Worst performance since the first week I build a Standard 2012 Jund deck, finishing 1-3, drop.
The most successful match I faced was round 1 against the mirror. He won the first game on the back of a couple of Thragtusks and Garruk Relentless. I boarded in my 3 Duress, 3 Appetite for Brains, 2 Slaughter Games, 2 Rakdos's Retrun, and beat him soundly games two and three with Thundermaw Hellkites to the dome, particularly in game three off a Miracle'd Bonfire of the Damned that literally was the only card in my deck that could save me against flipped Huntmaster and assisting wolf token. I was in a tight spot until that landed, and he never recovered.
I finished each of the next three rounds 1-2, facing Esper Control, B/G GY Aggro (not remotely zombies in the traditional sense) and a Homebrew that just countered my defense and smashed face with Desecration Demon.
Notable changes I've made were to remove VNH, add Avengers (2) and KoI (4). Lost some standard removal to bring back Dreadbore and Liliana of the Veil. 4 Pillar of Flame were a complete liability. They weren't even viable removal against the B/G scavenge player.
Of note, ONCE tonite I got to Ultimate Big Garruk for six worms. I was pleased to win that game, though it didn't make up for the night's overall performance.
I've had trouble narrowing down card choices lately from about 100 to 75, and tonite, I feel confident I eliminated 16. This is where I feel I gained the most from this experience.
Worst performance since the first week I build a Standard 2012 Jund deck, finishing 1-3, drop.
The most successful match I faced was round 1 against the mirror. He won the first game on the back of a couple of Thragtusks and Garruk Relentless. I boarded in my 3 Duress, 3 Appetite for Brains, 2 Slaughter Games, 2 Rakdos's Retrun, and beat him soundly games two and three with Thundermaw Hellkites to the dome, particularly in game three off a Miracle'd Bonfire of the Damned that literally was the only card in my deck that could save me against flipped Huntmaster and assisting wolf token. I was in a tight spot until that landed, and he never recovered.
I finished each of the next three rounds 1-2, facing Esper Control, B/G GY Aggro (not remotely zombies in the traditional sense) and a Homebrew that just countered my defense and smashed face with Desecration Demon.
Notable changes I've made were to remove VNH, add Avengers (2) and KoI (4). Lost some standard removal to bring back Dreadbore and Liliana of the Veil. 4 Pillar of Flame were a complete liability. They weren't even viable removal against the B/G scavenge player.
Of note, ONCE tonite I got to Ultimate Big Garruk for six worms. I was pleased to win that game, though it didn't make up for the night's overall performance.
I've had trouble narrowing down card choices lately from about 100 to 75, and tonite, I feel confident I eliminated 16. This is where I feel I gained the most from this experience.
Since Day 2-ing GP San Antonio I've gone 2-2-1 and 1-3 drop in my last two FNMs.
1 Week ago:
Rd 1: Naya Midrange draw
Rd 2: Someone playing the BW Exalted Pre-Con deck with a few more cards win
Rd 3: Jank Jund Mirror lose
Rd 4: R/x Aggro win
Rd 5: WU Humans lose
today:
Rd 1: 5 Color door lose
Rd 2: BUG win
Rd 3: Good Jund Mirror lose
Rd 4: G/W lose
Some of those losses were just the sort of losses that Jund tends to get against Rogue decks when you haven't played against a specific combination of cards enough. The Jank Jund deck I played was playing stuff like Thundermaw, Disciple of Bolas, Mikaus, 4 Keyrunes, the 5/5 scavenge guy. Nothing as a 4 of, only 2 Thragtusks. But I pretty much lost to Keyrunes and his Disciple hitting 10 cards (Thragtusk + 5 scavenge counters). Then game 2 I SG calling Bolas... turned out he only played 1. And he proceded to beat me up with Mikaus and Hellkite.
The 5 color door deck was just a generic good-stuff deck that played virtually no creatures, a bit of mana ramp, and then had a top end of stuff like Sphinx's Revelation, Rakdos Return and Nicol Bolas (after siding out Dreadbores because I realized he played no creatures). My one potential misplay was when I duressed and saw Sphinx's Revelation, Rakdos Return and Bolas all in his hand. I chose the Revelation, then I Rakdos Returned all but 1 card in his hand (didn't want him to RR me first). He of course eventually played Bolas and stole all my creatures. I don't even know if taking the Bolas would've helped, because I'm playing against a ramp deck essentially and if I let him untap... he can Revelation out of any Rakdos Return I play... and then he has a Rakdos Return of his own... not to mention being able to Revelation for like 6-7 is basically game over in the position I was in.
So kind of a frustrating two weeks, but I guess in some way I'm glad I have a challenge rather than the weeks prior to the GP in which I top 4'd 2-3 weeks in a row.
Meta: very very aggro. Only saw 2 blue/white decks (there might have been 1 or 2 more).
Match 1: RB aggro. The match up I have been practicing against.
Game 1: she gets some early beats up and she pillars, mortars my huntmasters and VNM. I stabilize with a keyrune to defend and a Garruk Relentless making tokens.
Game 2: I rode 2 Deathrite shamans to victory. I dropped them turns 1 and 2.... rest of what I had was removal. Exiled Geralf's Messenger after dreadbore sent it to the yard with shamans. Also, bonfire hardcast for 2 to whip the board and she ran out of steam.
Match 2: RDW. This was against my neighbor who I have helped over the last few weeks build his deck. He has been playing against my Jund deck a lot, along with my Naya and Reanimator.
Game 1: Mull to 6, but kept 2 land, 1 farseek to 1 huntmaster, ultimate price, and a pillar of flame. Was able to ramp to be able to drop thrag, then garruk relentless.
Game 2: He was wayyy too fast and had a perfect curve: turn 1 Stromkrirk, then ash zealot, then lightning mauler and stone guy. followed by hellrider and thundermaw.
Game 3: he had only burn spells and I kept loading the board with creatures. When he did get 2 creatures out, I was able to bonfire to wipe them out.
Match 3: against another RDW..... a bit different though.
Game 1: He mulls to 5, I was able to drop 3 Huntmasters and kept flipping all 3 nonstop.
Sideboard: same as above
Game 2: way to fast, kill whatever I drop and everything he has contains haste.
Game 3: was pretty much a stall. He both were removal heavy. What kept me alive was the ability to control his haste creatures with Ultimate Price and Abrupt Decay. Garruk Relentless help me take stuff out, but ate burn fast. He won by top decking Thundermaw back to back. First loss.
Match 4, the mirror. This guy was playing a Jund aggro deck. He played 4 falkenrath Aristocrat along with the jund normal, but no keyrunes, bonfire.
Game 1, I won dice roll. Off to a great start, threats on the board, while keeping his side clean. I get out Garruk PH and overrun the board. He did get out 2 deathrite shamans and they caused some issues.
Sideboard: I brought in pretty much everything. And took out all anti aggro.
Game 2: He slaughter games my Huntermasters (I had 2 in hand). I return the favor naming Thrag (he only had 3 total). He was able to get out 2 Garruk, PH throughout the game and almost draw double the cards I drew. He won with 4/1 Falkenrath over 4 turns. I was able to get pillar of flame one, but another one showed up.
Game 3: This one was tough. I was able to Rakdos's Return him for 2 on turn 4 and pillar that turn also. I was able to get a deathrite shaman out and he stuck around for a while doing some damage. He put me on the clock with 2 Falkenraths swinging for 8 a turn. I won by top decking a Kessig and pushing my thrag and huntmaster's tokens (huntermaster was instant killed after landing). He got me to 4 and had 2 falkenraths tapped. I then top decked my 2nd Rakdos's return to do enough damage to win after swinging all out.
Match 5: vs GW aggro (well seems more midrange). Humans with lox smiter, rancor, and wolfir silverheart.
Game 1: he mulls to 6 and keeps a 2 land hand. He was able to get to 5/6 to drop silverheart to pair with lox. Garruk was making beast tokens and I was able to hold him off due to my kessig able to bump my 3/3 beast to 8/3. However, he was able to gavony township. I won first game because I stalled the board and 2 deathrite shamans were going to town doing 4 damage a turn. I also topdecked a bonfire turned 4 to wipe the board of champion of parish and his 1/1 spirit tokens from the travelers.
I forget how I sideboard, but I did it very wrong as he showed me his deck. He has 2-3 sigards, and I do not know why I brought in Tribute to hunger. I also removed the 2 Garruk Relentless for 2 Garruk PH. I also brought in 2 Rakdos's Return and 2 Slaughter Games (to name wolfir silverheart).
Game 2: he was on the play and kept a very sketchy hand. He kept a 1 land hand with a pilgrim. He was able to get out a lox smiter, but I removed the pilgrim, He played another pilgrim and I remove that before he could use it. He doesn't see a second land until turn 8, but by that time, I had a thrag, 2 huntermasters and removal in my hand.
Overall, 4-1. The top 2 guys (who were 4-0 going into the final , and they were the only undefeated people going into the 5th round) decided to draw their final game. I had a great record because my only lose was to one of the top 2 guys who split. My wins were not against anyone who dropped out or went 0-5/1-4. I came 2nd! Got 6 packs, and a promo foil of my choice. I opened a foil vraska (4th vraska for me) and my 4th deathrite shaman.
TL;DR
2-1 vs BR Aggro
2-1 vs RDW pure aggro low drops
1-2 vs RDW top heavy haste
2-1 vs Aggro Jund
2-0 vs GW Midrange
I'm not a fan of Golgari Charm, but if it's working for you then keep at it.
Also, do you usually side out Olivia against aggro? My opinion of her against aggro is that it's a house if they don't remove her the turn she comes into play because she immediately starts pinging their guys and blocking. You are going to 2 for 1 them at that point. If they remove her it's not as bad because they had waste a spell instead of curving out. Obviously it would suck for that to be the first thing you play that game only to have it removed. So I dont know.
I've been thinking I might take out Olivia myself against my meta because it's very R/x aggro light. From what I remember of this weekend, there were only two people playing R/x or Zombies or something to that effect. A lot of people playing control or G/W or some kind of midrange, where Olivia isn't as great (well... she's good against G/W).
I'm not a fan of Golgari Charm, but if it's working for you then keep at it.
Also, do you usually side out Olivia against aggro? My opinion of her against aggro is that it's a house if they don't remove her the turn she comes into play because she immediately starts pinging their guys and blocking. You are going to 2 for 1 them at that point. If they remove her it's not as bad because they had waste a spell instead of curving out. Obviously it would suck for that to be the first thing you play that game only to have it removed. So I dont know.
I've been thinking I might take out Olivia myself against my meta because it's very R/x aggro light. From what I remember of this weekend, there were only two people playing R/x or Zombies or something to that effect. A lot of people playing control or G/W or some kind of midrange, where Olivia isn't as great (well... she's good against G/W).
The golgari charm is still in my sideboard because the main place I play at has a lot of control... ever seen a 3 d sphere, 4 o ring table lol... It was also a winner for me against G/(u)(w) hexproof enchantments.
