A noob who knows not what to do.

[Cleveland]

I have just played through my first T1 tourney, and I did pretty badly.  I’m ok with my loses (save the play error I made that blew one match up.  Forgetting an attack phase makes me a sad panda.) But I am not sure I know what to do at this point.  I am going to keep playing of course, but find that I don’t know if I should run with the deck I played with (modified oath, badly at that) or if I should go back to the drawing board.

The deck I played as above was an oath deck (list to follow).  During testing I seemed to do pretty well.  Then came tournament time and I bombed.  I went 1-3 (mind you the 1 win was a bye) my match ups were first round “Tendrilsâ€�, second round “Staxâ€� (I think), third round “Goblin Food chainâ€�, then the bye.  While no game was a flawless loss I was a tad put down.

The deck list is as follows:
4 Oath of Druids
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Strip Mine
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Tropical Island
 4 Impulse
 2 Sensei's Divining Top
 2 Gaea's Blessing
 1 Crop Rotation
 4 Brainstorm
 1 Tinker
 2 Feldon's Cane
 1 Spirit of the Night
 1 Mystical Tutor
 1 Vampiric Tutor
 1 Demonic Tutor
 1 Ancestral Recall (proxy)
 1 Time Walk (proxy)
 4 Mana Leak
 1 Lotus Petal
 1 Razia, Boros Archangel
 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
 4 Wasteland
 2 Island
 1 Fact or Fiction
 4 Forbidden Orchard
 1 Black Lotus (proxy)
 1 Mox Sapphire (proxy)
 1 Mox Ruby (proxy)
 1 Mox Pearl (proxy)
 1 Mox Jet (proxy)
 1 Mox Emerald (proxy)
4 Force of Will
1 Underground Sea
SB:  1 Crater Hellion
SB:  1 Damping Matrix
SB:  2 Blue Elemental Blast
SB:  1 Pithing Needle
SB:  3 Energy Flux
SB:  3 Annul
SB:  3 Arcane Laboratory
SB:  1 Null Rod

As I mentioned before the only play error I’m aware I made was missing an attack phase.  In my defense my opponent was the judge for the event and was called away for a ruling, when he came back I said go neglecting the fact that the attack was skipped.  A mistake is a mistake is a mistake and it was my fault. I digress though. 

What I need help with, is again should I keep on this track with oath, or should I move on to another deck, may be tendrils or gifts.

Forgive me in advance as I’m not up on much of T1.  I have been playing magic since Mercadian Masques but its all been in what ever the current format was or just completely unstructured, i.e. a bunch of us noobs just messing around.  Any input would be nice and appreciated.

**final notes:
The Feldon’s cane is in the event I need to respond to graveyard mutilation on my opponents turn, and the availability to shuffle my library if I don’t like what’s coming. I can also tinker it for other useful things and not lose my mana base.

Yes I run four creatures laugh if you want but I giggle a little when my opponent gets to jesters cap and I still have a win condition.

I was running the dampening field only because I didn’t have another null rod, and the hellion was for fun and an extra slot.

The tourny was held at the beanie exchange this past sunday.

[Moxlotus]

Adding 2 cards maindeck that are useless to combat a card that may or may not be played in 1 match is a bad idea.

Feldon's canes are terrible.  Who cares if they Crypt your yard?  You have a LARGE MAN on the board beating face.

Your SB needs a lot of work.  Crater Hellion???  Thunder Dragon is better if you need mass removal.  No Trikes also hurt the fish and Uba Stax matchups.  Energy Flux costs 3 mana and you have no Oxidize.

I would read this article for sideboarding:
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/11409.html

It is a little dated from recent developments in the metagame, but still is a really good starting point.

[sean1i0]

I have to agree with Moxlotus.  Another comment I would make is that 2 Gaea's Blessing is definitely too much.  You really only need the one and any more than that just increases the risk that you'll have a dead card in your hand.  As for your question of whether or not you should stick to Oath or not, I would say that Oath is a very viable option, especially if you're just starting up in Vintage.  Obviously a storm combo deck and/or a Gifts deck are extremely viable options, too, but that's completely dependent on your playstyle.  They're also much more difficult decks to pilots when first starting out.  Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Two maindeck Annul/Stifle are much better responses to Jester's Cap than two extra creatures if only because they aren't dead in other matchups.

