon. So Blood Moon resolved. I tried to slow down the match as much as I could, but I have too few red spell to try to win with them and noone of my resolved Mox could give me the right mana colour. I tried a Demonic Tutor but he resolved Karn soon after preventing me to reuse another time my only black mana. He animated some of his nasty artifacts and won after two turns.
Matches 8-1-1 – Games 17-4@Maxx's Notes.
This is the list that he played this time.
He had a large variety of blue cheap search's spells and a good number of tutors to grab his bombs at any time of the game. The deck seemed to work really well in our metagame, maindeck StPs aren’t always needed and the minor importance of white and red let him cut the City of Brass at all, not weighting too much on his life points, especially in the aggro match-up. I don't know if this build can be safely piloted in a different metagame, but, with a careful choice of play moves, it can face almost all the possible opponents with a good equilibrium among matches won and lost. "Outplaying" opponents is always possible because of the good denial strategy. I didn’t like some of his sideboard choices ( the weird use of some silver bullets and the lack of Gush and Vampiric Tutor ), because they are too situational and not so strong against the best decks all around. On the other hand, he won with them, so I’m sure that they should have some good use too…
I undelined in Italic some of his personal choices. MAIN DECK
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mind Twist
1 Time Walk
1 Balance
1 Fire/Ice
3 Cunning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor1 Mystical Tutor
4 Brainstorm
2 Impulse
2 Skeletal Scrying1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Wasteland
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Crucible of Worlds1 Strip Mine
2 Decree of Justice1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra4 Polluted Delta
1 Library of Alexandria
SIDEBOARD
2 Swords to Plowshares1 Disenchant
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Coffin Purge3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Fire/Ice
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 The Abyss
1 Sphere of Law
1 Stifle@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
These are some Features Matches covered by “TolarianAcademy� during the tourney.
7° Round TPS-UB vs. MUD-Monobrown – Colecash vs. DaniloScuri Those two players knew really well each other and we have a good time trash-talking with them.
Game 1TPS mulliganed once while MUD mulliganed twice, With an huge grin on his face he claimed that it isn’t important for his deck… MUD is a deck that
usually draw a lot. We all smiled at his terrible humour...
TPS kept an hand with Tolarian Academy, 2 Moxen, 1 Swamp and 2 cheap search spells. A risky hand but with a lot of potential. MUD won the dice roll and went first.
Round 1 Even if MUD mulliganed twice he resolved a first turn 3Sphere and then passed the turn.
Round 2TPS layed his Swamp and sadly passed the turn. If the opponent resolved any other spells the match would have been in his favour.
Round 3MUD layed Wasteland and resolved Metalworker. You should remember that he mulliganed twice…
Round 4TPS layed Tolarian Academy and passed without being able to do something useful.
Round 5MUD showed 2 artifact and acquired 4 mana thanks to Metalworker’s ability. He had 8 mana ( tapping all his lands ) and resolved Smokestack and Crucibile of the Worlds. Totally locked TPS’ player conceded the game.
Game 2TPS mulliganed once another time ( he had 7 cards in hand and the total mana cost of the spells in his hand was 35 … lol ). And then another time…And then another time… His 4 Cards hand was far more stronger than his previous ones.
MUD kept his 7 cards hand.
Round 1TPS played Polluted Delta and Mox Sapphire. A really solid hand against a deck with a lot of denial elements.
Round 2MUD drew a card ( 3Sphere ) and played Ancient Tomb, Sol Ring, Mox Ruby, Mana Vault and Trinisfere and Cruciale of the World.
Round 3TPS played Underground Sea, ready to cast his Brainstorm if needed.
Round 4As only a total ass could draw, MUD, topdecked Stripmine and crushed one of the TPS’ lands. TPS tried to Brainstorm into something good but he didn’t found a single land in his 3 Braisntorm’s cards. He sadly conceded: No way to deal with god hands….
Quaterfinals: 4C-K-eeper vs. MUD-Monobrown – Benga vs. DaniloScuriGame 14C-K-eeper rolled 19 while MUD only 4. K-eeper went first.
