Show Us Your Noobs

Draft Talk

2010-07-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

So, Kimball, Brenna and I did an M11 draft last night at Pastimes. Three of the people at the table were making snarky comments literally at each of their picks. "God, THIS card shouldn't be here this late. " "Come on, people, pick up on the SIGNALS!" "Jeez, am I the only one who knows what he's doing here?"

It was super annoying. The rest of us were dead silent, respectfully drafting our decks and trying to not be distracted.

You know who lost in the first round of that draft? All three of those chumps. Kimball and I split in the finals. Sadly, Kimball knocked Brenna out of the bracket in the first round. :(

I guess the moral of the story is that it's cool to read MTG strategy articles, but don't spout out shit that you don't understand, and most importantly, be respectful of your fellow players. You shouldn't be saying anything during a draft, and you should ever be insinuating that your opponents aren't as knowledgeable or as skilled as you are.

Especially right before they destroy you.

later, suckers

2010-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Hey, gang. I got a real life gig writing about MTG for Pastimes Events. Between the 50 hours a week I work, the two night classes I'm in, the dog I take care of, and the wife I'm trying to stay married to - well, let's say all that plus this new writing thing I'm not going to have time to update this ole blog anymore.

The site content goes live in about 3 weeks, so you guys make sure to check it out! I'll be posting content weekly, with a video every couple weeks or so.

Insert Clever Worldwake Pun Here, pt. 2

2010-02-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

-Greg

I'll skip the clever introductions this week and cut right to the chase. At the first Sealed event I did with Zen/Zen/Zen/WWK/WWK/WWK, I opened the following pool:

White
2 Kitesale Apprentice
Steppe Lynx
Apex hawks
Lightkeeper of Emeria
Nimbus Wings
Journey to Nowhere
Arrow Volley Trap
Windborn Charge
Rest for the Weary
Cliff Threader
Ruin Ghost
Brave the Elements
Sheildmate's Blessing

Blue
Mindbreak Trap
Jwar Shapeshifter
Spell Pierce
Dispel
AEther Tradewinds
Spell Contortion
Caller of Gales
Quest for Ancient Secrets
Shoal Serpent
2 Twitch
Kraken Hatchling
Calcite Snapper
Sejiri Merfolk
Gomozoa
Windrider Eel
Horizon Drake
Wind Zendikon
Paralyzing Grasp

Black
Abyssal Persecutor
Needlebite Trap
Urge to Feed
Dead Reckoning
Quag Vampires
Corrupted Zendikon
Soul Stair Expedition
Mindles Null
Disfigure
Heartstabber Mosquito

Red
Pyromancer Ascension
2 Skitter of Lizards
Spire Barage
Magma Rift
Molten Ravager
Shatterskull Giant
2 Cosi's Ravager
Torchslinger
Bladetusk Boar
Plated Geopede

Green
Timbermaw Larva
Relic Crush
Nature's Claim
Leatherback Baloth
Gnarlid Pack
Arbor Elf
Snapping Creeper
Grappler Spider
2 Slingbow Trap
Oran-Rief Recluse
Khalni-Heart Expedition
Baloth Cage Trap
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Nature's Claim
Graypelt Hunter

Land
Sejiri Refuge
Aride Mesa
Quicksand
Halimar Depths
Greypelt Refuge
Khalni Garden
Bojuka Bog
Piranha Marsh

Artifact
Amulet of Vigor
Expedition Map
Explorer's Scope
Kitesail
Pilgrim's Eye

Evaluating the bombs
Normally when opening a sealed pool, I start by figuring out which, if any, of my cards are truly "bombs." That is, which of these cards will create an amazing board presence for me, and will reliably help me win any game in which it's cast? Sadly, this pool was a little short on bombs. Abyssal Persecutor is a face-smashing machine, but there was no way I was going to be able to play him and remove him with any consistency. Pyromancer's Ascension is worthless, as there is no way you can open a bunch of the same, good instants and sorceries. Since Amulet of Vigor, Jwar Shapeshifter, and Mindbreak Trap were all equally worthless, I pretty much had to rely on the power of my commons and uncommons to get there every game.

Almost bombs
So what are we left to win with? Well, quite a bit actually. Fliers are worth almost any premium cost associated with them, and here we have some very strong options. Lightkeeper of Emeria is a really strong card, bringing the beats overhead while boosting your life total. Blue also gives us the very powerful Windrider Eel, cheap beats in Horizon Drake, and the surprisingly fast Wind Zendikon. While Bladetusk Boar isn't much of a flier, the intimidate ability means he can start smashing most decks within a relatively short amount of time.

Black, since I'm missing most relevant vampires, lacks much of a bite (har har har). Green presents another interesting conundrum: The meat is there, but not in a form that is easy to cast unless we dedicate ourselves to playing forests in abundance. Timbermaw Larva hits hard, but only if you have lots of trees. Leatherback Baloth is a huge body for a reasonable cost, but it's a very specific cost that makes it very difficult to cast.

At this point, it looks like we're going to have to go with some combination of red, blue, or white.

The Rest
So, now that we've anaylized our win conditions, our next step will be to analyze each color's abillity to remove threats, fix mana, and the strength of utility cards.

Tune into the next installment, where I'll do just that, and show you guys the final forty I decided on. Thanks for reading!

Insert Clever Worldwake Pun Here, pt. 1

2010-02-01T06:47:00.000-08:00

-Greg

I'm going to have to open with an apology.

Despite the obvious love MTG players, and internet blog readers in general, have for puns - today I am offering none. In a world full of "Worldwake up!" and radio DJs poking fun at the new iPad, I'm afraid all the good puns have been made, repeated, and hammered into oblivion by appearing in demotivational posters and lolcats pictures. The ship has sailed, as it were, so instead of making the lot of you groan at my lack of wit... I'm going to make you groan by writing a two-part post that's way too long!

But, anyway, since this is an MTG blog, let me stop complaining about puns and move onto what the MTGnet is up in arms about: Worldwake.

Being two people who love eating poorly almost as much as we like slinging cards, the wife and I threw our dice and sleeves in our pockets and headed to the Midnight Prerelease Worldwake Nerdapalooza 2010 (not their official title, but I heard a lot of people referring to the event as the MPWN2010... Ok, not really. Sorry to lie to you in the opener). Despite everything happening either at a the time of day that can arguably be called either way too late or way too early, or the day after, we both went home pleased with the time we had spent. My hat goes off to the guys at Pastimes for holding yet another enjoyable, well-organized event. Thanks, guys!

Casual Magic

We go to a lot of large events, sometimes driving several hours at a time to slug it out at PTQs and 1/5Ks, but until last weekend we had never ventured out to check out a big casual event. I gotta tell ya, we might start doing it more - and I urge you guys to do the same. As I've written about before, casual players are friendly as hell. They're as excited by the cards as they are the game itself, and playing a few rounds against people who didn't show up with only winning in mind was a really pleasant change of pace for the two of us.

This slightly-shifted player base is bizarre and interesting compared to the usual teens/twenties dudefest we usually run into. There were adults there, some professional guys in business-casual attire. There were some older people, which I love to see, including a friendly gentleman who must have been 70 years old. There were kids, some of whom must have been ten or younger. There were girls there (more than a dozen out of around 150 on the second day), and they seemed to be having an awesome time. It was a really cool mish-mash of people who you would never expect to all be in the same room together, let alone having fun together - and the resulting sense of community was truly humbling. There we were, spread across more demographics than you'd care to count, and the end we were all united by one thing that; we were all nerds who relish in the art of cracking packs and turnin' 'em sideways.

The Event

One of the things that really helped MTG get its hooks in me at an early age is the art. Even looking way back to times before WotC could really devote the resources they currently employ, I still found myself totally enthralled by the world depicted on the card's images. Lhurgoyf was a big scary thing feeding off a graveyard. Wrath of God was a battlefield of strewn bodies. Even the guy on Forget looked like a dude who had forgotten something (aside: he's dressed like Snoop dogg). It made sense. It was impressive. I've always suspected I was not alone in this regard, and seeing the people flock this weekend to shake hands with and buy prints from featured artist Steve Argyle definitely confirmed this in my mind. I got a handful of cards signed (including my set of textless Ponders), but it took me a long time to find a moment between rounds that I could wait through the lines forming around his table. Having artists at events is a great idea, even more so when they're extremely nice guys like Steve. If anyone has a similar love for the pretty picture aspect of the game, I definitely encourage them to drop by the artist table at any event that has one. It's rare to find people who love what they do so much, and even rarer to find people so appreciative of their fans. Also, if you bring a stack of cards for signatures, make sure you slip them a couple of bucks. It's by no means mandatory, but it's a simple gesture that shows you appreciate their time as well as their art.

Another cool feature at the big events is the the Gunslinger table, where an accomplished MTG player just hangs out all day, playing any challenger in any format and handing out packs to anyone who can best them. While I have to laugh at the title a little bit, I have to laugh at myself even more for being so excited about it; The excitement is apparently infectious, as the line to trade licks with the most recent pro tour champion was always long. I was able to watch Brian Kibler play about a dozen games, and the guy was so friendly and fun that I don't think a lot of people minded the savage beatings he was handing out. Just a side note: If there's a shop out there looking to add more girls to their usual players, all I can say is hire Kibler to hang around and work the crowd. Even my own wife was swooning at this handsome bastard, to the point that she kept a seven card hand of Bitterblossom, Bitterblossom, Bitterblossom, Island, Island, Spell Snare, Watery Grave. *

Complaints

I have literally one complaint about the entire weekend: Pastimes had no way to accept a card as payment while in the motel event room. Subsequently, the motel's ATM ran out of cash, and I ended up paying for a draft with a handful of singles and a dollar in quarters. Very embarrassing. :x

Wrap it up, Already

If you, like me, have become disillusioned by the stress and work you have to put in to achieving even a moderate amount of success in competitive Magic, then hitting up one of these events is an awesome way to remember why you even got into the game in the first place. All the friendly faces, all the high-fives, and all the new friends I made really took me back to being a kid growing up in small town in Oklahoma. Back then, I had to beg my mom to drive me two towns over to track down some comic book shop or game store that I found in the phonebook, and even then there was no guarantee that they would have any cards at all. Finding someone to play with in a town of 3,000 was even more difficult, so it was pretty much my brother and me. Now, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy every second of being crushed by my brother's ridiculous decks. I just wish that we could've had access to places like this - places where we could just be ourselves - enjoy ourselves - doing something that the people around us were quick to ignore or ridicule.

______________________________________________
* This is a hand she'd normally throw back without thinking. I should probably mention that she's a pretty damn good player, with a respectable rating.

Indianapolis PTQ - Almost Got There

2010-01-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

-Greg

We arrived in Indianapolis late on Saturday night, pulling in to Pete's aunt and uncle's house around 10 pm. Even though we stayed up late poring over matchup tech and sideboard slots, they were plowing us with snacks and soda, and were genuinely amused at how a group of young adults such as ourselves preferred to spend our free time. Pete's uncle was particularly interested in the cards, especially the foils and foreign ones. I have a feeling that if we'd stayed another day we would've had him hooked on the game, too.

We arrived at the venue with enough time for everyone to scope out the decks people were registering, help Tom grab some last-minute cards, and register. There was a unusually large number of players sleeving up Affinity, which we were all a little confused by, but luckily we built our Tezz boards to double as affinity hate. Midway through writing our lists down, one Adrian Sullivan dropped by with a big smile and a box of clementines! I got this warm and fuzzy feeling of community spirit, which I quickly buried deep inside , reminding myself that between 2 and 8 of these people would be my sworn enemy for one hour each. I just hoped I didn't have to play Adrian, because I would've wanted to scoop on the spot to return his gesture of kindness.

I don't have my whole list in front of me right now, but I basically played aggro-loam with every stupid two-card combo I could think of that would fit in Naya colors. Bloodbraid Elf into Boom//Bust, Flagstones to make sure my mana denial left me a step ahead, Seismic Assault with Life from the Loam and Countryside Crusher, and Punishing Fire with Groves all gave me that "I'm an asshole for playing this" feeling. I'll post the full list later, as a lot of people seemed interested in the deck's inner workings.

On to the report!

Round 1: Dark Bant

The guy that sat down next to me I immediately recognized from the player meeting. He was trying desperately to figure out what he had messed up on his deck reg sheet, riffing through cards desperately as his strangely supportive girlfriend tried to sort it out. I took it personally how rude he was being to his lady friend, and decided to pass on calling the judges (who were busy poring over lists, anyway), and completely humiliate him in a rousing game of MTG. Of course, if Brenna's super-sleuthing abilities hadn't already tipped me off that he was playing Doran, I might have done the right thing and went to judge-town. Actually, if he were playing mono-red burn... I definitely would've called the judge. Pro tip: Have your shit together before the tournament starts.

Game 1: I chose to keep a mediocre hand of seven with relevant lands and some burn. I torched his first BoP, but he had the second on turn two to drop the third-turn Rafiq. I chuckled a little bit at facing down Rafiq before I realized that the unchecked 0/1 bird was now officially a threat. He played another land and spun the Bird sideways. I asked what color mana he wanted to make, and he says "ATTACK! ATTACK!" I said, "Go back man, declare your attack step." After this, a Path to Exile on Rafiq was all it took to put him completely on tilt. I continued playing attrition with him for a while, waiting until I got a clear read that he didn't have anymore removal in-hand by obviously tapping five lands and counting out 1-2 white mana before playing Baneslayer. He winced noticeably at this, and when she hit the table, it looked like someone had kicked him in the stomach. Of course, he drew his card, and did this cartoon-style I'm-so-relieved act and pathed her in his first main phase. Then I died to a Qasali Pridemage carrying a Jitte when I couldn't draw anything before it got to infinite counters.

sideboard: + 2 purge, + 2 runed halo, -2 something, -2 something.
For a deck that relies solely on creatures, mine were substantially better - so I decided to board in a way that would 1 for 1 him until I could burn him out. Sorry about the spotty notes I took; I didn't really take this guy seriously.

Game 2: I started off slow, forcing him to play into an attrition war with me by playing just enough creatures to trade with the ones he could ramp into, then burn everything else, including him, to the ground. The only trouble I had for the entire game was a Jitte, but every time one of his little dorks tried to pick it up I singed them with a never-ending supply of Punishing Fires. Surprisingly, I never draw anything but burn, removal, and Baneslayers... So I killed him with a Baneslayer while he was playing with an empty hand. I chuckled a little to myself when he scooped, and somehow resisted the urge to show him my hand. STILL HAD ALL THESE LIGHTNING HELICES.

Game 3: 3 went exactly like 2 with one exception: instead of Purging a Doran, I Pathed me a Rafiq.

1-0

Round 2: Affinity.

Game 1: I drop Seismic Assault on turn 3, burn lands at the end of his turn, and start casting and dredging Loam on turn 4. I continue to burn the few Ornithopters and Frogmites he can play, and eventually just whittle him down. I literally only cast two spells this entire game. It was awesome.

Board: +2 krosan grip, +3 Kataki, War's Wage, -2 assault, -3 path.
Path is awesome in this matchup because they don't have basic lands. It sucks, though, because they have Ravager. Grip and Kataki do what Path does and more.

Game 2: I eat a turn 1 Toughtsieze, and have to bin my Countryside Crusher. My hand looks a lot worse now, but I hang in there with Punishing Fire and Lightning Helix. Eventually, I look pretty much dead as the board is me with some lands, him with 2 Ravagers, 2 artifact lands, Frogmite, and a pretty scary Cranial Plating. Like the true pro I am, I rip Kataki off the top. He eventually succumbs to my furious 2/1 beats and some burn spells.

2-0

Round 3: Hypergenesis.

Game 1: Hypergenesis into Iona, naming white. I manage to stay a live for a while since I had cast multiple Lightning Helices, and have him to the point where I can burn him out with Loam+Assault if I can just untap. He swings with an exalted 8/8 Iona while I'm at 9 life, then casts Violent Outburst and chooses not to cast the cascade spell. This seriously confused me, until I realized that that made Iona get me for the last point of damage. Ouch.

Sideboard: +2 purge, +2 runed halo, -4 punishing fire and hope for the best...
I had taken out all my sideboard HG hate, so I just... Wished for the best, I guess. In hindsight, he would always name Iona to white, so I have no idea why I put in two more Purges over Punishing Fire. Runed Halo is good because you can still put it into play when they cast Hypergenesis.

Game 2: He mulls to six card, which makes my LD Heavy hand seem pretty decent. Turn 2, I Boom//Bust his land and my Flagstones, putting me a land ahead. Turn 3, I Ghost Quarter him, leaving him again with one land in play. Then I start slamming down Bloodbraids, desperately trying to hit a Boom//Bust to lock him out. Of course, it never happens, and he dumps his hand. Progenitus, Iona set to white, and TWO Darksteel Colossi. Thanks for playing.

