[Results] Hadley Aug 5th. Top 8 + Tourny Summary

[MadManiac21]

While the actual tournament started on Sunday, the festivities began the night before as Team Hadley + GG's get together for drunken festivities. Many drinks were had, games were played (both pong and magic), and jokes were made. After finishing drinking around 3am-ish, Outlaw and co. pile into their  car and follow me back to my house where there were lots of comfy extra beds.

Got up the next morning, grabbed some food, through together a terrible/awesome stax list and headed over to the mall to set things up.

Hadley Stax aka How to never lose to islands

Mana Sources
4 Workshop
3 Gemstone
3 COB
3 Waste
1 Strip
1 Academy
1 GQ
1 Coalition Relic
8 Mox/Sol/Lo/Crypt

D00ds
4 Welder
3 Mindscensor
2 Shamen
1 Trike
1 Platz
1 Titan

Locks
4 Smokestack
4 Chalice
4 SoR
3 CoW
1 P.Keg
1 3sphere

Broken
1 Tinker
1 Balance
1 A.recall
1 DT
1 VT
1 Keg

Board:
2 reb
2 seal
2 silent arbiter
1 r&r
1 shamen
1 heretic
1 darkblast
2 Slice n Dice
1 pyroclasm
1 cap
1 rule of law

After this tournament, I am sold on Mindscensor just being the best non-Artifact lock piece available to Stax right now, period. Having played Stax for ~3 years to alot of top 8's and tried everything from ITEOC to Chains of Meph. to root maze/Orb of Dreams, Aven is just arm and leg above the rest. It fits in with the mana denial theme of Stax, along with cutting off tutors/fetch lands which are used in every deck, while being a must counter for certain decks (i.e. flash).

29 people showed up, just two short of bumping up the prize support to fill out 5th-8th. In hindsight I'm going to work on the structure for the future as people weren't happy for winning nothing for top 8ing. Last time people complained about wanting more for top 4 and less for top 8 - blah blah blah, everyone's a critic.

QnD Report

Round 1: Bye

I forget to add myself in the first time I do pairings and refuse to take the late entry bye, so I repair after adding myself - and just my luck, I get the first round bye anyways I wasn't exactly happy about this because I came to play cards and just have fun, but I couldn't really complain.

Round 2: Steve (Grand Inquis) w/ 5cTog

Game 1: He has to force turn 1 3sphere, and I drop CoW/waste before he gets drain mana up. Over quickly after that.
Game 2: I play workshop CoW turn 1, then pearl crypt and 3sphere turn 2. In response to his fetches I play scensor, he fails to find a land, and the game just ends.

Round 3: Justin (Outlaw) w/ Gat+Spell Snare

Game 1: He spell snares my turn 1 SoR and forces my turn 2 CoW, but runs out of counters/cards for my turn 3 CoW+welder. Memory jar cleans it up.
Game 2: He lays a fetch and passes. I go workshop lots CoW. He draws, then goes to fetch, I crack lotus for Mindscensor. I finds an island, but has 3 dead tutors in his hand. I lock it up while he struggles to find mana sources.

Round 4 + 5: ID

Draw in as 3rd best after swiss. I had yet to lose a game OR draw a mishra's workshop. Who needs broken lands?

Top 8: Jeff (GG guy?) with similar 5cStax

Having drank with Jeff the night before and let him stay at my place, I offer him a 75/25 prize split - whether he wins or loses I give him 75% of whatever we win. When I first say it he kinda just blank stares at me, but I explain to him that I'd feel bad winning/taking my own prizes and I want people to have a blast/win stuff so they come back again.

Game 1: He over extends with welder welder shamen so I tutor up balance. He plays Chalice at 0 as my next 3 draws are crypt, sapphire, and trike with a workshop in play ... I lose my first game of the day.
Game 2: I crypt city chalice 0 and DT for the Wrong card like a dolt - Heretic instead of CoW. He plays waste after waste after GQ (your welcome) and I lose as I get a mana source to stick for the rest of the game.

Now for the results n stuff.

Top 8 Standings:

Bomberman (Rob)
Flash (Chris)
5cStax (Myself)
Gat (Outlaw)
5c Stax (Bill)
5c Stax (Jeff)
5c Stax (Travis)
Staxless Stax (Ray)

Ray beats Rob
Chris beats Travis
Jeff beats Me
Bill beats Outlaw

Top 4

Ray beats Bill
Chris beats Jeff

Ray and Bill split.

