[Report] Tobias Egelhof, BoM 3 Annecy, 10th place

[Tobi]

Report
Tobias Egelhof
Bazaar of Moxen 3
03.05.2009
10th place


The deck:
For the BoM 3 tournament I wanted to play something I was very confident with. There is no deck which fits better into this category than...


Horden Tendrils

4 Force of Will
3 Tendrils of Agony
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Duress
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mind's Desire
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Memory Jar
1 Rebuild
1 Chain of Vapor
3 Serum Visions
3 Chromatic Sphere
4 Dark Ritual
3 Cabal Ritual
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Sol Ring
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
2 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Swamp
60

Sideboard

1 Inkwell Leviathan
3 Dark Confidant
3 Defense Grid
1 Duress
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Island
1 Swamp
15



I played this deck last year at the big Ovinogeddon 2 tournament in Milan to a 7-1-1 record, finishing 9th place. I took out Windfall for one Rebuild and replaced the Sleight of Hand with Serum Visions. Sleight vs Visions was a tough call, but in the end I never looked back. Serum Visions just digs deeper and gives more tactical oportunities. Plus it helps dodge damage from (own) Confidants.

The sideboard is geared to fight control (Confidants), Fish (Defense Grid) and Workshop (Hurkyl's Recall). The plan is to side out Chromatic Spheres and LED/Mana Vault for Confidants/Grids and 2 lands. Against shops Hurkyl's and Chains come in for Forces and Duress, and depending if I am on the draw or play, Lands versus LED/Vault.
You may notice no Ichorid Sideboard. The tactic against Ichorid is to board out Force/Duress and board bounce, almost the same plan as against Shops.



The trip:
We got a car together with Andreas Neumann driving (he has been with me to Milan last year, too), my team-mate Marcus "Q" Quandt and Ralf Natterer. Andreas had Oath with Null Rods, Q was with Confidant Tendrils and Ralf had a list with Mystic Remora and Confidants. Saturday evening we arrived, got our hotel rooms and found the tournament location in the cellar of a church (!). It was the last round of the Legacy tournament when we arrived. We met friends and tested a bit, and then found out that getting something to eat is quite tough in Annecy when it's later than 11PM. Finally we found a location where we got pizza and beer.

Next day the tournament started with 351 (some more or less possible) players, which was even more than the turnout of Ovinogeddon last year.


1st round
bye

I received one bye for rating > 1800 (actually I had 1810) and therfore had some time to scout and take some pictures.
I watched Q lose his first match against UR Slaver, and then finally started into the tournament.

1:0:0



2nd round
Martin Usiansky
UR(probably B also) Painter

Martin is from Czech Republic and a friendly guy. I win the first game quickly with 2nd Turn Necropotence and Yawgmoth's Will in the 3rd.
I board my control matchup plan:
-3 Chromatic Sphere
+3 Dark Confidant
-Lion's Eye Diamond
-Mana Vault
+Island
+Swamp
-Tendrils
-Consultation
+Duress
+Inkwell Leviathan
Second game is very long and I finally manage to kill myself with Confidant and Mana Crypt, though I have to admit that it took a lot longer than it should have ;-)
Third game we go into extraturns and finally draw.

1:0:1



Not too good of a start, but well...

3rd round
Louca Ladislav
UR Control Slaver

My second Czech opponent, and this one even spoke german!
First game I resolve a second turn Bargain and win right away.
Borading plan is the same as the match before.
Second game he slavers me old school and gets Triskelavus shortly after. I scoop.
Third game I have first turn Imperial Seal, Anc, Lotus, Necro. I win a turn later.

2:0:1



4th round
Alexi Catelain
UBW Bomberman

First game I am on the draw and mulligan to 4. Alexi even Mind Twists me for 2, leaving one Ritual in my hand. I topdeck Necropotence, my favourite bomb of the day. It resolves and I win a mini-Tendrils and another one later.
Borading plan... guess what.
Secord game I lose to too many Forces and Thoughtseizes, and some beatdown.
Third game I do my bad play of the day, shuffling the two scry cards off a Serum Visions into the library rather than putting them on the bottom (which is where prefered them to be). Luckily the judge only gives me a warning and no gameloss, so I manage to EOT Mystical for Rebuild and bounce his Canonist for the win in the extraturns.

3:0:1



5th round
Richard Mattiuzzo (Shockwave)
UB Counterbalance

I have seen Richard playing Counterbalance during my 1st round bye, so I walk into this matchup in fear. Unortunately I did not write down any details of the match.
1st game Richard gets a Confidant going and forces one of my bombs. Somehow I manage to rip a lethal Tendrils, although I do not remember how.
I board the seven cards I have stacked to the bottom of my Sideboard pile since round 2.
2nd game he has counter for all of my threats, and again gets a Confidant going. He resolves Tinker and gets... Top :-)
Platinum is hardcast a few turns later.
Third game I tinker for Inkwell after mulligan to 6, who rides it home, probably with a small Tendrils.

