Alternatives in Standard

Hello everyone,

I have to apologize, my plan was to play this last FNM with the deck that I highlighted in my last blog, but I didn't. I did something I usually never do, I went with something untested that I liked and just had to try. I made a deck that has one of my favorite cards in it.

VENGEVINE!!!!

The interesting thing is, the deck is not made specifically for vengevine, but I do have lots of ways to help it out.





Here is the list.

CREATURES (28)


4x Birds of Paradise
4x Fauna Shaman
4x Vengevine
4x Squadron Hawk
2x Kor Skyfisher
2x Baneslayer Angel
2x Sun Titan
1x Acidic Slime
1x Kor Sanctifiers
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Obstinate Baloth
1x Sunblast Angel
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence

SPELLS (7)

3x Day of Judgement
3x Journey to Nowhere
1x Sword of Body and Mind

LANDS (25)

4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Stirring Wildwood
2x Razorverge Thicket
2x Misty Rainforest
1x Marsh Flats
3x Tectonic Edge
5x Forest
4x Plains

The deck is primarily made to just be highly cohesive and interactive. To me it makes the games more fun! (but also slower). The most know combination is Fauna Shaman with Squadron Hawk and Vengevine. It gives you extra creatures to pitch to get what you need. The Sun Titans and Skyfishers are there to help recycle cards but the Skyfisher is also very helpfull in a pinch to activate Vengevine.

SIDEBOARD (15)

2x Obstinate Baloth
1x Kor Sanctifier
1x Acidic Slime
1x Basilisk Collar
3x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Condemn
1x Mold Shambler
2x ?

I can't quite remember the two cards i am missing out of the sideboard, in fact I'm lucky i remembered what was in the deck at all with out having it on hand. I have a great respect for deck building because you never know how it comes out. I will tell you a quick rundown from memory of my 5 rounds.

NOTE: Don't have my book with me so sorry if the recounts are extremely rough. If you have any questions leave a post and I will give you better details later.

Round 1 (RUW Control)

Yea this was an interesting deck to play against because I wasn't quite sure what to get when I went searching with Shaman.

Game 1: To make a long story short I lost after he landed Jace, Frost Titan and Sun Titan.

Game 2: Held him off of 6 mana for a little while and was getting board advantage until he landed Jace #2, Sun Titan and Inferno Titan. Somehow went to time.....

Lost 0-1 (0-1)

Round 2 (RUG)

Cant remember exactly what happened but i do remember seeing more Jaces and more Titans. Managed to bring it to time 1-1.

Tied 1-1 (0-1-1)

Round 3 (UB Control)

This was a tough and fun match up. I was glad to get a chance to play against one of the best decks in the format. The best part about the match up was that I knew the guy was playing the deck how it was supposed to be played. For the 3rd straight match i had to deal with Jace.

Game 1: He stuck a 3rd turn Jace and I was lucky enough to get a Vengevine in immediately to deal with it. Shortly thereafter he played another one, but I was able to keep him off of 6 mana long enough with 2 tectonic edges and was able to play around a few counterspells and pull out the win.

Game 2: this game went much the same way, it honestly could have gone both ways but It went to time.

Won 1-0 (1-1-1)


Round 4 (White Artifact)

Played against my co-worker Mandi, it was like her 2nd ever FNM playing a mono white artifact build. It was a far better deck than I played my second FNM, but Vengevines just came out too fast and I was able to blow up a couple Tempered steels when i needed to.

Won 2-0 (2-1-1)

Round 5 (Pyromancers Ascension)

Kind of a bad match up pre-board because of my useless removal spells but I at least have a couple ways to blow up ascension main deck.

Game 1: Got a little lucky here, he had only 1 burn spell opening hand and only one counterspell by turn 4. I stuck an early vengevine and he didn't rip a bounce spell or lightning bolt in time to deal with it before he died.

Game 2: Sided out my Day's and Journeys and added a slime and sanctifier. Again I got a little lucky, on turn 4 he had 3 mana open and one counter on ascension, i played a kicked Kor Sanctifier expecting a counter and he had none. I then got vengevines going again for the win

Won 2-0 (3-1-1)

I was happy to end up in 6th place out of 30 people considering I had only played the deck once or twice and had a thrown together SB. The only thing I know for sure is that it is really tough to play around Jace especially 3 times in a row. So it makes me happy that I only lost 1 game considering.

I have a few ideas about possible changes to make, one of them would be adding 2 Gideon's main deck in place of a Baloth and a Sunblast Angel. In closing though I really enjoyed the deck, it was very "toolboxy" which is something me and my friend Eloy both like. The deck still has some weaknesses but is very fun. Overall I think this will be my deck of choice for a while.

