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For the next four rounds I would be miserably destroyed because people didn't bother to test the format enough. I'll go more into it on Sean's podcast as I said before, but here's the link to my article on how I got to the Classic deck I played for the next four rounds:
Here's the decklist that four of our teammates played with the updated 2 open slots:
Hero: [Ringleader Kuma]
Allies: 26
3 [Bloodsoul]
3 [Rosalyne von Erantor]
4 [Broderick Langforth]
4 [Offender Gora]
4 [Onnekra Bloodfang]
4 [Sava'gin the Reckless]
4 [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
Abilities: 23
4 [Shock of the Elements]
4 [Chain Purge]
3 [Wind Shear]
4 [Tuskarr Kite]
4 [Feral Spirits]
4 [Earthen Blast]
Equipment: 7
4 [Signest of Manifested Pain]
3 [Edge of Oblivion]
Quests: 4
4 [Orders From Lady Vashj]
Side deck: 10
3 [Talisman of the Horde]
3 [Aegis of the Vindicator]
2 [Vuz'din]
1 [Edge of Oblivion]
1 [Wind Shear]
We wanted to avoid, “bad Classic decks,” or people playing their pet deck, and hope to play the best players in the world who would likely play Mage (of all varieties, combo and control are basically byes) and midrange Warlock (who hopefully learned [Nathanos Blightcaller] is terrible against Mage and against most control decks so the shouldn't play him). However, that didn't really happen as you will see.
Round 7: Jonas Skali [Sepirion the Poised] won the roll!
This matchup comes down to his turn one and when he has [Sqaull Totem]. Game one I start on [Rosalyne von Erantor] and a stashed [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen], but Jonas had the nuts. He resourced [The Ring of Blood: The Warmaul Champion] and discard an [Incendiary Totem] and a [Broderick Langforth]. He killed my board and played his own [Broderick Langforth]. The game from there on was a blowout. I had double [Tuskarr Kite] to try and get back into the game, but I never found a way to kill his [Azjol-anak Champion]. Therefore, I had to try and go for the kill when Jonas had five resources open on my turn seven. I attacked, and then flipped, he used some quests, discarded [Uruka the Cutthroat] saw I didn't have [Wind Shear], and [Squall Totem]ed my team, and killed me.
Side: -1 [Offender Gora] ;+1 [Wind Shear]
I knew that Jonas would be bringing in any [Wavestorm Totem]s he had access to, so I left in the [Chain Purge], and even considered bringing in [Vuz'din] in place of 1 Gora and 1 Edge. Game two started off even worse than last game as my no stash [Rosalyne von Erantor] mulligan was trumped by his [The Ring of Blood: The Warmaul Champion] and discard an [Incendiary Totem] and [Uruka the Cutthroat] seeing my awful hand. I did manage to get the game to a point where Jonas was slamming multiple [Feral Spirit]s and my [Tuskarr Kite]s were allowing me to do the same, but he found a [Wavestorm totem]. I used my [Orders From Lady Vashj] and [Tuskarr Kite] to try and find a [Wind Shear] or [Chain Purge], but when I missed I extended the hand.
4-3; 3-4 in rolls.
Round 8: Hungary's Dávid Keul [Ghoulmaster Kalisa] lost the roll;
This is what I meant by real decks in Classic. Death Knight is not a class that can beat Mage nor Warlock ever, so why are people playing it? “Because it is fun and they have powerful cards,” was the reply I heard from some people. Anyways, my way to victory here would be to play an attrition game with [Tuskarr Kite] and [Signet of Manifested Pain], waiting to commit to the board when I could hold open [Wind Shear] resources. Another problem with Dávid Keul's deck for me is he can always [Corpse Explosion] on turn three with the help of his hero flip dumping an ally into the graveyard.
