[Deck] Food Chain Combo

[J.Black]

I'm pretty sure JacKaBo is aware of that interaction ;)

GY hate is really down to personal choice - I know a few players who swear by LotV and others who would rather have multiple one-shot effects like spellbomb/relic/surgical etc.... Take what you think works best for you but having some synergy (such as exiling your own griffins) is always a bonus!

Library really shines in drawn out matches as it accrues card advantage very quickly (ridiculously quickly if your life total is under no pressure) but, I nearly always find that i'd would rather have drawn a ponder instead - The deck in it's current form only really has bad matchups against faster combo decks and burn. Library helps none of these so I think it should stay in the board for now.

I would love a planeswalker to work in our deck but until they print one who's +1 ability is to search your/a deck for a creature and exile it I can't see us fitting one in. They might be nice in grindy games, but to regularly draw one you need at least 3 slots in the sideboard and, again, I think were better off trying to improve our combo match up.

[JackaBo]

I also prefer ponder in the main. In fact i love ponder in this deck.

Yeah reliq is for MU's where your shamans won't live, for instance vs punishing fire.

Nissa, versus miracle, is a card that avoids their SB cards (wear/tear and rebs). It can provide attacker each turn and recur a destroyd/countered food chain/Ballista.
I'll let you know how my testing goes.


Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

[drfish]

Faerie macabre is also an interesting GY hate (especially if you still have reanimator decks in your local metagame) as any additionnal CMC3 creatures can also help starting the chain, and it can occasionnally recur dead griffins too.

[Manipulato]

Hey guys,
yesterday I played a five rounder in Voralberg Austria to a sadly 3:2.

This was my decklist:

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Baleful Strix
4 Walking Ballista
3 Misthollow Griffin
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Eternal Scourge

4 Food Chain
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Force of Will

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
3 Manipulate Fate

2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest

SIDEBOARD:
3 Thoughtseize
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Invasive Surgery
2 Flusterstorm
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Engineered Plague


FoW Count -> 23

The sideboard was perfect for the event because there were lots of Sneak Show, Food Chain and burn, also some TNN decks.


Round 1: Burn 2:1
This was my third match vs burn and I have won all of them, always really close but managable with good draws. I won one game via combo on T4 and the other via Griffin spawn beatdown, my oponent missed some Eidolon triggers here and there which cost him the game.

Round 2: BUG Midrange 2:1
Those games were super grindy & intensive, really interesting games. Game one he resolved 2 Thoughtseize + 2 Abrupt Decay and got rid off three Food Chain but he was not really able to pressure me, he had Sylvan Library and Leovold in play but a Griffin, 2 Strix & 1 Deathrite Shaman finished him off, Walking Ballista on 1 shot his last life point down xD.
Game 2 he was OTP and made a T2 Leovold and just stomped me with good draws.
Game 3 I had the complete combo in hand ready to finish him T4 but he resolved a Vendilion Clique to take away my Ballista (Food Chain was already in play), later he decayed my Food Chain and it looked like I'm losing and drew quite bad from the top but then I drew a 2nd Food Chain & was able to exile a dead griffin via Shaman, Scourge was also out and I stoped his attacks from Clique & Gurmag Angler, later I drew Manipulate Fate and spamed the whole board with griffins and a Leovold ->GG.


Round 3: Food Chain Mirror 0:2
I faced the Food Chain master himself, Marius Hausmann. We talked about the deck and the boarding strategies before so we both knew how we have to play this.
Game one I had a solid opener and double FoW'ed his Food Chain & Manipulate Fate while resolving my own Food Chain & Fate but lacking a Ballista to finish him off. Sadly he drew his combo again with Ballista already in hand and combo'ed me out before my griffins could win :-/
Game two we both took a mulligan to 6 and showed each other our Bad hands to learn from each other...Then we both kept our 6 and I started with T1 Thoughtseize taking away his Food Chain, I dont remember everything in this game because too much stuff hapened but a couple of turns before I lost we had a interesting situation where I had Food Chain + a dude in play with Surgical, Griffin & Ballista in hand with a Food Chain in his GY, I knew his hand because of a Thoughtseize earlier and knew he had a FoW in hand but wasnt sure if he had the pitch for it. I tried to catch him with a Surgical on his Food Chain in the GY to force him to react with his FoW but he didnt walked into the trap and let it resolve, I saw FoW+Griffin in his hand knew I will not win with the combo this turn but I tried it anyways because my life total was under pressure because of a big Ballista if I remember correctly, I resolved my own Griffin and Ballista met FoW, after that I lost to fair creatures.
He said I made no mistakes & played optimally, so I'm still ok with the loss and was honored to hear this from him because it's just my 2nd tournament with it :-)

