Obfuscate Freely
03-07-2007, 12:48 AM
I actually received a PM asking me to share my experiences playing Aluren, which was in heartening contrast to the general attitude towards the deck on these boards. When I realized that most of the reactions I'd gotten at tournaments, from both opponents and spectators, were positive, I decided I would go ahead and post something for anyone interested in the deck to read.
Unfortunately, I didn't take notes at The Mana Leak Open, and remembering details about matches from the two-day event proved impossible. So I can't give a report from that tournament.
However, I did actually write out a report the night I got home from the GAGG tournament on February 17th. I never bothered to post it, so now its two weeks old, but I think it still holds value.
I played Toad’s exact maindeck, which I started testing with a couple of months ago, and haven't changed to this day. It seems very well built, and I'm just not comfortable altering it, yet.
4x Aluren
4x Brainstorm
3x Intuition
4x Raven Familiar
3x Man-o-War
3x Cavern Harpy
2x Chain of Vapor
1x Eternal Witness
1x Spike Feeder
4x Force of Will
4x Wall of Roots
3x Wall of Blossoms
3x Cabal Therapy
4x Tropical Island
4x Bayou
3x Wooded Foothills
2x Windswept Heath
2x Polluted Delta
5x Island
1x Forest
I did change the sideboard a little, though.
3x Disrupt
3x Null Rod
2x Blue Elemental Blast
2x Hydroblast
2x Pernicious Deed
1x Cabal Therapy
1x Wall of Blossoms
1x Loaming Shaman
I replaced Divert with Disrupt because Disrupt is more versatile, being strong against storm combo and Red Death as well as Deadguy Ale-type decks. The Null Rods are there to help out against Iggy Pop and TES, which I expected to be well represented at this tournament.
Round 1: RW Vial Goblins
Game 1: I remember having a hunch as we shuffled up that he was playing Goblins. I win the roll, and end up keeping a hand that is pretty good against Goblins, but fairly weak against any sort of combo deck (no Therapies or Forces). I was pleasantly surprised to see him open with a Lackey, and happily threw down a Wall to stop it. After that, the game dragged on a little, with him getting like three Vials and two Lackeys but not much else, and me clogging up the ground with multiple Walls and I believe the Spike Feeder. Eventually, he got out a Siege-Gang, killed the Feeder, and started actually doing damage. The turn before I would have finally died to his horde, I topdecked whatever missing piece I needed, and started going off Necropotence-style with Harpy, Man-o-war, and Wall of Blossoms. Eventually I found the Witness, got back the Feeder, and gained infinite life. I didn’t feel like showing him the full combo, so I convinced him that scooping is better than waiting to get beaten down by Cavern Harpies while I sit behind two million life points.
Game 2: Both of us drew much better this game, which favored me more than it did him. He tapped out for a Ringleader twice before I was able to assemble the combo and go off. After I juggle a Raven Familiar and a Cavern Harpy a few times, he asked me if Aluren is symmetrical. When I told him that of course it is, he immediately dropped 5 Goblins onto the table, which I found sort of amusing. I asked if he was putting them all onto the stack at once, and he replied “er, one at a time.” They were all completely irrelevant, of course, and I continued going off safe in the knowledge that the last two cards in his hand were almost certainly blank.
…Although after the game he showed me that he was holding Armageddon. That would have sucked, if he had found white mana. Whew.
Round 2: Anwar (AnwarA101) with Red Death
Game 1: Getting paired against another Virginian sucked, but we knew this would be a good match, at least. I won the die roll, but he opened with Dark Ritual + Phyrexian Negator. Honestly, that’s about the scariest thing Red Death can do against Aluren. I took some beats, but he was light on disruption and threats other than the Negator. I had a turn two Wall of Roots, and a turn three Man-o-War for the Negator, but no Therapy to get rid of it for good. A few turns later, I had another Man-o-War, along with a Force of Will (pitching another Force) to finally kill the damn thing, but this completely depleted my hand. At this point, Anwar began topdecking land destruction effects like he was being paid to, and he actually forced me to Intuition for lands when he targeted my last land with a Sinkhole (cast off of two Walls of Roots). Alas, I could not draw enough lands to resolve Aluren by the time I found one, and Anwar finally found some more big black beats to put the game away.
