I was procrastinating on this, sorry. It turned out to be less work than I expected. A full list will be up sometime, maybe this weekend. Lots of sacred cows were slaughtered this time around, and only a few fistfights occurred. Thanks especially to Russ for stepping up and loaning dual lands to the Cube again, as well as de-proxying Mana Drain, among other cards. I personally think some of these adds are stinkers, but this is a democracy and I voted, so I get to complain, right? The new Scars Replicas in particular seem not good enough, but eh. We killed a full cycle of multicolor lands, plus the signets, in addition decreasing multicolor by 20 cards, including all the 3 color cards. I'll be interested to see if we actually hosed multicolor, finally. We moved artifacts with colored activations to that color, hence Memnarch being "In" in Blue and "Out" in artifacts. The only downside to adding so many mono-colored cards is we couldn't cut as many stinkers from each of the five colors as I wanted to. If we are missing any good mono-colored cards, let us know in the comments. I think midweek next week will be the first time I will have time to host a Cube. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to 2 headed giant Lorwyn/Shadowmoor draft hosted by CBG this weekend. My team will forcing giants... in 2HG draft! Get it? ...Ugh.
IN
U Frost Titan
U Scroll Thief
U Aether Adept
U Jace's Ingenuity
U Preordain
U Conundrum sphinx
U Quicksilver Gargantua
U Memnarch
G Primeval Titan
G Fauna Shaman
G Garruk's Packleader
G Obstinate Baloth
G Cultivate
G Gaea's Revenge
G Genesis Wave
G Mitotic Slime
G Overwhelming Stampede
G Garruk's Companion
G Cudgel Troll
G Sylvok replica
G Ezuri's Brigade
G Bellowing Tanglewurm
G Tower Above
G Sylvan Ranger
Chimeric Mass
Contagion Engine
Moltentail Masticore
Crystal Ball
Brittle Effigy
Wurmcoil Engine
Precursor Golem
Ratchet Bomb
Mimic Vat
Infiltration Lens
Nim Deathmantle
Trusty machete
R Inferno Titan
R Ember Hauler
R Chandra's Outrage
R Reverberate
R Hoarding Dragon
R Chandra's Spitfire
R Arc Slogger
R Kiln Fiend
R Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
R Arc Trail
R Vulshok Replica
R Koth, the Hammer
R Spikeshot Elder
R Magma Phoenix
R Oxidda Scrapmelter
R Wildfire
Mystifying Maze
W War Priest of Thune
W Elspeth Tiriel
W Sunblast Angel
W Glimmerpoint Stag
W True Conviction
W Dawnglare Invoker
W Soltari Champion
W Indomitable Archangel
W Kor Aeronaut
W Knight Exemplar
B Liliana's Specter
B Carnifex Demon
B Grasp of Darkness
B Geth, Lord of the Vault
B Painful Quandry
B Skinrender
B Moriok Replica
B Necrogen Scutter
B Grave Titan
WU Venser, the Sojourner
OUT
Lightkeeper of Emeria
Story Circle
Admonition Angel
Twilight Shepherd
Pristine Angel
Corrupted Zendikon
Corpse Connoisseur
Lord of the undead
undead warchief
Sulfur Elemental
Frenzied Goblin
Tribal Flames
Crusher Zendikon
Sudden Shock
Kamahl Pit Fighter
Reckless Wurm
Heat Shimmer
Dragonmaster Outcast
Goblin Matron
Johkulhaups??
Golgari Grave troll
Caller of the Claw
Vinelasher Kudzu
Iwamori of the Open fist
Scryb ranger
reach of branches
Simian Grunts
Defense of the Heart
Awakening Zone
Berserk
Seal of Primordium
Ophidian
Cache Raiders
Lighthouse Chronologist
All signets
etched oracle
obelisk of alara
memnarch
The Ravnica "Karoo" bouncelands
Urza's Factory
Putrid Leech
Swans of Brynn Argoll
Mistmeadow Witch
Goblin Legionnaire
Burning-Tree Shaman
Shambling Remains
Soul Manipulation
Temporal Spring
Nucklavee
Tidehollow Sculler
Armadillo Cloak
Rafiq of the Many
Bant Charm
Doran, the Siege Tower
Lightning Angel
Woolly Thoctar
Lavalanche
Broodmate Dragon
Rhox War Monk
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Showing posts with label 2HG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2HG. Show all posts
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Winning Out
So the prerelease was awesome. This was actually the very first large set prerelease event that I have ever entered, barring the one time I got to do a 2HG with a very new player on Sunday. I managed to bum a ride with the Captain and Hot Sauce. We arrived at the venue at 8:45 am for the 9:00 start and there were already dozens of people lined up outside. We ran into Pseudonymous Drama Student, but he had preregistered and got into flight 1. By the time we made it to the front of the line, it was flight 3. We got our product immediately upon paying and started registering. This is awesome. Go go gadget prerelease. The prerelease foil, Demigod of Revenge reminds me of the Guildpact foil. That is to say, I can see why they ordered an alternate art version of this.
I am not going to list all the cards in my pool because I can't link, but I will say that I had some very strong RG, but not quite enough playables and decided to go with a U/W/b build instead. Here's the cards and the build I played...
G/W Hybrid - no green sources
Safehold Elite-1(G/W)-Persist. 2/2. A bear that comes back and chumps after he's been outclassed.
Raven's Run Dragoon-2(G/W)(G/W)-Can't be blocked by black. 3/3. Hill Giant with an upside. This is sealed.
White - Primary color due to this...
Armored Ascension-3W-Aura-Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each Plains you control and has flying. Blanchwood armor just wins games without evasion. 'nuff said.
Niveous Wisps-W-Instant-Target creature becomes white until EOT. Cantrip. I played it as a one mana cantrip. ymmv.
Safehold Sentry-1W-2W,Q:Safehold Sentry gets +0/+2 until EOT. 2/2. I had to have the captain remind me to play my bears. Never actually used the ability, but the threat of it held off attacks a couple times. Would play again.
