-Mil while duplicating your time?
-Cards like Shrine of Burning Rage for massive damage since you have the time?
-Multiple weenies attacking multiple times over your extra time?
That's all I could come up with sorry.
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you see this is the problem I am facing, I just can't see an awesome card to cast after I timewalk. Turbo-fog is okay but i feel that it can't really do anything in the current meta.
Hey guys Ducktales here with an interesting question when it comes to modern. Has anyone else notice how many different kinds of Time Walk effects we have in modern?
Thats a lot of Time Walk effects. Now obviously some of these cards are very bad and slow. However a good amount of them are very playable in the right deck. So the question if, if you were to make a deck that would give you extra turns, what would you do with them?
I have been trying to answer this question for quite some time now and I can't figure out an answer. I mean you could go the turbo fog route, the big creature route, the Gifts Ungiven route, and thats all I can think of. Nothing amazing even if you did have a bunch of time. Maybe change some of the already combo decks around like Hive Mind maybe. I don't know. Suggestions?
NINJA FTW! hey guys I am interested in making this idea into something serious. So the real question would be which one is a better and more consistent list? Blue/black, Blue/white, or mono blue? Also what happened to blue/green? People use to talk about that list consistently but it just disappeared? What would be the newest and updated list post RTR? I am very serious about modern and playing decks that I feel are underplayed. For example I went to gp Chicago with living end and got top 40. Super sad face but oh well variance can sometimes hit you at the wrong times. =p
You make a really good point here, but what's important to remember is this is only a showcase of five decks that are a little trickier to side against. Two of our key match ups, KikiTwin and Tron, hate land destruction up and down all over the face.
The list itself is pretty standard, it's the sideboard that we're really down to arguing about in this thread at this point. Variations in mainboard are almost entirely preference at this point, mainly Simian Spirit Guide, Avalanche Riders, and Pale Recluse being the cards that seem to vary the most.
Wispmare and Slaughter Games are still very experimental I think and you'll have to let us know how they go.
If you read how I did in the trials a couple of pages before you can see how slaughter games is a very good card in this format. As for wispmare it's simply there to beat rest in peace (the best card against living end).
So this is the first week of me playing with LD (literally about to go proxy it up and go to my Uni's magic club), but I find it absolutely hilarious that in 4 of the 5 matches you listed, you're siding Avalanchers out and in 4 of the 5 you're siding Dismembers in, with an overlap of (at least) 3. Maybe it might be worth it to permanently switch at least 1 of the Riders into Dismember? Especially since your argument for siding them out is most often 'too slow'.
I'm also a relatively new player to both Living End and the competitive scene in general, and am curious as to what your sideboard plans are for other matchups.
As PopeJP said. This is only a sideboard plan against some of our harder/more serious matchups. Against tron, kiki-twin, any aggro deck (other than maybe soul sisters), blue/white control, or any deck that we don't have to worry about immediate threats the land destruction stays in. These 5 however, are usually very fast or land destruction does nothing against them.
Alright guys here is the finalized deck that I will be going to grand prix chicago with, after much testing, theory crafting, and based on the results from the trial here it is...
If you have any questions on why I have these cards either in the main or the sideboard feel free to ask. However I do need some help from all of YOUR MINDS! I need help learning how to sideboard better in the top 5 matchups here they are:
1) Birthing Pod (Ki-ki combo); how I would do it:
(-=minus, +=add)
+2 Ingot Chewer (for POD)
+3 Dismember (to interrupt combo or to hit mana dorks)
-2 Avalanche Riders (too slow and land destruction does nothing if they drop mana dorks)
-3 Fulimator Mages (same reason as riders)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 2 creatures and 3 spells.
2) Affinity/Robots; how I would do it:
+2 Ingot Chewer (duh)
+3 Dismember (no creatures = no way to win)
-2 Avalanche riders (Does nothing against their indestructible lands and is too slow)
-1 jungle weaver (too slow)
-2 fulimator mage (can only hit inkmoth nexus and blightmoth nexus, your living end combo forces them to never activate it anyway plus the 4 beast within and 3 dismember is more than enough.)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 2 creatures and 3 spells.
3) JUND; how I would do it:
+2 Ingot Chewer (to hit their new card, batterskull)
+3 Dismember (to hit deathrite shaman and anything else in their deck)
-1 Jungle Weaver (too slow and with destroy creature cards power doesn't matter)
-2 Avalanche Riders (too slow plus 4 beast within and 2 fulimator mages are enough since a lot of their land comes into play tapped)
-2 Fulimator Mages (just can't think of another card I can cut)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 2 creatures and 3 spells.
4) STORM; how I would do it:
+4 Leyline of the Void (turns off past in flames and really makes it hard for storm to combo without an echoing truth.)
+2 Slaughter games (turns off their only win condition, grapeshot, empty the wardens does nothing since we can just combo)
-4 fulimator mages (land destruction does absolutely nothing against storm unless they really get behind.)
-2 Avalanche riders (same concept as above plus too slow)
OVERALL: Taking out 6 creatures and replacing with 6 spells.
5) American Delver/Aggro; how I would do it:
+3 Dismember (to get delver or their turn one plus to make them blow a possible counter spell on their turn to let us combo)
+2 Ricochet trap (to blow their remand or mana leak out of the water and let us resolve a combo on turn 4)
-1 jungle weaver (they have path so this card is nothing more than a 2 mana cycler)
-4 Street Wraith (too much damage against us when they have 8 bolts in their deck)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 5 spells.
Sure there are other decks like TRON and HIVEMIND but those decks I know how to sideboard against cause its pretty self explanatory. These are the decks I really want to make sure I side against properly. So lend my your knowledge guys and tell me what you would do differently (if you would do something differently that is). Thanks guys
Has there been discussion about kitchen finks over brindle boar?
Good synergy with Living End.
Gain life and still have a blocker.
Potential to bring it back 4 times gain 8 life.
Thoughts?
Just sleeved up my living end deck. Extremely pumped.
Kitchen finks would be a nice card but sometimes that double green cost can be a problem and in reality brindle boar does the same thing for the deck.
I was initially quick to dismiss Shriekmaw myself, until I remembered how awesome he was against Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. It seems like so many more lists are pushing her into the maindeck (Death and Taxes, Bant, Pod variants), and she slows our combo down by a full two turns for only 1W. Ricochet Trap is some sick tech, and not a lot of control players anticipate it. They have to hold up enough mana for two counterspells if they want to stop Living End, and you can just cast a couple fatties to apply pressure in the meantime.
thalia still dies to dismember just costs an extra 4 life plus thalia is one of the rare cases where shriekmaw is better than dismember, also if she is a turn 2 play....on the play.
Awesome to see you did well at a GP Trial especially with my decklist :P! I would agree cutting one spider for faerie. It gives you a chance stop Storm, Eggs, Affinity shenanigans, Melira, and any aggro deck from coming back game 1 and post sb.
