Duck Weekly Tourney #9

[AmbivalentDuck]

Hi all!

Dark Ascension is LEGAL for this tourney.

Every week, I'm going to start a 8-player single elimination bracket.  Rules are very similar to the TMD online invitational:
1. Games are played publicly on Cockatrice
2. Players have at most a week to complete each match.
3. Lists must be posted after all round 1 matches are complete.
3a. You cannot change lists between rounds.
3b. You must show your list at the beginning of each match after the first so your opponent can verify against your posted list.
4. Prize is the opportunity to play a featured match against a well-recognized member of the Vintage community.  (Volunteers?)
5. Drops after the bracket is drawn are final.  Nobody can fill that slot.
6. Brackets will be fully randomized.  There will be no preference or "seeds" of any kind.

Registration will be closed once we have 8 people or about a week passes and I remember to draw up a bracket.


Players signed up as of last update:
1. AmbivalentDuck
2. Shock Wave
3. ErtaiAdept
4. A.-1.
5. credmond
6. Guli
7. PETER FLUGZEUG
8. Grand Inquisitor

First matches must be complete by Feb 27th.  If all matches complete before then, the next set will be due within a week, and so on.

[A.-1.]

I'm down.

[credmond]

Count me in!

[Guli]

Me too!

[credmond]

Come on people! Let's get 2 more people to sign up for this! These are fun.

[PETER FLUGZEUG]

I'll give it a try. I live in Europe though, so it's GMT / UTC +1.

[ErtaiAdept]

Just in case the image in the OP is important.  I'm seeing a broken link.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Just in case the image in the OP is important.  I'm seeing a broken link.

It's not important until we have 8 people.

[Grand Inquisitor]

+1

[AmbivalentDuck]

Bracket is up:
A.1. vs Grand Inquisitor
Me vs PETER FLUGZEUG
Guli vs credmond
Ertai Adept vs Shock Wave

[A.-1.]

Paired against GI again. Same deal as last time. I can play whenever. Let me know what time works best for you.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Paired against GI again.

If people want to switch from random to some sort of seeding system, we may now have enough "data" for that.

[A.-1.]

I have no problem with playing him again. At least I know I'm in for a few good games.

[PETER FLUGZEUG]

Before the tournament, i thought I'd be smart about my deck and decided to cheat a little bit on dredge hate, because I didn't expect it to be there.
I ran 4 Leyline, 1 Jailer and 1 needle, cutting the 2nd jailer for a darkblast. I think it will be more useful during the mini- tournament to have enough creature hate, as I don't think there will be any of dredge around. Still I wanted to keep the 6 hate cards (even if this is likely not enough should dredge come up), because I want to test my deck in a real way.

Before starting our games, I sneaked into Guli's and Ducks game and saw he was on MUD. I felt good there, because my deck is fairly good against brown I think.

I was even happier when I opened a solid her game one on the play:

Island, Mox emerald, fetch, Force, Trygon, Ancestral recall, Jace.

That game was mine before it began.

I played Island, recall. He plays mental misstep. D'oh. He is on blue then. Mox, pass.

He opens with bazaar of baghdad. D'oh.
I get another turn and yet another but don't find tinker->time walk. GG.

I board out 2 Mystic Remoras, hurkyl's recall, 2 spell snare, 2 trygons. In come 4 Leylines, Jailer, Needle and flusterstorm.

I have leyline, misstep in the 7er I think. Keep. I lead, he missteps sol ring and preordain to help me grow my goyf, as his graveyard is empty. He doesn't find colored mana until the turn before he dies, then i misstep his chain of vapor (on goyf...).

G3 I have the nuts again: Leyline in the opening 7, alongside goodies like flusterstorm, black lotus, sol ring, force, merchant scroll, island.
Merchant scroll finds ancestral into missteps and goyf who beats him down with the help of his twin while he is trying to find land and trying to misstep my recall which is met by flusterstorm. Also, he mulled down to 4 i guess, powdering for 6 and 4 on top of that.

GG dredge.

I sure was lucky, cheating on dredge hate (6 cards ARE NOT ENOUGH in a deck without vault/key or tendrils), finding them in 7 card hands with mana and counters while he discards chain of vapors, nature's claims...
Grizzly Goyf sucks with leyline out, but leyline rocks.

My list: Gush-Grow. Solid, nothing too spectacular. the mana base is rock solid, 4 basics post board. The 2 spell snares are good against the metagame. The 3 cantrips are the minimum, keeping the deck stable.