2-1

Round 4: Mono-red Burn.

Game 1: We were just discussing the never-scoop policy in the car, and I'm glad I stuck to it. I cast the heavy half of Boom//Bust at 1 life, and win with nothing but two Goyfs on the field. Pro play, Greg!

Sideboard: +2 Celestial Purge, -2 Boom//Bust
For some inexplicable reason, I brought Gaddock Teeg to a gunfight. I would seriously learn my lesson of not packing Kitchen Finks...

Game 2: I am at 3 life with lethal damage on the board when he topdecks Bolt to burn me out.
game 3: I am at 4 life with lethal damage on the board when he topdecks Flames of the Blood Hand to burn me out.

2-2

Normally, people drop at x-2, but I didn't want to let two fluke matches ruin my run. I knew the deck could win in almost any situation, so I stuck it out, determined to play tighter.

Round 5: Almost AIR (splashing white for Path)

Game 1: I can't figure out what he's playing, so I just start grinding his manabase with Boom//Bust and Ghost Quarters. Eventually I tap out and he drops a very unexpected Thunderblust (!!!) to get in for seven. Next turn, he plays Demigod and swings in for the kill. I Quarter my own tapped Flagstones to grab a Plains, and he starts tapping lands and playing irrelvant instants to do irrelevant shit, which I should've realized was to throw me off my game. I start stacking triggers, too, burning his Thunderblust twice to kill it for good, and in the argument over timing I forget to resolve my Quarter trigger to Path his Demigod before I take the damage. I lose a totally winnable game soon after, because I let this guy throw me off my game - intentionally or not.

Sideboard: +2 purge, +2 runed halo, -2 ghost quarter, -2 punishing fire

Game 2: I play the early game around Blood Moon, making sure I can get my Plains and Forest in play so I'm not totally wrecked if he combos out. Thankfully, he comes out of the gate pretty slowly, so I Runed Halo for Demigod, and Purge/Path his Thunderblusts. He's forced to save Shrapnel Blasts for my Baneslayers, and I Loam+Assault him into submission.

Game 3: He puts me to a pretty low life before I can Purge his threats, then I cast Bloodbraid and flip Boom//Bust. He's skeptical that this trick works, but the judges assure him my tech is legit, and I'm rewarded with a board that's totally empty except for a ridiculously large Knight of the Reliquary.

3-2

Round 6: Affinity

Game 1: Just to remind everyone, I didn't play during Mirrodin block, and have never faced Affinity before this tournament. Luckily, no one was around when I was proving this to my opponent, who sacced his Ravager to itself in response to my Path to make a giant Ornithopter. I make a mental note to read the cards that I'm unfamiliar with, and we go to game two.

Sideboard: Same as before.

Game 2: I mulligan to a sick six-card hand with Kataki and spot removal. In his second turn, he goes down to one robot, giving up a land, and then plays Glimmervoid. I untap, Path his one guy, and then point to his Glimmervoid (I read the card!). He says "What? Oh shit. Nah.. Fuck it, I can't deal with this," and scoops them up.

Game 3: We grind each other down for a while, with me using my newly found knowledge of the Modular ability to play chase the counters with his Ravagers. I'm successfully matching his threats 1 for 1 for a while, Gripping his Masters of Etherium, and casting Punishing Fire in response to Ravager's Modular ability. In the end it just came down to me playing a better game than him, and after I cleared the air of Thopters, I crashed Baneslayer in for massive damage. The best lesson I learned today is that it is an awesome idea to play foreign cards. He swung a 14/2 Thopter that was carrying TWO Cranial Platings right into my Baneslayer... Who has first strike.

4-2

Round 7: Rubin Zoo
Game 1: I keep a bad hand and get crushed pretty fast.

Game 2: During his mull to four, I accidentally dropped some of his cards on the ground. I acted dumb, which in conjunction with his bad draws upset him enough that he accidentally scattered his cards all over the table. I slow-roll the burn win to push him over the edge. I am the Jedi.

Game 3: I mull to a decent six-card hand that's heavy on creatures. He plays Nacatl, Path, Goyf, Path, Deathark, Path. Not much you can do about that.

Round 8: No Show.

I got paired WAY up, and was really looking forward to hopefully doing some dream-crushing while waiting to see if the Wife would win her way into the top 16, but the guy never showed. I hope he's ok, because he had enough points to potentially win into half a box and he just... Didn't show up.

5-3

This deck is strong, and amazingly fun to play. It packs a wide range of extremely relevant threats and win conditions without being too unfocused, which gives you a number of different strategies to win that can be easily modified on-the-fly. This wide range of options isn't always good thing, however. Everything matters. Every land decision, every point of life, and every single trigger from your side or the other will affect the game more than another deck would. But that's what's so rewarding about it. Every win you pull it is based totally on your skill, and in your ability to run percentages in your head while still evaluating the strength of your and your opponent's threats. It's extremely important to remember everything the deck can do, and figure out or know how your opponent's deck works. I feel like every game loss I got (with the exception of the two nutty games against Hypergenesis) were completely within the realms of winning.

At any rate, there are some changes that need to be made. The deck needs a way to survive the burn matchup. I've been kicking some ideas around, and it's pretty much CoP: Red or Kitchen Finks - but if I run Finks, I think I want to run a single copy of Oran Rief, the Vastwood to gain massive amounts of life. It's easily tutorable with Knight of the Reliquary, but in order to make sure I can always hit RRR and WW, it will have to replace a Ghost Quarter or a take up another sideboard slot. I'm not sure if it's worth it yet.

Want to guess what my absolute best sideboard card was all day?

Runed Halo.

SERIOUSLY.

At any rate, I'd like to end this post by saying the guys from Pastime's ran a nice, tightly organized event, and the judge team were all great. I know some people dont like to play at Pastime's for whatever reason (I, myself, prefer not to attend any big event they try to hold in their shop in fear that I will be trampled by the crowd trying to escape a fire), but I definitely appreciate the way they run their larger events and treat their customers. Big thanks to Alan, Ron, and all the other guys whose names I can never remember!

Cheers!

Into the Blue

2010-01-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

A special guest post this weekend from a fellow Team Barnabus card-slinger and good friend Luciano Leon. Hope you guys enjoy it!

-Luciano

As of this writing, blue mages have been left out in the cold. In years past, blue was the go-to color of control and tempo. Blue had control, in the form of counter spells, and tempo, in the form of Memory Lapse and bounce effects. Most competitive forms of counters and tempo cards are pretty nonexistent at the moment. Anyone hoping to stand a chance at winning in the new standard piloting a blue deck must come to grips with how to deal with Jund, where WotC has decided to put most of its card advantage.

The main reason why blue-based control experiences such an uphill battle is that its control cards are roughly a turn too slow. That is to say, slow, compared to how fast an aggressive deck can deploy its beats. The only aggressively costed counter spells are Essence Scatter and Negate. The inherent problem with running these cards is, they can catch you in an awkward position of having brought the wrong weapon into the fight. Holding a Negate in your hand while facing down a Broodmate Dragon or Baneslayer Angel on the stack is just incredibly frustrating for control players. Standard desperately needs a simple two-mana counter that does not care what spell it targets. Now, I know we are not getting Counterspell back any time soon, if ever, but I think this format calls for something like Remand. Remand costs two mana, can counter anything, and even cantrips. It isn’t a hard counter, it’s more of a tempo swing, as it returns the spell back to the caster’s hand when it counters it. It is these little incremental tempo swings that blue-based control thrives on.

Another thing blue is in dire need of is card draw at instant speed. If WotC wants to make blue reactive, that’s fine, but going a turn without accomplishing anything is not ideal. Jace Beleren can only do so much in this aspect. A step in the right direction would have been to have made divination into an instant, instead of a sorcery. It wouldn’t be too much to ask, considering the power of counter spells has been throttled down.

Even when most have all but given up on blue, there are those who continue to play Islands. Not only play Islands, but also force their opponents to do the same. Zendikar’s Spreading Seas revisits one of blue’s more quirky abilities, turning lands into Islands. As the bulk of the current card pool hails from Alara block, there are a lot of color-intensive spells being cast. A single Spreading Seas on an opponent’s Savage Lands can leave them cut off from casting relevant spells. Multiple Spreading Seas can be debilitating. This tactic has never been as relevant in the past as it is now. It is mostly effective because there is a card in M10 that adds redundancy to the strategy, Convincing Mirage, giving you effectively 8 Spreading Seas. This from of mana denial strategy can buy you a lot of time if you hit the right lands, since your opponent will be left hoping to top-deck a relevant land.

I, personally, am looking forward to whatever Worldwake brings. Blue mages everywhere will rejoice if the set brings powerful tools to pair with the recently spoiled Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Hopefully that will be the case. Even if blue continues its slump, Standard will benefit from an additional set, as it will inevitably help create new archetypes and add overall variety to the format.

Bonus - Tom is PISSED

2009-12-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

-Greg

A bonus post for tonight, dudes. EDH with the team is always hilarious, and in this covert sound clip that Brenna took one night, you can hear Tom's extreme anger over Luciano's dick move.

What happened:

Tom has some token making monsters out, and some tokens. I have three relatively harmless Slivers. Pete has some utility guys that aren't really a threat. Luciano casts Hex to destroy six creatures. He looks around the board before pointing rapidly at Tom's guys, including his 1/1 Dragon and Saproling tokens saying "this one, this one, this one..." Tom FFO's.

Here's the File

Extended Season - Archetype Primer

2009-12-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

-Greg

I'm afraid we aren't testing enough for extended season, especially for the decks we're home-brewing, so starting the week I get back from vacation we're going to definitely invest some more time into testing relevant matchups. "But what are the relevant matchups?" you ask. Honestly, that's pretty up in the air, as the format is this far only defined by the top Austin lists and the hypothetical bottom-line aggro speed.

Enemy number one, though, is probably going to be Tezzerator.

The Blue Deck that LSV will play - Tezzerator

What it is: Nasty. Cheap counters and removal will hold you down until they can draw or tutor up their two combo pieces (Sword of the Week + Thopter Foundry), at which point you'll die to a swarm of 1/1 Thopters. If you haven't seen the combo before, it's pretty easy to understand: Foundry allows you to sac an artifact to gain a life and get a 1/1 token. If a 1/1 creature comes into play for you and Sword of the Meek is in your graveyard, you can return it to play and attach it to the creature. If both are in play, you sac Sword to Foundry as part of the cost so it's in the yard when the ability resolves, the token comes into play, and you return the sword and stick it on the token. Then you just do it over and over again until you're out of lands to tap.

If anyone wants a good primer on how to play the deck, or a good list, you should definitely check out Luis Scott Vargas's write-up on Channel Fireball.

How you beat it: The players who will be piloting this deck are going to cover a wide range of skill levels, from inept players new to the format to competent to dangerous gun-slingers like LSV. What you've got to do is remember that this deck is built to leverage their skill against yours, so you have to play smart - even against someone who you think is a doofus. A lot of what you'll be doing are just the same things you already probably know just from playing against control in the past. Some pointers:

A lot of the spells you'll need you either have to get out fast, or cost 2, so you'll be either playing through or around Spell Snare and Mana Leak for the entire game. Don't walk your Tarmogoyf into an open Island.
Don't over-extend. Most lists run at least two Wrath/Day of Judgement main, with plenty of ways to dig for them. A good player will also be more likely to keep a hand that's good against aggro, because of the prevelance of Zoo.
Be aggressive, especially game one when you don't have targeted hate against them. If you don't win before they assemble their combo, you will not win.
Don't take out all your removal post-board. A lot of lists pack Baneslayer in the side, and this isn't a creature most decks can race.
Think hard about what gifts you'll be giving them. A good player will give you two options that aren't really options, either forcing you to give them the mana they need (by playing artifact lands and snow-covered lands), or giving them their missing combo pieces (by getting the cards, or things that get them anyway).
Pack hate. Keep some of it main.

The deck is reactionary and wins by abusing artifacts and counterspells, so you have to use cards that can fight this strategy. Try running some of these answers:

B/W Martyr of Sands

2009-12-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

-Greg

Anyone who's ever played with my wife, or even played in the same room with her, knows this: my wife is more interested in gaining copious amounts of life than she is in winning the game. Even in decks not specifically designed to gain life, I have seen her bend her cardboard minions to her devastating will and shoot her life total into the hundreds. I remember a recent 1K she, to the chagrin of a very serious player (who was feverishly snapping the cards in his finely tuned deck), crashed an exalted Baneslayer Angel repeatedly into a wall of bird tokens, climbing quite rapidly to 246 life before he agreed to go to the third game. Even worse, before the advent of the M10 rules changes it was quite common to hear things from her like "Equip Loxodon Warhammer on my Divinity of Pride." These games were not about winning. They were about abject humiliation of an opponent; amidst a generation of boys who were raised to believe whole-heartedly in self-affirmation through the accrual of "points," - she viciously hammered (no pun intended) into their heads a startling and inescapable truth: shes has way more points than you.

Another peculiar, yet endearing, quality she has is an unabashed hatred for Extended.

"EXTENDED IS TERRIBLE." - Wife, via Twitter
"Hell no I don't want to play Extended. Let's just play Standard." - Wife, at the table
"It's boring to watch someone combo off. Why do a hobby if not to have fun?" - Wife, Via Gchat just now.
"Of course I love you; I put the knife down, didn't I?" - Wife, in the kitchen

And while that last quote isn't exactly about Extended, she does have a good point about the high level of awful a player experiences when watching their opponent play card after card with no chance of interacting with the game-state. That is boring. The magic, though, is that Extended is not legacy; there's no Ad Nauseum/Tendrils of Corruption, no Dream Halls/Conflux, and not any real combo deck that can compete with the insane level of aggro that abounds. Ok, ok, there's Hexmage/Depths - but that deck is, to be fair... Bad. The only way I can figure out that it made top 8 at Austin is that it was driven by the highly competent, and irredeemably lucky, PV. Ok, and sure, you've got your Sword of the Meek/Thopter Foundry package... Ok, that deck is good, but not unbeatable or format warping.

And don't even tell me about Dragonstorm or All-in-Red with Deus of Calamity. Unless you're just pushed to the point of drooling at a turn 1 fatty, wonky decks with unpredictable, unreliable, and unrecoverable tendencies aren't going to give you the power AND consistency you need to win, um, consistently. And powerfully.

But I digress! So now, with my wife's two most prominent MTG idiosyncrasies detailed - how was I to convince her that Extended was a fun format?

FUCKING MARTYR OF SANDS.

I have tinkered with this deck a little, and found it to be enjoyable despite how long the games tended to be. Dying with this deck on the table in front of you is harder than it should be, and the look of despair on your opponents faces when they realize how much damage they'll have to do to you is priceless. Problem was, like with Conley Woods' deck from Austin, it's equally difficult to kill with this Deck of Defense (+200 HP, +20 Defense, -1000 Attack). At first, I splashed red. Hated it. Then I splashed green. Hated it. Then I went back to Black/White. Seemed better. Then I started adding Felidar Sovereign, and we were getting somewhere. Here's the decklist:

// Deck file for Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com)

// Lands
2 [EVE] Fetid Heath
2 [TSP] Vesuva
2 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
3 [ZEN] Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 [GP] Godless Shrine
4 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
1 [SHM] Mistveil Plains
6 [M10] Plains
1 [M10] Swamp

// Creatures
1 [ZEN] Felidar Sovereign
2 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
4 [CS] Martyr of Sands
2 [PLC] Necrotic Sliver
2 [ALA] Ranger of Eos

// Spells
3 [CFX] Path to Exile
2 [M10] Diabolic Tutor
3 [LRW] Oblivion Ring
1 [SHM] Runed Halo
1 [ZEN] Sorin Markov
4 [ARE] Castigate
4 [9E] Phyrexian Arena
2 [DIS] Proclamation of Rebirth
2 [10E] Wrath of God
2 [ZEN] Day of Judgment

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 1 [SHM] Runed Halo
SB: 2 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 3 [ZEN] Ravenous Trap
SB: 1 [EVE] Figure of Destiny
SB: 2 [LRW] Wispmare
SB: 1 [SOK] Kagemaro, First to Suffer

The drill is simple. Draw a shit-load of cards with Arena, gain a shit-load of life with Martyr, recur a shit-load of dudes with Emeria, kill a shit-load of lands with the Slivers, and eventually win with a hard-to-kill Sorin or a Felidar when your life total is in the upper shit-loads.

A friend recommended we try Dread Return in the main for extra flair, and I'm definitely going to try running a copy. The two Emerias bring back plenty of Necrotic Slivers (to lock them out of mana) and Martyrs (to gain gratuitous amounts of life), but I can see a situation in which you might Emeria back two Finks, sac, and dread return them for Sovereign against an opponent with no lands. Seems good, but possibly win-moreish. Another option I'm entertaining is Grim Discovery. There are lots of Ghost Quarters floating around these days, and being able to buy-back your Emeria and a dude seems like a solid plan in a deck that needs Emeria and some dudes to recur.

