Hello. I've been playing duel commander for quite a while now, mostly IRL with Hruen (HipsterWhale) and Zavros, and others. My decks include Vendilion Clique, Wydwen, the Biting Gale, Geist of Saint Traft, and now Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. I absolutely love playing control and tempo, and Grand Arbiter is one of the slowest, but most effective control generals in the format.
I am really surprised to see the first duel commander Grand Arbiter deck on page 6 of these forums. The deck is very powerful, and it's extremely fun to play for a control player.
There are no mana rocks and no Armageddon effects in the deck. It's extremely powerful to hit turn 3 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV=>turn 4 Armageddon, holding up Mana Leak, but I found myself disappointed to draw the rocks more often than they benefited. The large amount of 4-mana draw effects in the deck make the rocks less awkward, since you can refuel immediately, but that means that you're durdling on the early turns, where I'd rather be counterspelling and removing threats. Mass land destruction is very powerful, but they are good only against control and spell-based ramp (decks using Farseek, Kodama's Reach, etc). My local metagame doesn't have a ton of these decks, so I think the Armageddon effects are often dead cards.
I'm sure I'll be making a lot of changes to the deck regularly, and I'll be posting comments from my games on Cockatrice and IRL. Comments are more than welcome.
Having played this deck for a while, which generals are you most unhappy to see on the other side of the table assuming they are well built and piloted? Why?
Having played this deck for a while, which generals are you most unhappy to see on the other side of the table assuming they are well built and piloted? Why?
The reason for this is that against most decks, Force Spike, Daze, Mana Leak, etc are online all game long. Against a ramp deck, this isn't true. Elfball ramp isn't an issue, because you can Wrath of God once, and Force Spike is back online. Against spell-based ramp decks, playing Armageddon effects can serve a similar purpose, but I really feel those kind of cards make you weaker to most other decks.
I think those are the only really bad matchups. Everything else feels either very good or even. I'm going to start keeping track of my stats here, so I can discover any other bad matchups.
Prossh goodstuff/ramp: 2-1
Game 1: Opponent stuck on 2 lands. I stick turn 4 general, opponent scoops.
Game 2: I used Wrath of God to wipe two elves, hoping opponent would get mana screwed. Totally wrong play--I should've waited for one more creature minimum, since my hand was all counterspells, and Wrath of God into Mana Tithe on turn 5 is much better than tapping out. Opponent refilled board while I drew more counterspells and couldn't deal with the board.
Game 3: Opponent kept relatively slow hand with Sylvan Library. I stuck general on turn 4, and rode the value to victory, including a relatively early Sphinx's Revelation for 4. One mistake I made was casting Mana Leak early instead of Dismiss because I thought I should use the Mana Leak before my opponent got a lot of mana. This was incorrect, as keeping Mana Leak would've let me play Gideon Jura and keep up a good counterspell with 5 mana in play. Still ended up winning between the opponent's Sylvan Library drawing, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, and a Treachery on a Stormbreath Dragon.
Animar #1: 1-0
Game 1: Mulliganned to 5, keeping fetch, Island, Plains, fetch, Supreme Verdict, Wrath of God. Ended up wrathing turn 4 to kill Dryad Arbor and Fauna Shaman, since I had a second wrath effect in hand. Next turn Wasteland my opponent to two lands, and play general with Sphinx's Revelation in hand to draw 5 on the next turn, but opponent scoops and leaves game.
I think that both Animar decks I played against were not fully optimized, and the Prossh deck got unlucky. I was comfortable in all three matchups. No cards felt too awkward. No deck changes today.
Similar to yesterday, both of these decks had room for improvement, but I think that GAA is quite good against both archetypes. Against reanimator, you have a lot of Force Spike effects, as well as Disenchant effects and bounce effects to deal with an early Animate Dead or Reanimate. At no point did I even want a Relic of Progenitus. As for monoblack aggro, a single wrath is likely to get you far ahead enough to grind out the win.
I have been testing this deck extensively against aggro and have a question around bluffing. If you have a few cards and hand but none are counters and you have enough mana to cast your general, do you generally cast your general or wait and pretend that you have counters? Are you willing to tap out to play your general or are you usually waiting until you can play him with counter backup?
I have been testing this deck extensively against aggro and have a question around bluffing. If you have a few cards and hand but none are counters and you have enough mana to cast your general, do you generally cast your general or wait and pretend that you have counters? Are you willing to tap out to play your general or are you usually waiting until you can play him with counter backup?
If you bluff a counterspell, two things can happen: your opponent will play their best card anyway and you waste an entire turn, or your opponent plays a sub-optimal card thinking you'd counter it, and they still develop their board more than you. If playing general is a good play, then I'm playing my general rather than doing nothing.
That being said, there are reasons not to play your general, though. If you expect you need to cast Wrath of God in a turn or two, then it's probably not good to play your general. Also, if you suspect your opponent to have a removal spell such that Grand Arbiter will die before you get value, it's probably incorrect to play general, but not always.
I'm very often happy just casting a Careful Consideration rather than Arbiter. Sometimes it's correct to slam general turn 4, but the majority of the time, you want to wait for protection, or until your opponent is low/out of cards.
Marath, Will of the Wild spell-based ramp: 1-2
Game 1: Opponent had an elf and no other early ramp. He played elf and Marath, and stayed on those two, playing around wrath. I cast Day of Judgment and then general. Bounced various threats until I hit a Deep Analysis, at which point I won the game.
Game 2: I kept a pretty bad 6, but I was able to set up a Terminus with Telling Time, killing his Marath. I fought his threats for a few turns with counterspells and removal, but I never hit any draw spells to restock, so I lost.
Game 3: Opponent played well around wraths, of which I had to play two. I never hit any draw spell, nor Oblivion Ring, which was bad considering his only real threat was an Elspeth, Knight-Errant. Elsepth ultimate isn't super relevant usually, but he played a Kessig Wolf Run, making his tokens into threats, and I couldn't Dust Bowl it. I'm completely sure that if I hit an o-ring or a draw spell before Elspeth ultimate, I had an almost guaranteed win.
All three games felt as though if I hit a single card-draw spell with Grand Arbiter Augustin IV out, I would've been almost unstoppable. There are 13 cards which net +1 or more cards, and 11 card which cantrip. I feel that adding more big draw spells is going to make my early play worse, and hitting just one big draw spell is going to be enough to either run into more card draw, or just get a ridiculous amount of gas. I think I just got unlucky here, but it's something to keep in mind.
Additionally, I feel that having more outs to planeswalkers is necessary. Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere, and sometimes Psionic Blast are my only direct ways to deal with an on-board planeswalker, and I think I need one or two more (since it's rare to be able to actually swing at a planeswalker to kill it). I haven't been the biggest fan of Darksteel Mutation for various reasons, so I'm going to try cutting it for an Idyllic Tutor, because it hits Oblivion Ring, Treachery, and Nevermore. I don't have one IRL, but I will be seeking one out.
Kiku, Night's Flower control 0-1
Game 1: I got stuck on 4 lands, thinking playing general+keeping up Remand would be better than casting Foresee and letting him resolve anything he wanted. I ended up missing for I think 4 turns, while he was able to play lands. He stuck a Dark Tutelage and Cabal Coffers, and eventually ground out the win. I actually got decently close to winning late in the game thanks to his own Tutelage, but he took it down.
In hindsight, there is no reason to play my general that early against monoblack, and there's really no threat he can stick that I wouldn't be able to deal with eventually. Essentially, I did pretty much what I said NOT to do in my last post. Learning was accomplished the hard way.
For play errors, I think that after taking Clique I should've just started slamming card draw spells earlier. I didn't expect him to be able to get through my wall of counterspells (at one point my hand was Concentrate, Counterspell, Sphinx's Revelation, Cryptic Command, Daze, Force of Will, Condescend), but his counters are in general better than mine, especially with his mana advantage. I think that drawing was likely a better option, but the matchup feel pretty bad. This makes sense to me, since typically a hard control deck loses to a more controlling hard control deck.
I am the beatdown in this matchup, but I have very few threats. This makes me want more manlands, and more small creatures such as Vendilion Clique, Venser, Shaper Savant, and True-Name Nemesis. Additionally, hitting land destruction is huge in the matchup, making me want Expedition Map. Fortunately, mono-blue control is not popular right now (especially in my meta), so I don't think these changes are directly necessary. Just something to keep in mind in case the meta switches, or if these cards are beneficial enough in other matchups to warrant addition.
Jenara, Asura of War enchantress: 2-1
Game 1: Turn 1 Fastbond into turn 2 Sylvan Library is really, really good. I had plenty of answers for it, since the only primary win condition in the enchantress deck is swinging with Jenara. 2x wraths, Tamiyo, and Treachery all came to me, but Wasteland into Sun Titan into Eternal Witness returning Sun Titan killing all of my blue sources shut me off of stealing or tapping down Jenara. Without the Wasteland, I'm fairly sure I would've been able to take the game even through the absurd start.
Game 3: Opponent kept a hand without a lot of gas. I ended up removing Jenara twice rather than using counterspells (I quickly learned to keep counterspells for enchantments, since they're harder to remove). I stuck a Jace Beleren and got to my Idyllic Tutor again, which I once again got Future Sight. This advantage is so absurdly good it becomes difficult to lose.
Enchantress Jenara is very, very rare, but seems like a very fun deck. The deck has a lot of big synergies, but without those synergies, it really doesn't do anything. So I believe picking the right answers is key--counterspells, o-rings, and Disenchants need choose proper targets. I think the deck is set up quite well against the deck, except I would again like more o-ring effects. Additionally, I've been super happy with the addition of Idyllic Tutor.
Geist of Saint Traft: 0-2
Game 1: Mulled to a bad 5 (4 lands and a terminus if I remember correctly). Game was closer than expected, as I was able to get a lot of blocking done against Geist, and Disenchanted a sword. I felt like I was getting back into the game, and he cast Cataclysm after Swords to Plowshares on my general. Clocked out of the game before I could cast my in-hand Supreme Verdict.
Game 2: Kept 3 of my wizards plus Cavern of Souls and other lands. Tried to play the blocking game, but again I got Armageddoned out while behind on board.
