If that Sneak Attack was already in play, yes, wait. If it wasn't in play, I think it's completely viable to use the Fiend Hunter there, but I probably would have waited as well. If you get him once he has declared attackers, there is no chance for him to slip in an Emrakul or something and destroy you. It's very likely that he is going to draw 14 anyway, so I don't think you need to force the activation.
It's really rare to face Belcher twice in one event. That has never happened to me. I wouldn't worry so much about wanting something like Mindbreak Trap, as Canonist is usually enough to get there except against the absolutely all-in approaches.
It sounds like this event was really good for your growth as a player. I'm expecting good things in the future.
Sneak Attack was not in play. Moral of the story is I should have gotten him down to 14 life instead of 15 life! The feel bads really only happen becuase Fiend Hunter was basically created to answer Worldspine Wurm. One day I will hunt the wurm..
Thanks for your wisdom and compliments! I look forward to the next event. We have a GP to prepare for.
After GP:Charlotte (Modern) in two weeks, my attention will shift fully to GP:Columbus. Legacy GPs don't come often, so I want to be ready for this. I feel relatively prepared already, as the metagame hasn't been shifting much, but I need more games in.
@Antiquated Notion congrats on the finish! I would love to get my hands on one of those oversized Stoneforce Mystics. Wish my GPs gave prices even remotely as good for that entry fee.
Mangara was hot trash. Never used her once in game 1's and sided her out in Every. Single. Matchup. Probably better off as a Brimaz, mind censor, or even a Spirit of the Labyrinth.
Otherwise the list felt great, especially in bug-invested waters.
@Medea, @Frenadol
Thanks! Now I need to figure out how I'm going to display that Stoneforge. It's a nearly perfect card to commemorate the day. I'm actually surprised that the this event didn't draw a little bit more of a crowd. Only 101 people, and top 32 was nearly good enough for a booster box. I have to hand it to Channelfireball for putting it together, although they probably could have advertised the event better.
@Plague Silver
Congrats! Would you have preferred Mangara to be a Fiend Hunter? Has anyone been liking Mangara lately, or has it fallen out of favor for the more immediate returns Fiend Hunter provides against Eldrazi?
Congrats! Would you have preferred Mangara to be a Fiend Hunter? Has anyone been liking Mangara lately, or has it fallen out of favor for the more immediate returns Fiend Hunter provides against Eldrazi?
Finn played in a recent local event with 2 Mangara main.
If we're talking maindeck slots in a diverse meta, I'd prefer something like Mangara because of the universal applicability. I'm running two Fiend Hunters in the side as a hedge against Eldrazi though. I was wondering if you'd consider switching your 2 Brimaz for Fiend Hunters.
Brimaz for Fiend Hunter is something I'm thinking about. I really like Brimaz against Lands and Miracles, and those decks are very well represented around here. Brimaz is very good against anything with lightning bolt or punishing fire. Red in general. And I like that he's a threat that persists through Massacre, and often find myself siding it in vs combo since its a better plain beater than Crusader there.
I think Fiend Hunter comes down to how much I want to win that Eldrazi matchup. Otherwise, I think he's less broadly applicable right now. Things to think about for the GP...
@Curby -- yes I run 4x Revoker main and 2x WLL in the side. Full set feels good to me right now.
Re: Fiend Hunter --
Been talking to Frenadol about this. We agree to disagree about Fiend Hunter main. I don't like it main while he does. I don't mind 1-2 copies in the board, though.
I'm just not a fan of the 1/3 body, I'd rather have Council's Judgement in those matchups where my Thalia's come out anyways (Eldrazi).
If I cared about a body that could carry equipment and didn't die to Dread of Night, I'd probably even run a Mishra's Factory main as the 24th land. I'm crazy, though.
So for me, what takes the slot of Mangara?
Instead of 1 maindeck Mangara, I would play 1 Brimaz or 1 Spirit of the Labyrinth right now.
Reasoning for 1x SotL: a X/1 is ok in game 1 and has game vs miracles and shardless. Singleton Sotl also has the factor of "opponent sees it, plays around it the whole match" a la Stifle.
I really like Fiend Hunter in principal, but in practice he is a liability. If you don't win soon after casting him, he becomes a timebomb for any piece of removal. These even applies you have the nut and can Flicker him and can exile a second dude.
@Plague Sliver
I totally agree that I'd rather have Council's Judgement.
