Manalink Tournament (May) (tournament complete)

[Brandon822]

I like to read those more detailed reports. I think nobody will have a problem with those.

-> Time for last gauntlet with Jatill's deck.

[jatill]

Salbei-
Do you think it was right to use Oath when there was already an Angel standing in the way? It might be right anyway, but I wonder if that particular game would have gone differently otherwise.

PS I also like the detailed reports.

[Brandon822]

Playing with Jatill_Zookiller. Best of Three.

Game 1:
Versus Salbei(uh, oh...marathon game looming ahead). Round 1(1-0): AI plays Tundra, Mox Ruby and Balance. Sacs Tundra. I have to discard to 4. hmm..interesting start. I play land + Sol Ring. Next turn: AI plays land. I wish second Ancestrall Recall(too many choices). I play two Ancestralls next turn, but no land!. I only got my tundra and Sol ring and two Baneslayers at hand. Ai plays Coffin. I get Tinker, but have Inkwell in hand. Does this deck have another? Should I risk it. One mana and I can play those Baneslayers. I don't risk it. Ai does nothing. I play Sphinx with new Mox Ruby...(yeah, you need two plains to cast Baneslayer, heh). He plays Baneslayer. I steal it and attack with Sphinx for 5. AI at 13, I'm at 20. AI coffins Angel and plays Wall of Denial(here we go). Yada, yada...Inkwell...at last he(inkwell) races to victory despite two lifewalls.
Round 2(2-0). Many, many rounds before Inkwell brings it home.

Game 2:
Versus Yggdrasil. Round 1(1-0): AI starts with Vampire Nocturnus. I plow it. Next turn, Tinker + Inkwell. AI plays gatekeeper, damn! Next turn I play Sphinx. AI plays another Gatekeeper, but doesen't have third Swamp. I attack. AI plays Highborn. Game is 20 to 13 to AI. I have two Control Magic in hand, but not good enough targets. I attack with Sphinx, AI is at 15. I play Time Walk, get Angel and Mana coming next so I can cast it. I play safe and not attack until next turn. That's it.
Round 2(2-0). Easy win with early Inkwell Leviathan.

Game 3:
Versus Shantak. Round 1(1-0): Remove -> Spinhx -> BA -> Win.
Round 2(2-0): AI got only one mana.

Game 4:
Versus Cognis. Round 1(1-0): Second turn Inkwell(this is so unfair).
Round 2(2-0). This time second turn Baneslayer. AI has Goblin King, but don't attack with it, guess he gave up already. Disk comes one turn too late.

Game 5:
Versus Cognis(again). Baneslayers roamed freely.

Game 6:
Versus aww1979. Round 1(0-1): Great starting hand. Mox Emerald + Plains + Sol Ring + BA x2 and Path to Exile. I play artifacts and mana, but AI mind Twist for 5 in his first turn! my hand went to oblivion. Next turn he Strip mine my island. Next two draws I get Ancestrall and Tinker, but no Island. Then Blightning takes them away. Nyxathid finishes me after couple of turns.
Round 2(1-1): AI manascrews.
Round 3(1-2): I got decent hand and play two moxes and Ancestrall recall, but no mana still. AI starts with moxes too + mana, but doesen't do anything. I draw Tinker, but no island and seven cards in hand. Next turn AI plays rituals + Hymn x2 + Blightning. My hand decreases to 1(tinker). Next turn mind twist and Nyxathid and it's over.

FINAL Standings after 14 Gauntlet's(best of Three):

1. Salbei...21
2. Jatill 15--- Winning procent 66%,
3. aww1979...15--- 33%
4. JuzamJedi 15--- 25%
5. enigma73...11
6. Yggdrasil...10
7. thedrigo...8
8. Cognis...5
9. Kakodrilo...4
10. shantak...3
11. Brandon...2
12-14. Stroggoii, Nyktorian, scherbchen...0

Total games played = 56

How many times against different deck:

Yggdrasil= 8
aww1979= 6
Cognis= 5
Brandon= 5
JuzamJedi= 4
thedrigo= 4
Salbei= 4
nyktorian= 4
scherbchen= 4
stroggoi= 3
jatill= 3
enigma73= 2
Kakodrilo= 2
shantak= 2

Win ratio:
Salbei 75%---3/4
Jatill 66%---2/3
Enigma72 50%---1/2
aww1979 33%---2/6
JuzamJedi 25%---1/4
theDrigo 25%---1/4
Yggdrasil 25%---2/8
Cognis 20%---1/5

Final note: I have to say that my playing skills improved a LOT by playing these very different decks. I have only played casual games with my friends couple of times in last year and had a 10 year off of magic completely. Last year somehow found this place when I tried to make that manalink work again. Damn! I am hooked again. Should I buy boosters again after about 15 years, or how long is it when Alliances boosters was at stores

[Salbei]

kakodrilo

1)Jatill
jesus NOW i get all the nasty matches before i even get to know the deck.

i keep a hand with 2 lands and a Mox - Countryside Crusher, Gorilla Shaman - definatly a keep.

Turn1
I start agressive with Mountain,Mox Ruby, Gorilla Shaman AND Mog Fanatic - good sign.
AI fetches into Island , playing Ancestral Recall - then discarding island and Wall of Denial - well, i´ve seen better use of Ancestral Recall ^^
turn2
i attack with my fierce 1/1´s and drop the AI down to 17 , fetch for a Taiga and play Countryside Crusher - got a decent clock on the table now.
AI plays Mox Sapphire, Mox Pearl AND Mox Emerald (so it actually discarded a card over playing a mox ... stupid AI) and targets the LEAST threatening creature on the table with a Path to Exile -> Mogg Fanatic . i fling it to the AIs face so he went down to 16.
turn3
Countryside Crusher didn´t get anything , so i play my Strip Mine from my starthand to pump him manually - drew another Gorilla Shaman but couldn´t play it cause i was in a Gorilla Shamans wet dream - and ate 3 Moxen -> leaving the AI with 0 permanents. Countryside Crusher and gorilla attack for 5 AI is down to 11 and permanentless - not a favorable position to be in ^^
AI draws a card and passes the turn, still without permanents.
turn4
Countryside Crusher ate a Taiga , i draw and play a Magus of the Moon i´ve just draw. if the game wasn´t over last turn, it now officially is.
Granpa + Gorilla hitting for 6 this turn - AI down to 5 life and still without any permanents.
Ai plays a mountain (guess a dual or fetchland, can´t tell).
turn5
Countryside Crusher decides 5/5 is strong enough and goes for a beating with his gorilla friend and the Magus.
1-0

well that worked out pretty well. lets see who is next ...

2)Shantak
hmm could go either way,tough and unwinable or easy as 1,2,3.Definatly gonna need some burn before he does shannanigans with berserk.

starthand Price of Progress, 2 mountain , 1 taiga, 1 Gorilla Shaman , 1 Mogg Fanatic, 1 Magus of the Moon -> keep

turn 1
i start with Mountain -> Mogg Fanatic - solid start.
AI plays Stomping Ground (tapped)
turn2
I play Mountain , attack for 1 and play Gorilla Shaman. gonna keep that Price of Progress untill it kills - and if i remember right Shantaks deck only got like 3 Basic lands - so this is gonna hurt.
AI plays Taiga, go ... no too impressive.
turn3
i´m happy i got the Fanatic onbord, gonna prevent some nasty 6/1s.i draw Reckless Charge , play Taiga and Magus of the Moon (does Price of Progress work with that in this game ? i don´t think so). anyway i cut off the AIs green mana and thus no berserk or Giant Growths - and hopefully delayed a couple plays.with it.
attack for 2 again - ai down to 17.
Ai plays a Spark Elemental and attacks. not worth to sac the Fanatic for that. then the AI does one of its favorites - it Blood Lusts one of my creatures just because it can. - i´m not blocking with the magus so i go down to 17 aswell.
turn4
drew a Lightning Bolt from the top, play Reckless Charge on my shaman (doing it like the AI), because i CAN.My creatures go in and the AI drops down to 10 life.gonan try price of progress just for the hell of it - and it did nothing - whatever, i should be able to take this home without it.
AI plays Mountain go
turn5
I play Mountain, Flashback Reckless Charge for the Shaman again, attack for 7, Lightning Bolt him, Sac Mogg Fanatic to his face and last but not least Fireblast his ass.
2-0

