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Highlander Cup XV 28.06.2015 [Maintal]

Started by Vazdru, 29-06-2015, 08:32:43 PM

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Vazdru

everything related to the recent HL Cup (e. g. reports, decklist, player profiles T8) is welcome

i start adding final standings after swiss, Top 8 bracket and maybe some deckslists on mtgpulse this week

stay tuned :-)
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

Vazdru

Standings after 7 rounds Swiss / Archetypes Top 20

      
   PLACE            NAME            POINTS      OPP-Score      Archetype   
   1            Jan Portleroy            18      62,72%      4c Blood
   2            Dalibor Szegho            17      72,22%      Reanimator   
   3            Manuel Hauck            17      65,95%      Gruul   
   4            Matthias Frauenschläger            17      57,26%      UW(b)-Conrol   
   5            Lars Rosengren            16      61,50%      Classic Bant   
   6            Thomas Stier            16      59,68%      4c Blood   
   7            Timo Alex            16      57,19%      Izzet   
   8            Jörn Franke            16      54,73%      Jeskai   
   9            Thomas Kannegiesser         16      47,49%      Esper
   10            Niklas Romahn            15      56,35%      Maverick      
   11            Sebastian Winkler            15      56,07%      RDW      
   12            Gerry Stahl            15      53,22%      4c Blood         
   13            Jan-Hinrich Rabe            15      51,33%      Goodstuff / Dark-Bant         
   14            Matthias Hittel            14      66,10%      BUG      
   15            Stefan Schumacher            14      57,76%      Jeskai   
   16            Stefan Stührmann         13      62,38%      BUG-Combo         
   17            Luca Doernbach            13      59,52%      BUG   
   18            Bernhard Feige            13      56,64%      Jeskai      
   19            Tobias Bruch            12      61,02%      Oath   
   20            Claus Diefenbacher            12      60,27%      Izzet      

diverse meta, isn't it?                  
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

Kenshin

If you create the event on mtgpulse I will upload my 9th place deck list. I am still so desolate that I failed the top8 as the only 5-1-1 player. But that opponent score is abysmal. Starting 0-1-1 after a bye and then winning 4 straight may feel nice but that opp score... my my my...

Vazdru

Quote from: Kenshin on 29-06-2015, 11:52:47 PM
If you create the event on mtgpulse I will upload my 9th place deck list. I am still so desolate that I failed the top8 as the only 5-1-1 player. But that opponent score is abysmal. Starting 0-1-1 after a bye and then winning 4 straight may feel nice but that opp score... my my my...

http://mtgpulse.com/event/20635#292794

@ Top 16 - feel free to add your decks
thx in advance
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

Bat

I have some time on my hands, so i'll give my tournament report a try :>

I arrived Saturday at 10am to play one of the trials, sadly no judge had any information when the registration would start... so i waited. Very long. I had friends to play some games and i like to trade, so i had no trouble passing my time. But its just annoying when no one has any information about the trials.

So the registration began when the rptq and the legacy side event ended their first round. I registered, and waited again. With 16 people the trial should start, at no time there where more then 9 names on the list. After hours i talked to a judge that they should start this thing with 8 players. The judge agreed, but pointed out that there will be no bye for the winner then. Yay... more talking... finally the event started, with a bye for the winner.

Ill make these short.
I play UWr Control, first round win against gw aggro(?). Second round win against UR Control. Final Match, loss against RDW. :(

Sunday:

First round RW Goblins.

First game Arc Trail gives me some time, i resolve Batterskull and Ojutai into game 2.
Game 2 i dont pay attention, tap out on T4 with 4 nonbasics, Magus of the Moon hits the board. Next 3 turns i dont draw a basic or a burn spell. So we go to game 3.
Fire/Ice trades 2 for 1. Wrath into Ojutai seales the game.

Round 2 BUG Control.

