MTG Salvation

I've always found the tough matches to be DnT, Jund, and Elves. Does that sound about right to you, FANAttIC? Everything else doesn't give me too much trouble unless I get very unlucky. Jund just has way too much removal, and Elves is too hard to interact with consistenty while they set up their winning board state. Having Chalices does help vs. Elves but generally I feel it is an unfavorable matchup. Nic Fit is also bad, and is starting to gain a bit more traction in my meta but I managed to beat it the last time it popped up.

Congratulations on your finish at GP Lille, it is encouraging to see the deck doing so well!

My current list:



Only changes I have made to the MB since I made top 8 of Australian Eternal Masters last year was moving Dismember to the sideboard, and I'm testing Master of Waves and Thassa. Both have overperformed so far. I think I need to shore up the SB a little bit, but it seems to be working. Would like an extra graveyard-hate card and another Chalice in there, though.

Quote from L0rdAceX »

Went 1-2 today (Only 8 players)
I think I played near perfectly against DnT, but he was able to pull it out game 3 with Jitte and was able to race my 2 TrueNames with fliers and Jitte. :\ I lost to DnT 2 weeks ago and the week before and my sideboard plan isn't really help shoring it up (my side looks very similar to FANAttic's, but I didn't play Relics). It really does feel like the only way to beat this matchup is either them not having any Plows or having multiple TrueNames. Yuck. Anyone have a surefire way to beat this deck? I seem to play against it every week.

Sadly, there isn't really one. You just have to be really careful with your counters, play TNNs and hope they get bad hands. I have played against DnT at least twenty times and I've won maybe twice. Unfortunately it is just a bad matchup - at least in my experience.

edit - I might be a bit late to the discussion but I am a huge supporter of Wastelands in this deck. I have always played a 3/3/3 split of Cavern/Wasteland/Mutavault with 11-13 Islands, and it has always been fantastic.

This seems like it would be okay against Delver decks, but you can't count on your Seeker of the Way sticking around long. It is just going to eat removal - and the Delver decks play a lot of that. Aside from that, Stoneblade will be a huge problem, as you are slower and don't interact well with Batterskull or True-Name Nemesis. BUG Delver is going to Abrupt Decay anything and everything, as is Jund, but the Punishing Fire lock is a lot more brutal.

I'm iffy about your claim that Seeker of the Way can net you 4/5/6 life in a turn. RDW tends to only have a few mana in play, and if they don't, they have flooded and they are going to lose.

The list looks absolutely fine on paper, I'm just hesitant about how good the Delver matchup actually is. Awkward 3-ofs are kind of my jam when I build legacy decks, but they don't make sense here. Either consolidate your Searing Bloods up to a 4-of by cutting a Fireblast and a Rift Bolt, or cut them to the sideboard and up your Fireblast and Rift Bolt. How is your sideboard looking?

I've been playing Fish for about eight months now, and a few weeks ago I made the top 8 of the Australian Eternal Masters Legacy with this list, finishing in the top 4:


There was a lot of awkward 1-ofs in the board (didn't have chalices, or a 3rd flusterstorm/surgical) but aside from that the list ran really smoothly. The dismembers are mainboard because the meta in my city is aggro-dominated and they tend to serve me well game-1 and quite often I don't see them g1 in irrelevant matchups anyway. It is a pretty stock-standard list, but I'd like to drop one island and up the Mutavault count by 1. The 3/3/2 split is really great, it seems like it would be too heavy, but I hardly ever have mana issues. Wastelands are just so unbelievably important, and get insanely good when you have Aether Vial. I will most likely try one week without Wastelands just to see the difference but I am pretty confident with how it runs. I played against BUG Delver, UR Delver, Omni-Tell, Sneak and Show, RDW, UR Delver, then BUG Delver in the quarters and UR Delver in the semis. My only losses were to the first and last UR Delver.

In terms of sideboard, this is what I think I am going to try next:


While Flusterstorm would be way better, I am just playing Spell Pierce. Extra counters are purely for the Storm match-up, really, and these work *almost* as well. Chain of Vapor is there for Helm/RIP combo and Dark Depths which pop up consistently in my meta, Ratchet Bomb is for the 1 or 2 elf decks that are making a comback at the moment. I haven't had a chance to drop Chalice yet, but I'm sure it will be very enjoyable when I do.

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been around at all! Uni was super crazy this semester, but it's all done for the semester and I can relax (i.e. make art and play magic) for two months.

I did about ten Conspiracy drafts last week, it is super fun.

I think the only other noteworthy thing that has happened to me in the last few months is I made the top8 of another sealed tournament with a first prize of $200, but lost in the quarters again. I also made the top8 of another big legacy tournament... again, lost in the quarters. I did make the top 8 of the vintage league i've been playing in - the finals are next sunday, and first place is a Mox Emerald. I am probably going to take Shops, but... I think everybody is going to be playing it, and if I play Dark Times it might come out of nowhere and do well.

How do you guys distribute your mana? I am not running Mutavault at the moment (mainly because I don't want to fork out for them when they are rotating soon) and I am running a 3/3 slipt of Wasteland and Cavern of Souls with 14 Islands. I haven't had any issues with mana so far, so it seems to be working. Wasteland has been really important, too, and with a high creature count and the amount of Wastelands in my meta (Brisbane, Australia - there is a lot of midrange and D&T bouncing around at the moment) I am a bit hesitant to make the change. This is my list:




Sideboard is still in the works. The Brisbane meta changes a lot from week to week as a lot of the regulars have multiple decks and we have a rotating list of semi-regular players (we get between 20 and 35 players every week). I am probably going to keep it as simple as possible, and go for a broad-reaching solution:



Any thoughts? I don't know how I feel about Chill, but we have had a fair bit of RDW lately, as well as the normal amount of Jund and RUG delver, so it seems solid right now. Definitely could become something else, like Kira, though.

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been around! University has been keeping me really busy.

I went to GP Melbourne in February after going to GP KL. I started out hot on 4-0 with Azorius Weenie, then played 3 RG Monsters decks in a row and lost, so no day 2 for me! I played BG Dark Times in the Vintage side event on day 2 and went 5-1 into top 8, then lost in the quarters to Dredge. I got a pack of Italian Legends for my trouble, which was cool. Nothing good in it, though!

A week later I played Fish at a Legacy event with 4 Polluted Delta as the 1st place prize, and went 3-1-1 into top 8, and yet again lost in the quarter finals to Junk Maverick. A week after that, I played a $500 sealed tournament and made the top 8 with a solid GW pool (I had Spear of Heliod and Bow of Nylea with some really aggressive midrange creatures, curving out at Ornitharch and Evangel of Heliod), then drafted a beautiful RB deck with 2 Kragma Warcaller, 2 Fall of the Hammer, a Spiteful Returned, and lots of aggressive minotaurs. I lost in the quarters again, of course, because I overthought an attack in basically the last turn of the game and it cost me the round. Oh well!

I played a Born of the Gods/Theros sealed PTQ yesterday. I had a pretty solid deck with lots of creatures and four bombs - Herald of Torment, Whip of Erebos, Nighthowler, and Graverobber Spider... but no removal. I went 3-1-2 in the end, losing in round, which was unfortunate, because a win there would have got me in to top 8. Oh well! Next big event for me is probably GPTs for GP Sydney then GP Sydney itself.

I played cube today for the... third time? And first time sober.



I can't remember whether I had another card in there or just another land. Either way, it was super smooth, and I went 2-1. The only thing I lost to was a Hellrider into Zealous Conscripts taking my Hero of Bladehold and dealing me around 20 damage in one turn. Filthy.

I am now unemployed, so I am just going into full testing mode for GP Melbourne. I think I am going to play Esper Midrange, but the lure of type 2 is not strong for me.

Quote from bateleur

Did you really mean Vulpine Goliath? That definitely wasn't a bomb in Theros - wasn't even a good card - so I'd be surprised if it's suddenly become amazing!

I've always enjoyed it when I have it in multiples and I always play it when I have a decent amount of bestow dudes (which I did) so I always think of it as a good common... maybe not a bomb, though.

I am very happy my $15 Bitterblossoms are now $50 Bitterblossoms. And my $2 Mistbind Cliques are now $25 Mistbind Cliques.

Hey guys! I got back from Malaysia a few days ago.

I scrubbed out of the GP, which was really disappointing. I had a very very good pool - Xenagos, Polis Crusher, Stoneshock Giant, Nessian Asp, Anthousa, Nemesis of Mortals, Vulpine Goliath were my bombs, as well as double Emissary of Purphuros). I was very light on removal but I had a minimal blue splash for Prophet of Kruphis and a Numbus Naiad. I was feeling very confident, but lost round 3 to a manascrew. It happens, no bother. I'm about to win game 1 in round 4 and a judge comes over calling my name and carrying my Nemesis of Mortals. My opponent in the last round had cast Portent of Betrayal on it and I scooped after thinking for a minute or two, and he shuffled it back into his deck as we moved on. I forgot, and got a game loss. That put me on tilt for that round and I lost again. Pretty disappointing, but I won the next two rounds pretty smoothly, then lost to double Keepsake Gorgon when I had a field full of giant dudes and my opponent on four life. I was pretty bummed, but I was excited to play Legacy the next day.

I was playing my Bant deck, and that day started badly too. At the start of my opponent's turn 4 in game 1 of round 1 I notice he had 5 lands down and I call a judge immediately. It ends in us both getting warnings and he gets to keep the land because "it's gone too far already". Ugh. I won that game but lost that round to bad hands (I think I kept one 7 in the whole 5 rounds of the tournament... I mulled to five at least four times). Then lost to WUR Delver, then drew with Junk Midrange, beat Mono-black devotion and beat Red Deck Wins. Ended up 16th and won 8 packs.

All in all it was a fun weekend but my results left me a little disappointed. I don't know whether to play GP Melbourne (it is Standard, and I'm not a big fan of Standard) Or just play the Legacy/Highlander/Legacy/Vintage tournaments happening the same weekend.

Congrats on your great result, Tahn!

Quote from Tahn

Okay it's truely broken now. It's still a finite amount, except I can't remotely calculate it anymore because Excel can't handle these numbers.

1) Lotus Channel Lattice (15 life).
2) Mana Echoes (11 life).
3) White Sun's Zenith for x=7 (1 life, 42 mana).
4) Train of Thought 19 times, casting WSZ each time.
First WSZ makes 1 Cat (8 total) generating 7 mana.
Second WSZ makes 4 Cats (12 total) generating 4*11=44 mana.
Third WSZ makes 41 Cats (53 total) generating 41*52=2132 mana.
...
The tenth WSZ makes 2.2 E213 mana. After that, who knows.
5) ???
6) Profit.

I love this kind of thing! I have never been smart enough to work stuff like this out.

I don't know if you guys have ever played 4 Card Blind, but the local Legacy group ran some tournaments for it a little while ago on their website. The best I ever did was:



It was super fun!

Quote from smellyrebel

Well, I'm actually gearing up for some tournament play. There is a PTQ here in St. Louis this weekend. I'm going to try the Wb aggro deck that won GP Shizouka. It seems legit (plus I actually own almost all the cards already). The only thing I'm trying to figure out is how to deal with Blood Baron (other than winning before he shows up). Thinking about putting a couple Celestial Flare or Devour Flesh in the sideboard.

DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures 4 Boros Elite 3 Dryad Militant 4 Soldier of the Pantheon 4 Daring Skyjek 3 Imposing Sovereign 4 Precinct Captain 4 Banisher Priest 3 Xathrid Necromancer	Spells 4 Brave the Elements 3 Orzhov Charm 2 Spear of Heliod Lands 4 Godless Shrine 4 Mutavault 2 Orzhov Guildgate 7 Plains 1 Swamp 4 Temple of Silence	Sideboard 3 Dark Betrayal 3 Doom Blade 1 Pithing Needle 2 Profit // Loss 3 Sin Collector 2 Thoughtseize 1 Xathrid Necromancer

Yessss, this looks great, good luck! I've been playing a similar deck in Standard. Celestial Flare is my go-to for Blood Baron.

There is a GPT for GP Melbourne this weekend, both of which are Standard. I am still considering whether to go or not, as I don't even know if I'm going to the GP - and, if I do, I'll probably just play all the Eternal side-events.

GP Kuala Lumpur is next week. I wish I had prepared more, but I guess I know the format well enough. I'm going to draft a few times this weekend, maybe do a sealed if I can get enough people interested.

Happy new year!

It has been so hot here lately. It hit 43 degrees today and it was very humid. Thank god my LGS has very good air-con.

Was going to draft Modern Masters and/or Shadowmoor today, but we couldn't get eight people and it didn't fire. Pretty bummed, but hopefully it will be busier tomorrow. I'm playing in a Legacy event tomorrow that has a first prize of an FNM Swords to Plowshares! I'm playing The Gate, something I have a lot of experience with (I 3-1'd with it at least ten times and 4-0'd twice, but the meta has shifted pretty drastically since then) so I'm feeling pretty confident. If I do scrub out I'm either going to MM/Shadowmoor draft or play Cube. It should be a fun day!

In other news, I broke my toe the other day. It's not that painful, though, so it hasn't been bothering me that much.

Quote from Sene

I never play at the store either, so when I show up, many of those who have never seen me before assume that I'm new and/or a casual player (since I don't play any tournaments). Always kinda fun.

But the LGS moved to a new location a few months ago, and the already crowded playing space is even smaller than it used to be. I showed up for a random FNM in October, but it was just crammed with people, so I left pretty much immediately without playing. I have absolutely NO idea what they'll do come the prerelease - the prereleases here attract between 150 and 200 players, and the store now has space for at best 50.

We have 6 stores within the city centre here. I play at the largest one, which is basically right in the middle of the city so it's pretty easy to access. They are actually moving to a new premises in the next week or two, but they are moving to a larger venue, which is really exciting. It means that, come the new year, they are going to start running monthly Legacy events with really good prizes (i.e. Legacy Staples). We already have a pretty big Eternal scene in Brisbane, I think probably the largest in Australia (weekly events get 20+ players), now we just need to get Vintage and Australian Highlander up and running!

It is officially Christmas Day in Australia. Happy Holidays everybody!

Sorry I haven't been around much, working in retail at this time of year is insane. I finally have a weekend off so I am just sitting around, watching the X-Files, and spending too much money on sushi/beer.

I was going to cube today, but I can't bring myself to leave the house yet. Except maybe to buy sushi/beer. I will most likely play some X Wing later though, that game is super fun!