[The Results]:
Thirty people showed up to play for rights of their choice of an unlimited mox or $400 store credit or $300 cash money.
Prizes:
1st: choice of unlimited mox or $400 store credit or $300 cash money.
2nd: $150 store credit.
3rd-4th: $75 store credit.
5th-8th: $35 store credit.
Standings after swiss:
1. David Ochoa, TPS, 4-1
2. Standish Choi, oath, 3-0-2
3. Matt Nass, oath, 3-0-2
4. Josh Utter-Leyton, tezzeret, 3-0-2
5. Luis Scott-Vargas, tezzeret, 3-0-2
6. Jeff Huang, tezzeret, 3-1-1
7. Jose Lopez, SS stifle-nought, 3-1-1
8. Bryan Hoyt, UBw faeries, 3-1-1
Top 8:
David Ochoa [TPS] vs. Bryan Hoyt [UBw faeries].
Standish Choi, [oath] vs. Jose Lopez [SS stifle-nought].
Matt Nass [oath] vs.
Jeff Huang [tezzeret].
Josh Utter-Leyton [tezzeret] vs.
Luis Scott-Vargas [tezzeret].
Top 4:
David Ochoa [TPS] vs. Standish Choi [oath].
Jeff Huang [tezzeret] vs
Luis Scott-Vargas [tezzeret].
Top 2:
split.
In the frenzy that is post-tournament affairs, I wasn't able to get the exact metagame breakdown. From what I saw, tezzeret was leading in popularity, followed by ichorid, oath, TPS, and fish.
Decklists:
Top 2: David Ochoa, TPS4 Duress
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Rebuild
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Grim Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Memory Jar
1 Mind's Desire
1 Necropotence
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Tendrils of Agony
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
3 Night's Whisper
1 Massacre
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Tormod's Crypt
Top 2: Luis Scott-Vargas, Tezzerret2 Duress
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
1 Echoing Truth
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Gorilla Shaman
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Trinket Mage
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time vault
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Island
1 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
Sideboard:
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Sower of Temptation
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Trinisphere
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Duress
Top 4: Jeff Huang, Tezzeret3 Thoughtseize
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Echoing Truth
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
2 Trinket Mage
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Vampiric Tutor
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
4 Oath of Druids
2 Empyrial Archangel
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tundra
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Trinisphere
Top 4: Standish Choi, Oath4 Chalice of the Void
1 Null Rod
4 Force of Will
2 Mana Drain
2 Mana Leak
1 Chain of Vapor
2 Thoughtseize
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time walk
1 Tinker
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Oath of Druids
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Gaea’s Blessing
1 Seize the Day
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
4 Forbidden Orchard
2 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Echoing Truth
1 Oxidize
1 Empyrial Archangel
2 Pyroclasm
1 Rebuild
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Pithing Needle
Top 8: Jose Lopez, SS stifle-nought4 Cursecatcher
4 Dark Confidant
4 Dimir Cutpurse
2 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
4 Force of Will
2 Daze
1 Echoing Truth
4 Stifle
2 Null Rod
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip mine
4 Wasteland
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
2 Swamp
Sideboard:
3 Extirpate
3 Diabolic Edict
2 Energy Flux
1 Null Rod
1 Echoing Truth
2 Planar Void
3 Relic of Progenitus
Top 8: Josh Utter-Leyton, Tezzeret3 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Innocent Blood
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic key
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
Sideboard:
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Spell Snare
3 Ancient Grudge
4 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of the Progenitus
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Pithing Needle
2 Duress
1 Massacre
Top 8: Bryan Hoyt, UBw faeries4 Bitterblossom
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Cursecatcher
4 Dark Confidant
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
2 Stifle
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Null Rod
2 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip Mine
4 Mutavault
2 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
1 Energy Flux
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Threads of Disloyality
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Tinker
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Hydroblast
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Pithing Needle
2 Yixlid Jailer
Top 8: Matt Nass, Oath4 Chalice of the Void
3 Duress
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Leak
1 Echoing Truth
1 Rushing River
3 Impulse
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Lim-Dul’s Vault
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Oath of Druids
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Razia, Boros Archangel
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Energy Flux
2 Oxidize
2 Extract
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel colossus
1 Gaea’s Blessing
1 Empyrial Archangel
[The Epic Report]:
One of the difficulties of writing a truly sublime tournament report is the pitfall of being too cut and dry. If the writer doesn't add something personal such as a story for readers to relate to, a ridiculous misadventure, or something else to draw them in, then people will get bored and start to skim the report. The most important section of a tournament report is the prologue.
