I agree that I have been on the positive side of variance vs. Tron the last week or 2. Some of this comes from the fact I knew the players were on Tron and I’m not afraid to keep the 2 land opener with a Field of Ruin. Also, I will cast a cryptic during their upkeep to bounce a Tron land back to their hand; and then snap the cryptic back to do the same. Then setting up an Entreat with Jace usually seals it; nothing is more fun to cast Opt on their end step reveal/cast Entreat for 4-6 angels. The Tron matchup has felt much more reasonable to me since Jace was unbanned and Teferi was printed. Post board I bring in 2 Stony, 2 Damping Sphere and 1-2 Ceremonious Rejection, depending on how many I’m running that day.
I’ve been running a very similar list with the following MB changes:
-1 JtMS
-2 Think Twice
+1 Snapcaster Mage
+2 Ancestral Visions
I’ve gone 10-2 over the last couple of weeks with it. The losses were to UR Storm and Humans. The wins were against G Tron(3 matches), Mardu Pyromancer, Elves (2), 8 rack, GW Value town, UR Wizards and Abzan.
Having the third snapcaster has been very good and would highly recommend it. And I have liked the Ancestral Visions enough that I’m considering cutting something to make room for a third one of those as well.
I think I'm going to try this out since they provide a decent roadblock vs. aggro decks and probably would be effective defense in the Eldrazi matchup as well. Also, they probably can out in some serious work against Dredge as well.
Played Bant Eldrazi at GP Indy this weekend; going 9-6 thorugh both days. I will post a quick report below my deck list which can be found in the spoiler.
Rd 2 Jund 0-2 lose 2 very close games but Jund did it's Jundy thing quite well.
Overall 1-1
Rd 3 Elves 2-0 Game 1 a quick curve of displacer, Smasher and Smasher wins it. Game 2 EE for 1 on t4 clears out 4 of 5 elves and Smasher next turn finishes off the little green men.
Overall 2-1
Rd 4 Death's Shadow 2-1 Game 1 the maid deck EE just blew out my opponent. Game 2 lost to Become Immense & Temur Battlerage. Game 3 An early Rest in Peace kept him off of his delve creatures/spells and used Eldrazi Displacer to blink out his creatures and clear the way for my attackers.
Overall 3-1
Rd 5 Infect 0-2 quickly losing on t3 game 1 and t4 game 2. This feels like a very unfavorable matchup.
Overall 3-2
Rd 6 Death's Shadow 2-0 G1 EE cleans up his board of Swiftspear, Nactl and Death's Shadow on t4. G2 Path and Blessed Alliance keeps the way clear for my attackers.
Overall 4-2
Rd 7 UR Bedlam Delver 2-1 g1 win on due to running TKS and Smasher top decks g2- Young Pyro buried me under a ton of elemental tokens. g3 Opponent gets an early flipped delver and then doesn't draw much gas as proceed to drop several Rehapers and a Smasher
Overall 5-2
Rd 8 Death's Shadow 2-0 g1 Once again the MB EE blows out by clearing out 2 Death's Shadows and a Swiftspear. g2 a turn 3 Worship gets there after my opponent concedes around turn 10 with me at 1 life and I have more creatures then they have removal spells.
Overall 6-2
Rd 9 RG Tron 0-2 both games I have good starts but cannot finish them off before they start exiling with Karn, Worldbreaker and Ulamog. I would like to know if anyone has had better results in this match up because I am now 2-5 in this matchup
Overall 6-3
Rd 10 Jund 2-1 G1 started out t2 TKS and t3 Smasher. g2 way too much removal and hand disruption keeps me reeling g3 a close back and forth affair with Smasher followed by Drowner of Hope to finish it out.
Overall 7-3
Rd11 Ad Nauseum 0-2 I think is probably one of the most unfavorable match ups and fortunately in my area it is not played much at all.
overall 7-4
rd 12 Merfolk 0-2 Another bad matchup that curves out quickly both games
Overall 7-5
Rd 13 Jund 2-1 G1 and 3 quick starts that my opponent doesn't answer quickly g2 loss due to them having multiple thoughtseize and removal spells
Overall 8-5
Rd 14 Bant Eldrazi 1-2 All 3 games went to whoever played the most Eldrazi Temples and that seems to be the key in this matchup.
Overall 8-6
Rd 15 Burn 2-1 g1 have a really good curve of t2 TKS into Smasher puts it away quickly. g2 so much burn my eyes still hurt. g3 opponent gets out to a quick start but back to back TKS's empty their hand and I am able to close it out before he draws any more burn spells.
Overall 9-6
I have to say this deck played really well and I believe my performance with it will improve with experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new deck to play.
Going forward I believe I will try removing the 2 Dismember for 2 Spellskite. There were several times I drew those Dismember and would have much rather had almost anything else.
I went 6-3 with Elves as well at the Open; 2 of my losses were to the day 2 elf decks. Also, there was another elf deck at x-3. It was a pretty good weekend to be playing elves!
