Top 8 with Burning Slaver at Mol's Lotus tourney (09 apr)

[carl]

Hello,

Since there happened to be a tournament in Belgium, I had to attend, especially since it's in Mol, where I went to my first tournament in 1995.
At that time, I played an W/R Land's Edge / Land Tax deck :)

This time I went with Burning Slaver:

1 Burning Wish
3 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoths' Will

1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker

1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Duplicant
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mindslaver
1 Sol Ring
1 Sundering Titan

1 Darksteel Citadel
2 Flooded Strand
3 Island
2 Polluted Delta
1 Snow Covered Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
1 Echoing Ruin
1 Pyroblast
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Red elemental Blast
1 Rolling Earthquake
3 Duress
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Deep Analysis
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fire / Ice
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Tormod's Crypt

Nobody from Brussels wanted to go, so the pre-tournament stuff was uneventful.

65 players, 7 rounds of swiss followed by Top 8 for a Lotus.

Round 1: Bram Patelsti - Slaver

He was sitting next to me, testing against Oath of Druids. I saw Jester's Cap, so I wasn't too worried...

Game 1, I play 2 Welders. He has a Tormod's Crypt in play and tinkers for Jester's Cap. I wonder why he didn't Crypt himself and gets DSC (since he plays it), but he told me later on he had it in hand. Anyway, he caps me and goblins go all the way.
Game 2, I am in control, he has nothing relevant in hand, I could play one Welder and hold one in my hand, or I could play the 2 (but then I can't counter) and get a quick lock going. The round is almost finished, I drop the 2 welders and surely he rips Fire/Ice. So, the second game is unfinished.

1-0-1, 3 points.

Round 2: Yorik Pieters - Slaver

Yorik is a competent player, it's not the first time we meet.

Game 1, I manage a moderate Will that put me ahead enough to win.
Game 2, He slavers me, and I rip Will :( He draws 5 cards thanks to me and we move to game 3 soon after.
There is few time left for the decider, so I go the for the morph sideboarding to get a combo win. I Tendrils for the win in the 4th extra turn.

2-1, 6 points.

Round 3: Jan De Vrij - 5C stax
Jan gets a first turn Crucible of Worlds but can't use it. I counter Intuition and he has no business after that. He plays Welder, then Chalice at one. I bounce the Chalice, cast Yawgmoth's Win and he concedes after I show him he will never have a turn.
Game 2 sees an early Titan that I manage thanks to a Welder, but he tinkers for Karn and kills me. I should have waited for his attack phase before getting rid of Titan to gain a turn.

There are 9 minutes left for the third game, so I side in Tendrils again.
I go wild on the 4th extra turn, but I won't be able to get double black mana, so I Time Walk and kills him in the last possible turn.

2-1, 9 points.

Round 4: Camstra Henderyckx - Oath of Druids

He manages to get Oath and the 2 angels, I have Welder in play and might escape my fate if I can read, but I don't and so I attack him with the tokens, he blocks with Razia and redirects the damage on the Welder. No more fun with Duplicant :(
Game 2, I go into beatdown mode with a 1/1 spirit and a Welder and he can't stop them.
Game 3, I stop him from playing Oath and it looks like I will pull it, but time is called.

1-1-1, 10 points.

Round 5: Frank Van Rijn - TPS

I've seen him getting lucky draws in the previous rounds, so I know what to expect.

I don't get a very good draw, play Welder turn 1. He gets out Bagain and wins.
Game 2, I duress him and pull Gifts. 2 turns later, he rips Ancestral. He then tries to Will, but I Crypt his graveyard. He is playing very slowly so I call the judge (since he is 1-0). He then Recoup his Will (I just realise now while typing the report that he cheated: the Will resolved and shouldn't have been in his graveyard), cast Will, I drain it, he REBs, I force the Will, he forces back and wins.

0-2, 10 points.

I now need to win my last 2 matches to get into top 8.

