601.2c The player announces his or her choice of an appropriate player, object, or zone for each target the spell requires. A spell may require some targets only if an alternative or additional cost (such as a buyback or kicker cost), or a particular mode, was chosen for it; otherwise, the spell is cast as though it did not require those targets. If the spell has a variable number of targets, the player announces how many targets he or she will choose before he or she announces those targets. The same target can't be chosen multiple times for any one instance of the word "target" on the spell. However, if the spell uses the word "target" in multiple places, the same object, player, or zone can be chosen once for each instance of the word "target" (as long as it fits the targeting criteria). If any effects say that an object or player must be chosen as a target, the player chooses targets so that he or she obeys the maximum possible number of such effects without violating any rules or effects that say that an object or player can't be chosen as a target. The chosen players, objects, and/or zones each become a target of that spell. (Any abilities that trigger when those players, objects, and/or zones become the target of a spell trigger at this point; they'll wait to be put on the stack until the spell has finished being cast.)
Example: If a spell says "Tap two target creatures," then the same creature can't be chosen twice; the spell requires two different legal targets. A spell that says "Destroy target artifact and target land," however, can target the same artifact land twice because it uses the word "target" in multiple places.
According to that, the targets must be chosen when being cast. In this instance the spell is copied and put on to the stack upon casting of the original. At that time, there is only Thragtusk on the battlefield which means the only legal targets available are the tusk and the two players (assuming tusk is the only creature).
In other words the beast is pretty safe to Chandra's -2 ability. It would take two physical Searing Spear's to get rid of both halves of a tusk (or a spear + Snapcaster Mage).
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" Amat victoria curam! "
" Victory favors those who endure pain. "
Standard Deck:RW Boros Devotion RW
According to that, the targets must be chosen when being cast. In this instance the spell is copied and put on to the stack upon casting of the original. At that time, there is only Thragtusk on the battlefield which means the only legal targets available are the tusk and the two players (assuming tusk is the only creature).
In other words the beast is pretty safe to Chandra's -2 ability. It would take two physical Searing Spear's to get rid of both halves of a tusk (or a spear + Snapcaster Mage).
Yeah, that's one of the main issues. In order to completely kill a resolved Thragtusk with Chandra, you need 4RWWU. They'll kill her if you have to wait a turn between the Chandra and the Supreme Verdict. I think I'll try the Chandra's Play package one more FNM, but if it doesn't perform, I'm finding a different set of cards for those slots.
Your list is very close to mine. I think 2x Devil's Play and 4x Sphinx's Revelation is correct. I don't think Entreat, Chandra, and Azorius Charm are worth it in your build. I'd rather run Searing Spear and 4x Dissipate rather than your counter suite as well. Also, I'm running 2x Ghost Quarter which helps a lot. If you're running 2x Ghost Quarter and 2x Desolate Lighthouse I think 27 land is where you want to be.
I'm starting to think the same on some accounts. Didn't give any thought to upping to 27 lands to keep the utility lands around which is some good advice. Ghost Quarter is more of a spell in those matchups anyways but I also want to be drawing business instead of constantly flooding out. I'll give this some consideration at least.
I can surely get behind cutting Entreat as I've not been entirely impressed with it. Been much more impressed with Niv-Mizzet and Devil's Play. Chandra seems like she could be classified as dead weight but I'm still slightly reluctant to pull that trigger as I don't have enough testing done with her to completely form my opinion (for the negatives). Azorius Charm feels like a bad cut but if we are seeing an evolution towards Mono-Red Aggro then this is a potential as burning their guys is much more productive plus it keeps Hellrider from being a problem.
The Counter Suite... I'll go with 4x Dissipate main for tonight as the whole idea behind the Syncopates (basically copied from Todd Andersons opinion of the card for turn 2 counters) hasn't panned out as much as I'd hoped. I was relying on it after a Tamiyo ultimate to keep bonfires in check since I was at 6 life and was on the plan of Devil's playing for 2 each turn (due to having to keep so much mana open to Syncopate). I would have been safer with a Dissipate over and over due to being able to Devil's play for more and close the game out faster. I can't think of many times that countering something on 2 even came up (besides gold fishing against the Mono-Red nuts hand).
Yeah, that's one of the main issues. In order to completely kill a resolved Thragtusk with Chandra, you need 4RWWU. They'll kill her if you have to wait a turn between the Chandra and the Supreme Verdict. I think I'll try the Chandra's Play package one more FNM, but if it doesn't perform, I'm finding a different set of cards for those slots.
I'll be giving her another chance today as well and will update on how I felt she performed probably tomorrow. She could potentially just be better off as Jace number 4 and Tamiyo number 2 or Drogskol Reaver/Thundermaw in my build.
I can surely get behind cutting Entreat as I've not been entirely impressed with it. Been much more impressed with Niv-Mizzet and Devil's Play.
I'm testing out Drogskol Reaver in place of entreat this upcoming FNM. Both cards essentially die to the same forms of removal, while entreat can close out a game it doesn't really help to stabilize. Drogskol fills the finisher roll as well as giving us a very evasive beater that generates card advantage. The lifelink is also pretty relevant, putting us out of lategame bonfire or devil's play range.
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" Amat victoria curam! "
" Victory favors those who endure pain. "
Standard Deck:RW Boros Devotion RW
I've really liked the look of Drogskol Reaver — Dreadbore, Sever the Bloodline, and Detention Sphere are just about the only things that can kill him (without spending two burn spells) and I've found that often times a hard cast entreat for two angels just doesn't cut it.
I was running Drogskol Reaver for a while. While I wasn't horribly disappointed with his performance, he lacks both the speed of T-Maw and the powerful E.T.B. effect that Angel of Serenity has. If you can untap with him, he's capable of putting the game away quickly, so he's certainly worth considering, but I ended up cutting him and Niv-Mizzet for T-Maw.
Alright, I went back to the drawing board with this deck and I'm pretty optimistic about testing it friday. I just wanted to see what you thought about this.
I left in the snap casters because I prefer flexibility over always having board wipe in my hand.
I want to make room for one more land, and maybe add in sphinx's revelation but I'm not sure where. I don't want more than two of each of my planeswalkers because I'd rather not trip on them. What are your thoughts?
Thundermaw Hellkite is something I definitely want to add at least one of, but I'm still very interested in hypersonic dragon. Has anyone tried him out or has he just been written off? T-maw sounds great, if he resolves he's guaranteed to connect at least once, but after that he doesn't make our spells better. I run more than a few sorceries, and instant speed is very, very tempting.
I've really liked the look of Drogskol Reaver — Dreadbore, Sever the Bloodline, and Detention Sphere are just about the only things that can kill him (without spending two burn spells) and I've found that often times a hard cast entreat for two angels just doesn't cut it.
i was playing against my friend on cockatrice, who was playing GW aggro. he put a rancor on it and selesnya charmed to exile the reaver. didn't expect that.. too bad i countered his selesnya charm so i got an extra rancor on the reaver
i play him as a 1-of alongside 2 thundermaw hellkite and 2 angel of serenity. i really like angel for obvious reasons, i'm testing the 2 hellkite in place of 1 niv-mizzet that i originally had and i also took out something else. he doesn't do anything for 1 turn but i really find his lifelink relevant.
