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Qasur
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« on: April 18, 2011, 11:21:41 am » |
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Premise: My friend and I are big Vintage players who live in the worst place to play said format: the deep south. So, whenever an event pops up that is close enough to attend, we try our hardest to make it there. We prefer slinging moxen and workshops and the like, but will always settle for Legacy if we have to. Playing the game is more fun than not playing.
So, the event was held in Jackson, MS at a little shop that's been there for over 10 years. They do not normally hold Legacy events on a regular schedule so I had no idea how many players would turn out. Our group consisted of 5 guys plus all others who would attend, but the day before three of them dropped out for various reasons (important or not). So, my normal playtest partner and I spent the weeks leading up to the event tossing ideas back and forth about decks. I quickly built White Stax because I have been familiar with both the Stax archetype from Vintage and because I had at least one previous tournament experience with the deck (very early and very different than today's versions). We were strained on cards with just 3 City of Tratiors between us both, so we could only build one version of Stax (despite having two plausible lists, one White Stax and one as Metal Worker Beats). Looking at our remaining card pool, I immediately suggested Ad Nauseum Tendrils (ANT) and some version of Blue Control, either URG, BUG, or straight UB. After playtesting many variations of ANT (including reverting to a more traditional IGGy Pop build) we decided the loss of Mystical Tutor really destroyed the deck beyond playability. We ended up settling on the BUG build of control because it gave us many key cards we felt would give us better flexibility and/or control in the games, namely: Ghastly Demise and Dark Confidant. The other builds played more off one-for-ones, but Confidant allowed us to keep a decent sized hand. Plus, our limited pool was missing SDTs and Counterbalance, and we had no more than 1 Phyrexian Dreadnaught, so we were strictly limited to Bob and Goyf, plus one-for-ones to lead the path to victory. We played a limited Trinket Mage tutor package (including the sole Dreadnaught since we were packing 4 Stifles maindeck anyways).
Leading in the early wee hours of the morning before sleep, we tested out finished decks. To make sure we both were piloting decks were we good at, we each played White Stax, ANT/IGGy, Sligh (just had it around as a *bad* backup), and BUG. In the end, my buddy stuck with BUG as he was most comfortable with it and I ended up being able to pilot White Stax. His esperience with Stax is not bad at all, but White Stax is different than your traditional Vintage builds (almost all of them).
Here's the list I ran:
3 Trinisphere
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Smokestack
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Armageddon
3 Magus of the Tabernacle
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Exalted Angel
4 Mox Diamond
4 Wasteland
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
3 Flagstones of Trokair
5 Plains
1 Temple Garden
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Kor Haven
1 Nomand Stadium
2 Mishra's Factory
Card choices:
Kor Haven over Maze of Ith -- It taps for mana. Really important. Stax has the mana because it doesn't play a spell every turn unless it has to.
Exalted Angel/Baneslayer -- More recent lists are using Baneslayer, but after playing, I've found that Exalted is still probably the better choice. She can come down for 3, and It happend off Mox + 2-Land a lot, which leads to possible turn 2 flip and beat for the win (very hard to stop unless they have Edict/STP/PTE). If I played it again, I'd make it 2 Exalted Angels.
Trinisphere x3 instead of x4 -- It's a great card, but in this format, players can actually play around it. Some decks are even running Ancient Tombs in the main or the board to get around it, so it's less-good. Plus, you really only need it to lock as you go along, not to totally destroy the opponent. COTV is better at locking out forever than 3Sphere.
Mishra's Factory x2 -- These little buggers are great. Gives the deck a little bit of feeling like Landstill. You get a semi-lock down, then can swing over or block opposing dudes. With Crucible, it's like having Kor Haven/Maze of Ith out.
Temple Garden -- Didn't have Savannah, and it's for sideobarded Chokes.
Horizon Canopy -- Even with Choke, it lets you cycle through your deck to find more cards if you've got a semi-lock.
Nomad Stadium -- Should be obvious, but recycling 4-life gain can make it hard for opponent to win. But mostly, this + lifelink angels keep your from loosing to your deck's Ancient Tombs.
