Tourney Rules:
The Tribal Wars event will use the following rules:
The banned list found here: https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Tribal_Wars
As well as any card currently banned in the modern format
I built a decent GU deck. Most of my creature pool was puny so I just built around fatties, ground and air (3 Augury Raven.)
Round 1 vs Abzan, 0-2.
-We reached a stalemate w/me at 1 life and my opponent just casting 1 more flier than I could block. Luckily, In Search of Greatness scryed up my 7th land to activate my Elvish Warmaster. Since I was going to die next turn, I just alpha struck and hoped for the best...
-My opponent made very conservative blocks, not risking losing his best creatures to deathtouch. He said, "That's how I block." I asked, "Are you sure that's how you block?" He said, "Yes, I'm sure." I had no cards in hand so he knew I was going to activate Elvish Warmaster...
-What he forgot was I casted Maskwood Nexus my previous turn. So all my unblocked "non-elves" got +2/+2 for being elves! I told him, "I just dealt lethal." So what does he do? He says, "Wait! That's not how I block!" Then he takes back his blocking, blocks smarter and wins next turn.
-To be fair, I challenged him to a quick game 2 in the 6 remaining minutes in the round. We both play fast but I lose (fairly this time.)
-IMO we should've at least been 1-1 draw. But game 1 was so close and I suspect he would tilt off losing game 1 due to an on board play mistake (it takes grit to shake off a bad loss and only significant experience builds that.) So realistically, I could've swept him 2-0.
-Circumstances were, my opponent was the owner of the bar we played at. The event was unsanctioned and we had no qualified judges to officiate the event. There are no local tournament venues I know of to play mtg. If I had any hope of playing there again, I had to accept the bar owner's authority over me.
-Before my return to this venue, I had previously pissed off the owner by disagreeing w/him on a ruling. So I disappeared for a while...
-On a side note, I made an agreement w/said owner that I would leave my unopened bottle of tequila (Teremana - Dwane "The Rock" Johnson's tequila) at the bar for "MTG players" to finish. That was 3 weeks ago. Weeks 1 and 2, a few mtg players took shots but the bottle was still virtually full. Last week, we didn't touch the bottle at all. Today, I got my bottle back but it was almost empty... how did that happen? Did the same mtg players drink my tequila on non-magic nights?
-I felt throughly taken advantaged of tonight. In most occasions, I get along w/the bar owner just fine but tonight was the final straw. I cannot return. Doing so would send a message that I'm a doormat to be stepped on and I respect myself too much to allow that to happen any further. I unfriended him on his discord channel and voluntarily left his group.
-It's not all bad. I bought a soda and a beer and the waiter only charged me for the beer... Makes us "even-steven," right mate?
First pact/first pick, I drafted a mythic - Balefire Dragon. Since he costs 7, I was hoping to pick up some Kodama's Reach and splash red into a green ramp shell. Never saw ramp cards but quality red kept coming so I stayed in red. I started out red midrange but I drifted into red aggro. From the article - Mono-Red
Even though you will end up in white most of the time – there are occasions when being only Mono-Red is better – you want to play a low land count in these decks so having a good mana base is extremely valuable – if you think that red is extremely open and you don’t need a second color, you should definitely go for it!
Round 1 vs Sultai Ramp, 2-0.
From the article - The Best Archetype
Kodama's Reach
I think that if open or at least “reasonably” open best decks are the Kodama's Reach decks – it’s really difficult to call it some other way, because they can all look very different but there is always the same centerpiece – Kodama's Reach. Your deck is usually some sort of a rampish deck with all the best cards.
He had Kodama's Reach so maybe he read the same article? I was too fast though.
Round 2 vs Sultai Dredge, 2-0.
From the article - A lot of people I talked to (and frankly I agree) told me that they really don’t like BG as a strategy – the problem is that the Dredge cards in the set just aren’t a very good cards – 2 mana 1/1, 3 mana 2/3, Life from the Loam, etc. And the payoff usually isn’t good enough to make up for it.
I don't think he read the article...
