Dear Extended,
Sorry, Extended, but it turns out that I’m just not that into you. No, it’s not you – it’s me. I know we started off on the right path back in January, but things cooled off from there. I just never got felt… comfortable around you. I felt like I couldn’t be myself. It was the little things, really. I know the diversity you offer is supposed to be healthy, but in the end, it felt like we were together out of some twisted sense of obligation. I’m sure you understand, and you know we’ll be back together next year.
Love always,
Elias
Saturday, 6:50 am. My alarm clock goes off, or more accurately, my cell phone goes off, the lovely dulcet tones of the default Verizon alarm that I’ve been too lazy to change, much to my girlfriend’s chagrin. I pick up the phone, look at the time, let out my best Ms. Krabappel laugh, and reset the alarm to 8:30 am.
I had spent the better part of the previous evening debating: Extended PTQ, or local Vintage tournament? The PTQ in NJ was probably my last shot of the season to quality for Hawaii. The top prize is obviously extremely appealing, although the extreme drop-off from there is somewhat less so. I expected somewhere between 175 and 225 players. I had a Faeries deck I mostly liked, but hadn’t play-tested much against anything except Naya Zoo. The round-trip drive was probably close to four h ours, which obviously isn’t bad. In fact, even mentioning that fact shows that we’re somewhat spoiled in the Northeast, although we pay for the extra opportunities to qualify with generally higher attendance at those events.
The alternative was to drive 10 minutes to a Vintage tournament that I expected would have between 40 and 50 players, with the top prize of a Mox Jet. Although I hadn’t done much Vintage play-testing lately, I’ve gotten extremely comfortable with the Oath deck I discussed .
In the end, the decision really came down to what I wanted to do, more than what I felt like I should do. I probably should have played in the PTQ, since I desperately want to qualify for the Pro Tour, but I didn’t want to play Extended on Saturday. I’m pretty sure that to win a PTQ, you really have to want to win it, and going in without having that feeling seemed like a waste of time. I also really wanted to maximize my chance of winning something to get out of this, for lack of a better word, funk that I’ve been in lately.
Overall, Oath has been relatively good for me since my return to Vintage six months ago. At my first event, I was on X-1-1 playing for Top 8 in the sixth round, but lost to eventual winner Mykie Noble. I was running a list nearly identical to the James King Hellkite Oath from August 2008.
In my second event, I took a second loss in round 4 due to two consecutive play errors in consecutive games, ending up in 9th at 4-2. At this point I had moved to running Progenitus over Akroma.
In my third event at GP: Chicago, I started out 4-1, losing to a Remora deck in round three due to my unfamiliarity with it, and then taking my second loss in round six after my opponent top-decked consecutive Force of Wills from an empty hand to counter the Oath of Druids I had set up using Lim-Dul’s Vault.
For the event on Saturday, I made a few additional changes. I decided to cut the Scroll Rack, which I’d found myself side-boarding out quite often in exchange for a third threat, along with the Misdirection. In their place, I added a Tinker for an additional way of cheating a creature into play. I had meant for that creature to be Inkwell Leviathan but in my rush Saturday morning, I could only find a Darksteel Colossus. I also added a Duress and two Pithing Needle to the sideboard, replacing the three Null Rods I’d run previously (that were only marginally effective in the Vintage event at Chicago).
This is what the final list should have looked like, provided I had found the Inkwell:
Creatures (3)
Lands (17)
Spells (40)
- 1 Brainstorm
- 1 Vampiric Tutor
- 4 Oath of Druids
- 4 Force of Will
- 1 Demonic Tutor
- 1 Gaea's Blessing
- 1 Time Walk
- 1 Ancestral Recall
- 4 Impulse
- 2 Lim-Dul's Vault
- 1 Echoing Truth
- 1 Tinker
- 1 Black Lotus
- 1 Mox Emerald
- 1 Mox Jet
- 1 Mox Pearl
- 1 Mox Ruby
- 1 Mox Sapphire
- 4 Chalice of the Void
- 1 Wipe Away
- 1 Ponder
- 4 Thoughtseize
- 2 Negate
Sideboard
I went into this tournament with reasonable expectations of success, as thus far I’d ran my record to 11-6-1 after three events in a format I was still learning, and had yet to run into a match-up where I felt completely out-matched. Furthermore, I felt like I was finally getting to the point where I had a functional sideboard. Yes, it’s probably a little soft against Ichorid, but I have a hard time justifying the addition of more cards for that match-up when only two or three players tend to run it at these events. I took only cursory notes during the tournament because I wanted to relax and enjoy myself – so naturally, I won.
I’ll give a brief tournament report, below, but I wanted to finish off the primer I started previously with some sideboard plans for the updated list.
