i. Change is Inevitable
I got back into vintage after a 5 year hiatus from attending tournaments. I attended the a few local tournaments in the northeast starting in February, top 8ed some of them, and signed up for the NYSE III event in the hopes of making top 8. After going 4/2 before dropping, I knew I had a lot to learn. Decks had adapted to shops multiple lock pieces. They were more streamlined. My espresso list had issues keeping boards from getting out of hand, that just two months prior I had crushed. Matches felt like i was playing from behind from the die roll. The deck needed to change. I needed to change.
ii. Reeducation
When I last played Vintage tournaments regularly, I had created an archetype that dominated in the hands of the few that could pilot it well. Doing so required knowing each playable deck, inside and out. Many people say that shops are a brainless deck to play. Such words come from the mouths of those who don't play the archetype, and are disgusted by its success. Rafael Forino, the Godfather of Shops, described the shops strategy best.
"Anacondas set up their kills by squeezing their prey. An anaconda will wrap itself around its prey. Each time its prey breaths out, the anaconda takes advantage and squeezes its prey tighter, squeezing its deflated lungs, locking in that tighter grip, making it harder for its prey to breathe. Breath by breath, the squeeze gets tighter and tighter until its prey can’t breathe, blacks out, and dies.
Shops are the anaconda of the format."
The format had changed. In 2009, Blue decks went broken with Yawgmoth's Will and Time Vault. Oath decks were Oathing up Terastadons and Blightsteel Colossus. Storm decks were shifting to gush and storming with Fastbond for mana. Shop decks were playing Serum Powders or dropping bombs on turn 2 with Metalworkers. Dredge decks were playing with restricted cards and siding in Force of Wills. Jace, the Mind Sculptor was the defacto planeswalker. Shop decks were different. Blue decks were different. My deck, and my knowledge, were relics of the past.
In my return to vintage, I was invited into a testing group of exceptional vintage players from NYC, and I didn't make many sessions. I knew that had to change. I began testing weekly with my personal Espresso list, so I could understand what were the fundamental plays and tensions of each match-up. No sense in changing the deck until you know what needs to come out.
I tested countless hours against delver and mentor lists, which were undergoing their own journeys of discovery. Treasure Cruise has become the fulcrum which tipped the format into a creature based format. Card efficiency replaced raw card power, and for the first time, Yawgmoth's Will had been displaced as the main avenue to victory in this format. For the first time in history, an avenue to victory, a win enabler, couldn't be slowed down by layering sphere effects. Win conditions were growing horizontal and not vertical. Cheap cantrips were being favored over tutors.
I tested for days against the bane of Shop decks: Oath. For the first time in Oath's existence, the deck did not need to diversify its Oath targets to win because its defacto Oath target could just get there. As such, they could begin to diversify their main deck and sideboard slots. Show and Tell would be a great way to cheat in Oath targets, and when Containment Priest ran rampant, Omniscience would be there to blank it. Greg Fenton and Brian Kelly became the flag bearers of the archetype. Oath theory would evolve, and as the draw spells became replaced with cantrips, the deck could now find more lands vs shops, and consistently adapt its main deck and sideboard to fluctuations in the metagame. The gimmick that was burning oath was over.
Dredge decks abandoned the restricted cards and the need to race as decks became fairer. Dredge went back to its roots, and began moving Leyline of the Void back to the main deck, to protect its bridges. It too adapted, and was capable of blowing up cages with ease. Good pilots could win through The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale.
Armed with this knowledge, it was time to reevaluate my deck.
iii. Self-reflection
It took me weeks to relearn the format, and now I had a month to find my list for Worlds. No shop brew was off limits. I researched the top performing lists, but also the lists that didn't place well. It was clear that the most common list was Martello Shops, a deck of Rafael Forino's design.
I piloted the deck for many sessions, but it didn't feel right. This deck, unlike Espresso, did not hard lock the opponent, but looked to find an opening and smash the opponent when it found one (hence the term "Martello" which means "hammer" in Italian). I shifted the main deck tutor targets, tried out some new ones, and tried almost every sensible sideboard configuration, but still didn't like it. I had a number of issues with the deck.
Martello is a very top heavy deck, and is very reliant on drawing Mishra's Workshop to execute its plan. In my shops experience, you want your curve to ideally top out at 4 mana. The reason for this is, in case you don't draw a workshop, Ancient tomb or your moxes can still make plays for you, even though spheres. With Martello running Kuldotha Forgemaster and 3-4 game ending tutor targets, there is a very real chance that if you don't draw a shop, or if it gets hit by a wasteland, you can find yourself screwed out of making plays. I've played more than enough shop matches to know this by heart. To compensate for this, the deck utilizes Phyrexian Revoker as extra spheres.
In testing, I found this to be a flaw.
90% of the time, Revoker will be used as a lock piece, and name a mox or other accelerant to shut it off, while it tried to aggravate its opponent with more spheres. The problem is, Revoker isn't equipped to do this well. It has weak stats, making it easy to kill, at which point, it only functions as an Oblivion Ring. When decks are equipped to kill a Lodestone Golem, killing a Revoker is child's play. The other 10% of the time, Revoker is preemptively naming something game breaking, which is bit of a waste when that card hasn't even been played or drawn. In addition, Revoker makes Tangle Wire, one of the best cards in Shops, a much weaker card. Tangle wire is used to tap out opposing permanents, which are usually mana sources. When the opponent taps down a mana source that has been shut off, that tap is essentially wasted. The more Revokers you draw, the worse tangle wire becomes. Sadly, Tangle Wire is the best way to shut off the most offensive spells, as those spells tend to be cast at sorcery speed.
When blue decks are equipped with triple Dack Faden main and quad Ingot Chewers out of the sideboard, Revoker isn't a sphere: it’s a speed bump.
I knew that Revoker would either have to become a better card or be cut for one that was.
At the NYSE III, I got to experience that Dig Through Time created a serious conundrum. When facing a Dig deck, the shop deck would usually draw the game out to a state when the opponent was at net 0 (only had the mana to pay for free spells, like Force of Will). At this point, the shop deck needed to draw something to close out the game, because if given enough time, the blue player could draw and cast Dig through Time, delving extra cards to satisfy the sphere cost, and break that stranglehold with the cards it Dug for. Martello could usually deal with this by tutoring a Sundering Titan and blowing up the blue lands, but Forgemaster would have to untap first. In addition, it you didn't have the tangle wire to safely tap the opponent down with spheres on the table, protecting the Forgemaster from Force of Will, you often couldn't play said Forgemaster or sacrifice the lock pieces that were holding them off to resolve the search (hello Containment Priest). If the opponent found a Dig, you could be sure that Ingot chewers and Dack were not too far.
I needed a strategy that could beat through dig. Martello was one answer. Draw spells were another. Staff of Nin was good, but inconsistent, as the high cost meant I couldn't always play it when I drew it. Coercive Portal has tested positively, and while there was a risk that the opponent could Dack it from me and blow up my board, when protected by spheres, it would usually allow me to bury the opponent under spheres and wastelands, at which point, any card could win. The other advantage to putting the opponent below net 0 is the inability for that opponent to generate tokens by playing spells, rendering Monastery Mentor and Young Pyromancer into grey ogres, and protecting me from game ending Hurkyll's Recalls. The deck wanted a way to close out games faster: maybe stronger spheres or extra strip effects, but something that would help lock the opponent harder to help me close out the game.
Lastly, I needed to come to terms with was the sideboard. I was unhappy with how weak Grafdigger's Cage was as an answer to Oath and Dredge. It could be Mental Misstepped or Nature's Claimed away. If you had a chalice at 1, dredge could still Chew it away and Oath could play Show and Tell and ignore it. These answers would have to improve. In addition, I needed Crucible to help establish mana control in the mirror, and needed something that could proactively and reactively fight Dack and Chewers i expected to face all day. I could also expect to face some BUG Fish and Landstill decks that could also be preying on the field as well.
To fight dredge effectively, you need to stop the deck from being able to put Dack and use cards in the graveyard. Cage doesn't stop cage, it just stops the Narcomoebas and Ichorids. They can still use bazaar to find answers, and cast them. Oath will often Oath through a cage leaving the target on top of the library, draw their target for the turn, and use S&T to put it into play. I needed another testing session, angle to fight Oath, because Cage was not going to cut it. I also needed to be able to answer chewers and answer Dack both proactively (keep it from hitting play) and reactively (after its stolen something of mine). Some shop lists were running Ravager as a way to blank Dack Faden, but these lists were more aggro lists, ran far fewer spheres, and are more susceptible to Hurkyll's recall. Hangerback Walker was a new toy, but very early in testing, you could see it didn't fit into every shop shell. There were those that were advertising it was good, but it seemed their results were based on playing their decks well, not because of the walker itself. It tested and felt clunky in many lists i played it in, and even worse, it was a great Dack target.
iv. Rebirth
With a month worth of testing, i had narrowed down my deck to two lists. One was a variation of Martello, and one was a more personal espresso-like brew. At a testing session, i had the fortune of being able to ask a certain shop master which he felt was the better list. His response was enlightening.
"I took a break during the time Espresso was a thing. I didn't get to play the deck. When I returned, Martello was the deck that I picked up. I did well with it. You know how to play (shops) but it’s more important to play what you’re comfortable with, than what you think is stronger but not in your zone because at the end of the day, it's YOUR play and experience that will win games, not the cards".
"Beyond being a gentleman and a scholar Roland Chang was also an exemplary tutor. Roland to many of us is simply known as Sensei. I had watched Robert Vroman from a distance; his UbaStax deck was brutally good and it had many powerful elements that I believed would help tilt the balance of power to it in a match against 5CStax. I liked Uba and I had a Shop Master I could test against.
Roland brutalized me. In a ten game set I may have gotten him once. I asked him at the end of our set what happened. "I don't understand. I thought UbaStax had a great 5C matchup."
