WESTGATE LAS VEGAS RESORT & CASINO - Now $123 (Was ...

Unsurprising to most, I decided to bring Neobrand to battle last weekend at Grand Prix Las Vegas, even though I probably could've easily gotten my hands on a copy of Hogaak. I've already tweeted a lot about Neobrand and its place in the metagame, but to summarize:

Hogaak and decks rising to beat Hogaak were also chasing away decks such as UWx and Death's Shadow, some of the worst matchups for the deck.
Hogaak itself and the rise in decks that can supposedly combat Hogaak reasonably (Burn, Red Phoenix, Tron, Jund) were all great matchups for Neobrand. The collective win rate against the above decks during my testing was 76%.
Mainstream MTG content made it clear that half measures vs. Hogaak do not work, so most lists started with 4 Leylines, decreasing the chance of Grafdigger's Cages.
Neobrand in general has a very select number of axes of hate it dislikes.

I've written over 10,000 words on the actual deck (below), so for the purposes of this report I will focus on the weekend.
https://magic.facetofacegames.com/neoshoal-combo-primer-part-1-the-cards-behind-the-turn-1-meme/
https://magic.facetofacegames.com/neobrand-combo-primer-part-2-in-game-heuristics-gameplay/
http://magic.facetofacegames.com/neobrand-combo-primer-part-3-sample-game-walkthrough-sideboardguide/

Thursday - Modern MCQ
I fly in on Wednesday night, check into my room at Westgate, and promptly accrue zero hours of sleep until a 30 min window around 8 AM where Cyruscg checks into the room and wakes me up. Rude. We both spout our nonsense about how well prepared we are and how we are going to farm each other in the final.

My list: https://twitter.com/finalnub/status/1163260804579282944

Round 1: WW vs. Jund
Round 2: WLL vs. Gx Tron. It was unfortunately friendly fire between two Vancouverites. Unfortunately in game 3 he snap keeps 7 but has no early plays so I read him for a clear Warping Wail (which is a 0-1 of). I tried to get the Allosaurus Rider beats going but he threatens to Tron by turn 5 so I am forced to jam my Eldritch Evolution and opponent shows the Warping Wail.
Round 3: WW vs. Hogaak. Game 1 I combo him from 8 life on turn 4. Opponent presents a turn 2 14 power clock in game 2 and I ignore it.
Round 4: WW Elves vs Dana Fischer. Fun match. It was my first time playing against Dana/Adam and was impressed by how they handled the match.
Round 5: LWL vs. Devoted Druid. Game 3 I have the turn 3 kill but opponent casts an unexpected Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and that singlehandedly defeated
Round 6: Draw for prizes
Tournament Summary: 3-2-1

List felt great but my lack of sleeping is catching up to me. We go out for a nice dinner at Lotus of Siam (must-ry in LV) and I met new some interesting people. I ponder whether to make any chances to the 75 but ditches the idea. This is the night where I realize that the beds and the pillows at Westgate are actually the nut low. Soft as cloud (think Mallow from Mario RPG) and offers negative support. As someone who had to have a discectomy this was untenable. My line is to choose to sleep on the couch and I get rewarded with 3 hours of crappy sleep.

Friday - Modern Main Event Day 1
Round 3 vs. James (Jund): WLW
I make a few potentially lethal mistakes here. First did cost me game 2 where my keep was a nut Leyline of Sanctity+turn 2 Neoform hand. Instead of waiting until turn 3 to potentially have another land, draw and a chance to hold up Veil of Summer, I am overconfident and jam on turn 2, fizzling and losing to an opposing Assassin's Trophy.
Game 3 is less egregious but still bad. I had an opportunity to turn 3 Evolution into Griselbrand but elect not to because I would've had to burn a Nourishing Shoal and something about James' play pattern indicated no additional discard. Of course, James plays an Inquisition right after but he takes my Laboratory Maniac instead of my Eldritch Evolution/Allosaurus Rider. I produce a Griselbrand and drown him in card advantage (and by that I mean multiple Allosaurus Rider, second Griselbrand, hardcast Chancellor of the Tangle).
3-0

Round 4 vs. Jason (Burn): WW
Not much to speak of in a good matchup. Highlight of this match was in game 2 where I make a few marginal but disciplined mulligans down to 4, draw the Leyline of Sanctity after keeping 4 (of course), and still win because Jason was on a no creature draw. 0 mana gain 15 life is good vs. that.
4-0

Round 5 vs. Daniel (Bant Spirits): LWL
I mulligan to a 5 that is two cards short of a turn 3 evolution. Daniel leads on turn 1 Mausoleum Wanderer which is unbeatable. I scoop without showing him much. I am raging inside as this is one of the worst matchup you can have for Neobrand but I hadn't seen Spirits in almost a year. That's Modern for you!
In game 2, I mulligan to 6 but win on turn 1.
Game 3 is a doozy. I keep a 6 that's missing 2 pieces but has a Pact of Negation. Opponent keeps 5 and his only early play is a flashed Rattlechain, which hits me twice. Given that he didn't elect to flash anything in after the Rattlechain turn, my read was a hand either full of Paths, Queller, 2 mana countermagic or Force. Eventually I jam the combo at 16 life as one more Rattlechain hit would've turned off a draw 7 and it's not going to get better. Daniel Deprives my Evolution, I Pact it, Daniel Cracks his Canopy and..........
Draws Supreme Phantom off the top, which he slams along with his hand of Aether Vial+Force of Negation. Tough beats!
4-1

