Blue Moon Belching in Baltimore

I played Zero-Land Belcher in Baltimore on Saturday. And after testing versions with black earlier in the week, I had gone back to my personally favored red-green version. Black and red, it seems, just don’t play well together: Rite of Flame doesn’t lead into Dark Ritual, which can’t be played off of Elvish Spirit Guide or play Manamorphose in return, and there aren’t any worthwhile red and black hybrid or multicolor cards to imprint on Chrome Mox. On the other hand, the mana in the red-green version seems made for each other, and that stability makes up for not running Yawgmoth’s Will and Demonic Tutor.

My list follows:

4x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Empty the Warrens
4x Goblin Welder
2x Storm Entity
1x Wheel of Fortune
1x Memory Jar

4x Rite of Flame
4x Tinder Wall
4x Simian Spirit Guide
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Manamorphose
3x Chrome Mox
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Black Lotus
1x Lotus Petal
1x Lion’s Eye Diamond
1x Channel
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Grim Monolith

4x Guttural Response
4x Street Wraith

Sideboard
4x Desperate Ritual
4x Pyrostatic Pillar
4x Tormod’s Crypt
2x Storm Entity
1x Gaea’s Blessing

There are some pretty significant changes. Dropping Land Grant for the newly unrestricted Chrome Mox means that, hey, you don’t have to show your opponent all your plans anymore! That’s kind of neat. I played three Chrome Moxes, simply because having more than one in an opener is quite a hit to the ol’ hand size.

Manamorphose and Storm Entity are still a bit questionable for me. Manamorphose is good for Empty the Warrens, iffy for Goblin Charbelcher. I think it’s keepable—the other choice for me would be Desperate Ritual.

Storm Entity is a win-condition, but it’s the weakest by far. I like having it there and have won games with it, but it’s never quite as certain as playing Empty the Warrens or Goblin Charbelcher. All in all, I was pleased with it, and in testing, it’s proven valuable as something to tack onto a Belcher or Empty the Warrens turn. Plus, it’s a nice, easy to cast off-the-top win condition.

Yahoo! founder and million-dollar poker player Jerry “Yangtime” Yang” had visited to play in the tournament and sample the culinary delights of Baltimore’s Blue Moon Café. We set out from my apartment at 9 a.m., planning on finding lunch in Towson, after the hour-and-a-half long drive. After walking around the block, nothing tasty looking was open, so we ate at a bagel place. It was pretty good (I had liverwurst, lettuce, and tomato with cheese), though mine took forever to cook for some reason.

Whatever.

Team We Always Show Up Early struck again, and Jerry and I waited around after lunch for the tournament to get going. We passed the time after the usual registration tasks by playing my MUD deck against its own sideboard, splitting the series 1-1.

The tournament got underway promptly with 26 players playing for a Mox Emerald.

Round – Michael – Scroll Rack Oath

Michael was a local, judging by his Ravens polo and his telling me that he came from 10 minutes away. His deck was pretty neat looking; Scroll Rack seemed appropriate for the strategy.

I won the die roll and elected to go first, leading with a Storm Entity that ran into Force of Will. He played some setup for a while including Scroll Rack to fix his hand. The pressure I applied with a hardcast Elvish Spirit Guide and a Storm Entity wasn’t enough, however, when he cast Oath of Druids, put Hellkite Overlord into play, and Time Walked. Meh.

I did not sideboard.

I allowed Michael to go first in game two. Again he countered my Storm Entity. Ugh. We played draw-go for a while, and he tried to keep me out of the game with Chalice of the Void and an Arcane Lab. Finally, I played Belcher with two Simian Spirit Guides in hand to activate later. It resolved. In another turn, I drew a Chrome Mox, played it and pitched my Spirit Guides to activate. “Echoing Truth Belcher in response,” he said.

“Okay, the ability’s still on the stack.”

“But it says, ‘Goblin Charbelcher deals damage,’ on the card. How can it deal damage if it’s not in play?”

