The tournament was 7 rounds then top 8. I will put more information about the rounds when I look back over my notes.
Rd 1: 4c Gifts (2-1)
Game 1 my opponent was able to gifts into Unburial Rites and Elesh Norn. I Chorded for a fiend hunter and was able to establish a small board presence afterward while he just had a few souls tokens. He ended up pathing my hunter and bashing me with the souls tokens. Game 2 I was able to get a turn 2 finks out and combo off the next turn. Game 3 he gifts for 3 wraths and a snapcaster and kills my team. I build up again and he gifts again, but doesnt get Elesh Norn or unburial rites. Ended up going to turns and my opponent wanted me to concede because he would have won eventually. At this point in the tournament I felt like it would have been better to draw than take a loss. Opponent said he understood, and then conceded to me.
Rd 2: Naya Company (2-0)
Game 1 was able to gain infinite life on T3 or T4. Game 2 same.
Rd 3: Infect (2-0)
Game 1 he keeps an awkward hand with just Inkmoth, doesnt draw another land. Game 2 I'm able to kill his early agent after 1 attack for 2 poison due to pendlehaven. He get an inkmoth and comes in, I company, he double groundswells with landfall no more cards in hand. I hit a fulminator mage and finks and procede to win.
Rd 4: Grixis Twin (2-0
Not a lot to say here I was just drawing all the right things at the right time both games, spellskites, Linvala, path, was getting crazy value with coco and witness. My opponent is my good friend and I could also tell he was drawing really bad.
Rd 5: Naya Burn (with Wild Nacatl's instead of Swiftspear) (0-2)
he wins dice roll T1 guide, T2 bolt my birds, T4 Nacatl and suspend riftbolt, I cant keep up. Game 2 I played way too defensively and payed for it. Drew fulminator with him missing a land drop and instead played finks... Still a hard match up against a really good player (He got 2nd)
Rd 6: Grixis Control (2-1)
Game 1 he stomps me with tasigur and pretty much stops everything I try to do. Game 2 I think I ended up comboing... not sure from notes. Game 3 he muligans to 5 and I draw all the gas.
Rd 7: Living End (ID)
TOP 8 quarters: Junk (1-2)
Game 1 I get shut down by scooze and lose to the card advantage of Bob and my creatures just getting outclassed. Game 2 Gain infinite life the turn after he souls flashback souls, we play it out for a while because he drops a scooze and I'm not able to do infinite damage. So I just take the beating and wait to draw gavony. he eventually concedes after doing roughly 200 damage with goyfs and blood baron and 10/10 scooze(Gavony was the next draw...). Game 3, in retrospect I probably shouldnt have kept the hand. he scoozes turn 2 I path it, t4 he scoozes again and I draw nothing and he starts beating me down with souls tokens
I've tried calling several times since this has happen and you are not answering and your voicemail is full. This is just letting you know that I will be filing a claim with the BBB and seek legal action against your store.
Please do not hijack threads. If you have an issue please take it via PM or email ~Duxx
Here's what happened to me when dealing with this establishment:
At the end of March I preordered two modern event decks. I expected the product to be delivered by the first week of June but it wasnt. After i contacted this company to see where the order was they gave me a tracking number which never got past the preshipment stage. When I called teh company again they assured me that they would send out a new order to make up for the original. A week or so later I called back to see what the issue was with the new order. It turned out that the order was never sent and at this point, the first week of July, I asked for a refund. They said they would refund my money and give me a confirmation email. This never happened and a week later I called to inquire about the refund which they insisted that they put in and that it was taking so long because of paypal. However when I called paypal on July 25th they informed me that the company had not sent out a refund. I suggest to avoid this company for their shady business practices and lack of integrity.
Just a heads up to all the other players that are thinking of wasting their time and money with this company.
trust me dude, go with a zombie core aristocrats. i had my build take me 9-2 at GP miami and i'm a pretty average player. the deck looked me in the eyes and handed me wins out of nowhere. it's got *so* much more play than regular aristocrats does, plus running 4 knight of infamy main blanks all the junk decks in the room.
spoiler: there was a ton of junk decks.
i put my decklist in the main section, i wholeheartedly recommend final act.
oh if you're going to make any changes, take out silverblade paladin first. she gets sideboarded out way too much... but on the other hand i got to turn 1 gravecrawler, t2 knight of infamy, t3 silverblade pair swing 6 unblockable against all the white decks several times. felt good, man.
if you were doing well, why not play all 15 rds in Miami? x-4 would have put you in the top 64 and that would have earned you 200$.
