Winning a Sapphire in Blue Bell (4/24)

[Ravager Sam]

This is my 3rd top 8 of the 4 tourneys of Nick Coss I've gone to and the second time I've won a mox.

For reference, this is the deck I played:

The core; what I call cards common to most dredge decks:
4x Bazaar of Baghdad
4x Serum Powder
4x Bridge from Below
4x Narcomoeba
4x Golgari-Grave Troll
4x Stinkweed Imp
4x Bloodghast
4x Chalice of the Void
4x Cabal Therapy
4x Undiscovered Paradise
2x City of Brass
2x Petrified Field
2x Golgari Thug
2x Ichorid
1x Darkblast
1x Dakmoor Salvage

The tweaks:
3x Dread Return
3x Nature's Claim
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Terastodon
1x Flame-kin Zealot
1x Ancestral Recall

Sideboard:
4x Chain of Vapor
4x Unmask
1x Ichorid
1x Nature's Claim
2x City of Brass
2x Pithing Needle
1x Serenity

Instead of 2x Dread Return, 2x DR targets, 2x Nature's Claim and 4 Leylines, I opted to remove leylines entirely (they simply weren't needed) and add a pure tank of diesel to the deck.  The board was solid and the boarding plan is generally simple and straightforward.  For game 2, assuming I won, I would remove the entire DR package (6 cards), and Chalices and put in the top 10 sideboard cards.  If the enemy doesn't have wastelands, then Fields get swapped for Cities.  Likewise, if the enemy is playing an artifact based deck, unmasks are less important because they won't possibly play ravenous trap and most of their hate can be Needle'd.

Suprisingly, I lost two game 1s today, and failed to find a bazaar for the first time in tournament play.  Also of interesting note, the inclusion of Recall enables dredge to win without bazaar of baghdad, as I did in my 2nd round.

The report:

R1: Ryan playing fish.
G1 - I actually manage to lose this game after he wastelands my bazaar and I dredge nothing relevant the entire game.  I was dredging every single turn, but I didn't flip any bloodghasts, ichorids, narcomoebas, etc. until it was far too late.  The turn before he killed me I managed to flip a Narc, but his multiple pridgemages and hierarchs ensured little would come of it.  I did sacrifice it to therapy to make some zombies, but I had no way to stop him from STPing one zombie and bouncing the other with Jace.
G2 - He sideboards True Believer and it really doesn't seem to do much for him.  I go to town and force him to block with true believer and then proceed to wreck what may have been left of his hand.
G3 - It's a nice good and close game - he actually gets me down to 6.  However, Ichorids + Bloodghasts simply overwhelm him.  We do some Chain of Vapor shenanigans when he attacks me whilst I am at 6 and it ends with me still having a bunch of creatures (and a bazaar) while he has a lone pridemage and just two lands.

R2: Mike on R/B Shops.
G1 - This game ends very quickly where he asks how many bridges I have at the end of my second turn and when the reply is 3 he simply scoops it up.
G2 - I mulligan to 6 and keep a hand with some anti-hate and Recall.  Recall gets there and I am able to slow dredge to a win, with the assistance of his Mana Crypt.  Timely Nature's Claims keep him off crucible lock, and also kill his ensaring bridges.  It's painful when he dumps his hand to 2x Bazaar of Baghdads to simply see a Nature's Claim set him back tremendously.

R3: Dom on OBVstorm - we meet again.
G1 - I miscount...I should be ashamed...and I want to go to medical school? Seriously.  He has 12 1/1 tokens from EtW and I am at 10.  I swing for non-lethal and he's able to just attack for the win next turn.  I had Chalice @ 0 and Iona on black, as well as zombies + ichorids.  If I simply attacked with Iona, and held up blockers I would have won in two turns because he was only at 13.  If I won the die roll for this match, however, I would have won easily because my t1 chalice for 0 would have stopped his lotus -> FoF -> busted nuts win.
G2 - I do my thing...nuke his hand of anti-hate and win around t5 with multiple creatures that swarm in.
G3 - Fail to find bazaar, it happens.

