Hello to The Mana Drain community.
On 1/13/08, 30 people show up to Black Gold Sports in Littleton, CO. for a 15-proxy, $10 type 1 tournament for an unlimited mox pearl. 2nd and 3rd got their choice of a volcanic island and a tundra (donated by yours truly). Here is the list I split with:
Bob LongThe Core:
4 dark confidant
4 brainstorm
4 ponder
4 force of will
3 duress
2 merchant scroll
The 1-of's:
1 ancestral recall
1 time walk
1 tinker
1 gifts ungiven*
1 mystical tutor
1 vampiric tutor
1 imperial seal
1 demonic tutor
1 yawgmoth's will
1 tendrils of agony
1 darksteel colossus
1 necropotence
1 chain of vapor
1 hurkyl's recall
The Mana:
4 dark ritual
1 cabal ritual
4 polluted delta
3 island
3 underground sea
1 flooded strand
1 swamp
1 black lotus
1 lotus petal
1 sol ring
1 mox pearl
1 mox emerald
1 mox jet
1 mox sapphire
1 mox ruby
Sideboard:
1 swamp
1 island
1 chain of vapor
1 echoing truth
1 rebuild
2 extirpate*
2 engineered explosives
3 blue elemental blast
3 thoughtsieze*
*:=underperformed/would consider decreasing # by some amount.
The night before, my brother Josh came up to visit, and some of the remaining Colorado Crew guys (bob, jim, lou, and brennen) showed up to my house for some testing. I was still undecided as to what to play, as I have been ever since Meandeck Gifts got the axe (RIP). I really wanted to find a good mana drain deck, but didn't like slaver (tooooo slow), and after testing various bomerman builds (good MWS testing Vroman, thanks
), I knew the deck just wasn't for me. I think the thing I loved most about meandeck gifts was that it could blow up all over its enemy's face sometimes, and drain was just the blue ritual for the deck.
Once I realized that, I decided to just play a really stable combo deck (similar to gifts), except give up on the 'control-combo' aspect. After some inspiration from the Italian Davide Cohen, who made top 8 at the vintage champs in 2006 with "Dark Gifts," I decided to move into an 'aggro-combo' direction, and new I needed to find a good build (which would likely run dark confidant). "Bob" is such a great card drawing engine if you can resolve him early enough, and the 2 damage a turn really helps with the game ending tendrils, allowing the deck to be a little less yawg's will dependent when trying to reach lethal storm.
While all of this was swimming around in my head, I asked Fuckin' Lou for his newest iteration of Super Long, which only ran 4 FOW and 3 duress. This shocked me at first, but he convinced me it was a great local-metagame call, as we expected lots of shops and creatures, with less combo, some gat, and little drains/oath/ichorid/flash/etc. He had filled the deck with more mana and some merchant scrolls, and other goodies, but no Bobs. After I told him I thought Bob was a great idea for the deck, he agreed, and we decided to cut yawg's bargain (painful under bob) and some mana from his list to fit the 4-pack in.
Our main deck lists for the day were within one card; he used mana crypt and I used pearl. Crypt seems ok, but I felt it would be too painful over the course of the day, as the deck tends to hurt its pilot enough already w/necro, bob, fetches, thoughtsieze, and force of will. Other than the gifts, the main deck was solid the whole day. In theory gifts is always good, but it would mostly sit in my hand while I was slowed under 2-spheres, or the games would be over before it mattered, or simply gifts would be the wrong play at the time. I would probably cut it for a second tendrils, as this would make the deck even less yawg-will dependent. Furthermore, It would make the plan of "swing once or twice w/bob, mini-tendrals, finishing tendrils" easier, as well as allow a bit of a life buffer early against other combo/aggro decks, while not wasting my only win condition just to stay alive.