So I went down to the GP in Miami with act 2 last weekend and thought I should post my list a brief summary of the tournament. I played in 2 grinders and lost both in the second round so I went into the main event not to do very great but was pleasantly surprised with my performance. I ended up going 10-5, getting 101st overall. Here's my list though.
Round 1: B/G Rock 2-1
game 1 wasnt too exciting, just went traveler, cartel, then souls and my opponent got stuck on 3 lands
game 2 he pulls ahead with thragtusk and kills a whole bunch of my dudes.
game 3 was kind of a blowout (cartel, souls, reckoner, falkenrath). he had to mutilate and didnt have it
Round 2: Grixas Control 2-0
game 1 started out with me going aggro, I slipped an early aetherling when he tapped out and dropped a sorin for the emblem and eventually get him down to 2 before he stabilizes and starts taking control. I have a single soul out and attack over aetherling number 2 and he says take it cuz he didnt realize I had a sorin emblem. I tell him thats lethal and he tries to take it back but what was done was done.
game 2 i was just to quick for him.
Round 3: G/W Aggro 2-1
I dont remember this matchup at all, but looking at my score pad game 3 looks like I Blasphemous acted with a reckoner out... maybe sac'ed something to save the cartel for last two damage.
Round 4: Bant Enchant 2-1
game 1 (mulligan) had to race them and luckily they weren't gaining life.
game 2 he suits up a geist with everything including an unflinching courage and I got crushed
game 3 he suits up against my souls tokens and I act. he suits up, I act again, then he runs out of gas.
Round 5: Bant Enchant 2-0
game 1 he suits up and we start racing. I have a blood artist out and some souls and then drop a reckoner and act for the win
game 2 he's crushing me with a stalker with a few auras, including an unflinching courage. he's at 32 and i'm at 4 when I act. he draws lands and I draw gas
Round 6: Junk Reanimator 0-2
game 1 he pulls way ahead with thrags and then AoS finishes me
gmae 2 repeat game 1
awesome guy though, he was undefeated at the end of day 1
Round 7: Azoriuz Control 1-2
game 1 wasnt fast enough and he revelated and aetherling crushed me
gmae 2 got a fast hand with a blood artist, he verdicts. I draw gas with another blood artist and get him low enough to sac out for the win
game 3 got crushed be aetherling and renounce the guilds
Round 8: Naya Aggro 2-0
game 1 he gets an early voice but stumbles on land while I fly over him with a falkenrath
game 2 is similar, he got stuck on 3 for a few turns but had voice, smiter, smiter. I went souls then falkenrath swing, act sac-ing a token to save the aristocrat
Round 9: Jund 2-1
game 1 I punt super hard and dont lay a land for some reason, I definitely could have one this cuz i could have curved into falkenrath. He ultimately kills my dudes and kills me with a huntmaster and thragtusk
game 2 early appetite followed by the beats
game 3 he's hosing me, I could block and firststrike kill his thragtusk but hold back for the double reckoner act
7-2 was my record for the day and I barely squeeze into day 2
Round 10: UWR Flash 0-2
game 1 Super punt, I played so poorly this game it wasnt even funny. missed triggers all over the place, just terrible. got smashed be thundermaw
game 2 continued to play poorly and pretty much just hand him the win. got smashed by thundermaw and renounce the guilds.
Round 11 Gruul Aggro 2-0
after going over all the mistakes I made in the last round I decide to pull my head out of my a$$
game one he mulls to 5, i mull to 6. I slip his stromkirk, drop a reckoner he spears it. I get a sorin emblem and swing in the air with souls and falkenrath
game 2 I get there with lots of a cartel and souls as fodder
Round 12: Bant Enchant 0-2
game 1 he nut draws
game 2 we're racing and i swing in for lethal, my only option against a single stalker with a ton of auras. he simic charms it...