Game 2: This game dragged on just like the first, with Anwar’s draws being very threat-light once again. I resolved a Pernicious Deed early on, but was hesitant to use it when Anwar finally found a Negator. I took the beats for a couple of turns, and then made a mistake that probably cost me the game. When he attacked with the Negator when I was below 10 life, I had a Witness in play. I decided that, rather than use the Deed, I should Chain of Vapor the Witness, and then sacrifice a land to copy it targeting the Negator. Anwar obviously sacrificed a land to bounce the Deed, as well. The play was awful because I didn’t have the mana to play and activate Deed the following turn, while Anwar did have the mana to replay the Negator, but what made it even worse was the Wasteland on my Bayou (my only black source) that I didn’t see coming. Anwar then played both the bounced Negator and a backup copy he’d been holding, I drew a Tropical Island for my next turn, and I lost the game in short order.
I had gone through about half of the deck without finding an Aluren, which would have immediately won me the game in any of the latter turns, but I still could have probably won the game if I had played correctly.
Round 3: Trevor (Getsickanddie) with Garv.dec
Game 1: I won the roll once again, and lead with a fetchland. He lead with a fetchland as well, but cracked it for a Taiga and played a Kird Ape. I played a Wall of Roots. He played a Rancor on the Ape, and passed the turn, missing his land drop.
Huh. Who doesn’t attack here? It’s not like he would have risked anything. As it turns out, I would have certainly taken 4 damage, since I didn’t want to lose the Wall to a post-combat land + burn spell.
Of course, the reason I wanted the wall to live is because I had the turn three win. How lucky.
Game 2: He opened with another Kird Ape, which got to hit for some damage this time. I also had another turn two Wall of Roots. Having drawn lands this game, Trevor tapped out on turn three for a Troll Ascetic, which was unfortunate for him since I had another turn three win.
I apologized afterwards, making sure to tell Trevor that Aluren is not designed to go off on turn three and almost never does. I don’t think that made him feel much better, but he did tell me he was happy to see the deck doing well. Thanks for taking the bad beats well, Trevor.
Round 4: Rian Litchard (kirdape) with RBU Vial Affinity
Game 1: As a member of Team Meandeck, Rian might have been the only other person in the room who had any sort of experience with Aluren. It was a little intimidating knowing that my opponent had probably tested my deck more than I had.
I lost the die roll this time, and so was facing down a very quick clock. His draw was strong, with a second-turn Ravager which I Forced, some more pressure on turn three, and a lethal Fling on turn four, which I had another Force for. At the end of that turn, I Intuitioned for Alurens, leaving my hand as Cavern Harpy, Raven Familiar, and Aluren. I had to pull a land off the top to win the game, so I tap the top of my deck and riiiiiip a Windswept Heath like a sack.
Game 2: I mulled two no-landers into 5 lands this game. My subsequent draws weren’t so awful, but his opening 7 was more than enough to bury me, especially with him going first.
Game 3: This game was similar to Game 1, but I was on the play, which left me with some breathing room. When I played Aluren and showed him Harpy + Familiar, he scooped.
Round 5: Adam Barnello (Mr. Nightmare) with Hanni/EPIC Fish
Game 1: He started with a Mother of Runes, which is only relevant in that it makes Meddling Mage a lot more annoying. Of course, he dropped a Mage on turn two. Luckily, my Force was not countered by one of his own. I risked walking into Daze by playing a turn-two Wall of Roots, but it resolved without hesitation. When Adam passed his third turn without playing a man, I made a play that could easily have cost me the game. I ran out Aluren, without having the combo in hand yet. Fish decks rarely play Counterspell, the Wall resolving probably meant he didn’t have a Daze, and me having the Witness in my hand made walking the Aluren into a Force acceptable. I also (incorrectly) deduced that Adam didn’t have creatures in hand, since he had passed the last turn without playing any.
Aluren resolved, and Adam did nothing before untapping and taking his turn, so I thought I had made the correct play. He continued to miss his third land drop for a turn or two, until he decided to tap out on his main phase to play a Meddling Mage.
He didn’t realize Aluren was symmetrical. I did my best not to give anything away. I played Witness in response, getting back Force of Will, and hardcast the Force on Mage. I untapped, drew, and passed back to Adam.
