December 23rd, Taking 4th place with Masknought

[UR]

About half a year ago I wrote a report on finishing third with a mono-U Masknought deck (http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=28378.0). The deck is great fun to play and because I didn't want to make top 8 yesterday (I had other plans) I decided I would just go out and have some fun with this list;

MAINDECK:
1 Black Lotus
1 Darksteel Colossus
4 Illusionary Mask
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
1 Pithing Needle
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Tormod's Crypt

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Commandeer
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
2 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
3 Trinket Mage
1 Wipe Away

1 Academy Ruins
2 Flooded Strand
8 Island
3 Polluted Delta

SIDEBOARD:
2 Aether Spellbomb
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Jester's Cap
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
2 Pithing Needle
1 Sundering Titan
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Trickbind
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Wipe Away

It is based on the list I gave in the link with some minor changes (such as the Trinket Mage). I didn't put any thought into this list as my mind hasn't been with magic these past few weeks. Based on yesterday I would make some changes but I'll get back to that a little later.

The tournament was a side-event to a PTQ here in the Netherlands and 25 people decided to play. Some people who would normally play Vintage were still in the main event while others who never play Vintage (most notably Pro-player Rogier Maaten and freshly crowned team worldchampion Robert van de Medevoort) borrowed some cards, or indeed entire decks, and played as well.

The tournament started late so I decided to see how some of my friends were doing in the main event. While I was watching one of them get obliterated by somebody who had gotten a fantastic pool, the judge came up to me and informed me that round one had already started and my opponent was waiting. I hurry over to my table to find a rather soft-spoken young man shuffle up his deck. I quickly introduce myself and get ready to play.

Round 1 vs. Iain with Fish

Game 1
I lose the roll and he decides to play. He opens with a Tundra and a Trickster Mage. After having read that card I don't really know what to think and I decide to just risk it by playing a Mox a Land and an Illusionary mask right away. He is uncertain about what Mask does and his neigbour explains it to him since neither one of us has the oracle wording present (gotta remember that next time I pick up this deck) he Dazes and I put it in the bin. He continues to play creatures while I get a Divining Top in play via a Trinket Mage who also proved to be a valuable blocker when he made a mistake and attacked with the 1/1 Spellshaper. He does beat me down to eight lives but by then I've used the Sensei to set up for a Tinker. I Tinker up a Colossus and have both an active Fow and a Time Walk.

Sideboard; +2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, +1 Vedalken Shackles, -1 Tormod's Crypt, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Commandeer

Game 2
He doesn't have the fastest of openings and I have a quick Tinker. He is holding a Swords to Plowshares for the big man and he goes farming. A setback for sure but he isn't drawing his creatures and my Trinket Mage is slowly but steadily eating away at his lives. He manages to get two attacks in with a Rootwater Thief (both times removing an Illusionary mask) but he is quickly subdued when I play Kira, Great Glass-Spinner. Attacking and blocking with 2/2 guys... I thought I was playing the Vintage SE. After I resolve a Thirst for Knowledge there is nothing more he can do since it gave me a Force of Will and a Mana Drain (along with the Misdirection I was already holding). The Mage does get killed in combat but Kira takes it all the way...

YAY! Not only did I win this one, I had great fun while playing this match. I love creatures in T1.

Round 2 vs. Jasper with Intuition Tendrils (sorta)
I had been at the tournament scene for a pretty long time now since I was hitching a ride with one of the judges and I had already played against Jasper before the tournament. I believe the score was something like 3-5 in his favor so I knew I was in for a difficult one.

Game 1
I'm not really doing much of anything in this game. I counter for a bit and try to search for my combo pieces while he is steadily building up card-advantage. With only five draw spells in my deck I can't compete with him there and the only thing holding him back at the moment is Tormod's Crypt. He plays Chain of Vapor on it and the race was all over from there. He does broken things with Yawgmoth's Will and Demonic Tutor for a huge tendrils.

Sideboard; +1 Sundering Titan, +1 Trickbind, +1 Tormod's Crypt, -1 Trinket Mage, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Darksteel Colossus

Game 2
I get one of those hands that is really broken and go Land, Mox, Mana Vault, Illusionary mask, Dreadnought while holding a Mana Drain. I attack him the next turn and he scoops up his cards after looking at his topdeck. He tells me he had a good hand, but one turn to slow against this sort of opening (which my deck can produce quite regularly, but perhaps a bit too inconsistent for my taste).

