By J-Dog on Tuesday, September 04, 2001 - 02:44 pm: This was my second tournament playing this deck. I've pasted the first report from an earlier thread below.
Mile High Comics, Denver, T1
Free entry, $200 first prize
54 players, 6 rounds, T8
The deck
(Mana)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Savannah
4 Forest
6 Plains
(Kill)
2 Sacred Mesa
(Card Drawing)
3 Argothian Enchantress
3 Land Tax
2 Scroll Rack
1 Sylvan Library
1 Abundance
(Search)
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Sterling Grove
(Getting Stuff Through)
2 Abeyance
1 Orim's Chant
(Recursion)
2 Replenish
2 Gaea's Blessing
1 Regrowth
(Silver Bullets)
1 Moat
1 Ivory Mask
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Aura of Silence
1 Aura Fracture
1 Story Circle
1 Ivory Tower
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Balance
1 Zuran Orb
1 Worship
(Sideboard)
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Replenish
1 Choke
1 Powder Keg
1 CoP: Red
1 Compost
1 Spiritual Focus
1 Jester's Cap
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sacred Ground
1 Island
1 Back to Basics
3 River Boa (mandatory explanation, I'm sure: due to my problems with draws the previous week, I stuck these in to sneak a win in a short 2nd or 3rd game vs. blue and/or keeper, if necessary. this week, it was never necessary)
There's not much of a difference in the deck from last week, other than the BtB and Replenish added to the sideboard. I haven't tested this deck at all, but in the two tournaments, Keeper has been my worst matchup by far, in fact my only losses have been to Keeper. Being fairly new to T1, and not much of a deckbuilder in general, I don't know what to do to fix that. Choke and/or Carpet of Flowers don't do much due to the presence of non-island mana. This deck beats mono-blue by out-drawing it and/or forcing through Replenish, but that doesn't seem to be as easy vs. Keeper.
Another aside: I'm done playing this deck. I've got a lot to learn about T1, and gaining experience is a lot harder due to the low number of tournaments. This was my fourth T1 tournament (and 3rd T8!), my previous decks being Vineyard-Stompy and mono-red Ponza. After giving back all of the cards I borrowed for the Enchantress deck, I've started putting together a Pox deck. Wish me luck 
No notes, just memory. On to the report.
Round 1 vs. Jeff Urich - Keeper
He beats me quite easily in two games. I think I was land light in the second. His artifact mana lets him play around Land Tax, and though I can tutor for the BtB, I can't find the island to play it. I'm beginning to feel that Mana Drain is a little *too* good of a counterspell. And T1 FoFs are much more threatening than those in T2 or IBC.
Round 2 vs. ?? - B/W Pestilence
This guy seemed to be fairly new to tournament Magic. *Very* subpar cards, although Pestilence is pretty decent vs. Sacred Mesa. His threats were too slow or just not threatening (Nightwind Glider, a couple black groundpounders). He was very surprised by the concept of a 1-0 match win.
Round 3 vs. Louis ? - Legacy/Invasion Preconstructed deck
I did have to go to 1 before I stabilized from the Lone Wolf/Serra's Embrace/Armadillo Cloak beatdown. I quickly put together the Enchantress-Worship lock and gained some life. I had trouble convincing him that Armadillo Cloak won't gain him the life after I've attacked for lethal damage; unfortunately our judge at this store is not the most experienced, and I try to avoid calling him if it's not necessary. Louis also had trouble with the concept of a 1-0 match win.
Round 4 vs. ?? - Power-hate Sligh w/ black for Y. Will
Game one I tutor for Ivory Mask at 5 life. He Bolt/Fireblasts me in response.
Game two he can't get past three land to cast Anarchy (I had Stripped a mountain and disenchanted a Mishra's Factory). I have the whole Moat/Ivory Mask/CoP:Red thing going and kill him as quickly as possible.
Game three I have a turn-2 Keg for his turn-1 Shaman, clearing the way for my Moxen and Z. Orb. He Anarchys away the CoP: Red and a Sacred Mesa, but can't follow it up before I Replenish next turn. I'm at two life with a Zuran Orb, he has an active Cursed Scroll. I can't figure out why he's not dumping his hand to get more use from the scroll, since the CoP and Z. Orb are the only things keeping me alive, and I can only make one Pegasus token per turn from fear of tapping out. He tells me after the match that he was holding out for another Anarchy or the mana to cast his Will and Anarchy in the same turn. I kill him in the last extra turn.
Round 5 vs. A.J. Hill - Mono-brown(?) w/ U, W, B
A.J. won the Lotus tourney last week, and I know what he's playing, but I don't know how to beat it. I happen to sit next to the friend who loaned me most of the cards, who tells me to resolve Moat quickly.
Game one, his turn 1 Su-Chi is joined by a turn 2 Karn, and I'm quickly reduced to dust (along with my Moxes).
Game two sees a quick Su-Chi copied and joined on the beatdown by a Factory. However, he hasn't drawn a counterspell and I lay Moat. From there it is only a matter of finding Sacred Mesa and flying over for the win.
