Grand Prix Vienna was my first Grand Prix, and the first huge tournament that I've played in. I mostly play online, and an occasional FNM - pretty much 100% Limited. I think I opened (or was given) an interesting pool. There are some really powerful cards here, and a lot of the potential decks build themselves.
For the record, I went 6-3, losing my last match to just miss day two. I was happy with those results, but just missing day two kind of haunts me still. I can't help but think that I could have built a better deck with this pool. In my opinion, my play was good, but I still made some mistakes. Having only 30 minutes was pretty difficult. I could have (and have) mulled over this list for a couple of days.
So I put it to you good people: What deck would you build?
You can just name two colors (and a splash) or build the deck. I'm looking to learn. I will post my actual deck and the results later, assuming I get some helpful responses and you all are interested. I don't want to skew anyone's initial opinions by posting the actual deck.
Overall, I had a great time. That's really what matters. I met a ton of interesting people and got to play next to Patrick Dickman, of all people, in Round 8. I didn't even notice until after my match - now that's concentration!
Maybe I'm hooked, but there needs to be more Limited tournaments.
From the looks of it white and black look unplayble, which means you can't play Daxos.
So it's between Red/Green/Blue.
Blue has three bombs(bident, archetype, sphinx) so I would start there, but they are double blue.
I would probably pair it with Green and be super happy. The only problem is the double costed green and blue spells, but I think you can get by that as your blue is all late game. I would do something like this:
Then probably run 9/9 split on forest and islands. Your like 2 playables short so Mischief and Mayhem and Flitterstep have to be played, but BotG is a weak set and in sealed you usually don't end up with enough playables anyway.
Tough pool. U has two nice rares and then not much else. Actually, I think there is a possible RW super-aggro deck in there. You got a lot of 1-3 drops. Unfortunately, only one wingsteed rider. Otherwise, green is the best color. Let's see the RW deck:
Thanks for the feedback.....I did go with RG,but my deck was just a touch different. I like what you're doing there. I didn't consider Mischief, because I thought more creatures would be better, and honestly, I thought about it during sideboard, but never saw the need. I did side in more two drops, in bronze sable, when I needed them though.
I could have stood cutting Rage of Purphoros, but I did like the snake, that life was very useful because the deck was slow.
Game 1 - Turn 1 Vortex Elemental from my opponent, frustrating. A poor man's Sedge scorpion imo, but I had to give up my turn 2 Leafcrown Dryad to get through it.
His draws were slower than mine and I was able to flood the board with enough big creatures to win. It wasn't close.
Game 2 - Turn 1 Vortex Elemental from my opponent, still frustrating. This was a very close game, but again, he tempoed me out with the the elemental, griptide and Triton Tactics.
Game 3 - Turn 1 Vortex Elemental from my opponent, ARRGHH!!!. My hand was creature light, and that card just killed me. I was stuck with my ordeal, not being able to cast it into the Elemental.
It was always going to trade with my biggest creature, giving him a better board presence. It slowed me down enough that he could get his evasive creatures going.
I needed any form of removal to get that thing off the table, but never drew it. I ultimately died to Flitterstep Eidolon.
Tough to lose my first match, but all the games were close, and I felt like I played pretty tight.
Round 2 - GRw Monsters - Win
My GR deck was better than his. His creatures just couldn't stack up and he had less removal, plus with 3 colors, it was slower. I never saw any bombs from him. It wasn't close.
Round 3 - GR - Monsters - Win
Game 1 - Again, my GR deck was better than his. My creatures had more punch and Stoneshock Giant's monsterous is no joke. I just waited him out and hit him for tons of damage in one turn. Pinnacle or Rage did a fine job of cleaning up his side of the board too.
His Flame-Wreathed Phoenix couldn't get past my Nessian Asp.
Game 2 - My draws were slower than his and I missed a couple of land drops. Not much I could have done. Flame-Wreathed Phoenix did a lot of work for him in this game.
