Preparation
Some 1 month before the tournament, I was contemplating what the best deck choice was for the Singaporean metagame. Looking back at the last tournament, I expect to see the field filled with islands, with 11 out of 18 players playing Counter-top, Merfolk, NO Bant, UW Tempo, Threshold, and Reanimator. Moreover, 8 of the 18 players had playsets of Tarmogoyf in their Bant, Rock, and Survival decks. The deck that I should be playing must be one that is capable of beating blue decks and green fatties.Against decks packing islands and fetchlands fetching blue duals, I figured that I really want to play with Choke. Enchantress quickly stood out as one of the best places to pack Choke. With its playset of Sterling Grove, a single copy of Choke maindeck can give blue players fits in game 1, when they least expect it. Either Seal of Primordium, Seal of Cleansing, and Aura of Silence main can shut down Counterbalance for a critical turn to resolve your Argothian Enchantress or Enchantress's Presence. After which each mana the opponent pays to counter your spell ends up with you drawing closer to a Replenish. If that doesn't give you an advantage, City of Solitude from the board shuts down Force of Will and Daze. I would say that if piloted carefully, Enchantress has an edge.
Against decks packing Tarmogoyf, a card that quickly stood out to me is Perish. As much as Hibernation and Mind Harness proved to be good weapons against green fatties, Perish is more of a permanent solution from irritating Noble Hierarch and Qasali Pridemage, to fatties like Knight of the Reliquary and Progenitus. It severely punishes Bant and Zoo, 2 of the decks that are expected to be present in all events. Black also provides Engineered Plague against Goblins and Merfolk. Lastly, black is just such an alluring colour (don't you like goth babes?)
Due to the above reasons, I wanted to do something Rock-ish, something black-green. With the low actual land count in decklists nowadays, I really wanted to play with Smallpox. Innocent Blood allows me to deal with untargetables such as Progenitus and you seldom get removal cheaper than a single mana. With Pox in mind, Bloodghast and Tombstalker filled the role of win conditions. The self-discard was mitigated by using Cabal Therapy and Life from the Loam, which together with Wasteland fitted nicely with the land-destruction theme.
Life from the Loam and Scroll Rack featured as my draw engine due to the low mana investment required. 3-mana each turn gives you 3 cards, it's like a Standstill every turn for 1 extra mana, in green. With all the land-destruction, I figured that Choke may not be necessary. Perish and Engineered Plague will definitely be in the sideboard though. The more I thought about it, the more I'm convinced this deck is a contender.
Or so I thought until I tried playing against Merfolk. The fast beats were just too much to handle. As I expected Merfolk to be on the rise after Saito won Grand Prix Columbus 2010, the deck idea was chucked to a corner. I might work on it again, if control matchups become more prevalent, as the deck simply screws other mana intensive decks.
With Merfolk as my fall-back plan, I explored another janky idea – Mono-green Chalice Aggro. Similar to Dragon Stompy in that it utilizes the fast mana of Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, and Chrome Mox, I came up with a decklist that pumps out 5/x beasts capable of trading with Tarmogoyf. Natural Order matches NO Bant's combo, and the threats were selected to dodge Swords to Plowshares and trade evenly with other fatties. In theory, the deck seemed good. In practice... let's just get to the Enchantress decklist.
Enchantress
Mana (20 + 8)4 Windswept Heath
1 Savannah
2 Serra’s Sanctum
3 Plains
10 Forest
4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
Disruption (20)
2 Elephant Grass
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Runed Halo
4 Sterling Grove
1 Seal of Primordium
1 Moat
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Solitary Confinement
Threats (2)
2 Sigil of the Empty Throne
Others (10)
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress’s Presence
2 Replenish
Sideboard (15)
2 Elephant Grass
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Karmic Justice
1 Harsh Judgment
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Solitary Confinement
2 Choke
This decklist is designed to beat fast decks as I realised Madness Survival is a deck to beat later during playtest, especially since its debut at GP Columbus. Cutting interesting tutor targets and maxing out Journey to Nowhere and Oblivion Ring is what makes this build distinct from others. Hey, if Bant wants to play 4 Swords to Plowshares and 4 Path to Exile, why wouldn't Enchantress play 8 removal too? Merfolk and Zoo requires you to handle them fast or die and Journey to Nowhere is easier to cast than Runed Halo.
