[Report] The Dutch Vintage 8th with 4 color Tez

[Duncan]

Note: This report is not my best and most detailed. I kept notes during the day, but because of my disappointing performance I was not sure whether I would write a report at all. Since I always like reading reports and I think the sideboard designed by Owen is worth mentioning I decided to write one after all.

 
Two weeks before the tournament I decided I wanted to run Tezzeret and started testing all different kinds of lists. None of them seemed extremely better than the rest and lots of testing later I still don’t know what exact list to run when I drive to the tournament. I'm on the road with David, Stefan and Onno. Onno's a special case. After not seeing him for three years I think I recognize him on MWS. I ask if he goes to Breda and he says he'd love to but doesn't have a deck. All he has is a set of Beta power and no cards for the rest (what kind of person has such a collection!?!). I offer a seat in the car and arrange about 60 cards for him so he can play his favorite Grim Long deck. Welcome back in the tournament scene Onno! We had a great day.

When arrived at the site I discuss my deck-dilemma with Arjan. We come to a conclusion: Owen suggested a list to me with an extreme sideboard but which I felt was a little low on Countermagic and I like Soly’s SS Tezzeret as well so I decided to merge those two. It was a chaotic quarter before the start of the event but I end up with the following list:

// Lands
    3 Tropical Island
    3 Tundra
    2 Underground Sea
    1 Island
    1 Snow-Covered Island
    3 Polluted Delta
    3 Flooded Strand
    1 Tolarian Academy

// Creatures
    1 Darksteel Colossus

// Spells
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Mox Pearl
    1 Mox Jet
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mox Emerald
    1 Mana Crypt
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Sol Ring
    4 Force of Will
    4 Mana Drain
    3 Spell Snare
    4 Thirst for Knowledge
    2 Impulse
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Brainstorm
    1 Ponder
    1 Gifts Ungiven
    1 Fact or Fiction
    1 Regrowth
    1 Tinker
    1 Yawgmoth’s Will
    1 Time Walk
    1 Merchant Scroll
    1 Vampiric Tutor
    1 Demonic Tutor
    1 Rebuild
    1 Echoing Truth
    1 Sensei’s Divining Top
    1 Time Vault
    1 Voltaic Key
    1 Tezzeret the Seeker

// Sideboard
SB: 4 Qasali Pridemage
SB: 3 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 Sower of Temptation
SB: 1 Threads of Disloyalty
SB: 1 Darkblast
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 1 Pithing Needle

The deck is 61 cards. I don’t think this is a good thing, but I really wanted the 6th fetch in there. Impulse seemed like the obvious cut, but since the sideboards is a bit low on Ichorid hate I did not cut the search power of Impulse.

On to the tournament itself:

Round 1: Joep Verkoelen with Remora with Empty the Warrens; 2-0
I win the die roll and keep a slow, but alright hand. I open with land and cast Voltaic Key. He drops a turn 1 Remora which is alright, since my hand was not explosive. When Remora has 5 counters I drop my Academy to nuke his one, killing the enchantment in his upkeep. He now plays Sapphire into Empty the Warrens. End of turn I Echoing Truth  and get rid of the goblins. In my upkeep I Vampiric Tutor for Force of Will to protect the force through the Tezzeret I’m about to cast. He has only one counter and that’s game.

-1 Merchant Scroll, -1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Rebuild, -1 Tezzeret
+4 Qasali Pridemage

He mulligans to six but opens with island, some moxen and Remora. Not bad for six cards. His second turn he tries to play Windfall and I decide it’s better to let him draw 1 card instead of 6, so I drain it. I cast Fact or Fiction off the drain mana to keep up with his cardadvantage. During this game he resolves an Ingot Chewer destroying my Sapphire and later a Viashino Heretic. He doesn’t have drain mana open from casting the Heretic and I figure my best chance of winning is while the Heretic still has summoning sickness. I respond by playing Impulse, which gets met Time Vault. I got Force backup and resolve Key, Lotus and Vault during my turn for the win. He didn’t have a counter, but needed to draw 2 forces to prevent me from winning, so odds were in my favor anyway.

This is a game that shows why I think Remora is not the best without Commandeers. You need to tap your mana for the upkeep which prevents you from keeping up Drain mana most of the time. Then you rely on just 4 Forces to prevent your opponent from winning.


Round 2: Richard Drijvers with Remora Painter; 1-2

I lose the die roll and he opens with Library of Alexandria. Next turn I face Remora again. I can’t keep up with this much cardadvantage and it’s on to game 2.