I also think slaughter games although great at sealing the deal should be dropped for ricochet trap. Especially if you're running dismember. I would drop the gnaws( Although I love this card against Delver and Aggro decks. Buys you time, serves as counter bait, and most importantly it's instant and has flashback.) replace with boars, potentially drop the shrieks altogether for another dismember or trap.
If you're running 3 faeries, 4 leylines, you don't need slaughter games for graveyard combo decks and for creature based combos 2 or 3 dismembers, gives you 10-11 spells that can instantly stop their combo. Unless you think you'll face hive mind, I suggest going this route.
Oops forgot to mention the traps, they are great against Delver RUG or URW versions. You can reroute their burn to the face and force them to remand your cascade card to your hand lol. You can also reroute eggs and storm's bounce spells as well. I also think dismember is a good idea because RDW from what I've seen on MTGO is pretty dead and infect is pretty rampant. Even though I don't think it's the best choice for Delver decks(Shrieks are better when you're not on the draw and it's about the same when you are.)
So much replying today *phew* sweating here. Alright I'm glad you agree about adding a 3rd macabre as borat would say "IT'SA VERY NIIICEE!" I do agree with slaughter games hitting the bin. A majority of the time the moment leyline of the void hit the table it had the same "oh man" effect on my opponent and just won me the game. Though echoing truth would be a lot scarier since I'm taking out slaughter games. Ricochet trap would just be better. Counterspells hurt me so much....*tears*. And Ricochet trap would be the perfect answer against that. I know for sure that the one shriekmaw is going bye bye and my sb is going to become this till I test it some more.
SB:
3 dismember
3 Ingot Chewer
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Ricochet trap
2 Brindle Boar
On Dismember vs. Shriekmaw: First off, Lavos, I have to point out that aside from having exiled all of their threats Shriekmaw will [i]always[/c] have an enemy target when returning to the battlefield.
I think what this argument really comes down to is the KikiTwin match up, forget Delver and Steppe Lynx. Shriekmaw doesn't do it for us there and that's a problem, we can't have Outburst be our only out to them comboing off.
But that brings me to a more important point: why Dismember? We can play it for the cheap against them, but when would we want to? Almost everything we do can be done at instant speed. I think it would be rare to find someone paying less than three mana for Dismember in that match up, outside of the occasional color screw. So why not use Sudden Death? It's more reliable by far and you don't want to mess around with counterspells when the game is on the line.
Okay, it costs 3, so it's going to be hard to use against those early Lynxes and Delvers. But using an early Dismember against them means losing as much as 4 life to our own spell, which furthers their game plan pretty well. And once again, Split Second is sexy like a chocolate strawberry.
As for Boar vs. Gnaw, I give it to Boar for basically the same reasons Lavos stated.
Alright lets talk about this and explain the logic between:....
SHRIEKMAW VS DISMEMBER
Shriekmaw pros:
Its a creature that comes back with living end. Two removal spells in one.
Very easy to cast since it is only 1 black and colorless
Can be a great answer to tomaygoyf if it gets too big aka (5/6, 6/7)
Shriekmaw cons:
Can only target non-black, non-artifact (bad for one of the best cards against us, deathrite shaman)
Can only be casted at sorcery speed (meaning we can't go off at the end of our opponents turn unless its a turn 2 play.)
Not a catch all and can sometimes stay in your hand all game.
Is a must trigger therefore if you have a one sided living end you must kill one of your creatures when it comes back =(.
DISMEMBER pros:
Can be casted at instant speed.
A great card to bait out a countespell when your opponents want to save it for you combo.
IS a catch-all card and can kill anything without stipulations.
Can be casted for either 1 mana and 4 life, 2 mana and 2 life, or three mana (very versatile and all around good card all game)
DISMEMBER cons:
Majority of the time costs 4 or 2 life which can lose you the game vs. aggro or american delver.
Can be countered if needed and still cost you life in the process.
(This is a stupid one but I'm still posting it cause I want to be unbiased) can be responded to with a pump spell.
Does not come back after being used with living end.
So there is a the MAJOR (<----keyword) pro's and con's of each card. After analyzing and playing with both I can tell you that both cards are good in this deck. But the pro's that dismember gives being both at instant speed and a "catch-all" just over weighs shriekmaw quite a bit. Also take under consideration that since we are adding another faerie macabre to the deck dismember value does go up a bit without the fear of a living end for both players.
I just highlighted some areas that I had some questions about. For the delver matchup, wouldn't dismember be better to sideboard in than the slaughter games? The delver deck is very resilient to any single card disappearing, and while oftentimes dismember costs you life, and especially valuable resource in the match up, it is one of your few ways to successfully deal with an early delver, and since you have a large amount of black lands, it can often be 'hardcasted' for no life.
For your finals match, I think you likely oversideboarded. I am not to familiar with how exactly this specific matchup plays out, and I know that it was a long day, but I can't help but feel that gnaw to the bone and to a lesser extent slaughter games don't do very much for you in this case. The mystical teachings deck seems to me that it will play out much like a control deck, and you life total will be immaterial once he gets around to actually killing you. For the slaughter games, I feel that his deck is likely resilient enough to be able to ignore it, even if you hit gifts or teachings. In this case, I would just want to have a high threat density and expect to make it to the late game. If you get a hand with early land destruction, you can try to lock him out. This seems to me to be your most likely form of winning. The game is more likely to come down to you casting a jungle weaver, seeing if he has an answer, and then repeating with your next fat critter. I agree it is probably a bad matchup for you though.
My last point is the proposed magus in your list. Your deck as constructed is fairly colour intensive, and you only have five ways to actually have a basic, and once he comes down, you will need to draw straight into your basics naturally. I feel that it will significantly warp your playstyle to fit in him, and the benefits are likely not worth it. Additional avalanche riders would probably serve a similar function, but I am not too sure.
Alright REPLYING TIME. Yes you are correct about both matches, this was a playtesting tourny for me in order to learn many things about the deck known as living end. Here is what I did wrong:
In the delver matcheup I did not sideboard in dismember due to the fact that I would fear that doing too much damage to myself would put my opponent far ahead. I also didn't sideboard in gnaw to the bone even though once again that would have been a good idea to stall to get me to the point where I could combo comfortably.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FOR THIS MATCHUP:
1) bring in dismembers
2) slaughter games does nothing
3) gnaw to the bones comes in (if I still have it in sb after changes)
4) delver is a douchbag =p
In the esper teaching matchup the main thing I was worried about was the fact that I would never be able to go off.....ever. Now this is going to change with the new card that I am adding in the sideboard however at the time the only card I had to really get rid of some of his counters was slaughter games.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FOR THIS MATCHUP:
1) Slaughter games does nothing
2) leyline of the void is okay (for his flashback cards)
3) gnaw to the bones is okay (its still useful for that last match when it came down to the wire)
4) Sigh...counterspells (ricochet traps are better than I thought.)
