[Results] 10/14 Monster Den Tourney and more Rector Flash musings

[moxpearl]

17 players showed up for the monthly Monster Den vintage tournament.  The group included about five from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  The owner Jason asks whether we want top 8 or top 4, and we settled on a top 8.  I’d rather have top  4, otherwise it’s win twice and sit for two hours, but I guess that might be better than a 3-1 record not making top 4.

Top8
Oath beats Ichorid
Sliver Flash beats Uba Stax
RGB Stompy beats GAT
Rector Flash beats Suicide Black

Top4
Sliver Flash beats Oath
Rector Flash beats Stompy

Top2
Flash split.  This is ridiculous.  Two Flash decks enter the tournament and they split for first, proving just how broken Flash is and how it needs to be restricted.

…just kidding.

Beyond the decks listed in the top 8, five others I remembered were:  Long, Landstill, GATx2, and UR Workshop.  The days of the Monster Den being fish infested waters are gone.  I played the same old decklist, making a critical switch of a flooded strand for a polluted delta (so my friend could 15 proxy.)

Rector Flash – Ms. Rector Needs a Shave
1 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy

1 Black Lotus
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 Academy Rector
1 Form of the Dragon

1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will

4 Flash
4 Brainstorm
3 Merchant Scroll
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Gush
1 Mystical Tutor
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

Match 1 – GAT (Chris, that0neguy)
Game  1 – I get an early Flash-Rector-Bargain.  I pass the turn and he vamps.  I eventually draw down to 2 life and I mystical Will to the top of my library.  He tries to Fire/Ice me, I force, draw and play Will for the win.
Game 2 –  I keep  a hand with ritual, crypt, mox, demonic, vampiric, land.  He drops a land.  I drop a land.  He drops a land and merchant scrolls for ancestral.  I decide to go for it, vamp for Black Lotus, demonic for Will, and I’m able to Tendrils for the win.
Matches 1-0, Games 2-0. 

Match 2- UR Workshop (Frank from Eau Claire)
...if I had to guess, maybe workshop slaver, though I never saw a welder or a mindslaver.  Saw UR painland, Thirsts, Tinker, 3sphere, 2spheres, 7/10, Brainstorms, Forces, and Workshops.  Love to see the full decklist?!?!
Game 1 – I play land, crypt, scroll for ancestral.  I ancestral next turn into a hand that has three rituals, demonic, and tendrils and I storm for the win.
Game 2 – He drops land, mox, sphere.  I play a land.  He plays Tolarian Academy.   I play my own Academy, which leaves a Thirst stuck in his hand.  I later Duress taking Force, seeing he has 7/10.  After further draws, he tries to hardcast 7/10, I force.  I finally drop a Razormane Masticore which beats for the win.
Matches 2-0, Games 4-0

Match 3 – V4ino Suicide Black (Anthony) – ID.
This is my friend, who is at his first Vintage tournament!    We play three games pre-SB and he beats me 2-1.
Matches 2-0-1, Games 4-0

Match 4 – Uba Stax (Dan) – ID. 
Matches 2-0-2, Games 4-0

Quarterfinals – Suicide Black (Anthony)
Game 1 - He opens with ritual/Confidant.  I drop a a land.  I think he casts night's whisper.  I drop a land, ritual into Bargain, draw to 8 life, and win.
Game 2 – He whiffs with Cabal Therapy.  I drop land, jet, ritual, ritual, Razormane Masticore, ancestral.  I have Force, Daze, and land in hand.  I beat him down to 5.  He has mana and tutor, but not enough to escape the shaving.
Matches 3-0-2, Games 6-0

Semifinals – RGB Stompy (Seth from Eau Claire)
Game 1 – I mulligan to a somewhat keepable 6.  He proceeds to drop ape, rancor, and double sphere of resistance.  A wasteland on my sea seals the win.
Game 2 – I open with Land-Mox-Flash-Rector-Bargain, draw 5, pass the turn.  I daze a 2pshere, draw to 6 life and win.
Game 3  - He drops a Goyf with rancor and starts the beats.  I’m able to hard cast Rector to stop the beats.  He proceeds to empty his hand with shaman, another rancor, ape, and boa.  Unimpeded, I vamp for Flash, Flash a second Rector from my hand.  I think a bit about getting Form of the Dragon, but I have 11 life and go for the Bargain win.  I draw demonic, but no other goodies.  My last card drawn at 2 life is Will.  I demonic for Lotus, and storm for the win.
Matches 4-0-2, Games 8-1

Finals – Sliver Flash (another Dan)
We split the top two purse of $170.
Matches 4-0-3, Games 8-1

