[Deck] The Gate

[MoxBropal]

Nice report, thanks!
I've been toying with the idea of going back to Go For the Throat as spot removal. I haven't seen Affinity at my LGS at all, so I think the coast is clear.
When you drop Obliterator, what will you add?

[baghdadbob]

The bizarro land you're referring to is the poster I was replying to actually losing games to Persecutor's drawback. It does happen, as evidenced by his report. If your opponent actually blocks Obliterator, they usually have bigger problems on their hands (like sacrificing their board). It also doesn't "prevent" you from running Wasteland, but I would recommend 2 Wasteland as the correct number if you don't want to get screwed. It's not like this deck really needs Wasteland that much anyways - in my experience it's mostly insurance for rare situations like Maze of Ith or Tabernacle.


Alright, here's my promised mini-report from last weekend. I played this list:

4 Dark Confidant
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Phyrexian Obliterator

4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
3 Innocent Blood
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Go for the Throat

2 Bitterblossom
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Liliana of the Veil

2 Wasteland
21 Swamp

Sideboard
3 Pithing Needle
4 Extirpate
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Engineered Plague
2 Damnation

Round one was against BUG/Team America. Game one I was on the play but had a slow hand. I took two hits from Delver in order to play my removal around Daze, and then killed it with something or other. I Gatekeeper'd a Goyf and then started swinging, killed some other stuff and then dropped Obliterator which got there. Game two I savagely punted, after boarding in a couple of needles expecting Jace. I played some dudes which died or got countered, and then my opponent dropped Tombstalker. When I untapped, my hand was Hymn, GFFT, GFFT and I had 2 lands in play. My opponent had two cards in hand. I hymned away the two cards, my opponent ripped Hymn and discarded both my GFFTs...greed loses games kids. I drew a couple Nighthawks which held off the 'Stalker, but they eventually died and I never saw another removal spell, dying to the flying demon. Game three we whittled each other's hands down with discard and I landed an Obliterator. My opponent, however, slammed Jace and proceeded to ride him to victory (I had boarded my needles back out after not seeing Jace or Deed in game 2). I never drew another creature and 4-drops without haste can't kill Jace, especially when your opponent draws Tarmogoyf.

Loss 1-2

Round two was against Imperial Painter (damn you GFFT...). Game one my opponent mulled to five and then I wrecked him with discard + removal, winning on the back of Obliterator. Game two I boarded in Needles, a couple Extirpates, and Ratchet Bombs. I needled Sensei's Divining Top instead of Grindstone and payed for it by dying on turn 3 (didn't think he had both halves of the combo in his hand). Game three I killed and Extirpated Painter's Servant, and then started beating down with Nighthawks. My opponent was at 4 staring down my double Nighthawk when he managed to top into Ensnaring Bridge with no cards in hand. Curses! The game then became a giant wankfest as we played multiple Needles and Phyrexian Revokers naming basically everything important. Long story short, this game went to time as once Ratchet Bomb got Revoker'd neither of us had a way to destroy anything relevant. I wish I had boarded in Damnation or Engineered Plague (naming horror kills ALL the Revokers lol).

Draw 1-1-1

Round 3 (U/B Tempo)

This opponent is playing a U/B Delver variant with Delver, Tombstalker, lots of discard, and Creeping Tar Pit. Game one I get hit a couple times by Delver and discard spells while drawing a bunch of cards off Bob, and then land Liliana (killing Delver) followed by Obliterator and get there. Game two I get beat up by an unflipped (!) Delver for a few turns and eventually land Bob and then Gatekeeper to kill Delver. Obliterator follows and gets there. GFFT was awesome in this matchup, killing one or two Tombstalkers IIRC.

Win 2-0

Round 4 (Burn)

Oh god why must I get matched up against Burn while playing mono-black. Round one I mulligan from mana-screw into more mana-screw, eventually keeping a sketchy five and dying to triple Goblin Guide (they didn't even draw me lands that's how bad the screw was lol). I board out Thoughtseize and Bitterblossom for some nonsense (I think Ratchet Bomb or something) to minimize my life loss. Game two was a straight race, eventually I land a Nighthawk and then an Obliterator after wrecking my opponent's hand with discard (he was unable to draw a 3-damage spell to back up the Fireblast he had in hand when I was at 7, so I got lucky that last turn). Game three I think I dropped Hymn + Lili + Obliterator and the latter went all the way (burn can't kill him without nuking their board lol).