I have to admit I do not understand the lack of love for Fiend Hunter. Then again, I am running Imperial these days and he is fetchable and I run 2 Cavern of Souls because I have so many humans. Even so, can hit an Emrakul, can wear equipment, can come in off of vial or Show and Tell, etc. I find his versatility as a 1-of exceptional.
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
i like one Fiend Hunter in the main. Been running it for a few months now and it has been decent. Warping Wail on the other hand is prolly gonna come out, just cannot get the ball rolling on that card.
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Vintage-Shops/BUG/Dredge Legacy-Death and Taxes/Nic Fit
Thanks to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the amazing sig!
I have to admit I do not understand the lack of love for Fiend Hunter. Then again, I am running Imperial these days and he is fetchable and I run 2 Cavern of Souls because I have so many humans. Even so, can hit an Emrakul, can wear equipment, can come in off of vial or Show and Tell, etc. I find his versatility as a 1-of exceptional.
There's a lot of BGx by me. Fiend Hunt your goyf, eat an Abrupt Decay during combat, surprise goyf blocker. Blah. Fiend Hunter sounds awesome in Imperial Taxes with Caverns. And I will concede he is superb against Show & Tell.
It's not a question of Fiend Hunter OR Council's Judgment. It's of question of whether you want Fiend Hunter IN ADDITION TO Council's Judgment. Fiend Hunter is not a card for the BGx matchups; we already have plenty of sideboard cards for those. It is a liability there and your gut is 100% correct. It is instead a card for decks like Eldrazi that have limited removal options as well as for the other aggressive decks like Infect and Burn.
Yes, indeed, our lists are almost identical. I played Surgical Extraction for about a month prior to the Eldrazi resurgence and I really liked it. I think that it is great against a few specific decks (Tin Fins, Lands, and Reanimator in particular) and has some degree of utility in other combo matchups (e.g ANT) while also potentially being playable elsewhere (Surgical Extraction your Terminus?). This is a card that I really like at the local level, but that I wouldn't bring to an open-sized event. I think that now that Eldrazi is prevalent (~10 of the metagame to just throw out a number), running Containment Priest alongside Flickerwisp for a touch more removal is likely better than the benefits of Surgical that you get elsewhere.
If you feel like you need the Surgicals for the matchups you expect to see, leave the Fiend Hunters at home. If you feel like Eldrazi are coming out in force, I'd trim the Surgicals for the Fiend Hunters. If you aren't sure, perhaps trim one Surgical and play one Fiend Hunter as a halfway point.
So speaking of the meta, the Milwaukee Legacy Classic top16 had 0 Miracles, 2 Belcher and 1 Storm, and only one of the Eldrazi decks that are meant to prey on fast combo and Miracles. The top8 had Meathooks and The Gate for crying out loud. This seems more like a "every player's favorite deck" rather than snapshot of tier 1 decks. I'm going to GPLA for side events in a couple weeks, and wondering if I should expect the same.
Legacy feels really healthy to me right now. I feel like I've faced a good variety of decks recently, including some decks like Stoneblade and RUG Delver which had been on the sidelines for quite some time. I still think there are a handful of decks that are clearly at the forefront of the format (Miracles, Lands, Eldrazi, D&T, ANT, Grixis Delver, Infect), but I'm not feeling like the metagame is overwhelmingly skewed towards any one of those and I don't feel like any strategy is being pushed out. Miracles has a larger portion of the online metagame, but that's always been the case due to card availability.
Actually, Finn is probably on spot again about Ensnaring Bridge. Look at that BoM-winning Eldrazi list. How's it going to get rid of Bridge when you land it? LOL Ratchet Bomb
I ran one in my side this weekend at a GPT since I already have a Tutor in there for Seal of Cleansing, Bitterblossom, Rest in Peace, Canonist, etc. Made Top 8, and somehow still managed to scrub out in the quarters for my 6th loss in a row in that round. Whereas last time vs. Mono-Red Sneak I made a dubious play or two, I guarantee I was perfect against OmniTell, but the guy just had all the right stuff. He was my R1 opponent - only Swiss loss - then we met again in Top 8. Both game 2s he turn 0'ed a Leyline of Sanctity to stop my opening 7 Thoughtseize, and in both game 2s I topdecked another Seize soon after, and finally in both, I also had my Thalias Forced. It was a bizarre mirror of time almost. It can't possibly go to seven...
I gotta say though, you are right about Legacy being very healthy right now. Remember when I used to talk about how Brainstorm was approaching 70% of decks in the metagame? Right now that number is 52% for MTGTop8's "Live Tournaments in past 2 months" filter. So there's a lot of stuff going on out there. Even with Brainstorm, look at THING IN THE ICE making a nice entry. That deck looks fun.