Round 6 vs. Joseph (Red Phoenix): WLW
We split an unremarkable pair of games before my mulligan to 4 in game 3, which is Neoform, UG land, green cardx2. Here I'm just thinking not like this and start making plans to play ANT in tomorrow's Legacy MCQ. However, Joseph is on a slow keep on 7 centered around 1 Soul-Scar Mage and Shrine of Burning Rage. That actually gives me a chance to live to my turn 5 and combo. I count my lucky stars and consider visiting the casino tonight.
5-1

Round 7 vs. Nathan (Gx Tron): WLW
At this point, I'm still in disbelief at how I managed to steal two matches off of mulligans to 4 vs. two of the most aggressive decks in Modern. Little did I know the day would take another turn for the ridiculous...
Game 1 I turn 2 kill Nathan. Game 2 He has a turn 1 Cage and turn 4 Karn.
Game 3 is an absurd one. While I mulligan to 6 Nathan snap-keeps 7, which has me worried for an opening Cage. My mulligan to 6 is a turn 2 with no Oxidizes, but it's not a hand you can realistically mulligan. Sure enough, Nathan has a turn 1 Cage and I'm resigned to my fate and continue mentally planning my ANT sideboard (hint: Just netdeck Cyrus). I do run out the turn 2 Allosaurus Rider out because why not.
It turns out, however, that Nathan kept a 1 lander and soon the match has my full attention. Simian Spirit Guide joins the fray to potentially cut a turn off the clock. There is an interesting spot where Nathan has Power Plantx2, Mine, Forest and Grafdigger's Cage, and just "fogged" my attack of 4/4 Rider+2/2 SSG with his Ballista while at 4 life. I know from a previous Ancient Stirrings that he had an Oblivion Stone. I have an offline Neoform, Allosaurus Rider and 2 green cards with my surviving 4/4 Rider.
Thinking here is that if I play out the second Allosaurus Rider, I would be playing around another blocker that would fog (which I couldn't think of beside their 1-3 Ballistas. I doubt Thragtusk has entered his 60) and Dismember (don't laugh - they don't have enough bad cards to cut), but gets punished by a sweeper such as the Ostone that I know he has. If I hold the Rider, Nathan can draw Tron and Oblivion Stone, which would kill the Cage and I can combo in my second phase after the OStone activation. In the end, I ended up jamming the second Rider and pass with two 4/4s and opponent at 4. I had to sweat a big Ancient Stirrings but it whiffed. I win a game where the turn 1 Cage never got removed. Interesting.
6-1
Round 8 vs Austin (UW): WLW
I win the die roll and keep a turn 1 kill hand. Austin accidentally goes first and lays a tapped Colonnade. OK then...
Game 2 is also a bit absurd, in that I had two Pact of Negations for his two Force of Negations. However, Neobrand giveth and taketh, as the combo fizzled and we had to move onto game 3.
In game 3, we both appear to have kept a slower hand. Mine is an Eldritch Evolution (handy vs. Spell Snare) hand with Pact of Negation backup. Austin goes Island go, Field go, which is interesting as he's not able to represent Dovin's Veto. I jam on turn 4, which gets by his Mana Leak and gets around the Spell Snare that he ends up having. I win an impossible matchup and i think about how much murder I've gotten away with in the last 5 hours.
7-1

Round 9 vs Mac (Red Phoenix): WW
Games played out how you'd expect them to with turn 2/3 Griselbrands. Note that this deck can definitely kill a Griselbrand, so you have to evaluate carefully whether you should be drawing 7s to win this turn, or just pass and hope. There were a few tricky spots where I could've died to a very specific combination of cards, but luckily I survive.
8-1

I'm ecstatic that I'm 8-1 and feel very good about putting up a good result tomorrow. I also find that I am not the only maniac playing Neobrand. Chuck Pierce was actually at the 8-0 table playing for day 1 undefeated. He and his two friends came up to say hello and talk about the article, which was super cool. 6 of us ended up making day two with Neobrand, which seems pretty good for a "meme" deck that people have natural tendencies to dismiss immediately.

The Westgate bed remains unplayable and I get another 4 hours of rough sleep on the couch.

Saturday - Modern Main Event Day 12
Round 10 vs. Matthew (Amulet Titan): WW
Game 1 I mulligan to 4 and turn 2 him because why not?
Game 2 Opponent plays a turn 2 Trinket Mage fetching Pithing Needle, passes and asks if I'm going to kill. I do.
9-1

In between the rounds, I'm constantly chirping about how I've yet to face my bye (Hogaak) and how they would never show Neobrand on camera. Be careful what you wish for..

