So, here we are with the second game of this awesome finals between Guillem Ragull (Repeal Tendrils) and Israel Muñoz (Blue Workshops). It took a little more time than I expected but I’m sure it was worth the wait! Hope you guys enjoy the video.

Remember you can find the decklists and an amazing metagame breakdown + analysis here.

Stay tunned to watch the final match!

I know I’m a bit delayed on the publishing of the 2 remaining videos from the finals! I’ve been loaded with work during the past 10 days or so and I haven’t had a day off in the past 2 weeks, so it’s been impossible to find the forces to sit down in front of the computer and spend some hours editing. I’ll promise I’ll release them soon, but just a little bit more patient please! (It also doesn’t help that I’ve been chosen for the Starcraft II beta ). Anyways, on the mean time, here you’ll find the lists from the Top8 players:

3 Ancient Tomb
6 Island
4 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Wasteland
4 Esperzoa
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Master of Etherium
2 Triskelion
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Chalice of the Void
1 In the Eye of Chaos
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Trinisphere

Sideboard:
2 Duplicant
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 In the Eye of Chaos
2 Pithing Needle
3 Relic of Progenitus

3 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Fire // Ice
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Gush
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
4 Mana Drain
1 Mana Vault
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Misdirection
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild
4 Repeal
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Sideboard:
1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Empty the Warrens
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Pyroblast
4 Ravenous Trap
1 Red Elemental Blast
3 Thoughtseize
1 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Bojuka Bog
1 Flooded Strand
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
4 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Progenitus
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Brainstorm
1 Crop Rotation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
1 Gaea’s Blessing
4 Impulse
1 Krosan Grip
1 Lat-Nam’s Legacy
1 Lim-Dûl’s Vault
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Null Rod
4 Oath of Druids
1 Ponder
1 Rebuild
1 Regrowth
1 Show and Tell
2 Spell Pierce
2 Stifle
1 Time Walk
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sideboard:
2 Energy Flux
3 Firespout
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Pithing Needle
3 Ravenous Trap
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Mountain
2 Plateau
3 Taiga
3 Wasteland
2 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Chain Lightning
2 Fireblast
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
3 Price of Progress
2 Sylvan Library

Sideboard:
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Path to Exile
3 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Tormod’s Crypt

3 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
3 Dark Confidant
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Fire // Ice
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mana Crypt
4 Mana Drain
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
3 Spell Pierce
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Vault
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Voltaic Key
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Sideboard:
1 Mountain
2 Ingot Chewer
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Darkblast
2 Deathmark
2 Duress
1 Extirpate
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Forest
7 Mountain
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
2 Taiga
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Lackey
3 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Recruiter
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 Goblin Warchief
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Skirk Prospector
2 Chrome Mox
4 Food Chain
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

Sideboard:
2 Krosan Grip
1 Naturalize
3 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Smash to Smithereens
2 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
1 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Sundering Titan
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Fire // Ice
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Intuition
1 Mana Crypt
3 Mana Drain
1 Mana Vault
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Rebuild
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
3 Spell Snare
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Vault
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Voltaic Key
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Sideboard:
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
3 Claws of Gix
1 Duress
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Relic of Progenitus

4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Mishra’s Factory
4 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland
2 Duplicant
4 Lodestone Golem
2 Razormane Masticore
1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Null Rod
2 Sculpting Steel
2 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere

Sideboard:
2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Razormane Masticore
3 Damping Matrix
3 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Tormod’s Crypt

General information:

• Players: 54
• Average points: 9,5
• Unpowered players: 9 (16,7% from total)
• Average points by Unpowered players: 9,4

Top 8 new cards:

• Arid Mesa
• Bojuka Bog
• Deathmark
• Goblin Chieftain
• Kird Ape
• Magma Jet
• Muddle the Mixture
• Price of Progress
• Smash to Smithereens
• Sylvan Library
• Wild Nacatl

Deck breakdown and average points by archetype:

15 Drain decks (28,3% from metagame, 3/8 from Top
— 3 Drain Tendrils: 12; F
— 3 Remora Tendrils: 8,3
— 2 Tezzeret Control: 11,5; T8
— 2 Remora Tezzeret: 8
— 1 Tezzeret Slaverless: 16; T8
— 1 Oath: 9
— 1 U/B/W Bomberman: 7
— 1 The Deck: 3
— 1 U/B/R Painters: 3
14 Null Rod decks (26,4% from metagame)
— 9 Noble Fish: 7,7
— 2 U/W Fish: 9
— 1 Merfolks: 9
— 1 Monoblack: 6
— 1 R/B Goblins: 0
10 other archetypes (18,9% from metagame, 3/8 from Top
— 3 Oath: 14,7; T4
— 1 TarmoBurn: 20; T4
— 1 Food Chain Goblins: 16; T8
— 1 Control Confidant: 13
— 1 Wizards: 10
— 1 Naya Zoo: 9
— 1 TezzCast: 6
— 1 Dark Depths Elves: 3
9 Workshop decks (17,0% from metagame, 2/8 from Top
— 4 MUD: 12,5; T8
— 1 Mono Blue Shop Aggro: 24; C
— 1 MUD Domination: 10
— 1 Tezzeret Transmuter: 9
— 1 Uba Stacks: 9
— 1 Black Vised MUD: 6
4 Ichorid decks (7,5% from metagame)
— 3 Mana Ichorid: 11
— 1 Manaless Ichorid: 6
1 Ritual deck (1,9% from metagame)
— 1 The Perfect Storm: 7

Unpowered Deck breakdown and average points by archetype:

1 TarmoBurn: 20, T4
1 Food Chain Goblins: 16, T8
1 Mana Ichorid: 12
1 Wizards: 10
1 Merfolks: 9
1 Naya Zoo: 9
1 Manaless Ichorid: 6
1 Dark Depths Elves: 3
1 R/B Goblins: 0

Charts:

1 – Deck breakdown (Inner ring: Top8, Outer ring: Tournament Total)

2 -Archetype’s monthly evolution

3 – Top8 Archetype’s monthly evolution

Most played cards:

Top 10 lands:
101 Wasteland
86 Island
62 Flooded Strand
62 Underground Sea
57 Misty Rainforest
50 Polluted Delta
45 Tropical Island
37 Tundra
36 Mishra’s Workshop
31 Ancient Tomb

Top 10 creatures:
43 Qasali Pridemage
40 Dark Confidant
36 Noble Hierarch
35 Tarmogoyf
34 Lodestone Golem
31 Cold-Eyed Selkie
22 Meddling Mage
16 Bloodghast
16 Golgari Grave-Troll
16 Narcomoeba
16 Stinkweed Imp

Top 10 non-creature spells:
136 Force of Will
63 Spell Pierce
60 Null Rod
55 Mana Drain
42 Chalice of the Void
41 Mox Sapphire
40 Mox Pearl
37 Mox Emerald
37 Daze
36 Black Lotus

Top 10 sideboards:
49 Tormod’s Crypt
47 Pithing Needle
32 Relic of Progenitus
27 Hurkyl’s Recall
23 Ravenous Trap
22 Red Elemental Blast
20 Nature’s Claim
19 Tarmogoyf
17 Sower of Temptation
17 Energy Flux
17 Wheel of Sun and Moon

Top 10 lands used on most decks:
Island on 32
Strip Mine on 29
Wastelandon  28
Flooded Strand on 27
Tolarian Academy on 27
Underground Sea on 22
Polluted Delta on 21
Misty Rainforest on 20
Tropical Island on 20
Forest on 14

Top 10 creatures used on most decks:
Tarmogoyf on 15
Qasali Pridemage on 11
Dark Confidant on 11
Sower of Temptation on 11
Yixlid Jailer on 11
Cold-Eye Selkie on 10
Noble Hierarch on 9
Lodestone Golem on 9
Meddling Mage on 9
Duplicant on 9

Top 10 non-creature spells used on most decks:
Mox Sapphire on 41
Mox Pearl on 40
Mox Emerald on 37
Black Lotus on 36
Force of Will on 35
Ancestral Recall on 34
Time Walk on 32
Brainstorm on 31
Mana Crypt on 30
Sol Ring on 30

