Another janky deck, another mediocre finish (3-3-0)! I was pretty happy with the deck and will be tweaking it and re-running it, as I do think it has potential. First the list:
4 Nether Void Sideboard: 4 Leyline of the Void
4 Chalice of the Void 2 Infest
4 Brainstorm 2 Darkblast
4 Stifle 2 Annul
2 Duress 2 Pithing Needle
2 Echoing Truth 1 Swamp 1 Island 1 BEB
1 Ancestral / Lotus / Mox Sapph. / Mox Jet
1 Demonic Tutor / Vampiric Tutor / Demonic Consultation
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
4 Dark Ritual
1 Tinker / DSC
3 Nantuko Shade 
4 Mishra's Factory / Wasteland / Underground Sea
2 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
1 Strip Mine
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Swamp
I'd been quietly scheming up a Landstill-ish deck for some time. I just love Nether Void. At
it isn't that much of a stretch with 4 dark rituals 2 moxen, 1 lotus and 2 ancient tombs. My goal was to get it down on the 2nd turn, or 3rd at the latest, if I had to tutor for it.
Nantuko shade is a house if I can get it out turn 1 or turn 2 and play the void the next turn. Void is pretty much gg, if I can get it down before they play creatures, and I maindecked 2 echoing truths to help with spot removal. I chose to play it over Stax as it sees far less hate than welder-dependent builds and dosent rely on artifacts either. It also has a more stable mana base than stax and the ability to use brainstorm. More discussion to follow the results:
Round 1 vs. Dan Perovich w/ GAT Loss: 0-2
Game 1: I keep a hand with ancestral, strand, sea, mox jet, wasteland, brainstorm, mishra's factory.
Dan wins the die roll and, as would be my bane for the day, casts thoughtseize first turn....bye bye ancestral. Hello much, much, much crappier hand.
I draw and play mox jet, strand and Duress...Dan reveals a Dryad, gush, brainstorm, echoing truth, and a tropical island. I think for a while and decide upon Brainstorm.
Would thoughtseize have been better? Yes, probably. I would gladly have given him the brainstorm in exchange for the dryad. Even if he braistormed in to a dryad, that's a potential extra Dryad-free turn. And I'm ALL about extra dryad-free turns....
I the pass it to Dan who plays a land, dryad, gushes and passes. I brainstorm in to a bunch of crap, revealing crucible, land, dark ritual.... I take the ritual and draw the crucible. I play factory and sadly pass. Dan plays a land, mox emerald and another dryad.
The land I draw certainly dosent help. He then grows his dryads very quickly and my lone factory does nothing. Fortunately, he has no idea what I'm really playing after this one game.
Game 2: I don't side anything in vs. GAT (needle on strand or delta seems very narrow, as does annul on fastbond or lotus). I dont think it's worth leyline even though I know he's probably siding in tarmogoyfs. There's really nothing I can take out and since I'm on the play I should keep my chalices in, hoping to get to a chalice at 2 quickly.
I keep a hand with Nantuko Shade, Mishra's factory, dark ritual, delta, black lotus, vampiric tutor, sea.
I play the delta and lotus, pass. Dan fetches an underground sea and casts ancestrall. Ugh....He discards something but I forget what it is.
I vampiric at the end of his turn, almost deciding to go with a nantuko shade, but deciding upon Nether Void at the last second. I figure it will get countered but still need to force him to counter it.
Now I play the strip mine, sac the lotus for black and cast nantuko shade. He ALMOST counters it, but much to my dismay, makes the smart play and does not. I then cast dark ritual, tap my sea and play the nether void, which gets forced, as expected.
I then strip his sea and pass. He plays a tropical island and a mox of some sort, casting a dryad. ARGH! That's all he's able to do, however.
I draw another factory, play the one in my hand and swing with my shade for 4 points, dropping him to 15. Pass.