Anyway, I'm tired of writing for now. I'll update in the next few days or so after some playtesting with both options.

As always, comments, critique, and hate-mail are more than welcome. Hit me up!

Top 2009 States Lists from OK and KS

2009-12-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

-Greg

Hey, guys! It's been a while, but I just wanted to drop in and hit you guys with some decklists.

While checking out the States decklists, I noticed that there was literally no place on the web where you could see the top 8 decks from Oklahoma. I know it seems weird that someone might want to see these lists, since the big OK isn't really a hopping place for MTG, but being born and raised there, I have a strange attraction to keeping up on the ole' home state. Eventually, my online research led me to the tournament organizer's email address, and he was kind enough to provide me with the finalists' decks from OK and KS States tourneys. So, without further ado, here, for the first time on the internet ever, four deep-fried, southern decks for your viewing pleasure :

drumroll

Oklahoma Champion - Gerald Sixkiller - U/W Control

4 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Island
4 Marsh Flats
10 Plains
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Vedalken Outlander
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Emeria Angel
4 Path to Exile
4 Devout Lightcaster
4 White Knight
4 Honor the Pure

Sideboard:
2 Celestial Purge
3 Mind Control
2 Brave the Elements
4 Negate
2 Day of Judgment
2 Journey to Nowhere

Oklahoma Second Place- Tony Menzer - Jund

4 Savage Lands
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
3 Forest
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Broodmate Dragon
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Rampant Growth
2 Terminate
4 Blightning
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Bituminous Blast
1 Chandra Nalaar

Sideboard:
4 Relic Crush
4 Jund Charm
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Mind Rot
1 Maelstrom Pulse

Kansas Champion - Michael Mead - RDW
4 Jackal Familiar
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Ball Lightning
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Goblin Guide
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Banefire
2 Earthquake
4 Teetering Peaks
18 Mountain

Sideboard:
2 Earthquake
3 Act of Treason
3 Manabarbs
2 Elemental Appeal
2 Chandra Nalaar
3 Unstable Footing

Kansas Second Place - Sean Patchen - Naya Lightsaber
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Baneslayer Angel
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Wild Nacatl
4 Wooly Thoctar
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Ajani Vengeant
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Arid Mesa
3 Plains
3 Mountain
3 Rootbound Crag
6 Forest

Sideboard
3 Acidic Slime
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Dauntless Escort
3 Luminarch Ascension
3 Unstable Footing

Testing for States - Update

2009-12-04T14:32:00.000-08:00

-Greg

After running the GWb Junk list through a gauntlet of games, I've got to say I'm pretty happy with where it ended up. I found Putrid Leech to be pretty underwhelming, and since I was being smashed by Eldrazi decks to no end, I made the switch to Qasali Pridemage in the main. Emeria Angel was also completely ridiculous in conjunction with Knight of Reliquary and Lotus Cobra. I really think this deck is where I want it now.

Lands
5 [UNH] Forest
4 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
3 [UNH] Plains
2 [M10] Sunpetal Grove
3 [M10] Terramorphic Expanse
4 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
2 [UNH] Swamp

Creatures
2 [CFX] Thornling
4 [M10] Baneslayer Angel
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
3 [ZEN] Lotus Cobra
3 [ZEN] Emeria Angel
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
4 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
2 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Spells
3 [ARB] Behemoth Sledge
4 [ARB] Maelstrom Pulse
3 [CFX] Path to Exile

Sideboard
1 Path to Exile
4 Zealous Persecution
3 Day of Judgement
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Dauntless Escort
2 Duress

Taking it to FNM tonight to hopefully get some more games under my belt before I head off to States on Saturday. Good luck to everyone!

States

2009-11-30T11:01:00.000-08:00

-Greg

If you've read my most recent post, you'll know I'm not exactly thrilled to play Standard. Also, if you were at Pastimes this past Saturday, you'll know that the level of hatred I have for playing Jund is probably second only to the hatred I had for last season's 5CC lists. So, with States coming up this weekend, I'm trying to hit that balance between playing a deck that is strong enough to win, and doesn't make me hate every match. Looks like I'm going back to the GWb list I ran a few weeks ago.

Here's the list. Any tips or ideas for how to strengthen it are greatly appreciated.

Lands
5 [UNH] Forest
4 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
3 [UNH] Plains
2 [M10] Sunpetal Grove
3 [M10] Terramorphic Expanse
4 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
2 [UNH] Swamp

Creatures
3 [CFX] Thornling
4 [M10] Baneslayer Angel
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
3 [ZEN] Lotus Cobra
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
4 [ARB] Putrid Leech
2 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 [LRW] Garruk Wildspeaker

Spells
3 [ARB] Behemoth Sledge
4 [ARB] Maelstrom Pulse
3 [CFX] Path to Exile

Sideboard
SB: 1 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 3 [M10] Duress
SB: 4 [ARB] Zealous Persecution
SB: 2 [ZEN] Day of Judgment
SB: 3 [ALA] Tidehollow Sculler
SB: 2 [ALA] Oblivion Ring

Bad Decks, Extended, Que Sera Sera

2009-11-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

-Greg

So, despite my spotty record in the year I've been playing competitive MTG, I still can''t consider myself much of a casual player. I don't really enjoy playing EDH more than once every six months or so (although I do love to watch the games - especially if Pete and Luciano are playing. SHOUTOUT GUYS!). I find Planechase to be especially unlikeable, as each player's turn is excrutiatingly long, leaving me to watch in bordeome as everyone shouts and grabs at cards and stacks enough triggers to make me roll my eyes. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I also don't enjoy playing the inevitable 60-card formatless decks that people will always have - but for opposite reasons. Since these decks are normally carried around and piloted by people new to the game, or just getting back into it, I try to suffer through the matchups with whatever I have on me, sticking around after to offer whatever advice or new card primers I can - and while the latter part is always a good experience, I do not find the games themselve to be enjoyable. Sadly, it's as if I can't shake that need for competition and winning. Sure, casual games can test your knowledge, memory, and ability to juggle various triggers (especially true for EDH), but the thrill is just not there for me.

The best part about any casual format, something I hope most of you would agree with, is that casual players are just awesome people. EDH players always want to show you their insane combos and win conditions. New players always want to share interesting deck lists and ideas, and still have that New Player Smell® of someone who's just having a good time. Old players starting up again have cool stories about their experiences with older sets, and share my appreciation of the sort-of return to basics (or at least flavor) that M10 brought. On the flip-side, players like myself who prefer slugging out out 1v1 matches full of tricks and mind-games tend to be enormous assholes. I've heard enough sarcastic iterations of "nice deck" or "nice draw," or even straight-up aggression and resentment to losing to know that the only real joy to be had at a PTQ or higher is winning. I'm ok with that, sure, but no matter how thick-skinned I am, I still wish I could be playing these intensely competitive games with these intensely friendly people - something that only really happens when we can organize a good 8-man cube draft.

The point I'm trying to make, in a very round-about way, is that Standard right now is just not my favorite format. There are interesting ways to win, interesting cards, and there's definitely been a gauntlet thrown down by Jund (who doesn't love a challenge?) - but I can't seem to get into a format where you just do this:

1) Grab four Baneslayers
2) Add 46 support cards
3) Bash

Not to say there's no complexity or room for maneuvering, but it definitely says something when both the Channelfireball crew and Japanese national team's sickest take on the format is to run a stock Jund list with more gas. These problems were really becoming obvious to me this weekend, as Brenna took to our kitchen table with a white-weenie deck that packed only eight mana-producing lands. It was fast, scary, and cute - but by using this modified strategy...

1) Grab four Baneslayers
2) Add 46 support cards (board sweepers, stallers, mana rampers, and big dudes)
3) Survive six turns until she runs out of gas
4) Deal fifty damage in a few big swings

it was not too difficult. There are other options in the current meta, too, but they seem to fall back on similar strategies. That is, if you play Rhox War Monk, isn't he doing the same thing as Baneslayer? He's a big dude with lifelink, meant to establish board presence and lower your opponent's life total while upping yours. Throw this thinking in with a staggering glut of spot-removal, mostly irrelevant card-draw, and you've got yourself a format that's defined by creatured-driven attrition wars. Do you have a bigger dude than me? Do you have spot removal? Cool, let's sideboard.

What you'll notice in my modified strategy is no real mention of what the support cards are, which I assure you, is irrelevant and predictable. In fact, you could probably build the deck I was running with only that information, and knowledge of my colors (GWb). Lotus Cobra? Check. Knight of the Reliquary? Check. Path? Check. Maelstrom Pulse? Check. Furthremore, what would you say the most powerful control cards in the format are? Is Wall of Denial on your list? Because if not, it should be, and regardless of whether or not people will agree with me that WoD is a "control card," it most certainly is. It is, in fact, a prominent control card, central to a deck's strategy. Last season, Plumeveil filled a similar function, but didn't even come close in the wall's level of importance. In short, mucking up the battlefield before laying down a flier is the control strategy in the Standard season of late 2009. There are other options, sure, but how long can you cascade into Spreading Seas and still say to yourself, yeah, Blue rules? Not long, I don't think.

But to tie this in to my previous statements about casual vs competitive magic... Well, people who are playing Standard seem to be strictly divided in two camps: nice casual players, and competitive jerks. In a bizarre twist of fate, though, these two player camps are using the same strategy, and it revolves almost entirely around tables covered in dudes. Just think what life would be like if they hadn't printed Day of Judgement...

So, with my rant aside, I've been getting more and more into Extended. There is an entirely new level of complexity to explore, more options and outs available, and more explosive games that rely on your ability to build and drive.

All I have to do now is convince my wife that it's fun...

GP Minneapolis, BAD DECKS GO

2009-11-16T11:50:00.001-08:00

-Greg

Bryan, Luciano, Pete, and I piled into the car this weekend and made the 7-hour trip to Minneapolis for the Grand Prix. Our two days there were, for the most part, uneventful. Bryan finished day one with an impressive record of 7-1, but couldn't quite get there in the day 2 drafts. I went in with no byes, and had to admit to myself somewhere around round six that I couldn't play well enough to ride my mediocre pool to victory. In hindsight, I realize I made some errors in my final build, so at any rate, I paid forty bucks for a lesson in limited craftsmanship and a Chrome Mox. Fair enough.

For the first time in all the events I've played with my go-to "suck it, nerd" playmat, I finally managed to offend someone. I'm not sure what he aimed to gain from telling the judge my mat was confrontational, but since the judge and I had seen each other at other events (and because he was a reasonable person with a sense of humor), I know what he didn't gain: anything.

So, since the only real advice I have for someone looking to succeed in sealed is "open a sick pool and destroy everything that stands in your way," I'll tell you about our next adventure: Friday Night Bad Magic.

The goal is this: Build a terrible deck. Go to FNM. Win. We brewed up a hilarious set of rules, caveats, and ideas, and are planning to take our awful decks to the Lich's Lair this Friday, after which I'll post here about our experience.

OMG STANDARD DECKS YES

2009-11-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

-Greg

I just logged into my Tweeter and noticed Evan Erwin had linked to a blog entry here about the Cat/Bird Deck, which has become quite infamous in our local group of players. I'm glad people seem to enjoy the story, and I hope it inspires everyone to help out new players - Brenna and I had such a fun time building and playing it, that it wasn't like it was charity. It was just awesome.

Pastimes Halloween 1K

2009-10-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

-Greg

The Pastimes Halloween 1K - The Subtle Art of Dreamcrushing Yourself

This past Saturday, Brenna and I sleeved up some new decks to hit up a 1K Standard tournament at Pastimes, in Chicago. A couple other guys we play with a lot were there, and I feel like between us, we had more than enough talent to put at least one of us in the top 8. Unlike most Pastimes events, this one was relatively small (meaning, less than 60 people), so while it was still a competitive REL event, it was much more laid back than other events we've attended there.

Anyway, here's the list I ran. Note I was short 3 Lotus Cobras, so I had to make due with a couple Stags and a Bird. The board was built with Boros Bushwacker, Jund (and by extension, the ubiquitous vampires decks), and random anti-Jund control decks in mind.

Lands
5 [UNH] Forest
4 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
3 [UNH] Plains
1 [M10] Sunpetal Grove
4 [M10] Terramorphic Expanse
4 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
2 [UNH] Swamp

Creatures
3 [CFX] Thornling
4 [M10] Baneslayer Angel
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
1 [ZEN] Lotus Cobra
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
4 [ARB] Putrid Leech
2 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 [LRW] Garruk Wildspeaker
2 [M10] Great Sable Stag
1 [M10] Birds of Paradise

Spells
3 [ARB] Behemoth Sledge
4 [ARB] Maelstrom Pulse
3 [CFX] Path to Exile

Sideboard
SB: 1 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 3 [M10] Duress
SB: 4 [ARB] Zealous Persecution
SB: 3 [CFX] Celestial Purge
SB: 1 [ZEN] Day of Judgment
SB: 3 [ALA] Tidehollow Sculler

Round 1 - Andrew with Vampires
I sat down across a guy who had no sleeves on his deck, and managed to notice a Blood Seeker while he was shuffling. Game 1 I dropped a Stable Stag on the second turn, followed soon after by a hammer and that was pretty much it. Game 2, he does a little better, but my dudes were just bigger and faster, and my removal was better. Funny thing is, this guy's unsleeved deck had had several expensive cards in it- including a foil Bloodwitch and a foil Nocturnus. Sleeves cost $6. If just ONE of your cards is worth more than that (Nocturnus - $30, Bloodwitch - $6, etc, etc), then why in the hell aren't you using sleeves?

1-0

Round 2 - Jesus with Mono-Green Elves (yes, this really is a good deck)
This round I sat down across from a guy who gave me a ridiculous beating the last time we played. His play is tight, and his decks are always crazy tech that I've never seen before, so I was definitely worried. In a freak bit of luck, my opponent had been given a game loss in round 1 due to a deck reg error, so we started off on game two. He took the lead pretty quickly, with various mana rampers into a Garrku and Eldrazi Monument, and I had literally no outs. Game 3, I sandbagged a Pulse for a long time, resisiting the urge to take out all his Beast tokens. I finally manage to stick a Baneslayer to hold off his attackers, stick a hammer on it, and pass the turn. He plays like thirty more dudes, drops the monument, and Eldrazi gives him an indestructible wall of flying beasts and Elves. I untap, Pulse the Monument, and swing for lethal.

2-0

Round 3- Matt Jensen with Dredge (yes, this really is a real Standard deck)
This round I play against one of the funnier dudes in the room, who happens to have good taste in hats. I watched him play a little earlier, and I knew he was playing some bizarre mill-yourself-unearth homebrew. Game one was pretty terrible. I kept a slow hand, he milled a bunch of dudes, got an active Crypt, and unearthed for like 18. Awesome, good game dude. I board in all my RFG stuff, and keep a much faster hand. I ramp into double Thornling and we go to game three. It was pretty much the same, though, as he has trouble getting Crypts online before I can lay the beats. Hierarch was a total all-star this game, dropping him to five points - low enough that I can end things in only a couple of Thornling swings. Thornling fucking rules.

3-0

Round 4 - Nick with Boros Bushwacker
These games were just embarassing. I can't get a fast hand, can't fix my mana, and he plays around the Zealous Persecution I was bagging to wipe the board.

3-1

Round 5 - Bryan with 4-Color Cascade
Lucky me, I get paired up with a friend in round five. We discuss ID'ing, but after we run some numbers, we realize that with a draw, it's possible for both of us to be out of to-8 contention. Both decks seemed evenly matched against the other top-8 chumps, so we play it out. Game 1, I mull to six, and after Blightning, I just fold up and die. Next game was a little better for me, as I stick an early Lotus Cobra and ramp into Thornling with enough mana to make him move. Game 3 was really similar to game 3. I keep a slow but powerful hand, and stick a Baneslayer on turn 4. We go back and forth, and I'm really overextending to keep up with his card advantage. My draws are good, though, and I manage to keep his board mostly clear until we get to this situation:

Bryan's at 10, I'm at 40. I have two Baneslayers, he has one Baneslayer and a Wurm. I have three cards in hand, and if he draws dead I can push through for lethal in a couple turns, even with his Baneslayer lifegain. My board position is almost completely unbeatable. I tap GGB, and Pulse his Baneslayer. Bryan looks at me, then makes a gun shape with his hand and shoots all three angels, "Pew, pew, pew." Oops.

So yeah, literally gave Bryan the game because I am completely incapable of playing Magic. Anyway, I guess if you're going to totally fuck up, you might as well do it at a time in which you give your buddy a shot at some prize money.

