The warden let me out of the house for the day and I took full advantage of the free time. About 11:15 Mistertrek and I headed out for Harrisburg for the regions first mox tournament. It was a solid turn out for a first time event with 19 players. The list of names was a who's who from Blue Bell, with many of the players also participating in SCG and Waterbury. This is always a tough field with these guys.
FINALLY I remembered to take a sheet of paper with me for notes. Only to find out I had no pen when I got there. So, from memory again.
Round 1 vs Josh with Oath (angel oath)
Game 1 is pretty uneventful. I get a first turn Demonic tutor not really knowing what I'm up against and use it to just reinforce my own hand. A few turns later, Forbidden Orchard hits the table and I'm kicking myself for not saving the DT. I get a token from the orchard and a hardcast trike and beat face. He gives me a second token. I swing to take him from 9 to 3 and ping x3 from trike for the game 1 win. He never saw oath.
Game 2 I keep a very control heavy opening hand with 2 mana drain, a force of will and black lotus. He waits an extra turn and goes for a turn 2 or 3 oath (extra turn was to get some counter back up). We fight a counter war. I start by pitching Drain to FoW. He forces back. I crack the lotus and drain his force knowing I have a trike in hand. Next turn I drop a land (turn 3, my first land) tap it plus drain to hardcast trike and its off to the races. I get the beatdown win again.
1-0 (2-0)
Round 2 is against Jason playing a storm combo deck.
I've played him before at blue bell. I think last time I played him I drew 1 non-mana spell which he countered. He stomped me pretty easy. Game 1 I believe he mulligans to 6 and keeps. I have the nuts with an early tinker and active welder and lots of control.
Game 2 is much the same for me. Lots of control with an early tinker. Unfortunately for him, he got mana screwed hard in game 2 and a bit in game 1, even. Maybe one of these matches, neither of our decks will crap out on us and we'll both actually get to play.
2-0 (4-0)
Round 3 against Ryan Klest? Heist? Not sure of the last name playing bomberman
Again, Ryan and I have met before. Twice before actually and the record was in my favor. I'm looking to make it 3-0 against him here. We start out and I get a game 1 win w/out him ever seeing a salvagers in play (one was drawn by him off my memory jar, but that does him no good).
We move to game 2. Its a long epic fight. He starts out with some early disruption, taking some land and draw spells from me. He depletes his hand doing it and I draw into a yawg will. I have no 'win' in my yard, but simply resolving the will gives back all my resources and leaves him in topdeck mode. I decide to go for it, resolve will, get an ancestral recall, get my land back and a few other spells. All this puts in position to win. But I begin to draw dead. He drops a salvagers but can't find the other combo pieces. He gets a mindcensor down as well. Of course I can't find an answer to the beating and he kills me in the combat step.
Again, game 3 is much the same. We go to turns. He's got the full beatdown going on me. If I can just hold on nother turn, its a draw. But I'm at 6 life starting turn 3 with no answers in hand to his trinket mage and 2xmindcensor. I draw, see nothing. Pass the turn and he gets the win. This was a long, drawn out match. Even though I lost and can't remember many details, it was easily one of my favorite matches of the day. It was very swingy. Neither of us had full/obvious advantage from start to finish.
2-1 (5-2)
Round 4 (sorry, forget the name completely) playing GAT
Game 1. We go back and forth, doing not much of anything to be h onest for the longest time. At 1 point, I brainstorm and put back a yawg will and a trike on top of that, keeping a mana drain and FoW and another card to pitch in my hand and pass the turn. He plays a spell, we fight the counter war, I win with drain mana floating. I move to my next turn, draw the trike, play it with drain mana and it gets drained. He moves to his turn and taps mox jet, mox emerald and mox something and plays yawg will. Uh-oh, I figure he's comboing out on me as he has 3 underground seas and a DT in his yard. He builds a storm count using regrowth and gush. He gets a fastbond, but has no G mana left to play it. He tendrils for 12 leaving me at 7 and him at 24.
I move to my turn, draw my own yawg will and reset the board the way I like it. I then begin the beatdown and win.
