Manila’s Fledgling Type I Tourney Scene
Neutral Grounds’ Glorietta branch just hosted their second sanctioned Type I tournament on November 23, and sixty-one people showed. Glenson Lim a.k.a. Glenchuy split the finals, with his wife and toddler watching as usual, and even managed to drag me along.
I have to say, after testing my post-Mirrodin build against Workshop decks and Dragon online, playing the local metagame’s 75% Goblin, Suicide Black and White Weenie metagame is nerve-wracking. In round 1, I was unfortunately paired against local veteran Froggy Ong, and I had to mulligan away a hand with just a Wasteland for mana. I kept a hand with three land and a Demonic Tutor, but this wasn’t much against a Goblin deck that was playing first.
Game 2 saw me mulligan again, into a hand with a couple of sideboard cards but just a Mox Ruby. I choose not to chance mana screw, with his Wastelands and Goblin Vandals, and Froggy consoles me by saying”The Deck” comes back stronger than anything as I mull down to five. I get three land, a Chalice of the Void and a Brainstorm, pretty useless without a Mox against his first-turn Goblin Lackey, second-turn Goblin Vandal and Goblin Piledriver opening. I Mana Drain the Price of Progress, but not the Lightning Bolt, Goblin Grenade, and Fireblast that came with it.
It was a portent of things to come.
Out of the thirteen games I played that day, I mulliganed down to five in three, and to six in eight others. (And to add insult to injury, Glenson told me he wasn’t paired against a single Suicide Black or Goblin deck the whole day, and actually got to use the Rack and Ruins we slipped into our sideboards. Damn, but he got paired against White Weenie!)
I was humbly reminded of a number of tournament concerns and would like to share them, me being the kind of person who hates to block off an entire Sunday for a tournament.
First, as Neutral Grounds owner Freddie Tan keeps reminding me, a tourney is as much about endurance as it is about skill.
I was pretty demoralized entering Round 4, where I got my second loss. In Round 2, I played against Suicide, got my hand stripped, and quickly conceded to Necropotence. I had to mulligan down to five and win a long game off a Tolarian Academy-powered Yawgmoth’s Will, and then come back in Game 3 in equally epic fashion.
In Round 3, I played what turned out to be Reanimator, but Duress got an early Zombie Infestation out before I could play Chalice of the Void for two. As luck would have it, I failed to topdeck a single tutor or draw card, used removal and Balance against token after token, and had to use Disenchant on Animate Dead that was targeting Phantom Nishoba by the time I got Cunning Wish. (I had played Chalice for one instead, to nail Duress and Cabal Therapy) However, in Game 2, my opponent refused to concede in the face of The Abyss and Fire/Ice imprinted onto Isochron Scepter, and we had to draw Round 3 due to time.
So what happened in Round 4?
I played against The Rock from Extended, and lost Game 1 to Duress, Duress, Cabal Therapy and a Necropotence that followed much later. In Game 2, however, I was kept at bay by a Pernicious Deed, and I resolved Yawgmoth’s Will for Ancestral and other goodies, ending with Vampiric Tutor for the Cunning Wish I needed. Morphling was in hand, but I sacrificed the Polluted Delta I forgot about to counter a Persecute (yes, Persecute) and carelessly shuffled away the Wish. Instead of winning half an hour into the round, I had sent both Wishes down into the library, along with all the other threats I could use to bait the Deed.
Time was called, and at the end of my last additional turn, I had my opponent down to ten, with my two Morphlings and The Abyss unopposed on the board.
I truly deserved being knocked out due to that single mistake, so pay attention, especially if you don’t have a loyal wife to deliver snacks to your table like Glenson.
Second, you really have to pay attention to time when playing a control deck. The above stories illustrate this point as well.
Third, you really have to double-check your deck. Since this column is more important to me than real-life Manila tournaments, I had to make a few changes for Manila, mainly going back to Morphling and The Abyss (the latter being a godsend against Suicide Black). I didn’t practice at all with this modified build, but killing with Morphling again isn’t too tough.
What was tough, however, was using Chalice of the Void effectively against some old Extended decks. It wasn’t a serious problem, but Glenson had a lot more fun with it, having played against a lot of the more curious Manila decks before.
What got me, though, in my opinion, was not practicing with Isochron Scepter beforehand. When I arrived at the tourney, Glenson sold me a couple for six dollars, and I decided to use Isochron right there. I wasn’t used to it, though, and my hardwired reflexes didn’t like having to compensate. In Round 4, for example, no one realized I had unnecessarily used a Brainstorm when I should have kept it in case I topdecked a Scepter.
Finally, there was the little problem of my Time Walk still being in the mail from Star City. I thought I might have it by that Sunday, so my typically plays were confused every Yawgmoth’s Will. I wouldn’t have made my Round 4 mistake, for example, had the Walk been there and I just cast it as usual, instead of holding two mana open. And, I might still have won that game had Time Walk been in my deck.
The order wasn’t placed that early so it’s no one’s fault, but I have to say that when Star City says”mint”, they mean mint. If I have the time to play on December 14, I might yet get to use it.
Incidentally, the Walk came with a set of promo Jackal Pups-the ones that have”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war” for flavor text.