Round 13: Bant Flash/Control 0-2
game 1 I wasnt fast enough and he plasma captures my reckoner to play a thragtusk. He pretty much took over from that point and revelates and finishes the job with aetherling
game 2 I drop an early pithing needle against aetherling and appetite him, i can either get the verdict or the terminus. i take the verdict and try to race but I get him down to 6 but then he starts revelating and then he o rings my needle and wins with aetherling again
Round 14: Bant Enchant 2-1
at this point I know that I'm out of the money, but I was having fun so might as well finish it out.
game 1 I esentially act and he doesnt have anything after
game 2 I cant race him
game 3 He is doin crazy things like ajani, rootborn during combat just to get a permanent token from geist. So the board state looks like this: he has a angel token with a rancor, geist, stalker and ajani at 3 and is at 13 life. I have 2 souls, a reckoner, and a blood artist; i'm at 1 life, stuck on 3 non red lands with act and falkenrath in hand. he gives the rancored angel double strike and swings with the team. after much deliberation i block the angels with the souls and the geist with reckoner. the souls token dies to the first strike from the rancored angel, triggering artist and trampling over for 5(me 8, him 12), as regular damage resloves I now go to 1 from the stalker and the rancored angel, the giest and the other souls die triggering artist and i fling the 2 at him off the reckoner (me 3, him 8). I draw cavern of souls, slam down falkenrath swing for 7, sac for the last point....epic
Round 15: Bant Enchant 2-0
2 very close games that essentially were the same. I race until i can act and draw better than they do.
So lots of Bant Enchant... obviously there isnt much you can do against their nut draw but overall its not too hard to beat. its very linear and easy to predict for the most part. Also, no Junk aristocrats. That was the whole reason for blood baron in the main. but he looks like a better sideboard card. Thundermaw would be a pretty good substitution b/c I found I couldnt get that last bit of damage in and the haste and tapping flyers seems like a good way to punch through. The real big issue for this deck is that it cant deal with revelation and aetherling
I played in a ptq last weekend (not with this deck) and I saw a huge amount of token decks being played (voice, advent, trostani, parallel lives). how does this deck deal with tokens outside of sever? I expect there to be a large showing of tokens at gp miami
also, is anybody going to sleeve this up in miami?
I won against Jund (2-1-0), UWR Control (2-1-0), The Aristocrats (2-0-0), and 4 Color Midrange (2-0-0). I lost against UWR Control (0-2-0) and Reanimator (0-2-0) before dropping out.
Overall, the deck performed well! The big winner's here were the Keyrunes and the Blood Barons! and of course the reckoners. Keyrunes helped immensely in ramping! Often a turn 4 blood baron has won me the game. Plus, the added bonus of first strike against thragtusk made my life a hell of a lot easier. Not to say the added bonus of being a 2 for 1 against control decks! Blood Baron was definately a winner for me as well. He often caught me back up in many games from being down to 2. I actually won a game where i was at 2 life and the opponent was at 45 life. I just kept swinging with blood baron and gaining life and responding to his threats as we both entered topdeck mode. Faithless looting is a definate staple of this deck. It allows this deck to topdeck like a champ! The only bad card of the deck was Blind Obedience. I found myself sideboarding this card on every matchup. Plus, with aggro becoming more midrangy nowaday's, having a Blind Obedience in the maindeck is kinda pointless and a dead card. Whenever i saw Blind Obedience in my hand i would always wish it was just another removal.
Now, my bad matchups were definately Reanimator and UWR Control. UWR Control was just a hard deck to play against. Control is just a hard matchup in general but UWR control just takes out everything and then plays aetherling which everyone knows is extremely hard to remove. Also, Reanimator is still a hard matchup because they can still race you to play their threat's which you ultimately cant answer to well. Their midrange is really easy to play against, but when they start reanimating **** and you cant do anything about it in game 1... its really hard to stay alive. At the end of the day me and my buddy (who played reanimator) exchanged thoughts on what makes sort of cards make it hard to win when his deck is facing a threat. What i learned was this.. Reanimator hates getting their unburial rites exiled. They absolutely hate it. Also, in the Reanimator mirrors for them, Deathrite Shaman was often a huge advantage for the other player. As such, i took that advice to heart.
