all your report are belong to us

We hadn't been planning to go to Myriad, but Dan's restructured prizes were a
good idea, and we wanted to show our support for this. I was mostly happy with
my prior deck, but decide to listen to Chris and add in Tinker and Jar. I also
wanted Top, so I cut Imperial Seal for it. I replaced Windfall with Time Spiral,
which I never did manage to cast. Merchant Scroll got cut for being useful only
when Ancestral was still in the deck, and only moderate even then. Fact or
Fiction, which had replaced Cruel Bargain in Tommy's list for me, also got cut
for more space. These changes made, I was ready to play Day 2 of the weekend.
For the sideboard, I ran a Xantid Swarm as Chris and JD both advocated. And,
seeing Jeremiah before the event, Chris and I decide to run Mystic Remora in the
board. The fact that Dan had them in stock for our purchase confirmed the
decision.

Round I: Oli with Drain Painter
Game 1: I get out a turn 2 Jar and win on turn 3.
Game 2: Oli double Duresses me. I Duress him. However, I resolve a Swarm, and
they allow my Bargaining with Yawgmoth to go unmolested.

Round II: Jeff with Ichorid
Game 1: Jeff mulls to 4. He then plays Bazaar and Chalice. I'm dead before I can
get online.
Game 2: Jeff mulligans to 1 and I don't have any trouble.
Game 3: Jeff mulligans to 1 again.

Round III: Jimmy with Drain Painter
Game 1: I win off an early Necropotence.
Game 2: I mulligan and die on the third turn to the Grindstone combo.
Game 3: This game is going well at first. We are both building up our hand and
playing control elements. I resolve Time Twister but can't win that turn. So, I
played Duress, play Jar, and pass with double Remorae. I know that Jimmy has a
Mox and a Crypt. At the end of the turn, Jimmy fetches. When I have cut his
deck, I see that the top card of his deck is backwards in the transparent
sleeve. I call over Dan and show him the clearly marked card, an Aura of Silence
facing upward. Jimmy assures me that I shouldn't be upset because the marked
card isn't a good one -- it's Sol Ring. I'm fairly upset at this point because
my opponent actually knows what his backward card is, meaning that it isn't just
an honest mistake. Dan returns and announces that Jimmy just gets a warning.
I'll admit, I'm a bit on tilt here since Jimmy only got a warning for a clearly
marked card which he could identify. Dan has us reshuffle and Jimmy draws
Ancestral instead of the Sol Ring to which I had cut, and manages to Grind me
out. I could have played better on his turn, but honestly, I was too on tilt to
play properly. Getting only a warning for the backward marked card was something
I didn't agree with. In hindsight, I should have expressed my reasoning on the
matter better to Dan instead of staying silent.

Round IV: John with Stax
Game 1: I get locked out by a Chalice and Sphere.
Game 2: Hurkyl and Time Twister team up to give me this one.
Game 3: John mulligans and doesn't have any lock pieces. In a few turns I
resolve Bargain and go off without any opposition.

Top Eight: Pat with PTW.dec
Game 1: Pat resolves Birds of Paradise and I duress away his Intuition. Me
Mysticals for ThoughtSeize , but my Necropotence resolves before Pat hits his
fourth mana source for the Gifts in his hand. Desire for six ends it.
Game 2: I try to go off early this game but can't win. So, I tinker for
Colossus. By the time Pat can remove my Construct, Remora has drawn me some new
cards and I can drop Necropotence for the win.