As for the sideboard, free Vengevine from the yard is much scarier and necessitates the additional Elephant Grass in the sideboard. Leyline of Sanctity provides not only protection from burn, but is also my first line of defense against combo. That matchup is still pretty bad I think, and I'm prepared to be a bye for them. That being said, I was extremely lucky that I met my first combo matchup in the finals. You can find the rest of the decklists here.
Now on to the report proper.
Round 1 vs Bryan with Mono Black Rack
Last time we met, he was piloting Dragon Stompy and fried my fish crispy on the first match for the day. It's such a coincidence that he's my first opponent that day as well. We both have no idea what the other was playing as we shuffled up for the match.Game 1
He won the dice roll and opened up with Swamp. I valiently fought back with Forest and Utopia Sprawl, threatening to churn out an Argothian Enchantress next turn, when he Smallpox my board away. Bells began to ring. Pox is an extremely bad matchup as Enchantress is extremely susceptible to land-destruction. I was lucky though as I would have readily lost if he had waited to cast Smallpox the turn after Argothian Enchantress landed. Instead, the human druid resolved after some more discard and I drew more than he could handle.Sb: - 3 Journey to Nowhere, + 1 Seal of Primordium, + 2 Leyline of Sanctity
Throughtout the game, I noticed that he seems to be piloting a discard deck with Cursed Scroll and The Rack as his win conditions. There were no signs of dreadful Sinkhole and the only only land-destruction spell he had was Smallpox. I didn't see any Innocent Blood and wondered if he packed them in his sideboard. As he seemed to be dependent on enchantments like Bottomless Pit and artifacts, I boarded in the 2nd Seal of Primordium. Leyline of Sanctity substituted the dead Journey to Nowhere, although I was wary of the possibility of Phyrexian Negator from the board. Sanctity prevents some targeted discard and is better than the path to Holland.
Game 2
After a Wrench Mind, he resolved 3 copies of The Rack, and they bolt me for 3 for 2 turns until my 2 Oblivion Ring deals with 2 of them. The 3rd Oblivion Ring obliviates his newly casted Bottomless Pit and a Seal of Primordium deals with the remaining The Rack. Sigil of the Empty Throne lands and angels blow trumpets as black clouds receeded.W-L-D
1-0-0
In retrospect, this is truly a bad matchup for Bryan as even Dystopia might not do much for the mono-black deck. He gracefully congratulate me on the win and that's how I got my revenge! That aside, seeing familiar kind faces brings an aspect to Magic which makes it appealing. Here's a shout out you Bryan, hope to see you again next tourney!
Round 2 vs Desmond with Rock
Although I saw what some of his friends were piloting earlier on before the games began, I had no idea what he piloted. Then again, I should do fine as long as it's not combo.Game 1
And that's when he played Bayou on turn 1. Pernicious Deed anyone? Having swapped out Karmic Justice for more Journey to Nowhere, it feels like a tough first match for me. To compound that, I misplayed and sent his turn 1 Llanowar Elves on a Journey to Holland. Should have saved that for the Dark Confidant next turn. I followed up that misplay with another one by playing my Serra's Sanctum on turn 2, only for him to Wasteland it. In what amounts to quite a long game, he got to blow Pernicious Deed twice and Maelstrom Pulse me a couple of times. Replenish did help to set up my board after the first Deed, but I gave up when he finally discarded both my Sigil of the Empty Throne with a Cabal Therapy. Taking care not to let him know that these were my only 2 win conditions, I told him that I'll lose on the next attack (which is true). Sometimes, you just have to bring the attention of the opponent away from some important aspect.Sb: - 2 Runed Halo, + 2 Karmic Justice
Runed Halo proved to be the card most sideboarded out. It costs double white, something my build struggles to do on turn 2, and most of the time Journey to Nowhere is better. Karmic Justice is my trump against Pernicious Deed, although casting Oblivion Ring when he is tapped out works too.
Game 2
I got off to a good start by getting my engine online and strutted out a quick Sigil of the Empty Throne. He had only 3 lands and even a top-decked Pernicious Deed can show him no mercy. Critically, I almost considered fetching out Karmic Justice in the mid game to reduce the blowout of Deed. I managed to withstand the urge to do so, which paid off in the rubber game.Game 3
You know you're playing well if you save Journey to Nowhere for Dark Confidant. I got my engine online when I suspect that he might want to lure out an Oblivion Ring to resolve a Pernicious Deed. Without dwelling in it too much, I casted Oblivion Ring as I had Karmic Justice in hand. He then proceeded to tap out to play Pernicious Deed. Of course, the Karmic Justice that ensured was a blowout, acting as an Armageddon, a Wrath of God, and a Disenchant for his Umezawa's Jitte. Lucky for me, he was unfamiliar with Enchantress and did not expect Karmic Justice to be boarded in. That's what happens when your opponent has to read a card you did not show him earlier. When the dust settled, I tapped my lands to play an Argothian Enchantress against his empty board. He quickly conceded when he realised that I could rebuild much faster than him.W-L-D
2-0-0
Some people might flare up when they are in a plight as bad as Desmond, but not him. We even competed on being the last person to finish up his Arnold's chicken after the whole tourney. Guess Vintage's not the only format for gentlemen.