Round 11 Feature Match vs. Ashton (Turbo Hogaak):
You can watch the match here, as this was the round 11 main feature:
https://www.twitch.tv/channelfireball
In game 1, Ashton cannot beat a turn 2 7/7 flying lifelinker. Game 2 and 3 play out in similar ways in that Ashton presents a very fast Vengevine-fueled clock, which makes comboing a bit harder. I unfortunately brick in game 2. I take note of his start in game 3, which screams out Assassin's Trophy. If possible, I would want to wait as long as possible. to get another land+Veil, but alas I do not have the time. Waterlogged Groves also reared their ugly side, as the pings from the Groves made sure I was 14 or lower, denying me another draw 7.
The judge call was about communicaiton and when priority was implied to have been passed. I believe Ashton missed lethal after, as blocking with Rider means that he can jam onto the Feeder and win on the spot. He doesn't. I need him to make several mistakes in a row to have a chance here - something about trying to alpha strike with everyone including a blocker, him sacrificing to Carrion Feeder a few times to turn on Morbid on Life Goes On, and then killing him on the backswing. Of course, he ends up casting Hogaak as a blocker and the game is over from there.
9-2
I'm really irritated that I finally got to go back on the feature match and losing an easy matchup. As I said, you really should be careful of what you wish for :)
Round 12 vs. Boaz (Jeskai Urza): WW
Game one I turn 3 him. I learned that Boaz was holding a fully powered Whir of Invention to get Grafdigger's Cage/Pithing Needle/Bridge, but Boaz did not exactly know what deck this was, so he tapped out for Urza instead. He doesn't get to untap again in this game.
In game 2, I keep a close 7 with an Oxidize. However, Boaz plays an early Goblin Engineer and digs up a Pithing Needle. The Goblin Engineer is actually quite a nuisance, as it can loop back any key artifact if destroyed. I end up going for it around turn 4, where I lead with my life gain, Evolution then Oxidize on Pithing Needle. I activate to draw 7 and opponent tries to bring back the Needle, but I draw the entire deck minus 7 in response to the first draw 7 and Path. Fun game.
10-2
Up to this point, there's increased buzz about how people have seen and have been defeated by Neobrand at the top tables. Sure enough, it was Chuck Pierce and he seems to be doing well at 9-1 (he would lose his match off camera.

Round 13 vs. Chuck Pierce (Neobrand): WLW
This may be my most memorable match in the tournament. Chuck wins the die roll (wpwp) and proceeds to turn 1 me off Summoner's Pact. Unfortunately! Chuck fizzles and dies to Pact. This is the pinnacle of Modern
Game 2 is likely the most absurd game that I've played with this deck. I mulligan to 6 and has the turn 1 combo. Unfortunately, I fizzle but I can pass with no Pact to pay. I summon out two Allosaurus Riders and pass with those plus an 8/8 lifelink flier and a bunch of lands. Mistake 1): I should've kept an extra evolution spell to re-evolve into Griselbrand in case one Griselbrand isn't enough.
Chuck turn 1s but also fizzles, summons two Allosaurus Riders, cast Serum Visions to top/bobbom and passes the turn. My hand is mostly lands and cyclers at this point, and each side is staring at their counterpart's board of Rider, Rider and 8/8 Griselbrand. Our lives are 6 and 7.
My draw step yields me no lifegain to help. Mistake 2) I tank and pass the turn rather than attacking, reasoning that I don't have an Evolution spell so risking a block seems too risky. However, I think I should've attacked with Griselbrand for a few reasons:

Opponent topped a card with SV. That means it has to be a life gain spell. I should've assumed that I was dead at that point.
There's an off-chance where killing one Griselbrand is plenty enough. That scenario requires the other side to have drawn both Griselbrands so re-evolving into Griselbrand is not a line

