July Tournament (in progress)

[thedrigo]

Notes: I really feel embarrassed how well other people are doing with my deck and I get steamrolled with it in my own hands.

Dude, don't worry. My deck is by far the biggest piece of $H!7 with the lowest win ratio in the tourney, I think everyone who's played with it so far has died a horrible death at the hands of that W/G Aggro.

[Cognis]

I didn't expect that you'd lose to my deck since I really have no answer for Progenitus and shrouded creatures, but that's normal, in the last tournament other players played my deck better than me. As far as I can see we'll both be in round 2.

[Yggdrasil]

Hi everyone !
I have very little free time this july to devote to Magic and my priority will be learning how to create cards (so far the results are disappointing but I am persistent ).
I'll play some matches if I can and of course, I'll continue reading this thread.

Like several of us, I encountered difficulties in building my deck. The metas of the previous tournaments gave us too many good decks in different styles, it becomes really difficult to cope successfully fast aggro, slow control, progenitus combo and the others...
I tried to design a burn deck especially made for the AI, then I tried a mill deck. Each of them was powerful and pleasant in a human's hands, but crappy when played by the AI.
I feared a lot progenitus and other big creatures oriented decks (Eldrazis are here, after all ) and also prison decks with meekstone or moat. So finally I built this BR deck with a lot of discards and powerful sweepers. It's not as well-shaped as my two previous decks, but AI can manage it nearly properly and with a decent hand, a human should win against most deck types.
At least I hope.

[Cognis]

Yeah, it would be great if the AI could get smarter, which is probably impossible, or if we could have a PvP tournament which is also quite impossible since we live in different time zones. Maybe we could have a different scoring system depending on the deck the AI plays with. If the AI wins with a mill deck is definitely it should get more points than if it wins with a straight forward aggro deck. Maybe that could give AI unfriendly decks a chance to progress further and not just have creature decks winning.

[Brandon822]

Group C

Discoransom 0 points
Shantak 7 points
Juzamjedi 14 points

Discoransom vs Shantak(AI) - 0-2
Discoransom vs Juzamjedi(AI) - 0-2

Shantak vs Discoransom(AI) - 2-0
Shantak vs Juzamjedi(AI) - 0-2

Juzamjedi vs Discoransom(AI) - 2-0
Juzamjedi vs Shantak(AI) - 2-0

Group D

Brandon 2 points
Serbitar 4 points
Aww 7 points

Brandon vs Aww(AI) - 1-2
Brandon vs Serbitar(AI) - 2-0

Aww vs Serbitar(AI) - 2-0
Aww vs Brandon(AI) - 2-0

Serbitar vs Aww(AI) - 2-0
Serbitar vs Brandon(AI) - 2-0

[taron]

I think I'm dead out of my bracket, this is what happens when you get preoccupied with other stuff =p

[Shantak]

Just finished Group B:

Jatill vs. Taron (AI) - 2-0, Jatill +2 points
I had combo in hand, but Tangle Wire slowed me for three turns. 1-0

Next game, I had both Leyline and Helm in play on my first turn. 2-0

Jatill vs Yggdrasil (AI) - 2-0, Jatill +2 points
Tutored Leyline, casted it on my second turn, cast Helm on my third turn, destroyed AI's library on my fourth turn. 1-0

Only Leylines and land in initial hand but I take it. On my third turn I draw, cast and use Helm. 2-0.

Now I know what kind of deck I'll be using in (most of) the challenges I've still got unfinished. Leyline of the Void + Helm of Obedience is much more effective and easier than any Oath or Hulk Flash deck.


Taron vs Jatill (AI) - 2-0, Taron +2 points
Never had more than 2 lands, but Arcbound Ravagers did the job (and AI helped with fetchlands and Thoughtseizes). 1-0

Next game, Smokestack dealt with AI's lands and I was free to hit with Solemn Simulacrum. I was even able to do a nasty Tooth and Nail dual Eldrazi finish (AI went to -25). 2-0

Taron vs. Yggdrasil (AI) - 0-2, Yggdrasil +5 points
AI was too fast with Bitterblossom, Nighthawks and Hymns. 0-1

This time I was able to slow AI with Smokestack and Tangle Wire, but once my hand is destroyed with two Hymns I can't recover. 0-2

