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By: country hillbilly, Zach Whitten
Oct 07 2011 2:04am
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 Tournament Report - Classic League Season 2

 

Hey y'all, it has been far too long...  I'll begin this by saying I missed writing, and I am truly happy I have something so positive to write about.

Recently MMogg, of Clan Lotus Farmers, began running some very cool and innovative leagues.  I found them to be very progressive and very inviting, something you don't see much these days.  For me, a married working father of two who is also a student, this was the perfect setup.  I would strongly urge you to check out his reports on these events with the links at the end of this article.  This is a super diverse fun metagame at the moment, and the barrier to entry has never been lower.

So a few weeks before this tournament Andy (Eternal_Hammer) was telling me about this vintage deck that ran Show and Tell and Oath of Druids.  I thought it sounded pretty progressive and decided I would check it out.  Here is the list:

Show & Oath
3 Ways to Flop out an Emmy
Creatures
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Blightsteel Colossus
5 cards

Other Spells
4 Show and Tell
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
3 Duress
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Misdirection
1 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Channel
1 Time Walk
1 Imperial Seal
1 Tinker
4 Oath of Druids
2 Dragon Breath
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
30 cards
Lands
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Polluted Delta
1 Volcanic Island
1 Bayou
16 cards

Channel

 

 

 

This list really has a lot going for it, but let's start with the win conditions....

Unlike a lot of lists that run artifacts and tinker, this list ONLY ran Blightsteel Colossus, with no Time Vault or Voltaic Key.  As far as my personal deck development went, this is important.  My process for established decks is usually pretty simple, port over the deck as best I can (substitute power 9, max out on brainstorms, etc.) and test the heck out of it with clan mates and the Tourney Practice room.  

Let's compare it with the list I decided on, so we can closely deconstruct the changes I ended up making...

 

So I chose Mystical Tutor to be the featured card in the decklist, and it is for great reason.  Sometimes you will hear people, maybe even your regular hosts on Yawgmoth's Soap Opera (BAM product placement) talk about how WotC seemingly uses classic as a testing ground for Vintage paper Magic.  One of the cards along with Yawgmoth's Bargain, Ponder, and most notably Brainstorm, which happens to be unrestricted, is Mystical Tutor.  This proved to be one of the most powerful and 'broken' cards in the deck.  In Vintage they have cards like Ancestral Recall and Time Walk which would be amazing to fetch with an EOT (End of Turn) Mystical; however I would bet a decent amount of money that the vintage pilot would fetch channel a lot more than you might think.

Anyway, to highlight my changes:

Additions and Subtractions
-1 Blightsteel Colossus +1 Hurkyl's Recall
-1 Misdirection +1 Beast Within
-1 Ancestral Recall +1 Demonic Consultation
-1 Time Walk +3 Brainstorm
-1 Sol Ring +4 Lotus Petal
-1 Tinker +3 Mystical Tutor
-1 Black Lotus  
-1 Mox Ruby  
-1 Mox Sapphire  
-1 Mox Pearl  
-1 Mox Emerald  
-1 Mox Jet  
-1 Show and Tell  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"What the hell are you doing Zach?"  Well, there is a method to my madness.  The above chart makes my thought process become a little bit clearer, at least to me.  I went with consistency over options.  

The Lotus Petals are obviously no Moxen, but they do make any color.  So with a single Tropical Island I could set up a super consistent turn two Channel Bam (Channel + Emrakul).  The decks runs a BUNCH of tutors, and four Emrakuls.  

The problem with Lotus Petals is that they are far from ideal tinker targets.  They do not play well and honestly I was glad to drop the package to add consistency.  I had a few extended conversations in regards to Mana Crypt over Sol Ring, but to me the decision was correct.  I tested a bunch with both Sol Ring and Mana Crypt, and with variations using only one or the other.  The overwhelming consensus, even with the possible 3/turn damage, is that a turn one Show and Tell or Oath of Druids makes all the difference in the world.

Beast Within felt like a natural addition to the deck.  It is an ideal 'Silver Bullet', which can conveniently be fetched with one of my four Mystical Tutors as well.  It dealt with the two most problematic cards I can face, Karakas and Jace, The Mind Sculptor.  Did I mention it triggers Oath of Druids as an added bonus?

Speaking of Jace, The Mind Sculptor, he was the reason I decided to keep the Dragon Breaths in the deck.  He can singlehandedly wreck you if you do not have Dragon Breaths... just unfair.

Demonic Consultation is a card most Oath builds cannot play, and we took full advantage of that.  Some of the potential targets (all 3 or 4 ofs) are: Duress, Oath of Druids, Forbidden Orchard, Show and Tell, Force of Will, and others.  

Lastly I cannot forget about my clan, Magic Eternal.  Some of the comments when I initially presented the build got me even more excited to play it..  I also got some good advice regarding the MUD (Stax) matchup, which I had no first-hand knowledge about (don't own the deck).