Round 3 vs Kaiser with Madness Survival
One way to know what a player is playing is to look at his buylist. When someone who plays NO Bant is buying japanese Vengevine, it's a pretty good bet on Survival. However, I was not able to confirm my suspicion before the start of the match as he always seemed to complete his matches before I do.Game 1
We both started on a mulligan to 6. This is when I tried to play a trick. Although my hand was quite a decent one, with an Argothian Enchantress and an enchantment, I peered at my hand for quite some time, frowned a little, and acted as though I wanted to mulligan by touching my library amd leaning my hand towards my it. Because Kaiser won the dice roll, he had to decide whether to mulligan first and luckily he went down to 5 while I kept my 6. I wonder if my little trick had worked? (EDIT: It didn't. He mulliganed as he drew a no-land hand.)Amazingly, he passed without making any plays! He then top-decked a land and landed a Noble Hierarch. When he Force of Will my Utopia Sprawl and Argothian Enchantress, he had finally spent all of his ammunition. I then drew and resolve an Enchantress effect and won while he top-decked lands and a single Tarmogoyf.
Sb: - 2 Runed Halo, + 1 Choke, + 1 Karmic Justice
At that point in time, I put him on NO Bant from the cards I've seen. Having practised against 2 Qasali Pridemage, 3 Krosan Grip, 2 Trygon Predator, and 4 Spell Pierce, I feel confident in this matchup.
Game 2
However, I realized that I was dead wrong when he landed a tun 2 Survival of the Fittest. Having kept a slow hand and sideboarded wrongly, I fell quickly to hasty Vengevine beatdown.Sb: - 1 Choke, - 1 Karmic Justice, + 2 Elephant Grass
Choke and Karmic Justice are slow and don't even affect Vengevine nor Survival of the Fittest. Elephant Grass is much better at slowing down the onslaught of the plants!
Game 3
Although I could not get an Enchantress effect, I got lucky as he had also kept a hand without Survival. I put him on an aggro route when he cast Noble Hierarch and 2 Tarmogoyf and showed me a Vengevine in hand when contemplating whether to cast it. Elephant Grass slowed the assault down and I sent Tarmogoyf to Holland. When he didn't counter my Argothian Enchantress, I manage to combo out soon after.W-L-D
3-0-0
Round 4 vs Jimmy with Sanctity Goblins
ID. With 5 rounds swiss, 3 wins is all you need to get to top-8. Having time off to rest is important so Jimmy went to eat while I went to the loo loo to poo poo.W-L-D
3-0-1
Round 5 vs Kelvin with Zoo
ID.W-L-D
3-0-2
Quarterfinals vs Kaiser, Madness Survival
It seems that I have much better luck than Kaiser that day, as Enchantress is a bad matchup for him.Game 1
Somehow, having played the same matchup twice doesn't make you remember your games better. However I finally realised he is playing Madness Survival instead of Survival Bant when I saw his Wild Mongrel. Here's our lifepoints, see if you can figure something out.Him: 20, 19, 18, concede
Me: 20, 18, 14, 7
Sb: - 2 Oblivion Ring, - 2 Journey to Nowhere, + 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, + 2 Elephant Grass
Runed Halo stops multiple Vengevines, so it was a mistake to sideboard them out last round. Unfortunately, I am not sure whether this is exactly how I sideboarded.
