Analyzing the Failure of Bazaar Stax/The Jester at Rochester

[yespuhyren]

Well, another SCG P9 has come and gone, and for some reason there was a strange variety of Bazaar Stax lists floating around.  Here goes the analyzing!

List 1 -  99th Place

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice Of The Void
3 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
3 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
3 Uba Mask

Artifact Creatures
2 Duplicant
4 Juggernaut
2 Triskelion

Creatures
4 Goblin Welder

Legendary Artifact Creatures
2 Karn, Silver Golem

Basic Lands
5 Mountain

Lands
2 Barbarian Ring
3 Bazaar Of Baghdad
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
3 Defense Grid
3 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Eon Hub
2 Orb Of Dreams
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Goblin Bombardment

Maindeck selections

5 Mountains, 2 Barbarian Rings

I can't see any reason to be playing less than 4 Barbarian Rings.  Without a lot of Solemns, that many mountains is not completely necessary unless you are cutting non red sources like extra wastes.

No Null Rods/Caps MD

This list really looks like Shop Aggro with some smokestacks and the UbaZaar engine thrown in.  I don't really see any synergy in this list.  I firmly believe in Cap or Rod.

The SB looks fairly good, except for a few points.

1)  Why Ensnaring Bridge.  Oath has TONS of hate.  This doesn't really stop most aggro decks except for Ichorid, in which case the Orb of Dreams are going to serve the same purpose.  This card really isn't THAT useful in my opinion (at the moment)

2) Eon Hub - Well, this shuts down your own Smokestacks, and Tangle Wires.  Just...why?  Against Oath?  Ichorid?  There are better answers than this.  Trust me.

All in all, this list looks like it needs focus.


List # 2 - 83rd Place

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
3 Chalice Of The Void
3 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Null Rod
4 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
3 Sphere Of Resistance
1 Trinisphere
2 Uba Mask

Artifact Creatures
1 Duplicant
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion

Creatures
4 Goblin Welder

Enchantments
1 Fastbond

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Crop Rotation
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Balance
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker

Lands
1 Barbarian Ring
2 Bazaar Of Baghdad
4 Gemstone Mine
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
4 Tendo Ice Bridge
2 Wasteland

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
2 Defense Grid
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Choke
3 Sacred Ground
2 Rack And Ruin
2 Ray Of Revelation

Chris took a different approach, and went with a 5c version of UbaStax.  This deck looks to be a mix of UbaStax and 5cStax, and this seems to be where the games would have been lost.

0x Mana Crypt - Why not run this?  The main reason I can think of cutting this is because I had cut it and mentioned cutting it in my article, but that was ONLY if I got rid of smokestacks.  I can't see a reason not to run this.

2x Uba Mask - Why even run this then?  The main reason UbaStax runs 4 is
A) UbaZaar
B) Uba Lock

with only two Uba Masks, you can't honestly hope to consistantly do either of the two. 

2x Null Rod seems random, though I haven't tested this so I will leave it as is

3x Chalice of the Void - I would much rather this be a 4 of, because you always want to open with it pretty much.  In 5c, however, most of the bombs cost 1.  I would cut this.

On a final note, the lack of tangle wire seems concerning, as that is one of the best weapons against control in my testing.

List # 3 - 26th Place

This deck is very similar to List # 2.  The summary of the differences are

Maindeck Differences:
+1 Bazaar Of Baghdad
+4 City Of Brass
+1 Darkblast
+1 Mana Crypt
+4 Tangle Wire
+1 Wasteland

-3 Chalice Of The Void
-1 Barbarian Ring
-1 Fastbond
-2 Ghost Quarter
-2 Null Rod
-4 Tendo Ice Bridge

Sideboard Differences:
+4 Chalice Of The Void
+1 Choke
+1 Darkblast
+1 Duplicant
+2 Seal Of Cleansing

-2 Defense Grid
-2 Rack And Ruin
-2 Ray Of Revelation
-3 Sacred Ground

The maindeck is really similar, the main difference being the Cities for Tendos.  The other thing is 4 Tangle Wires in the main, and moving the set of chalices to the SB.  Again, I don't personally like the 5c version, but to make way for the 1cc bombs, Chalices will have to be scrapped.  This was the right decision, and could definitely have been a key to his success

List # 4 - 21st Place

I can honestly say this is the only list I was happy with.  I believe as far as keeping to UbaStax is considered, this is probably one of the best versions at the moment. 

