MTG Salvation, Magic: The Gathering Articles, Rumors and Community
Home Articles Magic 2010 Core Spoiler (249/249) Radar Forums Blogs Wiki Writing/Contests Chat About

Dueling the Best: Four Match Reports

By Andrew Hanson on November 6th, 2008 · Filed in Standard (Type 2) · 13 Comments

Dueling the Best: Four Match Reports
by Andrew Hanson

States is almost here. I don't know about you, but I'm excited. I've been prepping with some friends, playtesting against what we predict will be the best and/or most numerous decks in the field, and tweaking my own deck to best handle them. If you read my last article, you already know what I'll be playing. I love me my Merfolk.


A one card army.
A few weeks ago, during a playtesting session where I was getting steamrolled by Faeries, I came up with something that will be great sideboard tech against control. Pre-board, Merfolk has a decent game against Faeries. The Fae deck (the one that won the Star City Games Cruise Qualifier) only runs the four Agony Warps as main deck spot removal, no board sweepers, and only the four Broken Ambitions can counter a turn two play. So Merfolk, which tries to drop as many threats as it can in the first three turns, usually gets to build up a board and then pound face while it protects said board with Sage's Dousing and Cryptic Command.

Post board, Faeries ups the creature hate. Everything Merfolk tries to play in the first three turns ends up getting countered or killed. All the while, a turn two Bitterblossom builds up a nasty force that murders. It really doesn't seem fair. So I was asking myself, “What can dodge the creature hate and fight its way through Faerie tokens?” The answer: a creature with shroud and first strike. In other words, Deft Duelist. In the playtesting session, this guy was a house. He absolutely wrecked Faeries. So, to really put him to the test, I put him in my sideboard and ran him at the last few Friday Night Magics.

Here's my decklist. If you saw the last article, it hasn't changed much. Just the sideboard has been tweaked.

Blue/White Merfolk  
Land
4 Adarkar Wastes
8 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Mystic Gate
4 Wanderwine Hub

Creatures
4 Cursecatcher
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Sower of Temptation
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Sygg, River Guide
4 Wake Thrasher		Non-Creature Spells
4 Cryptic Command
4 Sage's Dousing		Sideboard
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 Deft Duelist
3 Pollen Lullaby
4 Reveillark


Shroud? Check. First Strike? Check.
Hey control: read between the lines.
Over the course of two FNMs, the Deft Duelist was boarded in for four out of eight matches. The match-ups were against Monored (twice) and Quick n' Toast variants (twice), with different pilots for all four decks.

Match One: Monored Demigod

Funny story with this match-up. The guy was new to the shop, and a regular had brought him along. But without a deck. So I lent him my Monored Demigod. The day before, though, a friend and I had been playtesting, and he had been running this deck against Merfolk. He never de-boarded when we were done. I didn't realize this when I lent the guy the deck that night, and neither did he, which meant he had all the Merfolk hate boarded in for game one. Fun for me.

I won the roll, chose to play, and kept my opening seven. Turn two, I dropped a Silvergill Adept. It got burned. Turn three, I played a Stonybrook Banneret. Guess what happened to it? Turn four, I played Sygg, River Guide. My opponent played a Moonglove Extract, Monoreds only means of answering Burrenton Forge-Tender. Goodbye, Sygg.


Not exactly tier one (or two), but it's
Monored's only out to pro-red.
I ran out a second Sygg, and followed it up on subsequent turns with a Wake Thrasher and other merfolk. He tried to Pyroclasm three times (again, sideboard hate in the main deck), but I had a Sage's Dousing every time. The cantrip on the counterspell kept drawing me into more. He hit a small land pocket and then played the Demigod of Revenge. I waited for the trigger to resolve and then countered him with a fourth Dousing. That was all four Sage's Dousings, which some would call lucky.

Let's not kid ourselves; that is pretty lucky. But, I didn't see any Cryptic Commands, so if one just thinks of it in terms of seeing counters, I saw four out of eight. Really good, but not all that unlikely.

In the end, Wake Thrasher kept gaining pro-red from the River Guide and hitting for high amounts while the other fishes stayed back and blocked, using Sygg's ability some more to stay alive.

Game one: me. 1-0

From the sideboard, in came Burrenton Forge-Tender, Reveillark, and Deft Duelist. Out came Cursecatcher, Sage's Dousing (despite it's performance last game, it usually doesn't do much against Monored Demigod), and Sower of Temptation. Guess what? My opponent didn't bother sideboarding. Weird, huh?

He opened with a Figure of Destiny. I opened with the Forge-Tender. He dropped a second Figure, hit me for a few points of damage over the next couple of turns, then made a sad face when I put down Sygg. He didn't see a Pyroclasm or an Extract that game, so the kithkin wizard played defense all game with Sygg, while pro-red Wake Thrashers crashed in for big hits. This one ended quickly (around turn six), and by the time I actually saw a Duelist, it was just about over.