KEEP THE SUGGESTIONS COMING!
Thanks
DUCKTALES AWOOHOO!
This was awesome! Congrats on your great result! It is really good to see up to date and comprehensive data about our deck. Although it is too bad you couldn't pull off the big win, a lot can be gleaned from this information and I agree 3 Faerie Macabre may not be a bad choice, especially where I am as Messenger is seeing a lot of play. I do not have any comments, but one question... How did you feel about using Gnaw to the Bone over Brindle Boar? Did you find yourself gaining more than 4 on a regular basis? Also, curious about how Kessig Wolf Run played out...
It is quite hilarious about gnaw to the bone actually even though I had three in the sb and sb'd it in with all my cyclers I never drew it. So I really can't tell you....funny right? As for kessig wolf run I might possibly see a situation where it may be useful but if you come to that state of the game where you are hardcasting creatures then you are probably going to lose anyway. Another thing to note was that it was extremely important that my first land was colored so I can turn one cycle. I never play dryad arbor if I don't have to before I combo. This way I can cycle at instant speed plus not lose the arbor when I play living end. So if i ever get a hand where the only two lands in my starting hand are dryad and kessig wolf run. I practically can't cycle and I may lose to a removal spell. Don't like those odds.
Went to GRAND PRIX CHICAGO TRIAL. I present you my games and how it went down with the lovely living end. (I might summarize some games due to the fact that I simply don't remember how it went down.)
We had around 35+ players so it was 6 rounds of swiss to a cut to top 8 enjoy=p. The winner of this trials gets to go to Grand Prix Chicago for free, get a sleep in special (don't have to show up till 1p.m) and a three round bye. It was also a 1k event so prize payout went:
1st: $400
2nd: $200
3rd: $100
4th: $100
5th: $50
6th: $50
7th: $50
8th: $50
ROUND ONE:
I won the die roll and was going against what seemed to be a aether vial control deck. The only difference was that the colors he was playing was not RUG but instead B/W.
GAME ONE: I won the die roll and was on the play. I began by playing a verdant catacombs and passing the turn. He played a land and passed turn. I then sac'd verdant catacombs to get a basic green to cycle Deadshot Minotaur drawing into a fulimantor mage. I untapped, drew, played another verdant and passed turn. He processed to play another land and pass again with a B/W filter land and an island. During his end step I sac'd my catacombs again to get a stomping ground into play untapped taking 2 and dropping me to 15. I then cycled a jungle weaver and drew a land. I untapped dropped Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and slammed fulimator mage on the table. He did not respond and I proceeded by using his ability and destoying his filter land. I passed and he played another filter and passed once again. I then topped an avalanche riders played a basic mountain and slammed once again this time targeting his basic island. It resolved in which he looked at the top of his library and asked me to reveal outburst which I did in which he scooped and we moved to game 2.
GAME TWO I didn't sideboard anything since I really didn't see his deck. He on the other hand side-boarded in 7 cards (this is why you do what the pros do and just combine your sideboard with your deck and take out the cards you don't need so I can't count how many cards your brought in.) He played hallowed fountain into aether vial. I played land and passed. To summarize it out. He was able to get 2 aether vials in played one to 5 counters and one to 4. In which he used to flash in mulldrifters at the end of my turn and the one time I cascaded he used the aether vial at 4 to flash in a Glen Elendra Archmage to counter living end.
GAME THREE I was on the play and sideboared in Ingot Chewer. I passed after land drop and he played turn 1 vial. I then played turn 2 Ingot Chewer and temple garden in which I passed. He played a second non-basic land in which I smiled cause in my hand I had 2 fulminator mage on the play. I proceeded to cycle at the end of his turn with street wraith and drew another land. I played a basic swamp casted fulminator mage and destoyed one of his non-basic lands. He dropped another non-basic and passed. I drew another Ingot Chewer played a verdent catacombs then played my second fulminator mage and once again destroyed another non-basic land. He drew his card and passed with no play. I untapped cycled another street wraith and passed the turn. During his upkeep I played beast within on his last land. In which he passed turn with no land play again. I reveal the demonic dread in my hand in which he pulls out his hand and concedes again. MATCH WON
ROUND TWO
I lost the die roll and I noticed his bottom card when shuffling, grapeshot. (This is why once again little things matter, don't reveal any part of your deck when shuffling.) It was time to play against storm after losing the die roll...yesh...I will summarize all these games since mentioning all the turns against storm really doesn't matter
GAME ONE He played a basic island tapped for serum visions and said go. I played a verdant catacombs and passed the turn. He went off on turn two and grapeshot me for 18....twice.
GAME TWO I had a huge deck change game two with sideboard I brought in Leyline of the Void, Slaughter Games, and Gnaw to the Bone. And had a starting hand with both leyline and slaughter games in it. with 2 lands a pale reculse, a street wraith, and a demonic dread. I played the turn 0 leyline and followed up by cycling the pale recluse into drawing a 4th land and playing a turn four slaughter games calling grapeshot. He went off and casted empty the wardens for 19 in which I followed up with demonic dread and brought back 2 street wraiths and a pale recluse. He saw his top card and scooped.
GAME THREE Same-ish as game two since he was not able to go off with past in flames or his 2 in play pyromaster ascension and I had a turn 0 leyline in play. MATCH WON
ROUND THREE
I was playing a B/W/R delver list. Oh boy, if there are two weaknesses to living end its early aggression and counter magic...and this deck has both.....help me
GAME ONE He won the die roll in which he proceeded to play an fetchland into a plains and steppe lynx. I play a verdant catacomb and pass the turn. He untaps plays a fetch cracks it and swings for 4. I'm at 16. I cycle with a monstrous carabid after cracking for a swamp and draw a violent outburst. I untap play a mountain and say go. He untaps plays another fetch cracks it for a steam vents pays 2 and swings for another 4. I'm at 11. He plays a delver and passes with blue, red, and white up. I cycle a pale recluse for a forest untap draw. Play the forest and say go. I have 2 violent outburst in hand so I can beat counter magic. Just need to live the turn. He untaps and reveals a serum vision...sigh delver flips. He plays a basic land and swings for 6 I violent outburst and he remands the living end.. I'm at 5, he plays lightning bolt and lighting bolt and I lose.
