Short report from T1 side event at Grand Prix Stuttgart at 16th of DecemberThe day started horrible. I woke with up with a big hangover and was punished for not being the youngest anymore. For a long time it was a 50/50 if I go to the T1 side event in Stuttgart or not. Coming from Frankfurt it is still a two hours trip. But in the end, I decided to go as it is very rare that I really get the chance to play Vintage tournaments. And even though I had a strong headache and was almost falling asleep while driving I arrived safe in Stuttgart.
I have never been to such a big event and I was quite impressed of the professionality and size of the whole tournament. The first thing I noticed was, that there were two artists signing and altering cards. But I had missed to check things like that in advance. So I just took my deck with me. And while one of the artists was Mark Tedin I didn't have Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Necropotence, Mana Drain or anything else of his cards with me, as I am not playing them in the moment Damn! So I used my time for watching the legacy event and getting some foils - a very nice Kira, Great Glass Spinner for example, my second one.
Later on I met many of my friends with wich we frequently are holding Vintage tournaments of 20 to 30 persons size in the southwest german area. We talked a bit and waited for the event. Patrick and I were just wondering, how we will get informed of the tournament start and how funny it would be to hang around and miss the start, when I saw one of our friends already sitting at a table four rows in front of us. We rushed over there just to hear the judge saying: "There are still three persons missing. They have three minutes left." Puh, what lucksacks we are. I was sorry for Heiner Litz, who missed the start for just a few minutes and got a match loss. But I would say, this could be better organized, as there was no sign or information via microphone where and when to go in this big hall at all. Anyway the fun started and my headache got even worse going along with my stomach now as well.
I played again my UB Mask creation "Dark Illusions", which I already played even without the Dreadnought errata with some success.And I was happy for sure to use it again with the Dreadnought errata wich made it even better to some top tier status.
The deck is a beast and has many many synergies. It can easily switch game roles: sometimes it goes straight forward the mana denial route, sometimes it is the Dark Confidant Draw Go deck, sometimes the aggressive beater with early Dreadnoughts. But rule number one is to play the deck as much as a tempo deck as possible. You just need to swing two times most of the times. So for example playing Stifles on Oath, Smokestack, Fetchland, Welder ... can be really huge.
I saw TKs new UBG Tarmo-Trinket-Nought deck "Deez Noughts" and even though it looks like a very great deck, I prefer the UB full Dreadnought shell, as I almost never found Dreadnoughts clunky with so many ways to bring them in. I go with two Masks and I like them as well as the right choice to bring out more than one Nought and a good way to avoid Counters and Spheres. This was the list I was trying out this time:
"Dark Illusions" by Philip Stirm4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Illusionary Mask
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
1 Mana Leak
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Daze
1 Trickbind
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Echoing Truth
1 Vodalian Illusionist
4 Dark Confidant
3 Duress
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
Board:
2 Anull
2 Hurkyls Recall
2 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
2 Yxlid Jailer
2 Smother
2 Extirpate
2 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
Some notes on the choices:- Daze/Mana Leak: I like them as singletons for psychological reasons - to bluff more of them and forcing opponent to play around them. On the other hand: Both of them can be good tutor targets from time to time to help playing the tempo game.
- Yawgmoth's Will: Without Will the deck lacks possibilities for the late game. Will solves this problem with one card.
- Duress, but no Thoughtseizes: During testing and the tournament I almost never wished to be able to pick a creature. But I would have missed my life points.
- Trickbind: Rounds up the little toolbox for the single Merchant Scroll and the other tutors. I started to play this over the third Mask a while ago and never looked back.
- Vodalian Illusionist: I was looking for a good ninth critter for a long time. Then I read a Legacy article from Doug Linn (thanks a lot for the inspiration) about the possibility to use Phasing to respond on the CIP from Dreadnought, as phasing in is not treated CIP anymore. The list presented by Doug used Vision Charm. But I was at once thinking of this single Weatherlight card, that stucked in my binder for a long time.
I like the Illusionist for allowing even more tricks (phasing out Meddlings or Mindcensors for example), for protecting my Noughts as well, for being an almost undestructable blocker and for just fitting to the deck name
Anyway: It is clunky and I can understand, if people don't want to play it for that reason. I just love to always play one pretty unusual surprising card, and this time it has been the Illusionist. I was thinking for a long time about playing Waterfront Bouncer instead. Maybe next time.
- Complete set of Moxen: I love first turn Confidants as one of the strongest moves in this deck. Sometimes first turn Stifle/Nought can be good as well. Randomly it can be good to have the mana for first turn Mana Leak, Merchant Scroll, Trickbind open. Not very often I would like to play a first turn Mask without having colored mana open as well. That is the reason for not playing Sol Ring instead. Mana Crypt could help out as well. But there is not much you want to play for two colorless Mana first turn and life does matter in this deck.
