[Report] SCP9 #3 6th with Tog

[Godot]

So yeah, if you dont wanna read all the pre-tourney BS just skip down to the list.

When Starcity announced this event several months ago Clown of Tresserhorn(henceforth known as Bob) and I decided we had to represent for Colorado, and this tourney was worth every minute of the 15 hour drive.  We set off friday morning,  bright and early at 8 AM armed with the hundreds of hours of playtesting we'd accumulated over the past several months with our chosen decks.  Of course by 'hundreds of hours of playesting' I mean none, and by 'chosen decks' I mean we have no freaking clue what we're gonna play.  But what else is there to do on a long ass car ride?  Somewhere in the vast nothingness dubbed Nebraska we decide Bob is gonna play Stax and draw up a list, while I continue to vacillate between Dragon, Deathlong, and Cruci-slaver.  More importantly though, I learned that the stories of Bobs savage flatulence are true.  Someone once asked how such a "horrible, angry smell" could come out of such a "small, asian man" and at the time I underestimated the gravity of the situation.  No longer.  It was so putrid I literally had dry heaves at one point.  To make up for the pain inflicted by his rancid gas, Bob kept me entertained with his vast knowlege of the animal kingdom.

Bob:  Dude, why are there all those dogs in that field?
Me:  Those arent dogs, they're goats.

But anyways, after paying about 7 tolls to the state of Illinois for the privilege of driving over their shitty roads we finally roll into Pasttimes at about 1130.  We get lucky and find some people from the Michigan and Miami(OH) crews, buy supplies for the next day and decide to split a hotel room with Windfall and his friend whose name I've forgotten.  Relaxation and playtesting ensues.  I still have no idea what to play.  Random chance decides that I'll be playing with Drains instead of Dragons, but I still dont know what deck.  About 6AM Windfall tells me about the 4c manabase one of his teammates, Josh, has been using in Tog.  I am intrigued and spend about 5 minutes sleeving up a new list and making a sideboard.  I shuffle it a bit and try and get some sleep, but the tourney comes too soon.

Im hella apprehensive about my deck choice, but in the end Im here to have fun and I just enjoy the hell out of playing Tog so I run with it.  Anyways, heres what I played:


In Tog We Trust

3 Psychatog

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Yawgmoths Will
1 Time Walk
1 Gush
2 Deep Analysis
4 AK
4 Brainstorm

4 FoW
4 Drain
4 Duress
3 Cunning Wish
3 Intuition
1 Demonic Tutor

4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
1 LoA
1 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mana Crypt
6 LoMox

Sideboard

3 REB
2 BEB
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Deep Analysis
1 Coffin Purge
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Berserk
1 FoF
1 Snuff Out
1 Fire/Ice

No Deed, no B2B, no Wastes and running 4 colors.  Not the typical Tog build thats been played lately, but it seemed to perform pretty well (although I did avoid some tough matchups like CS).  The basic lands alone won me probably at least 5 games where opponents were left with useless wastes or non-basic hate.  It does need to strengthen its game against some welder decks, but on the whole I was hella pleased with the way the deck performed.

They announce the pairings are up and that there are 142!!!!!!!! players.  Yeah, so we're not in Colorado anymore.

Round 1 - Ben with Dryads+Kobold Clamp

Game 1 - He gets a loss for misregistered sideboard

Game 2 - I get turn 1 LoA and Im in control prettymuch the whole game.  I Duress twice early hitting 2x FoW but leaving 3x Daze.  I play around the Dazes and drop a Tog that gets plowed.  I Rack his 2 Skullclamps to insure he cant to anything, drop another Tog and win.

1-0-0  2-0-0

Round 2 - Travis with Bye.dec (aka monoU w/ white splash)
Travis is also representing Colorado which was sweet to see, but unfortunately for him he has monoU.  I have basics, Duress and Deeps so Im lookin forward to this matchup.

Game 1 - I resolve and AK for 2 which draws me AK#3 and AK#4.  I got some Deep Anal action too and won with Tog#2 after the first decided he preferred agriculture to eating my cards and smashing face.

