WWr -Type 2- 10/28/2006 | SSB - TS Draft- 10/06/2006 |
Sea Stompy -Type 2- 09/22/2006 | BUG -Type 2- 07/21/2006
UR Tron -Type 2- 12/23/2005 | MUC -Type 2- 12/01/2005 |
Gobbos -1.5- 11/12/2005 | Rats -Type 2- 09/08/2005
Blue Tooth -Type 2- 09/01/2005 | Stax -Type 1- 08/13/2005 |
WW -KBC- 07/09/2005 | Combo Oath -Type 1- 07/02/2005
Gobbos -1.5- 04/17/2005 | Slaver -Type 1- 03/24/2005 |
Gobbos -Ext- 03/20/2005 | 5/3 -Type 1- 03/19/2005
Fling Affinity -Ext- 03/05/2005 | RDW -Ext- 01/30/2005 |
Ghoul Dragon -Type 1- 07/30/2004 | Ravager -Ext- 07/23/2004
Oath -Type 1- 07/16/2004 | Belcher -Type 1- 07/02/2004 |
Life -Ext- 05/14/2004 | GAT -Type 1- 03/12/2004
Squee Control -Ext- 03/05/2004 | UG Madness -Ext- 02/20/2004 |
Dragon -Type 1- 02/13/2004 | Long -Type 1- 12/06/2003
Tinker -Ext- 11/29/2003 | Cog Oath -Ext- 11/02/2003 |
MUD -Type 1- 05/29/2003 | Contamination -Ext- 11/09/2002
UG Madness -Type 2- 05/11/2002 | BooGeR -Type 2- 04/15/2002 |
Basket Case -Ext- 02/10/2002 | Griff -Type 2- 11/25/2001
 'WWr' --Standard deck (RBC+CS+TS)
|
4 Battlefield Forge
1 Boros Garrison
3 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Mountain
7 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Lightning Helix  
3 Cloudchaser Kestrel 1
4 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
3 Leonin Skyhunter
3 Paladin en-Vec 1
4 Savannah Lions
4 Soltari Priest
|
3 Browbeat 2
4 Char 2
3 Demonfire X
4 Rift Bolt 2
Sideboard:
4 Cryoclasm 2
3 Stone Rain 2
4 Boros Fury Shield 2
4 Worship 3
|
I've never been to states and was getting tired of going to Jaks for FNM, only to end up drafting because not enough
people show for standard. That, plus the awful prize structure and the lack of getting tournaments actually processed
made me want to go to Jackson at the last minute for some decent constructed action. I thought it would be nice and
easy compared to, oh say, a GP. But as it turned out, there were some decent, albeit non-pro, players at the top
tables. Everytime I made it higher than table 10, I would narrowly lose (except the Dragonstorm matchup which kicked
my ass ever so quickly).
I wanted to play UG and wish I'd mustered up the cards to do so. The folks in the top tables knew one
another and had tested together and it reminded me that to do well, you need a team, both for testing and for card
pooling.
I played against: BW, Dragonstorm, BW (bad), MUC, UR Tron and then a very bad WUB mill deck. I made some minor mistakes that ended up costing me games. Against the mono-blue build (after quick beats in the first game and a mana screw for me in the second) I screwed up by not reading Tefari and not knowing that I couldn't play instants as instants. I was counting on an EOT Helix, but it didn't happen. Another costly mistake came in the next match with an EOT Char that I forgot to cast. Thanks to the delay in casting it, I ended up losing because my opponent countered the Char when I did cast it, putting him at 6 which was too much for my last turn where I had 2 Demonfires and 7 mana available. I was hoping to draw a land, but did not (drew the 2nd Demonfire instead and yes, he had a counter).
The build wasn't too bad. I sided out Knights and Paladins quite frequently, often bringing in the land destruction suite.
The Fury Shields never came in (what a waste of 4 slots). I brought the Worships in against Dragonstorm, but the guy
went off much too quickly. The Browbeats weren't bad, really... 5 damage for 3 mana ain't bad, and I was always happy
to draw the cards. The Demonfires were gems... and won me several games against control. The need for uncounterable
burn would make me consider Sudden Shock as well. And in hopes for more damage, I could see using Sudden Impact, perhaps
in the board.
It may not be the greatest deck or build, but certainly isn't the worst thing out there, either. It could really use
Isamaru, though...
|
|
06-10-1134947, 18353 06 Champs Standard: 2006-10-28
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 6 |
Richard G. Frederick |
Win |
1788 |
| 5 |
Ben A. Kossman |
Loss |
1782 |
| 4 |
George A. Temple |
Loss |
1799 |
| 3 |
Dominick Nguyen |
Win |
1812 |
| 2 |
Roger J. Mitchell II |
Loss |
1806 |
1 |
Nicholas A. Cutrer |
Win |
1825 |
 'Star Spangled Jank' --Booster Draft (Time Spiral x3)
|
6 Island
5 Mountain
5 Plains
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Fledgeling Mawcor 3
4 Looter il-Kor 1
1 Temporal Eddy 2
3 Bogardan Rager 5
2 Coal Stoker 3
2 Rift Bolt 2
|
1 Amrou Seekers 2
2 Castle Raptors 4
1 Duskrider Peregrine 5
1 Essence Sliver 3
1 Flickering Spirit 3
2 Jedit's Dragoons 5
1 Spirit Loop 1
|
I'm not a huge fan of limited, but figured Time Spiral might yield some decent cards, given the
time shifts and all. I was wrong. Very wrong... assuming that Ancestral Vision is not so great,
which is my going assumption, there wasn't a good rare opened anywhere in the room and even after
the draft when everyone was opening product left and right, the only reasonably good card I saw
was Shadowmage Infiltrator. I remember seeing a Mishra, as well, but he's not exactly the hottest
card ever printed.
Anyway, I started with Ancestral Vision and then picked up "some" Looters. I liked that I had
all sorts of card advantage, but figured I needed something good to draw into. So I went for green,
which is usually a favorite of mine for delivering beastly beats in limited. I found out quickly
(but not quickly enough) that green is sadly lacking in common beatsticks for this set. I then
started drafting everything reasonably decent that I could, regardless of the color. I had the intent
to go blue/green/something, but more and more decent (though costly) white cards kept coming my way.
Next thing I knew, it was blue/white/something and by the end of the draft, I felt that the whole thing
would be a complete wash. I sat down and looked at my cards, comparing the relative strengths of each
color I had drafted, not even knowing what color I would play at first. I narrowly ruled out green because
the Rift Bolts and Bogardin Ragers were looking soooo good. And though I had some fine black cards,
there just weren't enough to merit the use of black.
I kid you not, I felt ill looking at the thing. I was hoping for a 2-2 record at best.
Through some twist of fate, however, I clawed my way to the top... narrowly, I might add, with
the exception of the semis, where I played some kid with a suicide red/white/black deck. He kept barreling in with
fast 2/2s and 3/3s, taking me down quickly, but losing the long game. Good thing I had Essence
Sliver and the Dragoons... they helped me to actually go 2-0 in that match!
So, this set seems to be rather watered down compared to Ravnica block. I was woefully
unprepared for the drop in power level, so don't feel bad if your deck looks like ass. You
might still be able to lucksack your way to the top like I did.