Intermission vs Esper, 0-1.
He challenged me to pass time between rounds.
I couldn't burn out his 7/9 fatty. It also had lifelink so I couldn't race it either.
Round 3 vs Golgari, 2-1.
I had an unfortunate game 2 where I mulled down to 4 but games 1 and 3 went according to plan.
I am sure members of my Paper Pauper People playgroup are already scheming how to leverage this Pegasus and make our lives miserable
I think you should rename your team, the "Paper Pauper Playgroup" (or PPP for short ) Kai Budde's original team was the Cologne Conjurers Circle or CCC.
1/6/21 Casual Historic EDH Sealed. Two 3-man pods. Pod 2 Winner.
Casual = Unsanctioned. Historic = Legal Sets. EDH = 99 card singleton w/a commander. Sealed = Buy 1 sealed booster box and build sealed from it.
I chose War of the Spark for the uncommon planeswalkers.
(19) Spells:
Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi
Band Together
Callous Dismissal
Commence the Endgame
Contentious Plan
Courage In Crisis
Finale of Devastation
Flux Channeler
Forced Landing
God-Pharaoah's Statue
Kasmina's Transmutation
No Escape Planewide Celebration (finisher)
Relentless Advance
Return to Nature
Stealth Mission
Storm the Citadel
Teferi's Time Twist
Totally Lost
(44) Lands:
20 Forest
20 Island
Emergence Zone
Gateway Plaza
Interplanar Beacon
Mobilized District
Both opponents discussed running 34 lands in their decks. I told them I ran 44. Here's why:
1. Normal sealed = 17 land/40 cards. +1 land (Commander = mana sink) so 18 land/40 cards = 44% land.
2. 44% of 100 cards = 44 lands.
3. 34 land/100 cards = 14 land/40 cards, in a top-heavy sealed deck...
As expected, both opponents stalled on 3 lands and couldn't cast their 5 mana commanders in time.
I say, "Planewide Celebration: Proliferate for 4, my 4 planeswalkers +4, x tokens +4..." Both concede.
12/30/20 Update: +4 Ramosian Sergeant, -4 Journey to Nowhere. I goldfished a few games and had more removal than Rebel Searchers! Also, the deck kinda falls apart w/no Rebel engine -_-; Lastly, I don't want excessive enchantment-based removal, since Bound in Silence may bring in enchantment hate already.
I'd like to see every card given a power level number from 1 to 10 in each format. Add up the power levels of both decks and assign a handicap somehow. Yes this would be excruciating and time consuming to initially set up. And yes it would need to be updated yearly. But again, short of that competitive play will always be netdecking.
My old LGS had 3 seasons of something similar. First we ran Tempest sealed. I had UW control, notables being Tradewind Rider and Capsize. Season 2, Type 2 (standard) legal commons, uncommons and rares were assigned point values. I cut white and bought red cards, including Incinerate, Mogg Fanatic and Fireslinger in red. In Blue, I bought more Rootwater Hunter (8 total pingers!) Season 3, I went full-on RDW, buying Lava Hounds, Fireblast, Viashino Sandstalker, etc.
My competition didn't try to convert limited into constructed, like I did. It was glorious!
Sorry for veering off topic but I wanted to get something off my chest:
Many FNM players complain about the cost of competitive magic. Constructed takes a considerable investment in singles. Limited (esp sealed) has a hefty registration fee and the practice expense it takes to build skill adds up.
Enter paper. Singles are dirt cheap and there's no long term practice fees. In theory, this affordable format should appeal to everyone! But in reality, expense of cards is just an excuse. People want to win easily. That's why we net deck - it takes too much effort to brew. The problem w/net decking in pauper is - pauper isn't competitive among pros so you can't simply steal tier 1 lists... you have to put in some effort too.
I've seen so many ppl copy a competitive-looking list, lose and never return. It's like gamers feel entitled to success... even tho they realize (subconsciously) they've been taking short cuts the whole ride.
Pauper has been dying in my LGS since before lockdown. If it dies for good, so be it. I'm tired to listening to excuses and lies. You can afford it. You just have to work to win.
