[Report] Tied for first with Tog

[Matt]

Smallish tournament, 13 players. The incredibly diverse field:

1 Rifter
1 Tog
1 Goblins (with lots of burn - Grenade, Bolt MD)
1 B/W Confidant
1 Monoblack Tendrils
1 U/G Madness/threshold hybrid
2 Burn
1 Reanimator
1 random modular/power conduit stuff
1 R/G deck (Gruul?)
1 Ponza? (Slith Firewalker, Trinisphere, Molten Rain)

I played Tog again. Decklist, bold indicates a change from last time:

//Card drawing {12}
4 Brainstorm
2 Serum Visions
3 Intuition
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Life from the Loam

//Removal {17}
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell

3 Pernicious Deed
2 Darkblast
2 Putrefy
1 Haunting Echoes
1 Vedalken Shackles

//Winners {9}
4 Psychatog
4 Nimble Mongoose
1 Wonder

//Mana {22}
1 Mox Diamond

2 Lonely Sandbar
1 Wasteland
1 Cabal Pit

4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta

4 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
2 Bayou
2 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island

SB: 2 Naturalize
SB: 2 Coffin Purge
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 2 Disrupt
SB: 1 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Massacre
SB: 1 Pernicious Deed
SB: 1 Persecute
SB: 1 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror (on loan from the Goblins player, as collateral for my 4 Bolts)
SB: 1 Misdirection
SB: 1 Island

Round one I got a bye.

Round two I played Rifter, who had beat the goblin deck 2-1. Game one he cycled and pretended like he was doing relevant things. I blew up a Humility and some Decree tokens, then sideswiped him with Echoes, which took out his whole game except for Rift and StP. Some counters and Togs later, I got one to stick, and it knocked him from 21 to 0.

In: 2 Duress, 2 Naturalize, 1 Meloku (I think I was fearing graveyard hate), 1 Persecute
Out: 2 Darkblast, 2 Putrefy, 1 Tog (not gonna need 4), 1 Shackles

He got a Rift down but my Mongoose outraced it, even though he got some free Rift activations when I cycled lands stupidly.

Round three: burn!

Game one he mulligans to five due to my awesome deck cutting skills. I win on turn 5 or 6 with a large Tog.

In: 2 Disrupt, 1 BEB, 1 MisD, 1 Island, 2 Duress
Out: 1 Wonder, 3 Deed, 1 Echoes, 1 Shackles, 1 Cabal Pit

I keep a dodgy hand of Island, Disrupt, BEB, FoW, Tog, Tog, Mongoose. I BEB a Lavamancer, Brainstorm into fetch into Trop, and Mongoose rides again. He hit me for 3 several turns in a row, but I did the same to him, and MY 3 damage wasn't costing me cards. In his desperation move (when I was at six and he at 3) he tapped out to hardcast a Fireblast, which I Disrupted, then he had two more Fireblast, but I had FoW, MisD, and two blue cards.

And round four I ID'd with Confidant. We played two unsideboarded games for fun. In the first, I kept 1 Island and cantrips and got toasted. I wouldn't have kept that in a real match. Game two I landed Shackles, stole his Shade, and beat him up with it and some Bayous. He could have Cursed Scrolled the Shade on a number of occasions but kept pointing at Tog for some reason. No matter, I won that one. I probably would have won the match, since his sideboard was horrible - only one Wretch and three [card]Ghostway[/card].

The second Loam didn't really do much but it's good against B/W and against the hypothetical R/G land destruction deck. Serum Visions was good, being blue for FoW, setting up Threshold, and digging for land. I don't think I would go to 3 though. Those slots were originally 1 SV 1 FoF but I figured I didn't need another huge draw spell; this deck appreciates being lean and mean.

Shackles was good maindeck, but Echoes was the MVP.

Meloku never came up, but was my insurance against Needle. Disrupt was good, not sure if those should have been more BEB. Sideboarded Island was also good against land destruction, and against Rifter and Burn it replaced the Cabal Pit which is awful in those matchups (but great against the weenie decks that didn't show). The decks I wanted Massacre and Deed #4 against didn't show, or I didn't face them. I might want another Echoes, because that card is amazing in any matchup that isn't fast aggro. I definitely want another Shackles, but that's another card I only own one of.

