This is a small update on a new Humans deck with a mini-report and from the Vintage event in Mythic Games in Elmira on 11/23/13. 21 people attended. I finished in the Top 4 after winning each game in the Swiss.
Humanstorm (60)
Creatures (14):
4 Dark Confidant
3 Notion Thief
2 Grand Abolisher
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Trinket Mage
Artifacts (12):
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 Memory Jar
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
Instants (7):
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
2 Mental Misstep
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Repeal
1 Hurkyl's Recall
Planeswalker (1):
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sorceries (7):
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Tendrils of Agony
Land (19):
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded Strand
2 City of Brass
2 Underground Sea
1 Tundra
1 Tropical Island
1 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
Sideboard (15):
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Rest in Peace
2 Flusterstorm
2 Disenchant
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Ophiomancer
1 War Priest of Thune
1 Karakas
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While the idea of drawing 14 cards while Mind Twisting someone sounds like something that could only exist in the notorious "Magical Christmasland" of Vintage fantasies, it turns out in practice that it's not as unreachable or unviable as it may initially seem. The list here draws inspiration from many sources, including TPS, Bomberman, Grand Vault, and a memorable experience months ago as a spectator on Cockatrice for a series of matches where Mike Solymossy obscenely annihilated his Gush opponent using a Steel City Vault list running 2 Notion Thieves main. As starting point for exploration, I began with a 5C Burning Oath-like mana base and ran loads of Draw 7's, Cavern of Souls, Notion Thieves, Grand Abolisher, Snapcaster, and several different combos and cards simply to see which ones would work out in practice, including Divining Witch/Consultation/Lab Man, Skullclamp shenanigans, Prosperity, Whispering Madness, Burning Wish, Empty the Warrens, and Mind Twist. I then made a companion deck that was purely Esper and far more conservative and used Jaces while still including the Thieves and Abolisher, with the Auriok Salvagers kill. Gradually, from seeing differences in playing each, with each tuning the Esper variant became more audacious and the 5C version became less grandiose and in the end I settled on the Esper version. That said, while testing against a friend here at home I found I still wanted the acceleration and color fixing the Noble Hierarchs provide so I Tropicalized one of the Islands and weaved two Nobles back in by dropping Lotus Petal and something else. So it became 4 colors. From there, I would make minor tweaks and debated whether the final two slots should be Auriok + Spellbomb or Time Vault + Voltaic Key and went with the latter primarily because of its overall lower converted mana cost.
The key discoveries were:
1. Notion Thief + Draw 7 is comparable to RiP + Helm in the sense that once assembled, the interaction generally ends the game on the spot and both combo pieces are strong/disruptive on their own. Thief's Flash ability and protection from countermagic by Cavern of Souls help enable fluid transitions.
2. Snapcaster Mage is surprisingly enhanced when its palette of potential targets expands to include Draw 7's and Tendrils of Agony.
3. Tendrils of Agony is better for life gain/stabilizing in Combo Humans decks than Stoneforge Mystic.
4. Cavern -> Abolisher will still suddenly (and shockingly) win games that a pilot would otherwise have no business of winning.
5. Trinket Mage into Black Lotus is a functional play in Storm combo.
6. Mikokoro, Center of the Sea is an engine with Notion Thief but more importantly is easy to use on its own in a way that makes the benefit asymmetrical.
7. Windfall unfortunately is nowhere near as good as Timetwister, Wheel of Fortune, or Memory Jar.
8. The information gained by Gitaxian Probe is game-shifting. I would run more except that space is tight and they can lead to sketchy mulligan decisions.
