[Report] 4th at SCG Rochester

So this is my first "large" venue tournament, and by large I mean over a hundred. I finally get to meet several people from the drain and put some faces to names, and I even got to play against some of them which was really cool. Overall it was a lot of fun, and the entire experience was a blast. I also got to see people like Zvi, but the only thing I heard from him was a lot of talk and it hurt my brain.

So most of you are here for the decklist:

4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
1 Island
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Black Lotus

4 Goblin Welder
4 Juggernaut
2 Razormane Masticore
2 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Duplicant
1 Sundering Titan

4 Chalice of the Void
3 Crucible of Worlds

4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker

SB:
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Aether Spellbomb

Now that we have that out of the way, let us continue.

Why did I play this? Firstly, I expected that there would be a lot of Fish there, and boy was it there. This deck walks over Fish, but unfortunately I only saw one of them all day. I also expected Stax to be there in force, and lately that deck has been dropping things like Welder and Tangle Wires for stuff that I don't care about so I figured I'd walk all over that match too. Additionally, I thought FCG would have a presence since it won the last SCG event and there's nothing quite like having bigger dudes in beatdown wars, but I never saw that match. I was happy with how it performed against Gifts in general, although I was afraid of it having a strong opening.

At anyrate, I think of this deck like Fish (Wastes, Chalice), but with bigger guys. It can't say no, but Welder is still pretty freakin good at ignoring the opponent's cards and besides, the creatures themselves pack enough disruption to eat up your opponent's cards. Tinker-Colossus is not good when your opponent has an active Welder. Mana Drain is not good when your opponent dropped Juggernaut and Chalice for 0 first turn. Your opponent's hand chock full of nasty removal isn't good when Titan hits and their removal spells results in them losing all of their land.

Random theory aside, I was very happy with how the deck performed. In case anybody is wondering, I didn't have the 5th Mox so I just substituted a Mana Vault since it is an artifact and can produce first turn men. Otherwise I would play the Pearl and no Vault. The only other thing I would change is taking out those SB BEB, since I saw 0 red decks and they were only there because I didn't want to lose random matches to Artifact Mutation. I would instead SB Gorilla Shaman, since on the draw he is infinitely better at dealing with Moxen than my friend Chalice. He is a solid SB option in a deck that needs SB cards against Slaver too, although I honestly did not expect anybody to play that deck. Oh yea, and I'd cut a SB Tormod's Crypt for a lone Trinisphere since the ability to SB that in may throw some decks off, especially with the ability to Tinker it up and possibly put somebody in a hardlock.

Alright, onto the action. I'll try and keep things simple, and my only notes are life totals so I may have certain things mixed up.

Round #1 vs. Brian Fisher w/ 7-10, Lose die roll

Game 1 - I played a Welder at one point, which he Trisks and he plays a Welder of his own. I come right back at him with a Trisk of my own, Waste several of his lands, and finally get some large man to stick after a couple Forces on his part and between some damage there and his Tombs, it's game.

Him: 18, 16, 15, 12, 10, 8, game
Me: 18, 17, 15

Game 2 - He mulls, and opens with Lotus, Mox, some land. I open with 2 of my artifacts, and we end up casting RnR on each other's artifacts. I take some Crypt damage, I draw more Wastes to keep him off mana, and I manage to get Titan on the board and he can't cope.

Him: 19, 12, 5, game
Me: 19, 16, 13

Games: 2-0
Matches: 1-0

Round #2 vs. Philip ?? w/ 3 color control, Win die roll

Game 1 - I remember getting out a Chalice for 1, which keeps his StP from stopping my gameplan. I have a Crucible out, but he has some basics and a few Moxen. At one point he casts Balance which puts me back a bit. His Scrying does not help the life total situation much, and he cycles Decree only to meet my Trisk, and between him and a Jugg they go the distance eventually after he runs out of answers.

Him: 19, 18, 15, 14, 11, 10, 5, game
Me: 19, 20, 19, 18

Game 2 - I had an early Jugg that got StP'd, he cycled some dudes, other mundane control vs. aggro action goes on, and he eventually casts Will. Unluckily for him I had Brainstormed into Tinker the turn previous and he had no Force so when Titan came in, it took out half his land and my simple 1/1 took out the other half. He could not get back into it.

Him: 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 13, 6, game
Me: 24, 21, 20, 17, 14, 11

Game: 4-0
Matches: 2-0

Round #3 vs. Scott Limoges w/ Belcher (the quick combo variety), Win the die roll

Game 1 - He mulls, and opens with some mana. I get a Razormane and Trisk on the board, and I think I Waste a land at some point. He Consults for Charbelcher, and he has 15 cards in library while I am at 18 life. He cannot kill me and he is staring down lethal damage, so he has to ping one of my dudes in an attempt to stay alive. The previous turn I had Brainstormed into Academy and Karn, and when he pinged one of my dudes I dropped Karn and ate the only mana he had to Belch with and that was game.

