Greetings again everybody! Stephen here, taking a short break from Cheerios to bring you a standard decklist that I would definitely take to a large event that I have had some success with so far. Granted, I don't normally play the most aggressive standard lists, but I do enjoy standard. However, I got tired of people sitting being Icefall Regents and Ojutai's all day, so I decided to play an even slower game than they are, which is exactly how I like to play Magic.
So, let's not waste any more time and get right down to it, the decklist:
4 Color Control // aka Not Green: -Stephen D.
4 Dissolve
4 Hero's Downfall
3 Crackling Doom
2 Ultimate Price
2 Bile Blight
2 Utter End
2 Crux of Fate
3 Dig Through Time
2 Treasure Cruise
3 Jace, the Living Guildpact
3 Narset Transcendent
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Malice
1 Temple of Epiphany
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Mana Confluence
1 Nomad Outpost
3 Mystic Monastery
1 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta
3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Plains
SB:
1 Dragonlord Kologhan
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
2 Haunted Plate Mail
2 Negate
3 Rending Volley
2 Drown in Sorrow
2 Disdainful Stroke'
2 Bile Blighht
Yes. Yes! YES! This deck DOESN'T DO ANYTHING. You sit back and kill creature after creature, regarding of whether you play your instants at sorcery speed or not. You just keep killing everything they throw at you. The pinnacle turn is turns 4-5. Typically you sequence your many many different lands to cast a removal spell and jam a 4 mana walker on turns 4 or 5, and then you basically never slow down. How most of my games go, (and this is normally the case with a whooping 27 lands with only 3 fetches), is that you play scry land into scry land into untapped land, removal spell, scry land, removal spell, tapped land planeswalker. That's right. On turn three you either counter or kill something, then do the same thing on turn 4, and typically jam Jace on turn 5. Then you essentially sculpt your draws for the rest of the game and take over.
Some notes and thoughts. First off, I have no idea why people aren't playing Jace right now. He does everything a control deck needs right now. No one wants to be drawing Bile Blight against another control deck, and no one wants to brick 4 turns in a row because of the all the additional lands we end up playing as control mages. Jace easily solves both of those problems by sifting through the top cards of your deck and dumping the chaff into the graveyard to be delved away by our draw spells. And yes, this deck flies through cards. Jace and Narset make and undeniable combination of drawing cards. Simply put the card you don't want into the yard and reveal the spell off of Narset. Once you've dumped enough garbage, feel free to start giving Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, or if you need your opponent to do nothing on their turn, Crux of Fate with rebound. Having the two together with the near unlimited amount of removal makes sure that any midrange deck is going to have a lot of trouble getting through you.
Aggro decks do pose a threat, but that is the reason for all of this removal in the first place. We don't want to lose matchups simply because we can't interact, so I've made sure the removal is as close to the ground as possible without straining the manabase much harder than it already is. So far, I've been able to best Reanimator strategies, opposing Control decks in both Esper and Blue/Black flavors, Abzan decks, Heroic strategies, BUG Walls (which is a very real deck mind you), among others. Most other plays cannot sit back for too long, and considering how many times you will cast a one mana Treasure Cruise with Rebound, you will find that you hardly ever run out of cards without quickly filling back up.
To be fair, you need to be able to sequence your cards properly and be prepared to sacrifice a walker for the greater good. Fog is a real magic card, and even though we sometimes pay 4 to 6 mana for a fog now-a-days, winning the game is still better than losing. Jace also has the unique ability to Boomerang almost anything. Don't be afraid to Boomerand that Siege Rhino so that you can counter it on the way back down. That is an effective Time Walk, so take advantage of it.
Hope you guys are able to try that list out if you have the cards to do so. It's a blast: just try not to go to time, haha.
As for modern, while I did take a 3rd place finish with Cheerios, I will likely be setting it down for a little while. I will still be searching for more cards to change the overall weaknesses of the deck, but as it stands, there is very little wiggle room, and the populace seems to agree that Monastery Mentor was the correct call to up the threat level of the deck. I want to go more in on the Paladin, but that doesn't seem to be the case, and until another set gets printed, I don't know if there truly is any more innovation that can come to that list, but I may be wrong, and if I find something I will surely let you all know.
That doesn't mean I won't be playing Modern though. Currently, there is another list that I am beginning to do my research, theory-crafting, and will be testing soon enough. This next list is also just as non-interactive as the cereal in some respects, but I have other minds with me on this one. This list is going to be a blast as well, and once I have a good theory as to my starting 60, I will surely post it here for you guys to see.
Sadly, I will not be jamming game this coming weekend. I will be off to visit my father, so I won't have much to put here regarding Modern from this weekend. I'll most assuredly be playing Modern next monday, so I'll have some modern news for you guys then.
Until next time my friends. May the dice rolls be ever in your favor! (totally inspired by Hunger Games... totally like that phrase now)
-Stephen
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Sunday, April 26, 2015
More Cereal: And Also, Thoughts Moving Forward
Greetings again all! Stephen here with some more intel on the Cheerios archetype today, along with some thoughts moving forward about things that I will be posting about, and what other formats that I may be writing about. Exciting!
So, as we all now from my last post, I did make 3rd place in States with Cheerios. What I did not expect was that the list would be featured by Gerry Thompson, titling the article as "The Best New Modern Combo Deck?", which feels great on the inside, but I honestly will never be able to take all the credit. I noticed that there were others doing something similar to me, and I feel that while I did take it to the next level, there needs to be more innovation for it before the next big event. What this means moving forward is that people will expect this deck and make it even harder for us to go for it in the early game. We don't have the disruption to fight through everything, so something has to give, and while I don't know what it is going to be yet, you can be sure that I am going to try and find out.
As for my local meta, everyone is hostile towards Cheerios. This means that I have to wait for someone to tap out and go for it, or basically what for 4 mana, Muddle, and a Paladin to be sitting in my hand, which isn't exactly the best idea I've ever had. My locals will simply mulligan into a hand that can beat the Paladin and keep it, knowing exactly what I am trying to do. Honestly, I don't blame them. This deck is fast, but it makes for some very negative playtesting, as that is not likely to happen in a true tournament environment. In fact, I ended up playing standard last night instead of Modern, to the anger of the folks who questioned why I wasn't going to play in a format against decks like Burn, Zoo, Twin, Scapeshift and U/W/R Control... easily the most hostile matchups, haha. In a large event I would do it, but here with 7 others, not likely.
Back to the cereal though, there is some wiggle room, some might say, to the deck now. I have found ways to sideboard up to 6 cards out for some matchups, but were the real weakness lies is really just removal. There is so little we can do about it, that I want to try and shore up that weakness as best I can. Silence does the job well, but that leads to us having a 2 card combo, which is a little off-putting. It's the reason I went to Mentor in the first place. However, it may be necessary moving forward for the Twin matchup and the Burn and the like. I've also been toying around with the idea of Leyline of Anticipation, and playing the entire deck at instant speed. While this shores up any weakness, in a sense, we end up only having a 6 card hand, and that is looking at best case scenario, haha. Other types of protection include Spellskite, but we must remember that Spellskite is an artifact, and does go right back up to our hand when we cast Retract, so that's a bit of a no-go. Path may end up in the board as well, simply based on how gross Eidolon is against us. In the future, a good deal of research and testing will need to be done to ensure that we have an optimal list, especially for GP Charlotte.
Cheerios aside, I have been playing 4 Color Control in standard, because playing Narset with Jace is simply busted, and having only 3 win conditions in the entire deck is like playing with fire. The deck is only ever truly hindered by its mana production, but I think I have that one down. As the deck is currently not sitting next to me, I shall have to post that list a little bit later on.