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice Of The Void
4 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Null Rod
4 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
4 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
4 Uba Mask

Artifact Creatures
1 Duplicant
1 Solemn Simulacrum

Creatures
4 Goblin Welder

Basic Lands
3 Mountain

Lands
3 Barbarian Ring
4 Bazaar Of Baghdad
4 Mishra's Workshop
2 Rishadan Port
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
4 Granite Shard
3 Jester's Cap
3 Orb Of Dreams
2 Duplicant
3 Viashino Heretic

This list is card for card the same list that Vroman had used in his last tourney.  No need to comment any further here.

And finally,

List # 5 - 54th Place

The only person running The Jester at this tournament!! WOOO!!  Lets analyze his list.

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice Of The Void
4 Crucible Of Worlds
3 Jester's Cap
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
3 Uba Mask

Artifact Creatures
4 Juggernaut
1 Razormane Masticore
1 Triskelion

Creatures
3 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman

Legendary Artifact Creatures
1 Karn, Silver Golem

Basic Lands
4 Mountain

Lands
4 Barbarian Ring
4 Bazaar Of Baghdad
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland

Legendary Lands
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
2 Defense Grid
3 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Eon Hub
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Shattering Spree

I will post his list vs mine after, but for now, we'll just analyze.

Maindeck issues:

1x Razormane Masticore:  This card was the most troubling to me.  The card is A HOUSE!  EXCEPT when you are running 3x Uba Mask, which means you can't keep a hand, or 4x Bazaar, which greatly diminish your abiilty to feed the hungry cat. 

3x Goblin Welder - Well, I personally believe this should be a 4 of, as it is one of the greatest and most versatile cards in the deck, as well as being your largest threat against control.

2x Gorilla Shaman - This card is OK, but has a few main issues that need to be addressed.  First of all, you will never have a lot of extra mana to nuke artifacts.  Most of the time you will be blowing up Moxes.  Something which Karn does without any issues.  Gorilla Shaman also costs 1, and you would generally like to set Chalice@1 ASAP when the opportunity arises.

Another issue, which I focus on, is the amount of dead cards.  I always do my best to limit the amount of dead cards I am playing at any given time.  When you are rapidly Bazaaring, or blindly setting Chalice@1, this card is bad for you.  Once it hits the grave, it is effectively a dead card.  Karn, however, usually serves the same purpose, yet once he is in the graveyard, he is NOT a dead card.  He can be welded in. 

Remember, all lands can be replayed via a crucible, which you play 4 of, and all artifacts can be welded in via welders, which you should play 4 of.  The only cards in my deck that can't be returned once in the graveyard are 4x Goblin Welder.  That is it. 

4x Mountain/3x Waste - Good, I like this adjustment.  It is the number I have been using as well.

Sideboard:

2x Defense Grid - Why only 2?  If you like it, you should play 3/4.  Two is not consistant, and consistancy is something that makes this deck what it is today.  This deck is extremely consistant, running few restricted cards, and the rest of its cards in 4 of's

3x Ensnaring Bridge - Good, but again, why run this card?  Against Oath, I would always rather have Goblin Bombardment

2x Eon Hub - Again, why you and why are a lot of people running this?  This is a lot to shut down Ichorid/Oath/Stax, and itsn't that good in any of the matchups.  Against Ichorid, try Caltrops/Orb of Dreams, against Oath try Goblin Bombardment, and against Stax, just stick to Heretics/Sprees depending on what you like better.  I personally have been liking Heretics a lot more recently.

The rest is good, though running 4 of's of your non restricted cards will increase the consistancy of your draws and will make your deck that much stronger.  Consistancy, as well as the least amount of dead cards in the deck is something so important I can't stress it enough.