At least against Geist, I didn't care for the creatures. They did some good work (blocking Geist is great), but I feel that my 1-mana counters would've been better. What was interesting is that the MLD came really late in the game and I still couldn't counter it because I never got off the back foot. I think the creatures are okay here, but I also need my 1-mana counters in order to keep up on the board early on. I think Vendilion Clique may be worth keeping in, but I'm not really sold on the other added creatures. Going to keep it as-is for now and see what happens.
3/25/2014
No games today, but I did a lot of thinking about the deck. I don't like the creatures--it's not doing what I want. I went back to the list in the OP and counted all the spells that, if in my hand, I will always be able to use. I included generic counterspells in this (so Mana Leak counts as a 2-drop, but Negate does not, since much of the time it's not going to hit), and I didn't include things that are much better lategame (Into the Roil, for example). I had a handful of 1's, a ton of twos and fours, but only four three-drops (Jace Beleren, Compulsive Research, Nevermore, and Idyllic Tutor (Idyllic is possibly a lategame card, too!).
The reason this issue exists is because my list started as a mana rock deck. It had 5 mana rocks initially, so 3-drops were pretty bad if you can just skip to four mana instead. So, I made the following changes: Repulse, Exclude, Orim's Chant out, Forbid, Divination, Flash of Insight in. Yes, I took 2 three drops out in order to increase my 3-drop count. Exclude and Repulse were awkward in a number of matchups, and the added cards solve some issues I've been having. Divination and Flash of Insight give me more dig, which should solve my issue of running out of gas after sticking Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. Forbid gives me another hard counter, which becomes essentially a lock late in the game (with my ridiculous amount of card draw).
I'm not 100% sold on Divination. It may be too small of an effect--I don't know yet. Additionally, I feel that one more hard counter would be good (probably Dissolve). What's the use of hitting the lategame if my Mana Tithe can't counter a Primeval Titan?
Game 4: Kept a 5-land, Mana Tithe hand, hit Enlightened Tutor on the first draw. Stick Nevermore. Opponent hits a Parallax Tide, gaining a lot of time, but opponent lost connection the turn before my lands would return.
Wanderer is very hit or miss. Nevermore is by far the best card in the deck, followed by hard counterspells. I felt I always had card draw. The two additions helped a lot. I very much want another hard counter, and will start looking for a slot for one.
Game 1: I thought he was Oloro control, but he went turn 1 EntombGriselbrand into turn 2 Dance of the Dead. I had an Into the Roil, to which he drew 7 and countered, then a Dismantling Blow, to which he drew 7 and countered again (Force of Willed).
Game 2: Kept a very good hand (4 lands, Negate, Remand, Future Sight). I countered an early Flash, then just played normal control. I hit my land drops, kept countermagic up, and starting drawing cards. On 8 mana I played my general, then later Enlightened Tutored for the Future Sight that I shuffled away with Brainstorm. From there, it's game over.
Game 3: He had 2 early discard spells, and I got stuck on 3 lands. I did nothing for a long time and he eventually started reanimating. The funny thing is that by the time he started reanimating, he could hardcast many of his fatties.
I don't think Oloro reanimator is particularly good. If I had a Force Spike game 1, he pretty much loses immediately. If I hit a fourth land drop game 3, I start drawing cards and just lock him out of the game. He got lucky game one, and I got unlucky game 2. It happens.
I've decided to swap Condescend for Dissolve. I want another hard counter, and while Condescend is very good, I think that it's my worst counterspell. (Actually, I'd love to cut Force Spike and Mana Tithe but they absolutely must be in the deck against certain decks [Geist of Saint Traft for example.]) Additionally, I'm moving Mulldrifter in over Divination. I can't tutor for it with Mystical Tutor, nor flash it back with Snapcaster Mage, but those are the only downsides in the deck. I really don't think either of those options are as useful as the potential 2/2 flying body.
Game 1: Couldn't hit 4th land. Lost the game. Seems to happen a lot--I need to focus digging on hitting lands early even if passing up a powerful card.
Game 2: Stupidly used Wrath of God knowing full well he had a Contaminate in hand (I had Disenchant in hand, and tapped out for the wrath)
Game 3: Got outvalued--I can fight decks over the board, but Teysa gets so much value in the graveyard too, I can't stop it (Carrion Feeder kept my Oblivion Ring and Terminus from helping)
Game 4: He kept 2 Plains and a hand full of black, loses.
Game 5: Opened a bad hand, he made it worse with Inquisition of Kozilek, and then my internet drops.
I think the matchup is okay. A Relic of Progenitus would be great. Opponent can just rip hand, demand answers for great draw enchantments, and recur cards like crazy. Doesn't feel good. And I played absolutely horribly. I think game 1 I could've done well if I hit a fourth land, game 2 I was in okay shape (40%ish to win) before I cast Wrath of God, and game 5 was about 50% to win. If I played better, I think the matchup isn't bad.
Game 1: I kept a Wrath of God and mulled into an okay hand. Had no dig, so hitting 5 lands (to Wrath with Thalia out) took some time. Stuck a Jace, the Mind Sculptor afterward, and protected to the win.
Have you ever used www.metagame-breakdown.com? I personally stopped using it due to the big discrepancy in player skill online, but I still think it's a useful tool to keep track of your record and show how well you are doing to others.
i think the trick is simply to log games that are actually meta viable, and played well. if your oppenent throws game after game i would think in that case you do not count it. but thats just my thoughts on it.
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Have you ever used www.metagame-breakdown.com? I personally stopped using it due to the big discrepancy in player skill online, but I still think it's a useful tool to keep track of your record and show how well you are doing to others.
I've considered it. I would not use it exclusively, as having a place to type out my thoughts on the match, what cards were good or bad, etc, is really beneficial for me. Using it just to keep track of matchup percentages is interesting to know what matchups are good and bad. I don't see a reason why I shouldn't use it, and it could benefit the French-DC community by giving more stats.
Game 1: Kept a hand heavy in counterspells, countered everything he played, and was able to eventually stick GAA into Future Sight, and won. Very straightforward.
Game 2: He stuck Jace, the Mind Sculptor on turn 6, which was perfect timing because I had 2 counterspells totalling to 7 cmc (so I needed another turn to be able to counter jace and his counterspells). I play Jace Beleren and we both dick around for a while. He casts Exhume, getting Griselbrand. I can't beat 21 cards drawn, and lose out.
Game 3: He sticks a Jace, the Mind Sculptor and reanimates a Griselbrand again. He totals 14 cards from Griselbrand and we play out the game. I did okay (had Future Sight out most of the game, and I made one mistake that kept me from killing Jace. If I did kill Jace, I think I had a really good chance of winning. I ended up scooping because I was near the end of my deck, and needed an answer to Jace, an answer to his Shallow Grave, an answer to his hard-castable Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, and a win-condition. That just isn't happening before I deck myself.
Game 1: He got stuck on 3 lands, I got stuck on 4. I drew out first, and hit Cavern of Souls I cavern out my general, then Mystical Tutor out my Entreat the Angels for 2 Angels with countermagic up. Opponent scoops.
Game 2: He got stuck on 5 lands, and I hit lands all the way up to 10+ lands. We drawgo for a while (I don't hit any draw spells), and his Ruination only kills 2 of my lands because I played and fetched almost all basics. I stick my general, and he scoops.
Game 1: Opponent sticks general, I Enlightened Tutor for Future Sight, and bounce his general. He plays Lethal Vapors, which tells me he's a planeswalker-based deck. I counter his threats and draw tons of cards, hoping for a planeswalker to start the kill. He gg's out.
Opponent got a bit land screwed in match 1, but I think I played very well regardless. I think Nin, the Pain Artist is an okay matchup, but maybe a bit lower than 50%. I don't see Nin enough to warrant changes, though. The Mogis deck is set up very poorly against Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. I think the only way he wins is by getting turn 1 discard into turn 2 discard into Phyrexian Arena into threat. Otherwise, I'm sure the matchup is good. Aggro Mogis may be a different story, but I haven't played against one yet.
Game 1: Excellent game. Kept 4 lands, Unexpectedly Absent, Detention Sphere, and Careful Consideration. I felt it was an okay hand against a control build, and a good hand against a reanimator (which is odd, but not exactly rare). Got an early Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, holding back his Ophinomancer, and giving me some spell tempo. Had to Day of Judgment away once he stuck another threat (I don't recall what it was). Opponent lands a Sorin Markov, and sets me to 10. I start forcing out threats to get rid of his counterspells (Damia doesn't run a lot of card draw, so he will run out of gas before I do). I manage to stick a Future Sight, and Oblivion Ring his Sorin, stabilizing at 2 life. He keeps tapping out for his general, and I keep removing it. The game ended with me using Treachery on his Damia, then casting Nevermore on the Damnation I knew he had in hand. Opponent scooped when he Memory Lapsed my Memory Lapse... Which I recast because Future Sight is ridiculous.
Very happy with the deck. No changes--the deck feels fantastic, and I'm playing better than I was the past week.
Haven't played much the past week, since I got back into Starcraft II and a few other games. However, I met up with some friends on Sunday and played a bunch of French.
Game 1: Had a bad keep--took Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Spell Snare, and Terminus--in my head the cheap counters would keep him from killing me and Terminus would reset and I'd be in good shape. Fact is, the counterspells are too situational to guarantee surviving to wrath on turn 6. If Terminus was Wrath of God, I think it's a keep--I'm fairly sure the correct play was to mull everything away for a better 6. I ended up losing to early pressure that got around my counterspells.
Game 3: Opponent kept a hand without a lot of gas--he kept playing his general, which I countered or removed until I got to the point of having Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Future Sight in play, and out-carded him.
As I said before, I'm not the biggest fan of this matchup (spell-based ramp). I think it's do-able, though. You win by having more cards than him. You lose by getting hit by a combination of creatures and planeswalkers. I think that my recent changes of adding more hard counters has made this a much better matchup.
Just to note, I played against two players piloting the same deck. These games are from the first player.
Game 1: I kept a 6-card 2-lander (both Islands), and got pretty punished for it. I'm sure it was correct to keep, but I got unlucky. I got stuck on those two lands, and discarded Flash of Insight, letting me flash it back for a card. Then I discarded on 3 lands, pitching Deep Analysis, getting me more cards. I then proceeded to Supreme Verdict and then follow it up with Terminus, with Snapcaster Mage in hand for another if I really needed one. I played Grand Arbiter and then Nevermore, calling his general, and out-carded my opponent. I got very unlucky on the mulligan, but then really lucky to get the multiple wrath effects that I needed.
