I'm seriously mulling the idea of changing my decklist to one where Paths and Spellskites are mainboard. I've seen it done here. Do people find that diluting our decklist too much with non-aura spells slows down our damage output? I'd wager not, because better people than I made those lists, but what do you think?
I used to play David Heilker's list which had 3 Suppression Fields main deck and 1 Path to Exile. I shaved the fields for 2 Spellskites and 1 more PtE, so no firepower lost here. I'm yet to test the list with the changes (the PPTQ is actually next Saturday, I misswrote on last post).
I believe you could take out 1 or 2 Spirit Mantles and maybe 1 or 2 Spirit Links. Even with "godhand" the deck can't win the game before Turn 4, what is enough for Twin to combo and Win the game. Having some answers gives us more chances to survive Game 1.
Also, I'd put a 4th Spiritdancer
Edit: There are some sucessful lists with no answers at all in the Main Board. While I think it is very risky, it has worked for some players.
Edit: Looking for Bogles lists on SCG I found this list from James DeVore that finished at 5th at SCG IQ. It played 2 Fists of Ironwood maindeck. It is a superb card against edict effects like Liliana of the Veil, not sure about its value against other decks though. Any thoughts on the card?
Looks like a normal build to me, a little heavy on the PTE's but some players run 4. With 2 x Dryad Arbors it wouldn't be a bad idea to run 3 Temple Gardens and 3 Wooded Foothills for extra fetches.
Looks like a normal build to me, a little heavy on the PTE's but some players run 4. With 2 x Dryad Arbors it wouldn't be a bad idea to run 3 Temple Gardens and 3 Wooded Foothills for extra fetches.
I agree with this. Other than that, his list looks like 71 of the 75 I run, so I can't really give any poor feedback. I played in a 67 person PPTQ today in Santa Clarita, CA at Tapped Out Gaming. Because some people came late, they did 6 rounds instead of 7.
Round 1 vs. Burn. This was a ridiculously close game. He actually had me at 1 life with Eidolon of the Great Revel in play. However, I had a Kor Spiritdancer with 2 Umbras on him. I keep swinging with that and chump blocking with a Bogle and 2 Dryad Arbor. Meanwhile he doesn't draw the burn and I eventually win at 1 life. The next game is scarily close, despite my turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity X 2. On turns 2 and 3, he does Destructive Revelry on them and I get Daybreak Coronet on a Bogle that also has Spider Umbra. This is where it gets scary. He does Bolt, Bolt, Boros Charm. On the next turn, he does Bolt, Shard Volley after playing the Monastery Swiftspear that he drew for the turn. He already had one in play and after the burn, I was at 4 life. He swings with two 3/4 creatures, but my last card I had in hand was Path to Exile. I win at 1 life again. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Skred Red. This guy is from my LGS and rode in the carpool with me and 2 others. The first game goes about how the matchup goes. I get lifelink and swing and he can't do much but burn me a couple of times once I'm over 30 life. In the next game, I kept a hand with just 1 Aura and Bogle, but Nature's Claim and Krosan Grip. These end up dead cards when turns 5 and 6 Stormbreath Dragon put me low enough to kill me next turn. I sit there with the 2 enchantment destruction and Bogle with 1 Aura and am sad. In the final game, I kept a nuts hand that needs exactly 1 White mana to go off. I have Bogle, 2 Ethereal Armor, 2 Daybreak Coronet, Windswept Heath, and Hyena Umbra. He mulls to 4 and doesn't play a land on the first turn. I draw the 2nd White source immediately and go off. He ended up winning out and making the top 8. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Grixis Twin. This is another guy from my LGS, but he plays at a lot of places. In the first game, I put a lot of early pressure and while at 3 life on turn 4, he has to go for Twin. I have Path to Exile. In the next game, I just have too many answers. He makes a mistake of trying to redirect my Daybreak Coronet to his Spellskite. He pays the life and I still get my Daybreak Coronet on my guy. I swing away and then Path to Exile his Spellskite next turn so I can put Rancor on my guy. He makes a mistake of not using Snapcaster Mage in response to my Gaddock Teeg to counter it and tap my creatures with the Cryptic Command that is in his graveyard. He thought he had enough mana to do that AND Lightning Bolt on my Gaddock Teeg, but he didn't. I still had 2 mana open and Path to Exile AND Nature's Claim in hand anyway. It feels good to have more than enough answers. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Jund. I have an early Bogle that gets suited up, despite his turn 1 Inquisition of Kozilek. My hand was that good and I had protection against Liliana too with Kor Spiritdancer AND fetch. I get there pretty crushingly. When an opponent has to double chump block with Goyf and Tasigur, you're looking pretty good. In the next game, I kept a hand with double Bogle, Kor Spiritdancer, 3 land, and Hyena Umbra. He does Thoughtseize and gets the Hyena Umbra. He draws several Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm. Sometimes they get more of those than you draw Auras. In the final game, my opening hand is pretty good. Leyline of Sanctity, Bogle with Umbra, and then Rest in Peace. He stabilizes with Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm. He eventually draws the Maelstrom Pulse for my Leyline of Sanctity and gets 2 Liliana of the Veil with removal on my Dryad Arbor so that he could kill both of my creatures and then Huntmaster of the Fells to finish me off. What did I draw during these draw steps? I drew 5 land. I was pretty frustrated and the guy even admitted that he got pretty lucky for me to blank for that many turns. But it happens when I play nearly as many lands as Auras. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. UG Infect. I think I was on tilt a bit after that match. I thought I would get an easy win here until I saw Infect. In the first game, he gets me before my Kor Spiritdancer gets there by drawing Distortion Strike with me at 7 poison and Noble Hierarch in play. In the next game, I get a Bogle with Spider Umbra and Daybreak Coronet, so I have pressure and defense. He gets a bunch of creatures and nearly gets there if I didn't also have a Path to Exile in hand. In the final game, I punt. My plan is to win with a Kor Spiritdancer. I Path to Exile his Spellskite and on turn 3 with Kor Spiritdancer in play, I have two Rancor and 2 Spider Umbra in hand. I also have another Path to Exile. I play a Rancor and draw a card. I play another Rancor, hoping to draw a land to use my Path to Exile, but I fail to draw a 3rd land and play a land drop on turn 3, despite drawing 3 cards this turn. He topdecks Vines of Vastwood and kicks it for exact lethal, just like in the 1st game. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. GW Ramp. This was a crazy mana dork, Lotus Cobra, big mana deck. The guy is 3-1-1. In the first game, he makes a huge mistake of chumping a huge Bogle with his freshly played Wilt-Leaf Liege. He didn't need to do it because it wasn't lethal, but he didn't know if I had pump. Because of this, my last card, Path to Exile prevents me from lethal and I survive at 1 life. However, his next card is Sigarda, Host of Herons and I am 2 damage short of lethal, but any Aura will win it since I have 1 Ethereal Armor and Rancor on my dude. I topdeck Spirit Mantle and that's the game. In the next game, I just go crazy with Kor Spiritdancer. On my turn 2, I cast Kor Spiritdancer, taking a chance since he missed his 2nd land drop, but played Lotus Cobra off his Birds of Paradise. This gamble pays off and I have a huge clock that ends with many Auras, drawing many cards and then putting some other Auras on a Bogle that I drew since I saw Path to Exile in his deck in the first game. He did get Worship out, which would have normally been pretty strong. However I had a Nature's Claim already in hand and drew another off the many Auras I put on my Kor Spiritdancer. I attack and when there are no blockers, I do Nature's Claim on his Worship. The 4 life didn't matter too much when I have a Spiritdancer with 4 Auras attacking for much more than potential lethal. This guy was a SUPER cool guy and even asked me for a concession, but I didn't feel that 4-1-1 could make it, so I declined. It turns out that because I beat him, his friend playing the guy from my LGS in round 3, gave the concession to push him to 4-1-1 and make the 8th seed. I was happy for him. 2-0.
I finish 4-2 with 2 tough rounds. I wish I would have tightened up my play, but the Infect round was tough. The first two times that I used Path to Exile on his creature, he didn't even search for anything. It was very odd and it seemed that after a while, I could guess his exact draw step. However with the cards I had, I should have won. I have no excuse for attempting to draw a land on turn 3 by playing 2 Auras with Kor Spiritdancer in play. I should have just stopped at 1. I get 10th place. Four players from my LGS make the top 8, but only 1 made the top 4 unfortunately.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I used to play David Heilker's list which had 3 Suppression Fields main deck and 1 Path to Exile. I shaved the fields for 2 Spellskites and 1 more PtE, so no firepower lost here. I'm yet to test the list with the changes (the PPTQ is actually next Saturday, I misswrote on last post).
I believe you could take out 1 or 2 Spirit Mantles and maybe 1 or 2 Spirit Links. Even with "godhand" the deck can't win the game before Turn 4, what is enough for Twin to combo and Win the game. Having some answers gives us more chances to survive Game 1.
Also, I'd put a 4th Spiritdancer
Edit: There are some sucessful lists with no answers at all in the Main Board. While I think it is very risky, it has worked for some players.
Edit: Looking for Bogles lists on SCG I found this list from James DeVore that finished at 5th at SCG IQ. It played 2 Fists of Ironwood maindeck. It is a superb card against edict effects like Liliana of the Veil, not sure about its value against other decks though. Any thoughts on the card?
Having played against Twin a fair number of times, Suppression Field delays their combo and give us enough time for lethal. I play 3x Suppression Field MB and have 2x PTE, I board in 2x PTE and 2x Nature's Claim and removing 2 cc to 3 cc auras.
