We concluded the store's - and region's - first HL tournament last night (already announced here http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=215.0 (http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=215.0)).
A few highlights:
First place: mono-red Goblins (4-0)
Second place: mono-B control (4-0)
Third place: BR beatdown/control (3-1)
There were approximately 28 participants.
Me? I brought an enhanced version of that WW deck that I've played here recently, and went 2-2, placing me somewhere in the middle of the standings. I have every confidence that the deck is a good one and has the potential to do far better.
One match that I lost was to the 3rd-place BR winner (my son, actually, who is simply a better player and deckbuilder than I am). In that one-game match, our results were very much spot-on with all the playtesting we'd previously done against each other; I brought him to 4 life before he could stabilize against me (he runs about 7 board sweepers in his deck; very rough against WW and other fast aggro)and then throw lots of direct damage at me.
The other match I lost, in the final round, was against the 2nd-place winner, and I really truly have only myself to blame, as I allowed myself to be psyched out by him, and made at least two very, very bad play mistakes that likely (although not necessarily) cost me the game.
Interestingly, the one match my son (3rd with BR) lost was against the tournament winner, the R goblin player... who is a locally known Goblin "expert."
The two other matches I played were fairly unremarkable; in one my opponent was attempting to play a deck with big Dragons that he can "cheat" into play, and his deck was simply too slow. In the other I was playing against a player who is experienced in Magic but inexperienced in Highlander; he was playing mostly GW with a good amount of lifegain but I felt many of his card choices were suboptimal; we talked a lot about our decks and card choices after we finished our game.
I am trying to get decklists and will post them when they come in.
I have obtained the decklist for the winning R Goblins deck (below). I will try to get others as well.
LANDS:
Goblin Burrows
Pendelhaven
Quicksand
Mutavault
Kher Keep
Wasteland
Rishadan Port
Barbarian Ring
Keldon Megaliths
Ghitu Encampment
Mountain (28)
CREATURES
Goblin Lackey
Mogg Fanatic
Skirk Prospector
Goblin Sledder
Mogg Raider
Goblin Soothsayer
Mogg Sentry
Goblin Grappler
Frenzied Goblin
Goblin Chirugeon
Goblin Taskmaster
Figure of Destiny
Mogg War Marshal
Goblin Recruiter
Mogg Maniac
Goblin Lookout
Sparksmith
Spitfire Handler
Skirk Drill Sergeant
Gempalm Incinerator
Goblin Warchief
Goblin King
Goblin Matron
Arms Dealer
Goblin Sharpshootr
Boartusk Liege
Goblin Ringleader
Murderous Redcap
Clickslither
Moggcatcher
Flametongue Kavu
Siege-Gang Commander
Goblin Marshal
Patron of the Akki
Warbreak Trumpeter
OTHER:
Aether Vial
Seal of Fire
Pyrokenesis
Lightning Bolt
Firebolt
Riftbolt
Shock
Dragon Fodder
Goblin Bombardment
Lightning Greaves
Magma Jet
Incinerate
Volcanic Hammer
Shared Animosity
Mogg Alarm
Char
Arc Lightning
Empty the Warrens
Violent Eruption
Goblin Scouts
Shower of Coals
Rise of the Hobgoblins
Goblin Offensive
Banefire
Demonfire
Ghitu Fire
Kaervek’s Torch
Blaze
Disintegrate
Fireball
I finally took the time to enter the 3rd-place deck (my son's) into MWS, and here it is. Before looking at it, note that the only deck to which it it lost at the tournament was the winner (mono R Goblins, above), and that was because he missed a critical land drop, sort of: he needed a 4th land to play the Damnation in his hand (which would have cleared the board of all enemy Goblins and likely paved the way for a comeback, typical of this deck), but he drew Ghitu Encampment which - as you know - comes into play tapped.
Anyway, here it is:
// Lands
15 Mountain
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Keldon Necropolis
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Barbarian Ring
14 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Ghitu Encampment
1 Graven Cairns
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Blood Crypt
// Creatures
1 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Visara the Dreadful
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Faceless Butcher
1 Arc-Slogger
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Magus of the Scroll
1 Jeska, Warrior Adept
1 Reiver Demon
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Shriekmaw
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana Vess
1 Chandra Nalaar
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Siege-Gang Commander
// Spells
1 Fireball
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Terminate
1 Magma Jet
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Decree of Pain
1 Wrecking Ball
1 Demonfire
1 Incinerate
1 Flame Javelin
1 Night's Whisper
1 Phyrexian Totem
1 Foriysian Totem
1 Char
1 Slice and Dice
1 Pulse of the Forge
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Decree of Annihilation
1 Death Cloud
1 Sudden Death
1 Damnation
1 Death Pulse
1 Profane Command
1 Molten Disaster
1 Mind Stone
1 Price of Progress
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Blood Moon
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Infest
1 Barter in Blood
1 Shunt
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Pillage
1 Fireblast
1 Blightning
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Starstorm
1 Reiterate
1 Banefire
1 Incendiary Command
He added PoP and Blood Moon just a few minutes before the tournament started, and apparently the PoP came in handy once or twice. Wasteland is notably missing, but it so happens that I own the only copy in the household (we are bidding on more on eBay!) and I was using it in my deck.
If I obtain any other deck lists (EDIT: of the top 8, that is; I could post my WW build but - as described above - it only went 2-2 for the reasons given) I will post them, but I do not believe that any will be available... we'll see!
Bad lands.
Quote from: pyyhttu on 14-04-2009, 05:10:14 PM
Bad lands.
Well sure, if we only had one in the house. ;)
Here is the mono-black control list I played to an undefeated finish at the Livingston tournament:
LAND: 41
30x Swamp (A mix of snow-covered swamps is important mainly for Tainted Pact)
Molten Slagheap
Dreadship Reef
Barren Moor
Wasteland
Leechridden Swamp
Lake of the Dead
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Maze of Ith
Vesuva
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Cabal Coffers
Planeswalker: 1
Liliana Vess
Creatures: 19
Nantuko Shade
Nezumi Graverobber
Faerie Macabre
Undead Gladiator
Dusk Urchins
Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Bane of the Living
Faceless Butcher
Mindslicer
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Puppeteer Clique
Shriekmaw
Kokusho, the Evening Star
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Twisted Abomination
Helldozer
Dread
Duplicant
Sorcery: 14
Chainer's Edict
Demonic Tutor
Mind Shatter
Profane Command
Drain Life
Consume Spirit
Beseech the Queen
Barter in Blood
Mutilate
Diabolic Tutor
Nightmare Void
Damnation
Corrupt
Decree of Pain
Artifact: 12
Sensei's Diving Top
Relic of Progenitus
Lightning Greaves
Jet Medallion
Crucible of Worlds
Oblivion Stone
Phyrexian Totem
Darksteel Ingot
Helm of Obedience
Nevinyrrals Disk
Mirari
Guilded Lotus
Instant: 7
Dark Ritual
Skeletal Scrying
Grim Harvest
Shred Memory
Tainted Pact
Sudden Death
Tsabo's Decree
Enchantment: 6
Bitterblossom
Necromancy
Necropotence
Leyline of the Void
Enslave
Debtor's Knell
As far as highlander Magic goes, I primarily play EDH, so this was a fun new experience. Due to time constraints, I simply adapted my mono-black EDH deck by cutting cards that were more useful in a multiplayer environment, and adding some faster reactive cards due to the nature of the format. There are definitely some changes I would make, such as replacing a lot of the graveyard hate with more powerful cards. Mind Twist also belongs in the list now that it is unbanned (obviously).