-1 Island, -1 Merchant Scroll, -1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Rebuild, -1 Tezzeret
+4 Qasali Pridemage, +1 Pithing Needle

My first turn Time Vault meets a counter, but I resolve a Needle naming Grindstone. Some turns later I play Ancestral, which gets countered. I don’t care that much, cause I have Regrowth and replay it. This one resolves. When I follow up with Will next turn I replay the Ancestral, cast Time Vault again and Demonic for Voltaic Key. I’m one mana short of activating it this turn, so I have to pass. He topdecks Needle and plays it. Sadly I don’t have a counter available. I draw for the turn and see I just won, it was a Pridemage.

Third game he opens with a turn 1 remora (I begin to get annoyed by these early Remorae). I play some spells with 4 mana extra. Some resolve, some don’t. Crucial point in this game is where he casts Painter the turn he sacrifices Remora. I drain, he forces pitching force, I drain again and he forces. I’m holding Gifts, Tinker and Regrowth at this point and already had a Key resolved. If he passes I’m able to win on my turn. Unfortunately he was also holding Lotus and Will. He plays them and gets his Grindstone with Demonic and kills me.


Round 3: Tom Schrauwers with SS Tezzeret; 2-0
He plays an early Ancestral and I respond with my own and then Force his. I Tinker for Colossus and cast Time Walk. I swing for 11 and pass the turn with Drain up. He doesn’t have an answer and we start boarding.

-1 Rebuild, -1 Snow-Covered Island, -1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Merchant Scroll
+4 Qasali Pridemage

He Mysticals for Ancestral and I force it when he plays it. He forces back and draws three. I draw Force of Will, cast Demonic, which he Spell Snares. I force and he has another force. I drop a Pridemage and Regrowth my Mana Drain which stops his Tinker a turn later. Pridemage swings five more times and it’s over. Pridemage really shined in this match. He was unable to win through it, even though he had a Demonic Tutor.


Round 4: Frank Pulmanns with Oath; 2-0
He takes a mulligan and I scroll for Force first turn after he drops an Orchard. He casts his Oath, I snare, he forces and I force back. I Tinker up Colossus and it seems to be over, but he topdecks Balance (damn!). I had two Drains in hand, but no mana to cast it. I wanted to play Tinker fast to finish him before he gets to stick an Oath. He can’t find his second one and I kill him with the tokens he gave me.

-1 Rebuild, -1 Snow-Covered Island, -1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Merchant Scroll
+4 Qasali Pridemage

I keep a one-lander with double Pridemage. He Duresses me and takes Will. I find my second land and start swinging with a Pridemage. Unfortunately for him he topdecks land after land and within 5 turns of token and Qasali beats it’s over.

I’m at 3-1 right now and it’s six rounds. I need to win the following match to be able to draw into t8.

Round 5: Benny Massin with Welder Tezz; 0-2
I have never played Benny before, but my friend Guus claims he is almost unbeatable. Guess it’s time for a good match (at least that’s what I thought).

He wins the die roll and has to mulligan. Apparently his six weren’t that bad, cause he plays both Ancestral and Lotus on his first turn, keeping Drain mana up. I kept very strong hand, but without land (it had Sapphire though). When I see he mulls I decide to keep and take the risk of getting Duressed. My hand was Sapphire, Sol Ring, Voltaic Key, Spell Snare, Tinker, Thirst and I believe another Snare. I draw Tropical Island and open with Sapphire into Sol Ring, Voltaic Key and untap Sapphire bluffing Mana Drain. This appears to be a crucial mistake. I needed to untap Sol Ring to open up eot Thirst. He plays a Sensei’s Top during his turn and passes. I don’t draw a land and cast Tinker sacrificing Sapphire. He Drains and I Snare, Tinker resolves. I don’t have the mana to use key this turn so I have to pass. He tops, draws a card from it and Mysticals during his upkeep getting Time Walk, in his walk turn he Wills and assembles Vault Key.

Had I untapped Sol Ring I could have cast Thirst end of turn. Then, if he drains it I don’t have to cast Snare on my turn and win. If he doesn’t I’m very likely to draw either Force or a second land to win on my turn.