As played, Chuck's next draw is a Nourishing Shoal and I'm dead on the spot.
In game 3, I mulligan to 4 and Chuck to 5. I fire off two SVs and find the combo with relative ease while Chuck's hand does nothing. For the third time this weekend, I won with a mulligan to 4... and start thinking whether I'm meant to be the winner this weekend.
Round 14 Feature Match vs. Jack (Burn)
This is also on the Channelfireball Twitch VOD. As you can see from the coverage, I do not know who the opponent is so I keep a fine ish of SSG, Cantor, Waterlogged Grove, Manamorphose, Manamorphose, Summoner's Pact. In hindsight, this is much closer to a mulligan than a keep in the dark. However, the hand already had Manamorphose mana to cycle a third mana source in Cantor to power out an Eldritch Evolution. As you can see in game 1, I never get a chance to play.
Game 2 is the game that I've been thinking for a while now. Basically, I keep a clean turn 2 combo without Pact triggers. Jack's turn 1 of land go is a bit suspicious. Here I tank and think about whether I should wait a turn, jam and go ham, or jam and pass. I end up taking the last line. Most of the times, Burn players should be playing 2-3 Path to Exile. It's certainly conceivable that Jack is holding up a Path, but I'd rather not play around that by waiting. I think most of the times with them having 2-3 Paths for Griselbrand, I'm fine trying to win with a 8/8 flying lifelinker and not drawing any cards immediately.
There's also another microdecision here that could've changed the game: what to pitch to my Allosaurus Rider. I ended up pitching the Wurm rather than Allosaurus Rider because I wanted to leave myself an option to re-combo next turn or just beat down with the Rider. I thought about this more and honestly don't know what the right answer is.
Anyway, as played Jack has Path and each of my draw 7s aren't great. I did draw a Shoal but no Wurm so exiling the Wurm ends up punishing me. My plan from here is to draw enough to buffer my life total whie being able to re-combo next turn, or enough to win via Allosaurus Rider betadown. As you can see, I just don't get anything, which is anything but this sort of variance is part of the game. Unfortunately, I get on two camera matches and lose both of them in key spots. Good beats - this game is tough!
11-3
Round 15 vs. Kevin (Thalia Stompy): LL
Kevin turns out to be a friend/disciple of one famous SpiderSpace that also streams this deck. I mulligan to a great 4 card hand that actually needs just two lands to combo. Kevin turbos out Leonin Arbiter on turn 1 and GQs me. That is what they call in the business good game.
Game 2 doesn't go much better. Chalice on 0 ruins a turn 2 combo, and I draw my Allosaurus Rider a turn two late while he suffocates me with the TKS/Displacer lock.
I'm fairly certain this deck is very favored against Neobrand, as Thalia and Arbiter are auto-wins game 1. they get to bring in more artifact from the SB post-bardo. Oh well, what can you do !
11-4

Tournament Summary

I was very happy about how the deck functioned, and would choose the deck again if we were to take it back once.
11-2 into 11-4 to miss top 8/PT RIchmond felt gut-wrenching, especially considering that it would've been with a deck most have dismissed as a meme and a deck that I have written a lot of words for.
Few more bounces going my way would've meant that I had a good shot at making the top 8 and cleaning out the Hogaak players. It is regrettable
As for the 75, I wouldn't change a thing for the time being, but I would intently watch how the post-ban metagame fares

Bonus: What do I think of Neoform in the post-ban meta?

I think it's extremely hard to even begin to tackle a question like this. Anyone who thinks they know exactly where the format will go after a set of changes as seismic as this are deluding themselves
The deck is still conceptually one of, if not the, most powerful thing legal in Modern
If I had to guess, the disappearance of graveyard decks and a rise in UW (who can play SFM) are going to mean bad things for Neoform. The former because they used to police UW and they themselves (Dredge, Hogaak) had horrendous matchups against Neobrand. The latter because without anyone policing UW I think it's possible UW becomes the dominant tier 1 choice within the next 1-2 months.

Thanks for reading, and until next time, happy turn 1ing!

Unsurprising to most, I decided to bring Neobrand to battle last weekend at Grand Prix Las Vegas, even though I probably could've easily gotten my hands on a copy of Hogaak. I've already tweeted a lot about Neobrand and its place in the metagame, but to summarize:

Hogaak and decks rising to beat Hogaak were also chasing away decks such as UWx and Death's Shadow, some of the worst matchups for the deck.
Hogaak itself and the rise in decks that can supposedly combat Hogaak reasonably (Burn, Red Phoenix, Tron, Jund) were all great matchups for Neobrand. The collective win rate against the above decks during my testing was 76%.
Mainstream MTG content made it clear that half measures vs. Hogaak do not work, so most lists started with 4 Leylines, decreasing the chance of Grafdigger's Cages.
Neobrand in general has a very select number of axes of hate it dislikes.

I've written over 10,000 words on the actual deck (below), so for the purposes of this report I will focus on the weekend.
https://magic.facetofacegames.com/neoshoal-combo-primer-part-1-the-cards-behind-the-turn-1-meme/
https://magic.facetofacegames.com/neobrand-combo-primer-part-2-in-game-heuristics-gameplay/
http://magic.facetofacegames.com/neobrand-combo-primer-part-3-sample-game-walkthrough-sideboardguide/

Thursday - Modern MCQ
I fly in on Wednesday night, check into my room at Westgate, and promptly accrue zero hours of sleep until a 30 min window around 8 AM where Cyruscg checks into the room and wakes me up. Rude. We both spout our nonsense about how well prepared we are and how we are going to farm each other in the final.