P.S. for those of you who have taken the time to read this please take just a couple more seconds and leave me a message either to just say hello or give me some input on the deck. Thanks!

Tony Derbigny

Time for Change

As you may already have read a few articles ago I have been playing a really kool goblin build. I built it before the artifact goblins made headlines with a few top 8 finishes. My version uses rebirth but also uses far less artifacts. I have really enjoyed playing the deck, in fact I have been very successful with it. Over the last 6 or so FNM's I believe I have a record along the lines of 25-4. Which is solid in my opinion. But........

Its time to update my deck that I have been playing. Its time for a change. Why, you ask? Because I am in a position to where hate is flowing my way and other people are making versions of my deck and I want to be different. With the FNM (my local shop) metagame changing to where everyone is either running a pyroclasm or marsh casualties or tons of spot removal, I want to flip the script.

Now, at first thought with this picture, your saying to yourself...... everyone plays with trinket mage. It's in UB control, its in UBR, its in URG. Yea but here is where I went different. I went with a UW Artifact build. WHAT????? Yea that's what I was saying at first too but I have been working on the list and its seems to win in some very strange ways, it is not really a control deck by design but it has surprising resiliency. Check out the list.


CREATURES

3 Wall of Omens
3 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Trinket Mage
3 Etched Champion
2 Molten Tail Masticore
2 Wurmcoil Engine

SPELLS

3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Darksteel Axe
1 Chimeric Mass
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Brittle Effigy
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Into the Roil
3 Day of Judgement

LANDS

6 Plains
6 Island
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Tectonic Edge

The sideboard is yet to be finalized, I have a lot more play testing to do to get it where i need it. In fact the same can be said for the main deck. But here is a rough draft of where it would be.

SIDEBOARD

3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Spell Pierce
1 Devout Lightcaster
2 Condemn
1 Ratchet Bomb
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Kor Sanctifiers

Ok so you may see already where this is going but just in case let me explain. When i build decks I typically have a few goals in mind.

-Synergy
-Multiple win conditions
-Answers for everything (Main and SB)

The deck meets all these goals to a degree and I will try to give a quick explanation for each.

SYNERGY

There are several things that I think attribute to synergy here but some of them are obvious and others not so much. Trinket mage and all the 1 or 0 drop artifacts is one. Well known due to UB control is all the recursion from elixir of immortality. You get to recur all sorts of fun toys like killed man lands, ratchet bombs, into the roils, day of judgement and all the creatures that help u draw cards etc. Molten Tail Masticore with all of my creatures (and yes I do know that he butts heads with elixir, which is why i cut him from 3 to 2) but when he is good he is great.

WIN CONDITIONS

One obvious win condition is Wurmcoil Engine and Masticore, but there are a few others. I can actually deal damage with my small guys thanks to some equipment. But one of the most fun ones is Etched Champion because of his great interaction with Darksteel Axe. He basically becomes a 4/2 that cant be blocked or killed by most anything. An unblockable guy with 4 power can end games fairly quickly.

ANSWERS

There are lots of answers in here as well. My early drop creatures and Day of judgements are my answers for early agro like Goblins, RDW, Infect and Elves. For Other control decks I have into the roil, tectonic edge, brittle effigy, ratchet bomb etc. For Mid range decks its just kind of a mixed bag, a little bit of everything.

In conclusion I really like this deck but I still have some work to do and testing to see if it is really as good as i hope, let me know what you think and hope you like it. Thanks.


Tony Derbigny

Alternatives In Standard

Hello everyone and if you are reading this I am appreciative of your support and hope you enjoy the articles. I have to get the original blogsters back on so I'm not the only one on but its still fun. I have a special treat for you today, I have a buddy who I am featuring in todays article. He recently won his first FNM with a very fun and even more importantly, very original deck. I have seen this thing in action and it is very kool! I asked him to send me the decklist and a quick write up on how it is supposed to work and he took it seriously and sent me a full article. I will share that with you today and hope you enjoy.

Here it is!!!
___________________________________________________________

MONO BLACK

Creatures
4 Nantuko Shade
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Skinrender
3 Moriok Replica


Spells
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Duress
3 Mind Sludge
3 Grim Discovery


Land
20 Swamp
4 Tectonic Edge


SB
2 Disfigure
3 Memoricide
3 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Duress
3 Black Night
1 Royal Assassin

Strategy:
This version of a Mono-Black deck tries to take advantage of all the creature decks in the meta with decent game against control decks. Many of creatures are two-for-ones in the form of:

· Gatekeeper of Malikir
· Skinrender
· Moriok Replica

Vampire Hexmage and Vampre Nighthawk serve two roles. While Hexmage is good at fighting planewalkers, Nighthawks allow the deck to race other aggro decks. Many times, Nighthawk is just another removal spell when the opponent is the beatdown deck. Other times, Hexmage is able to swing a couple times against opposing control decks and take down their plansewalkers. Duress is there for redundancy.

