Meandeck Open 10/15 Results

[Hi-Val]

We had, I think, 17 players, vying for a large cash purse. The top 4 split the prize. Here's the T8:

Columbus Top 8 - Oct. 15, 2006

1.   JR Goldman

4 Trinket Mage
4 Auriok Salvagers
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Merchant Scroll
3 Thirst For Knowledge
3 Brainstorm
1 TIme Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Black Lotus
3 Aether Spellbomb
5 Moxen
1 Sol Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
5 Island
2 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
1 Engineered Explosives

SB:

4 Disrupt
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Energy Flux
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
3 Threads  of Disloyalty
1 Disenchant
1 SEal of Cleansing


2.  Stephen Menendian

4 Merchant Scroll
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Brainstorm
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirction
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Recoup
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
5 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy



3.  Mark Trogdon

2 Uba Mask
4 Null Rod
2 Gorilla Shaman
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Smokestack
2 Gamble
4 Goblin Welder
1 Duplicant
4 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
4 Tangle Wire
3 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
4 Mishra's Workshop
2 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Wasteland
5 Mountain
2 Barbarian Ring
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Minje

SB:

3 Duplicant
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Rack and Ruin
4 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast

4.  Joe Bushman

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Valt
1 Sol RIng
4 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
3 Goblin Welder
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Triskelion
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Echoing Truth
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Mindslaver

SB:

3 Rack and Ruin
3 Old Man of the Sea
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Pyroclasm
1 Fire/Ice
4 Leyline of the Void

5.   Daniel Anschutz

3 Skirk Propsector
4 Goblin Ringleader
2 Goblin Sledder
2 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Seething Song
2 Mogg Fanatic
4 Chrome Mox
1 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Ruby
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Goblin Burrows
15 Mountains

SB:

2 Mogg Fanatic
2 Seething Song
1 Goblin Burrows
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Goblin Sledder
1 Gobling King
1 Gempalm Incenerator
6 Mountain

Yes, I see that this deck is illegal, but we didn't see it at the time nor did we deckcheck.

6.  Jerry Yang

6 Mountain
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
3 Barbarian Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Goblin Welder
4 Gorilla Shaman
4 Null Rod
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
3 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Smokestack
2 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Duplicant
1 Trinisphere

SB:

4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Shattering Spree
3 Mycosynth Lattice
2 Duplicant
2 Solemn Simulacrum

7.   Jimmy McCarthy

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
3 Null Rod
3 Food Chain
1 Mana Crypt
4 Mountain
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Gempalm Incenerator
2 Siege Gang Commander
3 Goblin Recruiter
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Lackey
2 Goblin Matron

SB:

3 Umazawa's Jitte
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Artifact Mutation
1 Goblin King

8.  Nam Tran

1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Peral
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Null Rod
4 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
3 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
3 Uba Mask
1 Duplicant
1 Sundering Titan
4 Goblin Welder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Balance
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
3 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy

SB:

2 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Duplicant
2 Triskelion
2 Viashino Heretic
2 Rule of Law
1 Darkblast
2 Ray of Revelation


There was no Long of any kind at the event.

[Komatteru]

Oh man, Bushman is still alive! How good!

Yes, I see that this deck is illegal, but we didn't see it at the time nor did we deckcheck.

I can't believe no one noticed it ealier in the day either. He must not have ever drawn 2 Chrome Mox in the same game, or never played more than 1.  I suppose no one really cared either when he got it in opening hand with a substantially higher percentage than normal...

There was no Long of any kind at the event.

What the deuce? What the hell is happening to this format?  Was there no Fish too?

[Evenpence]

What's up with people running REALLY horrible Ubastax lists, too?

I like Mark Troggysteiner and everything, but I have the following problems with this list:

2 Uba Mask  -  This is way too inconsistent for Uba Lock, and you don't get any abuse with Bazaar with 2 Uba Masks.  I've come to the conclusion recently that anything less than 4 Uba Mask is probably suboptimal, although 3 isn't THAT suboptimal.  1 or 2 is just bad - don't even bother running it.
4 Sphere of Resistance  -  This card is horrible.  It's virtually never been good for me.  The only thing that I can see it being good with is Gorilla Shaman / Null Rod + Crucible AND Strip.  That's REALLY pushing it for creating a hard lock.
2 Gamble -  I would do more than this or none at all.  I was testing 4 Gamble for a while and it wasn't that bad.  You're not running Chalice, which is a horrible decision, so why wouldn't you run more of these?
3 Solemn Simulacrum  -  This guy is only good against Stax.
2 Bazaar of Baghdad  -  This is the worst decision in the deck.  This is the third most important card in the deck, behind Trinsiphere and Mishra's Workshop.
4 Wasteland -  These are bad in the current metagame.  I've gone down to 2 and I'm probably not going back.
5 Mountain  -  Way too many, but I guess Solemn forces you to run alot to get the maximum use out of him.
2 Barbarian Ring  -  I guess getting to threshold is hard for you with only 2 Bazaar and 0 Chalice, so I can see why you only run 2, but why run them at all if you're only going to be able to use them in 1 out of 10 games or so, when it might not even matter?