Sideboard:
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Hanna's Custody
2 Sphere of Law
3 Suppression Field
3 Choke
1 Magus of the Tabernacle
1 Trinisphere
1 Ratchet Bomb
We ended up going to sleep at 2 AM, which isn't bad compared to some players. Registration starts at 12 and event does not start until 1, so we get good sleep (important for players). We get up at 10:30, go eat lunch, and arrive on time. We fill out our decklists (required for GP stuff, even trials), and we proceed to get ready by playing fake games of IGGy Pop vs. Sligh. We hope this distraction will lead our opponents into making both false assumptions and possibly tweaking their sideboards last minute inappropriately. Some players disagree with this strategy, but we wanted to play some fun quick games instead of playing out tournament decklists.
I'm going to highlight the rounds rather than turn-by-turn because I didn't keep *great* notes, just life totals and some tallies on cards, etc. So, a lot will be coming from memory. However, I do remember most of what I sideboarded exactly (because it was mostly the same).
Round 1: Mono Blue Merfolk
Game 1: I mulligan and he keeps. I win the die roll and start with Tomb, Go. I think he opens with turn 1 and turn 2 Aether Vial. I can only muster a Smokestack (which resolves) and we start the soot race. The next few key spells I cast I get countered (2 Crucibles and another Smokestack), but I never find Magus or Ghostly Prison. The soot race was key-played by me so we both lose everything, except I think he manages to keep a Vial @ 2. He comes back with Land, Cursecatcher and I don't do anything as my life total had slowly dwindled because of Tomb activations and he gets game 1.
Sideboard:
OUT 3 Trinisphere, 2 Smokestack, 2 Crucible, and 1 O-Ring
IN: 3 Choke, 3 Suppression Field, 1 Ratchet Bomb, and 1 Magus of the Tabernacle
Game 2: We both mulligan. I open with Mox, Plains, Ratchet Bomb, Go. He opens with Land, Vial, Go. I EOT Bomb to 1. Turn 2 I drop Ghostly Prison. He upkeeps Vial to 1, then drops a land and says Go. Turn 3 I draw Choke and attempt it (with 1 open for Daze) but he throws Force of Will down... after reading Choke (obviously unfamiliar with it). I think me mutters "Man, his deck is tuned to beat mine". He EOT vials Cursecatcher and I blow them both up with Ratchet Bomb. His turn he drops Silvergill Adept revealing Reegery and draws a card and says go after dropping a sac land. I untap and float 2 off City of Traitors, then play an Ancient Tomb and cast Armageddon. It resolves, and all lands to away. He misses a land drop, and I untap into another 2-land + Crucible. He has no counter, and scoops for the next game.
Game 3: No SB changes. Turn 1 he opens with Land, Vial, Go. I open with Mox, Tomb, Ghostly Prison. Turn 2 he upkeeps Vial to 1, plays Polluted Delta, Go. I draw Suppression Field and play it. He responds with Vial by putting Cursecatcher down, then S.Field resolves (can't Daze it). I play Wasteland and pass the turn. On tun 3, he upkeeps Vial to 2 and drops Wasteland, then plays Merfolk Reegery. I drop second Tomb, second Ghostly Prison (resolves), and then pay 2 to Wasteland his Delta. From here, It's unclear because this game goes *long*, but I know he gets down 3 Energy Flux (fairly useless to me) and he mutters "Should have f*ing Aura Flux instead". I know I get 3 Ghostly Prison and 2 S.Field down and I manage to Geddon twice clearing basically all of his lands (despite him having about 10 creatures in play). We go to time, and it wasn't until second turn of the final 5 that I draw into any creature (a Magus) and last turn he loses every creature, but I can't swing for more than 2 against him. We Tie.
TIE 0-0-1
Round 2: Blue/White Stuff
Game 1/2/3: My opponent informs me that it is his first tournament and he took his 70 card deck down to 60 by removing 10 lands... leaving him with only 16, so he's been screwed. We still play and I just talk to him about ways to improve his tournament play by having a Sideboard, deck size, play, and making sure to ask questions about opponent's cards. Plus the rationale for keeping up with both player's life totals (even if one person is already doing it). I simply beat him because my deck does Moxen + Crucible + Geddons versus a land-light deck, and he never casts more than Squadron Hawk in both games we played. I felt sorry for him, and he knew the game wasn't going to be a win, but stayed to play anyways. My notes say that we both mulliganed in both games though.