I will try to post a short report of the tournament in the next day or so.
Next Highlander Tournament, same location and time of day, is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, 2009.
I do not yet know if I will be there due to a likely conflict with the North Jersey Veteran Mages (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/njveteranmages (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/njveteranmages)), but we'll see!
We concluded our second regional Highlander tournament this past Sunday, with about 24 people competing. The top 2 decks (both players went 4-0) were the same guy who came in 1st last time (he posted his deck here a few weeks ago), and new guy Rob Cuellari (new to HL tournaments but well established on the local Magic scene) who ran a BUW control deck, with the following list (copied from http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/njveteranmages):
(*'s denote win conditions)
Mana Accel:
u/b borderpost
mind stone
u/w borderpost
talisman of dominance
thran dynamo
gilded lotus
dimir signet
phyrexian totem*
obelisk of esper
coalition relic
Other artifacts:
powder keg
engineered explosives
solemn simulacrum
sensei's divining top
memnarch*
mindslaver*
sen triplets*
Counterspells:
counterspell
disrupting shoal
pact of negation
cryptic command
mana drain
forbid
FoW
dismiss
exclude
desertion*
draining whelk*
misdirection
venser
decree of silence*
Creatures (excluding previously listed ones):
morphling*
exalted angel*
shriekmaw
teferi, mage of zhalfir
shadowmage infiltrator
mulldrifter
Card Drawing:
stroke of genius
ancestral vision
brainstorm
mystical teachings
gush
thirst for knowledge
fact or fiction
tithe
Spells that drag the game on and keep me living:
repulse
damnation
treachery
teferi's moat
diabolic edict
swords to plowshare
chainer's edict
sower of temptation
capsize
hallowed burial
porphyry nodes
ribbons of night
decree of pain
wrath of god
mortify
bribery*
tezzeret the seeker*
decree of justice*
Lands:
10 island
3 swamp
1 plains
academy ruins*
watery grave
black artifact land
miren the moaning well
white artifact land
blue artifact land
dreadship reef
godless shrine
boreal shelf
kor haven
calciform pools
w/b filter land
wanderwine hub
arcane sanctum
flagstones of trokair
seaside citadel
dimir acqueduct
azorius chancery
urborg, tomb of yawg
riptide laboratory
hallowed fountain
tolaria west
yes I played again, and yes I brought WW again, with a couple tweaks, and the following results (remember only 1 game per match):
Round 1: Rob Cuellari playing BUW control (undefeated for this event.)
Although I was able to deal him some early damage, his control and disruption
slowed me down long enough for him to get a Mindslaver going, which pretty much
wrecked me. Then a turn or two later he resolved a Sen Triplets, and without any
of my removal available (O-Ring, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares; although
he probably could have countered any of them anyway), it effectively removed me
from the game altogether; I scooped to avoid further agony.
0-1
Round 2: Jeff Mutchler playing RG stompy
Jeff had a very slow start with likely color screw (no Green mana!) whereas my
deck cooperated just fine; I got enough creatures going and he didn't.
1-1
Round 3: David Grodman playing 5-color stuff
I think the point of his deck is to simply play the best allowed cards from each
color. Anyway, we both got Figure of Destiny going first turn, and a 3rd turn
Wasteland for me whacked one of his Revised duals; I think that one move helped
set the tempo for the game. I was able to keep a steady stream of threats going
(saccing an Aura of Silence along the way to remove his Aether Vial). He was
hesitant to play lands due to my Land Tax, and even his Troll Ascetic enchanted
with Armadillo Cloak turned out to merely delay the inevitable due to my
Battlegrace Angel equipped with Sword of Fire/Ice. His frantic search for a
Wrath or equivalent was sufficiently hampered by the timely arrival of a Winter
Orb for the WW home team.
2-1
Round 4: Chris playing mono-R goblins
Very frustrating game, as early mana stalling on my side, coupled with a Turn 2
Goblin Recruiter for him, tilted things pretty heavily to his side. Even an early Silver Knight couldn't help, as he almost immediately killed it with Ghostfire. I prolonged
where I could, but drawing my 2 anti-artifact/enchantment spells (Disenchant, Aura of
Silence) in the absence of any targets meant merely 2 dead cards instead of any
creatures, removal, card searches, sweepers, equipment, etc. I struggled to just
stay alive but he delivered the coup de grace with a Cursed Scroll, and before I
could Disenchant it he immediately used its ability naming the one card in his
hand (Incinerate) to deal me damage, and then Incinerated me.
2-2, same as last time.
Interestingly, after each of these games (except for round 3), there was time left so we played more fun games. Against Rob (round 1) I won one and then lost one; against Jeff (round 2) I won 3, and against Chris (round 4) I won one.
Another fun event!
The third local Livingston, NJ (USA) HL tournament concluded this past Sunday, with approx. 23 players. In first place was my son (getting married next week!) playing GWU Oath deck (will post decklist if/when I get it).
I tried a different deck this time, deciding that mono B might be fun (will post in the Clinic forum). As seems to be my fate for these local tournaments, I went 2-2 again, as follows.
Round 1, Ben playing 5-color control. (He ended up undefeated in the tournament, placing second to my son in tiebreakers.) This game went fairly long, even though it was really lost to me at his 2nd turn. Although I got a first-turn creature drop, his first 2 turns were:
1: Plains, Land Tax
2: Mishra's Workshop, Isochron Scepter with Mana Drain imprinted, and Scroll Rack
I managed to stay in the game for a number of turns with my 1 creature and some land-based effects, but I really just couldn't get past his permanent Mana Drain.
Round 2: Jeff playing BU control
Fairly uninteresting game; he managed to get the upper hand early in the game but I was able to clear the board once or twice (much of his permission was either unplayed or unavailable), then I was able to keep things clear while I attacked repeatedly with man lands.
Round 3: Adam, BW control. Actually kind of an even matchup, but a well-timed Promise of Power filled his hand with very good cards and I ended up losing to hand disruption and one or two good creatures (like Pristine Angel).