Rune-Cervin Rider-3W-Flying. (G/W)(G/W):Rune-Cervin Rider gets +1/+1 until EOT. A shade with evasion. Very solid though I didn't draw him much.
Prison Term-1WW-Aura-Enchanted creature can't attack or block and it's activated abilities can't be played. When a creature comes into play under your opponent's control, you may attach Prison Term to that creature. I only played this once and managed to stick it on a Giantbaiting token (rtfc, gets sacced EOT). I was really curious how good it would be and didn't get a chance to really explore it because I failed to draw it much.
Inquisitor's Snare-1W-Instant-Prevent all damage target attacking or blocking creature would deal this turn. If that creature is black or red, destroy it. All kinds of good.
Steel of the Godhead-2(U/W)-Aura-As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+1 and has lifelink. As long as enchanted creature is blue it gets +1/+1 and is unblockable. Nobody played any of these hybrid auras against me. They are pretty much nuts if you can maximize them. The GW is insane, and the BR is br-don-ken. UW is okay. Didn't run into the RG or UB, but how bad could they be if they can give +2/+2?
Glamer Spinners-4(U/W)-Flash. Flying. When Glamer spinners cip, attach all Auras enchanting target permanent to another permanent with the same controller. 2/4. Okay, this guys is being played because he is a flash 2/4 flier. the ability is occasionally relevant.
Godhead of Awe-(U/W)(U/W)(U/W)(U/W)(U/W)-Flying. Other creatures are 1/1. 4/4. Yeah, she just wins games. Often a one-sided Wrath of God. Kills anything with a -1/-1 counter on it. I failed to lose a game in which I cast her.
Barrenton Cragtreads-2(U/W)(U/W)-Can't be blocked by red creatures. 3/3. Hill Giant #2.
Consign to Dream-2U-Instant-Return target permanent to it's owner's hand. If that permanent is red or green, put it on top of it's owner's library instead. The more I play limited, the more I love bounce.
Merrow Wavebreakers-4U-1U,Q:Merrow Wavebreakers gains flying until EOT. 3/3. A flying vigilant 3/3. This is costed correctly, which means there are times you are not going to want to run him. Decidedly mediocre for me all day.
Faerie Swarm-3U-Flying. Faerie Swarm's power and toughness are each equal to the number of blue permanents you control. Usually and evasive 2/2. Sometimes better.
River's Grasp-3(U/B)-Sorcery-If U was spent to play River's Grasp, return up to one target creature to it's owner's hand. If B was spent to play River's Grasp, target player reveals his or her hand, you choose a nonland card from it, then that player discards that card. Bounce, removal, coercion...what's not to like?
Inkfathom Witch-1(U/B)-Fear. 2UB:Each unblocked creature becomes 4/1 until EOT. 1/1. Yeah, this one is awesome. I was moderately surprised, but there's a lot of evasion in the set.
2 Gloomlance-3BB-Destroy target creature. Destroy target creature. If that creature was green or white, its controller discards a card. Unconditional removal, which I needed. Sometimes boarded one our for a Torpor Dust if my opponent's curve was low.
Watchwing Scarecrow-4-Watchwing Scarecrow has vigilance as long as you control a white creature. Watchwing Scarecrow has flying as long as you control a blue creature. 2/4. Scarecrows are the changelings of Shadowmoor. Very awesome in draft. I would expect them to settle in just below removal and bombs, though some are better than others. There is one which changes colors of things and fixes your mana and it's a 2/2 for 3. It is very, very awesome. Totally wrecked us in 2HG.
Lurebound Scarecrow-3-As Lurebound Scarecrow CIP, choose a color. When you control no permanents of the chosen color, sacrifice Lurebound Scarecrow. 4/4. A little marginal in sealed, but I think this is rather bomby in draft when you should be pretty close to monocolor.
Wingrattle Scarecrow-3-Wingrattle Scarecrow has flying as long as you control a blue creature. Wingrattle Scarecrow has persist as long as you control a black creature. 2/2.
Pili-Pala-2-Flying. 2,Q:Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. 1/1. Crappy color fixing is still color fixing. They seem to have really nerfed color-fixing in the format (at least among the cards I saw). I think you so need to really focus on using hybrid to the max. Pick two or three colors. If you have 3, avoid double costs on the border colors.
I also had a Mystic Gate which is the UW rare dual.
-------------
Round 1-vs. UW control. I won game one on the back of a timely Godhead of Awe. He had a scarecrow that is a 6/6 for 5. It puts a -1/-1 counter on it at end of combat if it attacked or blocked. In other words, once Godhead was down, he couldn't do anything with his threat. Games 2 and 3 were very similar to one another, as he got down double 6/6 scarecrow both games. There wasn't a ton I could do about it and died. Only drew one Gloomlance and never saw the Prison Term. Not sure if that would have helped. It wasn't particularly close.
So my back was up against the wall right away, which I guess helped focus my efforts. The next round I was up against a guy who didn't do a whole ton but still managed to beat me game 1. Then, I killed him. Godhead of Awe totally got stranded in my hand with 4 UW sources and a swamp for like 3 turns. That mana cost looks easy, but one splash can kill it.
Round 3 was interesting in that I again lost game 1. I don't think my deck was nearly as powerful as some of the builds, but I think I had a pretty good grasp of operations management and that managed to get me there. I took game 2 on the back of Pili-Pala and Safehold Sentry. I had Godhead in hand and the mana to cast it, but his side of the board was empty and I didn't feel like playing into removal. He didn't cast anything for four turns and I took our slogan to heart. Sometimes all you need is a 1/1. Or a 1/1 and a 2/2. Anyways.
Round 4, I got paired up against a guy who must have had some amazing stuff that he didn't draw because I crushed him with Godhead in game 1, and a pantsed-up Glamer Spinners in game 2. Lifelinked, unblockable dudes with +1/+1 for each Plains are some good.
So, 3-1 and 6 packs. Hot. I think I agree with TS that the format is going to be pretty fast in general. I chose to play all day and never regretted it. Draft is going to be ridiculously fast, I think. There were people who were casting 4/4s on turn 3 and then pants-ing up for ridiculous evasive 6/6s all over the place. Thank goodness I lost my first round. Also, the dude who beat me round 1, totally went 3-0 and got paired up with the Captain in round 4. The Captain crushed him. Thank goodness for carmates. REVENGE!
