@vhfforever and @ChaoticTyrant, do you guys mind sharing your lists?
I've been running 73/75 of Jordan's most recent list here. I cut one Matter Reshaper and 1 Zhalfiran Void for one copy each of Phyrexian Metamorph and Cavern of Souls. My SB is the same 15 at the moment, but I usually play around with the number of Ratchet Bombs and the 3rd copy of Gemstone Caverns, sometimes going down to 3 each to add in other options like Endbringer or additional Spatial Contortions.
Humans is a fine matchup, but far from a runaway on both sides. I've never had much of an issue with Bant Spirits, because the Eldrazi are typically larger than them when it comes into the combat zone. All of them having evasion is annoying, but since they're (generally) smaller, it's a bit easier.
I don't personally like the red. Consistent and reliable access to the creatures and spells requiring Wingdings mana is a priority for me, and I can't see how only running 8 fixed red sources in the deck gives you a reliable change to cast Anger of the Gods. Spatial Contortion is like a lightning bolt that can giant growth your Reality Smasher, and Ratchet Bomb may be a little slower, but is infinitely easier to cast than AotG.
Also, I updated my previous post with the three PPTQ's I've been to so far this season.
Another weekend and another PPTQ. So far it has been:
7/21/18 Cardboard Castle, Augusta, GA
4 People went, 3 Top 8, one Finalist
4-2, 8th Place, loss in top 8
Round 1: Ad Naueseum (0-1, 1-2)
I am on the play and toss out Chalice on 1 and he plays Scryland ->Suspend Bloom. I check my hand, see it somewhat anemic, and topdeck into turn 2 Thought-Knot taking Ad Naus. Turn 3 he plays Unlife and I am unable to kill him on turn 4 before he goes off with another As Naus. Game 2 I steamroll him with multiple Chalices, and TKS into Smasher. Game 3 is close, but he manages a discard spell on Dismember after I TKS his Lightning Storm. Another Ad Naus gives him Lab Man into cantrip for the win.
Round 2: KCI (1-1, 3-2)
This involved multiple Chalices, Ratchet Bomb killing his 0, and TKS taking the namesake. Game 1 was a pure race, but the Chalice bought me enough time to keep him away from the combo.
Round 3: I don't recall (2-1, 5-2)
I do know it was a 2-0.
Round 4: UW Miracles (2-2, 6-4)
One of my buddies and eventual finalist. He wins in 3 after a very aggressive successful game one. The more I look back, the more I think I'm playing the UW match incorrectly. I've been playing it as aggressive as possible in attempt to get them off the board before they can establish enough control to lock down the game, where a slower and more drawn out game doesn't exactly put us in an unfavored position.
Round 5: Was a no show (3-2, 8-4)
Round 6: Burn (4-2, 10-4)
There is a pairing oddity and I'm in 11th for standings. One X-2 may make it, and I sit down against burn. He's on the play, Suspends Rift Bolt, and I play Chalice x1. I call a Judge to maintain gamestate when he just puts the bolt in his hard and goes to draw, but then quickly lock him out behind Scourge, TKS, and he conceedes after Chalice on 2. Game 2 I curve Chalice x1 into TKS, into Smasher, into Endbringer, into Metamorph on Smasher and it's over quickly.
Top 8: Same UW Player as earlier (4-2, 10-6)
I'm housed and shut out in 2.
7/28/18 Tapstart Games, Westminster, SC
Three people went, two made top 8, one eventual winner.
4-2, 16th place
Round 1: UW Miracles (0-1, 0-2)
A terminal case of the "it's not quite slow play, but I'll keep an eye on him" disease. The guy literally spend 45 seconds off the clock making a decision on his Search for Azcanta, turn 4, when he missed a land drop on turn 3. Game 2, he went into the tank for a full minute when his board was "lands" and my board was "lethal amount of creatures" before he revealed Terminus. He eventually makes top 8, plays against the eventual winner, and gets absolutely crushed in 2.
Round 2: Bogles (1-1, 2-2)
He mulligans to Spiritdancer. I Chalice x1, TKS, Dismember, and run him over. Game 2 I Powder into a turn 1 Ratchet Bomb or Chalice, t2 TKS hand and run him over.
