[Report] 4/30/5 WU TANG Fish Wins Waterbury VI

[Nantuko Rice]

WARNING: This is a long ass report and took me two hours to type. I hope you appreciate it because I chose to write this over studying for my AP Exams. I have to post this in two seperate posts because it's so long.

WU TANG Fish
(White/Blue Tech And Ninjas Gay Fish)

Counter Bait/Secret Tech/Draw Engine/Utility Creatures/Savage Monsters of Impending Doom (16):
4 Flying Men
4 Icatian Javelineers
4 Meddling Mage
4 Ninja of Deep Hours

Draw (“5”):
4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall

Counter (8):
1 Misdirection
3 Daze
4 Force of Will

Mana Denial (“5”):
2 Stifle
3 Null Rod

Removal (3):
3 Swords to Plowshares

Lands and Mana (23):
2 Mox
1 Lotus
1 Strip Mine
4 Wastelands
4 Tundra
4 Fetchlands
3 Islands
4 Factories

Some categories overlap and thus the (“#”).

Sideboard:
2 Energy Flux
3 Arcane Laboratory
3 Disenchant
3 Orim’s  Chant
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Echoing Truth
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Rushing River

Card of the Day to Sign: Raise the Alarm
Then I found out there were 8 rounds and couldn’t find an 8th Raise the Alarm. So player number 8 signed a Foil Glory Seeker. Top 16, 8, and 4 signed a Call to Arms, and the 2nd place player signed a Test of Faith due to a lack of 4th Call to Arms.

Team Dubya:
Unfortunately only two of us could show today. Me and Peter Florkoski playing Oath Salvagers with Tech. Both of were 5-1-0 and hoped we would play each other. This way one of us would be guaranteed top 16 (by having one of draw the last game). However we didn’t play each other. Pete went 5-3-0 and I barely made top 16 in 14th place with 6-2-0.

Random Commentary and State of Vintage:
I won Waterbury a Year ago and scrubbed out all the Waterburies in between. I guess it’s destiny for me to be the spring time Waterbury winner. We’ll see what happens next year. I’m also proud of being the first person to win two Waterburies. W00t.

The state of vintage is kind of weird right now. Trinisphere got the axe and every deck is going crazy trying to “outbroken” each other. Combo is at an all time high and thus my entire sideboard was devoted against combo. Every combo deck does the same thing when trying to go crazy on each other (artifact mana, multiple spells, single turn kill, etc), and thus I was able to build a sideboard that was capable of defeating it but I kept it away from the maindeck because I didn’t think combo would show in high numbers due to difficulty of play and the unpredictable metagame that is Waterbury. I took advantage of everyone thinking it was safe to play combo by playing “Prison Disguised as Fish.” (It’s only prison when against Combo)

I also noticed a resurgence of non-basic lands (which is something I might want to take advantage of next time hint hint).

I felt that Fish and Bird Shit were good choices for this tournament. I thought I would expect more Bird Shit and WU TANG Fish beats Bird Shit (Again, in theory since no playtesting was done). I decided on playing WU TANG Fish because I wanted to have a fun time and laugh when people saw the Javelineers and Ninjas. I was considering posting the decklist earlier, but then people would laugh at me (and it would give away the tech).

This deck does a lot of cool things, but I learned how to play it better. First of all, Flying Men and Javelineers are great Force bait… you know, like Goblin Welder. That’s right, Flying Men is just as good a Force bait as Goblin Welder. Also, for the combo match, it’s best to turn into prison on them and slowly beat them. The most problemative combo matchup is probably TPS because they play slowly. TPS doesn’t fit into the other combo decks that I described earlier because it doesn’t try to go insane ASAP, it can play slowly.




Although I’ve learned how to play the deck better now, will it still be viable in the future? I don’t know. It’s lost it’s surprise factor and that’s how I won the last year Waterbury with FCG (when people didn’t know how to properly play against FCG).

WU TANG Fish has a good matchup against everything fish had a good matchup in but can also handle additional decks because of Meddling Mage and Swords. It has a better aggro-matchup now as well with the addition of swords. I don’t think I’m ever going back to R/U Fish.

What about Vial Fish? Yeah, Vial Fish is good but null rod is so sweet. More testing needs to be done. I know that there was a W/U Vial Fish deck in top 16 as well.

Why Do I Win With These Shitty Decks?
Seriously, forget all the crap about proper metagaming, predictions, and theory, it’s all (1) Luck and (2) Karma. There are A LOT of assholes who play Magic and I refuse to let any assholes beat me. I don’t mind losing to a good player, but I can’t stand losing to a jerk. And that’s how I win. I build up my karmic level by being a nice player. So everyone should take my advice: Be a nice player when it doesn’t matter (if it’s a game winning play and mistakes are made, only then it’s ok to be a dick).
Also, think and plan. Magic is a lot like chess and there’s a high level of thinking and planning involved. I’m very glad that in the finals my opponent was surrounded by all his friends whom he joked and talked with often. That was to my advantage.
And of course, luck and risk. Last Waterbury I kept a one lackey, 5 land hand, and that was game 3. This game 3, my opening hand was (I think) orim’s chant and 5 lands. I saw this as an omen and kept it.