All in All UbaStax/Jester did very poorly compared to what I'd hoped it would have achieved.  Notice that Colby decided to go against my advice and played what everyone hyped up as the best deck, ICBM Oath, and got 100th place, whereas last time he T8'ed both days.  I'm not saying he would have T8'ed, but I'm sure he would have done better than 100th place with a well built and metagamed version

Jason P

Fixed the title.  These were the Rochester results -jpmeyer[/color]

[Cross]

I feel like people who got 99th place may have had issues getting all the cards needed for the deck, so it seems unfair to judge their card choices. The excercise is interesting, but it comes off as kind of a public shaming when you name people.

[yespuhyren]

All the names were removed.  It wasn't meant to be a shaming in any way.  I just wanted to try and be thorough.  Anyone who knows me knows that I do my best never to offend people, and apologize if anyone was offended.

Most of the cards were not difficult to obtain past the

5 Mox
Lotus
4 Shop
4 Bazaar

Most of the lists I had issues with were because of how they were build beyond those cards.

[GrandpaBelcher]

What a great thread!  Thanks!

This has been extremely enlightening looking into both how the deck works and why it works.  I would love to see more threads like this on the other major archetypes.

To me, who has never played Uba or any other Stax, it looks like the 99th place list was trying to metagame against Oath and Fish.  Although it didn't work out this way, those were the two threats that everyone talked about before the tournament, so I can understand the worry.

Also, you say running only three Wastelands in favor of another Mountain.  Again, having not played the deck, but coming from a Fish background, don't you want Waste effects early and often in the hopes of keeping opponents off their mana?  Or does having the Crucibles make up for it?

[Purple Hat]

Wasteland has become less useful for two reasons, #1, drop a workshop and everyone plays like you have 4 in your HAND, much less 4 in your deck. #2 the metagame addapted.  Everyone not playing a 5c mana base plays between 7 and 10 non wasteable lands.  Thus running 3 is ok because turn 1 waste isn't always gonna be useful.  most of the time players are going to drop a fetch and hang out, you drop a waste, they get a basic....now you've potentially color screwed yourself.

[CwaM]

All the names were removed.  It wasn't meant to be a shaming in any way.  I just wanted to try and be thorough.  Anyone who knows me knows that I do my best never to offend people, and apologize if anyone was offended.

You can still get names through scg, I think he wanted to say to just not even put the #finish

[Harlequin]

Its not like you can't look up the placement on the SCG database either.

I don't think anyone would be ashamed to see their decklist up there even if they placed poorly.  The decks were brought up as descussion points and referance.  Every comment on the deck is highly constructive, and not insulting at all.  No where did I see "Uber-noob" or "retarded cousin."  Its a critical and open analysis of decks whos controller's name and placement in this tournement is public knowledge anyhow. 

The rank of the deck is I think of almost no importance to the community.  We all understand that pairings and luck are major factors in a deck's proformance... esp at a big event.  So again, I don't think that posting the rateings is insulting or be-littleing at all.  But thats just my opinion.

[yespuhyren]

Again, as much as the posting of places might seem irrelevant, it is actually extremely important, in a way I feel IS more relevant than you would think.  Lets analyze further

99th Place - This deck took a workshop aggro approach, and is the furthest away from a proper build of UbaStax.  Notice, this was the lowest placing version of the deck.  It also didn't run 4 B-Rings.

83rd Place - This deck went 5c, something I said should not be done and could not be effectively done with the deck for fear of watering down the lock components too much, and not having at least 3/4 b-rings against CS.  This deck also had 3 chalices MD, which should have probably been Wires

54th Place - The lone Jester, this deck was relatively well built, although I feel the only hinderance other than Razormane Masticore would be some of the sideboard selections.

26th Place - This deck went 5c as well, defying my ideals that 5c couldn't place relatively well.  This one, however, was build a lot better than the 83rd Place deck for a few reasons:

High level of Colored spells means that City of Brass is likely better than Tendo, because damage is not a large issue.  As well, the deck ran an additional Bazaar, moved the Chalices to the SB and ran a FULL SET of wires.  This was a great call.

