[Results] Eindhoven 24-04 - Gifts everywhere!

[rvs]

Eindhoven 24-04 Coverage

31 players, 6 rounds of swiss + T8

Final Standings after T8:

1. Koen vd Hulst, Gifts TPS (Thug)
2. Rudy van Soest, Toad.dec (rvs)
3. Steffen vd Veen, Severence Belcher (Dr.Evil)
4. Tim Bergman, SenseiSensei
5. Mathi Lenaerts, Severence Belcher
6. Hero 't Mannetje, 3cc (Pyromaniac)
7. Danny de Rooy, 2-land Belcher
8. Daniel Eufinger, SenseiSensei

t8 decklists:

1. Koen vd Hulst

4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Island
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
4 Dark Ritual
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Necropotence
1 Rebuild
1 Recoup
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Cunning Wish
4 Duress
4 Force of Will
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Collosos
1 Tendrils of Agony
SB:
2 Tormods Crypt
1 Engineered Plague
1 Spawning Pit
1 Lava Dart
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Brain Freeze
1 Echoing Truth
1 Coffin Purge
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Pyroblast

3. Steffen vd Veen

2 Duress
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Goblin Welder
1 Recoup
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Mana Severence
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Goblin Charbelcher
1 Triskelion
1 Mindslaver
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 MOx Emerald
1 MOx Ruby
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Seat of the Synod
SB:
1 Claws of Gix
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Rack and Ruin
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Lava Dart
1 Coffin Purge

4. Tim Bergman

1 Tolarian Academy
6 Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
1 MOx Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Force of Will
1 Frantic Search
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Mana Drain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Cunning Wish
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Intuition
3 Future Sight
3 Helm of Awakening
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time WAlk
3 Deep Analysis
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Gifts Ungiven
SB:
1 Brain freeze
1 Stifle
1 Mana Leak
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Tolarian Winds
3 Ground Seal
3 Quirian Dryad
3 Chalice of the Void

5. Mathi Lenaerts

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Pentavus
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Mox Emerald
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Goblin Welder
1 Time Walk
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana VAult
1 Tinker
1 Mox Jet
2 Polluted Delta
4 Brainstorm
1 MAna Severence
2 Mana DRain
1 Goblin Charbelcher
1 FAct or Fiction
2 Duress
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mindslaver
4 Volcanic Island
1 Recoup
2 Flooded Strand
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Island
1 Lava Dart
1 yawgmoth's Will
1 Mana Crypt
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mox Pearl
3 Underground Sea
1 Mox Ruby
4 Force of Will
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Lotus Petal
SB:
1 Lava Dart
1 Fire/Ice
2 Rack and Ruin
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Platinum Angel
1 Coffin Purge
1 Phyrexian Furnace
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
3 Hydroblast

6. Hero 't Mannetje

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Cunning Wish
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time WAlk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Balance
1 Decree of Justice
2 Exalted Angel
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Duress
3 Skeletal Scrying
1 Mind Twist
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Wasteland
3 Trundra
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Sol Ring
SB:
1 Skeletal Scrying
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Cranial Extraction
2 Duress
2 Engineered Plague
1 Disenchant
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Echoing Truth
2 Seal of Cleansing
1 Coffin Purge

7. Danny de Rooy

1 Demonic Consultation
1 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Goblin Welder
3 Petnad Prism
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Dark Ritual
1 Necropotence
4 Goblin Charbelcher
1 Lotus Petal
1 MOx Jet
1 MOx Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 MOx Emerald
1 Timetwister
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
3 Brainstorm
1 Memory Jar
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Windfall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Channel
4 Land Grant
3 Tinder Wall
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Wheel of Fortune
2 Living Wish
1 Black Lotus
SB:
1 Mishra's Workshop
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Carpet of Flowers
1 Oxidize
1 Silent Arbiter
1 Rootwater Thief
1 Boneshredder
1 Metalworker
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Badlands
1 Wasteland

8. Daniel Eufinger

1 Tolarian Academy
5 Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
1 Darksteel Collosos
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
3 Sensei Divining Top
4 Force of Will
1 Frantic Search
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Mana DRain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Cunning Wish
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Intuition
3 Future Sight
4 Helm of Awakening
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
3 Deep Analysis
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Tinker
SB:
1 Mana DRain
1 Echoing Truth
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Brain Freeze
1 Stifle
3 Gilded Drake
1 Snuff out
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Engineered Plague
1 Coffin Purge

[Luiggi]

So does "Toad.dec" also run Gifts Ungiven? Since it's not listed I'm assuming it's a new deck that you guys are going to officially break out for the Vintage Championship in France?  !

