Dortmund 08.07.2012

[MMD]

Dortmund 08.07.2012
8 players   
1st – UGrw Good Stuff
2nd – UGbw Good Stuff
3rd – UGbw Good Stuff

Sorry for the horrible card order but the result and the lists are boring anyway. I promise to offer better lists in future but will most probably just link to mtgpulse next time.

This tournament usually has 15-20 players but this time we had the M13 Prerelease, a new location and organizer and there was also an EDH 1on1 tournament offered which could be a reason for the decline.

I played Bant and lost the "mirror" against the UGrw deck and lost the die roll against RDW...

1st place - Mathias von der Heyde - UGrw Good Stuff

1 Mother of Runes
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Aven Mindcesor
1 Inferno Titan
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Venser, Shaper Servant
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Primeval Titan
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Wall of Roots
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Trinket Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Rafiq of the Many
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Trygon Predator
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Tithe
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Gideon Jura
1 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Brainstorm
1 Mana Drain
1 Ponder
1 Bribery
1 Jace, the Mindsculptor
1 Upheaval
1 Intuition
1 Natural Order
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Life from the Loam
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Batterskull
1 Mox Diamond
1 AEther Vial
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Lightning Helix
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Fire/Ice
1 Maze of Ith
1 Raging Ravine
1 Karakas
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Arid Mesa
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Polluted Delta
1 Marsh Flats
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Taiga
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
1 Savannah
1 Tropical Island
2 Island
3 Forest
1 Mountain
3 Plains
1 Plateau
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Steam Vents
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Secluded Glen

2nd - Patrick Richter - UGbw Good Stuff

1 Life from the Loam
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Upheaval
1 Lingering Souls
1 Natural Order
1 Bribery
1 Sylvan Library
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Parallax Wave
1 Dismember
1 Noxious Revival
1 Path to Exile
1 Force of Will
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Mana Drain
1 Brainstorm
1 Beast Within
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Intuition
1 Tainted Pact
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Jace, the Mindsculptor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Withdraw
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Crystal Shard
1 AEther Vial
1 Shriekmaw
1 Spike Weaver
1 Loxodon Hierarch
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Mystic Snake
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Trinket Mage
1 Wall of Roots
1 Arbor Elf
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Primeval Titan
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Mother of Runes
1 Eternal Witness
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Restoration Angel
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Baleful Strix
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Underground Sea
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Arid Mesa
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Wasteland
1 Plains
1 Tropical Island
1 Karakas
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Savannah
1 Temple Garden
1 Marsh Flats
1 Breeding Pool
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Treetop Village
1 City of Brass
2 Island
1 Polluted Delta
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Flooded Strand
1 Scrubland
2 Forest
1 Windswept Heath
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Tundra
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Maze of Ith
2 Snow-Covered Island
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Bayou

3rd - Michael Becker - UGbw Good Stuff

1 Kitchen Finks
1 Karakas
1 Wasteland
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Zur the Enchanter
1 Path to Exile
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Sylvan Library
1 Mox Diamond
5 Forest
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Crop Rotation
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Polluted Delta
1 Bribery
1 Brainstorm
1 Flooded Strand
1 Trygon Predator
4 Island
1 Aven Mindcesor
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Necromancy
1 Evasive Action
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Breeding Pool
1 Back to Basics
1 Ponder
1 Arid Mesa
1 Intuition
1 Marsh Flats
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Jace, the Mindsculptor
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Mental Misstep
1 Cryptic Command
1 Miscalculation
1 Scrubland
1 Primeval Titan
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Savannah
1 Thrun, the last Troll
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Maze of Ith
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Treetop Village
1 Beast Within
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Natural Order
1 Trinket Mage
1 Bayou
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Delay
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Plains
1 Batterskull
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Underground Sea
1 Mana Drain
1 AEther Vial
1 Forest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Counterspell
1 Force of Will
1 Preordain
1 Mana Leak
1 Vedalken AEthermage
1 Arbor Elf
1 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Restoration Angel
1 Tropical Island
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Tundra
1 Life from the Loam
1 Hinterland Harbor
1 Eternal Witness

[Doks]

Thanks for the lists, I already wondered why I didn't hear anything about the first "big" monthly Highlander event after it moved to Dortmund.

I think that the number of participants will be the same or even higher compared to Iserlohn because I think that Dortmund's location is so much more attractive to a lot of people. Let's wait for the numbers in the upcoming autumn and winter months (or did the tournament organiser say something about abandoning Highlander format if there weren't more people participating during the next tournaments?).

[so_not]

Blegh, when decks start to look like this I get sick. There are just so much randomness in them (or the format?) I don't even know where to start. It's a shame no one seem to be able to crack your metagame so people just play bunch of cards instead of actual decks.

