SCG Invitational - Top 8

Hi all. It's been a while since I wrote here. Sorry about that.

I've been fairly busy the last few months with school crap: teaching three sections of General Physics Lab, a upper-level graduate course in solid-state physics & serving as the preceptor to a National Science Foundation scholarship. I was also pretty addicted to Diablo II (don't laugh) for a while there.

In the meantime I did find some time for Magical cards. John Cuvelier and I made our way up to the SCG Open in Boston a few weeks ago to capture our last two points to qualify for the Invitational. We both played Metal Red in standard, putting up sub-par results (3-4 combined). In Legacy, I ran Belcher, while Cuvelier went with Welder Reanimator. We were both 5-2, and got paired for the final round. Cuvelier's tie-breakers were slightly higher, so I scooped to him, but he still finished in the bottom quarter of the top 16, while I fell to 34th or something (clean cut at 32).

With our ten points in hand, we both headed to Richmond for the Invitational, along with Michael Brady. Cuvelier and I planned to play Josh Cho's B/R Vampire list, but Cuvelier audibled to UWr control (to his own demise). Cuvelier finished 1-4, and ran some Legacy on Sunday, losing in the last round to miss the top 8. Cho and I both finished in the money with the vampire list, Cho in the top 32, while I got my first substantial top 8 finish in over five years (since I started doing research at the university) -- chopping the pot for $4250 a head.

Glenn Jones and Bill Stark must've been pulling for me to take down the whole tournament from round 1, as I had a whopping three feature matches (all with video coverage) over the day. Here are the links:
Round 2 (Pro Tour Champion Charles Gindy) here
Round 11 (Andrew Steckley) here
Quarters (Two-Time Grand Prix Champion Gerry Thompson) here

Steve Sadin has contacted me about writing an article for StarCityGames. I'm not sure how much I have to say, but I'm considering his offer, and am going to try to get started on something tonight/tomorrow.

proxygen and cardsearch updated

Cardsearch (www.3mcs.info) and proxy generator (proxy.3mcs.info) are both updated to include Scars of Mirrodin.

Allies in Legacy

Audrey (Andrey) Yanyuk ran this list to a 26th place finish at SCG Open Minneapolis last weekend.

Maindeck:

4 Aether Vial
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Dark Confidant
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Kazandu Blademaster
3 Mother of Runes
4 Ondu Cleric
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Path to Exile
3 Plains
2 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
2 Savannah
4 Scrubland
4 Windswept Heath

Sideboard:
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Kor Firewalker
2 Ranger of Eos
2 Krosan Grip
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Gaddock Teeg

It's interesting that a deck like this can win matches. What's more interesting is that I completely disagree with many of his card choices, which means there's definite room for improvement.

My biggest hangups here are Tidehollow Sculler and Path to Exile. Mother of Runes is also kind of sketchy, but I can mostly deal with it, due to the lack of two drops/Ranger targets.

I see very little reason at all to play Tidehollow Sculler over a good card that doesn't interfere with the curve, like Thoughtseize. I ran Sculler in some versions of life, but in those, I had over 15 actual one drops (Path doesn't count), so it seemed reasonable. Here it just seems bad.

Next, I don't like Path to Exile here, because it's hard to imagine too many situations where you don't have the largest creatures in play. Perhaps playing three copies is fine due to the tempo advantage, but it's extremely hard for me to justify running the full complement.

As for Mother of Runes, as I said before, I'm willing to let those slide for now. Probably cutting one for a Benevolent Bodyguard is correct (as a Ranger target). No other green, white or black one drops immediately come to mind as being nice tutor targets.

Adding another Ranger of Eos seems sick. He's basically this deck's version of Goblin Ringleader. Sure, you don't have Lackey to power him out early, but the guys he fetches are cheap, so it makes up for a lot of the tempo loss.

Here's what I'd start with if I were to seriously consider working on this deck:


4 Aether Vial
4 Thoughtseize
2 Mother of Runes
1 Benevolent Bodyguard

4 Hada Freeblade
4 Dark Confidant
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Ondu Cleric
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Kabira Evangel
3 Ranger of Eos
3 Path to Exile

3 Plains
2 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
2 Savannah
4 Scrubland
4 Windswept Heath

Sideboard:
1 Ravenous Trap
2 Extirpate
3 Duress
3 Krosan Grip
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Engineered Plague

Grand Prix: Columbus

Not sure how many of you are hitting up Grand Prix: Columbus for some Legacy, and although I won't be attending the Legacy GP this year, I have given some thought to what I'd play if I did go. Here are my four candidates.