Game 3
He cycles an early Rebuild and I took it as a sign that he was building up to a Tinker. Sure enough he has the Tinker on the next turn and he wins the counterwar. I don't have an answer just yet but I had better find one really fast. After drawing some cards from a Thirst I manage to find my combo but he already got in one attack so I can't use the Dreadnought as anything other than a blocker. I do find another Dreadnought and I can start attacking now... be it for just one trample damage per turn. While we are doing this he duresses me for the only card in my hand which happens to be a Trickbind. He proceeds to Mystical for a Tendris while I am at eight lives but can't build his stormcount up to four because he has no hand. Before he can get there I beat him down to 13 which means I can now go all-in. I wanted to play safe but I know he has the tendrils. He doesn't have an answer and I win a very close one.

After the match he tells me that he made a mistake while sideboarding. He forgot to bring in Hurkyl's Recall so all his bounce (Chain of Vapor and Rebuild) was useless since it would also hit his own colossus.

Round 3 vs. Thijs with Fish
I get downpaired against somebody with four points but that isn't what is worrying me right now... Thijs borrowed one of my decks and while I can definately win against his deck, I think he has the upper hand in this matchup.

Game 1
I fan a hand that has some lands, a Mask, a Trinket Mage a Sol Ring and some Draw. I keep but it wasn't to be. I draw nothing but Moxen while he slaps down a Kataki and an Isamaru. I trade a Trinket Mage for the Isamaru but he doesn't mind as he has a second one. Still no gas for me and a Jotun Grunt comes down across the table to seal the deal.

Sideboard; +2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, +1 Vedalken Shackles, -1 Tormod's Crypt, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Commandeer

Game 2
I keep a decent hand that is set on resolving a Tinker and protecting it. But as it soons turns out it just isn't enough. His beats start early with a Meddling Mage naming Mask and this is quickly followed up by more bears. By the time I get my Colossus I'm already on the defensive and while I do finally manage to also get a Dreadnought in play I'm simply overwhelmed. I came one mana short of transmuting for a Time Walk and killing him...

I hate fish... no matter which deck I play, I always seem to lose more matches to Fish than to any other deck out there.

I'm thinking about playing one more round and then dropping. But some of the people I'm here with are still drafing and there is also two decks that I lent to other people so I decide to play another round.

Round 4 vs. Frank with Gifts
Before the round starts I joke around with Frank that I'm going to play one more round and it will be a really stupid match against him. No sooner do the pairings go up and I find out that I am indeed paired with him.

Game 1
I don't really remember much of this game except that I got in some early beats with a Trinket Mage. My notes don't show what happened except for a huge loss of life on his side so I can only imagine that I hit him with either a Colossus or a Dreadnought. I do remember him being rather flooded.

Sideboard; +1 Sundering Titan, +1 Jester's Cap, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Darksteel Colossus

Game 2
This was more interesting than game one because I kept a hand that was out to control the game, not win it right away. I believe it had three mana Drains, two islands and two Thirsts. He doesn't kill me in the first few turns and the Thirsts just give me a great advangtage when they also draw me into an Ancestral Recall. From there I try to play a little more agressive with getting my combo together while still holding two Mana Drains and a Force of Will and a blue card. He feels that he must make his move and he plays Gifts Ungiven. I exchange my Sensei Top for the Commandeer that was on top, remove the blue card and a Drain to try and get it. He FoWs, I FoW and the game was over from there. I quickly get my combo together after that and he dies to Dreadnought beats.

Since there are only five rounds I'm pretty much guaranteed to make T8 from here. I should try and not make top eight more often it would seem...

Round 5 vs. Forgot his name with Fish
I actually wanted to play this round so that I could just lose and go home but he asked me if I would just ID with him instead because he really wanted the top 8. I agreed and I just went over to see some other people play.

That actually was a mistake. I was watching a match between two people who were no longer in contention for the top 8, they were excruciatingly slow (it really doesn't take five minutes to resolve an Intuition) and on top of that they both made about five huge play errors per turn. The problem for me was that this match went to time and then the turns... by slowplaying eachother into a draw the top 8 had to be postponed by another 20 minutes. Great... just what I was hoping for. Like I said, I had other plans...

My brother convinced me not to drop and just go and win the LoA. When I saw whom I had to play against in the quarter finals I really didn't give myself any chance so I figured it would only take about 20 minutes or so before I would be out.