Anyway, I guess it’s more practice for me. I swept Suicide Black and mono Blue in Rounds 5 and 6 for a shabby 3-2-1 finish, so I do pray StarCity’s Time Walk brings me better luck next time around than Glenson’s Isochrons… twelve mulligans in eleven games, dammit!
Thanks to all the Philippine players who follow my column (besides from Glenson), and it was nice to meet all of you. And thanks to Chito Ines, the Nether Void player, who added me to his Friendster list.
Sun Wukong, Oscar Tan, November 2003 (modified for Manila play)
Blue (19)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Cunning Wish
3 Brainstorm
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Stroke of Genius
2 Morphling
Black (6)
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Mind Twist
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 The Abyss
1 Skeletal Scrying
White (3)
1 Balance
2 Swords to Plowshares
Red (3)
1 Gorilla Shaman
2 Fire/Ice
Artifact (4)
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Isochron Scepter
Mana (26)
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
1 Island
I do hope, at least, that the local players tried to guess at my decklist based on last week’s historical introduction. The feature was based on a game played over a year ago.
Head to Head: Dragon
Right now, I’m obliged to finish my long-delayed Mirrodin review, plus the Black-based aggro-control features of The Control Player’s Bible. However, I decided that I want to have a bit of fun and at the same time give people something more related to December 1. So, I’ll break the Bible’s order again.
Dragon, Hero ‘t Mannetje, Champion, October 26, 2003 Eindhoven
Engine (27)
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Intuition
2 Compulsion
3 Animate Dead
2 Dance of the Dead
3 Necromancy
4 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Ambassador Laquatus
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
Disruption (7)
3 Duress
4 Force of Will
Other spells (5)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Cunning Wish
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
Mana (21)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Island
1 Swamp
Sideboard (15)
1 Chain of Vapor
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Rebuild
1 Stroke of Genius
3 Verdant Force
4 Xantid Swarm
Two weeks ago in”Maximizing Mirrodin, Part VI“, I noted that Dragon combo was getting more and more Top 8s in various tournaments, and this is the deck we’ll spotlight. Since we haven’t had an Asian guest in all these features, today’s feature was brought to you in part by Freddy Lim from Singapore.
Freddy is nineteen and serving his mandatory conscription requirement in the army, after which he goes off to college.
16:13:50 – — Nevinyrral says: ”Ahh… fresh meat”
16:13:51 – — Rakso says: ”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.”
16:14:00 – Rakso drew 7 cards.
16:14:02 – Nevinyrral drew 7 cards.
16:14:06 – Nevinyrral says:’kp’
16:14:07 – Rakso says:’kp’
16:14:08 – It is now turn 1.
16:14:10 – Rakso plays Volcanic Island.
16:14:13 – Rakso plays Black Lotus.
Pay attention to this, even if it’s turn 1. Normally, it’s a bad idea to play Lotus before you need to use it, since it puts him on guard and it may just get lost to Gorilla Shaman. This rule of thumb has to be modified because of Chalice of the Void, but you get the idea. However, aside from the fact that he doesn’t have Shaman, I have a Mana Drain in hand.
16:14:14 – It is now turn 2.
16:14:18 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:14:21 – Nevinyrral says:’hmmp’
16:14:28 – Nevinyrral plays Bazaar of Baghdad.
16:14:30 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
16:14:33 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
16:14:37 – Nevinyrral moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:14:39 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:14:41 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
Good Bazaar. He played Bazaar, drew two cards, and dumped three from his hand that are useful only in the graveyard. Moreover, with that Squee from his opening hand, Bazaar now filters without the one-card disadvantage.
Meet, in fact, the card that changed the entire Dragon matchup. The original decks worked with the Entomb, then Animate Dead play, and they had to make sure Stroke of Genius was in hand, a Blue mana source was on the board, Animate wasn’t countered, and Dragon wasn’t killed by instant removal, especially not by Swords to Plowshares.
Today, it’s done with Bazaar. It does triple duty, dumping Dragon into your graveyard, filtering or even drawing through your library for threats, and acts as the kill card as well, because it will eventually dump Ambassador Laquatus into the graveyard (as you mill away your opponent’s deck and kill him in his next draw step by ending your turn). And unlike equivalents like Attunement, it’s both free and uncounterable.
You have to appreciate how Bazaar of Baghdad is far, far more powerful than Library of Alexandria in the present Type I metagame.
16:14:44 – Nevinyrral plays Mox Ruby.
16:14:46 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
16:14:51 – Rakso says:’k’
16:14:56 – Nevinyrral plays Mox Emerald.
16:14:58 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
16:15:00 – Rakso says:’k’
Note what I said about artifact mana you can’t use. I think Freddy here was (correctly) less concerned by Mind Twist (despite Lotus on the table), than he was by the possibility of Chalice of the Void for zero. Dragon cannot be hosed by a single Chalice, since Necromancy costs three mana, while Animate Dead and Dance of the Dead cost two. Note, however, that he also has to weight the possibility of me destroying his Bazaar then finding a Gorilla Shaman.
16:15:03 – It is now turn 3.