Game one went exactly as planned, I had a one drop that didn't do any damage because of another card I've never liked, [Extract of Necromantic Power], but at least Dávid didn't have Undercity. He flipped on turn two discarding [Vuz'din] and I had [Signet of Manifested Pain] into [Tuskarr Kite]. I found another [Signet of Manifest Pain] and played it on turn four along with [Shock of the Elements] exhausting my newly stashed [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen] token and my Signet token to kill his [Dethvir the Malignant]. Damage stood at 9 to 5 when I really went for it on my turn six, playing [Feral Spirits] with 3 Signet tokens and a Cairne token in play. Dávid didn't have any other options he resourced allowing him to hold up a resource for his [Undercity] he found on turn five, and slammed [Army of the Dead], I slammed my [Wind Shear] and flipped with my two [Onnekra Bloodfang] in hand and took game one.
Side: -4 [Chain Purge]; +2 [Talisman of the Horde], +1 [Wind Shear], +1 [Edge of Oblivion]
I considered bringing in [Aegis of the Vindicator] because I felt he would take Munkin Blackfist out, but I felt that even if he [Army of the Dead]s me I'm still going to lose so there's no way I'm beating a resolved army of ghouls.
Game two was a complete blowout. Dávid Had the [Broderick Langforth], flip discarding [Broderick Langforth] and an Undercity with a [Deathcharger] opening hand. The game was so bad for me, I did manage to [Shock of the Elements] his [Deathcharger], but I had to run out [Feral Spirit]s on turn four, and Dávid's hand must have been two or three [Corpse Explosions] as he played one that turn and another the following turn to quickly kill me and my party that just healed him all game with an active [Undercity].
Side: -2 [Talisman of the Horde], +2 [Aegis of the Vindicator]
Going into game three we had about 18 minutes, so that favored my hero flip and me in a long game, so I brought in a pair of [Aegis of the vindicator]s, however that's not how long this game took.
The game started out as normal, me playing from behind, with [Signet of Manifested Pain] facing down his Broderick, ghoul token from his flip, Undercity, resource, and six cards in hand. Problem is, that's his second turn and he's seen 10 cards. I call the judge over and he issues a game loss, I appeal hoping that we can fix it in some way and play the game out. Simon is not in the room, and Jen comes over to make the final ruling and upholds the floor judge's ruling that drawing an extra card is a game loss since it cannot be proven which card it is. Dávid and I both ask if there's any way she can fix it, but she cannot and I'm awarded the game. At a local I wouldn't accept this game loss and just have Dávid restart the game on a mulliganed hand, but at Worlds I know I cannot do that with all the money on the line. I agree to play the rest of the game out with him and I win anyways, but I feel that he was on tilt from the ruling.
Dávid felt really bad, and I could tell he didn't mean to cheat by drawing an extra card into his hand. He must have apologized ten times in twenty seconds and you could tell that his face was getting red and he truly felt awful. I believe he didn't mean to cheat, accepted his apology, but at the end of the day still accepted the game loss because of how big of a tournament this is.
5-3; 3-5 on rolls.
Round 9: Aat Niehot [Vorix Zorbuzz] [Overkill] Combo lost the roll.
Finally a truly awesome deck to play in Classic that I was prepared for. This matchup is pretty good. If you ever hit a [Wind Shear] the [Overkill] deck cannot win. To win Aat needs to use his cards aggressively to damage the opponent, and use [Overkill] and [Surge of Adrenaaline] to reduce my options and increase his. However, against a deck as fast as [Ringleader Kuma] [Overkill] doesn't have that luxury. In this matchup he needs to trade card for card and hope his [The Ring of Blood: The Warmaul Champion]s and [Seal Fate]s discard enough [Broderick Langforth]s to keep up.
Game one goes according to plan as I start off very aggressively with [Rosalyne von Erantor] into [Bloodsoul] and [Broderick Langforth]. I also managed to have a [Tuskarr Kite] and a [Wind Shear] all in my opener, all I needed was a [Feral Spirit]s on six to go crazy with this hand. Aat was busy building his graveyard with no help from [Seal Fate]s and using [Raze] to kill my one cost allies. On turn four going into Aat's turn five, he had only three cards in hand and one finishing move in his graveyard so I ran out [Feral Spirit]s. He didn't have a good answer to them, and began to try and burn me out with [Seal Fate] on his next turn. He failed to do so, and I flipped and got in with the [Offender Gora] in my hand for the full 17 for exactsies.