I boarded like this:
-4 Baleful Strix
-1 Island

+3 Thoughtseize
+2 Surgical Extraction

After the game I realized that If I would have boarded the 2 Vendilion Clique instead of the Surgicals I would have won G2 and if I play the Cliques in future SB's I will defenetly bring in the faerys because they are great when we board out all 4 Strixes. I would have brought them in but I had nothing else to cut. Maybe this was my only mistake.

Round 4: Eldrazi 1:2
Short story, I was to slow in G1 & G3 and Thought-Knot Seer took away my combo pieces.
In G1 I was very frustraded because I had a FoW in my opener and I was not able to draw a blue pitch card in 4 Turns for his T5 Endbringer which took over the game step by step und -.-

I boarded like this:
-4 Force of Will
-2 Leovold

+2 Vendilion Clique
+2 Diabolic Edict
+2 Engineered Plague (To shut down his mimics & power down his TKS to 3/3s so they trade with our griffins)

I'm not sure if it's really correct to board out all 4 FoW because the only hands you lose to are the fast aggro openers with T1 Mimic T2 TKS T3 Smasher or whatever and those openers get stoped by FoW because they cant curve out with a Cavern. Even if they have a Cavern we get more time and are already in good shape + FoW still counters Chalice, Dismember/Warping Wail on our Strixes/Shaman/Griffins.

Maybe we should board like this?

+2 Vendilion Clique
+2 Diabolic Edict

-2 Leovold
-2 Force of Will/1 AD/1 land?

Plague is also just another cc3 removal which is way to slow especially without a T1 Shaman

Round 5: NicFit 2:0
Well this was not a close game, I combo'ed him G1 T4 and in G2 Food Griffins showed him what they can.

All in all I finished at 9th place because 6 of 8 people drawed :-/ Marius managed another Top 4 finish

It was still a great event and I had a great conversation with Marius & Florian about this deck, really helped guys.
I also have way more experience with the deck now and looking forward to play this at MKM Series Frankfurt this month.

Cheers

[Manipulato]

Food Chain also landed at 10th place at the SCG Legacy Open yesterday http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...?DeckID=112708

[Alka]

Played in a small 16 person proxy legal tournament that was actually my 1st time playing paper magic (I'm an MTGO player) and brought Food Chain with me. It was also my first time trying out the Walking Ballista version of the deck. The food chain combo is definitely nicer IRL vs endless clicks on MTGO (part of the reason I hadn't tried the Ballista version previously). Ended up 3-0, we didn't have time for the 4th round. I think my Round 4 opponent would have been Miracles.

DECKLIST
Pretty standard main deck though I see a lot of 20 land decks and I shaved one for a 4th ponder.

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Baleful Strix
4 Walking Ballista
3 Misthollow Griffin
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Eternal Scourge

4 Food Chain
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Force of Will

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Manipulate Fate

2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest

SIDEBOARD:
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize
1 Vendillion Clique
1 Graffdigger’s Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Null Rod
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Engineered Plague
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Umezawa's Jitte

All 3 rounds I played against wasteland decks and was fetching mostly basics for the majority of the games.

Round 1: 2-0 vs Eldrazi
Not much to say here, I had the combo early in both games and I didn't see any Thought-Knots. We did play a 3rd game just for fun since the first two were so fast and I got stomped.

Round 2: 2-1 vs Death & Taxes
G1 my opponent mulled to 5 on the draw and only had 1 land all game, but I lost. They had 2 aether vials on T2 and since they weren't drawing lands they were drawing gas and just vialed everything in.
G2 was drawn out. I drew all my Strix and the opponent never drew a mom to push anything threw. I had Ballista & Food Chain in hand with Griffons in exile for the longest time, but my opponent had double port and I wasn't drawing lands so I couldn't play the food chain. I think my opponent got a little greedy and hardcast a batterskull freeing up my mana for a turn which was enough to let me cast Food Chain and combo out.
G3 Opponent got out double Revoker on Food Chain and Ballista. I was able to Abrupt Decay the Revoker on Ballista and I had 2 Ballsita in hand so I used one to take care of the other Revoker and then was able to combo off.

