Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 11:04:07 -0400 (EDT) From: edt@umich.edu To: Andrew Wills Subject: regionals Dude, when is the dojo report for regionals going up? Is anyone writing anything? I really want a deck list. --- edt -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 11:45:18 -0400 From: Andrew Wills To: "'edt@umich.edu'" Subject: RE: regionals You guys, of course, are welcome to a deck list or several of them. In fact there is a report up there from one of the guys who came in Pal's entourage. And there's another report from a guy who played me in the second round (it's not flattering to me or the deck). But some of us have decided to pursue a strategy of damage control for the time being. We would like to give a run at the team tournament thingee in three rivers with the deck. At least that's what we're talking about now. Interestingly, I think there is a reasonable chance that this deck will not be put all over the dojo if we don't do so ourselves. The pros took a good look. I discussed the deck w/ David P, Randy, Patrick, Worth, Pikula, Bartholow, Lauer, and maybe a few others. I was actually informed by Dave Underwood that Randy, during the final eight, was sitting behind me writing down all the cards as I was drawing them. But those guys don't write tournament reports for something so insignificant as Regionals. Sure they have contacts with the rest of the good competitive community, but if it's not on the dojo or the newsgroups, then they'll either play it or not sideboard too heavily against it, I surmise. Anyway, Eric, It goes something like this... 4 Priest 4 Monk 4 W.Knight 4 W.En-core 2 Red Chicken 2 SKY SPIRIT (Whoop! There it is...) 3 Disenchant 1 E.Tutor 2 Earthquake 4 Scroll 4 Tithe 4 Mox 4 Wasteland 2 CoB 2 Undiscovered 2 Gemstone 12 Plains 60 cards. This was the deck as I played it. Dave, Paul, and Eric M. each had a small number of differences main deck. I believe Dave and Paul (and maybe Eric) each had a firestorm. Eric had a monkey (I disagree very much with this choice). No one else had Sky Spirits. And the sideboards were very different. Eric: If this request was borne out of a grand desire to say "Good Grief" the rest of the day - yes it is very funny. The sky spirits should have chess-style question marks next to them. I don't think they really stood in the way, but they were not really part of the solution. If, on the other hand, I am really writing this list for eyes other than your own - please observe some discretion for a week or so. I know you are very much in the loop. One thing that would be nice for me: if there is going to be a series of emails fired from cost to coast about this deck, I would appreciate the chance to participate in the dialog. Other than at the events themselves, I don't have all that much contact with too many out-of-state pros. Anyway, please tell me what you think. awills PS: The side board I used was -2 Aura of Silence -1 Disenchant --These were for ProsBloom and combo decks, control decks w/disks -4 Slight (not really used, but I never faced black) --The idea was anti-dread of night, but 2 came in against sligh just so I could get earthquakes out. -3 Armageddon --Bad for B5C donais, counter/red -4 Pyroblast -1 Terror --The first and best purpose of these cards was to take down the Tradewind. I am thinking of removing the slights entirely and putting in something to deal w/ sligh. None of the above cards were intended to deal w/ sligh. In my unbelievable arrogance, I thought I didn't need anything. I did manage to beat two sligh decks in the swiss, but lost to sligh in the simis. As I had thought, the deck can dominate the board against sligh. But the problem is that, by the time this happens, you're already at 14 life (best case) and it will take you 3-4 turns to win - Incinerate, Incinerate, fireblast, fireblast, I loose. I think it has to be warmth. It's cheep, doesn't sit in your hand (like H.Passage), and doesn't require always untapped manna (like COP, H.Passage). The problem with selecting a card that sits in your hand is that they don't work well with the Scrolls. This is the same reason I don't like the monkey. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 12:02:50 -0400 (EDT) From: edt@umich.edu To: Andrew Wills Subject: RE: regionals Well, the only thing I didn't have figured out is how many lands you had. 22 lands + 4 mox + 4 tithe = 30 mana but of course the moxes don't really count still you should always get 2 plains from a tithe thanks to the mox. I guess all the lands help you get to uno faster. You have to understand Andrew, nationals is after exodus, so any tech right now will probably not be at all the same after the new card mix hits. It sure would have been nice to see you or Carmouche write it all up so I could see how the deck was developed, reasons behind the 30 mana supply and testing, why the only red is 2 earthquakes, how the deck in fact does win since it does play rather slowly, but if you need to keep it secret tech I can respect that. --- edt -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 16:25:54 -0400 From: Andrew Wills To: "'edt@umich.edu'" Subject: RE: regionals Eric: I will attempt to imitate the way in which everyone else's email editor works: >I guess all the lands help you get to uno faster. They do more than just help you get to uno, they make getting to uno worth doing. What I mean is this - the deck is very much organized around the cursed scroll. In order to get maximum use of the scroll, the deck is good at getting down to one card, then it needs to be able to cast whatever it draws (if necessary) as well as have 3 manna open to use the scroll. The cursed scroll is not really enabled untill you have 5 manna on the table. >right now will probably not be at all the same after the new >card mix hits. Certainly this is true. I just want to compete in the team thing next weekend and perhaps accumulate some DCI points if I can. But