I’m playing Arena and have been running one of Pelakka Wurm .
With trample I can either push damage through, have an excellent blocker if it dies, can draw me a card, and it gets me a significant chunk of life.
In a GB mirror, my opponent played a carnage tyrant on an empty board, next turn I dropped this bad boy and it allowed me to gain a chunk of life back.
He attacked into me, I blocked it, drew a card , and it allowed me to stabilize to pull off a win. He cast dead weight on it or something after the block I don’t remember.
To be fair, carnage tyrant is hexproof and is more than likely the better card, but the wurm gave me life and the card draw which let me turn the game around. It’s a decent budget replacement.
I've been on 3 Moment of Craving in my board for a bit, and I bring them in all the time. I'll have to try Fungal Infection to see how they do if U tempo really starts showing up in force (I faced 2 of them last week, so prolly?).
I'm up to the full 4 main in my test build right now. It's amazing against WW, U tempo and drakes/phoenix out of the box, and by the time decks start dropping Lyras and Doom Whisperers, it's almost always ready for them too. And even on an empty board, 3 power on turn 2 (with reach, which I keep forgetting about) is a solid rate.
Still working on a decent sideboard plan for control. Currently I have 3 Duress and 1 each Plaguecrafter and Vraska, Relic Seeker. I take out a Cast Down, 3 Ravenous Chupacabra and a Doom Whisperer. Dropping DW may be incorrect but I don't want to lose my early pressure so that seems like the best option. (Feel free to tell me I'm totally off base there!)
Based on feedback from this thread, here's my current build for reference:
I love all the commentary above. I think people are right about Kraul Harpooner. It has been sorely missed as I keep running into the U/R drake deck and mono-white.
I'm still loving my one of Graveyard Marshal. A 2 drop that can create extra bodies is awesome.
Given the meta, (at least in the single match games I play on arena) I'm going to try out a more graveyard based build. We love Golgari Pathfinder, but can't justify more than 2 without some better ways to get stuff into the yard. I'm thinking about jamming in 3 Stitcher's supplier and 2-4 Kraul Harpooner's mainboard. Supplier turn 1 into Kraul Harpooner turn 2 kills off Healer's Hawk. We are also much more likely to be able to kill off drakes sooner with harpooner with sticher's supplier available. With 3 pathfinders, we can mill harpooners into the yard and be more likely to get them back late game. Between sticher's supplier, a few seeker's squire and Jadelight Ranger, we should be able to get a good amount of creatures into the yard early on.
Can anyone else think of decent graveyard filling cards in the 1-4 cmc range? Please leave suggestions if you do. I'm going to start testing my more graveyard based build again.
Can anyone else think of decent graveyard filling cards in the 1-4 cmc range? Please leave suggestions if you do. I'm going to start testing my more graveyard based build again.
Searching for "graveyard" and "discard", limiting to 4cc and below (with one exception), yields this list:
3-0-1 at FNM tonight with mostly the list I had from earlier in the week. Sideboard is kinda wonky because some requested cards weren't brought and I had to make do what was on-hand.
Yeah, there are a couple cards missing from the board - I had the full 15 but don't remember what the last 2 were (so clearly I didn't use them!)
Beat up on the bye and a pair of mono red decks (1 running Flame of Keld, the other on burn + Rekindling Phoenix, and apparently Experimental Frenzy but I only saw those post-match). Draw was vs Esper control, and this was where I really missed the Duresses that I'd planned on having in the board.
Ripjaws were stupid good against the red decks (those and Wx are the reason I had them in my original list, and was actually glad that I "had" to run them tonight). Both matches were kinda uneventful. The FoK guy bricked hard in game 1 despite back to back FoKs, drawing only a Shock when I was at 5 (which he had to use on one of my dudes), and I valued him out in game 2 with a curve of Moment of Craving > dude > Contempt > Doomy > Carnage Tyrant. The other guy ran into mana issues in both games, and I was never really threatened. I will say that the maindeck Deathgorge was a beating. I cast it 4 times during the first game, eating a couple of Phoenixes along the way and keeping me at a very healthy life total.
The Esper match was really well played, aside from game 1, which was just silly: I cast exactly two spells: AssTrophy on T3 on a Search, and Carny T on T6 which swung 3 times for the win. He took the second game with all the removal and eventually got there with Chromium. Game 3 ended in a draw and it honestly was a toss up as to who could have won it - when it ended he had Teferi on board at low loyalty and a reasonable handful of cards, while I played Doom Whisperer on my final turn with Carnage Tyrant in hand (because whatever).
Takeaways really are that the sideboard hand disruption is definitely necessary for the control matches, and despite me taking it out earlier in the week I think the Ripjaws stay in. I didn't miss the Deadeye Trackers that I'd wanted as much as I thought, though there is still a case for them I think. More to brew of course but I'm feeling good about where my pile is going!