SB: None

Game 2 - I dont remember too much about this game except that he had B2B and like 2 Wastelands in play while I had 3 Islands and a Swamp.  Duress clears the way and Tog SMASH!

I got turn 1 LoA in at least 1 of these games and maybe both.

2-0-0 4-0-0

Round 3 - Bryan(eventual finalist) with 7/10

I used to like this matchup, but that was several months ago when I had Artifact Mutation in the board.  Its a different story without it.

Game 1 - Trisk beatdown ensues while I attempt to deal with stuff, but dont see enough card draw to keep up with him and lose badly.

SB: Duresses out for the 2x BEB and the 2x RnR

Game 2 - I mull twice and get pwned mad hard by a Titan I think, but I could be wrong.  Either way it was a brutal beatdown.

2-1-0 4-2-0

Round 4 - Daniel w/ TPS

Our testing against TPS has been quite limited(and didnt include any matches against Tog), but I know its slow and has a propensity to fizzle so Im not particularly worried.

Game 1 - I mull once and keep an Ok hand.  I resolve an early Duress or 2, but he eventually gets off a Tendrils for 8.  I resolve 4x Deep Analysis and keep him off any further action.  Tog gets all up in his piece when Im at 1 life.

SB:  Nothing that I can recall

Game 2 - He has a Turn 1 Cranial Extraction with FoW backup.  Bad Times.  The first game felt like it took a looooooong time, so I decide to make him kill me instead of just scooping.  He gets me to 7, but has no gas while Im holding mad counters and draw.  Then they announce that theres 15 minutes left in the round--way more time than I thought.  So I scoop it up.

Game 3 - I Duress away a Cranial Extraction and prettymuch know what hes holding the entire game.  He gets off a Tendrils for 6, but cant do anything else for his next 7 turns.  I wish for Vamp and get Tog to start the beats.  We go to turns.  On the fourth turn he still has 6 life, but unfortunately for him I can smash for 7.

3-1-0 6-3-0

Round 5 - Donald with Crushing Chamber

We tested this matchup a few months ago and it was pretty favorable.  That version of Tog had Deed in it though, so going into this matchup Im not as keen on it as I once was.

Game 1 - I get smoked plain and simple.  I have a mox heavy hand with no FoW while he has 1st turn Crusher.  I scoop on like, turn 3 or something.

SB:  Duresses come out for 2x RnR, Chain of Vapor and something else I cant recall

Game 2 - Hes a nice guy and decides to hit himself for 10 damage.  The key play came when he has no threats on the board.  I Wish for Vamp and decide to tutor for Rack and Ruin.  Im tempted to go for Lotus so I can Intuition now instead of later, but the RnR proved to be the right choice.  He drops Platz next turn and promptly puts it and his crucible in the grave.  Tog soon comes across for the final 10 points.

Game 3 - I drop early mana crypt and he drops tangle wire.  I handle an early crusher with FoW and he doesnt have much other pressure.  I burn for about 6 from floating mana into my draw step and not finding what I need.  Eventally the wire leaves, and I drop Tog and draw lots of cards.  Im at 10 and will kill him next turn if I survive.  He plays Sword of Fire/Ice, rigs up his Crusher and attacks with a 5/5 Crusher.  I drop to 5 and he forgets about the Mana Crypt and does 2 damage to my Tog instead of me.  I take my turn, lose the Crypt flip, drop to 2 life and kill him with a berserking Tog.  I am one lucky sumabitch.

4-1-0 8-4-0

Round 6 - Jeremy with 5/3

I think Smmenen had just finished deploying the device like, all over this dudes face, but I could be remembering incorrectly.

Game 1 - We both mull, but I go mad broken and end this game with a right quickness.

SB:  Duresses come out for 2x RnR and 2 BEB

Game 2 - He keeps a hand with 2x Wasteland and 3 Juggernauts with the first coming out on turn 2.  I keep a hand with fetches, basics and a turn 2 Tog.  The Jugg hits me once and dies while the others never make it in play.  He dies to Tog beats soon after.

5-1-0 10-4-0

Before this round I comment that I'd love to play the 4cc or monoU matchup again.  Roland kindly informs me that theres a 4cc player named Stasch near the top tables.  I check the pairings and break out into a grin.  Again, lady luck loves me today.

