(Yes this was the meandeck open)
So apparently it doesn't take quite as long as Mapquest indicates to reach Columbus from Oakland County (Michigan).. The day was a most interesting one, one that started with three sleep deprived dumbasses driving all the way to Columbus only to camp out in front of the Venue for the greater portion of two hours.. (That is what I get for wanting to get there "a little early" so I would have time to see "what was what."
So we went in after finally finding that the correct locale of the tourney was
behind the laughing ogre and that it had been open for a bit.. Alot of faces I don't know. Off to a good start. After a bit of brief socializing, meeting a few new faces and recognizing a few old ones as they filter in we finally get to starting registration. To be honest as far as I'm aware we weren't delayed incredibly long before we had all the lists in and it was time to get some shenanigans underway.
The List:
Name: Deadguy Ale
// Lands
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Scrubland
4 Wasteland
8 Swamp
3 Tainted Field
// Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
3 Jotun Grunt
3 Nantuko Shade
3 Hypnotic Specter
// Spells
4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
4 Vindicate
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Cursed Scroll
4 Sinkhole
2 Engineered Plague
// Sideboard
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Engineered Plague
SB: 3 Perish
SB: 4 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 3 Kataki, War's Wage
We all get paired and I'm at the very last table jammed way in the back, hoping it wasn't foreshadowing I just sat down and shuffled like a madman (h-ate landscrew.)
Round 1 vs. Juan w/ 43 Land
Game 1- So my gameplan should I run into land today was to just pray to god I didn't run into it today. I didn't wanna run an over-redundant (word?) amount of graveyard hate so once I realized what I was facing I just hoped grunt would be enough.
I lead ritual Hyppie go. Unresponded I breath a sigh of relief and hope that will do it.. It does, through the lack of any real answers to my stuff (and the lack of Manabond) I go crazy getting hyppie in way more than I should and finishing the deal with a Cursed Scroll. I took 5 damage this game all from my own cards (manaburn, fetchies and Confidant.)
Game 2- Alright so needless to say the fact I won game one had me psyched. I really wasn't thrilled about this matchup but hey if I can steal another game I'll be done with it. At this point Steve Menendian comes over to momentarily observe and comments on how the deck I am facing is all over today (oh great!)
I pretty much do nothing this game. Pithing Needle on Treetop Village and STP on a Factory Worker (not the card but the land) keep me alive momentarily but I drown under LftL + Manabond for a very rough game two.
Game 3- This is where it gets stupid, while we are shuffling five minutes gets called in the round so we both figure this will go to draw.. However I am on the play so I might be able to pull something out of my ass.
A Duress lead reveals the following: 3x Maze of Ith, LftL, Manabond, Savannah and a last card which I can't recall (aka irrelevant). I take Manabond and pass the turn. He drops a maze. I wasteland it and Duress again for loam. He drops the green source, I sinkhole. Somewhere in here time is called so the match becomes a blur.. HOWEVER. I proceed to topdeck 2x wasteland and a Grunt, destroying all his green mana and mazes and swinging to victory with a Grunt and Shade with literally a turn to spare. Good game ridiculouse topdecks.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Paul Mastriano w/4c Landstill
Game 1 - After poorly butchering his name on my notepad I feel it only fair to lose the die roll and let Paul go first.. I don't remember too much about this game until the end, I'm constantly laying threats (just one at a time to avoid mass removal) but he is constantly
TOPDECKING STP every turn. After he runs out of that silly four of I get one last guy in (a confidant I think) and we go to game two.
It is at this point I believe I should tell you all a silly factoid about Team Meandeck. Apparently, they all have super powers... Of those, they can magically win via topdeck, and use verbal curses to damn a person to a fate worse than death... Let me explain.
Steve comes over to see me playing his Teammate and mentions how it's a pretty solid deck. He then has the audacity to use said evil power and says "Heh, this guy is gonna get second just like Pikula." Remember these words... I did.
