I'm moving this blog over to wordpress, which seems generally better. That is going to be done sometime this week, and I have a first post up talking about my M11 updates already. Check it out
here.
I'll also be doing more magic writing in general there- talking about standard, new extended, and of course the cube. Oh yeah- and videos!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
06/17/10 Changes
Avenger of Zendikar in for Terastadon, who just seemed excessively awkward every time he was played and is a bad reanimation target anyway.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
6/10/10 Changes
Wickerbough Elder in for Snake Umbra
Joraga Treespeaker in for Boar Umbra
Poor Umbras. Just still not good enough.
Joraga Treespeaker in for Boar Umbra
Poor Umbras. Just still not good enough.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
SCG 5k Philadelphia
EDIT: If you read this, I'd love if you would comment! I haven't written a report like this so any feedback is much appreciated :)
We just got back from the 5k, and I wanted to write a little bit about my deck and how it worked out. I thought about playing Mythic Conscription, but eventually decided to go with Jund because I think it can win from more unfavorable position, and is better against slightly rogue-y stuff like Time Sieve or Runeflare.
I was, however, really concerned about the UW and UWr matchup. At nationals qualifiers, I played Trace of Abundance but I felt like it didn't quite do enough and of course requires that you haven't been Spreading Seased already. I also wanted to have a definite plan in the mirror, and against Vengevine decks. Here's what I played:
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Broodmate Dragon
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Putrid Leech
2 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Bituminous Blast
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Sarkhan the Mad
2 Terminate
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Forest
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Mountain
4 Raging Ravine
4 Savage Lands
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Sideboard:
3 Blightning
1 Chandra Nalaar
2 Consuming Vapors
1 Doom Blade
2 Forked Bolt
3 Jund Charm
2 Prophetic Prism
1 Siege-Gang Commander
I cut the main deck Blightnings for two reasons. I expected a lot of UWx, and the deck has so many cantrips now that an early Blightning often doesn't do much. In fact, until I know whether they are playing UW or Super Friends, I don't really want to Blightning since you can improve the Super Friends matchup quite a bit if every Blightning hits a planeswalker. Obviously a late Blightning (when they have two cards in hand) is still great, but I didn't feel like it was really earning the maindeck spot. Secondly, there are at least three reasonable-to-good Vengevine decks in the format now, and I didn't ever want to get blown out that way game one.
Instead, I ran Hell's Thunder main. I wasn't worried about blowing them early against control since they come back, and they kill every Ajani V the turn after he comes out, while Blightning doesn't. They are a completely awesome cascade off a Bloodbraid, and as anyone who has played Jund vs RDW knows, really good in the mirror. Furthermore, your opponent will often try to not go to three against Jund for fear of Bloodbraid, Blightning, or Bolt, so the one extra damage is sometimes important.
The other slightly weird thing is the Ruinblasters. I included them because I wanted to have plenty of answers to Colonnades without running any more Broodmates. I decided that they were likely to be good in nearly every matchup, and I found that I was often playing Bloodbraid with 5 mana in testing anyway, because of the number of CITP tapped lands in the format combined with the fact that you usually play a Catacombs first against UWx.
Alright, onto the games! I'll talk about the sideboard as it comes up.
Round 1 vs Super Friends
Game 1 I lost the die roll, and my opponent mulliganed to 5, but I had a slow hand that I didn't feel I could mulligan. We played the attrition game for a very long time until I finally won with a double activated Ravine (so that it wouldn't trade with a Colonnade- I learned that from Brad Nelson's videos, thanks!) The bad news is that the game took 30 minutes. I was super nervous about running out of time at this point.
I brought in:
- 4 Sprouting Thrinax
- 2 Terminate
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Doom Blade
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 1 Chandra Nalaar
I wanted to bring in removal that couldn't be Flashfreezed, and I like Chandra against control since she kills big things and her ultimate is pretty quick should you need to hit shroud critters (it's not a perfect solution but it gives you an out). Thrinax is a badass but gets worse with Purge and is clearly hard to cast in the matchup.
Game 2 I mulliganed to 5, had a land made into an island, and generally lost to Baneslayer (out of the board) without doing much. We went on to game 3 with 7 minutes.
Game 3 I kept a reasonable hand, but had to deal with a turn 3 Elspeth and then a turn 4 Gideon, so I wasn't close to winning when time was called. I think with more time I would have won, but that's neither here nor there.
My opponent was really nice and great to play against, but I was surprised when I found out that he assumed I had boarded out removal for game 2. I don't think I would want to take out removal in this matchup regardless, because you are always happy to hit a wall, Colonnade, Elspeth token, or active Gideon. I just wanted to make the point that I think a lot of players assume that their opponents will board so as to make their lives easier, and I think it's a lot better to respect the matchup and realize that your opponent has an idea of what you might be doing. A similar thing happened to my fiance, who was playing UW. He played against Jund, and after boarding his opponent played a Malakir Bloodwitch. Justin played Day of Judgement, and his opponent was absolutely offended that he had kept them in. Yeah. He didn't want to lose to Bloodwitch. It's shocking.
Just a note- I don't think I boarded correctly there. I boarded differently against Super Friends for the rest of the day.
Round 2 vs Super Friends
In Game 1, I felt that my opponent and I both had good draws, but about four planeswalkers and one Siege-Gang in, I found a second Siege-Gang and he didn't have an answer.
I brought in:
- 2 Terminate
- 4 Sprouting Thrinax
+ 3 Blightning
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 1 Doom Blade
I realized that against UWr I really wanted the Blightnings, and planned to bring in Consuming Vapors if I saw Sphinx of Jwar Isle. I also have possible outs to the Sphinx in form of Sarkhan dragons, so it's not hopeless.