I ran one in my side this weekend at a GPT since I already have a Tutor in there for Seal of Cleansing, Bitterblossom, Rest in Peace, Canonist, etc.
Speaking of Bridges and Tutors, Finn's also pretty bullish on a small tutorboard with 1-2 tutors, even though that seems to be increasingly falling out of favor. There was some talk on the Source about taking Canonists and RIPs down to 2 each, which gives room for 1-2 Tutors and 1-2 other targets if you take Pithing Needle from 2 to 1.
One problem with trying to Tutor into Bridge against Eldrazi is that they probably will land Chalice early, which negates Tutors until we can Flickerwisp it or something.
Round 1: 2-1 vs Infect
My opponent discovered a decklist error just before the first match started which he had to correct, and got a game loss for tardiness. I don’t like the Infect matchup too much, so I was happy to start off 1-0.
second game he had the turn 2 kill on the play, nothing to do about that. Game 3 I StP his first threat, and he doesn’t find another infect guy before I drop a Jitte and he concedes.
I ended up siding in Carpet of flowers, which he didn’t agree I should do, because he wants to fetch basics against me anyway. It only gave me 1 extra mana to work with, but I think it made quite a difference in this case. Input on this is welcome.
Round 2: 2-1 vs Lands
First game I play mother of runes and thalia, which slowed him down considerably. He didn’t manage to assemble anything before I found SfM + Batterskull and won a few turns later.
Game 2 he got me in a wasteland lock, and it took too long before I found my second fetch to get Plains. I now had 2 mana turn 6, and he crop rotated for a tabernacle, and played a rishadan port. I conceded. Game 3 was very grindy. He made a Marit Lage token in my end step, and I vialed in a flickerwisp to remove it. At this point he is at very low health, but I know he can just Loam both his lands back and play both. Luckily I topdecked Fiend Hunter which dealt with the second token, and I swung for the win.
Turns out Fiend Hunter has quite a few uses beside eldrazi, as I also sided it in against Infect for the extra removal. Not sure I want it over Mirran Crusader in main yet though, depends on how much punishing fire is in the meta.
Round 3: 2-0 vs Miracles
Game 1 I kept a hand with 2 Pridemages. He killed the first one, but when I dropped the second + aether vial, he thought for a while, and cast Predict naming Counterbalance and put it into his yard. Won that game pretty quickly after that. Game 2 I mulliganed to 6, had a choke in hand, and scryed a choke to the top. He forced the first one, but couldn’t counter the second. I proceeded to keep him off white mana with Port, and Thalia made it impossible for him to do anything.
Choke is mvp against miracles, especially paired with other taxing, feels impossible to lose.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Mentor Miracles
First game, he killed my first threat, and pulled the trigger on Mentor turn 3. I guess he had a good reason to (a lot of cantrips in hand), but I think it was a little early. I ended up swording it, and found a SoFaI to protect against his cliques and snapcasters, which ended the game quickly.
Game 2 he FoWed my vial, and I slammed choke turn 3, and managed to sneak it past his counterbalance. I was a bit worried, since he plays mentors and cliques, but I just had to go for it. Ended up winning me the game outright, as he didn’t find his Wear//Tear.
Choke is incredibly good against miracles. I’m always a bit bummed when I get SfM and can’t search for my SoWaP in game 1, but I’m too weary of eldrazi atm to keep batterskull in SB.
Round 5: ID vs Shardless BUG
We were hungry.
Top 8 Quarterfinals: 2-0 vs Storm
I was on the play, and slammed Thalia turn 2, he didn’t have the FoW. That was Game 1.
Game 2 I put vial in to play, and aggressively wastelanded and ported his lands, and got Thalia into play off the vial. Turn 5 or 6 I dropped choke, and he was stuck with 1 swamp I ported each upkeep until he lost.
Got to keep 2 openers with Thalia in them, which is nice. Don’t have Canonist in the board right now, as there is not much storm in my local meta. I’m not sure Choke is correct against fast combo, but if you manage to draw the game out to the point that you can cast it, it is very good.
Top 8 Semifinals: 0-2 vs Miracles
This was the same guy I played in round 3. The first game ended when I attacked with a thalia and a revoker, and he miracles Entreat for 3 angels to wipe my board.
