Hi Everyone,
It's been a long time since I topped anything, so I am particularly excited to write about my performance. On April 21st, a group of us from Ithaca went down to Mythic Games in Elmira for their monthly Legacy tournament. I brought MUD which I have been struggling with lately. I played it the previous weekend at the NELC and felt that I played it poorly; I did not want this to be a trend, so I am pushing myself to keep playing MUD without getting discouraged. First my list:
4 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Steel Hellkite
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Platinum Emperion
2 Karn Liberated
4 Thran Dynamo
4 Grim Monolith
3 Metalworker
3 Voltaic Key
4 Chalice of the Void
1 All is Dust
2 Buried Ruin
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
SB: 4 Cursed Totem
SB: 4 Trinisphere
SB: 2 Phyrexian Metamorph
SB: 2 Sundering Titan
SB: 1 Karn Liberated
SB: 1 All is Dust
SB: 1 Crucible of Worlds
As you can see, my build is much more midrange than other MUD decks such as Meandeck. I started with the list in this report http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=375354 and changed 1 All is Dust in the board to 1 Crucible of Worlds since I didn't find myself wanting 3 All is Dust. Having played the deck for a while, I have found it is very stable despite the all nonbasic mana base, and if played patiently can be incredibly powerful. The list reminds me of older midrange decks like Trinity Green; you try to get ahead on mana and then drop a disruptive element to set your opponent back.
We arrive at the site, sign up, and fill out our deck sheets. About an hour (and some very good hotdogs and lemonade) later, we start.
Round 1: Evan with Nic Fit
I know Evan. He is also from Ithaca (but didn't come with me specifically), goes to the same FNM as me, and is a pretty good player. I've played against his list before and it's very similar to Caleb's list from the winter SCG Invitational. The only major difference I know is that he is running Abyssal Persecutor as a quick finisher over Grave Titan.
Game 1: I'm on the play and mull to 6, keeping triple land, Grim Monolith, Chalice and Steel Hellkite. I get Duressed and he takes Monolith. I run out Chalice for 1 on turn 2 and then we durdle for a while until I put enough pressure with Steel Hellkite to make his life hard. He eventually is forced to Pulse my Chalice so he can play Explorers, Top and Therapy. His last turn is double Therapy to remove my hand and play E-Wit to get back Pulse before Hellkite finishes him with firebreathing.
SB: +1 All is Dust, -1 Karn Liberated (I figured I want to just clear the board of his crap more than try to Vindicate him).
Game 2: He gets a pretty strong start and I have to make some awkward trades in combat. Eventually, my health gets too low and he runs out Percy with me at 6 life even though I have double Lodestone Golem. Unsurprisingly, I scoop it up since I'm certain I have no way of stopping it in a single turn.
Game 3: I get a quick start and lock his Deed with Revoker. I eventually run out Hellkite and Emperion at 7 life and start beating face in the air. I mana screw him hard with double Waste and a Port. The turn before he dies, he reveals he has a Swamp on top. I had Ported down his only green on upkeep so he couldn't cast Pulse to survive.
1-0 (2-1)
Round 2: Maverick (blanking on the name, sorry)
I don't recognize the player so we get right to the match.
Game 1: I don't remember much about this game. I severely cripple his mana with Ports and Wastelands. At some point, Steel Hellkite devours his board and he dies.
SB: +4 Cursed Totem, +1 All is Dust, +1 Karn Liberated, -3 Metalworker, -3 Steel Hellkite
Game 2: He starts with Hierarch and I start a little slow. The big turning point in this game is when he wastes Swords to Plowshares on a Mishra's Factory to save a Hierarch that he sent at my Karn. As a result, I stick Wurmcoil Engine and win.
2-0 (4-1)
Game 3: Doug McKay with UR Burn
I'm paired against the infamous Doug McKay. Unsurprisingly, I'm extremely nervous (which continues throughout the whole match) because Doug is an incredible player and it's a little intimidating to play him. This is also the first time I've ever played against Doug, so that contributed as well.
Game 1: I start off with Grim Monolith in this game and follow it with some more mana stones. On turn 3, I cast Chalice of the Void for 1. Doug Forces it and then I buy it back with Buried Ruin. I eventually land Karn and Platinum Emperion. Doug has two Kiln Fiends out at this point. He swings at Karn, I block and he takes down both Karn and the Emperion with Double Lava Dart and Daze on his Dart. I didn't except that to happen and I'm sure I am about to lose. But, like a champ, I rip Steel Hellkite and win from there.