Game 2: What I remember about this game is that my opponent played Gideon, I didn't have a pulse, and his deck turn played Elspeth and made Gideon a dude. I had terminate mana, and killed it. He played a Kor Firewalker protecting Elspeth, and I Doom Bladed it. On his next turn he played a wall, I played a Bit Blast into Bloodbraid into Blightning, and got Mind Spring and Jace from his hand as well as offing the Elspeth. In other words, I had sick cascades and he took a couple risks that I happened to have the answers to. With that said, I felt really good about UWx all day and was definitely hoping for that matchup.
Round 3 vs Billy Moreno's LD deck
Game 1 I mulliganed and kept a slow hand with Bloodbraid, and he accelerated into Bloodbraid into Resounding Wave on a manland and then Roiling Terrain. It wasn't pretty, and Chandra finished me off.
I brought in:
-4 Putrid Leech
-4 Hell's Thunder
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 3 Jund Charm
+ 1 Chandra
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
I wasn't sure how to board this matchup. I'd played the deck so I knew what was in it (although Chandra isn't canon). I wanted to kill his Cobras, and I thought Jund Charm could either sweep his board (their guys are small) or possibly hit my graveyard to stop Roiling Terrain from killing me in a dire situation. I'd bring in Prophetic Prism against any Spreading Seas deck.
Game 2 was, as my (SUPER nice and not smug) opponent said, his best possible draw. He went Spreading Seas, bounce your land, Roiling Terrain, Roiling Terrain, Acidic Slime. I died with one land in play. Yikes. Oh, and I mulliganed to 5.
We talked afterwards and my opponent said he felt that he couldn't lose to Jund. Can I just say that I disagree with this in every way? For one thing, saying that about any two decks is basically just untrue. Every deck in the format right now is capable of falling on it's own face and just failing to find things or do anything. Secondly, any deck that is three colors can have a problem with Blightning and LD, and that is definitely what I found in testing. Finally, double all of that when you are playing against Jund. Jund has insanely powerful draws, out card-advantages everyone, and can win out of nowhere. That's why it's annoying, that's why it's powerful, that's why people play it. Sometimes you just win. I'm not some sort of filthy Jund apologist- I think it has a number of rough matchups right now and I approach this format with a lot of respect for the tier one decks. There are a lot of really hard to beat god draws out there. Let's not claim that any particular matchup is a bye. It's not, and it's not helpful to act like it is.
Alright, end aside.
Round 4 vs WG tokens with Vengevine
I lose the die roll and play manlands and Hell's Thunder to my opponents not playing anything. I play a Siege-Gang, he O-rings it, and I pulse the O-ring. I ride my 7 goblins to victory. He discarded a couple times, and I saw Elspeth, Vengevine, and a last ditch Martial Coup.
I boarded:
- 3 Goblin Ruinblaster
- 4 Leech
- 1 Hell's Thunder
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 3 Jund Charm
+ 1 Doom Blade
I'm sure this wasn't optimal but I wasn't sure what he was playing. I didn't see any non basics, and I wanted the Hell's Thunders in, so I took out Goblin Ruinblasters. Of course this is going to bite me in the ass.
Game 2 I keep a good hand, and play a turn 3 Thrinax. My opponent plays a Vengevine and declines to attack. I untap and Consuming Vapors. He plays a Ranger and fetches a Scute Mob, and plays both, bringing the Vine back, and doesn't attack. He ends his turn and goes to bin the Ranger, and I have to stop him. I untap, put the Consuming Vapors on the stack, and Jund Charm, and feel deeply fulfilled. Then he Rangers twice, I jund charm for his double vengevined graveyard, and he kills me with Stirring Wildwoods I can't answer.
Game 3 I take a few hits from Vengevine and deal with a Firewalker and kind of stabilize. I play a Sarkhan and make a dragon and things look good. He O-rings my Sarkhan and paths my dragon and attacks me 7. I block with a land the next turn and go to 4, and then he plays a scute mob and a Vengevine and swings for a million. Le sigh. My fiance is 3-0-1 now so I'm playing still.
Round 5 vs Super Friends
I sit down, and the guy next to me says that he likes my tattoos. The guy on the other side is like "That's a good line. 'Does this smell like cloroform?' is a better one." Laughs all around. Geez, I just COULDN'T SAY why more girls don't play magic.
My opponent wins the die roll and plays a colonnade. Then I play Hell's Thunders and attack with lands while my opponent never finds another land. He discards Gideon, Elspeth, other control-y type stuff, and is remarkably not angsty about the whole thing.
I didn't see any Ajanis, so I board for UW:
- 2 Terminate
- 4 Thrinax
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Chandra
+ 1 Doom Blade
Game I get a little flooded, a leech gets Purged, and a doom blade on an active Colonnade gets negated. I go down to one while he has two Colonnades. I resolve a Bit Blast into prophetic prism (not the sexiest but it got a land off the top), and then the next turn I resolve a Ruinblaster on the second Colonnade, and win from there. My opponent is really friendly the whole time, probably the best experience I have had while winning in pretty luck driven ways.
