Greetings All! Stephen here, after starting a new job and all that jazz, I have updates for the Cheerios list that I will likely be piloting in Charlotte should I go. The joke of the title comes from the fact that I am building Food Chain in Legacy, using Emrakul as my main win con.
To get right to the point, while I loved the list that I played in States, moving forward I don't feel it to be the most optimal. Even now, the list that I am having some degree of success with doesn't quite feel to be the most optimal, is actually EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVE, if that was possible. Without further ado, the list. I will go over certain card choices afterwards.
Cheerios: By Stephen D
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
4 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Mox Opal
4 Retract
3 Noxious Revival
4 Myth Realized
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Grapeshot
4 Serum Visions
2 Thoughtcast
2 Plains
1 Island
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
4 Seachrome Coast
Sideboard:
3 Angel's Grace
2 Gut Shot
3 Path to Exile
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Echoing Truth
3 Burrenton Forge Tender
First thing off the bat: no more Muddle the Mixture. I previously preached this card as the truth, and it is very good. However, it does not pair well with the new addition of Myth Realized. I do miss Muddle a bit here and there, but not having a spell that costs 3 mana all the time has been a blessing. I have had a very tough time casting Mentor due to the cost of 3, and having essentially 5 Grapeshots now helps a good bit. (a giant spell that goes to the dome) Serum Visions has also been really good. Being able to set up second equipment, find the retract, even protect a Paladin from Thoughtseize has been quite good. Thoughtcast is something I tested this evening over Sleight of Hand, and I was thoroughly impressed. At one point, I did pay 3 mana for it (haha, I know I cut the three drops) but it provides so much velocity that I'm willing to slot up 2 of them.
As far as gameplay, the strategy is still the same. 20 equipment is enough for game one, and you can shave some Bonesaws if you really need the space for game 2-3. I wouldn't go below 18 equips at the lowest, but it's doable if you really really need it. Myth attacks like its going out of style, and while I had some disagreements with the card at first, and sometimes still do, but some decks simply cannot stop a 6/6. Like Twin. The worst matchup. So, it has some merit.
Sideboard now has newcomer Forge Tender, which has been fantastic. Path comes in to deal with things that Gut Shot can't, and Twin, lol.
Side note about the Tender. This little Kithkin hero is obvious for the matchups that use Lightning Bolt to eat our dudes, but it is also our Golden Boy against Burn. Choosing Eidolon and turning it off for a turn is great, but it also blocks very well too. The biggest argument against this card I have heard is just to replace it with Kor Firewalker, and while that card is good, it simply doesn't perfom as well as our Kithkin Wizard. Why? Forge Tender protects Paladin, Firewalker doesn't. Forge Tender stops Eidolon, Firewalker doesn't. What she doesn't do is gain life, which is irrelevant against the Burn match. They are either going to toast the Paladin, or burn us to death, and any intelligent human being that can read their cards will know that somebody is going to block with Firewalker, so they cast Skullcrack and kill the Firewalker. This actually just causes us to lose the game outright. I will take an additional one damage per spell and win the game, rather than pray my opponent doesn't know how "Protection from Red" and "Damage Cannot be Prevented" interact. If you simply tell me not to block and take the lifegain, I'm going to frown at you because you can't cast Paladins anymore. End of discussion. :)
I did play Modern this evening. I toasted an infinite draw combo deck, Forge Tended my way through a deck that attacks for 20 on turn two (Mono Red Combo for the win... btw Firewalker would have lost me that match because it can't block two red monsters, or anything with Trample and Doublestrike, while things that big make fine choices to stop), and managed to show Abzan midrange that Myths are indeed being realized. Forgoing match details, Thoughtcast was actually pretty good, Myth Realized does get quite large, Serum Visions is good, and holy moly Noxious Revival is the truth. At no point did I 2-0 anyone, so these weren't clean sweeps, but the sideboard and mainboard are getting as close to optimal as possible I feel. I'm going to keep testing new ideas prior to Charlotte to see if there are any other tricks that I can come up with, but so far, every sideboard card has a purpose, and every mainboard card has a purpose.
I'm sorry everybody for not bringing up new tech, ideas, or updates for a bit. I just started a new job and have been pressed for time to keep up with everything going on around me. I thank you all for simply taking the time to read the articles and talk about them to your friends and other Magic players. If I don't post anything else prior to Charlotte, wish me luck guys. :)
-Stephen D.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
GP Excitement and some stuff
Hey guys, I'm headed to Utrecht (which is in the Netherlands, apparently - the more you know) for the GP this weekend to jam some modern masters sealed. I can't say I'm particularly nervous about it. Sealed is just always so hit-or-miss, sometimes you open garbage pools and sometimes you open things you know will carry you to the top 8.
