Q 221
01-01-2011, 05:15 PM
This was my first time taking this list to an event, so I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. I've been pretty convinced that the list was solid, but due to school and other things I haven't been able to get in the amount of testing I'd like.
Without any further ado, the list:
ElfChain
17 Forest
4 Priest of Titania
4 Multani's Acolyte
3 Llanowar Empath
1 Brass Herald
1 Myojin of Seeing Winds
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Fierce Empath
4 Sylvan Messenger
4 Food Chain
SB: 1 Myojin of Night's Reach
SB: 4 Joraga Warcaller
SB: 3 Krosan Grip
SB: 1 Terastodon
SB: 3 Gaea's Herald
SB: 3 Caller of the Claw
This is a fairly standard take on the Army of Ancients deck that was kicking around N&D a while back. I much prefer it to standard Food Chain combo as it's a lot less reliant on resolving the enchantment, since it has a couple backup plans. The sideboard is terrible, I really didn't know what I had to deal with going in and as a result it's not anywhere near as tuned as I'd like.
Round 1- Dredge
Not my favorite matchup ever, it basically comes down to who can combo out first... and it's usually them. Add in the fact that I didn't have GY hate in the board, and I'm not a happy camper.
Game 1- I get a fast combo off before he can really do anything, and it's on to G2!
Sideboarding: nothing, there's really nothing that can help me enough to consider weakening my combo speed.
Game 2- I take a couple hits, and then combo out, dropping Emrakul and Kozilek together. He uses Bridges to get a blocker for Kozilek (although thinking back, I'm not sure if we did that right since the Annihilator triggers would resolve one after the other) and for a little while I'm concerned that he might be able to combo out on his turn and take me out, but he doesn't have what he needs.
1-0
Round 2- I'm very annoyed at myself because I know I asked this guy's name twice, but managed to forget it since then. He's playing a homebrew mix of New Horizons and Show and Tell.
Game 1- I chip away at his life total a bit with Elves, but then he drops a Progenitus in play with Show and Tell. Unfortunately I don't have anything important to drop with Show and Tell. Progenitus hits twice, and we're done.
Sideboarding- Not sure what I took out, but I remember boarding in Joraga Warcaller. Show and Tell is a very risky proposition for him: if I have an Eldrazi in hand when he casts it, he's pretty bad off. As such, the battle's probably going to come down to straightforward combat, where Warcaller shines.
Game 2- He drops an early Goyf, and I don't have the Food Chain. There's a point where I'm able to use my card-advantage elves to stall both his Goyfs without really losing much, since they replace themselves. I make a stupid play mistake where I drop a reasonably-sized Warcaller and promptly have to chump with it to avoid dying, and I really don't see anything I need to turn the game around.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Adam with Aeon Bridge
Game 1- Neither of us really do much combo-wise, and I eventually beat him down with elves.
Sideboarding- I put in Gaea's Herald to ensure I resolve creatures, and I believe Caller of the Claw, taking out some Multani's Acolytes and Llanowar Empaths. I'm not really sure how fast his deck usually combos off, and since the beatdown path seemed to work last game, I'm going to make it possible to try again.
Game 2- I keep a hand with a scattering of elves and no Food Chain, thinking I can set up a fairly strong board presence. He uses a Thoughtseize to weaken my hand, and quickly sets up Dreadnought-Stifle with a Lim-Dul's Vault. I don't find what I need to combo, and Dreadnought beats me down.
Sideboarding- Took out the Heralds, realizing there wasn't really any creature I'd have a huge problem with him countering. Brought in Warcaller to try and pump a faster beatdown.
Game 3- I keep a hand I should have pitched: it's got a Llanowar Elf and a cantrip elf, but nothing else but lands. An early Thoughtseize weakens it even further, and I'm losing valuable time going land-go. I drop a Fierce Empath and grab Emrakul to neutralize a Show and Tell, but I'm not even close to being able to cast it. Eventually I topdeck and cast a Food Chain, but don't have any card-advantage elves to work with. He then drops an Engineered Plague, taking out the two elves I have on the field and severely weakening my chances of comboing off. I topdeck a Sylvan Messenger, and cast it. It flips another Messenger, and an Archdruid. I pop the Messenger to Food Chain, drop another one. It flips a third Messenger. Third Messenger goes down, finds me another Archdruid, a one-drop Elf, and the fourth Messenger. With all the extra mana from chaining Messengers and the elves I've picked up during, it's relatively easy to combo off into the Emrakul still in my hand. The whole thing was pretty much incredible luck, but sometimes that's all you need.