Round 6 vs Mythic Conscription
I sit down and my opponent and I introduce ourselves. A judge drops off the slip and I'm like, "Oh, you're that Jonathan!" It's Jonathan Medina, who I follow on twitter. We chat a bit and I joke that I'm excited to finally play against Mythic. I lose the roll and mulligan twice, and then draw my card and find Consuming Vapors, and scoop them up. I explain that I forgot to de-sideboard, and that I get a game loss. Jonathan doesn't want to call a judge because we're both sure it's a game loss. I realized after the match that we should have anyway because I should have gotten a warning, but I didn't think about it at the time. That was embarrassing moment number 1, by the way. I sideboard:
- 4 Leech
- 4 Hell's Thunder
- 1 Broodmate
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Doom Blade
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 1 Chandra Nalaar
+ 3 Jund Charm
I'm on the play so I would consider bringing in Blightning, but I suspect that Jonathan is bringing in Vengevine, and Jund Charm is never dead in the matchup. It sweeps some boards, clears up for consuming vapors, and makes a Knight smaller. And then when you are ready to win, it helps you do that.
I keep a hand with forked bolt and consuming vapors. Jonathan opens with a turn 2 cobra, but I have the forked bolt, and I'm relieved that I had it when I see the fetchland the next turn. He makes a Hierarch and a Cobra, I Vapors, and then I Bloodbraid into Thrinax. He Bant Charms the Thrinax and swings in with a Vengevine. I trade next turn, he plays another, I kill it, and then the turn after I cascade into Jund charm and remove them from the game, then win with Chandra.
Game 3 I keep a removal heavy hand again and Forked Bolt a cobra. I ruinblast a colonnade, kill a knight, and eventually play out a Siege Gang he can't answer.
Jonathan was super gracious the whole time, and told me that he was going to drop and get to the trading. We talked about the Pack to Power project a bit, and about Mythic and Jund in general. This was my first biggish event so I was super excited to not only meet but actually play someone I knew of from the magic writing world.
As a side note, yeah, I know I was pretty lucky to know what Jonathan was playing in some detail. That's the magic of the internet, I guess.
Round 7 vs UW (Justin Treadway)
This round I was paired against my fiance. This is a big bummer, since we decided that we'd drop when we were both x-3.
Game 1 I won easily. I had an early Putrid Leech and Hell's Thunder, he played a Jace, I played another Hell's Thunder and ate the Jace. He played a Baneslayer, I topdecked a terminate and then cascaded into third Hell's Thunder off a Bloodbraid.
I boarded like so:
- 2 Terminate
- 4 Thrinax
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Chandra
+ 1 Doom Blade
He had a spreading seas but I had a prism, and put enough pressure on that he had to play Gideon and then Baneslayer without negate backup, after I Ruinblasted a Colonnade. I topdecked the land I needed to Bit Blast a wall, and Hell's Thunders saw me through the last points.
Sooo.... that's not how I wanted that to go. At Nationals Qualifiers we were paired up in round 2, though, so I guess it's an improvement. Nonetheless, I'm super excited to have done very well against control after being worried about the matchup. I definitely got lucky, but my opponents for the most part had decent draws and plenty of action, and I felt like the Hell's Thunders were critical.
Round 8 vs Jund
In this round, I'm paired against the guy that gave Justin his second loss, so I know he's playing Vengevine Jund. I keep a land with a few too many tap lands, and have a slow start while he stalls out on lands but has a cobra. I keep back a ruinblaster to try to stabilize, but eventually he terminates it, finds a fetch land, and Vengevines me to death.
I board:
-4 Leech
-3 Ruinblaster
+ 3 Jund Charm
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 1 Siege-Gang
+ 1 Consuming Vapors
I saw an assortment of fetchlands including Terramorphic and Marsh Flats game one, and think he might not be playing many nonbasics.
Game 2 he accelerates into a Siege Gang off a Lotus Cobra, and I Jund Charm for profit, then beat down with a Bloodbraid and Thrinax while he can't find much action.
Game 3 I mulligan and keep an unexciting hand some lands, an Bloodbraid, a Jund Charm, and a Consuming Vapors. He accelerates into a Leech and a Ruinblaster off a Cobra, and I Jund Charm in response to his destroying my only red source and go to 12 from the Leech. He plays a Vengevine and takes me to six, and I untap on my turn 5 with 3 lands and draw a red source. I miscount, play Consuming Vapors instead of Bloodbraid, and die to Vengevine and a Raging Ravine. Of course I realize my mistake as soon as I do it, my heart sinks, and I spend the rest of the night thinking about what would have happened. I look at my deck afterwards and find that the Bloodbraid would have hit a Thrinax, so that's particularly heartbreaking. I guess you have to make mistakes to learn from them, but I know I'm going to be thinking about that one for days. Yep, that's embarrassing thing to admit on the internet number 2.
Anyway, I had an awesome time, played against universally rad opponents, and was super happy with my deck. I'd recommend it for control and mythic heavy metas, but I think I need to work on it or practice more against Vengevine decks. Starcity Games throws a great event- it was a beautiful venue, basically ran on time, and seemed really smooth throughout. Maybe I can talk Justin into the Baltimore 5k in November? :)
We just got back from the 5k, and I wanted to write a little bit about my deck and how it worked out. I thought about playing Mythic Conscription, but eventually decided to go with Jund because I think it can win from more unfavorable position, and is better against slightly rogue-y stuff like Time Sieve or Runeflare.
