I'm just going to say right off the bat that if this thing sucks, well... It's the first TReport I've ever done. =P


Origins 2001, Friday, Noon Classic Tournament

I'd like to start things off by giving props to my main men from BD at the tourney that I met without knowing it! Of the opponents I played that day, and the ones I met in play the evening before for a few 'ante' games on the side, you guys were the the most solid players there. Unfortunately, I arrived late Thrusday and couldn't enter the T1 then, and we had to leave as soon as the Amateur Championchip was over, so I missed that one aswell. A real heartbreaker really, as I'm working on my rating, but hey that's what I get for having friends!

I also have to take some special time for Darren Di Battista who is a great guy, and it's been a pleasure knowing him for the last several months, talking online about various deck ideas, designs, and card uses. I had been working on this deck for a little while, when he revealed a version he calls OSE (Old School Expulsion) that turned out to be much more refined then my own. Using his ideas I modified mine, and I've experimented with a lot of design changes over the last few months in order to refine it for my own playing style and needs. I think I'd have to put a lot of the credit his way, and I'd like to call the end result our deck. Since I was expecting a lot of power I finally decided to go with the version that had more T1 hate then others I've been using, and it paid off. When we were both trying to name the deck I came up with Underdark, and he liked his OSE, so that's the way it stayed. He played OSE, I played Underdark, and we were happy. A few fundamental card choices separate the decks, but the core design is the same, mainly playing style changes that needed to be made, though still affective in either of our hands. So in the end, this win goes out to Darren (a.k.a. Azhrei) for way too many hours helping me refine it, and to the crew at Beyond Dominia for endless support. Other important names to mention? Oscar Tan (a.k.a. Rakso), Sliverking, J.P. Meyer, K-Run, and all the others I forgot to mention. Sorry guys!

(Oh, first things first, before I get too far into it, I asked the head judge right up front and he said he was going to rule that Mind Twist was NOT Misdirectable, a point that never actually mattered in any games, but unfortunate none the less.)

Alright, this is the deck I ended up playing:

5 Island (Mountain is the best card in Magic? I think not...)
4 Underground Sea
4 Underground River
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Undiscovered Paradise (Highly under-rated in any format, but most definitely Classic.)
3 Mishra's Factory
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring

1 Morphling
3 Masticore

1 The Abyss
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Diabolic Edict
1 Mind Twist
1 Yawgmoth's Will

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Counterspell
1 Misdirection
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Timetwister
1 Relearn (This was a gutsy move on my part, as this version has seen the least amount of testing overall.)
1 Time Walk
3 Fact or Fiction
1 Mystical Tutor

3 Powder Keg
1 Nevinyrral's Disk

SB:
3 Phyrexian Negator
3 Serendib Efreet
2 Counterspell
3 Duress
1 Recoil
1 Tefiri's Response
1 Zuran Orb
1 Mana Short

A few comments here... The Undiscovered Paradise was without a doubt a power house. A few times it saved me from 'discard death' due to Masticore, and Back to Basics couldn't deal with it at all. Make no mistakes this is my sideboard, as I don't know anyone playing this kind of changeup in Classic. You may find much better 'hoser' choices, but this one simply works to perfection for me, it's just the way I play. The Relearn proved affective a whole one time, and otherwise that ended up Force food, so I can't make any fair comments about it either, but on with the report! (I should also point out that life totals are somewhat twisted by the use of my own 4 painlands.)

Round 1:

Jonathan Lentz, Discard Combo

This round turned out to have the 'most sadistic use of Yawgmoth's Will for the convention' award in it... See if you can spot it?

G1
We open the board and things look good for me with a tight hand including a Force. He opens with a Duress and I kiss it goodbye. Soon I have Megrim in play on me, and an Underworld Dreams that gets Drained soon follows. He beats me with a Mishra for a while and finally gets another Dreams out that I can't counter. That's ok though, because I get some Mishra's of my own, and I draw more Wastelands then he does. The game ends quickly after that with me firmly in control. Then Morphling finishes things up like he's so good at.

