top 8 at Alternate Universe with tezz

[daveshotme]

i played a similar list of tezz that got me to the finals in new jersey. the only difference was that i played a second fire/ice over ponder and echoing truth over hurkyls. I made it to top 8 in as the 5th seed so heres the list.

4 force of will
4 mana drain
1 mystical tutor
1 time walk
1 tinker
1 ancestral recall
1 brainstorm
1 thirst for knowledge
1 gifts ungiven
1 fact or fiction
1 tezz
1 repeal
1 echoing truth
1 rebuild
1 vampiric tutor
1 demonic tutor
1 yawgmoths will
2 duress
1 thoughtseize
1 merchant scroll
2 fire/ice
3 dark confidant
1 mana vault
1 sol ring
1 mana crypt
1 black lotus
5 moxen
3 sea
2 flooded strand
4 polluted delta
2 island
1 swamp
1 tolarian academy
2 volcanic island
1 sphinx the steel wind
1 voltaic key
1 time vault
1 sensei divining top

SB
2 tormods crypt
2 yixlid jailer
2 extirpate
2 pithing needle
1 ingot chewer
1 rack and ruin
2 pyroclasm
1 sower of temptation
1 pyroblast
1 red elemental blast

The 2 fire/ice main worked good most of the day the only thing i dont think i will keep is all that dredge hate on board probably cut down 1 and play another red elemental blast on board. Ok on to the report. Once again its all off memory so bare with me

Round 1 Nick Coss playing draw 7 key vault with drains

Game 1.... we both get out key and its draw go for awhile to see who can get vault first, well lucky for me i draw it first and take turns.

Game 2.... i keep my 7 and its sea, strand, demonic tutor, force of will, repeal, time vault and sol ring. He plays land and passes. I topdeck time walk and lead with sea sol ring into time vault and pass. He doesnt do much and i assemble key vault turn 3 with force back up. His hand is good but he has no counters.

Round 2 Jeff fonilus playing mirror

He crushes me in 2 games i stood no chance

Round 3 Eric M playing mirror with shaman

Game 1... He resolves a tinker early and i cant do much cause i mulled to 5. i eventually fact on his eot and there is a vamp in it so i eventually vamp for echoing truth to bounce his sphinx. He has shaman out all game so hes also beating for 1 a turn. Im at low life with a mana vault out tapped so i take a couple damage from it. I try to fire his shaman but he has drain so i loose.

Game 2 and 3 dont remember much but i know he darkblasts my bob in game 2 and i fire his bob in one of the games also. Tinker sphinx wins me both games.

Round 4 Matt Elias playing combo elves

Game 1....I have to mull to 6 and i keep a hand with 4 mana sources a force of will and a key. I play turn 1 key and pass. He plays turn 1 fastbond....AWESOME! bad news for me. So he drops 2 more lands and starts playing elves and skullclamp. I dont draw a way to get time vault so he smokes me like a philly blunt.

Game 2..... I fire a early xantid swarm and have force of will and a mana drain in hand. He tries to play glimpse of nature but i force it. Next turn he plays eternal witness and gets glimpse back and tries to replay it so i drain. I have alot of counters this game and i get tinker sphinx out and it goes all the way.

Game 3.... He plays turn 1 llanowar elve and passes turn. My opening hand is tolarian, mox pearl, mox emerald, force, drain, repeal and tinker. Yea i know, pretty good. So on my turn 1 i tinker out sphinx and pass. He plays alot of creatures and eventually throws a skullclamp out there which i force pitching repeal. I draw pyroclasm next turn but dont draw a red source. He eventually goes for a summoners pact with alot of creatures going for that regal force guy. He asks if i have a counter i show drain and he scoops.