I was, however, really concerned about the UW and UWr matchup. At nationals qualifiers, I played Trace of Abundance but I felt like it didn't quite do enough and of course requires that you haven't been Spreading Seased already. I also wanted to have a definite plan in the mirror, and against Vengevine decks. Here's what I played:
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Broodmate Dragon
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Putrid Leech
2 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Bituminous Blast
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Sarkhan the Mad
2 Terminate
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Forest
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Mountain
4 Raging Ravine
4 Savage Lands
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Sideboard:
3 Blightning
1 Chandra Nalaar
2 Consuming Vapors
1 Doom Blade
2 Forked Bolt
3 Jund Charm
2 Prophetic Prism
1 Siege-Gang Commander
I cut the main deck Blightnings for two reasons. I expected a lot of UWx, and the deck has so many cantrips now that an early Blightning often doesn't do much. In fact, until I know whether they are playing UW or Super Friends, I don't really want to Blightning since you can improve the Super Friends matchup quite a bit if every Blightning hits a planeswalker. Obviously a late Blightning (when they have two cards in hand) is still great, but I didn't feel like it was really earning the maindeck spot. Secondly, there are at least three reasonable-to-good Vengevine decks in the format now, and I didn't ever want to get blown out that way game one.
Instead, I ran Hell's Thunder main. I wasn't worried about blowing them early against control since they come back, and they kill every Ajani V the turn after he comes out, while Blightning doesn't. They are a completely awesome cascade off a Bloodbraid, and as anyone who has played Jund vs RDW knows, really good in the mirror. Furthermore, your opponent will often try to not go to three against Jund for fear of Bloodbraid, Blightning, or Bolt, so the one extra damage is sometimes important.
The other slightly weird thing is the Ruinblasters. I included them because I wanted to have plenty of answers to Colonnades without running any more Broodmates. I decided that they were likely to be good in nearly every matchup, and I found that I was often playing Bloodbraid with 5 mana in testing anyway, because of the number of CITP tapped lands in the format combined with the fact that you usually play a Catacombs first against UWx.
Alright, onto the games! I'll talk about the sideboard as it comes up.
Round 1 vs Super Friends
Game 1 I lost the die roll, and my opponent mulliganed to 5, but I had a slow hand that I didn't feel I could mulligan. We played the attrition game for a very long time until I finally won with a double activated Ravine (so that it wouldn't trade with a Colonnade- I learned that from Brad Nelson's videos, thanks!) The bad news is that the game took 30 minutes. I was super nervous about running out of time at this point.
I brought in:
- 4 Sprouting Thrinax
- 2 Terminate
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Doom Blade
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 1 Chandra Nalaar
I wanted to bring in removal that couldn't be Flashfreezed, and I like Chandra against control since she kills big things and her ultimate is pretty quick should you need to hit shroud critters (it's not a perfect solution but it gives you an out). Thrinax is a badass but gets worse with Purge and is clearly hard to cast in the matchup.
Game 2 I mulliganed to 5, had a land made into an island, and generally lost to Baneslayer (out of the board) without doing much. We went on to game 3 with 7 minutes.
Game 3 I kept a reasonable hand, but had to deal with a turn 3 Elspeth and then a turn 4 Gideon, so I wasn't close to winning when time was called. I think with more time I would have won, but that's neither here nor there.
My opponent was really nice and great to play against, but I was surprised when I found out that he assumed I had boarded out removal for game 2. I don't think I would want to take out removal in this matchup regardless, because you are always happy to hit a wall, Colonnade, Elspeth token, or active Gideon. I just wanted to make the point that I think a lot of players assume that their opponents will board so as to make their lives easier, and I think it's a lot better to respect the matchup and realize that your opponent has an idea of what you might be doing. A similar thing happened to my fiance, who was playing UW. He played against Jund, and after boarding his opponent played a Malakir Bloodwitch. Justin played Day of Judgement, and his opponent was absolutely offended that he had kept them in. Yeah. He didn't want to lose to Bloodwitch. It's shocking.
Just a note- I don't think I boarded correctly there. I boarded differently against Super Friends for the rest of the day.
Round 2 vs Super Friends
In Game 1, I felt that my opponent and I both had good draws, but about four planeswalkers and one Siege-Gang in, I found a second Siege-Gang and he didn't have an answer.
I brought in:
- 2 Terminate
- 4 Sprouting Thrinax
+ 3 Blightning
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 1 Doom Blade
I realized that against UWr I really wanted the Blightnings, and planned to bring in Consuming Vapors if I saw Sphinx of Jwar Isle. I also have possible outs to the Sphinx in form of Sarkhan dragons, so it's not hopeless.
Game 2: What I remember about this game is that my opponent played Gideon, I didn't have a pulse, and his deck turn played Elspeth and made Gideon a dude. I had terminate mana, and killed it. He played a Kor Firewalker protecting Elspeth, and I Doom Bladed it. On his next turn he played a wall, I played a Bit Blast into Bloodbraid into Blightning, and got Mind Spring and Jace from his hand as well as offing the Elspeth. In other words, I had sick cascades and he took a couple risks that I happened to have the answers to. With that said, I felt really good about UWx all day and was definitely hoping for that matchup.
Round 3 vs Billy Moreno's LD deck
Game 1 I mulliganed and kept a slow hand with Bloodbraid, and he accelerated into Bloodbraid into Resounding Wave on a manland and then Roiling Terrain. It wasn't pretty, and Chandra finished me off.
I brought in:
-4 Putrid Leech
-4 Hell's Thunder
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 3 Jund Charm
+ 1 Chandra
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
I wasn't sure how to board this matchup. I'd played the deck so I knew what was in it (although Chandra isn't canon). I wanted to kill his Cobras, and I thought Jund Charm could either sweep his board (their guys are small) or possibly hit my graveyard to stop Roiling Terrain from killing me in a dire situation. I'd bring in Prophetic Prism against any Spreading Seas deck.
Game 2 was, as my (SUPER nice and not smug) opponent said, his best possible draw. He went Spreading Seas, bounce your land, Roiling Terrain, Roiling Terrain, Acidic Slime. I died with one land in play. Yikes. Oh, and I mulliganed to 5.