3-2

Anyway, at this point there was about a 2% chance that I can manage to finish in the top 8, but it involves a complicated and improbable series of up-and-down-pairings, crushed dreams, and Halloween magic. Luci and Bryan are both win-and-in, so I decide to play the round. Even if I'm not able to eek my way in, I can at least dream-crush some other slob.

Round 6 - Chris with RUW Control
I hadn't eaten much by this point, and was a little on tilt about the last game, so I obviously wasn't in the best mood. I felt a little bad about my mood, though, because Chris seemed like a pretty nice guy. I'm obviously in complete moron mood still when I try to pulse a Capsule when he had mana open. He just sac'd it in response, and I just had to laugh at my own stupidity. I take a second and get my head together, because I was definitely not losing this round. Stag hits the board, and work around his control long enough to stick a Baneslayer to hold off his unkillable Sphinx of Jwar Isle. He scoops it up, and I board in my Sculler/Duress package. Game two, I took four damage from fetch lands and ramped into the win. Thanks, Thornling.

4-2

Ninth place. Awesome. Bryan ended up in the top 8, but Luci's vampire opponent forced the draw to put herself in, and Luci out.

Overall, I have to say this deck is one of the strongest Standard decks I've played in a long, long time. It's fast, it's packed with threats, and the board is flexible enough to give you an answer to almost any deck you might face. Vampires is practically a bye for it, and Jund is nearly as easy. Dedicated control is a bit of an issue, but speed of the mana-ramping, the disruption board, and the flexibility of the threats can really put you in the clear if you're on top of your game. Luckily, most control decks now are hybridized anti-jund builds, and this deck totally eats them alive. The biggest problem is Boros Bushwacker - it's just so fast! The Zealous Persecutions are great in this matchup, but if your opponents are leaving fetchlands open then you are seriously screwed. Your two biggest threats, Baneslayer and Thornling, are going to practically give you this game if you can live that long. Good luck with that one.

As for changes I would make, I did have some small issues with the land. 23 feels like just the right amount, leaving me mana/color screwed in only one game all day. But I did have several instances where I had literally no basic land left to grab from fetches or paths, and was often wishing I had a second Sunpetal Grove to grab with Knight of Reliquary. Figuring out what to cut is hard, though, because everything is balanced out really well. Terramorphic is the easy pick, but the damn thing is surprisingly good, working with the fetches to give you access to almost any combination of early turn plays. Here's how I would run the lands now (but I'm still not sure if the second Sunpetal is better than a full set of Terramorphics):

5 [UNH] Forest
3 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
4 [UNH] Plains
2 [M10] Sunpetal Grove
3 [M10] Terramorphic Expanse
4 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
2 [UNH] Swamp

As for the main - I loved it. Sable Stag was an incredible main deck card all day, so even though I threw them in last-minute, I can't imagine cutting them to put Cobras back in. Cobra is really good, though, much better than I expected, so that Bird needs to be replaced with a snake ASAP. But what do you cut to make room? Wel... Nothing. As it is, I feel like running four Cobras forces the deck to run like a deck based around Cobras. That probably doesn't make sense, but I only wanted to go all-in on a Cobra about half the time - so running two Cobras makes sense to me. If you wanted to run this list, and needed all four snakes, then the obvious cut is the Stags - but it might be prudent to drop a Pulse and possibly a Knight. Right now Stag is just that good. Vampires can't kill it, Jund pretty much has to bolt it, and control decks built to hose Jund will have to waste valuable Paths to keep him at bay. Then again, if the meta starts to fill up with Boros or this new green elves thing, then they'll need to go back to the board.

The fourth Pulse could easily be a Path, but I'm still undecided. I love the hammers. They are completely broken, and easily give you games you don't deserve by basically turning your tokens or early drops into mini-Baneslayers.

Anyway, enough rambling. This is what I'd run if I were doing another tourney tomorrow:

Creatures
3 [CFX] Thornling
4 [M10] Baneslayer Angel
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
2 [ZEN] Lotus Cobra
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
4 [ARB] Putrid Leech
2 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 [LRW] Garruk Wildspeaker
2 [M10] Great Sable Stag

Spells
3 [ARB] Behemoth Sledge
4 [ARB] Maelstrom Pulse
3 [CFX] Path to Exile

2009-10-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

So there's this young kid, like 11 or 12, who goes to our usual card shop all the time. He shows up two hours early, is there every night cards are played, and unlike most kids his age, is polite, courteous, and generally really likable. He loves cats, and is always showing us pictures of them on his phone. He also loves theme decks, even going so far as to try and scrape together commons and uncommons to make a Kor deck, which seemed bizarre. Of course, these two loves overlap, so this guy's always talking about making a cat/bird deck, which we think is hilarious. Anyway, because this idea is so awesome and funny, and because we love homebrewed and janky decks, Brenna and I built him a cat/bird theme deck that's standard legal - and it's been holding its own against all our other decks. We're going to take it to him tonight, and I hope he likes it. I can't wait to lose to this ridiculous thing at FNM. Here's the list:

2 armillary sphere
2 sylvan bounty
2 overrun
4 khanli heart expedition
2 behemoth sledge
4 journey to nowhere
2 marisi's twinclaws
2 welkin guide
3 aven squire
3 wild leotau
3 scythe tiger
4 steppe lynx
4 wild nacatl

4 naya panorama
2 jungle shrine

2 mountain
8 plains
8 forest

Total value, including basic lands, is $12. Awesome.

UPDATE: This kid totally beat Pete's fully loaded Jund deck at FNM to face me in the finals. I was so happy to see that cat/bird deck that I split with him to put him in third place*.

*He had to be paired up, as I was the only 3-0 going into round 4, and the only 2-1's were people I'd already played.

2009-10-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

// Lands
4 [UNH] Forest
8 [UNH] Island
4 [ALA] Seaside Citadel
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
2 [ZEN] Magosi, the Waterveil
2 [M10] Glacial Fortress

// Creatures
3 [ZEN] Scute Mob
4 [ARB] Lorescale Coatl

// Spells
3 [MOR] Negate
3 [M10] Garruk Wildspeaker
3 [M10] Jace Beleren
4 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
2 [M10] Essence Scatter
2 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
4 [M10] Time Warp
4 [M10] Ponder
4 [CFX] Path to Exile

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [ZEN] Day of Judgment
SB: 4 [ZEN] Cosi's Trickster
SB: 3 [M10] Sleep

The point is pretty simple: counter spells, draw cards, remove threats, play some Scute Mobs and Coatls, take some extra turns, and bash for 20.

I started out trying to play just G/U, but blue in standard is weak enough now that it really needed a splash to make it work. White was a pretty easy choice, as it gave me access to two cards the deck really needed: Day of Judgment and Path to Exile. I considered black as a splash, but the better black cards really want you to have a lot of swamps, which wasn't a concession I wanted to make.

Like I said before, blue has been significantly weakened in Standard since we lost Cryptic Command and Broken Ambitions, so the control suite is a reflection of the sub-par permission spells available. Running Negates and Scatters is dicey, sure, but Spell Pierce has been an incredible card for me in testing. It helps keep red's burn spells and white's token/pump spells at bay, and blows out control match-ups where counter battles are critical. Mindbreak Trap is pretty cool, but four mana to counter a spell (even an uncounterable spell) is a steep price. Two feels like the right number, but two more in the board can't hurt. I haven't nailed a three-spell cascade yet, but after abusing cascade last PTQ season, I have certainly cast enough to know that they happen frequently enough to want some protection.

Jace is still the best card-draw available, but isn't enough alone - hence the full set of Ponder. It's nice to help craft better hands, and a ratio of 1 mana: 1 card is better than you get out of Jace a lot of the time. Don't argue against this; you know people play Maelstrom Pulse.

Time Warp could probably be cut to three, since it's so awful to see two in your opening seven. But taking extra turns with Mobs, Coatls, and planeswalkers on the board is so pro I hesitate to run less than the full set. Magosi is pretty interesting, too. I don't know if you guys have messed with it much, but skipping a turn with a Silence or relevant counters in hand is really a breeze... Not that there are any Silences in the deck, although I haven't ruled it out.

The sideboard isn't really a sideboard, more of short-list of cards I wish I could squeeze into the main. Needles seem extremely relevant with the new Zendikar cards, and DoJ is pretty important against creature-heavy decks that want to outpace you. Sleep isn't totally necessary with all the Warps. Trickster is situational enough to be almost useless, although I have had opponents choose not to search for a land when he's on the board, and fetch-lands can make him pretty huge. On the whole, Coatl is just, you know, better, so the best I can offer Kosi is a sb slot.

Anyway, more testing is the next step. Wish me luck!

duuuuuuuuuuuuuude

2009-08-13T17:43:00.001-07:00

-Greg

So, Gen Con PTQs, all told, would've cost us around $120 each. Per tournament.

So we bailed.

On the plus side, there are two more PTQs this season within driving distance of us: Detroit and Des Moines. We're not sure if we're going to either at this point, but we normally don't make up our minds until a few days before anyway.

Anyway, if you guys are in the area, Brenna and I will be going to FNM this weekend at the Lich's Lair in Lansing, IL. We'll also probably be doing an M10 sealed at our place Saturday, so if anyone wants in on it just message me. Good luck finding M10 packs!

So, anyway, about decks: I have no idea what to do in Standard right now. Control decks are huge right now, and so a deck should take advantage of the glacial speed of a deck full of Vivids. On the other side of the coin, this prevelance of control means a deck has to be able to beat the fast aggro decks that crop up to take advantage of the metagame. The major sweepers going around happen at three mana (red sweepers like Fallout and Jund Charm), or five or six (white sweepers like Austere Command and Hallowed Burial), so if has a lot of creatures, it has to be able to get past turn three without losing position, and either win by or be able to recover from a turn five reset. You should also try to minimize the scale to which the biggest kill spells affect you.

In short, a deck has to be fast, have a powerful mid and late game, and be extremely resilient to destructive and disruptive tactics - basically, a deck has to be able to do anything, and recover from anything. This deck doesn't exist.

But there is one that's close. Elf Combo is good. Forge-Tender helps with the early sweepers, while cheap, efficient elves and massive card draw help recover from total resets. Cruel Ultimatum is nothing to you, as you can pitch a cheap dork to it, and if in a good position, you should be able to shrug off the life and card disadvantage. Primal Command is an enormous pain for tap-lands, and with all the accel you can get it off on turn turn three or four on a regular basis. Against aggro, you have plent of your own dorks to chump block, and Primal Command can be used to gain gratuitous amounts of life. Speaking of gratuitious amounts of life, I've been adding Soul Warden lately. I gained 25 life in one turn earlier today using Primals and one Warden.

The most important part is a splash for one card: Banefire. Banefire will flat out give you games that you have no business of winning by keeping you from having to wait a turn to rush your million elves in. It also fights through Cryptic Commands by simply blowing your opponent out in the first main phase, because chances are, they'll sand-bag it to tap your team down. Running a single mountain main might not be the best idea, but it allows you to fetch your red source from an opposing Path to Exile, which frees up your Manamorphs to help you get through your deck more quickly.

Here's the list I'm rocking at FNM tomorrow:

// Deck file for Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com)

// Lands
12 [IN] Forest (3)
3 [M10] Sunpetal Grove
2 [SHM] Wooded Bastion
1 [UNH] Mountain

// Creatures
4 [ALA] Elvish Visionary
4 [MOR] Heritage Druid
4 [R] Llanowar Elves
4 [EVE] Nettle Sentinel
4 [ALA] Ranger of Eos
4 [EVE] Regal Force
4 [M10] Elvish Archdruid
1 [LRW] Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 [SHM] Devoted Druid
1 [M10] Soul Warden

// Spells
1 [CFX] Banefire
4 [SHM] Manamorphose
4 [LRW] Primal Command

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [LRW] Burrenton Forge-Tender
SB: 4 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 3 [LRW] Cloudthresher
SB: 1 [M10] Naturalize
SB: 4 [SHM] Guttural Response

2009-08-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Hey guys. Madison ended up being a total wash for me, and my record was completely abysmal. I got some bad draws, kept some sketchy hands, and basically paid through the nose for not being fast enough to keep up with any form of aggro. Brenna did well, going 4-3, and narrowly missing the 5-2 record she needed to finish in prizes. I'll not spoil what she was up to, as I'm hoping she'll write here about what was a really interesting day for her. BUT, the man of the hour was our buddy Matt Grandgeorge, who was debating a last-minute change to some junk deck, and instead took his Baneslayer/Cascade deck all the way to first place! Congrats, Matt.

I'll give a couple brief paragraphs in a minute about my matchups, but first I have to tell you guys this story about Magic Workstation...

There was a guy with a game open who requested you not use counters or bounce spells from shadowmoor, conflux, and some other new set. So, being a little bored of playing fair games against people who are sane, I joined. I grabbed the first deck I saw with no blue (a type 2 elf/banefire combo), and popped in.

The game was going fine for a few turns, and I had a throng of elves and a few lands on my fourth turn, to his bird of paradise and sword of fire and ice. I play primal command, choosing to bounce his equipment, and search for a guy. Here is the transcript of what happened after that.

bounce the sword, search creature
dog ears is looking its Library...
Did you read the game name?
dog ears shuffles library
dog ears stops looking its Library...
yeah, no counters
i don't have any counters :/
dog ears is looking its Library...
dog ears puts Elvish Archdruid into play from Library
dog ears shuffles library
dog ears stops looking its Library...
So you read the 2nd word and the 2nd to last word and somehow
missed all the rest?
dog ears puts Elvish Archdruid to Hand from Play
it said no shadowmoor, conflux counters or something
just a bunch of sets that you didn't like the counterspells from
it also said 'No Returns"
dude, you're playing one of the most broken pieces of
equipment of all time, and you're complaining about my primal command?
Either play the game you joined or forfeit
you forfeit!
I win
you don't
You joined my game
because i won
not the other way around
i refuse to concede
Then I suggest you choose another for Primal
if you refuse to follow the rules, then you lose automatically.
Actually, if you refuse to play the game you joined, you
automatically forfeit
Because you should have never joined in the first place
and i still say that i choose the modes of returning your
sword of fire and ice to your library's top, and i will search a
creature
so thanks for the win
yeah right
Learn to read
thank YOU for the win
because i am winning so hard
i was going to make a million elves
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Fire and Ice's note changed: bounced
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears puts a Sword of Fire and Ice on top of Library from Play
Kam puts Sword of Fire and Ice into play from Library
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears puts a 0/1 Sore Loser token into play
Kam is now the controller of Sore Loser
dog ears is now the controller of Sore Loser
Kam is now the controller of Sore Loser

INCREDIBLE.

Anyway, the tournament:

Round 1 - 4C Bloodbraid
I totally dominated game 1, dropping creatures, countering spells, and bashing for the win in around 9 minutes. Game 2 was totally opposite, as I drew nothing relevant, and died to lots of hasty dorks. Game 3, I mulliganed to a SICK 6 card hand, and realized I had drawn seven cards. I call a judge immediately, who issues me a warning for improper mulligan, and has me go down to five. I get a one lander, and fight for surprisingly long time, but his card advantage just happened faster than mine. So, rather than losing to superior skill, I lose to my own inability to count to six, and am the only one on the team to lose round 1. Stellar.

Round 2 - Fucking Time Sieve.
Game 1 is mine again, hitting Larks for infinite Siege-Gang Commanders, and blow him out with multiple Austere Commands. Game 2 I tap out for massive board advantage, betting that he can't go off - and of course, he luck-sacks the top deck to hit me for exacties. Game 3, I walk right into a Safe Passge with lethal on the board, and lose in extension turn 4, with about 25 peole standing around us. The game was close, but his playing was just tighter than mine.

Round 3 - QUILLSPIKE COMBO
The only interesting thing to happen here was this: I punt massively by not countering Deathrender, which he uses to somehow put Progenitus on the board. I dig hard with Lark/Mulldrifter and Jace, finding two Cryptics to stall two turns, and do exactly twelve damage with Lark and an enormous Figure of Destiny to completely crush this extremely nice person's dreams.

Round 4 - RDW
These games were really boring, as his deck just couldn't get there. Runed Halos, Cryptic Commands, and Siege-Gangs are too much, and we wrap it up fast.

Round 4 - BR Aggro
This guy got total vengeance on his mono-colored counterpart, and it's over before I know it. The awful thing about magic is if your opponent gets the nuts and you don't, you're toast. I had to mulligan to five, got hit by a nasty Thought Hemorrhage for Cryptic Command (my only hope), and am forced to Halo for Hemmorhage it next turn. He smiles when I scoop, showing me two more in his hand. What an awful time.

