By Wagz
Hi all, I have just had an excellent weekend and wish to shout about it. This Saturday was a PTQ in Nottingham to qualify for Pro Tour: San Juan, which is in Puerto Rico to save you googling it. I had resolved to make much more of an effort with PTQs and suchlike this year because last year I kept having things planned and managed to attend a grand total of 2 I think. This is obviously not giving myself the best chance at getting there so I decided to a) attend more and b) play good decks. By good decks I am most likely netdecking (unless I can think of a tremendous reason to not do so) with minor tweaks, but also trying to pick a deck which would be good or at least give me chances against a large proportion of the field (the expected opposition).
This qualifying season is Extended format and it looks like the big three decks are Zoo, Thopter Foundry and Scapeshift. I felt like Zoo and Scapeshift would be picked up by a lot of the better players and I should also be prepared for random matchups because there is nothing worse than losing to something terrible round 1 and then never getting anywhere. I picked Thopter Foundry because it is good against Zoo and random jank, has decent chances against Scapeshift (but likes the opponent to make mistakes) and if I picked it up early enough then I can get a good feel for the mirror. Control decks usually have godawful mirrors but I play pretty quickly and love casting blue cards - every spell should draw cards in my opinion.
I spent December on ebay slowly getting good deals for the cards in the deck LSV and Ochoa played at Worlds, figuring that while the deck might not end up like that it was a good place to start. After testing with others and a couple of practice tournaments I got comfortable with the flow of the deck and started to sleeve up when two things happened on Thursday: 1) LSV had a more up-to-date version in mtg.com's decks to beat section with (most importantly) an up-to-date sideboard, featuring many of the cards I was considering; and 2) I found out that I had broken a bone in my right (my good) hand. The first point meant I could have a great deck and had only to figure out sideboarding, which was easy because I had practiced the matchups already. The second point meant I couldn't shuffle well at all and had trouble keeping readable life totals. I decided that I had prepared so much that I wouldn't just duck out and everyone I know would be fine to shuffle their opponent's deck for them if they had a broken hand. I also decided to play in a GPT in Manchester on Sunday, because why not (more on this later)?
The 75 I sleeved up is the following:
Maindeck (60):
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Den
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
3 Marsh Flats
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Mystic Gate
1 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
2 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1Tolaria West
1 Watery Grave
2 Trinket Mage
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
3 Chrome Mox
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
2 Sword of the Meek
3 Thopter Foundry
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Vedalken Shackles
2 Cryptic Command
1 Day of Judgment
2 Gifts Ungiven
3 Mana Leak
1 Muddle the Mixture
3 Path to Exile
4 Spell Snare
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Wrath of God
Sideboard (15):
1 Chalice of the Void
3 Cranial Extraction
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Negate
2 Pulse of the Fields
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Vendilion Clique
A pretty wonderful 75 with a bit more mana, counters and combo than the original with a bit of a dudes sideboard switch (definitely important to get the pressure on in some matchups).
Team Leeds managed to get 3 carfulls of players down, comprising 14 of the 78 competitors. There were also lots of people from other places I've got to know through playing Magic at various events - it's a good game for meeting people across the country if you want to. After registering and making sure my arm was alright for the judges (I'd messaged the head judge, David Lyford-Smith, in advance) the pairings were given out for round 1.
Round 1 vs Seb Parker (Zoo)
An annoying pairing, to be sure, because Seb is a friend who plays in Cambridge and we're going to Grand Prix: Madrid together at the end of February (with another couple of friends). I know he's playing Zoo, which is a good matchup, but he is also a good player. Game 1 he makes a Wild Nacatl straight away and with another quick guy and some burn back-up I was dead before I could get going. I sideboard:
-1 Tormod's Crypt, -2 Cryptic Command, -1 Pithing Needle, -2 Gifts Ungiven
+2 Vendilion Clique, +1 Engineered Explosives, +3 Kitchen Finks
He doesn't draw as well game 2 and after I deal with some guys he tries to burn me out. I land a Kitchen Finks to go to 12 against his basically empty hand and he concedes to go to game 3. We each keep dodgy hands - he has a lot of land and I have 1 with 4 1 mana spells on the draw. I get to spell snare a few key cards (Teeg, Goyf) and when I finally get to 3 mana to start casting Kitchen Finks he has drawn a lot of land. After drawing all those lands he drew his Steppe Lynxes but I had a recurring Engineered Explosives lock with 3 different colours so it was simply a matter of time before I got there.
1-0 matches, 2-1 games
Round 2 vs Dom ? (Thopter Foundry)
I didn't know at the time but this guy had just beaten Fu in a mirror match. Fu was running the old version of the deck so I couldn't take the results to heart if I did know what was going on. I played a Misty Rainforest on turn 1 and he played a tapped Hallowed Fountain. This told me two things: we were mirror matching and he didn't have a Spell Snare in hand. The mirror is often about comboing quicker, or lockinh the combo with Pithing Needle and winning with a slow Trinket Mage or Tezzeret Ultimate. Thusly I made turn 2 Thopter Foundry and was not surprised when he did the same. I hadn't drawn a Sword by now so I played Trinket Mage and fetched up the Needle. I landed it after a brief counter war and was getting in happily for 2 a turn. He conceded on 8 because I had outmana'd him so dealing with the needle wouldn't matter. He was playing a version of the deck with Life from the Loam, which seems pretty good as it is tutorable with Muddle, helps get Swords in the bin and keeps getting your Academy Ruins back, an important card to be sure. With this in mind I didn't take out the usual Tormod's Crypt and elected for
-1 Wrath of God, -1 Day of Judgment, -3 Path to Exile, -1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Negate, + 2 Vendilion Clique, +2 Cranial Extraction
Game 2 is another non-starter really as I have a hand with half the combo, Tezzeret, some card draw and some counters and land, whereas he had no land to speak of. He managed to EOT discard a Sword but I got in a counter war over a Chrome Mox, leaving me free to resolve Tezz and just win with my huge mana advantage. I felt a bit lucky this round because he seems better prepared for the mirror but didn't draw lands. Still, there's a good prize on the line so it's not a good idea to feel guilty - if they stumble then you kick them while they're down.
2-0, 4-1
Round 3 vs Bruno Panara (Scapeshift)
Looks like my read on the format was a good one then. Bruno is a very good player from Edinburgh but I believe he originates in Italy. Scapeshift combo is not a great matchup for me as game 1 I have 10 dead cards and I have to pick my moment for counter wars over relevant spells. Game 1 is quite a long one. He doesn't draw too many lands if I remember correctly, while I manage to assemble my combo. He plays a Valakut which I am able to Ghost Quarter and I hope he is only playing 2 when he combos off because I am able to get out of range with the Foundry.
-3 Path to Exile, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Tormod's Crypt, -1 Day of Judgment, -1 Wrath of God, -1 Vedalken Shackles, -2 Engineered Explosives
+3 Cranial Extraction, +2 Vendilion Clique, +2 Negate, +3 Kitchen Finks
Game 2 I get my combo going pretty quickly and get out of range while he never draws a Scapeshift. The thing about Scapeshift is that if you can reach a certain life total then they can't harm you. They need 7 lands to deal you 18, 8 lands to deal you 36, and each subsequent land adds 6 to that total. This means you can just stay ahead of them as the game progresses if you have some life gain in the deck, such as Foundry or Martyr. I contemplated playing Martyr myself but it doesn't seem to have the raw power of Thopter Control and can have difficulties closing games.
3-0, 6-1
Round 4 vs Craig Stevenson (Zoo)
Another friend, teh sux. I hate playing friends because it's always a bit awkward when someone wins and you go back to your other friends for them to ask you how it went. It's still fun to whine about how lucky they got: I feel like I am deservedly on the bad end of a bad beat story. I win the very large dice roll and fan out Misty Rainforest, Mystic Gate, Scalding Tarn, Chrome Mox, Cryptic Command, Thopter Foundry, Sword of the Meek. Time to be the aggro player then :D. I fetch an Island and Mox-Cryptic for a turn 1 Sword of the Meek. Craig takes 3 making a Wild Nacatl. I play Mystic Gate and Thopter Foundry and wish him luck as I have drawn Day of Judgment. He plays a Qasali Pridemage and bashes in for 3 so I make a thopter end of turn (it feels better to race than stop some damage when I can gain so much life). I drew and fetched another Island, briefly considered my options and decided that if he had another Pridemage then I wasn't going to win the race with 4 guys so I got in for 2 and cleared the board. 1 card in hand, combo on board, end my turn 3. He doesn't draw a good answer and scooped them up - sorry Craig.
I board the same as round 1 and Craig has to mull to 5. I don't remember much of this game but the +2's on my life total pad indicate that I got a couple of Kitchen Finks down and I remember ending up with a couple of thopters from a Foundry with no Sword.
4-0, 8-1
Round 5 vs Tom Harle (Dredge)
Round 5 is the awkward one where you can win then ID in or lose and have to win the next one. I'm not sure I'm well-equipped to fight Dredge as I have little graveyard removal and no kind of quick clock. Sure enough he starts going off quite fast and although I have an explosives to deal with some tokens I can't stop the Narcomoeba beatdown without giving him lots of 2/2 Zombies. I did manage to Path him into his third land when it became apparent he was about to Dread Return Iona but a Mana Leak saw that off.
-3 Mana Leak, -1 Vedalken Shackles, -1 Spell Snare, -2 Cryptic Command
+2 Negate, +1 Tormod's Crypt, +3 Cranial Extraction, +1 Engineered Explosives
I substitute some dead cards for some less dead cards but am unable to stop the Zombie horde. I am probably sideboarding this wrongly but it doesn't look like I have a tremendous angle of attack to the game regardless. Tom's always a good player to play against because win or lose he's happy and friendly.
4-1, 8-3
Round 6 vs Matt Light (Rubin Zoo)
This was now the crucial round as it was likely the top 8 after this round would be able to ID in. Matt's a local player but I've seen him around at a bunch of events; he's the guy from the trade a One with Nothing for an entire deck at Nats story. I knew he was playing Rubin Zoo from scouting around (it's easy at events like this to figure out what a lot of people are playing after a few rounds) which is my best match-up, so I'd better not blow it. I counter a few threats because his are more expensive than normal Zoo and I get a Tezzeret down. I think about getting my combo but figure he's bound to have a Bolt sandbagged and my best action is to fetch out Vedalken Shackles. Sure enough he has a Lightning Helix to finish off my Planeswalker but is basically kold to Shackles as I can steal all his guys and make them fight each other for my pleasure. I use an otherwise-useless Tormod's Crypt to make a 7/7 Knight of the Reliquary stealable, counter his Bolt on it but can't stop him Pathing his own guy. When I reach enough Islands to steal Baneslayers he scoops them up.
-1 Tormod's Crypt, -1 Pithing Needle, -1 Spell Snare
+2 Vendilion Clique, +1 Engineered Explosives
He comes out fast with some Noble Hierarchs and a Kataki but I get another quick Vedalken Shackles and slowly control the game. I spend a lot of time sitting behind a stolen Goyf and have counters when attempts to Bant Charm the Shackles with his own Counter back-up. He lands a Gaddock Teeg when I tap out to fetch an Engineered Explosives but when I Path Teeglesworth he concedes to the inevitable.
5-1, 10-3
Round 7 vs Stephen McIntosh (Dark Depths)
Another Cambridge player and one I knew from when I used to play there (when I was even more terrible).
