SpikeyMikey
03-12-2012, 06:38 AM
I took this deck to the GP in Indy this weekend and while I missed my shot at back-to-back day 2's at 6-3 (round 9 dreamcrushed!), I feel like the deck has a lot of potential. Especially in the hands of a skilled player where you can really maximize the value of the deck's search capabilities.
I had heard a lot of buzz here and elsewhere about storm and because the top decks at the most recent SCG's had been almost entirely fair (except for the occasional Belcher or Dredge showing up), I was expecting a kind of backlash. I expected storm but I also expected Show and Tell and possibly Painter. I wanted to be running something with a very solid counter base and I did not want to be running Spell Snare, as I didn't feel it would be strong enough against combo. This turned out to be a pretty solid call; I didn't face any storm day 1, but I did face 2 Sneak and Show's and a NO Show.
BUG Thopters
2 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
4 Force of Will
3 Counterspell
2 Spell Pierce
4 Pernicious Deed
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Smother
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Damnation
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Jace, the Mindsculptor
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Life from the Loam
4 Polluted Delta
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Wasteland
1 Academy Ruins
1 Maze of Ith
Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Counterbalance
3 Innocent Blood
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sensei's Divining Top
My originally planned configuration was slightly different; I borrowed the cards from Jaco and he made a few modifications to the list when he handed it to me. Originally, I was looking at a 3/3 CB/Top split in the board and wasn't running Relic. In those slots, I had 2 Inquisition of Kozilek and 2 Flusterstorm. It's hard to say whether the change was good or bad; I had a loss round 2 against the first Sneak 'n' Show that probably could've been avoided if I'd have had Inquisition and Flusterstorm in. I also had a G3 vs. Burn that I won because I had Top and CB in my opening grip, so who knows. I do think packing that much GY hate was wrong.
As far as the deck goes, it's pretty standard fare. You're playing basically a Landstill role; you've got a lot of gas late game, but not much early. You're going to lean pretty heavily on the counters to fend off combo early and the Deeds to handle faster decks. Eventually, you're either going to raw dog your combo or you're going to find a Gifts and Gifts for Loam/Ruins/Foundry/Sword and put the game away that way. The main was configured more to deal with combo and other control decks, with additional spot removal in board. Right now, I think that's the way to go, as Zoo/Goblins/Fish/etc. is at an all-time low and the format is midrange decks vs. control decks vs. combo decks.
I played pretty piss poor early in the day, which accounted for my two early losses. After that, I straightened up and started playing tighter games but the damage was done and I missed day 2. I'm pretty sure that this deck could be a serious performer in the hands of a better technical player. It's got a lot of raw power. Gifts Ungiven is just amazing.
I had heard a lot of buzz here and elsewhere about storm and because the top decks at the most recent SCG's had been almost entirely fair (except for the occasional Belcher or Dredge showing up), I was expecting a kind of backlash. I expected storm but I also expected Show and Tell and possibly Painter. I wanted to be running something with a very solid counter base and I did not want to be running Spell Snare, as I didn't feel it would be strong enough against combo. This turned out to be a pretty solid call; I didn't face any storm day 1, but I did face 2 Sneak and Show's and a NO Show.
BUG Thopters
2 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
4 Force of Will
3 Counterspell
2 Spell Pierce
4 Pernicious Deed
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Smother
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Damnation
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Jace, the Mindsculptor
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Life from the Loam
4 Polluted Delta
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Wasteland
1 Academy Ruins
1 Maze of Ith
Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Counterbalance
3 Innocent Blood
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sensei's Divining Top
My originally planned configuration was slightly different; I borrowed the cards from Jaco and he made a few modifications to the list when he handed it to me. Originally, I was looking at a 3/3 CB/Top split in the board and wasn't running Relic. In those slots, I had 2 Inquisition of Kozilek and 2 Flusterstorm. It's hard to say whether the change was good or bad; I had a loss round 2 against the first Sneak 'n' Show that probably could've been avoided if I'd have had Inquisition and Flusterstorm in. I also had a G3 vs. Burn that I won because I had Top and CB in my opening grip, so who knows. I do think packing that much GY hate was wrong.
As far as the deck goes, it's pretty standard fare. You're playing basically a Landstill role; you've got a lot of gas late game, but not much early. You're going to lean pretty heavily on the counters to fend off combo early and the Deeds to handle faster decks. Eventually, you're either going to raw dog your combo or you're going to find a Gifts and Gifts for Loam/Ruins/Foundry/Sword and put the game away that way. The main was configured more to deal with combo and other control decks, with additional spot removal in board. Right now, I think that's the way to go, as Zoo/Goblins/Fish/etc. is at an all-time low and the format is midrange decks vs. control decks vs. combo decks.
I played pretty piss poor early in the day, which accounted for my two early losses. After that, I straightened up and started playing tighter games but the damage was done and I missed day 2. I'm pretty sure that this deck could be a serious performer in the hands of a better technical player. It's got a lot of raw power. Gifts Ungiven is just amazing.