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vaughnbros
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« on: March 16, 2015, 08:36:28 pm » |
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I know this is not as exciting as a winning tournament report, but I had a good time playing some intense games of magic, and spending time with the awesome vintage community so I wanted to share. I didn't get much sleep the week before coming into this tournament so it definitely played against me making some pretty horrible misplays during the day, but still ending up 5-2 in 13th place and taking home a Badlands (seems rather appropriate).
As many of you may know I play dredge, a lot. So to switch it up I like to occasionally play another deck that makes my opponents miserable, Landstill. Here was the 75 that I ran:
6 "Ancestral Recalls":
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Standstill
1 Treasure Cruise
11 Counterspells:
3 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will
2 Mana Drain
2 Mindbreak Trap
7 Removal Spells:
3 Punishing Fire
2 Dismember
2 Engineered Explosives
11 Game Changers:
1 Notion Thief
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Dack Fayden
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Crucible of Worlds
25 Mana Sources:
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
1 Island
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
1 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
2 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
SB: 1 Ancient Grudge
SB: 4 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 1 Nihil Spellbomb
SB: 1 Extirpate
SB: 1 Engineered Plague
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Grafdigger's Cage
Just a few notes on the choices. Basically in an adjustment to all of the pyromancers, and such running around I added Grove+Punishing Fire to the deck to deal with them. I also added one of the new cards, Tasigur, because hes just an all around powerhouse when a majority of your turns consist of drawing a card and passing with open mana. Lastly I expected a lot of shops, which I saw none of (yay bad metagaming!!!), so I ran 2 dismembers, and 5 artifact hate out of the board for what is usually already a good MU.
Round 1 Doomsday by "Ashok" (I'm putting quotes since I'm almost 100% positive I'm misspelling the poor mans name)
"People still play wasteland"
Game 1 - I use a couple of strip effects to slow him down, we get in a couple of small fights, I end up with a Tasigur in play with a Dack and a Pushing fire in hand passing to him. He Thoughtseizes, bringing him down to 14, taking my Dack, then goes lotus petal into ritual into Doomsday, bringing him to 7 life with no cards in hand, and only a basic island. So he has to pass. I end up attacking putting him to 3, and he scoops realizing he can't win. With me having an unmisstepable kill spell for lab man, and him needing 8+ storm with no hand I'm left wondering was there actually a pile that beats me there?
In: +2 Pyro +1 Extirpate +1 Nihil Spellbomb
Out: -2 Dismember -2 Engineered Explosives
Game 2 - Hes on the play and passes turn playing nothing. I'm left a little bit bewildered and just drop a land and pass back. He plays lotus into a bunch of cantrips turn 2 to find his first land. I waste his land, and set up a standstill. He drops a land a couple turns later, and I stupidly tap down half my mana for a 2 damage factory attack. He vamps EoT (for ritual?) popping my standstill. I draw no missteps, or forces, or mindbreak traps and since I tapped down my mana I can only either Pyroblast or Mana drain 1 spell. He sticks his Yawgmoth's will through a drain and proceeds to tendrils me.
Game 3 - I lead with Underground sea, lotus, Dack Fayden. He leads with underground sea pass, and makes a comment about how he didn't think people played wasteland anymore... to his horror I not only have the strip effect, but I also have an extirpate. Good bye Underground Seas! He does however still have a mox jet in hand. He drops the jet (which I steal) into a vamp for lotus and tries to doomsday with force back. I have a force and a mindbreak trap this time.
Matches 1-0
Round 2 Punishing Dack by Joe
"I'm not on dredge"
I've played against him the last 3 vintage tournaments that I've been to. Kind of crazy right? He makes a joke about just going to game 2 since I'm probably on dredge, but I assure him he doesn't really want to do that.
Game 1 - He wins the die roll and leads with Grove of the Burnwillows into Grafdigger's Cage. Sadly him for him I'm not on dredge. I wasteland his land, and he doesn't see a colored mana source for a while well after its relevant.
