Thanks for the feedback guys, (WhiteMorphious, Barbed Lightning, GloriousIntruder, Medea, from Cairo) I really appreciate it and I’ve taken your input and would just like to iron out a few final issues. Do bear with me a little, as I’m preparing for an event on Sunday.
I’m also listing down my sideboard notes (to be used at tournaments) with the relevant questions and my own comments. The important issues are bolded for those who speed read while commuting.
Maindeck Issues
Issue 1: thinking of cutting 1 mangara for 1 maindeck Spirit of the Labyrinth. Thoughts? (Scroll down for my meta numbers)
Issue 2: Should I fit in Brimaz, King of Oreskos somewhere considering I have at least 10% miracles and jund? Was thinking of curring 1 Flickerwisp for him (3 drop for 3 drop)
Issue 3: If I do make the mangara cut, perhaps I should trim 1 karakas for a basic plains?
Movingtonewao’s sideboarding notes for local meta (draft 1):
High chance of meeting (10%ish or more)
a) miracles
b) jund
c) shardless
d) burn
e) mirror
Decent chance of meeting (5%ish or more)
f) delver variants as a whole
g) cheat-a-fatty variants as a whole
h) stoneblade variants as a whole
Miscellanous (unable to form expectation/decks I just want to know how to sb against)
i) Storm variants
j) Nicfit/Nicshift
k) Tinfins
l) Dredge
m) Hightide
n) Elves
o) Affinity
p) Painter-Stone
q) 12-post
r) Merfolk
Questions: Thomas Enevoldsen’s old notes advocate cutting Serra Avenger, but Miracles’ hate for us in the current red incarnation seems to be sulfur elemental (if not a pyroclasm). Does this mean we should cut more 1/1s? Am I correct to cut mangara in g2 and not bring in enlightened tutor? Will sideboarding change if they have a stoneforge mystic package too? When is the correct time to unleash cataclysm (I've never played with the card before)? After they entreat?
Questions: Took the advice of a friend who plays Jund. May I know the reasoning behind cutting Thalia? Wouldn’t it hurt them if they had to pay more for bolts and decays? What should be our gameplan against Jund and what are the cards we need to protect/cards we need to be afraid of? Should Mirran Crusader come out instead of Flickerwisp since it usually eats a bolt?
Question: is this correct SBding? Any difference if facing ANT instead of TES? What does Pithing Needle name differently vs either? Should we bring in Grafdigger's Cage for Past in Flames?
I would appreciate if I could get replies on this within 24 hours of my post as I’m playing in a big tournament here early on Sunday morning. I will also print out an updated set of notes for referencing once I gather everyone's feedback and will share them here, so that in future the community can reference them too. Cheers!
We have the same list except I went for 2 Brimaz instead of the Crusaders. Don't run Cataclysms too. (But I might the next time)
I love Mangara in the Miracles matchup. It's one of the matches where it is super stellar. It usually necessitates a a Terminus if you have Karakas in play. Also keep in mind that you better be conservative with your wastelands. If you don't think you can follow that up with crippling his mana, I suggest you're better off keeping it for his Karakas.
In Jund, I'd much sooner cut some Revokers than Wisps. Ditto in Shardless. Specially considering your number one target for both is Deathrite, which is hit by the Rips you bring in as well. Liliana's a beating though, but Flickerwisps does a nice job of finishing it off via a vial.
Good luck in your tournament tomorrow!
I'm not sure if I'd want both Council's Judgment in the RUG and UR matchups.
Sneak Show, I try and keep 1-2 Swords for the Griselbrand plays. (Usually you have to respond to the first activation so he's forced to go for another one and hope to find a counter in 7 cards only). I drop Brimaz here I think.
Manriki has been in and out for some but it's a good hedge for the mirror and the various blade matchups. Even tutoring for it, has an effect because it makes them play around it.
Cataclysm might be okay against High Tide. Even just hitting 3 Islands would be crippling against them.
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Vintage Workshops
Legacy:
Death and Taxes
EDH: Arcum DagssonMake Paradox Engine Great Again!
Urza, Lord High Artificer
^Combination of a lot of factors. More Jund than BUG (although that was before, I don't know now), and a lot of RUG and some UWR as well. Running the full gamut of legends, meaning 4 Thalia and 2 Mangara, makes playing Brimaz more attractive for me as I get to have full value from my 4 Karakas. I also think Brimaz is better than Mirran Crusader in the Miracles matchup (a lot play it here) due to the added protection from Karakas.
As for Council's in RUG, what are your targets for it? I'm assuming the creatures. I'm not that comfortable running 3 mana answers. Also, I run 3 RiPs, instead of the more popular 2 RiPs and 1 Cage configuration, so I'm much less likely to die from Goyf and Mongoose than others. I put in 3 RiPs, and 2 Wilt-Leaf's (aside from a full-grown goyf, they have nothing that can trade for this 1-for-1) for this matchups for RUG. I guess Sylvan is something Council's can answer but that's a 1-of. On a side note, I have never won against RUG that lays down a turn 2 Sylvan Library. Never.
Haven't faced UR for a long time now though, so I'm not sure about that matchup, but generally the same, what would you be killing in said matchup that is worth running a 3 mana sorcery against a Daze deck?
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Urza, Lord High Artificer
My reasoning was that since their general goal is to lay a threat and protect that threat until it gets them there, we want to overload on 1-to-1 trades with their threats which negates their tempo plan. This means all removal and all flying creatures that trade with a flying insect. Of course, I may be wrong and this is not the way to play against them. If anyone else would like to chime in on this I would love to hear more opinions.
I read your justifications for brimaz. I might end up doing a 1-1 split with crusader and hope to get lucky (draw the one I need the most at that time). My main concern is that in the mirror brimaz is more of a liability due to karakas, and there are some other dnt decks here too.
I don't think you want Council's Judgement against a Daze deck either. If you brought in more removal I'd want it to be something like Gut Shot, but I would only use that slot if you want it for some other matchup that is actually bad for us.
For what it's worth, UR is an even better matchup for us than RUG I think. Their creature game isn't as scary, Mother of Runes makes them hate life, Flickerwisp on Delver is fun, Revokers take out Lavamancer, and any one of our equipment can shut them down fairly quickly (one gives protection from their deck and draws, the other gains us life to pull away almost immediately and the other could gain us life or knock out their creatures).
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Legacy: WRDeath and Taxes UWRMiracles UBTezzerator GTrinity GBWRLoam URLandstill
Modern: WUBValue Titan UMerfolk WGDeath and Taxes
Ok cool I think I see the rationale now. Do I still bring in 1 judgment or don't bother totally? Also, which of our creatures are the first to make the cut? My guess was Revoker, followed by mangara.
If it were me I would probably just pull my 2 Mangara for a COP: Red and a RiP. Lavamancer is the generally the only graveyard dependent creature that UR runs, and we have 8 cards to neuter it already (4 Revoker, 4 StP). Cutting Revoker might be the right answer I suppose since RiP can't be bolted, but I still feel like we win in the long run if they spend time bolting our creatures instead of us, and that RiP hits such a small portion of the deck it's not worth it. If they run Snapcaster Mage (some do, some don't), then RiP would seem more valuable to me and I would cut Revokers.
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Legacy: WRDeath and Taxes UWRMiracles UBTezzerator GTrinity GBWRLoam URLandstill
Modern: WUBValue Titan UMerfolk WGDeath and Taxes
I think councils judgement is fine vs rug. They are only running 12 creatures, it's a hedge against tnn, and it hits mongoose. You know they are boarding out some amount of counters to bring in rough tumbles, sulfur elementals, tnn, and artifact hate post board anyway. Most Dnt lists should have room cutting 4 revokers so what's the hesitation?
Jund
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 2 Wilt-leaf Liege, 1 Sunlance
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 2 Phyrexian Revoker, 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Jund
IN: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Council's Judgment, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
OUT: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 1 Flickerwisp, 2 Phyrexian Revoker
We do want Thalia, very much so. Revoker is less good.
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Shardless
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-leaf liege, 2 Councils’ Judgment
Out: 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 2 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Shardless BUG:
IN: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege, 1 Council's Judgment
OUT: 1 Jitte, 2 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Flickerwisp , 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Jace and DRS... you want Revoker early.
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Burn
In: 1 Circle of Protection: Red, 2 Ethersworn canonist, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Sunlance
Out: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Flickerwisp
Burn
IN: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Council's Judgment, 1 CoP: Red, 2 Enlightened Tutor
OUT: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Mirran Crusader
I really want a good chance of finding CoP: Red and Canonist. Council's Judgment for Bridge or the burn enchantment.
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Death & Taxes
In: 2 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor (to try to win the equipment war)
Out: 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Question: What are the high priority targets for Councils' Judgment?
Resolved Mom, Jitte, or Mangara. All are bad news bears.
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BUG Delver
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege (is this correct?), 1 Sunlance
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor (loses too much tempo to stifle), 1 Stoneforge Mystic (loses too much tempo tostifle), 2 Phyrexian Revoker (keep 2 in to name deathrite shaman)
Question: Is it correct to not bring in Councils’ Judgment to prevent daze being a time walk?
BUG Delver
IN: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Spirit of the Labyrinth, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege, 1 Council's Judgment
OUT: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 4 Phyrexian Revoker
Depends. I take out Revoker because I can't protect him and RiP is what I need. Tempted to take out Spirit for 1 ET.
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UR Delver
In: 1 Rest in Peace, 1 Circle of Protection: Red, 1 Sunlance
Out: 1 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Mangara of Corondor
Additional Notes: If Snapcaster Mage is seen, cut additional Phyrexian Revoker for additional Rest in Peace
Revoker is the worst; RiP deal with flashback and Grim. Even Grafdigger's Cage is better.
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The primer has a nice setup for matchups from easiest to hardest, but many have not been rewritten to include detailed in-and-out sideboard switching like this^. Like any of those, however, it relies on a uniformed decklist, which this deck almost never has. Everyone's flex spots will be ranked in different priority to pull out in post-board games, but to others who don't play them at all, their side-out rankings are much different. I think a better approach still lies in the "Best cards" format like they have, but also should be updated to include "less important" choices for each matchup. That way, if you have those cards in your deck (and I pretty much run all of them), you know what to pull in place of the more obvious choices of what to bring in. I'm going to use the same list above. Note: this assumes Spirit of the Labyrinth in maindeck.
Jund
More important: Rest in Peace, Wilt-leaf Liege, Sunlance, Gutshot
Less important: Mangara of Corondor, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Aven Mindcensor, Phyrexian Revoker, Thalia
I like the pure aggro approach here. More of what you commit to the board can swing with impunity. This is not to say you should cut more than 2 Revokers. Cutting one Thalia isn't a terrible play on the draw as well.
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Shardless BUG
More important: Rest in Peace, Wilt-leaf liege, Council's Judgment
Less important: Aven Mindcensor, Mangara,
I don't see the Jitte/Plowshare cutting happening, they have 14-16 creatures. You especially want Jitte for little guys Baleful Strix and Deathrite Shaman. Revoker is more clutch here because of many activations (Jace, Liliana, DRShaman) so I like keeping 3 in here.