Game two: me. 2-0

Match Two: Quick n' Toast variant

This match was against a regular top place finisher at the shop. He had built his Quick n' Toast variant first as a Bant-Control deck (essentially, a blue/green/white control deck with Rhox War Monk tossed in as a finisher and tempo stealer), but had since then upgraded it by adding black for Makeshift Mannequin and Shriekmaw. Essentially, a Toast deck without red for Firespout.


Holds off 'Spout till turn four and
Wrath till turn five.
I won the die roll and chose to play. Turn one, I dropped the Cursecatcher. He played a Vivid Creek. I played a Silvergill Adept. He played a land and passed turn. I played a Thrasher, and swung in for a few. He played a removal spell on my Thrasher. I dropped Sygg, and continued to beat face. He didn't do anything on turn four. Oh, he wanted to. He had both a Wrath of God and a Cryptic Command in his hand, but couldn't play them a la Cursecatcher. Turn five, I dropped a Merrow Reejerey and another Cursecatcher, untapping one of my lands (had to keep Sygg online). He drew his card for turn five, then conceded. He just couldn't fight through two Cursecatchers.

Game one: I won. 1-0

For sideboarding, I put in just the Deft Duelist, taking out the Sower of Temptations. In that match-up, Merfolk is the aggro deck, and the Sower is just too ponderous.

Turn one, he dropped a Vivid. No surprises there. I had no turn one drop. He played a land and passed turn. I played a turn two Duelist. He had no plays to make on turn three. I dropped a second one on my third turn, and rode those guys for almost half his life before he hit the Wrath. But no worries for me—I still had a hand full of creatures. Down came a third Duelist. He put down a Kitchen Finks to slow me down, but I put down a Sygg and an Adept next. After the Duelist cut through the Finks, my opponent didn't see another Wrath, and fell shortly thereafter. He had a hand full of spot removal, but between the shroud on the Duelist and the protection ability on Sygg, he never had a real target for them.

Game two: I won. 2-0

Match three: Monored Haste and Demigod?


This card is total junk...
...until it kills you.
This deck was kind of interesting. It wasn't the Monored Demigod of Nationals fame. Not quite. It ran many of the same cards (Demigod, the good burn suite, Boggart Ram-Gang), but also ran some extra burn and a 2/2 haste for two. Well, kind of a 2/2. It was the Mudbrawler Cohort, and this guy was actually a serious pain in the ampersand, dollar-sign, dollar-sign. In all three games (this one went to game three), he'd come down on my opponent's second turn and poke me while cheap burn spells like Magma Spray--a shock that actually kills the Kitchen Finks for good--would wipe out my creatures.

My opponent won the roll and chose to play. He laid a Mountain and passed. I played an Adarkar Wastes and a Cursecatcher. He Magma Sprayed the merfolk during my end step, but I sacrificed the Catcher to counter the spell (hey, at least he's not removed from the game). His turn, another basic land and Mudbutton Cohort, who swung in for a point. I played a Mutavault on my next turn and threw down a Stonybrook Banneret, taking more damage from my pain land. On his next turn, he missed a land drop, but still killed my Banneret with a Spitting Earth and continued to ping away at me with the Cohort.

We both got stuck on two lands for a couple of turns. I tried another Banneret, who got whacked again, gang-land style. It wasn't until turn five that I ended the land drought, drawing a Wanderwine Hub and playing a Wake Thrasher, but the red mage over-cooked the fish with an Incinerate. Then he hit his third land.

He played a second Cohort and hit me for four, while leaving one innocuous Mountain open. I got another land and tried for a Sygg. Magma Spray. Since merfolk can't swim in lava, I used Sygg's ability to give him pro-red, taking a damage from the Wastes to do so. But, a Soul's Fire on my opponent's next turn put Sygg down, and I took four more, putting me at 4. In an act of desperation, I played a Sower of Temptation and stole a Cohort. He played a Hell's Thunder, forcing me to block with the Sower and sending me to 2 life. I had nothing else but a Cryptic Command. It saved me long enough that I got to see him play a Demigod of Revenge.

Game one: I lost. 0-1


w: Give Red the finger.
For game two, I pulled out the Sage's Dousing, Cursecatcher, and Sower of Temptation for the Forge-Tender, the Reveillark, and the Duelist. This is my standard operating procedure againts Monored.

My opening hand had one land, so I went to six. In that hand, I had two Islands, two Wake Thrashers, and a Deft Duelist. It's a slow hand, which could kill me as I'm up against Monored. But if I drew a white source, I would have a Duelist, which could be huge against this deck, which seemed to rely so much on creature burn. I kept. He ended up mulling to five.