Game 2: Pretty straightforward game--I tutored for Nevermore and called out his general, then played Arbiter, Future Sight, and he had no answers.
Game 3: I kept a very blue hand. I cast Supreme Verdict, then started drawing cards. I cast Treachery on his general, then played Dust Bowl and general to start locking out my opponent. He scooped.
These games are from the second player, who is more experienced and, I think, played much tighter than the first player. These were really close, grindy games taking about 3 hours to finish just the 2 games below.
I think the Karador deck has a bit of room to improve (not a huge amount, but a bit). Games are very, very close but I think somewhat in Arbiter's favor. If I added a Rest in Peace, I don't think I can ever lose this matchup, but I really only want it against Karador and Oloro reanimator... So I'm not going to add it yet. Vendilion Clique would be nice against this deck (to rip his Recurring Nightmare and a number of other matchups, so I'm strongly considering it, but not sure what to cut yet. Ideas are welcome. Entreat the Angels has been really, really good for me, and I'm happy I put it in.
Game 1: I kept only one blue source, which he Wastelanded. I luckily drew two more blue into Jace, the Mind Sculptor, while he was mana screwed. gg
Game 2: I kept a land and two spells, should've kept just land and Mana Tithe, as I only got 2 lands for a long time (around 15 cards seen including mulligan). I drew Mystical Tutor as I hit 4 lands for Mystical+cycle Miscalculation+Terminus, but that turn he decided to stop swinging with his two manlands. If he swung with them again, I think I would've won, as he'd be left with almost nothing on board and nothing in hand. Instead, I lost. Oh well, happens when you don't hit lands.
Game 3: I played poorly. I should've [cast]Mystical Tutor[/card]ed for Terminus on turn 2. I always think I should wait, but my opponents almost always stick a sword or something (he landed Mask of Memory). One could argue that since he general costs 3, it's a bad idea... But I'm not sure. Later in the game he resolved Blood Moon, but my basic-heavy deck wasn't hurt too badly. He also hit a Ruination afterward, which wasn't too bad either. I got a bit flooded after the Ruination, but hit Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I ticked up Tamiyo when she was at 8, which was a mistake. I should've ulted Tamiyo (since he has burn anyway), cast Disenchant on his Blood Moon and his Mask of Memories, and started drawing with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and get way ahead. Lessons learned.
Circle of Protection: Red would be hilariously good. I think I need to mulligan better, and make better decisions in this matchup (which I've never played before). Zozu is not popular and not strong enough for me to make any changes, I think. Just need to play tighter.
Game 2: Had another hand with no white source, but kept 7. Felt as though it was a very good hand after I drew the white source. He got stuck on 3 lands, so I felt pretty good, but got the Reanimate on his Entombed Griselbrand through Mana Leak and Mana Tithe. Drew 14 with Griselbrand, and I cast Swords to Plowshares on it, but the damage was done. I got a bit flooded, so I started Dust Bowling his blue sources, but he kept drawing. Eventually he cast Intuition and Dance of the Dead reanimated a Dark Confidant. I can't get out of the Griselbrand hole, and scoop.
I really wanted Mental Misstep and Rest in Peace. I should have played Arbiter turn 5, so that even with the perfect hand (which he had, Reanimate + Entomb), he couldn't go off through my Mana Leak in hand. I didn't want him to just remove Arbiter, but it is essentially a time walk, all things considered.
These games felt awful. Game 1 I think I mulliganned badly, but could've been easily punished by not finding a white source. Game 2, I think he had a simply ridiculous hand. Strongly considering Mental Misstep, but it's a quite bad topdeck lategame. Vendilion Clique would help, as well as Rest in Peace, as I've said before... But I don't see enough of these decks to add Rest in Peace.
Adding Vendlion Clique, removing Desertion. In theory, Desertion is insane against my weakest matchups (spell-based ramp), but it has felt underwhelming. I haven't played against a Griselbrand deck, and I'd definitely want it there, but I'd like to test Clique and the rest of the deck feels so solid.
4/10/2014:
Maelstrom Wanderer: 1-0
Game 1: Mulled all 7 opened, was happy with keep (Island, Plains, Idyllic Tutor, Daze, Brainstorm, Spell Pierce). I was on the play, so I hardcast Daze on his 2-mana rock, then Spell Pierce on his 3-mana rock. Turn 4 I dropped GAA, and he did nothing. I then started drawing lots of cards, and cast Idyllic Tutor for Nevermore. I couldn't cast it for a long time (was keeping up counters for his threats), but it's hard to get to 9 mana when you get your early rocks countered. I made a few mistakes: missed 2 attacks with GAA (I'm so used to not attacking, it's hard to remember sometimes), and 1 attack I should've done with a Celestial Colonnade, and I should not have countered his take-extra-turns cards, since they are essentially Explores when he taps out to do it. I kill him with general, Colonnade, and Psionic Blast. Then opponent drops match.
Kept a good hand on the play and won. Not much to say, except countering rocks into general is quite good here.
Game 3: Kept a slow 6 card hand. Hit land drops, and eventually Enlightened Tutor for Future Sight, thinking it'd dig me into removal for anything he resolves next turn (which 99% of the time is true). Opponent resolves Ajani Vengeant, and I start digging, but only find card draw and counterspells, which would've been phenomenal if I also hit pretty much any way to remove or bounce a planeswalker (8 cards left in the deck to do this). I also didn't find any creature removal in order to buy time. I Fact or Fiction, keeping Sphinx's Revelation and lands over Swords to Plowshares and Spell Snare, because it was too late for just a Swords to dig me out--I needed life and cards. Opponent puts me to 2 and I need a 4-mana Wrath and Oblivion Ring or Detention Sphere exactly in order to not die and be able to Sphinx's for 8 next turn. I see 6 cards (Impulse plus Future Sight, and get the Wrath of God, and Psionic Blast, but I was at 2. I think with 1 more life, I would've stabilized.
Iroas is quite strong, but runs out of cards. I think spot removal plus incremental draw (Think Twice style) is the way to go here. He got a bad draw game 1, and I got bad draws games 2 and 3, and those were decently close games. I feel good about the matchup.
EDIT: I just realized in game 3, I once tapped an island over tapping Adarkar Wastes, and then later tapped the Wastes for blue, thinking how I played that poorly... If I had tapped the correct land, I would've likely stabilized. =\ Oh well, lesson learned.
4/16/2014
I've been considering a more tapout style win, adding cards like Sun Titan, Yosei, the Morning Star, etc. It would require a big overhaul and testing, and I've got a tournament in a couple of days, so I'm not making a big change right now.
I've also wanted another lifegain effect, rather than just Sphinx's Revelation. Good options here are:
Baneslayer Angel: Only 4 mana with GAA out, solid body, and can block almost anything. Downside is that it's weak to removal.
Batterskull: Costs 5 mana, and is smaller than Baneslayer, but is very good against removal, and can hop on GAA when needed. Turns on artifact removal if I don't keep up 3 mana at all times (making it cost 8 mana!).
Wurmcoil Engine: Costs 6 mana, and is resilient to most removal, plus is a very large body.
In the end, I've added Baneslayer Angel. I feel that at 4 or 5 mana, I can play it earliest, and most removal spells will kill Batterskull and Wurmcoil anyway (exception being most black removal).
I'm removing Gitaxian Probe for this. I like Probe a lot (and initially had Peek in also), but I feel that most of the time it's a marginal advantage, whereas Baneslayer gives a massive advantage. This change makes me want to put in a 41st land, but I don't yet know if this is correct. Will keep an eye on this.
Game 1: Kept a good permission hand, opponent got stuck on 2 lands. I Dazed his Demonic Tutor which I assume would've gotten a land. I then started using Dust Bowl, and played general off Cavern of Souls--opponent can't do anything.
Game 2: From his discards, I knew it was reanimator, so I mulled accordingly. I kept Spell Pierce and mulled the rest, keeping a 6-card 2-lander. I Pierced an Entomb, out of fear that he would play a land and cast Reanimate on Griselbrand. I ran out general to get rid of a counterspell, then I cast Enlightened Tutor for Future Sight, and resolved it. Opponent didn't have removal for it (apparently Oloro reanimator doesn't run a lot of enchantment removal--good to know). I hit a lot of lands off Future Sight at first, and couldn't draw like crazy since GAA wasn't on board (and I didn't want to resolve on 6 mana because it meant mostly tapping out, where I'd prefer to cast other spells), but the ridiculous value of Future Sight eventually put me to 5 cards in hand, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Future Sight to his zero cards in hand. Opponent scoops to inevitable Jace ult.
Game 1 was a dud, but game 2 was very fair. I think that unless Oloro has a nut hand, we're in good shape, but we will ALWAYS have a long game, so we need to purposely play that style of game. Even if they resolve a turn 2 Griselbrand, 90% of the time, we can still play out the game and have an okay chance of winning (30% or so depending on how things go).
I didn't draw Baneslayer Angel, and never felt that I wanted it. I feel that it would be pretty bad in this matchup.
Game 1: Turn 1 on the draw I tapped out for an Ancestral Visions instead of keeping up Spell Snare. He played two 1-drops rather than a two drop, so I wasn't punished, but I'm unsure if this was the correct play. I get beat down for a while, taking quite a bit of damage, and drop my Future Sight, starting to dig for a wrath. I reveal a Terminus, and Think Twice on his turn for some value. After that I [cast]Dust Bowl[/card], untap, Dust Bowl + Wasteland with Remand and Daze up--opponent scoops.
Opponent had a very unique deck, and I'd expect to see very few others with this general. I felt the matchup is really good--wraths are insane, as he has a lot of cheap creatures and very little card draw. One big threat is Skullclamp, since most of his creatures are 1 toughness.
Just to note, hitting Baneslayer Angel in either game would've been fantastic, but I never saw it. Always nice to not see the card you're testing, eh?
Played some games against Griselbrand and Karador, Ghost Chieftain, but I unfortunately lost my notes sheet. I won every game against Karador, and won 3/9 against Griselbrand. Grisel seems really bad, but I knew that already--ramp decks that don't use elves are really bad for me, and ones with discard are worse.
4/19/2014:
Had our tournament. Unfortunately, we had only 7 players due to Easter and other reasons. I got a bye round one.
Game 2: I keep Force Spike and 5 lands on the draw, hoping he goes elf into Marath. He does, and I spike it. He plays two more elves, then taps out for Marath again, and I Treachery into Arbiter again. Start Dust Bowling his lands and can't lose.
