Dreamers Report - tie-1st report - Oath of Auriok

[moxpearl]

With the football season now over, a large crowd of 41 people gathered at Dreamers for an unlimited Mox Pearl.  The tournament organizer Jason announced there would be six rounds of swiss!  I played the same deck I played at the Monster’s Den just two weeks prior, switching in a Mox Jet for a Gemstone Mine.  

Oath of Auriok:
4 Flooded Strand
2 Gemstone Mine
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Savannah
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Plains
3 Island
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Black Lotus

1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 AEther Spellbomb
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Intuition
2 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Mana Leak
2 Impulse
1 Tinker
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Auriok Salvagers
2 Seal of Cleansing
1 Balance
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Oath of Druids
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor

Sideboard:
1 Pristine Angel
1 Iridescent Angel
1 Woodripper
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sacred Ground
2 Ray of Revelation
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Orim's Chant
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rack and Ruin

It's been a long day, but this is my best recollection of the day's events.

Round 1 - beat aggro workshop 2-1.  Game 1, I had colossus in play, salvager in hand, and a chance to oath/auto-win with 16 cards left in my deck.  He had welder on the board, so I knew my colossus was history.  As long as my 2nd salvager was not the last card, I would win because he had no colored mana to prevent me from comboing out.  With 94% chance of winning, my salvager was the last card, and I decked myself.  Games 2 and 3 went fast with the oath/salvager winning.  He drew/played no trinispheres or chalices.

Round 2 – tied Draw7 1-1-1.  First game, he mulligan’d to 5, but quickly made that up with ancestral and a next turn windfall that I couldn’t stop.  He eventually won after like 50 minutes with brainfreeze and tendrils backup.  I though for sure time would be called, but I quickly shuffled and had a hand with 2 force, 1 blue cards, oath, and 2 lands, and I drew another blue card.  I used both forces, and had my oath out with no non-land cards, and combo’d out shortly thereafter.  Ran out of time game 3 to tie

Round 3 - beat Riddler 2-0.  I think this is the name of the deck that plays all the workshop gadgets with illusionary mask, Dreadnoughts, hanna’s custody.   I don’t know if it’s luck, but again I didn’t see a trinisphere.  Game 1, I oath/salvager comboed out.  It took me a while to get an orchard, but he had two masks out and couldn’t bring out his dreadnought without letting me combo out.  Game 2, I boarded in a Woodripper, among my other artifact destroying cards.  He kept a 2 mox, no land hand.  I drew the Woodripper in hand along with a quick mox/orchard/oath.  I brainstormed Woodripper to the top of the deck, oath’d it out, and destroyed his mana base along with an illusionary mask.  A couple turns later I oath/salvager’d out.

Round 4 - beat FCG 2-0.  I’ve playtested against FCG numerous times, and I knew this match was heavily in my favor.  Game 1, I sealed a food chain and I think countered another goblin.  The oath came out shortly thereafter and I combo’d out next turn.  Game 2, I think I had to mulligan, and I had a mediocre draw with lands, brainstorm, and impulse   He quickly got out lackey, ringleader, and piledriver.  My brainstorm drew nothing, but my impulse drew a balance, and cleared the board.  A few turns later I got out oath, oath’d out a colossus, and next turn oath’d out a salvager for the win.

At this point, I knew I needed one win out of the last two to make the final 8.

Round 5 - beat 2-1 U/G Tendrils deck.  It used glimpse of nature, clamp, and alluren, along with wood elves and tinder walls to keep the mana going along with other 3cc creatures such as eternal witness.  No counters, but it plays xantid swarms.  Game 1 I won fast, and I didn’t really know how his deck won.  Game 2 was long.  I think he mulliganed down to 5 and had nothing going for a while.  I think I finally got out oath and he had alluren in play.  He eventually played a draw7 (wheel?) and a glimpse.   I had vampiric tutor, brainstorm in hand with a plains, island, and gemstone mine untapped.  I thought for a while and decided to put a force on top, and hope to brainstorm it with another blue card.  I didn’t, and he started going…drew about 40 cards and eventually tendrils’d me.  It’s only after he drew about 20 cards that I remembered I had a orim’s chant in the deck that I could have tutor’d for that instead and won next turn because I had salvager and lotus in hand and a bomb ready to go.  I was so upset.  My mood quickly changed when game 3 I drew lotus, orchard, oath, time walk.  Bomb hit the graveyard along with a salvager and I won my walked turn two.