-1 Hunger, -1 Hour
+1 Chilli Beef with Rice, +1 Nachos
The whole top 8 could safely ID in so we used this opportunity to get some dinner and relax before the top 8 started.
5-1-1, 10-3
Quarter Finals vs Jim (Thopter Foundry)
Not my Jim, although my Jim did know him, do they have a club? Maybe it has a gym. Anyway, the top 8 was 2 Zoo, 2 Scapeshift, 2 Thopter Foundry, Dredge and Dark Depths. I finished 4th in the swiss and faced the 5th placed Mirror match, yay. Game 1 took a very long time with some Trinket Mage beats and a small amount of comboing on both sides before the board was wiped, I stuck a Pithing Needle on his Academy Ruins and we were both in topdeck mode. I made the mistake of playing out all my lands (mana advantage is usually good in control mirrors) before I drew Thirst for Knowledge and worked out why I might want extra cards in hand. I was able to filter through my deck first and found the combo again. He got a Gifts and received a Tezzeret in the deal but I had a counter for the sword of the Meek and he had no Artifact to keep comboing with when I went off.
-1 Tormod's Crypt, -1 Wrath of God, -1 Day of Judgment, -3 Path to Exile
+2 Negate, +2 Vendilion Clique, +2 Cranial Extraction
With not long left my best chances were locking up the game for us both. I had an early combo but only got 1 guy out of my Sword before it was Extirpated, drat. He lands a Trinket Mage and I a Vendilion Clique followed by a second Thopter. I kill his Tezzeret, losing my Clique to his Thopter and trade my two tokens for his Trinket Mage, leaving the board clear. I resolve a Tezzeret and fetch up Pithing Needle naming Thopter Foundry to stop any more comboing and he scoops rather than wait out the few minutes we had remaining.
6-1-1, 12-3
Semi Finals vs Bruno Panara (Again)
He assures me he won't be so unlucky this time and he's figured out how to sideboard. By this point we had been moved into the bar area and there was a more jovial atmosphere to proceedings. I mull g1 and keep an okay but probably too slow hand. I get my combo going but am only able to reach 25 when he 36's me - told you one had to get out of range!
Same sideboarding as before, 10 dead cards out for 10 live ones. I get my combo (important, since I am actually the aggressor in this matchup) and am able to gain enough life to be out of range before he finds a Scapeshift he can adequately defend. Game 3 for the marbles then. This is a very interesting game as I manage to defend a cranial Extraction to strip away his Scapeshifts. An early Vendilion Clique stripped him of a Cloudthresher but the Cranial revealed a Rude Awakening in his hand. At the end of my turn he tapped out to Cryptic Bounce a land and draw a card and I seized the opportunity to Clique away the Awakening, legend ruling that creature to just leave me with a Kitchen Finks. He goes for a Peer through Depths which I Negate and I Negate his Negate, leaving me handless with my Finks and Thopter Combo to his 1 life and land in hand. I wish him luck and he slams Vendilion Clique down, believing it to be not enough to save him. He forgot to try Cliquing away his land but I think the top of his library was blanks when he looked afterwards. As I write this I realise I might be confusing the games with one another, but Rich Hagon was on hand to take a good match report so hopefully he'll write it up himself at some point and I can see all my mistakes again.
7-1-1, 14-4
Finals vs Richard Bland (Scapeshift)
Scapeshift again?!? At least my read on the format was accurate enough, having played 3 Zoo, 3 Scapeshift, 2 Thopter Foundry and 1 Dredge deck. My memories of this match are a bit hazy, but in game 1 he made an early Kitchen Finks, an unusual maindeck choice for Scapeshift. I got my combo and was soon able to block and kill the Finks and attack for some. He had a Firespout but I just made more guys and gained more life and I was able to attack him for lethals. This was it, 1 game win away from the Pro Tour!
Same old trusty sideboarding, didn't even need the reminder sheet for this one ;). Game 2 I kept a slow one with too many expensive spells. He Vendilion Cliques me and lets me keep, bashes in for 3 a few times but combos the win before I can recover, Sad Face.
We shuffle up for game 3. I say we; due to my broken hand I had had Andy Edwards, Jim Marlow and Neil Rigby offering to shuffle for me throughout the top 8 - stirling work guys, very appreciated. My 7 has a guy, some land and some counters so I keep it. Richard doesn't like his 7 so goes to 6. He looks long and hard about this and when I ask if it's Valakut and 5 mountains, he says that it's close but only 4. His next 5 are no good either but he keeps the 4. I know the game is mine for the taking now but my guy is a Trinket Mage and I don't want to get beat by a Vendilion Clique when my back is turned so I take it slowly and play my Mage when I have counter mana up. He only gets me an Artifact Land but I'm able to land a Kitchen Finks. A Vendilion Clique in his draw step gets countered but I have too much pressure on now and he can't get there in time.
8-1-1 16-5-1
There it was, I'd done it! My first PTQ win, and I was very happy. I think everyone around could see that it was special to me because they were all congratulating me. The judges had made a special Blue envelope with a note of congratulations and a foil lucky charm to take with me, which was lovely. Guess I'm off to Puerto Rico then :D
Monday, 18 January 2010
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Guest Article: A Standard Tournament Report
By Andy Pemberton
Well, I played my first FNM with the deck (Finally) last night, after getting everything together the week before. I played the following list;
Keeping in mind this was my first Standard tournament since Mirrodin / Kamigawa / 8th Standard, I was looking forward to a change and see how Standard has evolved since I was last involved. I went with a deck that I thought would have a good shot at the field, with the tried and true method of dropping huge threats and beating face.
R1: Vs. Mirror Match. This was against a guy I discussed the deck with before Christmas, and we realised we were both aiming to build the same deck . He plays a slightly different variation to me, with no leeches, but main boarded Stags, Garruk and an extra Sledge or two.
G1: I kept a decent hand with a Cobra and Hierarch as well as a Leech and Elspeth, but a turn 3 Garruk followed by turn 4 Stag and Cobra with a double Oran-Rief the Vastwood pump and me not able to keep a threat on the table meant we were on to game 2.
Sideboard: -1 PtE; -1 Cobra; +2 Deathmark
G2: He kept a dicey hand, and I kept a hand with 5 lands, a Pulse and a Leech. He was able to take away 2 of my Pulses (1 drawn) with 2 Tidehollow Sculler that he boarded in. He was mana screwed for the longest time, but a Path on his Sculler after I blocked it meant he was able to get green mana for his own three Pulses. Unfortunately, I couldn't race his top decked threats with mine.
0-2; 0-1
Round 2: I played against a hybrid GWrb Cascade deck that did silly things with Enlisted Wurm and Bloodbraid Elf.
G1: I kept a nice hand of ramp and threats, but his 4th turn Ajani Vengeant kept my Forest tapped, and as I was trying to get rid of it, he was busy playing Enlisted Wurm into Bloodbraid Elf into Lightning Bolt, then the same into Harrow. He kept gaining life through Ajani and Sledged threats, and I couldn't race him.
Sideboard: -2 PtE; -1 Cobra; -1 Leech; +2 Deathmark; +2 Acidic Slime
G2: I went in hoping I could deny him off mana with the Slimes, though I didn't draw any this game. It came down to a race of his two Knights against Mine, and we ended up going into a war of attrition until I could finally sit a Baneslayer down without it being tapped down or Pathed. Same old Wurm-Elf antics, but luckily he hit Harrow and not removal, and we were onto game 3.
G3: He kept a dicey hand, and didn't a land drop after 3. An Acidic Slime on his lone Swamp left him with 2 mountains, and he promptly conceded.
2-3; 1-1
R3: I played yet again against a GW deck, but this time it was a Bant variant of the Junk deck, running Rhox War Monk.
G1: I kept down a Sledge and Baneslayer, and from the life gain from it and the loss from my opponent, we were onto Game 2. I got a lot of removal for his threats, though a late Conquerer's Pledge tried to keep my Elspeth from going Ultimate with success. Luckily she was still alive to pump BSA for the win.
Sideboard: -1 PtE; -1 Cobra; +2 Deathmark
G2: We raced for a lot of the game, trading threats with Paths. Eventually, I got him to 6, but couldn't draw a big enough threat to finish him off, and we went to Game 3.
G3: Baneslayer absolutely rocked in this game. By mid-game, I was top decking BSA, and with Sledge and Elspeth pumps I was doing 10 damage a turn. He was keeping afloat with a Sledged Elspeth, and falling for a Brave the Elements, he was able to gain more life off of my blocked Baneslayer. Eventually, the onslaught was too much, and Baneslayer took the game. I ended at 69 life.
4-4; 2-1
R4: I played against my first round opponent's friend, playing Bushwhacker. Unfortunately, we got kicked out of the venue at 10, so we were only able to have 1 game.
G1: He kept a 1-landed with four 1-drops, whereas I tried to build a board ready to block against his alpha strike. I managed to dig a Marsh Flats off of the top each time his Goblin Guide swung in, and as he swung in with a Skyfisher, Guide and Lynx, I blocked and double-Pathed his creatures to stay safe. This gave him the mana for Ranger of Eos, and some careful blocks left me at 4, with him having another Bushwhacker in hand. I managed to clear his doubly Lynx with a Pulse, then drop a Baneslayer. I was able to drop an Elspeth and make some Soldiers to hold the ground, and I promptly took him down a few turns later from 19-10-4-0 after a couple of Elspeth pumps and Exalted
I ended 2-1, since they didn't count the last match results due to the time constraints. Still, I felt the deck performed very well. Some changes I'm contemplating:
-1 Less Path to Exile: I found I was siding one or two out most of the time for the Sideboard removal specific for the decks I faced (Usually Deathmark). It's good removal, in that it trades threats for land, but it sometimes has the ill effect of getting your opponent out of mana screw. In it's place, I'd probably put in an extra 4-drop. I found my deck was a little convoluted at 3, and an extra Elspeth / Garruk / Emeria Angel would probably even the curve a little, and at 7 removal slots main deck, you should in theory have enough for Game 1, and board in Purge / Deathmark / Persecution from the board to up the count if need be.
-Behemoth Sledge: It's nice when it happens early or late, making it invaluable when you're trying to stay in the game against aggro opponents. I'm running one at the moment, but I may find space for a second if I can find the room.
-I love the Toolbox idea of the Sideboard. It helped to just extend my removal range in case I needed it. With 4 Maelstrom Pulse and 3 / 4 Paths, you should have enough Game 1, and be able to synch your removal for games 2/3. It also allows for removal of your creature removal in the face of USA / Grixis control in favour of Stags to up the threat count.
-I'm contemplating an Oran-Rief, the Vastwood as a target for Knight, just as a one-of. When I played against it in the Mirror match, it ended up making very powerful Stags, and even something like a Cobra becomes a threat, especially with a Garruk Wildspeaker out. Certainly worth testing, I feel.
Well, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed playing and writing up. We'll see if Draft brings me anything good next week :)
Andy P.
| Deck | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Lands: 5 Forest 4 Plains 2 Swamp 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Marsh Flats 3 Sunpetal Grove 1 Gargoyle Castle | 26 Creatures: 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Lotus Cobra 3 Putrid Leech 4 Knight of the Reliquary 2 Borderland Ranger 3 Emeria Angel 4 Baneslayer Angel 2 Thornling | 11 Other Spells: 4 Path to Exile 4 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Behemoth Sledge 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant | 15 Sideboard: 2 Acidic Slime 2 Celestial Purge 2 Deathmark 2 Duress 3 Great Sable Stag 2 Qasali Pridemage 2 Zealous Persecution |
Keeping in mind this was my first Standard tournament since Mirrodin / Kamigawa / 8th Standard, I was looking forward to a change and see how Standard has evolved since I was last involved. I went with a deck that I thought would have a good shot at the field, with the tried and true method of dropping huge threats and beating face.