Life totals:
Me - 19 17 16 15 13 11 10 9 8
Him - 15 12 8 1

SB
-1 Misdirection
-1 Vampiric Tutor
-1 Powder Keg
-3 Masticore
-1 The Abyss
-1 Timetwister
-1 Relearn
+3 Duress
+1 Counterspell
+3 Phyrexian Negator
+2 Serendib Efreet

G2
I open with a pretty good hand holding a Force, and 2 Counterspells, so I keep. He drops a land and Duress, then a Mox/Ritual/Underworld dreams. (This is going to sting...) On his next turn he drops a Horn of Greed, I counter, then he drops another one, that I can't later. Right about that time he manages to squeak a Memory Jar out with me having nothing to keep control, and I die to combo very quickly. Nice deck though, I guess I need to watch out for that so I make some mental notes and readjust my SBing.

Life totals:
Me - 19 17 16 15 14 12 11 4
Him - (Ah, shush!)

SB
I mess with some cards a lot, put some in, and take some out. End result? Nothing changes. ;)

G3
This is the game the I think demonstrates what a solid player I really am. By using the odds and making a lot of close calculations based on what's left in my deck for drawing at any given moment I prove how broken the machine of Yawgmoth's Will is once again in what I term as easily the most broken play of the tournament... His deck is working like a dream now, and he's got Underworld Dreams, Horn of Greed, and Anvil of Bogardan out on me now. Beating with Mishra's all the while. I turn the tide a little by dropping a Serendib and a Negator. We trade for a little bit and his combo and Serendib wear on me, then I Demonic for Disk. The game is soon over, and he doesn't even know it... My next turn Disk untaps, and I smile. I take Seri's damage, draw and suck up the pain of that and discarding. (Awe drat...) Now's, as you'll soon see on the totals, I'm at 4 life. I swing for 8, tap my Moxxen and Ring to pool, pop the Disk. The board is cleared, but wait... I play Yawgmoth's Will, with tons of mana, oddly enough he doesn't concede yet. So I bring out all my Moxxen, Lotus, Ring and then Mystical Tutor from the grave, getting Time Walk, then I Ancestral Myself from the grave, Walk, FoF, and ton's of sick stuff. Before I finish though he's had enough and concedes after the 2nd FoF resolves. Damn, I didn't even get to take my 2nd turn...

Life totals:
Me - 19 17 16 15 13 11 10 8 7 4 (Damn, he just knew he had me...)
Him - 12 Concede


Round 2: Going in I had 1-0 matches, with 2-1 in games.

Caad Campdell (?), Boa/Juggernaught/Serendib/Mishra's w/ Rancor's that annoy me to death. =) I hope I spelled him name right, I was in a hurry writing this down and I can't read my own stuff. ;)

G1

Ok, these games are just wrong, and shouldn't have to happen to anybody. He opens with a Mox/Ring/Land/Serendib, sweet! I Force it, and beat his head in with a Masticore, a Mishra, and lots more mana then he ever hopes to have, countering some stuff along the way. It really is that bad...

Me - 19 17 14 12 11
Him - 17 14 11 8 1
(Don't let the totals fool ya, I never lost control, I just took my time with it.)

SB
I put 5 or 6 cards in, shuffle up, and pull out 5 or 6 cards, the same ones.

G2
He opens with Mox/Mox/Land/Serendib, and I frown then discard a Mystical Tutor and he buries the Serendib before I have time to dig out the Force. Then I have my own Broken Turn, Mox/Mishra. Ooooh. He lays a Land and drops Juggernaught. EOT I use my Mox and Edict him. Then I drop a Keg off my Mox/Mishra and pop it to eat his moxxen, and Wasteland a Tropical Island. He's left with a Volcanic Island that gets Stripped next turn and I play my 2nd Mox and beat his head in with Mishra until Morphling makes a cameo. He tries to make a comeback with some Mishra's of his own, even Rancor'd one, but they can't handle the stupid Wasteland topdecks for long.

Me - 19 17 14 12
Him - 15 9 3


Round 3: 2-0, 4-1

Eric Brainerd, 4-C Sligh

G1
Hey, you got his tourney report, why do you need mine?!? He beat my head in, like I deserved it at this point, and I die horribly!

Me - 18 16 14 12 10 8 4 DEAD!
Him - 19 18

SB
+1 ZURAN ORB
+1 Tefiri's Response
+2 Duress
-1 Counterspell
-1 Timetwister
-1 Mystical Tutor
-1 Vampiric Tutor

G2
Now, damnit, I actually get to play my deck, and it works. We fight it out for a while, and I do some really mean things with FoF. There's also a point where I Duress various StP's and Edicts, but it isn't pretty cause he draws all the land in his deck, I'm pretty sure.