Round 6 –ID'd into top 8
 
Quarters - beat Meandeck Oath 2-0.  This was my first match ever against an oath deck.  Game 1, on turn 4 I hard cast a salvager which he couldn’t counter with a black lotus in the yard.  I didn’t have the bomb, but I brainstorm’d into an intuition, and that was game.  Game 2, he got out two ground seals so it would be tough to combo.  But I got an early spellbomb out which would stop him from oathing  I hard cast a salvager, and interestingly, it beat him down for 16 damage with a pyrite finishing him off.  In those 8 turns, all he drew were counters and land.

Semis - beat TPS 2-1.  Game 1, I tinker/colossus turn 1 and swung for 11 turn 2.  .  His turn 2, he played 6 spells ending with mind’s desire for 7 drawing – demonic tutor, yawgmoth’s bargain, tolarian academy, brainstorm, duress, and a couple other cards.  Yikes.  That was enough and he eventually tendrils’d me for the win.  Game 2 I sided out a pyrite, and I realized how painful that when with 3 mana sources, I tried to get the lotus and forgot he had coffin purge in his graveyard.   He took out my pyrite, and I had no combo option left.  I had about 9 cards left in my deck, 2 salvagers on the board, and 2 brainstorms and an impulse in hand, but feared using them because I had about 4 swings to go to kill him.  I eventually drew orim’s chant and had him down to 5.  He tried a spell, which I orim’s chant’d to stop his turn.  I top decked time walk, and swung twice for the win.  I think he show’d a twister in his hand, so that was a lucky topdeck.

Finals – split the prize with TPS.  Interestingly, the two TPS decks I played were the same TPS decks and players I played at the Monster’s Den during the swiss rounds.  The deck having been 5-4-1 against TPS/Draw7 and weary from seven hours of magic, I decided to stop with my tie-1st finish.

I prefer this deck over the regular Angel/Spirit build, because it can oath/win 1-2 turns faster and the white/black gives it more flexibility.  It’s prone to null rod, trinisphere, and chalice for 0, but with the amount of artifact and enchantment removal in the side, I think it’s well prepared.  It has significantly less counter, but that’s replaced with tutors that prepare it for a quick win.  The Angel/Spirit build has also been heavily boarded against, and those sideboards often don’t work against my combo.  The only change I’ve thought of is to add Krosan Reclamation to the sideboard.

Feel free to comment on this deck.

[WildWillieWonderboy]

I HATE Colossus in Oath. The weldability factor (made up words are tech) makes me extremely wary. This evidently wasn't a factor for you at the tourney, but it seems that having your graveyard in a perpetual state of flux lends itself better to a slaver or jar.

[M.Solymossy]

If you don't have anything useful to say, don't say anything at all. Verbal warning issued.

Hyperion

[JesseRiver]

Hi,
I am the person you split with and I was playing Mud-Domination, not TPS.
Good Job.

Jesse

[LotusHead]

Gongrats on your many recent wins.  Salvagers All The Way.

I feel that Tinker for Colossus is vital to the deck.  

A) It is a random win factor.  Many decks use this, especially combo decks. And MORE especially, Control Combo Decks.  That this deck happens to have the Oath mechanism, doesn't mean it is a regular Oath Deck.

B) If the combo is disrupted (Trinisphere, Chalice, etc), Tinker for Colosuss gives you an extra out.  Very strong.

Keep on truckin'.

[That0neguy]

Ya i was the person sitting next to you when you had the salvagers as the last card.  GJ on the win.

Also do you have the T8?