Quarterfinals vs. Martijn with Ichorid
He was playing some homebrew hybrid list between the manaless Ichorid from SGC and some lists here on the drain. He was playing with the Dread Return for Suthered Ghoul combo but didn't run as much disruption as Smennen's list for instance. Still... Drain rolls over and dies to Ichorid.

Game 1
He is on the play and I mulligan to six as I see a very controllish hand with Drains and FoW. He leads with Bazaar of Baghdad and I know it is almost over unless I rip a Tinker from the top like a pro. I don't and I scoop on turn three when I check his graveyard only to find a Dread Return, a Suthered Ghoul, a Dragon Breath and some Nether Shadows. Just unwinnable...

Sideboard; +2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Tormod's Crypt, +2 Aether Spellbomb, +1 Vedalken Shackles, +1 Trickbind, +1 Jester's Cap, -4 Force of Will, -4 Mana Drain, -1 Misdirection, -1 Commandeer, -1 Muddle the Mixture

At this point I figured that basically anything was better than a counterspell against his deck so I just brought almost everything in. This wasn't a plan, more like a panic.

Game 2
I get to start now and after he mulligans down to five I figure he agressively mulled into Bazaar. I lead with a Mox and then a Needle on Bazaar. He can't really do anything anymore since it will take him three turns just to get anything in his graveyard right now so I set up for my Illusionary Mask and a Time Walk.

Game 3
He removes two hands with Serum Powder and then mulligans to six before finding a Bazaar. He only has one active Ichorid early on and I only take minor damage. I play a Trinket Mage as a blocker and search for Tormod's Crypt removing his yard. I have the Academy Ruins for recurring Crypts but he resolves a Chalice for 0 (since I boarded out all of my counters except for one... which I was holding but it can't counter artifacts). I never find a Dreadnought but it is uncessary since there are only four cards left in his library and he doesn't have much to play around my Vedalken Shackles and five Islands. I also have some bounce should he still have some tricks. The game quietly dies down as he decks himself.

I certainly didn't expect to win this one. I watch the remainder of the match between Nico and Jasper to see who my next round opponent will be. Nico wins it and we quickly sit down to play.

Semi-Finals vs. Nico with Gifts
We don't really bother with the decklists. I know what he is playing because I was watching and all he is really interested in is how many counters I'm running (he expected more than I'm actually running).

Game 1
I start play and do little but play a mox and a land. He does the same and passes also. Now I'm uncertain how to play on... keep Drain mana open, or go for the Trinket Mage and get a Sensei Top to manage my future draw. I choose the latter and it resolves. He does nothing relevant on his turn and I'm beginning to feel I made the right choice. I get in some beats with my mage but I can't add more pressure and I'm starting to lose counterwars. He resolves a Gifts and the Yawgwill comes soon thereafter.

Sideboard; +1 Sundering Titan, +1 Trickbind, +1 Jester's Cap, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Trinket Mage, -1 Darksteel Colossus

Game 2
The second game is another defensive one for me because he has an early Tinker with counter backup. He also Time Walks and drops me down to just nine lives. I do resolve Mysical Tutor and get my Wipe Away. He is kind of bummed out about that because he is holding an active Misdirection. His resources are pretty much spent and I can take over, setting up for a dreadnought.

Game 3
This game was very close. He leads with a Pithing Needle naming Illusionary Mask which is a pitty for me since I'm holding a Mask and two Dreadnoughts. All of a sudden my hand is pretty bad (just mana, a single counter and the aforementioned cards) so I set about getting rid of the Pithing Needle. I play a Mystical Tutor and he ReBs. I hope that was his only counter since I did build up enough mana to hardcast a Sundering Titan. Unfortunately he was also holding a Mana Drain. He does burn for eight when he can't sink his mana and he goes down to just six giving me some glimmer of hope. It wasn't to be however because he counters my hardcast Commandeer on his Yawgwill.

I got in fourth place and got a Mana Crypt for my troubles. Ohw well... not like I didn't have those already but it is still nice. I was very pleased with the way the deck performed. Also, I can still say that I've made T4 with this deck every single time I played it . I would suggest some changes based on yesterday however;

- Tolarian Academy. I don't really have any good reason for not putting it in. This deck plays a lot of artifacts early on and sometimes struggles to keep countermana open. Academy should help in that department and it isn't like Wastland is really that great against this deck.

- Pithing Needle. I ended up running this thing maindecked because I liked the idea of having a 'wishboard' but it was only really handy against Ichorid (both the games I played with Martijn and the casual ones with Robert) and I sided them out every other match. Even though Bazaar based decks are popular right now I don't think I would consider running this thing maindecked again. Right now I'm thinking about Engineered Explosives to still be able to justify the Trinket Mages and to deal with Pithing Needle and the like.