"Vroman had a great 5C match not UbaStax. Players beat other players; decks don't beat other decks." It was an important lesson: there is no such thing as an unwinnable match. The great pilot well metagamed was capable of beating supposed 'bad' matchups. I had just gone 1-9 against Roland and yet Vroman left 5C decks broken in his wake. Two Shop Masters helped teach me a lesson that I needed to learn: a well-educated pilot who plays to their best ability can beat anyone at any given time. Never give up hope."
By using Karn, I was able to ditch the underperforming Revokers, and help hard lock games easier, and consistently close out games quickly. More importantly, it was a do-now card: one that affects the board immediately, whether by killing moxen, letting me go aggro the turn I play it, holding off aggressive boards to stabilize my life total, or helping me decrease enemy permanent counts so I can smoke opponents out of games. It also plays well with cavern, giving me 7 uncounterable must-answer cards.
I abandoned Cages in the board for better answers. Welders render Dack, Chewers, and any other one mana artifact kill spells useless. Moreover, welders haven't really seen the light of day in years. Players would be ill-equipped to fight welder in a Dack metagame. The one-two punch of welder and Karn would also make tangle wire very strong, and offer the deck a non-combat related way to close out games. Razormane has more uses than just the shop mirror, and Wurmcoil is for those decks that i need to either go over the top, or race life totals. This is the 75 card sword I would wield at Worlds.
I drove to Philly with my buddy Noah, who met up with mme by way of L.A. We departat 5:30 am to take the 2+ hour drive to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. We arrived around 8am, filled out our deck registration sheets, and got breakfast. At 9am the players meeting began, and round 1 started shortly after. I took notes liberally throughout my games.
Round 1 - Andi on Martello Shops (1-0, 2-1-0)
Andi wins the die roll and elects to go first. I shuffle obsessively to mitigate my deck being ordered to write my list out. He opens on Ancient Tombs and drops moxes and spheres. Fortunately, he hasn't played chalice until after I play Crypt and moxes, which lets me catch up on mana. My opponent Revokers the crypt. I respond by dropping Karn, and eat his moxes, to string him on mana, leaving chalice there to lock him off Moxes. He draws running Ancient Tomb into Forgemaster. Karn had him pinned down on fast mana, yet he found a window to cast his Forgemaster. I need to settle in. Breathe… there are two more games. Forgemaster gets him a Hellkite to blow the game open.
Breathe. She wants to be pampered, shuffle all the stress away. Let her do her thing. I fan my opening hand and keep. I lead with Moxes, ancient tomb, a lodestone, and chalice at 0. Andi opens with workshop and Metamorph copying lodestone. I draw a Wasteland, waste his workshop, and drop a Smokey. Andi plays tomb to drop a Revoker. I ramp Smokey to 1, draw a Shop and play wurmcoil engine. The blood is on the wall. That-a-girl. Now let’s show him why we deserve to be here.
SB plan
- 3 chalice
+3 smokestack
I throw my chalices into my board. He hasn't seen welder all match. Mine is the better deck. I came prepared. This game is mine for the taking. My hand is stacked this game, so as long as I draw more lands, i should have it. Andi is on the play and plays tomb and moxes into Lodestone. I do the same. He plays Revoker on one of my moxes. I drop a cavern and run out Coercive Portal. Andi has to read it a few times to know what it does. He attacks me with both and we trade lodestones. He then runs out a wurmcoil. I gladly copy his wurmcoil and drop a crucible in hopes that I'll draw a wasteland. I swing with wurmcoil, which eats Revoker. He draws and slams down Forgemaster. This is my opening. I look at my hand and see the two Duplicants and second Metamorph. I drop a Duplicant on his wurmcoil, and swing with my wurmcoil copy for 6. At this point, tomb damage and the wurmcoil swing shrunk his life total to 10. He untaps and passes. Shrink your board. Show me your Blightsteel! It’s match... I attack with just the Wurmcoil, leaving my 6/6 Duplicant back. He Forgemaster his board getting Duplicant ...Set..., but elects to target my Duplicant, ...Poi… didn't expect that and then proceeds to unimprint his wurmcoil onto his side of the field. I explain to him that the effect is not O-Ring, and I call a judge over. We explain to the judge what happened and says that he wants to change targets. Judge rules that he can’t change targets since my dupe is a legal target and we are at competitive REL. He eats the damage, hoping to draw a Metamorph. He doesn't, and concedes.
He's salty about his play error. Don’t tell him it wouldn't have mattered. He’s upset enough. Karma is a *****. No one knows you have welders. If he didn’t have Blightsteel, neither will most of these Martello lists. I wished him much better luck with his next round and proceed to turn in my match slip.
Round 2 - Justin on Workshops (2-0, 4-1-0)
You’re 1-0. You belong here. You’ve worked hard for this moment and its here for the taking. I go through my pregame ritual of shuffling. I fan out my opening hand and mulligan, and keep the next hand I get. My opponent snap keeps. I look back and forth across my hand as I get to that place. My breathing slows, my heart stops racing and I feel as level headed as ever. Let’s play some vintage.
I lead with Mox Jet, Emerald, and Workshop into Karn (my bait spell), which resolves. He’s not on blue. As long as he doesn’t lead with Bazaar,this game is mine. My opponent opens on Ancient Tomb into Revoker, shutting off Jet. I play a Wasteland and send his tomb packing, and cast a sphere. He draws and passes. I play a Cavern and cast crucible, passing. He draws a workshop and plays a sol ring. I lay out a second sphere, replay wasteland, and animate my first sphere and attack. He eats 2. Wasteland and Karn keeps his mana at bay while I attack him to lethal. I didn’t get greedy. I mulled and she rewarded me. Let’s put it away.
You’re from Shop Country. He may be good, but you’re better. It’s in your blood. I take a deep breath as I draw my 7 card hand face-down. My opponent snap keeps. I look at my hand and keep. My opponent opens on 1st crucible. Well played, sir. I match his opener with a strip mine and lotus playing Metamorph, copying crucible. He plays an ancient tomb and apparently drew a chalice late,which he plays for 0, then casts Revoker with his shop, naming sol ring. I play an ancient tomb and strip his shop. He draws and passes the turn. I play my workshop, and cast Razormane Masticore, with a land and a Metamorph in hand. He plays I filter discards for the next few turns, shooting down Revoker and getting in for 5 until He draws a Metamorph, copying Razormane. I attack, we trade, and I drop a Karn, which goes the distance with Crucible. Still haven’t seen Welder. I may wind up blowing someone out later in the tournament. Not even the spectators know it’s in here. We’re going to be on a good run.
Game 3 - Jesse with Delver (3-0, 6-1-0)
I win the die roll and announces I’m on the play. You’ve been doing great. Don’t get cocky. Just bait, and squeeze. I mulligan my first hand and keep the second. My opponent mulligans as well and keeps his next hand. I play turn 1 chalice at 1 which gets forced. Ahh, at last. He plays turn 1 delver off volcanic island. I play a first turn Cavern ...you’ve proven you deserve to be here, not prove you’ve earned the slot naming Golem into Lodestone. He attacks me for 3 and plays a brainstorm, then plays an island. I play wasteland, killing his volcanic, and follow it up with another sphere. Delver eventually has to chump and it’s off to game 2. Welder, if he tries to go broken, I need you to keep him in check.
SB
-1 Smokey
-1 Karn
-1 Crucible
+3 Welder
Game 2 he plays fetch into turn 1 delver. I play turn 1 sphere which gets forced. On his upkeep, delver does not flip. He plays a fetch and passes. I play a lodestone Golem and pass, which he deals with via Ingot Chewer. He flips delver that turn plays a fetch, and beats me for 3. I play and ancient tomb into a Karn, which he cracks both fetches for, casts dig through time, and forces, returning the volley with delver cracking for 3. I’m at 8, and he's at 14. I’m drawing wastes, but he's flooding on lands. You can’t throw this game away. It’s time to do this! I draw for the turn and cast coercive portal. When that resolves, i drop chalice at 1 that I’ve been protecting, which also sticks. He cracks me for 3 and passes. I draw Karn and crucible, play Karn, and animate the portal to beat in for 4. He attacks me to 5. I draw two cards, sphere and a Smokey. I play sphere and Smokey and a waste from the yard, and attack with Karn and portal. He draws, attacks me to 2, and then aims a lightning bolt on my face. This can’t be it… I think and then look around at my board, point to my chalice at 1. With that, I earn the concession. He tested your ability to keep cool and you passed. You’re going to do well today. I thanked him for the great game, and picked up the match slip.
Round 4 - Brad G. with Dredge (3-1, 7-3-0)
Brad wins the die roll, then snap mulligans his first hand. I keep. He snap mulligans again, then down to 5 before keeping. He’s got to be on dredge. He opens with Bazaar. I play wasteland and waste it. This isn’t enough to slow him down. In response, he activates bazaar and discards 2 bridges and a stinkweed imp. He dredges on his draw step and hits 2 other bridges, an Ichorid, a thug, and a Bloodghast. I think I have an opening here. I play a turn 2 Karn off of shop, crypt, and mox, then animate crypt to blow away all his bridges. I cast a sphere to lock him off the Zealot kill. Now to close it out. My opponent finds a Dakmor Salvage and starts beating me with 2/1s and Ichorid, which I chump each turn. I keep drawing workshops and playing lock pieces until I finally draw an ancient tomb to animate said lock pieces. He swung at me for 7, i paid 2 life to kill 2 thugs, then cracked back for 11. The following turn I get the concession. We did the impossible, beat dredge game 1 on the draw. And now we have an extra game 3 in the bag. I’m winning this round.
My opponent snap keeps. I look at my hand, and I debate it but keep. My opponent plays Bazaar which i waste away on my turn, he activates Bazaar, dropping Grave-Troll, thug, and a bridge. I play Crypt and blow away his yard, and lotus into sphere. On he draws to 7 over the next few turns until he can discard to slow dredge. Eventually, I draw and play a Tabernacle and then a Coercive Portal to dig for mana and answers. He winds up recurring Ichorid, using undiscovered paradise, using it to pay upkeep costs on a zombie token every other turn, which kills me before i can find the mana to stop the bleeding. I end the game with 2 welders in hand and a Karn in play, but no non shop mana sources to cast welder or animate artifacts. This pilot is good. I’ve never been beaten though a Tabernacle before. It was way too close a match. I hope I didn’t throw this match away.