Round 5 Mike Noble playing Noble fish

we draw into top 8 and me and joe go get food

Top 8 Mike Noble again

Game 1.....I duress him seeing 1 land 2 daze and the rest creauters so i take daze. He plays turn 1 noble and passes. I draw and pass turn having a force and drain in hand. I force his goyf and drain a null rod. He resolves mage naming tinker and passes turn. He plays some creature and passes. I try to eot repeal his mage so i can also eot vamp for tinker and proceed to win but his topdeck for the turn was force of will and i loose from there to a 4 damage a turn mage cause of 2 nobles out.

Game 2...I have force, recall and drain but his hand is real good forcing me to counter a pridemage a goyf and a null rod. He only has 2 mana out and plays pridemage which i have to force cause i have lots of mana and time vault out. He then plays mox pearl and a land and plays another null rod . My topdeck for the turn was demonic tutor so that would have got me tinker to sac mana crypt for win. I lost a couple mana crypt rolls and his little guys take me down and i loose.


Overall i was happy with tezz again cuase its a broken deck and it has a good chance to beat anything.

slops: Me for not making top 4 so i can at least get a prize.
         Playing to much dredge hate on board and not enough for other matchups. I didnt even play against it one time

Props: For making at least top 8
          For allen making it to the finals, Josh for making top 4 and for steve for another job well done making it to top 8 agian
          For my cheesesteak tasting so damn good

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

I also lost to Mike Noble playing noble fish as i was playing UR landstill....Needless to say i was pretty disappointed on not hitting the source and proceeding to loose (Details below)

UR landstill

4 force
4 drain
2 misD
1 mystical
1 chain
1 hurk
1 truth
4 standstill
2 fire/ice
2 crucible
2 shaman
2 daze
2 stifle
3 null rod
2 reb
1 brainstorm
1 walk
1 recall
1 lotus
1 ruby
1 sapphire
4 strand
1 library
4 wasteland
1 strip
4 factory
4 volc
3 island

sb (close to accurate)

3 threads
2 explosives
2 chewer
2 needle
2 crypt
2 relic
2 snare



Round 1 vs SHOPS

G1 - I open a hand  2x force, library, volc, standstill, iwasteland, daze....I open up with library hoping he wastes it on his turn but doesnt...he plays shop then thorn...i force pitching daze...i play wasteland on my turn killing his shop...he proceeds to loose the game as i play standstill a few turns later then just crush him due to mana denial via crucible waste

G2 - I sb in 2 needle, 2 chewer, 2 threads, His opening hand is subpar as he plays shops and a mox and passes turn..I have turn 1 standstill via a mox....downhill for him from there...he plays welder, i play needle on my turn....counter most of the stuff he plays. At one point my board had a standstill, 2 chewer, needle, my own shaman, and a shaman od his that i threads...He looses bad!!

Round 2 vs GB aggro combo???

Jon Richards having a good old time with a fun BloodGhast/Skullclamp/BOB/comboish deck, using tendrils, and vampire (new card) to remove counters to play merit lage...very strange!!! but he even said playing it to have a good time.
G - 1 I play mana denial as usual and beat face with factories as I fired a bob, and a ghast...2 for 1 seems good
G - 2 SB in 2 crypt, 3 threads, 2 snare. He duresses me seeing force, snare, threads standstill and lands....He grabs threads as i see a worried look in his face that im playing threads...play mana denial and counter a bunch of stuff and i get there

Round 3 vs Merfolks!!!!!

G - 1 hes on the play goes turn 1 cursecatcher i force...Oh by the way my opening grip is 2x force, standstill, island, factory, daze, stifle....i play land on my turn, then pass the turn....he plays another little guy....i force AGAIN!!!!!...play a standtill on my turn and proceed to draw fairly well...mid game i cast 2 fire/ice. I have a crucible out, holding truth...needless to say I WIN GAME 1 VS MERFOLK....SHOULDNT HAPPEN (he was playing fow by the way...and daze...and spell pierce...wow)

G - 2 In comes 2 EE, 3 threads....he plays turn 1 catcher...i play turn 1 standstill MisD back for his force....cursecatcher beats me to approx 7 life til i hit a factory....then Im forced to break my own standstill bc he has wastelands...and i win off the backs of rebs and other relevent cards i.e. fire/ice

Round 4......ID

Round 5........ID

I HAVENT LOST A GAME YET!!!!