I do side out Olivia a lot. But in half my matches, I kept her in. Sided her out vs the RDW and BR top-end-creature-heavy deck. Most of the time, like VNH, she is shot down fast. And if I do top deck her with enough mana to land her and ping for 1, the aggro decks out already have been attacking with other flyers like thundermaw/sigarda. I keep her in there, 2 MB, so be a deciding factor the first game. They need to answer her. When I played GW aggro and mirror, she stuck, she stayed, she destroyed. But yes, she is about 90% of the time, the first 2 cards taken out.
Well . . . my latest FNM was (mostly) successful and I finished 3-0-1 and ended in 2nd place out of just 20 players. Here is my latest deck list played:
Things were a tad different this night. The cost was $10 a person and that paid for pizza/drinks and 2 packs. Also, the rounds were cut to just 30 minutes since it was the first time the shop had tried this and they wanted to take a 30 minute break to eat the pizza. The way it worked was iffn you won the round, you got to pick a pack from your opponent. After you lost your original 2 packs, you were out of the tournament and kept what you had left. I finished the tournament with 4 packs and pulled about $50 in rare cards (1 was a Hellkite).
ROUND ONE: I played a ‘newish’ player who had a deck in in penny sleeves. It was a mono-green ramp. He was mostly a casual player transitioning to FNM and I kinda felt bad since I had a good idea of what was going to happen.
Game One: I basically pulled an early Hawk and killed him after my Thrag came out. I only saw an Elf, Pilgrim and 2 Abundant Growths in the game.
Game Two: Well . . . almost exactly the same game as game one. About the only difference was I whacked all his creatures with an early Bonfire cast for one before Thrag won the game. I took an M13 pack.
ROUND TWO: I was kinda scared this round. I was playing a buddy named Carlos and he had an almost complete B/R Zombie deck. All he was missing (basically) were 3 Gravecrawlers; Still . . . a super-fast agro deck.
Game One: By turn four he had 2 Messengers and 2 Ghouls. Turn five he dropped a Hellrider and I scooped since he was swinging for like twenty something.
Game Two: It was almost the same but turn three I drew a Bonfire and once it whipped his board clear, he never drew any decent threats. I dropped a Thrag and Huntmaster for the win.
Game Three: Once again I miracled an early Bonfire for two to help me stabilize early. On turn four, I was able to play a Rakdos for four and emptied his hand of two lands, a Demon and Hellrider. After that, he never drew any more lands and between my early Farseeks and a Thrag and Hellkite, I felt I almost lucked into the win. I took a Rav pack from him.
ROUND THREE: I knew I would have to play one of my boys and I got Mat, my oldest. He plays a modified populate type deck that when up and rolling, can destroy almost anything. Problem is, it is slow to play and mana finicky.
Game One: It took him a while, but he eventually populated an Armada Wurm and crushed me. The real problem was we only had about ten minutes for games two and three.
Game Two: Both of us played multiple board wipes after we both had life up the ying yang from all the Thrags and copied/populated Thrags on his side. We had just gotten to turns after time expired when my Garruk popped and gave me ten 6/6 green Wurms. He drew and didn’t find an answer. On my last turn I swung for 67 total (with my wolf run) and tied the round (I am pretty sure is the most I have ever attacked for in Standard to date). We rolled 2 dice and my snake eyes gave him the ‘win’ for pack purposes . . . he took an M13.
ROUND FOUR: I played a kid I had seen before but thought he typically only played EDH with his buddies. He was playing a R/G Werewolf deck that I was pretty unfamiliar with. Boy was his deck scary.
Game One: It was kinda embarrassing. He Mulliganed to five, kept one land and didn’t draw another till one turn before I won. I had 2 Huntmasters and they just won the game for me. The only way I knew what his deck was I asked to see his graveyard and he showed me all the cards he had been discarding.
Game Two. Well . . . I started a tad slow deciding to play three tapped lands in a row and on his turn five he played a Moonmist and suddenly ended the game. Boy was that fast and dramatic. I guess he was kinda slow playing me and BANG I got crushed.
Game Three: I was suddenly worried . . . very worried. I went to my SB and grabbed all the removal I could find. I guess I wasn’t all that aware of his deck and never knew how quick it could literally crush me. However, again, he had a mana issue and was showing all green when he was needing all red. I took that as a sign and thrashed him quickly with a Demon. I took another Rav pack and ended my night feeling pretty good despite my bad dice roll.
Another buddy (MC) won going 4-0 with his G/W Human deck. We didn’t play this time, but the last time I played him he did beat me. Since I have modified my deck some I feel a little better about the matchup, though. Still . . . would love to hear ideas about my current deck and what to do to make it even better.
Did you board in Knight of Infamy? I will be playing in a GP Atlantic City trial this weekend and I have him MB even though the meta has changed I would like to try him out. Just curious if he worked out for you or if you got him out at all. Thanks!
Did you board in Knight of Infamy? I will be playing in a GP Atlantic City trial this weekend and I have him MB even though the meta has changed I would like to try him out. Just curious if he worked out for you or if you got him out at all. Thanks!
I had him in my SB for one of two different G/W Human decks I was thinking I might play but never did play either and never did bring him in. My son does play both the Wurms and Elephants, but I decided not to bring him in due to the issue with trample. I actually have been seriously considering pulling both of them to help more with the Sigarda/Restoration/Sublime issue but still haven’t decided what to do exactly.
Game 1: I get Deathrite Shaman and Liliana out, making him discard and getting rid of all his flashback cards before he gets value out of them. I cast some threats while he durdles, he dies fairly quickly.
Game 2: Exactly the same as first game.
1-0
Round 2 - GW Aggro
Game 1: He gets turn 1 pilgrim, turn 2 makes a 2/2 token with Selesnya Charm and attaches 2 rancors to it then starts beating me with it. I farseek turn 2, and manage to get a rakdos keyrune and huntmaster into play to block and keep me alive. I kill the knight by blocking and he plays wolfir avenger (with 2 rancors on it). Thragtusk along with a searing spear and ultimate price buys me time from forcing him to regenerate his Avenger repeatedly, but I go down to about 5. I manage to get Olivia out and steal his 7/3 Avenger. I have a Garruk PH, a Thundermaw Hellkite and something else in my hand. I'm wary of a Selesnya Charm, but I play the Hellkite anyway and swing for lethal.
Game 2: I side pillars of flame and garruk relentless into my deck, and take out PH, Rakdos's Return, and Liliana. I draw a good opener with a lot of removal. I manage to get some blockers down and kill some of his guys. At some point I get Olivia down, and he has an Avenger and a Resto Angel in play while I have Olivia and a 3/3 beast token. I'm on the offensive, having killed his early threats (he got a turn 2 Loxodon Smiter that I promptly abrupt decayed). He blocks my 3/3 beast with Resto Angel, I ping it to death with Olivia and kill him.
2-0
Round 3: BR Zombies/Aggro
Game 1: He mulls to 5, completely floods out. Eventually he gets an aristocrat or two out, but I dreadbore it next turn. I finish him off fairly quickly.
Game 2: He mulls to 6 (I do too, keeping a hand entirely of removal) and does nothing for the first 4-5 turns. Same as last game.
I got really lucky here because this guy was one of the top 10 people in terms of planeswalker points here in England last year, and usually 4-0s where I play. If he'd not drawn the worst cards possible he probably would have trampled over me easily.
3-0
Round 4: UWb control
Game 1: He can't find his 4th land he needs for Jace and friends, meanwhile I completely flood out and have 4 removal cards in hand. I play two Huntmasters which he promptly removes. Eventually I have about 13 lands and didn't draw a single threat in that time. He mills me to death with two Nephalia Drownyards.
Game 2: I have the nuts draw. I get Deathrite Shaman out on turn 1, I am completely okay for mana, I get Liliana out on turn 3, I Rakdos Return for x=4 - making him discard his entire hand, I play a Thragtusk followed up next turn by a Garruk PH drawing me 5 cards. Completely blitzkreiged him.
Game 3: The closest match. I get an early underworld connections which he neglected to destroy with his ghost quarter for 5-6 turns, netting me huge card advantage. We play back and forth for a while with threats and answers. He kills my creatures, I kill his planeswalkers. Eventually I win the card advantage attrition war and he's left with 1 card while I have a Thragtusk and Huntmaster on the board (with another one of each in my hand) and I manage to topdeck a duress to get rid of the last card in his hand: a supreme verdict. I then kill him.
4-0
Congrats man, I really like your inclusion of Lili MB. She is so awesome.
You may want to think about moving some amount of pillars to your MB? 2/4 decks you played were aggro, it'd be nice to have that card against them g1.
2 - 0 Rb Aggro
Easy MU for me. His list isn't really optimal, featuring Vexing Devils and Thunderwraths. G1 I keep a hand of Avenger and Bonfire of the Damned. He starts of with Devil and Hellhole Flailer and later an Ash Zealot. I draw into a 2nd Avenger and an UP. Avenger stops his threats very easily. I play draw into a Thragtusk and start pounding him. Second game is even easier, he mulls to 5 and can't develop any serious board state.
0 - 2 Junk Midrange-Reanimator
This is a very hard MU for me. His deck plays Smiters, Restoration Angels and Farseeks. Add a solid reanimator core to that, and you've got one hell of a deck to beat. First game is very tight. I start to race him with KoI and an Avenger, but he stabilizes after an animated AoS. My KoI remains untouched, until he Severs it. I don't draw into any removal to get my Avenger back or to kill the RA. In the end my opponent has 5 life, I have 6 mana open, I untap, and draw into a Rakdos's Return. My opponent has his Angels tapped after attacking me. I Alpha-Strike with my lone 2/2 wolf, that hits the brick wall of a flashed Restoration Angel. So close and yet so far.
The second game I actually manage to Slaughter Game his Unburial Rites, but because his list is capable of performing very well even without the spell, I still lose. I open with 2 KoI, which is super sweep, but they get Severed. He starts to hardcast AoS with the ramp included, exiling 2 Thragtusk and another AoS from his graveyard. I don't draw any removal and lose on the spot.
2 - 1 Turbofog
This was a very annoying game. I was unfamiliar with the deck as we started. The game lasts for 40 minutes, he draws with Revelation and we trade resources, until I scoop. With the remaining fifteen or so I side in all of my anti-control stuff and win the other games with ease. KoI and Avenger do the most work. 3rd game I empty his hand T5 with a RR for 4.
2 - 1 GW Aggro
A very potent list. The guy had lost against the Reanimator-deck as well. I don't remember much of the game - first game he wins, the other he loses. We both played tempo, apart from game 3 when the game stalled after me Severing 3 Arbor Elves and Decaying his Thalia. G1 he played a T4 Sigarda, which combined to an otherwise aggressive start just makes me lose. G1 I aggro with KoI and make Huntmaster flip back and forth, killing his plays instant-speed and finishing the game with a timely Hellkite. Last game goes on for very long, because neither of us draw into good plays. I finally land an Olivia and an Avenger, backed up by a Kessig Wolf Run. I play around potential Selesnya Charms by pumping Olivia into only a 4/3 flyer. My opponent finally plays a Sigarda, and while his hand has all the necessary plays to win me the next turn, my Avenger and Olivia manage to deal the needed 6 damage.