3)Stroggoii

not keeping a 1 hand land, especially a bad one with reckless charge and Firewalker.Mulligan to 6.
3 lands , 1drop,2drop and3 drop - Keep.

turn1
Mountain Mogg Fanatic - solid
AI starts with Mox Pearl, Sacred Foundry(tapped) and Figure of Destiny - solid aswell .i decide to kill it now cause of my turn2 drop.-> sac fanatic.
turn2
Taiga, Slith Firewalker -> attack for 1, AI got nothing to block so it grows to 2/2. drew an Incinerate, always good to have.
AI plays Sacred Foundry nr2 (tapped) and throws out a Dragon Fodder ... meeeh i don´t want to burn that junk.
turn3
i play Wasteland and Countryside Crusher and don´t attack with the Firewalker ... my burn is to precious to be wasted against tokens ... yet.
AI plays Mountain, Bushwacker +kicker AND burns my Countryside Crusher - THAT hurt. at least he did it in his 2nd mainphase and thus didn´t attack for 6 - instead he didn´t attack at all.
turn4
I attack with Slith Firewalker - and waste my burn on one of the 2 tokens that block - so the other dies aswell... didn´t i say i don´t want to waste my burn for this ? - whatever, i sac my Wasteland to kill one of his Foundries, setting him back to 2 lands (actually me aswell).
AI attacks with Bushwacker, i take the 1 damage like a man.then AI Lightnig Helix my Firewalker ... i don´t like where this is going.
turn5
i draw Price of Progress ... damnit i knew i forgot something.
AI playing a Plains (must have heard me^^) attacks for 1 again so i go down to 18.AI plays and pumps his Figure of Destiny 2/2.
turn6
Taiga from the top - really don´t get it why you want to play Taigas in a deck just for Kird Apes - and add Price of Progress to it. Talking about Kird Ape, haven´t seen one of them yet.
i chainlightning the Figure, AI can´t throw it back. I keep the Taiga on my hand , can still play it when i need it.
AI plays a Mountain , attack me down to 17 and ends its turn.
turn7
Mountain from the top. well at least it won´t deal damage to me with Price of Progress so i play it.go
Ai playing Dragonfodder and attacks. now at 16 *yawn*
turn8
Chain Lightning from the top ... i don´t want to burn 1/1 vanillas ... but i have to cause they deal 3 damage per turn ... i wait another turn, hopefully i draw a blocker.
AI plays another Mountain and attacks for 3. i go down to 13.
turn9
great, i draw another Chain lightning , only that this time the AI got mana to throw it back - even twice if i throw it back. got to have to take 3 again and hope for a blocker.
AI Lightning Bolts my face (actually got that forum pic - as an avatar , so it actually HITS my face ^^)and attacks me , i go down to 7.AI then plays a Blood Knight - finally a target at least worth burning.
turn 10
I draw Mogg Fanatic ...just 7 turns to late,but at least he showed up. also the AI tapped itself out of red, preventing forking the Chain Lightning.so i play the Fanatic and Chain Lightning his Blood Knight - hopefully scaring his 3 1/1 out of attacking.
well, the AI attacks , that means he got the burn to finish me (otherwise the AI just won´t attack).So i block one and fling the Fanatic to another.
going down to 6 , and eat the promised 2 Lightning Bolts . meeeh i´m gonna dream about Goblin Tokens ... they are going to be everywhere...THANK YOU stroggoii !
2-1 loss

[Salbei]

Finished the testing and here are the results:

65 games where played in best of 1 scenario/gauntlet style.
65 games out of 140 possible games -> the average gauntlet took 4,6 games.

Flavor of the month (Decks played by most AI opponents):
Brandon 8
yggdrasil 8
scherbchen 7
stroggoii 6
Jatill 5
enigma 5
juzamjedi 5
shantak 4
thedrigo 4
cognis 3
salbei 3
nyktorion 2
kakodrilo 2
aaw1979 2

most AI wins :
salbei (vs enigma),(vs yggdrasil),(vs Shantak)
yggdrasil (vs stroggoi), (vs cognis)
thedrigo (vs brandon)
scherbchen (vs thedrigo)
juzamjedi (vs scherbchen)
nyktorion (vs aaw)
Brandon (vs jatill)
stroggoii (vs kakodrilo)

highest AI win-ratio:
Salbei 3 wins out of 3 games = 100%
nyktorion 1 win out of 2 games = 50%
Yggdrasil 3 wins out of 8 games = 37,5 %
thedrigo 1 win out of 4 games = 24%
juzamjedi 1 win out of 5 games = 20%
stroggoii 1 win out of 6 games = 16,6%
scherbchen 1 win out of 7 games = 14,2%
Brandon 1 win out of 8 games = 12,5%

Highest Gauntlet score:
Juzam Jedi : 10
Nyktorian : 10
Salbei : 10
Shantak : 9
Stroggoii :4
Jatill: 4
Kakodrilo: 2
Aaw1979 :2
thedrigo : 1
scherbchen: 1
yggdrasil: 1

total score:(gauntlet+AI wins)
1.Salbei 10+15 = 25
2.Nyktorian 10+5 = 15 (better winratio)
3.JuzamJedi 10+5 = 15
4.Yggdrasil 1+10 = 11
5.stroggoi 4+5 =9 (better winratio)
6.shantak 9+0 = 9
7.thedrigo 1+5 = 6 (better winratio)
8.scherbchen 1+5 6
9.brandon 0+5 = 5
10.jatill 4+0 = 4
11.Kakodrilo 2+0 = 2 (tie,even played the same number of games)
11.aaw1979 2+0 = 2 (tie,even played the same number of games)
12.Cognis 0+0 = 0 (played less games)
13.Enigma 0+0 = 0

the statistic shows is quite well. there is way too much luck involved by getting a match or not . 2 players with 2 chances to play , 2 players with 8 chances - doesn´t seem to be fair in my oppinion that some people getting "judged" equal to others after they just played a quarter of their games.

Another thing is that i got quite a lot Gauntlets that ended before i reach round 5 (speaks for a solid mix of decks with roughly equal strength) (statistic says that the average gauntlet took 4,6 games).

A couple times i´ve barly lost a match but would have won the game if it would have been a best of 3.
Same is true for the "steamrolls", manaflood/screw is a much smaller issue to determine which deck is superior in a best of 3.This also speaks for the consistancy of the submitted decks.
A couple games i just topdecked the best possible card for the situation out of the deck i was playing - this "luck" factor also gets reduced by playing a best of 3 and should be taken into account.

A best of one "testrow" just gives you a very basic overview over the field with the absolute minimum of data needed for statistic like this.the more games you get to play the more accurate the statistic is going to be. 100 games (total) should be the absolute minimum to get a decent overview about how strong a deck is.
Also the "luck" factor from the matchmaking system should get reduced to a minimum.playing each deck against each other in a 1on1 would be the optimum, while requiring obviously more time.

What do you think about halving the decks that play against each other (to 5-7),but running 2 gauntlets with each instead ? would be the same ammount of efford as it is now, but a hell lot more accurate.

[Nyktorion]

Just played some more gauntlets...

Yggdrasil went 6-1:
1) Nyktorion (2-0)
2) enigma71 (2-0)
3) Cognis (2-0)
4) Yggdrasil (2-0)
5) jatill (2-0)
6) thedrigo (2-0)
7) Nyktorion (0-2)

Wins were either due to an early Marit Lage (it even happened once that the AI plowshared the Vampire Hexmage, which was sacrificed on Dark Depths in response), or due to overrunning by small vampires, sometimes backed by Urge to Feed and/or Vampire Nocturnus. In the second case, Bloodghast's landfall ability, and more prominently, Gatekeeper of Malakir's kicker helped gaining some nice card advantage.