------
So then Pseudonymous Drama Student and I decided to pair up for the 2HG since Hot Sauce and The Captain were intending to do the same. We opened like fiends in GW, with Wilt-leaf Liege, the double stream of life, TWO Oracle of Nectars (2(G/W)-X,T:Gain X life.) Shield of the Oversoul (makes Oracle indestructible) and various and sundry, including 3 duals (one foil). The other deck was monored. Nice. Open. We thought our 3-0 chances were pretty good. We got our round 1 opponent down to 1. They bounced one dude to the top of the deck so we had to redraw it. Any guesses as to whether or not the top card was a burn spell when they killed us? We won rounds 2 and 3 handily. w00t for 3 more packs.
I hit up captain essex for 3 more packs so I have 4 sets total. All in all, a good take on the day. My tip: Lose in the first round and then win out from there.
I am not going to list all the cards in my pool because I can't link, but I will say that I had some very strong RG, but not quite enough playables and decided to go with a U/W/b build instead. Here's the cards and the build I played...
G/W Hybrid - no green sources
Safehold Elite-1(G/W)-Persist. 2/2. A bear that comes back and chumps after he's been outclassed.
Raven's Run Dragoon-2(G/W)(G/W)-Can't be blocked by black. 3/3. Hill Giant with an upside. This is sealed.
White - Primary color due to this...
Armored Ascension-3W-Aura-Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each Plains you control and has flying. Blanchwood armor just wins games without evasion. 'nuff said.
Niveous Wisps-W-Instant-Target creature becomes white until EOT. Cantrip. I played it as a one mana cantrip. ymmv.
Safehold Sentry-1W-2W,Q:Safehold Sentry gets +0/+2 until EOT. 2/2. I had to have the captain remind me to play my bears. Never actually used the ability, but the threat of it held off attacks a couple times. Would play again.
Rune-Cervin Rider-3W-Flying. (G/W)(G/W):Rune-Cervin Rider gets +1/+1 until EOT. A shade with evasion. Very solid though I didn't draw him much.
Prison Term-1WW-Aura-Enchanted creature can't attack or block and it's activated abilities can't be played. When a creature comes into play under your opponent's control, you may attach Prison Term to that creature. I only played this once and managed to stick it on a Giantbaiting token (rtfc, gets sacced EOT). I was really curious how good it would be and didn't get a chance to really explore it because I failed to draw it much.
Inquisitor's Snare-1W-Instant-Prevent all damage target attacking or blocking creature would deal this turn. If that creature is black or red, destroy it. All kinds of good.
Steel of the Godhead-2(U/W)-Aura-As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+1 and has lifelink. As long as enchanted creature is blue it gets +1/+1 and is unblockable. Nobody played any of these hybrid auras against me. They are pretty much nuts if you can maximize them. The GW is insane, and the BR is br-don-ken. UW is okay. Didn't run into the RG or UB, but how bad could they be if they can give +2/+2?
Glamer Spinners-4(U/W)-Flash. Flying. When Glamer spinners cip, attach all Auras enchanting target permanent to another permanent with the same controller. 2/4. Okay, this guys is being played because he is a flash 2/4 flier. the ability is occasionally relevant.
Godhead of Awe-(U/W)(U/W)(U/W)(U/W)(U/W)-Flying. Other creatures are 1/1. 4/4. Yeah, she just wins games. Often a one-sided Wrath of God. Kills anything with a -1/-1 counter on it. I failed to lose a game in which I cast her.
Barrenton Cragtreads-2(U/W)(U/W)-Can't be blocked by red creatures. 3/3. Hill Giant #2.
Consign to Dream-2U-Instant-Return target permanent to it's owner's hand. If that permanent is red or green, put it on top of it's owner's library instead. The more I play limited, the more I love bounce.
Merrow Wavebreakers-4U-1U,Q:Merrow Wavebreakers gains flying until EOT. 3/3. A flying vigilant 3/3. This is costed correctly, which means there are times you are not going to want to run him. Decidedly mediocre for me all day.
Faerie Swarm-3U-Flying. Faerie Swarm's power and toughness are each equal to the number of blue permanents you control. Usually and evasive 2/2. Sometimes better.
River's Grasp-3(U/B)-Sorcery-If U was spent to play River's Grasp, return up to one target creature to it's owner's hand. If B was spent to play River's Grasp, target player reveals his or her hand, you choose a nonland card from it, then that player discards that card. Bounce, removal, coercion...what's not to like?
Inkfathom Witch-1(U/B)-Fear. 2UB:Each unblocked creature becomes 4/1 until EOT. 1/1. Yeah, this one is awesome. I was moderately surprised, but there's a lot of evasion in the set.
2 Gloomlance-3BB-Destroy target creature. Destroy target creature. If that creature was green or white, its controller discards a card. Unconditional removal, which I needed. Sometimes boarded one our for a Torpor Dust if my opponent's curve was low.
Watchwing Scarecrow-4-Watchwing Scarecrow has vigilance as long as you control a white creature. Watchwing Scarecrow has flying as long as you control a blue creature. 2/4. Scarecrows are the changelings of Shadowmoor. Very awesome in draft. I would expect them to settle in just below removal and bombs, though some are better than others. There is one which changes colors of things and fixes your mana and it's a 2/2 for 3. It is very, very awesome. Totally wrecked us in 2HG.
Lurebound Scarecrow-3-As Lurebound Scarecrow CIP, choose a color. When you control no permanents of the chosen color, sacrifice Lurebound Scarecrow. 4/4. A little marginal in sealed, but I think this is rather bomby in draft when you should be pretty close to monocolor.
Wingrattle Scarecrow-3-Wingrattle Scarecrow has flying as long as you control a blue creature. Wingrattle Scarecrow has persist as long as you control a black creature. 2/2.
