Two other pals have written tourney reports, so I figured I might as well join them. Now that I've finally won a tournament with my deck I might as well give out the info on it and how I came up with it so that other people can enjoy it. As everyone who knows me knows, my deck for the past 7 years always has always been a deck that uses the fundamental mechanics of blue control in its basic forms: Draw extra cards while neutralizing the game via counter magic and bounce. Once this happens, find your win and ride it to victory.
My decks aways have 4 Force, Ancestral, Walk, Yawg Will, Demonic Tutor, and at least 3 Drains. I've played Drain decks since I discovered competitive magic and I enjoy playing the laid back control role and watching the game develop over the course of many turns as my opponent and I interact and battle it out. The decks win conditions may change, but it never turns into a specific type of deck (Tezzeret, Tog), because the deck is not built based on the win condition, it just uses it as a way of ending the game. My deck is always built around controlling the game via counters and a draw/search engine that can grab any answer at any time, although it is important to have a good win, because sometimes that will be the best, or only answer.
I've tried a ton of different options, including a splash of green, white, red, and even no splash at all for a rock solid mana base. I've tried different wins, such as Tezzeret, Welders, Animate dead, ETW, and Meloku. I've always come back the find Blue Black with a splash of green to be my most successful combination, as tarmogoyfs not only are a great way to win, but will also hold down the fort as amazing blockers, leading me to sit back on my draw spells and counters rather than having to rush into finding tinker, yawgs will, or echoing truth in the face of beats. I trade a lot of life for card advantage/quality, so even a pesky 2/2 can become a problem over time.
Although I did get a few lucky breaks in this tournament, I think the basic idea of the deck is viable, as I placed second in a 112 person Travis tournament with a very similar shell. My deck back then ran only 1 gush even tho 4 were legal, because I liked gush for it's draw 2 cards for free, give you extra mana if you missed a land drop, and dodge wasteland effects. Night's Whisper, although not nearly as powerful as scrying and not an instant, has always been amazing at bridging the gap between the awkward turns 1 and 2 where you might be stuck at land mox. Turn 1 is where the deck is most vulnerable and it is crucial to accelerate your hand and board, so whisper gets the spot over scrying. I have made use of going turn 1 mystical or vamp for this card many times when I desperately needed a 2nd turn land drop but didn't want to lose card advantage by vamping for land or mystical for brainstorm. Sometimes there are situations where ancestral got duressed, or you just don't feel comfortable grabbing it because of MisD, plus, Night's whisper will almost never get forced especially after you vamp for it because the opponent will think that it's being used as bait to clear the way for the land, ancestral play that you are holding. Night's Whisper is a great turn 1 play off land mox, so for people who miss brainstorm and ponder, you might want to try this card out as a 1 of. Unfortunately, the new restrictions came into effect 2 days after that tourney and my deck went unnoticed, but you can check it out here:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=36012.0 Another deck that is very similar, and inspired me a lot to experiment with throwing aggro into control decks won a Waterbury Tournament back in January 2004, when I was still somewhat new to Vintage. It's a GAT deck that was played by Scott Limoges after Gush had been restricted for the first time. You can check it out here:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=6435.0 If anyone is interested in testing this deck, please test out chrome mox in place of sol ring, as it can be amazing as a turn 1 "Force of Drain" and always pitches to Thirst,.PM me with your results. I'm always up for hearing peoples thoughts and advice on the deck, and I can talk forever about the card choices that were included/left out, as well as how to play around certain situations that arise.
That said, I call the deck GAT even tho theres no Dryads to grow and no Togs, because its a similar shell to the non 4 gush GAT decks, it just uses different, but similar, creatures. That said, here's the deck:
John Longo
GAT
Offense: 2
1 Tinker
1 DSC
Defense: 3
1 Sower of Temptation
2 Tarmogoyf (the Moat effect that these guys have are amazing)
Random Good Cards: 3
1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth (this card should be considered power 12)
1 Yawgs Will (also Power 9, forget Twister)
Landbase: 15
4 Flooded Strand (as long as these are unrestricted I'm going to abuse the hell out of them)
3 Polluted Delta (ditto)
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
3 Island
Accel: 9
1 Mox Sapp
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt (p11)
1 Sol Ring (Chrome Mox is so tempting)
Counters: 11
4 Force of Will (arguably the best card ever printed)
1 Misdirection
4 Mana Drain
2 Thoughtseize
The "Oh Shit" Button: 1
1 Echoing Truth
Search: 7
1 Demonic Tutor (p10)
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Sensei's Divining Piece of Shit...60th card that at least it pitches to Thirst
Raw Draw: 9
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Gush...I can't believe no one runs this anymore
