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Demonic Attorney
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« on: October 05, 2008, 07:47:57 pm » |
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Shards of Alara is often compared to Mirrodin to describe its impact on Vintage. I'd take that comparison a step further and say that it's better to place Shards alongside Urza's Saga. Of course it doesn't have the sheer number of restriction-worthy additions to T1, but it does contribute a large number of cards powerful enough to redefine the format. Chief among those new additions is the "unreal" Tezzeret the Seeker.
In putting together experimental Tez lists, Rich and I continuously ran into the same problem-- Tez strategies fall apart in the face of Fish's offensive and disruptive power. This problem was only made worse with the new addition of Ethersworn Canonist, but more on that later. Minutes before we were prepared to recognize the inevitable from our testing results and sleeve up Fish lists of our own, we tried one last desperate gambit-- we incorporated an old favorite as another offensive strategy. Oath of Druids. Oath creatures were given their own boon from Shards of Alara, in the form of Empyrial Archangel and Hellkite Overlord.
With an Oath strategy grafted into the deck alongside Tezzeret, the results against Fish were far more promising. And so, we arrived in Worcester for the first time ever with an identical maindeck, card for card:
4x Force of Will
4x Oath of Druids
3x Mana Drain
3x Thirst for Knowledge
2x Thoughtseize
2x Impulse
1x Echoing Truth
1x Gaea's Blessing
1x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1x Hellkite Overlord
1x Voltaic Key
1x Tezzeret, the Seeker
1x Scroll Rack
Merchant Scroll
Time Vault
Ponder
Brainstorm
Ancestral Recall
Time Walk
Demonic Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Fact or Fiction
Yawgmoth's Will
4x Forbidden Orchard
3x Underground Sea
3x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand
2x Tropical Island
2x Island
1x Snow Covered Island
5x Mox
Black Lotus
Sol Ring
Mana Crypt
SB:
3x Duress
3x Oxidize
3x Relic of Progenitus
2x Extirpate
2x Empyrial Archangel
1x Bitter Ordeal
1x Massacre
And with that, our first Vintage tournament experience after the advent of Shards of Alara began. Given the focus on the novelty of Shards, I'm including in this post a sort of "report within a report" dealing with a side draft that I tried to play in at the same time as my Vintage main event,
Round 1 vs. Pat Hereford, Ad Nauseam Tendrils
This matchup constituted my introduction to another offering from Shards, Ad Nauseam.
Game 1. He opens with Swamp, Dark Ritual, Dark Confidant, burn. At this point I'm not entirely sure what I'm up against given the confluence of Dark Rit and Bob, but figure it's some permutation of Drain/Intuition Tendrils or the like. I open with Thoughtseize and find a mono-black hand that includes no further mana sources beyond a Mox. I take the Mox, hoping that it will slow them down for 1-2 turns needed to get my draw engine online.
My gamble doesn't pay off as he draws into another source on his next turn. I'm not sure what happened from here, but at some point Wasteland made an appearance, which knocked out a critical mana source and slowed me down long enough to keep me out of the game. During the long, hard road to defeat, I saw an Ad Nauseam get flipped to Bob, which tipped me off about what to expect in the subsequent games.
Game 2. I brought in Duresses, taking out the usual fare of slow/overcosted draw spells to keep pace with combo. My memory of this game is hazier, but I think my start this time around was much quicker, getting control game online quickly. The game reached that anxiety-producing draw-go stage for a while, and I drew into Duress effects to keep his resources pinned down. At one point he tapped out to play Demonic Tutor, which I didn't use my Mana Drain on, in favor of Duressing Necropotence on my turn.
When I got everything ready, I tutored for Tezzeret and grabbed Time Vault.
Game 3. This game was another close one, with my control game keeping a half-step ahead throughout. I had Yawgmoth's Will in hand from very early on, and played towards setting up a critical explosive turn. I resolved Time Walk and used the extra turn to get an Oath of Druids into play; he got in position to set up a win on his next turn, but Will into Time Walk assured that Akroma + Overlord got in the necessary damage.
Round 2 vs. G/R Beats.
This wasn't an especially competitive matchup, thanks to us finally being able to make a correct metagame prediction.
Game 1. I mull to 5, which are: Trop, Sea, Oath, Oath, card. He opens with Gorilla Shaman, which begins to look less good in the face of Oath of Druids. He uses a Mogg Fanatic to kill off the Shaman, but I drop Forbidden Orchard shortly thereafter. He tries to stay in the game with a Stingscourger, but I have a counter.
Game 2. I don't think I sideboarded much if anything for this already favorable matchup. He mulled to 5 and I to 6, but things followed a similar trajectory to the previous game. He tries for Magus of the Moon, but I prevent my Mana Drain from becoming useless by directing it at that. I drop Oath and Orchard afterwards, and again counter a Stingscourger on my way to victory.
Round 3 vs. Ichorid
Game 1. The first game against Ichorid proceeded as game ones against Ichorid often do. I kept a borderline hand because I thought there was little point in drawing out the process and creating the risk of time running out in the later games.
