Browncoat67
07-24-2011, 06:56 PM
Post heat wave Sunday brought eight out for Legacy play at the Temple. I tinkered with Napalm Smoke this week, and tossed in a pair of Shrine of Burning Rage (http://magiccards.info/nph/en/153.html). It’s been strong in Standard, and I was interested to see if it might perform well in my burn deck, which slings red spells at a heavy rate. Sadly, I never got a good test, as the only time it stayed on the board, it stabilized against goblins, which proceeded to swing the next turn for lethal damage anyway. Other deck in attendance were Merfolk, Agro Elves, The Gate, Mono-Black Control, the aforementioned Goblins, and a WU Control Stoneforge build.
Round 1 brought me face to face with the Gate. Game one I was on the draw, and it was a squeaker. I forced to waste a precious Lightning Bolt (http://magiccards.info/m11/tw/149.html) on a Vampire Nighthawk (http://magiccards.info/cmd/en/106.html) to thwart the life gain. I got him to six life and had one burn in hand, but never drew into the second burn spell I needed to seal the deal. Game goes to the Gate. Game two was easy enough with me on the play and a solid Goblin Guide (http://magiccards.info/zen/en/126.html)start. Game three momentum swung back and forth a few times, and put me against the wall when my opponent landed a Phyrexian Obliterator (http://magiccards.info/nph/en/68.html). In a possible misplay on his part, my opponent Vindicate (http://magiccards.info/ap/en/126.html)d Shrine instead of my Grim Lavamancer (http://magiccards.info/m12/en/145.html), and it cost him the game as I managed to ping and pop a through a couple of swings by the Obliterator and drew into the final burn I needed to hang in for the match win. Napalm Smoke goes 1-0
The green horde descended on me in Round 2, as I was forced to face Agro Elves. Resilient and fast, Elves have a strong match up against me pre-board. Game one was a quick push for both of us to the red zone. On the draw at one life, with a Fireblast in hand, and facing a full complement of Vengevines (http://magiccards.info/roe/en/212.html), I pulled a Flame Rift (http://magiccards.info/ne/en/80.html) and pushed to the draw – a play for which the Rift Bolt has served me more than once. Post-board, with Volcanic Fallout (http://magiccards.info/arc/en/51.html) and Relic of Progenitus (http://magiccards.info/pch/en/124.html) off the bench, I was in better shape to handle the little green guys. Game 2 went much more quickly and according to plan, with excellent draws and a good quick start. I kept the board clear and my opponent never got a chance to set up. Game 3 left me with a difficult choice, with a Thorn of Amethyst (http://magiccards.info/lw/en/262.html) slowing me down, I had to decide between dropping the Relic with one mana left to pop it, or dropping a Bob and pushing my card draw. I chose Bob, and swung in with the Guide, but my opponent cut loose with a 4x4 Vengevine swing, and left me unable to hold on for another turn. Game three as also dangerously close. I had a strong start, and the elves did little damage over the first five turns. I repeated dropped Lavamancers, as my opponent hit them over and over with Darkblast (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/82.html), dredging it to keep up the critter hate. The dredge landed him one Vengevine in the graveyard, and I was forced into an early Relic pop. Buried Alive (http://magiccards.info/od/en/118.html) got him the other three, and he brought the hate with a 16 point swing (including some elves) which took me to a meager 1 life. He was forced to fetch to pull that all off, and put himself to 7 life to do it. I had a Fireblast (http://magiccards.info/vi/en/79.html) in hand, but needed a strong top deck for the win. Lava Spike (http://magiccards.info/chk/en/178.html) was there to save the game and get me the match win. Napalm Smoke 2 – 0.
We were playing three rounds with a top four cut, so for Round 3, I drew with undefeated Stoneforge (http://magiccards.info/wwk/en/20.html), and we played out for fun. The blue white control deck wasn’t fast enough and despite a Forced (http://magiccards.info/ai/en/42.html) Goblin Guide, I kept on the heat for an easy win. Price of Progress (http://magiccards.info/ex/en/95.html) provided much of the heat, as the deck played few basic lands. Game two, I boarded in the Red Elemental Blasts (http://magiccards.info/un/en/170.html) and Pyroblasts (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/213.html) along with a few Smash to Smithereens (http://magiccards.info/shm/en/107.html) to handle the Batterskull and Jitte I knew were hiding in the library. Swords took out my turn one Lavamancer before he could bring any damage. I gained that one life, and pushed on. My opponent was more judicious about dropping large quantities of non-basic lands, but I still held a pair of Price of Progress, backed up by a Red Elemental Blast. Guide came out swinging on turn two followed with a Chain Lightning (http://magiccards.info/lg/en/137.html). Pyroblast one hit for a whopping six damage and was backed up with plenty of extra fuel to lock down the win. Napalm Smoke 3-0.
