Q&D report. Oh, the card missing is the 4th Polluted Delta
After coming in 2nd at Castricum with my highlander deck, I figured I might as well try some new deck like 5-Tinker.dec or whatever. Rudy was the judge so I could borrow his deck, sans the power, which wasn’t a problem.
After some playtesting, the deck felt pretty good, howevere, I didn’t feel quite comfortable enough with it, so I decided to just fall back on something I’m familiar with: TPS. I always play a slightly off version, splashing red for Wheel of Fortune and, depending on what I expect, 1-2 Pyroblasts in the board. As I was expecting mosytly Stax and Oath, I left the Blasts at home and wanted to try something else which looked promising on paper: Defense Grids.
The list is posted above
The tournament:
Word of Note: This is a Q&D report, so don’t expect any fancy plays or whatever. I don’t remember enough of the plays to be totally sure of some.
After arriving, I noticed that I’d completely forgot to bring a stack of cards for Nico, who was supposed to be playing Belcher today. I was SOO embarrassed….. This caused him to not play today
After writing my decklist, we sat and played some Type 4 until the pairings were up for the first round.
Round 1: Steffen van der Veen, Control Slaver
I lost the die roll, and after mulliganing, I kept a pretty good hand. He started with Volcanic, Ruby, Welder go, which isn’t a bad start. I played a land and said go, and he Brainstormed, only to miss his land drop. He missed another one and then died to some savage combo’ing
After boarding I mulliganed again and Duressed turn 1 to find Tinker, Stifle, REB, FoF and Slaver. I took his REB because I wanted to win next turn through a Tinker. He didn’t draw anything of importance and I won after a Desire for 8 that showed enough gas to beat him. Strangely enough he didn’t even try to Stifle the Desire, even though I had FoW backup.
2-0, 1-0
Round 2: Hoo-Yin Lam, Weird U/R deck
Hoo-Yin parents own a Chinese restaurant in town, where we frequently go on Friday evening to have dinner, and he’s a long time player who’s now decided to play Type 1. He’s playing a pretty weird deck, which is like a cross-over between Fish and Zoo, but it seemed to work ok. Game 1 I wrecked him pretty hard after drawing no land for 2 turns, the Duressing to see he didn’t have anything.
Game 2 was weird as well, seeing we both didn’t have anything. He had a Null Rod, which made a Mox and Mana Vault look pretty pathetic, until I topdecked Tinker for Colossus that sealed the game.
2-0, 2-0
Round 3: Rudy van Soest with the Tinker Deck
We playtested this match already and it’s usually a toss up games 2 and 3, and we didn't want to give each other losses straight away, since T8 becomes harder then, so we ID’d.
0-0, 2-0-1
Round 4: Daniel Paardekooper, R/U/W Control
He’s playing a deck featuring Scepters and other stuff, and while he only draws lands, I don’t see any more then the 2 I have for at least 5 turns straight. I managed to force through a Bargain at some point and win easily off it.
Game 2 wasn’t quite as fast, as we both seem to have the same problem as game 1: him only lands and me none. At some point I resolve a Desire for 5, which reveals double Defense Grid, Brainstorm and some other stuff. He Forces the 2nd Grid, and I win after that.
2-0, 3-0-1
Round 5: Stijn ?? with Survival Dragon
He’s playing a weird Dragon deck, which seems to work for him though. Game 1 I resolve 2 Draw 7’s and both reveal 7 mana sources: WTF?!? I lose after this, as he’s drawn enough stuff to win easily.
Game 2 ends on turn 2, and I manage to win even though my draw 7’s aren’t that good.
Game 3 ends on turn 2 as well, with me going for the Long win route, with LED, Demonic, Will. I resolve a Desire for 15 which gives me the goods.
Round 6: Erik ?? with old school control
We ID into T8
Top 8:
Quarterfinals: Rudie Bloemberg with 3C Control
Game 1 we both keep good hands, but after Duressing and him trying to resolve a few spells, I win in short order.
Game 2 is kinda wacky. He plays 2 Scryings, but I manage to counter both, then resolve Necropotence for the win.
Semifinals: Evert Geurtsen with Rector-Tendrils
Game 1 sees me draw the most insane hand of the day: Academy, Mox, Lotus, Ritual, Will, Demonic and Rebuild. He begins and after I topdeck a Force of Will, I cast Demonic to bait, he Fows, I Fow back, get Duress to make sure, then Will and win turn 1.
Game 2 and he gives me another insane hand, and I win on turn 2.
Finals: Menno Rieff with Control-Slaver
We agree on a price split and play 1 game to determine the winner. I keep a shady hand and a turn 2 Timetwister reveals a rather crappy hand with 4 land. After attempting to Wheel I’m out of gas and proceed to lose to Duplicant beats and a Memory Jar.
Well, coming in 2nd isn’t bad at all. The metagame was near perfect for TPS, and luck was on my side. The Tinker deck crapped out on the people playing it, but it’s still a good deck. It’s just that you lose game 1 to combo, except with an insane hand, as you have zero disruption.