FNM: 3-1. Third place. Felt the deck was great and used it for the PPTQ the next day.
PPTQ: 2nd place!!
I get to the PPTQ 30 minutes before it starts and just listen to some Gorillaz. They post the first round parings and there are 23 people with five rounds. I was hoping for a first round bye but that was not the case.
R1: Jeskai Drakes – Lost in 2.
Off to a great start here. Game 1 I mulled to five. I didn’t like the hand but stuck with it since I knew the player and what he usually ran. I couldn’t really resolve anything and the things that did hit the battlefield soon died there after. Never really saw my removal. Game 2 was a lot quicker for him and I just got blown out by a huge drake. My PPTQ losing streak continues.
R2: Mono Red – Won in 3.
Game 1 he was stuck on two lands the entire game and just couldn’t keep anything on the field. My Wildgrowth Walker gained me a tun of life and just ran him over. I used Cast Downs on all his Steam-Kins. Game 2 was the complete opposite. So much burn to my face and nothing stuck. At this point I was getting a little frustrated but kept my composure. Game 3 was just like game 1. I gained 12 life off of my Walker and he couldn’t do anything about it, especially after I resolved a Carnage Tyrant on 6.
R3: Izzet Phoenix – Won in 3.
These games played out a lot like the mono red list but instead of burning me, he kept drawing cards. Game 1 I didn’t see one Phoenix but knew what he was on. I just destroyed his stuff that would get in my way and 2 Carnage Tyrants sealed the deal. Game 2 had me trying to resolve a Deathgorge Scavenger against him but it soon was burned out before I could use it. Eventually he had 3 Phoenixes and I couldn’t keep up. Game 3 had him stuck on a few lands and I was able to keep all my removal for his Phoenixes. Carnage Tyrant won me another one.
R4: Dimir Control – Won in 2.
My opponent played with a Dairy Queen ice cream in his hand the whole time. Game 1 he had an active Azcanta (which I had to flip for him since he couldn’t do it with one hand) but kept missing on every hit. Two Carnage Tyrants later and I got there. Game 2 was very similar but I saved all my removal for his Doom Whisperers. I noticed he never really used them when I killed them. Just let them die without using Surveil. Another Carnage Tyrant won me this one.
R5: ID to top 8.
The standings for the last round went up and everyone noticed that there was a clean top 8. And I got 8th. My first top 8 at any event. I was super freaking excited. So we all drew and I was able to relax before the top 8.
Quarters: Mono Red – Won in 2.
I sit down with all the excitement of hitting top 8 to have to play the #1 player in the PPTQ. This round took me about 10 minutes to win. Game 1, he flooded the board with dudes but I gained 9 life off of Wildgrowth Walker. Turn 6 I dropped a Carnage Tyrant and passed. I was trying to figure out what I would need to get the win and my only real option was Find/Finality to wipe the board. I drew my card – Find/Finality. I put the counters on Tyrant to have a 4/6 Walker and a 9/8 Tyrant. He scoops. Game 2 had him flood out and I out-valued him.
Semis: Jeskai Drakes – Won in 2.
I was a little worried about this one since I was afraid of playing against control. I need to stop feeling that way. I need to play to my outs. Game 1, he was stuck on 2 lands for 5 turns. I drew Baby Vraska and destroyed his Search. He scooped after that. Game 2, I resolved 2 Tyrants and was able to eventually kill him.
Finals: Boros Angels – dropped
I finished my semis before the other games were done so I sat and watched to see who I was going to have to play in the finals. After he won, he asked if I cared about invite to the RPTQ. I asked the judge if he knew when it was and the dates that they happened to fall on, I was not able to go to. So the judge and my opponent were able to figure out a split. I get $175 in credit and he got the invite plus $125 in credit. I was happy with my decision. I finished off my shocklands that I needed and got a box of Ixalan where my wife pulls a Carnage Tyrant, Search for Azcanta and foil Search for Azcanta. Not a bad day at all.
Overall, I loved the deck. I wrote to Andrea on twitter a few times and he shared my excitement as well. I hope to one day meet him. He seems like a cool dude. I’ll probably keep playing this until the next set comes out.
Going forward would you make any changes? Aside from CarnyT are there any other “all star” cards that you’d promote?
Re: Arch of Orazca, I have found it immensely valuable. It drew me out of a couple massive land gluts against one of the red decks, and is an outstanding source of CA for the control matches. I don’t know that the 23 land/4 elf lists could get away with it, but for me on 25 it’s easy to find room for it.
Going forward would you make any changes? Aside from CarnyT are there any other “all star” cards that you’d promote?
