GAT is Back: 1st Place at the Ann Arbor "Black and White" Vintage tournament,QnD

[Smmenen]

The announcement for this event can be found here .  

Here is what I played:

GAT 2010
By Stephen Menendian

4 Quirion Dryad
4 Gush
4 Preordain
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Pierce
3 Trygon Predator
4 Thoughtseize
1 Misdirection

1 Tinker
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Hurky's Recall

1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus

1 Island
1 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Lightning Bolt
2 Nature's Claim
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Hurkyl's Recall

After testing this against my teammate Kevin Cron, who was playing our Lotus Cobra deck, and who Top 16ed the Waterbury, I realized that this deck was really good.  I was smashing Snake City Vault reliably.    Then, we tested it against MUD and Stax, and it performed really, really well.   I decided to play this instead of my 5c Opal Stax deck.  

I shipped my list to Paul Mastriano the night before,and he audibled from the Stax deck too, and played this  at the Blue Bell tournament and made top 8.

When I arrived at the tournament site, I saw a ton of Fish, so I cut the 3rd sideboarded Nature's Claim for a Lightning Bolt and the Inkwell Leviathan for the Sphinx.  

Here is what I faced in the tournament:

Rnd 1: Marland Moore with G/x Beats (he made the finals)

I won 2-1

Rnd 2: Evan with Noble Fish

I won 2-1

Rnd 3: Randall with MUD

0-2

Rnd 4: ?? with MUD

2-1

Rnd 5: ?? with Dredge

I was paired down, so I couldn't draw into top 8.

I won 2-1, losing game 1.

Top 8:  Randall (again)
This time, I play tighter and win 2-0.

Top 4: Jerry Yang with multi-color Jace Control
2-0

Finals: Marland Moore (again).  He scoops, since he doesn't care about the difference between a Mox Jet and a Mox Pearl, and I don't think he wants to replay round one again, although he has a chance to beat me.  

Thanks to the great folks at GetYourGameOn for putting on a sweet Vintage event with such class and style, and to my teammates, particularly Kevin Cron for testing with me for consecutive weeknights, and to Matt Hazard for being a great travel buddy and friend.   And thanks especially to the DCI for allowing me to play Gush again.     It felt *so* good to break out my trusty Dryads and Gushes again, the same one's I've used for 7 years now, which had been sitting so patiently in my Vintage binder.  

I will be writing a primer on the deck in the next couple of weeks, so look for that link in a forum near you

'Til then,

Stephen Menendian

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

Congrats on your finish, Stephen!  I was starting to worry.  I wasn't seeing any Gush lists in top 8s anywhere, especially on Morphling.  This is good news.  How useful was the extra Lightning Bolt in your sideboard?  Did you ever wish is was something like a Lava Dart, Forked Bolt, or Fire//Ice?

Peace,

-Troy

PS:  I too would like to the thank the DCI for this opportunity:  Thanks guys!

[pierce]

A 3 AM mini report? You really must have been wired after all. No sleep either?

[Ten-Ten]

Congratulations, sir. Glad to see Dryad smashing face again 

[Cunningbeaver]

Nice deck. Its great to see both of us doing well with our respective gush decks immediately.

[BruiZar]

Thanks for getting us
one step closer to putting the nail in the coffin for Gush.

Mixed feelings about the win but congrats

[The Atog Lord]

Very nicely done, Steve. I look forward to testing this.

[DPCyric]

I am very happy to see GAT back, congrats on the win Steve and I really hope the DCI doesn't kill one of your favorite decks again! Now it's time for everyone to start packing Blood Moon effects in their SB

[Stormanimagus]

I'm curious Stephen. Why did you include Tinker-->Bot in the deck (especially in the maindeck) with only 5 artifacts to support it? Did that ever give you a problem? Did it really win you that many games that you wouldn't have otherwise just won with Dryads? Could you explain your reasoning on the inclusion.

-Storm

[Smmenen]

Those are good questions.  The importance of Tinker is that the deck needs a compact win condition after generating some card advantage Gushing or post-Yawg Will. I used to run Psychatog (plus Berserk) (circa 2003), then Empty the Warrens (circa 2007), and finally Tendrils (circa 2008) to serve that purpose.   The Gushbond engine is powerful, but it's not as powerful or fast as it once was, so Empty the Warrens and Tendrils are not reliable in this deck anymore.  I never had a problem casting Tinker, and it won me many games.