This led to him calling a judge and us waiting 10 minutes for resolution. Of course, there was no actual judge on hand. My opponent searched the Star City database with his iPhone and offered to call his “friend who’s a level three judge” (I declined). Finally a judge playing in the tournament revealed that, duh, the ability uses last-known information and kills you. I flipped my deck over, and my opponent died, still protesting.

My opponent mulliganed to five to find Chalice of the Void in game three and successfully shut off my first-turn kill that relied on Mox Ruby and Mana Crypt. We each drew cards for a few turns. He played Oath, and I played Belcher. It was too late for me, though, as I got run down by a Dragon and an Angel before I could fire.

Yeah. What a fun way to begin a tournament.

Round 2 – Paul Mastriano – Meandeck Keeper

Paul’s always a fun opponent and is definitely a challenge. I was looking forward to this match to make up for the last one. His deck is a Drain-based control deck with green to allow Tarmogoyfs, Krosan Grips, and Regrowth-optimized Gifts Ungivens.

I won the die roll and let Paul go first. He seemed surprised, but took it in stride. He opened with a fetch and Ancestral—pretty good start. I played Belcher off of three moxes, and met Force of Will. Goblin Welder resolved, though, and won the game for me on turn two when I welded out Mox Pearl for Belcher.

I did not sideboard.

Paul chose to go first in game two. “Are you sure?” I asked. “It didn’t work out that well for you last time. He said he was sure and proved it by playing a Pithing Needle for Belcher. Pretty good. I opened with 12 goblin tokens instead, but only got in one attack before he found Engineered Explosives. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Still, he was at eight at that point and was forced to counter Elvish Spirit Guide. From there, he destroyed my mana, took control of the game, and won with Tarmogoyf and Triskelion.

Game three was pretty straight forward. I’m pretty sure I let Paul go first again, and then I Emptied the Warrens for ten guys with Guttural Response backup. That was enough. He couldn’t deal with the goblin hordes and died.

Round 3 – Robert – TPS

This was a frustrating match. My opponent was friendly but seemed nervous and apparently hadn’t seen much of Belcher before. I felt like I played poorly and gambled myself out of the match.

I won the die roll and let him go first. Unfortunately, I had miscounted my mana when deciding to keep my hand and could only launch a Storm Entity for three. Whoopee. He fetched and played Vampiric Tutor at the end of my turn for, I assume, Yawgmoth’s Will. Luckily for me, he had miscounted his storm and left me at two life. Plus, he’d removed his Yawgmoth’s Will and Tendrils from the game. He played Vampiric again, and I guessed he’d gotten Tinker. My suspicions were correct when he conceded to my Welder.

I did not sideboard and maybe should have. I think I should have taken out Goblin Welders and Guttural Responses for Pyrostatic Pillars, Storm Entities, and Desperate Rituals.

My opponent played first in game two, opening with Ponder. I kept a hand containing a Channel, Street Wraith, and two Manamorphose and hoped to draw a win condition. I didn’t and lost as a result. I played Welder instead. On his turn two, my opponent played Yawgmoth’s Bargain and won from there.

I let my opponent play first in game, and he led with Sol Ring. I opened with Lion’s Eye Diamond, and he Forced. Then I manaed up and played Belcher. We were both stuck for mana. I decided he was playing Yawgmoth’s Bargain and needed double black; I needed activation mana. We drew cards singly for several turns. Finally I built myself up to Simian Spirit Guide, Rite of Flame, and Manamorphose. I could play Manamorphose and hope to draw a mana source; almost any would do. I passed. Next turn I drew Guttural Response—not a mana source. I passed again, and my opponent drew his second black to play Bargain and win.

The top card of my library was Tinder Wall. Had I played Rite of Flame into Manamorphose, I would have won the game and the match.

I’m not sure how to judge that at all. What kind of strategy am I supposed to get from that? Don’t be too aggressive with Manamorphose. Also, don’t wait too long to draw the card if it means the game. Good luck!

Round 4 – Juan – Slaver

Juan was very low key and relaxed during the match, which is a little disconcerting. He was listening to music, though, so maybe that did it. Otherwise he seemed cool.

Unfortunately for him, this is about when my deck started handing me wins.