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Burn
More important: Enlightened Tutor, Warmth, Circle of Protection: Red, Sunlance, Council's Judgment, Ethersworn Canonist
Less important: Aven Mindcensor, Mirran Crusader, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Phyrexian Revoker (if they don't run Grim Lavamancer; be sure to be sure before you cut them all)
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Death & Taxes
More important: Council's Judgment, Gut Shot, Manriki-Gusari, Disenchant, Leonin Relic-Warder, Pithing Needle
Less important: Thalia, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Brimaz
Win the Mom, Equipment, and Flyer wars.
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BUG Delver
More Important: Rest in Peace, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Ratchet Bomb, Council's Judgment, Sunlance
Less important: Phyrexian Revoker (again, probably 2), Mangara, Aven Mindcensor, Thalia
I could cut a Thalia here since they usually have 14+ creatures.
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UR Delver
More Important: Warmth, CoP: Red, Rest in Peace, Sunlance
Less important: Mirran Crusader
I like the maindeck choices a lot for this match. Tutors aren't worth using to grab anti-red enchantments, but still run them in anyway if you have them. Rest in Peace is good as 1 or 2 to stop Grim Lavamancer and Snapcaster Mage.
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Omni-Tell
More important: Ethersworn Cannonist, Enlightened Tutor, Oblivion Ring, Council's Judgment
Less important: Swords to Plowshares, Phyrexian Revoker (not all just to be safe in case the curveball Gris comes around)
I think this was not differentiated enough from the Sneak Attack deck. Omni-Tell might use Emrakul, but it'd be hardcast through an Omniscience. Usually, it's get Omni or Dream Halls out and cast Enter the Infinite. You definitely want to go for Mangara and Spirit of the Labyrinth for this matchup.
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Reanimator
More Important: Grafdigger’s Cage, Rest in Peace, Ensnaring Bridge, Enlightened Tutor, Councils's Judgment, Pithing Needle
Less important: Umezawa’s Jitte, Brimaz, Mirran Crusader, Stoneforge Mystic
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ANT/TES
More important: Ethersworn Canonist, Pithing Needle (Polluted Delta), Enlightened Tutor, Rest in Peace, Ratchet Bomb (for TES)
Less important: Swords to Plowshares, Mangara, Stoneforge Mystic
Try to not commit a Plains to the field unless you have to because of Massacre.
...Some more...
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Elves
More important: Grafdigger's Cage, Ethersworn Canonist, Enlightened Tutor, Gut Shot, Sunlance, Pithing Needle, Ensnaring Bridge
Less important: Thalia, Mangara, Brimaz
Good luck.
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RUG Delver
More important: Rest in Peace, Ratchet Bomb, Sunlance, Wilt-Leaf Liege
Less important: Phyrexian Revoker (all)
Tight play should win it.
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URW Delver
More Important: Manriki-Gusari, Disenchant, Council's Judgment, Pithing Needle
Less important: Mirran Crusader
Most of the maindeck stuff is good here. Just kill the equipment.
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Miracles
More important: Pithing Needle, Cataclysm, Ratchet Bomb, Enlightened Tutor
Less important: Swords to Plowshares (I cut 3), Mother of Runes (1),
Miracles' main form of removal is a sweeper so one can cut a Mom. Needle/Revoker, Spirit, and Thalia ruin their day.
Are people running brimaz? If so, how much of a necessity is he?
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Modern: Modern is Bad
Legacy:WDeath and TaxesW W45-L16-D11 8 Top 8s 15th Scg Oakland
Current Kiln Fiend Count: 153 Please message me if you want to trade me or give me some.
Commission Rezombied to alter some cards, he's awesome!
I got absolutely slaughtered. I had high hopes for the event after preparing extensively for it. So it was pretty disappointing that I finished so low. I beat tezzeret and storm and was sitting at table number 2 for round 3, then lost to merfolk, rug, show and tell, and miracles. I'll write a more in depth report as soon as I get in front of a laptop.
On the bright side, I'm glad we kickstarted a movement on *seriously* talking about side boarding. No more 'you should play this it's good' but concrete, what's in and what's out stuff. I followed the advice from you guys and even referred to the forums in between rounds, and I would like to thank all of you here who have rendered me help in one way or another.
Hi, I haven't posted here for a long time but yesterday I played in a Legacy tournament for the first time in like 3 months and I won it, bringing home a nice Tundra. The list is similar to what I used to run, plus a couple Council's Judgment in the sideboard and cut the Mindcensors because I wasn't convinced of what he brings to the table.
I still love the Restoration Angels, they've proven to be extremely good time and time again, and I wouldn't cut them out for anything else right now, certainly not Crusaders. And the Dust Bowls won me multiple games by locking the opponent out of lands. Now for the matchups:
R1 2-0 against UWR Delver: Not much to say here, I dropped beefier creatures and with a Thalia in play his deck became too slow to trade with me. Was a relatively easy matchup, practically everything in the deck countered his. I boarded in Manriki-Gusari and the extra SotL.
R2 1-2 against Infect: Misplayed game 1 because I've never played against that deck before and didn't know/forgot about the existence of Blighted Agent and wasted my StP on a Glistener Elf after Wastelanding his Nexus and thinking he wouldn't have creatures left. Game 2 I had enough StPs to get his of his threats and brought a Jitte online. Game 3 I got rekt by 2 Vines of Vastwood while I had only one StP. SB -3 Revoker -1 Resto -1 SoFaI +2 Canonist +1 SotL +2 Council.
R3 2-0 Death and Taxes mirror match: It was a fun match, maybe it was because my opponent didn't have enough experience running the deck, but I managed to outplay him multiple times with the bounce triggers of Flickerwisp and Restoration Angel. Game 2 I got a quick Manriki-Gusari out and Revoked his Vial to shut him down for good. SB -3 Thalia -1 SoFaI +2 Council +1 Needle +1 Manriki.
R4 2-1 Jund: Game 1 he got Sylvan Library and Dark Confidant out by turn 3 and snowballed out of control. He only had things like Golgari Charm, Abrupt Decay and Punishing Fire against me so I rode Liege and Resto to victory in games 2 and 3. SB -2 Thalia -1 Wisp -1 Revoker -1 Mom -2 SotL +2 RiP +1 Relic +2 Council +2 Liege.
R5 Draw (Combo Elves)
QF 2-1 Burn: Misplayed game 1 after forgetting to Vial in a Mom at the end of his turn forcing me to StP my own creature in response to his Searing Blood, costing me the game. Games 2 and 3 I managed to stall long enough to get equipment live. -1 SoFaI -2 Revoker +1 Tutor +2 Canonist.
SF 2-1 Infect, same as R2: Now I knew what to do and came prepared for the game, but in Game 1 he went off at turn 2 while on the play, so there wasn't much I could do. Game 2 I baited out all his hand and StP'd in response. Game 3 he had a ton of creatures but not much gas, and I was desperately trying to draw enough removal for all of it, especially the Blighted Agents. I managed to kill his creatures and drew a Rishadan port for his Nexus so I managed to control the board and get the win. SB -3 Revoker -1 Resto -1 SoFaI +2 Canonist +1 SotL +2 Council.
Finals 2-1 against Miracles: Hard matchup, game 1 he controlled the board after I mulliganed to 6 and still didn't have much. Vial is very important in this matchup, and creatures with Flash too. End of turn Restoration Angels or in response to removal can easily get you a win. Restos and Avengers also kept me afloat against a Izzet Staticaster on board. SB -1 Jitte -2 Mom -2 StP -1 Wisp +2 Cataclysm +2 Canonist +1 SotL +1 Needle
Hi, I haven't posted here for a long time but yesterday I played in a Legacy tournament for the first time in like 3 months and I won it, bringing home a nice Tundra. The list is similar to what I used to run, plus a couple Council's Judgment in the sideboard and cut the Mindcensors because I wasn't convinced of what he brings to the table.
I still love the Restoration Angels, they've proven to be extremely good time and time again, and I wouldn't cut them out for anything else right now, certainly not Crusaders. And the Dust Bowls won me multiple games by locking the opponent out of lands. Now for the matchups:
R1 2-0 against UWR Delver: Not much to say here, I dropped beefier creatures and with a Thalia in play his deck became too slow to trade with me. Was a relatively easy matchup, practically everything in the deck countered his. I boarded in Manriki-Gusari and the extra SotL.
R2 1-2 against Infect: Misplayed game 1 because I've never played against that deck before and didn't know/forgot about the existence of Blighted Agent and wasted my StP on a Glistener Elf after Wastelanding his Nexus and thinking he wouldn't have creatures left. Game 2 I had enough StPs to get his of his threats and brought a Jitte online. Game 3 I got rekt by 2 Vines of Vastwood while I had only one StP.
R3 2-0 Death and Taxes mirror match: It was a fun match, maybe it was because my opponent didn't have enough experience running the deck, but I managed to outplay him multiple times with the bounce triggers of Flickerwisp and Restoration Angel. Game 2 I got a quick Manriki-Gusari out and Revoked his Vial to shut him down for good.
R4 2-1 Jund: Game 1 he got Sylvan Library and Dark Confidant out by turn 3 and snowballed out of control. He only had things like Golgari Charm, Abrupt Decay and Punishing Fire against me so I rode Liege and Resto to victory in games 2 and 3.
R5 Draw (Combo Elves)
QF 2-1 Burn: Misplayed game 1 after forgetting to Vial in a Mom at the end of his turn forcing me to StP my own creature in response to his Searing Blood, costing me the game. Games 2 and 3 I managed to stall long enough to get equipment live.
SF 2-1 Infect, same as R2: Now I knew what to do and came prepared for the game, but in Game 1 he went off at turn 2 while on the play, so there wasn't much I could do. Game 2 I baited out all his hand and StP'd in response. Game 3 he had a ton of creatures but not much gas, and I was desperately trying to draw enough removal for all of it, especially the Blighted Agents. I managed to kill his creatures and drew a Rishadan port for his Nexus so I managed to control the board and get the win.
Finals 2-1 against Miracles: Hard matchup, game 1 he controlled the board after I mulliganed to 6 and still didn't have much. Vial is very important in this matchup, and creatures with Flash too. End of turn Restoration Angels or in response to removal can easily get you a win. Restos and Avengers also kept me afloat against a Izzet Staticaster on board.
Dude I must say, I love your decklist. Resto Angel...never even thought it could be viable in this deck, I love it. I might add some mine to my list too. Also, with Dust Bowl, I knew it was a great card to add, but couldn't figure how negate it's draw-back, yet with the flagstones....it's just brilliant. I'm going to be updating my list so much now lol. Nice job on the tournament too!
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
I got absolutely slaughtered. I had high hopes for the event after preparing extensively for it. So it was pretty disappointing that I finished so low. I beat tezzeret and storm and was sitting at table number 2 for round 3, then lost to merfolk, rug, show and tell, and miracles. I'll write a more in depth report as soon as I get in front of a laptop.