SB:
3 Rack and Ruin  -  There is no reason to run this over Heretic or Shattering Spree.

6.  Jerry Yang

6 Mountain  -  What the hell is up with all these mountain lovers?\
4 Gorilla Shaman  -  I don't have a problem with this, just commenting - Gorilla Shaman is REALLY strong right now.  Good call.
4 Sphere of Resistance  -  Horrible.
4 Tangle Wire  -  Good job comboing Shaman with Wire.
3 Bazaar of Baghdad  -  Horrible.
3 Smokestack  -  Horrible.  4 or 0 on stuff that is exponetially better on turn 1.
2 Solemn Simulacrum  -  I don't like this guy.

SB:

4 Pyrostatic Pillar  -  Good call.  This card is insane.
4 Shattering Spree  -  Another good call for a workshop heavy meta, apparently.
3 Mycosynth Lattice  -  Is this to combo with spree?  lol  How did it work out for you?
2 Solemn Simulacrum  -  Why?  Stax mirror?  Why not just get better cards?

Nam Tran's list seems fine to me.  I'd actually like to build it and test it.

[LotusHead]

Thanks for the lists.  It's nice seeing people try out new tech/variations of other builds.

What's up with people running REALLY horrible Ubastax lists, too?

I like Mark Troggysteiner and everything, but I have the following problems with this list:

2 Uba Mask  -  This is way too inconsistent for Uba Lock, and you don't get any abuse with Bazaar with 2 Uba Masks.  I've come to the conclusion recently that anything less than 4 Uba Mask is probably suboptimal, although 3 isn't THAT suboptimal.  1 or 2 is just bad - don't even bother running it.
2 Gamble -  I would do more than this or none at all.  I was testing 4 Gamble for a while and it wasn't that bad.  You're not running Chalice, which is a horrible decision, so why wouldn't you run more of these?

My guess is that given no Chalice, Gamble is Uba Mask 3-4 or other lock piece.  Why not?

[Komatteru]

What's up with people running REALLY horrible Ubastax lists, too?

Apparently not everyone believes in your philosophy of the construction of Uba Stax.

[Pathian]

I had an absolute blast at this event despite just missing T8 at 9th. I'd love to see the MD Open go monthly

3 Mycosynth Lattice  -  Is this to combo with spree?  lol  How did it work out for you?

In his Top 8 Match with Trogdon he almost pulled it off. He replicated enough Shattering Spree with Mycosynth Lattice on the board to blow Trogdon's entire board. Made every single person in the room stop to watch. Trogdon had the R&R to blow up his lattice though.

[Hi-Val]

This event was worth attending for many reasons, but JOE BUSHMAN was the reason I attended.

Lyle and I were both playing pretty standard UW Fish and got blown out by mulligans and better decks.

[GrandpaBelcher]

This was, as always, an awesome amount of fun.  I went 1-1-3 on the day with UB Fish and wish I had been bolder in my sideboard choices.  Who knew that combo would not show up at all?

Also, remember the Wasteland.

Also, Thurmans FTW.

[nartman99]

What's up with people running REALLY horrible Ubastax lists, too?

I like Mark Troggysteiner and everything, but I have the following problems with this list:

2 Uba Mask  -  This is way too inconsistent for Uba Lock, and you don't get any abuse with Bazaar with 2 Uba Masks.  I've come to the conclusion recently that anything less than 4 Uba Mask is probably suboptimal, although 3 isn't THAT suboptimal.  1 or 2 is just bad - don't even bother running it.
4 Sphere of Resistance  -  This card is horrible.  It's virtually never been good for me.  The only thing that I can see it being good with is Gorilla Shaman / Null Rod + Crucible AND Strip.  That's REALLY pushing it for creating a hard lock.
2 Gamble -  I would do more than this or none at all.  I was testing 4 Gamble for a while and it wasn't that bad.  You're not running Chalice, which is a horrible decision, so why wouldn't you run more of these?
3 Solemn Simulacrum  -  This guy is only good against Stax.
2 Bazaar of Baghdad  -  This is the worst decision in the deck.  This is the third most important card in the deck, behind Trinsiphere and Mishra's Workshop.
4 Wasteland -  These are bad in the current metagame.  I've gone down to 2 and I'm probably not going back.
5 Mountain  -  Way too many, but I guess Solemn forces you to run alot to get the maximum use out of him.
2 Barbarian Ring  -  I guess getting to threshold is hard for you with only 2 Bazaar and 0 Chalice, so I can see why you only run 2, but why run them at all if you're only going to be able to use them in 1 out of 10 games or so, when it might not even matter?