R1: Vs. Mirror Match. This was against a guy I discussed the deck with before Christmas, and we realised we were both aiming to build the same deck . He plays a slightly different variation to me, with no leeches, but main boarded Stags, Garruk and an extra Sledge or two.
G1: I kept a decent hand with a Cobra and Hierarch as well as a Leech and Elspeth, but a turn 3 Garruk followed by turn 4 Stag and Cobra with a double Oran-Rief the Vastwood pump and me not able to keep a threat on the table meant we were on to game 2.
Sideboard: -1 PtE; -1 Cobra; +2 Deathmark
G2: He kept a dicey hand, and I kept a hand with 5 lands, a Pulse and a Leech. He was able to take away 2 of my Pulses (1 drawn) with 2 Tidehollow Sculler that he boarded in. He was mana screwed for the longest time, but a Path on his Sculler after I blocked it meant he was able to get green mana for his own three Pulses. Unfortunately, I couldn't race his top decked threats with mine.
0-2; 0-1
Round 2: I played against a hybrid GWrb Cascade deck that did silly things with Enlisted Wurm and Bloodbraid Elf.
G1: I kept a nice hand of ramp and threats, but his 4th turn Ajani Vengeant kept my Forest tapped, and as I was trying to get rid of it, he was busy playing Enlisted Wurm into Bloodbraid Elf into Lightning Bolt, then the same into Harrow. He kept gaining life through Ajani and Sledged threats, and I couldn't race him.
Sideboard: -2 PtE; -1 Cobra; -1 Leech; +2 Deathmark; +2 Acidic Slime
G2: I went in hoping I could deny him off mana with the Slimes, though I didn't draw any this game. It came down to a race of his two Knights against Mine, and we ended up going into a war of attrition until I could finally sit a Baneslayer down without it being tapped down or Pathed. Same old Wurm-Elf antics, but luckily he hit Harrow and not removal, and we were onto game 3.
G3: He kept a dicey hand, and didn't a land drop after 3. An Acidic Slime on his lone Swamp left him with 2 mountains, and he promptly conceded.
2-3; 1-1
R3: I played yet again against a GW deck, but this time it was a Bant variant of the Junk deck, running Rhox War Monk.
G1: I kept down a Sledge and Baneslayer, and from the life gain from it and the loss from my opponent, we were onto Game 2. I got a lot of removal for his threats, though a late Conquerer's Pledge tried to keep my Elspeth from going Ultimate with success. Luckily she was still alive to pump BSA for the win.
Sideboard: -1 PtE; -1 Cobra; +2 Deathmark
G2: We raced for a lot of the game, trading threats with Paths. Eventually, I got him to 6, but couldn't draw a big enough threat to finish him off, and we went to Game 3.
G3: Baneslayer absolutely rocked in this game. By mid-game, I was top decking BSA, and with Sledge and Elspeth pumps I was doing 10 damage a turn. He was keeping afloat with a Sledged Elspeth, and falling for a Brave the Elements, he was able to gain more life off of my blocked Baneslayer. Eventually, the onslaught was too much, and Baneslayer took the game. I ended at 69 life.
4-4; 2-1
R4: I played against my first round opponent's friend, playing Bushwhacker. Unfortunately, we got kicked out of the venue at 10, so we were only able to have 1 game.
G1: He kept a 1-landed with four 1-drops, whereas I tried to build a board ready to block against his alpha strike. I managed to dig a Marsh Flats off of the top each time his Goblin Guide swung in, and as he swung in with a Skyfisher, Guide and Lynx, I blocked and double-Pathed his creatures to stay safe. This gave him the mana for Ranger of Eos, and some careful blocks left me at 4, with him having another Bushwhacker in hand. I managed to clear his doubly Lynx with a Pulse, then drop a Baneslayer. I was able to drop an Elspeth and make some Soldiers to hold the ground, and I promptly took him down a few turns later from 19-10-4-0 after a couple of Elspeth pumps and Exalted
I ended 2-1, since they didn't count the last match results due to the time constraints. Still, I felt the deck performed very well. Some changes I'm contemplating:
-1 Less Path to Exile: I found I was siding one or two out most of the time for the Sideboard removal specific for the decks I faced (Usually Deathmark). It's good removal, in that it trades threats for land, but it sometimes has the ill effect of getting your opponent out of mana screw. In it's place, I'd probably put in an extra 4-drop. I found my deck was a little convoluted at 3, and an extra Elspeth / Garruk / Emeria Angel would probably even the curve a little, and at 7 removal slots main deck, you should in theory have enough for Game 1, and board in Purge / Deathmark / Persecution from the board to up the count if need be.
-Behemoth Sledge: It's nice when it happens early or late, making it invaluable when you're trying to stay in the game against aggro opponents. I'm running one at the moment, but I may find space for a second if I can find the room.
-I love the Toolbox idea of the Sideboard. It helped to just extend my removal range in case I needed it. With 4 Maelstrom Pulse and 3 / 4 Paths, you should have enough Game 1, and be able to synch your removal for games 2/3. It also allows for removal of your creature removal in the face of USA / Grixis control in favour of Stags to up the threat count.
-I'm contemplating an Oran-Rief, the Vastwood as a target for Knight, just as a one-of. When I played against it in the Mirror match, it ended up making very powerful Stags, and even something like a Cobra becomes a threat, especially with a Garruk Wildspeaker out. Certainly worth testing, I feel.
Well, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed playing and writing up. We'll see if Draft brings me anything good next week :)
Andy P.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Extendedable Youth - a Tournament Report
By Wagz
With the PTQ season coming up a few of us got together last weekend for a proxies-allowed Extended tournament to aid our preparation and help filter out the good decks. I brought LSV’s Tezzeret deck to battle and the mix of players would hopefully ensure we had a lot of variety but not too much Rogue (because playtesting against these decks is basically useless).
Round 1 I faced Martin, who was playing Dredge. Not sure how good a matchup this is because Dredge has the nuts most game 1s and then games 2 and 3 depend on the opponent’s hate. I lost game 1 after a couple of misplays but that’s why we’re here - to practice. Game 2 I kept a hand with Meddling Mage, Spell Snare, Path to Exile, Thirst for Knowledge and Engineered Explosives in but only 1 land – Mystic Gate. I kept it because any 1 coloured mana source and I’ve won already with Mage naming Dread Return and Protection to go the distance. Predictably I drew all spells but it was an interesting keep. I dread the return of this matchup because it’s not really like playing Magic™.
Round 2 was against Danny with Affinity, also known as “a real deck”. Game 1 I stabilized on 3 life before Thoptering off but game 2 I couldn’t get there in time and his little robots beat mine. He did draw all 4 Master of Etheriums though, tough breaks. This is the one matchup where you’d want more Wraths over Engineered Explosives, but you have lots of card draw to fetch them up and EE for 2 kills Ravager and Plating, two very key cards. Game 3 I kept a 2 land and mox hand but didn’t draw a third land. I used my 3 mana to make Vedalken Shackles and stole his Blinkmoth Nexus when he activated it to swing the next turn, upping my mana count to Blue Mox, Hallowed Fountain, Island and Nexus. This gave me enough mana to chain Cryptic Commands while at 4 life, hoping to find a White mana source to cast the Wrath in hand. I saw a Hallowed Fountain and wasted his team before getting a Baneslayer to smash in for 4 turns with all the skill required to do that.
Round 3 was a relatively bad match-up, Scapeshift (piloted by Andy Edwards). Game 1 I got my combo going but 23 life isn’t enough when they just 36 you in one turn, thanks for playing. Luckily games 2 and 3 I was able to counter the right spells at the right time and pulled it through to win. Sorry for not discussing this matchup more but it is one I prepared specific sideboard tech for and don’t wanna splash it all across the internets.
Round 4 I sat opposite Kier, with Deathcloud Rock, aka Tarmogoyf and cards. I think this is a good matchup for me but don’t know for sure. Game 1 I took a small amount of damage but got the Roflthopters going and protected the combo. Game 2 he landed a couple of guys and although I was battling to begin with, tapping out for my last card – Baneslayer Angel – and having it Putrefied put me on topdeck mode. My subsequent lands didn’t get anywhere against a creature on board. I’m pretty sure he still had all those though ;). Game 3 was a bit more back and forth but he didn’t have an answer for Vedalken Shackles and then he really didn’t have one for Baneslayer until it was too late.
3-1 felt pretty good for the deck, including that loss to manascrew against Dredge (which still could have gone either way if I could have cast my spells and there was always game 3 to lose). I’m tweaking it slightly for the PTQs but it’s nice to feel comfortable piloting a good deck rather than some homebrew again (loved my Realm Razer Zoo deck for Nats Qualifiers last year). I’m going to take PTQing more seriously this year, but as a result I might play even more random decks at WNM to make up for it (I’ve played combo since Zendikar came out, can’t stand swinging with dudes until necessary). For those into results and statistics, here’s the full breakdown of the results:
Round 1 I faced Martin, who was playing Dredge. Not sure how good a matchup this is because Dredge has the nuts most game 1s and then games 2 and 3 depend on the opponent’s hate. I lost game 1 after a couple of misplays but that’s why we’re here - to practice. Game 2 I kept a hand with Meddling Mage, Spell Snare, Path to Exile, Thirst for Knowledge and Engineered Explosives in but only 1 land – Mystic Gate. I kept it because any 1 coloured mana source and I’ve won already with Mage naming Dread Return and Protection to go the distance. Predictably I drew all spells but it was an interesting keep. I dread the return of this matchup because it’s not really like playing Magic™.
Round 2 was against Danny with Affinity, also known as “a real deck”. Game 1 I stabilized on 3 life before Thoptering off but game 2 I couldn’t get there in time and his little robots beat mine. He did draw all 4 Master of Etheriums though, tough breaks. This is the one matchup where you’d want more Wraths over Engineered Explosives, but you have lots of card draw to fetch them up and EE for 2 kills Ravager and Plating, two very key cards. Game 3 I kept a 2 land and mox hand but didn’t draw a third land. I used my 3 mana to make Vedalken Shackles and stole his Blinkmoth Nexus when he activated it to swing the next turn, upping my mana count to Blue Mox, Hallowed Fountain, Island and Nexus. This gave me enough mana to chain Cryptic Commands while at 4 life, hoping to find a White mana source to cast the Wrath in hand. I saw a Hallowed Fountain and wasted his team before getting a Baneslayer to smash in for 4 turns with all the skill required to do that.
Round 3 was a relatively bad match-up, Scapeshift (piloted by Andy Edwards). Game 1 I got my combo going but 23 life isn’t enough when they just 36 you in one turn, thanks for playing. Luckily games 2 and 3 I was able to counter the right spells at the right time and pulled it through to win. Sorry for not discussing this matchup more but it is one I prepared specific sideboard tech for and don’t wanna splash it all across the internets.