The lists:

1st/2nd

Staxless Stax
4 Shop
4 Waste
4 COB
2 GMine
1 Strip
1 Bazaar
1 Barb ring
4 welder
4 SoR
3 CoW
2 shamen
2 tops
1 crop rotate
1 tinker
1 DT
1 vt
1 trike
1 titan
1 jar
9 mox/sol/lo/crypt/vault
2 co relic
1 recall
1 walk
1 3sphere
1 balance
1 orb of dreams
2 cotv
2 keg
1 academy

Sb:
2 reb
4 leyline
2 eon hub
1 trike
1 cap
2 cotv
1 darkblast
2 spree
1 orb of dreams

Flash
1 Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Karmic Guide
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Body Snatcher
4 Protean Hulk
4 Flash
3 Merchant Scroll
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Chain of Vapor
1 dt
1 vt
5 mox
1 lotus
1 mana crypt
1 tinker
1 collosues
3/2 negation/summoner
1 misd
3 wraith
1 recall
1 walk
1 esg

sb:
3 needle
2 e plague
4 duress
3 massacure
3 r.silence

3rd/4th

5c Stax
4 Workshop
3 Gemstone
4 COB
4 Waste
1 Strip
1 Academy
9 Mox/Sol/Lo/Crypt/vault
2 Welder
1 dupes
2 Trike
1 Platz
1 Titan
4 Smokestack
4 Chalice
4 SoR
3 CoW
1 3sphere
1 Tinker
1 Balance
1 A.recall
1 DT
1 VT
1 iteoc
4 leyline
2 factory

sb:
1 ray
1 welder
2 keg
2 seal
2 grudge
2 heretic
2 dupes
1 titan
2 reb

5c Stax
my list +1 keg -1 mindscensor

5th-8th

Laziness has set in

Travis played a shitty workshop deck, Outlaw had gat w/ 3 MD spell snare, Rob had a solid bomberman list, and my stax.

Props:
Everyone who showed up
Alcohol
Mindscensor
Kowal for not showing up. Having to listen to him all day sucks

Slops:
Kowal for not showing up. Asshat
Anyone who didn't come cause of the previous day's PTQ

Long story short, if you went and have any complaints/compliments let me know. It's only the 2nd real tournament I've ever ran and I want to make these as smooth and fun as possible.

Caleb

[hulk3rules]

Paying 8 spots out of 29 seems like too much. I even think cutting to  top 8 when there are less than 32 players is dumb. I know it has always been the standard but perhaps something else could be done. I liked Nick Tourloukis' idea of a cut to top 6 with 1st and 2nd getiing byes.  But paying out 8 in a tournament of only 20-30 people seems way too flat

[Sextiger]

Not paying out prizes to 5-8th for a small tourney like this is alright, but giving out like at least one pack or something is still pretty nice. 

Note on the tourney: 50%+ of the field was Stax, crazy.

[The_spooky_kid]

Looks like another close build of my stax deck does well again.

This added nothing to the thread other than the opportunity to argue about who did what - Verbal Warning for spam.
-Godder

[Grand Inquisitor]

Looks like another close build of my stax deck does well again.

Smennen?

Please don't provoke other users.
-Godder

[zeus-online]

Looks like another close build of my stax deck does well again.

Smennen?

If steve made a stax list, it would contain merchant scrolls 

Not really sure if i'm happy about stax making a come-back.

/Zeus

[Sextiger]

Looks like another close build of my stax deck does well again.

Smennen?

If steve made a stax list, it would contain merchant scrolls 

Not really sure if i'm happy about stax making a come-back.

/Zeus

I for one welcome our new Mana Drain and basic land Overlords.

[TopSecret]

Looks like another close build of my stax deck does well again.

Smennen?

Seconded.

Also of note,
this top 8 has less Force of Wills percentage wise
than any other I've seen recently.
Is this indicative of a new metagame shift?

[Grand Inquisitor]

this top 8 has less Force of Wills percentage wise
than any other I've seen recently.
Is this indicative of a new metagame shift?

Despite what you've heard in the mainstream media, New England is no stranger to workshops.  Especially in smaller tournaments they can be a large minority of the field.

[MadManiac21]

With New England being a haven for control decks Stax decks are currently the best counter - considering that mana drains are few and far between. Stax was traditionally fine tuned to beat GAT-esque decks, and those are what are running rampant right now.

[Smmenen]

Looks like another close build of my stax deck does well again.