Oh and, by the way, with all that evasion, the Ragers did indeed kick some ass. They were also
great with Essence Sliver and Spirit Loop.
|
|
06-10-956537, JAK's Booster: 2006-10-06
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 6 |
Ciaran Druken |
Draw (Intentional) |
1695 |
| 5 |
Steven Russell |
Win |
1696 |
| 4 |
Nathan J. Fountain |
Win |
1691 |
| 3 |
Joey Westbrook |
Win |
1684 |
| 2 |
Curtis L. Spiers |
Win |
1679 |
1 |
Ciaran Druken |
Loss |
1673 |
'Sea Stompy' --Standard deck (KBC+RBC+CS)
|
4 Breeding Pool
4 Forest
4 Shivan Reef
4 Swamp
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Yavimaya Coast
4 Umezawa's Jitte 2
4 Trygon Predator 1
2 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror 4
4 Mana Leak 1
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours 1
4 Remand 1
|
3 Birds of Paradise
3 Llanowar Elves
3 Ohran Viper 1
4 Kird Ape
3 Seal of Fire
Sideboard:
3 Rumbling Slum 1
4 Carven Carytid 1
4 Cryoclasm 2
4 Stone Rain 2
|
So, I bought some Ohran Vipers on Cardshark for $9 a piece and got a playset of Steam Vents for $32,
and all of a sudden, I had a near copy of Cornelissen's Nats deck.
Anyway, I played against: budgety UW Skies, Gruul Beats, Solar Flare, Solar Flare, Gruul Beats. I 2-0'd the whole way, straight into
the finals and the deck finally crapped out on me. All in all, it worked pretty well and I'm not too confident on what sort
of tweaks to make. The sideboard was fully used and the only card that was consistently sided out was Seal of Fire. I'm not sure
what to do with that slot, other than maybe just maindecking Rumbling Slums. With room in the side, I could go for Threads of
Disloyalty, Giant Solifuge, Spell Snare or maybe Hinder. Maybe Sowing Salt to shore up that Solar Flare matchup... Or maybe put the
Seal in the side, so I don't get rocked by all sorts of critters.
Also, this deck is going to be hurting when Jitte rotates out. Ninja of the Deep Hours? Sure. Meloku? Bummer. But Jitte? I
don't think so.
|
|
06-09-956535, JAK's Standard: 2006-09-22
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Michael Esposito |
Loss |
1819 |
| 4 |
Jesse Huskey |
Win |
1833 |
| 3 |
Jesse Huskey |
Win |
1828 |
| 2 |
Michael Esposito |
Win |
1823 |
1 |
Richard Ellis |
Win |
1820 |
'BUG' --Standard deck (KBC+RBC)
|
4 Forest
4 Island
5 Swamp
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Watery Grave
2 Yavimaya Coast
4 Umezawa's Jitte 2
4 Putrefy 1
4 Trygon Predator 1
1 Darkblast
4 Dark Confidant 1
4 Hypnotic Specter 1
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni 4
|
4 Mana Leak 1
4 Plaxmanta 1
4 Remand 1
3 Birds of Paradise
Sideboard:
2 Darkblast
3 Nekrataal 2
3 Golgari Brownscale 1
4 Gristleback 2
3 Naturalize 1
|
Due to would-be plans to play extended, I had most of the cards for this Sacramento BUG deck (aside from Breeding Pools,
obviously) and thought I'd give it a go. Luckily, the meta was fairly weak and the deck did well, only losing
one match, primarily to mana screw (as in 8 lands, no blue mana, in the second game).
The decks strength lies primarily in Dark Bob and Jitte. Unchecked, these cards just win it for you. My choice of the lone
Darkblast in the main proved handy on occasion. I'd leave it, as random as it may seem. The only cards that proved to be
pretty meh were the Birds. My janky sideboard worked pretty well, aside from the extra Darkblasts. I really liked the
Brownscale and Gristleback and I'd consider something like Repeal or Last Gasp in place of those Darkblasts or even
Spell Snare, just for the hell of it. Repeal would be nice for Paladin en-Vec. I got trounced by a Paladin with a
Moldervine Cloak, while holding a Nekrataal and Putrefy.
Also, I had trouble in testing against Zoo and Gruul, but played a poor Gruul deck and a Zoo deck and went 2-0 against each.
Personally, I'd be leary of taking this deck into a really heavy aggro field. Or, if I had to, I'd probably put Carven Carytids
or Gristlebacks or some such in the main.
I'm thinking -1 Ink-Eyes, -3 BoP, -1 Swamp, +3 STE, +1 Golgari Brownscale, +1 Forest in the main... and -2 Darkblast, -1 Nekrataal, +3 Carytid in the
side. Some Breeding Pools would be nice, too.
|
|
06-07-956523, JAK's Standard: 2006-07-21 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 6 |
Jesse Huskey |
Win |
1826 |
| 5 |
Nathan Fountain |
Win |
1821 |
| 4 |
Scott Stanberry |
Win |
1818 |
| 3 |
John Krieger |
Loss |
1813 |
| 2 |
Jesse Huskey |
Win |
1826 |
1 |
Josh Sheckells |
Win |
1821 |
|
'UR Tron' --Standard deck (KamiBC+Ravnica)
|
1 Forbidden Orchard
3 Island
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mountain
4 Shivan Reef
2 Tendo Ice Bridge
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
3 Dimir Signet 2
4 Compulsive Research 2
2 Confiscate 4
4 Disrupting Shoal X
4 Keiga, the Tide Star 5
3 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror 4
4 Remand 1
4 Telling Time 1
4 Blaze X
4 Pyroclasm 1
|
Sideboard:
1 Pithing Needle 1
3 Ribbons of Night 4
3 Mana Leak 1
4 Rewind 2
4 Threads of Disloyalty 1
|
|
This is the 3rd time I've played this deck now, and I must say, it's not bad at all. It
has a tendancy to win when it gets tron and lose without it. And every now and then, I
go through half my deck without getting tron or a Blaze. Those would be the games I lose.
If I had more Pithing Needles, I would use those, since that Greater Good deck is a real
pain. Other than that, it's a pretty decent deck.
|
|
05-12-953031, Friday Night Magic: 2005-12-23 (8K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Julian Alvarado |
Win |
1813 |
| 3 |
David Jones |
Win |
1811 |
| 2 |
Stephen W. Artman |
Win |
1809 |
| 1 |
Matt Dircks |
Loss |
1807 |
|
'MUC' --Standard deck (KamiBC+Ravnica)
|
17 Island
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Quicksand
2 Azami, Lady of Scrolls 2
3 Boomerang
4 Disrupting Shoal X
4 Threads of Disloyalty 1
4 Hinder 1
3 Jushi Apprentice 1
4 Keiga, the Tide Star 5
4 Mana Leak 1
3 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror 5
4 Remand 1
|
Sideboard:
1 Pithing Needle 1
1 Flow of Ideas 5
2 Kaijin of the Vanashing Touch 1
3 Overwhelming Intellect 1
4 Quash 2
4 Rewind 2
|
|
I didn't expect to do so poorly. While I was missing some things, and had a random sideboard, I still
expected a little better after I ran this through apprentice a few times (it seemed decent). I ended
up losing to a GB deck with Specters and... Persecutes in the main... and Iwamori. You'd think that after
drawing twenty cards or so, I could come up with a legend, or in some cases, land. The way the deck
played, you'd think it only ran 20 lands or something. Bah. So, after that, I had a close call with a
a deck that was nearly straight burn (he should've won). And then came a goblin deck... in type 2.
He ran a ton of 1 drops and if there's anything this deck lacks, it's good removal. I recommend running
a splash for either Hideous Laughter or Pyroclasm. Too bad Sun Droplet's not legal anymore.