We talked afterwards and my opponent said he felt that he couldn't lose to Jund. Can I just say that I disagree with this in every way? For one thing, saying that about any two decks is basically just untrue. Every deck in the format right now is capable of falling on it's own face and just failing to find things or do anything. Secondly, any deck that is three colors can have a problem with Blightning and LD, and that is definitely what I found in testing. Finally, double all of that when you are playing against Jund. Jund has insanely powerful draws, out card-advantages everyone, and can win out of nowhere. That's why it's annoying, that's why it's powerful, that's why people play it. Sometimes you just win. I'm not some sort of filthy Jund apologist- I think it has a number of rough matchups right now and I approach this format with a lot of respect for the tier one decks. There are a lot of really hard to beat god draws out there. Let's not claim that any particular matchup is a bye. It's not, and it's not helpful to act like it is.
Alright, end aside.
Round 4 vs WG tokens with Vengevine
I lose the die roll and play manlands and Hell's Thunder to my opponents not playing anything. I play a Siege-Gang, he O-rings it, and I pulse the O-ring. I ride my 7 goblins to victory. He discarded a couple times, and I saw Elspeth, Vengevine, and a last ditch Martial Coup.
I boarded:
- 3 Goblin Ruinblaster
- 4 Leech
- 1 Hell's Thunder
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 3 Jund Charm
+ 1 Doom Blade
I'm sure this wasn't optimal but I wasn't sure what he was playing. I didn't see any non basics, and I wanted the Hell's Thunders in, so I took out Goblin Ruinblasters. Of course this is going to bite me in the ass.
Game 2 I keep a good hand, and play a turn 3 Thrinax. My opponent plays a Vengevine and declines to attack. I untap and Consuming Vapors. He plays a Ranger and fetches a Scute Mob, and plays both, bringing the Vine back, and doesn't attack. He ends his turn and goes to bin the Ranger, and I have to stop him. I untap, put the Consuming Vapors on the stack, and Jund Charm, and feel deeply fulfilled. Then he Rangers twice, I jund charm for his double vengevined graveyard, and he kills me with Stirring Wildwoods I can't answer.
Game 3 I take a few hits from Vengevine and deal with a Firewalker and kind of stabilize. I play a Sarkhan and make a dragon and things look good. He O-rings my Sarkhan and paths my dragon and attacks me 7. I block with a land the next turn and go to 4, and then he plays a scute mob and a Vengevine and swings for a million. Le sigh. My fiance is 3-0-1 now so I'm playing still.
Round 5 vs Super Friends
I sit down, and the guy next to me says that he likes my tattoos. The guy on the other side is like "That's a good line. 'Does this smell like cloroform?' is a better one." Laughs all around. Geez, I just COULDN'T SAY why more girls don't play magic.
My opponent wins the die roll and plays a colonnade. Then I play Hell's Thunders and attack with lands while my opponent never finds another land. He discards Gideon, Elspeth, other control-y type stuff, and is remarkably not angsty about the whole thing.
I didn't see any Ajanis, so I board for UW:
- 2 Terminate
- 4 Thrinax
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Chandra
+ 1 Doom Blade
Game I get a little flooded, a leech gets Purged, and a doom blade on an active Colonnade gets negated. I go down to one while he has two Colonnades. I resolve a Bit Blast into prophetic prism (not the sexiest but it got a land off the top), and then the next turn I resolve a Ruinblaster on the second Colonnade, and win from there. My opponent is really friendly the whole time, probably the best experience I have had while winning in pretty luck driven ways.
Round 6 vs Mythic Conscription
I sit down and my opponent and I introduce ourselves. A judge drops off the slip and I'm like, "Oh, you're that Jonathan!" It's Jonathan Medina, who I follow on twitter. We chat a bit and I joke that I'm excited to finally play against Mythic. I lose the roll and mulligan twice, and then draw my card and find Consuming Vapors, and scoop them up. I explain that I forgot to de-sideboard, and that I get a game loss. Jonathan doesn't want to call a judge because we're both sure it's a game loss. I realized after the match that we should have anyway because I should have gotten a warning, but I didn't think about it at the time. That was embarrassing moment number 1, by the way. I sideboard:
- 4 Leech
- 4 Hell's Thunder
- 1 Broodmate
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Doom Blade
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 1 Chandra Nalaar
+ 3 Jund Charm
I'm on the play so I would consider bringing in Blightning, but I suspect that Jonathan is bringing in Vengevine, and Jund Charm is never dead in the matchup. It sweeps some boards, clears up for consuming vapors, and makes a Knight smaller. And then when you are ready to win, it helps you do that.
I keep a hand with forked bolt and consuming vapors. Jonathan opens with a turn 2 cobra, but I have the forked bolt, and I'm relieved that I had it when I see the fetchland the next turn. He makes a Hierarch and a Cobra, I Vapors, and then I Bloodbraid into Thrinax. He Bant Charms the Thrinax and swings in with a Vengevine. I trade next turn, he plays another, I kill it, and then the turn after I cascade into Jund charm and remove them from the game, then win with Chandra.
Game 3 I keep a removal heavy hand again and Forked Bolt a cobra. I ruinblast a colonnade, kill a knight, and eventually play out a Siege Gang he can't answer.
Jonathan was super gracious the whole time, and told me that he was going to drop and get to the trading. We talked about the Pack to Power project a bit, and about Mythic and Jund in general. This was my first biggish event so I was super excited to not only meet but actually play someone I knew of from the magic writing world.
As a side note, yeah, I know I was pretty lucky to know what Jonathan was playing in some detail. That's the magic of the internet, I guess.