Round 5 - Sulli Merfolk
He takes the beatdown role game one and two, taking game one with Wakethrasher + Sygg, River Guide, and I can't keep up. Next game, I lock him completely out and Banefire for the win with three life - just enough to not get Harm's Wayed to death. Game 3 I lose in some way that must have been stupid, because I didn't even write it down.

Round 6 - Soldiers
He takes me to two life two games in a row, and I lock him down and blow him out. It was pretty boring, actually. Sweep soldiers, play Larks, bounce Larks post-combat for Siege-Gangs and Anathemancers.

Round 7 - Soldiers
Two frustrating games of not drawing the right mana, and the tournament is over. Too many soldiers, not enough Austere Commands.

Reveillark Revolution

2009-08-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Here's what I've been working on lately, and what I'll be rocking at the Madison PTQ this Saturday. It still needs some minor tweaking, but I am confident in the direction it's headed.

Lands
3 Island
4 Vivid Crag
2 Vivid Meadow
1 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
4 Mystic Gate
3 Cascade Bluffs

Guys
3 Reveillark
4 Mulldrifter
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Ajani Vengeant
2 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Anathemancer

Spells
4 Cryptic Command
2 Hindering Light
2 Austere Command
3 Volcanic Fallout
3 Path to Exile

Sideboard (not sure on this yet- you'll notice I have too many cards...)
SB: 1 Austere Command
SB: 1 Volcanic Fallout
SB: 4 Lightning Bolt
SB: 4 Negate
SB: 2 Double Negative
SB: 1 Banefire
SB: 2 Jace Beleren
SB: 2 Sower of Temptation
SB: 2 Runed Halo

The Mana
The mana base is pretty much what you'd expect from a three-colored 'Lark build - heavy on Vivids, filters, and just enough basics to get by. This is a huge liability, however, as any deck rocking their own Anathemancers (or even worse, 'Mancers and Makeshift Mannequins) is going to potentially take you to the cleaners very quickly. One blowout I can already foresee is your opponent nailing your lark with a Puppeteer Clique, swinging for four with haste, and exiling it in the end step for two of their own Anthemancers - but I digress. One way around this would be to play more basics - obviously - but I'm not sure if that's a viable option. Although it's a no-brainer for U/W Lark to utilize Border Posts, I can't see cutting four cards to add Knight of the White Orchid for acceleration. I'm also tempted by the idea of running more basics in addition to Terramorphic Expanse, but that really hinders your ability to come up with the right color combinations. It also hurts you because you just need a lot of lands on-board if you want to get there. Evoking 'Lark is great, but you need mana open for the counter wars you're going to have. As of right now, I'm just going to play around this - I'm getting pretty good at all-out Anathemancer wars against 5CC and Jund.

The Dudes
In my testing this past few weeks, I've found Glen Elendra to be an especially disappointing card, eschewing to run more 2 cc counters instead. By the time she's on the board, you've already dropped four mana, and will need two more to get full use of her. At an average of 3 mana per spell, you might as well be running Cancel. I know, I know, it's about setting your next turns up, she recurs with 'Lark - but I'm just not buying into the effectiveness or efficiency of the card, and I'm always wishing she was a Commander or Anathemancer when the time comes.

Figure and Mulldrifter were easy four-ofs, and I couldn't imagine running this deck without them. Three Reveillarks also seem to be sufficient in this build, but I won't dismiss the idea of running four.

Sower of Temptation has been mostly underwhelming, too, because of the proliferance of control and weenie decks in the meta. Sowering a Spirit Token is a total waste, and hitting a Broodmate, Chameleon Colossus, or any other fattie in Jund is going to get you an EOT Fallout or Lightning Bolt. This card might still be useful in the board, however, if you come up against some crazy build that relies on ramping into enormous beats - but there really aren't that many of them around. I'm still not sure about it, but I'm leaning towards dropping them completely. I guess it depends on what the Starcity clones are up to this week - hopefully they'll be too busy organizing Catchphrases games to realize that people are building and tuning decks to beat the Conley Woods Special and 5CC.

Siege-gang Commander is possibly the weakest link in the deck, which is a good sign because he is most definitely a powerhouse.

Anathemancer? FUCK YES.

Spellz
Trying to find what spells I need to run to fill in the weak spots in the deck has been a really difficult task, but I think what I have here (while not totally optimal on paper) is approaching the optimal build.

Cryptic Command is an easy call, and is often what gives you the firepower, gas, and flexibility to turn games around.

Austere Command is normally seen as a Janky spell, but I couldn't be more impressed by it. Hallowed Burial happens a turn sooner, sure, but there are so many decks that are completely crippled by the other two options that it makes no sense to me to run anything else - especially not when you're trying to blow up your own guys. Burial doesn't do that. Trust me, guys, with Wrath gone, Austere Command is the new hot shit.

Path and Fallout are necessary evils, and buy you the time you'll need against aggro. I'm not sure about 3 of each, but it seems to be working.

Laugh if you want, but Hindering Light is a total ass-saver. It's not perfect by any means, and I might yet be pushed to replace them with Negates or Essence Scatters (is that the M10 one? Can't remember). Another option is Flashfreeze, as it still counters a lot Jund spells, both dangerous Ultimatums, and Primal Command - none of which is a laughing matter if allowed to resolve.

The Sideboard
I'm really too tired to think of anything enlightening to say here, but I think most of the cards listed have specific, obvious roles. Double Negative is an interesting card, but will probably make the cut that gets me down to 15.

Anyway, thanks for reading, guys. Hopefully, I'll have better luck in Madison than I've had the past two PTQs, and won't be too ashamed to post a full tournament report.

Wish me luck!

LARK LARK LARK

2009-08-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

-Greg

For the PTQ this past weekend, I decided to change decks last minute from the RWU Lark build I've been working on to Five Color Blood, I deck I have little experience with. I said to myself, what's the worst that can happen? I have plenty of experience with Cruel Control, this runs the three best cards I can think of (Cryptic, Bloodbraid, Cruel Ultimatum), and it's all nestled in a nice, removal heavy Jundy shell. NOTHING CAN GO WRONG RIGHT?

Game one, I double-double-Crueled (which is when you cast Ultimatum twice in a game, two games in a row), and I was feeling pretty OK. Kitchen Finks was doing his thing, Fallout was stellar (as always), Putrid Leech applied the early beats, and the deck was working with only minor hiccups. The mana was perfect, the curve was decent, and a deck with a few tricks is always better than a deck with no tricks.

Then everything went wrong.

Round two, I lost in a very close third game to a highly competent Faeries pilot. 1-1. Then, I played a hobbit who was playing Jund, and realized that, in my hasty building, I brought literally no answer to a Chameleon Colossus. I massively punt game three, when I inexplicably name Kitchen Finks instead of Colossus with my turn four Thought Hemorrhage. 1-2. Then, I play Faeries again, mulliganing into even weaker hands only to be triple-Mistind Cliqued in two not-so-close games. 1-3. Brenna is doing ok, so I stick around, and can hopefully regain some point loss on the rating. Next round, I'm at the why-are-you-even-here tables, and I eat this poor kid alive. He hits me with a main-deck Traumatize, and I can't even hold my laughter in. He says "Your deck is fucking amazing, why are you 1-3?" I have no idea, good sir, perhaps it is a lack of playtesting. 2-3. Then I lose two quick ones to mana screw, never finding the seventh land for my game-changing Ultimatum.

So what do I think about the deck? It's alright. It offers some oppurtunity to outplay an opponent, and on paper it has a seemingly tight game against most of the field. The problem is, you need to be drawing a land and a spell every turn - something Cascade can't always do for you. This is an especially troublesome situation against aggro, as you have to be tapping out on your turn to put up a fight, making your instants much less valuable than before. Furthermore, aggr0/control hybrids have a very real tendency to completely fold to real control decks - and there are lots of those around these days. I would definitley not recommend anyone play it anytime soon, unless they are going to use a time machine to go back to before Chapin thought it up - and even then I'd really have to recommend B/W Tokens.

Anyway, we're gearing up now for PTQ Madison on the 8th, and I'm going to stick with what I know is right - Reveillark. Stay tuned for a possible decklist after we test tonight.

SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB

2009-07-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Hey, guys. I've been testing a U/W Reveillark build using post-M10 rotation rules, despite the common consensus that it is "dead" or on the decline. It's still a very strong deck, and I'm advocating the following list:

Main Side

For a brief overview of everything, you should check out my article on Blackborder, which can be found here.

PTQ Indianapolis

2009-06-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

-greg

Brenna and I packed up this weekend and drove down south to slug it out at the Indianapolis PTQ. The drive from chicago is 3 or 4 hours, so only four of us from Team Barnabus were there: Me, Brenna, CJ, and Luciano. The event was in a pretty strange motel/mall thing with a bank and Starbucks in the lobby, and there was a conference for people hoping to go to the NFL right next to our nerdfest - sadly, the potential for hilarity fizzled on the stack.

I was expecting to see a lot of Faeries and Jund decks, and little to no Swans, so Brenna and I chose and changed our decks accordingly. She went mono-white Kithkin with En Vecs and Unmakes in the side, and I decided pick B/W Tokens back up. I practiced a lot this week with Jund ramp, but its best matchups were still only about 50/50. I also tried a Dark Lark deck with Fulminators and Redcaps a little, but it proved to be totally awful against literally every deck that can be built in Standard - even 60islands.dec**.

Before we sleeved up our final 75's, I meandered around taking some last-minute intel. I felt a little relieved, as almost every person I saw was counting Putrid Leeches and Bloodbraid Elves; The sort of person who lays all their cards face up right before a tournament is not the sort of player I am worried about, so I was confident that all my playtesting in the matchup would pan out. There were also a lot more U/W Lark players than I was expecting, which was a dumb call on my part because it's been popping up in top 8's and on MWS quite a bit. We wrote our lists down, made fun of Adrian Sullivan* a little (backwards hat, kum-n-go shirt), I rolled out my favorite playmat ***, and we were off.

Round 1: Jund Cascade

Game 1, he hits the sweet shit with Leech into Ram Gang. I stall with Finks, and when he hits two Leeches and a Ram-Gang, I Wrath. He topdecks a Bloodbraid into Pulse to take out my Spirit Token defense, and I lose a close one. I board out the Scullers because of their inability to stay on the board, and put in my single Celestial Purge and three Forge-Tenders.
Game 2, I keep my opening hand of Forge Tender, Wrath, Path to Exile, Cloudgoat, with good lands. He curves out perfectly again, but I have all the spot removal and board sweepers to hold him off until I can start dropping Finks and Ajanis. He is obviously agitated, as my life climbs back from 2 to 14, and I crush him in just a couple of big swings. These are the games that make you want to play BW Tokens forever.
Game 3 goes perfectly for me, and he gets land-screwed. He Jund Charmed for counters instead of Pyroclasm and I pathed his investment. Nothing else happened, and Finks with Ajani got there.

1-0

Round 2: U/W Lark

Game 1 my opponent plays massive card draw, digging in vain for some way to win. I had the turn two Bitterblossom, and ended up pathing his Sower EOT to Ajani/Finks smash FTW after about ten minutes. I wrote down "how does this deck win" in my notes.
Game 2 is close, but he manages to lock the board down. My life is 6 to his 4, and he drops a Lark I can't kill.
Game 3 is the same crap, with him playing Meddling Mages and coutering what he can. Tokens takes off well, but his control has the board locked down, and he stabilizes extremely well at 2 life (to my 24) and a full grip of 7. I have no card in hand, nothing on the board but lands, and he taps out to play lark. I topdeck Murderous Redcap like a total noob for the final points.

2-0.

Round 3: That 5CC deck with Obelisks and Planeswalkers that's been going around.

The first two games were pretty boring. Game 1 his deck did what it was supposed to do, and I didn't draw lands. Game 2 we traded places, and I rushed tokens FTW. Game 3 I totally punted by attacking with a persisted redcap into a Meddling Mage. Yeah, way to go, dork, you just lost your last blocker for nothing. He ended up doing exactly the last 4 points with that mage and Obelisk in our fifth extension turn, which I could've stopped with one blocker, turning a disappointing draw into a well-deserved loss.

2-1.

Round 4: Teh Fae

Game 1 was close, with me getting him down to two life before he locked everything down and somehow dealt 14 damage after a cryptic tap-down. Awesome, wow, Faeries is so cool. Game 2, I kept a two-lander, and never found a third or any black for the Persecution. Not that it mattered, as I saw two Mistbind Cliques in a row, and that was that.

2-2

Round5: MOAR FERRIES

I was considering dropping now, but chances were good I could still end up in packs, and besides, the room was already paid up for the night. Game 1, things went well enough, but Scions of Oona sealed the deal in his favor. Game 2, we both drew way too many lands, and literally nothing happened for six turns except for six swings with a single Scion. I finally dropped a dude and ended this excellent example of why Magic is such a joke sometimes. Game three was how Fae vs BW is supposed to go, and I ZP'd his dudes, and bashed with an increasingly huge army of faceless fliers.

3-2

Round 6: Faeires. Again.

This games were a little more involved than the last ones I'd played, involved enough that I couldn't really take a lot of notes. I finally came out of the fog that round 3 put me in, and held his butterfly army down with Zealous Persecution. The matchup is already one I feel like is in the favor of a good Tokens player, but a smart ZP can make or break a game. Game 2, I purged his Bitterblossom during my upkeep in response to a Mistbind, and that left me open to setup my field, which felt good. I did try to path a Scion with another Scion on the field, and so all my good plays up til then meant nothing. Whatever, I won, so Faeries an suck it.

4-2.

Round 7: Dark Bant

This was a deck I wasn't really expecting, and so I was worried I wouldn't be able to get through it. Turns out I was right.

Game 1, he got me down to twelve with a double-striking Treetop, but I held him down long enough to drive a shit-load of tokens in an 18-point alpha strike.
Game 2 was ugly, and I couldn't hang. He got a god draw, and shot up to 30+ life, and I struggled to even keep blockers on the field.
Game 3 was a lot closer, but you can't wrath a Tree-top. Scullers proved to be totally worthless with a Wrath in hand. Need two cards? Here you go!

4-3-SCRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUB

Notes on the day:

Black/White Tokens is still my favorite deck in today's Standard, and I can't see anything knocking it out of contention until M10 rolls around. Its matchup against Faeries is good to great, depending on the pilots on either side, and it has enough early hand disruption to contend with control (with a little luck, of course) and all the Pyroclasm-type spells floating around. Its weakness is sweepers and out-the-gate aggro, but it packs enough spot-removal and cheap creatures to be resilient enough to come back from or prevent almost anything.

Then again, we'll see what happens with M10. Anyway, 'til next time, remember to sleeve up before you play - you don't want to get your deck dirty.

* I see Adrian Sullivan at every event I go to, and he's starting to look at me in this weird way, like he recognizes me but he's not sure why. It's because Team Barnabus goes to every event within driving distance of the greater Chicago area, dudes, we are EVERYWHERE.

** Technically, this is a vintage deck. Oh well.

*** My favorite playmat is the best playmat known to man. It's all white, except for small black letters at the end facing my opponent. It says "suck it nerd."

JUND RAMP

2009-06-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Even though I'm a firm believer in the power of Black/White Tokens, I've been messing around with a Jund Ramp deck lately - and it has been SMASHING almost everything in the field. We've taken to calling it the Brood-Mot Dragon Deck, in memory of Glen's historic mispronunciation of Broodmate at FNM. Here's my current list:

Smashing:
4 Anathemancer
4 Broodmate Dragon
3 Chameleon Colossus
1 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (ed. LOL - Brenna)

Ramping:
4 Fertile Ground
3 Rampant Growth
3 Garruk Wildspeaker

Removing:
4 Terminate
3 Lavalanche
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Volcanic Fallout
2 Banefire

Tapping:
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Treetop Village
3 Savage Lands
2 Firelit Thicket
2 Twilight Mire
3 Swamp
3 Mountain
2 Forest

Sideboard:
4 Guttural Response
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Thought Hemorrhage
2 Cloudthresher
2 Loxodon Warhammer

B/W Tokens for the New Meta

2009-05-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

-Greg

First off: Our buddy Bryan Mohr who writes the Quick 'n' Toasted blog has made it to day two at the GP, playing a cool B/W Kithkin build. We definitely wish we were in Tacoma to cheer him on.

Also on our list of followers is an interesting fellow we met at PTQ. This guy is devoting his entire summer to MTG and roadtripping, hitting up every PTQ he can as he treks across the States with his vintage suitcase and pleasant demeanor. Defintely check out his blog, and look for him at venues near you!

Aaaaand, here's my new list for Black/White Tokens, updated with more of a control element than it had before. The resurgence of Faeries and the new Swan Cascade combo deck made it necessary to put the Scullers back in, and the mainboard Pithing Needles are a big help against nearly every deck floating around out there, even offering some help against Anathemancers on game one. Of course, in the hands of a B/R Aggro player, the 'Mancer is just a part of a borderline impotent machine, but the extra edge is definitely necessary for pre-board 5 Color Bloodbraid and Jund Ramp matches which use him much more effectively.