Win 2-1, although it was by the skin of my teeth.

My final record was 2-1-1, which hilariously enough got me into the top four split and enough store credit to buy a Japanese Umezawa's Jitte out of the case (to complement my awkwardly half-Japanese deck). It also kept up my streak of top 4s every time I play this deck, prompting the store owner to request I stop winning with mono black (lol). Mission accomplished!

Some thoughts. First off, I'm cutting an Obliterator. The guy is nuts, but too many times I find myself stuck with two in hand unable to find the fourth land. The cut will bring me back down to 60 cards which is probably where I should be. That day was the first time I played Bitterblossom but I have no thoughts to offer because I never drew it (sad because I found a sick Russian one!). I guess I did board it out against Burn, but in the other matchups it never showed up. I realize now that I should have boarded in Extirpate instead of Ratchet Bomb against burn because if offs Hellspark Elemental...not really good but Ratchet Bomb is slow and bad against them anyways. GFFT sucks against Imperial Painter, but it killed enough Tombstalkers that day to be worth its spot. I still think it's the best spot removal we can play in black. Well, I hope y'all enjoyed the first time I ever took notes at a tournament lol.

Mad props! Obliterator is one of my favorite magic cards but I know what you mean about having two in your opening hand. You really don't often even want one in your opening hand at all. I'm also not 100% sold on innocent blood. My list just runs a combination of edicts/go for the throat. The extra 1 mana is totally worth it to me. I could definitely see running him if you were still running abyssal persecutor like in the original list. But running it because it is one mana cheaper and can potentially kill your Bob if you are too low on health doesn't cut it for me. Thanks for posting the report!

[Admiral_Arzar]

Nice report, thanks!
I've been toying with the idea of going back to Go For the Throat as spot removal. I haven't seen Affinity at my LGS at all, so I think the coast is clear.
When you drop Obliterator, what will you add?

Nothing. I realized my list was 61 cards, so dropping one copy of Obliterator will put me back at 60.

Mad props! Obliterator is one of my favorite magic cards but I know what you mean about having two in your opening hand. You really don't often even want one in your opening hand at all. I'm also not 100% sold on innocent blood. My list just runs a combination of edicts/go for the throat. The extra 1 mana is totally worth it to me. I could definitely see running him if you were still running abyssal persecutor like in the original list. But running it because it is one mana cheaper and can potentially kill your Bob if you are too low on health doesn't cut it for me. Thanks for posting the report!

Thanks. I run Innocent Blood because there's Goblins in my meta (being on the draw against Lackey is just asking for a blowout if you run no one-mana removal) and also a lot of Deathrite Shaman. Also, it gets around Daze to kill early Delvers much more easily then a 2-mana spell would, and there's also a lot of tempo where I play. Yeah, having to sac your own dudes sometimes sucks, but the upsides outweigh that drawback for me, and you have plenty of other removal that doesn't force you to sac your own guys. I do board it out rather often though (primarily against Lingering Souls abuse) but it's very solid in most match-ups.

[Greenpoe]

Nothing. I realized my list was 61 cards, so dropping one copy of Obliterator will put me back at 60.



Thanks. I run Innocent Blood because there's Goblins in my meta (being on the draw against Lackey is just asking for a blowout if you run no one-mana removal) and also a lot of Deathrite Shaman. Also, it gets around Daze to kill early Delvers much more easily then a 2-mana spell would, and there's also a lot of tempo where I play. Yeah, having to sac your own dudes sometimes sucks, but the upsides outweigh that drawback for me, and you have plenty of other removal that doesn't force you to sac your own guys. I do board it out rather often though (primarily against Lingering Souls abuse) but it's very solid in most match-ups.

You might want to give Disfigure a shot. Answers everything you mentioned at instant speed without the drawback.

[Admiral_Arzar]

You might want to give Disfigure a shot. Answers everything you mentioned at instant speed without the drawback.

Yeah... However, it doesn't kill Tarmogoyfs, Tombstalkers, Countryside Crushers, Progeniti, Emrakuls, Griselbrand, etc. and I have all of those in my meta. Innocent Blood kills everything, which is worth the drawback for me.

[MoxBropal]

So I feel like one of The Gate's weaknesses is it can get into topdeck mode way too early...does Blood Scrivener deserve a try? Anyone think this guy is playable?

[imnotbrown]

So I feel like one of The Gate's weaknesses is it can get into topdeck mode way too early...does Blood Scrivener deserve a try? Anyone think this guy is playable?

