I suppose I should respond to this too.Quote from Gutterstorm »As for Narset and Sarkhan I don't see any difference between they're "random hookup" and a romantic relationship between Chandra and Gideon. Narset made Sarkhan feel peaceful in his otherwise ravaged mind. Chandra makes Gideon question his alliances and his beliefs. I think either of these relationships is fine but I don't think calling one a random hookup while thinking the other is fine is a good way to look at it. Personally I think Sarkhan deserves a nice lady to accompany him after all the crap he's been through. And if Chandra can get Gideon to lighten(heh) up a little then great. I do think it would be interesting if they explored planeswalkers relationships with each other more which it seems is what they will be doing in the future. I mean we know that Jace and Lilli were a thing once upon a time.
The difference between Chandra and Gideon and Narset and Sarkhan is the sort of chemistry and tension that was present.
Narset and Sarkhan lacked pretty much all of that. They met and got along, but there wasn't really anything there that made sense as a relationship. Sarkhan went all agog and smitten with her, but it was very much a projection onto Narset instead of a mutually built relationship. To quote Barbara Streissand from a movie (I honestly don't remember which one) "You aren't in love with me, you're in love with the idea of me."
Gideon and Chandra, on the other hand, had an obvious tension and worked together well. The fact that they didn't want to admit it, and finally the pair confided in each other felt much more developed than the few days Sarkhan and Narset spent with each other even though it was probably roughly the same amount of time spent together. I mean, part of that might have genuinely been the difference between a foxhole romance and roadtrip buddy, but ultimately, there seemed to be genuine chemistry between Gideon and Chandra that was totally missing from Mister crazy pants and his bride to be.
Essentially, I just don't see how Sarkhan could actually be in a relationship because he IS crazy. And not functionally either, but completely outside society crazy.
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4 Rakshasa Deathdealer
4 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Boon Satyr
2 Courser of Kruphix
4 Siege Rhino
3 Wingmate Roc
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Thoughtseize
3 Bile Blight
3 Abzan Charm
2 Hero's Downfall
1 Murderous Cut
3 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Plenty
2 Temple of Silence
4 Windswept Heath
2 Plains
1 Forest
3 Llanowar Wastes
3 Caves of Koilos
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Hunt the Hunter
2 Thoughtseize
1 Back to Nature
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Drown in Sorrow
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Murderous Cut
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Obviously, this is based on Hunter Nance's SCG list but with a couple of changes. I swapped out 1 Tasigur for the 4th Anafenza, because I expected some more Whip decks and Anafenza just hoses them hard while putting on a decent clock. The 3rd Courser became that lone Boon Satyr - in testing I found 3 Coursers to be too much - they're good, but as Mike Sigrist said you need to attack with this deck to win, which Courser is kind of meh at. So I put in a Boon Satyr and decided to test it out, because it attacks a lot better than ol' Courser. Lastly, I cut 2 Downfall for 1 Abzan Charm and 1 Murderous Cut - While Downfall is more versatile, I think the tempo swing Cut can provide is just really good. You can go Cut into creature later on, or removal spell into Cut for a big turn. I forgot why I put in the Charm, but it's probably because I remembered the third mode and concluded that it reads "Make your Courser of Kruphix attack", which is a mode I'd greatly appreciate here.
Sideboard is pretty usual stuff. From Nance's sideboard, I took out the Liliana Vess, 1 Glare, 1 Bile Blight and 1 Drown for the 4th Thoughtseize, the 3rd Downfall and 2 Hunt the Hunter. Hunt is a hilariously nutty card, and again, like Cut, provides some huge swings - Fleecemane can't attack past their Courser? Yeah, let's hunt that, swing in for 5, and cast another creature. I also considered Dark Betrayal, but realized that all but 3 of my creatures were green, and I like the Mutagenic Growth effect, because it helps me attack.
I don't remember how the other Swiss rounds went (lost the lifepad for some rounds), but here is what I remembered:
vs Jeskai Ascendancy Combo - W 2-0. G1 was nothing to note, he completely whiffed on the combo and the Cat Army (Lion + Rakshasa) beat him down. In G2 I keep a hand with no creatures, but with 2 answers to Ascendancy in Back to Nature and Glare. I Bile Blight/Drown his dorks, and manage to draw into a Lion and an Anafenza. At this point, I'm at 9 life (My first five lands were painlands :\ ), and he has a Caryatid + Mystic in play, along with a Briber's Purse with 1 counter (gotta stem the bleeding somehow). Cast Thoughtseize for 3. His hand is Swan Song, Helix, Helix. Great, he just needs the Ascendancy. I take the Swan Song so I can punch a hole through his combo if he draws it (Back to Nature in response to the first Helix, he can cast another and loot, but so long as he doesn't draw into a Swan Song I disrupt the combo). He doesn't, and I know he's on damage control when he casts Retraction Helix to stop himself from dying.
