Ah, the tradition pre-report ramble. I would like to see I was prepared for this event and was fully confident about placing, but I wasn't all my prep time actually went into an Askalti Darksteel build I was fairly happy about, until I played Mage control. My deck just couldn't handle mystic denial as my cards cost too much and often it would a horrible 2 for 1 that gave them room to recover. So I came back from wednesday night looking at my rare folder and noticing I still had a velindra deck but I didn't like Kel'thuzad. Basically for me it turned to if you steal 2 or more Dethvirs you probably win, otherwise they work through your field especially with the huge interupt free turn you've just given them.
So I looked at Ysera, considering I'd recently got my 2nd. The draw and mend seemed good and meant I could probably rely on winning long games, the 40 health was great I've got to say and it tested really well on sat. Plus the extra draw meant I could tech in a netherbreath spellblade to sometimes just lock a game away. The one of regalia was because that was all I had.
Now the stash cards, the main reason I included them was because I needed some kind of free answers to aggro, as I was lending my Brodericks to Josh. I had 4 Sava'gin and 2 Cairne, so I decided to use them, probably would've preferred more Cairne than Sava'gin ideally. Amazingly this seemed to also help ysera be more consistent as mages don't have all the time in the world to be questing consistenly and that 15 health boost was great. Subsequently tho I went for draw 2 or easy to complete quests as well, to either help Ysera or help win the long game . Oh and the rituals of power was something to try out as well as extra insurance vs kel'thuzad.
Sounds like I had a plan eh? I should also mention this was done at 3am after I came back home after a night out at Post-Mortem and a few hours at the student union xD. So the next day I crawled out of bed, got into the shower and ambled my way across town to Fanboy3, where I tried a new hangover treatment of Dr Pepper which seemed to do the trick, and then i wrote down my decklist showed it to Josh and proclaimed "I've janked up a tier 1 deck".
After some chatting the pairings went up and we were off ....
......to a bad start apparently
Round one - Jonny (strawdonkey) Koo'zar (0-1)
http://phadalus.blogspot.com/2011/02/zapped-giants-open-ii-19-february-2011.html
I gotta say, when you haven't playtested a control deck before, seeing the fastest rush deck across the table to quite unnerving. Jonny covered the game in his blog but from my perspective I stashed sava'gin turn 1 to try and kill the rosalyne he played. It didn't :( and after some trading and stalling, i ended up losing to that same Rosalyne and a spell surpressed Ruby Flameblade.
Afterwards we played a friendly, of velindra vs lorala the dancing (from team rampage's blog the same deck oli was trying out today), the deck seemed powerful but ran out of steam quite quickly.
Round two - Ozzy (Treeborn Frog Emek the Equalizer (1-1)
Ozzy started off with a bloodsoul and i had a spider (cairne token :D) i took beats from the bloodsoul and replicated with my spider. i then played a dethvir and ozzy follows suit, so i do the standard velindra thing and stole it. The game carried on for a bit but ozzy just couldn't deal with the double dethvirs, especially once i had undercity on the field. Really fun game tho and i was constantly in fear of the holy talents that didn't turn up unfortunately for ozzy.
Round three - Scott Triton (All-in Rush) (2-1)
Scott started off strong with a broderick i believe but i have some removal and undercity to make sure my life never goes about 12 dmg. He went all-in on turn 3 i believe with a babaganoosh which i had to flip on and try and deal without using wubs. I eventually managed to wrestle control over his topdecking and dethvir locks the game up. I was genuinely frighted by babaganoosh plus men hitting field on turn 3 and I played rather poorly dealing with it. But fortunately going all-in also gives me a bunch of breathing room once I do.
Round four - Paul Velindra (3-1)
ah the control mage mirror match, a big ball of fun. My plan was around turn 10 to minise the amount of dethivrs he could take unfortunately he has a lot more targets in my deck than most velindra decks, but at least these targets die. First few turns involved some passing, i did at one point played a field of 2 Sava'gins and a spider (:D) which was swiftly dealt with. I resolved a mana sapphire however and paul doesn't. My hand contained nether fissure x2 which meant i was no longer worried about Kel T. The game was ended by me playing dethvir followed by Sava'gin and then protecting them during Paul's turn. I hit him once with both, he looked at his next card and offered the handshake. Funniest thing was WE FINISHED BEFORE TIME! :D Turns out the janky tech really helps the mirror match.