This style of Marath is a pretty good matchup, and my opponent seemed to have slow but not bad hands. Treachery is absolutely insane if he taps out.
Game 1: He forces out Geist, and I drop down Grand Arbiter for the block. He hits with Steel of the Godhead, which I Disenchant next turn. I start out-drawing him with Future Sight, and eventually beat him.
Game 2: Opponent sticks Geist, and I play Grand Arbiter to block. He uses Eiganjo Castle to keep swinging, until I get the Tectonic Edge for it. Game goes long, and I can't get ahead on board due to an all-counterspell hand. He drops Cavern of Souls, and swings with Geist, who dies, but puts me to 4. He then plays Geist again and I can't get anything to remove the angel or kill the Geist.
This match was super close. I honestly think that if my opponent played more aggressively, I would've been in worse shape, but he is a very cautious player.
After the tourney, I played against another Geist deck, this one more aggressive. I played four or five fast games, and lost all but one. He had very aggressive draws, and I couldn't keep Geist off the board, or GAA on the board. One or the other is fine, but I just couldn't get around his cheap counterspells.
I think that against Geist, I need to be more patient. Keeping a slower hand is okay, because if I hit a lot of land drops, I can play around his Force Spikes, and if I stick Arbiter, I have good blocking ability. Still feels like a pretty bad matchup.
Lot of changes to the deck:
Disperse in, Cyclonic Rift out. I have never overloaded rift, and sometimes I want to recycle one of my enchantments. Disperse kind of sucks, but it does the same job I was using Rift for, and there's no better option that hits my own stuff (other than Into the Roil, which is obviously in).
Banishing Light in, Tariff out. I never really liked Tariff, as it just felt like a necessary card against some decks. I may add this back in, since it's good against Geist, but I'm not feeling it, and another O-ring sounds good to me.
Also, I'm going to be branching out a bit, now that I'm really happy with GAA. Eventually I'm sure I'll make a Thraximundar deck, since I have all of the cards but a few lands, Liliana of the Veil, and some minor cards. And I'm brewing up another deck that I think I may purchase soon. I'll still play GAA, just not quite as frequently.
Game 1: Opponent misses first land drop. I drop GAA, but never hit card draw, so I can't get an advantage. Ancestral Visions pops for me and he has 3 counterspells (one of which is Commandeer on my Visions) to my 2 counterspells, and I scoop.
Game 2: Kept good control hand on 6. Vendilion Clique, Remand, 4x land. Cast Clique into GAA into Baneslayer, and opponent can't do anything as monoU.
Game 3: Kept an okay control hand on 6. I miss some land drops, since he has more filter than I do. Opponent plays Talrand several times, netting some drakes. I try to stabilize, but he draws 4 off Deep Analysis, and was able to Disrupting Shoal my Future Sight. No way to stabilize and no way to draw cards, so gg.
Matchup went as expected--decently close, but hard games, and losing in the end. In control vs control, the deck with more permission is going to be best to win. More threats and more card draw would be great here. More threats is iffy for most other matchups, so not interested in changes there... But I do want to add Mulldrifter back in for another card draw effect.
the moat sounds really powerful, and the disperse inclusions seems really really solid, i like that a lot.
i look forward to seeing your thrax brew, let me know, and send it to me once you have a list.
I'm not actually brewing Thrax. I just know that I have almost all of the cards, so it seems a no-brainer to make one eventually. My brew is a different deck, and I hope to have it mostly here (with a couple proxies) for this FNM. I'll show you there.
I am really surprised to see the first duel commander Grand Arbiter deck on page 6 of these forums. The deck is very powerful, and it's extremely fun to play for a control player.
My current list is as follows:
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Academy Rector
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Banishing Light
1 Detention Sphere
1 Future Sight
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Moat
1 Nevermore
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Treachery
1 Brainstorm
1 Careful Consideration
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Daze
1 Disenchant
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Dismiss
1 Disperse
1 Dissolve
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Flash of Insight
1 Forbid
1 Force Spike
1 Force of Will
1 Impulse
1 Into the Roil
1 Mana Leak
1 Mana Tithe
1 Miscalculation
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Negate
1 Psionic Blast
1 Remand
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Telling Time
1 Think Twice
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Jace Beleren
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Concentrate
1 Day of Judgment
1 Deep Analysis
1 Foresee
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Preordain
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Terminus
1 Wrath of God
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Arid Mesa
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Command Tower
1 Dust Bowl
1 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Tundra
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
12 Island
6 Plains
A few things of note:
Initially I had more win conditions in the deck, but I found them to often be awkward in the early game. It's very obnoxious mulliganing away part of an opening hand and drawing a 6-drop. Right now the primary win conditions are Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Gideon Jura, Treachery, Desertion, Celestial Colonnade, and beating down with Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. Snapcaster Mage, Mishra's Factory, and even Tamiyo, the Moon Sage + Psionic Blast can get the job done in a pinch.
There are no mana rocks and no Armageddon effects in the deck. It's extremely powerful to hit turn 3 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV=>turn 4 Armageddon, holding up Mana Leak, but I found myself disappointed to draw the rocks more often than they benefited. The large amount of 4-mana draw effects in the deck make the rocks less awkward, since you can refuel immediately, but that means that you're durdling on the early turns, where I'd rather be counterspelling and removing threats. Mass land destruction is very powerful, but they are good only against control and spell-based ramp (decks using Farseek, Kodama's Reach, etc). My local metagame doesn't have a ton of these decks, so I think the Armageddon effects are often dead cards.
I'm sure I'll be making a lot of changes to the deck regularly, and I'll be posting comments from my games on Cockatrice and IRL. Comments are more than welcome.
Thanks,
Khrane
Modern
No clue
RIP Twin
MTGS Olde Name:
Hruen (apparently it was taken, probably by me about 10 years ago.........)
I'm still learning the deck, so this might change, but right now I find that any threat-dense, spell-based ramp deck is difficult to deal with. For example, certain Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, Maelstrom Wanderer, Marath, Will of the Wild, etc, decks.
The reason for this is that against most decks, Force Spike, Daze, Mana Leak, etc are online all game long. Against a ramp deck, this isn't true. Elfball ramp isn't an issue, because you can Wrath of God once, and Force Spike is back online. Against spell-based ramp decks, playing Armageddon effects can serve a similar purpose, but I really feel those kind of cards make you weaker to most other decks.
I think those are the only really bad matchups. Everything else feels either very good or even. I'm going to start keeping track of my stats here, so I can discover any other bad matchups.
Modern
No clue
RIP Twin
MTGS Olde Name:
Hruen (apparently it was taken, probably by me about 10 years ago.........)
Prossh goodstuff/ramp: 2-1
Game 1: Opponent stuck on 2 lands. I stick turn 4 general, opponent scoops.
Game 2: I used Wrath of God to wipe two elves, hoping opponent would get mana screwed. Totally wrong play--I should've waited for one more creature minimum, since my hand was all counterspells, and Wrath of God into Mana Tithe on turn 5 is much better than tapping out. Opponent refilled board while I drew more counterspells and couldn't deal with the board.
Game 3: Opponent kept relatively slow hand with Sylvan Library. I stuck general on turn 4, and rode the value to victory, including a relatively early Sphinx's Revelation for 4. One mistake I made was casting Mana Leak early instead of Dismiss because I thought I should use the Mana Leak before my opponent got a lot of mana. This was incorrect, as keeping Mana Leak would've let me play Gideon Jura and keep up a good counterspell with 5 mana in play. Still ended up winning between the opponent's Sylvan Library drawing, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, and a Treachery on a Stormbreath Dragon.
Animar #1: 1-0
Game 1: Mulliganned to 5, keeping fetch, Island, Plains, fetch, Supreme Verdict, Wrath of God. Ended up wrathing turn 4 to kill Dryad Arbor and Fauna Shaman, since I had a second wrath effect in hand. Next turn Wasteland my opponent to two lands, and play general with Sphinx's Revelation in hand to draw 5 on the next turn, but opponent scoops and leaves game.
Animar #2: 2-0
Game 1: Kept a very weak hand (4x land, Mana Tithe, Dismantling Blow), but drew into Terminus and Supreme Verdict. Used verdict and next turn cast Arbiter, and opponent scooped when I cast Mana Tithe on his Inferno Titan. I think my only mistake this game was not playing my fetchland on turn 4, because I wanted the option to cast Supreme Verdict and Wasteland on turn 5 if I wanted to.
Game 2: Swords to Plowshares on a Birds of Paradise to slow him down, into Jace, the Mind Sculptor, bouncing Animar, then next turn casting Supreme Verdict. Brainstorm every turn and out-carded him.
I think that both Animar decks I played against were not fully optimized, and the Prossh deck got unlucky. I was comfortable in all three matchups. No cards felt too awkward. No deck changes today.
--Khrane
Modern
No clue
RIP Twin
MTGS Olde Name:
Hruen (apparently it was taken, probably by me about 10 years ago.........)
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic reanimator: 2-0
Game 1: Opponent used Shallow Grave on a Rune-Scarred Demon early on, but when I stuck my general turn 4, he couldn't keep up.
Game 2: Very strange game involving a Consecrated Sphinx entering the battlefield 4-5 times. I ended up beating down with general, Snapcaster Mage, Celestial Colonnade, Mishra's Factory, and Gideon Jura.
Erebos, God of the Dead aggro: 2-0
Game 1: Opponent kept a 1-lander, and I punished it. Not much to say.
Game 2: Day of Judgment on turn four, and he didn't have removal for Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, so even though he had Bitterblossom and Skullclamp on the board, I was able to grind him out.
Similar to yesterday, both of these decks had room for improvement, but I think that GAA is quite good against both archetypes. Against reanimator, you have a lot of Force Spike effects, as well as Disenchant effects and bounce effects to deal with an early Animate Dead or Reanimate. At no point did I even want a Relic of Progenitus. As for monoblack aggro, a single wrath is likely to get you far ahead enough to grind out the win.
No changes for today.
--Khrane
If you bluff a counterspell, two things can happen: your opponent will play their best card anyway and you waste an entire turn, or your opponent plays a sub-optimal card thinking you'd counter it, and they still develop their board more than you. If playing general is a good play, then I'm playing my general rather than doing nothing.