Round 3: Junk (2-1, 4-3)
I get rolled over in game one after being stuck on lands, and his Rhino's are a little bigger than the TKS I'm able to put on board. Post-SB games though the deck does exactly what it's supposed to do against BGx decks and I dismantle every aspect of his gameplan and play bigger stickier threats. His graveyard is exiled multiple times and he's only ever able to muster a 1/2 Goyf and pair of Spirit Tokens to stave off the beats.
Round 4: Living End (2-2, 5-5)
I punt game one terrible by tapping off Scavenger Grounds to cast Serum Powder (which would put me back on Scavenger Grounds) then he Outbursts in response to Powder to Living End. I win game 2 easily with turn one Chalice x0 and Relic, and game three ends in a long slog after multiple Living Ends, me looting with Copter and ditching big creatures because I'm missing a ton of land drops and can't develop my board, and him eventually hard-casting Archfiend to take to the air.
Round 5: Eldrazi Taxes (3-2, 7-5)
His hands were all flooded with land, and at one point I was able to Metamorph his Displacer. This lead to me taking the games in short order.
Round 6: Eldrazi Tron: (4-2, 9-6)
Game one was close but I was on the All Ghost Quarter plan while he decided to draw high CMC business spells. Game 2 he rolls me over with bigger threats, and game 3 I swing back with GQ -> Surgical and then string a slew of TKS' together to strip him of relevant spells.
7/29/18 Anime-zing Escape, McDonough, GA
4-1-1, 3rd Place, loss in the top 8, 2-1 to Mono Green Tron
2 Went, 1 Top 8
Round 1: Jeskai (1-0, 2-0)
This is where they were all hiding!
Round 2: Jeskai (2-0, 4-0)
I found them! No, but really...with the exception of BGx, this is the deck I want to see in front of me when I sit down. Their entire gameplan is predicated on point and click removal, and almost the entire SPE List is a violent opposition to that. If you've ever played out this game, you know exactly what I mean.
Round 3: KCI (2-1, 5-2)
I take game 2 behind much pressure and a timely Metamorph copying TKS to pull Namesake from his hand, but in games 1 and 3 he's ahead of the game on me and it able to play out his board of 0's before I can put Chalice down, and eventually EE it away when he needs to turn his Moxes into Lotuses.
Round 4: Storm (3-1, 7-2)
Game one I start on the draw with Chalice on 1 into threat, and he durdles a bit. I hit him with TKS and take Manamorphose, leaving rituals, then Metamorph TKS and take the ritual with Splice. EoT he tries for Gifts and I give him Noxious and Repeal, and he learns that you can't Repeal x0 with a Chalice x1 in play. Game 2 he floods out with way too many lands, and I run him over behind a Chalice.
Round 5: Mono-Green Tron (4-1, 9-2)
Game 1 I keep a hand of Temple, Temple, TKS, TKS, GQ, GQ, and draw into GQ + Smasher. I'm successfully able to keep him off of Tron long enough to beat his life total down with a wide enough board that he can't recover. Game 2 follows a very similar line, but he Surgical's his Tower after I GQ it in response to my Surgical. TKS takes his Thragtusk and when he finally has mana to cast Karn, my board is too wide for him to stop me.
Round 6: ID (4-1-1, 9-2-1)
Top 8: Mono-Green Tron (4-2-1, 10-4-1)
The only moment that sticks out is in the deciding game where I make an all-out attack with 2x TKS, and 2x Mutavault against his Ballista on 4. If he had the Dismember, it was likely good game because they put me down to two lands, neither of which were creatures. He has Tron online and the ability to pump his Ballista three times on his turn, so it's my last good attack with the board I had, and sitting idle just accomplishes my doom. He had the Dismember, and while his board was clear, he pulled better from the top than I did, and I died with 3x TKS, 1x Smasher in hand.
Edit: Updated with info I could recall from two weeks ago, and this most previous weekend.
Top 8 at a PPTQ with the deck on Saturday, I squeaked into the single elimination after hopping over two people in the standings in the 6th round. Losses in the Swiss were to Ad Naus and UW Control, with wins over UW Control, KCI, No Show, and Burn. Both the loss to UW in the Swiss and the Top 8 came from one of the guys I traveled with who ended up losing in the finals to Counters Company.