Cards that appear at least 5 times at Top8 decks:
Mana Crypt, 6 copies on 6 decks
Mox Pearl, 6 copies on 6 decks
Mox Sapphire, 6 copies on 6 decks
Sol Ring, 6 copies on 6 decks
Tormod’s Crypt, 0 Copies (+10 SB) on 6 decks
Island, 15 copies on 5 decks
Ancestral Recall, 5 copies on 5 decks
Mox Emerald, 5 copies on 5 decks
Mox Jet, 5 copies on 5 decks
Mox Ruby, 5 copies on 5 decks
Time Walk, 5 copies on  5 decks
Tolarian Academy, 5 copies on 5 decks
Hurkyl’s Recall, 1 copy (+7 SB) on 5 decks
Pithing Needle, 0 copies (+12 SB)on  5 decks

This is the second game from the semifinals between Guillem and Marc. Vintage VS Legacy! Do you think the zoo player will be able to defeat Guillem and force a 3rd game? Watch it yourself!

LCV6 April 2010 Top4 Guillem Ragull VS Marc Bertolín G2

More videos comming soon! Stay tunned and enjoy the fun!

So, we’ve moved onto the semifinals! Guillem now is facing a Legacy player who came to try his luck in Vintage with his zoo deck. The video has the same features than the last one from quarterfinals: HD quality, subtitles, music, etc… Hope you guys enjoy it!

LCV6 April 2010 Top4 Guillem Ragull VS Marc Bertolín G1

Do you guys think Marc will be able to win Guillem on game 2? Stay tuned and you’ll know the answer!

I managed to record videos from the last Catalan Vintage League (LCV) in Berga. I’m doing some tests with the editing so I’d love to hear the suggestions, etc…

LCV6 #4 Top8 – Guillem Ragull VS Xavi Hurtado G1

I can advance you that Guillem reached the finals but lost to Israel Muñoz (to whom I lost as well in the swiss…).

As far as I can remember, in the top8 there were: 2 Workshops (1 MUD, 1 Blue Shops), 2 Tezzeret (1 Remora/Confidant, 1 with Welders), 1 Repeal Tendrils, 1 Zoo, 1 Iona/15-15 Oath, 1 Food-Chain Goblins.

The winner list was using Master of Etherium and Esperzoa main deck, as well as In the Eye of Chaos!

LCV6 – April 24th 2010

Where: Alberg de Berga, C/ Vila de Casserres, nº5. Berga, 08600 (Barcelona)
Sign in from 9 to 10 am
Tournament fee: 15€

Prizes:

• Winner – Mox Emerald + Mox Ruby
• Finalist – Mox Pearl
• 3rd – Depending on the turn out (Mana Drain o dual lands)
• 4th -  Depending on the turn out (Mana Drain o dual lands)
• 5th to 8th – 1 Dual or boosters, depending on the turn out.

Prizes are firm, regardless of assitance.

SIDE EVENT Rise of Eldrazi Launch party:

From 4pm there will be RoE booster drafts going on.

<hr>

Lately I’ve been testing hard and it seems like I’ve finally found a deck I like to play. JaceCast has performed excellent during my testing and proved to be a solid contender in the actual metagame. This is how the deck looks like:

The only changes I’ve made are on the sideboard: -1 Darkblast, -1 Diabolic Edict, +1 Claws of Gix, +1 Sundering Titan

So, last Wednesday I got to play 12 games against Iona Oath with a more than acceptable 6-6 result on games, (3-3 on rounds). We played 6 full rounds, as it would be in tournament. Claws of Gix rocked! Most of the games I lost weren’t due to his Oath, it was actually against Vault/Key…

Then I got to play against Remora Tendrils. Same list that has performed excellent in the last LCV tournaments with Top8′s from Alex Delgado and Rubén González (decklists here and here). Surprisingly, I managed to win 6-1 with absolutely no real opposition. JaceCast was so superior to Remora Tendrils that he couldn’t do much to stop me.

But I also tested the deck against the new MUD deck featuring Lodestone Golem and, even more surprisingly, it performed lot better than expected. Played 3 full rounds against Roger Riera and the results were: 2-0, 1-2, 2-0 for a total game score of 5-2. Null Rod wasn’t really an issue if you manage to play one or two Master of Etherium. Masters are lot bigger than Golems, so they end up blocking. On top of that if we add that we play 4 Spell Pierce + 4 Force of Will we can actually stop their early game quite well. If we manage to get the 4th producer, then the game is over.

