TMD Online Invitational III - Community vs. Ringers

[Prospero]

Pairings for the first round of the event have been set! 

Please reach out to your respective opponent via PM on TMD.  If you can't get in touch with your opponent in two days, please PM me to let me know and I'll do what I can.

You may begin ROUND ONE of the event.  Please post your lists in this thread, as well as a quick match report, as soon as your match is completed. 

The first round of the event will take place this week.  Round two will begin next week with no one beginning their second match before 3/26/12.   

[ErtaiAdept]

For those with Round 1 Byes should we post our lists now?

[Grand Inquisitor]

The Community is:
20.  Iamfishman

This is no way to treat a national treasure.  I mean just because he's never T8'd a Waterbury...

[Prospero]

For those with Round 1 Byes should we post our lists now?

Yes, please.  This means that I need lists from:

ErtaiAdept
Quicksilvervii
Eastman
Iamfishman

The Community is:
20.  Iamfishman

This is no way to treat a national treasure.  I mean just because he's never T8'd a Waterbury...

Not only has he never top 8'd a Waterbury, he hasn't even played.  How he justifies calling himself an American Vintage player without playing in a Waterbury is beyond me...

[A.-1.]

I beat A.J. 2-0 in the MUD mirror. I was using the same list I ran at the last NEV. I didn't know what to play, so I just went with something familiar.

4 Mishra's Workshop
3 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Rishadan Port
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring

4 Lodestone Golem
2 Karn, Silver Golem
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Trinisphere
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Smokestack

SB: 2 Razormane Masticore
SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 4 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 3 Duplicant

G1: He wins the roll, and we both keep seven. He leads Shop, Sol Ring, Sphere. I Waste his Shop. Turn three he plays Smokestack, and I counter with a Crucible. Two turns later he ramps Smokestack to two and plays a Lodestone. I'm able to feed a permanent a turn to Smokestack, and, in combination with Crucible, keep my head barely above water. Eventually, he ramps Smokestack to three and swings putting me to eight. I Waste his last Ancient Tomb leaving him with four permanents. On his turn he's forced to sac everything except Lodestone but only puts me to three. I stabilize from there starting with Factory, mox, mox, Wire. Crucible, another Wire, and Lodestone get there.

-4 Sphere, -2 Thorn, -4 Chalice; +3 Duplicant, +2 Dismember, +2 Masticore, +3 Crypt

G2: He mulls to five and leads Factory, Lotus, pass. I play Crypt, mox, Factory, Lotus, and Karn which meets a Dismember. He Wastes my Factory. I play a Port, and we play draw go for a few turns until I can find a third mana source. My two Wires slow things down further. Eventually I get the mana to play a Lodestone as does he. I Dismember his Lodestone, Metamorph my own, and win because his mana base is three Ancient Tomb. He had a second Dismember in hand, but it would have put him to five still leaving me with a Lodestone.

I felt pretty fortunate that both games he drew infy Ancient Tomb. I didn't have to do much work when his mana base was like that. Good games A.J., and good luck in the future with MUD.

[A_mazz_ing]

A.-1. beat me senseless 2-0.

Decklist - I hate coffee but love Espresso

4 Mishra's Factory
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Ghost Quarter

4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Tangle Wire
2 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Smokestack
1 Trinisphere
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mana Vault

SB:
3 Dismember
2 Duplicant
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Maze of Ith
1 Ghost Quarter

Game 1:

Started out pretty fast with some mana acceleration playing off a shop.  He wastes shop and ships back.  We go back and forth not really doing much the next couple turns.  I see an ancient tomb realizing we have a mirror match.  I drop lodestone followed by a smokestack.  I'm feeling pretty good until he drops crucible on his turn.  I eventually get smokestack up to 3 to wipe his board and I beat him down to 8 with lodestone.  I have to sac everything but the golem on my turn.  Swing him down to 3.  He lays a bunch of accelerants (that the previous chalice @ 0 stopped him from).  Plays a tangle wire followed by another crucible and a lodestone of his own and beat me down. 

Game 2:  Had to mull to 5 and had a boring opener of factory, mox, go.  He plays a shop and accelerates into a Karn.  EOT he eats a dismemeber.  From there I drop a lotus and he drops a couple tangle wires over a couple turns and taps me down with ports and wires.  I finally am able to have an untapped land and lotus and drop a lodestone.  He drops a lodestone of his own, dismembers mine, and copies his own over the next couple turns.  GG.