Top Four: ELD with Control Slaver
Game 1: ELD opens with a Welder and some mana. I Ancestral, and then on my next
turn Duress him. His hand is Welder, Volcanic, and Mindslaver. So, Mindslaver
hits his graveyard. Eric goes to his turn with two land in play and a Top on the
table, topping before the turn. Any artifact mana in the top 3 would have won it
for him, but there wasn't any. He tops after he draws on his turn, hoping for
lotus. Nothing, so I get another turn. I get out Bargain but can't win. I got to
2 life, with Welder on board. Eric Welders in his Mindslaver before he can
activate it, and I Chain it to his hand. On his turn, Eric thinks and plays a
second Welder, meaning that I have only one turn. However, I win on the turn
before I'd have been beaten to death. That was a very close game.
Game 2: Eric Duresses me. Xantid Swarm resolves on my side. I Force Eric's
Thirst, since a prior Duress had told me that his hand wasn't very good. Necro
soon resolves and that ends things.

Finals: Jeff Carpenter with Workshop Combo
Game 1: I open with fetchland and two off-color Mox, plus a Top. Jeff opens with
Lotus, Time Vault, Seat of the Synod, Mox Sapphire. I Top on the endstep, Fetch,
and Top again. I play Swamp and Grim Tutor. Jeff plays Rings, which I Force. He
then plays Jar and passes. I Tinker for Jar, Vamp, and pop Jar. Jeff cleverly
pops his own Jar in response, thinking that if I had gotten Yawgmoth's Will
(which would have been lethal) that I would lose it. However, I had gotten
Rebuild, knowing that he could use his Jar. I end up getting Yawgmoth's Will on
the second hand he gave me, and win off that.
Game 2: And infinite/infinite+1 Thorn of Amethyst kills me on the second or
third turn.
Game 3: I play Academy and some artifacts on my first turn. I rebuild on Jeff's
third endstep, untap, play Bargain, and win.

The changes that I made to the deck were all improvements. Tinker and Jar were
very solid all day. Although Colossus didn't end up winning me a single game, I
felt better knowing that he was in the deck. Time Spiral gathered dust in a
sleeve, but Yawgmoth's Bargain was a real champion. I think that it won me more
games than the other Yawgmoth-themed card in my deck over the weekend.

Here's my Day II decklist:

// Lands
    4  Polluted Delta
    2  Bloodstained Mire
    3  Underground Sea
    1  Swamp
    1 Academy
    1  Bayou

// Creatures
    1 Darksteel Colossus

// Spells
    1  Lotus Petal
    1  Black Lotus
    1 Sol Ring
    1 Mana Crypt
    4  Force of Will
    3 Duress
    2 Cabal Ritual
    1 Demonic Tutor
    1 Vampiric Tutor
    1  Mystical Tutor
    1 Time Walk
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Misdirection
    1 Ponder
    1  Brainstorm
    2  Tendrils of Agony
    1  Gifts Ungiven
    2  Grim Tutor
    1  Mind's Desire
    1  Yawgmoth's Will
    1  Yawgmoth's Bargain
    1  Necropotence
    1  Rebuild
    1  Chain of Vapor
    1 Timetwister
    4  Dark Ritual
    1 Mox Emerald
    1 Mox Jet
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Mox Pearl
    1 Tinker
    1 Memory Jar
    1 Sensei's Divining Top
    1 Time Spiral
    1  Mana Vault

// Sideboard
SB: 1  Bayou
SB: 1  Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 2  Dark Confidant
SB: 1  Yixlid Jailer
SB: 4 Tarmogoyf
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 3 Mystic Remora
SB: 1 Xantid Swarm


Final Thoughts

This was a weekend both fun and educational, like a field trip. Chris and I
aren't exactly Becker and JD, but we learned quite a bit. ELD and Dan both ran
excellent events. I'm glad that both of these Tournament Organizers could work
together to make sure that New Englanders were able to enjoy a great weekend of
solid gaming. The players were, as always, a blast to hang out with, from
hanging out in an ice cream shop Day 1 to escape the heat to going with Mike D
to grab some lunch Day 2. It also goes to show you that learning to play a new
deck is possible if you take the time to learn it and are motivated to do well.
Thanks to everyone there, to everyone who gave us advice on the decks (as
described above), to our teammates, and to everyone reading.

-- Rich