21st Place - This deck was the only list I was 100% happy with, and again, it was Vroman's list.  That list was to test out the viability of running 2x Rishadan Ports in the maindeck. 

Hopefully this clarifies everything, and @Nam Tran, if you see this, please post here or PM me, I am very curious at how the Ports worked out for you.  Personally, they weren't THAT great for me, but maybe I should consider going to 3 mountain/4 B-Ring/2 Waste/2 Port

[TimeWizzle]

Just for clarity's sake, are these lists from Richmond or Rochester?  The title of the thread says Richmond.  

And as for list #2 losing games because it was a mix of 5c and Uba, that doesn't necessarily make the deck weaker as I have gotten 8th and 19th in SCGP9 events with 5cUba (ScUba Stax).  I don't necessarily agree with all of his card choices, but the deck didn't lose just because it was 5c.  I imagine it lost because it ran Tendo over City of Brass.  This is further demonstrated by list #3 doing much better.  

and in my testing, Uba is not really as critical as many claim it to be, so running fewer than 4 makes sense to me.  You also have to consider that there are 3 tutors that can go find an Uba when it would be useful.  Running fewer than 4 Crucibles is much more foolish in my mind.  

[mgouthro]

I ran list #5 - 54th Place so maybe I can shed some light on my choices starting with a bit of a preamble.

Originally when trying to figure out what deck to play for day 1, I tested many of the so-called top tier decks. Either I found that I didn't have enough practice with them, or I didn't like some of the matchups. I would have liked to run IT but wasn't good enough with it. That being said, I turned to a deck I play locally in sanctioned events which was 5 colour workshop aggro. In that list, I run a second Razormane Masticore, a second Triskelion, Platz, and Sundering Titan over Karn. I also ran a single Jester's Cap in the main and it proved quite awesome a couple of times against various decks like Oath. I even removed sideboarded hate a few times.

With that in mind, the deck that was being massively advertised as the deck to play at Rochester was Oath. I figured that I'd run Workshop Aggro as I'm more comfortable with it, but I decided to add a second Jester's Cap. I really didn't like how hard it was to get the coloured mana for my various spells, including Thirst for Knowledge. I decided to use the Uba Mask/Bazaar draw engine instead. That involved making a few cuts here and there, including some of the creatures and the TFKs. At that point, I recalled a few threads that you and Vroman have been involved in, and decided mono-red was probably better because it can handle Energy Flux much better. The Tangle Wires came in because I remembered reading how bad they were for combo if it landed. Slowly, it started morphing from Workshop Aggro more towards the Jester, although I didn't think much of that at the time. I'm 100% positive some choices were made because I had read your threads in the past. It still wasn't dead on the Jester until I realized that virtually everything in my shop aggro SB had to be replaced. Then I started surfing to find what cards would be best. I looked up the Uba threads and found your board which, for the most part, I copied. I really didn't like the Defense Grids. They never worked for me at all in testing and I came to believe they were a terrible card. I also made some more tweaks to come closer to your maindeck list by adding the last Jester's Cap, and then I cut the Sundering Titan for Karn. The 3 Welders and 2 Shaman configuration was a last minute decision the night before (as well as Karn). My teammate convinced me to go with the two Shaman as we expected more combo, even though I thought that Goblin Welder is the most dangerous creature in magic when combined with Bazaar of Baghdad. Also, because I made those changes at the last minute, I didn't think to include a Mana Crypt. I think that is also a big mistake. Even with no Smokestacks, I'd have Karn and 2 Shaman to eat the Crypt (not to mention welders) if it became a problem. I stuck with the Razormane Masticore in the main because I expected there to be more Fish decks (which I didn't see at all!), and the Razormane wrecks weenie aggro. It's prevalent where I play, so that's why that decision.

To recap:

Razormane Masticore: It has always been an absolute house against small aggro/fish. I expected more and didn't see it. Further to that, I never had a Uba Mask down at any time I had Razormane throughout the tourney, so it wasn't a drawback. Also, with Eon Hub in the side, it's drawback would be negated.

3x Goblin Welder: I agree this was a mistake. With Bazaar, welder is the absolute nuts.