First, Aluren combo, championed by one Cedric Phillips has been cleaning house on Magic Online. Although Imperial Recruiters would be a big hit in the wallet, the deck seems to be for real. Here is Scott Bielick's list from SCG5K St. Louis.

Aluren
1 Parasitic Strix
1 Bone Shredder
1 Cavern Harpy
2 Dream Stalker
2 Eternal Witness
4 Imperial Recruiter
1 Man-o'-War
1 Raven Familiar
4 Wall of Roots
4 Aluren
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Intuition
4 Cabal Therapy

2 Forest
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Bayou
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Savannah
1 Stomping Ground
4 Tropical Island
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath

Sideboard:
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Harmonic Sliver
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Krosan Grip
2 Stifle

Like Aluren, I haven't played any games with this second candidate but it also appears to be quite the spicy brew, and has also put up some solid results on Magic Online, as well as an 8th place finish in St. Louis by Michael Pozsgay.

Mosswort-Stifle-Naught
4 Lim-Dul's Vault
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
1 Form of the Dragon
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
1 Wipe Away
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Duress
3 Ponder
3 Show and Tell
4 Thoughtseize

1 Forest
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Bayou
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Mosswort Bridge
3 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea

Sideboard:
2 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Form of the Dragon
3 Pernicious Deed
2 Krosan Grip
3 Duress

The basic idea is to get an Emrakul or Dreadnought under Mosswort Bridge, play a Dreadnought, and with "enters the battlefield" effect on the stack, activate Mosswort Bridge. You either outright win the game, or at least have a 12/12 trampler. Alternatively, the deck can go the Show and Tell/Emrakul route or even the Stifle-Nought route, which isn't terrible except when facing a green mage post-board (Krosan Grip).

Next up, UW Counter-Thop is a great deck that, along with the above two, has put up some strong finishes on Magic Online, and has a 5K victory under it's belt.

UW Counter-Thop
Josh Guibault - 1st Place 5K St. Louis
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sword of the Meek
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Counterbalance
1 Moat
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Brainstorm
3 Counterspell
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

1 Seat of the Synod
6 Island
2 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Academy Ruins

Sideboard:
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Back to Basics
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Humility
1 Serenity
1 Extirpate
2 Hydroblast

And finally, when all else fails, stick to what you know: New Horizons. While the deck has been dormant on Magic Online as of late, it put up strong finishes in 5K Philly and took 5K Seattle. My current list can be found here.

New Horizons at Armada (II)

I ran New Horizons again at Armada Games last Saturday night to a 3-0-1 finish. Here's the list.

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Terravore
2 Engineered Explosives

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Forest
1 Island
2 Tundra
3 Tropical Island
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Murmuring Bosk (let's you explosives for 4 against Moat)
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Extirpate
4 Krosan Grip
2 Mind Harness
2 Hallow
2 Rhox War Monk
1 Swords to Plowshares

Although UW Counter-Thop seemed to be a good matchup in our testing, we hadn't played too many games to test, and I was a bit worried about Moat resolving (no outs). That, and the thought that a Savannah needed to be in the deck prompted me to add a Murmuring Bosk (in place of a Horizon Canopy). Bosk is almost a Savannah, but also allows Engineered Explosives on four - a nice solution to Moat and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Moreover, the old list had Tormod's Crypts in the board, which seem much worse than Extirpate.

Here is a quick summary of my matches.

Round 1 - JDub White - Dredge
JDub had pretty slow draws in all three games. In game one, he took a double mulligan, and was only able to get a single dredge per turn. He wasn't able to get a whole lot going, and my Terravores got really big in a hurry. In game two, I Extirpated JDub's Bridges from Below, but he was able to outrace my men by a single turn. Finally, in game three, JDub had to slow-roll his Bridges to play around Extirpate (which I had). I got a few men out but he had Firestorm (pitching Grave Troll and some Ichorids and stuff). I Extirpated his lone dredger and was able to play more dudes and end the game before Jdub could get anything going.

