Location:
Classic Cards & Comics
205 6th St.
Castle Rock, Colorado
www.classicardscomics.com720-733-2552
So CCC was holding a tournament Saturday the 8th 2005 for a Mishra’s Workshop. I had been fooling around with my casual Underworld Dreams deck and was fairly certain I would be playing this, as expected however the deck just is not consistent enough, and I wanted to win... So about a week before the tournament I started testing Oath again, I have had success with this deck in the past and there is no questioning the deck’s consistency.
Here is the list I played:
4 Oath of Druids
1 Gaea’s Blessing
1 Akroma Angel of Wrath
1 Spirit of the Night
4 Mana Drain
4 Duress
4 Force of Will
3 Cunning Wish
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Skeletal Scrying
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Brainstorm
1 MisDirection
1 Time Walk
1 Pernicious Deed
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
3 Island
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
Sideboard:
2 Pristine Angel
1 Platnum Angel
3 Energy Flux
1 Oxidize
1 Naturalize
1 Echoing Truth
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Fire/Ice
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Coffin Purge
1 Stifle
A total of 17 people showed up for this event including two Freak-a-Leek members, myself and Jim Gaffney. It ended up being 4 rounds and cut to the top eight. This was an unlimited Proxy event. All of the following is the best recount of situations based on my notes; if anything is incorrect I apologize in advance.
Round 1
Vs. Adam Ramsey
Playing - The Perfect Storm
Game One:
Before the tournament I did some scouting and saw combo, causing me to switch an Oxidize for a Stifle. I was glad to have done this seeing how my 1st opponent justified the move.
I win the roll, this bodes well for me. After mulliganing down to 6, I open up with a control heavy hand featuring both Duress, Strip Mine and Wasteland. I also have the Oath and Orchard along with Underground Sea. I Duress turn one taking a FoW, I believe. He plays an Underground Sea and passes, I Waste the Sea. He goes the safe rout and fetches an Island. On turn three I play the Orchard and Oath. He has no answers. Turn four I Oath up SotN and Strip the Island. I Duress him again, Akroma shows up next turn. So Adam is down to 1 life and decides it’s time to go off, he plays 3 Moxen, Hurkles Recall, Y.Will and in the end just can’t go off and that’s game.
Game Two:
I make no sideboard changes as I need to be able to wish for the Stifle.
We both keep our opening 7, and Adam opens strong taking my potential 1st turn Oath. I play a 1st turn Forbidden Orchard, Mox Sapphire and Brainstorm on his E.O.T. On my second turn I Waste an Underground Sea. I have given him a couple of Tokens and am taking 2 a turn by my third turn. I play a Lotus and Skeletal Scrying for Four, netting me a hand full of 2 FoW, MisD, and a few Mana Drain. I Strip a Swamp and then cast Oath turn 4. This game was almost lost as he has 4 Token’s and I’m at 8 life, but leads to his demise as I get SotN and then Akroma soon afterwards and am able to block a Token taking me to 1 and finish him off.
In these games my land destruction was a huge advantage and his TPS was never able to recover from this. So Stifle could have been big here, but never actually played a factor, ah well.
Round Two
Vs. Lou Christopher
Playing Titan (w/ Mishra’s Workshop featuring the “Unholy Trio”)
Lou win’s the Roll and is on the play, so he does what MWS is best at and plays a 1st turn Trinisphere. Okay, that’s fantastic I am locked, and am even holding a Mox Emerald! We’ll it’s time to level the playing field. I play a 1st turn Wasteland on the MWS. He lays a City of Brass and passes. On my turn I play a Orchard and pass, he Wastes it promptly next turn. I play my only mana source a Wasteland and pass. Eventually he gets a Gemstone Mine to accompany the CoB. I gradually work my way up to 3 Lands (Waste, Island and Underground Sea). He has stalled out with his two lands and I am able to Duress him. I have him holding an Ancestral Recall, Platinum Angel and Mox (my notes my have been a bit off on the timing here), I take the Recall. Next turn I hard cast my Mox Emerald and pass. He has stalled out and I get my Oath of Druids down next turn. Which is followed by an Orchard and a concession soon follows.