Game 2 was very fuzzy but I believe I got the beatdown win, yet again.
3-1 (7-2)
Round 4 against Hale (purple hat) we draw into top 8
Top 8 match vs Flash (sorry, I remember the face, but forget the name)
He mulligans to 5 or 6 in game 1 but it doesn't matter for him. I get a titan down, pop his lands and go to town over the next 2-3 turns. It was a fast game. We sided and I took out my secondary win condition (tendrils/recoup) A) figuring I needed the extra control cards I was bringing in and B) figuring it was too slow of a win condition for the flash match up.
My opponent proceeds to mulligan to 6. Then to 5. Then to 4 and finally at a 3 card hand sees his first U source. He drops island, says go. I drop Volc, welder, go. He does nothing. I drop land go. I believe I drained something on turn 2. On turn 3, I cast a gifts ungiven and start to put a small pile together: yawg will, DT, Time walk. I look for recoup and remember I sided it out so I grab tinker. He gives me recoup and walk. I then drop mana crypt and black lotus which were in my hand. Get 3 from lotus, 2 from crypt. Weld the crypt out for lotus, get 3 more from lotus. Play yawg will. Replay lotus and Crypt. Storm count is now: gifts, lotus, crypt, will, lotus, crypt and maybe a mox. I then cast demonic tutor from the yard and start searching my deck. And start searching my deck. And searching my deck and searching my deck . Finally it dawns on me (at this point, please re-read my side board plan). I say "Oh s..t" and let him know what I did. We all get a good laugh. I play time walk, pass to my walk turn, Sac lotus for mana, flashback recoup targeting tinker, play tinker sac'ing the crypt and get sundering titan. He wins.
My opponent did get an Ice Age Island signed by me with a note about siding out tendrils.
Probably the best play of the day.
Top 4 vs Hale (purple hat) playing GAT
This was my second favorite match of the day. Once again, the games were long and drawn out and neither of us had a clear advantage from start to finish. Just fun play. I win game 1 with 2 welders and a trike. EOT, ping him 3 times, weld out trike, weld in trike. He had a tog on his side and couldn't really attack through.
He wins game 2 (ok, he had a clear advantage here because I make stupid play after stupid play). Game 2 I keep a hand of fetch land, mox sapphire, mana drain, mana drain, FoW, mana crypt, demonic tutor. He leads and drops jet and duress. I feel I have to pitch force to counter. Otherwise, he takes my sapphire and I lose the mana. I then proceed to misplay every turn. I have mana drain mana up. But instead I tap it to play a crypt. LIttle stuff like that.
Game 3 was viscious. He starts out with Leyline of the void in play. I get an early welder, followed by a second welder and start he 2 point beatdown. I find nothing to remove leyline. I get him to 6 life and I'm at 4? I'm holding tendrils of agony and black lotus, just waiting for another spell so I can combo out and kill him. Instead, he pulls a duress and I figure I'm sunk. He opts to take the black lotus. 2 turns later I hit tendrils for 6!! He hardcasts FOW on one of them. I go back to 10, he's at 2. He has 1 creature, I have 2 creatures. I swing in with both of my welders, He block the first welder with his 2/2 dryad and the second welder puts him at 1. He beings to build his dryad up. However, he can't attack. If he does, I let it through, then swing in my little 1/1 the next turn for a win. We play draw-go for a while when I pull platinum angel. I get the hardcast angel to resolve and he extends his hand after he draws a dead card. Great game.
Top 2 vs Jeremy Beaver
I mull to 6 or 5 and keep a so-so hand. It turned out to be a 'stomp me please' hand and thats just what Beaver does. Game 2 I keep a hand of mox pearl, mox ruby, volcanic island, BS, jesters cap and some stuff. I BS and put cap and a volc island back on top of my library, keeping tinker in my hand! His first turn shows a duress which he uses to take tinker. He then gets an EtW storm and 6 tokens and they go the distance for the win.
I got a nice looking FoW as a second place prize and I learned that I need to pay attention to my own sideboard decisions!! Great tournament. Maybe at the next one I'll have pen AND paper and will actually have notes for a report.