Some people have asked why Noble Hierarch is chosen over Deathrite Shaman when the latter is more versatile and usually a stronger overall card. There are many reasons but the prime one is reliability of mana generation. Deathrite cannot be played off Cavern of Souls naming Human and in a deck without Wastelands, I don't want the mana production to be contingent solely upon me or my opponent cracking a fetchland. Additionally, with so many people playing the card, I can't afford to get into Shaman battles over mana ("remove your Delta"/"response, I remove my Delta" etc.) and finally, the Exalted boost for combat superiority is relevant in killing Jaces in one hit with Snapcasters or sending a 3/3 Trinket Mage/Abolisher into hostile territory. It also bears noting that Deathrite Shaman is not great with Timetwister.
So that is a brief intro for Humanstorm.
Event Report:
Round 1 - Kevin on Oath of Druids 2-0
Game 1, He won the die roll, mulled to 6, and led with Mox Emerald, Library of Alexandria, Oath of Druids. I had a Dark Confidant in hand that I refrained from playing since he did not have Orchard. I held back my creatures while he got up to Library zone but I played Mikokoro to keep parity. He would go to 8 cards w. LoA, then play a land/Mox, I'd use Mikokoro on his end step; I'd draw 1; he'd discard 1. Eventually he found an Orchard so I played Grand Abolisher off Cavern on my turn w. Time Vault in hand, played Mana Crypt, and hardcast Memory Jar. I activated it immediately. During the Jar, I played Voltaic Key and bounced his Oath (making him discard it at EoT). On his turn I believe he started looking for another Oath, drew with Library, played Time Vault without Key and passed. I untapped and played Time Vault w. Abolisher in play and untapped it with the Key for the win. Since Mana Crypt was involved I soon Demonic Tutored for Tinker to relieve that potential liability.
Game 2, He played a Key and a lot of mana on his first turn. I played some acceleration and Key also and passed. He played Academy; I played Academy. On his third turn, he hardcast Rune-Scarred Demon with only 1 mana left to spare and tutored up a card I (correctly as it later turns out) presumed to be Time Vault. On my turn, with the help of Academy, I played Notion Thief and Timetwister, drawing 14 cards and sending his Time Vault back to library. From the 14 cards, I played some acceleration, Ancestral Recalled then Brainstormed, found Time Walk and Time Vault, untapped and won.
Round 2 - Phil on Martello Shops, 2-0
He won the die roll and led with Strip Mine, Mox Jet, pass. I didn't know what he was playing for certain because whenever I'd see him at events, he'd be on Noble Fish and talked about wanting to build a Vintage port of BUG Landstill, which he eventually built and played at Champs. Strip Mine, Jet fit that description so I fetched up a Tropical Island, keeping Cavern of Souls safely in hand, and played a Hierarch. On his turn, he played Tolarian Academy and Mana Crypt which then had me thinking he was on some sort of Shops. I played Dark Confidant. He Metamorphed it. I attacked him with my exalted Confidant, he lost a Mana Crypt roll, flipped a Forgemaster and then played Forgemaster along w. Chalice @ 2. Tangle Wire soon followed and the seemingly innocent Hierarch's noble execution of its duties allowed me to stay in the game manawise enough to Repeal his Chalice and Demonic for Hurkyl's. He was able to generate well over 14 mana and was Forging and hardcasting terrible robots and played Chalice @ 3 presuming perhaps that I had tutored for Yawg's Will or Tinker. His board state was extremely ferocious, Myr Battlesphere, Kuldotha Forgemaster, Tangle Wire, Chalice @ 3, and Steel Hellkite when I EoT Hurkylled them all back to hell where they belong. I hit him again w. my exalted Dark Confidant, Time Walked, and then attacked for lethal.