Game 2 - Paul goes land go (I know crazy eh?) and I lead with an unanswered ritualed Hyppie. This seems rather good and my life count looks much like a constant smacking of small creatures against poor Pauls dome. I do recall (to be fair) that Paul never actually drew any blue mana producers and as such suffered from the beatdown of many little dudes with his only defense being a pair of pretty little STPs.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Kc w/Angel Stompy
Game 1 - We both immediately complain we didn't both drive to Columbus just to play against other guys from Michigan but hell a match is a match so why not play it? I keep a pretty solid land hate hand (2x Sinkhole and 2x Wasteland) Kc wins the roll but is rather discouraged as he mulls down to 6. He still hates his hand but says he doesn't wanna risk any lower since he knows I'm playing BW. He leads Chrome Mox removing Isamaru and plays an Isamaru. He proceeds not to play any lands for the remainder of the game and I proceed to not draw anything relevant. Simply savage.
Game 2 - Going first is sorta nice in this deck. I don't honestly know what the hell I did but I never took a damage not even from fetch. The little guys beat the living tar out of him (I don't recall him having barely any threats this game) and we go to game three.
Game 3 - One thing I find interesting about Angel Stompy is the use of Parrallax Wave. This card is rather savage if you can win the game before it goes away... If.
He starts with an early Isamaru beatdown. I get a Cursed Scroll and Shade out and go to town. He gets Wave and gets rid of Shade, plays another dude and beats down more. I Scroll one guy, Swords the other and he slaps his head on his end of turn for remembering there is still a Wave in play with three counters on it. Shortly after I get Shade back and despite another Wave I am able to keep him completely off white and go to town with Scroll and later that very same Shade.
3-0
Round 4 vs. Doug Linn w/3c Survival
Game 1 - Oh goodie, Survival. I really haven't tested against this at all and so really, I'm not too thrilled. I start with Hyppie and he is never answered. A combination of disruption brings Doug down to zero with little pain besides my own fetchies on my own behalf. God who said take out Hyppie?
Game 2 - So yea, there is a reason Doug is 3-0 at this point too. He draws good, playing early Rootwallas then eventually going crazy with Survival and FTK to make my guys go buh-bye. I pretty much drop on the spot (life not from the tourney, durf) and he is lookin' just as healthy as I was game one.
Game 3 - We shall call this, the stupidest bloody game you have ever seen. And there is a reason for this... OOOOOh yes. The basic summary of the early game is Doug and I both draw about....
ALL of our land and see whos are prettier (I think he won but it's hard to be sure.) He gets some beats out but I get some too. Tired of my hand hate he Chalices for 1 (but not before I get out a Cursed Scroll... My only actualy business card besides discard) A Chalice for two comes shortly after. He drops a Baloth, I topdeck a Hyppie and Block + scroll. he gains some life. Repeat that again with another Baloth and another topdecked hyppie. I then proceed to ping him down to about... 12 before he plays the single most powerful card in his arsenal.. [card]Squee, Goblin Nabob[/card]. Go ahead, I'll wait while you look up that card... Yes it does have a power
and toughness. I topdeck Vindicate, shoot the little bugger and pinge again. Squee hits play again, this time sticking and bringing me from 6 to 5. Another ping to the head in response. This whole time I'm chucking 2 and 1 cost spells into the Chalice's so I can actually use scroll. After Dougs upkeep I pop Squee again. Huzzah a turn of free space. I get a Vindicate and hold it (instead of yaknow hitting his red source). I use the 'cate to scroll him and then immediately realize my error as we both know he has Chalice 3 in hand.. However he casts squee, I vindicate that lil' sunabitch and pop doug in the head again (though not necessarily in that order). Squee comes back again but now I can race him with scroll and eventaully end the official "Stupidest Match Evar." Though it was damn fun. (Btw I ended that game with a mere 3 life.)
4-0
*It is safe to say I am rather tired at this point. Staying up til four the previous night to prep for the trip may have been a tad bit stupid so I suddenly swapped from bothering to get peoples names all jotted down to writing their TMD nicknames.. I apologize in advance.. Also I don't play any more swiss rounds.
Round 5 vs. bomholmm (which is NOT his real name people) w/ Guess... Seriously it isn't hard.
ID
4-0-1
Round 6 vs. Freakish777 (yes he made it!)
ID
4-0-2
Huzzah top 8. That seems randomly good.
