Tournament Report (11/1)

I played in a tournament in Hachinohe last weekend.
This was my deck:

４　Flooded Strand (溢れかえる岸辺)
４　Polluted Delta (汚染された三角州)
１　Tundra
２　Underground Sea
２　Volcanic Island
２　Island (島)
１　Swamp (沼)

４　Lion’s Eye Diamond (ライオンの瞳のダイアモンド)
２　Lotus Petal (水蓮の花びら)
１　Chromatic Sphere (彩色の宝球)
４　Sensei’s Divining Top (師範の占い独楽)
４　Gitaxian Probe (ギタクシア派の調査)
４　Ponder (思案)
４　Brainstorm (渦まく知識)
３　Cabal Therapy (陰謀団式療法)
４　Duress (強迫)
４　Dark Ritual (暗黒の儀式)
１　Rain of Filth (汚物の雨)
１　Ideas Unbound (留まらぬ発想)
４　Burning Wish (燃え立つ願い)
１　Laboratory Maniac　(研究室の偏執狂)
３　Doomsday (最後の審判)

Sideboard
１　Plains (平地)
１　Void Snare (虚空の罠)
１　Cabal Therapy (陰謀団式療法)
２　Hurkyl’s Recall (ハーキルの召還術)
４　Monastery Mentor (僧院の導師)
１　Cruel Bargain (残酷な取り引き)
１　Doomsday(最後の審判)
２　Massacre (虐殺)
１　Tendrils of Agony (苦悶の触手)
１　Empty the Warrens (巣穴からの総出)

This is the same list from last time, -2 Silence, +2 Hurkyl’s Recall.
The person who created this deck believed that RUG Delver would become popular again.
In my area, there are few RUG Delver players;
I think I am good enough to have a chance to beat most RUG Delver players without Silence.

However, I am afraid of Chalice of the Void and Counterbalance.
I can win against Chalice with one Hurkyl’s Recall in my deck;
The 2nd Recall is unnecessary, but I don’t know what to use instead.
Next time, maybe I will play Echoing Truth or Wipe Away.
I have not played against Miracles yet, so I don’t know if Mentor is enough to beat Counterbalance.

Creating good sideboard plans takes time.
Recently, I have been focusing on building a Modern Deck...
I didn’t practice Doomsday last week, so I had no plans.
My sideboarding was random, and I didn’t do well at this tournament.

(Just in case: Top = 独楽, top = 一番上)

Round 1 - Mono Blue Faeries 1-2

This is very embarassing.

Game 1, I keep a hand that needs only Dark Ritual to win the game.
My opponent plays turn 1 Faerie Miscreant.
I cast Duress 4 times this game.
My opponent had no noncreature spells. His hand was only Islands all game.
However...I don’t draw Dark Ritual.
Scion of Oona + 1 mana 1/1 Faeries kill me.

My opponent’s deck is strange.
I don’t know what kind of sideboard cards he will use.
I want to avoid Storm answers, so I side in Mentors.

+Plains, +4 Mentor
-1 Island, -1 LED, -1 Gitaxian Probe, -Rain of Filth, -1 Burning Wish

Game 2, I cast Top on turn 1. My opponent answers with Pithing Needle for Top.
I Duress away a Mindbreak Trap, and cast a Mentor.
An interesting situation happens:

I have Duress and Burning Wish in hand, Top and Mentor in play.
My opponent has a many 1/1 Faeries in play, and a Scion of Oona in his hand.
I can either cast Burning Wish for Cabal Therapy for Scion, or I can cast Burning Wish for Void Snare to bounce the Needle and then discard it with Duress.
I chose Cabal Therapy because I don’t know if I am faster than many flying 2/2 creatures.
I barely beat my opponent with Monk tokens.

Game 3, I keep a hand of Island, LED, Top, Top, Dark Ritual, Mentor, Burning Wish.
Would you keep this hand?
Sadly, it doesn’t work.
I lose to Favorable Winds.
I will be surprised if you know that card.

Round 2 - UR 2-0

Game 1, on my combo turn, I cast Duress.
My opponent asks me: "Doomsday is life loss rounded up, right?"
I’m at 7; if I cast Doomsday, my life total becomes 3.
My opponent shows me his hand: Snapcaster, Fire//Ice, and two Jaces.
He has a Lightning Bolt in his graveyard. So, I can’t cast Doomsday.
Instead, I cast all of my mana spells (Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, LED = 7 mana, Storm 4), then Ponder (6 mana, Storm 5).
I see nothing good, so I shuffle. I draw an LED, play it, and use it (9 mana, Storm 6).
I have a Top in play and look at the top 3 cards of my library (8 mana), and I see Brainstorm + Wish.
I draw with Top, cast Brainstorm (7 mana, 7 Storm).
Draw Top, cast Top (6 mana, 8 Storm), and draw with Top for Burning Wish (4 mana, 9 Storm) for Tendrils (10 Storm).

I side in Mentors because I think my opponent isn’t playing Delver; I saw multiple copies of Fire//Ice and Jace, the Mindscupltor.
I want to avoid Storm answers.
My sideboarding is awful, and it becomes worse in the next rounds.
I should have sideboarded LED or Burning Wish instead of Doomsday.

+Plains, +4 Mentor
-Chromatic Sphere, 1 Gitaxian Probe, -Rain of Filth, -Laboratory Maniac (too much burn), 1 Doomsday

Game 2, I use Probe early to see a Force of Will, but I wait to use my Cabal Therapy for it.