- Kira, Great Glass Spinner: Nought is pretty vulnerable and there are decks around with too much removal after boarding (BGW Bazaar Beats, UW Fish, RG Beats, Landstill ...). Kira helps to make them invest much more to remove the Nought. And in addition they are 2/2 flyers.
- Sideboard: Should be self explaining. It has four to five options against almost any relevant deck (Workshops, GAT, Oath, Beats, Ichorid, Landstill ...). Just for Storm and Flash deck I just have the two Extirpates (and the second Explosives against Flash) to board. I am totally fine with that, as both decks already have a hard time dealing with the maindeck. I would love to include Chains of Mephistopheles again as a great bomb in this meta, but I just don't find space. Same goes for Tinker/Colossus.
- 61 cards: Yes, you counted correctly. I play one card too much. Beside combo decks I do this very often and I allow everybody to blame me as a rookie for that. Thats fine and I nevertheless will do it again. If you would like to play this deck but give it a more professional touch: Just cut the Illusionist or one Mox.
A quick report. We were 28 players. Five rounds + Top 8 were anounced (more on that later on). The winner should get 10 Antiquities and 2 Legends booster plus some artist prints. The runner up should get 6 Antiquities and 2 Legends booster and artist prints as well. Not too bad!
Round 1 against Thorn Goblins (I am sorry for not remembering all names. Same for details of the plays, as I am not a very professional player and got to concentrate too much to take any notes)
First game: He wins the die roll and starts with Simian Spirit Guide and Goblin Lackey. No landdrop which is questionable. Anyway, I don't have Force so his plan could work. But my start is pretty broken containing first turn Ancestral, three Moxen, Mask and next turn Demonic Tutor for Dreadnought. He couldn't do that much with still no land and just Warchief brought in with the Lackey.
Board: In go 2 Jailer, 2 Smother, 2 Kira, out go 3 Duress, 1 Trickbind, 1 Merchant Scroll and 1 Mana Leak
Second game: He starts pretty broken with Simian and Lackey and then Ancient Tomb for Thorn, so he cut me of from any first turn play. He then continues to strip and waste my lands so it's over pretty quick.
Third game: I mulligan manaless hands twice just to keep three lands togehter with Force of Will and Time Walk. Very questionable, but I don't want to risk to get four cards with not enough mana against him. And I still have the plan to force a possible first turn Lackey, if he is going all in for that. At least he mulliganed as well so it could work. I play a land and pass. As expected he plays the Lackey which I counter. I draw another Force of Will (great!). He then lays a second land and TWO Lackeys. Oooookkkaay. I continue to draw nothing to bring out a quick Dreadnought and it is over pretty fast.
What a great start! From now on my motto was: The next one winning against me will make me drop to go home and get some sleep against my hangover. Nice, that this didn't happen
Round 2against Marc Langira with GB disruption package with Tarmos and Noughts. I know Marc as a very competent Landstill player. But I already had seen that he had chosen a different deck this time and I was confidant that I have at least a chance against him.
First game It is a pitty that I don't remember too much from these ones. I think I just had the more broken start with an early Dreadnought bringing it home. I think some Confidant action was also included.
Board: In go 2 Smother, 2 Kira, 1 Explosives, out go 1 Trickbind, 3 Duress and 1 Merchant Scroll.
Second game: I know that he managed to Oxidize one of my Dreadnoughts and I think I smothered on of his Confidants. He plays a Chalice for one which hits me hard with a hand full of Brainstorms, Stifles andVampiric. But I get a Mask in play and play Confidant, Illusionist, Kira and finally Dreadnought. The crucial play was him playing Oxidize on my Mask. I was already putting it in the graveyard but then noticed that there is a very helpful Chalice on the table. So Mask sticks, what is a blast, as I had all my lands striped and just three "colorless" Moxen on the table. When it is over he shows me his hand with lands, two Dreadnoughts, one Smother and no Mask. The Smother came too late as Kira already entered the field.
Marc was a very friendly opponent and I hope to see him again soon, even though his Dillingen crew is always playing a little bit too far away for me.
Round 3 against Daniel playing UGR Tarmo Fish. I know Daniel from many matches. He is young boy and a nice guy. But he is also a very noisy, fidgety player, which can be annoying sometimes to an even unfair stadium. He is also a little bit unsportsmanlike, cheering as much as possible, when winning, but always complaining about the luck of the opponent, when he is losing, even though you just played well. Anyway: He just carries his heart in his hand, he is young and a nice and fixed part of our tournament scene.