Round five - Keith Goblin Shaman (4-1)
I was worried about fancing goblin combo but it was a death rattle deck. This game went on for a while as Keith ran out of steam early, as he completed 2 copies of all things in good time and a lot of them were death rattle cards and I couldn't draw an endgame to help finish it off. Eventually tho i go Ysera with regalia and manage to beat down some goblin shaman. If he managed to get a saurfang out and get some death rattle shennanigans going I'm sure the game would've gone a lot differently.
Round six - Joseph Sadowski - Durzion (Searing Light Burn) (4-2)
This was a long game and Joe saw my Sava'gins when i played keith and was disappointed when i played none. I mull'ed into an interuptless hand and joe eventually had a field of 3 searing lights, 3 devouring plagues, 2 were spell supped but he oppressed one eventually. While i had a cinnamon roll. I eventually go ysera and then mess up completely by exhausting everything for a mana sapphire, joe then showed me his fourth great elekk and burned me with the remaining cards in hand. I was annoyed that I made such a silly mistake but moved on..... eventually.
Round 7 - Oliver Gehrmann - Erondra Frostmoon (5-2)
This was another long game and another that went to time. I spent most of the game drawing, occasionally interupting and making sure Oli got no usage out of the Lich King's effect. Eventually time was called I spent the turn i was on making Gladiator's regalia, then my next turn turning into ysera and my final turn was spell suppressing deathcharger so Oli couldn;t everfrost in response to the netherbreath spellblade i played next. i cracked open a manasapphire and healed for game. Not proud of this game, but since it was my only game that i did it, i was relatively happy with my deck now.
Round 8 Jack Fejer - Triton (5-3)
I gotta say scimitar scares me after this game, the recurrent threat of a krol blade is enough to completely throw off my game if I don't get to the late game, where cinnamon rolls really start packing value. But unfortunately we never got there. Jack resolved the scimitar on turn 5 and proceded to beat me with it, iirc he managed to army of the dead his guys and hit me with them again for game. I've gotta say Jack played well and I didn't, I was exhausted and did things like play a blizzard into a vuz'din xD.
Nevertheless I was happy with how I did as was Josh, so we watched some yugioh and prepared to hear how we ranked. After some pack launching courtesy of Ross at unsuspecting folk, we then got told there were 10 ppl on 5-3 :o. As Ross went ever closer to the top 10, I was pretty nervous then came 9th and Ross handed over the packs to Josh :( but I was pretty happy that I made top 8 :D.
Until I realised all 3 of my losses were in it and I was playing Jack in the first round xD.
Top 8 Jack Fejer. (0-2)
After Jack took a more awesome pic of myself, we shuffled up and began our games. Unfortunately never of them went much better for me than before. In both games a Extract of Necromantic Power hit the field early, and I occasionally got locked out by Vuz'din. I struggled to stabilise and wasn't able to either deal with threats or get a stream of cards into my hand. Nevertheless I was pleased to do as well as I did.
So i got some more packs and pulled another Sava'gin and some other stuff I'd been looking for. I really enjoyed playing so many people that I've never faced before, as well as seeing that the game truly is alive and well in the UK now :D.
So thanks to Ross, Dave and the other organisers for a great tournament and I hope the next one is just as fun.
Oh and here was the decklist
2 Ysera the Dreamer
4 Dethvir the Malignant
4 Sava'gin the Reckless
2 Cairne, Earthmothers Chosen
3 Spell Suppresion
4 The Taste of Arcana
4 Blizzard
2 Brittilize
3 Conjured Cinnamon Roll
4 Mana Sapphire
3 Nether Fissure
3 Mystic Denial
2 Roaring Blaze
1 Gladiators Regalia
1 Netherbreath Spellblade
4 Wubs Cursed Hexblade
4 A Question of Gluttony
4 Boon of Alexstraza
2 Everfrost
1 Rituals of Power
3 Undercity
So any comments and if you're one of my opponents and think I've left something out let me know ^^. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Tournament Report - Zapped Giants Open II @ Fanboy 3, Manchester (19th February 2011)
So apparently it is necessary for me to write one of these things. However, a few things to begin with. I don't remember too much about the event, mainly peoples names being forgotten, so my apologies in advance.
So I start the day at about 9am when I wake up. I get myself ready, and then leave to get a tram into Manchester, as I only live a couple miles out. I arrive at about 10:20 when I am reminded that deck lists are required at these events. Oh goodie :/. As I check through my deck, I realise that there are a few things I did not like, mainly the 2 Darkness Callings and the 4 A Question of Gluttony. I quickly get hold of another 2 Darkness Calling, however I am not able to find Overseers Shadow :/. With time getting slimmer, I decide to write out my deck list. It looked a little like this:
Triton the Sacrilegious
2 The Lich King
3 Broderick Langforth
4 Deathcharger
3 Vuzdin
2 Johnny Rotten
4 Dethvir the Malignant
2 Kilix the Unraveler
3 Entomb
3 Strangulate
3 Tuskaar Kite
4 Corpse Explosion
3 Army of the Dead
4 Blackout Truncheon
3 Edge of Oblivion
1 Scourgeborne Battlegear
4 Eye of the Storm
4 Darkness Calling
4 The Boon of Alexstrasza
2 A Question of Gluttony
2 Cleansing Witch Hill
A few notes about the deck. I first of all only have access to 3 Broderick Langforth, and would preferably be playing 4. This deck hadn't had a lot of testing if i am truly honest with myself, and I felt the numbers I was using were good. There are no Extracts in this deck as I am not fully sure where mine ave disappeared too. I am not fully sure what possessed me to play Eye of the Storm, let alone 4 copies of it, but ah well. The final card to talk about is Scourgeborne Battlegear. This seemed like an interesting card to play a tech copy of, and didn't truly seem to have many downsides, It seemed like a strong card to me, and therefore I played it.
So the tournament starts, and we are informed that it shall be an 8 round tournament with a top 8 cut, with 43 people entered. And so we begin here.
Round 1 - Kat Donahue - Zaritha
To be honest, this match up doesn't scare me too much, as what I've played against Zaritha, I feel confident about. Kat sets up the renewal of life plays with Brokentoe, Darkness Calling and Gromble the Apt. Meanwhile, I try to counter this with Corpse explosions on Mikael, removing big pieces from the grave. When the Renewal of Life hits the board, I entomb it quite quickly on the next turn. Eventually I play Scourgebourne Battlegear, and it goes unanswered, giving me ghouls and burning for 3, eventually capturing me the game.
1-0
Round 2 - Vince Turner - Velindra Sepulchre
This is a match up which i don't fear as much as used to, however having played Vince before, I know how well he can play this deck. I figure this game is a race towards turn 10, as Kel'Thuzad switches the nature of this game around completely. The game goes how you would expect the mage matchup to go, until turn 4, where I am able to successfully get an Edge of Oblivion out unanswered. This gains me quite a few points on him. By my turn 10, I have gotten him to 18 damage. I stash a strangulate, and double Corpse Explosion finishes of the Undead Mage.
2-0
Bonus Round - Greggs - Steak Bake
This is a match up I hate immensely. Piping hot steak bakes are my natural enemy, and somehow, I manage to get some of the pasty in my hair. Luckily this is an illegal maneuver, and gets the Steak Bake a warning. However, this didn't go down well, and he persistently argued against this, forcing the warning to be upgrade to a game loss. ^_^
As we returned from our epic quest to gregg's back to Fanboy 3, we took a seat, and suddenly, a wild Lammy appeared. He was forced into the tournament with a 0-2 BYE loss. Now the tournament was at 44 players.