Saw that this morning. Had a chat with my friend about the elf deck. Will never agree playing 61 cards is okay. Also I'm wondering if Leyline of Vitality is just for burn or is that a solid plan against pyroclasm. I don't think it's enough against anger but in multiples sure? The trade off of having them in opening is great but I have had terrible luck in the past. Sometimes I have a really nice hand of 7 with no leyline but I lost the match due to drawing them late in the game.
This was my deck and my first top 8 at this size of event. I was coming here to post a tournament report and figure this would be a good place to reply. First of all, I would like to apologize for the brevity of the match summaries in advance; I decided to play the standard open the day before at the last minute so we didn't get a hotel and had a 2 hour drive home/ then early rise to drive 2 hours back the next morning.
Here we go
Rnd 1 Doran, the Siegetower deck
g1- was pretty quick due to curving out nicely with a dork into druid into a CoCo, then chording for an Ezuri
sideboarding: -1 Rec Sage +1 Spellskite
g2- another game very similar to g2, the only thing I really remember out this one is that while we were desideboarding my opponent said that he almost chorded for Linvala, Keeper of the Silence; instead he cast Aven Mindcensor in response to my chord for 3; I was going to get Ezuri but instead found an Archruid in my top 4 cards. Untapped drew a Horizon Canopy played and sacrificed that to pull the Ezuri with 2 Archdruid each tapping for 7 mana.
2-0 Games
1-0 Matches
Rnd 2 Grixis Control with Ancestral Visions
G1 I am on the play and lead out with a mana dork. He leads out with Fetch, Shock and suspends an Ancestral Visions and I was thinking this was going to be a tough match. I was then able to land a Dwynen's Elite, get the token and attack with my Llanowar. Over the next several turns we do the back and forth of me playing little guys and him bolting/electrolyzing them. I was able to ding him a couple times but mostly he did the damage to himself. Then turn 3 he lands a Tasigur and I just do nothing with my board and pass turn. He casts the Visions, draws for his turn, plays a fetch, shocks himself and with that trigger on the stack I chord for the Shaman which along with the shock trigger kills him.
Sideboarding: -1 Rec Sage -1 Nettle Sentinel -2 Heritage Druid -1 Elvish Visionary
+3 Leyline of Vitality +1 Fecundity +1 Chameleon Colussus
G2- Opening Hand has the Leyline which I play on Turn 0 and watch my opponent take a few to digest it; to which he responds"that could be a problem". I am able to start the game out with a t1 mystic, into a t2 Archdruid, t3 Elite and CoCo hitting a Visionary and Sentinel, t4 he lands Kalitas, just after I drew the Fecundity off of the Visionary. He then proceeds to hit me with the Kalitas once and I draw my Colossus get it out. The next turn I finally get a CoCo to resolve on his endstep landing another Archdruid and Ezuri. I then untap attack for 59 with trample.
The Leyline did some pretty good work in this game not only did I gain 11 life it kept my Archdruid out of electrolyze range; which he directed at me instead of it.
2-0
Overall 2-0 matches, 4-0 games
Rnd 3 Naya Burn
G1- Win due to my opponent being 3 minutes late to the match
G2- Kept a fairly slow hand with a few mana dorks, Visionary, 2 lands and a Chord. He wins the roll, leads out with Goblin Guide and it went pretty quick after that.
G3- He starts out pretty quickly but gets stuck on 2 lands. I mulled to 6 and kept a decent hand. About t6 or so, he Lightning Helixes me down to 9; I cast the CoCo I have in hand landing Ezuri and Burrenton! He then untaps, draws and thinks for a bit and passes turn. I then attack and sacrifice the Burrenton to allow Ezuri to pump for the win.
2-1
Overall 3-0, 6-1
Rnd 4 BW Hate Eldrazi
G1- I am on the draw, t2 he casts Tidehollow and takes my Elite, then he gets a Flickerwisp out blinking his plains and then proceeds to peck away at me for a couple of turns. On one of his end steps I am able to Chord for the Rec Sage to kill the Tidehollow. I cast the Elite and a Heritage Druid followed by a CoCo on his end step which landed an Archdruid and Visionary; which drew me a chord. I pass play a Nykthos and pass turn; on his end step I chord for Ezuri which he then Paths. I untap and topdeck my other Ezuri and I am able to attack and trample over for the win.
Sideboarding I don't remember exactly what I took out and I brought in my other Rec Sage and 2 Natural States.
G2- He mulls to 6. I proceed to curve out with a mana elf into Archdruid, then I cast an Elite and Heritate Druid, tap those 3 and a Cavern to cast a Shaman. The next turn I cast another Shaman and Chord for another SHaman in response.
2-0
Overall: 4-0, 8-1
Rnd 5 Affinity
G1- All I really remember is just building up my board the first 3 turns, I was hit for 7 from a Vault Skirge with a cranial plating and on his endstep I CoCo'd into another Archduid and Ezuri. I was able to kill him when he was at 25 life.