Oh and, Disrupting Shoal is simply incredible in this format. And Azami is badass.
|
|
05-12-956360, Thur Type 2 - 6 PM @ Merlyn's: 2005-12-01 (16k)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Benjamin Robinson |
Loss |
1799 |
| 3 |
Jacob C. Huss |
Win |
1809 |
| 2 |
|
Bye |
|
1 |
Michael Graybeal |
Loss |
1805 |
|
'Goblins' --Legacy deck (through Ravnica)
|
4 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
1 Swamp
3 Rishadan Port
3 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Aether Vial 1
4 Gempalm Incinerator 2
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron 2
4 Goblin Piledriver 1
4 Goblin Ringleader 3
4 Goblin Warchief 1
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 2
4 Mogg Fanatic
3 Siege-Gang Commander 3
1 Skirk Prospector
|
Sideboard:
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Duress
4 Gloom 2
4 Pyrokinesis 4
|
In my defense, I must say that I hadn't planned on playing Goblins for the GP. It only took a few
rounds to reveal that the mana base had issues and given the fact that a lot of folks ran fetchies
and basics, I'd actually consider dumping just the Wastelands. I was pressured into running
Kiki-Jiki and it proved to be a win more card, as I originally thought. Mogg Fanatics were decent
at times, but I originally stuck them in there for the mirror, which I didn't face, so they were
meh. And, of course, to everyone's horror, I didn't run a Sharpshooter. Oh well...
I think the sideboard was decent, but I just wasn't drawing it. In hindsight, I should have counted
on a low combo turnout and went with a green or white splash instead, opening up cards like
Disenchant, Naturalize, Armageddon and even SotF.
And Pyrokinesis was awesome.
In hindsight, I should have had a local playtest team. Then I would've ditched FlameVault and Burn
earlier and honed Goblins. Survival Goblins sounds particularly appealing. I'd love to do it again
with 3 SotFs, a Squee and maybe some utility, like Tinkerer, Patron of the Akki, Pyromancer, King,
etc. Although, I'd probably have even more manabase problems trying to support SotF.
Anyway, I think it's worth reiterating that the mana base was the key disappointment. It singlehandedly
kept me from day 2.
|
|
05-11-897667, Grand Prix - Philadelphia: 11/12/2005 (40K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 7 |
Ethan Martin |
Loss |
1868 |
| 6 |
Richard J Shay |
Loss |
1899 |
| 5 |
Stephen Strock |
Win |
1926 |
| 4 |
Alex Y Lieberman |
Loss |
1919 |
| 3 |
Lyle N Hawkyard Jr. |
Win |
1954 |
| 2 |
|
Bye |
|
| 1 |
|
Bye |
|
|
'Dimir Deck' --Booster Draft (Ravnica x3)
|
8 Island
7 Swamp
2 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Terrarion 1
1 Clutch of the Undercity 1
1 Dimir Guildmage 
4 Dimir Infiltrator
1 Moroii 2
2 Perplex 1
|
1 Brainspoil 3
2 Clinging Darkness 1
2 Compulsive Research 2
1 Convolute 2
2 Flight of Fancy 3
2 Snapping Drake 3
2 Surveilling Sprite 1
1 Tattered Drake 4
|
My first Ravnica draft...
So I start with a first pick Viashino Fangtail and then
some mediocre red and white cards follow. Suddenly, red and white are completely wretched, with the only good card
in those colors being a Skynight Legionnaire in the
third pack. If I'd adamantly stuck to RW, I would've had a thoroughly awful deck. Fortunately, having already drafted
two Compulsive Researches for splash, I go for a Moroii and it's off to UB land from there. I barely draft
enough UB to make a 2 color deck (thus no real sideboard whatsoever).
The first matchup is a raping by RW. It turns out that the guy had drafted three Viashino Fangtails. WTF! Why in the
hell couldn't I have been sitting in his spot! Anyway, he gets plenty of them out in addition to some other decent RW
cards and I meet a speedy demise. Next comes a rather subpar RW with Sunforger
which I beat despite poor hands and draws. Then I managed to fight... guess what? Another RW deck. This one was
rather midgrade and I manage to do well thanks to early Moroiis. Next match was Paul Baulne and I got all excited
after winning the first game with ease, only to suck it for the next two, thanks to the GW guildmage. I officially
hate that card. That and Faith's Fetters. He managed to
get multiples of them and the normally poker-faced Paul was unable to suppress his delight for the rest of the last
game after nerfing a Moroii with one. Glad I could entertain with my frustration. And finally, I played against a
UB deck with lots of mill effects. The deck was coherent, but lacked any apparent way to deal with much of anything.
I ask what his first pick was and it was Psychic Drain. Psychic Drain? Whatever.
I have limited experience in limited, so I learned a bit, namely to switch to something early in the first pack if it's
obviously not being drafted on your right. I lost a number of decent UB picks early in the first pack drafting meh RW
cards. I could have used more removal. More Clinging Darkness would have been great. Also, I should have picked up on
some Peel from Reality or
Last Gasp. They would've certainly been better than Perplex and Convolute. But
what I was really missing was at least one bomb to transmute into. Like the Sunforger that my second opponent had PASSED
to him (or so he claimed). I don't know what the hell was going on in the other two pods but there were ZERO rare drafters
at my table, evident from the number of rares I was being passed. Some went completely around the table like
Excruciator,
Dark Confidant and
Mindleech Mass. Meanwhile, other pods had it easy with
drafters like the idiot who was quite proud to share that he had gotten a boatload of rares. I hope he chokes on them.
|
|
05-10-924451, Ravnica Booster Draft @ Merlyn's: 10/07/2005 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Nicholas A Svara |
Win |
1673 |
| 4 |
Paul Baulne |
Loss |
1667 |
| 3 |
Justin Mager |
Win |
1670 |
| 2 |
Steven Obrist |
Win |
1663 |
| 1 |
Anthony W Nelson |
Loss |
1659 |
|
'Rats' --Standard deck (MrBC+KBC)
|
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Forest
4 Llanowar Wastes
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
11 Swamp
1 Tomb of Urami
4 Aether Vial 1
2 Pithing Needle 1
4 Umezawa's Jitte 2
4 Chittering Rats 1
4 Hypnotic Specter 1
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni 4
2 Nekrataal 2
4 Night's Whisper 1
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi 3
4 Ravenous Rats 1
2 Rend Flesh 2
4 Viridian Shaman 2
|
Sideboard:
2 Pithing Needle 1
3 Razormane Masticore 5
4 Cranial Extraction 3
2 Nekrataal 2
4 Oxidize
|
First of all, I am completely aware that I fux0reD this deck up. I do not have Shortfangs or Swords of this and that. But
since I was sort of mostly close, I figured what the heck. I would recommend playing something else in local
tourneys. I'm sure this thing is good in a tier 1 deck-laden meta, but I felt pressured by decks that were "meh" at best.
On to card choices. Forests: since Oxidize never got sided in, these can definitely go. Shizo: I'd actually play 2 if
I had to do it again. Pithing Needle in main: Needle is subpar against subpar decks. Ink-Eyes: would up to 2.
Nekrataal: good against most random decks. Night's Whisper: 4 is too much. The number of Okiba-Gang Shinobi was
just right. Ravenous Rats may need to be in the deck... but they just felt soooo lame. Viridian Shaman... do not maindeck
4 in an underpowered meta. They were often sided out along with the Needles. As for my random board, Oxidize never came in,
nor, I believe, did Pithing Needle. Sword of Light and Shadow would be nice here. Also, if you've got plenty of White
Weenie in your meta, I would consider Kagemaro... or something.