This deck can be incredibly simple on the surface, but to play it well (and actually win games with it) you need practice, practice, practice. There are a metric ton of little interactions that you must exploit every single game to bring everything together and craft a win with the little cards you have. So don't be disheartened, I lost a lot in the beginning too, but through experimenting and finding a style that suits each player you'll get why this deck is just so much fun to play, it's one of the few decks that can win a game out of thin air whenever you want.
As for sideboarding, just do whatever makes the most sense for you. Keep in mind things like the number of creatures post-boarding, which is a very common mistake to load the sideboard with noncreature cards and then swap them for creatures from the maindeck when sideboarding, leaving you without enough fuel. Always keep track of that, and you'll be fine.
Thanks for the encouragement, well I admit I haven't played 100 games with this deck yet (maybe 30-50 full REAL games, durdling around with friends not counted) so hopefully this isn't my limit. I was playing goblins and lAnds all the way to 2013, but deathrite shaman became a thing and made goblin lackey and warren instigator much worse, (as for lands, we have a problem with miracles) so since I already had the wasteland, rishadan port and karakas (since I experimented with R/W Goblins splashing white for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, it was a natural follow up.
Okay so in appreciation of so many of you (redtwister, Swordstotimeshares, barbedblightning, whitemorphious, medea, gloriousintruder, fromcairo, mrjumbo03, Bosque, forgottenforce) helped me out with input one way on another with regards to my preparation for today’s legacy event, I feel I owe it to you guys to type a report.
This was a Competitive REL event that I won a feeder trial 4-0 (using Death and taxes too) to gain free entry for, there were loads of people like 50-60 (estimate)
The report for the feeder trial can be found here.
I also played in another one of the feeder trials (despite already gaining qualification) to get more experience with the deck, and the report for this 2nd inconsequential feeder trial can be found here.
As you can see, I'm quite a meticulous guy. I'm an accountancy student majoring in finance in my junior year at college so maybe that has got something to do with it, and if you click on my username and view my previous posts, I try to prepare extensively and I do really want to improve, that's why I'm part of this forum and that's why I'm always willing to learn from better players.I expect nothing else but the best from myself as a result, and this is why I got disappointed.
Anyway with all that out of the way, let's get straight to it.
We were playing for:
1st place: foil worldwake jace the mind sculptor or $600, and a trophy
2nd place: moat or $400
3rd/4th place: NM tundra
5th-8th place: NM bayou
9th-12th place: NM Scrubland
13th-16th place: NM Plateau
17th place onwards: Random jank boosters for consolation
Spoiler: I didn’t do very well, so if you don’t like to read about losing decklists, ignore the rest of my post.
At 5 life, he finally finds the mana to cast his Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (through my porting/wastelanding), and turns his Ensnaring Bridge into a 5/5, effectively walling off my Thalia. I don’t have the Swords to Plowshares so I tank a little bit. I squeak through somehow by Flickerwisp-ing one of the 5/5s (I think it was the Ensnaring Bridge) and getting a free one-turn-ticket to bypass Ensnaring Bridge. Just as well since chalice of the void on 1 and 2 really really hurts. Flickerwisp was an all-star.
Sideboarding was a bit iffy because I had not really prepared sideboard notes for this matchup and thus went with gut feel.
Game 2
This was a game of hate cards. He was on the play. I had aether vial while he had the turn 2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver which immediately became really annoying (he milled once and struck Phyrexian Revoker). I played a Phyrexian Revoker dealing with him, naturally. I followed it up with a Spirit of the Labyrinth. He 2-for-1ed me using Black Sun’s Zenith and used Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver to use my traitorous Phyrexian Revoker to turn off my Aether Vial. My memory for this part is a little hazy, at some point he casts a Liliana of the Veil, which I have a problem with until I Councils’ Judgment it, but he repeatedly clears my board. I get in a couple beats with Flickerwisp before it gets shafted too. Eventually he stabilizes at 4 life when I run out of gas, lands Jace, The Mind Sculptor and starts fatesealing me out so I concede because of time.
Game 3
I apply early pressure with the turn 1 Aether Vial, turn 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben opening. He mana floods quite a bit but sits pretty behind a Ensnaring Bridge, I Flickerwisp it and smash him down to 2 just as we need to start taking our 5 turns as time is called. He lands a Jace, the mind Sculptor. I need to draw Councils’ Judgment or Flickerwisp to finish the job but he was nice and just conceded to me as he didn’t think he could win from this position. It could very well have turned out to be a draw had he not conceded.
2-1 Win
1-0 Overall
Match 2:
Ken with TES/ANT(?)
This guy has some really awesome grumpy cat sleeves and a grumpy cat playmat. Fortunately he wasn’t a grumpy person, so we had a good talk about his sleeves and playmat, which he says are available from Ultra Pro. It even has a caption that says “R U DUN YET?” and is supposed to be facing the opponent, which it was (it was facing me).
Game 1
He mulligans to 5 and keeps a 1 lander. All I see from him is Island, Underground Sea and Duress. I have no idea what he is playing because I’m not experienced. I just wasteland his Underground Sea and Rishadan Port his Island while my creatures do their job. I thought he was on BUG delver actually, but I was really unsure. Hence, a crappy sideboard decision.
I followed, redtwister’s sideboarding notes for BUG Delver.
Game 2:
Now I see what he is playing, because he combos out on t3 when I was caught with my pants down (I kept a hand that I wouldn’t have had I known he was on combo.) I just watched him go through the motions with Infernal Tutor and Past in Flames for a lethal Tendrils of Agony.
He remarked that the Spirit of the Labyrinth saved me after flipping over some cards from his library. He could bounce my Ethersworn Canonist but the Spirit of the Labyrinth really messed up his plans because his Preordain could only scry but not draw, and his Brainstorms were all useless. Had he drawn a couple more cards he could have won. And that, folks is how Spirit of the Labyrinth justified my last minute decision to use him.
2-1 Win
2-0 Overall
Match 3:
Tim with Merfolk (I believe this guy ended up Top8-ing)
Quite a nice guy and his hair was gelled and all, I think he was going for a good night out after this event maybe? We were sitting at table number two right in front of the judge. This means we had good breakers and as of this round we were in the top8, woohoo.
Game 1:
He goes down to 5 cards, keeps a 1 lander, and was never in the game. I saw a Mutavault, late on, and everyone knows that there is only 1 deck that plays Island and Mutavault in the same deck. One funny situation is that I had Stoneforge Mystic and all 3 equipments in my hand, so I had to embarrassingly search for nothing when I play it.
Game 2:
He had the T1 Aether Vial and I did not, and this set the tone for a game where I was always on the back foot. He gained superior tempo with Force of Will on my Grand Abolisher and Daze (which I was dumb enough not to play around) on my Mirran Crusader. It came to a point when I was on 4 life, he had double digit life total, and he had a his pair of Silvergill Adept and a True-Name Nemesis, while I had a Stoneforge Mystic active and a creature (can’t remember what). His Aether Vial was on 3 and untapped. I have Umezawa’s Jitte and Sunlance in hand and 5 lands untapped. I’m not that familiar with the actual build of Merfolk these days, so I was thinking, if he vials in Merfolk Sovereign or something, or even cast any of his lords when he untaps, I’m toast, so I use my in-hand Sunlance on one of the Silvergill Adept, which of course is responded to with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and I lose this game.
Lesson learnt: Over-reliance on Aether Vial loses games.
1-2 loss
2-1 overall
Well that kinda sucked. Regarding game 2, my friends were telling me how I should have searched for Batterskull instead of Umezawa’s Jitte but my reasoning was that I had to be proactive and try to attack with a creature equipped with Umezawa’s Jitte to get the counters to shoot the 2xSilvergill Adept. However being afraid of a Lord pumping the True-Name Nemesis for exactly 4 points of damage, I used Sunlance on one of the Silvergill Adept so I could use the extra counter to gain 2 life and survive a pumped up True-Name Nemesis. I still don’t know what else I could have done. Game 3 sucked though. T1 Pithing Needle shut me down to hell, I felt like I was playing Belcher or something.
L2 judge walks over, gives us a warning, and allows play to continue because there is no way we can reverse since both players have taken a turn. It proves crucial because I never find the 3rd land and I ride it to victory.
Game 3:
I thought I had this…I sandbagged my Rest in Peace for the late game even though I had it in my opening hand because I wanted him to commit mana to Tarmogoyf and Nimble Mongoose before blowing him out. Played out almost the same as game 2 where I got the early beats and then he started playing goyfs. Bad call because by the time he had 2 fat 5/6 Tarmogoyfs (no thanks to a dead Spirit of the Labyrinth which counts as an enchantment) and I thought it was going to be my winning moment as I slammed down my Rest in Peace, he Stiflethe come-into-play trigger on Rest in Peace and just beat me down with 5/6 goyfs (not before Lightning Bolt on my Mirran Crusader to clear the way)
1-2 loss
2-2 overall
So, Pithing Needle on Aether Vial and Stifle on Rest in Peace dreamcrushed me, and now my only realistic aim is to make top 16 and snag one of those lower-grade duals. I press on despite the disappointment.
I had a lot of remaining time left in the round to try and process what had just happened. How did I go from table number two to the deeper recesses of the venue where the sun doesn’t shine? At this stage I’m playing for pride and nothing else.
Match 6:
Chris with Miracles
OK Miracles! I designed my deck to beat Miracles and I finally get paired against Miracles for the first time all day, in a match where the outcome would have decided the difference between 2x Japanese Conspiracy Booster Pack or 4x Japanese Conspiracy Booster Pack for consolation prize (not $100+ value worth of prizes as I was hoping at the start of the day). Nevertheless, a chance to salvage some lost pride cannot be taken lightly.
Game 2:
I daresay I played everything almost correct here. I survived some number of Pyroclasm, Terminus, Swords to Plowshares, even a Keranos, God of Storms (dealt with using a Councils’ Judgment before he could get mileage out of it), a Vendilion Clique that knocked out of my hand a Cataclysm that I was sandbagging …
…I threatened lethal AGAIN, including a Phyrexian Revoker that turned off his top, and swung, thinking about a game 3, and and he blind miracled out Entreat the Angels with no prior fixing. He was so happy he said he was hoping for Terminus but Entreat the Angels was even better. My guys died, my hand was empty, his top was working again and my day ended in ruin.
0-2 loss
2-4 overall
So here you have it, my ridiculous story of how I went from 2-0 to 2-4. Like I said earlier on, I have no idea how I ended up performing so poorly. I 4-0ed the feeder trial for the event with D&T to qualify for free entry but bombed out in an unconvincing fashion. Any comments be it general, on the maindeck or sideboard, or any tips or anything are all welcome.
I got absolutely slaughtered. I had high hopes for the event after preparing extensively for it. So it was pretty disappointing that I finished so low. I beat tezzeret and storm and was sitting at table number 2 for round 3, then lost to merfolk, rug, show and tell, and miracles. I'll write a more in depth report as soon as I get in front of a laptop.
