Subject: Tourney Report Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 23:27:22 -0700 From: "Michael Medinger" Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy For those of you that actually read these posts of mine, I apologize for having been gone for so long... I've just started school, and that's been consuming much of my time. Still, I have an interesting experience to relate to all of you. It's about an old deck revamped...those of you who were around during the Summer of Necro probably know what I'm talking about. I have always liked red/green landkill. Unfortunately, there was a long stretch of time when it wasn't viable in Type II, but it worked fine in Extended. That is, until Exodus came out. This latest set brought back some very decent cards that were sorely missed from the original Christmas Deck. This included a replacement for Stormbind (found in Ogre Shaman); a good, fast creature in Mirri, Cat Warrior (formerly Yavimaya Ants), as well as some basic landkill. My newest Type II incarnation has replaced a lot of aggressiveness with control. Gone is Erhnam Djinn...instead, I play with Spike Weaver. I have also found that Erratic Portal is truly worth its weight in gold in any landkill deck. I'll be adapting it to several other decks in the time to come. The deck itself is farily complex, but not incredibly so. Sometimes, with a good draw, your opponent is left completely helpless, at which point Shivan Dragon brings the game home. Without further ado, here is my deck... 2 Karplusan Forest 10 Forest 8 Mountain 4 Birds of Paradise 2 Llanawar Elves 2 Ogre Shaman 3 Spike Weaver 2 Mirri, Cat Warrior 2 Shivan Dragon 2 Erratic Portal 4 Creeping Mold 2 Gaea's Blessing 1 Survival of the Fittest 4 Winter's Grasp 2 Fireball 2 Flowstone Flood 4 Incinerate 4 Stone Rain Sideboard: 2 Earthquake 2 Lifeforce 4 Pyroblast 2 Ruination 2 Tsunami 3 Uktabi Orangutan ***** **Swiss Rounds *First Round: Red/Green creature deck Game One: I play against a guy who won the last two local tournaments with this very deck. It's plays like a Sligh deck (ahem...Neo-Sligh...), except that it has green elements for added control. Very competent. This was one of the toughest matches all day This game is close. At first, we exchange creatures for burn, but my landkill prevents his deck from developing quickly. I drop a Shivan, but it gets killed with a 6-damage Kindle. When he does get going, my Ogre Shaman starts killing off his creatures, and it is once again at a stalemate. He's holding his burn for my Spike Weaver, though, and he starts beating me down. Fortunately, I draw a Fireball big enough to win. Game Two: I don't have a lot to sideboard in, but I put in two Orangutans to deal with his Cursed Scrolls. I never see them, but I don't have to. He gets two lands in his opening draw (so he told me later), and he never sees another. Landkill wins. 1-0; 2-0 *Second Round: Survival/Nightmare deck with Tradewinds Game One: I don't see any early landkill...but I get an early beatdown with Mirri and a Shivan. Unfortunately, he casts Living Death...and makes a comeback from 20-3 to win the game. I'll have my revenge... Game Two: Sideboard in Lifeforce and Ruination. Two VERY ugly cards to play against a deck like this. I decline to sideboard in Pyroblast, because the only cards that it would kill are Tradewind Rider and Sliver Queen. I start with early landkill, and get a Shivan on the board in fairly short order. I drop Survival of the Fittest...which my opponent forgets about. Once again at 3 life, he manages to cast Living Death. As a fast effect, I pitch my second Shivan Dragon and Spike Weaver into the graveyard, sealing his doom. Game Three: I get out an early Mirri, but little landkill. I cast Lifeforce 4th turn...and the game is at something of a stalemate. Tradewind bounces Mirri...but not Lifeforce. Baffled, I play on until I draw Ruination...which kills all but a two forests and a swamp. I lose a single Karplusan Forest. I manage to Incinerate/Ogre his Tradewind Rider, and the game is mine. Mirri walks past the remaining Draw Walls for the win. 2-0; 4-1 *Third Round: Suicide Black...Dojo Style Game One: As we shuffle, this pimple-faced 13-year-old boasts that he won every game so far with Hatred... He starts off with a Dark Ritual, 2 Sarcomancy, and