Game 2. I open with a hand that includes Extirpate and a number of card draw effects. I draw into Relic of Progenitus after he drops Pithing Needle on Tormod's Crypt. I then proceed to draw 15 mana sources, and he proceeds to draw no Bazaars or dredgers. It was a bizarre exchange, to be sure.
I hardcast Empyrial Archangel somewhere around the 23-turn mark and begin to attack into Narcomoebae which had been hardcast. My Archangel keeps me from dying to my own Mana Crypt long enough to finally play an Oath and end this protracted struggle.
Game 3. My hand this time is fast, with an early Orchard/Mox/Oath. He sacrifices the token to Cabal Therapy but has no Bazaars. He makes some plays off City of Brass, allowing the damage to quickly accumulate. I give him another token, playing a second Oath. He discards a dredger after Ancestral and I Oath up an Archangel. I get in one attack before He plays Breakthrough and hits my Archangel for an absurd amount of damage. I then Oath up both Akroma and Hellkite using my multiple Oaths to get there.
Finising X-0 in the early rounds, I'm left with the ability to ID my last few matches. During that time, they start to take signups for a $7 Shards draft. I ask if they think it will be possible to finish the draft before the draft before the top 8, and I'm answered with a confidence-inspiring "Yeah, probably..." That's enough reason for me to spend my downtime getting better acquainted with the new set rather than scouting in a tournament where I'd already been playing at the high tables.
Unfortunately, it takes about a half hour to round up the eight people signed up to draft. I've said it before, but it bears repeating-- organizing any activity involving Magic players is like herding cats. Eventually we get under way, but it doesn't look good for my chances of finishing up in time for top 8. I'll continue with my foray into Shards of Alara drafting to provide another look at the new tools offered in the latest expansion. For those of you who are not interested, skip down to the Top 8 matchups section. I apologize in advance for identifying some of the cards as "the 2/1 first striker for UW," but as I've said before, Shards new to everyone, including me.
Looking at the spoiler list and remembering my experience at the prerelease, the Exalted mechanic seems insane. Getting an easily-replaceable 5/5 or 6/6 attacker every turn starting on turn 5 or 6, while retaining a number of blockers, looked very strong. With that in mind, I focused on drafting quality Exalted creatures. This drew me into white, which I also see as the strongest single color in the new set, with access to Ring of Oblivion, Dispeller's Capsule, a slew of flyers, and the white cycler that removes an attacker from the game; I see the latter as especially important given the set's focus on large, beefy creatures that might prove to be too big to handle with red burn or green combat tricks.
I passed a number of Soul's Fires. The card strikes me as extremely good on paper, but in practice only as strong as your creatures in play. That difficulty is further compounded by the amount of instant-speed removal available, which has the ability to 2-for-1 a player trying to use Soul's Fire. I also passed a few strong URB cards that I simply couldn't use by virtue of their being outside my colors. Instead, I opted to take on-color Obelisks and tri-color lands; having consistent mana was one of the biggest difference-makers in Shards Limited from what I'd seen.
My deck ended up featuring 7-9 Exalted creatures, including the big 4/4 Exalted angel, 2 of the 1-drops in white, and 2 of the 2-drops with shroud. It also had 2 of the first-striking shroud 2/1 creatures for UW, a small amount of card draw to improve consistency, and a smattering of removal. My curve was low, and my creatures augmented each other or had evasion. I didn't have the raw power of a URB deck, but I thought my internal synergies would help me to do well.
Round 1. My opponent is playing green and white. He drops a first turn 1/1 that gets bigger with Plains and Mountains. I drop an early 2/2 that has the Mesmeric Fiend ability, and take a Qasali Ambusher from his hand. From there, I quickly accumulate Exalted creatures while absorbing damage from some of his attackers, and the neverending stream of huge attackers on my side does him in.
In the second game, he has color troubles, and I quickly get 6 power on the table between my two 2/1 first strikers and other early drops. I finish him off before he's able to play his bigger guys.
Round 2. My opponent this round is playing the color combination I am. In the first game, I dropped 6 Exalted creatures in quick succession, but he kept himself in the game with the 2/2 Spirit Link UWB creature that can gain flying. In the end, that creature allowed him to stabilize behind a horde of huge attackers of his own, and he chumped my Exalted attacker each turn until he was able to chip away at my blockers and get me.
In the second game, my opponent had mana problems and I quickly put him away with quick attackers.
In the third game, people started coming over to remind me that the top 8 had started. I convinced my opponent to wait on my match until I'd finished game 3 in the draft, but I knew if I won my top 8 matchup, there'd be no way to continue in the draft. My draft opponent and I traded shots from Exalted creatures until mine got the better of his and he needed to start feeding blockers to it. He then used removal to winnow down my forces and dropped the 6/6 flier that gives you a 2/2 zombie for another of your creatures every turn. I Excommunicated it to buy time, and Agony Warped his multiple creatures blocking my Exalted attacker, forcing him to trade his 6/6 demon next turn.