SB: +4 Trinisphere, -3 Phyrexian Revoker, -1 All is Dust
Game 2: Doug leads with Delver. I attempt a 3Sphere, which gets Dazed. He flips his Delver and I durdle around for a while. I manage to stick Steel Hellkite, attempting to stave off my death, but he has a Vapor Snag to get it out of the way so he can swing for lethal.
Game 3: I mull to 6 and keep City of Traitors, Wasteland, Port, triple (!) Lodestone Golem hand. I draw Ancient Tomb and proceed to jam Golems. The first eats a Bolt, the second eats a Force and the third sticks. Doug plays out 2 Kiln Fiends while I run out Wurmcoil off Thran Dynamo + Voltaic Key. After my first swing with Wurmcoil, Doug tanks a little and casts Goblin Guide. He follows the Guide with a spell (I think a cantrip) and swings in with me at 18. I untap my Wurmcoil with Key (he forgot about this interaction) and block Guide with Wurmcoil and one of his Fiends with Lodestone. He drops a Grim after combat and passes. I continue beating down and he eventually kills my Wurmcoil with Grim + Bolt. It doesn't matter unfortunately since he's down to 1 card and an empty board against my robots.
3-0 (6-2)
Round 4 and 5: ID
I'm positive I'm guaranteed for top 8 with 3-0 in a 5 round event, so I ID with my opponents. I spend this time trading and playing EDH.
Top 8 goes up and we decide to chop the prize to 100 each and play to top 4 for the remaining prize. I sit down and start my next match.
Quarterfinals: JC Wilbur with Death and Taxes
JC is another player from Ithaca. He and Evan both go to the same college (Ithaca College) and he also goes to the same FNM as me. He's played DnT for as long as I can remember and does it quite well, so I'm hoping for a good match.
Game 1: He starts with Vial and I run out my robots. I eventually All is Dust away his Thalia and Flickerwisp and beat him to death.
SB: +4 Cursed Totem, +1 Karn Liberated, +1 All is Dust, +1 Crucible of Worlds, -3 Metalworker, -4 Steel Hellkite
Game 2: He starts with Vial again but this time I don't have the mana to handle it. He Mangara's my Wurmcoil and Swords to Plowshares my Revoker on Vial. I don't have the mana to recover.
Game 3: This game was epic. He runs out Revoker on Grim Monolith and I drop Chalice on 1 and 2. Eventually his Revoker picks up two Swords facing down my Lodestone Golem and Cursed Totem. We stall out until I ramp into Wurmcoil and Karn. Unsuprisingly, I win shortly after. He reveals a hand of 1s and 2s; he was hoping to find Flickerwisp to flicker my Chalice.
We chop the top 4 and I walk away with 125 store credit, which got me 2 Jace TMS and some other small stuff.
I was very pleased with myself today and I felt that I was very patient with my deck, something I definitely have not been in the past. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing this deck in the last few weeks. There is a lot of subtly to it and I am finding more and more that it is not ever straightforward to play. A hand with turn 2 Karn is great, but there are some match ups where it is dangerous and foolish to run it out and lose your Grim Monolith.
Sorry for the short report, but I just wanted to share my experience with what I believe is an unconventional deck in the current metagame.
Evan here, Congratulations on the finish JC told me you guys had a pretty epic game. I have always had a soft spot for MUD so I am glad to see you did well with it.
JC here as well. That last game was definitely intense. Still, though, great deck, definitely think wurmcoil is the nuts. Lodestone's a pain as well.
btw, if you ever want a rematch, I'm definitely willing.
Nice finish, I like the look of your mono brown list. I really like the consistency added by dynamo, however, I think this deck is all about putting down disruption turn 1, and for that I think revoker is pretty bad; you just cannot know what to name (revoker can be good from the side). I think one of three inclusions could be good in that slot, sphere of resistance (I think this is better than trinisphere in decks with dynamo), copper gnomes, or lightning greeves.
And because mono color decks are generally hosed by chalice for 1 (burn, elves) I guess I feel like titan should be maindeck over emperion; titan doesn't hurt you at all, and synergies better with wurmcoil.
Revoker was repeatedly spectacular because you can almost always name something game 1. You have to play with Revoker a lot but you can predict what to name in most match ups. Regardless, you will almost never need to run out Revoker early since you have many other plays to make. Sphere of Resistance is poor because it taxes you as well and the way the deck is built tripping on 1 mana is the difference between making no play on turn 2 and playing Lodestone Golem. Copper Gnomes is a glass cannon creature and this deck already doesn't want to get blown out by removal more than it can. In addition, Copper Gnomes creates card disadvantage. Generally, you have better ways to spend your mana in the early turns and later on it is identical to just casting a robot. Lightning Greaves is alright but it functions better in the Forgemaster builds. Drawing it in multiples sucks while drawing multiple Revokers is fine.Originally Posted by dillonkbase
Emperion is a trump in game 1 against Burn, Dredge, Goblins, Merfolk and a host of other decks. I have won a handful of games against Dredge and Burn thanks to Emperion where I would have simply lost with Titan.