Pili-Pala-2-Flying. 2,Q:Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. 1/1. Crappy color fixing is still color fixing. They seem to have really nerfed color-fixing in the format (at least among the cards I saw). I think you so need to really focus on using hybrid to the max. Pick two or three colors. If you have 3, avoid double costs on the border colors.
I also had a Mystic Gate which is the UW rare dual.
-------------
Round 1-vs. UW control. I won game one on the back of a timely Godhead of Awe. He had a scarecrow that is a 6/6 for 5. It puts a -1/-1 counter on it at end of combat if it attacked or blocked. In other words, once Godhead was down, he couldn't do anything with his threat. Games 2 and 3 were very similar to one another, as he got down double 6/6 scarecrow both games. There wasn't a ton I could do about it and died. Only drew one Gloomlance and never saw the Prison Term. Not sure if that would have helped. It wasn't particularly close.
So my back was up against the wall right away, which I guess helped focus my efforts. The next round I was up against a guy who didn't do a whole ton but still managed to beat me game 1. Then, I killed him. Godhead of Awe totally got stranded in my hand with 4 UW sources and a swamp for like 3 turns. That mana cost looks easy, but one splash can kill it.
Round 3 was interesting in that I again lost game 1. I don't think my deck was nearly as powerful as some of the builds, but I think I had a pretty good grasp of operations management and that managed to get me there. I took game 2 on the back of Pili-Pala and Safehold Sentry. I had Godhead in hand and the mana to cast it, but his side of the board was empty and I didn't feel like playing into removal. He didn't cast anything for four turns and I took our slogan to heart. Sometimes all you need is a 1/1. Or a 1/1 and a 2/2. Anyways.
Round 4, I got paired up against a guy who must have had some amazing stuff that he didn't draw because I crushed him with Godhead in game 1, and a pantsed-up Glamer Spinners in game 2. Lifelinked, unblockable dudes with +1/+1 for each Plains are some good.
So, 3-1 and 6 packs. Hot. I think I agree with TS that the format is going to be pretty fast in general. I chose to play all day and never regretted it. Draft is going to be ridiculously fast, I think. There were people who were casting 4/4s on turn 3 and then pants-ing up for ridiculous evasive 6/6s all over the place. Thank goodness I lost my first round. Also, the dude who beat me round 1, totally went 3-0 and got paired up with the Captain in round 4. The Captain crushed him. Thank goodness for carmates. REVENGE!
------
So then Pseudonymous Drama Student and I decided to pair up for the 2HG since Hot Sauce and The Captain were intending to do the same. We opened like fiends in GW, with Wilt-leaf Liege, the double stream of life, TWO Oracle of Nectars (2(G/W)-X,T:Gain X life.) Shield of the Oversoul (makes Oracle indestructible) and various and sundry, including 3 duals (one foil). The other deck was monored. Nice. Open. We thought our 3-0 chances were pretty good. We got our round 1 opponent down to 1. They bounced one dude to the top of the deck so we had to redraw it. Any guesses as to whether or not the top card was a burn spell when they killed us? We won rounds 2 and 3 handily. w00t for 3 more packs.
I hit up captain essex for 3 more packs so I have 4 sets total. All in all, a good take on the day. My tip: Lose in the first round and then win out from there.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Quick Draftstravaganza Recap
I am currently laid low with a virus of some sort, so I will be making this post a short one. It doesn't seem fair to leave the Draftravaganza un-commented, so I will do some quick recapping from my perspective. First off, thanks to CBG for hosting. It was awesome. Second, boo to Wizards for fucking up our Rotisserie draft. Who would have thought the company that makes the cards can't send out an accurate full set to someone who has redeemed it on MODO? And it wasn't just one or two cards off, this sucker had a duplicate common run and no uncommons, to say nothing of the missing rares. I know lots of us were really looking forward to this, and it sucks that Wizards is directly responsible for screwing us out of the opportunity to use the product they sell in the way we had planned. Great marketing, WOTC.
First up was Carroll draft, Which I really do enjoy as a format. Can you imagine a draft where players open packs 360 unique cards? It is still possible to get doubles of a spell, but even that is a rarity in Carroll draft. It totally gets you back to the basics of drafting. It didn't go as I had hoped. I ended up taking B/W weenies, which did not seem like a great strategy. At least I managed to pick a color with some removal. During one early pick from the Guildpact pack I had to choose between a Douse in Gloom and Pillory of the Sleepless. I tried to wheel the Pillory, which was a little too greedy. It would have been great because I was lacking unconditional removal, and I had to be the only one in B/W. I did end up picking up several other "pacificism" effect, the strongest of which turned out to be Cowed by Wisdom. It really forced my opponents into some bad choices. I was surprised. What ended up saving my ass from a 1-2 or 0-3 record was the combat tricks. Guided Strike was cantrip removal all morning, and Douse in Gloom turned out to be pretty good at instant speed as well. Since I had almost no fatties, keeping my little guys swinging was the only way for me to have a shot at winning. Masked Gorgon was the only big guy I had, and he was obviously swingy (but turned out to be good). I did lose to Swizz, as is recapped here. I was happy with 2-1 because I did not expect to do that well with the deck.
Second format was 2HG Rav-Gpt-Dis draft. It was super fun remembering how the pick orders changed based on playing two opponents. Major Luck and I did pretty well in 2HG with this format, I was looking forward to it again. But my partner this time around was CBG. We argued a lot, took too many bouncelands (hard to play six in a single deck...) and generally figured we'd lose. We did have Sunforger and Lightning Helix (in my W/U/R deck- I guess I heart Numot even in different formats!) and double Mortipede (in CBG B/G/W/R? deck, I don't remember which color he didn't play). Those Mortipedes kicked ass all day for us. Not only did they usually give us a two for one trade, they also let the rest of our team get in there. We lost our first match, but the joys of round robin play dictated that if we beat our final round opponents we still take first. Sunforger on a Mourning Thrull is all business, let me tell you. We got there and with a 2-1 record took first. Too bad there was only one dual land in the pool.