The main beater is Nantuko Shade. If he is able to slip under early counter magic, he can end games quickly if not answered.

The discard package can be strong if used in conjunction with an early beater. Against creature decks, I use the Inquisition of Koziilks as another removal spell and treat it as a cheaper Smother. The Mind Sludges are in there against ramp and control decks.

Tectonic Edges are in there to punish the 2-3 color decks that rely heavily on the dual lands for mana fixing. The ability to kill multiple lands early on, followed up by a Mind Sludge can be devastating for the opponent.
But what makes the deck “pop” are the Grim Discoverys. The ability to recycle Tectonic Edges and all of the two-for-one creatures is what helps the deck win attrition wars. Often, I am able to play Gatekeeper early on to make them sac a creature and then destroy a land. Rinse and repeat a few turns later and then eventually play a Mind Sludge to take out their hand. Often, the best play might only constitute getting back either a creature spell or a Tectonic edge. However, getting both back is awesome sauce.

So far at my FNMs, I have done well against all the creature decks from RDW, WW Quest, Poison and Allies. I have not faced Elves so I am not able to comment on this match up. Against creature decks, I board in the following:

OUT:
3 Mind Sludge
2 Vampire Hexmage

IN:
2 Disfigure
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Royal Assassin

I wish I talk could more regarding the U/x control match ups. Not very many people are playing control at my local FNM but I tested against a U/B control list and I seemed to have a good match up since their Doom Blades were dead and I would attack the manabase. If I was able to get an early Nantuko Shade on board, then the game was over fairly quickly. I have also tested against U/W control and that match up is more challenging since many of their cards are also two for ones. Against U/W control, I board in the following:

OUT:
4 Skinrender
1 Gatekeeper of Malikir
2 Moriok Replica

IN:
1 Duress
3 Memoricide
3 Black Knight

Against U/B:
OUT:
4 Skinrender
1 Gatekeeper of Malikir
2 Moriok Replica

IN:
1 Duress
3 Memoricide
3 Nihil Spellbomb – Use this to foil their Elixir of Immortality plan

Since many control decks use big bombs as their finishers, I use the Memoricides to take them out if Jace the Mind Sculptor is not already on board.

I treat the ramp deck similar to the control decks. Board in a Duress, 3 Memoricides, the Royal Assassin and 2 Ratchet Bombs. If you get a Memoricide name Avenger of Zendikar since this deck is a dog against it. If not, then there is the hope to kill all the tokens with a Ratchet Bomb. Keep them off multiple Valakuts with Tectonic Edges and use Grim Discoverys to get them back. Even though many of your spells are not as powerful as the Valakut deck’s, you need to play the match up as if you are the control deck. Try to land a Mind Sludge as early as possible. Game two they will side in Obstinate Baloth. If I had to choose which creature I would rather fight between a Baloth or Avenger of Zendikar or Primeval Titan, I would choose the Baloth any day of the week. The life gain is negligible since you are the control deck in the match up.

This deck has also difficulties against Mimic Vat decks. If possible, make them discard the Mimic Vat or Memoricide it away games two and three. I try and combat Mimic Vat decks similar to ramp decks. Many times once you have the game under control, a couple swings from a Nantuko Shade will usually end the game.

I know there are other match ups I did not mention but at the moment, these are the decks I have played against at my local FNM. I imagine if Elves was a bigger deck in my meta, I would consider Marsh Causalities in the board as well.


Eloy Hernandez

___________________________________________________________

P.S. Eloy I would just like to thank you for your contribution and hope that we can talk about some more victories and new fresh ideas in the future. Great Job!!!!

Current Standard

Its interesting to start out a blog with a picture but at this time it seems to be relevent. Im not one to always jump on bandwagons, but this is the most powerfull card in standard right now next to Jace 2.0. As you may know Valakut Ramp has been the strongest deck with the rotation, thanks to the fact that it lost almost nothing. Also in the same category is Eldrazi Green, it is a very strong deck and whats best is that it can win from nowhere (Also runs Primeval Titan). Luckily there have been a couple new emergences with States. Thats what I would like to talk about today.

Here is a list.