2x Gorilla Shaman: He was fine as a 1-of. I ended up throwing him in front of Ichorids more than eating Moxen.

0x Mana Crypt: In this build, I should have included it for explosiveness. Otherwise, it doesn't make the cut.

0x Sundering Titan: I regretted cutting this in favour of Karn. Everytime I found Karn, I wished that it was Sundering Titan instead as it could have changed the game.  Karn did nothing for me all day.

4xMountain/3xWaste: This was all you. I read some of your threads and completely agree with this configuration. Wastelands are not affecting the game that much right now with all the fetches, etc. More on this later.

2x Defense Grid: In fact, I would rathered have cut this card altogether. I didn't find it made any difference at all (which is why I dropped down to 2) and it could have been better as REBs.

3x Ensnaring Bridge: This card was actually quite good for me. It won the matchup against Ichorid almost by itself. I almost picked up a win against Oath with it. More on the Oath match later.

2x Eon Hub: I would have ran more of these if we had any more. Okay, it works very nicely against Oath and Ichorid. I only run Tangle Wire for Upkeep locks. It helps my Stax matchup nicely, which surprisingly hasn't been very good. Plus it negates the Razormane drawback. If you are running Smokestack, it's not a good card for the sideboard. But I focused on the aggro side of things. This helps for all three matchups versus using most of my sideboard for cards against  single decks. I prefer the flexibility.

Onto the interesting side of things. I can say that virtually every game where I resolved a first turn Juggernaut, I won. I won a single game based on Barbarian Ring recursion, and zero games on a Jester's Cap activation. Jester's Cap didn't do anything for me all day, but I think that was primarily due to losing FIVE die rolls in a row. Several games going second, I would have had a 1st turn Cap activation, except my opponent dropped a Chalice for zero. Two of those games were against Oath. I was able to drop and activate a Cap only two times all day. One time, my opponent had the Burning Wish in hand, and in the other, he was holding a Tendrils of Agony. Only once was my Cap countered and I dropped one the next turn (Burning Wish time).

I think that my rough showing was based on going second 5 matches in a row. I had gas in hand in many games, but never got off the ground several times.

Some examples:

VS Oath round 1:
Game 1: 1st turn Jester's Cap in Hand with Shop and Lotus. Opponent drops Chalice for zero, and Oath the following turn. I was one land drop (or Sol Ring, Vault) short of dropping the Cap and activating.

Game 2 (I think it only went two): He had Oath down, but I had a Welder and Ensnaring Bridge on the table with another one in the yard. I had two Bazaars going and finally after digging over halfway through my library, I found a CoW. Several CotV were countered. I started Ring recursion, but after a few of those, he found what he needed. He cast Rushing River targetting my Ensnaring Bridge and Welder, in response, I welded in a bridge from the yard for a near dead Tangle Wire. He then oxidized the bridge in play, swung for 12, then Duressed the bridge in hand away on his second main phase. My welder had no chance to get active in time, so I was done.

VS Ichorid round 2:
I lost game one because I had a good hand, but just not against Ichorid.
I won game two on the back of Juggernaut.
I won game three because the turn before he would kill me, I found an Ensnaring Bridge. Then a second, then a third, all of which prevented Chain of Vapor from hurting. Especially since I was stripping a land each turn with Cow/Strip. Then I Barbarian Ringed him to death.

VS IT Round 3:
I had two turns in game one (lost die roll), and two turns in game two (with me going first). Nothing I could do to stop it.  The only thing I had to stop it was Forced.

VS Oath Round 5:
Game 1 is very fast with him landing an early Oath and me dying. Losing the Die roll always hurts.
Game 2, I mull to 6. I started with Black Lotus -> Crucible. I cast Chalice of the Void for zero. Then I dropped my Strip Mine. It was awesome. On his turn, he dropped Forbidden Orchard. On his end step, I stripped it. In response, he tapped it for green, cast Crop Rotation (giving me a crit), and found a Fetchland. Yeah, slap in the face. I didn't do much of anything on my turn, and he dropped a Trop, cracked the fetch and cast Oath. I lost.