First Round of the top 4 was a match against Goblins. This can be a tricky match vs burn, as the cute little red guys can be explosive on a single turn, and I don’t pack any main deck mass removal. Price of Progress again served me well against an unusual build which sported only four basic mountains in its mana base. Game one saw the mass assault I was expecting, and, though the Shrine and a Fireblast kept it from being as bad as it could have been by killing a Chieftain (http://magiccards.info/m11/en/141.html) and Warchief (http://magiccards.info/evg/en/42.html), there were just too many of them, and they had lethal on the board for the next swing. In game two, the Prices shone, as they landed for huge damage and took a quick win as I had plenty of burn to keep the board clear. So we went to game three, guts and glory hanging on the outcome. I came out strong again, but so did my opponent. Our life totals dropped in tandem as we fetched – 19, 18, 17 until I finally got a tiny edge 15/14 with a Lavamancer poke. Bolt brought him to 11, while I dropped to 12 as a dead Siegegang’s token bit and clawed. With plenty of land out, I didn’t hesitate to float mana and sack down for a Fireblast. Lavamancer poked for a couple more before dying to a Gemplam Incinerator (http://magiccards.info/evg/en/37.html). With my floaty mana, I suspended a pair of Rift Bolt (http://magiccards.info/ts/en/176.html)s, and hoped that my opponent’s stabilizing board wouldn’t be enough to take the win. It was, as he was unable to swing for lethal that turn and I had the two Bolts resolving with two Lava Spikes in hand.
Congratulations to Dan and Mike, who split for First Place and Mike and Krystian who took third and fourth.
Join us next week at The Temple (http://www.thetemplegames.com/tg/) for our special One Year Anniversary! Celebrate YEAR ONE of the Temple with us July 29th through the 31st with 10% off EVERYTHING all weekend and exciting gaming events like FREE Standard FNM, a $10 draft following that, and a great 2HG Legacy event on Sunday! Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheTempleGames
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Round 1 brought me face to face with the Gate. Game one I was on the draw, and it was a squeaker. I forced to waste a precious Lightning Bolt (http://magiccards.info/m11/tw/149.html) on a Vampire Nighthawk (http://magiccards.info/cmd/en/106.html) to thwart the life gain. I got him to six life and had one burn in hand, but never drew into the second burn spell I needed to seal the deal. Game goes to the Gate. Game two was easy enough with me on the play and a solid Goblin Guide (http://magiccards.info/zen/en/126.html)start. Game three momentum swung back and forth a few times, and put me against the wall when my opponent landed a Phyrexian Obliterator (http://magiccards.info/nph/en/68.html). In a possible misplay on his part, my opponent Vindicate (http://magiccards.info/ap/en/126.html)d Shrine instead of my Grim Lavamancer (http://magiccards.info/m12/en/145.html), and it cost him the game as I managed to ping and pop a through a couple of swings by the Obliterator and drew into the final burn I needed to hang in for the match win. Napalm Smoke goes 1-0
The green horde descended on me in Round 2, as I was forced to face Agro Elves. Resilient and fast, Elves have a strong match up against me pre-board. Game one was a quick push for both of us to the red zone. On the draw at one life, with a Fireblast in hand, and facing a full complement of Vengevines (http://magiccards.info/roe/en/212.html), I pulled a Flame Rift (http://magiccards.info/ne/en/80.html) and pushed to the draw – a play for which the Rift Bolt has served me more than once. Post-board, with Volcanic Fallout (http://magiccards.info/arc/en/51.html) and Relic of Progenitus (http://magiccards.info/pch/en/124.html) off the bench, I was in better shape to handle the little green guys. Game 2 went much more quickly and according to plan, with excellent draws and a good quick start. I kept the board clear and my opponent never got a chance to set up. Game 3 left me with a difficult choice, with a Thorn of Amethyst (http://magiccards.info/lw/en/262.html) slowing me down, I had to decide between dropping the Relic with one mana left to pop it, or dropping a Bob and pushing my card draw. I chose Bob, and swung in with the Guide, but my opponent cut loose with a 4x4 Vengevine swing, and left me unable to hold on for another turn. Game three as also dangerously close. I had a strong start, and the elves did little damage over the first five turns. I repeated dropped Lavamancers, as my opponent hit them over and over with Darkblast (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/82.html), dredging it to keep up the critter hate. The dredge landed him one Vengevine in the graveyard, and I was forced into an early Relic pop. Buried Alive (http://magiccards.info/od/en/118.html) got him the other three, and he brought the hate with a 16 point swing (including some elves) which took me to a meager 1 life. He was forced to fetch to pull that all off, and put himself to 7 life to do it. I had a Fireblast (http://magiccards.info/vi/en/79.html) in hand, but needed a strong top deck for the win. Lava Spike (http://magiccards.info/chk/en/178.html) was there to save the game and get me the match win. Napalm Smoke 2 – 0.