I think the main board was perfect. I might switch a walker for a cast down to give me a 4th but honestly i really liked the entire list. no one card disappointed me. every play felt super smooth. i definitely had no problem with red burning my stuff since it saved me life. it just felt like "get to 6, drop a carnage tyrant, win the game." against white, i would peck away at their life with 2/3's or 3/2's. like one at a time. make them use a settle on one dude. saving tyrant is great.
i know in the jeskai matchups, trying to play stuff before you attack is good. force them to use their mana so they don't have 4. there were a few times in the semi finals that i would have a tyrant on the field but then play a branchwalker or ranger. they'd counter it, which took them off of settle. easy 7 points of damage. it almost feels like we are semi-control in those matchups since you need CT to connect.
Gonna try slotting in some number of Adventurous Impulse. On the face of it, I think it's a solid turn 1 play (barring etb tapped of course) and isn't dead later on either. Dunno how much I'll be playing in the next week because life happens, but I'll report results as/when I have them.
Vraska, Golgari Queen or Karn, Scion of Urza pros/cons?
Trying to deside where this deck wants to be.
i recently made the switch to Karn. Far too often i was just plussing Vraska and getting no value. Karn gets you immediate value and makes it more likely you hit lands 5 & 6 on curve for Vivien/Tyrant/etc
I haven't tried Karn in this shell, but my gut feeling is that he doesn't do enough for us. I'm willing to be proven wrong tho, and will add him to my "maybe" pile. Perhaps with some Treasure Maps for added artifacts to buff his tokens?
I was unimpressed by little Vraska for the couple weeks I ran her, though others have had more success with her. I'd like her more in a recursion-based GBx (blue for Muldrotha is interesting) than in the "goodstuff" flavour it seems like most of us are gravitating toward.
Of the two, I'd prolly lean to Karn > Vraska simply because as a turn 4 play, he actually does something with his +1, where Vraska has to set you back to get value from her +2.
Vraska, Golgari Queen or Karn, Scion of Urza pros/cons?
Trying to deside where this deck wants to be.
I ran Vraska Golgar Queen, 2 of them in fact for quite a while. I think a 3rd copy of Golgari Pathfinder is better than her. Definitely go Karn if you are deciding between a planeswalker. I lost in a mirror match recently against a deck that had Karn in it. Seems much better than Vraska. Thing is, we can do all of Vraska's -3 ability with other cards. In my opinion, both of her abilities are nearly blanks.
When I get my next mythic rare wildcard from Arena, I may be looking at Karn. Our deck can get really grindy, and he aids with that immediately. Don't underestimate the ability to make a token off of karn. That -2 is actually a wincon given enough time.
Seems too inefficient to play a 4 mana planeswalker that has the possibility of doing nothing on the first turn. Someone warned us earlier, and their warning seems to be panning out.
On the other hand, Vivien is a better walker than either of those for this deck in my opinion.
Going to slot in 3 Adventurous Impulse for a bit on Arena, baby Vraska isn’t doing well for me when I draw her early game, taking my 2 copies out going to run it for a bit.
I've been running this deck on Arena and I just love how it plays. Obviously some concessions have had to be made because of the nature of getting cards while being F2P, but the core of the deck is still there.
Obviously the list isn't perfect but I'm currently out of rare and uncommon wildcards (Uncommon wildcards you burn through super fast!) to make other improvements. It still works really well IMO, but any advice or comments/questions about card choices would be appreciated.
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Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
I'm still mostly on Arena's single match system. Been playing the new "Ranked" system for a few days and have climbed up to silver tier 4 rather quickly. I'd be higher I'm sure but don't have enough time to play enough games.
So, 3 Carnage Tyrants is definitely right. I was worried about having to many 6 cmc spells at first. However, with 3 copies we can easily explore away a copy when we need lands more. This can often work out to the deck's benefit later on anyway by returning that tyrant. I recently added Karn, only played it twice, so still getting a feel for it. It's seems better then a second copy of golgari pathfinder so far, the card it replaced.
Midnight reaper has been carrying me through many games. The ability to out grind an opponent is awesome, and our deck has some good inevitability. I'm considering a 4th copy even, alongside a mainboard plaguecrafter. I've found it's usually easy enough to work around two copies at a time. Opponents pretty much jam removal on the first copy played asap anyway, which is why I think 4 may be okay.
I have played some 3 game match with sideboard as well. Teferi control is still a problem. UB control can be a tough matchup as well. 3 copies of tyrant have helped with this. I haven't had a chance to implement this new sideboard yet. It was built to fight these control decks. I think removing a chunk of creatures to run discard spells and plaguecrafter's and an extra eldest reborn will throw control off it's game. We make their removal less usable, and hit them where it hurts, the hand.