In: +2 Pyro +1 Extirpate +1 Nihil Spellbomb
Out: -2 Dismember -2 Engineered Explosives
Game 2 - Much of the same I wasteland a couple of his colored mana sources, and he never gets passed 2 mana until the game is well out of hand.
Matches 2-0
Round 2.5 Italian Sandwhich by Food Stand in the Back
"I will devour you."
Smothered that bad boy in oil and vinegar and it was delicious. Seeded bread, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, salami, ham... Then some nestles chocolate milk to wash it down.
Round 3 Mentor Control by Brian
"Broken Jank beats Control Jank"
People always like to make jokes about Brian and I's decks not being real decks. Well here was the showdown of the crazy decks then. He makes a joke about looking up my deck online since I was getting input from him earlier on it. Someone reminds us that it is illegal for him to use his phone... Whoosh! Anyways he knows close to my whole 75 and I don't know his. Great start to this match up!
Game 1 - I waste and strip too aggressively into his mana flood and then end up short on mana later on in the game. He manages to stick a Dack and a Jace before I can stick a permanent and I scoop up. In retrospect I probably should've played it out a bit more since I still don't really know what he was playing.
In: +2 Pyro +1 Extirpate +1 Nihil Spellbomb +1 Grafdigger's Cage
Out: -2 Dismember -2 Engineered Explosives -1 Mindbreak Trap
Game 2 - I keep a hand that is one blue mana away from being bonkers and I never draw another land...
Matches 2-1
Round 4 Delver by Scott
"Alert the press legacy player playing Delver"
When he sits down he comments about how everyone he has played has been really nice to him in this tournament, and that he played legacy the day before. I put him on delver. I am not wrong.
Game 1 - I misstep his first turn delver. He has a second one... and a third one. He counters a bunch of my removal spells, but I still manage to kill both of them... at 2 life. I die to a lightning bolt. Me discerning hes on delver didn't really help me much here.
In: +2 Pyro +1 Extirpate +1 Nihil Spellbomb +1 Engineered Plague
Out: -2 Dismember -1 Crucible -2 Mindbreak Trap
Game 2 - He gets down an early delver which hits me for 1 a couple of times, then follows with another delver. I kill 1 when they both flip, then the other. I drop a standstill, and some other draw spells and just stay ahead of him on cards.
Game 3 - I misstep his turn 1 delver, and strip his land. He drops a fairly threatening tormod's considering my hand consists of grove combo, crucible, and tasigur. A few turns later I play a crucible, which he forces putting me up to 5 cards in the yard, which I promptly delve into a Tasigur. He ends up popping his tormod's on my punishing fire after I kill a creature with it. Tasigur takes it the rest of the way milling me into another punishing fire, and some additional value. I nearly punt the penultimate turn of the game by activating Grove not realizing the fire was already in my hand, but it doesn't end up costing me.
Matches 3-1
Round 5 Oath by Josh
"Your lotion has been stolen my friend"
Game 1 - Some stuff happens early on. Then he manages to stick an oath with double orchard through my force (which I regretfully pitched Jace to). I buy a turn by killing the tokens with a dismember and a punishing fire. The next turn I notice he only has enough life to activate Griselbrand once before he would be put into burn range so with a Lotion Thief in hand I pass turn. He oaths up Griselbrand milling all of his remaining force of wills in the process goes to activate Griselbrand, and I steal all of his lotion. The next turn I drop my Dack along with a treasure cruise in an attempt to find an answer to a 7/7 lifelink flier. I find one, but I don't have the mana so I pass. He attacks for 7 bringing me to 7. I finally find a dismember and a punishing fire and I am so excited that I forget to kill his Griselbrand AFTER his oath triggers... I cost myself a turn, but luckily am able to find another Jace to put the game away.
In: +2 Pyro +4 Grafdigger's Cage +1 Engineered Plague +1 Extirpate?
Out: -2 Dismember -2 Tasigur -1 Crucible -1 Grove -Something else?
