SCGLA - 2012 - Legacy - Quarterfinals - Patrick Sullivan vs Ross Merriam

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[@cameroncorrado3935]

The end of game 3 demonstrates exactly what makes Magic such an incredible game. I'm so glad this moment was caught on camera.

[@day5ive]

Since there seems to be some confusion about the final turn in the final match, here's what happens (SPOILER ALERT): * Sullivan plays Flame Rift and goes to 1 life, Merriam goes to 9 * Sullivan passes priority to Merriam signaling he has no more plays this turn * During Sullivan's end step, Merriam taps his Wasteland for 1 colorless to activate Qasali Pridemage's ability targeting Sullivan's Sulfuric Vortex to avoid taking damage on his own upkeep (he is tapped out as a result) * In response Sullivan taps RR to cast Price of Progress (Chapin miscalls it as "Flame Rift" in the commentary) then sacrifices 2 mountains to pay for Fireblast's alternate casting cost for 10 total damage Merriam at 9, has Wasteland, Savannah, and Dryad Arbor in play. Takes 6 off the Price of Progress, followed up by 4 from the Fireblast. GG

[@Ox5f3759df]

I'm not sure if Ross ever wrote about this match but my guess is that his intent in blowing up the sulfuric vortex is so that he can cast and equip jitte (leaving up wasteland again to blow up lands in case of price) and then when he connects, he gets to gain 4 life (which Vortex is currently preventing) and the game likely ends. Still not sure it is a great line since grim lavamancer can target itself in combat, preventing combat damage and thus no counters on the jitte. A bunch of people liked your comment so hopefully this provides some extra color.

[@Smokedfish11]

Good explanation

[@rayodios5826]

@@Ox5f3759df I know I'm a few years too late, but Ross missplayed. There is a line that beats any cards P Sulli could have that wouldn't have already beaten Ross. Ross should untap, swing with Dryad Arbor and Qasali. P Sulli has two cards in hand. Here are the different scenarios: P Sulli has Bolt + Bolt The line forces Patrick to block with the Lavamancer. No matter how he blocks Lavamancer dies. If Lavamancer goes to the dome, he has to use a bolt to kill the other attacker, if he shocks the other attacker with Lavamancer, he only has the two bolts for 6, Ross is at 7. P Sulli dies in upkeep to Vortex P Sulli has Price of Progress + Price of Progress This line forces Patrick to block, and kill the other attacker with Lavamancer, which dies. He can't play PoP on Ross' turn because it isn't lethal and he doesn't have the mana to activate Lavamancer to not die. Dryad Arbor dies in combat, Ross can then waste his remaining non-basic and PoP does nothing. P Sulli has Price of Progress + Fireblast Same issues as before, Ross can't activate Lavamancer and play Price of Progress. If he tries to Blast and Price of Progress on Ross' turn, Ross can activate wasteland on Savannah. PoP does 2, Blast does 4, Ross goes to 1, and Lavamancer dies in combat. P Sulli has no way to deal the last point of damage and dies in upkeep. This line also allows Ross to keep up his Knight to Activate and either fail to find for one less non-basic or find Wasteland and use it to destroy another land. All other combination of cards P Sulli could have had are either irrelevant as they can't kill Ross or would have killed Ross on P Sulli's turn. Now, if P Sulli had left up Scalding Tarn, he could have bluffed that he had Searing Blaze + Blast, which would require the two damage from Vortext to be lethal. But he didn't do that, so Ross missplayed.

[@stephanegerard513]

@@rayodios5826 Hello Rayo Dios. I am not certain that your analysis is comprehensive. Since Ross Merriam was at 9 life facing two cards in hand, I believe that Patrick Sullivan was deliberately attempting to represent "Fireblast + Random sideboard Instant" in order to encourage exactly the play that happened with the Quasali Pridemage. When you say that all other combinations [EDIT: ARE] "irrelevant" because they "would have killed Ross on P Sulli's turn", this does not account for the scenario in which Sullivan would NEED Merriam to allow one last Sulfuric Vortex upkeep trigger. The theoretical line plays out: Merriam untaps at 9 life without doing anything (as you recommend), the Vortex trigger goes on the stack waiting to drop him down to 7 life. Sullivan then casts Fireblast plus a disaster-scenario Gut Shot and activates the Grim Lavamancer for precisely 7 damage. Sullivan's tight play was to represent this possibility, no matter how remote, by passing priority in his end step, forcing Merriam to decide whether he wanted to respect the threat of his upkeep providing the last two points of lethal damage. Since decklists were not open in this tournament, it is not impossible - from Ross' point of view - that this could be the only reason that Sullivan is still going through the motions. (New Phyrexia came out in 2011, and Gut Shot is a card that Sullivan might in principle have sideboarded in against x-1's and drawn that turn, given his sequencing. Merriam's "misplay" was simply giving credit for a niche subset of as-yet unseen cards which deal only 1 or 2 damage for R. Another more realistic possibility is that Sullivan's last two cards are Fireblast plus a Smash to Smithereens waiting for the Jitte, in which case your line wins again, but this serves to illustrate his potential complications.) Hoping this finds you well, -Stéphane Gérard

[@itsthekid9815]

​@@rayodios5826I like how you just don't bring up the obvious line of him having bolt plus fire blast. He had a choice. Either play around lightning bolt or price. If he does have lighting bolt the game becomes almost impossible to play once vortex is destroyed. You play jitte and equip it to knight. They have to block lavamancer it self and bolt the arbor. Game is over. He played to where bolt fireblast wins him the game. He was wrong but that doesn't make the play wrong. People who have low understanding of the people side of magic try to say its a 4 of in their deck they can't always have it. Yet if in the game your opponent makes moves that makes you think they have it you play towards that instead.

[@leonardogoycolea3364]

Legacy.... the most beautiful format in the game :)

[@SilverAlex92]

"Watch that game, once a day, until you know how to play a day" Funnily enough, I firmly believe that half of the 17k views are form people learning how to play red, or wanting to improve their red game. That last play was brutal.

[@mrfluffiness6228]

I was told to "watch this until you become the mountain".

[@LapahnYT]

Can confirm, am mountain.

[@grabbity]

Not even joking watch it weekly. So much to be learned between this game, and who is the beatdown?

[@RockyOwl]

I cry every time I see that last play.

[@alexedingfield5222]

Sullivan is so lit, makes me wanna trade in my LEDs for chain lightnings.

[@cameroncorrado3935]

I sure hope you didn't follow through with that. 🤣

[@axacos]

After watching the video (apart of the obvious mastery displayed) you can conclude that Ross is a maniac of shuffling ...I would like to imagine his deck sleeveless ....

[@superstarajl]

Amazing end to g3. That's magic at its most beautiful (or tragic if your Merriam). Great how the announcers basically call it, that they'll need to be a mistake....

[@FelipeCavieresV]

that last game is legendary XD

[@YabukiJoe69]

That last play

[@karmajarrule]

Ross looks destroyed at the end... i got the feels for him

[@schwaly]

So, a rundown starting from 30:25 Merriam is at 9, Sullivan at 1. Sullivan has two cards in hand, and has just passed priority. Option 1: None of those cards is a fireblast. In this case Sullivan cannot win. Option 2: Sullivan has a fireblast and price of progress. In this case as long as Merriam holds up the wasteland he wins. Option 3: Sullivan has a fireblast and any single red 3 damage spell (in Sullivan's list lightning bolt, chain lighning, or lava spike [a sorcery but we'll get there in a second]) or a second fireblast. Sullivan can play out his hand and activate grim lavamancer for lethal without having to rely on the vortex. Merriam misses the lavamancer damage on option 3 and activates pridemage on end step to destroy the vortex and prevent taking 2 damage on upkeep, thinking he is playing around more cards in Sullivan's deck. In response Sullivan plays price of progress and fireblast for lethal.

[@lelandgill3631]

the burn-a-nator!

[@13Rcdrifter]

Bloody epic!

[@Sk82478]

The GOAT

[@treyburro5525]

Wassup, we're old.

[@basicswamp]

Holy crud those Arabian Nights Mountains go for sixty dollars, that's more than foil Unhinged Mountains.

[@dustinstephens8659]

Tcgplayer has them at 240 now 😰

[@WhatsTheDifferenceTV]

Mindgames!

[@xylophone897]

Who plays 3 Vortex main-Wait, it's 2012.

[@xylophone897]

Wait it's 2020 and I'm playing 3 Vortex main lmao

[@squidpeenxl608]

Patrick Sullivan the MOUNTAIN KING!

[@tranquil_cove4884]

19:00

[@alanyuan8565]

I'm surprised he didn't board out the flame riffs

[@hjrosas071]

Alan Yuan I know right. Yet it was the Flame Rift that won him the game

[@honzinosousedik9835]

Patrick I love u,can every single match be commentated by u and Cedric only plox plox? :,[ :333

[@codyjones9116]

What's the card that he played last?

[@magusdovento]

+Cody jones Price of Progress + Fireblast

[@coryskinnon]

Why would goblins scoop to miracles? it's a favorable match up...

[@B1gLupu]

Dunno what the fuzz is about really with Ross killing Vortex. If he doesn't, he is dead to Fireblast + any 3 damage burn spell.

[@benjaminfriedman8053]

While I understand that the last play is an excellent show of mechanics, knowledge, and skill, did he not have that game in the bag either way? He wins with Price of Progress and Fireblast for 10 against 9 health, but if Ross had taken the damage from sulfuric vortex and used wasteland to kill his own lands in order to stop Price of Progress would he not have died? 2 from Price, 4 from Fireblast, and 3 from vortex for lethal damage either way?

[@benjaminfriedman8053]

Price could have done 4 damage in my hypothetical scenario if you respond to wasteland trigger.

[@anthonybailey5127]

Sulfuric Vortex only does 2 damage

[@asfsdasd]

As long as you presume Ross is going to tap his Wasteland then yes, you are correct. However, as long as Ross DOESN'T tap Wasteland, he can play and equip Jitte, swing with Knight of the Reliquary whom Sullivan has to block, then Sullivan dies during his upkeep to his Vortex. in other words, as long as Ross makes sure to play around Price of Progress and doesn't ever tap Wasteland, he has a guaranteed win. This is why the video is a great learning tool for every Magic player, not just Burn players. It is about understanding your outs as well as the plays that kill you and knowing that sometimes leaving an untapped mana is better than using it for activating something. in Modern for example, it is often better not to tap out with Scavenging Ooze so that you can always threaten a Snapcaster Mage flashback or any other graveyard shennanigans. In this example, it is understanding that you die to Price of Progress and Fireblast if you tap out, which is exactly what happened. Of course, Ross would have died to double Fireblast if he had chosen not to kill the Vortex; however, a double Fireblast would have been lethal either way, as that would allow Sullivan to activate Lavamancer and deal 10 damage, which is why he shouldn't be playing around that anyway. Hope this helps!

[@SilverAlex92]

Agreed, play around what can kill you, not around what will kill you either way. Some times you must admit that if they have x card, you will loose, so playgin around that is stupid

[@Ikowdi]

He would have won either way or loose either way. Only option for him to steal a win was if merrian missplays. What he did. The damage of the Vortex was totally irrelevant to the outcome of the game.

[@alanyuan8565]

I’m not going to say Ross misplayed. He was at 9 life. If he takes it from Vortex, he would be at 7 leaving him open to a grim lavamancer activation, bolt and fireblast. He would also die to 2 fireblasts regardless.