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Damage Inc. or, How to Screw Yourself OverBy Stefan Preiml on August 24th, 2005 · Filed in Standard (Type 2) · 17 Comments
I don't play Paladins and Champions because I find them rather suboptimal and I like efficient Creatures. Against Red, a single Anthem is enough most of the time, and Rats is also not that much of an opponent. I'd rather fly over their heads. The sideboard is also pretty much trimmed. Hallow is a very good card against Red and decks that sideboard either Flamebreak or Pyroclasm. The two Wraths really help against Tooth and Nail if they should lock you up under Angel/Abunas. Arrest is a little helper against problem cards like Arc-Slogger, Silklash Spider or Meloku. It can also make Darksteel Colossus and Sundering Titan immobile. Story Circle is just way too good in any aggressive deck, and there is too much color variety to just use CoP: Red or Black. You normally board this against Rats, Sligh and in the mirror. Terashi's Grasp is just the mandatory Naturalize effect. I also had to prepare for draft because I didn't had much time and money to draft in reality and literaly had no experience with Saviors at all. So I had to play using NetDraft on the channel #draft4you at SolidIRC. Although I got some rather odd decks (double Tallowisp, double Mystic Restraints or 6 Ninjas and a Shuriken) at least I got some draft experience wich realy helped me a lot. The Tournament I get to the site, a very nice looking pub/restaurant, about an hour and a half before the tournament starts. The atmosphere is pretty good and relaxed there and the fact that you can order dishes or something non-alcoholic to drink between the rounds is a very good bonus for this location. We also sometimes play local smaller tournaments there. I still had to trade for or borrow two Wraths and a Story Circle. Equipped with these, I talked to some friends of mine and registered my deck, awaiting the start of the tournament. The tournament was split into two days, with 3 rounds of Standard following two three-round draft pods on day one, and day two 3 rounds of Standard and the Top 8 draft. Round One: Kurt Kofler playing Rats A nice and smart guy from another city but in the same region, who often comes to local tournaments. He wins the die roll. He mulligans to six. I get on some early pressure while he has very little options with equipment facing a Matrix. After six attacks he's dead. Second game, he mulligans again and Distresses an Anthem second turn but gets stuck on two lands while I do the big lucky move to draw a second Anthem and the third land from the top of my library. I don't think I have much to add here. Round Two: Stefan Kogler playing Blue Tron As I finished my opponent pretty quickly, I had some time to watch other games. One of them was an anonymous friend's game against this guy, and my friend manages to give away a already won 3rd game by playing an unnecessary 2nd Iwamori (one already in play) against an opponent at one life and Uyo in play. I didn't test against Blue Tron at all, as I didnt expect anyone to turn up with it. In fact, there were only two people playing this deck; both of them would go on to move into the top 8. Game one I have some early creatures but he counters my Anthem and Matrix. I can beat him to one life, while fighting two Triskelion. I side in Grasps and Arrests, but I have to mulligan. I face a suboptimal hand and have to keep it. Luckily I get the second land from the top of my library and have two early creatures again. He gets the Urzatron by turn four and lays a Memnarch. Some time later a Triskelion joins the fun. This time I die while he is at three life. Damnit. Round Three: Paul Czermak playing Tooth and Nail Another local kid I know relatively well, including that he's playing TnN. I don't have a one drop but don't want to mulligan, but I'm on the draw. I can get a Matrix into play, but it gets hit by a Creeping Mold. He hardcasts a Sundering Titan before I can draw the fourth land for the Hokori I'm holding. I'm dead soon after that. We sideboard and I put in those Wraths and Arrests. I do the beatdown plan but he hardcasts a Darksteel Colossus. On the first attack of the Colossus I redirect 4 damage by pitching a Hokori to a Shoal to him and he goes down to two after my next attack. He now has to topdeck either an Angel or a Tooth and Nail. He has the later and wins :/ Draft One  In Betrayers I open a Shimmering Glasskite which I pick over Moonlit Strider, the only playable White card in the Booster. Second pick is Waxmane Baku and third pick is Genju of the Falls. It seems like I have a second color. But then again, coming up are Waxmane Baku as pick 4 and Faithful Squire pick 5. Somewhere after that I get a Moonlit Strider, a Terashi's Grasp and a Kami of False Hope. When I open the Saviors pack, a big grinning Ghost-Lit Raider is starring