It was either this turn or the next in which he realized his mistake. At the end of that turn, he played a Dark Confidant, a Serra Avenger, and a Jotun Grunt. By then, however, I had drawn into gas, and with him down to only one or two cards in hand, I easily went off before letting him take his turn.
Game 2: Adam began this game exactly like the last one, with a first-turn Mother of Runes and a second-turn Mage. This time, the Mage resolved (naming Aluren), and was quickly joined by a Pithing Needle (on Cavern Harpy). However, none of that nonsense could really pose a threat through my Walls. At some point, I played a Raven Familiar, and paid the echo for it, followed by a Cabal Therapy for Force of Will. Seeing a hand of Stifle, Confidant x2, and Serra Avenger, I passed the turn, to see Adam play a Confidant and the Avenger. This set up nicely for me to sacrifice the Familiar to flashback the Therapy, naming Stifle, and then drop a Pernicious Deed and take out 5 cards for 1. Adam cursed his scouts for not knowing about Deed (I told him he should have read Toad’s article), played the second Confidant, and passed. I played Deed number two, and attempted to kill off the Confidant (his last gas, I had hoped), just to see that he had topdecked a Stifle. He proceeded to flip a land off of Confidant, but draw and play another Confidant, and passed back. At this point I thought I should go for the win. I played Aluren, Raven Familiared into Chain of Vapor, and used the Chain of Vapor trick to replay the Familiar five or six times, plus however many Man-o-Wars and other Familiars I found. However, after looking at probably close to 30 cards, I didn’t find a Cavern Harpy, and I had tapped out and was unable to play the Intuition I had drawn, so I was forced to simply play all four Walls of Roots and pass the turn. Adam drew chaff off the Confidants, but both of my Raven Familiars died during my upkeep since I had recklessly sacrificed all of my lands to the Chain of Vapor (what an awful mistake). However, lucky as I am, I drew Eternal Witness for the turn, which allowed me to win after playing land + Intuition for Cavern Harpies & Man-o-War. At least I had Force of Will backup in case Adam had drawn something relevant.
Round 6: Bennett Toms with RB Vial Goblins
We ID.
Top 8: Phil Stolze (legacyplayer0) with WUB Angel Stompy
Game 1: I lost the die roll, and Phil opened with Chrome Mox and Meddling Mage (naming Aluren) on turn one. It sure sucks when your opponent knows what you’re playing. I Therapied him for Jitte on turn two (thinking that that’s his best way through my walls), but saw only Brainstorm and land. Unfortunately, he used the Brainstorm to find a Sword of Fire and Ice on turn three, which resolved and was successfully equipped to the Mage on turn four. He also had a Swords to Plowshares for my Wall of Roots, which worsened the situation. Suffice it to say that a Mage with Pro: Blue and 6 power is very difficult for Aluren to deal with before sideboarding.
Game 2: This game lasted quite a bit longer, with Phil’s disruption doing its job, but my walls doing their job almost as well. I know that I used a Deed early on to wipe away a Mage or something, although his Knight of the Holy Nimbus lived through it. I also threw this game away.
There was a point at which Phil had a Mage (naming Aluren), a Pithing Needle (naming Cavern Harpy), and two Knights of the Holy Nimbus in play, and I thought I had worked out a way to win. It involved playing Chain of Vapor on Mage, playing Aluren, playing Eternal Witness for Chain of Vapor, and then playing Raven Familiar and Cavern Harpy to find the land I needed to play the Chain of Vapor on the Pithing Needle. I drew the second Pernicious Deed for that turn, and I could have played it and activated it to simply destroy the Mage and the Needle, but instead I went for what I thought was a win. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the plan that I realized Phil could replay the Mage at instant speed, thanks to Aluren, which forced me to take a Force of Will off of the second Familiar trigger, instead of the land I needed. I ended up passing the turn, hoping to go off the next turn.
Phil actually played the Mage during his main phase on the next turn, so I Forced it, but he had drawn another, which resolved (naming Chain of Vapor, I think). This meant that I had to play and activate the Deed the next turn, which unfortunately took all of my combo creatures with it. His Knights lived through this Deed as well, and he later was able to play two Exalted Angels and a Jitte to put some real pressure on me. On the last turn, I was able to play a Wall of Blossoms and bounce it with a Man-o-War, but couldn’t dig into the win. I’m pretty sure I made plenty of mistakes this game, and I certainly earned the loss.