Not so hot on Karn, Scion of Urza. It's bad when you're opponent can give you a land instead of the card you want. This is perhaps sideboard worthy against control? Going to put either golgari pathfinder or midnight reaper back in it's place. I was running a 1 of Nullhide Ferox before too. That might go back in. 1 nullhide seems to do pretty well.
1) gets you immediate value as opposed to Vraska.
2) Digs 2 cards deeper into library
3) finds you that land to cast Vivien/Carny T/Finality on curve
4) starts with high loyalty, making him harder to deal with and increasing the liklihood of multiple activations
Vivien Reid is just too important to Golgari's gameplan to skimp on her. Resolving her against Control is lights out (having been on the receiving end more times than I like as a Control player) and she basically wins the mirror match. She's not even terrible against Aggro decks, assuming you can survive their initial rush, since she'll restock your hand. I have a Golgari list I play on Arena and 3 is definitely the right call in my experience.
Also, I've been running a 1-of Golgari Findbroker and The Eldest Reborn. It's been effective in those numbers with a few more in the side to win the mirror match and Control matchups.
I'm still mostly on Arena's single match system. Been playing the new "Ranked" system for a few days and have climbed up to silver tier 4 rather quickly. I'd be higher I'm sure but don't have enough time to play enough games.
So, 3 Carnage Tyrants is definitely right. I was worried about having to many 6 cmc spells at first. However, with 3 copies we can easily explore away a copy when we need lands more. This can often work out to the deck's benefit later on anyway by returning that tyrant. I recently added Karn, only played it twice, so still getting a feel for it. It's seems better then a second copy of golgari pathfinder so far, the card it replaced.
Midnight reaper has been carrying me through many games. The ability to out grind an opponent is awesome, and our deck has some good inevitability. I'm considering a 4th copy even, alongside a mainboard plaguecrafter. I've found it's usually easy enough to work around two copies at a time. Opponents pretty much jam removal on the first copy played asap anyway, which is why I think 4 may be okay.
I have played some 3 game match with sideboard as well. Teferi control is still a problem. UB control can be a tough matchup as well. 3 copies of tyrant have helped with this. I haven't had a chance to implement this new sideboard yet. It was built to fight these control decks. I think removing a chunk of creatures to run discard spells and plaguecrafter's and an extra eldest reborn will throw control off it's game. We make their removal less usable, and hit them where it hurts, the hand.
Any reason you have Memorial to folly and mindrot in your sideboard? 3 mana to discard 2 cards seems pretty bleh. Opponent gets to choose which cards they are too.
went 4-1 at a local standard event today, 18 players with no cut to top 8, prizing after standings end of Swiss.
Round I quickly 2-0 some Orzhov Aristocrats deck. game 1 I kept slow hand but he flooded super hard and probably punted because he blocked my merfolk branchwalker with a footlight fiend and chose to kill my branchwalker instead of my mana elf. Game 2 I won because I stole his Teysa with a hostage taker and he didn't kill the taker.
1-0
Round 2 I beat the gates deck. Game 1 I had really fast start but he saw 3 gates ablaze and then beat me with his larger creatures. Game 2 he mulled to 5, I duressed he only spell (growth spiral) away and stared building a board. I made him sacrifice his gate ram to eldest reborn, I had to take it as a grey ogre with the 3rd chapter but it was too late for him to comeback. Game 3 was a combination of wildgrowth walker then chaining jadelight rangers on top of him not seeing many gates.
2-0
Round 3 I lose 1-2 to my buddy who finished first one Naya midrange. Game 1 I ran him over, game 2 I mulled to 6 and couldn't kill him in time. game 3 might have been over if I was able to remove his Shelai
2-1, needed one more win to prize.
Round 4 I 2-1 Gu stompy. Game 1 I didn't give him enough credit and kept a slow hand. lost because I flooded and didn't have answers. Game 2 I ran him over. Game 3 was a combination of him not being able to do much and him trying to hard to try and get me with the quelch I knew about.I tried to get the counter out of his hand while still destroying his stuff.
3-1
Round 5 I 2-0 a Mardu Aristocrats list. G1 started off in my favour but he was able to almost stabilize after swinging with lifelink tokens. G2 he mulled to 4 because he didn't get any lands up util then.
4-1 on the day. Won $40 in credit. Pretty soft event, still don't know how I feel about how I play with Sultai
Some interesting lists here. I'm currently playing a lot of Sultai Midrange on Arena (which is basically just Golgari with 4x Hydroid Krasis).
Maybe the Arena meta is completely different from paper Magic - but not running 4x Wildgrowth Walker in the main when already running the usual "explore package" (4x Merfolk Branchwalker + 4x Jadelight Ranger) seems just . . . wrong to me.
With trample I can either push damage through, have an excellent blocker if it dies, can draw me a card, and it gets me a significant chunk of life.
