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The Atog Lord
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« on: February 18, 2008, 09:53:13 pm » |
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Team Reflection
Richard Shay
Tournament Report -- First Place
February 2008, Stratford, CT
GAT wasn't looking so good. I had done poorly in ELD's latest Mox tournament, and the metagame was looking more and more difficult for GAT. Workshop decks were playing nine Spheres. Aggro decks were playing with Magi. And even Combo decks were starting to maindeck Red Blasts. GAT is an extremely powerful deck, but to avoid considering alternates would have been unwise.
Oath didn't immediately jump to mind as a metagame-breaking deck. To be honest, I've always thought Angel Oath was terrible. I wasn't impressed by a combo kill which gave the opponent two or three turns. I also didn't like how the deck seemed so luck-based; Oath just looked like Flash with a slower clock. However, after talking with Jeff and JR about Oath being a contender in the metagame, it started to look better and better. When Jeremiah Rudolph made yet another Top Eight with his Tyrant Oath build, his build got added to the test gauntlet.
Mike came over to my place for some Aqua Teen Hunger Force and some Vintage games. I presented Mike with six closed deck boxes, each containing a different deck. Mike selected one without knowing its contents, and shuffled up. I was playing GAT. Mike had the Tyrant Oath deck. We didn't have high expectations for the Oath deck, but it crushed me 6-0. Then I picked up MUD, which also got devastated by Oath. Shaking my head in disbelief, I thought that I must have been playing badly that night. After all, Oath couldn't have been good.
However, that wasn't a fluke. Reflection started testing the deck more and more, and moreover working to improve the build. Jeremiah's list is quite strong, but had some room for improvement. Making the build I played at Waterbury was a team effort, with testing and ideas pouring in from many people. I also learned a lot by following the "Oath in the Current Metagame" thread on The Mana Drain. Of course, I didn't want to tip my hand by posting, but was very impressed by the detailed explanations that Jeremiah posted there.
Moving into the tournament itself, I wasn't sure which deck I would actually play at Waterbury until soon before the event. Oath was testing very well, but I wasn't comfortable with its GAT match in theory. My reasoning is this. GAT plays three fewer mana sources than Oath, and uses three fewer spots on its victory conditions. So, GAT will be drawing Mana Drains and Misdirections while Oath is drawing Orchards and Krosan Reclamation. However, I predicted that it wouldn't be significant because I didn't think that there would be many GAT decks there. Also, my teammates had been working on this build, and I really wanted to play a Reflection deck.
Here is the deck I played:
// Lands
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Island
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea
// Mana
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
// Win Conditions
2 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Brain Freeze
1 Flash of Insight
1 Krosan Reclamation
4 Oath of Druids
// Draw Engine
4 Gush
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
// Control Elements
3 Thoughtseize
4 Force of Will
1 Chain of Vapor
// Search
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
3 Merchant Scroll
// Broken Spells
1 Fastbond
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
// Sideboard
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Blazing Archon
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Fire/Ice
SB: 1 Tendrils of Agony
SB: 3 Shattering Spree
Now, onto the tournament results.
Round 1: Bye
Round 2: Marc Tuttle with GAT
~Marc leads with Island, Ruby, go. I play a Sea and Ponder, shuffling. Marc casts Mystical Tutor for Demonic Tutor, plays an Underground Sea, and passes. I play Jet and Thoughtseize, taking Demonic Tutor over a pair of Gushes and an Emerald. I then Scroll for Ancestral Recall, which I cast. Marc Gushes in response but fails to find a counter. On my next turn I Thoughtseize him again, and play Oath with Orchard. Marc has Scroll for Ancestral, but I have the Force. Soon, I Oath my library away, reshuffle Yawgmoth's Will with Krosan Reclamation, and win.
~Game two: Marc mulligans. I play a first-turn Oath, with no Orchard. Marc misses his second land drop while I Ponder and play Fastbond. I Scroll for Brainstorm, playing around Misdirection, digging for an Orchard. I cast Thoughtzeize; Marc has double Extirpate and a Demonic Tutor, as well as a Goyf. I take his Tutor. I find an Orchard, and win off an attacking Djinn.
Round 3: Josh Schneier with GAT
~I have a first turn Fastbond which resolves, but Josh Forces my Gush. I pass and get Duressed. I draw Oath and it resolves. I Brainstorm and return two cards I don't want, and use Krosan Reclamation to make myself shuffle. Josh casts some Cantrips and Forces through and Ancestral. I get a Djinn into play, but need to pass the turn after bouncing Josh's Psychatog. I don't get another turn, as Yawgmoth wins.
~I also open this game with Fastbond, but have nothing with which to follow it. I Force Josh's early Ancestral, and use REB and Thoughtseize to keep Josh controlled. Oath soon wins this one.
~ This game I live the dream with a first-turn Oath and Orchard. Josh bounces the Oath on his turn, but I just replay it. I win from there. Josh played this match well. I believe that we'll see more of him doing well in the future.
