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The Atog Lord
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« on: September 15, 2004, 04:27:25 pm » |
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Winning Waterbury with Lava Dart
Rich Shay
The Atog Lord
I went from my home in Norwood, Massachusetts to Waterbury with Demonic Attorney and Mike Lydon, both of whom played Control Slaver lists very similar to my own. I slept most of the trip down, and Mike was kind enough to do the driving.
I won, defeating Carl Winter as the Sun was starting to rise. I finished 7-1 in the Swiss before cutting to top sixteen. 187 people showed up. As always, Ray ran a great event.
Before I get any further, here is the Control Slaver list I played:
//NAME: Control Slaver
// Creatures
1 Platinum Angel
1 Pentavus
4 Goblin Welder
// Counter
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
// Drawing
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ancestral Recall
// Other
2 Blood Moon
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Cunning Wish
2 Mindslaver
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
// Black
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
// Mana
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
// Land
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
5 Island
// Sideboard
SB: 3 Lava Dart
SB: 1 Mogg Salvage
SB: 1 Shattering Pulse
SB: 1 Blood Moon
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Old Man of the Sea
SB: 3 Sphere of Resistance
A few notes on the list. More than anything else, I wanted to include a healthy number of Basic Islands in Control Slaver for Waterbury. In matchups such as Fish, Keeper, and Mono Blue, having those Islands is crucial. This decision lead me to a few further design decisions. First, with more Islands, the deck could no longer support Duress as well. The lack of Duress combined with the addition of more Islands led me to include Blood Moon in the main deck. Finally, I decided that the Sundering Titan was not necessary to include in the deck, especially with Blood Moon.
So far, the Moon has been rather strong. Against Keeper and other such polychromatic control decks, the Moon really cripples their mana base. Against a deck such as Fish, Blood Moon goes a step further, shutting down a sizable number of creatures. And when you consider that Control Slaver really plays a lot of red cards for having only four lands that produce red mana, you can see that the Moons do little to hurt Control Slaver’s own mana base.
As for the sideboard. Old Man of the Sea is so good that I picked up a fourth copy there. Against aggressive decks, he blunts their offense, often letting you use their own creatures against them. Even against Ophidians, Old Man is a game-saving card.
And do I need to mention Lava Dart? I had sort of hoped this card wouldn’t become well-known, but I guess that isn’t going to happen. Dart kills Goblin Welder. Then it kills another Goblin Welder. Sometimes, Lava Dart even kills an opponent.
Now, on to the matches.
Round 1: Hale (Purple Hat) with Dragon
I get scared when Hale opens with Bazaar and Emerald, but was relieved when he discarded Animate Dead to his Bazaar. I play out a second turn Welder, and Force his Intuition. Hale then Demonic Tutors and again activated Bazaar, tossing a pair of Dragons into his yard. I go for Tinker, which Hale forces. I soon have out an additional pair of Welders, and my army of red creatures brings Hale down to six life. However, he soon draws into Necromancy with Force backup, and we’re on to game two. I had no artifacts in play for returning the Angel he dumped into my graveyard.
I open the second game with a Welder. Hale plays out a Null Rod, which surprises and scares me, and uses Force of Will to ensure that it resolves. A few turns later, Hale casts Necromancy, which I counter. He then casts Animate dead, which I allow to resolve (I have counter magic in hand, but decided against countering it). Hale then decks me, but my Welder returns my Angel for me. The Angel then beats him to death.
The third game sees us both send back our hands. I get a Blood Moon on the table early, and the game ends with Yawgmoth’s Will.
1-0
Round 2: Ethan “Ivan the Terrible� with Mono Blue
Ethan begins the first game with two mulligans. I Force his Ancestral, Ethan wastes my one colored source, and I Force his Snake. I finally find a Volcanic to go with my Citadel and Mox Pearl, and cast Thirst in response to his using his fetchland. Soon, I resolve a Fact or Fiction, while Ethan is a bit stalled on land. Eventually, I force through a Tinker for a Pentavus.
The second game, Ethan starts things off with an Ancestral. He Forces my card drawing, Strips my land, plays Back to Basics, and deals with my Welder. Ethan forces through an Ophidian. I play an Old Man on my next turn, but Ethan Control Magics him and Time Walks, sealing the game.