My basic sideboard plans look like this:
Against Workshop:
On the Draw:
Out: -2 Negate, -3 Chalice of the Void, -1 Hellkite Overlord
In: +3 Oxidize, +1 Empyrial Archangel, +2 Pithing Needle
On the Play:
Out: -2 Negate, -1 Chalice of the Void
In: +2 Oxidize, +1 Pithing Needle
On the Play, I think Oath is a pretty large favorite against Shop decks. If you can resolve Oath on turn one, you’ve probably won. Even if you can’t, the fact that they need to win with creatures puts you at an advantage. Oxidize comes in to take out lock pieces, and Needle is mainly in case they run Gargadon, although it has many other applications. Your main concerns are to not get Wasteland / Crucible locked and to make sure you’re not blown out by a moon of the Blood or Magus variety. Thoughtseize and Force of Will tend to get you there. If you’re playing against a more controlling Shop deck like Stax, then the Negates have to stay in to counter Smokestack and Tangle Wire. Note that playing Tinker for Leviathan gives Oath another potential explosive start against Workshop decks. I lost my first two match-ups against Stax, but have won my last four games against Shop decks now that I’m more familiar with how the games play out.
Against Tezzeret:
On the Draw:
Out: -4 Chalice of the Void, -1 Echoing Truth, -1 Hellkite Overlord
In: +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Oxidize, +1 Duress, +1 Empyrial Archangel
On the Play:
Out: -2 Negate, -1 Hellkite Overlord, -2 Chalice of the Void, -1 Echoing Truth
In: +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Oxidize, +1 Empyrial Archangel, +1 Duress
While I wouldn’t say Oath has a good match-up against Tezzeret, I don’t think that its particularly soft, either. Chalice of the Void can be randomly amazing, but I take them all out on the draw and only leave two in on the play, as I’d rather have Pithing Needle. Turn one Needle naming Time Vault is actually pretty strong against Tezz. Oath offers just the right amount of disruption that you can often knock the Tezzeret deck off-balance long enough to execute your plan. Running Thoughtseize and Duress helps you figure out what line of play they’re working on and how to best ruin it.
Against Fish:
On the Draw & on the Play:
Out: -3 Chalice of the Void, -1 Hellkite Overlord, -1 Tinker, -1 Inkwell Leviathan
In: +2 Massacre, +1 Echoing Truth, +2 Empyrial Archangel, +1 Duress
The Fish match-up ranges from good to ludicrously good. The only two cards you really need to be concerned about are Meddling Mage and Trygon Predator, the latter in particular because it lives through Massacre. Fish decks that run Black can be more difficult because they can use Duress / Thoughtseize to rip Oath out of your hand. Outside of that, you know that your enemy has to play Creatures to win, so you don’t ever really need to find Forbidden Orchard. I have lost a few games to Fish, but I have yet to drop a match to it.
Against Ichorid:
On the Draw & on the Play:
Out: -2 Negate, -4 Thoughtseize, -1 Hellkite Overlord, -1 Wipe Away, -1 Inkwell Leviathan, -1 Chalice of the Void
In: +4 Tormod’s Crypt, +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Empyrial Archangel, +1 Oxidize, +1 Echoing Truth
This build of Oath isn’t really set up against Ichorid, but you have plenty of options. Tormod’s Crypt and Pithing Needle are the main weapons, while Empyrial Archangel can buy you additional time.
Against TES / Ad Nauseam:
On the Draw & on the Play:
Out: -1 Wipe Away
In: +1 Duress
My previous lists had at least a token nod toward Storm decks, but they just aren’t that popular and haven’t been putting up results in my area, so I dropped the Arcane Labs / Null Rods completely. Unfortunately, that means I really have a whopping one Duress to bring in. However, I already have main-deck Chalice of the Void, Thoughtseize, Force of Will, and Negate, so I already have solid options against Storm. Should either of these decks be more popular in your area, Null Rod is probably the more solid choice, as a turn-three Arcane Lab is often going to be too slow to matter – just make sure you keep the count of Blue cards high enough, as you don’t want to have to take a mulligan with a Force of Will and no other Blue cards.
As far as an actual tournament report, my rounds looked like this:
Round 1: Win 2-1 against Affinity (1-0)
Round 2: Lose 0-2 against Tezzeret (1-1)
Round 3: Win 2-0 against Fish (2-1)
Round 4: Win 2-0 against Tezzeret (3-1)
Round 5: Win 2-1 against Remora (4-1)
Round 6: ID with Workshop Aggro (4-1-1)
I made the Top 8, in the 8th spot.
Quarterfinals: Win 2-0 against Landstill (5-1-1)
Semifinals: Win 2-1 against Workshop Aggro (6-1-1)
Finals: Win 2-0 against Tezzeret (7-1-1)
I believe there were 44 players on Saturday. The meta is heavily infested with Tezzeret and Fish, and filled out mostly by various Workshop, Storm, and rogue decks.