Things looked bleak when he dropped two Steelclad Serpents and killed most of my creatures in combat. However, his life total was low and I stalled long enough to get a Tower Gargoyle into play. I had victory on the board, and my opponent told me of his efforts to qualify for Worlds and the damage a sanctioned loss would do to his chances. Knowing the odds were I couldn't continue in the draft tournament into the next round, I let him have the win. For the purposes of gauging the effectiveness of my deckbuilding strategy, I saw my performance as an encouraging 2-0.
Top 8 vs. John Longo, Drain Tendrils?
Immediately after finishing up my draft match, I switched gears back into Vintage and sat down across from John Longo, who I hadn't played against since Waterbury IV, when we both ran Control Slaver.
Game 1. He opened with land, Mox, Pyrite Spellbomb. I opened with Oath of Druids. My later Time Walk got countered and he tried to draw into answers from Ancestral and Spellbomb, but it came together for me before long.
Game 2. Having no idea what I was playing against, I couldn't sideboard. I thought of bringing in Duresses, but Force of Will is common to enough decks outside the traditional control strategy that I thought it better to wait for more details. I mulligan to 6 and start with a good bit of control, which I hope will keep me in the game long enough to find threats.
John plays very defensively, holding back offensive plays in favor of card draw like Thirst for Knowledge. The line of play that determined the outcome of the match began when he tapped out to play TFK at the end of my turn with four cards in hand. Holding a Force but no Drain, I tapped out to play FOF in response. He split the piles into Will, Akroma, E. Truth versus Merchant Scroll and TFK. Having nothing of consequence in my graveyard and a relatively small manabase, I took the blue cards.
He drew and passed, and on my next turn, I played Merchant Scroll into a Mana Drain. I allowed it to be countered, now holding Force and Drain online. On his turn he plays TFK, coming close to tapping out. I Drain the TFK, bluffing more counters than I really had, hoping that would intimidate him into hesitating with his bigger threats. He played DT afterwards and passed. On my turn, I used Drain mana to play TFK, getting another Force of Will online. I then tapped out to play Tezzeret using the rest of my Mana Drain mana, which resolved and got Time Vault. He E. Truth'ed Tez at the end of my turn, but the last TFK drew me into Voltaic Key, so I let that stand. He played Mystical Tutor with a close to full hand, and I used one of my three counters to stop it.
Holding 2x active Force and Voltaic Key, and down by one card, I went to his turn. He passed. I dropped Voltaic Key on my turn and my double counter backup was enough to seal the game. He was holding Tinker. I figured MT was for a Storm spell, given the size of his hand.
Top 4 vs Jeff Carpenter, Artifact Aggro
Game 1. I think mulled to 5 in this game (though I may be confusing it with another). He won the roll and opened with land, Mana Crypt, Thorn of Amethyst. Thorn slowed me down considerably. I had the ability to play an early Oath, but now I needed to wait to draw into additional lands.
While waiting to get to 3 sources, Jeff dropped Master of Etherium, which weighed in at a hefty 5/5 at the time it entered play. On my turn, I Time Walked to get another land onto the table and tried for Oath of Druids, only to have it get Forced. Another Master of Etherium followed the first one, and I lost soon afterwards.
Game 2. Jeff boarded in no fewer than 6 disenchant effects. This proved to be crippling for my two lines of offense. Seal of Cleansing took out my first Oath, and Thorn of Amethyst made it harder for me to chain draw spells in order to stay in the game. I Oxidized a Master of Etherium, but a combination of Orchard tokens and Etherium Sculptors was applying pressure anyway.
Ethersworn Canonist proved to be the one lock piece too many for me, though. I E. Truth'ed the Canonist at the end of Jeff's turn, played Will, replayed Lotus, bounced the Thorn, but came up short on the mana needed to tutor the Vault combo into play.
Thus ended my first outing with Reflection Tezzeret Oath. Not exactly what major Vintage figureheads were predicting in terms of Reflection builds of Tezzeret decks, but effective nonetheless against Fish, which gave every other incarnation of Tezzeret we tried a spate of insurmountable problems. Owing to the fact that our list was conceived approximately 10 hours before the start of the tournament, it's certainly fair to say it's still in somewhat raw form.
The synergy between Orchard tokens and Tezzeret isn't the best, but I think that's potentially beneficial as it provides greater incentive not to be reckless with Forbidden Orchard-only hands, which tend to go tragically wrong, anyway. Thirst for Knowledge isn't exactly amazing in this deck, but we didn't have a boatload of other ideas for a good backbone of card draw/filtering. The only other issue with the deck is the amount of time it can sometimes take to get a secondary line of offense online if the first Oath get stopped.
That having been said, the list offers a number of advantages. Its game against conventional Fish or aggro is extremely favorable, as borne out by my results. That advantage only gets bigger in light of Empyrial Archangel's ability to completely nullify any line of offense from Fish that doesn't include Tarmogoyf and another creature, or a huge Master of Etherium. It also has a generous supply of digging resources and tutors to put Vault/Key together as needed. It has a guaranteed 2-turn kill based on the Akroma/Hellkite Oath offense, which can come online very quickly. And of course, underneath all that, is Tezzeret the Unreal, ready as ever to win games on the next turn.
See you all next time, and congrats to Steve Houdlette and Jeff Carpenter on their respective performances.
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