Round 3 - A man whose name I have forgotten (sorry D:) - Boarguts the Impaler
After looking at the hero, I realised that he would be playing death wish, and mulliganed for Vuz'din. Unfortunately, I did not see a Vuz'din within my new hand either. He opens up with Guardian's Plate Bracers, and is able to follow up with double Death Wish and an Edge. I am able to truncheon him for 2 turns, but this is in vain, as I had nothing else really to follow up with. I entomb the Bracers, as Edge is much weaker now, but he drops a Saurfang on the table, with a Kor'kron Vanguard to back it up. Nearly dead, I am able to answer the Saurfang with a Corpse Explosion, but a second Saurfang hitting the table straight after forces me to offer the handshake.
2-1
Round 4 - Johnny Roberts - Witch Doctor Koo'zar
As soon as I see this hero hit the table, I grimace intensely. While Corpse Explosion is a very nice answer to this deck, you still need to have an ally to remove. Not drawing a Corpse Explosion in my opening hand, i mulligan desperately for one. My deck is unkind to me once again and decides that an army of the dead will suffice. As you'd expect, Johnny has the nuts for a hand, and drops one drop after one drop. I get dangerously close to death, and hope to draw a corpse explosion. Unfortunately this is not the case. A babaganoosh is dropped on the board, and a turn 5 death awaits me.
2-2
Round 5 - A man whose name I have also forgotten (sorry D:) - Souldrinker Bogmara
Another scary rush deck, however this time I have been given the Corpse Explosion. However, this is unnecessary, as a mulliganed hand from my opponent gave him no 1 or 2 drops, playing only 2 Death to the Traitor King. He plays a Promises of Darkness, but still doesn't draw many things to use against me. He plays another Promises of Darkness, but still isn't able to follow up with anything. I then play an Edge of Oblivion. He plays a Gurabashi Arena, followed by a Krixel Pinchwhistle. I play a Dethvir, and then he plays a Hesriana with no target. Eventually, he is able to get quite a few guys on the table, but a Corpse Explosion finishes this game off.
3-2
Round 6 - Christopher Reilly (I think :/) - Caleb Pavish
Rogue?!?!?! The problem with this deck is that I personally had no idea what to expect. I'll be honest here. So I mulliganed for a stronger hand, as I didn't think my current hand would be as strong, with the only card of use being a Vuz'din. Big Mistake. I end up with an incredibly weak hand, which gets poach'd. Suddenly, I am being hit with weapons and having poisons thrown at me :/. This isn't helped by the Master Poisoner that is also on the table. My deck decides I don't deserve a Vuz'din, and the venom within my undead body finally takes me. Goddamn you Vuz'din.
3-3
Round 7 - A man whose name I have once again forgotten (sorry D:) - Alliance Druid (Don't remember this either :/)
To be honest, there wasn't much to say about this game. I drew a nice curved hand, complete with Deathcharger, Tuskaar Kite and a Dethvir. He drew a Concerted efforts, and that was the only quest of the game. He got a Mikael and an Adam on the table, but Deathcharger killed both of these quite promptly. He got a hibernate off on my Dethvir, but nothing else much happened, and I was able to dominate the rest of this game.
4-3
Round 8 - Guess what, I forgot :/ (sorry D:) - Loraala the Frigid
I don't really remember too much about this game. By turn 7, I hadn't tried to commit much to the board, while he had an Ossus the Ancient out. I also realised he was counting his resources, so I telegraphed a Kel'thuzad, so I made sure to play around it, and sure enough, KT came down turn 10. With the Ossus preventing him from doing any combat damage, I was able to play around it quite nicely. I was able to get a Lich King into play, and from there started killing off the allies he took with KT. I played a Scourgeborne Battlegear, killing my own Ossus I was forced to take with Lich. From here, after lich'ing back many Dethvir's and a Kilix, this game finished quite strongly.
5-3
Well that was the last round. Wondering how well I had done, waited to find out while Ross began launching packs at people across the room. He got down to 11th place, and I started to realise the possibility that i had top 8'ed. Then i realised that the elusive 9th place existed as well. Sure enough, I came 9th place :/. On the plus set, my team mate made top 8, so not all bad.