Not the greatest of showing last night at a dismal 2-3. Wins were vs a GW Aggro and Bant Control. Losses were to Mono-Red, GW Aggro and the Mirror (actual mirror not just control mirror).
Decklist for reference, modified the counter suite as Syncopate hasn't been performing as I would have liked but if I keep losing to Mono-Red and can't shore it up with my soon to be changes, this might come back.
M1 - GW Aggro - 2-0
He brought the pain each game bringing me down to nearly dead both times but Terminus, D-Sphere, Izzet Charm and Azorius Charm keep the double strike beats to a minimum and also just straight up killed dudes. These games the Revelation kept me ticking like a well oiled machine (casting 6 in one game is pretty awesome - see Elixir). Hurting on life, not anymore... need more cards - check!
M2 - Mono-Red - 0-2
Game 1 my deck decided to give me the nuts opener against this. I was jokingly putting the go on mono Mountains and somehow called it (no scouting, just goofing around). My keep was 2 Izzet Charm, Azorius Charm, Dissipate, Fountain, Vents, Clifftop. I keep the early beats to a fair minimum... started to stabilize at like 3 life (not entirely stable but the bleeding has stopped) and I do nothing for several turns except counter burn spells and keep dudes off the table :(. If I would drawn just ONE revelation I managed to be at a point with like 10 lands in play!
Game 2 I just died, couldn't draw enough lands and still never saw a revelation. Didn't draw any sideboard cards (2 spear's, 3 feeling of dreads).
M3 - Bant Control - 1-0
Only one game to report... I cheese wheeled him out (Revelations and Elixir). Many fun game states popped up. One of which was him with AoS with three thraggles tucked underneath and me with 4 Angel Tokens, Chandra and Jace. This stall happened for several turns while we just amassed more and more mana until he finally sphere'd my tokens and killed my walkers with the fourth thraggle and the angel. Another game state was him with Tamiyo, me with Niv-Mizzet and Tamiyo tapping down Niv but I draw the azorius charm put it on life link and shoot him something like 8 times to bring him to Double Devil's Play reach. I was constantly playing around his fourth syncopate as I threw two revelations into synco's and something else that I can't remember. Found out after the game that the fourth didn't exist. Anyways, a couple LARGE revelations later and on turn 4 after time, I manage to get enough mana and cards in hand to Chandra AND Devil's play to double up and get the 30 damage through to finally finish this epic battle.
M4 - Some kind of G and something else aggro.
I draw dead both games... really gotta work on shuffling this thing after cheese wheeling through the deck a couple times as I just didn't draw any business and couldn't find a single answer for anything :(.
M5 - The Mirror
I came completely ill prepared for the direct mirror. No Memory Adepts in the board and I think I fought a little too hard over a JAoT due to having the revelation and thinking I'd draw my own off of it but drew nothing relevant :(. Anyways, game 1 was lost to a Tamiyo Ultimate and Pillar with me having no counters left in hand (they were shuffled somewhere in the deck after the cheese wheel).
Game 2 was lost to a Memory Adept that kept milling my answers :(. He'd mill, I'd draw land, just a beautiful scenerio to be in ;).
Moving to 1 Tamiyo was a HUGE mistake, especially in the Mirror and in the Bant matchup as I could have used her mighty tapping ability and her ultimate in both matches.
I'm not the biggest fan of Chandra anymore or even Entreat. I _MIGHT_ be able to get behind Thundermaw but I'm still not convinced he's right for this deck. I was chatting with the other UWR pilot last night and I started to wonder why we would consider thundermaw? What does he solve in this deck that we need him to do? I've not to date had a problem with Souls tokens, nor opposing fliers. I've also never felt a need for a hasty beater that gets in damage under sorcery speed removal. If we need 5 damage how can we not get that? Maybe I'm not playing Devil's Play aggressively enough but when Thundermaw hits how is he relevant? Are they at 5 life and he finishes them off - not from my experience. By the time I put my finisher on the table, my opponent is still at 20 and I'd have 4 turns to have to get them dead. That doesn't seem like a good place for Thundermaw, unlike in the UWR Midrange deck where he comes down and swings in with Angel and finishes the job on the spot even through a wall of fliers if they've actually amassed anything in the air. There's my struggle with Thundermaw and why I haven't partaken in drinking that kool-aid.
As a closing for now, I love this deck and I want to play it but I feel like I'm either doing it wrong, not testing enough or its just not right for the format at this point in time. If I were to pick it up tomorrow I think I'd give this a test and maybe I'll be testing this:
Somethings about that build I'm not positive about:
3 Snapcasters - This might be better off as 2 with the 4th being the 3rd Detention Sphere. Only testing would tell.
2 Desolate Lighthouse/2 Evolving Wilds - I like both but with the meta potentially shaping up to open up some room for Esper or any other Nephalia Drownyards backed control list these might just have to become Ghost Quarter. That 3rd Snapcaster could also probably become a Ghost Quarter if this does happen.
One thing I'm almost certain of is that my new U/W base will be the following set of cards
it's funny cause i was actually just testing my deck on cockatrice for a couple of hours and i was thinking about some exact things you mentioned while i was taking a break.
first of all, chandra. i'm not impressed by her either. i tested her out and most of the time she was very underwhelming. ping off a few creatures here or there, ping them for a couple of damage.. the most i was able to get out of her was use her -2 and draw 2 cards with azorius charm. i even ulti-ed her once but....
since taking her out, i've put in 2 thundermaw hellkite (took out a niv-mizzet as well). so far in testing with hellkite (about a dozen games or so), i've loved him. i've been able to deal with pesky planeswalkers that i wasn't able to deal with before, i've destroyed lingering souls tokens (feels good), and i've also tapped down opponent's big fliers and fly in for the win. i think under a few situations he might just seem like a 5/5 flyer that doesn't impact the board, but i think there are situations where he shines as well. i'd suggest testing him out, as i will continue to do so. personally i think being able to come in and kill a PW is huge, as they usually cause a few problems with me if they are unanswered (ie. liliana, garruk PH).
i also don't like entreat the angels. there's enough win-cons in the deck already and it just feels terrible tapping out for angels on your turn and having them die to either mortars, sever the bloodline, detention sphere, etc.. i think there are just too many common removal spells for entreat right now to make it any good.
anyway, my last though is, how has running 4 sphinx's revelation been for you? to me it seems like a bit much.. though you're sort of running the elixir / sphinx plan i just wouldn't want to get stuck with 2 or even 3 in my hand at once but i haven't tested with more than 1 so maybe you can answer that for me
Revelation is the nuts even without the Elixir. I was able to keep up with the Bant player who was dropping thraggle's left and right and smashing my face with them. I also would have potentially won the Mono-Red matchup had I actually drawn one as I did manage to get to 10 land before the final burn spell landed on my dome. I would suggest at least putting in 2 for testing and when you cast them, you'll see ;).