MUD mulliganed once while K-eeper mumbled a bit about his hand but finally decided to keep his 7 cards.
Round 1K-eeper layed Polluted Delta, broke it for an Underground and resolved a Braisntorm, hoping to find some zero cc artifacts to better fight against a possible first turn 3Sphere. He passed the turn without finding any Mox.
Round 2MUD kept a so-so hand and all his moves this turn consisted on laying a single Wasteland and then he passed.
Round 3K-eeper layed LoA and passed, waiting for some possible MUD’s moves.
Round 4MUD tried to break K-eeper’s LoA before he reach 7 cards and K-eeper Brainstormed in response. He rearranged his cards in his hand and onto his library and then put his LoA in the grave. MUD continued his attack playing City of Traitors and a Winter Orb, that resolved.
Round 5K-eeper played another Polluted Delta and before passing the turn, he asked to his opponent the number of cards in his hand. “only� 5 cards…
Round 6MUD draw his card and passed the turn another time without any land to fuel his high cc artifacts in his hand. K-eeper Braisntormed again in the MUD’s EoT with an evil smile in his face. He broke his Delta, fetching another Underground and resolved Vampiric Tutor.
Round 7K-eeper played Wasteland, Lotus and a Mind Twist for 4 while MUD had 6 cards in his hand and only 2 mana on table. MUD discarded a Trnisfere, a CoW, a Tangle Wire and a Wasteland, leaving him Titan and Jar. WTG!
Round 8MUD draw a card and passed the turn
Round 9K-eeper played Jet, Demonic Tutor, Mox Ruby and Shaman
Round 10MUD draw-go
Round 11K-eeper played Sapphire and passed the turn
Round 12MUD drew another card without finding any lands again. Shaman ate Winter Orb during MUD’s EoT.
Round 13K-eeper drew and showed an hand with 2 Drains and a Decree of Justice. MUD conceded.
Game 2Both of them mulliganed once and MUD decided to start he game
Round 1He resolved Mox, Vault, Ancient Tomb and CoW, which resolved.
Round 2K-eeper played land go.
Round 3MUD played a 3Sphere, K-eeper Brainstormed in response and let 3Sphere resolve.
Round 4K-eeper played Delta and passed
Round 5MUD resolved a Metalworker
Round 6Keeper played another land and fetched Volcanic Island to crush both CoW and 3Sphere. After that move he resolved Black Lotus and then passed the turn.
Round 7MUD used his Metalworker to untap his Mana Vault and tried a Tangle Wire which meet K-eeper’s Mana Drain. MUD announced his second Tangle Wire that resolved this time.
Round 8K-eeper add 3 mana in his pool to use after his draw step and tapped himself out because of the Wire. He take 3 damages and resolved Sapphire and CoW with the mana of his previous Mana Drain. With the CoW in play he recurred his Delta from the grave.
Round 9MUD tapped some mana and tried his own CoW which meet another Drain.
Round 10K-eeper resolved ( in this order ) Demonic Tutor for Shaman that ate a MUD’s Mox, Disenchant on Metalworker, and finally a Wasteland on Ancient Tomb.
Round 11MUD tried to recover a bit resolving another Metalworker
Round 12K-eeper Strip the opponent’s MW and then passed the turn
Round 2MUD look at his board. He had only a Metalworker and some artifacts in hand while K-eeper had a lot of permanents, some cards in hand and his little Combo-Shaman-CoW ready to be used. He sadly drew another cards, then shake his hand and conceded the match.
Semifinals – TPS-UB vs. WelderMUD with Serum PowdersGame 1TPS went first and both of them kept their own 7-cards-hand.
Round 1TPS played land go.
Round 2WelderMUD played MW and Wire. TPS responded with Mystical Tutor for Ancestral Recall.
Round 3TPS played land and then go. He could have tapped his land for mana and used it to cast Ancestral Recall after the draw step, but he choose not to do it and then pass.
Round 4WelderMUD played Mountain and Welder which resolved ( TPS Ancestralled in response without finding any answers to it ).