In these rounds, it just seemed that either my opponent had the nuts, or whatever cards I kept were terrible. I'm sure that you or Colby would have done much better with it.

Mike G.

[rureddy31]

Jester's Cap is a terrible card. The only reason it had such an effect on Richmond (with Colby top8ing twice) was a sheer surprise factor. I believe it was a mere fluke that Stax ended up T8ing. While I am not going to make some outragous claim that Stax is dead, I believe it is the wrong choice right now. Once people start forgetting about it again, it will be able to put op some numbers. But the fact of the matter is, there are too many decks that can't just win before Stax is able to establish a lock. Until last weekend, Fish seemed to be dying, and that was one of Stax's best matchups. All I can say is I hate the Jester Caps, and I think they don't belong.

[nartman99]

Hopefully this clarifies everything, and @Nam Tran, if you see this, please post here or PM me, I am very curious at how the Ports worked out for you.  Personally, they weren't THAT great for me, but maybe I should consider going to 3 mountain/4 B-Ring/2 Waste/2 Port

Rishadan Port only really came up in two matches. Round 4, Game 2 against Eliseo (Top 4 Day 1 with Bomberman). I had out some artifact accelerants and Null Rod. He only had out 4 lands. I kept tapping his only white source to prevent him from playing Auriok Salvagers. Unfortunately for me, he discarded 3 of them in a row. I couldn't draw anything, and he had out Pithing Needle naming Bazaar of Baghdad, which kept me from drawing answers to my Mana Crypt. I was at 2 life and got really lucky winning like 5 Mana Crypt coin flips in a row, but it eventually took me down. Eliseo later showed me his hand of all counter magic and explained that he was going to counter anything that could let me get rid of Mana Crypt, and that it was his win condition. We went on to unintentionally draw in game 3.

The other time was against Mike Herbig (Top 8 Day 1 with Grim Long). It was game three and the winner would make Top 8. I am on the play and mulligan into a hand of Rishadan Port, Black Lotus, Mox Ruby, Goblin Welder, Chalice of the Void, and Orb of Dreams. I play Port, Ruby, Lotus, Welder, Orb, Chalice for 0 in hopes to use my Port along with Orb to slow him down enough until I drew some business. I proceed to draw Mishra's Workshop, Crucible of Worlds, and another Rishadan Port. I played my second Port, and the turn before I would have both of my Ports online, Herbig comboes me out with one land. Had he not been able to combo me out, I would have had 2 Ports tapping both his lands, and who knows what would have happened there.

In retrospect I think I should have held Chalice of the Void in my hand and played it for one on turn two, because Orb would make all of his stuff come into play tapped anyways, but I did not expect to do as well as I did seeing in as how my friend told me to play it the night before we left for Rochester, and I sort of agreed with him half asleep, built it up, and didn't even test with it. I'm sure I could have done better had I knew more about the deck and matchups. I think my biggest problem was sideboarding.

All in all, those instances are the only ones that I can recall where Rishadan Port was useful. However, I think that the option is nice. In a deck with Bazaar and Crucibles, multiple Wastelands and such can become redundant, adding Port adds utility to the deck without wrecking the manabase or cutting essential lock pieces from the maindeck.

I didn't get to use Rishadan Port to tap down Mana Drain players, but the option is nice. I only played against 3 Mana Drain players. Round 2 against Matt playing ICBM Oath, who I 2-0'ed in like 3 minutes, Round 3 against Simon playing Rivard Slaver, who I 2-0'ed rather quickly, and Round 4 against Eliseo playing Bomberman, who I ended up drawing with. Port never became important in any of these matchups, except against Eliseo which I talked about previously.

If I were to play this list again, I would defintely run the 2 Rishadan Port maindeck again. Perhaps in Charlotte, who knows, but I am curious to see Roland Chang's Changstax2k7, lol.

I hope some of this helped out, and who knows, maybe Rishadan Port will be better for you if you decide to run it. Since I don't post to often, I wanted to give Mad Props to Vroman for his list. When he posted it he said, "Here's my new list for anyone out there who cares." I guess it goes to show that people are out there, and people do care. It almost landed me my 2nd StarCityGames Top 8! Thanks again!