I was slightly disappointed that we only had a total of 13 players for FNM, but I decided to stick around and play anyhoo. My deck is almost exactly the same as last week but I took out both KoI in my SB and included two Silklash Spiders instead. Boy was I happy about that change . . . here is my latest deck list played:
Instead of the normal round to round hashing out . . . I will just give you most of the high lights and also some about my opponents or their decks or both.
ROUND ONE: I played a ‘new’ player named John. He told me he had just moved to Arizona a month or two ago and used to play but had quit for some time. He tried to play the week previous, but his deck was no longer standard so he was in the process of making a new one. He played a (as he called it) “Budget Exalted Deck.” I pretty much won easily 2-0. All he really had that were threats were both the KoG & KoI along with 4 Cathedrals and 4 Duty-Bound Dead. Afterwards, I took some time and helped him learn of some of the other Exalted cards and a few other strategies. It seems he will be back.
I wanted to make two points . . . first, unfortunately for John, I was able to hit RR for 4 and empty his hand in each game. Pretty devastating on the OP . . . second, we played a third ‘for fun’ game and he smoked me with a pretty nifty combo. I got out the gates pretty slow and he was able to whack me for 7 with one hit from his KoI and then do 14 to me playing an Exsanguinate. I will let you figure out the ‘issue’ with his play.
ROUND TWO: For the first time in a couple of months, I played the store owner Joe. He is super new to MTG and has been only playing for just 5 or 6 months. However, he has all the resources of his business and also my ‘best’ MTG playing son teaching and helping him since my son works there also. He was playing a R/W/G Cloudshift deck. All it was, was the biggest and best R/W/G creatures that have great ‘enter the battlefield’ abilities being exiled over and over again . . . with lotsa ramp. I wasn’t all that familiar with his deck, but was able to survive with the win 2-1.
For the most part my awesome cards in this game were Sever & Slaughter. Game one he did have almost 40 life from his Thrag, but between my Thrags and kill/exile cards I survived. I was particularly happy to be able to exile his Avacyn right after it came out. I think this really blew his bubble up. Game two was my first mulligan on the night and in total I only saw 3 lands in my defeat. The third game he had a pretty good start but I drew my secret weapon on the night . . . Silky!!! When I dropped this into play, you could see the writing on his face . . . game over. I literally blocked everything he had to play and when his Zealous Constricts stole it as a last reprieve, he was only able to do 2 to me which was completely useless. I was as relieved as anything in beating him and ready for round three.
ROUND THREE: This game was against a young kid (early 20s) named Zach who was playing a very quick R/B Rakdos deck. His ‘trick’ was getting a Guttersnipe or two in play, protecting them with a lot of 2/1 or 2/2 hasty dudes, then crushing me with either a well-played Hellrider or one of his Bumps/Murders/Thunders. He hadn’t lost even a game on the night and was feeling pretty confident against me. However . . . timely removal for his snipes and him not really getting the spells he needed did him in. Again my hero was my removal package for the most part. In both games I had to hard cast a Bonefire for one, but that one cleared the board. Plus, my Demon was just a tad too strong. On the night I seemed to have everything I needed in every game except for the one game I had to mulligan and only drew a total of three lands.
ROUND FOUR: At this point I was 3-0 in rounds and 6-1 in games played. As we all knew (since there were only 10 players left and only two of us undefeated) it was time for me verses Andrew. All the ‘younger’ guys were rooting for the kid and the ‘older’ guys were rooting for me. We shuffled our decks and I began to see what all the kids were rooting for.
He was playing a Rancor mono-green Beasty deck. Of course his stars were the mana guys and Thrag, but his added ‘buddies’ included Craterhoof, Elderscale Wurm, Moldgraf Monstrosity, Predator Ooze & Ghoultree. Plus, Lotleth Troll and similar dudes to keep me busy in the meantime. Boy the first time I played a Slaughter was I sweating. What I saw all the ‘beef’ he had and I really wondered how I would survive. Somehow that first game, I was able to use Olivia and steal a rancoredGhoultree and swing for the win. He had a Staff out but kept forgetting to whack me at the end of turns and because of that I barely survived. Game two was my second mulligan on the night and I pulled only a total of two lands. He crushed me pretty quickly. Game three was just fortune on my side. He mulliganed once and just never got enough lands to start anything and my double Hunts ended his night. I finished 4-0 and a total 8-2 on games.
Overall I am pretty happy with how it is playing and don’t miss my mono-black Trader deck quite as much now.
I do not understand why mainboard Slaughter games and more than 1 (if 1 at all) Rakdos's Return. Most of the IQs/GPTs/FNMs I have frequented have had a strong showing of Aggro compared to midrange/tempo decks. I understand doing RR for 3-4 can hurt, however, aggro decks will almost have an empty hand anyhow. I feel some board presence would be better suited. And slaughter games naming a random card? 3 people out of 30 in a FNM ran UW flash. 1 person had no entreat, the other ran 4, and the other ran 4 GoST (which the other 2 did not). Hard to be reactive with SG before they can play bombs.
I still run 2 Rakdos Return main for basically every other matchup other than Zombies. I really don't know what the plan is to beat a deck like Bant (or just any control/midrange matchup in general) if you don't run cards like that. The deck isn't fast enough to deal 20 before they use their card advantage to take control of the game.
And here's something to think about: I would say the main reason why Jund isn't as big in the format is because while it can tune itself to be able to beat different decks, it's really hard to be able to beat everything at once. You can make the deck so that it beats control (main deck SG, Duress/AfB, RR, etc) or you can make the deck so that it beats aggro. But it's hard to do so for both. So I suppose if you really want to hard counter Zombies you could take the RR out and put in something like Pillar or flame or w/e. But then again, you are still going to have to face non-zombie decks.
I do not understand why mainboard Slaughter games and more than 1 (if 1 at all) Rakdos's Return. Most of the IQs/GPTs/FNMs I have frequented have had a strong showing of Aggro compared to midrange/tempo decks. I understand doing RR for 3-4 can hurt, however, aggro decks will almost have an empty hand anyhow. I feel some board presence would be better suited. And slaughter games naming a random card? 3 people out of 30 in a FNM ran UW flash. 1 person had no entreat, the other ran 4, and the other ran 4 GoST (which the other 2 did not). Hard to be reactive with SG before they can play bombs.
I completely understand you point about SG. And, coincidentally, just yesterday I made several changes and one of those changes was to now have 1 SG in my MB & 1 SG in my SB. However, I really do have to agree with DarkRitual. RR is just a completely totally bombing card. I have never casted it, had it resolve, and wished it wasn’t in my deck to play. I don’t care iffn they only have one card. Earlier tonight I was playing one of my boys and it was quite a ways in the game and we both were under 10 life. He only had one card in hand and I decided to RR him after he was tapped out after playing a Clone on my Thrag and playing a Parallel Lives. He also had a Séance in play. The (single) card I made him discard was a Rootborn Defenses. I know you don’t know what he plays but believe me, the one card I forced him to discard was probably one of the most dangerous cards he could have had (that or Druid’s Deliverance. My case being RR is just an awesome card and I could hardly count the number of times this one card turned the game from an iffy game to me controlling the game. And I have also played it just as a big burn spell to allow my dudes to finish off the game on the attack step.
And one last thing about SG . . . while playing MB could be iffy and I could just whiff on my decision of what card to name, I have never played it game one and then, not known each and every card my opponent is playing and the deck they are playing for games two and three. I will already admit there are a couple of decks my deck can only beat with good luck or hopes and wishes . . . on game one. But I attempt to always be able to SB and play confidently knowing I will have the advantage games two and three. I believe playing confidently knowing what I am facing gives me a decisive advantage and with that, a very good chance for the win.
I mean... people know about Rakdos Return, it's an absolute bomb card in every matchup other than Zombies. I would go as far as to say that if it didn't exist then we wouldn't have a chance against most non-zombie matchups. Our deck would have to turn into aggro because we can't grind out wins against control decks.
Quick Q about RR: vs control, on a good hand, after they play GoST, I could RR for 2. However, I'd be taking 6 the next turn and possibly the next if I don't have cavern out.
I mean I could play huntmaster instead.
The only issue I have with RR is by the time I have 4 or 5 mana, they have little to no cards.
Edit- before I say anything more, I'll try and Mb 2 of them.
When I play my son who typically plays a Bant control deck, I hold them (or try to) till after his 1st or 2nd Sphinx's Revelation play. That way it is likely to resolve for not only more damage but helps clear out the hand he just built back up. Sure I may not be able to equal what he just did but it sure takes the air out of his balloon when I get to do it.
When I play my son who typically plays a Bant control deck, I hold them (or try to) till after his 1st or 2nd Sphinx's Revelation play. That way it is likely to resolve for not only more damage but helps clear out the hand he just built back up. Sure I may not be able to equal what he just did but it sure takes the air out of his balloon when I get to do it.
Gotcha. My play group and area is RDW and BR aggro. By the time I get 1 creature, their hand is empty lol. I try what you said if I play bant
Quick Q about RR: vs control, on a good hand, after they play GoST, I could RR for 2. However, I'd be taking 6 the next turn and possibly the next if I don't have cavern out.
I mean I could play huntmaster instead.
The only issue I have with RR is by the time I have 4 or 5 mana, they have little to no cards.
Edit- before I say anything more, I'll try and Mb 2 of them.
It doesn't sound like you are playing against control if they have less than 3 cards by the time you have 4-5 mana. Because what always happens with me when I have RR in my opening hand (or draw it early) is you wait until they have a number of cards equal to the number of cards in hand. Because letting them keep one means they'll pick their best card and keep it... and said card might be something like Jace or w/e that can go a long way to re-filling their hand.
Usually if I'm playing Bant Control or Jund Midrange mirror, X=4 usually ends up wiping their hand. So obviously this means that you can play your Thragtusks and removal the turns before and then drop RR and suddenly you have 3-4 cards to their none and you are in control of the game.
It doesn't sound like you are playing against control if they have less than 3 cards by the time you have 4-5 mana. Because what always happens with me when I have RR in my opening hand (or draw it early) is you wait until they have a number of cards equal to the number of cards in hand. Because letting them keep one means they'll pick their best card and keep it... and said card might be something like Jace or w/e that can go a long way to re-filling their hand.
Usually if I'm playing Bant Control or Jund Midrange mirror, X=4 usually ends up wiping their hand. So obviously this means that you can play your Thragtusks and removal the turns before and then drop RR and suddenly you have 3-4 cards to their none and you are in control of the game.
HOST: Fair Game
LOCATION: Downers Grove, IL
EVENT: FNM
ROUNDS PLAYED:4
MATCH POINTS: 12 (3-0-1)
PLACE: 2nd (OUT OF 18)
PRIZE: 7 PACKS OF RTR AND GITAXIAN PROBE PROMO
Round 1: G/B ZOMBIES
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Loss) Get's the nuts draw with all one drops and I didn't have a sweeper.
Game 3: (Win)
-
Round 2: Bant Control (Reid Duke list)
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Win) Slaughter game T4 on Sphinx's Revelation, he showed me a dissipate in his hand with 3 terminus, I turn 5 Thragtusk, that got dissipated, T6 I play Rakos's Returns and he is pretty much dead.