Round 2 - Nolan Blackwelder - Belcher
Nolan managed to take game one when I tried to Daze his Burning Wish when he had a Spirit Guide. I knew he had it, since it was revealed by Land Grant, so this was a straight up punt. I lost to Belcher with a Stifle in hand. Games two and three were simpler as Nolan made Empty the Warren tokens both games, which I answered with Engineered Explosives.

Round 3 - Robert Cone - Mono-Red Goblins
These games were pretty quick as my creatures are way to big to race without a pretty quick start from the dumb red men. Robert had double Lackey in game one, but I had two Swords to Plowshares (and a Tarmogoyf to boot, but didn't want to get blown out by Stingscourger). I traded a Wasteland and Stifle for a Port and Wasteland, and Robert was quickly out of gas. The goyfs quickly cleaned up.

In game two, Robert kept a slow, but burn-heavy draw. A Fireblast took out my first Knight of the Reliquary, but I had another and a Terravore to boot. Robert tried to race with a Warchief and double Piledriver, but Hallow on the second Piledriver (while on the stack) set him either further back, and the following turn had him chump blocking 7/7's with his 1/2's.

Round 4 - Kitt Holland - UW Counter-Thop
Intentional draw.

Paul Hyden ran the exact same list as me, but finished 1-1-1 (drop) losing to Counter-Thop (Holland), beating Aggro-Black (Wayne Stout) and drawing with UB Painter/Grindstone (Mark Paoli). Paul admits that he needs to practice with the deck though, as he didn't feel that he played optimally in any of the his matches.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the list. Paul and I agree that Extirpate is the nuts, and the Murmuring Bosk doesn't seem to be too big a PITA when drawn. It sucks not having the fourth Horizon Canopy, so I might find a way to add the fourth back in. I didn't get to Hallow any Prices of Progress, but without the card, I think we'd be forced into some very tough decisions against Zoo, Burn and Mono-Red Goblins (while playing around PoP, Fireblast and whatever else).

I hated Sensei's Divining Top all night. It's a big hit in tempo, and I would've rather just had the fourth Ponder, and either add back the Swords to Plowshares, add another Engineered Explosives, or a Preordain. On the other hand, I didn't play any games against control or aggro-control, and clearly that's where the Top shines brightest. I'd be willing to give the card another try.

Here's the updated list:
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Terravore
2 Engineered Explosives

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Forest
1 Island
2 Tundra
3 Tropical Island
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Murmuring Bosk (let's you explosives for 4 against Moat)
3 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Extirpate
4 Krosan Grip
2 Mind Harness
2 Hallow
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Swords to Plowshares

A few other cards worth trying out:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - This might be insane in the mirror and against Counter-Thop, but it is a bit slow.
Seasinger - Could be a blow out against Merfolk or the mirror, although it is vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares and Jitte.
Sickening Dreams - If it resolves against Merfolk or Goblins you simply win the game.

cardsearch and proxygen updated

I've added M11 to the cardsearch (3mcs.info) and proxygen (proxy.3mcs.info). Enjoy!

I've been busy with the move and vacation, so I've not had time to make any meaningful updates lately. Hopefully that will change soon.

ANT sans Mystical Tutor

Lobster411 put up a 4-0 in the Legacy daily event on MODO last night with this Mystical Tutor-less ANT list.

4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island

2 Ad Nauseam
4 Brainstorm
4 Burning Wish
2 Cabal Ritual
3 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
3 Infernal Tutor
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
3 Ponder
4 Rite of Flame
3 Silence
1 Tendrils of Agony

Sideboard
1 Cleanfall
1 Deathmark
1 Echoing Truth
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Infernal Tutor
1 Pyroclasm
2 Shattering Spree
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Thoughtseize
3 Xantid Swarm

Pretty straightforward swap of Tutor for Burning Wish. Burning Wish does pretty much everything Mystical Tutor does, but just slightly slower. Wish for Ill-Gotten Gains is pretty strong, while Wish for Infernal Tutor gives access to Ad Nauseam. I don't think Ill-Gotten Gains is necessary in the maindeck, but it's probably fine.

Another possibility is to play Cunning Wish. This could give access to Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam, Pact of Negation and various situational spells. My instinct is that this is too slow for Legacy, but I think it is at least worth thinking about.