I did miss the point of dealing with Planeswalkers with Hellkite in my thought train as we do have problems with opposing walkers if we can't get the D-Sphere. But to that same effect, wouldn't more D-Sphere just be better? It handles any tokens as well?
I don't know if anyone was watching the SCGOpen yesterday but I managed to do pretty well. I was the feature match either r6 or r7, don't remember which.
I finished 7-3 overall (lost my win-and-in to frites, lost r10 to what appeared to be junkwalkers).
For reference's sake my list looks like this, although there's a few cards that are on the chopping block. I'm thinking of going -1 Entreat, -1 Pillar for +2 Izzet Charms but I'd want to test that a bit. Thoughts?
With the rise of all these "flash" style decks including UWR tempo i have cut tamiyo. The card really does not do enough against these decks to warrant it. Every threat these decks play dodges tamiyo. It becomes a stone cold blank because you never want to tap out for it and if you do they can easily snipe it out with a dragon/pike etc. For those decks i have found essence scatter to be surprisingly marginal. It fills a role against those decks, some times you will draw it when you would prefer a negate etc or other times you would prefer a negate and draw it.
With the rise of all these "flash" style decks including UWR tempo i have cut tamiyo. The card really does not do enough against these decks to warrant it. Every threat these decks play dodges tamiyo. It becomes a stone cold blank because you never want to tap out for it and if you do they can easily snipe it out with a dragon/pike etc. For those decks i have found essence scatter to be surprisingly marginal. It fills a role against those decks, some times you will draw it when you would prefer a negate etc or other times you would prefer a negate and draw it.
I'm having a tough time with that matchup as well. We're reactive, they're reactive but they can get in under our counter mana and completely blank any removal we do pack as detention sphere targets are nigh irrelevant or what we're sphereing have already given them value. Went up against this Saturday and I felt like I couldn't gain any traction the entire match and then he just took over.
I don't know if anyone was watching the SCGOpen yesterday but I managed to do pretty well. I was the feature match either r6 or r7, don't remember which.
I finished 7-3 overall (lost my win-and-in to frites, lost r10 to what appeared to be junkwalkers).
For reference's sake my list looks like this, although there's a few cards that are on the chopping block. I'm thinking of going -1 Entreat, -1 Pillar for +2 Izzet Charms but I'd want to test that a bit. Thoughts?
Congrats on that, what was your third loss? I know walkers can be quite hard to deal with
Izzet Charm is ok, not really all that great. For the most part I've found the creature shock mode to be the most useful. Looting is ok once in awhile when you are about to miss a land drop but I'm not very fond of it. Spell Pierce doesn't come up all that often and when it does I'd much rather have a hard counter available as I've only ever had it late in the game and the 2 extra mana has been irrelevant. I have not minded it as a 1 of so far and I've really found it handy in the GW matchup but Spear has served a better purpose there being able to hit the X/3's on their turn instead of just the X/2's.
Have you considered changing your Pillar's for Searing Spears?
Congrats on that, what was your third loss? I know walkers can be quite hard to deal with
My other loss was to what appeared to be U/W midrange. Really it was "He gets Geist and I get mana screwed and he always has an answer when I try and flash in Snaps as an ambush viper".
Izzet Charm is ok, not really all that great. For the most part I've found the creature shock mode to be the most useful. Looting is ok once in awhile when you are about to miss a land drop but I'm not very fond of it. Spell Pierce doesn't come up all that often and when it does I'd much rather have a hard counter available as I've only ever had it late in the game and the 2 extra mana has been irrelevant. I have not minded it as a 1 of so far and I've really found it handy in the GW matchup but Spear has served a better purpose there being able to hit the X/3's on their turn instead of just the X/2's.
Have you considered changing your Pillar's for Searing Spears?
That's basically my take on the card but I'm looking at cutting an entreat or two so a flexible card that can really go hog wild under Tamiyo seems great.
I am also pretty certain I'll be cutting pillars for spears, I hadn't modified the deck much in the last month and the meta here has shifted almost completely away from zombies.
So in retrospect I think my cuts will be
-3 Pillar
-1 Entreat the angels
+2 Searing Spear
+2 Izzet Charm
I'll playtest against the U/W flash deck and if it warrants it I might go like this instead
-3 Pillar
-2 Entreat the Angels
+3 Searing Spear
+2 Feeling of Dread
EDIT : As an aside the video of my feature match is archived over here, at the 32minute mark. I was a bit agressive with my Jaces but I think I played pretty well all things considered.
I thought you played relatively well. I have a few questions for you though or even considerations.
You played think twice on both second turn and third turn. Were you digging specifically to hit your land or were you doing it just to do at end step? If you had your lands generally it is a good idea to sit on them for trying to trigger miracles ( it has littler effect in this matchup because hes playing control. It does help with Entreat but for aggro you can try to hit terminus ( you play 4 terminus/3 entreat)
I really did not like jace on turn 4. It can be good if you have an answer for his jace if he counters yours and follows it up with one of his own. But generally it can be very bad.
On one of your turns your opponent did not have any blue mana up and you could have resolved tamiyo. Im pretty sure it was in your hand. IF so i felt like you could have played it and disrupted his mana.
You were pretty aggressive with your jaces like you said. You always -2 your jaces. Most of the time i feel it is correct to +1 the jace when you have more in hand. It forces your opponent to deal with it quicker and threatens ult. You saw sorin at that time in the game so you could assume he would be trying to tap out to deal with it and that would play into your initial game plan anyways.
your opponent should have conceded game 1 a lot earlier.
I thought you played relatively well. I have a few questions for you though or even considerations.
You played think twice on both second turn and third turn. Were you digging specifically to hit your land or were you doing it just to do at end step? If you had your lands generally it is a good idea to sit on them for trying to trigger miracles ( it has littler effect in this matchup because hes playing control. It does help with Entreat but for aggro you can try to hit terminus ( you play 4 terminus/3 entreat)
Honestly if the board is empty then developing my hand becomes my first priority. I was denying my instant terminus but by the end of his turn 2 I was confident enough that it was a control mirror to go ahead and start digging.
I really did not like jace on turn 4. It can be good if you have an answer for his jace if he counters yours and follows it up with one of his own. But generally it can be very bad.
If I remember right my opener was loaded with detention spheres. A counter / follow-up Jace would have been okay by me.
On one of your turns your opponent did not have any blue mana up and you could have resolved tamiyo. Im pretty sure it was in your hand. IF so i felt like you could have played it and disrupted his mana.
You were pretty aggressive with your jaces like you said. You always -2 your jaces. Most of the time i feel it is correct to +1 the jace when you have more in hand. It forces your opponent to deal with it quicker and threatens ult. You saw sorin at that time in the game so you could assume he would be trying to tap out to deal with it and that would play into your initial game plan anyways.
your opponent should have conceded game 1 a lot earlier.