Overall this wasn't the highest caliber of tournament but it was a lot of fun. I traded some junk away and completed my draft set of Ravnica uncommons (I was only missing Helix) and my set of Remands, and some other goodies (I now own a Grave-Shell Scarab). Removing the Accumulated Knowledges was a terrific move. Finding 1-ofs is still super easy with Mystical and the blue library manipulation. I love this deck.

MVP card today: Haunting Echoes
Honorable mention: Nimble Mongoose, for dodging both STP from the Rifter deck and REB from burn.
Most useless: tie between Darkblast and Putrefy - Bye, control deck, burn, ID is not a gauntlet that demands creature removal.

[49 Cents]

Cool report, but I have one question: Why would you ID in the 4th round when you've only played 2 matches? I kinda don't get it..

[Jacob Orlove]

Cool report, but I have one question: Why would you ID in the 4th round when you've only played 2 matches? I kinda don't get it..

There were only 13 people, so that looks like a split in the finals.

[49 Cents]

I get that, but still. What was the 1st price? I would never split in tourneys that small, because going to a tourney and playing only 2 rounds just isn't worth it for me.

[Anusien]

I'm becoming less and less enthused with Darkblast on its own.  It kills Lackey, but that's about all it can off.  Also, why Serum Visions?  I can't imagine Shackles at less than a two of, because it's awesome any time you draw it.

Does just extra Putrefy give you Needle protection?  I suppose if Meloku comes down first it beats Humility, but that's a kludge.

[Matt]

It's straight swiss, so yeah that was a split in the finals (we each had 9 points after round 3, and no one else did, so we were assured 1st and 2nd). No one ever knows what the prize support is - it's loosely based on the number of participants, but also apparantly on how generous the staff is feeling. Tonight we split and each got 10 packs, which was a lot more than I was expecting.

If I had to go out of my way for these tournaments, I too would want to play more than two rounds, but it's literally six minutes  from my house (my attendance itself was just on a whim, once I realized I had my cards in the trunk). Also, I wanted the packs (a non-tournament-going friend of mine and I have casual 2-man drafts with the packs I win). Also, I wasn't excited about my chances against B/W, which probably isn't too bad, but still. Any other deck there, I would have played and crushed.

Darkblast was ass against the decks I faced but it would have been amazing against B/W. Putrefy is Needle insurance, but it also kills, for example: creatures larger than I would care to have Tog eat (reanimated fat, random fat Gruul stuff like Rumbling Slum and Burning-Tree Shaman), Smokestack (see my other Tog reports), and it's a lot better than Deed when I have a Mongoose beating down and need to clear a path. Lastly it can kill a  Tormod's Crypt or Phyrexian Furnace.

I only own one Shackles. If I owned another, it would either be in the SB (most likely), or probably replace a Putrefy if MD.

Serum Visions: these slots were originally two of the four AKs, but when I dropped them, I needed something to fill the space. I knew I wanted blue cards, for FoW. I tried 1 SV, 1 FoF, but didn't like how I never actually cast the FoF, so I switched to 2 SV. Not only are they blue, but they draw me land, fill the graveyard fast for the matches where I go turbo-Goose, and they keep me from losing important cards to dredge, and keep me from drawing multiples of cards I don't want to see (second Loam or DBlast, Echoes early game, Shackles vs. combo, and so on). They're subtle, but they help out in many ways.

[Anusien]

Would Remand be good there then?  It takes you back to only Brainstorm on turn 1, but it's a Time Walk in a deck that just wants to set up and then win.  Plus, it might as well be a hard counter on the turn you win with Tog.

[Matt]

I doubt it, but it's possible.

[Bardo]

When I put Loam-A-Tog together for the first time (back in October or November or so), I remember testing Forbid which was unbelievably awesome against any kind of control deck. When I play this deck again, I'll try to find a spot in my sideboard for one. Have you tested it?

Shackles are also very, very good in this deck; you just didn't have any match-ups where they were relevant (Rifter and Burn).

In my experience, Putrefy always seems cool in theory, but poor in execution. 1BG is a real strain on the mana if you need it quickly.

Also, great report. Well done.

[SpencerForHire]

In my testing I have bumped up cycling lands to a 4 of because I really don't like my engine getting gimped because I have to use one as a land drop.  Shackles has been unbelievably strong for me as has putrefy only soley for the play against pithing needle.

I really like the idea of Forbid Dan, I'll be testing that one out now.

[Anusien]

If Putrefy is really that bad, what about Repeal?  Same principle as Remand, but it removes things from play, lets you counter them on the way down, or attack out of nowhere for lethal.