We both just opened with land on turn one. No white source on turn two, so I played my second Island. He, of course, dropped the Cohort and poked me for one. But then I drew an Adarkar Wastes. Blowing a sigh of relief, I played the land and laid down the Deft Duelist. He missed his third land drop (again), so didn't do anything.

Over the next two turns, I tried to run out both Thrashers, but the beefy fish kept getting fried. Dang. With him a bit land screwed, I thought that maybe I could capitalize on it with a big beater. Oh well.

On my next turn, I dropped a Merrow Reejerey and a Burrenton Forge-Tender. Now that I had another blocker, I swung in with the Duelist for two. He answered on his turn with a Hell's Thunder, which I willingly blocked with my face. Next, I dropped a Reveillark and kept swinging with the Duelist. He played another Cohort, but still couldn't do much.

Then, on my next turn, I got stupid and swung in with my Duelist. He gang blocked him for the kill. God, I can be so bad at Magic sometimes.


Did you notice that all merfolk have
a power two or less? Weird.
He had the courtesy, though, of answering my mistake with one of his own. He played a second Hell's Thunder and attacked. Maybe he didn't realize that the Reveillark had flying? I blocked, lost my 'Lark, and resurrected two Wake Thrashers. On my next turn, I played a Sygg, and swung in with the Thrashers. He had nothing left in his hand, and on my next turn the Thrashers were lethal.

Game two: I won. 1-1

I didn't do anything else for boarding in game three, but my opponent did some. He had to mull to six, while I got to keep a seven card hand. Nothing on turn one for either of us, and he dropped the Cohort on two. But I made a turn two Duelist. Eat that, Cohort! He answered with a third land drop and a Boggart Ram-Gang. Crap. I took that three in the face.

But, I had a second Duelist in hand. So I played an Adarkar Wastes, my Duelist, and passed turn. He Pyroclasmed, killing my blockers (and his Cohort), then jacked me for three more. My next draw? Burrenton Forge-Tender. I played another Wastes, the Forge-Tender, and a Wake Thrasher. His hand must have been light on spot burn, because he played a second Clasm just to get rid of the Thrasher. After that, though, I dropped a Sygg.


The bane of all weenie decks.
On his next turn, he played the Hell's Thunder and put me down to 9 life. My next turn, I did nothing. I could have swung in with Sygg and given him pro-red to dodge the Ram-Gang, but I had a Cryptic Command in hand, and wanted to make sure that I kept the board advantage. He tried to Flame Javelin me on his turn (another mistake, and a pretty big one), so I countered it, going to 8 because I had to use a Wastes for blue, and bounced his Ram-Gang, which he couldn't replay. I dropped yet another Wastes for three pain-lands, then swung in. His turn, he tried the Ram-Gang again, which I countered with a second Cryptic, putting me down to 7 life. On my turn, I swung for three more, and dropped a Reveillark.

All he did was drop a fourth land and a Cohort. It became apparent, then, that he had a few cards in his hand he couldn't play. I figured he had Demigods.

I messed up my next turn a tiny bit. Not too much, but enough to feel like a noob. I swung in with Sygg for two, leaving my 'Lark back in case he hit a fifth land, then dropped a Merrow Reejerey. I should have played the Reejerey first; I could've hit for an extra point. Nothing major, but one of those little mistakes that can be the difference between a win and a loss in close games.


He makes Merfolk on turn four feel
like Affinity on turn two.
He didn't hit a fifth land and settled with a Ram-Gang. I decided it was time to go all in with my hand. I played a Mutavault (which I drew that turn), a second Reejerey, a Silvergill Adept, swung in with the 4/4 Sygg and the 3/3 Reejerey for seven (Sygg mana still open), and then played a Thrasher on my second main. All that courtesy of Reejerey's ability to untap lands. My opponent hit his fifth land and had the Demigod, but it wouldn't help him. The Reveillark could block, and my next turn was lethal.

Game three: I won. 2-1

Match Four: Quick n' Toast variant

My opponent's deck was essentially a blue/black/white control deck that ran Firespout in the sideboard. The main deck was designed to handle other control decks (with Fulminator Mage and Mannequin as his weapon of choice), while the board carried much of the creature hate that would be needed for a rush deck. It's not a bad strategy for States, considering how popular these five color decks are becoming.


In the land of Quick 'n Toast, this guy
is king.
He won the roll, and chose to play. We both kept our seven, and he opened with a Vivid Marsh. I had no turn one play, sadly, and he made a Reflecting Pool on turn two. He passed, and my first thought was that he had a Broken Ambitions. I dropped an Island and played a Silvergill Adept. Not the best fodder for a counter, but it was the only two-drop I had. He didn't have the counter, though. Just an Agony Warp to kill it.