We ended by with EDH 2HG. I was really tired by this time but luckily partner Swizz did not need very much help after powering out Niv-Mizzet on turn 2. His deck is sick. After we won one game it was Swizz's turned to be distracted- by the thought of leaving soon to party with a lady. He decided to jet, and surprisingly, none of our opponents seemed to mind that the team with the turn-2 Legendary Dragon was disbanding. I was ready for bed, and packed it in as well.
I would love to hear other people's experience of the night. I would also heartily recommend Carroll draft and limited 2HG to anyone looking for a different way to spend their draft night. I wish I could recommend Rotisserie because it sounds like it would be awesome, but... you know.
T
First up was Carroll draft, Which I really do enjoy as a format. Can you imagine a draft where players open packs 360 unique cards? It is still possible to get doubles of a spell, but even that is a rarity in Carroll draft. It totally gets you back to the basics of drafting. It didn't go as I had hoped. I ended up taking B/W weenies, which did not seem like a great strategy. At least I managed to pick a color with some removal. During one early pick from the Guildpact pack I had to choose between a Douse in Gloom and Pillory of the Sleepless. I tried to wheel the Pillory, which was a little too greedy. It would have been great because I was lacking unconditional removal, and I had to be the only one in B/W. I did end up picking up several other "pacificism" effect, the strongest of which turned out to be Cowed by Wisdom. It really forced my opponents into some bad choices. I was surprised. What ended up saving my ass from a 1-2 or 0-3 record was the combat tricks. Guided Strike was cantrip removal all morning, and Douse in Gloom turned out to be pretty good at instant speed as well. Since I had almost no fatties, keeping my little guys swinging was the only way for me to have a shot at winning. Masked Gorgon was the only big guy I had, and he was obviously swingy (but turned out to be good). I did lose to Swizz, as is recapped here. I was happy with 2-1 because I did not expect to do that well with the deck.
Second format was 2HG Rav-Gpt-Dis draft. It was super fun remembering how the pick orders changed based on playing two opponents. Major Luck and I did pretty well in 2HG with this format, I was looking forward to it again. But my partner this time around was CBG. We argued a lot, took too many bouncelands (hard to play six in a single deck...) and generally figured we'd lose. We did have Sunforger and Lightning Helix (in my W/U/R deck- I guess I heart Numot even in different formats!) and double Mortipede (in CBG B/G/W/R? deck, I don't remember which color he didn't play). Those Mortipedes kicked ass all day for us. Not only did they usually give us a two for one trade, they also let the rest of our team get in there. We lost our first match, but the joys of round robin play dictated that if we beat our final round opponents we still take first. Sunforger on a Mourning Thrull is all business, let me tell you. We got there and with a 2-1 record took first. Too bad there was only one dual land in the pool.
We ended by with EDH 2HG. I was really tired by this time but luckily partner Swizz did not need very much help after powering out Niv-Mizzet on turn 2. His deck is sick. After we won one game it was Swizz's turned to be distracted- by the thought of leaving soon to party with a lady. He decided to jet, and surprisingly, none of our opponents seemed to mind that the team with the turn-2 Legendary Dragon was disbanding. I was ready for bed, and packed it in as well.
I would love to hear other people's experience of the night. I would also heartily recommend Carroll draft and limited 2HG to anyone looking for a different way to spend their draft night. I wish I could recommend Rotisserie because it sounds like it would be awesome, but... you know.
T
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Draftstravaganza thoughts. T-72 hours.
The first format is Lorwyn Rotisserie draft. A complete set of Lorwyn is laid out and the first person chooses. Then drafting continues clockwise to pick 8. The person who picks 8th also picks 9th and the draft goes counter clockwise back to drafter #1. Drafting continues like this until Bog Hoodlums is taken*. I am curious what people think is the first pick. The_captain felt pretty strongly that Mirror Entity was it. I do like that pick, but could see taking a planeswalker or a command there as well. How early do you think removal will be taken? Will Fugie 1st pick Horde of Notions? Here's a good article with some stuff to chew over by Chad Ellis. Rotisserie bears a lot of similarities to Rochester but I would think is a more powerful format due to the number of rares.
The second format is Carroll draft. Carroll draft is a normal 8 man format which uses 24 different packs. The intention is to use the 24 most recent expert-level expansions, though the release of two-set blocks requires a little rejiggering (we are adding a pack of Coldsnap for this version). First everyone opens a big set (Lorwyn through Invasion). Drafting proceeds as normal. You will travel backwards in time as you go through the packs so if your first pack is Lorwyn, your second pick will be from Time Spiral, then Ravnica, and so on. The second pack you open will be from a second set (Morningtide through Planeshift). Again, you will travel back in time as drafting moves to the right. Finally, the third pack will be all 3rd sets, though Coldsnap will be in the mix due to Lorwyn being a 2 set block. The first time we ran this format, it was awesome as heck, despite the presence of Skullclamp. Fricking Skullclamp. To me, this format is all about sticking to your basic drafting principles of remaining open to colors as long as possible and reading signals very carefully. I think this is an incredibly skill-intensive format due to the constantly shifting foundation.
The third format will be Ravnica-Guildpact-Dissension Two-Headed Giant. We will randomly assign teams and draft as normal for 2HG, with each team taking 2 cards from each pack. Note, mana fixing=very, very important. Just saying.
Any further thoughts? I am psyched.
* That's a joke. Drafting Bog Hoodlums will not just end the draft, so don't take it just because you want to screw with someone.
The second format is Carroll draft. Carroll draft is a normal 8 man format which uses 24 different packs. The intention is to use the 24 most recent expert-level expansions, though the release of two-set blocks requires a little rejiggering (we are adding a pack of Coldsnap for this version). First everyone opens a big set (Lorwyn through Invasion). Drafting proceeds as normal. You will travel backwards in time as you go through the packs so if your first pack is Lorwyn, your second pick will be from Time Spiral, then Ravnica, and so on. The second pack you open will be from a second set (Morningtide through Planeshift). Again, you will travel back in time as drafting moves to the right. Finally, the third pack will be all 3rd sets, though Coldsnap will be in the mix due to Lorwyn being a 2 set block. The first time we ran this format, it was awesome as heck, despite the presence of Skullclamp. Fricking Skullclamp. To me, this format is all about sticking to your basic drafting principles of remaining open to colors as long as possible and reading signals very carefully. I think this is an incredibly skill-intensive format due to the constantly shifting foundation.