Round 6 - BG Reaper - Loss
Hero of Leina Tower
Spiteful Returned
Round 7 - UW Flyers - Win
Eidolon of Countless Battles
Akroan Skyguard
Ornitharch
Spear of Heliod
Round 8 - UW Tempo - Win
Round 9 - RW Good Stuff - Loss
Game 1 - Opponent: Turn 2 Deathbellow Raider, turn 4 Ordeal of Heliod, basically the perfect start. I had one chance to kill the thing on turn 3 but he had the God's willing to protect it (waiting to protect the ordeal no doubt). I never recovered. He even had an unknown shores for the regeneration and kept it up, so I couldn't kill the thing with my Scorpion.
Game 2 - I got my Sedge Scorpion out on turn one, ensuring that I'd live a bit longer. We both flooded the board and basically stared at each other for 10-12 rounds, doing little to no damage.
My removal, especially Pinnacle of Rage, kept his swarm and his few fliers at bay for a little while, but his tricks saved one of his creatures from the Rage, making the 2 for 1 less effective. This was the turning point.
I was very tired at this point and was a bit hasty with my attacks, trying to break through the first-striking wall that he set up with Archetype of Courage. In hind sight, the only way I was going to win was with Stoneshock Giant. I had to wait for it and build my board, but I didn't.
I ultimately died to a huge Acolyte's Reward to the face, the first and last time I saw the card.
Here are just some of his cards, all of them did work.
Acolyte's Reward
Ghostblade Eidolon
Fabled Hero
Portent of Betrayal
Archetype of Courage
Anax and Cymede
What Cards performed well:
Pinnacle of Rage: Great 2 for 1. It worked almost everytime and always had targets, assuming I could cast it (I almost always got to it with 18 lands).
Sedge Scorpion/Fall of the Hammer Combo - of course
What cards performed not so well:
Dragon Mantle - It was mostly just a cycle card. I almost always sided it out for something else, like Shredding Winds or Hunt the Hunter.
Mortal's Resolve - I think I cast this card once, to save a damaged creature from an end stepped Searing Blood. I rarely sided it out, felt like I had nothing better (another creature would have been better).
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For the record, I went 6-3, losing my last match to just miss day two. I was happy with those results, but just missing day two kind of haunts me still. I can't help but think that I could have built a better deck with this pool. In my opinion, my play was good, but I still made some mistakes. Having only 30 minutes was pretty difficult. I could have (and have) mulled over this list for a couple of days.
So I put it to you good people: What deck would you build?
You can just name two colors (and a splash) or build the deck. I'm looking to learn. I will post my actual deck and the results later, assuming I get some helpful responses and you all are interested. I don't want to skew anyone's initial opinions by posting the actual deck.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
White
Excoriate
Fated Retribution
Great Heart
Griffin Dreamfinder
God's Willing
Last Breath
Leonin Snarecaster
Loyal Pegasus
Loyal Pegasus
Mortal's Ardor
Oreskos Sun Guide
Scholar of Athreos
Setessan Griffin
Vanguard of Brimaz
Wingsteed Rider
Blue
Archetype of Imagination
Bident of Thassa
Crackling Triton
Crypsis
Divination
Evanescent Intellect
Flitterstep Eidolon
Gainsay
Nullify
Nyxborn Triton
Prognostic Sphinx
Sudden Storm
Black
Ashiok's Adept
Asphodel Wanderer
Asphyxiate
Cutthroat Maneuver
Disciple of Phenax
Felhide Minotaur
Forsaken Drifters
March of the Returned