It was a ton of fun though, hopefully I can be on the winning side next time!

[ErtaiAdept]

I had a tough match up against my round 1 opponent but I ended up pulling this one out

Remora Gush Control


4 Mystic Remora
4 Gush
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Flusterstorm
3 Preordain
1 Ponder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Trygon Predator
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Walk
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's Will
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Island
2 Tarmogoyf

SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 2 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 1 Volcanic Island
SB: 1 Island
SB: 1 Trygon Predator
SB: 2 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Lightning Bolt

[Eastman]

I will try this:


4 Dark Confidant
3 Preordain

4 Force of Will
2 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
1 Cabal Therapy
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Chain of Vapor

1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Mind's Desire
1 Timetwister
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk

2 Tendrils of Agony

4 Dark Ritual
1 Cabal Ritual
5 mox
1 crypt
1 vault
1 sol ring
1 lotus petal
1 lotus
1 academy
3 sea
2 island
3 flooded strand
3 polluted delta

SB:
4 defense grid
2 island
1 hurkyls
1 chain of vapor
2 yixlid jailer
2 pithing needle
3 virtue's ruin

[quicksilvervii]

I'll pilot this pile:

1 Batterskull
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
2 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Mana Drain
3 Mental Misstep
1 Merchant Scroll
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Misdirection
4 Standstill
1 Time Walk
1 Fire/Ice
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Stoneforge Mystic



Lands (22):
3 Flooded Strand
3 Island
3 Mishra's Factory
1 Plains
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
3 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
3 Wasteland


--

Board: 


2 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Ingot Chewer
1 Mountain
1 Pyroblast
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Serenity
2 Tormod's Crypt

[Stormanimagus]

I say it again. Why can't we just PM our lists to you Prospero? If the timing of round 1 matches works out that some players haven't completed them by the time round 1 bye's post their deck lists then those round one bye players could be significantly handicapped in round 2 if either opponent they could face switches his/her deck to beat them. Obviously we can't have the same types of problems as the first invitational with that because they'll still have to beat their round 1 opponent with the list as well, but I don't understand why we can't just have this work like REAL LIFE tournament and anonymously pass our lists on to the TO (You, in this case). At the end of the tournament maybe you could post the top 4-8 lists (like at a real a event) and a brief meta breakdown of all decks? I think that would be more useful to the community and make the tournament more air-tight (less possibility of cheating). It would make it more like a live event with a real tourney report. Just over the course of a couple weeks and not a day.

-Storm

[Onslaught]

I lost 2-1 with this sloppy list, I like the deck but the mana base is too greedy:

1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Tarmogoyf
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Trygon Predator
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Flusterstorm
2 Mental Misstep
2 Swords to Plowshares
4 Force of Will
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
4 Gush
1 Fastbond
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Underground Sea
1 Island
2 Tundra
2 Tropical Island
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Misdirection
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Spell Snare
1 Ponder
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Library of Alexandria
SB: 2 Nature's Claim
SB: 2 Serenity
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 1 Trygon Predator
SB: 1 Yixlid Jailer
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 1 Scavenging Ooze


G1: He mulls into oblivion and I have the nuts
G2: Waste/Waste/Strip in the first three or four turns, I can't stabilize
G3: Double Aether Vial/Double Confidant with an early Thalia, I can't stabilize

[Guli]

I decided to give Aether Vial a new chance in a shell that I have been testing intensely the past months, GW Ranger beats...

My reasoning was as follows:

- If there is a rod or revoker on the opposite side, I will have my noble, ranger and wastelands to put back pressure.
- I gave up Stony (huge concession for me) but I did add more tactical removal with Relics
- The general idea was to improve my match against shop
- Vial does what this deck kinda wants, play with low land count and a lot of different threats
- I am hoping Canonist do its job alongside Thalia and Aven to keep broken blue in check now that stony is gone
- I am a bit safer vs chalice, with vial and pridemage/relics

G1: I mull because I had no turn 1 plays and only 1 wasteland. I had to mull again and again... I did get Noble, Savannah, Ghost and STP. The game continued for a long time, I got him to 6 before he really overtook me. But it was a downhill battle from the start.

G2: I got a hand with strip and 2 waste with more lands and Thalia. This seemed pretty good, i figured i would draw into good stuff anyway and I did. He got in a pridemage and kept dropping lands even if I kept wasting them. But eventually it did hurt him and my threats were too much.