Format: Type II - SOM2010 TCGplayer.com WWS BostonFinished: 3rd - 4th Place

MAIN DECK

2 Jace Beleren

4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

3 Wurmcoil Engine

3 All Is Dust

4 Doom Blade

3 Everflowing Chalice

3 Into the Roil

4 Mana Leak

4 Preordain

2 Stoic Rebuttal

2 Volition Reins

4 Creeping Tar Pit

1 Darkslick Shores

4 Drowned Catacomb

7 Island

1 Mystifying Maze

3 Scalding Tarn

2 Swamp

4 Tectonic Edge

Lands [26]

SIDEBOARD

1 Consuming Vapors

4 Disfigure

4 Flashfreeze

2 Mind Control

3 Negate

1 Skinrender

The most interesting one to me has been UB control. I actually built the deck last night for an opportunity to try to test against it. I think the deck is really good due to its versatility and ability to adapt to different situations. Here is my list of reasons why it has been strong over the last few weeks.

- Good removal (mass + spot)

- Countermagic

- Plays Jace 2.0 (lol)

- Multiple ways to win (flexibility)

I actually prefer the version that runs the tringet mage - elixir shenanigans, but just like UW control, there are several effective builds.

Next up is UR, the interesting thing about UR is that there are several different builds available that work differently. You have UR control/UR Force and Pyromancers Ascension. The only major difference between the normal UR and Force is obvious, other than that they are very close. Pyromancers Ascension is another carry over from pre-rotation with just some minor adjustments. I actually built that deck wayyyyy before it made top 8 anywhere but i thought it wasn't that great and I gave up on it too early. I think my mistake was that i ran double negative, lol.

There is also a deck out there called Mono white Quest. It is by far the most explosive deck available in that it can cause a turn 2 scoop. The problem is that it too heavily relies on you getting the right cards. I played against it during an FNM and saw it at its best and worst. Luckily for me I saw it mostly at its worst. If you are a super agro/combo player this is definately a good choice for you.

There are also several different decks that still run Fauna Shaman and Vengevine, but they are mixed into so many decks and have so many random builds that I wouldn't dare to try to properly categorize it all so therefore I'm just going to skip it. I know that I also skipped over UW control and some other decks but it just seems to me that the UW players are switching to UB due to the meta. I could be wrong but thats just me.

Last but not least i have RED. Now there are probably 4 red decks right now and they are all solid.

Boros

RDW

Big Red

Goblins

I actually use the lesser know of these 4 which is goblins for a couple of reasons. One, I thought it would be different, two it seems to be the most consistent. Here is the list.

22 CREATURES

3 Memnite

4 Goblin Guide

4 Goblin Bushwacker

3 Perilous Myr

4 Ember Hauler

4 Goblin Chieftan

16 SPELLS

3 Kuldotha Rebirth

4 Lightning Bolt

3 Searing Blaze

3 Staggershock

3 Burst Lightning

22 LANDS

3 Arid Mesa

3 Scalding Tarn

2 Teetering Peeks

14 Mountains

SIDEBOARD

3 Manic Vandal

2 Shatter

3 Mark of Mutiny

3 Combust

2 Tuk-Tuk

2 Forked Bolt

I fell in love with this deck just because of its versatility, speed and consistency. The things that hurt me the most don't completely handicap me. For instance pyroclasm is really good against me but with a lot of haste in the deck i can continue to apply preasure even immediatly and still have burn for backup. The second biggest threat is Kor Firewalker, who has recently fallen out of grace since UW control has lost followers. The great thing is that having Perilous Myr maindeck gives me a way to deal with it either through rebirth or burning him myself to get rid of the firewalker.

Well thats all I have for now, please comment and let me know of your ideas or if you have any comments for me. Let me know what your favorite deck is.

Next Level?

Well I would like to start by appologizing in advance for the crudeness of my first blog. My intention is just to share some of my ideas and just some random information. I guess I would start by telling you a little about me. I am 29 years old married with a beautiful wife and daughter and am working full time at Chase Bank. I have been playing Magic for about 14 years off and on. I am a huge fan of the game and love to spend my spare time playing it. In this acticle I plan to share my evolution as a person and player and how they relate.

I guess I should start by talking a little about my progression as a player. I started playing in Highschool when I saw some kids in the back of class trading cards and it got my attention. I started getting a few packs here and there and just built some decks and taught my step brother how to play. We really enjoyed it until my Aunt saw them and told my mother they were bad and convinced her to throw them away. I was really bummed but was happy I learned.

As a freshman in college, 3 years later I saw some guys playing in my dorm and decided to get back into the game. I was still purely a novice but started caring more about rarity since they added colored set symbols around this time. I began to learn from players better than me, but we were still crude in our deck building and play methods. I had no idea about type 2, extended etc. We just enjoyed the game and tried our best to beat each other.

