SCG #3 Chicago - Top 8 Decklists

[Dante]

Top 8 Starcity Games Power 9 Tournament at Pastimes

1st Place
Joshua Roughley - 5/3
Main Deck
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
3 City of Brass
3 Crucible of Worlds
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Duplicant
3 Gemstone Mine
2 Glimmervoid
4 Goblin Welder
4 Juggernaut
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Platinum Angel
3 Seal of Cleansing
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Sundering Titan
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Tinker
1 Tolarian Acadamy
4 Trinisphere
1 Triskelion
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Wasteland

Sideboard
3 Hydroblast
2 Jester's Cap
4 Pyroblast
3 Rack and Ruin
1 Seal of Cleansing
2 Tormod's Crypt

2nd place
Brian Fisher - GWS 7/10
Main Deck
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Black Lotus
4 Brainstorm
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Duplicant
1 Fact or Fiction
3 Flooded Strand
4 Force of Will
3 Gilded Lotus
4 Goblin Welder
2 Island
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memnarch
1 Memnarch
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Platinum Angel
1 Sol Ring
2 Sundering Titan
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Tinker
1 Tolarian Acadamy
2 Triskelion
4 Volcanic Island

Sideboard
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Rack and Ruin
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Trinisphere

Stephen Menendian - Meandeck Doomsday
Main Deck
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Beacon of Destruction
1 Black Lotus
4 Brainstorm
2 Cabal Ritual
1 Chromatic Sphere
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Doomsday
4 Duress
2 Flooded Strand
4 Force of Will
1 Gush
1 Hurky's Recall
3 Island
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mind's Desire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Necropotence
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Time Twister
1 Time Walk
4 Underground Sea
4 Unmask
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Sideboard:
3 Black to Basics
1 Chain of Vapor
2 Defense Grid
3 Energy Flux
2 Null Rod
3 Old Man of the Sea

4th place
Roland Chang - Trinistax
Main Deck
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
4 City of Brass
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Duplicant
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Glimmervoid
4 Goblin Welder
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Platinum Angel
2 Seal of Cleansing
4 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Sundering Titan
4 Tangle Wire
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Tinker
1 Tolarian Acadamy
4 Trinisphere
1 Triskelion
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Wasteland
1 Wheel of Fortune

Sideboard
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Mindslaver
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Spawning Pit
1 Triskelion
2 Tormod's Crypt

5th - 8th Place in no particular order

Chris J - iR Scrub.dec
Main Deck
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
4 Brainstorm
2 Darksteel Citadal
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Duress
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Flooded Strand
4 Force of Will
4 Goblin Welder
3 Island
1 Mana Crypt
4 Mana Drain
2 Mindslaver
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pentavus
1 Platinum Angel
4 Polluted Delta
1 Sol Ring
1 Sundering Titan
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Tolarian Acadamy
3 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Sideboard
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Duplicant
1 Duress
3 Flametongue Kavu
1 Goblin Bombardment
3 Old Man of the Sea
2 Rack and Ruin
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Spawning Pit

 
Philip Schmitt - It's Raining Men
Main Deck
3 Ankh of Mishra
1 Black Lotus
3 Crucible of Worlds
2 Duplicant
4 Goblin Welder
4 Juggernaut
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Mishra's Workshop
7 Mountain
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Razormane Masticore
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Su-Chi
4 Trinisphere
4 Wasteland

Sideboard
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Duplicant
1 Lava Dart
3 Rack and Ruin
4 Red Elemental Blast


Jim Gaffney - Just Another Crappy Tog List
Main Deck
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
4 Brainstorm
3 Cunning Wish
2 Deep Analysis
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Duress
1 Flooded Strand
4 Force of Will
1 Gush
3 Intuition
3 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mana Crypt
4 Mana Drain
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Polluted Delta
3 Psychatog
1 Swamp
1 Time Walk
1 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Sideboard
1 Berserk
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Coffin Purge
1 Deep Analysis
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Fire/Ice
2 Rack and Ruin
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Snuff Out
1 Vampiric Tutor


Clarence Li - Phish
Main Deck
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Standstill
4 Force of Will
4 Curiosity
2 Stifle
3 Meddling Mage
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Null Rod
2 Faerie's Conclave
4 Tundra
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Voidmage Prodigy
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Island

Sideboard
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Energy Flux
2 Disenchant
2 Chill
2 Suq'ata Firewalker
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Null Rod

[Karn, Mox Golem]

My deck only had 2 Darksteel Citadels.