The third format will be Ravnica-Guildpact-Dissension Two-Headed Giant. We will randomly assign teams and draft as normal for 2HG, with each team taking 2 cards from each pack. Note, mana fixing=very, very important. Just saying.
Any further thoughts? I am psyched.
* That's a joke. Drafting Bog Hoodlums will not just end the draft, so don't take it just because you want to screw with someone.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Extended, maybe some grab bag
Well, I guess I am going to ptq this Saturday for only the second time ever. I am going to play a deck that has around a 10% chance of a turn one win. I have been following the extended metagame ever since Worlds, but I hadn't planned on playing any ptqs. The format is pretty wide open but none of the decks really excite me. Doran Rock is cute. Next Level Blue is great if you like control. Aggro is thriving, with R/B Goblins, Doran (5/5s on turn 2 are aggro), and Zoo being viable. Combo has several winning decks, with TEPS, Dragonstorm, Hulk, and you can probably throw Ichorid in there as well if it's not a category of its own.
I think a big part of the problem for me is that I am just not that excited by Constructed competition. So much preparation is necessary for me to play any deck well. So much of high level Constructed is pattern recognition. Correct play is very difficult. I have a tendency to go to a tournament unprepared and have to think through too many situations. This probably sounds like a complaint about the amount of time I have to prepare but really it is more complex than that. Even if I had the time to prepare a gauntlet of 5 decks and play sets of 10 with them, I wouldn't do it.
Oftentimes in Constructed, a matchup just feels unwinnable even when it's not. Maybe you are focusing on the wrong things in the matchup (who's the beatdown and whatnot). Maybe your main deck is four cards off and that dramatically changes the matchup. Maybe you're tired of thinking about Magic. Point being, I don't have what it takes to be great at constructed and if I don't, why the hell am I ptq'ing? I know I am not going to win on Saturday. My goal is to have fun. And the way I have fun is to do silly stupid things. Jokulhaups into Rakdos? Silly stupid. Counterbalance your Tribal Flames? Not silly, nor stupid. So I am playing a deck that either wins turn one, or dies horribly. I don't think I am going to play with a sideboard. The deck is perfect as is.
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I really liked the Richard Garfield (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) articles published on the mothership on Monday. I am talking about the Lost in the Shuffle columns from Issues 17 and 18. In them, Garfield (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) talks about political games and why he doesn't like them. This struck a chord with me because TS had spoken recently about his dislike for multiplayer FFA. I personally have really enjoyed the FFA EDHs lately and protested TS pretty vociferously, especially because he didn't really back up his argument at all. Richard (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) did though, and in a way which really affected my thoughts on the subject.
He brings up several characteristics of political games and describes them as bad, when I had previously thought of them as good. For instance, the incentive to lie low and appear weak in a political game is something that he really despises. I've always thought of that as a feature not a bug. He goes on in this vein for a bit and then he lays on the crux:
And that's a really great point. It doesn't matter if you choose a scalpel or a hammer. It doesn't matter if your deck is terrible or awesome. All that matters is your political skill, and Magic should be about a more complete skill set. Otherwise, it's just complicated poker. Richard Garfield (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) is really smart.
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I like the idea of Two headed giant EDH. We'll see if we can't arrange something this time. Maybe the incentives for abusive generals is still too high. Numot is totally fair in FFA. Not so much in duel:) As I have proven. Multiple times.
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I have to get to Olde Fart. I love sealed deck. Stupid job.
I think a big part of the problem for me is that I am just not that excited by Constructed competition. So much preparation is necessary for me to play any deck well. So much of high level Constructed is pattern recognition. Correct play is very difficult. I have a tendency to go to a tournament unprepared and have to think through too many situations. This probably sounds like a complaint about the amount of time I have to prepare but really it is more complex than that. Even if I had the time to prepare a gauntlet of 5 decks and play sets of 10 with them, I wouldn't do it.
Oftentimes in Constructed, a matchup just feels unwinnable even when it's not. Maybe you are focusing on the wrong things in the matchup (who's the beatdown and whatnot). Maybe your main deck is four cards off and that dramatically changes the matchup. Maybe you're tired of thinking about Magic. Point being, I don't have what it takes to be great at constructed and if I don't, why the hell am I ptq'ing? I know I am not going to win on Saturday. My goal is to have fun. And the way I have fun is to do silly stupid things. Jokulhaups into Rakdos? Silly stupid. Counterbalance your Tribal Flames? Not silly, nor stupid. So I am playing a deck that either wins turn one, or dies horribly. I don't think I am going to play with a sideboard. The deck is perfect as is.
------
I really liked the Richard Garfield (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) articles published on the mothership on Monday. I am talking about the Lost in the Shuffle columns from Issues 17 and 18. In them, Garfield (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) talks about political games and why he doesn't like them. This struck a chord with me because TS had spoken recently about his dislike for multiplayer FFA. I personally have really enjoyed the FFA EDHs lately and protested TS pretty vociferously, especially because he didn't really back up his argument at all. Richard (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) did though, and in a way which really affected my thoughts on the subject.
He brings up several characteristics of political games and describes them as bad, when I had previously thought of them as good. For instance, the incentive to lie low and appear weak in a political game is something that he really despises. I've always thought of that as a feature not a bug. He goes on in this vein for a bit and then he lays on the crux:
The result for me was discovering that most political games were, underneath the veneer, the same game, and that I was tired of playing that game.
And that's a really great point. It doesn't matter if you choose a scalpel or a hammer. It doesn't matter if your deck is terrible or awesome. All that matters is your political skill, and Magic should be about a more complete skill set. Otherwise, it's just complicated poker. Richard Garfield (spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch) is really smart.
----------
I like the idea of Two headed giant EDH. We'll see if we can't arrange something this time. Maybe the incentives for abusive generals is still too high. Numot is totally fair in FFA. Not so much in duel:) As I have proven. Multiple times.
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I have to get to Olde Fart. I love sealed deck. Stupid job.
Monday, October 22, 2007
2HG - Telling You Crap You Already Know
We've been drafting a lot of Two Headed Giant over at Casa de Bondage Goth lately. Fugie's teaser post alluded to a deck in such a tourney, but I won't spoil his story for you. I am here to talk about some guidelines for 2HG that have proven to be true yet again. These are things that most of you competent players have a vague idea of, but may not have thought about in a while. So as you start to integrate 2HG into your Lorwyn Limited experience, consider a few truisms.
#1 Removal is (still) better than a body.
Lorwyn block gave us some interesting tension when it comes to drafting. Unlike past formats, getting your 13th Kithkin can be critical to the way your deck plays. You shouldn't be looking for 12-19 bodies, you should look for an equivalent number of synergistic creatures types and abilities. There are some formats where having the dudes is more important (admittedly I can only think of ChKChKChK draft, which was super aggressive and weenie-based, and possibly Coldsnap draft, because of the inherent synergies in that good old set) and some where you have to take removal over nearly everything else (XthXthXth draft skews closer to this side, more examples of either format are welcome in comments). It seems to be the rule that in 2HG the removal becomes even more important because the low end of your creature curve gets obsoleted mid-game and and everyone has plenty more time to find and play their respective bombs. Since we all know bombs win games, having removal (and knowing when to use it, obv) gets you back into things before you are smashed to a pulp. HOWEVER, one of the things I was most interested in when playing 2HG Lorwyn Limited was whether or not the need for creature type synergies would overmaster the need for decent removal. If your dedicated Merfolk deck, in the last pack of a 2HG draft, has a choice between a third pick (technically 5th and 6th picks, you know what I mean) Neck Snap and Summon the School which do you take? (Let's assume you other pick in that pack was, uh, Mad Auntie for your other head's half-built Goblin deck, whatever.) The Merfolk Sorcery makes your deck all kinds of awesome in the late game- which you will usually get to in 2HG. But the removal is also really good. It appears, after some experience, that removal still trumps the majority of creatures, even if it means diluting the internal synergy of your deck's creature base. In 2HG, if you see no guys that need to be gotten rid of on the other side of the board, you are winning. There will be targets for removal. Your Summon the School only gets ridiculous if you are able to reach a critical mass of Merfolk (quick aside; Summon the School is not as good in 2HG as regular draft. 30 life plus many more chump blockers = far less effective at ending the game). Getting to that critical mass may take the whole game, or not even happen at all. So keep on taking those Weed Strangles and Tarfires when they come. Now, sometimes you are going to need to kill more than one monster at a time in order to stay in the game. This leads us to our second Rule You Already Know.
#2 Card Advantage Wins 2HG Games
You know how to destroy an opponent in 2HG? Cast Mournwhelk, forcing player A (let's call him "Lajor Muck") to ditch two of the three cards he still has in hand. Then, next turn, counter player B's Footbottom Feast with Familiar's Ruse, returning your Mournwhelk only to recast it again to strip the last two cards from player B's hand. Yeah, TooSarcastic's team won that one (sorry, Major Luck). It's really hard to fight through that much card disadvantage. Likewise, CBG and I ended up drawing the round prior, partly because we are bad players, but mostly because we passed a (foily!) Final Revels in the draft that ended up making it to our opponents, who then used it wreck us on card advantage, along with a second Revels later in the game that mopped up all the 2-butts we had cast after the first Revels resolved. Casting a Hoarder's Greed to draw four cards wasn't bad for the other team either. I mean, who cares about losing four life in this format? The only way my Gothy Captain partner and I were even still in that game was the fact that we also cast our own copy of Final Revels to four-for-one their board as well. In regular draft, getting tempoed out while waiting to reap the rewards of your card advantage is a fairly common concern. This is less so in 2HG. Weenie rushes are less good. Play the 7-casting cost spell that gets two of their cards. You will (almost) always be able to play it. Having said that...
#3 Curving Out Still Wins Games
Last night I was again paired with CBG playing against Fugie and his roommate. I kept a hand with 2 Plains, an Island, Summon the School, Merfolk Harbinger, Inkfathom Divers, and Faerie Trickery. CBG looked at me like I was crazy, but I said, "It's 2HG, I'll get the 4th land eventually. We've got time." Turn two (we were on the play) I drew Moonglove Extract. Just fine. Meanwhile, Fugie had played a 2/1 elemental turn one. Turn three I drew Fallowsage and cast the Extract. Fugie's team had four dudes out to our one, but we had on-board removal so it was fine, right? No it wasn't. Wort, Boggart Auntie comes down next turn with a board full of Gobs for them. Also, my extract can't even kill the Elemental because of Wings of Velis Vel from Fugie. Suddenly half our life is gone. This is the turn. I need to draw a land to continue play spells. I rip... Fallowsage number two! I guess this is a bad beats story. Also, the match prior, I dug through all but the last three cards of my library looking for the game-winning planeswalker Ajani. After the match, I flip over the deck to reveal Ajani as the bottom card. Bad. Beats. But I digress. The whole point is playing land number four (on turn four) and casting Merfolk Harbinger for Stonybrook Angler might not have won the game, but it sure as hell would have made it closer than playing my fourth land on turn six, which is what ended up happening. Build your deck with a curve in mind. Consider mulligans with a curve in mind. You curve may start at three (or maybe even four) instead of one, but 2HG still needs a curve. There are some beatdown strategies out there. They may not be the strongest archetypes, but if people discount them and don't build to protect against an early rush, Kithkin, Elemental and Goblin synergies can overwhelm an opposing team pretty quickly. Also, 90% of the time it's right to play 18 land. I've heard "official" columnists make the argument that you should run fewer lands in 2HG because you get a free mulligan, you have a partner to help you if you stumble, and the games go longer so you draw more cards. It has been my experience that the games I win come from casting Mournwhelk on turn seven, preferably with Aethersnipe either the turn before (to get the bomb into their hand so they discard it) or the turn after (to return Mourwhelk so as to destroy the second opponent's hand). It's hard to lose games when you hit the top end of your curve on schedule. And you know your curve will end higher than your average individual draft deck. Run more land than normal, not less. Getting flooded sucks, but at least when you do draw your business spells you can cast them.
That's it kids. Go play some 2HG.
T
#1 Removal is (still) better than a body.
Lorwyn block gave us some interesting tension when it comes to drafting. Unlike past formats, getting your 13th Kithkin can be critical to the way your deck plays. You shouldn't be looking for 12-19 bodies, you should look for an equivalent number of synergistic creatures types and abilities. There are some formats where having the dudes is more important (admittedly I can only think of ChKChKChK draft, which was super aggressive and weenie-based, and possibly Coldsnap draft, because of the inherent synergies in that good old set) and some where you have to take removal over nearly everything else (XthXthXth draft skews closer to this side, more examples of either format are welcome in comments). It seems to be the rule that in 2HG the removal becomes even more important because the low end of your creature curve gets obsoleted mid-game and and everyone has plenty more time to find and play their respective bombs. Since we all know bombs win games, having removal (and knowing when to use it, obv) gets you back into things before you are smashed to a pulp. HOWEVER, one of the things I was most interested in when playing 2HG Lorwyn Limited was whether or not the need for creature type synergies would overmaster the need for decent removal. If your dedicated Merfolk deck, in the last pack of a 2HG draft, has a choice between a third pick (technically 5th and 6th picks, you know what I mean) Neck Snap and Summon the School which do you take? (Let's assume you other pick in that pack was, uh, Mad Auntie for your other head's half-built Goblin deck, whatever.) The Merfolk Sorcery makes your deck all kinds of awesome in the late game- which you will usually get to in 2HG. But the removal is also really good. It appears, after some experience, that removal still trumps the majority of creatures, even if it means diluting the internal synergy of your deck's creature base. In 2HG, if you see no guys that need to be gotten rid of on the other side of the board, you are winning. There will be targets for removal. Your Summon the School only gets ridiculous if you are able to reach a critical mass of Merfolk (quick aside; Summon the School is not as good in 2HG as regular draft. 30 life plus many more chump blockers = far less effective at ending the game). Getting to that critical mass may take the whole game, or not even happen at all. So keep on taking those Weed Strangles and Tarfires when they come. Now, sometimes you are going to need to kill more than one monster at a time in order to stay in the game. This leads us to our second Rule You Already Know.
#2 Card Advantage Wins 2HG Games
You know how to destroy an opponent in 2HG? Cast Mournwhelk, forcing player A (let's call him "Lajor Muck") to ditch two of the three cards he still has in hand. Then, next turn, counter player B's Footbottom Feast with Familiar's Ruse, returning your Mournwhelk only to recast it again to strip the last two cards from player B's hand. Yeah, TooSarcastic's team won that one (sorry, Major Luck). It's really hard to fight through that much card disadvantage. Likewise, CBG and I ended up drawing the round prior, partly because we are bad players, but mostly because we passed a (foily!) Final Revels in the draft that ended up making it to our opponents, who then used it wreck us on card advantage, along with a second Revels later in the game that mopped up all the 2-butts we had cast after the first Revels resolved. Casting a Hoarder's Greed to draw four cards wasn't bad for the other team either. I mean, who cares about losing four life in this format? The only way my Gothy Captain partner and I were even still in that game was the fact that we also cast our own copy of Final Revels to four-for-one their board as well. In regular draft, getting tempoed out while waiting to reap the rewards of your card advantage is a fairly common concern. This is less so in 2HG. Weenie rushes are less good. Play the 7-casting cost spell that gets two of their cards. You will (almost) always be able to play it. Having said that...
#3 Curving Out Still Wins Games
Last night I was again paired with CBG playing against Fugie and his roommate. I kept a hand with 2 Plains, an Island, Summon the School, Merfolk Harbinger, Inkfathom Divers, and Faerie Trickery. CBG looked at me like I was crazy, but I said, "It's 2HG, I'll get the 4th land eventually. We've got time." Turn two (we were on the play) I drew Moonglove Extract. Just fine. Meanwhile, Fugie had played a 2/1 elemental turn one. Turn three I drew Fallowsage and cast the Extract. Fugie's team had four dudes out to our one, but we had on-board removal so it was fine, right? No it wasn't. Wort, Boggart Auntie comes down next turn with a board full of Gobs for them. Also, my extract can't even kill the Elemental because of Wings of Velis Vel from Fugie. Suddenly half our life is gone. This is the turn. I need to draw a land to continue play spells. I rip... Fallowsage number two! I guess this is a bad beats story. Also, the match prior, I dug through all but the last three cards of my library looking for the game-winning planeswalker Ajani. After the match, I flip over the deck to reveal Ajani as the bottom card. Bad. Beats. But I digress. The whole point is playing land number four (on turn four) and casting Merfolk Harbinger for Stonybrook Angler might not have won the game, but it sure as hell would have made it closer than playing my fourth land on turn six, which is what ended up happening. Build your deck with a curve in mind. Consider mulligans with a curve in mind. You curve may start at three (or maybe even four) instead of one, but 2HG still needs a curve. There are some beatdown strategies out there. They may not be the strongest archetypes, but if people discount them and don't build to protect against an early rush, Kithkin, Elemental and Goblin synergies can overwhelm an opposing team pretty quickly. Also, 90% of the time it's right to play 18 land. I've heard "official" columnists make the argument that you should run fewer lands in 2HG because you get a free mulligan, you have a partner to help you if you stumble, and the games go longer so you draw more cards. It has been my experience that the games I win come from casting Mournwhelk on turn seven, preferably with Aethersnipe either the turn before (to get the bomb into their hand so they discard it) or the turn after (to return Mourwhelk so as to destroy the second opponent's hand). It's hard to lose games when you hit the top end of your curve on schedule. And you know your curve will end higher than your average individual draft deck. Run more land than normal, not less. Getting flooded sucks, but at least when you do draw your business spells you can cast them.
That's it kids. Go play some 2HG.
T
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