-
Round 3: OmniDoorThragFire
Game 1: (Win) Knight of Infamy came down turn two in all these games doing so much work!
Game 2: (Loss) Long grindy game sphinx's revelation was his MVP..
Game 3: (Win) Knight of Infamy followed by two Huntsmasters and then a T6 Thundermaw and he didn't have enough to stay alive.
-
Round 4: G/W Humans (Split for top 2)
Game 1: (Draw)
Game 2: (Draw)
Round 1 vs Rakdos Agro
Game 1: I draw less, and my opponent is on the play. I had a removal for each creature he plays and huntmaster of the fells finished the game.
Game 2: 2nd turn farseek, 3rd turn huntmaster, 4th turn thragtusk, 5th turn thragtusk, 6th turn olivia that sealed the deal.
1-0
Round 2 vs Bant Control
Game 1: Im on the draw, my opponent was stuck to 3 lands, he was forced to flashback think twice to draw a land. I was able to resolve garruk, primal hunter, he exiled it with detention sphere and with only 1 mana open. I rakdos return for 6 making him discard his whole hand.
Game 2: Im now the one who was stuck to 3-4 lands, he has thragtusk to finish me off together with 3 counter spells.
Game 3: i kept 2 lands, farseek, rakdos keyrune, slaughter games, nicol bolas and appetite for brains. My land drop was consistent, I appetite jace AOT, next i used slaughter games naming thragtusk because thats the only threat in his hand. But time is up in the round so he didn't have the chance to meet bolas.
1-0-1
Round 3 vs Selesnya Agro
Game 1: both of us mulled to 5. He's on the play, 2nd turn smiter for him while 3rd turn olivia for me. He casted centaur healer and taps out, I rakdos return him for 2 making him discard faith shield and restoration angel. I drew thragtusk and he kept on drawing lands and mana dork.
Game 2: he did a turn 2 centaur healer, i was just ramping. Rancored his centaur, I have a removal and rakdos return in hand my life was only 10. I choose to rakdos return for 2 to make him discard his hand. I caught a sigarda. Swinging his pilgrim and centaur+rancor dropped me to 4 life, casted thragtask my turn to block the centaur, he casted another centaur his turn. I draw olivia and wins with it.
2-0-1
Round 4 vs Junk Reanimator
Game 1: I have huntmaster on play he has no creatures on board. I rakdos return for enought to make him discard his hand. He failed to draw removal or unburial rites. Huntmaster/Ravager all the way.
Game 2: Turn 1 deathrite shaman, turn 2 appetite exiling restoration angel. Later on my opponent has 1 card in hand 2 loxodon smiter, 2 centaur healer, 1 somberwald sage and a restoration angel and 4 mana in play. I have 3 ravager of the fells and 1 huntmaster of the fells in play. Casted another appetite exiling craterhoof behemoth. I was hoping he wouldn't draw sever the bloodline and he never drew it. The huntmasters are going crazy flippin back and fourth all together which made me win the last round.
Went 5-1 last night (Technicially I was undefeated, me and a close friend went to finals and he asked me to take a split, so I did but i 2-0'd him on the way to the top).
Overall fantastic night, 2-0'd every game had great draws all night long.
Round 1: Static/Peddler Combo (2-0)
G1: Usualy t1 DRS, t2 farseek, t3 Olivia and he just never recovered after that.
G2: Pretty much the same thing except no DRS. Olivia hits the board, followed by a thrag and kessig and he just had no hope.
Round 2: Angel/Life gain brew (2-0)
G1: Saw 3 Pacifisms and Orings, was kind of neat i guess. Player wasnt experienced with tourny play. Got up to 50 life, Olivia took over the game.
G2: 3 Thrag Tusks and Kessig just did everything.
Round 3: RBU Control (2-0)
G1: Long drawn out game, I'd slow roll threats, honestly the work horse of the game was Keyrune with Kessig. Game came down to a 10 minute decision (He played Nico +3'd to kill keyrune, I turn it into a creature and the game just stopped for 10 minutes to find a ruling it that was legal, judge ruled in my favor after no one could find out) He was at 3 health, game over.
G2: Game manages to go alot quicker since I got a Cavern out early, and t4 slaughter games'd his Olivia which was his only real board threat in his deck. t5 got out Garruk (surprised me no counters), won with CA.
Round 4: G/W Midrange (2-0)
G1: Got a good start, t2 seek, t3 Olivia, t4 Thrag. He dropped a Loxodon, bounced a thrag with resto angel, burned removal on loxodon, and Wolfir Silverheart. Olivia took over the game.
G2: He almost got me, t1 arbor elf, t2 double rancor, had to burn a removal t2 on an elf, he drops a smiter t3, i drop Liliana to make him sac, he drops another smiter, i use abrupt, he drops another smiter with double rancor, hits me instead of liliana which lost him the game, made him sac next turn, stabilized at 4 life, and won.
Round 5: U/W Flash (2-0)
G1: I got a fantastic draw, t1 DRS, t2 seek, t3 cavern naming beast and just went to town. I pulled both my abrupts, he Dshere'd my DRS which i AD'd, then he played pike and it ate a decay. After that kessig hits the board, and he doesnt draw an answer.
G2: Loooooong drawn out game, I cavern naming dragon, and start beating down with Hellkite, it meets a dsphere, next 20 minutes is me trying to actually get a threat to stick, finally he taps out to a forced Rev for 5 after taking some thrag beats, when he does I RR for his remaining health.
Round 6: R/U/B Control (split 5-1)
This was my good friend who I 2-0'd on the way to the finals, first place was 12 packs, 2nd was 6. He asked if we could split, and I felt kinda guilty, had a fantastic night so I agree'd (though I was undefeated so i also was tempted to not ruin my run). We split 9-9 and roll for the points, he rolls a 15, i roll a 3. EPIC!
Another week and another (almost) successful FNM; I ended up 4-1-0 (20 players) with my only loss coming in the first round. I finished 4th and won $5 store credit along with the Gitaxian Probe Promo. A reminder of my current deck being played:
Round One: I played a new player and had no clue what he was playing which helped my futility against him. It looked early like he was playing G/W Humans and I started out with only two colored mana and two colorless by turn four so attempted a Slaughter Games and called out Silverblade Paladin. I did see all of his deck but struck out with my guess . . . it was full of Mayors and Champions instead. With the loss of tempo he eventually got me right before I got him. Now I know I have gotten criticized in the past for playing SG in my MB, but I still believe it is the correct play for several reasons. 1. This is my first time in months striking out. 2. For game 2 (and maybe 3) I know his entire deck already. 3. It is still an uncounterable answer that can be devastating game 1. 4. It has won tens of games compared to not working. 5. His deck should have had Silverblade . . . it would have been even that much better.
Game two didn’t look all that bad beginning . . . but by turn 6 I had exactly 5 mana and a fist full of cards . . . but no black mana source on my battlefield. He had just five creatures out but three of them were bloody Crusader of Odric's and they were each 5/5. I had soooooo many answers in my hand and not a single one I could cast.
Round Two: I played another new player who was just starting and also kinda older like me. He was playing a deck he had made himself and was basically a Delver deck w/ his win condition being a Niv-Mizzet. While I only won 2-1, after the first game I basically helped him play his deck and he won the 2nd game with me not really playing super hard. I never side boarded and just helped him learn how to play his deck since wasn’t all that threatened. He was super thankful, though, for my help and said next week would have even a better brew.
Round Three: This round I played a kid I hadn’t played in a couple of months. He was playing a Rakdos Bump/Snipe type deck trying to split spells that do extra snipey damage and aggro. I won 2-0 and basically each game he got me to either 8 or 9 life before I took control of the board and dominated him.
Round Four: Another new kid I hadn’t played before. He was Rakdos strong playing mostly spells doing damage and haste creatures to complement Hellrider. SG ended both his games and he never threatened me since Thrag was soooooo wonderful . . . and got me another 2-0.
Round Five: Last round I played a young buddy of mine. He is (again) a Rakdos guy with all the biggest and baddest R/B nasties you can buy. SG took all his DD both games and he never got another significant threat before I took the games over and won another round with 2-0
In looking back over the games, maybe that one game loss in round two could have cost me 3rd place verses 4th place, but the payout was the same and helping the new guy and giving him a boost of confidence I felt was more important. I also felt more resolved that a SG in my MB is the best play after all five rounds were complete. As far as the family went . . . one son took 14th, my wife took 7th, I took 4th and my son (who also works at the shop and played the only [serious] B/W control deck) beat my wife 2-1 in the last round and went undefeated for 1st place and a $50 store credit.
Well . . . last night was Wednesday night ‘casual’ and we had a total of 16 players for three rounds. I went 3-0-0 and 6-1 in games for a 3rd place finish. One of my boys took 1st and the other took 7th. I have made quite a few changes in my deck trying to meet what I am seeing more often and meet what I expect this next weekend at the SCG IQ in Phoenix. Here is my current list:
ROUND ONE: I got the ‘privilege’ of playing one of my boys in the 1st round. Since we both have the others’ decks memorized, we both knew each game would be decided early. The first game he took a risk with only 2 mana and got burned for it. The second game was kinda similar with both of us mulliganing but my 6 were full of good stuff and his weren’t. He kept and by the time Thrag came out it was over. Twice he had to tap out to play spells and when the game was over, he still had two Syncopates in his hand.
ROUND TWO: This round I got paired with one of two new players playing for the very first time in a tournament type scenario. He was playing a G/W Aggro type Modern deck but not really with much of the expensive stuff. I spent some time playing and sometime explaining how turns went and stages and all the rest. Game one was over when he spent the whole game trying to get his Ghoultree out and then me killing it with Ultimate at the end of his turn. Game two was even worse for him when I cleared his board with an Ultimate, Searing Spear and Sever right before swinging for the win with my 2 Thrags and 1 Beast Token. He did thank me afterwards for helping him learn and seemed like a pretty nice guy.
ROUND THREE: This was the last round and I got pared with the same guy who beat me last week @ FNM . . . playing the same deck. I already knew what to expect and frankly figured I would lose the 1st game since his G/W Humans were just quicker n snot . . . and I was right. Game one he had 5 guys on turn 5 and swung for 17 with me only on 14 life. My mana decided to not play nicely and my deck played pretty pitiful. As I was side boarding, he made the comment that maybe my deck just wasn’t fast enough to beat his. I knew that so far, the three games we had played overall, my deck had just sucked and my mana had just been terrible. I also knew after side boarding, I would be much more competitive. Game two I started with Duress and took his Fog. After that all I needed was a Nighthawk and Thrag to end the game. I was playing pretty quickly since I was so happy my deck was playing correctly. Game three was a complete explosion. I (again) had Duress to start it out and while this time all he had were lands and creatures, I saw his entire hand and I had every answer I needed. By turn five he had nothing but lands and no hand and he scooped. I felt very relieved and happy my deck responded like I needed it too.
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CHERRY
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The most successful match I faced was round 1 against the mirror. He won the first game on the back of a couple of Thragtusks and Garruk Relentless. I boarded in my 3 Duress, 3 Appetite for Brains, 2 Slaughter Games, 2 Rakdos's Retrun, and beat him soundly games two and three with Thundermaw Hellkites to the dome, particularly in game three off a Miracle'd Bonfire of the Damned that literally was the only card in my deck that could save me against flipped Huntmaster and assisting wolf token. I was in a tight spot until that landed, and he never recovered.
