Subject: [TOURNAMENT] PTQ-Rome Mountain View, CA Date: Sun, 13 Sep 98 23:37:29 PDT From: nad@ginza.aurora.com (Nancy Durgin) To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Erratic LD (PTQ-Rome Mountain View,CA - September 12) ----------------------------------------------------- This deck was inspired by the Mono-Red Land Destruction deck that Alan Comer posted in his World's tourney report. I liked the Erratic Portal concept, so I built that deck. I also built Brian Weissman's version of Survival/Recurring Nightmares, and play-tested them against each other a few times. At that point I concluded "I'm not drawing enough Land Destruction", so I decided to add a 2nd color for more LD. I chose Green (over Black) because Erratic Portal + Wall of Blossoms or Spike Feeder is a nice little combo. Basically, this deck tries to stay alive long enough to get a lock with Anarchist/Portal/LD. Control their mana, bounce their creatures, and then win with creatures or a couple Rolling Thunders. The hard part is living long enough to take control. Early versions of the deck had Wood Elves instead of Mox Diamonds -- chump-blocker plus recursive deck-thinning has some appeal, but I think getting a 2nd-turn LD is better against many decks. The Sphere of Resistance was a late replacement for Mogg Fanatics that had remained from the original mono-red deck (thanks for the suggestion, Mike!). The Mogg's give me a better chance to survive fast beat-down decks (Red/White/Hatred), but Sphere's give me total-lock potential. I also considered adding a 3rd color, like black, for some creature removal (edicts) or Recurring Nightmare, but I really wanted to avoid playing non-basic land, so went for a two-color version. Even in this version, color-screw costs a few games on occasion. Anyway, here's the deck: Erratic LD ---------- 3 Mox Diamond 4 Erratic Portal 2 Sphere of Resistance 1 Torture Chamber 3 Shock 2 Rolling Thunder 2 Flowstone Flood 4 Stone Rain 1 Aftershock 3 Anarchist 1 Starke of Rath 4 Winter's Grasp 1 Tranquility (Sorcery = GOOD!) 4 Wall of Blossoms 2 Spike Feeder 10 Forest 10 Mountain 4 Wasteland SIDEBOARD 1 Tranquility 1 Anarchist 1 Aftershock 2 Ravenous Baboons 1 Sphere of Resistance 1 Torture Chamber 4 Boil 2 Shattering Pulse 2 Spike Feeder For most of my play-testing, I had 1 Ravenous Baboon and 1 Spike Feeder standard. But also, most of my play-testing happened to be against decks with very little non-basic land. At the last minute, I swapped the Baboon out for a second feeder, hoping I would stand more of a chance in the first game against Sligh/WW/Hatred. I think this was probably the right choice, even though it turned out I never faced any of those decks in the tournament! PLAYTESTING ----------- I play-tested various versions of this deck against the Weissman Survival/Recurring deck, simply because those were the only two Rath decks I had on hand. I'd give the Weissman deck to somebody else (it's a blast to play), and then I'd play mine against it. Results were inconclusive. It's tough with all the land-fetching ability in the Weissman deck, but if I can control his black mana, I can win. I did notice that one Cartographer in the sideboard of the Weissman deck would ruin my day. I hoped not many people would be playing that, since they wouldn't be expecting LD..... I also tested against some red burn (conclusion: I need to be lucky to win, spike feeders help a lot). Tradewind/Awakening (conclusion: 4 boils in the sideboard=good. Tranquility being a sorcery=good. I wasn't too worried...). White Weenie? I may have played a few games. I figured I need to be lucky, and I'd play some torture chambers and cross my fingers.... I never tested against Hatred, but figured I was in a lot of trouble unless I got a good draw and they didn't..... Last-minute changes due to testing -- play a Tranquility standard, added another Wall of Blossoms (used to have only 3), and the 2nd Feeder instead of a standard Baboon. I also added one Aftershock standard instead of a Flowstone Flood, and I dropped the number of Starke of Rath's down to 1 (I love this guy, but he's too easy to kill! ;-) I originally had Ruination in the sideboard, but my testing just wasn't seeing enough non-basic land to justify the slots (and most of the heavy non-basic land decks seemed to run Blue, so Boil was usually adequate...). Plus, the Baboons are cooler.... ;-) THE TOURNAMENT -------------- First off, I didn't go into this tournament expecting to do very well. I figured I would have to be very lucky not to lose to sligh, white weenie, and/or hatred, and I expected to see at least some of