GAME TWO I sideboard in Shriekmaw, Slaughter Games, and Gnaw to the Bone. I begin with a turn one verdant catacombs and pass turn. He plays island into delver and passes. I crack fetch and cycle my monstrous carabid with a swamp. Untap, draw, and play another verdant catacombs, pass. He reveals serum visions and flips delver. He swings in for 3, I'm at 16. He drops a land and plays another delver with white mana up. I crack fetch and untap. I draw into slaughter games and play a faerie macabre, pass. He reveals a lightning bolt off the top and flips the second delver. He bolts my faerie and swings for 6. I'm at 9. He leaves up blue/white/red mana, and passes turn. I have a demonic dread and a violent outburst in hand, once again if I live I should win. I play a land and pass. He untaps plays a land swings for 6. I'm at 3 and he bolts for match. MATCH LOST
ROUND FOUR
I was playing a buddy of mine who was playing jund with messenger in it. Either way this was a good matchup for me since I can finally play against a deck without blue. =p
GAME ONE
He started on the play and a turn 1 inquisition to discard my violent outburst. I payed 2 life at the end of his turn and cycled street wraith into another violent outburst (had it =p). I draw into a verdant catacombs play it and pass turn. He untaps and slams a confident down and passes. I crack verdant catacombs at the end of turn for a swamp and cycle a monstrous carabid into a pale recluse. I untap draw into a faerie macabre, play a copperline gorge and pass the turn. He untaps reveals a bloodbraid elf from the top (ouch) draws and swings in for 2. He plays a tomaygyf (yes I can't spell it bite me =p) and a land then passes. End of his turn I forest cycle my pale recluse into a temple garden. I untap, draw, play a mountain and pass turn. He untaps and reveals a geralf's messenger (yesh) he is down to 12 after shocklands and dark confident triggers and I haven't touched him. He swings in with a 3/4 goyf and confident. I take the damage (the main reason I took it is because I want to make sure that I can exile his messenger with faerie macabre while its on the stack with undying and not have to worry about it after I cascade into living end.) He plays messenger (=p) and passes the turn. End of his turn I violent outburst into living end and while his messenger was on the stack with undying I discard macabre to exile it leaving me with 10 power on the board and him at 10 life from another shockland being played last turn. He looks at the top card and scoops.
GAME TWO He mulligan-ed down to 5...not a real game. MATCH WON
ROUND 5
Another storm deck.....sigh so sick of how much blue I'm going against in the x-1 bracket. This match would either secure me in top 8 or make me a sad panda.
GAME ONE
He won the die roll...sigh. He keeps his 7 and I mulligan down to 5. He goes off turn 3 next game.
GAME TWO Same sideboard plan as the last storm deck I went against and it paid off. I played a turn 0 leyline and saw his face go from happy to instantly pissed. "Really....that's so rude." .....blue players. I end up winning with a turn 4 slaughter games since he couldn't draw his echoing truth in time. I then follow up with a cascade yada yada yada its storm and I win.
GAME THREE He keeps his starting 7 and I mulligan down to 6. He tries to go off on turn 4 which is bad because I drew into my leyline and didn't have it in my starting hand. However, he ends up misplaying when he plays desperate ravings and I end up taking his grapeshot from hand. HA! He ends up fizzling and I combo at the end of his turn and swing in for 16 after he played 2 steam vents untapped. I'm IN TOP 8!!! MATCH WON
ROUND 6
Me and my opponent draw into top 8.
TOP 8!
I end up getting 4th place into top 8 and people in the room couldn't be more surprised. People that have been playing top decks (jund, affinity, poison blue/white control) and giving me **** for running this deck looked at me and had that "REALLY?!" face on. "How the hell did he end up in top 8? I'm way better than him and he's running living end." I'll admit my e-peen went up a couple inches that day =p.
Quarter Finals:
Caleb Durward (yes from channel fireball...oh ****)
This guy was awesome he has a very chill personality and was very knowledgeable in the game of magic. Plus I already had respect for him for coming up with a new good deck in legacy a.k.a blue/black tezz control. He was playing the black/white token deck that Craig Wescoe featured in his article shown here http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=10796. Here we go!
ROUND ONE I won the die roll and Caleb knew what I was running. He mentioned something that I really didn't know about my deck. "You really have to mulligan aggressively against your deck." He also mentioned that he played with Travis Woo's deck and liked it but he had his deck already on paper so ran that instead. He ended up mulligan-ed down to 5. In which I took mega advantage and stacked my graveyard with about 9 creatures and cascaded at the end of his turn for the easy 1 swing win.
ROUND TWO I ended up sideboarding in both my dismembers, and Shriekmaw. He ended up mulliganing down to 6 and started with a turn one martyr of sands and passed. I drew into a pale recluse played a verdant catacombs and passed turn. He untapped, drew, and swung in for 1. He then played a plains into Squadron Hawk finding 3 more into his hand and passed. I cracked at the end of his turn and cycled a Deadshot Minotaur into street wraith. I untapped and drew into a dismember. I played a blackcleave cliffs and passed turn. He untapped, drew, and swung in for 2. I took it in which he proceeded by playing another Squadron Hawk with no trigger plains and passed turn. I cycled my street wraith at the end of turn as well as a pale recluse for a forest. I untapped and drew a land. I played a land and passed turn. It was obvious I had a violent outburst in hand. The only thing he didn't know is that I also had a faerie macabre. At the end of my turn he sac'd his martyr to gain some insane amount of live (he went over 30 something life). He untapped and swung in with his guys. I played outburst in response and cascaded into living end, while living end was on the stack I discarded faerie macabre and exiled his martyr and a random fetch I think. It was a once sided living end and I had the advantage. He played a land and a hero of bladehold and passed. I untapped, drew, and swung in for lots. He was still in the double digits with all that lifegain and blocked one of my creatures with hero. At this time I thought whether or not to play dismember now or on his turn. The correct play was to do it then but I didn't. I played a land and passed he untapped, drew, declared attack in which I responded by casting dismember on hero, "If I had Charge (Charge Across the Arabe) I would blow you out right now." He was right now I know. It resolved and his creature went to the bin. He then played two of his Squadron Hawks and passed turn. I untapped, drew, and swung in again he chumped two and took a lot again. He was in the single digits. I passed, he untapped, drew, and revealed his hand. I felt didn't enjoy winning like this but I'll take it. MATCH WON
SEMI-FINALS
Eggs....that is all.
ROUND ONE He won the die roll (****...) and started with a serum visions, he then passed. I drew into a faerie macabre played a verdant catacombs and passed turn. He untapped played a bubble (i'm using lingo cause I don't want to look up the decklist) Then a ghost quarter and passed turn. I cracked the fetch and cycled a monstrous carabid into land. I untapped drew into a fulminator mage, played a land and passed. He drew, played an island and reshaped into a lotus bloom. He played a couple of cards and ghost quartered yada yada and casted second sunrise....I discarded faerie macabre on the stack (hehehehehe) and exiled his lotus bloom and ghost quarter. He fizzled and with him playing off the top I won game one....against eggs....on the DRAW!
ROUND TWO I sideboard-ed in my leyline, and slaughter games. I turn 0 leyline and he couldn't draw into his 2 echoing truth. MATCH WON
HOLY HELL I'M IN THE FINALS I expected to do well but not this well. I mean after all I'm playing living end...let's be real. But hey it looks like this may be a real deck.
FINALS MATCH!