He plays another land, floats green and gushes. He then uses the green to play fastbond...This just went from not great, to potentially very, very bad. He replays some land, dropping him to 12, I believe. He then ponders, shuffles and attacks with a 4/4 dryad. I go down to 13.
I draw a flooded strand, but play my other mishra's factory, then swing for 4, leaving both factories untapped. He is at 8.
Cant remember exactly what he did, but he grew his dryad to a 5/5 I believe and took the, seemingly, risky swing. I decide not to lose one of my factories and go down to 8. He then passes.
So if I draw a land or a dark ritual (assuming no counters in his hand) I can swing for 8 and win. What do I draw? Chalice of the Void. Great....
So with 3 lands, 2 factories and 1 shade, the most I can do is 7 damage! And he's at 8. AHHH, so frustrating. I believe I send the shade and do 3 damage, leaving the factories and 2 mana open as blockers. He mysticals at the end of my turn for timewalk. He plays timewalk, then plays a tarmogoyf and then takes his timewalk turn. Gushes, and then Yawg Will. I scoop.
So after two games, Nether Voids in play = Zero, Chalice effectiveness = None, Stifles used = Zero.
Round 2 vs. Nick Rodrigues w/ Storm (Empty, FS, Tinker) Win: 2-0
Game 1: It was definitely just one of those days for Nick, who got really screwed over and should have won this match. I kept a hand with nantuko shade, mishra's factory, nether void, mox jet, flooded strand, wasteland, chalice
Nick went first, playing a mox sapphire, I believe, a volcanic island, brainstormed, then passed.
I played a jet, strand, chalice at zero and nantuko shade, with a factory following next turn.
Long story short, this is what Nick did on his 4 turn clock: Brainstormed twice including fetchland shuffle effects, ancestral recalled, Fact or Fictioned (revealing 3 mana drains and 2 lands, LOL), Night's Whispered, Skeletal Scryed for 4. He did not see empty the warrens, future sight, tinker, demonic tutor, vampiric tutor, mystical tutor. I've never seen someone go through that much card drawing without finding a bomb. I felt bad.
Game 2: Side in 4x leyline
I keep a shade, nether void, mishras factory, strand, swamp, leyline, brainstorm.
He plays first, duressing me for my brainstorm.
I draw a duress Nice...I play strand, fetch, and opt to go with duress. I see brainstorm, force of will, sol ring, land and rebuild. I take the force after some consideration.
He plays a land and then brainstorms, then plays sol ring.
I play shade and pass. He cycles rebuild at the end of my turn, plays a mana crypt and then smothers my shade. I draw a brainstorm, play it and find a shade to put in my hand, setting up another mishra's and I then play my first factory.
He draws more stuff on his turn, but dosent make any threat. I then draw and play my next factory, attack with one of them and it gets fire/iced. I then play the next shade and pass. He plays mystical tutor at the end of my turn for Empty the Warrens, which he can only manage to play for Storm 1 at this point....
I carefully (and maybe foolishly) only send my shade, initially, against the tokens, opting not for an all out swing (didnt want to lose 2 factories). I chipped him down to 2 tokens and then came with everything. Between his mana crypt and my creatures that was that.
After 2 rounds: Nether Voids in Play=Zero, Chalice Effectiveness= None, Stifles Used=Zero
Round 3 vs. Demonic Attorney w/ GAT Loss: 1-2
Game1: I play first, keeping Chalice, dark ritual, delta, factory, wasteland, brainstorm, mox jet.
I play delta, fetch, brainstorm, seeing another chalice, a sea and a shade. I take the chalice. I then play the jet, dark ritual, and chalice at 1. I announce that I'm chalicing for 2, meaning for 2 mana (and thus chalice at 1), but, he thinks I mean chalice at 2 (and understandably so). So he initially forces, pitching tog, but then realizes that I meant at 1, which he does not want to force. We call a judge, I get a warning and he is allowed to not force the chalice. So now, with a chalice at 1, I decide to keep the other one in hopes of playing it at 2 after the shade. Bad idea. He plays mox, land and dryad.