Round 7 vs UW (Justin Treadway)
This round I was paired against my fiance. This is a big bummer, since we decided that we'd drop when we were both x-3.
Game 1 I won easily. I had an early Putrid Leech and Hell's Thunder, he played a Jace, I played another Hell's Thunder and ate the Jace. He played a Baneslayer, I topdecked a terminate and then cascaded into third Hell's Thunder off a Bloodbraid.
I boarded like so:
- 2 Terminate
- 4 Thrinax
+ 2 Prophetic Prism
+ 2 Consuming Vapors
+ 1 Chandra
+ 1 Doom Blade
He had a spreading seas but I had a prism, and put enough pressure on that he had to play Gideon and then Baneslayer without negate backup, after I Ruinblasted a Colonnade. I topdecked the land I needed to Bit Blast a wall, and Hell's Thunders saw me through the last points.
Sooo.... that's not how I wanted that to go. At Nationals Qualifiers we were paired up in round 2, though, so I guess it's an improvement. Nonetheless, I'm super excited to have done very well against control after being worried about the matchup. I definitely got lucky, but my opponents for the most part had decent draws and plenty of action, and I felt like the Hell's Thunders were critical.
Round 8 vs Jund
In this round, I'm paired against the guy that gave Justin his second loss, so I know he's playing Vengevine Jund. I keep a land with a few too many tap lands, and have a slow start while he stalls out on lands but has a cobra. I keep back a ruinblaster to try to stabilize, but eventually he terminates it, finds a fetch land, and Vengevines me to death.
I board:
-4 Leech
-3 Ruinblaster
+ 3 Jund Charm
+ 2 Forked Bolt
+ 1 Siege-Gang
+ 1 Consuming Vapors
I saw an assortment of fetchlands including Terramorphic and Marsh Flats game one, and think he might not be playing many nonbasics.
Game 2 he accelerates into a Siege Gang off a Lotus Cobra, and I Jund Charm for profit, then beat down with a Bloodbraid and Thrinax while he can't find much action.
Game 3 I mulligan and keep an unexciting hand some lands, an Bloodbraid, a Jund Charm, and a Consuming Vapors. He accelerates into a Leech and a Ruinblaster off a Cobra, and I Jund Charm in response to his destroying my only red source and go to 12 from the Leech. He plays a Vengevine and takes me to six, and I untap on my turn 5 with 3 lands and draw a red source. I miscount, play Consuming Vapors instead of Bloodbraid, and die to Vengevine and a Raging Ravine. Of course I realize my mistake as soon as I do it, my heart sinks, and I spend the rest of the night thinking about what would have happened. I look at my deck afterwards and find that the Bloodbraid would have hit a Thrinax, so that's particularly heartbreaking. I guess you have to make mistakes to learn from them, but I know I'm going to be thinking about that one for days. Yep, that's embarrassing thing to admit on the internet number 2.
Anyway, I had an awesome time, played against universally rad opponents, and was super happy with my deck. I'd recommend it for control and mythic heavy metas, but I think I need to work on it or practice more against Vengevine decks. Starcity Games throws a great event- it was a beautiful venue, basically ran on time, and seemed really smooth throughout. Maybe I can talk Justin into the Baltimore 5k in November? :)
Monday, April 26, 2010
4/26/10
Trying out some stuff:
Birds of Paradise in for Heartwood Storyteller
Terastodon in for Wolfbriar Elemental
Grafted Wargear in for Platinum Angel
:( :(
Sulfuric Vortex in for Rakka Mar
Zo-Zu in for Beacon of Destruction
Smash to Smithereens in for Shattering Pulse
Trying out a bunch of stuff that people seem to like. Smash seems like the Searing Blaze of Shatters. Rakka Mar hasn't really done enough. Wolfbriar is rad but we've had two drafts now where the person playing green had him, but wasn't green enough to play him as anything but a 4/4.
Birds of Paradise in for Heartwood Storyteller
Terastodon in for Wolfbriar Elemental
Grafted Wargear in for Platinum Angel
:( :(
Sulfuric Vortex in for Rakka Mar
Zo-Zu in for Beacon of Destruction
Smash to Smithereens in for Shattering Pulse
Trying out a bunch of stuff that people seem to like. Smash seems like the Searing Blaze of Shatters. Rakka Mar hasn't really done enough. Wolfbriar is rad but we've had two drafts now where the person playing green had him, but wasn't green enough to play him as anything but a 4/4.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
4/24/10 Changes
Wall of Omens in for Hyena Umbra
Sorry, little Umbra buddy. No way you were making the cut.
Crater Hellion in for Caldera Hellion
Trying this out. The sac outlet is interesting, but oh well.
Snake Umbra showed up yesterday and seems ok enough. We'll see- I really want the umbras to show up in a draft with Troll Ascetic or Uril, for maximum dreamy effect.
Sorry, little Umbra buddy. No way you were making the cut.
Crater Hellion in for Caldera Hellion
Trying this out. The sac outlet is interesting, but oh well.
Snake Umbra showed up yesterday and seems ok enough. We'll see- I really want the umbras to show up in a draft with Troll Ascetic or Uril, for maximum dreamy effect.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
04/20/10 Changes
Trying out a bunch of stuff to see what sticks. I'm sure some of these aren't right, but we wanted to give a bunch of things we've been curious about a shot.
Heartwood Storyteller in for Reclaim
I haven't been too hyped up on Reclaim, and we wanted to get more card draw into green. We'll see how it goes.