Yggdrasil vs Jatill (AI) - 2-0, Yggdrasil +2 points
AI had a starting Layline but I was able to do good damage and was confident I could finish him before Helm. Then he cast Damnation, which slowed me down. Then, on his final turn, AI cast Helm of Obedience and had one land untapped... but didn't use the Helm! My faeries then brought AI to 0. 1-0

I had two Bitterblossoms and attacked AI's hand with two Blightnings and a Hymn. AI didn't cast anything. 2-0

Yggdrasil vs Taron (AI) - 2-0, Yggdrasil +2 points
AI slowed the beginning with Tangle Wire while I hit him with discard. Demigod of Revenge then did most of the work. 1-0

Again Demigod did most of the work, 15 damage. 2-0


Total points:
Yggdrasil +9
Jatill +4
Taron +2

[aww1979]

Now I know what kind of deck I'll be using in (most of) the challenges I've still got unfinished. Leyline of the Void + Helm of Obedience is much more effective and easier than any Oath or Hulk Flash deck.

A good plan, though you have to unlock both Leyline and Helm first, if you haven't already. Oath will do better now that we have some *real* badasses like Emrakul, hehe. I never had much luck with the hulk flash deck in most of the challenge modes, but if you use 4 Cunning Wish, you can kinda cheat and use those as Flash #2-5.

Most of the decks I used in the challenge modes were either Oath, Tendrils, or uber fast creature decks, unless the challenge required something else.


Also, if there is anyone who knows in advance that they will NOT be testing the decks in round 1, please post that. In that way, we might be able to move on to round 2 faster if everyone finishes early.

[monopoman]

Group B

Match 1: Jatill (Human) vs. Taron (AI) 2-0 Jatill Win

Game 1: I get the combo out fairly slowly but the AI supplies no pressure at all. One arcbound ravager beating me down.

Game 2: Get down helm fairly quickly but am having trouble getting a hold of Leyline. AI starts beating me down with a Ravager but I do drop Leyline and win.

Match 2: Jatill (Human) vs. Yggdrasil (AI) 2-0 Jatill Win

Game 1: AI gets some early beats going but I get Leyline down and tutor for Helm easy win.

Game 2: I have trouble getting out more then 2 land and the AI starts to lay down the offensive. Luckily I did get a turn 0 leyline so I just have to get the helm. I finally drop helm really late getting really low on lief thanks to multiple sign in bloods/nights whisper AI puts me at 3 but then I activate the combo and win.

Match 3: Taron (Human) vs. Jatill (AI) 2-0 Taron Win

Game 1: AI does nothing all game except lay out some mana and damnations removing a card or two from my hand. Get Tooth combo and lay down Emrakul and Butcher then win next turn.

Game 2: AI again does nothing much and doesn't try assemble the combo at all eventually my ravager+simul beats win the day.

Match 4: Taron (Human) vs. Yggdrasil (AI) 0-2 Taron Loss

Game 1: I get a slow start and the AI eventually overwhelms me with Demigod+Faerie tokens I do get Butcher out though the turn before AI kills me.

Game 2: Never get the combo down and the AI eventually overwhelms me with Faeries off the BBlossom.

Match 5: Yggdrasil (Human) vs. Jatill (AI) Yggdrasil wins 2-1

Game 1: AI does nothing much once again I swing in and deal damage as time goes on AI goes from 20 to 0 Yggdrasil wins.

Game 2: AI actually gets the combo down this game but apparently refuses to activate Helm despite having more then enough mana eventually it does activate it though and then wins the game.

Game 3: AI does not get the combo down this time I stifle his hand and then beat on him hard.

Match 6: Yggdrasil (Human) vs. Taron (AI) 2-0 win Yggdrasil

Game 1: The discard+beats overwhelms Tarons deck as the AI has trouble doing anything to stop me.

Game 2: Similar to the first game but AI has even more trouble mounting an offensive.