Top 8 vs a man that calls himself Conrad playing 4c tezz!

Sweet I finally play vs my most favorable matchup!

G - 1 I play a early shaman, and mana denial via null rod...pop 2 standstills and just win!!!

G - 2 He mulls to 6 plays turn 1 recall....I nab it with MisD....and just win (by the way i sb in 3 threads due to seeing him play earlier and saw goyfs!!!)

Top 4 vs Mr. Noble, playing noble fish

G - 1 I WIN due to mana denial and forcing key cards and seeing fire ice and bounce spells

G - 2 SB in 2 snare, 3 threads, 2 explosives.... I lose to a Clique played during my draw step...sat there a bunch of turns with no answer!!!

G - 3 I play a fetch n pass turn...grab a volc play standstill on my turn...resolves....he wastes my volc....a few turns later he has a hierarch and pridemage out...cracking my standstill as im sitting on wasteland and factory while my hand is 2 crucible, 2 threads, force, misD, fire/ice....hit no mother effin land or mana and loose the game...as stated above if i hit mana i win this game and move to finals vs tezz and auto win but my deck hated me this game bc it loved me all day...moral of this story is....life seems cool!!!!

final thoughts.....I really enjoy landstill great metagame choice even though i didnt play vs tezz in swiss....BY THE WAY I CAME TO TOURNEY WITH UBR TEZZ...AND I AUDIBLED TO THIS LAST 15 MIN BEFORE TOURNAMENT BC ALL I SAW WERE TEZZ DECKS!!!! I guess it wasnt too bad of an idea as i made top 4 and won a mint sea!!!! I was hoping to make finals but owell shit happens when you party naked

Thanks Mike for a great event and thanks to my opponents for not being to sour when they lost to me...minus noble

[islanderboi10]

You shouldn't put so much capitalized words in your post.
But, great job on the tournament! I also thought that Landstill would be decent in this metagame.
Congrats on the top 4.
Your deck looks interesting as well.
I have a few questions, like why daze? how good was it? And, how was maindeck rebs?

[swawagon]

Agreed, Daze looks a little out of place. And I think you mean lose right, not loose?
How was Spell Snare?

[John Jones]

I'm so happy Conrad lost especially with that post ex-facto ruling that was complete bs.

[daveshotme]

Yea me too I'm pretty happy that my teamate crushed him in the top 8 and knocked him out

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

You shouldn't put so much capitalized words in your post.
But, great job on the tournament! I also thought that Landstill would be decent in this metagame.
Congrats on the top 4.
Your deck looks interesting as well.
I have a few questions, like why daze? how good was it? And, how was maindeck rebs?

Agreed, Daze looks a little out of place. And I think you mean lose right, not loose?
How was Spell Snare?

Ummm in regards to daze, i really like the card and it catches ppl off guard. I contemplated replaceing daze with spell pierce but that just seemed bad as daze can hit a creature (mainly bob) and pierce cant. Especailly when im on the play and go island go...they go land mox bob....it just ruins there day...and its also neat with standstill when u get a mox in hand for a turn 1 standstill, then u have daze backup...or when they tap out for an EOT gifts, fact, thirst, etc. Its one of them cards that are just randomly good. Maindeck rebs are amazing in the deck whereas the deck is metagamed mainly for tezz and worked out nice vs merfolks...i believe i just had really bad luck in top 4 and feel i would have won the tourny.

Spell snare off the sb is amazing vs aggro (hits every good creature in the format...goyf, bob, pridemage, meddling mage), and oath which are this decks 2 weakest matchups, although it doesnt look that way when i beat aggro every game 1 (mainly luck i suppose)

P.S. Im really glad to have beaten Conrad bc he was a dick to AJ and that ruling was horseshit

[Ummmyeh13]

I'm so happy Conrad lost especially with that post ex-facto ruling that was complete bs.

