Starcity Games Standard 5k report *3rd*

Graygod · 01-11-2010, 07:34 PM

I decided to play Valakut combo again, since it's by far the best deck in standard. I played the exact same maindeck that I ran at states, but changed the sideboard by 7 cards. After much testing, I determined that the Hell's Thunder, Blitz Hellion package was very good for the states meta, but pretty awful in a meta where mono-red was one of the top 3 decks. I decided to run 4 Grazing Gladehearts and 3 Bountiful Harvest. The Harvests raised a lot of eyebrows, and I got flamed pretty hard by the GGS live viewers during my decktech, but I still think they were the right call.

14 people total played valakut, and almost all of them asked me for advice

Andres picked up the deck the night before, and almost made top 16 with it. I think if he had put in some playtest time with it, he would've definately at least made t16. He ran 72 of the same, but cut the harvests for Great Sable Stag.

Anyhow, onto the report.

Rd 1: Joshua Hadfield - Bant
I'd never met Josh before, but he's a friend of Shane(Xero on TMZ), and they were both playing very similar lists. Game one I bolted his turn one birds, and went rampant growth into ruinblaster on his only white source. I never took any damage. Game 2 he exploded onto the field with turn 2 4/4 Knight of the reliquary, turn 3 baneslayer. I lost pretty quickly. Game 3 was much slower. I got 2 valakuts active and killed his team of 2 baneslayers, a 6/6 knight, a Lotus Cobra, and a War Monk. I slowly took back over (killed baneslayer #3), and then won with creatures.

1-0 2-1

Rd 2: Michael Lawson - Turbofog
I was pretty happy that I had left the two Unstable footings in the board when he played that turn 2 howling mine. Game one got to a situation where I had 8 cards left in my library and he had 3 howling mines in play. On his turn he played another howling mine, and 2 Font of Mythos. He gave me a big smile and said "go... you lose". I calmly told him that the draws stacked, and he pitched a fit... calling for a judge to confirm. I took the draws 1 or 2 at a time, then used the burn I had drawn to finish him off. Game 2 I brought in the footings, but didn't even need them. In response to his turn 5 time warp, I killed him with a harrow and expedition.

2-0 4-1

Rd 3: Eric Palmerduca - Vampires (Not Twilight... lol)
This kid was on a roll all day. Game one he played turn 3, 4, and 5 Nighthawks, followed by a bloodwitch, and got me to 8 when I stabilized, killed all his guys and won. Game two he duressed me twice and kept me from accelerating fast enough to deal with his early drops. He also played his hexmages very well, keeping my heart expeditions from going off, and eventually he outcreatured me. Game 3 I kept a hand of Mountain, Expanse, Map, Harrow, Chandra, Siege-gang, lightning bolt. He duressed my Map, and I proceeded to draw Chandra,Chandra, Siege-gang, Siege-gang. On turn 6 he mind sludged me, leaving only the harrow in my hand. I started drawing spells and managed to recover. I was sitting at 2 life, he had already cast 3 sign in bloods, his only creature is a gatekeeper, Valakut is live, and he only has 1 card in hand. I can draw literally anything other than one of the two heart expeditions left and manage to survive... of course I draw the expedition and lose. It would've been pretty epic to win from that position, but at least my only loss in the swiss was to the eventual winner. Congrats Eric.

2-1 5-3

Rd 4: Chris Odorizzi - Grixis Control
I knew Chris was playing the same Grixis control list that Drew was playing, and unfortunately for him, Valakut is highly favored. I hate knocking out other TMZ'ers, but I guess it's inevitable. Both games went very quickly with me comboing off before Cruel was ever cast.

3-1 7-3

Rd 5: Shane Reneldt(Xero - sorry if I butchered your last name) - Bant
All three of these games were super close. I killed 9 baneslayers over the course of 3 games, and he dropped 2 war monks in every game as well. I Killed elspeth at least twice in the match... The play by play is pretty bad, but game 3 was a pretty hot win for me. He got me to 4, then i came back to win due to saccing expedition, and casting harrow with 3 valakuts and a gladeheart on board. He was at 48, so it wasn't lethal, but that turn I killed 7 creatures, and took back control of the game. It was definately the closest match I played that day.