The third game was interesting. Ric Flair was kind enough to tape this one. I play a Sapphire and an Island and pass the turn. Ethan drops a Lotus and a Library. We go to Ethan’s end step. I try to Ancestral. Ethan pops Lotus and Leaks my Ancestral. Then he casts his own. Then, Ethan untaps his cards, draws a card, and plays a land. I call Ray, since he did not in fact cast Time Walk. The penalty for drawing an extra card is usually a game loss, but I offer Ethan and Ray the idea of just playing the game over since it was just the second turn of the game, and I’d feel bad about winning a match through a game loss. Ethan and Ray agree, and we’re off to our fourth game.
I play out some Moxes and a fetchland. Ethan, of course, opens with Ancestral. For those of you counting along at home, that’s an Ancestral in each of his four opening hands. We draw/go for a while, and Ethan goes for an Ophidian. It resolves, but so does my Mindslaver next turn. Ethan has a turn to deal before I Slave him, but he finds no way to stop himself from becoming Slaved on his next turn. I Slave him, wreck his hand, and then go off with Yawgmoth’s Will.
2-0
Round 3: Matt Snow with Tinker Keeper (The Eastman Special)
Matt’s interesting deck is similar to Keeper without white, using the Tinker/Colossus combo as its kill mechanism. Things start off amazingly well for Matt in the first game. He Demonic Tutors for Ancestral, which resolves. He then counters my own Ancestral, and my Blood Moon. He uses Yawgmoth’s Will to refill his hand, makes me discard my own hand with Mind Twist, and kills off my Welders. According to my own notes, “I’m doomed.� However, the fact that his deck lacks in win conditions then catches up with him. While my board is decimated, Matt draws no way to kill me, and dies to his own Mana Crypt.
In the second game, Matt counters my early card drawing, but I REB through an early Mindslaver. I slave him, ruining his hand. I then resolve Goblin Welder and Blood Moon. The Moon is devastating.
3-0
Round 4: Madmaniac21 with Gro
I have a Sapphire but no land to play. He has a fetchland, a Jet, and a Lotus. I Mystical Tutor for my Ancestral, but in response to my Ancestral he Wishes for Misdirection. Before long a giant green lady has killed me.
He mulligans the second game, and Strips my first turn Island. After a few turns I resolve a Tinker and get a Mindslaver (Pentavus is in my hand). I then Yawgmoth’s Will, and need to decide between Slaving him that turn, or Tinkering for a Platinum Angel. I decided to recast Tinker, getting Angel. I pass the turn. I counter his Black Lotus, and then he resolves Ground Seal, and Naturalizes my Slaver.
My notes get a bit messy here, but in the end that green lady has killed me again.
3-1
Round 5: Dan with Control Slaver (similar to my Origins list)
I am fortunate enough to start this game with Library. He plays an Island, and I resolve a Welder. I basically ride Library to victory this game, eventually Slaving him.
Dan starts the second game by Duressing me, taking Brainstorm over either of my Thirsts, when the other cards in my hand were Ruby, Welder, Citadel, and Underground Sea. He then Lotuses into a Thirst. He Blue Blasts my Welder, and Tinkers into a Pentavus. I thirst to dig for an answer, and he Demonic Tutors. I get out a Welder, which gets rid of his Pentavus, but he pulls off two tokens in response. I go down to two life. I Will and stabilize at two, and will end the game next turn. But Dan draws Brainstorm which draws him into Cunning Wish, which transforms into Fire and kills me.
We both have early Tinkers this game, and I am forced to Tinker for my own Pentavus to match his. We both resolve Goblin Welder, too. Then, on his end step, I Fact or Fiction. The piles are Ancestral, REB, Mana Drain, and Mindslaver in one pile, with Lava Dart in the other. I take the good pile, Flashback the Dart killing his Welder, and win off the Fact or Fiction.
4-1
Round 6: Corey (Diaonic) with Workshop Slaver
I have an early Library this game, which is only moderately good against Workshop decks. He Forces my Welder, and I Force his Tinker. I draw some cards with Library and Corey resolves a Chalice set to one. I Tinker for Pentavus, which goes all the way.