Round 4 I sat opposite Kier, with Deathcloud Rock, aka Tarmogoyf and cards. I think this is a good matchup for me but don’t know for sure. Game 1 I took a small amount of damage but got the Roflthopters going and protected the combo. Game 2 he landed a couple of guys and although I was battling to begin with, tapping out for my last card – Baneslayer Angel – and having it Putrefied put me on topdeck mode. My subsequent lands didn’t get anywhere against a creature on board. I’m pretty sure he still had all those though ;). Game 3 was a bit more back and forth but he didn’t have an answer for Vedalken Shackles and then he really didn’t have one for Baneslayer until it was too late.
3-1 felt pretty good for the deck, including that loss to manascrew against Dredge (which still could have gone either way if I could have cast my spells and there was always game 3 to lose). I’m tweaking it slightly for the PTQs but it’s nice to feel comfortable piloting a good deck rather than some homebrew again (loved my Realm Razer Zoo deck for Nats Qualifiers last year). I’m going to take PTQing more seriously this year, but as a result I might play even more random decks at WNM to make up for it (I’ve played combo since Zendikar came out, can’t stand swinging with dudes until necessary). For those into results and statistics, here’s the full breakdown of the results:
| Round 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa | Deck | Score | Playa | “Deck” |
| John | (Sullivan Burn) | 2-0 | Rob C | (Living End) |
| Steve | (Landfall Zoo) | 1-2 | Kenny | (Kiki-Jiki) |
| Andy E | (Scapeshift) | 2-0 | Kier | (Deathcloud) |
| Paul | (All-in Red) | 2-1 | Danny | (Affinity) |
| Craig | (Domain Zoo) | 2-1 | Andy D | (Living End) |
| Rob W | (Tezzeret) | 0-2 | Martin | (Dredge) |
| Round 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| John | 2-1 | Martin |
| Paul | 0-2 | Craig |
| Kenny | 0-2 | Andy E |
| Rob W | 2-1 | Danny |
| Steve | 0-2 | Andy D |
| Rob C | 2-1 | Kier |
| Round 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| John | 1-2 | Craig |
| Andy E | 1-2 | Rob W |
| Martin | 0-2 | Kenny |
| Paul | 2-0 | Andy D |
| Rob C | 2-0 | Danny |
| Steve | 0-2 | Kier |
| Round 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Craig | 2-1 | Rob C |
| John | 2-1 | Andy E |
| Kenny | 2-0 | Paul |
| Rob W | 2-1 | Kier |
| Steve | 1-2 | Danny |
| Andy D | 0-2 | Martin |
| Final Standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Name | Deck | Pts | OMW% | GW% (calculated manually, good times) |
| 1 | Craig | Domain Zoo | 12 | ||
| 2 | John | Sullivan Burn | 9 | 0.625 | |
| 3 | Kenny | Kik-Jiki Combo | 9 | 0.458 | |
| 4 | Rob W | Tezzeret | 9 | 0.417 | |
| 5 | Andy E | Scapeshift | 6 | 0.646 | 0.75 |
| 6 | Martin | Dredge | 6 | 0.646 | 0.556 |
| 7 | Rob C | Living End | 6 | 0.604 | 0.5 |
| 8 | Paul | All-in Red | 6 | 0.604 | 0.444 |
| 9 | Andy D | Living End | 3 | 0.583 | |
| 10 | Kier | Deathcloud | 3 | 0.4 | |
| 11 | Danny | Affinity | 3 | 0.333 | |
| 12 | Steve | Landfall Zoo | 0 |
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Drafting with Jim #15
By Jim Marlow
Hey everyone,
Against all odds i won a couple of drafts recently, meaning i could draft a few times as a bit of downtime after revision, and i will be posting all of them up here over the next few days and weeks.
This draft i did on wednesday night, after magic, accompanied by Andy and Martin, and various delicious foods.
Also of note, i was lucky enough to draft with Darren Grafham of both Cambridge and generally a bloody good guy fame, how nice.
Event #: 848474
Time: 1/6/2010 10:09:19 PM
Players:
djseb
syska
SOLTYS
darrengrafham
--> wiggi1
timcampbell
rapdjdragon
just_add_water
------ ZEN ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Desecrated Earth
Seascape Aerialist
Paralyzing Grasp
Plains
Turntimber Grove
Disfigure
Mind Sludge
--> Burst Lightning
Eternity Vessel
Kraken Hatchling
Island (FOIL)
Timbermaw Larva
Seismic Shudder
Bladetusk Boar
Khalni Gem
Burst lightning is quite a lot better than anything else in the pack, which is nice
Pack 1 pick 2:
Explorer's Scope
Tempest Owl
--> Trusty Machete
Kazandu Blademaster
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Noble Vestige
Sky Ruin Drake
Plains
Pillarfield Ox
Hedron Scrabbler
Quest for the Gemblades
Disfigure
Grappling Hook
Scythe Tiger
Machete is the nuts, i hate passing blademaster because i love w/r and im pretty sure i have won games single handedly with this guy.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Cliff Threader
Savage Silhouette
Surrakar Marauder
Giant Scorpion
Greenweaver Druid
Oran-Rief Recluse
--> Torch Slinger
Reckless Scholar
Carnage Altar
Plains
Umara Raptor
Geyser Glider
Blood Tribute
This was a really good pack, and was the source of the first of many lovers tiffs between the 3 bears huddled round my computer (mostly ending in me just making the incorrect pick). Its pretty tough, but i though staying on colour here was best, and i prefer torch slinger to geyser glider, especially if we end up going into a second/different colour.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Goblin Bushwhacker
Spreading Seas
Ondu Cleric
Hedron Scrabbler
Tajuru Archer
--> Nissa's Chosen
Quest for Pure Flame
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Goblin Ruinblaster
Forest
Steppe Lynx
Im still not sure this is the pick over survivalist, but apparently getting on the pro tour means something.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Tempest Owl
Cancel
Whiplash Trap
--> Teetering Peaks
Swamp
Mindless Null
Sunspring Expedition
Runeflare Trap
Feast of Blood
Joraga Bard
Noble Vestige
Pack 1 pick 6:
--> Grazing Gladehart
Bog Tatters
Slaughter Cry
Kor Outfitter
Shieldmate's Blessing
Needlebite Trap
Beast Hunt
Summoner's Bane
Cancel
Swamp
Dabbling with green looks to be possibly the correct choice, i absolutely love gladeheart.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Soaring Seacliff
Seascape Aerialist
Caravan Hurda
Seismic Shudder
Plains
--> Greenweaver Druid
Spreading Seas
Kraken Hatchling
Turntimber Grove
this guy is pretty good, lots of blue stuff going round, someone may have some blue based ally deck to worry about.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Nimbus Wings
Sejiri Refuge
Swamp
--> Vastwood Gorger
Zendikar Farguide
Khalni Heart Expedition
Trapfinder's Trick
Teetering Peaks
fat.
Pack 1 pick 9:
Desecrated Earth
Seascape Aerialist
Paralyzing Grasp
Plains
Turntimber Grove
Island (FOIL)
--> Seismic Shudder
I think i preferred hating the aerialist, but shudder is a pretty key sideboard card so our combined decision was that. pretty sure island is the irl pick right?
Pack 1 pick 10:
Tempest Owl
Noble Vestige
Plains
Hedron Scrabbler
--> Grappling Hook
Scythe Tiger
this can be annoying so take it out, scrabbles is a house, but we can pick some up later if needed
Pack 1 pick 11:
Savage Silhouette
--> Greenweaver Druid
Carnage Altar
Plains
Blood Tribute
Pack 1 pick 12:
Spreading Seas
--> Hedron Scrabbler
Quest for Pure Flame
Forest
DING!
Pack 1 pick 13:
Swamp
Sunspring Expedition
--> Noble Vestige
Pack 1 pick 14:
Shieldmate's Blessing
--> Beast Hunt
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Turntimber Grove
------ ZEN ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Highland Berserker
Windborne Charge
Soul Stair Expedition
Quest for the Holy Relic
--> Oracle of Mul Daya
Joraga Bard
Turntimber Basilisk
Kabira Crossroads
Molten Ravager
Mold Shambler
Disfigure
Tempest Owl
Island
Mindless Null
Sunspring Expedition
There seems to be lots of mixed opinion about this guy, i like him a lot.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Grazing Gladehart
Gomazoa
Mountain
Vampire Hexmage
Bold Defense
Shatterskull Giant
Tanglesap
--> Kazuul Warlord
Vines of Vastwood
Lethargy Trap
Jwar Isle Refuge
Goblin War Paint
Into the Roil
Blood Seeker
This guy is pretty big, if we can get any allies he will get pretty saucy. Gladeheart would have been nice esp with oracle, but can you pass this guy?
Pack 2 pick 3:
--> Timbermaw Larva
Mark of Mutiny
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Quest for Ancient Secrets
Bladetusk Boar
Piranha Marsh
Scythe Tiger
Forest
Archive Trap
Slaughter Cry
Hedron Scrabbler
Mire Blight
Tempest Owl
Clearly commiting to heavy green, all our red cards are splashable,
Pack 2 pick 4:
Beastmaster Ascension
Stonework Puma
--> Baloth Woodcrasher
Tuktuk Grunts
Island
Paralyzing Grasp
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Frontier Guide
Vines of Vastwood
Ruinous Minotaur
Trapmaker's Snare
Pillarfield Ox
annoyingly this guy is pretty saucy, becuase it means passing a survivalist, again.
Pack 2 pick 5:
Highland Berserker
Slaughter Cry
Mire Blight
Sunspring Expedition
Inferno Trap
Swamp
Shoal Serpent
--> Baloth Woodcrasher
Kor Duelist
Grim Discovery
Joraga Bard
not really sure why we didnt take the inferno trap. I think we were at the time thinking we could splash only for the burst lightning, and 2 woodcrashers plus oracle, and double greenweaver druid makes for a nice deck.
Pack 2 pick 6:
Mire Blight
Zendikar Farguide
Merfolk Wayfinder
Cancel
--> Magma Rift
Trapmaker's Snare
Spire Barrage
Swamp
Khalni Heart Expedition
Kazandu Refuge
Pack 2 pick 7:
--> Kazandu Refuge
Lethargy Trap
Savage Silhouette
Goblin Bushwhacker
Forest
Primal Bellow
Shatterskull Giant
Tanglesap
Cosi's Trickster
Pack 2 pick 8:
Akoum Refuge
Caller of Gales
Teetering Peaks
Mountain
--> Nissa's Chosen
Quest for the Gemblades
Narrow Escape
Kabira Crossroads
Pack 2 pick 9:
Quest for the Holy Relic
Joraga Bard
--> Turntimber Basilisk
Tempest Owl
Island
Mindless Null
Sunspring Expedition
Pack 2 pick 10:
Mountain
Bold Defense
Tanglesap
Lethargy Trap
--> Goblin War Paint
Blood Seeker
Pack 2 pick 11:
Quest for Ancient Secrets
Scythe Tiger
--> Forest
Mire Blight
Tempest Owl
Pack 2 pick 12:
Island
--> Ruinous Minotaur
Trapmaker's Snare
Pillarfield Ox
Pack 2 pick 13:
Mire Blight
Sunspring Expedition
--> Swamp
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Mire Blight
Trapmaker's Snare
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Tanglesap
------ ZEN ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Bog Tatters
Demolish
Mountain
Heartstabber Mosquito
Soaring Seacliff
Vampire's Bite
Oran-Rief Recluse
Spell Pierce
Sadistic Sacrament (FOIL)
Pitfall Trap
--> Terra Stomper
Merfolk Wayfinder
Kor Outfitter
Graypelt Refuge
Relic Crush
stomp!