Bonus Section: The Mana Leak Open
Like I said, my memory isn't great, and I didn't take any notes. I can remember what I played against, though.
Day 1:
2-0-0 vs. B/W Pox (Josh Race, Scrumdogg's son)
2-1-0 vs. Iggy Pop
2-1-0 vs. TES (Bryant Cook, wastedlife)
1-1-0 vs. U/B Landstill (Scott Scheurer, overlord95)
2-1-0 vs. Faerie Stompy
ID vs. Enchantress (Zach Tartell, lonelybaritone)
4-0-2 after the swiss, 9-4-0 in games
Top 8: Dave Price (quicksilver) with RGb Survival
He raped me with 4 discard spells in game 1, and I beat him when he didn't draw them in multiples in game 2. Game 3 was amusing because I ended up going into beatdown mode. The critical turn was when I let Spike Feeder die without moving the counters onto a Raven Familiar, opting instead to use the mana to Man-o-War Dave's BoP. Seeing as how Dave later had to activate Baloths three times to stay alive, I think I would have won the game had I grown the Familiar. Hindsight is always 20:20, though.
Day 2:
1-1-1 vs. Train Wreck (Jim)
1-2-0 vs. U/W Landstill
2-0-0 vs. GaT (Ebinsugewa)
1-1-1 vs. Red Death (Jon Rusecki, Mr. Nipples)
1-1-2 drop, 5-4-2 in games
I actually scooped to Jon because I had been paired up against him, and I was out of contention with a draw, anyway.
My day 1 record shows that Aluren can put up decent results against Tendrils decks, which will probably become more popular after this tournament (Congratulations to Wastedlife). Also note that Aluren placed without playing against any Goblins or other aggro decks (depending on how you classify Faerie Stompy). Take that how you will.
All four matches on day 2 took forever, and three of them went to extra turns (in round 2 against Landstill, I lost game 3 on turn 5). I take this to mean that I need very badly to speed up my play with the deck.
I hope you enjoyed the read!
Unfortunately, I didn't take notes at The Mana Leak Open, and remembering details about matches from the two-day event proved impossible. So I can't give a report from that tournament.
However, I did actually write out a report the night I got home from the GAGG tournament on February 17th. I never bothered to post it, so now its two weeks old, but I think it still holds value.
I played Toad’s exact maindeck, which I started testing with a couple of months ago, and haven't changed to this day. It seems very well built, and I'm just not comfortable altering it, yet.
4x Aluren
4x Brainstorm
3x Intuition
4x Raven Familiar
3x Man-o-War
3x Cavern Harpy
2x Chain of Vapor
1x Eternal Witness
1x Spike Feeder
4x Force of Will
4x Wall of Roots
3x Wall of Blossoms
3x Cabal Therapy
4x Tropical Island
4x Bayou
3x Wooded Foothills
2x Windswept Heath
2x Polluted Delta
5x Island
1x Forest
I did change the sideboard a little, though.
3x Disrupt
3x Null Rod
2x Blue Elemental Blast
2x Hydroblast
2x Pernicious Deed
1x Cabal Therapy
1x Wall of Blossoms
1x Loaming Shaman
I replaced Divert with Disrupt because Disrupt is more versatile, being strong against storm combo and Red Death as well as Deadguy Ale-type decks. The Null Rods are there to help out against Iggy Pop and TES, which I expected to be well represented at this tournament.
Round 1: RW Vial Goblins
Game 1: I remember having a hunch as we shuffled up that he was playing Goblins. I win the roll, and end up keeping a hand that is pretty good against Goblins, but fairly weak against any sort of combo deck (no Therapies or Forces). I was pleasantly surprised to see him open with a Lackey, and happily threw down a Wall to stop it. After that, the game dragged on a little, with him getting like three Vials and two Lackeys but not much else, and me clogging up the ground with multiple Walls and I believe the Spike Feeder. Eventually, he got out a Siege-Gang, killed the Feeder, and started actually doing damage. The turn before I would have finally died to his horde, I topdecked whatever missing piece I needed, and started going off Necropotence-style with Harpy, Man-o-war, and Wall of Blossoms. Eventually I found the Witness, got back the Feeder, and gained infinite life. I didn’t feel like showing him the full combo, so I convinced him that scooping is better than waiting to get beaten down by Cavern Harpies while I sit behind two million life points.
