This is a brief report of my third place finish at NYSE 3 this last weekend in New York. Before I get to the report I would like to thank Prospero and everyone else that put this event together, it was very well run and just an incredible experience all the way around. I’d also like to thank my opponents again, everyone I faced on the day was class act and very professional if not straight up friendly. I also want to thank the die roll Gods as I went first a lot on Saturday and that really helps with a deck like Martello Workshops. Also, thanks to my man River for loaning me non proxy Homeward Path and Ghost Quarter.
3rd - Thomas Nelson
Martello Shops
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Wasteland
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Traitors
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Wurmocil Engine
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Sundering Titan
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Tangle Wire
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere
Sideboard:
2 Homeward Path
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Duplicant
4 Grafdigger’s Cage
4 Dismember
3 Crucible of Worlds
The only thing I can say about the deck is that I really like 5 Sol lands, I am not sure if Factory is better or worse than Cavern and I kind of hate Blightsteel.
Round 1-Martello Mirror
I win the die roll and my opponent mulls to five. That’s a big hole to climb out of and I close out game one pretty quickly. My opponent goes first game two and I mull to an OK six which isn’t good enough and then we have a back and forth game three with me finally getting a Wurmcoil down that gets me there. Wurmcoil would play big in most of my mirrors.
Round 2-Grixis Thieves
I win the die roll again and get ahead early with some spheres. I’m able to close out the game with Lodestones. Game 2 is more of the same with more back and forth. I think Grixis Thives is cool, but it’s ore tuned to beta blue decks then me. I wish my opponent six more rounds of Delver and move on.
Round 3: Steel City Vault
I win the die roll again and my opponent doesn’t get much going. I have some spheres and maybe a chalice on zero which really hurts his board. Game 2 I get a revoker out on his mana vault which is his best acceleration on the board. We go back and forth and crypt gets me down to dangerously low when I get a Forgemaster off the top and am able to get combo into a Blightsteel. My opponent’s deck kind of let him down in both those games with decent starting hands, nothing really broken and then kind of a failure to develop over the critical 2-5 turns.
Round 4: Blue Moon
I win the die roll and I think I have turn one trini that gets me pretty far, my opponent missed a land drop and I get game one. Game two he gets the blood moon and the Dak out and I am shuffling my cards. Game 3 is very tight, but he A-Calls into Time Walk into Jace to bounce my Forgemaster that would have given me a powerful activation. This loss is to JP who ends up #1 overall, very sharp player with a cool deck. I promise him killer breakers and go to game five.
Round 5: Martello Shops Mirror
I win the die roll and lose game 1 to just drawing nothing, opportunities squandered! I win game 2 with something silly, I think it was a turn 1 wurmcoil or dragon. Game three is very back and forth. We end up in a Forgemaster standoff, but I have a Wurmcoil on my side. I am able get to his life low enough that he has to activate his Forgemaster to get my wurm which allows me to activate mine for Dragon and get the game.
Round 6: Martello Shops Mirror
I lose the die roll, I guess that had to happen eventually. He gets me relatively quickly and then game two I return the favor. Game three gets really silly really fast. He opens with Trini off crypt and a shop. I waste the shop and then we both draw nothing and he hits Crypt damage 7/9 turns which kills him. That was one of the most low probability wins I have ever had in magic period. Between the solid die rolls and the mana crypt I’m feeling more lucky than good.
Round 7: Martello Shops Mirror
I play a really cool dude in the shops mirror on camera. Rather than write it out you can watch it here:
http://www.eternalcentral.com/nyse3livecoverage/. We start at 4:55 or so.
Round 8: Landstill
We have a clean break on points and feel comfortable on the ID.
The IDworked and I exit the swiss in sixth and enter the top 8 in sixth.
Top 8 Round 1: Landstill
I don’t have enough pressure game one and he gets me. Game two I am on the play with a decent draw and get there. Game three my opponent resolves a Kataki into my Tolarian board, and Tolarian hold down the fort until I am able to get to Wurmcoil followed by Metamorph on Wurmcoil which eventually get the win. The Tolarian got all MVP honors on that one.
Top 8 Round 2: Frobots
Game one my opponent is on the play and puts down a Legionnaire followed up with a Sword of Fire and Ice and I get killed. Game two I am on the play and keep a reasonable hand that just doesn’t develop enough control to really get me there, and I get killed.
I get my Sapphire for third and call it a day.
Again, thanks to the judges and the event coordinators on a great tourney and to my opponents for some fantastic games in the gentlemen’s format.
Takeaways: I must play Frobots and determine if it's better than Martello and I am cutting Blightbot for the third Metamorph.
Cheers,
defector