Pack 3 pick 2:
Khalni Heart Expedition
Mountain
Ior Ruin Expedition
Molten Ravager
Kor Hookmaster
Territorial Baloth
--> Blazing Torch
Conqueror's Pledge
Mire Blight
Zendikar Farguide
Heartstabber Mosquito (FOIL)
Arrow Volley Trap
Soul Stair Expedition
Landbind Ritual
Blazing torch is pretty good, green tends to lack removal, and we are not sure how much of our red removal, if any we will be playing, so a decent pick i think.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Magosi, the Waterveil
Molten Ravager
Cancel
Heartstabber Mosquito
--> Blazing Torch
Swamp
Demolish
Spidersilk Net
Noble Vestige
Relic Crush (FOIL)
Beast Hunt
Hedron Crab
Kor Sanctifiers
dubs.
Pack 3 pick 4:
Blood Seeker
Tanglesap
Needlebite Trap
Luminarch Ascension
Mountain
Teetering Peaks
Savage Silhouette
Hagra Crocodile
Caller of Gales
Mark of Mutiny
Whiplash Trap
--> Goblin Shortcutter
not a great pack for us, could have hated the luminarch or considered splashing white, but its not that busted in draft, so hopefully it wont come back to haunt us.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Kor Skyfisher
Plains
Bold Defense
Piranha Marsh
Living Tsunami
Into the Roil
Kor Hookmaster
Territorial Baloth
--> Timbermaw Larva
Jwar Isle Refuge
Welkin Tern
Pack 3 pick 6:
Forest
Cliff Threader
Narrow Escape
--> Mold Shambler
Windrider Eel
Cobra Trap
Quest for Pure Flame
Magosi, the Waterveil
Hagra Crocodile
Goblin Shortcutter
Pack 3 pick 7:
Sejiri Refuge
--> Steppe Lynx
Hagra Diabolist
Caravan Hurda
Ior Ruin Expedition
Kraken Hatchling
Turntimber Grove
Swamp
Desecrated Earth
Pack 3 pick 8:
Mindless Null
Swamp
Spell Pierce
--> Baloth Cage Trap
Nimbus Wings
Relic Crush
Archmage Ascension
Vampire's Bite
this is nice, people seem to walk into it all the time, despite there being so few tricks to think about, which is pretty awesome.
Pack 3 pick 9:
Mountain
Soaring Seacliff
Vampire's Bite
Spell Pierce
Merfolk Wayfinder
Graypelt Refuge
--> Relic Crush
Pack 3 pick 10:
Mountain
Ior Ruin Expedition
Territorial Baloth
Mire Blight
--> Zendikar Farguide
Landbind Ritual
Pack 3 pick 11:
Magosi, the Waterveil
Swamp
--> Demolish
Noble Vestige
Beast Hunt
Pack 3 pick 12:
Needlebite Trap
--> Mountain
Hagra Crocodile
Caller of Gales
Pack 3 pick 13:
Bold Defense
Piranha Marsh
--> Jwar Isle Refuge
Pack 3 pick 14:
Forest
--> Cobra Trap
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Turntimber Grove
This was the deck we made
1 x burst lightning
1 x trusty machete
2 x blazing torch
1 x torch slinger
1 x goblin shortcutter
1 x magma rift
1 x kazuul warlord
2 x nissa's chosen
1 x grazing gladeheart
2 x greenweaver druid
2 x baloth woodcrasher
2 x timbermaw larva
1 x baloth cage trap
1 x mold shambler
1 x oracle of mul daya
1 x turntimber basalisk
1 x terra stomper
1 x kazandu refuge
5 x mountain
12 x forest
So we ended up winning the draft with this deck - the deck was ok, there was plenty of fat, and ways to get to the fat really quickly, which made for some blowouts. We ended up playing more red that we imagined due to a pretty dry pack 3, but this was fine. Kazuul warlord was fine as a 4/4 for 5, although looking back double survivalist would have been nice. There were some pretty contentious picks in the draft, but i think there weren't any glaring errors on reading it back quickly.
Hopefully see you all this wednesday.
The deck im hoping to play at the nottingham PTQ will be going up here in a couple days, along with some more drafts and some other fun.
Until then,
See you all soon,
Jim
As always, feel free to post comments underneath. If you would like to contribute anything to the blog, email anything you want published to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk (for severe editing!)
Against all odds i won a couple of drafts recently, meaning i could draft a few times as a bit of downtime after revision, and i will be posting all of them up here over the next few days and weeks.
This draft i did on wednesday night, after magic, accompanied by Andy and Martin, and various delicious foods.
Also of note, i was lucky enough to draft with Darren Grafham of both Cambridge and generally a bloody good guy fame, how nice.
Event #: 848474
Time: 1/6/2010 10:09:19 PM
Players:
djseb
syska
SOLTYS
darrengrafham
--> wiggi1
timcampbell
rapdjdragon
just_add_water
------ ZEN ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Desecrated Earth
Seascape Aerialist
Paralyzing Grasp
Plains
Turntimber Grove
Disfigure
Mind Sludge
--> Burst Lightning
Eternity Vessel
Kraken Hatchling
Island (FOIL)
Timbermaw Larva
Seismic Shudder
Bladetusk Boar
Khalni Gem
Burst lightning is quite a lot better than anything else in the pack, which is nice
Pack 1 pick 2:
Explorer's Scope
Tempest Owl
--> Trusty Machete
Kazandu Blademaster
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Noble Vestige
Sky Ruin Drake
Plains
Pillarfield Ox
Hedron Scrabbler
Quest for the Gemblades
Disfigure
Grappling Hook
Scythe Tiger
Machete is the nuts, i hate passing blademaster because i love w/r and im pretty sure i have won games single handedly with this guy.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Cliff Threader
Savage Silhouette
Surrakar Marauder
Giant Scorpion
Greenweaver Druid
Oran-Rief Recluse
--> Torch Slinger
Reckless Scholar
Carnage Altar
Plains
Umara Raptor
Geyser Glider
Blood Tribute
This was a really good pack, and was the source of the first of many lovers tiffs between the 3 bears huddled round my computer (mostly ending in me just making the incorrect pick). Its pretty tough, but i though staying on colour here was best, and i prefer torch slinger to geyser glider, especially if we end up going into a second/different colour.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Goblin Bushwhacker
Spreading Seas
Ondu Cleric
Hedron Scrabbler
Tajuru Archer
--> Nissa's Chosen
Quest for Pure Flame
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Goblin Ruinblaster
Forest
Steppe Lynx
Im still not sure this is the pick over survivalist, but apparently getting on the pro tour means something.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Tempest Owl
Cancel
Whiplash Trap
--> Teetering Peaks
Swamp
Mindless Null
Sunspring Expedition
Runeflare Trap
Feast of Blood
Joraga Bard
Noble Vestige
Pack 1 pick 6:
--> Grazing Gladehart
Bog Tatters
Slaughter Cry
Kor Outfitter
Shieldmate's Blessing
Needlebite Trap
Beast Hunt
Summoner's Bane
Cancel
Swamp
Dabbling with green looks to be possibly the correct choice, i absolutely love gladeheart.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Soaring Seacliff
Seascape Aerialist
Caravan Hurda
Seismic Shudder
Plains
--> Greenweaver Druid
Spreading Seas
Kraken Hatchling
Turntimber Grove
this guy is pretty good, lots of blue stuff going round, someone may have some blue based ally deck to worry about.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Nimbus Wings
Sejiri Refuge
Swamp
--> Vastwood Gorger
Zendikar Farguide
Khalni Heart Expedition
Trapfinder's Trick
Teetering Peaks
fat.
Pack 1 pick 9:
Desecrated Earth
Seascape Aerialist
Paralyzing Grasp
Plains
Turntimber Grove
Island (FOIL)
--> Seismic Shudder
I think i preferred hating the aerialist, but shudder is a pretty key sideboard card so our combined decision was that. pretty sure island is the irl pick right?
Pack 1 pick 10:
Tempest Owl
Noble Vestige
Plains
Hedron Scrabbler
--> Grappling Hook
Scythe Tiger
this can be annoying so take it out, scrabbles is a house, but we can pick some up later if needed
Pack 1 pick 11:
Savage Silhouette
--> Greenweaver Druid
Carnage Altar
Plains
Blood Tribute
Pack 1 pick 12:
Spreading Seas
--> Hedron Scrabbler
Quest for Pure Flame
Forest
DING!
Pack 1 pick 13:
Swamp
Sunspring Expedition
--> Noble Vestige
Pack 1 pick 14:
Shieldmate's Blessing
--> Beast Hunt
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Turntimber Grove
------ ZEN ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Highland Berserker
Windborne Charge
Soul Stair Expedition
Quest for the Holy Relic
--> Oracle of Mul Daya
Joraga Bard
Turntimber Basilisk
Kabira Crossroads
Molten Ravager
Mold Shambler
Disfigure
Tempest Owl
Island
Mindless Null
Sunspring Expedition
There seems to be lots of mixed opinion about this guy, i like him a lot.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Grazing Gladehart
Gomazoa
Mountain
Vampire Hexmage
Bold Defense
Shatterskull Giant
Tanglesap
--> Kazuul Warlord
Vines of Vastwood
Lethargy Trap
Jwar Isle Refuge
Goblin War Paint
Into the Roil
Blood Seeker
This guy is pretty big, if we can get any allies he will get pretty saucy. Gladeheart would have been nice esp with oracle, but can you pass this guy?
Pack 2 pick 3:
--> Timbermaw Larva
Mark of Mutiny
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Quest for Ancient Secrets
Bladetusk Boar
Piranha Marsh
Scythe Tiger
Forest
Archive Trap
Slaughter Cry
Hedron Scrabbler
Mire Blight
Tempest Owl
Clearly commiting to heavy green, all our red cards are splashable,
Pack 2 pick 4:
Beastmaster Ascension
Stonework Puma
--> Baloth Woodcrasher
Tuktuk Grunts
Island
Paralyzing Grasp
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Frontier Guide
Vines of Vastwood
Ruinous Minotaur
Trapmaker's Snare
Pillarfield Ox
annoyingly this guy is pretty saucy, becuase it means passing a survivalist, again.
Pack 2 pick 5:
Highland Berserker
Slaughter Cry
Mire Blight
Sunspring Expedition
Inferno Trap
Swamp
Shoal Serpent
--> Baloth Woodcrasher
Kor Duelist
Grim Discovery
Joraga Bard
not really sure why we didnt take the inferno trap. I think we were at the time thinking we could splash only for the burst lightning, and 2 woodcrashers plus oracle, and double greenweaver druid makes for a nice deck.