He laid a second Vivid land, and I went for a Reejerey. He had no responses, and on his next turn, dropped a third Vivid, then evoked a Shriekmaw to take out the merfolk soldier. On my turn four, I played a second Island and, seeing him all tapped out, activated both of my man-lands to swing for four, figuring opportunities like that wouldn't be too common.

He laid yet another Vivid and passed. Four open mana? Cryptic or Mannequin, take your pick, but neither of them were pleasant for me. Not willing to give him a two for one in case it was Mannequin, I activated only one Mutavault and attacked. He had the black instant, bringing back the Shriekmaw to kill my Vault. On the second main, I played another Reejerey and passed.


Shriekmaw, Mulldrifter, Kitchen Finks.
Enough said.
In true control deck fashion, he played draw-go. On my next turn, I laid a Sower and targeted the Shriekmaw, killing it due to the Mannequin counter. Then I swung with my Reejerey, who died to another Mannequin resurrecting a Shriekmaw. So I passed my turn, and he Agony Warped my Sower on my end step. His next turn, he did nothing, even leaving the Shriekmaw back to block my Mutavault. On my turn, I dropped a land (giving me six on the board) and a Sygg. In went my Mutavault, and my opponent chose not to block.

He played a Mulldrifter, drew his two, laid a land, and passed. I swung in with my two creatures. He blocked the Mutavault, so I used Sygg to give it pro-blue. On his next turn, he played Wrath of God. Aloha, Sygg. I played a second Sygg on my next turn (Aloha is Hawaiian for both 'hello' and 'goodbye'; get it?), and hit with the Vault for two. He hit a small land pocket, and that was all she wrote.

Game one: I won. 1-0


In this heavy-control metagame, he
may not be the best maindeck choice.
As far as boarding went, out came the Sowers and in went the Duelists. Again, we both got to keep our opening seven cards. He did the Quick n' Toast special and started with a Vivid land. I played a turn one Mutavault again. He only played a Vivid Grove on his next turn, so I played a second Mutavault and swung in with the first for two. He dropped a Sunken Ruins and a Fulminator Mage, then passed turn. He was probably hoping to hose me on my colored mana if I dropped something like a Wanderwine Hub. So I played an Island and a Stonybrook Banneret. Take that, non-basic hate!

His turn, he just did draw-go again. I played a Mystic Gate, then swung in with just the Banneret. No Mutavaults attacked because that would set my opponent up with a two-for-one with that stupid Fulminator Mage. During my end step, he used the elemental to take out one of the Vaults. On his turn, he made his fifth land and tried to play another Fulminator Mage, but I countered him with a Sage's Dousing, which cantripped into another Dousing. Nice.

I activated the Mutavault and swung in for three, leaving me with two lands open for the cost-reduced Dousing. He tried a third Fulminator Mage. I felt like a real blue mage by not giving him my permission. That counter cantripped into just an Adarkar Wastes, but when I drew for my next turn, I ripped a Cryptic. Down came the Wastes, in went only the Banneret, leaving me with enough mana to play the Command. My opponent tried for a Kitchen Finks, but I countered it and drew a card, which turned out to be another Cryptic Command. Wow. Talk about luck. Then again, he had three Fulminator Mages, which is also pretty lucky (at least, when they're not getting countered).


It's like a turn three Wrath of God.
On my turn, I made another land drop, meaning I had enough mana to activate the Mutavault and attack and have the land back for the Command. On his turn, he tried another Finks, but I countered it and drew into a merfolk with the cantrip. But my topdeck on my next turn was a Sage's Dousing. So I dropped a Merrow Reejerey, a Cursecatcher, and a Silvergill Adept, then swung in for five. This wasn't actually overcommitting (other than maybe the Adept, but he cantrips so I never consider him dying to be card disadvantage). By playing the Reejerey, I set up the kill on my next turn, and by playing the Cursecatcher, I have the ability to stop a Firespout if he hits his sixth land (three extra mana to pay for the Dousing, one more to pay for the Cursecatcher). He tried to Firespout on his next turn, and when I countered it, he conceded.

Game two: I won. 2-0

Although I didn't see a Deft Duelist when it would matter in two of these matches, the rogue turned out to be a house in the other two. Control decks like the Quick n' Toast variants have a hard time dealing with a shrouded creature, especially one that has first strike and enough power to cut through the utility creatures that they like to run.

I've been quite pleased with the way the Duelist has been performing and intend to run him at States. Hopefully, he'll be savage tech against the Monored and Toast decks I suspect will make up the majority of the playing field. If not, at least he'll raise a few eyebrows.

By Andrew Hanson on November 6th, 2008 · Filed in Standard (Type 2) · 13 Comments