- Echoing Truth. Like I said at the beginning of this piece... I didn't put much thought into my list. My head apparently wasn't with it when I was figuring out my bounce spells. Wipe Away is fantastic, but Muddle the Mixture can't transmute for it. Echoing Truth therefore should at least be considered and I'm certain I'll put it in the sideboard.

Props;
- Making T4 again with a deck that was never built to win anything.
- The good casual atmosphere in the tournament. You know... minor cheating is still allowed .

Slops;
- Slow players who can't resolve an Intuition within five minutes while everybody already knows where the match is going.
- Being home at 22:40 while I had other plans that evening.

Disclaimer; My memory is a bit fuzzy on certain games and I didn't keep proper notes so if I misrepresented what happened exactly I apologize in advance.

[LotusHead]

Great report, congrats on your finish and nice looking list!

[zeus-online]

How has the top's been working for you?
I always find them to be bad or unnecessary...have you tried -2 tops, +1 crypt, +1 needle?

Othervise it looks nice

/Zeus

[UR]

Thanks guys. I really love the Sensei's Top actually. Because this deck doesn't run a lot of drawspells, I find that trying to maintain quality topdecks is sometimes the best that you can hope for. I did try Brainstorm actually but I'm just not as in love with that card as some other players. The extra Crypt maindecked wouldn't hurt I think... there are just so many decks that hate seeing that card (especially game one when they aren't really prepared for it) but like I indicated int he report, I don't like the Needle that much. Bazaar is popular enough to warrant it's inclusion, but Wasteland doesn't really hurt this deck and you rarely get to name anything else (I think I named Aether Vial in a casual game but that is it).

[zeus-online]

How often do you get stuck looking at the same cards with the top? Thats my primary concern.

You got:
5 Fetch
3 Trinket mage
1 Mystical tutor
2 Transmute cards.
11 cards total which allows you to shuffle your deck.


/Zeus

[UR]

I think during this tournament it happened to me twice (three times actually, but one time I didn't mind as there were nothing but good cards on top). I think you can run an additional fetchland and don't forget that Tinker will shuffle your deck as well (should it resolve ofcourse). What I also like is that you can just keep an important card on the top of your library where it can't be Duressed. This can cause you to shuffle away your Top every now and then when you crack a fetchland and you still really want the card on top. The situation doens't come up that often but it is still annoying when it does... so although I like it, I don't store my cards on top all that often.

[Shock Wave]

That's actually a really sweet looking deck. I'm going to goldfish this beast a bit and see how it runs. Congrats on the great finish and props for the fresh idea!

[Pyromaniac]

I split in the finals of this event with some workshop toolbox/aggro-esque deck I found  in my archives, based on something Van Sears played in some SCG tourney. If/when I feel like typing a report I'll do so, if people want the list lmk.

This deck is pretty sweet btw, it seems like a blast playing it, but unfortunately I have no Masks and Marco was playing his in his dragon deck sideboard (Don't ask, we're Dutchies, nothing we do makes sense )

[Mith]

I took am quite impressed with the approach of Trinket Mage and Muddle the Mixture as search tools. This deck is begging for Brainstorms. If search is truly more important than gaining cards, then it should be an easy switch for Thirst. Actually, there's just entirely too much I want to stick into this deck. How fast can you goldfish with this list? It's been a bit since masknought has been in favor, and I wonder how this version stacks up to the disruption/tutor based black versions we ran in the past.

[UR]

@ Pyromaniac

It is a shame I didn't get to play you. I kinda wanted revenge for the last time when you knocked me out of the semis with a similar deck. Congrats on the finish though!

If search is truly more important than gaining cards, then it should be an easy switch for Thirst.

Maybe the two can be switched. I don't know. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not in love with Brainstorm. The only time I've used that card to any sort of good effect was when I played it in Smennen's Ichorid. Thirst was included because there are just so many artifacts in this list that you don't really need. You never need a second Mask, you can almost always pitch a Mox or your DSC. So it just made sense to me.

Actually, there's just entirely too much I want to stick into this deck.

Don't even get me started... I want additional Misdirections, Mana Leaks, Brainstorms, Engineered Explosives, bounce cards and even an additional creature like Masticore or Platinum Angel for some matches. The sideboard is still a mess though so you may be able to fit everything in there and then just toy around with different configurations until you feel comfortable running this.