Yea me too I'm pretty happy that my teamate crushed him in the top 8 and knocked him out

P.S. Im really glad to have beaten Conrad bc he was a dick to AJ and that ruling was horseshit

I think you guys might be slightly overreacting to the way a person plays the game. Obviously, I know the vintage scene is much more relaxed when it comes to the degree the game is played. However, if someone wants to introduce the element of "psychological warfare" like Conrad, I think its a little immature to resort to pot-shots and taking pleasure in that person's shortcomings (except you Josh, as that means you were the winner so I can expect it from you). I'm friends with both AJ & Conrad so I have no vested interest in defending one over the other. I know how both of them approach the game(read: they're assholes), and I can easily understand the two of them clashing.  I was not a personal witness of the situation which led to AJ's DQ but from the way it was described to me by Nick, it seemed completely justified. The only questionable part of the event is why Nick hesitated in giving this ruling. After speaking with him its pretty apparent that he was caught-up in the situation of two players trying to douche each other, and he let that affect his judgment. He apologized to both players for this, and AJ stated that he respected his ruling.

"tl;dr"s aside, I think you guys got caught-up in the clash between Conrad and AJ and said things that have no actual benefit to you than some silly sense(avoid alliteration always much?) of pride. Congrats on the T4 Josh, and T8 Dave and at least the two of you lost to the eventual winner right? Hopefully I can come play with you guys at the next Bluebell(can't make the VGXPO tourney), though looking at my track record it'll probably be a T4 at best.

[personalbackfire]

I think you guys might be slightly overreacting to the way a person plays the game...
The only questionable part of the event is why Nick hesitated in giving this ruling. After speaking with him its pretty apparent that he was caught-up in the situation of two players trying to douche each other, and he let that affect his judgment. He apologized to both players for this, and AJ stated that he respected his ruling.

I agree with Chas, 100 %. I did not fully watch the match, but I believe the ruling to be justified. If it was the fact that Conrad made AJ play it out, that everyone is annoyed at it then fine, but realize that it is part of the game. I am pretty sure that it is within his rights to ask him play it out, and yes opponenets have asked me to play it out before.

At the end of the day I know AJ was fine with the judge, and the issue  probably should have been left at the event, imo. (Feel free to disagree)

[psyburat]

I am TERRIBLE at remembering play-by-plays, especially after deciding to wait a few days to write them down in any fashion.  Anyways, I'll try my best.  In a twist of irony I decided to play the following deck:

Noble Fish by Mike Noble

4 Meddling Mage
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Trygon Predator

4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Null Rod
3 Stifle
2 Spell Pierce
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk

4 Misty Rainforest
4 Wasteland
3 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Black Lotus
1 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip Mine

TOTAL MD = 61

4 Ravenous Trap
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Children of Korlis
2 Pithing Needle
2 Trygon Predator

TOTAL SB = 15

Rd 1 vs UW Fish

G1 - I keep an opener that has two Goyf and two land.  I get down the first Goyf and proceed to have it Wastelanded and Path'd.  Thankfully due to my opponent's choice of white removal I have my two 5E basics sitting pretty to deliver another Goyf.  I end up dazing something at some point and win.

G2 - I forget this game other than having a 2/2 for 2 being double-Exalted to get past a Mishra's Factory.  Go team!

Rd 2 vs FoW Ichorid

G1 - I know what my opponent is playing because 1.  He's a close friend and 2. He won the last event with the deck.  I keep a ridiiculous opener that includes Lotus and Ancestral.  He's on the play though, and keeps a Lotus in his opener as well, which lets him Bazaar, Careful Study, and Breakthrough for 1 all in the same turn, dredging triple Therapy, double Bridge and double Narcomoeba.  Force was my top card.