Sideboarding: -4 Heritage Druids -2 Visionary
+3 Natural State +2 Fracturing Gust +1 Rec Sage
G2- I believe I mulled down to 6 and 5kept a decent hand. But, he had a really good hand and even with me casting a Rec Sage I die on turn 5
G3- I keep an opening 7 with a Natural State and Rec Sage and win on turn 5.
2-1
Overall: 5-0, 10-2 games
Rnd 6 Merfolk
G1- I kill him on turn 5 with Ezuri and his pump
sideboarding: -2 Heritage - 2 Nettle
+3 Natural State +1 Rec Sage
G2- I get him down to 9; but quickly lose to opponent casting Harbinger, Tidebinder and then 2 more Harbingers. That game turned around pretty quickly.
G3- My opponent mulls to 6, I let him het me a couple of times and build up my board state and I then resolve a CoCo which lands a Archdruid and Sentinel. Cast the Ezuri with Cavern and attack him down to 1. He draws and tries to figure a way out and concedes.
2-1
Overall: 6-0, 12-3
Rnd 7 Suicide Zoo
G1- this was one was a pretty quick one; the only damage he did to me was Nactl attack on turn 2. I was able to get a couple of blockers out for a couple of turns to stop the Nactl. He then cycles a street wraith bringing him down to 4 to which I chord for a Shaman for the kill.
G2- I just get in enough damage to go along with the self-inflicted damage to get the win
2-0
Overall: 7-0, 14-3
I then double draw into the Top 8.
They announce the seeding and I get the third seed.
Quarterfinal Tom Ross with RW Burn
G1- I knew he was on burn and kept a pretty decent hand. Only, his hand was much better than mine and he proceeded to kill creatures with burn and beating me down with Goblin Guide and friends.
G2- My opening hand was 3 mana elfs, a leyline, Visionary, Horizon Canopy and Ezuri. So, I mull to 6 and draw a no land hand. Mull to 5 and draw the following; Horizon Canopy, Leyline, Leyline, Cavern and Leyline. I keep this 5 and scry a forest to the bottom. I am thinking not good but the upside of this has to be better than any 4 card opener. Before I start my turn and lay down the 3 Leylines and watch as both Tom and the judge at the table read the card. And Tom mentions this could be a problem for him. Unfortunately for me, I proceed to draw a Shaman, Chord, Visionary, Llanowar and I was able to get 2 elves out but one was responded by a skullcrack and I still died pretty quickly.
Overall, the deck ran really well all day and I played pretty much the same deck to 7-2 finish in the Sunday Super Series at GP Detroit.
As far as the 61 cards in the main, I decided Saturday night I wanted to have one in the main as well as the sideboard. Given I was making that decision around 1 a.m. and had to get about 4.5 hours I went with 61 since I couldn't make up my mind on what to take out and I figured between the Chords and CoCo another target couldn't hurt.
Here's a pretty late post about my GP Detroit experience; I played Goryo's Vengeance/Through theBreach and went 4-5. Get back to the hotel Saturday night and borrow the shell of an extra elves deck he had brought along for the Sunday Super Series qualifier. Unfortunately, for me, I had already lent him my Horizon Canopies but this was good for him as he made day 2 playing elves. I don't have my exact list but it was actually pretty similar to the main board Andrew Braeckstrom played in the GP. I only ran 3 Shaman of the Pack for some reason. And I played one Pulse of Murasa in the MB as well.
Here's a quick summary:
Rd 1 vs. Colorless Eldrazi
G1 I mull to 5 and opponent opens with Eye, Mimic, Mimic, Endless One. On t2 he drops a thought knot and I scoop.
G2 I mull to 6 kept a decent hand with a couple of lands, 4 one drops and lead out with a Sentinel. My opponent starts the game with a gemstone cavern on t0 and follows it up with a chalice on 1. And then closes it out pretty quickly.
0-1 overall, 0-2 games
Rd2 UG infect
G1 I win on t4 triple Ezuri pumps while attacking.
G2 I lose to Blighted Agent being pumped
G3 takes a little while but I was able to chord for my second spellskite after my first one gets removed. I then swing in for 25 or so for the win
1-1 overall, 3-3 in games
Rd3 Merfolk
G1 is over as quickly build a big army and swing in 30 or so on t4
G2 I win after after my opponent gets stuck with 1 island in play
2-1 overall, 5-3 games
Rd4 UW Eldrazi
G1 I mull to 5 again and scoop to yet another opponent opener of mimic mimic and t2 TKS. Those are the breaks I guess.
G2 my opponent kept a slower hand and I kept a decent hand after a mull to 6. I get him down to 2 before he lands back to back Drowners.
2-2 overall, 5-5 in games.
Rd 5 Lantern Control
G1 was brutal due to him getting the full combo out in about as quick as I ever see that happen.
G2 he gets a few mill cards out but no lantern and then lands ensnaring bridge on t6 or so and follows up with a pyroclasm. Fortunately I had Creping Corrosion in hand cast that and a nettle sentinel and finish him with that.