I don't really have a "plan" and I think it's always a joke that people talk about sealed strategy. You could do one thousand practice pools and then still mess up for the one that matters. What do I want to do? Well, wizards was not particularly subtle with the archetypes.
My hope is just to open up the R/B bloodlust deck and attack people. I don't know if there are a ton of people who can pilot a rakdos deck better than me. Just sayin'. Ashenmoor Gouger is one of my favorite creatures ever, along with Vampire Lacerator. It's like this set wants me to run R/B.
I played in two drafts last week and won them both, going 3-1. I started off 3-0 and then in both flights, got paired down against someone who was 1-1-1...and lost. Even when I play sixteen lands, I always seem to flood like a bitch. It's just so frustrating when you've drawn land 12, put one on the bottom of your deck and ANY REMOVAL SPELL kills your opponent. Oh well, whatever. I uploaded my decks - both were pretty strong, but the first one is probably better.
- - -
So I could talk about the white-weenie or Torchrunner 3.0 that I'm messing around with in standard, but I wanted to take this time and try something different. I think that this won't be anything more than an echo of other players' sentiment, but I feel very let down with Modern Masters 2015.
1. The set feels very rushed. I don't think it was fleshed out very well. There's a lot of inequity (Gut Shot at common) and non-synergy (Daybreak Coronet lacks real support enchantments). I don't know if the set just wasn't tested enough or there were some executive decisions here and there, but this feels like one of the worst sets in a long time.
2. The value just isn't there. I understand that not EVERY card in the set can be a modern staple, but there's certainly a lot, and I mean A LOT, of dross in this set. You almost have to open a Tarmogoyf or Vendillion Clique to make your money back on a box. Most of the uncommons are worth nothing and there's a huge amount of cards that NO ONE asked to be reprinted, and a lot that weren't reprinted. I thought the whole idea was to make modern more accessible to new players. Well, are they just buying this set for the rares? There's still a ton of commons/uncommons that are 3+ dollars. Gitaxian Probe is insanely expensive online and was anyone really calling for Tezzeret's Gambit to be reprinted?
3. The print run is awful. People are opening packs with three rares and people are opening BOXES with zero total rares. I assume most people have seen the video of the guy opening something llike 18 foil Rusted Relics from one box? He opened a total of 69 or something. That is just unacceptable. Wizards has been doing this for too long to be messing up this bad. Between Utrecht and Las Vegas, I can only assume there will be a bunch of players who open up a bunch of craziness. I mean, if you open up some pool with 18 Rusted Relics, would they make you keep it? God, I hope not. And if some guy if getting 3 rares per pack, would they let him keep it? He just made his money back and then some.
4. The packaging is awful. Wizards statement is that they're trying to be more environmental-friendly with this. Ok, I could get behind that, but come on, I can only assume that this flimsy cardboard is much cheaper to package with. And yes, cards are coming out damaged, there are always accidents, but the main thing is that the sides of the cards are being marked IN THE PACK. The packs look seriously awful and there are even rumors of stores replacing packs without the rares. I don't know about all that, but it definitely seems like more shady things can be done with this flimsy cardboard.
All in all, MM 2015 has been a bit of a SNAFU so far. The first modern masters was so fun to play and seemed really balanced, the second set honestly is less exciting and with the prospect of Modern Masters 2017....2019...2021(?) on the horizon, it certainly seems less interesting.
So...we shall see how it goes this weekend. Good luck to anyone battling out there!
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Trash for...more Trash
Hi everyone,
I have a new brew for you for the first time...in well, a good while, not from anyone else, just from my brain.
If you want to have some fun in modern with an impractical deck then this could be the one for you.
People that know me have probably had the pleasure (?) of doing a draft with my "bad cube." I collected some of the worst cards in magic and made a cube out of it. Sometimes people come out with the craziest combos...and sometimes you have a deck full of 2/2s for 5.
Anyway, the following deck contains three (!) cards from the bad cube, so without further ado...
Immortal Coil!
4 Immortal Coil
4 Faithless Looting
4 Bazaar Trader
4 Trash for Treasure
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Wild Guess
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Street Wraith
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Manamorphose
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Bloodcrypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
I wanted to fit a Darksteel Citadel in, but it's just a blank as far as mana-production is concerned. Urborg would also be good, but once again, basically a blank on mana.
