As I mentioned in my last post, I've recently got into MODO. Because I didn't have much money to start, I decided the most competitive budget deck I could have was a mono-colored one. I didn't want Red, since I want some interaction, so I went with White Weenie (sans Baneslayers).
Here's the list I've been using:
Lands (24)
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
21 Plains
Creatures (20)
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Emeria Angel
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Veteran Armorsmith
4 Veteran Swordsmith
Spells (16)
4 Brave the Elements
4 Conqueror's Pledge
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
Sideboard (15)
4 Celestial Purge
3 Devout Lightcaster
2 Luminarch Ascension
4 Oblivion Ring
2 White Knight
The deck has turned out to be quite good, and so I decided to make a brief primer for this budget deck (the entire deck can be built for less than 50 tickets: quite good compared to Jund or Boros, which are much more expensive).
Vs Jund:
Sideboarding:
+4 Celestial Purge
+3 Devout Lightcaster
+2 White Knight
-4 Elite Vanguard
-4 Veteran Swordsmith
-1 Conqueror's Pledge
Pre-board, your best friend is Honor of the Pure. I mentioned a few months back that Pulsing Honor of the Pure was your best bet as Jund, yet people rarely do this. It allows for your Blademasters, Emeria Angels, and Armorsmiths to all be 3/3 resistant, and the latter two to be X/4's, and unable to be Bolted. Conqueror's Pledge is generally weak against them as they have Pulse, but if you play it, and they don't have it, they lose.
Post-board, they almost certainly have Jund Charm. To combat this, you have 5 Pro-black cards, and one less Pledge. You've also taken out some easily killed cards. Now your objective is to win with hard-to-kill cards and protect the ones you do with Brave the Elements. Often I can Lightcaster a Thrinax, drop Emeria Angel, and hold a Brave the Elements in hand with a winning position.
Vs Boros
+2 White Knight
-2 Veteran Swordsmith
Here, you are the defender. In both games, your aim is to play 2/3's and first strikers. Save your removal for his Skyfishers, which you can't block. You aim to make a nearly unassailable position with 2-3 creatures. Sandbag some, as Boros runs Earthquake now.
Vs Vampires
+4 Celestial Purge
+3 Devout Lightcaster
+2 White Knight
-4 Elite Vanguard
-4 Brave the Elements
-1 Veteran Swordsmith
This match is nearly an auto-win for you unless they draw multiple Bloodwitches. Game 1, save your removal for Nocturnus, try to get Honor of the Pure (they can't kill it) and play 3/3 first strikers and 3/4's to gum up the ground.
Games 2 and 3, you aim to kill all their relevant threats and win with pro-black guys. It's quite easy to win if you have 5 cards they can't stop in any way. Make sure you race their Bloodwitches.
That's all the major testing I've done so far.
Various tips:
Emeria Angel is a 5-drop. Drop her and then drop a land afterwards. She's also amazing with Honor of the Pure. a 4/4 and a 2/2 is hard to kill with one card.
Conqueror's Pledge is a last-ditch resort unless you have Honor, in which case it can swing the game if you KNOW the opponent doesn't have Wraths.
Armorsmiths are your best friend against red decks.
If you have a good board presence, always keep a mana open for Brave, even if you don't have it, unless you NEED all that mana.
That's all I've got for today! I'll do some more testing soon, and perhaps compete in a Standard event, and we'll see how I go!
(Also, draft is going great! I started with 3 packs. 3 drafts later, I still have 3 packs.)
See ya!
Showing posts with label standard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label standard. Show all posts
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Bad Deck Baz Presents It's A Wonderful Life!
Hello and welcome to the final installment of the Bad Deck Baz series. We've raced a 5/5 flying shrouded sphinx and out-milled a mill deck. Now let's see what we can do with It's A Wonderful Life!
It's a Wonderful Life!
10 Plains
4 Battlegrace Angel
2 Lifelink
Sideboard
A “Bad Deck Baz” Deck
2 Forest
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Kabira Crossroads
4 Graypelt Refuge
4 Mycoid Shepherd
4 Grazing Gladehart
2 Sunseed Nurturer
2 Mesa Enchantress
1 Landbind Ritual
3 Sylvan Bounty
3 Cradle of Vitality
4 Soul's Grace
2 Celestial Mantle
2 Sunspring Expedition
3 Angel's Mercy
3 Felidar Sovereign
3 Wall of Reverence
2 Captured Sunlight
4 Solemn Offering
3 Ajani Goldmane
As you can see here, Baz has definitely taken this lifegain theme to heart, with 73/75 cards gaining life, or having the potential to do so. Let's see how it goes.
Round 1: It's A Wonderful Life for Bant!
He gets Hierarch, Borderland Ranger, Ranger of Eos, Hierarch before I manage my first spell: a Sunseed Nurturer. I drop a Mesa Enchantress and Landbind Ritual, but I've already noticed a problem with this deck: without Wrath effects, the opponent can and will keep scaling up their threats until your lifegain can't keep up. He drops a Scute Mob and a Sphinx, and mows me down.
Game 2 is a near instant replay. Hierarch, Borderland Ranger, Dauntless Escort. I do put up some resistance this game. My Wall of Reverence meets a Path, my Gladehart has to chump, and my Ajani has no defenders. I get slammed again.
0-1
Round 2: It's A Wonderful Life for Grixis Control!
I drop Gladehart, and Mycoid Shepherd. The latter gets hit by Double Negative. I land a second, and he Quakes for 4. He Cruels me, and I Soul's Grace my last Shepherd in response. My hand and board are decimated, but I'm at 35 life. A Sphinx of Jwar Isle and a Siege-Gang Commander decimate that pretty fast though. I drop a Battlegrace Angel which meets a Terminate. He then kills me.
Game 2 I get stuck on 3 lands. Against a Siege-Gang Commander. I never find land 4. It isn't pretty.
0-2
Round 3: It's A Wondeful Life for Mono-White Lifegain! (no really!)
He gets Knight of the White Orchid, which my Gladehart is able to stem the wounds of. I drop Battlegrace and attack with my 3/3 lifelink Deer of Death. We keep going back and forth with two Knights vs. Battlegrace, and then I drop Cradle of Vitality. It meets Oblivion Ring. I drop another one, to make a 4/4 Gladehart thanks to Landfall. His Knight Trio slams me. (3 Knights of the White Orchid). He then drops an Elspeth and an Ajani. His Knights slay me, despite my 6/6 and growing Gladehart. I actually manage to drop an 11/11 Sunseed Nurturer and crack 60 life, but Elspeth's ultimate ensures my eventual defeat.
Game 2 I come out strong with Sunspring Expeditions. Ajani clashes with the Knight, and he drops Wall of Reverence. I drop Mycoid Shepherd, he drops Oblivion Ring on Ajani. He drops Emeria, the Sky Ruin. I drop Cradle, he names it with Pithing Needle. I Solemn Offering his O-Ring, but Baneslayer re-kills Ajani. I attack with the Shepherd, crack an Expedition, and make a 13/12. He says I can't do that, but I point out that Cradle's ability is triggered, not activated.
He plays another Wall and starts gaining 10 life a turn. He soon gets Emeria the Sky Ruin active. He gains a lot of life and casts Day of Judgement to kill my creatures which I can't bring back. However, I drop a Cradle of Vitality, Mycoid Shepherd, and Wall of Reverence. This combo allows me to make a very very large Wall, but his guys keep coming back so I can't attack without trample, which the deck does not have. I get 2 500+ P/T creatures and 850 life, but he finds his Felidar Sovereign before I find mine and the game is over.
0-3
Round 4: It's A Wonderful Life for Time Sieve!
Turn 4 I get a Mycoid Shepherd while he gets Kaleidostone and Howling Mine. He's wary of my one trick: gaining life to foil his attack. Therefore when he comboes off he makes sure he hits me for about 20 above my life total, and I fold.
Game 2 I get a Cradle and a Battlegrace. I also Solemn Offering his Howling Mine. In a long, boring game, he attacks for 13 with a Hulk, and I triple Soul's Grace, hoping he'll deck himself trying to deal 60 damage. Unfortunately, he does not.
0-4
And that ends the Bad Deck Baz series! With my stellar 2-10 record I now depart for greener pastures where I can go 3-1 once again. Join me next time as I explore a concept that is incredibly important to playing Magic competitively: even if you hate me for believing it.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Bad Deck Baz Presents Blisters On Your Fingers!
Hello and welcome to the second of the Bad Deck Baz posts. Last time, we looked at IT'S A TRAP!, which I piloted to a 1-3 record: not too bad given the deck. Let's see if I can repeat myself with this deck: Blisters on Your Fingers.
14 Island
4 Alluring Siren
Sideboard
A “Bad Deck Baz” Deck
2 Swamp
4 Jwar Isle Refuge
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Wall of Frost
4 Sphinx Ambassador
4 Cosi's Trickster
4 Gomazoa
2 Quest for Ancient Secrets
3 Sadistic Sacrament
4 Telemin Performance
4 Polymorph
3 Haunting Echoes
1 Platinum Angel
3 Marsh Casualties
4 Kathari Remnant
3 Deny Reality
4 Flashfreeze
Blisters On Your Fingers is a shuffling-based deck, with cards like Polymorph, Haunting Echoes, Gomozoa, and Cosi's Trickster. The alternate aim is to win with a Sphinx Ambassador.
The deck also has a library exiling theme, where you get rid of the opponent's bad creatures to Telemin them, or their good creatures to Polymorph them.