And we're off...
In order to give the reader the appropriate background information, this road begins earlier in the week on Monday. For those of you who may not know me as well as others, I'm quite a physical person; very hands-on and do-it-yourself. I do many tasks myself which people normally would not have much of a clue as where to begin, hence my given title in my signature (which is actually longer but I ran out of space
). My Uncle needed some help with one of his rental properties. A pipe in the sewage line had been broken and become blocked. Now let's get one thing straight: raw sewage is disgusting and dangerous. The task involved digging up the offending section of sewage line (which thankfully was only a few feet down and in soft soil), unblocking the pipe with a bendable metal line called a 'snake', cleaning the access pipe, using roofing tar to seal make sure soil and cement would not seep into the pipes, making a form, and filling it with cement. Sounds easy huh? Did I mention it was raining and hailing. Yes folks, I'm just that tough. This is the kind of stuff that it takes to win tournaments.
Unfortunately, the job had didn't go as planned. Partway through, I had to bring some 5-gallon buckets of gravel to where I was going to mix the cement. Due to the rain and soft topsoil, mud had accumulated on the bottom of the bucket. Instead of carrying it next to my side or against my chest, I had the bucket in front of me because I didn't want to get mud all over my clothes. Suddenly, *SNAP* *TWANG* *NEWT* I felt my lower back cry out in disagreement. "How dare you! What are you thinking??!?!!?!" Needless to say, my relationship with my lower back was now a strained one. I knew I was in for a rough week. It didn't feel bad, but I knew it was going to get a lot worse and that I'd have to tough it out because I wasn't going to be able to get any help from a doctor other than some painkillers. I figured that I'd be 100% in 10-14 days.
Flashforward to Friday. I had a lot of plans to accommodate. I had some friends driving up from Los Angeles to sleep at my place and play in the PTQ the next day. Also, my friend and his wife hold a white elephant party (a gift exchange game/social) every year. Being the opportunist that I am, I had gone shopping earlier in the week seeking holiday deals. I came back quite satisfied and made my way to my friend's house. My back was in pretty bad shape like I knew it would be, but I was toughing it out like the soldier that I am. When I arrived, I saw that there was plenty to drink. Success, I had found my painkillers. I started off light with one of my favorite vodka mixes: highball glass filled halfway with ice, 1 part vodka, 1 part bailey's, 1 part Kahlua. Mix. (In this case, 2 parts vodka. Some people say I'm an alcoholic in denial. I deny that allegation. There's no evidence to suggest it's true). I move onto ginger ale and vodka, and then just vodka
.
The gift exchange was awesome fun. For those readers who don't know what a white elephant is, it's a game where every person involved shows up with a gift. The gifts are placed in a pool and numbers drawn. Each person, in ranked order, chooses to either: 1. open a wrapped gift or 2. steal an opened gift. In turn, if a person has their gift stolen, then they may choose to open or steal, and so on. Once all gifts have been opened, there is another round of stealing in reverse turn order. So the last person to open a gift is the first to either 1. keep their gift or 2. steal someone else's. A gift may be stolen a maximum of 3 times and then it is locked with the person who has it. I lucked out and ended up with some movie candy and a DVD while dodging other hits including: a drinking game called F*CKFEST, drinking jenga, a collection of 3 double feature Chuck Norris DVDs, an oversized remote control (I already have my special dialing wand), a Jay Leno storybook with interactive CD, and some cupcake trays.
When I got home, I went to call Luis and talk about what to run for the Type 1 the next day. He wasn't feeling like tendrilsing-it-up and decided that playing tezzeret again would be a good choice. He'd just gotten back from Memphis earlier in the week where he'd won a piece of power in a type 1 tournament after Words on Sunday. We chatted for a while trying to hammer out the sideboard and some of the metagame slots. Eventually my friends from LA arrived and I was able to get to sleep just after midnight.
My decklist can be found in the results section. I had played with night's whisper in the sideboard for the last 2 Thursday tournaments. I had found that they had been able decent enough to keep. Whether 3 is the correct number over 2, I don't know. I suppose it could go either way.
One of the awesome points about Superstars is its location: downtown San Jose. As the largest city in the Bay Area, San Jose's downtown is chalked full of eateries. One place that has become a favored watering hole is Mucho's taqueria. What seperates Muchos from any other taqueria is that they don't cook their meat ahead of time which means it's fresh and not dry. Their carne asada burritos are to die for.