Seems like Scale the Heights could find a home somewhere. The card literally does 4 things at once, a +1 +1 counter, lifegain, ramp and cantrips. Has to have a home somewhere. Its a LAND not basic land too, maybe a Green Tron build???
I'm getting real tired of seeing Tormenting Voice reprinted ad nauseam. I know it's just one common slot in the whole set, but I just want to see something different for red.
As a red cantrip, I think it's quite good in limited. Boring but effective.
Tourney Rules:
The Tribal Wars event will use the following rules:
The banned list found here: https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Tribal_Wars
As well as any card currently banned in the modern format
Wizard Tribe:
4 Dark Confidant
4 Harbinger of the Tides*
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy (flashback Witch’s Vengeance)
4 Merfolk Trickster*
4 Siren Stormtamer
(20) Other:
4 Fatal Push
4 Mental Note**
4 Skaab Ruinator (finisher)
4 Thought Scour**
4 Witch’s Vengeance (makes black the best tribal color)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Creeping Tar Pit (proactive mana sink. replaced Riptide Laboratory)
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Underground Sea
4 Watery Grave
4 Dread of Night (-4 Fatal Push)
4 Tidebender Mage* (-4 Fatal Push)
3 Leyline of the Void (-3 Fatal Push)
3 Llawan, Cephalid Empress (vs Mirror, -3 Witch’s Vengeance)
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner (4th Leyline/Llawan)
Still rocking the merfolk*
Self-mill is why I don't run fetch lands**
Giant Tribe:
4 Frost Titan
4 Grave Titan
4 Inferno Titan
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sun Titan
(20) Other (All non-creature spells are 1-2 mana.)
4 Animate Dead
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Exhume
4 Reanimate (ALWAYS choose to draw/go second. discard giant turn 1. Reanimate giant turn 2.)
4 Zombie Infestation
5 Swamp
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Marsh Flats
4 Scrubland
1 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel (fetch w/PrimeTime)
4 Dread of Night (-4 Exhume)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek (-4 Exhume)
3 Leyline of the Void (-3 Exhume)
3 Perish (-3 Exhume)
1 Seal of Cleansing (4th Leyline/Perish)
Faerie Tribe:
4 Bitterblossom
4 Brazen Borrower
4 Faerie Seer
4 Scion of Oona
4 Spellstutter Sprite
(20) Other:
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Brainstorm
4 Fatal Push
4 Smuggler’s Copter
4 Standstill
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Mutavault
4 Secluded Glen (added 04/06/21)
4 Underground Sea
2 Polluted Delta
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Dread of Night (-4 Standstill)
4 Sea Sprite (-4 Standstill)
2 Leyline of the Void (-2 Standstill)
2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress (-2 Standstill)
2 Perish (-2 Standstill)
1 Emrakul/Kozilek/Ulamog (vs mill, -1 Standstill)
04/07/21 Perish replaced Submerge in the SB. After adding 4 Secluded Glen, I had 2 less Island/2 less Polluted Delta.)
04/14/21 Llawan, Cephalid Empress and Emrakul/Kozilek/Ulamog added to SB. Brainstorm and Smuggler’s Copter get the Eldrazi out of your hand.
4 Carnophage
4 Dauthi Horror
4 Dauthi Slayer
4 Erg Raiders
4 Priest of Gix
4 Sarcomancy
4 Cursed Scroll
(4) Enchantments:
4 Bad Moon
(4) Instants:
4 Dark Ritual
(3) Sorceries:
3 Persecute (Mind Twist)
(21) Land:
15 Swamp
4 Wasteland
2 City of Traitors (combo w/Priest of Gix)
4 Dread of Night
4 Perish
4 Wall of Souls
3 Duress
Persecute is underrated and allowed me to defeat RDW once.
standard - https://decks.tcgplayer.com/magic/standard/byron-juarez/boat-brew/361111
I built a decent GU deck. Most of my creature pool was puny so I just built around fatties, ground and air (3 Augury Raven.)