G3: Ye a lot of threats, vials and wasteland. I also had BoB. I open with wasteland/mox/vial. The tempo gain from wasteland makes sure that vial safely gets to 2 and after that is is over cause I start getting in my thalia, canonist, bobs and pridemages unchecked.

4 Scryb Ranger
4 Noble Hierarch
3 AEther Vial
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
2 Savannah
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Leonin Relic-Warder
4 Dark Confidant
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
3 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 2 Ghost Quarter
SB: 4 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Nature's Claim
SB: 3 Kataki, War's Wage
SB: 3 Ravenous Trap

[XxtSundaybxX]

I say it again. Why can't we just PM our lists to you Prospero? If the timing of round 1 matches works out that some players haven't completed them by the time round 1 bye's post their deck lists then those round one bye players could be significantly handicapped in round 2 if either opponent they could face switches his/her deck to beat them. Obviously we can't have the same types of problems as the first invitational with that because they'll still have to beat their round 1 opponent with the list as well, but I don't understand why we can't just have this work like REAL LIFE tournament and anonymously pass our lists on to the TO (You, in this case). At the end of the tournament maybe you could post the top 4-8 lists (like at a real a event) and a brief meta breakdown of all decks? I think that would be more useful to the community and make the tournament more air-tight (less possibility of cheating). It would make it more like a live event with a real tourney report. Just over the course of a couple weeks and not a day.

-Storm

How many times have you played in a tournament and knew exactly what your opponent was on and still lost? I know it's happened to me. Knowing your opponents list doesn't necessarily handicap them. Especially if they're equally or higher skilled pilot. Do you just not want people to know your playing noble fish?

[Cruel Ultimatum]

I say it again. Why can't we just PM our lists to you Prospero? If the timing of round 1 matches works out that some players haven't completed them by the time round 1 bye's post their deck lists then those round one bye players could be significantly handicapped in round 2 if either opponent they could face switches his/her deck to beat them. Obviously we can't have the same types of problems as the first invitational with that because they'll still have to beat their round 1 opponent with the list as well, but I don't understand why we can't just have this work like REAL LIFE tournament and anonymously pass our lists on to the TO (You, in this case). At the end of the tournament maybe you could post the top 4-8 lists (like at a real a event) and a brief meta breakdown of all decks? I think that would be more useful to the community and make the tournament more air-tight (less possibility of cheating). It would make it more like a live event with a real tourney report. Just over the course of a couple weeks and not a day.

-Storm

How many times have you played in a tournament and knew exactly what your opponent was on and still lost? I know it's happened to me. Knowing your opponents list doesn't necessarily handicap them. Especially if they're equally or higher skilled pilot. Do you just not want people to know your playing noble fish?

I feel as though the best time for the people with the round one byes would be any time up until the deadline for the second round. Lazy people with round 1 byes can just post it right away, but people who want more secrecy can post in the day of the deadline. The problem is if you have a round one bye and wanted to play a deck with 0 dredge hate between maindeck and sideboard(outside of ANT or other fast combo decks) your potential opponent may be more willing to "sleeve" up dredge in hopes of winning round 1 and then getting a bye round 2.

[brokenbacon]

Holy Christ Nick. You NEED to stop pairing Guli and Onslaught.

[Onslaught]

In retrospect my deck is just Demars' Bant deck but with black and Gush added instead of SFM. That wasn't a conscious effort at all, but it's funny to see now. I am iffy on the Tendrils, it isn't really a backup win condition since you probably can't win with it without casting Will, in which case you might be better served by just using Tinker/Time Walk. Idk. I'd like a maindeck Claim too. I had several versions of the list and tested none of them, one had Bob/SDT/Agent of Bolas instead of Gushbond. That one also had 3 City of Brass since it didn't need the islands to Gush. The maindeck Sower can be interchanged with the Ooze in the board if/when creatures die down. In many ways the deck was built as 4 color Gush contol, but with white instead of red. STP just keeps getting more valuable, though I really would have loved Empty the Warrens in this deck over Tendrils. I really like Snapcaster as a x2 in Gush decks. It lets you run a minimal amount of conditional counterspells and still feel like you have an overwhelming amount of them, and of course is the near auto win whenever you can flashback Ancestral.