To be honest his manabase was all over the place so I wasn't paying enough attention to it.
The main reason I was quickly going for the -2 was to garuntee value. Early on off of one of his jaces I saw a dreadbore and his early d-sphere told me how the match was going to play out. I felt I just needed to keep on the offensive so to speak.
One angle they really didn't talk about was how going into g2 I didn't really need to win, I just needed not to lose. I decided to put in the geists anyway and it paid off but sometimes you play a different game.
For reference's sake, I ended up bringing in everything but the purify the graves out of my SB and sided out my entreats, my terminuses, two pillar, a devil's play and I want to say an Azorious Charm or two.
Your sb plane seemed ok. I did not like the pillar for devils play. I would much rather have devils play because its a lot better at sniping out planeswalkers. But i can understand why you wanted the pillar (tamiyo ult).
I understand you wanted to get the immediate value off of jace and that is fine. but as a general note it is correct to + the jace to threaten the ult or just make them react to yours instead. You did see the removal for the jace so yeah i can get behind the - though.
Revelation is the nuts even without the Elixir. I was able to keep up with the Bant player who was dropping thraggle's left and right and smashing my face with them. I also would have potentially won the Mono-Red matchup had I actually drawn one as I did manage to get to 10 land before the final burn spell landed on my dome. I would suggest at least putting in 2 for testing and when you cast them, you'll see ;).
I did miss the point of dealing with Planeswalkers with Hellkite in my thought train as we do have problems with opposing walkers if we can't get the D-Sphere. But to that same effect, wouldn't more D-Sphere just be better? It handles any tokens as well?
D-Sphere is actually a big problem in the 2nd and 3rd matches because people board in enchantment hate, and man can you get blown out pretty fast. I've actually been wanting to test Midnight Haunting to deal with planeswalkers as well as being another win-con.
I run Kessig Wolf Run and Pikes (just re-tooled the deck after two bad FNM's (3-2 and 2-3)), so, we'll see how it goes.
I've actually dropped D-spheres from the MB and instead opted to run 7 sweepers (up from 5) - 4 SV and 3 Terminus. I also added in Desolate Lighthouse, because boy, that card can be great for miracling terminus and you don't have to 'waste' a spot on something like Think Twice. I put 3 D-Spheres in the sideboard, for tokens, or if I need extra exile removal against Zombies, etc.
You should be able to cast EoT Midnight Haunting against opposing turn 3 or 4 Jace's and swing in to kill him, which is much better than D-Sphere, because you now have 2 1/1 fliers on the board they'll have to deal with, and it can get ugly with a Pike or Wolf Run out.
PS: I play Bant Control, but added in two Steam Vents for the Wolf Run and Lighthouse. Just thought I'd chime in (sort of forgot this was UWR thread in the first place... :p).
Is Desperate Ravings ever played in this deck? I'm thinking about switching my deck over from Bant to U/W/R and with the loss of the life gain aspect, I thought I would add in some more drawing power. Will Desperate Ravings work or do I need to go digging around for Think Twice?
Is Desperate Ravings ever played in this deck? I'm thinking about switching my deck over from Bant to U/W/R and with the loss of the life gain aspect, I thought I would add in some more drawing power. Will Desperate Ravings work or do I need to go digging around for Think Twice?
Consensus is that Ravings is poor because of random discard and Think Twice is rarely played in exchange for more burn/utility.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
So the soldiers lift their rifles and
they're aiming at the head
they think of their first love before they take their final breaths
and somewhere in the distance
they hear something someone said: "how did it come to this?"
-Streetlight Manifesto
Consensus is that Ravings is poor because of random discard and Think Twice is rarely played in exchange for more burn/utility.
Basically this. Desperate ravings becomes better when you can utilize the discard effect. If you have a way to flashback or reanimate something than it becomes a lot better. Otherwise best case scenareo you discard a land or think twice late game.
EDIT:
With the meta shaping up to be a lot more aggro based like it was when rotation happened. I feel this deck needs to go back to the removal heavy iteration it was at. To deal with the BR zombies our decks should start off with 4 pillar of flame and 4 augur of bolas. This should at least give us a start at keeping these decks in check. Tamiyo also becomes a lot better when decks are going tall with their creatures. though, it is a lot worse against the hasty creatures such as the dragon.
Well, I played my UWR to a 2/2/1 finish at FNM last night.
Round 1: Mono Red (1/2) (also, he won the event)R
Game 1, I get screwed, but with a lot of removal, he gets screwed, but with a lot of dudes, and we both get out of the screw at the same time. He takes it when I can't find a way to actually close the game.
Sideboard: In: 1 Supreme Verdict, 2 Pillar of Flame, 3 Restoration Angel, 1 Searing Spear () Out: 3 Syncopate, 2 Dissipate, 2 Entreat the Angels (may have been the wrong call)
Game 2, I run him out of threats over about 13 turns, then find a Thundermaw Hellkite. Elixir and two Sphinx's Revelation were all stars in keeping me alive that long.
Game 3, I keep an iffy hand and get screwed out of the game.
Round 2: Izzet Dual Casting Stuff (2/0)UR
Game 1, the kid gets mana screwed and I miracle Entreat for 3 angels on turn 5.
No Sideboard
Game 2, I win a grindfest after he Reverberates my Sphinx's Revelation for 5. Thundermaw and Devil's Play finish it for me after a second, uncopied, Revelation for 8.
Round 3: Bant Control (1/1/1)GWU
Game 1, I ultimate Tamiyo, but can't find a counterspell. He drops a lifegain dude every turn, I sweep it every turn, and eventually convince him to give up when I start Entreating for 2 or 3 angels a turn with removal in hand. I win with about 20 minutes in the round.
Sideboard: In: 2 Counterflux, 3 Geist of Saint Traft, 3 Restoration Angel, 1 Essence Scatter () Out: 4 Terminus, 3 Searing Spear, 2 Devil's Play
Game 2, he gets a turn 4 Geist while I don't have countermagic, and I scramble to answer it. I do, and he gets another one, which I answer, and another one. I stall for a while, but he wins with about 5 minutes in the round.
Game 3, I keep an iffy hand, drop Snapcaster turn 2 to start beating, then follow with Resto Angel on turn 4. He drops his own angel, then a Geist, which I kill with Snappy. I make the mistake of Detention Sphering all the angels, then turns are called. I can't win even if I get the Geist in my hand into play, so I sit on my counterspells for the draw.
Round 4: RUG Epic Experiment (2/0) RUG
Game 2, I counter his relevant stuff while beating with a turn 3 Entreat token.
Sideboard: In: 2 Counterflux, 1 Dissipate, 3 Geist of Saint Traft, 3 Restoration Angel () Out: 4 Terminus, 1 Supreme Verdict, 2 Searing Spear, 2 Entreat the Angels
Game 2, I hit turn 3 Geist, swing turn 4, let him Temporal Mastery, let him Expiriment for 4, then swing with Geist, let him ramp, flash in Restoration Angel, then swing for the win.
