Emerald City Trolls: Seattle Old School MtG

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Adventures in Crustacean Tricking:

My Lobstercon 2019 Report

By stsully

September 26, 2019

Adventures in Crustacean Tricking

Lobstercon 2019 was an amazing experience, offering me an opportunity to meet many people in person who I've only previously interacted with online, play some cards, and make some memories. I also lived in Boston for 6 years, so it was a chance to visit a city I still love once more.

There were so many things about the weekend that were amazing that I'm sure I have already forgotten a few, so I wanted to record them now while everything was still fresh. The experience was so epic I basically wrote three blog posts in one. I'm going to talk first about Friday, then about the main tournament Saturday, and finally some thoughts about the Workshops deck I played to a 6-1 second* place finish -- and more on that asterisk then too.

This got suuuuper long because the weekend was so epic I didn't want to cut out details. So I added a table of contents to help you jump around if you don't care about me describing Premodern on Friday or something.

Friday: Hello New Friends!

I arrived late Thursday night (technically early Friday morning) from Seattle, which resulted in me sleeping in until around 11AM local time. This ended up working out just fine, as DFB had invited me out to a late lunch at Legal Harborside with a few other folks who were in town a bit ahead of the Friday evening festivities.

The Pre-Shellfish Shellfish and Pre-Cards Cards

When I got to Legal, Dave, Carter, Danny, and Will Magrann had just sat down. They were all people I knew of and in many cases had interacted with online, but it was my first time meeting them in person. We ordered some beers, started talking about various Magic topics (Twiddle Vault is a delicate, beautiful, if slow symphony of cards) and non-Magic topics (Allagash White is an immediate contender for best beer in America).

Deeper on the Magic-related front, it was very interesting to hear people's choices on the decks they were playing and card selections, especially Carter's Stasis deck and Danny's Twiddle Vault deck. Both of them had clearly put a lot of thought and practice into them, which was also later apparent watching how rapidly and fluidly they could play them. Conversation turned to the right number of Twiddles, Vaults, Recalls, etc., in the different decks, and whether it was a good idea to include a Fireball. I generally enjoy playing aggro or aggro-control archetypes, so it was fun to hear how the mind of a combo player works.

Soon, Jason Schwartz and Mari joined us, two more people who I knew of but had never met, and we ordered food. Around the time my oysters, clam chowder, and steamers arrived, our eighth compatriot, Jared Doucette, who I also had never met but did watch win the Summer Derby with his Spice Rack deck, appeared after finishing work. Every time someone showed up, there were big hellos -- even for me, relatively new -- and fast, easy, interesting, fun conversation.

It was around this time that a familiar Old School sensation struck me again: here I am, knocking on the door of my late thirties (I turn 37 next month), making new friends. With people I met on the internet. Because we like the same game. Or at least, because the same game drew us together, and it turns out something about that game pulls awesome people together. The conversation was oddly easy, somehow like I've known these people all along, and we're just getting back together after not seeing each other for a while. I NEVER thought this would happen. I even remember being about 32 or 33 and thinking, oh, I have enough friends now, it's really not worth finding more, and how many awesome people could really have escaped my orbit at this point anyways? But here we are, old(-ish) nerds finding each other over a shared love of less-old-but-still-pretty-old cardboard.

After eating, Dave had to go do superhero stuff, so the rest of us went next door to Harpoon Brewery to jam some games. I sat down across from Mari and the topic of Premodern came up. I had a new BR Zombie Spark deck on me, and Mari had his actual, real life deck from the era on him, so we decided to jam some games. His deck was a blue-based control list with Gush, Impulse, Morphling, and -- gasp -- Force of Wills, which are banned in the format, but OK with me, because I usually play Middle School. Here's what I was playing:

Klaatu! Barada! Nic... nic... necktie.

It turns out a deck optimized to disrupt the opponent early and get a Zombie Infestation into play ASAP is good against a deck that wants to draw cards and counter spells, especially when that deck has not been changed or even played by its pilot in the 15-20 years since he originally built it. I took most of the games.

Next we decided to switch to Old School, with me playing my favorite archetype, RG Mana Flare, in its current iteration:

My love, RG Mana Flare. One Strip removed for these games once I realized there were two in there.

I remember him playing a Black-with-good-stuff-splashes deck, though I'm not 100% sure. We were a few beers in by this point, and mostly I remember that he thrashed me really hard. "Wicked hard," even. We decided we were even, me taking him down in Premodern and him taking me down in Old School.

A Pub Whose First Name is Adventure

It was time to brave rush hour traffic to go the 3 miles to Adventure Pub, the venue reserved for the casual meet-and-greet Friday night games. Forty minutes later, we arrived to what was already becoming a packed house. I think they were anticipating 40-50 people, but by the time everything was in full swing, there must have been 70-80.

I ordered a beer and sat down at a table next to Carter. Jared started handing out Moss Monster event cards for people to sign that Chris Mason had gotten together. I chatted with Carter, Danny, Jared, and the rest of the folks at our table for a bit -- god these guys are funny too, by the way -- when someone walked by asking about Premodern. I shouted, "I have Premodern!" and my new friend promptly sat down across from me. Dave came by to say hello and introduced my opponent, Andy Walker. The OS Kird Ape himself, yet another person I knew of by online reputation and now got to meet and jam games with in-person.

I pulled out my BR Zombie Spark again and played a Zombie Infestation quickly to start making dudes. He resolved an Oath of Druids after I already had 2 or 3 zombies or so, and suddenly a new-to-me card, Thorn Elemental, showed up. I managed to take care of him with a block and a Firestorm, but another one showed up next turn, this time with Dragon Breath, and I was dead. Next game, I had another fast start but this time with more disruption. I kept Oath off the board for long enough to get there. The final game was a dance, with him playing an early Oath but no way to force me to have a creature, and me making creatures only when I could kill them after attacking by using Krovikan Horror or sacrificing them to flashback Cabal Ritual. I don't actually remember how this one ended, but my guess is he won, because his deck was better, and I left with the impression that he's probably a better Magic player than me.