Smennen?

The difference is that 5c (non-uba) Stax has more or less remained the same deck since Trinisphere was restricted.   Ascribing 5c Stax to one player is pretty silly unless we are talking about a major variant.  But most have pretty much been within 2-3 cards of the Stax list that Roland Chang used to win Gencon in 2005.   

Debate over names and credit for decklists is best left out, because it almost always goes downhill, hence the banning of such discussion on TMD.
-Godder

[MadManiac21]

The difference is that 5c (non-uba) Stax has more or less remained the same deck since Trinisphere was restricted.   Ascribing 5c Stax to one player is pretty silly unless we are talking about a major variant.  But most have pretty much been within 2-3 cards of the Stax list that Roland Chang used to win Gencon in 2005.   

Right, because Meandeck is famous for the 2-3 card change that creates a completely new archetype! What were we thinking?

This comment is just provoking flames - Full Warning.
-Godder

Plus as far as vintage is concerned, any type of deck stays about 90% the same year after year - the same old overpowered staples have to be used in every list - while the 2-4 card changes in newer cards is what sets them apart.

I would say there are three different Stax "types" - UbaStax, Staxless Stax, and 5cStax. The first being based around Uba mask and bazaar, the second around lack of traditional lock pieces ala Smokestack, while the third is the more traditional smokestack base. All three have very different gameplans and functions.

On a another note I was surprised by the lack of Goblins which has a great matchup against stax, and when properly metagamed a decent matchup against GAT. I expect it to start showing up in larger numbers.

[Grand Inquisitor]

On a another note I was surprised by the lack of Goblins which has a great matchup against stax, and when properly metagamed a decent matchup against GAT. I expect it to start showing up in larger numbers.

In my match against goblins, it didn't excede my expectations like Veggie and others in his thread claimed.  If you keep a decent hand and just manage to slow down either the lackey or the warchief, racing them isn't hard.  I had togs instead of dryads to work with; I'm not sure if having less early answers for lackey was offset by having a creature that combos easier.  I did, however, almost lose a game to sudden shock 

I would say there are three different Stax "types"

I like this except I'd insert the distinction '5c' Stax.  Across the pond, and in the hands of Travis, workshops can take many forms.

[Smmenen]

The difference is that 5c (non-uba) Stax has more or less remained the same deck since Trinisphere was restricted.   Ascribing 5c Stax to one player is pretty silly unless we are talking about a major variant.  But most have pretty much been within 2-3 cards of the Stax list that Roland Chang used to win Gencon in 2005.   

Right, because Meandeck is famous for the 2-3 card change that creates a completely new archetype! What were we thinking?

By "we" you mean "you."  Everyone knows, for instance, that Meandeck Gifts was a complete redesign of Gifts from the ground up.    http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9963.html
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=23618.0

Stax decks have pretty much remained the same, within a few cards, for years.   

[Outlaw]

The difference is that 5c (non-uba) Stax has more or less remained the same deck since Trinisphere was restricted.   Ascribing 5c Stax to one player is pretty silly unless we are talking about a major variant.  But most have pretty much been within 2-3 cards of the Stax list that Roland Chang used to win Gencon in 2005.   

Right, because Meandeck is famous for the 2-3 card change that creates a completely new archetype! What were we thinking?

By "we" you mean "you."  Everyone knows, for instance, that Meandeck Gifts was a complete redesign of Gifts from the ground up.    http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9963.html
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=23618.0

Stax decks have pretty much remained the same, within a few cards, for years.   

And just like how "The Meandeck" wasnt GGs Crosslong with like 1 more scroll? K thanks, have a nice day. (Headshot)

This type of comment is how threads turn from being useful and informative into flamewars.
-Godder

[Aardshark]

***
1 GQ
***

Can someone fill me in? Sorry to be a noob.

[The Atog Lord]

This thread is for discussing the Hadley Tournament, not for discussing who came up with what first. Please don't bring in off-topic credit discussions in this thread.
-- TAL

[diopter]

***
1 GQ
***

Can someone fill me in? Sorry to be a noob.

1 Ghost Quarter

[The_spooky_kid]

I think the build that I played at TMD open was like 11 cards different from what I usually played.  11 cards is quite a differnce when it comes to stax.  The list that took 3rd/4th place maindeck was only 2 cards different from the build I played.

When a Moderator says to leave a subject alone, that should be the end of that discussion. Full Warning.
-Godder

[Zherbus]

LOCKED until further notice.