[Report] 1st Place at Black Lotus COD Tournament with Rector Flash

[moxpearl]

After  years in retirement, a dose of Flash has been giving Ms. Academy Rector new life to prove she still has some umph left in her old bones.   And she emerged victorious in the College of Dupage July 1st Black Lotus tournament.

A few weeks earlier, I had decided to give Rector Flash a try at my local Vintage monthly tournament and I made it to a top 4 split (with only 16 people.)    My play style has always been more towards aggressive combo decks (playing Oath Salvagers for quite some time), I enjoy playing decks that use the full complement of power and broken restricted cards, and I'm always trying to squeeze in the color white as part of the win strategy.  What better deck to play than Rector Flash.   I also didn’t like the Flash Hulk or Disciple builds because they just seemed to have too many dead draws if your opening hand wasn’t ideal. 

Fast forward to the July 1st weekend, and my family has a weekend trip planned to visit my in-laws in Chicago.  I go to the tournament announcements page, and lo and behold, Hspecter and the College of Dupage crew are hosting a Black Lotus tournament!   Maybe I can squeeze the tournament in?   My family spends Friday night at Wisconsin Dells for water park fun with my two girls and then Saturday it’s confirmed I have Sunday open to go to the tournament!  Sunday morning, I wake up at 7:30 am, attend an early worship service at Evanston Vineyard, and then take a 45 minute drive to COD in Glen Ellyn.   I arrive at 11:30 am at the campus cafeteria, and I’m pleasantly impressed with the facilities for hosting a big Magic tournament.  Lots of room and tables, well air conditioned, vending machines, nice bathrooms, etc., and we didn’t seem to be bothering any students.   Of course, the usual suspects from ICBM and GWS were there.  Also attending were players from St. Louis (at least Robert Vromon was there, I believe), the COD Magic club, and others from WI/IL, totaling close to 50 people.    I felt like a bit of an outsider, knowing faces and a few people, but I was the sole representative from Minnesota.   So, I just listened to my iPod and waited for the tournament to begin.

Rector Flash – Ms. Rector Needs a Shave
2 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Dark Ritual

4 Flash
4 Academy Rector
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Form of the Dragon
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Cabal Therapy

4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Brainstorm
3 Merchant Scroll
1 Gush
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth

Sideboard:
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Gush
2 Duress
3 Razormane Masticore
1 Tinker
1 7/10

The Tournament
Match 1 – WIN 2-1 vs. Ryan - Flash Slivers
It was fun chatting with Ryan and nice to see another family man into Vintage Magic.  I also enjoyed meeting his friend Ian who was giving Sui Black with blue splash a run.  I think Ian was in the running in the 6th round, but lost to Ian Degraff’s Flash Sliver deck.
Game 1 – I think I have a turn 2 Flash-Rector-Bargain and he scoops.   I see tropical island and underground sea, so I pin him on GAT. 
+2 Duress
-1 Gush, -1 Daze
Game 2 – Ryan gets an early Flash-Hulk and out comes 4 poison slivers and a haste sliver.  25 poison counters to the dome.   I hadn’t seen this build before.
Game 3 – We draw-go for a while, and eventually he tries go off with flash.  In the process he uses Summoner’s Pact and Pact of Negation, and I win the counter war.  He loses on his next upkeep.
Matches 1-0, Games 2-1

Match 2 – LOSE 1-2 vs. Peter – Bomberman with Aven Mindsensors
Game 1  I get an early Flash-Rector-Bargain win.    I forgot the details, but he plays something that clues in that he's playing Bomberman.
+2 Gush, +3 Razormane
-2 Rector, -2 Flash, -1 Daze
Game 2 - I expend resources to get a Razormane down, but eventually lose a counter war and my Razormane.  He gets out Auriok Salvagers combo with no spellbomb, but Bomberman beats are good enough.  I didn’t like the Razormane strategy, so I reboard.
Resideboard to: +2 Duress, -2 Daze
Game 3 – I lose to Trinket mage and Aven Mindsensor beats.  Bomberman with Mindsensors is nasty against Flash, and I hope I don’t meet it again.
Matches 1-1, Games 3-3