Props:
-Team Dubya
-All the cool people
-Ray for being cooler than the cooler people
-Marriott hotel for having really comfortable chairs

Slops:
-AP Calc exam on Tuesday
-No one having a Raise the alarm or Call to Arms
Racism deleted. Bad user. BAD. *hits Rice on the nose with a rolled-up newpaper* -jeek

Consider yourself warned.
-Douches and dicks (you know who you are)
-Not having TMD Membership.

I’d like to talk about my last slop for a moment if you don’t mind. I applied for TMD membership and was denied because I couldn’t answer the questions well know. I couldn’t display my knowledge of type one well enough. I’m a bad teacher and a poor explainer, but I definitely understand things well. If I don’t have a good understand of type one, then how is it that I can successfully win large tournaments. Perhaps I don’t have a good understanding of type one and I am blinded because of my success, perhaps I am only a good player and a huge luck sack but not being able to post in certain areas of TMD forums frustrates me sometimes. I admit, I don’t post or contribute much, but when I have an opinion to share, I get mad that I am denied access to share it. I also find it ironic how people talk trash about my deck lists, metagame theory, and other stuff until I win a tournament. 

EDIT: Added the swords to maindeck.

[Nantuko Rice]

Now come the glorious and hopefully entertaining five pages of matches.

Round 1: Caleb with Sensei Sensei (2-0-0; 1-0-0)

Caleb. Cool guy. Seen him around a lot.

Game 1: We have an early force fight over a recall but he wins. He forces my Null Rod. We force fight again over frantic search while he has tolarian in play. He wins that one too and because his deck craps out on him and can’t draw him any cards that he needs, he uses the mana to hardcast Darksteel Colossus (DSC will be hardcast against me many times today). This sucks because I just discarded my swords to plowshare after he broke a Standstill. He’s been taking beatings from various 1/1’s so he’s low on life and I can swarm all over his one man but I play safely. I play meddling mage naming time walk and then resolve a null rod. He hits me with DSC once and then on my turn my men swarm all over him.

>Insert pictures from a LOTR movie when all those ghost warriors swarm up the giant elephant thing (I hate lotr so I can’t be more specific than that)

Game 2: I get Land, Lotus, Ninja, and he doesn’t have the force for it. I drop null rod and he tries to force, which gets dazed. I play recalls and three standstills and swing with ninja. My hand is never under 9 cards. (Land, Lotus, Ninja, Win, will be occurring many times today as well).

Round 2: Gennaro with Gifts Belcher (2-1-0; 2-0-0)

Cool guy again. He likes my rogueness and we have good games.

Game 1: I get land, lotus, ninja and win. I never let him have more than 2 mana sources and he’s carved up by daggers, scimitars, javelins, and hammers. I have no idea what he’s playing.
Game 2: He must be aware of my stifles because he won’t fetch. He forces my stifle when he finally breaks and then his Gifts resolves. He grabs Tinker, Will, Recoup, and Lotus.  I wish I had null rod on the table (someone will make this mistake in the future) but I don’t so I give him Tinker and Yawg Will. He tinkers for a Pentavus and I topdeck Meddling Mage naming Yawg Will (I think I could’ve thought more on this to make a better decision but oh well). We’re at a standstill for a bit here because I’ve got lots of men and he’s got a Pentavus. Eventually he gets Serrated Arrows on the board, owns my men and wins.
Game 3: Low on time so I don’t take notes. I am dropping two men per turn and he can’t stop the rush. Flying Men, Javelineers, and Factories go the distance.

Round 3: Andrew with EBA (1-2-0; 2-1-0)

Quiet guy. I am disheartened because of my first loss.

Game 1: Negator with lots of lands and moxes. I have null rod and a flying man and a factory.
Game 2: I play mana denial so he can’t get turn two negator. I only leave him with one land and a sol ring negated by Null Rod. I swarm him with ninjas and creatures while I have Negator named with Meddling Mage.
Game 3: Negators and Exalted Angels run me over because I draw no swords.

Round 4: Jonathan with FCG (2-1-0; 3-1-0)

Uh oh. The goblins are mad because I’m not playing them anymore.

Game 1: He won the die roll and gets turn one ringleader. I have no counters or swords. I drop a javelineer which he incinerators and his lackey gets through. He drops ringleader #2 and a warchief while I stabilize a bit by summoning mages and men. I think I’m able to hold him off but then he draws into more men and I can’t stop the green men. They’re out for blood.

Game 2: He drops lackey. I have three options, force, swords, or drop a man. Force might be useful later, dropping a man is a bad idea because he can incinerate it (good thing I use to play FCG all the time and know it’s ins and outs) so I sword it. Meddling Mages keep his piledrivers off the table and then I win.
Game 3: He keeps a VERY risky hand of one land. I force his lackey and he sees nothing else. He finally gets a fetch to late and it doesn’t matter because I stifle it while holding a daze, 2 forces, and 2 swords.

Round 5: Anson with EBA (2-1-0; 4-1-0)

I’d like to apologize about game three where we got into an argument about life totals. I don’t know if there was a misinterpretation about the fetchland and the last point of life, but what I intended to say was “After you fetch, you’re left with one life, not that you only had one life and fetching would kill you.”

