Hello again everyone. Over this past weekend, I played at a really small Legacy tournament almost not worth writing about, but nonetheless I’d like to. The 75 cards I took are identical to the 75 I took to the IQ, as discussed in my last report. I wondered if I should change my board since the last two lists that placed at one of the premier IQs each had a pair of Seismic Assaults in the board, but ultimately I decided that there aren’t enough Blood Moon decks in my local meta to warrant the switch. It does puzzle me that both Long and Betesh decided to include Seismic Assault for the last IQ. To me, Assault is such a corner case card that I’d only consider it if I knew I’d be facing lots and lots of Moon effects. So, how’d they know? (Of course, the Assaults didn’t keep Long from losing to Painter, which is to be expected but is still unfortunate.)
Round One: 12-Post Mud
Game One: I keep a hand on the play with two Tranquil Thickets, a Gamble, a Loam, a Wasteland, an Exploration, and another land that doesn’t tap for green. Since I’m on the play, I can afford to play a Thicket tapped, and even if it gets Wasted, I’ve still got another and it’s like the game resets to zero. My thicket doesn’t get Wasted, however, and my opponent goes Ancient Tomb, pass. I play Exploration, Wasteland, another land, and that’s pretty much all she wrote. Mud concedes with no permanents on the battlefield a few turns later after he plays a land every turn that I Waste every turn.
I board in: 4 Krosan Grip, 1 Primeval Titan, 1 Dark Depths
I board out: 2 Manabond, 4 Crop Rotation
Game Two: I keep a hand with Krosan Grip, a tree land, a non-tree land, Stage, Depths, Mox, and another land. Mud plays a tapped land and passes. I drop a tree land and pass. Mud plays a land and a Chalice on one. I play a Stage and pass. Mud casts a Grim Monolith off of his lands and passes. I drop a Mox and a Depths. Mud plays an Ensnaring Bridge. I Grip it, but I can’t combo now. I draw, play another land, and threaten to combo. Mud generates a bunch of mana with a second Grim Monolith and casts a Platinum Angel. I make the token and stare at his Angel and then pass. We play draw go for a while because he has tapped Monolith’s and can’t do anything and I don’t have Loam going. Eventually, I find a loam, Waste all his lands away so he can’t do anything, but he’s added a Kuldotha Forgemaster to the board. Since I now have a Maze of Ith, he doesn’t go for Blightsteel with Forgemaster but instead sacs his Grim Monoliths and something else to find a Lightning Greaves, which he puts on his Angel. He still has a Chalice on one, but I have two Gambles in hand so I say screw it. If he remembers the Chalice trigger, fine, I lose my Gamble. If he doesn’t, I can Gamble for a K-Grip, and if I keep it, I’ll Grip the Greaves at his EOT and then Punishing Fire Angel to death. Mud forgets his Chalice trigger, I keep the Grip, and then he loses his Greaves. On my turn, I Punishing Fire the Angel twice, Mud responds with a Forgemaster activation, but has nothing in his deck that can stop a 20/20 flying, indestructible tentacled freak.
I’ve noticed several people wonder about the Mud matchup. It seems to me that winning it hinges on establishing Loam-Waste to limit what they can do. I’d say that you’ll win some number of games against them this way and some to Mud’s inconsistency. I think I won this match with a combination of both, since my opponent mulled to six both games.
1-0
Round Two: Blood Moon Stompy
Game One: My opponent, on the play, makes a turn one Blood Moon and a turn two Blood Moon. I’m toast, though I don’t concede so I can see other things that are in his deck, like huge dragons, Koth of the Hammer, and Batterskull.
I board in: 4 K-Grip,1 Pithing Needle
I board out: 1 Karakas, 1 Bojuka Bog, 2 Manabond, 1 Glacial Chasm
Game Two: I keep a hand with two Punishing Fires, three mana producing lands, a Mox, and a K-Grip. Stompy plays two Magus of the Moons and a Phyrexian Revoker naming Mox. I screw up huge, though, because right after the fact, I realize that I could have floated green with my Mox, Gripped the Revoker, and then aimed my two Punishing Fires at the two Maguses. Instead, I have to aim a Fire at a Revoker and another at the first Magus, leaving the Grip stranded in my hand and all my lands producing red and doing nothing else. Ugh.
1-1
Round Three: Monoblack Pox
I’m up against my buddy who’s a little on tilt from losing his last match, which sucks, but I have almost no ability to lose this matchup so I know he’s going to be even more pissed.
Game One: I keep a hand similar to my first hand against mud, except it doesn’t have a second Tranquil Thicket. I say whatever and assume that even if I don’t untap with my Thicket I’ll have so much time to draw another green source that it won’t matter. My thicket does get Sinkholed, and my buddy has a really good hand. He has first turn Lily and a bunch of Wastelands and whatnot. So I’m on just one land for a bunch of turns and I discard everything to his Lily but my one Manabond. At last, I find a Taiga, play the Manabond, and begin Loaming. From there, he’s toast.
I board in: 4 K-Grip, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Primeval Titan
I board out: 2 Manabond, 1 Karakas, 2 Maze of Ith, 1 Punishing Fire
Game Two: I keep a hand with two Loams, a K-Grip, and four lands. My buddy mulls to six, starts the game with a Leyline of the Void and discards my K-Grip with an Inquisition. I play my lands, he plays some of his, and then I draw a second K-Grip. I wait to either cast it in response to a spell from him or at his EOT. He casts Hymn, I Grip the Leyline in response, and put my two Loams into the graveyard. From there, he’s toast.
2-1
Analysis: Nothing much to say about this tournament. There were exactly eight players, so there were only three rounds. I got ten bucks store credit, which was cool. Wish I’d have made the right play against Stompy. I very well could have won that game if I had. Anyway, peace out.
Results
[Aggro]
UR Delver Cruise: 0-2
Napoleonic Delver: 1-0
Merfolk: 1-0
Bug Delver: 1-0
Rug Delver: 0-1
Blood Moon Stompy: 0-1
[Combo]
Storm: 1-1
Solidarity: 0-1
Infect: 0-1
Dreadstill: 0-1
Sneak and Show: 1-0
Elves: 1-0
[Midrange]
Bug Midrange: 0-0-1
Maverick: 0-1
Shardless Bug: 2-0
Uw Stoneblade: 1-0
[Control]
Death and Taxes: 5-1
Pox: 2-0
Loam Pox: 1-0
Miracles: 2-0-1
Mud: 1-1
Bug Countertop: 0-0-1
I'm at 21.5 wins out of 34 matches, or 63%.