Boar Umbra in for Hunting Pack
Snake Umbra in for Saproling Burst
We wanted to get a few more auras into the cube. I imagine that whatever doesn't work out will be replaced with Hunting Pack, but we'll see.
Land Tax in for Glorious Anthem
Hyena Umbra in for Pianna, Nomad Captain
Transcendent Master in for Soltari Champion
Knight of the White Orchid in for Otherworldly Journey
Oh god I'm so sad about that.
but I'm really happy about this:
Razormane Masticore in for Dolmen Gate
The Crusher might not be right- we'll see- but at least the Masticore is back!
We just made a bunch of changes to white, so I'll address this here: I agree that our cube doesn't support aggro, and I think that's ok. Actually I think that is normal for a limited format. I know a lot of people really want aggressive red/white decks to be draftable in their cube. For me, it's ok if the most aggressive deck still has 4 and 5 drops, which is how our cube works in practice.
Heartwood Storyteller in for Reclaim
I haven't been too hyped up on Reclaim, and we wanted to get more card draw into green. We'll see how it goes.
Boar Umbra in for Hunting Pack
Snake Umbra in for Saproling Burst
We wanted to get a few more auras into the cube. I imagine that whatever doesn't work out will be replaced with Hunting Pack, but we'll see.
Land Tax in for Glorious Anthem
Hyena Umbra in for Pianna, Nomad Captain
Transcendent Master in for Soltari Champion
Knight of the White Orchid in for Otherworldly Journey
Oh god I'm so sad about that.
but I'm really happy about this:
Razormane Masticore in for Dolmen Gate
The Crusher might not be right- we'll see- but at least the Masticore is back!
We just made a bunch of changes to white, so I'll address this here: I agree that our cube doesn't support aggro, and I think that's ok. Actually I think that is normal for a limited format. I know a lot of people really want aggressive red/white decks to be draftable in their cube. For me, it's ok if the most aggressive deck still has 4 and 5 drops, which is how our cube works in practice.
Monday, April 19, 2010
4/19/10 Changes
I'll write more about this later, but for now:
Gilded Drake in for Chronozoa
Wolfbriar Elemental in for Rhox
Sylvan Library in for Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
Careful Consideration in for Brine Elemental
Gilded Drake in for Chronozoa
Wolfbriar Elemental in for Rhox
Sylvan Library in for Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
Careful Consideration in for Brine Elemental
04/19 Draft 2
This is probably the sickest cube deck in recent memory. I'm embarrassed to show you mine, by comparison.
Justin's deck:
Needless to say I was never in any of the games we played.
Mine:
Justin's deck:
Needless to say I was never in any of the games we played.
Mine:
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Rise of the Eldrazi Changes - Final
Student of Warfare in for Akrasan Squire
Linvala, Keeper of Silence in for Galepowder Mage
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief in for Dark Hatchling
Kargan Dragonlord in for Taurean Mauler
Flame Slash in for Fork
Momentous Fall in for Gaea's Anthem
Vengevine in for River Boa
All is Dust in for Triskelavus
Ulamog's Crusher in for Razormane Masticore
Just trying this out... the masticores don't see enough play to justify having both in.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence in for Galepowder Mage
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief in for Dark Hatchling
Kargan Dragonlord in for Taurean Mauler
Flame Slash in for Fork
Momentous Fall in for Gaea's Anthem
Vengevine in for River Boa
All is Dust in for Triskelavus
Ulamog's Crusher in for Razormane Masticore
Just trying this out... the masticores don't see enough play to justify having both in.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Rise of the Eldrazi Changes
So far, here's what I'm thinking:
Student of Warfare in for Akrasan Squire
Super excited, don't feel like there is much to go wrong here.
Linvala in for Galepowder Mage
One of those cards that worked better in theory. Linvala seems super powerful and a decent body regardless.
All is Dust in for Triskelavus
( I guess it is the colorless section now)
Sorry, buddy. Rules changes were no good at all for you.
Momentous Fall in for Gaea's Anthem
Seems too rad to not include, right?
Student of Warfare in for Akrasan Squire
Super excited, don't feel like there is much to go wrong here.
Linvala in for Galepowder Mage
One of those cards that worked better in theory. Linvala seems super powerful and a decent body regardless.
All is Dust in for Triskelavus
( I guess it is the colorless section now)
Sorry, buddy. Rules changes were no good at all for you.
Momentous Fall in for Gaea's Anthem
Seems too rad to not include, right?
Monday, April 5, 2010
4/5/10 Draft
Ok, so my notes aren't super detailed for this draft, but let's just note- our decks are both awesome and with one exception, every game was totally interesting and fun.
Justin ending up winning, basically with one card each time- Kodama, then Overrun, then Stonewood Invocation. Man, I assume you love Stonewood Invocation too. Right?
The last game was crazy. I decree of pained for 15 cards, nearly decked myself, but I had Platinum Angel to make sure I could still live. Then I turned into an insane person and decided to wait a turn before playing the angel, and a sprout swarm token invocationed right into my face for lethal. Still! Really exciting and I got to live all of my dreams: Bloodghast & Attrition, Urza's Factory and Attrition, Platinum Angel and almost losing, Platinum Angel and Pact, Stuffy Doll and drawing Stuffy Doll every game.
Justin had probably the raddest sideboard in the history of the cube- vedalken shackles for stuffy doll. I'm still charmed by that.
Platinum Angel gets a lot of shit but she really held it down in this series. I think she will still get replaced by All is Dust, but now it will be a bittersweet type of replacement.
My deck:
Justin's:
Justin ending up winning, basically with one card each time- Kodama, then Overrun, then Stonewood Invocation. Man, I assume you love Stonewood Invocation too. Right?