We decided to switch it up after that, so Andy headed off to play someone else and Will Magrann sat down to play Old School with me. I'd never played against Will before then, but I knew he was a strong multi-format player and a great all-around guy from everything I'd heard. He'd already met the "great guy" bar with me at lunch earlier, so I was expecting his Magic skills to live up to the rumors too.

I think it was also around this time that Greg from Vermont sat down next to me, which was awesome because I'd played against him online several times in the Northern Paladins' monthly Discord league. Greg lives in Burlington, which is a town I also really love, and he and I have personalities that just seem to get along with each other really well. We're simpatico, as they say.

Anyway, back to my games against Will. I was back on my RG Mana Flare deck, which is the typical kind of fun deck I'd bring to a casual meetup, while he was on UR Atogs. These games went about as well for me as one would predict, losing handily. There was one game where my opening seven was something like Channel, Fireball, Mountain, Strip Mine, and three other cards on the draw. He led on Library, go, however, so I quickly decided my play was to Strip it next turn. I drew Lotus on my turn but didn't realize what it meant soon enough and insta-Stripped his Library. He played something like Volcanic, pass next turn, and by then I realized I had Channel-Fireball up. I went for it and, predictably, ate a Bolt to the face when I tried it.

#memefriday

Oh well, such is the life of a big mana mage.

We played a few more games, with me losing all of them, until he asked, as nice as he can: "so, is this what you're playing tomorrow?" I told him no, I'm playing Shops, and he mentioned he remembered me doing well with that at an event in Seattle. I told him I left my Shops deck at the hotel though, because I wasn't planning on playing it that night. So, he whipped out a proxy version he had if I wanted to switch it up.

I flipped through the deck and it looked good. It was different from mine, a more standard build with Winter Orbs and I think two Fellwars and a Mana Vault. I'd played that version a fair amount and did want to try a serious deck against Will, so we got down to jamming some games.

These duels are much closer. They often came down to the Workshops deck throwing down a big board, then trying to get there before the Atog player could lean on higher card quality to stabilize. There were also stack battles over Atogs, which are a very important aspect of the matchup, as we'll see come up again Saturday. We probably played around 10 games and roughly split them, both agreeing it's a very good, close matchup, and enjoying the absence of worry about Energy Flux post-board.

By this point, it was starting to get later, so I took a break and had some food: the quality burger and fries. I caught up with Dave after that and he had time for some games, so we sat down to play. I was back on my RG Mana Flare deck, and he was on what I soon learned was a fun Green-ramp-plus-good stuff build.

These decks were more evenly matched, with both of us looking to get down some ramp (him Elves/Birds, me Fastbond/Mana Flare), make an early play or two (him land destruction, me Bolts), and then start dropping fatties. At one point, there were three Shivans, a Derelor, and some other hot shizz on the board, with various ramp on the board and burn/land destruction in the bin, and he took a picture just because of the sheer Old-School-ness of all those big creatures crashing against each other.

My Mana Flare and Dragons vs. Dave's Dragon and Derelor. h/t to Dave for the photo. Sick dragon alter by Nick Viau. Fuck Ice Storm.

We ended up playing a lot of games, enjoying another beer or two, and having some good times talking about Old School, our backgrounds, lives, and general stuff. Shooting the shit, chewing the cud, what have you. I had talked with Dave several times online and had really been looking forward to meeting him, and I honestly don't remember a ton about the games because the company was so great. Except I did learn, more than once, that Ice Storm is a fantastic Magic: the Gathering card, and I think he didn't have a Fireball in his deck, which seemed like a missing element to both of us.

Whew, well that takes us to the end of Friday night, when they closed the bar and sent us on our way. I had said hello for the first time to many other people I didn't mention that night and would have the opportunity to talk much more with them the following day. But first, it was time for sleep.

Saturday: The Day We Eat Lobster Rolls, and There Was Also Magic

Saturday, of course, was the main event. All the marbles. The whole enchilada. The full monte. The entire clam bake. The full Civic of townies. You know, the big thing everyone was waiting for.

Before the Show it's the Before-Party

Saturday, I slept through breakfast (I blame jet lag!) and headed over to the tournament venue not too long before the tournament. It wasn't open yet and everyone was standing outside in the blistering 78°F (25.6°C) sun. Note: Seattle is pretty mild and makes wimps of us.

Greg was there so I chatted with him for a bit, as well as a few other players milling about. One guy, whose name I unfortunately didn't take down in my notes, was there playing in his first OS event ever. He was there with a buddy who'd roped him into this whole thing, and it is by these means our community continues to slowly grow.

They opened the VFW hall and everyone walking in got a Lobstercon pin, tickets for any lobster rolls or chowder they might have preordered (Note: preorders are mandatory! Lobster rolls are too expensive to order on spec), and a good luck handshake from the NEOS folks.

Folks milling around in the VFW hall.

I milled around for a bit, saying hello and making small talk with a few folks, then got in line for some signatures with the artist of the event, Bryon Wackwitz. I'd recently picked up an Angus and brought a few other cards to get signed, so I was excited to meet him and add some more sigs to the collection:

New signatures from Bryon Wackwitz for the collection.

