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 “Doesn’t ANYONE have a Constant Mists on them?” Oh, how the format has changed for Extended. But, this isn’t an article about the new Extended. Nope, that question was asked by me at a recent Burlington, IA, type I tournament. With exactly 8 competitors, there was a lot of variety in what was played. Here’s the ol’ breakdown of the format.
Eric - Super-gro w/ Living Wish
Chris - B/W controlish thingy
Andrew - Suicide
Rudy - White Tethered Griffon Land Tax Scroll Rack No better name for a pile of crap.
Ed - Oath of Druids
Andy - Tools n’ Tubbies
Ian - Replenish “21”
And finally, what I played - Super-Gro. Mine was a little more traditional to the old Extended format
4 Brainstorm
3 Sleight of Hand
4 Gush
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
1 Foil
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Werebear
4 Quirion Dryad
3 Meddling Mage
2 Voidmage Prodigy
3 Mystic Enforcer
3 Winter Orb
4 Land Grant
4 Tropical Island
4 Tundra
1 Savannah
4 Flooded Strand
SB:
3 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Chill
3 Wax/Wane
3 Legacy’s Allure
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 Meddling Mage
In retrospect the Mage is superior to Voidmage, but not knowing what to call makes it kind of weak. Also, Winter Orb is not too great against real type I decks with artifact/ super lands like academy.
On to the first round pairing….an behold, I wasn’t paired against Eric this time.
Round 1 - Ian
Game 1: I see the first restricted card come out on his first turn, with him leading with a Mox Diamond and casting Careful Study. When he drops Pandemonium and Attunement in the ‘yard, it makes it rather clear what he’s playing. I drop a Werebear and attempt a Meddling Mage which gets countered. He tries to Replenish (with the combo in his graveyard). This time I win the counter war and keep swinging with my bear. He Replenishes again, but again I counter. I swing again. Then, for the third turn in a row, he attempts Replenish. I still have another counter, drop a Voidmage on my turn and swing away for the kill.
Needless to say, I side in the Crypts throwing out Swords. Also, Meddling Mage comes in for some added reinforcement.
Game 2: I didn’t really do much this game other than cast some creatures and attack. He Mystical Tutors for Force of Will, but he didn’t even need the backup as I wasn’t holding counters. However, he mana stalled and couldn’t Replenish. His life falls quickly to 0 due to my bears and such.
On to game three. (The system used in Burlington goes by game wins, so you play all three)
Game 3: This game I draw a lot of mana and he plays a bunch of counters. Unfortunately for him, he Intuitions and can only get half of the combo in the graveyard. The turns tick by and I HARDCAST gush twice, ending up with all three Mystic Enforcers in hand. Tormod’s Crypt ruins his graveyard twice, and Mystic Enforcer makes short work of this game.
Round 2 - Andrew
It seems I end up playing my brother more and more nowadays. But, I knew he was playing Suicide Black, and that’s not such a great matchup for me. But hey, Super-Gro loves me, so I can’t lose.
Game 1: This game was close. He has a lot of creatures, and it’s hard to deal with all of them. My creatures end up having to face his non-shadows until the Enforcer shows up and puts him on a clock. From my point of view, it seemed rather foolish to leave his Negator on Defense, but he says their was reasoning to do so. Looking back, it’s hard for me to remember all his options, but since only he knew what was in his hand, I’ll believe him on this one.
In come Legacy’s Allure. Out goes Winter Orb.
Game 2: I have to mulligan this game and end up not being able to deal with his first turn Dark Ritual. He casts too many black creatures and quickly destroys me. I couldn’t even get a point of damage to go his way.
Game 3: We both rush out with some creatures, but his operate in the shadow realm and don’t meet any opposition. I end up Swordsing one and Sacing an Allure to steal one of his other shadows. Our ground creatures stall out. He edicts mine away, and I counter his attempts. He dies to his own shadow and a fat Enforcer.
Well, Andrew, you stole one from me, but I still got the match.
Round 3 - Ed
Ed has played Oath in the past. Ed was playing Oath again. Oath is a not-so-hot matchup for me, but I feel confident.
Game 1: I lay some creatures and put him on a clock. He has no Oath, but instead casts Sacred Ground with some Treetops. My only elimination is Swords, so I don’t even bother trying to destroy it. I keep swinging and he blocks my ground guy with a Mishra’s Factory he just lays. He leaves it in play because of Sacred Ground, and it takes me a second to catch on, but I just forget it and keep swinging with Enforcer to win the game.
It wasn’t until later that night did I even think about Sacred Ground. To check myself I found Seventh Edition copy, and NO, it doesn’t stop a man-land’s death due to lethal damage. Lethal damage isn’t a Spell or Effect, it’s a game rule, so it will be sent to the graveyard. I’m very glad I didn’t lose a game to this. It really would have bothered me later. But as for the next game…
I side in Wax/Wane and Meddling Mage, since I know what to name. Out come a few of my creatures - a Werebear and Quirion Dryad.
