How I quietly went undefeated in the SCG III $500 side event

[nickvos]

Hey everybody.

 My name is Nick Trudeau, some people may remember that I made top 8 at GenCon playing TnT (I was the one owning people with the pimpest cards in Indiana).  

 After my sub-par performance in the main event (due in part to my deck hating me), I entered the side event for $500 with one intent: To own everyone I faced and go undefeated in the name of Crom and BHWC.

 This "teched-out" version of Oath designed by Jason JACO was the instrument of my victory:

DOA - aka Duress Owns ALL

4 Force
4 Drain
4 Duress
2 Daze
2 Misdirection
4 Brainstorm
2 Skeletal Scrying
1 Fact
1 Ancestral
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Cunning Wish
4 Oath
2 Blessing
1 Spirit of the Night
1 Proxied foil Akroma

4 Forbidden Orchard (one proxy foil)
3 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical
1 Underground
3 Island
1 Swamp
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alex
1 Lotus
1 Emerald
1 Jet
1 Sapphire

SB:
4 Chalice
1 Pristine
1 Platinum
1 REB
1 BEB
1 Echoing Truth
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Coffin Purge
1 Stifle
1 Oxidize

A couple of points on the build:

 We opted not to run the Intuition/AK draw engine, as it makes the mirror a crappy matchup (sit there holding dead AKs 'til one of you cracks), and we seen that some slaver decks (which can prove problematic) were running an AK draw engine. Throughout the day that proved to be one of our deck's best tech as evidenced by my 5-0 record in Oath mirrors on the day. Cunning Wish was another factor in the success of DOA

 Another key point were some of the sideboard decisions we hit upon:
*  Echoing Truth proved to be the best utility spell I played all day, breaking me out of spirit token build ups, removing soldiers, etc.
*  Ray of Revelation the other MVP out of the board in Oath match-ups, allowing me to remove the Oath and wait until I had gained Orchard superiority.
*  I opted not to run Iridescent Angel, mainly because I felt I didn't require two non-Swordsable creatures, and also in order to fit Platinum Angel in the board, although she never did prevent me from being dead. She was, however, the easiest creature to hardcast, which did prove useful.


Round One:  Brandon Ruttek playing Oath

 Game One:  I don't remember much about this game, but my notes indicate that this game came down to who could make more spirit tokens (duh). I win.

 I board out one Oath and put in the Pristine Angel and Ray of Revelation

 Game Two:  I end up Oathing early on, but he has StP for my SotN, EOT. It didn't matter much tho, as I Oathed up the Pristine Angel nest turn and beat down for 4 turns.

1-0, 2-0 (2-0 against Oath so far)


Round Two: Jesse River playing Oath

 Game One:  I should mention that I got pretty sick the day of the tourney, and after the first round (and pretty much after every round) I almost passed out in a little corner of the store. Luckily Jason reminded me about my round, so I didn't get a match loss.
 I still showed up 6 minutes late, so I did get a game loss, not that it mattered, because my first game against this guy (eventual 2nd place finisher) was textbook; he pains himself twice, I swing once, then twice, GG.
 
 No Board changes

Game Two:  He gets me down to 11 with spirits in this game, but I eventually rock him with my foil proxy Akroma.  GGizzle.

2-0, 4-1 (3-0 against Oath)

Round Three: Ben playing 5c STAX

 Game One:  These games were some of the most fun I had all day. This game turned into a role reversal, as he mulls to six, and I pull Waste, Waste, Strip in my opening 7. Landlock = GG

Board in two Rack and Ruin, Pristine

 Game Two:  He ends up having double Seal of Cleansing in this game, but they only prolong the inevitable, as I clean up with a hardcast Akroma.
 That game turned out to be third time I hardcast my creatures, and apparently wouldn't be the last.

3-0, 6-1

Round Four: Josh Rayden playing Oath

 Game One:  Pretty back and forth, but in the end Duress OWNS ALL.

Board in Pristine and the Ray

 Game Two:  This game was one of the shining points for Ray of Revelation, as he gets an early Orchard advantage on me, but I Ray his attempts to lock me out with Oath. Eventually I pull a Waste and double Orchard then drop my own Oath.

4-0, 8-1 (4-0 against Oath)

Round Five: Corey Canfield (Diaonic on TMD) playing 'Shop 'Slaver

 Game One:  This one is over quick as I drop Orchard mox Oath turn 2

Board in Rack x2 and Pristine

 Game Two: Another quick one that starts with me going Time Walk/ Ancestral turn one, followed by Misdirection for his turn one Ancestral. Ownage

5-0, 10-1

As my 5th round match was over quickly, I scouted around to see if I even needed to win the last round to make first, as I had already beaten the majority of the x-1 people. Turns out I didn't, but I figured I ought to, for Crom and BHWC.