Most of the sames were very straight forward, with the loss to Ad Naus coming after I Spyglass'd Lightning Storm, but he hit my Dismember with a discard spell and won with Lab Maniac. I beat KCI with a combination of pressure and multiple Chalices and a Ratchet Bomb on zero in our second game to sweep his board, and won against the other UW when he took many mulligans and I just ripped his hand apart with multiple TKS. Burn was especially savage, Chalice on 1 and 2 locked him out of game one, and Chalice on 1 slowed him down long enough in game two for me to win with Smasher into Endbringer into Phyrexian Metamorph copying Smasher.
I'm giving serious though to putting Warping Wail back into the board, as it seems UW is the only real deck I'm running into a lot of trouble against, even with 5 creature lands and 2 Copters. I didn't miss the 23rd land at all, or run the Gemstone in the SB; so there's a little extra room to potentially trim a 4th Ratchet Bomb to have 2 Wail and 1 Surgical to bring in and help lock up that match.
Being another way to get a Relic into play after you have Chalice x1 resolved is a nice additional bonus, so you don't just have to rely on getting lucky from a Reshaper flip.
"Tied for 11th on Points" is a great outcome. When I saw your initial record I thought you might have squeeked into top 8 as lowest seed with better breakers, unfortunately it was not to be.
I can't wait to see the report, wins over Mono Green Tron are glorious, tough beats on the loss to Mardu Pyro and Affinity, though.
Beautiful deck. Good luck with original foil CoTV and Serum Powder, they are hard to find.
Thanks!
I have a line on SSG's and may be picking them up this weekend. Original Blinkmoths seem to be the scarce onces, but everything else should be pretty simple to snag over time given the amount of cards that make their way through Atlanta.
Haha, I was your round 6 opponent. The CES community sure is small! I ended up getting knocked out of Day 2 by the same margin. You have me seriously considering buying into CES though...either that or RG Eldrazi, hard to choose between them right now.
Either way it was a pleasure meeting you and seeing the deck in action, in person.
It's a pleasure to have met you. I feel like in our game three you successfully kept me one land off each turn I was able to do anything to make progress on the board. I had TKS for Baloth, but I was down a land. I had Smasher to tear through for damage, but I was down a land. I had a removal spell for Finks and it's backend, but I didn't have Pure Colorless. It was well-played on your end identifying the game plan and keeping me off of it.
Also, the deck is fun to play and super enjoyable, I (and likely most the others in here) would suggest it.
And, since I didn't put up the finished image, here's my baby. Now I'm going to start walking back editions on the reprints, so I can have original release versions of all the ones I can get my hands on.
I wanna share with you the results from playing Eldrazi Stompy for the past 6 months (attached image). Most of the data came from my LGS so you might see a lot of matchups with more than 5 games while others have 1-2 games (mostly online games).
Your match results line up fairly well with what I've personally played and the assumptions I've made. Up until the Open I had yet to lose to Ponza, and I don't think I've dropped a match to Jeskai or BGx at all. The deck has a wonderfully strong grind game, and Eternal Scourge puts on almost all of the work against Jeskai.
Nice report and Day 2 was so close for you. We are favored against Grixis Delver, the only big chance they have is exactly what you said, tempo out with flipped Delver. I tested Karn in the sideboard and I didnt' like it either. It seems more suitable in a Eldrazi Tron than in our deck that wants to apply pressure every turmn. I would recommend the 4th relic or 2nd Surgical (the second surgical is giving me good results against big mana).
See ya
I almost didn't bother playing out Round 9, but would have kicked myself if I didn't bother and X-3 ended up making it.
I'm very big on the 2nd Surgical over Karn, while my sample set was small at no point did I have the feeling that Karn would pull me out of a losing position, or solidify a winning position for me more than anything else.
Well, I ended Day 1 at 6-3 and the cut to Day 2 was 6-2-1, so I was just outside the bubble. I did manage to finish picking up my foils (Dissention GQs are so gorgeous), though. I'll be updating this post with my match notes and such later today when I have some more time.
I did see several other people at/near the top tables with Eldrazi though, so it had a good showing regardless.
My SB was:
3 Relic, 3 Ratchet Bomb, 3 Spatial Contortion, 2 Gut Shot, 1 Karn Scion of Urza, 1 Surgical Extraction, 1 Endbringer, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Edit: Match Updates: For SB I generally followed the wonderfully expansive SB guide posted and shared earlier in the thread.
