The best decks in Standard

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I thought i would write this article because having been confused as to how best beat all the different types of decks that were going round regionals i have spent a lot of time thinking of the current standard environment, and i think having spoken to lots of people and seen a few regional tournaments i think i finally have a decent understanding, so here goes.

As far as i can tell almost every deck in standard can be separated into 3 categories, these are.

1) spectral/windbrisk decks
2) decks that cant beat these decks
3) situational decks

I'll go through them 1 by 1.

1) spectral procession / windbrisk heights decks

These decks are fairly self explanatory. There are obviously quite a few variations, which basically involve which secondary colour you want to use; black, red or green. Regardles of the second colour, all of them rely on the engine of spectral procession or cloudgoat ranger and heights to gain card advantage.

Each of the heights decks are very strong right now. I think mono white is probably the weakest of these, followed by boat brew, with b/w and g/w being tier 1, although i wouldnt want to pick between them.

Mono white is the weakest because, although all of the decks are weak to wrath, the mono deck lacks any depth to try and avoid or work wround the wraths. Boat Brew doesnt so much play round wrath as it does play reveillark and ranger of eos which mean it can recover from wraths by gaining huge card advantage, but at a cost of being a little slower and clunkier than the other types of heights decks, which makes is slightly worse.

B/W uses thoughtseize and tidehollow sculler as a light permission suite to find the wrath effects, as well as having bitterblossom as a constant source of tokens, and uses the persist mechanic of murderous redcap and kitchen finks with ajani to make it very resilliant.

Likewise, the green white version used the new dauntless escort to give some resilliance to wraths, but other than the green white attempts to be far more explosively fast than the other heights deck to give the opponants the least chance of drawing and playing wraths as possible, with cards like garruk and overrun coming out from under windbrisk heights.

I think if i had to play one of these decks it would definately be the black/white version. It's ability to continually produce tokens rather than relying on drawing cloudgoat ranger or procession is a constant threat, while both the persist guys and thoughtseize/sculler means this deck is really hard to wrath. Also, zealous persecution gives it a great edge in any heights mirror, where the winner is usually whoever has the biggest spirit tokens.


2) Decks that cant beat these decks

Obviously this is quite a broad category because the token decks have been winning pretty much everything right now, but basically by decks that cant beat tokens i mean two types of deck - aggro decks that attempt to race tokens, which is just a bad decision, or controlling mid range decks that cant wrath enough times.

Examples of decks in this category would be - Red deck wins/blightning, jund aggro. I also think 5cb goes in here but im not entirely sure yet, it may be better than i give it credit for.

As i said, these decks mostly get rolled by the white decks, and why? Well basically things like red try to race the control decks, but red cant race a deck that spits out all the guys that the white decks do, especially with forge tender there.

These decks can compete with the white decks, but are serious dogs, and if they ever get behind they have lost already.

Also there are mid range type decks - like elves or ramp, plus 5cb. These decks are slightly better fared against white, especially jund or 5cb, but its very dependent on build, and bascically it depends on whether the white guy can find forge tenders or if you can find wraths, and how many there are in your deck.

3) Situational decks

Although every deck could go in this category, by this i mean pretty marginal decks that will either crap out entirely or wipe the floor with everyone, because it has a boat load of either really good matches or really bad ones.

Examples of these would be sanity grinding - which is obviously great in in control environments; turbo-fog, which is pretty much 80-90% in token heavy meta's, and to some extent faeries, which is very close to being in the above category, but it's match against tokens is not awful, depending on the number of cliques you find, but the problem is that if everyone is playing against a token meta and playing R/x, fae is getting boned too.

These decks are pretty risky, and are very dependent on both the metagame and the skill of the pilot.

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So what should you play in standard right now, well the easy answer is b/w tokens, its gotten a lot of hype this season and i think its pretty justified.

If you cant bear face playing white however, then i think you dont really have a choice to play with at least red, green and black in your deck, why?

Well basically if you are not playing white then you need at least 6 wraths in your deck, which mean jund charm, infest, volcanic fallout and maelstrom pulse is a half-wrath. Also, you need to have some kind of game versus control, which pretty much means anathemancer is a must, hes probably the best creature in standard right now.

So, i would recommend some kind of g/b or jund deck, but you need to build them knowing that you will hardly ever be the beatdown, so just max out on wrath effects for all the token matches. Also, g/b or g/b/r have the possibility to play banefire or profane command as win conditions against turbo-fog, which probably should be in the back of your mind.

Personally, i would definately play jund colours, beause anathemancer is sick, magma spray is important for the mirror type matches and against persist b/w, plus it gives you access to jund charm and volcanic fallout, which g/b does not, and broodmate dragon is the best finisher for the rare control matchups.

If i were to play a tournament tomorrow, here's what i would take.

4 x kitchen finks
4 x anathemancer
4 x chameleon colossus
2 x broodmate dragon
2 x cloudthresher

3 x garruk wildspeaker

3 x jund charm
2 x volcanic fallout
4 x maelstrom pulse
4 x magma spray
4 x rampant growth


24 land


s/b
4 x infest
2 x banefire
2 x pithing needle
3 x thoughtseize
2 x thought hemorrhage
2 x primal command

Hope you like the list.

Sorry im tired,


Bye.



Jim



As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Drafting with Jim - #7

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

seeing as Alara Reborn is now up on magic online i decided to treat myself to a couple drafts and record one of them for an article. Sadly, the one i recorded went horribly and the one i didnt i absolutely crapped on everyone - as in i got bloodbraid elf into woolly thoctar 3 times!! (i won those games...and the draft)

Anyways, here's the draft i recorded, it starts awful, gets slightly better, and ends with a 3 game epic with me losing, bawwww.

I apologise in advance for not knowing too much about what else was in my reborn packs, but it took me a while to read all the cards, being a pretty new set to me, so forgive the pretty pants notes.

Pack 1, pick 1 - sanctum gargoyle

I dont really liek esper too much in draft, and it feels like a strategy you have to commit early to in order to get a decent deck. I thought i would have a go though, plus with a branching bolt, jund battlemage, necrogenesis and executioners capsule i didnt want to fight over the jund stuff.

Pack 1, pick 2 - seaside citadel

Tri-lands are always awesome, and only an unexciting wild nacatl and bone splinters make up the pack

Pack 1, pick 3 - resounding silence

The citadel means i can cycle this making it pretty damn good, plus hissing iguanar is the only other playable here

Pack 1, pick 4 - deft dualist

Pack 1, pick 5 - naya panorama

Nothing here so grab the fixing

Pack 1, pick 6 - tidhollow strix

Im pretty suprised to see this dude seeing as i havent seen any other esper cards coming my way so far, maybe it is open after all

Pack 1, pick 7 - call to heel

Remaining picks - puppet conjurer, grixis panorama, vectis silencers, onyx goblet, shore snapper, angelsong, shadowfeed, island

Pack 2, pick 1 - mirror sigil sargeant

little bit bomby, so.... There was also a foil apocolypse hydra in there too, whats the pick here?

Pack 2, pick 2 - esperzoa

pretty bad really, conflux is awful isnt it.

Pack 2, pick 3 - celestial purge

I love this card

Pack 2, pick 4 - voices from the void

Looks like ill be playing quite a few colours, so might be decent as i will be pretty slow and controlling

Pack 2, pick 5 - worldy counsel

Pack 2, pick 6 - pestilent kathari

Pack 2, pick 7 - zombie outlander

Pack 2, pick 8 - brackwater elemental

Remaining picks - cumber stone, darklit gargoyle, scornful aether-lich, jhessian balm giver, infectious horror, toxic iguanar, plains.

Pack 3, pick 1 - slave of bolas

zealous persecution in there too.

Pack 3, pick 2 - lord lich or unx

He seems ok, on colour, why not.

Pack 3, pick 3 - mask of riddles

only a sewn eye drake in there too, and even though i need guys i like this card a lot

Pack 3, pick 4 - monstrous carabid

Pack 3, pick 5 - illusionary demon

Pack 3, pick 6 - kathari bomber (foil)

Pack 3, pick 7 - wall of denial

This guy is definately the droid im looking for in my deck

Pack 3, pick 8 - maelstrom nexus

could be a bomb, guess we'll see.

Remaining picks - jhessian zombies, captured sunlight, fieldmist borderpost, esper sojourners, grixis sojourners, etherium abomination, forest.

Here's my list

1 x mask of riddles
1 x tidehollow strix
1 x zombie outlander
1 x celestial purge
1 x call to heel
1 x puppet conjurer
1 x worldy counsel
1 x esperzoa
1 x fieldmist borderpost
1 x brackwater elemental
1 x illusionary demon
1 x kathari bomber
1 x lord lich of unx
1 x pestilent kathari
1 x wall of denial
1 x sanctum gargoyle
1 x resounding silence
1 x slave of bolas
1 x voices from the void
1 x maelstrom nexus
1 x etherium abomination
1 x jhessian zombies
1 x mirror, sigil sargeant

1 x seaside citadel
1 x naya panorama
1 x grixis panorama
1 x forest
1 x mountain
5 x island
4 x swamp
3 x plains


So i lost in the first round in a 3 gamer, game 1 my opponant made turn 2 guy, turn 3 noob sledge, turns 4-6 bashy bashy.

I win a long game 2, getting slow advantage

Game 3 he gets the sledge, which i have no way in my deck to deal with. But am drawing cards with mask of riddles and blocking his guy avec sledge with wall of denial. Eventually i find my Lord lich of Unx and start milling but my opponant finds the domain goblin guy to put his penis extension on and attacks me with a 21/5 lifelink trampler....i obviously survive on 1 life, with my lord lich still about too. I make a guy, but my opponant draw resounding thunder, bum.

Hope you all enjoyed that, more drafts coming soon a la my prize boosters for winning my other draft.


Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Tournament report - Regionals, Newcastle

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

So following on from last weeks article i had pretty much decided on a modified 5 colour bloodbraid list for Newcastle, right? of course not!