Me - 18 16 15 14 12 10 14 12
Him - 19 18 (lost track, stupid crappy pen!)

SB
I don't even try any mind tricks.

G3
I break Yawgmoth's Will, the end. Oh there was playing in the middle, I almost forgot. =) Yea, we trade up for a little while and I get my Abyss in the house. Then I try to drop many Masticore's which happily go farming, unknown to him I actually had all 3 in my hand, and Morphling, so this game was really over before it started. I gain lots of life from the StP's pretty much killing any hopes he had of burning me out, and beat down very very hard. I also have my Zorb out, which doesn't help any.

Me - 22 19 23 21 19 16 14 11 13 15
Him - 19 15 12 7


Round 4: 3-0, 6-2

Jacob Gorelick, Nether Void/Discard/LD

Now I'm quite sure there was a point here where I had control of the game(s), but as with many other times it appears I was mistaken. He was a solid player, but I really think I should have taken the match. The last game was a real drag for me, but bad luck happens.

G1
We fight it out a little while, and I get the snot beat out of me. He draws way too much discard for my crappy hand, and I regret not parising like I should have. This round turns into my worst one, making a few bad judgment calls on my part, mainly thanks to an overinflated ego. Jacob puts me in my place, and I take it like a man. I also really regret leaving my Dodecapods at home, what the hell was I thinking? Nether Void also helps to make my life hell, and we won't talk about the Hippie he had out with it.

Me - 18 14 12 10 8 3
Him - (Blah!)

SB
+3 Duress (Damnit, we can both play this game...)
+1 Recoil (I can do it better.)
+3 Serendib Efreet (Shoulda been Dodecapod.)
+1 Teferi's Response
-1 Mystical Tutor
-1 Vampiric Tutor
-1 Timetwister
-1 Powder Keg
-2 Masticore
-1 Time Walk

G2
This one is a blowout really, as I smashed him with my one remaining Masticore and a Serendib if I recall correctly. My only damage comes from painlands, and I'm feeling a little more confident.

Me - 19 18 17
Him - 17 14 10 5

SB
Nothing, as it seemed to work before...

G3
This one is a battle, since he has THE first turn for his deck. Land/Ritual/Necropotence, and I've got no Force in sight. All of his damage comes from Necro and he chews up my land pretty good, even though I manage to Misdirect a Hymn back at him that he saw from a FoF. In the end I'm sitting with 4 mana open, and needing any one of 8 cards in my library to win. Of course I don't draw any of them, and get mana screwed, the wrong way. When I loose and look at my deck I see that I had 9 land in a row. ARG! Turns out this is my loss for the day. More props to Jacob in that he's the first person to actually beat me in a T1 tourney in 5 years. Judging by the end result, I can see that it was just bad luck in the third game. Not to discredit his playing skills in any way, I simply should have shuffled better though. Too many lands... Phyrexian Negator pretty much seals the deal and I die grumbling to myself about a crappy deal. Still in the end I should have paris'd, and I damn well knew it. My opening hand wasn't that great vs. his deck.

Me - 15 10 9 4
Him - 17 15 11 9 8 6 5


Round 5: 3-1, 7-4

Dan Rowland, Mono-Black Discard w/ Sinkholes

G1
I prove that I am in fact a good T1 player by beating his head in horribly. Perhaps I'm a little bitter about the match loss to a Mono-Black and since his deck shares some traits, I see it as my chance to get even. I take a whole 1 point from painlands, and Masticore and Mishra's eat him alive.

Me - 19
Him - 17 14 10 8 4

SB
Nadda...

G2
Pretty much the same as game 1, but worse since I get an Abyss out. Masticore's and Mishra's chew him up and spit him out like they were meant to, and it's rather disturbing, but he's a really fun guy to play against, and we have some good laughs.

Me - (I'll be damned, a game where I didn't get hurt.)
Him - 13 9 5 1


Round 6: 4-1, 9-4

Scott Kasliner, and here it is babe... XLU, BBS, Mono-U, whatever you want to call it. That match I've been waiting for all day, and the one I'm most prepared for.