16:15:14 – Rakso draws a card.
16:15:16 – Rakso plays Strip Mine.
16:15:20 – Nevinyrral buries Bazaar of Baghdad.
Yes, fortunately, I have a Strip Mine. It’s annoying how Bazaar is so powerful, but few commonly-played cards can deal with it. It’s imperative you deal with Bazaar quickly or outrace it if you can, since that card quality or even card advantage will add up.
16:15:21 – It is now turn 4.
16:15:35 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:15:38 – Rakso says:’squee’
16:15:39 – Nevinyrral plays Underground River.
16:15:40 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 19. (-1)
16:15:43 – Rakso says:’you forgot squee’
16:15:47 – Nevinyrral says:’i’ll leave it there’
16:15:50 – Nevinyrral says:’for now’
16:16:06 – Rakso says:’k’
16:16:15 – Rakso says:’it stops you from drawing the game though :)’
16:16:19 – Nevinyrral says:’helps to break the dragon cycle’
16:16:24 – Nevinyrral plays Mox Sapphire.
16:16:25 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
16:16:29 – Rakso says:’k’
Squee does three things in the deck, only two of which are obvious. First, it turns Bazaar and Compulsion into card drawing engines. Second, well, it can win a game by dealing damage (well, Gorilla Shaman occasionally does). Third, however, it breaks the Dragon-Animate Dead loop that turns a game into a draw.
Even with no Bazaar on the table, though, there’s a good reason to leave Squee exposed. First, if you don’t put it back into your hand, you lose one Bazaar use if you topdeck one. Second, until you’re ready to go off, you might actually want the option to draw, and it’s far less likely that your opponent will use it against you by forcing the loop to continue.
16:16:32 – Nevinyrral plays Duress.
16:16:34 – Underground River is tapped.
One other note here. I don’t think there’s a reason to play Bazaar over Duress on Turn 1 since it’s uncounterable. There are few cards other than Wasteland and Strip Mine that could neutralize it this early, and you could Duress them if you’re worried.
The change in order of playing the cards lets me slow him down by removing his graveyard pieces. Now he has to waste time and find some more, and regrets leaving Squee there.
16:16:47 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
16:16:49 – Rakso says:’BBB’
16:16:51 – Rakso buries Black Lotus.
16:16:52 – Rakso plays Cunning Wish.
16:16:57 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:17:16 – Nevinyrral says:’hindsight….’
16:17:16 – Rakso says:’k?’
16:17:20 – Nevinyrral says:’yea’
16:17:23 – Rakso moves Ebony Charm from limbo to Rakso’s hand.
16:17:27 – Rakso plays Ebony Charm.
16:17:37 – Nevinyrral removes Worldgorger Dragon from the game.
16:17:37 – Nevinyrral removes Worldgorger Dragon from the game.
16:17:37 – Nevinyrral removes Squee, Goblin Nabob from the game.
With the change in the metagame, Ebony Charm has reenlisted. Coffin Purge was great against Academy Rector, but the original graveyard removal spell is a better foil to Bazaar of Baghdad and Intuition.
16:17:42 – Rakso moves Mana Drain from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s graveyard.
16:17:45 – Nevinyrral says:’leeme see again’
16:17:49 – Rakso plays Fire/Ice.
16:17:50 – Rakso plays Force of Will.
16:17:51 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
16:17:56 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:17:58 – Nevinyrral says:’force’
16:18:00 – Nevinyrral says:’instead’
16:18:00 – Rakso moves Force of Will from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s graveyard.
16:18:03 – Rakso moves Mana Drain from Rakso’s graveyard to Rakso’s hand.
16:18:14 – It is now turn 5.
16:18:19 – Rakso draws a card.
16:18:22 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
16:18:28 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
16:18:28 – Underground Sea is tapped.
16:18:29 – Rakso plays Demonic Tutor.
16:18:34 – Rakso moves a card from Rakso’s library to Rakso’s hand.
Yes, he took Force of Will over Mana Drain, and yes I tapped out.
I just destroyed his Bazaar and raped his graveyard. He might topdeck Ancestral Recall, or he might topdeck another Bazaar and find Animate Dead, a third Dragon and Ambassador Laquatus, sure. But he might well do something more probable if I sit on a single Force of Will instead of using the tutor to refuel.
16:18:36 – It is now turn 6.
16:18:42 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
See?
16:18:49 – It is now turn 7.
16:18:53 – Rakso draws a card.
16:18:58 – It is now turn 8.
16:19:01 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:19:07 – Nevinyrral plays Bazaar of Baghdad.
16:19:09 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
16:19:10 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
16:19:15 – Nevinyrral says:’hmmmp’
16:19:39 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:19:45 – Nevinyrral moves Dance of the Dead from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:19:49 – Nevinyrral says:’thinkin’
16:20:07 – Nevinyrral moves Dance of the Dead from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
Okay, so he quickly finds Bazaar and another Dragon. That’s two reanimation spells gone, though, and I wonder what he kept.
16:20:11 – Rakso says:’!’
16:20:13 – Rakso says:’eot’
16:20:14 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
16:20:15 – Rakso plays Ancestral Recall.