Final thoughts:
The deck, including FishyFellow playing it at a tournament, has gone 24-3 in matches in five tournaments.  I continue to play it, because it has both the broken Flash/Rector/Bargain win and an entertaining variety of other ways to win.  For fun, I read my earlier tournament reports and tracked the game wins with this deck, and they broke down as follows:
Flash/Rector/Bargain – 24
Flash/Rector/needing Form of the Dragon – 5
Razormane beats – 8
Rector/Therapy/Bargain or Form  – 3
Ritual/Bargain – 3
Ritual/Yawgs Will/Tendrils – 2
Tinker 7/10 - 2
Pact of Negation trigger – 1
Hardcast Form of the Dragon – 1

So, if you’re getting tired of the same old Flash/Hulk/5 Slivers, swing for 20 poison counters, I encourage you to try this deck out.

Props
• To Anthony for doing well at your first Vintage tournaments and to V4ino for his fun deck.   We took out the bazaars for this first tournament, but I like them in the deck.  We also have to figure out how exactly to use the IGG's.
• To Dan Moeckly for showing up after a year hiatus, and resurrecting Uba Stax at the Den.
• To the Eau Claire group that drove a distance to come to tournament.    You guys always bring interesting decks.  That Stompy deck was a GAT crusher.

I guess amusing slops to the player that thought Necropotence worked like Bargain…friendly guy and glad to see him show up, but Necro with on the spot draws would be utterly Insane.

[FishyFellow]

Congrats on another split Tom!  Let me know when you have another deck for me to copy.  I really think this is the most versatile form of flash that I have seen to date because of the secondary nonFlash storm wins and the nice side board options.

[someone_unimportan]

So . . . angry . . . wanted to go . . . DAMN YOU SUPERVALU!!! I'll definitely be at the next one though! And there shall be a reckoning!

[Odd mutation]

Hi,

Congratulations on the win.

This looks like a very interesting deck. I would love to hear your sideboarding strategy. Thanks in advance.

Robrecht.

[moxpearl]

So . . . angry . . . wanted to go . . . DAMN YOU SUPERVALU!!! I'll definitely be at the next one though! And there shall be a reckoning!

Well, at least one of your teammates split the finals with me.

Hi,

Congratulations on the win.

This looks like a very interesting deck. I would love to hear your sideboarding strategy. Thanks in advance.

Robrecht.

The full transformation is:
-4 Academy Rector
-4 Flash
-1 Form of the Dragon
+3 Razormane Masticore
+2 Gush
+2 Duress
+1 Tinker
+1 7/10

Basically, the opponent has now boarded in 4-6 dead cards and probably has boarded out creature and artifact hate.   So, your Razormanes are free to beat.  Everyone at the Den knows my Razormanes are coming in, so the next step is to start bluffing by maybe keeping in a Flash and Rector or two, and maybe leaving out Tinker-7/10 or the Duresses.   It's tough to combat two completely different win conditions.

Against Ichorid, the Leylines come in, and Gush, Therapy, Form, and maybe a Scroll come out.
Against Flash, in addition to the above, the Duresses and Tinker/7-10 would also come in, and I'd might take out a Rector, Flash, and 2 Dazes.
Against Stax, I'd likely transform and bring in Hurkyl's Recall and Rebuild, taking out the Dazes.
Other decks, some version of the transformation.  It's very situational and depends on what I think the opponent is boarding in.

[Methuselahn]

Congrats for making it to the finals yet again with your Rector deck, Tom.  Thankfully I didn't have to face it this week. 

Top8
Oath beats Ichorid
Sliver Flash beats Uba Stax
RGB Stompy beats GAT
Rector Flash beats Suicide Black

No this isn't a typo.  I was piloting a really bad Akroma Oath deck to see if I could surprise anyone with my sideboarding antics.  This was my sideboard:

4 Rector
4 Flash
Bargain (toa maindecked)
Form
4 Leyline
1 Rebuild

Against Ichorid, the Leylines come in, and Gush, Therapy, Form, and maybe a Scroll come out.

Why would you take out Form of the Dragon vs Ichorid?  If you can Flash out Bargain, you should be able to get another Flash out for Form on the same turn.  If you can, you stop all of their non flyers.  Heck you even have Daze to protect your enchantments from Reverent Silence as well.  Their out becomes Narcomeobas, which you can shoot down if you somehow can't Time walk or find and launch a ToA.

[Odd mutation]

Hi,

Thanks for the answers! I'll be trying the deck soon and report back... if I do decide to give it a try in our tournement this Sunday.

Robrecht.

[moxpearl]

No this isn't a typo.  I was piloting a really bad Akroma Oath deck to see if I could surprise anyone with my sideboarding antics. 