I mean people do play sometimes 4c-goodstuff piles here in Finland too but they just aren't always as good as real decks. Their manabases could be susceptible to hate or they don't have enough disruption and/or a fast clock to deal with combos and ramp/control can just play bigger threats. Obviously nutty draws are nutty but there's a lack of focus in the strategy of these decks. Yes the card pool is huge but that's not an excuse playing strictly worse cards than available. For example only the winner played Garruk Relentless but instead there's Sorin, Lord of Innistrad? Yavimaya Hollow over Volrath's Stronghold? No love for Creeping Tar Pit? Friggin Beast Within over Maelstrom Pulse and Vindicate? Zur but no actual relevant Synergy with it? No one-mana discard? Delay, Crop Rotation, Aether Vial, Crystal Shard, Withdraw...the list goes on. I also have never understood the love for Parallax Wave and Upheaval in goodstuff.

The winner's deck is the most consistent one but even then it could probably abandon blue and just play naya. I mean it only has Mana Drain and counters are one of the main reasons to run blue (or a relevant engine). Instead it has subpar creatures like Rafiq?

Maybe I'm just missing something or being ignorant but to me your 4-5C problem shouldn't be that much of a problem. At least these decks doesn't seem unwinnable. I can accept running weird cards if the players acknowledge the fact that they are giving up on power level.

[tonytahiti]

to top 3 in a 8 man tournament your deck doesnt need to be super refined. not saying the decks are bad, maybe a bit boring. this was a 8 man tournament and should be treated like one.

[MMD]

Finnish metagame doesn't look different either as everybody and his mother seems to play UBx control. But this is also Highlander. Some Players (or play groups) don't mind to play mirrors all day long.

Even if this is just a 8 man tournament, winning lists on GP´s also look similar. Even if some of the card choices are not optimal, the pure card quality of such decks can win tournaments, not to speak about such a deck which is focused and plays optimal choices. Take a look at the GP IX with 164 Players which is to my knowledge the biggest Highlander tournament ever. The 5C good stuff list features cards like Thrun and Venser PW, IMO quite mediocre cards which could easily replaced with better ones, for example Parallax Wave/Elspeth and Reveillark, to stay with the casting cost and available cards during that time.

How to crack a metagame with just one Tier 1 strategy in the format which is 3-4C midrange? It can win every match up due to his single card power level and is the most adaptive one as well.

- Sure you can start to play an anti creature control deck but you will horrible loose to other Tier 2 decks or even to a modified version of these midrange decks which goes back to discard and small counters.
- Certainly you can fight with BtB, Bloodmoon and stuff but the weapons are limited and due to the Fetchland issue, 4-5 basic lands per list are sometimes enough to win even through it, at least for a prepared player.
- Yes, you can play the Ramp and throw in some bigger threats but there are still some counters out there which will destroy you.
- A reasonable metagame call would be Combo (Cephalid Breakfast finished 2nd two times in a row before in this tournament) but solid Combo builds are quite difficult to build as they need to combo off at least in turn 5 to have a chance. Most reliable Combo builds have a creature set up which is also sub par in a sea of pinpoint removal (UGwr builds). I would not want to play Combo on bigger tournaments due to the instability of most builds.

In my metagame the "evolution" is that the good stuff decks just increase the CC of their creatures (aka Titans) to beat standard good stuff decks. The next circle is going back to ultra fast aggro like RDW followed by Naya and 4-5C Aggro going back to Good stuff to complete the circle.

Regarding your deck list complaints:

I agree that these decks have lost their focus but they are still good enough because of their pure quality. Loosing focus and suboptimal card choices is a result of the limited existence of forums, data bases and professional deckbuilding, so everyone is brewing his own weird stuff but mostly because Highlander is still a casual format.

1st  I also think this is the "most" focused and a handful of card choices are always debatable (metagame, pet, test card...) but I would also prefer to choose either Naya or a more U based set up. Going Naya and loose Jace, Bribery, Clique and the Clones would also be hard for me.

2nd – It's his good stuff pet deck for years. His "evolution" is to switch B with R and the other way around. 90 cards are fixed and the rest is exchanged every tournament to create his "diversity". So some old goodies/pet cards (Chrystal Shard, Mystic Snake, Withdraw...) and some test cards (Baleful Strix, Sorin...) Sure, Creeping Tar Pit/Maelstrom Pulse (Vindicate`s mana requirement are challenging) are superior to Stirring Wildwood/Beast Within which is most probably just a failure during the exchange back from R to B splash.

3rd I also think that the list is the worst one with just a bunch of good cards but suboptimal choices and limited synergy. But perhaps the reason is similar to the 2nd one. Such lists piloted by mediocre players (not saying he is such a person) can easily finish with a positive result on a tournament due to the power of the single cards.

Upheaval - I have also cutted it in my list some time ago as the card to too situational. I think it is in the lists because they like to win BIG
Parallax Wave - is another story. You simply cannot beat this card in midrange mirrors. The only downside is the mana requirement.
One Mana Discard – Debatable. They are much weaker in a 4C midrange metagame where everyone goes up the creature ladder

No, without any bigger format changes 3-5C good stuff will remain the only Tier 1 deck in this format whatever you try do metagame.

[Doks]

So how was the 2nd Dortmund past weekend? I would especially be interested in the number of participants.

[Nastaboi]

Finnish metagame doesn't look different either as everybody and his mother seems to play UBx control.

In our nationals (second to last tournament I posted results) everybody played aggro.