my way. Damn you bad luck. So I try to force some red into my deck with Akki Underling and a Spiraling Embers, with two Shinen of Fury's Fire as some other options. I still get my hands on a Kitsune Loreweaver and Torii Watchward as well as two Plow Through Reito. I pull together a nearly mono-White deck that splashes Red for Ghost-Lit Raider, Akki Underling, Spiraling Embers and one Shinen of Fury's Fire. The only bad thing about the deck is that I have no late drops and need to play Kami of Tattered Shoji and Kami of the Painted Road as late drops. Round Four: Bye Byes happen with seven-player pods, so it's time to gain some energy again. Yum. It is really a good deal to make a tournament in a pub/restaurant. After I ate, I played some games against another player with a bye from another table. Round Five: Andreas Koch playing G/x Unfortunately I don't recall what his second color was, It was either Blue, Black or Red, but I didn't see much of the second color. First game he plays some small creatures like two Sakura-Tribe Scouts and a Kami of the Hunt, but it is already over when my Raider enters the game. Later I also get an Innocence Kami and some beaters. Game two, I have first turn Lantern Kami and he has second turn Humble Budoka, but nothing to follow up. The Budoka hits me twice for missing a land drop before I can put a Samurai in his way. After that I play Moonlit Strider and some time later Kami of the Painted Road I can manage a constant flow of damage and win. Round Six: Karl Krasser playing U/B OK, this was something I didn't expect. I don't get the efficient draws that my deck can produce and his deck is blistering fast. He begins with a mulligan but has second turn Wicked Akuba, while I'm struggling to find my third land. At least I find Kami of Ancient Law that I trade for the Akuba. He plays a Moonbow Illusionist and I put a Kitsune Blademaster into play. The Blademaster gets clutched. I don't have the fourth land and he plays a second Illusionist. With the fourth land I get from my deck I put my Mothrider Samurai on the table, but he dies with a burst eardrum. After that he forces me to kill one of the Illusionists by trying to turn my only Mountain into a Forest, but the Spiraling Embers gets countered. The attempt with a channeled Raider in the following turn succeeds, but he still has an Illusionist and I'm out of answers. Game two I have two lands and only three- and four-drops in my hand, but I'm not eager to mulligan. Luckily he doesn't have the Akuba and I have time to put a Waxmane Baku into play. He has a Takenuma Bleeder followed by a Scourge of Numai. I put a Cage on the Scourge but can't find an answer for the Takenuma Bleeder. He puts a Gibbering Kami into play and those two are enough to finish me. Draft Two  In Betrayers I open Okiba-Gang Shinobi passing a Moonlit Strider. Second pick is a much harder decision as I have to choose from a Takenuma Bleeder, Okiba-Gang Shinobi and Oyobi, who Split the Heavens. I'm thinking that the dance is enough as a finisher and pick the second Shinobi, I also didn't have many spirits at the time and the good common spirits in Black and White for Betrayers and Saviors are rather slim. Along comes a third (!) Shinobi, but I take Tallowisp over it, since I already have Cage of Hands and there are also some playable enchantments in this and the following pack, most namely Kagemaro's Clutch. You also don't need to activate the Tallowisp as often as other Spiritcrafters. Pick four was a very tough decision for me as I had to choose from Skullsnatcher and Patron of the Kitsune. I decide to take the solid two-drop, trying to form a solid Weenie Rush deck that can really use Dance of Shadows instead of a deck that is bomb-laden but doesn't really move until turn 4. But this should pan out as my pick five is Patron of the Nezumi that I can put into play when I'm trading any of the three rats I alread have. The pack later gets me two Kami of False Hope, Mending Hands and a Heart of Light to go with the Tallowisp. Saviors is offering me Kagemaro's Clutch, which I take easily. After that I don't have any tough decisions to make and I end up with two of each Moonwing Moth, Kami of Empty Graves and Death Denied as well as three (!) Kuro's Taken and a Plow Through Reito. So I have a solid deck; the only thing I dislike is that most of my playables are Black, and I need to play two Moonwing Moths, but these worries were more or less unnecessary. Round Seven: Phillip Haas playing R/W He starts and plays second turn Hearth Kami. I have a Skullsnatcher I trade for the Kami. Kuro's Taken enters the game on my side and slows down his progress totally, but he doesn't have much anyway. I play a Kitsune Blademaster that goes to town alongside the taken one. He plays Sokenzan Renegade. I take control of him in his next upkeep while he doesn't have a follow up. I go to town with