[Results - Top 8] T1 Darmstadt, 05.07.2009

[Tobi]

Top8 Decklists
Vintage Darmstadt
05.07.09
27 players
5 rounds of swiss + top 8

prizes
1. Mana Drain,
2. 2 Force of Will,
3-4. 1 foil DCI Balance, 1 Badlands
5-6. Pithing Needle, Thoughtseize, Personal Tutor, Demonic Tutor dt lim

best "unpowered": foil Vampiric Tutor



Winner
Rolf Schmidt
TTT - A terroristic Weapon of Mass Destruction



1 Tolarian Academy
4 Mishra's Workshop
3 Mishra's Factory
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Metalworker
4 Juggernaut
3 Triskelion
2 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Trinisphere
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void

SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Jester's Cap
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Razormane Masticore
SB: 1 Sword of Fire and Ice



Runner-Up
Philip Stirm
Dark Censor Storm



4 Dark Confidant
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
4 Force of Will
3 Repeal
3 Mana Drain
3 Spell Snare
1 Rebuild
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Brainstorm
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Chain of Vapor
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
2 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy

SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 2 Serenity
SB: 1 Balance
SB: 2 Threads of Disloyality
SB: 3 Counterbalance
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Rebuild



3rd Place
Ralf Natterer
UBg ConfiControl



4 Dark Confidant
3 Mystic Remora
4 Repeal
4 Force of Will
1 THirst for Knowledge
1 Brainstorm
3 Spell Snare
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Inkwell Leviathan
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Misdirection
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 MOx Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
2 Island
1 Swamp

SB: 3 Tarmogoyf
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 2 Trygon Predator
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Magus of the Unseen
SB: 2 Extirpate



4th Place
Andreas Lorenz
Dredge



4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 City of Brass
3 Petrified Field
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Thug
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Bridge from Below
4 Serum Powder
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Unmask
3 Dread Return
4 Narcomoeba
4 Ichorid
1 Angel of Despair
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
1 Cephalid Sage

SB: 3 Gemstone Mine
SB: 4 Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 Chain of Vapor
SB: 2 Darkblast
SB: 3 Ingot Chewer



5th Place
Daniel Scherer
Schaufelradbaggerventilatorar m



4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 City of Brass
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Thug
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Bridge from Below
4 Serum Powder
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Unmask
3 Dread Return
4 Narcomoeba
4 Ichorid
1 Angel of Despair
2 Flame-Kin Zealot
2 Darkblast

SB: 1 Darkblast
SB: 4 Chain of Vapor
SB: 4 Ancient Grudge
SB: 4 Gemstone Mine
SB: 2 Wispmare



6th Place
Alessandro Ciuchi
Confidant Storm



3 Underground Sea
1 Badlands
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
2 Swamp
2 Island
4 Dark Confidant
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Timetwister
1 Mind's Desire
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Necropotence
4 Dark Ritual
3 Cabal Ritual
3 Tendrils of Agony
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Rebuild
1 CHain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Duress
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thoughtseize
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain

SB: 1 Bayou
SB: 3 Xantid Swarm
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Rebuild
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 2 Planar Void
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 Energy Flux
SB: 1 Engineered Explosives



7th Place
Martin Pfeifer
UB Tezzeret



1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
4 Underground Sea
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Polluted Delta
1 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Flooded Strand
1 Ponder
2 Deep Analysis
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Repeal
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Island
1 Rebuild
1 Time Vault
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Time Walk
1 Voltaic Key
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Misdirection
1 Tinker
2 Intuition
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mana Crypt
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Inkwell Leviathan

SB: 2 Engineered Plague
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Engineered Explosives
SB: 1 Darkblast
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void



8th Place
Christoph Sourcin
Noble Fish Wotm Style



4 Meddling Mage
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Coldeyed Selkie
3 Tarmogoyf
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Stifle
1 Brainstorm
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
3 Null Rod
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
3 Tundra
3 Tropical Island
1 Island
2 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand

SB: 4 Trygon Predator
SB: 2 Kataki, War's Wage
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
SB: 3 Ghostly Prison



Bonus
best unpowered player
Rb Goblins
Stefan Benisch



4 Mountain
4 Badlands
4 Wooded foothills
4 Bloodtained Mire
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Skirk Prospector
2 Goblin Vandal
4 Goblin Piledriver
1 Goblin Tinkerer
2 Goblin Recruiter
3 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Goblin Ringleader
3 Earwig Squad
1 Warren Weirding

SB: 1 Earwig Squad
SB: 2 Skirk Prospector
SB: 3 Warren Weirding
SB: 3 Shattering Spree
SB: 3 Umezawas Jitte
SB: 3 Vexing Shusher



Bonus
Anna Feigl
best female player



4 Elvish Spirit Guide
3 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Skyshroud Cutter
4 Kavu Predator
3 Duress
3 Thoughtseize
4 Invigorate
4 Root Maze
2 Extirpate
2 Nameless Inversion
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Berserk
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
4 Bayou
1 Woooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Forest
2 Swamp