[Purple Hat]

Jester's Cap is a terrible card. 

it's a terrible card?
it wins games outright vs:
IT pre board
Grimlong
Oath
many Stax lists
Gifts

and Severly hinders:
uh....everything in the format except fish...

in addition it turns the match vs dragon into "we draw or I win"

how is this effect terrible?

[Razvan]

Jester's Cap is a terrible card. The only reason it had such an effect on Richmond (with Colby top8ing twice) was a sheer surprise factor. I believe it was a mere fluke that Stax ended up T8ing. While I am not going to make some outragous claim that Stax is dead, I believe it is the wrong choice right now. Once people start forgetting about it again, it will be able to put op some numbers. But the fact of the matter is, there are too many decks that can't just win before Stax is able to establish a lock. Until last weekend, Fish seemed to be dying, and that was one of Stax's best matchups. All I can say is I hate the Jester Caps, and I think they don't belong.

Stax's big problem is that decks that have outs against it WILL draw them at some point. It's the fact that you cannot prevent other deck's inevitability with a soft lock. Jester's Cap addresses this issue exactly.

The whole POINT of stax is that it delays the opponent. Hard locks are a fantasy, they will generally never happen. But a soft lock can ensure that you do get a turn or two to use Jester's Cap, where you turn the lack of redundancy of the OTHER decks into an advantage. Obviously this will do squat vs. some decks, so I still think it maybe should be SBed, but that's another story.

By itself, the card is terrible. In the Stax framework, it's awesome.

[PacmanXSA]

For the record, Jester's Cap is metagame dependant.  Seeing lots of gifts, combo and oath?  The Cap is for you.  Aren't seeing those decks?  Don't use cap... Ok?!?!!

Anyways, many of the lists that were posted are, in my opinion, horrible.  I also believe that the calling for tangle wire is a total joke.  Tangle Wire, in my testing, does very little to stop control and this is where yespuhyren stated that it shines the best.  Control, instead of casting things at EoT just casts draw/business spells during their upkeep and accumulate retarded card advantage during this time and unless stax has the nuts and can continously drop appropriate lock piece after lock piece, the stax player will inevitably lose.  Stax, for the most part, wants to attack the mana base of the opponent.  Tangle only kind of does this... Sphere on the other hand...  Anyways, I don't want this to become another Tangle Vs. Sphere debate, but at least you know where I stand on the issue.  Only the 83rd place guy has a somewhat good build.  His threat and lock consistency and choice is near perfect, in my opinion, however his mana base sucks... Cutting City of Brass for Ice bridge is way beyond me...

Pac

[yespuhyren]

@Pacman

Yes, the threats are good, but you are looking at it from the wrong perspective in my opinion.  His deck is good, but would have been better had it JUST been 5c Stax.  There is no reason to play Uba Masks in that deck, especially with only 2 Bazaars.

The only deck that I would consider a good UbaStax list was Nam's list.  That was the only REAL ubastax deck. 

The one Jester list is also fairly close to the real version of The Jester, with only a few minor details I would change.

@PT TREP

I don't know what you are talking about, regardless of what this deck plays you say it is bad.  Caps are bad.  Granite Shards are bad.  I won't even try and convince you that this is a good deck.  If you really think Cap is only good because it was a surprise then you clearly just don't understand Vintage. 

If I walk into any Magic tournament, they will know what I"m playing.  Do you think that means that resolving Cap is now not any good?  I don't understand your logic here, and as Razvan said, this card might not be the best card in any deck, but in Stax, it is great.

Please give us some REAL reasons why Cap is bad (other than that ridiculous reason that it was surprise factor)

You can't judge the deck and cards being bad when ONLY one person plays the deck. 

EDIT:

@Pacman again

REAL 5c Stax can run Sphere
REAL UbaStax can't.  Trust me.  I've tried.  It just can't.

A mix of the two, well, I can't say.  All I know is REAL UbaStax/Jester has THE HIGHEST average converted mana cost of spells than ANY deck...period.  This is why it can't run Resistors.