Round 5: Bant Control (0/2) GWU
Game 1, I get mana screwed and he gets out of hand.
Sideboard: Same as first Bant Matchup
Game 2, his Restoration Angels do more work than mine, and he wins a grindy game.
Last time I played FNM, there were a lot of midrange decks, so I was gearing for that matchup more than the control mirror, which was my mistake here. From what I saw, it looked like about 30% of the room was playing mono-red or B/r aggro, 10% G/W aggro, 10% Reanimator decks (traditional, not the Hoof deck), 20% Bant control, 10% UWR or UW Tempo/Flash, 20% Brews. Based on that, I think I need to completely rebuild my sideboard, and reevaluate my maindeck as well.
Jackie Lee posted an interesting 4 color buiild that seems to be based off the core we were using, but adding black for keyrunes and access to Olivia Volderan maindeck and Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and some other good cards out of the board. I think that idea shores up what I consider UWR control's biggest weakness: dealing with a resolved Thundermaw Hellkite. Having access to instant speed hard removal such as Ultimate Price gives a reasonable chance of surviving a Thundermaw. Slaughter Games out of the sideboard also seems very good against control mirrors, since ripping their Revelations or counterspells should be enough to win. I'm planning on trying something like this at the next Standard FNM in my area, which won't be until the 14th. Thoughts?
I think I would want Lingering Souls somewhere in the 75, and I would probably go with a different sweeper arrangement, but Magmaquake seems reasonably good against Geist of Saint Traft and the red aggro builds, as well as other walkers. I think I would also want one Nicol Bolas maindeck.
Example: If a spell says "Tap two target creatures," then the same creature can't be chosen twice; the spell requires two different legal targets. A spell that says "Destroy target artifact and target land," however, can target the same artifact land twice because it uses the word "target" in multiple places.
In other words the beast is pretty safe to Chandra's -2 ability. It would take two physical Searing Spear's to get rid of both halves of a tusk (or a spear + Snapcaster Mage).
" Victory favors those who endure pain. "
Standard Deck: RW Boros Devotion RW
Yeah, that's one of the main issues. In order to completely kill a resolved Thragtusk with Chandra, you need 4RWWU. They'll kill her if you have to wait a turn between the Chandra and the Supreme Verdict. I think I'll try the Chandra's Play package one more FNM, but if it doesn't perform, I'm finding a different set of cards for those slots.
BGWGnarles Barkley: Doran Voltron/Rock ControlBGW
UWRA Goat and Her Giant Flamey Hammer: Sunforger Shenanigans[MANA]UWR[/MANA]
UWEndless TrialsUW
"Each year that passes rings you inwardly with memory and might. Wield your heart, and the world will tremble"
I'm starting to think the same on some accounts. Didn't give any thought to upping to 27 lands to keep the utility lands around which is some good advice. Ghost Quarter is more of a spell in those matchups anyways but I also want to be drawing business instead of constantly flooding out. I'll give this some consideration at least.
I can surely get behind cutting Entreat as I've not been entirely impressed with it. Been much more impressed with Niv-Mizzet and Devil's Play. Chandra seems like she could be classified as dead weight but I'm still slightly reluctant to pull that trigger as I don't have enough testing done with her to completely form my opinion (for the negatives). Azorius Charm feels like a bad cut but if we are seeing an evolution towards Mono-Red Aggro then this is a potential as burning their guys is much more productive plus it keeps Hellrider from being a problem.
The Counter Suite... I'll go with 4x Dissipate main for tonight as the whole idea behind the Syncopates (basically copied from Todd Andersons opinion of the card for turn 2 counters) hasn't panned out as much as I'd hoped. I was relying on it after a Tamiyo ultimate to keep bonfires in check since I was at 6 life and was on the plan of Devil's playing for 2 each turn (due to having to keep so much mana open to Syncopate). I would have been safer with a Dissipate over and over due to being able to Devil's play for more and close the game out faster. I can't think of many times that countering something on 2 even came up (besides gold fishing against the Mono-Red nuts hand).
I'll be giving her another chance today as well and will update on how I felt she performed probably tomorrow. She could potentially just be better off as Jace number 4 and Tamiyo number 2 or Drogskol Reaver/Thundermaw in my build.
I'm testing out Drogskol Reaver in place of entreat this upcoming FNM. Both cards essentially die to the same forms of removal, while entreat can close out a game it doesn't really help to stabilize. Drogskol fills the finisher roll as well as giving us a very evasive beater that generates card advantage. The lifelink is also pretty relevant, putting us out of lategame bonfire or devil's play range.
" Victory favors those who endure pain. "
Standard Deck: RW Boros Devotion RW
My Decks, Haves & Wants, Buy/Wish List, and Worksheets:
Standard:
:symu::symw::symb:Control:symb::symw::symu:
:symu::symw::symr:Flash:symr::symw::symu:
Modern:
:symu::symb: Tezzfinty :symb::symu:
Legacy:
:symu::symw::symr:Stoneblade:symr::symw::symu:
BGWGnarles Barkley: Doran Voltron/Rock ControlBGW
UWRA Goat and Her Giant Flamey Hammer: Sunforger Shenanigans[MANA]UWR[/MANA]
UWEndless TrialsUW
"Each year that passes rings you inwardly with memory and might. Wield your heart, and the world will tremble"
I left in the snap casters because I prefer flexibility over always having board wipe in my hand.
I want to make room for one more land, and maybe add in sphinx's revelation but I'm not sure where. I don't want more than two of each of my planeswalkers because I'd rather not trip on them. What are your thoughts?
Thundermaw Hellkite is something I definitely want to add at least one of, but I'm still very interested in hypersonic dragon. Has anyone tried him out or has he just been written off? T-maw sounds great, if he resolves he's guaranteed to connect at least once, but after that he doesn't make our spells better. I run more than a few sorceries, and instant speed is very, very tempting.
2x Searing Spear (1R)
2x Flames of the Firebrand (2R)
2x Devil’s Play (XR)
2x Izzet Charm (UR)
4x Think Twice (1U)
1x Cyclonic Rift (1U)
1x Negate (1U)
1x Essence Scatter (1U)
3x Dissipate (2UU)
2x Syncopate (XU)
2x Azorius Charm (WU)
2x Supreme Verdict (1WWU)
2x Detention Sphere (1WU)
1x Terminus (4WW)
3x Snapcaster Mage (1U)
2x Hypersonic Dragon (3UR)
Planeswalkers (4)
2x Jace, Architect of Thought (2UU)
2x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage (3UU)
Lands (24)
4x Sulfur Falls
4x Steam Vents
4x Clifftop Retreat
4x Hallowed Fountain
3x Islands
2x Plains
1x Moutains
2x Desolate Lighthouse
i was playing against my friend on cockatrice, who was playing GW aggro. he put a rancor on it and selesnya charmed to exile the reaver. didn't expect that.. too bad i countered his selesnya charm so i got an extra rancor on the reaver
i play him as a 1-of alongside 2 thundermaw hellkite and 2 angel of serenity. i really like angel for obvious reasons, i'm testing the 2 hellkite in place of 1 niv-mizzet that i originally had and i also took out something else. he doesn't do anything for 1 turn but i really find his lifelink relevant.