First game I get an early Dreadnought out and swing one time. He starts to dig for answers and is drawing many cards. At one time he has a full hand and obviously some plan in mind. He has one Volcanic Island untapped and plays a Fetchland. He tries to fetch - probably to get green Mana - and I show him the Trickbind in my hand. He suddenly gets really upset and complains a lot about that being just a random move and me being damn lucky. Thanks! But it seals the game and I would say it is a good example for tempo game.
Board: In go 2 Smother, 1 Explosives and 2 Extirpate, out go 1 Mox, 1 Trickbind, 1 Mask, 1 Dreadnought and 1 Merchant Scroll
Second game: He seems to have Dazes and Forces for every threat I play and a Tarmo and a - I think - Dryad quickly end the game. In this game Daniel has shown again, that he is an enthusiastic Fish player and knows every ins and outs of how to play the tempo game as well.
Third game: I mulligan once and keep an ok hand with Island, Swamp, Confidant and Mana Leak. But again, he has too many Dazes and Forces for everything I am playing. At one point he plays a Trygdon Predator and things start to look even worse. He swings a couple of times and plays three Ponder meanwhile, so his hand must look terrific. He then plays a second Predator. I try to Echoing Truth them end of turn, and it resolves. So I am pretty sure he at max has Dazes in hand with me having enough mana. I waste his first Tropical and pass the turn (he has another Tropical and two Volcanics on the table). He then plays the first Predator again. I force it and it works. He passes and end of turn I play Extirpate on the predator. While looking through his library I notice, that he has many red answers to my creatures but also just plays green win conditions without any Moxen as Daniel is unpowered). I look at the Yawgmoth's Will in my hand and at once I know what to do. I even topdeck Lotus but it didn't matter. I play Will, waste the other Tropical and then extirpate it. He looks really upset, shuffles his cards together and calls me a random lucksack for having Lotus and Will together - even though it didn't matter and I was keeping Will for a long time. I tell him that it would be nicer, if he could just congratulate me and that I think, that I wasnt just lucky with some at least nice moves. But he is too upset and leaves the table. But later on we were for sure good friends again.
Round 4 against a nice austrian guy from Vienna with 5 Color Staxx. Before the round started we talked a bit about Vienna being a very nice place, as my wife comes from Austria and I know the city quite well. It is possible that we move there someday, so I asked him a lot about the local Vintage scene. As he is a shop owner, he should know a bit about it. Unfortunately there seems to be no Vintage scene, just frequent Legacy events. Even though this is better than nothing, it is a bit disappointing!
Before the match starts we are informed that the tournament organisation just changed there mind. There will be no Top 8. We just play six rounds instead. Me and all the others who already have a game loss are pretty mad about that, as the chances to get in the Top 2 are suddenly very small. We don't even get any reason for that. The dust of professionality which I felt when arriving, just vanished.
First game: He starts with City of Brass, a Mox and Lotus. He sacs Lotus, taps the Mox and plays ... Garruk Wildspeaker (!?!). Wow, seems that someone else likes to play with surprising pet cards. He smiles and agrees. Then he right away removes a counter and brings in a 3/3. Anyway, I decide that my beaters are bigger and play a Nought. He continues to untap lands with his Planeswalker and plays some stuff, but nothing relevant. I decide not to attack the Planeswalker and beat him down in two turns instead.
Board: In come 2 Hurkyls, 2 Anull, 2 Needles, 1 Explosives, out go 3 Duress, 1 Merchant Scroll, 1 Yawgmoths Will, 1 Trickbind, 1 Demonic Tutor
Second game: This time he has a better start with some mana, Thorn of Amethyst and Welder. I establish my manabase with Basics and Moxen. He consequently doesn't draw that much beside Crucible and Smokestack and gets damage from the Mana Crypt. I am able to play a Mask for the two Dreadnoughts in my hand, but just play one of them to keep mana open for my Force of Will. He plays Vampiric end of my turn. In his upkeep he puts a counter on Smokie gets again damage from the Mana Crypt, which brings him under the magical twelve life zone. He then plays Tinker with mana open. I am thinking about it and decide to counter Tinker, which would have probably found Duplicant, even though he could still play Balance or Swords. But lucky me nothing follows up, so during my turn I just have to take care not to sac an artifact for the Smokestack and ride it home.
Round 5 against Patrick Hiness with Metalworker-Trike-Ravager-Mud, another nice member of the nearby Vintage scene, which has more less four players with a big preference for their Workshops. He is one of them and I know that I have to expect their new very explosive build. A very difficult matchup for me and I am telling him that. He isn't that sure and reminds me of my pretty long winning streak against him. While it ist true, it has nothing to do with him not being a skillful player. Mostly it was about good draws and matchups so I don't share his predictions.