I don’t remember who won the die roll, but I emptied the warrens for 10 goblins on my first turn and had mana up to Guttural Response his Thirst for Knowledge, which leads me to believe he probably played first. He scooped soon after.

I did not sideboard.

He played first in game two, but I had a pretty good hand. I played Mana Crypt into Sol Ring and Mana Vault, then played Belcher with either Welder or Guttural Response backup. Belcher resolved, so I played Rite of Flame and fired for the win.

Round 5 – Joe – Dream Salvage Combo

This match was a great way to end the day. Joe was friendly and obviously about having had a decent day with his deck, a unique homebrew balls-to-the-walls combo that relied on the synergy between Dream Salvage and draw-7s. Afterward, I asked to see his deck, and we talked about it a bit. It was awesome.

I won the die roll and, unsuspecting, allowed my opponent to play first. He played Wheel of Fortune and stripped a first-turn Channel win out of my hand. He passed, and I made six goblins and a Welder that would have given me a win on my next turn. That never came, though, as he started his combo and went off, Gambling for Ill-Gotten Gains before drawing a bunch of cards with Dream Salvage and killing me with Tendrils.

I brought in Desperate Rituals and Pyrostatic Pillars for Guttural Response and Goblin Welder. His combo seemed to take more than even the normal 10 storm spells, and I didn’t want Goblin Welder or Guttural Response slowing me down.

I played first in game two and dropped Memory Jar with a red floating and Lotus Petal in play. Cracking Memory Jar revealed a Belcher and the mana to play and activate it for the win. Not too shabby.

My sideboard never came into play, but I switched out Pyrostatic Pillars for Tormod’s Crypts in game two. If he didn’t win on turn one, I figured he might already have emptied some cheaper spells from his hand. I wanted the disruption of Tormod’s Crypt to stop any possible second-turn wins.

Joe mulliganed twice going into game three and played Gamble, but I plucked the prize of Wheel of Fortune from his hand. I made eight Goblins and played an LED. My opponent Vampiric Tutored on his main phase and passed. On his next turn he played Summoner’s Pact for Elvish Spirit Guide and played Tinder Wall, tapping Gemstone Mine to play Windfall with an empty hand. I sacrificed LED in response, and we drew zero cards. He scooped to the inevitable Summoner’s Pact trigger.

Joe’s deck was pretty cool, but still had a lot of work to be done. Jerry and I worked on our own version after the tournament, but that’s a blog for another day.

I ended my tournament with a match record of 3-2 and a game record of 8-6. That seems pretty good.

You may have noticed that I was letting my opponents go first in some matches. This is a strategy we’ve come up with against blue decks. Pitch Long, TPS, and even Grim Long aren’t as likely to win on turn one as Belcher, and the extra card in hand makes things extra easy. Belcher is more likely to activate Belcher, to have protection, or to be able to play multiple threats with eight cards in hand.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell from my notes how successful the strategy was. Plus, I’m not sure that 14 games is a large enough sample to really say anyway. I can really only say that, my gut feeling about the strategy is positive. I probably shouldn’t have let the Oath player with Chalices go first, but I should have maybe mulliganed Storm Entity against him. And except against Dream Salvage, I don’t feel like I was ever out of a game after one turn.

It was an interesting experiment, one I look forward to working with more in the future.

As for the fabled Blue Moon Café, I’ll have to go back. They were opened for the late-night crowd, and Jerry and I got there relatively early at 11:15. Their night crew wasn’t fully prepared, though, and the legendary goodies like breakfast rolls and Cap’n Crunch French Toast weren’t available. The “Universal Omelet” I had (made with ham, bacon, two kinds of cheese, tomato, mushrooms, broccoli and some other stuff) was good. It wasn’t super awesome, but it was enough to make me want to give the place another chance.

I guess that’s it. Good tournament, good food, and less than two hours away. Seems good!

I should also point out that Jerry Yang is the most dedicated gamer ever. He made the seven hour trip solo. It was awesome hanging out with him, there are already plans in the works for a trip to Philadelphia on November 1, and anyone who wants to come to Northern Virginia to game and go to Baltimore is more than welcome. Let me know.

Until then, I choose to draw.