On the bright side, I'm glad we kickstarted a movement on *seriously* talking about side boarding. No more 'you should play this it's good' but concrete, what's in and what's out stuff. I followed the advice from you guys and even referred to the forums in between rounds, and I would like to thank all of you here who have rendered me help in one way or another.
I also got demolished the first time I took DnT to the legacy event at my LGS. My biggest take is really to not get discouraged and demoralized but to get back up on the horse and rethink all the scenario of how you can do better next time. Seriously, I was about to drop off playing Legacy in general after that event but then I realized that this deck is awesome and I just need to practice and get better. There were a lot of things that I felt I could do better like keeping track of the board, thinking before I react. I especially like to react quickly before I think and analyze the board in general. I feel that I have become a better player after that and you just have to repeat the process.
Ask those players that beat you that day of how you could do better. It hurt my pride to do that but they did give some good input.
@SwordsToTimeshares
I think this is a really nice way of laying out the way to think about siding (More Important/Less Important), especially as it allows us to think about all the possible sideboard cards you could bring in. As you say, each sideboard will vary and knowing from the whole range of sideboard cards we run
Here's a thought: a list of the sideboard cards frequently seen in competitive DnT builds (since we don't really have a section in the PRIMER for Maindeck Card Choices and Sideboard Card Choices...)
A note on overlap:
Some cards have replaced others over time and some are meant to have somewhat similar effects.
Council's Judgment has largely replaced Oblivion Ring and Celestial Flare. Sure, it isn't searchable with ET and it isn't Instant speed, but it doesn't target and it hits non-land permanents and it exiles them permanently, providing no target for Abrupt Decay.
Meekstone and Ensnaring Bridge do similar things, but in slightly different ways. Bridge is currently more popular.
Relic of Progenitus has fallen out of favor since RiP does most of what you want, better.
Sunlance, Gutshot and Celestial Flare are all single creature removal, and it depends on what you need. None of them function the same, but each is useful.
And so on...
@movingtonewao
Without seeing the actual play-by-play, I would say to review "part VI." of the primer on keepable vs. unkeepable opening hands. It is amazingly helpful. I come back to it every 3-4 weeks and after any major loss. I typically find that my worst losses involved mediocre keeps. We mulligan quite well because we run so many 4-ofs and Enlightened Tutor.
Oh what the heck...
Mandatory Creatures Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - 4-of, the Queen of Taxation without Representation. Phyrexian Revoker - 4-of, the Prince of No. Mother of Runes - 4-of, because no one takes care of her babies like Mom. In response to "Mother may I...?", she always says Yes to us and No to them. Stoneforge Mystic - 4-of, "Oh, oh it's magic" how she makes your best hate appear and then resolve without fear of counter magic. The lack of this card in Modern is one of the central reasons DnT is Tier 2 in that format. Flickerwisp - 3-of, at least. All the flciker tricks on a 3/1 flier? Oh yeeeeaaahhh...
Flex Creatures Mangara of Corondor - 1-3, "There's no school like the Old School". Exile whatever and with Karakas and Aether Vial one of the best soft locks in Magic in any format. Period. Still, comes out a lot Games 2/3 where instant speed removal is too overwhelming (e.g. BUG Delver.)
Aven Mindcensor - 1-2, "Search deez nutz." 2/1 flier is fine. There are decks it is dead against, but there are also decks it just punishes unmercifully. Trades with Delver, which is usually always fine and looks very good dressed in equipment.
Spirit of the Labyrinth - 1, A pain in the behind in the right situations, as often a sideboard choice as a maindeck choice. Still, pretty funny when he shows up in response to a Brainstorm or Jace +1. 3/1 is fine, no evasion is not so cool.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos - 1-2, Situationally powerful. Not the beast he is in Modern, but not bad. The King in this case is more like Hamlet's dad...
Mandatory Non-Creature Spells
Aether Vial - 4-of Free mana, uncounterable creature casting, all the tricks.
Umezawa's Jitte - 1-of. Really, do I need to explain? Best. Equipment. EVER.
Sword of Fire and Ice - 1-of, Extra damage, extra draw, prof-U, Pro-R. On a Crusader, the game is over.
Batterskull - 1-of, A hero in every format, Living weapon + equipment, vigilance and lifelink, can be cheated in with SFM. Tasty.
Swords to Ploweshares - 4-of, it just so happens that the best 1cmc removal in MtG is W.
Lands Plains - Who says Islands are the best cards in Magic? Not us. Bloodmoon cries. Wasteland can't touch this.
Wasteland - 4-of, Taxation is fun. Not allowing your opponent to do anything is fun. Land destruction is fun.
Rishadan Port - 4-of, I didn't say I would let you use the lands I let you keep, fool.
Karakas - 3-4 depending on Mangara, "Karakas save the Queen"/Thalia ain't a human being" and bounce their legendary creatures (I'm looking at you, Sneak and Show and Omni-Tell.)
@redtwister
Thanks for vetting through my sideboard notes, I had time to read your comments between rounds.
About the part VI, I've read it, but firstly it's a little outdated, and secondly there are not enough sample hands. Also, different hands keep against different matchups. What might be an acceptable keep against fairdecks might not be an acceptable keep against unfair decks and vice versa. A suggestion I would say is to generate 20-30 different starting hands and comment on each of them, but of course it might take some time. Even typing out the above report took me a couple hours, with the cardlinks and all.
@gloriousintruder
It's pretty hard to when your games almost always go to time, G1 and G2 i won, G3 he wanted to find his girlfriend after the game, G4 he won with 2 minutes left on the clock, G5 he just said I need to aggressively mull into karakas even if it means mulling down to 1, and G6 he said he was just lucky with that clutch Vendilion Clique to take away my Cataclysm as well as the Raphael Levy-esque blind Entreat the Angels
I’m also listing down my sideboard notes (to be used at tournaments) with the relevant questions and my own comments. The important issues are bolded for those who speed read while commuting.
3 Serra Avenger
2 Mangara of Corondor
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Flickerwisp
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Mother of Runes
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
11 Plains
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
4 Karakas
Spells (11)
4 Aether Vial
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Rest in Peace
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Councils’ Judgment
2 Cataclysm
2 Wilt-leaf liege
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Sunlance
1 Circle of Protection: Red
Maindeck Issues
Issue 1: thinking of cutting 1 mangara for 1 maindeck Spirit of the Labyrinth. Thoughts? (Scroll down for my meta numbers)
Issue 2: Should I fit in Brimaz, King of Oreskos somewhere considering I have at least 10% miracles and jund? Was thinking of curring 1 Flickerwisp for him (3 drop for 3 drop)
Issue 3: If I do make the mangara cut, perhaps I should trim 1 karakas for a basic plains?
Movingtonewao’s sideboarding notes for local meta (draft 1):
High chance of meeting (10%ish or more)
a) miracles
b) jund
c) shardless
d) burn
e) mirror
Decent chance of meeting (5%ish or more)
f) delver variants as a whole
g) cheat-a-fatty variants as a whole
h) stoneblade variants as a whole
Miscellanous (unable to form expectation/decks I just want to know how to sb against)
i) Storm variants
j) Nicfit/Nicshift
k) Tinfins
l) Dredge
m) Hightide
n) Elves
o) Affinity
p) Painter-Stone
q) 12-post
r) Merfolk
High chance of meeting (10%ish or more):
a) Miracles
In: 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 2 Cataclysm, 2 Ethersworn Canonist
Out: 1 Mirran Crusader, 4 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Umezawa's Jitte, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Questions: Thomas Enevoldsen’s old notes advocate cutting Serra Avenger, but Miracles’ hate for us in the current red incarnation seems to be sulfur elemental (if not a pyroclasm). Does this mean we should cut more 1/1s? Am I correct to cut mangara in g2 and not bring in enlightened tutor? Will sideboarding change if they have a stoneforge mystic package too? When is the correct time to unleash cataclysm (I've never played with the card before)? After they entreat?
b) Jund
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 2 Wilt-leaf Liege, 1 Sunlance
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 2 Phyrexian Revoker, 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Questions: Took the advice of a friend who plays Jund. May I know the reasoning behind cutting Thalia? Wouldn’t it hurt them if they had to pay more for bolts and decays? What should be our gameplan against Jund and what are the cards we need to protect/cards we need to be afraid of? Should Mirran Crusader come out instead of Flickerwisp since it usually eats a bolt?
c) Shardless
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-leaf liege, 2 Councils’ Judgment
Out: 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 2 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Question: To bring in Enlightened Tutor or not?
d) Burn
In: 1 Circle of Protection: Red, 2 Ethersworn canonist, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Sunlance
Out: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Flickerwisp
Question: If i see a Grim Lavamancer, should I cut 1 more Flickerwisp for 1 Rest in Peace? Should I bring in Councils' Judgment to destroy their pithing needle on COPred or a sulfuric vortex? If so do I cut more flickerwisp? Should I keep Swords to Plowshares in to use on my own dudes and negate searing blood?
e) Death & Taxes
In: 2 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor (to try to win the equipment war)
Out: 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Question: What are the high priority targets for Councils' Judgment?
Decent chance of meeting (5%ish or more)
f) Delver Variants:
BUG Delver
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege (is this correct?), 1 Sunlance
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor (loses too much tempo to stifle), 1 Stoneforge Mystic (loses too much tempo to stifle), 2 Phyrexian Revoker (keep 2 in to name deathrite shaman)
Question: Is it correct to not bring in Councils’ Judgment to prevent daze being a time walk?
RUG Delver
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Sunlance, 1 Enlightened Tutor
Out: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Mangara of Corondor
UR Delver
In: 1 Rest in Peace, 1 Circle of Protection: Red, 1 Sunlance
Out: 1 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Mangara of Corondor
Additional Notes: If Snapcaster Mage is seen, cut additional Phyrexian Revoker for additional Rest in Peace
g) Cheat-a-fatty variants:
Sneak & Show
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor
Out: 2 Swords to Plowshares, 2 Mirran Crusader
OmniTell
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Pithing Needle (naming fetchland?), 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 2 Phyrexian Revoker
Additional Notes: Phyrexian Revoker has no targets here, just not enough things to sideboard in
Reanimator
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Pithing Needle
Out: 2 Mirran Crusader, 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 1 Stoneforge Mystic, 1 Flickerwisp, 2 Phyrexian Revoker
h) Stoneblade variants
Esper deathblade
In: 1 Pithing Needle (name Engineered Explosives or deathrite shaman or whatever is a threatening equipment), 2 Councils’ Judgment
Out: 3 Flickerwisp
Question: should we keep in Mangara knowing that they play zealous persecution? Should Flickerwisp stay in and if so what should be cut first?