G1
He breaks the draw going first, and it looks bad for the home team... Land/Mox/Mox/Time Walk, then Land/Timetwister... Ouch! He gives me the go with 4 mana sources on the table, and 7 cards. I look at my hand, and say screw it, I'm going for it, so I drop an Island, then Lotus, and Masticore makes an appearance. I have no Force backup, but I know damn well he drew counters and I see this as my chance, since only a Force can stop me. BAM! He doesn't have one and Masticore lives. 5 turns later the game ends. On my second turn I try to Ancestral and his Misdirects it. Then on his turn he Merchant Scrolls for Ancestral and takes his own, still he can't find a Morphling and I beat his head in.

Me - (Hells, yea!)
Him - 16 12 8 4

SB
+3 Negators
+3 Serendib Efreet
+2 Counterspell
+3 Duress
-1 Time Walk
-1 Timetwister
-1 Vampiric Tutor
-1 Mystical Tutor
-2 Powder Keg
-1 The Abyss
-1 Relearn
-2 Fact of Fiction (Yea, that's right babe, I'm insane!)
-1 Masticore

I feel I have to explain some of these... Why on earth would I side out FoF? He looks for them, he has to, it's my biggest card advantage engine aside from Ancestral, and he can't Misdirect it. He MUST save counters for it. In the mean time I have more counters of my own, and more 'must counters' with my beat sticks. It's all about the mind game.

G2
I think I have a good draw and keep, even though I have no Force... Suddenly, I prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a moron. He drops a 1st turn Morphling off his Lotus and various Moxxen with not a damn thing in his hand but land. That's ok, cause I have a whole 3 turns and I can't find my Edicts, so I die quickly. Since I know I'm going to die though I make the best play of the day, I make it look like I'm mana screwed, and don't use a single card in my hand. This will be key in G3, since I drew half my SB.

Me - (Hells no!) 15 10 5
Him - (Whatever... :P)

SB
Side in 6 cards, mess around, and pull out the same 6.

G3
I am the god of T1, and damnit I'll prove it. I continue to drop threat after threat every single turn for a little while. Serendib/Negator/Duress round after round, filling my graveyard. Then I actually use Yawgmoth's Will as counter bait. We fight it out playing draw-go for a little while, and I play a Masticore. He counters, so do I, he Forces (actually casting), so do I, then he Misdirects. He wins. Then I spend the 2 mana I had left and drop a Powder Keg, which resolves. I clear out all 5 Moxxen on his side, and my 2, then Strip out an Island leaving him with 2 cards in hand, and 2 Islands. On his turn he resolves a Back to Basics, which I have no problem in the world with. At one point he's so screwed he actually casts Morphling when he finally gets back to 5 mana without being able to protect it. Masticore enjoys the irony. Seeing as I happen to have my sweet little Undiscovered Paradise in play, and I bounce it turn after turn as a Black source. I then proceed to chew him up with my 2nd Masticore and some Mishra action.

Me - 19 18 17 16 15 14 (Damn painlands!)
Him - 18 16 15 11 7 6

Then I finish up with 5-1, and 11-5 for games. Thanks to my tie breakers I secure 1st place and another win goes in my book. The prize? It was so sad I won't even waste my time mentioning it, but it was fun none the less. The tournament proved to display a lot more in the way of P10 then I initially expected. (But, if that's the case why the heck did I plan for it... Yea, I'm just weird like that!) This was something my deck could easily handle though.

Some more points about card choices... Tefiri's Response was sided in a lot, and at this point I'd have to agree with Darren in that it deserves a slot main deck. When I sided it in, it just won games. This is an obviously replacement for the main deck Relearn, but I might give the blue regrowth another shot since it really didn't get much of a chance to shine in this one. The biggest wrecking house of the sideboard was the ability to shift the deck one of two ways. I could either go beatdown with Negator's and Serendib's of my own, or swap to heavy control by adding 2 more Counterspells, and the 3 Duress'. This proved to be very affective overall since I could adapt to any situation depending on what I was playing. The Mana Short or Recoil never really had a chance to shine, and that's unfortunate aswell, since I think both could have been strong.

Naturally I had to play a lot more opponents who entered the various Classic tournaments as they wanted to test thier designs against my own, all of which I won which makes a good point... Underdark/OSE beats Keeper. I went up against nearly a dozen of the decks, some good and some bad, but all of them lost to the 'main-deck-tech' or my sideboarding. Surprize is it's own advantage, and you don't need anything else. ;)