Round 1: Matt Dotson: UR Breach: 1-0 (2-1 Games)
I got lucky. Game one I applied early pressure and had Chalice to lock out his cantrips. Turn two TKS let me know what I was up against and his list total goes down in 4 point chunks. Game 2 he stalls me with Remands and Mana Leaks long enough for a Breach-Emrakul, but game 3 Mama Eldrazi couldn't close it out and I won at 5 life after annihilator left me with Wastes and Serum Powder on board across from his Blood Moon. I cast Smasher off a sandbagged Temple and Monkey and rode it to victory.
Round 2: Tanner Thomas: BW Smallpox 2-0 (4-2 Games)
A playtest buddy, and we went in knowing basically each others entire 75. He took a very close game one off the back of multiple Smallpoxes and Thoughtseize taking the closing game cards in my hand. Games two and three though were won on the back of Matter Reshaper, which was an absolute mvp in replacing itself and ensuring I still had solid pressure. Game 3 also saw me getting to turn 2 Spyglass him and name LotV, then he had the common courtesy to draw another one off the top of his deck to give two dead cards in an attrition game.
Round 3: James Martin: Abzan Company 2-1 (4-4 Games)
I had a slow start in game one with Chalice, but he Company'd into the combo at my end of turn and showed me Recruiter+Ballista when I had no Dismember in hand. Game two was long, and he had infinite mana for several turns, but nothing to do with it. I clogged up the ground and knocked him to one, on his last turn he pulled a Pridemage to kill my Nexus and then had Recruiter off a Company with Ballista.
Round 4: Dave Goldstein: Mardu Mentor 3-1 (6-4 Games)
He misses a Mentor trigger in game one, but I have him locked behind Chalice and my creatures are bigger. He seems hesitant to cast spells into Chalice to trigger mentor, so Smasher smashes. Game two he mulled very low, and my draw went Reshaper into Smasher and closed things out quickly.
Round 5: Orion: RG Valakut 4-1 (8-5 Games)
Game 1 I get Molten Pinnacled from 20. My Chalice on 2 is too slow to stop the Khalni Heart Expedition he had in play, and I only bean him to 9 before the world explodes. Game 2 I keep a very quick hand that also had GQ + Surgical and he never finds another Scapeshift after I hit one with TKS. Game 3 is tricky and I take two hits of Rec Sage, putting me into the danger zone. He finds Prime Time but I have a wide board and hit a Stomping Ground with GQ+Surgical, then he can't clear it to set up for the Valakut kill. I proceed to attack in with a Reshaper and army of creature-lands for the kill.
Round 6: Noah Rolf: Ponza 4-2 (9-7 Games)
He won the die roll and had great pressure. I was on the play in game two and had great pressure. Game 3 was close, but Inferno Titan closed it out for him.
Round 7: Michael Kidd: Hollow One 5-2 (11-8 Games)
Game 1 he has a busted Hollow One draw and I get rolled over. Games two and three I had Chalice and multiple Relics, then my life total never drops below 12 in either game.
Round 8: Robby Graham: Grixis Delver 5-3 (11-10 Games)
Game 1 he rolls me over with multiple Pyromancers and Angler. Game 2 I keep Ratchet Bomb, Contortion, and a curve, but he starts on Delver and simply tempos me out of the game.
Round 9: Seth Asher: 4c Traverse Reveler 6-3 (13-10 Games)
Game one was short with him never getting Delirium and having to Traverse for Basic Land but then drawing out nothing but fetchlands. Game two has a little more back and forth, but I eventually draw into Endbringer and begin invalidating his Flayer or Reveler as blockers and drawing cards while finishing off the game with a double Blinkmoth attack.
Final Thoughts: Karn was lackluster. I would much rather have gone up to the 4th Bomb, Relic, or an All is Dust. I never played against Humans, Infect, Storm, Tron, Jund, real Control (either Jeskai or UW), or the Mirror; just showing how diverse and wide open the metagame is right now. I still feel very confident in the deck but know there were some mulligan decisions I could have made differently to potentially have changed my 6-3 to a 7-2 or even an 8-1 due to how close some of the matches were.
Pic attached from before I picked up the final foil lands on site and decided to go to 3 Relic and 2 Gutshot.