2-1
Round 4 vs. Zach with Merfolk
I'm glad I got to play this matchup, I had a feeling it was pretty good but it's hard to tell unless you're testing it on the tournament floor.
Game 1- He hits me once with a lord or two, and then he doesn't have the Force for when I combo off. I left a land untapped trying to play around a Daze, and managed to keep that land open for the entire combo. Turns out he did have the Daze, so it was a good call.
Sideboarding- Took out the Empaths and Acolytes again for Warcallers and Callers of the Claw. Didn't know if he was playing the black splash, but Callers don't cost the deck much to run, since they work as Food Chain fodder. And Warcallers are the nuts in the Merfolk matchup.
Game 2- He hit bad hand after bad hand, eventually mulling down to 4. He Forced my initial Food Chain, but couldn't apply much pressure as I set up a fairly powerful Elf board. I eventually topdecked another Food Chain and comboed out.
3-1
Top 4- Geoffery with GW Survival.
Game 1- I was on the play. I went land-go, he dropped a Hierarch. I dropped a Priest of Titania, he dropped another Hierarch, a Birds, and hit for 2. I dropped a Food Chain and comboed out. I made a stupid play by not tapping the Priest for mana before popping it for Food Chain, but I had a hand strong enough that it didn't matter.
Sideboarding- I boarded out Acolytes and Empaths again, I think bringing in Callers. I saw almost none of his deck, so I was trying to decide whether he was playing Rock or a variation on PRO Bant.
Game 2- He dropped another Hierarch, I dropped an Elf. He dropped a Birds and hit me with Hierarch, I dropped Food Chain and comboed out. I think I played around Daze again, despite the fact that I don't think he had two mana up, and I'm pretty sure he didn't have an Island.
4-1
Finals: Split with the guy from Round 2.
A pretty good start, although I really need to figure out where my sideboard's going. It's tricky to build for this deck because you run into the problem Goblins has: running non-Goblin cards is a very risky proposition, as it reduces the power of Messenger. I did notice I've been greatly overestimating how often Food Chain gets dealt with: every time it resolved, I won the game. I've been expecting it to get dealt with a lot more often, so I've been expecting my backup plans to have to be used much more often than they are.
Without any further ado, the list:
ElfChain
17 Forest
4 Priest of Titania
4 Multani's Acolyte
3 Llanowar Empath
1 Brass Herald
1 Myojin of Seeing Winds
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Fierce Empath
4 Sylvan Messenger
4 Food Chain
SB: 1 Myojin of Night's Reach
SB: 4 Joraga Warcaller
SB: 3 Krosan Grip
SB: 1 Terastodon
SB: 3 Gaea's Herald
SB: 3 Caller of the Claw
This is a fairly standard take on the Army of Ancients deck that was kicking around N&D a while back. I much prefer it to standard Food Chain combo as it's a lot less reliant on resolving the enchantment, since it has a couple backup plans. The sideboard is terrible, I really didn't know what I had to deal with going in and as a result it's not anywhere near as tuned as I'd like.
Round 1- Dredge
Not my favorite matchup ever, it basically comes down to who can combo out first... and it's usually them. Add in the fact that I didn't have GY hate in the board, and I'm not a happy camper.
Game 1- I get a fast combo off before he can really do anything, and it's on to G2!
Sideboarding: nothing, there's really nothing that can help me enough to consider weakening my combo speed.
Game 2- I take a couple hits, and then combo out, dropping Emrakul and Kozilek together. He uses Bridges to get a blocker for Kozilek (although thinking back, I'm not sure if we did that right since the Annihilator triggers would resolve one after the other) and for a little while I'm concerned that he might be able to combo out on his turn and take me out, but he doesn't have what he needs.
1-0
Round 2- I'm very annoyed at myself because I know I asked this guy's name twice, but managed to forget it since then. He's playing a homebrew mix of New Horizons and Show and Tell.
Game 1- I chip away at his life total a bit with Elves, but then he drops a Progenitus in play with Show and Tell. Unfortunately I don't have anything important to drop with Show and Tell. Progenitus hits twice, and we're done.
Sideboarding- Not sure what I took out, but I remember boarding in Joraga Warcaller. Show and Tell is a very risky proposition for him: if I have an Eldrazi in hand when he casts it, he's pretty bad off. As such, the battle's probably going to come down to straightforward combat, where Warcaller shines.
Game 2- He drops an early Goyf, and I don't have the Food Chain. There's a point where I'm able to use my card-advantage elves to stall both his Goyfs without really losing much, since they replace themselves. I make a stupid play mistake where I drop a reasonably-sized Warcaller and promptly have to chump with it to avoid dying, and I really don't see anything I need to turn the game around.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Adam with Aeon Bridge
Game 1- Neither of us really do much combo-wise, and I eventually beat him down with elves.
Sideboarding- I put in Gaea's Herald to ensure I resolve creatures, and I believe Caller of the Claw, taking out some Multani's Acolytes and Llanowar Empaths. I'm not really sure how fast his deck usually combos off, and since the beatdown path seemed to work last game, I'm going to make it possible to try again.
Game 2- I keep a hand with a scattering of elves and no Food Chain, thinking I can set up a fairly strong board presence. He uses a Thoughtseize to weaken my hand, and quickly sets up Dreadnought-Stifle with a Lim-Dul's Vault. I don't find what I need to combo, and Dreadnought beats me down.
Sideboarding- Took out the Heralds, realizing there wasn't really any creature I'd have a huge problem with him countering. Brought in Warcaller to try and pump a faster beatdown.
Game 3- I keep a hand I should have pitched: it's got a Llanowar Elf and a cantrip elf, but nothing else but lands. An early Thoughtseize weakens it even further, and I'm losing valuable time going land-go. I drop a Fierce Empath and grab Emrakul to neutralize a Show and Tell, but I'm not even close to being able to cast it. Eventually I topdeck and cast a Food Chain, but don't have any card-advantage elves to work with. He then drops an Engineered Plague, taking out the two elves I have on the field and severely weakening my chances of comboing off. I topdeck a Sylvan Messenger, and cast it. It flips another Messenger, and an Archdruid. I pop the Messenger to Food Chain, drop another one. It flips a third Messenger. Third Messenger goes down, finds me another Archdruid, a one-drop Elf, and the fourth Messenger. With all the extra mana from chaining Messengers and the elves I've picked up during, it's relatively easy to combo off into the Emrakul still in my hand. The whole thing was pretty much incredible luck, but sometimes that's all you need.
2-1
Round 4 vs. Zach with Merfolk
I'm glad I got to play this matchup, I had a feeling it was pretty good but it's hard to tell unless you're testing it on the tournament floor.
Game 1- He hits me once with a lord or two, and then he doesn't have the Force for when I combo off. I left a land untapped trying to play around a Daze, and managed to keep that land open for the entire combo. Turns out he did have the Daze, so it was a good call.
Sideboarding- Took out the Empaths and Acolytes again for Warcallers and Callers of the Claw. Didn't know if he was playing the black splash, but Callers don't cost the deck much to run, since they work as Food Chain fodder. And Warcallers are the nuts in the Merfolk matchup.
Game 2- He hit bad hand after bad hand, eventually mulling down to 4. He Forced my initial Food Chain, but couldn't apply much pressure as I set up a fairly powerful Elf board. I eventually topdecked another Food Chain and comboed out.
3-1
Top 4- Geoffery with GW Survival.
Game 1- I was on the play. I went land-go, he dropped a Hierarch. I dropped a Priest of Titania, he dropped another Hierarch, a Birds, and hit for 2. I dropped a Food Chain and comboed out. I made a stupid play by not tapping the Priest for mana before popping it for Food Chain, but I had a hand strong enough that it didn't matter.
Sideboarding- I boarded out Acolytes and Empaths again, I think bringing in Callers. I saw almost none of his deck, so I was trying to decide whether he was playing Rock or a variation on PRO Bant.
Game 2- He dropped another Hierarch, I dropped an Elf. He dropped a Birds and hit me with Hierarch, I dropped Food Chain and comboed out. I think I played around Daze again, despite the fact that I don't think he had two mana up, and I'm pretty sure he didn't have an Island.
4-1
Finals: Split with the guy from Round 2.
A pretty good start, although I really need to figure out where my sideboard's going. It's tricky to build for this deck because you run into the problem Goblins has: running non-Goblin cards is a very risky proposition, as it reduces the power of Messenger. I did notice I've been greatly overestimating how often Food Chain gets dealt with: every time it resolved, I won the game. I've been expecting it to get dealt with a lot more often, so I've been expecting my backup plans to have to be used much more often than they are.