Round 4: Max playing RDW
Hand disruption (a recurring Augur of Skulls) and graveyard hate (Nezumi Graverobber against his unearth creatures) helped a lot. That, plus he runs only 33 lands with NO artifact mana producers and he had trouble getting lands out.
Well, I guess we can try again next month!
As promised, here is the 3-color Oath deck my son (just got married yesterday!) used to win this tournament. One of the more notable "rogue" cards he used was Time Stop.
// Lands
5 Plains
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Temple Garden
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Windswept Heath
1 Bant Panorama
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Wasteland
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Breeding Pool
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Flooded Grove
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Treetop Village
1 Mystic Gate
10 Island
2 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Terramorphic Expanse
// Creatures
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Progenitus
// Planeswalkers
1 Jace Beleren
// Spells
1 Opportunity
1 Obelisk of Bant
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Evacuation
1 Exclude
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Defense of the Heart
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Bant Charm
1 Life from the Loam
1 Dismiss
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Damping Matrix
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Capsize
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Path to Exile
1 Counterspell
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Rewind
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Spectral Searchlight
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Oath of Druids
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Cryptic Command
1 Put Away
1 Wash Out
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Dream Fracture
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Force of Will
1 Remand
1 Propaganda
1 Wrath of God
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Absorb
1 Time Stop
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Dissipate
1 Ponder
1 Counterbalance
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Pact of Negation
1 Coalition Relic
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Interdict
1 Voidslime
1 Careful Consideration
1 Gush
1 Daze
1 Decree of Silence
1 Standstill
1 Brainstorm
1 Hinder
Highlander IV of Livingston NJ concluded yesterday, with a turnout substantially lower than the previous three events; only 8 players enrolled. As a result, the TO decided to hold only three rounds. In the end, one person earned 9 points (3-0 match record), a guy playing mono-red goblins to place first.
Speaking for myself, I tried that same BU control deck I'd used in another local event (our own NJVM local playgroup, a couple months back).
Round 1: Peter, playing UB control; very much a mirror match.
I had what I thought was a good start; on my 3rd turn I drew Wasteland and used it against his only land (Dimir Aqueduct). He recovered quickly, however, with a Chrome Mox and another land on his next turn, and got plenty of lands out over the next few turns while I did not. The game then entered the typical back-and-forth style characteristic of mirror control matches, until I drew Bribery. In retrospect I suspect I should have simply sat on it, but I decided to try it, in order to steal a creature but also see what else he had in his deck. I ended up taking Oona, Queen of the Fae.
He was able to bounce it to his hand with a Recoil, discarding some other card. Although I kept it in his hand for a long time, he finally got it into play, and even though I was able to partly contain it (Staff of Domination for tapping it), I couldn't find a permanent answer for it (kept drawing cards from Jace Beleran and the Staff of Domination, but no useful answers), and Oona's activated ability did me in in the end. It was a long and intricate game, actually a lot of fun.
Round 2: Zeke, playing RG stompy
An early (3rd turn) Isochron Scepter imprinted with Doom Blade made me very comfortable until he played a 4th turn Citanul Centaurs which I could not counter... ouch. I had to play around it, and was able to chump block it enough while swinging with my own creatures (an animated Phyrexian Totem, a 4/4 Draining Whelk) meanwhile keeping his battlefield (there's that word again) otherwise clear with the Doom-ed Scepter. He did get me down to 7 before I could finish him off.
Round 3: Evan, playing W Weenie
My opening hand ended up with a Doom Blade and a Hideous Laughter with enough mana sources to support both, and I knew what archetype he was playing, so I was glad with what I had. He dealt early damage with a Knight of Meadowgrain (I had to restrain myself from using the Doom Blade on it 3rd turn) and a couple others; finally on his 5th turn he swung with a horde of 5 creatures including Serra Avenger; NOW was the time for Hideous Laughter, leaving only his Avenger.
Meanwhile he has dealt me 7 total; not too bad, and Doom Blade mops up the Avenger next turn. By now I have enough resources on the board and in hand, and slow him down with things like Capsize w/buyback, a counterspell here and there, a Phyrexian Totem... and Bribery again. After searching his library, I narrow down my choices to Exalted Angel, Battelgrace Angel, and Stillmoon Cavalier. The Cavalier's pro-white ability makes it my final choice.
And it wins me the game. I keep his creatures and other permanents off-balance with he Capsize and other disruptive spells, while MY Cavalier now has free reign to pillage and maim (and my Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth helps to provide plenty of B mana sources). At one point he threatens to get back in the game with a Reveillark; luckily I can remove it (Devour in Shadow) and prevent any subsequent creature recursion by playing Trickbind on the Lark's triggered ability. The Devour brings me down to 4 (he'd been able to sneak some more combat damage through in the meantime), but that's as low as I got.
My 2-1 record (6 points) places me third; behind another 2-1 guy who wins the DCI tiebreakers using a mono G Elf deck.
Highlander V of Livingston came to a late conclusion last night, with 20 local participants. After four rounds, two players tied for 1st with 12 match points; one was playing UW Control and the other played 4-color aggro.
The UW guy apparently got Scepter/Chant going twice during the tournament; not bad. The 4-color aggro guy was the store owner!
I brought the mono-B deck I put together fairly recently, with a few tweaks since the tournament 2 months ago. (With respect to, and notwithstanding, the excellent suggestions made elsewhere in this forum, the deck nevertheless continues to be kind of aggro and kind of control.)
Round 1: Jon, playing Wb(?) weenie/aggro
He gets a first-turn Savannah Lions out (on the draw) but I immediately follow-up with Black Knight. He plays a 2nd white creature; I play Stillmoon Cavalier.
Not a whole lot more to say; the early appearance of these 2 pro-White creatures is at the core of his deteriorating game. We did proceed for another 4-5 turns each with various plays, but he just couldn't get around those two; very lucky for me.
1-0
Round 2: Evan, playing RG stompy
Early mana flood keeps me from doing much and in fact it starts to look very bad for me; I slow things a bit with Wasteland against one of his dual lands. Turn 5-6, however, I draw Death Cloud which wins the game for me: I play it for X=2; he has to sac his 2 creatures and 2 of his 3 lands AND empty his hand; I meantime have about 5 cards in hand ALL lands so the discard really doesn't hurt me at all plus I can followup with more lands right away.
A few turns later Liliana Vess enters my battlefield (meanwhile he is manascrewed with 1 land and has to keep discarding EOT); I tutor twice on that and next turn for good cards (uh, don't remember what); GG.
2-0
Round 3: David, Gw Elves
I keep a meh hand and play first: Swamp, Dark Ritual, transmute Shred Memory, tutor for Bitterblossom ("Hm; interesting but unorthodox" remarks one onlooker); I play it next turn but in the meantime he has Wirewood Symbiote. He gets Viridian Zealot and kills the Blossom after only one token is made. He gets a couple elves out (Wren's Run Vanquisher, Rofellos); I play Creakwood Liege. I believe I can do well if the Liege stays in play so I try to insure this by using Dust Bowl against his Savannah to avoid possible removal. He seems a little short on lands but his Symbiote, Elvish Visionary, and others are dancing very effectively. Then he makes what I think is a questionable play: Winter Orb. (This is additionally surprising as he is a good player; perhaps it was a high-risk play in consideration of his eroding position.)