Match 3 – WIN 2-1 vs. Jeremy - Long
Game 1 - Lose to massive Desire with Black Lotus bait. 
+2 Duress
-1 Gush, -1 Daze
Game 2 – I think I have to mulligan, and I don't have a great hand.  Jeremy gets a turn 2 jar down and passes the turn.  I don't draw anything disruptive with Bargain in hand, and at this point, I’m thinking I’m out of the tournament and I’ll get to head home to head to a family BBQ.  But anything can happen in Vintage……amazingly, the jar sputters:  Jeremy has 1 sea in play, crack on upkeep, draw 7, draw 1, ancestral for 3, drop sapphire?, brainstorm for 3.  All he needs is 1 black source to cast rituals and other goodies but to no avail.  With no gas left in his hand, I get another land drop, cast ritual, and hardcast Bargain for the win.
Game 3-  Jeremy mulls twice, and I have a disruptive hand with Flash/Rector – Bargain down to 3 life.
Matches 2-1, Games 5-4

Match 4 – WIN 2-0 vs. Andy – Flash Kiki-Jiki
Game 1 – I’m ready to Flash-Rector turn two after I drop a land, but I topdeck Bargain! I’m forced to win with Form of the Dragon and he’s not able to assemble his flash win.  His life 20-19-18-16-11-6-1-0.
+4 Leyline of the Void
-1 Rector, -1 Flash, -1 Gush, -1 Daze
Game 2 – I open with Leyline.  He bounces Leyline and tries to flash, but I win the counter war.  Leyline is played again, followed by Leyline #2.  He hardcasts Hulk.  I bounce it and therapy two hulks away.  An early mana crypt has brought my life down to 9.  I Rector-Flash Form of the Dragon into play, he chains it, I sacrifice a land and bounce crypt to my hand.  Eventually , I find Flash and Rector again, brainstorm Form of the Dragon back into my library, and Flash-Rector the Form back in for the win.
One of these two games, I think had both Form and Bargain going at the same time, which is a nice draw 4 on each player’s turn, do 5 to them on your upkeep.  Not a bad combo, but it’s a rare occurrence.
Matches 3-1, Games 7-4

 Match 5 – WIN 2-0 vs. Jeff – UW something with factories and drains
Game 1 – I have turn 1 or 2 Flash-Rector-Bargain-draw to 8 life and win.
I forget how I board, but I know I brought in Duresses.
Game 2 – I duress seeing Mana Drain, Echoing Truth, Tundra, and Factory, taking Drain.  I get turn 3 or so Flash-Rector-Bargain.  He bounces my Bargain, and I draw to 7 life in response.  It didn’t look good to win that turn.  I passed the turn, discard to 7, and take beats from a factory.  Then on my turn, I brainstorm Form of the Dragon back into my library, flash Rector#2 fetching Form for the win.
Matches 4-1, Games 9-4

Match 6 – ID vs. Ryan (different Ryan from my first round match) – Magus Moon Slaver
ID’ing was little risky as the points were 15, 13x2, 12x4, 10x4.  Thus, a 13, 12, and 10 played down.   With 12 points and poor breakers, I got paired up with Ryan with 13 and decided to take a chance with an ID.  I ended up with the 7th seed.
Matches 4-1-1, Games 9-4