Game 3
I shuffle incessantly for game three, and settle into the zone. C’mon, we’ve come this far. Show me something good. I fan open double waste, double crypt, ancient tomb, sphere, and chalice. I keep. My opponent mulls to 6 and keeps. I play turn 1 sphere and pass. Opponent plays bazaar which i waste on my next turn, and follow with a crypt. My opponent dredges on draw step, which i crypt away and drops another Bazaar. I waste it off the table, and play another crypt. My opponent dredges on his draw step, so i crypt. He plays his a third Bazaar. Better lucky than good, I guess.
That my friends, is what we call variance.
Round 5 - Brian with U/R control (3-2, 7-5-0)
You knew this wouldn’t be easy. You’re X-1 right now. That was your one match to drop for Top 8. You need to pull it together. I sit against my opponent, who seems a little too excited to be there. We roll. I win and elects to go first. I shuffle rigorously. We shuffle each other’s decks. He keeps. I mulligan. We can do this, give me something I can fight with. I draw my next hand, which is much better mix of mana and lock pieces. I play moxes and an Ancient Tomb into Lodestone. It gets forced. That evens up the mulligan. He plays out two moxes and a fetch. I play another and play a sphere with the moxes. Resolves. My opponent draws and passes the turn. I play Karn, which resolves, and I use my spare mana to blow up one of his moxes. He cracks his fetch to play a Preordain and plays another fetch. I blow up his other Mox, then animate and attack for 6. He plays another fetch. On my following attack he pops his fetch, he casts a Dig, exiling his yard to look for something juicy. He’s tapped out. I play a Mana Crypt into tangle wire and a second sphere. I take the damage on the upkeep, but I tap appropriately, and swing in for lethal. Just keep it up. One match at a time.
SB
-3 Metamorph
+3 Welder
My opponent grumbles bout playing this matchup. When he draws his he snap keeps and goes bananas: Double Mox, Sol Ring, Lotus, Tolarian Academy into Jace, +0 Jace, cast Trinket Mage (with Lotus still up) Tutor for Chalice, play chalice at 0, pass. I cast a Chalice at one (resolves). My follow up Lodestone gets Forced, I draw Cavern and play a Karn, then a few spheres. He eventually bounces Karn and exiles it with Mindbreak Trap I hold off praying to get a welder, but there’s none to be found. It’s off to game 3. You couldn’t control that match. You’re on the play now. You got this.
SB
No changes
I debate the hand but eventually keep. My opponent keeps. I play Turn 1 lodestone, which gets forced and pass. My opponent opens another Lotus, land into Turn 1 Jace. I kept a light hand and I’m getting punished for it. I did it to myself. I drop a thorn, which gets Chewed. I play a sphere. It doesn’t matter. He’s drawing lands. He keeps Jacesturbating every turn. I cast a hail mary in smokestack, but drain is the nail in the coffin. You got cocky. You can’t force these games, you have to let them play out organically. You’re probably out of the top 8, but you may be able to salvage this trip. Discipline is key. She is your weapon, but you need to work as one. My opponent is giddy at his double turn 1 Jace and brags to his buddies on how awesome his deck is. I wish him good luck and sign my match slip. I have just enough time to get a bottle of water and have a Nutrigrain bar from my bag before the next round starts. Focus. Concentration. Discipline.
Round 6 – Chris –w- Shops (3-3, 8-8-0)
I gather myself together for this round. Because the pairings went up late for those with last names P-R and S-Z, I run to my seat to find my opponent already seated and a judge headed over to verify a game loss. I get there in time, wave to the judge, and start shuffling up for this next round. Chris wins the die roll, and elects to go first. This game is a blurr. We both open on Ancient tombs. Artifacts fly. We trade wastelands. I get Karn to stick and then get Coercive portal a turn later. He topdecks a Metamorph and copies it. We trade Lodestones in combat, and I drop another. He rips a Hangerback Walker, and plays it for 2. I drop a tangle to tap him down. He pumps Hangerback in response. I beat in for 5, and then 5 again,, before I drop a Crucible and waste a land. He chumps my Lodestone with what is now a 4/4 Hangerback, netting him 4 tokens. I play a smokestack, replay a waste, waste his shop, and pass. He hits me with 4 tokens, bringing me to 7, but can’t play what he’s drawn. I ramp smokey to 1, and draw. No Tangle Wire or Karn. Drawstep: Neither again, just lands. I replay waste. I waste his land, leaving him with 7 permanents. He taps down useless things and cracks me back for 4 more. I sac 1, ramp to 2, draw 2 more lock pieces, and offer the concession. Well fought battle. However, ‘Walker isn’t going to save you. I’ve run it and it doesn’t work in your build. I have the better deck, and I’m going to prove it.
I open up on Shop, Mox, Lodestone, and a Chalice at 0. He drops a Mishra’s Factory. I play crucible, waste it, and it’s off to the races. I’m going to beat you on principle. You net-decked Brian Demar's list from 2 weeks ago.
SB
-4 Chalice
+4 Smokestack
I open on a 7 card hand and mulliganned. I open on the next 6 and keep: Mox, Mana Crypt, Cavern, Waste, Lodestone,,Metamorph. It's risky, but it's better than the 5 lands and mox, tangle I had. My opponent opens with Workshop, Mox, Sol Ring, Chalice at 0, Lodestone, Pass. I waste his shop and pass. Opponent draws, smashes me for 5, then passes. I draw welder. I run out a cavern, naming welder and pass. My opponent drops a tangle wire, then smashes me for another 5. I draw, see I still havent drawn a double land, drop the second cavernn I drew, and pass. Opponent fades tangle down to three, smashes me to 5 life, then drops another tangle to add insult to injury. Game over. He reveals the third tangle wire in his hand after the concession. The run is over, but but Noah is still in it. Lets see how far you can take it while he plays these out.
Round 7
Julian, playing Helm Combo (4-3, 10-8-0)
I take my seat against my opponent who looks like he’s having a rough time of things. He looks visibly flustered. I wind the die Roll and I’m on the play. He opens up with a Turn 0 Leyline. Must be playing dredge again. Won’t make the same mistake as last time. Workshop, Lotus, Lodestone, Chalice at 0 and 1. He doesn’t play a single spell the whole game.
SB
-3 Metamorph
+3 Welder
It doesn’t matter what I draw, I must play to perfection, and I will Julian opens on Leyline again, and plays a Mana Confluence and Mox, plays Ponder, shuffles, draws, and passes. I waste his land and pass. He plays another land and I have another waste ready. When he bricks on a third land drop, I play my workshop into Ancient Tomb and a sphere which resolves, and start the squeeze. This is my chance. He bricks on another land, I play Thorn, which resolves, and I drop a Crucible thereafter while he’s sphere locked. A smokestack later and I take the match. He shows me his hand, and he has 3 drains and both Helms in hand, drawing mox, and lotus after being Sphere locked.
Round 8 – Lenny on Shops –(5-3, 12-8-0)
I sit down across a guy who looks like he could bodyslam The Rock. He’s very loud and boisterous, which throws me off. I can’t quite get into that zone. We shuffle each other’s decks and I’m not sure if he’s trying to get a read on me. Lenny wins the die roll with a 3, advertises that it’s the first die roll he’s won all day and leads off with a Workshop into a Chalice at 0, and a Thorn. Shops on the draw… I should be playing this match in PJs and a wifebeater. I’m perfectly at home playing against shops on the draw. I drop an ancient tomb into a Sol Ring. He wastes my Ancient Tomb and I return the favor on his Workshop. He draws a card and passes the turn. Must be playing forgemasters if waste hurt that much.
I’m seated next to Roland Chang, the 2005 Vintage world Champ, who won playing shops, who is also playing the shop mirror. At this point in the match, both Lenny and I look over at their game, As their situation begins to escalate.
The opponent is arguing that his lands don’t tap as soon as Roland plays Tangle Wire (Which Roland, didn’t try to do. Roland reminded him to tap down on the upkeep before his turn). Roland looks at us baffled. I then see why he made the ruckus, as his opponent untaps and immediately puts his hand on his deck to draw a card, before Roland catches him and tells him there are upkeep triggers. Roland’s opponent calls a judge. This situation disrupts not only our match but also the match to Roland’s left. The judge comes over, rules that since a card wasn’t drawn, this was a situation where there was a missed trigger. Roland informs the judge that he shortcutted through his upkeep and didn’t give Roland the opportunity to announce the trigger. The judge informs him that he is going to perform a rewind to the upkeep, to give them the opportunity to resolve the upkeep triggers, as this is a repairable game state. Roland’s opponent says that this isn’t the way that he is used to seeing missed triggers handled and asks to appeal this to the head judge. The head judge comes over and talks the other judge before talking to the two players. Roland’s opponent says that “there was a significant amount of time between his untapping and him moving to draw” which is a goddamn lie. I want to say something, but the last time I did, I was warned by a judge not to (At that time, I was told that as an active participant of this tournament it’s a conflict of interest, as I have a stake in the outcome of this match). Roland, obviously frustrated, keeps his cool and waits for the judge to rule. The head judge rules it as a missed trigger, and allows the opponent to choose whether he wants the trigger to go on the stack, which he declines. Roland is visibly pissed. As the judge walks away, their board is the following:
Roland’s Opponent – Workshop, Mox, Chalice with no counters, Lodestone.
Roland: Workshop, Tangle Wire.
Roland better win this match. Win one for the good guys. Roland’s opponent draws a card and swings for 5, before committing another Lodestone to the board. Lenny and I are dead silent as Roland is obviously livid. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lenny leans over to Roland’s opponent, and in a voice loud enough to be heard down the table says, “just so you know, that was a real douchebag move.”
Lenny, I was wrong about you. You're a helluva guy.