Round Six: Gerry Thompson playing (surprise, surprise) OATH

 I had just watched this guy topdeck like a sonofabitch against MeanDeath, so I knew I would have to be ready to call upon all the magic gods and the favor of Crom for this one.  
 Game One:  I win the roll, play Fetch, go.  He goes, Island, go, upkeep, Ancestral. At this point I have Misd again, but it doesnt resolve, as he has Force. Instead of drawing his 3, I decide to just win with Orchard, Oath second turn.

Board in Pristine, Ray

 Game Two:  This turned  out to be the only game I lost all tourney (not counting the game loss).  He goes first and opens with mox, Orchard, Oath, Force. I end up wishing for Echoing Truth for the tokens, but he has Force again. GG

 Board in Platinum Angel

 Game Three: This one showcased the power of Skeltal Scrying in the Oath mirror, as he sits with an AK in his hand most of the game, unable to go off from drawing just one card. We fight over Orchards with both of us topdecking Wastes or Orchards to combat.
 
 I gain the advantage, but it doesn't matter as neither of us can resolve an Oath. After he ends up dealing with my Orchard, he plays Intuition EOT, but can't go AK x3, as he has already cast two, so he opts for Deep Analysis x2 and fetchland.

 On his turn he plays DA from grave, I'm ready with Drain, he plays land, says go. On my turn I'm holding Platinum, Pristine, Force x 2, Oath. I drop Platinum, he has nothing, I say go. He plays DA from hand, it resolves, then he flashes it, plays duress taking a Force, and says go. I draw a Duress, play it seeing a land, attack for 7 to put him at 7, say go.

 On his final turn he draws a land and concedes. After the game I ask him what he was digging for; he tells me the only thing he had for Platinum Angel was Pernicious Deed. Strong.  Yet another reason I was happy to be playing cunning Wish.

 I finish the night 5-0 against Oath variants, and Undefeated in the side event, taking home $250. Another strong showing for Team Bitches and Hoes West Coast.

props: JACO for the deck, pastimes for having an awesome store, the east coast for having better type one than us

slops: me getting sick

[Malhavoc]

Wonderful result!

Since I'm testing a UBG Oath too, I've a couple of question if you don't mind. Do you really feel the need to run 2 Blessings? I often do not need even one, but of course I run it to be sure to have it if my creatures get destroyed somehow. However, running two of them seems like a wasted slot  

On the other hand, why don't you have vampiric tutor? It seems like an automatic inclusion when you have black.

I've also found your massive use of wastelands to be really courageous! Have you never experienced color screw?

And last, do you find daze so much useful? Probably with all those wastelands it's not that bad, but I would prefer mana leak, or maybe even a mind twist.

[Moxlotus]

I'm guessing it would be hard to run Mana Leak and Duress.  Both are for the first turn play.  But if you Duress, you can't hold mana for the leak.  They are very antisynergistic.

[nickvos]

@ Malhavoc:  We decided to run 2 Blessings because we kept drawing them and either:
      A) coudn't find/resolve a way to put them back
      B) milled too much of our deck before seeing it

 I can't tell you how many times I would Oath and go through 95% of the remainder of my deck before I hit a creature or a Blessing. It also just seemed to work much better in the mirror to have two; really unexpected.

 The Wasteland and Vamp arguement can be summed up in one word: CONTROL.

 We anticipated a high number of Oath and Mono-U decks, and used 4 Wastes to combat other Orchards. I have never found Vamp. Tutor to be good outside of a combo deck, because of its inherent card disadvantage; however, I personally did not test it, so it could prove to be a good fit in some build.

 As far as Daze goes, it turned out to be the weakest card in the deck throughout the day, although it was not without some usefullness (other than being pitched to force).

[effang]

I'm guessing it would be hard to run Mana Leak and Duress.  Both are for the first turn play.  But if you Duress, you can't hold mana for the leak.  They are very antisynergistic.

so what is a stronger play then?

[Malhavoc]

I'm guessing it would be hard to run Mana Leak and Duress.  Both are for the first turn play.  But if you Duress, you can't hold mana for the leak.  They are very antisynergistic.

so what is a stronger play then?