Carnophage. I catch my breath and look at my hand...Elf, Forest, Mountain, Incinerate, Mirri, Stone Rain, Gaea's Blessing. This game is mine...! :-) He gets his early beatdown, but I eventually take him over. Mirri rules over crap like this...! I hold the Incinerate until he plays Dauthi Horror, and attempts to Hatred. Incinerate the Horror...Mirri wins next turn. Game Two: I sideboard in Earthquake and Lifeforce...just so that he can't try Hatred. He really doesn't care if I see 4 Perishes go into his deck... It turns out that Perish won't do a whole lot of good. The game gets underway, and he wants to draw. Okay... I open up with Forest and a Bird...next turn landkill...and for the next three turns. I play Spike Feeder, and Erratic Portal next turn. I breathe a sigh of relief, because I pretty much have the game. He gets out a horde of creatures, but they're not doing him any good. I wait until I drop a Shivan...game over. 3-0; 6-1 *Fourth Round: Fish...thawed, not Frozen Game One: Finally...I play someone I have a lot of respect for. Yukio is one of the best players in the Southwest, and we routinely see each other in the late rounds of Swiss...as well as the final rounds. I saw this deck earlier...he bummed a few cards off of me, including Legacy's Allure and Rootwater Matriarch--both for his sideboard. He opens up with a ton of weenies, including Tidal Warrior and Lord of Atlantis. Mirri is almost helpless, and Curiosity keeps his hand full. I get off a good sized Fireball and even Ogre Shaman, but he eventually runs me into the ground. Game Two: It occurs to me during sideboarding that I completely neglected to include Scragnoth. Barf...! Still, I have Pyroblast and Tsunami. These should help. He opens up much in the same way that he did before...except that he plays Rootwater Matriarch. "Hey! I want that card back!" I tell him jokingly. After he lays Curiosity on my Spike Weaver, I stop laughing. He steals my Weaver, and plays Lord of Atlantis. Then he casts Mask of the Mimic. What the hell...? He sacs MY Weaver for ANOTHER Lord, and bludgeons me down to 5. I topdeck Earthquake, and blow it for two, clearing the board of creatures completely. He lays more creatures, but I topdeck Ogre Shaman, then Tsunami, then Shivan Dragon. I win a VERY close game. Game Three: I'm suddenly getting rather nervous. As I shuffle my deck, I wonder if the fact that I'm NOT playing with Scragnoth will hurt me at all. I draw two forests, no mana creatures, and don't see another land. I get overrun in 6 turns. Bummer... 3-1; 7-3 *Round Five: I draw with a friend of mine, and we go to Pizza Hut for lunch. 3-1-1; 7-3 **Final Rounds: *Quarterfinals: White Weenie Game One: As my opponent shuffles, I spy some Warrior Angels in her deck. "Gee, this must be my lucky day," I think to myself. I don't see any landkill in my opening hand, but I do play Survival of the Fittest, which goes free of Disenchant through the entire game. Turn 3, she drops Armor on Soltari Priest, and beats me for 7. Fetching Spike Weavers, I stall the game out for nine turns. Meanwhile, I kill all of her land. Praying for Gaea's Blessing, I get the next best thing...Erratic Portal! I bounce the Priest, and lay Shivan Dragon next turn. Unfortunately, she manages to cast Wrath of God next turn. I follow up with...another Shivan Dragon! After a long, gruelling game, I finally win. Game Two: I was sorely unprepared to play White Weenie. Thinking briefly about Earthquake, I decide not to sideboard anything. I see Justice and CoP: Red coming in. The game goes slow at first, Mirri keeping some knights at bay. Then she taps out to drop Armor on Paladin en-Vec. I chump-block with an Elf, and grin...because I drop Erratic Portal. At this point, I draw a lot of landkill, and manage to keep even more bounced. Then...I stop drawing landkill. She plays CoP: Red...then Oath of Lieges (Arrgghh!)