When using Slaughter Games against Reanimator.... Target the Unburial rites!!!!!! DO IT! Their midrange is SOOOO easy for this deck to play against! It's just that when they bring their stuff back that we cannot deal with it!
Put in a Deathrite Shaman. This is my own idea. And i do not know how it will work out. But i feel like Deathrite Shaman provides good advantage against Reanimator, Control, and can be activated off of your own graveyard when you pitching cards through Faithless Looting.
Here is my new Decklist at the end of the day. I will test this to see if it stands up to a plethora of match ups
I threw in Deathrite Shaman for the Reanimator Matchups (and partially control). Now some of you may be thinking, "BUT WE HAVE NO GREEN! WHY PLAY SHAMAN?!". Shaman's "exile instant or sorcery" ability (for unburial rites) activates with a black mana. Which is perfect for us! Plus, we can ramp using the land that reanimator will often pitch against us and we can exile the spells that control will often play as well so snapcaster cant do anything!
I threw in Sever the Bloodline for it's utility against aggro decks and the flashback utility against midrange decks. It exiles stuff. What more needs to be said? And it doesnt hurt the mana curve too much.
I switched out Cavern of Souls in the sideboard with Slayer's Stronghold in the MD so that I could have a leg up against control in game 1.
Overall, what do you guy's think of the original deck i took and what do you think of the changes?
I notice you dont run lingering souls, did it not test well fot you? also, how is the blasphemous act doing?
Here's the list
Creatures (28)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Viscera Seer
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Spellskite
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Cartel Aristocrat
3 Voice of Resurgence
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Eternal Witness
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Murderous Redcap
4 Collected Company
3 Chord of Calling
2 Path to Exile
Lands (22)
4 Verdant Catacomb
4 Windswept Heath
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Gavony Township
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Forest
3 Fulminator Mage
3 Thoughtseize
2 Stony Silence
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Aven Mindcensor
The tournament was 7 rounds then top 8. I will put more information about the rounds when I look back over my notes.
Rd 1: 4c Gifts (2-1)
Game 1 my opponent was able to gifts into Unburial Rites and Elesh Norn. I Chorded for a fiend hunter and was able to establish a small board presence afterward while he just had a few souls tokens. He ended up pathing my hunter and bashing me with the souls tokens. Game 2 I was able to get a turn 2 finks out and combo off the next turn. Game 3 he gifts for 3 wraths and a snapcaster and kills my team. I build up again and he gifts again, but doesnt get Elesh Norn or unburial rites. Ended up going to turns and my opponent wanted me to concede because he would have won eventually. At this point in the tournament I felt like it would have been better to draw than take a loss. Opponent said he understood, and then conceded to me.
Rd 2: Naya Company (2-0)
Game 1 was able to gain infinite life on T3 or T4. Game 2 same.
Rd 3: Infect (2-0)
Game 1 he keeps an awkward hand with just Inkmoth, doesnt draw another land. Game 2 I'm able to kill his early agent after 1 attack for 2 poison due to pendlehaven. He get an inkmoth and comes in, I company, he double groundswells with landfall no more cards in hand. I hit a fulminator mage and finks and procede to win.
Rd 4: Grixis Twin (2-0
Not a lot to say here I was just drawing all the right things at the right time both games, spellskites, Linvala, path, was getting crazy value with coco and witness. My opponent is my good friend and I could also tell he was drawing really bad.
Rd 5: Naya Burn (with Wild Nacatl's instead of Swiftspear) (0-2)
he wins dice roll T1 guide, T2 bolt my birds, T4 Nacatl and suspend riftbolt, I cant keep up. Game 2 I played way too defensively and payed for it. Drew fulminator with him missing a land drop and instead played finks... Still a hard match up against a really good player (He got 2nd)
Rd 6: Grixis Control (2-1)
Game 1 he stomps me with tasigur and pretty much stops everything I try to do. Game 2 I think I ended up comboing... not sure from notes. Game 3 he muligans to 5 and I draw all the gas.