My list: https://twitter.com/finalnub/status/1163260804579282944

Round 1: WW vs. Jund
Round 2: WLL vs. Gx Tron. It was unfortunately friendly fire between two Vancouverites. Unfortunately in game 3 he snap keeps 7 but has no early plays so I read him for a clear Warping Wail (which is a 0-1 of). I tried to get the Allosaurus Rider beats going but he threatens to Tron by turn 5 so I am forced to jam my Eldritch Evolution and opponent shows the Warping Wail.
Round 3: WW vs. Hogaak. Game 1 I combo him from 8 life on turn 4. Opponent presents a turn 2 14 power clock in game 2 and I ignore it.
Round 4: WW Elves vs Dana Fischer. Fun match. It was my first time playing against Dana/Adam and was impressed by how they handled the match.
Round 5: LWL vs. Devoted Druid. Game 3 I have the turn 3 kill but opponent casts an unexpected Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and that singlehandedly defeated
Round 6: Draw for prizes
Tournament Summary: 3-2-1

List felt great but my lack of sleeping is catching up to me. We go out for a nice dinner at Lotus of Siam (must-ry in LV) and I met new some interesting people. I ponder whether to make any chances to the 75 but ditches the idea. This is the night where I realize that the beds and the pillows at Westgate are actually the nut low. Soft as cloud (think Mallow from Mario RPG) and offers negative support. As someone who had to have a discectomy this was untenable. My line is to choose to sleep on the couch and I get rewarded with 3 hours of crappy sleep.

Friday - Modern Main Event Day 1
Round 3 vs. James (Jund): WLW
I make a few potentially lethal mistakes here. First did cost me game 2 where my keep was a nut Leyline of Sanctity+turn 2 Neoform hand. Instead of waiting until turn 3 to potentially have another land, draw and a chance to hold up Veil of Summer, I am overconfident and jam on turn 2, fizzling and losing to an opposing Assassin's Trophy.
Game 3 is less egregious but still bad. I had an opportunity to turn 3 Evolution into Griselbrand but elect not to because I would've had to burn a Nourishing Shoal and something about James' play pattern indicated no additional discard. Of course, James plays an Inquisition right after but he takes my Laboratory Maniac instead of my Eldritch Evolution/Allosaurus Rider. I produce a Griselbrand and drown him in card advantage (and by that I mean multiple Allosaurus Rider, second Griselbrand, hardcast Chancellor of the Tangle).
3-0

Round 4 vs. Jason (Burn): WW
Not much to speak of in a good matchup. Highlight of this match was in game 2 where I make a few marginal but disciplined mulligans down to 4, draw the Leyline of Sanctity after keeping 4 (of course), and still win because Jason was on a no creature draw. 0 mana gain 15 life is good vs. that.
4-0

Round 5 vs. Daniel (Bant Spirits): LWL
I mulligan to a 5 that is two cards short of a turn 3 evolution. Daniel leads on turn 1 Mausoleum Wanderer which is unbeatable. I scoop without showing him much. I am raging inside as this is one of the worst matchup you can have for Neobrand but I hadn't seen Spirits in almost a year. That's Modern for you!
In game 2, I mulligan to 6 but win on turn 1.
Game 3 is a doozy. I keep a 6 that's missing 2 pieces but has a Pact of Negation. Opponent keeps 5 and his only early play is a flashed Rattlechain, which hits me twice. Given that he didn't elect to flash anything in after the Rattlechain turn, my read was a hand either full of Paths, Queller, 2 mana countermagic or Force. Eventually I jam the combo at 16 life as one more Rattlechain hit would've turned off a draw 7 and it's not going to get better. Daniel Deprives my Evolution, I Pact it, Daniel Cracks his Canopy and..........
Draws Supreme Phantom off the top, which he slams along with his hand of Aether Vial+Force of Negation. Tough beats!
4-1

Round 6 vs. Joseph (Red Phoenix): WLW
We split an unremarkable pair of games before my mulligan to 4 in game 3, which is Neoform, UG land, green cardx2. Here I'm just thinking not like this and start making plans to play ANT in tomorrow's Legacy MCQ. However, Joseph is on a slow keep on 7 centered around 1 Soul-Scar Mage and Shrine of Burning Rage. That actually gives me a chance to live to my turn 5 and combo. I count my lucky stars and consider visiting the casino tonight.
5-1