[Smmenen]

Nine Crucibles. Less than it felt like.
12 Workshops
20 Force of Wills
yet only 4 Mana Drains.
4 Doomsdays

Pretty balanced.

[SpencerForHire]

Jeeze for "OMG ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!11 CRUCIBLE OMG!!"  9 crucibles is pretty tame, looks like it ain't that bad after all.  Isn't adaptation a beautiful thing.
I like the iR Scrub.dec it almost seems highlander... almost.
My curiosity however is aimed towards the deck that runs both crucible and ankh of mishra..  Anyone who played it or ran it care to explain?

[Moxlotus]

Jeeze for "OMG ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!11 CRUCIBLE OMG!!"  9 crucibles is pretty tame, looks like it ain't that bad after all.  Isn't adaptation a beautiful thing.
I like the iR Scrub.dec it almost seems highlander... almost.
My curiosity however is aimed towards the deck that runs both crucible and ankh of mishra..  Anyone who played it or ran it care to explain?

My Team developed the deck.  I am Philip who took it to 7th place.  The deck was to own the Meandeath that we anticipated, but were wrong.  It plays men, then disruption.  And that disruption is good at dealing damage to the head.  I have written an article and we'll see if it gets put up.  

If the deck goes Crucible, waste. Then fine.  But it doesn't always, in fact not much.  I think in the whole tournament I had it like 2 times.  Ankhs are there for damage.  It owns fetchlands.  It works because to answer my men, they have to play land and cast spells.  I want them to take damage for playing the land and casting the spells.  That being said, the Ankh was pretty weak but I don't know of anything else that would be better.

[Smmenen]

Jeeze for "OMG ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!11 CRUCIBLE OMG!!"  9 crucibles is pretty tame, looks like it ain't that bad after all.  Isn't adaptation a beautiful thing.
I like the iR Scrub.dec it almost seems highlander... almost.
My curiosity however is aimed towards the deck that runs both crucible and ankh of mishra..  Anyone who played it or ran it care to explain?

My Team developed the deck.  I am Philip who took it to 7th place.  The deck was to own the Meandeath that we anticipated, but were wrong.  It plays men, then disruption.  And that disruption is good at dealing damage to the head.  I have written an article and we'll see if it gets put up.  

How Rude!!  I saw quite a few Meandeath players, but they seemed to be making lots of mistakes (by their own admission).

[Komatteru]

How Rude!!  I saw quite a few Meandeath players, but they seemed to be making lots of mistakes (by their own admission).

I played DeathLong and ran into some terrible misfortune: I got hit with 4 Duress in a row, had an opponent topdeck a Gorilla Shaman on turn 1 and eat my Moxes while I didn't draw a land for 4 turns, Desired into Bargain and Duress (nothing else too good) but my opponent had two Force of Will and Cunning Wish in hand, drew 18 cards off Bargain and didn't draw one of Lotus, Sapphire, or Jet, didn't draw any artifact mana in general (I had an opponent Wheel after I Necroed for 10, and there was like 1 Mox in that pack of cards), etc.  It was very frustrating.  I might have tried to combo too early once and had my Wheel draw me 7 cards of uselessness.

[TrixR4Kidz]

Nice first place list, I have actually been working on my own variant of a 5 color 5/3 mana base which is semi-similar to yours, I think you nailed the metagame right on the head, and took home another victory for the best deck in type 1, congrats dude.

Edit:  So how much oath was there actually at this tournament? I've heard various numbers, whats the closest estimate?  Also, no oath in the top 8?   Gotta love that.

[LotusHead]

I like the Spawning Pit in vairious sideboards.  Orchard denial, anyone?

[Dante]

My deck only had 2 Darksteel Citadels.

Edited.

[Nosre]

Congrats to all the t8'ers.  Unfortunately both myself and diaonic scrubbed out, but it was still an amazing event.  Was worth going just to see chicago and eat some amazing pizza and play t4 with Samite Healer, Aaron and the meandeck crew after the main event.

[Moxlotus]

Nice first place list, I have actually been working on my own variant of a 5 color 5/3 mana base which is semi-similar to yours, I think you nailed the metagame right on the head, and took home another victory for the best deck in type 1, congrats dude.

Edit:  So how much oath was there actually at this tournament? I've heard various numbers, whats the closest estimate?  Also, no oath in the top 8?   Gotta love that.

There were a shitload of Oath.  They all seemed to be at the 2-0-1 or 1-1-1 tables at round 3 though.