I cut the two main Wraths to make room for the Needles, but I'm still not totally sold on this idea. They're certainly useful in buying you time in matches against other token decks, but unless your opponent really overextends, then it's really likely that you've already lost the match. I feel like this is mostly a problem in the GW Tokens match, in which I'd rather have a fog effect for their attack, followed up by a Zealous Persecution attack on mine following. I usually side in Thoughtseize in this match, too, as their deck proves pretty powerless if you strip their Overruns and take out their Lieges. The Wraths are still there, 3 in the sideboard, as the ability to wipe an opponent's board clean is definitely useful.

I also picked up two Mirrorweaves, which I didn't have before for some reason. I love combat tricks, and have been dreaming of what it would be like to instant-up a full army of Rhox Warmonks...

Anyway, I'll be testing more when I can, and I'll update the blog as I go. This is probably the deck I'll be taking to the next four PTQs I attend, and any help you guys can provide with the changing meta and how to board against it is more than appreciated. Also, my summer class was canceled, so anyone wanting to playtest, just get in touch with me!

Main:

4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Cloudgoat Ranger
3 Murderous Redcap

4 Path to Exile (is Terror better?)
2 Zealous Persecution

4 Spectral Procession
4 Glorious Anthem
3 Ajani Goldmane
3 Bitterblossom
2 Pithing Needle

4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Fetid Heath
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Winkdbrisk Heights
2 Mutavault
3 Plains
3 Swamp

Sideboard:
1 Zealous Persecution
2 Identity Crisis
2 Batwing Brume
2 Story Circle
2 Runed Halo
3 Thoughtseize
3 Wrath of God

Regionals - SUCCESS

2009-05-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Regionals was a great success for Team Barnabus!

CJ: Green/White Overrun - SECOND PLACE GOING TO NATIONALS HOLY SHIT
Phil: BR Aggro Demigod - 6-3, smashing all the mirror matches. He was the most successful BR Aggro of the day, landing in the top 10%-15% range.
Brenna: Boat Brew, 5-4, had a rough start, but pulled out amazing plays all day. After she warmed up, people were crowding around the table to watch her games.
Greg: 5CC, 3-3-3, tuned it to beat Faeries and BW Tokens and faced neither. Only human in existence to draw three games in a Regionals event.
Kimball: 4-5, was dropping jaws all day with his unexpected combination of cheap creatures and unstoppable enchantments.
Pete: UW Lark, had a positive record, and had possibly more fun than anyone at the entire event. I'm going to specifically request that Pete not take his medication on game days. :)
Sean: Had a string of rough matches, including one mandatory re-sleeve, but had a lot of luck testing a new Bloodbraid beats deck.
Tom: Tom's Naya Ramp seemed like a good deck, but Tom couldn't draw lands all day. Worst streak of luck I've ever seen.

Even though CJ was the man of the hour, I feel like we all could share in his win. It was his deck and playing that put him at the top, and we were glad to have been behind him the entire time. If anyone gets a chance, look for CJ (Charles Hendricks) in Adrian Sullivan's article this week at

This Saturday, we're all headed to PTQ at Pastimes in Niles, and I'll be posting our decklists here. I'll start with mine today, the infamous Black/White Tokens:

Kitchen Finks has been the shining star in every deck I've played for like six months, so I'm thinking of dropping one Cloudgoat Ranger (which I feel is a little underpowered) for the fourth Finks. Redcap seems necessary for board control, and he can accelerate my wins pretty well with direct damage if need be. I've been running 4 of the power cards in the deck, because they seem to be what makes it win: spectral, blossom, anthem, and now zealous persecution always feel like blowouts when they hit the board.

After talking to the guy that got first seat at Regionals, I was pretty sold on the deck. He said he started out just playtesting it so his buddies could get the match down, and ended up running it instead because it just decimated everything else. I have to agree with his assertion, as this thing is slaughtering every other deck Brenna and I can put on it. So anyway, here's the list as it is now, but it's definitely still being worked on:

Maindeck:
Critters:
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Cloudgoat Ranger
3 Murderous Redcap
3 Kitchen Finks

Spellz:
4 Spectral Procession
4 Bitterblossom
4 Glorious Anthem
4 Zealous Persecution
3 Path To Exile
3 Ajani Goldmane

Lands:
3 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Arcane Sanctum
3 Caves Of Koilos
4 Fetid Heath
2 Mutavault
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Windbrisk Heights

Sideboard:
3 Burrenton Forge-tender
3 Wispmare
1 Zealous Persecution
2 Identity Crisis
3 Wrath Of God
2 Terror

Brennalark - Take 2

2009-05-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

-Greg

After some deliberation, Brenna and I have made some interesting changes to her Lark decklist. Brenna's pointed out the the Kitchen Finks are a little iffy on the aggro front, and can't be bought back with Lark, so they were an easy drop for us. Also, a lot of matches are going to be really tough with no board sweepers, especially none main, and enchantment removal could be a huge problem. Speed and tempo were also issues we were facing, specifically against aggro and control. I think the new list is a definite improvement (with a lot of help from Todd Anderson). The only problem is this list completely drops Smash to Smithereens, a card Brenna specifically requested we hang on to, and leaves her with basically no artifact removal. I'm thinking that since most people only play with one or two Needles, it won't be an issue because of how many bombs the deck packs.

3 Mogg Fanatic
3 Figure of Destiny
1 Flamekin Harbinger
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Ranger of Eos
3 Reveillark
3 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Knights of Meadowgrain
1 Stillmoon Cavalier

4 Mind Stone
4 Ajani Vengeant
3 Wrath of God
4 Spectral Procession

3 Plains
4 Mountain
4 Jungle Shrine
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Rugged Prairie
4 Windbrisk Heights

Sideboard:
4 Guttural Response
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Path to Exile
3 Volcanic Fallout
2 Wispmare
1 Wrath of God

Regionals

2009-05-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Regionals is right around the corner, and so I've been perusing decklists and scouring the new set for ideas. So far, it looks like I'll be running a 5CC variant, and Brenna will be running a pretty aggressive Boat Brew build. Twincast and Sanity Grinding stocks are depleted across the internet, so that will definitely be a deciding factor for our sideboards. I've seen a lot of B/R Aggro, which after some playing this weekend, I don't feel is that much of a threat to anything but Blue/White Lark and Faeries.

About Brenna's Lark deck:

Brenna has been playing a homebrew R/W midrange aggro for a while now, but even with the copious amounts of life-gain it can do, it still lacks the extra oomph required to take it all the way. As soon as she read the text on Lark, I knew from the look on her face that she'd be building a R/W Lark deck. We've been kicking some ideas around, and I'm leaning toward this list:

1 Stillmoon Cavalier
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Kitchn Finks
4 Knight of the Meadowgrain
4 Mogg Fanatic
3 Murderous Redcap
3 Ranger of Eos
3 Reviellark
3 Siege-gang Commander

3 Ajani Vengeant
4 Mindstone
3 Spectral Procession

3 Mountain
4 Plains
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Rugged Prairie
4 Windbrisk Heights

4 Jungle Shrine

Sideboard:
2 Banefire
2 Wrath of God
4 Smash to Smithereens
3 Forge-tender
4 Guttural Response

The sideboard is pretty easy to understand, but I'm not quite sold on it yet. Brenna hates it when her Figures are Pithing Needled - actually, she hates it so bad that she wants to not just remove the needle, but punish its owner. Smash to Smithereens is a perfect card for this attitude. Wrath is for hard to kill bastards, and could certainly fill Banefire's two slots to be a four-of.

Otherwise, the deck is a pretty standard Boat Brew build. It drops creatures from turn one, and it runs full throttle until the game is up. One notable exception is Knights of the Meadowgrain instead of Knight of the White Orchid. Brenna felt like the life-gain was more important than the ability to catch-up with lands, and it's the go-to card for her for any white deck. :)

Hopefully we'll be playtesting it this week!

To Blightning, or not to Blightning

2009-04-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Anyone who talks to me about magic for any amount of time knows that I love aggro. Looking back, this has been a common theme in the decks I built even as a pup, always preferring smash with a Craw Wurm or burn with a Lightning Bolt than to somehow Counterspell my opponent into submission. Games that went like this, and players who played like this, were irritating nuisances to me, and losses to these decks were more like being robbed than beaten. Suffice to say, the only urges I've ever had to play blue did not stem from a joy derived from the manipulation of the game, as I am, at best, bored by what I view as an irritating niche full birds and on-you-you-didn'ts. The only reason to ever play blue was to win, which is akin to selling your child to strangers to buy a Segway.

This need did eventually win out over my need for mutual assured destruction, and so I have been piloting a 5CC deck for some time now. Though I have won a fair amount of games, it has proven to be the most boring, soul-sucking experience I've had with magic; My opponents have not had fun on the other side of the table - at all - and the endless mirror matches have been like playing a game of chess in which you don't move a piece for ten minutes, then spend twenty more moving pieces back and forth. I can't take it anymore. I am going to play a Black/Red Aggro deck, and I am going to hoot and cheer at my own reckless abandon - ratings and rankings be damned.

But, since I've come back to the game (right before Conflux was released), this archetype has seemed to be a gasping, pitiful option. Demigod was trumped by Path to Exile, Terror was useless against Chameleon Colossus. We were swept over by tokens and unTerrorable Broodmate Dragons, and beaten to death by nigh-invincible planeswalkers. Things have been bleak. But, with the advent of new tech in Alara Reborn, are things different? Though we weren't necessarily top-tier, we had some powerful tools before: Volcanic Fallout was certainly a fantastic addition to the aresenal, giving us the edge over G/W Overrun variants, Faeries, and some help against Kithkin. Banefire was another great addition. Some things we've always had, like Everlasting Torment, which helps keep opponents from gaining enough life to get out of burn range. But 5CC was still huge problem, Reviellark was death-on-wheels, and even shit Esper decks have proven to be an enormous pain, handing us our own asses on a commemerative Cryptic Command plate. What's a guy to do?

Well, now, we do have some new toys.

Terror has long been a staple in most decks, and at instant speed, it has proven to be a most excellent answer to Figure of Destiny or Wall of Reverence. Come up against some Esper creatures, though, and you're boned. Enter Terminate:

Still an instant, still a 2 converted cost spell, still a full-on destruction machine - only this time, you can smash faces in the mirror match, or against decks with artifact creatures. This card is certainly no major improvement (and certainly not a contender for Path to Exile), but it is nonetheless a welcomed improvement.

I do see two huge problems for Terminate in the current Standard environment: Chameleon Colossus and Burrenton Forge-Tender, who are untargetable by Terminate because of pro-red and pro-black, respectively. But that's not new, and certainly not enough reason to run this excellent high-speed piece of weaponry.

A card I see being even more helpful in troublesome matches is Thought Hemorrhage. Teamed up with a Guttural Response (to neutralize counterspells), this badboy can strip 5CC of its more bothersome cards, and probably deal a fair amount of damage in the process. If they're holding two Cryptics, cast one, and you Guttural to counter - you've still spent two cards to remove four of theirs - four very important cards, no less. 3 damage is gravy. Think of the other problem matches and their key components: take out the Larks, the Overruns, the Dorans, and suddenly your field advantage is greatly improved.

While I haven't playtested this card to be sure of its power level, I'm assuming it's not really powerful enough to maindeck, but could be a key component in the sideboard.

The card I'm most excited to add to my decklist is Anathemancer. Murderous Redcap has proven to be a powerful card in BR Aggro, and could be considered a staple. He does two damage when you get him on the board, swings and blocks for two, and persists for an extra point, and is relatively good for small removal, or to push your opponent closer to the edge. He does not, however, win games, and is very susceptible to countermagic.

But Anathemancer... Anathemancer is game ender. For 1 less mana than Redcap, he can generally hit the board around the same time, and deal the same amount of burn to a player. Even better, late in the game he can be unearthed (which is an activated ability, immune to Broken Ambitions and other spells) to seriously hurt your opponent. By the time you have seven mana sources, how many non-basics will your opponent have? Probably enough to wrap things up.

So, in short, the RG Aggro archetype has gotten better. Certainly, our 5 Color Control and Boat Brew matchups are looking better and better, and our already strong games against GW Overrun and Faeries are only that much better. But, only time and games will tell how far ahead we've come - and how far the meta game has come with us. So, good luck guys, and remember to sleeve up before you play - you don't want to get your cardboard dirty.

2009-04-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

Don't Be Cruel

A Beginner's Guide to Manabases and Smashing Faces with 5 Color Control

Five Color Control, Cruel Control, Grixis Control, whatever variant you've seen - it's all about the same thing: complete and utter domination of your opponent's hand and tempo, the playing field, and of the game itself. It's not hard to see how successful Five Color Control has been in achieving this goal; players have landed an incredibly high number of top-4 and top-8 finishes with the deck. Gabe Nassif was piloting the deck in what has proven to be one of the most memorable game wins of all time. It's also not difficult to see that the deck, and its variants, run powerful, game-ending cards, like Broodmate Dragon, Cryptic Command, and Banefire.

It is, however, difficult at first to see how the darn thing works - especially for casual players, newcomers, or those who are coming back to the game after a long absence. And that's exactly why I've been drafted to write this article: I recently came back to the game myself, and subsequently went from asking everyone in the shop why Cryptic Command was so expensive ($25?!), to demolishing FNMs with my own 5CC build. Now, I'll admit that I can be sort of a knucklehead, but I assure you, I am a uniquely qualified knucklehead.

How to Win

Five Color Control is exactly what it sounds like: a deck that uses all five colors in Magic to "control" the game. Put simply, your goal is to stop your opponent from doing what they need to do to win, while you set yourself up for a big, flashy finish. In your arsenal are counterspells, which are spells that stop your opponent's spells from doing anything when they play them. To stop your opponent's ground assault, you'll also have at your disposal a slew of removal removal spells, which is any card that kills your opponent's creatures. You're even using some creatures of your own, specially designed to stop your opponent's attackers and buy you the time you need.

So far, it sounds like all this deck does is keep anyone from doing anything - which, I'll admit, sounds really boring - but the defensive portion of your game is a means to a spectacular end. Your games should happen in two phases:

1) Neutralizing any threat thrown at you, and build up your lands so that you can cast your big, scary spells.
2) Attack without mercy.

You see, you have to control the game for so long because the spells you need to win have high mana costs. Your goal is to counter, remove, defend, stall the game until you're ready to fight, then hit them with Cruel Ultimatums, Banefires, Broodmate Dragons, and everything you can draw that deals damage quickly.

Since 5CC is such a popular deck, you'll likely come up against people who've found ways to keep you from winning like this. Broodmate Dragon is a very popular card in this type of deck, and so a lot of people will sideboard in cards that keep it from being a threat. While not quite as strong as a dragon, your Mulldrifters do attack for two damage each, a crucial amount in long games in which you can't rely on Broodmate or Banefire.

Other games, your opponent may gain so much life that dealing damage is no longer a feasible way to win. At times like these, you can rely on one of the most popular non-damage ways to win a game, called "milling." This is a technique in which you force your opponent draw and discard cards, or to put cards from their library into their graveyard, with the goal of causing them to lose when they no longer have any cards to draw. Jace Beleren's ultimate ability mills for 20 cards, which is usually enough to draw them out first.

The Cards

So now that we've gone over how your deck will run and win, it's important to understand the power level of the deck's individual parts. Let's look over some of the more popular 5CC staples, and discuss their role in victory.

Cryptic Command
This is widely known as the best card in Standard, and for good reason. Cryptic does two things for you, both very important: First, it gives you inherent card advantage by allowing you to, with one card, cast two spells. As if this weren't enough, this card allows you to choose which two spells you want from a list of four butt savers. The other thing Cryptic gives you is advantage: tempo advantage, board advantage, life advantage, and card advantage. Think of it this way: you not only can tap all of his creatures to prevent yourself from a fatal beating, you also get to draw a card when you do so. You not only get to counter that pump spell, but you also get to bounce the Figure of Destiny they dumped 11 mana into before it can connect to your frail body. Cryptic also targets permanents for bouncing, so it can even get rid of irritating Planeswalkers.

Broken Ambitions
This surprisingly versatile card, unlike many counterspells (Countersquall or Remove Soul, for example), has no restriction on the type of spell it can counter, making it good in any matchup. Late game, if your opponent taps out for a Cruel Ultimatum or some other big game-ender, you're there with this card. Early game, if your opponent taps out turn two to drop a Wooly Thoctor, you can, with only two mana open, neutralize his threat for another crucial early turn. The possibility of milling him for four cards, and the ability to help set up your next turn is just a double layer of icing.

This little guy never runs out of gas, either, and only grows more powerful with each land drop.