Side: -4 [Chain Purge]; +1 [Wind Shear], +1 [Edge of Oblivion], +2 [Aegis of the Vindicator]
Game two was even better for me. I again started off very aggressive with some Stash effects and a one cost ally, while Aat had to play out a [Broderick Langforth]. I followed it up with a [Signet of Manifested Pain] on two into [Signet of Manifested Pain] + [Onnekra Bloodfang] on three. That forced Aat to use [Surge of Adrenaline] to draw cards and [Raze] on his turn four to kill my tokens. On turn five I simply added another ally to the squadron in the form of [Broderick Langforth] and held four open with 2 cards, double [Wind Shear] in hand. I was on 19 damage from [Seal Fate] and my own suicide attempt from [Signet of Manifested Pain], that Aat's shrugging [Overkill] for four could have killed me if I didn't have [Wind Shear]. He knew he had to go for it but had a very slight chance to have it resolve, I slammed [Wind Shear] and took the match.
6-3; 3-6 on rolls. Locked for day two thanks to solid tiebreakers!
Round 10: Christof Schilling [Plague Fleshbane] won the roll!
This matchup is slightly favorable before side decking and nearly even after sidedecking usually. With the way Christof's deck was built, this is not exactly true though. He was playing 4 [Nathanos Blightcaller]s main deck and [Talisman of the Horde] instead of [Banish to the Nether] which weakens my [Edge of Oblivion]s.
Game one was pretty back and forth because of his [Hesirana]s and [Undercity] facing down my army of tokens from [Signet of Manifested Pain] and [Tuskarr Kite]. I feel I misplayed this game by using my [Edge of Oblivion] to kill of his army of 2/3 demons protecting my [Signet of Manifested Pain] tokens. In the end, I had four of five draw steps from [Tuskarr Kite] and my start of turn to find an on cost Ferocity ally, or a way to deal damage, and missed.
I don't remember what I sided here, but considering his deck I knew I wanted to bring in Aegis and out the [Chain Purge]s leaving side decking at: -4 [Chain Purge]; +3 [Aegis of the Vidicator], +1 [Edge of Oblivion].
Game two was a complete blowout, without naming my turns here's what Christof did: turn 1, [Broderick Langforth] and [Undercity]. Turn 2, [Broderick Langforth] and [Sardok]. Turn 3, [Dreadsteed] double [Demonic Contamination] play a new [Sardok]. Turn 4, [Nathanos Blightcaller] play a quest kill my ally. Turn 5, [Nathanos Blightcaller] play another [Undercity].
Saying my plays would be a waste of time as my deck can never beat that hand.
6-4 4-6 on rolls 2-2 Classic.
Overall, I was really disappointed with my Classic performance. My dad also 2-2ed. I feel that if more people had tested the format they would have reached conclusions that I did, but they didn't test and did as well or better than I did. Therefore, I cannot fault them, and only fault myself for not playing some midrange Mage deck like Dan Clark had. However, I'm not unhappy with all the work I did. Robert Swarowski got a game loss for the side deck strategy guide I made for everyone on the team, which added to the pain. Apparently, using a side deck strategy guide is considered outside notes which is a game loss, again I apologize Rob I never meant to get you nor anyone else a game loss. I used a side deck strategy guide back at NACC 2009 when I won at the end of day one. It was written on my score pad which cards to side out and which to bring in against a bunch of the popular decks, but no one ever cared.
Going into day 2 I knew I needed to 6-0 to make top 16 as my tiebreakers would be abysmal being 83rd going into day 2. I did spend a ton of time on Limited. I made a pick order guide for general strategies for my dad that ranked all the allies, and had 10 drafts under my belt in which I 2-1ed or 3-0ed every single one.
In my first draft there were not many recognizable names. I knew Garam Jeong as he and I talk all the time on Facebook, and I've seen Simon De Grieve and Petri Taipalvesi before but never met either of them before. I knew I needed to 3-0, so I was hoping to force Monster Hunter, and at the end of pack one I had 11 playables looking like this:
2 [Chumly]
2 [Murloc Coastrunner]
1 [Nibbler]
1 [Crabbyfin]
1 [Blessing of the Old God]
2 [Monstrous Strike]
2 [Rescure the Earthspeaker!]