Round 7 - Stasch with Bye.dec (aka 4cc)

I have Duress and basic lands so this shouldnt be too bad a matchup.

Game 1 - He gets turn 1 LoA on the draw and keeps it active all game.  I Duress away a Scrying and bate a FoW with Tog.  I play another Tog after Duressing and not seeing a StoP, but this one also decides that a peaceful life on the farm is more his style.  I draw tons of cards, counter his scrying for 2 and finally drop a tog for the win.

SB: 1 Tog comes out for 1 Deep

Game 2 - I Duress early to see a hand w/ 2x Waste, Tinker, Drain, Land and FoW.  I take tinker and next turn pull out the FoW and Drain w/ a Tog.  He doesnt do too much while I draw mad cards.  A Tog comes across and I drain his brainstorm so there are no possible outs.  

Now I can just draw into T8, fa shaginoff!

6-1-0 12-4-0

Round 8 - Phillip(MoxLotus)

We ID and Im in T8.

So yeah, somehow I made T8.  At this point the 'Its just an honor to be nominated' syndrome kicks in and I kinda check out mentally for a bit.

Top 8 - Roland with Stax

Ugh, not a matchup Im looking forward to playing, but I think its winnable assuming I dont do something hella stupid.

Game 1 - I dont know how to play magic and keep a hand that blows serious goat chunks.  I just scoop it up after like, 2 turns.  So yeah, I did do something stupid, but after all it is my trademark.

SB:  Duresses and a Wish come out for 2x BEB, Chain of Vapor, 2x RnR

Game 2 - I Duress early and see 2x Waste.  He draws into Strip and works my manabase over like its a cheap hooker, but luckily he doesnt have any clocks.  He drops Tangle Wire and I burn for 6 over several turns hoping I can draw into a Brainstorm or something.  The Tangle Wire fades away and he drops Smokestack.  He puts a counter on it, and I lose one of my few perms.  At his next EOT I Chain of Vapor the Smokestack, and proceed to draw into Ancestral/YawgWill/AK goodness.  Somehow I pull this game out of my ass.

Game 3 - My opening 7 has 4 lands, 1 mox, Walk and Ancestral.  I debate mulling, but I just cant.  I play the odds he wont have turn 1 3sphere.  Im still not sure what the right play was here.  He does.  I drop lands and live for awhile under sphere/wire lock, but Titan eventually hits the board.  My only hope to win would be to resolve Posessed Portal, but sadly I dont run one.  Two turns later it was offically over for my man.


I snag a Ruby for my troubles though, so I cant complain.

Any ideas I had of partying after the tourney quickly go out the window as I just crash, exhausted and dreading the 15 hour drive the next day.  

As far as the deck is concerned I was really shocked how well it performed, but I of course didnt play and CS which woulda sucked hard.  2 of the REBs in the board are in all likelihood coming out for maybe a Shaman or 2, but thats the type of thing that requires testing and I probably wont be playing magic until after my qualifying exams so who knows.

Props:
-Bob, the SCG crew, the pasttimes crew, my opponents, windfall, Brian, Josh, diaonic, EITD, roland, i@n, methu, monotone, the other dude whos name i cant remember since i was barely conscious, meandeck, and all the other random crews and people i met who im forgetting

-Josh & windfall for the manabase

-the Tog for just loving me all day

-the DCI software for not pairing me against any of the many slaver decks

-hi-val for picking up the guinness so i could pass out faster than expected

Slops:
-me, for not gettin my weight up

-me again, for forgetting to put a posessed portal in my board

[Diaonic]

Great report man, that tourney was amazing and it was a blast meeting you and bob. See you at waterbury  

[Green Knight]

Jim!

That is most excellent that you placed in the power. Congrats.
Good report too btw.

Are serious about the Possessed Portal in the SB?

Tog is so your deck! Top four @ MHC's and now this. Good job man.

[Windfall]

That's freaking awesome that you made the top 8 with Tog.  I'm glad you did so well and I'm glad Josh and I had a part in creating your monster of a deck.