Broodmate Dragon
The thing you have to keep in mind with Broodmate is that you're getting two separate creatures in one card. As we've discussed before, two cards in one is always good - and it's even better when it's delivered in the form of two flying beaters. Other builds run things like Battlegrace Angel, which can be incredible card in a deck like this, but Broodmate Dragon is leagues better than almost any creature because of the spot removal in Standard. For example, one Terror from your opponent will kill your angel, but it can only take your token away if you played Broodmate. Path to Exile is the same way: for one mana your Angel is gone forever, but they can only get one Dragon.

Esper Charm
Another exceptional card in terms of advantage. It gives you three options: accelerate your own card advantage by drawing, ruin your opponent's hand by discarding, or destroy an enchantment. It's at instant speed, too, allowing you to force a discard right after your oppenent draws (a ridiculously good tactic.), or draw cards at the end of their turn, when you can be reasonably sure you won't need your open mana for counterspells. The card is also crucial in matchups with decks whose power cards are enchantments, as it kills a number of nuicance cards: Bitterblossom, Runed Halo (which will stop your Banefire), and Story Circle (which will stop your Broodmates).

Wrath of God
Board sweeping at its finest. It wipes out entire armies, including creatures with protection from white and shroud because it doesn't actually target them. This is your trump card against fast decks like Kithkin or Red Deck Wins, slaughtering everything on their board that can deal damage except for man lands like Mutavault.

Banefire
The beauty behind Banefire is in its simplicity. It is burn - uncounterable, unpreventable, and game-ending.

Cruel Ultimatum
This card does it all- and does it well. Not only does it take out an opponent's creature - they have to sacrifice it, which means even a Progenitus falls to this badboy. Then your opponent has to ditch three cards that they've been hanging on to long enough to assure that one of them is probably that game ending Banefire. Throw in a ten point life difference in your favor, drawing three cards, and getting back a Broodmate Dragon, and you've got yourself one of the most efficient spells of all time.

But, doesn't that casting cost look a little intimidating? Don't worry, friends - I promise you'll be dropping this bomb often with no trouble at all.

The Resources

So now that we've seen the weapons of 5 Color Control, you might be asking yourself how you can possibly pay for all of that. Certainly, you won't be able to with basic lands, and even the tri-lands from recent sets couldn't do it alone. What we have to do to get all these colors, is look back a little further...

Vivid Lands
There are five vivid lands all together, one for each color of mana. They all come into play tapped, and can produce any color of mana twice in a game. Mystic Creek is the most important, as you'll be using far more blue mana than any other color, so four of these is the norm, backed up by two each of Vivid Marsh, Vivid Crag, and Vivid meadow. This, of course, all depends on how your mana requirements are in the unique deck you build.

Filter Lands
The next step on our road to ultimate mana flexibility are filter lands. These guys allow you to take mana of one color, and turn it into any combination you need of two colors. There are ten different filter lands, one for each possible two-color combination. Just remember, they need colored mana to activate, and so they're worthless on the first turn.

Reflecting Pool
This is the card that makes it all work.

A Reflecting Pool with a Vivid land in play can produce any color of mana - with no drawbacks. It doesn't even come into play tapped. With just a filter land, it can produce either color the filter could, allowing you to then activate your filter land and get any two-color combination that it allows. This is the synergy that will drive your deck over the top, allowing you to cast any spell you want, including turn two Terror and Broken Ambitions.

The Rest

Five Color Control is a great deck, and while it might be more difficult to play with than other decks, it can also be more rewarding. To round this article out, I'd like to present to you four decks, all first-place finishers, that show the current spectrum of 5CC and its variants. Good luck out there!

Nassif's 1st Place Deck from Pro Tour in Kyoto - 5 Color Control

Maindeck:
1 Pithing Needle
3 Broodmate Dragon
4 Mulldrifter
3 Plumeveil
3 Wall Of Reverence
4 Broken Ambitions
1 Celestial Purge
4 Cryptic Command
4 Esper Charm
1 Terror
4 Volcanic Fallout
2 Cruel Ultimatum

3 Island
2 Cascade Bluffs
2 Exotic Orchard
1 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Sunken Ruins
2 Vivid Crag
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Marsh
2 Vivid Meadow

Sideboard:
4 Scepter Of Fugue
1 Wispmare
1 Celestial Purge
2 Negate
1 Remove Soul
2 Wydwen, The Biting Gale
2 Infest
2 Wrath Of God

Nathaniel Chafe's 1st Place Deck from States - 5 Color Control

Maindeck:
2 Cloudthresher
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Mulldrifter
1 Nucklavee
3 Bant Charm
4 Cryptic Command
4 Esper Charm
3 Remove Soul
2 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Mind Shatter
2 Pyroclasm
4 Wrath Of God

2 Cascade Bluffs
2 Flooded Grove
2 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
2 Sunken Ruins
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Grove
2 Vivid Marsh
3 Vivid Meadow

Sideboard:
2 Relic Of Progenitus
2 Cloudthresher
2 Runed Halo
3 Condemn
3 Resounding Thunder
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Mind Shatter

Steven Grueshaber's 1st Place Deck from States- Cruel Control

Maindeck:
2 Broodmate Dragon
4 Mulldrifter
1 Nucklavee
4 Condemn
4 Cryptic Command
4 Esper Charm
2 Negate
2 Remove Soul
2 Resounding Thunder
2 Jace Beleren
3 Cruel Ultimatum
2 Pyroclasm
2 Wrath Of God

1 Island
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Cascade Bluffs
2 Flooded Grove
2 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
2 Sunken Ruins
4 Vivid Creek
2 Vivid Grove
3 Vivid Marsh
3 Vivid Meadow

Sideboard:
1 Relic Of Progenitus
4 Cloudthresher
1 Plumeveil
2 Runed Halo
1 Counterbore
1 Negate
2 Resounding Wave
1 Firespout
2 Wrath Of God

Matt Owens's First Place Deck - Grixis Control

Maindeck:
4 Demigod Of Revenge
4 Mulldrifter
3 Plumeveil
2 Shriekmaw
3 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Volcanic Fallout
2 Jace Beleren
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1 Banefire
2 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Profane Command

Lands
2 Island
3 Swamp
1 Cascade Bluffs
4 Crumbling Necropolis
3 Graven Cairns
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Secluded Glen
4 Sunken Ruins

Sideboard:
2 Relic Of Progenitus
1 Puppeteer Clique
2 Sower Of Temptation
2 Spitebellows
3 Guerrilla Tactics
1 Ascendant Evincar
3 Infest
1 Syphon Life

Sweep the Board

2009-03-31T04:59:00.000-07:00

-Greg

So, the planesrazer deck has been doing pretty well, and I've been making some small tweaks and adjustments here and there. Last night, I dropped in a Broodmate to liven things up, and Brenna and I decided to play a few games. Here's how a rather incredible game three ended:

Brenna has 43 life, a Story Circle and two Runed Halos in play, along with a a dozen or so red and/or white mana available. It's late game, and she has yet to cast one of her two Banefires. I'm at nine life, have Broodmate +1 in play that are getting Circled, and can't get all my tokens past her Wall of Reverence and man-lands. I have popped one Elspeth already, making all my guys indestructible The game is, as they say, down to the wire as I enter my turn.

I Wrath of God, leaving me with two Dragons and a handful of soldiers. Next, I activate all my planeswalkers, Savor the Moment, activate planeswalkers again, drop a Realm Razer on a board with all lands tapped. Brenna says "Are you fucking serious?" Pass the turn.

Brenna topdecks what would've been a lethal Banefire. She passes the turn and proceeds to scowl with much ferocity.

Pop Garruk and pump with Elspeth. Swing with Broodmate +1, Razer, 10 soldier tokens for 67 damage. The trash talk commences:

Brenna: Seriously? Are you fucking serious? I had you next turn.
Greg: I think there's a technical term for this. It's AWWWWWWWWWW SNAP!
Brenna: Whatever. What the fuck ever. Realm Razer is cheating.
Greg: Oh yeah? Do you know how to say sore loser in Latin?
Brenna: I think it's go fuck yourself.

I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee. My wife is the funniest person on the planet, a good magic player, and a truly respectable Talker of the Trash.

Real Razer

2009-03-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Last night at FNM I got the chance to play my new deck, which is a slow, hulking machine that spits out planeswalkers and removal long enough to drop a Realm Razer. The mana base is even clunky and unweildly because I was one Reflecting Pool short, and couldn't find any Vivid Creeks in time. Here's the full decklist, but with the Vivid Creeks I added today:

Creatures: (2)
2 x Realm Razer

Spellz: (20)
4x Path to Exile
4x Oblivion Ring
3x Wrath of God
2x Story Circle
2x Bant Charm
2x Naya Charm
2x Savor the Moment
1x Banefire

Planeswalkers: (13)
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Chandra Nalaar
3x Garruk Wildspeaker
2x Jace Beleren
2x Elspeth, Knight Errant

Lands: (26)
3x Reflecting Pool
2x Treetop Village
3x Exotic Orchard
2x Seaside Citadel
2x Jungle Shrine
4x Vivid Creek
3x Vivid Crag
2x Vivid Meadow
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Shivan Reef
2x Island

Sideboard:
4 x Celestial Purge
2 x Swerve
4 x Burrenton Forge-Tender
3x Volcanic Fallout
1x Bant Charm
1x Savor the Moment

Round 1: Some new guy with some sort of B/R Blightning aggro build.
Game 1: I can't get my lands to stabilize, and he hits me with Boggart Ram Gangs until I'm done for. I start to get a little nervous about high speed aggro.
Game 2: I board in an extra Story Circle and four Celestial Purge. I drop Story Circle early, and a Garruk. He tries to Flame Jav Garruk for 4, but I activate Story Circle and he flips out. After Steve assures him I am right, he scoops in anger.
Game 3: He drops creatures and I trade them card for card with Paths and Purges, digging for my Planeswalkers and Realm Razer. I dropped a Garruk on turn four, missed my turn five land drop, but used Garruk's untap ability to drop Realm Razer anyway. Bonus: When I asked this kid beside me how many cards he has in this monstrous deck, he said "I don't know. Less than a hundred." lulzy

Notes: Blightning is an awful deck to play. First round can get interesting, but after sideboarding it's like fist-fighting an malnourished nine year old.

Round: 2-1, Overall 1-0

Round 2: Asland with Monowhite Kithkin
Game 1: Spirit tokens + double Glorious Anthems before I get my fourth land = WTF.
Game 2: Double Wizened Cenn + double Glorious Anthems = WTF. I sit at four lands waiting for Wrath of God, but there's not enough time. Lamesauce. How do you get mana screwed with 26 lands?

Notes: Three things worked against me: 1)Asland got God Draws both rounds, and knows his inside out (because it's all he plays). 2)I should've mulliganed both games, but tried to weather it out. No good. 3)I knew going in that any fast deckthat wasn't susceptible to Celestial Purge was going to pose a huge problem for me. All things considered, I wasn't surprised that Asland swept me pretty easily.

Round 0-2, Overall 1-1

Round 3: Kimball with R/G aggro.
Game 1: Paths to Exile, O-Rings, Wraths of God, then Jace Beleren and Chandra with Savor the Moment. He can't keep creatures on the board, and I Banefire for the win.
Game 2: I side in Celestial Purge, and let copious amounts of Planeswalkers hit the board before I Realm Razer an empty battlefield. He top decks a mountain to burn my Razer after a few swings, but he's still tapped out, giving me a free turn, which I use to Banefire again. He did Pithing Needle my Elspeth when she had eight counters, which was a really cool play.

Notes: I helped build this deck, so I have a lot of confidence in what it can do. Kimball's also a slow and methodical player who doesn't make a lot of mistakes, so it was a really interesting round. What it came down to was my ability to remove creature threats and activate my PW's abilities over and over again with Savor the Moment.

Round 2-0, Overall 2-1

Round 4: Pete with Doran
Round 1: I pathed two Dorans, Wrathed his birds and heirarchs, and dropped Realm Razer. Pete scoops.
Round 2: Held Pete at bay with my ridiculous amounts of removal, and dropped a huge Banefire to win.

Notes: Pete was trying to talk Asland and Tom into playing for first, instead of drawing to tie, being fairly open with his opinion that he was going to walk right into third place. Pfffft, crazy Doran players.

Round 2-0, Overall 3-1.

Third place, ya'll. I opened my packs, and gave the uncommons and commons, plus two of the rares to the kid with the <100 card deck for his Kitchen Finks FNM promo card. Fair trade, good games, and a good night for me.

Brenna's Deck at FNM

2009-03-21T09:20:00.001-07:00

-Greg

Last night, I took Brenna's deck to FNM to see how it fairs against the big kids. I don't have the deck with me now, but I'll post the full list later.

Round 1: Adam with Esper.
Game 1: Adam got a Liliana on the board early, and between my removal and his counters, I didn't stand a chance. I had Vengeant and Chandra on the board and more removal in-hand, but I couldn't move fast enough to stop everything. I was surprised to have lost so quickly to what should've been a good matchup for me, but I knew boarding would more than even the odds.
Game 2: I board in four Smash to Smithereens and go on the play. Adam mulligans to five, leaving me with card and tempo advantage that I never lose. Banefire ftw.
Game 3: Same as game 2, I dropped lifelinkers and started steadily climbing while sniping his one and two drops. Who plays a blue deck with no counterspells?
Round: 2-1, Overall 1-0

Round 2: Phil with Turbofog.
Game 1: Not much to say, really. Phil is a good player with this deck, but the patterns you have to play to keep your life up are too obvious. Ping little stuff, drawing out Story Circle ammo, O-ring the Mythos and Howling Mines, and get him within Banefire range before you draw out.
Game 2: I again board in my trusty Smash to Smithereens, along with my hilarious trump card against any mill deck: LICH'S MIRROR. I've hated this card since I saw it, and have been ribbing Brenna about backdrafting it since we got the thing, but I ate my words when she sideboarded it against Turbofog a week ago. It's not the best solution, but it is the funniest solution. Anyway, I blow up his drawer artifacts after he drops them, which ended in awesome card advantage for me. We continue to O-ring O-rings, and I hit him with little things to get him low enough, then I O-ring his Story Circle and blow up Chandra for ten.
Round: 2-0, Overall 2-0

Round 3: CJ with Gay Green
Game1: The tempo of g/w is not to be underestimated, and I'm out fast to Lieges.
Game2: I board in more burn and board sweepers, and things are looking better. I make a misplay, as he attacks with Teeg, and I don't block with Meadowgrain, which makes what would've been a game-winning Banefire just a dead card in my hand. Weaksauce.
Round: 0-, Overall 2-1

Round 4: Sean with 5cc.
Game1: I knew I was toast when I sat down, but I did what I could. Broodmate Dragon with no answers, nothing on the board because of counters.
Game2: Forge-Tender swings for 5 with no response, but as soon as he stabilized his mana base I was a goner.

In conclusion:
This deck performs really well in on-the-ground slugging matches, and Divinity of Pride is a real show-stopper. While it isn't the fastest deck in Standard, the spot and mass removal more than make up for that against RDW, Blightning, or G/W hybrids, allowing you to set up for that big Banefire or double Warhammered Divinity of Pride or Figure of Destiny. I have to say, it's also crazy fun to deal 11 and and gain 33 a turn, which this deck does in almost any long game. Mindstone proved to be a crucial component, accelerating mana and card advantage in different phases. Banefire, as always, is a ridiculous card, as long as you avoid Swerve and Wild Ricochet. At worst, it's a flexible creature remover, and at best it's a win.

5cc is a huge problem, but what deck isn't trounced by it? To be honest, I'm still not even sure how to play against it. Sure, the usual tactic of dropping bombs when they're tapped out is a crucial element, but by the time you get to there, you've already been Cruel Ultimatemed and are staring down the snout of two Broodmate Dragons. I'd like to get up with someone who plays it a lot, and do some extensive testing on how to top it, but those kids are so bored of winning with and playing against it that I hate to even ask. You know what? I'm fucking bored of it, too.

Brenna's New Deckorama

2009-03-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

-Greg

Well, doodz, it looks like I'm teh bestorz at drafting, so I won't be blogging about that so much anymore. I went 3-0 Sunday, even though almost all the decks at our table were crazy. So what should I bloggo about? Brenna's type 2 deck, of course!

While building Brenna's deck, I had to keep the following stuff in mind:

1) Netdecking is boring.
2) Brenna likes to gain life almost more than she likes to win.
3) A lifegaining deck needs a pretty long time to build a mana base and defense before plowing in with Loxodon Warhammers and fliers for the win.
4) Banefire and Broodmate Dragon are probably the biggest threats.