Went 6-3 after being 6-0 at GP Charlotte. I'm pretty bitter and disappointed with myself. I'll post a report and decklist when I have access to a computer. I'm on mobile right now.
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Modern - BOGLES!, Suicide Zoo, U/B Mill and R/G Titan
Standard - Mono-white Humans and U/R Mill
Legacy - Maverick
Went 6-3 after being 6-0 at GP Charlotte. I'm pretty bitter and disappointed with myself. I'll post a report and decklist when I have access to a computer. I'm on mobile right now.
I did that at the first Modern Masters GP in Las Vegas, so I know that feel.
I look forward to your report and good job. 6-3 is still nothing to scoff at, despite a tough time in the late rounds.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Round 1 Junk:
As against all Rock variants, a hard matchup.
Game 1 I manage to steal the game by having a silhana ready to kill Liliana when he plays it. However, I was really favored by his dark confidant that only revealed 3 CMC+ spells (liliana, rhino, kitchen finks).
Game 2 He destroys all my auras with some decays and pulses. GG
Game 3 I survive to double liliana and a Golgari charm that sweeps my board. Unflinching courage was a house in this game.
SB in: Unflinching Courage x1, Relic x2
SB out: PTE x2, Hyena Umbra x1
1-0
Feeling lucky I go to Round 2: Jund
This was pretty fast, game 1 I Goldfish him: turn 1 bogle, turn 2 double ethereal armor, turn 3 coronet rancor. GG
Game 2 he plays a huge tarmogoyf on turn 3 and starts playing kitchen finks. Eventually a liliana plus a couple discards kill me. Game 3 he goes to 5, I blast him
SB: same as in Round 1
2-0
Round 3: Twin.
Never saw the combo. 2-0
3-0
SB In Suppression fields and nature claims
SB out courages,dryad arbor and some amount of umbras.
Dont forget that sometimes spirit mantle can be put on an exarch to avoid the combo.
I draw Rounds 4 and 5.
Top 8: Grixis delver. I punted and lost. Not sure what I sided in/out, but it was irrelevant since I should have won the game. I think I sided in Relic of progenitus and unflinching courage, and I really wanted something to avoid getting a billion counterspells on my face
For next PPTQ I will probably change suppression fields. I was definitely not impressed by it. Also the 3rd unflinching courage was meh. I guess there are better cards against The Rock variants (Leyline? whaT else?)
I should say that at my last PTQ, Rest in Peace let me down, as my opponent drew 0 Tarmogoyf and 0 Tasipurr after I turn 3ed RIP in a very long game.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I went to a PPTQ at MTGDeals with 86 players for 7 rounds. My deck honestly took a steaming pile of sh!t on me.
Round 1 vs. Jund Midrange. This game was pretty rough for him. He played an Inquisition of Kozilek, Scavenging Ooze, Liliana of the Veil, but I had plenty of protection with fetchland and I drew another Bogle. He had nothing after that and scoops with 4 land in hand. He told me that he kept a 4 lander and drew 5 land. In the next game, I build up a big Bogle slowly with a lot of protection. This 6 card hand was nuts and I just had to not go all in to win. We go nearly to time and he chumps a few times because I don't have Rancor or Spirit Mantle. He finally scoops, which seemed nice of him because I was guessing that he would draw a creature every turn and chump every single turn. It has happened to me a few times before. I win 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Kibler Naya Company. He mulls to 4. I mull to 5. He gets off quickly with Qasali Pridemage and Loxodon Smiter, but I Path to Exile the Pridemage when he is tapped out so I can suit up Daybreak Coronet on my 1 Aura'd dude. I get there, but it takes a while because our hands were so weak. In the next game, we both mull to 6. I have the hand with Daybreak Coronet, but am missing 1 White mana source. I draw it on time and get through for a bunch. I draw Rancor the next turn. I win 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Jund Midrange. I mull a 0 land hand. I mull a 4 Bogle, 2 land hand. I have to keep going all-in on Kor Spiritdancer. He goes Inquisition of Kozilek, turn 2 Dark Confidant. After revealing Inquisition, he reveals Tasigur and takes 6 damage. After this, he gets 3 Verdant Catacombs in a row, followed by a 3rd Inquisition of Kozilek. He Lightning Bolts the Kor Spiritdancer and Lilianas me twice in a row. It is enough to keep nothing on the board for me except 1 Razorverge Thicket at the end. The next game, I keep on 6. He keeps on 6. I turn 1 Bogle. He turn 1s Inquisition of Kozilek. I eventually get there with a huge Bogle after I draw a single Daybreak Coronet. I didn't have to go all-in on Kor Spiritdancer or Dryad Arbor vs. a Lightning Bolt deck. WOW. In the final game, he does turn 1 Thoughtseize. I kept a 7 card hand hoping that he wouldn't play discard for a 3rd game in a row. I should have mulliganed this hand because Leyline of Sanctity straight up wins this game. However the last few times I mulliganed, I never saw Leyline of Sanctity because since you are getting 1 card fewer every time, you have hardly a chance to draw just 4 cards in a non-Blue deck. I draw 1 Aura this whole long drawn out game, despite a Rest in Peace neutering 2 Tarmogoyf. I drew 7 Bogles this game, I even Path to Exile a Bogle because I could not draw a 3rd land so long into the game. I drew nothing but lands afterward and lost with just 2 Auras the whole 13 turn game - Daybreak Coronet. The guy is a cool guy and asked me if that happens often. I told him that it was the first time that I got stranded with Daybreak Coronets in hand since I have 24 in the deck. It was a very tough loss since when you have 2 Daybreak Coronet in hand and 7 Bogles on the field, you just kind of wish that you could draw a SINGLE Aura. I lose 1-2.
Round 4 vs. Mono Green Devotion. All 3 games his turn 1 play was Utopia Sprawl, turn 3 play was Garruk Wildspeaker after turn 2 Nykthos or turn 3 Nykthos and proceed to play a buttload of Primal Command, Genesis Hydra, Ruric Thar, and other high cost spells. There's not really much to say other than that. In the first game, I had a single turn to draw a White mana source to cast a Daybreak Coronet and swing past his blocker to put Garruk Wildspeaker low, but I didn't draw it and got Trampled over for a bunch. In the 2nd game, I was on the play and didn't mulligan. I drew a Bogle with some Auras and Rancor and swung past a 3/3 Genesis Hydra. In the last game, he tries to redirect Daybreak Coronet to his turn 2 Spellskite. He appeals the a 3rd Judge because he can't believe the ruling. This wastes about 20 minutes, but luckily for me they get the ruling correct (that he can pay 2 life to a spell on the stack, but Coronet can't enchant his Spellskite). I don't know why he stalled like this and I thought we were going to time, but since he had lands on top of his deck and Primal Command/Genesis Hydra X 2, Garruk, and finally Ruric Thar before I draw Gaddock Teeg. Gaddock Teeg is terrible in this matchup because they consistently do a turn 2 Garruk Wildspeaker and Gaddock Teeg is always drawn too late. I don't know if I should just not side them or should I force them to nut draw me every time? I should have watched more carefully for him stacking his hand, but with 3 Judges present, hopefully it was just a perfect draw for him and not cheating. My main regret in this round was not shuffling his deck too much or differently and watching him more carefully for sleight of hand. I lose 1-2.
Round 5 vs. Affinity. Game 1, he mulls to 5. He puts a turn 2 Spellskite, which slows me down. I sacrifice 2 Horizon Canopies early in the game and find Path to Exile. I do that to the Spellskite and then swing a few times while he draws 6 land after mulling to 5. In the next game after a mull to 6, I keep. I play Bogle, Rancor/Spider Umbra. He gets too many threats and I don't draw a single Aura the whole game. He has too many threats and despite 2 Nature's Claim and 2 Path to Exile, I can't contain them all. Remember what I said about Kor Spiritdancer with Daybreak Coronet and Spider Umbra vs. Affinity? It can't lose. I DO IN FACT LOSE because despite attacking into it on accident, he lost only 1 flier. He had turn 2 double Cranial Plating and hit me for a million before I could assemble that Spiritdancer. He attacked with 2 fliers, one with infect. The infect is lethal, especially since he has 2 Glimmervoid. Yes, Cranial Plating has an instant speed equip. Yes, it happens once every 1,000 games. And finally, yes, this was one of those games. He swings for approximately 1 million damage after moving the 2nd Cranial Plating to the flier that I don't block. Then he Ghost Quarters his own Blinkmoth Nexus. I didn't even notice that he played Ghost Quarter. I did not expect Ghost Quarter, but honestly it didn't matter because the life gain with double Daybreak Coronet was much less than double Cranial Plating. I did overlook the Ghost Quarter and that was bad. But with the instant speed equip, I lost either way. Double Glimmervoid, an animated Inkmoth Nexus and equip Cranial Plating to it was good for his win. I lose 1-2.
Round 6 vs. Merfolk. This guy made the top 4 in the 66 person PPTQ Milwaukee that I won. He has played Merfolk for a while, but today, we both got owned pretty hard. He mulls to 6. I do too. I put Daybreak Coronet on turn 3 and he scoops. In the next game, he and I do the same except he had 1 more turn. I don't know if he was on tilt like myself or just didn't have the answer or Spreading Seas to race. I was just scared to death of Spell Pierce, but he tapped out each time. We were honestly just 2 players on tilt from a horrible tournament and it was going to get worse for one of us. I win 2-0.