Again as I transfered to another school a couple years later I found myself not playing. One day I found a local hobby shop near school and I began to meet more players and play FNM. Thats where my game really began to evolve. I learned how to build more competative decks and really grasp the rules and play against some solid competition. At this point I had my first taste of success, I attribute it to really having the time to focus on testing and having good test partners. I got 3rd place at a block PTQ in Houston for Los Angeles(2005). I played there for several years until I graduated and moved away.

Once I moved to DFW and got married I had to find another place to play, luckily there were several and I get to bounce around. I finally got to play regularly for a few years and have had the opportunity to tune up my game. I still have alot of work to do but I have gotten better thanks to some great competition and some skilled friends. I had my second taste of success as I got 3rd place at another PTQ Amsterdam here in Fort Worth (2010). Its a little tough to get to top 4 twice and never get that 1st place finish, but its hard to complain when I have only gone to 6 ptq's ever and have made top 8 twice. My plan is to go to more events but only if I am properly prepared. I asked myself what was different on those two top 8's and the answer I kept coming up with is that I had a deck I was comfortable with and had tested alot during FNM's etc. So my plan now is to only go if I have had proper testing.

Whats really interesting is I get my first shot at a sealed PTQ this weekend! And that is different from what I have ever done on this level but I am hoping for the best. I did get one good taste of it during the release event a few weeks ago and was very successfull 6-0 (100% MWP). But this is going to be far tougher with a higher grade of players. In fact what makes me nervous is that since then I have not had any practice with sealed or draft and I know the best players have been grinding and testing with friends and Magic Online. My only hope is that I run hot and play close to mistake free magic. But I am so excited and can't wait to try it out.

I will let you guys know how it go's and explain my experience and the reasons for eather my success or failure. Please comment if you have any questions etc. Thanks for listening to my story and I wish you "good gaming".

Combo and Synergy - January

Like many of you, I can't wait to see what all World Wake has in store...and like many of you...I look for new spoilers every day, hoping to find how the new set can be broken. Here are a few spoiled cards from World Wake that have some cool interactions with some cards we already know. (Thanks to MTGSalvation for the spoiled lists).




As if Red wasn't strong enough. In the new set, Red can carry a playset of this in its sideboard to cripple Blue. Ricochet Trap reads:

"Instant - Trap. If an opponent cast a Blue spell this turn, you may pay R rather than pay Ricochet Trap’s mana cost. Change the target of target spell with a single target."

For one Red, you can change the target of any counterspell a Blue player has to target Ricochet Trap instead of its original target.




Knight of the Reliquary is such a cool card and Celestial Colonade is amazing. In a Bant deck, he can sacrifice a Forest or Plains to find a 4/4 Blue and White vigiliant, flyer that produces mana. I cant wait to see what other manlands come out in the new set.




This is one my favorite combos from the new set. Enchant a fetch land such as Misty Rain Forest. Block with your Misty Rainforest / Wind Zendikon creature. Sacrifice the fetch land. When sacrificed you are able to search for a Island or Forest and return the Misty Rainforest to your due to Wind Zendikon's triggered ability. This could really break landfall decks.




Kalastria Highborn could be a really broken card in the new set. Paired with Vampire Aristocrat you can sacrifice any creature at any time to Syphon Soul your opponent. Pair these cards with Bloodghast and you could have a truly broken combo.

My Top 4 finish with Barely Boros

The last blog I wrote detailed my decision to go with my Bloodchief Beats deck at the Star City Games Standard 5K this past Saturday. Well, obviously I had a change of heart shortly before the tournament. I had been going back and forth between the Bloodchief deck and a Barely Boros deck I had for a couple of weeks. When I wrote the blog I felt as if I had made up my mind for sure. My thinking was that Blightning was better than Zektar Shrine Expedition, Terminate was better than Mark of Mutiny, and Bloodchief Ascension could be better than Ajani Vengeant in certain matchups. Other than that the two main decks were identical. Both featured heavy RDW spells like Goblin Guide and Hellspark Elemental.

Thursday night before the tourney an idea hit me like a ton of bricks. What about Day of Judgment main decked? It solves my problems with Shroud creatures like Wall of Denial and Sphinx of Jwar Isle as well as flyers like Emeria Angel and Broodmate Dragon. In other words, Day of Judgment takes out what Earthquake doesn't. With this revelation I decided to go with Barely Boros instead of Bloodchief Beats. I changed my mana base a bit to allow for more Plains and tweaked my sideboard and added more fun surprises for my opponents. Here is the final deck list I decided on...