16:20:17 – Nevinyrral says:’ir’
16:20:20 – Underground River is tapped.
16:20:20 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 19. (-1)
16:20:21 – Nevinyrral plays Ancestral Recall.
16:20:24 – Rakso says:’k’
16:20:26 – Nevinyrral drew 3 cards.
All right, I said”probable.” So he topdecked Ancestral, too.
16:20:33 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:20:41 – Nevinyrral says:’ir’
16:20:52 – Rakso says:’Intuition?’
16:20:58 – Nevinyrral says:’thinnkin’
16:21:13 – Nevinyrral plays Intuition.
16:21:16 – Mox Ruby is tapped.
16:21:17 – Mox Emerald is tapped.
16:21:17 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
16:21:18 – Rakso says:’k’
16:21:57 – Rakso says:’triple Squee?’
16:22:02 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:22:50 – Nevinyrral says:’janky’
16:23:06 – Rakso buries Time Walk.
16:23:08 – Rakso buries Black Lotus.
16:23:14 – Nevinyrral moves Animate Dead from tabletop to Nevinyrral’s hand.
This was a most curious Intuition play since picking up his remaining graveyard cards would set up both the combo and Bazaar of Baghdad. I didn’t want to let him have Time Walk with that Bazaar still on the table. I also didn’t want him to get Black Lotus because he might do something with the added and colored mana.
I let him have the Animate Dead because I had something else in mind for that, even if he could overwhelm a counter wall by just casting reanimation spells.
16:23:17 – Rakso says:’k?’
16:23:21 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
16:23:23 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
16:23:26 – It is now turn 9.
16:23:34 – Rakso draws a card.
16:23:46 – Rakso plays Island.
Yes, yes… I had a plan.
16:23:50 – It is now turn 10.
16:24:02 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:24:04 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:24:28 – Mox Ruby is tapped.
16:24:29 – Mox Emerald is tapped.
16:24:29 – Underground River is tapped.
16:24:30 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 17. (-1)
16:24:39 – Nevinyrral plays Yawgmoth’s Will.
16:24:41 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
This explains the strange Intuition: He was setting up Will. I didn’t think it made a difference, though, since resolving an Animate Dead at this point would have won him the game, with Bazaar already there. Finding Squees, though, would be the slower, but surer play in case something went wrong.
This Will was a little better than I expected since I was planning to Mana Drain his next move.
16:24:41 – Island is tapped.
16:24:42 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
16:24:43 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
16:24:51 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
16:24:52 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
16:24:59 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:25:05 – Nevinyrral moves Compulsion from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:25:15 – Nevinyrral moves Intuition from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
There’s the last Dragon.
16:25:17 – It is now turn 11.
16:25:21 – Rakso draws a card.
16:25:29 – Rakso plays Polluted Delta.
16:26:11 – Rakso says:’hmmmmmm’
16:26:52 – Island is tapped.
16:26:54 – Rakso plays Chalice of the Void.
16:26:56 – Chalice of the Void now has 2 counters. (+2)
At this point, I had three Mana Drain mana, and had to decide. My other option was to play Stroke of Genius and refill my hand, and it wasn’t so bad to tap out here because I still had Force of Will and a useless Fire/Ice in hand. My problem, though, was that I knew he had at least one Animate Dead in hand, and Stroke might not bring me another expendable blue card for the second Force of Will in my hand.
Having used the Mana Drain in my hand anyway, I use Chalice to”counter” his Animate Dead, plus other spells like the a Compulsion he might be holding back. Yes, Chalice doesn’t totally hose Dragon, but Chalice can hose a lot of decks if timed right.
16:26:59 – It is now turn 12.
16:27:09 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:27:18 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
I think I made the right choice.
16:27:42 – It is now turn 13.
16:27:45 – Rakso draws a card.
16:27:52 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
16:28:04 – Rakso buries Wasteland.
16:28:10 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:28:14 – Nevinyrral says:’ir’
16:28:16 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
16:28:18 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
16:28:24 – Nevinyrral moves Ambassador Laquatus from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:28:26 – Nevinyrral moves Animate Dead from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:28:29 – Nevinyrral moves Island from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:28:31 – Nevinyrral buries Bazaar of Baghdad.
And there’s Ambassador.
16:28:38 – Nevinyrral says:’eot’
16:28:40 – Nevinyrral plays Vampiric Tutor.
16:28:41 – Underground River is tapped.
16:28:43 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 16. (-1)
16:28:44 – Rakso plays Force of Will.
16:28:47 – Rakso moves Fire/Ice from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
16:28:48 – Rakso’s life is now 19. (-1)
Yes, you generally don’t counter tutors. However, when you figure out how to Force of Will a Bazaar of Baghdad, you can insist on that rule.
Despite the Chalice, I can’t afford a Squee-backed Bazaar at this point because he might filter into Duress and Necromancy and still win.
16:28:50 – It is now turn 14.
16:29:04 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:29:08 – Nevinyrral plays Underground River.
16:29:10 – Mox Ruby is tapped.
16:29:11 – Mox Emerald is tapped.
16:29:11 – Underground River is tapped.
16:29:11 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 15. (-1)
16:29:14 – Nevinyrral plays Necromancy.
