Most of the Tron matches were easily killed as long as we had a couple guys out on turn 1 or 2. After that it was just burn burn burn. We tested firespout in Tron to test the resilience of the deck but it felt pretty slow and we usually got enough damage in before turn 3 that it didn't really matter if we lost 2 creatures. Steppe Lynx is especially good and can usually get anywhere from 4-8 damage in before he dies to a pyroclasm or the like. Mindcensor is a blowout. Check the video from tonight.
The Fae matches were downhill battles for Zoo because the multitude of creatures and instant-speed removal was a lot for spellstutter sprite counters and mistbinds' champion. Volcanic fallout is just the icing on the cake. What you don't want to see is a Mistbind Clique on the table but it usually sits and blocks rather than attacks and will die to path most of the time. Just keep the pressure on and the board clear and it becomes way easier. Ghor-Clan Rampager is a house and if he resolves around mid-game I'm not sure if fae can win.
Overall very impressed with the main decklist but I've been pulling so many cards in and out I can't settle for a solidified list yet.
Has everyone dropped the Steppe Lynx plan and decided to go with Experiment One? I've never used E1 but I have been surprised to see him in so many lists but no Lynx. How has testing done with the two?
~ W
Planeswalker
+1: Skip your next draw step. You gain 2 life.
-1: Target player skips all combat phases of his or her next turn
0: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 1/1 Human Soldier creature that's still a planeswalker.
1
I'm new to this archetype but I sleeved up a list and tested it out against Jund and Zombies and I'm now convinced of it's power. I don't understand why I don't see more people playing with Azorius Charm and Increasing Savagery. The interaction between the charm and Rancor is insane; declare your attacks, and if they block just charm it to the top and they still take all the trample damage. Savagery just wins games and you can use it twice.
When you get some time, I'd like you to answer the following questions - 1. Mainboard is heavily geared to grind out aggro decks. Did you end up seeing a ton of aggro today? Or did control and other midrange lists have a decent presence as well?
We expected to see a lot of zombies so we prepared the deck maindeck this way; although UWR control was probably the breakout deck.
2. How did Cyclonic Rift, Cloudshift, and Snapcaster Mage perform? Would you recommend them for future tourneys?
Cyclonic Rift is like the blue bonfire. It won some games because nobody expected it maindeck when there are a ton of creatures on the board and you can just have an "oops, I win" play. Cloudshift was alright. It was probably sided out the most but it is solid as a 1 or 2 of. Snapcaster pulled his weight, still a great card.
3. How was the mana-base? Any changes going forward?
Breeding pool. ...But it was pretty solid otherwise. Gavony Township is an all-star.
4. How was the sideboard? What ended up being sided in the most? The least?
Geist of Saint Traft against control with Increaing Savagery won a ton of games. A lot of the time against control you would play out your deck in game one with no Geist, and then they don't side theirs in game two and it's just a blowout. He just can't be dealt with when you land him early. Rootbound defenses is nuts. Against creature decks through combat and against control with the wrath, plus you usually get another guy. Very good card.
5. Was Collective Blessing relevant? Is it worth testing as a 2-of?
Probably the best card against the reanimator decks actually. All of your guys just can't be beaten. This goes for a lot of decks though. Very good card.
The idea is every creature gives you some sort of value besides just getting a guy on the board. There is some great spot removal in this new format but if you can consistently gain value with your cards you will eventually win the battle without needing massive draw power to answer the 1 for 1's.
This deck can pull off amazing value and combat tricks due to Cloudshift, Restoration Angel, and Snapcaster Mage. Attack with the team and when your opponent swings back, flash in Restoration Angel to untap your Knight and get a 1/1. Cloudshift your Thragtusk, then Snapcast Cloudshift again on Thragtusk and end up having two more 3/3's and 10 more life...at the end of your opponent's turn.
Gavony Township makes your board bigger, and the one of Collective Blessing ensures that the game will end soon without having to worry about your one main win condition being answered.
The sideboard is prepared against two major archetypes; Aggro and Control. Cathedral Sanctifiers gains you life against aggro and ensures you that you gain some sort of value out of your dork that will die turn one, and the Geist/Sigarda package will make control have a harder time dealing with your threats. Garruk is for similar midrange decks that you will need a steady flow of bodies on the board and will eventually end the game.
This is a much more aggressive approach than my previous list. The idea is to drop a "deal with me now" threat every turn.
If you get a turn one Pilgrim you are pretty much guaranteed to hit the turn two 3 drop; either GoST or Smiter.
Strangleroot does work against Zombies as a blocker until you can work the Thragtusk plan, or he can come in smashing after a board wipe against control with Rancor or Increasing Savagery. He has been working very well.
Increasing Savagery is a solid two-of. It has blowout potential especially late game. Throw it on a GoST or Sigarda and you pretty much just win. You can race with Azorius Charm's lifelink or get through blockers with either Rancor or Selesnya Charm's trample.
The list used to run three Snapcaster Mage which worked great with the charms but I felt like I was wasting too much time instead of just dropping a threat every single turn. I could be reactive to the opponents threats but when it came time to drop mine, it was easily handled by the removal sitting in their hand all game. The aggressive approach works better in this list I believe because you need to have specific answers to the card choices. Strangleroot Geist and Thragtusk are semi-resistant to board wipes; although only Thragtusk survives Terminus with something. You don't need more than two cards over cmc 3 on the board at one time or you are asking to get blown out anyway.
The sideboard is still in the works.
Against Zombies I might bring in a couple Feeling of Dread to get two more turns to live. GoST comes out. The pro-black knight may be an option as well.
I've been testing against Zombies for the most part because I believe the deck will be a popular choice out of the gate; I tried the deck without Snapcaster Mage, Feeling of Dread, or Farseek and instead took a more aggro approach with mana dorks and Loxodon Smiter. The deck seemed to die out much earlier than if I took the slower approach and stalled the game out with the charms and Feeling of Dread until turn 4/5 to stabilize and then take over with Thragtusk.
The charms all can be played both defensively and aggressively so it's easy to switch modes once you have the board where you want it; Snapcaster doubles your uses. So far it's working great but the manabase definitely has more potential.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PPX4raMSdw
The list we're testing contains:
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Kird Ape
2 Loam Lion
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Aven Mindcensor
3 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
1 Boros Charm
4 Verdant Catacomb
4 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flats
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Grounds
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
Most of the Tron matches were easily killed as long as we had a couple guys out on turn 1 or 2. After that it was just burn burn burn. We tested firespout in Tron to test the resilience of the deck but it felt pretty slow and we usually got enough damage in before turn 3 that it didn't really matter if we lost 2 creatures. Steppe Lynx is especially good and can usually get anywhere from 4-8 damage in before he dies to a pyroclasm or the like. Mindcensor is a blowout. Check the video from tonight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PPX4raMSdw
The Fae matches were downhill battles for Zoo because the multitude of creatures and instant-speed removal was a lot for spellstutter sprite counters and mistbinds' champion. Volcanic fallout is just the icing on the cake. What you don't want to see is a Mistbind Clique on the table but it usually sits and blocks rather than attacks and will die to path most of the time. Just keep the pressure on and the board clear and it becomes way easier. Ghor-Clan Rampager is a house and if he resolves around mid-game I'm not sure if fae can win.
Overall very impressed with the main decklist but I've been pulling so many cards in and out I can't settle for a solidified list yet.
Planeswalker
+1: Skip your next draw step. You gain 2 life.
-1: Target player skips all combat phases of his or her next turn
0: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 1/1 Human Soldier creature that's still a planeswalker.
1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-OX0yMz4aA
The image makes me feel a warm breeze blowing over a winding road at sunset; it feels like a place I would like to explore.
Too cute?
Too late?
1. Mainboard is heavily geared to grind out aggro decks. Did you end up seeing a ton of aggro today? Or did control and other midrange lists have a decent presence as well?
We expected to see a lot of zombies so we prepared the deck maindeck this way; although UWR control was probably the breakout deck.
2. How did Cyclonic Rift, Cloudshift, and Snapcaster Mage perform? Would you recommend them for future tourneys?
Cyclonic Rift is like the blue bonfire. It won some games because nobody expected it maindeck when there are a ton of creatures on the board and you can just have an "oops, I win" play. Cloudshift was alright. It was probably sided out the most but it is solid as a 1 or 2 of. Snapcaster pulled his weight, still a great card.
3. How was the mana-base? Any changes going forward?
Breeding pool. ...But it was pretty solid otherwise. Gavony Township is an all-star.
4. How was the sideboard? What ended up being sided in the most? The least?
Geist of Saint Traft against control with Increaing Savagery won a ton of games. A lot of the time against control you would play out your deck in game one with no Geist, and then they don't side theirs in game two and it's just a blowout. He just can't be dealt with when you land him early. Rootbound defenses is nuts. Against creature decks through combat and against control with the wrath, plus you usually get another guy. Very good card.
5. Was Collective Blessing relevant? Is it worth testing as a 2-of?
Probably the best card against the reanimator decks actually. All of your guys just can't be beaten. This goes for a lot of decks though. Very good card.
Piloted by Justin Geary
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=49853
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Attended Knight
4 Centaur Healer
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
1 Armada Wurm
Spells [12]
2 Cloudshift
4 Call of the Conclave
4 Selesnya Charm
2 Azorius Charm
1 Collective Blessing
Land [24]
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Sunpetal Grove
2 Glacial Fortress
3 Hinterland Harbor
2 Gavony Township
4 Forest
1 Plains
4 Cathedral Sanctifier
4 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Detention Sphere
2 Negate
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
The idea is every creature gives you some sort of value besides just getting a guy on the board. There is some great spot removal in this new format but if you can consistently gain value with your cards you will eventually win the battle without needing massive draw power to answer the 1 for 1's.
This deck can pull off amazing value and combat tricks due to Cloudshift, Restoration Angel, and Snapcaster Mage. Attack with the team and when your opponent swings back, flash in Restoration Angel to untap your Knight and get a 1/1. Cloudshift your Thragtusk, then Snapcast Cloudshift again on Thragtusk and end up having two more 3/3's and 10 more life...at the end of your opponent's turn.
Gavony Township makes your board bigger, and the one of Collective Blessing ensures that the game will end soon without having to worry about your one main win condition being answered.
The sideboard is prepared against two major archetypes; Aggro and Control. Cathedral Sanctifiers gains you life against aggro and ensures you that you gain some sort of value out of your dork that will die turn one, and the Geist/Sigarda package will make control have a harder time dealing with your threats. Garruk is for similar midrange decks that you will need a steady flow of bodies on the board and will eventually end the game.
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Restoration Angel
3 Thragtusk
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
3 Rancor
4 Selesnya Charm
2 Azorius Charm
2 Increasing Savagery
Land [24]
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Hinterland Harbor
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Gavony Township
5 Forest
1 Plains
This is a much more aggressive approach than my previous list. The idea is to drop a "deal with me now" threat every turn.
If you get a turn one Pilgrim you are pretty much guaranteed to hit the turn two 3 drop; either GoST or Smiter.
Strangleroot does work against Zombies as a blocker until you can work the Thragtusk plan, or he can come in smashing after a board wipe against control with Rancor or Increasing Savagery. He has been working very well.
Increasing Savagery is a solid two-of. It has blowout potential especially late game. Throw it on a GoST or Sigarda and you pretty much just win. You can race with Azorius Charm's lifelink or get through blockers with either Rancor or Selesnya Charm's trample.
The list used to run three Snapcaster Mage which worked great with the charms but I felt like I was wasting too much time instead of just dropping a threat every single turn. I could be reactive to the opponents threats but when it came time to drop mine, it was easily handled by the removal sitting in their hand all game. The aggressive approach works better in this list I believe because you need to have specific answers to the card choices. Strangleroot Geist and Thragtusk are semi-resistant to board wipes; although only Thragtusk survives Terminus with something. You don't need more than two cards over cmc 3 on the board at one time or you are asking to get blown out anyway.
The sideboard is still in the works.
Against Zombies I might bring in a couple Feeling of Dread to get two more turns to live. GoST comes out. The pro-black knight may be an option as well.
Against miracles and U based control Negate would come in the board. Detention Sphere answers Entreat the Angels.
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
Spells [20]
4 Feeling of Dread
3 Farseek
4 Azorius Charm
4 Selesnya Charm
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Detention Sphere
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hinterland Harbor
1 Plains
4 Forest
I've been testing against Zombies for the most part because I believe the deck will be a popular choice out of the gate; I tried the deck without Snapcaster Mage, Feeling of Dread, or Farseek and instead took a more aggro approach with mana dorks and Loxodon Smiter. The deck seemed to die out much earlier than if I took the slower approach and stalled the game out with the charms and Feeling of Dread until turn 4/5 to stabilize and then take over with Thragtusk.
The charms all can be played both defensively and aggressively so it's easy to switch modes once you have the board where you want it; Snapcaster doubles your uses. So far it's working great but the manabase definitely has more potential.
Sorcery - UU
Counter target spell