SB: 1 Diabolic Edict
SB: 3 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 2 Choke
SB: 2 Seeds of Innocence
SB: 1 Duress
SB: 4 Tormod's Crypt




Deck breakdown:
* budget (no P9, Bazaar, Shop, Drain, Library)

1. Aggro MUD
2. UBW Drain Tendrils
3. UBG Confidant Control
4. Dredge
5. Dredge
6. UB Confidant Tendrils (GWSx)
7. UB Tezzeret
8. UBG Noble Fish
9. UBR TPS
10. GW Beatdown
11. RB Goblins (*)
12. UB Tezzcast
13. MUD
14. MUD
15. MUD
16. UBR Painter
17. UB Grim Long (Litz Long)
18. UB Tezzeret
19. UB Fish (*)
20. UB Painter
21. Aggro MUD
22. MUD
23. Dredge
24. UB Remora
25. UB Fish (*)
26. UB Drain Tendrils
27. BG Kavu Berserk (*)



More pics:


Prizes



Judge



Standings after Swiss



Quarterfinals - Daniel Scherer vs Andreas Lorenz



QF - Christoph Sourcin vs Philip Stirm



QF - Ralf Natterer vs Martin Pfeifer



QF - Alessandro Chiuchi vs Rolf Schmidt



Semifinals - Andreas Lorenz vs Philip Stirm



SF - Ralf Natterer vs Rolf Schmidt



Finals - Rolf Schmidt vs Philip Stirm



Happy top 4!  



And video coverage of the semifinals:

http://picasaweb.google.de/lh/photo/M8kXU1WqKsruDPf0p3Mq3g?authkey=Gv1sRgCImxmfGH_sz7CQ&feat=directlink
(unfortunately my battery was low, so I missed the end of this match, which was truly epic)

http://picasaweb.google.de/lh/photo/UZhkAycSOvMSKkJmuCOW2Q?authkey=Gv1sRgCImxmfGH_sz7CQ&feat=directlink
(watch Daniel shuffle his deck in the background )

[TopSecret]

That Kavu Predator deck looks like a lot of fun!

[Sean Ryan]

The 1st place list affirms my results that 9ball aggro mud is the best Workshop strategy.  I was hoping unrestricted Crop Rotation would put 5c back on top for most competitive Shop deck, but it's still not as consistent as 9ball Aggro Mud.  It's really one of the best foils to beating blue back.  Why would the Shop player choose 5c Stax over Aggro Mud when the results of tournamants like these and the recent BOM point so overwhelmingly to latter.  It seems like the burden of proof rests on those who choose 5c over mud.

Any of the players running Confidant Control care to chime in?  These results are confirming my initial limited testing that it's the way to go now that TfK is restricted.

[Tobi]

Best unpowered list added.

On the Aggro-MUD list, not sure if Juggernauts or Smokestacks are better, but I feel Smokestack MUD is more flexible. Anyway, both lists are ugly to play against 

[Adan]

The 1st place list affirms my results that 9ball aggro mud is the best Workshop strategy.  I was hoping unrestricted Crop Rotation would put 5c back on top for most competitive Shop deck, but it's still not as consistent as 9ball Aggro Mud.  It's really one of the best foils to beating blue back.  Why would the Shop player choose 5c Stax over Aggro Mud when the results of tournamants like these and the recent BOM point so overwhelmingly to latter.  It seems like the burden of proof rests on those who choose 5c over mud.

5color Stax was good in the past because it could run Tutors and random Bombs like Crop Rotation and Balance. However, with the release of Thorn of Amethyst, MUD's threat-density got boosted like hell. Overall, MUD has got more "handle me or lose!"-cards than 5color Stax. Metalworker for example will most likely win if he doesn't get countered.

Any of the players running Confidant Control care to chime in?  These results are confirming my initial limited testing that it's the way to go now that TfK is restricted.

I was one of the Dredgers, but I can confirm that Confidants are the right approach. It's nothing really new, but we had something similar at Annecy (Place 5):
http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=1051

I found it quite annoying since the drawengines will now be based on permanents which are obviously impossible to hit with Therapy once they are on the table. Maybe I will finally test Sadistic Hypnotist, he seems to be the right solution for that problem as the stream of cards will be whimsy in compairison the the possibility to Mindtwist the opp every turn.

But on the other hand, in my Match against Harald David (UB Tezz), I found myself Dread Returning for 7 3/3 hasters on Turn 2, with him having only 1 Confidant as a blocker and 18 life. That was insane.

[islanderboi10]

Congrats on winning it with Mud Aggro!!!
I really like the list. I would like to hear why Tobi believes Smokestack is better than Juggs?

I also agree with Adan.  5 Color has the tutor package, which almost seems too slow or clunky in the format now.  But Mud has the deal with me now, which I believe is great. 