Sadly i cant remember game 1... i think i win with True Name and Elspeth Knight Errant on the board.
Game 2 is very lucky for me. EOT on my turn 3 he flashes Boon Satyr, which gets Mana Drained.
My hand is not very good at this point. (3 more lands, wrath, fof). So im happy to play the fact for 1 mana next turn.
Thoughtseize on his turn, bye bye fact. Nothing on my turn, Jace TMS on his side, i know im in trouble.
From this point i topdeck my way to the win. Batterskull blocks for 3 rounds his Sword equipped Treetop. I resolve TNN, wasteland Treetop, Cruise + SDT into Councils Judgement. 2:0

Round 3 Esper Control

Game 1: I can resolve turn 4 Jace TMS, Faith Feathers on Jace. Thundermaw gets 5 damage through, some burn damage, and we are both very close with our live totals. I can resolve Keranos, luckily he doesnt see that i have 7 devotion next turn to swing for lethal. I play another walker to pull what he might have, he taps out for counterspell, swing with Keranos and TNN for lethal to his surprise.

Game 2 is pretty even for a long time, we are both down to 1-2 cards in hand. But he has Jace TMS and SDT on the board. I play grandmaster, he remands it, i say go, eot mystical tutor from him. Sadly i forgot his drawn card through his remand, and i response with a Fire/Ice on his SDT. it resolves, he searches for Entreat. His turn miracle for 5 angels, Jace +2 on me and he puts a Supreme Verdict to the Bottom.... I can survive for another round but we go to game 3. Time on the round and we draw.

Round 4 BUG Control

Game 1 is very even until his Intuition resolves, Loam, Wasteland, Lonely Sandbar. After a few rounds im down to 4 basics and cant hold up to his card draw.
Game 2 is again in his favor, i cant get much spells through his countermagic, Treetop gets me below 8 Life and his board has a walker online.

So 2:1:1 after 4 Rounds. Now i need 3 more wins for top8.

Round 5 RUG Scapeshift

Game 1:  Aven Mindcensor makes it hard for him to search for anything. But i cant attack because of his Maze, i resolve Batterskull and Wasteland his Maze. He responses with Crop Rotation and finds Thespian Stage in the top 4 Cards. With his Dark Depths on the board he creates the token which gets bounced. A few turns later i am up 1:0.

Game 2: I cant remember exactly, something like turn 8 Scapeshift for lethal.

Game 3: His Savage Knucklelade is giving me trouble. A damage race evolves and in the end i can resolve a Monastery Mentor. Create some tokens with Ponder into Impulse, which finds snapcaster. Attack for 4. his eot snapcaster into impulse -> gg

Round 6: Esper Control

Game 1: I resolve Soulfire Grandmaster on t2, which brings me to 30 life and him down to 10. Sadly im flooded and he is gaining more and more ground. In the end i loose against his big Elspeth + Colonnade.

Game 2: Pretty even and counterheavy match. I can Wrath his Entreated Angels and resolve Narset. He is down to 8. Minus on Narset. Kicker Burst Lightning, next turn Rebound Burst Lightning, kicker into judgecall. We had a good talk so no bad feelings here. He had to take his chance cause we were on the edge of the time.

Game 3: He concedes as the time hits as he has a 4+ hour trip home and has to get up early.

I made it to my "Win and In". I hope for the best and sit down.

Round 7: UWR Control

As a quick sidenote here, this is my 6th Control machup in a row. I hoped from the beginning to get paired against one of the many creature decks around me. But no 4cBlood or other non blue decks for me.

Game 1: He resolves his Jace TMS, so do i. He can O-Ring mine, and resolves in the following turns Treasure Cruise, SDT and Dig Through Time. Which leaves me with no chance.

Game 2: I can counter his eot fact. But from that point i feel like im always one turn behind. I cant get spells through and he has a Ancestral Vision counting down, my counter gets snared. TNN, Elspeth and Kitchen Finks hits the board and im out.

4:2:1 in the end for me, but im pretty happy with my performance.


What change would i do with my deck?

Dragonlord Ojutai out
Serum Visions in

The best thing Ojutai was doing, is getting countered.
The rest of the tournament he was staring into the opponents Karakas, or getting killed with spells i had the wrong counterspell for.
So pretty underwhelming performance from him. But i guess he is better in the creature heavy Matchups.


Kenshin

I must admit, unless it was Karakas, I am fine with just attacking and seeing what happens or trading. I think Ojutai is a sick card, totally capable of locking a game down, killing planeswalkers in one swoop and generating steady card advantage.

Maqi

#6
   Here are the Top 8 player profiles:               
                  

   1st Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Thomas Stier / Maqi      
   Age:   
      32      
   Hometown:   
      Mannheim      
   Occupation:   
      Health-Care Finance      
   Shop and/or community where you usually play Magic:    
      Wizard's Well Mannheim      
   Your deck name / archetype:    
      4c Blood      
   Why did you choose your deck?    
      I like its pro-activeness and its board-dominating, resilient and value-producing threats      
   Number of Times playing on Highlander GPs:   
      6 or 7. Can't remember exactly.      
   Number of HL Top 8s:   
      4      
   Other previous Magic accomplishments:   
      Nothing noteworthy      
   What was your record today?    
      5-1-1      
   How often do you play Highlander?    
      Ranging from twice to four times a week      
   Which Magic formats do you play?   
      Highlander mostly, but basically every format when big tournaments occur      
   Do you play Magic online (MTGO, cockatrice) in general? Do you play HL online?   
      Highlander on Cockatrice      
   Is there any card you would like to nominate for Ban / Unban in Highlander?   
      Ban Mana Drain and Mystical Tutor      
   Anything else you would like to say?   
      It was nice to see fellow players. Especially those from further away like Berlin, NRW, Vienna, Slovakia etc.       
      
            
   2nd Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Lars Rosengren      
   Age:   
      30      
   Hometown:   
      Darmstadt      
   Occupation:   
      Student      
   Shop and/or community where you usually play Magic:    
      Paladin's Place      
   Your deck name / archetype:    
      Bant      
   Why did you choose your deck?    
      -      
   Number of Times playing on Highlander GPs:   
      4      
   Number of HL Top 8s:   
      1      
   Other previous Magic accomplishments:   
      One GP Top 8      
   What was your record today?    
      5-1-1      
   How often do you play Highlander?    
      -      
   Which Magic formats do you play?   
      Draft      
   Do you play Magic online (MTGO, cockatrice) in general? Do you play HL online?   
      Modo Drafts      
   Is there any card you would like to nominate for Ban / Unban in Highlander?   
      -      
   Anything else you would like to say?   
      Hi      
      
            
   3rd Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Alex, Timo      
   Profile is missing / was not filled in   
            
      
            
   4th Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Jörn Franke      
   Age:   
      30      
   Hometown:   
      Halle      
   Occupation:   
      -      
   Shop and/or community where you usually play Magic:    
      Spielehaus Halle      
   Your deck name / archetype:    
      UWR Midrange      
   Why did you choose your deck?    
      I like it and it's good      
   Number of Times playing on Highlander GPs:   
      1      
   Number of HL Top 8s:   
      1      
   Other previous Magic accomplishments:   
      won Metagame Masters #2      
   What was your record today?    
      5-1-1      
   How often do you play Highlander?    
      Once per week      
   Which Magic formats do you play?   
      Only Highlander and Cube      
   Do you play Magic online (MTGO, cockatrice) in general? Do you play HL online?   
      Cockatrice      
   Is there any card you would like to nominate for Ban / Unban in Highlander?   
      Unban Stoneforge Mystic      
   Anything else you would like to say?   
      -      
      