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
3 Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
2 Preordain
1 Ponder
3 Mystic Remora
4 Gush
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Fastbond
4 Force of Will
3 Mental Misstep
2 Spell Snare
1 Hurkyl's Recall

3 Tarmogoyf
2 Trygon Predator
1 Vendilion Clique

SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 1 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Nature's Claim
SB: 1 Energy Flux
SB: 1 Forest
SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 1 Darkblast
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Mindbreak Trap

If you have not set yourself on a deck yet and want to beat mine: Play UR Landstill with explosives.
Don't play: Oath.

[ErtaiAdept]

Lost 2-1 to Shock Wave

Snap-Bob Control


4 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
4 Dark Confidant
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
2 Mana Drain
4 Mental Misstep
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Echoing Truth
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Myr Battlesphere
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 1 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Doom Blade
SB: 1 Darkblast
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Steel Sabotage
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction
SB: 1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
SB: 1 Mindbreak Trap

[Shock Wave]

I win in 3 interesting games against Ertai. The matchup was UR Landstill vs. UB Control. I played the same list from the previous Duck tourney #6.

G1: My hand is FoW x 2, Waste, Strip, and 3 fetch. I am on the draw. He leads with Bob and I FoW. I draw a Volcanic and Waste his Sea. He plays Island-Go. I draw another fetch and Strip his Island. He plays a fetch and passes. I draw a Factory, play it, and pass. He plays another land, Time Vault, and passes. I draw LoA. I don't want to play it because that will force him into being aggressive, and I don't have any permission. I intentionally skip my land drop to feign him into thinking I am full of counters. He untaps his Vault. I draw a Shaman, play the LoA, and then I misplay by casting my Shaman. I should have just passed the turn with LoA up. He Drains and resolves Jace on his turn, then takes another with Vault and goes to town.

G2: I board out 2 Conclaves for 2 REB. My hand is strong. I have Lotus, AR, Rod, FoW, Misdirection, Factory, Waste. I play Lotus and then factory. I play Rod with 2U up. He FoWs, I AR in response, which resolves. I draw good stuff and Misd his FoW. He never gets into this one.

G3: I board the same as G2, except I also board in 2 bolts for Mystical and Standstill. He mulls to 6. My seven is strong again: FoW, BS, Drain, Misstep, Lotus, Crucible, Fetch. He leads with Bob. I FoW pitching Drain. I draw a Volc and play Fetch, Lotus. He tries for Sol Ring, I misstep. He passes. I draw a REB and play the Crucible, which resolves. I crack and replay my fetch. He does nothing on his turn, and I EOT BS into lots of good stuff. This is one of the very few instances that BS has been good for me in Landstill, and I think the game was already in the bag. Anyways, the game ends many turns later but it is pretty much over at this point.

GGs Ertai.

1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Faerie Conclave
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Island
4 Volcanic Island
2 Flooded Strand
1 Gorilla Shaman
3 Null Rod
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Spell Pierce
4 Mana Drain
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Brainstorm
4 Standstill
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Lava Dart
4 Force of Will
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Mental Misstep
2 Misdirection

SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Ingot Chewer
SB: 4 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Lightning Bolt

[Ruboonia]

Why Lava Dart over Fire/Ice?

[Shock Wave]

Why Lava Dart over Fire/Ice?

If your opponent goes T1 Bob, F/I is too slow. You need FoW or a 1cc answer. Dart is extremely strong against some of the worst threats for Landstill: Bob and Welder.

[ErtaiAdept]

Shock Waves description is pretty accurate.

Game 2 I couldn't find any land.  Game three couldn't find any gas after the initial bob.

Really good games though and I look forward to the next one for a re-match .

[Guli]

Ok credmond when do you want to do this?

[Guli]

I took the match 2-1

List:
4 Duress
4 Dark Ritual
4 Force of Will
2 Cabal Ritual
3 Gitaxian Probe
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Grim Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Necropotence
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mind's Desire
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Yawgmoth's Will
SB: 1 Chain of Vapor
SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 4 Defense Grid
SB: 1 Rebuild
SB: 1 Island
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 1 Virtue's Ruin

[A.-1.]

GI won 2-0 again

He was on Slaver, and I was on Gro.

[Grand Inquisitor]

Got there vs. A-1 2-0.

G1 he hits a land glut just as I start rolling with mana and drop Wurmcoil to hold off his Tarmo.  That board lets me stall and abuse Alchemy.

G2 we each resolve early Ancestrals, but he gets an awkward hand with Jace and Sower and I'm able to abuse mana drain.  I misplay YWill, but it sets me up for the win a few turns later.

I played Jeff Annand's list (sry, I was wrong about the source A-1) here:

http://morphling.de/printview.php?c=1551&d=7

with
-1 Lightning Bolt
+1 Lava Dart

in the MD

[A.-1.]