The board was pretty solid the whole day, though I could have cut a thoughtsieze and the extirpates for 3 other cards. I had thought of adding red in the board for REB's and an Empty the warrens, but decided just to stay UB and add a swamp and an island for the mana-denial match ups. I might have been able to get away with the following board:
1 volcanic island
1 empty the warrens
3 red elemental blast
3 blue elemental blast
2 thoughtsieze
2 engineered explosives
1 chain of vapor
1 echoing truth
1 rebuild
*Round 1* Marcus playing 5-c Stax
Marcus is a nice guy who usually plays an original mono U list, so I was taken off guard when he opened on the play with workshop
into mini-sphere on turn 1. i make land drops as I search for hurkyl's to combo out, but he quickly gets goblin welder/memory jar goodness going and quickly seals up game 1. I board into lands and bounce, cutting duress and off-color moxen. Game 2 I get an early tinker and that's all she wrote. Game three sees him ping himself multiple times with city of brass, barbarian ring, and mana crypt. I easily combo out when he is at 8.
*Round 2* ??? playing red aggro-workshop
I am paired against a younger guy who I didn't recognize, and whose name I didn't write down for some reason.
Game 1 is the typical "EOT bounce your board, untap, win" scenario. Game 2 I get an early bob and take a bunch of damage, but am unable to find the win before he drops sundering titan. Game 3 I pull an early win after forcing his trinisphere.
*Round 3* Eric playing empty gush
Game 1 I resolve turn 1 bob off a fetch and a mox, then I flipped a mox for bob. I got greedy and cast another bob on turn 2. then, I flip up Darksteel(!) and a dark ritual off the bobs. I time walked, but then flipped up a force off one of the bobs. This put me to 1, and I was unable to win that turn (I would have probably won the following turn) before the Bobs did me in next turn. Game 2 I resolve turn 1 necro off lotus, but have no land drop, so I am forced to slow-roll the necro a little. The game comes down to the point where I am at 4 and I know he has fire/ice in his hand. I attempt to cast demonic tutor when he is tapped out, but he had the force. I needed the DT to resolve to get will for the win, but sure enough the force was with him. My only choice at this point is to draw 1 and potentially necro-lock myself due to his fire/ice, or to draw 2, hope to see a force and more business cards. I chose to draw 2, seeing brainstorm and ancestral recall, but the next 6 cards saw only great cards not named force of will
2-1
*Round 4* Matt playing RBU intuition/gifts/homebrew combo.
Both games I show that I am the superior combo deck, as I win in 2 while he is still trying to assemble his combo. Thoughtsieze was great here. REBs would have been good as well.
3-1
*Round 5* Josh playing Mono Brown Stax
Josh is Colorado Crew, and a draw here gives us both top 8 slots.
*Top 8* Duncan playing tyrant oath
I get a turn 1 double bob on the play, but he forces the second one. Bob does a bunch of damage to him, as do the tokens he gave me with orchard. I let him resolve oath with him on a 2-3 turn clock from dudes, holding double force, and counter his next-turn lotus AND yawg's will. He is forced to pass the turn, and I untap and win. Game 2 is similar to game 1, except I win even faster, around turn 3 or so. I may have my games backwards here, I am not sure...
*Top 4* Fuckin Lou playing the mirror
Well, here it is. Bob, lou and myself are in top 4, and if Josh can pull out the win vs. Jeff, we can have a Colorado Crew top 4 split. Josh can't find the win though, so Jeff went on to the quarterfinals to battle the Clown of Tresserhorn himself, Mr. Yu Bo. This forces Lou and I to battle. After testing the mirror the previous night with Jim, I knew whoever resolved Dark confidant first would likely win. Needless to say, I did all three games, although Game 2 Lou tendrils'd me for 14 damage the turn before I would have won with double drak confidant beats. I get game 3 easily after a bad decision not to mulligan leaves Lou with little before I ride dark confidant card drawing into the win. He'll probably explain more if I am leaving much out...
*Finals* Jeff playing Grow-a-Goyf-Atogs
At this point, the crew and I just want to get out of here and eat, so I suggest we see if Carl (the owner of Black Gold) will buy back the mox and volcanic from us so we can split the cash. We agree to $110 each, and now Carl can hold another event
!
Peace!