everything. He doesn't want to use his Genju of the Spires to block or even attack as I play a Moonwing Moth. He doesn't do much on his turn either, but gains control of the Renegade in my upkeep again. I attack with the Moth and snatch a Okiba-Gang Shinobi out of it. He's pretty much finished. Game two he does nothing until his third turn where he casts some canned heat. I on the other hand have Kuro's Taken, but nothing on my third turn. I attack with the Taken and make an Shinobi out of him as early as possible. She hits him twice before hitting a barrel. Unforunately I'm also growing unalert, and he takes out my Kuro's Taken after I blocked a Hearth Kami with a Yamabushi's Storm. I clutch his Frostwielder but I'm out of gas when he trades his Burning-Eye Zubera for my Kitsune Blademaster by pumping my creature with Captive Flame. He wins with the flame after that. Game three starts pretty similar. I have Kuro's Taken and a Moonwing Moth that attacks once. He has a Hatamoto and tries to get rid of my team by casting a Yamabushi's Storm after I played Tallowisp and I choose to have my Moth survive over the rat. We trade some blows and get into a stall after with him at 7 and me at 6, and this is where I make the most stupid decision I could have made. I could easily blame that I was tired or something, but mainly it was just a dumb idea. Time is called and we go into the extra turns. I could have easily made a draw out of this but I try to mindtrick him and I have a Kuro's Taken and a Patron of the Nezumi in play. I want to win and put a Heart of Light on his only untapped creature and attack. He doesn't fall for it and I lose. Yeah I was dumb and it costed me the game. This should later haunt me :/ Round Eight: Markus Sattler playing G/W Game one he plays some small creatures that meet a Kuro's Taken and Kitsune Blademaster. I go to town with them and play a Moonwing Moth. He doesn't have anything and I go to town again following up with Skullsnatcher. Dance of Shadows and I kill him in the third attack. Second game I start out with first turn Lantern Kami. I didn't see much of his deck in the first game so I was more then surprised by the second turn Eight-and-a-half-Tails. I play No-Dachi and hit with the flier again. We trade blows, he gets Kami of the Hunt and I play Moonwing Moth. He answers with Traproot Kami. I get my hands on Tallowisp and a Kami of Empty Graves to grab Kagemaro's Clutch from my deck. He plays Nightsoil Kami. The next turn I attack with my fliers and he gives the 0/4 Traproot Kami protection for no reason. This gives me the window to clutch the Fox. He comes over with the Nightsoil Kami. I can finally use the Cage of Hands on the big guy. I equip the Moth and start chomping away on his Traproot Kami and the brother he got after that. His life total dwindles down and my fliers win the game. Round Nine: Benjamin Kölz playing U/B Benjamin is a friend of mine who opened Umezawa's Jitte in Betrayers. Game one I start out with turn one Lantern Kami, but that's the only creature that I don't trade early or that he can't remove. An Oboro Breezecaller acts as a outlet for Mistblade Shinobi and I'm forced to clutch the Soratami Mirror-Guard of his. He starts chomping away on my life total with his fliers and I scoop as he announces Phantom Wings. Game three is similar, but I start out with Kami of False Hope and Kuro's Taken. He has Skullsnatcher, but I answer it with Kitsune Blademaster. The following turn I go in with the Taken and the Blademaster and switch the Rat with another named Okiba-Gang Shinobi. After that he puts his Jitte into play and equips it to his Rat and attacks. I sack the Kami to prevent the Jitte from getting counters. To be frank, my memory gets a bit fuzzy there, I only know how it ends. I have Patron of the Nezumi, Kitsune Blademaster and Okiba-Gang Shinobi in play that are starring at a Jitte with five counters and a opponent at two life. I have Dance of Shadows that wins me the game, as he can either kill two of my creatures and gain two life and get beaten for 7, or he can gain ten life and get beaten for 14. Game three I start again with turn one Lantern Kami, turn two Kuro's Taken. We start trading blows and I clutch his Soratami Mirror-Guard again. I replace the Lantern with a Shinobi, then I put into play a Blademaster and the Lantern Kami again. Soon after I dance away his remaining eleven life. Standard: Part Deux Round Ten: Vedran Makivic playing Tooth and Nail Yet another friend of mine. This kid is always hanging out at the local gamestore and I played most of my test games against Tooth and Nail with him. This leads to the fact that he knows that I'm playing Shining Shoal, which should also help me later on by scaring him. In the first game I have a very fast start with Isamaru, Samurai of the Pale Curtain, Raise the Alarm and Glorious Anthem. He falls dead soon after. I side in two