In a GB mirror, my opponent played a carnage tyrant on an empty board, next turn I dropped this bad boy and it allowed me to gain a chunk of life back.
He attacked into me, I blocked it, drew a card , and it allowed me to stabilize to pull off a win. He cast dead weight on it or something after the block I don’t remember.
To be fair, carnage tyrant is hexproof and is more than likely the better card, but the wurm gave me life and the card draw which let me turn the game around. It’s a decent budget replacement.
Re:
I'm up to the full 4 main in my test build right now. It's amazing against WW, U tempo and drakes/phoenix out of the box, and by the time decks start dropping Lyras and Doom Whisperers, it's almost always ready for them too. And even on an empty board, 3 power on turn 2 (with reach, which I keep forgetting about) is a solid rate.
Still working on a decent sideboard plan for control. Currently I have 3 Duress and 1 each Plaguecrafter and Vraska, Relic Seeker. I take out a Cast Down, 3 Ravenous Chupacabra and a Doom Whisperer. Dropping DW may be incorrect but I don't want to lose my early pressure so that seems like the best option. (Feel free to tell me I'm totally off base there!)
Based on feedback from this thread, here's my current build for reference:
9 Forest
1 Golgari Guildgate
2 Memorial to Folly
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Swamp
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Kraul Harpooner
4 Seekers' Squire
2 Assassin's Trophy
1 Cast Down
4 Jadelight Ranger
2 Midnight Reaper
1 Journey to Eternity
1 Golgari Findbroker
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Vraska's Contempt
1 Doom Whisperer
2 Vivien Reid
2 Carnage Tyrant
3 Find // Finality
2 Deadeye Tracker
3 Duress
1 Golden Demise
3 Moment of Craving
1 Plaguecrafter
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Sideboard is incomplete, still tuning there while I figure out how to do my swaps. My current thoughts on boarding:
vs Red / Wx
-2 Reaper, -1 Doom, -1 Journey
+1 Demise, +3 Moment
vs Drakes
-4 Squire
+2 Deadeye, +1 Plague, +1 Moment
vs Jeskai
-1 Cast, -3 Chupadoop, -1 Doom
+3 Duress, +1 Plague, +1 Vraska
vs mirror
-4 Harpoon
+2 Deadeye, +1 Vraska, +1 Duress
Stuff I considered but don't know if it's good enough and/or I can make space when I'm boarding:
I'm still loving my one of Graveyard Marshal. A 2 drop that can create extra bodies is awesome.
Given the meta, (at least in the single match games I play on arena) I'm going to try out a more graveyard based build. We love Golgari Pathfinder, but can't justify more than 2 without some better ways to get stuff into the yard. I'm thinking about jamming in 3 Stitcher's supplier and 2-4 Kraul Harpooner's mainboard. Supplier turn 1 into Kraul Harpooner turn 2 kills off Healer's Hawk. We are also much more likely to be able to kill off drakes sooner with harpooner with sticher's supplier available. With 3 pathfinders, we can mill harpooners into the yard and be more likely to get them back late game. Between sticher's supplier, a few seeker's squire and Jadelight Ranger, we should be able to get a good amount of creatures into the yard early on.
Can anyone else think of decent graveyard filling cards in the 1-4 cmc range? Please leave suggestions if you do. I'm going to start testing my more graveyard based build again.
Searching for "graveyard" and "discard", limiting to 4cc and below (with one exception), yields this list:
- Glowspore Shaman
- Charnel Troll
- Mephitic Vapors
- Tomb Robber
- Whisper Agent
- Dark Bargain
- Emperor's Vanguard
- Liliana, Untouched by Death
- Price of Fame
- World Shaper
- Macabre Waltz
- Erstwhile Trooper
- Fraying Omnipotence
No comments on how good or bad they might be, but it's a smaller set to test from at least.9 Forest
1 Golgari Guildgate
2 Memorial to Folly
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Swamp
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Kraul Harpooner
4 Seekers' Squire
2 Assassin's Trophy
1 Cast Down
4 Jadelight Ranger
2 Midnight Reaper
1 Journey to Eternity
1 Golgari Findbroker
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Vraska's Contempt
1 Doom Whisperer
1 The Eldest Reborn
2 Vivien Reid
2 Carnage Tyrant
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
1 Cast Down
1 Doom Whisperer
1 Fungal Infection
2 Golden Demise
3 Moment of Craving
1 Plaguecrafter
2 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Beat up on the bye and a pair of mono red decks (1 running Flame of Keld, the other on burn + Rekindling Phoenix, and apparently Experimental Frenzy but I only saw those post-match). Draw was vs Esper control, and this was where I really missed the Duresses that I'd planned on having in the board.