Round 7 vs. Big Naya Zoo. I mull to 6. I have to go all-in on Kor Spiritdancer and while I was watching this guy next to me a few rounds earlier, I thought he was a multicolor monstrosity. I didn't know he was a 4 Path to Exile/4 Lighting Bolt deck. He does turn 1 Noble Hierarch. Turn 2 double Wild Nacatl and Path to Exile on my Kor Spiritdancer. The next 2 turns Siege Rhino beats my face in. That's a turn 4 win. In the next game, I get Daybreak Coronet after I mulled to 6 and he mulled to 5. He can't do much as I draw a few Umbras and a Ethereal Armor!!!!! In the final game, I get an early Bogle. I play a bunch of stuff on it and then drop turn 3 Kor Spiritdancer and Aura. I end up with a huge Bogle with 5 Auras on it. Damn it feels good to finally have that in this tournament for the first time when usually it happens more often than that. He just either had no answer or was in awe of the good draw I had. I win 2-1.
I finish 4-3 and just honestly played for Planeswalker points and to see what the possible nut draws for each deck in the format was. I need to know what to avoid and what I just can't beat no matter what I have. I don't know the place, but it was somewhere close to 18th with prizes to top 16.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Had a PPTQ yesterday. Finished 2-1-2, not sure about the position, but it wasn't enough for Top 8.
I tried the list with Spellskite for the first time. I often found myself siding it out or keeping it in hand due to better options. The only time I actually played him he only served as chump block. I haven't played against any Twin, Infect or decks with Lilianas, where I imagine he would be more useful.
Round 1 vs. Merfolk - First match was essentially a race. He turn 1 Aether Vial and starts deploying his lords. I start with Bogle, then Ethereal Armor and Spirit Mantle. I keep swinging for 4 unblockable damage while he hits me with his merfolks. He's at 6 life, I am at 5 and he has lethal on the next turn, hopeffuly I topdeck a Spider Umbra and swing for 6 damage.
Spreading Seas were a bit annoying, but didn't actually mana screwed me any of the games.
Side Out: -2 Spellskite -1 Spider Umbra
Side In: +2 Stony Silence +1 Path to Exile (prolly should have sided in Nature's Claim too)
Game 2 I keep a hand without Bogles, but with a fetchland to tutor for Dryad Arbor. He plays a Spellskite, I try to remove it with Path to Exile but he counters with Swan's Song. That's gg for me, I just watched his merfolks killing me while failing to find another removal.
Game 3 I play with Kor Spiritdancer, he plays Spellksite again. He leaves me with 8 damage having lethal for the next turn. I start casting auras for drawing cards with Spiritdancer in attempt to find a removal for Spellksite, but it didn't happen.
Lost 1-2
Round 2 vs. UWR Control - Game 1 I to play a Bogle and 2 auras for 4 power. He manages to counter other attempts to cast auras and Ligning Helixed me at lest twice. It slows me down but I eventually killed him.
Side Out: -2 Spellskite -2 Kor Spiritdancer
Side In: +2 Nature's Claim +2 Gaddock Teeg (Stone Silence would probably be better than Nature's Claim, he didn't have Blood Moon, but had Engineered Explosives)
Game 2 was a very slow match. He reseted the table many times with Supreme Veredict and Engineered Explosives. I Pathed away two of his Celestial Colomnade. He ulted an Ajani Vengeant leaving me with no lands. For a few turns we were just drawing cards and passing cause no one had win conditions (though at that point the game was totally in his favor). He finally finds another Colonnade and kills me.
Game 3 I keep with Bogle, Gaddock, Rancor and Spider Umbra. I turn 1 Bogle, turn 2 only Rancor hoping to turn 3 Gaddock + Umbra. This turned to be a huge mistake cause he turn 2 Spellskite and I didn't have enough power to pass through it. I keep swinging with my both creatures for 2 damage but the game went to extra turns. I even managed to Path his Spellskite, play a Kor Spiritdancer and start to play auras and draw cards, but it wasn't enough for lethal.
Draw 1-1
Round 3 vs. Skred Red - It is a pretty easy matchup for us as long as we have a lifegain aura. Game 1 I had Spirit Link + Daybreak Coronet so even his 2 Boros Reckoner weren't enough to kill me.
Side Out: -2 Spellskite -4 Kor Spiritdancer -1 Dryad Arbor
Side In: +4 Leyline of Sanctity +2 Nature's Claim +1 Path to Exile
I made 2 mistakes in this one that possible costed me the game. I assemble a Bogle with Spirit Link and a couple of Umbras. He plays Blood Moon (first mistake: I fetched a Basic Plains first, instead of fetching a Basic Forest, I had a Nature's Claim in hand but couldn't play it) and then Koth. I keep swinging at his life to close the game (second mistake: should've gone for Koth, I wouldn't kill him in one hit, but it would prevent him from using his ultimate). He plays Thundermaw Hellkite. I could even block with my Bogle with the Umbra and leave him at 3 life, but he kills me with his mountains and the dragon on the next turn.
Last game I had Godhand: Bogle, Ethereal Armor, Rancor and Daybreak Coronet. Not much he could do here.
Win 2-1
Round 4 vs. Abzan Company - I keep a hand with Kor Spiritdancer, Daybreak Coronet, Path to Exile, Spirit Mantle, another aura and lands. Turn 1 he plays Birds of Paradise, turn 2 he plays Kitchen Finks. I play turn 2 Spiritdancer and turn 3 Aura + Daybreak Coronet. Greed took me the game as he plays Melira and Chord of the Calling for Viscera Seer and wins the game. Should've played Spirit Mantle and held mana for Path to Exile
Sid Out: -2 Spellksite -2 Kor Spiritdancer -1 Spider Umbra
Side In: +2 Torpor Orb +1 Path to Exile +2 Gaddock Teeg
I'm not very sure what I kept, but he turn 1 Thoughtseized me and later Abrupt Decayed my Kor Spiritdancer. He plays Archangel of Thune then finds a Spike Feeder and a Kitchen Finks for the combo.
Lost 0-2
Round 5 vs. UWR Aggro? - Not sure if this is a known archetype. The deck was basically Lightning Angels, Mantis Riders and burn spells. Both games I get a Bogle with lifelink and there's not much he could do. He even managed to get me down to 6 life on the second game, but I got lethal on the next turn. The deck can be a bit annoying if we don't get lifelink, but seems a pretty favorable matchup for us anyway.
What do you guys think of Ajani, Caller of the Pride? it can permanently buff up our boggles, or let them swing in for the kill with double strike and flying. also can take a little heat off of us if they decide to swing at it instead of us to stop it.
What do you guys think of Ajani, Caller of the Pride? it can permanently buff up our boggles, or let them swing in for the kill with double strike and flying. also can take a little heat off of us if they decide to swing at it instead of us to stop it.
It's tough to justify spells that cost more than 2 mana. Leyline of Sanctity is a given because it can possibly be played on turn 0 for free. After that, that card becomes a liability, despite how many decks it shuts off. I play 1 Unflinching Courage and honestly that card just feels too slow. I side it out a lot, especially in quick matchups that are on the draw for me.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride wouldn't be overly weak and could win some games, but all in all, I just think that the card that you cut for it will be better a higher percentage of the time in a varied meta. Now if you really think hard about it, you could probably figure out some decks that Ajani may be better than something else in the deck.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I played this deck in GP Copenhagen this weekend, so I figured I'd write a little report. I've been playing the deck on and off since 2012 but to get used to the current meta I played quite a bit of magic online in the last weeks. These were the results:
Overall very solid results so I felt confident going into the weekend. As expected the Burn and Affinity matchup is effectively what makes the deck good, Twin and BGx is a lot tougher. Since the meta is so diverse most matchups does not have statistically significant results due to the low number of games. Anyway this is the list I ended up running:
Round 3: Bogles (yes really)
After some mulligans we both play turn 1 Bogle. He plays a Keen Sense and attacks. I'm fairly sure that he has another Bogle and I don't, but I still feel like I have to block to avoid him running away with the card advantage. I suit up a Dryad Arbor with a bunch of auras while he only has a strictly suboptimal Lifelink. I manage to Mana Tithe both a Spirit Mantle and a Daybreak Coronet and this pretty much wins me the game. I feel great as his list appears fairly unoptimized. In the second game we both create huge lifelinkers but he has a spirit mantle. Since my guy is larger I can keep up by trampling over him to gain life, and for some reason he never uses his Horizon Canopys to draw cards. Even so, he eventually draws into more auras and kills me before I can get a Spirit Mantle.
In game 3 I was faced with a rough decision. After he kills Ethereal Armor with an Erase, I have a bogle with a Spirit Mantle against his bogle with Rancor+Ethereal Armot and we're both at 12. One option is to play Daybreak Coronet, but if he has another enchantment removal he can kill both my auras and win the game. The other option is to play a second Spirit Mantle first, stay back and block and go for the Daybreak Coronet the next turn. I figure that I can afford to wait a turn, but since he plays a Spirit Mantle of his own plus an umbra I die in two attacks even with the Coronet. When considering the choice after the game I reach the conclusion that I could probably not afford to play around the enchantment removal, since if he uses it on my Coronet I'm likely screwed anyway. Very annoying to lose the first game against an opponent with a bad list due to something like that.