Pack 2 pick 6:
Mire Blight
Zendikar Farguide
Merfolk Wayfinder
Cancel
--> Magma Rift
Trapmaker's Snare
Spire Barrage
Swamp
Khalni Heart Expedition
Kazandu Refuge
Pack 2 pick 7:
--> Kazandu Refuge
Lethargy Trap
Savage Silhouette
Goblin Bushwhacker
Forest
Primal Bellow
Shatterskull Giant
Tanglesap
Cosi's Trickster
Pack 2 pick 8:
Akoum Refuge
Caller of Gales
Teetering Peaks
Mountain
--> Nissa's Chosen
Quest for the Gemblades
Narrow Escape
Kabira Crossroads
Pack 2 pick 9:
Quest for the Holy Relic
Joraga Bard
--> Turntimber Basilisk
Tempest Owl
Island
Mindless Null
Sunspring Expedition
Pack 2 pick 10:
Mountain
Bold Defense
Tanglesap
Lethargy Trap
--> Goblin War Paint
Blood Seeker
Pack 2 pick 11:
Quest for Ancient Secrets
Scythe Tiger
--> Forest
Mire Blight
Tempest Owl
Pack 2 pick 12:
Island
--> Ruinous Minotaur
Trapmaker's Snare
Pillarfield Ox
Pack 2 pick 13:
Mire Blight
Sunspring Expedition
--> Swamp
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Mire Blight
Trapmaker's Snare
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Tanglesap
------ ZEN ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Bog Tatters
Demolish
Mountain
Heartstabber Mosquito
Soaring Seacliff
Vampire's Bite
Oran-Rief Recluse
Spell Pierce
Sadistic Sacrament (FOIL)
Pitfall Trap
--> Terra Stomper
Merfolk Wayfinder
Kor Outfitter
Graypelt Refuge
Relic Crush
stomp!
Pack 3 pick 2:
Khalni Heart Expedition
Mountain
Ior Ruin Expedition
Molten Ravager
Kor Hookmaster
Territorial Baloth
--> Blazing Torch
Conqueror's Pledge
Mire Blight
Zendikar Farguide
Heartstabber Mosquito (FOIL)
Arrow Volley Trap
Soul Stair Expedition
Landbind Ritual
Blazing torch is pretty good, green tends to lack removal, and we are not sure how much of our red removal, if any we will be playing, so a decent pick i think.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Magosi, the Waterveil
Molten Ravager
Cancel
Heartstabber Mosquito
--> Blazing Torch
Swamp
Demolish
Spidersilk Net
Noble Vestige
Relic Crush (FOIL)
Beast Hunt
Hedron Crab
Kor Sanctifiers
dubs.
Pack 3 pick 4:
Blood Seeker
Tanglesap
Needlebite Trap
Luminarch Ascension
Mountain
Teetering Peaks
Savage Silhouette
Hagra Crocodile
Caller of Gales
Mark of Mutiny
Whiplash Trap
--> Goblin Shortcutter
not a great pack for us, could have hated the luminarch or considered splashing white, but its not that busted in draft, so hopefully it wont come back to haunt us.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Kor Skyfisher
Plains
Bold Defense
Piranha Marsh
Living Tsunami
Into the Roil
Kor Hookmaster
Territorial Baloth
--> Timbermaw Larva
Jwar Isle Refuge
Welkin Tern
Pack 3 pick 6:
Forest
Cliff Threader
Narrow Escape
--> Mold Shambler
Windrider Eel
Cobra Trap
Quest for Pure Flame
Magosi, the Waterveil
Hagra Crocodile
Goblin Shortcutter
Pack 3 pick 7:
Sejiri Refuge
--> Steppe Lynx
Hagra Diabolist
Caravan Hurda
Ior Ruin Expedition
Kraken Hatchling
Turntimber Grove
Swamp
Desecrated Earth
Pack 3 pick 8:
Mindless Null
Swamp
Spell Pierce
--> Baloth Cage Trap
Nimbus Wings
Relic Crush
Archmage Ascension
Vampire's Bite
this is nice, people seem to walk into it all the time, despite there being so few tricks to think about, which is pretty awesome.
Pack 3 pick 9:
Mountain
Soaring Seacliff
Vampire's Bite
Spell Pierce
Merfolk Wayfinder
Graypelt Refuge
--> Relic Crush
Pack 3 pick 10:
Mountain
Ior Ruin Expedition
Territorial Baloth
Mire Blight
--> Zendikar Farguide
Landbind Ritual
Pack 3 pick 11:
Magosi, the Waterveil
Swamp
--> Demolish
Noble Vestige
Beast Hunt
Pack 3 pick 12:
Needlebite Trap
--> Mountain
Hagra Crocodile
Caller of Gales
Pack 3 pick 13:
Bold Defense
Piranha Marsh
--> Jwar Isle Refuge
Pack 3 pick 14:
Forest
--> Cobra Trap
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Turntimber Grove
This was the deck we made
1 x burst lightning
1 x trusty machete
2 x blazing torch
1 x torch slinger
1 x goblin shortcutter
1 x magma rift
1 x kazuul warlord
2 x nissa's chosen
1 x grazing gladeheart
2 x greenweaver druid
2 x baloth woodcrasher
2 x timbermaw larva
1 x baloth cage trap
1 x mold shambler
1 x oracle of mul daya
1 x turntimber basalisk
1 x terra stomper
1 x kazandu refuge
5 x mountain
12 x forest
So we ended up winning the draft with this deck - the deck was ok, there was plenty of fat, and ways to get to the fat really quickly, which made for some blowouts. We ended up playing more red that we imagined due to a pretty dry pack 3, but this was fine. Kazuul warlord was fine as a 4/4 for 5, although looking back double survivalist would have been nice. There were some pretty contentious picks in the draft, but i think there weren't any glaring errors on reading it back quickly.
Hopefully see you all this wednesday.
The deck im hoping to play at the nottingham PTQ will be going up here in a couple days, along with some more drafts and some other fun.
Until then,
See you all soon,
Jim
As always, feel free to post comments underneath. If you would like to contribute anything to the blog, email anything you want published to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk (for severe editing!)
Thursday, 7 January 2010
The Trading Card Game
By Jim Marlow
Hey everyone,
I hope the festive period has been awesome for all, and that the snow has not caused too much disruption. Turns out when you leave school, snow is not what it once was (although i have still used it as an excuse not to go to uni!)
Before we get started, i just wanted to let everyone know that i am pricing up my entire collection to sell. I am basically pricing at the buy prices of the major uk traders. I will then offer everything at these cheaper than Ebay prices to all the guys in Leeds, and whatever is left i will sell off to a UK trader. I will have the lot on here in a couple days, and wil have my folders priced up and with me over the next couple of wednesdays as well.
Anyways, so i havent had much to write about over the last couple weeks, being pretty busy over christmas and all that. Now that im back in Leeds...i still dont really have much to say. The season is at a pretty quiet point, with no tournaments too close to the horizon, although mercifully it is getting to the point where extended will be the hot topic for a couple months.
With this in mind i decided to write an article about trading, because i few recent experiances made me realise both how fundamental trading is to a person's experiance playing magic the gathering, and also how much of a moral issue it is (at least for me), and after all, magic is a trading card game i guess.
So what's the big issue with trading?
Trading magic cards is pretty simple on the surface, you swap folders, point at a card then go away happy right?
i have until pretty recently felt pretty awkwark about trading because the above scenario almost never happens. What actually happens is there is scuffling over the supposed value of certain cards, when both players are using different sources for the secondary market (a completely fluid and dynamic entity) for there values etc etc...it all gets very boring and then you both walk away from a deal.
The result of my finding trading awkward is that basically i let people get good trades with me because i would get cards i want out of it. Im not saying i got absolutely ripped off, but i would get something for my standard deck and they would get something more valuable. Ill still happily give good trades to people i know and like, because i respect them enough to return the favour, but the sad thing is that im sure others will have felt the same; and its sad that less experianced players may be put off trading, particularly when it can be one of the most fun and sociable things about the game.
not really sure where this is going, looks like this had just turned into some sort of rant about how much i hate 90% of magic players, so i guess thats where we'll leave it.
Anyway, the main point of this article is people getting ripped off in trades.
From personal experiance, i know that there are certain people that will trade their misty rainforest for my shivan dragon (p.s. there's no fucking way i would trade my 11p shivan dragon for a misty rainforest), and obviously you walk away feeling pretty damn good. However, this is pretty bad right, i mean is it really worth the misty rainforest to do this to someone?
I think there a lot of factors which come into apparently simple world of trading which guide my consistantly faulty moral compass as to how hard i can push a trade
this is my normal trading process, which i think is the best way to ensure i get decent trades and the person im leaving with goes away happy, without a massive hassle and borrowing the TO's computer to check how much X and Y are on starcitygames or something (this has happened to me)
Maybe i just wanted to write this to make myself out as a robin hood type character, the allure of pantaloons is once again my downfall.
Anyway, next time you are trading your one with nothing for a Garruk, in a vain attempt to make coverage, consider the above.
See you all soon,
Jim
As always, feel free to post comments underneath. If you would like to contribute anything to the blog, email anything you want published to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk (for severe editing!)
I hope the festive period has been awesome for all, and that the snow has not caused too much disruption. Turns out when you leave school, snow is not what it once was (although i have still used it as an excuse not to go to uni!)
Before we get started, i just wanted to let everyone know that i am pricing up my entire collection to sell. I am basically pricing at the buy prices of the major uk traders. I will then offer everything at these cheaper than Ebay prices to all the guys in Leeds, and whatever is left i will sell off to a UK trader. I will have the lot on here in a couple days, and wil have my folders priced up and with me over the next couple of wednesdays as well.
Anyways, so i havent had much to write about over the last couple weeks, being pretty busy over christmas and all that. Now that im back in Leeds...i still dont really have much to say. The season is at a pretty quiet point, with no tournaments too close to the horizon, although mercifully it is getting to the point where extended will be the hot topic for a couple months.
With this in mind i decided to write an article about trading, because i few recent experiances made me realise both how fundamental trading is to a person's experiance playing magic the gathering, and also how much of a moral issue it is (at least for me), and after all, magic is a trading card game i guess.
So what's the big issue with trading?
Trading magic cards is pretty simple on the surface, you swap folders, point at a card then go away happy right?
i have until pretty recently felt pretty awkwark about trading because the above scenario almost never happens. What actually happens is there is scuffling over the supposed value of certain cards, when both players are using different sources for the secondary market (a completely fluid and dynamic entity) for there values etc etc...it all gets very boring and then you both walk away from a deal.
The result of my finding trading awkward is that basically i let people get good trades with me because i would get cards i want out of it. Im not saying i got absolutely ripped off, but i would get something for my standard deck and they would get something more valuable. Ill still happily give good trades to people i know and like, because i respect them enough to return the favour, but the sad thing is that im sure others will have felt the same; and its sad that less experianced players may be put off trading, particularly when it can be one of the most fun and sociable things about the game.
not really sure where this is going, looks like this had just turned into some sort of rant about how much i hate 90% of magic players, so i guess thats where we'll leave it.
Anyway, the main point of this article is people getting ripped off in trades.
From personal experiance, i know that there are certain people that will trade their misty rainforest for my shivan dragon (p.s. there's no fucking way i would trade my 11p shivan dragon for a misty rainforest), and obviously you walk away feeling pretty damn good. However, this is pretty bad right, i mean is it really worth the misty rainforest to do this to someone?
I think there a lot of factors which come into apparently simple world of trading which guide my consistantly faulty moral compass as to how hard i can push a trade
this is my normal trading process, which i think is the best way to ensure i get decent trades and the person im leaving with goes away happy, without a massive hassle and borrowing the TO's computer to check how much X and Y are on starcitygames or something (this has happened to me)
- look experiance of a player
The experiance of a player is for me the biggest factor in rinsing someone. If im trading with johnny 10 years old, then im not going to rip him off, but a seasoned veteran should know the score, and i will happily go for a busted trade - the main problem here is that the best trades come from the less experianced player.
- let them know the value of the cards
This is a pretty grey area, because iv already said that card value is fairly subjective. By this i mainly mean that when im about to get a trade that i think is ridiculous i say that i think the stuff i want is worth more than the stuff they want.