Post-board against Jund or other GBx decks I bring it in as well, it can pick off Dark Confidant, finish a Liliana after a minus, and sometimes you need a 6th point of damage to kill Goyf if they end up shattering a Serum Powder or making you discard a Relic.
As far as other matches, it's just a good removal spell. I bring it in a lot, and the feeling you get when you kill someone with that last single point of damage is pretty great.
Edit Update: And the notifications came in, I should have up to 71 foils sleeved for this by the time the Open happens on Saturday. It's my hope to pitch off some trades and find three Innistrad GQ's and two Gemstone Caverns on site, but my expectations aren't too high.
Right around 100 people for a Modern event at a pretty amazing shop near me, someone made the Top 8 with Colorless Eldrazi running a 57 of 60 stock main deck cutting one land and going down to 1 Zalfirian Void to make room for more Ghost Quarters, and a Sea Gate Wreckage with a Karn, Scion of Urza in the MD. For some reason the store hasn't posted the final outcome from yesterday, but here's a pic of the list (and the rest on the page).
I took stock 75 and started 3-0 but then lost to GW Hatebears and Infect in three games each, and dropped to go eat bbq after.
I've been running 73/75 of Jordan's most recent list here. I cut one Matter Reshaper and 1 Zhalfiran Void for one copy each of Phyrexian Metamorph and Cavern of Souls. My SB is the same 15 at the moment, but I usually play around with the number of Ratchet Bombs and the 3rd copy of Gemstone Caverns, sometimes going down to 3 each to add in other options like Endbringer or additional Spatial Contortions.
Humans is a fine matchup, but far from a runaway on both sides. I've never had much of an issue with Bant Spirits, because the Eldrazi are typically larger than them when it comes into the combat zone. All of them having evasion is annoying, but since they're (generally) smaller, it's a bit easier.
I don't personally like the red. Consistent and reliable access to the creatures and spells requiring Wingdings mana is a priority for me, and I can't see how only running 8 fixed red sources in the deck gives you a reliable change to cast Anger of the Gods. Spatial Contortion is like a lightning bolt that can giant growth your Reality Smasher, and Ratchet Bomb may be a little slower, but is infinitely easier to cast than AotG.
Also, I updated my previous post with the three PPTQ's I've been to so far this season.
7/21/18 Cardboard Castle, Augusta, GA
4 People went, 3 Top 8, one Finalist
4-2, 8th Place, loss in top 8
Round 1: Ad Naueseum (0-1, 1-2)
I am on the play and toss out Chalice on 1 and he plays Scryland ->Suspend Bloom. I check my hand, see it somewhat anemic, and topdeck into turn 2 Thought-Knot taking Ad Naus. Turn 3 he plays Unlife and I am unable to kill him on turn 4 before he goes off with another As Naus. Game 2 I steamroll him with multiple Chalices, and TKS into Smasher. Game 3 is close, but he manages a discard spell on Dismember after I TKS his Lightning Storm. Another Ad Naus gives him Lab Man into cantrip for the win.
Round 2: KCI (1-1, 3-2)
This involved multiple Chalices, Ratchet Bomb killing his 0, and TKS taking the namesake. Game 1 was a pure race, but the Chalice bought me enough time to keep him away from the combo.
Round 3: I don't recall (2-1, 5-2)
I do know it was a 2-0.
Round 4: UW Miracles (2-2, 6-4)
One of my buddies and eventual finalist. He wins in 3 after a very aggressive successful game one. The more I look back, the more I think I'm playing the UW match incorrectly. I've been playing it as aggressive as possible in attempt to get them off the board before they can establish enough control to lock down the game, where a slower and more drawn out game doesn't exactly put us in an unfavored position.
Round 5: Was a no show (3-2, 8-4)
Round 6: Burn (4-2, 10-4)
There is a pairing oddity and I'm in 11th for standings. One X-2 may make it, and I sit down against burn. He's on the play, Suspends Rift Bolt, and I play Chalice x1. I call a Judge to maintain gamestate when he just puts the bolt in his hard and goes to draw, but then quickly lock him out behind Scourge, TKS, and he conceedes after Chalice on 2. Game 2 I curve Chalice x1 into TKS, into Smasher, into Endbringer, into Metamorph on Smasher and it's over quickly.
Top 8: Same UW Player as earlier (4-2, 10-6)
I'm housed and shut out in 2.