SB:
3 Rack and Ruin  -  There is no reason to run this over Heretic or Shattering Spree.

6.  Jerry Yang

6 Mountain  -  What the hell is up with all these mountain lovers?\
4 Gorilla Shaman  -  I don't have a problem with this, just commenting - Gorilla Shaman is REALLY strong right now.  Good call.
4 Sphere of Resistance  -  Horrible.
4 Tangle Wire  -  Good job comboing Shaman with Wire.
3 Bazaar of Baghdad  -  Horrible.
3 Smokestack  -  Horrible.  4 or 0 on stuff that is exponetially better on turn 1.
2 Solemn Simulacrum  -  I don't like this guy.

SB:

4 Pyrostatic Pillar  -  Good call.  This card is insane.
4 Shattering Spree  -  Another good call for a workshop heavy meta, apparently.
3 Mycosynth Lattice  -  Is this to combo with spree?  lol  How did it work out for you?
2 Solemn Simulacrum  -  Why?  Stax mirror?  Why not just get better cards?

Nam Tran's list seems fine to me.  I'd actually like to build it and test it.

Jerry and Mark playtest with each other like twice a week if not more. Both of their deck builds are a result of their testing and their personal preferences. They also do a very good job predicting the metagame, and building their decks appropriately. I know that there are a lot of standard Stax cards that Mark does not like, that's why we usually see him play Workshop Aggro with O-Naginata and the like.

As for my list, it is Jeff Greene's list from Star City, so all the credit goes to him. I've just been looking for a 5 Color Uba Stax decklist that work.

All of the Meandeck Opens are always a blast and I encourage anyone that can make it to attend any future ones. It was fun playing everyone, and congrats to everyone else in the Top 8, especially JR Goldberg with his terrible deck!

[JR]

I had a great time as well, these events are always fun for the atmosphere as well as the solid play.

That's totally hilarious that the goblin player was running four chrome mox; I remember during deck reg he had his deck out on the table and I saw four mox on the table, but I didn't put two and two together.

I can't speak for Jerry or Mark, but both of them have been running lattice for a while. It is good against MDG, as it shuts down FoW and M Scroll, and it hoses ichorid. Granted, it seems a bit slow to me, but who am I to judge.

Also, Wipe away is absolutely stupid.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone, it was a blast.

In a funny little coincidence, I think everyone in top four had played each other in the swiss. I know Steve played Joe, Mark and I, and I played Steve and Joe along with Jerry Yang. Funny how that works out.

I have finally decided to bite the bullet and have started registering as JR Goldman, considering no one has ever gotten my name right at one of these things.

JR GOLDMAN

[Evenpence]

Apparently not everyone believes in your philosophy of the construction of Uba Stax.

I can't see how those lists are anywhere close to optimal.  If there are a bunch of 2 and 3-ofs, wouldn't it make sense to run 4 Gamble?  Like I said, I was running 4 Gamble a while ago and it seemed definitely sub-par.

Anyway, I don't think Vroman, nor Yespuhyren or anyone who has played Ubastax for any length of time would agree with anything less than 4 Bazaar.

Regardless, congrats to those who placed well.

[President Skroob]

3 Mycosynth Lattice  -  Is this to combo with spree?  lol  How did it work out for you?

Mycosynth Lattice also combos well with Null Rod in UbaStax for a really beastly lock if you can find a way to break it later. I heard that's exactly what happened in the top 8 in Trogdon versus Yang, and Yang tossed the Rod to a Smokestack and then Shattering Spreed for 13. Boom.

Whatever works.

[GrandpaBelcher]

Man, that match between Trogdon and Yang was insane!  Seriously.  That huge Shattering Spree and the Rack and Ruin on the Lattice that fizzled most of it since the targets were no longer artifacts.  The ensuing all out battle between topdecked Duplicants, Welders, Smokestacks and Jens.  It was crazy.  I wish I had a better memory of all that happened in that round.

[Tha Gunslinga]

I guess this explains where all the Stax decks went.

[LordHomerCat]

Sphere of Resistance seems like a fine choice, given the general number of Long and Gifts decks that usually show up at these things.  This time there was only 2 Gifts and 1 Slaver, and no combo at all, which was rather uncharacteristic.  I played something random because I expected lots of Fish (which there was) and lots of Gifts, and didn't feel like playing hard matchups all day long.  I think there were something like 4 Stax decks in the room, 2 goblins, 2 gifts, 1 slaver, and a ton of fishies.