[Stu]

Hey this is Stu from Get Your Game on. We had a great tournament, and would like to congratulate Steve for winning the Mox Jet!
Here are the other top 8 deck lists from the event, as well as my (missed on breakers) 9th place list.

2nd place - Marland Moore - UGW Fish

1 mox pearl
1 mox sapphire
1 mox emerald
1 black lotus
1 ancestral recall
1 time walk
1 brainstorm
3 preordain
2 abolish
3 abeyance
2 silence
3 swords to plowshares
4 noble hierarch
4 quirion dryad
4 qasili pridemage
3 gaddok teeg
3 trygon predator
3 cold eye selkie
4 wasteland
1 strip mine
3 flooded strand
2 misty rainforest
3 tundra
3 Savannah
1 tropical island
1 forest
1 plains
SB-
1 echoing truth
1 balance
1 disenchant
1 natures claim
2 tariff
2 magus of the unseen
3 null rod
4 leyline of sanctity

3rd place - Jerry Yang - Singleton vintage

1 black lotus
1 mox pearl
1 mox sapphire
1 mox jet
1 mox ruby
1 mox emerald
1 lotus petal
1 mana crypt
1 mana vault
1 sol ring
4 force of will
1 ancestral recall
1 ancient grudge
1 balance
1 brainstorm
1 counterspell
1 darkblast
1 demonic tutor
1 duress
1 fact or fiction
1 fire/ice
1 gifts ungiven
1 gorilla shaman
1 hurkyl's recall
1 inkwell leviathan
1 jace the mind sculptor
1 mana drain
1 merchant scroll
1 mystical tutor
1 ponder
1 rebuild
1 regrowth
1 thirst for knowledge
1 thoughtseize
1 time vault
1 time walk
1 tinker
1 trygon predator
1 vampiric tutor
1 voltaic key
1 yagmoths will
1 ancient tomb
1 city of brass
1 flooded strand
1 island
1 library of alexandria
1 misty rainforest
1 polluted delta
1 scalding tarn
1 snow-covered island
1 strip mine
1 tolarian academy
1 tropical island
1 tundra
1 underground sea
1 volcanic island
1 wasteland
SB-
1 annul
1 cabal therapy
1 crucible of worlds
1 disenchant
1 energy flux
1 extirpate
1 honor the fallen
1 naturalize
1 perish
1 pithing needle
1 ray of revelation
1 red elemental blast
1 relic of pregenetus
1 serenity
1 sower of temptation

4th place - Ben Topping - UGW Fish

1 mox emerald
1 mox pearl
1 mox sapphire
1 black lotus
4 force of will
1 timewalk
1 ancestral recall
4 null rod
4 tarmogoyf
3 avian mindsensor
2 trygon predator
2 spell pierce
2 natures claim
2 daze
2 leonin arbiter
4 noble hierarch
1 brainstorm
1 echoing truth
3 jace the mind sculptor
1 swords to plowshares
3 misty rainforest
1 strip mine
1 Savannah
2 tundra
3 tropical island
3 scalding tarn
4 wasteland
1 forest
1 island
SB-
1 swords to plowshares
1 avian mindsensor
1 mindbreak trap
2 pithing needle
1 daze
1 relic of progenitus
2 tormods crypt
2 natures claim
2 stifle
2 spell pierce

5th place - Bojan Sljivic - Confidant/Jace control

1 black lotus
1 mox jet
1 mox pearl
1 mox sapphire
1 mox ruby
1 mox emerald
1 sol ring
1 time vault
1 voltaic key
1 pithing needle
1 mana crypt
1 sensei's divining top
4 dark confidant
2 trinket mage
2 trygon predator
1 sphinx of the steel wind
3 jace the mind sculptor
4 mana drain
2 natures claim
1 brainstorm
4 force of will
1 merchant scroll
1 demonic tutor
1 vampiric tutor
1 ponder
1 ancestral recall
1 mystical tutor
1 tinker
1 yawgmoths will
1 time walk
1 island
1 forest
1 swamp
1 snow-covered island
2 tropical island
4 underground sea
1 strip mine
1 tolarian academy
1 academy ruins
2 polluted delta
1 misty rainforest
SB -
1 perish
1 nature's ruin
3 leyline of the void
1 city in a bottle
1 hurkyls recall
1 ravenous trap
1 tormods crypt
2 sower of temptation
2 claws of gix
1 yxlid jailer
1 rebuild