Him: 15, 10, 6, Game
Me: 19, 18

Game 2 - He casts a bunch of artifact mana, and I play Goblin Welder. I strip several lands, he plays Belcher and I weld out his Belcher for Lotus Petal, and when he Hurkyl's my board to stay alive, he can't buy enough time for the win.

Him: 19, 18, 12, 6, game
Me: 19, 18, 17, 16

Games: 6-0
Matches: 3-0

Round #4 vs. Josh Rider w/ GAT, Win the die roll

Game 1 - I open with the speed of a velociraptor and explode with Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Time Walk, Shop, Karn (forced), untap and drop Welder. He humbly plays a land and passes back. I get some action on the board, and he plays Tog to try and stop me. I cast Dupe, he counters, I weld in, and he can't deal.

Him: 19, 18, 17, 13, 8, 7, 6, 5, game
Me: 19, 16, 17, 21

Game 2 - He gets StP on my Welder, a quick Dryad, a follow-up Energy Flux, Seal of Cleansing on my Razormane, and I get owned.

Him: 19, 18
Me: 21, 18, 17, 13, 10, 6, 2, Game

Game 3 - I open with Mana Crypt, Shop, Crucible, Chalice for 0. All of it resolves, and he plays a Delta. I drop a Wasteland, and on his turn he pops the fetch, plays a 2nd land, and plays Dryad. I Waste, he Gushes. From this point on he never gets more than one land on the board. I drop a Jugg, he StP's it and swings. I play a Welder and next turn he topdecks a Hydroblast for it and swings. A bit later I play Trisk and he Forces and swings. He Duresses my TFK, leaving me with 4 Brainstorm and a dead Mox in hand and then he swings. I Brainstorm in desperation, but I do not have another turn to play the Trisk I found.

Him: 19, 18, 13, 12, 11
Me: 17, 14, 19, 16, 11, 8, 2, Game

Games: 7-2
Matches: 3-1

Round #5 vs. Matt Morrison w/ Stax, Win the die roll

Game 1 - I open with something I forget, and he opens with Shaman which threatens to eat my Mox. I play a 2nd turn Razormane, and he plays a Seal of Cleansing tapping out so I get to use my Mox again. This is unfortunate for him as I use it to play Trisk, eat his Shaman, and Trisk beats down for a while and in the meantime he establishes a Crucible lock on me. I am holding a Shop in hand when he plays Smokestack and ramps it. I topdeck Jugg, play the Shop and Jugg, and his Smokestack is not enough to stop lethal damage.

Him: 19, 16, 13, 10, 7, Game
Me: 19, 18

Game 2 - He opens Gemstone Mine, Sol Ring, Sphere of Resistance. I open Island, Black Lotus. He plays a Shaman and tries to eat my Lotus, but I respond with Ancestral Recall. This gives me enough gas to keep him off balance with Cruc-Waste, Welder, Razormane, and a host of other nastiness and he ends the game with a hand full of colored spells and no colored mana.

Him: 19, 17, 16, 15, 10, 5, Game
Me: 19, 18, 17, 16

Games: 9-2
Matches: 4-1

Round #6 vs. Seth ?? w/ Gifts control, Win the die roll

Game 1 - He StP's an early Juggernaut, then drops Energy Flux. I am genuinely surprised he maindecks Energy Flux, but go along with it. He casts Gifts Ungiven at one point, and I give him a couple cards he never casts as I use my junk to keep Crucible alive which recurs Wastelands to eat his mana, and then when I have him pinned down I build up my mana base a bit, drop a couple threats, and use the mana to pay the upkeep on Flux and he is unable to fight back.

Him: 19, 18, 13, 12, 11, 10, Game
Me: 19, 24

Game 2 - He drops an early Engineered Plague on Goblin Welder. I have 2, but I Brainstorm them back and fetch them away like the deck is supposed to do. Then I draw 2 more, but I cast TFK and life is good as it finds me a Crucible that does the same thing as it did last game even in the face of another Energy Flux.

Him: 19, 18, 17, 16, 11, 2, Game
Me: 19, 18

Games: 11-2
Matches: 5-1

Round #7 vs. Josh ?? w/ Tog, Lose the die roll

Game 1 - He mulligans, and I play first turn Juggernaut, second turn Razormane, third turn Juggernaut, and he can't stop them all.

Him: 15, 14, 9, Game

Game 2 - I open with a first turn Triselion that gets Forced. I follow up with Goblin Welder which resolves alongside a Crucible, and seeing as how he is playing Tog he scoops to the Welder.

Him: 19, 18, 16, 15, 11, 10, 7, 6, Game
Me: No change

Games: 13-2
Matches: 6-1

Round #8 vs. Adam Chambers w/ WTF

He is sitting first in the swiss and I'm in fourth with solid tiebreakers. I had a strong to almost guaranteed chance of getting into the top8 and since I didn't know what he was playing at the time, I ID. Now that I know what he was playing I would not have minded playing against him at all.