Round 7 vs. Nathan (Gx Tron): WLW
At this point, I'm still in disbelief at how I managed to steal two matches off of mulligans to 4 vs. two of the most aggressive decks in Modern. Little did I know the day would take another turn for the ridiculous...
Game 1 I turn 2 kill Nathan. Game 2 He has a turn 1 Cage and turn 4 Karn.
Game 3 is an absurd one. While I mulligan to 6 Nathan snap-keeps 7, which has me worried for an opening Cage. My mulligan to 6 is a turn 2 with no Oxidizes, but it's not a hand you can realistically mulligan. Sure enough, Nathan has a turn 1 Cage and I'm resigned to my fate and continue mentally planning my ANT sideboard (hint: Just netdeck Cyrus). I do run out the turn 2 Allosaurus Rider out because why not.
It turns out, however, that Nathan kept a 1 lander and soon the match has my full attention. Simian Spirit Guide joins the fray to potentially cut a turn off the clock. There is an interesting spot where Nathan has Power Plantx2, Mine, Forest and Grafdigger's Cage, and just "fogged" my attack of 4/4 Rider+2/2 SSG with his Ballista while at 4 life. I know from a previous Ancient Stirrings that he had an Oblivion Stone. I have an offline Neoform, Allosaurus Rider and 2 green cards with my surviving 4/4 Rider.
Thinking here is that if I play out the second Allosaurus Rider, I would be playing around another blocker that would fog (which I couldn't think of beside their 1-3 Ballistas. I doubt Thragtusk has entered his 60) and Dismember (don't laugh - they don't have enough bad cards to cut), but gets punished by a sweeper such as the Ostone that I know he has. If I hold the Rider, Nathan can draw Tron and Oblivion Stone, which would kill the Cage and I can combo in my second phase after the OStone activation. In the end, I ended up jamming the second Rider and pass with two 4/4s and opponent at 4. I had to sweat a big Ancient Stirrings but it whiffed. I win a game where the turn 1 Cage never got removed. Interesting.
6-1
Round 8 vs Austin (UW): WLW
I win the die roll and keep a turn 1 kill hand. Austin accidentally goes first and lays a tapped Colonnade. OK then...
Game 2 is also a bit absurd, in that I had two Pact of Negations for his two Force of Negations. However, Neobrand giveth and taketh, as the combo fizzled and we had to move onto game 3.
In game 3, we both appear to have kept a slower hand. Mine is an Eldritch Evolution (handy vs. Spell Snare) hand with Pact of Negation backup. Austin goes Island go, Field go, which is interesting as he's not able to represent Dovin's Veto. I jam on turn 4, which gets by his Mana Leak and gets around the Spell Snare that he ends up having. I win an impossible matchup and i think about how much murder I've gotten away with in the last 5 hours.
7-1

Round 9 vs Mac (Red Phoenix): WW
Games played out how you'd expect them to with turn 2/3 Griselbrands. Note that this deck can definitely kill a Griselbrand, so you have to evaluate carefully whether you should be drawing 7s to win this turn, or just pass and hope. There were a few tricky spots where I could've died to a very specific combination of cards, but luckily I survive.
8-1

I'm ecstatic that I'm 8-1 and feel very good about putting up a good result tomorrow. I also find that I am not the only maniac playing Neobrand. Chuck Pierce was actually at the 8-0 table playing for day 1 undefeated. He and his two friends came up to say hello and talk about the article, which was super cool. 6 of us ended up making day two with Neobrand, which seems pretty good for a "meme" deck that people have natural tendencies to dismiss immediately.

The Westgate bed remains unplayable and I get another 4 hours of rough sleep on the couch.

Saturday - Modern Main Event Day 12
Round 10 vs. Matthew (Amulet Titan): WW
Game 1 I mulligan to 4 and turn 2 him because why not?
Game 2 Opponent plays a turn 2 Trinket Mage fetching Pithing Needle, passes and asks if I'm going to kill. I do.
9-1

In between the rounds, I'm constantly chirping about how I've yet to face my bye (Hogaak) and how they would never show Neobrand on camera. Be careful what you wish for..

Round 11 Feature Match vs. Ashton (Turbo Hogaak):
You can watch the match here, as this was the round 11 main feature:
https://www.twitch.tv/channelfireball
In game 1, Ashton cannot beat a turn 2 7/7 flying lifelinker. Game 2 and 3 play out in similar ways in that Ashton presents a very fast Vengevine-fueled clock, which makes comboing a bit harder. I unfortunately brick in game 2. I take note of his start in game 3, which screams out Assassin's Trophy. If possible, I would want to wait as long as possible. to get another land+Veil, but alas I do not have the time. Waterlogged Groves also reared their ugly side, as the pings from the Groves made sure I was 14 or lower, denying me another draw 7.
The judge call was about communicaiton and when priority was implied to have been passed. I believe Ashton missed lethal after, as blocking with Rider means that he can jam onto the Feeder and win on the spot. He doesn't. I need him to make several mistakes in a row to have a chance here - something about trying to alpha strike with everyone including a blocker, him sacrificing to Carrion Feeder a few times to turn on Morbid on Life Goes On, and then killing him on the backswing. Of course, he ends up casting Hogaak as a blocker and the game is over from there.
9-2
I'm really irritated that I finally got to go back on the feature match and losing an easy matchup. As I said, you really should be careful of what you wish for :)
Round 12 vs. Boaz (Jeskai Urza): WW
Game one I turn 3 him. I learned that Boaz was holding a fully powered Whir of Invention to get Grafdigger's Cage/Pithing Needle/Bridge, but Boaz did not exactly know what deck this was, so he tapped out for Urza instead. He doesn't get to untap again in this game.
In game 2, I keep a close 7 with an Oxidize. However, Boaz plays an early Goblin Engineer and digs up a Pithing Needle. The Goblin Engineer is actually quite a nuisance, as it can loop back any key artifact if destroyed. I end up going for it around turn 4, where I lead with my life gain, Evolution then Oxidize on Pithing Needle. I activate to draw 7 and opponent tries to bring back the Needle, but I draw the entire deck minus 7 in response to the first draw 7 and Path. Fun game.
10-2
Up to this point, there's increased buzz about how people have seen and have been defeated by Neobrand at the top tables. Sure enough, it was Chuck Pierce and he seems to be doing well at 9-1 (he would lose his match off camera.