I would rather play a blue deck instead. This rat deck (albeit a bad build) felt weak. The one good thing, however, was that
Aether Vial ended up tearing mono-blue to shreds. So if your meta is full of blue, play this and mulligan 'til you get
Aether Vial.
Oh and, take note of the cool tricks you can do with Aether Vial and the rats. I didn't realize I could deny draws this way
until the end of my first game.
|
|
05-09-912157, Thu Type 2 - 6 PM @ Merlyn's: 09/08/2005 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Nicholas L Harris |
Win |
1817 |
| 3 |
Charlie Borcich |
Win |
1811 |
| 2 |
Alex Chandler |
Win |
1807 |
1 |
Bobby W Bagnoli |
Loss |
1804 |
|
'Goblins' --Legacy deck (through BoK)
|
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
4 Plateau
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
4 Aether Vial 1
4 Gempalm Incinerator 2
1 Goblin Chirurgeon
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron 2
4 Goblin Piledriver 1
4 Goblin Ringleader 3
4 Goblin Warchief 1
3 Siege-Gang Commander 3
4 Skirk Prospector
|
Sideboard:
4 Null Rod 2
4 Pyrostatic Pillar 1
4 Seal of Cleansing 1
3 Swords to Plowshares
|
This tourney was mostly combo, but I was lucky enough to avoid the fierce combo decks, only having to deal with
Aluren in the end (and it was pretty rough). I was planning more on 1.5 combo decks like Salvagers and Belcher,
which I could hose with Null Rod. Instead, we had 1 Belcher, 1 Aluren, 1 ProsBloom and 1 Janky-Orb deck and I
didn't run into Belcher. Null Rod was, however, critical in disabling an Affinity deck that would have otherwise
ran over me. Anyway, my point is that this odd 10 man tourney was certainly not a rough meta by any means.
I gotta say, the final match, however, was pretty exciting. I kept a Mountainless hand with Aether Vial and despite
wasting a Hickory Woodlot and keeping another 2 Woodlots tapped with Ports, he eventually got enough mana
and won since I never got enough counters on my Vial for any good goblins. A Lackey in opening hand
would have won that, so I shuffled up, hoping for a similar hand + Lackey and kept a 6 card hand of
Lackey, Siege-Gang, Wasteland and 3 other lands. Hooray for Lackey. Game 3: He's on the play so I
keep a hand of Lackey, Vial, Seal of Cleansing and lands (hoping for any decent goblins in the next
few draws). I think he kept a less than stellar hand and my first two draws are Wastelands (in addition to
one in hand). I draw no goblins, but it matters not, since he has 2 Wall of Roots in play soon enough anyway. I
throw out a Pillar and he clears the board with Deed. I topdeck and play Pillar (this is about my 7th turn, I
believe) and Port his land, which he responds to with Naturalize. Soon after, I play my
2nd Goblin, a Warchief, (this drawn on turn 8? in a deck with 32 goblins) and have a 5th land to support Port.
And finally, I draw a Siege-Gang Commander the very next turn!
Anyway, on to the deck: it has one great strength: Lackey/Vial + Port/Wasteland,
which basically means, it's got Lackey over extended goblins. I went without Grenade... and yeah, well, maybe
that could have helped. I'd need to test it, I guess. As for the Chirurgeon, I certainly don't recommend it.
It was a last minute fill in for the 4th Siege-Gang Commander that I do not own. The sideboard seemed to work well,
although I never sided StP in.
|
|
05-04-839305, Sunday Night Tournament @ Gamer's Haven: 04/24/2005 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Robert c Draggoo |
Win |
1893 |
| 3 |
Melissa Grannis |
Win |
1890 |
| 2 |
Jeff Grannis |
Win |
1888 |
| 1 |
Brian Reynolds |
Win |
1885 |
|
'Red Deck Wins' --Extended deck (through CoK)
|
4 Bloodstained Mire
8 Mountain
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Cursed Scroll 1
4 Ensnaring Bridge 3
4 Blistering Firecat 1
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Jackal Pup
4 Magma Jet 1
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Seal of Fire
4 Volcanic Hammer 1
|
Sideboard:
4 Cursed Totem 2
3 Powder Keg 2
4 Pillage 1
4 Sulfuric Vortex 1
|
|
I expected fat aggro and at least one Life deck, so I traded out Firebolt for Hammer and Pillage for
Ensnaring Bridge... and I overloaded my side with Life hate. This was an immensely bad idea, since I ran into
neither Life nor UG madness. Firebolt would have been golden in this tourney. Bridge was okay when I got it,
but this was seldom. And Pillage would've been nice in the mirror for Cursed Scroll (which is what got me
first game vs. RDW). One odd sideboarding solution I tried that seemed to work alright (despite the fact I
lost) was running the Bridges in the mirror after sideboarding. He had a useless Flametongue and Fledgeling
Dragon out, with more in hand thanks to (several) Bridges I brought out.
|
|
05-01-783801, Saturday Nite Tournament @ Gamer's Haven: 01/30/2005 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Robert Dragoo |
Loss |
1834 |
| 3 |
Joe Vogl |
Win |
1842 |
| 2 |
|
Bye |
|
| 1 |
Dan Hanson |
Loss |
1838 |
|
'Ghoul Dragon' --Vintage deck (thru FD)
|
4 Bayou
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 City of Brass
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
1 Black Lotus 0
1 Chrome Mox 0
1 Mana Crypt 0
1 Mox Emerald 0
1 Mox Jet 0
1 Mox Pearl 0
1 Mox Ruby 0
1 Mox Sapphire 0
4 Animate Dead 1
3 Cabal Therapy
1 Demonic Tutor 1
4 Duress
4 Necromancy 2
1 Sutured Ghoul 4
|
1 Ambassador Laquatus 1
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Acorn Harvest 3
1 Crop Rotation
4 Hermit Druid 1
1 Krosan Reclamation 1
1 Dragon Breath 1
3 Squee, Goblin Nabob 2
4 Worldgorger Dragon 3
Sideboard:
3 Pernicious Deed 1
2 Chill 1
2 Deep Analysis 3
3 Hurkyl's Recall 1
2 Krosan Reclamation 1
2 Oxidize
1 Ray of Revelation
|
Again, combo is king at Getaway Games, as long as nobody is prepared for you. I didn't want to lose to Dragon hate, so I mashed
Angry Hermit in. Why put the Ghoul in? Versatility. Ghoul is immune to Blue Elemental Blast and if removed
with StP or bounced, you don't lose all your permanents and you can try again the very next turn with the Dragon
combo. Anyway, all my playtesting in Apprentice made me anxious to play it. It had an incredible goldfish and
seemed more consistent than regular Dragon. Unfortunately, in the 2 whole rounds I played, it performed dismally.
After an ID with Frank, I played Graeme and mulliganed my first hand to 5. Aggresive mulligans paid off immensely
in Apprentice, but my 5-card hand with Bazaar just wasn't fast enough for Arcbound Combo. I kept a subpar hand in
the second game and it was ripped to shreds by Cabal Therapy. I tried hardcasting Dragon and it was Hydroblasted.
The next round I won the first game using Hermit Druid, and the second using Dragon. But it took far too long.
How to Play it: See my dragon deck entry from 02/13 for an explanation of the Dragon combo.