Just for posterity, I found my original post on our forums.  Looking back I agree with *almost* everything I said.  Here it goes:

"So guys hammer linked me to a sick list... he might have the decklist still, i don't, but I have been piloting this thing non-stop for like 36-48 hours.

It has several avenues to a win and each and every one of them start with EM and end with RAKULheart

I have made some major changes to the decklist, and some may even be seen as "silly", but they are coming from piloting the deck a lot.

The first iteration I removed all Dragon's Breaths from the main deck, and this proved to be terrible.  Jace is basically a loss if he is landed.  With the breaths you are guaranteed to punch him thru sooner or later.

The second MAJORMAJOR change was dropping Blighsteel Colossus AND Tinker (sounds like blasphemy, I know).  It is a great move, because unlike in vintage we don't have the accelerants they do, and petal is NOT (repeat NOT) good with tinker.

The best part about the deck is it reminded me WHY channel is actually restricted, and that might be the best card in the deck.  Here is the list, feel free to ask question etc. I am still trying to make it as dominant as I know it can be.  This thing can actually race dredge g1, and after sb it is a heavy favorite.  Shop is a rollable matchup, as 1-2 Duplicants/Metamorphs < 4x Emrakul......

Other major addition was adding a beast within, that coupled with FOUR mystical tutors make your combos pretty easy to pull off....

Anyways, here is the list:"

That was pretty cool to revisit, but I'm sure there is only a limited amount of interest in the innovation, so let's go ahead and get to the tournament report. 

Round One - abstrakt66 vs. Bactgudz

Bactgudz's Deck List

 

2 Problems here, Adrian (bactgudz) is a top tier player, AND he is a clanmate.  What a miserable 1st round pairing!  Let's make some lemonade and have a fun match, anyway.

Record - 1-0

Sad it was a clanny but stoked the win was against a top player with a top deck.  Let's get to round 2..

Round Two - abstrakt66 v. NosferatuStuff

Never had met this guy before, but I was excited for a good match.  Here was his Decklist:

 

 

I was *NOT* expecting this, but I was ready.  My sideboard was altered a bit for a better stax matchup, including upping the basic land count to 2 (Thanks for the suggestion Bactgudz).  Here is how the match played out:

 

Record - 2-0

Great start to the tourney.  Winning the early rounds is pretty key for tiebreakers.

Round Three - abstrakt66 v. themagicman_22

I have played this guy before and he had always been nice.  Let's check out his deck:

 

Goblins...  Goblins?!?!?! G O B L I N S?  Well needless to say I was rather confident heading into round three.  We struck up some discussion during the games and it was obvious he was not too excited about the matchup...  (Eerie foreboding music playing to signal a horrible tragedy)

Ouch, man.  That was a painful loss, that thorn REALLY ate my lunch.  Head up high, we continue on in our journey!

Record - 2-1

Round Four - abstrakt66 v. TheWilddog

It's like Round 3 threw off my juju, now I get another clannie and another top tier magic player.  Really disgusting, then I notice he is running dredge.  Ughhhhh.  Here is his decklist:

 

Well I love Josh, but now we are combatants who step in the cage.  We are both ready to do this, and it begins (this was, in my opinion, THE MOST EPIC MATCH IN THE TOURNEY)

Record - 3-1

Sick, sick match.  Love you twd but we are now 3-1, and in a perfect position to reach the top 8.  Judging from the number of participants, a 4-1-1 record should be good enough for top 8.

Round 5 - abstrakt66 v. xkorpio

So about these pairings, WTF MMOGG :P  Just kidding of course, but now I get paired up, and paired up with the #1 player in the Classic Player of the Year race.  Whatever, honestly his deck is good but I had tested against him a lot   The key to beating this deck is resolving an Oath.  Nothing else matters.  Here is his patented Illusions Decklist:

 

Let's do this.  Time to rumble against Whiffy's archnemesis!  

Record - 4-1

That's what I'm talking about!  Now we are going to bye into top8 and get guaranteed prizes.

Round 6 - abstrak66 v. Osric250

ID - Intentional Draw (into top8!)

Final record after Swiss - 4-1-1

 

Time for the top 8.  Let's do this!

Quarterfinals - abstrakt66 v. chantrygilbert

This guy is really nice, and as an aside he is now a proud new member of Clan Magic Eternal!  Grats chantry!  Anyway, on to the decklist!

 

This is not a matchup I ever look forward to, Stax is a ruthless deck.  Speaking of which, do you notice the 4 Phyrexian Metamorphs Main AND the 4 Duplicants in his SB?  That is ridiculous... Let's see how this goes down:

Woooo!  On to the top 4!

SemiFinals - abstrakt66 v. the_crisp_one

Sadly, this match never happened.  I don't want to go into a long discussion about what happened, but I could not get home in time to play on a Friday, and it turned out that was the only day my opponent was available for the next 12.  I apologize you got the auto-loss man but grats on t4.

But... FINALSSSSS - woooo!

