Dark Depths: Report of a PTQ *9th*

Hi again!
Today I will post about my ptq report where I played Dark Depths. First, the list:





// Lands
4 [CS] Dark Depths
4 [FUT] River of Tears
4 [SHM] Sunken Ruins
3 [PLC] Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 [FUT] Tolaria West
1 [TSP] Academy Ruins
2 [ZEN] Island (1)
3 [ZEN] Swamp (4)

// Creatures
4 [ZEN] Vampire Hexmage
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant

// Spells
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
4 [RAV] Muddle the Mixture
4 [MR] Thirst for Knowledge
1 [FD] Engineered Explosives
3 [ARB] Thopter Foundry
2 [FUT] Sword of the Meek
3 [MR] Chrome Mox
2 [FNM] Duress
1 [DS] Echoing Truth
2 [GP] Repeal
1 [SHM] Beseech the Queen
1[WWK] Smother
1 [PLC] Extirpate

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [MR] Chalice of the Void
SB: 2 [LOR] Sower of Temptation
SB: 1 [RAV] Darkblast
SB: 3 [SHM] Rite of Consumption
SB: 2 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 2 [US] Duress
SB: 1 [ZEN] Into the Roil
SB: 2[WWK] Smother
SB: 1[DIS] Ghost Quarter

So, the main is pretty much the standard, only some minor touches concerned with the meta I expected and my play style. The sideboard:
Chalice is there against faeries and cascade combos. Sowers against the mirror. Darkblast for mirror and elves mainly, but it may be coming in against a zoo deck with steppe lynxes. Extirpate for mirro rand control matchup’s, duress is basically the same. Into the roil is an additional bounce spell, muddleble that is. Smother’s for mirror and zoos. Ghost Quarter for… ehhrr… Ghost Quarter . So the rites. Now, while most dark depths players tend to turn into an attrition war against zoo, I am against that. I think that most of the games you just won’t win it. It’s not like you got 3-4 deathmarks and you can hope to wipe out their entire team and just hope to combo under the hate. Not happening. So in order to go through major hate, such as path and bant charm I’d rather to: Hexmage into depths into rite of comsuption GG. Pretty much that. Think about it.

So for the report:

First round I got paired with BW Martyr. It’s a good matchup pre-board since they have no real way to deal with thopter combo so you can lategame them ftw. However, as my list plays with 6 duress effects main, plus the extirpate and a beseech I was able to extirpate his path’s and swing for 20+ damage in one hit. Pretty cool. So Marit Lage 1 – 0 Thopter.
Second game would turn out to be a lot more complicated than the first as expected. I don’t remember much, just that he was beating me with finks and 2 martyrs, while I thoughtseized him the other finks leaving the path because I had no dark depths yet and I had a bob and serious race thing going on. He stopped on 3 lands and his only card was arena, I bounced it back to gain a little time, and things actually got to a point where I was at 1, he was at 16 with one card in hand and I attacked with Marit Lage. He had to sacrifice both of his martyrs to gain 6 life and then fell to 2. His card was Crovax, I passed, he fell to 1 from his arena and then scooped. Marit Lage scores again.

Second Round I was paired against Living End

So first game I got semi-nuts draw, and sword-comboed at second turn. I just kept making tokens and he was playing living ends. I stopped at 3 lands too much time but I was able to contain the beats. Later on the game, I found more lands, and dark depths comboed out. And I finnished him off. Two things here: He killed my first marit lage token with a living end, which was sad and second, I got pretty lucky since he didn’t draw a blood moon or a chewer. Yeah, the Thopter makes is point.
Second Game, I was extirpating him like nuts, leaving him playing from the top until I played Dark Depths and an Hexmage ftw. Marit reaches the hat-trick.

Third Round against Tron (WTF!?!?!?!?)

I don’t remeber quite well. It was just easy. Duress the path, make big giant token attack gg.
Second game I was seizing him and saw path and meddling mage of relevant. I took the path. He played the mage for Hexmage, and I muddled into echoing truth. Later on the game I echoed his mage and played hexmage on my turn.On his draw step I extirpated his path’s so I could see if he got some ghost quarter in hand, which, if he played at his main phase could disrupt my combo. No ghost quarter though, but he drew something that scared me of my pants: Thirst for knowledge. He got some repeals on his deck, so it would be pretty sick if he would drew one. So eot I make my token. He bluffed a repeal and I attacked ftw.

Marit-Lage 5 – 1 Thopter

Fourth Round against Mirandoran
This, as expected would prove to be my thoughest match of the day. And it was against a friend of mine. Sad.
Still he got to play first, got the sick play of 1st turn bob, and I could not assemble a combo under all that pressure.
On game 2 I had all the pieces for the rite combo, but a seize took the hexmage of. A few turns later I was able to draw a replacement and just threw a 20/20 on his face leaving both his path and bant charm dead. I think this one also counts for Marit Lage.
Third game, he has no thoughtseize, and I have:
T1, Urborg
T2, Dark Depths into Hexmage
T3, Rite of Comsuption
Talk about the nuts…

Marit Lage 7 – 1 Thopter

Fith Round against Dark Foundry

It was pretty awkward since my opponent never got decent draws, or maybe because I pack too much disruption, but it was an unusual easy match. Well, first game, Marit Lage got there with a muddle shelding her from a repeal, second game he never got a third land and he conceded.

Marit Lage 8 -1 Thopter

Sixth Round

I didn’t play it and no, I don’t want to talk about it.

Seventh Round against Sullivan Special

So 1st game, I actually lose because I only drew about 3 spells and got ultra flooded. First time in all tournment.
Second Game, he’s beating me up with a countryside crusher while I try to assemble the combo pieces. At the end of his turn I repeal his giant and draw into the hexmage needed to throw the angry Miss Lage with a rite.
3rd game, I don’t really now, but maybe I could play a little better. What I was trying to do was trying to survive until I drew a rite of comsuption or an hexmage since I already got the depths. However I didn’t want to waste a tutor since he could draw into a thoughtseize. Maybe it was a misplay. But still, I think I will stand for my decisions.

Marit Lage 9 – 1 Thopter

So yeah, I really rather go with marit lage for the win since it’s pretty much harder to stop then the thopter. But it comes a lot from how you tend to let the game evolve. It was pretty fun day, I think I played pretty well, maybe with the exception of the last round since I was so mad and couldn’t think clearly, and it was really the round I needed for the deck to go into auto-pilot mode.
Well, that’s all
Cya