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The Atog Lord
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« on: June 20, 2010, 10:58:40 pm » |
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Meandeck Open
2nd Place
Under the best of circumstances, I arrive at a Vintage tournament with a deck whose intricate details I have studied for at least a week. Today was not such an occasion, as I strolled into the Meandeck Open with Storm Combo.
I have been for some time unable to devise a plan to propel Oath through all of the matchups in an expected field. A short time ago, when taking Oath into a tournament, I felt confident about most of my matchups. But matters have changed, and I no longer felt as though Oath would offer me an inherent advantage against any sizable segment of the Vintage metagame. The most salient alteration to the Vintage landscape is the uprising of MUD decks. They affect the board from the first turn of the game, and they are stunningly consistent -- they deploy roughly the same strategy every game. I have not yet determined how to make Oath beat MUD consistently, and so did not opt to play it today.
With no certain idea about what to play, I received word from Brad yesterday that Bob Storm was good. With nothing else to go with, I went with that.
// Lands
2 Island
1 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Polluted Delta
// Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
// Spells
1 Sol Ring
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Timetwister
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ponder
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
2 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Necropotence
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Rebuild
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Impulse
1 Mind's Desire
1 Sleight of Hand
// Sideboard
SB: 1 Island
SB: 2 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 [ARB] Sphinx of the Steel Wind
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 1 Tinker
SB: 1 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 1 Smother
Round 1: Randal with TPS 2-1
Game 1: I open with a Bob. Randal has Mox, Lotus, Walk. Bob gives me Walk, and I vamp for Will. I can't win off Will and pass. Randal Forces my will. I find a second Bob, but I bounce the Bobs with Chain of Vapor after reaching low life. I find Brainstorm, put 2 land atop my deck, and replay the Bobs. Randal cast Gifts with 3 open, showing me Ancestral, Vault, Ritual, and Demonic. I give him Vault and Ancestral. He can't win that turn, and I win on mine.
Game 2: Randal mulligans and opens with a Bob. I Ponder. Randal timewalks, and gets hit for a lot as Sundering Titan flips over for Bob. However, Randal Forces my Bargain. Randal goes to 2 life with Mana Crypt in play, but wins the flip, survives Bob's offering, and wins that turn.
Game 3: I mulligan. I lead with a Ritual into Necropotence. I take 5 cards and see nothing but mana. I take 5 more and see nothing but mana. I take 5 more and see a Top. Randal then Duresses my Top. Randal gets down a Trinket Mage, and I go to 3. Those 3 were good, and I win after going to 1 from Trinket aggro.
Round 2: Twaun with RB Workshop 2-1
Game 1: Twaun mulligans to 5 cards, but starts strong with a Chalice at zero and a Shaman. My Mox gets eaten, and soon a Thorn arrives on Twaun's side. That's followed by a Welder, and I die before I can crawl out from under the increasing pile of spheres.
Game 2: I mulligan, Twaun again goes to 5. I open with Bob, quickly get Sphinx, and win from there.
Game 3: Twaun opens with Bazaar. I have Mana Crypt, Top, and Bob. I Force his Welder, then drop Necropotence and take 6 cards. I proceed to hardcast SPhinx of the Steel Wind through some number of Thorns and Golems, neither of whom affect him.
Round 3: Jerry Yang with Blue Control 1-1
Game 1: We both mulligan. I lead with Bob, but Jerry Gifts for Vault, Key, Tinker, and Demonic Tutor. I give him Key and Tinker, and he gets a Sphinx. A second Bob arrives, and I dig to find a bounce spell. Sphinx gets bounced and despite Jerry Firing my team, I am able to Storm out.
Game 2: Jerry opens with Tundra. I have a first turn Ritual into Duress and Bob. I take Thirst for Knowledge over Thoughtseize, and jerry Thoughtseizes my Mind's Desire. I resolve a second Bob, and proceed to go to 9 life after revealing a Bargain and a Duress. I resolve Bargain but draw into no gas in those cards. I perish to my own Confidant.
Round 4: ID with Oliver
Top Four: Paul with Oath
Game 1: I open with Bob, go. Paul has Library, Lotus, Scroll, Ancestral into Oath and Orchard. I Mystical Tutor for a Dark Ritual, drop Bargain, and win.
Game 2: Paul Pierces my opening Lotus. I Force, and Paul forces. I have no board for a few turns. However, I find a land and cast Dark Ritual, playing Duress and then Bob. Bob is able to push me into enough cards to win, despire the few turns I spent with nothing in play.
Finals: Steve Menendian
Game 1: Steve leads with Chalice at 0, Chalice at 1. The next turn involves his Golemn resolving. I can't crawl out from under this.
Game 2: I keep Sea, Mox, Bob, Ancestral. I open with Bob and resolve an Ancestral recall. And don't find a second land. Meanwhile, Bob helpfully provides me with not one, but two Force of Wills, which help Steve's Juggernaut beat me to death before I find a second land.
Huge props to Paul, for giving me a ride to this event. I don't own a car, and even if I did, the prospect of a three hour drive would be daunting. I'm not known to be the finest driver.
This was my first Meandeck Open, and I do hope not my last. Given the drive and it being Sunday, we left before dinner and hanging out. Given that this is one of my favorite parts of a Vintage tournament, I hope to do so next time.
Rich
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