I have a few problems with the 5 colour blood list, things i just cant put my finger on, like when do i want a 3/2 haste guy when im getting the crap beaten out me by kithkin, o wait, i can have a kitchen finks too, yippee, another turn to be embaressingly smashed by white men. I dont want to dwell 5cb too much because i plan to write a bit more of an article on it and my current perspective on the whole standard format - so look out for this in a couple days.

I was faced with the same problems of wondering why i am splashing for cryptic in 5cb, it seems to be a half arsed aggro deck when it wants to be and a half arsed control deck when it wants to be, but when it plays against a successfully controlling or aggro deck, for example faeries or kithkin, i just think it loses.

So....what now then, dust the ol' fae off again? That was my first thought, i spent a little while trying to get the faeries deck to where i wanted it, i put a couple of infests in the main deck and put sower of temptation back in as well as more agony warps plus terror.

Faeries then right?

I get to the tournament and fill out my deck registration form for the day, happily jotting down my list from memory, then when we are talking before the event a few people keep saying that they have seen a lot of ram gangs around, and that there seems to be loads of red based aggro decks, be they RDW, blightning or jund type aggro. Obviously this is not ideal for me with faeries, who do a little poo in the face of boggart ram gang, or any spell that is red pretty much.

Having realised im crapping out i wonder over to Craig and Paul who are having a cheeky game, and Paul is playing RDW against Craigs 5cc list. After the game i asked if Paul was playing the deck, he said no, so i gobbled it up to use for the day.


YES! - i actually played red deck wins.

Luckily for me the judges for the day informed me that there was 5 minutes to get registered, upon which time i wet myself and began scribbling cards on the back of my old sheet, luckily though i though i would be pretty safe if i ever got deck checked, because im pretty sure i could pass 4 x boggary rhuah guan, or 4 x flamyt janvei as any cards i liked.

I dont actually have a copy of the list, but here (from memory) is what i think i played today?!

4 x figure of destiny
4 x mogg fanatic
4 x hellspark elemental
4 x anathemancer
4 x boggart ram gang
3 x goblin outlander

4 x flame javelin
3 x volcanic fallout
4 x magma spray
2 x banefire
1 x terror

3 x ghitu encampment
6 x mountain
4 x auntie's hovel
2 x reflecting pool
4 x sulfurous springs
4 x graven cairns

S/B

2 x slave of bolas
3 x deathmark
2 x terror
3 x infest
3 x everlasting torment
2 x chaotic backlash


Round 1) - Alex - esperlark?

Game 1 - I fan out various red cards saying 3/3 haste and realise im well out of my comfort zone here, and when alex plays turn 2 sculler i drop the cards on the table, at least i get a better look at what they are anyway....o whats that, 2 magma sprays, awkward. The sculler eats it, and a ram gang gets in there, soon to be joined by an anathemancer. Alex makes a sower of temptation but my magma spray resolves and every turn i announce beginning of combat expecting cryptic but it never comes, and Alex is soon pretty dead.

Game 2 - I mull to 6 on the draw in game 2, and once again alex makes a tidehollow sculler on turn 2, i have played a land turn 1 obv, and then reveal 2 x magma spray, 2 x anathemancer and 2 x land, which seemed to cause my opponant to call me an tosser using only his face, amazing! I was quite enjoying this obviously, and my opponant then played 4 or 5 non basics, and was forced to allow my anathemancers to resolve. He died with 4 cards in hand, which all happened to be non-basic lands he was scared of playing in the earlier turns, god bless you anathemancer.

1-0

Round 2) - (sorry didnt write your name down) - boat brew

Game 1 - Without any knowledge of this matchup im pretty sure im roughly a 95% favourite if not more, and the first game im on the play and set my opponant on fire with a hellspark, ram gang and 2 flame javelins.

Game 2 - On the draw i didnt keep the fastest hand, but i didnt mind this as my hellsparks had come out for infests and other stuff, which was the boarding strategy Me and Andy had been working on for a couple weeks prior. Anyway i manage to infest some dudes and get everlasting torment et al, but my opponant gets ranger into reveillark into ranger, which is just too much card advantage for me to deal with and i cant get him anywhere near dying before he has lots of men.

Game 3 - Im on the play and keep a ridiculously risky 1 lander with a mogg fanatic and magma spray. The might of Wagner was with me and like a pro i rip lands for my first 2 draws, meaning i can make turn 3 ramp-gang, sadly however all 3 of my lands are pain lands. Luckily im getting some decent hits in on my opponant, who seems to have kept a pretty slow hand. My opponant gets stuck on 4 lands, and i beat him down with an anathemancer and ram gang while clearing his figure of destiny blockers. My opponant makes a wispmare with only colourlous mana left up to my two guys, but obviously i rip a flame javelin anyway, must be nice. Funnily enough, i manage to take 13! points of pain from my lands this game, the only damage i took all game.

2-0

Round 3) - Enrique - Jund Cascade Agrro

Obviously Enrique has been netdecking from the Team Leeds Magic blog, but hey thats fine, when your as good as me you have to expect people are going to play the decks you make. Enrique is playing a deck similar to the one i posted here - http://teamleedsmagic.blogspot.com/2009/05/deck-tech-evolution-of-5cb-to-3cb.html

Game 1 - We both go to 6 but im on the draw and get two anathemancers which do most of the work, but sadly both get magma sprayed. I manage to get him low enough to attack, cast volcanic fallout and sac mogg fanatics for the win.

Game 2 - Thie game went really long, and i feel like i punted this one. We had been slogging it out and trading ram gangs and bloodbraid elfs etc. I attack with a ram gang and a ghitu encampment, putting my opponant down to 5 but leaving me tapped out. I knew this was stupid becase my opponant had been considering making plays a couple turns before when i was attacking with 2 ram gangs, so i had a read on an incinerate in hand, but i guess i thought if he didnt have it i won right. He attacks for 2 and incinerates me, crap.


Game 3 - Another epic between hellsparks, ram gangs and the like is bashed out, with me being forced to aim most of my burn at a seemingly endless supply of ram gangs my opponant is drawing. Luckily i manage to get my opponant to 4, having swung in, i rip a hellspark elemental like a pro and my ghitu encampment gets there.

3-0 - you got it!!

Round 4) - James - g/w tokens

Iv played James a couple times before (see u/w reveillark in leceister regionals and elves in leicester ptq) and he doesnt seem the most confident player, but i am really worried about these matchups if forge tender becomes too much of a problem.

Game 1 - I keep a pretty slow 6 on the play and draw a couple more lands when my opponant gets a sick gassy hand and i take a bit of a rogering here, despit managing to fallout some guys.


Game 2 - This time i have a decent 7 and manage to deal with a forge tender but my opponant has another, which again i deal with. My opponant doesnt have too much gas in hand because he doesnt seem to be playing too many creatures. He finds a garruk and makes some beasts, by now i have burnt him down to 8 life. He goes for an overrun and i manage to terror one of his guys and go to 14, and he makes a spectral procession, meaning i need him to just make 1 more white permanent for my only card in hand, chaotic backlash, to be lethal. He untaps and plays overrun, poo.

Round 5) - Richard - Kithkin

Richard is the guy that won the ptq at game 08, and i knew beard had punted against him earlier (by punted i just mean played)

Game 1 - i knew richard was playing kithkin but sadly theres little i could do when my figure eats a path to exile, and eventually i have to allow richard to activate his windbrisk heights, and believe you me under those heights was darkness no man should have been allowed to see. This game is one in which i made probably my only large mistake of the tournament, by magma spraying a knight of the white orchid when my opponant had played a glorious anthem the turn before, nice.

Game 2 - Once again, forge tender manages to hold back my ram gang and fanatic to get his cloudgoat out, and he manages to put enough pressure on so i have to use my terror on something other than the forge tender which if i had been able to kill i would have been able to cast a chaotic backlash for more than enough damage.


O well, never mind, i feel like i did pretty well, but never mind. I tick the drop box but my opponant says that he is almost certain that a 4-2 will make it in and advises me to not drop, seeing as i have the best tiebreakers of the guys in my bracket. I undo my drop.

3-2 drop...then undrop

Round 6) - (sorry no name this time either) - Kithkin

This round was a 3 game epic in which my deck pretty much crapped out epically in the game where i lost. After every game my opponant was nice enough to show me the goods in his hand, including cards i hadnt seen before such as thistledown liege and...springjack shepherd? You know when you shouldnt be losing when your opponant shows you his best combat trick, but when hes playing springjack shepherd too its a little bit silly. Anyway it seems to be working for him and two burrenton forge tenders game 3 make my men pretty crap to his double ajani, shame.

3-3

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well all things considered i was pretty happy with this result having only just picked up the deck today, especially because i have never played red deck wins in any format before, ever!

I think Pauls deck is pretty awesome though, but sadly when i got to the 3-0 stage i was surrounded by various W/x decks, which made my anathemancers a lot worse and the 4th fallout and infests not my deck quite a lot better...o well.

Im glad my round 5 opponant got in, with the last place, on 15 points. I do hope he was trying to be realistic when he said a 4-2 will make it, because it would make me sad to think he just didnt want me to drop to affect his tiebreakers. I think i trust my opponants way too much when they tell me things like this, and i need to focus and actually think about it for a second. O well, doesnt matter i guess, 3/3 may even do my rating some good considering how low it is now.

Thats about it for this regional season, barring some miracle meaning i can make it to London. Of course im disappointed to have not made it this year, but i didnt play half as well as i can, and i only feel like i am getting back into form now. I think the fact i have being going to most of these events with between 0-3 hours sleep has had a profound effect, and i think when things start going badly they they tend to compound with a mental realisation that you may just be rubbish at the game (which i am, incidently).