4-1 9-4

Rd 6: Mitchel Edwards - White Weenie
Game one he got me to 3 life, when I comboed and did 18 to him FTW. Game two, he pulled out the win due to having 3 honor of the pure. Game three was much easier. I drew my gladehearts, killed all his guys, and then won with creatures.

5-1 11-5

Rd 7: Colling Dowdy - RDW
I was hoping to dodge this matchup, but I guess it was inevitable since It was all over the top tables. Luckily this guy was running Elemental Appeal instead of Quenchable fire. I lost game one, held back bolts for appeals and went aggro with ruinblasters and bloodbraids in both games 2 and 3. All of them were close games.

6-1 13-6

Rd 8: Adam Dean - RDW
RDW again. Game one I got slaughtered. Games 2 and 3 I drew multiple gladehearts and harvests, and recovered my life total out of his reach.

7-1 15-7

Rd 9: Nick Jones - Grixis Control
I had just looked at the standings and there was no way this guy could make top 8. I told him such, and he vehemently declared he wanted to play, because someone had dicked him at the last 5k by telling him the same thing. As soon as he played crumbling necropolis, I let out a sigh of relief because there was no way I was losing. The coverage of this match is on SCG, but it really wasn't even a match. This guy was so disheartened, he scooped way before it was over... he did it in both games. Oh well, T8!

8-1 17-7

Top 8:
We all agreed to split, despite Thomas Peek's encouragement to play. After realizing I could've known who my quarterfinals opp would've been Grixis, I think I should've "Pulled a Droo", and held out the split until t4. I'm still pretty satisfied though, because I did accomplish my goal of t4'ing.

Rd 10: Tony Laflamme - Grixis Control
He had no idea how my deck worked, and when I killed him in response to his cruel ultimatum, he looked pretty shocked. Game 2, I killed him on my turn, after he played Mind Spring.

9-1 19-7

Rd 11: Brian Tidwell - Jund
Finally hit Jund, which I'm okay with. We joke a bit and I tell him that I hope he doesn't draw 3 blightning, because if he does then there's no way I can win. He laughs.... and then draws 3 blightnings in g1. Sigh. In game 2, I ruinblastered his black source, and he was never in the game. Game 3, my opening hand was 3 mountains, Valakut, and 3 Khalni Heart Expedition. I mull to 6, no land... Mull to 5, no land.... mull to 4, keep Mountain, Forest, Harrow, BBE. He blightnings me on turn 3, and that was the end for me. If I had beaten jund, then I likely wouldve won the whole thing, because Vamps was playing against RWU, and I like my Vamps matchup.

9-2 20-9

All in all, it was another great two-day weekend in ft worth. I wish I had made a better deck choice for legacy, but I had fun hanging out even though I lost. I still think Valakut is the best deck in standard, and unless it gets completely hosed in worldwake, I'm pretty sure I'll be playing it in San Diego.
Congrats to all the other TMZ'ers who made t16's and t8's. We did a great job representing the site guys. Keep it up.

Suari · 01-11-2010, 07:35 PM

wow we like almost simultaneously put up our reports lol

Couvre · 01-11-2010, 08:06 PM

you got what you deserved for not calling that deck it's RIGHTFUL NAME.

Graygod · 01-11-2010, 08:26 PM

lol, put that one in there just for you.

AVSuzaku · 01-11-2010, 08:29 PM

idk why triple bligtning is soo common. you always either see zero or 2-3. never like 1 blihgnting

RagingAscetic · 01-11-2010, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVSuzaku

never like 1 blihgnting

Dyslexic much? Lawl...