Notable games:

- In the first game against enigma73, my small vampires first seem to overrun him in the usual style, but Wrath of God cleans the board. Still, a resurrected Bloodghast and Drain Life can finish him before he stabilises. One bug I noticed while playing this deck is that sometimes Kalastria Highborn's ability triggers twice when it should just trigger once.

- In the first game against jatill, he had many answers to my creatures. First, my Kalastria Highborn is plowshared. Then, he casts Control Magic on my Vampire Nocturnus. Next, Oblivion Ring exiles my first Demigod of Revenge. My second Demigod of Revenge sticks to the board for some time, and can even kill a Baneslayer Angel with the help of Urge to Feed. Onwards: Threads of Disloyalty get cast on my second Highborn. Finally, also my second Demigod is taken by Control Magic. Fortunately, he was weak enough to be finished by a Bloodghast (he used all his creatures to attack me) and Drain Life, before I would have been finished by his next attack.

- In the first game of the rematch against my deck, I got too few creatures, and too much land after my starting hand. The few creatures I did get were countered, and his creatures beat me down. I could even kill a grown Tarmogoyf with Drain Life, but that did not stop the rest of his creatures.

- In the second game, the opposite was true. My starting hand looked fine, but then I drew no more mana, being stuck at two lands. My Vampire Hexmages can even hold off his creatures for some time (even though they could have attacked without risk due to exalted), but when they got removed, and the AI played a Rhox War Monk, I quickly lost.

karodrilo burn went 2-1:
1) karodrilo (2-0)
2) jatill (2-0)
3) juzamjedi (0-2)

- In the first game of the mirror match, the main factor of my win was him getting too many nonstandard lands, thus making my Price of Progress hit him really hard.

- In the second mirror match, AI is manascrewed, and I am flooded. My biggest chunk of damage comes from a Countryside Crusher, which survives for a turn, dealing 6 damage with Reckless Charge. After that, I can burn down the rest of his life.

- In both games against jatill, early creatures with Reckless Charge, followed by some burn (Price of Progress was *really* nice against this deck!) finished the AI before it could mount enough defenses in both games.

- In both games against juzamjedi, my creatures can deal a little eaarly damage, but are soon stalled out by several Kitchen Finks. Wrath of God the cleaned up, leaving some 2/1 Kitchen Finks remainders. After I dealt with those, I was finished: in the first game by Elspeth and a Baneslayer Angel, and in the second game by Spectral Procession tokens. In both games, one Price of Progress, which I could not (sensibly) play, remained in my hand.

Finally, Cognis went 0-1:
1) stroggoi (0-2)

- In the first game, I quickly get a Goblin Warchief and a Goblin King. The Warchief gets Exiled, and the King gets abused by his Dragon Fodder tokens and Bushwacker (which get +1/+1 and Mountainwalking). Hence, I had to exchange the Goblin King and a Lightning Bolt against his 4/4 Figure of Destiny). I had played two more (small) goblins at this point, which get killed by Lightning Helixes. Patriarch's Bidding gave me some hope to race him by returning three goblins to play. However, he is just a little bit quicker. I could have killed him by a Bolt to the face if he did not have a Kor Firewalker making him survive the Bolt with 1 life.

- In the second game, I get out Goblin Warchief and Mogg Fanatic at turn 1 thanks to Black Lotus. I sacrifice my Fanatic to kill a Figure of Destiny before it can grow. I get a Goblin Piledriver, but he Exiles my Warchief (still, the Piledriver got the gang bonus once). I layed down Chandr, but he gets two Dragon Fodders, which overrun Chandra after the Piledriver gets Exiled. Afterwards his goblin tokens beat me down.

My scores up to now:

jatill 10+5+5
Nyktorion 10+5
stroggoi 3+5+5
scherbchen 10
Yggdrasil 6
juzamjedi 5
karodrilo 2
enigma73, Salbei 1
all others 0

[Salbei]

Jatill your deck is ridiculous.

Thanks! In my own testing it only took 10th place, though

hmmm thats funny ->

10.jatill 4+0 = 4

Coincidence ?

Salbei-
Do you think it was right to use Oath when there was already an Angel standing in the way? It might be right anyway, but I wonder if that particular game would have gone differently otherwise.

PS I also like the detailed reports.

Not exactly sure which Situation you mean. I think i know the one you mean (happened more than once).
Was not really a debatable choice (for me). Couple things could happen while the majority lead to a favorable outcome.i tend to expect the better outcome if there is a 50/50 chance - as long as it is "likly" to happen then i will go for it.
Only exception: Mulligans ... just don´t keep 1 land hands whatsover - the early mana development makes or breakes your deck - not even only a slight risk will be worth it to mess your earlygame up.

to get sure we mean the same thing - untapped Baneslayer Angel ? nobody should attack into it. unless you deal more damage than the opponent is going to get life - obviously.

Attacking with both Ball Lightnings into that untapped Angel was a risky move - removal and i would have been out of the game, but i had literally no choice - i would have been mathematicly eleminated by NOT attacking.even though it was just a couple damage more than he gained life - they made the difference between a certain loss and a possible win with the right topdeck.

Worst case - i get a Forcemage but don´t want to get it.When i can´t Oath again after that for example.
so i would have to get rid of it somehow.

neutral - i get something useless like Spark Elemental - i dislike the cardchoice for including this thing to the deck,even though it won me a game.You will never want to see this thing Oath´d up although the synergy with the Forcemage is awesome , the including the Oath to the deck made it a bad choice IMO.
Oathing this thing up even WITH a Forcemage on the table is a wasted Oath activation.

neutral - Ball Lightning/ its green counterpart (already forgot its name^^).one less you will draw into, not good for you but won´t hurt you at all in the long run if you think about it.

always good -> Hellspark elemental . you can always unearth it for a very cheap price.even the chance of getting one of these is worth the activation

special -> Get a Forcemage when you can hardcast/unearth and attack for lethal. in that case always the right play to activate it for obvious reasons.

in general you got more than enough creatures and don´t have to worry about running out of cards because of the raw damage potential - i got pretty damn close to killing him afterall and almost raced 2 Baneslayer Angels, just think about it.
Drifting off but i´d like to compare it to the choice you have to make when you are badly "behind" in the game and have to decide to fetch or to safe your 1 life. As long as you can think ahead and guarantee that using the fetchland won´t kill over the next couple turns you should do it. if you are unsure and expect "spike damage" like a pumpspell or burn you should not do it.
playing reckless sometimes gets rewarded, but won´t keep your winratio up.thinking ahead,even if it takes a minute is priceless.also the ability to "read" an opponent (simmilar to poker) works out even during onlineplay.just take a look how he plays his stuff - be very carefull if a "hasty" player suddenly changes his pattern.i´m drifting off ...

one thing i dislike about the deck was its incosistancy.its all about spike damage out of nowhere, but this leads to beeing unbelievable vulnurable against removal.playing dual berserk on a creature feels like playing Hatred without Duressing first - gonna break your own neck more often than you like it.
Was a very questionable Meta choice considering the first tournament was almost exclusivly Zoo. Along with that it is well known the AI just blows at playing with pump spells, heck it even plays Ball Lightning AFTER the attack step.Throwing all the things the AI is bad with together for a tournament that is most likly be decided after AI wins is just not a good idea (to not hurt anybodies feelings ^^).

well in my scenario i had nothing to loose since i was on the best way to loose anyway, but still had a marginal chance to get the card i badly need to win. Also never count out the stupidity of the AI - who knows, maybe you Oath up a Ball Lightning and the AI swords to plowshares it.Things like that happen all the time.


---

Wall of text about my deck for this tournament, just ignore it if you don´t care.
Should contain quite a lot of information and might help one or the other.