Game 2, I think he had a turn 1 Forgemaster. I led with Library of Alexandria, drew a card and played Mox Emerald, Noble Hierarch. I don't remember what he played after that but on my next turn, I Ancestralled, played Dark Confidant, and he Forged into Myr Battlesphere on my end step, and I Disenchanted it. I had a Snapper in hand and debated killing the Forgemaster then, taking the 12 and then nuking the Battlesphere to avoid further Forge shenanigans but the idea of taking 12 and then having those Myr tokens still lurking around as a clock after the Snap Disenchant was too dangerous so I killed the Battlesphere. I used Library during his turn. He played a Tangle Wire. On my upkeep, I played the Snapper going to 7 cards and able to use Library again. He responded by Forging a Golem so that it's sphere effect would keep me off Disenchant. I targeted Ancestral Recall and played it on upkeep, using the Library for mana. He tapped his Myrs to Wire. Next turn I got a Bob into play and he Forged into Hellkite. Bob and the Snapcaster double blocked the Golem but Hellkite gobbled up 4 separate 0-CC artifacts. I flashed in a Notion Thief during Tangle time. He did some more serious Forging and played another Tangle Wire and a Trinisphere. Things were looking grim on the outside but the Library found Hurkyl's and on his end step I Hurkylled him devastatingly. He was gracious enough to concede then since we were at or close to time. It was the right call since the post-untap plan was vicious; Demonic Tutor for Timetwister w. his whole board back in hand and Notion Thief in play.
Round 3 - Justin Kohler on Bomberman, 2-0
Game 1, I have vague recollections of my Brainstorm resolving and then a Snapper resolving, but not the Demonic Tutor I played or the one that was flashed back, one being Snared the other being Forced. I think I had Misstep to protect the first Brainstorm. "That's annoying," opponent stated. He Cliqued me and said it was outrageous that he had to pick between Demonic Tutor, Jace, Tinker, and a Snapcaster Mage. He Cliqued Tinker and then went aggro while I had Mana Crypt in play. Clique cycled into Tendrils. I drew and played a Notion Thief. I passed and he attacked. I played Jace and bounced his Clique. When the Clique tried to attack again, I Chain of Vapored my Crypt then sacrificed a land to bounce his Clique and he sacrificed a land to bounce Jace, then replayed the Clique and bottomed Jace. He played a Jace of his own and bounced my Notion Thief. I replayed the Thief and killed his Jace with my Snapcaster. He confessed afterwards he thought he had this game in the bag the whole time. But Humans are not so easily dispatched. I was at 1 life with a Crypt in play and him on Vendilion. I had Academy on my side for lots of mana. I played Snapcaster Mage targeting Chain of Vapor and bounced my Mana Crypt, sacrificed a land, targeted Snapcaster Mage, sacrificed another land and bounced his Vendilion Clique for another certain turn, then replayed the Snapcaster Mage, targeted Brainstorm, played it, Brainstormed into Trinket Mage, replayed the Mana Crypt, played Trinket Mage, fetched Black Lotus, and cast Tendrils of Agony on him for a lot and for the win.
Game 2, he opened Land, Mox, Mox, pass, I played Library of Alexandria, Mox, pass. On the next turn he played Ancestral and Forced my Misstep. On my turn I played Demonic Tutor (for Time Vault). I was thrilled to have Karakas in hand to protect me from those Vendilion gossip hounds, which it turns out he did indeed have. I don't care if he wants to pay UU1 every turn to cycle my hand from one broken card to the next; I'll bounce them all day and all night to ward off their rude attacks. He was on the Plowshares plan and tapped out except for Mox Pearl to play Jace and Top. I untapped, played another Mox, Time Vault, Tolarian Academy for UUU, Tinker. He spun the top and couldn't find a second FoW. Untap Vault with remaining land and win. For the record, against control decks, although it's one mana less to Tutor the Voltaic Key, I prefer the Tutor up Vault plan and Tinker for Key because it's immune from Mental Misstep.