The second game, we both play early Welders. He then plays Black Lotus, Workshop, and a Mox. This time his Tinker resolves, and he also Thirsts out an Angel. This one doesn’t take long.
I start with an Ancestral on his upkeep, and then I demonic Tutor. He tries to Thirst, but I Force it. I then resolve Welder. He plays Slaver, but I exchange it for a less potent artifact in his graveyard. I then slave him, and soon go infinite.
5-1
Round 7: Gary (Doomhed) with Blue Green Madness
I get a very strong draw in the first game, casting Thirst and Discarding Pentavus. Soon my Welder returns that creature to play, and Pentavus successfully races Gary’s deck.
The second game is entirely about Old Man of the Sea. I love it when my opponent has to read a card I play. Old man steals a Lizard, and then a Dog. I counter the creatures too big for Old Man to take, and Old Man does the rest.
6-1
Round 8: Joe with Keeper
I’m not exactly thrilled that, at 6-1, I have to play out my final match. But, I was paired down against someone who needed to win and couldn’t draw with me. Joe mulligans the first game, and I have a Library. On the third turn, Joe plays a ruby and a Scepter. I Drain his Scepter, and he Drains back. He imprints Mana Drain on the Scepter. On my turn I play a Mindslaver, which resolves. I Slave him on my next turn, and the game is pretty much over after that.
In the second game, I resolve Blood Moon, and all Joe can do is Morph out a creature. The morph brings me low on life, but eventually I push through a Yawgmoth’s Will for the game.
7-1
Top 16 (Every deck I played in the top sixteen was either a Meandeck deck, or some variation on a Meandeck deck)
Top 16: Gary (Doomhed) again
Gary mulligans the first game, and I resolve a second turn Tinker. I get Platinum Angel. Gary goes to take his second turn, and I ask if he has any way to deal with her, or if I’m just going to deck him. Gary scoops up his cards.
Gary doesn’t put up much pressure in the second game. My notes are sparse here (this is past Midnight I believe) but eventually Yawgmoth finishes him off for me.
Top 8: Ashok (The M.E.T.H.O.D.) playing Titan
I play a Volcanic and pass the turn. He plays a Volcanic, a Welder, a Mana Crypt, a Mox, and a Thirst. I Mystical for Ancestral. I Time Walk, then Wish. Ashok decides to let Wish resolve, and I grab Lava Dart. I Dart his Welder. He Forces. I Flashback the Dart and it hits. On his turn he Fact or Fictions, taking Welder over AK and three mana. Then I resolve Yawgmoth’s Will.
Ashok Mulligans game two. I play land and a Sol Ring. He REBs my Thirst. Then he counters my Fact or Fiction. Then Ashok resolves Blood Moon. He has no basic lands, and I have one Island. I get a Slaver on the table after some time spent in draw/go mode. I can cast my card drawing off my Island, but Ashok cannot. This is a long game, but eventually my Islands win it for me. I’m really glad I didn’t lose to Titan.
Top 4: Kowal with Chalice Blue
Kowal’s deck is similar to Smmenen’s mono blue deck, but features Chalice. In the first game, I resolve Goblin Welder early, which is very strong against Mono Blue should it hit. Ben has a Back to Basics, but soon I resolve a Thirst discarding Pentavus. That ends the game, since mono blue has a difficult time dealing with that card.
The second game came down to Old Man of the Sea. I mulligan, and Kowal has a Chalice at zero. I let that in. Then, I Force Kowal’s Chalice at one. I Ancestral, and we play draw/go for a few turns. Kowal goes for Ophidian. I Drain, he Forces, I REB, he BEBs, and the Snake his play. Then I untap and cast Old Man of the Sea. Kowal can’t answer the Old Man, and soon I’m drawing with his Ophidian.
Finals: Carl Winter with Death Long
This was a great match, and Mike Lydon, with help from Mixing Mike, did a good job covering it. I was too tired to take notes myself, but it ended when I Lava Darted Carl in the third game.
Although it went very late, this was a really fun day. It was great to see everyone and to hang out. I’m looking forward to the next one.
Props
Ray for organizing this whole thing
Mike Lydon and Demonic Attorney for going there with me
Everyone there for making this such a fun tournament
Lava Dart for winning me the whole thing
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