Quarterfinals – WIN 2-1 vs. Ryan – Magus Moon Slaver
Game 1 - He gets a Magus down followed by Magus and Welder beats.   I win a counter war over a bounced Magus, which allows me to hard cast Rector, flashback therapy, grab Bargain 9 life, only need to draw 5 to get to lethal storm.
+3 Razormane, +2 Gush
-2 Academy, -2 Flash, -1 Dark Ritual
Interestingly I don’t see one Razormane in my last two games.
Game 2 – He mulls to 5, but opens with double Leyline and ancestral which resolves.   After many turns of draw-go, he eventually is able to resolve tinker for 7/10 and demolishes my mana base.
Game 3 – This game goes very long because we both draw-go for a while building up significant counter magic.  It also includes getting the judge involved over my bonehead play of accidently brainstorming 1 and then 2 more cards back to the library (eventually we decide to just leave them there.)  How this game ended would leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth.   I won because I was the first player to cause damage after the five extra turns with a non-lethal Tendrils.  Neither of us knew it was timed!  In defense of the TO, it was shouted that they would be timed 90 minutes (the school had to close at some point), but neither of us heard it.    Ryan’s a great player and had better board position at that point with both Magus and Welder on the board.  Very awkward win. 
Matches 5-1-1, Games 11-5

Semifinals – WIN 2-1 vs. Kyle – 3 color Long
Kyle is one of the officers on the COD Magic club, and it’s great to see a college club fostering the Legacy and Vintage formats.
Game 1 - We draw-go for a bit.  Then I Cabal therapy in with Ancestral in hand, picking Misdirection, and he has Force, Brainstorm, Twister, Ritual, and Cabal Ritual.  I Ancestral which he allows and I don't draw anything relevant.  He casts mana, twisters, and then casts wheel of fortune.  He mysticals for Tendrils and Duresses.  I know I can mystical for force and I have gush and brainstorm in hand to grab the force, but he CYCLES Rebuild to draw the tendrils with lethal storm. GG.
+2 Duress
-1 Gush, -1 Daze
Game 2 – I have 3 merchant scrolls, 1st is countered, 2nd gets ancestral, 3rd gets flash.   Vamp gets Rector and I Flash-Rector-Bargain down to 2 life for the win.  This one was a bit tricky because I realized after drawing a bunch that I think I used Mystical earlier to get a Force.  Merchant Scroll-Mystical to get Will is a fairly common way to win.  I think I had Tendrils in my hand and I was able to get the storm count high enough via other means.   
Game 3 – He mulligans to 6 and opens with Tolarian and Lotus Petal.   I play my own Tolarian, which others point out kills both immediately (without him being able to cast his brainstorm.)  He uses his Petal to brainstorm and is stuck on zero mana.  I eventually Flash-Rector-bargain down to 5 life for the win.
Matches 6-1-1, Games 13-6

Finals – WIN 2-0 vs Ben – ICBM  Oath
Well, my deck had been performing well, but the best opening hands were saved for the finals. 
Game 1 - I’m on the play and he mulls.  I have Island-Mox-Petal-Ritual-Flash-Rector-Daze.  I don’t think there could be a better 7 cards.  Flash-Rector-Bargain down to 8.
Game 2 - He mulls again and drops Orchard-mox-nothing.   I have crypt, demonic, vamp, lotus, brainstorm, which eventually leads to a turn 2 or 3 flash-rector-bargain-down to 6 life for the win.
Matches 7-1-1, Games 15-6

It’s 11:15 pm and I’m pooped after eleven hours of Magic, but of course, elated to take first place in this tournament.

Props:
Meeting everyone from Wisconsin and Illinois.  You have a great Vintage community.
Great facilities at COD
To the COD Magic club for organizing what looks like a fun club and a great place to play Magic
To Damien for taking the time and cards to host the tournament.     Is it possible to get a portable printer instead of reading off the laptop?

Further thoughts on the Deck
...now that I’ve logged a total of 27 tournament games with the deck:

Riskiness of Rector - I am now 15-0 in tournament games where Rector’s ability resolves and grabs an enchantment (Bargain or Form.)  It sometimes feels like Rector is a more risky win condition than the other Flash builds because Bargain might fizzle or your life is too low to effectively use Bargain, but after now playing the deck in two tournaments, I think it’s no more risky than the other Flash builds where creature cards get trapped in your hand.