Score: 2-1
Round 4: Jund
First game was very tight and eventually comes down to a situation where he kills my only bogle with a Liliana. I could not fetch a Dryad Arbor due to an Olivia Voldaren with mana up. Due to his low lifetotal I get one last draw step where a Path to Exile or Spirit Mantle would win against his one blocker. Game two I start with Leyline and kill him on turn 4. In the third game he has no discard and I get a creature down. On turn 2 I feel obligated to keep a fetch up against a possible Liliana, which backfires when he plays two discard spells and takes both my Ethereal and Spirit Mantle. In hindsight I would have won easily if I went all in, though I still feel like it was the correct choice. Eventually I'm forced to attack into an obvious Abrupt Decay and trade my Spider Umbra for a Tarmogoyf. I only have bogle with 2 Rancor and 5 life against Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant and 8 life. At this point I was feeling horrible about losing the first two games in such an important event. Luckily I topdeck a Daybreak Coronet for the win.
Score: 3-1
Round 5: Burn
Surprisingly close match. After an easy game 1 win he puts me in real trouble in game 2 even though I have the Leyline. Goblin Guide into Eidolon puts a heavy toll on my life total. I have a Daybreak Coronet but it's obvious he's keeping up Destructive Revelry or Atarka's command so I can't even play it. In the end he plays Revelry+2 Atarka's Command for lethal...
Game 3 is extremely tight as I have no lifegain. Eventually I'm able to Nature's Claim myself to gain 4 life to stay alive, fetch a Dryad Arbor and attack with it for the final point of damage.
Score: 4-1
Round 6: Grixis Twin
Game 1 is yet another super weird game. After mulligans I have little action but 2 Path to Exile, and I soon draw the remaining 2. I keep attacking for 1-2 damage and just Path everything. When all 4 paths are gone he makes a crucial mistake. I play a Spiritdancer that he Spell Snares and then taps out to play Deceiver Exarch right into my Mana Tithe. He could have easily played around it by playing the Exarch first or simply by not Spell Snaring, but he did not consider that I could have Mana Tithe. This was a relatively well-known player (Lucas Blohon) and he was really kicking himself about this after the game. I ended up just attacking for 2 damage four more turns.
Unfortunately, I keep having to mulligan into no-action hands. The key to this matchup is to play two auras on turn 2. If you can manage to do that you can usually win, but if you don't you run into problems with counterspells and also constantly having to keep up 2 mana to protect against combo. As I'm never able to put any sort of pressure I lose the last 2 games easily. The combo is not even needed when he has time to activate Tasigur 4 times.
Score: 4-2
I'm down but not out. After playing a ton of Grand Prix I've been in this situation many times. Being 2-2 is sort of devastating but now there's at least only 3 rounds to go.
Round 7: Ad Nauseam
Game 1 is very weird as I have little action after a mull to 5. I can only attack for 4 per turn with an Arbor, but luckily he only plays cantrip after cantrip and lands. Eventually I have a Spiritdancer in play and he is at 5. I Path to Exile my own Arbor to get Rancor back to my hand, figuring that I can at least attack for 4 with the Spiritdancer anyway, and with 1 extra draw and 1 less land I can maybe get lethal. However, he Lightning Storms my Spiritdancer, completely ruining my plans. 5 turns later or so he draws Ad Nauseam and wins.
Game 2 he forgets to suspend his Lotus Blooms turn 1, but it ends up not mattering as I have a turn 4 kill with Nature's Claim on Phyrexian Unlife. In game 3 I have a dream start with bogle attacking for 5 on turn 2. He looks like he'll get a turn 4 kill but I play a turn 3 Gaddock Teeg+Umbra, which I believe blanks his entire deck.
Score: 5-2
Round 8: Burn
This guy was playing black for Bump in the Night and Dark Confidant. I don't really see how this is viable at all as the green cards are so vital in this meta. As expected I destroy him in the first game with a Daybreak Coronet. Then I mulligan to 5 and with a Leyline I manage to win even though I played no creatures before turn 6 or so, stabilizing at 3 life and eventually building up while he has 6 burn spells in hand but no answer to Leyline.
Score: 6-2
1 game to go!
Round 9: Grixis Twin - Feature Match!!!
I'm fairly confident that this guy plays Grixis Twin as I played against him in the previous modern GP, and he played it there even before Tasigur and Command existed. Even so, I'm forced to keep a 5-card hand with only Dryad Arbor. It gets bolted and I do nothing until turn 10 or so. Yes, really. Meanwhile he does nothing except play land and Snapcaster a Serum Visions. When I'm finally up to 3 lands and 8 cards in hand I play a Bogle. It gets remanded and I try again. It resolves. I play an umbra, it resolves. Next turn I play 3 auras and they all resolve. Apparently he had nothing but land, removals and Splinter Twins as I kill him.
Game two he mulligans to 3 and does nothing at all until I win.
Score: 7-2
So not exactly a spectacular finish but I got the job done and got into day 2!
Round 10: Naya Company
In game 1 I only have one land+Arbor in starting hand, but that's still a keep as the other cards are good. I attack for 4 per turn and Mana Tithe a Collected Company, but he plays a Tarmogoyf and Loxodon Smiter which combined with Wild Nacatl and 3 Noble Hierarch makes his board huge. I have almost a full hand but no more lands. He's at 6 but I have to stay home to block to survive. He plays a Qasali Pridemage and swings with everything. Here I yet again make a crucial mistake. I block the Tarmogoyf for some reason, and when he uses Pridemage I have to Path the Tarmogoyf and go to 1. I can trade against the Nacatl next turn and Path the Smiter, but he he still has 3 Hierarchs and I cannot even draw Canopy and Fetch since I'm at 1. If I traded with the Nacatl right away I would be at 4 life and could afford to take one attack for 2 while building the next bogle up to blocking levels. As I had the Coronet since the starting hand this would have given me a reasonable chance of winning, though he could of course topdeck Lightning Bolt at any time.
Game two I win quickly with an unopposed Coronet Bogle. In game 3 I double mulligan yet another time into a hand without Auras, and the first aura does not come until the 14th card.
Score: 7-3
Top 8 dreams dead already, not exactly what I was hoping for.
Round 11: GW Hatebears
In game 1 I keep a 1-lander and get wrecked when he Aether Vials in Spellskite and takes my Aura. I can path it but he follows this with Aven Mindcensor plus Ghost Quarter. Only land I can find for the rest of the game is a fetch which misses.
Game two I have a normal hand and just kill him. In game 3 I keep a 5-card hand without a creature and the first one is the 14th card. I had multiple paths to delay the game and Canopys to Cycle but I simply cannot find a creature and lose.
Score: 7-4
Not going well at all, losing to two fair creature decks that should be easy wins. At this point I basically have to go 4-0 to get any sort of price.
Round 12: Grixis Twin
Not knowing what I'm facing I keep a hand with nice lands+auras but only a Spiritdancer for a creature. He proceeds to remand the spirit dancer and turn 4 combo me.
In the second game I find myself in the familiar situation of mulliganing into no action at all. I have a creature and an umbra but can't find any other auras. I figure that I cannot afford to play around sweepers at this point and attempt to flood the board with 4 Bogles plus Arbor, but predictably he simply draws into the combo long before that's successful.
Score: 7-5
Completely out of contention for any sort of prize, I just drop and go home instead. Normally I put my definition of doing ok at a Grand Prix as making day 2, but with my experience with the deck and format plus the practice I was really hoping for more this time. It felt like I just had completely miserable starting hands and draws in almost every single game, and that's not at all what I've experienced before with the deck.
As for where to go from here, I feel like it's time for me to move on to another deck. I still think the deck is at an excellent place in the metagame, but I'm ready to try something new after 2.5 years of playing nothing else. I'll probably play it one last time at the MOCS this month and then try out Abzan Company as the deck seems pretty fun and also versatile enough to not become bad with metagame shifts.
Completely out of contention for any sort of prize, I just drop and go home instead. Normally I put my definition of doing ok at a Grand Prix as making day 2, but with my experience with the deck and format plus the practice I was really hoping for more this time. It felt like I just had completely miserable starting hands and draws in almost every single game, and that's not at all what I've experienced before with the deck.
As for where to go from here, I feel like it's time for me to move on to another deck. I still think the deck is at an excellent place in the metagame, but I'm ready to try something new after 2.5 years of playing nothing else. I'll probably play it one last time at the MOCS this month and then try out Abzan Company as the deck seems pretty fun and also versatile enough to not become bad with metagame shifts.
I felt the same way after my rough PPTQ. It was very unlike what I've encountered with the deck in 9 months of playing it. I had never had a hand with just 1 Daybreak Coronet and failed to draw another Aura except another Daybreak Coronet in a long, drawn out game. I do also agree that the deck is in a decent place, although I was a little scared that Junk Company was on the rise, as it beats Bogles nearly 60% of the time in my play testing (different from me having a 60% win ratio vs. Birthing Pod pre-banning).
I also feel like moving on to another deck and in fact have tried many other decks, but not long term. Junk Company did do well for me, so if you switch to that, it is very powerful, despite having a few terrible matchups (like Tron and Bloom) in the meta. The deck that I am really going to try is Reanimator. I played it at 1 FNM and went 4-1-1, beating a bunch of Twin and Jund decks, losing to Ad Nauseum, and drawing against a UWR deck that I probably could beat anyway. Control is fairly easy with that deck if you know how to play against Control and that deck is just incredibly explosive.
Good luck in your endeavors and thanks for the report!
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
If you were running this deck without the sac lands would there any reason to run 2 suppression field in the mainboard? I saw one modern daily event where in this boggle deck they decided to play 2 suppression filed maindeck rather than put them in the sideboard.