Round 1 vs Abzan, 0-2.
-We reached a stalemate w/me at 1 life and my opponent just casting 1 more flier than I could block. Luckily, In Search of Greatness scryed up my 7th land to activate my Elvish Warmaster. Since I was going to die next turn, I just alpha struck and hoped for the best...
-My opponent made very conservative blocks, not risking losing his best creatures to deathtouch. He said, "That's how I block." I asked, "Are you sure that's how you block?" He said, "Yes, I'm sure." I had no cards in hand so he knew I was going to activate Elvish Warmaster...
-What he forgot was I casted Maskwood Nexus my previous turn. So all my unblocked "non-elves" got +2/+2 for being elves! I told him, "I just dealt lethal." So what does he do? He says, "Wait! That's not how I block!" Then he takes back his blocking, blocks smarter and wins next turn.
-To be fair, I challenged him to a quick game 2 in the 6 remaining minutes in the round. We both play fast but I lose (fairly this time.)
-IMO we should've at least been 1-1 draw. But game 1 was so close and I suspect he would tilt off losing game 1 due to an on board play mistake (it takes grit to shake off a bad loss and only significant experience builds that.) So realistically, I could've swept him 2-0.
-Circumstances were, my opponent was the owner of the bar we played at. The event was unsanctioned and we had no qualified judges to officiate the event. There are no local tournament venues I know of to play mtg. If I had any hope of playing there again, I had to accept the bar owner's authority over me.
-Before my return to this venue, I had previously pissed off the owner by disagreeing w/him on a ruling. So I disappeared for a while...
-On a side note, I made an agreement w/said owner that I would leave my unopened bottle of tequila (Teremana - Dwane "The Rock" Johnson's tequila) at the bar for "MTG players" to finish. That was 3 weeks ago. Weeks 1 and 2, a few mtg players took shots but the bottle was still virtually full. Last week, we didn't touch the bottle at all. Today, I got my bottle back but it was almost empty... how did that happen? Did the same mtg players drink my tequila on non-magic nights?
-I felt throughly taken advantaged of tonight. In most occasions, I get along w/the bar owner just fine but tonight was the final straw. I cannot return. Doing so would send a message that I'm a doormat to be stepped on and I respect myself too much to allow that to happen any further. I unfriended him on his discord channel and voluntarily left his group.
-It's not all bad. I bought a soda and a beer and the waiter only charged me for the beer... Makes us "even-steven," right mate?
2 Akroan Crusader
2 Hissing Iguanar (made combat tricky for opponents)
2 Mad Prophet
2 Rakdos Shred-Freak
2 Reckless Wurm
1 Anger
1 Arena Athlete
1 Brazen Scourge
1 Firewing Phoenix
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Patchwork Gnomes
3 Soul's Fire
2 Fire/Ice
2 Reckless Charge
1 Fiery Temper
(16) Land:
16 Mountain
To prepare for the event, I read an article - https://article.hareruyamtg.com/article/18502/?lang=en
First pact/first pick, I drafted a mythic - Balefire Dragon. Since he costs 7, I was hoping to pick up some Kodama's Reach and splash red into a green ramp shell. Never saw ramp cards but quality red kept coming so I stayed in red. I started out red midrange but I drifted into red aggro. From the article - Mono-Red
Even though you will end up in white most of the time – there are occasions when being only Mono-Red is better – you want to play a low land count in these decks so having a good mana base is extremely valuable – if you think that red is extremely open and you don’t need a second color, you should definitely go for it!
Round 1 vs Sultai Ramp, 2-0.
From the article - The Best Archetype
Kodama's Reach
I think that if open or at least “reasonably” open best decks are the Kodama's Reach decks – it’s really difficult to call it some other way, because they can all look very different but there is always the same centerpiece – Kodama's Reach. Your deck is usually some sort of a rampish deck with all the best cards.
He had Kodama's Reach so maybe he read the same article? I was too fast though.
Round 2 vs Sultai Dredge, 2-0.