Before my combo turn, I know the top 3 cards of my library are Gitaxian Probe, Burning Wish, Plains.
I have Top in play, and my hand is Polluted Delta, Cabal Therapy, Lotus Petal, 2 Dark Ritual and LED.
My opponent has Force and three unknowns cards;
I am aware my opponent plays Vendillion Clique because he cast it last game.
I make a mistake with my the top of my library.
My combo turn, I draw Probe and I cast Therapy; my opponent casts Force of Will in response.
I cast Gitaxian Probe, and my opponent has a Vendillion Clique in hand, but I accidently draw the Burning Wish instead of using Top to change the order.
I have no choice--I play all of my mana spells (Storm 7), and my opponent Cliques away my Burning Wish (Storm 8), forcing me to draw a Plains I can’t play.
I fetch to shuffle, and I find Brainstorm, Wish, Wish as my top 3.
Wish for Tendrils wins the game.

Round 1 was very unlucky, but Round 2 was very lucky for me.

Round 3 - UR Painter 1-2

Grindstone is a headache!

Game 1, my opponent mulligans to five.
I discard his Sensei’s Divining Top and Brainstorm (he didn’t play his blue land on turn 1 and I don’t know why).
He topdecks a Grindstone, which is a problem.
I win this game by using my Top as bait to make him activate Grindstone on my main phase, and he bites.
He mills two useless cards, and my Top’s ability draws a second Top I placed third from the top, and win with Burning Wish into Doomsday.
My opponent says aloud that he should probably wait until after I cast Doomsday to use Grindstone, so I decide to remove all the Doomsdays in my deck. Hurkyl’s Recall is also looking like a good plan.

+Plains, +4 Mentor, +2 Hurkyl’s Recall
-1 Volcanic Island, -1 LED, -Chromatic Sphere (can’t stop red blasts), -Rain of Filth, -1 Gitaxian Probe, -3 Doomsday

Game 2, my opening hand is 2 Land, 2 LED, Dark Ritual, Duress...Doomsday?
I made a mistake and forgot about the 4th Doomsday in my deck because of Burning Wish.
However, it looks good because I only need a draw spell to win before Grindstone is useful.
Sadly, I don’t find that draw spell in many turns so I just die to Painter + Grindstone.

+1 Volcanic Island
-1 Doomsday

Game 3, I play terribly.
I cast Duress turn 1 to see Painter, Deep Analysis, and REB with Ancient Tomb.
I take the Deep Analysis and plan to use my Cabal Therapy to take the REB after I cast my Mentor.
You see the problem? My opponent played Painter, so Mentor was countered by REB.
I’m able to play another Mentor, but it is too slow.
My opponent finds a second Painter and a copy of Transmute Artifact.

Shardless BUG - 1-2

Game 1, there’s an opening for me to win the game:
My opponent cast Brainstorm in response to one of my discard spells.
I know he hid Wasteland and Hymn to Tourach.
When he untaps, he casts Shardless Agent, cascades past Wasteland (so he drew Hymn for the turn), and cascades into a Tarmogoyf.
He has Force of Will and no blue card because he cast the Shardless Agent.
I cast two Brainstorms, but I can’t find Doomsday.
I lose to Hymn to Tourach the next turn.

I side in Mentors.
I am not certain this is correct, but I want to experiment.
I can’t win any prizes today anyway.
Also, I know my opponent has Meddling Mages in his sideboard.

+Plains, +4 Mentor, +Cruel Bargain
-1 LED, -Chromatic Sphere (most opponents side out Abrupt Decay), -1 Gitaxian Probe, -Rain of Filth, -1 Burning Wish, -1 Doomsday.

Game 2, I mulligan.
The hand I mulliganned was Underground Sea, Ponder, LED, 2 Wish, Duress, Dark Ritual.
Later in this game, I feel I have already lost, but my opponent taps out to Abrupt Decay an LED, and I just happen to top deck into a Doomsday for the win.
I kill with Maniac because I had already played my LED earlier so I couldn’t play ten spells for Tendrils.

I should have sided the Chromatic Sphere back in because my opponent kept in a lot of Abrupt Decays, but I forgot.
It didn’t matter, as you’ll see.

Game 3, My opponent casts Meddling Mage and names Doomsday.
I cast Mentor. My opponent Abrupt Decays it.
I cast another Mentor. My opponent casts Force of Will.
My opponent has no cards in hand, so I try to find a Burning Wish so I can just Massacre his board.
I don’t find it; I die.

Round 5 - Pox 2-1

Game 1, my opponent’s deck gives me this game.
He gives me many cards with Master of the Feast, so his discard wasn’t good.
Urborg gives me black mana to cast Dark Ritual for Doomsday, even though my opponent destroyed my Swamp with Sinkhole.

I am finally not going to side in Mentor.

-1 Gitaxian Probe
+Cruel Bargain

Game 2, my opponent starts with turn 0 Leyline of the Void.
This is good for me...usually.
I actually need to cast Ideas Unbound and exile it.
I couldn’t win anyway. I all my basic lands were destroyed by Sinkhole this game
This is karma. After Game 1, I was telling my opponent that Sinkhole isn’t a good card in Legacy these days.

Game 3, Urborg is very helpful for me.
I fetch for all of my basics, and my opponent taps out for a Descecration Demon.
I use my Islands and my Swamp for black mana to cast Doomsday, and I win the game with Maniac.

So I ended 2-3.
My sideboarding is random, and it is a problem.
I feel pretty confident playing my normal Doomsday plan...
Mentor adds too many possibilities!
I must think more about my sideboard plans.
There’s another event happening in Shizukuishi next week.
I might play with the green sideboard (Abrupt Decay).
Mentor is very strong, but I am more confident with Abrupt Decay.

I’ll make another Tournament Report next week!
Should I write about any other topics?