Obviously there are still the grinders, which will be very interesting. Im not sure if i will do sealed or constructed, although i could see myself entering in the sealed, seeing if i won the elspeth lottery, then dropping if not to play constructed. Either way, i think a solid week of getting pissed and playing magic in one of my favourite places in England is going to be amazing. Also, last time i was in Brighton i found this shop that does magic cards for ridiculously low prices. I know there has been the price hike in boosters since i last went but this shop was selling all sets between Lorwyn and Shards for £1.75 a pack, not too shabby.


So hopefully i can catch up with people in the summer, if anyone fancies a trip down to sunny Bury St Edmunds, im sure i can arrange putting a person or two at mine and we can go out and wreck the local FNM as well, but if not, have a great summer, and keep me updated with all the events in Leeds.


See you all soon



Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

5cb for newcastle regionals

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Sadly, for those few of you who attended the draft at TJ's this Thursday, you would have known it was sadly my last event in Leeds for a while because im going home for the summer. Luckily for the millions of readers of this blog, i will still be writing articles, except this time i will be regaling tales of how badly im doing in Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. Luckily for me, i think most of the 11 man pod were overcome with emotion at me leaving and allowed me a cheeky 6th pick tower gargoyle, my second of the draft, as you do, but i still only manage 2-1 with it. (ill stick to 8-4's methinks)

Anyways, newcastle is looking like it will probably be my last regional qualifier of this season, and im feeling pretty confident, mostly because my rating has taken a battering by doing craply for 2 months solid, i havent qualified for nationals, and i have nothing really to lose....except for the first 2 rounds on sunday obv.

I know London is also an option later in the year but when im at home over the summer i work like 40 hour weeks and i cant really put in any hours deckbuiling or testing.

After a long period of being told this deck was good, and me building it and not believing it, i have finally given in to the dark side, and built myself a 5cc deck using the cascade engine of bloodbraid elf and bituminous blast.

Here's my current list (when i write current, be aware that by the time you have finished this sentence there i will have more than likely changed at least 5-10 cards)

4 x kitchen finks
4 x anathemancer
4 x bloodbraid elf
4 x mulldrifter

4 x cryptic command
2 x bituminous blast
3 x volcanic fallout
3 x maelstrom pulse
2 x wrath of god
2 x runed halo
2 x cruel ultimatum


26 lands (still working on manabase)

s/b
1 x pyroclasm
1 x maelstrom pulse
1 x volcanic fallout
1 x wrath of god
1 x runed halo
2 x cloudthresher
2 x jace beleren
2 x identity crisis
2 x thought hemorrhage
2 x broodmate dragon


Obviously the starting point for this was Pat Chapins newest list for 5 colour control, i think i posted a link to it in one of the other articles. Obviously my list is a little different, with mulldrifters in the place of putrid leech and runed halo in the main deck. I think if i play a deck like this i would like to maindeck runed halo, at least as a one of, especially because without the putrid leech's i am more likely to hit it with bloodbraid elf.

Anyway, thats the list im working with, i pains me to cut putrid leech but i hate not having mulldrifter in there, and also if i play putrid leech i just wonder why im not playing just the jund colours and saving myself for being so poised to take a rogering from anathemancer.

Anyways, enjoy the list, if your going on sunday ill see you there, ill probably be playing RDW by then.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Just a final note to say that the keen eye among you will have spotted that this article is the 49th, and the tournament report of my 2 rounds in newcastle will be number 50. Im really happy i have been able to keep this up this long, and i wouldnt have done it had it not been for all the comments left and people telling me they have been reading, and hopefully enjoying the sutff on here, so keep reading and commenting and ill keep writing stuff, and hopefulyl rope some good players to write some things too!



Enjoy



Jim



As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Deck tech - g/b elves rock

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Yep, Sunday is fast approaching, and if i make it to newcastle it will be the 4th nationals qualifier i have played in this year, so hopefully i can do the business this time. For anyone who has tracked my past events, i have played pretty much every deck in standard over the last month or so (obv except b/w, the good deck!), and i although i found a deck i like in the jund cascade deck, i wanted to try g/b elves to see if it really is worth playing.


Here's the list i have been testing with

4 x llanowar elves
4 x wren's run vanquisher
4 x putrid leech
4 x kitchen finks
4 x wilt leaf liege
2 x chameleon colossus

4 x infest
4 x maelstrom pulse
3 x thoughtseize
3 x profane command

4 x gilt leaf palaca
4 x twilight mire
3 x llanowar wastes
3 x treetop village
6 x forest
4 x swamp

S/B

4 x deathmark
1 x thoughtseize
3 x garruk wildspeaker
2 x cloudthresher
3 x mind shatter
2 x primal command

Overall im really happy with the deck. Chameleon colossus is a real problem for any deck playing g/b or jund colours because they can really deal with it, but wren's run vanquisher is good against it.

Obviously the infests in the main are a concession to the token and white weenie decks around.

Profane command is such a good finisher, and i think thoughtseize is key in the mirror or jund decks.

I think i have pretty much all bases covered with this deck, and i am really torn between this and the cascade deck. I think this deck is much better because of the lack of decent control decks at the moment, but knowing me if i play this i will play faeries and reveillark all day.

The only problem i can see really is the low elf count for the vanquisher and gilt leaf palace, but vanquisher turn 2 is not that important as this deck isnt meant to be super aggresive, and also i cut one of the treetop villages so that even if gilt leaf palace comes in tapped i havent got to many CIPT lands, plus i imagine treetop to be a prime pithing needle target nowadays.

Constructed criticism would be really helpful,


Enjoy.


Jim

As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Guest Article: How to open ridiculous amounts of over-powerful bomb rares in a draft and beat people with them

By Mick Edwards

Today's guest article is from Pro Mick :D

It's no secret that the power level of many of the cards in Shards Block is pretty high and it's hard to get a draft where there aren't high powered bombs being passed around. The trick is to grab them all, run a janky mana-base and hope everything falls into place.

As Mtgo v3 has a draft recorder, and since jim has been making this stuff look easy, I decided to join an 8-4 draft and attempt to write about it.

Pack 1 pick 1:

Feral Hydra

Over Kederekt Creeper, Savage Hunger, Ridge Rannet, Courier's Capsule, Akrasan Squire,Bone Splinters, Steward of Valeron, Mosstodon, Goblin Mountaineer, Sanctum Gargoyle, Crumbling Necropolis,Drumhunter, Thoughtcutter Agent

Whenever I open my 1st pack I always try to pick out the best 8 cards so I can see what I expect to table, I was clearly taking the bomb Feral Hydra, but there are a lot of other strong cards in the pack. The weakest 6 cards that I expected to table were Kederekt Creeper, Savage Hunger, Ridge Rannet, Goblin Mountaineer, Thoughtcutter Agent and what I think is the 9th best card here - Steward of Valeron. Turns out I was very wrong as you will find out below.

Pack 1 pick 2:

Mosstodon

Over Angelic Benediction, Steward of Valeron, Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, Naya Panorama, Blister Beetle

Big fat creature that fits my 1st pick fine out of an otherwise pretty weak second pack.

Pack 1 pick 3

Topan Ascetic

Over Jhessian Infiltrator, Blood Cultist, Rip-Clan Crasher, Cavern Thoctar, Blister Beetle

Although I believe the Cultist and maybe the infiltrator are stronger, Topan Ascetic is very good too and goes better with my previous two picks as I'm not commited to a shard yet.

Pack 1 pick 4:

Jungle Shrine

Over Steward of Valeron, Kathari Screecher, Esper Panorama, Grixis Panorama, Bant Battlemage

Jungle shrine is one of the best mana fixers around and the pack was pretty weak which helped me make what I think is the right pick here.

Pack 1 pick 5:

Resounding Silence

Over Bant Panorama, Obelisk of Esper, Jhessian Infiltrator, Quietus Spike

Too boring, too awkward to cast and too slow are my thoughts on the other cards I was happy to take some removal that fit with my Naya plan.

Pack 1 pick 6:

Jund Charm

Over Scavenger Drake, Resounding Silence, Court Archers, Deft Duelist

6th pick board sweepers are pretty great, I can only assume this was a very strong pack with no-one wanting to commit to Jund this early, but im happy to take this even if I have to splash for it or it doesn't make my deck. The effect it has in a deck is too good to pass at this point.

Pack 1 pick 7:

Bant Panorama

Over Volcanic Submersion, Call to Heel, Cylian Elf

Volcanic Submersion is a solid card that is never bad and is amazing vs Esper but I was still leaving my options open so took the mana fixer.

Pack 1 pick 8:

Grixis Panorama

Over Carrion Thrash, Dregscape Zombie, Call to Heel, Cylian Elf, Esper Charm

A good sign that Esper is probably open, but taking a mana fixer when you are unsure what to do is often a good safe option this early in the draft.

Pack 1 pick 9:

Sanctum Gargoyle

Over Courier's Capsule, Kederekt Creeper

A clear sign that Esper is wide open. I was very surprsed to see the capsule and the gargoyle still in the pack instead of the steward and the Ridge Rannet

late picks included a Jund Obelisk which I could use to splash the Jund Charm maybe.

------ ALA ------

Pack 2 pick 1:

Kresh the Bloodbraided

Over Jungle Shrine, Rockslide Elemental, Blightning, Ridge Rannet, Druid of the Anima, Sigil Blessing

A Very nice Bomb rare to go with my Jund charm, I thought about maybe going Jund splash white but eventually gave up on the whole Esper idea.

Pack 2 pick 2:

Vein Drinker

Over Necrogenesis, Cavern Thoctar, Blister Beetle, Druid of the Anima, Viscera Dragger

I often 1st/2nd pick Necrogenesis, but Vein Drinker is the better bomb here in my opinion

Pack 2 pick 3:

Branching Bolt

Over Corpse Connoisseur, Scavenger Drake, Cloudheath Drake, Carrion Thrash, Dragon Fodder

Sanctum Gargoyle, Rip-Clan Crasher, Mosstodon

With the amount of good flyers added by Conflux this card is even more insane, almost always a 2 for 1 often cancelling out their last two turns of board development.