[that other girl]

Yes, Oath was everywhere, even though it didn't do very well.  Clarence and team DollarStore (we're Vintage newbs) agree that Phish wouldn't have made it without an overabundance of Oath decks... and probably workshops, too.  We lucksacked it right through the metagame.  

[ProZachar]

To the people not playing Oath:

What strategies (card choices or play strategy) did you go into the tournament with to beat Oath?  Were they effective?

[Moxlotus]

To the people not playing Oath:

What strategies (card choices or play strategy) did you go into the tournament with to beat Oath?  Were they effective?

Duplicants are very very good against Oath.  Razormane Masticores are too.

[Changster]

What strategies (card choices or play strategy) did you go into the tournament with to beat Oath? Were they effective?

I predicted that especially after the Meta-smashing Oath decks at Virginia P9, there would be plenty of Oath decks running around.  As for card choices, I maindecked 2 Seal of Cleansing, and in the sideboard I kept 3 Chalice, 2 Spawning Pit, and 3 REB's.  The SoC's were huge in my first game of my first match against Oath.  My opponent had no enchantment removal himself.  In my two matches against Oath decks, I simply baited their Force of Wills with the usual Stax threats like Trinisphere, then followed those up with an uncountered SoC.  I have found that the best way to deal with Oath is an early Smokestack, just to clear the board.  

Through testing, I found a Chalice for 2 is game over... and the same goes for a first turn Spawning Pit.  Being able to sac spirit tokens at will forces Oath to slow play and hard cast its threats, thus allowing plenty of time for Stax to lock down their fragile mana base.

Edit:  As for a late game response to a Spirit of the Night or Akroma, I had a maindecked Duplicant that could be welded in and out, my equivalent of running Swords to Plowshares.

[Revvik]

Oath tech: essentially, I counted on them being bad netdeckers  
'tog with a Cunning Wish board did handle essentially every hand they could offer me (except for the god hand of orchard mox oath w/ FOW backup, which Duress often cured them of.)

On a side note, a friend of mine had some most effective strategy post-board that could handle anything Oath threw at him.

Taiga - Reverent Silence - REB backup.  

[Dante]

Yes, Oath was everywhere, even though it didn't do very well.  Clarence and team DollarStore (we actually suck really bad) agree that Phish wouldn't have made it without an overabundance of Oath decks... and probably workshops, too.  We lucksacked it right through the metagame.  

Yah, but it doens't seem like anyone had more fun than you guys...except maybe for Aaron when we were labeling the different categories of the deck and taking pictures.  I especially like the "crucible support" category with only 1 crucible..

Bill

PS - Aaron, did any of those pictures come out...the one with the pony/Time walk would be funny - "Dave, I won a Pony"

[LOLinger]

smemnenmen: 12 Workshops

I count 16. And no - I wont accept that 2nd place didnt have 4 !

Its 12 of them in the Top4.........

[Lost In Admiration]

Fisher's deck had 4 Workshops, not Factories.

[Karn, Mox Golem]

You guys are right, those piles were pretty funny.  I still want to see those pics again and I really gotta say that the 2/1 "savage beats" was a little more humorous to me than the crucible support.

While there was an obscene ammount of oath the players who played it were... on the whole sub par.  The better players saw the hate people were bringing for the deck (John...[check my report if you dont get this]) and decided against it as a whole.  So I really do have to agree with revvik on that one.

There is no problem with the 12 workshops in the top4, in fact if I hadnt been a complete retard in the semi's and forced the welder( it was 1 AM and I was sick..? not a good enough excuse I know) it would have been 8, had Steve  not doomsdayed with 1 land and a mystical in hand it would have been 4.  There is no issue with those workshops in my oppinion, the issue is rather with the people who screwed up against them.

[Moxlotus]

And the fact that the people with them were competant players that played good decks that they the ins and outs of like the back of their hand.

[that other girl]

We did have a lot of fun!  I will hands down say that was the best tourney I've ever attended... too bad my friends and I missed the earlier incarnations.  I've got Vintage-itis now, hehehe...

Against Oath, the stps, mages and FoWs were Phish's most reliable tools... a mage for "Oath of Druids" saved me several times, and at least required some immediate answer.  Or, at least I'd like to think it saved me.  Come to think of it, I never saw the Oath whether my opponent had it or not!  O_o

If anyone has those pictures of the deck, I have to get some copies!  That was hilarious, especially the pictures Clarence drew for his proxies...