First game: He starts with a Metalworker and I don't have a Force of Will which is bad news. I play a first turn Mask. Next turn he taps Metalworker and two Trikes enter the battlefield. Next turn I play a Nought and a Confidant under the Mask. I am not sure what he played then, I think it was just a Myr Retriever. And he for sure didn't let me trick him and pings my flipped Confidant end of turn. I draw another one, play it with three counters, attack with the Dreadnought and he takes twelve. On his turn he plays a Ravager, pings the unknown three counter morph again to death and doesn't attack. On my turn I come over again with my Dreadnought and I can't really repeat step by step what he did then. But some artifact sacrificing with Ravager and exchanging counters with the Trikes was included. It finally lead to a Dreadnought blocked and pinged dead and him without any critters on board but with Metalworker returned to his hand by My Retriever. I think I played a Brainstorm then and found another Nought which brings it home.
Board: see round 4
Second game: He starts with Workshop, Sphere of Resistance and Pithing Needle on Illusionary Mask. I play a land and a Mox. Next turn he plays an Ancient Tomb and a Smokestack. I play another land. He puts the first counter on Smokestack and I don't remember if he played anything but it cannot have been anything crucial. I end of turn play Echoing Truth on the Smokestack and waste his Workshop in my turn. He looks quite annoyed so I guess that he doesn't have any mana in hand. Not playing anything next turn proves that. I play a Confidant. He plays no land again and my Confidant finds me another Wasteland, the draw another Confidant. Him without any mana and me with two Confidants finishes the game pretty quickly, as I am able to play Dreadnought and Stifle soon after as well. Puuh, another difficult matchup solved. But I am sorry for Patrick being that screwed in the second Game.
Round 6: A player probably from Spain, as he was talking Spanish with his friends, playing GAT. His surname was Pla
First game: To sum it up quickly, I am able to force through an early Dreadnought, waste one of his lands and he is not able to find a solution
Board: In go 2 Extirpate and 2 Smother, out go 1 Mox, 1 Mask, 1 Dreadnought and 1 Echoing Truth.
Second game: He uses Fire/Ice for my first turn Confidant and even though I am able to trickbind and stifle two of his fetchies I run out of gas, while he prepares a game ending Will. Even though this sounds quick, I already could see that he is playing really slow.
Third game: I have a very good start with first turn Confidant and Mask, thanks to some Lotus action. But he has again the Fire/Ice. I play a Duress, take a Force and see that he has Duress and Demonic in hand. So I waste his Underground Sea and play Extirpate on the U-Seas. Thanks to his slow play
time is called, so I try to finish it, get a Dreadnought with Demonic Tutor and stifle it in. He plays Time Walk and then topdecks Lotus. He thinks for a while, but then just goes for Smother with his Demonic. I can play another Confidant with two Smother in hand but finally we end up with a draw.
So that was my Grand Prix experience. For coming in third I got six Lorwyn booster with no chance to play against the first two (UBG-Tarmo-Trinket-Nought, Tyrant Oath) at all. But I had a very good time and could - after a long while - play cards again. I don't know that much more about the Top 8, but the judge promised to publish the lists very soon. Two of the decks were UB-Confidant-Platinum-Control and some Workshop build. The field overall was very mixed up. We had TPS, Rector Flash, Gobbos, Dawn of the Dead, GAT, GRO, different Dreadnought variants, different Workshop variants, Ichorid, UB control, Tyrant Oath and probably other nice creations I didn't see.
While reading this report you might have noticed that this day was all about playing Dreadnoughts. This can be a good route against certain decks, but doesn't have to be he usual way. It's much more common to consequently go the mana denial route. But as said: The deck is very flexible and thanks to Stifle also really redundant. I just recommend to give it a try.
And many excuses for my bad English. Even after correcting the text I am pretty sure, that there are still plenty of mistakes in it. Also - as said - I don't remember everything correctly, so it might be some logical flaws and wrong descriptions of game situations in it. Nevertheless, thanks for reading.
Philip
P:- Almost any of my opponents, who were great guys
- Wizards for the errata of Dreadnought
- Andreas Klaes, the inventor of Staxx, who also put much effort in a similar build and placed well with it
- Many spanish players trying out UB or UBx Mask builds as well
- Hemgath and his french friends from solomoxen.com for succesfully trying out new ways to play Mask and Dreadnought
- Tobias Brix, Jan Gockeln and other german players for placing great with UB Mask in Dülmen and Iserlohn
Go ahead doing a great job guys!
S:- The tournament organisation for exchanging the modus while playing
- Vodalian Illusionist for showing up just two times without helping or hindering any game situation