4:0:1



6th round
Roberto Maffei
ANT

Roberto is the guy who just recently won a big tournament in Italy with ANT. Unfortunately I do not recall his name at this time and have therefore no clue what he may be playing.
This does not really change after round one, as I win with a second turn Bargain, only seeing a Swamp on his side.
Out of pure lazyness, I board the same cards I did the last rounds.
Second game I get a Confidant online and add a Necro, going down to 8. He kills me with a small Tendrils. This is what happens when you play Necro against a combo deck with 3 Tendrils. At least I have an idea about his decktype now, although I still did not see much of it. He also extirpates Forces and Polluted Delta in this game.
3rd game I keep Inkwell in my deck but board Confidants and Basics out for Spheres and LED/Mana Vault (or something in between).
I tinker for Inkwell and manage to beat him down to 4. At that point I want to win right away and not give him an additional turn, so I play a Memory Jar and activate with some mana floating. Sadly, no Tendrils shows up and no tutor, so I play Timetwister to at least empty his graveyard and pass. He only has a small Tendrils (5 storm) to keep him from dying right away, Will was in the Twister 7 which are now his GY due to Jar. I mysical for Consultation in my upkeep and play the Consultation for Tendrils, revealing 2 Tendrils in the first 6, causing some "AW!"s in the audience, but the third Tendrils is still there. Of course I could have mysticalled for Time Walk, but that would have been too easy... :-P

5:0:1



7th round
Florian Hess
UB Painter

We disputed between rounds what we should do if we get paired against each other - ID or play. We came to the conclusion that playing makes more sense. If we ID, we will both have to win the next 2 matches, if we play, only one has to win 2, the other one can win-draw, or lose-win and probably still have a good chance for top 8. So we play.
Both games are a short story. He has the nuts and I lose big time. I guess any deck would have lost to those hands...
So that's good for him and bad for me, as I have to win the next two to have a minimum chance for top 8. It's Tendrils time!

5:1:1



8th round
Davide Ascenzo
UGB Goyf list with Tendrils

Davide is a funny guy, a bit excentric probably, but very nice.
He starts the first game and opens with a 0/1 Goyf. I go for a second turn Twister for the win.
I board.
Second game I tinker for Inkwell and topdeck Time Walk the turn before Davide would have assembled a winning Will turn.
That was pretty close, but I am on target. One more win to go.

6:1:1



9th round
Patrick Adler
UW Bomberman (?)

I start talking german to him because his name sounds very german, but he does not understand a single word. He's the third Czech I get to play this day.
First game I start with mulligan to six and win 2nd turn. As my Anc resolves I proceed with Tinker for Lotus and Demonic/Will ftw.
Sideboarding with eyes closed...
Second game is probably one of the most spectacular games I ever had with this deck.
I resolve a very early Necropotence and go down to 8 life. The cards I fan open contain a lot of mana, Will, Confidant, one Force and one more blue card - Serum Visions. Not very good, so I need a plan. As I won the first game I can take some risk. Patrick plays Meddling Mage and I think about forcing, but I need the Serum Visions so I can play Confidant and survive. I let it resolve, and he names Tendrils (of course). I know my only out for this guy is either Tinker, which will probably lead to a Confidant killing me, or the lonely Chain of Vapor lingering somewhere deep in my library.
In my next turn I play Confidant, set 4 cards away with Necro followed by Serum Visions. I see a fetchland and Lotus Petal in the scry cards and put Petal on top. EOT I look at the Necro cards and find Vampiric Tutor and one blue card, Brainstorm. So I am at 4 life and hold mana (Ritual, Lotus, some other stuff), Will, Vampiric, Force and Brainstorm - and pass.
He casts Trinket Mage and fetches Tormod's Crypt. Again I cannot counter because I need the Brainstorm for the Vampiric'd card, so Will in my hand becomes useless.
I realize my best bet will be a good Desire, so I go for it, Vampiric it, draw with Brainstorm, play my mana and Desire for 7 with some mana floating. Patrick shuffles my deck and reveals 7 cards: 2 FoW, 2 Tendrils, Serum Visions, Sol Ring and something irrelevant.
So this is getting really ugly now. I play Serum Visions. Draw Rebuild. Scry reveals crap, which I put to the bottom. Meanwhile Patrick is urging me probably the tenth time to play faster, as this is probably not winnable for me anymore. So I play my last option: Sol Ring, tap for 2, cycle Rebuild. I pray and draw... CHAIN OF VAPOR!
Poor Patrick cannot believe it, but neither do I. I play the Chain, he forces, but I have 2 Forces desire'd, so I counter back. Meddling Mage leaves and two Tendrils resolve.

7:1:1


...wrinting this I realize I could have done some tricks with Yawgmoth's Will to get some more storm for Desire. Play Will with Ritual in hand and Lotus uncracked to get around his Tormod's would have been the optimal play here.



I finish 10th place, 2 other players with the same record go 9th and 11th (hi Simon), and 2 go top 8 - Florian and an italian guy. Florian proceeds to the finals, finishing 2nd overall. Good job!

So that's another good performance of Horden Tendrils for me in a major tournament, although both times I miss top 8 by an inch (or a centimeter which is even less!). I win a Mana Drain and so the costs for the trip are covered. :-P

Andreas finishes somewhere in the midfield, Ralf makes it to the first result page. Q gets disqualified in round 2 in a very unlucky and questionable situation.


Props:
- Topdecks. Best I ever had today.
- Lois and Emmanuel and all the others who made this great tournament happen.
- Friendly vintage folks.
- Czech vintage players: sorry I have beaten 3 of you. Will bring beer next time! :-)
- My Wife: thanks for letting me have the weekend free and herding our 2 little girls while daddy plays with expensive toycards.

Slops:
- Q de-q-ed
- Me being too stupid to play Serum Visions correctly. Sorry again Alexi.



Appendix:
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.de/tobias.egelhof/BoM3?authkey=Gv1sRgCLG36fqn0r2nJA&feat=directlink

Links to previous reports:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=36530.0 (Milan)
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35925.0 (Darmstadt)
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=28122.0 (Hanau 2006 - with even more links)

[neonico]

Thanx for the report Tobi. GG for your great showing.
Really love this deck from the begining, and nice to see such a combo master...
Next time, hope to meet you and hope for a top8 for you