Extended in Kentucky - SA

The Kentucky Open. Typically a defining tournament in US magic since it happens a week or two before Nationals. By now we've all read the various tournament reports and seen the deck lists, but for those who were unaware they had an Extended tournament to. I wish I could sit here and tell you all about how I crushed the competition and walked away with a win and the 32 dual land prize, instead you get to hear the story of crushing defeat and the lessons that can be derived. Before we can get into the tournament itself you need to know that I played Tezzerator, a deck I've been a fan of for quite sometime.
Here's my list:

TEZZERATOR

2 Vedalken Shackles
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
3 Stifle
3 Spell Snare
1 Pithing Needle
3 Firespout
1 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Cryptic Command
4 Chrome Mox
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Vendilion Clique
4 Trinket Mage
2 Steam Vents
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Riptide Laboratory
4 Polluted Delta
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
6 Island
1 Great Furnace
3 Flooded Strand
1 Breeding Pool
2 Academy Ruins

Sideboard:
3 Blood Moon
3 Krosan Grip
2 Quagnoth
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Trinisphere

No major changes in the list. No new tech for you to peek at and have an advantage since I'm writing about extended well before it's relevant, just your basic Tezz list.


Rnd 1 against Steve Sadin:

Game 1: We both mulligan to 6 and keep. He opens with a Wild Nacatl off a fetch land. I land a Chalice of the Void set at 1, effectively shutting down most of his deck. He recovers with tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary until I land an Ensnaring Bridge. A few turns later I play a Chalice for 2 shutting down his burn spells. He scoops it up and we go to game 2.

Game 2: I board in 3 Blood Moon and 2 Threads of Disloyalty. Once again the mulligan demons decide to show up and after a mulligan to 6 we're off. This game is much more in his favor as he lands turn 2 gaddock teeg into tarmogoyf face beatings as I'm stuck with no answers and few lands. I pack it in after a couple of turns hoping game 3 is better.

Game 3: No changes to the board and I decide to keep a hand with one land and double chrome mox (BAD IDEA!). I lead with a land and a chrome mox. He attempts to ancient grudge my mox. I spell snare it. He untaps plays Knight of the Reliquary. Meanwhile, I've drawn my third chrome mox with very few imprint targets. I have found my third land finally. After a second knight hits his side of the board I think it's a good idea to play more chrome moxen, send a tezzeret into play finding my ensnaring bridge. Unfortunately, he still has the ancient grudge in the yard to blow it up. I die 2 turns later.

1-2, 0-1

Rnd 2 against Johnathan Smith:

Game 1: mulligan to 6. Turn 1 Spark elemental, guess who's playing burn! I have chalice for 1 thinking it would buy me sometime to recover. He rift bolts and magma jets me out of the game in no time. On to game 2

Game 2: I board in my Krosan Grips for his Sulfuric Vortex and my trinisphere. I'm on the play and have chalice for 1 again, not learning my lesson game 1. He follows the same strategy as he used game 1. This time he has a shattering spree for my chalice so he can bolt my face. I found trinisphere a turn too late.

1-4, 0-2, Drop.

Ok, so now we know what happened. Why did it happen? For starters I mulliganed a lot, the deck just wasn't with me when it came to drawing.

I walked into the ancient grudge game 3 of round 1: Information about your opponent's hand is invaluable. Any chance you have to gain a fair and legal advantage by knowing something your opponent didn't want you to know is always good. I had all the knowledge I needed to not play into his ancient grudge but instead I only thought about staying alive and panicked.

Knowing your opponent's deck as opposed to the deck you tested against: A while back I read an article about playtesting. I think it was over on channelfireball.com. In it, the author talked about innovating your playtest gauntlet prematurely. Sadly, I did just that. Our burn deck featured more 1-drop burn spells then the guy I played round 2. Because of this I played a Chalice of the Void set for 1 because it would've been devastating to our red deck. His red deck was a little more resilient to such a play and as such I felt safer than I really was.

All in all the trip was a lot of fun, as usual with this group. I'd like to properly thank Will for driving and Carlos and Flynn for being entertaining as always. Also, I'd like to thank the city of Louisville for having multiple Denny's.

Until Next Time,

Steven