1 Night's Whisper...This card is Sweet!
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven (Ancestral, Time walk, Tinker, Demonic, Regrowth, or Force and its GG)
SB:
3 Jailer
2 Needle
1 Extirpate
1 Trygon Predator
1 Rebuild
2 Hurkyls Recall
1 Snuff Out (no card has ever been more clutch for me)
1 Tarmogoyf
2 Duress
1 Bitter Ordeal (Still have never used this card, it was in here for TPS)
I'm not a morning person, so I'm always very tired at tourneys, which means I don't take notes, and don't have the most accurate memory of the events of each game so if anyone wants to add details, or correct something I get wrong, please feel free to.
Round 1: A deck that's kind of like Ichorid, but runs Hermit Druid and Cephalid Illusionist instead of Bazaar. I've never seen this deck before.
G1: I win the roll and keep a hand of fetch, trop, sol, demonic, thirst, FOF, tinker
I play trop sol and pass.
He plays land mox, cephalid illusionist, pitches ESG to play shuko and mills himself for the game. In response to dread return I look through his whole graveyard to get an idea of what the hell the deck is.
I bring in 3 Jailers and Extirpate for Sower, E truth, MisD, and a Goyf.
G2: He mulls and a turn 1 TS him. I see some random creatures and a dread return. He asks me to take the Dread Return as a joke, and is really surprised when I do indeed take it...Until mox jet and extirpate nail it. I see his whole deck for a second time and see that he actually has a decent man-plan. A few 1/1's and 2/2's go to town until I cast tinker.
G3: I get a better idea of this mysterious deck and reboard. E truth comes back in for TS, as does Sower as there were situations where his Cephalid Illusionist seemed like a problem for my goyfs.
My hand has island, trop, jailer, time walk, goyf, regrowth and thirst. I'm not happy, I want black mana. Don't remember what happened turn 1 except that he played city of brass and I didn't topdeck black mana. Turn 2 he imperial seals, so I know I'm in trouble. I topdeck and Island play walk. I dint top deck black mana on my walk turn and since he sealed I know that i will need black for next turn at all costs to cast my jailer, so i regrowth walk and pass the turn. He thougthseizes me and takes my jailer, then casts hermit druid. I go to my turn and topdeck a fetch and now I'm pissed. With some combination of thirst, time walk, black lotus, and ancestral I draw into tons of cards including extirpare and snuff out. His druid gets snuffed. We both go into topdeck mode except i have a hand full of counters. He's got a 1/1 and it gets me to like...10 life, so I hardcast force on another 1/1. Then i put the goyf out. He tells me to show him extirpate and he'll scoop. I show him extirpate, force, and drain.
Round 2: Harlequin with Show and Tell Oath.
He gets a g1 loss for not writing out 2 cards on his deck sheet. I'm really lucky to get g1 free because I have a terrible history vs Oath.
G2: Hes goes jet, mana crypt, demonic, orchard, oath. This is why I hate oath
G3: I bring in 1 Duress and Trygon for Top and 1 Goyf.
He throws down turn 1 Library which I'm definitely worried about. He's having fun drawing cards, and I counter an oath. I time a thougthseize to screw up library, or maybe I just thougthseized into library, whatever...I see Oath, Demonic, Tyrant, DA, AK, I think a vamp was in there too. I take Oath. This whole time, I'm top decking great and keeping up with library via nights whisper and other good draw. I tinker out the big dude. He EOT Vamps, then he Demonics. I doubt he has wipe away, to i dont drain demonic. later I have a fist full of counters and hes on his last turn before lethal. He DA's and I misdirect. with only 2 mana he Flashes Back going to 3 life, which I allow. Then I win. First time beating Oath in a tourney. Although I got a free g1 I still think it was deserved because Harlequin is a top Tier opponent and I had to fight through that Library for g3.
I scratched the lone Reverent Silence from SB right before the tourney in favor of more TPS hate because I expected to see TPS over Oath, but seeing as he was playing Show and Tell, Reverent Silence may not have been all that good anyway.
Round 3: Tezzeret
G1: I have a hand with too much land but I keep it. I'm on the play, land mox go. He drops Library...ugg, then draws off it and plays a mox. I start topdecking good blue cards turn after turn. At some point he casts Time Vault. Normally this makes me happy as its like my opponent giving me a free card, except that library is going like crazy to replace it. I have a drain, a force, a gifts, and a yawg will. I go for gifts at his EOT tapping out, while hes got 7 cards and UU open. I'm thinking hell have a counter and I'll sacrifice my drain to my force, which he'll counter, but i will still have yawgs which I will have taken him off library and possibly be able to just end the game. Gifts resolves though. I know the coast is clear, so I grab lotus, jet, mana crypt, and time walk. Then I take a huge turn.