6th place - Gilberto R. - Grixis Control

1 mana crypt
1 mox jet
1 mox emerald
1 mox ruby
1 mox sapphire
1 mox pearl
1 black lotus
3 mana drain
1 gifts ungiven
1 time vault
4 force of will
1 time walk
1 brainstorm
1 sensei's divining top
4 goblin welder
1 wurmcoil engine
1 sundering titan
1 mindslaver
2 frantic search
1 ancestral recall
1 vampiric tutor
1 crucible of worlds
1 sharum the hegemon
1 tinker
1 thirst for knowledge
1 yagmoths will
1 mindbreak trap
1 voltaic key
1 merchant scroll
1 rebuild
1 fire/ice
1 demonic tutor
1 jace the mind sculptor
3 thoughseize
1 snow-covered island
1 polluted delta
2 island
1 strip mine
1 tolarian academy
2 flooded strand
1 misty rainforest
2 underground sea
3 volcanic island
1 seat of the synod
SB-
1 darkblast
1 red elemental blast
1 ancient grudge
1 mindbreak trap
1 echoing truth
1 platinum angel
1 aether spell bomb
2 ravenous trap
1 trinisphere
2 tormods crypt
1 bojuka bog
1 yxlid jailer
1 diabolic edict

7th place - Randal W. - MUD

1 mox emerald
1 mox jet
1 mox ruby
1 mox sapphire
1 sol ring
1 mana vault
4 chalice of the void
3 crucible of worlds
3 smokestack
4 sphere of resistance
1 trinisphere
4 tangle wire
4 sculpting steel
3 metal worker
4 lodestone golem
4 triskelion
1 crystal vein
3 ancient tomb
2 ghost quarter
4 mishras factory
4 mishras workshop
1 strip mine
4 wasteland
1 tolarian academy
SB-
2 tormods crypt
2 duplicant
3 null rod
3 pithing needle
3 steel hellkite
2 relic of progenetus

8th place - Steve Golenda - Dark Fish

1 mox pearl
1 mox emerald
1 mox sapphire
1 mox jet
1 lotus petal
1 black lotus
1 ancestral recall
1 time walk
1 mystical tutor
1 vampiric tutor
1 tinker
1 inkwell leviathan
1 demonic tutor
1 brainstorm
1 diabolic edict
4 qasili pridemage
4 trygon predator
4 tarmogoyf
4 dark confidant
3 gaddock teeg
3 tidehollow sculler
4 aether vial
3 swords to plowshares
1 marsh flats
4 misty rainforest
2 polluted delta
2 underground sea
2 tropical island
2 savannah
1 scrubland
1 tundra
1 bayou
1 strip mine
SB-
3 yxlid jailer
3 natures claim
1 hurkyls recall
1 swords to plowshares
1 darkblast
2 umezawas jitte
2 duress
2 deathmark

9th place - Stu Parnes - 5C STAX

1 mana crypt
1 mana vault
1 sol ring
1 mox pearl
1 mox sapphire
1 mox jet
1 mox ruby
1 mox emerald
4 mox opal
1 black lotus
1 tinker
1 balance
1 ancestral recall
1 trinisphere
4 smokestack
4 tangle wire
4 sphere of resistance
4 chalice of the void
2 crucible of worlds
4 lodestone golem
4 goblin welder
4 wasteland
1 stripmine
4 mishras workshop
4 city of brass
3 ancient tomb
1 tolarian academy
SB-
3 leyline of the void
3 leyline of sanctity
3 contagion clasp
2 nihil spellbomb
4 ancient grudge

Again thank you to everyone who showed up, and dressed up. (picks here) http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=232848&id=686079556

[Stu]

Also a big thanks to Steve for his work in designing this list, as well as suggesting contagion clasp in the sideboard, the card was awesome!

[Odd mutation]

Congratulations on the deck and the win! I'm thrilled to be playing GAT again!!

How many people were playing?

@Stephen: AGAIN, no article on Starcity today??? What's up???