Luiggi

[rvs]

I cannot comment on it, but it's Toad's deck, whos french, so it must be horrible!

[Luiggi]

Hahaha, horrible enough for you to play and finish 2nd with, ! Hope you guys do well with it, so we can see a list.

Luiggi

[rvs]

Hahaha, horrible enough for you to play and finish 2nd with, ! Hope you guys do well with it, so we can see a list.

Luiggi

Because of my improved visual acuity (sp?) and hightened senses and telepathic powers through my cybernetic enhancements, I was able to beat everybody but Necropotence. That's just Evil Cheats!

[Limbo]

Hahaha, horrible enough for you to play and finish 2nd with, ! Hope you guys do well with it, so we can see a list.

Luiggi

Because of my improved visual acuity (sp?) and hightened senses and telepathic powers through my cybernetic enhancements, I was able to beat everybody but Necropotence. That's just Evil Cheats!

You forgot to mention the shotgun on your lap Rudy

[Thug]

Necro was my best friend all day long.
I resolved it 4 times against Rudy and won 4 games against him.
I think I resolved Necro at least once in every match, how lucky!
I have to say that I always tutor for Necro if I only have a small change at playing it, since it's the cheapest card that says "I win"

Koen

[Luiggi]

Haha, yeah, that makes perfect sense. I still remember the days when you could play 4 Necros, 4 Dark Rituals and 4 Yawgmoth's Will in Standard, and even in an underpowered format like that Necro = win.

Koen: congrats on the win, by the way. What did you find yourself Gifts'ing for, usually? I know it depends on board position, etc. (like if you have YWill in hand you can just Gifts for some combination of bombs and mana acceleration), but assuming you were trying to go off and had no Draw-7s in hand and such and were casting it EOT, what's your most common set of cards?

Also, do you ever find yourself Gifts'ing for less than the full 4 cards for any reason? I realize that's more common with SSB, since you can switch to Welder-mode like Kowal did in the last SC P9 tourney, but just to make sure.

Luiggi

[Thug]

Koen: congrats on the win, by the way. What did you find yourself Gifts'ing for, usually? I know it depends on board position, etc. (like if you have YWill in hand you can just Gifts for some combination of bombs and mana acceleration), but assuming you were trying to go off and had no Draw-7s in hand and such and were casting it EOT, what's your most common set of cards?

If you have Y. Will in your hand and get to resolve a Gifts it shouldnt really matter what you get, you should win anyway. But I would say some draw, some mana and maybe a tutor/tendrils.

The normal gifts is for any combination of these cards Necro (gotta love the card  ), Lotus, Will, Recoup, Ancestral, Walk, Tinker but sometimes even a Duress, FoW, Cunning Wish or Ritual joins the pile. There are many ways to go and that is what keeps the deck very interesting even after having played it for a while.

It also means you will need some experience to get maximum results with the deck.

[brag]Personally I played the deck in two tournaments, which I both won. So far I have won 14 matches, ID'ed 3 and lost 1 match (which I could and thus should have won), so I pretty much dig the deck[/brag]

Koen

Edit:I've never wished for less than 4 four cards, and I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation in which I would.

[Pyromaniac]

I figured I might as well write a report on the Eindhoven tourney. I wrote one for the Mol tournament too, but their deckposting format is pretty bad, so no straight copy/pasting there :/

I decided to just stick to the same deck as in Mol, seeing it got me top 8 there, and I feel very confident playing it. It’s a pretty generic build, but I can’t understand NOT playing Wastes in a control deck, because they can randomly win games, and there’s like, no chance that you’ll ever keep up with your opponent if he goes turn 1 Bazaar or LoA.