 -1 Rebuild, -1 Snow-Covered Island, -1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Merchant Scroll
+4 Qasali Pridemage

Game 2 I drop a first turn Qasali which resolves. I’m in a good position now, but I still have to look out for his Welder and Tinker. He drops a fetch and passes. I play a land swing and pass the turn. He drops a land and passes back to me. I swing and end of turn he plays Brainstorm. My hand is now Ancestral, Force, Tinker, a second Qasali and a land (I believe). I know he plays REB, but decide to respond with Ancestral since he might not have it, I got force backup and if he fetches his Brainstorm might lose power. He fetches, rebs, I force and my Ancestral Resolves. I draw Demonic, Fact or Fiction and a land. I have 4 mana open and decide to cast the Fact since he has no Drain mana up right now and my hand is not that good if he gets Drain up so I need to see cards. I won’t be able to activate Qasali but he only has 2 lands and 5 cards in hand with a Brainstorm on the stack. Fact gets me some cards but no Force. His Braintorm resolves and during his turn he plays Lotus, Vault, Key and wins.

My question for you guys is: should I have not played Fact to keep the Pridemage open? It’s the end of my turn 3 and my board was Emerald, Ruby, Academy, Tundra (tapped). My hand is Qasali, Demonic, 2 lands (non-black), Fact or Fiction. His board is Island (tapped) and Volcanic (tapped), 5 cards in hand and a Brainstorm on the stack. What would you do?

I imagined a single Pridemage would not be enough and since the rest of my hand was not spectacular this was the best time to get some cards. His chances of winning next turn aren’t that high I thought.

Round 6: Jasper van der Vaart with UG Coatl; 1-2
7 of the 8 t8 spots are settled by now and I see my breakers aren’t good enough to make it if I win. I’m not fully focused anymore and my notes are a bit less detailed this round.

First game he keeps in control with Negate, Daze and Wastelands. He beats me down with a Coatl.

-1 Rebuild, -1 Vampiric Tutor, -1 Merchant Scroll
+2 Sower of Temptation, +1 Threads of Disloyalty

He resolves an early Goyf, but my Ancestral gets me Sower. He didn’t expect it and has no answer for it. Goyf and Sower beat him down and he starts reboarding.

I keep a sketchy hand and he resolves a first turn Goyf. This proves to be too much when I drew only counters and lands.


I play some games with Marius, Thomas and Onno and go to Rudy’s binder to buy some cards I wanted.

The deck played well and I might’ve made top 8 if it wasn’t for the play-error in round 4, game 1 and Benny’s unexpected quick win in game 2. I’m a bit disappointed since my final record of 3-3 is not what I’m used to. I had a great day of magic though .

I would make the following changes to the list to make it 60 cards:
-3 Spell Snare
+2 Misdirection

Spell Snare was ok, but not very spectacular. On top of that, I think it is time to arm myself with Misdirection again.
I'm also thinking about cutting a land, most likely the 3rd Tundra.

Finally I’d like to thank Soly, Paul and Owen for helping me with the Tezzeret deck and suggesting lists. You guys have been very helpful. I appreciate it!

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you woulde have done in round 4, game 2!

Duncan

[Marske]

@Duncan,
Nice report, I didn't think you would write one up after your performance. I'll just have to post my own report as well.

PS.
Your round 2 opponent is called Richard Drijvers (RichardD on TMD)

[zeus-online]

I think playing fact was the right call in that situation, i usually play very defensively, but with him having only 2 mana it's highly unlikely that he will win next turn.

If you had black mana i'd go for demonic for either FoW or ancestral, most likely FoW (Since you already have fact and plenty of mana).

That's alot of drains you faced, and it seems like you SB Qasali in alot! Which decks do you SB it in against?

Edit: just realized that IF one of the lands in your hand could produce black it would probably be best to get mana drain rather then FoW.

[LennoxLewis86]

Duncan,

Nice report! I thought you went 3-0 before losing your first match (maybe fix this in my own report), I think you made the right decisions and you shouldn't beat yourself up over it.
As far as I could read you played a good tournament. You got beaten by the situation, sometimes the right analysis ends up you making the wrong decision.

Yeah man, I'm veery special xD... No seriously though. The reason my collection is so weird is because I wanted to save as much money as possible by buying BIG. But the seller found a better buyer (for the full collection) so I kinda only got the power as agreed on in the first place. It won't take too long to complete my deck though. I just need to find decent prices.

Let's just hope you'll have some more luck in your games next tournament because I don't think it had anything to do with your performance.

[Ulthrion]

Hey Duncan! Your first round opponent Joep here.