Living end vs ESPER Mystic Teachings control
ROUND ONE He wins the die roll and begins the turn with a creeping tarpit and passes. I draw into a violent outburst. I play a verdant catacombs and pass turn. He untaps and plays a hallowed fountain untapped. I crack my fetch and cycles a monstrous carabid into a street wraith. I untap, draw, play a copperline gorge and pass turn. He draws plays another creeping tarpit and passes. I forestcycle with pale recluse into a basic forest untap draw a mountain which I play and pass the turn. He plays a think twice at the end of my turn. He untaps plays a glacial fortress and passes turn. I attempt to go off with violent outburst but he mana leaks my living end. I untap and try to go off again...he has the second mana leak in hand in which I had 2 of the 3 lands to pay. I end up going into late game and hardcasting creatures in which he just plays mystic teachings and gets his wratih followed by a flashback to get white sun zenith to kill me.
ROUND TWO I sideboard in leyline, slaughter games, and gnaw to the bone. I begin by playing a turn 0 leyline, a verdant catacombs and passing turn. He plays a watery grave tapped and passes. I crack my fetch and cycle 2 street wraiths and a monstrous carabid. I untap, draw and play a basic forest and pass turn. He untaps, draws, plays a glacial fortress and passes. I forestcycle at the end of his turn with pale recluse and untap. I play my swamp and pass turn. I have only one cascade card in my hand. I also have a living end....sigh. He plays a hallowed fountain untapped and passes turn. At the end of his turn I go for it (because this will be my only change to overload his mana since he has only 3 if I give him another turn he can have 2 2 mana counters plus he had snapcaster as well. I couldn't take the chance to wait another turn.) I go off and try to cast living end, he plays negate. I untap and draw another violent outburst when he has one mana up. I try to go off again and he spell pierces my living end. To even put more salt on the wound at the end of turn he plays surgical extraction at the end of my turn at targets living end. Sigh....I end up losing to my worst matchup....super sad panda =(
At least I got $200 bucks and a very good playtesting tourny.
WHAT I LEARNED:
1) Faerie Macabre needs to be changed to a 3-of. This card is a lot better than I would think plus it is definitely more consistent in this meta game compared to jungle weaver. I will probably be changing jungle weaver to a one of and squeezing in another macabre. Its a great game one card against eggs and it interacts very well against both kitchen finks and geralf's messenger.
2) Blood moon or Magus of the Moon in sideboard or 1 Magus of the Moon in main with 2 more in sideboard. The best part about Magus is even if they spent a turn killing it you bring it back with living end...=p. I need something against heavy permission like the finals match and delver. What do you think?
3) This deck is pretty real. I even didn't have plans to go that far with this deck. Not a lot of sideboards have leyline of the void in it and even if they cast rest in peace you simply case living end as a instant speed board wipe and start casting this big creatures. I'm playing this deck in the grand prix Chicago for sure. Please guys throw out as much LOGICAL (<----keyword =p) advice as possible. It was all of your suggestions that got me there and it will also be your suggestions to hopefully get me into top 4 at grand prix Chicago.
Thanks guys hope you enjoyed this piece =p
DUCKTALES AWOOHOOO
Keep hands with at least 2 1-drop cyclers in hand. Outpace Deathrite Shaman. I've found that Deathrite is about as effective against Living End as it is against UR Storm--you generally outpace losing your best card in your graveyard every turn, but you can't dump as many cards in your yard in some games, and that's when you're screwed.
If Deathrite gets out of control (e.g. you kept a hand with few cyclers), hit him with Beast Within or Dismember.
so if that is the case do you agree with no shriekmaw sideboard and instead 3 dismember?
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you see this is the problem I am facing, I just can't see an awesome card to cast after I timewalk. Turbo-fog is okay but i feel that it can't really do anything in the current meta.
Beacon of Tomorrows
Lighthouse Chronologist
Notorious Throng
Savor the Moment
Search the City
Stitch in Time
Temporal Mastery
Time Sieve
Time Stretch
Time Warp
Walk the Aeons
Wanderwine Prophets
Thats a lot of Time Walk effects. Now obviously some of these cards are very bad and slow. However a good amount of them are very playable in the right deck. So the question if, if you were to make a deck that would give you extra turns, what would you do with them?
I have been trying to answer this question for quite some time now and I can't figure out an answer. I mean you could go the turbo fog route, the big creature route, the Gifts Ungiven route, and thats all I can think of. Nothing amazing even if you did have a bunch of time. Maybe change some of the already combo decks around like Hive Mind maybe. I don't know. Suggestions?
instant =)
If you read how I did in the trials a couple of pages before you can see how slaughter games is a very good card in this format. As for wispmare it's simply there to beat rest in peace (the best card against living end).
As PopeJP said. This is only a sideboard plan against some of our harder/more serious matchups. Against tron, kiki-twin, any aggro deck (other than maybe soul sisters), blue/white control, or any deck that we don't have to worry about immediate threats the land destruction stays in. These 5 however, are usually very fast or land destruction does nothing against them.
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Temple Garden
1 Forest
1 Swamp
4 Violent Outburst
4 Demonic Dread
3 Living End
4 Beast Within
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Avalanche Riders
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Street Wraith
4 Pale Recluse
3 Faerie Macabre
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Jungle Weaver
If you have any questions on why I have these cards either in the main or the sideboard feel free to ask. However I do need some help from all of YOUR MINDS! I need help learning how to sideboard better in the top 5 matchups here they are:
1) Birthing Pod (Ki-ki combo); how I would do it:
(-=minus, +=add)
+2 Ingot Chewer (for POD)
+3 Dismember (to interrupt combo or to hit mana dorks)
-2 Avalanche Riders (too slow and land destruction does nothing if they drop mana dorks)
-3 Fulimator Mages (same reason as riders)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 2 creatures and 3 spells.
2) Affinity/Robots; how I would do it:
+2 Ingot Chewer (duh)
+3 Dismember (no creatures = no way to win)
-2 Avalanche riders (Does nothing against their indestructible lands and is too slow)
-1 jungle weaver (too slow)
-2 fulimator mage (can only hit inkmoth nexus and blightmoth nexus, your living end combo forces them to never activate it anyway plus the 4 beast within and 3 dismember is more than enough.)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 2 creatures and 3 spells.
3) JUND; how I would do it:
+2 Ingot Chewer (to hit their new card, batterskull)
+3 Dismember (to hit deathrite shaman and anything else in their deck)
-1 Jungle Weaver (too slow and with destroy creature cards power doesn't matter)
-2 Avalanche Riders (too slow plus 4 beast within and 2 fulimator mages are enough since a lot of their land comes into play tapped)
-2 Fulimator Mages (just can't think of another card I can cut)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 2 creatures and 3 spells.
4) STORM; how I would do it:
+4 Leyline of the Void (turns off past in flames and really makes it hard for storm to combo without an echoing truth.)