I went 2-1 drop to play the cosolation tourney(plus I relized that im the worlds greatest deck builder and forgot to put a darksteel citadel in goth slaver) then went 1-1 drop to go do hmw at 6 (I was still up until 11 doing hmw even leaving that early).  I probably could have made T8 wtill only needing to win 1 more round and from souting I didn't see to many problem match ups.

[Mordred]

Congratulations on the finish man.  Thanks again to Jason for another awesome tournament.

That was my buddy Tony playing Workshop w/ Mask/Naut, your 3rd round opponent.  He told me about that Woodripper about 6 times on the way home.

Also, ThatOneguy, I think I was your 2nd round opponent (playing a Workshop Slaver/Aggro hybrid) I remember you casting an Intuition, and shortly thereafter telling me you forgot to include an Artifact Land in your deck.

I was so ready to see Control Slaver everywhere, I had a SB plan ready to deal with it.  And my first round I die to a Goblin deck that abused Sneak Attack.  I was just so happy to see Control Slaver after that  

[gustoh]

Congrads on your recent success with Salvagers... The field on Sunday didn't have a lot of control and I was pretty surprised that Control Slaver didn't do so well (except Corey) I was playing 5/3 and after round 5 I went 3-2 and when I realized that everyone drew into the top 8 I left because the weather was getting bad...

LT...

[That0neguy]

Ya I probably was your round 2 opponet.  I don't remeber much about the tournement I was so tired and I was doing really bad.  That game that I relized i forgot that intuition in hand i already had the pentavus in hand and i think it was a thirst for knowlage.  After I dropped I fixed the deck though.  The reason i forgot to add it though was that i was planing to play doomsday up until literally half an hour before the tourney but then wasn't liking that there was so much FCG and random aggro that if I passed the turn id lose.  I could have played deathlong but i was too lazy to play it then.  Ill probably* play control slaver next month too but build it right.  

* - I have never actually played the deck that I say i plan to play so I will probably** go back to combo.

** - see not above.

[gnomehunter]

Congrats on the win/draw
I was your lucky third round victim, playing The riddler.  I had play tested against oath with a buddy the night befor.  He used the akroma/spirit kill that first game was a real battle for board control up untile you oathed for salvager.  Second game, well wood ripper wow man I did not see that coming. (Just for the records that second hand was 2 moxen,Illusionary Mask, 3sphere, drednought)

[Mouth for War]

From your semi's results :

I eventually drew orim’s chant and had him down to 5. He tried a spell, which I orim’s chant’d to stop his turn. I top decked time walk, and swung twice for the win. I think he show’d a twister in his hand, so that was a lucky topdeck.

     Am I misunderstanding the post (and being a newb), or was there a bad play error there?


From Crystal Keep, on Orim's Chant :

This spell does nothing to spells that have already been announced prior to it resolving or to creatures which are already attacking. [Planeshift FAQ 2001/01/26] In other words, this spell does not counter another spell and does not remove attacking creatures from an attack. [D'Angelo 2001/02/18]
The player may announce spells in response to this spell. This spell does not have any effect until it resolves. [D'Angelo 2001/03/12]

     Did you counter his spell with Chant, or did he just draw a spell and you Chant'ed during his upkeep before he could play it?

[That0neguy]

I think what he meant was that in response a mox or somthing he orims chanted so that he would waste any storm he had built up and since tendrils is a sorc he couln't play it so he would be at 1 life tring to combo off.

[moxpearl]

Yes. That0neguy is correct in that I was just stopping my opponent's turn, not countering a spell.  I believe I cast it in response to a Duress.

[Mouth for War]

From me :

Am I misunderstanding the post (and being a newb),

From ThatOneguy :

I think what he meant was that in response a mox or somthing he orims chanted so that he would waste any storm he had built up and since tendrils is a sorc he couln't play it so he would be at 1 life tring to combo off.

From moxpearl :

Yes. That0neguy is correct in that I was just stopping my opponent's turn, not countering a spell. I believe I cast it in response to a Duress.

     Yep, as I suspected, I was being a newb.  

     Thanks for the clarification, guys.