...then Disenchants Erratic Portal. With all of her stuff bounced, she casts Wrath of God, and follows up with her creatures. With only Shivan Dragon in my hand, I proceed to lose. :-( Game Three: Pissed off at myself for doing a bad job of building my sideboard, I start the game with the following hand...Forest, Mountain, Elf, Stone Rain, Stone Rain, Winter's Grasp, Winter's Grasp, Incinerate. This is a god hand...I keep her down to one land, and she never plays anything bigger than a Soul Warden (which I Incinerate). I eventually draw Mirri and Shivan Dragon, as well as more lands and landkill, and beat her down. She played Oath of Lieges, but couldn't play land fast enough to cast Wrath of God. I win a pretty lucky game. 4-1-1; 9-4 *Semifinals: Yukio (again)...Thawed Fish Game One: Oh, no...I really don't care to play this one again. I grumble to myself, while he lights a cigarette. I open up with a hand full of burn, and Mirri. His creatures come at only a trickle, and I burn them all. I play a Shivan Dragon, which gets Mana Leaked... ...Okay, this little countermagic should come as no suprise to you, but it was a shock to me. You see, Yukio didn't play a SINGLE counterspell the last time that I played him. Not one! I kind of looked at him stupidly and with a bit of astonishment. Tasting my pizza come back up, I deposit the Shivan into my graveyard... ...Coming back from that reeling blow, I kill land, play Erratic Portal, then Spike Weaver. Instead of Fogging with the Weaver, I pump up Mirri over the course of a few turns. Then he played Man-O-War. I paused...then kept doing it some more. Eventually, I beat him down with a 6/7 Mirri. :-) Game Two: Sideboarding just like last time, I'm REALLY worried about Scragnoth...but I try not to let it get to me. I draw early burn, Weaver, and Pyros, keeping him down to one creature before I cast Tsunami. It's a relatively quick game; I win. Game Three: Parusing my sideboard again, I decide to include Earthquakes. Why the hell not...? Not that I needed them anyway...Yukio got a crappy hand full of Masks of the Mimic, Curiosity, and a single Hydroblast which finds my Stone Rain. I proceed to beat him down with landkill and Mirri, and finish him off with a Fireball. Almost an anti-climatic end to what was supposed to be an epic battle. By this time, though, I don't want an epic battle...I just want to finish my next match and get it over with. 5-1-1; 11-5 *Finals: ProsBloom Game One: Oh, happy day! I know I'm just going to crush ProsBloom! After exhaustive playtesting, I've determined that my deck can beat this one about 85% of the time. It lived up to its nature this game, killing enough land and wasting an early Squandered Resources. He plays another, and attempts the kickoff...but it's no good. Landkill wins. Game Two: Incoming...Lifeforce, Ruination, and 2 Pyroblast. I play Lifeforce second turn...he concedes. Whatever, dude... :-( 6-1-1; 13-5 Well, I drove home victorious after all...! You know...I love landkill...! I just hurts so much, and it's control capabilities is incredible. I'll be tweaking this deck, and I'll be sure to let the rest of you know how it comes along. Props: *Mirri -- She managed to come up almost every game, and tore apart weenie decks, and beat down Draw Wall decks almost without effort. I think that this is one of the best cards to come out of Exodus, and I was happy to prove it to everyone that I played. *Creeping Mold -- This was the missing link in the old Christmas Deck. It is one of the most powerful spot removal spells in Standard, IMHO. *Spike Weaver -- Moving away from aggro and toward control was probably the smartest thing that I did in building this deck. With Erratic Portal against a creature deck, I pretty much have the game won. *Pizza Hut -- The guy didn't charge us for drinks...Manager's Special. It's just the kind of thing that brings a smile to your face...! :-) Slops *Sideboard -- I put a lot of thought into my sideboard, and it choked. Why the hell didn't I think of Scragnoth? What was I supposed to do about white weenie? Oy... *The Pimple-Faced Kid -- Sore loser...asshole...you know the type. The first thing he did after I beat him was dis my deck. Unbelievable! *Erratic Portal -- Where the hell was it...? It didn't come out nearly as much as I would have liked it to. With a good measure of landkill, this one is usually a game winner...I just didn't get to play it. Well, if you're still reading this, I'd like to thank you. This is my first report, and I hope that it was done to your satisfaction. If you have any comments or constructive critacism, feel free to e-mail me. Sincerely, Michael Medinger Professor of History at the Argivian University