After that, the top 8 started, and i decided to have a couple friendly's with people around the store, some from other card games. All in all, a really good event, where i got to meet a lot of new nice people.
So I start the day at about 9am when I wake up. I get myself ready, and then leave to get a tram into Manchester, as I only live a couple miles out. I arrive at about 10:20 when I am reminded that deck lists are required at these events. Oh goodie :/. As I check through my deck, I realise that there are a few things I did not like, mainly the 2 Darkness Callings and the 4 A Question of Gluttony. I quickly get hold of another 2 Darkness Calling, however I am not able to find Overseers Shadow :/. With time getting slimmer, I decide to write out my deck list. It looked a little like this:
Triton the Sacrilegious
2 The Lich King
3 Broderick Langforth
4 Deathcharger
3 Vuzdin
2 Johnny Rotten
4 Dethvir the Malignant
2 Kilix the Unraveler
3 Entomb
3 Strangulate
3 Tuskaar Kite
4 Corpse Explosion
3 Army of the Dead
4 Blackout Truncheon
3 Edge of Oblivion
1 Scourgeborne Battlegear
4 Eye of the Storm
4 Darkness Calling
4 The Boon of Alexstrasza
2 A Question of Gluttony
2 Cleansing Witch Hill
A few notes about the deck. I first of all only have access to 3 Broderick Langforth, and would preferably be playing 4. This deck hadn't had a lot of testing if i am truly honest with myself, and I felt the numbers I was using were good. There are no Extracts in this deck as I am not fully sure where mine ave disappeared too. I am not fully sure what possessed me to play Eye of the Storm, let alone 4 copies of it, but ah well. The final card to talk about is Scourgeborne Battlegear. This seemed like an interesting card to play a tech copy of, and didn't truly seem to have many downsides, It seemed like a strong card to me, and therefore I played it.
So the tournament starts, and we are informed that it shall be an 8 round tournament with a top 8 cut, with 43 people entered. And so we begin here.
Round 1 - Kat Donahue - Zaritha
To be honest, this match up doesn't scare me too much, as what I've played against Zaritha, I feel confident about. Kat sets up the renewal of life plays with Brokentoe, Darkness Calling and Gromble the Apt. Meanwhile, I try to counter this with Corpse explosions on Mikael, removing big pieces from the grave. When the Renewal of Life hits the board, I entomb it quite quickly on the next turn. Eventually I play Scourgebourne Battlegear, and it goes unanswered, giving me ghouls and burning for 3, eventually capturing me the game.
1-0
Round 2 - Vince Turner - Velindra Sepulchre
This is a match up which i don't fear as much as used to, however having played Vince before, I know how well he can play this deck. I figure this game is a race towards turn 10, as Kel'Thuzad switches the nature of this game around completely. The game goes how you would expect the mage matchup to go, until turn 4, where I am able to successfully get an Edge of Oblivion out unanswered. This gains me quite a few points on him. By my turn 10, I have gotten him to 18 damage. I stash a strangulate, and double Corpse Explosion finishes of the Undead Mage.
2-0
Bonus Round - Greggs - Steak Bake
This is a match up I hate immensely. Piping hot steak bakes are my natural enemy, and somehow, I manage to get some of the pasty in my hair. Luckily this is an illegal maneuver, and gets the Steak Bake a warning. However, this didn't go down well, and he persistently argued against this, forcing the warning to be upgrade to a game loss. ^_^
As we returned from our epic quest to gregg's back to Fanboy 3, we took a seat, and suddenly, a wild Lammy appeared. He was forced into the tournament with a 0-2 BYE loss. Now the tournament was at 44 players.