[aww1979]

Group C:

discoransom vs shantak AI 1-2 (shantak +3 pts)
discoransom vs juzamjedi AI 2-0 (discoransom +2 pts)

D vs S: (sorry for the huge play by play, but these were intense games, and there's a big controversy at the end of game 2)

Game 1: AI hits me with turn 1 Raven's Crime, and I toss a Triskelion, since that's not coming into play anytime soon. Turn 2 is Sinkhole, and I'm not liking this, since disco's deck needs a lot of land to get going, and I only started with two. I do draw one next turn. AI plays Cabal Therapy on Solemn Simulacrum, and I had three of them in hand. (lucky guess lol, I see that disco had the same idea that I had with Meddling Mage ) AI turn 3 I get hit with Hymn to Tourach, and all I have in play is two plains and my hand is Open the Vaults and nothing else. Next turn I draw and play a plains, and AI hymns my OtV away. AI plays Crucible of Worlds and gets back a fetchland. I get Mindstone on my next turn and Lodestone Golem after that. If it survives I might be okay. It doesn't; AI kills it with Innocent Blood, and didn't have to pay the extra 1 mana from Lodestone Golem, which is probably related to whatever the hell happened with Trinisphere in the last group for me. AI had enough mana to cover it and didn't cast anything else, so the result isn't affected. I topdeck Bottle Gnomes, and AI has another Innocent Blood; I gain 3 life saccing the gnomes. The next few turns are draw land and go, until I get another Bottle Gnomes. AI plays Raven's Crime on my empty hand and then plays Pox, and while I lose the gnomes, AI loses most of the card advantage it's gained so far. It also hasn't been saccing its fetchland that it recurred, even though Crucible is sitting there begging for it. Life totals are 17-12; I haven't even touched the AI, it's all fetch and pox :p I topdeck a couple more plains, and AI uses crucible on a poxed swamp. Next two turns AI does nothing, I draw Wrath and then Martial Coup. Time to make some tokens, I think, particularly since if I wait for more mana, AI might just make me discard it. I get 3 soldiers for my 5 mana. AI does nothing. Nice. I draw Ruins of Trokair and swing for 3. I've got enough mana if I sac ruins to play an open the vaults if I draw it, so at end of turn I sac the Mind Stone. Strangely, it doesn't give me a card, but that's easy to fix with debug. Both my mind stone/debug draw and my normal draw are two more wraths, so now I've got 3 in hand if it ever gets a Bloodghast. I swing for 3 again, AI down to 6. Am I going to win this game after that horrible start? AI does nothing again, and seems to have forgotten about its crucible once more. I draw Secluded Steppe, swing for 3 again, and cycle it since I've got enough mana now, but I get a Plains, lol, so I just play it. AI does nothing once more, and I attack for the win! Wow! Even if AI had drawn mass removal, my topdeck was Triskelion, so I could have just used the counters straight to the head. 1-0
Game 2: Mull a no land hand into a one land hand, into a 5 card hand with 2x plains, simulacrum, mind stone, triskelion. I draw a plains on turn 2 (sweet!) and play Mind Stone; I'm fearing a hymn on AI's turn, but it plays Bloodghast, which isn't good, either. (I accidentally click stop instead of pause as I go here to type this, but I can still save what I had up to now, so it's in two parts, hehe) I drop Solemn Simulacrum turn 3, but AI sinkholes a plains. I topdeck Lodestone Golem and put him out and swing for 2 with SS. I'm not holding out any hope for the golem's +1 mana cost ability working, but a 5/3 body for 4 is nothing to laugh at. Raven's Crime takes my last card (triskelion) and surprisingly, AI *did* pay the extra mana this time to cast it. It follows with The Rack, which is an artifact, so it's not affected. Also, my hand is empty, so I'm going to start taking hits, but AI is going to take 7 next turn since Bloodghast can't block. I draw a plains and keep it (the rack, plus I have 5 mana in play) and attack; life totals are 17-11. Ai swings for 2 with the ghast, then plays Extirpate (on triskelion, the only nonplains target; I'm pleasantly surprised the AI is capable of using this) and Pox, neither of which it pays +1 mana for. This *does* affect the match, since it had only 4 in play, but it is hugely in MY favour, not the opponent's. It loses bloodghast and discards another pox; I lose the plains in hand and two in play, and my simulacrum, who draws me Open the Vaults. Life totals are 10-7 off Pox, and Lodestone Golem looks like it'll outrace The Rack no problem, and I can sac Mind Stone if things get too close. I won't yet since I've only got 3 mana in play. I draw plains, keep it, and swing; life 8-2. AI plays swamp, resurrecting Bloodghast, who swings. AI then ignores my Lodestone Golem +1 mana cost again and plays another Pox, which is definitely *not* to my advantage, but debugging the state back would be a royal pain in the ass, and I haven't lost, yet, besides. AI has two swamp, the rack, and an empty hand; I've got plains, mindstone in play and plains in hand, life is 4-1. I sac the Mind Stone end of turn so I only lose 1 life to the rack, otherwise AI wins with the topdeck of a land or bloodghast, which is a pretty high probability. Again it doesn't work, so I debug a card into my hand; a plains. AI topdecks sinkhole for my plains; I draw simulacrum and play plains, keeping 3 cards in hand. Geez, talk about cutting it close. Again. AI hymns me, leaving me with just Plains in hand, and now I'm going to lose. Shit. The Rack puts me at 1, and I draw another plains. I have no way of avoiding 1 damage next turn. I pass and hope AI screws up, but it topdecks bloodghast and finishes me. 1-1 (I'm not sure what to do about this one, since the AI cheated to win... I'm hoping that I win the next game so that at least it only costs disco one point, and then further hoping that one point doesn't affect the group results. If I can win game 3, the odds of this affecting disco negatively are slim)
Game 3: I keep my opening hand, 2x plains, mindstone, triskelion, 2x wrath, open the vaults. By turn 3, both my plains have been Sinkholed, and Cabal Therapy takes my topdecked Nevinyrral's Disk. (the first time I'd seen one in three long games, and there's FOUR of them in here...) AI plays crucible and cabal therapies my three wrath of gods, while I'm staring at my singleton mind stone on the board and saying what the F...? I say the same phrase again when AI plays Pox against my empty board! I discard a triskelion I'll probably never cast, and a Masticore, which is possibly the most overrated card in magic, keeping OtV and SS. AI brings back a swamp with crucible. I draw a land; AI brings back another land and plays a second crucible. I topdeck another Plains; sweetness! AI plays another Pox (wtf???) and there goes my plains and my OtV. AI recurs a swamp. Life totals are 8-8, all due to poxes. AI plays Smallpox (first time I've seen that) and I lose my last plains. *sigh* Next several turns we draw-go, while AI crucibles the lands it poxed, and I'm dreaming of a crucible on my side right now. AI drops a hasted Bloodghast and drops me to 5. Ugh. I topdeck plains; if I can get another one in time, I can put down Bottle Gnomes. AI drops me to 3, and I topdeck Karakas! woohoo! The gnomes come down, and I've never been so happy to see them. AI plays Sinkhole, then Pox, and I've got no land again; I sac gnomes. AI recurs a swamp and bloodghast, stupidly postcombat, buying me a turn, but I doubt I can make use of it, as my hand is empty and my board is... Mind Stone. I draw two spells and lose the game. 1-2