I finished each of the next three rounds 1-2, facing Esper Control, B/G GY Aggro (not remotely zombies in the traditional sense) and a Homebrew that just countered my defense and smashed face with Desecration Demon.
Notable changes I've made were to remove VNH, add Avengers (2) and KoI (4). Lost some standard removal to bring back Dreadbore and Liliana of the Veil. 4 Pillar of Flame were a complete liability. They weren't even viable removal against the B/G scavenge player.
Of note, ONCE tonite I got to Ultimate Big Garruk for six worms. I was pleased to win that game, though it didn't make up for the night's overall performance.
I've had trouble narrowing down card choices lately from about 100 to 75, and tonite, I feel confident I eliminated 16. This is where I feel I gained the most from this experience.
Since Day 2-ing GP San Antonio I've gone 2-2-1 and 1-3 drop in my last two FNMs.
1 Week ago:
Rd 1: Naya Midrange draw
Rd 2: Someone playing the BW Exalted Pre-Con deck with a few more cards win
Rd 3: Jank Jund Mirror lose
Rd 4: R/x Aggro win
Rd 5: WU Humans lose
today:
Rd 1: 5 Color door lose
Rd 2: BUG win
Rd 3: Good Jund Mirror lose
Rd 4: G/W lose
Some of those losses were just the sort of losses that Jund tends to get against Rogue decks when you haven't played against a specific combination of cards enough. The Jank Jund deck I played was playing stuff like Thundermaw, Disciple of Bolas, Mikaus, 4 Keyrunes, the 5/5 scavenge guy. Nothing as a 4 of, only 2 Thragtusks. But I pretty much lost to Keyrunes and his Disciple hitting 10 cards (Thragtusk + 5 scavenge counters). Then game 2 I SG calling Bolas... turned out he only played 1. And he proceded to beat me up with Mikaus and Hellkite.
The 5 color door deck was just a generic good-stuff deck that played virtually no creatures, a bit of mana ramp, and then had a top end of stuff like Sphinx's Revelation, Rakdos Return and Nicol Bolas (after siding out Dreadbores because I realized he played no creatures). My one potential misplay was when I duressed and saw Sphinx's Revelation, Rakdos Return and Bolas all in his hand. I chose the Revelation, then I Rakdos Returned all but 1 card in his hand (didn't want him to RR me first). He of course eventually played Bolas and stole all my creatures. I don't even know if taking the Bolas would've helped, because I'm playing against a ramp deck essentially and if I let him untap... he can Revelation out of any Rakdos Return I play... and then he has a Rakdos Return of his own... not to mention being able to Revelation for like 6-7 is basically game over in the position I was in.
So kind of a frustrating two weeks, but I guess in some way I'm glad I have a challenge rather than the weeks prior to the GP in which I top 4'd 2-3 weeks in a row.
Decklist:
2 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Huntmaster of the fells
2 Olivia voldaren
4 Thragtusk
3 Deathrite Shaman
Instants (3)
3 ultimate price
Sorcery (13)
4 pillar of flame
3 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Farseek
2 Dreadbore
Artifacts (2)
2 Rakdos Keyrune
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Garruk Relentless
Land (24)
2 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull summit
3 Rootbound Crag
3 Woodland Cemetery
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
3 Slaughter Games
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Sever the bloodline
2 Golgari Charm
Meta: very very aggro. Only saw 2 blue/white decks (there might have been 1 or 2 more).
Match 1: RB aggro. The match up I have been practicing against.
Game 1: she gets some early beats up and she pillars, mortars my huntmasters and VNM. I stabilize with a keyrune to defend and a Garruk Relentless making tokens.
Sideboard: -2 Olivia, -1 Garruk, PH, +2 Sever +1 Abrupt Decay
Game 2: I rode 2 Deathrite shamans to victory. I dropped them turns 1 and 2.... rest of what I had was removal. Exiled Geralf's Messenger after dreadbore sent it to the yard with shamans. Also, bonfire hardcast for 2 to whip the board and she ran out of steam.
Match 2: RDW. This was against my neighbor who I have helped over the last few weeks build his deck. He has been playing against my Jund deck a lot, along with my Naya and Reanimator.
Game 1: Mull to 6, but kept 2 land, 1 farseek to 1 huntmaster, ultimate price, and a pillar of flame. Was able to ramp to be able to drop thrag, then garruk relentless.
Sideboard: -2 Olivia, -1 Garruk, PH, +2 Tribute to Hunger, +1 Abrupt Decay
Game 2: He was wayyy too fast and had a perfect curve: turn 1 Stromkrirk, then ash zealot, then lightning mauler and stone guy. followed by hellrider and thundermaw.
Game 3: he had only burn spells and I kept loading the board with creatures. When he did get 2 creatures out, I was able to bonfire to wipe them out.
Match 3: against another RDW..... a bit different though.
Game 1: He mulls to 5, I was able to drop 3 Huntmasters and kept flipping all 3 nonstop.
Sideboard: same as above
Game 2: way to fast, kill whatever I drop and everything he has contains haste.
Game 3: was pretty much a stall. He both were removal heavy. What kept me alive was the ability to control his haste creatures with Ultimate Price and Abrupt Decay. Garruk Relentless help me take stuff out, but ate burn fast. He won by top decking Thundermaw back to back. First loss.
Match 4, the mirror. This guy was playing a Jund aggro deck. He played 4 falkenrath Aristocrat along with the jund normal, but no keyrunes, bonfire.
Game 1, I won dice roll. Off to a great start, threats on the board, while keeping his side clean. I get out Garruk PH and overrun the board. He did get out 2 deathrite shamans and they caused some issues.
Sideboard: I brought in pretty much everything. And took out all anti aggro.
Game 2: He slaughter games my Huntermasters (I had 2 in hand). I return the favor naming Thrag (he only had 3 total). He was able to get out 2 Garruk, PH throughout the game and almost draw double the cards I drew. He won with 4/1 Falkenrath over 4 turns. I was able to get pillar of flame one, but another one showed up.
Game 3: This one was tough. I was able to Rakdos's Return him for 2 on turn 4 and pillar that turn also. I was able to get a deathrite shaman out and he stuck around for a while doing some damage. He put me on the clock with 2 Falkenraths swinging for 8 a turn. I won by top decking a Kessig and pushing my thrag and huntmaster's tokens (huntermaster was instant killed after landing). He got me to 4 and had 2 falkenraths tapped. I then top decked my 2nd Rakdos's return to do enough damage to win after swinging all out.
Match 5: vs GW aggro (well seems more midrange). Humans with lox smiter, rancor, and wolfir silverheart.
Game 1: he mulls to 6 and keeps a 2 land hand. He was able to get to 5/6 to drop silverheart to pair with lox. Garruk was making beast tokens and I was able to hold him off due to my kessig able to bump my 3/3 beast to 8/3. However, he was able to gavony township. I won first game because I stalled the board and 2 deathrite shamans were going to town doing 4 damage a turn. I also topdecked a bonfire turned 4 to wipe the board of champion of parish and his 1/1 spirit tokens from the travelers.
I forget how I sideboard, but I did it very wrong as he showed me his deck. He has 2-3 sigards, and I do not know why I brought in Tribute to hunger. I also removed the 2 Garruk Relentless for 2 Garruk PH. I also brought in 2 Rakdos's Return and 2 Slaughter Games (to name wolfir silverheart).
Game 2: he was on the play and kept a very sketchy hand. He kept a 1 land hand with a pilgrim. He was able to get out a lox smiter, but I removed the pilgrim, He played another pilgrim and I remove that before he could use it. He doesn't see a second land until turn 8, but by that time, I had a thrag, 2 huntermasters and removal in my hand.
Overall, 4-1. The top 2 guys (who were 4-0 going into the final , and they were the only undefeated people going into the 5th round) decided to draw their final game. I had a great record because my only lose was to one of the top 2 guys who split. My wins were not against anyone who dropped out or went 0-5/1-4. I came 2nd! Got 6 packs, and a promo foil of my choice. I opened a foil vraska (4th vraska for me) and my 4th deathrite shaman.
TL;DR
2-1 vs BR Aggro
2-1 vs RDW pure aggro low drops
1-2 vs RDW top heavy haste
2-1 vs Aggro Jund
2-0 vs GW Midrange
What do you think of my sideboard?
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
Also, do you usually side out Olivia against aggro? My opinion of her against aggro is that it's a house if they don't remove her the turn she comes into play because she immediately starts pinging their guys and blocking. You are going to 2 for 1 them at that point. If they remove her it's not as bad because they had waste a spell instead of curving out. Obviously it would suck for that to be the first thing you play that game only to have it removed. So I dont know.
I've been thinking I might take out Olivia myself against my meta because it's very R/x aggro light. From what I remember of this weekend, there were only two people playing R/x or Zombies or something to that effect. A lot of people playing control or G/W or some kind of midrange, where Olivia isn't as great (well... she's good against G/W).
The golgari charm is still in my sideboard because the main place I play at has a lot of control... ever seen a 3 d sphere, 4 o ring table lol... It was also a winner for me against G/(u)(w) hexproof enchantments.
I do side out Olivia a lot. But in half my matches, I kept her in. Sided her out vs the RDW and BR top-end-creature-heavy deck. Most of the time, like VNH, she is shot down fast. And if I do top deck her with enough mana to land her and ping for 1, the aggro decks out already have been attacking with other flyers like thundermaw/sigarda. I keep her in there, 2 MB, so be a deciding factor the first game. They need to answer her. When I played GW aggro and mirror, she stuck, she stayed, she destroyed. But yes, she is about 90% of the time, the first 2 cards taken out.
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
2 RAKDOS KEYRUNE
1 CONJURER’S CLOSET
CREATURES (13)
4 THRAGTUSK
4 HUNTMASTER OF THE FELLS
2 VAMPIRE NIGHTHAWK
1 DESECRATION DEMON
1 THUNDERMAW HELLKITE
1 FALKENRATH ARISTOCRAT
LEGENDARY CREATURE (1)
1 OLIVIA VOLDAREN
PLAINSWALKERS (2)
2 GARRUK, PRIMAL HUNTER
INSTANTS (4)
2 ABRUPT DECAY
2 ULTIMATE PRICE
SORCERIES (14)
3 FARSEEK
2 DREADBORE
2 RAKDOS’S RETURN
2 BONFIRE OF THE DAMNED
2 PILLAR OF FLAME
2 SLAUGHTER GAMES
1 SEVER THE BLOODLINE
1 FOREST
1 SWAMP
1 MOUNTAIN
LANDS (20)
4 BLOOD CRYPT
4 ROOTBOUND CRAG
4 OVERGROWN TOMB
4 WOODLAND CEMETERY
2 CAVERN OF SOULS
2 KESSIG WOLF RUN
2 LILIANA OF THE VEIL
2 KNIGHT OF INFAMY
2 GOLGARI CHARM
2 DEATHRITE SHAMAN
2 PILLAR OF FLAME
1 SEVER THE BLOODLINE
1 THUNDERMAW HELLKITE
1 UNDERWORLD CONNECTIONS
1 ULTIMATE PRICE
1 WITCHBANE ORB
Things were a tad different this night. The cost was $10 a person and that paid for pizza/drinks and 2 packs. Also, the rounds were cut to just 30 minutes since it was the first time the shop had tried this and they wanted to take a 30 minute break to eat the pizza. The way it worked was iffn you won the round, you got to pick a pack from your opponent. After you lost your original 2 packs, you were out of the tournament and kept what you had left. I finished the tournament with 4 packs and pulled about $50 in rare cards (1 was a Hellkite).
ROUND ONE: I played a ‘newish’ player who had a deck in in penny sleeves. It was a mono-green ramp. He was mostly a casual player transitioning to FNM and I kinda felt bad since I had a good idea of what was going to happen.
Game One: I basically pulled an early Hawk and killed him after my Thrag came out. I only saw an Elf, Pilgrim and 2 Abundant Growths in the game.
Game Two: Well . . . almost exactly the same game as game one. About the only difference was I whacked all his creatures with an early Bonfire cast for one before Thrag won the game. I took an M13 pack.
ROUND TWO: I was kinda scared this round. I was playing a buddy named Carlos and he had an almost complete B/R Zombie deck. All he was missing (basically) were 3 Gravecrawlers; Still . . . a super-fast agro deck.
Game One: By turn four he had 2 Messengers and 2 Ghouls. Turn five he dropped a Hellrider and I scooped since he was swinging for like twenty something.
Game Two: It was almost the same but turn three I drew a Bonfire and once it whipped his board clear, he never drew any decent threats. I dropped a Thrag and Huntmaster for the win.
Game Three: Once again I miracled an early Bonfire for two to help me stabilize early. On turn four, I was able to play a Rakdos for four and emptied his hand of two lands, a Demon and Hellrider. After that, he never drew any more lands and between my early Farseeks and a Thrag and Hellkite, I felt I almost lucked into the win. I took a Rav pack from him.
ROUND THREE: I knew I would have to play one of my boys and I got Mat, my oldest. He plays a modified populate type deck that when up and rolling, can destroy almost anything. Problem is, it is slow to play and mana finicky.
Game One: It took him a while, but he eventually populated an Armada Wurm and crushed me. The real problem was we only had about ten minutes for games two and three.
Game Two: Both of us played multiple board wipes after we both had life up the ying yang from all the Thrags and copied/populated Thrags on his side. We had just gotten to turns after time expired when my Garruk popped and gave me ten 6/6 green Wurms. He drew and didn’t find an answer. On my last turn I swung for 67 total (with my wolf run) and tied the round (I am pretty sure is the most I have ever attacked for in Standard to date). We rolled 2 dice and my snake eyes gave him the ‘win’ for pack purposes . . . he took an M13.
ROUND FOUR: I played a kid I had seen before but thought he typically only played EDH with his buddies. He was playing a R/G Werewolf deck that I was pretty unfamiliar with. Boy was his deck scary.
Game One: It was kinda embarrassing. He Mulliganed to five, kept one land and didn’t draw another till one turn before I won. I had 2 Huntmasters and they just won the game for me. The only way I knew what his deck was I asked to see his graveyard and he showed me all the cards he had been discarding.
Game Two. Well . . . I started a tad slow deciding to play three tapped lands in a row and on his turn five he played a Moonmist and suddenly ended the game. Boy was that fast and dramatic. I guess he was kinda slow playing me and BANG I got crushed.
Game Three: I was suddenly worried . . . very worried. I went to my SB and grabbed all the removal I could find. I guess I wasn’t all that aware of his deck and never knew how quick it could literally crush me. However, again, he had a mana issue and was showing all green when he was needing all red. I took that as a sign and thrashed him quickly with a Demon. I took another Rav pack and ended my night feeling pretty good despite my bad dice roll.
Another buddy (MC) won going 4-0 with his G/W Human deck. We didn’t play this time, but the last time I played him he did beat me. Since I have modified my deck some I feel a little better about the matchup, though. Still . . . would love to hear ideas about my current deck and what to do to make it even better.
WUBRGProgenitus
BGWUAtraxa, Praetors' Voice
BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores
BGRKresh, The Bloodbraided
BWRKaalia of the Vast
RWUShu Yun, The Silent Tempest
BUGrimgrin, The Corpse-Born
RDaretti, Scrap Savant
I had him in my SB for one of two different G/W Human decks I was thinking I might play but never did play either and never did bring him in. My son does play both the Wurms and Elephants, but I decided not to bring him in due to the issue with trample. I actually have been seriously considering pulling both of them to help more with the Sigarda/Restoration/Sublime issue but still haven’t decided what to do exactly.
Congrats man, I really like your inclusion of Lili MB. She is so awesome.
You may want to think about moving some amount of pillars to your MB? 2/4 decks you played were aggro, it'd be nice to have that card against them g1.
Just a thought
Nice FNM!
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=9338173&postcount=23
Went 3 - 1 this Friday with a more aggressive KoI-list:
4 Knight of Infamy
3 Wolfir Avenger
2 Rakdos Keyrune
1 Liliana of the Veil
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Ultimate Price
2 Dreadbore
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Rakdos's Return
24 Lands
2 Slaughter Games
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Golgari Charm
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Deathrite Shaman
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Underworld Connections
3 Duress
2 - 0 Rb Aggro
Easy MU for me. His list isn't really optimal, featuring Vexing Devils and Thunderwraths. G1 I keep a hand of Avenger and Bonfire of the Damned. He starts of with Devil and Hellhole Flailer and later an Ash Zealot. I draw into a 2nd Avenger and an UP. Avenger stops his threats very easily. I play draw into a Thragtusk and start pounding him. Second game is even easier, he mulls to 5 and can't develop any serious board state.
MVP: Wolfir Avenger, Thragtusk
0 - 2 Junk Midrange-Reanimator
This is a very hard MU for me. His deck plays Smiters, Restoration Angels and Farseeks. Add a solid reanimator core to that, and you've got one hell of a deck to beat. First game is very tight. I start to race him with KoI and an Avenger, but he stabilizes after an animated AoS. My KoI remains untouched, until he Severs it. I don't draw into any removal to get my Avenger back or to kill the RA. In the end my opponent has 5 life, I have 6 mana open, I untap, and draw into a Rakdos's Return. My opponent has his Angels tapped after attacking me. I Alpha-Strike with my lone 2/2 wolf, that hits the brick wall of a flashed Restoration Angel. So close and yet so far.
The second game I actually manage to Slaughter Game his Unburial Rites, but because his list is capable of performing very well even without the spell, I still lose. I open with 2 KoI, which is super sweep, but they get Severed. He starts to hardcast AoS with the ramp included, exiling 2 Thragtusk and another AoS from his graveyard. I don't draw any removal and lose on the spot.
MVP: Knight of Infamy (he was a boss)
2 - 1 Turbofog
This was a very annoying game. I was unfamiliar with the deck as we started. The game lasts for 40 minutes, he draws with Revelation and we trade resources, until I scoop. With the remaining fifteen or so I side in all of my anti-control stuff and win the other games with ease. KoI and Avenger do the most work. 3rd game I empty his hand T5 with a RR for 4.
MVP: KoI, Avenger, Hellkite, Duress, Rakdos's Return. This is what Jund does best!
2 - 1 GW Aggro
A very potent list. The guy had lost against the Reanimator-deck as well. I don't remember much of the game - first game he wins, the other he loses. We both played tempo, apart from game 3 when the game stalled after me Severing 3 Arbor Elves and Decaying his Thalia. G1 he played a T4 Sigarda, which combined to an otherwise aggressive start just makes me lose. G1 I aggro with KoI and make Huntmaster flip back and forth, killing his plays instant-speed and finishing the game with a timely Hellkite. Last game goes on for very long, because neither of us draw into good plays. I finally land an Olivia and an Avenger, backed up by a Kessig Wolf Run. I play around potential Selesnya Charms by pumping Olivia into only a 4/3 flyer. My opponent finally plays a Sigarda, and while his hand has all the necessary plays to win me the next turn, my Avenger and Olivia manage to deal the needed 6 damage.
MVP: KoI, Huntmaster of the Fells, Bonfire of the Damned
I'm planning to remove 2 Dreadbores for both 3rd Bonfire and Ultimate Price. LoTV didn't show up at all, but we'll see how she performs.
Youtube Channel
2 RAKDOS KEYRUNE
1 CONJURER’S CLOSET
CREATURES (13)
4 THRAGTUSK
4 HUNTMASTER OF THE FELLS
2 VAMPIRE NIGHTHAWK
1 DESECRATION DEMON
1 THUNDERMAW HELLKITE
1 FALKENRATH ARISTOCRAT
LEGENDARY CREATURE (1)
1 OLIVIA VOLDAREN
PLAINSWALKERS (2)
2 GARRUK, PRIMAL HUNTER
INSTANTS (4)
2 ABRUPT DECAY
2 ULTIMATE PRICE
SORCERIES (14)
3 FARSEEK
2 DREADBORE
2 RAKDOS’S RETURN
2 BONFIRE OF THE DAMNED
2 PILLAR OF FLAME
2 SLAUGHTER GAMES
1 SEVER THE BLOODLINE
1 FOREST
1 SWAMP
1 MOUNTAIN
LANDS (20)
4 BLOOD CRYPT
4 ROOTBOUND CRAG
4 OVERGROWN TOMB
4 WOODLAND CEMETERY
2 CAVERN OF SOULS
2 KESSIG WOLF RUN
2 LILIANA OF THE VEIL
2 SILKLASH SPIDER
2 GOLGARI CHARM
2 DEATHRITE SHAMAN
2 PILLAR OF FLAME
1 SEVER THE BLOODLINE
1 THUNDERMAW HELLKITE
1 UNDERWORLD CONNECTIONS
1 ULTIMATE PRICE
1 WITCHBANE ORB
Instead of the normal round to round hashing out . . . I will just give you most of the high lights and also some about my opponents or their decks or both.
ROUND ONE: I played a ‘new’ player named John. He told me he had just moved to Arizona a month or two ago and used to play but had quit for some time. He tried to play the week previous, but his deck was no longer standard so he was in the process of making a new one. He played a (as he called it) “Budget Exalted Deck.” I pretty much won easily 2-0. All he really had that were threats were both the KoG & KoI along with 4 Cathedrals and 4 Duty-Bound Dead. Afterwards, I took some time and helped him learn of some of the other Exalted cards and a few other strategies. It seems he will be back.
I wanted to make two points . . . first, unfortunately for John, I was able to hit RR for 4 and empty his hand in each game. Pretty devastating on the OP . . . second, we played a third ‘for fun’ game and he smoked me with a pretty nifty combo. I got out the gates pretty slow and he was able to whack me for 7 with one hit from his KoI and then do 14 to me playing an Exsanguinate. I will let you figure out the ‘issue’ with his play.
