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voltron00x
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« Reply #32 on: February 13, 2011, 05:52:49 pm » |
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Headed into this Blue Bell, I was really excited. Brad and I have been brewing a sweet Reanimator deck for the past three weeks or so. I'm not going to explain the genesis of the deck here, as that is the focus of my next article, but I'll give you the list and a short tournament report.
First, here's the deck:
4 Thoughtseize
4 Entomb
2 Exhume
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Careful Study
4 Reanimate
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Terastodon
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Brainstorm
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Bayou
3 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Mox Emerald
4 Oath of Druids
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Stormtide Leviathan
1 Mox Ruby
1 Show and Tell
Sideboard:
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Pithing Needle
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Nature's Claim
1 Strip Mine
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Show and Tell
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Sol Ring
Rd 1 - Sam Berse on MUD
I assume Sam is on MUD, but as I know him to only play MUD or Dredge, my plan is going to be pretty similar. My opening hand gives me exactly what I want. I play Swamp, Mox Jet, Entomb for Stormtide Leviathan, and Reanimate it. Sam isn't able to find a Duplicant before he dies. In game two, I mull to 5 to a hand with Oath of Druids, which I get to resolve. Unfortunately, my creatures are all bunched at the bottom of my deck, and Stormtide is in my bottom 3 cards. I'm forced to give Sam a one-turn window to Oath, and he hits a Duplicant, and I lose. In game 3, I draw a ton of hate cards, and counter or destroy his plays; I believe I won with Oath, but the hate cards are really what won it for me.
Rd 2 - Nate on Gush Storm
In game 1, Nate's on the play, and opens on Mox, then Lotus. I considered Forcing the Lotus, but let it resolve. I was concerned he might be on Workshops. Instead, he plays a Ritual, and a Desire for four. The Desire gives him a land, a mox, and 2 Preordains. On my turn, I play a turn-one Oath and Orchard. Unfortunately I Oath into Inkwell, and then Stormtide, giving Nate enough time to draw a second land and chain 3 Gushes together for the win with Fastbond and Will. In game 2, I again open on Oath, and this time I Entomb a blank out of my deck, so I just need to Oath into Iona or Don to win the game. I miss on those guys, and lose as Nate opens on a first-turn Necro.
Rd 3 - Corey on Goblins
I know Corey's probably playing Goblins, and my opening hand is really strong. I have Oath, Entomb, and Exhume. I lead on land, pass, Vamp into Orchard and play a second turn Oath. Oath hits Don and blows up a land on Corey's side. The next Oath hits Stormtide, and then I Entomb/Exhume an Iona on red. Game two is actually pretty close, as Corey has a bunch of relevant cards, like KGrip, Warren Weirding, Gargadon, and Extirpate. I get a little lucky this game as my hand is somewhat mediocre. Corey suspends a Gargadon, and I Entomb/Reanimate a Stormtide with Spell Pierce back-up, and Spell Pierce Corey's Warren Weirding. I also Needle his Gargagon. I'm fortunate in that if he had another Weirding or Stingscourger I'd have lost, but thankfully he did not and Stormtide gets there.
Rd 4 - Vito on Gush Storm
As far as I know, same or similar deck to Nate's. Game one, Vito's hand is full of broken cards and he races me. Game two, my turn-two Blightsteel Colossus wins a quick one. Game three, he opens on a first-turn Twister, which gives him a seven of Recall, Force, Preordain, Gush, Lotus, Jace, and Tropical Island. My seven wasn't nearly good enough to beat that.
Rd 5 - Joe(?) with Dredge
Sorry if the name's wrong. I almost steal game one; I win the die roll, and set up a turn-two Terastodon to blow up his Bazaar. Unfortunately for me, he draws a second Bazaar the turn before I'd have won, and that gives him blockers. He sides face-up and I see no Chain of Vapors, so Stormtide should be clutch here. Indeed, in game two I have two pieces of hate and a quick Stormtide, and that's that. In game 3, I Needle his Bazaar, then set up Show and Tell for Stormtide. GG.
Rd 6 - Nick Detwiler with Espresso Stax
Nick has to mull to 5 both games, and I basically have the nuts in both games.
In the side event:
Rd 1 - Glackin with Dredge
In game 1, Glackin mulls to 1. In game 2, Glackin uses his Bazaar to discard a dredger and Angel of Despair. I Reanimate the Angel and destroy his Bazaar. He dredges once, then Cabal Therapies himself to discard Stinkweed Imp. I Reanimate that, also.
Rd 2 - Rob with Oath
Rob's playing the sweet Oath combo deck from the Worlds side event. In game one, I rip a Reanimate the turn before I lose, to get Iona and lock out the game. Game two goes long, but Rob is able to resolve an Eternal Witness eventually, and Recall again, which puts him too far ahead. I have a chance to get back into the game but I'm one turn too slow getting my Iona into play. In game three, Rob plays Recall and draws an Orchard and the one Oath he hadn't sided out, and that kills me right away.
The deck is awesome, but it isn't quite optimized. It needs something else for Gush / Storm decks, though. Duress, Misdirection, Mindbreak Trap, something. We'll figure it out. Also, some cards in the SB should be in the main. I cover that in the article, later this week.
The top 8 of this event was really great, with some new faces (which is always awesome!), and some old ones too - great to see John Jones back in the saddle after some top 8s at Bloomsburg with his really cool Tezz deck. Also, congrats to Keith on the top 4, and Brad, Paul, and Joe P and Joe B for the top 8s. Pace was playing something based on my GG Oath, and had a good shot to make top 4 with it. I had a lot of fun at this one and can't wait until March!
[The soundtrack for this event was provided by Wu Tang Clan and Two Door Cinema Club.]
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