G3 I get him down to 2 pretty quickly and then he runs out the bridge and 2 turns later I land a Shaman for the win
3-2 overall, 7-6 games
Rd6 Tron-drazi
Quickly roll over my opponent both games
4-2 overall 9-6 games
Rd7 Mardu Tokens
I take this one 2-0
5-2 overall, 11-6 in games
Rd 8 jeskai Eldrazi
G1 is pretty quick as I believe my opponent kept a very slow opener
G2 ends being quick as I let him get me down to 7 as I built up a big army and swing back for lethal after and end of turn CoCo hits Ezuri and an Archdruid.
6-2 overall, 13-6 in games.
Rd 8 UW Eldrazi
G1 I do the now seemingly usual thing of building up the big army, EOT CoCo that hits 2 Druids, untap cast Ezuri and sing in for lethal.
G2 I mull to 5 and it's over pretty quickly
G3 was a strange one because I had a very slow start and my opponent would only attack with his sky spawner and on t6 I believe casts a reality smasher on his second main. 2 turns later I swing for lethal
Finished 7-2 overall and 15-7 in games. This was good enough for 16th overall. It felt really good to play Elves again; I played them quite a bit until my local shop became heavy with Jund and Jeskai.
I just started playing a list very similar to the PT ones a couple of weeks ago and it's played very well. I've dropped the Izzet Charms and put in Simiam Spirit Guide in their place; and that has made it much better it seems. I have discovered, in my opinion anyway, I really like to reanimate Griselbrand on defense vs. aggro, Eldrazi and burn decks; it's been very useful to block with him gain the life and then 7-14 cards. This has usually been enough to set up Emrakul the next turn or at least another Griselbrand will go back into it they GY for the next turn.
Unfortunately, Eye of Ugin is the card that should be banned. It truly enables the crazy fast starts with 1-4 2/x creatures on t1 without tapping a single mana source. The group I playtest with have found opening hands with Eye, 1-3 Mimic/Endless One, TKS and a Temple/SSG are quite frequent with aggressive mulligans down to 6 cards; through in the scry and that makes even better. We haven't came across a deck that can deal with that as consistently as the Eldrazi deck presents this scenario.
Well, I have been bitten by the Legacy bug. I borrowed a friends deck and added the green splash for Abrupt Decays out of the side and headed off to SCG Indy this past weekend. And, I had the most enjoyable Magic tournament experience even with going 3-4 drop. My rounds went 1-2 loss to burn, 2-0 vs. burn, 2-0 vs. MUD, 0-2 to Storm(this player lost in the semi-finals), 1-2 vs Fish, 2-0 vs MUD and 0-2 vs. Shardless BUG. My list was pretty standard with 4 Griselbrands, Elesh, Iona and Tidespout in the MB. The flex spot in the SB I played one Empyrial Archangeland I was impressed how it shut off my round 2 burn opponent.
I enjoyed it so much I traded most of my standard stuff, some modern staples I had and my whole Kaalia EDH deck to acquire almost all of the cards I need to build my own Reanimator deck. I am just short a couple of duals and some Flusterstorms and it will be complete. And, I like the fact of how easily I can change it to OmniTell since I am running 2 SB and 2 MB in my current list.
Until I can get my hands on a few Sorins i'm subbing them with other cards, below is my starter decklist that I plan to build upon.
Have read a few of the pages and i'm wondering why CotP isn't swapped for Signal pest? It comes in at the same slot, sure it doesn't get as big but it's guaranteed to grow everything around it and it has pseudo-evasion...
Another card i'm curious about is Contested Warzone, it's essentially a finisher and doesn't cost a whole lot to boot? Just curious
Will build and post my sideboard after testing with friends this weekend.
I run a very similar list on MTGO with the following changes:
-3 Thraben
-1 Hero of Bladehold(but have been thinking adding the 3rd)
-4 Midnight Haunting
I tried out Signal Pest and it was great with a board presence but by itself it not a threat at all. I would say about 75% of the time a turn 1 CotP is usually attacking for 2 or 3. I preferred having the early threat putting pressure on my opponent instead of the possible extra 1 damage per creature especially with running the 8 anthems.
With my current build I have a winning percentage of about 60-65% in tournament practice. I will probably try a 4 round standard in the next couple of days.
I would go -1 Elesh and -3 Hero and +4 on the CotP in the MB and -2 Dismember and +2 Hero in the SB. This would help speed up your a deck a bit and I am not sure I would try to run Elesh with only 24 lands. I would also consider dropping the Wurmcoil and 1 Elspeth to make room for 2 Celestial Purges. I found that I never brought in my Dismembers and I was looking for ways to get rid of Huntmasters, Phyrexian Obliterator and other such pains.
Now I plan on adding 4 Champion of the Parish to have easy turn 2 2/2 with another Champion or 3/3 with Townsfolk but no idea which should be cut for them, Also to figure out what to cut in for Elspeth's and if whats cut should be thrown in sideboard or replace with something new.
Round 1
U/B Control won 2-0
This match went well because I curved quite well both games. Sorin with Lingering Souls was outstanding.