Grats again!

[Tobi]

I would like to hear why Tobi believes Smokestack is better than Juggs?

Well, I didn't say Smokestack is better than Juggernaut, I said I think it is more flexible. Smokestack can "handle" problematic permanents and create a lock situation much quicker than Juggernaut can. Also, in a Smokestack list, you will not run Sword of Fire and Ice, which can be a dead draw sometimes.
On the other hand, Juggs do things that Smokestack doesn't. A late Smokstack is far less threatening than a late Juggernaut.

I just feel the Smokestack MUD is the more consistent list compared to AggroMUD.

[Marske]

@Tobi,
Awesome to see you guys also doing video coverage and the pics look great. One day I'll be sure to show up at one of these events, it looks like a blast. Keep up the great work !!

[Phele]

Any of the players running Confidant Control care to chime in?  These results are confirming my initial limited testing that it's the way to go now that TfK is restricted.

Sure.

When looking at replacements for Thirst as a draw/digg engine (and I always played Confidants) there are imo four possible options beside the restricted bombs: Confidant, Repeal/Top, Intuition/AK and Remora. For me, Intuition/AK is too slot- and manaintensive, Repeal/Top doesn't have the power to create enough card advantage over the long run and Remora is not good against creature, which we usually have a good percentage in our metagame (I played against three fish decks this day). So the the choice of Confidant was clear for me.

That leads to the reason, why I have chosen this combo win condition: I strongly believe that Tendrils is the better combo kill for Confidant decks, while Thirst was perfect for Vault/Key or Painter/Stone. I won't say that Vault/Key has no place in Confidant decks, which many results have proven, but that Tendrils synergizes better with Bob. Confidant (and Censors) reduce the amount of storm copies to be lethal by one with every swing. And a non lethal Tendrils can at least give back life to outcontrol the opponent with Confis on the table. And Tendrils costs you just one slot. With more open slots you have space for a secondary draw/digg engine – in my case Repeal/Top, which also synergizes very well with Tendrils.  

But at that point, you can't say, that Confi replaced Thirst. Confi is a total different kind of story. While Thirst is instant draw, Bob is cast at sorcery speed and first starts drawing cards even a turn later. It can be terrific against Shops and Fish. But against combo-control it is just good in the first two turns and against storm combo it is never good. So I needed also some replacement for the three mana instant card advantage slot: Here is, where Mindcensor entered the field.

It doesn't draw you cards, but played in the right moment, it can create a lot of card advantage. It acts as strong disruption tool against combo and combo-control, which can even be played through Remora. It is a permanent against Staxx. It blocks Confis and co dead and it cuts away a little bit of your opponents life, which is not the worst thing paired with Tendrils.

But in the first place, Censor is for me a disruption element. So my disruption base was well fit along the mana development (three one mana pieces in form of Spell Snare, three two mana pieces in form of Mana Drain and three three mana pieces in form of Mindcensor). They are all instants and make it much easier to work around your main sorcery speed and very slow draw engine Dark Confidant.

Sorry for that long descriptions, but this is what made Confidant very good for me this day.

Just to finish this: I think Censor is terrific in the moment: Tutors will see even more play without Brainstorm/Thirst . The just unrestricted cards where almost all tutors. Confidant will be played a lot more, which more less can be removed by Censor. Remora will see play as well. And a mix of Confidant and Censor is pretty good against Remora.

And white offers you so many great sideboard bombs like Ethersworn, Serenity and Balance, which can handle many matchups alone. Paired with good single removal like Swords/Seals and the other toys of black (Jailer, Duress, Extirpate) you are pretty good prepared against every meta. Blue just rounds this up.

[islanderboi10]

I would like to hear why Tobi believes Smokestack is better than Juggs?

Well, I didn't say Smokestack is better than Juggernaut, I said I think it is more flexible. Smokestack can "handle" problematic permanents and create a lock situation much quicker than Juggernaut can. Also, in a Smokestack list, you will not run Sword of Fire and Ice, which can be a dead draw sometimes.
On the other hand, Juggs do things that Smokestack doesn't. A late Smokstack is far less threatening than a late Juggernaut.

I just feel the Smokestack MUD is the more consistent list compared to AggroMUD.

Thanks for the input.
Do you think then that SoFI would be Crucibles in a Smokestack list?

What I do like, though, is the Ravager + Triskelion combo.  It can end games quick.

On the Censor note, I believe that it is stronger than ever.  Seeing that almost all of blue draw engine is now restricted, blue decks resort to tutors.  Censor disables that as well.  And, as of now, I believe that Confidant is the best draw engine now.

Thanks!

[Tobi]

Do you think then that SoFI would be Crucibles in a Smokestack list?

Exactly.

What I do like, though, is the Ravager + Triskelion combo.  It can end games quick.

The combo is good (I played it myself), but is shut down by Null Rod which is played a lot currently. Crucible and Smokestack don't care about Null Rod.