Round 5TPS played LoA, drew a card, played Lotus Petal and then passed the turn
Round 6WelderMUD played 3Sphere and attacked with his Welder.
Round 7TPS played Rebuild duringhis upkeep, drew a card and the resolved Lotus Petal, double Ritual, Mana Vault and Timetwister. After the Timetwister he resolved Sol Ring Ritual Ritual and Tendril.
Game 2Round 1WelderMUD started really strong with Mox Ruby , Wasteland, Man Crypt, 3Sphere and Welder.
Round 2TPS played Swamp and passed the turn
Round 3WelderMUD took 3 damages from his own Crypt and resolved Metalworker
Round 4TPS was a bit mana screwed and jumped his land drop, discarding Necropotence.
Round 5WelderMUD resolved Triskelion, CotV for 1 and a Serum Powder. TPS conceded. All the players in the hall knew really well that TPS conceded ONLY because of the inner power of Serum Powder…
Game 3WelderMUD used Serum Powder to find a better initial hand and discarding a “so-so� initial one.
Round 1TPS played Delta and passed
Round 2WelderMUD played MW, Jet and Sphere of Resistance.
Round 3TPS played Delta and then passed again.
Round 4WelderMUD tried to resolve Metalworker which met TPS’s FoW; after that he stripped away one of the two TPS’ basic lands.
Round 5TPS played another land and passed again
Round 6WelderMUD Wasted the Underground, TPS cycled a Rebuild in response and WelderMUD resolved a Serum Powder but nothing special after it
Round 7TPS draw-go
Round 8TPS played Mox, Lightining Greaves, equipped the Metalworker and attacked for 2
Round 9TPS draw-go another time
Round 10WelderMUD resolved Smokestack and TPS conceded…
Top8 Lists1° Place – WelderMUDMAIN DECK
9 Mountain
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
3 Serum Powder
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
4 Juggernaut
4 Goblin Welder
4 Metalworker
2 Karn, Silver Golem
2 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan
4 Trinisphere
3 Tangle Wire
3 Smokestack
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Mindslaver
1 Memory Jar
1 Lightning Greaves
SIDEBOARD
3 Blood Moon
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Viashino Heretic
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Sphere of Resistance
2nd Place – 4C-K-eeperMAIN DECK
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mind Twist
1 Time Walk
1 Balance
1 Fire/Ice
3 Cunning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Brainstorm
2 Impulse
2 Skeletal Scrying
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Wasteland
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Strip Mine
2 Decree of Justice
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
4 Polluted Delta
1 Library of Alexandria
SIDEBOARD
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Disenchant
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Coffin Purge
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Fire/Ice
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 The Abyss
1 Sphere of Law
1 Stifle
3rd Place – TPS-UBMAIN DECK
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
1 Rebuild
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Cunning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Tinker
4 Brainstorm
1 Mind's Desire
1 Time Spiral
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall
1 Frantic Search
1 Memory Jar
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Will
SIDEBOARD
2 Misdirection
1 Brain Freeze
1 Gush
2 Echoing Truth
1 Stifle
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Hydroblast
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Mana Drain
2 Rebuild
4th Place - Control-SlaveryMAIN DECK
3 Polluted Delta
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
4 Goblin Welder
1 Mindslaver
1 Platinum Angel
1 Pentavus
1 Sundering Titan
1 Darksteel Colossus
4 Force of Will
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Fire/Ice
1 Tinker
1 Memory Jar
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Thirst of Knowledge
2 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall
1 Wheel of Fortune
SIDEBOARD
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Pyroblast
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blood Moon
5th Place – WelderMUDMAIN DECK
4 Smokestack
3 Tangle Wire
4 Trinisphere
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Goblin Welder
4 Metalworker
3 Karn, Silver Golem
3 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan
1 Memory Jar
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Sword of fire and ice