Game 1: Lotus Ninja wins. I waste his land so he scrys, but I daze. Then the 1/1’s come. He comments “Turn one phid, pretty good.” I assume he’s playing EBA and I’m in fear of Negator.
Game 2: He duresses me and then he drains a ninja which I hardcast while he has one card in hand. I have no way to win because he hardcasts Future Sight later. I have no way to come back but I want to see as much of his deck as I can. I cast Standstill, break Standstill with Standstill, and break that standstill by targeting him with my ancestral recall. His creatures are only Mage and multiple Decree of Justice unless his negators are hiding in his stack of 15 cards or so left.
Game 3: This is the ideal hand I would ever want to see so I remember it of course: Javelineer, Island, Tundra, Force of Will, Ancestral Recall, Ninja, Flying Man. He forces my flying man. He’s the first person today to do so and I congratulate him for being a good player. I force his lotus on his turn and in the middle of the game I have no fear of balance which I thought he might’ve drawn by now. I’m not afraid of balance because I only have 3 lands on the table, one being a factory (him 6ish) and my only cards in hand are 2 swords (while he has 6ish). If he balances, he loses lands so a topdeck decree is useless and I can sword all my own guys so we will both be in topdeck mode. I’ll have the advantage because I have a factory and higher threat density in my deck. Then I have meddling mage naming balance (the turn right before he draws it).

We’re getting close to the end here. I swing with Ninja, Flying Man, and 2 Javelineers. I was thinking for a long time because I was hesitating if he had Decree in hand. He does. I sword one of his soldiers and he trades with one of my guys. The next turn he decrees again but flying man takes him down to 2 and then on his turn he fetches to bring him to one. This is where the argument rises, because 1 damage means A LOT; especially when you’re clock is a 1/1 flyer. On his turn he concedes.

Round 6: Robert with Gro-A-Tog (2-0-0; 5-1-0)

I see a guy playing W/U Vial Fish to my side against Mono-White Weenie. AWESOME. White weenie should’ve won but lost due to unfair play, imo.

Only person to disrespect my poor Raise the Alarms by ripping one in half after he signs it. I tape it together though. I can understand his frustration though, being mana denied sucks.

Game 1: My flying men continually takes a small chunk of his life each turn. I draw swords for his Tog which he counters, but he can’t counter the second. I’ve also been denying him of his needed green mana. He gifts but doesn’t remember I have null rod on the table. His fourth card is Black Lotus or something else. He chooses Black Lotus. I give him Lotus and something. He plays Lotus and tries to use it. I say no. He’s at 2 so flying men take his head off.
Game 2: I topdeck wasteland after wasteland and then null rod for his two moxes which he draws to late. Dryads go farming and weenies come in.

The power of Orim’s Chant will be revealed soon. It is essentially a time walk that I can play at instant speed on his turn. It’s one less to play, not restricted, fucks up combo (in response to duress), and is a white spell.
 
Round 7: Justin with TPS (1-2-0; 5-2-0)

I will eventually play Justin in the finals today. I have played Justin a year ago in round 7 as well. He was playing Fish while I was playing FCG. I remember his play style and use it to my advantage. He beats me here, but that’s because I’ve never play tested before and I’m learning how to properly defeat combo.

I haven’t been scouting the top tables because I’ve been studying for my AP Calc Exam in between rounds so I have no idea what he’s playing. But he’s been busy at the top tables so he doesn’t know what I’m playing either.

Game 1: I play Meddling Mage naming Cunning Wish but he tinkers for Memory Jar. On my turn I play a few men when I should’ve kept my mana open because on his turn he memory jars and I draw a stifle which might’ve been useful at some point. He only gets storm count up to 9 so I go down to 1. Then on his turn he gets Demonic Tutor. I take my turn and swing. He’s at 30 something. Then on his turn he Tendrils. Misdirection doesn’t help so I die.
Game 2: I force his recall and then he slowly dies to Factory and Flying Man. Wastes keep him at one land. Orim’s Chant on his turn before death so he passes the turn back to me. Flying Man brings me back another head.
Game 3: We play land go for a long time. I have null rods and arcane labs on the table. But I have no counters or chants. He resolves bargain and goes down to one life after bouncing my lock cards with a single Rushing River. I have no threats on the table because my deck sucks and he wins.

Round 8: Jason with Deathlong (2-1-0; 6-2-0)

We both have to win this match. Jason and I have been in this situation before at a Newington Stok Tourney. I won that round against this very same Jason a year ago. I think it’s my time to lose to this Jason, especially after seeing the power of his deck game one. He wins the die roll.

Game 1: He plays lotus and kills me turn one. If I had gone first, I would’ve dazed his lotus.
Game 2: We’re in at around turn two. I’m saying to myself on his turn that if I can topdeck a lotus I can drop both meddling mages in my hand. I also criticize myself for tapping out to play flying man. He wheels and what do I draw? Top card, Lotus, next cards are two orim’s chants and a force and other cards. I force a mana crypt which won me the game. Luckily he doesn’t have enough mana to kill me so he consultations for Black Lotus. It’s his second to last card and he still doesn’t have enough mana. He has one card left in his library. I topdeck ancestral recall for the win and because I’ve seen his entire deck now, I realize his only disruption is duress. Which is perfect for Orim’s Chant.
Game 3: He gives me a few Orchard tokens and tries to timetwister. I should’ve remembered at this point that he has no forces and hold my chant but I play it anyway. We reshuffle and redraw and it goes to me. I play arcane lab and then meddling mage naming tinker. Eventually he hardcasts a DSC. I play meddling mage naming time walk. It goes to his turn. He has no outs whatsoever. Thinks for a long time, hits me with DSC once and then my men swarm all over him.