Yes; he has fewer lands so it hurts me more than him; yes, he has Rofellos to make mana; but the fact of the matter is that until he can get rid of my Creakwood Liege I think he needs as many of his resources as possible. In any event; the accummulating Worm tokens are hurting him more and more, and then when I can finally get enough mana sources untapped and play Visara the Dreadful, he is too far behind; he laughs and scoops.
3-0
Round 4: Chris, 4-color aggro (see top of this report)
Fast game. I again have a meh opener, and he comes screaming out of the gates with BoP, Llanowar Elves, Flametongue Kavu, Tarmogoyf; all within 3-4 turns. ("This is the best this deck has ever done," he remarked half with apology and half with happiness.) I do manage to get Oblivion Stone out by Turn 3 and am hoping I can blow up the board, but alas no more lands come. I did get Bog Witch out, to which he responded with Chainer's Edict. I also got a Leaden Myr out but he played Regrowth to re-play the Edict. I evoked a Shriekmaw against one of his creatures, but I was unable to muster any meaningful resources of my own, and he dealt me plenty of damage with his creatures. (At the end, the next three cards in my library were Twisted Abomination, Swamp, Swamp.)
3-1; 4th place out of 20.
Looking forward to the next one!!
I played in last nights event too. I ran my white weenie deck to a 3-1 record. Overall, I would say it was a fun tournament, but I really think it should be best of three instead of just 1 game. Here is a quick report.
Round 1 vs Ben playing UBW control- I forget that I had just sorted my deck and did not shuffle it nearly enough. This means I don't hit any lands in my first 13 cards and mulligan to 6. My 6 card hand is also quite unimpressive consisting of plains, mutavault, honor the pure, spectral procession, parralax wave, and a random 2 drop. Neither of us does much in the first turns with him dropping lands, lotus bloom, and lotus vale and me just dropping a guy and honor the pure while not hitting a third plains and drawing blanks like seal of cleansing. He proceeds to drop scepter and imprint mana drain. At this point I'm getting really frustrated and the memnoch he plays next turn doesn't help my situation. I decide to see if he will counter everything or just major threats by attempting a random guy and he gets countered. So now my plan is to hit another land, play a spell to bait the drain and then drop seal of cleansing. Luckily I don't have to worry about that as he taps out to steal my aven mindcensor and then bribery me taking exalted. All of a sudden I'm back in the game since I drop seal next turn and kill the scepter. Now all I need is that damned 4th land I can't seem to draw. Sure enough I draw it two turns later and play parallax wave targeting his team (most of which I own) so when wave dies I am left with a huge army and win in short order.
1-0
Round 2 vs James playing Red Aggro- I am unable to find a good mix of lands again and keep an opener with plains, dust bowl, icatian javeleneers, grafted wargear, flickerwisp, silver knight and defiant falcon. I drop javeleneer and he plays aether vial. I then drop the falcon and sit around while all he has is rakdos guildmage and zozu. I finally hit a plains and drop flickerwisp to reset the vial. He bolts it and follows up with a blood knight. I drop silver knight. He drops sulfuric vortex and the race is on. It looks very good for me since I have grafted wargear, but he has one of his own. In the end, I get him down to 3, so vortex puts him to 1, but it's not enough.
1-1
Round 3 vs David playing xxxxx- I'm not even sure what he was playing. The game was just very quick. He had a slow start and I had a 2/2 for two followed up by wilt leaf cavaliers while he just played some tapped lands. Turn 4 dust bowl went active and I just blew up a land each turn until he was dead.
2-1
Round 4 vs Lou playing Elves- He got a fairly slow start while I dropped defiant falcon, honor the pure, and something else. He had a wolfskullshaman which was starting to help him play catchup and a reach/deathtouch elf. He blocked the falcon with the elf and harms way did some redirecting to kill the shaman. Next turn I grafted wargeared the falcon and he couldn't find an answer to the flier in time.
3-1
Quote from: kmzandrew on 17-08-2009, 05:24:25 PM
I really think it should be best of three instead of just 1 game.
Under normal circumstances I would definitely agree with you, Andrew, but there's too good a chance that a typical best-of-3 match in Highlander would far, far, exceed a normal 45- or 50-minute time frame. Real-time constraints make a 4-round, 1-game-per-match compromise a very reasonable compromise, at least in my humble opinion.
Nice report, and nice showing!
Showed up to the 2HG Highlander tournament last night, and ended up pairing with master strategist Brian Popkin.
He brought a mono-black control deck. I, not knowing with whom I might
eventually have ended up pairing, had brought a variety of decks to cover various bases, and Brian and I decided that a RDW approach would complement his MBC deck. We made a couple very minor adjustments to each deck and were ready to go.
Round 1: Jason (multi-color big creatures) and Vin (Jund... stuff)
Brian's and my opening hands were fairly good; I had sufficient land, Boggart Ram-Gang, and some spot and mass removal. Jason started kind of slowly, trying to build up his mana resources to bring big guys in. Vin's deck presumably was designed to be faster but unfortunately for him he got stuck on low mana resources. He did get Llanowar Elves and Werebear going but we swept them away quickly. Jason managed a Wall of Denial which threatened to slow us down but then Brian played a card I'd never seen before: Dystopia. That card by itself pretty much, I think, sealed the game - even though we took 10 life loss from it, it kept the other side pretty clear while we attacked and burned.
Round 2: Andrew W (Staxx; check out the thread in http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=303.0 (http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=303.0)) and Ben P (WU control)
Long and painful game. Brian's attempt at casting Bitterblossom 2nd turn was foiled by Ben's Force of Will, and that was probably our last real hope. Meanwhile, Andrew had played Library of Alexandria and Mox Diamond on his first turn; over the course of the game that Library probably accounted for something like 15-20 extra cards for him. We were countered, Silenced, tripped up by Tangle Wire (twice, that's 8 turns, thanks to his Academy Ruins), Armageddoned, Land Equilibrated... in other words, the lockdown was near total; meanwhile Andrew has fetched his Sphinx of the Steel Wind and that's game.
Round 3: Brendan (5c control) and Max (RDW)
Key and decisive plays: (1) Brian's first-turn Duress; we pull a Miscalculation out of Brendan's hand, and (2) my third-turn Blood Moon which pretty much shuts Brendan out of the game. Max forges ahead gamely but it is essentially now 2 players against 1. Brendan is able to get a few basic lands out and is finally able to cast a spell (Magus of the Tabernacle) which slows us down a tad and is a good blocker, but then Brian and I get some great topdecks: Nekrataal removes the Magus; Arc-Slogger comes on line. The Slogger is all set to deliver the coup
de grace (which it does, next turn), and I happen to draw Fireblast just in case something else goes awry (which it doesn't).