Well guys... I really don't know what to do about this one. I'm just really hoping that my games don't affect the final result. If anyone has a fair solution, I'd love to hear it; otherwise, I'm going to let this stand for now and cross my fingers that disco either wins by a lot or loses by a lot in the end :p

D vs J:
Game 1: My opening hand is weak, with 2x plains, 2x triskelion, wrath, OtV and MastiSuckACore. I've been having trouble getting much land, so I'm keeping it with two. (though I just counted and there are 24 in the deck, which is what I'd have done, so it's just bad luck) I draw a 3rd plains and AI is stuck with one land, but two elves in play. I topdeck a plains again (finally, disco gets some GOOD luck for a change) and debate between Mastisuck and Wrath. I go with Masticore since he can shoot the elves down, and I can discard my triskelions and maybe cast open the vaults at some point on them. AI plays two more llanowar elves, and MasterSuck snipes them and swings for 4. AI plays Bramblewood Paragon and swings for 1 with Joraga Warcaller. He's still stuck at 1 land. (using the llanowar to play BP) Noob-at-the-Core snipes the 1/1s and swings for 4 again. AI plays another Joraga (2/2 this time due to BP) and swings with a 3/3 BP. Noobercore snipes Joraga and swings again. I throw a third triskelion to his upkeep, and drew a nevvy's disk. I've got 5 mana in play, so if I get a plains, Open the Vaults is gonna get 3 triskelions and basically autowin. I don't draw one, but I do draw a simulacrum, so I play it and swing again for 4. 13-4 life. AI does nothing and I open the vaults on three triskelions for the win. I've got to admit, Masticore really shone here, though I find most of the time he's not worth using. I've also got to give props to Juzamjedi's elf deck, since it managed to do pretty good considering it only drew one land the entire game. 1-0
Game 2: I get 3 plains and mind stone in my hand, and keep it, proving that it IS possible to actually get mana in my opening hand with this deck :p I've also got Martial Coup, simulacrum, and good old Juggernaut, whom I haven't seen all night, either. On turn 3 I play simulacrum with mind stone and get a 5th mana, looking to play triskelion next turn and wipe the 2x joragas and llanowar elves the AI has. It has only one land again so far. AI draws a land and plays bramblewood paragon; I do the same, play triskelion and attack with simulacrum. I attack, and AI blocks with both Joragas. ROFL, that is *exactly* what I was hoping for. Triskelion snipes one of them and SS kills the other. I then snipe the BP with the other counters, and I still have the simulacrum :p AI plays Elvish Champion; I play Juggernaut AND Bottle Gnomes (actually having mana in play makes this deck good :p) and trade SS for the champ. I've got a huge board advantage, and Martial Coup and Wrath of God in case something happens. It does; AI plays two more elves, and they can kill my juggy, so I play Martial Coup for 8, saccing my gnomes and ruins of trokair. AI is at 15, so I win in two unless it has an answer. It does; Wren's Run Vanquisher, revealing a second one. I attack with everything anyway, losing a soldier and dealing 7 damage; then I play the SS i topdecked. (AI would be sitting on its soldier army if the position had been reversed) AI swings for 3 and plays the second WRV. I attack with everything; WRV kills SS, and the soldiers drop AI to 1 life. I take six (down to 11) from 2x WRV, and then my soldiers swing en masse for the win. 2-0 (oh, I didn't mention it, but near the end I sacced the Mind Stone after it was irrelevant, and it *did* give me a card that time, so I don't know what the fuck is going on with that)

Next matches for C up soon; just posting this now, hoping I can catch a few comments about game 2 before people start going to bed.