ROUND TWO: For the first time in a couple of months, I played the store owner Joe. He is super new to MTG and has been only playing for just 5 or 6 months. However, he has all the resources of his business and also my ‘best’ MTG playing son teaching and helping him since my son works there also. He was playing a R/W/G Cloudshift deck. All it was, was the biggest and best R/W/G creatures that have great ‘enter the battlefield’ abilities being exiled over and over again . . . with lotsa ramp. I wasn’t all that familiar with his deck, but was able to survive with the win 2-1.
For the most part my awesome cards in this game were Sever & Slaughter. Game one he did have almost 40 life from his Thrag, but between my Thrags and kill/exile cards I survived. I was particularly happy to be able to exile his Avacyn right after it came out. I think this really blew his bubble up. Game two was my first mulligan on the night and in total I only saw 3 lands in my defeat. The third game he had a pretty good start but I drew my secret weapon on the night . . . Silky!!! When I dropped this into play, you could see the writing on his face . . . game over. I literally blocked everything he had to play and when his Zealous Constricts stole it as a last reprieve, he was only able to do 2 to me which was completely useless. I was as relieved as anything in beating him and ready for round three.
ROUND THREE: This game was against a young kid (early 20s) named Zach who was playing a very quick R/B Rakdos deck. His ‘trick’ was getting a Guttersnipe or two in play, protecting them with a lot of 2/1 or 2/2 hasty dudes, then crushing me with either a well-played Hellrider or one of his Bumps/Murders/Thunders. He hadn’t lost even a game on the night and was feeling pretty confident against me. However . . . timely removal for his snipes and him not really getting the spells he needed did him in. Again my hero was my removal package for the most part. In both games I had to hard cast a Bonefire for one, but that one cleared the board. Plus, my Demon was just a tad too strong. On the night I seemed to have everything I needed in every game except for the one game I had to mulligan and only drew a total of three lands.
ROUND FOUR: At this point I was 3-0 in rounds and 6-1 in games played. As we all knew (since there were only 10 players left and only two of us undefeated) it was time for me verses Andrew. All the ‘younger’ guys were rooting for the kid and the ‘older’ guys were rooting for me. We shuffled our decks and I began to see what all the kids were rooting for.
He was playing a Rancor mono-green Beasty deck. Of course his stars were the mana guys and Thrag, but his added ‘buddies’ included Craterhoof, Elderscale Wurm, Moldgraf Monstrosity, Predator Ooze & Ghoultree. Plus, Lotleth Troll and similar dudes to keep me busy in the meantime. Boy the first time I played a Slaughter was I sweating. What I saw all the ‘beef’ he had and I really wondered how I would survive. Somehow that first game, I was able to use Olivia and steal a rancored Ghoultree and swing for the win. He had a Staff out but kept forgetting to whack me at the end of turns and because of that I barely survived. Game two was my second mulligan on the night and I pulled only a total of two lands. He crushed me pretty quickly. Game three was just fortune on my side. He mulliganed once and just never got enough lands to start anything and my double Hunts ended his night. I finished 4-0 and a total 8-2 on games.
Overall I am pretty happy with how it is playing and don’t miss my mono-black Trader deck quite as much now.
Please less caps
I do not understand why mainboard Slaughter games and more than 1 (if 1 at all) Rakdos's Return. Most of the IQs/GPTs/FNMs I have frequented have had a strong showing of Aggro compared to midrange/tempo decks. I understand doing RR for 3-4 can hurt, however, aggro decks will almost have an empty hand anyhow. I feel some board presence would be better suited. And slaughter games naming a random card? 3 people out of 30 in a FNM ran UW flash. 1 person had no entreat, the other ran 4, and the other ran 4 GoST (which the other 2 did not). Hard to be reactive with SG before they can play bombs.
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
And here's something to think about: I would say the main reason why Jund isn't as big in the format is because while it can tune itself to be able to beat different decks, it's really hard to be able to beat everything at once. You can make the deck so that it beats control (main deck SG, Duress/AfB, RR, etc) or you can make the deck so that it beats aggro. But it's hard to do so for both. So I suppose if you really want to hard counter Zombies you could take the RR out and put in something like Pillar or flame or w/e. But then again, you are still going to have to face non-zombie decks.
I completely understand you point about SG. And, coincidentally, just yesterday I made several changes and one of those changes was to now have 1 SG in my MB & 1 SG in my SB. However, I really do have to agree with DarkRitual. RR is just a completely totally bombing card. I have never casted it, had it resolve, and wished it wasn’t in my deck to play. I don’t care iffn they only have one card. Earlier tonight I was playing one of my boys and it was quite a ways in the game and we both were under 10 life. He only had one card in hand and I decided to RR him after he was tapped out after playing a Clone on my Thrag and playing a Parallel Lives. He also had a Séance in play. The (single) card I made him discard was a Rootborn Defenses. I know you don’t know what he plays but believe me, the one card I forced him to discard was probably one of the most dangerous cards he could have had (that or Druid’s Deliverance. My case being RR is just an awesome card and I could hardly count the number of times this one card turned the game from an iffy game to me controlling the game. And I have also played it just as a big burn spell to allow my dudes to finish off the game on the attack step.
And one last thing about SG . . . while playing MB could be iffy and I could just whiff on my decision of what card to name, I have never played it game one and then, not known each and every card my opponent is playing and the deck they are playing for games two and three. I will already admit there are a couple of decks my deck can only beat with good luck or hopes and wishes . . . on game one. But I attempt to always be able to SB and play confidently knowing I will have the advantage games two and three. I believe playing confidently knowing what I am facing gives me a decisive advantage and with that, a very good chance for the win.
I mean I could play huntmaster instead.
The only issue I have with RR is by the time I have 4 or 5 mana, they have little to no cards.
Edit- before I say anything more, I'll try and Mb 2 of them.
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
Gotcha. My play group and area is RDW and BR aggro. By the time I get 1 creature, their hand is empty lol. I try what you said if I play bant
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
It doesn't sound like you are playing against control if they have less than 3 cards by the time you have 4-5 mana. Because what always happens with me when I have RR in my opening hand (or draw it early) is you wait until they have a number of cards equal to the number of cards in hand. Because letting them keep one means they'll pick their best card and keep it... and said card might be something like Jace or w/e that can go a long way to re-filling their hand.
Usually if I'm playing Bant Control or Jund Midrange mirror, X=4 usually ends up wiping their hand. So obviously this means that you can play your Thragtusks and removal the turns before and then drop RR and suddenly you have 3-4 cards to their none and you are in control of the game.
Thanks for the advice.
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
LOCATION: Downers Grove, IL
EVENT: FNM
ROUNDS PLAYED:4
MATCH POINTS: 12 (3-0-1)
PLACE: 2nd (OUT OF 18)
PRIZE: 7 PACKS OF RTR AND GITAXIAN PROBE PROMO
2 Rakdos Keyrune
Creatures
2 Knight of Infamy
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Legendary Creatures
2 Olivia Voldaren
Instants
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Ultimate Price
Planeswalker
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Sorceries
2 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Sever the Bloodline
3 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
2 Pillar of Flame
1 Forest
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Woodland Cemetery
1 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Rakdo's Return
3 Appetite for Brains
1 Underworld Connections
2 Slaughter Games
1 Searing Spear
2 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Liliana of the Veil
Round 1: G/B ZOMBIES
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Loss) Get's the nuts draw with all one drops and I didn't have a sweeper.
Game 3: (Win)
-
Round 2: Bant Control (Reid Duke list)
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Win) Slaughter game T4 on Sphinx's Revelation, he showed me a dissipate in his hand with 3 terminus, I turn 5 Thragtusk, that got dissipated, T6 I play Rakos's Returns and he is pretty much dead.
-
Round 3: OmniDoorThragFire
Game 1: (Win) Knight of Infamy came down turn two in all these games doing so much work!
Game 2: (Loss) Long grindy game sphinx's revelation was his MVP..
Game 3: (Win) Knight of Infamy followed by two Huntsmasters and then a T6 Thundermaw and he didn't have enough to stay alive.
-
Round 4: G/W Humans (Split for top 2)
Game 1: (Draw)
Game 2: (Draw)
MVP card of the day: Rakos's Return
WUBRGProgenitus
BGWUAtraxa, Praetors' Voice
BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores
BGRKresh, The Bloodbraided
BWRKaalia of the Vast
RWUShu Yun, The Silent Tempest
BUGrimgrin, The Corpse-Born
RDaretti, Scrap Savant
24 players
3 deathrite shaman
2 olivia voldaren
4 huntmaster of the fells
4 thragtusk
1 thundermaw hellkite
Spells - 22
3 pillar of flames
2 mizzium mortars
3 searing spear
3 rakdos's return
4 farseek
3 rakdos keyrune
2 sever the bloodline
2 garruk, primal hunter
4 forest
4 overgrown tomb
4 woodland cemetery
4 rootbound crag
3 blood crypt
2 steam vents
2 kessig wolf run
1 mountain
1 olivia voldaren
2 slaughter games
3 appetite for brains
2 vampire nighthawk
1 deathrite shaman
2 abrupt decay
2 silklash spider
1 nicol bolas, planeswalker
1 staff of nin
Round 1 vs Rakdos Agro
Game 1: I draw less, and my opponent is on the play. I had a removal for each creature he plays and huntmaster of the fells finished the game.
Game 2: 2nd turn farseek, 3rd turn huntmaster, 4th turn thragtusk, 5th turn thragtusk, 6th turn olivia that sealed the deal.
1-0
Round 2 vs Bant Control
Game 1: Im on the draw, my opponent was stuck to 3 lands, he was forced to flashback think twice to draw a land. I was able to resolve garruk, primal hunter, he exiled it with detention sphere and with only 1 mana open. I rakdos return for 6 making him discard his whole hand.
Game 2: Im now the one who was stuck to 3-4 lands, he has thragtusk to finish me off together with 3 counter spells.
Game 3: i kept 2 lands, farseek, rakdos keyrune, slaughter games, nicol bolas and appetite for brains. My land drop was consistent, I appetite jace AOT, next i used slaughter games naming thragtusk because thats the only threat in his hand. But time is up in the round so he didn't have the chance to meet bolas.
1-0-1
Round 3 vs Selesnya Agro
Game 1: both of us mulled to 5. He's on the play, 2nd turn smiter for him while 3rd turn olivia for me. He casted centaur healer and taps out, I rakdos return him for 2 making him discard faith shield and restoration angel. I drew thragtusk and he kept on drawing lands and mana dork.
Game 2: he did a turn 2 centaur healer, i was just ramping. Rancored his centaur, I have a removal and rakdos return in hand my life was only 10. I choose to rakdos return for 2 to make him discard his hand. I caught a sigarda. Swinging his pilgrim and centaur+rancor dropped me to 4 life, casted thragtask my turn to block the centaur, he casted another centaur his turn. I draw olivia and wins with it.
2-0-1
Round 4 vs Junk Reanimator
Game 1: I have huntmaster on play he has no creatures on board. I rakdos return for enought to make him discard his hand. He failed to draw removal or unburial rites. Huntmaster/Ravager all the way.
Game 2: Turn 1 deathrite shaman, turn 2 appetite exiling restoration angel. Later on my opponent has 1 card in hand 2 loxodon smiter, 2 centaur healer, 1 somberwald sage and a restoration angel and 4 mana in play. I have 3 ravager of the fells and 1 huntmaster of the fells in play. Casted another appetite exiling craterhoof behemoth. I was hoping he wouldn't draw sever the bloodline and he never drew it. The huntmasters are going crazy flippin back and fourth all together which made me win the last round.
3-0-1
Remember the Titans
Went 5-1 last night (Technicially I was undefeated, me and a close friend went to finals and he asked me to take a split, so I did but i 2-0'd him on the way to the top).
Overall fantastic night, 2-0'd every game had great draws all night long.
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Dragon Skull Summit
2 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
1 Mountain
Artifacts (2)
2 Rakdos Keyrune
Creatures (16)
4 Thragtusk
4 Huntmaster of the fels
3 Olivia Voldaren
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Garruk Primal Hunter
2 Liliana of the Veil
Spells (14)
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Farseek
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Dreadbore
3 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Duress
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Golgari Charm
2 Slaughter Games
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Underworld Connections
Round 1: Static/Peddler Combo (2-0)
G1: Usualy t1 DRS, t2 farseek, t3 Olivia and he just never recovered after that.
G2: Pretty much the same thing except no DRS. Olivia hits the board, followed by a thrag and kessig and he just had no hope.
Round 2: Angel/Life gain brew (2-0)
G1: Saw 3 Pacifisms and Orings, was kind of neat i guess. Player wasnt experienced with tourny play. Got up to 50 life, Olivia took over the game.
G2: 3 Thrag Tusks and Kessig just did everything.
Round 3: RBU Control (2-0)
G1: Long drawn out game, I'd slow roll threats, honestly the work horse of the game was Keyrune with Kessig. Game came down to a 10 minute decision (He played Nico +3'd to kill keyrune, I turn it into a creature and the game just stopped for 10 minutes to find a ruling it that was legal, judge ruled in my favor after no one could find out) He was at 3 health, game over.
G2: Game manages to go alot quicker since I got a Cavern out early, and t4 slaughter games'd his Olivia which was his only real board threat in his deck. t5 got out Garruk (surprised me no counters), won with CA.
Round 4: G/W Midrange (2-0)
G1: Got a good start, t2 seek, t3 Olivia, t4 Thrag. He dropped a Loxodon, bounced a thrag with resto angel, burned removal on loxodon, and Wolfir Silverheart. Olivia took over the game.
G2: He almost got me, t1 arbor elf, t2 double rancor, had to burn a removal t2 on an elf, he drops a smiter t3, i drop Liliana to make him sac, he drops another smiter, i use abrupt, he drops another smiter with double rancor, hits me instead of liliana which lost him the game, made him sac next turn, stabilized at 4 life, and won.
Round 5: U/W Flash (2-0)
G1: I got a fantastic draw, t1 DRS, t2 seek, t3 cavern naming beast and just went to town. I pulled both my abrupts, he Dshere'd my DRS which i AD'd, then he played pike and it ate a decay. After that kessig hits the board, and he doesnt draw an answer.
G2: Loooooong drawn out game, I cavern naming dragon, and start beating down with Hellkite, it meets a dsphere, next 20 minutes is me trying to actually get a threat to stick, finally he taps out to a forced Rev for 5 after taking some thrag beats, when he does I RR for his remaining health.
Round 6: R/U/B Control (split 5-1)
This was my good friend who I 2-0'd on the way to the finals, first place was 12 packs, 2nd was 6. He asked if we could split, and I felt kinda guilty, had a fantastic night so I agree'd (though I was undefeated so i also was tempted to not ruin my run). We split 9-9 and roll for the points, he rolls a 15, i roll a 3. EPIC!
4 THRAGTUSK
4 HUNTMASTER OF THE FELLS
2 VAMPIRE NIGHTHAWK
2 HANWEIR WATCHKEEP
1 FALKENRATH ARISTOCRAT
LEGENDARY CREATURE (1)
1 OLIVIA VOLDAREN
PLAINSWALKERS (3)
2 GARRUK, PRIMAL HUNTER
1 LILIANA OF THE VEIL
ENCHANTMENT (1)
1 UNDERWORLD CONNECTIONS
INSTANTS (4)
2 ABRUPT DECAY
2 ULTIMATE PRICE
SORCERIES (14)
4 FARSEEK
2 DREADBORE
2 RAKDOS’S RETURN
2 BONFIRE OF THE DAMNED
2 PILLAR OF FLAME
1 SLAUGHTER GAMES
1 SEVER THE BLOODLINE
1 FOREST
1 SWAMP
1 MOUNTAIN
LANDS (21)
4 BLOOD CRYPT
4 ROOTBOUND CRAG
4 OVERGROWN TOMB
4 WOODLAND CEMETERY
2 CAVERN OF SOULS
2 KESSIG WOLF RUN
1 EVOLVING WILDS
2 THUNDERMAW HELLKITE
2 SILKLASH SPIDER
2 GOLGARI CHARM
2 DEATHRITE SHAMAN
2 ULTIMATE PRICE
2 PILLAR OF FLAME
1 ZEALOUS CONSCRIPTS
1 SEVER THE BLOODLINE
1 SLAUGHTER GAMES
Round One: I played a new player and had no clue what he was playing which helped my futility against him. It looked early like he was playing G/W Humans and I started out with only two colored mana and two colorless by turn four so attempted a Slaughter Games and called out Silverblade Paladin. I did see all of his deck but struck out with my guess . . . it was full of Mayors and Champions instead. With the loss of tempo he eventually got me right before I got him. Now I know I have gotten criticized in the past for playing SG in my MB, but I still believe it is the correct play for several reasons. 1. This is my first time in months striking out. 2. For game 2 (and maybe 3) I know his entire deck already. 3. It is still an uncounterable answer that can be devastating game 1. 4. It has won tens of games compared to not working. 5. His deck should have had Silverblade . . . it would have been even that much better.
Game two didn’t look all that bad beginning . . . but by turn 6 I had exactly 5 mana and a fist full of cards . . . but no black mana source on my battlefield. He had just five creatures out but three of them were bloody Crusader of Odric's and they were each 5/5. I had soooooo many answers in my hand and not a single one I could cast.
Round Two: I played another new player who was just starting and also kinda older like me. He was playing a deck he had made himself and was basically a Delver deck w/ his win condition being a Niv-Mizzet. While I only won 2-1, after the first game I basically helped him play his deck and he won the 2nd game with me not really playing super hard. I never side boarded and just helped him learn how to play his deck since wasn’t all that threatened. He was super thankful, though, for my help and said next week would have even a better brew.
Round Three: This round I played a kid I hadn’t played in a couple of months. He was playing a Rakdos Bump/Snipe type deck trying to split spells that do extra snipey damage and aggro. I won 2-0 and basically each game he got me to either 8 or 9 life before I took control of the board and dominated him.
Round Four: Another new kid I hadn’t played before. He was Rakdos strong playing mostly spells doing damage and haste creatures to complement Hellrider. SG ended both his games and he never threatened me since Thrag was soooooo wonderful . . . and got me another 2-0.
Round Five: Last round I played a young buddy of mine. He is (again) a Rakdos guy with all the biggest and baddest R/B nasties you can buy. SG took all his DD both games and he never got another significant threat before I took the games over and won another round with 2-0
In looking back over the games, maybe that one game loss in round two could have cost me 3rd place verses 4th place, but the payout was the same and helping the new guy and giving him a boost of confidence I felt was more important. I also felt more resolved that a SG in my MB is the best play after all five rounds were complete. As far as the family went . . . one son took 14th, my wife took 7th, I took 4th and my son (who also works at the shop and played the only [serious] B/W control deck) beat my wife 2-1 in the last round and went undefeated for 1st place and a $50 store credit.
1 UNDERWORLD CONNECTIONS
ARTIFACT (1)
1 STAFF OF NIN
CREATURES (13)
4 THRAGTUSK
4 HUNTMASTER OF THE FELLS
3 VAMPIRE NIGHTHAWK
1 FALKENRATH ARISTOCRAT
1 HANWEIR WATCHKEEP
LEGENDARY CREATURES (2)
2 OLIVIA VOLDAREN
PLAINSWALKERS (2)
2 GARRUK, PRIMAL HUNTER
INSTANTS (4)
2 ULTIMATE PRICE
2 SEARING SPEAR
SORCERIES (13)
4 FARSEEK
2 RAKDOS’S RETURN
2 DREADBORE
2 BONFIRE OF THE DAMNED
2 SEVER THE BLOODLINE
1 SLAUGHTER GAMES
1 FOREST
1 SWAMP
1 MOUNTAIN
LANDS (21)
4 BLOOD CRYPT
4 ROOTBOUND CRAG
4 OVERGROWN TOMB
4 WOODLAND CEMETERY
3 CAVERN OF SOULS
2 KESSIG WOLF RUN
2 RAKDOS KEYRUNE
2 SILKLASH SPIDER
2 DEATHRITE SHAMAN
2 ABRUPT DECAY
2 DURESS
1 LILIANA OF THE VEIL
1 ULTIMATE PRICE
1 SLAUGHTER GAMES
1 ZEALOUS CONSCRIPTS
1 BONFIRE OF THE DAMNED
ROUND ONE: I got the ‘privilege’ of playing one of my boys in the 1st round. Since we both have the others’ decks memorized, we both knew each game would be decided early. The first game he took a risk with only 2 mana and got burned for it. The second game was kinda similar with both of us mulliganing but my 6 were full of good stuff and his weren’t. He kept and by the time Thrag came out it was over. Twice he had to tap out to play spells and when the game was over, he still had two Syncopates in his hand.
ROUND TWO: This round I got paired with one of two new players playing for the very first time in a tournament type scenario. He was playing a G/W Aggro type Modern deck but not really with much of the expensive stuff. I spent some time playing and sometime explaining how turns went and stages and all the rest. Game one was over when he spent the whole game trying to get his Ghoultree out and then me killing it with Ultimate at the end of his turn. Game two was even worse for him when I cleared his board with an Ultimate, Searing Spear and Sever right before swinging for the win with my 2 Thrags and 1 Beast Token. He did thank me afterwards for helping him learn and seemed like a pretty nice guy.
ROUND THREE: This was the last round and I got pared with the same guy who beat me last week @ FNM . . . playing the same deck. I already knew what to expect and frankly figured I would lose the 1st game since his G/W Humans were just quicker n snot . . . and I was right. Game one he had 5 guys on turn 5 and swung for 17 with me only on 14 life. My mana decided to not play nicely and my deck played pretty pitiful. As I was side boarding, he made the comment that maybe my deck just wasn’t fast enough to beat his. I knew that so far, the three games we had played overall, my deck had just sucked and my mana had just been terrible. I also knew after side boarding, I would be much more competitive. Game two I started with Duress and took his Fog. After that all I needed was a Nighthawk and Thrag to end the game. I was playing pretty quickly since I was so happy my deck was playing correctly. Game three was a complete explosion. I (again) had Duress to start it out and while this time all he had were lands and creatures, I saw his entire hand and I had every answer I needed. By turn five he had nothing but lands and no hand and he scooped. I felt very relieved and happy my deck responded like I needed it too.