R4: ?? on Storm - records of this match have vanished.
G1 - I do my thing and win g1 quickly.
G2 and/or G3 - I think he necro'ed for 8 and whiffed, securing my victory after putting himself in lethal range to hastly bloodghasts and ichorids.  I also remember a timetwister at some point during this match.

R5: Draw with Josh whom I play in t8.

T8: Josh playing Oath
G1 - NUTS GAME ONE HOLY !@#$.  He has t1 oath, but my t1 and t2 BoBs secure my victory.  I dread returned Terastodon and then FKZ to swing for more than lethal.  His nuts hand was defeated by my nuts hand.
G2 - I guess I do some math wrong and make some play errors, but it was very close.  His Oath -> Emrakul only became scary after I failed to win on my subsequent turn (brought him to 2) and he went Oath -> Sphinx and top decked his only out, Time Walk, like an absolute fiend.
G3 - It's another excellent game filled with oathing.  FTR, t1 chalice is good as it counters his mox ruby.  It gets to the point where I have some things, he has no hand, but he has an oath and a key in play.  I choose to draw for my turn instead of dredging thug and I secure victory with a top deck chain of vapor.  I allow him to Oath because anything he oaths for won't actually scare me (I can bounce his stuff, Emrakul is useless, and he doesn't have Iona).

T4:  Chris Playing Fish
G1 - I get 4 Bridges Early and simply blow it out very quickly with Iona + DI Zombies.
G2 - He draws multiple hate cards with the assistance of mystical tutor, but it comes to a point where his hand is clear and he has a mere two lands to my bazaar + mana source.  After a couple turns I simply capitilize on my superior board position of having bazaar vs. nothing.  Again, like my prior fish opponent, Chris sided in True Believer and I don't understand how good it is.

T2: Elias on Oath
G1 - Shenanigans happen and I destroy his oath with nature's claim.  It buys me just the time I need to swing for lethal in one fell swoop.
G2 - More Shenanigans ensue with an early timetwister.  I was sure I was locked out of this game, but he happened to have extremely terrible luck when he found his final oath target was at the bottom of his deck.

Someone was surpised to learn that I take out the entire Dread Return package during game 2 and 3 and my response to that is it changes the dynamics of the game completely.  Instead of playing the enemy's game and trying to secure a sudden victory with a dread return, the enemy is forced to play your game by stopping your slow and steady game plan.  Big creatures aren't necessary game 2 and 3 because it's a much easier to disrupt concept.  It hurts you a lot more to lose dread returns + dread return targets than it does to lose Ichorids.

Slow and steady certainly wins the race.

And, for the record, Ima let you finish, but my wolf shirt is cooler than your wolf shirt.  'Nuff said - Thank you Nick Coss!

[voltron00x]

Grats Sam, nice work.  I misplayed horribly in both our games.  I was struggling to stay mentally checked in all day and once we prize split, it was over for me.  My Twister hand was terrible but I made a # of mistakes there.  First, I shouldn't have played a land pre-Twister as I drew Orchard and then couldn't play it.  Second, I could've played 2 Oaths after Twister; I forgot that you might have Nature's Claim.  I didn't realize your build was so similar to mine, I figured you were playing Sharuum again.  In the second game I shouldn't have Oathed at all at the end, when I declared that I was I was thinking I still had Jailer + Terastodon.  Granted I'm probably like 85%+ to win that game if I Oath into Jailer as anywhere above my bottom 4 cards probably has you locked out of the game, but theres probably no need to take the risk.  I was 1 mana short of just casting Sphinx and riding that to the win.

[Ravager Sam]

Thanks

I can't believe you are trying to claim you misplayed when the truth of the matter was you were distracted by the sexiness of Hannah Montana!!  hehe   

Like my opponent in top 4, you just seemed burnt out after the day was done - I could only imagine how things would have been if twice as many people showed up and we played 6 rounds.  Five rounds, really four with the draw, was definitely enough.

[KingSquee]

Again, like my prior fish opponent, Chris sided in True Believer and I don't understand how good it is.

