Well, I didn't intend to write a tourny report because I knew I wasn't going to be taking notes. I use 2 abaci to keep track of life and I knew that time is always an issue. As I begin to recall more details the next morning, I decide to write them up in a report.
So, I get to the tourny promptly in time for last call..
I decided on the Rebuild deck. This was to be the last tournament available before Trinisphere goes restricted. Overall, I was pleased with the the deck and my own performance. Here's the list and then some details.
Reflection's 'The Rebuild Deck'
The Fours - 22
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Rebuild
3 Skeletal Scrying
3 Duress
Singletons - 13
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mind's Desire
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tinker
1 Memory Jar
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Timetwister
Manas - 25
5 Moxes
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
Sideboard - 15
4 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Stifle
3 Goblin Charbelcher
2 Serendib Efreets
1 Echoing Truth
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Platinum Angel
I went into the tournament predicting that there would be alot of Oath, of all kinds, and was there, oh boy. I also assumed their would be alot of FCG. Beyond that, I knew that Workshop decks and Slaver decks were still on the rise. Besides there being alot of Oath variants, there were more Bazaar decks where there were none before. Also, FCG was now being replaced by 3cc and some 4cc players that didn't get it, I guess.
Round 1. 2-1 Natt Flath playing Meandeck Oath.
I have to win the counter war so that I can out race him. I win a long game 1 setting up a small desire (*combo bells go off*) into tendrils. He sides in Chalice, apparently. He casts some, but it doesn't matter. Natt procedes to draw a bunch of cards in game 2, get lots of counters, and do the Oath thing. Game 3, I remember that I was staring down chalice for 0 and 1 when I went off. Eot, I cast Rebuild, next turn I build up lethal storm playing moxen, go broken, and win. I don't remember much after the Rebuild.
Round 2: Tom? playing 3cc. 2-1
This kid split in the finals 2 months ago with fish, I believe. I'm not sure exactly, but I think he was playing U/w control. I think he won game 1 easily. Game 2 was won via my Colossus, I believe, although I did cast Desire, so that set off all the "He's Playing Combo" bells. So I got to use my semi transformational SB of 3 Belchers and 2 Serendibs. And they worked! Serendib traded for a Force. Mana Drain into Belcher, then another Belcher won game 3.
Round 3: Matt Jendro with "Red Mud" (which can be seen in the T8 postings.) 2-1
I must have been his only loss in the semis. hot. He wins the die roll, I'm holding a Mana Drain and a prayer for an opening. He opens with Shop, Worker. Ok. I drop a second Island and Drain his next turn, lethal Staff. He drops Bosh and Pentavus afterward. Matt may have erred by revealing Staff with Metalworker. Oh well, I'm still staring down hell itself. Next turn, I drop artifacts and Rebuild, following up with Tinker-Colossus (the Jar plan seemed like the slow option considering my current resources). He replays everything next turn, I swing. Facing death even with a colossus on my side, I have 3 lands in play and a Lotus + Desire in hand. I have to go for it. I Desire for 2 and get Ancestral Recall and Rebuild! OMFG!! I don't remember how I won after that, but that was enough tempo to launch me into a large enough Tendrils. Game 2, I got owned by a Wasteland and 2 Juggernauts. Game 3 I lucksacked into a broken opening of Tinker/Colossus with Force backup.
Round 4: Tim Roble with Oath Salvagers 2-0
Eventual Finalist! Again, this guy's only loss in the swiss. I don't remember exactly, but I kept his Oaths and Salvagers off the board and built up draw. I cannot remember how I beat him, I'm guessing Colossus game 1 and Tendrils game 2. I do remember that the match was a control mirror war, which should be obvious.
Round 5: Justin Meyer with Tog UBrg ID
Round 6: Nate Siftar with "WereBearl" -a Bird Shit varient. ID
So I'm sitting as 2nd seed in the top 8. I'm paired up with my last opponent, Tim Roble.
He wins the die roll and opens with Orchard, Oath, (forced) then Tinker/Colossus. gg. It's over before I get a turn. Game 2 starts off slow. We play the control mirror, Tim wins. I rely on topdecking, and find a now castable Colossus. He's got the board advantage and all I have is the big guy and an option. Cast it or not. If I don't I will lose for sure, so I casted it. Tim scrambles and finds a mana drain which he uses. He admitted being worried about being able to use the mana, fortunately for him, his next card was Fact or Fiction.
So, that brings us to the end of the tourny report.
From here on, my post shifts focus. I go from tournament report mode to open source mode. I'm not going to go into alot of detail about how to play it, how to SB, etc. I will mention a few interesting tidbits tho.
Back last January, I had finally decided to attempt fate and create a Ritual-free Tendrils deck. Specifically, I wanted to build a storm deck that used Hurkyll's Recall. In the end we obviously chose Rebuild over Hurkyll's and Retract. Both were tested and were found lacking. Anyway, the side bonus of removing artifact hate was the selling point for me. The possibility that Dark Ritual may get restricted was also a looming thought. The deck was originally designed with 4 Brainfreeze, but eventually, another color was added and a single Tendrils became the kill.
Looking at the deck you can see that it has a very hardcore control base. With 4 Force, 4 Drain, 3 Duress, and Scryings over traditional Draw7 effects (which neuter your whole control aspect of the deck) you want to sieze control long enough to Drain something big and Storm out. That's the ideal plan. The deck also needs a backup plan. Recently I've added Darksteel Colossus and haven't looked back. In my own meta, there is an upswing of Meddling Mages. Tinker-Colossus goes along way vs. hate that Rebuild doesn't take care of. With 8 counters plus Duress, you have a good shot at protecting this huge 2 turn clock.
The deck is extremely fun to play, at least for me. What could possibly be better than playing a Ritual-Free Tendrils deck with Mana Drain? ;P The deck is also very difficult without practice.
Clearly the deck is slower than traditional TPS style, but the fact that you are not running potentially dead cards is a big plus. Ritual is often dead in hand while Mana Drain can still deny a threat and Rebuild can remove threats/cycle.
Those of you that saw the sideboard above and went "what the hell is that?" Well, I can't argue. Serendib Efreet and Belchers in the side look kinda odd. The purpose of this, which did work to my advantage was this; If I came across a deck with hate that I couldn't avoid or deal with (arcane lab) then I have more individual threats and answers to play. Belcher was an obvious choice, it takes out creatures, players and fit into my mana curve. Serendib Efreet was there as an early beater that I could hopefully protect and go the distance with. The sideboard, although odd and easily the most controversial, isn't tuned at all and really isn't worth wasting time over.
There are a couple cards that were tested and should be noted. Frantic Search is pretty good most of the time, Gush is iffy. Candelabra of Tawnos was a gem find during testing. I cut it right before the tourny for another Island tho. Often, color fixing was a problem, plus, it was a 1cc artifact, perfect for storming.
Having played it, posted the list in a tournament result, and simply a desire to move on to other team projects, it was decided to just open source it and see if anyone else could improve it. It's a neat deck with a primary storm engine that's never been used before, despite my meager tourny report, perhaps someone could mutate the idea and make it better.
*shrug*