7/28/18 Tapstart Games, Westminster, SC
Three people went, two made top 8, one eventual winner.
4-2, 16th place
Round 1: UW Miracles (0-1, 0-2)
A terminal case of the "it's not quite slow play, but I'll keep an eye on him" disease. The guy literally spend 45 seconds off the clock making a decision on his Search for Azcanta, turn 4, when he missed a land drop on turn 3. Game 2, he went into the tank for a full minute when his board was "lands" and my board was "lethal amount of creatures" before he revealed Terminus. He eventually makes top 8, plays against the eventual winner, and gets absolutely crushed in 2.
Round 2: Bogles (1-1, 2-2)
He mulligans to Spiritdancer. I Chalice x1, TKS, Dismember, and run him over. Game 2 I Powder into a turn 1 Ratchet Bomb or Chalice, t2 TKS hand and run him over.
Round 3: Junk (2-1, 4-3)
I get rolled over in game one after being stuck on lands, and his Rhino's are a little bigger than the TKS I'm able to put on board. Post-SB games though the deck does exactly what it's supposed to do against BGx decks and I dismantle every aspect of his gameplan and play bigger stickier threats. His graveyard is exiled multiple times and he's only ever able to muster a 1/2 Goyf and pair of Spirit Tokens to stave off the beats.
Round 4: Living End (2-2, 5-5)
I punt game one terrible by tapping off Scavenger Grounds to cast Serum Powder (which would put me back on Scavenger Grounds) then he Outbursts in response to Powder to Living End. I win game 2 easily with turn one Chalice x0 and Relic, and game three ends in a long slog after multiple Living Ends, me looting with Copter and ditching big creatures because I'm missing a ton of land drops and can't develop my board, and him eventually hard-casting Archfiend to take to the air.
Round 5: Eldrazi Taxes (3-2, 7-5)
His hands were all flooded with land, and at one point I was able to Metamorph his Displacer. This lead to me taking the games in short order.
Round 6: Eldrazi Tron: (4-2, 9-6)
Game one was close but I was on the All Ghost Quarter plan while he decided to draw high CMC business spells. Game 2 he rolls me over with bigger threats, and game 3 I swing back with GQ -> Surgical and then string a slew of TKS' together to strip him of relevant spells.
7/29/18 Anime-zing Escape, McDonough, GA
4-1-1, 3rd Place, loss in the top 8, 2-1 to Mono Green Tron
2 Went, 1 Top 8
Round 1: Jeskai (1-0, 2-0)
This is where they were all hiding!
Round 2: Jeskai (2-0, 4-0)
I found them! No, but really...with the exception of BGx, this is the deck I want to see in front of me when I sit down. Their entire gameplan is predicated on point and click removal, and almost the entire SPE List is a violent opposition to that. If you've ever played out this game, you know exactly what I mean.
Round 3: KCI (2-1, 5-2)
I take game 2 behind much pressure and a timely Metamorph copying TKS to pull Namesake from his hand, but in games 1 and 3 he's ahead of the game on me and it able to play out his board of 0's before I can put Chalice down, and eventually EE it away when he needs to turn his Moxes into Lotuses.
Round 4: Storm (3-1, 7-2)
Game one I start on the draw with Chalice on 1 into threat, and he durdles a bit. I hit him with TKS and take Manamorphose, leaving rituals, then Metamorph TKS and take the ritual with Splice. EoT he tries for Gifts and I give him Noxious and Repeal, and he learns that you can't Repeal x0 with a Chalice x1 in play. Game 2 he floods out with way too many lands, and I run him over behind a Chalice.
Round 5: Mono-Green Tron (4-1, 9-2)
Game 1 I keep a hand of Temple, Temple, TKS, TKS, GQ, GQ, and draw into GQ + Smasher. I'm successfully able to keep him off of Tron long enough to beat his life total down with a wide enough board that he can't recover. Game 2 follows a very similar line, but he Surgical's his Tower after I GQ it in response to my Surgical. TKS takes his Thragtusk and when he finally has mana to cast Karn, my board is too wide for him to stop me.