Pack 2 pick 4:

Resounding Roar

Over Grixis Charm, Grixis Battlemage, Viscera Dragger, Akrasan Squire, Rockcaster Platoon

Probably a very debateable pick as this pack was very strong, I value pump spells very highly and stick by this being the right pick here.

Pack 2 pick 5:

Naya Panorama

Pack 2 pick 6:

Carrion Thrash

Over Gift of the Gargantuan

Im not a huge fan of the Gift as I hate having to stick removal spells on the bottom of my library.

Pack 2 pick 7:

Jungle Weaver

Pack 2 pick 8:

Bloodpyre Elemental

Over Carrion Thrash, Esper Charm, Wild Nacatl, Rip-Clan Crasher

The Wild Nacatl was the most tempting here but in the end I went for the pseudo-removal spell I think this might have been a mistake, but still a good pick. Its amazing how strong some Shards packs are to have 5 strong cards left by the 8th pick!

I also got a 9th pick Ridge Rannet (he's good I tell you!) and an 11th pick rip-clan crasher - perfect I thought as I was lacking in early drops at this point.

------ CON ------

Pack 3 pick 1:

Banefire

Pretty much the best card I could have hoped for here!

Pack 3 pick 2:

Paleoloth

Over Scarland Thrinax, Wild Leotau, Ignite Disorder,

I figured the Paleolth was the better fatty, I cant abuse the thrinax much and I have plenty of removal.

Pack 3 pick 3:

Volcanic Fallout

I was very surprised to see this as i'd figured my neighbour was in red as I saw little pack 1.

Pack 3 pick 4:

Ember Weaver

Sooo good!

Pack 3 pick 5:

Viashino Slaughtermaster

Over Sylvan Bounty

The slaughtmaster is one of my fav. cards in this set. That might be because I rate pump spells highly and swinging in for 14 with a double-pumped slaughtmaster can finish things very fast.

Pack 3 pick 6:

Toxic Iguanar

Another one of my fav. cards from conflux its a one drop, it kills stuff, no-one ever wants to block it even if i dont have a green creature they wold rather play it safe in case I flash in an ooze or something.

Pack 3 pick 7,8,9:

Nacatl Savage

Exploding Borders

Yoke of the Damned

a 2 drop, fixing/burn and removal all late, all of these made my deck and are fairly underated I guess.

late picks included double faerie mechanist (told ya esper was open!) and another toxic ignuanar, I really love the iguanar and in one game it held off a rhox war monk while my feral hydra beat in, that said I probably wouldn't run 2.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAMES:

Rounds 1 and 2 were pretty much a walkover and in the final my oponent was running cards like gustrider exuberant to go with his multiple kraniocerious. I finished the final game with a 29/29 kresh. One interesting game in round 2 I was holding volcanic fallout and not playing waiting for him to play a second creature so I could get a 2 for 1 killing his aven squire... but he didnt play another spell until turn 6 so the squire got in for 6 while I waited doing nothing! I wondered if he sensed the sweeper or if he was just colour screwed. Oh well, thats my attempt at a limited article, cya Thursday!

Mick

Drafting with Jim - #6

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone is enjoying the articles going up the last couple of weeks, we are coming up to 50 articles which is great, i wasnt even sure myself if this thing would last more than a couple weeks, but its going strong 2 months or so in, and it's quite scary to think that at the current rate the blog would be producing 300 articles a year

The notes for this draft are really scattered because my housemates were trying to use my printer when i was drafting, and it's hard enough to record some of the cards in a pack on my own anyway.

Here we go.

Pack 1, pick 1 - resounding thunder

I hate passing a branching bolt because it's so good, and there are a lot fewer with only the 2 packs of shards, but thunder is better and a more open pick.

Pack 1, pick 2 - executioners capsule

a bit annoying to pass a jungle shrine but the capsule is definately the pick, hopefully il get me some good fixing later

Pack 1, pick 3 - drumhunter

I hate being faced the pick between drumhunter and vithian stinger, and it seems to be happening often, but my favourite archetype right now is r/g/x fat men, and drumhunter is just better in that type of deck.

Pack 1, pick 4 - magma spray

The removal is far better than the court archers here

Pack 1, pick 5 - mosstodon

Pack 1, pick 6 - cavern thoctar

2 guys to trigger drumhunter already!

Remaining picks - lightning talons, exhuberant firestoker, yoked plowbeast, welkin guide, rockcaster platoon, viashino skeleton, goblin mountaineer, island, island

Pack 2, pick 1 - naya charm

Although i think someone to my left is probably naya, i have a welkin guide and rockcaster allready, so im probably playing white as my third colour and possibly splashing the executioners capsule so its worth the pick over the resounding thunder

Pack 2, pick 2 - topan ascetic

i much prefer this guy to sprouting thrinax because he is a pain to deal with, and much easier to cast

Pack 2, pick 3 - cavern thoctar

There was also a where ancients tread in the pack, and i was really tempted, but im hoping it will table

Pack 2, pick 4 - drumhunter

Double drumhunter, again. This deck is getting silly.

Pack 2, pick 5 - rakeclaw gargantuan

Pack 2, pick 6 - elvish visionary

A cavern thoctar here is good, but i need some low mana cost guys

Pack 2, pick 7 - necrogenesis

I love this card

Pack 2, pick 8 - incurable ogre

Remaining picks - grixis panorama, resounding roar, swerve, volcanic submersion, bloodthorn taunter, undead leotau, mountain.

Pack 3, pick 1 - Wild leotau

I havent got enough black permanents to make me pick dark temper over this guy, might be wrong here though

Pack 3, pick 2 - dark temper

Pack 3, pick 3 - beacon behemoth

Pack 3, pick 4 - celestial purge

Pack 3, pick 5 - sylvan bounty

Some well needed mana fixing

Pack 3, pick 6 - sylvan bounty

Pack 3, pick 7 - rhox meditant

Pack 3, pick 8 - mark of asylum

Remaining picks - nacatl outlander, valeron outlander, voices from the void (foil), toxic iguanar, nacatl outlander, nacatl savage, swamp

Final decklist -

1 x magma spray
1 x resounding roar
1 x elvish visionary
1 x celestial purge
1 x nacatl outlander
1 x valeron outlander
1 x dark temper
1 x naya charm
1 x resounding thunder
1 x topan ascetic
1 x exhuberant firestoker
2 x drumhunter
1 x wild leotau
1 x incurable ogre
1 x mosstodon
1 x rakeclaw gargantuan
1 x welkin guide
2 x sylvan bounty
2 x cavern thoctar
1 x rockcaster platoon

8 x forest
5 x mountain
4 x plains


I was pretty happy with the deck, i would have liked more mans fixing, as always, but didnt see any relevent panoramas when there wasnt just a ridiculous pick, which was really annoying. I cut the black splash due to my lack of fixing and i think it was the right choice, however, i did bomb out in the first round in a 3 game epic, which was a real shame because i thought my deck was far superior to my opponants.

I will hopefully remember to record my draft at magic this Thursday at TJ's, which will be the last draft report for a while.



Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Dech tech - Jund Aggro Cascade

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Following my development from the 5cb decklists floating about i have made a few changes to the list i posted last night. Iv been crunching some of the numbers and messing the mana base a bit.

Overall i have made the deck more aggresive and, i think, better suited for mirror type matches and token matches at the same time.


Here's the list i am currently using.

4 x putrid leech
4 x anathemancer
4 x kitchen finks
4 x boggart ram gang
4 x bloodbraid elf
3 x chameleon colossus

4 x jund charm
4 x maelstrom pulse
3 x bituminous blast
1 x loxodon warhammer

4 x savage lands
2 x treetop village
2 x reflecting pool
3 x firelit thicket
3 x twilight mire
1 x llanowar wastes
1 x karplusen forest
4 x forest
3 x swamp
2 x mountain

Im not really sure where im going with the sideboard, i know i want a few more sweepers, probably infests, and certainly some thought hemorrhages. This is the working sideboard.

4 x deathmark
3 x infest
3 x thought hemorrhage
2 x primal command
2 x broodmate dragon
1 x cloudthresher


Not really sure if the broodmate dragons are doing anything in the sideboard, but i cant really think of anything else i want there.

Enjoy.



Jim

As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Nats Information

http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/events.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/nationals/greatbritain

This website contains all the information about GB Nats 2009, enjoy :)

x

Deck tech - the evolution of 5cb to 3cb

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Having done pretty badly with faeries at altrincham, which although was quite likely given the current environment, i feel could have easily gone a different way, and i felt a lot better about the way i played.

I was happy with the peppersmoke tech too. I forgot to say in the report but the first game of the tournament went like this

Me: mutavault.

Opponant: plains, figure of destiny.

Me: secluded glen, reveal peppersmoke, activate mutavault and peppersmoke figure.

I could have probably dropped from the tournament a happy man having done this, its always great when things you do work.

As i said in my article however, i am really tempted (if i get to go to newcastle) to play a deck with the new cascade cards in, because having toyed with bituminous blast in draft, it is so fun and very, very powerful.

There are very few decks around abusing cascade, i know there is a gruul aggro deck, but i dont really like it, but Patrick Chapin has been advocating changing 5cc to a more cascady type dekc for a while, so i started with his build.

This is what i started with - http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=26110

Obviously this is a long stretch from th plumeveil, wall of reverence 5cc, but its still very powerful.

I tinkered with the deck a bit, trying to find room for mulldrifters which i missed and also runed halo, because opposing anathemancers are crippling to play against, and it seems everyone is starting to realise how good the card is.

So without cutting the runed halos i was unable to cut white, and obviously cryptic meant there was no way i could cut blue. In the end, therefore, i cut both. Although both cards, especially cryptic are ridiculously powerful, i wanted to try out the deck in just jund colours, because surely i could tidy the manabase so that i wouldnt need to halo anathemancer anyway, nor bend over backwards for my cryptic mana on the back of turns 1,2 and 3 vivid lands.