Maindeck:

Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Plated Geopede

Enchantments
4 Zektar Shrine Expedition

Instants
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt

Planeswalkers
3 Ajani Vengeant

Sorceries
2 Day Of Judgment
3 Earthquake

Basic Lands
8 Mountain
4 Plains

Lands
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard:
3 Baneslayer Angel
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Manabarbs
2 Celestial Purge
2 Path To Exile
2 Volcanic Fallout
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Day Of Judgment

As you can see the main deck is very similar to some other Barely Boros decks you'll see out there except for one major distinction, Day of Judgment. I won plenty of games by blowing up the board with DOJ and unleashing a couple of loaded Zektar Shrine Expeditions on turn four. This never failed to catch my opponent by surprise. Game 2 I always brought in Baneslayer Angel which was another nasty surprise for my opponents. This gave me a significant advantage over RDW which I ended up playing in three different match-ups. Here's the breakdown of each match I played in the tournament.

Round 1 vs. Red Deck Wins (W 2-0)

This is a very good match-up for me because of my ability to race and gain life at the same time. Ajani Vengeant is really good in games 1 of this match-up. Here's what I side in for games 2 and 3.

-3 Earthquake, -2 Day of Judgment, -2 Ajani Vengeant
+3 Baneslayer Angel, +2 Celestial Purge, +2 Path to Exile

As good as Ajani Vengeant is Baneslayer Angel is even better against RDW. That combined with Path to Exile and Celestial Purge make it almost impossible for RDW to beat me. My Unearth creatures keep coming back while I remove theirs from the game. Seems so unfair but I'm not complaining.

Round 2 vs. Jacerator (W 2-1)

This match-up was extremely difficult. I knew what the deck had in it but I had never actually tested against it with my deck. The one thing I had on my side was plenty of burn. This allowed me to swing in on my turn and if he used a fog spell I would wait till the end of his turn and burn his face with Lightning Bolt or Burst Lightning. This damage added up over time and ended up doing him in. What made it even more difficult for me is that he ran Wall of Denial main deck instead of Day of Judgment. That made it hard for me to deal damage with Hellspark Elemental and Hell's Thunder. He won game 1 but I had answers in my sideboard for games 2 and 3.

-4 Hell's Thunder, -1 Hellspark Elemental
+2 Goblin Ruinblaster, +2 Manabarbs, +1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Hell's Thunder was virtually useless against him but I kept in 3 Hellspark Elemental's because they are easy to Unearth and if he makes a mistake and taps out late in a game I can swing in with lethal force. Goblin Ruinblaster helped me slow him down with a little land destruction and Manabarbs would have beat him by itself if I was able to get it resolved. Unfortunately I never did so I had to beat him the old fashioned way by swinging away. I won game 2 by a steady stream of burn. Game 3 was much more tense as I had one card left in my library when I finally landed the killer blow with 2 Hellspark Elementals, two 5/5 Plated Geopedes, and one Goblin Guide all rushing in. I got lucky when he didn't show a fog spell and won the game right there.

Round 3 vs. Red Deck Wins (W 2-1)

This match was very similar to Round 1 except he had an amazing hand in game 1 and I had a so-so hand. Even with that he only had 6 life left when he beat me. Games 2 and 3 went according to plan. See Round 1 for sideboard strategy.

Round 4 vs. Emeria's Pledge (W 2-0)

This was a very strange match. My opponent was given a game 1 loss because a judge caught him illegally shuffling. It's a good thing because I wasn't paying attention at all. This set him on tilt in game 2 and after being stuck on two lands through turn five he scooped up his cards and walked away. Once again I wasn't complaining and was glad for the win. The judge informed us that we would have to play with our main decks in game 2 so there was never a side-boarding opportunity.

Round 5 vs. Mono White Aggro (W 2-1)

All I remember about this guys deck was a bunch of First Strike creatures including Baneslayer Angel. I was able to take game 1 by burning every First Striker he threw out there and swinging in with my team. He never recovered and we were on to game 2.

-4 Hellspark Elemental, -3 Zektar Shrine Expedition
+3 Baneslayer Angel, +2 Volcanic Fallout, +1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, +1 Day of Judgment

Hellspark Elemental wasn't going to do anything for me against his deck and Zektar Shrine Expedition wasn't much better. Game 2 he went first and was able to gain control of the board with numerous First Strikers. He played Baneslayer Angel on turn 5 and there wasn't much I could do about it. After a few swings he had the win and we went on to game 3. Game 3 I went first and that's always a good thing with my deck. Turn 1 Goblin Guide followed by turn 2 Plated Geopede followed by turn 3 Hell's Thunder followed by turn 4 Ajani Vengeant followed by turn 5 Baneslayer Angel. Well, that's about as good as it gets for my deck post sideboard. Needless to say I won the game.