Round 6: ID (4-1-1, 9-2-1)
Top 8: Mono-Green Tron (4-2-1, 10-4-1)
The only moment that sticks out is in the deciding game where I make an all-out attack with 2x TKS, and 2x Mutavault against his Ballista on 4. If he had the Dismember, it was likely good game because they put me down to two lands, neither of which were creatures. He has Tron online and the ability to pump his Ballista three times on his turn, so it's my last good attack with the board I had, and sitting idle just accomplishes my doom. He had the Dismember, and while his board was clear, he pulled better from the top than I did, and I died with 3x TKS, 1x Smasher in hand.
Edit: Updated with info I could recall from two weeks ago, and this most previous weekend.
Most of the sames were very straight forward, with the loss to Ad Naus coming after I Spyglass'd Lightning Storm, but he hit my Dismember with a discard spell and won with Lab Maniac. I beat KCI with a combination of pressure and multiple Chalices and a Ratchet Bomb on zero in our second game to sweep his board, and won against the other UW when he took many mulligans and I just ripped his hand apart with multiple TKS. Burn was especially savage, Chalice on 1 and 2 locked him out of game one, and Chalice on 1 slowed him down long enough in game two for me to win with Smasher into Endbringer into Phyrexian Metamorph copying Smasher.
I'm giving serious though to putting Warping Wail back into the board, as it seems UW is the only real deck I'm running into a lot of trouble against, even with 5 creature lands and 2 Copters. I didn't miss the 23rd land at all, or run the Gemstone in the SB; so there's a little extra room to potentially trim a 4th Ratchet Bomb to have 2 Wail and 1 Surgical to bring in and help lock up that match.
What did you cut for yours?
Being another way to get a Relic into play after you have Chalice x1 resolved is a nice additional bonus, so you don't just have to rely on getting lucky from a Reshaper flip.
Not only is the promotional artwork amazing, additional copies of Thought-Knot Seer or Reality Smasher in the late-game are almost all upside.
Thoughts?
Did you ever find yourself in a pinch missing the 23rd land over the 2nd Smuggler's Copter, or the 2nd Scavenger Grounds in the MD?
I can't wait to see the report, wins over Mono Green Tron are glorious, tough beats on the loss to Mardu Pyro and Affinity, though.
Thanks!
I have a line on SSG's and may be picking them up this weekend. Original Blinkmoths seem to be the scarce onces, but everything else should be pretty simple to snag over time given the amount of cards that make their way through Atlanta.
It's a pleasure to have met you. I feel like in our game three you successfully kept me one land off each turn I was able to do anything to make progress on the board. I had TKS for Baloth, but I was down a land. I had Smasher to tear through for damage, but I was down a land. I had a removal spell for Finks and it's backend, but I didn't have Pure Colorless. It was well-played on your end identifying the game plan and keeping me off of it.
Also, the deck is fun to play and super enjoyable, I (and likely most the others in here) would suggest it.
And, since I didn't put up the finished image, here's my baby. Now I'm going to start walking back editions on the reprints, so I can have original release versions of all the ones I can get my hands on.
Your match results line up fairly well with what I've personally played and the assumptions I've made. Up until the Open I had yet to lose to Ponza, and I don't think I've dropped a match to Jeskai or BGx at all. The deck has a wonderfully strong grind game, and Eternal Scourge puts on almost all of the work against Jeskai.
I almost didn't bother playing out Round 9, but would have kicked myself if I didn't bother and X-3 ended up making it.
I'm very big on the 2nd Surgical over Karn, while my sample set was small at no point did I have the feeling that Karn would pull me out of a losing position, or solidify a winning position for me more than anything else.
I did see several other people at/near the top tables with Eldrazi though, so it had a good showing regardless.
My SB was:
3 Relic, 3 Ratchet Bomb, 3 Spatial Contortion, 2 Gut Shot, 1 Karn Scion of Urza, 1 Surgical Extraction, 1 Endbringer, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Edit: Match Updates: For SB I generally followed the wonderfully expansive SB guide posted and shared earlier in the thread.
Round 1: Matt Dotson: UR Breach: 1-0 (2-1 Games)
I got lucky. Game one I applied early pressure and had Chalice to lock out his cantrips. Turn two TKS let me know what I was up against and his list total goes down in 4 point chunks. Game 2 he stalls me with Remands and Mana Leaks long enough for a Breach-Emrakul, but game 3 Mama Eldrazi couldn't close it out and I won at 5 life after annihilator left me with Wastes and Serum Powder on board across from his Blood Moon. I cast Smasher off a sandbagged Temple and Monkey and rode it to victory.