G2 - I go first turn Children of Korlis, he is fairly passive with his dredging but finds a Darkblast.  For his draw for a turn he dredging back the Darkblast, and has a graveyard full of fun.  After he kills my Children I Trap him, and proceed to draw beats and win from there.

G3 - I mull to 5 on the draw, which yields a hand of Trap, Trap, Goyf, Land, Mage.  I proceed to draw my remaining two Traps within the next few turns.  Although I only had to use three, Ichorid has a tough time beating four Ravenous Trap.

Rd 3 vs Elves

G1 - I decide to Meddling Mage on Glimpse of Nature, hoping that my double-draw of Null Rod will keep him off Skullclamp.  Nope, he Shamans the first one and reuses it on the second one with Symbiote.  He goes off with ease, even with me successfully Dazing his Regal Force.

G2 - My memory of this game is cloudy, hopefully Matt's article on Monday will have something on this game.  I must have won it somehow.

G3 - Matt leads with Llanowar Elves, jokingly saying I should Force it.  So I did.  He ends up only drawing two creatures and a Summoner's Pact all game to go along with his two Skullclamps, and I have a Swords for each of the two Nettle Sentinels he lands.

Rd 4 ID

Rd 5 ID

Top 8 vs Tezz

Already covered much better than I could.  I definitely topdecked the Mox Pearl to pull off the Null Rod bait play game 2.

Top 4 vs UR Landstill

Also already covered better than I could.  I'm now 2-0 against Josh in Top 4 matches.

Finals vs Tezz

G1 - I get down a quick Vendilion Clique and see a hand of 2x Mana Drain, Merchant Scroll, and a bunch of other stuff.  I let him keep the hand as is and drop a Meddling Mage on the Merchant Scroll.  That might have gotten Drained, I honestly forget and I should really keep notes.  I win in some fashion from that point on.

G2 - He goes first turn land, second turn land Crypt Tinker into Sundering Titan.  I frown at the two Dazes I have in my hand and one Island I have in play.  I provide some chumpblockers, including a Vendilion Clique that tries to hide one of the Dazes to find Swords to Plowshares, but it doesn't happen.

G3 - I get down two Tarmogoyfs, which are beating in as bears thanks to Instants and Lands.  My opponent Duresses me and takes something, helping to power up my Tarmogoyfs a bit to finish the deal.

Props:
Winning, obviously
Fifth Edition basic lands
Well-mannered opponents that didn't throw a fit when I won
Craig Berry beating the piss out of my Stax deck with an early version to peak my interest.
Noble Hierarch, for being named after me and helping Meddling Mage attack past active Factories.
Team Donkey Pal, for telling me that it was my turn to win a tournament.

Slops:
My memory
Pudge's for charging $.50 for takeout for the first time in the 5 years I've gone to them.  Seriously, WTF?

Thanks to everyone for the great time, and to Mike Smith for holding these events!

[Will]

I agree with Elias and Steve on this one too because is part of Kolos' game.  Knock him for it, but by putting shots up at him on a forum he probably doesn't visit what is accomplished, especially when that only is relevant in regards to his play in tournaments. 

[XxtSundaybxX]

I wasnt going to say anything about this topic but oh well. I spoke with conrad about the situation right after it happened and he was rather upset with the ruling that was made. I told him that he should have conceded if he was worried about time, which i would be considering it was game one. But since he didnt the end result happended and its done. Like steve mentioned, Aj was understanding as to why the ruling was made and if AJ was okay with it then so should everyone else since he was the victim here. Complaining about it here on the forums is going to change anything and it will just clog up this thread.

Anyway,

@ Mike
In game 1, i didnt drain the meddling mage. You named scroll and the mage and clique got there.