March of the Returned
Marshmist Titan
Nyxborn Eidolon
Odunos River Trawler
Pain Seer
Pharika's Cure
Read the Bones
Read the Bones
Servant of Tymaret
Warchanter of Mogis
Red
Bolt of Keranos
Borderland Minotaur
Dragon Mantle
Epiphany Storm
Epiphany Storm
Fall of the Hammer
Flamespeaker Adept
Kragma Butcher
Kragma Butcher
Ordeal of Purphoros
Pinnacle of Rage
Priest of Iroas
Rage of Purphoros
Stoneshock Giant
Two-Headed Cerberus
Green
Culling Mark
Defend the Hearth
Hunt the Hunter
Leafcrown Dryad
Mischief and Mayhem
Mortal's Resolve
Nessian Asp
Nessian Courser
Nessian Wilds Ravager
Pheres-Band Tromper
Satyr Hedonist
Sedge Scorpion
Shredding Winds
Snake of the Golden Grove
Swordwise Centaur
Vulpine Goliath
Warrior's Lesson
Gold
Ragemonger
Daxos of Meletis
Spellheart Chimera
Destructive Revelry
Artifact
Gorgon's Head
Bronze Sable
Land
Unknown Shores
Round 1 - UG Tempo - Loss
Details Pending
Round 2 - GRw Monsters - Win
Details Pending
Round 3 - GR Monsters - Win
Details Pending
Round 4 - UG Tempo - Win
Details Pending
Round 5 - BU Control/Mill - win
Details Pending
Round 6 - BG Reaper - Loss
Details Pending
Round 7 - UW Flyers - Win
Details Pending
Round 8 - UG Tempo - Win
Details Pending
Round 9 - RW Good Stuff - Loss
Details Pending
What Cards performed well: Details Pending
What cards performed not so well: Details Pending
Overall, I had a great time. That's really what matters. I met a ton of interesting people and got to play next to Patrick Dickman, of all people, in Round 8. I didn't even notice until after my match - now that's concentration!
Maybe I'm hooked, but there needs to be more Limited tournaments.
So it's between Red/Green/Blue.
Blue has three bombs(bident, archetype, sphinx) so I would start there, but they are double blue.
I would probably pair it with Green and be super happy. The only problem is the double costed green and blue spells, but I think you can get by that as your blue is all late game. I would do something like this:
Then probably run 9/9 split on forest and islands. Your like 2 playables short so Mischief and Mayhem and Flitterstep have to be played, but BotG is a weak set and in sealed you usually don't end up with enough playables anyway.
2 Loyal Pegasus
1 Priest of Iroas
1 Leonin Snarecaster
1 Oreskos Sun Guide
1 Vanguard of Brimaz
1 Wingsteed Rider
1 Flamespeaker Adept
2 Kragma Butcher
1 Two-Headed Cerberus
1 Borderland Minotaur
1 Stoneshock Giant
1 God's Willing
1 Mortal's Ardor
1 Dragon Mantle
1 Ordeal of Purphoros
1 Last Breath
1 Fall of the Hammer
1 Bolt of Keranos
1 Rage of Purphoros
Ugh. Only 21 cards and nothing to write home about. RW is out. I guess UG it is. At least you got plenty of fat that way.
I could have stood cutting Rage of Purphoros, but I did like the snake, that life was very useful because the deck was slow.
1 Sedge Scorpion
1 Swordwise Centaur
1 Leafcrown Dryad
1 Satyr Hedonist
2 Kragma Butcher
1 Two-Headed Cerberus
1 Nessian Courser
1 Pheres-Band Tromper
1 Borderland Minotaur
1 Stoneshock Giant
1 Nessian Asp
1 Snake of the Golden Grove
1 Nessian Wilds Ravager
1 Destructive Revelry
1 Fall of the Hammer
1 Mortal's Resolve
1 Bolt of Keranos
1 Rage of Purphoros
1 Pinnacle of Rage
Enchantments
1 Dragon Mantle
1 Ordeal of Purphoros
Land
10 Mountain
8 Forest
1 Vulpine Goliath
1 Shredding Winds
1 Flamespeaker Adept
1 Warrior's Lesson
1 Hunt the Hunter
1 Mischief and Mayhem
Round 1 - UG Tempo - Loss
Game 1 - Turn 1 Vortex Elemental from my opponent, frustrating. A poor man's Sedge scorpion imo, but I had to give up my turn 2 Leafcrown Dryad to get through it.