That being said, there are reasons not to play your general, though. If you expect you need to cast Wrath of God in a turn or two, then it's probably not good to play your general. Also, if you suspect your opponent to have a removal spell such that Grand Arbiter will die before you get value, it's probably incorrect to play general, but not always.
I'm very often happy just casting a Careful Consideration rather than Arbiter. Sometimes it's correct to slam general turn 4, but the majority of the time, you want to wait for protection, or until your opponent is low/out of cards.
Marath, Will of the Wild spell-based ramp: 1-2
Game 1: Opponent had an elf and no other early ramp. He played elf and Marath, and stayed on those two, playing around wrath. I cast Day of Judgment and then general. Bounced various threats until I hit a Deep Analysis, at which point I won the game.
Game 2: I kept a pretty bad 6, but I was able to set up a Terminus with Telling Time, killing his Marath. I fought his threats for a few turns with counterspells and removal, but I never hit any draw spells to restock, so I lost.
Game 3: Opponent played well around wraths, of which I had to play two. I never hit any draw spell, nor Oblivion Ring, which was bad considering his only real threat was an Elspeth, Knight-Errant. Elsepth ultimate isn't super relevant usually, but he played a Kessig Wolf Run, making his tokens into threats, and I couldn't Dust Bowl it. I'm completely sure that if I hit an o-ring or a draw spell before Elspeth ultimate, I had an almost guaranteed win.
All three games felt as though if I hit a single card-draw spell with Grand Arbiter Augustin IV out, I would've been almost unstoppable. There are 13 cards which net +1 or more cards, and 11 card which cantrip. I feel that adding more big draw spells is going to make my early play worse, and hitting just one big draw spell is going to be enough to either run into more card draw, or just get a ridiculous amount of gas. I think I just got unlucky here, but it's something to keep in mind.
Additionally, I feel that having more outs to planeswalkers is necessary. Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere, and sometimes Psionic Blast are my only direct ways to deal with an on-board planeswalker, and I think I need one or two more (since it's rare to be able to actually swing at a planeswalker to kill it). I haven't been the biggest fan of Darksteel Mutation for various reasons, so I'm going to try cutting it for an Idyllic Tutor, because it hits Oblivion Ring, Treachery, and Nevermore. I don't have one IRL, but I will be seeking one out.
+1 Idyllic Tutor -1 Darksteel Mutation on Cockatrice, IRL change pending on finding one.
3/22/2014
Kiku, Night's Flower control 0-1
Game 1: I got stuck on 4 lands, thinking playing general+keeping up Remand would be better than casting Foresee and letting him resolve anything he wanted. I ended up missing for I think 4 turns, while he was able to play lands. He stuck a Dark Tutelage and Cabal Coffers, and eventually ground out the win. I actually got decently close to winning late in the game thanks to his own Tutelage, but he took it down.
In hindsight, there is no reason to play my general that early against monoblack, and there's really no threat he can stick that I wouldn't be able to deal with eventually. Essentially, I did pretty much what I said NOT to do in my last post. Learning was accomplished the hard way.
3/23/2014
Vendilion Clique: 1-1
Game 1: Opponent played Expedition Map, fetching Cavern of Souls to cast general. I was able to bounce Clique and then resolve Nevermore. I used Idyllic Tutor to good effect, getting a lot of card advantage off Future Sight. Opponent was able to start swinging with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir with Sword of Fire and Ice and Runechanter's Pike. My Kor Haven held it off until he cast a Pithing Needle naming it. At that point I hit a Wrath of God (with 3 life remaining) and kept his Blinkmoth Nexus tapped down using Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. He started brainstorming with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, but my Future Sight gave me even more card advantage, and I hit Oblivion Ring for Jace and would next turn ultimate Tamiyo. Opponent scoops.
Game 2: Opponent gets Cavern of Souls again, but I used Journey to Nowhere on Clique into Tectonic Edge on his Cavern. He spent a long time fetching lands with Expedition Map, but fortunately he had neither Dust Bowl nor Homeward Path, since I cast Desertion on his Clique. I started playing like a Clique deck (protect Clique, get to 21 damage), and got to 12 of his general damage before he was able to bounce Clique. He had more hard counters and more lands than I did, so he eventually got Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Vendilion Clique out with Riptide Laboratory protecting Clique.
For play errors, I think that after taking Clique I should've just started slamming card draw spells earlier. I didn't expect him to be able to get through my wall of counterspells (at one point my hand was Concentrate, Counterspell, Sphinx's Revelation, Cryptic Command, Daze, Force of Will, Condescend), but his counters are in general better than mine, especially with his mana advantage. I think that drawing was likely a better option, but the matchup feel pretty bad. This makes sense to me, since typically a hard control deck loses to a more controlling hard control deck.
I am the beatdown in this matchup, but I have very few threats. This makes me want more manlands, and more small creatures such as Vendilion Clique, Venser, Shaper Savant, and True-Name Nemesis. Additionally, hitting land destruction is huge in the matchup, making me want Expedition Map. Fortunately, mono-blue control is not popular right now (especially in my meta), so I don't think these changes are directly necessary. Just something to keep in mind in case the meta switches, or if these cards are beneficial enough in other matchups to warrant addition.
Jenara, Asura of War enchantress: 2-1
Game 1: Turn 1 Fastbond into turn 2 Sylvan Library is really, really good. I had plenty of answers for it, since the only primary win condition in the enchantress deck is swinging with Jenara. 2x wraths, Tamiyo, and Treachery all came to me, but Wasteland into Sun Titan into Eternal Witness returning Sun Titan killing all of my blue sources shut me off of stealing or tapping down Jenara. Without the Wasteland, I'm fairly sure I would've been able to take the game even through the absurd start.
Game 2: I was a bit flooded early on, but hit my Idyllic Tutor and got Future Sight. I got serious value from this card. My last turn of the game I Terminus his 5-6 2/1's from Heliod, God of the Sun, Detention Sphere'd his Heliod, Dust Bowl'd his Serra's Sanctum and had both Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage going. He unfortunately lost connection at the beginning of his turn, but came back after ~30 minutes (I kept the game up, because why not?). He scooped shortly thereafter.
Game 3: Opponent kept a hand without a lot of gas. I ended up removing Jenara twice rather than using counterspells (I quickly learned to keep counterspells for enchantments, since they're harder to remove). I stuck a Jace Beleren and got to my Idyllic Tutor again, which I once again got Future Sight. This advantage is so absurdly good it becomes difficult to lose.
Enchantress Jenara is very, very rare, but seems like a very fun deck. The deck has a lot of big synergies, but without those synergies, it really doesn't do anything. So I believe picking the right answers is key--counterspells, o-rings, and Disenchants need choose proper targets. I think the deck is set up quite well against the deck, except I would again like more o-ring effects. Additionally, I've been super happy with the addition of Idyllic Tutor.
No deck changes, but I'm considering testing out a creature package. I think Stoneforge Mystic, Batterskull, Venser, Shaper Savant, True-name Nemesis, and possibly Vendilion Clique may be a good package to add in order to add some pressure, but I'm not 100% sold on this yet.
--Khrane
I decided to start playtesting with adding True-Name Nemesis, Vendilion Clique, Venser, Shaper Savant, Stoneforge Mystic, and Batterskull in over Mana Tithe, Force Spike, Orim's Chant, Telling Time, and Desertion.
Geist of Saint Traft: 0-2
Game 1: Mulled to a bad 5 (4 lands and a terminus if I remember correctly). Game was closer than expected, as I was able to get a lot of blocking done against Geist, and Disenchanted a sword. I felt like I was getting back into the game, and he cast Cataclysm after Swords to Plowshares on my general. Clocked out of the game before I could cast my in-hand Supreme Verdict.
Game 2: Kept 3 of my wizards plus Cavern of Souls and other lands. Tried to play the blocking game, but again I got Armageddoned out while behind on board.
At least against Geist, I didn't care for the creatures. They did some good work (blocking Geist is great), but I feel that my 1-mana counters would've been better. What was interesting is that the MLD came really late in the game and I still couldn't counter it because I never got off the back foot. I think the creatures are okay here, but I also need my 1-mana counters in order to keep up on the board early on. I think Vendilion Clique may be worth keeping in, but I'm not really sold on the other added creatures. Going to keep it as-is for now and see what happens.
3/25/2014
No games today, but I did a lot of thinking about the deck. I don't like the creatures--it's not doing what I want. I went back to the list in the OP and counted all the spells that, if in my hand, I will always be able to use. I included generic counterspells in this (so Mana Leak counts as a 2-drop, but Negate does not, since much of the time it's not going to hit), and I didn't include things that are much better lategame (Into the Roil, for example). I had a handful of 1's, a ton of twos and fours, but only four three-drops (Jace Beleren, Compulsive Research, Nevermore, and Idyllic Tutor (Idyllic is possibly a lategame card, too!).
The reason this issue exists is because my list started as a mana rock deck. It had 5 mana rocks initially, so 3-drops were pretty bad if you can just skip to four mana instead. So, I made the following changes: Repulse, Exclude, Orim's Chant out, Forbid, Divination, Flash of Insight in. Yes, I took 2 three drops out in order to increase my 3-drop count. Exclude and Repulse were awkward in a number of matchups, and the added cards solve some issues I've been having. Divination and Flash of Insight give me more dig, which should solve my issue of running out of gas after sticking Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. Forbid gives me another hard counter, which becomes essentially a lock late in the game (with my ridiculous amount of card draw).
I'm not 100% sold on Divination. It may be too small of an effect--I don't know yet. Additionally, I feel that one more hard counter would be good (probably Dissolve). What's the use of hitting the lategame if my Mana Tithe can't counter a Primeval Titan?
Need to catch up on sleep tonight, so no games.
3/26/2014
Maelstrom Wanderer mana rock ramp: 1-2-1
Game 1: Opened a hand with 3 lands, 2 wraths, Swords to Plowshares, and Unexpectedly Absent. I mulled everything but a land, got a decent six, but had no countermagic. Opponent ramped into Maelstrom Wanderer, hit Destructive Force, and I scooped.
Game 2: Opened another 2-wrather. Mull'ed into oblivion and gave the game.
Game 3: Kept a hand with a lot of card draw. Hit an Idyllic Tutor for Nevermore, and countered his Primeval Titan and Karn Liberated. Opponent scoops.