I play another Tomb into a Crucible, and keep waste up. He bricks on another land drop. I replay my Ancient Tomb and play Karn. He draw a Tomb and passes. I kill his chalice, and play the mox and lotus he locked me off of, and then play my own chalice at 0. I drop a smokestack, and a few lock pieces, ramping and attacking into a concession. At this point, Roland take off his shirt and looks like he’s wants to rip his opponent’s face off. His opponent tries to talk it up with Roland and he’s not having any of it.
Lenny Has the turn 1 Lodestone and a Relic of Progenitus but I have the turn 1 Tangle. We trade wastelands (mine gets removed), and I draw another tangle, which buys me time to get another Workshop online. I land a Karn to protect my life total, and kill his mox. A Coercive Portal later, he blows his relic to try to draw a land or an answer. At this point, Roland (whose’s sititing next to me get, up, visibly infuriated, signs he match slip. His opponent says “good game mate” and Roland understandably refuses to shake. Karma’s a ***** buddy and you stunt just earned your record a weekend in hell. I wish you all the mana screw in the world, jackass. I look back at my board, and take advantage and drop a welder via cavern of souls. Next turn, I weld out his Lodestone for his mox, and get the concession.
Lenny and I talk about Roland’s match, and decide to play a few games for fun and practice, before preparing for our next round. Some guys just don’t get it. Vintage has no place for such bullshit. Turns out, Lenny drove from Oregon all the way out here to sling vintage. I wish Lenny good luck, and proceed to my next round. I meet up with Noah, who after going 6-0-1 Just took his first loss, and we wait for the postings for the next round to be announced.
Round 9 - (can't make out his name) on Dredge (6-3, 14-8-0)
(I lost the notes for this round so I am writing this from memory)
My opponent shuffles up and starts the small talk. He wins the coinflip, and says that he guesses I'm on shops. He mulliganned once and kept. He opened up on Bazzaar. I opened with a turn 1 Coercive Portal and Thorn (with a combination of Workshop, Mana Crypt and a Mox). He dredges a ton but only hits multiple blodghasts, and an ichorid, but no dakmor salvage, or bridges. He hit Ichorid on his dredge for his upkeep. On my turn, I draw a wasteland, and I think a lodestone. Karn comes down,. I attack him with Portal and blow the bridges up with the mox, keeping crypt open. Eventually Portal draws me into moxes and artifacts that I use to both keep his bridges of of the yard and chump enough ichorids to let Lodestone, Smokey, and Coercive portal attack for the kill. I took damage from crypt only once that game, ending the game in the low single digits.
My opponent is on the play and keeps his 7. I open up on Waste, Crypt, Welder, Crucible, Tomb, Cavern, Sphere.
Opponent drops Bazaar, I play a Tormod's Crypt and waste him. He bazaars. He dredges on the draw, and with narcomoeba trigger on stack, I crypt him. He plays a second bazaar and discards more dredgers and action. I play welder. He draws, and casts cabal therapy on himself to discard grave troll. I play welder and pass the turn. My opponent dredges on the draw step and gets a nsrcomoeba and few dredgers to continue the chain. I untapped with welder, play ancient tomb into sphere and pass the turn. When he dredges on his draw, I weld in crypt him. I play a mox and pass. He draws and pass. I play crucible, bring back a wasteland and weld out crucible for sphere. He draws a bazaar and tries to discard drdgers, an even time he dredges, I crypt him. He eventually concedes.
Round 10 - Geir on Oath (7-3, 16-9-0)
I find my seat and my opponent looks really happy to see me. We roll die and my opponent wins and elects to go first. He plays mox, orchard, oath and passes the turn, I attack for 1 (orchard token) and play my moxes and a workshop, a chalice at 1 (which gets forced) and another chalice at 1. My opponent oaths up Gristlebrand. I play a wasteland and cast phyrexian metammorph. My opponnent pays 7, finds a force, and forces it. On my turn, he smacks me to 13, and passed. I draw another workshoop, attack, and cast another metamorph. He pays another 14 life but finds force, and counters that. Off to game 2.
Sideboard
-1 crucible,
-2 smokey,
-3 karn
+3 welder
+3 duplicant
That was cute, but I'm on the play now. I open on Chalice, Sphere, pass, followed by waste into Lodestone, into Smokestack, with Wasteland up. All he did was play lands that got sacrificed
Sideboard
no changes
He still hasn't seen Welder. I hope I draw him. Geir opens up on Turn 1 Fetch into Ancestral, lays a mox, and passes. I open up on workshop, tomb, cavern, mox, welder, duplicant, metamorph, which I kept. I drew a sphere for the turn and played mox into sphere with worksphop, which Geir forced. On Geir's turn, he found his orchard, and played Orchard into oath, . He's laughing, but so am I. My hand is stacked.. I draw a second duplicant, and play caverns, naming goblin, and play welder. Attack with the token, pass. Geir oaths up Gristelbrand and passes. I untap and play my ancient tomb, and play metamorph. He forces, and I weld out my mox for my metamorph, copying gristlebrand. On his upkeep, in response to his oath trigger, I pay 7 life to draw 7 cards. Oath trigger resolves, and he oaths into another gristlebrand, sacrificing the first, plays a fetch and a mox, and passes. I untap, drop another cavern (naming shapeshifter) and more moxes, cast duplicant on his gristlebrand, and attack him for 7. On his turn, he oaths up Emrakul. My buddy Brendan pops in to spectate this match, having finished his game. When he announces he's passing the turn, I pay another 7 life to draw 7 more, weld out my Phyrexian Gristlemorph for a sphere, then untap, weld in metamorph to copy Emrakul, and cast a cavern protected duplicant to plow his oath.
Concession.
I wound up finishing the day at 7-3 putting me in 47th place.
Overall, I wouldn't change a thing about this list. The cavern are great, better than the factories in a metagame saturated with force of wills. The smokestacks were the biggest question marks, especially when decks aren't growing big, they're growing wide, but they help lock out resources that spheres can't do. Against shops, having Crucible main is tremendous, and being able to bring in so many answers in the board is just too much for most Mud decks. Welder is beyond amazing in the match-up, and a great tool against targeted artifact destruction, and a great way to blank Dack Faden.
If there's one thing champs taught me, its that you have to be good and lucky to make top 8. Some players ran up against unpowered lists, while others didn't. Some played against shops for most of their rounds, some dodged it completely. Two of the top 8 lists were Hangerback Walker shop aggro lists with Arcbound Ravagers. I don;t think the deck is the real thing, just that blue wasn't as prepared for a card that answers pulverize in the maindeck. The card is decent because of its flexibility, but the deck is super susceptible to mass bounce, and a savvy blue pilot can pick apart the deck with the right hand and counterspells.
Chalice's restriction hurts bigtime... a lot more than going to 1 dig hurts blue. In my Espresso variant, Karn had amazing utility by not only killing live moxes, but also by breaking opposing chalices, so that I can drop my own moxes and chalices, simultaneously upping my permenant counts while lowering theirs. With Chalice gone, one facet of this becomes unimportant. The bigger issue is the metagame implications the restriction has. With Chalice gone, there are only two ways to contain moxes: Karn, Silver Golem and Null Rod. And both have their pros and cons.
Null Rod is a 2 drop and immediately renders artifact abilities useless. Against the fully powered lists, it is a super sphere. However, it limits the cards you can reasonably use in your list. Also, it has the effect of making your spheres stronger but your tangle wires weaker, as those useless moxes your opponents have can tap down to tangle wire without issue, leaving their real mana sources unmolested.
Karn doesn't immediately kill moxes, because he is so expensive. However, he is much more easily cast through the majority of your spheres, and does in fact Lower your opponent's.permenant count, making it better with tangle wire and smokestack, but at the expense of not impacting the game as immediately as null rod. He also closes out games better than Mariano Rivera did for the Yankees, as he can put on a 2 and sometimes 1 turn clock on the opponent. He also hurts a lot if he gets stolen by dack.
The biggest concern is how the meta is going to shake out. I forsee most shop pilots.moving to null rod as the default, which hurts my ability to abuse Karn. I think Karn is the card with the higher ceiling, but Null Rod is the card that will amount to easier wins. Null Rod wont do much to fight hurkyll's recall, but Karn does.a better Job of it. Also, null rod really decreases your ability to fight dack, as to where Karn gives you a fighting chance. If the opponent Dack's your lodestone on their turn, your only recourse is to swing with manlands on dack before it ticks up to 2 and does it again, risking you losing a lodestone and a land to kill a planeswalker. If Dack takes your lodestone, you can cast and swing with your board to kill dack and the opponent.
I can say this for sure. Because of the increased projection of null rod usage, you can bet that martello shops is all but extinct, and that doesn't fare well for my 3x maindeck Karn
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blue: teaching Magic players manners since 1995
Shops: Teaching blue players manners since 2009
As someone who was already using Null Rod, hearing the number of disparaging comments that I did, I think it won't go up too much, but Terra Nova was already gaining in popularity, so who knows... I think it's possible that too many people are looking into Walker MUD to fully utilize the Rod.
I dont think that Walker Mud is where Shops needs to be. That deck is extremely soft to Null Rod, and the Aggro role is a role shops has traditionally taken to win the mirror, not the blue match-up. The issue is that Hurkyll's recall has never been better and if you opponent begins the game with a mana advantage, you may never get to compete in that game. I honestly belive that, barring new efficient artifact printings, the best way to move forward in this metagame is to play welder. Welder allows you to circumvent counters ans removal, max out the value of tangle wire, rebuild your board, all helping to lock your opponent out. Everyone is looking for the best answers,but I really feel everyone is looking in the wrong places.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blue: teaching Magic players manners since 1995
Shops: Teaching blue players manners since 2009
I dont think that Walker Mud is where Shops needs to be. That deck is extremely soft to Null Rod, and the Aggro role is a role shops has traditionally taken to win the mirror, not the blue match-up. The issue is that Hurkyll's recall has never been better and if you opponent begins the game with a mana advantage, you may never get to compete in that game. I honestly belive that, barring new efficient artifact printings, the best way to move forward in this metagame is to play welder. Welder allows you to circumvent counters ans removal, max out the value of tangle wire, rebuild your board, all helping to lock your opponent out. Everyone is looking for the best answers,but I really feel everyone is looking in the wrong places.