those decks. And I'm not likely to be able to go to Rome anyway, if I do qualify. More importantly, I was planning to drop by 3:30 (which I figured would be the end of the 4th round) to play in an RPGA AD&D game that was also being hosted by Neutral Ground that day. I didn't want to go 4-0 and have some dilemma about dropping... ;-) About 60 people turned up for the qualifier. Since I spend a lot of time at Neutral Ground, I probably knew 75% of them, at least on sight. I checked with some folks I know, and found a lot of them planning to play Counter-Phoenix. I haven't tested against that deck, but it seems to me that Boil+LD is going to make it tough to cast that phoenix very often. I hoped to play against it, because I ought to be able to beat it.... Anyway, on to the games: ------ Round #1: vs. Huei-Saint Shwe (Tradewind/Awakening) I'd playtested against Huei for several hours on Thursday. I've got Boils and Tranquilities, so I'm not too worried. When he sits down and sees what I'm playing, he says "How are you going to beat sligh?". I say I don't care, I just wanted to play the deck.... ;-) Game 1: I put up a fight, but eventually he gets the Tradewind/Awakening down, with counters in hand to back it up, and I have to call a judge over so I can concede (the judge has to call the head judge over so I can get "permission" to do this... kind of annoying since that takes extra time, and I want to be sure not to run out of time, which is why I'm conceding in the first place...). Game 2: I crushed him pretty quickly, don't recall the details, but Boil is good.... 9 mana + portal + anarchist + stone rain = good... Game 3: Huei is going first. He looks at his hand for a long time, and finally mulligans. I am sympathetic, but I'm looking at the one land in my hand and waiting to do the same... Then he mulligans again, and keeps it. I mulligan and get a decent draw. I had total control early in this game, locking him down so he had no islands, and I think I had a portal (but no anarchist, or vice-versa). Then I proceed to draw nothing useful for about 8 turns, and he manages to build up enough land and cards to turn it around. He wins it with about 2 minutes before time runs out. (I tell him I'm just as happy he won, since I'm planning to drop after 4 rounds, and I figure he's got a good chance to go all the way -- I was right, he did make top 8 (but lost in the quarter-finals, I think)). ------ Round 2: vs. Andrew (Survival/Recurring -- Weissman style) Andrew is a nice local kid who plays at Neutral Ground quite a bit, along with his older brother, Linden. Game 1: I go first. Andrew decides not to mulligan with 1 land. Mistake. I have a rather mundane draw (3-4 land, Stone Rain, Flowstone Flood...). He discards a Tradewind on Turn 2, and I almost feel guilty stone-raining his only land on Turn 3.... He never had more than one land the whole game. I kill him slowly, with a determined spike feeder and a Rolling Thunder or two. From his early discarding, I can tell he's playing Recurring/Survival. When the game is over I look through his (now large) graveyard) and say "Oh, it's the Weissman version. I'm afraid I know this one inside-out, since it's the main deck I tested against...." (The Weissman version runs 4 rampant growth, 4 wall of blossom standard -- sticking with 1 land isn't a bad call, except against LD!). Game 2: Andrew is at a small disadvantage here. I know his deck inside out, and I didn't need to use any of my tricks to beat him in the first match, so he doesn't even know he should side in artifact removal (he never saw an Erratic Portal). I get an average draw, he gets an average draw. I focus in on his black mana, commenting "You know you're never going to get to cast Living Death", and eventually I lock him down and win. (Andrew tells me he thinks his brother Linden will "go all the way". I wonder if that means he's playing some new deck he's come up with. Later I ask Linden and it turns out he's playing Sligh, and getting paired against Counter/Phoenix and losing...). Now I'm 1-1 and I'm happy because my deck is working like it's supposed to, and since I already have 1 loss, I know I'll be happy to drop 4th round, whatever my record. I go get some lunch, and run into some guy who recognized me from the Chicago PTQ and asked if I was playing or judging today (I judged at the last PTQ). I say I'm playing for fun, with my goofy deck that I like. He says he's playing a goofy deck, too, and we eventually mention enough details to realize that we're playing very similar decks. I tell him to make sure and look me up later, so we can compare decks. He