vs Jeskai Tempo - W 2-0. Haven't seen this one in a while! I take a quick G1 off the back of Rhino into Rhino into Roc smackdown. At this point everything he cast looked like Jeskai Tokens (Hordeling, Seeker, Stoke), so I sideboard as such. In G2 he plays out as normal, but some quick burn + painlands put me at a precarious life total. I manage to wipe his Brimaz + cat board with Drown in Sorrow + Cut, and thought I stabilize with a Courser at 8 life. He draws Mantis Rider and starts bashing me in the air. We try to race, and I'm at 2 and he's at 4 when I manage to kill the Rider. No biggie, he untaps, plays a second, and swings in. G3 he makes the first move with Rabblemaster, which immediately dies. I go Courser into Rhino, gaining a decent amount of life. He plays a Mantis Rider and starts swinging in, and I have a Bile Blight/Abzan Charm in hand, but decide to wait. We race for a couple of turns, getting to negate some damage via Courser, while he's dropping 4 life a turn. He plays a 2nd rider and swings in, bringing me down to 5. My turn, I untap, and cast the Bile Blight on the Rider. In response, he taps both and two mana for a Stoke aimed at Courser - unfortunately, I have the blowout Charm, and now swing in for 8, knocking him down to 4. He draws for his turn and drew some creature (Seeker, probably) and extends the hand.
vs Mardu Aggro - W 2-1. This is the version that T8'ed a recent Grand Prix, featuring everyone's favorite murderer Tymaret, the Murder King. I make very stupid plays in G1, including Bile Blight on a Goblin token when he has Tymaret in the yard. Eventually, he has some tokens and a Tymaret on board, and I foolishly attacked, not realizing that by swinging in I leave him with enough room to swing in next turn + shock me to death. I guess you could say.... Tymaret murdered me. Ouch. G2 goes much better - Courser and Rhino put me on a life buffer, and Sorin followed not too long after that. Turns out, Tymaret is terrible when he's the only thing on the battlefield. I keep a Thoughtseize/Anafenza/Rhino hand in G3 and see that he has kind of a loose keep - Stoke, Crackling Doom, and 3 lands (with a swamp and Bloodsoaked in play). Take Crackling, Bloodsoaked slaps me for a few turns. Cast Anafenza, he Stokes it next turn as expected. Now I can play my Rhino and just brickwall him. He follows up with some Hordeling/Raise the Alarm tokens, I respond with Blight on the goblins + a Fleecemane Lion. He bricks for a couple turns while I manage to make my Lion monstrous, and draw Sorin to start swinging in for crazy amounts of damage/life.
Semifinals vs Sultai Whip - 2-1. YES! Very, very confident in this matchup. I mulligan to six and found an Anafenza, so I kept it. I go Rakshasa into Anafenza, blanking all his Sidisis and Wayfinders. He still casts them, anyway, and manages to mill some removal for the Anafenza. He gets a Whip in play, though, + a couple of Coursers, so I can attack but deal like 1-2 damage per turn. This goes on for a while - he builds his board with random green dorks, while I play some Lions. This goes on for a long, long time until my board has Anafenza, Wingmate, 3 monstrous Fleecemane Lions, 3 Deathdealers and a whole lot of lands in play. He has 2 Hornet Queens, Whip, 8 hornet tokens and a Courser. The Cat Army swings in every turn, reducing the Hornet tokens until he has the 2 Queens left. He then draws.... Hero's Downfall, meaning that his Graveyard is unlocked again. Mills Soul of Innistrad, meaning he now has A LOT more hornet tokens than I thought he would. His library is also pretty low at this point, though.... and eventually, I win by milling him out. No, seriously. I milled him out. Score another for the Cat Army!
G2 is much less interesting, as I curve 2-drop into Anafenza into Rhino into Hunt the Hunter on Courser + Charm on Sidisi into Wingmate, while he's stuck at 4 lands. Not a pretty sight.
I win the Finals against a very interesting B/W aggro deck. I lost this one's paper as well, but I remember stabilizing with double Courser + Rhino + Sorin in G1 (he played Mogis' Marauder way too early), and him making a wrong attack in G2, allowing me to swing back with a 6/6 Rakshasa + Rhino for exactsies.
Afterwards I played a couple more games with other people with decks like R/W Aggro. Here are some notes:
- Undecided on Boon Satyr, because I never actually drew him in any game. Yeah.
- Alright, Courser is great. He provides a life buffer while being pretty good in a race, as he can block and let your other dudes swing in. I still do believe that this deck is meant to be aggressive and smashing faces, and while Courser is not good at that, we have decent support cards that can make that happen. Also, with decks like R/W Aggro being popular now, I really like him as he either brickwalls their guys or makes them spend a card on it. I am very happy with the 2-of number.
- More on R/W: If that becomes popular I may try to find a way to put in a 2nd Sorin main. Sorin allows you to race very well against the deck - and if they spend a turn taking it down, it effectively gained you that much more life. I may also move back to playing an Erase in the board again, because Outpost Siege (as well as Frontier Siege in Green decks) can get pretty crazy.
- Tasigur is good - big, dumb, can attack, and can get very cheap. Imagine spending 5 mana to get a Tasigur AND a Siege Rhino in play. I never actually got to use his ability, but I assume it's very good, because it can get back my threats/removal spells. I might try 2 like the SCG deck, we'll see.
Moving forward, I have a list of more cards to test. If anyone here has tested them and has some input, let me know:
- Brutal Hordechief: More Siege Rhinos? Sure, why not? I imagine that it'll be pretty nutty if you can untap with it and 5 mana in play. Otherwise it can't really attack like Rhino.
- Warden of the First Tree: I've tested this.... and I don't know, really not a fan. For a cheap creature, I think Rakshasa/Fleecemane are much better right now - they have built-in resilience whereas Warden does not. Also, this deck has no shortage of ways to spend mana in the midgame - your curve is up until 5, so when are you pumping this, exactly? Great lategame topdeck, but so is Fleecemane at 7 mana. If one of Lion/Rakshasa did not exist I would play this, and maybe as early creature 9-10. But I think Rakshasa and Lion are above it.
- Citadel Siege: blue, red and green are using theirs, so I'm wondering about this too. Both modes help our plan. One to try.
- Whisperwood Elemental: Alright, we do have built-in resilience against wraths, but this might be another way. Usually 6 power for 5, and the idea of having a new army after a wipe is pretty appealing. Okay, I'm just reaching here now.
- Valorous Stance: see above re: against wraths. Reprisal wasn't really played in Abzan Aggro before, either.
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That was insane. Daneblast alters are coming.
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4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Siege Rhino
2 Wingmate Roc
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Thoughtseize
2 Bile Blight
4 Abzan Charm
3 Hero's Downfall
1 Read the Bones
2 Utter End
4 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Silence
4 Llanowar Wastes
2 Caves of Koilos
4 Windswept Heath
3 Forest
2 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Erase
1 Thoughtseize
1 Bile Blight
2 Drown in Sorrow
1 Read the Bones
2 End Hostilities
1 Liliana Vess
2 Murderous Cut
2 Nissa, Worldwaker
1 Duneblast
Initially I was playing around with the numbers on a Hornet Queen and Whip of Erebos build, but while registering the deck I didn't really feel comfortable with what I had so far, so I stuck to the traditional/stock Midrange list. Obviously it uses Pat Chapin's build as a starting point, but with the Bile Blight in the maindeck.
R1: Jeskai Wins - W 2-0: I establish early pressure G1 with Caryatid into an early Rhino, and have the Bile Blight ready for when the Mantis comes crashing in. Courser pushes me further and along with Sorin provided too much life for Jeskai to actually race my Rhino. G2 he piles on the pressure with Hordeling Outburst and Rabblemaster, but it comes a little later than it should and the tokens build into a boardstall with Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Sarkhan comes down but I have the removal ready, and eventually draw Sorin to pump the team, ending up winning via an emblem later on.
R2: U/R Ensoul Artifact - W 2-0: I fall behind early in G1 due to Phyrexian Revoker naming Sylvan Caryatid, which means no T3 Rhino. I rip off a land, though, and am able to cast Courser of Kruphix to help hit those land drops. Ensoul Artifact does some work but I buy enough time with dead Caryatids/tokens to find an answer to it, and go to town from there. He mulligans to 5 G2, and I keep a very sketchy hand. We both draw out of terrible starts, but my draw is simply much better than his (I drew all of my Utter End and Erase) and he's unable to mount any actual pressure. Wingmate Roc takes the match.
R3: Abzan Midrange - W 2-1: G1 is an attrition battle, and we exhaust each other's hands/board. My last card in hand is Ajani, though and he goes unmolested for FIVE turns to draw me enough gas (even if I whiffed once), put me at 103 life AKA out of Siege Rhino range and take the game off all those draws. I don't know if it's been said, but Prince Ajani is our version of Dig Through Time. G2 double Thoughtseize puts me waaay behind and he eventually wins. I start playing very fast with <10 minutes on the clock. Fortunately, nothing went too badly and I'm able to exhaust his hand while I have one card in hand - Elspeth. 'Speth goes to town and I win on turn 5 of extra turns, courtesy of 28 flying damage from 6 soldier tokens + Wingmate Roc and buddy.
R4: UW Heroic - W 2-1: Ugh, not too happy to be playing this. I take Game 1 by successfully racing his 10/10 voltron'd Hero of Iroas with 2 Siege Rhino triggers and a +1 from Sorin. He spends a turn killing the Sorin, which gives me the opening I need to move ahead in the race and cast Wingmate Roc. He looks for a way to kill me by piling up the cantrips on the Hero, but he finds nothing good. Apparently you can race them! Game 2 develops into a board stall and I'm able to stabilize at 2 measly life, ready to win the next turn. Unfortunately, he draws the 1 (of 5) card that would win him the game - Heliod's Pilgrim into Aqueous Form. Damn. I keep a slow hand in G3, very risky, but he mulligans to 6. I rip Caryatid off the top of my deck which gives me the T3 Rhino, and he plays a 1/1 Eidolon (not a good sign). I Thoughtseize and see what's up - loads of spells, but no creatue. I Downfall the Eidolon to strand his Gods Willing and Cantrips, and he falls to far behind from Rhino beatdown.
R5: UW Heroic (again?!) - W 2-0: I stabilize in G1, eventually drawing out all his protection. With no cards in hand, I stabilize with Elspeth + Sorin. He keeps a sketchy hand in G2 and has no third land. He's forced to put Battlewise Hoplite without a way to protect it, which I immediately take out. Courser and Rhino win the game.
I draw R6 and R7 into Top 8, eventually landing into 4th as the highest X-0-2. My opponents from R5-7 all made Top 8. I win my Top 8 match (another mirror, at this point I was too tired to take any notes).
Semifinals: Mardu Midrange - L 1-2: Finally, I face this deck. I take a huge Game 1 on the draw because his black source is a turn late to race me. I get run over in G2, unable to deal with a 2nd Rabblemaster + Hordeling tokens. In G3 I keep a hand with Thoughtseize into Courser, taking Hordeling Outburst. He has Rabblemaster, which I'm prepared for with removal. Courser gets exiled, and I play a Sorin. He deals with both Sorin and Vampire, draws another Outburst, and goes to town with Butcher joining in. Sarkhan joins right next turn, but I'm ready with the Utter End + Murderous Cut line and stabilize the board. I cast Elspeth, but it meets Utter end after -3'ing to deal with another Butcher. I play Courser and pass. Land on top. Fetch, shuffle, another land. Draw my card... another land. He topdecks Sarkhan, spends one turn killing my Courser, and just goes to town with the 4/4 flyer.
I'm pretty happy overall with this performance, even with the Top 4 loss. There are a lot of decision points with the deck - Walker abilities, Abzan Charm, TSeize, etc. - and I'm pretty comfortable with how I make decisions with Abzan.
That said, I feel like I still need to improve my playing against Mardu Midrange. I don't think I have a good record against it. Do you guys have any suggestions? Someone suggested that I take out Wingmate Roc (low chance to trigger Raid, matches up poorly against their Stormbreaths and Sarkhans). How should I be boarding againt them?
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Has anyone been using this manabase over the one Ari Lax is using? I like going up to 25, but Chapin's mana just seems like it has too many taplands. How does it play out in actual games?
Also, more Abzan resources: Todd Anderson is in on the Abzan train, here. No Wingmate Roc in his build, but the full playset of Elvish Mystic. Here: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/29576_Everything-You-Should-Know-About-Abzan-Midrange.html
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Seems like a nuts card in Abzan colors, considering that Abzan has the biggest butts in the set. I can see many people trying for a curve of T1 Disowned Ancestor into a T2 4/4. That's.... pretty crazy.
Worst case scenario you're probably getting a 3/3 for BG (it is Abzan, after all), which seems like decent value.
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A PTQ is as big as it gets in my part of the world, especially the past couple of years we've had no Grand Prix. There is no SCG here. These changes do feel like it shafts us hard.
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