I learn that I cannot go into the combo matchup trying to be the aggressor. I must play prison.

So I make it into top 16 with this horrible pile of trash that has only been “playtested” using theory and graphical analysis on paper. Question to everyone: Do you guys like me for being this way OR do you all look on me with hatred because I can walk into a tournament with no playtesting and walk out with power? My intentions today were purely to just have fun and rape the topdeck, Control Slaver, except I never played against it at all.

Top 16 Match: Simon with Affinity

Now I’m saying to myself that I can surely not advance any further. My luck has run out and I’m going home with a playmat, which is AWESOME looking btw. I thought he was the guy playing U/G madness and I thought I’d be in the fight for my life but I was wrong.

Game 1: I play Land, Lotus, Flying Man, Standstill (I made this play thinking he was playing U/G Madness). He drops a lot of acceleration and I stifle his draw when he clamps his Disciple of the Vault. On my turn I play null rod.
Game 2: I play Null Rod. He gets Tolarian Academy, and summons 2 myr servitors, 2 ravagers, and 2 thoughtcasts. I’m trading creatures back and forth because I’m low on life but I get Energy Flux down.

Top 8: Dan with Oath Salvagers

My teammate Pete Florkoski was playing this today so we talked about the deck on the 30 minute card ride to Waterbury. Hopefully Dan is playing a poor version of Oath Salvagers, and he is.

Game 1: He wins the die roll and wins turn one. Again… if I had gone first I could’ve dazed his lotus.
Game 2: He gives me juicy spirit tokens (4 orchards) and still has his combo in his deck because he doesn’t know I’m playing fish so when I get all my lock cards down he can’t do anything. He has a Salvager on the table holding off my men, (stupid salvager is a 2/4 wtf). I have arcane lab on the table but no null rod yet. I finally get null rod down. Then flying man goes the distance.
Game 3: I TOPDECK LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER. I drop a series of men while he hardcasts a DSC (using drain mana). I chump block so I go down to one life. I rip swords off the top and get rid of DSC.

After I chump all I have left is a Javelineer but he casts an Oath. This is the first time today where I use a javelin counter. Icatian Javelineers commits suicide.

We play draw go because he has oath on the table. He finally gets an orchard which I waste after he gives me a token. I pass on my turn and he pulls out DSC. I have arcane lab and null rod in play. I have rushing river and debate what to do. Hit the token and DSC? Hit DSC and oath and drop the men in my hand along with standstill to hope to draw into answers? I Rushing River DSC and Oath. He has no counter. It goes to my turn and I topdeck a Meddling Mage which I play naming oath. I go on to win.

Top 4: Travis with Rogue Blue-Artifact based deck

Props to Travis to coming this far. He has taken out the U/G madness player and I’m a bit nervous because Travis also plays big men.

Game 1: He gets Crucible-Strip but I already have men on the table along with null rod. His Trike takes me down to 3 and can’t shoot me. My null rod keeps his off-color moxen from working. I sword trike and force every other creature he tries to play. Travis is at 6 life when 2 Meddling Mages and a Flying Man swing. Flying Man turns into a Ninja and draws a card.
Game 2: He gets chalice for 2 down but I get Energy Flux. He mystical tutors and REB’s my flux. I topdeck another flux, waste one of his two lands. He never sees another land and I play null rod. Weenies go the distance.

Finals: Justin with TPS again

Earlier on he told me “I’ll see you in the top 16 later.” Here I am. Video coverage! Woohoo! My first one ever; this is his third one today.

Game 1: I can’t win game one against combo.
Game 2: Lock components come down. A single factory goes the distance.
Game 3: As I said earlier, I must play prison. Arcane labs and Null Rods and Orim’s Chant. I play ALL of them. He can’t beat the hate.

(There is better coverage of the finals between me and Justin. I don’t know when it will be up.)

A roar goes up from the masses. I am the first person to win two Waterburies. Unfortunately I can’t be entered into the “Tournament of Champions” twice and Ray speculates that if the finals of the Tournament of Champions ends up being me playing against myself, the world will collapse on itself.

Edit: Some clarification needed which was brought to my attention: When I say something like "Arcane Lab and then Meddling Mage".... it's not necessarily in the same turn. There was however, I admit, one time where I did make this error in the finals and everyone caught it except for me and my opponent where I played Arcane Lab and then Standstill. The game was over at that point so it didn't matter, Standstill was just insult to injury and I wasn't even aware of myself cheating at that time.

[ViRidIAnLoNGBoW]

congrats on your second waterbury win!  I was the one on the laptop typing the coverage of the finals, however Aaron the judge has it at this moment so its up to him when it will get posted.

[Negator13]

Hey, it's Justin, I must congratulate you on your hard fought and well-earned 1st place finish.

I only wish I hadn't forgotten what Null Rod does... 