Wraths, two Arrests and a second Terashi's Grasp. In the second game I don't have much pressure as he has an early Sakura-Tribe Elder and I get slaughtered by Iwamori and Razormane Masticore. I side in the rest of the Arrests and Grasps. I have a fast start with Lantern Kami and double Raise the Alarm followed by Glorious Anthem, but he hardcasts a Platinum Angel. He is scared to attack or block as I he knows that I'm playing Shining Shoal. I beat him to -4 life and put a Samurai of the Pale Curtain into play. He casts Tooth and Nail for the second Angel and a Razormane Masticore. The latter gets arrested which makes my opponent sacrifice him. He summons an army of mid-range creatures that go by the names of Troll Ascetic, Eternal Witness and later Iwamori of the Open Fist but are met by my token army and two Glorious Anthems. He's too scared of my Shoals anyways and I only have to wait till I draw Wrath of God or two Grasps.  He's the brother of my Round Five opponent and gets a very fast start in game one and I have a lousy draw. Well, it's the mirror and normally the guy who starts wins. I side in four Story Circles and two Grasps. This time its my turn for a fast start. He has a Jitte and an Isamaru, but I shoal the damage back to him by pitching one of the three Anthems I drew, the fact that he spent two turns just to play and equip the Jitte opens me a window to make a fast game using Lantern Kami and Leonin Skyhunter. Glorious Anthem makes his life miserable and so does Raise the Alarm. The second Anthem puts it down. The final match should become a real marathon, but first thing's first. I have a decent start with a Suntail Hawk, Damping Matrix and Story Circle, but all my attemps to attack are killed by the two Ghostly Prisons on his side of the table. We play draw-go for a while. I draw a Grasp and get rid of one Prison so I can attack a little, but this plan is soon shut down by his fliers. He casts a Promise of Bunrei. After that he plays Wrath of God, but the Samurai of the Pale Curtain on my side prevents him from getting tokens with the Promise. He nuked too many of his fliers and I get to draw my remaining two Grasps to kill the second Prison and one of his Anthems. With some fliers I can finally attack and kill some of his creatures with Shining Shoal. He gains some life through Auriok Champion and a Grasp, but I win before I draw myself to death. I win with a single card remaining in my library by inflicting a total of 45 damage. Round Twelve: Karl Krasser playing Big Red My opponent from round six again, this time in constructed. He starts out with Blinkmoth Nexus and Wayfarer's Bauble, I make Lantern Kami and Samurai of the Pale Curtain. I shoal a Magma Jet back to his head. After he taps out for Solemn Simulacrum I lock him under Hokori. He doesn't seem to find anything useful except for some small scale burn that is neutralized by my Glorious Anthem and I kill him some attacks later. I don't board Story Circles, as he doesn't seem to be too aggressive. Instead I board in three Hallow and three Arrest. I again start with a Suntail Hawk and a Leonin Skyhunter followed by a Glorious Anthem. He kills the Hawk, which replaced by a Lantern Kami. The Arc-Slogger he played turn five gets arrested and I beat him to 4 with my team. He finally can get rid of the Kami. He tries to pulse me dead. I attack him down to 1, he pulses again and I shoal him dead. The End is near So I went a total of 8-4 and miss the Top 8 draft in place 9, but by a rather large margin of six percent on the tie-breakers. I get a nice t-shirt for this. Considering my very stupid error in round seven, I'm still pretty satisfied, and I also liked to see a friend of mine who won the same tournament last year get in 8th place. He advanced to the finals but had bad draws there and lost. Still I think my deck went pretty well and I managed to play a good tournament. After the last open round there were enough people willing to trade cards; the only thing I noticed were people that sold Meddling Mages for 15 € a piece, a price way above anything I would pay for them. (Editor's note: The "going price" for Meddling Mages in the US is around $12.) I got two more Wraths, cards that are rarely traded in my region and I needed to get those anyway. There were also side drafts hosted during the rounds of the Top 8 draft, but I was a little bit exhausted and didnt want to play K.O. system. To quote Tweek from South Park, "Aw, man, that's way too much pressure!" So long, thanks for reading, and good luck on your next tournament... I hope you have more of it than I had  Props: Tournament organisation, price structure, nice atmosphere, sideboard tech Slops: My own stupidity Credits: Writing: chaosof99; Banner: Avatar; Editing:Binary By Stefan Preiml on August 24th, 2005 · Filed in Standard (Type 2) · 17 Comments |
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