Round 6 vs. Red Deck Wins (Draw 1-1)

You might be wondering how the hell do two super fast aggro decks go to a draw. Well, let's just say that my opponent tended to take quite a bit of time pondering each and every move he made. He made very good decisions but he took an incredible amount of time making them. To make matters worse he was able to play 3 Dragon's Claws in game 2 but not much else. This made almost every spell I played an automatic 3 life gain for him. I ended up pulling out a win in that game by playing a kicked Burst Lightning for 1 damage. Ridiculous! Game 3 I had control again and probably would have won but once again he slow played every single turn. It was frustrating and embarrassing that two Red decks end up drawing but that's what happened.

Round 7 vs. UW Shroud Control (W 2-0)

Game 1 I saw three Deft Duelists hit the battlefield by turn 4. I had Earthquake though and he quickly ran out of steam after that. It was obvious that he was playing my worst matchup in the meta-game so even though I won game 1 I had my work cut out for me in game 2.

-4 Hellspark Elemental, -3 Hell's Thunder, -4 Goblin Guide
+3 Baneslayer Angel, +2 Goblin Ruinblaster, +2 Manabarbs, +2 Volcanic Fallout, +1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, +1 Day of Judgment

I decided to ditch most of the aggro elements of my deck and added as much anti-control spells as I could from my sideboard. It worked perfectly. I was able to successfully cast 2 Baneslayer Angels, 1 Goblin Ruinblaster, and 1 Manabarbs which ended up sealing the deal. There's not much a Control Deck can do about a Manabarbs on the board especially if they're staring down two Baneslayer Angels.

Round 8 vs. Jund (W 2-0)

The guy I was playing this round ended up placing 2nd overall in the tournament. He was undefeated at this point and was already going to make the Top 8 even with a loss in this round. He wanted to go grab a bite to eat so he offered to concede to me in order to make that happen. Even though I wanted the chance to play Jund because I felt good about my chances against it I gladly accepted and went on to prepare for Round 9.

Round 9 vs. UWR Control (Draw 0-0)

This was the last round before the Top 8 was determined and both of us were undefeated. We were informed that we could draw in to the Top 8 without playing and that we did. So, I went to go watch some of my prospective opponents as they battled to get into the Top 8.

Round 1 of Top 8 vs. UWR Control (W 2-1)

I ended up getting seeded against the same guy I drew with in Round 9. This is generally not a very good match-up for the deck I was running but the 2 main deck Day of Judgments and the anti-control sideboard ended up tipping the match in my favor. Game 1 he pretty much dominated me. I never drew Day of Judgment in order to get his Walls off the board and it cost me the game.

-4 Hellspark Elemental, -4 Hell's Thunder, -1 Burst Lightning
+3 Baneslayer Angel, +2 Goblin Ruinblaster, +2 Manabarbs, +1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant, +1 Day of Judgment

Game 2 started off with Goblin Guide followed by Plated Geopede. He played a Wall of Denial on his turn 3 and another on turn 4 to slow me down a bit. I was able to slip by and do minimal damage over the next few turns and then I drew a Day of Judgment. Hoping not to get countered I played it and smoked the board. This cleared the path for the Baneslayer Angel sitting in my hand and he never recovered. Game 3 I was able to get a Plated Geopede, Ajani Vengeant, and Elspeth, Knight-Errant all on the board at the same time. He had a Baneslayer Angel and a Wall of Denial on the board. For two turns I was able to draw a fetch land and with Elspeth's help swung in with Plated Geopede as an 8/8 first striker. The first turn he took the 8 damage and the second turn he blocked with the Wall. At this point I decided to blow up the board again with Day of Judgment and finished him off the next turn with Ajani Vengeant's helix ability and a resolved Earthquake.

Round 2 of Top 8 vs. Vampires (L 1-2)

This match ultimately was decided by the person that ended up winning the die roll in order to go first. As you can imagine he won the roll and ultimately the match. Game 1 I was completed dominated by 2 Vampire Nighthawks, a Bloodghast, and of course Tendrils of Agony. I was able to get him down to 11 life but because of the Nighthawks he finished the game with 21 life. This actually might be the worst matchup for me because of the life gain ability of the deck.

-4 Hellspark Elemental, -2 Zektar Shrine Expedition, -4 Burst Lightning
+ 3 Baneslayer Angel, +2 Celestial Purge, +2 Path to Exile, +2 Volcanic Fallout, +1 Day of Judgment

Game 2 was about as well as my deck had played all night. I had an answer for everything he put on the board and was able to finish the game without losing a single point of life. After finishing him off with a Burst Lightning and Lightning Bolt on turn 5 it was off to Game 3 where he would be going first again. Game 3 was actually very close until the very end. We were both at 7 life when he swung in for the win. The turning point of the game was on his turn 6 after I had played Baneslayer Angel on turn 5. He dropped a Vampire Nighthawk and a kicked Gatekeeper of Malakir which took out Baneslayer Angel. This changed the board dramatically and after playing Malakir Bloodwitch the next turn I was needing Day of Judgment or it would be the end of me. I didn't top deck it and ended up on the losing end of this one.