+2 Slaughter games (turns off their only win condition, grapeshot, empty the wardens does nothing since we can just combo)
-4 fulimator mages (land destruction does absolutely nothing against storm unless they really get behind.)
-2 Avalanche riders (same concept as above plus too slow)
OVERALL: Taking out 6 creatures and replacing with 6 spells.
5) American Delver/Aggro; how I would do it:
+3 Dismember (to get delver or their turn one plus to make them blow a possible counter spell on their turn to let us combo)
+2 Ricochet trap (to blow their remand or mana leak out of the water and let us resolve a combo on turn 4)
-1 jungle weaver (they have path so this card is nothing more than a 2 mana cycler)
-4 Street Wraith (too much damage against us when they have 8 bolts in their deck)
OVERALL: Taking out 5 creatures and replacing with 5 spells.
Sure there are other decks like TRON and HIVEMIND but those decks I know how to sideboard against cause its pretty self explanatory. These are the decks I really want to make sure I side against properly. So lend my your knowledge guys and tell me what you would do differently (if you would do something differently that is). Thanks guys
DUCKTALES AWOOOHOOO
Kitchen finks would be a nice card but sometimes that double green cost can be a problem and in reality brindle boar does the same thing for the deck.
thalia still dies to dismember just costs an extra 4 life plus thalia is one of the rare cases where shriekmaw is better than dismember, also if she is a turn 2 play....on the play.
So much replying today *phew* sweating here. Alright I'm glad you agree about adding a 3rd macabre as borat would say "IT'SA VERY NIIICEE!" I do agree with slaughter games hitting the bin. A majority of the time the moment leyline of the void hit the table it had the same "oh man" effect on my opponent and just won me the game. Though echoing truth would be a lot scarier since I'm taking out slaughter games. Ricochet trap would just be better. Counterspells hurt me so much....*tears*. And Ricochet trap would be the perfect answer against that. I know for sure that the one shriekmaw is going bye bye and my sb is going to become this till I test it some more.
SB:
3 dismember
3 Ingot Chewer
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Ricochet trap
2 Brindle Boar
Alright lets talk about this and explain the logic between:....
Shriekmaw pros:
Shriekmaw cons:
DISMEMBER pros:
- Can be casted at instant speed.
- A great card to bait out a countespell when your opponents want to save it for you combo.
- IS a catch-all card and can kill anything without stipulations.
- Can be casted for either 1 mana and 4 life, 2 mana and 2 life, or three mana (very versatile and all around good card all game)
DISMEMBER cons:So there is a the MAJOR (<----keyword) pro's and con's of each card. After analyzing and playing with both I can tell you that both cards are good in this deck. But the pro's that dismember gives being both at instant speed and a "catch-all" just over weighs shriekmaw quite a bit. Also take under consideration that since we are adding another faerie macabre to the deck dismember value does go up a bit without the fear of a living end for both players.
KEEP THE SUGGESTIONS COMING!
DUCKTALES AWOOOHOO!
Alright REPLYING TIME. Yes you are correct about both matches, this was a playtesting tourny for me in order to learn many things about the deck known as living end. Here is what I did wrong:
In the delver matcheup I did not sideboard in dismember due to the fact that I would fear that doing too much damage to myself would put my opponent far ahead. I also didn't sideboard in gnaw to the bone even though once again that would have been a good idea to stall to get me to the point where I could combo comfortably.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FOR THIS MATCHUP:
1) bring in dismembers
2) slaughter games does nothing
3) gnaw to the bones comes in (if I still have it in sb after changes)
4) delver is a douchbag =p
In the esper teaching matchup the main thing I was worried about was the fact that I would never be able to go off.....ever. Now this is going to change with the new card that I am adding in the sideboard however at the time the only card I had to really get rid of some of his counters was slaughter games.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FOR THIS MATCHUP:
1) Slaughter games does nothing
2) leyline of the void is okay (for his flashback cards)
3) gnaw to the bones is okay (its still useful for that last match when it came down to the wire)
4) Sigh...counterspells (ricochet traps are better than I thought.)
KEEP THE SUGGESTIONS COMING!
Thanks
DUCKTALES AWOOHOO!
It is quite hilarious about gnaw to the bone actually even though I had three in the sb and sb'd it in with all my cyclers I never drew it. So I really can't tell you....funny right? As for kessig wolf run I might possibly see a situation where it may be useful but if you come to that state of the game where you are hardcasting creatures then you are probably going to lose anyway. Another thing to note was that it was extremely important that my first land was colored so I can turn one cycle. I never play dryad arbor if I don't have to before I combo. This way I can cycle at instant speed plus not lose the arbor when I play living end. So if i ever get a hand where the only two lands in my starting hand are dryad and kessig wolf run. I practically can't cycle and I may lose to a removal spell. Don't like those odds.
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Blood Crypt
1 Temple Garden
1 Stomping Ground
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Demonic Dread
3 Living End
Instant:
4 Violent Outburst
4 Beast Within
Creatures:
4 Pale Recluse
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Street Wraith
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Avalanche Riders
2 Jungle Weaver
2 Faerie Macabre
3 Ingot Chewer
1 Shriekmaw
2 Dismember
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Slaughter Games
3 Gnaw to the Bone
We had around 35+ players so it was 6 rounds of swiss to a cut to top 8 enjoy=p. The winner of this trials gets to go to Grand Prix Chicago for free, get a sleep in special (don't have to show up till 1p.m) and a three round bye. It was also a 1k event so prize payout went:
1st: $400
2nd: $200
3rd: $100
4th: $100
5th: $50
6th: $50
7th: $50
8th: $50
ROUND ONE:
I won the die roll and was going against what seemed to be a aether vial control deck. The only difference was that the colors he was playing was not RUG but instead B/W.
GAME ONE: I won the die roll and was on the play. I began by playing a verdant catacombs and passing the turn. He played a land and passed turn. I then sac'd verdant catacombs to get a basic green to cycle Deadshot Minotaur drawing into a fulimantor mage. I untapped, drew, played another verdant and passed turn. He processed to play another land and pass again with a B/W filter land and an island. During his end step I sac'd my catacombs again to get a stomping ground into play untapped taking 2 and dropping me to 15. I then cycled a jungle weaver and drew a land. I untapped dropped Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and slammed fulimator mage on the table. He did not respond and I proceeded by using his ability and destoying his filter land. I passed and he played another filter and passed once again. I then topped an avalanche riders played a basic mountain and slammed once again this time targeting his basic island. It resolved in which he looked at the top of his library and asked me to reveal outburst which I did in which he scooped and we moved to game 2.
GAME TWO I didn't sideboard anything since I really didn't see his deck. He on the other hand side-boarded in 7 cards (this is why you do what the pros do and just combine your sideboard with your deck and take out the cards you don't need so I can't count how many cards your brought in.) He played hallowed fountain into aether vial. I played land and passed. To summarize it out. He was able to get 2 aether vials in played one to 5 counters and one to 4. In which he used to flash in mulldrifters at the end of my turn and the one time I cascaded he used the aether vial at 4 to flash in a Glen Elendra Archmage to counter living end.