Game 2
Although my memories were vague, this is possibly the best game I've played that day. He did not counter my turn 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon and his graveyard is kept empty from then on. Although he did not open with a Survival of the Fittest, his turn 2 Wild Mongrel kept knocking 3 points of damage with exalted triggers. His 1/2 Tarmogoyf grew only to 2/3 later in the game. All this while, I have been juggling Elephant Grass and Solitary Confinement, using Replenish to bring them back to play after carefully deciding that I can live past a turn without them and can spend the mana on better spells. A 2nd Replenish demonstrated my luck that day as I played tightly while he infrequently cast Krosan Grip to disrupt me. I finally stabilized while on 5 life and landed a Sigil of the Empty Throne. Being a fighter, Kaiser refused to concede until I had drawn more than half of my deck and landed a Confinement lock with Sterling Grove protection.W-L-D
4-0-2
Semifinals vs Kelvin with Cat Sligh
I had previously watched Kelvin's match in the swiss and was excited to face a fast Zoo deck. With no playtesting against Zoo, I only hoped that my sideboard options are good enough for his burn.Game 1
I mulliganed to 6 and kept a 1-land hand with Windswept Heath, Argothian Enchantress, Journey to Nowhere, 2 Enchantress's Presence, Solitary Confinement and 1 other. I kept since I figured I had a decent chance to draw into a mana source being on the draw. Of course, that never happened.Sb: - 1 Seal of Primordium, - 1 Oblivion Ring, - 2 Runed Halo, + 2 Leyline of Sanctity, + 2 Elephant Grass
If Ivory Mask is good against burn, Leyline of Sanctity is God-like. If Jimmy's Goblins trounced burn using this card, so can Enchantress win Zoo's botls and blasts. Although Circle of Protection: Red seemed good against Zoo's burn, I thought that 2 cards against burn is plenty as his creatures are more threatening.
Game 2
Once again, I opened a 1 land hand with my opening 7. This time, I had 2 Replenish, 1 Sigil of the Empty Throne and some other expensive stuff that I can't cast even if I draw into a land. I then continued to mulligan to 5 and kept a hand with 3 lands, Argothian Enchantress and Utopia Sprawl. Perhaps this is the best I can do. Critically, I wait to cast Utopia Sprawl after resolving Argothian Enchantress on turn 2. I then drew like a god into other Enchantress effects and got him into a Confinement lock at 9 life. Sterling Grove proved to be critical protection against Qasali Pridemage.Game 3
Which is better, turn 1 Chain Lightning or Wild Nacatl? Definitely Wild Nacatl. What about Chain Lightning turns 1 and 2? This time it's closer but it's still turn 1 Wild Nacatl. When Kelvin lightning me turns 1 and 2 and landed a turn 3 Wild Nacatl, I get a surprising relief. (EDIT: It's turn 1 Chain Lightning and turn 2 Wild Nacatl + Chain Lightning. I skipped lunch you see.) An attack from the cat exalted by Qasali Pridemage left me with just 8 life after I fetched twice. However, I had gotten 2 Enchantress effects in the meantime and landed the third when he has no cards in hand. A Moat stopped his onslaught and double Sterling Grove prevented any Krosan Grip shenanigans.At that point, I showed him a Solitary Confinement and asked him whether he wants to concede to which he refused. In retrospect, it might seem as though I was belittling an opponent by asking them to concede. Here, I just want to clarify that I had no ill intentions at all and apologise if they got a wrong meaning. It's unlikely that anyone will think so though, as they're all nice understanding people. Anyway, when he got me down to 5 life (burn? Can't remember), I manage to get the Confinement lock down and Sanctity myself. Angels soon roam the skies unimpeded.
W-L-D
5-0-2
Finals vs Sebastian with Belcher
After some negotiation, we split the top 2 prizes. I somehow admitted defeat when I get to know about this matchup. It was not the best in the world. Moreover, I was convinced that he had Reverent Silence in his sideboard and that I was the aggro and he had the inevitability. If only I had brought a Null Chamber with me before I left my home... Little did I know that he had only a single Hull Breach to Burning Wish for and that the matchup may be better than what I thought. Nevertheless, I am happy with the Foil From the Vault Mox Diamond for my efforts! It was also late and I badly wanted lunch.Thoughts
The deck seems quite well equipped to fight against aggro and blue decks. In all these games, I've resolved Moat at most twice so it wasn't Moat that did the work. Instead, a combination of 4 Journey to Nowhere and 4 Oblivion Ring provides fast relief to creatures ranging from Grim Lavamancer to Tarmogoyf. Now if 2 or 3 cmc spells can work wonders, what about 1 cmc Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile? If I were to bring Enchantress to a tourney right now, I will just swap the sideboard Harsh Judgment to either Sphere of Law or to the 3rd Leyline of Sanctity.Props:
- Nice people to play intense games with
- Organizers for upping the prize with 2 From the Vault: Relics!
- Making some decent plays in the games
Slops:
- Not having lunch
- Not bringing a camera to snap photos of the event
- Not playing a match with Belcher after the tourney to see how it will fare Tweet this!
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