Dark Rituals – While they’re less useful for hardcasting Rector in my build with only 1 cabal therapy, it’s so much easier to storm with ritual.   Also, other times they’ve come in handy are: for a quick early turn win where you have demonic tutor, casting Yawgmoth Will without Bargain on the table, hardcasting force or Bargain, and helping hardcast Razormane or 7/10.

Daze vs. Cabal Therapy or Duress – I like Daze because it’s so effective against the Uber fast decks of Combo and Flash.  It’s also easier to have protection for your flash win only an island and mox.

Merchant Scroll into Mystical – If you haven’t played the deck before, after Bargain resolves,  this play is almost always necessary if you don’t draw Will or Tendrils with Bargain.  As some call it, it’s blue’s Grim Tutor for UU1, so keep that mana open.  If your mystical is in the graveyard, just note that because you might have to be a bit more creative with your Bargain draws.

Form of the Dragon –  Maindeck, I’ve only used it once to win when Bargain was trapped in my hand, and I have yet to fall back on Rectoring this in as a second enchantment when Bargain seems to fizzle.   I’m not sold on this having to be maindecked, but for now, I like it in.

Fighting the Hate –  Leylines haven’t been that bad to play against.  It’s the hate matched with dual purpose creatures (Mindsensor, Meddling Mage, Magus, Glowrider) putting you on a clock and reducing the effectiveness of Bargain that’s been tough for me.  This is why I like the quasi-transformational board to Razormanes.  It’s difficult for an opposing deck to fight two completely different win conditions.

So, thanks again to the COD community and Damien for hosting a super tournament, and it was great meeting and talking to everyone there!

[Moxlotus]

Neither of us knew it was timed!  In defense of the TO, it was shouted that they would be timed 90 minutes (the school had to close at some point), but neither of us heard it

Did anybody actually hear him shout it?  I was playing my top 4 match against Ben Carp and we were like "WTF, these are timed??"

[Purple Hat]

can you talk a little more about the use of form of the dragon over other options like null profusion (which I like) or future sight (which I don't).  also why not find room for necropotence?  it seems like turn 1 ritual--> necro is virtually a throw away in this deck.  if it goes off, you win, if it gets countered you probably go get bargain next turn or the turn after and it's not a big deal.

the 1 of gush seems a bit random to me, I get that a free draw spell as a scroll target is conceptually good, but I feel like gush as a bomb is kind of lacking.

anyway, congrats on the great finish.

[Rhyno]

Congrats! I had a feeling you could take it down, had you been turn 1 I knew I would have. It was a pleasure meeting and playing against you.

[Methuselahn]

Congrats Tom.  I'm glad to see that Rector Flash is still working out for you.

Your list has hardly changed and it looks like it has really been treating you well.  Thanks for the report!

[moxpearl]

can you talk a little more about the use of form of the dragon over other options like null profusion (which I like) or future sight (which I don't).  also why not find room for necropotence?  it seems like turn 1 ritual--> necro is virtually a throw away in this deck.  if it goes off, you win, if it gets countered you probably go get bargain next turn or the turn after and it's not a big deal.

the 1 of gush seems a bit random to me, I get that a free draw spell as a scroll target is conceptually good, but I feel like gush as a bomb is kind of lacking.

anyway, congrats on the great finish.

I haven't tried Null Profusion, but it seems difficult to combo out with only 1 Tendrils in the deck.  Maybe if you ran Cabal Therapies and Duresses, the Null Profusion route might work as you can disrupt their hand while drawing through your deck.  It seems you might also want to run Hurkyl's Recall main to give you a better chance of building storm with Profusion.  With 3 Dazes, 1 Cabal Therapy, and using Echoing over Hurkyl's, I just don't see Null Profusion building enough storm in one turn.   With Future Sight, it seems even more difficult but I'm sure someone can come up with a creative way to use the card.