This is the deck i have come up with, i still think it may need a bit more work, but i think as it is currently it is certainly playable.

4 x putrid leech
4 x kitchen finks
4 x anathemancer
4 x bloodbraid elf
3 x chameleon colossus
2 x broodmate dragon

4 x jund charm
3 x maelstrom pulse
3 x bituminous blast
4 x rampant growth
1 x loxodon warhammer

4 x savage lands
3 x treetop village
3 x firelit thicket
3 x twilight mire
4 x forest
4 x swamp
3 x mountain

S/B
4 x deathmark
3 x volcanic fallout
2 x cloudthresher
2 x makeshift mannequin
2 x thought hemorrhage
2 x primal command

Obviously i havent got a lot of experiance with the deck, but i cant see any reasons why it cant be a winner.

I would like to get the 4th maelstrom pulse in there somewhere, i toyed with taking out the 4th anathemancer, but there are very few matches where he isnt good enough to warrent his slot (rdw and mono white), so i cant bring myself to do it. I really like the rampant growths, because they quite easily get you turn 3 colossus or bloodbraid elf which can really be ridiculous.

Also, bituminous blast into colossus is pretty much the sex. Im not sure if the current format warrants the 3rd bituminous blast becoming the 4th maelstrom pulse instead, but i really love cascade so im finding it hard to take it out.

Anyway, i would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

If anyone is driving to newcastle on the weekend, please get in touch if there is room in the car for me, obviously i would help with the petrol costs. If not, if anyone wants to get a train there im happy to look into that possibility. my email is at the bottom.


See you all soon.


Until then,



Jim



As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Faeries for regionals.....really bad!

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

So after building and attempting to test a few decks for the weekend i settled on faeries. It is a fairly hostile environment at the moment for the blue menace, because standard at the moment is currently two types of decks.

1) decks with windbrisk heights and spectral procession

2) decks that wrath the tokens and play fat men


The problem is that both of these types of decks are quite good against fae, because obviously the current favourable wrath effects (jund charm, volcanic fallout) are pretty good against me too.

However, i am pretty good with the faeries deck, and it certainly can contain any deck that falls into the above categories, because i was pretty sure i knew how to beat them.

The spectral decks are pretty tough and i think broken ambitions is key in containing the spectrals if you can, but if one resolves it is not the end of the world, because i think jace is good here as digging for the mistbind cliques which are just ridiculous against all the white deck. If a spectral procession resolves then you can not let ajani or glorious anthem resolves, because as soon as tokens are out of infest range you pretty much have to scoop.


The other decks around, jund, 5cc, are a little bit easier to play i think because they are slower, which makes jace a lot better, and by not commiting to much to the board their jund charms etc are worse, its not the end of the world to let them charm some tokens away. Scion isnt at his best here, but obviously serves to support the sowers and bitterblossoms from getting maelstrom pulsed, which is fine.

So overall i thought that a combination of probably being on top of the way i want to play faeries today and that the field on the whole wouldnt be too strong i felt quietly confident that i can get a couple wins, and if i can dodge some bad matchups there was no reason why it wouldnt get me there.

Here is the list i played

4 x mistbind clique
4 x spellstutter sprite
3 x scion of oona
3 x vendilion clique

4 x bitterblossom
4 x cryptic command
4 x broken ambitions
3 x peppersmoke
1 x terror
3 x thoughtseize
2 x jace beleren

4 x secluded glen
4 x sunken ruins
4 x mutavault
2 x underground river
8 x island
3 x swamp

S/b

4 x infest
2 x deathmark
2 x scepter of fugue
3 x sower of temptation
2 x puppeteer clique
1 x loxodon warhammer
1 x jace beleren

Round 1) - Daniel - Boat Brew

Game 1 - The only game of the day where i got turn 2 bitterblossom, but my hand was pretty much the nuts here, as i also had a broken ambitions for his spectral procession, which i knew put me well ahead. His ranger of eos got him 2 figures, but my hand was double spellstutter sprite and double mistbind clique, so each of his figures met a sprite, and then i time walked 2 turns to bash some face.

Game 2 - I kept a 3 land hand with double infest and jace, and 1 other. I made my turn 3 jace and drew, and my opponant made spectral procession, which was ok..but i hadnt drawn another black source yet and if he made ajani i needed to deal with them pretty quickly. Another draw from jace still didnt get me there, but my opponant got stuck on 3 lands luckily, and turns 4 and 5 he played spectral processions!! Facing down 9 tokens was a bit poo, especially when he found a windbrisk heights on turn 5, so i tried a mistbind clique to at least stop the heights. Luckily for me, my opponant let the champion happen then path to exiled my clique, so although i got bashed down to 6 life i could untap and infest his guys, with the mana for my newly drawn broken ambitions to stop the 4th spectral procession of the game being played. From here i gained control, and my opponant didnt get the top decks he needed.

Round 2) - Stephen - RDW

RDW round 2, crap. Obviously winning round 1 is pretty good, but i was more happy that i would probably not face red, and almost definately not if i won round 2. I only had the warhammer as any kind of out against red, and i dint see it and was never in either of the games i played. Game 2 i kept a dodgy 6 which would have been awesome if i drew a 3rd land, but sadly i didnt draw this in 4 turns, and having to broken ambitions to clash for a land and fail isnt great, especially when you mill a demigod and 2 hellspark elementals into your opponants graveyard.

Sorry i dont have more information on the games but they were both pretty much blowouts, heres all the notes i have for game 2.

Im on the play, keep 7. Opponant mulligans to 6.

ME
16
5
Loss.


Round 3) - Dan - g/w overrun/aggro

Dan's deck was a bit weird, i cant remember if i saw a spectral procession of a cloudgoat ranger, but he was definately playing overrun but it seemed he was playing it with a g/w aggro deck with quasali pridemage, knotvine paladin and kitchen finks.

I would have been much happier to be facing g/w tokens because my infests are pretty much no good against Dan's guys as soon as he gets either a wilt leaf liege or an ajan goldmane in play. Sadly for me i could not stop turn 4 ajani goldmane in either game 2 or game 3, and this pretty much had me boned.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So 1-2 drop certainly wasnt the droid i was looking for, and it wasnt to be 3rd time lucky. I felt a little bit unlucky because my two losses were to very hard matchups, but then again maybe it was down to my (partially known) illogical metagame choice of faeries for the day.

Congratulations to Kier for qualifying with you hilarious land destruction ramp deck, deus of calamity and especially lavalanche pulling their weight all day. I watched Kier's last round and when he won the game his opponant had ZERO permanents, awesome.

After dropping i manged to draft a pretty sick jund deck in my first Shards/Conflux/Reborn draft, sadly only managing 2-1 with it (cheers guy to my left for passing double vithian stinger, branching bolt, 2 executioners capsule, then darting into R/G late in pack 1). However, i did manage to play bituminous blast cascading into terminate, which felt pretty damn good.

Im currently investigating the 5 colour decks, with or without the use of cascade, if i manage to make it to any more regionals. I recently got my filthy hands on some bloodbraid elves and bituminous blasts, and cascade is so much fun, and it has to be said is ridiculously powerfull.

If anyone is planning on going to newcastle or london for the remaining regionals, please get in touch and we can maybe arrange getting there.

There will be another draft report coming in the next few days as well as the development of the deck that im going to play if/when i go to newcastle for the regionals up there.

Until then,

Jim

As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Drafting with Jim - #5

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I know i said i would save these for a while but i got bored from doing uni work so i thought i would write one up, plus im going to be busy over the next few weeks so i though i would do what i can when i have the time.

Another 8-4 queue crap out im afraid, have a look

Pack 1, pick 1 - rakeclaw gargantuan

This is a horrible pick, my love of naya getting the better of me. The pack was weak but resounding silence is the obvious pick here.

Pack 1, pick 2 - vithian stinger

this is fine, another grixis charm and a kiss of the amesha in the pack as well

Pack 1, pick 3 - savage lands

A good pick here for me, master of etherium going left is good as well

Pack 1, pick 4 - jungle weaver

annoyingly early for these guys, but jungle weaver is solid

Pack 1, pick 5 - court archers

Pack 1, pick 6 - volcanic submersion

Pack 1, pick 7 - welkin guide

I love getting this guy late when you play 5 power fatties

Remaining picks - ridge rannet, volcanic submersion, gift of the gargantuan, deft dualist, viashino skeleton (foil), plains, mighty emergence, mountain

Pack 2, pick 1 - bull cerodon

He's good right?

Pack 2, pick 2 - vithian stinger

double stinger is good, sprouting thrinax, jungle weaver and jund panorama only other picks here

Pack 2, pick 3 - resounding thunder

This pack was sick, algae gharial, jund charm, executioners capsule and souls fire. souls fire may be strong in my deck but thunder is reliably awesome

Pack 2, pick 4 - knight of the skyward eye

Pack 2, pick 5 - sigil blessing

Pack 2, pick 6 - wild nacatl

Pack 2, pick 7 - jungle weaver

Pack 2, pick 8 - steward of valeron

Remaining picks - excommunicate, druid of the anima, carrion thrash, demon's herald, godtoucher, outrider of jhess, mountain

Pack 3, pick 1 - nacatl hunt-pride

A decent card but overall another weak pack. Maybe i am expecting too much to open something better than my usual bomb rare every pack, but the packs i have got in the last couple drafts have been pretty janky

Pack 3, pick 2 - path to exile (foil)

sweeet, also a scepter of fugue in the pack

Pack 3, pick 3 - aven trailblazer

Pack 3, pick 4 - rhox meditant

Pack 3, pick 5 - aven trailblazer

Pack 3, pick 6 - sacellum archers

not sure if this trumps the aven squire as my deck is quite aggressive, but whatever.