Round 4 - Shawn Griffiths on Deathrite Shaman Grixis. ID
Round 5 - A different Phil on Magus of the Moon/Null Rod aka "I hate life and I hate Vintage".dec. ID
Top 8
Dominic DiFebo on Grixis Storm. Win, 2-0
This was a great match and we had a small crowd gathered for the second game. I remembered him from NYSE cause he was playing BUG Fish and surprised me by wiping the board of Thalia & Wolf tokens with a Pernicious Deed which was his own unique addition to the list that caught me off guard giving him the win. Game 1, he led with a Preordain that I debated Misstepping but declined. I played Bob. We went back and forth for a few turns with relevant spells being played on both sides and then I played Grand Abolisher off a Cavern of Souls into Vault Key for the win. Since I had a Bob in play, we played it out. Bob flipped Tendrils of Agony. I attacked him with Bob and Abolisher and then fetched up Lotus w. Trinket Mage for a mini-Tendrils taking him to 2, and putting my life total somewhere in the teens, and then on the next turn, Bob flipped over a harmless Flooded Strand.
Game 2, he played a Land and a Ruby I believe and I played Library of Alexandria, Emerald, Noble Hierarch. He Mysticalled for Ancestral and played it, and it resolved. I played Cavern of Souls, Trinket Mage, fetch Tormod's Crypt, and played it. It resolved and I ended the turn with 6 cards in hand. I attacked him next turn w. the exalted Trinket Mage and played Jace, which he countered with a Red Blast. He Thoughtseized me which got me off Library for one turn. From a hand of Snapcaster, Abolisher, Voltaic Key, Land, Land, Mox, he ousted the Key. On my next turn, he played Fact or Fiction on end step into Swamp, Island, Lotus Petal, Flusterstorm, Imperial Seal. He had a healthy amount of both U and B lands in play. I split them Island, Petal, Fluster and Seal, Swamp. He took the Seal pile and played Seal on main phase. Under ordinary circumstances he would have Sealed for Will but with the Crypt in play, another option needed to be found. I suspected Tinker for Myrball. I attacked him again with the exalted Trinket Mage and played Dark Confidant. To the delight of the crowd gathered, on his turn he hardcast Thrashing Wumpus and later committed homicide against three innocent Humans. Since he had to tap out for a turn, I was able to sneak in another attack before the massacre thanks to the Exalted mechanic. Because of all the Thoughtseizing, 2 life tutoring, and Exalted Trinket beats, the Wumpus use brought him down to a precariously low life of 4. I played Demonic Tutor for Tendrils of Agony and passed. He attacked with the Wumpus and passed back. I played Grand Abolisher off a Cavern and then Tendrils of Agony for 4.
Tibur (not sure if spelled correctly) on Delver, Loss 0-2
Game 1, I kept a one lander without Cavern of Souls and was duly punished. It had Bob, Demonic Tutor, Notion Thief, Misstep, Timetwister, Yawgmoth's Will, and could have gotten there had the second land come a bit sooner. My creatures got bolted and all relevant spells countered.
Before game 2, I had this idea that maybe I should side out the Memory Jar. We exchanged decklists before the match and I figured this 4x Bolt + Fire/Ice deck is very hostile to Notion Thieves and so there's a good chance Jar will give us both a temporary 7 (rather than 14 for me, 0 for you as intended) and it's probably not a great idea to fill someone's hand with Spell Pierces, Snapcasters, and Bolts. So I sided it out.
Game 2, I mulled to 6 and had Key, Snapcaster, Misstep, Trinket, and lands. He Ancestral Recalled and I Misstepped it. Next he played a Delver of Secrets and I played Snapper, which he Forced. He said afterwards that the Recall was just bait and the spell he really wanted to resolve was Delver of Secrets. I played Trinket Mage, got Sensei's Top. When I used the Key on Top, he Grudged it which was annoying. I Brainstormed into dual land, dual land, Tinker and knew fate was sealed. I could have Tinkered the Key into the Jar had it been in the post-sb list, but with Sensei's gone and with Grudge in the yard for Time Vault, there was nothing to search up.
The prize support was $100 credit which I used along with some other things for a NM Underground Sea. This store has a pretty exhaustive inventory of foils, rarities, power, and dual lands in great condition so placing high is definitely worth it. Thanks to Dan and the rest of Mythic Games for hosting a great event and I look forward to returning again.
That's all. -B