So - I presume you don't know what the three rares in here do.
Trash for Treasure - 2R sac an artifact, put an artifact from your gy into play. Ok, fair enough
Bazaar Trader - 1R 1/1, tap, give target opponent target land/creature/artifact you control
Immortal Coil 2BB, remove 2 cards in your gy from the game, draw a card. Whenever you would be dealt damage, prevent that damage and instead remove that many cards in your gy from the game. Oh, and if you don't have any cards in your gy, you lose the game.
The idea - draw and discard a TON of cards. Ideally, you put Bazaar Trade in play turn 2 and turn 3, remove SSG to put Immortal Coil into play. Tormod's Crypt your opponent and give them control of Immortal Coil. Wheeeeeeeeee! Super magical christmasland. It could happen.
Yeah, though, you have 12 cards that cycle for 0, and then 12 cards at 2 mana that get you 1-2 cards deeper. You need to have a lot of cards in your graveyard because you don't want to just die to a lightning bolt after playing Immortal Coil.
Honestly, I have no idea how competitive this deck is. By then I mean, it's terrible but is it so terrible that it will NEVER work? Granted, the burn matchup just has to be horrendous.
So...I might actually end up building this, minus some of the actual expensive cards...and Mishra's Bauble which despite being played in ZERO decks is like a 7 dollar uncommon.
Ok, that's all for now.
I have a new brew for you for the first time...in well, a good while, not from anyone else, just from my brain.
If you want to have some fun in modern with an impractical deck then this could be the one for you.
People that know me have probably had the pleasure (?) of doing a draft with my "bad cube." I collected some of the worst cards in magic and made a cube out of it. Sometimes people come out with the craziest combos...and sometimes you have a deck full of 2/2s for 5.
Anyway, the following deck contains three (!) cards from the bad cube, so without further ado...
Immortal Coil!
4 Immortal Coil
4 Faithless Looting
4 Bazaar Trader
4 Trash for Treasure
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Wild Guess
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Street Wraith
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Manamorphose
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Bloodcrypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
I wanted to fit a Darksteel Citadel in, but it's just a blank as far as mana-production is concerned. Urborg would also be good, but once again, basically a blank on mana.
So - I presume you don't know what the three rares in here do.
Trash for Treasure - 2R sac an artifact, put an artifact from your gy into play. Ok, fair enough
Bazaar Trader - 1R 1/1, tap, give target opponent target land/creature/artifact you control
Immortal Coil 2BB, remove 2 cards in your gy from the game, draw a card. Whenever you would be dealt damage, prevent that damage and instead remove that many cards in your gy from the game. Oh, and if you don't have any cards in your gy, you lose the game.
The idea - draw and discard a TON of cards. Ideally, you put Bazaar Trade in play turn 2 and turn 3, remove SSG to put Immortal Coil into play. Tormod's Crypt your opponent and give them control of Immortal Coil. Wheeeeeeeeee! Super magical christmasland. It could happen.
Yeah, though, you have 12 cards that cycle for 0, and then 12 cards at 2 mana that get you 1-2 cards deeper. You need to have a lot of cards in your graveyard because you don't want to just die to a lightning bolt after playing Immortal Coil.
Honestly, I have no idea how competitive this deck is. By then I mean, it's terrible but is it so terrible that it will NEVER work? Granted, the burn matchup just has to be horrendous.
So...I might actually end up building this, minus some of the actual expensive cards...and Mishra's Bauble which despite being played in ZERO decks is like a 7 dollar uncommon.
Ok, that's all for now.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Tournament Report: GPT Utrecht
Last Saturday I played in a GP trial to try and win some byes for Utrecht, which I'm going to next week. I unfortunately haven't been able to get many points because, frankly, I haven't played that much magic this year. I guess maybe our definitions on the word "much" vary, but on to the tournie.
I sleeved up Living End for the third time. I have burn, but I really hate that deck. I played it for an entire season once in 2009 (maybe it was 2008?) at seven different PTQs and scrubbed at all of them. But then again, that was back in extended when a turn four goldfish just wasn't good enough. WELCOME TO MODERN, I guess.
Anyway, I know that you have Skullcrack and Atarka's Command, but I seriously just can't make myself play a deck that loses to Kitchen Finks.
Maybe it's contradictory that I always play some dumb red aggro deck in standard, but can't stand it in Modern? Perhaps.
