So of course I mention my love for Skarrgan Pit-Skulk shortly after a mono-Green list that doesn't include him. And of course, a monoG list from one of the grinders at Japanese Nats emerges with the Pit-Skulk as a 4-of (with Troll Ascetic, natch). Endo Ryota placed 2nd and ground into Nats with this list...
4 Boreal Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Scryb Ranger
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
4 Troll Ascetic
4 Giant Solifuge
1 Giant Growth
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Moldervine Cloak
2 Stonewood Invocation
2 Pendelhaven
4 Treetop Village
15 Forest
Sideboard
3 Call of the Herd
2 Seal of Primordium
4 Spike Feeder
1 Wall of Roots
3 Pithing Needle
2 Serrated Arrows
So how does this differ? Should I stick with my version or should I net-deck like a master?
Let's start with 4 Boreal Druid over 4 Birds. Druid has a power of 1 but no evasion. Birds makes Green. I think that if I keep all the double green in my deck, Birds is better for me. Endo's deck doesn't have all the double costs, especially on turn 2, and thus can afford to run the slightly more aggressive guy.
4 Scryb Ranger. Wow, I hadn't thought of Scryb Ranger, but wow is she amazing. She fixes mana and flies and provides instant speed blocking. Unfortunately for me, she's a 2-drop, which I was trying to avoid.
4 Silhana Ledgewalker. Ledgewalker + Moldervine Cloak. Beating people down since February 2006.
4 Pit-Skulk. I really think he's amazing. Your mileage may vary. He's especially good with MoOK since you wanna cast that mainphase anyway.
4 Troll Ascetic. I feel as if we have talked about this already. He's almost unkillable. He's 3 power for 3 mana. He's amazing.
4 Giant Solifuge. Anti-Wrath tech. Thank you sir, may I have another?
7 pump spells plus 4 Moldervine Cloak. I know it seems crazy, but this is where I disagree most strongly with the Japanese list. All pump spells except Stonewood Invocation are asking to get 2 for 1-ed. Without anyway to generate card advantage, this seems really dangerous to me.
The land base is good. Notice how he still doesn't go down to 20 land, presumably because he would like to activate Monkeytown every once in a while. I like the idea of Pendelhaven. Randomly screwing with pyroclasm or seal of fire seems good right now.
The thing to keep in mind when comparing this list to mine is our different plans. This is a true aggro plan, attempting to deal 20 in the first 5 turns. The only real long game plan is Ascetic plus pump. The only anti Wrath plan is Giant Solifuge. They are good plans, but they depend heavily on having certain cards in hand at certain times. My deck is much more midrange. The 3 drops are much less aggressive, but the 4 drops are much bigger threats, I think. Frankly, Timbermare is pretty hot post Wrath as well, and the Trample on the Wildebeests makes a big difference when compared to OpponentShroud® on the Ascetic. I just feel like my build is more resilient to bad draws, while maintaining the capability of explosive draws. On the other hand, I am not in Japan's National Championships and Endo Ryota is. CBG out.
Edit-2 minutes after I first posted this. Of course, Treetop Village makes a pretty good anti Wrath plan as well. I don't mean to suggest it's a bad list. It's just not what I would play. Then again, CBG is a bad player.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Why I don't play Troll Ascetic in monogreen aggro
Here's my new list...
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Heartwood Storyteller
4 Ohran Viper
4 Timbermare
2 Harmonize
4 Might of Old Krosa
2 Stonewood Invocation
4 Stampeding Wildebeests
4 Citanul Woodreaders
4 Llanowar Reborn
1 Hurricane
1 Overrun
18 Forest
I had 4 Harmonize but went down to 2 to shove in a couple of alternate win conditions. I have been playing MGA since I noticed the delightfully dirty interaction between Skarrgan Pit-Skulk and pump spells (Might of Oaks). Go right ahead, block my 8/8. What's that? You don't have anything with a power of 8? Sorry about that. This was in like April 2006. I discovered shortly thereafter it wasn't all that original an idea, and most of the tuned builds that did well online ignored the Pit-Skulk thing but hey, what can you do? MGA got some great new tools with Scryb and Force and was a metagame player for a while but it appears to have fallen by the wayside in favor of multicolor builds with more reach (R/g Tarmogoyf), more card drawing (Suicide Sligh or R/B aggro) or both (U/G Tarmogoyf).
I look at the current field and wonder if there isn't a build of monogreen that can hang with these players and gain the advantage of consistency. Keep in mind that the Tier 1 field is very open, and one generally isn't going to have a hugely favorable matchup against a vast swath of it. What I am looking for is fun, power and consistency. It's also nice not to have to leave Remand mana up once in a while.
So I start with the classic MGA package of 8 one mana accelerators. Then I ignore the 2 drop slot. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on the 3 drop. This is where your MGA lists win or lose the game, because it is in all likelihood, your turn 2 play. The problem with my MGA lists in the past has been a lack of reach after the initial rush. I get a good board position, do 10-15, then the board stalls or is cleared, and I lose. So I decided to go with card drawing instead of true aggro in those slots. Ohran Viper is a damn house. Ophidian is good I hear, and people played Stinkweed Imp in Standard as well. Heartwood Storyteller is amazing. At the very least, he's card advantage when they burn him out. If he picks up a graft counter, Incinerate can't touch him.
The third three mana dude is Citanul Woodreaders, and this is the obvious pull in favor of Troll Ascetic. So why go with Woody?
(1) 1/4 is good. Kills little stuff, bounces off big stuff.
(2) Doesn't tie up my mana. Troll Ascetic needs regeneration mana to be a credible threat. I do not want to leave mana open unless I am representing pump.
(3) Can be returned for huge effect in the late game. You know what seems good to me? Returning my wall to my hand when I have a 5/4 (or 6/5) trampler on the board and recasting it for 2 more cards in hand. A slow green Gush, that's what it is.
(4) Troll Ascetic does not trample. Even if I can pump him, he can just be chumped by any old thing (Goblins).
The four mana slot is where this deck shines. Timbermare is everything from a turn 3 Lava Axe to a turn 8 14/14 tap all yr dudes and swing for the win. Lovely. Stampeding Wildebeests, is also amazing. Why yes, I will pick up my one mana dude and swing for 5 (trample!) on turn 4. Some (The Fugitive and 2S) would argue the Harmonizes are slow or unnecessary. I say that your only problem is running out of threats and quick recovery from Wrath is really hard without this.
Hurricane is there because direct damage is nice and honestly, who plays around Hurricane? Plus I have an Ice Age one, so pbthht.
The pump is nice, but you don't wanna go overboard on it. I think 6+the Overrun is right. I might go back to four Stonewood Invocation. Sometimes that just sits in hand though.
It might also be tempting to go 20 forest, no Llanowar Reborn and pick up 2 more spells. I think this is a mistake. You have the card drawing to pull you out of a land glut and while you'd rather see spells, you do have good uses for the land you have. Plus, it's nice not to be completely wrecked by pyroclasm.
The sideboard is not complete so I am not going to list one. There's the possibility of going aggro-er with Gaea's Anthem+Uktabi Drake. Probably should fit Naturalize in there given the environment. Graveyard hate might be okay depending on how popular Aggro Loam is in your area. Or maybe anti discard/control with Quagnoth. I'll have to think about it some more.
It's nice that aggro still has its place a year after Jitte and this one definitely has some explosive draws combined with a bit of staying power. I like it.
-CBG
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Heartwood Storyteller
4 Ohran Viper
4 Timbermare
2 Harmonize
4 Might of Old Krosa
2 Stonewood Invocation
4 Stampeding Wildebeests
4 Citanul Woodreaders
4 Llanowar Reborn
1 Hurricane
1 Overrun
18 Forest
I had 4 Harmonize but went down to 2 to shove in a couple of alternate win conditions. I have been playing MGA since I noticed the delightfully dirty interaction between Skarrgan Pit-Skulk and pump spells (Might of Oaks). Go right ahead, block my 8/8. What's that? You don't have anything with a power of 8? Sorry about that. This was in like April 2006. I discovered shortly thereafter it wasn't all that original an idea, and most of the tuned builds that did well online ignored the Pit-Skulk thing but hey, what can you do? MGA got some great new tools with Scryb and Force and was a metagame player for a while but it appears to have fallen by the wayside in favor of multicolor builds with more reach (R/g Tarmogoyf), more card drawing (Suicide Sligh or R/B aggro) or both (U/G Tarmogoyf).
I look at the current field and wonder if there isn't a build of monogreen that can hang with these players and gain the advantage of consistency. Keep in mind that the Tier 1 field is very open, and one generally isn't going to have a hugely favorable matchup against a vast swath of it. What I am looking for is fun, power and consistency. It's also nice not to have to leave Remand mana up once in a while.
So I start with the classic MGA package of 8 one mana accelerators. Then I ignore the 2 drop slot. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on the 3 drop. This is where your MGA lists win or lose the game, because it is in all likelihood, your turn 2 play. The problem with my MGA lists in the past has been a lack of reach after the initial rush. I get a good board position, do 10-15, then the board stalls or is cleared, and I lose. So I decided to go with card drawing instead of true aggro in those slots. Ohran Viper is a damn house. Ophidian is good I hear, and people played Stinkweed Imp in Standard as well. Heartwood Storyteller is amazing. At the very least, he's card advantage when they burn him out. If he picks up a graft counter, Incinerate can't touch him.
The third three mana dude is Citanul Woodreaders, and this is the obvious pull in favor of Troll Ascetic. So why go with Woody?
(1) 1/4 is good. Kills little stuff, bounces off big stuff.
(2) Doesn't tie up my mana. Troll Ascetic needs regeneration mana to be a credible threat. I do not want to leave mana open unless I am representing pump.
(3) Can be returned for huge effect in the late game. You know what seems good to me? Returning my wall to my hand when I have a 5/4 (or 6/5) trampler on the board and recasting it for 2 more cards in hand. A slow green Gush, that's what it is.
(4) Troll Ascetic does not trample. Even if I can pump him, he can just be chumped by any old thing (Goblins).
The four mana slot is where this deck shines. Timbermare is everything from a turn 3 Lava Axe to a turn 8 14/14 tap all yr dudes and swing for the win. Lovely. Stampeding Wildebeests, is also amazing. Why yes, I will pick up my one mana dude and swing for 5 (trample!) on turn 4. Some (The Fugitive and 2S) would argue the Harmonizes are slow or unnecessary. I say that your only problem is running out of threats and quick recovery from Wrath is really hard without this.
Hurricane is there because direct damage is nice and honestly, who plays around Hurricane? Plus I have an Ice Age one, so pbthht.
The pump is nice, but you don't wanna go overboard on it. I think 6+the Overrun is right. I might go back to four Stonewood Invocation. Sometimes that just sits in hand though.
It might also be tempting to go 20 forest, no Llanowar Reborn and pick up 2 more spells. I think this is a mistake. You have the card drawing to pull you out of a land glut and while you'd rather see spells, you do have good uses for the land you have. Plus, it's nice not to be completely wrecked by pyroclasm.
The sideboard is not complete so I am not going to list one. There's the possibility of going aggro-er with Gaea's Anthem+Uktabi Drake. Probably should fit Naturalize in there given the environment. Graveyard hate might be okay depending on how popular Aggro Loam is in your area. Or maybe anti discard/control with Quagnoth. I'll have to think about it some more.
It's nice that aggro still has its place a year after Jitte and this one definitely has some explosive draws combined with a bit of staying power. I like it.
-CBG
Friday, August 24, 2007
Why is Armageddon so good?
My name is TooSarcastic and I netdeck. I have a problem, I know. While several other bloggers here were actually working hard to build viable U/W control builds, I decided to attend last week’s FNM with the most recent Angelfire lists and try to pound some n00bs with Angels and Dragons. I did, in fact pound some n00bs, but it was not with the newest technology. Most of the decks that I found eschewed Boom/Bust (with the exception of the 1st place Georgia Regionals decklist) either for the Aethermage’s Touch inclusions or just for more threats like Demonfire. I felt like I, too should cut the Red Armageddons but found myself hesitating and ultimately deciding that I couldn’t do it. I wanted to run them so badly. So I did just that. Here’s the list.
Lands
1 x Adarkar Wastes
2 x Steam Vents
4 x Flagstones of Trokair
1 x Ghost Quarter
1 x Boros Garrison
1 x Shivan Reef
2 x Island
1 x Mountain
2 x Sacred Foundry
1 x Urza's Factory
3 x Plains
2 x Hallowed Fountain
1 x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
1 x Izzet Boilerworks
Creatures
1 x Bogardan Hellkite
3 x Aeon Chronicler
4 x Lightning Angel
3 x Court Hussar
1 x Numot, the Devastator
Spells
4 x Boom // Bust
3 x Lightning Helix
4 x Azorius Signet
4 x Wrath of God
3 x Compulsive Research
2 x Izzet Signet
3 x Remand
1 x Molten Disaster!
I feel compelled to write Molten Disaster with an exclamation point, kind of like “Panic! at the Disco.” Not really at all, actually. As I was saying… It turns out that one sided Armageddons are quite good, and having quad flagstones and six signets (plus the bouncelands, which conveniently fill up you hand with land that you can play post-Busting) make the Boomer McBust very much one sided. I played against several Sligh decks at the tourney, and both played the Greater Gargadon. Now I’m not saying you should be Busting while big gargs is suspended, but if he ain’t, there’s nothing wrong with getting rid of permanents before the sacrificing begins. Yes, mono red’s threats cost far less than your answers; but who cares? The aggro matchup is so good for Angelfire that the ability take away what little end game their deck can muster is worth it. You have vigilant fat-bottomed Angels that hold down the fort while attacking in the air. You have Helix for removal and life gain. You have quad Wrath, obv. The ideal time to be busting is one or two turns prior to your humungous Aeon Chronicler strolls onto the board. If; 1) Chronicler is suspended and 2) you have anything close to board parity plus 3) the ability to untap with three more mana than your opponent, then Congratulations! You should be Busting it up. This is not an infrequent situation, in my experience. It should be obvious that the control matchup is far more scared of Bust than aggro. As well they should be. It’s true that a control opponent with signets can sandbag some land to play around the ‘Geddon, but it’s a rare control vs. control matchup where the player who holds land back wins. Essentially Bust must be countered by most control decks. I can imagine a scenario where the U/B player flashes in Teferi in response to Bust, gets Teferi to stick and then flashes out some other creature prior to Bust resolving, but that’s about the only time any control player would willingly part with their lands. God help the control player who can’t counter Bust (or Boom for that matter!) and has a storage land in play brimming with counters. So the Busts are simply four more threats that a control player must deal with. The play is usually to lead with one or more turns casting Bust (hopefully with Remand in hand as well), let them counter the land-D and then next turn flash out Hellkite or play McNumot FTW. Let them counter the ‘Geddons! They have to! Meanwhile you will be continuing to presure them with creature threats and ready with Remand when it matters.
Begin rant #2:
Demonfire is great and all, but I really like Molten Disaster against control. Split Second is good, and you know you’ll have 10-15 mana available by the time you’re ready to end the game. Here’s the “kicker.” Get it? Kicker? I’m hilarious! The Angelfire player doesn’t have to be Hellbent to get the Molten Disaster to stick. This seems better than Demonfire. Angelfire is definitely the beatdown against most other control decks, but this does not mean that it wants to spill out its hand. Molten Disaster protects this resource while shortening the clock for other control decks. Sure, you probably won’t be casting Molten Disaster FTW against a lot of aggro, but it does a great Earthquake impression. Molten Disaster for 2, anyone? Once I own more of these babies, they’re going in the deck. Our time with Angelfire as we know it is limited, because once the signets, duals, and bouncelands rotate, Boom/Bust is much less attractive. But until October, I recommend this deck (Busts and all) heartily. One more thing; it is very forgiving to play. You can repeatedly punt away games and suddenly find yourself swinging for the win anyway. Some of us need this kind of insurance more than others.
Lands
1 x Adarkar Wastes
2 x Steam Vents
4 x Flagstones of Trokair
1 x Ghost Quarter
1 x Boros Garrison
1 x Shivan Reef
2 x Island
1 x Mountain
2 x Sacred Foundry
1 x Urza's Factory
3 x Plains
2 x Hallowed Fountain
1 x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
1 x Izzet Boilerworks
Creatures
1 x Bogardan Hellkite
3 x Aeon Chronicler
4 x Lightning Angel
3 x Court Hussar
1 x Numot, the Devastator
Spells
4 x Boom // Bust
3 x Lightning Helix
4 x Azorius Signet
4 x Wrath of God
3 x Compulsive Research
2 x Izzet Signet
3 x Remand
1 x Molten Disaster!
I feel compelled to write Molten Disaster with an exclamation point, kind of like “Panic! at the Disco.” Not really at all, actually. As I was saying… It turns out that one sided Armageddons are quite good, and having quad flagstones and six signets (plus the bouncelands, which conveniently fill up you hand with land that you can play post-Busting) make the Boomer McBust very much one sided. I played against several Sligh decks at the tourney, and both played the Greater Gargadon. Now I’m not saying you should be Busting while big gargs is suspended, but if he ain’t, there’s nothing wrong with getting rid of permanents before the sacrificing begins. Yes, mono red’s threats cost far less than your answers; but who cares? The aggro matchup is so good for Angelfire that the ability take away what little end game their deck can muster is worth it. You have vigilant fat-bottomed Angels that hold down the fort while attacking in the air. You have Helix for removal and life gain. You have quad Wrath, obv. The ideal time to be busting is one or two turns prior to your humungous Aeon Chronicler strolls onto the board. If; 1) Chronicler is suspended and 2) you have anything close to board parity plus 3) the ability to untap with three more mana than your opponent, then Congratulations! You should be Busting it up. This is not an infrequent situation, in my experience. It should be obvious that the control matchup is far more scared of Bust than aggro. As well they should be. It’s true that a control opponent with signets can sandbag some land to play around the ‘Geddon, but it’s a rare control vs. control matchup where the player who holds land back wins. Essentially Bust must be countered by most control decks. I can imagine a scenario where the U/B player flashes in Teferi in response to Bust, gets Teferi to stick and then flashes out some other creature prior to Bust resolving, but that’s about the only time any control player would willingly part with their lands. God help the control player who can’t counter Bust (or Boom for that matter!) and has a storage land in play brimming with counters. So the Busts are simply four more threats that a control player must deal with. The play is usually to lead with one or more turns casting Bust (hopefully with Remand in hand as well), let them counter the land-D and then next turn flash out Hellkite or play McNumot FTW. Let them counter the ‘Geddons! They have to! Meanwhile you will be continuing to presure them with creature threats and ready with Remand when it matters.
Begin rant #2:
Demonfire is great and all, but I really like Molten Disaster against control. Split Second is good, and you know you’ll have 10-15 mana available by the time you’re ready to end the game. Here’s the “kicker.” Get it? Kicker? I’m hilarious! The Angelfire player doesn’t have to be Hellbent to get the Molten Disaster to stick. This seems better than Demonfire. Angelfire is definitely the beatdown against most other control decks, but this does not mean that it wants to spill out its hand. Molten Disaster protects this resource while shortening the clock for other control decks. Sure, you probably won’t be casting Molten Disaster FTW against a lot of aggro, but it does a great Earthquake impression. Molten Disaster for 2, anyone? Once I own more of these babies, they’re going in the deck. Our time with Angelfire as we know it is limited, because once the signets, duals, and bouncelands rotate, Boom/Bust is much less attractive. But until October, I recommend this deck (Busts and all) heartily. One more thing; it is very forgiving to play. You can repeatedly punt away games and suddenly find yourself swinging for the win anyway. Some of us need this kind of insurance more than others.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Phyrexian Etchings in Standard
I come to you today with a deck that is beyond rogue. It passed rogue so long ago it doesn't remember where rogue lives.
Etchings, ftw
4 Phyrexian Etchings
4 Soul Spike
4 Drekavac
4 Nightshade Assassin
4 Dark Withering
4 Deepcavern Imp
2 Ravenous Rats
2 Consume Spirit
2 Last Gasp
2 Damnation
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Dimir Machinations
4 Dimir Signet
22 Swamp
Am I kidding? No I am not. The objective of this deck is to stick Phyrexian Etchings and ride enormous card advantage (along with removal and lifegain) to the win. Early game can go one of two ways. If you have say, 2 Drekavac, 1 Dark Withering, 1 Nightshade Assassin and 3 swamp, you can go Aggro control, dropping 8 power of dudes by turn 5 and destroying a couple opposing creatures along the way. Hands like 1 Rats, 1 Etchings and 5 Swamps are a little speculative but entirely keepable. If you are playing against someone with no enchanment removal, the etchings will save your ass long before they can kill you.
Don't be afraid of card disadvantage. Etchings will refill your hand with goodies (or in the case of this deck, mediocre-ies). Pitching your last two cards to a Soul Spike on Teferi is nothing but good times.
Don't be afraid to let the etchings go. Once you are under the etchings, you should have plenty of tools to stall the game and gain life. There's nothing like drawing 8 cards EOT, pitching 4 cards to double SS, then let the Etchings go for 18 life and Consume Spirit for 10 ftw. Just watch out for Shock.
Dimir Machinations is to transmute for Etchings. Four is not enough. You have to have etchings or, barring a complete goldfish on the other end, you will lose.
Things I've tried
Darkblast instead of Last Gasp is nice against Birds and Elves.
Sangrophage. Don't do it. So aggro. So bad.
I have done a transformative sideboard with 4 Dark Confidant, 4 Bad Moon, 4 Withered Wretch, 3 Nether Traitor, removing SS, Dark Withering, Avatar of Woe, Nightshade Assassin and 2 signets. It's okay. Probably the Soul Spikes should stay in, because whoa is direct damage is nice, and they really only cost you 3 life if you get to cast em.
Call to the Netherworld. Sometimes hot, often not. If you discard eot, you go back over 7 cards and get to cleanup all over again. 2 is right if you play it.
The best part about this deck is the incredulity on people's faces when they lose to it. Man is it ever fun. It has monstrous inevitability. There's nothing quite like casting four Soul Spikes in a game.
Also, it's black and gothy and stuff. Woo!
Etchings, ftw
4 Phyrexian Etchings
4 Soul Spike
4 Drekavac
4 Nightshade Assassin
4 Dark Withering
4 Deepcavern Imp
2 Ravenous Rats
2 Consume Spirit
2 Last Gasp
2 Damnation
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Dimir Machinations
4 Dimir Signet
22 Swamp
Am I kidding? No I am not. The objective of this deck is to stick Phyrexian Etchings and ride enormous card advantage (along with removal and lifegain) to the win. Early game can go one of two ways. If you have say, 2 Drekavac, 1 Dark Withering, 1 Nightshade Assassin and 3 swamp, you can go Aggro control, dropping 8 power of dudes by turn 5 and destroying a couple opposing creatures along the way. Hands like 1 Rats, 1 Etchings and 5 Swamps are a little speculative but entirely keepable. If you are playing against someone with no enchanment removal, the etchings will save your ass long before they can kill you.
Don't be afraid of card disadvantage. Etchings will refill your hand with goodies (or in the case of this deck, mediocre-ies). Pitching your last two cards to a Soul Spike on Teferi is nothing but good times.
Don't be afraid to let the etchings go. Once you are under the etchings, you should have plenty of tools to stall the game and gain life. There's nothing like drawing 8 cards EOT, pitching 4 cards to double SS, then let the Etchings go for 18 life and Consume Spirit for 10 ftw. Just watch out for Shock.
Dimir Machinations is to transmute for Etchings. Four is not enough. You have to have etchings or, barring a complete goldfish on the other end, you will lose.
Things I've tried
Darkblast instead of Last Gasp is nice against Birds and Elves.
Sangrophage. Don't do it. So aggro. So bad.
I have done a transformative sideboard with 4 Dark Confidant, 4 Bad Moon, 4 Withered Wretch, 3 Nether Traitor, removing SS, Dark Withering, Avatar of Woe, Nightshade Assassin and 2 signets. It's okay. Probably the Soul Spikes should stay in, because whoa is direct damage is nice, and they really only cost you 3 life if you get to cast em.
Call to the Netherworld. Sometimes hot, often not. If you discard eot, you go back over 7 cards and get to cleanup all over again. 2 is right if you play it.
The best part about this deck is the incredulity on people's faces when they lose to it. Man is it ever fun. It has monstrous inevitability. There's nothing quite like casting four Soul Spikes in a game.
Also, it's black and gothy and stuff. Woo!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
UW Control
I really want to make UW Control work. I want to slow the game down to a crawl. I want to win seven matches in a row 1-0. I want to win without ever casting a creature. I want Timmy to get frustrated. I want the red mages to throw up their hands.
I really don't think this is going to happen.
Last fall, I tried to play UW control with a reanimator package at States. Sort of Solar Flare with less hand disruption and more counters. That finished 1-2-1 with the high(low) point of forgetting I had Remand in hand versus an opponent who was dead on the board, tapping out for a Lightning Helix. Hot.
Last Saturday, I went 0-3 with a new homebrew including Rule of Law. Every single game felt winnable and every one slipped through my fingers. Mono Red Burn owned me in two games to start things off. I am not sure what the answer is there. Maybe Flashfreeze. Then I lost 2-1 to a deck I had no business losing to. Manascrewed game 2 (with 26 lands, obv) followed by Demonfire ftw with the board completely locked up game 3. Then an 0-2 vs standard Assault Loam. Wow, UW has a minor problem dealing with recursive threats.
Part of the problem is my own lack of ability. I need to test quite a bit more to gain familiarity with the types of hands I should be keeping. I have a tendency to play too quickly just when I should tighten up and it regularly costs me games. It's critical to stay in the game all the time, especially when you are always the control. This deck is never the beatdown. Ever.
So I am debating a couple different ways to go with the list and hopefully the Great White Hype (uh, I mean Fugitive Wizard) can help me discover just how bad they are. First up is the list I played Saturday, tweaked to include Careful Consideration instead of Tidings.
4 Remand
4 Rune Snag
4 Cancel
3 Rule of Law
2 Sacred Mesa
4 Wrath of God
4 Condemn
1 Deep-Sea Kraken
1 Angel of Salvation
4 Careful Consideration
3 Court Hussar
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Adarkar Wastes
6 Island
6 Plains
2 Faerie Conclave
2 Tolaria West
1 Urza's Factory
1 Calciform Pools
Sideboard
4 Flashfreeze
4 Azorius Guildmage
3 Calciform Pools
4 Disenchant
I think this could work, though some of the folks in my playtest group think I should be using Think Twice. I don't know. This is what testing is for anyway.
The other option to improve the aggro matchup is to go with 4 Drift of Phantasms along with a toolbox and a ton of counters. I'll be testing this as well.
4 Drift of Phantasms
1 Rule of Law
4 Remand
4 Cancel
4 Spell Snare
4 Rune Snag
1 Plumes of Peace
4 Wrath of God
4 Think Twice
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Reminisce
1 Twilight Drover
1 Compulsive Research
1 Pride of the Clouds
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Adarkar Wastes
3 Faerie Conclave
8 Island
6 Plains
The gauntlet? R/g Beats, UB Control and Angelfire.
I really don't think this is going to happen.
Last fall, I tried to play UW control with a reanimator package at States. Sort of Solar Flare with less hand disruption and more counters. That finished 1-2-1 with the high(low) point of forgetting I had Remand in hand versus an opponent who was dead on the board, tapping out for a Lightning Helix. Hot.
Last Saturday, I went 0-3 with a new homebrew including Rule of Law. Every single game felt winnable and every one slipped through my fingers. Mono Red Burn owned me in two games to start things off. I am not sure what the answer is there. Maybe Flashfreeze. Then I lost 2-1 to a deck I had no business losing to. Manascrewed game 2 (with 26 lands, obv) followed by Demonfire ftw with the board completely locked up game 3. Then an 0-2 vs standard Assault Loam. Wow, UW has a minor problem dealing with recursive threats.
Part of the problem is my own lack of ability. I need to test quite a bit more to gain familiarity with the types of hands I should be keeping. I have a tendency to play too quickly just when I should tighten up and it regularly costs me games. It's critical to stay in the game all the time, especially when you are always the control. This deck is never the beatdown. Ever.
So I am debating a couple different ways to go with the list and hopefully the Great White Hype (uh, I mean Fugitive Wizard) can help me discover just how bad they are. First up is the list I played Saturday, tweaked to include Careful Consideration instead of Tidings.
4 Remand
4 Rune Snag
4 Cancel
3 Rule of Law
2 Sacred Mesa
4 Wrath of God
4 Condemn
1 Deep-Sea Kraken
1 Angel of Salvation
4 Careful Consideration
3 Court Hussar
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Adarkar Wastes
6 Island
6 Plains
2 Faerie Conclave
2 Tolaria West
1 Urza's Factory
1 Calciform Pools
Sideboard
4 Flashfreeze
4 Azorius Guildmage
3 Calciform Pools
4 Disenchant
I think this could work, though some of the folks in my playtest group think I should be using Think Twice. I don't know. This is what testing is for anyway.
The other option to improve the aggro matchup is to go with 4 Drift of Phantasms along with a toolbox and a ton of counters. I'll be testing this as well.
4 Drift of Phantasms
1 Rule of Law
4 Remand
4 Cancel
4 Spell Snare
4 Rune Snag
1 Plumes of Peace
4 Wrath of God
4 Think Twice
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Reminisce
1 Twilight Drover
1 Compulsive Research
1 Pride of the Clouds
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Adarkar Wastes
3 Faerie Conclave
8 Island
6 Plains
The gauntlet? R/g Beats, UB Control and Angelfire.
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