16:29:15 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
16:29:16 – Rakso plays Force of Will.
16:29:17 – Rakso moves Stroke of Genius from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
16:29:18 – Rakso’s life is now 18. (-1)
Like so. Stroke was my only other blue card left at this point, and I had to hold it back. Note that if I cast it and he cast Necromancy in response, I would have lost-with a useless Force in hand.
16:29:25 – It is now turn 15.
16:29:26 – Rakso draws a card.
16:29:30 – It is now turn 16.
16:29:45 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:29:59 – Rakso says:’eot’
16:30:00 – Rakso’s life is now 17. (-1)
16:30:01 – Rakso buries Polluted Delta.
16:30:04 – Rakso moves Tundra from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
16:30:06 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
16:30:07 – Underground Sea is tapped.
16:30:07 – Island is tapped.
16:30:08 – Tundra is tapped.
16:30:08 – Rakso plays Decree of Justice.
16:30:14 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
16:30:15 – Rakso draws a card.
16:30:17 – Rakso creates new card: Wilkinson Warrior 1/1.
16:30:19 – Rakso plays Wilkinson Warrior 1/1.
This may be a tad impatient, but I need to capitalize on the stall from that Chalice, before he finds another Necromancy.
16:30:21 – It is now turn 17.
16:30:22 – Rakso draws a card.
16:30:26 – Rakso plays Tundra.
16:30:27 – Wilkinson Warrior is attacking.
16:30:30 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 14. (-1)
Whee!
16:30:30 – It is now turn 18.
16:30:34 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:30:42 – Nevinyrral plays Bazaar of Baghdad.
16:30:44 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
16:30:44 – Rakso says:’damn!’
16:30:46 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
16:30:49 – Nevinyrral moves Polluted Delta from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:30:50 – Nevinyrral moves Underground River from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:30:52 – Rakso says:’it’s a topdeck race’
16:30:52 – Nevinyrral moves Island from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
Observe how Bazaar filters. I’m obviously out of counters, and all he has to do is dig into that next Necromancy. The one-card disadvantage isn’t all that relevant when he doesn’t need more land at this point.
16:30:59 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:31:01 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
16:31:03 – Underground River is tapped.
16:31:03 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 13. (-1)
16:31:04 – Nevinyrral plays Compulsion.
16:31:05 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
16:31:07 – Rakso says:’okay’
16:31:09 – Rakso says:’resolves’
16:31:17 – Rakso says:’countered’
16:31:19 – Nevinyrral buries Compulsion.
16:31:21 – Nevinyrral says:’yea’
I’ve made this mistake before, so be conscious of Chalices on the table, as confusing as multiple ones might be. It’s a dead card, but note that it was still another buffer card for Bazaar’s effect.
16:31:22 – It is now turn 19.
16:31:24 – Rakso draws a card.
16:31:28 – Rakso plays Polluted Delta.
16:31:29 – Wilkinson Warrior is attacking.
16:31:31 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 12. (-1)
Soldier token all the way?
16:31:32 – It is now turn 20.
16:31:37 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:31:42 – Nevinyrral plays Duress.
16:31:43 – Underground River is tapped.
16:31:44 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 11. (-1)
16:31:47 – Rakso buries Fire/Ice.
Note this was very impatient. At worst, that lone card in my hand that I haven’t cast yet is a counter. It could even be a dead Mana Drain or a land I was bluffing with.
16:32:18 – It is now turn 21.
16:32:23 – Rakso says:’I think you should have held that back dude’
16:32:32 – Rakso says:’the Duress I mean’
16:32:34 – Rakso’s life is now 16. (-1)
16:32:35 – Rakso buries Polluted Delta.
16:32:38 – Rakso moves Underground Sea from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
16:32:46 – Rakso draws a card.
16:32:50 – Wilkinson Warrior is attacking.
16:32:55 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 10. (-1)
16:32:55 – It is now turn 22.
16:33:21 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:33:24 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
16:33:25 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
16:33:28 – Nevinyrral moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:33:29 – Nevinyrral moves Intuition from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:33:31 – Nevinyrral moves Entomb from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
There’s a second Squee. I’m going to lose to all this filtering if it keeps up, since he now just threw away now-useless graveyard setup spells.
16:33:34 – It is now turn 23.
16:33:43 – Rakso draws a card.
16:33:45 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
16:33:46 – Rakso says:’WHEW!!!’
16:33:48 – Nevinyrral buries Bazaar of Baghdad.
16:33:49 – Rakso says:’TOPDECK!!!’
16:33:51 – Rakso buries Wasteland.
16:33:52 – Wilkinson Warrior is attacking.
16:33:54 – Nevinyrral says:’svg’
16:33:56 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 9. (-1)
Like I said,”WHEW!!!”
16:33:57 – It is now turn 24.
16:34:04 – Nevinyrral moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from Nevinyrral’s graveyard to Nevinyrral’s hand.
16:34:07 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:34:10 – It is now turn 25.
16:34:12 – Rakso says:’This is Type I.’
16:34:15 – Rakso says:’Desperate things happen. ;)’
16:34:18 – Rakso draws a card.