How was Karn for you? Would you have preferred All is Dust on this slot instead?
Also, why Dynamos over Moxes/Petals? I guess you'd prefer it's synergy with Voltaic Key over speed?
And have you ever tried Tangle Wires? I find them very underrated.
I am convinced that WotC is "dumbing" the game because of all the stupid posts they come across on MTG-related forums
Karn is amazing. Karn is able to completely take over games. He can remove equipment, eliminate threats, take out planeswalkers, act as land destruction. All is Dust is good, but it does not win the game alone. The fact that Karn pressure their hand and their mana is a huge deal. It combines well with my 12 mana disruptive cards.
Because this deck isn't Forgemaster, it wants resilience over speed. I am not running artifact lands and I am not willing to generate card disadvantage for extra mana. Thran Dynamo provides a stable mana source that can allow me to easily play my robots.
I haven't tried Tangle Wire, but I have definitely thought about it. It would require some rearranging and the card does also hurt me. I do not know if it is necessary; I have been able to control most games very well. Tangle Wire is also a very narrow top deck, which I would like to minimize on since I already have devoted a large number of slots to mana. In a stax style deck, it may be more effective.
Do you consider Silent Arbiter? I read a post on Sally (Tanks Invade Amsterdam) and the guy swore by it. He ran 3 md and 1 sb. I've considered it, certainly good against tribal, but there isn't very much of that around, except Elves, and 1 Emrakul is all they need to attack. Arbiter doesn't seem very good against RUG, as Delver can still get over the top. Thoughts? I'm curious why the Sally poster loved it so much.
Also, what is your plan against any graveyard-based deck? Especially dredge?
Dropping Platinum Emporion i guess?
The issue with Arbiter is that he's not very large. You also generally have full control over combat since most of your creatures are gigantic. It's mostly redundant. I wouldn't want to cut any of my current robots for him.
This deck is very strong against Graveyard decks. Wurmcoil, Platinum Emperion and Steel Hellkite all crush Dredge. Lodestone Golem and Chalice (and Trinisphere after game 1) all greatly hamper both Reanimator and Dredge's ability to play.
Why didnt you opt the Welder way? I guess Chalice of the Void was better in your meta?
I am convinced that WotC is "dumbing" the game because of all the stupid posts they come across on MTG-related forums
Chalice of Void and Cursed Totem. I prefer playing stax to playing a combo. Cursed Totem is really powerful and Chalice of the Void is one of my favorite cards.
Nice to see a non forgemaster non welder list doing fine. Your list is similar to mine, I just play Dust Bowl over mishras for added control elements and Batterskull instead of Revoker, which I now play in my SB.
Your tournament report is what got me to play the deck. I didn't like Dust Bowl much, so I went with Factories. I may play the third Buried Ruin over the fourth Factory since Ruin has been consistently amazing for me.
How is Batterskull working for you? I really love Revoker and he has been consistently good for me.
Batterskull is working great, especially against aggro/dredge, another 4 lifelinker are just awesome to have.
The revokers are really a meta choice, I have alot of canadian threshold running around in my local meta and it was too often just a dead card. I cutted mishra's completely and now play 8 sol lands, 4 ports, 4 waste, 3 bowls, 3 ruins.
You are right, you should try the 3rd ruin for one mishra, they are really good.
My real question is how you feel about the inclusion of Voltaic Key, and the entire exclusion of Lightning Greaves.
I have never been a supporter of Voltaic Key, it feels like win-more in most instances, doesn't do anything on it's own, it strongly conflicts with your best turn one play (Chalice for 1)
Where as Greaves comes out a turn slower, only helps your creatures, but it lets them all swing on the first turn they enter the field, and offers some protection your creatures otherwise lack.
Your thoughts and experience on why one is better than the other?
-Steve
How come it needs to be a holiday to bang noobslayer's sister?
Voltaic Key has consistently been amazing. It increases the number of turn 1 plays you have, it boosts your mana significantly, which allows you to rely significantly less on Metalworker and it screws up combat. This last part has been very critical with all my creatures, especially Factory.
I feel that Greaves is more winmore than Key. Most of the situations where you use Greaves is to equip Metalworker to power out your hand or to swing with a Robot immediately. I have not found this to be very necessary; usually I either have Chalice down, protecting my cards, or my opponent has a removal spell at the ready. Greaves might be very good, but Key has not been bad by any means.
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