What exactly is my 'playstyle'? I'm interested that you found something I do similarly when playing Fish and TPS. Care to share?

[Juggernaut GO]

Good work on the win jason, It was well deserverd.  If only I had put Pete & you on my waterbury bingo list....

[Vegeta2711]

On my turn I play a few men when I should’ve kept my mana open because on his turn he memory jars and I draw a stifle which might’ve been useful at some point. He only gets storm count up to 9 so I go down to 1. Then on his turn he gets Demonic Tutor. I take my turn and swing. He’s at 30 something. Then on his turn he Tendrils. Misdirection doesn’t help so I die.

...what the fuck?

Speak english man.

[Machinus]

Congratulations on the finish. Hopefully no one in my area will hear about your UW fish so I can continue to win with mine. We have pretty similar lists, actually, except you are missing cloud of faeries

[bedafile]

I think your missing 3 Swords to Plowshares from your deck list, right?

[Outlaw]

Good work Jason!  Congrats

[The Atog Lord]

Winning one Waterbury is an accomplishment. Winning two means that you're a great player and equipped with some amazing tech. Congratulations!

[Freelancer]

First off congratulations on your excellent finish.

Now some questions regarding you build:
1) How has the manabase holding out? It seemed that in regular UW fish I would randomly get screwed because I don't any W mana sources or my single W mana source gets wasted. You have 3/6 (depending on if the last cards on your list are swords) more W cards so I can only see it happen more often.
2) Your creature count seems low for ninja to work, I also noted in your report you hardcast it 3 times while I was under the impression that ninja it into play is the way it is supposed to go. Maybe add in more creatures?
3) How has the 3 mana enchantments doing? They seem quite high for the curve, especially arcane lab since that needs to come out as early as possible.
4) Does stifle compete with your 8 (!) other 1 mana drops? Or do you holdback your 1 mana drop for the second turn and keep stifle mana up the whole time?
5) (last one ) Why all the bounce in the side? To deal with chalice or ....?

Don't misunderstand me though, I love the inner synergy's your build has and the way that it deals with welders and creature removal (ninja in response to the removal) although the third point can be avoided by skilled players. I was also slowly starting to go more into the 1 mana threats way off fish, to evade mana drain and speed up my gameplan. This way also makes you less vulnerable to chalice because you have a broader curve with actual 1 drops and a ninja that can still be played regardless off chalice. This is the direction fish should go, thank you for showing me the light. (although I am slightly biased because I wasn't the first to find it)

[Bram]

First of all, congrats on your second win and your interesting report.

I applied for TMD membership and was denied because I couldn’t answer the questions well know. I couldn’t display my knowledge of type one well enough. I’m a bad teacher and a poor explainer, but I definitely understand things well.

In a rare display of candor, allow me to provide some insight into why you were not promoted. You were definitely a lot less horrible than the stuff we tend to get lately. The problem was NOT your knowledge; that much was apparent. The problem was far more that your test appeared to be a rush job. Brevity is a virtue, but your test was pushing it. You said some controversial, interesting things but failed to elaborate on them.

I realise full well that you may well be better than some of the people we do promote. The test isn't perfect, and it never will be. It is however the only more or less objective criterion we can use to determine someone's capabilities. Your Waterbury wins suggest QUITE strongly that you are full membership material but we simply cannot start making exceptions based on that.

Most likely, the test will be updated shortly. I suggest you apply for it again and put in the hours you also seem to have put into this report. It'll be worth it. If you're thinking 'oh man, I can't be bothered to do that,' then that tells us enough right there. Prove us wrong; I for one think you can.

If I don’t have a good understand of type one, then how is it that I can successfully win large tournaments. Perhaps I don’t have a good understanding of type one and I am blinded because of my success, perhaps I am only a good player and a huge luck sack...

No. You do not lucksack your way to the top position of one of the most important tournaments in Vintage twice. You know your shit.

...but not being able to post in certain areas of TMD forums frustrates me sometimes. I admit, I don’t post or contribute much, but when I have an opinion to share, I get mad that I am denied access to share it.

The fact that you don't, as you say, post or contribute much was also a factor in deciding against your promotion. When in doubt about the test, we tend to inspect posts. But again, please prove us wrong.  Your Waterbury wins show skill and this report shows dedication. Now let your test result show effort, and you have a good shot.

I also find it ironic how people talk trash about my deck lists, metagame theory, and other stuff until I win a tournament.

Welcome to Vintage, the most conservative Magic format in the history of time

[VGB]

2) Your creature count seems low for ninja to work, I also noted in your report you hardcast it 3 times while I was under the impression that ninja it into play is the way it is supposed to go. Maybe add in more creatures?

16 non-ninja creatures seems fine to me (forgetting the factories?).

Like Machinus, I would prefer Cloud of Faeries in the Flying Men slot, as the Men seem extremely underwhelming.  I realize the problem is in keeping 1-drops and pitch fodder, though - but it might be worth trying, especially since you don't play Curiosity.

Re. the membership thing - one of TMD's downfalls is its exclusivity/cliqueiness, as is evinced by it's low activity.  Just remember your value to the Vintage community has nothing to do with your TMD membership status, and lack of ability in posting to the vintage forum has never stopped me from being heard when I've wanted to.

Keep up the good work.

[TheDB]

Game 1: I play Meddling Mage naming Cunning Wish but he tinkers for Memory Jar. On my turn I play a few men when I should’ve kept my mana open because on his turn he memory jars and I draw a stifle which might’ve been useful at some point. He only gets storm count up to 9 so I go down to 1. Then on his turn he gets Demonic Tutor. I take my turn and swing. He’s at 30 something. Then on his turn he Tendrils. Misdirection doesn’t help so I die.

It wasn't mentioned, but
Was tendrils the only spell cast on that turn?  If so you could misdirect it back to him and you wouldn't die.

Anyways, grats on the win.

[Nomad]

Top 16 Match: Simon with Affinity

Now I?m saying to myself that I can surely not advance any further. My luck has run out and I?m going home with a playmat, which is AWESOME looking btw. I thought he was the guy playing U/G madness and I thought I?d be in the fight for my life but I was wrong.

Game 1: I play Land, Lotus, Flying Man, Standstill (I made this play thinking he was playing U/G Madness). He drops a lot of acceleration and I stifle his draw when he clamps his Disciple of the Vault. On my turn I play null rod.
Game 2: I play Null Rod. He gets Tolarian Academy, and summons 2 myr servitors, 2 ravagers, and 2 thoughtcasts. I?m trading creatures back and forth because I?m low on life but I get Energy Flux down.

Having played two matches to U/W Fish in the swiss, and won them both, I was pretty confident going in.  My gameplan is simply to get enough stuff out before a Null Rod can matter.

Sadly, I drew plenty of acceleration but very few threats, and the Rods really hurt...

I think the field in general was pretty slow, which meant that screaming Aggro did reasonably well, as evidenced by my presence and the presence of the red Ankh deck in top 16.

My first two rounds were paired against black decks, once up on the winning edge there weren't many other decks with maindeck Null Rod, saw Welder decks that didn't get to do much beyond showing me "EOT Thirst" and "Force your (first) skullclamp".

Lost in Swiss to crazy Carl who tinkered a turn 1 Collossus in game 2 and then did much the same a turn later in game 3.  (edit: Just remembered it was a belcher he tinkered game 3, and got a severance).

I'd also like to note that I won a single die roll all day (round one, with a 2 on a d20), but only lost one game 1 in the swiss.  Weird.

Simon

[MrZuccinniHead]

I think your missing 3 Swords to Plowshares from your deck list, right?

yeah i noticed that too.

[Nantuko Rice]

To address questions (not necessarily in order):

1) Swords to Plowshares

Yes, Three swords are missing. I typed it up on word and it crashed once while I was doing the decklist so I retyped it real quick and unfortunately, I forgot the swords.

2) Justin's Playstyle

Hard to explain, but you will notice that everyone has a certain playstyle. If you watch me, I will stop people in the middle of their turn and ask them how many cards they're holding and to think of their possible game plans even if all they do is cast a single mox (thankfully no one has called me for stalling, but I always tend to finish my games anyway). Back on topic, Justin's playstyle, if you don't mind me sharing with the world, appears very "rushed." You appear to clearly know what you're doing. You know you're deck and how it wins so you know what to do. BUT, it appears to me that you don't consider what your opponent's deck can do or how your opponent will play. Of course, this mentality is understandable considering that you were playing a combo deck this time, you really shouldn't care about what I do. I get this impression because you talk and joke with your friends during the match. I put my fear of your confidence aside and worry about my gameplay.

3) Waterbury Bingo

Damn I didn't even know this existed. lol. the only time i'm good on the bingo list is April Waterburies. I scrub out at all the other ones.

4) Vegeta2711

On my turn I use my mana to play creatures. I should've kept my mana open however because I could've drawn into something useful from his memory jar that he is sure to activate on his turn. A few creatures now won't do me any good. After he jars, I draw no counters, he gets storm count up to 8, then casts tendrils (storm is now 9) and thusly I take 18 points of damage, while he gains 18 life. On my turn I swing and he still has 30+ life. On his turn he casts Demonic Tutor. I can't draw any counterspells. On his next turn he casts Tendrils. I try to play misdirection but that just puts another copy of tendrils on the stack after the misdirected one so I die.

5) Creature & Card Choices

Faeries and Hatchling:
Horrible two drops, imo. I need my one drops to enable ninja tech. Cloud and hatchling currently have drain written on them and I would rather be casting something useful with my two mana, such as Meddling mage, Standstill, or even to  Ninja.

Ninja and 8 one drops:
I hardcast ninja a few times, once out of desperation where I was going to lose anyway, and twice with first turn lotus. There is no need to add more creatures. Ninja serves fine as force fodder as well as the flying man he returns.

Standstill:
One drops, Ninja, Factory. Four mana to turn factory into a ninja.

6) Chalice

Chalice for one owns me pretty good.

7) Bounce & Swords

There were alot of matchups where I sided out swords for bounce. Especially the sensei matchup where I can bounce future sight or colossus. Chain of Vapor is the worst bounce card that I never sided in. They can return it back to me and bounce one of my lock cards. Bounce (as well as chant) are good tempo stealers. I wanted to run 6 swords (3 main/3 side), but I settled for 4 swords and 2 bounce.