16:34:20 – Rakso says:’come on’
16:34:23 – Rakso says:’you HAVE to win this one :D’
16:34:28 – Wilkinson Warrior is attacking.
16:34:36 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 8. (-1)
16:34:37 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
16:34:37 – Underground Sea is tapped.
16:34:38 – Underground Sea is tapped.
16:34:38 – Island is tapped.
16:34:38 – Tundra is tapped.
16:34:39 – Tundra is tapped.
16:34:40 – Rakso plays Chalice of the Void.
16:34:42 – Chalice of the Void now has 3 counters. (+3)
16:34:48 – Rakso says:’k?’
16:34:52 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
Again,”WHEW!!!”
16:34:53 – It is now turn 26.
16:35:12 – Nevinyrral says:’that kills 99% of the dec’
16:35:13 – Rakso says:’go :)’
16:35:17 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:35:19 – Nevinyrral plays Underground Sea.
16:35:21 – It is now turn 27.
16:35:25 – Rakso says:’Is there anything else left to play? :)’
16:35:27 – Rakso draws a card.
16:35:31 – It is now turn 28.
16:35:38 – Nevinyrral says:’well i could theoretically kill with laquatus’
16:35:40 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:35:49 – Rakso says:’the Laquatus already in your grave?’
16:36:00 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
Not your normal win over Dragon, but a win is a win. Again, post-Mirrodin, you have to practice to maximize Chalice of the Void and Isochron Scepter in the same way you had to practice reshuffling and Brainstorm opportunities when Onslaught rolled in.
Another Demonstration
The games where I won over Freddy were very entertaining, so here’s another one.
15:33:36 – — Nevinyrral says: ”Ahh… fresh meat”
15:33:36 – — Rakso says: ”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.”
15:33:40 – Rakso drew 7 cards.
15:33:56 – Rakso says:’mull’
15:34:02 – Rakso drew 6 cards.
15:34:21 – It is now turn 1.
15:34:25 – Rakso says:’hmmm’
15:34:33 – Rakso plays Flooded Strand.
15:34:34 – It is now turn 2.
15:34:37 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
15:34:39 – Nevinyrral plays Bazaar of Baghdad.
15:34:41 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
15:34:42 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
15:34:44 – Nevinyrral moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
15:34:46 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
15:34:48 – Nevinyrral moves Polluted Delta from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
Again, a pretty good first Bazaar. This time, though, I don’t have a Wasteland in hand.
15:34:52 – Rakso’s life is now 19. (-1)
15:34:52 – Rakso buries Flooded Strand.
15:34:56 – Rakso moves Underground Sea from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
15:35:02 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:35:03 – Rakso plays Brainstorm.
15:35:05 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
15:35:29 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
15:35:30 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
Wasn’t this a waste? No, not quite. Check the next turn.
15:35:33 – It is now turn 3.
15:35:37 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:35:40 – Rakso says:’upkeep’
15:35:41 – Rakso plays Vampiric Tutor.
15:35:43 – Rakso’s life is now 17. (-2)
15:35:45 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:35:46 – Rakso moves a card from Rakso’s library to Rakso’s hand.
15:35:50 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
15:35:55 – Nevinyrral buries Bazaar of Baghdad.
You have to pay attention to your Brainstorm and reshuffling opportunities, and why bother to waste my Turn 1 Untap Phase?
Anyway, you don’t usually tutor for a reaction to a particular card, not unless it’s something like Phyrexian Dreadnought. The fact that you have to against Bazaar shows you how strong it is right now.
15:35:56 – It is now turn 4.
15:36:00 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
15:36:08 – Nevinyrral plays Polluted Delta.
15:36:09 – It is now turn 5.
15:36:12 – Rakso draws a card.
15:36:13 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:36:14 – Rakso plays Ancestral Recall.
15:36:18 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:36:20 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
15:36:23 – Rakso plays Polluted Delta.
Freddy complained, for the record, that I kept topdecking Ancestral. But hey, last game, he got three Bazaars in his first nine turns.
15:36:27 – It is now turn 6.
15:36:34 – Nevinyrral moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from Nevinyrral’s graveyard to Nevinyrral’s hand.
15:36:36 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
15:36:38 – Nevinyrral plays Mox Sapphire.
15:36:40 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
15:36:42 – Rakso says:’k’
15:36:44 – Nevinyrral buries Polluted Delta.
15:36:45 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 19. (-1)
15:37:08 – Nevinyrral moves Underground Sea from Nevinyrral’s library to tabletop.
15:37:10 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
15:37:11 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:37:13 – Nevinyrral plays Demonic Tutor.
15:37:15 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
15:37:20 – Rakso says:’resp’
15:37:22 – Rakso’s life is now 16. (-1)
15:37:23 – Rakso buries Polluted Delta.
15:37:26 – Rakso moves Tundra from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
15:37:28 – Tundra is tapped.
15:37:30 – Rakso plays Brainstorm.
15:37:36 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:37:38 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
15:37:54 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
15:37:55 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
Again, this isn’t really a waste since I have Mystical Tutor to reshuffle away the last card I don’t want, and my hand wasn’t bad at this point.
