[Report] RGSA Top 8 in Flint Michigan

So we decide to start testing 1.5 after hearing about this tournament for a Black Lotus. Not much testing ensues, but my team decides to stick with what we normally play, RGSA, even though we hadn’t touched it in a year.

We head out to Toledo Ohio at like 6:00 p.m. to crash and my friends house. We get there, build up our decks and sideboards, order some pizza, drink a bunch of beers and watch my friend Brad beat SNES Mario. Afterwards, we all go to sleep.

We wake up and start on our journey to Flint Michigan, eat some McDonald’s breakfast, and after some detours and such, find the College. Here is our lineup:

Brad Wayne – RGSA
Brian Grinnell – RGSA
Nam Tran (Me) – RGSA
Angel Rivera – Goblins (R/w)
Anthony Michaels – Suicide Black

Here is my list for reference:

4 Birds of Paradise
4 Fyndhorn Elves
3 Troll Ascetic
3 Eternal Witness
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Ravenous Baloth
1 Viridian Zealot
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Anger
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
4 Survival of the Fittest
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
12 Forests
2 Mountains

4 Pyroclasm
3 Tangle
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Genesis

Brad Wayne’s list was different by: - 4 Fyndhorn Elves, - 2 Umezawa’s Jitte, + 4 Llanowar Elves, + 2 Sword of Fire and Ice

Brian’s list was different by: - 4 Fyndhorn Elves, + 4 Llanowar Elves

Anthony only played Suicide Black because we convinced him to go with us, but he only had a binder full of cards that he took with him to college. A few minutes of browsing his binder, and the purchase of 18 Swamps, allowed him to come up and have fun. Casual Magic ftw!

My memory isn’t that great, and I didn’t take any notes so bear with me.

So on to the report:

Round 1 – Dan Fountain (B/W Control)

Game 1

My opening hand is solid, so I roll with it. I think he Vindicates my Survival and I’m left with 1/1 mana guys and not much else. He eventually gets out 2 Isochron Scepter with 2 Diabolic Edicts on it. I have Pyrostatic Pillar out and he Edicts me. We call a judge because there is a discrepancy on whether or not he takes 2 damage from Scepter. We have to wait like 10 minutes while they check it on the computer. The judge says something like the closest thing he could find was Replicate, so the answer is no.

After that ruling I am in a lot of trouble because my board is creature less and my hand is Squee, Pillar. I drop a Jitte, and another Pillar. The game slows to a halt. I try a “brilliant play” of Eternal Witness for my Elf, and play my Elf. I don’t know what I was thinking because Dan just Edicted both of my creatures, while I took 8 in the process. We play draw go for a while, eventually I get one of my outs and play Survival. I survival for my 2 artifact removal guys, get up a hasty Baloth, and deal him the final points.

This game was close, mainly to my bad plays. I was up to 27 from Swords, but I ended the game at 3. Dan had played some stuff that I had answered, but he dropped to 4 with double Pillar out, so he wasn’t playing another spell.

Game 2

Dan finally starts seeing lands after being stalled on 3 lands for the longest time in game one. My hand is solid, but Dan has all the answers. He Edicts my Bird, he Vindicates my Survival, and suddenly my hand isn’t so good anymore. He plays a Spectral Lynx, and I answer with Troll Ascetic. My hand is 3 Flametongue Kavu, so I just FTK his Lynx, he regens, I swing, and repeat until Dan is dead.

Even with the long wait for the judge ruling, we finished in time.

Round 2 – Spencer (Ichorid)

Spencer was sitting right next to me in round one, so we sort of knew what decks we were playing. Knowing what his deck was, I was not happy.

Game 1

Spencer leads with Putrid Imp. I lead with land and mana guy. Spencer doesn’t have very much going on, he gives Imp flying, ditching Ashen Ghoul and Deep Analysis, flashes back Deep, but doesn’t see much.

I play Survival, and Spencer realizes that there was a point to my deck. He thought I was just playing bad R/G Beats, haha. I FTK his Putrid Imp and do the Survival thing. Spencer proceeds to draw terrible. I Survival for Goblin Sharpshooter against his Ashen Ghoul, but I realize I can play the other FTK in my hand and swing for lethal instead.

Game 2

Spencer leads with Leyline of the Void, uh oh, and also Pithing Needles Survival. I’m in trouble. I don’t remember much of what happened, except I attacked with a Ravenous Baloth and a Viridian Zealot (equipped with Jitte) into a Stinkweed Imp. For some strange reason I put damage on the stack and sack Zealot to destroy Leyline after he blocks Baloth with Stinkweed. I don’t get counters on Jitte. I pass the turn, forgetting to lay the Tormod’s Crypt in my hand.

The next turn Spencer dredges and finally hits some dredge guys. He passes to me and I lay my Tormod’s Crypt and it turns out to be really good. I win the game with guys.

Round 3 – Paul Nicolo (U/G Madness)

I’ve seen Paul around before, but I’ve never gotten to play him. This should be interesting.

Game 1

I remember he counters my Survival and I’m stuck having to go with the bad R/G Beats plan. My board is like Elf, Elf, Viridian Zealot, and Squee. He has 2 Wild Mongrels beating my face in with flying. We trade blows back and forth and I realize that I’m at 6 and he has 2 cards in hand, a Wonder in the bin, and lethal damage on the table. I swing him down to 1 and drop Birds of Paradise, which I was holding in case I drew Survival. That was enough to keep his guys from attacking while I attacked for the win.