I think you're on to something with the Possessed Portal.  It might even be a maindeck card for Tog.  =)

Despite my scrubbing out, I had an amazing time as well.  Thanks so much for rooming with me and Brian and having a great time testing and laughing all freakin' night.  We must do it again sometime.

     ~Mark B.

[Frost]

Congrats on the win with Tog!  It was great meeting you and Clown (er Bob, sorry!). StarCityIII was a blast although a dinner break would have been nice.  Those tacos we had at 1:00AM did not sit well with me the next day!

I am excited to see all you guys again at the next one.

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

Jim, sorry to hijack the thread, but I figure I'd write up a report. It doesn't deserve it's own thread, so I thought I'd post shit here.

So basically, I get like no sleep and show up at Jim's for the long drive to Chicago. The trip was definitely a blast; highlights include me not knowing the difference between a dog and a goat, farting every 5 minutes from MASSIVE amounts of ranch dressing, singing along to American Pie, BTO, and Bonnie Tyler, and being stared at by random Nebraskans who are amazed that Chinamen can speak English. We arrive at 11:30 and meet up with the Detroit Crew who are hella cool. We kick it all night discussing the merits of POSESSED PORTAL (I told all of you it was good) and finally get like 2 hours of sleep.

We get to the site and the tourney begins. Here's the QnD:

Round 1: FCG
Game 1: I balance
Game 2: I play trinisphere

Round 2: Monoblue
Game 1: Turn 1 crucible, and he doesn't force turn 2 vamp.
Game 2: Titan and welder are some good.

Round 3: Chris Playing CS
Game 1: He has mad welders and I go to like 5
Game 2: I got 5 and win off a broken hand of turn 1 welder + ancestral.
Game 3: I'm stuck on 1 mana and he pwns me.

Round 4: Oath
Game 1: I win with turn 1 trinisphere
Game 2: Turn 1 orchard mox oath + force
Game 3: Seal is the tech. Oh, so is smokestack.

Round 5: U/W Control
Game 1: He drains something off a sapphire island and powder kegs my moxen leaving me with welder and tapped monolith. He rips the swords.
Game 2: I got turn 1 welder. He plays first turn seal. I play trinisphere. He plays back to basics. I play land. He plays Energy Flux. GG.

So I drop at 3-2. The tourney was definitely a blast. And now for the most important part of the report: the props.

Props:
Godot - Fucking sweet dude. The drive was def. worth it. Way to rep for Colorado. Freak-a-leek attendance: 2, freak-a-leek T8: 1.

Windfall, Brian, Everythingittouchdies, and the michigan crew - One word: POSSESSED PORTAL!!!!!! It was definitely a pleasure to kick it with y'all. You guys were def. cool. I'll have to drive out this summer when I'm in WI.

Diaonic, Kowal, Jeff Anand, Aaron LeKERZ!! - Thanks for coming in from the east coast. It's a shame none of y'all T8ed, but it was still great times. I'll see you at the next waterbury!

I@n, Meth, Frost, Monotone - It was great to see you guys! I hope I can make so mox tourneys this summer. It was definitely a blast to talk strategy with ya'll.

Jaco and Nick - Even though we didn't talk too much, it was awesome you guys made it to chi-town.

Meandeck - It's always a pleasure to see you guys! I feel like an ass though as I STILL haven't played 5 color with kevin or had the chance to challenge BUSHman to an eating contest. Also, Smmenen, way to DEPLOY THE DEVICE over everybody's face. Shit son, I think I got a lazy eye from that shit.

Dante - What can I say? sorry you didn't make T8, but it was great meeting you.

Chris - Man, it was fun playing you. It was def. one of my fav. matches of the day. Congrats on T8 man.

Moxlotus and team GWS - Way to T8 guys!

All my opponents and everyone who I met but forgot to mention - You made my trip worth it.

Bleiweiss, Hoeffing, SCG, and Past times - The tourney was fucking awesome and way to hook me up with a cheap ass timetwister.

Finally, a special thanks goes out to ROLAND CHANG AKA THE CHANGSTER AKA BLEU. YOUR MY BOY BLUE!!!!!!!! Way to make T8!!!

Slops go to:

Me - For sucking
BUSHman - For not being hungry
Past times for not knowing how to use the AC.