[aww1979]

Group C, continued:

Shantak vs Discoransom AI 2-0 (shantak +2 pts)
Shantak vs Juzamjedi AI 0-2 (juzamjedi +5 pts)
Juzamjedi vs Discoransom AI 2-0 (juzamjedi +2 pts)
Juzamjedi vs Shantak AI 2-0 (juzamjedi +2 pts)

S vs D:
Game 1: I have only 1 swamp in opening hand, but all my spells are two mana except pox, and I know disco's deck is slow in the opening turns, so I go for it. I don't get a land for a couple turns, but AI misses its turn 1 land drop and plays lands on its next 3 turns, and bottle gnomes, while I just use Raven's Crime. I topdeck a swamp and have the choice between Smallpox, Hymn, Sinkhole, Bloodghast, or Innocent Blood. Hmmmm.... I go with the Sinkhole on the Ruins to stall, since Bottle Gnomes isn't exactly the scariest beater. I take 1 and draw another swamp. Now I have the same options, plus Pox or Crucible. I play the Crucible, hoping to get a nice Pox in next turn. AI plays a land and MasterSuck, and swings for 1. Looks like Pox time I discard Bloodghast and Smallpox, sac a swamp, while AI loses gnomes, two plains, and two cards in hand. I then crucible a land and get bloodghast back. I could now play either Innocent Blood or Bloodchief Ascension. I'd rather actually leave the Masticore and let AI discard to it, even though I'll take 4 on the swing. Then I'll hymn next turn and he'll have to sac the masticore. That's exactly what happens, and MasterSuck is now in the graveyard where he can't cause any more card disadvantage. Bloodghast and The Rack then wtfpwn the AI, who draws nothing but land for the next few turns. 1-0
Game 2: Opening hand: 3x swamp ,cabal therapy, raven's crime, bloodghast, smallpox. Definitely a keeper. I'm not sure what AI might have in hand to cabal therapy, but I figure its best card in the early game is Mind Stone, since it accelerates into its scary threats, so I therapy for it. It has Triskelion x2, Wrath, and 3x Plains. (it played a plains turn 1) Looks like I'm in great shape to win this one. Turn 2 I play Smallpox, toss Bloodghast, and AI tosses a triskelion. Turn 3 Swamp(recur bloodghast) and then my rules engine lights up. I'm going wtf is this for, and then I realize I have Cabal Therapy in the graveyard, and Bloodghast in play. I'm liking the synergies in this deck more and more; I might vote this one 'most fun'. AI plays Martial Coup for 1 *yawn*. Turn 4 I reflexively play a swamp and then groan as I realize that means I can't recur bloodghast once I trade with that soldier. A mistake on my part, but I expect to win with the start I've had. I make the trade and play the Crucible. AI plays Nevvy's Disk, and I topdeck another Crucible. Sweet, now if he disks I still have that. I play Pox, this time keeping the land in hand to discard to pox, then crucible a fetch, recurring bloodghast. AI sacs two more plains. Poor guy; I remember what that was like... AI pops the disk, then I sac the fetch and get bloodghast back :p I recur my fetch, and discard a swamp to retrace Raven's Crime, hitting AI's last card, a Wrath of God. Damn, unless one of the Group D decks really impresses me, this one's getting my 'fun vote'. This style of deck is right up my alley. I keep poking with Bloodghast, and between him, and retracing Raven's Crime, I keep AI from being able to do anything until it's at 2 life, when it casts Solemn Simulacrum. I topdeck Damnation, and I can win by playing it and then a land and attacking with a hasted Bloodghast. Unfortunately, I don't realize that until I've already attacked, lol. I trade with the SS, recur my bloodghast, raven's crime the card he draws, and pass. AI topdecks a Juggernaut. This time I don't screw up, and I Damnation first, crucible a land, and attack with a hasted bloodghast for the win. 2-0