Brian's and my 2-1 record earned us 2 packs apiece of M10; Haunting Echoes and Honor of the Pure were my two rares and I am not displeased.
Nice!
I really enjoyed the 2hg highlander. I think it is much better as a 1 game match format than regular highlander. I made a number of tweaks to the stax deck I have been working on though to make it work better in a 2hg format. Here is what I played...
35 Lands
mishra's workshop
tabernacle at pendrell vale
library of alexandria
bazaar of baghdad
darksteel citadel
seat of the synod
ancient den
tree of tales
vault of whispers
great furnace
wasteland
city of traitors
ancient tomb
polluted delta
windswept heath
flooded strand
academy ruins
petrified field
rishadan port
tolaria west
island
plains
flagstones of trokair
maze of ith
glimmervoid
city of brass
hallowed fountain
breeding pool
adarkar wastes
underground sea
tundra
bayou
tropical island
savannah
scrubland
24 artifact
chrome mox
mox diamond
talisman of unity
talisman of progress
talisman of dominance
mind stone
felwar stone
grim monolith
worn powerstone
coalition relic
darksteel ignot
spectral searchlight
eye of ramos
thran dynamo
guilded lotus
smokestack
senseis top
sphinx of the steel wind
sharuum the hegemon
tangle wire
crucible of worlds
winter orb
crumbling sanctuary
engineered explosives
26 blue
propaganda
fabricate
force of will
land equilibrium
careful study
argivian restoration
stroke of genius
flux
intuition
rising waters
upheaval
time warp
capture of jinzhou
transmute artifact
reshape
time spiral
deep analysis
mind spring
thirst for knowledge
gifts ungiven
parralax tide
fact or fiction
tezzeret
recall
frantic search
savor the moment
6 white
armageddon
ravages of war
open the vaults
moat
ghostly prison
magus of the tabernacle
6 green
oath of druids
eternal witness
sylvan scrying
life from the loam
crop rotation
regrowth
2 black[/b
demonic tutor
tainted pact
1 gold
vindicate
The deck was a blast to play and it just did stupid things all day. Round one I had oath in my opener and I oathed into sharrum while Ben hit sundering titan. We then proceeded to attempt to take 3/4 extra turns, but were met with a concession via pact of negation and no mana to pay for it. Armageddon followed by land equilibrium was brutal too as it left me with a bunch of artifact mana and due to the wording on equilibrium Ben could still play lands. In our third round Ben got LoA and crucible wasteland going while I dropped parralax tide to slow them down until I got smokestack flagstones going. They never recovered.
Results from last week's Highlander tournament at New World Manga...
I decided to try my RDttW deck; I've had it for a while but never played it here in a regular HL tournament, so what the heck.
Round 1, Andrew Weinberger playing 4-c control.
I suppose I might have had a chance if I hadn't mana flooded like crazy. As a result, I played lands; he played spells, and won. There's no excuse for a RDW to let a game go on long enough for him to play big spells like Shaarum Hegemon and Baneslayer Angel. At the end, I finally scooped when I was staring down two loaded barrels... with 3 cards, all lands, in my hand. (Second game, for fun, I won after a fairly long game.) [Andrew went on to win the tournament, with the only 4-0 record.]
Round 2, Chris Petitto playing multi-color enchantments, control, etc.
This time he got mana flooded, and while my deck decided to take a long time to get going, his mana flood gave me the time I needed; thank goodness for an early Goblin Patrol that kept whacking away at him, allowing me to get within range to use an uncounterable Banefire (he had Cancel in his hand) to seal the game.
Round 3, Jeff Mann playing scepter/chant lockdown control.
An early Blood Moon shut out most of his colored mana resources, and I attacked with sufficiently big creatures, and used some direct damage, to beat him down quickly. The Blood Moon definitely made it a one-sided game. (Second game, for fun, he won with complete lockdown.)
Round 4, Aaron playing GRW aggro
An early Loyal Sentry for him slows me down (mybad; I should have been more aggressive methinks) while he gets out Sarkhan Vol on turn 4; I can't deal it damage; he resolves the last ability pretty fast; GG. (Right at that point, I had a Flameblast Dragon in play; if I can topdeck Fireblast I can steal the victory but alas that's way too much to hope for.) (Second game, for fun, I won in about 4 turns.)
It seemed to me that an awful lot of luck, on both sides, played major parts in all these games.
2-2 record earns me 1 prize pack: Scute Mob yay...
Here is my tourny report from last night.
Background info: I have been tweaking my deck quite a bit and hadn't completely decided on what was the best version so at about 5:00 PM I just throw in the final 5-10 cards. A few of the choices were quite poor. I had also gotten fairly little sleep the night before and as the tournament dragged on and I started to get tired I made quite a few mistakes.
Round 1 playing Ben with U/W control:
Some people think my deck will fold to a good control deck. I've always said this isn't the case as I don't run cards that are dead in any matchup. I really don't do much to interact with my opponents until I lock them up. I also play a ton of "bombs" that a control deck would need to answer. If I sneak any of them into play it is pretty much game over.
He wins the die roll. I open with LoA, activation, mox diamond (with gifts and other goodies in hand). He gets a land tax and tries to keep up with LoA while I am ramping up and tutoring. Some fairly irrelevant cards get played and I lock him up with slaver/academy ruins.
Round 2 playing Chris with U/W/B Enchantment control
He wins the die roll and has turn one LoA. Not to worry I had turn 2 elspeth and was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to handle that. I have turn one ancient tomb, grim monolith, coalition relic. He activated LoA and suspends ancestral vision turn 2. I drop elspeth and make a guy. He activates LoA and disenchants coalition relic. I drop fellwar stone and make another 1/1. LoA activation and vindicate on elspeth. I tap out to mind spring for 4. He drops bitterblossom and uses LoA. I drop a land and pass. Visions goes off. I gifts at his eot nabbing loam and friends. Either during this turn or the next one I make the first mistake that costs me the game. I forget to attack for 2 once. My next mistake is not countering ethersworm adjucator thinking I need the argivian restoration in my hand even though I have enough mana to use my witness and play sharuum. Around this point time is called. I decide to play for the win, but he drops zuran orb which means unless I hit capture on jingzhou I won't be able to kill him. The turn before he played zuran orb he was at 5 and I had obelisk of alara in play with mana to use it. Had I not missed the attack for 2 earlier he would have been at 3 and I could have burned him for 3 with obelisk. Anyway I screw mess up again by not wasting one of his lands and leaving him with the possibility of activating adjucator and untapping it to swing in. He goes for ice on my sharuum. My final mistake is not gaining 5 life with obelisk before casting FoW on his ice to keep myself alive. This left me at 2 with only a white source and ancient tomb for mana and him swinging for 3. Had I obelisked things would have been more interesting although a draw seemed inevitable.