As for the Hermit Druid part: 1. Activate the Druid to dump your entire library into your graveyard, 2. If you don't have
an Animate in hand, flashback 2 Animate Deads so you can draw them, 3. If you have enough mana, flashback Acorn
Harvest and flashback Cabal Therapies, 4. Animate Sutured Ghoul removing all but a Worldgorger and Laquatus, pulling
out Dragon Breath on the Ghoul, 4. Attack for twenty-some and if it doesn't work, Animate Worldgorger next turn.
|
|
04-07-712853, Type 1 @ Getaway Games: 07/30/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Brenden Tayon |
Win |
1809 |
| 3 |
Graeme D Meredith |
Loss |
1805 |
| 2 |
Frank N Wilson |
Draw |
1813 |
1 |
|
Bye |
1816 |
|
'Ravager Affinity' --Extended deck (TE thru FD)
|
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Glimmervoid
4 Seat of Synod
4 Great Furnace
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Arcbound Ravager 2
4 Cranial Plating 2
4 Frogmite 4
4 Myr Enforcer 7
4 Ornithopter 0
4 Skullclamp 1
4 Welding Jar 0
|
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Somber Hoverguard 5
4 Thoughtcast 4
Sideboard:
4 Engineered Plague 2
2 Perish 2
2 Chain of Vapor
4 Chill 1
3 Shattering Pulse 1
|
This is a pretty solid deck. It's pretty fast, and seems to beat most other aggro decks and even combo. If combo were
a problem, or if I were playing in a more diverse meta, Mana Leaks or Arcane Lab in the side might be the way to
go. As for control, the deck just has too many must counter spells and perhaps too many spells period. It seemed
to overwhelm Alan's Tog deck easily. Fun deck, this one is.
How to Play it: Play cards, beat down, wash, rinse, repeat.
|
|
04-07-712859, Extended @ Getaway Games: 07/23/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Alan J Cornelius |
Win |
1827 |
| 3 |
Brian Reynolds |
Win |
1821 |
| 2 |
Michael Bosse |
Win |
1817 |
1 |
Joe Mackey |
Win |
1813 |
|
'Belcher' --Vintage deck thru FD)
|
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Black Lotus 0
4 Chromatic Sphere 1
1 Chrome Mox 0
1 Goblin Charblecher 4
1 Grim Monolith 2
1 Lion's Eye Diamond 0
1 Lotus Petal 0
1 Mana Crypt 0
1 Mana Vault 0
1 Memory Jar 5
1 Mox Emerald 0
1 Mox Jet 0
1 Mox Pearl 0
1 Mox Ruby 0
1 Mox Sapphire 0
1 Sol Ring 1
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor 1
1 Necropotence
1 Spoils of the Vault
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain 4
1 Yawgmoth's Will 2
|
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Brainstorm
1 Timetwister 2
1 Tinker 2
1 Windfall 2
1 Channel
4 Elvish Spirit Guide 2
4 Land Grant 1
2 Living Wish 1
4 Tinder Wall
3 Goblin Welder
1 Wheel of Fortune 2
Sideboard:
1 City of Traitors
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Windswept Heath
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Bone Shredder 2
4 Elvish Lyrist
4 Viridian Shaman 2
1 Xantid Swarm
1 Goblin Welder
|
This is a near clone of Kim Kluck's Belcher (maindeck, that is). I took out the Tendrils
and added Bargain, which, like Channel (MVP!), can easily contribute to a first turn kill
(unlike Tendrils). The side is quite different from the original. A major piece of tech
is the Heath, which can help fetch out a belch-blocking land.
To make a long story short, this deck is very inconsistent and I wouldn't take it into
a control heavy meta. The lack of disruption and control elements that most combo decks
pack makes it quite vulnerable. This deck tries to make up for that in sheer breakneck
speed, but can fail. If control is lacking in your meta, however, this could very well be
the deck for you, especially if you like the thrill of 1st-3rd turn kills. The deck flops
occasionally, but it is pretty solid for the most part. From my limited experience in
playing severe combo (Dragon, Long & thoroughly testing Rector Trix) I'd say it's the most
explosive. It's like a faster, easier Long.dec that's more vulnerable to control.
Mana problems often arise from the fact that a lot of the mana is disposable. Maybe if
WotC printed some sort of cool Land Grant clone, the deck would catapult into tier 1
status. A Land Grant/Duress or Land Grant/Dark Ritual split card would do the trick!
How to Play it: Play Belcher, belch and win.
|
|
04-07-712851, Type 1 @ Getaway Games: 07/02/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Graeme D Meredith |
Win |
1811 |
| 3 |
Eric Tyson |
Win |
1803 |
| 2 |
Frank N Wilson |
Win |
1799 |
1 |
Demeritius Griffin |
Win |
1794 |
|
'Life' --Extended deck (TE thru DS)
|
4 Brushland
3 Forest
1 High Market
8 Plains
3 Starlit Sanctum
4 Windswept Heath
4 Eladamri's Call
1 Future Sight 2
4 Living Wish 1
3 Academy Rector 3
1 Animal Boneyard 2
3 Daru Spritualist 1
3 Nomads en-Kor
1 Seal of Cleansing 1
4 Shaman en-Kor 1
4 Task Force 2
4 Test of Endurance 2
4 Worthy Cause
|
Sideboard:
1 Starlit Sanctum
2 Choke 2
1 Genesis 4
1 Viridian Shaman 2
1 Xantid Swarm
1 Academy Rector 3
1 Daru Spritualist 1
1 Monk Realist 1
1 Nomads en-Kor
1 Rule of Law 2
3 Seal of Cleansing 1
|
It performed much worse than I had expected. First I lost to a land destruction deck that took me quite
by surprise. Burn forced me to hold some of my combo components, but by the time I had the cards, my
lands were toast and Trinisphere had me locked. I barely got near the combo. My next loss was to Joe
Mackey with, of course, the Rock. First game, I was just plain unlucky. I threw a Rector out which I used
to get Future Sight and all I could seem to topdeck was land. Next game, fortune turned my way and I hit
him hard and quick. The final game was close. He threw down Engineered Plague naming clerics...
fortunately, not all the creatures in the deck are clerics. I wished for a Monk Realist for the Plague,
topdecked a combo component shortly after he had used some hand disruption and comboed out. I felt pretty
smug and we went through about 10-15 turns of draw-go. I was waiting patiently for a Wish, Call or Rector...
but none came. With a Test of Endurance in my graveyard, Joe wrecked my hope of winning with a fatal
Haunting Echoes!
How to Play: Target Task Force/Spiritualist with an en-Kor, then sac with Sanctum, Cause or Boneyard to
gain an arbitrarily large amount of life (1 billion should suffice). Play Test of Endurance to seal the game.
|
|
04-05-670035, Fri Extended @ Getaway Games: 05/14/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Lamar Fullmer |
Win |
1806 |
| 4 |
Joe M Mackey |
Loss |
1803 |
| 3 |
Kenny Patricia |
Win |
1810 |
| 2 |
Lonnie Mathews |
Win |
1806 |
| 1 |
Brian Reynolds |
Loss |
1803 |
|
'GAT (post-ban)' --Vintage deck (thru DS)
|
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
3 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
4 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
1 Black Lotus 0
1 Mox Emerald 0
1 Mox Jet 0
1 Mox Pearl 0
1 Mox Ruby 0
1 Mox Sapphire 0
3 Psychatog 1
1 Demonic Tutor 1
3 Duress
1 Mind Twist X
1 Yawgmoth's Will 1
|
4 Accumulated Knowledge 1
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Brainstorm
2 Cunning Wish 2
4 Force of Will 3
1 Gush 4
2 Intuition 2
3 Mana Drain
2 Misdirection 3
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk 1
4 Quirion Dryad 1
1 Regrowth 1
Sideboard:
1 Coffin Purge
1 Diabolic Edict 1
4 Engineered Plague 2
1 Smother 1
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Fact or Fiction 3
1 Stroke of Genius X2
1 Berserk
4 Naturalize 1
|
This is a powerful little sucker, but it has a severe fault at the base: it cannot handle mass aggro. The crux is, it's a bit self
defeating to run Deed like Hulk, since you have more creatures to blow up, and without Deed, it's harder to handle aggro. I believe
this simply makes it inferior to Hulk and not worth running instead. But, in an underpowered meta or with some decent matchups,
the deck smashes face. If you are the beatdown, you simply win through the sheer power of your cards and the insanity that results
from an unchecked Dryad. The draw engine, like Hulk's, is superb. AK can easily provide multiple draw 4's via Regrowth, YawgWill or
Tog/Wish.