How fast can you goldfish with this list?

The fastest possible hand would be turn two but that has never come up. Turn four/five is pretty realistic and I've done turn three on occasion. But I have a very defensive play style so I suppose that if you really want to go for it it may be a little faster than I usually play it. I tend to sit on a Mana Drain and just cast everything of the mana I get from that.

Edit: Come to think of it, Black Lotus, Mana Source, Mask, Nought, Nought is turn two with just five cards. But like I said... it has never come up.

[zeus-online]

Fastest possible must be:

Land, lotus, mana crypt, Mask, nought, nought, time walk

But thats extremely unrealistic.

/Zeus

[Godder]

Using Mask taps it, so that hand wouldn't win until turn 3, although the Time Walk would make it effectively turn 2. It could be first turn Tinker for Colossus and Time Walk and end up much the same.

RTFC - my bad.

[UR]

No, the Mask doesn't become tapped. It is a poly artifact, not a mono artifact.

[Dpebta]

Hi all,

I'm the guy who went first after 5 rounds of Swiss, but lost against Gifts in the first round of T8.

2-0 vs Drain TPS
1-2 vs Masknaught
2-0 vs Control Slaver
2-1 vs Oath
2-0 vs Fish

Top 8:

0-2 vs Meandeck Gifts

I was absolutely not playing Intuition Tendrils, but I played the deck called: Dpebta's Intuitive:

Dpebta's Intuitive
(60 Cards)

24
4 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
2 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Tolarian academy
1 Volcanic Island
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

1
1 Darksteel Colossus

11
1 Tinker
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth
3 Duress
2 Merchant Sroll
1 Demonic Tutor

24
4 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Intuition
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild

Sideboard:
(15 Cards)

1 Rebuild
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pithing Needle
3 Extract
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Darkblast

Sensei's Divining Top was a house in Peters(URs) Deck. Absolutely nasty to play against.
It makes duress bad since he has treads on the top.

I apologize for my bad English.

- Jasper van der Vaart

[Pyromaniac]

I played some shop-aggro-toolbox'esque deck to a split in the finals (it was already 9.40 PM and we wanted to make sure we caught a train home). I had the following results:

Round 1: 0-2 vs shop-hate.dec : shops, hate cards etc. 2 mulls to 5 didn't help either
Round 2: 2-1 vs Goblins: he played a weird version with Fire Whip on a Lackey which cost me a game
Round 3: 2-0 vs Dragon
Round 4: 2-1 vs Staxless staxx: I topdecked like a pro in the 3th game, since that was all we were doing really.
Round 5: 2-0 vs Oath

T8: 2-1 vs Gifts: Rogier Maaten played this deck really good, but the games were totally lopsided: I demolished him first game with 3sphere and Strip Mine and some fast beats, he crushed me 2nd game when I held a hand I should've mulliganed and I crushed him 3th game with a quick Tinker for Titan
T4: 2-0 vs UWB Fish
T2: Split with Nico vd Hoeven playing Gifts, we went to catch our train.

The deck I played:

"Randomness collection Inc"

4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
3 Wasteland
2 Shivan Reef
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Vault
2 Gilded Lotus

4 Force of Will
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Intuition
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
1 Mindslaver

4 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
4 Juggernaut
2 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan
1 Masticore
1 Platinum Angel
1 Karn Silver Golem

Sideboard:
1 Balance
1 Memnarch
2 Seal of Cleansing
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Fire/Ice
2 Jester’s Cap
3 Red Elemental Blast

If anyone has questions/comments, lmk.

Greetz Hero

[Outlaw]

I was absolutely not playing Intuition Tendrils, but I played the deck called: Dpebta's Intuitive:

Dpebta's Intuitive
(60 Cards)

24
4 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
2 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Tolarian academy
1 Volcanic Island
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

1
1 Darksteel Colossus

11
1 Tinker
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth
3 Duress
2 Merchant Sroll
1 Demonic Tutor

24
4 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Intuition
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild

Sideboard:
(15 Cards)

1 Rebuild
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pithing Needle
3 Extract
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Darkblast

Just wondering why your not playing recoup over regrowth?  Intuition can function as a mini gifts late game, recoup busts it open.  Regrowth screams "im terrible!"