S vs J:
Game 1: I keep a one mana hand, since I know two mana can basically run the deck, and I have Innocent Blood to stall a bit. Also, the low land count of the elf deck means I have a very favourable matchup with my sinkholes and smallpoxes. AI plays Stomping Ground tapped; I play swamp and The Rack; AI plays forest, Joraga and Fyndhorn Elves on turn 2. I topdeck a Wasteland, which I didn't even realize was in this deck, as I haven't seen it yet. Good grief, I'd have been crying if AI had gotten one when I was playing with the Vaults deck. I wasteland the stomping ground and innocent blood, AI sacs the fyndhorn, lol. AI land grants, and I write down what he's got in hand. I take 1 from Joraga and AI plays Priest of Titania. This could be rough, as he has two Elvish Archdruid in hand, but if I topdeck swamp, then Smallpox or Hymn will wreck his day. I topdeck a crucible and pass. AI attacks instead of using PoT for mana, so I'm spared some real beatings and just take 2. I topdeck another rack. AI drops a 3rd land, attacks for two, and plays Imperious Perfect postcombat. *facepalm* I topdeck bloodghast, and I'm still stuck at one land. AI swings for 6 and plays another Perfect postcombat. The AI is playing like a complete retard and I'm still losing because I can't find a freaking second swamp. I topdeck Pox and I'm at 9 life, looking at 12 damage next turn and I can't cast a thing. I let the AI finish me instead of conceding because I'm curious to see if it will finally play an Archdruid precombat or tap its priest for the second one. It doesn't; it just attacks again. 0-1, but a human would have won probably two turns sooner. Sorry to shantak for keeping that hand, but all I needed was that second swamp, and I never got it all game.
Game 2: I keep my hand; one swamp and one wasteland, but I'm hoping for that second swamp again :p Turn 1 the rack vs joraga , turn 2 I wasteland his land and innocent blood the joraga. Turn 3 AI plays land/joraga, and I topdeck that swamp and sinkhole the land AI land grants and I'm thinking of extirpating that land grant next turn, but I draw smallpox and that's about a thousand times better, since it kills joraga and the land, and I know AI has no more land in hand due to the land grant. Next turn I extirpate Land Grant, and topdeck a swamp to boot. Looking good. AI gets forest and plays llanowar elf; i get swamp and play crucible. Next turn AI plays one of two Elvish Visionary I know it has. I draw Extirpate, but there's nothing really useful to play it on, so I crucible my wasteland; unfortunately, AI's sole land is a forest. I miss the days of four strip mines... AI plays Bramblewood Paragon; I draw and play Bloodghast, and deliberately don't crucible a land, in case I need it to recur him. AI swings for 3 on its turn and plays Elvish Visionary (gets a counter). Bloodghast swings for 2; AI declines to block. I topdeck another swamp and swing for 2 since ghast can't block anyway. I really don't want to lose with this deck, but it's looking real bad. AI plays Joraga Warcaller, gets a counter from the paragon, and swings for lethal. 0-2, but I can hardly believe it happened; I thought this was a guaranteed win.