Game 2: Both of us drew much better this game, which favored me more than it did him. He tapped out for a Ringleader twice before I was able to assemble the combo and go off. After I juggle a Raven Familiar and a Cavern Harpy a few times, he asked me if Aluren is symmetrical. When I told him that of course it is, he immediately dropped 5 Goblins onto the table, which I found sort of amusing. I asked if he was putting them all onto the stack at once, and he replied “er, one at a time.” They were all completely irrelevant, of course, and I continued going off safe in the knowledge that the last two cards in his hand were almost certainly blank.
…Although after the game he showed me that he was holding Armageddon. That would have sucked, if he had found white mana. Whew.
Round 2: Anwar (AnwarA101) with Red Death
Game 1: Getting paired against another Virginian sucked, but we knew this would be a good match, at least. I won the die roll, but he opened with Dark Ritual + Phyrexian Negator. Honestly, that’s about the scariest thing Red Death can do against Aluren. I took some beats, but he was light on disruption and threats other than the Negator. I had a turn two Wall of Roots, and a turn three Man-o-War for the Negator, but no Therapy to get rid of it for good. A few turns later, I had another Man-o-War, along with a Force of Will (pitching another Force) to finally kill the damn thing, but this completely depleted my hand. At this point, Anwar began topdecking land destruction effects like he was being paid to, and he actually forced me to Intuition for lands when he targeted my last land with a Sinkhole (cast off of two Walls of Roots). Alas, I could not draw enough lands to resolve Aluren by the time I found one, and Anwar finally found some more big black beats to put the game away.
Game 2: This game dragged on just like the first, with Anwar’s draws being very threat-light once again. I resolved a Pernicious Deed early on, but was hesitant to use it when Anwar finally found a Negator. I took the beats for a couple of turns, and then made a mistake that probably cost me the game. When he attacked with the Negator when I was below 10 life, I had a Witness in play. I decided that, rather than use the Deed, I should Chain of Vapor the Witness, and then sacrifice a land to copy it targeting the Negator. Anwar obviously sacrificed a land to bounce the Deed, as well. The play was awful because I didn’t have the mana to play and activate Deed the following turn, while Anwar did have the mana to replay the Negator, but what made it even worse was the Wasteland on my Bayou (my only black source) that I didn’t see coming. Anwar then played both the bounced Negator and a backup copy he’d been holding, I drew a Tropical Island for my next turn, and I lost the game in short order.
I had gone through about half of the deck without finding an Aluren, which would have immediately won me the game in any of the latter turns, but I still could have probably won the game if I had played correctly.
Round 3: Trevor (Getsickanddie) with Garv.dec
Game 1: I won the roll once again, and lead with a fetchland. He lead with a fetchland as well, but cracked it for a Taiga and played a Kird Ape. I played a Wall of Roots. He played a Rancor on the Ape, and passed the turn, missing his land drop.
Huh. Who doesn’t attack here? It’s not like he would have risked anything. As it turns out, I would have certainly taken 4 damage, since I didn’t want to lose the Wall to a post-combat land + burn spell.
Of course, the reason I wanted the wall to live is because I had the turn three win. How lucky.
Game 2: He opened with another Kird Ape, which got to hit for some damage this time. I also had another turn two Wall of Roots. Having drawn lands this game, Trevor tapped out on turn three for a Troll Ascetic, which was unfortunate for him since I had another turn three win.
I apologized afterwards, making sure to tell Trevor that Aluren is not designed to go off on turn three and almost never does. I don’t think that made him feel much better, but he did tell me he was happy to see the deck doing well. Thanks for taking the bad beats well, Trevor.
Round 4: Rian Litchard (kirdape) with RBU Vial Affinity
Game 1: As a member of Team Meandeck, Rian might have been the only other person in the room who had any sort of experience with Aluren. It was a little intimidating knowing that my opponent had probably tested my deck more than I had.
I lost the die roll this time, and so was facing down a very quick clock. His draw was strong, with a second-turn Ravager which I Forced, some more pressure on turn three, and a lethal Fling on turn four, which I had another Force for. At the end of that turn, I Intuitioned for Alurens, leaving my hand as Cavern Harpy, Raven Familiar, and Aluren. I had to pull a land off the top to win the game, so I tap the top of my deck and riiiiiip a Windswept Heath like a sack.