The report:
Round 1: Bant Walkers
I didn't really get a chance to see much of my opponent's deck, he didn't really do anything and I only saw a couple of cards - Birds of Paradise, Caryatid, Kiora and a Sphinx's Revelation, but only because he dropped it. He didn't really seem to know what my deck did, and usually that's a death sentence for anyone playing against combo.
In Game 2 I played a Demonic Dread into like four open mana and it just resolved (I had a backup Demonic Dread, mind you) and I won. Hmm. Ok.
Round 2: Burn
oh, hey, this deck. This is my worst matchup by far.
Game 1: he's on the play and starts with Goblin Guide, but by third turn I'm literally at 5 life and I would have to shock myself to play a land to Violent Outburst so I just pack it in.
I mean, he had two cards in hand. Would you have played it out?
Game 2: I keep an average seven and again, I'm attacked for 2 on turn 1, this time finding a land. He attacks again and I remove a Spirit Guide to bring back my 3/3 artifact guy and a Faerie Macabre, which is pretty unexciting, but he has no follow-up. On his third turn he awkwardly has to play an Eidolon while I'm ahead in life total. I just don't play anymore spells except for a Brindle Boar. He eventually concedes as the Eidolon puts him to 2 life.
Game 3: He mulls to five but has a pretty decent hand. I find a brindle boar and between sac-ing it, and a violent outburst, I'm able to gain enough life to stay out of burn range and pummel him with guys.
Round 3: Infect
Game 1: I keep an alright hand (by which I mean bad) and he goes for it on turn 3, attacking with his unblockable guy and a nexus. I outburst and blow up another one of his lands. He thinks for awhile and concedes.
Game 2: I cycle a lot,but mostly find blanks. I have to beast within his unblockable guy to not take an additional 5 poison in one turn. It sucks because he has a nexus in play. I draw violent outburst the next turn. Sucks. Well, play to your outs I guess. I put exactly 20 power into play and he gets his unblockable guy back and then plays a Glistener Elf. I hope to draw Shriekmaw or another Violent Outburst orrrr Beast Within on my turn, but I just draw air. I attack, he chump blocks with the elf and then has Immense Growth for exactsies.
Game 3: My keep is just insane. There's no way he's beating this. 2x land, Minotaur, SSG, Shriekmaw, Street Wraith, Violent Outburst. I find another street wraith and when he attacks on turn two with his nexus, I remove my spirit guide to put nine power in play and put him on one land. Sometimes you just have the nutssss.
Round 4: Affinity
ID
Even though this is a good matchup, being an autolock for the top 8 is better. Don't get greedy now...
Round 5: Jund
This was misery! Both games my deck refused to cooperate and I died in unexciting ways. Game 1 an early thoughtseize took my only cascade spell and I couldn't find another one for several turns. This gave him time to get a Liliana in play and discard a creature to it. Gross. And then between a Lightning Bolt and Liliana most of my creatures died and I couldn't do anything.
Game 2 I had a ton of cyclers and even though I opened on two lands, I never drew a third. He even ran out a tarmogoyf on turn 2 and literally did nothing else for three turns. I sat there with 2 outburst and 2 demonic dread in hand and then turn 5 he has slaughter games. Guess I'm deaddddd. And the third land is on top. Obviously.
swiss 3-1-1
Top 8:
consisted of 2 Burn, 2 Affinity, Naya Zoo, Living End, Infect, Jund
Round 6 Affinity
I play against what I consider a pretty good matchup. Game 1 is pretty close and I have to beast-within his ravager but I stabilize at 5 life and living end for 20+ power, which is good enough.
Game 2: I open on 2x Ingot Chewer...this was a massacre
Round 7:
Game 1: He goes for it on turn 3 with 2x Glistener Elf and a might of old krosa but I Living End, even though it wasn't for very much but he doesnt have a follow up.
Game 2: I keep a strong seven. He mulls to 6 and then triple gitaxian probes me! ...and then fails to play a land. I bide my time for awhile and when he finally threw down a creature, I living end with mana up (he had shown Spell Pierce). My draws from the cyclers weren't that good honestly, but sometimes it's just about your opponent giving you time.
Round 8: Affinity
The other semifinals match when I was playing against infect was affinity vs. burn and I would have rather not faced burn. But I dodged it twice in the top 8. How lucky!
Game 1: He mulls to 4 on the play and I feel like I've got this locked because my hand has lands, cascade and a cycler. WELL, as it turns out, I never drew another cycler and have to living end for oneeeeee guy, which was just embarrassing. Anyway, thanks to cranial plating, my crappy commons weren't able to keep up and I eventually died.