How to Play: I played very defensively unless I didn't have any counters. Once I hit 2 land, I would hold counters and cast instants at
the end of my opponent's turn... usually waiting to drop my threats until mid to late game.
|
|
04-03-631759, Type 1 @ Getaway Games: 03/12/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Paul Baulne |
Win |
1800 |
| 4 |
Jeremey Lochridge |
Win |
1793 |
| 3 |
Luke Garza |
Win |
1788 |
| 2 |
Mike Ball |
Win |
1784 |
| 1 |
Branden Isola |
Win |
1779 |
|
'Squee Control' --Extended deck (TE thru DS)
|
4 Flooded Strand
9 Island
3 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
3 Swamp
3 Meddling Mage
2 Psychatog 1
2 Shadowmage Infiltrator 1
3 Zombie Infestation 1
4 Accumulated Knowledge 1
4 Æther Burst 1
4 Careful Study
4 Circular Logic 2
2 Forbid 1
4 Intuition 2
1 Wonder 3
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob 2
|
Sideboard:
1 Coffin Purge
3 Engineered Plague 2
3 Perish 2
4 Life Burst 1
4 Seal of Cleansing 1
|
This is basically a port of my vintage Bazaar Control deck. However, it seems to be lacking in the
department of answers without StPs and Balance. I would've played Vindicates, but I only had one and
went with the Mages (which proved mostly useless thanks to a lack of Duress). The deck has a nice little
concept going with all the Squee abuse and I was quite fortunate not to run into graveyard hate. I think
the Mages and Infiltrators should be dropped and 4 Vindicates and an extra Forbid/Tog would fit in nicely.
It might even be worth slipping a few Spectral Lynxes in for the Rock and UG madness. The sideboard
worked well as I ended up using all of it. Yes, even Life Burst. It gained me 12 life vs Goblins,
which was just enough to swing me the match.
Despite doing well with this deck, I'd say it's anything but tier 1. I don't think it could handle a
robust meta. But hey... with a little luck (matchups lacking graveyard hate and permanents this
deck is unable to handle) the deck can obviously do well.
How to Play: Well, there's some obvious card synergy going here. Zombie Infestation, Careful Study, Psychatog
and Forbid all abuse Squee's ability. I think Careful Study works a lot better in this deck than UG madness.
And the more Squees the better for Infestation and Forbid. Both can get pretty nasty. Zombies ended up killing
much more frequently than Tog. Anyway, use Intuition to fetch Squees, AKs, Wonder or whatever you may be in
dire need of. In general, you don't want to go for Infestations, since you only have 3 and you can't afford
to lose them all, but this is, of course, dependant on your situation.
|
|
04-03-631765, Extended @ Getaway Games: 03/05/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Joe M Mackey |
Win |
1797 |
| 4 |
Michael D McKay |
Win |
1788 |
| 3 |
Paul M McInnis |
Win |
1779 |
| 2 |
Josh R Mound |
Win |
1775 |
| 1 |
Ross Hanson |
Win |
1770 |
|
'UG madness' --Extended deck (TE thru MR)
|
10 Forest
8 Island
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Mask of Memory 2
4 Aquamoeba 1
4 Circular Logic 2
3 Cloud of Faeries 1
3 Wonder 3
4 Arrogant Wurm 3
3 Basking Rootwalla
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Rancor
4 Wild Mongrel 1
|
Sideboard:
3 Deep Analysis 3
3 Gilded Drake 1
2 Upheaval 4
1 Krosan Reclamation 1
2 Naturalize 1
2 Ravenous Baloth 2
2 Ray of Revelation
|
I was going for a slightly more aggro version of UG madness.... something that could come fast
and put my opponent on the defense. What I came up with was this total pile. I got some early
rushes in, but in the last two matches, I didn't fare so well. Goblin Sharpshooter spelled
overwhelming doom for one match, while Rock got me in the long game due to my short term
strategy. I might have had a chance with Genesis, but because of my lack of it, Deed turned out
to be an ender... I believe I sided in Deep Analysis to turn the long game, but I certainly
don't remember casting it.
Anyway, to get a bit less vague and address specific composition flaws and such, here's some
card by card analysis aside from obvious picks: First, we have the Birds, Clouds, Rancor &
Mask deal. It worked sometimes, but better decks often had answers, making Rancor fizzle
(Rancor = crap vs well built decks) and leaving Mask sitting on the table by itself. So,
those cards helped out a bit against sub-par decks, but were certainly not worth it. The only
card of interest was the Faeries. If I could get out 2 on turn 2 along with a Mongrel, I had
a little tempo boost... but it was often a narrow sighted, short term gain. In the one match
where Upheaval swung the game (pseduo mirror match) the Faeries actually helped a lot,
particularly against bounce cards. The Masks were awesome when used, but often idle...
and sort of mana intensive compared to Study. Finally, moving on to the sideboard... it wasn't
too bad, except the Drakes weren't so great since fatties were mostly unpresent, and I would
definitely go with more Naturalizes. In this scepter packed meta, I would run 4. And I would add
at least one more Upheaval... I kept hoping to topdeck one in several matches. And Bind might be
worth trying. Also, in such a mana light deck, Standstill might be worth considering... perhaps
with man-lands. Oh, and some sort of removal would be nice... my only real answer card was Upheaval!
|
|
04-02-631764, Extended @ Getaway Games: 02/20/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Joe M Mackey |
Loss |
1765 |
| 4 |
Michael D McKay |
Loss |
1772 |
| 3 |
Ryan Wold |
Win |
1780 |
| 2 |
Steve Winter |
Win |
1773 |
| 1 |
Jeremey Lochridge |
Win |
1769 |
|
'Dragon' Format: Type 1 (thru MR)
|
2 Bayou
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Gemstone Mine
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
1 Black Lotus 0
1 Mana Crypt 0
1 Mox Emerald 0
1 Mox Jet 0
1 Mox Pearl 0
1 Mox Ruby 0
1 Mox Sapphire 0
1 Sol Ring 1
3 Animate Dead 1
3 Dance of the Dead 1
1 Demonic Tutor 1
4 Duress
2 Necromancy 2
|
1 Ambassador Laquatus 1
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Compulsion 1
3 Force of Will 3
4 Intuition 2
1 Crop Rotation
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob 2
4 Worldgorger Dragon 3
Sideboard:
3 Pernicious Deed 1
2 Coffin Purge
3 Zombie Infestation 1
2 Chain of Vapor
3 Xantid Swarm
2 Ray of Revelation
|
This has to be the fastest, most consistent and easiest combo deck ever. I'll take this over long.dec any day.