01-11-2010, 07:34 PM	#1
Graygod Lord of TMZ Administrator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: HOUSTON Posts: 5,555 Rep Power: 200	Starcity Games Standard 5k report 3rd I decided to play Valakut combo again, since it's by far the best deck in standard. I played the exact same maindeck that I ran at states, but changed the sideboard by 7 cards. After much testing, I determined that the Hell's Thunder, Blitz Hellion package was very good for the states meta, but pretty awful in a meta where mono-red was one of the top 3 decks. I decided to run 4 Grazing Gladehearts and 3 Bountiful Harvest. The Harvests raised a lot of eyebrows, and I got flamed pretty hard by the GGS live viewers during my decktech, but I still think they were the right call. 14 people total played valakut, and almost all of them asked me for advice Andres picked up the deck the night before, and almost made top 16 with it. I think if he had put in some playtest time with it, he would've definately at least made t16. He ran 72 of the same, but cut the harvests for Great Sable Stag. Anyhow, onto the report. Rd 1: Joshua Hadfield - Bant I'd never met Josh before, but he's a friend of Shane(Xero on TMZ), and they were both playing very similar lists. Game one I bolted his turn one birds, and went rampant growth into ruinblaster on his only white source. I never took any damage. Game 2 he exploded onto the field with turn 2 4/4 Knight of the reliquary, turn 3 baneslayer. I lost pretty quickly. Game 3 was much slower. I got 2 valakuts active and killed his team of 2 baneslayers, a 6/6 knight, a Lotus Cobra, and a War Monk. I slowly took back over (killed baneslayer #3), and then won with creatures. 1-0 2-1 Rd 2: Michael Lawson - Turbofog I was pretty happy that I had left the two Unstable footings in the board when he played that turn 2 howling mine. Game one got to a situation where I had 8 cards left in my library and he had 3 howling mines in play. On his turn he played another howling mine, and 2 Font of Mythos. He gave me a big smile and said "go... you lose". I calmly told him that the draws stacked, and he pitched a fit... calling for a judge to confirm. I took the draws 1 or 2 at a time, then used the burn I had drawn to finish him off. Game 2 I brought in the footings, but didn't even need them. In response to his turn 5 time warp, I killed him with a harrow and expedition. 2-0 4-1 Rd 3: Eric Palmerduca - Vampires (Not Twilight... lol) This kid was on a roll all day. Game one he played turn 3, 4, and 5 Nighthawks, followed by a bloodwitch, and got me to 8 when I stabilized, killed all his guys and won. Game two he duressed me twice and kept me from accelerating fast enough to deal with his early drops. He also played his hexmages very well, keeping my heart expeditions from going off, and eventually he outcreatured me. Game 3 I kept a hand of Mountain, Expanse, Map, Harrow, Chandra, Siege-gang, lightning bolt. He duressed my Map, and I proceeded to draw Chandra,Chandra, Siege-gang, Siege-gang. On turn 6 he mind sludged me, leaving only the harrow in my hand. I started drawing spells and managed to recover. I was sitting at 2 life, he had already cast 3 sign in bloods, his only creature is a gatekeeper, Valakut is live, and he only has 1 card in hand. I can draw literally anything other than one of the two heart expeditions left and manage to survive... of course I draw the expedition and lose. It would've been pretty epic to win from that position, but at least my only loss in the swiss was to the eventual winner. Congrats Eric. 2-1 5-3 Rd 4: Chris Odorizzi - Grixis Control I knew Chris was playing the same Grixis control list that Drew was playing, and unfortunately for him, Valakut is highly favored. I hate knocking out other TMZ'ers, but I guess it's inevitable. Both games went very quickly with me comboing off before Cruel was ever cast. 3-1 7-3 Rd 5: Shane Reneldt(Xero - sorry if I butchered your last name) - Bant All three of these games were super close. I killed 9 baneslayers over the course of 3 games, and he dropped 2 war monks in every game as well. I Killed elspeth at least twice in the match... The play by play is pretty bad, but game 3 was a pretty hot win for me. He got me to 4, then i came back to win due to saccing expedition, and casting harrow with 3 valakuts and a gladeheart on board. He was at 48, so it wasn't lethal, but that turn I killed 7 creatures, and took back control of the game. It was definately the closest match I played that day. 4-1 9-4 Rd 6: Mitchel Edwards - White Weenie Game one he got me to 3 life, when I comboed and did 18 to him FTW. Game two, he pulled out the win due to having 3 honor of the pure. Game three was much easier. I drew my gladehearts, killed all his guys, and then won with creatures. 