Game 2 was super grindy, and I can’t remember the details. I do remember playing the Gaddock Teeg, and then using my Karakas to Port on his upkeep. He topdecked StP, removed Teeg, Terminus my board, then entreat for the win. It felt really bad, but I blame being tired after a long day.
Against this guy, I have been trying Medeas tactic of boarding out Mother of Runes, and I like it so far. Against mentor miracles I keep 2 mothers in, just to be able to hit through mentor tokens on the ground.
Revoker was generally bad for me this tournament, and pridemage was a house. I never drew/played pridemage and thought; “Man, I wish this was a revoker…”
Congrats Bogur. One question. You mentioned that your storm opponent didn't have the Force of Will for Thalia. I don't think I've ever seen ANT or TES pack Force. You just have to worry about discard stripping it away. Are you sure he was playing it?
Thanks for the write-up! Although I much prefer mono-white and not having to deal with Blood Moon and such, I like GW and liked your deck. I will admit that Choke is amazing though. How did you feel about the Sylvan Library? Did it see much play?
@AntiquatedNotion You're right, in hindsight I doubt he was packing FoW.
@esplanades Only got sylvan library one game against miracles, but didn't matter much there. It has been very good for me before though, especially against miracles, lands and shardless BUG. I am pondering putting one more in the main, if only to draw it more often to test it more, but having a hard time cutting anything.
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These both pair well with the Enlightened Tutor-board I run. So many clues, though!!
Sneak Attack was not in play. Moral of the story is I should have gotten him down to 14 life instead of 15 life! The feel bads really only happen becuase Fiend Hunter was basically created to answer Worldspine Wurm. One day I will hunt the wurm..
Thanks for your wisdom and compliments! I look forward to the next event. We have a GP to prepare for.
After GP:Charlotte (Modern) in two weeks, my attention will shift fully to GP:Columbus. Legacy GPs don't come often, so I want to be ready for this. I feel relatively prepared already, as the metagame hasn't been shifting much, but I need more games in.
No clues for tokens.
WorkshopsLegacy:
Death and Taxes
EDH:
Arcum DagssonMake Paradox Engine Great Again!Urza, Lord High Artificer
Grixis delver: win 2-0
shardless bug: win 2-1
Goblins: win 2-0
Death and taxes mirror: win 2-0
Bug delver: win 2-0
Didn't win a single die roll; didn't matter.
Mangara was hot trash. Never used her once in game 1's and sided her out in Every. Single. Matchup. Probably better off as a Brimaz, mind censor, or even a Spirit of the Labyrinth.
Otherwise the list felt great, especially in bug-invested waters.
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
Thanks! Now I need to figure out how I'm going to display that Stoneforge. It's a nearly perfect card to commemorate the day. I'm actually surprised that the this event didn't draw a little bit more of a crowd. Only 101 people, and top 32 was nearly good enough for a booster box. I have to hand it to Channelfireball for putting it together, although they probably could have advertised the event better.
@Plague Silver
Congrats! Would you have preferred Mangara to be a Fiend Hunter? Has anyone been liking Mangara lately, or has it fallen out of favor for the more immediate returns Fiend Hunter provides against Eldrazi?
Finn played in a recent local event with 2 Mangara main.
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?6775-DTB-Death-and-Taxes&p=946516&viewfull=1#post946516
If we're talking maindeck slots in a diverse meta, I'd prefer something like Mangara because of the universal applicability. I'm running two Fiend Hunters in the side as a hedge against Eldrazi though. I was wondering if you'd consider switching your 2 Brimaz for Fiend Hunters.
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
I think Fiend Hunter comes down to how much I want to win that Eldrazi matchup. Otherwise, I think he's less broadly applicable right now. Things to think about for the GP...
Re: Fiend Hunter --
Been talking to Frenadol about this. We agree to disagree about Fiend Hunter main. I don't like it main while he does. I don't mind 1-2 copies in the board, though.
I'm just not a fan of the 1/3 body, I'd rather have Council's Judgement in those matchups where my Thalia's come out anyways (Eldrazi).
If I cared about a body that could carry equipment and didn't die to Dread of Night, I'd probably even run a Mishra's Factory main as the 24th land. I'm crazy, though.
So for me, what takes the slot of Mangara?
Instead of 1 maindeck Mangara, I would play 1 Brimaz or 1 Spirit of the Labyrinth right now.
Reasoning for 1x SotL: a X/1 is ok in game 1 and has game vs miracles and shardless. Singleton Sotl also has the factor of "opponent sees it, plays around it the whole match" a la Stifle.