There are 30 people at the tournament which means there will be 5 rounds of swiss.
Round 1: Mike Klemic w/ URB painter.
Mike chose to play painter at the Superstars' November mox tournament but had been tinkering with tezzeret in the following Thursday tournaments in December. He had said that he'd be switching back because he liked painter more.
Game 1 was a very awkward affair. Had someone been watching the game, they would have described it to their friends as, "Two bums in straightjackets fighting in a pitch black room. General awkwardness." My duress clears a path for necropotence on turn 3, but he had drawn a counter for it and then a duress for my grim tutor. Then we move on from a real game into a degenerate competition of who can draw more blanks. About one spell and five lands later, his two lands and four spells manages to take it home. /EXIT STAGE LEFT FOR WRIST-CUTTING.
Game 2 is more of what I expect from the matchup. We trade some spells and I set up a desire and win.
Game 3 is what is turning out to be the classic painter finish for Mike: the absolute nuts. He has turn 1 painter with untapped volcanic. I play delta --> underground sea, dark ritual (resolves), duress (REB'd), mox pearl, night's whisper floating black, mox sapphire, night's whisper, lotus. I am holding brainstorm, dark ritual, and two other cards. I have to pass the turn. It would be unrealistic to brainstorm now. He plays grindstone. I brainstorm and see mox emerald, rebuild, and land. He grinds me and I lose. Did I mention he also had tinker and force in hand after he killed me?
0-1Now for those readers who aren't familiar with the subtle points of tournament numbers, here's a bit of a lesson: losing round 1 sucks. Yes, I know you know that. What you may not know are the ramifications. First, losing round 1 means that your tiebreakers are going to be terrible which greatly reduces the likelyness of being able to draw in the last round of swiss into top 8. Secondly, as the number of participants in the tournament approaches the barrier for having another round added in the swiss, the required record/tiebreakers for making top 8 increases. The maximum number of people for a 5-round swiss is 32. Since there are 30 people in the event, there will be a lot of people in contention in the last round. What this all meant for me is that I was going to have to win out in order to make top 8 which isn't difficult for me. However, not having the breathing room of being able to lose and still be in is not something that I look forward too.
Round 2: James Cabot w/ kobold nauseam.
Kobold nauseam is faster than TPS. James is running a lot of offensive disruption in the form of duress and pact of negation in addition to more mana acceleration in the form of culling the weak. What his deck boasts in terms of explosiveness, it lacks in constistancy because it has to run bad cards like kobolds and chrome moxes to support skullclamp and ad nauseam. Duress is very good against his deck. Unfortunately, In the slew of matches yesterday, what happened in this match got lost in the abyss of storm calculations that is my mind. I just remember that I won in 2 games.
1-1Round 3: Dave Petterson: TPS.
Dave and TPS must be a good combination because we both play the deck regularly.
Game 1 I lose the die roll and mulligan to this 6-card hand: duress, duress, force of will, ancestral recall, yawgmoth's will, mana vault. Yes, I know that the hand has no mana. That is a minor defect. I weighed the risks of a 5-card hand compared to this one. If I don't draw mana by turn 3, I probably will lose. A 5-card hand will probably be a lot weaker than what the 6 has so I decide to keep. He plays island, go. I draw polluted delta (I'm blessed) --> underground sea, duress. He brainstorms in response and he discards mystical tutor. I don't see force or duress. He plays a land and says go. I ancestral and play dark ritual, duress, lotus, brainstorm, sapphire, mana vault, yawgmoth's will, lotus, dark ritual, ancestral, mana crypt, chain of vapor, mox sapphire, mana crypt, mana vault, mind's desire for 17 while holding tendrils. I hit a ritual a few cards down.
Game 2 I have to mulligan to 5. I'm not exactly thrilled, but it's a solid 5 card hand: snow-covered swamp, night's whisper, memory jar, duress, dark ritual. He thoughtseizes me and takes duress. I draw cabal ritual and play swamp, dark ritual, night's whisper drawing island, mox sapphire. I play the mox and pass. He duresses me again and takes the jar. I draw force. He vamps and starts his turn. He plays lotus, ritual, yawgmoth's will, lotus, ritual, duress my cabal ritual, vampiric tutor, thoughtseize my force of will, mind's desire for 9. Ok. I'm probably dead here. He's got 2 mana floating and 9 cards should be more than enough to find tendrils. He flips 2 duress, 2 rituals, 2 lands, 2 moxes, and ancestral recall. He plays recall and passes the turn (I guess my mulligan to 5 was enough to buy some stock in karma). With no cards in hand, I draw and play timetwister. I duress him and see: tendrils of agony, gifts ungiven, merchant scroll, timetwister, cabal ritual, and 2 lands. I can't let him have tendrils so I make him discard it. I decide to upgrade my lotus petal into a mana vault in case he plays timetwister. He just merchant scolls for force and passes. I play gifts ungiven and he forces removing gifts. I force back and set up the win with yawgmoth's will.