I had some good cards, but I wasn't bound to playing Hunter, but I wanted to be a Monster because the strike is so good. Then in pack to I did it, I opened [Monstrous Mark]! But of course I wouldn't get to take it, as the pack didn't have stamps. I couldn't believe it, it was similar to my issue at NACC this year when I desperately wanted a [Timriv the Enforcer] or [Soridormi], and one was marked so I lost the pack. This time, they were not marked and I got handed a new pack. I was completely on tilt at this point in total disbelief, and I wasted my first pick on [Bottled Death]. I then somehow got a [Dulvar, Hand of the Light] either pick 2 pack 2 or pick 2 pack 3, and rounded out the two packs with some Priest abilities and good Empower guys to make a relatively mediocre Alliance deck. I didn't know if I should be Priest or Death Knight but here's how the deck ended up:
Hero: [Tinker Priest Cassie]
Allies: 19
2 [Murloc Coastrunner]
1 [Crabbyfin]
1 [Snurky]
1 [Nibbler]
1 [Faceless Sapper]
1 [Kara Vesstal]
1 [Laetho Moonbranch]
1 [Burdock Brewshot]
1 [Sebastian Malak]
2 [Chumly]
1 [Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt]
2 [Larrisa Valorshield]
1 [Malar Silverfrost]
1 [Dulvar, Hand of the Light]
2 [Evaax, Herald of Death]
Abilities: 3
1 [Power Word: Vitality]
1 [Power Word: Purity]
1 [Psychic Screech]
Equipment: 2
1 [Blessing of the Old God]
1 [Bottled Death]
Quests: 6
1 [Seeds of Their Demise]
3 [Rescue the Earthspeaker!]
2 [The Culmination of our Efforts]
I had no real side deck cards, but I did have some extra two cost allies like [Kara Vesstal] and [Bloat the Bubble Fish] in my side deck. I figured this deck was a 2-1 deck unless I drew my super aggro hands with double [Chumly] into [Dulvar, Hand of the Light].
Round 11: Simon De Grieve [Master Sniper Simon McKey] won the roll.
Simon said he started in Monster Hunter, but ended up Alliance like I had. His deck was pretty sweet, he had double [Concussive Barrage]. Game one went really well for me as I controlled his aggressive start and slammed Dulvar and made my own tank with [Power Word: Vitality] and [Power Word: Purity] and went from 19 taken back to 2 by the end of the game.
Game two was really nonexistent. I got a pretty poor hand with all two cost allies and then in the late game drew my 2 [Evaax, Herald of Death] without a Death Knight to trigger his Empower.
Game three was where I threw away my chance to win Worlds. I got the game to a point where I got a [Dulvar, Hand of the Light] in play, but I was at 15 and Simon had a [Clamps] and a 6/4 in play attacking me to 21. I ran Dulvar with the two attachments into his 6/4 and used my hero flip to bounce the [Clamps]. That left my Dulvar with 5 health remaining, enough that double [Concussive Barrage] destroyed my last win condition. It took seven more turns but Simon finished me off and I wished him luck for the rest of the tournament.
6-5; 5-6 on rolls.
Round 12: Dirk Sparr [Samaku, Hand of the Tempest] lost the roll.
Nothing against Dirk, but this round was a blur to me. I know he was aggressive and was playing some cards like [Bottled Elements], but nothing really happened. I hit [Dulvar, Hand of the Light] in game one and stabilized once he missed a [Buldrug] Enrage effect, and in game two he didn't really do anything except resource each turn. Dirk showed me his hand at the end of game two, which included 24 points of damage but he needed an 9th resource.
7-5; 5-7 on rolls.
Round 13: Garam Jeong [Wildseer Varel] won the roll!
I knew this matchup would be crazy. Garam had a pretty spicy Druid deck with [Bounless Wild], some number of token generators, and [Fungal Growth] to top it all off. Game one I drew the nuts. Turn one [Murloc Coastrunner], into a turn two [Crabbyfin] protected with [Power Word: Vitality], into my standard turn three [Chumly] into the best turn four ever, [Murloc Coastrunner] and [Chumly]! Let's just say I'm pretty good at being lucky, but to note, I still almost lost this game.