Ripjaws were stupid good against the red decks (those and Wx are the reason I had them in my original list, and was actually glad that I "had" to run them tonight). Both matches were kinda uneventful. The FoK guy bricked hard in game 1 despite back to back FoKs, drawing only a Shock when I was at 5 (which he had to use on one of my dudes), and I valued him out in game 2 with a curve of Moment of Craving > dude > Contempt > Doomy > Carnage Tyrant. The other guy ran into mana issues in both games, and I was never really threatened. I will say that the maindeck Deathgorge was a beating. I cast it 4 times during the first game, eating a couple of Phoenixes along the way and keeping me at a very healthy life total.
The Esper match was really well played, aside from game 1, which was just silly: I cast exactly two spells: AssTrophy on T3 on a Search, and Carny T on T6 which swung 3 times for the win. He took the second game with all the removal and eventually got there with Chromium. Game 3 ended in a draw and it honestly was a toss up as to who could have won it - when it ended he had Teferi on board at low loyalty and a reasonable handful of cards, while I played Doom Whisperer on my final turn with Carnage Tyrant in hand (because whatever).
Takeaways really are that the sideboard hand disruption is definitely necessary for the control matches, and despite me taking it out earlier in the week I think the Ripjaws stay in. I didn't miss the Deadeye Trackers that I'd wanted as much as I thought, though there is still a case for them I think. More to brew of course but I'm feeling good about where my pile is going!
Are you finding that Arch of Orazca good?
3 Find/Finality
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen
3 Wildwood Walkers
3 Midnight Reaper
2 Vivien Reid
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Memorial to Folly
3 Cast Down
4 Jadelight Ranger
2 Ravenous Chupacabra
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
3 Carnage Tyrant
3 Vraska's Contempt
2 Seekers' Squire
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Llanowar Elves
8 Forest
4 Duress
3 Deathgorge Scavenger
1 Wildgrowth Walker
2 Assassin's Trophy
1 Golden Demise
1 The Immortal Sun
2 Plaguecrafter
1 Cast Down
FNM: 3-1. Third place. Felt the deck was great and used it for the PPTQ the next day.
PPTQ: 2nd place!!
I get to the PPTQ 30 minutes before it starts and just listen to some Gorillaz. They post the first round parings and there are 23 people with five rounds. I was hoping for a first round bye but that was not the case.
R1: Jeskai Drakes – Lost in 2.
Off to a great start here. Game 1 I mulled to five. I didn’t like the hand but stuck with it since I knew the player and what he usually ran. I couldn’t really resolve anything and the things that did hit the battlefield soon died there after. Never really saw my removal. Game 2 was a lot quicker for him and I just got blown out by a huge drake. My PPTQ losing streak continues.
R2: Mono Red – Won in 3.
Game 1 he was stuck on two lands the entire game and just couldn’t keep anything on the field. My Wildgrowth Walker gained me a tun of life and just ran him over. I used Cast Downs on all his Steam-Kins. Game 2 was the complete opposite. So much burn to my face and nothing stuck. At this point I was getting a little frustrated but kept my composure. Game 3 was just like game 1. I gained 12 life off of my Walker and he couldn’t do anything about it, especially after I resolved a Carnage Tyrant on 6.
R3: Izzet Phoenix – Won in 3.
These games played out a lot like the mono red list but instead of burning me, he kept drawing cards. Game 1 I didn’t see one Phoenix but knew what he was on. I just destroyed his stuff that would get in my way and 2 Carnage Tyrants sealed the deal. Game 2 had me trying to resolve a Deathgorge Scavenger against him but it soon was burned out before I could use it. Eventually he had 3 Phoenixes and I couldn’t keep up. Game 3 had him stuck on a few lands and I was able to keep all my removal for his Phoenixes. Carnage Tyrant won me another one.
R4: Dimir Control – Won in 2.
My opponent played with a Dairy Queen ice cream in his hand the whole time. Game 1 he had an active Azcanta (which I had to flip for him since he couldn’t do it with one hand) but kept missing on every hit. Two Carnage Tyrants later and I got there. Game 2 was very similar but I saved all my removal for his Doom Whisperers. I noticed he never really used them when I killed them. Just let them die without using Surveil. Another Carnage Tyrant won me this one.
R5: ID to top 8.
The standings for the last round went up and everyone noticed that there was a clean top 8. And I got 8th. My first top 8 at any event. I was super freaking excited. So we all drew and I was able to relax before the top 8.
Quarters: Mono Red – Won in 2.
I sit down with all the excitement of hitting top 8 to have to play the #1 player in the PPTQ. This round took me about 10 minutes to win. Game 1, he flooded the board with dudes but I gained 9 life off of Wildgrowth Walker. Turn 6 I dropped a Carnage Tyrant and passed. I was trying to figure out what I would need to get the win and my only real option was Find/Finality to wipe the board. I drew my card – Find/Finality. I put the counters on Tyrant to have a 4/6 Walker and a 9/8 Tyrant. He scoops. Game 2 had him flood out and I out-valued him.