Round 3 playing Rob with MBC
He has turn 0 leyline. Let me take a moment to say leyline of the void is fucking gay. It should be banned. If trinisphere is banned due to being unfun leyline should not only be banned, but they should confiscate all leyline's and burn them. Trinisphere is usually abused to be a type of lock component. It makes games end faster. Leyline does nothing except make games drag on. I will stop there, but I really could go on and on. Leyline just pisses me off in pretty much every format it is legal in.
Anyway the game was a draw because of leyline. Here is a quick rundown.
I open with turn one voltaic key, turn two grim monolith. Turn three sees me playing tezzeret, gilded lotus and demonic tutor. He kills tezzeret. Turn four I Capture of jingzhou, armageddon, drop a land and timetwister. My 7 cards are fairly awful. I hit FoF and dead cards like loam and mana. Turn 5 fact or fiction is awful too. All I find is oath. His bitterblossom means my oath isn't going to do much. I do finally draw something that isn't useless (obelisk of alara) and only need one more turn to win with it, but tops and finds pithing needle that turn. Tendrils of corruption gets him enough life to make sure bitterblossom doesn't kill him and time runs out.
Round 4 Nick with slivers:
He curves out perfectly and I make a ton of stupid mistakes. The first is counting my mana wrong once, then crop rotationing for tabernacle even though it was really weak at that point and finally counting my mana wrong again thinking I still have ancient tomb instead of tabernacle. All of my stupidity means I have to ramp up my smokestack to 3 and more or less reset the game just to stay alive. I am left with just tabernacle when smokestack dies. I play a land and pass into his empty board. I have 2 non green lands, loam gifts and fow in hand. He doesn't have a land. I drop a land. He misses another land. I finally hit another land and gifts. He hits lands, but it is too late as I have sharuum into sphinx of the steel wind.
Final thoughts: The abyss is awful. Elspeth is pretty bad. Garruk is pretty good. Leyline of the void should be banned. Wildfire/burning of xinye needs more testing as it would have been awesome all day. I tested them against my white weenie deck before and they were bad as ww can somewhat ignore them and can recover quite well, but none of the decks played at this tournament would survive a wildfire. Oath might not be worth it. At times it is absolutely nuts and can end games faster than any other single card in the deck, but there are also times where it is very very very bad. Upheaval needs more testing as it was usually better than wildfire and if wildfire needs testing upheaval does too. Exploration was amazing. Exploration and garruk were by far the best additions with the abyss being the worst.
This tournament had a very high AF (annoyance/frustration) factor for me, and when my personal AF factor gets too high I tend to make rash decisions…
I arrive with my re-tweaked mono B deck, and am feeling fairly good about it; it served me at 3-1 last time I brought it and the match it lost could have just as easily gone the other way. And this time I am confident that it is better than before (which I still am).
Tournament scheduled to begin at 5:30; it actually started at about 5:55; AF=1.
Round 1: Chris, playing WBU control and stuff
Opening hand has 6 mid- to late-game spells and one colorless mana source. I go to 6; trade in 4, and decide to keep what I have. He wins the die roll and plays first.
By turn three I have Oona's Prowler; he has Stormscape Familiar and a morphed creature out. Next turn he attacks and morphs up Exalted Angel. (He has exactly 4 lands in play, all basic, and 2 of them are Plains…nice.) Next turn he plays Icy Manipulator, and for the next three turns he taps down my defender and attacks for 5 in the air. I am down to 5; he has something like 29. I am scrambling to get something, anything, going, like swampcycling Twisted Abomination to get more lands going; big deal; where is all my !#^$# removal anyway?!? AF=2
He plays Pooling Venom on my Leechridden Swamp, and that combos with Icy Manipulator and threatens to end me real fast. Luckily I draw Wasteland and I can now destroy my own land; how happy am I now. AF=3
Finally Faceless Butcher shows up and I remove his Angel; I am also able to destroy his Familiar, so the board seems to finally be almost stable although if he draws practically anything to deliver the last 2 he needs to kill me…
He plays Story Circle set to Black of course, and then Academy Rector. I manage Sorin Markov after a couple other creatures; I activate Sorin's 2nd ability to bring him to 10. He has Academy Rector in play; looks ominous. I look at the board and think and think and think. I decide that he has something nefarious in mind with the Rector but I cannot imagine what. I decide that I must be as aggressive as possible and hope to deal enough combat and Sorin damage to end things before much more can happen, because my life window is nearly all the way closed. I attack with 1 creature, Nantuko Shade (I need 1 blocker, plus one more creature since he can still tap one down with his Manipulator). He blocks with the Rector, it dies, and its go-to-GY ability triggers…
He tutors for… Psychic Venom!!! and plays it on one of my swamps, then taps it with the Manipulator. Game over, AF=4.
Round 2: Russell playing Bant aggro.
(Prelude to this round… Russell takes a good 8-10 minutes pile shuffling, mana weaving, shuffling, etc etc, apologizing all the while. I finally say to him, no problem; if it goes to time then I'll have to slap you around a little. He looks at me; I reassure him that I'm just kidding.) AF still holding at 4.
He wins the die roll. My opening 7, no lands, no early spells. Next 6, no lands, no early spells. I trade 6 for 6; not terrible but not good; AF=5; I keep.
I have trouble remembering the details of the early game… turn 2 I Demonic Tutor for Sensei's Divining Top; turn 3 I play Dusk Urchins; it attacks twice before he Pacifies it (with some Blue equivalent). Suffice to say that after a prolonged early and mid game, he has established clear board dominance. I have tried and failed twice to clear the board: once with Nevinyrral's Disk (he Naturalized it before it could untap) and once with Oblivion Stone (he wacked it with Qasali Pridemage).
He has Cascaded twice; once with Captured Sunlight (cascades into Jenara, Asura of War) and once with Enlisted Wurm (into an enchantment, can't remember name, but allows for damage prevention). Meanwhile he has Stoic Angel out; that by itself is giving me real headaches. On my side, I keep generating chump blockers with Bitterblossom, my Sorin Markov is drawing his attacks and enabling me to slow things down while I search for more board sweepers. He plays Elspeth, substantially increasing the pressure on me. At one point I dig with the Top and find, not a bomb, but Stillmoon Cavalier, which helps substantially as it makes a couple key blocks and also kills his Elspeth. He has also gotten a Wall of Reverence going; his life total gets up to about 36 or so while I am struggling to stay in two digits. AF drifts up to 6.
Finally I find something I can use: there, third card from top is Decree of Pain. But I have to suffer one more turn of his attacks as I have only 7 mana sources out. When I can finally hard cast it, I do.