Finals - abstrakt66 v. StewardULK

This is it guys, for all the marbles.  I win and I get a foil Yawgmoth's Will and a Foil Bazaar of Baghdad, I lose and I get whatever Steward doesn't want.  On a side note, a THIRD dredge matchup?  I would have changed my sb so much to account for these pairings, it is amazing!

Here is StewardULK's decklist:

 

Finally... the Finals Match:

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!

Photobucket

 

I hope the report wasn't TOO long-winded, and you found something you enjoyed.  As you can see from this tourney, and the results, the metagame for classic is extremely diverse.  

Now I'll do what all the other tourney reports I see doing, and provide you with my props and slops!

Props:

MMogg - You have shown great intiative and followthrough with the league.  Keep it up man, you rock!

Clan Magic Eternal - You guys know I love you.  Appreciated all the input in our forums before and during the event!

Camtasia - you make my life easy!

Slops:

Time Zone troubles - I heard sooo many complaints about time zones.  Really sucks being 8-9 hours before or behind anyone.

Mulligans - I will always hate you

Variance - See above

MMogg - For turning me into a complete hypocrite in regards to foils.  I am now more addicted than I have ever been before.  WEEEAK 

Photobucket

[CLASSIC LEAGUE SEASON 2]

Thank you guys for checking out my report!!!

<3,

Zach/abstrakt66/The_Hoff

14 Comments

Congrats on winning season 2! by GainsBanding at Fri, 10/07/2011 - 03:53
GainsBanding's picture

Congrats on winning season 2! I don't know how you did it while being a father, a worker, and a student. And while recording every match. Great job.
That Epic round 4 was indeed epic!

Thanks for the love gains! by country hillbilly at Mon, 10/10/2011 - 15:33
country hillbilly's picture

Thanks for the love gains! Appreciate it man!

Awesome Report by under_the_hammer at Fri, 10/07/2011 - 04:48
under_the_hammer's picture
5

Congratulation on winning the event and for producing such a great report.

One question this clan seems awesome with lots of skilled players, great guys, helpful private-forum discussions how do I join the awesomeness of Clan Magic Eternal ^_^ <3

Hahahaha you should check by country hillbilly at Mon, 10/10/2011 - 15:34
country hillbilly's picture

Hahahaha you should check them out - cool group of guys (and gals!)

Thx for the support Andy!

CME ftw by Montolio at Fri, 10/07/2011 - 08:55
Montolio's picture
5

Congrats Zach; enjoyed the article.
CME takes the title!
Seen all your video's with the exception of the Gobo's match up.Will watch that one later today at some point. Well done.
The foils are harder to kick then a crack cocaine addiction. Level 3 evidence with a recent meta-analysis to back that statement up!

Thanks Andy - that goblin by country hillbilly at Mon, 10/10/2011 - 15:35
country hillbilly's picture

Thanks Andy - that goblin match up was a killer! (but the foils addiction IS indeed worse!)

Wow sign me up for that clan by Cronin at Fri, 10/07/2011 - 10:18
Cronin's picture
5

Wow sign me up for that clan too!

Done & done good sir! Thanks by country hillbilly at Mon, 10/10/2011 - 15:35
country hillbilly's picture

Done & done good sir! Thanks for the support bro, truly appreciated!

Dont want to see this by StewardUlk at Fri, 10/07/2011 - 21:23
StewardUlk's picture

Dont want to see this embarrasing replay anymore!!!!
Hurts me everyime wehn i see my hand shirnk away while u are celebrating it^^

Completely understood man, I by country hillbilly at Mon, 10/10/2011 - 15:36
country hillbilly's picture

Completely understood man, I apologize for the agony you were experiencing that I was feeding off of. Grats on two t8s in a row man, and finals is no small feat!

Appreciate the comment bro.

Wow Zach, congrats by Thisismich at Sat, 10/08/2011 - 04:10
Thisismich's picture

Wow Zach, congrats man!!!!

P.s.: nice foils, the only one I had in hand was a Foil Bayou XD

Hey Mich! Glad you stopped by country hillbilly at Mon, 10/10/2011 - 15:37
country hillbilly's picture

Hey Mich! Glad you stopped by and thanks for the kind words.

(also glad you didn't mention my zooming, which I *believe* was in full force for this event :P )

Thanks again for the comment bud!

I was at work when I by Thisismich at Tue, 10/11/2011 - 02:28
Thisismich's picture

I was at work when I commented so the videos were blocked; I watched them later on ;)

Anyway, I can totally understand in events like that, it's a way to relieve the "emotional stress" (for lack of better words), just like endless shuffling of the cards in hand in paper Magic (which I did quite a lot back in my paper Magic days).

You should see my legs under the table when I play a stressful match XD

Awesome to see a new twist on by MMogg at Mon, 10/10/2011 - 17:55
MMogg's picture
5

Awesome to see a new twist on an old standby taking the money. No one can say this wasn't earned with 3 Dredge matches and xkorpio's Illusions, which is counter heavy. Congratulations again and I apologize for facilitating the foil addiction relapse. =p