Game two I got crushed as Garam player very conservatively preventing me from winning the game in any way possible. I tried to get back into the game, but when I drew [Dulvar, Hand of the Light] I determined that I was too far behind, and showing him my bomb epic could cost me the round.
For the deciding game I drew another insane hand this time I put my [Power Word: Vitality] on my [Murloc Coastrunner] and ate some of Garam's token allies. I then followed it up with [Nibbler] into [Chumly] and Garam played a [Bottled Life] and [Verdant Boon] on his turn three, which fell perfectly into my play, [Malar Silverfrost]. From here winning was routine, but I still had to play [Dulvar, Hand of the Light] to make an indestructible 5/6 to close out the game because Garam's deck was so good.
8-5; 5-8 on rolls.
I was pretty content with my 2-1 in the first pod, but I knew to win any real money I would need to 3-0 my next pod which was similar to my first pod, with very few known players. I knew Luca Magni was a really solid player, and was a VIP, and Petri Taipalvesi from my last pod.
This draft went exceptionally well if you ignore pack one. I was sitting in the best spot at the table, passing to Petri, who was passing to Luca in both packs one and three, so I was getting hooked up. I got a sign that Alliance was open early, but with a 4th pick [Jex'ali], I wasn't leaving Horde.
Pack two was pretty odd, I got passed a sixth pick [Big Cauldron of Battle], and figured it had to be pretty mediocre if both Petri and Luca passed it, but my all 2-for-1 Death Knight deck needed a way to win other than [Skullchewer] and [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows] so I took it. Last pick I got a 15th pick [Chompers], and Luca, Petri and I all looked at one another and began to chuckle.
Pack three solidified my deck being amazing, as I ended up getting a late [Baxtan, Herald of the Flame] and [Shroud of Cooperation] which I love more than everyone in Europe supposedly. Here's the finished product:
Hero: [Ghoulmaster Kalista]
Allies: 20
2 [Ruznik Sharpnelwhiz]
1 [Daroka Venomfist]
1 [Muloc Coastrunner]
2 [Zizzlix drizzledrill]
1 [Snurky]
1 [Jex'ali]
1 [Samantha Galvington]
1 [Baxtan, Herald of the Flame]
1 [Shala'zum]
1 [Brighteye]
2 [Jumahko Thundersky]
1 [Amano, Herald of the Sun]
1 [Idra'kess Enchantress]
1 [Jagrok, Herald of Trickery]
1 [Skullchewer]
2 [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows]
Equipment: 4
1 [Bottled Cunning]
1 [Bottled Death]
1 [Shroud of Cooperation]
1 [Big Cauldron of Battle]
Quests: 6
1 [Seeds of Their Demise]
1 [Waters of Elune]
1 [Setting an Example]
3 [Rescue the Earthspeaker!]
Common side deck cards: [Eralysa Sunshot], [Samantha Galvington,] 3 [Strength of Will]
I actually felt this deck was about a 2-1 deck losing to a super aggressive Warrior or Hunter deck which likely didn't exist because of the cards going around, but nevertheless I was prepared to battle.
Round 14: Petr Kuna [Jak the Bilgewater Bruiser] lost the roll.
Game one Petr attempted to be aggressive, but [Ruznik Sharpnelwhiz] shut that down quickly. I then won the game without much effort after playing a pair of [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows].
Game two Petr again wanted to be aggressive, and I had the [Ruznik Sharpnelwhiz], but he then began attacking with [Dirk's Command], a card I lacked an answer too. I did however have a pair of giant protectors in the form of [Jumahko Thundersky] who allowed me to run out a [Big Cauldron of Battle]. It took a couple of turns but I rolled a four dealing 3 damage to his board, which allowed me to clear out his hand with [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows].
9-5; 5-9 on rolls.
Round 15: Petri Taipalvesi [Anaka the Light's Bulwark] won the roll!