Semis: Jeskai Drakes – Won in 2.
I was a little worried about this one since I was afraid of playing against control. I need to stop feeling that way. I need to play to my outs. Game 1, he was stuck on 2 lands for 5 turns. I drew Baby Vraska and destroyed his Search. He scooped after that. Game 2, I resolved 2 Tyrants and was able to eventually kill him.
Finals: Boros Angels – dropped
I finished my semis before the other games were done so I sat and watched to see who I was going to have to play in the finals. After he won, he asked if I cared about invite to the RPTQ. I asked the judge if he knew when it was and the dates that they happened to fall on, I was not able to go to. So the judge and my opponent were able to figure out a split. I get $175 in credit and he got the invite plus $125 in credit. I was happy with my decision. I finished off my shocklands that I needed and got a box of Ixalan where my wife pulls a Carnage Tyrant, Search for Azcanta and foil Search for Azcanta. Not a bad day at all.
Overall, I loved the deck. I wrote to Andrea on twitter a few times and he shared my excitement as well. I hope to one day meet him. He seems like a cool dude. I’ll probably keep playing this until the next set comes out.
Going forward would you make any changes? Aside from CarnyT are there any other “all star” cards that you’d promote?
Re: Arch of Orazca, I have found it immensely valuable. It drew me out of a couple massive land gluts against one of the red decks, and is an outstanding source of CA for the control matches. I don’t know that the 23 land/4 elf lists could get away with it, but for me on 25 it’s easy to find room for it.
I think the main board was perfect. I might switch a walker for a cast down to give me a 4th but honestly i really liked the entire list. no one card disappointed me. every play felt super smooth. i definitely had no problem with red burning my stuff since it saved me life. it just felt like "get to 6, drop a carnage tyrant, win the game." against white, i would peck away at their life with 2/3's or 3/2's. like one at a time. make them use a settle on one dude. saving tyrant is great.
i know in the jeskai matchups, trying to play stuff before you attack is good. force them to use their mana so they don't have 4. there were a few times in the semi finals that i would have a tyrant on the field but then play a branchwalker or ranger. they'd counter it, which took them off of settle. easy 7 points of damage. it almost feels like we are semi-control in those matchups since you need CT to connect.
Vraska, Golgari Queen or Karn, Scion of Urza pros/cons?
Trying to deside where this deck wants to be.
I was unimpressed by little Vraska for the couple weeks I ran her, though others have had more success with her. I'd like her more in a recursion-based GBx (blue for Muldrotha is interesting) than in the "goodstuff" flavour it seems like most of us are gravitating toward.
Of the two, I'd prolly lean to Karn > Vraska simply because as a turn 4 play, he actually does something with his +1, where Vraska has to set you back to get value from her +2.
I ran Vraska Golgar Queen, 2 of them in fact for quite a while. I think a 3rd copy of Golgari Pathfinder is better than her. Definitely go Karn if you are deciding between a planeswalker. I lost in a mirror match recently against a deck that had Karn in it. Seems much better than Vraska. Thing is, we can do all of Vraska's -3 ability with other cards. In my opinion, both of her abilities are nearly blanks.
When I get my next mythic rare wildcard from Arena, I may be looking at Karn. Our deck can get really grindy, and he aids with that immediately. Don't underestimate the ability to make a token off of karn. That -2 is actually a wincon given enough time.
Seems too inefficient to play a 4 mana planeswalker that has the possibility of doing nothing on the first turn. Someone warned us earlier, and their warning seems to be panning out.
On the other hand, Vivien is a better walker than either of those for this deck in my opinion.
Here's my current list:
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Druid of the Cowl
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
2 Seeker's Squire
3 Wildgrowth Walker
4 Jadelight Ranger
1 Thrashing Brontodon
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
2 Golgari Findbroker
3 Carnage Tyrant
2 Assassin's Trophy
1 Cast Down
2 Find // Finality
1 Ritual of Soot
2 Vivien Reid
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen
Lands (23)
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Memorial to Folly
5 Swamp
8 Forest
4 Duress
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Thrashing Brontodon
3 Kraul Harpooner
2 The Eldest Reborn
2 Status // Statue
2 Murder
Obviously the list isn't perfect but I'm currently out of rare and uncommon wildcards (Uncommon wildcards you burn through super fast!) to make other improvements. It still works really well IMO, but any advice or comments/questions about card choices would be appreciated.