Games: 13-2
Matches: 6-1-1

Cut to top8, and I am sitting at 6th seed. Apparently 5 Canadians made it in to my surprise, and they were all cool. They should definitely show up more often because they are good players on the whole. Anyway, I feel the need to defend my home country from them so I arm myself with a Savage Twister in my pocket. This gives me a subliminal advantage knowing that I have something savage in my pants.

Anyway, for some strange reason my matches are the only ones that SCG did not cover in their elimination match coverage. They managed to get 3 people to cover the other top 8 games, but couldn't get anyone to cover one of mine even in top 4 matches with only 2 games going on.

Whatever. I will now share the adventures.

Top 8 match vs. Brian Finch w/ Old Faerie Men 2005, Lose the die roll

Game 1 - My first hand is Mox Emerald, Mana Vault, Wasteland, Chalicex2, Crucible of Worlds, expensive card. I seriously contemplate it, but eventually mull it into a 6 card hand that has no mana, and a 5 card hand that can go first turn Jugg. Unfortunately he has a Force for it, a Null Rod a bit later, a maindeck Seal of Cleansing for my Trisk, and beatdown for my life total alongside my tapped Vault.

Him: 19, 18
Me: 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 9, 7, 6, 2, 1, Game

Game 2 - He mulls to 6. I begin with Volc, Ruby, Walk, and on my Walk turn I played a Juggernaut. He plays some Mishra's Factories, but my Welder plays combat tricks and a 2nd Jugg is overkill. I might have even had a Trisk too.

Him: 15, 10, 5, Game
Me: 19, 18

Game 3 - I open with Goblin Welder, which is such a good card. He builds up some troops like Cloud of Faeries, Mishra's Factory, and Ninja whereas I build up an army of Wastelands and cards in hand. I TFK at some point putting Sundering Titan into the grave, giving me the goods to put Jugg on the board and something to weld. I wipe out a bunch of lands with Titan when he attempts to destroy some of my stuff, and when Titan leaves play again after he kills it he is landless. He tries to come back but Trisk is staring him down and his StP on Welder is way too late to fix the damage that has been done.

Him: 19, 18, 17, 13, 9, Game
Me: 19, 16, 15, 13, 11, 9, 10

Games: 15-3
Matches: 7-1-1

Top 4 match vs. Ugo Rivard (the eventual winner) w/ Control Slaver, Win the die roll

Game 1 - I play a first turn Wasteland, which is overshadowed by his opening of Black Lotus, Island. Then he plays a Mox Jet "just in case I play Chalice for 0." I topdeck Chalice. I proceed to Waste 3-4 more lands, but he draws 4 fetchlands amongst other things. I proceed to cast Chalice at 1 to deny him Welders and whatnot, and then go on to draw Mana Vault (should have been a Pearl that would let me start casting the 3 Juggs in my hand) and Goblin Welder right off the top. At some point he counters a Crucible (Strip in grave), but a second one hits and eats lands. Soon after I manage to get Tinker to resolve but make a deadly mistake by Tinkering up Titan instead of Karn. Had I gotten Karn, I would have been able to eat his Mox and keep him off Tinker which he cast next turn for Plat, which he then equipped with Greaves. Unfortunately my Welder in hand was nullified by the Chalice for 1, and I am unable to fight despite putting him into negative numbers.

Him: 19, 18, 17, 16, 9, 2, -10
Me: 20, 19, 15, 14, 10, 6, 2, Game

Game 2 - I open with the same thing: Wasteland, go. As I pass the turn, I jokingly quip "I wonder if you are going to open the same thing as last game the way I did." I don't know whether that jinxed me or not, but he definitely opened Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Island. My 2nd turn Shop, Jugg play was Drained into a TFK. I wasted 3-4 more lands yet again, but he gets a Welder while I stall. He forces something, I play Chalice for 0 fearing Will, and I try for Karn but he Drains. He then crashes the yogurt truck on my face with a huge Will turn that that effectively ends the game but I still have some outs so I stay in it until he casts Tinker.

Him: 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 12, 10
Me: 19, Game

Games: 15-5
Matches: 7-2-1

Overall I felt very good about the deck choice. Had I played slightly better my 1st game in the top4 I would have most likely drawn it out to game 3 and hopefully I would have been the one drawing Black Lotus, or at least had another shot to pull out the match. In anycase I made the correct plays the rest of the time and I can't complain about my finish. I end up walking away with a Time Walk in the draft.

I guess there is an obligatory ending section....

Props:
-Everyone of my opponents for being sportsmanlike and kind.
-Rich and Mike for loaning me some cards for the deck.
-All the people who made this experience great. Posting on boards just doesn't compare to talking to people in person.
-Chex Mix.
-Water.

Slops:
-People who didn't run Welder when they could have.
-Zvi, for ruining the format we all love.
-One bathroom?!

Brad Granberry, aka Rico Suave
Team Reflection (4 power won this weekend!)