The first round was relatively unexciting, as I was playing against a deck running Creatures and no Force of Wills. He was fast enough to kill me the first game, but once I had the extra protection of the Archangels, I was in good shape. I did have to mulligan to six twice in the round.
In the second round, I got COMPLETELY smoked by Josh Barkon. I had to mulligan both games, but both of my six-card hands were excellent. In fact, the second game my mulligan hand was Black Lotus, Thoughtseize, Pithing Needle, Oath of Druids, and two land. However, the Thoughtseize got Misdirected. I ditched the Needle, not realizing how insane Josh’s hand was. In both games, he had infinite turns set up by the third turn.
The really interesting thing was at this point in the tournament, after two rounds, I was 1-1 and had taken a mulligan in 80% of my games, but I was just as relaxed and loose as before the tournament started. So far, I was taking my own advice regarding what I could and couldn’t control.
The third round match-up was good for me, although the first game I was staring down a Trygon Predator. Luckily I had a 2nd Oath, and the one activation was enough for the win.
I drew extremely well against my round four opponent, who had mana issues in both games.
In round five, I made a play mistake on the first turn of the first game, rushing into an early Tinker that I didn’t need when I could’ve backed it up had I waited a turn. In the third game, I actually had two of my three win conditions Extracted, and had Progenitus stranded in my hand. I had to get through the game without losing while trying to find a Brainstorm or Thoughtseize to get Progenitus from my hand back into my deck, and then still had to resolve an Oath and find an Orchard. Somehow, a combination of Force of Wills, Negates, the Duress, and Needles bought me just enough time to get there during extra turns. I might’ve still lost as my opponent top-decked a Yawgmoth’s Will, his only out, but didn’t play the turn out correctly and couldn’t get to the Time Walk he needed to win.
Against AJ Grasso in the quarterfinals, I had a terrific opener the first game, while our second game was one of the ugliest games of Magic I’ve ever been a part of, as his hand was all mana and Stifles and Wastelands, and my hand filled up with creatures and Gaea’s Blessing. I had resolved an Oath, but every time I found an Orchard, AJ would Stifle the trigger and then untap and Wasteland it. Suffice it to say that many turns into the game, I won by hard-casting a Hellkite Overlord. AJ Oathed up a Gargadon (the top card of his library), but it wasn’t enough.
I had my most ludicrous hand of the tournament the first game of the semifinals:
Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Forbidden Orchard, Oath of Druids, Tinker, Chalice of the Void, and Polluted Delta.
He had no response to my Oath, and when I flipped over Progenitus, and followed that up with a second turn Thoughtseize, he scooped rather than reveal what he was playing. In our third game, I could’ve lost to double Curfew (which is anti-Inkwell tech that unfortunately hits Oath creatures as well – more on this below), but I had the Force of Will for the second.
The finals were pretty anti-climatic. Josh had to mulligan to six both games. I won the die roll and had turn 1 Thoughtseize to strip his hand of Tinker, leaving him with a Force of Will and a bunch of mana. Turn 2 I played Oath off an Orchard, and he played Force of Will pitching the Mana Drain he drew off the top, but I had a Force of my own. The second game, I Duressed his Mana Drain, resolved Oath, and then used Lim-Dul’s vault to find an Orchard.
Overall, I was very pleased with this list. Lim-Dul’s Vault has continued to prove its worth game in and game out, and I think that is the main “innovation” I’ve found for this deck. Progenitus also seems far superior to Akroma, and I don‘t think there is any justifiable reason to not make that change. Given that Curfew is likely to see play as Inkwell Leviathan has become the Tinker target of choice, Scroll Rack becomes more appealing, and I might want to put it back in the deck. The two likely choices for replacement are Echoing Truth (although the second “bounce” spell has worked out well) or one Chalice of the Void. Either of those cards would end up in the sideboard, so I would have to alter the sideboard as well. Additional testing is needed to see if Curfew has enough effect on the game to require changes to the list.
The best tonic for repeated losing is to win something. That’s obvious. That said, I wouldn’t have won this tournament had I gone on tilt after round 2, or after the first game of round 5, and I was more aggressive with my mulligan decisions than I have been in the recent past, and considerably more decisive with my sideboard maneuvers. Taking the time to examine some of my recent failings, and committing myself to working on them, paid dividends for me this weekend. Yes, I had some fortunate opening hands – and my opponents had some unfortunate hands – but one of the strengths of this deck is its potential for quick openings that put on immediate pressure and disruption. That’s partially why I play the deck. I also just happen to really like the way this build of Oath plays, and the fact that for many people this isn’t a deck they test against, which gives me another advantage.
The combination of Progenitus and honest reflection – it does a body good.
A quick shot-out to Mike with CCGames for running another great event, AU Blue Bell for hosting, and Chas, Mykie, and Legrow for the play-testing and advice.
Until next time…
Matt Elias
[email protected]
Voltron00x on Xbox Live and the SCG Forums