A real bomb. It destroys all creatures (14!) in play, including the Dusk Urchins which has two â€"1/-1 counters on it… I draw 16 cards! And just as Time is called! 5 more turns!
He gets 3 more turns, I get 2. I now have enough resources (including 2 manlands, Mutavault and Mishra's Factory) to deal him well enough damage… if only he didn't have that <whatever> enchantment. By the end of the game, we are forced to a tie at something like 5 to 5; if I'd had 1 more attack that would almost certainly have been game (unless he happened to topdeck a WoG or something, of course). Now re-read that prelude…
Now at 0-1-1; AF=7.
Round 3: Matt playing Esper sorta control.
Matt is 1-1, so I have been paired up. Again. Why does DCI Reporter hate me so much? AF=8. On the other hand, with all due respect to Matt who is a heck of a polite and nice young man, after I see the cards in his deck I fail to see how he could have won any games. Now that I don't need it, I get great opening hands (we played a second game as well for fun) and defeat him quite quickly, bringing me to 1-1-1.
Of the 7 HL events held here until today, I have gone 2-2 six times and 3-1 once. I figure that I have a fairly good shot at doing a second-personal-best showing, since I will almost certainly play someone with a1-1-1, 1-2, or 2-1 record and I feel well up to that.
Round 3 drags on seemingly forever, as 2 players are locked in a long and drawn-out game whose extra (overtime) five turns take an additional 15-20 minutes, and ends up in a tie anyway. Fer cryin' out loud it's 9 pm by now; AF=9.
Round 4 pairings finally go up, and I see that I am paired against Rob Cuellari. I like and respect Rob a lot, and he is actually one of the best sports I have ever met, but….
a. I believe he is 2-0-1; that means I have been paired up AGAIN; AF=10
b. He is a far better player than I and has a huge psych advantage; AF=11
c. He is ALSO playing MBC, so this means that I would need insane good luck, and he would have to have insane bad luck, for me to have a chance; AF=12.
d. A mirror match like this will likely take a long time, and I am already too tired and too annoyed; AF=13.
Anytime AF is >= 10, that's about it for me. I walk up to him and concede the match.
After I pack to leave, I go to Chris and, as is my practice, thank him for another tournament. He graciously gives me one of his "prize" packs (as store owner he can certainly do this, but it is nevertheless quite unexpected and generous).
The rare? Lullmage Mentor; goes for less than a quarter on the open market. AF=14.
If you think that casual Highlander tournament playing in Livingston, NJ has faded away, think again. New World Manga has settled on the fourth Sunday of each month as the regular day for tournaments. It so happens that my schedule has made it impossible for me to attend in a long time, but I finally made it back for the April event. I
decided to go back to my "roots," bringing White Weenie with a couple of minor upgrades.
(I had been considering a 4-color Reanimator deck I've been laboring over recently, but the recent banning of Survival [and I'd gone to fairly extreme measures to obtain one only a couple of months ago, just for that deck... aaagggghhhhh....] helped me to decide against it.)
Round 1: Gershon, packing a RDW (borrowed from me, actually). I don't mind telling you I was a tad nervous, too... But I got pretty lucky with good creatures coming out right away, and his (my!!) deck stalled, so the game was actually over kind of quick.
Round 2: Russell, playing BU control. I came out of the gate pretty quickly, and dealt him about 15 damage over the next 4-5 turns. He was finally able to get some control elements going (Rhystic Deluge, Scepter of Dominance, etc) to slow me down. Then the game went longer while I tried to push past his wall of control and he sought for some kind of win condition, but I was finally able to push through the final few points of damage.
Round 3: Chris (store owner), playing WUB control, Auras, etc. Although he was able to get some worthwhile creatures out (Hypnotic Specter, Nantuko Husk, Solemn Simulacrum, etc.) I was able to get past him with a Shadow creature (Soltari Priest), a pro-Black creature (White Shield Crusader), and tap down blockers/attackers with a timely Goldmeadow Harrier. A Bonsplitter accelerated the damage, and frankly his deck kind of stalled out just when he needed some answers.
Round 4: Sam, playing WU control. Sam has a very good control deck and he's a careful player; the best way to win against such a situation is to play very fast aggro. Unfortunately, my deck - although it didn't play poorly per se â€" didn't roll out quickly enough to do what it needed. I was able to get him down to 10 but it took too long, and by then he'd set up too many control elements and had too many mana resources. Critical plays: (a) he countered my Wilt-Leaf
Liege which right there might have won the game for me, (b) Pithing Needled my Elspeth, and (c) kept taking creatures with Vedalken Shackles; all while I had trouble drawing additional creatures (kind of annoying, with 41 of them in the deck). Oh yeah, a Wrath of God was a big pothole in my roadway also.
A fair game, nevertheless, giving him the 4-0 he needed to put him in first place for the night.
In the meantime I am not unsatisfied with my 3-1 record. Another fun evening of Highlander!
Quote from: grizzledmage
Round 4: Sam, playing WU control. Sam has a very good control deck and he's a careful player; the best way to win against such a situation is to play very fast aggro. Unfortunately, my deck - although it didn't play poorly per se â€" didn't roll out quickly enough to do what it needed. I was able to get him down to 10 but it took too long, and by then he'd set up too many control elements and had too many mana resources. Critical plays: (a) he countered my Wilt-Leaf
Liege which right there might have won the game for me, (b) Pithing Needled my Elspeth, and (c) kept taking creatures with Vedalken Shackles; all while I had trouble drawing additional creatures (kind of annoying, with 41 of them in the deck). Oh yeah, a Wrath of God was a big pothole in my roadway also.
Hey Grizzledmage! Although you managed an early wasteland, the pressure you brought, as you mentioned, just wasn't enough to counteract my game plan. I feel that cryptic command countering the liege was a turning point in the game because I was able to time walk you and then bribery next turn (target exalted angel). From that point you did manage to aggro out enough, but I had WoG + Shackles to wipe the board and make sure stuff didn't really come back. Elspeth did help you, until it was shut down after a little bit. Jace Beleren -> Jace the Mind Sculptor -> Future Sight ultimately enabled me to drown you in card advantage and set up, in 2 turns, a 2 turn clock, that consisted of Teferi + Man-O-War + Kitchen Finks + V.Clique + V. Shackles target of some shadow creature. It was definitely a great game - I need to figure out how to make my deck operate faster because it takes me SO long to stabilize.
Perhaps I'll see you at the end of this month :)
Hey there!
Yep. I also have a control HL deck but run it in UB; I was thinking about trying to put a UW together as well. I was actually glad you chose the Exalted Angel; I was afraid you'd take Still-Moon Cavalier (which is INSANE against a mono-white deck). In fact, I did bring that BU deck to an event like a year ago, and played Bribery AGAINST a WW deck... I chose the Cavalier, and it basically won the game for me. (The fact that I had Urborg in play as well made it that much sweeter...)