Round 6: Bart Boudewijn - Dragon

He starts with an Orchard, so I think he is playing Oath. He then plays a spell to dump Dragon in his graveyard. I counter Animate Dead, then Will to get a hard lock with Slaver.
I get turn one Ancestral, Lotus, Sol Ring, land, Duress. Then I cast Thirst for Knowledge twice and get the lock going again. He had no business spells in hand.

2-0, 13 points.

Round 7: Steffen Gussenhoven - Uba Stax

Steffen beat me in the quarters of the Dutch T1 Champs, so I was eager to play him again.
Game 1 he gets a great start while I keep a so-so hand I should have probably mulliganed away. I find myself quickly locked and we move to game 2.
In the second game, I manage as many mistakes as I can: casting Echoing Ruin in his turn, forgetting about Drain mana and burning and casting a Welder with a Chalice at 1. Still, I manage to pull it.
Game 3, I get the answers I need: Duplicant on his early Trike, Force his Welder, then I take control (with Crypt, Welder) while he doesn't do much and Jens finishes him off.

2-1, 16 points.

I am seeded 5th.

Round 8 (1/4 finals): Bas Bronsgeest - Suicide black

I wonder how he managed to reach top 8, then see his list: a lot of discard (4 Duress, 2 Therapy, 4 Unmask, 4 Hymn), creatures (Bob, Nantuko Shade, Hyppies and Abyssal Nocturnus), Rituals and Swamps. No Necro, no Strip, no tutors. Sideboard consists of Chains of M, Null Rod, Darkblast and Phyrexian Negator.
We split the first two games. In the last game, I play duplicant on his Dark Confidant, then have to trade it. He then plays double Negators while I am at 11. I drop a Welder. If it gets active, I probably win. He blasts it away and run over me. End of story.

1-2, 5th place.

I must compliment Brian DeMars for crafting such a jewel. The deck won me several games by itself.
I must also compliment myself for being a bad player only when I could afford it ;)

Cheers,

--
Carl

[LotusHead]

Game 1, I play 2 Welders. He has a Tormod's Crypt in play and tinkers for Jester's Cap. I wonder why he didn't Crypt himself and gets DSC (since he plays it), but he told me later on he had it in hand.

If you had welders and he had Tormod's Crypt in play, could your opponent stack things so that he had no artifacts in the graveyard and an 11/11 trampler in play? I have Crypted myself so rarely, that I hadn't considered those ramifications.

[OliverD]

He could actually play the Tinker, then with Tinker on the stack, Crypt himself.

Since the sacrifice for the Tinker is part of the casting cost, the artifact will be removed by the Crypt before Tinker resolves and fetches DSC.

The Crypt however removes itself, because it's already in the graveyard once its effect resolves.

[Eddie]

Round 5: Frank Van Rijn - TPS

I've seen him getting lucky draws in the previous rounds, so I know what to expect.

I don't get a very good draw, play Welder turn 1. He gets out Bagain and wins.
Game 2, I duress him and pull Gifts. 2 turns later, he rips Ancestral. He then tries to Will, but I Crypt his graveyard. He is playing very slowly so I call the judge (since he is 1-0). He then Recoup his Will (I just realise now while typing the report that he cheated: the Will resolved and shouldn't have been in his graveyard), cast Will, I drain it, he REBs, I force the Will, he forces back and wins.

I played this guy too. I was dumbfounded by all his lucky topdecks. Later on he mysticals, and puts the card in his hand and stuff like that. He also miscounted his storm once, and we had to check everything again with prove that he didn't kill me. There was also something with his sleeves, but I don't know if you can remember that? It was a sketchy player to say the least. It was strange playing him as he seemed hyperkinetic, but was constantly slow playing.

[forests failed you]

Thanks for the compliment, and congratulations on your win!

Is there anything that you would have changed about the build, with the insight of having won the event? 

Also, how did you like the Solem in the board?  Was he spicy, would you play him again?  He seems to be becoming a bit of a sideboard staple as of late, I was wondering what you thought.

Cheers,
FFY

[carl]

Round 5: Frank Van Rijn - TPS

I've seen him getting lucky draws in the previous rounds, so I know what to expect.