Overall 1-0
Round 2
Mono Green Aggro 1-2
All 3 games were quite close and the 2 losses were because of Ratchet Bomb and bellowing worm.
Overall 1-1
Round 3
RDW 2-1
This was a matchup was really close. Lost game 1 due to MB Ancient Grudges. Game 2 I barely outraced a Shrine with 12 Counters on it, didn't see a single O-Ring. Game 3 was a quick game due to Lingering Souls, Sorin and followed by Increasing Devotion.
Overall 2-1
Round 4
R/W Artifact Aggro 2-1
Don't really remember much about this matchup other than Wurmcoil was a tough matchup game 2 as I didn't see a Revoke Existence or O-Ring. Game 3 Increasing Devotion was the MVP being hard cast and flashed back.
Overall 3-1
Round 5
Esper Spirits 2-1
This was a very tough matchup. Won game 1 on Virtues and 2 Sorin Emblems. Game 2 was a quick loss to Lingerings Souls, flashed back Souls followed by a Drogskol Captain. Game 3 I had to mulligan to 5 and then didn't miss a land drop and Increasing Devotion being cast and flashed back.
Overall 4-1
Round 6
U/W Humans 1-2
This was another tough matchup that could have went either way. Game 1 was pretty close but I didn't see many counters. Games 2 and 3 Ratchet Bombs were brutal. But the last game came down to who could top deck better. I didn't draw an answer to Geist of St. Traft.
Overall, a very fun deck to play. Only changes I'm making are removing the 2 Ghost Quarters and replace them with another Vault of the Archangel and 1 Swamp
I’ve been running a very similar list with the following MB changes:
-1 JtMS
-2 Think Twice
+1 Snapcaster Mage
+2 Ancestral Visions
I’ve gone 10-2 over the last couple of weeks with it. The losses were to UR Storm and Humans. The wins were against G Tron(3 matches), Mardu Pyromancer, Elves (2), 8 rack, GW Value town, UR Wizards and Abzan.
Having the third snapcaster has been very good and would highly recommend it. And I have liked the Ancestral Visions enough that I’m considering cutting something to make room for a third one of those as well.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/516308#online
I think I'm going to try this out since they provide a decent roadblock vs. aggro decks and probably would be effective defense in the Eldrazi matchup as well. Also, they probably can out in some serious work against Dredge as well.
4 Noble Hierach
1 Birds of Paradise
4 matter Reshaper
4 eldrazi displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
3 Drowner of Hope
Spells
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Path to Exile
2 Dismember
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Windswept Heath
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Yavimaya Coast
3 Brushlands
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
2 Forest
1 Plains
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Stony Silence
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Worship
1 Rest in Peace
Rd 1- Bye 1-0
Rd 2 Jund 0-2 lose 2 very close games but Jund did it's Jundy thing quite well.
Overall 1-1
Rd 3 Elves 2-0 Game 1 a quick curve of displacer, Smasher and Smasher wins it. Game 2 EE for 1 on t4 clears out 4 of 5 elves and Smasher next turn finishes off the little green men.
Overall 2-1
Rd 4 Death's Shadow 2-1 Game 1 the maid deck EE just blew out my opponent. Game 2 lost to Become Immense & Temur Battlerage. Game 3 An early Rest in Peace kept him off of his delve creatures/spells and used Eldrazi Displacer to blink out his creatures and clear the way for my attackers.
Overall 3-1
Rd 5 Infect 0-2 quickly losing on t3 game 1 and t4 game 2. This feels like a very unfavorable matchup.
Overall 3-2
Rd 6 Death's Shadow 2-0 G1 EE cleans up his board of Swiftspear, Nactl and Death's Shadow on t4. G2 Path and Blessed Alliance keeps the way clear for my attackers.
Overall 4-2
Rd 7 UR Bedlam Delver 2-1 g1 win on due to running TKS and Smasher top decks g2- Young Pyro buried me under a ton of elemental tokens. g3 Opponent gets an early flipped delver and then doesn't draw much gas as proceed to drop several Rehapers and a Smasher
Overall 5-2
Rd 8 Death's Shadow 2-0 g1 Once again the MB EE blows out by clearing out 2 Death's Shadows and a Swiftspear. g2 a turn 3 Worship gets there after my opponent concedes around turn 10 with me at 1 life and I have more creatures then they have removal spells.
Overall 6-2
Rd 9 RG Tron 0-2 both games I have good starts but cannot finish them off before they start exiling with Karn, Worldbreaker and Ulamog. I would like to know if anyone has had better results in this match up because I am now 2-5 in this matchup
Overall 6-3
Rd 10 Jund 2-1 G1 started out t2 TKS and t3 Smasher. g2 way too much removal and hand disruption keeps me reeling g3 a close back and forth affair with Smasher followed by Drowner of Hope to finish it out.