            
   5th Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Jan Portleroy / LePorte      
   Age:   
      29      
   Hometown:   
      Mannheim      
   Occupation:   
      System Catering Professional      
   Shop and/or community where you usually play Magic:    
      Wizard's Well Mannheim      
   Your deck name / archetype:    
      4c Blood by Hauckster/Maqi      
   Why did you choose your deck?    
      Because everybody plays it      
   Number of Times playing on Highlander GPs:   
      2      
   Number of HL Top 8s:   
      1      
   Other previous Magic accomplishments:   
      2x Legacy Top 8 at JK-Event      
   What was your record today?    
      6-1-0      
   How often do you play Highlander?    
      When I'm around at the shop      
   Which Magic formats do you play?   
      -      
   Do you play Magic online (MTGO, cockatrice) in general? Do you play HL online?   
      no      
   Is there any card you would like to nominate for Ban / Unban in Highlander?   
      no      
   Anything else you would like to say?   
      Had a lot of fun. Nice opponents and good games.      
      
            
   6th Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Dalibor Szegho      
   Age:   
      36      
   Hometown:   
      Senel, Slowakia      
   Occupation:   
      Programmer      
   Shop and/or community where you usually play Magic:    
      Cloudpost      
   Your deck name / archetype:    
      Reanimator      
   Why did you choose your deck?    
      I can      
   Number of Times playing on Highlander GPs:   
      about 5      
   Number of HL Top 8s:   
      2      
   Other previous Magic accomplishments:   
      :)      
   What was your record today?    
      5-0-2      
   How often do you play Highlander?    
      Once per week      
   Which Magic formats do you play?   
      Legacy, Highlander      
   Do you play Magic online (MTGO, cockatrice) in general? Do you play HL online?   
      No      
   Is there any card you would like to nominate for Ban / Unban in Highlander?   
      Ban Mystical Tutor!!! Unban Natural Order      
   Anything else you would like to say?   
      See ya!      
      
            
   7th Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Manuel Hauck      
   Age:   
      33      
   Hometown:   
      Mutterstadt      
   Occupation:   
      Mathematician      
   Shop and/or community where you usually play Magic:    
      Wizard's Well Mannheim      
   Your deck name / archetype:    
      Gruuuuul / RG-Beatz      
   Why did you choose your deck?    
      It's fast, brutal and simple      
   Number of Times playing on Highlander GPs:   
      -      
   Number of HL Top 8s:   
      1      
   Other previous Magic accomplishments:   
      2 times GP top 8      
   What was your record today?    
      5-0-2      
   How often do you play Highlander?    
      1,5x per week      
   Which Magic formats do you play?   
      almost all      
   Do you play Magic online (MTGO, cockatrice) in general? Do you play HL online?   
      MTGO: yes, Highlander: no      
   Is there any card you would like to nominate for Ban / Unban in Highlander?   
      Mana Drain (!), Sensei's Divining Top      
   Anything else you would like to say?   
      -      
      
            
   8th Place   
            
      
            
   NAME / NICKNAME:   
      Matthias Frauenschläger      
   Age:   
      25      
   Hometown:   
      Ansbach      
   Occupation:   
      -      
   Shop and/or community where you usually play Magic:    
      Ansbach      
   Your deck name / archetype:    
      Esper      
   Why did you choose your deck?    
      A good deck      
   Number of Times playing on Highlander GPs:   
      a few      
   Number of HL Top 8s:   
      1 to 3      
   Other previous Magic accomplishments:   
      won BOM      
   What was your record today?    
      5-0-2      
   How often do you play Highlander?    
      Once per week      
   Which Magic formats do you play?   
      Highlander, Limited, Modern      
   Do you play Magic online (MTGO, cockatrice) in general? Do you play HL online?   
      MTGO Online      
   Is there any card you would like to nominate for Ban / Unban in Highlander?   
      Ban Tolarian Academy      
   Anything else you would like to say?   
      -      

Doks

Apart from my horrible performance, I liked this Highlander Cup very much.

Although we started a little late, the organisation was good and - which was most important - we had sufficient space on the tables. It was warm and there were a lot of people at the location, so it was even better to have enough space for your playmat, dices and stuff while playing without touching your neighbours elbows all the time.