The tourney was a blast and I wanna thank everyone who made the trip.

-Bob

[effang]

i'm just curious about HULK.

i've been running tinker in hulk for a while, and tinker has won me so many games that it is difficult not to justify.  i'm sure most of you guys have toyed with this idea at one time or another, any reason why 2x cards aren't run? yes, it's a pain to lost one of your togs, but the DC is a bad boy.

[Godot]

i've been running tinker in hulk for a while, and tinker has won me so many games that it is difficult not to justify. i'm sure most of you guys have toyed with this idea at one time or another, any reason why 2x cards aren't run? yes, it's a pain to lost one of your togs, but the DC is a bad boy.

I strongly considered dropping 1 Tog and 1 Gush to find room for the Tinker combo, although I would have been Tinkering out Posessed Portal for the winz0rs!

But in all seriousness, I would never run Tinker in here.  You're spending 2 slots on cards that will only benefit you if it resolves before turn 3--and who wants to be tapping out this early in the game.  At any time after that a Tog will accomplish the same job and will kill in 2 turns as opposed to 3.  Not to mention that this does nothing to help you win your hardest matchups since colossus is nullified by welder.  Also, its a minor point but could matter, Colossus only generates 1.0 additional damage when pitched to Tog.

The only real advantage I can see to running this is if Cranial Extraction starts to show up in much greater numbers, but if that were the case I'd rather just spend 1 slot and use living wish.

[effang]

thanks.

I think I'm most likely playing HULK wrong.  Everytime I find a tog, I never have the intention nor the desire to play him immediately.  Even if he does manage to come down, he'll be hitting for 1 point of damage per turn, and that's not cutting it.  For me, it always seems like I'm lacking an essesntial ingredient, either no cunning wish on hand, not enough in the GY or in hand.  Thus, everytime I have resolved tinker it was a game winner, able to attack when tog is not yet ready to.

I assume by your statement that tinker is only useful in the first three turns, you expect to win by turn 4-5?  I think that is my problem right here.

Also, DC is some good against Akroma build oath.  I've been taking out the last two togs and just letting the DC sit.  When they oath, I get my DC, i bounce his Akroma, and boom there you go.

[Godot]

Everytime I find a tog, I never have the intention nor the desire to play him immediately. Even if he does manage to come down, he'll be hitting for 1 point of damage per turn, and that's not cutting it.

Who cares how much you're hitting for?  You now have your opponent on a 'next turn' clock.  Given the explosiveness of the deck once you get the Tog on the board you have the constant threat of an immediate kill.  

I assume by your statement that tinker is only useful in the first three turns, you expect to win by turn 4-5? I think that is my problem right here.

Only if you get DC down on turn 1 or 2 will you kill faster than you can with a Tog.  I dont expect to win by turn 4, but I expect to be in a position such that I have the ability to win at any time.  In other words I expect to have established my draw engine or have a tog in play.  Obviously, though, this is a very simplified view, and the matchups dictate the strategy in the end  

I've been taking out the last two togs and just letting the DC sit. When they oath, I get my DC, i bounce his Akroma, and boom there you go.

I dont think any strategy against oath should revolve around the plan that you'll get to oath.  Smart opponents wont let you oath.  And even then, if you're putting crap in your yard when you oath then getting a Tog is practically gonna be just as effective while not radically altering the decks basic strategy by removing all the togs.

[Methuselahn]

Congrats again on the win.  I'm sure it made that loooooong trip home worth it.  

[SamTheHam]

on behalf of all the naysaying nancy's that said colorado didn't have a t1 scene:

WORD TO YOUR MOTHERS!!!!

good work jim.  as usual, way to suck bob.  i warned you of his smells.  the best way to deal with it is to go to your happy place until it's over.  oh, and never EVER let him see you cry...

awesome work.

WHOOO BITCHES!

[majestyk1136]

I can't believe it!  There goes Jim with his tog showing up the world at the big time!  Congrats on scoring power Jim and we'll see you at Bill's this weekend.

[everythingitouchdies]

Jim, sorry to hijack the thread, but I figure I'd write up a report. It doesn't deserve it's own thread, so I thought I'd post shit here.