In game 2 I went for turn 2 tinker/titan and ate your land. You went for null rod on your turn to bate a force of will, but it had no effect on the game state at the current time. Your next turn you played pridemage which i forced and then titan got there.

congrats on the win, you deserved it

[psyburat]

@ Mike
In game 1, i didnt drain the meddling mage. You named scroll and the mage and clique got there.

In game 2 I went for turn 2 tinker/titan and ate your land. You went for null rod on your turn to bate a force of will, but it had no effect on the game state at the current time. Your next turn you played pridemage which i forced and then titan got there.

congrats on the win, you deserved it

Cool, thanks man.  Definitely gonna bring a pad for notes next time.

[Will]

Yeah Mykie congrats on the win but also for being the first person to my knowledge to ever give Craig "props" for anything. 

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Ummmyeh13 --------- I think its a little immature to resort to pot-shots and taking pleasure in that person's shortcomings (except you Josh, as that means you were the winner so I can expect it from you).


HUH? pot-shots? and expect what from me?

[voltron00x]

Yeah Mykie congrats on the win but also for being the first person to my knowledge to ever give Craig "props" for anything. 

Burn!  Your wit is getting sharper, my young friend.

[Ummmyeh13]

This is Chas btw if you guys didn't know...but I was saying I expect you (Josh) to be happy he lost since that means you win...Certainly your friends can be happy for you as well but it seemed like most jumped on the bandwagon of a sticky situation and most of them took is personally when that is uncalled for.

[LotusHead]

Complaining about it here on the forums is going to change anything and it will just clog up this thread.

So far, I can't even guess what the ruling was about, other than "play it out", but such info is what TMD is about, and talking about it makes us all stronger players, as long as people talk calmly and truthfully about the situation.

I am now formally curious as to what went on, what the ruling was, in order to better understand the realities of tournaments.

[A.-1.]

I watched most of game one, and, to the best of my memory, this is what happened.

AJ assembled Time Vault + Key.  Conrad asked him to play it out.  AJ spent the next several minutes doing nothing relevant and didn't try winning the game.  Conrad called the judge over to watch AJ for slow play.  Nick watched the game for a bit then walked away.  AJ then did the same thing for several more turns.  Conrad again called Nick over.  AJ went down to two cards left in his library, cast Timetwister and Conrad scooped.  Nick called AJ aside for a few minutes.  Two rounds later, Nick DQ'ed AJ with the ruling that AJ was trying to use up the entire game clock to try and get a match win.



Anyway congrats to the entire top 8 and the winner.  Great job Mr. Noble.  But seriously who draws all four Ravenous Trap vs. Ichorid?

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

ahhh i see Mr. Chas holla @cha boiii cya saturday and sunday maybe???? t1 and then 1.5 for me....u suppose you are more of the t2 variety haha

[Gekoratel]

Game 1.....I duress him seeing 1 land 2 daze and the rest creauters so i take daze. He plays turn 1 noble and passes. I draw and pass turn having a force and drain in hand. I force his goyf and drain a null rod. He resolves mage naming tinker and passes turn. He plays some creature and passes. I try to eot repeal his mage so i can also eot vamp for tinker and proceed to win but his topdeck for the turn was force of will and i loose from there to a 4 damage a turn mage cause of 2 nobles out.

Regarding this game did you have Vamp and or Repeal when you were making the decision of Forcing the Goyf, it seems to me that if you are able to setup a Vamp->Tinker in the next 2-3 turns that you would rather save the Force to protect your Sphinx from Swords or to stop Meddling Mage from hitting the table.  Also regarding the Null Rod did you not have enough mana to cast Tinker without artifact mana.  It's hard to tell from the game description if these spells were worth fighting over or not. 

Also did he Force your Vamp or Repeal I couldn't tell.  If he countered your Repeal what did you decide to get with Vamp?

[daveshotme]

His goyf would have been a 3/4 already and at that point I didn't have the vamp in my hand. I didn't have enough gas to beat a goyf with the hand I had. I eventually topdecked the vamp and honestly I can't remember what I eventually vamped for.