I barely have enough time to play my shade and watch helplessly as he ancestrals, plays another dryad and overwhelms me with a big dryad and potentially big Tog.
Game 2 I do not side in anything again, opting to keep my chalices since I'm on the play. Of course, I don't draw one. Instead, I keep: Strip Mine, Delta, Shade, Dark Ritual, sea, consultation, factory. I play delta first turn and pass. Chris dosent do much, playing a land and brainstorming, I believe. I Consult with Demons who advise me to go with Nether Void. I find it without too much card loss. I draw a wasteland. Play factory, ritual, nether void. No counters!
Yay, it's a real live Nether Void!!. Of course, I then stall out on land, strip one of his lands, but then draw a shade and have to sit and beat with factory, while I try to top deck lands. I have 2 seas and a factory and a wasteland. Fortunately I draw another delta, and get my shade active. Meanwhile, Chris makes every land drop for like 7 turns straight, including getting a mox in play. He finally plays a dryad and is able to pitch a brainstorm to nether void, making it a 2/2. He finally gets a tarmogoyf in play, and we sit at a standsill for a while until I finally get another sea, making my shade stronger than his goyf. He can't double block my shade with his goyf and dryad as his life is too low. So he we trade factory for dryad and Shade eats his goyf. Game over next turn. I think he saw like 10 lands over the course of 7 turns. So it wasnt a very strong win by me, but I'll take it.
Game 3: I get a shade and 2 factories in play, but dont have much other land, and eventually succumb to a massive goyf and dryad. I also forget to board out my chalices for leylines, but fortunately, it didnt matter.
After 3 rounds: Nether Voids in play=1, Chalice Effectiveness= Little-to-None, Stifles Used=Zero
Round 4 vs. Keith Swenson w/ 5c Uba Stax Win: 2-1
Game 1:I play first, keeping a pretty sweet hand of chalice, shade, land, crucible, land, factory, dark ritual.
I know he's playing stax so am very happy about the chalice and the shade opener. I open with chalice at zero and a sea. He manages to draw a lot of mana sources, plays a crucible, sphere of resistance, and uba mask, but never finds stack or wire. I beat down with a shade and factory for the win. Chalice did not end up doing anything, as he had enough other mana to play stuff, just never found the stuff.
Game 2: One of the most enjoyable games I've played. I board in the whole farm! 2 annul, 4 leyline, 2 darkblast, BEB and basic lands, 2 needle. I don't find leyline opener, unfortunately and have to mulligan to six, where I still dont see it. I do have tinker, wasteland, lotus, factory, sea, Strand. He plays 2 moxen (red, black)...then plays a workshop.
I draw a land, play it and play the lotus. Pass He plays a city of brass and plays welder. I am basically sitting here doing nothing because I can't play Tinker>DSC with a welder on the board. So I topdeck for a while.... He finally plays Trike and begins the beatdown. I am down to 9 life, but have 2 underground seas, a black lotus, a wasteland, a tinker and a dark ritual. I will soon be triked to death.
It's time for a big top-deck! I have to draw Darkblast, needle (or demonic consultation to get one of them). I draw Consultation!!!
So with
at my disposal (post-dark ritual), I have EXACTLY enough to Consult for a needle, play the needle and Tinker out my lotus. Consultation is good to me and I reveal one of 2 needles without much trouble. Needle comes down on welder, lotus is tinkered out for DSC.
Mwahahah, the tables have turned, so it seems. On his turn he plays a Maze of Ith, which is interesting, since I had wasteland on the board. This means that he probably has another one. Damnit. I waste it, swing for 11 and pass (he's down to like 7 or 8). Sure enough, he plays another Maze....and a welder. Pass.