I don't get a very good draw, play Welder turn 1. He gets out Bagain and wins.
Game 2, I duress him and pull Gifts. 2 turns later, he rips Ancestral. He then tries to Will, but I Crypt his graveyard. He is playing very slowly so I call the judge (since he is 1-0). He then Recoup his Will (I just realise now while typing the report that he cheated: the Will resolved and shouldn't have been in his graveyard), cast Will, I drain it, he REBs, I force the Will, he forces back and wins.

I played this guy too. I was dumbfounded by all his lucky topdecks. Later on he mysticals, and puts the card in his hand and stuff like that. He also miscounted his storm once, and we had to check everything again with prove that he didn't kill me. There was also something with his sleeves, but I don't know if you can remember that? It was a sketchy player to say the least. It was strange playing him as he seemed hyperkinetic, but was constantly slow playing.

I was very suspicious, but I couldn't tell whether it was intentional or not. He miscounted his live total when drawing with Bargain (drew one more that what he paid for), but he didn't complain when I fixed it straight.

Thanks for the compliment, and congratulations on your win!

Thanks you, although 5th isn't exactly a win.

Is there anything that you would have changed about the build, with the insight of having won the event?

That's part two.
Part one were the facts

Actually, I would have won the quarter finals with Platinum Angel in the sideboard.
I think it's a good card vs creature decks as you can ignore them, tinker for it a the last second. Well, you still have to protect it. It might be worth trying to change the game plan to that: tinker for Angel and protect it (by sideboarding Duress if you think they have artifact hate or Plowshares, even though it is counter-intuitive to sideboard Duress vs a creature deck). Maybe instead of Echoing Truth from the sideboard.

Also, how did you like the Solem in the board?  Was he spicy, would you play him again?  He seems to be becoming a bit of a sideboard staple as of late, I was wondering what you thought.

He did his job, I'd keep it.

But I am not sure Echoing Ruin is better than Primitive Justice. Why do you prefer the former?

In any case, I am sold on Burning Wish and Tendrils.

[emidln]

I think the problem is in generating red mana to hit multiple targets. Echoing Ruin can take out several copies of something (like Needle) in one swoop for 2RR whereas something like Primitive Justice would cost 2RR for 1, 3RRR for 2, etc. Wouldn't Shattering Spree be strictly better than Primitive Justice if you were to go that route to hit multiple artifacts (assuming you could deal with the extra R requirement)?

[FW]

Round 5: Frank Van Rijn - TPS

I've seen him getting lucky draws in the previous rounds, so I know what to expect.

I don't get a very good draw, play Welder turn 1. He gets out Bagain and wins.
Game 2, I duress him and pull Gifts. 2 turns later, he rips Ancestral. He then tries to Will, but I Crypt his graveyard. He is playing very slowly so I call the judge (since he is 1-0). He then Recoup his Will (I just realise now while typing the report that he cheated: the Will resolved and shouldn't have been in his graveyard), cast Will, I drain it, he REBs, I force the Will, he forces back and wins.

I played this guy too. I was dumbfounded by all his lucky topdecks. Later on he mysticals, and puts the card in his hand and stuff like that. He also miscounted his storm once, and we had to check everything again with prove that he didn't kill me. There was also something with his sleeves, but I don't know if you can remember that? It was a sketchy player to say the least. It was strange playing him as he seemed hyperkinetic, but was constantly slow playing.

I was very suspicious, but I couldn't tell whether it was intentional or not. He miscounted his live total when drawing with Bargain (drew one more that what he paid for), but he didn't complain when I fixed it straight.

I'm sorry i played very sloppy, i admit that i made lots of mistake's not only play errors but also stupid things like not following the strickt rules. I could now sum up a couple excuses for that but that is also bit lame.
But I would like to make clear that I never intended to cheat, apologies if my way of playing annoyed people.

[Eddie]

Round 5: Frank Van Rijn - TPS

I've seen him getting lucky draws in the previous rounds, so I know what to expect.