I prefer Form of the Dragon over other enchantments because it provides decent outs in two circumstances:  1.  creature beats have brought your life low and Bargain probably won't draw enough cards and 2.  Bargain for whatever reason fizzles and you can reflash another Rector for Form of the Dragon to draw 4 more each player's turn.  It's probably playing in a heavy fish metagame that biases my preference.    Whether you run a second enchantment at all maindeck is also a good question, which I'm undecided on right now.

I don't think a turn 1 or 2 Necro and winning with this deck is as easy as one might think.  There are so many post-Necro/Bargain dead cards and mana is tight.  I put the ending life totals in many of my games to show how much life it takes to win.   I believe you need the instant speed draw, because much more than Long, your decision tree is extremely dependent on the prior cards you've drawn.   Also, mystical and vampiric are more critical in this deck in storming out to grab Will or Tendrils, and mystical/vamp are more limited in use with Necro.  This deck usually needs Yawgmoth's Will to win.   Long decks have Grim Tutor, Desire, and Draw 7's, and are less dependent on blue mana.   Bottom line, I don't think the advantages of having Necro AND Ritual/Lotus in your opening grip are worth the headache of trying to win with it or drawing it later in the game.  Be happy to hear other people's thoughts on Necro.

Yes, the Gush is somewhat random.   It's also free draw/storm spell when storming out.  I also like 3 gushes post board with my Razormanes and it just worked out to put one in the main.

Congrats! I had a feeling you could take it down, had you been turn 1 I knew I would have. It was a pleasure meeting and playing against you.

Thanks, and likewise, it was great to put a face to a name and meet you.  Yes, that's how ridiculous timed top 8's are.   I would argue it's more fair to flip a coin after the extra five rounds or even use higher life total.

Congrats Tom.  I'm glad to see that Rector Flash is still working out for you.

Your list has hardly changed and it looks like it has really been treating you well.  Thanks for the report!

Thanks Jeff.  Yes, I only made SB changes adding Tinker and 7/10.  When post-SB graveyard hate comes in, the Razormanes work against Fish, but I figured Tinker for 7/10 might be helpful against non-Fish decks.  I sided Tinker and 7/10 in some of my games, but I can't remember which ones and I didn't draw either card.   

[soto]

What makes this deck any better than TPS? Or at least more consistant?

[Vegeta2711]

What makes this deck any better than TPS? Or at least more consistant?

The fact that he has access to 1U Bargain on-color mini Demonic Tutors and an alternate win condition that basically hoses Bomerman and similar decks?

[moxpearl]

One significant advantage Flash (of any kind) has over storm decks is that the deck doesn’t fizzle after failing to go off.  You just get Flash countered.  On the other hand, TPS (or other storm decks) will expend resources trying to go off and losing a counter war on your Grim Tutor or Draw 7 will generally lead to a loss.  Flashes turn into counterspells too if you have two in hand, often netting 2 for 1 when they have to Force Flash, whether or not you have Rector or Hulk in hand.  The deck is also more resilient to chalices, null rods, and wastelands.  Just need an island and another land to go off and win.    The deck also contains the tried-and-true merchant scroll->ancestral when you don’t have much of anything in your hand. 

The deck is so ridiculously consistent and you don’t have to do the painful math in your head trying to figure out if your draw 7 will probably get you enough to storm out and win.  As Vegeta mentioned, merchant scrolls is practically demonic tutor in this deck.

The main downside of Flash over storm decks is that you’re more susceptible to Leyline of the Void and other graveyard hate.  Storm can cast Necro, Desire, or chain draw 7’s, however it's not like those strategies won't face hate of their own (e.g., chalice, chant, 2sphere).  With the merchant scrolls, this deck can easily access the bounce, and my boarding strategy completely circumvents the graveyard hate.  Others have said and I tend to agree that Flash is going to replace storm as the top combo deck.

[Purple Hat]

hulk has catastrophic failure issues that your list tends to not have in addition to the hate issues you listed