In our second game, the Viashino Heretic was a mistake, because at that time I had 4 open mana (so not enough for heretic + mana drain) and I only had 1 red source, which meant that I would also cut myself off red elemental blast. I did have force in hand, but no blue spells to support it. During your cascade of spells my draws were red elemental blast, mana vault, polluted delta, tolarian academy, and 1 or two more lands. Even though these were terrible draws, I did give you an opening to try and win the game (as I already had the Ignot Chewer in play to beat you down), and you correctly took it. It was very informative to play against you and I learned quite a bit about control-on-control matches. Next tournament I'll be that much better .

The deck I played was a homebrew which felt underpowered during the entire tournament. Empty the Warrens was an allstar card in TDV 7 (I wrote a report on this site and played with thoughtcast painter then), so I figured it to be a strong alternative win. In addition, the Commandeer was cut at the last minute, because I initially thought I couldn't play black (I own no underground seas and only 1 delta). Last minute decision to cut it, although it would not have helped in our game, seeing as I never really had the amount of blue cards to support it.

It was nice playing against you, I learned a lot this tournament, and realized I still have a lot more to learn as well.

[Odd mutation]

Hi Duncan,

Can't make it everytime. Don't worry, you'll get it again next time.

Benny is a very good player from Antwerp (Belgium) with very good results in Legacy and Vintage (don't know if he plays other formats but I think he does). He's a regular in top 8's all over the place.

Qasali Pridemage looks to be really good?!

not directly about your deck but: Commandeer is a great card. A question though (maybe asked before): what happens if you Commandeer a storm spell?

And a question about Mystic Remora as well: as I read it, you get to draw the card only after the opponent's non-creature spell has resolved? No chance to top deck a counter for the spell? Funny to read that they used trhe word cast in it's text...

Robrecht

[Ulthrion]

sorry for going off-topic,

not directly about your deck but: Commandeer is a great card. A question though (maybe asked before): what happens if you Commandeer a storm spell?

Assume seven spells have been played, and now Tendrils of Agony is played. As soon as Tendrils of Agony is played, the storm mechanic triggers and wants to put 7 copies of the spell on the stack, but for the moment, only the original spell and the trigger are on the stack, so only the original spell can be commandeered (which means that you get to drain 2 life from an opponent). If the storm trigger resolves, there are now 8 Tendrils of Agony on the stack, and at that point any one of the eight can be commandeered to drain 2 life for you.
Net result is the same, you only gain control over 2 points of life draining (i.e. 1 spell)

And a question about Mystic Remora as well: as I read it, you get to draw the card only after the opponent's non-creature spell has resolved? No chance to top deck a counter for the spell? Funny to read that they used trhe word cast in it's text...

Oracle has changed this to trigger when a noncreature spell is being cast. In essence, succesfully cast no longer exists in the game, as all cards with such wording have been errata'd to trigger on casting (to the best of my knowledge).

[Duncan]

Your round 2 opponent is called Richard Drijvers (RichardD on TMD)

Fixed, just wrote down RichardD, mixed up some names.

If you had black mana i'd go for demonic for either FoW or ancestral, most likely FoW (Since you already have fact and plenty of mana).

Edit: just realized that IF one of the lands in your hand could produce black it would probably be best to get mana drain rather then FoW.

It was my end of turn, so Demonic was not an option this turn.

That's alot of drains you faced, and it seems like you SB Qasali in alot! Which decks do you SB it in against?

I really liked Qasali. As you can see I sided it in vs Oath and Tez/Painter. I'd also board it in vs. Shops and most likely Ichorid too, since it can remove bridges and kill Chalice.

In our second game, the Viashino Heretic was a mistake, because at that time I had 4 open mana (so not enough for heretic + mana drain) and I only had 1 red source, which meant that I would also cut myself off red elemental blast. I did have force in hand, but no blue spells to support it. During your cascade of spells my draws were red elemental blast, mana vault, polluted delta, tolarian academy, and 1 or two more lands. Even though these were terrible draws, I did give you an opening to try and win the game (as I already had the Ignot Chewer in play to beat you down), and you correctly took it.

Yup, definately a mistake. But I saw the window of opportunity and took it

It was very informative to play against you and I learned quite a bit about control-on-control matches. Next tournament I'll be that much better .

It was nice playing against you, I learned a lot this tournament, and realized I still have a lot more to learn as well.

Thanks! Always good to see new people entering and learning It was nice to meet you!

[zeus-online]

I don't get it, it's the end of your turn 3....you got tolarian academy and tundra in play and a land in hand?...Why didn't you play the land? 
According to your notes you had a land prior to ancestral resolving.

Seems like qasali could almost be maindecked....It's probably not all that bad against fish either...Which makes it only useless against: combo.