Game 4: Kept a 5-land, Mana Tithe hand, hit Enlightened Tutor on the first draw. Stick Nevermore. Opponent hits a Parallax Tide, gaining a lot of time, but opponent lost connection the turn before my lands would return.
Wanderer is very hit or miss. Nevermore is by far the best card in the deck, followed by hard counterspells. I felt I always had card draw. The two additions helped a lot. I very much want another hard counter, and will start looking for a slot for one.
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic reanimator: 1-2
Game 1: I thought he was Oloro control, but he went turn 1 Entomb Griselbrand into turn 2 Dance of the Dead. I had an Into the Roil, to which he drew 7 and countered, then a Dismantling Blow, to which he drew 7 and countered again (Force of Willed).
Game 2: Kept a very good hand (4 lands, Negate, Remand, Future Sight). I countered an early Flash, then just played normal control. I hit my land drops, kept countermagic up, and starting drawing cards. On 8 mana I played my general, then later Enlightened Tutored for the Future Sight that I shuffled away with Brainstorm. From there, it's game over.
Game 3: He had 2 early discard spells, and I got stuck on 3 lands. I did nothing for a long time and he eventually started reanimating. The funny thing is that by the time he started reanimating, he could hardcast many of his fatties.
I don't think Oloro reanimator is particularly good. If I had a Force Spike game 1, he pretty much loses immediately. If I hit a fourth land drop game 3, I start drawing cards and just lock him out of the game. He got lucky game one, and I got unlucky game 2. It happens.
I've decided to swap Condescend for Dissolve. I want another hard counter, and while Condescend is very good, I think that it's my worst counterspell. (Actually, I'd love to cut Force Spike and Mana Tithe but they absolutely must be in the deck against certain decks [Geist of Saint Traft for example.]) Additionally, I'm moving Mulldrifter in over Divination. I can't tutor for it with Mystical Tutor, nor flash it back with Snapcaster Mage, but those are the only downsides in the deck. I really don't think either of those options are as useful as the potential 2/2 flying body.
3/27/2014
Teysa, Orzhov Scion: 1-3-1
Game 1: Couldn't hit 4th land. Lost the game. Seems to happen a lot--I need to focus digging on hitting lands early even if passing up a powerful card.
Game 2: Stupidly used Wrath of God knowing full well he had a Contaminate in hand (I had Disenchant in hand, and tapped out for the wrath)
Game 3: Got outvalued--I can fight decks over the board, but Teysa gets so much value in the graveyard too, I can't stop it (Carrion Feeder kept my Oblivion Ring and Terminus from helping)
Game 4: He kept 2 Plains and a hand full of black, loses.
Game 5: Opened a bad hand, he made it worse with Inquisition of Kozilek, and then my internet drops.
I think the matchup is okay. A Relic of Progenitus would be great. Opponent can just rip hand, demand answers for great draw enchantments, and recur cards like crazy. Doesn't feel good. And I played absolutely horribly. I think game 1 I could've done well if I hit a fourth land, game 2 I was in okay shape (40%ish to win) before I cast Wrath of God, and game 5 was about 50% to win. If I played better, I think the matchup isn't bad.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: 2-0
Game 1: I kept a Wrath of God and mulled into an okay hand. Had no dig, so hitting 5 lands (to Wrath with Thalia out) took some time. Stuck a Jace, the Mind Sculptor afterward, and protected to the win.
Game 2: Mana Tithe on turn 1 against Thalia, Opponent plays Stoneforge Mystic, and has 3 equipments. I got lucky to get both Dismantling Blow and Disenchant. Cast Supreme Verdict to kill 2 creatures, then stuck general into Sphinx's Revelation for 7. Stuck Future Sight and it was over.
The opponent wasn't the best player ever, but I even against a good player, I think the matchup is very good. Not too concerned about it.
--Khrane
Modern
No clue
RIP Twin
MTGS Olde Name:
Hruen (apparently it was taken, probably by me about 10 years ago.........)
Modern
No clue
RIP Twin
MTGS Olde Name:
Hruen (apparently it was taken, probably by me about 10 years ago.........)
I've considered it. I would not use it exclusively, as having a place to type out my thoughts on the match, what cards were good or bad, etc, is really beneficial for me. Using it just to keep track of matchup percentages is interesting to know what matchups are good and bad. I don't see a reason why I shouldn't use it, and it could benefit the French-DC community by giving more stats.
Oloro, The Ageless Ascetic reanimator: 1-2
Game 1: Kept a hand heavy in counterspells, countered everything he played, and was able to eventually stick GAA into Future Sight, and won. Very straightforward.
Game 2: He stuck Jace, the Mind Sculptor on turn 6, which was perfect timing because I had 2 counterspells totalling to 7 cmc (so I needed another turn to be able to counter jace and his counterspells). I play Jace Beleren and we both dick around for a while. He casts Exhume, getting Griselbrand. I can't beat 21 cards drawn, and lose out.
Game 3: He sticks a Jace, the Mind Sculptor and reanimates a Griselbrand again. He totals 14 cards from Griselbrand and we play out the game. I did okay (had Future Sight out most of the game, and I made one mistake that kept me from killing Jace. If I did kill Jace, I think I had a really good chance of winning. I ended up scooping because I was near the end of my deck, and needed an answer to Jace, an answer to his Shallow Grave, an answer to his hard-castable Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, and a win-condition. That just isn't happening before I deck myself.
As I said earlier, I think the matchup is fine. Without Griselbrand specifically, the matchup is quite good. This makes me want Vendilion Clique to rip out Griselbrand before he can bin it, or take the Entomb effect, or whatever. Additionally, another win condition would be great. Adding Entreat the Angels, removing Compulsive Research. Compulsive Research is typically worse than Divination (since I want my lands usually), and Entreat gives me a great Mystical Tutor target.
3/29/2014:
Nin, the Pain Artist control: 2-0
Game 1: He got stuck on 3 lands, I got stuck on 4. I drew out first, and hit Cavern of Souls I cavern out my general, then Mystical Tutor out my Entreat the Angels for 2 Angels with countermagic up. Opponent scoops.
Game 2: He got stuck on 5 lands, and I hit lands all the way up to 10+ lands. We drawgo for a while (I don't hit any draw spells), and his Ruination only kills 2 of my lands because I played and fetched almost all basics. I stick my general, and he scoops.
Mogis, God of Slaughter control: 1-0
Game 1: Opponent sticks general, I Enlightened Tutor for Future Sight, and bounce his general. He plays Lethal Vapors, which tells me he's a planeswalker-based deck. I counter his threats and draw tons of cards, hoping for a planeswalker to start the kill. He gg's out.
Opponent got a bit land screwed in match 1, but I think I played very well regardless. I think Nin, the Pain Artist is an okay matchup, but maybe a bit lower than 50%. I don't see Nin enough to warrant changes, though. The Mogis deck is set up very poorly against Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. I think the only way he wins is by getting turn 1 discard into turn 2 discard into Phyrexian Arena into threat. Otherwise, I'm sure the matchup is good. Aggro Mogis may be a different story, but I haven't played against one yet.
3/30/2014:
Glissa, the Traitor goodstuff: 1-0
Game 1: Normal control game--kept 4 lands, Mana Leak, and Careful Consideration. Got a lot of answers at a good rate for playing against a midrange-ish deck. Probably should've used Wasteland on his land before he untapped with 7 mana, so he couldn't play a titan, but he resolved a Grave Titan. I drew 3 with Ancestral Vision, then looted 3 with Cephalid Coliseum, then cast Treachery on his titan. On his turn, Unexpectedly Results his Batterskull, and Swords to Plowshares on his Revoker (which was calling my Jace, the Mind Sculptor), then jam Jace.
Damia, Sage of Stone control: 1-0
Game 1: Excellent game. Kept 4 lands, Unexpectedly Absent, Detention Sphere, and Careful Consideration. I felt it was an okay hand against a control build, and a good hand against a reanimator (which is odd, but not exactly rare). Got an early Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, holding back his Ophinomancer, and giving me some spell tempo. Had to Day of Judgment away once he stuck another threat (I don't recall what it was). Opponent lands a Sorin Markov, and sets me to 10. I start forcing out threats to get rid of his counterspells (Damia doesn't run a lot of card draw, so he will run out of gas before I do). I manage to stick a Future Sight, and Oblivion Ring his Sorin, stabilizing at 2 life. He keeps tapping out for his general, and I keep removing it. The game ended with me using Treachery on his Damia, then casting Nevermore on the Damnation I knew he had in hand. Opponent scooped when he Memory Lapsed my Memory Lapse... Which I recast because Future Sight is ridiculous.
Very happy with the deck. No changes--the deck feels fantastic, and I'm playing better than I was the past week.
--Khrane
Haven't played much the past week, since I got back into Starcraft II and a few other games. However, I met up with some friends on Sunday and played a bunch of French.
Marath, Will of the Wild spell-based ramp: 2-1
Game 1: Had a bad keep--took Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Spell Snare, and Terminus--in my head the cheap counters would keep him from killing me and Terminus would reset and I'd be in good shape. Fact is, the counterspells are too situational to guarantee surviving to wrath on turn 6. If Terminus was Wrath of God, I think it's a keep--I'm fairly sure the correct play was to mull everything away for a better 6. I ended up losing to early pressure that got around my counterspells.
Game 2: Survived until I could Wrath of God, then cast Treachery on his Polukranos, World Eater. I cast general and locked him out with card advantage.
Game 3: Opponent kept a hand without a lot of gas--he kept playing his general, which I countered or removed until I got to the point of having Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Future Sight in play, and out-carded him.
As I said before, I'm not the biggest fan of this matchup (spell-based ramp). I think it's do-able, though. You win by having more cards than him. You lose by getting hit by a combination of creatures and planeswalkers. I think that my recent changes of adding more hard counters has made this a much better matchup.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain midrange/reanimator, player #1: 4-1
Just to note, I played against two players piloting the same deck. These games are from the first player.
Game 1: I kept a 6-card 2-lander (both Islands), and got pretty punished for it. I'm sure it was correct to keep, but I got unlucky. I got stuck on those two lands, and discarded Flash of Insight, letting me flash it back for a card. Then I discarded on 3 lands, pitching Deep Analysis, getting me more cards. I then proceeded to Supreme Verdict and then follow it up with Terminus, with Snapcaster Mage in hand for another if I really needed one. I played Grand Arbiter and then Nevermore, calling his general, and out-carded my opponent. I got very unlucky on the mulligan, but then really lucky to get the multiple wrath effects that I needed.