Overall 7-3
Rd11 Ad Nauseum 0-2 I think is probably one of the most unfavorable match ups and fortunately in my area it is not played much at all.
overall 7-4
rd 12 Merfolk 0-2 Another bad matchup that curves out quickly both games
Overall 7-5
Rd 13 Jund 2-1 G1 and 3 quick starts that my opponent doesn't answer quickly g2 loss due to them having multiple thoughtseize and removal spells
Overall 8-5
Rd 14 Bant Eldrazi 1-2 All 3 games went to whoever played the most Eldrazi Temples and that seems to be the key in this matchup.
Overall 8-6
Rd 15 Burn 2-1 g1 have a really good curve of t2 TKS into Smasher puts it away quickly. g2 so much burn my eyes still hurt. g3 opponent gets out to a quick start but back to back TKS's empty their hand and I am able to close it out before he draws any more burn spells.
Overall 9-6
I have to say this deck played really well and I believe my performance with it will improve with experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new deck to play.
Going forward I believe I will try removing the 2 Dismember for 2 Spellskite. There were several times I drew those Dismember and would have much rather had almost anything else.
This was my deck and my first top 8 at this size of event. I was coming here to post a tournament report and figure this would be a good place to reply. First of all, I would like to apologize for the brevity of the match summaries in advance; I decided to play the standard open the day before at the last minute so we didn't get a hotel and had a 2 hour drive home/ then early rise to drive 2 hours back the next morning.
Here we go
Rnd 1 Doran, the Siegetower deck
g1- was pretty quick due to curving out nicely with a dork into druid into a CoCo, then chording for an Ezuri
sideboarding: -1 Rec Sage +1 Spellskite
g2- another game very similar to g2, the only thing I really remember out this one is that while we were desideboarding my opponent said that he almost chorded for Linvala, Keeper of the Silence; instead he cast Aven Mindcensor in response to my chord for 3; I was going to get Ezuri but instead found an Archruid in my top 4 cards. Untapped drew a Horizon Canopy played and sacrificed that to pull the Ezuri with 2 Archdruid each tapping for 7 mana.
2-0 Games
1-0 Matches
Rnd 2 Grixis Control with Ancestral Visions
G1 I am on the play and lead out with a mana dork. He leads out with Fetch, Shock and suspends an Ancestral Visions and I was thinking this was going to be a tough match. I was then able to land a Dwynen's Elite, get the token and attack with my Llanowar. Over the next several turns we do the back and forth of me playing little guys and him bolting/electrolyzing them. I was able to ding him a couple times but mostly he did the damage to himself. Then turn 3 he lands a Tasigur and I just do nothing with my board and pass turn. He casts the Visions, draws for his turn, plays a fetch, shocks himself and with that trigger on the stack I chord for the Shaman which along with the shock trigger kills him.
Sideboarding: -1 Rec Sage -1 Nettle Sentinel -2 Heritage Druid -1 Elvish Visionary
+3 Leyline of Vitality +1 Fecundity +1 Chameleon Colussus
G2- Opening Hand has the Leyline which I play on Turn 0 and watch my opponent take a few to digest it; to which he responds"that could be a problem". I am able to start the game out with a t1 mystic, into a t2 Archdruid, t3 Elite and CoCo hitting a Visionary and Sentinel, t4 he lands Kalitas, just after I drew the Fecundity off of the Visionary. He then proceeds to hit me with the Kalitas once and I draw my Colossus get it out. The next turn I finally get a CoCo to resolve on his endstep landing another Archdruid and Ezuri. I then untap attack for 59 with trample.
The Leyline did some pretty good work in this game not only did I gain 11 life it kept my Archdruid out of electrolyze range; which he directed at me instead of it.
2-0
Overall 2-0 matches, 4-0 games
Rnd 3 Naya Burn
G1- Win due to my opponent being 3 minutes late to the match
G2- Kept a fairly slow hand with a few mana dorks, Visionary, 2 lands and a Chord. He wins the roll, leads out with Goblin Guide and it went pretty quick after that.
G3- He starts out pretty quickly but gets stuck on 2 lands. I mulled to 6 and kept a decent hand. About t6 or so, he Lightning Helixes me down to 9; I cast the CoCo I have in hand landing Ezuri and Burrenton! He then untaps, draws and thinks for a bit and passes turn. I then attack and sacrifice the Burrenton to allow Ezuri to pump for the win.
2-1
Overall 3-0, 6-1
Rnd 4 BW Hate Eldrazi
G1- I am on the draw, t2 he casts Tidehollow and takes my Elite, then he gets a Flickerwisp out blinking his plains and then proceeds to peck away at me for a couple of turns. On one of his end steps I am able to Chord for the Rec Sage to kill the Tidehollow. I cast the Elite and a Heritage Druid followed by a CoCo on his end step which landed an Archdruid and Visionary; which drew me a chord. I pass play a Nykthos and pass turn; on his end step I chord for Ezuri which he then Paths. I untap and topdeck my other Ezuri and I am able to attack and trample over for the win.
Sideboarding I don't remember exactly what I took out and I brought in my other Rec Sage and 2 Natural States.