Anyways, on with the report. My decklist is in the post above. I’ll only report on interesting plays, but there weren’t a lot of those, mostly standard stuff.

Round 1: Alaine with R/G/U Madness

Yay for mulligans. And not his. I manage to start the day off with a nice mulligan to 4, after which I’m left with pretty much nothing as Mongrel and friends go nuts on me.

Game 2 is pretty even for a while, but he isn’t able to find enough Squees to go with his Bazaar, so he runs low on cards and I don’t. Angel goes the way.

Game 3 sees him double mull, Force my turn 1 Angel and run out of gas very fast. This was also a pretty boring game.

2-1, 1-0

Round 2: Wouter Dhondt with Control Slaver

He starts off pretty fast, but my LoA stabilizes the card advantage he made, and he doesn’t do a lot of impressive stuff, while I resolve multiple Scryings and a FoF.

Game 2 he’s boarded in REB’s, but my Duresses make short work of those, and Scryings aren’t targeted either by them. Mise.

2-0, 2-0

Round 3: Tim Bergmann with Sensei, Sensei.

He wins game 1, as Intuition for D.A’s, Ancestral and some other stuff overwhelms me.

Game 2 I get turn 1 LoA, and his card drawing can’t race it.

Game 3 I make a playing error. I resolve 2 Extractions, but choose the wrong card with the first one. I take Sight, when I should’ve taken Cunning Wish. I’m forced to overextend in the second Extraction, but he draws his Lotus and Will, and kills me with his lone Tendrils. Dammit.

1-2, 2-1

Round 4: Adriaan with Scepter control

I once again get turn 1 LoA, which immediately gets wasted, after I draw a card from it. I Brainstorm into Lotus, Jet, Pearl, when I already have an Academy and a mox in hand. I do stupid stuff on turn 3 like, Mind Twist his hand, Ancestral, Fact or something like that. I win easily afterwards.

In game 2 he gets a CoW with Wasteland, but my double Island setup keeps me in the game. He counters my first Extraction, I kill off his CoW and cast my own, after which I eat his board slowly with my own Waste. Extraction takes his Scepters and then he loses.

2-0, 3-1

Round 3: Steffen van Veen with Gifted Belcher

Game 1 I mull into a hand of Recall, Walk, Mox, 2 Duress and something else, and I’m on the draw. I figure I can draw a land in the first 2 turns. I don’t, and not for the next 6 turns either, so I lose.

Game 2 I draw almost all the land in my deck, so I lose again. *Sigh*

0-2, 3-2

Round 6: Roy Thijsen with TPS

He scoops to me because my tiebreakers are way better then his. I get into T8 in seventh seed I think.

Top 8: Tim Bergmann with Sensei Sensei.

He keeps a sketchy hand, casts Helm, I abuse it more then he does and quickly end the game.

Game 2 is all his. He cast turn 1 Ancestral, does more stupid stuff and I scoop at some point.

Game 3 he has turn 1 Ancestral AND Intuition, so I lose again. I get a Arena Counterspell for attending this tourney, had a good time playing and still like my deck.

There’s only 1 thing I would adjust at the moment, and that’s swap the Fact and the 4th Scrying in the board. Scrying for 2 or 3 is better then Fact and the fact that it doesn’t pitch to Force isn’t very disconcerting, you still have enough blue cards.

[carlossb]

@Koen:

I think this is the first TPS list that I see without Mind´s Desire. I always thought it was one of the most important (and powerful) cards in the deck, and it was part of most of my winnings with the deck.
Do you consider it unnecessary in the deck?

The inclusion of Recoup in the deck seems excellent, it´s a good improvement to the deck.

[Luiggi]

While we're asking Koen questions: I know a lot of TPS players prefer to not run Memory Jar. Is it because you're afraid of giving your opponent more counters to disrupt you if you're trying to go off after activating the Jar? It's nice to be able to Tinker for it in matchups where you wouldn't want to Tinker for your maindeck Colossus (vs. Welder decks).