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
4 Mishra's Workshop
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
5 Mountain
SIDEBOARD
2 Shuttering Pulse
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Blood Moon
4 Tormod's Crypt
1 Chalice of the Void
6th Place – ControlMadness-URGMAIN DECK
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
2 Roar of the Wurm
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Anger
1 Wonder
1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Deep Analisys
4 Force of Will
4 Circular Logic
2 Intuition
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Tropical Island
1 Taiga
1 Volcanic Island
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Polluted Delta
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
SIDEBOARD
1 Rebuild
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Naturalize
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Fire/Ice
3 Rack and Ruin
7th Place – UR-$t4k$MAIN DECK
4 Tangle Wire
2 Sphere of Resistance
4 Trinisphere
4 Smokestack
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Goblin Welder
1 Mindslaver
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
1 Memory Jar
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Timetwister
1 Time walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Mishra's Workshop
3 Shivan Reef
4 Volcanic Island
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
SIDEBOARD
2 Sphere of Resistance
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Blood Moon
2 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Tormod's Crypt
8th Place – MUD-MonobrwonMAIN DECK
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
4 Metalworker
3 Karn, Silver Golem
3 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan
1 Memory Jar
4 Smokestack
3 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Trinisphere
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Sphere of Resistance
2 Winter Orb
SIDEBOARD
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Duplicant
1 Triskelion
3 Damping Matrix
3 Defence Grid
1 Tangle Wire
Powered/Unpowered Rate60% vs. 40%
Metagame StatisticsControl 33.33%
Combo 31.57%
Aggro 35.10%
Occurrences of each deckPrison’s Decks 2 Aggro-Stacker-Monobrown
4 MUD-Monobrown
3 Welder-MUD
2 UR-$st4k$
Control’s Decks 5 4C-K-eeper
4 4C-HulkSmash!
4 MW-Slavery
2 4C-Control
1 MonoU
1 Control-Slavery
1 CruX-Fastbond-CoW
1 UW-Control
1 UR-Scepter
1 UWR-Control
1 UWB-Control
2 Ug-Control-Oath
1 UBR-Tog aka “T1Tog�
1 MillStone.dec
Aggro-Control’s Decks 5 Gay-Red
3 UGR-ControlMadness
3 Kiodo-Counter-Burn
1 URW-Fish
1 UG-Madness
2 BR-Aggro-Suicide-Hate
Combo’s Decks 10 UB-TPS
9 Dragon
3 Kobold-Tendril
2 UBR-TPS
1 Draw 7
1 Fluctuator.dec
Aggro’s Decks 2 RG-Aggro-Madness
2 Reanimator
2 RG-Beatz
1 WW
1 GoBBo
1 UB-Mask-Naught
2 Suicide-Monoblack
1 Sligh
1 Rebel.dec
Aggro Combo’s Decks 3 Food Chain Goblin
3 Affinity
2 Vengeur-Masque
1 Enchantress
1 Elfi.dec
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For Dr. Sylvan, I had a Top8 of Florence, but I not so many details a bout lists and reports.
1) TPS-UB - Federico Gazzotti
2) UR-$t4k$ -
3) 4C-Hulk Smash - Iacopo Cecconi
4) Workshop Slavery - Giuseppe De Luca
5) Kiodo-Counter-Burn - Maurizio D'Isanto
6) TnT - Luigi Cecchini
7) Stacker with 4 Staff of Domination to fuel the combo with Metalworker- Valentino Giorgini
8) TPS-UB - Francesco GianiI try to search for them if they are still available from some of my friends.
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For all the others, feel free to ask me whatever you are curious to know about decks and players involved in those two events.
I think that there is a large equilibrium among the various archetypes played until now.
For what concerns my own thoughts about T1 nowadays, I think that some strategies are too based on “Won-The.Dice-Rol-Look-At-Your-Initial-Handl-And-Won-Or-Lose�. I’m not saying that some decks won too much and other decks couldn’t win because of the previous ones. I’m stating that I see too many decks that, with the same seven cards, they can win if they won the dice roll while being unable to do the same if the opponent goes first.
Barring our inner fears behind the idea that, in T1, “broken things can happen�, we lie to us about “the high skills� always involved into winning. Too many situations are simply decided by the dice roll because of the massive impact of being able to go first and this sad trend IMHO, could force people to leave this game.
See you next time.
MAxxMAtt