[Twaun007]

I had a blast at this thing. I was one of the stax players, but my decked pooped out once again and I was stuck at the bottom tables all day.

props:
-Tarnished citadel.
-JR's tourney match up percentage. Its amazing.
-JR for hooking up the 64 thousand dollar sports car with primo gas.
-Magic lingo interaction.
-My old lady for buying me new card sleaves.
-Thurman's for hookng it up with the greatest burgers.
-Mark and Jerry's epic stax match. It caught the attention of everyone. Even brought type 4 to a grinding halt.


non-props
-My deck having diarrhea cause it is constantly pooping on me.
-Attracting goblin lackey like a magnet.
-Iron lung.
-Everyone for making my car smell like an outhouse.
-Angel for having to cast Armageddon in twice on the highway resaulting in complete porcelain domination. A.K.A. fear and respect the the Thurman's Spicey hot salsa burger!

 

[yespuhyren]

Apparently not everyone believes in your philosophy of the construction of Uba Stax.

Anyway, I don't think Vroman, nor Yespuhyren or anyone who has played Ubastax for any length of time would agree with anything less than 4 Bazaar.

Regardless, congrats to those who placed well.

Yep.  I would agree with you 100%.  The most confusing thing about Trogdon's list were the absence of Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and Mana Crypt.  I guess it is because of running 4x Null Rod, but still, those cards are so good.  I was really surprised that there was so much Uba, and again, I completely agree with Colby that while the decks still did well, I truly believe those decks to far from optimally constructed.

I mean, 2/3 didn't run Mana Crypt and 3/3 didn't run Mana Vault. I mean, QUE?  The only reason I cut mana crypt, and was pretty much the only one of us at the time (me, vroman, colby) is because I don't play Smokestack.  If I played Smokestack, I would NOT cut the card.

Either way, its good to see so much mono red stax in a T8

[desolutionist]

What about Menendian's sideboard?

[GrandpaBelcher]

Did he even use one?  Menendian doesn't need a sideboard to split top four in a mox tourney.  It's probably just 15 Islands that he sides in to even his opponents' chances.

[49 Cents]

He said something about keeping it to himself in another thread.. Still, that's kind of lame. Post your whole list or no list at all! What's the amazing tech anyway?

[Machinus]

Seriously, no sideboard? Upcoming discussion or none at all?

[yespuhyren]

Smennen is just too good.  Legends have it that he lends his SB to his opponents to use at their disgression and they still can't beat him.

[JR]

I don't mean to come across as a staunch supporter of Steve, but is all this really necessary? I mean, it's pretty obvious he did have a board, and much like every report or result listing his decks have been on (With the exception of SCG events), his board remains his own. He did well with it, obviously, so I don't really see what the discussion is all about.

Anyway, shouldn't sideboards be for expected metagames and such? I would imagine that if you played Steve's board card for card at your next event, you would most likely find it lacking.

JR.

[desolutionist]

I don't mean to come across as a staunch supporter of Steve, but is all this really necessary? I mean, it's pretty obvious he did have a board, and much like every report or result listing his decks have been on (With the exception of SCG events), his board remains his own. He did well with it, obviously, so I don't really see what the discussion is all about.

Anyway, shouldn't sideboards be for expected metagames and such? I would imagine that if you played Steve's board card for card at your next event, you would most likely find it lacking.

JR.

It is obvious that he doesn't want people the net his board.  But if he is going to protect his own tech from the masses, wouldn't it be fair that he conceals the other's as well?

[Machinus]

Well mostly I'm surprised he requested to withhold only the sideboard. But I'm also interested in what's in it. So, is this another case of tech secrecy, or is there some kind of discussion forthcoming?

[AJFirst]

Who cares, I'm busy still trying to get used to seeing the number 3 next to the word Brainstorm.

I don't think it'll ever settle in...
-AJ

[JR]

I've played lists with 4, but I felt like playing less fetches and more basics, so I ran three. There is almost no difference in how your games play out because of it.

JR.

[Zarathustra]

What's up with people running REALLY horrible Ubastax lists, too?

Does everyone's list have to be the same as yours, Colby?

I mean, they must be doing something right.  Not every list has to be the same.

- DShell

[Hi-Val]

I think steve's board was mad random 1-ofs like Old Man which he thought could stop Icorid : D I'll try to track it down, there's no ZOMG MEANDECK CONSPRIACY!!1 to hide it.

I had a blast playing T4. Paul "Molestriano" "I invented Type 4" Mastriano had Kaervek out. So EOT Lyle casts Sickening Shoal for 1000 and Paul cackles with glee. He points it at me... and gets it Reflect Damaged back at him. Paul got to hand out about 10 more damage but he was out for the count. I won that game with an early Winding Canyons, letting me play Armored Guardian and Simic Sky Swallower at EOTs. I followed up with Tatsumasa, The Broken Fang and then Canyon'ed in Ur-Dragon. I was *elated* to find that I had Nicol Bolas in my deck.

I think I killed 3 or 4 players myself in that game. It's the first time I've won T4 I think.

[Machinus]

Thanks for the info. What's on next weeks episode of "The Storm?"