8) Stifle

If I have stifle in hand, I will keep mana open to stifle if they haven't cracked their fetch. I will then play my one drop the following turn or better second drop should I have one (ie, meddling mage). I prefer to play mana denial, which makes daze that much better.

9) 3 mana enchantments

Surviving to my third turn seems unlikely, but by playing mana denial with stifle and orim's chant (if game 2+) I somehow make it. There are also a plethora of two drops that must be countered. Arcane Lab fits the curve perfectly.

10) Aggro MVP's: Daze, Meddling Mage

The current creature for any successful aggro deck has to be meddling mage. I won't go into details explaining why.

The current counterspell for any successful aggro deck (after force of will) has to be Daze (followed by misdirection). Should I explain? Fine... I'll give away the godly tech (though I'm not exactly sure if this has been discussed before).

There was some discussion about the critical turns in magic, before turn 0.5 and turn 1. Force of Will handles critical turn 0.5 and daze handles critical turn 1. What do I mean? I'm on the play and I accelerate a two drop, they force, I daze. I'm drawing, I play an important two drop they must counter (mage or rod), they drain, i daze, they force, i still have force as well. Daze is just TOO good. Alot of people also tend to play brainstorm/recall before they decide to force if they only have one land on the table, perfect time to daze. Basically, daze lets me resolve the threats that they need to stop. Misdirection does the same thing as daze except Misdirection sets me back in card advantage whereas Daze sets me back in tempo (via land count). So why my configuration of 3/1? Daze is usually useless late game but I wanted to see it early enough where I needed it and I would rather be set back on tempo (ironic though though because that is what i'm trying to gain) than on card advantage. All my spells only require a low land count anyway.

11) Null Rod vs Aether Vial

Why Rod? Stops Pentavus, Trike, and Artifact mana. Aether Vial is good for getting uncounterable creatures into play and therefore Aether Vial should be played in a control heavy metagame. If you want to play Vial in a combo heavy metagame, then you should consider WW Prison with Mother of Runes, True Believer, Meddling Mages... Honestly though, the only deck that should be playing Vial IMO is "Ninja Sword."

12) TMD Membership

Thanks for the explanation on the membership thing. I admit, it was sort of a rush job. I read everything I needed to read and filled it out the next day. Perhaps I will apply again in the summer. AP Classes and AP Exams (coming up) are too stressful.

13) Curiosity

Yuck. I always hated that card. Card draw, +1/+1, and then still have force fodder or a man to cast is alot better. Only requirement for ninja is that I need to have a man on the table but then again curiosity has the same requirement.

13) Nomad aka Simon

I was just really worried that you were playing the standard type 2 version with Enforcers and Frogmites. If you were, I would've been alot more worried because even if null rod is on the table, you can still summon those guys. I felt very outplayed game 1 because I played an island, while you proceded to drop your hand. Fortunately I had stifle to stop your skullclamp that turn. The decks that play Null Rod tend to be aggro, and if that poses a threat then Myr Enforcers can come in and trample them to the dust.

Hopefully I answered every question thus far and explained a few things.

Someone let me know when the video and notes for the final match between me and justin are up. I want copies for my own records.

[VGB]

I try to play misdirection but that just puts another copy of tendrils on the stack after the misdirected one so I die.

It is probably a moot point since that game was going horribly for you already, but you get priority again after your opponent after the storm trigger resolves.

Tendrils is played, storm trigger goes on the stack, both players pass, trigger resolves (0 copies), active player passes, you misdirect.

In any case, the storm trigger only counts spells played *before* the one that created the trigger.

[Nantuko Rice]

[Article] Pondering Inevitability and Its Effects,

http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/index.php?topic=22930.0

Is basically what I was talking about, the whole Fish vs Combo matchup that I "learned" to play today through experience. I've never seen this article before Waterbury either. lol. But that's what I'm talking about much better explained and in much more detail if you didn't understand what I was trying to say.

 = = =

The Slops section "Racism deleted"

I just noticed this scrolling up and down. Whoops. It wasn't suppose to be that serious a thing... considering I'm full blooded asian myself.

 = = =

And regarding VGB's last comment about misdirection and tendrils. I did not know this, I thought I had to play misdirection in response to tendrils. Sucks because I would've won that game. The game wasn't going horribly for me. It was going perfect for me. He had no hand, while mine was full, and I had men on the table. That was also his second tendrils so I doubt he had any left. Giving me a few turns to draw and play meddling mages or drawing counterspells would've let me win. I will keep this in mind for the future though.

[Negator13]

Actually VGB, I played Demonic Tutor for Tendrils and cast it on the same turn, so it already had a storm copy when he Mis-D'd. I never passed the turn after casting DT.

Jason, you didnt throw the game away, DT gave me the extra storm copy, not your MisD.

[Bram]

Thanks for the explanation on the membership thing. I admit, it was sort of a rush job. I read everything I needed to read and filled it out the next day. Perhaps I will apply again in the summer. AP Classes and AP Exams (coming up) are too stressful.

I'm quite sure you'll do well.

[MrZuccinniHead]

Actually VGB, I played Demonic Tutor for Tendrils and cast it on the same turn, so it already had a storm copy when he Mis-D'd. I never passed the turn after casting DT.