15:38:00 – Rakso says:’allow’
15:38:10 – Nevinyrral moves a card from Nevinyrral’s library to Nevinyrral’s hand.
15:38:14 – Nevinyrral plays Bazaar of Baghdad.
15:38:16 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
15:38:17 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
15:38:21 – Nevinyrral moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
15:38:24 – Nevinyrral moves Underground River from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
15:38:27 – Nevinyrral moves Underground Sea from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
15:38:38 – Rakso says:’sigh’
15:38:39 – Rakso says:’AGAIN???’
15:38:52 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:38:53 – Rakso plays Mystical Tutor.
15:39:54 – It is now turn 7.
15:39:58 – Rakso moves Yawgmoth’s Will from tabletop to Rakso’s hand.
15:40:04 – Rakso plays Mox Jet.
15:40:06 – Rakso plays Black Lotus.
15:40:42 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:40:55 – Rakso buries Black Lotus.
15:40:56 – Rakso plays Yawgmoth’s Will.
15:41:02 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
He got another Bazaar and Mystical Tutor doesn’t fetch Wasteland. Remember that it doesn’t do so directly, however. Yawgmoth’s Will can even be used as a land destruction spell if you really need to restrict his mana.
15:41:03 – Rakso removes Yawgmoth’s Will from the game.
15:41:06 – Rakso moves Black Lotus from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
15:41:09 – Rakso moves Wasteland from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
15:41:20 – Rakso removes Black Lotus from the game.
15:41:21 – Rakso says:’UUU’
15:41:24 – Rakso moves Ancestral Recall from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
15:41:28 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:41:29 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
15:42:03 – Rakso moves Mystical Tutor from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
15:42:03 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:42:18 – Rakso moves Time Walk to Rakso’s library.
15:41:35 – Rakso moves Brainstorm from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
15:42:21 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
15:42:28 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
15:42:34 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
15:42:39 – Mox Jet is tapped.
15:42:42 – Rakso moves Vampiric Tutor from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
15:42:48 – Rakso’s life is now 14. (-2)
15:42:55 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
15:42:57 – Tundra is tapped.
15:42:57 – Wasteland is tapped.
15:42:58 – Rakso plays Time Walk.
15:43:08 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:43:10 – Rakso removes Time Walk from the game.
15:43:11 – Underground Sea is untapped.
15:43:11 – Tundra is untapped.
15:43:11 – Mox Jet is untapped.
15:43:11 – Wasteland is untapped.
15:43:13 – Rakso draws a card.
15:43:17 – Rakso plays Volcanic Island.
15:43:19 – Wasteland is tapped.
15:43:26 – Nevinyrral buries Bazaar of Baghdad.
15:43:28 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
15:43:30 – Rakso plays Gorilla Shaman.
15:43:39 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:43:40 – Mox Jet is tapped.
15:43:44 – Nevinyrral buries Mox Sapphire.
Time Walk makes quite a difference when using Yawgmoth’s Will.
I attack his mana, but he doesn’t need a lot of it.
15:43:44 – It is now turn 8.
15:43:52 – Nevinyrral moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from Nevinyrral’s graveyard to Nevinyrral’s hand.
15:43:58 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
15:44:04 – Nevinyrral plays Underground Sea.
15:44:18 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:44:19 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:44:21 – Nevinyrral plays Compulsion.
15:44:23 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
15:44:31 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:44:32 – Tundra is tapped.
15:44:34 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
Compulsion, at least, I can counter. Can’t let him set up and catch up.
15:44:49 – It is now turn 9.
15:44:52 – Rakso draws a card.
15:44:57 – Mox Jet is tapped.
15:44:58 – Rakso plays Sol Ring.
15:45:01 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
15:45:02 – Rakso plays Cunning Wish.
15:45:09 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
15:45:31 – Rakso moves Ebony Charm from limbo to Rakso’s hand.
At this point, I was clowning around and rubbing it in a bit. I had a Mana Drain and Force of Will in hand, and his chances of winning weren’t very good.
Okay, okay, it’s a bad habit. I could have picked up Skeletal Scrying to refill, or my second Decree of Justice for the win (remember those tutors I Willed out?).
15:45:37 – Gorilla Shaman is attacking.
15:45:41 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 18. (-1)
15:45:42 – It is now turn 10.
15:45:46 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
15:46:04 – Nevinyrral plays Mox Emerald.
No, he wasn’t being careless…
15:46:10 – Rakso says:’eot’
15:46:11 – Sol Ring is tapped.
15:46:16 – Rakso says:’double munch’
15:46:26 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:46:27 – Underground Sea is tapped.
15:46:27 – Mox Emerald is tapped.
15:46:28 – Nevinyrral plays Necromancy.
15:46:37 – Nevinyrral says:’ir’
15:46:41 – Rakso says:’resolves’
15:46:48 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s graveyard to tabletop.
15:46:52 – Nevinyrral says:’plow?’
15:46:55 – Rakso plays Swords to Plowshares.
15:46:56 – Rakso says:’plow’
When a Dragon player casts his reanimation spell against a control deck without casting Duress first, it’s his last ditch effort. A gamble is better than losing, but Swords to Plowshares stacked over Dragon’s trigger is a sick way to lose (all your permanents are removed from the game since Dragon isn’t ever coming back).