Game 2

Game 2 is very similar to game one. I think I got Survival to stick and we are trading blows. I remember I swung with FTK and Nicolo pitched Wasteland so Aquamoeba could trade. Eventually he runs out of cards with Mongrel on the board. He swings, I take, and I follow up the next turn with Jitte on my guy. It connects and I pass the turn, I forget to kill his Mongrel, but I do it during Nicolo’s upkeep, and since his board is just 2 Tropical Island with no hand, he scoops.

I’m feeling pretty good after this round because I just beat a really solid player. 3-0 is better than 2-1 and I haven’t lost a game yet. I’m really nervous and shaky so I go get some pizza and relax.

Round 4 – Steve (R/w Goblins)

Steve is seated in 1st and one of the coolest, most laid back opponents I’ve played today. It was great fun.

Game 1

I keep a sketchy hand, it was like Forest, Bird, Survival, Anger, Squee, Guy, Guy. If I drew a land, I was golden, but if I didn’t, I was in trouble. I tried to rely on my top decking skills, but Steve did the Goblins thing and I was killed really quickly.

Game 2

My hand is again sketchy, but I decide to roll with it and rely on my topdecking skills. I think it was Forest, Mountain, 3 Pyroclasm, Tangle, and an Elf. Steve doesn’t see much action besides double Vial and I don’t either, eventually I drop a Troll Ascetic and start going aggro. Steve doesn’t do much until he gets his Vials to 3 and 4. He starts dropping guys conservatively because I keep leaving mana open, and he is scared of Hail Storm.

He drops a small force, I clasm and regen my Troll. This happens twice more, but he Vials in Siege Gang twice and shoots me for the last 4 points.

Round 5 – Mike (U/G/W Threshold)

Mike and I are a little nervous because of the importance of this match. We shuffle up and start and suddenly:

we’re deck checked. We wait around for what seems like a while and we get our decks back and are good to go. We shuffle up some more, and begin.

Game 1

My hand is solid, unfortunately he knows what I’m playing. I lead with mana guy, he plays Meddling Mage naming Survival, which is annoying, but fine. I play some guys, and he plays some guys. We trade attacks back and forth until Mike plays Mystic Enforcer. We trade some more blows, and he does some combat math. He Swords my Baloth, I game 4 in response. I attack, he takes, I have lethal next turn, but he Swords my Birds of Paradise blocker to swing through and kill me.

Game 2

I remember getting Survival to stick, but I am mana screwed. I play Witness for the Baloth in my yard that was countered to get my Wooded Foothills, but he counters that. Eventually I get the lands I need, Survival going, and I FTK everything, while swinging with hasted Kavus.

Game 3

My opening hand is sort of insane. It was Survival, Survival, Survival, Umezawa’s Jitte, 2 Forest, and a Wooded Foothills. I debate for a while whether or not to keep, but I roll with it since my deck is all guys.

I play turn 2 Survival, he Dazes. I play turn 3 Survival, he Forces, I play turn 4 Survival, it sticks. Good, even though I drew my 4th Survival, but no creatures yet. Steve has a Werebear and 2 Mongeese, but he seems to be having problems getting Threshold. I eventually draw a Witness, ditch it to get my Survival engine going and I FTK everything and swing with hasted guys. Steve’s board position was a Mongoose and 3 lands I think, while I was getting 2 hasted Baloths a turn. Sadly Steve countered one of my Baloths, and another one the next turn. I keep casting my hasty 4/4’s and that is enough to win the game.

Round 6 – Rich (U/B/W Fish)

We debate for a while whether or not we can draw in. I am sitting in 9th and Rich is sitting in 4th. We talk for a while and figure out that if Demars loses, I would squeak in at 8th place. We draw and Demars does lose.

I’m in 8th and I have to play Phil Cape from RIW. It’s never good to have to play the 1st seed.

Top 8

Round 7 – Phil Cape (Affinity)

Game 1

I mull to 6 and keep a slow hand. Phil plays a bunch of cards that remind me of the type 2 deck. I get Survival out with a bunch of mana, but Affinity is to fast for me to set up. I FTK a Myr Enforcer, taking 2 from 2 Disciples, and I am staring down 2 Frogmite and an Arcbound Worker. I pass the turn and Phil apologizes as he drops Ravager and sacks everything so I die.

Game 2

I mull to 6 and keep a sketchy hand. I drop turn 2 Survival, but I never draw another land and Phil does the Ravager Affinity thing and gets a bunch of guys on the table. He swings, I Tangle. I draw nothing and Survival for a Bird. He Darkblasts, and has enough with Disciple and Ravager to kill me with 2 creatures.

I don’t think that RGSA had a bad performance in this tournament. Before this, Brad and I were 3/3 with Top 8’s with the deck. Brad Top 8’ed the first Duel for Duals, and we both made Top 8 at a Grand Prix Trial. Not having played the deck in a year, a few tweaks resulted in a 4-1-1, 4-2, and 4-2. Everyone on my team made top 16 except for Anthony.

Not being an avid 1.5 player, I wish we had tested against Affinity more. Also, we never tested Tangle, but the night before the tournament, we just couldn’t beat Goblins. In the tournament though, we still couldn’t beat Goblins. Hmm…

All in all it was a fun time. Congrats on RIW for taking home both prizes. It was nice meeting everyone, and hopefully people will start giving this deck a chance again, haha.

I hope you found this tournament report interesting, thanks for reading.