Round 3: 2-1 vs Lands
G1 Opponent had Marit Lage on T2 but I was surprising able to stay alive for several turns due to chumps from a few Strix. I even had a chance to win if I top decked a Food Chain but I didn't and then had to block with a Griffon which meant death next turn.
G2 I was able to use surgical extraction on a Dark Depths after Marit Lage was made and then Diabolic Edict away the 20/20
G3 Opponent mulled and then didn't have much action, I think they were relying on Choke since they slammed that on T3, but I just played a land and used my Deathrite to make another mana and Choke met abrupt decay. I didn't even see a dark depths or thespian stage in G3. I was able to combo out eventually.

Few thoughts I had while playing
-Leovold vs D&T was funny because of the interaction with Ports
-As if everyone didn't already know, but the Ballista version is much, much better than Emrakul. With the board state of G2 vs. D&T an Emrakul would not have won the game on the spot due to the number of creatures and permanents my opponent controlled. Ballsita is also never a dead draw.
-ChannelFireBall Guide says to board out all Strix vs Lands, but they draw you a card and work as a great chump blocker against Marit Lage. They could also lead to life gain off Deathrite which has the possibility of getting you above 20 and surviving a hit from Marit Lage. Maybe they're considered bad because of Punishing Fire, but I think some number of Strix vs lands isn't crazy.

[MrFrowny_]

So I've been playing BUG Aluren for a few months and went ahead and picked up the food chain pieces before they spiked lol. Anyways, I'm having a hard time playing the deck and I think I might not be playing it optimally. Here's my list, what do you think?

Creatures
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Baleful Strix
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Misthollow Griffin
1 Eternal Scourge
4 Walking Ballista

Spells
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Manipulate Fate
3 Ponder

Enchantments
4 Food Chain
1 Sylvan Library

Lands
3 Tropical Island
2 Bayou
2 Underground Sea
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest

I feel like the deck is missing something that the Aluren list has in it's "shardless agent spot". It just doesn't have a way to generate massive value very quickly unless you have a food chain on the table. I could be wrong though, let me know!

[PirateKing]

I feel like the deck is missing something that the Aluren list has in it's "shardless agent spot". It just doesn't have a way to generate massive value very quickly unless you have a food chain on the table. I could be wrong though, let me know!

I'm still getting my Food Chain legs, but my understanding (and why I decided to pick it up) is because the deck isn't about generating massive value quickly. It's built to be a burly brawler and fights in the dirt with the rest, all the while threatening instant death in the combo finish. I'll win games with DRS and Griffin, never drawing a Food Chain, just putting up moderate damage turn after turn. My opponent was probably flush with countermagic anyways, so I doubt a Food Chain would have resolved anyways, but that's the point. Sometimes I combo and sometimes I don't but I never feel any farther from being able to win games in either situation.

[J.Black]

I feel like the deck is missing something that the Aluren list has

Yep. In the same way miracles is missing a reanimator finish. Aluren plays out very differently to food chain.

[Hanni]

Isn't Manipulate Fate, FoW pitching Griffin, and DRS exiling Griffin already enough of a value plan without the combo?

EDIT: Ignore my post. I missed where you said "quickly."

[MrFrowny_]

Yeah I guess that might be my issue... I keep trying to play it like aluren.

[.dk]

So I've been playing the deck for a few weeks now, and overall I love it. One thing I'm not understanding though, is why is no one really playing Trinket Mage? Almost seems like a no-brainer to me in terms of generating more card advantage and being more grindy as well as fuel to let you cast your Misthollow Griffins with Food Chain out while grabbing Ballista. Or it just blocks and stalls while grabbing a piece of removal in Ballista. Or Sensei's Divining Top. Am I missing something as to why the card is bad? The only thing I'm coming up with is that it pushes your mana curve up a bit.