As most of you prolly noticed i created it to win, not to have fun playing it (or against it),hell its a major pain in the ass to play against^^
It was designed to beat the meta i expected (fastpaced creature strategies)
Pretty much like in the last tournament, but this time i went a different route - i didn´t try to outrace the opponent(Belcher),i just tried to outright stop the decks when they are strongest (during their first 5 turns) and use turn their battleplan against them,abusing their usual weakness in the lategame as my goal to reach.
Once you survive the initial "aggro" you usually win the game cause there is nothing left to fear.Most Initial aggro lists are a bunch of undercosted creatures that are supposed to swarm the opponent or just overwhelm them by their presence (goyf).But on the other hand fantastic earlygame cards(Kird Ape, Savannah Lions) getting worse and worse after each turn,making you wish you don´t draw them later in the game.This is exactly what i tried to abuse.My Cardchoices have one thing in common and that is constant Cardquality - there is almost no card in the deck that i don´t want to see later in the game.Everything is serving a purpose and is working into each other - sure i could add a couple creatures to win the game earlier , but that would hurt my battleplan more than it would benefit me.My main priority is not to play Tinker into a fatty to "steal" a game, i don´t have to steal a game that the opponent can´t win.
time is working for my "pile" against almost every deck i expected to see.Wall of Denial + Wall of Reverence being the backbone of the deck, creating a soft lock that can make people go mad and lead them to do risky things that you definatly want to exploit.These babies mixed with the "standard" 8 removal should make sure you survive the early game. While Control Magic is a flexible swiss army knife - great on defense AND offense.

So over a third of the deck is designed to survive the early game - so basicly every 3rd card i draw will help me to reach my first goal, preventing the opponent from winning before i actually care about how i´m gonna win.The rest of the deck is as flexible as possible and should be a decent topdeck at almost any situation, had to design it like that for consistancy and to avoid playing more carddraw (see explaination below).

Sure Jace or even Jayemdae Tome are absolute killer cards in the lategame - but having them in your opening hand is going to get you killed.Since i don´t play any Countermagic i don´t have enough gain out of these cards.
I would NEVER ever cut Balance for it (i think scherbchen suggested it) its the best earlygame answer to any serios earlygame threat the opponent could come up with.Getting overrun by a bunch of Goblins/ tokens ? Balance from the top solves your problem!turn 2 Tinker / Darksteel Colossus ? Balance gonna take care of it aswell.Opponent is swarming you with mid sized creatures you can´t handle (goyfs,Lorescale Coatl(early) etc) ?the answer is Balance.You can even play it offensive (to discard/destroy lands).Only reason i didn´t include a Mystical Tutor to fetch Balance it needed was that i ran out of room.
Sure i could have cut a Control Magic for it, but that card is way too flexible to cut.This baby does everything from defending your ass,creating cardadvantage,crating boardadvantage and last but not least can be a winning option.Anything less than 4 would hurt the consistancy - also its has got a great psychological effect on the opponent, having to worry about not playing his best creature.

Only 2 things i would cut are (believe it or not) Baneslayer Angel and more likly Keiga. Sower of Temptation was tempting, but usually Zoo decks play at least 8 removal - and a surprising loss of a Sower can hurt ... A LOT,another reason why i didn´t mix them with Control Magic its way harder to get rid of an enchantment.

I really like Jatills deck in that point - i´ve wasted 2 slots for the Coffins to prevent Removal(also to remove threats).while Jatill just took shroud creatures, especially the Sphinx was a brilliant idea!

why carddraw is bad
people gonna call me an idiot because of this, but just read and think about it please.

Another lesson i have learnd in the past is that "overplaying" carddraw is bad for you - playing carddraw just to draw carddraw means you´ve wasted mana you could have spend to actually help you win the game.Sure its great to draw 8+ cards in one turn , but what have you actually done during that turn ? most likly just stock up your manabase(which has to be huge since you HAVE to play more spells due to the carddraw) - leading you to draw Mana you don´t want to see WAY more frequently - where exactly is the "advantage" ? Carddraw in small ammounts is awesome - don´t get me wrong , helps a ton,but i´m talking about playing 12+ carddraw spells (is what i call "overplaying").

I really love Mulldrifter in the deck - this thing is next to Balance on my "don´t touch this when you cut things"-list.Very flexible, even with the Manacost! 2/2 flyier that is netting you cards and can be discarded to draw cards when you are far away from playing him ? sign me up ^^

Last but not least the Winning Options - Baneslayer Angel (once again a very flexible card that maybe the best defensive AND offensive card ever printed).Already spoke about Mulldrifter ,flexibility is key + there where next to no flyiers around during the last tournament, so i expected quite a few free hits with them.
Keiga was just added because i feard the combination of Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares (usually played in playsets, so 8 in total - enough to get rid of all my main winning options,Control Magic left aside).I was looking for a creature that would help me if i the Baneslayer Angels somehow can´t attack (a 5/6 flyier on the board like Mahamothi Djinn (well i haven´t seen this one for ages, but he´s not the only thing that could cause trouble ... got quite a few Nightmares in my own Gauntlet just to name another card).
Also Keiga could be used as prolly the best chumpblocker against serious fatties.Only downside is its manacost - 6 mana is nothing for the 5/5 Flying + control Magic on death, hands down, but its one of the cards i don´t want to see during my first 9 turns. The rest of the deck explains itself, just "good" stuff, acceleration and/or plain Mana.

Only thing i would change is to add a Mystical Tutor.

Prolly nobody read the whole text but i hope i could gave some insight to somebody.

[scherbchen1]

I was very fond of jatill's deck (Tinker Leviathan is one play the AI really knows how to pull off) and salbei's.

as far as Balance is valid as an answer to early threats... sure. it is. alas, it is one card of your deck and you can't even tutor for it. great if you have it when you need it, sure. makes you look like a champ. chances are you don't and you won't. just like Emeria is great when it does work and a tapped Plains that gets turned into a mountain when Blood Moon is out.

and I really need to defend that card. yes, at times it is worse than a Plains in the first 2-3 turns only (!) depending on your deck. it is very much dependant on your creature base (and mana base, duh) if this card might help you (and, yes, most of your creatures will usually be exiled. not breaking news, really) or whether it might hurt you and I have no idea why my two knights are not pridemages in hindsight. a remnant of my 3 Eternal Dragons which the AI never cycled and went seppuku with as soon as it could get them back into its hand no matter what was on the board.

merely complaining about the fact that it comes into play tapped or is only useful late in the game is... dunno. coming from a different angle than I do. Thawing Glaciers came into play tapped and they did not even provide mana! Academy Ruins usually provides its benefit later on in the game... in a zoo-like aggro deck I would understand the complaint. if you complained about my mana base being shaky I would understand it. but "rofl comes into play tapped, so bad, turn 9+ return on investment"?

[juzamjedi]

It took me way longer to put in the detailed commentary this time around. But I hope you enjoy. The most interesting matchup was enigma73 versus Nyktorian. It had interesting decision points in the deciding game where I made at least 1 wrong choice. The match also featured the AI playing Ancestral Recall to give me 3 cards.

I ran enigma73's deck tonight and went 7-1.