In order to play an Oath safely, duress is better IMO. It can easily be played first turn, followed by an oath second turn, and we can also be surea about the opponent having no counters available. However, to protect our cards in play or to prevent the oppoent from casting certain spells, mana leak is better. However, I prefer Duress in a deck such a this.

[nickvos]

JACO and I really consider this new incarnation of Oath to be more of a combo deck than control, so I would have to say that Duress first turn is the much better play, for the reasons that malhavok mentioned.
 Considering the fact that you can kill your opponent third turn with the right draw, this deck really just plays like a slower combo, i.e., FCG.

[Kowal]

Congrats man, sorry to hear you got sick.  Meanwhile, I had one non-oath loss all day between the main event and the side event, and still managed to lose out in both.  Fricken Oath.

One of these days, I'll show up and play with all you cats in your home court.  Probably this summer or something.

[Malhavoc]

I've also tried running deep analysis in this deck. They are good after a drain and awesome after oathing, particularly if you run only one blessing. But the fact they are a sorcery hurts a bit too much, and I'm not too sure they deserve to be in.

[Diaonic]

Congrats on the win Nick. I was playing 5/3 actually.

$250 that's so "ill"

I'm working on that west coast language so when I come out there I'm not a fool  

It was nice meeting you and Jaco.

[Jacob Orlove]

Round Five: Corey Canfield (Diaonic on TMD) playing 'Shop 'Slaver

 Game One:  This one is over quick as I drop Orchard mox Oath turn 2

Board in Rack x2 and Pristine

 Game Two: Another quick one that starts with me going Time Walk/ Ancestral turn one, followed by Misdirection for his turn one Ancestral. Ownage

I'm a little curious here. Why did you leave in misdirections for game 2?

[Saucemaster]

I'm working on that west coast language so when I come out there I'm not a fool  

It's not so much that you have to work on adopting West Coast slang as it is just staying away from East Coast slang.  Almost everyone in Cali is transplanted, but anything that pegs you as originating from one *particular* locale is a faux pas.  That means you cannot use "mad" as an adjective unless you actually mean that something or someone is either angry or literally crazy.  Even then, I'd stick with "angry", "upset", or "pissed" in the former case, and just straight-up "crazy" in the latter.  Better safe than sorry.

Similarly, "wicked" is off-limits, unless you are for some reason reading from the Bible, or performing Shakespeare.

So for instance, instead of saying things like, "This clam chowder is mad wicked", denizens of Los Angeles say things like, "Oh shit, that bitch is hot.  I didn't know they made bikinis that small."

Sorry, I still got that West Coast pride.

[Akuma]

So let me get this straight, you scrubbed out hard from the main event and then went on to win a tournament that was comprised of other similarly unlucky souls  

All kidding aside, congrats on the performance. I'm glad you guys were able to make it out there. Jaco put together a nice deck, now, if we could only teach him how to play  

[JACO]

It was great meeting Diaonic, Kowal, ThaGunslinga, serialjester, Windfall, LeKarz, and everybody else. Good to see Dante and Manuel again too, as well as Jigga and Ben. ALL YOUR MONIES ARE BELONG TO US.

I'm working on that west coast language so when I come out there I'm not a fool  

It's not so much that you have to work on adopting West Coast slang as it is just staying away from East Coast slang.

Sauce has really hit it on the head. You East Coasters just have to stay away from that weak East Coast slang. I.E, stop saying every motherfucking thing is 'HOT.' The only thing that's 'hot' about a Foil Asian Akroma is when it beats you over the head. The only thing that's 'hot' about an Asian Foil Skeletal Scrying is when it resolves, putting me back in Library range the rest of the game, so I can own you. Try to mix in some new words, and not use the same 3 word vocabulary (savage, hot, hot) for every Earthly thing.

Do you really feel the need to run 2 Blessings?
Why don't you have vampiric tutor?
And last, do you find daze so much useful?

I'm guessing it would be hard to run Mana Leak and Duress.  Both are for the first turn play.  But if you Duress, you can't hold mana for the leak.  They are very antisynergistic.

so what is a stronger play then?

All of your questions have been answered here, in the new DOA mini-primer. Bitches&HoesWesCoast droppin' the knowledge for you...

Akuma, seeing as how you're on the team (and I'll own you next time we play), and my deck betrayed me after a 4-1 start in the main event, I'll let that slide ; )-

[nickvos]

@ Jacob:  Sorry, I didn't include the cards I removed for sideboarding each game. I believe in that instance I removed the Misd's. There were some games where I went with 3 to even 4 creatures, post-board.  Mostly this was against decks w/o counters, as I felt the best strategy was to just morph into beatdown.