It doesn't get as many turn 1 kills as long.dec, but it doesn't fall on it's face as much, nor does it
require excessive mulligans. It has a very high turn 2/3 kill rate which probably suffices in most metas.
Unfortunately, it can be incredibly vulnerable to hate. Creature removal and graveyard hate can be harsh.
I lost one game to a scrubby zombie deck all because he maindecked Planar Void and cast it on his first turn.
(I didn't realize at the time that Planar Void is triggered and not a replacement effect.)
And because of Blue Elemental Blast, Swords to Plowshares and so on, it might be worth having a conversional
sideboard that includes Multani, Verdant Force, etc.
The deck ran quite well. The Zombie Infestations in the side really shined and I would recommend trying them
if you play Dragon. Xantid Swarm also seems to be a must have card against control... making green seem a
necessity.
How to Play it: Get a Worldgorger in your graveyard and either Laquatus in your graveyard or Bazaar/Compulsion
into play. Reanimate the Dragon with one of the 3 reanimate enchantments and start the Dragon loop:
1. Worldgorger comes into play removing all your other permanents including reanimate enchantment.
2. Worldgorger leaves play because reanimate enchantment is gone. 3. Permanents come back untapped
and you retarget Dragon with enchantment. 4. Repeat for large amounts of mana and mill yourself if
you need to get Laquatus into your grave... And when you get enough mana and have Laquatus in the grave,
you simply break the loop by targeting Laquatus and use the large quantities of mana to mill your
opponent's entire library.
|
|
04-02-631757, Type 1 @ Getaway Games: 02/13/2004 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Joe M Mackey |
Loss |
1784 |
| 4 |
Michael D McKay |
Win |
1789 |
| 3 |
Nathon Lee |
Win |
1782 |
| 2 |
Alan J Cornelius |
Win |
1778 |
1 |
Sean Hanson |
Win |
1774 |
|
'Long.dec' Format: Type 1 (thru MR)
|
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Glimmervoid
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Underground Sea
1 Black Lotus 0
3 Chromatic Sphere 1
4 Lion's Eye Diamond 0
1 Lotus Petal 0
1 Mana Crypt 0
1 Mana Vault 0
1 Memory Jar 5
1 Mox Emerald 0
1 Mox Jet 0
1 Mox Pearl 0
1 Mox Ruby 0
1 Mox Sapphire 0
1 Sol Ring 1
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor 1
4 Duress
1 Necropotence
2 Tendrils of Agony 2
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain 4
|
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Mind's Desire 4
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk 1
1 Tinker 2
1 Windfall 2
3 Burning Wish 1
1 Wheel of Fortune 2
Sideboard:
1 Hull Breach
1 Tendrils of Agony 2
1 Yawgmoth's Will 2
1 Diminishing Returns 2
1 Creeping Mold 2
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Meltdown X
1 Primitive Justice 1
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Balance 1
|
I was missing a few cards (1 Chromatic Sphere, Timetwister & Burning Wish... not to mention SB stuff), which made this difficult
deck just that much more difficult. Difficult isn't the word... it's a bastard of a deck as is, but this made it grueling.
On the flip side, it can be quite deadly. I think long.dec has definitely earned a spot in m:tg history. It's one wicked deck!
Oh and, Glimmervoid was great, the extra Tendrils was handy and the Time Walk? Useless. The sideboard was just bad (it was
thrown together in a hurry)... the Diminishing Returns came in handy once or twice & the Balance which was useful in playtesting
never saw play. I rarely went for anything other than Will or Tendrils. More Hull Breaches might have been nice. I might have
actually sideboarded them if I'd had more. A Tranquility might be nice for multiple nasty enchantments. But given the upcoming
restrictions, it doesn't really matter.
How to Play it: It's rough, but the first rule: Don't be afraid to mulligan. Generally, my quickest games involved tutoring
for a Lotus, Wishing for Yawg Will and reusing said Lotus along with Rits and/or LEDs to re-tutor for Tendrils. Other
quick wins involve Bargain or Mind's Desire. If you want more info, look on the net for more detailed articles. This deck
does anything but play itself.
|
|
03-12-594635, Type 1 @ Jaks: 12/06/2003 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 6 |
Brian J Ong |
Win |
1754 |
| 5 |
Carlos R Moreno |
Win |
1748 |
| 4 |
Carlos R Moreno |
Draw |
1743 |
| 3 |
Unknown |
Win |
1746 |
| 2 |
Brian J Ong |
Loss |
1741 |
1 |
Michael Esposito |
Win |
1751 |
|
'Contamination' Format: Extended (TE thru ON)
|
2 Dust Bowl
18 Swamp
1 Tower of the Magistrate
4 Chimeric Idol 3
2 Cursed Scroll 1
3 Meekstone 1
4 Powder Keg 2
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Contamination 2
4 Duress
4 Entomb
4 Mutilate 2
2 Nether Spirit 1
4 Vampiric Tutor
|
Sideboard:
4 Coffin Purge
3 Dauthi Horror 1
4 Dauthi Slayer
4 Perish 2
|
Okay... well, it looks good in theory. I know, I know... in theory communism
works, in theory. I mean check out that snazzy mana curve. There
are 21, count 'em... 21 spells with a converted mana cost of only one. And then
you have a smattering of two and three, with the biggest weighing in at 2BB.
The deck is capable of completely reaming any deck without black. It's not uncommon
to ditch a Spirit with Entomb on the first turn and then follow with Duress,
Cabal Therapy, flashback Cabal Therapy on the 2nd. And believe you me, that's
just plain devastating. Combined with the ablility to effectively lock the game
on turn 3, the deck is not without it's merits. Unfortunately, it falls prey to
Powder Keg, Masticore (needs more Towers!) and any instant enchantment
destruction to include Seals and Lyrists.
The sideboard? Well, okay.. I admit, I wasn't sure what to do, and put some
shadow creatures in to slightly convert to Suicide Black against heavy black
decks. I was thinking Grinning Demon and Negator at first, but thought I'd try
staying under the Meekstone (not to mention, I don't have the cards).
|
|
02-11-468311. The Game Habitat's Tournament: 11/09/2002 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 4 |
Kyle Celso |
Win |
1656 |
| 3 |
Ben Strickland |
Loss |
1650 |
| 2 |
James L. Cobb |
Win |
1656 |
| 1 |
Matt Halladay |
Loss |
1650 |
|
'UG madness' Format: Standard (Invasion Block + OD/TO)
|
8 Forest
8 Island
4 Yavimaya Coast
2 Aquamoeba 1
2 Careful Study
4 Circular Logic
4 Merfolk Looter 1
3 Rushing River 2
4 Standstill 1
2 Thought Devourer 2
|
4 Arrogant Wurm 3
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Nimble Mongoose
3 Roar of the Wurm 6
4 Wild Mongrel 1
Sideboard:
2 Jungle Barrier 2
2 Upheaval 2
4 Bind 1
2 Compost 1
3 Tranquility 2
2 Squirrel Nest 1
|
A netdeck for a change, this is one of the most fun decks I've ever played. It plays rather smoothly, given
the very low mana curve. You have 8 first turn drops with a couple Studies to help,
which is often followed by the ever handy Standstill. Rootwalla followed by Standstill
is a very powerful start... Standstill often breaks decks that aren't as speedy. Wild
Mongrel or Looter are great turn 2 drops when you aren't in a position to cast Standstill
(or don't have one in hand). The Arrogant Wurm is a formidable turn 3 drop that often
wrecks opponents without an answer (like the hated Flametongue). Turn 4 brings out a
mega fatty- BIG WURM! People often grimace at the sight of a 6/6 on turn 4 when they
don't have some sort of answer. Aquamoeba is a must. People who know better will often
do everything in their power to kill off the Looter and Mongrel, but they will leave
the Aquamoeba alone, which provides a great backup discarding mechanism. All in all,
it's a pretty tight deck. Most of the tweaks I would make to this deck would be in the sideboard. Flametongue
Kavu has got to be the anti-this-deck card, and more Jungle Barriers might help alleviate
the pressure from the troublesome Kavu.