perhaps you're right, and I don't have a very accurate perspective on this issue. Perhaps either: 1) grand publicity would not undermine the above goals, or 2) it's too late, and everyone will already know the gag. Or even better, perhaps the tech is not really significant enough to attract a lot of attention and those of us who played it just got favorable pairings. This is very believable. >It sure would have been nice to see you or Carmouche write it all up so I >could see how the deck was developed, reasons behind the 30 mana >supply and testing, why the only red is 2 earthquakes, how the deck in >fact does win since it does play rather slowly, OK, who's really sending me these messages? It can't be ET, so whoever you are you can just give it up. Eric doesn't say things like "It sure would have been nice..." Seriously though - How the deck was developed? Much like the deck Chapin played in Dallas. Dave and Paul Carmouche are playtesting some decks for regionals. Perhaps Dave is aggressively considering running Humility/Orim's Prayer or something like that. Anyway, each is testing his deck against some of the archetypes. They talk about the archetypes, and in so doing the notice that they don't have a WW deck to playtest against. Dave says, "OK Paul, I'll whip one together." But for some (maybe strange) reason he puts in mox diamonds for speed and he uses cursed scrolls for elimination. The two of them practice against what they intended to be a fairly archetypal WW deck. After a while, they turn to one another and say, "what are we going to do about WW decks, this thing is kicking our asses!" At some point, they reflect and it dawns on them that the moxes are not very conventional in a WW deck. Then someone says, "I wonder if we could actually play this thing in a tournament?" And then the wheels start turning... Dave takes the thing out for a test run at Gotham city. At this point he is still completely suspicious of the deck. Next thing you know Dave wins the tournament 5-0-0 with I think one game loss. But the crowd at Gotham isn't really very competitive, and besides it could have been a fluke. Not having a better environment available to him, Dave decides to make his second test at Sibly's lumber. Again, he wins 4-0-0 with one game loss. BTW, did you know Dave went the first three rounds of the Regionals w/out taking damage? His scratchpaper was really funny, Bill saw it. Reasons behind 30 manna - This seems to be the price you pay for including mox diamonds. When you start to knock down the number, the engine just falls apart. If the deck wasn't using scrolls, it might be possible to cut the Tithes. But the scrolls require you to get up to 5 manna. If you draw a mox, you want to be able to play it. There should not be a dilema of whether to play a land or pitch the land to the mox. In the first few turns of the game, you should always have a land in hand. Why the only red is two earthquakes - First of all, the earthquakes are more of a consequence of the mox diamonds than the diamonds are a consequence of the earthquakes. I hope that makes sense. What I mean is the earthquakes are in for the mox diamonds, not the other way around. This deck doesn't really have a lot of room for stuff that isn't either manna or a creature or a scroll - 6 slots, that's all. Actually, I'm thinking of cutting one or two creatures, But I'm not sure at all. So three of them are Disenchants. This seems appropriate. I'll mention here that the remaining three were the cards most frequently sided out: 2 earthquakes, 1 enlightened tutor. This deck uses penetration creatures and scrolls for weenie removal. No Incinerates, please. How the deck wins - I dunno? Against sligh: Lock out his potential to damage you w/ creatures using a cursed scroll and an untapped En-core while a Prot Red creature is on the table. It really does happen a lot. Cast some first strikers to lure your opponent into burning them (instead of you). The real danger comes from sligh's potential to burn you out from 16. Hope he doesn't draw enough burn. [Actually, you know I'm intending to add something to the sideboard to protect against this danger]. Against Prosbloom: First game you pray you see a disenchant and have the opportunity to take out his squandered. That will probably give you the first game if you came out quickly. Side out the scrolls, they're too slow (also nix the earthquakes, and some of the slower creatures). Side in 2 auras, 1 disenchant, 2-3 pyros, and 3 Armageddon. It should rapidly become very tough for prosbloom to win. Against Tradewind/Propaganda: Take out the Propaganda and then the Tradewind. You will probably loose the first game, unless you happen to draw 2 disenchants. Side out scrolls and earthquakes and side in all enchantment removal and all tradewind removal. It will be very easy to win if you can just remove the Propaganda and the Tradewind. Siding in Perish is a big, big mistake. Perish is not disruptive of the elements of this deck that can beat you. Only the propaganda and the tradewind matter. Against B5C donais: Avoid pitching wastelands to diamonds. Side in armageddon and pyros. This is a pretty easy match up. Against Black weenie: Prey a lot. This match is very tough. I did not face any on Saturday. Against counter/hammer and similar: Fear the disk. Side in artifact removal and armageddon and pyros if you can. Against WW: I never have played one, unless you count Paul Carmouche in the round of eight. The key here is the scroll. Draw more scrolls than he does disenchants, and get your scrolls active early. >but if you need to keep it secret >tech I can respect that. Like I said, the only thing that makes sense to me is not hyping this thing like it's the new turbo-stasis. I don't think it's going to be a problem at all. Anyway, that's the story, or the bulk of it. I am happy to discuss it since it turned out pretty well for me. Let me know if you have any insights or more doubts, awills