The line was long, so I ducked out for a minute to snag a playmat and a Jared-arm-sized string of raffle tickets, then got my sigs. After that, Andrew from ReadyToRole, a legendary hero worthy of stupendous accolades and public office, delivered delicious Circles of Confection, a boon to my breakfast-less body:

I did in fact only have one. And then I had another one ten minutes later, and no one saw. Unless there's a photo, in which case I actually swapped doughnuts I had at the last minute because I wanted you to think I was eating a tastier flavor than I ate, so you'd know what I thought was tastiest. And I can't tell you which kinds I ate, that's secret tech.

There wasn't much time after that before the first round, but I had time to try to take things in a bit.

There is a feeling people describe having sometimes, this sense that things are about to go well for them. Sometimes it's described as "flow state," where they are just operating at an optimal level without much effort. Or this sense of being carried along on a tide of fate, brought to a destination they wanted to get to but that seemed otherwise impossible. I'm not sure it was any of those things, but I felt really good about how the tournament would go. I liked my deck, knew it well, liked my matchups against what I thought I'd see (mono-Black, Atogs, other Shops decks, maybe the Deck), and had a good feeling. I felt good.

Get on With It You Wordy Asshole

It was time for rounds!

Round 1 -- Rich on Atogs

That good feeling ended pretty quickly when I saw I was paired with Rich in Round 1. As I think everyone probably knows, Rich is a fantastic player whose accomplishments go beyond OS into Legacy and especially Vintage. Rich also loves Atogs, so at least I was pretty sure what I was up against.

We sat down and said hello, nice to meet you, having talked a few times and traded some cards on Discord. We shuffled up and started our games.

Game 1, he led with a turn 1 Library and was able to stay on it for many, many turns in a row, drawing a ton of cards. I was able to establish some pressure with a Juggernaut which got in for a hit or two, but he found an Atog and was able to trade. Then he Mind Twisted me. Neither of us found much action after that, until he got a Factory that could attack (I think -- my early match notes are terse) and landed a Vise. He Timetwistered looking for some burn to close things out. However, I drew a bunch of fast mana and robots off Twister and was able to turn the game around and win, despite getting Mind Twisted a second time off the Timetwister. Part of me remembered my good feelings when I realized I just had pulled out a game against a long-time active Library and double Mind Twist.

Game 2, I boarded in my extra Abyss, Swords, 1 Disenchant, Divine Offering, and Blue Blasts. I board out Aeolipiles, 1 Icy, 2 Su Chis, and 2 Juggs. I played a turn 1 Abyss off Lotus and felt pretty good about it. We both took a few turns to build mana until finally I got two Beasts and a Juggernaut active, thinking I had the game in hand. However, by this point he had a bunch of artifacts and mana on the board and was able to Shatter and Bolt his way through my dudes, then cast two Atogs on the same turn to have one left over after the Abyss. I had one turn to find a Swords, which I didn't, and he cracked in for like 15 damage in one attack the next turn.

Game 3, we both got off to a medium start. I took a bit of damage of Vise and Ankh but got down a pretty early Trike. He played an Atog, then I played Copy Artifact on Trike. Both of us were low on cards, so I decided to try and take out the Atog. Carefully stepping through things going onto the stack and resolving (or not resolving) is key to using Trike. I shot the Atog with my Copy Trike (which was summoning sick) and asked if it resolves. Rich said it does, which means I now only needed to land one more damage to kill it. That was key because even though Atog gets +2/+2 for eating an artifact, this particular Atog couldn't take another hit without successfully eating an artifact. As long as I could keep hitting it at will, it needed to eat an artifact for every one damage I could deal.

I activated Copy Trike to shoot the Atog again, which Rich now had to respond to with another artifact sacrifice or else let it die. He sacrificed one of his two remaining artifacts (one Vise and one Ankh I think) to save it. I responded to that with the last counter on Copy Trike, which would have been lethal because I only needed to get in one more hit. He sacrificed his last artifact to try and save it, but I used two counters (which was a mistake -- I only needed one) to kill it with my other Trike. The Atog died.

From there, I attacked unblocked every turn, as he never found an answer to my remaining Trikes. I don't think there was a sequence of plays that would have saved the Atog with him only having 2 artifacts and me having 2 full Trikes, but nonetheless, these stack battles are key to using Trike effectively. I could have been punished for burning the extra counter when I misplayed too, so it's a lesson to me as well. He did at one point try to Divine Offering a Beast, which I was able to Disenchant in response to stop him from gaining life, and help win the race.

One last thing I have to do is apologize to Rich for absent mindedly sticking a fingernail into my mouth twice during the match. It's a gross nervous habit I've been trying to break but occasionally lapse back during tense moments. Sorry Rich, I'm working on it!

Matches: 1-0

Games: 2-1

Round 2 -- Matt on Mono-Black

I hadn't met Matt before, but I found him to be a great guy right away. He smiled a lot and asked how my day was going, and we chatted about our backgrounds a bit. Then we shuffled up and drew hands.

Game 1, I led on Workshop, Sol Ring, robot (Jugg or Su Chi -- don't remember which). He followed with Swamp, pass. I cast an Icy and started getting in with my robot. I started tapping down lands and/or relevant cards during his turn, casting more robots, and unfortunately it seemed like he fell too far behind to stop the wave of beefy artifact creatures. He eventually got a Hippie down, but I had gone too wide with robots and Factories, and he couldn't block enough threats.

Game 2, I boarded in my Psychic Purges, Swords, and extra Abyss, and took out Disenchants, 1 Icy, the Beasts, and one other card, probably trimming a Jugg or Su Chi. He played Swamp, Ritual, Hippie, but I had another fast Workshop, Sol Ring, robot start. He held back the Hippie and was able to follow with an Assassin, but I had Psychic Purge to kill the Assassin and played another robot. He didn't seem to have an answer and the robot tide was too much again. We both exchanged our thanks for the match, and he congratulated me warmly, further cementing my opinion that he's a great dude.

Matches: 2-0

Games: 4-1

Round 3 -- Mano on Shops

Next up I faced Mano, who I had originally met talking about an event we ran in Seattle, The Brothers' War, on ATC. We also had a chance to chat for a bit on Friday, so it was nice to be able to play a match with him and get to know him some more.

Game 1, he had to mull on the draw and then kept six. I had a slow-ish hand that would be able to start casting robots turn 3 if I could find a Workshop or artifact mana. And if not, I had good mana to try a decent Mind Twist turn 3 or 4, so I kept. He was able to find Ancestral to recover from his mulligan, but I ended up Mind Twisting him for 4 on turn 3. He dropped a Winter Orb without an Icy in play, which slowed us both down, until I found a Workshop and started putting some robots on the board. I also had 2 or 3 Factories on board, so I Disenchanted his Winter Orb at a key moment to let me get in for a bunch of damage. That proved to be enough.

Game 2, I brought in Disenchants, Mana Drain, Divine Offering, 1 Swords, and Hurkyl's, taking out Abyss, Tetravus, and Juggernauts (I don't want him to be able to Copy those). We both developed reasonably quickly and landed Trikes, but I also had a turn 1 Aeolipile sitting on board, which wasn't boarded out for exactly this situation. I cracked Aeolipile targeting his Trike and asked if it resolves, to which he said it does. Now his Trike had 2 damage on it and would die if it removed 2 counters or took 2 damage in some combination. UPDATE: From this point, we're both a little hazy on exactly what happened, but I was able to kill his Trike thanks to Aeolipile. What we do remember is that he purposely let Aeolipile resolve, or else I do get to trade Trike for Aeolipile straight up, and in my head I think I'd worked out that there was no way I wouldn't be able to force him to trade my Aeolipile for his Trike. In any case, the in-game state was such that I traded Aeolipile plus a Trike counter for his Trike. It just illustrates again the importance of using Trike one at a time, paying attention to the stack, and responding at the right moment in situations like this.

After that, he tried to Mind Twist me for 4, but I had Mana Drain. I made a free Su Chi the next turn and that was enough to close out the match. Incidentally, Mana Drain was a late sideboard add in place of the fourth Psychic Purge, and in this case, it worked out for me. More on sideboard choices later, but at the risk of results-oriented thinking, it's hard to leave such a powerful card out of the 76 in a deck that loves colorless mana as much as this.

Matches: 3-0

Games: 6-1

LOBSTER BREAK

At this point, the lobster rolls showed up, and boy were they needed.

h/t to DFB for the lobster roll pic off his post -- I devoured mine before taking a photo

I was incredibly hungry without realizing it. Mano and I walked over to get our rolls and a beer. I had chowder too, though he had eschewed the "warm sea milk with bugs in it" as he put it. A fair, if anti-New England stance on a cultural icon. We picked up beers and took them to the foyer, where we could eat standing up around the small entryway table. This was the optimum lunch location because it was still inside, so we could consume our beers, but didn't require us to commit the cardinal sin of eating a messy (and non-Kosher/non-Halal/possibly non-allergy-friendly) lunch at the shared tournament tables. Carter, Will, and several other people soon joined us, with everyone recapping the sweet plays and bad beats typical of a day at the tables.

The lobster rolls, by the way, were FANTASTIC. So good I forgot to get a picture. In excess of half a pound of jump lump lobster meat, carefully picked (whole claws!), delicately sauced and seasoned, and served on a warm buttered New England-style hot dog bun. If you have never had a real New England lobster roll, get thee to a nunnery and find one. There might even still be half of Will's roll on the ground at the VFW if you want to look.

Fed, recharged, and with a fresh beer (brew of the day: Notch IPA), it was on to the next round.

Round 4 -- Guillaume on (what I thought was) Evil Eye Good Stuff, Actually Candlesurge

Guillaume is part of the Quebec contingent that was doing very well so far in the tournament. I also hadn't met him before, but I found him to be a great dude too. I was also at least 3 beers deep at this point, which made conversation easier, even though I didn't have the courage to try and bust out my high school French with him.

Game 1, I was on the play and had to mull. However, on my turn I played something like land, Mox, Mox, Lotus, Balance with one card left in hand, effectively Mind Twisting him down to one. I saw a Candelabra and some other spicy things go into the bin. My last card in hand was an Icy, which I drew a land to play, and was able to keep his one land tapped down while I kept developing. I eventually drew a Jugg but was scared of Bolt, so I activated my Factory and attacked to try and draw it out. He did have Bolt for Factory, and then I cast my Jugg second main phase. He didn't find another bolt or something else to block with, so Jugg took it home.

Game 2, I wasn't sure what I was up against, so I brought in Abyss, Disenchants, and Blue Blasts, taking out Aeolipiles and Juggs, thinking he was on some sort of combo-ish big mana deck that might have Shivans or Rock Hydras (which Dan Anschutz worked me over with in the Summer Derby). I had a couple early robots which got Shattered, then he Ancestraled and played an Evil Eye of Orms-By-Gore (!!!). I didn't know what to make of that, but thought I could chump with a Factory, which I couldn't. His attack connected and then he Cloned the Evil Eye. I had Abyss, Balance, double Trike (or Copy Trike), and nothing else in my deck to stop the 3/6 unblockable monsters, none of which I found. The Eyes finished me off in short order.

Game 3, I took out 2 Disenchants and added Swords. I played turn 1 DT for Ancestral and cast it main phase turn 2 straight into an untapped Volcanic like a numb-nuts, which he Blasted right away because I deserve to be punished. I even had Strip in my hand to take care of his red source if I'd been thinking. He followed that up with an Evil Eye a couple turns later, while I'd done nothing except play mana, but I had Balance to wipe away his monster. I played a robot or two that hit once or twice before meeting Shatter, and then he found a Maze to hold back my Factories. However, the Strip I had in my opening hand was then able to do work killing Maze, and my Factories were able to close the deal.

Matches: 4-0

Games: 8-2

Later on in the day, Guillaume gave me three sweet Tetravite tokens, since at some point I'd played a Tetravus against him. He said he always gave them out to anyone who did that in a match against him, and they are now my main Tetravite tokens. It also confirmed for me that beneath his no-nonsense Quebecois facade, he has un coeur d'or (high school French achievement unlocked). Also, after the tournament was over and I saw decklists, I learned he was actually on Candlesurge. I think that's probably a bad matchup for me, or at least with the right draw it can be, so I was glad I never actually saw the namesake cards.

Round 5 -- Laurence on Merfolk Control

At this point, there were only 8 undefeated players left, so Dave gave us all lobster bibs to signify our place in the tournament. When one of us lost a match, we would have to take off our bib, thus ensuring that the final Lobstercon winner is wearing a bib for the rest of the day.

The eight remaining players who were undefeated, lobster bibs applied, less two who had already finished playing. h/t to Dave for the photo.

I had chatted with Laurence, also a member of the Quebecois contingent, a little bit the day before, so we said hello again and congratulated each other on our fine new neckwear. Then it was time for cards.

Game 1, I got off to a fine start turn 1 Shops, Mox, Lotus, Beast. He followed with a Maze, and I played a Tetravus. Next turn I began attacking, with Maze taking my Beast out of combat, Tetravus hitting, and then Beast losing a counter at end of turn. He had a River Merfolk and little else that seemed relevant on the board, so I thought I was basically heading home with this one. However, he had a Control Magic ready for my Tetravus, and after parting out the Tetravites, he made even a Disenchant unlikely to turn it around. He piled it on with a Clone on Tetravus and proceeded to beat me over the head with my own robots until I was dead.

Game 2, I boarded in Abyss, Swords, Disenchants, and City in a Bottle (I'd seen Dib), taking out Beasts, 2 Icy, 1 Jugg, and 2 Su Chis. My opening hand was Shops, Factory, Mox, Jugg, Trike, Disenchant, and something else, which is a snap keep. I led on turn one Jugg, which he Disenchanted, and then he Stripped my Shop after I had no land drop turn 3. He continued developing, but I didn't see another land. I found a very late Black Lotus with one turn until I would have been dead and cast a DT for Balance, hoping for a white source to wipe away his team. But it didn't come, and I lost my first match.

Laurence is a fine gentleman and offered to play a third game as we had about 30 minutes left. This one was a more balanced game where we traded threats for a bit, until I landed a Jugg with an Icy to stop him from blocking. He played a Dib to block lethal, but I had City in a Bottle and earned my consolation prize.

Matches: 4-1

Games: 8-4

Sometime around here, I ran into Danny, who was having a solid run of his own. He knew I was doing pretty well and excitedly asked me how I'm doing personally. We chatted for a while about our decks and his Fireball, but the thing I remember most is that he was genuinely happy for me to be doing well. Like, he was really, truly happy for me to be doing well. Here's a guy I met the day before, damn near giddy for me to be putting up some wins. I have no idea why I deserve such amazing, friendly, downright nice people to be coming into my life, but I like it a lot.

Round 6 -- Pete on UWB Aggro-Control

With the pressure (and the bib) of possibly winning Lobstercon now off, I felt a bit lighter. I sat down across from Pete, who was in some conversations I was also in on Friday, but to whom I had yet to actually speak. He was a wonderful person to talk to, and I was excited to get to play some cards with him.

Game 1, I came out hot with a turn 2 Beast, which was immediately Swords'ed. My turn 3 Tetravus was also immediately Swords'ed, bringing me up to 31 life. He followed up getting a Hippie into play. I cast Orb, leaving me with one card in hand, a Disenchant with no targets, and he followed with another Hippie. He attacked, causing me to discard Disenchant and go empty handed. I Orb'ed the untapped Hippie, got in with Factory, and cast the Tetravus I just ripped off the top of my deck. His remaining Hippie held back in the face of Tetravus, and he let me hit him on my turn. I cast Copy Artifact on Tetravus, and in my next attack the last Hippie had to chump. My flying monsters got there after that.

Game 2, I brought in Psychic Purge, Swords, and Abyss, taking out 1 Icy, 1 Jugg, Beasts, and 2 Su Chi. He mulls and then plays land-go. I had a nut draw and play Factory, Mox, Mox, Lotus, Mind Twist, taking his hand. I got an Icy next turn and started tapping the one land played turn 1, then Disenchanted the Mox he found to keep him off mana. It was never really a game and it ended before it could get started.

Round 7 -- Jimmy on Dwarves and Derelors

Jimmy's love for Fallen Empires and its embodiment in his Dwarves and Derelors archetype is bordering on legendary at this point, so I was excited to play him. I was also excited to play him because I admire the way he runs his store and the passion that goes into the events he throws. I also knew he'd used a pile of seemingly chaff Fallen Empires cards to beat several other strong players already, so I was very curious what it was like to face those cards.

Game 1, I didn't have an explosive start, but he did. He hit all his mana drops and started building a position. I tried a Jugg, but it got Bolted. Soon there were three Sedge Trolls on the board with enough mana to regenerate them all. I had two Factories and could keep one of them off me per turn, but it didn't take long for me to fall to my own club mascot (the Emerald City Trolls' mascot is Sedge Troll).

Game 2, I was not completely sure what to do against this deck, but I knew Abyss would be good and I expected Disks, so I boarded in Abyss, Swords, Blue Blasts, 1 Disenchant, and 1 Divine Offering, taking out Juggs, Aeolipiles, 1 Icy, and 1 Su Chi. I had a pretty fast start off turn 1 land, Mox, Mox, turn 2 Factory, activate Factory, Copy Artifact on Factory, turn 3 land, Beast, and then turn 4 swing for 10 with Beast and 3/3 Factory. He played a Maze and a Disk next, which I Divine Offering'ed. However, the Maze effectively blocked my Beast, and he played a Dwarven Lieutenant to chump the next turn. I sensed that he wasn't going to be able to stop everything if I went wide though, so I played one more Copy Artifact on a Factory and another on a Beast to diversify my threats and widen my board, holding a Disenchant in case of a Disk. He couldn't stop it all, and Beast proved that 7 is a lot of power.

Game 3, I had a turn 1 Abyss off a Lotus, which really slowed him down. I got a Trike and then an Icy and hit him once or twice before he landed a Blood Moon and Shattered my Trike. I couldn't play any more spells because I have no basics in the deck and a hand full of more duals, Mind Twist, Copy Artifact, and Disenchant. However, I ripped what turned out to have maybe been the only out in my deck, Mox Jet, and Mind Twist'ed him for the full amount. He revealed another Blood Moon and a Derelor when he discarded and later told me his plan was to Disk away everything on the next turn, then cast Derelor and another Blood Moon. That would likely have been enough to win him the game.

Instead, I was able to play a Su Chi and then cast Demonic Tutor. Unbeknownst to me at the time, we went to time during that turn where I played Su Chi, and we were on a five-turn clock. I Tutored for Time Walk anyway because that was the best card left in the deck for the board state at the time and cast it, giving me the next turn. I learned after I cast it that that actually let me in effect "steal" a turn from him, since only 5 more turns total would be taken, and my Time Walk turn now counted as the first extra turn.

He had 10 life, a Maze on board, and I had a Su Chi and Icy. Having 3 turns means I should be able to tap his Maze and attack for 12 total damage, winning the match. However, on his very final turn, he rips and casts a Dwarven Lieutenant, which can chump block Su Chi and leave him alive at 2, since Icy can only tap Maze or Lieutenant. That would force us to Orb flips. In my final lucksack moment of the tournament, though, I rip a Blue Blast off the top and can both kill his Dwarf and tap his Maze, getting in for the final 2 damage and winning the match.

Matches: 6-1

Games: 10-5

Stick an Asterisk on It

This performance ended up giving me second place overall in Lobstercon, which was a surprise. Since I wasn't at the final table -- Paul DeSilva and Ben Wagnon were the last two 6-0 players -- I figured the loser of that match would win second, and I had good breakers, so I'd probably be third or fourth. However, owing to the fact that I played and beat Rich Shay in Round 1, and Rich ended up going 6-0 after that to also finish in the Top 8, I guess my breakers must have been better than Paul's. While it sucked to have to have played someone of Rich's caliber in Round 1, apparently it paid off in the final standings.

But, since I didn't make the final table and never played the champ Ben, that's why I think there should be an asterisk next to my second-place finish. It's the nature of straight Swiss that this can happen I guess, but it also doesn't feel intuitive because I didn't make the final table. I will add though that against Arabian aggro, I think my deck is a favorite :) Lots of big, un-Boltable creatures plus access to 2 Abyss, 2 City in a Bottle, 2 Swords, 2 Blue Blast, Trike, and Copy Trike all seem good.

In any case, here's the swag I picked up:

Treasures!

After the Party it's the Candlepin Bowling Alley Party

After the tournament ended, a bunch of folks headed over to Sacco's candlepin bowling alley for (surprisingly good) pizza and beer, and then out for another couple drinks at a bar called Saloon. At these places I got to meet and talk to even more new folks, including Stebbo, Scott, Jonas, Mark, and Ryan Gresco. I shared a kalua pork pizza with Mark too, which I think makes us technically married now, sorry Sanna. A few maniacs like Will, Stebbo, and Jonas actually pulled out their decks and played some more too, but for me, this was a great opportunity to relax and get to know these awesome people just a little more, a final hurrah with new friends who felt like old ones.

In possibly the best part of the entire trip, as Dave and I were standing around waiting an inexplicably long time for a couple fancy cherry Manhattans that tasted like Robitussin, I asked if he knew the final charity number yet. He said he didn't, but he was pretty sure it was going to beat the $4500 record the Lords set at OSPB. And, paraphrasing him, he said that if THAT was what we could get all the OS clubs to compete on -- who can raise the most for charity -- then maybe we really have done something great. Old School heart and soul right there, folks.

Workshops Deck Tech

Here's the deck I played at Lobstercon:

My team of very large robots and busted mana.

This was my third time taking Workshops to a major event, having previously made Top 4 at Puget Sound Battleground and gone 5-3 in the Summer Derby with different builds. But all the builds were slight deviations from the typical "Tier 1 Shops" in that they focused more on casting lots of big robots, because in my heart of hearts, I love casting huge monsters.

I'm going to put the deck down for a while as I feel I've had a good run with it, and I'd like to try something new. So, I wanted to leave behind a few final thoughts about playing both with and against it. I'll also preface this by saying I'm talking about trying to use Shops mainly to win, though the card can also be used in a lot of different kinds of decks.

Which Artifacts to Play?

I have tried various Shops builds and have kept coming back to liking a creature-heavy build the best. The version I played at Lobstercon played 15 artifact creatures, plus 4 Factories, and 4 Copy Artifacts. That is a lot of potential creatures. Each artifact creature is a card that opponents need to answer pretty quickly because they are so big. With so many big threats, it's very likely that they will run out of answers before you run out of threats.

Here's a thought or two about each artifact creature and what they are good for:

Triskelion

Triskelion is the best creature in the deck and you always want 4. Make sure not to just announce a bunch of shots at once if you think your opponent might have a response. Shoot one, ask if it resolves, and if they have a response react accordingly, also one shot at a time.

Su Chi

The second-best artifact creature, even though it might burn you sometimes. Four toughness is the main benefit. If possible, play a Factory before playing Su Chi, but don't delay casing a Su Chi just because you don't have a mana sink. This is one advantage I think you have in a robot-heavy version of Shops, because you're still likely to be the aggressor on board so burning for 4 doesn't matter as much. Also, note that if it's Swords'ed or Disintegrated or similar, you don't get the four mana because it never goes to the graveyard.

Tetravus

OK I guess. Flying is nice, but it costs too much mana for what it does. Still worth playing if you want flying threats or want something able to hold back Serras, Dibs, or Hippies. Splitting out the tokens is good if you don't need the 4/4 body and might see a Disenchant, Shatter, Crumble, or similar, but otherwise I like leaving the tokens on. Primarily that's because it lets you attack for 4 one turn sooner (Tetravites have summoning sickness), and partly because as the game goes on one big creature is better than many small ones.

Clockwork Beast

I love Clockwork Beast. Seven power is a HUGE number. He applies immediate pressure and needs an immediate answer more than any other creature in the deck. Trust me. This is a good dude, try him out. Even better with Berserk or Sword of the Ages too.

Clockwork Avian

Beast's flying friend, on the other hand, is garbage IMO. There is a real hole in the deck at the 5-drop spot, but the drop in card quality rarely makes this guy worth it IMO. He's serviceable when he can attack -- once -- as 4/4 flyer for 5. But then being a 3/4 is pretty marginal, and attacking with him as a 2/4 feels downright bad. You never really want to recharge your Clockworks either. That's not what they're for. Pass.

Juggernaut

Last but not least, Juggernaut is why there can be a robot-heavy version of Shops. The common complaint is that it turns on enemy Bolts, but that's not such a concern in my experience. Bolts are never really "off," and since you have 4 Factories and a face, they already have stuff to Bolt. However, if your opponent knows you have Juggernaut, they may think twice about Bolting you or your Factory. Or, you can use Factory to draw out a Bolt and then play a Jugg, which I did in one game. I also usually board out most or all Juggs against red decks, while they probably keep all their Bolts in to deal with them. Meanwhile, I have sideboarded into hate cards or cards better for the matchup, and now their Bolts really are dead cards if they're just going to hang onto them in case a Jugg shows up. Also, if they DON'T have Bolts, then Jugg is definitely a guy you want on your side.

Besides the creatures, some regular artifacts merit discussion:

Icy Manipulator

Possibly the most important artifact in the archetype, it slows their mana early, then turns off the most relevant threat on the field each turn late. It can help squeeze through damage too by tapping blockers. Always 4 of them.

City in a Bottle

Another strength of Shops is that you care very little about City in a Bottle, with just Library and maybe a City of Brass or two to worry about. I have stopped using one main deck, but it's very reasonable to do so if you think your meta will demand it. Two to three across the 76 is the right number.

Aeolipile

Don't sleep on this card. Two damage deals with Elves, Birds, Lions, Hippies, all kinds of Knights, and a lot more. It makes activating Factory a risky idea (note: don't just fire into Factory, you have to wait until you know it or some other Factory can't +1/+1 in response). It helps win stack battles with Trike, and it can also just be reach if you need it. You can Copy Artifact it too. Meanwhile, your opponent is extremely unlikely to Disenchant it, so you can run it out there when you have spare mana and sit on it.

Winter Orb

A lot of people play a more prison-y Shops deck with Winter Orb, but in my experience that's a weaker deck. Workshops' biggest strength is its ability to land some big monsters several turns too early, and then keep doing that. Icy helps provide tempo and answer threats. In theory, Winter Orb furthers the tempo plan to the point it verges on prison. However, I just don't think it adds that much. It's either a win-more card or irrelevant, and it's a pretty bad top deck. In lists that run only one or two Orbs, it's usually not going to show up when you'd want it.

Fellwar Stone

It's nice that this is castable with Shops and fixes your mana, but it's a little bit small of an effect for me. I usually find I don't need it. But I can see one or two being present depending on player preference.

Mana Vault

In theory this helps increase explosiveness, but I don't think this deck lacks in that department. Casting something off it only to have that card immediately answered is painful, and that's pretty common, because often the first thing you cast is off a Mana Vault. It often ends up killing you as much as it gives you something to kill your opponent. I don't like this card in this deck.

Sword of the Ages

Certainly a fun card, but it can also be helpful reach, and it can fling your dudes past a Moat. Just be careful that your opponent isn't sleeping on some removal to use when you activate it. Another fun use is using it to blank your opponent's removal, for example by activating and sacrificing a Tetravus in response to a Disenchant.

Mirror Universe

Useful sideboard tech against aggro if you fall behind, though if you're operating on game plan, you're the beatdown.

Oh, And There is a Land Too

A final note on playing Workshop itself: suppose your opening hand is land, Workshop, 4-drop robot, 6-drop robot, and some other stuff. In a one-Strip format, play Workshop first, just in case you draw another and can cast your 6-drop turn 2. In a four-strip format, play your other land first and aim for your 4-drop turn 2 so you don't get taken out of the game before you can cast a robot.

On a related note, because your Shops give you three mana for most of your cards, you can run slightly fewer mana sources than most decks. I ran 19 lands, 5 Moxen, Sol Ring, and Black Lotus. That's something like 2-3 fewer mana sources than most other decks would run, and that's despite most of my spells costing 4 or 6.

Color Choice

Brown goes with everything, but some colors blend more nicely with it than others.

Blue

Blue is a must with Shops because of Copy Artifact and Power. Copy Artifact is probably the best unrestricted card in the deck because of its supporting cast. Two mana Trikes, Icys, or other relevant threats are of course great, but the real kicker is using Copy Artifact to ramp. Turn 1 land, Mox, Copy Artifact on Mox is a common and powerful opener, setting you up for a four-drop on turn 2. Copy Artifact on Mishra's Factory is both ramp and pump on your Factory as you need it, and Copy Artifact on Sol Ring is disgustingly powerful. Over the weekend someone mentioned that the best way to nerf Workshops would be to restrict Copy Artifact, and I think there is merit to that argument.

Other good blue cards besides Power (including Timetwister, which you want in this deck) are mainly for the board. Blasts are important as usual, and I've grown to like Psychic Purges too. Mono-Black can be an iffy matchup preboard because you tend to play so many cards so fast, and being able to dome them for five or kill Orders and other 1-toughness nerds provides a ton of utility. Hurkyl's Recall both for offensive and defensive purposes is solid, and Hurkyl's'ing them in response to a Draw 7 is the dream. Lastly, Mana Drain is just a plain good card and can be good in the board or maybe even main deck if you expect a lot of control or other big mana decks, but it can also be hard to cast. One final card: Braingeyser. I dislike this card because the combination of UU and an X is just too hard to do well with in my experience. Typically, when I would cast Braingeyser, it might be for 1-3 cards and I'd be digging for a new threat. So, I think it's better just as another threat instead.

Splashing one extra color past blue is pretty important, and splashing two is very doable especially in one-Strip formats. Which colors those are depend a bit on taste, but I think the objectively most powerful choices are white and black.

White

White is the best splash after blue in my opinion, giving you access to Disenchant, which is critical in my opinion to deal with hate and the mirror. Other great additions include Swords, if you need them, and Balance, Magic's original get-out-of-jail-free card. Divine Offering and CoPs are also good sideboard cards.

Black

Black is the next best color for Shops in my opinion. The Abyss is a stellar card in the deck and single-handedly wins games against creature decks that can't deal with it. Demonic Tutor is great per usual as well. Mind Twist is actually a card I have gone back and forth on. It did great work for me at Lobstercon, but there are also times where it just sits in your hand because you've played a Shops or two and can't make a decent X. I think net-net, it's worth having in the 76, but there's a very reasonable argument to have it in the board or try leaving it out. Gloom is also an option in the board

Red

Red is probably the next best color, with Bolts, Wheel, and Shatter being the most useful cards, and Blasts good in the board. I also actually think there could be a Workshops deck that runs Blood Moon (more on Blood Moon later).

Green

Green brings up the rear, bringing mainly more gimmicky cards to the table. I have played Shops with Berserk and Fastbond and did like both of those. I won't go into that more, but I talked about it a little while ago in my post about Puget Sound Battleground. I could definitely see Sylvan working well in Shops, and Giant Growth, Crumble, and Tranquility could also be useful cards.

Playing Against Shops

On the flip side, here are my tips for playing against Shops.

Strip Mine

Strip Mine is usually not best used against Workshops itself. By the time you can Strip it, Workshop has already been a Black Lotus. Instead, use it on things like Factory, Library, or especially colored lands. The deck still has a lot of colored cards it wants to cast off only a few (5-8) sources of the appropriate color, and you can blank a lot of their deck if you keep them off a color. Only Strip a Workshop when you think you can really set them back, like if they play it on turn 1 with no other play or if they miss a land drop.

Dancing with Trikes

Be careful with Trike activations on the stack. If they try to use more than one shot at once, see if there is anything you can do in response that might force them to spend more counters or prevent them from killing the thing they are shooting. Similarly, be careful about doing things like pumping a Factory with a Trike on the board, as they can shoot in response while the pump is on the stack.

Energy Flux

Energy Flux is a good sideboard card, but one on its own is unlikely to shut them down after turn 4 or 5. They will have enough mana to keep their most relevant cards. You need to follow up a turn 4 or later Flux with more disruption (e.g., it's a great time to start Stripping non-Workshop lands) or an immediate counterattack. A turn 1 or turn 2 Flux, or a second Flux, is usually backbreaking, however.

Divine Offering and Disenchant

Divine Offering is generally more useful against Shops than Disenchant, though it's narrower and doesn't help with things like Abyss. But pack one or two if you have space. Ashes to Ashes fills a similar role, but helps with card advantage instead of extra time depending on what you think you'll need more.

Shatterstorm

Shatterstorm is a strong hate card if your deck doesn't care about its symmetric nature or it being pretty narrow, only really needed against Shops and Atogs mainly.

Blood Moon

Blood Moon is not as effective against Workshops as you might think. They can still cast all their artifacts with it in play, and if it makes some of your lands less useful, it might hurt you more than them. However, depending on how greedy their manabase is and how many non-artifact cards they have, it can still be its usual stifling self in the right matchup.

Hurkyl's Recall

Hurkyl's Recall is mostly a tempo card. Expect their artifact mana to come right back down, along with one or two of the things you bounced. However, with a Draw 7 too, it's a blowout.

Golgothian Sylex

Golgothian Sylex is maybe helpful against Shops, but it's expensive, and they can play around it. It's not City in a Bottle. It's worth keeping in mind and trying, but sometimes an extra Disenchant or Shatter is just better.

Have an Answer for The Abyss

If you have creatures, have some sort of answer for The Abyss, even if it is just Storm World or Concordant Crossroads or something like that.

Other Sideboard Miscellany

Other potentially good sideboard cards that have been explored less include: Powerleech, Haunting Wind, Damping Field, and Warp Artifact. These share the trait of taxing the player for using so many artifacts, and since Shops is trying hard to get you from 20 to 0 fast, the taxes can add up quickly.

Whew, that's it! Fat monsters forever!


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