[Kevin Folinus]

We all know Oath isn't the best deck in the format. That doesn't mean you can't win with it. One benefit when playing Oath is there aren't any completely unwinnable matches (of the common decks). The build I have been playing is the following. Fix your deck first and then you can work on the small (or big) mistakes.

// Lands
    2  Island
    1  Underground Sea
    2  City of Brass
    4  Forbidden Orchard
    1  Tropical Island
    2  Polluted Delta
    2  Flooded Strand
    4  Wasteland
    1  Strip Mine

// Creatures
    1  Razia, Boros Archangel
    1  Akroma, Angel of Wrath

// Spells
    1  Mox Jet
    1  Mox Pearl
    1  Mox Ruby
    1  Mox Sapphire
    1  Time Walk
    1  Ancestral Recall
    1  Mox Emerald
    2  Sensei's Divining Top
    1  Gaea's Blessing
    1  Rushing River
    4  Oath of Druids
    1  Imperial Seal
    1  Vampiric Tutor
    1  Demonic Tutor
    4  Brainstorm
    4  Mana Leak
    4  Duress
    1  Black Lotus
    4  Impulse
    4  Force of Will

// Sideboard
SB: 2  Triskelion
SB: 1  Tinker
SB: 1  Darksteel Colossus
SB: 4  Oxidize
SB: 3  Ground Seal
SB: 3  Choke
SB: 1  Life from the Loam

I would be careful when you say your only play error was the missed attack phase. There are plenty of mistakes to be made that are hard to see. This is especially true with Oath where your hand decisions are crucial. With the build I listed you will be mulliganing to five alot more than with most decks. I only mention the hand decisions because it seems like a common mistake.

Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Diviing Top isn't a keeper even though it seems like it can do alot.

[Mantis]

Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Diviing Top isn't a keeper even though it seems like it can do alot.

Would you also mind to explain WHY this is not a hand you would keep? First turn Duress, second turn Mana Leak/Impulse and then play what you just drew. I don't think I would throw this hand away. No Moxen/Force/Oath does suck though, but I'm not sure if this hand is all that bad.

[Harlequin]

4 Creatures and 2 Blessings is far too many.  you should have only 4 slots devoted to your "oath cards"  I suggest 2 angles and 2 blessings or 3 creatures and 1 blessing. 

Running pithing needles or stifles on the main are good if you expect to get a righteous capping.  Perhaps the feldon's canes should both be pithing needles (definately a $ investment... but your deck is far from a 'budget' deck).

Lastly Dodgeing Jester's cap is not nearly as important as dodgeing removal.  You should have access to Ancient Hydra or Pristene Angel (for completeness I'll add triskellion here, but i am against this card in oath on a fundamental level) to give you hope against duplicant recursion.