2-1Round 4: Charles Gordon w/ Ichorid. I knew going into the round that Charles was playing ichorid. I had seen him purchasing cards from the store prior to the tournament.
Game 1 I keep ponder, mystical tutor, duress, yawgmoth's will, underground sea, polluted delta, flooded strand. He mulligans to 6, serum powders his 6, then finally mulligans to 5. I play underground sea, ponder (I see mana crypt, merchant scroll, mind's desire) --> draw/play mana crypt and say go. He plays bazaar, draws, and discards no dredgers. I decide to try and get him with tinker--> DSC. Normally this play is too slow against ichorid. However, considering he discarded no dredgers, it seemed like it would be fast enough in this situation. Upkeep I mystical for tinker, play polluted delta, and tinker for DSC. Upkeep he uses bazaar and hits no dredgers again. He plays a second bazaar, uses it and finds a grave-troll. I hit him for 11 and pass. He dredges a bunch of cards but can't kill me or DSC.
Game 2 I've got no leyline but my hand is island, mox jet, dark ritual, necropotence, force of will, gifts ungiven, tendrils. He asks if I want to put anything into play. I decline. He plays bazaar, draws, discards golgari thug, ichorid, bridge from below, and tries to unmask me. I force. I draw leyline and play underground sea, jet, dark ritual, necropotence, and necro for a 10. I keep force, rebuild, tendrils, mana vault, mox sapphire, mox ruby, mox emerald. He plays reverent silence and I necro for 7 in response. Necro goes away and I play a rebuild-fueled lethal tendrils on my turn.
3-1Round 5: Andres Gomez w/ tezzeret (seat of the synod, thougtcast). I've been paired down this round. Andres is 2-1-1 and can theoretically make top 8 if everything works out for him which means I can't really form a persuasive argument to get a concession out of him. We shuffle up after a few minutes of tiebreaker discussion.
Game 1 he wins the roll, mulligans to 6, and starts out with polluted delta, mox sapphire, lotus, tezerret. I force. I felt like I just dodged a bullet. I play underground sea, duress him and see force of will and library of alexandria. I let him decide what to discard. He chooses force of will. He draws and passes. I play memory jar and set up a lethal desire with vampiric tutor on my next turn.
Game 2 he starts out strong again with lotus, brainstorm, ancestral recall, polluted delta, mox ruby, mana crypt, thirst for knowledge, time vault. I duress him and take something. I dont remember what. I just know that I died under the card advantage from his turn 1 a few turns later when he was able to force through yawgmoth's will, replay tezzeret and kill me with 5/5s.
Game 3 I duress him and take time walk, leaving him with mana drain, thoughtcast, seat of the synod, mox ruby, volcanic island, and flooded strand. He plays mox ruby and volcanic island. I play ancestral recall and mana vault. He plays seat of the synod, thoughtcast, mox sapphire, thoughtcast, go. I play gifts ungiven for dark ritual, mox sapphire, black lotus, mana crypt, holding force of will, rebuild, demonic tutor, fact or fiction, and polluted delta. He gives me dark ritual, mox sapphire. I play sapphire, dark ritual, and he forces. I force back. I play demonic tutor, polluted delta --> underground sea, and yawgmoth's will with nothing floating. Yawgmoth's will resolves and I play lotus, dark ritual, mana crypt, demonic tutor, tendrils for lethal.
4-1Top 8: Bryan Hoyt w/ UBw faeries. Game 1 I don't remember exactly what happened. I know that I played mox sapphire and a basic on turn 1. He played cursecatcher and forced my turn 2 timetwister that I cast using dark ritual. He plays a null rod I ponder and he vendillion cliques me. He sees fact or fiction, tinker, yawgmoth's will, cabal ritual. I have 3 lands at that point and he takes yawgmoth's will. He hits me from 18 to 14 and EOT I play cabal ritual, fact or fiction. He sacrifices cursecatcher. I duress him and see tundra, swords to plowshares. I tinker away my sapphire for DSC and he doens't find an answer in his 2 draw steps.