Round 2: Tanner Thomas: BW Smallpox 2-0 (4-2 Games)
A playtest buddy, and we went in knowing basically each others entire 75. He took a very close game one off the back of multiple Smallpoxes and Thoughtseize taking the closing game cards in my hand. Games two and three though were won on the back of Matter Reshaper, which was an absolute mvp in replacing itself and ensuring I still had solid pressure. Game 3 also saw me getting to turn 2 Spyglass him and name LotV, then he had the common courtesy to draw another one off the top of his deck to give two dead cards in an attrition game.
Round 3: James Martin: Abzan Company 2-1 (4-4 Games)
I had a slow start in game one with Chalice, but he Company'd into the combo at my end of turn and showed me Recruiter+Ballista when I had no Dismember in hand. Game two was long, and he had infinite mana for several turns, but nothing to do with it. I clogged up the ground and knocked him to one, on his last turn he pulled a Pridemage to kill my Nexus and then had Recruiter off a Company with Ballista.
Round 4: Dave Goldstein: Mardu Mentor 3-1 (6-4 Games)
He misses a Mentor trigger in game one, but I have him locked behind Chalice and my creatures are bigger. He seems hesitant to cast spells into Chalice to trigger mentor, so Smasher smashes. Game two he mulled very low, and my draw went Reshaper into Smasher and closed things out quickly.
Round 5: Orion: RG Valakut 4-1 (8-5 Games)
Game 1 I get Molten Pinnacled from 20. My Chalice on 2 is too slow to stop the Khalni Heart Expedition he had in play, and I only bean him to 9 before the world explodes. Game 2 I keep a very quick hand that also had GQ + Surgical and he never finds another Scapeshift after I hit one with TKS. Game 3 is tricky and I take two hits of Rec Sage, putting me into the danger zone. He finds Prime Time but I have a wide board and hit a Stomping Ground with GQ+Surgical, then he can't clear it to set up for the Valakut kill. I proceed to attack in with a Reshaper and army of creature-lands for the kill.
Round 6: Noah Rolf: Ponza 4-2 (9-7 Games)
He won the die roll and had great pressure. I was on the play in game two and had great pressure. Game 3 was close, but Inferno Titan closed it out for him.
Round 7: Michael Kidd: Hollow One 5-2 (11-8 Games)
Game 1 he has a busted Hollow One draw and I get rolled over. Games two and three I had Chalice and multiple Relics, then my life total never drops below 12 in either game.
Round 8: Robby Graham: Grixis Delver 5-3 (11-10 Games)
Game 1 he rolls me over with multiple Pyromancers and Angler. Game 2 I keep Ratchet Bomb, Contortion, and a curve, but he starts on Delver and simply tempos me out of the game.
Round 9: Seth Asher: 4c Traverse Reveler 6-3 (13-10 Games)
Game one was short with him never getting Delirium and having to Traverse for Basic Land but then drawing out nothing but fetchlands. Game two has a little more back and forth, but I eventually draw into Endbringer and begin invalidating his Flayer or Reveler as blockers and drawing cards while finishing off the game with a double Blinkmoth attack.
Final Thoughts: Karn was lackluster. I would much rather have gone up to the 4th Bomb, Relic, or an All is Dust. I never played against Humans, Infect, Storm, Tron, Jund, real Control (either Jeskai or UW), or the Mirror; just showing how diverse and wide open the metagame is right now. I still feel very confident in the deck but know there were some mulligan decisions I could have made differently to potentially have changed my 6-3 to a 7-2 or even an 8-1 due to how close some of the matches were.
Pic attached from before I picked up the final foil lands on site and decided to go to 3 Relic and 2 Gutshot.
As far as other matches, it's just a good removal spell. I bring it in a lot, and the feeling you get when you kill someone with that last single point of damage is pretty great.
Edit Update: And the notifications came in, I should have up to 71 foils sleeved for this by the time the Open happens on Saturday. It's my hope to pitch off some trades and find three Innistrad GQ's and two Gemstone Caverns on site, but my expectations aren't too high.
I took stock 75 and started 3-0 but then lost to GW Hatebears and Infect in three games each, and dropped to go eat bbq after.
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