[evilmule]

Yeah, that tournament was a blast.  I'm still in awe that about having done so well.  Drinking four bottles of Bawls before the top 8 however, was very very bad idea.  Combine the caffine overdosage with the initial shock of playing against Stephen freaking Menedian (I should've asked him to sign something) in the first round, and you have one twitchy, hyperactive Asian who plays very bad Magic.
          I actually only played against one Oath deck the entire tournament, which I lucksacked a win against.  It seems to come down to them not drawing/resolving Oath, moreso than having an answer to it.  
          The lone crucible in my deck actually won me a couple of games, as I could randomly lock them with it (bad idea yes, but it felt so good!). In regards to the multitude of workshop decks that made the top 8, I think that it was a result of workshop being just as/more numerous than Oath.  Four out of my eight Swiss matches were against workshop based decks, and it seems to me that the problem lies in Trinisphere, and not the workshops themselves.  The die roll seems to be far too important nowadays, since facing a first turn Trinisphere with no wasteland in hand usually equals gg.  Then again, my word is about as good as a squirrel's, seeing as how I'm the massivest (is that a word?) vintage nooblet around.  
     At any rate, it was great meeting all of these cool Vintagey-omgIwantyourcardsooooobad people.  I too, seem to be suffering from an extreme case of Vintage-itus. Chris Byrnes, sorry about the bad beat on 9th, but if it makes you feel any better, I had another stifle in my hand for your smokestack, which would've allowed me to disenchant it on the following turn anyway. My time walk proxy was a UNICORN, not a pony!  The difference between the two is vast:  Unicorns are badass, ponies are for GIRLYMEN.  Slops to myself for recieving a game loss and three(!!!) warnings from the same judge.  The amount of hatred he probably has for me is overwhelming.  Thanks again everyone, for making our first delve into a major (non Gencon) tourney ridiculously fun.

-Clarence, the Asian kid with the pink shirt.

[Dante]

My time walk proxy was a UNICORN, not a pony!  The difference between the two is vast:  Unicorns are badass, ponies are for GIRLYMEN.

That's the funniest thing I've read today...

Slops to myself for recieving a game loss and three(!!!) warnings from the same judge. The amount of hatred he probably has for me is overwhelming.

If you mean the blond-haired guy, his hate for Steve during Game 1 of the Top 4 was worse, trust me, this guy looked like he was ready to stab him with his pen....

[Jacob Orlove]

My time walk proxy was a UNICORN, not a pony!  The difference between the two is vast:  Unicorns are badass, ponies are for GIRLYMEN.  

Real men don't need a giant phallic symbol on their pony's forehead.

Congratulations to everyone who top 8'd, though.

[JACO]

I actually only played against one Oath deck the entire tournament, which I lucksacked a win against.  It seems to come down to them not drawing/resolving Oath, moreso than having an answer to it.  
 -Clarence, the Asian kid with the pink shirt.

Clarence, I was the one Oath deck you played against (in round 6; we were both 4-1). In game 3 after I mulliganed I ended up drawing ALL 4 OATHS, but could not cast a single one because I never drew a green mana source. That sucked! I thought I would win that match pretty easily, but lady luck was on your side that day.

You played well, and made good choices with your counters and Voidmages. Congratulations on the making the Top 8 and walking away with a nice prize!

[Prophetic]

JACO, that third game was terrible for you, I watched most of the game and at one point you were going to Demonic for a forest beacuse you had 4 Oaths in hand and it got forced....

[Hi-Val]

My time walk proxy was a UNICORN, not a pony!  The difference between the two is vast:  Unicorns are badass, ponies are for GIRLYMEN.  

Real men don't need a giant phallic symbol on their pony's forehead.

Congratulations to everyone who top 8'd, though.

Ponies are like ninjas, they'll fucking trample you if you hate on them. Unicorns are all male, and so if you like them you admit you like men. Personally, I like chicks more than dudes, which is another reason that ponies >>> unicorns.

[Anders Noer]

Nine Crucibles. Less than it felt like.
12 Workshops
20 Force of Wills
yet only 4 Mana Drains.
4 Doomsdays

Pretty balanced.

Yeah, but 16 Trinisphere (4 sideboarded though)

That's almost the same as the number of Force of Wills. I really think Trinisphere is getting out of hand. It's just too random... A random Turn 1 Workshop, Trinisphere wins games that it never should have.
I think Trinisphere is to be considered for the next restriction in T1. It takes the skill out of the game... If it were restricted, it'd have to be tutored up or tinkered out. That would make it balanced. As a four of, it is not.