Windfall, Brian, Everythingittouchdies, and the michigan crew - One word: POSSESSED PORTAL!!!!!! It was definitely a pleasure to kick it with y'all. You guys were def. cool. I'll have to drive out this summer when I'm in WI.

-Bob

Alright Bob, you make this really hard, because you said I should write a report and I told you the only way I was doing it was as a rebuttal and hijacking of your report... so now I am sidehijacking your hijack, and I am doing it to this cool guy who had all these great DRAGON questions for me.

First off, I would like to apologize for not making it over friday night when you could have found out that I wore creepier shirts than the one with Charles Manson on it autographed by Hank Williams III. Glad my team could be cool without me.

Second, I would like to extract my apology and give props to Godot, whom I was very happy to meet. You guys should live somewhere that is not Colorado so we could jam cards more often. And congrats on the finish.

Back to the Hijacking.

My report will be brief, since I threw my notes away.

Round 1: Steve with Doomsday.

Game One: He wins Turn 2.
Game two: I win Turn 2.
Game three: He wins turn 4 after I fail to win turn 3.

Losing the die roll sucks. Losing to Steve was not so bad. At least I lost to a cool combo.

I drew in round 2 with Back to Basics Tog.

I beat control slaver in round 3. I had no win conditions game two, then coffin purged all of his so neither of us could win. It went to time.

I beat mono red stacker in round 4.

I beat growatog in round 5.

I beat landstill in round 6.

Hey, I went from 0-1-1 to 4-1-1.

I played against MUD in round seven. I thought it was Stax. I won game one, misused my sideboard, and lost 2 and 3. So much for making a comeback.

Between every one of these rounds I talked to CoT and Godot. These guys are great.

I felt terrible about my losses and pimped out my dragon deck a little more with two foil squees from Jeff Anand. The highlight of my day.

Cease Hijacking, back to praise.

Congrats again Godot, you really should play dragon next time though.

EITD.

[effang]

With HULK relegated to more control than combo, have you ever felt the need for a reset button? ala deed? i don't understand how you can beat oath, do so well against any workshop, and also how you would ever hope to survive against affinity, or crushing chamber...

just wanting to get a better sense.

thanks

[Godot]

Well, first off I think this build shows that the deck isnt "relegated to more control".  Tog can still be strong without mucking up your manabase with Wastelands and adding stuff like B2B and Deed.  I havent done enough testing to say whether one build is better than the other, but I much prefer the comboey goodness and the addition of Red, although its game against workshop is weaker than the Ubg versions w/ non-basic land hate.

As for a reset button the deck cant support Deed, and Im really not sure I'd run it even if I could as it effectively costs 5 mana.  Tog was my reset button if I needed one.  That being said though, I've made one change to the maindeck: -1 Tog +1 Engineered Explosives.  Had I actually thought about the build before I played it I definitely woulda made this change.  Its a cheap versatile answer to Welders, Welder food, tokens, morphs, or just about anything else.  It doesnt completely wreck the board like Deed, but its cheap enough to use early and buy you enough time to win.  Its funny how this  just keeps moving closer and closer to an Italian Tog build.

Of the matchups you mention, I can only see the affinity and welder matchups being affected by the lack of reset button, and in most cases I think Deed would be too slow.  Hence the Explosives, which have the added bonus of being able to deal with all kinds of other crap while still being cheaper than Deed.

i don't understand how you can ...  do so well against any workshop

Workshops(welders) are your hardest matchup, and you dont do that well against them.  If you can survive the first 2 turns w/out a 3sphere resolving and being backed by Wire or Strips you have a very strong shot at winning, but thats much easier said than done.  Dealing with Welders is the #1 reason I added the Explosives.  Whether or not its a stronger answer than Shaman only testing will tell, but I think it is.

[Wildthing]

I do not understand why are you running LoA in a deck with 4 duress it does not seem very optimal, first turn duress shoul be your game plan, library does not fit well here
Is it worth to play green only for 1 berserk side? Wouldn´t fling be more consistent and not much slower
Have you thought about playing the 4th wish? I believe it is great against welder and workshop decks as a quick answer against trinisphere, welder or tangle wire