Round 3 - A man whose name I have forgotten (sorry D:) - Boarguts the Impaler
After looking at the hero, I realised that he would be playing death wish, and mulliganed for Vuz'din. Unfortunately, I did not see a Vuz'din within my new hand either. He opens up with Guardian's Plate Bracers, and is able to follow up with double Death Wish and an Edge. I am able to truncheon him for 2 turns, but this is in vain, as I had nothing else really to follow up with. I entomb the Bracers, as Edge is much weaker now, but he drops a Saurfang on the table, with a Kor'kron Vanguard to back it up. Nearly dead, I am able to answer the Saurfang with a Corpse Explosion, but a second Saurfang hitting the table straight after forces me to offer the handshake.
2-1
Round 4 - Johnny Roberts - Witch Doctor Koo'zar
As soon as I see this hero hit the table, I grimace intensely. While Corpse Explosion is a very nice answer to this deck, you still need to have an ally to remove. Not drawing a Corpse Explosion in my opening hand, i mulligan desperately for one. My deck is unkind to me once again and decides that an army of the dead will suffice. As you'd expect, Johnny has the nuts for a hand, and drops one drop after one drop. I get dangerously close to death, and hope to draw a corpse explosion. Unfortunately this is not the case. A babaganoosh is dropped on the board, and a turn 5 death awaits me.
2-2
Round 5 - A man whose name I have also forgotten (sorry D:) - Souldrinker Bogmara
Another scary rush deck, however this time I have been given the Corpse Explosion. However, this is unnecessary, as a mulliganed hand from my opponent gave him no 1 or 2 drops, playing only 2 Death to the Traitor King. He plays a Promises of Darkness, but still doesn't draw many things to use against me. He plays another Promises of Darkness, but still isn't able to follow up with anything. I then play an Edge of Oblivion. He plays a Gurabashi Arena, followed by a Krixel Pinchwhistle. I play a Dethvir, and then he plays a Hesriana with no target. Eventually, he is able to get quite a few guys on the table, but a Corpse Explosion finishes this game off.
3-2
Round 6 - Christopher Reilly (I think :/) - Caleb Pavish
Rogue?!?!?! The problem with this deck is that I personally had no idea what to expect. I'll be honest here. So I mulliganed for a stronger hand, as I didn't think my current hand would be as strong, with the only card of use being a Vuz'din. Big Mistake. I end up with an incredibly weak hand, which gets poach'd. Suddenly, I am being hit with weapons and having poisons thrown at me :/. This isn't helped by the Master Poisoner that is also on the table. My deck decides I don't deserve a Vuz'din, and the venom within my undead body finally takes me. Goddamn you Vuz'din.
3-3
Round 7 - A man whose name I have once again forgotten (sorry D:) - Alliance Druid (Don't remember this either :/)
To be honest, there wasn't much to say about this game. I drew a nice curved hand, complete with Deathcharger, Tuskaar Kite and a Dethvir. He drew a Concerted efforts, and that was the only quest of the game. He got a Mikael and an Adam on the table, but Deathcharger killed both of these quite promptly. He got a hibernate off on my Dethvir, but nothing else much happened, and I was able to dominate the rest of this game.
4-3
Round 8 - Guess what, I forgot :/ (sorry D:) - Loraala the Frigid
I don't really remember too much about this game. By turn 7, I hadn't tried to commit much to the board, while he had an Ossus the Ancient out. I also realised he was counting his resources, so I telegraphed a Kel'thuzad, so I made sure to play around it, and sure enough, KT came down turn 10. With the Ossus preventing him from doing any combat damage, I was able to play around it quite nicely. I was able to get a Lich King into play, and from there started killing off the allies he took with KT. I played a Scourgeborne Battlegear, killing my own Ossus I was forced to take with Lich. From here, after lich'ing back many Dethvir's and a Kilix, this game finished quite strongly.
5-3
Well that was the last round. Wondering how well I had done, waited to find out while Ross began launching packs at people across the room. He got down to 11th place, and I started to realise the possibility that i had top 8'ed. Then i realised that the elusive 9th place existed as well. Sure enough, I came 9th place :/. On the plus set, my team mate made top 8, so not all bad.
After that, the top 8 started, and i decided to have a couple friendly's with people around the store, some from other card games. All in all, a really good event, where i got to meet a lot of new nice people.
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