-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
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Extended Season - Archetype Primer
-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:
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.
Monday, December 21, 2009
B/W Martyr of Sands
-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!
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!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Top 2009 States Lists from OK and KS
-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
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
Friday, December 4, 2009
Testing for States - Update
-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!
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!
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