By Chris Mander
Now onto the
sideboard, a difficult decision when new to the format. I had a pile of roughly
30 possible cards to narrow down, a difficult task with a somewhat unknown meta
and a lack of knowledge of the format. After lengthy questioning of my much
more knowledgeable teammates I narrowed it down to this:
1 Sword of Light and Shadow: Protection from Swords to Plowshares,
this was mainly to bring in vs creature matchup’s like Maverick, or to give my
creatures protection from Dispatch.
1 Leonin Bola: It doesn’t look like much, a card
that was pretty good in limited, but not really made an impact elsewhere, but
as I learnt a couple of weeks previous against Hypergenesis, this card can do
some serious work against all in type strategies.
2 Tormod’s Crypt: I’ll be honest, these are a no brainer
in most sideboards, abuse of the graveyard is prevalent in Legacy, even if I
didn’t really know when I should be siding them in.
3 Ethersworn Cannonist: Insurance vs combo, slows down swarm
type decks, doesn’t die to dread of night (That card, as I was soon to learn,
is just horrible for me.)
3 Jotun Grunt: Dodges lightning bolt, shrinks Goyf,
removes Snapcaster targets and can get in the red zone.
2 Judge’s Familiar: Slows
combo, stacks with Thalia, and can do a pretty good job as a sword carrier.
1 Leyline of Sanctity: I knew combo and Burn were present at
the tournament, if I’d have owned 2 I’d have put 2 in.
1 Fiend Hunter: Gets stuff out the way, fairly good on
the defence, and can do fun things with a Flickerwisp
1 Phyrexian Revoker: See part 1, so many uses.
I was fairly
happy with the board, although I think I’d like to try a tutor board, but not
having time to obtain the narrow hate cards I’d have liked, I went with what I
had, and into round 1, and mono red burn.
Round 1: Burn
G1:
Ouch, my lifepad tells the tale of this game, the numbers dropping faster than Felix Baumgartner, I was
dead before I could make any sort of impact. Creatures ate shocks, and despite
managing Mangara taking a mountain into exile nothing could stop the lava spike
to the face.
Out went Mangara, too slow for this one I feel, in came Leyline of Sanctity, and 2 Judge’s Familiar.
Out went Mangara, too slow for this one I feel, in came Leyline of Sanctity, and 2 Judge’s Familiar.
G2 :Mulligan for 1 card is not a thing (Trademark, Alex
Gershaw), but somehow I managed it. I hit the Leyline on my second mulligan,
and forced my way through the burn with a Flickerwisp with Jitte and a
Batterskull.
I brought in 3 Jotun Grunts, as they seemed able to dodge most removal.
I brought in 3 Jotun Grunts, as they seemed able to dodge most removal.
G3: This was extremely close, a grindy game with the
burn dropping me to 1, before I managed to hardcast Leyline (yes, I know, very
lucky to draw into it). Smash to Smithereens was a thorn in my side, but
managed to keep a Jitte for an attack and saved myself with its lifegain
ability. Drawing 3 Jotun Grunts in a row got me there, smashing their way in.
(2-1)
Round 2: RUG Delver
G1: Muligan to 5, and I never really got going, his
Wasteland on my Karakas turn 2, followed up by a Force of Will on my Aether
vial left me in a pretty deep hole. Delver beatdown followed, and I scooped
holding nothing of note.
Game 1 was so
fast my opponent didn’t know what I was playing. In came the Jotun Grunts and
Judges Familiar, I can’t quite recall what got evicted.
G2: I always felt like I was behind in this game,
pretty soon I was staring down 2 Goyf’s, a Mongoose with threshold and a
flipped delver, with my board being 3 Mother of Runes. A timely stifle on my
Wasteland, and a Fire on 2 of my pro green mother of runes finished me off.
Very much outplayed.
(0-2)
Round 3: W/B Stoneblade
G1: My opponent began to destroy my hand, but had no
answer for 2 Serra Avenger’s dropped in 2 turns. When the Sword of Fire and Ice
hit the table there was nothing a few lingering souls could do against the
angelic onslaught.
G2: The reverse of game 1, my opponent dropped Dark
Confident, Stoneforge Mystic and fetched up a Jitte, I had no answer for the
beatdown, dying quickly with very little on the table, and no damage done to my
opponent.
G3: Here my notes get sketchy, I must have been a bit
engrossed in the action to take any, but if I recall rightly this game involved
an early Revoker naming Liliana (It was in his hand), followed by a Serra
Avenger carrying a Sword of Fire and Ice. My opponent didn’t recover, and the
Sword trigger brought the game home.
(2-1)
Round 4: Show and Reanimate?
G1: I mull to 5, and drop a Revoker, naming Griselbrand,
this quickly met a reanimated Angel of Despair, killing my revoker. The next
line reads Iona, so I guess you can all see how this game went from here,
unable to cast most of my deck isn’t really a good position to be in.
G2: I dropped a few weenies, including a Stoneforge
Mystic, which fetched my trump card in this match, the Leonin Bola. I managed
to keep a Griselbrand tapped down, and began the beats with a Flickerwisp, the
game ending pretty soon after that.
G3: A non-event really, my opponent had to drop to 5
cards, and didn’t draw any gas, the game was quickly over with my fliers
beating in.
(2-1)
So I’d made it
into a top 8 cut, finishing 3rd out of 18, to be honest I was not
expecting to get near the top 8, but my luck seemed to be holding. My next game
was against affinity, a matchup recently a final at SCG, and one Tezzeret won,
thanks to the Dread of Night. My notes here become sketchier, and so these
parts might be a bit brief.
Quarter Final: Affinity
G1: This game
revolved around a Revoker naming Cranial Plating, a card of which my opponent
held 2 in hand. I was staring down 3 Etched Champions, but a Flickerwisp saved
the day carrying the Sword of Fire and Ice, burning away the defences, and
smacking Tezzeret around on its path to victory.
G2: T1 Dread of Night by my opponent is pretty much an
auto scoop when my hand is lands, Flickerwisp, and a Mother of Runes.
G3: Inkmoth Nexus with a Cranial Plating is a scary
sight, and my error of forgetting it could be equipped at instant speed led me
to take 7 poison damage pretty quickly. My board of Flickerwisp and two
Avengers just got me there; the angels’ last act was to throw themselves in the
path of the Nexus, allowing the Flickerwisp to end the game.
(2-1)
Semi Final: Storm
I’ll be honest
here, I had no idea what I was doing in this match, and won game 1 through a
play error by my opponent, who didn’t account for his mana correctly. Game 2
and three he stormed off, tendrils corrupting me, and removing me from the
tournament.
Conclusion
Death and
taxes is a legitimate deck, with a decent chance against most decks. I feel
it’s a deck which improves with the pilot, and I’m sure I will get better as my
knowledge of the format becomes broader. I wish I managed to dodge the storm
deck until the final, as I fancied myself vs Maverick, a much more favourable
matchup for my deck. I was often too quick to become the aggressor, something
I’ll work on as this deck does well going long.
My card of the
day was the Leonin Bola, it really did some work and I like its versatility,
now all I need it wizards to print more utility equipment! I think I will
probably change to a tutor board next tournament, and play 2 Judge Familiars
main deck at the expense of a revoker or two. The card seems well placed at the
moment.
It was nice to
have the Team Leeds lads together, and a feeling of community is growing again.
We all had a fantastic time with the Boro’ lads and the meal following the
tournament was worth the trip alone, the Golden Parmo attained. If you are
interested in joining the format, or just want to know more feel free to email
me at MangaraLock@gmail.com.