Vs: salbei
Game 1
T1 Mox, Mox, Werebear, Strip Mine -> AI path's the Werebear
T2 Terravore, AI Opponent casts Balance -> I StP the Terravore and AI ends up discarding Time Walk
T3 Mox Diamond + Savannah Lions -> StP
T4 draw forst no play -> AI plays Wall of Denial
T5 KotR -> AI has no play
T6 Fetch Wasteland with Plains + use KotR to make KotR 8/8 -> AI plays Wall of Denial #2
T7 Attack with 8/8 KotR for 8 -> AI PtE my KotR on his turn
T8 Draw Wrath, pass -> AI nothing
T9 Draw Armageddon, pass -> AI Mox Sapphire + Wall of Reverence gain 1
T10 Draw Savannah now up to 5 cards, pass -> AI pass gain 1
T11 Draw Tarmogoyf, pass -> AI pass gain 1
T12 Draw Werebear play it and AI sends him farming -> AI's turn Mox Jet, Mullldrifter, Sol Ring gain 2
T13 Draw Wooded Foothills, fetch Savannah, pass -> AI plays Baneslayer gain 5
T14 Draw Vise, Wrath + Armageddon + Savannah + Vise -> AI no land pass
T15 Draw plains, play it + Tarmogoyf -> AI no play
T16 Draw Armageddon, attack for 4 -> AI play flooded Strand, fetches Island
T17 Draw Werebear, attack with Tarmogoyf for 4, play Werebear -> AI Mox Pearl + Keiga
T18 Draw StP, send Keiga farming, manually fix the Keiga bug, attack for 8 -> AI Control Magic on Tarmogoyf
T19 Draw KotR, attack with Werebear to 4, play KotR (14/14!) -> AI control magic on Werebear (?)
T20 Draw Tarmogoyf, AI chumps it, play Tarmogoyf -> AI plays Mulldrifter, pass
T21 Draw Black Vise and play it, attack and AI chumps with Werebear and Mulldrifter -> AI plays Tundra + Baneslayer
T22 Draw Savannah Lions and AI chumps KotR -> AI plays Baneslayer
T23 Draw StP, send Baneslayer farming and win final score (24,-10)

Game 2
Opening hand is 2x Wasteland, 2x Armageddon, Mox Diamond Balance and Qasali Pridemage. Lots of mana denial, but I ship it.
6 cards is Mox Emerald, 2x Savannah, Plains, Wrath, KotR. Keep.
T1 AI plains -> Mox Emerald + Forest
T2 AI Plains -> Wooded Foothills for Savannah for KotR. AI paths the KotR.
T3 AI Flooded Strand for Tundra -> Draw Armageddon, play nothing and pass (Wrath, lands, Armageddon in hand)
T4 AI Evoke Mulldrifter + Sol Ring -> Draw Tarmogoyf and play it
T5 AI StP for Tarmogoyf + Baneslayer (uh oh) -> Draw KotR. Decide to play nothing and let AI play another creature for Wrath.
T6 AI attacks with Baneslayer for 5 (17,24) and plays Keiga -> Draw Terravore, play plains and Wrath
T7 AI plays Mulldrifter, Strip Mine my Savannah -> Draw Terravore, play Armageddon, Savannah, pass
T8 AI plays Flooded strand for Tundra, attacks with Mulldrifter (15,23) -> Draw Black Vise, play Savannah and KotR, AI StP on KotR
T9 AI plays Mox Sapphire, attacks with Mulldrifter (20,23) plays wall of reverence (20,25) -> Draw StP, play Terravore (12/12), pass
T10 AI plays Tundra + Control Magic :-/ attack + wall makes it (18, 37) -> Draw Tarmogofy, play it and pass
T11 I StP the AI's Terravore and get attacked for 2 by Mulldrifter. Wall of Reverence #2 (16-53) -> Draw KotR and play it (7/7)
T12 AI Black Lotus for Baneslayer and attack for 2. Tarmogoyf is now 6/7. (14,60) -> Draw Mox Pearl. Attack with KotR and Tarmogoyf, triple block I kill Baneslayer. Play Mox, Terravore (13/13) and Black Vise
T13 AI Mox Ruby, attack with Mulldrifter (12, 63) -> Draw Black Vise and play it. Attack with Tarmogoyf + Terravore (12, 45)
T14 AI has lots of artifact mana, but makes no play (10, 48( -> Draw Tarmogoyf, attack with Tarmogoyfg + Terravore (10, 30). Play Tarmogoyf (6/7)
T15 AI plays Mox Pearl, Wall of Denial and Mulldrifter attack (8, 33) -> Draw Qasali Pridemage. Attack with team (8, 15) and play pridemage.
T16 AI plays Tawnos Coffin, Mulldrifter attacks (6, 18) -> Draw plains. Attack with most of team killing both walls of Reverence. (6, 12)
T17 AI uses Coffin to phase out Tarmogoyf. Mulldrifter attack (4, 12) -> Draw Mox Diamond. Attack with everything and AI dies (4, 0)

vs Brandon:
Opening hand 2x Werebear, Terravore, 3x Wooded Foothills and Plains. Awesome keep!
T1 Wooded Foothills for Forest, pass -> AI Mountain, Black Vise
T2 vise triggers (17, 20) draw Wrath, play plains + Werebear -> AI Mountain and bolts me.
T3 Vise to 10, Draw Wasteland, fetch Savannah (9, 20) attack (9, 19) and play Terravore -> AI plays 2x Grim Lavamancer
T4 Draw Balance, play Wooded Foothills. AI double blocks Terravore and I fetch to pump Terravore (8, 17). Play another Werbear. -> AI Disintegrates a Werebear
T5 Draw Forest. Only 3 cards in my GY. Play Wasteland and kill my own Savannah to pump Terravore (8, 11) -> AI Mountain, go
T6 Draw Wooded Foothills. Fetch for Savannah and attack (7, 4) -> AI play Blood Moon, but I still have basic forest and basic plains.
T7 Draw Black Vise, attack for win (7, -3)

Game 2:
Opening hand Terravore, Werebear, Armageddon, Wrath, Plains, Forest, Wooded Foothills. Nice hand and keep.
T1 AI Mountain, Dragonmaster Outcast -> Draw KotR, Wooded Foothills for Savannah.
T2 AI Mountain, attack with Dragonmaster (19, 20) -> Draw Strip Mine. Play Forest, Werebear, AI bolts me (15, 20), pass.
T3 AI Mountain, Smoke, pass -> Draw Black Lotus, play it, Strip Mine to kill a Mountain, Terravore, KotR
T4 AI Mountain, bolt Terravore. -> Draw KotR. Attack (15, 16) play KotR (4/4), pass
T5 AI Mountain, pass -> Draw Tarmogoyf. Cast Armageddon (gives Threshold and KotR's become 7/7). AI chumps a KotR (15, 9)
T6 AI Mountain, pass -> only get to untap 1 KotR, Draw Armegeddon. Attack (15, 2)
T7 AI Mountain, pass -> untap KotR and attack (15, -5)


Vs Shantak

Game 1:
Opening hand Plains, Wasteland, Savannah Lions, Qasali Pridemage, Black Vise, Swords to Plowshares, Armageddon. Not ideal but fine.
T1 Plains, Black Vise -> AI vise trigger (20, 17). Forbidden Orchard for Spark Elemental, but Spirit token prevents him from attacking, hah
T2 Draw Mox Emerald. Play it, wasteland and kill Orchard. Play Qasali Pridemage and attack (20, 15) -> AI vise trigger (20, 13), no land and pass
T3 Draw Swords to Plowshares. Attack (20, 10), play Savannah Lions. -> AI vise trigger (20, 7). No land and pass.
T4 Draw Wooded Foothills and attack (20, 2). -> AI vise trigger and die (20, -1)

Game 2:
Opening hand Savannah, Plains, Black Vise, Mox diamond, Werebear, Swords to Plowshares, Armageddon. I keep.
T1 Mox Diamond pitching Savannah, play plains, play Black Vise. -> AI vise trigger (20, 17) Taiga, Mox Ruby, Oath. Uh oh.
T2 Draw KotR, pass without playing anything. -> AI vise trigger (20, 16) Forest, Primal Forcemage.
T3 I use Oath and get Werebear. Draw Wooded Foothills and play but don't fetch. -> AI atttack with Forcemage. Fetch for Threshold and block with 4/4 Werebear. AI plays Primal Forcemage.
T4 Draw Terravore. Play KotR (7/7), keeping white mana open. -> AI Activates Oath for Ball Lightning, but it doesn't attack into KotR. Plays Primal Forcemage.
T5 Draw Wrath of God. Attack with KotR (19, and pass. -> AI pass
T6 Draw Terravore. Attack with KotR which gets chumped. Cast Terravore (7/7). -> AI Oath's up Spark Elemental. Play Forbidden Orchard, pass.
T7 Draw Wooded Foothills. Cast Armageddon. KotR 9/9 and Terravore 13/13 now. Attack and win (19, -5)