In theory, it can stop Cabal Therapy and Unmask from targeting me. In reality, it's just another Ichorid speed bump.

I had a pretty miserable day, dropping with a 1-3 record then proceeding to completely donk up two games of Tichu. At least two of my Vintage losses were to the eventual finalists.

Now it's back to the drawing board to prepare for Philly Open VI and NYSE 8...

[minusblindfold]

Yeah i think you just bring the true believers in over other cards that will do nothing at all.

I would rather have something like true believer down on turn 2 over a thada or mindscensor sitting in my hand while 42 zombies kill me on turn 3.

I think you misunderstood Elias's condition. I think he is used to winning moxes is tournaments that last a little longer than 4 rounds.

He just didn't put the effort into game because he already won just as much as you. It would've been different if a mox were actually on the line.

[zeusturtle]

Wanted to go so bad but couldn't because of work. Any chance you could post meta breakdown (overall and/or t8)?

[The Atog Lord]

Thank you for an excellent report. I appreciate that, rather than glossing over your misplays, you discussed those as well. Ichorid has become increasingly difficult to play, and the only way to get better at running it, or any deck, is to reflect on one's mistakes. Congratulations on your success.

[Rico Suave]

Grats Sam.  Ancestral Recall is quite nice.

Wanted to go so bad but couldn't because of work. Any chance you could post meta breakdown (overall and/or t8)?

Top 8 went as follows:

Oath > Drain Tendrils
Oath > Bob Tendrils
Dredge > Oath
Fish > Shops

Dredge > Fish
Oath > Oath

Dredge > Oath

The top 8 was pretty heavy on Oath with 3, but there were only 4 in the whole place so it wasn't flooding the meta or anything.  In fact, it was a pretty diverse field from what I saw.  There was a fair representation of combo and control and all sorts of hybrids in between, along with other usual suspects like Dredge, Fish, Shops, and a few rogue strategies here and there. 

[Sobolev]

Two questions for you, if you're not busy!

If against Shops you play your 2 Pithing Needle and 1 Serenity instead of 4 Unmask, what do you leave in?

How do you feel about Maindeck Chalice?  It had recently been implied to me that Combo was less common than some other decks.

[Ravager Sam]

- Extra lands help against shops.  Gets through their spheres a tad easier, and I oftentimes find myself hardcasting creatures.
- Maindeck chalice is absolutely necessary in slowing down the enemy, also stops crypts!

[Sobolev]

- Extra lands help against shops.  Gets through their spheres a tad easier, and I oftentimes find myself hardcasting creatures.
- Maindeck chalice is absolutely necessary in slowing down the enemy, also stops crypts!

If you're fighting combo do you leave in Chalice and cut something else?

[Evenpence]

- Extra lands help against shops.  Gets through their spheres a tad easier, and I oftentimes find myself hardcasting creatures.
- Maindeck chalice is absolutely necessary in slowing down the enemy, also stops crypts!

If you're fighting combo do you leave in Chalice and cut something else?

On the play you leave in chalices vs. everyone except (perhaps) decks that only run one or two 0-mana artifacts.

[Ravager Sam]

- Extra lands help against shops.  Gets through their spheres a tad easier, and I oftentimes find myself hardcasting creatures.
- Maindeck chalice is absolutely necessary in slowing down the enemy, also stops crypts!

If you're fighting combo do you leave in Chalice and cut something else?

R1, after I lost game 1, I sided out chalices on the play because my opponent didn't seem to have any artifact mana (he did play a lotus) because he played MD Kataki.
R3, after I lost game 1, I left chalices in against storm.  Thus, on the play, you put chalices in and on the draw you take chalices out.  What to take out for chalices is situational depending on the hate you face.  For example, let's say you see a bunch of things like Jailer, Tormod's Crypt, Leyline, and/or Relic...unmasks are going to be pretty useless and can be sided out.  On the contrary, let's say you see ravenous traps and jailers, you can then take out nature's claim.  Darkblast can be boarded out whenever it has no targets.  Optimally, I'd like to see an unmask on the draw game 2 and a Chalice @ 0 on the play game 3.