Bant Stoneblade
In: 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 2 Rest in Peace (if KOTR/goyf/ooze is seen)
Out: 2 Flickerwisp + 1 Flickerwisp, 1 Serra Avenger (If KOTR/goyf/ooze is seen)
i) Storm variants
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils’ Judgment (for dread of night)
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 3 Flickerwisp, 1 Mirran Crusader
Question: is this correct SBding? Any difference if facing ANT instead of TES? What does Pithing Needle name differently vs either? Should we bring in Grafdigger's Cage for Past in Flames?
j) Nicfit/Nicshift
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Cataclysm, 1 Grafdiggers' Cage, 1 Sunlance (for deathrite shaman)
Out: 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben , 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 2 Flickerwisp
k) Tinfins
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Enlightened Tutor
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
l) Dredge
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Pithing Needle (Cephalid Coliseum)
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 3 Flickerwisp, 3 Serra Avenger
Question: Is it correct to sideboard this way? I never seem to sideboard against Dredge the same way twice, which is a concern.
m) High Tide
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Pithing Needle (Candlebra of Tawnos)
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares
n) Elves
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 1 Sunlance
Out: 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben , 1 Mangara of Corondor
o) Affinity
In: 1 Pithing Needle (Cranial Plating), 2 Councils' Judgment, 1 Sunlance
Out: 4 Mother of Runes
p) Painter-Grindstone
In: 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils' Judgment, 1 Sunlance
Out: 3 Serra Avenger, 2 Mirran Crusader, 2 Mother of Runes
q) 12-post
In: 1 Pithing Needle (to name Sensei's Divining Top, Expedition Map), 2 Cataclysm, 2 Councils' Judgment
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Mother of Runes
r) Merfolk
In: 2 Councils' Judgment, 2 Cataclysm, 1 Sunlance
Out: 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, 1 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Flickerwisp
I would appreciate if I could get replies on this within 24 hours of my post as I’m playing in a big tournament here early on Sunday morning. I will also print out an updated set of notes for referencing once I gather everyone's feedback and will share them here, so that in future the community can reference them too. Cheers!
I love Mangara in the Miracles matchup. It's one of the matches where it is super stellar. It usually necessitates a a Terminus if you have Karakas in play. Also keep in mind that you better be conservative with your wastelands. If you don't think you can follow that up with crippling his mana, I suggest you're better off keeping it for his Karakas.
In Jund, I'd much sooner cut some Revokers than Wisps. Ditto in Shardless. Specially considering your number one target for both is Deathrite, which is hit by the Rips you bring in as well. Liliana's a beating though, but Flickerwisps does a nice job of finishing it off via a vial.
Good luck in your tournament tomorrow!
I'm not sure if I'd want both Council's Judgment in the RUG and UR matchups.
Sneak Show, I try and keep 1-2 Swords for the Griselbrand plays. (Usually you have to respond to the first activation so he's forced to go for another one and hope to find a counter in 7 cards only). I drop Brimaz here I think.
Manriki has been in and out for some but it's a good hedge for the mirror and the various blade matchups. Even tutoring for it, has an effect because it makes them play around it.
Cataclysm might be okay against High Tide. Even just hitting 3 Islands would be crippling against them.
WorkshopsLegacy:
Death and Taxes
EDH:
Arcum DagssonMake Paradox Engine Great Again!Urza, Lord High Artificer
Can you explain why you do not want both Councils' Judgement in the RUG and UR matchups?
Keep the comments coming, thanks in advance!
As for Council's in RUG, what are your targets for it? I'm assuming the creatures. I'm not that comfortable running 3 mana answers. Also, I run 3 RiPs, instead of the more popular 2 RiPs and 1 Cage configuration, so I'm much less likely to die from Goyf and Mongoose than others. I put in 3 RiPs, and 2 Wilt-Leaf's (aside from a full-grown goyf, they have nothing that can trade for this 1-for-1) for this matchups for RUG. I guess Sylvan is something Council's can answer but that's a 1-of. On a side note, I have never won against RUG that lays down a turn 2 Sylvan Library. Never.
Haven't faced UR for a long time now though, so I'm not sure about that matchup, but generally the same, what would you be killing in said matchup that is worth running a 3 mana sorcery against a Daze deck?
WorkshopsLegacy:
Death and Taxes
EDH:
Arcum DagssonMake Paradox Engine Great Again!Urza, Lord High Artificer
I read your justifications for brimaz. I might end up doing a 1-1 split with crusader and hope to get lucky (draw the one I need the most at that time). My main concern is that in the mirror brimaz is more of a liability due to karakas, and there are some other dnt decks here too.
For what it's worth, UR is an even better matchup for us than RUG I think. Their creature game isn't as scary, Mother of Runes makes them hate life, Flickerwisp on Delver is fun, Revokers take out Lavamancer, and any one of our equipment can shut them down fairly quickly (one gives protection from their deck and draws, the other gains us life to pull away almost immediately and the other could gain us life or knock out their creatures).
Modern: WUBValue Titan UMerfolk WGDeath and Taxes
Modern: WUBValue Titan UMerfolk WGDeath and Taxes
UR Delver is currently:
In: 1 Rest in Peace, 1 COP Red, 1 Sunlance
Out: 1 Revoker, 2 Mangara
Extra notes: If Snapcaster Mage is seen, cut an additional Revoker for an additional Rest in Peace.
Do let me know if anything else in my sideboarding notes seems kinda off!
Edit: Sneak & Show has been changed from
Out: -4 Swords to Plowshares
to
Out: -2 Swords to Plowshares, -2 Mirran Crusader
changes also made to miracles to keep mangara in, and the jund and shardless matchups to keep Flickerwisp in. thanks mrjumbo03 for that input.
RUG Delver
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Sunlance, 1 Enlightened Tutor
Out: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Mangara of Corondor
In actual practice I might bring out another Mangara for another Judgment if I know they run sulfur elemental.
Jund
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 2 Wilt-leaf Liege, 1 Sunlance
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 2 Phyrexian Revoker, 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Jund
IN: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Council's Judgment, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
OUT: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 1 Flickerwisp, 2 Phyrexian Revoker
We do want Thalia, very much so. Revoker is less good.
______________________________________________________________________________
Shardless
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-leaf liege, 2 Councils’ Judgment
Out: 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 2 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Shardless BUG:
IN: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege, 1 Council's Judgment
OUT: 1 Jitte, 2 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Flickerwisp , 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Jace and DRS... you want Revoker early.
__________________________________________________________________________
Burn
In: 1 Circle of Protection: Red, 2 Ethersworn canonist, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Sunlance
Out: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Flickerwisp
Burn
IN: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Council's Judgment, 1 CoP: Red, 2 Enlightened Tutor
OUT: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Mirran Crusader
I really want a good chance of finding CoP: Red and Canonist. Council's Judgment for Bridge or the burn enchantment.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Death & Taxes
In: 2 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor (to try to win the equipment war)
Out: 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Question: What are the high priority targets for Councils' Judgment?
Resolved Mom, Jitte, or Mangara. All are bad news bears.
______________________________________________________________________________
BUG Delver
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege (is this correct?), 1 Sunlance
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor (loses too much tempo to stifle), 1 Stoneforge Mystic (loses too much tempo tostifle), 2 Phyrexian Revoker (keep 2 in to name deathrite shaman)
Question: Is it correct to not bring in Councils’ Judgment to prevent daze being a time walk?
BUG Delver
IN: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Spirit of the Labyrinth, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege, 1 Council's Judgment
OUT: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 4 Phyrexian Revoker
Depends. I take out Revoker because I can't protect him and RiP is what I need. Tempted to take out Spirit for 1 ET.
__________________________________________________________________________
UR Delver
In: 1 Rest in Peace, 1 Circle of Protection: Red, 1 Sunlance
Out: 1 Phyrexian Revoker, 2 Mangara of Corondor
Additional Notes: If Snapcaster Mage is seen, cut additional Phyrexian Revoker for additional Rest in Peace
UR Delver
IN: 1 Council's Judgment, 1 CoP: Red; 2 RiP
OUT: 4 Phyrexian Revoker
Revoker is the worst; RiP deal with flashback and Grim. Even Grafdigger's Cage is better.
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OmniTell
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Pithing Needle (naming fetchland?), 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 2 Phyrexian Revoker
Additional Notes: Phyrexian Revoker has no targets here, just not enough things to sideboard in
Omni-Tell
IN: 2 Ethersworn Cannonist, 1 Pithing Needle ( Sneak Attack), and 1 Spirit of the Labyrinth, 1 Council's Judgment, 2 Enlightened Tutor, 2 RiP
OUT: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Umezawa's Jitte, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Wrong, Gridselbrand, Lotius Petal, Jace are all good targets.
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Reanimator
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Pithing Needle
Out: 2 Mirran Crusader, 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 1 Stoneforge Mystic, 1 Flickerwisp, 2 Phyrexian Revoker
Reanimator:
IN: 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Council's Judgment, 2 Enlightened Tutor
OUT: 4 Flickerwisp, 1 Stoneforge Mystic, 1 Jitte
What are you using Needle for?
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Storm/ANT/TES
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils’ Judgment (fordread of night)
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 3 Flickerwisp, 1 Mirran Crusader
ANT/TES:
IN: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Council's Judgment, 2 Cataclysm
OUT: 2 Mirran Crusader, 2 Serra Avenger, 4 Swords to Plowshares
Storm:
IN: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 2 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Spirit of the Labyrinth, 1 Pithing Needle (polluted Delta)
OUT: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 2 Mirran Crusader
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Jund
More important: Rest in Peace, Wilt-leaf Liege, Sunlance, Gutshot
Less important: Mangara of Corondor, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Aven Mindcensor, Phyrexian Revoker, Thalia
I like the pure aggro approach here. More of what you commit to the board can swing with impunity. This is not to say you should cut more than 2 Revokers. Cutting one Thalia isn't a terrible play on the draw as well.
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Shardless BUG
More important: Rest in Peace, Wilt-leaf liege, Council's Judgment
Less important: Aven Mindcensor, Mangara,
I don't see the Jitte/Plowshare cutting happening, they have 14-16 creatures. You especially want Jitte for little guys Baleful Strix and Deathrite Shaman. Revoker is more clutch here because of many activations (Jace, Liliana, DRShaman) so I like keeping 3 in here.
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Burn
More important: Enlightened Tutor, Warmth, Circle of Protection: Red, Sunlance, Council's Judgment, Ethersworn Canonist
Less important: Aven Mindcensor, Mirran Crusader, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Phyrexian Revoker (if they don't run Grim Lavamancer; be sure to be sure before you cut them all)
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Death & Taxes
More important: Council's Judgment, Gut Shot, Manriki-Gusari, Disenchant, Leonin Relic-Warder, Pithing Needle
Less important: Thalia, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Brimaz
Win the Mom, Equipment, and Flyer wars.
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BUG Delver
More Important: Rest in Peace, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Ratchet Bomb, Council's Judgment, Sunlance
Less important: Phyrexian Revoker (again, probably 2), Mangara, Aven Mindcensor, Thalia
I could cut a Thalia here since they usually have 14+ creatures.