If you were running this deck without the sac lands would there any reason to run 2 suppression field in the mainboard? I saw one modern daily event where in this boggle deck they decided to play 2 suppression filed maindeck rather than put them in the sideboard.
so far with my testing and the fact that we really only ever need 3 lands, i would never want to play it without horizons and fetches. the fetches thin the deck out and the horizons become card draw if needed for some final bits of steam
I have played WITH sac lands and 3 Suppression Fields maindeck and they proved to be useful in many matchups. Sure it hurts our lands, but we can play pretty much everything with 3 lands, so it won't be a problem for us. And they help against many threats for us:
-Prevents Twin's infinite Combo
-Prevents Abzan Company's infinite Combo
-Slows down Tron decks (make it harder from them to use their arifacts for land tutor and stops Turn 3 Karn)
-Prevents Turn 2/3 Lilliana to ruin our plans
-Slows down control decks that rely on manlands to kill us
-Slows down Merfolk's Aether Vial and their Mutavaults
-Slows down affinity in many ways
Just like every other bogles player, my deck has the typical 53 to 57 core cards to it and a few flex spots. I've tried everything from spellskite to suppression field to Path to Exile to Mana Tithe and lately I've been using Dromoka's Command. All of these cards have led to blow out wins or ended up being completely useless (Tithe or Skite were probably my favorite if I had to choose just because of their flexibility). While mana-expensive, one card I continuously circle back to is Beast Within. Beast Within handles everything (including lands) but gives them a 3/3 (not that big of a deal against bogles). You can even play it on your own cards (RANCOR) in response to lily or on a land/2nd bogle/umbra at the end of turn to push through the last bit of damage. Has anyone given Beast Within a test in the main?
Here's my decklist currently:
4 Gladecover Scout
3 Kor Spiritdancer
4 Slippery Bogle
//Enchantment (29)
4 Daybreak Coronet
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Rancor
4 Spider Umbra
3 Spirit Link
4 Spirit Mantle
2 Unflinching Courage
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Plains
2 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Nature's Claim
2 Path to Exile
2 Rest in Peace
2 Spellskite
2 Stony Silence
I believe you could take out 1 or 2 Spirit Mantles and maybe 1 or 2 Spirit Links. Even with "godhand" the deck can't win the game before Turn 4, what is enough for Twin to combo and Win the game. Having some answers gives us more chances to survive Game 1.
Also, I'd put a 4th Spiritdancer
Edit: There are some sucessful lists with no answers at all in the Main Board. While I think it is very risky, it has worked for some players.
Edit: Looking for Bogles lists on SCG I found this list from James DeVore that finished at 5th at SCG IQ. It played 2 Fists of Ironwood maindeck. It is a superb card against edict effects like Liliana of the Veil, not sure about its value against other decks though. Any thoughts on the card?
Commander: WUBRG Superfriends, GW Rhys Tokens, WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Kitchen Table (now that's real Magic): WUBRG Domain, GU Biovisionary, UB Korlash Grandeur, UW Merfolk Mill
I agree with this. Other than that, his list looks like 71 of the 75 I run, so I can't really give any poor feedback. I played in a 67 person PPTQ today in Santa Clarita, CA at Tapped Out Gaming. Because some people came late, they did 6 rounds instead of 7.
Round 1 vs. Burn. This was a ridiculously close game. He actually had me at 1 life with Eidolon of the Great Revel in play. However, I had a Kor Spiritdancer with 2 Umbras on him. I keep swinging with that and chump blocking with a Bogle and 2 Dryad Arbor. Meanwhile he doesn't draw the burn and I eventually win at 1 life. The next game is scarily close, despite my turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity X 2. On turns 2 and 3, he does Destructive Revelry on them and I get Daybreak Coronet on a Bogle that also has Spider Umbra. This is where it gets scary. He does Bolt, Bolt, Boros Charm. On the next turn, he does Bolt, Shard Volley after playing the Monastery Swiftspear that he drew for the turn. He already had one in play and after the burn, I was at 4 life. He swings with two 3/4 creatures, but my last card I had in hand was Path to Exile. I win at 1 life again. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Skred Red. This guy is from my LGS and rode in the carpool with me and 2 others. The first game goes about how the matchup goes. I get lifelink and swing and he can't do much but burn me a couple of times once I'm over 30 life. In the next game, I kept a hand with just 1 Aura and Bogle, but Nature's Claim and Krosan Grip. These end up dead cards when turns 5 and 6 Stormbreath Dragon put me low enough to kill me next turn. I sit there with the 2 enchantment destruction and Bogle with 1 Aura and am sad. In the final game, I kept a nuts hand that needs exactly 1 White mana to go off. I have Bogle, 2 Ethereal Armor, 2 Daybreak Coronet, Windswept Heath, and Hyena Umbra. He mulls to 4 and doesn't play a land on the first turn. I draw the 2nd White source immediately and go off. He ended up winning out and making the top 8. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Grixis Twin. This is another guy from my LGS, but he plays at a lot of places. In the first game, I put a lot of early pressure and while at 3 life on turn 4, he has to go for Twin. I have Path to Exile. In the next game, I just have too many answers. He makes a mistake of trying to redirect my Daybreak Coronet to his Spellskite. He pays the life and I still get my Daybreak Coronet on my guy. I swing away and then Path to Exile his Spellskite next turn so I can put Rancor on my guy. He makes a mistake of not using Snapcaster Mage in response to my Gaddock Teeg to counter it and tap my creatures with the Cryptic Command that is in his graveyard. He thought he had enough mana to do that AND Lightning Bolt on my Gaddock Teeg, but he didn't. I still had 2 mana open and Path to Exile AND Nature's Claim in hand anyway. It feels good to have more than enough answers. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Jund. I have an early Bogle that gets suited up, despite his turn 1 Inquisition of Kozilek. My hand was that good and I had protection against Liliana too with Kor Spiritdancer AND fetch. I get there pretty crushingly. When an opponent has to double chump block with Goyf and Tasigur, you're looking pretty good. In the next game, I kept a hand with double Bogle, Kor Spiritdancer, 3 land, and Hyena Umbra. He does Thoughtseize and gets the Hyena Umbra. He draws several Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm. Sometimes they get more of those than you draw Auras. In the final game, my opening hand is pretty good. Leyline of Sanctity, Bogle with Umbra, and then Rest in Peace. He stabilizes with Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm. He eventually draws the Maelstrom Pulse for my Leyline of Sanctity and gets 2 Liliana of the Veil with removal on my Dryad Arbor so that he could kill both of my creatures and then Huntmaster of the Fells to finish me off. What did I draw during these draw steps? I drew 5 land. I was pretty frustrated and the guy even admitted that he got pretty lucky for me to blank for that many turns. But it happens when I play nearly as many lands as Auras. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. UG Infect. I think I was on tilt a bit after that match. I thought I would get an easy win here until I saw Infect. In the first game, he gets me before my Kor Spiritdancer gets there by drawing Distortion Strike with me at 7 poison and Noble Hierarch in play. In the next game, I get a Bogle with Spider Umbra and Daybreak Coronet, so I have pressure and defense. He gets a bunch of creatures and nearly gets there if I didn't also have a Path to Exile in hand. In the final game, I punt. My plan is to win with a Kor Spiritdancer. I Path to Exile his Spellskite and on turn 3 with Kor Spiritdancer in play, I have two Rancor and 2 Spider Umbra in hand. I also have another Path to Exile. I play a Rancor and draw a card. I play another Rancor, hoping to draw a land to use my Path to Exile, but I fail to draw a 3rd land and play a land drop on turn 3, despite drawing 3 cards this turn. He topdecks Vines of Vastwood and kicks it for exact lethal, just like in the 1st game. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. GW Ramp. This was a crazy mana dork, Lotus Cobra, big mana deck. The guy is 3-1-1. In the first game, he makes a huge mistake of chumping a huge Bogle with his freshly played Wilt-Leaf Liege. He didn't need to do it because it wasn't lethal, but he didn't know if I had pump. Because of this, my last card, Path to Exile prevents me from lethal and I survive at 1 life. However, his next card is Sigarda, Host of Herons and I am 2 damage short of lethal, but any Aura will win it since I have 1 Ethereal Armor and Rancor on my dude. I topdeck Spirit Mantle and that's the game. In the next game, I just go crazy with Kor Spiritdancer. On my turn 2, I cast Kor Spiritdancer, taking a chance since he missed his 2nd land drop, but played Lotus Cobra off his Birds of Paradise. This gamble pays off and I have a huge clock that ends with many Auras, drawing many cards and then putting some other Auras on a Bogle that I drew since I saw Path to Exile in his deck in the first game. He did get Worship out, which would have normally been pretty strong. However I had a Nature's Claim already in hand and drew another off the many Auras I put on my Kor Spiritdancer. I attack and when there are no blockers, I do Nature's Claim on his Worship. The 4 life didn't matter too much when I have a Spiritdancer with 4 Auras attacking for much more than potential lethal. This guy was a SUPER cool guy and even asked me for a concession, but I didn't feel that 4-1-1 could make it, so I declined. It turns out that because I beat him, his friend playing the guy from my LGS in round 3, gave the concession to push him to 4-1-1 and make the 8th seed. I was happy for him. 2-0.