J vs D:
Game 1: AI plays two plains and no spells; I win on turn 4 because unlike the AI, I tap Priest of Titania for mana and on turn 4 I have 8 elves, and play a *big* Joraga Warcaller. I tap two PoT and two Elvish Archdruid to kick it a shitload lot of times and attack with the remaining elves, who are 20/20s. 1-0
Game 2: I keep an iffy hand with one land and no mana elves, but I topdeck land grant and I'm good to go. Turn 2 Elvish Visionary, draws a forest, turn 3 Elvish Archdruid. Turn 4 I play two Elves of Deep Shadow, then a doublekicked Joraga Warcaller with my Elvish Archdruid and visionary swings, AI at 14. AI plays Bottle Gnomes, the only spell of two games, and it would buy a turn but I have Imperious Perfect x2 in hand. Turn 5 I play it and swing with five 5/5s. AI chumps one and surprisingly is smart enough to sac Bottle Gnomes, but is still left at -3. 2-0, and grats to juzam for the fastest match I've played this tourney, at 4 turns and 5 turns per game.

J vs S:
Game 1: This matchup looked really bad, but I lost twice with Shantak's deck, and that was as the human, and I'm smarter than the AI. Right? C'mon, somebody say something... Anyway, my opening hand is killer; two land, elves of deep shadow, joraga, belcher, vanquisher, priest of titania. Turn 1 EoDS, turn 2 PoT. Ai does nothing turn 1, but turn 2 it plays Smallpox. I lose EoDS, a land, and throw joraga. Turn 3 I tap PoT and play Elvish Visionary. (draw paragon) I did that instead of the vanquisher because of that draw; I'm hoping to get the belcher out and just win with that. I play visonary #2 and draw another vanquisher. AI plays swamp and Pox. Ugh. I throw a Perfect and the belcher; my dreams of going BOOM are over, I think. I've still got PoT that can tap for 2, and I have three 2 mana elves in hand, and AI is at 11 life. I play WRV (not paragon) since, at least assuming a goldfish situation, that wins one turn faster, as I can swing for 1 now and for 5 the next two turns. AI has only two cards in hand and two mana, so it's a reasonable try. AI goes swamp, Raven's Crime (I toss a belcher) and Bloodghast. I swing for 4 and cast BP and WRV with PoT and the Land Grant I topdeck. AI at 6 and no topdeck will save it, not even Damnation, since it's one mana short. It draws and passes; I peek and it drew a Hymn. I swing and win. 1-0
Game 2: Taiga, Land grant x2, WRV x2, Fyndhorn Elf, Imperious Perfect. Looks great. Turn 1 AI does swamp, I play taiga, fyndhorn, land grant. Turn 2 AI plays fetch and The Rack, I play land grant/forest, topdecked llanowar elves and my paragon. Turn 3 AI wastelands my taiga and passes, I topdeck belcher, play both WRV (4/4s) and swing for 2 with paragon. (if AI could have played Damnation, I'd have gone belcher, but it has only two swamp in play) Turn 4 AI does nothing, I eat 1 from The Rack, and I tap land and elf for the Perfect and swing for 15, AI at 1 life. AI does nothing again and I swing for 20 for another turn 5 win. 2-0

I've got to say, I thought juzamjedi's elf deck was garbage on paper, but I'll be damned if it didn't kick some serious ass.

[taron]

Cognis (C vs M = Cognis 2-1) (C vs T = Cognis 2-0) +6
Monopoman (M vs C = Monopoman 2-1) (M vs T = 2-0) +6
Thedrigo (T vs C = Cognis 2-1) (T vs M = Monopoman 2-1) 0

Brandon822 (B vs S = Brandon 2-0) (B vs A = Brandon 2-1) +3
Serbitar (S vs B = Serbitar 2-0) (S vs A = Serbitar 2-0) +4
Aww1979 (A vs B = Aww 2-0) (A vs S = Aww 2-0) +4

Think those + scores are right, sorry I haven't done the usual match notes thing, I'm running flat out this week, so I'm sneaking in the odd word etc where possible.

Also Thedrigo, sorry your deck didn't win a match with me, though it's an interesting idea, so I stole it and worked on it a little bit, using Reap and Sow as an additional way of putting Urza's combo in hand, and land D as well..