I don't get a very good draw, play Welder turn 1. He gets out Bagain and wins.
Game 2, I duress him and pull Gifts. 2 turns later, he rips Ancestral. He then tries to Will, but I Crypt his graveyard. He is playing very slowly so I call the judge (since he is 1-0). He then Recoup his Will (I just realise now while typing the report that he cheated: the Will resolved and shouldn't have been in his graveyard), cast Will, I drain it, he REBs, I force the Will, he forces back and wins.

I played this guy too. I was dumbfounded by all his lucky topdecks. Later on he mysticals, and puts the card in his hand and stuff like that. He also miscounted his storm once, and we had to check everything again with prove that he didn't kill me. There was also something with his sleeves, but I don't know if you can remember that? It was a sketchy player to say the least. It was strange playing him as he seemed hyperkinetic, but was constantly slow playing.

I was very suspicious, but I couldn't tell whether it was intentional or not. He miscounted his live total when drawing with Bargain (drew one more that what he paid for), but he didn't complain when I fixed it straight.

I'm sorry i played very sloppy, i admit that i made lots of mistake's not only play errors but also stupid things like not following the strickt rules. I could now sum up a couple excuses for that but that is also bit lame.
But I would like to make clear that I never intended to cheat, apologies if my way of playing annoyed people.

No problem. It's always easy to think people cheat when stuff like this happens. But as Carl said: if it's brought to your attention, you correct it without a fuss. I don't think any of it was intentional, you where probably a little nervous and tired like most of us . I did some stupid things too in our match, like shuffling my burning wish back in my deck (which was RFG) when you timetwister-ed. I only noticed this when I didn't see it anymore, and I was close to dead already.

[FW]

Round 5: Frank Van Rijn - TPS

I've seen him getting lucky draws in the previous rounds, so I know what to expect.

I don't get a very good draw, play Welder turn 1. He gets out Bagain and wins.
Game 2, I duress him and pull Gifts. 2 turns later, he rips Ancestral. He then tries to Will, but I Crypt his graveyard. He is playing very slowly so I call the judge (since he is 1-0). He then Recoup his Will (I just realise now while typing the report that he cheated: the Will resolved and shouldn't have been in his graveyard), cast Will, I drain it, he REBs, I force the Will, he forces back and wins.

I played this guy too. I was dumbfounded by all his lucky topdecks. Later on he mysticals, and puts the card in his hand and stuff like that. He also miscounted his storm once, and we had to check everything again with prove that he didn't kill me. There was also something with his sleeves, but I don't know if you can remember that? It was a sketchy player to say the least. It was strange playing him as he seemed hyperkinetic, but was constantly slow playing.

I was very suspicious, but I couldn't tell whether it was intentional or not. He miscounted his live total when drawing with Bargain (drew one more that what he paid for), but he didn't complain when I fixed it straight.

I'm sorry i played very sloppy, i admit that i made lots of mistake's not only play errors but also stupid things like not following the strickt rules. I could now sum up a couple excuses for that but that is also bit lame.
But I would like to make clear that I never intended to cheat, apologies if my way of playing annoyed people.

No problem. It's always easy to think people cheat when stuff like this happens. But as Carl said: if it's brought to your attention, you correct it without a fuss. I don't think any of it was intentional, you where probably a little nervous and tired like most of us . I did some stupid things too in our match, like shuffling my burning wish back in my deck (which was RFG) when you timetwister-ed. I only noticed this when I didn't see it anymore, and I was close to dead already.

yeah after game one i couldnt stop me hands shaking :lol: I haven't played this kind of storm deck much so i was afraid to make stupid mistakes and i was nervous

[forests failed you]

But I am not sure Echoing Ruin is better than Primitive Justice. Why do you prefer the former?

It kills multiple copies of Chalice of the Void, Null Rod, and Smokestack.  A lot of times players will just drop multiple copies of Null Rod on the table so that you have to waste time killing both before  you can get moving.  Ruin takes care of this problem.  Not to mention blowing up a chalice on Zero and One in one swift stroke is the win.