was 1-1 at that point. ------ Round 3: (Greg something?) (Survival/Recurring) This guy was playing a survival/recurring deck, but he was running some non-basic land, and no Rampant Growths (i.e. not the Weissman variant). I figure if I can beat the Weissman version, this one should be easier, since it actually gives my Baboons something to do. However.... Game 1: I get a decent draw, and I get Starke of Rath + Erratic Portal. I start killing things, but I'm struggling to keep control. I'm not drawing enough LD, and he's getting black mana out, along with some of his 'tech (Recurring Nightmare). Then I make a stupid mistake. He attacks with a critter, and I block with Starke, forgetting he's summoning sick. I plan to kill a Mox Diamond and bounce Starke, but instead I end up just bouncing Starke (I should have blocked with a Wall of Blossoms and bounced that...). This essentially costs me a whole turn of Starke action, and a card. And then he Thrull Surgeon's away Starke, and I can't recover (I might have lost this one anyway, but this mistake didn't help!). Game 2: The perils of playing double-color casting costs and no multilands. I stare at 2 Winters Grasps through most of the game, but can never cast them. I have a little bit of 'tech going, but I've been drawing and casting too many Anarchists (and no Erratic Portals), He's got a Verdant Force out. I'm desperate to re-use the Stone Rain in my graveyard, so, despite the fact that he's been filling his graveyard and he has the black mana for Living Death, I play the 3rd and final Anarchist. I'm hoping he'll get greedy and attack with the Verdant Force and let me get an Anarchist killed, *before* he Living Deaths (or better yet, that he doesn't have the Living Death...). But nope, he Living Death's first, and I'm toast.... I really should have waited a turn on the Anarchist, but I bet I would have lost this one anyway.... So I'm 1-2, but I'm still reasonably happy, because my deck has been working reasonably well, and I'm having fun (can't blame my deck for my dumb mistakes...). Besides, now I can definitely drop after round 4 without worrying about making the top 8.... (I run into that guy from lunch who has the similar deck. He's dropped from the tournament (1-2, I guess), so we compare decks. His is indeed similar, but he's using Scorched Earth, some Cartographers, no Starke of Rath, and maybe a few more spikes (like weavers). I like the Scorched Earth/Cartographer concept, and I'm going to think about it for my deck.... ;-) ------ Round 4: I sit down across from Linden, and get ready to try to be lucky vs. sligh. We're in scrub-land, with the other folks who know they don't have a chance for top 8, but are playing anyway. Then they announce they've got to redo the pairings... Round 4: vs. (somebody Louie -- sorry only his last name is sticking) playing Tradewind/Awakening Game 1: I expect to lose Game 1 unless I'm lucky. I'm not. He gets the tradewind/awakening out, and I have to call a judge to concede. At least this time the judge (same guy -- Hi, Doug!) let me concede without consulting the head judge about it.... Game 2: Sideboard in the Boils, extra tranquility and aftershock. I didn't see any non-basic land first game, but it seems like he ought to have some. I eventually decide to put only one Baboon in, just in case.... Boil, boil, boil... I win easily. Game 3: I still didn't see any non-basic land, so I take out the Baboon (I probably put in my extra Anarchist -- they're key, and it's annoying if they all get countered...). My deck does its stuff, but it's a long game, and I have to Boil very carefully because I can't afford to have it countered. Eventually I get him locked down with anarchist/portal, but he's got some Walls out, and plenty of green mana, so it takes me a long time to actually draw something to kill him with (I'd taken out my spike feeders...). I finally got a Rolling Thunder or something, and finished him off.... (I asked him afterwards, and he said he wasn't playing any non-basic lands. He didn't like all those wastelands out there, I guess...) ---- So, I went 2-2, dropped, and went off to play D&D. A successful day all around.. I like this deck, and I'd like to try to figure out how to improve it enough to make it truly viable. I see variants on the theme are also appearing for Type II. I guess I'll look into building one of those, too.... Sorry I can't tell you the breakdown for the Top 8. I know Huei made it, and so did Nathan Donovan (he was playing either Tradewind/Awakening or Counter/Phoenix). Hopefully somebody else will post a report with details on the top 8.