It just seems to me that by taking out business spells like Memory Jar and Mind's Desire to add more Gifts and Cunning Wish leaves your deck with less threats, making it easier to fizzle...

Also, I'm assuming the lack of a 2nd maindeck Tendrils was totally offset by having access to DSC from the geto-go. Am I right?

Luiggi

[Thug]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to discuss card choices, but hey questions are there to be answered so I might as well do it here

I think this is the first TPS list that I see without Mind´s Desire. I always thought it was one of the most important (and powerful) cards in the deck, and it was part of most of my winnings with the deck.
Do you consider it unnecessary in the deck?

Mind Desire was cutted for several reasons.

- First of all less rebuild are needed maindeck because Workshop decks have become less of a threat. Less rebuilds mean you wont be firing off big desires if you aren't winning yet. The only times I often was able to fire off a reasonable Desire was after a setup with either Will / Necro or Bargain, and by that time you really don't need it anymore.

- Mind Desire is not needed as another threat anymore since it has been replaced by better ones.

- Adding Recoup and more Gifts Ungiven takes space, and Mind Desire is clearly one of the first card to go.

The inclusion of Recoup in the deck seems excellent, it´s a good improvement to the deck.

Recoup really powers up Gift Ungiven a lot, and is a decent spell by itself. Previously a Gifts would often setup Will with at least 3 tutors and 1 random card. Now you get to gift for Recoup Will and 2 other cards (for instance Lotus and Ancestral) which makes your Will more powerful. Recoup also makes the second tendrils unnecessary.

While we're asking Koen questions: I know a lot of TPS players prefer to not run Memory Jar. Is it because you're afraid of giving your opponent more counters to disrupt you if you're trying to go off after activating the Jar? It's nice to be able to Tinker for it in matchups where you wouldn't want to Tinker for your maindeck Colossus (vs. Welder decks).

Jar is probably weaker against welder than Colossus is, jar provides them with things to weld in, and an active welder forces you to use your jar in the same turn it made it onto play.

Jar doesn't really fit into the strategy of the deck. Your goal is not to combo of asap, your goal is to combo knowing your opponent won't have an answer. Jar is really weak against an opponent with untapped mana. Twister doesn't really fit into the strategy either, but it has a lot more uses and often can be cast earlier.

It just seems to me that by taking out business spells like Memory Jar and Mind's Desire to add more Gifts and Cunning Wish leaves your deck with less threats, making it easier to fizzle...

Gifts is one of the spells your opponent should fear most. I much rather resolve a Gift than a Jar. Cunning Wish can always find Scrying to get some gas so I haven't had problems with having too little threats. The number of threats actually has increased compared to previous versions.

Also, I'm assuming the lack of a 2nd maindeck Tendrils was totally offset by having access to DSC from the geto-go. Am I right?

Tendrils is one of the worst cards you can see in your opening hand. A tendrils for less than 20 without a Necro or Bargain to fall back on is a waste of resources. Having on or two doesn't really matter in chances to find it since you have about 6 tutors that can find your Tendrils.

Also I'm surprised by the amount of games I win with Tinker -> Colossus. I have dismissed it in the past but with the intruction of Recoup Tinker got a lot better. Now you also have the options that Gifted has, to go for Tinker and Time Walk with your Gifts, giving the opponent very little time to find an answer.

Also I think I have hardcasted Colossus as much time as I have shuffled it away, if not more.

Koen

[carlossb]

@Koen
Thank you for the explanation, I´ve learned a lot from it.

So now you have developed a "new" deck concept, without Jar and Desire, and more Gifts, it functions more like a kind of Gifts Ungiven Belcher, but Gifts Ungiven Tendrils, as you have changed the Drains for Rituals, the Thirsts for Necro/Bargain/Scrying/Twister, and the kill condition (instead an uncountereable Belcher via Welder/Tinker, an uncountereable Tendrils)