And finally I tested JaceCast against Dark Tezzeret and “The Deck”, with even or slightly positive results against them.

So, I feel pretty confidant about the deck, the card choices and my possibilities. I didn’t get to try the deck against Noble Fish, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a very good match up. I guess I’ll have to protect my masters from his Swords and try Tinker for Leviathan asap. Adding Sower of Temptation and Pithing Needle from the sideboard will make games 2 and 3 lot easier.  Dispel has proved to be a real MVP against fish from other player’s experiences, as it protects all your bombs and can counter their bouncer/swords.

I’ll be probably recording the Top8 games on video, and if I get the time to edit them, I’ll upload them!

Wish me luck

Need to redesign the header of the blog, but I’m not 100% sure how it should look like. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Soon, I’ll be able to announce something very cool. It comes in the form of a new co-writer for the blog. Someone you might already know from some of his articles for MTG Salvation. Ok, ok, I stop giving tips now! He deserve a presentation post for himself, so I ain’t unveiling his name yet! Who do you think he is?

It’s only a month left till we hit Grand Prix Madrid, and there’s something that worries me a lot. No, it’s not the decklist I’ll play that I’m worried about, it’s actually what artists are going to be present at the event. Considering the type of event, Legacy (Eternal), I hope they bring someone important. Someone with a huge card pool, from alpha to latest expansions. I also hope, they don’t bring Mark Tedin, Terese Nielsen or Rob Alexander. Why would I say that if they’ve actually drawn cards from alpha to nowadays? Simply, coz I’ve met them many times already. WotC should make an effort to make other artists travel around. I’m talking about artists like Ron Spears or Pete Venters, to name a couple. I know it’s not gonna happen; it’s just some wet dream of mine.

Anyways, last Sunday I headed to Badalona (lawless city next to Barcelona -  They should actually release a new video game called GTA: Badalona) to play the 1st tournament of the 2010 Catalan Vintage League (LCV). Only 50 players showed up due to a Legacy Grand Prix Trial (GPT) being held at Black Lotus Shop in Barcelona (70 players).

I was planning to play a different deck than the one I used to win the mini tournament at La Màquina del Temps a week ago, but I lacked the time to change it, so I decided to give it another try.

Regular structure for a tournament like this, 6 swiss rounds followed by top8. Prizes were pretty cool, at least for the winner: 1 Beta Tundra + 1 Beta Scrubland. Thumbs up for Alfredo, the organizer!.

My performance went from poor to lame. I scored a 2-4 total. The deck worked well, but I had the feeling my opponents had the hands of their lives. You know, when round after round, you lose being unable to actually play your cards. Lost 2 rounds against Vault/Key with FoW backup. Another one, where my opponent, in game 3, opens with Jet + Duress (taking my FoW), Sapphire + Ancestral, Swamp + Black Lotus, cracking for BBB, and casting Null Rod + Dark Confidant. I go Island, play Sol Ring (and still had 2 dual lands + Tinker in hand), and his Confidant reveals Strip Mine turn 2, and Wasteland turn 3. GG.

I might have made some mistakes, wrong hand choices and mulligans. But I’ve never felt smashed like this in a tournament before. Maybe it’s really me, who’s getting rusty. I know I ain’t play-testing that much lately, but I’m still confidant about my skills and about my knowledge of the format. Who knows…

Now, I’m 100% focused again in Legacy. I don’t think I’ll be able to test much before the GP, but that’s a thing that doesn’t worry me much. I’ve been playing combo decks in Legacy for ages now and there isn’t much to be seen or to worry about at this point. The only thing that is starting to annoy me, is the growth on the amount of decks abusing Natural Order/Progenitus. Man, that 2 card combo is overpowered. In the Legacy context it might be even more powerful than what Tinker is in Vintage. It’s not restricted (people is playing 2-3 copies of Natural Order) and the creep you put in play is even better than any Tinker Robot that you might put into play. I still hope they ban Tarmogoyf soon. Hey! Do you remember the Biezcorp video? (It’s in spanish, but worth watching)

That’s all for today folks!