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UR Delver
More Important: Warmth, CoP: Red, Rest in Peace, Sunlance
Less important: Mirran Crusader
I like the maindeck choices a lot for this match. Tutors aren't worth using to grab anti-red enchantments, but still run them in anyway if you have them. Rest in Peace is good as 1 or 2 to stop Grim Lavamancer and Snapcaster Mage.
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Omni-Tell
More important: Ethersworn Cannonist, Enlightened Tutor, Oblivion Ring, Council's Judgment
Less important: Swords to Plowshares, Phyrexian Revoker (not all just to be safe in case the curveball Gris comes around)
I think this was not differentiated enough from the Sneak Attack deck. Omni-Tell might use Emrakul, but it'd be hardcast through an Omniscience. Usually, it's get Omni or Dream Halls out and cast Enter the Infinite. You definitely want to go for Mangara and Spirit of the Labyrinth for this matchup.
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Reanimator
More Important: Grafdigger’s Cage, Rest in Peace, Ensnaring Bridge, Enlightened Tutor, Councils's Judgment, Pithing Needle
Less important: Umezawa’s Jitte, Brimaz, Mirran Crusader, Stoneforge Mystic
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ANT/TES
More important: Ethersworn Canonist, Pithing Needle (Polluted Delta), Enlightened Tutor, Rest in Peace, Ratchet Bomb (for TES)
Less important: Swords to Plowshares, Mangara, Stoneforge Mystic
Try to not commit a Plains to the field unless you have to because of Massacre.
...Some more...
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Elves
More important: Grafdigger's Cage, Ethersworn Canonist, Enlightened Tutor, Gut Shot, Sunlance, Pithing Needle, Ensnaring Bridge
Less important: Thalia, Mangara, Brimaz
Good luck.
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RUG Delver
More important: Rest in Peace, Ratchet Bomb, Sunlance, Wilt-Leaf Liege
Less important: Phyrexian Revoker (all)
Tight play should win it.
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URW Delver
More Important: Manriki-Gusari, Disenchant, Council's Judgment, Pithing Needle
Less important: Mirran Crusader
Most of the maindeck stuff is good here. Just kill the equipment.
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Miracles
More important: Pithing Needle, Cataclysm, Ratchet Bomb, Enlightened Tutor
Less important: Swords to Plowshares (I cut 3), Mother of Runes (1),
Miracles' main form of removal is a sweeper so one can cut a Mom. Needle/Revoker, Spirit, and Thalia ruin their day.
Currently playing:
Legacy
WW Death and Taxes(Rest in Peace)EDH
RR Krenko, Mob Boss
WW Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Legacy:WDeath and TaxesW W45-L16-D11 8 Top 8s 15th Scg Oakland
Current Kiln Fiend Count: 153 Please message me if you want to trade me or give me some.
Commission Rezombied to alter some cards, he's awesome!
On the bright side, I'm glad we kickstarted a movement on *seriously* talking about side boarding. No more 'you should play this it's good' but concrete, what's in and what's out stuff. I followed the advice from you guys and even referred to the forums in between rounds, and I would like to thank all of you here who have rendered me help in one way or another.
The list:
6 Plains
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
3 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Dust Bowl
Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Restoration Angel
3 Flickerwisp
3 Serra Avenger
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Aether Vial
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Ice and Fire
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Rest in Peace
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
1 Manriki-Gusari
1 Pithing Needle
2 Cataclysm
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
2 Council's Judgment
1 Enlightened Tutor
I still love the Restoration Angels, they've proven to be extremely good time and time again, and I wouldn't cut them out for anything else right now, certainly not Crusaders. And the Dust Bowls won me multiple games by locking the opponent out of lands. Now for the matchups:
R1 2-0 against UWR Delver: Not much to say here, I dropped beefier creatures and with a Thalia in play his deck became too slow to trade with me. Was a relatively easy matchup, practically everything in the deck countered his. I boarded in Manriki-Gusari and the extra SotL.
R2 1-2 against Infect: Misplayed game 1 because I've never played against that deck before and didn't know/forgot about the existence of Blighted Agent and wasted my StP on a Glistener Elf after Wastelanding his Nexus and thinking he wouldn't have creatures left. Game 2 I had enough StPs to get his of his threats and brought a Jitte online. Game 3 I got rekt by 2 Vines of Vastwood while I had only one StP. SB -3 Revoker -1 Resto -1 SoFaI +2 Canonist +1 SotL +2 Council.
R3 2-0 Death and Taxes mirror match: It was a fun match, maybe it was because my opponent didn't have enough experience running the deck, but I managed to outplay him multiple times with the bounce triggers of Flickerwisp and Restoration Angel. Game 2 I got a quick Manriki-Gusari out and Revoked his Vial to shut him down for good. SB -3 Thalia -1 SoFaI +2 Council +1 Needle +1 Manriki.
R4 2-1 Jund: Game 1 he got Sylvan Library and Dark Confidant out by turn 3 and snowballed out of control. He only had things like Golgari Charm, Abrupt Decay and Punishing Fire against me so I rode Liege and Resto to victory in games 2 and 3. SB -2 Thalia -1 Wisp -1 Revoker -1 Mom -2 SotL +2 RiP +1 Relic +2 Council +2 Liege.
R5 Draw (Combo Elves)
QF 2-1 Burn: Misplayed game 1 after forgetting to Vial in a Mom at the end of his turn forcing me to StP my own creature in response to his Searing Blood, costing me the game. Games 2 and 3 I managed to stall long enough to get equipment live. -1 SoFaI -2 Revoker +1 Tutor +2 Canonist.
SF 2-1 Infect, same as R2: Now I knew what to do and came prepared for the game, but in Game 1 he went off at turn 2 while on the play, so there wasn't much I could do. Game 2 I baited out all his hand and StP'd in response. Game 3 he had a ton of creatures but not much gas, and I was desperately trying to draw enough removal for all of it, especially the Blighted Agents. I managed to kill his creatures and drew a Rishadan port for his Nexus so I managed to control the board and get the win. SB -3 Revoker -1 Resto -1 SoFaI +2 Canonist +1 SotL +2 Council.
Finals 2-1 against Miracles: Hard matchup, game 1 he controlled the board after I mulliganed to 6 and still didn't have much. Vial is very important in this matchup, and creatures with Flash too. End of turn Restoration Angels or in response to removal can easily get you a win. Restos and Avengers also kept me afloat against a Izzet Staticaster on board. SB -1 Jitte -2 Mom -2 StP -1 Wisp +2 Cataclysm +2 Canonist +1 SotL +1 Needle
Dude I must say, I love your decklist. Resto Angel...never even thought it could be viable in this deck, I love it. I might add some mine to my list too. Also, with Dust Bowl, I knew it was a great card to add, but couldn't figure how negate it's draw-back, yet with the flagstones....it's just brilliant. I'm going to be updating my list so much now lol. Nice job on the tournament too!
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
This deck can be incredibly simple on the surface, but to play it well (and actually win games with it) you need practice, practice, practice. There are a metric ton of little interactions that you must exploit every single game to bring everything together and craft a win with the little cards you have. So don't be disheartened, I lost a lot in the beginning too, but through experimenting and finding a style that suits each player you'll get why this deck is just so much fun to play, it's one of the few decks that can win a game out of thin air whenever you want.
As for sideboarding, just do whatever makes the most sense for you. Keep in mind things like the number of creatures post-boarding, which is a very common mistake to load the sideboard with noncreature cards and then swap them for creatures from the maindeck when sideboarding, leaving you without enough fuel. Always keep track of that, and you'll be fine.
I choose neither!
Okay so in appreciation of so many of you (redtwister, Swordstotimeshares, barbedblightning, whitemorphious, medea, gloriousintruder, fromcairo, mrjumbo03, Bosque, forgottenforce) helped me out with input one way on another with regards to my preparation for today’s legacy event, I feel I owe it to you guys to type a report.
This was a Competitive REL event that I won a feeder trial 4-0 (using Death and taxes too) to gain free entry for, there were loads of people like 50-60 (estimate)
The report for the feeder trial can be found here.
I also played in another one of the feeder trials (despite already gaining qualification) to get more experience with the deck, and the report for this 2nd inconsequential feeder trial can be found here.
As you can see, I'm quite a meticulous guy. I'm an accountancy student majoring in finance in my junior year at college so maybe that has got something to do with it, and if you click on my username and view my previous posts, I try to prepare extensively and I do really want to improve, that's why I'm part of this forum and that's why I'm always willing to learn from better players.I expect nothing else but the best from myself as a result, and this is why I got disappointed.
Anyway with all that out of the way, let's get straight to it.
We were playing for:
1st place: foil worldwake jace the mind sculptor or $600, and a trophy
2nd place: moat or $400
3rd/4th place: NM tundra
5th-8th place: NM bayou
9th-12th place: NM Scrubland
13th-16th place: NM Plateau
17th place onwards: Random jank boosters for consolation
Spoiler: I didn’t do very well, so if you don’t like to read about losing decklists, ignore the rest of my post.
First, the decklist.
3 Serra Avenger
1 Mangara of Corondor
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Flickerwisp
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Mother of Runes
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Grand Abolisher
11 Plains
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
3 Karakas
Spells (11)
4 Aether Vial
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Rest in Peace
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Councils’ Judgment
2 Cataclysm
2 Wilt-leaf liege
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Sunlance
1 Circle of Protection: Red
So a quick explanation on the decklist, when I was heading to the tournament venue my list was
-1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
-1 Grand Abolisher
-1 Mirran Crusader
+1 Karakas
+1 Mangara of Corondor
+1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Then I saw that Jund and show and tell players were very few, and that there were a ton of miracles players, so I made the last minute decision to cut the Karakas, Mangara of Corondor and the Brimaz, King of Oreskos for Spirit of the Labyrinth (which single handedly won me a game to justify its inclusion, as you will read later), Grand Abolisher (which didn’t do much except eat Force of Wills or durdle against 4/4 Entreat the Angels tokens) and a 2nd mirran crusader.
Match 1:
Andrew with U/B Tezzeret
Game 1
I keep a hand with 2 Aether Vials, a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, a Flickerwisp, and some lands after losing the die roll. His turn 1 play was Ancient Tomb, Chalice of the Void, go. Oh well. I lay down Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and start pushing down the beats while porting/wastelanding, and holding back my other creature goodies since a lone Thalia is doing her job. At some point Engineered Explosives on 2 goes down and he pops it to kill my 1 Thalia. He uses Black Sun’s Zenith to deal with it. I play another Thalia. He finds Ensnaring Bridge, and another Chalice on 2.
At 5 life, he finally finds the mana to cast his Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (through my porting/wastelanding), and turns his Ensnaring Bridge into a 5/5, effectively walling off my Thalia. I don’t have the Swords to Plowshares so I tank a little bit. I squeak through somehow by Flickerwisp-ing one of the 5/5s (I think it was the Ensnaring Bridge) and getting a free one-turn-ticket to bypass Ensnaring Bridge. Just as well since chalice of the void on 1 and 2 really really hurts. Flickerwisp was an all-star.
Sideboarding was a bit iffy because I had not really prepared sideboard notes for this matchup and thus went with gut feel.
In: 2 Cataclysm, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Pithing Needle
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Grand Abolisher
Game 2
This was a game of hate cards. He was on the play. I had aether vial while he had the turn 2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver which immediately became really annoying (he milled once and struck Phyrexian Revoker). I played a Phyrexian Revoker dealing with him, naturally. I followed it up with a Spirit of the Labyrinth. He 2-for-1ed me using Black Sun’s Zenith and used Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver to use my traitorous Phyrexian Revoker to turn off my Aether Vial. My memory for this part is a little hazy, at some point he casts a Liliana of the Veil, which I have a problem with until I Councils’ Judgment it, but he repeatedly clears my board. I get in a couple beats with Flickerwisp before it gets shafted too. Eventually he stabilizes at 4 life when I run out of gas, lands Jace, The Mind Sculptor and starts fatesealing me out so I concede because of time.
Game 3
I apply early pressure with the turn 1 Aether Vial, turn 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben opening. He mana floods quite a bit but sits pretty behind a Ensnaring Bridge, I Flickerwisp it and smash him down to 2 just as we need to start taking our 5 turns as time is called. He lands a Jace, the mind Sculptor. I need to draw Councils’ Judgment or Flickerwisp to finish the job but he was nice and just conceded to me as he didn’t think he could win from this position. It could very well have turned out to be a draw had he not conceded.
2-1 Win
1-0 Overall
Match 2:
Ken with TES/ANT(?)
This guy has some really awesome grumpy cat sleeves and a grumpy cat playmat. Fortunately he wasn’t a grumpy person, so we had a good talk about his sleeves and playmat, which he says are available from Ultra Pro. It even has a caption that says “R U DUN YET?” and is supposed to be facing the opponent, which it was (it was facing me).
Game 1
He mulligans to 5 and keeps a 1 lander. All I see from him is Island, Underground Sea and Duress. I have no idea what he is playing because I’m not experienced. I just wasteland his Underground Sea and Rishadan Port his Island while my creatures do their job. I thought he was on BUG delver actually, but I was really unsure. Hence, a crappy sideboard decision.
I followed, redtwister’s sideboarding notes for BUG Delver.
In: 2 Rest In Peace, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege, 1 Sunlance
Out: 2 Mangara of Corondor, 1 Stoneforge Mystic, 2 Phyrexian Revoker
Game 2:
Now I see what he is playing, because he combos out on t3 when I was caught with my pants down (I kept a hand that I wouldn’t have had I known he was on combo.) I just watched him go through the motions with Infernal Tutor and Past in Flames for a lethal Tendrils of Agony.
Bad matchup here whoops, I undid my embarrassing sideboarding from Game 1, followed sideboarding notes and went:
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor, 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils’ Judgment
Out: 4 Swords to Plowshares, 3 Flickerwisp, 1 Mirran Crusader
Game 3:
On the play, I mulligan my 7 because it’s not good enough to beat storm. My 6 were: Ethersworn Canonist, Ethersworn Canonist, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, 1 Stoneforge Mystic, 1 Plains.
I was like “what the hell”, if I mulliganed again I might not get my hate, so I’ll take my chances with 1 land.
Missed my t2 and t3 land drop while he used Gitaxian Probe to see my high-roller hand and continued developing his board with lands. Finally I topdecked my Plains and started laying Ethersworn Canonist, then Spirit of the Labyrinth, then Ethersworn Canonist…all attacking every turn of course, and he conceded.
He remarked that the Spirit of the Labyrinth saved me after flipping over some cards from his library. He could bounce my Ethersworn Canonist but the Spirit of the Labyrinth really messed up his plans because his Preordain could only scry but not draw, and his Brainstorms were all useless. Had he drawn a couple more cards he could have won. And that, folks is how Spirit of the Labyrinth justified my last minute decision to use him.
2-1 Win
2-0 Overall
Match 3:
Tim with Merfolk (I believe this guy ended up Top8-ing)
Quite a nice guy and his hair was gelled and all, I think he was going for a good night out after this event maybe? We were sitting at table number two right in front of the judge. This means we had good breakers and as of this round we were in the top8, woohoo.
Game 1:
He goes down to 5 cards, keeps a 1 lander, and was never in the game. I saw a Mutavault, late on, and everyone knows that there is only 1 deck that plays Island and Mutavault in the same deck. One funny situation is that I had Stoneforge Mystic and all 3 equipments in my hand, so I had to embarrassingly search for nothing when I play it.
Once again I followed my sideboard notes
In: 2 Councils’ Judgment, 2 Cataclysm, 1 Sunlance
Out: 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, 1 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Flickerwisp
Game 2:
He had the T1 Aether Vial and I did not, and this set the tone for a game where I was always on the back foot. He gained superior tempo with Force of Will on my Grand Abolisher and Daze (which I was dumb enough not to play around) on my Mirran Crusader. It came to a point when I was on 4 life, he had double digit life total, and he had a his pair of Silvergill Adept and a True-Name Nemesis, while I had a Stoneforge Mystic active and a creature (can’t remember what). His Aether Vial was on 3 and untapped. I have Umezawa’s Jitte and Sunlance in hand and 5 lands untapped. I’m not that familiar with the actual build of Merfolk these days, so I was thinking, if he vials in Merfolk Sovereign or something, or even cast any of his lords when he untaps, I’m toast, so I use my in-hand Sunlance on one of the Silvergill Adept, which of course is responded to with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and I lose this game.
Lesson learnt: Aether Vial wins games.
Game 3:
I kept a hand with 2 colorless lands and 2 Aether Vial. He responds to my T1 Aether Vial with a T1 Pithing Needle. Eventually he overwhelms me with Lord of Atlantis and Master of the Pearl Trident and other creatures while I stare sadly at my 2 useless Aether Vial.
Lesson learnt: Over-reliance on Aether Vial loses games.
1-2 loss
2-1 overall
Well that kinda sucked. Regarding game 2, my friends were telling me how I should have searched for Batterskull instead of Umezawa’s Jitte but my reasoning was that I had to be proactive and try to attack with a creature equipped with Umezawa’s Jitte to get the counters to shoot the 2xSilvergill Adept. However being afraid of a Lord pumping the True-Name Nemesis for exactly 4 points of damage, I used Sunlance on one of the Silvergill Adept so I could use the extra counter to gain 2 life and survive a pumped up True-Name Nemesis. I still don’t know what else I could have done. Game 3 sucked though. T1 Pithing Needle shut me down to hell, I felt like I was playing Belcher or something.
Match 4:
RUG guy (who ended up in 9th place)
Game 1:
We both do our thing, as my turn 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben makes an appearance. His T1 Delver of Secrets flips blind on T2, and his T2 Delver of Secrets flips blind! At some point I topdeck a Umezawa’s Jitte and play it and we keep playing and suddenly he realises that I could not have played the Umezawa’s Jitte because it was subjected to the tax from Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, so we call a judge.
L2 judge walks over, gives us a warning, and allows play to continue because there is no way we can reverse since both players have taken a turn. It proves crucial because I never find the 3rd land and I ride it to victory.
Sideboarding was a pinch with my notes, but since I no longer had a 2nd Mangara of Corondor to cut, I cut a Stoneforge Mystic instead.
In: 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 1 Sunlance, 1 Enlightened Tutor
Out: 4 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Mangara of Corondor, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Game 2:
He had the Pithing Needle for my Aether Vial early on and that forced me to play fair. Nevertheless, I was on the offensive at the start with Spirit of the Labyrinth and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben going at it before he started gumming up the board with Tarmogoyf and . He had key plays like Stifle on my Stoneforge Mystic and a couple 2-for-1s using Forked Bolt and Rough, the casualty list included summoning-sickness Mother of Runes, Flickerwisp and others. He had Ancient Grudge for my Batterskull. I never found my Rest in Peace and he out tempo-ed me here.
Game 3:
I thought I had this…I sandbagged my Rest in Peace for the late game even though I had it in my opening hand because I wanted him to commit mana to Tarmogoyf and Nimble Mongoose before blowing him out. Played out almost the same as game 2 where I got the early beats and then he started playing goyfs. Bad call because by the time he had 2 fat 5/6 Tarmogoyfs (no thanks to a dead Spirit of the Labyrinth which counts as an enchantment) and I thought it was going to be my winning moment as I slammed down my Rest in Peace, he Stiflethe come-into-play trigger on Rest in Peace and just beat me down with 5/6 goyfs (not before Lightning Bolt on my Mirran Crusader to clear the way)
1-2 loss
2-2 overall
So, Pithing Needle on Aether Vial and Stifle on Rest in Peace dreamcrushed me, and now my only realistic aim is to make top 16 and snag one of those lower-grade duals. I press on despite the disappointment.
Match 5:
J.H. with Sneak & Show
Game 1:
He won the die roll. No idea what he’s playing, so kept a hand that had Aether Vial and some creatures but no Wasteland and Karakas. Big mistake because he goes T1 dual land, double Lotus Petal, T2 Ancient Tomb, Sneak Attack for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, wipe my board.
Followed sideboarding notes and went:
In: 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Enlightened Tutor
Out: 2 Swords to Plowshares, 2 Mirran Crusader
Game 2:
I kept a hand that had Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Ethersworn Canonist, Batterskull, Phyrexian Revoker. I sandbag the Phyrexian Revoker for Show and Tell hoping to name Griselbrand, but on T5 or 6 when the Show and Tell showed up (pun unintended), it was a big 15/15 coming to the party and not a 7/7 lifelinker. To add insult to injury, I didn’t even need to hope for a Karakas off the top because of Blood Moon.
0-2 loss
2-3 overall
I had a lot of remaining time left in the round to try and process what had just happened. How did I go from table number two to the deeper recesses of the venue where the sun doesn’t shine? At this stage I’m playing for pride and nothing else.
Match 6:
Chris with Miracles
OK Miracles! I designed my deck to beat Miracles and I finally get paired against Miracles for the first time all day, in a match where the outcome would have decided the difference between 2x Japanese Conspiracy Booster Pack or 4x Japanese Conspiracy Booster Pack for consolation prize (not $100+ value worth of prizes as I was hoping at the start of the day). Nevertheless, a chance to salvage some lost pride cannot be taken lightly.
Game 1:
The creatures that played a role for me here were Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Phyrexian Revoker which turned off top until he found his Swords to Plowshares, Flickerwisp, and Serra Avenger, unfortunately after getting him down to 6, and after surviving 2 Terminus and 2Swords to Plowshares, and as I was swinging with my 3/1 and 3/3 for the win, he managed to Entreat the Angels for 3 tokens, chump my 3 power fliers, and close the game out while I run out of steam.
Sideboarding (I’ve done this many times, it’s second nature to sideboard against miracles)
In: 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Councils’ Judgment, 2 Cataclysm, 2 Ethersworn Canonist
Out: 1 Mirran Crusader, 4 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Umezawa’s Jitte, 1 Stoneforge Mystic
Game 2:
I daresay I played everything almost correct here. I survived some number of Pyroclasm, Terminus, Swords to Plowshares, even a Keranos, God of Storms (dealt with using a Councils’ Judgment before he could get mileage out of it), a Vendilion Clique that knocked out of my hand a Cataclysm that I was sandbagging …
…I threatened lethal AGAIN, including a Phyrexian Revoker that turned off his top, and swung, thinking about a game 3, and and he blind miracled out Entreat the Angels with no prior fixing. He was so happy he said he was hoping for Terminus but Entreat the Angels was even better. My guys died, my hand was empty, his top was working again and my day ended in ruin.
0-2 loss
2-4 overall
So here you have it, my ridiculous story of how I went from 2-0 to 2-4. Like I said earlier on, I have no idea how I ended up performing so poorly. I 4-0ed the feeder trial for the event with D&T to qualify for free entry but bombed out in an unconvincing fashion. Any comments be it general, on the maindeck or sideboard, or any tips or anything are all welcome.
I also got demolished the first time I took DnT to the legacy event at my LGS. My biggest take is really to not get discouraged and demoralized but to get back up on the horse and rethink all the scenario of how you can do better next time. Seriously, I was about to drop off playing Legacy in general after that event but then I realized that this deck is awesome and I just need to practice and get better. There were a lot of things that I felt I could do better like keeping track of the board, thinking before I react. I especially like to react quickly before I think and analyze the board in general. I feel that I have become a better player after that and you just have to repeat the process.
Ask those players that beat you that day of how you could do better. It hurt my pride to do that but they did give some good input.
I think this is a really nice way of laying out the way to think about siding (More Important/Less Important), especially as it allows us to think about all the possible sideboard cards you could bring in. As you say, each sideboard will vary and knowing from the whole range of sideboard cards we run
Here's a thought: a list of the sideboard cards frequently seen in competitive DnT builds (since we don't really have a section in the PRIMER for Maindeck Card Choices and Sideboard Card Choices...)
Cataclysm - Miracles, Goblins, Lands, Maverick, Merfolk, Twelve-Post, Nic Fit, Nic-Shift, Stax,
Celestial Flare - Sneak and Show, anywhere you want +1 removal, any deck with TNN, Affinity, Merfolk,
Chalice of the Void - High Tide, Storm, TES/ANT, Elves, Belcher(?), Affinity,
Circle of Protection: Red - UR Delver, Goblins, Burn
Council's Judgment - Sneak and Show, Omni-Tell, any deck with TNN, Death and Taxes, BUG Delver, RUG Delver, UWR Dlever, UR Delver, Goblins, Burn, Reanimator, Shardless BUG, Affinity, Painter Grindstone, Maverick, Merfolk, Jund, Twelve-Post, Nic Fit, Nic-Shift, Stax, Infect, Lands, BANT Stoneblade, Grixis Stoneblade, Esper deathblade,
Disenchant - Death and Taxes, Affinity,
Ensnaring Bridge - Elves, Affinity, Maverick, Reanimator, Nic Fit, Nic-Shift,
Ethersworn Canonist - Sneak and Show, Omni-Tell, Manaless Dredge, Elves, High Tide, Storm, TES/ANT, Goblins, Burn, Merfolk, Infect, Lands, Belcher,
Enlightened Tutor - Omni-Tell, Miracles, Manaless Dredge, Elves, High Tide, Storm, TES/ANT, Burn, Reanimator, Painter Grindstone,
Ghost Quarter -
Grafdigger's Cage - Manaless Dredge, Elves, Reanimator, Nic Fit, Nic-Shift,
Gut Shot - Death and Taxes, Elves, Affinity, Jund,
Holy Light - Elves, Affinity,
Leonin Relic-Warder - Death and Taxes,
Manriki-Gusari - Death and Taxes, Affinity
Meekstone - Elves, Affinity, Reanimator,
Mindbreak Trap - High Tide, Storm, TES/ANT,
Oblivion Ring - Sneak and Show, Omni-Tell, any deck with TNN, Death and Taxes, BUG Delver, RUG Delver, UWR Dlever, UR Delver, Goblins, Burn, Reanimator, Shardless BUG, Affinity, Painter Grindstone, Jund, Twelve-Post, Nic Fit, Nic-Shift, Stax, Infect, Lands, BANT Stoneblade, Grixis Stoneblade,
Pithing Needle - Sneak and Show, Omni-Tell, Miracles, Death and Taxes, Manaless Dredge, High Tide, Storm, TES/ANT, UWR Dlever, Painter Grindstone, Twelve-Post, Nic Fit, Nic-Shift, Infect, Lands, BANT Stoneblade, Esper deathblade,
Ratchet Bomb - RUG Delver, TES, BUG Delver, RUG Delver, UWR Dlever, Affinity, UR Delver.
Relic of Progenitus - Reanimator, Dredge, Delver decks, Jund.
Rest in Peace - Omni-Tell, RUG Delver, Manaless Dredge, TES/ANT, BUG Delver, RUG Delver, UWR Dlever, Reanimator, Shardless BUG, Painter Grindstone, Maverick, Jund, Nic Fit, Nic-Shift, Stax, Lands, BANT Stoneblade, Grixis Stoneblade,
Serenity - Affinity, Painter Grindstone
Spirit of the Labyrinth - Sneak and Show, Omni-Tell, Miracles, RUG Delver, Elves, High Tide, Storm, TES/ANT, BUG Delver, RUG Delver, UWR Dlever, BANT Stoneblade, Grixis Stoneblade, Belcher
Sunlance - RUG Delver, BUG Delver, RUG Delver, Goblins, Burn, UR Delver, Affinity, Jund,
Warmth - UR Delver, Goblins, Burn
Wilt-Leaf Liege - RUG Delver, BUG Delver, RUG Delver, Shardless BUG,
A note on overlap:
Some cards have replaced others over time and some are meant to have somewhat similar effects.
Council's Judgment has largely replaced Oblivion Ring and Celestial Flare. Sure, it isn't searchable with ET and it isn't Instant speed, but it doesn't target and it hits non-land permanents and it exiles them permanently, providing no target for Abrupt Decay.
Meekstone and Ensnaring Bridge do similar things, but in slightly different ways. Bridge is currently more popular.
Relic of Progenitus has fallen out of favor since RiP does most of what you want, better.
Circle of Protection: Red vs. Warmth is a matter of what level of aggression your build has.
Sunlance, Gutshot and Celestial Flare are all single creature removal, and it depends on what you need. None of them function the same, but each is useful.
And so on...
@movingtonewao
Without seeing the actual play-by-play, I would say to review "part VI." of the primer on keepable vs. unkeepable opening hands. It is amazingly helpful. I come back to it every 3-4 weeks and after any major loss. I typically find that my worst losses involved mediocre keeps. We mulligan quite well because we run so many 4-ofs and Enlightened Tutor.
Oh what the heck...
Mandatory Creatures
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - 4-of, the Queen of Taxation without Representation.
Phyrexian Revoker - 4-of, the Prince of No.
Mother of Runes - 4-of, because no one takes care of her babies like Mom. In response to "Mother may I...?", she always says Yes to us and No to them.
Stoneforge Mystic - 4-of, "Oh, oh it's magic" how she makes your best hate appear and then resolve without fear of counter magic. The lack of this card in Modern is one of the central reasons DnT is Tier 2 in that format.
Flickerwisp - 3-of, at least. All the flciker tricks on a 3/1 flier? Oh yeeeeaaahhh...
Flex Creatures
Mangara of Corondor - 1-3, "There's no school like the Old School". Exile whatever and with Karakas and Aether Vial one of the best soft locks in Magic in any format. Period. Still, comes out a lot Games 2/3 where instant speed removal is too overwhelming (e.g. BUG Delver.)
Aven Mindcensor - 1-2, "Search deez nutz." 2/1 flier is fine. There are decks it is dead against, but there are also decks it just punishes unmercifully. Trades with Delver, which is usually always fine and looks very good dressed in equipment.
Serra Avenger - 2-4, Beater Number 1. Flies, vigilant, meaty booty, nasty front end, LOVES Aether Vial, races True-Name Nemesis, extremely sexy in equipment.
Mirran Crusader - 1-2, Beater Number 2. Double strike, pro-B/G, defends and ends. Puts the Death in DnT. Absolutely the the sexiest wearing equipment. Laughs at Tarmogoyf and the $$ spent on it. "Now you have my permission to cry."
Spirit of the Labyrinth - 1, A pain in the behind in the right situations, as often a sideboard choice as a maindeck choice. Still, pretty funny when he shows up in response to a Brainstorm or Jace +1. 3/1 is fine, no evasion is not so cool.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos - 1-2, Situationally powerful. Not the beast he is in Modern, but not bad. The King in this case is more like Hamlet's dad...
Mandatory Non-Creature Spells
Aether Vial - 4-of Free mana, uncounterable creature casting, all the tricks.
Umezawa's Jitte - 1-of. Really, do I need to explain? Best. Equipment. EVER.
Sword of Fire and Ice - 1-of, Extra damage, extra draw, prof-U, Pro-R. On a Crusader, the game is over.
Batterskull - 1-of, A hero in every format, Living weapon + equipment, vigilance and lifelink, can be cheated in with SFM. Tasty.
Swords to Ploweshares - 4-of, it just so happens that the best 1cmc removal in MtG is W.
Lands
Plains - Who says Islands are the best cards in Magic? Not us. Bloodmoon cries. Wasteland can't touch this.
Wasteland - 4-of, Taxation is fun. Not allowing your opponent to do anything is fun. Land destruction is fun.
Rishadan Port - 4-of, I didn't say I would let you use the lands I let you keep, fool.
Karakas - 3-4 depending on Mangara, "Karakas save the Queen"/Thalia ain't a human being" and bounce their legendary creatures (I'm looking at you, Sneak and Show and Omni-Tell.)
Cavern of Souls - 1-of, calling Human. Because Aether Vial isn't the only way around counter-magic.
Horizon Canopy - 1-2, White mana, draw, loves Enlightened Tutor.
Flagstones of Trokair - Go ahead, destroy this land, I want to thin my deck and get a Plains.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Thanks for vetting through my sideboard notes, I had time to read your comments between rounds.
About the part VI, I've read it, but firstly it's a little outdated, and secondly there are not enough sample hands. Also, different hands keep against different matchups. What might be an acceptable keep against fairdecks might not be an acceptable keep against unfair decks and vice versa. A suggestion I would say is to generate 20-30 different starting hands and comment on each of them, but of course it might take some time. Even typing out the above report took me a couple hours, with the cardlinks and all.
@gloriousintruder
It's pretty hard to when your games almost always go to time, G1 and G2 i won, G3 he wanted to find his girlfriend after the game, G4 he won with 2 minutes left on the clock, G5 he just said I need to aggressively mull into karakas even if it means mulling down to 1, and G6 he said he was just lucky with that clutch Vendilion Clique to take away my Cataclysm as well as the Raphael Levy-esque blind Entreat the Angels
Live in Northern AZ? Lets play some Legacy! Catch me on MODO!
Awesome sig by the one and only DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios