My advice would be to draft until you can get a good collection and understanding of the fundamentals. If you're not interested in spending money on cards that will rotate in the fall, I would avoid standard until then. Especially if you can find a store that can regularly fire drafts
picked up the colonnades I needed to finish my set on the weekend, so decided to play UW control for a bit. Can I get some advice on the amulet titan matchup?
got top 4 of a 12 player $500 in credit to top 4 on Saturday and top 8d a 16 player 1k on Sunday.
I'll start with Saturday
Round 1 I got paired against my buddy on BR reanimator. Game 1 I kept a slow hand and he stripped my Griselbrand. Game 2 was back and fourth but tiop decking a JTMS was able to help me control his threats. game 3 he got greedy and tried to strip my hand rather than just casting a trophy on my sneak attack
1-0. I have a joke that whenever I beat this buddy round 1 i prize the event
round 2 I 2-0 miracles. Game 1 I sensed he was hurting for answers so I went all in and got rewarded. game 2 I got him to fight me over a show and tell, then was able to jam a sneak attack 2 turns later and went all in
2-0
round 3 I lose to 12 post. He got an early Karakas game 1 and I kinda just spun my wheels. I got him early game 2 and he ran me over g3.
2-1. One more round and I was second place in the swiss. my loss being first seed. I got paired against my buddy who was in third going into the last round and we drew. he was on turbo depths and neither of us wanted to play that match. Now we just gotta wait and see if we got punished. I snuck into 4th seed and he got bumped down to 6th place. we did top 4 split for $125 credit each
Sunday also went 2-1-1 for top 8.
Round 1 I quickly 2-0 UW helm combo. Game 1 he got stuck on 2 lands for a while and I eventually just force through a threat. Game 2 he put up a bit more of a fight but I countered his RIP and cast a show and tell next turn. went all in and won.
1-0
Got paired against same buddy on BR reanimator again. Played against him at every legacy event I've been to this year. He got an early triple threat board game 1. I killed him quickly game 2. I mulled to 5 game 3 and he was able to cast 2 reanimation spells turn 1.
1-1
Got paired against Death and Taxes round 3, which I quickly 2-0. He mulls to 6 both games. Game 1 he didn't get much going and I won. Game 2 he leads with a mother of runes, then a revoker t3. I forced the mom activation with an abrade then wiped the board with a pyroclasm. He untapped and cast a Thalia, heretic cathar, which i forced and went off on my turn.
2-1
I was seventh place in the swiss going into last round and hadn't played 6th or 8th yet. I figured 6th would take the draw no question and 8th might but it would be risky, since 9th winning could place us at risk. I got paired against 8th and eventually we drew, agreeing if one of use didn't make it we would prize split. 9th place got a concession from the one guy in my car who was dead for prizing. Turns out it was a clean cut and we prize split in top 8 for $125 each
I still don't know how well I'm playing the deck but I've prized 3 legacy events this year with the deck. One thing I learned from the weekend though was I'm never registering the deck without blood moons in the side but maybe it's a crutch for me
also can I get some tips for the turbo depths matchup?
Blackcleave Cliffs and Verdant Catacombs are some of the main cards I'd like to pick up soon. I have 2 Blackcleave cliffs so far but no immediate need for them (I have Mardu pyro together but no intention of playing). I would like the Catacombs for 4c shadow every so often. Although I wouldn't mind playing Junk/Jund sometimes so both might be good
is now a good time to get either or can anyone see them dropping anytime soon?
While I'm still not really a fan of making new cards as the BAB promo, this card is neat. The only card that has been absurd was nexus of fate, so I'm starting to be fine with it. Although I would be interested to see if there are any other ways of rewarding people for buying boxes
went 4-1 at a local standard event today, 18 players with no cut to top 8, prizing after standings end of Swiss.
Round I quickly 2-0 some Orzhov Aristocrats deck. game 1 I kept slow hand but he flooded super hard and probably punted because he blocked my merfolk branchwalker with a footlight fiend and chose to kill my branchwalker instead of my mana elf. Game 2 I won because I stole his Teysa with a hostage taker and he didn't kill the taker.
1-0
Round 2 I beat the gates deck. Game 1 I had really fast start but he saw 3 gates ablaze and then beat me with his larger creatures. Game 2 he mulled to 5, I duressed he only spell (growth spiral) away and stared building a board. I made him sacrifice his gate ram to eldest reborn, I had to take it as a grey ogre with the 3rd chapter but it was too late for him to comeback. Game 3 was a combination of wildgrowth walker then chaining jadelight rangers on top of him not seeing many gates.
2-0
Round 3 I lose 1-2 to my buddy who finished first one Naya midrange. Game 1 I ran him over, game 2 I mulled to 6 and couldn't kill him in time. game 3 might have been over if I was able to remove his Shelai
2-1, needed one more win to prize.
Round 4 I 2-1 Gu stompy. Game 1 I didn't give him enough credit and kept a slow hand. lost because I flooded and didn't have answers. Game 2 I ran him over. Game 3 was a combination of him not being able to do much and him trying to hard to try and get me with the quelch I knew about.I tried to get the counter out of his hand while still destroying his stuff.
3-1
Round 5 I 2-0 a Mardu Aristocrats list. G1 started off in my favour but he was able to almost stabilize after swinging with lifelink tokens. G2 he mulled to 4 because he didn't get any lands up util then.
4-1 on the day. Won $40 in credit. Pretty soft event, still don't know how I feel about how I play with Sultai
as someone who would try and force control decks for the longest time, I feel that trying to learn different archetypes has really helped me. It really helped me understand how other types of decks worked and even being able to get an idea what people would be showing that they have without actually seeing
Believe it or not, despite playing control for years I didn't really start doing well until I played more midrangedecks
normally don't really write reports on fnm since it's so small and you don't always face against the best competition but went 4-0 without dropping any games today, so thought I'd report today
r1 I quickly run over that Tooth and Nail deck. G1 I thoughtseize away his overgrowth, leaving him with a tooth and nail, xenagod and emrakul. Later on he draws into a tireless tracker, which I can enable revolt to fatal push. He scoops after that in a salty rage. G2 he keeps a hand of double primal command, double land, utopia sprawl and something else. He doesn't draw into more lands. I boarded out 2 bolts and a dismember for 2 disdainful strokes and an EE (EE migh have been wrong but wanted to have protection against random nonsense)
R2 I quickly 2-0 some white weenie deck. I stabilized game 1 after an early rush. Boarded in double grim lavamancer, k command, liliana, the last hope, EE and double abrade. G2 I stick a t1 lavamancer. he kept a 1 land hand, so I picked off his threats and won when he ran out of threats.
R3 I 2-0 fish. g1 he kept a slow hand which I ripped apart but he started to recover as I didn't draw many threats. I TBR'd for lethal. Game 2 he was stuck on one land and a vial. after a few turns with barely any threats. I decided to put EE on 1 and crack it same turn since he dropped another vial. he conceded to that. I believe I boarded out some combination of dismember, wraiths and thoughtseizes for abrades, k command, anger and EE
Round 4 I crushed UW control. G1 he kept a do nothing hand, which I ripped the Teferi from. Only other spell he resolved which mattered was Timely reinforcements which I made quick work of the tokens. I believe I was able to ride a threat, made him fight e over a lot of creatures then cast a TBR on a snapcaster for lethal. Game 2 he mulled to 6 and I don't even remember what I made hims discard early on. I drew counters for his removal and timely. was able to revolt push his clique to get it off the battlefield.then he was done.
I had a good experience other than the one tooth and nail player who was pretty upset for no real reason
Arena is also a great free to play option
I'll start with Saturday
Round 1 I got paired against my buddy on BR reanimator. Game 1 I kept a slow hand and he stripped my Griselbrand. Game 2 was back and fourth but tiop decking a JTMS was able to help me control his threats. game 3 he got greedy and tried to strip my hand rather than just casting a trophy on my sneak attack
1-0. I have a joke that whenever I beat this buddy round 1 i prize the event
round 2 I 2-0 miracles. Game 1 I sensed he was hurting for answers so I went all in and got rewarded. game 2 I got him to fight me over a show and tell, then was able to jam a sneak attack 2 turns later and went all in
2-0
round 3 I lose to 12 post. He got an early Karakas game 1 and I kinda just spun my wheels. I got him early game 2 and he ran me over g3.
2-1. One more round and I was second place in the swiss. my loss being first seed. I got paired against my buddy who was in third going into the last round and we drew. he was on turbo depths and neither of us wanted to play that match. Now we just gotta wait and see if we got punished. I snuck into 4th seed and he got bumped down to 6th place. we did top 4 split for $125 credit each
Sunday also went 2-1-1 for top 8.
Round 1 I quickly 2-0 UW helm combo. Game 1 he got stuck on 2 lands for a while and I eventually just force through a threat. Game 2 he put up a bit more of a fight but I countered his RIP and cast a show and tell next turn. went all in and won.
1-0
Got paired against same buddy on BR reanimator again. Played against him at every legacy event I've been to this year. He got an early triple threat board game 1. I killed him quickly game 2. I mulled to 5 game 3 and he was able to cast 2 reanimation spells turn 1.
1-1
Got paired against Death and Taxes round 3, which I quickly 2-0. He mulls to 6 both games. Game 1 he didn't get much going and I won. Game 2 he leads with a mother of runes, then a revoker t3. I forced the mom activation with an abrade then wiped the board with a pyroclasm. He untapped and cast a Thalia, heretic cathar, which i forced and went off on my turn.
2-1
I was seventh place in the swiss going into last round and hadn't played 6th or 8th yet. I figured 6th would take the draw no question and 8th might but it would be risky, since 9th winning could place us at risk. I got paired against 8th and eventually we drew, agreeing if one of use didn't make it we would prize split. 9th place got a concession from the one guy in my car who was dead for prizing. Turns out it was a clean cut and we prize split in top 8 for $125 each
I still don't know how well I'm playing the deck but I've prized 3 legacy events this year with the deck. One thing I learned from the weekend though was I'm never registering the deck without blood moons in the side but maybe it's a crutch for me
also can I get some tips for the turbo depths matchup?
is now a good time to get either or can anyone see them dropping anytime soon?
Round I quickly 2-0 some Orzhov Aristocrats deck. game 1 I kept slow hand but he flooded super hard and probably punted because he blocked my merfolk branchwalker with a footlight fiend and chose to kill my branchwalker instead of my mana elf. Game 2 I won because I stole his Teysa with a hostage taker and he didn't kill the taker.
1-0
Round 2 I beat the gates deck. Game 1 I had really fast start but he saw 3 gates ablaze and then beat me with his larger creatures. Game 2 he mulled to 5, I duressed he only spell (growth spiral) away and stared building a board. I made him sacrifice his gate ram to eldest reborn, I had to take it as a grey ogre with the 3rd chapter but it was too late for him to comeback. Game 3 was a combination of wildgrowth walker then chaining jadelight rangers on top of him not seeing many gates.
2-0
Round 3 I lose 1-2 to my buddy who finished first one Naya midrange. Game 1 I ran him over, game 2 I mulled to 6 and couldn't kill him in time. game 3 might have been over if I was able to remove his Shelai
2-1, needed one more win to prize.
Round 4 I 2-1 Gu stompy. Game 1 I didn't give him enough credit and kept a slow hand. lost because I flooded and didn't have answers. Game 2 I ran him over. Game 3 was a combination of him not being able to do much and him trying to hard to try and get me with the quelch I knew about.I tried to get the counter out of his hand while still destroying his stuff.
3-1
Round 5 I 2-0 a Mardu Aristocrats list. G1 started off in my favour but he was able to almost stabilize after swinging with lifelink tokens. G2 he mulled to 4 because he didn't get any lands up util then.
4-1 on the day. Won $40 in credit. Pretty soft event, still don't know how I feel about how I play with Sultai
Believe it or not, despite playing control for years I didn't really start doing well until I played more midrangedecks
r1 I quickly run over that Tooth and Nail deck. G1 I thoughtseize away his overgrowth, leaving him with a tooth and nail, xenagod and emrakul. Later on he draws into a tireless tracker, which I can enable revolt to fatal push. He scoops after that in a salty rage. G2 he keeps a hand of double primal command, double land, utopia sprawl and something else. He doesn't draw into more lands. I boarded out 2 bolts and a dismember for 2 disdainful strokes and an EE (EE migh have been wrong but wanted to have protection against random nonsense)
R2 I quickly 2-0 some white weenie deck. I stabilized game 1 after an early rush. Boarded in double grim lavamancer, k command, liliana, the last hope, EE and double abrade. G2 I stick a t1 lavamancer. he kept a 1 land hand, so I picked off his threats and won when he ran out of threats.
R3 I 2-0 fish. g1 he kept a slow hand which I ripped apart but he started to recover as I didn't draw many threats. I TBR'd for lethal. Game 2 he was stuck on one land and a vial. after a few turns with barely any threats. I decided to put EE on 1 and crack it same turn since he dropped another vial. he conceded to that. I believe I boarded out some combination of dismember, wraiths and thoughtseizes for abrades, k command, anger and EE
Round 4 I crushed UW control. G1 he kept a do nothing hand, which I ripped the Teferi from. Only other spell he resolved which mattered was Timely reinforcements which I made quick work of the tokens. I believe I was able to ride a threat, made him fight e over a lot of creatures then cast a TBR on a snapcaster for lethal. Game 2 he mulled to 6 and I don't even remember what I made hims discard early on. I drew counters for his removal and timely. was able to revolt push his clique to get it off the battlefield.then he was done.
I had a good experience other than the one tooth and nail player who was pretty upset for no real reason