Anyway, I think the LoA should go out for another Island, and if you drop Tendrils you can probably reconfigure the mana base to be more consistent. If I were to still only run the single Island, the LoA slot would go to Strip Mine (Maze of Ith is rising in prevalence, it's good first turn against Workshops, you can go for some kind of tempo play with an early Tarm, etc). I really like this deck now that I think about it!

[nataz]

cred and I are playing in 5!

[credmond]

I beat Nataz 2-0 with this pile

GW Bazaar Beats

1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
2 Forest
1 Strip Mine
2 Wasteland
3 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Riftstone Portal
4 Savannah
2 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Mox Pearl
2 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Mental Misstep
2 Life from the Loam
1 Mox Ruby
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Stony Silence
2 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Maze of Ith
1 Crop Rotation
1 Devout Witness
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Scavenging Ooze
SB: 3 Nature's Claim
SB: 2 Wasteland
SB: 2 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 3 Porcelain Legionnaire
SB: 1 Mental Misstep
SB: 3 Ravenous Trap
SB: 1 Devout Witness

I guess since Vroman has been absent from the scene, someone has to carry forth his goofy ideas that center around Bazaar as an uncounterable draw engine. Knight of the Reliquary really shines in this deck.

Game 1 Nataz wins the die roll and drops an early sphere turn 1 and a chalice at 1 and tangle wire turn 2 which keeps me at laying basic lands and a mox for a bit. When I lay down a bazaar I am able to freshen my hand with cards that dont cost 1. When he plays Wurmcoil Engine I am able to lay down a Kataki that keeps his mana under a lot of pressure while I continue to dig with Bazaar now with 1 x Squee. He is able to bring on the beats with Wurmcoil in spite of Kataki. I am able to lay down a Knight of the Reliquary and suck up more damage from Wurmcoil. I am able to put down chump blockers for Wurmcoil until I get Knight big enough. I even tutor up a maze one time with Knight to keep his Wurmcoil at bay. He metamorphs his Wurmcoil to put 2 fatties with death touch/lifeline in play and wastes my Maze of Ith. However I am able to play Qasali to kill his Chalice at 1 and then swords one of the Wurmcoils. Eventually I am able to get 2 x squee with bazaar online, wastes from Knight tutoring to kill his lands, and scavenging ooze in play so that when I block to kill his remaining Wurmcoil with my Knight I can use ooze to stay alive and grow to huge proportions and kataki to eventually wipe his board entirely clean. At that point I am unbeatable.

Game 2 I side in all my juicy anti Shop cards. Nataz has a similar opener with a sphere turn 1 and a tangle wire turn 2 and chalice at one but I am able to eventually get more perms on the board (including a quasali) than him which makes his second eventual  tangle wire weak. When he drops Kudoltha I am able to Quasali his chalice at one so I can then claim Kudoltha and then drop Devout Witness (with Squee in hand for silliness) + Knight of the Reliquary. I use Witness and Knight to destroy his mana base and use the sphere in play to my advantage.

GGs Nataz. Its always a pleasure playing you!

[Guli]

Holy Christ Nick. You NEED to stop pairing Guli and Onslaught.

I don't get it . This is the first time Nick paired us. I didn't play in the previous Online Invitationals.

[iamfishman]

The Community is:
20.  Iamfishman

This is no way to treat a national treasure.  I mean just because he's never T8'd a Waterbury...

::Blush::

You are too kind, sir!

[iamfishman]

I will play this...it looks fun.

1 Black Lotus
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Duplicant
1 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
2 Lightning Greaves
4 Lodestone Golem
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
4 Metalworker
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Sundering Titan
4 Tangle Wire
3 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere


Lands (17):
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Buried Ruin
2 City of Traitors
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland


Sideboard:
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Duplicant
3 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Jester's Cap
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Pithing Needle
1 Platinum Angel
1 Steel Hellkite
2 Wurmcoil Engine

[Prospero]

I say it again. Why can't we just PM our lists to you Prospero? If the timing of round 1 matches works out that some players haven't completed them by the time round 1 bye's post their deck lists then those round one bye players could be significantly handicapped in round 2 if either opponent they could face switches his/her deck to beat them. Obviously we can't have the same types of problems as the first invitational with that because they'll still have to beat their round 1 opponent with the list as well, but I don't understand why we can't just have this work like REAL LIFE tournament and anonymously pass our lists on to the TO (You, in this case). At the end of the tournament maybe you could post the top 4-8 lists (like at a real a event) and a brief meta breakdown of all decks? I think that would be more useful to the community and make the tournament more air-tight (less possibility of cheating). It would make it more like a live event with a real tourney report. Just over the course of a couple weeks and not a day.