Let's get to testing!
Round 1: Blisters on Creatureless Control's fingers!
I don't really know how to classify this control deck, but as a creatureless deck I was hoping for a random Telemin win.
Game 1 I play Alluring Siren and Gomozoa. I take a few points off him before he casts a Day of Judgment. I drop Sphinx Ambassador and he retaliates with Martial Coup. I drop another one. Next turn I swing. I reveal no creatures, but plenty of planeswalkers and controllish cards. He's on 8 life.
He uses Vengeant to keep my Sphinx tapped. I try to resist, but he gets me to 10, then a combination Ajani Helix and Earthquake for 7 clinches it for him.
0-1
Round 2: Blisters on WBR Midrange's Fingers!
Game 1 I play two Tricksters. He cracks an Armillary Sphere, and I start swinging. He drops Day of Judgment. He then drops Blightning, Sorin, and Siege-Gang, and slaughters me. At 1 life I drop a Polymorph to see a bit more of his deck.
Game 2 is rather anti-climactic. I get mana-screwed, he gets a Turn 5 Siege-Gang Commander. I never offer any real resistance.
0-2
Round 3: Blisters on White Weenie's Fingers!
I drop Trickster, he drops Knight of the White Orchid. I drop Gomozoa, he Paths it. He plays Conqueror's Pledge and Elspeth. He gets a quick win.
Game 2 he plays: Kazandu Blademaster, Knight of the White Orchid, Veteran Swordsmith. He then gets Behemoth Sledge and Elspeth. I Polymorph the Blademaster into an Armorsmith, and Telemin into a Captain of the Watch. I'm on 8 life, but he equips the Sledge to his Swordsmith, pumps it with Elspeth, and swings for 8 in the air :(
0-3
Round 4: Blisters on Jacerator's Fingers!
I drop two Cosi's Tricksters, he drops Howling Mine and Jace. I correctly figure he's playing Jacerator. I wait for him to tap most of his mana for a Font of Mythos, then I untap, cast Telemin Performance, and kill him in a single blow. Booyah.
Game 2 he drops an early Wall of Denial (Better than Baneslayer against Telemin). He drops Jace as well, and ramps it up. I play Telemin Performance, which gets Negated. He drops a Font, and I drop a Telemin Performance. He mills me for 20, but unfortunately he has less cards than me now and no answer in his deck. He loses the game to mill.
1-3 (Random win! Woot!)
And that ends Blisters On Your Fingers. Join me next time I get a post up (which might not be until Sunday, but hopefully is before that) for the results of It's A Wonderful Life!
See ya!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Miniseries Series 1: W/U Control Part 3
And we return to the final part of our W/U Control series. We've gone over the theory, we've designed the deck, now let's put it to the test.
The only change I made in the deck to test with was to take out a Plains and add an Island.
Now let's test.
Round 1 vs. Dark Naya
We go back and forth killing each other's creatures for a while. He then gets double Baneslayer and I get double Wall of Denial and my own Baneslayer. He gains a lot of life and I let him, since I aim to defeat him via decking him after he gets to about 50 life.
He eventually plays Day of Judgement, and gets a bunch of cards out which I kill. Finally, he gets Enlisted Wurm into Baneslayer and I can't find an answer. He beats me with 8 cards left in his library.
Game 2 I get a Luminarch, he gets a Pulse. I get a Wall, he uses DoJ. He plays 2 Baneslayers, I play 2 DoJs (he only plays one at a time). I play my own Baneslayer, which he O-Rings. I get another and get him down to 4 before he gets rid of it. I remark that that ended the chance of a quick game. I play most of my hand, then Mind Spring for 8. With this avalanche of cards I get a Luminarch and protect it until it comes online. I win shortly after.
Game 3 I get two Baneslayers, he O-Rings both, he gets two Bloodbraids, I kill them both. I go into control mode, killing or countering all his cards. I get a couple of Mind Springs though (that card is friggin insane) but he's able to kill my finishers, so I use another. Once again I use this avalanche of cards to protect a Luminarch, and win. Turns out the ability to draw 7 cards and make 4/4 fliers for 1W is good. Who knew?
1-0
Round 2 vs. Four-Color LD
He's playing a deck with Ruinblasters, Mold Shambler, Acidic Slime, Convincing Mirage and Spreading Seas, with Violent Ultimatum in the mix. I get a Baneslayer, which he Terminates, and then he manages to get two Slimes and a Ruinblaster and keep me manascrewed enough to never be able to win the game. He beats me to death.
Game 2 I drop a Turn 2 Luminarch Ascension and a Turn 3 Wall of Denial. I win that game in about four minutes.
Game 3 I get another Luminarch Turn 2, and this time he puts up more of a fight. He Bolts me to try and stop it, and when it does get online he Terminates the first angel and goes for a Violent Ultimatum, but I have the Flashfreeze and manage to kill him.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Emeria Recursion
He's playing a deck with Empyrial Archangel, Baneslayer, and Emeria, the Sky Ruin. No prizes for guessing his plan.
Game 1 is really anticlimactic. I get several cards off a Jace, he gets stuck on 2 lands all game. When I drop a Turn 6 Sphinx of Jwar Isle, he concedes on the spot.
Game 2 I get a Jace and he gets a bunch of lands. I Path a Baneslayer and play my own. He plays Empyrial Archangel. Trumping a Baneslayer is hard to do, but he did. I play a second Baneslayer to stop him attacking. I Flashfreeze a second Archangel. I drop Wall of Denial, he drops Baneslayer. He goes for Martial Coup for about 12, and I Negate. Very anti-climactic.
Very little happens for about 15 minutes. Eventually he gets a Day of Judgement off with TRIPLE Emeria out. I drop Baneslayer and Wall of Denial that I'd been sandbagging, and I use my Journey on a Baneslayer. He plays Martial Coup for 16. It was a LONG GAME. I then Mind Spring for 6 and draw a Day, which I saved 4 mana to use. I use it. I get Jace to 10 counters, but he gets killed. If I'd gotten him off I would have won right there.
I eventually get him down to 1 card in his library facing down lethal. I dig through almost all of my deck with Mind Spring and am lucky enough to find my final Day, which I do. I use Jace to bring him to 0 cards, and he loses the match.
3-0
Round 4 vs. White Weenie
He drops Akrasan Squire and Kazandu Blademaster. He gets me to about 10 before I draw a Day. I drop Wall of Denial. He drops Conqueror's Pledge. He gets me to 3, and then I topdeck a Day. He drops Gargoyle Castle, I kick a Sphinx of Lost Truths. We each Path each other's creature. He gets Honor of the Pure. I get Baneslayer, he plays Conqueror's Pledge. I unload my hand: Path to Exile, Journey to Nowhere, Sphinx of Jwar Isle, to allow me to survive. He plays Brave the Elements and that is that.
Game 2 I side out my Purges and Flashfreezes for the first time all day. He gets double Vanguard and an Honor of the Pure. I get Wall of Denial. He Paths my Baneslayer and plays Veteran Swordsmith. I dig for an answer, fail to find one, and die.
3-1
So in the end, I've found that even my rough version of W/U Control did pretty well: though I never tested it against Jund I did test it against several powerful decks with Cascade and was able to hold my own. The Flashfreezes main turned out quite well: I only sided them out once and usually sided the two in the board into the main. If I was to remake the deck, I don't know what I'd do at this stage.
That's the end of the series, but I do have a couple of announcements.
Firstly, I will pick the topic of my next miniseries, whenever I choose to make it.
Secondly, I'll be doing a couple of fun articles that you guys can have a part in soon. Details will be on Twitter. My username is mtgsalivanth, and I often release things there first, so please follow me!
Until next time, may you design and test your decks with pride.
The only change I made in the deck to test with was to take out a Plains and add an Island.
Now let's test.
Round 1 vs. Dark Naya
We go back and forth killing each other's creatures for a while. He then gets double Baneslayer and I get double Wall of Denial and my own Baneslayer. He gains a lot of life and I let him, since I aim to defeat him via decking him after he gets to about 50 life.
He eventually plays Day of Judgement, and gets a bunch of cards out which I kill. Finally, he gets Enlisted Wurm into Baneslayer and I can't find an answer. He beats me with 8 cards left in his library.
Game 2 I get a Luminarch, he gets a Pulse. I get a Wall, he uses DoJ. He plays 2 Baneslayers, I play 2 DoJs (he only plays one at a time). I play my own Baneslayer, which he O-Rings. I get another and get him down to 4 before he gets rid of it. I remark that that ended the chance of a quick game. I play most of my hand, then Mind Spring for 8. With this avalanche of cards I get a Luminarch and protect it until it comes online. I win shortly after.
Game 3 I get two Baneslayers, he O-Rings both, he gets two Bloodbraids, I kill them both. I go into control mode, killing or countering all his cards. I get a couple of Mind Springs though (that card is friggin insane) but he's able to kill my finishers, so I use another. Once again I use this avalanche of cards to protect a Luminarch, and win. Turns out the ability to draw 7 cards and make 4/4 fliers for 1W is good. Who knew?
1-0
Round 2 vs. Four-Color LD
He's playing a deck with Ruinblasters, Mold Shambler, Acidic Slime, Convincing Mirage and Spreading Seas, with Violent Ultimatum in the mix. I get a Baneslayer, which he Terminates, and then he manages to get two Slimes and a Ruinblaster and keep me manascrewed enough to never be able to win the game. He beats me to death.