I will say this, I admire that you admit that things didn't go great for you.  Alot of newer players just say "ugh my deck mana screwed me almost every game!" or "my opponent started with Yawg, lotus, ancestral with double force backer both games!!"  So mad props for that.  From this one post you seem to everything it takes to excell in this format.... Well all but one thing: experiance.  The GREAT thing is experiance is easy to come by!  Playing against friends or team mates is one thing, playing on MWS is another ... but getting actual "no takeback," judged, highly competative tournement is a WHOLE different story.  The more you play at tournies the better and better you will become. 
Another word of advice for tournies.  Talk to your opponent after the match.  Inform that you are new to competative type one and ask "did you notice any play mistakes? did I cast this spell at the wrong time? what did you have in hand when I did so and so? do you mind if I ask what you sided in?"   Here's the great thing about swiss.  After you've played an opponent, that opponent wants YOU to win the later rounds of swiss because that will actually improve your opponents tie-breakers.  I ALWAYS encourage and give advice to my opponents win or loose, because I know if they do well for the rest of the tourny then It actually gives me a slight advantage in tie-breakers. 
On a similar note, If you can avoid it ... Never drop.  Even if your 0-4 you should try and find someone to play for the final round.  The more tournement games you play, the better you will get.  You payed $x to play, so play.  Also this means you stick around for doorprizes and whatnot.  If you can't find someone to play against then find a person in a match who has a similar deck and watch over thier shoulder (if they allow it).  You can learn alot from the choices other players make.  Some "play mistakes" are so subtle that, even for veteran players, it is impossible to catch them WHILE you are playing.  So watching other people play, gives you plenty of time to observe the finess and newance of competative play, without the stress of actually faceing an opponent.
Also when your nearing the final rounds, if you've scrubbed out. then ask other players who are not "in contention for top 8" if you can have a look at thier deck.  Ask about the sideboard, ask about weak matche ups, ask about strong match ups, ask about what the played today and how they sided.  Even if they are playing sui-black, more or less the 100% opposite deck from your's, it still can be valuable for future events.  This way you'll have a better idea of what sui black will side in against oath game 2. 
Last note on tournement play... I promise.  The beanie exchange is no back-water tournement.  Kowal, Outlaw, Travis (thats off the top of my head, sorry if I left other heavyweights out)... these are players who are at the top of the new england ladder.  This is not ment to intimidate you or crush your hopes of winning.  But rather to point out that you are playing in a highly competative format, so the meta-game at these tournements is the same meta for large tournements like TMD open or SCG.  So keep it up, rubbing elbows with the champs will definately make you a much stronger magic player.  Alot stronger that beating 14 year-olds with modified type 2 decks at local shops.  Consider yourself lucky to have such a diverse and competative metagame to test and learn in.

All that above will make you a more veteran player.  But most of all, the golden rule: Keep haveing fun.  Play some type 4, play some pack wars, do some trades.  The more fun you have a tournement, the easier it is to remember that vintage magic is a hobby and not a job.  Good luck in the future and hope to see more of you around New England events.

[warble]

Overvalue hands with forbidden orchard and oath of druids.  You have a two card combo that only needs protection.  If I didn't have either card I would consider the hand a waste unless it had heavy counterspell and draw power (ex 2 leaks, mox, impulse, fact or fiction and 2 lands).  Even then with oath I might consider mulling...but would probably come to my senses.  If you don't get your combo you lose, it' simple, and the more you have to draw into the less likely you're going to win is.

That's one of your big problems, you're not considering forbidden orchard one of your combo pieces.  Why?  I don't know why you aren't doing that, you need to start.  Combo is forbidden orchard oath mox with force backup.  That's the turn 1 play you want.  Not silly duress and leak who gives a #$%# if you survive you don't have inevitability.

[Moxlotus]

Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Diviing Top isn't a keeper even though it seems like it can do alot.

I will keep this hand every game because chances are the 6 card hand will be worse.  I have turn 1 Duress. turn 2 Leak/Impulse or Waste+Top.  This hand isn't that bad at all.  These are the hands that separate those who really know Oath from those who don't.

[einlanzer625]

Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Diviing Top isn't a keeper even though it seems like it can do alot.

I will keep this hand every game because chances are the 6 card hand will be worse.  I have turn 1 Duress. turn 2 Leak/Impulse or Waste+Top.  This hand isn't that bad at all.  These are the hands that separate those who really know Oath from those who don't.

im gonna have to agree with moxlotus on this one, that hand seems like a keeper, or at least something i'd consider keeping, and unless you mulligan into something like mox, orchard, oath, bluecard, FOW, something relatively irrelevant (lets say a brainstorm or other card draw spell) your hand isnt gonna get much better. 

my other reason for keeping would be the fact that you should easily be able to find the card quality that you want through impulse/top.

Kevin, i hope you respond to these, cuz I would really like to see your reasoning on why you'd throw this hand away.

[Gekoratel]

I think that Oath is one of the hardest decks to mulligan correctly with.  Obviously the deck is a two card combo so opening hands that have either part of the combo and other reasonable spells are a keeper.  The hands that do not have either piece of the combo need to have a way to find both parts of the combo.  The hand that was posted does not have a way to find both pieces of the combo in a very quick manner so I think it is a mulligan.

Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Divining Top isn't a keeper even though it seems like it can do a lot.

The first turn play with this hand is either going to be City of Brass --> Duress or City of Brass --> Sensei's Diving Top.
Of those two plays I personally prefer Duress because your second turn is likely to be Impulse meaning you would not activate Top until your 3rd turn.  It is important not to play the Delta because it makes your top much better down the road.  If you assume that Impulse hits either Orchard or Oath then its your turn 3 and your still looking for half of the combo.  The later the game goes the worse it is for the Oath player so you want to get Oath online w/ Orchard as fast as possible.

With this sequence of plays and assuming you drew nothing else relevant, the third turn would be top activate and if the other half of the combo was not their you would play the Delta fetch to shuffle your library and look again.  Assuming now you hit the other card it will take till your 4th turn to cast the Oath.  I think that this hand is a mulligan and unless you hit 1 of the combo pieces before impulse or with the first top activation your probably going to lose the game.

I've been known to mulligan very aggressively with this deck but I think it is an important part of a winning strategy with Oath.

[Harlequin]

Its actually a trickey hand.  Definately a keeper because it has options and outs.  The duress is what makes it so good because you have a first turn way of deciding how to play.

Turn 1 - city, duress, go

Turn 2A (they have something you think you can leak, or if duress gets countered) - play Wasteland, go.  leak a spell.
Turn 3A - play fetchland, top, go [2 open mana].  Durring opponents turn peak (you might be able to Top up a FOW and pitch impulse if your opponent goes broken).... now you can either shuffle those 3 away, grab one and shuffle the top away, or sit on it.  you've got options. 

Turn 2B (If they only alot of non-basics, with nothing worth leaking) - Wasteland, Top, go... waste thier land.  Going into thier turn 3 with no open mana is ok.  #1 you saw thier hand, #2 it will give them a false sense of security, it bluffs the idea that you do not have leak.
Turn 3B - Fetchland, Go [1 open mana, +1 un-cracked fetch].  Leak something if you need to otherwise do not crack fetch and peak with open mana.  You've one for one'd thier mana, now you need more sort your mana to topdeck.
Turn 4B - draw mana play mana.  Use impulse or fetchland to flush topdeck junk.

Look at it this way.  If you mull you get 6 new cards with wich you want to see oath and orchard.  If you dont mull you get to see 7 more cards (3 peak + Impluse) AND your opponents hand by then end of your turn 3.  7 card hand + 7 impulse/peak + 2 draws for turn = 16 cards.  This is a great start.

[warble]

I think oath has control and aggressive builds, and if the build is aggressive mull, if it's control don't.  If it's control you can wait to hit it, but I believe Oath should only be built aggressive and the control build is strictly inferior.  As a result, I'd almost always mull a 7 card hand without orchard or oath and some marginal card quality.  Even if you mull into a 6 card hand if it has oath, orchard, ancestral, lotus, a tutor or time walk the mull is justified.  The number of tutors defines how aggressive your oath build is, I run as many as I can and therefore am allowed to mull into my combo pieces.  All I'm gonna draw is combo pieces protection and tutors, if I didn't draw any combo pieces my oath deck was going to lose.  But that's my oath deck, a control oath deck requires a different analysis (and hence can keep different hands).  I still prefer to have forbidden orchard and an oath or two in my opening hand.  Topdeck Akroma and lose a tournament, you'll start mulliganing more aggressively after that I PROMISE.

[Khahan]

Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Divining Top isn't a keeper even though it seems like it can do a lot.

I think the correct play is:
Wasteland - top Go
City - Duress go

At end of opponents turn, if you didn't have need to waste, activate top.

Turn 1 waste may affect your opponent's play, discouraging an early non-basic drop or forcing him to hold on breaking his fetch.  Sure, he gets that turn, but if its a bazaar or workshop, he's  not necessarily going to want to risk losing it when you untap.

With an oath hand like this, the best you can hope for is your opponent to play conservatively and give you time to recover. I think showing the waste turn 1 helps that along.

Turn 2, you untap, play the city and use it to duress.  The top is now in play and you have the untapped wasteland. If he drops nothing to waste, you look at the top 3 and arrange accordingly. If you need to waste on turn 2, you untap, then on upkeep use the city to activate the top. Use the fetch as necessary on turn 3.

However, I would probably mulligan this hand.

[Kevin Folinus]

“I think oath has control and aggressive builds, and if the build is aggressive mull, if it's control don't.�
The deck I posted to go along with the hand is an aggressive build. If you were to replace the City of Brass with an Orchard this would be a good hand. The problem with this hand is you can't rely on digging for both of your combo pieces. The proper turn one play with this would be to mulligan. Oath wins with 2 Cards+Protection. This hand has neither of the combo pieces and no reliable way to get them. The hand: Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Divining Top can't even beat Goblins a 90/10 Match..

[einlanzer625]

“I think oath has control and aggressive builds, and if the build is aggressive mull, if it's control don't.�
The deck I posted to go along with the hand is an aggressive build. If you were to replace the City of Brass with an Orchard this would be a good hand. The problem with this hand is you can't rely on digging for both of your combo pieces. The proper turn one play with this would be to mulligan. Oath wins with 2 Cards+Protection. This hand has neither of the combo pieces and no reliable way to get them. The hand: Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Divining Top can't even beat Goblins a 90/10 Match..

good point, and thanks for the insight

Okay, that is enough. You have been warned twice in the past for spam, and yet your posts have not improved in the slightest. Banned.
-Jacob

[Kevin Folinus]

I also want to add before someone says "Youre not going to be playing goblins." that I only used this as an example because it is a match we SHOULD dominate. I understand different matches call for different hand analysis. The only way this hand can relalisticaly win is if you hit Oath with the impulse and your oppenent played out a creature (Welder). With Oath, every turn the game progresses your chances of winning diminish.

[Moxlotus]

The hand actually has a good chance to win, even without Orchard and Oath.  The Wasteland gives you an extra turn and the Duress will give you at least 1 depending on what you take--more if you nab a TFK or Gifts.  The hand is also really nice against Stax-a Duress will take the biggest component, you have a waste for their waste/Shop.  You have a fetch for a basic.  The hand is also really good against storm combo because you are the control match in this match and can neutralize 2 threats + mana source.

Of course, all of this depends on if you are on the play.  On the draw, the hand gets much worse.  That said, the chances of getting a worse 6 card hand are pretty high.

[Cleveland]

thank you all for your feedback, I have gained a lot of insight into what i need to do.  I look forward to getting some more games under my belt and some more experience as a t1 player.

[Kevin Folinus]

I apologize for turning your post into a debate over a specific hand. All I was trying to point out is with a 2 card combo those pieces are very important in hand decisions. Gekoratel's post is a good one to learn from. If you modify your deck you will atleast be playing with the same level deck and it then becomes your skill with it. I will give you some basic tips that are good to use.

Try and play your Oath of Druids with protection (Duress/Force of Will/Mana leak) against counters. With a hand like Forbidden Orchard, Mox, Oath of Druids, Impulse, Brainstorm, and Fetchland x2  have the option of just throwing the Oath down and hoping. This will win about half the time. (I don't know the real % if you add in no FoW increasing the odds of a mulligan from your opponent.) You however have Brainstorm/Fetch and the Impulse. These cards can try and search for protection and it is probably a better option.

With cards like Brainstorm and Sensei's Top you look at the top X cards and then choose which one you wan't in your hand. It is important to Brainstorm and then Add the 3 cards and put them worst 2 on top. You then want to shuffle the bad ones in. This is done with Fetchlands, Tutors, Oath, Crop Rotation, Etc. This way you can continue looking at new cards..New cards means more Oaths/Orchards..I love using Senseis then Crop Rotating for a fetchland to continue looking through cards even longer.

[Tha Gunslinga]

Polluted Delta, City of Brass, Wasteland, Impulse, Mana Leak, Duress, & Sensei's Diviing Top isn't a keeper even though it seems like it can do alot.

I will keep this hand every game because chances are the 6 card hand will be worse.  I have turn 1 Duress. turn 2 Leak/Impulse or Waste+Top.  This hand isn't that bad at all.  These are the hands that separate those who really know Oath from those who don't.

I'd mull it vs Stax, but otherwise it's fairly decent.