Game 2: I started the game at 16 life (2x street wraith) and I'm cycling like crazy. On his first turn, He double galvanic blasts me and I fall to 8 life. I panic and go on the offensive with a somewhat early living end just to pressure him. He never draws any relevant fliers so my guys are able to get through.
Game 3: He has a very explosive start and I lead on ingot chewer blowing up his mox opal. I'm terrified of him getting to three mana, as he had hinted that he had Rule of Law so I demonic dread on my second turn to blow up most of his permanents. I only put two creatures in play but it takes him too long to rebuild and they get the job done.
6-1-1
and then byes to Utrecht
I find it interesting that no one actually plays graveyard hate anymore. I saw Slaughter Pact, Stain the Mind, Chalice of the Void and Ethersworn Canonist as hate cards, but nothing that actually messed with my graveyard.
I really like this deck sometimes. It has the ability to mulligain well since 1/3 of your deck is disposable. It has the ability to be explosive and have turn 2 (because of simian spirit guide) Living Ends. It also has the ability to be resilient towards hate because of Beast Within.
Honestly though, I think the deck's biggest problem is itself. Yeah, sometimes you mulligain great and basically for free, but I would say I had one Living End in my keeps 20-40% of the time. The worst feeling is mulling an opening 7 and seeing Living End in your six. No, you don't always mulligain hands that have LE, but you do end up mulling most of them. Sometimes you just draw rotten garbage with your cyclers, too many cascade spells or none. Sometimes you don't get critical mass and even if you resolve Living End, it's not good enough to win because you've given your opponent too much time. Sometimes the deck just deals too much damage to itself (I only run 3 shocklands and a couple fetches, but it's really the street wraiths that do the most damage to you). And sometimes, which HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED, you just draw all four living ends and die. It happens.
Today's big loser was Fulminator Mage. I boarded it out the most.
Burn
-4 Fulminator
+4 Brindle Boar
Infect
-1 Fulminator
+1 Beast Within
Affinity
-4 Fulminator
-1 Faerie Macabre
+4 Ingot Chewer
+1 Beast Within
Jund
-1 Faerie Macabre
+1 Beast Within
So...I did not play against a large variety of decks, but that's alright. Of the seven rounds I played, five were against aggressive strategies, one against midrange and one against control.
I've questioned before whether the Format is too fast for fulminator. Burn/Affinity/Infect are always the decks to beat and while the walking-stone-rain is useful against (bl)inkmoth nexi, I usually find myself wanting to do something else. So, maybe another cycler? Maybe another beast within or shriekmaw? I drew a shriekmaw against affinity and got really mad. Having a singleton seems ok, it's mostly for scavenging ooze. Maybe i'll put a second in the sideboard.
This post has gotten out-of-control long and I think I'll save posting about another deck for a later day. Until next time, take it easy.
-t
I sleeved up Living End for the third time. I have burn, but I really hate that deck. I played it for an entire season once in 2009 (maybe it was 2008?) at seven different PTQs and scrubbed at all of them. But then again, that was back in extended when a turn four goldfish just wasn't good enough. WELCOME TO MODERN, I guess.
Anyway, I know that you have Skullcrack and Atarka's Command, but I seriously just can't make myself play a deck that loses to Kitchen Finks.
Maybe it's contradictory that I always play some dumb red aggro deck in standard, but can't stand it in Modern? Perhaps.
The report:
Round 1: Bant Walkers
I didn't really get a chance to see much of my opponent's deck, he didn't really do anything and I only saw a couple of cards - Birds of Paradise, Caryatid, Kiora and a Sphinx's Revelation, but only because he dropped it. He didn't really seem to know what my deck did, and usually that's a death sentence for anyone playing against combo.
In Game 2 I played a Demonic Dread into like four open mana and it just resolved (I had a backup Demonic Dread, mind you) and I won. Hmm. Ok.
Round 2: Burn
oh, hey, this deck. This is my worst matchup by far.
Game 1: he's on the play and starts with Goblin Guide, but by third turn I'm literally at 5 life and I would have to shock myself to play a land to Violent Outburst so I just pack it in.
I mean, he had two cards in hand. Would you have played it out?
Game 2: I keep an average seven and again, I'm attacked for 2 on turn 1, this time finding a land. He attacks again and I remove a Spirit Guide to bring back my 3/3 artifact guy and a Faerie Macabre, which is pretty unexciting, but he has no follow-up. On his third turn he awkwardly has to play an Eidolon while I'm ahead in life total. I just don't play anymore spells except for a Brindle Boar. He eventually concedes as the Eidolon puts him to 2 life.
Game 3: He mulls to five but has a pretty decent hand. I find a brindle boar and between sac-ing it, and a violent outburst, I'm able to gain enough life to stay out of burn range and pummel him with guys.
Round 3: Infect
Game 1: I keep an alright hand (by which I mean bad) and he goes for it on turn 3, attacking with his unblockable guy and a nexus. I outburst and blow up another one of his lands. He thinks for awhile and concedes.
Game 2: I cycle a lot,but mostly find blanks. I have to beast within his unblockable guy to not take an additional 5 poison in one turn. It sucks because he has a nexus in play. I draw violent outburst the next turn. Sucks. Well, play to your outs I guess. I put exactly 20 power into play and he gets his unblockable guy back and then plays a Glistener Elf. I hope to draw Shriekmaw or another Violent Outburst orrrr Beast Within on my turn, but I just draw air. I attack, he chump blocks with the elf and then has Immense Growth for exactsies.
Game 3: My keep is just insane. There's no way he's beating this. 2x land, Minotaur, SSG, Shriekmaw, Street Wraith, Violent Outburst. I find another street wraith and when he attacks on turn two with his nexus, I remove my spirit guide to put nine power in play and put him on one land. Sometimes you just have the nutssss.
Round 4: Affinity
ID
Even though this is a good matchup, being an autolock for the top 8 is better. Don't get greedy now...
Round 5: Jund
This was misery! Both games my deck refused to cooperate and I died in unexciting ways. Game 1 an early thoughtseize took my only cascade spell and I couldn't find another one for several turns. This gave him time to get a Liliana in play and discard a creature to it. Gross. And then between a Lightning Bolt and Liliana most of my creatures died and I couldn't do anything.
Game 2 I had a ton of cyclers and even though I opened on two lands, I never drew a third. He even ran out a tarmogoyf on turn 2 and literally did nothing else for three turns. I sat there with 2 outburst and 2 demonic dread in hand and then turn 5 he has slaughter games. Guess I'm deaddddd. And the third land is on top. Obviously.
swiss 3-1-1
Top 8:
consisted of 2 Burn, 2 Affinity, Naya Zoo, Living End, Infect, Jund
Round 6 Affinity
I play against what I consider a pretty good matchup. Game 1 is pretty close and I have to beast-within his ravager but I stabilize at 5 life and living end for 20+ power, which is good enough.
Game 2: I open on 2x Ingot Chewer...this was a massacre
Round 7:
Game 1: He goes for it on turn 3 with 2x Glistener Elf and a might of old krosa but I Living End, even though it wasn't for very much but he doesnt have a follow up.
Game 2: I keep a strong seven. He mulls to 6 and then triple gitaxian probes me! ...and then fails to play a land. I bide my time for awhile and when he finally threw down a creature, I living end with mana up (he had shown Spell Pierce). My draws from the cyclers weren't that good honestly, but sometimes it's just about your opponent giving you time.
Round 8: Affinity
The other semifinals match when I was playing against infect was affinity vs. burn and I would have rather not faced burn. But I dodged it twice in the top 8. How lucky!
Game 1: He mulls to 4 on the play and I feel like I've got this locked because my hand has lands, cascade and a cycler. WELL, as it turns out, I never drew another cycler and have to living end for oneeeeee guy, which was just embarrassing. Anyway, thanks to cranial plating, my crappy commons weren't able to keep up and I eventually died.
Game 2: I started the game at 16 life (2x street wraith) and I'm cycling like crazy. On his first turn, He double galvanic blasts me and I fall to 8 life. I panic and go on the offensive with a somewhat early living end just to pressure him. He never draws any relevant fliers so my guys are able to get through.
Game 3: He has a very explosive start and I lead on ingot chewer blowing up his mox opal. I'm terrified of him getting to three mana, as he had hinted that he had Rule of Law so I demonic dread on my second turn to blow up most of his permanents. I only put two creatures in play but it takes him too long to rebuild and they get the job done.
6-1-1
and then byes to Utrecht
I find it interesting that no one actually plays graveyard hate anymore. I saw Slaughter Pact, Stain the Mind, Chalice of the Void and Ethersworn Canonist as hate cards, but nothing that actually messed with my graveyard.
I really like this deck sometimes. It has the ability to mulligain well since 1/3 of your deck is disposable. It has the ability to be explosive and have turn 2 (because of simian spirit guide) Living Ends. It also has the ability to be resilient towards hate because of Beast Within.
Honestly though, I think the deck's biggest problem is itself. Yeah, sometimes you mulligain great and basically for free, but I would say I had one Living End in my keeps 20-40% of the time. The worst feeling is mulling an opening 7 and seeing Living End in your six. No, you don't always mulligain hands that have LE, but you do end up mulling most of them. Sometimes you just draw rotten garbage with your cyclers, too many cascade spells or none. Sometimes you don't get critical mass and even if you resolve Living End, it's not good enough to win because you've given your opponent too much time. Sometimes the deck just deals too much damage to itself (I only run 3 shocklands and a couple fetches, but it's really the street wraiths that do the most damage to you). And sometimes, which HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED, you just draw all four living ends and die. It happens.
Today's big loser was Fulminator Mage. I boarded it out the most.
Burn
-4 Fulminator
+4 Brindle Boar
Infect
-1 Fulminator
+1 Beast Within
Affinity
-4 Fulminator
-1 Faerie Macabre
+4 Ingot Chewer
+1 Beast Within
Jund
-1 Faerie Macabre
+1 Beast Within
So...I did not play against a large variety of decks, but that's alright. Of the seven rounds I played, five were against aggressive strategies, one against midrange and one against control.
I've questioned before whether the Format is too fast for fulminator. Burn/Affinity/Infect are always the decks to beat and while the walking-stone-rain is useful against (bl)inkmoth nexi, I usually find myself wanting to do something else. So, maybe another cycler? Maybe another beast within or shriekmaw? I drew a shriekmaw against affinity and got really mad. Having a singleton seems ok, it's mostly for scavenging ooze. Maybe i'll put a second in the sideboard.
This post has gotten out-of-control long and I think I'll save posting about another deck for a later day. Until next time, take it easy.
-t
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Pauper: Turbo Exhume
hey guise, I wish we could update more often, but genius takes time, amiright?
Anyway, there's a pauper deck that I saw on magic gathering strat a few months ago that I really liked. The deck plays very well and it's quite impressive how many turn-2/3 concessions you get.
List:
4 Ulamog's Crusher
4 Gurmag Angler
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Exhume
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Wild Guess
4 Faithless Looting
2 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Dragon Breath
2 Dragon Fangs
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Duress
2 Flame Slash
4 Geothermal Crevice
4 Sandstone Needle
4 Evolving Wilds
5 Mountain
3 Swamp
I'm missing Lotus Petals and Manamorphose, which are surprisingly expensive online.
So the idea is to draw cards like crazy, throw an Eldrazi and Dragons Breath in the graveyard, play an exhume and then attack on turn 2-3, which usually shuts them out. They cant even chump block if you give it trample.
The other option is to run out the zombie fish. A 5/5 for B is pretty impressive on turn 1-4, but after that it will generally just trade with two guys.
The duress/flame slash are concessions to Delver. This deck has serious problems against any deck with counterspells. Even if they don't have a threat out, it feels real gross to have 4 permanents when your opponent has 9 lands and a full grip.
Anyway, I might be playing some magic this weekend (in real life! gasp!) so we'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll eventually do a daily. That could be fun.
So hopefully more updates to come!
Anyway, there's a pauper deck that I saw on magic gathering strat a few months ago that I really liked. The deck plays very well and it's quite impressive how many turn-2/3 concessions you get.
List:
4 Ulamog's Crusher
4 Gurmag Angler
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Exhume
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Wild Guess
4 Faithless Looting
2 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Dragon Breath
2 Dragon Fangs
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Duress
2 Flame Slash
4 Geothermal Crevice
4 Sandstone Needle
4 Evolving Wilds
5 Mountain
3 Swamp
I'm missing Lotus Petals and Manamorphose, which are surprisingly expensive online.
So the idea is to draw cards like crazy, throw an Eldrazi and Dragons Breath in the graveyard, play an exhume and then attack on turn 2-3, which usually shuts them out. They cant even chump block if you give it trample.
The other option is to run out the zombie fish. A 5/5 for B is pretty impressive on turn 1-4, but after that it will generally just trade with two guys.
The duress/flame slash are concessions to Delver. This deck has serious problems against any deck with counterspells. Even if they don't have a threat out, it feels real gross to have 4 permanents when your opponent has 9 lands and a full grip.