Game Two
Sideboard:
- 1 Akroma, - 1 SotN, - 3 Cunning Wish, - 1 Vampiric Tutor, - 1 Deed, - 1 Misdirection
+ 2 Pristine Angel, + 3 Energy Flux, + 1 Fire/Ice, + 1 Oxidize, + 1 Naturalize
So he got the broken opening hand last turn it’s my turn right? Well he is on the play and we both keep out opening grip. Type One is so swingy, he drops a 1st turn Seal of Cleansing of off CoB and Mox Jet, then plays Sapphire and casts Ancestral Recall! I have a Black Lotus, Oath of Druids, Wasteland, and other goodness in hand. I thought this was in the bag and he plays a 1st turn seal… I draw and get my lone Naturalize! Oh shiz things just drastically changed! I drop Wasteland, Black Lotus, break the lotus for Naturalize on the Seal. Play the Turn One Oath and life is all of a sudden looking good. Now if only I can find that Orchard. He plays CoB gets a Crucible of Worlds into play. Then next turn he plays another CoB and casts a Thirst for Knowledge pitching Sundering Titan. At this point I think he is high on the casting of cards as he plays a Goblin Welder! I am shocked and so is he moments after he casts it as I am now able to Oath, I drop a Pristine Angel at the beginning of my upkeep. Then the Titan is welded into play on his turn and for the first time ever, neither player loses a land as I have 2 Wastelands (it’s worthless to waste his lands as he has the CoW in play) (and an Orchard in play, I think, my notes are sketchy), he has Gemstone Mines/CoB. So he has his beat stick and I have mine, I Oath up the second Pristine and can swing to my hearts content w/o fear of ever taking another hit from the Titan. Needless to say, I am in a good position. I swing w/ the Angel, taking him to 6. On his turn he casts some last ditch effort Thirst for Knowledge’s but to no avail and I kill him next turn.
Round Three
Vs. Sam Tallent (Sam the Ham on tmd)
Playing Fish
Game One:
My notes aren’t too informative on this game. I open with a Fetch for Island and he does too. I have early Forbidden Orchard and Skeletal Scrying for 2, trying to dig up an answer/pressure. I duress him revealing Meddling Mage x 2, Grim Lavamancer, StP, FoW, Mishra’s Factory and Time Walk. I pull the FoW. I few turns go by and he manages to get a Standstill Mana Drained. I burn for 2 and am taking hits from a single token and Mishra’s Factory. I don’t find the Waste and die to the land beats.
Game Two:
I start with a fetch for Underground Sea and hit him with a Duress, he doesn’t like this and FoW’s. He plays a Meddling Mage naming Tog! I am so lucky, he hadn’t scouted me out and thought I was playing Tog (this was actually my teammate Jim). I feel slightly relieved, until he Wastes my Underground. I am able to resolve an Oath of Druids the next turn and he turns a bit pale realizing that I am indeed not playing Tog. I take a hit from the Mage (who is curious), Oath out Akroma and draw into Fire/Ice. I have a Orchard in play and nuke the Mage w/ Fire. My Akroma meets StP and I’m sitting pretty at 22 life. I soon get out a Platinum Angel and Pristine Angel as well. And finish him off.
Game Three:
This game I am forced to mull down to 5 and keep a grip of Cunning Wish, Waste, Waste, Mox Emerald, FoW. He keeps his 7.
Sam opens strong this game with an Ancestral Recall 1st turn off Volcanic Island, I FoW he FoW’s back. I Waste his Volcanic Island on my turn. He lays a Mishra’s Factory and I am able to Waste that again. He has a Cloud of Fairies in play when I top deck an Oath and drop it into play. He is forced to StP’s his man to keep me from Oathing. He then gets another Mishra’s Factory and I am stuck taking two a turn for a few. I find a Strip Mine to take care of this. He plays a Standstill I FoW and he counters. Then I land my Orchard. He is forced to Break his Standstill to cast a Cunning Wish after I Oath up a Platinum Angel, I draw my three and FoW the Cunning Wish. Time is called in this match and I manage to beat him down on my last turn (the 4th extra turn) when Akroma joins the fray.
Round Four
Vs. Conley Woods
Playing U/w control
I am undefeated and sitting pretty with 9 points and in 1st place he has 6 points and we agree to a draw. I ask to play the games for fun and in doing so get a look at his deck. It featured DoJ, Meddling Mage, Wastelands and the usual FoW/Mana Drain’s.
I beat him soundly game one w/ a quick Oath and he concedes early game two.
Top Eight
Vs. Eric Vanlaethem
Playing Mono-U
Game One:
He is on the play, mulls down to 6 and gets a 1st turn Ancestral Recall. I play an early Duress taking a FoW off a 1st turn Forbidden Orchard. He soon wastes my Orchard, I play another and it is Stripped away as well. I am able to time walk and Skeletal Scrying for 3 but lack the Oath I need to get going, he eventually beats me all the way down with my own tokens.
I side out a Waste for a Platinum Angel, I know it’s almost guaranteed he will bring in Control Magic, but he runs zero non-basics (excluding Waste/Strip). Reflecting back it probably would have been best to bring in the Pristine.
Game Two:
I explode with a 1st turn Orchard, Lotus, Ancestral Recall and Oath. This is followed up with a Duress and quick beats from the SotN and Platinum Angel. I kept the SotN and Akroma in so I could win quickly and give him less time to come up with answers.
Game Three:
He’s on the play again and keeps his opening hand, as do I. I get a first turn Orchard & Duress revealing Mana Leak, Back to Basics, Impulse, Ophi, Morphling. I end up taking the Mana Leak, if my memory serves correctly. He has a random Mox and Island in play. He does not tap out to cast the B2B, keeping the mana open to counter instead as I have Island and Emerald in play and I take 2 from Tokens.