I finish 4-2 with 2 tough rounds. I wish I would have tightened up my play, but the Infect round was tough. The first two times that I used Path to Exile on his creature, he didn't even search for anything. It was very odd and it seemed that after a while, I could guess his exact draw step. However with the cards I had, I should have won. I have no excuse for attempting to draw a land on turn 3 by playing 2 Auras with Kor Spiritdancer in play. I should have just stopped at 1. I get 10th place. Four players from my LGS make the top 8, but only 1 made the top 4 unfortunately.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Having played against Twin a fair number of times, Suppression Field delays their combo and give us enough time for lethal. I play 3x Suppression Field MB and have 2x PTE, I board in 2x PTE and 2x Nature's Claim and removing 2 cc to 3 cc auras.
Standard - Mono-white Humans and U/R Mill
Legacy - Maverick
I did that at the first Modern Masters GP in Las Vegas, so I know that feel.
I look forward to your report and good job. 6-3 is still nothing to scoff at, despite a tough time in the late rounds.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)4 Gladecover Scout
4 Silhana ledgewalker
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Daybreak Coronet
2 Spirit Mantle
2 Unflinching Courage
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Forest
1 Plains
3 Nature's claim
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Torpor Orb
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Stony Silence
1 Unflinching Courage
Round 1 Junk:
As against all Rock variants, a hard matchup.
Game 1 I manage to steal the game by having a silhana ready to kill Liliana when he plays it. However, I was really favored by his dark confidant that only revealed 3 CMC+ spells (liliana, rhino, kitchen finks).
Game 2 He destroys all my auras with some decays and pulses. GG
Game 3 I survive to double liliana and a Golgari charm that sweeps my board. Unflinching courage was a house in this game.
SB in: Unflinching Courage x1, Relic x2
SB out: PTE x2, Hyena Umbra x1
1-0
Feeling lucky I go to Round 2: Jund
This was pretty fast, game 1 I Goldfish him: turn 1 bogle, turn 2 double ethereal armor, turn 3 coronet rancor. GG
Game 2 he plays a huge tarmogoyf on turn 3 and starts playing kitchen finks. Eventually a liliana plus a couple discards kill me. Game 3 he goes to 5, I blast him
SB: same as in Round 1
2-0
Round 3: Twin.
Never saw the combo. 2-0
3-0
SB In Suppression fields and nature claims
SB out courages,dryad arbor and some amount of umbras.
Dont forget that sometimes spirit mantle can be put on an exarch to avoid the combo.
I draw Rounds 4 and 5.
Top 8: Grixis delver. I punted and lost. Not sure what I sided in/out, but it was irrelevant since I should have won the game. I think I sided in Relic of progenitus and unflinching courage, and I really wanted something to avoid getting a billion counterspells on my face
For next PPTQ I will probably change suppression fields. I was definitely not impressed by it. Also the 3rd unflinching courage was meh. I guess there are better cards against The Rock variants (Leyline? whaT else?)
I should say that at my last PTQ, Rest in Peace let me down, as my opponent drew 0 Tarmogoyf and 0 Tasipurr after I turn 3ed RIP in a very long game.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1 vs. Jund Midrange. This game was pretty rough for him. He played an Inquisition of Kozilek, Scavenging Ooze, Liliana of the Veil, but I had plenty of protection with fetchland and I drew another Bogle. He had nothing after that and scoops with 4 land in hand. He told me that he kept a 4 lander and drew 5 land. In the next game, I build up a big Bogle slowly with a lot of protection. This 6 card hand was nuts and I just had to not go all in to win. We go nearly to time and he chumps a few times because I don't have Rancor or Spirit Mantle. He finally scoops, which seemed nice of him because I was guessing that he would draw a creature every turn and chump every single turn. It has happened to me a few times before. I win 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Kibler Naya Company. He mulls to 4. I mull to 5. He gets off quickly with Qasali Pridemage and Loxodon Smiter, but I Path to Exile the Pridemage when he is tapped out so I can suit up Daybreak Coronet on my 1 Aura'd dude. I get there, but it takes a while because our hands were so weak. In the next game, we both mull to 6. I have the hand with Daybreak Coronet, but am missing 1 White mana source. I draw it on time and get through for a bunch. I draw Rancor the next turn. I win 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Jund Midrange. I mull a 0 land hand. I mull a 4 Bogle, 2 land hand. I have to keep going all-in on Kor Spiritdancer. He goes Inquisition of Kozilek, turn 2 Dark Confidant. After revealing Inquisition, he reveals Tasigur and takes 6 damage. After this, he gets 3 Verdant Catacombs in a row, followed by a 3rd Inquisition of Kozilek. He Lightning Bolts the Kor Spiritdancer and Lilianas me twice in a row. It is enough to keep nothing on the board for me except 1 Razorverge Thicket at the end. The next game, I keep on 6. He keeps on 6. I turn 1 Bogle. He turn 1s Inquisition of Kozilek. I eventually get there with a huge Bogle after I draw a single Daybreak Coronet. I didn't have to go all-in on Kor Spiritdancer or Dryad Arbor vs. a Lightning Bolt deck. WOW. In the final game, he does turn 1 Thoughtseize. I kept a 7 card hand hoping that he wouldn't play discard for a 3rd game in a row. I should have mulliganed this hand because Leyline of Sanctity straight up wins this game. However the last few times I mulliganed, I never saw Leyline of Sanctity because since you are getting 1 card fewer every time, you have hardly a chance to draw just 4 cards in a non-Blue deck. I draw 1 Aura this whole long drawn out game, despite a Rest in Peace neutering 2 Tarmogoyf. I drew 7 Bogles this game, I even Path to Exile a Bogle because I could not draw a 3rd land so long into the game. I drew nothing but lands afterward and lost with just 2 Auras the whole 13 turn game - Daybreak Coronet. The guy is a cool guy and asked me if that happens often. I told him that it was the first time that I got stranded with Daybreak Coronets in hand since I have 24 in the deck. It was a very tough loss since when you have 2 Daybreak Coronet in hand and 7 Bogles on the field, you just kind of wish that you could draw a SINGLE Aura. I lose 1-2.
Round 4 vs. Mono Green Devotion. All 3 games his turn 1 play was Utopia Sprawl, turn 3 play was Garruk Wildspeaker after turn 2 Nykthos or turn 3 Nykthos and proceed to play a buttload of Primal Command, Genesis Hydra, Ruric Thar, and other high cost spells. There's not really much to say other than that. In the first game, I had a single turn to draw a White mana source to cast a Daybreak Coronet and swing past his blocker to put Garruk Wildspeaker low, but I didn't draw it and got Trampled over for a bunch. In the 2nd game, I was on the play and didn't mulligan. I drew a Bogle with some Auras and Rancor and swung past a 3/3 Genesis Hydra. In the last game, he tries to redirect Daybreak Coronet to his turn 2 Spellskite. He appeals the a 3rd Judge because he can't believe the ruling. This wastes about 20 minutes, but luckily for me they get the ruling correct (that he can pay 2 life to a spell on the stack, but Coronet can't enchant his Spellskite). I don't know why he stalled like this and I thought we were going to time, but since he had lands on top of his deck and Primal Command/Genesis Hydra X 2, Garruk, and finally Ruric Thar before I draw Gaddock Teeg. Gaddock Teeg is terrible in this matchup because they consistently do a turn 2 Garruk Wildspeaker and Gaddock Teeg is always drawn too late. I don't know if I should just not side them or should I force them to nut draw me every time? I should have watched more carefully for him stacking his hand, but with 3 Judges present, hopefully it was just a perfect draw for him and not cheating. My main regret in this round was not shuffling his deck too much or differently and watching him more carefully for sleight of hand. I lose 1-2.
Round 5 vs. Affinity. Game 1, he mulls to 5. He puts a turn 2 Spellskite, which slows me down. I sacrifice 2 Horizon Canopies early in the game and find Path to Exile. I do that to the Spellskite and then swing a few times while he draws 6 land after mulling to 5. In the next game after a mull to 6, I keep. I play Bogle, Rancor/Spider Umbra. He gets too many threats and I don't draw a single Aura the whole game. He has too many threats and despite 2 Nature's Claim and 2 Path to Exile, I can't contain them all. Remember what I said about Kor Spiritdancer with Daybreak Coronet and Spider Umbra vs. Affinity? It can't lose. I DO IN FACT LOSE because despite attacking into it on accident, he lost only 1 flier. He had turn 2 double Cranial Plating and hit me for a million before I could assemble that Spiritdancer. He attacked with 2 fliers, one with infect. The infect is lethal, especially since he has 2 Glimmervoid. Yes, Cranial Plating has an instant speed equip. Yes, it happens once every 1,000 games. And finally, yes, this was one of those games. He swings for approximately 1 million damage after moving the 2nd Cranial Plating to the flier that I don't block. Then he Ghost Quarters his own Blinkmoth Nexus. I didn't even notice that he played Ghost Quarter. I did not expect Ghost Quarter, but honestly it didn't matter because the life gain with double Daybreak Coronet was much less than double Cranial Plating. I did overlook the Ghost Quarter and that was bad. But with the instant speed equip, I lost either way. Double Glimmervoid, an animated Inkmoth Nexus and equip Cranial Plating to it was good for his win. I lose 1-2.
Round 6 vs. Merfolk. This guy made the top 4 in the 66 person PPTQ Milwaukee that I won. He has played Merfolk for a while, but today, we both got owned pretty hard. He mulls to 6. I do too. I put Daybreak Coronet on turn 3 and he scoops. In the next game, he and I do the same except he had 1 more turn. I don't know if he was on tilt like myself or just didn't have the answer or Spreading Seas to race. I was just scared to death of Spell Pierce, but he tapped out each time. We were honestly just 2 players on tilt from a horrible tournament and it was going to get worse for one of us. I win 2-0.