Except for one encounter, I faced only friendly opponents and had a lot of good games (that showed me that I definitely need to play a lot more to get practice). One big tournament every few months is not enough. Also, playing a lot of control matchups is exhausting, but very interesting.

Vazdru

                     
   
   Quarterfinals      Semifinals      Finals      Highlander   
   Jan Portleroy       Jörn               
   Jörn Franke            Lars      
                        
   Matthias Frauenschläger      Lars            Thomas   
   Lars Rosengren                            
                        
   Manuel Hauck         Thomas               
   Thomas Stier            Thomas         
                        
   Dalibor Szegho   Timo               
   Timo Alex                        
                     
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

Vazdru

just a few impressions of the recent cup

* the location is great, i wouldn't mind having some more tournaments there in the future
* the meta was diverse, i played 7 round against 6 different archetypes
* enjoyed the tournament quite a lot, met some old friends and had only nice opponents all day

as it worked well for me last time I obviously had to take 4c Blood again (http://mtgpulse.com/event/20635#292797).

r1: vs Stefan from Berlin with Jeskai
g1: first draw: one land, so free mulligan in another one-lander with Bayou, Deathrite, Sylvan Library - i gambled and lost, Arc Trail took care of DRS, 2 non-lands from the top, he immediately handled Sylvan Libabry and game over
g2: first draw: one land, so free mulligan in elf, loxodon smiter, 5 lands (one of them treetop) -> keep, good draws from the top
g3: after free mulligan i've kept 5-lander, game was stalled a bit after midgame has been reached, in the deciding turns he had treasure cruise + dig through time while I've had 3 lands from the top
0:1 1:2

r2: vs Mark from Darmstadt with Gruul
g1: i've had Aether Vial into Elf into Doran into Siege Rhino so Magus of the Moon was only a bad blocker after I attacked once with Doran + Rhino for 10
g2: i've had the better critters (Smiter, Falkenrath Aristocrat) and his life-count drops from 20 to 16 to 7 to 2 to zero
1:1 3:2

r3: vs Dennis from Frankfurt with Esper
g1: one-lander into one-lander into 6 cards with Taiga, Raging Ravine, Confidant, Inquisition, KotR, FtK -> keep, i topdecked Bayou for T2 Confidant and won
g2: he couldn't handle my offense headed by Thrun
2:1 5:2

r4: vs Stefan (derStefan82) from Würzburg with BUG-Combo (http://mtgpulse.com/event/20635#294469)
g1: he started with land, land -> into the north for DD -> playing Stage turn 3 / i tried to survive with Lightning Helix, Lingering Souls, BoP with Regeneration by Golgari Charm but in the end i didn't find a solution for that nasty 20/20 flyer
g2: i've kept a bad hand with Duress but no preasure on T2 - T4. Furthermore i missed some landdrops so he won with Oath + Orchyard into Rune-Scarred Demon
2:2 5:4

r5: Dirk (K0d013e4st) from Frankfurt with High Tide (http://mtgpulse.com/event/20562#291784)
g1: i was able to keep him away of getting 7 mana, Aven Mindcensor made most of the job
g2: I've had double discard and in the final turn a Mind's Desire for 5 didn't turned the table in Dirk's favor
3:2 7:4

r6: Markus from Gladbach with 4c Blood
g1: close and good game with the better outcome for me
g2: we was strugglin I've made some good tempo plays and won on 16 lp, i guess Sorin, Solemn Visitor made the difference
4:2 9:4

r7: Achim form Mannheim with 4c Blood
g1: my deck run hot and the luck which I've missed in first round reappear - his lp: 20 -> 16 -> 8 -> 5 -> 0
g2: long and good mirror match with better draws for me
5:2 11:4

together with 11:3 from last Cup Hanau the deck performed 22:7 in last two grand prixs with makes 75%+ game-win percentage, much better than i've expected when I've switched to 4c Blood
unfortunatly there was no price support for the 15 pointers, at least Kenshin got a Bloodstained Mire as guy on 9th place with also 16 points like the guys on place 5 to 8