G2- He mulls to 6. I proceed to curve out with a mana elf into Archdruid, then I cast an Elite and Heritate Druid, tap those 3 and a Cavern to cast a Shaman. The next turn I cast another Shaman and Chord for another SHaman in response.
2-0
Overall: 4-0, 8-1
Rnd 5 Affinity
G1- All I really remember is just building up my board the first 3 turns, I was hit for 7 from a Vault Skirge with a cranial plating and on his endstep I CoCo'd into another Archduid and Ezuri. I was able to kill him when he was at 25 life.
Sideboarding: -4 Heritage Druids -2 Visionary
+3 Natural State +2 Fracturing Gust +1 Rec Sage
G2- I believe I mulled down to 6 and 5kept a decent hand. But, he had a really good hand and even with me casting a Rec Sage I die on turn 5
G3- I keep an opening 7 with a Natural State and Rec Sage and win on turn 5.
2-1
Overall: 5-0, 10-2 games
Rnd 6 Merfolk
G1- I kill him on turn 5 with Ezuri and his pump
sideboarding: -2 Heritage - 2 Nettle
+3 Natural State +1 Rec Sage
G2- I get him down to 9; but quickly lose to opponent casting Harbinger, Tidebinder and then 2 more Harbingers. That game turned around pretty quickly.
G3- My opponent mulls to 6, I let him het me a couple of times and build up my board state and I then resolve a CoCo which lands a Archdruid and Sentinel. Cast the Ezuri with Cavern and attack him down to 1. He draws and tries to figure a way out and concedes.
2-1
Overall: 6-0, 12-3
Rnd 7 Suicide Zoo
G1- this was one was a pretty quick one; the only damage he did to me was Nactl attack on turn 2. I was able to get a couple of blockers out for a couple of turns to stop the Nactl. He then cycles a street wraith bringing him down to 4 to which I chord for a Shaman for the kill.
G2- I just get in enough damage to go along with the self-inflicted damage to get the win
2-0
Overall: 7-0, 14-3
I then double draw into the Top 8.
They announce the seeding and I get the third seed.
Quarterfinal Tom Ross with RW Burn
G1- I knew he was on burn and kept a pretty decent hand. Only, his hand was much better than mine and he proceeded to kill creatures with burn and beating me down with Goblin Guide and friends.
G2- My opening hand was 3 mana elfs, a leyline, Visionary, Horizon Canopy and Ezuri. So, I mull to 6 and draw a no land hand. Mull to 5 and draw the following; Horizon Canopy, Leyline, Leyline, Cavern and Leyline. I keep this 5 and scry a forest to the bottom. I am thinking not good but the upside of this has to be better than any 4 card opener. Before I start my turn and lay down the 3 Leylines and watch as both Tom and the judge at the table read the card. And Tom mentions this could be a problem for him. Unfortunately for me, I proceed to draw a Shaman, Chord, Visionary, Llanowar and I was able to get 2 elves out but one was responded by a skullcrack and I still died pretty quickly.
Overall, the deck ran really well all day and I played pretty much the same deck to 7-2 finish in the Sunday Super Series at GP Detroit.
As far as the 61 cards in the main, I decided Saturday night I wanted to have one in the main as well as the sideboard. Given I was making that decision around 1 a.m. and had to get about 4.5 hours I went with 61 since I couldn't make up my mind on what to take out and I figured between the Chords and CoCo another target couldn't hurt.
Here's a quick summary:
Rd 1 vs. Colorless Eldrazi
G1 I mull to 5 and opponent opens with Eye, Mimic, Mimic, Endless One. On t2 he drops a thought knot and I scoop.
G2 I mull to 6 kept a decent hand with a couple of lands, 4 one drops and lead out with a Sentinel. My opponent starts the game with a gemstone cavern on t0 and follows it up with a chalice on 1. And then closes it out pretty quickly.
0-1 overall, 0-2 games
Rd2 UG infect
G1 I win on t4 triple Ezuri pumps while attacking.
G2 I lose to Blighted Agent being pumped
G3 takes a little while but I was able to chord for my second spellskite after my first one gets removed. I then swing in for 25 or so for the win
1-1 overall, 3-3 in games
Rd3 Merfolk
G1 is over as quickly build a big army and swing in 30 or so on t4
G2 I win after after my opponent gets stuck with 1 island in play
2-1 overall, 5-3 games
Rd4 UW Eldrazi
G1 I mull to 5 again and scoop to yet another opponent opener of mimic mimic and t2 TKS. Those are the breaks I guess.
G2 my opponent kept a slower hand and I kept a decent hand after a mull to 6. I get him down to 2 before he lands back to back Drowners.
2-2 overall, 5-5 in games.
Rd 5 Lantern Control
G1 was brutal due to him getting the full combo out in about as quick as I ever see that happen.
G2 he gets a few mill cards out but no lantern and then lands ensnaring bridge on t6 or so and follows up with a pyroclasm. Fortunately I had Creping Corrosion in hand cast that and a nettle sentinel and finish him with that.
G3 I get him down to 2 pretty quickly and then he runs out the bridge and 2 turns later I land a Shaman for the win
3-2 overall, 7-6 games
Rd6 Tron-drazi
Quickly roll over my opponent both games
4-2 overall 9-6 games
Rd7 Mardu Tokens
I take this one 2-0
5-2 overall, 11-6 in games
Rd 8 jeskai Eldrazi
G1 is pretty quick as I believe my opponent kept a very slow opener
G2 ends being quick as I let him get me down to 7 as I built up a big army and swing back for lethal after and end of turn CoCo hits Ezuri and an Archdruid.
6-2 overall, 13-6 in games.
Rd 8 UW Eldrazi
G1 I do the now seemingly usual thing of building up the big army, EOT CoCo that hits 2 Druids, untap cast Ezuri and sing in for lethal.
G2 I mull to 5 and it's over pretty quickly
G3 was a strange one because I had a very slow start and my opponent would only attack with his sky spawner and on t6 I believe casts a reality smasher on his second main. 2 turns later I swing for lethal
Finished 7-2 overall and 15-7 in games. This was good enough for 16th overall. It felt really good to play Elves again; I played them quite a bit until my local shop became heavy with Jund and Jeskai.
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Griselbrand
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Tidespout Tyrant
4 Brainstorm
4 Careful Study
2 Daze
4 Entomb
4 Exhume
4 Force of Will
4 Lotus Petal
3 Ponder
4 Reanimate
2 Show and Tell
3 Thoughtseize
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Polluted Delta
2 Bayou
2 Swamp
4 Underground Sea
1 Ashen Rider
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Misdirection
1 Empyrial Archangel
2 Massacre
2 Pithing Needle
2 Show and Tell
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Thoughtseize
The next time I play I am going to try replacing 1 Ponder with a Grave titan.
I enjoyed it so much I traded most of my standard stuff, some modern staples I had and my whole Kaalia EDH deck to acquire almost all of the cards I need to build my own Reanimator deck. I am just short a couple of duals and some Flusterstorms and it will be complete. And, I like the fact of how easily I can change it to OmniTell since I am running 2 SB and 2 MB in my current list.
Anyone have any tips for a new legacy player?
thank you.
I run a very similar list on MTGO with the following changes:
-3 Thraben
-1 Hero of Bladehold(but have been thinking adding the 3rd)
-4 Midnight Haunting
+4 Blade Splicer
+1 Oblivion Ring
+1 GftT
+1 Doom Blade
I tried out Signal Pest and it was great with a board presence but by itself it not a threat at all. I would say about 75% of the time a turn 1 CotP is usually attacking for 2 or 3. I preferred having the early threat putting pressure on my opponent instead of the possible extra 1 damage per creature especially with running the 8 anthems.
With my current build I have a winning percentage of about 60-65% in tournament practice. I will probably try a 4 round standard in the next couple of days.
Here is my deck:
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Vault of the Archangel
5 Swamp
11 Plains
24 Lands
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Creatures
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Elspeth Tirel
2 Tragic Slip
2 Increasing Devotion
4 Lingering Souls
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Shrine of Loyal Legions
2 Doom Blade
2 Midnight Haunting
3 Oblivion Ring
32 Other Spells
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Day of Judgment
2 Dismember
3 Mirran Crusader
2 Celestial Purge
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Revoke Existence
Went 4-2 and finished 15th out of 61.
Round 1
U/B Control won 2-0
This match went well because I curved quite well both games. Sorin with Lingering Souls was outstanding.
Overall 1-0
Round 2
Mono Green Aggro 1-2
All 3 games were quite close and the 2 losses were because of Ratchet Bomb and bellowing worm.
Overall 1-1
Round 3
RDW 2-1
This was a matchup was really close. Lost game 1 due to MB Ancient Grudges. Game 2 I barely outraced a Shrine with 12 Counters on it, didn't see a single O-Ring. Game 3 was a quick game due to Lingering Souls, Sorin and followed by Increasing Devotion.
Overall 2-1
Round 4
R/W Artifact Aggro 2-1
Don't really remember much about this matchup other than Wurmcoil was a tough matchup game 2 as I didn't see a Revoke Existence or O-Ring. Game 3 Increasing Devotion was the MVP being hard cast and flashed back.
Overall 3-1
Round 5
Esper Spirits 2-1
This was a very tough matchup. Won game 1 on Virtues and 2 Sorin Emblems. Game 2 was a quick loss to Lingerings Souls, flashed back Souls followed by a Drogskol Captain. Game 3 I had to mulligan to 5 and then didn't miss a land drop and Increasing Devotion being cast and flashed back.
Overall 4-1
Round 6
U/W Humans 1-2
This was another tough matchup that could have went either way. Game 1 was pretty close but I didn't see many counters. Games 2 and 3 Ratchet Bombs were brutal. But the last game came down to who could top deck better. I didn't draw an answer to Geist of St. Traft.
Overall, a very fun deck to play. Only changes I'm making are removing the 2 Ghost Quarters and replace them with another Vault of the Archangel and 1 Swamp