Round 7 vs. Big Naya Zoo. I mull to 6. I have to go all-in on Kor Spiritdancer and while I was watching this guy next to me a few rounds earlier, I thought he was a multicolor monstrosity. I didn't know he was a 4 Path to Exile/4 Lighting Bolt deck. He does turn 1 Noble Hierarch. Turn 2 double Wild Nacatl and Path to Exile on my Kor Spiritdancer. The next 2 turns Siege Rhino beats my face in. That's a turn 4 win. In the next game, I get Daybreak Coronet after I mulled to 6 and he mulled to 5. He can't do much as I draw a few Umbras and a Ethereal Armor!!!!! In the final game, I get an early Bogle. I play a bunch of stuff on it and then drop turn 3 Kor Spiritdancer and Aura. I end up with a huge Bogle with 5 Auras on it. Damn it feels good to finally have that in this tournament for the first time when usually it happens more often than that. He just either had no answer or was in awe of the good draw I had. I win 2-1.
I finish 4-3 and just honestly played for Planeswalker points and to see what the possible nut draws for each deck in the format was. I need to know what to avoid and what I just can't beat no matter what I have. I don't know the place, but it was somewhere close to 18th with prizes to top 16.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I tried the list with Spellskite for the first time. I often found myself siding it out or keeping it in hand due to better options. The only time I actually played him he only served as chump block. I haven't played against any Twin, Infect or decks with Lilianas, where I imagine he would be more useful.
Round 1 vs. Merfolk - First match was essentially a race. He turn 1 Aether Vial and starts deploying his lords. I start with Bogle, then Ethereal Armor and Spirit Mantle. I keep swinging for 4 unblockable damage while he hits me with his merfolks. He's at 6 life, I am at 5 and he has lethal on the next turn, hopeffuly I topdeck a Spider Umbra and swing for 6 damage.
Spreading Seas were a bit annoying, but didn't actually mana screwed me any of the games.
Side Out: -2 Spellskite -1 Spider Umbra
Side In: +2 Stony Silence +1 Path to Exile (prolly should have sided in Nature's Claim too)
Game 2 I keep a hand without Bogles, but with a fetchland to tutor for Dryad Arbor. He plays a Spellskite, I try to remove it with Path to Exile but he counters with Swan's Song. That's gg for me, I just watched his merfolks killing me while failing to find another removal.
Game 3 I play with Kor Spiritdancer, he plays Spellksite again. He leaves me with 8 damage having lethal for the next turn. I start casting auras for drawing cards with Spiritdancer in attempt to find a removal for Spellksite, but it didn't happen.
Lost 1-2
Round 2 vs. UWR Control - Game 1 I to play a Bogle and 2 auras for 4 power. He manages to counter other attempts to cast auras and Ligning Helixed me at lest twice. It slows me down but I eventually killed him.
Side Out: -2 Spellskite -2 Kor Spiritdancer
Side In: +2 Nature's Claim +2 Gaddock Teeg (Stone Silence would probably be better than Nature's Claim, he didn't have Blood Moon, but had Engineered Explosives)
Game 2 was a very slow match. He reseted the table many times with Supreme Veredict and Engineered Explosives. I Pathed away two of his Celestial Colomnade. He ulted an Ajani Vengeant leaving me with no lands. For a few turns we were just drawing cards and passing cause no one had win conditions (though at that point the game was totally in his favor). He finally finds another Colonnade and kills me.
Game 3 I keep with Bogle, Gaddock, Rancor and Spider Umbra. I turn 1 Bogle, turn 2 only Rancor hoping to turn 3 Gaddock + Umbra. This turned to be a huge mistake cause he turn 2 Spellskite and I didn't have enough power to pass through it. I keep swinging with my both creatures for 2 damage but the game went to extra turns. I even managed to Path his Spellskite, play a Kor Spiritdancer and start to play auras and draw cards, but it wasn't enough for lethal.
Draw 1-1
Round 3 vs. Skred Red - It is a pretty easy matchup for us as long as we have a lifegain aura. Game 1 I had Spirit Link + Daybreak Coronet so even his 2 Boros Reckoner weren't enough to kill me.
Side Out: -2 Spellskite -4 Kor Spiritdancer -1 Dryad Arbor
Side In: +4 Leyline of Sanctity +2 Nature's Claim +1 Path to Exile
I made 2 mistakes in this one that possible costed me the game. I assemble a Bogle with Spirit Link and a couple of Umbras. He plays Blood Moon (first mistake: I fetched a Basic Plains first, instead of fetching a Basic Forest, I had a Nature's Claim in hand but couldn't play it) and then Koth. I keep swinging at his life to close the game (second mistake: should've gone for Koth, I wouldn't kill him in one hit, but it would prevent him from using his ultimate). He plays Thundermaw Hellkite. I could even block with my Bogle with the Umbra and leave him at 3 life, but he kills me with his mountains and the dragon on the next turn.
Last game I had Godhand: Bogle, Ethereal Armor, Rancor and Daybreak Coronet. Not much he could do here.
Win 2-1
Round 4 vs. Abzan Company - I keep a hand with Kor Spiritdancer, Daybreak Coronet, Path to Exile, Spirit Mantle, another aura and lands. Turn 1 he plays Birds of Paradise, turn 2 he plays Kitchen Finks. I play turn 2 Spiritdancer and turn 3 Aura + Daybreak Coronet. Greed took me the game as he plays Melira and Chord of the Calling for Viscera Seer and wins the game. Should've played Spirit Mantle and held mana for Path to Exile
Sid Out: -2 Spellksite -2 Kor Spiritdancer -1 Spider Umbra
Side In: +2 Torpor Orb +1 Path to Exile +2 Gaddock Teeg
I'm not very sure what I kept, but he turn 1 Thoughtseized me and later Abrupt Decayed my Kor Spiritdancer. He plays Archangel of Thune then finds a Spike Feeder and a Kitchen Finks for the combo.
Lost 0-2
Round 5 vs. UWR Aggro? - Not sure if this is a known archetype. The deck was basically Lightning Angels, Mantis Riders and burn spells. Both games I get a Bogle with lifelink and there's not much he could do. He even managed to get me down to 6 life on the second game, but I got lethal on the next turn. The deck can be a bit annoying if we don't get lifelink, but seems a pretty favorable matchup for us anyway.
Win 2-0
Commander: WUBRG Superfriends, GW Rhys Tokens, WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Kitchen Table (now that's real Magic): WUBRG Domain, GU Biovisionary, UB Korlash Grandeur, UW Merfolk Mill
It's tough to justify spells that cost more than 2 mana. Leyline of Sanctity is a given because it can possibly be played on turn 0 for free. After that, that card becomes a liability, despite how many decks it shuts off. I play 1 Unflinching Courage and honestly that card just feels too slow. I side it out a lot, especially in quick matchups that are on the draw for me.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride wouldn't be overly weak and could win some games, but all in all, I just think that the card that you cut for it will be better a higher percentage of the time in a varied meta. Now if you really think hard about it, you could probably figure out some decks that Ajani may be better than something else in the deck.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Overall very solid results so I felt confident going into the weekend. As expected the Burn and Affinity matchup is effectively what makes the deck good, Twin and BGx is a lot tougher. Since the meta is so diverse most matchups does not have statistically significant results due to the low number of games. Anyway this is the list I ended up running:
4 Gladecover Scout
3 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Daybreak Coronet
2 Spirit Mantle
4 Path to Exile
2 Mana Tithe
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Temple Garden
1 Forest
1 Plains
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Stony Silence
2 Nature's claim
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Spellskite
Matches:
Round 1-2: Byes (due to planeswalker points)
Round 3: Bogles (yes really)
After some mulligans we both play turn 1 Bogle. He plays a Keen Sense and attacks. I'm fairly sure that he has another Bogle and I don't, but I still feel like I have to block to avoid him running away with the card advantage. I suit up a Dryad Arbor with a bunch of auras while he only has a strictly suboptimal Lifelink. I manage to Mana Tithe both a Spirit Mantle and a Daybreak Coronet and this pretty much wins me the game. I feel great as his list appears fairly unoptimized. In the second game we both create huge lifelinkers but he has a spirit mantle. Since my guy is larger I can keep up by trampling over him to gain life, and for some reason he never uses his Horizon Canopys to draw cards. Even so, he eventually draws into more auras and kills me before I can get a Spirit Mantle.
In game 3 I was faced with a rough decision. After he kills Ethereal Armor with an Erase, I have a bogle with a Spirit Mantle against his bogle with Rancor+Ethereal Armot and we're both at 12. One option is to play Daybreak Coronet, but if he has another enchantment removal he can kill both my auras and win the game. The other option is to play a second Spirit Mantle first, stay back and block and go for the Daybreak Coronet the next turn. I figure that I can afford to wait a turn, but since he plays a Spirit Mantle of his own plus an umbra I die in two attacks even with the Coronet. When considering the choice after the game I reach the conclusion that I could probably not afford to play around the enchantment removal, since if he uses it on my Coronet I'm likely screwed anyway. Very annoying to lose the first game against an opponent with a bad list due to something like that.