Robrecht

[Tobi]

@Stu
How many players did you have for this event?

@Steven
Nice list, and congratulations for winning this.
Apart of Tinker, which I find questionable in this list, how did Trygon Predator help to improve the MUD matchup? At 3 mana it seems to be hard to cast vs Golem/sphere.

[Stu]

We had 23 players for the event.

[Sextiger]

So should I assume the 6th place list actually has welders correct???

[Smmenen]

There were many different Scars cards in the top 9!   The new Control Slaver list is hilarious!  

[Stu]

Yes it would be the case that the 6th place list has welders, I must have missed that one because of fatigue from typing out Jerry Yang's list.

[Smmenen]

@Steven
Nice list, and congratulations for winning this.
Apart of Tinker, which I find questionable in this list, how did Trygon Predator help to improve the MUD matchup? At 3 mana it seems to be hard to cast vs Golem/sphere.

This deck is able to cast Trygon about as well as the Vintage Champs "Trygon-Tez"  list could against Workshop decks.

You have Spell Pierce, Force, and Thoughseize to slow the rate of Sphere production, and Trygon is unaffected by Thorn.   In all of my testing against Workshop decks before the tournament, and in my 3 MUD matchups, I never was one mana short.  I was either way off being able to play Trygon or able to play it.  

I was disappointed to have to face so many Fish and Beats decks, as those are much weaker matchups.  

The best matchup for Grow is the Jace Control decks with Time Vault.   The worst matchup definitely felt like Beats and Fish, although Steel Hellkite/4 Trike MUD is probably worse going forward.

The beats and Fish decks Wasteland you, but then they can block Dryads infinitely.   For example, in my round one against Marland and round two against Evan, they had no trouble blocking Dryads turn after turn, and could then start attacking me with cards like Cold-Eye Selkie, which allowed them to easily replenish their blockers.   I desperately needed an evasive win condition in those matchups, and won those matchups because of Tinker.   Marland and Steve Golenda also had nightmare cards like Gaddock Teeg.  Leonin Arbiter could also prove very annoying.   After Randall (because he had Trikes and Steel Hellkites), I was most concerned about facing Ben Topping's Fish deck.  

EDIT:

The best part of this tournament were the unbelievably gorgeous bar maids that serviced the bar catercorner to this game store.

Hazard and I unassumingly walked in to grab a burger before the tournament.  Each of the servers was stunning.  And my server was particularly gorgeous, with olive skin, wearing jean cut-off shorts with pockets that hung on her thighs.  She was about 5'9 or 5'10 in her boots, with a sexy, crimped bob in her hair.   

I ordered a burger and a sprite.   Except that when Hazard went to use the boy's room, the server asked me if I wanted some vodka in my drink!!!  I had to play in a Magic tournament in a half hour, but I couldn't refuse.   She poured more than two full shots into my Sprite, on the house.  I was almost drunk when the tournament began.

[Lemnear]

Hooters serves vodka?   

[Wildthing]

Congrats Steve!

Shouldn't volcanic island go to the side in exchange for 1 basic island?

[Suicideking]

@Steve.  Two shots of vodka got you close to drunk?  You should come to the Green Bay tourneys.  They were held in a bowling alley/bar.  Many players were legitimately drunk that day.

[tooth]

@Steve.  Two shots of vodka got you close to drunk?  You should come to the Green Bay tourneys.  They were held in a bowling alley/bar.  Many players were legitimately drunk that day.

Beer was a 1.25 a pint, of course there were drunk magic players, its Wisconsin...
Those tourneys are going to come back soon.

@ Steve

Congrats on the finish.  It would be awsome if we could have a more in depth tourney report.  I would really like to know more about your MUD matches.  Was there any point in the tournament you wanted to cunning wish into a beserk in your deck, like the old GAT decks?

[Smmenen]

@Steve.  Two shots of vodka got you close to drunk?  You should come to the Green Bay tourneys.  They were held in a bowling alley/bar.  Many players were legitimately drunk that day.

Beer was a 1.25 a pint, of course there were drunk magic players, its Wisconsin...
Those tourneys are going to come back soon.

@ Steve

Congrats on the finish.  It would be awsome if we could have a more in depth tourney report.  I would really like to know more about your MUD matches.  Was there any point in the tournament you wanted to cunning wish into a beserk in your deck, like the old GAT decks?