5-1 11-5 Rd 7: Colling Dowdy - RDW I was hoping to dodge this matchup, but I guess it was inevitable since It was all over the top tables. Luckily this guy was running Elemental Appeal instead of Quenchable fire. I lost game one, held back bolts for appeals and went aggro with ruinblasters and bloodbraids in both games 2 and 3. All of them were close games. 6-1 13-6 Rd 8: Adam Dean - RDW RDW again. Game one I got slaughtered. Games 2 and 3 I drew multiple gladehearts and harvests, and recovered my life total out of his reach. 7-1 15-7 Rd 9: Nick Jones - Grixis Control I had just looked at the standings and there was no way this guy could make top 8. I told him such, and he vehemently declared he wanted to play, because someone had dicked him at the last 5k by telling him the same thing. As soon as he played crumbling necropolis, I let out a sigh of relief because there was no way I was losing. The coverage of this match is on SCG, but it really wasn't even a match. This guy was so disheartened, he scooped way before it was over... he did it in both games. Oh well, T8! 8-1 17-7 Top 8: We all agreed to split, despite Thomas Peek's encouragement to play. After realizing I could've known who my quarterfinals opp would've been Grixis, I think I should've "Pulled a Droo", and held out the split until t4. I'm still pretty satisfied though, because I did accomplish my goal of t4'ing. Rd 10: Tony Laflamme - Grixis Control He had no idea how my deck worked, and when I killed him in response to his cruel ultimatum, he looked pretty shocked. Game 2, I killed him on my turn, after he played Mind Spring. 9-1 19-7 Rd 11: Brian Tidwell - Jund Finally hit Jund, which I'm okay with. We joke a bit and I tell him that I hope he doesn't draw 3 blightning, because if he does then there's no way I can win. He laughs.... and then draws 3 blightnings in g1. Sigh. In game 2, I ruinblastered his black source, and he was never in the game. Game 3, my opening hand was 3 mountains, Valakut, and 3 Khalni Heart Expedition. I mull to 6, no land... Mull to 5, no land.... mull to 4, keep Mountain, Forest, Harrow, BBE. He blightnings me on turn 3, and that was the end for me. If I had beaten jund, then I likely wouldve won the whole thing, because Vamps was playing against RWU, and I like my Vamps matchup. 9-2 20-9 All in all, it was another great two-day weekend in ft worth. I wish I had made a better deck choice for legacy, but I had fun hanging out even though I lost. I still think Valakut is the best deck in standard, and unless it gets completely hosed in worldwake, I'm pretty sure I'll be playing it in San Diego. Congrats to all the other TMZ'ers who made t16's and t8's. We did a great job representing the site guys. Keep it up. Last edited by Graygod; 01-11-2010 at 07:40 PM.

01-11-2010, 07:35 PM	#2
Suari Wanna-be Pro Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 2,485 Rep Power: 375	Re: Starcity Games Standard 5k report 3rd wow we like almost simultaneously put up our reports lol

01-11-2010, 08:26 PM	#4
Graygod Lord of TMZ Administrator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: HOUSTON Posts: 5,555 Rep Power: 200	Re: Starcity Games Standard 5k report 3rd lol, put that one in there just for you.

01-11-2010, 08:29 PM	#5
AVSuzaku derpderp Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 9,240 Rep Power: 567	Re: Starcity Games Standard 5k report 3rd idk why triple bligtning is soo common. you always either see zero or 2-3. never like 1 blihgnting

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01-11-2010, 08:06 PM	#3
Couvre Team Edward Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 444 Rep Power: 27	Re: Starcity Games Standard 5k report 3rd you got what you deserved for not calling that deck it's RIGHTFUL NAME.