Honestly, there isn't much that Blood Scrivener will do that confidant can't. They both draw you an additional card. Ther difference is that confidant will no matter what, while conditions have to be met for scrivener to activate. Also, if both are run, the confidant trigger cancels out scrivener.

[Valech]

Run Tops. Will enable Scrivener to work even with a Confidant on the field.

[imnotbrown]

Run Tops. Will enable Scrivener to work even with a Confidant on the field.

How is that? If you tap top to draw two, then you will just re draw the top with confidant. You basically drew one extra, but the top is no longer on the field.

[Valech]

How is that? If you tap top to draw two, then you will just re draw the top with confidant. You basically drew one extra, but the top is no longer on the field.

Top in play, Scrivener in play, Bob in play. Upkeep. Confidant triggers. In resp, use Top. Draw a card. Because hellbent, draw 2 cards. Put Top on top (no pun intended). Confidant resolves. Get 1 damage throu top. Draw step. Draw card. Result: Bob in play, Scrivener in play, 4 cards in hand, one of them being Top. I think this is a rather nice way to ensure maximum drawing and only losing 1 life to Bob. Also, Top only costs 1 Mana, an amount you shouldn´t be worried about in Turn 4.

[Michael Keller]

Wound up taking down the local (5-1) with a "watered" down version of The Gate this past Thursday.

I also tossed in four Headless Horseman at the last minute for good measure. I can't even remember the deck list because I had to makeshift it at the last minute rushing from work to the tournament. One of the Horseman actually rode a Jitte to victory against U/R Delver.

[KobeBryan]

Wound up taking down the local (5-1) with a "watered" down version of The Gate this past Thursday.

I also tossed in four Headless Horseman at the last minute for good measure. I can't even remember the deck list because I had to makeshift it at the last minute rushing from work to the tournament. One of the Horseman actually rode a Jitte to victory against U/R Delver.

congrats...this guy is worse than a hyppie

[lordofthepit]

I also tossed in four Headless Horseman at the last minute for good measure. I can't even remember the deck list because I had to makeshift it at the last minute rushing from work to the tournament. One of the Horseman actually rode a Jitte to victory against U/R Delver.

Good god

[igri_is_a_bk]

2 Marsh Flats
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Polluted Delta
7 Swamp
3 Bayou

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Phyrexian Obliterator

4 Thoughtseize
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Abrupt Decay
3 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Bitterblossom
4 Liliana of the Veil
//
4 Faerie Macabre
2 Mesmeric Fiend
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Bitterblossom
2 Damnation

Deathrite Shaman seems too good to be ignored. He had to be included. Same goes for Abrupt Decay. As a condition of DRS, fetches became necessary, but most lists were playing Top anyways. Why weren't those of you with Tops using them? Anyways, that was an easy change and three Bayous didn't stretch the mana base too harshly. I don't think you should have to guess with your removal, like one Go for the Throat, one Smother, one Edict, etc. You can sb those cards if you want and play the universally good Abrupt Decay in your mb. That's just what makes sense to me. Are many people on the green splash?

[Hardcore]

That is the 'Death and Taxes' shell, isn't it?

[Seraph2k]

Are many people on the green splash?

No! Cause we play the gate.... and not eva green..

[Sughayyer]

No! Cause we play the gate.... and not eva green..

Eva Green is a totally different deck, tempo-oriented. I think the green splash for drs and decay is a smart idea. BW deadguy ale did the same splash and the deck's name didn't became "the rock" automatically.

[beez]

Would Abrupt Decay replace Innocent Blood as to not sac the DRS?

[igri_is_a_bk]

That is the 'Death and Taxes' shell, isn't it?

What?

Would Abrupt Decay replace Innocent Blood as to not sac the DRS?

Yes.

The mb would mostly look like what I posted. Some people are gonna tweak here and there, but that's the gist of it.

[beez]

What?



Yes.

The mb would mostly look like what I posted. Some people are gonna tweak here and there, but that's the gist of it.

Would you still use Obliterator with Green, as you would be super Bayou dependent with the 4B cost? Without Innocent Bloods Percy doesn't make as much sense either. Maybe Desecration Demon? I know it's not really a respected card, but I've forced people into some difficult choices with him before. Hell, IDK. Let's not get to far away from the Gate's purpose. Keep the Bloods, AND the Decays, all 4 Bitterblossoms, 4 Hymns, 4 Gatekeepers and go from there to figure out the finisher. could be several creatures or methods.