Game 2 I mulligan to 6 and he ancestrals in my upkeep. It resolves and I'm down on cards. All I can do it play some land. He plays bitterblossom on his second turn while I'm able to resolve ancestral. I draw into garbage: 2 deltas and a tendrils while I'm holding massacre. He plays a standstill. I think that I ended up benefiting from it being in play more than he. I scuplted my hand until I was at 3 life from his tokens and had whaht I thought was a good hand. I broke standstill with duress. I see 2 spellstutter sprites, stifle, tinker, darksteel colossus, and 2 lands. I take his stifle and play massacre for free. he plays spellstutter sprite. I force and he plays the second sprite. I tap my remaining 4 lands and tendrils him down to 1 life. He dies in his upkeep.
Top 4: Standish Choi w/ chalice oath. Game 1 I lose the roll and have to mull to 6. My hand is pretty busted though. Mox sapphire, underground sea, dark ritual, force of will, misdirection, tinker. He plays underground sea and passes. I draw yawgmoth's bargain and go all in on the tinker play. He brainstorms in response and finds the force. I force back and search out darksteel colossus. He draws and cycles time walk. He makes his 3rd land drop, a wasteland and passes opting to not waste my underground sea. I draw duress and play it. He drains and I attack. On his turn he plays thirst but finds no solution to my 11/11.
Game 2 I have a very nice opener and think I have the game in the bag barring some obscene opening. My hand is: swamp, flooded strand, duress, duress, ancestral recall, night's whisper, necropotence. I don't remember exactly what he did other than play an underground sea on his turn. I duress him and see oxidize, rebuild, mana drain, wasteland, flooded strand, and thirst for knowledge. I make him ditch the drain. He only plays a land on his turn. I play duress his thirst and play ancestral. He cycles rebuild and plays chalice for 1 on his turn. Unfortunately, I didn't know that he had chalices so I hadn't sideboarded in my hurkyl's recall. I only had rebuild as an answer. I play night's whisper and draw into duress and dark ritual. The game stalls from there. He plays a chalice for zero and I'm only drawing zero and one casting cost spells along with no basic lands. I've only drawn 1 land in fact: an underground sea which I hold in my hand due to his 2 wastelands in play. I eventually draw a merchant scroll and tutor up rebuild. He plays chalice for 3. I'm not exactly dead here. I've got a few plays. I play memory jar off 4 basics and the underground sea in hand. It resolves and a few more turns go by. I draw into a cabal ritual and play bargain. He forces and I force back removing fact or fiction. I play mox emerald and black lotus into the chalice and then crack jar. He responds with echoing truth on my bargain. I find force plus blue card 4 cards down and keep my bargain in play. Jar's ability resolves and I draw into the tendrils. I have 12 life to play with to find the last cabal ritual out of my 20 card deck. I don't find it and die to his tinkered darksteel colossus a few turns later.
Game 3 I have to mulligan to 6 and he ancestrals in my upkeep on turn 2. I play night's whisper and he forces. I guess I'm ok with that, but I really don't have any mana to cast the gifts ungiven in my hand so I force back to find some business. He duresses my memory jar and ancestrals. I play dark ritual, grim tutor for ancestral, ancestral into jet duress, emerald. I play jet and duress his oath. He had orchard. I guess I was fortunate. He starts playing thists. I counter the first one with a hardcast force. I draw another force to accompany my chain of vapor, cabal ritual, and duress. He plays a second thirst, but this time with 2 mana open which allows him to play either mana leak or mana drain in his hand so I have to let it resolve. I'm not really keen on RFGing my chain of vapor. He plays a third thirst mainphase going down to just 3 lands. I draw demonic tutor. As if the stars had just aligned, I know what I have to do. I play duress. He forces, removing mana leak. I play cabal ritual, he mana leaks it. I force back. He only has a forbidden orchard untapped at this point and is helpless. Cabal ritual resolves and I play demonic tutor --> tendrils for the match.
Top 2: Luis Scott-Vargas w/ tezzeret.We split. IS......
Props:
Superstars, for existing.
Night's whisper, for being good enough.
Alcohol, for numbing the pain.
Mucho's, for their delicious food.
Me, for winning (I mean, it'd be rude if I didn't congratulate the winner).
Mind's Desire, for always working in my best interests regardless of who plays it.
Free parking
Slops:
Eh, I've got nothng to say here.