Round 4: ELD with GAT
~ I open with a Pearl and a Fetchland. Eric Ponders. I Brainstorm on his endstep, and again on my turn. Then I play Oath, which resolves. Eric Brainstorms and Ponders. I Gush and hardcast another Gush. Eric Brainstorms and Duresses. Eric Misdirects my Thoughtseize, and I Gush into Yawgmoth's Will and Orchard. Eric takes my Will, and I already played a land so I can't play the Orchard. Eric explodes with Yawgmoth's Will before I can trigger Oath.
~ I open with Fetchland and Eric Ponders, shuffling. I play a second-turn Oath with an Orchard, Forcing it into play. Eric can't recover.
~ Eric Duresses my Oath. I Ponder, play a Ruby, and pass. On my next turn I cast Thoughtseize, and pass. I then REB his Ancestral and his Gush. Soon I draw Oath and an Orchard while Eric is stalled by the control elements.
This was a long, intense match. I know that I can always count on ELD for a good match, and this was no exception.
Round 5: Bernie with Keeper
~ Bernie opens with Library, and I play a Sea and Pass. I cast Ancestral on his upkeep, and he goes off Library to Force. I play Oath off an Orchard and win.
~ I play a second turn Fastbond and then a couple of Gushes. I Thoughtseize and see that Bernie has two STPs and a Trickbind, as well as a Fact or Fiction. I take the draw spell and craft my hand while Bernie has reactive spells in hand. Eventually, I go off with Yawgmoth's Will.
Round 6: Charles with Bomberman
Charles is going to be quitting Magic, and I'm sad to see him go. He's a great guy and I hope that he shows up to future events from time to time, if only to say hello.
~ I get out a first-turn Oath. Charles plays a Spellbomb, a Tundra, and a Black Lotus. He Mana Drains my Fastbond. My Oath gets Repealed, and Charles pops his Spellbomb. I Gush and Thoughtseize, and replay my Oath. Charles casts a Jotun Grunt into my Oath and passes. I get a Djinn. Charles casts Swords, and I Force. That's the game.
~ Charles is ahead of me all game and on the third or so turn resolves a Salvagers and goes off. With a draw on the stack from Spellbomb, I Brainfreeze his deck away. This is tied for my favorite play of the day.
Round 7: Jeremy Beaver with Gush Storm
~ I Thoughtseize his Necropotence, leaving his Fastbond which he can't cast. He plays Library and passes. I play Orchard and Scroll for Ancestral. I play Oath the next turn and win.
~ I have a first-turn Oath this game, and in response Jeremy casts Ancestral Recall. I Force his Ancestral, and he Misdirects my Force to my own Oath. I can't believe I walked into that. From there, his Tarmogoyfs beat me to death.
~ I play a first turn Oath again. He Scrolls up Ancestral and passes. He fetches a Chain of Vapor. On my next turn I Gush, which is Forced. Then I resolve Fastbond. I Thoughtseize and REB his Ancestral. I get a Djinn into play before he can present a further threat, his Tarmogoyf being made useless.
Top 16: Marc Tuttle, Again with GAT
Another match against The Future. Marc is a good player, and these were some good games.
~For the second time today, I get a first-turn Oath and Orchard.
~ Marc starts with a Ponder and Duress and Demonic Tutor. I Demonic Tutor. Marc resolves Ancestral. On my turn I play Lotus and Will and replay a few cantrips. I Ponder and pass on my next turn. We spend a few turns casting draw spells. I play Sapphire and Ponder and then cast Oath, which he Drains. I Force, he Forces, and then I Tendrils Marc to two life. He then Extirpates my Oaths out of my deck. I start trying to rebuild my hand and eventually hardcast a Djinn for the win.
Top 8: Outlaw with GAT
Outlaw showed up with a sweatshirt reading "Outlaw > Rich Shay." In our last meeting, Outlaw defeated me in the finals of Waterbury with Poison Tokens. That was a complete shutout, with me getting only three turns the whole match. This match, however, was extremely close. It was epic and Outlaw played very well.
~ We both Mulligan. I play Orchard and Ponder. Outlaw plays a land and a Mox and passes. He Brainstorms on my endstep, after I play a land and pass. He plays a blue Mox and Ponders. I Brainstorm and cast Vampiric Tutor. I play Oath on my turn, and pass. Outlaw hits me with his army of three tokens, putting me to 13. He timewalks and Ancestrals. On his Timewalk turn, he bounces my Oath. I get beaten to death by Tokens before I can trigger Oath.
~ I lead with Lotus, Scroll, Ancestral. I play Sea and pass. Outlaw Duresses, taking my Force. He then Ponders. On his next turn, he Scrolls. On my next turn I Force through Yawgmoth's Will and play Oath and Orchard. I Oath into Tyrant and win attacking.
~ I Fetch and Ponder and play Lotus and pass. Outlaw Ancestrals. He then Brainstorms and fetches. He Duresses me and I Brainstorm hide my Yawgmoth's Will. I cast Will, Outlaw Gushes, and Will resolves. It isn't close to lethal, but instead I replay some cantrips. Eventually, however, the card advantage lets me force through and Oath for the win.