GAME THREE I was on the play and sideboared in Ingot Chewer. I passed after land drop and he played turn 1 vial. I then played turn 2 Ingot Chewer and temple garden in which I passed. He played a second non-basic land in which I smiled cause in my hand I had 2 fulminator mage on the play. I proceeded to cycle at the end of his turn with street wraith and drew another land. I played a basic swamp casted fulminator mage and destoyed one of his non-basic lands. He dropped another non-basic and passed. I drew another Ingot Chewer played a verdent catacombs then played my second fulminator mage and once again destroyed another non-basic land. He drew his card and passed with no play. I untapped cycled another street wraith and passed the turn. During his upkeep I played beast within on his last land. In which he passed turn with no land play again. I reveal the demonic dread in my hand in which he pulls out his hand and concedes again.
MATCH WON
ROUND TWO
I lost the die roll and I noticed his bottom card when shuffling, grapeshot. (This is why once again little things matter, don't reveal any part of your deck when shuffling.) It was time to play against storm after losing the die roll...yesh...I will summarize all these games since mentioning all the turns against storm really doesn't matter
GAME ONE He played a basic island tapped for serum visions and said go. I played a verdant catacombs and passed the turn. He went off on turn two and grapeshot me for 18....twice.
GAME TWO I had a huge deck change game two with sideboard I brought in Leyline of the Void, Slaughter Games, and Gnaw to the Bone. And had a starting hand with both leyline and slaughter games in it. with 2 lands a pale reculse, a street wraith, and a demonic dread. I played the turn 0 leyline and followed up by cycling the pale recluse into drawing a 4th land and playing a turn four slaughter games calling grapeshot. He went off and casted empty the wardens for 19 in which I followed up with demonic dread and brought back 2 street wraiths and a pale recluse. He saw his top card and scooped.
GAME THREE Same-ish as game two since he was not able to go off with past in flames or his 2 in play pyromaster ascension and I had a turn 0 leyline in play.
MATCH WON
ROUND THREE
I was playing a B/W/R delver list. Oh boy, if there are two weaknesses to living end its early aggression and counter magic...and this deck has both.....help me
GAME ONE He won the die roll in which he proceeded to play an fetchland into a plains and steppe lynx. I play a verdant catacomb and pass the turn. He untaps plays a fetch cracks it and swings for 4. I'm at 16. I cycle with a monstrous carabid after cracking for a swamp and draw a violent outburst. I untap play a mountain and say go. He untaps plays another fetch cracks it for a steam vents pays 2 and swings for another 4. I'm at 11. He plays a delver and passes with blue, red, and white up. I cycle a pale recluse for a forest untap draw. Play the forest and say go. I have 2 violent outburst in hand so I can beat counter magic. Just need to live the turn. He untaps and reveals a serum vision...sigh delver flips. He plays a basic land and swings for 6 I violent outburst and he remands the living end.. I'm at 5, he plays lightning bolt and lighting bolt and I lose.
GAME TWO I sideboard in Shriekmaw, Slaughter Games, and Gnaw to the Bone. I begin with a turn one verdant catacombs and pass turn. He plays island into delver and passes. I crack fetch and cycle my monstrous carabid with a swamp. Untap, draw, and play another verdant catacombs, pass. He reveals serum visions and flips delver. He swings in for 3, I'm at 16. He drops a land and plays another delver with white mana up. I crack fetch and untap. I draw into slaughter games and play a faerie macabre, pass. He reveals a lightning bolt off the top and flips the second delver. He bolts my faerie and swings for 6. I'm at 9. He leaves up blue/white/red mana, and passes turn. I have a demonic dread and a violent outburst in hand, once again if I live I should win. I play a land and pass. He untaps plays a land swings for 6. I'm at 3 and he bolts for match.
MATCH LOST
ROUND FOUR
I was playing a buddy of mine who was playing jund with messenger in it. Either way this was a good matchup for me since I can finally play against a deck without blue. =p
GAME ONE
He started on the play and a turn 1 inquisition to discard my violent outburst. I payed 2 life at the end of his turn and cycled street wraith into another violent outburst (had it =p). I draw into a verdant catacombs play it and pass turn. He untaps and slams a confident down and passes. I crack verdant catacombs at the end of turn for a swamp and cycle a monstrous carabid into a pale recluse. I untap draw into a faerie macabre, play a copperline gorge and pass the turn. He untaps reveals a bloodbraid elf from the top (ouch) draws and swings in for 2. He plays a tomaygyf (yes I can't spell it bite me =p) and a land then passes. End of his turn I forest cycle my pale recluse into a temple garden. I untap, draw, play a mountain and pass turn. He untaps and reveals a geralf's messenger (yesh) he is down to 12 after shocklands and dark confident triggers and I haven't touched him. He swings in with a 3/4 goyf and confident. I take the damage (the main reason I took it is because I want to make sure that I can exile his messenger with faerie macabre while its on the stack with undying and not have to worry about it after I cascade into living end.) He plays messenger (=p) and passes the turn. End of his turn I violent outburst into living end and while his messenger was on the stack with undying I discard macabre to exile it leaving me with 10 power on the board and him at 10 life from another shockland being played last turn. He looks at the top card and scoops.
GAME TWO He mulligan-ed down to 5...not a real game.
MATCH WON
ROUND 5
Another storm deck.....sigh so sick of how much blue I'm going against in the x-1 bracket. This match would either secure me in top 8 or make me a sad panda.
GAME ONE
He won the die roll...sigh. He keeps his 7 and I mulligan down to 5. He goes off turn 3 next game.
GAME TWO Same sideboard plan as the last storm deck I went against and it paid off. I played a turn 0 leyline and saw his face go from happy to instantly pissed. "Really....that's so rude." .....blue players. I end up winning with a turn 4 slaughter games since he couldn't draw his echoing truth in time. I then follow up with a cascade yada yada yada its storm and I win.
GAME THREE He keeps his starting 7 and I mulligan down to 6. He tries to go off on turn 4 which is bad because I drew into my leyline and didn't have it in my starting hand. However, he ends up misplaying when he plays desperate ravings and I end up taking his grapeshot from hand. HA! He ends up fizzling and I combo at the end of his turn and swing in for 16 after he played 2 steam vents untapped. I'm IN TOP 8!!!
MATCH WON
ROUND 6
Me and my opponent draw into top 8.
TOP 8!
I end up getting 4th place into top 8 and people in the room couldn't be more surprised. People that have been playing top decks (jund, affinity, poison blue/white control) and giving me **** for running this deck looked at me and had that "REALLY?!" face on. "How the hell did he end up in top 8? I'm way better than him and he's running living end." I'll admit my e-peen went up a couple inches that day =p.