Just my $0.02.
@Plague Sliver
I totally agree that I'd rather have Council's Judgement.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Thanks to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the amazing sig!
There's a lot of BGx by me. Fiend Hunt your goyf, eat an Abrupt Decay during combat, surprise goyf blocker. Blah. Fiend Hunter sounds awesome in Imperial Taxes with Caverns. And I will concede he is superb against Show & Tell.
It's not a question of Fiend Hunter OR Council's Judgment. It's of question of whether you want Fiend Hunter IN ADDITION TO Council's Judgment. Fiend Hunter is not a card for the BGx matchups; we already have plenty of sideboard cards for those. It is a liability there and your gut is 100% correct. It is instead a card for decks like Eldrazi that have limited removal options as well as for the other aggressive decks like Infect and Burn.
12 Plains
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
3 Karakas
Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Serra Avenger
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Mirran Crusader
4 Flickerwisp
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 AEther Vial
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Containment Priest
2 Council's Judgment
3 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Rest in Peace
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Pithing Needle
Yes, indeed, our lists are almost identical. I played Surgical Extraction for about a month prior to the Eldrazi resurgence and I really liked it. I think that it is great against a few specific decks (Tin Fins, Lands, and Reanimator in particular) and has some degree of utility in other combo matchups (e.g ANT) while also potentially being playable elsewhere (Surgical Extraction your Terminus?). This is a card that I really like at the local level, but that I wouldn't bring to an open-sized event. I think that now that Eldrazi is prevalent (~10 of the metagame to just throw out a number), running Containment Priest alongside Flickerwisp for a touch more removal is likely better than the benefits of Surgical that you get elsewhere.
If you feel like you need the Surgicals for the matchups you expect to see, leave the Fiend Hunters at home. If you feel like Eldrazi are coming out in force, I'd trim the Surgicals for the Fiend Hunters. If you aren't sure, perhaps trim one Surgical and play one Fiend Hunter as a halfway point.
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
Legacy feels really healthy to me right now. I feel like I've faced a good variety of decks recently, including some decks like Stoneblade and RUG Delver which had been on the sidelines for quite some time. I still think there are a handful of decks that are clearly at the forefront of the format (Miracles, Lands, Eldrazi, D&T, ANT, Grixis Delver, Infect), but I'm not feeling like the metagame is overwhelmingly skewed towards any one of those and I don't feel like any strategy is being pushed out. Miracles has a larger portion of the online metagame, but that's always been the case due to card availability.
I ran one in my side this weekend at a GPT since I already have a Tutor in there for Seal of Cleansing, Bitterblossom, Rest in Peace, Canonist, etc. Made Top 8, and somehow still managed to scrub out in the quarters for my 6th loss in a row in that round. Whereas last time vs. Mono-Red Sneak I made a dubious play or two, I guarantee I was perfect against OmniTell, but the guy just had all the right stuff. He was my R1 opponent - only Swiss loss - then we met again in Top 8. Both game 2s he turn 0'ed a Leyline of Sanctity to stop my opening 7 Thoughtseize, and in both game 2s I topdecked another Seize soon after, and finally in both, I also had my Thalias Forced. It was a bizarre mirror of time almost. It can't possibly go to seven...
I gotta say though, you are right about Legacy being very healthy right now. Remember when I used to talk about how Brainstorm was approaching 70% of decks in the metagame? Right now that number is 52% for MTGTop8's "Live Tournaments in past 2 months" filter. So there's a lot of stuff going on out there. Even with Brainstorm, look at THING IN THE ICE making a nice entry. That deck looks fun.
Speaking of Bridges and Tutors, Finn's also pretty bullish on a small tutorboard with 1-2 tutors, even though that seems to be increasingly falling out of favor. There was some talk on the Source about taking Canonists and RIPs down to 2 each, which gives room for 1-2 Tutors and 1-2 other targets if you take Pithing Needle from 2 to 1.
One problem with trying to Tutor into Bridge against Eldrazi is that they probably will land Chalice early, which negates Tutors until we can Flickerwisp it or something.
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
3 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
3 Savannah
3 Plains
4 Windsept Heath
1 Arid Mesa
Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Serra Avenger
2 Mirran Crusader
4 Flickerwisp
4 AEther Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sylvan Library
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
2 Choke
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Containment Priest
3 Rest in Peace
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Absolute Law
Round 1: 2-1 vs Infect
My opponent discovered a decklist error just before the first match started which he had to correct, and got a game loss for tardiness. I don’t like the Infect matchup too much, so I was happy to start off 1-0.
second game he had the turn 2 kill on the play, nothing to do about that. Game 3 I StP his first threat, and he doesn’t find another infect guy before I drop a Jitte and he concedes.