Decklist for reference, modified the counter suite as Syncopate hasn't been performing as I would have liked but if I keep losing to Mono-Red and can't shore it up with my soon to be changes, this might come back.
2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Enchantments - 2
2 Detention Sphere
Planeswalkers - 6
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Instants - 14
4 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Azorius Charm
3 Izzet Charm
4 Dissipate
3 Terminus
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Devil's Play
2 Entreat the Angels
Artifacts - 1
1 Elixir of Immortality
Manabase
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Clifftop Retreat
3 Sulfur Falls
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Desolate Lighthouse
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Islands
1 Plains
1 Mountain
M1 - GW Aggro - 2-0
He brought the pain each game bringing me down to nearly dead both times but Terminus, D-Sphere, Izzet Charm and Azorius Charm keep the double strike beats to a minimum and also just straight up killed dudes. These games the Revelation kept me ticking like a well oiled machine (casting 6 in one game is pretty awesome - see Elixir). Hurting on life, not anymore... need more cards - check!
M2 - Mono-Red - 0-2
Game 1 my deck decided to give me the nuts opener against this. I was jokingly putting the go on mono Mountains and somehow called it (no scouting, just goofing around). My keep was 2 Izzet Charm, Azorius Charm, Dissipate, Fountain, Vents, Clifftop. I keep the early beats to a fair minimum... started to stabilize at like 3 life (not entirely stable but the bleeding has stopped) and I do nothing for several turns except counter burn spells and keep dudes off the table :(. If I would drawn just ONE revelation I managed to be at a point with like 10 lands in play!
Game 2 I just died, couldn't draw enough lands and still never saw a revelation. Didn't draw any sideboard cards (2 spear's, 3 feeling of dreads).
M3 - Bant Control - 1-0
Only one game to report... I cheese wheeled him out (Revelations and Elixir). Many fun game states popped up. One of which was him with AoS with three thraggles tucked underneath and me with 4 Angel Tokens, Chandra and Jace. This stall happened for several turns while we just amassed more and more mana until he finally sphere'd my tokens and killed my walkers with the fourth thraggle and the angel. Another game state was him with Tamiyo, me with Niv-Mizzet and Tamiyo tapping down Niv but I draw the azorius charm put it on life link and shoot him something like 8 times to bring him to Double Devil's Play reach. I was constantly playing around his fourth syncopate as I threw two revelations into synco's and something else that I can't remember. Found out after the game that the fourth didn't exist. Anyways, a couple LARGE revelations later and on turn 4 after time, I manage to get enough mana and cards in hand to Chandra AND Devil's play to double up and get the 30 damage through to finally finish this epic battle.
M4 - Some kind of G and something else aggro.
I draw dead both games... really gotta work on shuffling this thing after cheese wheeling through the deck a couple times as I just didn't draw any business and couldn't find a single answer for anything :(.
M5 - The Mirror
I came completely ill prepared for the direct mirror. No Memory Adepts in the board and I think I fought a little too hard over a JAoT due to having the revelation and thinking I'd draw my own off of it but drew nothing relevant :(. Anyways, game 1 was lost to a Tamiyo Ultimate and Pillar with me having no counters left in hand (they were shuffled somewhere in the deck after the cheese wheel).
Game 2 was lost to a Memory Adept that kept milling my answers :(. He'd mill, I'd draw land, just a beautiful scenerio to be in ;).
Moving to 1 Tamiyo was a HUGE mistake, especially in the Mirror and in the Bant matchup as I could have used her mighty tapping ability and her ultimate in both matches.
I'm not the biggest fan of Chandra anymore or even Entreat. I _MIGHT_ be able to get behind Thundermaw but I'm still not convinced he's right for this deck. I was chatting with the other UWR pilot last night and I started to wonder why we would consider thundermaw? What does he solve in this deck that we need him to do? I've not to date had a problem with Souls tokens, nor opposing fliers. I've also never felt a need for a hasty beater that gets in damage under sorcery speed removal. If we need 5 damage how can we not get that? Maybe I'm not playing Devil's Play aggressively enough but when Thundermaw hits how is he relevant? Are they at 5 life and he finishes them off - not from my experience. By the time I put my finisher on the table, my opponent is still at 20 and I'd have 4 turns to have to get them dead. That doesn't seem like a good place for Thundermaw, unlike in the UWR Midrange deck where he comes down and swings in with Angel and finishes the job on the spot even through a wall of fliers if they've actually amassed anything in the air. There's my struggle with Thundermaw and why I haven't partaken in drinking that kool-aid.
As a closing for now, I love this deck and I want to play it but I feel like I'm either doing it wrong, not testing enough or its just not right for the format at this point in time. If I were to pick it up tomorrow I think I'd give this a test and maybe I'll be testing this:
2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
1 Drogskol Reaver
3 Snapcaster
Sorceries - 4
1 Devil's Play
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Terminus
Instants - 15
4 Searing Spear
2 Azorius Charm
1 Izzet Charm
4 Dissipate
4 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Detention Sphere
Artifacts - 1
1 Elixir of Immortality
Planeswalkers - 5
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Manabase - 26
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Clifftop Retreat
3 Sulfur Falls
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Desolate Lighthouse
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
Somethings about that build I'm not positive about:
3 Snapcasters - This might be better off as 2 with the 4th being the 3rd Detention Sphere. Only testing would tell.
2 Desolate Lighthouse/2 Evolving Wilds - I like both but with the meta potentially shaping up to open up some room for Esper or any other Nephalia Drownyards backed control list these might just have to become Ghost Quarter. That 3rd Snapcaster could also probably become a Ghost Quarter if this does happen.
One thing I'm almost certain of is that my new U/W base will be the following set of cards
1 Elixir of Immortality
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
3 Detention Sphere
4 Supreme Verdict
Fill in the above with some finishers and other cards depending on the meta and I feel like you'd be rocking a solid foundation.