All three of my MUD matches were defined by one tactic, Trygon Predator.  My entire strategy was simple: find and resolve Trygon Predator.   Nothing else mattered. Every decision and line of play I evaluated was calculated to make Trygon Resolve.  I'd specifically deal with cards that allowed Trygon to resolve and ignore other ones.  This may seem obvious except that it would lead to different lines of play than you might otherwise expect.  For example, I would be more likely to counter tempo cards out of MUD that would prevent me from resolving Trygon earlier, like Tangle Wire or a Sphere, and less concerned about long term cards like Smokestack or Chalice at 1, if Trygon was forthcoming.   Gushbond was still important, but only insofar as it helped me find and resolve Predator.   Then, once Predator resolved, I'd simply take control of the game, and play the control role.  

[hazard]

Each of the servers was stunning.

QFT They were outstanding. If you're ever gaming there, swing across the street to the Packard Pub. You will not be disappointed. You've gotta love when the jeans pocket hangs lower than the jean shorts have been cut.

The tourney was a great time, even though I scrubbed 2-3 with a B/R Belcher list.

[btops]

This is Ben.  It was my first time ever playing Vintage, and I wanted to thank everyone for being so welcoming to a newbie like me.  IT was a blast, and I can't wait for the next one!

Also, Leonin Arbiter is the real deal against a lot of the Black decks, though with all the MUD and Stax I had to play, he was mainly a bear.

Steve -- I'm sure if you knew the pilot behind the Haterator deck you wouldn't have been quite so scared.

[TopSecret]

She was about 5'9 or 5'10 in her boots, with a sexy, crimped bob in her hair.   

I guess Magic has finally gone mainstream if bar maids are sporting miscut Dark Confidants to attract potential customers.

[gamegeek2]

Steve, I've been trying out 2 maindeck copies of Lightning Bolt in my testing with GAT now. They've done wonders against both Jace Vault decks, picking off Bobs and Jaces for only 1 mana; and they are, for obvious reasons, a strong tool against Fish/Beats.

Question: how good was Spell Pierce for you? I've been trying 4 Duress, 3 Seize, 4 Force, 2 Drain for discard/countermagic, with 1 Hurkyll's and 1 Nature's Claim MD for artifacts; it seems fine so far, and you've said that Spell Pierce wasn't that amazing in the 'Grow' deck you showcased in a recent article (at least, when you wrote about it around a year ago, post-Zendikar). Mana Drain has seemed like filler to me; Pierce might do the job better there, but I find myself using most or all of my mana in the early turns, playing discard and Preordains.

Also, I've been trying a single Empty the Warrens, and it's been okay, a strong surprise tactic.

[znoyes]

Hello,

Congrats. You were looking for a win condition that had evasion and was an out to fish's many hate-dudes.
Have you concidered grim lavamancer? I like him quite a bit because he is a stand-alone threat (as apposed to an answer like lighning bolt) that utilizes all the cantrips that go into your graveyard. He has the needed "reach" to which you were referring. The other reason I really like lavamancer is that the time vault decks just don't seem to have a good way to deal with him (Jace bouncing him doesn't get very far). The bad part about him that I see is that he requires a lot of red mana, so including him lopsides your tight mana base more towards volcanic islands. What are your thoughts on this guy?

Thanks,

--Zach

[Smmenen]

Steve, I've been trying out 2 maindeck copies of Lightning Bolt in my testing with GAT now. They've done wonders against both Jace Vault decks, picking off Bobs and Jaces for only 1 mana; and they are, for obvious reasons, a strong tool against Fish/Beats.

That sounds awesome.   That makes alot of sense.   Lightning Bolt was really, really good for me, and it's probably as strong in Vintage right now as its been since it was first printed.   It hits all kinds of problem cards: Golem, Welder, Cobra, Bob, and every Fish spell, including Teeg.  

Question: how good was Spell Pierce for you?

Spell Pierce was pretty good.   It's main weakness is that it can't counter creatures, which can be a problem against MUD, since cards like Trike and Steel Hellkite are such a beating, but I always felt good having it.   It wasn't as good in the other Grow list because that list just wasn't as fast or aggressive.  This deck abuses Spell Pierce better because of Gush.