Score: 2-1
Round 4: Jund
First game was very tight and eventually comes down to a situation where he kills my only bogle with a Liliana. I could not fetch a Dryad Arbor due to an Olivia Voldaren with mana up. Due to his low lifetotal I get one last draw step where a Path to Exile or Spirit Mantle would win against his one blocker. Game two I start with Leyline and kill him on turn 4. In the third game he has no discard and I get a creature down. On turn 2 I feel obligated to keep a fetch up against a possible Liliana, which backfires when he plays two discard spells and takes both my Ethereal and Spirit Mantle. In hindsight I would have won easily if I went all in, though I still feel like it was the correct choice. Eventually I'm forced to attack into an obvious Abrupt Decay and trade my Spider Umbra for a Tarmogoyf. I only have bogle with 2 Rancor and 5 life against Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant and 8 life. At this point I was feeling horrible about losing the first two games in such an important event. Luckily I topdeck a Daybreak Coronet for the win.
Score: 3-1
Round 5: Burn
Surprisingly close match. After an easy game 1 win he puts me in real trouble in game 2 even though I have the Leyline. Goblin Guide into Eidolon puts a heavy toll on my life total. I have a Daybreak Coronet but it's obvious he's keeping up Destructive Revelry or Atarka's command so I can't even play it. In the end he plays Revelry+2 Atarka's Command for lethal...
Game 3 is extremely tight as I have no lifegain. Eventually I'm able to Nature's Claim myself to gain 4 life to stay alive, fetch a Dryad Arbor and attack with it for the final point of damage.
Score: 4-1
Round 6: Grixis Twin
Game 1 is yet another super weird game. After mulligans I have little action but 2 Path to Exile, and I soon draw the remaining 2. I keep attacking for 1-2 damage and just Path everything. When all 4 paths are gone he makes a crucial mistake. I play a Spiritdancer that he Spell Snares and then taps out to play Deceiver Exarch right into my Mana Tithe. He could have easily played around it by playing the Exarch first or simply by not Spell Snaring, but he did not consider that I could have Mana Tithe. This was a relatively well-known player (Lucas Blohon) and he was really kicking himself about this after the game. I ended up just attacking for 2 damage four more turns.
Unfortunately, I keep having to mulligan into no-action hands. The key to this matchup is to play two auras on turn 2. If you can manage to do that you can usually win, but if you don't you run into problems with counterspells and also constantly having to keep up 2 mana to protect against combo. As I'm never able to put any sort of pressure I lose the last 2 games easily. The combo is not even needed when he has time to activate Tasigur 4 times.
Score: 4-2
I'm down but not out. After playing a ton of Grand Prix I've been in this situation many times. Being 2-2 is sort of devastating but now there's at least only 3 rounds to go.
Round 7: Ad Nauseam
Game 1 is very weird as I have little action after a mull to 5. I can only attack for 4 per turn with an Arbor, but luckily he only plays cantrip after cantrip and lands. Eventually I have a Spiritdancer in play and he is at 5. I Path to Exile my own Arbor to get Rancor back to my hand, figuring that I can at least attack for 4 with the Spiritdancer anyway, and with 1 extra draw and 1 less land I can maybe get lethal. However, he Lightning Storms my Spiritdancer, completely ruining my plans. 5 turns later or so he draws Ad Nauseam and wins.
Game 2 he forgets to suspend his Lotus Blooms turn 1, but it ends up not mattering as I have a turn 4 kill with Nature's Claim on Phyrexian Unlife. In game 3 I have a dream start with bogle attacking for 5 on turn 2. He looks like he'll get a turn 4 kill but I play a turn 3 Gaddock Teeg+Umbra, which I believe blanks his entire deck.
Score: 5-2
Round 8: Burn
This guy was playing black for Bump in the Night and Dark Confidant. I don't really see how this is viable at all as the green cards are so vital in this meta. As expected I destroy him in the first game with a Daybreak Coronet. Then I mulligan to 5 and with a Leyline I manage to win even though I played no creatures before turn 6 or so, stabilizing at 3 life and eventually building up while he has 6 burn spells in hand but no answer to Leyline.
Score: 6-2
1 game to go!
Round 9: Grixis Twin - Feature Match!!!
I'm fairly confident that this guy plays Grixis Twin as I played against him in the previous modern GP, and he played it there even before Tasigur and Command existed. Even so, I'm forced to keep a 5-card hand with only Dryad Arbor. It gets bolted and I do nothing until turn 10 or so. Yes, really. Meanwhile he does nothing except play land and Snapcaster a Serum Visions. When I'm finally up to 3 lands and 8 cards in hand I play a Bogle. It gets remanded and I try again. It resolves. I play an umbra, it resolves. Next turn I play 3 auras and they all resolve. Apparently he had nothing but land, removals and Splinter Twins as I kill him.
Game two he mulligans to 3 and does nothing at all until I win.
Score: 7-2
So not exactly a spectacular finish but I got the job done and got into day 2!
Round 10: Naya Company
In game 1 I only have one land+Arbor in starting hand, but that's still a keep as the other cards are good. I attack for 4 per turn and Mana Tithe a Collected Company, but he plays a Tarmogoyf and Loxodon Smiter which combined with Wild Nacatl and 3 Noble Hierarch makes his board huge. I have almost a full hand but no more lands. He's at 6 but I have to stay home to block to survive. He plays a Qasali Pridemage and swings with everything. Here I yet again make a crucial mistake. I block the Tarmogoyf for some reason, and when he uses Pridemage I have to Path the Tarmogoyf and go to 1. I can trade against the Nacatl next turn and Path the Smiter, but he he still has 3 Hierarchs and I cannot even draw Canopy and Fetch since I'm at 1. If I traded with the Nacatl right away I would be at 4 life and could afford to take one attack for 2 while building the next bogle up to blocking levels. As I had the Coronet since the starting hand this would have given me a reasonable chance of winning, though he could of course topdeck Lightning Bolt at any time.
Game two I win quickly with an unopposed Coronet Bogle. In game 3 I double mulligan yet another time into a hand without Auras, and the first aura does not come until the 14th card.
Score: 7-3
Top 8 dreams dead already, not exactly what I was hoping for.
Round 11: GW Hatebears
In game 1 I keep a 1-lander and get wrecked when he Aether Vials in Spellskite and takes my Aura. I can path it but he follows this with Aven Mindcensor plus Ghost Quarter. Only land I can find for the rest of the game is a fetch which misses.
Game two I have a normal hand and just kill him. In game 3 I keep a 5-card hand without a creature and the first one is the 14th card. I had multiple paths to delay the game and Canopys to Cycle but I simply cannot find a creature and lose.
Score: 7-4
Not going well at all, losing to two fair creature decks that should be easy wins. At this point I basically have to go 4-0 to get any sort of price.
Round 12: Grixis Twin
Not knowing what I'm facing I keep a hand with nice lands+auras but only a Spiritdancer for a creature. He proceeds to remand the spirit dancer and turn 4 combo me.
In the second game I find myself in the familiar situation of mulliganing into no action at all. I have a creature and an umbra but can't find any other auras. I figure that I cannot afford to play around sweepers at this point and attempt to flood the board with 4 Bogles plus Arbor, but predictably he simply draws into the combo long before that's successful.
Score: 7-5
Completely out of contention for any sort of prize, I just drop and go home instead. Normally I put my definition of doing ok at a Grand Prix as making day 2, but with my experience with the deck and format plus the practice I was really hoping for more this time. It felt like I just had completely miserable starting hands and draws in almost every single game, and that's not at all what I've experienced before with the deck.
As for where to go from here, I feel like it's time for me to move on to another deck. I still think the deck is at an excellent place in the metagame, but I'm ready to try something new after 2.5 years of playing nothing else. I'll probably play it one last time at the MOCS this month and then try out Abzan Company as the deck seems pretty fun and also versatile enough to not become bad with metagame shifts.
I felt the same way after my rough PPTQ. It was very unlike what I've encountered with the deck in 9 months of playing it. I had never had a hand with just 1 Daybreak Coronet and failed to draw another Aura except another Daybreak Coronet in a long, drawn out game. I do also agree that the deck is in a decent place, although I was a little scared that Junk Company was on the rise, as it beats Bogles nearly 60% of the time in my play testing (different from me having a 60% win ratio vs. Birthing Pod pre-banning).
I also feel like moving on to another deck and in fact have tried many other decks, but not long term. Junk Company did do well for me, so if you switch to that, it is very powerful, despite having a few terrible matchups (like Tron and Bloom) in the meta. The deck that I am really going to try is Reanimator. I played it at 1 FNM and went 4-1-1, beating a bunch of Twin and Jund decks, losing to Ad Nauseum, and drawing against a UWR deck that I probably could beat anyway. Control is fairly easy with that deck if you know how to play against Control and that deck is just incredibly explosive.
Good luck in your endeavors and thanks for the report!
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)so far with my testing and the fact that we really only ever need 3 lands, i would never want to play it without horizons and fetches. the fetches thin the deck out and the horizons become card draw if needed for some final bits of steam
-Prevents Twin's infinite Combo
-Prevents Abzan Company's infinite Combo
-Slows down Tron decks (make it harder from them to use their arifacts for land tutor and stops Turn 3 Karn)
-Prevents Turn 2/3 Lilliana to ruin our plans
-Slows down control decks that rely on manlands to kill us
-Slows down Merfolk's Aether Vial and their Mutavaults
-Slows down affinity in many ways
Commander: WUBRG Superfriends, GW Rhys Tokens, WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Kitchen Table (now that's real Magic): WUBRG Domain, GU Biovisionary, UB Korlash Grandeur, UW Merfolk Mill
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant