It is quite certainly a paradox: For the last three tournaments, I have been in a funk, essentially drifting from deck to deck and trying to find something new to try. Unfortunately, I ended up trying Canadian Thresh (at SCG's Open in Richmond) and NO Bant (at Jupiter Games' Dual Land Draft). After performing less than mediocre with both of these decks, I received words of encouragement from teammates and friends to go back to building my own decks and what works best for me. So, after a disappointing performance at Jupiter that left a bad taste in my mouth, I decided to try out a deck I have been testing extensively which I call..."The Gate" (for reasons to be discussed). I pick up the cards from Jupiter the night before and prepare for Sunday's event further south.
We arrive at the tournament and get settled in. I register the deck and meet up with some of the other Virginia guys (Krieger, beastman. and Parcher). I traveled with Dave Price (quicksilver) and Phil (snorlaxx) to the event and we hang out for a little bit. 32 people show up for the event, but ultimately they worked it out so there were six rounds of play, so it worked out better for everyone.
For reference, here's the list I ran:
"The Gate" by Michael "Hollywood" Keller
//Creatures
[4x] Dark Confidant
[4x] Abyssal Persecutor
[4x] Gatekeeper of Malikir
[3x] Faerie Macabre
[3x] Vampire Nighthawk
//Spells
[4x] Bitterblossom
[4x] Innocent Blood
[4x] Deathmark
[4x] Duress
[3x] Cabal Therapy
[3x] Umezawa's Jitte
//Land
[16x] Swamp
[4x] Wasteland
//Sideboard
[4x] Painter's Servant
[4x] Grindstone
[3x] Relic of Progenitus
[3x] Nevinyrral's Disk
[1x] Tormod's Crypt
As you can see, the basic principle of the deck is to generate board control by playing sacrificial removal and targeted removal and setting yourself up for crushing an opponent with a systematic attack. You generate card advantage in so many ways in this deck (with Dark Confidant, Jitte, Bitterblossom, Faerie Macabre, Gatekeeper, etc.), it's not even funny. It's kind of late so I'm passing on what I boarded in (unless I distinctly remember) and go right into the report so you can get an idea how the deck plays and what it is capable of doing:
Round One vs. Berserk Stompy
Game One: I keep a decent hand with a fair amount of removal. I end up destroying every threat he processes and eventually dropped Abyssal Persecutor with Bitterblossom and Jitte. I Deathmark twice and eventually put him to the negatives and sacrificed Persecutor to flashback Cabal Therapy, ending the game.
Game Two: I mulligan to six on the draw hoping to pickup something relevant against his impending threats but I just couldn't find anything. Eventually, I drop Bitterblossom but he Might of Old Krosa (x2) with Rancor and Berserk attacks me and I block with a Faerie token, but it doesn't matter either way; I couldn't find any removal.
Game Three: I eliminate every threat he processes and beat him down systematically with Faeries and Persecutor with a Jitte out. I eventually kick Gatekeeper to sacrifice the Persecutor and win the game.
1-0-0 (2-1-0)
Round Two vs. Ichorid
Game One: I open with a Faerie Macabre and Innocent Blood. He plays Putrid Imp and I Blood. He discards a single Dredger and Bloodghast. I eventually blow him out with a Bitterblossom and Jitte knocking off his Ichorids and Bloodghasts and nixing his Bridges by killing my own Faeries.
Game Two: He mulls to five and I open with a Faerie Macabre after he Breakthroughs. I draw into gas and beat him down until it is too late to recover from two Vampire Nighthawks and a Dark Confidant.
2-0-0 [4-1-0]
Round Three vs. New Horizons
Game One: I let Dave Price know we won't end up playing against each other and we do (go figure). He indicates how bad the matchup is for him and I nonchalantly agree to his claims because he is a good man and I can't argue. He drops three Tarmogoys and a Knight of the Reliquary which are Deathmarked and Gatekeepered out. I end up discarding his Swords and he can't recover from Abyssal Persecutor and Nighthawk. I have a Therapy in my yard for the win.
Game Two: Dave tries to get some early gas going but I knock out his Daze with discard. I blow out his dudes with removal after removal and Gatekeepers allow me to setup the board nicely. I eventually have Bitterblossom with Persecutor and he can't recover at -4 with a Therapy in the yard.
3-0-0 [6-1-0]
Round Four vs. Reanimator
Game One: We end up having a friendly conversation before the match. He ends up going first and gets Iona in the yard with an Exhume in hand. He goes to cast Exhume, and I discard Faerie Macabre. SCORE! I get my dude in play, and he eventually gets beat down by Gatekeepers and a Vampire Nighthawk (one was Forced, another resolved).
Game Two: After mulling to five, I wind up with Disk, Swamp (x3), and a Relic. He Careful Studies and drops Iona and Archangel. I get the Relic going and he has no way of reanimating or stopping the Relic. I wind up getting Nighthawks with Jitte and an untapped Disk on board to keep him at bay. I wind up Faerie Macabring two more creatures he gets into his yard and he cannot recover. I allow him to get Blazing Archon in play. I Innocent Blood. Game over.
4-0-0 [8-1-0]
I I.D. the next two rounds into the Top 8 as the number one seed.
4-0-2 [8-1-2]
Top 8 vs. New Horizons
Game One: Dave is very disappointed he has to play me again after making it in. I reassure him that nothing is over until it's over. He winds up winning game one after I keep a one-land hand with some removal. I eventually bounce back after missing land-drops for the next three turns and I almost manage to pull it out in the end, but it was too little, too late.
Game Two: I open up with discard and Gatekeepers which effectively stopped him from elminating my threats. I cast Duress and knock out Brainstorm turn one. I then Therapy out the two Explosives I had seen, leaving him with just a Goyf, Swords, and some land. I just have too much removal for him to establish any board presence and destroy him with a Jitte-equipped Persecutor and Bitterblossom tokens.
Game Three. Similar story to game two; I end up eliminating three Goyfs and a Knight and he cannot recover. I two for one with Gatekeeper of Malikar and eventually beat in for the win with Persecutor. I Innocent Blood for the win (I could have Jitte'd out my Persecutor with six tokens on it, but decided to keep them in case).
5-0-2 [10-2-2]
Top Four vs. B/g/w Homebrew
Game One: Phil and I had tested the night before at Jupiter and the match was relatively even. I wind up with several Nighthawks and a Jitte on the table while putting Phil to 6 and myself at 33. He gets several Tombstalkers and Kitchen Finks, both of which are (kind of) annoying. I do hold off any impending attack of his, but he has a Sensei's Top going and I make the misplay of not attack through, stockpiling counters on Jitte, and perhaps killing him with the other Nighthawk. He finds answers to my threats and my slow-down approach cost me.
Game Two: Phil and I trade blows back and forth, and the game winds up pretty even. I nuke all his threats both of our hands are empty. He eventually beats me down with a Goyf and Putrid Leech. I kill the Goyf with Deathmark and I draw nothing for two turns. Phil also has nothing but a land in hand and Leech on the table. Lethal is now on board. I do have Relic on board, which I exile to draw an answer...nothing! I play another Relic, keeping the suspense going. I exile that one with one black mana left untapped. It's...a Gatekeeper of Malikir! But damn, I don't have enough to play or kick. It happens.
As I was playing throughout the day, I noticed how (devastatingly) effective the deck played against some of the most prolific decks in the format, including Reanimator (which won GP Madrid), New Horizons twice (which just won Jupiter's 106 person tournament), and Ichorid. The important thing I want to note is that it just fit my playstyle, and that is ultimately the point: You need to play a deck you feel comfortable running and the sky's the limit. Some people are just better at playing their own creations, and it was good to be back.
As far as sideboarding goes, the Painter's Servants and Grindstones were a transformational surprise that didn't see all that much play and will ultimately be taken out for more effective choices. I haven't decided yet because it is almost 1 am and I have to work in five hours, and as we all know Uncle Sam doesn't wait for anybody.
MVP:
I named the deck "The Gate" because of Gatekeeper of Malikir, which turned out to be the MVP of the day for me, being extremely efficient as creature removal and a body. He even helps knock off Persecutor or Bob if need be. Ultimately, I nabbed a Scrubland, two Orim's Chants, and a Verdant Catacombs for my troubles. Not too shabby for a day of Magic playing. I believe this deck can be a force in the current Legacy metagame and provides an anti-establishment approach of playstyle. Sorry to keep the report brief but I'll go more in depth on detailed card explanations and how the deck works tomorrow.
For now...
Last edited by Michael Keller; 03-15-2010 at 01:49 PM.
Good report, and I like the deck. It's nice to finally see someone do something worthwhile with Abyssal Persecutor. At first I was like "Wtf, maindeck deathmark?" But then I thought about it for more than two seconds and realized that's a pretty good call.
Originally Posted by Bardo
You actually killed my Archon with an Innocent Blood, but the match ended up the same. It's a pretty interesting deck - seems like a good call for the current meta.
Congrats on your result. I'm glad black can hold its own as a primary color for noncombo decks in today's metagame. The deck plays incredibly smoothly (from what it's shown me on MWS these past few hours): Persecutor's drawback was never really a problem and Deathmark was very rarely a dead draw. Instead of siding gravehate artifacts, have you considered 4 Bojuka Bog in the maindeck? It came up against Loam decks a couple times and, though Faerie Macabre was typically enough, Bog would give you extra slots in the board.
Great success!
The problem with Bog is that although it acts as an "unstoppable" means of hitting an opponents' graveyard, it comes into play tapped which is a rather huge drawback. The deck utilizes three (+) mana in various ways: The kicker cost of Gatekeeper, hardcasting Nighthawk, casting and equipping Jitte, etc. You just don't want to be stuck having to wait a turn to cast something you would more than likely need then and there.
Of course, as a sideboard option, it isn't all that bad. I prefer Relic of Progenitus, as it allows you to draw a card in a critical situation. Note the Top Four match above; by drawing cards off those Relics, I may have actually found an answer. For this reason Relic wins out.
Life from the Loam is effectively a dead draw against you. The deck runs solid basics and a set of Wastelands for supplement. This effectively puts an opponent somewhat of a disadvantage with a lack of colored mana source. Sometimes, players keep Wastelands in their opening hands (with another land) because it looks great (and generally is). The trick is to neutralize as many cards they play as possible while generating absurd amounts of card advantage.
I just your-mom'd the shit out of Bryant.
Also, congrats on the finish. I'm glad to see one of your ridiculous builds work well.
The E.P.I.C. Syndicate: I mean, if they play a lullaby for babies they should at least play the Monster Mash when somebody dies.
Awesome dude!!! I'm pumped you were able to take it down with the new list!!!
My only dream is that yours never come true.
"People played violin as the Titanic sank. Tomorrow they will play Green Day songs with plastic keytars as their Hoovervilles burn."
Is there a reason to run Duress over Thoughtseize?
The Source: Your Source for "The Source: Your Source for..." cliche.
I'd look a little closer at the list; since when do I care about resolved creatures? In addition, Thoughtseize, Dark Confidant, and Bitterblossom are just too much loss of life to deal with. Jitte and Nighthawk are meant to net you the life to draw more cards from Dark Confidant and make more creatures off Bitterblossom. Tacking on more damage/loss of life isn't necessary when Duress works just as well with the removal.
The sideboard has major flaws, and this I am aware of. I'm going to write up a primer and explain the deck a lot further with an updated sideboard I've already been working on.
Grats on finally breaking out of your slump man. Fix up that sideboard and come tear up Vestal's top 8 with me next month.
-Matt
Team Perfect Scrubs: Are you ready?
The Monoblack Control deck that top 8'd SCG Indy is similiar to this.
No.
The Source: Your Source for "The Source: Your Source for..." cliche.
Correct. They're hardly similar at all.
I watched you playtest at Jupiter against the deck you lost to, I thought both decks looked really good when watching and I'm glad to see them both place highly here.
If I can get the cards I'm going to run a similar deck with a white splash at the next JG tournament, I was really bummed after going 0-3 drop at JG that day so I feel the same way you do.
I still don't get how a 6/6 flyer, trample for 2BB can be considered so gamebreaking. Regardless, gratz on the finish.
Perhaps you should rethink what you wrote for a few seconds, unless that's sarcasm. Abyssal Persecutor in this deck can be crushing.
He's bigger than basically everything in the format that doesn't get cheated into play. He has flying and trample. He's pretty easy to build around when you think about it, and the cards you have to include to use him are good on their own. And he costs.
'Nuff said?
Bless your heart, we must consider Blue/White Tempo's strategy and win percentages in an entirely different deck thread. -4eak
Well, Goyf, Dreadnought, Nantuko Shade, and Tombstalker are all 2 mana cards. I'm just saying. 4 mana is ALOT for a creature in this format. I'm not saying he's bad, just borderline expensive to cast. I realize Dark Ritual helps but still.
He doesn't even run Dark Ritual.
Dreadnought requires blue, Goyf requires green, and Tombstalker does not cost two with the lack of Dark Ritual. It also deals eight damage to you off Dark Confidant.
Persecutor is an under-costed, massive beating that deals half the amount of damage Tombstalker would, is actually bigger than Tombstalker, tramples, and trumps just about every relevant creature in the format. It may cost four mana, but you have to understand the deck plays like a control variant and not like Suicide.
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