Game 2 - He leads with a trop ancestral, which I mental misstep. I have library, strip, cage, and a bunch of other lands. My read on him tells me he doesn't have another land so I go with the strip. He top decks a lotus, practically windmilling it off the top, plays a mana crypt and casts yawgmoth's will getting back the lotus again, the land, and the recall. He imperial seals for something?? with the extra black mana. All I can do is land pass. He preordains, and demonic tutors then passes back. I EE both of his artifact sources. He top decks his 3rd land so that he can play S&T into Griselbrand.
Game 3 - I keep a hand with 2 grafdigger's cages, a lotion thief and a bunch of lands. He thoughtseizes my lotion thief. I play my cages. Then we play draw go while I start to ping him for 1 every turn with Punishing Fire and Grove loop. Eventually I see a standstill, and that effectively puts the game away as I am always ahead on cards.
Matches 4-1
Round 6 Oath by Justin
"Standstill, Standstill, Standstill..."
Game 1 - I have a turn 1 library into three standstills and a bunch of wastes/strips before I finally draw something to kill him with. He scoops. I don't actually know what he is on other than blue.
In: +2 Pyro +1 Extirpate +1 Nihil Spellbomb
Out: -2 Dismember -2 Engineered Explosives -1 Mindbreak Trap
Game 2 - I have turn 2 standstill, into more standstills. He manages to stick an oath into Emrakul while low on life. I have enough to swing in for lethal though at that point.
Matches 5-1
Round 7 Delver by Dave
"Ugh so X-1 can't draw in"
We discuss the possibility of drawing since we have some of the best breakers of the X-1's, but we determine its impossible for us to do without at least one of us if not both of getting knocked out.
Game 1 - I keep a pretty shaky 7 with 2 mishra's factory, a misstep, a Tasigur, Crucible, and 2 other mana sources. I misstep his first turn delver, and start beating him in with factories. My first two draws are another land and another Tasigur though, and he just goes crazy on turn 3. Via lotus he powers out a massive number of tokens along with a delver.
In: +2 Pyro +1 Extirpate +1 Nihil Spellbomb +1 Engineered Plague
Out: -2 Dismember -1 Crucible -2 Mindbreak Trap
Game 2 - I have turn 1 library he has turn 1 dack. Let the battle of quality versus quantity begin. I strip him a couple of times trying to keep him low on mana. He eventually taps down for a Pyromancer, I force, he forces back, and then... I stupidly force again. This shuts off my library and now I am stuck with the cards that I have a Jace, and a Dack. I resolve the Dack on my next turn for somewhat of parity? On my next turn he pyros my Jace. Forces my Engineered Plague on the next turn. Then he drops a pyromancer. Kills my blocking factory with a sudden shock. I draw a Tasigur to wall up, and I mill 2 with Tasigur, and one of them is a sapphire... awesome... He ults his Dack and steals my Tasigur with a bolt. I draw and drop another Jace to bounce and replay my Tasigur. I am at 7 life after his attack, and he has 7 elementals, 1 unflipped delver, and 2 pyromancers in player. The next turn I am finally able to mill 2 to return Engineered Plague. This is where it all goes horribly wrong. The first mistake I make is naming human with the plague instead of elemental. The second mistake I make is not stealing his mox sapphire with my Dack. Although irrelevant I also bounce one of his tokens with the Jace. He taps 2 of his 3 mana for Dig into a lighting bolt, and alpha strikes me for lethal.
Matches 5-2
I'm not sure what I would change about the list, but maybe some improvements against delver and not overload so much on oath+shops hate.
Round 7.5 Red Robin
"Murica"
Beer milkshake, unlimited fries, and an overpriced burger. Also our waitress was new and kept forgetting to bring things that we ordered so we started messing with her. It ended with her in disbelief and probably doubting why she was working at Red Robin saying something along the lines of "I've never heard that one before. I need time to process... I don't know... I don't know...". We left her a decent tip at least.
Overall another great vintage tournament. A big thanks to Calvin for making it so!
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