No worries. I figured if it wasn't Jeff's list, it was probably something similar.

G1 Wurmcoil + Voltaic Key is broken lol
G2 With only three FoWs and two Flusterstorms left in the deck, I felt like I had to run out Sower. Without Drains of my own, I had to hope you only had FoW in that situation. The following turn you Drained my Tarmo which allowed me to run my Jace into yours. What I should have done was play Trinket Mage finding Nihil Spellbomb instead. That at least buys me a turn or two versus your Tinker target instead of immediately losing to Yawg Will.

I felt like I drew an ordinarily high number of mana sources for a Gush deck both games.

GGs. Hopefully I can take at least one game next time  

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

@Shockwave, it's very cool to see you running landstill and I like your list, but I have 1 question. How do u consistently beat a tarmogoyf with this list? I know in the meta game I play in goyfs are everywhere...

[Shock Wave]

@Shockwave, it's very cool to see you running landstill and I like your list, but I have 1 question. How do u consistently beat a tarmogoyf with this list? I know in the meta game I play in goyfs are everywhere...

Hey dude. I've been running UR Landstill for over 10 years now, and it has been very kind to me over that period. Oddly, I hardly ever face Goyfs in vintage events. I don't know why that is, since they seem to be prevalent, but I hardly ever get paired against them. G1 is going to be rough since my only outs are Jace and Chain, but post SB there are some really good options: Relic, Bolt ...

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

@Shockwave, it's very cool to see you running landstill and I like your list, but I have 1 question. How do u consistently beat a tarmogoyf with this list? I know in the meta game I play in goyfs are everywhere...

Hey dude. I've been running UR Landstill for over 10 years now, and it has been very kind to me over that period. Oddly, I hardly ever face Goyfs in vintage events. I don't know why that is, since they seem to be prevalent, but I hardly ever get paired against them. G1 is going to be rough since my only outs are Jace and Chain, but post SB there are some really good options: Relic, Bolt ...

Ok haha, I was jw because I miss the rod package but when I test it online I always get paired with grow or fish packing 4x goyf and other dorks and I just don't beat them consistently. Thanks for the reply!

[credmond]

This list has rods and can handle Goyf . . .

It's close to the classic Richard Mattiuzzo UR Landstill list (whoever that dude is, right Shockwave?)

UR Landstill

4 Standstill
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Misdirection
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Mental Misstep
1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Null Rod
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
3 Mishra's Factory
1 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
3 Island
4 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Fire // Ice
SB: 1 Pyroclasm
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 2 Lightning Bolt
SB: 2 Threads of Disloyalty
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Ingot Chewer
SB: 4 Grafdigger's Cage

2 chains + echoing truth give you a good game 1 vs any fattie. 2 x threads in sideboard for goyfs and bears.

I also like 3 x fire/ice. Its the simple way of dealing with 2 x confidant, 2 x welder, and other nuisances. Dodges misstep.

It's 1-2 sb cards soft to Dredge which is intended, but if you expect Dredge and not Aggro or Shops or Blue then  make the appropriate swaps.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Yeah on paper it handles them, threads is weak bc Predator is popular plus fish had pridemage, I would say dismember or sower are better options there. And yeah the dredge hate is way to light. That deck is always played an you wouldn't have a hope or dream beating it with that sb haha. I card that really intrigues me is psionic blast. A little mana intensive but great vs dudes or a finisher

[credmond]

Yeah on paper it handles them, threads is weak bc Predator is popular plus fish had pridemage, I would say dismember or sower are better options there. And yeah the dredge hate is way to light. That deck is always played an you wouldn't have a hope or dream beating it with that sb haha. I card that really intrigues me is psionic blast. A little mana intensive but great vs dudes or a finisher

Ha ha Predator is not a big deal. Bolts and rebs hit that, and if necessary chains, or e truth. Pridemage gets hit by bolts, fire/ice, pyroclasm, and just about everything. When threads grabs something it should turn the tide and narrow quite a bit what you have to counter. In theory, threads is weak, but put it in the context of other answers like 3 x jace, 2 x bolt, 2 x reb, 2 x chains, 1 e truth, 1 pyroclasm, and cruci + mishra's, and you got a 2 for 1 weapon. Its better than Sower because its a turn faster and easier to set up with drain backup and creature hate is more prevalent than enchantment hate. Fish lists these days are soft to enchantments.

On the flip side, lol Engineered Explosives is weak to aggro since those decks pack null rod effects.

Regarding Dredge, Landstill is a meta deck. If you expect Dredge then pack for it. Swap 2 x crypt in. Not a big deal.