Round 13 vs. Chuck Pierce (Neobrand): WLW
This may be my most memorable match in the tournament. Chuck wins the die roll (wpwp) and proceeds to turn 1 me off Summoner's Pact. Unfortunately! Chuck fizzles and dies to Pact. This is the pinnacle of Modern
Game 2 is likely the most absurd game that I've played with this deck. I mulligan to 6 and has the turn 1 combo. Unfortunately, I fizzle but I can pass with no Pact to pay. I summon out two Allosaurus Riders and pass with those plus an 8/8 lifelink flier and a bunch of lands. Mistake 1): I should've kept an extra evolution spell to re-evolve into Griselbrand in case one Griselbrand isn't enough.
Chuck turn 1s but also fizzles, summons two Allosaurus Riders, cast Serum Visions to top/bobbom and passes the turn. My hand is mostly lands and cyclers at this point, and each side is staring at their counterpart's board of Rider, Rider and 8/8 Griselbrand. Our lives are 6 and 7.
My draw step yields me no lifegain to help. Mistake 2) I tank and pass the turn rather than attacking, reasoning that I don't have an Evolution spell so risking a block seems too risky. However, I think I should've attacked with Griselbrand for a few reasons:

Opponent topped a card with SV. That means it has to be a life gain spell. I should've assumed that I was dead at that point.
There's an off-chance where killing one Griselbrand is plenty enough. That scenario requires the other side to have drawn both Griselbrands so re-evolving into Griselbrand is not a line

As played, Chuck's next draw is a Nourishing Shoal and I'm dead on the spot.
In game 3, I mulligan to 4 and Chuck to 5. I fire off two SVs and find the combo with relative ease while Chuck's hand does nothing. For the third time this weekend, I won with a mulligan to 4... and start thinking whether I'm meant to be the winner this weekend.
Round 14 Feature Match vs. Jack (Burn)
This is also on the Channelfireball Twitch VOD. As you can see from the coverage, I do not know who the opponent is so I keep a fine ish of SSG, Cantor, Waterlogged Grove, Manamorphose, Manamorphose, Summoner's Pact. In hindsight, this is much closer to a mulligan than a keep in the dark. However, the hand already had Manamorphose mana to cycle a third mana source in Cantor to power out an Eldritch Evolution. As you can see in game 1, I never get a chance to play.
Game 2 is the game that I've been thinking for a while now. Basically, I keep a clean turn 2 combo without Pact triggers. Jack's turn 1 of land go is a bit suspicious. Here I tank and think about whether I should wait a turn, jam and go ham, or jam and pass. I end up taking the last line. Most of the times, Burn players should be playing 2-3 Path to Exile. It's certainly conceivable that Jack is holding up a Path, but I'd rather not play around that by waiting. I think most of the times with them having 2-3 Paths for Griselbrand, I'm fine trying to win with a 8/8 flying lifelinker and not drawing any cards immediately.
There's also another microdecision here that could've changed the game: what to pitch to my Allosaurus Rider. I ended up pitching the Wurm rather than Allosaurus Rider because I wanted to leave myself an option to re-combo next turn or just beat down with the Rider. I thought about this more and honestly don't know what the right answer is.
Anyway, as played Jack has Path and each of my draw 7s aren't great. I did draw a Shoal but no Wurm so exiling the Wurm ends up punishing me. My plan from here is to draw enough to buffer my life total whie being able to re-combo next turn, or enough to win via Allosaurus Rider betadown. As you can see, I just don't get anything, which is anything but this sort of variance is part of the game. Unfortunately, I get on two camera matches and lose both of them in key spots. Good beats - this game is tough!
11-3
Round 15 vs. Kevin (Thalia Stompy): LL
Kevin turns out to be a friend/disciple of one famous SpiderSpace that also streams this deck. I mulligan to a great 4 card hand that actually needs just two lands to combo. Kevin turbos out Leonin Arbiter on turn 1 and GQs me. That is what they call in the business good game.
Game 2 doesn't go much better. Chalice on 0 ruins a turn 2 combo, and I draw my Allosaurus Rider a turn two late while he suffocates me with the TKS/Displacer lock.
I'm fairly certain this deck is very favored against Neobrand, as Thalia and Arbiter are auto-wins game 1. they get to bring in more artifact from the SB post-bardo. Oh well, what can you do !
11-4

Tournament Summary

I was very happy about how the deck functioned, and would choose the deck again if we were to take it back once.
11-2 into 11-4 to miss top 8/PT RIchmond felt gut-wrenching, especially considering that it would've been with a deck most have dismissed as a meme and a deck that I have written a lot of words for.
Few more bounces going my way would've meant that I had a good shot at making the top 8 and cleaning out the Hogaak players. It is regrettable
As for the 75, I wouldn't change a thing for the time being, but I would intently watch how the post-ban metagame fares

Bonus: What do I think of Neoform in the post-ban meta?

I think it's extremely hard to even begin to tackle a question like this. Anyone who thinks they know exactly where the format will go after a set of changes as seismic as this are deluding themselves
The deck is still conceptually one of, if not the, most powerful thing legal in Modern
If I had to guess, the disappearance of graveyard decks and a rise in UW (who can play SFM) are going to mean bad things for Neoform. The former because they used to police UW and they themselves (Dredge, Hogaak) had horrendous matchups against Neobrand. The latter because without anyone policing UW I think it's possible UW becomes the dominant tier 1 choice within the next 1-2 months.

Thanks for reading, and until next time, happy turn 1ing!

SFV
Melee
Sm4sh
Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator
MKX
Pokken
Killer Instinct
Marvel
Tekken 7

RIP Ultra
-Friday (July 15) and Saturday (July 16) at the LV Convention Center
-Sunday (July 17) Finals at Mandalay Bay Event CenteSports Arena (5 games)
SFV
Melee
MKX
Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator
Marvel
-You need to buy a ticket for each arena aka more McRibs needed
-There is a tram on the Convention Center side of things that runs from the MGM all the way to the Convention Center for those that still want to stay in a casino at the strip and not some whack ass alcohol free hotel. Also helps avoid drunk driving (all day pass is $12)
-Alternatively, the Westgate Las Vegas is right next to the Convention Center
https://www.vegas.com/transportation/las-vegas-monorails/
Book your room bois

I am an EDC virgin but go to Vegas at least twice a year for various reasons. I know many are staying on the Strip but concerned about finances so I thought I would share some personal knowledge.
Anyone else with tidbits or suggestions feel free to comment as it benefits all of us!!
Hotels:
Strongly suggest centenorth center strip for various reasons I will outline later. Flamingo, Harrah's and Linq are all good for those pinching pennies due to excellent money saving options nearby and the usually low nightly rate.
All three have Monorail access which is a good deal, especially with a MyVEGAS voucher (more on that later). Monorail is a very easy way to get up and down the Strip efficiently and with a low cost.
Westgate LV is off Strip but also recommended due to Monorail access.
Linq- Rooms are a bit small but the crowd is a bit younger and likely to have plenty of ravers. Pool is small but very lively. Nice modern renovation and the Linq shops and restaurants are affordable and easily accessible.
Flamingo- Cheap eats, FANTASTIC and very lively pool scene (Best pool in Vegas to party outside of the premium pools IMO). It has two pools with the large and beautiful one being adults only!!
GO rooms are excellent, Fab rooms are meh BUT most include a couch to easily sleep 5 people. Access to Linq district same as Linq hotel itself.
Harrah's- Nothing special but great price and location with clean rooms. Pool is not good. Carnival Court can be a blast if it has a good crowd and usually has no cover. Easy access to center strip perks.
Drinking:
The Big properties charge outlandish prices for beer and cocktails to encourage gambling. Of course if you gamble the drink service is usually slow with the following exceptions
Casino Royale: Very small but drinks are very fast to come and if you tip a bit they will keep them coming. Play 5 cent video poker and have fun!
Cromwell: Small Casino with more upscale offerings but usually has great speed of service due to size. Also a beautiful Casino.
If you want to drink but not gamble the following are ABSOLUTES for your trip.
Casino Royale- Main bar has $1 Michelob bottles $1 Coors Light drafts and $2 well drinks all day every day! Take advantage of this!! "Premium" spirits and shots at the most are like 5 bucks. We like to shoot fireball and it's like 3 bucks. This place will SAVE your budget!!
Stage door- Located directly behind the Cromwell just off the strip this place has drink specials galore. Drank many a $3 Crown or Grey Goose cocktails in my days. Place is the absolute definition of a dive bar but it's fun and the locals who frequent there are hilarious.
Senor Frogs- Located at treasure Island they have open bar on Sunday,Wednesday and Thursday for like 35 bucks. They also frequently have Groupons available to get the same special for 25 bucks. Includes draft beer, wells and house wine. Nice patio as well.
Carlos and Charlie's- Similar to Senor Frogs, same ownership and they also have a few nights a week with a cheap open bar. Located at Flamingo.
Food:
Center strip has a variety of cheap eats in the hotels, the Linq area, and just off strip. Love the Flamingo pizza place (24 hours!!) 2 dollar hotdog at Casino Royale and getting buffets from MyVEGAS
MyVEGAS
If you aren't playing this you really need to. It's a slots game partnered with MGM hotels to get discounted dining, rooms, shows ect
My strategy would be for you and your group to get 2 for 1 buffet passes and just split the cost to make dining at Buffets Like Bellagio, Aria, MGM and others much more affordable!
Also the two for one Monorail prices are awesome. They have a Facebook game and mobile apps which are all different but combine your reward points to make earning a breeze.
This is just a quick start guide based on personal experiences. If anyone else has any options or advice please share!

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