We were playing three rounds with a top four cut, so for Round 3, I drew with undefeated Stoneforge (http://magiccards.info/wwk/en/20.html), and we played out for fun. The blue white control deck wasn’t fast enough and despite a Forced (http://magiccards.info/ai/en/42.html) Goblin Guide, I kept on the heat for an easy win. Price of Progress (http://magiccards.info/ex/en/95.html) provided much of the heat, as the deck played few basic lands. Game two, I boarded in the Red Elemental Blasts (http://magiccards.info/un/en/170.html) and Pyroblasts (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/213.html) along with a few Smash to Smithereens (http://magiccards.info/shm/en/107.html) to handle the Batterskull and Jitte I knew were hiding in the library. Swords took out my turn one Lavamancer before he could bring any damage. I gained that one life, and pushed on. My opponent was more judicious about dropping large quantities of non-basic lands, but I still held a pair of Price of Progress, backed up by a Red Elemental Blast. Guide came out swinging on turn two followed with a Chain Lightning (http://magiccards.info/lg/en/137.html). Pyroblast one hit for a whopping six damage and was backed up with plenty of extra fuel to lock down the win. Napalm Smoke 3-0.
First Round of the top 4 was a match against Goblins. This can be a tricky match vs burn, as the cute little red guys can be explosive on a single turn, and I don’t pack any main deck mass removal. Price of Progress again served me well against an unusual build which sported only four basic mountains in its mana base. Game one saw the mass assault I was expecting, and, though the Shrine and a Fireblast kept it from being as bad as it could have been by killing a Chieftain (http://magiccards.info/m11/en/141.html) and Warchief (http://magiccards.info/evg/en/42.html), there were just too many of them, and they had lethal on the board for the next swing. In game two, the Prices shone, as they landed for huge damage and took a quick win as I had plenty of burn to keep the board clear. So we went to game three, guts and glory hanging on the outcome. I came out strong again, but so did my opponent. Our life totals dropped in tandem as we fetched – 19, 18, 17 until I finally got a tiny edge 15/14 with a Lavamancer poke. Bolt brought him to 11, while I dropped to 12 as a dead Siegegang’s token bit and clawed. With plenty of land out, I didn’t hesitate to float mana and sack down for a Fireblast. Lavamancer poked for a couple more before dying to a Gemplam Incinerator (http://magiccards.info/evg/en/37.html). With my floaty mana, I suspended a pair of Rift Bolt (http://magiccards.info/ts/en/176.html)s, and hoped that my opponent’s stabilizing board wouldn’t be enough to take the win. It was, as he was unable to swing for lethal that turn and I had the two Bolts resolving with two Lava Spikes in hand.
Congratulations to Dan and Mike, who split for First Place and Mike and Krystian who took third and fourth.
Join us next week at The Temple (http://www.thetemplegames.com/tg/) for our special One Year Anniversary! Celebrate YEAR ONE of the Temple with us July 29th through the 31st with 10% off EVERYTHING all weekend and exciting gaming events like FREE Standard FNM, a $10 draft following that, and a great 2HG Legacy event on Sunday! Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheTempleGames
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http://www.thetemplegames.com/tg/images/stories/yearone.jpg