For now, I'm out and going to go test some Junk!
sorry didn't want to quote the entire post and make this long so i cut it off
for reference, my decklist:
2 angel of serenity
1 drogskol reaver
2 snapcaster mage
2 thundermaw hellkite
instants:
2 azorius charm
2 izzet charm
1 sphinx's revelation
2 essence scatter
sorceries:
1 devil's play
4 pillar of flame
3 supreme verdict
3 terminus
3 detention sphere
PW:
3 jace, architect of thought
2 tamiyo, the moon sage
lands:
1 clifftop retreat
1 desolate lighthouse
1 ghost quarter
4 glacial fortress
4 hallowed fountain
3 island
1 mountain
3 plains
4 steam vents
3 sulfur falls
3 geist of saint traft
1 zealous conscripts
2 nevermore
2 counterflux
2 negate
2 purify the grave
2 sundering growth
1 jace, memory adept
it's funny cause i was actually just testing my deck on cockatrice for a couple of hours and i was thinking about some exact things you mentioned while i was taking a break.
first of all, chandra. i'm not impressed by her either. i tested her out and most of the time she was very underwhelming. ping off a few creatures here or there, ping them for a couple of damage.. the most i was able to get out of her was use her -2 and draw 2 cards with azorius charm. i even ulti-ed her once but....
since taking her out, i've put in 2 thundermaw hellkite (took out a niv-mizzet as well). so far in testing with hellkite (about a dozen games or so), i've loved him. i've been able to deal with pesky planeswalkers that i wasn't able to deal with before, i've destroyed lingering souls tokens (feels good), and i've also tapped down opponent's big fliers and fly in for the win. i think under a few situations he might just seem like a 5/5 flyer that doesn't impact the board, but i think there are situations where he shines as well. i'd suggest testing him out, as i will continue to do so. personally i think being able to come in and kill a PW is huge, as they usually cause a few problems with me if they are unanswered (ie. liliana, garruk PH).
i also don't like entreat the angels. there's enough win-cons in the deck already and it just feels terrible tapping out for angels on your turn and having them die to either mortars, sever the bloodline, detention sphere, etc.. i think there are just too many common removal spells for entreat right now to make it any good.
anyway, my last though is, how has running 4 sphinx's revelation been for you? to me it seems like a bit much.. though you're sort of running the elixir / sphinx plan i just wouldn't want to get stuck with 2 or even 3 in my hand at once but i haven't tested with more than 1 so maybe you can answer that for me
Revelation is the nuts even without the Elixir. I was able to keep up with the Bant player who was dropping thraggle's left and right and smashing my face with them. I also would have potentially won the Mono-Red matchup had I actually drawn one as I did manage to get to 10 land before the final burn spell landed on my dome. I would suggest at least putting in 2 for testing and when you cast them, you'll see ;).
I did miss the point of dealing with Planeswalkers with Hellkite in my thought train as we do have problems with opposing walkers if we can't get the D-Sphere. But to that same effect, wouldn't more D-Sphere just be better? It handles any tokens as well?
I finished 7-3 overall (lost my win-and-in to frites, lost r10 to what appeared to be junkwalkers).
For reference's sake my list looks like this, although there's a few cards that are on the chopping block. I'm thinking of going -1 Entreat, -1 Pillar for +2 Izzet Charms but I'd want to test that a bit. Thoughts?
I'm having a tough time with that matchup as well. We're reactive, they're reactive but they can get in under our counter mana and completely blank any removal we do pack as detention sphere targets are nigh irrelevant or what we're sphereing have already given them value. Went up against this Saturday and I felt like I couldn't gain any traction the entire match and then he just took over.
Congrats on that, what was your third loss? I know walkers can be quite hard to deal with
Izzet Charm is ok, not really all that great. For the most part I've found the creature shock mode to be the most useful. Looting is ok once in awhile when you are about to miss a land drop but I'm not very fond of it. Spell Pierce doesn't come up all that often and when it does I'd much rather have a hard counter available as I've only ever had it late in the game and the 2 extra mana has been irrelevant. I have not minded it as a 1 of so far and I've really found it handy in the GW matchup but Spear has served a better purpose there being able to hit the X/3's on their turn instead of just the X/2's.
Have you considered changing your Pillar's for Searing Spears?
My other loss was to what appeared to be U/W midrange. Really it was "He gets Geist and I get mana screwed and he always has an answer when I try and flash in Snaps as an ambush viper".
That's basically my take on the card but I'm looking at cutting an entreat or two so a flexible card that can really go hog wild under Tamiyo seems great.
I am also pretty certain I'll be cutting pillars for spears, I hadn't modified the deck much in the last month and the meta here has shifted almost completely away from zombies.
So in retrospect I think my cuts will be
-3 Pillar
-1 Entreat the angels
+2 Searing Spear
+2 Izzet Charm
I'll playtest against the U/W flash deck and if it warrants it I might go like this instead
-3 Pillar
-2 Entreat the Angels
+3 Searing Spear
+2 Feeling of Dread
EDIT : As an aside the video of my feature match is archived over here, at the 32minute mark. I was a bit agressive with my Jaces but I think I played pretty well all things considered.
I thought you played relatively well. I have a few questions for you though or even considerations.
You played think twice on both second turn and third turn. Were you digging specifically to hit your land or were you doing it just to do at end step? If you had your lands generally it is a good idea to sit on them for trying to trigger miracles ( it has littler effect in this matchup because hes playing control. It does help with Entreat but for aggro you can try to hit terminus ( you play 4 terminus/3 entreat)
I really did not like jace on turn 4. It can be good if you have an answer for his jace if he counters yours and follows it up with one of his own. But generally it can be very bad.
On one of your turns your opponent did not have any blue mana up and you could have resolved tamiyo. Im pretty sure it was in your hand. IF so i felt like you could have played it and disrupted his mana.
You were pretty aggressive with your jaces like you said. You always -2 your jaces. Most of the time i feel it is correct to +1 the jace when you have more in hand. It forces your opponent to deal with it quicker and threatens ult. You saw sorin at that time in the game so you could assume he would be trying to tap out to deal with it and that would play into your initial game plan anyways.
your opponent should have conceded game 1 a lot earlier.
Honestly if the board is empty then developing my hand becomes my first priority. I was denying my instant terminus but by the end of his turn 2 I was confident enough that it was a control mirror to go ahead and start digging.
If I remember right my opener was loaded with detention spheres. A counter / follow-up Jace would have been okay by me.
To be honest his manabase was all over the place so I wasn't paying enough attention to it.
The main reason I was quickly going for the -2 was to garuntee value. Early on off of one of his jaces I saw a dreadbore and his early d-sphere told me how the match was going to play out. I felt I just needed to keep on the offensive so to speak.
One angle they really didn't talk about was how going into g2 I didn't really need to win, I just needed not to lose. I decided to put in the geists anyway and it paid off but sometimes you play a different game.
For reference's sake, I ended up bringing in everything but the purify the graves out of my SB and sided out my entreats, my terminuses, two pillar, a devil's play and I want to say an Azorious Charm or two.
I understand you wanted to get the immediate value off of jace and that is fine. but as a general note it is correct to + the jace to threaten the ult or just make them react to yours instead. You did see the removal for the jace so yeah i can get behind the - though.
D-Sphere is actually a big problem in the 2nd and 3rd matches because people board in enchantment hate, and man can you get blown out pretty fast. I've actually been wanting to test Midnight Haunting to deal with planeswalkers as well as being another win-con.
I run Kessig Wolf Run and Pikes (just re-tooled the deck after two bad FNM's (3-2 and 2-3)), so, we'll see how it goes.