From the article - A lot of people I talked to (and frankly I agree) told me that they really don’t like BG as a strategy – the problem is that the Dredge cards in the set just aren’t a very good cards – 2 mana 1/1, 3 mana 2/3, Life from the Loam, etc. And the payoff usually isn’t good enough to make up for it.
I don't think he read the article...
Intermission vs Esper, 0-1.
He challenged me to pass time between rounds.
I couldn't burn out his 7/9 fatty. It also had lifelink so I couldn't race it either.
Round 3 vs Golgari, 2-1.
I had an unfortunate game 2 where I mulled down to 4 but games 1 and 3 went according to plan.
Enjoyed some drinks and good company!
I think you should rename your team, the "Paper Pauper Playgroup" (or PPP for short
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Juzam Djinn
4 Mahamoti Djinn
4 Sengir Vampire
4 Serendib Efreet
(18) Spells:
4 Dark Ritual
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Mana Vault
4 Paralyze
2 Terror
8 Swamp
4 Island
4 Mishra’s Factory (prevent mana burn)
4 Underground Sea
2 City of Brass
4 The Rack
4 Yotian Soldier (vs Burn: -4 Hypnotic Specter)
3 Power Sink
2 Disrupting Scepter
2 Terror
4 Serendib Efreet
2 Atog
(16) Instants/Sorceries:
4 Balance
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Disenchant
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
(16) Artifacts:
4 Relic Barrier
4 The Rack
3 Library of Leng
1 Black Lotus
1 Candelabra of Tawnos
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Plateau
4 Tundra
4 Volcanic Island
2 City of Brass
4 Consecrate Land
4 Red Elemental Blast
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Sleight of Mind
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Disenchant
Removed Chaos Orb from Adam Maysonet's original list b/c I don't understand the legalities of a "card flip."
Casual = Unsanctioned. Historic = Legal Sets. EDH = 99 card singleton w/a commander. Sealed = Buy 1 sealed booster box and build sealed from it.
I chose War of the Spark for the uncommon planeswalkers.
(1) Commander: Roalesk, Apex Hybrid
(27) Creatures:
Arlinn's Wolf
Ashoik's Skulker
Aven Eternal
Bloom Hulk
Centaur Nurturer
Erratic Visionary
Eternal Skylord
Evolution Sage
Iron Bully
Kiora's Dambreaker
Kraul Stinger
Kronch Wrangler
Merfolk Skydiver
Paradise Druid (MVP)
Pollenbright Druid
Primodial Wurm
Prismite
Rescue Sphinx
Saheeli's Silverwing
Sky Theatre Strix
Snarespinner
Spark Double
Spellkeeper Weird
Thunder Drake
Thundering Ceratok
Vivien's Grizzly
Wardrobe Crocodile
(19) Spells:
Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi
Band Together
Callous Dismissal
Commence the Endgame
Contentious Plan
Courage In Crisis
Finale of Devastation
Flux Channeler
Forced Landing
God-Pharaoah's Statue
Kasmina's Transmutation
No Escape
Planewide Celebration (finisher)
Relentless Advance
Return to Nature
Stealth Mission
Storm the Citadel
Teferi's Time Twist
Totally Lost
(44) Lands:
20 Forest
20 Island
Emergence Zone
Gateway Plaza
Interplanar Beacon
Mobilized District
(9) Planeswalkers:
Arlinn, Voice of the Pack
Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter
Karn, the Great Creator
Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Narset, Parter of Veils
Nissa, Who Shakes the World
Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
Ugin, the Ineffable
Both opponents discussed running 34 lands in their decks. I told them I ran 44. Here's why:
1. Normal sealed = 17 land/40 cards. +1 land (Commander = mana sink) so 18 land/40 cards = 44% land.
2. 44% of 100 cards = 44 lands.
3. 34 land/100 cards = 14 land/40 cards, in a top-heavy sealed deck...
As expected, both opponents stalled on 3 lands and couldn't cast their 5 mana commanders in time.
I say, "Planewide Celebration: Proliferate for 4, my 4 planeswalkers +4, x tokens +4..." Both concede.