- Ask them to take more
this is normally the follow up for the above point. When the guy your trading with adds a devout lightcaster to the shivan dragon he wants, you sigh and say thats ok
- Ask them if they are happy
I find this is the best way to avoid bullying, not that i would intentionally do it in any form. I think, especially when dealing with younger or less experianced players, asking them if they are ok with a trade adds the final nail to the moral coffin, and ill happily walk away with the misty rainforest at this point
- At a later date, give away a good trade
as iv already said, for a long time i gave away good trades just because trading is pretty awkward, and still now i will trade away stuff of mine which i know to be more valuable. Why? well most of the time im happy to get cards i want to play with, which is far more important than nonsence dragon being worth 50p more. Also, it may make me feel better about a criminal trade i may have done before.
Im not really sure if any of this article is of any use to anyone, but its something for me to write and you to read i guess. I think the point is that there are ways to get hugely profitable deals without either being a bully or a massive twat; and more importantly both parties can leave happy and informed. The horrible temptation with trading is of course that the less informed someone is then the better trade you can get, so i think it's a massive moral issue. I think the way people trade magic cards is a massive indication of people's character, and i find it really interesting watching people trade.
O well hope you enjoyed this, and im really interested in hearing other people's views on trading, paeticularly if they differ from mine. Im fully aware that there are people that are of the view that the players have a responsibility to know the value of their cards etc and this means that you can rip people at will, but i dont know.Maybe i just wanted to write this to make myself out as a robin hood type character, the allure of pantaloons is once again my downfall.
Anyway, next time you are trading your one with nothing for a Garruk, in a vain attempt to make coverage, consider the above.
See you all soon,
Jim
As always, feel free to post comments underneath. If you would like to contribute anything to the blog, email anything you want published to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk (for severe editing!)
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Merry Christmas
By Jim Marlow
Hey everyone,
Sorry for the belated nature of this message, but hopefully you will understand that this a fairly busy time of year for many of us, and unfortunately this year i have had to spend the week at my girlfriends house because of family coming down, meaning my access to internet has been poor.
I cant begin to thank Rob and Seb for chipping in to keep the blog afloat, im planning to get an interesting article on trading up in the next couple days, but i wouldn't expect normal service to resume until early january when i get back to Leeds.
I hope everyone had a merry christmas, see you all soon.
Until then,
Jim
As always, feel free to post comments underneath. If you would like to contribute anything to the blog, email anything you want published to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk (for severe editing!)
Sorry for the belated nature of this message, but hopefully you will understand that this a fairly busy time of year for many of us, and unfortunately this year i have had to spend the week at my girlfriends house because of family coming down, meaning my access to internet has been poor.
I cant begin to thank Rob and Seb for chipping in to keep the blog afloat, im planning to get an interesting article on trading up in the next couple days, but i wouldn't expect normal service to resume until early january when i get back to Leeds.
I hope everyone had a merry christmas, see you all soon.
Until then,
Jim
As always, feel free to post comments underneath. If you would like to contribute anything to the blog, email anything you want published to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk (for severe editing!)
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Guest Column: Trials of Legacy
By Sebastian Parker
Having played my first GP in 2009 in Brighton, frustrated that I couldn’t build a deck from my sealed pool to beat all of my opponent’s Masters of the Wild Hunt (4 of my 8 opponents had them…isn’t it supposed to be Mythic?!) and missing out on Top8 at Nationals on tiebreakers I am determined to break through and prove to myself that I can compete with the best. As such, I’ve decided to go to as many Pro level events as I can reasonably get to in 2010, starting with GP:
Main Deck
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Quasali Pridemage
3 Rhox War Monk
1 Trygon Predator
1 Progenitus
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Counterbalance
4 Brainstorm
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Natural Order
3 Swords to Plowshares
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded
1 Windswept Heath
3 Tropical
2 Tundra
1
2
2
1 Plains
Sideboard
4 Ravenous Trap
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Krosan Grip
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
I borrowed all the really old (read old-bordered) cards from Peter and Darren in
Round 1: White Stax, Lian Pizzey
Game 1
I win the die roll. I keep, he mulls. I play Tundra followed by Sensei’s Divining Top. He plays Ancient Tomb then Chalice of the Void for x=1, which I Daze. On my turn I replay the Tundra and spin the top. He plays Flagstones of Trokair and passes. I play windswept heath and pass, he plays plains and Crucible of Worlds. (Threatening wasteland every turn is not much of a concern to my deck since I play 5 basic lands and 4 noble hierarch.) I play island, Trygon Predator and he frowns – most of his deck is artifacts and enchantments so predator can lock him out of the game. He plays mishra’s factory and Oblivion Ring and so I Force of Will the O-Ring removing Daze. I spin the top at the end of Lian’s Turn. On my turn I attack and destroy the Crucible. He races for a while with the factory but can’t play any of the cards in his hand since they would just get destroyed. When I play a second creature (qasali pridemage) he scoops them up.
Sideboarding: +2 krosan grip, -2 rhox war monk. I would consider taking out swords to plowshares, but I reckon that he may well be playing Baneslayer or Exalted Angel and I don’t want to sideboard out my outs.
Game 2
He double mulligans, I keep my 7. He starts with wasteland. I start with Plains, Sensei’s Divining Top. He plays plains and passes. I play
Win 2-0 Games 2-0 Matches 1-0
Round 2: Matthew Hawker
Game 1
He wins the die roll and mulligans and I keep my 7. He plays Wooded Foothills fetching Mountain and then casts Goblin Guide. He attacks and I reveal counterbalance. I play Misty Rainforest fetching
After a few turns he tries Aether Vial so I put my Sensei’s Divining Top on top of my deck to counter it. Next turn I replay the Sensei and he bolts me in response.
He hits his 4th land and goes for a Goblin Ringleader but I Daze – being stuck on one land for this long is not letting me play out any more defence than my goyf and I need to stop him from being able to use Gempalm Incinerator to kill it.
All the while he is testing my lock with Goblin Lackeys and Goblin Piledriver he manages to resolve a Goblin Ringleader, revealing Goblin Piledriver, Gempalm Incinerator, Goblin Warchief to restock. He manages to find a window to resolve a Goblin Matron, searching for a Gempalm Incinerator.
After a few more turns of draw go and me drawing up to 4 land I play Rhox War Monk. He uses his next turn to cycle Gempalm Incinerator targeting my Rhox War Monk (his board is 4 goblins – lackey, piledriver, matron, ringleader).
I crack Flooded Strand to Swords to Plowshares the Goblin Piledriver in response to the trigger and he cycles a second Gempalm Incinerator in response to that. This turns out to be very bad for me because I end up with a forest and two duals on top of my deck and my Counterbalance lock is broken.
He still can’t attack through my goyf so he passes back. I play Qasali Pridemage and now all I have is a couple of dazes in hand and I pass back. Next turn he gets Goblin Warchief ( I spin the top, hoping for a Rhox War Monk but there are only dual lands) he plays a Goblin Piledriver and things start to look bad.
I have more land on top of my deck, what I would do for a shuffle effect right now!
He plays out more guys on his turn and attacks. I block what I can but his forces are too numerous and when the top of my deck reveals a fetchland I rejoice and crack it into a top 3 of double force of will and daze. I pass the turn and he sees the win on the board so it’s on to game 2.
Sideboard -1 Progenitus, -1 Trygon Predator, -4 Force of Will, +2 Umezawa’s Jitte, +3 Kitchen Finks, +1 Empyrial Archangel.
Game 2
My draw this game is amazing. I get Rhox War Monk on turns 3-5 and double Tarmogoyf and a Kitchen Finks for good measure. He can’t attack through my team but I can’t profitably attack him either because piledriver has protection from blue (which I find out the first time I attack him). He builds up his board, uses Gempalm Incinerator to off a Rhox War Monk. When he has about 10 creatures on the board he lays down a Goblin King and starts adding up the power of his guys and counting how many blockers I have. He looks confused, gives up on the maths and passes the turn. I know he needs about 30 creatures in play to get past my wall of blockers, so I pass back with a comment about how I’m probably dead to 2 more goblins. He believes me so he decides to play a couple of warchiefs and attack.
I block his guys and swords the goblin king for good measure, gaining 1 life overall in the damage step from letting some goblins through gaining 6 from 2 monks and I gain 2 from a persisting kitchen finks. I end up on 22 life and he loses his 5 best creatures.
He scoops when I move to declare my attackers.
There are only 5 minutes left on the round. In game 3 I manage to stick a turn 2 goyf and he tries his best, but he can’t deal 20 and we draw.
Draw 1-1 Games 3-1 Matches 1-0-1
Round 3: Dredge (no LED) Thomas Reeve
It was the Games Club X-as tournament day and Jason in his role as awesomest tournament organiser ever (sorry Rob, haven’t been to your tournaments yet (no problem - Edictor) had organised food for after round 2 – a full plate of Xmas dinner! Obviously going to time on round 2 meant I only had 5 minutes to collect my food before starting the next round.
Thomas Reeve 9-1’d the games club legacy league with dredge so I figure he’s playing dredge. I tell him I have 15 sideboard cards against dredge and he looks worried so I am pretty sure that’s what he’s playing. I win the die roll and mulligan a hand of 3 land and 4 creatures into a hand of natural order, 2 land, noble hierarch, force of will, counterbalance. Thomas keeps his 7.
The judge comes over and tells us we are being deck checked. I apologise that we’ve already drawn our hands (
We talk about how I could say that he has brought me back the wrong 6 cards and search for a great 6 (which is probably why
I play Misty Rainforest fetching
Turn 2 I attack and pass. He discards a stinkweed imp on his upkeep and dredges 5. He hits a Narcomoeba, Tireless Tribe, Breakthrough and 2 land.
Turn 3 I cast Natural Order turning my Noble Hierarch into Progenitus
On his upkeep he discards his Stinkweed Imp again dredges into a Bridge from Below, casts Cabal Therapy naming Force of Will, casts Breakthrough dredging 23 cards, then Dread Return on Iona, Shield of Emeria naming white. He flashes back 2 Cabal Therapy to take out all my non-land cards in hand and passes back the turn with 25 power of zombies/Iona in play. I have no outs so I scoop them up.
Sideboard +1 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Tormod’s Crypt, +4 Ravenous Trap -1 Trygon Predator, -3 Natural Order, -1 Progenitus, -1 Rhox War Monk
The judge comes back over and says sheepishly “sorry I dropped one of your bridge from below here it is”. Thomas is cool about it, partly because he still won the game but it definitely explained why he was a little bridge-light early on in the game.
Game 2
I mulligan a hand of Counterbalance, Sensei’s Divining Top, Tarmogoyf, Noble Hierarch, Daze, 2 land. (AKA the god hand against any other deck). I really need to draw hate to have a chance, I get a hand of 2x force, daze, top, 2 land. Not really what I want since but I can hopefully disrupt him enough to draw into hate from my top and lands, so I keep rather than risk 5 cards with no mana or disruption. Having played the game out, I think I ought to have mulliganed again since dredge is perfectly capable of playing through counterspells and you really have to have dredge specific hate to beat it.
I counter a Breakthrough with my Force, removing Daze but he gets a Putrid Imp down and starts dredging. When he has 3 Bridge from Below in the graveyard I draw a Relic of Progenitus and use it to wipe his yard, but I have no pressure so he just dredges the rest of his deck and my eventual Tarmogoyfs can’t get through the zombies while he attacks in the air with Narcomoebas and Imps.
Lose 0-2 Games 3-3 Matches 1-1-1
Round 4 Deadguy Mark Lailey
My notes get a little bit less detailed at this point, since the day is wearing on. I have seen Mark playing at a lot of PTQs and stuff and I know he’s really bad at playing the game (especially combat) but he likes good creatures and usually chooses a good deck, so I anticipate some powerful creature deck on his side of the table.
He wins the die roll and he double mulls while I keep a Counterbalance, Sensei’s Divining Top, Noble Hierarch, Force of Will, Daze and 2 land. He plays turn 1 Dark Ritual into Hypnotic Spectre, which I Force of Will removing Daze. Thanks to my Counterbalance and Sensei’s Divining Top he doesn’t resolve a relevant spell for the rest of the game, but doesn’t concede the game until my tarmogoyf kills him just so he can see more of my deck.
While sideboarding I think if I resolve a Natural Order into Empyrial Archangel he’ll have no real outs so I side out a Trygon Predator for it.
Game 2
We both keep, this game is weird as we start by trading our entire hands 1-for-1. 2 Dazes and Force of Will (removing Rhox War Monk) and Counterbalance for Dark Ritual, 2 Dark Confidant, Hypnotic Spectre and a Vindicate - until all we have is empty hands and his board of 2 lands to my board of 1 land and top. I draw into a land and a goyf and so does he. I follow it up with a string of creatures and he has a string of removal. Eventually he draws a baneslayer angel, he follows it up with a tomb stalker. I am still in the game if I can get a swords for the baneslayer but spinning the top, cracking a fetch, spinning again yields nothing but land so it’s off to game 3.
Game 3
I keep a hand with creatures, Plains, Misty Rainforest, Flooded Strand. I play Misty Rainforest fetching
I draw Quasali Pridemage so I can use exalted to go on the offensive. My war monk is still bigger than his ‘goyf so that gets in for a few turns. He draws a Dark Confidant and uses it to chump block, which is pretty bad cause he needs to draw removal and he could double block to trade one of his creatures for my monk. This pumps the goyfs so I’m not gaining life when I attack but I can still get in with my exalted goyf. He can’t draw runner-runner removal and I have put on too much pressure for him to deal with. He chumps using topdecked creatures for a few turns hoping for a baneslayer but it doesn’t come and an extra exalted creature from me means my war monk can get up to 5/6 so he’s drawing dead.
Win 2-1 Games 5-4 Matches 2-1-1
Round 5 Goblin Charbelcher-Empty the
Stephen is a newcomer to legacy and wanted to play something where he doesn’t have to know what his opponent is playing. So he’s playing one of the turn 1 kill decks. This is exactly how game 1 goes when I don’t keep a hand with force of will. Game 2 he gets the Charbelcher out and flips over 3 cards before hitting stomping grounds so I take 6. He has a land and chrome mox in play so drawing any mana source wins him the game.
I take my first turn, tropical island into noble hierarch. He draws and passes. My turn 2 is trygon predator and with Charbelcher and mox in play, if my predator hits it’s game over for Stephen. I am holding daze so he has to draw an uncounterable mana source (Simian or Elvish Spirit Guide) of which there are 6 randomly distributed through the top 47 cards of his deck. He flips over the top card of the deck and it’s… Elvish Spirit Guide. W00t!
Lose 0-2 Games 5-6 Matches 2-2-1
Round 6 Mono-Blue Tezzeret Stax Rik Powell
Rik and I Facebooked before the tourney and we are going to GP Madrid together (along with me – sexy Editor), so I know what he’s playing and he knows what I’m playing. I have no idea if it’s a good matchup but my plan is to stick a Tarmogoyf and beat him up with it before he casts a Tezzeret.
Game 1 we both keep 7 card hands, mine is 2 Daze, 2 Force of Will, Sensei’s Divining Top, 2 fetchlands. He is so excited about his hand, he shows it to the people sat either side of him – not a good sign for me, but I hope I can counter his stuff and find a threat to mop up with before he does whatever brokenness he has drawn.
I play Flooded Strand fetching
I attack with the goyf but I’m out of gas so I pass the turn back. Rik draws and then smiles as he plays another island and tezzeret number 2. Got a 3rd Force? He asks. No, I reply. Tezzeret does his thing (fetching thopter foundry out of Rik’s deck) Rik explains he can sacrifice and artifact to make a blocker for my ‘goyf and search out a Sword of the Meek next turn so I’m drawing dead and scoop them up.
Game 2 I take out my 3 Swords to Plowshares for 2 Krosan Grips and a Kitchen Finks thinking that Rik has no targets for them in his deck but he’s sided in Sower of Temptation so when my Forest-Noble Heirarch into no-land, Quasali Pridemage gets turn 3 Sowered I’m in for a race. I draw a Tarmogoyf and play it and another Pridemage but with 3 per turn from the exhalted Sower I can’t disrupt Rik’s
Lose 0-2 Games 5-8 Matches 2-3-1
I really like Rik’s deck since it really takes advantage of Tezzeret. I can see it might have problems with super fast weenies and burn (looking at you Rob (my weenie is super fast.. and burnt – Pained Editor)), but it can make a turn 1 chalice for x=1 or propaganda to shut down those decks and then get thopter foundry to lock them out of the game. It also doesn’t look terrible against combo with maindeck Trinisphere and Chalice. So I might have put some work in and see if I can get a version which can perform better than Rik’s 3-3 record here.
Overall I wasn’t too pleased with my performance since I thought that counter-top was supposed to be the best deck, but I came to the realisation that although there is a lot of great library manipulation in the deck with shuffle effects, top and brainstorm there aren’t many ways other than counterbalance to gain card (quantity) advantage, which is especially difficult after pitching spells to Force of Will.
If I were to play the same deck again, I would remove the Natural Order engine because it was never essential – either replacing it with ponder or something more effectual like kitchen finks or stifle. I would write off dredge – even with hate cards you can’t put any sort of clock on – I’d use those 7 slots in my sideboard to play some more broadly useful cards. (e.g. hydroblast, sower of temptation)
Next time I play legacy I will try playing either some card advantage engine like life from the loam, survival or standstill or some super-fast combo deck like the ad nauseum-tendrils-doomsday deck which Top8ed. I’ll also put some work in with mono-blue stax. Hopefully I can settle on something I like in January so I can spend February practicing with it.
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Guest Column: Doing the Frank Karsten: Block Constructed Vampires
By Sebastian Parker
This year a few winning MTG Online players have written about how playing constructed online is a great way to increase the value of your online collection without investing too much cash The theory is you buy a deck and you play in queues. If you win, you sell the boosters and use the tickets to enter more queues and hopefully over a few repetitions you have won more queues than you’ve lost and you’ve ended up in enough profit to buy some boosters and do a draft. Block constructed is a great cheap (~$12 for the stock vampires list) way to get started on the MTGO ladder because it can lead into playing standard if you play for consecutive years. With that in mind I thought I would have a go at playing Zendikar block constructed. Zendikar block constructed is dominated by vampires – approximately 50% of winning decklists online are vampires decks. (25% are UW control and most of the rest are aggressive white and red decks, stats are included in the spreadsheet).
Last year Faeries was the best deck and at the world championships Frank Karsten took a novel approach to building his version. He took a bunch of high performing decklists from the decks of the week archive. Vampires have been performing similarly well in the Zendikar block constructed daily events so I decided to do the same thing as Frank Karsten did with the Vampires decklists.
1)The stock list
24 Swamp
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Disfigure
4 Feast of Blood
4 Quest for the Gravelord
Sideboard:
4 Mind Sludge
4 Marsh Casualties
3 Hideous End
4 Other
Combing through the decklists one list kept coming up over and over again so I thought I’d list it separately before presenting the averaged decklists
2)The Mean and Weighted Mean ‘Aggregate’ Decklists
So the mean decklist is gotten by just adding together all the cards and dividing by the number of decklists:
24 Swamp
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Hexmage
3 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Disfigure
3 Feast of Blood
3 Quest for the Gravelord
1 Mind Sludge
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Blade of the Bloodchief
Sideboard:
3 Mind Sludge
3 Marsh Casualties
3 Hideous End
1 Soul Stair Expedition
1 Halo Hunter
1 Blazing Torch
1 Sorin Markov
1 Blade of the Bloodchief
1 Needlebite Trap
And the weighted mean decklist is attained by multiplying the number of cards in a deck by how well that deck did – 3 wins in a daily event multiply by 3, 4 wins by 4 and top8 of a premier event times 5 and divide through to get a 60 card deck. This didn’t affect the main deck but the sideboard changed to:
Sideboard:
3 Mind Sludge
3 Marsh Casualties
4 Hideous End
1 Soul Stair Expedition
1 Halo Hunter
1 Blazing Torch
1 Sorin Markov
1 Needlebite Trap
The difference being that decks with Blade of the Bloodchief aren’t winning as much, which makes me feel more justified in disliking the card.
Now we have the decklists, we need to decide how we can use this information to our advantage. The usual issue with the averaging is that you can get a final decklist with a bunch of 1-ofs, which is not something I usually advocate – one of the cards is going give you more wins than the others and so I’d recommend testing out which one and then maxing out on that one. (So far I am favouring Mind Sludge because it is so good in the mirror match) But alternatively you could get rid of the one ofs and max out the 3-ofs to 4-ofs, in which case you end up with the stock list.
The other issue with averaging is ending up with some number of fetchlands. I didn’t find any reason to think that fetchlands make your main deck more powerful – in such an aggressive format the fact you’re less likely to draw land later in the game is pretty much balanced out against the life cost. Given that each fetchland is in the 3-4 tix range, the cost of the deck escalates from 12tix to around 40tix for little benefit. So I’d recommend not splashing out on fetches if you’re just getting started.
The analysis mainly shows that if you’re playing vampires in block constructed you’ll be playing 56 of the same cards as anyone else (give or take fetchlands), which means that the mirror match is going to be very much a coin flip. Once you start profiting from beating up on the non-vampires decks you might want to invest in some alternative strategies to help in beating the mirror.
The Mirror
Quest for the gravelord has been so far unimpressive and in a match where you tend to trade removal spells and creatures and go down to topdecking, often the quest is a pretty dead topdeck. It is good on turn one but more often than not your opponent can remove the counters with vampire hexmage you need to remove 5 creatures to trigger it, at which point any creature spell is going to help you win the game.
If you aren’t playing fetchlands, the big card in the mirror is mind sludge. Since there isn’t really a good way to generate card advantage resolving a mind sludge first will often result in winning the game. In order to achieve this, you want to get to 5 lands on turn 5 consistently so siding in 1-2 swamps is going to help that plan. (And playing swamps over fetchlands will increase your chances of drawing into your 5th land)
The other main way I have read about (but not tested yet) is to use carnage alter and bloodghast to draw extra cards. Obviously this works better if you are playing fetchlands since you can trigger landfall multiple times. Speaking of landfall, once you get to the stage of running fetchlands you can run Ob Nixilis, which the opposing vampires deck must draw a feast of blood to answer, or vampire nighthawk to half-answer. You can also run soul stair expedition and trigger it immediately off of leaving fetchlands in play, allowing you to trump their removal again.
If you are going to play block constructed then these decklists are a fine starting point, once you’ve beaten people with swamps and mind sludge you might want to give the carnage alter/soul stair expedition plan a try. Get plenty of practice with vampires and you should be a winner online in no time.
Seb (RisingSun000 Online)
P.S. I’ve attatched the excel file of all the decklists and the mean decklist calculations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)