Game 2 I drop a Turn 2 Luminarch Ascension and a Turn 3 Wall of Denial. I win that game in about four minutes.
Game 3 I get another Luminarch Turn 2, and this time he puts up more of a fight. He Bolts me to try and stop it, and when it does get online he Terminates the first angel and goes for a Violent Ultimatum, but I have the Flashfreeze and manage to kill him.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Emeria Recursion
He's playing a deck with Empyrial Archangel, Baneslayer, and Emeria, the Sky Ruin. No prizes for guessing his plan.
Game 1 is really anticlimactic. I get several cards off a Jace, he gets stuck on 2 lands all game. When I drop a Turn 6 Sphinx of Jwar Isle, he concedes on the spot.
Game 2 I get a Jace and he gets a bunch of lands. I Path a Baneslayer and play my own. He plays Empyrial Archangel. Trumping a Baneslayer is hard to do, but he did. I play a second Baneslayer to stop him attacking. I Flashfreeze a second Archangel. I drop Wall of Denial, he drops Baneslayer. He goes for Martial Coup for about 12, and I Negate. Very anti-climactic.
Very little happens for about 15 minutes. Eventually he gets a Day of Judgement off with TRIPLE Emeria out. I drop Baneslayer and Wall of Denial that I'd been sandbagging, and I use my Journey on a Baneslayer. He plays Martial Coup for 16. It was a LONG GAME. I then Mind Spring for 6 and draw a Day, which I saved 4 mana to use. I use it. I get Jace to 10 counters, but he gets killed. If I'd gotten him off I would have won right there.
I eventually get him down to 1 card in his library facing down lethal. I dig through almost all of my deck with Mind Spring and am lucky enough to find my final Day, which I do. I use Jace to bring him to 0 cards, and he loses the match.
3-0
Round 4 vs. White Weenie
He drops Akrasan Squire and Kazandu Blademaster. He gets me to about 10 before I draw a Day. I drop Wall of Denial. He drops Conqueror's Pledge. He gets me to 3, and then I topdeck a Day. He drops Gargoyle Castle, I kick a Sphinx of Lost Truths. We each Path each other's creature. He gets Honor of the Pure. I get Baneslayer, he plays Conqueror's Pledge. I unload my hand: Path to Exile, Journey to Nowhere, Sphinx of Jwar Isle, to allow me to survive. He plays Brave the Elements and that is that.
Game 2 I side out my Purges and Flashfreezes for the first time all day. He gets double Vanguard and an Honor of the Pure. I get Wall of Denial. He Paths my Baneslayer and plays Veteran Swordsmith. I dig for an answer, fail to find one, and die.
3-1
So in the end, I've found that even my rough version of W/U Control did pretty well: though I never tested it against Jund I did test it against several powerful decks with Cascade and was able to hold my own. The Flashfreezes main turned out quite well: I only sided them out once and usually sided the two in the board into the main. If I was to remake the deck, I don't know what I'd do at this stage.
That's the end of the series, but I do have a couple of announcements.
Firstly, I will pick the topic of my next miniseries, whenever I choose to make it.
Secondly, I'll be doing a couple of fun articles that you guys can have a part in soon. Details will be on Twitter. My username is mtgsalivanth, and I often release things there first, so please follow me!
Until next time, may you design and test your decks with pride.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Miniseries Series 1: W/U Control Part 2
Hi guys, and welcome back to the W/U Control Miniseries. Last week we discussed the theory of W/U Control. Today we're going to do a slight amount of theory, and then move into deckbuilding.
What are the four aspects that make up any blue-based control deck?
The answer is:
Card advantage, removal, finishers, and countermagic.
We're going to need all of these in our deck, so we're going to run through it element by element, discussing the different cards that might be good for each. Then, afterwards, we'll work out how many of each type we want, and then finally build the deck.
Card Advantage
Ior Ruin Expedition: This card from Zendikar is essentially a time-delayed 2-mana 2-card spell. The problem is, it's a terrible topdeck.Worth considering if there's a lack of other good options.
Jace Beleren: The best card advantage spell in Standard right now, by far.
Elspeth, Knight Errant: While it doesn't actually give us cards, it gives us fractions of a card every turn and stymies the opponent's attempts to kill her.
Divination: Unplayable.
Hindering Light: We won't be playing many creatures, so this card isn't really worth it.
Mind Spring: We absolutely need 2-3 of these in here. They can pull a game in your favor instantly.
Removal
Path to Exile: Absolutely. Best removal in the format, and an automatic 4-of.
Journey to Nowhere: Also good, takes care of most creatures permanently. It also doesn't trigger Cascade if it's broken, since the spell isn't being played. Add to the fact that Pulse costs more than it, and we have a good card.
Celestial Purge: Most decks nowadays with White are maindecking a couple of these, and I'm going to follow suit.
Oblivion Ring: Probably more of a sideboard card.
Finishers
Baneslayer Angel: Best creature in Standard, and the first choice for finisher.
Sphinx of Jwar Isle: A good choice, and can certainly close the game away.
Sphinx of Lost Truths: Card advantage, flying, and a beefy toughness. What's not to love?
Conqueror's Pledge: Not really playing to it's strengths in this kind of deck.
Countermagic
Flashfreeze: This card has targets against virtually all decks in the metagame right now. I think I'll try two.
Essence Scatter + Negate: Both good, situational, 2-mana counters. I think they make the cut: most decks in Standard have a nice balance between creatures and spells. Negate is slightly better though since it gets rid of cards that can't be stopped in other ways.
Offering to Asha: Too expensive.
Cancel: Also too expensive.
Mindbreak Trap: Essentially Double Negative, this card might be worth a sideboard option.
Other:
Day of Judgement: A hybrid of removal and card advantage. We'll want to play four.
Wall of Denial: Excellent for holding off big creatures. Hard to kill except with Gatekeeper.
Now we go on to the deckbuilding phase.
First we're going to want about 25 lands in this kind of deck, so that leaves us with 35 cards.
In today's Standard, I think we'll want about 6-7 finishers. Today's Control can't stall the game forever, so we want to stall it long enough to play our big cards.
IN: 4 Baneslayer Angel
4 of the finishers simply have to be Baneslayer. Baneslayer is that good.
IN: 2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
IN: 1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
I'm going to go with 7 finishers, and I'd like to have a 2-1 ratio since I think Jwar is better, but I'm not entirely sure.
28 slots remaining.
We'll now go with removal. I'd say we'd want about 10-12 pieces of removal, including Day of Judgement.
IN: 4 Day of Judgement
IN: 4 Path to Exile
Path and Day are both very good cards, and should be featured. Next, we'll want to add a couple of purges:
IN: 2 Celestial Purge
I'm going to leave the last piece of removal open, since I'm not sure how many I'll want. I'm going to base that on how many other cards I add to the deck.
18 slots left.
Now on to card advantage. We're going to want 3 Jaces, no question. 4 is too many, since you can only have one out. The fourth should go in the side.
IN: 3 Jace Beleren
We'll then want a couple of Mind Springs:
IN: 2 Mind Spring
And lastly, we want about 2-3 other card-advantage providers. The question is, what?
IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 1 Ior Ruin Expedition
Mind Spring is better than Ior Ruin, but 4 is too many, so I'll add one.
11 slots remaining.
That leaves us with 9-10 slots for Wall of Denial and countermagic. Based on that, I think we'll want about 6 counterspells. I don't like Essence Scatter since we'll have so many anti-creature cards, so:
IN: 4 Negate
IN: 2 Flashfreeze
Now we have 5 slots left. I think we'll want 4 Walls, since almost every deck plays quite a lot of creatures nowadays.
IN: 4 Wall of Denial
Which leaves us with our last card:
IN: 1 Journey to Nowhere
So let's look at the deck we have.
Lands (25)
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
8 Island
7 Plains
4 Sejiri Refuge
Creatures (11)
4 Baneslayer Angel
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
4 Wall of Denial
Spells (24)
2 Celestial Purge
4 Day of Judgement
2 Flashfreeze
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
3 Jace Beleren
1 Journey to Nowhere
3 Mind Spring
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile
Now, we'll need a sideboard.
My first step in a sideboard is adding extra copies of cards in the main that aren't 4-of's, and are situational.
IN: 1 Jace Beleren
IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 2 Celestial Purge
IN: 2 Flashfreeze
Next, we'll want some anti-Jund cards, since Jund is just dynamite at the moment. We have Celestial Purge and Flashfreeze, so we don't need too much.
IN: 3 Devout Lightcaster
Now some anti-control:
IN: 3 Luminarch Ascension
Which leaves us with three slots to go. For this, I'd like to use a catch-all Oblivion Ring.
IN: 3 Oblivion Ring.
So here's the final list:
What are the four aspects that make up any blue-based control deck?
The answer is:
Card advantage, removal, finishers, and countermagic.
We're going to need all of these in our deck, so we're going to run through it element by element, discussing the different cards that might be good for each. Then, afterwards, we'll work out how many of each type we want, and then finally build the deck.
Card Advantage
Ior Ruin Expedition: This card from Zendikar is essentially a time-delayed 2-mana 2-card spell. The problem is, it's a terrible topdeck.Worth considering if there's a lack of other good options.
Jace Beleren: The best card advantage spell in Standard right now, by far.
Elspeth, Knight Errant: While it doesn't actually give us cards, it gives us fractions of a card every turn and stymies the opponent's attempts to kill her.
Divination: Unplayable.