For some reason these were prtty much the only decent cards i got in pack 3, i was surprised that i was getting cut pack 3 but this is how it goes sometimes when someone dives in your colours.

Remaining picks - molten frame, molten frame, spore burst, vedalken outlander, toxic iguanar, lapse of certainty, toxic iguanar, frontline sage, infectious horror.

So overall a weak conflux pack left me with an ok deck but it could have been so much better.

I seem to have lost the final decklist in the mass of paper i have with my draft picks on, along with the notes of how the games went, but i basically lost 2-1 in the first round, which is a bit poop.

I have just 1 more draft to put up, which i will definately wait untill next week to upload, after which there may be a few days between articles, but i will do as much as i possibly can, and at the very least there will be the draft and the tournament report from altrincham tomorrow.

See you all soon



Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Faeries for regionals, Really!!

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I have all but decided on my deck for my trip to altrincham tomorrow, im going to have a bash with my old friend mistbind clique.

The current standard environment is quite hostile to faeries right now, obviously wizards have printed a lot of hosers to finally finsh faeries off.

Bearing all of that in mind however, i still think i have a decent chance with faeries in altrincham, certainly better than sleeving up something i havent played with for a long time.

I am a pretty good player with the faeries deck, and i certainly think there are ways to win with it still. The fact that volcanic fallout exists is pretty annoying, but everyone knows it exists, and the decks that play it.

I think if i was playing in a serious tourament faeries would certainly be a worse choice than at regionals, because the average play skill of the regionals is not that great, and there will be lots of different types of deck there, so it wont necessarily be full of b/w tokens. Faeries is a resiliant deck and has a pretty good chance against anything, so i think at regionals more than other tournaments its probably worth a pop.


Here's my list

4 x spellstutter sprite
4 x mistbind clique
3 x scion of oona
3 x vendilion clique

3 x jace beleren

4 x cryptic command
4 x broken ambitions
3 x terror
4 x bitterblossom
3 x thoughtseize

4 x secluded glen
4 x sunken ruins
2 x underground river
4 x mutavault
8 x island
3 x swamp

s/b

4 x infest
3 x scepter of fugue
3 x sower of temptation
2 x puppeteer clique
2 x negate

Enjoy.


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Drafting with Jim - #4

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Hope you have been enjoying the drafts so far, i have this one and another which i have done and will upload next week and that will conclude the drafting with articles for little while, depending on whether i remember to record my draft next thursday, but after that i will be going back to Bury, which i know is irregular in terms of a weekly format, so wont be able to record drafts that often.

Anyway, this was another 8-4 queue.

Pack 1, pick 1 - topan ascetic

this pack is a bit of a blank, the only other option was a bloodpyre elemental, and it's annoying passing this and a jund panorama to the left when im going green but whatever, best card in the pack i guess.

Pack 1, pick 2 - oblivion ring

obviously a strong pick, the rare was gone so no strong signal but i have to pass a jund charm, so hopefully guy to my left will stick out of naya

Pack 1, pick 3 - skullmulcher

This was an awful pick, one of my worst. This card does not fit in the card of deck im going for at all, plus im passing a knight of the skyward eye. Idiot, all i can say!

Pack 1, pick 4 - magma spray

Pack 1, pick 5 - realm razor

Still a sprouting thrinax in the pack, kind of wish i was jund now, razor is a bomb though, just a bit crap when you draw him when your behind

Pack 1, pick 6 - welkin guide

much more suited to my deck than the rip clan crasher i pass, and hopefully the naturalize will wheel

Pack 1, pick 7 - hissing iguanar

Not as good as in the jund deck im feeding but a shallow pack

Pack 1, pick 8 - rip clan crasher

Pack 1, pick 9 - incurable ogre

Pack 1, pick 10 - obelisk of naya

Remaining picks - obelisk of jund, behemoths herald, angels herald, mighty emergence, marble chalice

Pack 2, pick 1 - naya panorama, sigh.

Another terrible pack, probably the worst pack i have ever seen. Tar fiend, is ok i guess but everything else is just awful, if i paid £3 for this and ripped it i would punch a baby.

Pack 2, pick 2 - wild nacatl

again not a great pack for me, but kitty is pretty good

Pack 2, pick 3 - resounding silence

Better than in the aggressive naya deck, and also good against the rhox war monk im passing

Pack 2, pick 4 - resounding thunder

im surprised this got to me, o well, pretty awesome anyway.

Pack 2, pick 5 - resounding silence

Court archers was close, guess im on the man plan in alara reborn

Pack 2, pick 6 - druid of the anima

nice

Pack 2, pick 7 - jungle weaver

Pack 2, pick 8 - quasali ambusher

Remaining picks - dragons herald, sangrite surge, guardians of akrasa, yoked plowbeast, cancell, bloodthorn taunter, swamp

Pack 3, pick 1 - vagrant plowbeast

Another crappy pack, great. Obviously all decks want a flameblast dragon but even a half decent 1st pick would be nice.

Pack 3, pick 2 - cylian sunsinger

Havent played a lot with this dude, but seems awesome

Pack 3, pick 3 - wild leotau

i love this card soo much

Pack 3, pick 4 - fiery fall

Pack 3, pick 5 - sacellum archers

Not sure how good this guy is, but it seems ok, no harpoon sniper.

Pack 3, pick 6 - wild leotau

exploding borders and gleam of resistance also in the pack.

Pack 3, pick 7 - beacon behemoth

Hes a pretty solid big guy, certainly better for me than the macta rioters

Pack 3, pick 8 - molten frame

Remaining picks - sedraxis alchemist, scattershot archer, molten frame, scattershot archer, grixis illusionist, scattershot archer, mountain

Final decklist

1 x magma spray
1 x wild nacatl
1 x druid of the anima
1 x cylian sunsinger
1 x rip clan crasher
1 x resounding thunder
1 x oblivion ring
1 x hissing iguanar
1 x quasali ambusher
1 x topan ascetic
1 x sacellum archers
2 x resounding silence
2 x wild leotau
1 x incurable ogre
1 x skullmulcher
1 x welkin guide
1 x beacon behemoth
1 x fiery fall
1 x realm razor
1 x jungle weaver
1 x vagrant plowbeast


Round 1

Game 1 - i get pretty aggressive with various dudes, eventually getting a leotau and hissing iguanar after some early removal from my opponant. However, my opponant gets a pestilent kathari and scavenger drake which prove to be annoying. We play draw go for a while, with him drawing removal and me drawing land...shame.

Game 2 - i blow him out with a decent curve, crasher into ascetic into wild leotau, and it's all over pretty quickly. hilariously this game, i have more than lethal on the board but my opponant plays dragon fodder to stay alive, leaving him with a goblin outlander and 2 goblin tokens. I draw hissing iguanar which is pretty much the final nail in the coffin because i know he's chumping, so tap three lands and misclick to play my....oblivion ring, which obviously has to remove one of the tokens as the outlander has pro-white...awkward. Luckily he scooped next turn.

Game 3 - I get my opponant down to 10 when he manages to get some guys together in the form of kederekt creeper and pestilent kathari, but doesnt have mana to activate. I oblivion ring the creeper and get him to 6, but from here i draw nothing until he manages to get another creeper and a scavenger drake. My library is down to 11 cards, one of which i know is resounding thunder, and my only card in hand is fiery fall. Every time i draw another guy to squeeze some damage through my opponant plays a blocker or removal spell. During this time he manages to get me from 16 to 10. I draw realm razor, leaving 9 cards in library, and im not sure whether to play it, because my vagrant plowbeast is keeping him from attacking me for mor than 1 with his flying dork guy. i play realm razor, he floats mana and dark tempers my realm razor, ( i used some mana to regen the plowbeast). He then untaps, dark tempers my plowbeast and swings with 2 guys, leaving enough behind. I think, take the damage, then landcycle the fiery fall to get my lone swamp for the cycle. I draw... incurable ogre. I reveal my hand to my opponant then draw another card after conceeding and resounding thunder is the next card down.....stupid realm razor.


O well.


Hope you enjoyed this, ill have the other one up on monday or most probably tuesday, along with a report of my *crosses fingers* succesfull day at the altrincham regionals on sunday.


Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Faeries for regionals, really? 3 decks to take to Altrincham

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Most of you will know i am having trouble finding a deck i really like and want to play at regionals, i liked the g/w deck a bit but i hashed together a token deck with a g/w aggro deck and it could have been better. I like the jund rock type deck, but it was still haunted by the mana problems, because all your cards require 2+ colours, and so i think at a minimum you need rampant growths in there.

I have been building and testing loads of decks, obviously the power of spectral procession + windbrisk heights is defining the format, but i dont really like any decks with those two in, so i want to look for something else.

1) Jund rock

4 x kitchen finks
4 x putrid leech
3 x anathemancer
3 x chameleon colossus
3 x broodmate dragon

2 x garruk wildspeaker
4 x rampant growth

4 x jund charm
2 x terminate
3 x maelstrom pulse

2 x banefire
2 x primal command
1 x loxodon warhammer

4 x savage lands
4 x treetop village
3 x fire-lit thicket
3 x twilight mire
4 x forest
3 x swamp
3 x mountain

S/B

3 x thoughtseize
2 x thought hemorrhage
2 x makeshift mannequin
3 x cloudthresher
1 x anathemancer
3 x volcanic fallout
1 x primal command

I like this build quite a lot, it makes good use of anathemancer and has a decent curve. Colossus is a house in the mirror but sadly the token decks all play path, so maybe its worth going down to 2 for an extra sweeper, meta depending.

That said, i crapped out of this weeks T2 event with 1-3 with this deck. Saying that i was playing pretty badly, and at least 1 entire match was lost over greedy keeps, where both games lost i didnt play a spell.

Plainswalkers / cruel control

I based this on the deck John Ingham was playing at Standard last night, which i think he got from a guy who did well at Leicester. I found it really hard to fit all the cards i wanted in, and i think this deck needs a lot of work.