-Storm

1.  Because you can post your list on Sunday night, after all the other rounds have been played.  Nobody would see your list.

2.  Because I don't want to be responsible for an additional layer of work, where I'd be expected to check full lists, ensure that I had all the lists, then post them all.

3.  Because having a bye is a real advantage that not everybody had.  You could look at posting your list as a cost.  I'm sure that there are people that would gladly trade for a bye.

4.  Because you're an adult and you realize that this is a game.  There are no stakes in this free, online tournament.

5.  Because if you felt this strongly about it you could run free, online tournaments however you chose and choose not to participate in these.

[brokenbacon]

Holy Christ Nick. You NEED to stop pairing Guli and Onslaught.

I don't get it . This is the first time Nick paired us. I didn't play in the previous Online Invitationals.

Whoops my bad. I seem to remember otherwise. Apparently one of us is doing too much acid these days.

[brokenbacon]

So my opponent never got back to me, and Nick advanced me to the next round (thanks again Nick). Anyway here's my pile.

Steve Reich Tendrils

1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
3 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Dark Ritual
1 Cabal Ritual
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Necropotence
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
1 Memory Jar
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Mind's Desire
1 Lotus Petal
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
1 Rebuild

SB: 4 Defense Grid
SB: 1 Rebuild
SB: 3 Chain of Vapor
SB: 4 Ravenous Trap
SB: 1 Island
SB: 1 Swamp
SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall

And good luck to all the players in the next round!

[Prospero]

As things stand right now I am waiting on final results from:

Evouga vs. Ruboonia

Ambivalent Duck vs. Serracollector

XxtSundaybxX vs. Cruel Ultimatum

Round one ends TONIGHT, so please have your results in by midnight!

[Prospero]

I'm waiting one more day for the aforementioned matches.  I've heard from Duck and Serra so far.  If you're in one of the outstanding matches, please complete your match by tonight!  There are a fair number of people that are waiting on you!

[AmbivalentDuck]

I'm waiting one more day for the aforementioned matches.  I've heard from Duck and Serra so far.  If you're in one of the outstanding matches, please complete your match by tonight!  There are a fair number of people that are waiting on you!

We're scheduled for tonight at 9 PM CST / 10 PM EST.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

[AmbivalentDuck]

I'm waiting one more day for the aforementioned matches.  I've heard from Duck and Serra so far.  If you're in one of the outstanding matches, please complete your match by tonight!  There are a fair number of people that are waiting on you!

We're scheduled for tonight at 9 PM CST / 10 PM EST.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Odd twist: I just got a text from Serra saying that his compy had died so he had to give up the match

My list:
1 Sun Titan
3 City of Brass
4 Mental Misstep
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Serum Powder
2 Dakmor Salvage
4 Bridge from Below
4 Narcomoeba
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Golgari Thug
1 Darkblast
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
2 Fatestitcher
2 Dread Return
2 Ichorid
4 Undiscovered Paradise
4 Nature's Claim
4 Bloodghast
SB: 1 City of Brass
SB: 4 Ingot Chewer
SB: 2 Petrified Field
SB: 4 Chain of Vapor
SB: 1 Ichorid
SB: 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
SB: 2 Serenity

[Stormanimagus]

I would like to say that I just had 2 hard-fought and satisfying games with Slayn001, but they were basically blowouts (though game 1 he just gged when he still had outs from my perspective and that was a bit lame). Ultimately I took it home 2-0.

Let me try to be as thorough yet brief as I can be with this report. First, here is the list I am playing for this event.


Selkie-Strike!

Land (18):
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

Artifacts (7):
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
3 Grafdigger’s Cage

Enchantments (3):
3 Stony Silence

Creatures (19):
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Meddling Mage
3 Tarmogoyf
3 Cold-Eyed Selkie
2 Trygon Predator

Instants (12):
4 Force Of Will
3 Daze
4 Mental Misstep
1 Ancestral Recall

Sorcery (1):
1 Time Walk


Sideboard (15):
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Trygon Predator
3 Steel Sabotage


GAME 1: I lose the die roll and fan open: Misstep, Pridemage, Noble, Goyf, Misty, Waste, Cage. This brightens my spirits as it is a pretty good opening 7 against most decks in the field. I keep pretty confident that I have the threats and disruption to get there against a lot of decks.