Game 2: Pretty straightforward game--I tutored for Nevermore and called out his general, then played Arbiter, Future Sight, and he had no answers.
Game 3: I kept a very blue hand. I cast Supreme Verdict, then started drawing cards. I cast Treachery on his general, then played Dust Bowl and general to start locking out my opponent. He scooped.
Game 4: My opponent played Dark Confidant into Stoneforge Mystic, fetching Skullclamp. I should've just cast Mystical Tutor into Terminus on turn 3, but I tried to get cute with Mystical Tutor into Think Twice on his turn, casting Terminus, but this was too cute and he drew too many cards from Dark Confidant. I lost because I ran out of cards in hand before he did. My mistake.
Game 5: Another straightforward game. I just removed threats until he was out of cards and I still had a bunch, and he lost.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain midrange/reanimator, player #2: 2-0
These games are from the second player, who is more experienced and, I think, played much tighter than the first player. These were really close, grindy games taking about 3 hours to finish just the 2 games below.
Game 1: Opponent had Voice of Resurgance into Birthing Pod, getting Kitchen Finks, getting Academy Rector (which would have fetched Recurring Nightmare--the best card in the deck). I cast a Fact or Fiction, and he valued my Dismantling Blow highly (since he had Pod out). I got lucky and immediately topdecked Disenchant. The next turn I cast Terminus, getting a lot of value. He had a Survival of the Fittest going alongside a Sun Titan, and he killed my Future Sight, but I was able to stabilize under a Jace, the Mind Sculptor while he ran out of cards.
Game 2: Absolutely phenomenal, exhausting game. At one point I had Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Gideon Jura in play at the same time. Tamiyo tap + Gideon kill is quite nice. Opponent had Recurring Nightmare, Sun Titan, Karador, Sin Collector all going (note how many options he gets every time he has a turn here--this game was extremely difficult to play), and managed to take out Tamiyo, the Moon Sage the turn before she would've gone ultimate (using a Vindicate, and took out my Gideon. I stuck a Future Sight for a short time, and managed to find an Entreat the Angels, which I cast for 7 angels. Opponent used Green Sun's Zenith for Spore Frog and I just couldn't find the instant speed bounce or removal to get it off the field at the end of his turn. I swung gently, and he took the damage all the way down to 2 life. I had a Nevermore on his Recurring Nightmare, then cast a Memory Lapse on his Qasali Pridemage. After that I Oblivion Ringed his general. He kept it under the O-ring, thinking he'd get rid of it with the Pridemage. I let Pridemage resolve, which killed my Nevermore. He cast Recurring Nightmare, which I Negated, locking his general under my O-ring. On my turn, since he was at 2 life and still had the Spore Frog and a Sun Titan to return it, I decided to try to flash back my Psionic Blast by digging for Snapcaster Mage. So I cast Mystical Tutor for Flash of Insight, drew it with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, used Temple of Enlightenment to get rid of one of the cards I put back, and cast Flash of Insight to get the other. I then flashed back Flash of Insight for 22 (out of my ~30 cards left), getting my Snapcaster Mage and flashing back the Psionic Blast for the win.
I think the Karador deck has a bit of room to improve (not a huge amount, but a bit). Games are very, very close but I think somewhat in Arbiter's favor. If I added a Rest in Peace, I don't think I can ever lose this matchup, but I really only want it against Karador and Oloro reanimator... So I'm not going to add it yet. Vendilion Clique would be nice against this deck (to rip his Recurring Nightmare and a number of other matchups, so I'm strongly considering it, but not sure what to cut yet. Ideas are welcome. Entreat the Angels has been really, really good for me, and I'm happy I put it in.
4/8/2014
Zozu, the Punisher: 1-2
Game 1: I kept only one blue source, which he Wastelanded. I luckily drew two more blue into Jace, the Mind Sculptor, while he was mana screwed. gg
Game 2: I kept a land and two spells, should've kept just land and Mana Tithe, as I only got 2 lands for a long time (around 15 cards seen including mulligan). I drew Mystical Tutor as I hit 4 lands for Mystical+cycle Miscalculation+Terminus, but that turn he decided to stop swinging with his two manlands. If he swung with them again, I think I would've won, as he'd be left with almost nothing on board and nothing in hand. Instead, I lost. Oh well, happens when you don't hit lands.
Game 3: I played poorly. I should've [cast]Mystical Tutor[/card]ed for Terminus on turn 2. I always think I should wait, but my opponents almost always stick a sword or something (he landed Mask of Memory). One could argue that since he general costs 3, it's a bad idea... But I'm not sure. Later in the game he resolved Blood Moon, but my basic-heavy deck wasn't hurt too badly. He also hit a Ruination afterward, which wasn't too bad either. I got a bit flooded after the Ruination, but hit Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I ticked up Tamiyo when she was at 8, which was a mistake. I should've ulted Tamiyo (since he has burn anyway), cast Disenchant on his Blood Moon and his Mask of Memories, and started drawing with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and get way ahead. Lessons learned.
Circle of Protection: Red would be hilariously good. I think I need to mulligan better, and make better decisions in this matchup (which I've never played before). Zozu is not popular and not strong enough for me to make any changes, I think. Just need to play tighter.
4/9/2014
Oloro, Ageless Acetic reanimator control: 0-2
Game 1: Mulled away Day of Judgment and Journey to Nowhere because I had only blue sources and thought I wouldn't need creature removal. That was bad, because Oloro plays Dark Confidant, and Bob is really powerful if I don't keep an answer. Besides, against reanimator Oloro, creature removal can dig you out (except against Griselbrand, where it will delay the inevitable). Opponent sticks Bob, draws a lot of cards, and casts Intuition for Griselbrand, Unburial Rites, and Iona, Shield of Emeria. Reanimates Griselbrand, and plays Jace, the Mind Sculptor and I can't keep up.
Game 2: Had another hand with no white source, but kept 7. Felt as though it was a very good hand after I drew the white source. He got stuck on 3 lands, so I felt pretty good, but got the Reanimate on his Entombed Griselbrand through Mana Leak and Mana Tithe. Drew 14 with Griselbrand, and I cast Swords to Plowshares on it, but the damage was done. I got a bit flooded, so I started Dust Bowling his blue sources, but he kept drawing. Eventually he cast Intuition and Dance of the Dead reanimated a Dark Confidant. I can't get out of the Griselbrand hole, and scoop.
I really wanted Mental Misstep and Rest in Peace. I should have played Arbiter turn 5, so that even with the perfect hand (which he had, Reanimate + Entomb), he couldn't go off through my Mana Leak in hand. I didn't want him to just remove Arbiter, but it is essentially a time walk, all things considered.
These games felt awful. Game 1 I think I mulliganned badly, but could've been easily punished by not finding a white source. Game 2, I think he had a simply ridiculous hand. Strongly considering Mental Misstep, but it's a quite bad topdeck lategame. Vendilion Clique would help, as well as Rest in Peace, as I've said before... But I don't see enough of these decks to add Rest in Peace.
Adding Vendlion Clique, removing Desertion. In theory, Desertion is insane against my weakest matchups (spell-based ramp), but it has felt underwhelming. I haven't played against a Griselbrand deck, and I'd definitely want it there, but I'd like to test Clique and the rest of the deck feels so solid.
4/10/2014:
Maelstrom Wanderer: 1-0
Game 1: Mulled all 7 opened, was happy with keep (Island, Plains, Idyllic Tutor, Daze, Brainstorm, Spell Pierce). I was on the play, so I hardcast Daze on his 2-mana rock, then Spell Pierce on his 3-mana rock. Turn 4 I dropped GAA, and he did nothing. I then started drawing lots of cards, and cast Idyllic Tutor for Nevermore. I couldn't cast it for a long time (was keeping up counters for his threats), but it's hard to get to 9 mana when you get your early rocks countered. I made a few mistakes: missed 2 attacks with GAA (I'm so used to not attacking, it's hard to remember sometimes), and 1 attack I should've done with a Celestial Colonnade, and I should not have countered his take-extra-turns cards, since they are essentially Explores when he taps out to do it. I kill him with general, Colonnade, and Psionic Blast. Then opponent drops match.
Kept a good hand on the play and won. Not much to say, except countering rocks into general is quite good here.
--Khrane
Iroas, God of Victory Aggro/Mana Denial: 1-2
Game 1: Opponent mulligans to 5. We 1-for-1 a while, and then I start drawing cards. Opponent runs out of cards and gg.
Game 2: I mulligan to 5 this time. He casts Goblin Guide turn 1, and I get mana screwed--stuck on 3 for a long time. I take hits from Goblin Guide for a while, removing all other threats. Cast Mystical Tutor into Terminus to get 2 creatures out of the way, play Jace, the Mind Sculptor the next turn, opponent plays Ruination for 3/4 of my lands. Can't dig out of the hole. GG.
Game 3: Kept a slow 6 card hand. Hit land drops, and eventually Enlightened Tutor for Future Sight, thinking it'd dig me into removal for anything he resolves next turn (which 99% of the time is true). Opponent resolves Ajani Vengeant, and I start digging, but only find card draw and counterspells, which would've been phenomenal if I also hit pretty much any way to remove or bounce a planeswalker (8 cards left in the deck to do this). I also didn't find any creature removal in order to buy time. I Fact or Fiction, keeping Sphinx's Revelation and lands over Swords to Plowshares and Spell Snare, because it was too late for just a Swords to dig me out--I needed life and cards. Opponent puts me to 2 and I need a 4-mana Wrath and Oblivion Ring or Detention Sphere exactly in order to not die and be able to Sphinx's for 8 next turn. I see 6 cards (Impulse plus Future Sight, and get the Wrath of God, and Psionic Blast, but I was at 2. I think with 1 more life, I would've stabilized.
Iroas is quite strong, but runs out of cards. I think spot removal plus incremental draw (Think Twice style) is the way to go here. He got a bad draw game 1, and I got bad draws games 2 and 3, and those were decently close games. I feel good about the matchup.
EDIT: I just realized in game 3, I once tapped an island over tapping Adarkar Wastes, and then later tapped the Wastes for blue, thinking how I played that poorly... If I had tapped the correct land, I would've likely stabilized. =\ Oh well, lesson learned.