"Hello, God, I was wondering if you could give me 2 ridiculous topdecks in one game?" A wasteland would have done it, but one can only be so lucky. No wasteland to be found. So I sit there and he finds a crucible the very next turn, and eventually finds a third welder and can swing lethal in a couple turns. Darn. So close.
Game 3: Was pretty lucky on my part. As time was called, he played a welder, but I played a factory. Factory beats welder. Game over.
After 4 rounds: Nether Voids in play=1, Chalice Effectiveness=Little/None, Stifles Used=Zero
Round 5 vs. Willie Munch w/ GAT Loss: 0-2
Game 1: He wins the die roll and I go all in on the following hand: Tinker, Factory, Factory, Strand, Sea, Delta, Wasteland. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I think I get mesmerized by Tinker. I swear, around that card, all of my reason goes out the window. The worst part is, I knew he was playing gat. Why I thought I'd make it 3 turns with Tinker in my hand, exposed, with no brainstorm, is beyond me. Anyways, he Duressed first turn and that was game...
Game 2 is a MUST READ: I keep Lotus, ritual, demonic consultation, shade, delta, factory.
Delta>Sea>Ritual>Shade and pass.
Willie didnt do anything significant first turn, and passed. I play factory, draw an echoing truth, swing with shade. Pass. Willie plays a dryad and passes to me. If I can resolve Nether Void, I should be able to win against this small dryad, especially with E.Truth.
I Consult....Now, I've seen zero of them, have 4 in my deck. I flip the first 6 cards, none in there to my great delight. I should find one pretty quickly, right? Actually, how about I remove the next 33 F#$%ING CARDS! before finding one? So I get the bleepin card on number 40, and then of course, my draw for turn is another one. I sac the lotus and play nether void. Response? Yes, but not force of will. He responds, E. Truthing my Shade. Oh, I wonder what was removed in the 39 cards? Oh nothing much, just my 3 other Seas, my only swamp AND the mox Jet, and my 3 other dark rituals. I have no legitimate way to play another shade. So I swing with factory. He oxidizes it....Let's see, what else did Demonic Consultation remove?? Oh, just both Crucibles. But I have Tinker in my hand, I forgot to mention. Was DSC removed? Of course! I scoop, having no win conditions left. I can think of a few other names for Demonic Consultation at this point. Frankly I'm traumatized by what just happened.
After 5 rounds: Nether Voids in play=2, Chalice Effectiveness=None, Stifles Used=Zero
Round 6 vs. Zach Bath w/ ??? Win 2-0
I'm not sure what Zach's deck was supposed to do, but I'm thinking it was supposed to do more than resolve Sword of Kaldra game 1 and helm of kaldra game 2. Fortunately, I was able to overcome these legendary equipment threats for the win.
So the big surprise of the day? I cast Stifle a grand total of ZERO times. Granted, I had some major bad luck of never seeing it on the play vs. GAT, and the card is basically worthless after turn 1, but wow, it didnt even come in handy vs. Stax, as I boarded it out in favor of more permanent answers like darkblast, annul and pithing needle.
Chalice also sucked, Big Time. It basically does nothing against GAT unless you can drop it at 2 first turn, which requires a land, mox and dark ritual. And then, if it gets forced (good chance), you're really screwed.
In theory, Stifle, land, chalice, wasteland isn't that hard to pull on the play, but I just never did. So I dont know if I should chalk it up to bad luck, or what. If I do axe the Chalices and the Stifles, that's 8 spots I can put in. I'm thinking of running 4 thoughtseizes and maybe maindecking Smother. Smother's are only dead against Storm-based combo and I think I could help myself against those by maindecking Spheres. I was SO close against GAT all day, and felt like if I could just slow them down a turn or two more, I'd be fine. Sphere + Thoughtseize + Smother would certainly do the trick. It would also be effective against welders, as well as plenty of Fish targets. I also need more moxen....
That's all from me. I'm going to post my Deck in the Vintage Improvement Forum. Thanks Dan for yet another awesome tourney!
Clark