These two games show you, incidentally, why”The Deck” isn’t very worried about Dragon. First of all, you’re a control deck with counters against a combo deck, and the former has a traditional advantage. Aside from the counters and draw spells, however,”The Deck” has specific cards that hurt Dragon without specifically intending to. The high Wasteland count and accompanying manipulation help deal with Bazaar, while you already saw what the normally dead card Swords to Plowshares does to this combo deck.
A Third Try
Wait, didn’t I mention that only the games I won were interesting? Well, yes, since Dragon can and has set up its kill by turn 2. First turn Entomb, second turn Bazaar and Animate Dead (off a Mox) wins right there (make a million blue mana, Intuition for Laquatus, and discard it with Bazaar).
In this game, Freddy later told me that his opening hand was Bazaar of Baghdad, Polluted Delta, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Dance of the Dead, Duress and Worldgorger Dragon.
Consider how you’d play this out.
16:47:43 – — Nevinyrral says: ”Ahh… fresh meat”
16:47:46 – — Rakso says: ”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.”
16:47:55 – It is now turn 1.
16:48:08 – Nevinyrral plays Polluted Delta.
16:48:10 – Nevinyrral says:’k’
Yes, Freddy had a first-turn kill in hand, but why bother playing Bazaar first, as I noted earlier? May as well just Duress and then think about what you’d do on Turn 2. Incidentally, if he just planned to cast Duress off Black Lotus, it wouldn’t work since I’d Force the Lotus instead since he’d gain too much time for my peace of mind.
16:48:12 – Nevinyrral buries Polluted Delta.
16:48:13 – Nevinyrral’s life is now 19. (-1)
16:48:21 – Nevinyrral moves Underground Sea from Nevinyrral’s library to tabletop.
16:48:24 – Underground Sea is tapped.
16:48:25 – Nevinyrral plays Duress.
16:48:27 – Rakso plays Force of Will.
16:48:28 – Rakso plays Brainstorm.
16:48:29 – Rakso plays Ancestral Recall.
16:48:30 – Rakso plays Mystical Tutor.
16:48:31 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
16:48:32 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
16:48:33 – Rakso plays Polluted Delta.
16:48:36 – Rakso buries Force of Will.
16:48:42 – Nevinyrral plays Black Lotus.
16:48:44 – Nevinyrral plays Mana Crypt.
And here I thought I had a good hand!
16:48:44 – It is now turn 2.
16:48:53 – Rakso draws a card.
16:48:56 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
Huh? What’s this? What about Ancestral Recall?
Experimental move. If he plays Bazaar next turn, he could very well go off. I could try to Ancestral into Force of Will, but I also have a 100% chance of having a Wasteland in hand right now.
16:48:58 – It is now turn 3.
16:49:02 – Nevinyrral draws a card.
16:49:13 – Nevinyrral plays Bazaar of Baghdad.
16:49:18 – Rakso says:’…’
16:49:22 – Nevinyrral says:’hmm’
16:50:00 – Nevinyrral buries Black Lotus.
16:50:04 – Nevinyrral says:’bbb’
16:50:06 – Rakso says:’k’
16:50:16 – Nevinyrral plays Dance of the Dead.
16:50:18 – Nevinyrral says:’k?’
What’s this? But that’s Wasteland there, right?
16:50:19 – Wasteland is tapped.
16:50:23 – Nevinyrral says:’ir’
16:50:26 – Bazaar of Baghdad is tapped.
16:50:27 – Nevinyrral drew 2 cards.
16:50:30 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:50:31 – Nevinyrral moves Worldgorger Dragon from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:50:32 – Nevinyrral moves Ambassador Laquatus from Nevinyrral’s hand to Nevinyrral’s graveyard.
16:50:35 – Nevinyrral buries Bazaar of Baghdad.
16:50:43 – Rakso says:’aaaah’
16:51:25 – Rakso says:’concede’
16:51:26 – Rakso says:’man’
16:51:29 – Rakso says:’you’re a lucky topdecker’
Well, Laquatus was there, too. Even if he wasn’t there, he might have had Intuition.
Hell, I even lost the Mana Crypt coin flip.
To end, let’s just say that you can’t eliminate your opponent’s runaway luck, but your job is always to do your best to minimize it. Turn 2 Dragon kills were seen even in the Top 8 matches of the GenCon Vintage Champs earlier this year.
Til’ next week.
Incidentally, I was going to rip off Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince series, Darren Di Battista a.k.a. Azhrei’s personal favorite, but ran out of time after typing up the little intro for this one. This might be a good time to ask for feedback for the little flavor text portions of these features, and suggestions are welcome after all these months.
Oscar Tan (e-mail: Rakso at StarCityGames.com)
rakso on #BDChat on EFNet
Team Paragons of Vintage
University of the Philippines, College of Law
Forum Administrator, Star City Games
Featured Writer, Star City Games
Author of the Control Player’s Bible
Maintainer, Beyond Dominia (R.I.P.)
Proud member of the Casual Player’s Alliance