| Cardpool | ||
| White | Blue | Black |
| Abuna Acolyte Arrest Auriok Sunchaser Fulgent Distraction Kemba, Kha Regent Seize the Initiative Soul Parry 2 Sunspear Shikari Vigil for the Lost | 2 Disperse Grand Architect Lumengrid Drake Neurok Invisimancer Plated Seastrider Screeching Silcaw Steady Progress Stoic Rebuttal Twisted Image | Carnifex Demon Corrupted Harvester Exsanguinate Geth, Lord of the Vault Instill Infection Plague Stinger |
| Red | Green | Artifact/Land |
| Assault Strobe Ferrovore 2 Furnace Celebration 2 Goblin Gaveleer Kuldotha Rebirth Ogre Geargrabber Oxidda Daredevil Scoria Elemental Tunnel Ignus Turn to Slag Vulshok Heartstoker | Alpha Tyrranax Blight Mamba Carapace Forger Copperhorn Scout 2 Cystbearer Ezuri's Archers 2 Molder Beast Tel-Jilad Defiance 2 Untamed Might Wing Puncture | 2 Bladed Pinions Chrome Steed 2 Corpse Cur Darksteel Myr Flight Spellbomb Glimmerpost Gold Myr Heavy Arbalest Horizon Spellbomb Ichorclaw Myr Iron Myr Liquimetal Coating Memnite Necrogen Censer 2 Necropede Nihil Spellbomb Panic Spellbomb Perilous Myr Rust Tick Silver Myr Snapsail Glider Strider Harness 2 Throne of Geth Tower of Calamities Trigon of Rage Vector Asp 2 Vulshok Replica |
This pool pissed me off pretty hard. Two BB bombs with almost no support? A bunch of interesting red cards with no Shatter or Arc Trail? 2 Goblin Gaveleer (or 2 Sunspear Shikari if you prefer) with nothing worth picking up? I tried to build this Red/Black, but ultimately realized I was being pulled toward infect, so I started substituting in infect support cards for "better" cards and ended up with an infect deck that pulls a hell of a late game (Geth, Carnifex). You'll note no Mana Myrs. I think infect is the one of the few (only?) archetypes in Scars sealed that really doesn't want the mana Myrs. Acceleration is pretty unimportant for these decks, metalcraft doesn't help either, and they are ineffective blockers in the mirror.
Blight Mamba - these were all over the tables at the other prerelease and I saw a few here as well. Regeneration flat sucks in the environment. They just die in the mirror. All that said, I think they are the edge of playability in the archetype.
Carapace Forger - This on the other hand is very solid. Don't forget it's an Elf if you open an Ezuri, but the most important thing is, it's a bear with an upside, not just a bear.
Copperhorn Scout - I played very aggressively with this, because even one turn of vigilant attacking can really put your opponent under pressure. Sure, they block him, but hey, that's a blocker they can't use on something else.
2 Cystbearer - This is the kind of card that pulls you into infect. A house in the mirror (if it seems like I am emphasizing the mirror, it's because you will play a ton of it), a 3 butt, double the clock, etc...
Ezuri's Archers - Spiders good
Molder Beast - Two in the pool, but I only played one. He tramples which is nice, but I already had a ton of late game and he doesn't fit naturally into the infect theme.
Tel-Jilad Defiance - Here's where I admit that for the last 6 years, I thought that was Tel-Jihad. RTFC. Also, this card is awesome, say it with me, "in the environment".
2 Untamed Might - These are finishers that have utility and having two meant I could burn one early for something minor.
Carnifex Demon - This card doesn't say win the game. Other than that...
Geth, Lord of the Vault - This card also doesn't say win the game. Still...
Instill Infection - This is so good. I will always play this if I am playing black. The moment I realized I could hit Precursor Golem, I definitely giggled. Ancestral Recall is good.
2 Corpse Cur - Speaking of cards that are good in the mirror. You can trade infect guys early, knowing this guy will show up to bail you out. You can sac guys to Throne of Geth, knowing this guy is around. Is awesome. Would play again.
Horizon Spellbomb
2 Necropede - This card is incredibly important in the mirror. 2-for-1s all over the place. Does nasty things with Throne of Geth and Corpse Cur, not to mention Carnifex Demon.
Rust Tick
Strider Harness - Pump equipment only in infect decks.
2 Throne of Geth - I've already discussed all the reasons this is awesome above. Except for metalcraft. That's awesome too. And counters for Trigon of Rage and Carnifex Demon and poison counters for your opponent. The B bombs were my all stars, but this is the utility player that allowed my all stars to shine. Kind of like Craig Counsell.
Trigon of Rage - Again, three counters with no color commitment is awesome.
11 Forest
5 Swamp
No Exsanguinate. That's not how this deck wins. I felt like I built a great deck for the mirror match, and what did I get round one? The mirror. Unfortunately, I lost but I am 90% certain it was a draw dependent loss. Also, my opponent played very well in never leaving me an opportunity to get in unblocked. Both games ended with the winning Untamed Might in hand with no way to get through. Maybe that so subpar Plague Stinger should have made it in.
Rounds 2 and 3 were against pretty goldfishy players and I won handily both times.
Round 4 had a very fun, tightly contested game 1, where I was able to equip Strider Harness for the final point of damage the turn before he was to kill me. Game 2 was notable for my opponent nearly coming back from a mull to 4 on the play with an early Precursor Golem, but then I played the Ancestral and it was game over on an Untamed Might poison kill. 3-1 was good for 4 packs.
I think the jury is still out on the infect deck archetype. It can win out of nowhere, which is always fun, but I am just not sure it's "good" enough. Infect is very easily disruptible and you better have some kind of fatty boom-boom to finish the job if your infect can't get there for one reason or another. It seemed like the best decks were playing planeswalkers. Big surprise there. Oh, and one other note, about Tainted Strike (B, Instant, Target creature gets +1/0 and gains infect until EOT). People were splashing this into powerful decks as a finisher. There are a lot of ways to deal 9 damage in a turn and B is a nice way to turn that into a game win. Spike will need to block for a while here.
Finally, if there are any new players reading this, stop playing Vigil for the Lost. Your opponent does a little dance inside his head every time he sees you play it.
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