This past weekend, Eternal Weekend took place in Philadelphia. I've wanted to participate in EW for a long time now, but have never been able to make it work except for the online version in 2020. This year, it would be only an hour away, so I wanted to play as many events as possible. Unfortunately, work and other commitments meant I would only be able to play in the Legacy Championship on Saturday.
However, the plans I had on Thursday evening canceled at around 14:30, which left me just enough time to rearrange my schedule to get to Philadelphia and Love City Brewing for the 17:45 player meeting. Luckily, I already had a deck sleeved up in preparation for the upcoming Winter Derby.
The Deck
4 Atog
4 Sedge Troll
4 Black Vice
1 Jalum Tome
1 Copy Artifact
2 Relic Barrier
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Psionic Blast
1 Fireball
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestrall Recall
1 Chaos Orb
1 City in a Bottle
1 Mind Twist
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
4 Strip Mine
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Volcanic Island
4 Badlands
4 Underground Sea
1 City of Brass
1 Library of Alexandria
Sideboard
1 Falling Star
1 Earthquake
2 City in a Bottle
3 Shatter
3 Copper Tablet
2 Gloom
1 Terror
1 Shatterstorm
1 Braingeyser
This is the next iteration of the BottleAtog list I played in Buffalo in October. Once again, the idea is to use City in a Bottle to destroy City of Brass and use the 4x Strip Mine to further constrain the mana. This time I opted for Black instead of White as my support color. This gives access to Demonic Tutor, which means multiple Bottles main deck is no longer necessary. This also gives Mind Twist, which just wins games.
For supplemental threat, I went with Sedge Troll. I was already planning on playing the full eight dual land Swamps, so it was a natural fit. As it is more of a midrange card, I didn't think playing Chain Lightning was necessary. There are no turn one Savannah Lions to clear the way for, and a lot of the creatures that Chain kills are blanked by having a Troll in play.
The other strategy in the main deck was to not have any non-restricted cards that couldn't be converted into damage. So instead of Shatter or other reactive cards, I played artifacts like Relic Barrier that could be sacrificed to Atog for damage.
The sideboard options in black aren't quite as good as with white, but they are serviceable. Earthquake is always a consideration when you don't play Savannah Lions and it works fine with Troll. Terror is a reasonable Swords to Plowshares replacement. There isn't an answer to The Abyss or Moat as good as Disenchant, but Gloom does a good enough job at stopping Circle of Protection: Red which is significantly better against the increased red threat count.
The Event
I believe 50 or so players showed up. The brewery was very nice. There was a small hiccup where the bartenders thought it was open bar, but it was sorted out quickly enough before round one to not be a total disaster, and most people ended up with a free beer or two from the mix-up.
I don't have great notes or full record of pairings, so some names and events might be slightly off.
Round 1 - Jason Castonguay
He did not show up, so I win this round. Lucky
1-0
Round 2 - Brett Attmore - UR Atog
He had basic Island and basic Mountain. Game one he has an early Ankh of Mishra, but is stuck on two mana so while I take 6 damage from it, I'm never in danger of dying and I think I burn him out. I don't remember game two, but it might have involved Mind Twist.
2-0
Round 3 - Andy Callaghan? - MonoGreen Aggro
Game one I have turn one Timetwister but I'm on the draw so its parity vs his land and Llanowar Elf. He has too many cheap beaters to follow up and I don't have enough removal. Game two I think I land a Black Vise and Strip Mine him twice and he's never really in it. Game three he has two Scryb Sprites and an Argothian Pixies, but they get swept up by my Falling Star. I think I have Mind Twist the following turn to ensure the game is locked up.
3-0
Round 4 - Michael Scheffenacker - RUG 12 Bolt with Kird Ape
I win game one with a Demonic Tutor for City in a Bottle to get his City of Brass and Serendib Efreet. Game two he has two Argothian Pixies but I have Earthquake for 1 and then Demonic Tutor for Relic Barrier to stop his Jade Statue. I think I also have Library going for a few turns this game. Eventually I draw some beaters to kill him as he floods out.
4-0
Round 5 - Will Parshall - Atog
Game one he has early Vise and Ankh, but is losing to my board presence. I'm two points short of killing him with Atogs when he draws Ancestral to find the burn he needs to kill me. I maybe could have avoiding playing one land, but I'm not sure. Game two I don't remember but I think I win quickly with Vise and Timetwister. Game three I keep a hand with Lotus, Time Walk, Badlands, Factory, Atog, Demonic Tutor, Psionic Blast. He has turn one Vise so my first turn is Badlands Lotus Atog Time Walk to avoid Vise damage. I have drawn City in a Bottle for the extra turn but no other mana source. I play City instead of Demonic Tutor in order to wait for more information and to have protection for my Atog from a bolt. He has Chain Lightning which I sacrifice the Bottle to save Atog. He also has Strip Mine for my Factory. I never draw another mana source and die to his Vise and Factory shortly after. There is some debate whether to tutor for a Mox, or to mulligan the hand, but I'm not sure either play is better than taking the occasional loss to Strip Mine.
4-1
Round 6 - I don't remember who I played this round - Shops
Game one I'm ahead with some Vise and Atog damage. He has two Icy holding me down, but then draws the sixth mana to play Triskelion. This gives me a turn to Timetwister into another Vise and two Lightning Bolt which is enough to finish him off. Game two he has an early Su-Chi and Copy. I have turn one Library so I start digging. I use Shatter to kill one and then Mind Twist to get the two Trikes in his hand when he's on five mana. I manage to get Relic Barrier to stop the other Su-Chi beats. Eventually Library finds me enough burn to end the game before he can find any more threats.
5-1
Will Parshall ends up the lone undefeated for first place. I have the best tiebreakers of the 5-1s and take second place. I select the Winter Orb for my prize.
Conclusion
The deck performed about as expected. I don't think this build is the best way to build Atog but I think it has unique advantages. I've still yet to face anyone on The Deck with these builds so the viability there is still just theoretical.
The event was a great time. Thanks to Jimmy for putting it on with short notice.
Props:
Love City Brewing - beer was fine, but rolling with the open bar / cash bar mix up was nice. The venue was a great spot for event
Philadelphia parking - I've shit on Philly parking and road layout previously, but this area was very easy to get to and I didn't struggle to find street parking. Probably not good enough for a true "prop", but in the interest of fairness I'll put them here
My wife Beth for allowing me last minute to go to the event after our other plans fell through
Slops:
Strip Mine - just when you think 4 Strip is no big deal after 10 rounds of it, Strip Mine is there to remind you who the boss is. (I've got nothing against 4 Strip formats, just salty about the round 5 loss)
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