Quarter Finals:
Caleb Durward (yes from channel fireball...oh ****)
This guy was awesome he has a very chill personality and was very knowledgeable in the game of magic. Plus I already had respect for him for coming up with a new good deck in legacy a.k.a blue/black tezz control. He was playing the black/white token deck that Craig Wescoe featured in his article shown here http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=10796. Here we go!
ROUND ONE I won the die roll and Caleb knew what I was running. He mentioned something that I really didn't know about my deck. "You really have to mulligan aggressively against your deck." He also mentioned that he played with Travis Woo's deck and liked it but he had his deck already on paper so ran that instead. He ended up mulligan-ed down to 5. In which I took mega advantage and stacked my graveyard with about 9 creatures and cascaded at the end of his turn for the easy 1 swing win.
ROUND TWO I ended up sideboarding in both my dismembers, and Shriekmaw. He ended up mulliganing down to 6 and started with a turn one martyr of sands and passed. I drew into a pale recluse played a verdant catacombs and passed turn. He untapped, drew, and swung in for 1. He then played a plains into Squadron Hawk finding 3 more into his hand and passed. I cracked at the end of his turn and cycled a Deadshot Minotaur into street wraith. I untapped and drew into a dismember. I played a blackcleave cliffs and passed turn. He untapped, drew, and swung in for 2. I took it in which he proceeded by playing another Squadron Hawk with no trigger plains and passed turn. I cycled my street wraith at the end of turn as well as a pale recluse for a forest. I untapped and drew a land. I played a land and passed turn. It was obvious I had a violent outburst in hand. The only thing he didn't know is that I also had a faerie macabre. At the end of my turn he sac'd his martyr to gain some insane amount of live (he went over 30 something life). He untapped and swung in with his guys. I played outburst in response and cascaded into living end, while living end was on the stack I discarded faerie macabre and exiled his martyr and a random fetch I think. It was a once sided living end and I had the advantage. He played a land and a hero of bladehold and passed. I untapped, drew, and swung in for lots. He was still in the double digits with all that lifegain and blocked one of my creatures with hero. At this time I thought whether or not to play dismember now or on his turn. The correct play was to do it then but I didn't. I played a land and passed he untapped, drew, declared attack in which I responded by casting dismember on hero, "If I had Charge (Charge Across the Arabe) I would blow you out right now." He was right now I know. It resolved and his creature went to the bin. He then played two of his Squadron Hawks and passed turn. I untapped, drew, and swung in again he chumped two and took a lot again. He was in the single digits. I passed, he untapped, drew, and revealed his hand. I felt didn't enjoy winning like this but I'll take it.
MATCH WON
SEMI-FINALS
Eggs....that is all.
ROUND ONE He won the die roll (****...) and started with a serum visions, he then passed. I drew into a faerie macabre played a verdant catacombs and passed turn. He untapped played a bubble (i'm using lingo cause I don't want to look up the decklist) Then a ghost quarter and passed turn. I cracked the fetch and cycled a monstrous carabid into land. I untapped drew into a fulminator mage, played a land and passed. He drew, played an island and reshaped into a lotus bloom. He played a couple of cards and ghost quartered yada yada and casted second sunrise....I discarded faerie macabre on the stack (hehehehehe) and exiled his lotus bloom and ghost quarter. He fizzled and with him playing off the top I won game one....against eggs....on the DRAW!
ROUND TWO I sideboard-ed in my leyline, and slaughter games. I turn 0 leyline and he couldn't draw into his 2 echoing truth.
MATCH WON
HOLY HELL I'M IN THE FINALS I expected to do well but not this well. I mean after all I'm playing living end...let's be real. But hey it looks like this may be a real deck.
ROUND ONE He wins the die roll and begins the turn with a creeping tarpit and passes. I draw into a violent outburst. I play a verdant catacombs and pass turn. He untaps and plays a hallowed fountain untapped. I crack my fetch and cycles a monstrous carabid into a street wraith. I untap, draw, play a copperline gorge and pass turn. He draws plays another creeping tarpit and passes. I forestcycle with pale recluse into a basic forest untap draw a mountain which I play and pass the turn. He plays a think twice at the end of my turn. He untaps plays a glacial fortress and passes turn. I attempt to go off with violent outburst but he mana leaks my living end. I untap and try to go off again...he has the second mana leak in hand in which I had 2 of the 3 lands to pay. I end up going into late game and hardcasting creatures in which he just plays mystic teachings and gets his wratih followed by a flashback to get white sun zenith to kill me.
ROUND TWO I sideboard in leyline, slaughter games, and gnaw to the bone. I begin by playing a turn 0 leyline, a verdant catacombs and passing turn. He plays a watery grave tapped and passes. I crack my fetch and cycle 2 street wraiths and a monstrous carabid. I untap, draw and play a basic forest and pass turn. He untaps, draws, plays a glacial fortress and passes. I forestcycle at the end of his turn with pale recluse and untap. I play my swamp and pass turn. I have only one cascade card in my hand. I also have a living end....sigh. He plays a hallowed fountain untapped and passes turn. At the end of his turn I go for it (because this will be my only change to overload his mana since he has only 3 if I give him another turn he can have 2 2 mana counters plus he had snapcaster as well. I couldn't take the chance to wait another turn.) I go off and try to cast living end, he plays negate. I untap and draw another violent outburst when he has one mana up. I try to go off again and he spell pierces my living end. To even put more salt on the wound at the end of turn he plays surgical extraction at the end of my turn at targets living end. Sigh....I end up losing to my worst matchup....super sad panda =(
At least I got $200 bucks and a very good playtesting tourny.
WHAT I LEARNED:
1) Faerie Macabre needs to be changed to a 3-of. This card is a lot better than I would think plus it is definitely more consistent in this meta game compared to jungle weaver. I will probably be changing jungle weaver to a one of and squeezing in another macabre. Its a great game one card against eggs and it interacts very well against both kitchen finks and geralf's messenger.
2) Blood moon or Magus of the Moon in sideboard or 1 Magus of the Moon in main with 2 more in sideboard. The best part about Magus is even if they spent a turn killing it you bring it back with living end...=p. I need something against heavy permission like the finals match and delver. What do you think?
3) This deck is pretty real. I even didn't have plans to go that far with this deck. Not a lot of sideboards have leyline of the void in it and even if they cast rest in peace you simply case living end as a instant speed board wipe and start casting this big creatures. I'm playing this deck in the grand prix Chicago for sure. Please guys throw out as much LOGICAL (<----keyword =p) advice as possible. It was all of your suggestions that got me there and it will also be your suggestions to hopefully get me into top 4 at grand prix Chicago.
Thanks guys hope you enjoyed this piece =p
DUCKTALES AWOOHOOO
so if that is the case do you agree with no shriekmaw sideboard and instead 3 dismember?