[LotusHead]

I played some shop-aggro-toolbox'esque deck to a split in the finals (it was already 9.40 PM and we wanted to make sure we caught a train home). I had the following results:

Round 1: 0-2 vs shop-hate.dec : shops, hate cards etc. 2 mulls to 5 didn't help either
Round 2: 2-1 vs Goblins: he played a weird version with Fire Whip on a Lackey which cost me a game
Round 3: 2-0 vs Dragon
Round 4: 2-1 vs Staxless staxx: I topdecked like a pro in the 3th game, since that was all we were doing really.
Round 5: 2-0 vs Oath

T8: 2-1 vs Gifts: Rogier Maaten played this deck really good, but the games were totally lopsided: I demolished him first game with 3sphere and Strip Mine and some fast beats, he crushed me 2nd game when I held a hand I should've mulliganed and I crushed him 3th game with a quick Tinker for Titan
T4: 2-0 vs UWB Fish
T2: Split with Nico vd Hoeven playing Gifts, we went to catch our train.

The deck I played:

"Randomness collection Inc"

4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
3 Wasteland
2 Shivan Reef
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Vault
2 Gilded Lotus

4 Force of Will
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Intuition
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
1 Mindslaver

4 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
4 Juggernaut
2 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan
1 Masticore
1 Platinum Angel
1 Karn Silver Golem

Sideboard:
1 Balance
1 Memnarch
2 Seal of Cleansing
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Fire/Ice
2 Jester’s Cap
3 Red Elemental Blast

If anyone has questions/comments, lmk.

Greetz Hero

This list looks like The GIlded Claw (a list I piloted blindly for about 10 tournies ina row. A Dan Carp Creation.

Any connection?

Why not the change to a singleton Bazaar like everyone else?

Why not maindeck Chalice of the Void? Like every one else?

I love the Force of Will sweet.

[Pyromaniac]

I just checked the SCG tourney results for some deck to play and came across this deck, sort of, played by Van Sears to some good results in the SCG tourneys. If there is any resemblance with TGC then I apologize for any offense, none intended by not mentioning it. A lot of lists play like 50 to 54-ish similar cards anyway, so there isn't a whole lot of maneuvering space with decks like these.

As for not playing Bazaar, the answer is simple: I don't have any, I sold mine (to UR actually) and haven't gotten round to picking up a few new ones yet .

I considered CotV, but decided against it because:
A, not a lot of people play combo over here.
B, it also shuts off my 1cc threats (This might not be a valid reason for some, bit I can't say I've missed them during the tourney. Also, keep in mind that this deck was playtested exactly 0 times before the tournament, I built it the morning before the tourney)
C, I felt the deck was good enough as it is and I didn't really want to play till the finals (I kinda hate T1 right now and I'd rather play something fun then a 'good' deck like PL or MDG)

The FoWs have been good to me all day long: I wasn't hampered by them at all, even with the low number of blue cards in the deck and at least they give me some chance to force through a threat like a Tinker or answer stupid turn 1 plays from my opponent.

[UR]

Just wondering why your not playing recoup over regrowth?  Intuition can function as a mini gifts late game, recoup busts it open.  Regrowth screams "im terrible!"

Regrowth was pretty sweet with the Accumulated Knowledges. It took a bit of setting up at times, but it did allow him to draw a huge amount of cards.

[Dpebta]

Hi,

# Outlaw:

Regrowth is my recoup. It is perfect with Intuition. The deck exists because of Intuition.

Intuition for M Tutor V Tutor D Tutor gives me a sweet yawgmoths Will.
Intuition for Will M Tutor V Tutor does too.

+ Intuition can recurr lots of other great spells.

Please try once and I think its sweet.

I also prefer a maindeck tendrils over a maindeck burning wish.

I apologize for my bad English.

- Jasper van der Vaart

[diopter]

But, Recoup in the deck allows you to go for Recoup, Black Lotus, Yawgmoth's Will which gives you access to Black Lotus in your graveyard. Infinitely more broken, imo.

[Dpebta]

Hi all,

Nice, these are all reactions I hoped for.
I played Gifts for a very long time and Gifts is a very good deck.
Builds with recoup and builds with regrowth.
Regrowth seems better to me since it doesnt only returns sorceries but also --> Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, 3rd AK, 4rd AK, Block Lotus etc.
Recoup in my hand is an extra dead card... Regrowth still gives me other outs.

And Regrowth saved my ass during lots of matches .

Regrowth is better then Recoup imo.

Thanks for replying.

- Jasper van der Vaart

[OfficeShredder]

Regrowth also leaves the card in your graveyard for a will later on, which is something to consider