Hindering Light: We won't be playing many creatures, so this card isn't really worth it.
Mind Spring: We absolutely need 2-3 of these in here. They can pull a game in your favor instantly.
Removal
Path to Exile: Absolutely. Best removal in the format, and an automatic 4-of.
Journey to Nowhere: Also good, takes care of most creatures permanently. It also doesn't trigger Cascade if it's broken, since the spell isn't being played. Add to the fact that Pulse costs more than it, and we have a good card.
Celestial Purge: Most decks nowadays with White are maindecking a couple of these, and I'm going to follow suit.
Oblivion Ring: Probably more of a sideboard card.
Finishers
Baneslayer Angel: Best creature in Standard, and the first choice for finisher.
Sphinx of Jwar Isle: A good choice, and can certainly close the game away.
Sphinx of Lost Truths: Card advantage, flying, and a beefy toughness. What's not to love?
Conqueror's Pledge: Not really playing to it's strengths in this kind of deck.
Countermagic
Flashfreeze: This card has targets against virtually all decks in the metagame right now. I think I'll try two.
Essence Scatter + Negate: Both good, situational, 2-mana counters. I think they make the cut: most decks in Standard have a nice balance between creatures and spells. Negate is slightly better though since it gets rid of cards that can't be stopped in other ways.
Offering to Asha: Too expensive.
Cancel: Also too expensive.
Mindbreak Trap: Essentially Double Negative, this card might be worth a sideboard option.
Other:
Day of Judgement: A hybrid of removal and card advantage. We'll want to play four.
Wall of Denial: Excellent for holding off big creatures. Hard to kill except with Gatekeeper.
Now we go on to the deckbuilding phase.
First we're going to want about 25 lands in this kind of deck, so that leaves us with 35 cards.
In today's Standard, I think we'll want about 6-7 finishers. Today's Control can't stall the game forever, so we want to stall it long enough to play our big cards.
IN: 4 Baneslayer Angel
4 of the finishers simply have to be Baneslayer. Baneslayer is that good.
IN: 2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
IN: 1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
I'm going to go with 7 finishers, and I'd like to have a 2-1 ratio since I think Jwar is better, but I'm not entirely sure.
28 slots remaining.
We'll now go with removal. I'd say we'd want about 10-12 pieces of removal, including Day of Judgement.
IN: 4 Day of Judgement
IN: 4 Path to Exile
Path and Day are both very good cards, and should be featured. Next, we'll want to add a couple of purges:
IN: 2 Celestial Purge
I'm going to leave the last piece of removal open, since I'm not sure how many I'll want. I'm going to base that on how many other cards I add to the deck.
18 slots left.
Now on to card advantage. We're going to want 3 Jaces, no question. 4 is too many, since you can only have one out. The fourth should go in the side.
IN: 3 Jace Beleren
We'll then want a couple of Mind Springs:
IN: 2 Mind Spring
And lastly, we want about 2-3 other card-advantage providers. The question is, what?
IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 1 Ior Ruin Expedition
Mind Spring is better than Ior Ruin, but 4 is too many, so I'll add one.
11 slots remaining.
That leaves us with 9-10 slots for Wall of Denial and countermagic. Based on that, I think we'll want about 6 counterspells. I don't like Essence Scatter since we'll have so many anti-creature cards, so:
IN: 4 Negate
IN: 2 Flashfreeze
Now we have 5 slots left. I think we'll want 4 Walls, since almost every deck plays quite a lot of creatures nowadays.
IN: 4 Wall of Denial
Which leaves us with our last card:
IN: 1 Journey to Nowhere
So let's look at the deck we have.
Lands (25)
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
8 Island
7 Plains
4 Sejiri Refuge
Creatures (11)
4 Baneslayer Angel
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
4 Wall of Denial
Spells (24)
2 Celestial Purge
4 Day of Judgement
2 Flashfreeze
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
3 Jace Beleren
1 Journey to Nowhere
3 Mind Spring
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile
Now, we'll need a sideboard.
My first step in a sideboard is adding extra copies of cards in the main that aren't 4-of's, and are situational.
IN: 1 Jace Beleren
IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 2 Celestial Purge
IN: 2 Flashfreeze
Next, we'll want some anti-Jund cards, since Jund is just dynamite at the moment. We have Celestial Purge and Flashfreeze, so we don't need too much.
IN: 3 Devout Lightcaster
Now some anti-control:
IN: 3 Luminarch Ascension
Which leaves us with three slots to go. For this, I'd like to use a catch-all Oblivion Ring.
IN: 3 Oblivion Ring.
So here's the final list:
Lands (25)
4 Glacial Fortress
9 Island
8 Plains
4 Sejiri Refuge
Creatures (11)
4 Baneslayer Angel
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
4 Wall of Denial
Spells (24)
2 Celestial Purge
4 Day of Judgement
2 Flashfreeze
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
3 Jace Beleren
1 Journey to Nowhere
3 Mind Spring
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile
Sideboard (15)
2 Celestial Purge
3 Devout Lightcaster
2 Flashfreeze
1 Jace Beleren
3 Luminarch Ascension
1 Mind Spring
3 Oblivion Ring
And here's our (probably horrible) W/U Control list. I'll test it out tomorrow, and give you my thoughts! See you for the finale!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Miniseries Series 1: W/U Control Part 1
Welcome to the first installment of the Miniseries Series. The topic for this miniseries will be W/U Control. We'll be studying what makes it tick, then make and test a deck based on the concept. So let's get into the theory of W/U Control, shall we?
The Foundations
Control is a form of Magic deck that focuses on stopping any card the opponent plays, and then using a big finisher to seal things up. It's the exact opposite of Aggro, which aims to win before the deck sets up. Control isn't too powerful these days thanks to Cascade and it's barrage of card advantage, but it's worth a try anyway.
The reason W/U Control is popular is because blue has card advantage and counterspells while White can deal with all kinds of permanent except lands. Essentially it makes for a combination that's consistent and has very few holes.
Analysing Past W/U Control Decks
Arguably the most famous W/U control deck is a deck made by Zvi Mowshowitz, known as The Solution. In an aggro-filled metagame, he metagamed perfectly to come up with the following control deck that decimated the field.
The Foundations
Control is a form of Magic deck that focuses on stopping any card the opponent plays, and then using a big finisher to seal things up. It's the exact opposite of Aggro, which aims to win before the deck sets up. Control isn't too powerful these days thanks to Cascade and it's barrage of card advantage, but it's worth a try anyway.
The reason W/U Control is popular is because blue has card advantage and counterspells while White can deal with all kinds of permanent except lands. Essentially it makes for a combination that's consistent and has very few holes.
Analysing Past W/U Control Decks
Arguably the most famous W/U control deck is a deck made by Zvi Mowshowitz, known as The Solution. In an aggro-filled metagame, he metagamed perfectly to come up with the following control deck that decimated the field.
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So what can we learn from this?
The Metagamed Cards: Crimson Acolyte and Galina's Knight were certainly there for a very specific solution. The key here is that sometimes the metagame allows for such things.
Modern Application: Celestial Purge. Most Standard decks run targets for this card and some decks now run 2 maindeck.
The Cantrips: Exclude and Repulse were certainly there for a reason. The ability to stop something the opponent played and draw a card was excellent, even if it only stopped it temporarily. The deck could then draw into more answers.
Modern Application: There actually aren't that many good cantrips in Standard at the moment, so we need to gain card advantage through our spells, like Day of Judgement.
Fact or Fiction: One of the best cards ever in Standard, this card is a machine.
Modern Application: Mind Spring. With enough mana, this card can totally turn a game around.
The one thing this deck did NOT have was a big finisher: but against a field where the best decks all ran red, it was only a matter of time before Zvi's protection creatures made it through.
Lessons Learnt: A control deck should have answers, card advantage, and a way to close the game. It should have a way to gain tempo and gain incremental advantage over the opponent. The metagame is also important. In a more balanced metagame this deck might not do so well (though aggro decks were weaker back then).
The next deck we shall look at is an Extended deck: W/U Urzatron. This is also a more current deck, legal and active in Extended just a few months ago.
Maindeck:
Artifacts
4 Azorius Signet
2 Chalice Of The Void
2 Chrome Mox
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
Artifact Creatures
2 Sundering Titan
Creatures
3 Exalted Angel
4 Meddling Mage
Instants
3 Condescend
3 Fact Or Fiction (Restricted in Vintage)
4 Thirst For Knowledge
Sorceries
2 Decree Of Justice
4 Wrath Of God
Lands
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Skycloud Expanse
4 Tolaria West
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
Legendary Lands
1 Academy Ruins
Sideboard:
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Leyline Of The Void
3 Threads Of Disloyalty
3 Disenchant
2 Mindslaver
1 Academy Ruins
Artifacts
4 Azorius Signet
2 Chalice Of The Void
2 Chrome Mox
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
Artifact Creatures
2 Sundering Titan
Creatures
3 Exalted Angel
4 Meddling Mage
Instants
3 Condescend
3 Fact Or Fiction (Restricted in Vintage)
4 Thirst For Knowledge
Sorceries
2 Decree Of Justice
4 Wrath Of God
Lands
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Skycloud Expanse
4 Tolaria West
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
Legendary Lands
1 Academy Ruins
Sideboard:
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Leyline Of The Void
3 Threads Of Disloyalty
3 Disenchant
2 Mindslaver
1 Academy Ruins
So what do we have here?