Quarters - Jeremy w/Those Silly Goblins
Game 1 - Lackey go was a strong play all day which was curious cause really who would have known the card was so strong. Either way no amount of the sinkholes I drew would save me from this fierce beast and I eventually succumbed to it's might. (This might have been sped up by the numerous other guys he got including Warchief and Gang-bang Commander)
Game 2 - Alright so I was a little prepared for goblins. I keep an opening grip of 3x Eplague, 1x Hymn, misc 3 land. Yes we both shuffled my deck so don't start with me.. I let him beat on me, hell he even drops a Pyro Pillar. The second I see his second color is green (not white for Echo) I drop three Eplagues and seal the deal with a Nantuko shade.
Game 3 - Confidence on my part is about 50/50 much like the matchup at this point. I resolve to mulligan into at least one Eplague.. Not that I need to as I start with both an Eplague and a Cursed Scroll in hand. I'm not sure I even have to go on as I play both of them (in case you are curious I named Goblin on the plague) and proceeded to do a combination of pings and nonbasic land hate towards his green producers.. No Krosan Grip for you. GG.
Semi's - Freakish777 w/Deadguy Ale
Game 1 - Sweeeet. Do you know how this mirror match works? It is entirely based on how gets Cursed Scroll out and active... Usually. He leads with Scroll, Nantuko Shade. I'm already in trouble. He comes strong but I hate out some land and my Shade becomes bigger (after I cast him of course). I keep the mana open to keep him alive and a Vindicate makes Shade much easier to handle. I manage to race his Scroll down with my much larger source of damage. Looking for answers my opponent casts a Confidant only to hit a Vindicate with a meer 3 life left. Huzzah for the mirror.
Game 2 - This is a silly little game. I keep a one lander (don't try this at home kids) with dual dark ritual. Before I go any farther I must explain something else I have learned about the mirror match. Your life total is your only resource that is any bit reliable in this matchup so Confidant is bad for you. Take them out. That said I had sided out 2 of mine for some Swords and taken out the maindeck plagues for two more. He leads ritual ritual Nantuko Shade, Engineered Plague -> Wizard. I laugh and ritual out Nantuko Shade
and Hyppie. He loses his land next turn and my beats are just superior. A scary matchup but it doesn't hurt I've run into the mirror waaaay too much in testing.
Finals vs. "Someone Set Us Up Teh Bomholmm" (He told me to call him that, would I lie to you?) w/ IGGy
Game 1 - I lose the roll for the... every single time today and he leads with land and all his goodies (those zero cost artifacts) and passes the turn. I get some early beats and hate out on his hand (and one or two land). With 5 life left on his part he topdecks IT with an LED in play on his side and a very angry Hyppie + Grunt on my side. I lose game 1.
Game 2 - Reference back to turn one, but without the hand disruption. I literally didn't see much of anything in disruption. I played dual Confidants just to try and draw some and about the most productive thing I did besides plinking him to 9 with Wizards was Vindicating a Lotus Petal. Apparently I can't beat
this combo deck so easily without Chalice. I lose again.
Ok do we all remember what I said earlier?
It is at this point I believe I should tell you all a silly factoid about Team Meandeck. Apparently, they all have super powers... Of those, they can magically win via topdeck, and use verbal curses to damn a person to a fate worse than death... Let me explain.
Steve comes over to see me playing his Teammate and mentions how it's a pretty solid deck. He then has the audacity to use said evil power and says "Heh, this guy is gonna get second just like Pikula."
So I end in second place, losing to a Meandeck Topdecking machine.... Sooo savage.. Thanks Steve!
Props:
Freakish777 for making it.
The turnout was so good the prizes went *explode.*
Team Meandeck for puttin on a good shindig.
Mike for being stupid good with IGGy.
My team for waiting for me to finish playing before going home.
Everyone from Michigan who went for... going.
Hi-Val for turning my tiebreakers from the worst one in the bunch to making them so good I was first seed going into top 8.. (Sorry about the rating again dude..)
Slops:
Steve.. for dooming me.
Ohio speed limits.
Traffic lights on Highways in Ohio.
Buckeyes, for just being you.