vs thedrigo:
Game 1:
Opening hand Wasteland, 2x Wooded Foothills, Forest, Savannah, Wrath of God and Armageddon. Since I am playing against White Weenie I can slow play this hand and get lots of gas mid to late game.
T1 Wooded Foothills for Savannah, pass -> AI plays Stirring Wildwood
T2 Draw Mox Diamond. Play it discarding foothills, play forest, pass. -> AI plays Qasali Pridemage doh!
T3 Draw Tarmogoyf. He would only be a 1/2 right now so I pass. -> AI plays Flooded Strand for Savannah, Figure of Destiny, Knight of the Meadowgrain and attacks me (16, 19)
T4 Draw Swords to Plowshares. Play Savannah, Wrath and pass. -> AI plays Figure and Soltari Priest. Looks like race time.
T5 Draw Savannah Lions. Play Armageddon, Wasteland, pass. -> AI plays plains, attacks, pumps FoD (12, 19)
T6 Draw Werebear and play it with Threshold. -> AI Plains. Attack with Soltari Priest (10, 19)
T7 Draw Swords to Plowshares. Play Tarmogoyf and Savannah Lions. -> AI Stirring Wildwood. Attack with Priest (8, 19)
T8 Draw Forest and play it. Kill Wildwood with Wasteland. Send FoD farming (Goyf now 4/5). Attack (8, 11) -> AI Honor of the Pure and attack (5, 11)
T9 Draw Savannah and play it. Attack (5, 1) -> AI Honor of the Pure, I respond with Swords on Priest.
T10 Draw Plains, attack and win (5, -6)

Game 2:
Opening hand Savannah, Mox Pearl, Plains, Plains, Terravore, 2x Knight of the Reliquary. This is a little slow since no fetchlands, but it's good enough.
T1 AI Savannah, Mox Pearl, Figure of Destiny -> Draw Mox Diamond (!) play it pitching plains. Mox Pearl. Savannah. KotR (3/3)
T2 AI Plains, Honor of the Pure, FoD. -> Draw Mox Emerald and play it. Plains. KotR (3/3). Use KotR #1 to get fetchland, use fetchland to get Forest. Play Terravore. Hand empty, KotR's = 5/5, Terravore 3/3.
T3 AI pump FoD to 5/5. -> Draw Savannah. Use KotR to sac + fetch + make all my guys bigger. Use KotR #2 for Wasteland on AI's Savannah. Play Savannah. Attack with Terravore (18, 12)
T4 AI attacks (11, 12) and plays another FoD. -> Draw Werebear. Attack with team and win (11, -5)

vs thedrigo:
Game 1:
Opening hand Savannah, Wooded Foothills, Werebear, Terravore, 2x Black Vise, Armageddon. I intend to keep, but click enter button on accident and mulligan
6 cards Forest, Savannah, Mox Emerald, Black Vise, Knight of the Reliquary, Swords to Plowshares. Keep.
T1 AI makes no play -> Draw Savannah. Forest, Mox Emerald, Black Vise.
T2 AI vise trigger (20, 17). Fetch for Savannah. -> Draw StP. Savannah. KotR.
T3 AI vise trigger (20, 13). Savannah. Qasali Pridemage. -> Draw Werebear. Play Werebear. Savannah. Sac my forest for Wasteland. Kill a Savannah. Send Pridemage farming (now planning to ride the vise) (20, 15)
T4 AI vise trigger (20, 13). Stirring Wildwood. -> Draw Black Vise and play it. Sac Savannah for Wasteland. Kill Stirring Wildwood. Attack with Werebear (20, 12)
T5 AI vise triggers (20, . Savannah. Knight of the Meadowgrain, which I send farming. (20, 10) -> Draw Tarmogoyf and play it. 1 short of killing AI so I sac with KotR for Strip Mine and kill Savannah. Werebear gains Threshold and I attack (20, 6)
T6 AI vise triggers (20, 4). Stirring Wildwood. -> Draw Balance, attack and win (20, -10)

Game 2:
Opening hand Mox Pearl, Mox Diamond, Black Vise, Savannah, Forest, Armageddon, Isamaru. Keep.
T1 AI Plains. Mox Diamond pitching Fetchland. Wall of Blossoms. -> Draw Plains. Mox Pearl. Forest. Mox Diamond, pitching Plains. Black Vise (useless at the moment). Isamaru.
T2 AI Plains. Swords my Isamaru. -> Draw Swords. Savannah, pass.
T3 AI Windswept Heath for Savannah. -> Draw Werebear and play it.
T4 AI Swords for my Werebear. -> Draw Qasali Pridemage and play it.
T5 AI Oblivion Ring on my Black Vise. -> Draw Wooded Foothills and play it. Immediately recognize this is a mistake because I am typing more than thinking.
T6 AI Honor of the Pure. Soltari Priest. -> Draw Werebear and play it.
T7 AI Honor of the Pure. I respond and send the Priest farming. AI Swords my Pridemage, I respond by blowing up 1x Honor of the Pure. -> Draw Tarmogoyf. Fetch for Forest. Cast Tarmogoyf 5/6 after I Armageddon. Werebear now at Threshold (4/4).
T8 AI draw go. -> Draw Tarmogoyf. Finally able to attack through Wall of Blossoms (22, 13) Play Tarmogoyf.
T9 AI draw go. -> Draw Qasali Pridemage and Wall chumps an attacker (22, 4).
T10 AI draw go. -> Draw Wooded Foothills, attack and win (22, -10)

vs Juzamjedi:
Game 1:
Opening hand Forest, Wasteland, Tarmogoyf, Knight of the Reliquary, Black Vise, 2x Armageddon. Wasteland is a blank, but 2x Armageddon is sweet against my deck.
T1 AI Plains, Skullclamp. -> Draw Werebear. Forest, Black Vise.
T2 AI vise trigger (20, 19). Plains. FoD. Pump it once. -> Draw Isamaru wish it was plains instead. Cast Werebear.
T3 AI Plains. Pump FoD during attack (16, 19). -> Draw Savannah. Cast Isamaru. Cast Tarmogoyf. Pretty sure AI will Swords Isamaru here. Attack for 1.
T4 AI Mox Pearl. Sol Ring. Attack me (12, 18). Baneslayer. Looks like I should have pulled Armageddon last turn instead of creatures. -> Draw Savannah. Armageddon, play Savannah.
T5 AI attack with Baneslayer (7, 23). Play Figure of Destiny. -> Draw Mox Diamond. Attack with Isamaru and Werebear and Isamaru dies. I play Mox Diamond without pitching land and Goyf is now 4/5.
T6 AI sends Goyf farming and attack (1, 27). -> Draw Terravore, but it's not going to get there.
T7 AI Plains, Kitchen Finks, and attacks me for lethal.

My play on T3 cost me the game. I had 2x Armageddon and no answer cards just cheap threats I could play post-Armageddon. Argh.

Game 2:
Opening hand 2x Savannah, Wooded Foothills, Black Vise, Terravore, 2x Tarmogoyf. Can't ask for much better against my deck.
T1 Fetch for Forest. Black Vise. -> AI vise trigger (19, 17) Plains. Sol Ring. Not good.
T2 Draw Forest. Savannah. Tarmogoyf. -> AI vise trigger (19, 15). Path my Goyf (I get Plains). Figure of Destiny.
T3 Draw Wooded Foothills and fetch Forest with it. Tarmogoyf. Holding back Terravore for now. -> AI Plains. Kitchen Finks. Looking good!
T4 Draw Qasali Pridemage (!) and play it. Attack with Exalted Tarmogoyf. AI double blocks, I respond by killing Sol Ring with Pridemage. Goyf kills Finks and Figure -> AI Plains. Spectral Procession. Path my Tarmogoyf. Attacks me with Finks (16, 19)
T5 Draw Savannah Lions. Play Savannah Lions and Terravore (2/2). -> AI Plains. Attack with tokens (13, 19)
T6 Draw Werebear. Attack with Savannah Lions which trades with Finks. Cast Werebear (1/1) -> AI Skullclamp. attacks with tokens (10, 19). Doesn't use clamp afterward
T7 Draw Wrath of God, really wish it was Armageddon right now. Attack (10, 16) -> AI Plains, attack (7, 16)
T8 Draw Werebear. Attack (7, 13). Casting Werebear here won't help me change the race; I need Armageddon to pump Terravore or I need to hold Werebear for post-Wrath if I pull the trigger. -> AI attacks me (4, 13)
T9 Draw Armageddon (!) cast it play land and follow up Werebear. Attack and win (4, -4)

Game 3:
Opening hand Black Lotus, Mox Emerald, Forest, Isamaru, Tarmogoyf, Knight of the Reliquary, Wrath of God. No Armageddon, but still very good.
T1 AI Plains, Sol Ring -> Draw Balance. Play Mox Emerald, Black Lotus, Forest, Isamaru, KotR. I played Isamaru instead of Goyf in case he has Swords.
T2 AI Figure of Destiny, missed land drop (!) -> Draw Swords to Plowshares. Tarmogoyf. Fetch Strip Mine with KotR. Kill Plains. Attack with Isamaru.
T3 AI miss land drop again and pass -> Draw Armageddon. Attack (20, 10)
T4 AI missed land drop again. Attacks with FoD (19, 10). -> Draw Wooded Foothills and fetch a Forest. KotR now 5/5, attack (18, 1)
T5 AI missed land drop again. Attack (17, 1). Discard Kitchen Finks -> Draw Terravore, attack and win (17, -9)

I am glad I won game 3 because I would feel bad costing a match due to misplay against my own deck.

vs thedrigo (yes, really )
Game 1:
Opening hand is poop. Mox Emerald, Mox Diamond, Armageddon, Black Vise, 2x Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God.
6 cards: Forest, Mox Emerald, Black Vise, Savannah, Tarmagoyf, Strip Mine. I am on the play so this seems really good.
T1 Mox Emerald, Black Vise, Strip Mine. -> AI vise Trigger (20, 17). Savannah and I kill Savannah.
T2 Draw Wasteland and play it. Tarmogoyf. -> AI vise trigger (20, 14). Plains. Figure of Destiny.
T3 Draw Swords to Plowshares and send Figure farming. Attack with Goyf (20, 13). -> AI vise trigger (20, 10). Windswept Heath for Savannah. I Wasteland the Savannah
T4 Draw Terravore. Attack (20, . Play Terravore (5/5) -> AI vise trigger (20, 6). Figure of Destiny.
T5 Draw Armageddon. Figure chumps my goyf (20, 1). -> AI upkeep vise trigger and dies (20, -1)

Game 2:
Opening hand is pretty good. Mox Diamond, Black Vise, Werebear, Swords to Plowshares, Knight of the Reliquary, Plains, Savannah.
T1 AI Savannah, Mox Pearl, Qasali Pridemage. -> Draw Black Vise. Plains, Black Vise (I am hoping AI blows it up instead of attacking me)
T2 Nope. AI attacks (16, 20). Qasali Pridemage. -> Draw Plains. Savannah. Mox Diamond, pitch a Plains. KotR.
T3 AI Stirring Wildwood. Soltari Priest. -> Draw Savannah Lions and cast it. Werebear. Pass with KotR untapped.
T4 AI Windswept Heath to fetch Plains. Attacks with Priest, I fetch plains and send him farming. -> Draw Armageddon and cast it. KotR is now 6/6. Attack with KotR and Savannah Lions. AI makes no blocks (16, 15)
T5 AI no land and attack (12, 15). -> Draw Wooded Foothills and fetch Forest. Werebear now at Threshold and KotR 7/7. Attack (11, 2) and cast Black Vise.
T6 AI no land and attack (7, 2) -> Draw Qasali Pridemage, attack and win (7, -11)

vs Nyktorian:
Game 1:
Opening hand is Plains, Wasteland, Savannah, Mox Pearl, KotR, Tarmogoyf. Awesome!
T1 Mox Pearl, Savannah, Tarmogoyf. -> AI Tropical Island, Mox Sapphire, Tarmogoyf.
T2 Draw Black Vise. Play Wasteland, KotR. AI counters it with FoW. -> AI Island. Tarmogoyf. Now I'm wishing I had killed Tropical Island first :-/
T3 Draw Terravore, still only 1 green source. Wasteland his Tropical Island. Black Vise. -> AI Tropical Island. Brainstorm. Attack with Goyfs (17, 19). Plays another Tarmogoyf.
T4 Draw Black Lotus. I could cast both of my Terravore now, but they will be smaller than Goyfs so I pass. -> AI attacks with 3x Goyf (11, 19)
T5 Draw Balance. Mise! I cast it, don't lose any lands or cards and now it's 1 on 1 goyfs. If I cast Terravore 's now they still don't match goyf. -> AI plays draw go
T6 Draw Savannah Lions and cast it. -> AI draw go.
T7 Draw Swords to Plowshares and cast it on enemy Goyf. AI has Mana Drain. -> AI draw, go.
T8 Draw Wooded Foothills. I cast both of my Terravore now (2/2). -> AI Windswept Heath for Tundra. Sends my Goyf farming.
T9 Draw Black Vise and cast it. -> AI send my Terravore farming. I fetch in response and gain 4 life.
T10 Draw Forest. Pass. -> AI Sower of Temptation taking my Terravore. Not good.
T11 Draw Werebear and cast it. -> AI attacks with team. I chump Tarmogoyf and give Threshold to Werebear (13, 18). AI plays 4th Goyf (5/6)
T12 Draw Savannah. I don't have a lot of outs, but that definitely isn't it. -> AI attacks with team and I trade Wearebear for Terravore (1, 18). Rhox War Monk.
T13 Draw Mox Emerald -> AI attacks and I die (-14, 21). Next card was Wrath of Good too :-/

Game 2:
Opening hand has no lands or moxen. Mulligan.
6 cards is Mox Pearl, Savannah Lions, 2x Wasteland, Black Vise, Werebear. I am on the play so this seems really strong.
T1 Mox Pearl, Black Vise, Wasteland. -> AI vise trigger (20, 17) plays Tropical Island, Ancestral Recall giving me 3 cards. I get a Werebear, Forest, and another Black Vise. ROFLWTFBBQFTW
T2 Draw Black Vise. For reals. Black Vise, Forest, Black Vise. So. Sick. -> AI vise triggers (20, 11). Tropical Island, pass.
T3 Draw Wrath of God. Wasteland killing Tropical Island. I don't play a creature because I don't want to give a target for Force of Will. -> AI vise triggers (20, 5). Misty rainforest to fetch up a Tundra.
T4 Draw Plains and play it, pass. -> AI vise triggers (20, -2)

Game 3:
Opening hand is 2x Black Vise, Wrath of God, Armageddon, Plains, Wooded Foothills, Terravore.
This hand is weak on the draw. 2x Black vise probably won't do much damage since I don't have the Wasteland start. However, because I have Wrath I decide it's worth running it and hoping to get a little lucky.
T1 AI Tropical Island, Noble Hierarch. So much for luck. -> Draw Mox Pearl and cast it. Plains. Black Vise, Black Vise.
T2 AI vise triggers (20, 18). Plains. Rhox War Monk. -> Draw Strip Mine. Wooded Foothills to fetch Forest.
T3 AI Misty Rainforest to fetch Tropical Island. Kitchen Finks. Rhox War Monk attacks (15, 23). -> Draw Savannah and play it. Important decision now: AI has 3 cards and only 1 mana. I decide to cast Wrath. If it's countered then on my next turn I am clear to follow up with Terravore, then Armageddon and have Strip Mine too. Wrath doesn't get countered.
T4 AI attacks with Finks (13, 25). Tarmogoyf, Noble Heirarch. Damn. -> Draw Qasali Pridemage. AI is tapped out so I cast Terravore and pass.
T5 AI attack with Goyf (9, 25). Sower of Temptation! Double damn! -> Draw Tarmogoyf and cast it. Qasali Pridemage.
T6 AI casts Qasali Pridemage and attack with Sower (5, 25). -> Draw Savannah Lions and cast it.
T7 AI attacks with exalted Sower (1, 25). -> Draw Wooded Foothills and that's game over.