Top 4: ELD with GAT
After a fierce and exhausting match against Outlaw, I need to face ELD again. By this point my belief that GAT is favorable against Oath is looking less and less likely to be correct; still, Eric is a tough opponent in either case.
~ Eric Duresses my Oath. I Ponder. Eric Ponders. Eric Scrolls for a Force, and then for a Gush. Gush resolves. I Brainstorm, untap, cast Demonic Tutor, and play Gush. Eric Forces. I Force. Eric Forces again. Eric then Mysticals for Ancestral, which I'd never seen him do before. He Duresses my Yawgmoth's Will. I Gush and Scroll. Next turn I Thoughtseize. Eric has Force, Vampiric Tutor, and a Gush. I Take Gush and then cast Brainstorm. On my end step, Eric casts Vampiric Tutor to find a game-ending Yawgmoth's Will. Still in my End Step, I Brain Freeze him twice and myself once. His Will hits the yard, as do the dead cards I returned with Brainstorm. That was my other favorite play of the day, along with using Brain Freeze to insta-win against Bomberman. Eric Ponders, Demonic Tutors, and Gushes. I Gush, Brainstorm, and play Oath. Eric Gushes, Gushes again, and Duresses. Eric can't stop me from Oathing and I win this very close game.
~ I mulligan a hand with Ancestral and six mana sources. I'd keep that hand against most other players, but not ELD. Eric has Sapphire, Brainstorm, Duress. I have two Oaths and only an Orchard, so Eric takes Ponder. I draw, pass. Eric Vamps and then plays Ancestral. We trade Forces and it resolves. I draw and pass. On Eric's end step, I Brainstorm. I untap and Brainstorm again, finding a land and a Mox. I play Oath, and that ends the game.
Top 2: T00L with GAT
T00L has been getting better and better at Vintage, and has earned his spot here. He has been doing very well, and I can see that he really wants the win. Win or lose, I'm very happy to see how well he did today.
~ T00L Ponders. I play Lotus, Brainstorm, Orchard, Oath. Stephan manages to Cunning Wish for Extirpate to look at my deck before I deck him.
~ He plays a Tropical Island and passes. I play a fetchland. I REB his Brainstorm, and Scroll for Ancestral. He Scrolls for Gush, Gushes, and Brainstorms. I Ancestral and we trade Forces. I Thoughtseize and he Extirpates my Scrolls. He plays Engineered Explosives for two and I resolve Yawgmoth's Will to replay a few cantrips. At this point T00L has around three Spirit Tokens in play and then resolves Empty the Warrens for enough creatures to be lethal. On my final turn before a horde of tokens finishes me, I tap out to hardcast Djinn. I Gush, returning my Sapphire. Sapphire plays Ponder, Brainstorm, Ponder, each time bouncing the Mox. I finally find Emerald, go infinite, Scroll for Brainfreeze, and win.
Final Record: 10-0. Final Record vs GAT: 7-0.
I was surprised. I came into this tournament with two beliefs. First, that GAT wouldn't be around much. Second, that my GAT matchup wouldn't be good. I was, clearly, wrong on both counts. Mike and Chris also played the same deck, give or take a card. They were both in contention until the very last round of Swiss, where they both lost.
Some notes on the deck:
- This deck is hard to play -- harder than GAT, I believe. Like GAT, you need to scult a hand using cantrips while also using your control elements to disrupt the opponent. Like GAT, you get games where you need to combo out with Yawgmoth's Will and Fastbond. However, the Oath configuration we have introduces a whole new level to the deck. Every time I was trying to go off, it was like playing a brand new version of Magic: the Puzzling. Winning with Brainfreeze was very often posisble, but rarely simple in the least.
- The Red helps a lot. Against GAT, you have a deficiency of control cards. GAT has more space because it has fewer mana sources and a smaller set of cards dedicated to winning the game. Therefore, it has room for more control. Being able to bring in triple red blast and double Extirpate helps make that more event. That is, of course, in addition to the other sideboard options Red brings.
- Trisk is not needed. So often in testing, we would find that hitting Trisk off Oath gave the opponent a free turn. Brain Freeze lets you win like a combo deck, and doesn't disrupt your plan of Oathing a Tyrant into play. In addition, Brainfreeze gives you some really powerful and surprising plays. My two favorite plays of the day came from Brainfreeze, as discussed above.
- We tested Platinum Oath. It was very bad.
- Thoughtseize is better than Misdirection again almost everything. We played Thoughtseize instead of Duress in order to hit Magus of the Moon and Duplicant.
Finally, and most importantly, some props.
* Thank you to all of my team mates on Reflection. We did this together; we all won this. Mike, Chris, JR, Nam, Josh, Jeff, Jesus, Kowal -- this is as much yours as mine.
* Thanks to Ray and his staff for running this excellent event. Giving a Vintage Acheivement Award to anyone when Ray still hasn't won it makes the entire contest suspect in my eyes. Ray does so much for the Vintage community.
* Eric and Outlaw and T00L gave me some amazingly close and intense games of Magic. Thank you, gentlemen.
* Jeremiah Rudolph and hvndr3d y34r h3x: I learned a lot from you guys about this deck. Thank you for the excellent thread on the topic.
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