I've actually dropped D-spheres from the MB and instead opted to run 7 sweepers (up from 5) - 4 SV and 3 Terminus. I also added in Desolate Lighthouse, because boy, that card can be great for miracling terminus and you don't have to 'waste' a spot on something like Think Twice. I put 3 D-Spheres in the sideboard, for tokens, or if I need extra exile removal against Zombies, etc.
You should be able to cast EoT Midnight Haunting against opposing turn 3 or 4 Jace's and swing in to kill him, which is much better than D-Sphere, because you now have 2 1/1 fliers on the board they'll have to deal with, and it can get ugly with a Pike or Wolf Run out.
PS: I play Bant Control, but added in two Steam Vents for the Wolf Run and Lighthouse. Just thought I'd chime in (sort of forgot this was UWR thread in the first place... :p).
Modern:
(online)Enduring Ideal
(online)BUG
(paper)Mono White Control
Standard:
(paper) Whatever I can throw together
(online) UWR Control
Legacy:
(paper)The Gate
(paper)Dream Halls
Consensus is that Ravings is poor because of random discard and Think Twice is rarely played in exchange for more burn/utility.
they're aiming at the head
they think of their first love before they take their final breaths
and somewhere in the distance
they hear something someone said: "how did it come to this?"
-Streetlight Manifesto
Basically this. Desperate ravings becomes better when you can utilize the discard effect. If you have a way to flashback or reanimate something than it becomes a lot better. Otherwise best case scenareo you discard a land or think twice late game.
EDIT:
With the meta shaping up to be a lot more aggro based like it was when rotation happened. I feel this deck needs to go back to the removal heavy iteration it was at. To deal with the BR zombies our decks should start off with 4 pillar of flame and 4 augur of bolas. This should at least give us a start at keeping these decks in check. Tamiyo also becomes a lot better when decks are going tall with their creatures. though, it is a lot worse against the hasty creatures such as the dragon.
Round 1: Mono Red (1/2) (also, he won the event)R
Game 1, I get screwed, but with a lot of removal, he gets screwed, but with a lot of dudes, and we both get out of the screw at the same time. He takes it when I can't find a way to actually close the game.
Sideboard: In: 1 Supreme Verdict, 2 Pillar of Flame, 3 Restoration Angel, 1 Searing Spear () Out: 3 Syncopate, 2 Dissipate, 2 Entreat the Angels (may have been the wrong call)
Game 2, I run him out of threats over about 13 turns, then find a Thundermaw Hellkite. Elixir and two Sphinx's Revelation were all stars in keeping me alive that long.
Game 3, I keep an iffy hand and get screwed out of the game.
Round 2: Izzet Dual Casting Stuff (2/0)UR
Game 1, the kid gets mana screwed and I miracle Entreat for 3 angels on turn 5.
No Sideboard
Game 2, I win a grindfest after he Reverberates my Sphinx's Revelation for 5. Thundermaw and Devil's Play finish it for me after a second, uncopied, Revelation for 8.
Round 3: Bant Control (1/1/1)GWU
Game 1, I ultimate Tamiyo, but can't find a counterspell. He drops a lifegain dude every turn, I sweep it every turn, and eventually convince him to give up when I start Entreating for 2 or 3 angels a turn with removal in hand. I win with about 20 minutes in the round.
Sideboard: In: 2 Counterflux, 3 Geist of Saint Traft, 3 Restoration Angel, 1 Essence Scatter () Out: 4 Terminus, 3 Searing Spear, 2 Devil's Play
Game 2, he gets a turn 4 Geist while I don't have countermagic, and I scramble to answer it. I do, and he gets another one, which I answer, and another one. I stall for a while, but he wins with about 5 minutes in the round.
Game 3, I keep an iffy hand, drop Snapcaster turn 2 to start beating, then follow with Resto Angel on turn 4. He drops his own angel, then a Geist, which I kill with Snappy. I make the mistake of Detention Sphering all the angels, then turns are called. I can't win even if I get the Geist in my hand into play, so I sit on my counterspells for the draw.
Round 4: RUG Epic Experiment (2/0) RUG
Game 2, I counter his relevant stuff while beating with a turn 3 Entreat token.
Sideboard: In: 2 Counterflux, 1 Dissipate, 3 Geist of Saint Traft, 3 Restoration Angel () Out: 4 Terminus, 1 Supreme Verdict, 2 Searing Spear, 2 Entreat the Angels
Game 2, I hit turn 3 Geist, swing turn 4, let him Temporal Mastery, let him Expiriment for 4, then swing with Geist, let him ramp, flash in Restoration Angel, then swing for the win.
Round 5: Bant Control (0/2) GWU
Game 1, I get mana screwed and he gets out of hand.
Sideboard: Same as first Bant Matchup
Game 2, his Restoration Angels do more work than mine, and he wins a grindy game.
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Mountain
2 Plains
2 Island
3 Sulfur Falls
4 Steam Vents
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Clifftop Retreat
Creatures-3
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers-4
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Elixir of Immortality
Enchantments-2
2 Detention Sphere
Sorceries-9
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Entreat the Angels
2 Devil's Play
4 Terminus
Instants-15
2 Dissipate
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Syncopate
3 Azorious Charm
3 Izzet Charm
2 Searing Spear
3 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Restoration Angel
2 Counterflux
2 Pillar of Flame
1 Dispel
1 Dissipate
1 Essence Scatter
1 Searing Spear
1 Supreme Verdict
Last time I played FNM, there were a lot of midrange decks, so I was gearing for that matchup more than the control mirror, which was my mistake here. From what I saw, it looked like about 30% of the room was playing mono-red or B/r aggro, 10% G/W aggro, 10% Reanimator decks (traditional, not the Hoof deck), 20% Bant control, 10% UWR or UW Tempo/Flash, 20% Brews. Based on that, I think I need to completely rebuild my sideboard, and reevaluate my maindeck as well.
BGWGnarles Barkley: Doran Voltron/Rock ControlBGW
UWRA Goat and Her Giant Flamey Hammer: Sunforger Shenanigans[MANA]UWR[/MANA]
UWEndless TrialsUW
"Each year that passes rings you inwardly with memory and might. Wield your heart, and the world will tremble"
2 Lone Revenant
2 Olivia Voldaren
Walkers-3
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
3 Azorius Charm
1 Chromatic Lantern
4 Counterflux
1 Elixir of Immortality
2 Magmaquake
3 Mizzium Mortars
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Rakdos Keyrune
4 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Terminus
1 Blood Crypt
4 Clifftop Retreat
1 Desolate Lighthouse
2 Drowned Catacomb
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Curse of Echoes
2 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Reverberate
1 Rolling Temblor
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Slaughter Games
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Terminus
1 Witchbane Orb
BGWGnarles Barkley: Doran Voltron/Rock ControlBGW
UWRA Goat and Her Giant Flamey Hammer: Sunforger Shenanigans[MANA]UWR[/MANA]
UWEndless TrialsUW
"Each year that passes rings you inwardly with memory and might. Wield your heart, and the world will tremble"