4 x kitchen finks
3 x anathemancer
4 x mulldrifter

4 x cryptic command
4 x esper charm
4 x wrath of god
2 x cruel ultimatum

3 x ajani vengeant
3 x jace beleren
2 x lilliana vess
1 x nicol bolas, plainswalker

+ 1 cruel control manabase.

I was only goldfishing with this deck but i had so much fun playing it, the thought that bolas could be your next rip is pretty hilarious. 4 sweepers, which kill everything very much dead, seems like too few but you draw enough cards to make me think that this is ok pre-boarding. But is bolas really playable in standard.

Faeries

4 x spellstutter sprite
4 x mistbind clique
3 x scion of oona
3 x vendilion clique

3 x jace beleren

4 x bitterblossom
4 x cryptic command
4 x broken ambitions
3 x terror
3 x thoughtseize

4 x secluded glen
4 x sunken ruins
4 x mutavault
2 x underground river
8 x island
3 x swamp

Yep, my old favourite and yours. I didnt see one faeries deck in the entire room at Leicester, and that tells me that either everyone correctly believes faeries is dead in the current token heavy meta full of volcanic fallouts, or everyone thinks its dead, but faeries is actually still good.

Volcanic fallout is a huge problem, but its not the end of the world. I think the deck relies more on mistbind clique, but having jace in the main i think is very important, you need to find the cryptics and cliques, and from there you should take control.

So which one of these, if any, should i play sunday? are they all worth their weight in Standard right now, or are these tier 2 or lower.


So thats about it, this may be my last chance (...before the last chance qualifier) to qualify for nats so im hopinf it all goes well, its annoying i have to work on saturday night because i know sleepless nights really dont help, but i will just have to stay as composed as possible.

Glad to see everyone is enjoying the draft articles, i have 2 more to go up...sadly in both i crapped out in the first rounds so at least you guys can tell me how bad my drafting is again!

See you all soon,



Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Deck Tech: Stokin' Tokens

By Wagz

Currently in standard, every deck appears to be playing tokens, but every new deck wants to play Anathemancer and Bloodbraid Elf. Question: Can we play these all in the same deck? Answer: YES! Presenting a rehash of an old Stewart Wright deck, Stokin' Tokens:

4 Mogg Fanatic

4 Bitterblossom

4 Dragon Fodder

4 Anathemancer

4 Scarland Thrinax

4 Goblin Assault

4 Bloodbraid Elf

3 Marsh Flitter

3 Furystoke Giant

4 Deathmark

4 Savage Lands

3 Sulfurous Springs

2 Llanowar Wastes

3 Fire-Lit Thicket

3 Reflecting Pool

2 Swamp

5 Mountain

1 Forest

Side:

4 Goblin Outlander

4 Dragon's Claw

4 Volcanic Fallout

3 Pithing Needle

Provisional sideboard based on what you might struggle with

Any suggestions are welcome, this has done very well in testing :) (p.s. this article has been Ouphe-Edited (Having accepted one edit, I was doomed to accept another)

Drafting with Jim - #3

By Jim Marlow

Hey Everyone,

Thats right, two draft articles in two days. I am trying to write about 4-5 articles a week and i was going to write an article about the importance of mental strength, but i found it hard to write, and i think it was too serious for a player as bad as me to write about. Also i won 14 packs on mtgo last night so i thought i would play some more.

Pack 1, pick 1 - Oblivion ring

the best removal spell in the format is always a welcome sight. I passed a bone splinters, topan ascetic, crumbling necropolis and kederekt leviathon. Im not happy passing the ascetic, but hey.

Pack 1, pick 2 - drumhunter

I definately picked from the heart not the head here, i got passed a pack with drumhunter, vithian stinger, probably 2 of my 3 favourite shards limited cards, and an executioners capsule to boot. Drumhunter is probably the weakest of the three, but i can go 5 power naya and put someone in jund, so its not all bad i guess.

Pack 1, pick 3 - druid of the anima

I never know how early to pick these guys, this feels a little early but hes a decent card in big man naya. Not sure it was worth picking over a blood cultist either, maybe i should just be going jund splashing the o-ring

Pack 1, pick 4 - naya panorama

I never take enough mana fixing really, and im glad to take it, there is an agony warp in the pack too which is slightly worrying, because either the pack was sick good or the people feeding me are now in my colours.

Pack 1, pick 5 - quasali ambusher

passed a rip clan crasher, but i like this dude.

Pack 1, pick 6 - jund charm

I wish i had gone jund now, but this is easily splashable and is awesome!!!

Pack 1, pick 7 - cavern thoctar

pack 1, pick 8 - keeper of progenitus

pack 1, pick 9 - jungle weaver

woot!

remaining picks - incurable ogre, obelisk of jund, godtoucher, lush growth, shadowfeed, plains

Pack 2, pick 1 - naya charm

This pack was like a naya sealed deck, with a battlemage, rakeclaw gargantuan, druid of the anima and naya panorama, at least something will wheel

Pack 2, pick 2 - vithian stinger

passing a nacatl here isnt horribe as he's not as good in my deck, im hoping the mosstodon in the pack tables

Pack 2, pick 3 - resounding silence

Not the greatest removal spell and maybe jungle weaver was the pick here, thought long about it but im playing a longer game than normal aggro decks.

Pack 2, pick 4 - drumhunter?

this is slightly naughty.

Pack 2, pick 5 - rockcaster platoon

I love this guy for getting rid of pesky flyers, as this deck has a problem with random 2/2 flyers getting there against you

Pack 2, pick 6 - waveskimmer aven

nothing else here...

Pack 2, pick 7 - bant battlemage

This pack is drying up a bit early, hopefully the guy to my left is in jund and is just clearing shallow packs

Pack 2, pick 8 - rakeclaw gargantuan

its so awesome this wheeled, plus goog sign naya is clear.

Pack 2, pick 9 - naturalize

remaining picks - tidehollow sculler, windright mage, souls might, island, goblin mountaineer, plains

Pack 3, pick 1 - armillery sphere

not sure if exploding borders is better for my type of deck here, but sphere is just better, and its good for my jund charm splash too.

pack 3, pick 2 - wild leatau

pretty much the best card i could want right now

Pack 3, pick 3 - wild leatau

my deck is looking pretty hot with these guys

Pack 3, pick 4 - rupture spire

Pack 3, pick 5 - volcanic fallout

delicious!

Pack 3, pick 6 - vagrant plowbeat

slyvan bounty is close, but i probably have enough mana fixing and 5 power guys are awesome

Pack 3, pick 7 - rhox meditant

Pack 3, pick 8 - molten frame

remaining picks - skyward eye prophets, corrupted roots, rotting rats, countersquall, constricting tendrils, salvage slasher, mountain.

Overall im pretty happy with the deck, got pretty lucky having double drumhunter with double wild leatau and other big guys, plus having a jund charm and volcanic fallout means i have some decent removal. Guys to my left playing r/g/x cut me a bit pack 2, so im a bit light on playables.

Here's the finished decklist i played

1 x druid of the anima
1 x armilary sphere
1 x naturalize
1 x molten frame
1 x obelisk of jund
1 x jund charm
1 x naya charm
1 x volcanic fallout
1 x oblivion ring
1 x quasali ambusher
1 x vithian stinger
2 x drumhunter
2 x wild leatau
1 x rhox meditant
1 x incurable ogre
1 x resounding silence
1 x rakeclaw gargantuan
1 x cavern thoctar
1 x jungle weaver
1 x vagrant plowbeast
1 x rockcaster platoon

1 x naya panorama
1 x rupture spire
7 x forest
4 x plains
3 x mountain
1 x swamp

Round 1 - DontBeEmo - U/B/R

Game 1 - I keep a 5 land hand with armilary sphere and wild leatau, i play and crack the sphere then the leatau, but my only other non, land draw of the game was naturalize, which i use to kill his ethersworn adjudicator.

Game 2 - i get turn 3 stinger, turn 4 drumhunter. My opponant magma sprays the stinger interestingly, and mt wild leatau next turn ensures i get lots of cards and play a fatty a turn untill my opponant is very dead.

Game 3 - Its pretty similar to game 2, with both drumhunters seeing play, but sadly getting killed after i stalled out for cards. My opponant is ahead on the board but i have 7 cards in hand. He attacks with a tower gargoyle, grixis slavedriver and unearthed kathari screecher after using an executioners capsule on my only guy. I cycle resounding silence on the two fatties, he then plays a grixis battlemage and i play jund charm end of turn, untap and play rakeclaw gargantuan and rhox meditant, good night sir.

In game 3 my opponant apparantly 'missed out' an attack step when it got skipped through, which he was upset about. He asked me to mana burn for 2, which i didnt do much to his annoyance, but i said i would conceed if i was on 2 life at the end. I got nowhere near this, but my opponant still got pissy when he drew land when apparently 'any spell would have won it' - i dont think so.

Round 2 - Roadl_jp - G/W/R/u

Game 1 - turn 2 druid of the anima plus a couple of guys in later turns. Eventually my opponant gets a few guys out including algae gharial, but i have a jund charm wating. Megleonoth holds me back for a turn but my opp takes a swing for 5, then when he taps out to make and equip a manaforce mace i can naya charm and swing for lethal.

Game 2 - turn 2 druid of the anima into turn 3 stinger is met but druid and paragon of the amesha. I take beats before playing volcanic fallout leaving life totals 17-16 in his favour. He plays another druid, and then cycles a couple fatties, evidently lacking a mountain, as i play a wild leatau. I misplay by not unearthing stinger to deny him red mana and he plays a carrion thrash, but i do it next turn and o-ring the thrash, getting in for 5. He plays an elvish visionary and next turn a rhox meditant as chump blockers but i now have a cavern thoctar with the wild leatau and he conceeds before i need to play either the jungle weaver or vagrant plowbeast i have in hand.

