For me, this is my first tournament. The nervousness that accompanied a tingling excitement was mixed with hesitation and fear of failure. Although our team have prepared for it for some 2 to 3 weeks beforehand, I've focused on Reanimator and ANT. Changing the deck just a couple of days before the tourney, coupled with the extreme weak aggro matchup made me feel that the expected value of the tourney doesn't justify entering it. $30 entry in exchange for a Rise of the Eldrazu booster pack? Doesn't seem to be worth it. Even the 3rd and 4th placings would get only 9 boosters, breaking even. Would an inexperience player break even?
Amazingly, I did. And more. I placed 2nd with this list:
Merfolk
Creatures (25)4 Cursecather
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 Wake Thrasher
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Others (15)
4 AEther Vial
3 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
Lands (20)
4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault
12 Island
Sideboard (15)
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Submerge
2 Hibernation
1 Mind Harness
1 Seasinger
2 Pithing Needle
4 Spell Pierce
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the fishies, it is an aggro-control deck that seeks to land threats that grow with lords, backed-up by protection from free counterspells. Vial offers protection from Force of Will and the Stifle-Wasteland package offers more disruption in a format where dual lands run rampant.
Initially, I had Umezawa's Jitte in place of Kira for the aggro matchup. However, playtesting revealed that Jitte doesn't equate to an aggro win, especially against zoo. Zoo decks that pack 8 bolts and 4 paths can and will burn all creatures who try to wield a Jitte, even in a 23 creature list. Kira helps in this aspect in that they require 3 removals for that lord that you want to keep alive – 2 for Kira and another for that lord. However, be reminded that vial-ing in Kira in response to a burn doesn't save your creature from a burn, as it doesn't grant the creature shroud.
So much for all that rambling, now for the matches:
Round 1 vs Brian with Dragon Stompy
Although it was Brian's 4th tournament, it seems like he isn't that close to the other people there. He was sitting alone at a table writing down his decklist before the tourney started.
Game 1
Since my aggro matchup was horrid, my sideboard was geared towards besting the combo and blue decks with goyfs. Therefore, the anti-green cards seemed useless against mono red dragon stompy. Although Stifle could null a Simian Spirit Guide or a Chrome Mox, I thought that Spell Pierce could hit Chalice, Trini, and removal (Pyroblast) that he might side in. Thrasher was generally sided out as it was a 3-cc spell and was usually the weakest card.
Sb: + 4 pierce, + 1 harness, - 3 stifle, - 2 thrasher
Game 2
He again had a city and mox for his mana which powered out a magus. However, my deck likes me now and gave me lords and fishies to beat down with. His deck still seemed to dislike him and gave him only another simian guide. With a Mutavault on my side, he opted to block with his simian when I rumbled with 3 creatures. He drew a blank, and here's the course of his life points: 20 → 17 → 10 → 4 → 0.
Game 3
He had a city and a Chrome Mox start yet again, but he passed the turn with 3 mana at his disposal. The lackluster start was matched with a Cursecatcher. On his next turn, he merely drew and passed. Seeing that he didn't have a land drop for a 4th mana, I opted to waste his city and manascrew him instead of dropping a Silvergill Adept. My Cursecatcher chipped 2 points off when I dropped a Silvergill the following turn and a Reejerey after that. In the meantime, he managed 3 mana and Firespout my team away.
At this point, he was at 13 life points and me taking no damage. I managed to lay another bear and a lord to take him to 8, when he managed the 5th mana for Arc-Slogger. ARC-SLOGGER! That's like a freaking 4/5 Grim Lavamancer machine-gun. And my deck basically folds to lavamancer. Needless to say, I tried to fight back with a coralhelm which he read. Sensing that I might be able to win by running him out of cards to shock me critters, I tried to trick him into not shocking coralhelm by saying that I had priority and could level up the commander. Unfortunately, he didn't fall for it and killed my fish with no remorse. I prayed for my only out – the only copy of Mind Harness, but my prayers weren't answered. My heart fell along with his library, but my lifepoints fell faster. Fishy dun like shocky.
W-L-D
0-1-0
In retrospect, I should have remembered that he exiled an Arc-Slogger once for a mox and should be prepared for it. When he showed me his Pyrokinesis after the game, I was reminded that I'm prepared to be a bye for red decks. However, I still felt that I could have won if I paid more attention to the gameplays.
Round 2 vs Kaiser with NO Pro Countertop Bant
I was both sad and glad to be able to play against Kaiser. Sad as I heard that he is a good player and I might join team 0-2 drop; glad as merfolk is good against blue based decks. Either way, I would gain experience from playing against a good player, and he's a fun guy to be around.
Game 1
I lost the die roll again but the consolation prize was that he mulled to 6. He promptly kept the 6 and started by fetching a basic island on his turn, escaping Stifle and Wasteland. Signs of an experienced player! On my 2nd turn, I tried to lay a threat which he FoW-ed and fetched, brainstormed, and fetched again. I kept him off green mana with a Wasteland for a Tropical Island, and laid more threats. Although he swiftly played more lands, he could only answer with a plow and the game ended soon.
I designed the sideboard specifically to face blue based goyf decks, and Hibernation was there specially for Progenitus. Coincidentally, it also hits Noble Hierarch, Qasali Pridemage, Tarmogoyf, Rhox War Monk, basically a 3-mana 1-sided Evacuation. It also helps to a certain extent with zoo that packs Wild Nacatl, Pridemage, Tarmo, and Knight of the Reliquary, although that matchup is still horrid. Knowing that he might side in more plow/path, I left Kira in as a form of protection.
Sb: +1 Seasinger, +1 Submerge, +1 Mind Harness, +2 Hibernation, -3 Wake Thrasher, -1 Daze – 1 Cursecatcher
Game 2
W-L-D
1-1-0
After the game, I told him that I was scared of Natural Order in the last game to which he replied that he had sideboarded that package out for Spell Pierce as it couldn't have resolved against merfolk. Here, I humbly disagree. Against my build, if he sides out NO Pro, there's nothing much worth countering except vial and my lords. If he keeps NO Pro in along with Spell Pierce, he might actually increase his chances of getting NO resolved. Anyway, his words reminded me that I should sideboard with his probable sideboard plan in mind. This proved to be useful later.
Round 3 vs Timothy with Buw Reanimator
Tim and I are part of the same play group and he is someone who enjoys playing his own concoctions. This deck is the same as it packs 2 Mox Diamond for speed, Extirpate for removing opposing counterspells (after discard or resolution), and no Force of Will nor Daze as disruption. Unfortunately, due to the 5-proxy limit, he could only afford Cabal Therapy and Inquisition of Kozilek as Thoughtseize wannabes.
Game 1
I lose the die roll for a 3rd time. Wonderful. The thing is that he couldn't keep up with my Stifle-Wasteland package and my Cursecatcher slowly pecked away his life points until his lord friends came to play. By that time, he had only 6 life and his Reanimate was left stranded in his hand.
Graveyard based decks like reanimator, dredge, and lands have problems with graveyard hate, but the problem is magnified if you pakc a diverse array of hate. That is the reason why I ran 2 Relics, 1 Crypt and 1 Trap, although trap is less useful against reanimator. However, Spell Pierce is nasty for a deck that runs on a low land count like reanimator.
Sb: +2 Relic of Progenitus, + 1 Tormod's Crypt, +4 Spell Pierce, -3 Wake Thrasher, -3 Stifle, -1 Daze
Game 2
See Game 1, minus Stifle-waste as he fetched out a basic swamp early.
W-L-D
2-1-0
Sometimes, quirky ideas work. Usually, they don't. Combo decks don't usually need an increased speed to go off turn 1, as they would require more resources and thus be more vulnerable to disruption. Going off turns 2 and 3 with disruption is good enough. And that is why ANT and Reanimator are the best combo decks.
Round 4 vs Wenhao with Lands.dec
Wenhao is part of the playtest team and he had been playing Lands for quite some time. At this point of the tourney, I was at 6 points but wenhao was at 4 with a bye, a loss and a draw. I could get into top 4 (prizes!!!) if I won, but neither of us would get in if we drew or he won. Therefore, he kindly scooped to me. I must mention that he was pretty unlucky to have gotten a bye first round and got paired with Belcher and ANT for the next 2 rounds. Still, managing a draw with ANT was magnificent. We played a friendly match in which I won the first game rather easily with only a Zuran Orb as resistance, and was crushed in the second game, not drawing my graveyard hate.
W-L-D
3-1-0
Top 4 vs Charles with New Horizons
Charles is the tournament organizer and has an enviable experience travelling around Australia playing and winning power pieces. He is friendly to talk to and we all have to thank him for making the tournament possible.
Game 1
Yet another blue based Tarmo deck. This time, more dependant on the graveyard.
Sb: +1 Seasinger, +1 Submerge, +1 Mind Harness, +2 Hibernation, +1 Relic of Progenitus, -3 Wake Thrasher, -2 Cursecatcher, -1 Daze
Game 2
O. M. G. I'm in the finals. Library. Wow. This close to having the power 10. I must be dreaming.
Finals vs Zhiming with Belcher
Belcher! Am I dreaming? Would 4 Cursecatcher, 4 Spell Pierce, 4 Daze, 4 Force of Will be enough to will me a LOA? My palms were sweaty and I started babbling nonsense with all the adrenaline inside. It's my first tournament for goodness sake! I really hope I win this supposedly good matchup.
Game 1
It really doesn't matter who won the die roll. It matters more if I have the Force as he can easily play around the Daze I faked I had. In reality, I had no Daze nor Cursecatcher to accompany the island I laid. I merely passed the turn and hoped...
He started going off on his first turn, using a Land Grant that revealed 2 Simian Spirit Guide, 1 Lotus Petal, 1 Chrome Mox, 1 Dark Ritual, 1 Rite of Flame, and 1 Burning Wish. He's going for the warrens kill.
Land Grant for Stomping Ground (storm 1)
Stomping Ground
Lotus Petal (2)
Chrome Mox imprinting Simian (3)
Rite of Flame tapping land (4, RR in pool)
Burning Wish for Tendrils of Agony!? (5)
Tap Chrome Mox (R in pool)
Dark Ritual sacrificing Lotus Petal (6, BBBR in pool)
Force of Will, I announced, exchanging 1 life and 1 other blue card for his 5 cards.
And with that, I'm 1 step closer to winning it.
And here's where I started to mess up. I knew from my match with Kaiser that I should play around the Xantid Swarm that Zhiming would bring in. However, in my haste, I sided out Stifle which is an answer to the more common Empty the Warrens kill.
Sb: +1 Mind Harness, +1 Submerge, +4 Spell Pierce, -3 Stifle, -3 Wake Thrasher
Game 2
I pondered over whether to keep the opening hand with 2 Spell Pierce and 1 Mind Harness for his Xantid Swarm. If he went for a disruptive slower kill, pierce could have made it. If you were me, would you have kept it? Think about it before browsing down to read the outcome.
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I can't decipher whether he had the t1 kill and mulligened as a 6-card hand still gives a decent chance of a FoW. Unfortunately, I didn't see a FoW nor a keepable hand with disruption until I mulligened to 4, keeping a 1 land hand with a non-FoW counterspell.
He then proceeded to Empty the Warrens for 14 goblin tokens before I took a turn and we're off to the rubber game. It doesn't matter if I kept the first hand or not. That's just Belcher for you. Brutal!
I messed up by sideboarding out Stifle, 3 more potential answers to a first turn Empty the Warrens. Damn. The only thing to do is to side them back.
Sb: + 3 Stifle, -2 Kira, -1 Vial
Game 3
This is the deciding match, and I want the LOA badly. My deck seemed to know it and gave me a playable hand with FoW and Mind Harness in it. That's 1½ outs against a Xantid Swarm. It even had an island, a Mutavault, and a Silvergill Adept to dig me more counterspells. I was confident, and went first, laying an island.
He played a Land Grant, that got him the Stomping Ground, which he played tapped. Then he played the 2nd Land Grant to fetch the remaining Overgrown Tomb out of his deck. A Belcher would prove to be fatal, but amongst the cards he revealed, there's only 2 Burning Wish, a Rite of Flame, and a Tinder Wall.
Mutavault and Silvergill Adept meant a potential 4 damage a turn. And as if the FoW wasn't enough, the cantrip got me a Spell Pierce. I grew more excited about this game and imagined the things I could brag if I won.
His turn just went peacefully with a Tinder Wall for blockers. But that also gave him 4 mana which he could cast a belcher with. When I drew a Stifle, I was overwhelmed and promptly stole his wall with Mind Harness, sacrificed it and attacked with Mutavault and the Adept. There was a little confusion over why Mutavault could attack as I didn't announce paying for the activation with the tinder mana, but being the generous guy that he is, Zhiming took the 4 damage amiably.
On the next turn, another Tinder Wall plopped onto the table and my clock was halved. It would take 8 more turns, less if I drew into creatures and the mana to cast them. However, I didn't manage to hasten my clock while he Wish-ed for a Duress from his sideboard. He must be preparing to go off soon, but I was ready with a Stifle, a Pierce and Fow. He shouldn't do it. He couldn't do it.
As in all sad stories, neither happened, and when the Xantid Swarm attacked, I could only meekly tap out to Stifle the activation. Without another Force in my hand, the Goblin Charbelcher resolved and that's the end of the road for me.
After the game, my teammate asked me if I had considered spell piercing the Duress instead. This would have forced him to sacrifice the Tinder Wall if he chose to have it resolve. This might have bought enough time for me to draw threats before he could cast and activate the belcher. My attacks would also be packing more damage without a blocker. What do you think?
As a consolation for 2nd place, I won 18 booster packs from Rise of the Eldrazi. Not bad considering the probability of a Vengevine, but definitely worse than a Library of Alexandria. At least Zhiming could tape the new Library over his deck box now.
In summary, this was an enriching experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire 5 hours of card slinging and encourage everyone to turn up of the next tournament.
And lastly, thank you for reading this. :)
Props:
Coralhelm Commander for being a 4/4 flying lord
My adrenaline gland for missing lunch and not realizing it until 5pm
The players and Rid, the shop owner who made this possible
Slops:
Misplays and punting in the finals
Requiring immense persuasion before I decide to enter the tournament
2 hour journey to and from Jurong Tweet this!
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