Rd 7: Living End (ID)
TOP 8 quarters: Junk (1-2)
Game 1 I get shut down by scooze and lose to the card advantage of Bob and my creatures just getting outclassed. Game 2 Gain infinite life the turn after he souls flashback souls, we play it out for a while because he drops a scooze and I'm not able to do infinite damage. So I just take the beating and wait to draw gavony. he eventually concedes after doing roughly 200 damage with goyfs and blood baron and 10/10 scooze(Gavony was the next draw...). Game 3, in retrospect I probably shouldnt have kept the hand. he scoozes turn 2 I path it, t4 he scoozes again and I draw nothing and he starts beating me down with souls tokens
I've tried calling several times since this has happen and you are not answering and your voicemail is full. This is just letting you know that I will be filing a claim with the BBB and seek legal action against your store.
Please do not hijack threads. If you have an issue please take it via PM or email ~Duxx
At the end of March I preordered two modern event decks. I expected the product to be delivered by the first week of June but it wasnt. After i contacted this company to see where the order was they gave me a tracking number which never got past the preshipment stage. When I called teh company again they assured me that they would send out a new order to make up for the original. A week or so later I called back to see what the issue was with the new order. It turned out that the order was never sent and at this point, the first week of July, I asked for a refund. They said they would refund my money and give me a confirmation email. This never happened and a week later I called to inquire about the refund which they insisted that they put in and that it was taking so long because of paypal. However when I called paypal on July 25th they informed me that the company had not sent out a refund. I suggest to avoid this company for their shady business practices and lack of integrity.
Just a heads up to all the other players that are thinking of wasting their time and money with this company.
also, it feels really awesome to rescue in response to a revelation
if you were doing well, why not play all 15 rds in Miami? x-4 would have put you in the top 64 and that would have earned you 200$.
4x Doomed Traveler
4x Blood Artist
4x Cartel Aristocrat
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Falkenrath Aristocrat
2x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
Spells
4x Tragic Slip
4x Lingering Souls
3x Blasphemous Act
1x Orzhov Charm
2x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
4x Blood Crypt
4x Godless Shrine
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Isolated Chapel
4x Dragonskull Summit
2x Clifftop Retreat
1x Plains
1x Cavern of Souls
3x Appetite for Brains
3x Pillar of Flame
3x Cremate
2x Pithing Needle
2x Mark of Mutiny
1x Assemble the Legion
1x Obzedat, Ghost Council
Round 1: B/G Rock 2-1
game 1 wasnt too exciting, just went traveler, cartel, then souls and my opponent got stuck on 3 lands
game 2 he pulls ahead with thragtusk and kills a whole bunch of my dudes.
game 3 was kind of a blowout (cartel, souls, reckoner, falkenrath). he had to mutilate and didnt have it
Round 2: Grixas Control 2-0
game 1 started out with me going aggro, I slipped an early aetherling when he tapped out and dropped a sorin for the emblem and eventually get him down to 2 before he stabilizes and starts taking control. I have a single soul out and attack over aetherling number 2 and he says take it cuz he didnt realize I had a sorin emblem. I tell him thats lethal and he tries to take it back but what was done was done.
game 2 i was just to quick for him.
Round 3: G/W Aggro 2-1
I dont remember this matchup at all, but looking at my score pad game 3 looks like I Blasphemous acted with a reckoner out... maybe sac'ed something to save the cartel for last two damage.
Round 4: Bant Enchant 2-1
game 1 (mulligan) had to race them and luckily they weren't gaining life.
game 2 he suits up a geist with everything including an unflinching courage and I got crushed
game 3 he suits up against my souls tokens and I act. he suits up, I act again, then he runs out of gas.