The Urzatron lands are the biggest thing. Rather than gain incremental card advantage, this deck seeks a Spell Burst lock: able to generate enough mana to continue to buy back Spell Burst repeatedly and stop the opponent from ever doing anything.
Modern Application: Standard doesn't really have a hard lock at the moment, unfortunately.
Big Spells: This deck operates under a paradigm that we have to in the new Standard: If you tap out, it doesn't matter if what you play is more powerful than whatever the opponent will play. Decree of Justice was usually Cycled, but Sundering Titan and Wrath of God fell under these categories.
Modern Application: Baneslayer Angel. Sphinx of Jwar Isle...they both operate under the tap-out theory.
Card Advantage: The deck ran lots of instant-speed card advantage: one of the reasons Control is fading today.
Modern Application: None
Lastly, we shall look at another Standard deck.
| Threats 1 Yosei, the Morning Star 1 Keiga, the Tide Star 1 Debtor’s Knell 3 Jötun Grunt Card Drawing 3 Gifts Ungiven 3 Telling Time General Control 3 Counterbalance 4 Sensei's Divining Top 4 Hinder 3 Rewind | Control vs Aggro 4 Wrath of God 3 Cover of Winter 3 Condemn Land 4 Scrying Sheets 4 Boreal Shelf 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Snow-Covered Plains 6 Snow-Covered Island | Sideboard 3 Jester’s Cap 3 Pithing Needle 3 Jester’s Scepter 3 Evacuation 1 Jötun Grunt 2 Mouth of Ronom |
This deck is from 2006's Standard. It features so many powerful cards that there's little wonder that it was so powerful.
Counterbalance: Naturally, this is so degenerate that it's even in Legacy (though in a format where few spells surpass 3 mana it is more powerful) and in Standard is just amazing. This is of course combined with Sensei's Divining Top which allowed a lot of free counterspells.
Modern Application: Unfortunately none.
Big Finishers: Keiga and Yosei were both great cards. They operated under the tap-out theory mentioned earlier. If your turn is better than their turn, you can tap out.
Cover of Winter: This card essentially stops all aggressive moves until you have complete control of the game. It was an amazing card. It truly is very very strong.
Modern Application: Luminarch Ascension. If you can get this to activate, you essentially win.
Gifts Ungiven: The card that made so many decks tick. You essentially got two of the four best spells in your deck. Absolute gold.
Modern Application: None.
So what have we learnt from our analysis?
We've learnt that control decks need either card advantage or card quality advantage to win.
We've learnt that control decks usually establish incremental advantages before taking complete control.
We've learnt that control decks can take as much time as they like to kill you.
So join me tomorrow as we build a W/U Control deck from scratch in Standard, and then Thursday we'll see how it fares!
Editor's Note: Due to the miniseries' schedule, Fetch A Shockland will be going up on Friday, not Thursday.
See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Trap Of Rogue Decks
How many of you try to make decks for tournaments? Decks that try to beat the best decks, decks that are innovative, or fun, or cool...and decks that lose. I was That Guy. Now I'm not. Unless you're one of the top players in the world, you probably shouldn't be trying to innovate totally new decks. Play a Tier 1 deck. You'll win more.
And even further! Some people actually COMPLAIN about netdecks! That they're somehow stifling the originality and creativity of the game, that it's less 'skilful' to win with it. If it's not netdecks in general, it's one deck. Affinity, Faeries, Five-Color Control...
"Everyone uses that deck!"
"That manabase in cash could feed a starving child for a year."
"That deck's cheap / broken / not fun."
Well guess what? It wins. And if you want to win, you need to play the best deck or beat the best deck, and if you want to beat the best deck, generally you want another Tier 1 deck (unless you're happy to get beaten by every deck EXCEPT the Tier 1 deck. Then you can make a hate deck just fine.) if you want to win.
How many of you have been in PTQ's? Tournaments are hard enough without self-inflicting rules. Nobody other than you is going to obey your rules unless your rules are "Do whatever you legally can to win."
Note that I'm not saying 'always play the best deck'. You should play the deck you think has the best position and power in the metagame: the deck most likely to make you win. And it's almost certainly not your creation. Warp World is cute, but can it win? Vampires is new and shiny, but will it win?
If you're not doing your best with deck selection, you're not doing your best as a player. And that's the road to losing. Because if you're not doing your best and playing one of the best decks, you'll be competing against someone who is. And in the end, when the dust settles, the only thing that matters is who has won, and who has lost.
N.B: I do not condone cheating. That's not a legal way to win. Anyone who points to this article as justification for cheating is a fool. Play Magic to the best of your ability. A game of Magic where you cheat is not a game of Magic. So play legally: but play the very best you can within the legal limits.
See you next time, when I bring you Time Sieve.
And even further! Some people actually COMPLAIN about netdecks! That they're somehow stifling the originality and creativity of the game, that it's less 'skilful' to win with it. If it's not netdecks in general, it's one deck. Affinity, Faeries, Five-Color Control...
"Everyone uses that deck!"
"That manabase in cash could feed a starving child for a year."
"That deck's cheap / broken / not fun."
Well guess what? It wins. And if you want to win, you need to play the best deck or beat the best deck, and if you want to beat the best deck, generally you want another Tier 1 deck (unless you're happy to get beaten by every deck EXCEPT the Tier 1 deck. Then you can make a hate deck just fine.) if you want to win.
How many of you have been in PTQ's? Tournaments are hard enough without self-inflicting rules. Nobody other than you is going to obey your rules unless your rules are "Do whatever you legally can to win."
Note that I'm not saying 'always play the best deck'. You should play the deck you think has the best position and power in the metagame: the deck most likely to make you win. And it's almost certainly not your creation. Warp World is cute, but can it win? Vampires is new and shiny, but will it win?
If you're not doing your best with deck selection, you're not doing your best as a player. And that's the road to losing. Because if you're not doing your best and playing one of the best decks, you'll be competing against someone who is. And in the end, when the dust settles, the only thing that matters is who has won, and who has lost.
N.B: I do not condone cheating. That's not a legal way to win. Anyone who points to this article as justification for cheating is a fool. Play Magic to the best of your ability. A game of Magic where you cheat is not a game of Magic. So play legally: but play the very best you can within the legal limits.
See you next time, when I bring you Time Sieve.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part IV: Warp World
Welcome readers, to Part Four of the Zendikar Decks series. Today, we tackle Warp World.
Here's the decklist I chose:
Lands: (23)
4 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures: (29)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Greenweaver Druid
2 Keeper of Progenitus
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
4 Siege-Gang Commander
Spells (8)
4 Trace of Abundance
4 Warp World
I hopped on MWS to do battle.
Match 1 vs. U/B Mill
Game 1 he gets manascrewed while I get a Turn 4 Siege-Gang Commander and a Turn 6 Hellkite. His only plays are Hedron Crab and Jace.
Game 2 he plays a Turn 1 Hedron Crab. I play a Savage Lands. He plays a fetch, then Archive Traps me when I sacrifice my own fetch. I play Lotus Cobra.
I get to Warp World mana, and he mills me down to 12 cards in library. In my last turn before I die, I play Warp World and float 2 mana. He goes from 8 permanents to 4, and I get two Lotus Cobras and five lands so I can play another Warp World. This one gets him to one permanent, and I flip over Ob Nixilis. The landfall triggers kill him.
1-0
Match 2 vs. White Control
I get some early ramps, and lay out my hand. He casts Day of Judgement. He plays a Seraph and a Baneslayer, and I don't reach Warp World mana in time.
Game 2 I get a Turn 4 Ob Nixilis, and he uses Lapse of Certainty. He plays Guardian Seraph, I play Ob Nixilis, then play and sac a fetchland. He O-Rings it. I go for a Warp World, and he Lapses it. I play Warp World with one in hand. He gets Iona, Shield of Emeria and names red. He kills me with the giant flier next turn.
1-1
Match 3 vs. Naya
I play Lotus Cobra and Elvish Visionary: he plays Bloodbraid Elf into Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner Behemoth and a Garruk, then another Cliffrunner. When he uses his ultimate, I can't keep up with the raw power.
Game 2 We both play Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner. I play Keeper of Progenitus. He uses Bituminous Blast to cascade into another one, then finishes it with two Lightning Bolts to the dome.
1-2
Match 4 vs. Four-Color Midrange
He plays Noble Hierarch, I play Lotus Cobra. He Paths it, and plays Knight of the Reliquary. I get Ob Nixilis plus a fetch to out-do the 6/6 Knight. He passes. I swing, he goes to 2, and I Hellkite him to win.
Game 2 I curve out massively into a Turn 4 Warp World. Unfortunately, his 3 lands flip up 3 lands. I play Hellkite, he plays Rhox War Monk and Harrow. I get him to 4 life but he plays Baneslayer, then Realm Razer next turn. I chump with Birds and eventually Hellkite, but am never able to draw an answer.
Game 3 I get a Warp World, but he's lucky enough to Warp into Baneslayer while I fail to Warp into my finishers, and he bashes me to death.
1-3
Salivanth's Rating:
3.5/5
Matches x2:
2/5
Total Score: 5.5
I think the main reason Warp World failed was both my lack of knowledge of when to Warp, and the luck and raw power of some of my opponents' decks. When the metagame shifts to accommodate control, Warp World should become a lot better.
Next time: New Jund!
Here's the decklist I chose:
Lands: (23)
4 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures: (29)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Greenweaver Druid
2 Keeper of Progenitus
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
4 Siege-Gang Commander
Spells (8)
4 Trace of Abundance
4 Warp World
I hopped on MWS to do battle.
Match 1 vs. U/B Mill
Game 1 he gets manascrewed while I get a Turn 4 Siege-Gang Commander and a Turn 6 Hellkite. His only plays are Hedron Crab and Jace.
Game 2 he plays a Turn 1 Hedron Crab. I play a Savage Lands. He plays a fetch, then Archive Traps me when I sacrifice my own fetch. I play Lotus Cobra.
I get to Warp World mana, and he mills me down to 12 cards in library. In my last turn before I die, I play Warp World and float 2 mana. He goes from 8 permanents to 4, and I get two Lotus Cobras and five lands so I can play another Warp World. This one gets him to one permanent, and I flip over Ob Nixilis. The landfall triggers kill him.
1-0
Match 2 vs. White Control
I get some early ramps, and lay out my hand. He casts Day of Judgement. He plays a Seraph and a Baneslayer, and I don't reach Warp World mana in time.
Game 2 I get a Turn 4 Ob Nixilis, and he uses Lapse of Certainty. He plays Guardian Seraph, I play Ob Nixilis, then play and sac a fetchland. He O-Rings it. I go for a Warp World, and he Lapses it. I play Warp World with one in hand. He gets Iona, Shield of Emeria and names red. He kills me with the giant flier next turn.
1-1
Match 3 vs. Naya
I play Lotus Cobra and Elvish Visionary: he plays Bloodbraid Elf into Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner Behemoth and a Garruk, then another Cliffrunner. When he uses his ultimate, I can't keep up with the raw power.
Game 2 We both play Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner. I play Keeper of Progenitus. He uses Bituminous Blast to cascade into another one, then finishes it with two Lightning Bolts to the dome.
1-2
Match 4 vs. Four-Color Midrange
He plays Noble Hierarch, I play Lotus Cobra. He Paths it, and plays Knight of the Reliquary. I get Ob Nixilis plus a fetch to out-do the 6/6 Knight. He passes. I swing, he goes to 2, and I Hellkite him to win.
Game 2 I curve out massively into a Turn 4 Warp World. Unfortunately, his 3 lands flip up 3 lands. I play Hellkite, he plays Rhox War Monk and Harrow. I get him to 4 life but he plays Baneslayer, then Realm Razer next turn. I chump with Birds and eventually Hellkite, but am never able to draw an answer.
Game 3 I get a Warp World, but he's lucky enough to Warp into Baneslayer while I fail to Warp into my finishers, and he bashes me to death.
1-3
Salivanth's Rating:
3.5/5
Matches x2:
2/5
Total Score: 5.5
I think the main reason Warp World failed was both my lack of knowledge of when to Warp, and the luck and raw power of some of my opponents' decks. When the metagame shifts to accommodate control, Warp World should become a lot better.
Next time: New Jund!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part I: Vampire Aggro
Welcome to the first article in my series on Zendikar decks. Polls will be running through the week to determine the next deck in the series, and the first one you guys picked was Vampire Aggro. Don't forget to vote for tomorrow's article!
Here's the deck I ended up using:
Lands (24)
24 Swamp
Creatures (26)
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Guul Draz Vampire
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
Spells (10)
4 Doom Blade
2 Duress
4 Sign in Blood
Sideboard:
4 Vampire Hexmage
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Deathmark
2 Duress
I hopped on MWS to do battle.
Round 1 vs. Mono-Red Burn
He wins the die roll, and we both mulligan to 6.
He plays a land and passes. I play Guul Draz Vampire. At EOT, he Burst Lightnings me. (18, 20) He plays Hellspark Elemental and swings. I take it. (15, 20). I untap, and swing. (15, 19). I play Bloodghast.
He passes, and I swing for 3. (15, 16). I play Vampire Nighthawk. He Bolts it. He plays Hell's Thunder and attacks. (11, 16). I swing back. (11, 13). I play another Bloodghast. He plays a second Hellspark and swings. (8, 13).
I attack with everything. (8, 8) and then play a Vampire Lacerator. He untaps, and unearths both Hellsparks. I Doom Blade one, and take 3. (5, 8). I attack with my Bloodghasts. (5, 4). He plays Goblin Ruinblaster and passes. I untap, and swing for the win.
Game 2 he elects to play. He keeps, and I mulligan to 6. He plays a land and passes, I play Guul Draz Vampire. Turn 2, he plays a land and passes. I Duress. I take Fallout, and attack. (20, 19). I then play a second Guul Draz Vampire.
He untaps, and Earthquakes for 1. (19, 18). He passes. I play Vampire Nighthawk. He plays double Burst Lightning to kill it. I untap, and play Bloodchief Ascension. He plays Hell's Thunder, and swings. (15, 18). I pass. He unearths Hell's Thunder and attacks. I Doom Blade it.
I untap and play another Bloodchief Ascension. Not the best topdecks. He plays Elemental Appeal and attacks. I Doom Blade it. I pass. Another land. He plays Quest for Pure Flame and Elemental Appeal. He swings. (8, 18). I draw nothing but lands for the next two turns and he plays and unearths Hell's Thunder to kill me.
Game 3 I choose to play, and we both mulligan to 6. Turn 1 I play Guul Draz Vampire. He plays a land and passes. I play Turn 2 Duress, and he aims a Bolt at me in response. (17, 20). I take Elemental Appeal, and swing. (17, 19). He plays a land and passes. I swing (17, 18) and play Vampire Lacerator.
He plays a land and passes. I swing (16, 15) and pass. He passes yet again. I swing, and he plays Fallout (13, 13). I play Guul Draz Vampire and Bloodghast. He lays a land and passes. I swing, he plays another Fallout. (11, 11). I play another Bloodghast. He plays Elemental Appeal and swings. (4, 11).
I play a land, returning Bloodghast, then play Vampire Nocturnus. I swing with a 4/2 flying Bloodghast. (4, 7). I pass. He draws, plays Earthquake for 2 (2, 5) then Burst Lightnings me for the win.
0-1
Round 2 vs. Vampire Aggro
Note: My computer crashed while writing these, so the rest of the post will be fairly short.
Game 1 I keep a slow hand. He curves out basically perfectly and beats me before I put up much resistance.
Game 2 we trade for a while until I manage to get out multiple Bloodwitches and win that way.
Game 3 he gets the advantage, then I play Nocturnus. Unfortunately I then draw 3 swamps in a row and die.
0-2
Round 3 vs. Bant
Game 1 he plays Great Sable Stag with Rafiq of the Many. I die about as horribly as you'd expect.
Game 2 I play lots of guys, and by the time he stabilises I have 3/2's with fear to seal the deal.
Game 3 we play a long game. I eventually stick a Gatekeeper of Malakir with FOUR removal spells in hand. I then bash him to death over six turns killing everything he plays.
1-2
Round 4 vs. B/R Bloodchief
Game 1 his deck works perfectly, getting 3 counters on Bloodchief Ascension and Blightninging me to death.
Game 2 he stalls for a bit and I end up winning with Vampire Nocturnus's buff.
Game 3 we race. He eventually sticks an Ascension and Earthquakes my guys to activate it, but he's at 2 and I manage to kill him even with his active Ascension.
2-2
My Ranking: 2/5
Matches Won x2: 4/8
The ranking system will work as follows. I will rank the deck by consistency and power out of 5, then the amount of matches out of 4 won, x2, will be the rest of the score. At the end, I'll rank them all up.
Frankly, I don't think Vampire Aggro is that great, and B/R hate will keep it down. I rate it Tier 2.
See you soon with the next deck!
Here's the deck I ended up using:
Lands (24)
24 Swamp
Creatures (26)
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Guul Draz Vampire
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
Spells (10)
4 Doom Blade
2 Duress
4 Sign in Blood
Sideboard:
4 Vampire Hexmage
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Deathmark
2 Duress
I hopped on MWS to do battle.
Round 1 vs. Mono-Red Burn
He wins the die roll, and we both mulligan to 6.
He plays a land and passes. I play Guul Draz Vampire. At EOT, he Burst Lightnings me. (18, 20) He plays Hellspark Elemental and swings. I take it. (15, 20). I untap, and swing. (15, 19). I play Bloodghast.
He passes, and I swing for 3. (15, 16). I play Vampire Nighthawk. He Bolts it. He plays Hell's Thunder and attacks. (11, 16). I swing back. (11, 13). I play another Bloodghast. He plays a second Hellspark and swings. (8, 13).
I attack with everything. (8, 8) and then play a Vampire Lacerator. He untaps, and unearths both Hellsparks. I Doom Blade one, and take 3. (5, 8). I attack with my Bloodghasts. (5, 4). He plays Goblin Ruinblaster and passes. I untap, and swing for the win.
Game 2 he elects to play. He keeps, and I mulligan to 6. He plays a land and passes, I play Guul Draz Vampire. Turn 2, he plays a land and passes. I Duress. I take Fallout, and attack. (20, 19). I then play a second Guul Draz Vampire.
He untaps, and Earthquakes for 1. (19, 18). He passes. I play Vampire Nighthawk. He plays double Burst Lightning to kill it. I untap, and play Bloodchief Ascension. He plays Hell's Thunder, and swings. (15, 18). I pass. He unearths Hell's Thunder and attacks. I Doom Blade it.
I untap and play another Bloodchief Ascension. Not the best topdecks. He plays Elemental Appeal and attacks. I Doom Blade it. I pass. Another land. He plays Quest for Pure Flame and Elemental Appeal. He swings. (8, 18). I draw nothing but lands for the next two turns and he plays and unearths Hell's Thunder to kill me.
Game 3 I choose to play, and we both mulligan to 6. Turn 1 I play Guul Draz Vampire. He plays a land and passes. I play Turn 2 Duress, and he aims a Bolt at me in response. (17, 20). I take Elemental Appeal, and swing. (17, 19). He plays a land and passes. I swing (17, 18) and play Vampire Lacerator.
He plays a land and passes. I swing (16, 15) and pass. He passes yet again. I swing, and he plays Fallout (13, 13). I play Guul Draz Vampire and Bloodghast. He lays a land and passes. I swing, he plays another Fallout. (11, 11). I play another Bloodghast. He plays Elemental Appeal and swings. (4, 11).
I play a land, returning Bloodghast, then play Vampire Nocturnus. I swing with a 4/2 flying Bloodghast. (4, 7). I pass. He draws, plays Earthquake for 2 (2, 5) then Burst Lightnings me for the win.
0-1
Round 2 vs. Vampire Aggro
Note: My computer crashed while writing these, so the rest of the post will be fairly short.
Game 1 I keep a slow hand. He curves out basically perfectly and beats me before I put up much resistance.
Game 2 we trade for a while until I manage to get out multiple Bloodwitches and win that way.
Game 3 he gets the advantage, then I play Nocturnus. Unfortunately I then draw 3 swamps in a row and die.
0-2
Round 3 vs. Bant
Game 1 he plays Great Sable Stag with Rafiq of the Many. I die about as horribly as you'd expect.
Game 2 I play lots of guys, and by the time he stabilises I have 3/2's with fear to seal the deal.
Game 3 we play a long game. I eventually stick a Gatekeeper of Malakir with FOUR removal spells in hand. I then bash him to death over six turns killing everything he plays.
1-2
Round 4 vs. B/R Bloodchief
Game 1 his deck works perfectly, getting 3 counters on Bloodchief Ascension and Blightninging me to death.
Game 2 he stalls for a bit and I end up winning with Vampire Nocturnus's buff.
Game 3 we race. He eventually sticks an Ascension and Earthquakes my guys to activate it, but he's at 2 and I manage to kill him even with his active Ascension.
2-2
My Ranking: 2/5
Matches Won x2: 4/8
The ranking system will work as follows. I will rank the deck by consistency and power out of 5, then the amount of matches out of 4 won, x2, will be the rest of the score. At the end, I'll rank them all up.
Frankly, I don't think Vampire Aggro is that great, and B/R hate will keep it down. I rate it Tier 2.
See you soon with the next deck!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part II
I promised in my original Zendikar Decks article here that I'd eventually flesh out these decks. Now is the time for me to do that. I'll propose 7 decks, and I intend to test them, one per day, (except for Saturday) for a week. I'll allow people to vote on their choice. Here are the decks:
W/B/R Control.
Lands (26)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Marsh Flats
4 Mountain
5 Plains
5 Swamp
Creatures (4)
4 Baneslayer Angel
Spells (30)
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Chandra Nalaar
4 Day of Judgement
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Luminarch Ascension
3 Martial Coup
4 Path to Exile
4 Sign in Blood
3 Terminate
Sideboard:
4 Celestial Purge
4 Oblivion Ring
3 Solemn Offering
4 Volcanic Fallout
The deck has 7 Wraths, and ample finishers. It can finish from several angles. It has card draw in Sign in Blood, and plenty of spot removal. It's a rough draft, but could turn into quite a deck.
New Time Sieve
Lands (18)
7 Island
5 Plains
6 Swamp
Creatures (0)
Spells ()
4 Day of Judgement
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Font of Mythos
4 Howling Mine
4 Kaleidoscope
4 Mistvein Borderpost
4 Obelisk of Esper
4 Open the Vaults
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
4 Time Sieve
4 Time Warp
Sideboard:
4 Celestial Purge
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Meddling Mage
4 Path to Exile
The deck loses a bit, and doesn't gain much, but the deck still has Tier 1 potential. An extra Tezzeret has been added for the non-combo finish. Obelisk of Esper acts as Borderposts 9-12, and the Day of Judgement is there to stop Vampires.
Vampire Aggro
Lands (24)
24 Swamp
Creatures (26)
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Guul Draz Vampire
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
Spells (10)
4 Doom Blade
2 Duress
4 Sign in Blood
Sideboard:
2 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Deathmark
2 Duress
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Ravenous Trap
The deck is fast, has some late-game plans, light disruption, removal and card draw, and it's VAMPIRES. Who doesn't like Vampires? The Ravenous Trap in the sideboard is against Time Sieve. Absolutely destroys them.
B/R Bloodchief Blightning
Lands (24)
4 Akoum Refuge
4 Dragonskull Summit
8 Mountain
8 Swamp
Creatures (18)
2 Ball Lightning
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Goblin Outlander
4 Vampire Lacerator
Spells (18)
4 Blightning
4 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Volcanic Fallout
Sideboard:
3 Banefire
4 Deathmark
4 Duress
2 Terminate
2 Volcanic Fallout
This deck is a fairly simple B/R deck. The idea is to beat the opponent to death, either with or without a Bloodchief Ascension.
New Jund
Lands (25)
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (16)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Putrid Leech
4 Vampire Nighthawk
Spells (19)
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Jund Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Sign in Blood
Sideboard:
4 Deathmark
4 Great Sable Stag
3 Jund Hackblade
4 Volcanic Fallout
A Jund list with many of the same traits as pre-Zendikar Jund: the ability to play as aggro or control, a malleable sideboard, and a lot of sheer power, and Cascade.
New Warp World
Lands (23)
7 Forest
9 Mountain
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (29)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Keeper of Progenitus
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
4 Siege-Gang Commander
Spells (8)
4 Trace of Abundance
4 Warp World
Sideboard:
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Thought Hemorrhage
4 Vithian Renegades
3 Volcanic Fallout
W/B/R Control.
Lands (26)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Marsh Flats
4 Mountain
5 Plains
5 Swamp
Creatures (4)
4 Baneslayer Angel
Spells (30)
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Chandra Nalaar
4 Day of Judgement
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Luminarch Ascension
3 Martial Coup
4 Path to Exile
4 Sign in Blood
3 Terminate
Sideboard:
4 Celestial Purge
4 Oblivion Ring
3 Solemn Offering
4 Volcanic Fallout
The deck has 7 Wraths, and ample finishers. It can finish from several angles. It has card draw in Sign in Blood, and plenty of spot removal. It's a rough draft, but could turn into quite a deck.
New Time Sieve
Lands (18)
7 Island
5 Plains
6 Swamp
Creatures (0)
Spells ()
4 Day of Judgement
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Font of Mythos
4 Howling Mine
4 Kaleidoscope
4 Mistvein Borderpost
4 Obelisk of Esper
4 Open the Vaults
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
4 Time Sieve
4 Time Warp
Sideboard:
4 Celestial Purge
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Meddling Mage
4 Path to Exile
The deck loses a bit, and doesn't gain much, but the deck still has Tier 1 potential. An extra Tezzeret has been added for the non-combo finish. Obelisk of Esper acts as Borderposts 9-12, and the Day of Judgement is there to stop Vampires.
Vampire Aggro
Lands (24)
24 Swamp
Creatures (26)
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Guul Draz Vampire
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
Spells (10)
4 Doom Blade
2 Duress
4 Sign in Blood
Sideboard:
2 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Deathmark
2 Duress
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Ravenous Trap
The deck is fast, has some late-game plans, light disruption, removal and card draw, and it's VAMPIRES. Who doesn't like Vampires? The Ravenous Trap in the sideboard is against Time Sieve. Absolutely destroys them.
B/R Bloodchief Blightning
Lands (24)
4 Akoum Refuge
4 Dragonskull Summit
8 Mountain
8 Swamp
Creatures (18)
2 Ball Lightning
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Goblin Outlander
4 Vampire Lacerator
Spells (18)
4 Blightning
4 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Volcanic Fallout
Sideboard:
3 Banefire
4 Deathmark
4 Duress
2 Terminate
2 Volcanic Fallout
This deck is a fairly simple B/R deck. The idea is to beat the opponent to death, either with or without a Bloodchief Ascension.
New Jund
Lands (25)
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (16)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Putrid Leech
4 Vampire Nighthawk
Spells (19)
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Jund Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Sign in Blood
Sideboard:
4 Deathmark
4 Great Sable Stag
3 Jund Hackblade
4 Volcanic Fallout
A Jund list with many of the same traits as pre-Zendikar Jund: the ability to play as aggro or control, a malleable sideboard, and a lot of sheer power, and Cascade.
New Warp World
Lands (23)
7 Forest
9 Mountain
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (29)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Keeper of Progenitus
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
4 Siege-Gang Commander
Spells (8)
4 Trace of Abundance
4 Warp World
Sideboard:
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Thought Hemorrhage
4 Vithian Renegades
3 Volcanic Fallout
Most of the deck remains the same. The main additions are Ob Nixilis, who is a BEATING if you get 3-4 lands off Warp World, and Lotus Cobra to power out more fast starts.
Soldiers
Lands (24)
23 Plains
Creatures ()
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Kor Aeronaut
4 Veteran Armorsmith
4 Veteran Swordsmith
Spells ()
2 Conqueror's Pledge
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
3 Brave the Elements
Sideboard:
3 Baneslayer Angel
1 Brave the Elements
4 Celestial Purge
3 Devout Lightcaster
4 Harm's Way
This is an archetypal White Weenie deck: plenty of guys, some modern token-producers, and the Anthem of choice, Honor of the Pure. Also features the anti-removal Brave the Elements as a new addition.
So those are our seven. Be sure to vote for which one should be tested first in the poll!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Zendikar Spoilers + Bonus Extended Decklist
Hello, readers! Let's cut to the chase, shall we? We have plenty more Zendikar cards to analyse, so let's get analysing! For those who just showed up for the decklist, it's at the end of the post. Okay, for the 3% still with me, let's go!
This could prove quite useful in MBC, obviously. I don't know if it'll be enough to bring it to Tier 1, but I know one friend of mine who will be very, VERY happy with this card.
Another one to watch out for. Could an R/G midrange Ally deck be possible when Worldwake comes out? Food for thought...
Also, this will kill you in Limited in any deck that plays 2 allies after it plays this.
Another ULTIMATE UBER AURA, this card will see play in EDH for certain. Zur decks and away! Similar to Elder Mastery, this card will get played for the sheer awesome factor. Best played on an evasive dude though. If it connects a couple of times, you'll find it near impossible to lose. Sealed will find this guy on a flier or a trampler to be a game-winner.
This is the kind of card people try to break, and never will. Especially with M10 rules. NEXT!
Hmm. How to describe this guy. In Sealed, he's obviously a beating, with a 4/6 vigilance lifelink just winning games even without his 'you win the game' text. In EDH he'd see play if there was ANY chance he'd survive a turn. Maybe with Teferi.
Naturally, he'll be featured as a win condition in a casual Beacon of Immortality deck. But I don't see this guy played competitively.
The U/R fetchland is officially named Scalding Tarn. What the hell is a tarn? Google defines Tarn as:
a mountain lake (especially one formed by glaciers)
Moving on. Nothing to see here. Yep, it's great. Yep, it'll cost 15-20 bucks. NEXT!
A Limited fixer, but how good? This has to reach 5 land before it can be used, assuming a Turn 2 play. Otherwise, it's basically dead. I don't think this'll see much play except in a dedicated Landfall deck: but they should be able to pick up 2-3 of these in a draft.
Lorthos, the Tidemaker
Lorthos, Winner of Sealed Games
Lorthos, First Pick of Drafts
Lorthos, The Should We Reanimate This Guy? Probably Not.
Lorthos, the NEXT!
Oh. That's it. Okay. I present to you, the deck I would play in Extended if I played Extended. Although I do intend to dabble in it online some more. I present:
Dark Zoo
Lands (20)
4 Arid Mesa
1 Forest
2 Marsh Flats
1 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Marsh
Creatures ()
2 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Dark Confidant
3 Kird Ape
3 Plated Geopede
2 Scute Mob
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Woolly Thoctar
Spells ()
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
3 Path to Exile
2 Quest for the Gravelord
2 Umezawa's Jitte
Sideboard:
1 Ancient Grudge
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Krosan Grip
2 Ranger of Eos
1 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Volcanic Fallout
Features: The deck runs 10 fetchlands. This is to allow it to abuse Plated Geopede more often. The deck also runs some new cards. Let's go through each.
Bloodbraid Elf: This is just incredible. The ability to have a 3/2 haste and cascade into any of Zoo's devastating spells is amazing. 2 is just a trial: I would like more.
Plated Geopede: a 5/5 as often as not, and if not, it's generally a 3/3 in the first 4-5 turns: and by then, the opponent should be dead.
Scute Mob: A rare LATE-GAME plan for Zoo, Scute Mob can become a 5/5 for one in the lategame: a super Wild Nacatl. It gets bigger and bigger, too. And all for one mana.
Quest for the Gravelord: With lots of creatures dying, how better to bust the game back open after Blue gains control than with an uncounterable 5/5 creature?
I think this deck is something to watch out for come Extended season: although it will probably be tuned by better hands than mine. Enjoy the decklist!
Until next time, may you not be shy to embrace new tech.
*Mind Sludge |   |
| Sorcery |  |
| Target player discards a card for each Swamp you control. | |
This could prove quite useful in MBC, obviously. I don't know if it'll be enough to bring it to Tier 1, but I know one friend of mine who will be very, VERY happy with this card.
Turntimber Ranger |   |
| Creature - Elf Druid Ally |  |
| Whenever Turntimber Ranger or another Ally enters the battlefield, you may put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Turntimber Ranger. | |
| Illus. Wayne Reynolds | 2/2 |
Another one to watch out for. Could an R/G midrange Ally deck be possible when Worldwake comes out? Food for thought...
Also, this will kill you in Limited in any deck that plays 2 allies after it plays this.
Celestial Mantle |  |
| Enchantment - Aura | |
| Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +3/+3. Whenever enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player, double its controller's life total. | |
| Illus. Steve Argyle | |
Another ULTIMATE UBER AURA, this card will see play in EDH for certain. Zur decks and away! Similar to Elder Mastery, this card will get played for the sheer awesome factor. Best played on an evasive dude though. If it connects a couple of times, you'll find it near impossible to lose. Sealed will find this guy on a flier or a trampler to be a game-winner.
Carnage Altar |  |
| Artifact | |
| 3, Sacrifice a creature: Draw a card. | |
| Illus. James Paick | |
This is the kind of card people try to break, and never will. Especially with M10 rules. NEXT!
Felidar Sovereign | |
| Creature - Cat Beast |  |
| Vigilance, lifelink At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 40 or more life, you win the game. | |
| 4/6 | |
Hmm. How to describe this guy. In Sealed, he's obviously a beating, with a 4/6 vigilance lifelink just winning games even without his 'you win the game' text. In EDH he'd see play if there was ANY chance he'd survive a turn. Maybe with Teferi.
Naturally, he'll be featured as a win condition in a casual Beacon of Immortality deck. But I don't see this guy played competitively.
Scalding Tarn | |
| Land | |
 , Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Scalding Tarn: Search your library for a Island or Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. | |
The U/R fetchland is officially named Scalding Tarn. What the hell is a tarn? Google defines Tarn as:
a mountain lake (especially one formed by glaciers)
Well, that makes sense then. So we have a scalding mountain lake. Makes perfect sense. Good name.
Oh! The card! Yeah. U/R Storm got a bit better. Yeah... Grixis Control too...let's move on to some interesting cards. Powerful does not equal interesting all the time.
Marsh Flats | |
| Land | |
| , Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Marsh Flats: Search your library for a Plains or Swamp card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. | |
| Illus. Izzy | |
Moving on. Nothing to see here. Yep, it's great. Yep, it'll cost 15-20 bucks. NEXT!
Khalni Heart Expedition |  |
| Enchantment |  |
| Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a quest counter on Khalni Heart Expedition. Remove three quest counters from Khalni Heart Expedition and sacrifice it: Search your library for up to two basic land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library. | |
| Illus. Jason Chan | |
A Limited fixer, but how good? This has to reach 5 land before it can be used, assuming a Turn 2 play. Otherwise, it's basically dead. I don't think this'll see much play except in a dedicated Landfall deck: but they should be able to pick up 2-3 of these in a draft.
Lorthos, the Tidemaker |   | |
| Legendary Creature - Octopus | | |
Whenever Lorthos, the Tidemaker attacks, you may pay  . If you do, tap up to eight permanents. Those permanents don't untap during their controllers' next untap steps. | ||
| When Lorthos emerges from his deepwater realm, the tide bows to his will and the coastline cowers in his presence. | ||
| Illus. Kekai Kotaki #53/249 | 8/8 | |
Lorthos, the Tidemaker
Lorthos, Winner of Sealed Games
Lorthos, First Pick of Drafts
Lorthos, The Should We Reanimate This Guy? Probably Not.
Lorthos, the NEXT!
Oh. That's it. Okay. I present to you, the deck I would play in Extended if I played Extended. Although I do intend to dabble in it online some more. I present:
Dark Zoo
Lands (20)
4 Arid Mesa
1 Forest
2 Marsh Flats
1 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Marsh
Creatures ()
2 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Dark Confidant
3 Kird Ape
3 Plated Geopede
2 Scute Mob
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Woolly Thoctar
Spells ()
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
3 Path to Exile
2 Quest for the Gravelord
2 Umezawa's Jitte
Sideboard:
1 Ancient Grudge
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Krosan Grip
2 Ranger of Eos
1 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Volcanic Fallout
Features: The deck runs 10 fetchlands. This is to allow it to abuse Plated Geopede more often. The deck also runs some new cards. Let's go through each.
Bloodbraid Elf: This is just incredible. The ability to have a 3/2 haste and cascade into any of Zoo's devastating spells is amazing. 2 is just a trial: I would like more.
Plated Geopede: a 5/5 as often as not, and if not, it's generally a 3/3 in the first 4-5 turns: and by then, the opponent should be dead.
Scute Mob: A rare LATE-GAME plan for Zoo, Scute Mob can become a 5/5 for one in the lategame: a super Wild Nacatl. It gets bigger and bigger, too. And all for one mana.
Quest for the Gravelord: With lots of creatures dying, how better to bust the game back open after Blue gains control than with an uncounterable 5/5 creature?
I think this deck is something to watch out for come Extended season: although it will probably be tuned by better hands than mine. Enjoy the decklist!
Until next time, may you not be shy to embrace new tech.
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