I board in 1 Duress and board out Top
G2. I have a good hand with 2 mana sources, counters, card draw, and a thoughtseize, and he doesn't have library
He plays land gorilla shaman, which I'm thrilled about, because he just wasted a draw on a card that doesn't counter something, draw cards, or win the game. I go my turn and thoughtseize. I see lands, a blue card, and a Rack and Ruin...now I know I've won the game as my counters and draw spells are infinitely better than shaman and rack and ruin. I hold my black lotus till I get tinker in hand. Then the game is over.
Round 4: Arik with blue green white black fish.
We ID, but play for fun very causally and he crushes me in 2 games due to mana denial. From what I see of his deck, it looks awesome as it has the best creatures magic has to offer for cheap mana costs, combined with counters and lots of mana denial.
Round 5: Jay Ford (FadetoBlack) and I ID again.
Top 8: Jeremiah with meditate remora aka. beat up on drains.dec
G1: We have a fun control battle while cracking lots of random jokes. I get the win.
Boarding takes me like 20 mins. I board in Trygon and Goyf and board out Top and Vamp.
G2: This match was pretty crazy. Hes drawing a lot of cards and it seems like I can't keep up. I do however have a goyf on the board. He casts Time Vault, which once again, I'm always happy to see a wasted draw for my opponent. Later on he duresses me. I don't remember what he took, but he left me with a crappy yawg will as i have 4 lands in play, and a weak graveyard which includes none of my artifacts. A turn later, I top deck mystical and pass. Here's the part where it gets crazy:
I have Yawgs, which he knows, and Mystical, which he doesn't know, and drain, which he might know but I'm not sure. Hes got 4 cards, which I have no idea what they are, plenty of mana, and a Time vault on the board. He casts Voltaic Key and a cast Drain. I'm sure he has the counter and the game is over, but drain resolves. He ends the turn and It's time for me to mystical. Normally, after resolving that drain on the game winning key, the coast is clear, but i have a really strange feeling. I want to get tinker, and tinker into lotus, will, replay tinker,and time walk, but I know something weird it up. I get Gifts instead. I go to my turn and use the 1 mana to play gifts, thinking ill get tons of artifacts for my will. He Commandeers it. So now it dawns on me that he didn't commandeer the drain because if i had another, then he just dumped his entire hand, and gave me 8 mana for yawgs. commandeer resloves and he gets mystical, vamp, tinker, and ancestral. I give him tinker and ancestral. Then he rushes me, asking me if I'm done and I respond with "yea" but 2 seconds later say first I attack with goyf, to which he denies saying that I passed the turn. Got me on that one you sneaky basterd
We go to his turn, he tinker out DSC, then ancestrals, then passes the turn. I'm still alive and topdeck mana crypt, play it, and play Yawgs. I'm really surprised that it resolves. I time walk, scroll for E truth, and take another turn. After this i topdeck tinker which gets mana crypt off the board. He repeals my goyf, buying him one more extra turn, but I recast him and win. Later he tells me that he made the mistake of boarding out all 3 Shackles.
Top 4: Jay with sweet ass aggro control deck
We were upset to have to play each other here, because we wanted our Goyf control decks to get 1st and 2nd and show that homebrews are better than netdecks. O well.
G1: I dont remember who went first, but he's playing quickly, throwing down his threats early. I go for EOT Thirst taking drain offline. He responds with gifts. I force, he forces back. Ugg. He gets tinker, goyf, ancestral, and regrowth. I give him the tinker and the goyf as I'm not afraid of beatdown as long as I'm winning the control war. I thirst, go to my turn, do something, then go to his. Goyf resolves. Tinker resolves. I go to my turn, thoughtseize his last card, which is yawgs will, then tutor up my own tinker while I'm at 13 life. I'm holding my own goyf which I dont play because I want to have mana open. He attacks with both. I'm tempted to block the goyf but I block the colossus instead. If I were at 14 or 15 i would have blocked the goyf, but then again he probably wouldn't have attacked in that situation. I then go to my turn and dig for a tutor, which I grab time walk with and swing for the win.
In comes Goyf, out goes vamp.