I agree with you at least on Walker. Not sure how I feel about Welder.
i. Change is Inevitable
I got back into vintage after a 5 year hiatus from attending tournaments. I attended the a few local tournaments in the northeast starting in February, top 8ed some of them, and signed up for the NYSE III event in the hopes of making top 8. After going 4/2 before dropping, I knew I had a lot to learn. Decks had adapted to shops multiple lock pieces. They were more streamlined. My espresso list had issues keeping boards from getting out of hand, that just two months prior I had crushed. Matches felt like i was playing from behind from the die roll. The deck needed to change. I needed to change.
ii. Reeducation
When I last played Vintage tournaments regularly, I had created an archetype that dominated in the hands of the few that could pilot it well. Doing so required knowing each playable deck, inside and out. Many people say that shops are a brainless deck to play. Such words come from the mouths of those who don't play the archetype, and are disgusted by its success. Rafael Forino, the Godfather of Shops, described the shops strategy best.
"Anacondas set up their kills by squeezing their prey. An anaconda will wrap itself around its prey. Each time its prey breaths out, the anaconda takes advantage and squeezes its prey tighter, squeezing its deflated lungs, locking in that tighter grip, making it harder for its prey to breathe. Breath by breath, the squeeze gets tighter and tighter until its prey can’t breathe, blacks out, and dies.
Shops are the anaconda of the format."
The format had changed. In 2009, Blue decks went broken with Yawgmoth's Will and Time Vault. Oath decks were Oathing up Terastadons and Blightsteel Colossus. Storm decks were shifting to gush and storming with Fastbond for mana. Shop decks were playing Serum Powders or dropping bombs on turn 2 with Metalworkers. Dredge decks were playing with restricted cards and siding in Force of Wills. Jace, the Mind Sculptor was the defacto planeswalker. Shop decks were different. Blue decks were different. My deck, and my knowledge, were relics of the past.
In my return to vintage, I was invited into a testing group of exceptional vintage players from NYC, and I didn't make many sessions. I knew that had to change. I began testing weekly with my personal Espresso list, so I could understand what were the fundamental plays and tensions of each match-up. No sense in changing the deck until you know what needs to come out.
I tested countless hours against delver and mentor lists, which were undergoing their own journeys of discovery. Treasure Cruise has become the fulcrum which tipped the format into a creature based format. Card efficiency replaced raw card power, and for the first time, Yawgmoth's Will had been displaced as the main avenue to victory in this format. For the first time in history, an avenue to victory, a win enabler, couldn't be slowed down by layering sphere effects. Win conditions were growing horizontal and not vertical. Cheap cantrips were being favored over tutors.
I tested for days against the bane of Shop decks: Oath. For the first time in Oath's existence, the deck did not need to diversify its Oath targets to win because its defacto Oath target could just get there. As such, they could begin to diversify their main deck and sideboard slots. Show and Tell would be a great way to cheat in Oath targets, and when Containment Priest ran rampant, Omniscience would be there to blank it. Greg Fenton and Brian Kelly became the flag bearers of the archetype. Oath theory would evolve, and as the draw spells became replaced with cantrips, the deck could now find more lands vs shops, and consistently adapt its main deck and sideboard to fluctuations in the metagame. The gimmick that was burning oath was over.
Dredge decks abandoned the restricted cards and the need to race as decks became fairer. Dredge went back to its roots, and began moving Leyline of the Void back to the main deck, to protect its bridges. It too adapted, and was capable of blowing up cages with ease. Good pilots could win through The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale.
Armed with this knowledge, it was time to reevaluate my deck.
iii. Self-reflection
It took me weeks to relearn the format, and now I had a month to find my list for Worlds. No shop brew was off limits. I researched the top performing lists, but also the lists that didn't place well. It was clear that the most common list was Martello Shops, a deck of Rafael Forino's design.
I piloted the deck for many sessions, but it didn't feel right. This deck, unlike Espresso, did not hard lock the opponent, but looked to find an opening and smash the opponent when it found one (hence the term "Martello" which means "hammer" in Italian). I shifted the main deck tutor targets, tried out some new ones, and tried almost every sensible sideboard configuration, but still didn't like it. I had a number of issues with the deck.
Martello is a very top heavy deck, and is very reliant on drawing Mishra's Workshop to execute its plan. In my shops experience, you want your curve to ideally top out at 4 mana. The reason for this is, in case you don't draw a workshop, Ancient tomb or your moxes can still make plays for you, even though spheres. With Martello running Kuldotha Forgemaster and 3-4 game ending tutor targets, there is a very real chance that if you don't draw a shop, or if it gets hit by a wasteland, you can find yourself screwed out of making plays. I've played more than enough shop matches to know this by heart. To compensate for this, the deck utilizes Phyrexian Revoker as extra spheres.
In testing, I found this to be a flaw.
90% of the time, Revoker will be used as a lock piece, and name a mox or other accelerant to shut it off, while it tried to aggravate its opponent with more spheres. The problem is, Revoker isn't equipped to do this well. It has weak stats, making it easy to kill, at which point, it only functions as an Oblivion Ring. When decks are equipped to kill a Lodestone Golem, killing a Revoker is child's play. The other 10% of the time, Revoker is preemptively naming something game breaking, which is bit of a waste when that card hasn't even been played or drawn. In addition, Revoker makes Tangle Wire, one of the best cards in Shops, a much weaker card. Tangle wire is used to tap out opposing permanents, which are usually mana sources. When the opponent taps down a mana source that has been shut off, that tap is essentially wasted. The more Revokers you draw, the worse tangle wire becomes. Sadly, Tangle Wire is the best way to shut off the most offensive spells, as those spells tend to be cast at sorcery speed.
When blue decks are equipped with triple Dack Faden main and quad Ingot Chewers out of the sideboard, Revoker isn't a sphere: it’s a speed bump.
I knew that Revoker would either have to become a better card or be cut for one that was.
At the NYSE III, I got to experience that Dig Through Time created a serious conundrum. When facing a Dig deck, the shop deck would usually draw the game out to a state when the opponent was at net 0 (only had the mana to pay for free spells, like Force of Will). At this point, the shop deck needed to draw something to close out the game, because if given enough time, the blue player could draw and cast Dig through Time, delving extra cards to satisfy the sphere cost, and break that stranglehold with the cards it Dug for. Martello could usually deal with this by tutoring a Sundering Titan and blowing up the blue lands, but Forgemaster would have to untap first. In addition, it you didn't have the tangle wire to safely tap the opponent down with spheres on the table, protecting the Forgemaster from Force of Will, you often couldn't play said Forgemaster or sacrifice the lock pieces that were holding them off to resolve the search (hello Containment Priest). If the opponent found a Dig, you could be sure that Ingot chewers and Dack were not too far.
I needed a strategy that could beat through dig. Martello was one answer. Draw spells were another. Staff of Nin was good, but inconsistent, as the high cost meant I couldn't always play it when I drew it. Coercive Portal has tested positively, and while there was a risk that the opponent could Dack it from me and blow up my board, when protected by spheres, it would usually allow me to bury the opponent under spheres and wastelands, at which point, any card could win. The other advantage to putting the opponent below net 0 is the inability for that opponent to generate tokens by playing spells, rendering Monastery Mentor and Young Pyromancer into grey ogres, and protecting me from game ending Hurkyll's Recalls. The deck wanted a way to close out games faster: maybe stronger spheres or extra strip effects, but something that would help lock the opponent harder to help me close out the game.
Lastly, I needed to come to terms with was the sideboard. I was unhappy with how weak Grafdigger's Cage was as an answer to Oath and Dredge. It could be Mental Misstepped or Nature's Claimed away. If you had a chalice at 1, dredge could still Chew it away and Oath could play Show and Tell and ignore it. These answers would have to improve. In addition, I needed Crucible to help establish mana control in the mirror, and needed something that could proactively and reactively fight Dack and Chewers i expected to face all day. I could also expect to face some BUG Fish and Landstill decks that could also be preying on the field as well.
To fight dredge effectively, you need to stop the deck from being able to put Dack and use cards in the graveyard. Cage doesn't stop cage, it just stops the Narcomoebas and Ichorids. They can still use bazaar to find answers, and cast them. Oath will often Oath through a cage leaving the target on top of the library, draw their target for the turn, and use S&T to put it into play. I needed another testing session, angle to fight Oath, because Cage was not going to cut it. I also needed to be able to answer chewers and answer Dack both proactively (keep it from hitting play) and reactively (after its stolen something of mine). Some shop lists were running Ravager as a way to blank Dack Faden, but these lists were more aggro lists, ran far fewer spheres, and are more susceptible to Hurkyll's recall. Hangerback Walker was a new toy, but very early in testing, you could see it didn't fit into every shop shell. There were those that were advertising it was good, but it seemed their results were based on playing their decks well, not because of the walker itself. It tested and felt clunky in many lists i played it in, and even worse, it was a great Dack target.
iv. Rebirth
With a month worth of testing, i had narrowed down my deck to two lists. One was a variation of Martello, and one was a more personal espresso-like brew. At a testing session, i had the fortune of being able to ask a certain shop master which he felt was the better list. His response was enlightening.
"I took a break during the time Espresso was a thing. I didn't get to play the deck. When I returned, Martello was the deck that I picked up. I did well with it. You know how to play (shops) but it’s more important to play what you’re comfortable with, than what you think is stronger but not in your zone because at the end of the day, it's YOUR play and experience that will win games, not the cards".
After reading up on old shop tournament report, i came across the following excerpt:
"Beyond being a gentleman and a scholar Roland Chang was also an exemplary tutor. Roland to many of us is simply known as Sensei. I had watched Robert Vroman from a distance; his UbaStax deck was brutally good and it had many powerful elements that I believed would help tilt the balance of power to it in a match against 5CStax. I liked Uba and I had a Shop Master I could test against.
Roland brutalized me. In a ten game set I may have gotten him once. I asked him at the end of our set what happened. "I don't understand. I thought UbaStax had a great 5C matchup."
"Vroman had a great 5C match not UbaStax. Players beat other players; decks don't beat other decks." It was an important lesson: there is no such thing as an unwinnable match. The great pilot well metagamed was capable of beating supposed 'bad' matchups. I had just gone 1-9 against Roland and yet Vroman left 5C decks broken in his wake. Two Shop Masters helped teach me a lesson that I needed to learn: a well-educated pilot who plays to their best ability can beat anyone at any given time. Never give up hope."
My decision was made.
Iced Coffee - 47th place, Vintage Worlds 2015
MAINDECK
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Karn, Silver Golem
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Tangle Wire
4 Smokestack
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
2 Coercive Portal
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
5 Mox
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
SIDEBOARD
4 Tormod's Crypt
2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Goblin Welder
1 Razormane Masticore
2 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Duplicant
By using Karn, I was able to ditch the underperforming Revokers, and help hard lock games easier, and consistently close out games quickly. More importantly, it was a do-now card: one that affects the board immediately, whether by killing moxen, letting me go aggro the turn I play it, holding off aggressive boards to stabilize my life total, or helping me decrease enemy permanent counts so I can smoke opponents out of games. It also plays well with cavern, giving me 7 uncounterable must-answer cards.
I abandoned Cages in the board for better answers. Welders render Dack, Chewers, and any other one mana artifact kill spells useless. Moreover, welders haven't really seen the light of day in years. Players would be ill-equipped to fight welder in a Dack metagame. The one-two punch of welder and Karn would also make tangle wire very strong, and offer the deck a non-combat related way to close out games. Razormane has more uses than just the shop mirror, and Wurmcoil is for those decks that i need to either go over the top, or race life totals. This is the 75 card sword I would wield at Worlds.
I drove to Philly with my buddy Noah, who met up with mme by way of L.A. We departat 5:30 am to take the 2+ hour drive to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. We arrived around 8am, filled out our deck registration sheets, and got breakfast. At 9am the players meeting began, and round 1 started shortly after. I took notes liberally throughout my games.
Round 1 - Andi on Martello Shops (1-0, 2-1-0)
Andi wins the die roll and elects to go first. I shuffle obsessively to mitigate my deck being ordered to write my list out. He opens on Ancient Tombs and drops moxes and spheres. Fortunately, he hasn't played chalice until after I play Crypt and moxes, which lets me catch up on mana. My opponent Revokers the crypt. I respond by dropping Karn, and eat his moxes, to string him on mana, leaving chalice there to lock him off Moxes. He draws running Ancient Tomb into Forgemaster. Karn had him pinned down on fast mana, yet he found a window to cast his Forgemaster. I need to settle in. Breathe… there are two more games. Forgemaster gets him a Hellkite to blow the game open.
SB plan
-4 Sphere
-2 Thorn
-3 Smokestack
+3 welder
+1 Razormane
+2 Wurmcoil
+3 Duplicant
Breathe. She wants to be pampered, shuffle all the stress away. Let her do her thing. I fan my opening hand and keep. I lead with Moxes, ancient tomb, a lodestone, and chalice at 0. Andi opens with workshop and Metamorph copying lodestone. I draw a Wasteland, waste his workshop, and drop a Smokey. Andi plays tomb to drop a Revoker. I ramp Smokey to 1, draw a Shop and play wurmcoil engine. The blood is on the wall. That-a-girl. Now let’s show him why we deserve to be here.
SB plan
- 3 chalice
+3 smokestack
I throw my chalices into my board. He hasn't seen welder all match. Mine is the better deck. I came prepared. This game is mine for the taking. My hand is stacked this game, so as long as I draw more lands, i should have it. Andi is on the play and plays tomb and moxes into Lodestone. I do the same. He plays Revoker on one of my moxes. I drop a cavern and run out Coercive Portal. Andi has to read it a few times to know what it does. He attacks me with both and we trade lodestones. He then runs out a wurmcoil. I gladly copy his wurmcoil and drop a crucible in hopes that I'll draw a wasteland. I swing with wurmcoil, which eats Revoker. He draws and slams down Forgemaster. This is my opening. I look at my hand and see the two Duplicants and second Metamorph. I drop a Duplicant on his wurmcoil, and swing with my wurmcoil copy for 6. At this point, tomb damage and the wurmcoil swing shrunk his life total to 10. He untaps and passes. Shrink your board. Show me your Blightsteel! It’s match... I attack with just the Wurmcoil, leaving my 6/6 Duplicant back. He Forgemaster his board getting Duplicant ...Set..., but elects to target my Duplicant, ...Poi… didn't expect that and then proceeds to unimprint his wurmcoil onto his side of the field. I explain to him that the effect is not O-Ring, and I call a judge over. We explain to the judge what happened and says that he wants to change targets. Judge rules that he can’t change targets since my dupe is a legal target and we are at competitive REL. He eats the damage, hoping to draw a Metamorph. He doesn't, and concedes.
He's salty about his play error. Don’t tell him it wouldn't have mattered. He’s upset enough. Karma is a *****. No one knows you have welders. If he didn’t have Blightsteel, neither will most of these Martello lists. I wished him much better luck with his next round and proceed to turn in my match slip.
Round 2 - Justin on Workshops (2-0, 4-1-0)
You’re 1-0. You belong here. You’ve worked hard for this moment and its here for the taking. I go through my pregame ritual of shuffling. I fan out my opening hand and mulligan, and keep the next hand I get. My opponent snap keeps. I look back and forth across my hand as I get to that place. My breathing slows, my heart stops racing and I feel as level headed as ever. Let’s play some vintage.
I lead with Mox Jet, Emerald, and Workshop into Karn (my bait spell), which resolves. He’s not on blue. As long as he doesn’t lead with Bazaar,this game is mine. My opponent opens on Ancient Tomb into Revoker, shutting off Jet. I play a Wasteland and send his tomb packing, and cast a sphere. He draws and passes. I play a Cavern and cast crucible, passing. He draws a workshop and plays a sol ring. I lay out a second sphere, replay wasteland, and animate my first sphere and attack. He eats 2. Wasteland and Karn keeps his mana at bay while I attack him to lethal. I didn’t get greedy. I mulled and she rewarded me. Let’s put it away.
SB
-4 Sphere
-2 Thorn
-3 Chalice
+3 welder
+1 Razormane
+2 Wurmcoil
+3 Duplicant
You’re from Shop Country. He may be good, but you’re better. It’s in your blood. I take a deep breath as I draw my 7 card hand face-down. My opponent snap keeps. I look at my hand and keep. My opponent opens on 1st crucible. Well played, sir. I match his opener with a strip mine and lotus playing Metamorph, copying crucible. He plays an ancient tomb and apparently drew a chalice late,which he plays for 0, then casts Revoker with his shop, naming sol ring. I play an ancient tomb and strip his shop. He draws and passes the turn. I play my workshop, and cast Razormane Masticore, with a land and a Metamorph in hand. He plays I filter discards for the next few turns, shooting down Revoker and getting in for 5 until He draws a Metamorph, copying Razormane. I attack, we trade, and I drop a Karn, which goes the distance with Crucible. Still haven’t seen Welder. I may wind up blowing someone out later in the tournament. Not even the spectators know it’s in here. We’re going to be on a good run.
Game 3 - Jesse with Delver (3-0, 6-1-0)
I win the die roll and announces I’m on the play. You’ve been doing great. Don’t get cocky. Just bait, and squeeze. I mulligan my first hand and keep the second. My opponent mulligans as well and keeps his next hand. I play turn 1 chalice at 1 which gets forced. Ahh, at last. He plays turn 1 delver off volcanic island. I play a first turn Cavern ...you’ve proven you deserve to be here, not prove you’ve earned the slot naming Golem into Lodestone. He attacks me for 3 and plays a brainstorm, then plays an island. I play wasteland, killing his volcanic, and follow it up with another sphere. Delver eventually has to chump and it’s off to game 2. Welder, if he tries to go broken, I need you to keep him in check.
SB
-1 Smokey
-1 Karn
-1 Crucible
+3 Welder
Game 2 he plays fetch into turn 1 delver. I play turn 1 sphere which gets forced. On his upkeep, delver does not flip. He plays a fetch and passes. I play a lodestone Golem and pass, which he deals with via Ingot Chewer. He flips delver that turn plays a fetch, and beats me for 3. I play and ancient tomb into a Karn, which he cracks both fetches for, casts dig through time, and forces, returning the volley with delver cracking for 3. I’m at 8, and he's at 14. I’m drawing wastes, but he's flooding on lands. You can’t throw this game away. It’s time to do this! I draw for the turn and cast coercive portal. When that resolves, i drop chalice at 1 that I’ve been protecting, which also sticks. He cracks me for 3 and passes. I draw Karn and crucible, play Karn, and animate the portal to beat in for 4. He attacks me to 5. I draw two cards, sphere and a Smokey. I play sphere and Smokey and a waste from the yard, and attack with Karn and portal. He draws, attacks me to 2, and then aims a lightning bolt on my face. This can’t be it… I think and then look around at my board, point to my chalice at 1. With that, I earn the concession. He tested your ability to keep cool and you passed. You’re going to do well today. I thanked him for the great game, and picked up the match slip.
Round 4 - Brad G. with Dredge (3-1, 7-3-0)
Brad wins the die roll, then snap mulligans his first hand. I keep. He snap mulligans again, then down to 5 before keeping. He’s got to be on dredge. He opens with Bazaar. I play wasteland and waste it. This isn’t enough to slow him down. In response, he activates bazaar and discards 2 bridges and a stinkweed imp. He dredges on his draw step and hits 2 other bridges, an Ichorid, a thug, and a Bloodghast. I think I have an opening here. I play a turn 2 Karn off of shop, crypt, and mox, then animate crypt to blow away all his bridges. I cast a sphere to lock him off the Zealot kill. Now to close it out. My opponent finds a Dakmor Salvage and starts beating me with 2/1s and Ichorid, which I chump each turn. I keep drawing workshops and playing lock pieces until I finally draw an ancient tomb to animate said lock pieces. He swung at me for 7, i paid 2 life to kill 2 thugs, then cracked back for 11. The following turn I get the concession. We did the impossible, beat dredge game 1 on the draw. And now we have an extra game 3 in the bag. I’m winning this round.
SB.
-4 Tangle
-4 Smokey
-1 Karn
-1 Thorn
+4 Crypt
+2 tabernacle
+3 Welder
+1 Razormane
My opponent snap keeps. I look at my hand, and I debate it but keep. My opponent plays Bazaar which i waste away on my turn, he activates Bazaar, dropping Grave-Troll, thug, and a bridge. I play Crypt and blow away his yard, and lotus into sphere. On he draws to 7 over the next few turns until he can discard to slow dredge. Eventually, I draw and play a Tabernacle and then a Coercive Portal to dig for mana and answers. He winds up recurring Ichorid, using undiscovered paradise, using it to pay upkeep costs on a zombie token every other turn, which kills me before i can find the mana to stop the bleeding. I end the game with 2 welders in hand and a Karn in play, but no non shop mana sources to cast welder or animate artifacts. This pilot is good. I’ve never been beaten though a Tabernacle before. It was way too close a match. I hope I didn’t throw this match away.
Game 3
I shuffle incessantly for game three, and settle into the zone. C’mon, we’ve come this far. Show me something good. I fan open double waste, double crypt, ancient tomb, sphere, and chalice. I keep. My opponent mulls to 6 and keeps. I play turn 1 sphere and pass. Opponent plays bazaar which i waste on my next turn, and follow with a crypt. My opponent dredges on draw step, which i crypt away and drops another Bazaar. I waste it off the table, and play another crypt. My opponent dredges on his draw step, so i crypt. He plays his a third Bazaar. Better lucky than good, I guess.
That my friends, is what we call variance.
Round 5 - Brian with U/R control (3-2, 7-5-0)
You knew this wouldn’t be easy. You’re X-1 right now. That was your one match to drop for Top 8. You need to pull it together. I sit against my opponent, who seems a little too excited to be there. We roll. I win and elects to go first. I shuffle rigorously. We shuffle each other’s decks. He keeps. I mulligan. We can do this, give me something I can fight with. I draw my next hand, which is much better mix of mana and lock pieces. I play moxes and an Ancient Tomb into Lodestone. It gets forced. That evens up the mulligan. He plays out two moxes and a fetch. I play another and play a sphere with the moxes. Resolves. My opponent draws and passes the turn. I play Karn, which resolves, and I use my spare mana to blow up one of his moxes. He cracks his fetch to play a Preordain and plays another fetch. I blow up his other Mox, then animate and attack for 6. He plays another fetch. On my following attack he pops his fetch, he casts a Dig, exiling his yard to look for something juicy. He’s tapped out. I play a Mana Crypt into tangle wire and a second sphere. I take the damage on the upkeep, but I tap appropriately, and swing in for lethal. Just keep it up. One match at a time.
SB
-3 Metamorph
+3 Welder
My opponent grumbles bout playing this matchup. When he draws his he snap keeps and goes bananas: Double Mox, Sol Ring, Lotus, Tolarian Academy into Jace, +0 Jace, cast Trinket Mage (with Lotus still up) Tutor for Chalice, play chalice at 0, pass. I cast a Chalice at one (resolves). My follow up Lodestone gets Forced, I draw Cavern and play a Karn, then a few spheres. He eventually bounces Karn and exiles it with Mindbreak Trap I hold off praying to get a welder, but there’s none to be found. It’s off to game 3. You couldn’t control that match. You’re on the play now. You got this.
SB
No changes
I debate the hand but eventually keep. My opponent keeps. I play Turn 1 lodestone, which gets forced and pass. My opponent opens another Lotus, land into Turn 1 Jace. I kept a light hand and I’m getting punished for it. I did it to myself. I drop a thorn, which gets Chewed. I play a sphere. It doesn’t matter. He’s drawing lands. He keeps Jacesturbating every turn. I cast a hail mary in smokestack, but drain is the nail in the coffin. You got cocky. You can’t force these games, you have to let them play out organically. You’re probably out of the top 8, but you may be able to salvage this trip. Discipline is key. She is your weapon, but you need to work as one. My opponent is giddy at his double turn 1 Jace and brags to his buddies on how awesome his deck is. I wish him good luck and sign my match slip. I have just enough time to get a bottle of water and have a Nutrigrain bar from my bag before the next round starts. Focus. Concentration. Discipline.
Round 6 – Chris –w- Shops (3-3, 8-8-0)
I gather myself together for this round. Because the pairings went up late for those with last names P-R and S-Z, I run to my seat to find my opponent already seated and a judge headed over to verify a game loss. I get there in time, wave to the judge, and start shuffling up for this next round. Chris wins the die roll, and elects to go first. This game is a blurr. We both open on Ancient tombs. Artifacts fly. We trade wastelands. I get Karn to stick and then get Coercive portal a turn later. He topdecks a Metamorph and copies it. We trade Lodestones in combat, and I drop another. He rips a Hangerback Walker, and plays it for 2. I drop a tangle to tap him down. He pumps Hangerback in response. I beat in for 5, and then 5 again,, before I drop a Crucible and waste a land. He chumps my Lodestone with what is now a 4/4 Hangerback, netting him 4 tokens. I play a smokestack, replay a waste, waste his shop, and pass. He hits me with 4 tokens, bringing me to 7, but can’t play what he’s drawn. I ramp smokey to 1, and draw. No Tangle Wire or Karn. Drawstep: Neither again, just lands. I replay waste. I waste his land, leaving him with 7 permanents. He taps down useless things and cracks me back for 4 more. I sac 1, ramp to 2, draw 2 more lock pieces, and offer the concession. Well fought battle. However, ‘Walker isn’t going to save you. I’ve run it and it doesn’t work in your build. I have the better deck, and I’m going to prove it.
SB
-4 Sphere
-2 Thorn
-4 Smokestack
+3 welder
+1 Razormane
+2 Wurmcoil
+3 Duplicant
I open up on Shop, Mox, Lodestone, and a Chalice at 0. He drops a Mishra’s Factory. I play crucible, waste it, and it’s off to the races. I’m going to beat you on principle. You net-decked Brian Demar's list from 2 weeks ago.
SB
-4 Chalice
+4 Smokestack
I open on a 7 card hand and mulliganned. I open on the next 6 and keep: Mox, Mana Crypt, Cavern, Waste, Lodestone,,Metamorph. It's risky, but it's better than the 5 lands and mox, tangle I had. My opponent opens with Workshop, Mox, Sol Ring, Chalice at 0, Lodestone, Pass. I waste his shop and pass. Opponent draws, smashes me for 5, then passes. I draw welder. I run out a cavern, naming welder and pass. My opponent drops a tangle wire, then smashes me for another 5. I draw, see I still havent drawn a double land, drop the second cavernn I drew, and pass. Opponent fades tangle down to three, smashes me to 5 life, then drops another tangle to add insult to injury. Game over. He reveals the third tangle wire in his hand after the concession. The run is over, but but Noah is still in it. Lets see how far you can take it while he plays these out.
Round 7
Julian, playing Helm Combo (4-3, 10-8-0)
I take my seat against my opponent who looks like he’s having a rough time of things. He looks visibly flustered. I wind the die Roll and I’m on the play. He opens up with a Turn 0 Leyline. Must be playing dredge again. Won’t make the same mistake as last time. Workshop, Lotus, Lodestone, Chalice at 0 and 1. He doesn’t play a single spell the whole game.
SB
-3 Metamorph
+3 Welder
It doesn’t matter what I draw, I must play to perfection, and I will Julian opens on Leyline again, and plays a Mana Confluence and Mox, plays Ponder, shuffles, draws, and passes. I waste his land and pass. He plays another land and I have another waste ready. When he bricks on a third land drop, I play my workshop into Ancient Tomb and a sphere which resolves, and start the squeeze. This is my chance. He bricks on another land, I play Thorn, which resolves, and I drop a Crucible thereafter while he’s sphere locked. A smokestack later and I take the match. He shows me his hand, and he has 3 drains and both Helms in hand, drawing mox, and lotus after being Sphere locked.
Round 8 – Lenny on Shops –(5-3, 12-8-0)
I sit down across a guy who looks like he could bodyslam The Rock. He’s very loud and boisterous, which throws me off. I can’t quite get into that zone. We shuffle each other’s decks and I’m not sure if he’s trying to get a read on me. Lenny wins the die roll with a 3, advertises that it’s the first die roll he’s won all day and leads off with a Workshop into a Chalice at 0, and a Thorn. Shops on the draw… I should be playing this match in PJs and a wifebeater. I’m perfectly at home playing against shops on the draw. I drop an ancient tomb into a Sol Ring. He wastes my Ancient Tomb and I return the favor on his Workshop. He draws a card and passes the turn. Must be playing forgemasters if waste hurt that much.
I’m seated next to Roland Chang, the 2005 Vintage world Champ, who won playing shops, who is also playing the shop mirror. At this point in the match, both Lenny and I look over at their game, As their situation begins to escalate.
The opponent is arguing that his lands don’t tap as soon as Roland plays Tangle Wire (Which Roland, didn’t try to do. Roland reminded him to tap down on the upkeep before his turn). Roland looks at us baffled. I then see why he made the ruckus, as his opponent untaps and immediately puts his hand on his deck to draw a card, before Roland catches him and tells him there are upkeep triggers. Roland’s opponent calls a judge. This situation disrupts not only our match but also the match to Roland’s left. The judge comes over, rules that since a card wasn’t drawn, this was a situation where there was a missed trigger. Roland informs the judge that he shortcutted through his upkeep and didn’t give Roland the opportunity to announce the trigger. The judge informs him that he is going to perform a rewind to the upkeep, to give them the opportunity to resolve the upkeep triggers, as this is a repairable game state. Roland’s opponent says that this isn’t the way that he is used to seeing missed triggers handled and asks to appeal this to the head judge. The head judge comes over and talks the other judge before talking to the two players. Roland’s opponent says that “there was a significant amount of time between his untapping and him moving to draw” which is a goddamn lie. I want to say something, but the last time I did, I was warned by a judge not to (At that time, I was told that as an active participant of this tournament it’s a conflict of interest, as I have a stake in the outcome of this match). Roland, obviously frustrated, keeps his cool and waits for the judge to rule. The head judge rules it as a missed trigger, and allows the opponent to choose whether he wants the trigger to go on the stack, which he declines. Roland is visibly pissed. As the judge walks away, their board is the following:
Roland’s Opponent – Workshop, Mox, Chalice with no counters, Lodestone.
Roland: Workshop, Tangle Wire.
Roland better win this match. Win one for the good guys. Roland’s opponent draws a card and swings for 5, before committing another Lodestone to the board. Lenny and I are dead silent as Roland is obviously livid. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lenny leans over to Roland’s opponent, and in a voice loud enough to be heard down the table says, “just so you know, that was a real douchebag move.”
Lenny, I was wrong about you. You're a helluva guy.
I play another Tomb into a Crucible, and keep waste up. He bricks on another land drop. I replay my Ancient Tomb and play Karn. He draw a Tomb and passes. I kill his chalice, and play the mox and lotus he locked me off of, and then play my own chalice at 0. I drop a smokestack, and a few lock pieces, ramping and attacking into a concession. At this point, Roland take off his shirt and looks like he’s wants to rip his opponent’s face off. His opponent tries to talk it up with Roland and he’s not having any of it.
SB plan
-4 Sphere
-2 Thorn
-3 Smokestack
+3 welder
+1 Razormane
+2 Wurmcoil
+3 Duplicant
Game 2.
Lenny Has the turn 1 Lodestone and a Relic of Progenitus but I have the turn 1 Tangle. We trade wastelands (mine gets removed), and I draw another tangle, which buys me time to get another Workshop online. I land a Karn to protect my life total, and kill his mox. A Coercive Portal later, he blows his relic to try to draw a land or an answer. At this point, Roland (whose’s sititing next to me get, up, visibly infuriated, signs he match slip. His opponent says “good game mate” and Roland understandably refuses to shake. Karma’s a ***** buddy and you stunt just earned your record a weekend in hell. I wish you all the mana screw in the world, jackass. I look back at my board, and take advantage and drop a welder via cavern of souls. Next turn, I weld out his Lodestone for his mox, and get the concession.
Lenny and I talk about Roland’s match, and decide to play a few games for fun and practice, before preparing for our next round. Some guys just don’t get it. Vintage has no place for such bullshit. Turns out, Lenny drove from Oregon all the way out here to sling vintage. I wish Lenny good luck, and proceed to my next round. I meet up with Noah, who after going 6-0-1 Just took his first loss, and we wait for the postings for the next round to be announced.
Round 9 - (can't make out his name) on Dredge (6-3, 14-8-0)
(I lost the notes for this round so I am writing this from memory)
My opponent shuffles up and starts the small talk. He wins the coinflip, and says that he guesses I'm on shops. He mulliganned once and kept. He opened up on Bazzaar. I opened with a turn 1 Coercive Portal and Thorn (with a combination of Workshop, Mana Crypt and a Mox). He dredges a ton but only hits multiple blodghasts, and an ichorid, but no dakmor salvage, or bridges. He hit Ichorid on his dredge for his upkeep. On my turn, I draw a wasteland, and I think a lodestone. Karn comes down,. I attack him with Portal and blow the bridges up with the mox, keeping crypt open. Eventually Portal draws me into moxes and artifacts that I use to both keep his bridges of of the yard and chump enough ichorids to let Lodestone, Smokey, and Coercive portal attack for the kill. I took damage from crypt only once that game, ending the game in the low single digits.
SB
-4 Tangle
-4 Smokey
-1 Karn
-1 Thorn
+4 Crypt
+2 tabernacle
+3 Welder
+1 Razormane
My opponent is on the play and keeps his 7. I open up on Waste, Crypt, Welder, Crucible, Tomb, Cavern, Sphere.
Opponent drops Bazaar, I play a Tormod's Crypt and waste him. He bazaars. He dredges on the draw, and with narcomoeba trigger on stack, I crypt him. He plays a second bazaar and discards more dredgers and action. I play welder. He draws, and casts cabal therapy on himself to discard grave troll. I play welder and pass the turn. My opponent dredges on the draw step and gets a nsrcomoeba and few dredgers to continue the chain. I untapped with welder, play ancient tomb into sphere and pass the turn. When he dredges on his draw, I weld in crypt him. I play a mox and pass. He draws and pass. I play crucible, bring back a wasteland and weld out crucible for sphere. He draws a bazaar and tries to discard drdgers, an even time he dredges, I crypt him. He eventually concedes.
Round 10 - Geir on Oath (7-3, 16-9-0)
I find my seat and my opponent looks really happy to see me. We roll die and my opponent wins and elects to go first. He plays mox, orchard, oath and passes the turn, I attack for 1 (orchard token) and play my moxes and a workshop, a chalice at 1 (which gets forced) and another chalice at 1. My opponent oaths up Gristlebrand. I play a wasteland and cast phyrexian metammorph. My opponnent pays 7, finds a force, and forces it. On my turn, he smacks me to 13, and passed. I draw another workshoop, attack, and cast another metamorph. He pays another 14 life but finds force, and counters that. Off to game 2.
Sideboard
-1 crucible,
-2 smokey,
-3 karn
+3 welder
+3 duplicant
That was cute, but I'm on the play now. I open on Chalice, Sphere, pass, followed by waste into Lodestone, into Smokestack, with Wasteland up. All he did was play lands that got sacrificed
Sideboard
no changes
He still hasn't seen Welder. I hope I draw him. Geir opens up on Turn 1 Fetch into Ancestral, lays a mox, and passes. I open up on workshop, tomb, cavern, mox, welder, duplicant, metamorph, which I kept. I drew a sphere for the turn and played mox into sphere with worksphop, which Geir forced. On Geir's turn, he found his orchard, and played Orchard into oath, . He's laughing, but so am I. My hand is stacked.. I draw a second duplicant, and play caverns, naming goblin, and play welder. Attack with the token, pass. Geir oaths up Gristelbrand and passes. I untap and play my ancient tomb, and play metamorph. He forces, and I weld out my mox for my metamorph, copying gristlebrand. On his upkeep, in response to his oath trigger, I pay 7 life to draw 7 cards. Oath trigger resolves, and he oaths into another gristlebrand, sacrificing the first, plays a fetch and a mox, and passes. I untap, drop another cavern (naming shapeshifter) and more moxes, cast duplicant on his gristlebrand, and attack him for 7. On his turn, he oaths up Emrakul. My buddy Brendan pops in to spectate this match, having finished his game. When he announces he's passing the turn, I pay another 7 life to draw 7 more, weld out my Phyrexian Gristlemorph for a sphere, then untap, weld in metamorph to copy Emrakul, and cast a cavern protected duplicant to plow his oath.
Concession.
I wound up finishing the day at 7-3 putting me in 47th place.
Overall, I wouldn't change a thing about this list. The cavern are great, better than the factories in a metagame saturated with force of wills. The smokestacks were the biggest question marks, especially when decks aren't growing big, they're growing wide, but they help lock out resources that spheres can't do. Against shops, having Crucible main is tremendous, and being able to bring in so many answers in the board is just too much for most Mud decks. Welder is beyond amazing in the match-up, and a great tool against targeted artifact destruction, and a great way to blank Dack Faden.
If there's one thing champs taught me, its that you have to be good and lucky to make top 8. Some players ran up against unpowered lists, while others didn't. Some played against shops for most of their rounds, some dodged it completely. Two of the top 8 lists were Hangerback Walker shop aggro lists with Arcbound Ravagers. I don;t think the deck is the real thing, just that blue wasn't as prepared for a card that answers pulverize in the maindeck. The card is decent because of its flexibility, but the deck is super susceptible to mass bounce, and a savvy blue pilot can pick apart the deck with the right hand and counterspells.
Blue: teaching Magic players manners since 1995Shops: Teaching blue players manners since 2009
Null Rod is a 2 drop and immediately renders artifact abilities useless. Against the fully powered lists, it is a super sphere. However, it limits the cards you can reasonably use in your list. Also, it has the effect of making your spheres stronger but your tangle wires weaker, as those useless moxes your opponents have can tap down to tangle wire without issue, leaving their real mana sources unmolested.
Karn doesn't immediately kill moxes, because he is so expensive. However, he is much more easily cast through the majority of your spheres, and does in fact Lower your opponent's.permenant count, making it better with tangle wire and smokestack, but at the expense of not impacting the game as immediately as null rod. He also closes out games better than Mariano Rivera did for the Yankees, as he can put on a 2 and sometimes 1 turn clock on the opponent. He also hurts a lot if he gets stolen by dack.
The biggest concern is how the meta is going to shake out. I forsee most shop pilots.moving to null rod as the default, which hurts my ability to abuse Karn. I think Karn is the card with the higher ceiling, but Null Rod is the card that will amount to easier wins. Null Rod wont do much to fight hurkyll's recall, but Karn does.a better Job of it. Also, null rod really decreases your ability to fight dack, as to where Karn gives you a fighting chance. If the opponent Dack's your lodestone on their turn, your only recourse is to swing with manlands on dack before it ticks up to 2 and does it again, risking you losing a lodestone and a land to kill a planeswalker. If Dack takes your lodestone, you can cast and swing with your board to kill dack and the opponent.
I can say this for sure. Because of the increased projection of null rod usage, you can bet that martello shops is all but extinct, and that doesn't fare well for my 3x maindeck Karn
Blue: teaching Magic players manners since 1995Shops: Teaching blue players manners since 2009
Blue: teaching Magic players manners since 1995Shops: Teaching blue players manners since 2009
I agree with you at least on Walker. Not sure how I feel about Welder.