Never change a winning team!
I was 10-0-0 with Twister.dec at Revival, so I took it again (even though I said I wouldn't).
This time we had 15 players, that was great. I'll soon have to limit the number to 16 or find a judge if I want to go on playing ;)
Since I wasn't quite happy about Enlightened Tutor in my deck, I replaced it with... [drumroll] Wild Research.
That's without testing. After trying it, I can say that it's not that great: it's slow and I got unlucky with it.
So, I'll have to find another card for the 60th slot.
Deck list:
1 Fastbond
1 Forgotten Lore
1 Regrowth
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Kaervek's Torch
1 Mana Flare
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Wild Research
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Braingeyser
4 Force of Will
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Trade Routes
1 Windfall
1 Horn of Greed
2 Scroll Rack
1 Zuran Orb
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Black Lotus
5 Moxen
1 Sol Ring
4 City of Brass
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
1 CoP Red
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 City of Solitude
2 Hunted Wumpus
1 Pyroclasm
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Mind Twist
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Chill
3 Serendib Efreet
Round 1: Marc Mistiaen - Powerless U/W control
I played Marc at Revival VIII, he took the same deck again.
Game 1, I won the toss and lay a land. Marc plays an Island and says go. I drop Fastbond, Academy and Twister. He doesn't draw any of his 2 Force of Will and dies.
I side in the City of Solitude and Seal of Cleansing.
Game 2 is a bit longer, but I manage to sneak in the City of Solitude and Marc doesn't draw any Disenchant to stop me.
2-0, 3 points.
Round 2: Jean-Pierre Moussaid - mono-black discard
J-P has taken another deck (last time he was with mono-red), but it seems his deck doesn't like him (he will finish last).
Game 1, he casts Unmask and takes Wheel of Fortune, but I have Time Spiral, so I go off without problem.
Side in Pyroclasm and Mind Twist I think.
This time, the game takes a bit longer, J-P plays a Specter and attacks with it, plays another one. Time for a Pyroclasm. I go off soon after.
2-0, 6 points.
Round 3: Alexandre Darras - Rubefacere
Alex came without deck, so I gave him a copy of Azhrei's Sligh (R/b/g with Land Grant).
Game 1, I have to mulligan, but then Alex has a slow start: he kept a one land hand and I had a Wasteland handy. I take my time to kill him.
I side in Mind Twist, 2 BEB, Chill, Pyroclasm and CoP Red.
I have to mulligan again in game 2, this time I get another below average hand but keep it. Alex has a good start with turn 1 Shaman, turn 2 Kird Ape, turn 3 Pup and second Kird Ape. He kept another 1 land hand, but top decks 1 land and 2 Land Grants in a row. I don't draw anything to go off or stop him and die.
Man, I don't want to stop my 12 wins in a row to one of my decks.
Game 3, I get a better start with turn 1 Chill
Alex plays lands and multiple Land Grants while I Waste/Strip them. I then cast Wheel of Fortune to go off. After some time (and Time Walks), Alex reminds me that I forgot to pay the extra 2 for the Wheel of Fortune. Fortunately, I had the 2 extra mana handy, so it doesn't change much, Alex doesn't complain and we go on. I stroke him for 100. 2-1, 9 points.
Round 4: Pierre Girodroux - Survival
Last month Pierre took 2nd with my G/B Survival. This time he added 3 Taiga for Gorilla Shaman and played a Tradewind Rider.
Game 1 is why I love Type I. He is slaughtering me: turn 1 Birds of Paradise, turn 2 Uktabi Orangutan on my Mox Emerald, turn 3 Tradewind Rider. Still, I manage a Wheel of Fortune and a Fastbond. Pierre wants to mana lock me, so he bounces my City of Brass at my end of turn, bounce my Wasteland and sacrifice his Wasteland to kill my Tolarian Academy. I only have Fastbond in play. I have played Demonic Tutor on Yawgmoth's Will and when he bounces my City of Brass, I play Vampiric Tutor on Mox Jet.
Pierre attacks, brings me down to 9 and plays Deranged Hermit. I take my turn with Fastbond as only permanent. I play Mox Jet, City of Brass, Wasteland, tap out for Yawgoth's Will, bring back Mox Emerald, Tolarian Academy and some other lands, play Wheel of Fortune, followed by Trade Routes. I cast Demonic Tutor to get Glacial Chasm, and here it is: 'infinite' mana. I only have to show Pierre the Braingeyser I got off the Wheel of Fortune. Woohoo! You should have seen his face
Sideboard in Seal of Cleansing Pyroclasm and Mind Twist, out go Shaman and the 2 REBs.
Game 2 is less of a show, but it's tense as well. I have to pitch the Stroke of Genius I planned to play next turn to Force of Will to counter Survival of the Fittest. After 2-3 turns where we only lay lands, Pierre casts Yawgmoth's Will to get back his Survival. I then play Yawgmoth's Will as well, but of course mine is devastating, Ancestral, Time Walk and the like. I kill Pierre after taking my extra turn.
2-0, 12 points.
Round 5: Claire Mistiaen - mono-red
Claire came along with her brother and J-P, so better play than watch. She took J-P mono-red and manage a good showing so far with a 3-1-0 record.
She starts with a turn 1 Pup, doesn't play anything but a Mountain turn 2. Turn 3, she taps out, put RRR in her pool, I am holding my breath, fearing a Ball Lightning, but no, it's the Nabob. Next turn, she attack with both creature and sac Squee to a Goblin Grenade, bringing me down to 8. After another Grenade, it's time for me to do something, so I fetch Zuran Orb, then sac all my lands, play Yawgmoth's Will, bring back all the lands thanks to Fastbond and go off. Claire dies from a Braingeyser.
I sideboard the same as in round 3.
She start with a Pup, I answer with Chill. She lays Defense Grid. I Vampiric Tutor on Strip Mine to keep her low on lands, play Fastbond and Glacial Chasm (she doesn't play Wasteland). I pay the upkeep, tutor for Zuran Orb, play the Chasm upkeep twice more. I get in play Trade Routes and Library of Alexandria along with Academy, so I can draw my whole deck and Torch Claire for 24 (this time I don't forget to pay the extra 2 for Chill).
2-0, 15 points.
That's 15 matches won in a row with Twister.dec at the last 3 Revivals. Time to switch deck before hate shows up in sideboards. Actually, there was some hate already, since I saw a mono-blue with a touch of red for 3 Blood Moon in the sideboard, Tormod's Crypt in several sideboards, even Orim's Chant to stop me.
Thoughts on the deck: the more I play it, the more I like it
The problem is still the 60th slot: I can't find anything I like. Wild Research is out for sure. I think I'll try a second Forgotten Lore. Another card that's not that useful is Mana Flare: it's there as a backup plan for Tolarian Academy, but I don't play it much. The problem is that it is symmetrical and thus gives too big an advantage to my opponent. I usually play it only when I go off with a tapped opponent.