4 Bonesplitter
4 Brainstorm
4 Gut Shot
4 Ponder
(16) 2 Drops:
4 Counterspell (credit to sbfinley)
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Looter il-Kor
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Trinket Mage (fetches Seat of the Synod)
(4) 4 Drops:
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
(20) Lands:
6 Island
4 Ash Barrens
4 Tranquil Cove
2 Ancient Den
2 Plains
2 Seat of the Synod (Counterspell mana)
4 Patrician's Scorn (vs Boggles, -4 Journey to Nowhere.)
4 Relic of Progenitus (vs MonoBlack, -4 Counterspell.)
4 Sylvok Lifestaff (vs MonoBlack and RDW, -4 Bonesplitter.)
3 Circle of Protection: Red (vs RDW, -3 Counterspell.
12/30/20 Update: Took sbfinley's advice about adding Counterspell.
03/19/21 Update: Cleaned up the SB.
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Bound in Silence
4 Defiant Falcon
4 Ramosian Lieutenant
4 Ramosian Sergeant
4 Zealot il-Vec
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Gut Shot
4 Unmake
(24) Land
16 Plains
4 Cave of Temptation (hard cast Gut Shot/Venomous Changeling)
4 Idyllic Grange (great on Guardian of the Guildpact)
4 Patrician’s Scorn
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Venomous Changeling
3 Amrou Scout
12/30/20 Update: +4 Ramosian Sergeant, -4 Journey to Nowhere. I goldfished a few games and had more removal than Rebel Searchers! Also, the deck kinda falls apart w/no Rebel engine -_-; Lastly, I don't want excessive enchantment-based removal, since Bound in Silence may bring in enchantment hate already.
04/11/21 Update: +4 Idyllic Grange, -4 Bojuka Bog.
CounterRebels 1.1
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Bound in Silence
4 Defiant Falcon
4 Ramosian Lieutenant
4 Zealot il-Vec
(20) Non-Rebels:
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterspell
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Ponder
8 Island
4 Ash Barrens
4 Plains
4 Tranquil Cove
4 Gut Shot
4 Patrician's Scorn
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Amrou Scout
12/30/20 Update: Gliders (Nightwind Glider, Thermal Glider) don't determine games. Black kills pro-black Nightwind Glider w/Nausea or various "Edicts." Red fears Aven Riftwatcher's 4 life more than Thermal Glider's pro-red. Therefore, more rebel searchers (Amrou Scouts) in the SB.
My old LGS had 3 seasons of something similar. First we ran Tempest sealed. I had UW control, notables being Tradewind Rider and Capsize. Season 2, Type 2 (standard) legal commons, uncommons and rares were assigned point values. I cut white and bought red cards, including Incinerate, Mogg Fanatic and Fireslinger in red. In Blue, I bought more Rootwater Hunter (8 total pingers!) Season 3, I went full-on RDW, buying Lava Hounds, Fireblast, Viashino Sandstalker, etc.
My competition didn't try to convert limited into constructed, like I did. It was glorious!
Many FNM players complain about the cost of competitive magic. Constructed takes a considerable investment in singles. Limited (esp sealed) has a hefty registration fee and the practice expense it takes to build skill adds up.
Enter paper. Singles are dirt cheap and there's no long term practice fees. In theory, this affordable format should appeal to everyone! But in reality, expense of cards is just an excuse. People want to win easily. That's why we net deck - it takes too much effort to brew. The problem w/net decking in pauper is - pauper isn't competitive among pros so you can't simply steal tier 1 lists... you have to put in some effort too.
I've seen so many ppl copy a competitive-looking list, lose and never return. It's like gamers feel entitled to success... even tho they realize (subconsciously) they've been taking short cuts the whole ride.
Pauper has been dying in my LGS since before lockdown. If it dies for good, so be it. I'm tired to listening to excuses and lies. You can afford it. You just have to work to win.
3 mana is a lot. Idk if it'll catch on.
As a red cantrip, I think it's quite good in limited. Boring but effective.