Round 5: Bant Enchant 2-0
game 1 he suits up and we start racing. I have a blood artist out and some souls and then drop a reckoner and act for the win
game 2 he's crushing me with a stalker with a few auras, including an unflinching courage. he's at 32 and i'm at 4 when I act. he draws lands and I draw gas
Round 6: Junk Reanimator 0-2
game 1 he pulls way ahead with thrags and then AoS finishes me
gmae 2 repeat game 1
awesome guy though, he was undefeated at the end of day 1
Round 7: Azoriuz Control 1-2
game 1 wasnt fast enough and he revelated and aetherling crushed me
gmae 2 got a fast hand with a blood artist, he verdicts. I draw gas with another blood artist and get him low enough to sac out for the win
game 3 got crushed be aetherling and renounce the guilds
Round 8: Naya Aggro 2-0
game 1 he gets an early voice but stumbles on land while I fly over him with a falkenrath
game 2 is similar, he got stuck on 3 for a few turns but had voice, smiter, smiter. I went souls then falkenrath swing, act sac-ing a token to save the aristocrat
Round 9: Jund 2-1
game 1 I punt super hard and dont lay a land for some reason, I definitely could have one this cuz i could have curved into falkenrath. He ultimately kills my dudes and kills me with a huntmaster and thragtusk
game 2 early appetite followed by the beats
game 3 he's hosing me, I could block and firststrike kill his thragtusk but hold back for the double reckoner act
7-2 was my record for the day and I barely squeeze into day 2
Round 10: UWR Flash 0-2
game 1 Super punt, I played so poorly this game it wasnt even funny. missed triggers all over the place, just terrible. got smashed be thundermaw
game 2 continued to play poorly and pretty much just hand him the win. got smashed by thundermaw and renounce the guilds.
Round 11 Gruul Aggro 2-0
after going over all the mistakes I made in the last round I decide to pull my head out of my a$$
game one he mulls to 5, i mull to 6. I slip his stromkirk, drop a reckoner he spears it. I get a sorin emblem and swing in the air with souls and falkenrath
game 2 I get there with lots of a cartel and souls as fodder
Round 12: Bant Enchant 0-2
game 1 he nut draws
game 2 we're racing and i swing in for lethal, my only option against a single stalker with a ton of auras. he simic charms it...
Round 13: Bant Flash/Control 0-2
game 1 I wasnt fast enough and he plasma captures my reckoner to play a thragtusk. He pretty much took over from that point and revelates and finishes the job with aetherling
game 2 I drop an early pithing needle against aetherling and appetite him, i can either get the verdict or the terminus. i take the verdict and try to race but I get him down to 6 but then he starts revelating and then he o rings my needle and wins with aetherling again
Round 14: Bant Enchant 2-1
at this point I know that I'm out of the money, but I was having fun so might as well finish it out.
game 1 I esentially act and he doesnt have anything after
game 2 I cant race him
game 3 He is doin crazy things like ajani, rootborn during combat just to get a permanent token from geist. So the board state looks like this: he has a angel token with a rancor, geist, stalker and ajani at 3 and is at 13 life. I have 2 souls, a reckoner, and a blood artist; i'm at 1 life, stuck on 3 non red lands with act and falkenrath in hand. he gives the rancored angel double strike and swings with the team. after much deliberation i block the angels with the souls and the geist with reckoner. the souls token dies to the first strike from the rancored angel, triggering artist and trampling over for 5(me 8, him 12), as regular damage resloves I now go to 1 from the stalker and the rancored angel, the giest and the other souls die triggering artist and i fling the 2 at him off the reckoner (me 3, him 8). I draw cavern of souls, slam down falkenrath swing for 7, sac for the last point....epic
Round 15: Bant Enchant 2-0
2 very close games that essentially were the same. I race until i can act and draw better than they do.
So lots of Bant Enchant... obviously there isnt much you can do against their nut draw but overall its not too hard to beat. its very linear and easy to predict for the most part. Also, no Junk aristocrats. That was the whole reason for blood baron in the main. but he looks like a better sideboard card. Thundermaw would be a pretty good substitution b/c I found I couldnt get that last bit of damage in and the haste and tapping flyers seems like a good way to punch through. The real big issue for this deck is that it cant deal with revelation and aetherling
also, is anybody going to sleeve this up in miami?
I notice you dont run lingering souls, did it not test well fot you? also, how is the blasphemous act doing?
resto angel and sire... seems like they wouldnt play well together. Also, why no mortars?