Petri heard the tales of my amazing deck apparently, and felt the wrath of it in the first game. By turn six the boards looked like the following Petri: [Eel Cutter], me: 2x [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows], [Zizzlix drizzledrill], and [Jumahko Thundersky]. I was pretty happy to win the game, but really surprised he conceded in response to my [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows]'s effect. He obviously had something he didn't want me to see and with [Eel Cutter] in his deck I figured it was likely [Grand Crusader].
Game two I got crushed by none other than [Grand Crusader]. To make it seem even closer to constructed, Petri also had the [Bottled Light] for [Crabbyfin] and [Swarmtooth]. I like to call this, a real game!
Game three was much better as I played more aggressively, trying to keep the board clogged with my allies. I was able to play a [Skullchewer] on Petri's discarded [Crabbyfin] thus shutting off a good [Bottled Light], but it didn't matter. Petri kept a hand with a ton of Delve to find his [Grand Crusader], but failed to find it. The game was pretty easy to win as most my guys were giants on the table.
10-5; 6-9 on rolls.
Final round (16): Luca Magni [Drazul the Molten] won the roll.
Game one I got a really awkward hand where all I could do was try and set up a [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows], but I died doing so. I feel that If I had played this game a lot more conservatively I would have been better off as I drew a combo piece to my deck the turn after I resourced essential cards. I resourced my only Rogue ally then drew [Bottled Cunning], then drew Baxtan the turn after resourcing my only Mage.
Game two I slapped myself around a little bit, and got back into wrecking mode. I attempted to 2-for-1 Luca every chance I got, but he played to well too allow such a thing. The biggest play was Luca falling behind on the board and needing to hit an Enraged [Buldrug], but I was fortunate to see him miss. I was able to get [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows] into play and only take 12 points of damage.
Game three was pretty hilarious from my standpoint. The game was very back and forth and Luca had a fairly decent opener but I had a pretty solid defense. I was able to hit a [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows] allowing Luca to draw a pair of cards off of his [Rescue the Earthspeaker!]s. Neither of us had much damage, but the board position continually changed until I played [Big Cauldron of Battle]. I said as I played it, “We'll let the dice determine who wins the game” as I had 10 ATK worth of allies in play on the next turn facing down Luca's one card and [Jex'ali] in play. Damage was 7 on me to 3 on him, and I had 7 cards left in deck to his 11. The first turn cauldron did nothing but the following one went crazy thanks to the following.
Roll: 5 (roll 2 more dice)
Roll: 5 and 1 (roll 2 more dice and deal 1 to me)
Roll: 5 and 5 (Roll 4 more dice)
Roll: 5, 6, 1, 1 (Roll 3 more dice and I take 2 damage)
Roll: 5, 4, 4 (roll 2 more and deal six to Luca's board)
Roll: 5 and 3 (roll 2 more dice and Luca discards his card)
Roll: 5 and 4 (Roll 2 more dice and Luca's board takes 3)
Roll: 4 and 4 (Deal six to Luca's board)
The result: Luca takes 15 discards his hand I take 3 and win the game! I never said I was good at this game, but I sure do run pretty well. Luca was pretty shocked as was his country mates watching the game, but I was just as stunned witnessing what had happened.
End result: 11-5; 7-9 on rolls 30th place worst of the 11-5s!
I cannot say that I was pleased with 30th place, but after my day 1 performance I'll take what I can get. Our team only put one player (two if you count Brad Watson who ended up playing a really cool Shaman deck) into top 16, and he, Dan Clark, lost to the eventual winner Hans Hoh.
I'd like to thank Steve Lynn and Dan Clark specifically again for giving me their Core deck, the RIW guys are always a pleasure to play and hang out with I hope we get to do it again for many events to come. Props to Jacob Holker for dealing with my awful sleep schedule to test with me each night leading up to the event, I couldn't have been prepared without you buddy. I'll leave my tournament report at that because this is already way to long, and you probably just earned two battleground achievements just for reading this.
Again, please listen to Sean Batt's A Question of Gluttony Podcast if you want to hear the stories like how Brad managed to be a cheapskate leading to my dad injuring his leg, how the event was run, my back-story to finding other decks, my draft strategies for this format and more!
-Corey Burkhart
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