Also, I have YET ANOTHER Modern deck that is in the works. Travis, our main man, remembers the days of being 'Van Lunen'd' by Allies. Well, I'm willing to play Allies again, this time in modern. As a deck with only one creature type, Cavern of Souls seems like a great place to start, along with the Shock/Fetch mana base. Aether Vial also seems very good here. But what makes the deck truly tick? Hardened Scales. Every ally now gives itself 2 counters, and gets 2 counters when another ally comes into play. This makes for some very large creatures, very fast. I'm still working on the exact configuration, whether or not to play Vial, Collected Company or Lead the Stampede, etc. Will be posting that list in the future too. Hell, my next article will just be a bat-shit ton of decklists, haha.
As always, I want to thank you guys for checking out the blog. Humble beginnings for humble people just looking to write about what we love. Be prepared for more Cheerios updates, modern updates, and even from me, Standard updates. Also, feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.
Thanks again!
-Stephen D.
So, as we all now from my last post, I did make 3rd place in States with Cheerios. What I did not expect was that the list would be featured by Gerry Thompson, titling the article as "The Best New Modern Combo Deck?", which feels great on the inside, but I honestly will never be able to take all the credit. I noticed that there were others doing something similar to me, and I feel that while I did take it to the next level, there needs to be more innovation for it before the next big event. What this means moving forward is that people will expect this deck and make it even harder for us to go for it in the early game. We don't have the disruption to fight through everything, so something has to give, and while I don't know what it is going to be yet, you can be sure that I am going to try and find out.
As for my local meta, everyone is hostile towards Cheerios. This means that I have to wait for someone to tap out and go for it, or basically what for 4 mana, Muddle, and a Paladin to be sitting in my hand, which isn't exactly the best idea I've ever had. My locals will simply mulligan into a hand that can beat the Paladin and keep it, knowing exactly what I am trying to do. Honestly, I don't blame them. This deck is fast, but it makes for some very negative playtesting, as that is not likely to happen in a true tournament environment. In fact, I ended up playing standard last night instead of Modern, to the anger of the folks who questioned why I wasn't going to play in a format against decks like Burn, Zoo, Twin, Scapeshift and U/W/R Control... easily the most hostile matchups, haha. In a large event I would do it, but here with 7 others, not likely.
Back to the cereal though, there is some wiggle room, some might say, to the deck now. I have found ways to sideboard up to 6 cards out for some matchups, but were the real weakness lies is really just removal. There is so little we can do about it, that I want to try and shore up that weakness as best I can. Silence does the job well, but that leads to us having a 2 card combo, which is a little off-putting. It's the reason I went to Mentor in the first place. However, it may be necessary moving forward for the Twin matchup and the Burn and the like. I've also been toying around with the idea of Leyline of Anticipation, and playing the entire deck at instant speed. While this shores up any weakness, in a sense, we end up only having a 6 card hand, and that is looking at best case scenario, haha. Other types of protection include Spellskite, but we must remember that Spellskite is an artifact, and does go right back up to our hand when we cast Retract, so that's a bit of a no-go. Path may end up in the board as well, simply based on how gross Eidolon is against us. In the future, a good deal of research and testing will need to be done to ensure that we have an optimal list, especially for GP Charlotte.
Cheerios aside, I have been playing 4 Color Control in standard, because playing Narset with Jace is simply busted, and having only 3 win conditions in the entire deck is like playing with fire. The deck is only ever truly hindered by its mana production, but I think I have that one down. As the deck is currently not sitting next to me, I shall have to post that list a little bit later on.
Also, I have YET ANOTHER Modern deck that is in the works. Travis, our main man, remembers the days of being 'Van Lunen'd' by Allies. Well, I'm willing to play Allies again, this time in modern. As a deck with only one creature type, Cavern of Souls seems like a great place to start, along with the Shock/Fetch mana base. Aether Vial also seems very good here. But what makes the deck truly tick? Hardened Scales. Every ally now gives itself 2 counters, and gets 2 counters when another ally comes into play. This makes for some very large creatures, very fast. I'm still working on the exact configuration, whether or not to play Vial, Collected Company or Lead the Stampede, etc. Will be posting that list in the future too. Hell, my next article will just be a bat-shit ton of decklists, haha.
As always, I want to thank you guys for checking out the blog. Humble beginnings for humble people just looking to write about what we love. Be prepared for more Cheerios updates, modern updates, and even from me, Standard updates. Also, feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.
Thanks again!
-Stephen D.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Artifact Dredge
I like synergy. And crazy combos. Maybe that's why I've always gravitated towards Extended/Modern. Don't get me wrong, attacking is great and all and I usually play aggro in standard but I always have a soft heart for doing degenerate things.
Something I've been messing around with on MTGO:
11 Swamp
1 Crypt of Agadeem
4 Darksteel Citadeel
4 Chromatic Star
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Vault Skirge
2 Memnite
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Rotting Rats
4 Dregscape Zombie
4 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Salvage Titan
4 Gurmag Angler
This deck began as an idea from Travis Woo (credit where credit is due!). I think the interaction between dredge and Salvage Titan is super cool and this deck a lot of possibilities in the early game and then the fatties start coming down late game. I like it when decks aren't entirely linear.
The only problem is that Stinkweed Imp is the only good dredger. I really hate Golgari Thug but it's a necessary evil. Bloodsoaked Champion is kind of a budget Bloodghast (as is Dregscape Zombie) but also the 1-drop slot is kind of lacking in this deck.
Sometimes you can just plop down a turn three Salvage Titan and draw three cards. It happens. And, other than Path to Exile, you have insurance to return it to your hand from graveyard. Travis Woo was running Demon of Death's Gate over Gurmag Angler and I was annoyed that the Demon is full ticket on MTGO (when it's played in virtually no deck). I think the demon is cool, but when I feel like that's a card that just rots in your hand a lot of the time. I would never play it against burn unless they mulligained to 3 or something. And even then man.
Unfortunately, the deck kind of lacks a punch. If your opponent isn't a creature deck, your clock is kind of irrelevant to them.
I've thought about expanding the Crpyt of Agadeem package and then putting some cyclers in the deck. But then we start moving away from the focus of the deck and it becomes something else entirely.
Something I've been messing around with on MTGO:
11 Swamp
1 Crypt of Agadeem
4 Darksteel Citadeel
4 Chromatic Star
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Vault Skirge
2 Memnite
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Rotting Rats
4 Dregscape Zombie
4 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Salvage Titan
4 Gurmag Angler
This deck began as an idea from Travis Woo (credit where credit is due!). I think the interaction between dredge and Salvage Titan is super cool and this deck a lot of possibilities in the early game and then the fatties start coming down late game. I like it when decks aren't entirely linear.
The only problem is that Stinkweed Imp is the only good dredger. I really hate Golgari Thug but it's a necessary evil. Bloodsoaked Champion is kind of a budget Bloodghast (as is Dregscape Zombie) but also the 1-drop slot is kind of lacking in this deck.
Sometimes you can just plop down a turn three Salvage Titan and draw three cards. It happens. And, other than Path to Exile, you have insurance to return it to your hand from graveyard. Travis Woo was running Demon of Death's Gate over Gurmag Angler and I was annoyed that the Demon is full ticket on MTGO (when it's played in virtually no deck). I think the demon is cool, but when I feel like that's a card that just rots in your hand a lot of the time. I would never play it against burn unless they mulligained to 3 or something. And even then man.
Unfortunately, the deck kind of lacks a punch. If your opponent isn't a creature deck, your clock is kind of irrelevant to them.
I've thought about expanding the Crpyt of Agadeem package and then putting some cyclers in the deck. But then we start moving away from the focus of the deck and it becomes something else entirely.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Tournament Report: Standard
Hey guys,
I played in a small standard FNM and got 4th, I went 3-1.
I played a version of red deck wins and I was more-or-less pleased with the results. My version was not optimal, I only had 3 Zurgo and I still only have 2 Wild Slash.
So the matches
Round 1: Temur Midrange
Game 1: I have an incredibly aggressive start and he scoops by turn three.
Game 2: I don't come out of the gates as hard and Atarka comes down turn 6 and I am d-e-d, dead. (yes, the misspelling is intentional)
Game 3: I mull to six and I feel like this could be rough for me, but he doesn't have Anger of the Gods or Hornet's Nest and after having to fetch twice, a Stoke the Flames puts the game away for me.
1-0
Round 2: WALLS
oh, god, what a nightmare this was.
Game 1: I get him to 12, but he has two natural Rams and starts running out more walls. He finds the enchantment and I die.
Game 2: It's rough but a War-Name Aspirant and TRIPLE Stoke the Flames gets there for me.
Game 3: So, even though I have a War-Name Aspirant with the +1/+1 counter, he has too many walls and all of them are attacking for 6 with vigilance.
1-1
Round 3: Abzan (with red)
This one was pretty uninteresting. Games 1 and 3 I mostly just run over him and game 2 he has Drown in Sorrow followed by Rhino, Rhino.
2-1
Round 4: U/W Gain all the Life
I don't really know what this deck was, but it had me sweating the entire time.
Game 1: He didn't do that much, but gained a lot of life and he even played a turn two ram. Mainnnnn? I dealt like 27 damage that game and got there.
Game 2: I think I did between 40-50 damage. He had two rams, several lands that gain life when they come into play. TWO U/W commands, a couple wraths and an Elspeth. I was never really in danger but running out of gas was the real concern. The only thing I thought that was odd, was a wrath that I baited out of him. I had two goblin tokens, a firedrinker satyr and a foundry street denzin to his three elspeth tokens and a ram and he chose to wrath.
Some observations:
Hordling Outburst: this card was shit. Maybe the meta in my shop is more midrange and control, but this was just awful. I found myself hoping it was Rabblemaster every time.
Wild Slash: also awful. 2 was a good number to have because I never wanted any.
War-Name Aspirant: this card was doing so much work! I was playing two main and one in the board and I found myself always boarding it in. I might have to try and play a full set in the main.
Searing Blood: meh, this card was also pretty underwhelming. Probably have to be situated against aggro decks for it to do anything.
Firedrinker Satyr: people have been saying to cut this card now, but I think it's been performing fine. Yeah it's not as good against red decks, but against everything else it's decent.
Dragon Fodder: wow, this card felt crappy. At best, it pumped Foundry Street Denizen for two. Worst...was the rest of the time.
Lightning Berserker: I ran three of them and I was not disappointed. They were alright in the midrange matchups. I think in those, you need to cut the number down to 1 or 2. But good god, was this a house against control. They can't tap out in the mid to late game or it just becomes a lightning axe. take 4-6 damage! And then it bounces back to your hand. wHAT fUn WE'lL haVe. Okay.
That's all for now, maybe some more tournament reports, we'll see.
I played in a small standard FNM and got 4th, I went 3-1.
I played a version of red deck wins and I was more-or-less pleased with the results. My version was not optimal, I only had 3 Zurgo and I still only have 2 Wild Slash.
So the matches
Round 1: Temur Midrange
Game 1: I have an incredibly aggressive start and he scoops by turn three.
Game 2: I don't come out of the gates as hard and Atarka comes down turn 6 and I am d-e-d, dead. (yes, the misspelling is intentional)
Game 3: I mull to six and I feel like this could be rough for me, but he doesn't have Anger of the Gods or Hornet's Nest and after having to fetch twice, a Stoke the Flames puts the game away for me.
1-0
Round 2: WALLS
oh, god, what a nightmare this was.
Game 1: I get him to 12, but he has two natural Rams and starts running out more walls. He finds the enchantment and I die.
Game 2: It's rough but a War-Name Aspirant and TRIPLE Stoke the Flames gets there for me.
Game 3: So, even though I have a War-Name Aspirant with the +1/+1 counter, he has too many walls and all of them are attacking for 6 with vigilance.
1-1
Round 3: Abzan (with red)
This one was pretty uninteresting. Games 1 and 3 I mostly just run over him and game 2 he has Drown in Sorrow followed by Rhino, Rhino.
2-1
Round 4: U/W Gain all the Life
I don't really know what this deck was, but it had me sweating the entire time.
Game 1: He didn't do that much, but gained a lot of life and he even played a turn two ram. Mainnnnn? I dealt like 27 damage that game and got there.
Game 2: I think I did between 40-50 damage. He had two rams, several lands that gain life when they come into play. TWO U/W commands, a couple wraths and an Elspeth. I was never really in danger but running out of gas was the real concern. The only thing I thought that was odd, was a wrath that I baited out of him. I had two goblin tokens, a firedrinker satyr and a foundry street denzin to his three elspeth tokens and a ram and he chose to wrath.
Some observations:
Hordling Outburst: this card was shit. Maybe the meta in my shop is more midrange and control, but this was just awful. I found myself hoping it was Rabblemaster every time.
Wild Slash: also awful. 2 was a good number to have because I never wanted any.
War-Name Aspirant: this card was doing so much work! I was playing two main and one in the board and I found myself always boarding it in. I might have to try and play a full set in the main.
Searing Blood: meh, this card was also pretty underwhelming. Probably have to be situated against aggro decks for it to do anything.
Firedrinker Satyr: people have been saying to cut this card now, but I think it's been performing fine. Yeah it's not as good against red decks, but against everything else it's decent.
Dragon Fodder: wow, this card felt crappy. At best, it pumped Foundry Street Denizen for two. Worst...was the rest of the time.
Lightning Berserker: I ran three of them and I was not disappointed. They were alright in the midrange matchups. I think in those, you need to cut the number down to 1 or 2. But good god, was this a house against control. They can't tap out in the mid to late game or it just becomes a lightning axe. take 4-6 damage! And then it bounces back to your hand. wHAT fUn WE'lL haVe. Okay.
That's all for now, maybe some more tournament reports, we'll see.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Modern Cheerios: Top 4!
Greetings again! Stephen here with a pretty nice tournament report and some stories to tell. I will admit, I may not remember everything, but I do remember the important stuff, such as my matchups and what not. All in all, this was a great tournament experience for this deck. I took it much farther than anyone ever expected, garnered a great deal of funny looks, and had a blast.
Before we go into all the matches, let's go over the deck and some thoughts. Without further ado:
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
1 Sigil of Distinction
4 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Mox Opal
4 Retract
3 Noxious Revival
4 Muddle the Mixture
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Grapeshot
1 Echoing Truth
3 Monsastery Mentor
2 Plains
1 Island
2 Mystic Gate
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
2 Glimmervoid
1 Godless Shrine
Sideboard:
3 Cavern of Souls
3 Silence
3 Angel's Grace
3 Batwing Brume
3 Gut Shot
21 Cheerios is spot on, and you can cut down to 20 during sideboarding if necessary, which I will do from time to time when space is required. Monastery Mentor is the truth, and its the win condition that, while it doesn't cost 2, it does allow us to go wide when the deck was originally decided to go straight up with a Grapeshot. Mana base has changed a little bit again, this time to cast Batwing Brume from the board. Our Twin matchup is so bad that we had to dig deep to find this little gem. (Props to my buddy Chris for pointing this one out to me.) Also, Cavern of Souls to replace Salvage Titan. Titan was good, but with Mentor, we no longer need the additional win condition in the board... And against control decks, all our guys are Human. Yay.
Also, I know we've read it a million times, stay hydrated, eat well, blah blah blah. From experience, you may not need sleep, but drink your water. I was hydrated so well, drinking almost 2 bottles per round it felt like, and I never lost focus or tired. Your results may vary, but I definitely recommend it.
Match time!
Round 1: Affinity
To be fair, I forgot who won the die roll. I saw the robots begin to populate the field on turn one, and I simply played a fetch. He attacks, and I crack the fetch, then follow it up with another land. He attacks one more time, and proceeds to die to a Grapeshot on my third turn. I sideboard Silence and Gut Shot to fight back a bit and be aggressive against Galvanic Blast and the like. Much like game 1, on my third turn my library finds its way into my hand and we sign the slip 2-0 me.
Round 2: Affinity
Game one was awesome here. And by awesome I mean that I mulliganed into an awkward hand and die having only played 1-2 lands. I know he's on robots, and as such I don't sideboard much as his list looked quite standard with no funny stuff going on. I keep my six game two, which consists of 2 shields 3 lands and retract. I start with a shock land and he Thoughtseizes me turn one, and he has no idea what is going on. He takes a shield (lol) and when I draw for my turn my prayers are answered: Monastery Mentor. I play another land and pass and he drops Ravager. I drop Mentor and 2 shields (yay draw steps giving me cards) and have 2 monks. He plays Etched Champion, and at this point his board is 3 lands Ravager Champion Ornithopter and Springleaf Drum. On my turn I cast Retract, Shield Shield and crash in for 13 damage. He opts to sac enough stuff to bring the Champion to a 5/5 and trade with the Mentor, as he lost metalcraft in the process, and my 5 monks get there. (YES) Game three I keep a strong 7, jamming 2 Paladins and ending the game rather fast.
Round 3: Burn
This is such a silly matchup for me, haha. I go for the turn 2 win and he tapped out turn one for a Swiftspear. While I do fizzle, I have a Paladin that also happens to be a 3/12. He can't kill the paladin, so he jams Eidolon of the Great Revel, which is basically puttting a gun to my head. On my turn I take the two to cast Accorder's Shield, giving my paladin Vigilance, and I begin to attack and attack and attack until my opponent is sitting at 4 life. He goes to two casting a Lightning Helix, which eats a Muddle the Mixture, and at 2 life, he really can't cast spells to do anything, and dies shortly after. Game two he starts with double Leyline of Sanctity, and I draw nothing of value and die. Sad times. Game three he starts with Leyline again, and I start with a Godless Shrine tapped. He fetches a basic mountain and suspends Rift Bolt. He tapped out on turn one, so OBVIOUSLY I'm gonna go for it. He dies turn 2 as I draw the vast majority of my deck, Echoing Truth the Leyline, and Grapeshot for the kill.
Round 4: Scapeshift
We had quite the number of people from Augusta come up with us, and I got paired down against one of our number. I am grateful that he scooped to me here to put me at 4-0, as it put me straight through to top 8 and allowed us to get some much needed food.
Rounds 5-6: ID to top 8
At this point, I've gotten a lot of funny looks and the turn 2 kill through Leyline has gotten a good deal of attention, so I needlessly stress myself out for a bit before top 8 starts.
Quarterfinals: Little Abzan
I start us off as I am the higher seed and I keep my hand. I play land and he follows with Noble Heirarch. I play another land and pass, and he jams Loxodon Smiter (that's big). I end up playing a Paladin and fizzle, so he jams another beef stick. He dies to Grapeshot the following turn.
Game 2 he starts with Leyline, and I keep a hand without Paladin, but everything else needed to go off. Long story short, he plays creatures and attacks me, and I die. Game three was epic though. Of all the top 8 matches, no one really seemed to care what was happening at the other tables, but basically stood behind me the entire time. We start off just like we did game one, save the fact that he has a Leyline, haha. I end up with 3 Paladins in play and proceed to draw all but 2 cards, and with my lands and Paradise Mantle and bounce the Leyline and Grapeshot, to which HE RESPONDS WITH FRACTURING GUST. I lose an Opal and a bunch of cereal, and he goes to a whopping 50 health, before the Grapeshot brings him down to 26. I tank for a minute, and everyone is like, 'wow' because, well, I've seemingly lost the game. I go through the three separate piles of my hand, considering I have so many cards (props to the guy behind me who said 'needs moar Reliquary Tower'), I drop the last 4 equipment, drawing my last 2 cards, then use my 3 remaining Retracts and Noxious Revivals to double the storm count, return the Grapeshot to my deck, draw it, and kill him anyway. This brought cheers from the crowd, hugs and high-fives from friends and people I don't know alike. Best game of magic all day, hands down.
Semis: Perfect Burn
I call this deck perfect burn, as every game of magic this kid played he drew spot of perfect the entire time. Turns two and three Eidolon against me and my friends almost every game (always had one on turn two), perfect draws... it was crazy. I did not have hands that could go off fast enough to get past the Eidolon, and my adventure ends there.
Throughout the day, I became more comfortable with my matchups, as every matchup seems winnable, barring perfect draws from my opponents lol. This deck is reliable and fast enough to compete, and goes to win the game when most people are trying to set up their game plan, and even then, you can still be patient and go for it later on. I love this deck, and I have to also give props to my boy Anthony for telling me I should surely play this deck after all the work I've put into it. Also, I have to thank the folks I've been borrowing cards from and all that jazz. You all are awesome.
Funny enough, I let another friend borrow the 5 color Blink Deck that I wrote about earlier. He finished 9th on breakers, haha. Deck building for the win.
Thank you all for reading. Best of luck to all of you, whether it be Magic or not.
-Stephen, now with an official Top 8 under his belt.
Before we go into all the matches, let's go over the deck and some thoughts. Without further ado:
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
1 Sigil of Distinction
4 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Mox Opal
4 Retract
3 Noxious Revival
4 Muddle the Mixture
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Grapeshot
1 Echoing Truth
3 Monsastery Mentor
2 Plains
1 Island
2 Mystic Gate
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
2 Glimmervoid
1 Godless Shrine
Sideboard:
3 Cavern of Souls
3 Silence
3 Angel's Grace
3 Batwing Brume
3 Gut Shot
21 Cheerios is spot on, and you can cut down to 20 during sideboarding if necessary, which I will do from time to time when space is required. Monastery Mentor is the truth, and its the win condition that, while it doesn't cost 2, it does allow us to go wide when the deck was originally decided to go straight up with a Grapeshot. Mana base has changed a little bit again, this time to cast Batwing Brume from the board. Our Twin matchup is so bad that we had to dig deep to find this little gem. (Props to my buddy Chris for pointing this one out to me.) Also, Cavern of Souls to replace Salvage Titan. Titan was good, but with Mentor, we no longer need the additional win condition in the board... And against control decks, all our guys are Human. Yay.
Also, I know we've read it a million times, stay hydrated, eat well, blah blah blah. From experience, you may not need sleep, but drink your water. I was hydrated so well, drinking almost 2 bottles per round it felt like, and I never lost focus or tired. Your results may vary, but I definitely recommend it.
Match time!
Round 1: Affinity
To be fair, I forgot who won the die roll. I saw the robots begin to populate the field on turn one, and I simply played a fetch. He attacks, and I crack the fetch, then follow it up with another land. He attacks one more time, and proceeds to die to a Grapeshot on my third turn. I sideboard Silence and Gut Shot to fight back a bit and be aggressive against Galvanic Blast and the like. Much like game 1, on my third turn my library finds its way into my hand and we sign the slip 2-0 me.
Round 2: Affinity
Game one was awesome here. And by awesome I mean that I mulliganed into an awkward hand and die having only played 1-2 lands. I know he's on robots, and as such I don't sideboard much as his list looked quite standard with no funny stuff going on. I keep my six game two, which consists of 2 shields 3 lands and retract. I start with a shock land and he Thoughtseizes me turn one, and he has no idea what is going on. He takes a shield (lol) and when I draw for my turn my prayers are answered: Monastery Mentor. I play another land and pass and he drops Ravager. I drop Mentor and 2 shields (yay draw steps giving me cards) and have 2 monks. He plays Etched Champion, and at this point his board is 3 lands Ravager Champion Ornithopter and Springleaf Drum. On my turn I cast Retract, Shield Shield and crash in for 13 damage. He opts to sac enough stuff to bring the Champion to a 5/5 and trade with the Mentor, as he lost metalcraft in the process, and my 5 monks get there. (YES) Game three I keep a strong 7, jamming 2 Paladins and ending the game rather fast.
Round 3: Burn
This is such a silly matchup for me, haha. I go for the turn 2 win and he tapped out turn one for a Swiftspear. While I do fizzle, I have a Paladin that also happens to be a 3/12. He can't kill the paladin, so he jams Eidolon of the Great Revel, which is basically puttting a gun to my head. On my turn I take the two to cast Accorder's Shield, giving my paladin Vigilance, and I begin to attack and attack and attack until my opponent is sitting at 4 life. He goes to two casting a Lightning Helix, which eats a Muddle the Mixture, and at 2 life, he really can't cast spells to do anything, and dies shortly after. Game two he starts with double Leyline of Sanctity, and I draw nothing of value and die. Sad times. Game three he starts with Leyline again, and I start with a Godless Shrine tapped. He fetches a basic mountain and suspends Rift Bolt. He tapped out on turn one, so OBVIOUSLY I'm gonna go for it. He dies turn 2 as I draw the vast majority of my deck, Echoing Truth the Leyline, and Grapeshot for the kill.
Round 4: Scapeshift
We had quite the number of people from Augusta come up with us, and I got paired down against one of our number. I am grateful that he scooped to me here to put me at 4-0, as it put me straight through to top 8 and allowed us to get some much needed food.
Rounds 5-6: ID to top 8
At this point, I've gotten a lot of funny looks and the turn 2 kill through Leyline has gotten a good deal of attention, so I needlessly stress myself out for a bit before top 8 starts.
Quarterfinals: Little Abzan
I start us off as I am the higher seed and I keep my hand. I play land and he follows with Noble Heirarch. I play another land and pass, and he jams Loxodon Smiter (that's big). I end up playing a Paladin and fizzle, so he jams another beef stick. He dies to Grapeshot the following turn.
Game 2 he starts with Leyline, and I keep a hand without Paladin, but everything else needed to go off. Long story short, he plays creatures and attacks me, and I die. Game three was epic though. Of all the top 8 matches, no one really seemed to care what was happening at the other tables, but basically stood behind me the entire time. We start off just like we did game one, save the fact that he has a Leyline, haha. I end up with 3 Paladins in play and proceed to draw all but 2 cards, and with my lands and Paradise Mantle and bounce the Leyline and Grapeshot, to which HE RESPONDS WITH FRACTURING GUST. I lose an Opal and a bunch of cereal, and he goes to a whopping 50 health, before the Grapeshot brings him down to 26. I tank for a minute, and everyone is like, 'wow' because, well, I've seemingly lost the game. I go through the three separate piles of my hand, considering I have so many cards (props to the guy behind me who said 'needs moar Reliquary Tower'), I drop the last 4 equipment, drawing my last 2 cards, then use my 3 remaining Retracts and Noxious Revivals to double the storm count, return the Grapeshot to my deck, draw it, and kill him anyway. This brought cheers from the crowd, hugs and high-fives from friends and people I don't know alike. Best game of magic all day, hands down.
Semis: Perfect Burn
I call this deck perfect burn, as every game of magic this kid played he drew spot of perfect the entire time. Turns two and three Eidolon against me and my friends almost every game (always had one on turn two), perfect draws... it was crazy. I did not have hands that could go off fast enough to get past the Eidolon, and my adventure ends there.
Throughout the day, I became more comfortable with my matchups, as every matchup seems winnable, barring perfect draws from my opponents lol. This deck is reliable and fast enough to compete, and goes to win the game when most people are trying to set up their game plan, and even then, you can still be patient and go for it later on. I love this deck, and I have to also give props to my boy Anthony for telling me I should surely play this deck after all the work I've put into it. Also, I have to thank the folks I've been borrowing cards from and all that jazz. You all are awesome.
Funny enough, I let another friend borrow the 5 color Blink Deck that I wrote about earlier. He finished 9th on breakers, haha. Deck building for the win.
Thank you all for reading. Best of luck to all of you, whether it be Magic or not.
-Stephen, now with an official Top 8 under his belt.
[Modern: Learn with me] Mono Green Devotion: The deck that gets weird looks
Hello everyone, I am here to talk about the deck I am currently running at my local Modern Mondays. The deck was first suggested to me while I was running a back green Stompy deck and not doing to well. I still might do amazing, but I sure have a lot more fun.
The basis of the deck is green ramp into Genesis Wave, hoping to hit a Craterhoof Behemoth. There are a few other plans for the deck too, such as just hard casting the Behemoth, using Garruk Wildspeaker's -4, or tricking out a turn 3 Primeval Titan.
The Deck List
Lands
8x Forest
1x Mountain
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Kessig Wolf Run
4x Wooded Foothills
1x Stomping Ground
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Creatures
4x Arbor Elf
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Burning-Tree Emisary
4x Wistful Selkie
3x Eternal Witness
4x Garruk Wildspeaker
4x Primeval Titan
2x Craterhoof Behemoth
Other Spells
4x Utopia Sprawl
4x Genesis Wave
3x Primal Command
Sideboard
2x Beast Within
2x Ghost Quarter
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Rending Volley
2x Creeping Corrosion
2x Obstinate Baloth
2x Raking Canopy
1x TBD
Genesis Wave is such a powerful card, and the deck has several ways to make it even more powerful. One of the best feelings playing the deck is casting Genesis Wave, for a reasonable number, then getting a new Garruk and Nkythos, with an Eternal Witness bouncing the Genesis Wave back to hand, allowing an even bigger Wave than the first. Burning-Tree Emissaries do so much work too. Not only do they count for 2 devotion, but they give you free mana to activate Nkythos or Kessig, or allow you to just power out more 1 drops.
The mana base might seem a little weird, with only 1 Stomping Ground and 1 basic Mountain, but the deck has Utopia Sprawl and Birds of Paradise to give access to red, and sometimes taking bolt damage to get a red source sucks, so the mountain is their for fetching with less pain.
If you enjoy being annoying, the deck also can soft lock an opponent pretty early by casting Primal Command, putting a land on top of the opponents library, then searching for another Eternal Witness. While no where near as strong as Eternal Cryptic Command, it can soft look enough to just your opponent down.
I always like to talk about the Magical-Christmas-Land nut draw that lets us play Primeval Titan on turn 3. Turn 1 play Forest and Arbor Elf, turn 2 play Forest and enchant untapped Forest, use the 4 mana we now have available to play Garruk. Turn 3, 7 mana available, go ahead and slam that Titan down. From here we can go and search up a Kessig Wolf Run or any other utility land.
When I play this deck, I always get a few funny looks about my sideboard, as well as people just not knowing about a few of the cards, namely Raking Canopy. Every experience Magic player I know has told me they have no idea what that card is, which is sad because it is so good. This card comes in every single game where I am matched up against fliers, and has completely shut out some fringe decks I have played against. 4 damage to each attacking creature with flying before they even hit might actually be broken. This shuts down spirit tokens, Splinter Twin Pestermite, and Ornithopters with Cranial Plating. The sideboard sees two more options for dealing with Twin, including Rending Volley and Beast Within. Rending Volley might be one of the best cards in red for dealing with Twin (I could be very wrong). 1 mana for instant speed 4 damage to a blue creature stop the combo right in its tracks.
The basis of the deck is green ramp into Genesis Wave, hoping to hit a Craterhoof Behemoth. There are a few other plans for the deck too, such as just hard casting the Behemoth, using Garruk Wildspeaker's -4, or tricking out a turn 3 Primeval Titan.
The Deck List
Lands
8x Forest
1x Mountain
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Kessig Wolf Run
4x Wooded Foothills
1x Stomping Ground
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Creatures
4x Arbor Elf
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Burning-Tree Emisary
4x Wistful Selkie
3x Eternal Witness
4x Garruk Wildspeaker
4x Primeval Titan
2x Craterhoof Behemoth
Other Spells
4x Utopia Sprawl
4x Genesis Wave
3x Primal Command
Sideboard
2x Beast Within
2x Ghost Quarter
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Rending Volley
2x Creeping Corrosion
2x Obstinate Baloth
2x Raking Canopy
1x TBD
Genesis Wave is such a powerful card, and the deck has several ways to make it even more powerful. One of the best feelings playing the deck is casting Genesis Wave, for a reasonable number, then getting a new Garruk and Nkythos, with an Eternal Witness bouncing the Genesis Wave back to hand, allowing an even bigger Wave than the first. Burning-Tree Emissaries do so much work too. Not only do they count for 2 devotion, but they give you free mana to activate Nkythos or Kessig, or allow you to just power out more 1 drops.
The mana base might seem a little weird, with only 1 Stomping Ground and 1 basic Mountain, but the deck has Utopia Sprawl and Birds of Paradise to give access to red, and sometimes taking bolt damage to get a red source sucks, so the mountain is their for fetching with less pain.
If you enjoy being annoying, the deck also can soft lock an opponent pretty early by casting Primal Command, putting a land on top of the opponents library, then searching for another Eternal Witness. While no where near as strong as Eternal Cryptic Command, it can soft look enough to just your opponent down.
I always like to talk about the Magical-Christmas-Land nut draw that lets us play Primeval Titan on turn 3. Turn 1 play Forest and Arbor Elf, turn 2 play Forest and enchant untapped Forest, use the 4 mana we now have available to play Garruk. Turn 3, 7 mana available, go ahead and slam that Titan down. From here we can go and search up a Kessig Wolf Run or any other utility land.
When I play this deck, I always get a few funny looks about my sideboard, as well as people just not knowing about a few of the cards, namely Raking Canopy. Every experience Magic player I know has told me they have no idea what that card is, which is sad because it is so good. This card comes in every single game where I am matched up against fliers, and has completely shut out some fringe decks I have played against. 4 damage to each attacking creature with flying before they even hit might actually be broken. This shuts down spirit tokens, Splinter Twin Pestermite, and Ornithopters with Cranial Plating. The sideboard sees two more options for dealing with Twin, including Rending Volley and Beast Within. Rending Volley might be one of the best cards in red for dealing with Twin (I could be very wrong). 1 mana for instant speed 4 damage to a blue creature stop the combo right in its tracks.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Restore Balance
Hey guys, unfortunately, the modern tournament didn't take place today so I don't have a tournament report for you. What I do have, however, is what I'm playing online.
I've had a mtgo account for awhile and, like most people, I despise it. It's a very poor substitute for the real game and the client is just awful. But I have a couple aggro decks on there that I just jam for funsies.
Anyway, I was reading an article online that you could build Restore Balance for seven tickets. I was a bit late to the party and prices started to climb a bit on the deck. I got most of it though without having to spend any actual money which was nice. I couldn't pick up any Lingering Souls or Simian Spirit Guide because those are actually expensive. I haven't got March of the Machines because I'm just lazy.
Anyway, I got Restore Balances at 1.5 tix, Nihilith at .9 tix and Greater Gargadon at .2 tix. The rest of the deck cost almost nothing.
I think the article might have been popular or people has seen the deck in the modern ques, but in the two days since I bought it, Restore Balance has already spiked to 2.16.
I'm not gonna write out my list here because it's essentially the same one from the article (except I'm playing thirst for knowledge), but I think this deck is pretty neat.
Once again, a cascade deck. Most opponents just scoop if a cascade spell resolves, sacrificing all your permanents and discarding your hand can be rough.
So far, I've played 25 game and I'm 20-5, which is incredibly strong. One of the deck's biggest problems is not drawing cascade spells. Relying on a suspended Restore Balance is kind of a long-shot. I definitely want to include more threats. I bought up all the common suspend guys that the deck typically plays, but I may not even end up using them.
Intangibles: since it's a cascade deck, drawing your 0-mana spell that you can't cast really sucks. I get kind of salty when I draw two of them since this deck doesn't see as many cards as Living End. I like that the deck isn't soft to graveyard hate, but hand disruption can still be troublesome. Another thing is that resolving Living End doesn't always mean game over, it can get pretty dicey. Resolving restorebalance with a gargadon on the way is almost always a win. Granted, I had an opponent once draw a plains and then a path to stall at two life. I eventually draw a Nihilith, but jeeeeeez, dat tilt.
So I think this deck is cheaper than Living End and considering the manabase, MUCH cheaper than your average modern deck. So yeah.
Take it easy.
-t
I've had a mtgo account for awhile and, like most people, I despise it. It's a very poor substitute for the real game and the client is just awful. But I have a couple aggro decks on there that I just jam for funsies.
Anyway, I was reading an article online that you could build Restore Balance for seven tickets. I was a bit late to the party and prices started to climb a bit on the deck. I got most of it though without having to spend any actual money which was nice. I couldn't pick up any Lingering Souls or Simian Spirit Guide because those are actually expensive. I haven't got March of the Machines because I'm just lazy.
Anyway, I got Restore Balances at 1.5 tix, Nihilith at .9 tix and Greater Gargadon at .2 tix. The rest of the deck cost almost nothing.
I think the article might have been popular or people has seen the deck in the modern ques, but in the two days since I bought it, Restore Balance has already spiked to 2.16.
I'm not gonna write out my list here because it's essentially the same one from the article (except I'm playing thirst for knowledge), but I think this deck is pretty neat.
Once again, a cascade deck. Most opponents just scoop if a cascade spell resolves, sacrificing all your permanents and discarding your hand can be rough.
So far, I've played 25 game and I'm 20-5, which is incredibly strong. One of the deck's biggest problems is not drawing cascade spells. Relying on a suspended Restore Balance is kind of a long-shot. I definitely want to include more threats. I bought up all the common suspend guys that the deck typically plays, but I may not even end up using them.
Intangibles: since it's a cascade deck, drawing your 0-mana spell that you can't cast really sucks. I get kind of salty when I draw two of them since this deck doesn't see as many cards as Living End. I like that the deck isn't soft to graveyard hate, but hand disruption can still be troublesome. Another thing is that resolving Living End doesn't always mean game over, it can get pretty dicey. Resolving restorebalance with a gargadon on the way is almost always a win. Granted, I had an opponent once draw a plains and then a path to stall at two life. I eventually draw a Nihilith, but jeeeeeez, dat tilt.
So I think this deck is cheaper than Living End and considering the manabase, MUCH cheaper than your average modern deck. So yeah.
Take it easy.
-t
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
YOU WIN THE GAME
School is back in session and you know what that means? This site gets updated way more often because I sit there bored in a lecture and make some lists!
I have two for today. Both started with a common theme: the clause YOU WIN THE GAME.
There aren't a lot of effects played like this in modern and for good reason - they're narrow and usually bad.
I want to get the first list out of the way since it isn't interesting.
MORTAL KOMBAT
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Street Wraith
4 Twisted Abomination
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Jungle Weaver
2 Dimir House Guard
2 Gnaw to the Bone
4 Mortal Combat
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Faithless Looting
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Ridge Rannet
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Bloodcrypt
1 Stomping Grounds
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Forest
Yeah, so this deck is super boring. I think it's just a worse version of Living End. You have to work SUPER hard to get to 20 creatures in your yard. Sure, you can transmute the Dimir Houseguard to go get Mortal Combat. Whoooooo. I think you'll probably just die before you even get to ten creatures.
deck two
Near-Death Experience
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Street Wraith
4 Manamorphose
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Silence
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Angel's Grace
4 Plunge into Darkness
4 Pentad Prism
4 Near-Death Experience
4 Remand
4 Mana Confluence
4 Gemstone Mines
1 Gemstone Cavern
1 Bloodcrypt
1 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave
2 Marsh Flats
2 Bloodstained Mire
This deck is a sweet one. You use Lotus Bloom or Pentad Prism to ramp into a Near-Death Experience. There are a lot of cards to let you use life as a resource. It's okay to take damage from your manabase because your opponent will be dealing damage to you as well. Your opponent has to play very carefully so that you don't accidentally win. An alpha strike / burn spells / and basically anything other than infect and mill will put you at 1 life and you will win during your upkeep. Silence is to keep your spells from being counter / randomly dying to cards during the turn you need to stay alive at one life. Plunge through Darkness helps you find the enchantment and a lot of spells are designed to deal 1-2 damage to you. A clever opponent will try and keep you at an even life total. That's what the fetchlands and Mana Confluence are for.
My idea for a sideboard currently is:
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Greater Aurmancy
4 Moltensteel Dragon
3 Mana Leak
Yeah, not so interesting. An opponent will likely not have anything mainboard to deal with the enchantment, but you're probably all-in on your first copy. Five is a lot of mana, especially for a deck with sixteen lands. The dragon is just an idea. It fits with the theme of the deck, this should be good against decks heavy with enchantment hate and counterspells. Also, I can't imagine this deck has a good matchup against burn. Or maybe it does. Who knows.
I'll bring you guys more craziness later. Expect some tournament reports on the weekend.
I have two for today. Both started with a common theme: the clause YOU WIN THE GAME.
There aren't a lot of effects played like this in modern and for good reason - they're narrow and usually bad.
I want to get the first list out of the way since it isn't interesting.
MORTAL KOMBAT
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Street Wraith
4 Twisted Abomination
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Jungle Weaver
2 Dimir House Guard
2 Gnaw to the Bone
4 Mortal Combat
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Faithless Looting
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Ridge Rannet
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Bloodcrypt
1 Stomping Grounds
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Forest
Yeah, so this deck is super boring. I think it's just a worse version of Living End. You have to work SUPER hard to get to 20 creatures in your yard. Sure, you can transmute the Dimir Houseguard to go get Mortal Combat. Whoooooo. I think you'll probably just die before you even get to ten creatures.
deck two
Near-Death Experience
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Street Wraith
4 Manamorphose
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Silence
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Angel's Grace
4 Plunge into Darkness
4 Pentad Prism
4 Near-Death Experience
4 Remand
4 Mana Confluence
4 Gemstone Mines
1 Gemstone Cavern
1 Bloodcrypt
1 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave
2 Marsh Flats
2 Bloodstained Mire
This deck is a sweet one. You use Lotus Bloom or Pentad Prism to ramp into a Near-Death Experience. There are a lot of cards to let you use life as a resource. It's okay to take damage from your manabase because your opponent will be dealing damage to you as well. Your opponent has to play very carefully so that you don't accidentally win. An alpha strike / burn spells / and basically anything other than infect and mill will put you at 1 life and you will win during your upkeep. Silence is to keep your spells from being counter / randomly dying to cards during the turn you need to stay alive at one life. Plunge through Darkness helps you find the enchantment and a lot of spells are designed to deal 1-2 damage to you. A clever opponent will try and keep you at an even life total. That's what the fetchlands and Mana Confluence are for.
My idea for a sideboard currently is:
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Greater Aurmancy
4 Moltensteel Dragon
3 Mana Leak
Yeah, not so interesting. An opponent will likely not have anything mainboard to deal with the enchantment, but you're probably all-in on your first copy. Five is a lot of mana, especially for a deck with sixteen lands. The dragon is just an idea. It fits with the theme of the deck, this should be good against decks heavy with enchantment hate and counterspells. Also, I can't imagine this deck has a good matchup against burn. Or maybe it does. Who knows.
I'll bring you guys more craziness later. Expect some tournament reports on the weekend.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Modern Update: Cereal Edition
Greetings folks! Stephen here with another entry on my modern nonsense of Cheerios or Puresteel Storm. I played in another 4 round event this past night, and I wanted to continue to share my thoughts about the list, the matches that I've played, and how I want to move forward with it.
For starters, let us begin with the list:
Cheerios:
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
1 Sigil of Distinction
4 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Mox Opal
3 Retract
4 Noxious Revival
4 Muddle the Mixture
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Grapeshot
1 Echoing Truth
3 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
1 Plains
2 Mystic Gate
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Glimmervoid
3 Gemstone Mine
Sideboard:
4 Salvage Titan
4 Silence
4 Angel's Grace
3 Gut Shot
For those of you keeping track, some of the number have indeed changed. I cut one of the Noxious Revival for a 15th land, and I cut all the Turn Aside for Erayo. Flipping Erayo turn 2 has brought many games to a screeching halt, and since all you have to draw at that point is either a Paladin or a Retract to start your combo over, it isn't too devastating to us, while putting some people off. Also, some lists like Amulet Bloom and Splinter Twin are so all in on the number of spells that they need to cast that the extra mana necessary isn't likely to appear too fast.
Round 1: Vs Grixis Twin
He starts off with a fetch and shock to 17 and a Serum Visions, which put me on Twin. I simply played a tap land and passed. He plays a second tap land and passes, and here I decide to go for it. Second land Paladin, and we get a storm count of 14 but cannot find the Mox Opal to kill him turn 2. Paladin dies when he untaps and he assembles the Twin. I bring in Silence, I think? I can't remember, haha. Anywho, my second opener has 2 Erayo in it, so I decide to see just how effective Erayo is here. The first Erayo gets Bolted when I go for the flip, so sad face. The second one does flip, and the game, like I mentioned earlier, ground to a halt. My hand wasn't too good at this moment, but he actually couldn't cast any spells. He began to move to discard as the spells in his hand just began to pile up. Eventually, he found enough cheap spells and the Pestermite to take me out.
This matchup has proven to be rough, as they have almost infinite interaction with us. While sad, I think Silence may just be the only card we can really bring in, as we can't dilute the deck too far. However, most game one matches against Twin, they tap out in the early turns allowing us the chance to go for it.
Round 2: Vs Affinity
This was a great matchup where we both basically press F6 when it isn't our turn. Game one, I fizzle on turns 2 and 3, and the Robots roll right on over to my side of the table and very swiftly put me at a negative life total. I expect Leylines of the board, so I bring in the Salvage Titans. Game two I decide to play and keep, and sure enough, the Leyline is there. I go turn one land pass, and he begins to assemble some Robots. My turn two is a long ass turn. Paladin into equipment into Opal into Retract, Noxious Revival the Retract to continue the loop, and continue until I find all 4 Mox Opals, which means I have storm count in the 30s or so, float UURR with my opals, cast Echoing Truth on the Leyline and Grapeshot for the kill. Yes, that's a turn 2 kill through Leyline. Game three he is on the play and starts with most of his hand in play, but no leyline. I simply play a land and pass. He attacks me down to 17(?) and dumps most of the rest of his hand into play and passes, and I untap and kill him. I end up having to burn two Opals mid combo to play a second Puresteel Paladin with 2 shields left, but it was worth it to pin another win on turn 2.
Affinity has one very good burn spell, Galvanic Blast, that will turn the Paladin into crispy critter. Beware of this.
Round 3: Semblance Anvil Combo
To be honest, I didn't see this coming. We were both surprised that someone else is running Transmute cards(ban Ponder and Preordain, but give us perfect tutors? wtf is balance? jkjk) His goal is to use Heartless Summoning or Semblance Anvil to cast fun stuff like Myr Superion, but his plan is to cast Myr Retriever to die to get back and cast Myr Retriever to build up the storm count or, get this, the Gravestorm Count (!?!?!) and either Grapeshot or Bitter Ordeal for the win. I loved his idea, and we were off to the races. Game one, I go for the Erayo flip, but it eats removal. To be honest, I didn't think he was playing any, haha. So, basically nothing happens for a good long while as he doesn't have but half the pieces necessary, and then I find the Puresteel Paladin, and once I find out he has nothing to stop me with, we end the game. Game two we bring in the Salvage Titan, as it was a thing that doesn't die to the only removal spell he played last game. So, he starts with a Altar of the Brood (another combo in that deck? talk about redundancy, and McDonalds, cause I'm lovin' both right now) and begins to mill me out. While he doesn't assemble the combo here, he does mill everything except lands. I draw enough lands to start hard casting Salvage Titans and giving them equipment, which end up attacking him to death. We had a blast this match, and I look forward to seeing what that list has in store for the future.
Round 4: Skred Red
Let's be real, this wasn't even a match. I keep a one lander on the draw with Paladin and plenty of goods to go for it, and he taps out on turn one for a Pyrite Spellbomb and I don't draw a mana source. Paladin dies when I get to a land. Game two, Blood Moon. Done.
This could potentially be the worst matchup of all time. The deck is nothing but burn and Blood Moon effects, which are good as hell against this list. I am going to incorporate more basic lands into the list, as I feel that Blood Moon only stopped me because my second land was a dual. His turn two Blood Moons could have been beaten, but I did not foresee Blood Moon ever seeing play like this, heh heh.
Moving forward, I am confident that this deck can surprise the shit out of people due to having a combo that is exceptionally fast and very consistent. I want to bring more basic lands into the list to combat Blood Moon, as that was just plain savage, haha. I want to have some other game against decks like Twin, but I feel that Silence and being faster are the tools that I need to leverage to the max.
Turn two kills in modern, I'm going for it. Wish me luck everybody. Thanks for reading. :)
-Stephen D.
For starters, let us begin with the list:
Cheerios:
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
1 Sigil of Distinction
4 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Mox Opal
3 Retract
4 Noxious Revival
4 Muddle the Mixture
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Grapeshot
1 Echoing Truth
3 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
1 Plains
2 Mystic Gate
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Glimmervoid
3 Gemstone Mine
Sideboard:
4 Salvage Titan
4 Silence
4 Angel's Grace
3 Gut Shot
For those of you keeping track, some of the number have indeed changed. I cut one of the Noxious Revival for a 15th land, and I cut all the Turn Aside for Erayo. Flipping Erayo turn 2 has brought many games to a screeching halt, and since all you have to draw at that point is either a Paladin or a Retract to start your combo over, it isn't too devastating to us, while putting some people off. Also, some lists like Amulet Bloom and Splinter Twin are so all in on the number of spells that they need to cast that the extra mana necessary isn't likely to appear too fast.
Round 1: Vs Grixis Twin
He starts off with a fetch and shock to 17 and a Serum Visions, which put me on Twin. I simply played a tap land and passed. He plays a second tap land and passes, and here I decide to go for it. Second land Paladin, and we get a storm count of 14 but cannot find the Mox Opal to kill him turn 2. Paladin dies when he untaps and he assembles the Twin. I bring in Silence, I think? I can't remember, haha. Anywho, my second opener has 2 Erayo in it, so I decide to see just how effective Erayo is here. The first Erayo gets Bolted when I go for the flip, so sad face. The second one does flip, and the game, like I mentioned earlier, ground to a halt. My hand wasn't too good at this moment, but he actually couldn't cast any spells. He began to move to discard as the spells in his hand just began to pile up. Eventually, he found enough cheap spells and the Pestermite to take me out.
This matchup has proven to be rough, as they have almost infinite interaction with us. While sad, I think Silence may just be the only card we can really bring in, as we can't dilute the deck too far. However, most game one matches against Twin, they tap out in the early turns allowing us the chance to go for it.
Round 2: Vs Affinity
This was a great matchup where we both basically press F6 when it isn't our turn. Game one, I fizzle on turns 2 and 3, and the Robots roll right on over to my side of the table and very swiftly put me at a negative life total. I expect Leylines of the board, so I bring in the Salvage Titans. Game two I decide to play and keep, and sure enough, the Leyline is there. I go turn one land pass, and he begins to assemble some Robots. My turn two is a long ass turn. Paladin into equipment into Opal into Retract, Noxious Revival the Retract to continue the loop, and continue until I find all 4 Mox Opals, which means I have storm count in the 30s or so, float UURR with my opals, cast Echoing Truth on the Leyline and Grapeshot for the kill. Yes, that's a turn 2 kill through Leyline. Game three he is on the play and starts with most of his hand in play, but no leyline. I simply play a land and pass. He attacks me down to 17(?) and dumps most of the rest of his hand into play and passes, and I untap and kill him. I end up having to burn two Opals mid combo to play a second Puresteel Paladin with 2 shields left, but it was worth it to pin another win on turn 2.
Affinity has one very good burn spell, Galvanic Blast, that will turn the Paladin into crispy critter. Beware of this.
Round 3: Semblance Anvil Combo
To be honest, I didn't see this coming. We were both surprised that someone else is running Transmute cards(ban Ponder and Preordain, but give us perfect tutors? wtf is balance? jkjk) His goal is to use Heartless Summoning or Semblance Anvil to cast fun stuff like Myr Superion, but his plan is to cast Myr Retriever to die to get back and cast Myr Retriever to build up the storm count or, get this, the Gravestorm Count (!?!?!) and either Grapeshot or Bitter Ordeal for the win. I loved his idea, and we were off to the races. Game one, I go for the Erayo flip, but it eats removal. To be honest, I didn't think he was playing any, haha. So, basically nothing happens for a good long while as he doesn't have but half the pieces necessary, and then I find the Puresteel Paladin, and once I find out he has nothing to stop me with, we end the game. Game two we bring in the Salvage Titan, as it was a thing that doesn't die to the only removal spell he played last game. So, he starts with a Altar of the Brood (another combo in that deck? talk about redundancy, and McDonalds, cause I'm lovin' both right now) and begins to mill me out. While he doesn't assemble the combo here, he does mill everything except lands. I draw enough lands to start hard casting Salvage Titans and giving them equipment, which end up attacking him to death. We had a blast this match, and I look forward to seeing what that list has in store for the future.
Round 4: Skred Red
Let's be real, this wasn't even a match. I keep a one lander on the draw with Paladin and plenty of goods to go for it, and he taps out on turn one for a Pyrite Spellbomb and I don't draw a mana source. Paladin dies when I get to a land. Game two, Blood Moon. Done.
This could potentially be the worst matchup of all time. The deck is nothing but burn and Blood Moon effects, which are good as hell against this list. I am going to incorporate more basic lands into the list, as I feel that Blood Moon only stopped me because my second land was a dual. His turn two Blood Moons could have been beaten, but I did not foresee Blood Moon ever seeing play like this, heh heh.
Moving forward, I am confident that this deck can surprise the shit out of people due to having a combo that is exceptionally fast and very consistent. I want to bring more basic lands into the list to combat Blood Moon, as that was just plain savage, haha. I want to have some other game against decks like Twin, but I feel that Silence and being faster are the tools that I need to leverage to the max.
Turn two kills in modern, I'm going for it. Wish me luck everybody. Thanks for reading. :)
-Stephen D.
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