His draws were slower than mine and I was able to flood the board with enough big creatures to win. It wasn't close.
Game 2 - Turn 1 Vortex Elemental from my opponent, still frustrating. This was a very close game, but again, he tempoed me out with the the elemental, griptide and Triton Tactics.
Game 3 - Turn 1 Vortex Elemental from my opponent, ARRGHH!!!. My hand was creature light, and that card just killed me. I was stuck with my ordeal, not being able to cast it into the Elemental.
It was always going to trade with my biggest creature, giving him a better board presence. It slowed me down enough that he could get his evasive creatures going.
I needed any form of removal to get that thing off the table, but never drew it. I ultimately died to Flitterstep Eidolon.
Tough to lose my first match, but all the games were close, and I felt like I played pretty tight.
Round 2 - GRw Monsters - Win
My GR deck was better than his. His creatures just couldn't stack up and he had less removal, plus with 3 colors, it was slower. I never saw any bombs from him. It wasn't close.
Round 3 - GR - Monsters - Win
Game 1 - Again, my GR deck was better than his. My creatures had more punch and Stoneshock Giant's monsterous is no joke. I just waited him out and hit him for tons of damage in one turn. Pinnacle or Rage did a fine job of cleaning up his side of the board too.
His Flame-Wreathed Phoenix couldn't get past my Nessian Asp.
Game 2 - My draws were slower than his and I missed a couple of land drops. Not much I could have done. Flame-Wreathed Phoenix did a lot of work for him in this game.
Game 3 - I curved out: Turn 2 Swordwise Centaur; Turn 3 Nessian Courser; Turn 4 Borderland Minotaur; Turn 5 Snake of the Golden Grove
My opponent wasn't happy.
Round 4 - UG Tempo - Win
Round 5 - BU Control/Mill - win
Round 6 - BG Reaper - Loss
Hero of Leina Tower
Spiteful Returned
Round 7 - UW Flyers - Win
Eidolon of Countless Battles
Akroan Skyguard
Ornitharch
Spear of Heliod
Round 8 - UW Tempo - Win
Round 9 - RW Good Stuff - Loss
Game 1 - Opponent: Turn 2 Deathbellow Raider, turn 4 Ordeal of Heliod, basically the perfect start. I had one chance to kill the thing on turn 3 but he had the God's willing to protect it (waiting to protect the ordeal no doubt). I never recovered. He even had an unknown shores for the regeneration and kept it up, so I couldn't kill the thing with my Scorpion.
Game 2 - I got my Sedge Scorpion out on turn one, ensuring that I'd live a bit longer. We both flooded the board and basically stared at each other for 10-12 rounds, doing little to no damage.
My removal, especially Pinnacle of Rage, kept his swarm and his few fliers at bay for a little while, but his tricks saved one of his creatures from the Rage, making the 2 for 1 less effective. This was the turning point.
I was very tired at this point and was a bit hasty with my attacks, trying to break through the first-striking wall that he set up with Archetype of Courage. In hind sight, the only way I was going to win was with Stoneshock Giant. I had to wait for it and build my board, but I didn't.
I ultimately died to a huge Acolyte's Reward to the face, the first and last time I saw the card.
Here are just some of his cards, all of them did work.
Acolyte's Reward
Ghostblade Eidolon
Fabled Hero
Portent of Betrayal
Archetype of Courage
Anax and Cymede
What Cards performed well:
Pinnacle of Rage: Great 2 for 1. It worked almost everytime and always had targets, assuming I could cast it (I almost always got to it with 18 lands).
Sedge Scorpion/Fall of the Hammer Combo - of course
What cards performed not so well:
Dragon Mantle - It was mostly just a cycle card. I almost always sided it out for something else, like Shredding Winds or Hunt the Hunter.
Mortal's Resolve - I think I cast this card once, to save a damaged creature from an end stepped Searing Blood. I rarely sided it out, felt like I had nothing better (another creature would have been better).