Anyway, I might be playing some magic this weekend (in real life! gasp!) so we'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll eventually do a daily. That could be fun.
So hopefully more updates to come!
Friday, May 8, 2015
Super Budget Modern: Zombie Hunt
How do you feel about a deck that only runs a few nonlands? And we're not talking about legacy. This is for modern, and probably the cheapest deck possible.
Zombie Hunt
(bare bones)
4 Zombie Infestation
4 Treasure Hunt
24 Island
24 Swamp
4 Reliquary Tower
The idea is simple, you mulligan VERY AGGRESSIVELY into a hand with treasure hunt (AND hopefully Zombie Infestation). When you play treasure hunt, you will draw most of your deck and then you can discard a lot of cards and make an army. Hopefully, you will have drawn a Tower so you can do this on your opponent's end step and avoid a sweeper.
This deck, if you buy all 12 of these cards, comes to a grand total of .032 tix on mtgo. That's right, 3 cents. Is the deck great? No. You have to mulligan A LOT. And with one hand disruption or counter from your opponent, you are probably just incredibly dead, since you will just draw lands for infinite turns.
Most people recommend playing 2 Zombie Infestation and 3 Treasure Hunt. Playing a turn 2 Infestation and then going turn 3 treasure hunt, reveal Zombie Infestation is gameeeee overrrrr.
So! There's that, but you can put a bit more money into the deck.
4 Contested Warzone
This will let you attack for lethal even if you didn't manage to draw enough cards for 10-11 zombies.
4 Halimar Depths
4 Temple of Deceit
Yeah, so library manipulation when so much of your deck is useless is probably irrelevant, but who knows, it could matter.
4 Radiant Foundtain
Probably more of a sideboard card against burn and aggressive decks. You don't want TOO many colorless lands in your deck. It would be real gross to mull to three of "Zombie Infestation, Treasure Hunt, Reliquary Tower" and then your top few draws are colorless lands.
U/B Lands
yeah, obviously. Better than basic lands when it's very critical to play out your cards by turn 2 and 3.
Other options:
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (turns your colorless into swamps, shrugs)
Blinkmoth Nexus + Mutavault - extra damage. If the colorless lands aren't an issue, but the real question is, if you own these cards....why are you playing this deck?
I think this is a decent deck for someone trying to get into modern to explore the format. I've never seen anyone take down a daily with this, so I probably wouldn't take it to a tournament.
So - more posts to come. Take it easy, guys.
Zombie Hunt
(bare bones)
4 Zombie Infestation
4 Treasure Hunt
24 Island
24 Swamp
4 Reliquary Tower
The idea is simple, you mulligan VERY AGGRESSIVELY into a hand with treasure hunt (AND hopefully Zombie Infestation). When you play treasure hunt, you will draw most of your deck and then you can discard a lot of cards and make an army. Hopefully, you will have drawn a Tower so you can do this on your opponent's end step and avoid a sweeper.
This deck, if you buy all 12 of these cards, comes to a grand total of .032 tix on mtgo. That's right, 3 cents. Is the deck great? No. You have to mulligan A LOT. And with one hand disruption or counter from your opponent, you are probably just incredibly dead, since you will just draw lands for infinite turns.
Most people recommend playing 2 Zombie Infestation and 3 Treasure Hunt. Playing a turn 2 Infestation and then going turn 3 treasure hunt, reveal Zombie Infestation is gameeeee overrrrr.
So! There's that, but you can put a bit more money into the deck.
4 Contested Warzone
This will let you attack for lethal even if you didn't manage to draw enough cards for 10-11 zombies.
4 Halimar Depths
4 Temple of Deceit
Yeah, so library manipulation when so much of your deck is useless is probably irrelevant, but who knows, it could matter.
4 Radiant Foundtain
Probably more of a sideboard card against burn and aggressive decks. You don't want TOO many colorless lands in your deck. It would be real gross to mull to three of "Zombie Infestation, Treasure Hunt, Reliquary Tower" and then your top few draws are colorless lands.
U/B Lands
yeah, obviously. Better than basic lands when it's very critical to play out your cards by turn 2 and 3.
Other options:
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (turns your colorless into swamps, shrugs)
Blinkmoth Nexus + Mutavault - extra damage. If the colorless lands aren't an issue, but the real question is, if you own these cards....why are you playing this deck?
I think this is a decent deck for someone trying to get into modern to explore the format. I've never seen anyone take down a daily with this, so I probably wouldn't take it to a tournament.
So - more posts to come. Take it easy, guys.
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