Game 2: He Strip Mine’s my Tundra, leaving me without white and unable to cast my Wanes. Fortunately, he doesn’t have an Oath and Winter Orb is tying up his lands. My bears get big and beat for the kill.
Game 3: He leads with a brainstorm at end of turn and attempts to Impulse. I want him to draw no more lands and get stuck with the crap he put on top, so I Daze. He really is feeling impulsive and Force of Wills, which I happily allow (as though I could so something anyway). He actually gets Oath out and I have no Wane to deal with it. We sit around for awhile and he hits me with some man-lands. I get Winter Orb out to slow his assault, but end up having to let him Oath. I draw three Swords, and for some reason, he lets me get one off on his Weaver. I play too quickly and miss a chance to Swords Morphling. But, it’s irrelevant, cause it falls in combat with my Mystic Enforcer. I top deck two Wanes in a row and get rid of the Oath just as I take care of his Morphling. I beat with Enforcer for another win.
Round 4 - Andy
I knew Andy was playing with real Type I cards, and a real Vintage deck type. I didn’t know much about it, but fortunately, I at least knew what to expect.
Game 1: This game starts off very poorly with a double mulligan - the most I have ever had to mull with this deck. My hand isn’t good enough to stop his offense and he uses Goblin Welder too well for me to cope. I die to fat artifact creatures.
Hmm..in goes Wane for his Survival.
Game 2: I have to mulligan again because of mana. Again, I have no answers for his fast start and second turn artifacts, let alone a very active Survival. I hold him off for awhile, but have to Swords him above twenty and can’t even begin to race.
Game 3: I REALLY hate Survival, so in came the Crypts too. I don’t have to mull this time and lead off with a good hand. I summon a Voidmage for some beat down and start countering his spells. I tap out and he casts Blood Moon. Not good, I must say, so I Force of Will. He Red Elemental Blast’s that, and I Force again. I’m glad I had the double backup that time. I swords a creature and swing with and Enforcer for the kill. This game was still close, but the turning point was the Blood Moon getting countered.
Round 5 - Chris
Well, I played everyone from their town in the tournament. so it was time to return to my own acquaintances. To place in the prize, Chris has to beat me all three games. If I get even one, he’s out. I have to get all three to tie it up with Andy, who is in first.
Game 1: To be honest, I really don’t see this as being a bad matchup for me. Yes, he has some good Type 1 cards like Necro and Hymn, but with decent hands I feel pretty confident. I get a good hand and feel prone to brag about it, so I show him several times with Land Grant. But I kept changing because of Brainstorm, and no matter how many cards I had, his notes didn’t help too much. I revealed my hand at least three times and each time it was different. The biggest problem I ran into this game was a Nether Spirit, which I Swords. I then just beat for the kill. His hand wasn’t so great this game.
At this point, since it isn’t DCI sanctioned, I offer him a pack for his concession, since he’s out of contention. But, he didn’t think it was good enough and decided that his pride, I guess, was more important. I don’t have anything important to side in except a few Wane.
Game 2: He mulligans and lays Necro rather early in the game. I have no counter and he begins to refill his hand. I can’t compete with this mass card advantage and he wins the game with me having 1 land and him having 1 life.
I concede the third game to him, since there’s no point in playing it. I get second and Andy gets first.
I have to say that against Type 1 cards, Super-Gro can have problems, but still is a good deck. It’s far too versatile to discount completely. Winter Orb isn’t as great as it was in Extended, and Swords has less use, but they still are both excellent cards and I’m happy with the deck as is…that is, until I get Power 9 cards - which I don’t see happening. Voidmage was useful, but still Mediocre. I don’t think it’s better than Mage, but a nice mix worked out for me. Andy told me about a version of Gro which morphs into an Oath deck after board, which sounds intriguing. I’ll have to find a decklist of it, or Andy, if you have one, send it my way.
As far as the point system goes, I think I prefer the DCI method, especially with a computer calculating tie breakers. I like playing all three games and all, but it kind of punishes slower decks. Either way, it was a change from the usual pace, and we’ll definitely be back soon.
On to the props/slops
Props:
Burlington and Andy - for having us.
Andrew - for pulling that one win off of Andy when I needed him to.
Rudy - for being basically flawless and not having to play me again at type I.
Slops:
Fog - not the card, but the kind that is really annoying to drive in.
Eric - no matter how shitty you do, you still get a better prize? Next time we “pre-split”, how about I do the losing and you do the winning.
Nova Class Starships - well, just people who know what they are anyway.
Constant Mists - yes, this time the card. for everyone having it, but not with them.
Until next time, adieu
-Adam Whitlatch-
awhitlatch@hotmail.com
awhitlat@knox.edu
“Being badly beaten by the Balrog at both Billiards and backyard Baseball, Bilbo Baggins bashfully bought Borimir Bush beer at
Barliman Butterbur’s Bar, perfectly pleasing the playful Prancing Pony proprietor.”
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