 @ Gio:  Yeah, I was el scrubo in the main; couldn't draw for crap or keep my opponents from doing the same. Anyway, you better be in Vista, so we can own you, muthafucka!

[serialjester]

It was great meeting Diaonic, Kowal, ThaGunslinga, serialjester, Windfall, LeKarz, and everybody else. Good to see Dante and Manuel again too, as well as Jigga and Ben. ALL YOUR MONIES ARE BELONG TO US.

Having your opponent need to read every card you play=tech. Ha.

It was definitely very cool meeting/playing you round 5, even if Fow on Duplicant is bad times for Me. This version of Oath is definitely more resilient, the double Blessing is a big deal as the lone Blessing as fallback isn't something that inspires alot of confidence in a removal/counter heavy format.  Duress also really, really sucked as it wasn't something I expected to deal with in that matchup, it's a very proactive solution to alot of tricks that can hose a 2 creature deck.

I still have that crimped beta swamp, if you're interested. I worked out that huge deal with Jeff Anand and forgot about it until we were back at our hotel.

[kill doug]

Do you think the lack of back 2 basics decreases the sideboard power enough to take out the black of the main deck or does DOA still your motto.

As far as Daze goes, it turned out to be the weakest card in the deck throughout the day, although it was not without some usefullness (other than being pitched to force).

What have you found to replace daze?

[CobaltInfinity]

All your monies are belong to ME! Well, me and Nick, cause we won the most poker.  I also seem to remember a certain conversation with someone (ie you, Jaco) and another someone (ie me) about how DSC was ass in the deck and you should play SOTN.  It took a significant amount of convincing for you to decide to play it.  In any event, the deck is way better then that pile you called a fish deck.  When you come back out here Nick and I are going to "savagely wreck" you in Sequence.  Just wait.

[Grand Inquisitor]

Nice report.  I like the build, except for the story Samite Healer told me about scrying away Jaco's blessings while slaving him.

Yeah, WCH&B is a great team.  Gio and Pat are the fuckin' bomb.

I totally stuck out like a sore thumb when I was in San Fran, 'cause every other word out of my mouth is 'wicked', or 'sassy'.  Of course, that didn't stop me from stomping C&J ass.

[JACO]

Nice report.  I like the build, except for the story Samite Healer told me about scrying away Jaco's blessings while slaving him.

Yeah, WCH&B is a great team.  Gio and Pat are the fuckin' bomb.

I totally stuck out like a sore thumb when I was in San Fran, 'cause every other word out of my mouth is 'wicked', or 'sassy'.  Of course, that didn't stop me from stomping C&J ass.

What Samite Healer didn't tell you is how in that first game (when he Scryed away my Blessings), he shouldn't even have been alive at that time, because I picked the wrong card with Duress on the first turn of that game, allowing him to play his Goblin Welder. In the second game I mulliganed down to 5 cards and didn't draw another mana source for 8 straight turns. That was how I started the day; getting swept 2-0. I then swept my next 4 straight opponent's 4-0 before losing another game even.

Ben, all your monies are belong to Jaco son. I won that last game of poker, so I I still came out ahead for the night, which no one besides you, Nick, and I can say. BHWC4L

[Saucemaster]

I totally stuck out like a sore thumb when I was in San Fran, 'cause every other word out of my mouth is 'wicked', or 'sassy'.  Of course, that didn't stop me from stomping C&J ass.

If you were saying "sassy" in San Francisco, they weren't thinking "East Coast", trust me.

[maddux31]

I was wondering, what cards did you find yourself siding out frequently?

[Manpriest]

Round Five: Corey Canfield (Diaonic on TMD) playing 'Shop 'Slaver

 Game One:  This one is over quick as I drop Orchard mox Oath turn 2

Board in Rack x2 and Pristine

 Game Two: Another quick one that starts with me going Time Walk/ Ancestral turn one, followed by Misdirection for his turn one Ancestral. Ownage

I'm a little curious here. Why did you leave in misdirections for game 2?

@ Jacob: Sorry, I didn't include the cards I removed for sideboarding each game. I believe in that instance I removed the Misd's. There were some games where I went with 3 to even 4 creatures, post-board. Mostly this was against decks w/o counters, as I felt the best strategy was to just morph into beatdown.

I think he was asking because of the fact that you went "Time Walk/Ancestral turn one, followed by Misdirection for his turn one Ancestral".