I am stuck with an Akroma and my blessing in hand, I play a Wasteland and cast Oath, he Impulses and comes up short, he accidentally drops the card he kept and I see the Control Magic I knew was coming. I Oath the SotN into play. He takes six. He plays a Waste and passes to me. I oath out my Platinum Angel, and now have one card left in my entire deck! I cast my Blessing targeting Time Walk, Ancestral Recall and Black Lotus, it resolves. I offer my pathetic pile of four cards for him to cut, he does. I draw the Ancestral from Blessing. Cast it drawing the entire Library, play Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Time Walk and attack him for the win. I remember holding a Cunning Wish in hand so I really had no fear of him Controlling the Platinum Angel to steal the win as I could Cunning Wish --> Naturalize, if the need arose. So the Platinum Angel actually did prove more useful than Pristine in this situation as I would have decked myself. Then again I would have stacked the Blessing cards differently to avoid this with Pristine Angel. All in all though, I believe Pristine would have been the correct card to side in to avoid those Control Magics.
Top Four:
Zach Gable (Oath) vs. Conley Woods (U/w control)
Jim Gaffney (Tog) vs. Sam Tallent (Fish)
I mull my opening hand away and keep a 6 card draw, I am on the play. My notes have me Vampiric Tutoring up a Ancestral Recall and burning for one early to give him a Token off the Orchard after he Wastes it.
I Duress him seeing FoW, DoJ, Cunning Wish, Flooded Strand. I take the FoW. A few turns later (the next turn?) I Duress again and he casts the Cunning Wish getting Fact or Fiction. He casts the FoF. Revealing 2 Isochorn Scepter, FoW, Orim Chant and Mana Leak. I split it into 2 Scepter & FoW or Chant, Leak. He opts for the Chant/Leak. So his hand is Chant, Leak, DoJ and Strand. I take the DoJ. I bail the Mana Leak from his hand to clear a path for Oath, but he had drawn Mana Drain and it is countered. He resolves a Decree of Justice for 4 and wins soon after w/ 3 Spirit Token and 4 Soldiers.
Game Two
He has plenty of basic lands and no manlands I sb out a Wasteland for Platinum Angel.
I keep my opening hand and play a first turn fetch for Underground Sea, then Duress him seeing Meddling Mage, Mana Drain, Mana Leak, Orim’s Chant x 2 and land.
He tries to cast the Mage and I FoW. Then I am Chanted for three turns in a row!
I finally am able to cast spells and resolve my Oath. I get Akroma into play get one hit in and she is Echoing Truthed into my hand. I am also holding my SotN. Platinum is Oathed out next and swings once, the next turn I Oath and show him that I have no other creatures in the deck but do have the blessing so I get a full Library. I cast a Demonic Tutor for Brainstorm to stack the creatures back on top. This wins me the game as I swing with my team for the win.
Game Three:
We both keep our opening hands.
I get an early duress seeing Mana Leak, Mana Drain, Strip, Waste and Flooded Strand, I believe he has a Fetchland and Mox in play. I take the Leak as he doesn’t have UU up.
This game is silly as he Wastes my U. Sea, and I play my own wasteland. He has a Strip Mine in play too. I end up wasting the Strip to cut back on damage. I finally find another mana source, which is another waste and he wastes this too! I do have a random mox in play and have been holding an Orchard in fear of his Wasteland in play. I’ll wait to draw my Oath to play this.
Turns go by and he resolves a Meddling Mage, I’m screwed, until he names Black lotus!!! I breath a sigh of relief, find and cast my Oath the very next turn (or perhaps two turns later, I forget) and have to FoW it into play. He dies to the tag team of Akroma/SotN. After the game Conley says he was afraid that I would draw that Lotus and just go nuts on him.
So I made it into the finals and so does my teammate Jim (he had to battle Doomsday and Fish). So we split, I let him keep the Workshop and I take his Mana Crypt, Old Man of the Sea, Candelabra of Tawnos and half a dual land (2nd place prize).
Side Rant:
The tourney was a blast to play and I didn’t have any problems during the tourney. I stick around afterwards and do some trading. I have a deal going to get a Foil Oath for my deck for the Mana Crypt and go to pull it from my binder and lo and behold someone has stolen it! I was pissed. It never turns up and I don’t get it back.
I am told that the week before someone had their binder stolen, but it was hidden in the back of the store. So I look around to see what I can find, in my desperation I check the trash in the bathroom and find someone’s deck box that had playable commons and the lower priced rare cards from what looked to be a TPS or Tendrils deck, along w/ proxies. No one would just throw this away, I feel that someone stole this deck took the high end cards and discarded the rest. If you do ever find yourself at this venue (Classic Cards & Comics) watch your stuff like a hawk. If you have any info on my Mana Crypt please let me know.