;00-- Urza's Special
;
;#oldgames
;
;03/07/2010
;1
;4th Edition
;

.541 4 Urza's Mine
.543 4 Urza's Power Plant
.544 4 Urza's Tower
.1710 2 Ancient Tomb
.252 4 Tropical Island
.1834 4 Misty Rainforest
.390 4 Crop Rotation
.200 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn*
.246 2 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
.128 1 Eldrazi Conscription
.310 4 Grim Monolith
.1686 4 Chromatic Sphere
.81 4 Lodestone Golem
.818 3 Metalworker
.1308 2 Platinum Angel
.1550 2 Voltaic Key
.114 4 Howling Mine
.1779 2 Lightning Greaves
.1712 4 Reap and Sow
.91 2 Forest

[monopoman]

Group C

Match 1: Discoransom (Human) Vs. Shantak (AI) 2-0 Win for Disco

Game 1: Game goes very well for me I feel practically no pressure from Shantak and lay down threats that he has trouble removing. AI appears slightly mana screwed though so that did help. Disco wins!

Game 2: Similar to the first one I get out 2 lodestone golems which really wrecks his deck. Disco wins!

Match 2: Discoransom (Human) Vs. Juzamjedi (AI) 2-1 Win for Disco

Game 1: AI overruns me with Elves I never get a chance to wipe the board they are too fast. Juzamjedi Wins!

Game 2: AI this game overextends into a Nev Disk and I wipe out like 6 creatures for one card. After that point I lay down a Golem+Simulacrum and start to beat face. AI has no answer for this as the beats easily overwhelm him. Disco Wins!

Game 3: This game AI gets me to 1 with quick beats but I coup for X=5 the next turn and wipe his board of elves. AI has a lot of trouble rebuilding at this point and my team grows with 2x lodestone golems and a simul. Disco Wins!

Match 3: Shantak (Human) Vs. Discoransom (AI) 0-2 loss for Shanktak

Game 1: Very long game goes back and forth quite a bit but eventually I cast double pox and get him down to 8 with only a few lands out. Eventually though he gets out a lodestone golem which I have no answer for at that time. Disco wins!

Game 2: Game goes much better for me as I am able to keep the opponent at a very low land total thanks to 2x wasteland early. I start beating face with bloodghast trying to do a full 20 with one of them. The game keeps going and we go back and forth a bit but thanks to pox+ghast I get the AI down to 6 and the AI has nothing going. Unfortunately AI gets off open the vaults as it builds up its mana and there is a ton of good artifact creatures in the graveyard. Disco wins!

Match 4: Shantak (Human) Vs. Juzamjedi (AI) 2-1 Win for Shantak

Game 1: Thanks to the AI having like no lands whatsoever except 1 this is a ridiculously easy match up. I have sinkhole in hand and wasteland recursion going from crucible. I start to do bloodghast beat down to win the game.. Ghast beat down does win the day as the AI does nothing much for the rest of the game. Shantak wins!

Game 2: A much better hand for the opponent and a mediocre one for me get some removal and discard but the AI overwhelms me with Elves! Juzam Wins!

Game 3: This game goes much better for Shantak's deck I am able to keep his creature count low and remove nearly all lands then eventually get 3x bloodghast beatdown for the easy win.

Match 5: Juzamjedi (Human) Vs. Shanktak (AI) 2-0 Win for Juzam

Game 1: Get a ridiculous hand and the AI has no chance to overcome it the Elf beat down is solid and I don't overextend too much until the win is definitely in hand.

Game 2: Once again the elf army is too overwhelming for Shantak's deck he removes some elves and destroys some land but its not enough.

Match 6: Juzamjedi (Human) Vs. Discoransom (AI) 2-1 Win for Juzam

Game 1: AI overwhelms me eventually thanks to multiple Open the Vaults and removing my elves from play multiple times. Disco wins!

Game 2: This is a very close game AI again wraths quite a few elves and stops my beatdown but I do get Belcher and am able to activate it 3 times at the AI for the win just before he would have killed me. Juzam Wins!

Game 3: Once again Belcher saves my bacon as he again drops WoG turn 4 and wipes my board. Thank you Belcher you are a god! Juzam Wins!

[aww1979]

For groups A and B I have reports from everyone except Thedrigo, Yggdrasil, and Discoransom. C and D have a few more to go. Are any of you three planning on testing round 1, or should we wait before I add up the scores?

[thedrigo]

I'll test for round 2. Business trip, 'member?