Hmm... maybe I shouldn't be telling you all this... :P
Also, when I did try playing the Liege, I was in fact afraid of a counterspell, but I was very focused on trying to get in and pound away as much as possible before you could complete your development... ah well...
Will def try to be there this month, but we'll see.
Hey - how a summary of your other matches?
I did consider a different creature, but you had such a developed board that I needed the biggest thing that would have the fastest impact. Exalted angel serves to effectively grind your offensive to a standstill because you can no longer make a profitable attack. If I chose the cavalier, it wouldn't have the same effect.
General overview, at least what I remember:
R1 - B/W Aggro: He has an early Gerrard's Verdict followed up with a levelup creature and some other things. His only white source is Caves of Koilos for many turns, and it denies him access to most of what is in his hand. I find a Kor Haven and eventually stabilize, despite falling to a low life total. T1 Library of Alexandria is incontrovertibly busted; I secured victory with a Mana Drain + Stick.
R2 - U/R Control: I built my friend this deck and it had the same exact blue core as mine, except it used red cards instead of white cards. I undoubtedly prefer the list with white because of the way they compliment each other (the ally color thing helps out too with the new manland + increased fixing). He's never really in this game because I keep him on the back foot with a t2 scepter he is forced to daze and then follow that up with a gifts ungiven (wasteland, crucible, glen elendra archmage, venser) - I had riptide laboratory in hand - and he's never able to resolve anything again.
IDK why my computer hates this forum software but im going to make a double post because this isn't working once it filled this txtbox once
Yeah, for some reason, when I fill the initial box, everything just goes nuts on me. Anyway:
R3 - UBG Control: I stabilize at dangerously low life after an awkward game occurs. He beats me over ~5 turns with mishra's factory and I'm just drawing dead. Eventually, I stick an elspeth, but he has both Mishra's and Urza's Factories. I topdeck a tezz and immediately go for a needle. When the needle is killed, I kill Tezz by getting Shackles and shutting off his plans. Faerie Conclave + Crucible gets me the win, along with elspeth that had >10 counters on it by the time the game was over. It was a really close match that went to time and 5 turns. I made an oversight in this match, that was pointed out to me afterwards, because instead of making tokens with elspeth, I could have just made everything indestructible (including faerie conclave) and then swung over for the win. This wasn't THAT simple because I knew he had a diabolic edict, but the point stands nonetheless.
After seeing how nuts he is, I'm definitely adding Gideon to the deck.
Quote from: Ravager Sam on 09-05-2010, 06:24:59 AM
After seeing how nuts he is, I'm definitely adding Gideon to the deck.
Yeah; I finally obtained my first one last weekend at a "rare-backdraft" after a casual sealed event that I was fortunate to do well in... In he goes!
I called them up and they said highlander was LAST week.
Dumb...
Missed the May event, but here's what happened last night (13 players in attendance).
After much soul-searching, I decided to try my 4-color reanimator deck (list below), despite the recent banning of Survival of the Fittest. I’d agonized over what card to put in that slot, and ended up with Debtor’s Knell, but I am still not happy with that choice. Turns out to have been moot for the tournament, however, as that card/slot never saw daylight throughout the event.
Anyway, got off to a rocky start with Round 1, as the TO/Judge read off the initial pairings which did not include me. I spoke up; he seemed confused and said, uh, I entered your name I guess you have a bye? I asked if I was in the list of players and he said no. Thank goodness for store owner (and event participant) Chris who said, “Give me the bye; Oliver hasn’t waited all this time for a bye, and re-do the player list.â€
Well the rocky start kind of continued, as I was paired against nice guy and good player Justin who was playing a pretty straightforward mono-Blue control deck. I was able to reanimate a single creature (Sphinx of the Steel Wind) and managed to deal a little damage (got him down to 9, although he helped with some painland-like effects) but he was able to bounce the Sphinx and then established a permission lockdown, winning with his flashed-in Teferi and Guile. If I’d been able to get either a Shroud creature or Iona going instead of the Sphinx… but such was not (literally) in the cards. GG anyway!
Second round against John, playing mono white… but not exactly WW. I’ve played John before; he is a super affable guy and probably comparable to me in MtG skills, and when I saw mono-W I was afraid that he would overrun me quickly, but then it came out that he was playing a converted EDH deck which admittedly was kind of a strike against him, as regular Highlander and EDH have sufficiently different dynamics that such a changeover is not so simple. I got an early Intuition, dumping Inkwell Leviathan and Simic Sky Swallower to the GY (he let me keep Iona in my hand; good choice!), followed by a Makeshift Mannequin for the Leviathan. He was able to WoG within a turn or two, however. I then played Compulsive Research (I think), allowing me to put Iona in the GY and then animated her with Life/Death, happy to take the 9 life loss because it completely shut his game down.
Third round against young girl Nicole, playing a fairly nondescript B/U deck. Not much of a contest; although Nicole is an enthusiastic new and young player, her skills are largely undeveloped so far (although she did win one of the first 2 rounds). She dealt some early damage with unremarkable creatures (Welkin Tern and Surrakar Marauder… in all fairness, though, I get the feeling that her deck may well have been constrained by a shallow card pool). I cleared her board with a Wrath of God and then followed up with Fact or Fiction which allowed me to put Empyrial Archangel in to my GY and I got it into play with Zombify. She couldn’t get past the Archangel (although she would have been happy to Mind Control it!), and the game ended.
2-1 earned me a prize booster pack… hoping for a Gideon I selected a RotE pack, but no such luck!
Deck list here. Some changes since I posted this some months ago on this forum's Deck Clinic area...
// Lands (36)
1 Mutavault
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Treetop Village
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Dust Bowl
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid Creek
1 Wasteland
4 Swamp
3 Plains
2 Forest
3 Island
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
1 Terminal Moraine
// Creatures (23), some fatties and some utility
1 Karmic Guide
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Bonded Fetch
1 Mulldrifter
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Teneb, the Harvester
1 Angel of Despair
1 Iridescent Angel
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Trygon Predator
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Eternal Witness
1 Thought Courier
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Blazing Archon
1 Body Double
// Spells (41)
1 Zombify
1 Exhume
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Careful Consideration
1 Life/Death
1 Miraculous Recovery
1 Makeshift Mannequin
1 Breath of Life
1 Stitch Together
1 Echoing Truth
1 Into the Roil
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Phyrexian Furnace
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mortify
1 Putrefy
1 Path to Exile
1 Day of Judgment
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Wrath of God
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Compulsive Research
1 Krosan Grip
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Intuition
1 Life from the Loam
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Impulse
1 Damnation
1 Quicksilver Amulet
1 Vindicate
1 Vigor Mortis
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Liliana Vess
1 Debtors' Knell
1 Betrayal of Flesh