Why would you take out Form of the Dragon vs Ichorid?  If you can Flash out Bargain, you should be able to get another Flash out for Form on the same turn.  If you can, you stop all of their non flyers.  Heck you even have Daze to protect your enchantments from Reverent Silence as well.  Their out becomes Narcomeobas, which you can shoot down if you somehow can't Time walk or find and launch a ToA.

That must have been fun throwing people off with your sideboard strategy.  I was going to name your deck Oath-Flash, but I wasn't quite sure what you were playing.  I looked over at your table and saw Forbidden Orchards and Oath, and I was thinking, "Oh, Jeff's playing Oath."  But, at one point, I had to double-take on your table, because I saw you flashing Rector into play.  I'm thinking, is he playing Oath transform into Rector or visa versa?  Wish you could have made the finals...that would have been amusing to have my Rector/Flash play your Oath, and then we transform into Gush/Razormane playing Rector/Flash.

On your comment on the Ichorid matchup, I was thinking that if I can flash out Bargain turn 1 or 2, I can't lose with or without Form.  Worst case if I can't play another land, I draw 0 cards, let Ichorid go off and I can draw to counter the Sutured Ghoul.  I was also thinking that if I get Form and don't have Bargain in play, he's going to Reverent Silence both Leylines and Form.  The main reasons I can see for Form are if Bargain is stuck in my hand and I can Flash, or if the game for whatever reason goes beyond three turns and I've taken a beating from creatures.  That might be reason enough, and in hindsight, you're probably right in that it should stay in the deck.  The problem is I need to take four cards out of my maindeck for the Leylines...I guess probably keeping Form in and taking out another Merchant Scroll might be better.

Hi,

Thanks for the answers! I'll be trying the deck soon and report back... if I do decide to give it a try in our tournement this Sunday.

Robrecht.

Good luck.  One item to remember when you're Bargaining is to save your blue for Merchant Scroll->Mystical.  This will get your Will or Tendrils.

[Deep Spawn FTW]

Yeah, Dan Balto here. Congrats to split with Tom. My list is as follows:

Maindeck:

Creatures (11)
4 Protean Hulk
4 Virulent Sliver
2 Heart Sliver
1 Elvish Spirit Guide

Instants (25)
4 Flash
4 Force of Will
4 Pact of Negation
4 Brainstorm
3 Summoner's Pact
2 Misdirection
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Chain of Vapor

Sorcery (5)
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Demonic Tutor

Artifacts (7)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Saphire
1 Lotus Petal

Lands (12)
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Duress
1 Crystalline Sliver
1 Winged Sliver
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Echoing Truth
2 Chain of Vapor

Enjoy
BTW: Top 4 match won by 2 Virulent Sliver Beatdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE VINTAGE!!!

[v4ino]

To Anthony for doing well at your first Vintage tournaments and to V4ino for his fun deck.   We took out the bazaars for this first tournament, but I like them in the deck.  We also have to figure out how exactly to use the IGG's.

Glad to hear your friend enjoyed the deck and did well with it, not playing the bazaars the first time in a T1 tournament is a good idea as it adds alot of complexity to piloting the deck. What cards did you put in those slots (I'm guessing Wasteland and timewalk)?

yeah, the IGG's take time )

[moxpearl]

To Anthony for doing well at your first Vintage tournaments and to V4ino for his fun deck.   We took out the bazaars for this first tournament, but I like them in the deck.  We also have to figure out how exactly to use the IGG's.

Glad to hear your friend enjoyed the deck and did well with it, not playing the bazaars the first time in a T1 tournament is a good idea as it adds alot of complexity to piloting the deck. What cards did you put in those slots (I'm guessing Wasteland and timewalk)?

yeah, the IGG's take time )

We started with your list here:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=34013.0

In the maindeck, I think he just replaced the Bazaars with Chain of Vapor and Frantic Search.
For the board, we didn't think the null rods were great in the metagame, so we just threw in 2 more wastelands and 2 hymn to tourachs.  I thought of Time Walk, but the risk of getting your sea stripped/wasted and then have no blue for bounce or ancestral seemed risky.

IGG and Leyline is so nasty.

[Odd mutation]

Hi Moxpearl,

In the end I didn't play Rector Flash at the tournement in Mol. I realize I gave up far too easily but it just wasn't what I was looking for. I played UR Landstill instead. You can read my report on The Mana Drain tournement forum.

There was a Rector Flash player at the site who made top 8 'though. You'll find the link to the top 8 decklists in my report thread. Watching this player play his deck I realised the power and importance of Form of the Dragon. It looks especially good against stax. Is that a correct observation?

Greetings,

Robrecht.