4/16/2014
I've been considering a more tapout style win, adding cards like Sun Titan, Yosei, the Morning Star, etc. It would require a big overhaul and testing, and I've got a tournament in a couple of days, so I'm not making a big change right now.
I've also wanted another lifegain effect, rather than just Sphinx's Revelation. Good options here are:
Baneslayer Angel: Only 4 mana with GAA out, solid body, and can block almost anything. Downside is that it's weak to removal.
Batterskull: Costs 5 mana, and is smaller than Baneslayer, but is very good against removal, and can hop on GAA when needed. Turns on artifact removal if I don't keep up 3 mana at all times (making it cost 8 mana!).
Wurmcoil Engine: Costs 6 mana, and is resilient to most removal, plus is a very large body.
In the end, I've added Baneslayer Angel. I feel that at 4 or 5 mana, I can play it earliest, and most removal spells will kill Batterskull and Wurmcoil anyway (exception being most black removal).
I'm removing Gitaxian Probe for this. I like Probe a lot (and initially had Peek in also), but I feel that most of the time it's a marginal advantage, whereas Baneslayer gives a massive advantage. This change makes me want to put in a 41st land, but I don't yet know if this is correct. Will keep an eye on this.
Oloro, Ageless Acetic reanimator:
Game 1: Kept a good permission hand, opponent got stuck on 2 lands. I Dazed his Demonic Tutor which I assume would've gotten a land. I then started using Dust Bowl, and played general off Cavern of Souls--opponent can't do anything.
Game 2: From his discards, I knew it was reanimator, so I mulled accordingly. I kept Spell Pierce and mulled the rest, keeping a 6-card 2-lander. I Pierced an Entomb, out of fear that he would play a land and cast Reanimate on Griselbrand. I ran out general to get rid of a counterspell, then I cast Enlightened Tutor for Future Sight, and resolved it. Opponent didn't have removal for it (apparently Oloro reanimator doesn't run a lot of enchantment removal--good to know). I hit a lot of lands off Future Sight at first, and couldn't draw like crazy since GAA wasn't on board (and I didn't want to resolve on 6 mana because it meant mostly tapping out, where I'd prefer to cast other spells), but the ridiculous value of Future Sight eventually put me to 5 cards in hand, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Future Sight to his zero cards in hand. Opponent scoops to inevitable Jace ult.
Game 1 was a dud, but game 2 was very fair. I think that unless Oloro has a nut hand, we're in good shape, but we will ALWAYS have a long game, so we need to purposely play that style of game. Even if they resolve a turn 2 Griselbrand, 90% of the time, we can still play out the game and have an okay chance of winning (30% or so depending on how things go).
I didn't draw Baneslayer Angel, and never felt that I wanted it. I feel that it would be pretty bad in this matchup.
4/16/2014:
Asmira, Holy Avenger little G/W men:
Game 1: Turn 1 on the draw I tapped out for an Ancestral Visions instead of keeping up Spell Snare. He played two 1-drops rather than a two drop, so I wasn't punished, but I'm unsure if this was the correct play. I get beat down for a while, taking quite a bit of damage, and drop my Future Sight, starting to dig for a wrath. I reveal a Terminus, and Think Twice on his turn for some value. After that I [cast]Dust Bowl[/card], untap, Dust Bowl + Wasteland with Remand and Daze up--opponent scoops.
Game 2: Opponent plays a Squirrel Nest and Deranged Hermit, among other threats, and I buy time with Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Gideon Jura. He gets both down before I can hit a wrath (seen around 20 cards without my 5 wrath targets, which is typically unlikely. I hit a Entreat the Angels for 5, and clock him, hitting a Cyclonic Rift in case he used a Overrun effect to try for the kill. GGs out.
Opponent had a very unique deck, and I'd expect to see very few others with this general. I felt the matchup is really good--wraths are insane, as he has a lot of cheap creatures and very little card draw. One big threat is Skullclamp, since most of his creatures are 1 toughness.
Just to note, hitting Baneslayer Angel in either game would've been fantastic, but I never saw it. Always nice to not see the card you're testing, eh?
--Khrane
Played some games against Griselbrand and Karador, Ghost Chieftain, but I unfortunately lost my notes sheet. I won every game against Karador, and won 3/9 against Griselbrand. Grisel seems really bad, but I knew that already--ramp decks that don't use elves are really bad for me, and ones with discard are worse.
4/19/2014:
Had our tournament. Unfortunately, we had only 7 players due to Easter and other reasons. I got a bye round one.
Marath, Will of the Wild Lyserg-style: 2-0
Game 1: Opponent plays Gaddock Teeg turn 2, and I have Unexpectedly Absent, Gideon Jura, Treachery, and Flash of Insight dead in hand. Also have Journey to Nowhere, but he plays Qasali Pridemage. Have to Journey the Pridemage, then Oblivion Ring the Gaddock Teeg. Then I can Treachery his general, slam Arbiter, and next turn cast Gideon Jura and start swinging.
Game 2: I keep Force Spike and 5 lands on the draw, hoping he goes elf into Marath. He does, and I spike it. He plays two more elves, then taps out for Marath again, and I Treachery into Arbiter again. Start Dust Bowling his lands and can't lose.
This style of Marath is a pretty good matchup, and my opponent seemed to have slow but not bad hands. Treachery is absolutely insane if he taps out.
Geist of Saint Traft Tempo: 1-2
Game 1: He forces out Geist, and I drop down Grand Arbiter for the block. He hits with Steel of the Godhead, which I Disenchant next turn. I start out-drawing him with Future Sight, and eventually beat him.
Game 2: Opponent sticks Geist, and I play Grand Arbiter to block. He uses Eiganjo Castle to keep swinging, until I get the Tectonic Edge for it. Game goes long, and I can't get ahead on board due to an all-counterspell hand. He drops Cavern of Souls, and swings with Geist, who dies, but puts me to 4. He then plays Geist again and I can't get anything to remove the angel or kill the Geist.
Game 3: Opponent plays around counterspells early on, but I don't have any. This became a crazy game, with 2 Oblivion Rings, 2 Detention Spheres, and Journey to Nowhere all on board at once. There was an Entreat the Angels hard-cast, Gideon Jura, Future Sight, Stoneforge Mystic, etc, etc. I finally get stabilized under Gideon Jura and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, at one life. He casts a Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and I don't have the counterspell, nor three blockers to not just die. There are no cards in my deck that can kill Elspeth, but my only out was Supreme Verdict into swing at Elspeth with Gideon. I don't get it, and he wins.
This match was super close. I honestly think that if my opponent played more aggressively, I would've been in worse shape, but he is a very cautious player.
After the tourney, I played against another Geist deck, this one more aggressive. I played four or five fast games, and lost all but one. He had very aggressive draws, and I couldn't keep Geist off the board, or GAA on the board. One or the other is fine, but I just couldn't get around his cheap counterspells.
I think that against Geist, I need to be more patient. Keeping a slower hand is okay, because if I hit a lot of land drops, I can play around his Force Spikes, and if I stick Arbiter, I have good blocking ability. Still feels like a pretty bad matchup.
Lot of changes to the deck:
Disperse in, Cyclonic Rift out. I have never overloaded rift, and sometimes I want to recycle one of my enchantments. Disperse kind of sucks, but it does the same job I was using Rift for, and there's no better option that hits my own stuff (other than Into the Roil, which is obviously in).
Banishing Light in, Tariff out. I never really liked Tariff, as it just felt like a necessary card against some decks. I may add this back in, since it's good against Geist, but I'm not feeling it, and another O-ring sounds good to me.
Academy Rector in, Mulldrifter out. Divination with an upside is good, but my enchantments are so powerful, I want another tutor. A blocker into a free Future Sight or Oblivion Ring or Nevermore is great, and sometimes it can hitch a Treachery onto a Geist or Thrun, the Last Troll. Our Geist opponent cannot swing, otherwise I get to steal Geist and untap all of my lands!
Moat in, Memory Lapse out. Moat is incredibly powerful, and with three enchantment tutors, I can get it quite often. It blanks out a lot of decks, and I can still win through it using Baneslayer Angel, Entreat the Angels, Celestial Colonnade, Vendilion Clique, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Additionally, I have several ways to bounce or remove it if I need to start getting in with a Gideon or the likes. As for Memory Lapse, I like it, but I felt like I had too many counterspells. I didn't want to cut any of the harder counterspells, but Dismiss may be swapped out for Memory Lapse if it's necessary after some testing. Moat will be tested online before I shell out the money, but if it's good, I'll likely pick one up.
Also, I'm going to be branching out a bit, now that I'm really happy with GAA. Eventually I'm sure I'll make a Thraximundar deck, since I have all of the cards but a few lands, Liliana of the Veil, and some minor cards. And I'm brewing up another deck that I think I may purchase soon. I'll still play GAA, just not quite as frequently.
4/23/2014:
Talrand, Sky Summoner control: 1-2
Game 1: Opponent misses first land drop. I drop GAA, but never hit card draw, so I can't get an advantage. Ancestral Visions pops for me and he has 3 counterspells (one of which is Commandeer on my Visions) to my 2 counterspells, and I scoop.
Game 2: Kept good control hand on 6. Vendilion Clique, Remand, 4x land. Cast Clique into GAA into Baneslayer, and opponent can't do anything as monoU.
Game 3: Kept an okay control hand on 6. I miss some land drops, since he has more filter than I do. Opponent plays Talrand several times, netting some drakes. I try to stabilize, but he draws 4 off Deep Analysis, and was able to Disrupting Shoal my Future Sight. No way to stabilize and no way to draw cards, so gg.
Matchup went as expected--decently close, but hard games, and losing in the end. In control vs control, the deck with more permission is going to be best to win. More threats and more card draw would be great here. More threats is iffy for most other matchups, so not interested in changes there... But I do want to add Mulldrifter back in for another card draw effect.
Thanks,
Khrane
i look forward to seeing your thrax brew, let me know, and send it to me once you have a list.
Modern
No clue
RIP Twin
MTGS Olde Name:
Hruen (apparently it was taken, probably by me about 10 years ago.........)
I'm not actually brewing Thrax. I just know that I have almost all of the cards, so it seems a no-brainer to make one eventually. My brew is a different deck, and I hope to have it mostly here (with a couple proxies) for this FNM. I'll show you there.
Modern
No clue
RIP Twin
MTGS Olde Name:
Hruen (apparently it was taken, probably by me about 10 years ago.........)