Jason, you didnt throw the game away, DT gave me the extra storm copy, not your MisD.

But if he MisD's one...he gains 2 u lose 2 and then you gain 2 and he loses 2...leaving him at the same life.

[Kowal]

Misdirecting a Tendrils doesn't change the fact that the caster gains the life.

[Frodo Fett]

This is from round 8 vs. Jason with Deathlong:

Game 3: He gives me a few Orchard tokens and tries to timetwister. I should?ve remembered at this point that he has no forces and hold my chant but I play it anyway.

I'm really confused by this statement.  Hold Chant?  It will get Timetwister'ed away anyways!  It seems like the choice is:

• Don't play Chant, shuffle Chant into deck, draw 7, have an extra available, opponent casts...
• Do play Chant, shuffle Chant into deck, draw 7, opponent ends turn.

You've compared Chant to a Timewalk, though it doesn't let you draw, but in response to Timetwister, it doesn't even have that drawback.  What's the point of holding it?

[Nantuko Rice]

Frodo Frett: You're right. That's why I played it. I was also gambling the possibilities of me drawing chant on the 7 new cards, which is risky. I wanted for him to further build his storm count and mana, so he could mana burn. However, the first thing he probably would've done after the twister is duress anyway and therefore, chanting in response to his twister was probably the right play.

In regards to chant as a time walk. True, you don't get to draw, and you actually let your opponent draw. Perhaps it was a bad comparison. The only advantage from chant is it's instant speed, one less to play, and is good counter to yawg will or in response to high storm count.

[johnstown713]

Top 8: Dan with Oath Salvagers

My teammate Pete Florkoski was playing this today so we talked about the deck on the 30 minute card ride to Waterbury. Hopefully Dan is playing a poor version of Oath Salvagers, and he is.

Game 1: He wins the die roll and wins turn one. Again… if I had gone first I could’ve dazed his lotus.
Game 2: He gives me juicy spirit tokens (4 orchards) and still has his combo in his deck because he doesn’t know I’m playing fish so when I get all my lock cards down he can’t do anything. He has a Salvager on the table holding off my men, (stupid salvager is a 2/4 wtf). I have arcane lab on the table but no null rod yet. I finally get null rod down. Then flying man goes the distance.
Game 3: I TOPDECK LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER. I drop a series of men while he hardcasts a DSC (using drain mana). I chump block so I go down to one life. I rip swords off the top and get rid of DSC.

After I chump all I have left is a Javelineer but he casts an Oath. This is the first time today where I use a javelin counter. Icatian Javelineers commits suicide.

We play draw go because he has oath on the table. He finally gets an orchard which I waste after he gives me a token. I pass on my turn and he pulls out DSC. I have arcane lab and null rod in play. I have rushing river and debate what to do. Hit the token and DSC? Hit DSC and oath and drop the men in my hand along with standstill to hope to draw into answers? I Rushing River DSC and Oath. He has no counter. It goes to my turn and I topdeck a Meddling Mage which I play naming oath. I go on to win.

This is funny.  You say he is playing the bad verison and proceed to seem like you are the best person in the world.  When it all comes down to you did TopDeck like a mother and that was the ONLY reason you won this match.  I would consider yourself grateful.  I mean you say the deck is bad and the think you are aewsome cause of topdecking???  Congrats on the win but keep in mind luck was the reason you won this tourny.

[Nantuko Rice]

Ok, the introduction to that was written poorly. The whole "poor version" of the deck was more of an inside joke between me and Pete.

Basically, Dan wouldn't let me talk to any other person other than him and that's when I said to him "I hope you're playing the bad version of the deck."

Personally, I think the deck is VERY strong, but there are a few different card choices I would've made. And I know that I won that game through sheer luck. I admit that I'm a very lucky person throughout most of my report. So, I apologize if I came off sounding like a jerk, but he seemed very irate about me talking to other people and type 1 is definately a much more relaxed environment, imo.

[nataz]

quick question

#1
Why no timewalk? I understand the deck is tight, but considering that your deck's secondary (primary?) draw engine involves the attack step, and the fact that you win by turning men sideways, Time walk seems like an auto include.

[Disburden]

quick question

#1
Why no timewalk? I understand the deck is tight, but considering that your deck's secondary (primary?) draw engine involves the attack step, and the fact that you win by turning men sideways, Time walk seems like an auto include.

  Good question. I'm running an almost identical version of UW fish (I wont call it WU TANG fish, I'm not cool enough) which I threw together about a month ago when trinisphere got restricted. The big difference I see in my list and this one (Congrats ,btw!) is that there are four Ninjas of the deep Hours and no time walk.

With Fish you don't want to see too many high costing creatures in your opening hand, that's the reason for the little beats that would be considered horrible in any other deck. With two ninjas in your hand during your first turn you're basically screwed. You run two moxen and lotus, which all fish decks should IMO, and lands. That's it. This isn't a five mox deck with lotus, sol ring, crypts, etc. There's basically no way two cast two ninjas on turn one and still play something threatening (like daze on their turn for example).

I've been running 3 ninjas and a time walk and I cant say the Time walk hasn't been useful in any game so far where it's been drawn into hand and resolved.

[Kowal]

My assumption would be he ran out of proxies.  He was proxying Meddling Mage and Flying Men.