WIN 1-0-1
Round 3: Bant Aggro
Game 1: We both mulligan once. All I can remember this game is that he gets down turn 1 Exalted-Manamaking-Chick, then turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary while I can only muster a Ghostly Prison off a Mox, then he wastelands me. He is stuck on two lands (basics) and I drop a turn 3 Magus and he pays upeep. I think he bated me into blocking his 5/5 knight before wastelanding me actually, which causes me to lose Magus (first or two big mistakes of the day). Even though he's got 2 lands and the chick, he forgets he killed my Magus for two turns by tapping a land and the chick during upkeep (without announcing what for, so I'm not cheating by making him pay for something that isn't on table, I can only *assume* he was floating mana for *something*, but never says and draws for turn. However, despite this, I suck and draw nothing... I did get that Smokestack down and to 1, but he Pridemage's it and run through me.
Sideboard:
OUT: 4 Chalice of the Void and 2 Smokestack
IN: 2 Hanna's Custody, 2 Suppression Field, 1 Magus of the Tabernacle, and 1 Ratchet Bomb
Game 2: We both keep our openers. Much like previous game, I go Mox + 2land + something irrelevant I think. He goes sac land into Forest, Exalted-Mana-Chick again. On turn 2, I think I make a Crucible, then pass. Either way, turn 2 for him is much harder... he drops sac land, then searches his deck. He searches like 3 times, then finally says "I can't find my Plains." Well, I say and do nothing, but he calls the judge right behind me (who overheers him and asks "is there a problem?") There is. His plains fell to the floor during sideboard and he presented a 59 card deck. I feel bad, and if the judge hadn't asked, I would have let him have it. Our turnout was only 13 guys, of which 4 were casual players, so it's a really a 9-man small event. I'm not looking for an easy win. We go by the rules, and he gets a game loss.
Game 3: I don't remember much, except that he Forces my turn 2 Hanna's Custody off Tomb + 2 Moxes (playing around Daze), but I had not seen Force in game 1 or 2. He gets down Knight of the Reliquary, but is stuck on 3 lands. I cast Crucible, Trinisphere, then Geddon in that order afterward. He drops a land, but I untap into Smokestack and he concedes. He was mad because of game 2 and that he ended up losing game 3.
Win 2-0-1
Round 4: Affinity
Game 1: I won the die roll. Opponent mulligans and I keep my opening 7. Turn 1 I drop Tomb and make Chalice of the Void @ 1. He proceeds to drop ignore it and drop Seat of the Synod, Memnite, 2 Ornithopter, then draws 2 off of lame spell (5cc... only spends 1... lame). I Untap, drop Crucible, Go. He untaps and drops land + Myr Enforcer, and swings for 1. I untap, O-Ring the Enforcer, Go. He draws another Enforcer, and plays it. I can only muster a Ghostly Prison on my next turn. He pays 2 and serves with Enforcer until end of game because I can't get around it. Saw no Geddon, Magus, or Wastelands to stop him.
Sideboard:
OUT: 2 Smokestack and 1 Armageddon
IN: 1 Trinisphere, 1 Magus, and 1 Ratchet Bomb
Game 2: I don't remember this game all that well, except I know I went Chalice of the Void @ 0 this time, Go. However, he does the opposite and goes like 2 turns of 1cc spells... how gay. In the end though, I followed with Magus of the Tabernacle, Trinisphere, and two wastelands. He conceded to spare time for game 3.
Game 3: Slower game as I opened with turn 1 Ghostly Prison. He gets down a guy + steeleaf drum + Thoughtseize. I think the turn after, he does Thoughtseize again. However, I know he yanks Smokestack and Crucible, but leaves me with Exalted Angel and 2 Armageddons. I get down another Ghostly Prison to slow him down plus Morph the Angel (I'm stuck on 4 lands) the turn before he gets a 3rd land to cast Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. With like 8 artifacts already in play, the ultimate is game over so I have to play around it. He adds a counter and finds a land, but doesn't play it knowing I have Geddon in hand. On my turn, I do not find a second white (am playing off Mox, Wasteland, Tomb). He had to tap his only blocker with Steeleaf Drum to cast Tez, so I swing into him and drop him down to 2 counters, then make a Crucible I finally draw, allowing me to replay a pitched Plains to the mox early on. He untaps, uses Tez to find Master Etherium and plays him. On my turn, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. He has 4 mana to swing through two Ghostly Prisons with Master Etherium. Tezzeret has 3 counters, and I fear that he'll be putting A LOT of pressure on me, so I know it's got to go but I can't swing (he has a blocker this time). I end up making my worst play of the day, and my 2nd and last mistake of the day: I decide to morph the angel so I can swing over Master and into Tezzeret to kill him. My opponent goes, untaps, drops his 4th land to equip the euipment on table onto Master (via Drum + 1cc Battlecry guy) and serves for the game through 2 Prisons. It was a huge mistake because I was *so* worried about Tez, I overlooked the equipment on the field. I should have cast Armaggedon to prevent him from attacking that turn, then replayed a land via Crucible. He could have only played his land, then used Tezzeret to add a counter to 4, to which I'd follow with an untap into replaying my Ancient Tomb, Morphing, then killing Tezzeret. And, of course, with another Armageddon, I would be able to swing over until the end of the game and keep him off 4 lands.
What did I learn? Make sure to survey the field and take your time to ensure you have accounted for all outs. Don't focus on the immediate threats, as they sometimes aren't as immediate as you might think.
LOSS 2-1-1
Standings are posted, and despite only 2 wins, I am actually ranked in 2nd place. Affinity had lost a few games, but the number 1 was playing Belcher combo and was undefeated.
Round 5: Belcher
Game 1: We keep our openers. I drop Mox, Land, Chalice @ 1, and Chalice @ 0. He immediately concedes and we go to game 2. He said he *might* have played around that and could have won, but more than likely I would have stalled enough (as he only had Empty the Warrens, not belcher). I revealed another land + Trinisphere and Ghostly Prison to seal it. Knowing that he was beaten many opponent's on turn 1, I know I have to just raw-dawg the nutz, but at the same time, he has lost many games because it takes 2 or 3 turns to win.
Sideboard:
OUT: 2 Armageddon, 2 Crucible of Worlds, 2 Smokestack 1 Oblivion Ring
IN: 3 Suppression Field, 2 Sphere of Law, 1 Trinisphere, and 1 Ratchet Bomb
Game 2: He turn 1 kills me via Land Grant, Tinder Wall, Lots O' Rituals, Belcher.
Game 3: I open up with Mox, Plains, Chalice of the Void @ 1, Go. He turn 1 kills me anyways via 2cc rituals, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, and Lion's Eye Diamond. I saw none of the 0cc mana in the other games, so I had no clue that 0 and 2 cc were the *best* choices for Chalice of the Void. I was unfamiliar with the deck in the first place, so I didn't know. Also, I had a 2nd land to follow up with Trinisphere if he didn't win on turn 1 (and I had 2land + Baneslayer to follow that up with).
LOSS 2-2-1
I miss the "top 4" breakdown by a bad choice for CotV, which I didn't know to account for. Zero would have meant I won that game. I would have gone on to top 4, which would have consisted of Affinity, Merfolk, and Goblins. I *easily* beat Merfolk and Golbins, and I would have to face another close game with Affinity, which arguably I should beat. So, I do feel robbed because I was the *best* bet at defeating storm.
Overall, I had a great day and was happen to play competitive magic against come competitive players. I think the SLOPS for the day go to Chalice of the Void. I don't think I misplayed them, I think my opponent's just go lucky. Against affinity, I COTV for 1, then he plays 4 0cc spells next turn. Again, against Affinity, I COTV for 0, then he plays 4 1cc spells over next few turns. Against Belcher, I COTV for 1 not-knowing he's running 12 *crucial* 0cc mana acclerants, and lose because of it.... oh well. I'll know for next time.
Peace out!
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