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
4x Seeker's Squire
2x Kraul Harpooner
3x Merfolk Branchwalker
4x Midnight Reaper
4x Jadelight Ranger
1x Thrashing Brontodon
3x Ravenous Chupacabra
1x Golgari Pathfinder
3x Carnage Tyrant
2x Cast Down
2x Assassin's Trophy
2x Find/Finality
1x Karn, Scion of Urza
1x Vraska's Contempt
2x Vivien Reid
1x The Eldest Reborn
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Woodland Cemetary
7x Swamp
8x Forest
1x Memorial to Folly
4x Duress
2x Moment of Craving
1x Mind Rot
1x Kraul Harpooner
3x Plaguecrafter
1x Ritual of soot
2x Vraska's Contempt
1x Eldest Reborn
I'm still mostly on Arena's single match system. Been playing the new "Ranked" system for a few days and have climbed up to silver tier 4 rather quickly. I'd be higher I'm sure but don't have enough time to play enough games.
So, 3 Carnage Tyrants is definitely right. I was worried about having to many 6 cmc spells at first. However, with 3 copies we can easily explore away a copy when we need lands more. This can often work out to the deck's benefit later on anyway by returning that tyrant. I recently added Karn, only played it twice, so still getting a feel for it. It's seems better then a second copy of golgari pathfinder so far, the card it replaced.
Midnight reaper has been carrying me through many games. The ability to out grind an opponent is awesome, and our deck has some good inevitability. I'm considering a 4th copy even, alongside a mainboard plaguecrafter. I've found it's usually easy enough to work around two copies at a time. Opponents pretty much jam removal on the first copy played asap anyway, which is why I think 4 may be okay.
I have played some 3 game match with sideboard as well. Teferi control is still a problem. UB control can be a tough matchup as well. 3 copies of tyrant have helped with this. I haven't had a chance to implement this new sideboard yet. It was built to fight these control decks. I think removing a chunk of creatures to run discard spells and plaguecrafter's and an extra eldest reborn will throw control off it's game. We make their removal less usable, and hit them where it hurts, the hand.
Too busy to say more besides I'm loving the deck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1kPccbTPM8
1) gets you immediate value as opposed to Vraska.
2) Digs 2 cards deeper into library
3) finds you that land to cast Vivien/Carny T/Finality on curve
4) starts with high loyalty, making him harder to deal with and increasing the liklihood of multiple activations
Also, I've been running a 1-of Golgari Findbroker and The Eldest Reborn. It's been effective in those numbers with a few more in the side to win the mirror match and Control matchups.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
No Wildgrowth Walker with that much explore? Interesting.
Any reason you have Memorial to folly and mindrot in your sideboard? 3 mana to discard 2 cards seems pretty bleh. Opponent gets to choose which cards they are too.
Round I quickly 2-0 some Orzhov Aristocrats deck. game 1 I kept slow hand but he flooded super hard and probably punted because he blocked my merfolk branchwalker with a footlight fiend and chose to kill my branchwalker instead of my mana elf. Game 2 I won because I stole his Teysa with a hostage taker and he didn't kill the taker.
1-0
Round 2 I beat the gates deck. Game 1 I had really fast start but he saw 3 gates ablaze and then beat me with his larger creatures. Game 2 he mulled to 5, I duressed he only spell (growth spiral) away and stared building a board. I made him sacrifice his gate ram to eldest reborn, I had to take it as a grey ogre with the 3rd chapter but it was too late for him to comeback. Game 3 was a combination of wildgrowth walker then chaining jadelight rangers on top of him not seeing many gates.
2-0
Round 3 I lose 1-2 to my buddy who finished first one Naya midrange. Game 1 I ran him over, game 2 I mulled to 6 and couldn't kill him in time. game 3 might have been over if I was able to remove his Shelai
2-1, needed one more win to prize.
Round 4 I 2-1 Gu stompy. Game 1 I didn't give him enough credit and kept a slow hand. lost because I flooded and didn't have answers. Game 2 I ran him over. Game 3 was a combination of him not being able to do much and him trying to hard to try and get me with the quelch I knew about.I tried to get the counter out of his hand while still destroying his stuff.
3-1
Round 5 I 2-0 a Mardu Aristocrats list. G1 started off in my favour but he was able to almost stabilize after swinging with lifelink tokens. G2 he mulled to 4 because he didn't get any lands up util then.
4-1 on the day. Won $40 in credit. Pretty soft event, still don't know how I feel about how I play with Sultai
Maybe the Arena meta is completely different from paper Magic - but not running 4x Wildgrowth Walker in the main when already running the usual "explore package" (4x Merfolk Branchwalker + 4x Jadelight Ranger) seems just . . . wrong to me.
Wildgrowth Walker is an absolutely allstar against any aggressive deck, not just RDW ! Even just "evolving" a single Wildgrowth Walker once with a Merfolk Branchwalker can sometimes stonewall White Weenie decks until you drop a Jadelight Ranger for the early knock-out.