All in all it was an incredible experience and if it's any consolation the guy playing Vampires ended up winning the whole thing against Jund the following round. This was supposed to be his biggest mismatch but he ended up winning 2-0. His deck was very consistent and seemed to be very well built. You can check out all of the Top 8 decks and profiles here.

Thanks for reading and good luck on your next coin flip!

Lad takes 4th place at Star City 10k

Our own Lad (Justin Petri) took home 4th place at the Star City $5000 Standard Tournament this past weekend. Check back later for his comments on the deck and the tournament itself.

Go here for his deck list

Congrats Man!!!

Bloodchief Beats

The StarCityGames.com Standard 5K will be in Ft. Worth this Saturday and my partner and I will be there ready to grind it out. Nicky will be playing his beloved Grixis Control deck featuring Chandra Ablaze and Cruel Ultimatum. I happen to think his deck is the best Control deck going right now. I have been testing out quite a few different builds looking for a way to beat Jund. My Shroud Control deck is very strong against Jund but has struggled against speedy token decks. I toyed with the idea of adding Red to the Blue and White I was already running and I got much better results because of Earthquake. In fact, Luis-Scott Vargas just won the StarCity tournament in LA with a similar strategy. Here is the deck list he ran...

UWR Shroud Control

3 Ajani Vengeant
2 Jace Beleren
3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
4 Wall of Denial
2 Divination
2 Double Negative
2 Earthquake
4 Flashfreeze
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Mind Spring
2 Path to Exile
4 Spreading Seas

4 Arid Mesa
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
2 Mountain
4 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Sejiri Refuge

SIDEBOARD
4 Baneslayer Angel
1 Cancel
2 Essence Scatter
3 Luminarch Ascension
2 Mind Control
2 Negate
1 Oblivion Ring

I am very tempted to go to battle with this deck as I have a lot of experience playing it in various forms. The only problem is that I expect to see quite a few players show up with this deck as their answer to Jund as well considering it won the whole thing in LA. I always like to go Rogue whenever possible because I feel it gives you an advantage over the rest of the field. Sometimes it works and sometimes it fails miserably. With this in mind I've decided to make a 180 degree turn and focus on speed as my ticket to victory. I love the color Red in magic and I'm very impressed with the sheer speed and finishing power of RDW. However, I don't think Red is enough to do the job especially with a Wall of Denial on the board staring down at you. I decided to take the strengths of RDW and splash in some Black to the mix. The deck list I came up with is...

Bloodchief Beats

4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
3 Hell's Thunder
4 Plated Geopede
3 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
4 Earthquake
4 Blightning

4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Teetering Peeks
4 Mountain
4 Swamp

SIDEBOARD
1 Bloodchief Ascension
3 Duress
2 Fleshbag Marauder
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Manabarbs
2 Terminate
2 Volcanic Fallout



The key to this deck is Bloodchief Ascension. It gives you a significant advantage in both the mirror match as well as the other speedy deck in the format, Boros. Grixis control has very few answers for it and LSV's UWR deck only runs one Oblivion Ring in the sideboard to answer it. This spell could be a nasty surprise for anybody out there not prepared for it. Because of the addition of Black I've also added Blightning and Terminate to the main deck mix. Blightning is one of the scariest spells going right now and works really well in combination with Bloodchief Ascension. Terminate is our main deck answer to Baneslayer Angel, Rhox War Monk, and other powerful creatures that prove to be annoying. The rest of the main deck is basically the best spells that RDW had to offer. Plated Geopede can be an absolute beast in this deck with 8 fetch lands and 4 Teetering Peeks to power it up and Goblin Guide might be the best one drop creature Red has ever had.



The sideboard is where we really make a difference in dealing with the tougher decks out there. Duress and Manabarbs are obvious inclusions when up against any Control deck. Fleshbag Marauder is mainly in the sideboard to help against the Shroud creatures. Wall of Denial and Sphinx of Jwar Isle can be really tough to deal with. Malakir Bloodwitch is also good against Wall of Denial but is really good against anything running Baneslayer Angel. Volcanic Fallout is sided in against Boros and White Tokens.

I feel this deck has all of the strengths of RDW and adding the Black helps neutralize some of the weaknesses. I highly recommend the deck to anyone looking to play something a little less expensive while at the same time competitive. I hope you guys are doing well and good luck on your next coin flip!