Round 3 - FitsgeraldJD - Jund

Game 1 - My opponant gets a goblin outlander and dragon fodder as beaters, leaving me flooding after popping a panorama and the sphere. He plays scourge devil to knock me to lethal next turn and a non sweeper means on to game 2.

Game 2 - Luckily for me my opponant gets a slow start, meaning i can fetch up lands and make a turn 5 cavern thoctar. Unluckily for me this is met with a 10/10 apocolypse hydra. I make a rockcaster platoon to stop the hydra, but my opponant take the doubel block and knocks me down to 7 with other creatures. I still have gas in hand and fallout his other 2 guys, leaving only his scarland thrinax. As always, i keep playing a fatty a turn and its not long before i have vagrant plowbeast and other fat in there, naya charm seals it.

Game 3 - Another slow start from my opponant is pretty lucky since i keep a risky 2 lander on the draw, but it has rupture spire and armilary sphere. I go pretty sick by oblivion ringing the hydra, then killing all his creatures he attempts to equip with a quitus spike. Eventually i play a drumhunter as im stuck on 6 lands but he gets dragged down, but being a savage lucksake i rip land #7 for the vagrant plowbeast, then drumhunter off the top pretty much gets me there with plenty of gas, my opponant shows me his sarkhan vol, but by that time its all over.


hold the phones baby, because it looks a lot to me like i'v won two 8-4 queues in a row. I must be feeling ill or something because i am notoriously bad at drafting online, so going 11-1 over the last 2 days is ridiculous.

Anyways hope you found the draft enjoyable, see everyone on thursday, there will be more articles going up in the time being.


Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Drafting with Jim - #2

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I'm sorry it has been so long since i did one of these articles, because they are always my favourite ones from SCG, basically because you can see all the pros make mistakes and laugh, im looking at you Eisel. For that reason i decided to record my picks, deck and mathes from an online 8-4 draft queue, here's how it went.

Pack 1, pick 1 - Agony Warp

Jund battlemage, naya panorama and death baron were the only other notables in perhaps the worst shards pack ever.

Pack 1, pick 2 - Fatesticher

There was a rhox charger and court archers in here too, and i figured i would follow up the agony warp considering the guy to my left probably took the battlemage and could therefore push him right out of my colours, which i could leave open as far as grixix/esper.

Pack 1, pick 3 - magma spray

Seaside citadel was the only other notable, and im happy enough with the removal here

Pack 1, pick 4 - dragon fodder

A little underpowered for 4th pick, but not awful.

Pack 1, pick 5 - viscera dragger

Pack 1, pick 6 - Cavern thoctar

This was a misclick, i was meant to take the volcanic submersion in the pack, but hating the thoctar is not terrible anyway

Pack 1, pick 7 - thorn thrash viashino

Pack 1, pick 8 - Kederekt creeper

I love getting these guys late, and this is a sign grixis is open

Pack 1, pick 9 - lightning talons

Remaining picks - volcanic submersion, shadowfeed, swerve, viashino skeleton, forest and island

Pack 2, pick 1 - Fatesticher

The other picks were ranger of eos and tidehollox strix, i think fatesticher is probs the most powerful here.

Pack 2, pick 2 - Vithian stinger

This pack was insane, i passed and oblivion ring, sharuum the hegemon and a sanctum gargoyle. In a vacuum the stinger is not the best but with double fatesticher and not enough fixers to support the splashes, im quite happy with the pick.

pack 2, pick 3 - Vithian stinger

passing a viscera dragger is annoying but double stinger with double fatesticher is awesome

Pack 2, pick 4 - Blightning

Not great, but only a esper charm and knight of the white orchid are worth playing in the pack

Pack 2, pick 5 -dregscape zombie

a bit early for this pick, but its a playable

Pack 2, pick 6 - blister beetle

I love this guy and he's very underated.

Pack 2, pick 7 - fire-field ogre

Pack 2, pick 8 - Grixis panorama

Finally some fixing

Remaining picks - resounding scream, cloudhearth drake, etherium astrolabe, shadowfeed, coma veil, banewasp affliction, mountain

Pack 3, pick 1 - drag down

Voices from the void and parasitic strix were close, but the removal trumps them

Pack 3, pick 2 - Voracious dragon

This is cool, a bit of a bomb, i have a dragon fodder, some goblin outlanders would be nice too.

Pack 3, pick 3 - brackwater elemental

This isnt the best 3rd pick ever, but a shallow booster with only a faerie mechanist means it is ok, and in my deck it will be just fine

Pack 3, pick 4 - Traumatic vision

I really love this card, fixing and a counterspell.

Pack 3, pick 5 - parasitic strix

i picked it over a wretched banquet, not sure here.

Pack 3, pick 6 - goblin outlander

good card, plus my dragon can eat him if necessary

Pack 3, pick 7 - dark temper

This is clearly a late pick, and seeing as there is anothr goblin outlander and a hellspark elemental in the pack it must have been a good pack

Pack 3, pick 8 - pestilent kathari

Remaining picks - rhox bodyguard, kranioceros, wandering goblins, spore burst, mana cylix, forest.

I was pretty happy with the draft, i quite like grixis, certainly better than esper or bant in my opinion. Here's the deck i made

1 x magma spray
1 x dragon fodder
1 x agony warp
1 x blister beetle
1 x dregscape zombie
1 x goblin outlander
1 x parasitic strix
1 x drag down
1 x blightning
1 x brackwater elemental
1 x dark temper
1 x kederekt creeper
2 x vithian stinger
1 x pestilent kathari
2 x fatesticher
1 x fire-field ogre
1 x viscera dragger
1 x cloudhearth drake
1 x volcanic submersion
1 x traumatic visions
1 x voracious dragon

1 x grixis panorama
6 x swamp
5 x island
5 x mountain


Sorry guys but i couldnt be bothered to do reports on the matches i played, but basically to put a long story short i 3-0'ed with the deck and took down a sweet 8 boosters for my troubles.

its getting pretty late now but for some reason i decided to fire a couple of 4-3-2-2's after this, and am currently playing the final of the second one having 3-0'ed the first....so thats pretty much 8-0 for the night at least, woot!


Hope you found the draft enjoyable, see everyone on thursday, there will be more articles going up in the time being.



Until then,



Jim



As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

A new take on Jund ramp

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone is ready to sling some spells at this weeks standard event, which is on THURSDAY!!, if anyone hadnt noticed yet.

I pretty much put down the g/w deck when i got back from regionals, not because it wasnt powerful, but because i had spoken to some old friends about jund ramp and based on their changes i have become very happy with it.

I managed to bump into the guys from cambridge before the regionals on sunday, and we talked about what decks we all had. I discussed my g/w deck for a bit and we talked about card choices et al. I then found out that two of the guys were playing jund, which surprised me for a minute because these guys were good players, and spend a lot of time testing for the best decks and builds. I questioned them over why they thought it was good, obviously because i thought it could sometimes crap out if you drew spells in the wrong order, and a few other problems with it. The basic answer i got from the guys was that they had taken out the ramp pieces for other spells, Darren was playing with just the rampant growths and the other guy Ben was not playing any ramp effects at all.

I post a bit on starcity forums too, and certainly the possibility of rampless ramp had come up there too, but it had quickly been shot down.

However, having seen them both perform well at regionals, which i no doubt attribute somewhat to playskill, i think there is not reason for jund rock to be a viable deck. After all, surely broodmate dragon cant get that much worse when casting it on turn 6 instead of 4.

So after speaking to a few other people about it and some testing, here is my newest Jund Rock deck.


4 x kitchen finks
4 x putrid leech
2 x anathemancer
3 x chameleon colossus
3 x broodmate dragon
2 x cloudthresher

3 x garruk wildspeaker

4 x jund charm
3 x terminate
3 x maelstrom pulse
2 x banefire
2 x primal command
1 x loxodon warhammer

4 x savage lands
4 x treetop village
3 x fire-lit thicket
3 x twilight mire
4 x forest
3 x swamp
3 x mountain

S/B

3 x thoughtseize
2 x thought hemorrhage
2 x makeshift mannequin
2 x cloudthresher
2 x anathemancer
3 x volcanic fallout
1 x primal command

I feel pretty bad now for talking Andy out of playing putrid leech's in his deck on sunday, because they are so good. Also, with more creatures, and considering i didnt see even one faeries deck out of 52 players, i think jund charm is probably better in the main than volcanic fallout, although 7 post board wraths seems great.

I was unwilling to put too much 1 for 1 removal in my previous deck because i thought the meta was heavily based around tokens and lots of small dudes. However, i think the inclusion of extra removal can never be a problem, and i like to have answers for tokens when they get bigger (as they tend to do), rather than just rolling over to anything bigger than 2/2.

Also i love the fact that after turn 4, i am happy to draw almost any card in my deck. I think with the ramp in it, despite it not being a bad thing to rip a growth or fertile ground, it certainly doesnt compete with terminate or anything else. The problem is with ramp that you ideally want to ramp turns 3/4 and then play gas and nothing else, but this is very draw and hand dependent, whereas this rock style decks is far more consistant, depiste not being able to have ridiculoud turn 4 broodmate or cloudthresher draws. Saying this, this deck has a far smoother curve, and even without ramping can achieve hugely aggressive draws.

Despite LSV's condemnation of midrange decks on channelfireball.com, i think this jund rock is a perfect example of a good midrange deck. Although LSV says there are 10 dead cards in most matchups for game 1, i dont really believe this to be the case, because a lot of the cards are very versatile, for example putrid leech, jund charm and primal command can all be used effectively both offensively and defensively, another reason why i am starting to champion the use of jund charm in the main over fallout, because against 5cc you have more than a 3 mana shock.


I would love to hear what people think of the deck, whether you agree that rock is the best form for jund to take, and whether i should be playing bloodbraid elf and making the deck more aggresive?

I guess thursday will be a good test for it. See you all then.


Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk