Opening the Vault on Belcher

I realized the other day that, while playing Belcher constantly has been excellent for my won-loss record, it’s really stifling to my desire to write anything but tournament reports. I only think about Belcher now, and my thought is usually to not change anything because the deck is perfectly fine how it is.

Essentially, I could write a 20-page treatise on how to play Belcher, but I’m not brainstorming anything new to write about.

Oh well. At the Columbus Meandeck tournament this past weekend, Belcher proved itself again to me, as I again took it to a top four place and some prize money.

Juan had come down the night before to Columbus to do some playtesting and to sleep, since he wanted to get up early and go to the Soldiery’s $400 Standard tournament going on at the same venue. We played a few games, decided that the Belcher vs. Ichorid matchup is a tossup, and prepared our decks for the following morning. I was trying to figure out the last two cards in my sideboard:

4x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Empty the Warrens
1x Wheel of Fortune
1x Memory Jar
1x Channel
4x Goblin Welder
2x Living Wish
3x Red Elemental Blast
2x Pyroblast
4x Rite of Flame
4x Tinder Wall
4x Land Grant
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Emerald
1x Chrome Mox
4x Simian Spirit Guide
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
1x Lotus Petal
1x Lion's Eye Diamond
1x Black Lotus
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Sol Ring
1x Grim Monolith
1x Taiga
4x Street Wraith

Sideboard:
4x Caustic Wasp
3x Jester's Cap
1x Ingot Chewer
1x Bazaar of Baghdad
1x Mishra's Workshop
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Taiga
1x Storm Entity
2x ???

Basically, sideboarding goes like this:

Against blue control like Slaver, something with a normally slower, non-combo finish, I leave my deck exactly as it is. Welders are already amazing, so I leave things up to the red blasts, Living Wishes, and inherent speed. Slaver should be a good matchup, though it has historically not been for me, and I may be wrong.

Oath and opposing combo are where the Jester’s Caps come in, usually for two Living Wishes and Wheel of Fortune. Jester’s Cap is an equally viable answer to these types of decks with few win conditions, and it usually doesn’t get Pithing Needled. Living Wish is slow and mostly a utility card, while Wheel of Fortune refills my opponent’s hand, making it less desirable.

Seven cards come out against Stax, MUD and other artifact based concoctions though. Red blasts, so handy against the Vintage blue horde is generally dead, and the aforementioned Living Wishes are hard to cast under Spheres and would only get me Wastelandable land. Since winning against Stax is often either immediate or long-term, it’s easy to bring in an extra Taiga and four Caustic Wasps. Though it’s doubtful that the bug will go all the way, it will hopefully buy enough time to build a hand and win.

There’s still room for two more cards, though.

At the Sandusky tournament, these slots were for two Tarmogoyfs. Then I realized that I find Tarmogoyf merely distracting. It’s not always a 5/6 or even a 4/5 for two between Belcher and Stax, and it doesn’t usually go the distance without some other additional pressure.

In Michigan, these slots were Seething Songs, but I really don’t like them for a number of reasons, and it’s not for lack of trying. First, they’re really only good on the play. Second they require a huge initial investment, and if something goes wrong they leave me with nothing. Third, they’re almost as hard to cast as Belcher or Warrens, so there’s never a guarantee that I’ll be able to cast them or that, if I can cast them, I can’t already cast Belcher or Warrens anyway.

In the end, I decided on adding another Ingot Chewer to bring in against Stax and any decks that bring in artifact-based control. Since that would leave me still with one question mark, I put an Eternal Witness in the board too, for fun. My thinking on that was that it would be a good mid-game Wish target against control.

My sideboard ended up looked like this:

4x Caustic Wasp
3x Jester's Cap
2x Ingot Chewer
1x Bazaar of Baghdad
1x Mishra's Workshop
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Taiga
1x Storm Entity
1x Eternal Witness

Anything that I couldn’t answer with that, I just planned to race.

Anyway, after sleeping, breakfasting, and otherwise getting ready for the tournament, Juan and I found ourselves at The Vault. It was a relatively nice-looking old bank that could have used some touchups but must have been awesome back in the day. Juan prepared for his Standard tournament while I bought new Magic sleeves, resleeved, and proceeded to work on crossword puzzles for a couple hours before the Vintage tournament started.

Finally people arrived and we all went into meet-and-greet mode and then into tournament mode. Even Juan would get to play, since his deck didn’t live up to the hype in the Standard tournament. Unfortunately, the cash bar we were promised would open by 2 p.m. did not open until 3, just before round two would start.

Oh well…

Round 1 – Don Juan Diego de la Vega Rodriguez – Breakthrough Dredge

Like some kind of joke, the exact same matchup we had tested the night before ended up in the round one pairings. Playing against friends in round one is poop.

I won the die roll opened game one by mulliganing twice and keeping a hand with no threats but some Tinder Wall blockers and lots of mana. I made a couple of Tinder Walls and passed the turn. Juan had a fine opening draw and soon had the Dredge machine running. I sacced some Walls to remove his Bridges, but never found the threat I was looking for. Juan ran me over on turn four or five.

No sideboard happened for me.

Game two went a lot like that only I mulliganed to four instead of five. The one thing of note that happened was when I Living Wished for Bazaar of Baghdad for the first time ever in tournament play. It was meh, mostly because Juan emptied my hand with Cabal Therapies and rendered my Bazaar useless.

Games – 0-2-0; Matches – 0-1-0

Yay!

I dreaded this might be the beginning of a day similar to my recent 1-4 performance in Sandusky and headed to the bar for a tequila shot and a beer.

Round 2 – Lyle Hawkyard – Control Slaver

Crazy Lyle and his crazy white bordered decks. Lyle’s always fun to play against, even though we were a the very last table in the losers’ bracket. He told me when I played my Taiga that he has one signed “To Laura: Best wishes, Rob Alexander,” and that sounds insanely pimp.

Lyle won the die roll and opened with available drain mana, which he used on my first spell, Lion’s Eye Diamond, since he suspected I was playing a Dredge deck. I followed up with Welder. Lyle then had to try to keep artifacts off the board and try to remove Welder, since the game can end quickly for him if I can weld in LED and pitch Belcher to the grave to be welded in. Unfortunately for him, that’s exactly what happened.

Game two was actually very similar. I opened with a Rite of Flame and Welder, which Lyle Forced. Unfortunately I had a backup Welder, which came in handy when he Drained my Belcher two turns later. Though he kept me off of Welder targets for a while with a Rack and Ruin, I was able to weld in a Grim Monolith for a Lotus Petal at his end of turn, then tap it and weld it out for Belcher on my upkeep for the win.

Games – 2-2-0; Matches – 1-1-0

Lyle was under the unfortunate impression that Belcher cost five to cast and four to activate and thought I would still need another mana to activate the Belcher, even if I could weld it in. Unfortunately, explosions happen to those who wait. Welder won the game for me twice, easily, and this is why he’s such an integral part of the Belcher gameplan.

Round 3 – Mark Trogdon – UR Landstill

I have a long way to go to stay in this tournament, and it doesn’t look good. Historically, Mark Trogdon is a tough competitor for me, and I can’t remember ever having beaten a UR Landstill deck. Still, Mark is always a fun and classy opponent, so I relish the challenge and mulligan my first hand.

I won the die roll and elected to go first in game one, mulliganing my first hand. I got a Belcher into play but without activation mana in play, and played a Welder. Mark killed the Welder with a Fire & Ice split between my loyal artificer and myself, and Stifled my first Belcher activation. After that things went downhill as he wasted my Taiga, started attacking with Mishra’s Factory, and locked me under Standstill. It was over pretty quickly from there.

I don’t imagine I sideboarded in this matchup, but I can't say for sure.

In game two, I Emptied the Warrens for eight goblins on turn one. Mark Ancestral’d himself into three lands and scooped, saying he hadn’t even seen the tokens coming.

Mark took advantage of turn zero in game three to put a Leyline of Singularity into play. I cycled my Street Wraith into Black Lotus, hardcast and activated Belcher on turn one. I know I was exceptionally nervous about running head on into some sort of countermagic, but it never materialized.

Games – 4-3-0; Matches – 2-1-0

In game one, Mark played the Morningtide counter Negate against me. I don’t know about you all, but that seems like one heck of a counter in Vintage. I certainly expect to see it more often in the future. A hard counter for 1U is really pretty good, even if it is limited to only non-creature spells. Even with the more creature-centric metagame right now, more of Vintage’s cast spells are non-creatures.

Round 4 – Josh Morford – Drain Tendrils

This match really left me with a sour feeling. I know Josh was pretty well into his cups and, though normally a nice guy and a noble competitor, was not as tactful as he normally is. As we shuffled up, he declared that he had a 97 to three advantage in the matchup and that we shouldn’t even be playing because the pairing was so lopsided. I mostly tried to smile and nod and said he was probably right.

I won the die roll and opened with a pair of moxen and a Welder, planning on drawing more mana and casting Belcher next turn. Josh had an amazing opener, though, and Ancestral’d himself, playing some mana, including Black Lotus. I drew, attacked, and passed. He Scrolled for Force of Will. After a couple more turns, the only mana I had found was Land Grant, which was countered. That was long after Josh had taken control of the game, and he soon Tinkered up Darksteel Colossus and won in another turn.

The Living Wishes and Wheel of Fortune hit the sideboard in favor of Jester’s Caps.

I had to mulligan before we got underway and kept a near awesome hand without quite enough mana. I passed the turn to him with no action on my part. Josh Duressed and Extirpated my Belchers. Fortunately, I drew the mana I needed to cast my backup plan Jester’s Cap, which hit play. A quick dig for Josh on his turn, and he conceded in response to my Cap activation.

Josh opened game three with Library of Alexandria before I had declared my mulligan choices, and continued with that plan after I mulliganed to six. The Warrens Emptied for eight tokens on my turn, off of a Black Lotus that I drew off of Street Wraith and that went uncountered. Josh drew three cards off of Library over the next turns, but couldn’t find the blue mana he needed to get going. My eight goblins got there and I had Force of Ape backup the entire game.

Games – 6-4-0; Matches – 3-1-0

Josh was harangued by his teammates after the match for not attempting to counter the Warrens fuelling Black Lotus I opened with in game three. Though he probably should have made the attempt to counter it, in his defense, I did have a ready counter in hand, and would have merely Emptied for 12 tokens unless he had two counters.

Afterward, Josh came up to me and told me that my beating him had made him quit Magic. I just said that I hoped that wasn’t true.

Round 5 – Paul Mastriano – Drain Tendrils

Paul and I signed papers and prepared for the top eight.

When the smoke had cleared after round five, four of the Cleveland gamers had made the top eight: Nam Q. Tran, Coffee J. Cup, Angel Rivera, and myself. Justin Dewey (also playing Belcher!) and Nam were paired in the final round, but Justin scooped to Nam, owing him a win from a previous meeting.

This Belcher deck seems to be for real, eh?

Top 8 – Francis Hart – Mono-Red Workshop Aggro

Fran rode in from Pittsburgh with Paul and the Morford Brothers. I faced him previously in the same matchup at the Meandeck Columbus tournament in December. He’s a quiet but competent player, but his inexperience in the Belcher matchup would show here. As a Nine-Sphere deck, he should have had an advantage on the play.

I lost the die roll and prepared for the worst; luckily my opening hand was full of permanent mana and a Spirit Guide to play through at least one Sphere. My opponent opened with a Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, Magus of the Moon, and Goblin Welder. Though I would have to be careful of what artifacts went into my graveyard, that wasn’t a threatening opening to me. On my turn, I played a Land Grant for Taiga and play Grim Monolith off of that and a Mox. Fran dropped a Sphere of Resistance on his next turn, but I had enough mana to play Belcher.

After that, the race was on! Fran attacked with Magus every turn while I tried to draw a third mana that would work under Sphere of Resistance to activate Belcher. I eventually found two Welders to counter his lone guy and that could buy me turns against the Magus, should they decide to sacrifice themselves for me. Finally, at four life, I drew Street Wraith and cycled it into… Lion’s Eye Diamond. For the win!

I sideboarded the full Stax plan: four Caustic Wasps, two Ingot Chewers, and a Taiga for two Living Wishes and five red blasts.

In game two, Fran started with an opening similar to game one with a Lotus into Magus of the Moon. I took the opportunity to win the game with Belcher off an amazing hand that included a Lotus of my own.

Games – 8-4-0; Matches – 4-1-1

At this point, I was paired against Stephen Menendian in the top four bracket. Though I might have had the tactical advantage over his deck choice of Tyrant Oath, the burger-sized hole in my belly was aching to be filled, and I suggested we split instead. The day had been long enough for me, and the other top four match (between Mastriano and The Cup) was already well into game two by the time Steve finished up against Kyle Paster playing Flash.

Steve and I agreed to split half of the pot, giving us $50 each, plenty of money to make up for my dame of gaming and drinking and eating dinner at Thurman’s.

Unfortunately for Coffee Cup, his slivers couldn’t go the distance against Mastriano’s control and ability to combo out. As agreed, Mastriano took home the remainder of the money, totaling $100.

So that’s it. Belcher did pretty well again. The maindeck still feels strong, and the sideboard is coming closer and closer together with each outing.

There are two—no, three!—tournaments coming up in the next couple weeks that I’m planning on blowing up as well:

The first is next Sunday, March 2, in Livonia, Michigan at the storied halls of RIW:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35366.0

The second is two Saturdays from now, March 8, in Sandusky, Ohio, home of David P. Baum:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35232.0

The third is two Sundays from now, March 9, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35223.0

The Pittsburgh tournament is actually a two-day event, but the Cleveland crew is graciously skipping Saturday to attend the Sandusky tournament out of loyalty to the Hero Zone (not to mention a much shorter drive).

I hope to see you all there!