G2: I have 5 mana sources and 2 crappy cards. He goes turn 1 goyf. Goyf is a 1/2, until I thougthseize him and blow goyf up to a 3/4. Later I play nights whisper taking another 2 to the face. I'm drawing a lot of mana even tho I opened with 5. Goyf keeps attacking for 3, and I get down to 1 life when i topdeck tinker to stop the bleeding. I also have 2 fetches on the table which are useless. I tinker, he REBS, I misdirect pitching force, and he forces. I cant cast my other force because I'm at 1 life, and also have 3 mana plus 2 fetches on the board.
G3: Again, he's playing on the aggressive side. I follow my usual strategy of ignoring attackers and using my resources to draw extra cards and counter things. Finally he gets me low enough on life, so I start paying attention to his goyf by playing my own, meanwhile I'm holding sower, yawgs will, force of will, regrowth, and blue card. He goes with another goyf which resolves. Next turn I play the sower taking his extra goyf. his turn he demonics and REB's sower which I let through. I go to my turn and play yawgs will. I neglect to play time walk in favor of nights whisper, hoping i draw enough acceleration to play them both, but i dont. I do however get another force and blue card. I replay sower and pass. He does nothing, then passes. I play regrowth and he scoops.
Finals vs Rich Shay, playing Meditate Remora which I'm not happy about.
He tells me he hasn't won a single die roll, then I roll a 15 and hes like yup. He then rolls a 19 and outbursts it to everyone nearby who he had lost die rolls to earlier. Turn 1 he opens with land, mox, black lotus, remora. I dont have force. We draw to and I'm stuck at 2 land. Not wanting to play cards like my mox, ponder, or brainstorm, i start discarding them. Later on in the game, I'm nearing the scoop phase, so I go all in on 1 turn playing mox, tinker, with force backup. He draws more cards and commandeers the tinker getting time vault. We take lots of turns and although I can win I want to see more of his deck, so I wait it out since theres no time clock in the finals. I'm obviously annoyed and he asks if his deck is unfun to play vs, but I let him know that it was my deck that pissed me off that game.
I board in 1 duress, 1 goyf, and 1 Trygon, boarding out, top, vamp, and mystical
G2: I have a good hand. I was extremely tired by this time, so all I know about g2 is that I had control over the game and made sure to win in a timely fashion without showing him sower or trygon because I wanted him to board out his old men.
I remember the way in which the 2nd and thirst games ended, but I'm not sure which ending went with which game. Both games involved me winning control over the game after a counterwar, but post-counterwar, I'm not sure which ending went with which game. I think this was the game that ended with my having a goyf on board, when he was at 15ish life. The only spell i had was tinker which i wasn't playing for fear of commandeer. Later i topdecked drain and was really afraid to cast tinker but ended up deciding that the faster clock was worth the risk because his deck has the ability to draw a ton of cards and then he might get bounce plus tinker of his own, or just a huge yawg will. I announced that the spell might lose me the game when I played tinker, which he replied "how could that possibly lose you the game?" Either way, he didn't have commandeer or force, so I was all paranoid over nothing.
G3: It all comes down to this and I'm nervous because hes on the play making his remoras better than my duress effects. My memory is really bad on this match again. Turn 2 I have yawgwill, demonic, thirst, and ancestral in hand, with land land mox on board. I fear Commandeer so I demonic for Force before I play my ancestral. To my surprise he doesn't counter or Commandeer. I draw land, another force, and another thirst. We go to his turn. He plays lotus, then ancestral. I force ancestral, he plays yawgs, i force that. Later he told me he was holding 2 REB's. We go to my turn. I play a piss poor yawgs will for only ancestral, however I had to make a play while he was tapped out because his deck can easily swing back into shape. Later i duress him and see colossus and something else, and leave him with only the big guy in hand. he takes another turn I have a force and drain and thoughtseize in hand and I topdeck colossus of my own which is not that bad as long as I can time the drain well. I decide its to early to play the other duress effect, We play draw go for a while and I remember hardcasting force on a small CC card and then using a TS when he has 2 unknown cards as well as topdecking another force. At somepoint he tried to hardcast a commandeer on one of my spells to which I drained. My turn I used 1 of the floating mana to play the spell i topdecked, which i think was nights whisper. Then I played the big guy. I neglected to cast gifts, because I felt that saving it for force and putthing him on the 2 turn clock was the best idea. I Didn't end up needing force or gifts, as 2 turns later I swung in for the win.
WEEEEEEEE I won my first Tournament!
The tourney was great not because I won, but because the players were really nice and were competitive as well. I will definitely be going back to Pandemonium for Tuesday night vintage to play vs the fun regulars in the area