I ended up siding in Carpet of flowers, which he didn’t agree I should do, because he wants to fetch basics against me anyway. It only gave me 1 extra mana to work with, but I think it made quite a difference in this case. Input on this is welcome.
Round 2: 2-1 vs Lands
First game I play mother of runes and thalia, which slowed him down considerably. He didn’t manage to assemble anything before I found SfM + Batterskull and won a few turns later.
Game 2 he got me in a wasteland lock, and it took too long before I found my second fetch to get Plains. I now had 2 mana turn 6, and he crop rotated for a tabernacle, and played a rishadan port. I conceded. Game 3 was very grindy. He made a Marit Lage token in my end step, and I vialed in a flickerwisp to remove it. At this point he is at very low health, but I know he can just Loam both his lands back and play both. Luckily I topdecked Fiend Hunter which dealt with the second token, and I swung for the win.
Turns out Fiend Hunter has quite a few uses beside eldrazi, as I also sided it in against Infect for the extra removal. Not sure I want it over Mirran Crusader in main yet though, depends on how much punishing fire is in the meta.
Round 3: 2-0 vs Miracles
Game 1 I kept a hand with 2 Pridemages. He killed the first one, but when I dropped the second + aether vial, he thought for a while, and cast Predict naming Counterbalance and put it into his yard. Won that game pretty quickly after that. Game 2 I mulliganed to 6, had a choke in hand, and scryed a choke to the top. He forced the first one, but couldn’t counter the second. I proceeded to keep him off white mana with Port, and Thalia made it impossible for him to do anything.
Choke is mvp against miracles, especially paired with other taxing, feels impossible to lose.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Mentor Miracles
First game, he killed my first threat, and pulled the trigger on Mentor turn 3. I guess he had a good reason to (a lot of cantrips in hand), but I think it was a little early. I ended up swording it, and found a SoFaI to protect against his cliques and snapcasters, which ended the game quickly.
Game 2 he FoWed my vial, and I slammed choke turn 3, and managed to sneak it past his counterbalance. I was a bit worried, since he plays mentors and cliques, but I just had to go for it. Ended up winning me the game outright, as he didn’t find his Wear//Tear.
Choke is incredibly good against miracles. I’m always a bit bummed when I get SfM and can’t search for my SoWaP in game 1, but I’m too weary of eldrazi atm to keep batterskull in SB.
Round 5: ID vs Shardless BUG
We were hungry.
Top 8 Quarterfinals: 2-0 vs Storm
I was on the play, and slammed Thalia turn 2, he didn’t have the FoW. That was Game 1.
Game 2 I put vial in to play, and aggressively wastelanded and ported his lands, and got Thalia into play off the vial. Turn 5 or 6 I dropped choke, and he was stuck with 1 swamp I ported each upkeep until he lost.
Got to keep 2 openers with Thalia in them, which is nice. Don’t have Canonist in the board right now, as there is not much storm in my local meta. I’m not sure Choke is correct against fast combo, but if you manage to draw the game out to the point that you can cast it, it is very good.
Top 8 Semifinals: 0-2 vs Miracles
This was the same guy I played in round 3. The first game ended when I attacked with a thalia and a revoker, and he miracles Entreat for 3 angels to wipe my board.
Game 2 was super grindy, and I can’t remember the details. I do remember playing the Gaddock Teeg, and then using my Karakas to Port on his upkeep. He topdecked StP, removed Teeg, Terminus my board, then entreat for the win. It felt really bad, but I blame being tired after a long day.
Against this guy, I have been trying Medeas tactic of boarding out Mother of Runes, and I like it so far. Against mentor miracles I keep 2 mothers in, just to be able to hit through mentor tokens on the ground.
Revoker was generally bad for me this tournament, and pridemage was a house. I never drew/played pridemage and thought; “Man, I wish this was a revoker…”
BW Eldrazi & Taxes
BG Collected Company Elves
Legacy
W Death and Taxes
EDH
GW Sigarda, Host of Herons
GW Saffi Eriksdotter
@esplanades Only got sylvan library one game against miracles, but didn't matter much there. It has been very good for me before though, especially against miracles, lands and shardless BUG. I am pondering putting one more in the main, if only to draw it more often to test it more, but having a hard time cutting anything.