How to Play: Get Standstill out whenever you have an advantage, but be careful about
your opponent's mana pool. If they respond with instant creatures or instant creature
destruction, you could end up locking yourself into a Standstill you have to break.
Breaking your own Standstill is often fatal, so don't put yourself in this situation.
Keep a discard creature out for counters and cast Arrogant Wurms at the end of your
opponent's turn. Do whatever you can to keep your Mongrel alive (within reason). Don't
play 2 Thought Devourers. And whenever you side in and play Upheaval, put some floating
mana in your pool before casting it, so you can drop some creatures afterwards. And if
appropriate, don't play a land, so you can drop it after the Upheaval. And just a note:
Looters in numbers are deadly (:
|
|
02-05-378555, English Regionals: 05/11/2002 (32K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 8 |
William R Dunn |
Draw (Intentional) |
1748 |
| 7 |
Manuel Bressan |
Loss |
1752 |
| 6 |
Stephen L Pashley |
Win |
1764 |
| 5 |
Jon Eadie |
Win |
1756 |
| 4 |
Bijan Mehdinejad |
Loss |
1743 |
| 3 |
He Jiawen |
Win |
1760 |
| 2 |
Matthew Hawker |
Win |
1750 |
| 1 |
Calum Stephenson |
Win |
1744 |
|
'BooGeR' Format: Standard (Invasion Block + OD/TO)
|
12 Forest
6 Swamp
5 Mountain
2 Grafted Skullcap 4
4 Pernicious Deed 1
4 Spiritmonger 3
4 Terminate
4 Void 3
4 Chainer's Edict 1
|
2 Far Wanderings 2
4 Rampant Growth 1
4 Urza's Rage 2
1 Recoup 1
4 Wildfire 4
Sideboard:
3 Destructive Flow
4 Compost 1
4 Boil 3
4 Engulfing Flames
|
The above isn't the exact composition, but it's awfully close. I tweaked it right after
the last tourney and didn't keep the original written down. The main
difference is the sideboard. The Engulfing Flames would have helped
a lot. But still, I think the deck has flaws at it's core.
It's a pretty good deck once it gets rolling. Without a decent mana
base, the deck gets stomped, of course. But normally, you get lands
quite fast and devastate with Wildfire, Deed and Void. As you might
notice, it relies on casting large swingy spells which can easily
be countered, and thus falls prey to control.
How to Play: Get lands. Destroy everything once in a while. A Wildfire
on turn 4 or 5 can really cripple your opponent. It's really a game
winner when followed up with Far Wanderings. Kill with Monger or Rage.
|
|
W2-04-398381, Magic: Standard-4/15/2002-RAF Lakenheath: 04/15/2002 (8K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 6 |
Samuel M Williams |
Loss |
1697 |
| 5 |
James Newsome |
Win |
1701 |
| 4 |
Mark Matthews |
Loss |
1698 |
| 3 |
Chris Taranto |
Win |
1702 |
| 2 |
Amy Bullard |
Win |
1699 |
| 1 |
Matt Bullard |
Loss |
1696 |
|
'Basket Case' Format: Extended
|
4 Brushland
3 Forest
1 Kor Haven
4 Savannah
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
4 Ensnaring Bridge 3
1 Fool's Tome 4
3 Grafted Skullcap 4
1 Grim Monolith 1
4 Metalworker 3
4 Null Brooch 4
4 Snake Basket 4
|
4 Crop Rotation
1 Titania's Song 3
1 Disenchant 1
4 Enlightened Tutor
2 Seal of Cleansing 1
Sideboard:
4 Choke 2
2 City of Solitude 2
2 Compost 1
2 Disenchant 1
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Warmth 1
|
I had almost no preperation. I wanted to try something original, so
I threw this together. It ended up being a little heavy on the
focus and lacking in versatility.
The deck is combo-ish, so I should have prepared more for blue.
More City of Solitudes would have helped... and a couple Tsunamis might
have helped too. I also completely forgot about Defense Grid... oops.
I had Bind in the original composition, but weeded it out... good thing
I didn't play Bully's reanimate deck. As for the main deck, the only
cards I think need taking out are the Fool's Tome and Disenchant. An
extra Skullcap might have helped... I could have really used some more
draw power. If you try this deck, another thing I considered but
didn't try was using more Grim Monoliths along with Emerald Charms.
How to Play: Get all 3 Urza's land types and/or Metalworkers with a
fistful of artifacts and drop some heavy artifacts down quickly.
Control with Null Brooch and Ensnaring Bridge, kill with Snakes or
Titania's Song.
|
|
W2-02-367932, Magic: Extended-2/10/2002-RAF Lakenheath: 02/10/2002 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
James Rocker |
Win |
1641 |
| 4 |
Erin Marchand |
Win |
1634 |
| 3 |
|
Bye |
|
| 2 |
Samuel Williams |
Loss |
1627 |
|
'Griff' Format: Type 2 (IN Block with OD)
|
6 Forest
2 Island
2 Plains
4 Coastal Tower
4 Elfhame Palace
4 Yavimaya Coast
3 Dueling Grounds 1
4 Fleetfoot Panther 1
4 Mystic Snake 1
4 Questing Phelddagrif 1
|
4 Fact or Fiction 3
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Benalish Emissary 2
4 Disenchant 1
1 Lashknife Barrier 2
2 Sunscape Familiar 1
4 Voice of All 2
|
Once again, I didn't have all the cards I needed, so I was
scrounging at the last minute. I put in filler cards like disenchant
and even worse, I accidentally left out 2 islands (and boy, did I get
mana screwed!). The deck would have worked a lot better had I left
out the Birds (never got them early), Lashknife Barrier (supplement
to the birds), and a Dueling Grounds. I had planned on putting in 2
Sabertooth Nishobas, but couldn't get any in time... I couldn't even
get 2 more Sunscape Familiars!
All in all, I did alright. I had 4 Juntu Stakes in the sideboard
for Opposition and Shadowmage Infiltrator, but when I played against
the Infiltrator, I just didn't draw them, and I forgot to put in the
Wild Mongrels (which would have been great against Spectral Lynx, as well).
I had some rough matchups and lost to the 2 decks that I hoped not
to play, a Finkel deck and a mirror match. Wild Mongrel would have
solved both problem cards: Voice of All and Shadowmage Infiltrator.
How to Play: Save the Panthers for Snakes and Emissaries, if you can.
If they've got creature swarms, drop Dueling Grounds and attack with
Voice of All or Pheldagrif with no worries about hippo tokens.
|
|
W1-11-338597, Magic: Standard-11/25/2001-Scout Hut: 11/25/2001 (16K)
|
| Round |
Opponent |
Outcome |
Rating |
| 5 |
Matt Bullard |
Loss |
1621 |
| 4 |
Jack King |
Win |
1629 |
| 3 |
Harry King |
Loss |
1623 |
| 2 |
Sue Rodwell |
Win |
1631 |
1 |
Guy T H Rodwell |
Win |
1623 |
|