Game three sees a slow draw on his part. He plays a Serendib, but I match it with a Sacred Mesa, then lay BtB, locking him out of blue mana for 8-10 turns. He's reduced to 7 from the Serendib and a Mana Crypt before he can tinker it away for a Triskelion. On my turn, I don't upkeep the Sacred Mesa, but make 4 more tokens before sacrificing it, so that I can be sure to push through for lethal damage. He shoots some tokens and lays a Masticore, but he's now out of mana and I swing for the win.
Round 6 vs. ?? Suicide Black
He's 7th and I'm 8th, we ID into 7th and 8th place respectively.
Quarterfinals vs. Jeff Urich, Keeper from Round 1
I actually won game one; he had a slow draw with only a couple counterspells. He cast Will, but I was able to cast Abeyance in response. By the time he dropped his Morphling it was too late, and I overran him with Pegasi.
Games two and three were not as good for me. I was never able to gain control - in game two, he only played two land, one of which was an Undiscovered Paradise, while he used his complement of Moxen to great advantage. In game three he was able to FoW my 1st-turn Aura of Silence. He then dropped an Aura Fracture, which I could neither kill nor protect against due to my lack of a second Sterling Grove. A Replenish anytime before the last turn would have turned the tide, but I didn't see one.
So I won $10 in store credit. Woo hoo!
By J-Dog on Tuesday, September 04, 2001 - 02:44 pm: (Repost of the first report)
Son of Parfait In Real Life
I played the deck in a T1 tournament on Saturday, here in Denver. We had 26 players, 5 rounds T8.
1st - Black Lotus
2nd - Ancestral Recall
3rd - Timewalk
4th - Timetwister
5-8 - packs
Unfortunately, I didn't win any prizes :/
Here's the decklist I played (about 4 of the cards actually belong to me :
(Mana)
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
4 Savannah
4 Forest
8 Plains
(Kill)
2 Sacred Mesa
(Card Drawing/Search)
3 Argothian Enchantress
3 Land Tax
2 Scroll Rack
1 Sylvan Library
1 Abundance
4 Sterling Grove
1 Enlightened Tutor
(Getting Stuff Through)
3 Abeyance
(Recursion)
2 Replenish
2 Gaea's Blessing
1 Regrowth
(Silver Bullets)
2 Ivory Tower
1 Moat
1 Story Circle
1 Ivory Mask
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Aura of Silence
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Balance
1 Zuran Orb
1 Worship
(Sideboard)
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Choke
1 Powder Keg
1 Abeyance
1 CoP:Red
1 Aura Fracture
1 Compost
1 Jester's Cap
1 Cursed Totem
1 Conversion
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 City of Solitude
1 Sacred Ground
Thoughts on the cards:
[Abeyance] is really the best blue hoser, IMO. I actually meant to switch one from the main deck for an [Orim's Chant], but forgot. I don't think it mattered. I felt the maindeck [Choke] was overkill, at least for our metagame (yes, we have enough T1 tournaments around here to have a metagame).
[Serra's Sanctum] is not a candidate for replacement. Several times I wished I had two, because when you finally draw it, it speeds up your kill by at least two turns, if not more.
I think the [StP] is fine, and I did side in the 2nd one in one matchup.
[Worship] is fine also, but it *is* often redundant. Other times, it's the quickest way to get your opponent to scoop.
I wouldn't run a second [Z. Orb], even if there was room. But I'm not that good at playing the deck, as you'll see
I also might like a second [Aura of Silence]. Don't know for sure. I put in the second [Ivory Tower] at the suggestion of some players I respect. (I also rejected several suggestions of players I respect, such as adding a 3rd I.T. or changing my kill to [Grindstones].) I don't really know if a second Tower helped.
The [Carpet of Flowers] left to make room for a second [Crypt] and the [Conversion]. I really like the Flowers, as they fill the role of Serra's Sanctum vs. mono-blue, but there wasn't enough of that to make a difference.
I think [Abundance] is strong enough to keep, even without [Sylvan] on the table.
[Sacred Mesa] is a fine kill card. The main reason I rejected [Grindstone] or [Jeweled Spirit] as alternate kill cards is because I liked being able to [Replenish] my kill back into play. I would consider other kills that fit that criteria. Are there any?
I love [off-color mana] in this deck, as long as they cost '0' and are artifacts. To sufficiently abuse Land Tax vs. the worst matchups, you need to be able to function with 3 land in play or fewer. Not drawing Moxen really hurt me vs. Keeper, which was my only loss on the day. In testing with proxies, the Moxen are also essential to dropping the early Moat or Ivory Mask; if you have to wait until turn 4 for those, burn and stompy decks go from favorable matchups to questionable ones.
Due to the presence of [Serenity], [Anarchy], and [Pernicious Deed/N. Disk], I might like to find room for a 3rd [Replenish] in the sideboard.
A little history:
As I mentioned above, this is my 3rd T1 tournament. In my first, I went 7-1 with a Vineyard-Stompy deck, losing only in the Semifinals to a Counter-burn deck with plenty of manasinks and fairly bad draws. In my second, I played mono-red Ponza to a 5-2, losing in the quarterfinals to a keeper deck that tutored for a Lightning Bolt to kill my Mox Monkey, which pretty much won him that match. I found this thread last week and decided to play this deck, since it looked like it would be loads of fun (true!) if somewhat thought-intensive (also true!). Now I've only been playing magic for about a 1-1/2 years, and while I've gotten better, I've never played some of the key cards here, such as Sylvan/Abundance and Tax/Rack, the Enchantress, or Balance. As I begged and borrowed cards last week, I was able to find some better players to help me test and learn the deck and card interactions. In the report below, you'll see some of the mistakes I made, and probably others that I haven't noticed yet. Please feel free to comment as extensively as your time and interest allow.
On to the report:
Round 1 vs. Matt Sims (Aggro-Control Green)
My day begins with a warning, as I draw a card going first. Where the hell did that come from? Game one he draws 4 Wasteland and 4 Creeping Mold, while I draw 2 Savannah, 1 Library, and 0 Sterling Groves. I died horribly to Treetop Villages and Vine Dryads.
Games two and three I stabilize behind the Moat. I tax a few times, search a few times, make some Wild Pegasi and kill him with about 2 minutes left in the round. Game three he kept a bad hand, which I see via a turn 1 Land Grant. No agression, and my second-turn Sacred Ground makes even his land destruction worthless.
Round two vs. Abe Foster (Stasis)
Game one he really doesn't draw anything but a couple counterspells, and scoops when I force through an Abundance. I didn't realize until he explained after the match how the Abundance keeps me from decking myself, leaving him unable to win. In game two I use a combination of Abeyances and judicious spell-casting to force through a juicy Replenish, nagging Sacred Mesa, Sylvan, and Choke, but no Sterling Grove. He drops Kismet, but is forced to remove his first Stasis from the game to FoW my Aura Fracture. He draws another Stasis at nine life and locks me down, but after three turns he finds no Forsaken City, no Gush, and no blue source. I untap just in time to upkeep the Sacred Mesa (having lost the last token the turn before), cast an Aura of Silence, and swarm for the win next turn.
Round 3 vs. Jason Schickli (Keeper)
Game one I get him to 6 life via his own Cities of Brass. Game two I got him to 2(!) via his own Cities. Jason counters the right spells and disenchants the ones his counters miss. I saw next to nothing in the way of card-drawing the entire match, which hurt the most, I think. I never got to tax, and his Moxen kept him at comfortable mana. I tried to bait, but his Facts kept him ahead in card advantage, and the Will sealed the first game. In game two, I stopped laying land after turn two with a tax out. He made sure not to play a third land either. Eventually, I went for the Enchantress and he Mana Drained it. Now if he's going to Mind Twist me, I should just say go. If he's going to play a land and then Morphling, I've got to play a land so I have the mana to deal with Morphling via Story Circle, Sacred Mesa, etc. I guessed Morphling, played a land, and on his turn he Mind Twists for four, emptying my hand. That was probably game. I made feeble efforts to regain control, but to no avail. His Morphling/Timewalk/Regrowth(Timewalk) sealed it.
Round 4 vs. Robert Prosser (mono-blue)
Somehow I managed to spend 50 minutes not killing him in game one. I played every card in my deck at least once. I StPd a Masticore and a Morphling in the same turn. I cast Abeyance 6 times and Replenish at least three times. I forgot to attack at least once, which if I had, would have won me the game. I had lethal damage on the board going into my last attack phase in extra turns, when he finally finds his Zuran Orb (after 5 Acc. Knowleges, 2 Ancestrals, 6 Impulses, 6 Sleights of Hand, and a Time Spiral). I was at 58 life. It's a draw. I'm sure I could have done a dozen things differently to win this game and I'll do them right next time.
Round 5 vs. Jon Eakins (G/B Fatty-deed w/ Vineyard)
In game one I cast Sterling Grove/Sterling Grove/Moat. I say to him, "If you don't run maindeck Tranquility, you might want to concede." He casts Pernicious Deed, blows it for four, and attacks for twelve with his Spiritmongers. I die the next turn.
He misplays game two by casting a Tranquil Grove without the mana to use it. I use a Seal of Cleansing on it. I make sure to have a Story Circle (Green) in play for his Hunted Wumpus and Blastoderm, so that when he does blow the Deed again, I live to cast Replenish next turn. I kill him quickly with a Mesa, knowing that with 4 deeds, plus Groves and maybe even more, that time does not favor me in this matchup.
Replenish again saves me game three, but we run out of time before finishing.
2-1-2, 10th place.
We're having a $200 T1 tournament this Saturday, and since I already have the cards borrowed, I'd like to play the deck again. So let loose your thoughts on the structure, play, and evolution of this deck.
Thanks,
J-Dog