Slayn Turn 1: After mulling to 6 Slayn goes Sapphire, Factory, Thorn. I smile as this is about the only shop opening that my opening hand can stay with. obviously if his turn 2 is nutty, I'm boned, but I am pretty confident it won't involve shop unless he rips that off the top.

My Turn 1: I draw a basic forest and am relieved that my noble can now be cast while keeping my misty available to snag my other basic if need be. I play noble and say go.

Slayn Turn 2: Slayn plays waste and then attempts to play trini into his own thorn. Realizing his mistake he just attacks for 2 (far less scary play).

My Turn 2: I draw a Selkie and debate whether to play it or pridemage for a bit. I end up wasting his factory as I think he's stuck on mana and then just play my pridemage. I think this ended up being the right call. Being greedy and playing Selkie likely loses me the game here. I just want to point out this line of play cause it is easy to play the Selkie here and just think that is the golden play. However, slowing your opponent down while beating down is what fish does. Especially against shops.

Slayn Turn 3: He draws a tomb and plays Trini. Oh well on mana denial!

My Turn 3: I just fetch out an island and go for Selkie at this point. At this point it doesn't seem too too risky as I already have board presence that is hard for him to remove. Tangle is still a danger, but short of that or metamorph I'm feeling pretty good

Slayn Turn 4: Slayn conceded after his draw and I can only assume he did not draw a dude, meta, or tangle cause he concedes rather quickly. Oh well, on to game 2!

GAME 2: After some debate my boarding plan ends up being just the trygon, sabotages and stps in for cages, missteps and 1 Selkie so -->

-4 Misstep, -3 Cage, -1 Selkie
+1 Trygon, +4 STP, +3 Sabotage

I fan open a hand of: Lotus, Misty, Force, Tundra, Pridemage, Waste, Trygon. Now this hand is bonkers except for the possibility of a million lines of play where it isn't. Here are the turn 1's that force my FoW to be played.

Chalice + Golem.
Sphere + Metamorph.

Luckily, Lotus is great at beating just a sphere or just a golem, but sphere still slows me down and makes this a game. Here is what DID happen. Frankly, I'm still in shock.

Slayn Turn 1: he goes turn 1 Sapphire, Shop GO! HOLY CRAP! Did he just do what I think he did? Hmmm. . . Makes me wonder the mulligan practice that players need to do more when they have 4 mana but no turn 1 threat as the shops pilot against a deck that can threaten to take over the game every turn when left unhindered. Granted, my lotus was lucky, but replace that lotus with hierarch and keep the Force in my hand, and I think I'm still in decent shape against that opening. Not sure what my opponent was thinking, but maybe he can offer some insight for all of us based on his hand that I never got to see?

My Turn 1: I draw a Stony Silence, but make the sensible play and go fetch-->Forest, Lotus, Trygon, go.

Slayn Turn 2: As expected he has a turn 2 Metamorph, but I lick my chops as I know I have that beat with exalted Trygon next turn. He also has Academy this turn which could pump him out a sphere to stop my pridemage from being cast next turn, but he does not have the sphere to stop me. He says go.

My Turn 2: I draw a Steel Sabotage. Feels nice to draw your hate right? I play Tundra and Pridemage and go for the swing knowing that I now have a blue card to pitch to Force. Without the blue card playing pridemage could be more dangerous here.

Slayn Turn 3: It turns out that the Force was pretty crucial to be wrapping this one up because on his next turn he goes Factory, tap for 6, Duplicant. This quickly meets a Force Of Will and then a GG from Slayn.

Sorry the games were so lopsided Slayn. Shops is not a super uphill match-up for Fish with the proper hate and game plan in my opinion.

Game 1 Video & Narration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbfRY8OJimU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Game 2 Video & Narration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCu9Davw5Do&feature=youtube_gdata_player


GG's and good luck to everyone in the Invitational!

-Storm

[evouga]

I'm waiting one more day for the aforementioned matches.  I've heard from Duck and Serra so far.  If you're in one of the outstanding matches, please complete your match by tonight!  There are a fair number of people that are waiting on you!

Sorry Prospero, I've exchanged a few PMs with Ruboonia and was hoping we would play our match tonight, but we weren't able to arrange a time. Let me know how you want to proceed -- I completely understand if you need to DQ me so that the tournament can go on.