For reference, the list that I'm currently playing:

1 Bayou
1 Forest
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Baleful Strix
4 Brainstorm
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Eternal Scourge
4 Food Chain
4 Force of Will
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Manipulate Fate
3 Misthollow Griffin
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sylvan Library
2 Trinket Mage
3 Walking Ballista

Sideboard:
1 Chalice of the Void
2 Diabolic Edict
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Murderous Cut
1 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize
1 Vendilion Clique

One thing I was considering in this list was cutting the Sylvan Library for the 4th Ballista or possibly the 3rd Trinket Mage or 3rd Leovold. Library and SDT interact... oddly (not always bad though), so that seems a little redundant.

[J.Black]

It's not that trinket mage is bad; it's just redundant.

The deck is grindy enough anyway - recurring 3/3s will grind pretty well - it functions better when you play to it's natural finish and play more combo pieces.

I've messed around with the 2 mage, 1 ballista, 1 top package (plus 1cc hate in the board) and nearly every time I drew the mage or the top I wished it was a ballista instead.

[.dk]

It's not that trinket mage is bad; it's just redundant.

The deck is grindy enough anyway - recurring 3/3s will grind pretty well - it functions better when you play to it's natural finish and play more combo pieces.

I've messed around with the 2 mage, 1 ballista, 1 top package (plus 1cc hate in the board) and nearly every time I drew the mage or the top I wished it was a ballista instead.

I don't think running only 1 Ballista would be correct with Trinket Mage either. 3-4 for sure. Think of it more in the Ponder slot to grab SDT to filter than replacing Ballista. Can let you run 4-6 Ballistas effectively, even.

[J.Black]

I see what you mean, but cutting the ponders without upping the land count feels bad.

[.dk]

I see what you mean, but cutting the ponders without upping the land count feels bad.

Really? Fetching basics into Trinket Mage into Top isn't good enough?

[PirateKing]

Do we want Top in our deck? It seems like I'm always doing something with my mana, hardly ever with any to spin with. I mean, I guess as a DRS #5, it's an okay card, but I'd rather just have DRS in all of my games.

Manroe mentioned a while back Leyline of Anticipation, which brought back the dream of mine to use Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir in this deck, Pulling out a Solidarity-esque win with Ballista in response to their combat step or something. Both are such win more cards, but a man can dream.

[J.Black]

Really? Fetching basics into Trinket Mage into Top isn't good enough?

I'm sure it'll be good.... just not sure it's better than running the ponders and a playset of Ballistas.

Personally, i'd rather have seven maindeck cantrips so smooth out my land draw and help me find combo pieces. The deck is pretty well streamlined at the moment and I rarely find myself with nothing to do, or drawing redundant cards; sure there's times SDT would help but i just don't think pushing the deck towards being better in the mid-late game is the way to go.

Go and test a bunch and see if it gives an edge in some way i'm not seeing :)

[.dk]

I'm sure it'll be good.... just not sure it's better than running the ponders and a playset of Ballistas.

Personally, i'd rather have seven maindeck cantrips so smooth out my land draw and help me find combo pieces. The deck is pretty well streamlined at the moment and I rarely find myself with nothing to do, or drawing redundant cards; sure there's times SDT would help but i just don't think pushing the deck towards being better in the mid-late game is the way to go.

Go and test a bunch and see if it gives an edge in some way i'm not seeing :)

I am, don't worry. :)

I'm just still wrapping my mind around the playstyle of the deck - I'm very used to dedicated combo decks (and Aluren, which plays very very differently than this), so I'm still finding the right balance of when to just not care about a combo kill and grind, and when to go for it.

[Manroe]

Do we want Top in our deck? It seems like I'm always doing something with my mana, hardly ever with any to spin with. I mean, I guess as a DRS #5, it's an okay card, but I'd rather just have DRS in all of my games.

Manroe mentioned a while back Leyline of Anticipation, which brought back the dream of mine to use Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir in this deck, Pulling out a Solidarity-esque win with Ballista in response to their combat step or something. Both are such win more cards, but a man can dream.

Both of them are probably really bad, but Teferi or even Prophet of Kruphix could serve the same purpose I suppose too. I just thought maybe going of and being able to play around abrupt decay would be a big boon plus it could further solidify our match up against miracles.

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