Creatures: (20)
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Knight of the Meadowgrain
4 Divinity of Pride
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 Wall of Reverence

Lands: (24)
4 Rugged Prairie
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Ancient Ampitheatre
2 Forbidding Watchtower
7 Plain
3 Mountain

Others: (20)
2 Ajani Goldmane
2 Chandra Nalaar
2 Runed Halo
2 Story Circle
2 Loxodon Warhammer
2 Banefire
4 Path to Exile
4 Oblivion Ring

Sideboard: (15)
3 Incinerate
4 Magma Spray
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Smash to Smithereens

EDH

2009-03-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

So, Friday Night Magic this week was probably the worst showing I've had. My biggest mow-down was from Pete's RW Kithkin deck, a matchup I knew was bad for me, but my loss to 5CC and a Glen's freaking dragon deck were pretty awful. It was bad enough, that I'm not even going to blog about it. Instead, I'm going to talk tonight about a much more awesome format:

ELDER DRAGON HIGHLANDER

SLIVERS

I built Brenna a Sliver EDH deck for her birthday, and got the chance to pilot it this weekend. When you're looking through this, keep a couple of things in mind: 1) It was built on a pretty strict budget, and my cardpool was pretty limited. Even so, I wanted no creatures other than Slivers, and I wanted to include cards that Brenna was fond of. 2) I prefer to pick cards that are more interesting and fun to play than bombs, especially in casual formats like EDH. 3) Slivers are fucking awesome. Here's the build:
(note: I'll link the other cards later...)

General:
Sliver Queen

Slivers: (43)
Sliver Overlord
Sliver Legion
Metallic Sliver
Venser's Sliver
Sidewinder Sliver
Quilled Sliver
Talon Sliver
Sinew Sliver
Poultice Sliver
Essence Sliver
Ward Sliver
Winged Sliver
Mnemonic Sliver
Shadow Sliver
Mesmeric Sliver
Shifting Sliver
Synapse Sliver
Psionic Sliver
Mindlash Sliver
Frenzy Sliver
Clot Sliver
Heart Sliver
Homing Sliver
Sedge Sliver
Bonesplitter Sliver
Fury Sliver
Virulent Sliver
Quick Sliver
Muscle Sliver
Spinneret Sliver
Gemhide Sliver
Root Sliver
Fungus Sliver
Might Sliver
Brood Sliver
Crystalline Sliver
Opaline Sliver
Necrotic Sliver
Darkheart Sliver
Ghostflame Sliver
Acidic Sliver
Harmonic Sliver

Spells: (19)
Land Tax
Enlightened Tutors
Path to Exile
Shared Triumph
Harsh Mercy
Armageddon
Akroma's Vengeance
Think Twice
Deep Analysis
Concentrate
Braingeyser
Patriarch's Bidding
Banefire
Insurrection
Sylvan Scrying
Reap and Sow
All Sun's Dawn
Violent Ultimatum
Cruel Ultimatum

Artifacts: (6)
Lotus Petal
Skullclamp
Armillary Sphere
Sword of Fire and Ice
Gilded Lotus
Sigil of Distinction

Lands:(31)
Bloodstained Mire
Flooded Strand
Fetid Heath
Underground River
Naya Panorama
Bant Panorama
Esper Panorama
Reliquary Tower
Unstable Frontier
Arcane Sanctum
Jungle Shrine
Seaside Citadel
Rupture Spire
Grand Coliseum
Henge of Ramos
Mirrodin's Core
Pillar of the Paruns
Metor Crater
Ancient Ziggurat
Forbidden Orchard
Exotic Orchard
2 Plains
2 Islands
2 Swamps
2 Mountains
2 Forests

With just your general, the Queen, and Sliver Legion in play, you're almost an unstoppable force. As long as you can avoid Wrath and Terror effects, that is. :)

omgblightning

2009-03-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

Have you guys seen the new Player's Rewards card? It's Blightning, and it looks awesome. Here's a scan I stole from MTG Realm:

These things look awesome, and I'll definitely be chasing after a set of four. Also hitting the secondary market soon are two other popular cards:

The art for the new Path is a little ugly, so I think I'll keep playing the originals. :/

Unsanctioned Draft

2009-03-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

-Greg

Last night, nine of us got together at Dave's for a little non-shop draft. I got to pick our packs, since I was the new guy, and I decided to go all Conflux. There was some grumbling, of course, until people started to see the cards we were pulling. Two Knights of the Reliquary, a Banefire, Mirror Sigiled Sergeant, Nyxathid, Paths to Exile, Volcanic Fallouts, and TWO, count 'em, TWO Noble Heirarchs. There was enough on the board that almost everyone got a first pick card at the end of the night.

teh draftorz

First pack, I cracked a Path to Exile, and got a warm and fuzzy feeling about where the night was headed. Red and white removal is pouring into my hand, as well as the unstoppable Dragonsoul Knight, this beautiful bastard, and Captain Vigilance. While I was busy scanning for 5 or greaters, I managed to pull a full set of Exploding Borders, a Volcanic Fallout, a Fiery Fall, and three Sylvan Bounties for the landcycling. Green ended up being the perfect splash, too, because that Outlander saved me more than a few times.

Round 1
First pairing was with Tom, who'd drafted mostly blue. Game one ended quickly, as I couldn't get anything good on the board, and he beat me mercilessly with Brackwater unearth and birds. Game 2 was totally opposite, with me drawing answers and threats while he sat at two lands. Game 3 went my way, too, thanks to all the removal I'd grabbed.
2-1

Round2
I got paired up with Steve this time, the owner of Lich's Lair Games, where we usually play on Sundays. Steve's an overly technical player, which I believe worked to my advantage. My land cycling and mana fixing proved to be a great plan, as I continued to drop Minotaurs and my big greenies. I hit domain both games and started blasting with Exploding Borders and Dragonsoul Knight, and it was all over. At one point, I had to ditch my Kaleidostone to scrounge up a blue for Quenchable Fire, and had just enough to play my Sylvan Bounty, gaining eight instead of losing three.
2-0

Round3
Last match was against CJ, as we were the only two undefeated at this point. We drew the game to tie first, and eached grabbed one of the Noble Heirarchs. I'm pretty sure I could've slaughtered him, and if I didn't already have like 6 Banefires I might've given it a go.
Draw.

Overall: 2-0-1, and the loot was great!

DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

2009-02-23T11:59:00.000-08:00

-Greg

Sunday went much better this week.

Brenna and I were seated in the same pod, with her to my right, and Phil to hers, and so I told myself to draft Grixis right of the bat. Glad I didn't now, because Sean somehow picked four Blightnings, a foil Cruel Ultimatum, and I think he had a Violent Ultimatum in there somewhere. At any rate, black and black-hate was crazy enough that I switched almost immediately to GW to grab massive fatties, several Druids, tri-lands, plenty of white removal, and this handy card. I was also using a new strategy based off Bread, but tailored for AAC:

1. Is there anything in this pack that's a fucking enormous creature, preferrably with perks?
2. Is there anything in this pack that will help me fetch lands or fix mana?
3. Is there any removal in this pack?
4. Are there any really versatile cards in this pack?
5. Are there any cards in this pack that let me dig into my deck for what I need?

Turns out, I was on to something.
Rockcaster Platoon turned out to be a really reliable card for me, because a 5/7 is an awesome blocker in a world of 5/5s. The added perk of killing little deathtouch fliers was just icing. Yoked Plowbeast isn't necessarily a bargain, but even if you only play it 1/4 times you draw it, you're still cycling 75% of the time into the right lands or removal spells for the game you're in. I grabbed Sunseed Nurturer for similar reasons, as mana acceleration even at turn three is good, and only increases my already good chances of having a big nasty green thing on the board by turn four or five. Some might laugh at two life a turn, but after watching Phil and Brenna hacking it out with three goblets in play, I was reassured that it was a decent move, strategically. My Leviathan proved to be totally worthless, as I was always digging for that elusive second island, or worse, being met head on by a Wretched Banquet. I snatched up Exotic Orchard as a first pick, which worked out well, since everyone was rushing to drop a tri-land or rupture spire.

My third best pick of the night was a common: Beacon Behemoth. Giving all my big guys vigilance was a winning tactic more than once, allowing me to walk all over my opponents' creatures and still be able to answer their attacks with creatures of five, six, or seven toughness.

Second best pick was Thornling, which is known to make grown men cry. You might have to do a little crafty playing to draw out counterspells, but if you can get this guy to resolve with one G open, then the game is probably yours.

Best pick? Sharding Sphinx, a fifty-cent crap rare. You hit with this guy first, hopefully with a pumping instant, then you've got a little army of little flying chump blockers. Next turn, you swing in again, and every time Spinx or a thopter does damage, your little army doubles in size. I only got this thing on the board once, and was met with an almost immediate scoop.

crape rare FTW

Anyway, drafting this way nestled me quite comfortably into second place, my highest showing yet. I can't wait til next week!

Ugh.

2009-02-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

-Greg

Sunday went HORIBBLY.

First pack, I opened a Sharding Sphinx, and was off to a good start. Sadly, no esper, or even interesting blue cards came my way, so I ended up drafting mostly Naya. Later, I found out that Brenna and Phil had both been grabbing Naya cards, watering all three of our decks down. First pack dropped this hilarious card, and it was all downhill from there. Second pack, I open a Scepter, and grab it over a some BR goodies, and told myself I was probably dumb for not going Grixis. Steve, the guy who owns the Lich's Lair, who I had previously thought was a pretty great guy, hate-drafted a monster that was coming my way during pick two or three, and it's the speed of my downhill tumble increases. Thankfully, I grabbed a Life Gainer 5000, which turns out to be about the only good thing to happen to me all night.

Game 1:
I pair up with Miguel, who I had grossly underrated as a noob. Our round went almost to time, as I was busy explaining a lot of the rules and intricacies of the game to him. Sadly, the oppurtunity to be a tutor to the kid is this match's only highlight, as Miguel grabs just the right cards at just the right time. Miguel sweeps me.
Match: 0-2, Overall: 0-1

Game 2:
The two Iveys are paired up, and it's the ultimate matrimonial match! Brenna's deck was hilariously similar to mine, and we go two embarassing games. Ghariels on both side build up a dozen or so tokens each, and Brenna's slamming down green fatties, but my Wall of Reverence keeps gaining me life of my lions while I throw Paragon of Amesha at her for five a turn. I sweep in two close games, and we make out in the bathroom for a while.
Match: 2-0, Overall: 1-1

Game 3:
I'm paired up with Phil in game 3, wishing I'd drafted something else. He lays down bird after bird, but I continue to pump Amesha, gain 5 from the lifelink, gain five from Wall of Reverence. He wittles me down by 1 point a turn, but I can't draw any answers. Game one ends with almost twenty creatures on the board, and Phil and I can only laugh at how we just filled up an entire scorecard with my life numbers. Game two Phil really impresses me with some interesting draft choices. He keeps making Spearbreaker unblockable, another fattie indestructible, and hits me with fliers for the win.
Match: 2-0, Overall: 1-2

Conclusion:
I think I am getting better at drafting, and I can definitely tell I'm getting better at playing a draft deck. Unfortunately, I was plagued by bad draws, and got generally weak draft choices, but I'm feeling even more confident about next week. Brenna's doing better and better every time, too, and I can't wait to see what she pulls out of her hat.

Non-Draft:
I will also be taking part in Friday Night Magic this week, playing Standard constructed. I'll be running a Black/Red Goblin control deck, relying pretty heavily on burning out creatures, using Blightning and Raven's Crime to thin hands out, and finishing with either Siege-Gang Commander, or my one copy Voracious Dragon. I've got two Nicols (a card I originally thought was unplayable) sitting in my sideboard, because I've found that some of match-ups (surprisingly) go long enough to have seven lands and an Obelisk of Grixis sitting on the board.

I think Brenna might go, too. If so, she'll be running Naya, which is really unrepresented in our meta game. The thing is surprisingly quick on its feet, able to drop Thornlings on turn four, or Ajani'ing away your mana on turn three.

Anyway, good luck to all, and hope to see you this weekend!

Prepping for Sunday's Draft

2009-02-12T10:41:00.000-08:00

-Greg

Let me start this by saying that I am the worst drafter. I'm a consistent bottom-half finisher, and have never placed higher than 6th out of 15. My lovely wife, Brenna is definitely a better drafter than I am (although this might have something to do with the Alara block's synergy with her play style), and my old roomie Kimball (the only other non-wife person I play casual magic with) puts us both to shame in limited formats. Kimball had a perfect run at the Conflux prerelease, despite having an almost laughable losing streak to me from earlier in the week, which further piqued my curiousity at my own lack of abilities.

So what's my problem? No clue. I do well enough in constructed, which leads me to think that maybe my strengths there lie in how well I know the deck. I probably do more than adequate playtesting, and I tend to agonize over card choices until I'm sick of looking at the decklist, luxuries I'm not afforded in limited. Another, more embarassing fact about me, is I have a hard time picking out "bombs." This all goes back to Ice Age, when I looked at Necropotence and said, "What, life for cards? NO WAY, JOSE."

So how do you solve a problem like this? PROFOUND AMOUNTS OF DATA ANALYSIS. Also, you look at Conflux spoilers online during slow days at work.

Sunday's Overall Strategy:

Fuck one drops. If there's anything I've learned in my few weeks of drafting, it's that drafting for speed is a waste of time. I'm looking at Aven Squire to be the bare minimum in what to expect from a creature. Rhox Meditant should be an extension of this philosophy of mid-game shoring-up.

Removal + Heavy Hitters. Shards and Conflux are cheap with removal, and I'll draft said removal second only to big, nasty creatures. Martial Coup would be the perfect intersection of the two, but considering I'll have somewhere around a 3% or 4% chance of opening this in one of my packs, I won't hold my breath. Nacatl Hunt-Pride, on the other hand, will probably come up, and I will grab it with great vengeance. I'll try to resist the urge to greed draft Path to Exile, but I can't promise how much luck I'll have with that.

Hatedraft Leviathans, Resisting Urge to Set Aflame.
If Dave plops an Inkwell in front of me again, I'm going to vom.

Don't Fear a Steep Mana Curve. I'll be paying more attention to the heavy cost cards that also have basic landscycling, like Fiery Fall. Between these and the everpresent Cylix and slew of mana-fixing uncommon lands and artifacts, I should have plenty of resources.

Face It, You're Going Five Colors.
Even though I've been conditioned by years of MTG that five colors is a noobmove, I've come to understand that while Shards made it tempting to draft a rainbow, Flux made it almost irresistable. I'll be snatching up every Fusion Elemental I see, as well as Paragon of Amesha, Dragonsoul Knight, and anything else that has WUBRG anywhere on it's face. I haven't seen anyone pull a Maelstrom yet, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Don't Draft Bonesaw.
I have swept three unlucky souls in a Flux draft, and all played Bonesaw. WTF.

Anyway, I'll be taking notes during the draft to report back Monday. Everyone have a good weekend, and good luck at the tables!

Your Micro-Economy is Bullshit

2009-02-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

-Greg

I was going to write a long-winded, swear-laden tirade about the cost of buying Figure of Destiny from card shops or eBay sellers, but after doing Teh Math, I can't really be so mad about it:

The facts:
Eventide has 180 cards, 59 of which are "rare." You will find one randomly chosen rare in each booster pack, which makes your chances of pulling one specific rare 1.7%.
An internet-savvy deal seeker can buy a pack for $2.25.
The total cost of every rare from the cheapest price listed on magiccards.info is about $138, for an average of $2.35 a rare.
Figure of Destiny will cost you no less than $20.

Using these numbers, let's take the total cost of a playset of Figures, $80, and buy packs with the cash. At $2.25, we will get 35 packs in the mail, with a little left over for a soda. At the rarity of 1.7%, you have a 60% chance of getting ONE Figure this way. For the sake of argument, let's say we get lucky and pull one Figure, sell off all those other rares for their average price of $2.35, and reinvest in new boosters. If you can manage to get the prices card dealers charge you, you'll net 79.90, and get 35 more boosters and another coke. Fat chance, of course, so let's say, conservatively, that you can get 40% of their value (and you'd be lucky to do that). Now you can afford 14 new packs, which brings your total chance of wrapping your sticky fingers around another sweet, soothing Figure of Destiny to around 25%. These numbers are even more grim when you consider that your local store will have to charge you closer to 3.50 a pack to make enough money to give you a table to draft at.

4	Mystic Gate	3	Meddling Mage
4	Glacial Fortress	2	Runed Halo
7	Plains	4	Celestial Purge
7	Island	4	Flashfreeze
4	Fieldmist Borderpost	2	Pithing Needle
2	Glen Elendra Archmage
2	Wall of Reverence
3	Sower of Temptation
4	Knight of the White Orchid
4	Mulldrifter
3	Reveillark
2	Baneslayer Angel
2	Hallowed Burial
4	Path to Exile
4	Cryptic Command
4	Silence