some side-notes:
there was no copy of watch-listed Tolarian Academy on places 1-20, TA didn't get much love and underperformed this time
Christoph Alsheimer, former HL Champion, played Phyrexian Storm again but fizzeled early in the tournament this time and dropped
overall the combo-decks didn't performed well - there were a few combos like Scapeshift, Eggs, High Tide, Oath-Combo, Buried-Alive-Combo but most of it fizzeled on the long run
there will be a meta-breakdown for the tournament soon
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

Dr. Opossum


Doks

Quote from: Dr. Opossum on 02-07-2015, 04:55:15 AM

Top 8 Decklists are now complete. :)

http://mtgpulse.com/event/20635

Cool, thanks for the information. Could it be that mtgpulse is down right now, though?

Kenshin


Vazdru

#13
   
         GP XV      GP XV      GP XV         GP XIV      GP XIV      GP XIV      GP XIII      GP XIII      GP XIII      GP XII      GP XII      GP XII   
   ARCHETYPE      Appearance      TOP 8      TOP 16         Appearance      TOP 8      TOP 16      Appearance      TOP 8      TOP 16      Appearance      TOP 8      TOP 16   
   4C-BloodAggro      12      2      3         18      2      5      20      3      3      6      1      2   
   UWR / Jeskai      9      1      2         10      1      3      2                  4            1   
   Esper-Control / -Midrange      7      1      2         3      1      2      9                  3            1   
   ComboControl (XV: 2xHigh Tide / Combo-Oath / Eggs / Buried-Alive / Storm)      6            1         2      1      1      2                  4            1   
   UW(b)-Control      5                     8      1      2      8            2      3      1      1   
   Bant-Midrange      5      1      1         4                  3                  9            1   
   RDW      4            1         6                  10            1      5               
   RG-Beatz / RG-Landdestruction      3      1      1         3                  2                  1               
   Naya      3                     4                  9      1      2      6               
   Artifacts      3                     2                  5                  1               
   Jund      3                     2                  3      1      1      3            1   
   Izzet      2      1      1         8      1      1      10      2      3      5      1      1   
   Reanimator      2      1      1         6      1      1      1      1      1      1            1   
   BUG-Aggro / -Midrange      2            1         3                  2                  1               
   WG-Maverick      2            1         1                  3                                 
   Other / Missing      2                                       2                  2               
   Dark-Bant / Goodstuff (no red)      1            1         4                  9            1      11      1      1   
   WW      1                     4            1      2            1      1               
   Abzan & Friends      1                     3                  7                                 
   Grixis-Control / -Midrange      1                     2                  2                                 
   Oath      1                     2                  1                  4      1      1   
   4C Goodstuff (no black)      1                     2                                                   
   Scapeshift      1                     1                  1                                 
   4C- / 5C-Control      1                                       2                  4               
   Pattern Rector      1                                       2                  3               
   5C-Aggro      1                                                         8      1      1   
   Ramp      1                                                                        
   Grixis-Aggro      1                                                                        
   RUG(b)                           3                  1            1      1               
   UG-AggroControl                           2                  4                                 
   MBC                           1                  3                  1               
   Infect                           1                                                   
   Mono-Green                           1                                                   
   4C-Goodstuff (no green)                           1                                                   
   Mono-Blue-Control                                             2                  1               
   Boros                                             1                  5               
   Goblins                                             1                  1            1   
   YingYang (OrzhovAggro)                                             1                  1               
   WBR-Control                                             1                                 
   Elves                                                               2      1      1   
   Bant-Aggro                                                               2      1      1   
   Hermit-Combo                                                               2               
   Total      82      8      16         107      8      16      131      8      16      101      8      16   
   
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

Maqi

Only 2x izzet was certainly a wrong choice by the metagame, lol.