-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
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Bad Decks, Extended, Que Sera Sera
-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...
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...
Monday, November 16, 2009
GP Minneapolis, BAD DECKS GO
-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.
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.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
OMG STANDARD DECKS YES
-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.
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.
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