The last game was crazy. I decree of pained for 15 cards, nearly decked myself, but I had Platinum Angel to make sure I could still live. Then I turned into an insane person and decided to wait a turn before playing the angel, and a sprout swarm token invocationed right into my face for lethal. Still! Really exciting and I got to live all of my dreams: Bloodghast & Attrition, Urza's Factory and Attrition, Platinum Angel and almost losing, Platinum Angel and Pact, Stuffy Doll and drawing Stuffy Doll every game.
Justin had probably the raddest sideboard in the history of the cube- vedalken shackles for stuffy doll. I'm still charmed by that.
Platinum Angel gets a lot of shit but she really held it down in this series. I think she will still get replaced by All is Dust, but now it will be a bittersweet type of replacement.
My deck:
Justin's:
4/5/10 Changes
Undermine in for Wydwen, the Gale that Bites
(that's Justin's remark <3 <3 <3)
Worldwake Manlands in for M10 Duals
These have been AWESOME so far. Sorry I ever doubted you, Lava Horse.
(that's Justin's remark <3 <3 <3)
Worldwake Manlands in for M10 Duals
These have been AWESOME so far. Sorry I ever doubted you, Lava Horse.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
4/4 Draft
I lost this one - we went to game 5 - through the awesome decision to NOT include a black source in my deck game 1. I found that out when I went to fetch a land in preparation for my Mana Drain-fueled turn 5 Thrax. Le sigh.
Here's me:
And JT:
I believe Justin directly won two games with Mindslaver. Yay Mindslaver!
Here's me:
And JT:
I believe Justin directly won two games with Mindslaver. Yay Mindslaver!
Monday, March 22, 2010
3/22/10 Draft 2
I'm almost positive Justin won this one.
Look at his deck- doesn't it look rad:
I remember Dominus being the MVP, and Obsidian Fireheart is a ridiculous badass.
Mine:
Look at his deck- doesn't it look rad:
I remember Dominus being the MVP, and Obsidian Fireheart is a ridiculous badass.
Mine:
03/22/10 Draft One
Ok, I'm trying something new here. After our draft last night, Justin and I took some pictures of our decks and made some notes about them. I'm hoping this is entertaining, but it would also be cool to eventually do some data mining... I'm not sure exactly what. If you have any thoughts about what would be interesting or useful to keep track of, let me know!
Here is Justin's deck:
and here is the decklist (minus basic lands, which I'll try to write down in the future)
and here is mine:
and here is the decklist
I won the series, largely of the back of Library. I think the series went to game 5, but my deck definitely performed exceptionally well- I had Reveillark shenanigans, aether vial-into-mirri, and recurring Nekrataals all over.
Mock Interview:
What was your first pick?
J: Day of Judgement. I started in blue as well, but moved into green when that dried up. Call of the Herd was the first green card I took intentionally (Note: we do a "Let's Make a Deal" draft. Basically, you put one card in three piles, then the person who goes first looks at the first card. They can either take it, or add one card from the stack to the pile and move to the next pile. If you don't like any cards you see, you take one off the top. I like this format a lot because you get signals and have the ability to hate out something you just can't deal with, but there is an element of luck as well.)
T: Bane of the Living. I got Laquatus's Champ soon after, and then Baneslayer to put me in white.
What were your MVPs?
J: Time Walk and Austere. Austere won a game where I had tokens and Thea was at 3 with a bunch of huge blockers.
T: Library! Also Ob Nixilis was rad. I think I Necromancy-ed for Laquatus to win once. Yay Necromancy!
What is the one card you wish you had had in your deck?
J: Library.
T: Divinity of Pride, of course.
Here is Justin's deck:
and here is the decklist (minus basic lands, which I'll try to write down in the future)
and here is mine:
and here is the decklist
I won the series, largely of the back of Library. I think the series went to game 5, but my deck definitely performed exceptionally well- I had Reveillark shenanigans, aether vial-into-mirri, and recurring Nekrataals all over.
Mock Interview:
What was your first pick?
J: Day of Judgement. I started in blue as well, but moved into green when that dried up. Call of the Herd was the first green card I took intentionally (Note: we do a "Let's Make a Deal" draft. Basically, you put one card in three piles, then the person who goes first looks at the first card. They can either take it, or add one card from the stack to the pile and move to the next pile. If you don't like any cards you see, you take one off the top. I like this format a lot because you get signals and have the ability to hate out something you just can't deal with, but there is an element of luck as well.)
T: Bane of the Living. I got Laquatus's Champ soon after, and then Baneslayer to put me in white.
What were your MVPs?
J: Time Walk and Austere. Austere won a game where I had tokens and Thea was at 3 with a bunch of huge blockers.
T: Library! Also Ob Nixilis was rad. I think I Necromancy-ed for Laquatus to win once. Yay Necromancy!
What is the one card you wish you had had in your deck?
J: Library.
T: Divinity of Pride, of course.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
2/23/10 Draft
I had a very "whatever I need, when I need it" couple of games with this deck- I won the series but it probably wasn't that representative of what should have happened. Aether Vial is pretty much the best ever though. This was a debut for Thunderblust and he was awesome. Oh, I also had LD on turn 4 every game. Yikes.
My deck:
Justin's:
My deck:
Justin's:
Monday, February 22, 2010
2/22 Draft 2
Yuckers. This is one of the worst decks I've drafted in the cube:
And Justin decided to prove why mono-red-hybrid is the raddest:
I don't like to say blowout, but there we are.
And Justin decided to prove why mono-red-hybrid is the raddest:
I don't like to say blowout, but there we are.
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