I knew that my turn 3 was going to be a turning point one way or another. Even if I'm playing around FoW it's probably better to lead with Terravore there instead of Wrath. Sorry Enigma!

[aww1979]

@Brandon: Confirmed your gauntlet scores matched the ones I recorded.
@Salbei: Your gauntlet scores matched mine except I have no record of you playing with juzamjedi or nyktorian. Your scoring has that they got 10-0 each, though; I'll try to find it in the 11 pages :p Given your description of what you were trying to do with your deck, I don't think I'd have changed much, but I think I would have tried hard to find a home for Mana Drain, but that may just be how much I like Mana Drain! (Force of Will would be too hard to fit in, you'd have to cut something important and there aren't enough blue cards to pitch to it) I'm not sure what I'd cut for it, though; probably Keiga and maybe one of each wall and control magic? I dunno.
@people in general: it doesn't hurt to record your games in detail if you want. If people don't want to read them, they won't, and if they do, then they are able to. It won't ever be a requirement to do that though, only to note wins/losses. Personally, I looked at most of them.

edit: @salbei: I found the 10-0 with nyktorion on page 9 and JuzamJedi on page 8.

[Salbei]

Sure, Mana Drain and Force of Will would have been awesome and i would definatly play them in the list,but i was concerned about the AI.The AI really likes to Counter creatures - no matter what they do and does not keep them in their hand for the "real" threats like a lethal Fireball or a Planeswalker.
Seen it Force of Will so many low to no threat cards its not even funny.Mana Drain especially would help a lot putting up the early defenses or protect my winning options and is definatly a good choice.Also helps creating a soft lock where you got more answers to possible threats than the opponent got threats.well the 8 removal + 4 Control Magic already do a simmilar thing while being more flexible(can handle a resolved threat).Afterall i don´t have enough room.If the meta would have been different (more combo/lockdown/control) then i would definatly play them.

About Emeria:
i read the card like this : You have to build your deck around this card to "possibly" be usefull and help you win a game you can and will win without it.
(have to play QUALITY creatures that are WORTH reviving,your manabase HAS to consist of Plains or white Dual lands ONLY -> leaving you very vulnurable to Blood Moon and Wasteland. The shear ammount of Plains needed to actually use Emeria alone forces you to play more land or manafetchers (Tribe Elder etc) to actually get a use out of it.This leading to your Creature/Spell base pretty much HAS to cost 4+ Mana.
The only 2 valid deck i would see is massing up Wrath of God effects along with a bunch of creatures which is generally a anti-synergy and a bad Gameplan.Or mixed with green, a couple Tribe Elders along with strong midsized creatures.

Summation

Emeria:
-Comes into play tapped (bad for your early Mana development)
-recycles the Creatures in your graveyard
-only usefull at the very late game
-highly forces you to build a deck around it while the effect it gives does not help you winning at all
-you don´t want to play more than 2 of these.
-the requirements is having 7 very specific lands in play
-very unflexible since it can only be used during your upkeep
-the card pretty much dictates you to play a certain type of deck,making it even less flexible
-the upside : it doesn´t cost you anything to activate - but just think about it wouldn´t you rather pay 5 mana for the same effect without the hassle of getting the required lands into play ?
-starts getting usefull at turn 5(with designated manafetchers) or 8 (without any manipulation)

Thawing Glaciers got next to nothing to do with Emeria
-comes into play tapped (bad for your Mana development)
-fetches you basic lands (obviosly good for your Mana development)
-thins out your deck significantly over time.
-giving you the opportunity to never miss a land drop
-requires a Manahungry lategamedeck that play more basic lands
-starts getting usefull at turn 2

now compare it with Volraths Stronghold.
-can produce Mana when you play it.
-recycles the Creatures in your graveyard.
-you can choose what card you are going to during your turn.
-the requirements to activate this card is A SINGLE BLACK mana and a colorless mana + a drawstep or carddraw.
-it is legendary, but you don´t want this too hit the game too early anyway - 1 or 2 copies tops should be right.
-can be played in almost any deck that can have access to a single Black Mana and got creatures that are WORTH to be recycled.
-can be used for tricks(messing with goyf for example)
-you can set this up EOT to stack creatures you are going to draw with a draw spell
-can be played in pretty much every deck to increase your lategame performance.
-starts getting usefull at turn 4

there is no scenario i can think of where i would play Emeria over Volraths Stronghold. It is a bad card in every aspect and should not be played unless you specificly design your deck around it - even then i would just add 2 duals that produce B and a Mox Jet and play Volraths Stronghold over that card.
Unless you don´t find a way to get to 7 plains turn 3-4 and use Emeria to bring a fatty into play i´m not convinced that this card should ever get even near any deck - beside maybe as a dustcatcher to protect your sleeves.

[jatill]

Salbei-
Clearly we had the same ideas when deck building. If you're really in it to win, though, I think Tinker was the main card missing from your deck. You can see from people's match results that it was the key card for a lot of AI wins. Not to mention how good it was in the jatill vs. Salbei matchup The only other card I prefer is Library of Alexandria over Strip Mine, since your deck doesn't want to nuke its own lands. Thawing Glaciers might have been good in our decks, too. My lack of Balance was definitely an oversight. I sort of like Wall of Rev, but would never use it myself since I hate all the clicking it makes you do. I'll be fixing that in the next release Coffin was definitely an interesting choice that I never considered. Who knew that card even existed? (you did!) It saved me a couple time when I was playing your deck.

I haven't tallied the scores, but it looks like you're in good shape now. So stop whining about the randomness already!

[aww1979]

Yeah, jatill and salbei definitely had the same idea :p The one argument I would make against Tinker is the AI doesn't use it smartly; I had one game the AI played jatill's deck and Tinkered for a *mox* instead of Inkwell. And jatill, shame on you for not using Balance, the best white card ever printed!

-Strip Mine: it goes in 99.9% of decks I make. The only card I put in more decks is Black Lotus.
-Library of Alexandria: A good card, and might've worked in salbei's deck, but he doesn't have a lot of card draw, so it's only really good if he got it right away.
-Thawing Glaciers: I don't like this card. It requires you to play many icky basic lands, which are icky slimy things. Plus, it starts out very slow.
-Wall of Reverence: It's a good card, but I hate walls :p
-Tawnos's Coffin: A good card, though quite mana-intensive. Lightning Greaves would've worked much cheaper if it was just about protecting Baneslayer, but I don't really like Lightning Greaves, either.
-Mana Drain: Yeah, I figured you didn't include it because the AI is dumb :p

Next post will contain my results with juzamjedi's deck. I'm up to 4-0 so far, but I split the video here because I had one game against salbei take about an hour :p I was so boooooooored...

[jatill]

I bet the AI had Inkwell in hand when it cast Tinker in that case.
In good news, I taught the AI to actually use Gorilla Shaman for future tournaments.

[Salbei]

I bet the AI had Inkwell in hand when it cast Tinker in that case.
In good news, I taught the AI to actually use Gorilla Shaman for future tournaments.

Nice. This is definatly good news and will have quite an impact on my private Gauntlet, maybe even the next tournament aswell.

Usually the ai picks like this : creature->Sol Ring->Mox->Memory Jar/Belcher.

@aaw
i actually played Lightning Greaves for a while but it was too "static". its a one trick pony and the coffin is just more flexible. On the other hand the AI would at least use the card to protect your cards with the greaves.
Couple times i was able to just coffin my creature and play a Balance ,was a neat little trick to have access too aswell.I´ve found another card that just screams to be included to my deck, a card i´ve used along with a playset of Maze of Iths when i was playing a paper magic free for all game with 5 of my friends.
Ertai, Wizard Adept . can´t believe i didn´t include it.