Game 2: I mulled two no-landers into 5 lands this game. My subsequent draws weren’t so awful, but his opening 7 was more than enough to bury me, especially with him going first.
Game 3: This game was similar to Game 1, but I was on the play, which left me with some breathing room. When I played Aluren and showed him Harpy + Familiar, he scooped.
Round 5: Adam Barnello (Mr. Nightmare) with Hanni/EPIC Fish
Game 1: He started with a Mother of Runes, which is only relevant in that it makes Meddling Mage a lot more annoying. Of course, he dropped a Mage on turn two. Luckily, my Force was not countered by one of his own. I risked walking into Daze by playing a turn-two Wall of Roots, but it resolved without hesitation. When Adam passed his third turn without playing a man, I made a play that could easily have cost me the game. I ran out Aluren, without having the combo in hand yet. Fish decks rarely play Counterspell, the Wall resolving probably meant he didn’t have a Daze, and me having the Witness in my hand made walking the Aluren into a Force acceptable. I also (incorrectly) deduced that Adam didn’t have creatures in hand, since he had passed the last turn without playing any.
Aluren resolved, and Adam did nothing before untapping and taking his turn, so I thought I had made the correct play. He continued to miss his third land drop for a turn or two, until he decided to tap out on his main phase to play a Meddling Mage.
He didn’t realize Aluren was symmetrical. I did my best not to give anything away. I played Witness in response, getting back Force of Will, and hardcast the Force on Mage. I untapped, drew, and passed back to Adam.
It was either this turn or the next in which he realized his mistake. At the end of that turn, he played a Dark Confidant, a Serra Avenger, and a Jotun Grunt. By then, however, I had drawn into gas, and with him down to only one or two cards in hand, I easily went off before letting him take his turn.
Game 2: Adam began this game exactly like the last one, with a first-turn Mother of Runes and a second-turn Mage. This time, the Mage resolved (naming Aluren), and was quickly joined by a Pithing Needle (on Cavern Harpy). However, none of that nonsense could really pose a threat through my Walls. At some point, I played a Raven Familiar, and paid the echo for it, followed by a Cabal Therapy for Force of Will. Seeing a hand of Stifle, Confidant x2, and Serra Avenger, I passed the turn, to see Adam play a Confidant and the Avenger. This set up nicely for me to sacrifice the Familiar to flashback the Therapy, naming Stifle, and then drop a Pernicious Deed and take out 5 cards for 1. Adam cursed his scouts for not knowing about Deed (I told him he should have read Toad’s article), played the second Confidant, and passed. I played Deed number two, and attempted to kill off the Confidant (his last gas, I had hoped), just to see that he had topdecked a Stifle. He proceeded to flip a land off of Confidant, but draw and play another Confidant, and passed back. At this point I thought I should go for the win. I played Aluren, Raven Familiared into Chain of Vapor, and used the Chain of Vapor trick to replay the Familiar five or six times, plus however many Man-o-Wars and other Familiars I found. However, after looking at probably close to 30 cards, I didn’t find a Cavern Harpy, and I had tapped out and was unable to play the Intuition I had drawn, so I was forced to simply play all four Walls of Roots and pass the turn. Adam drew chaff off the Confidants, but both of my Raven Familiars died during my upkeep since I had recklessly sacrificed all of my lands to the Chain of Vapor (what an awful mistake). However, lucky as I am, I drew Eternal Witness for the turn, which allowed me to win after playing land + Intuition for Cavern Harpies & Man-o-War. At least I had Force of Will backup in case Adam had drawn something relevant.
Round 6: Bennett Toms with RB Vial Goblins
We ID.
Top 8: Phil Stolze (legacyplayer0) with WUB Angel Stompy
Game 1: I lost the die roll, and Phil opened with Chrome Mox and Meddling Mage (naming Aluren) on turn one. It sure sucks when your opponent knows what you’re playing. I Therapied him for Jitte on turn two (thinking that that’s his best way through my walls), but saw only Brainstorm and land. Unfortunately, he used the Brainstorm to find a Sword of Fire and Ice on turn three, which resolved and was successfully equipped to the Mage on turn four. He also had a Swords to Plowshares for my Wall of Roots, which worsened the situation. Suffice it to say that a Mage with Pro: Blue and 6 power is very difficult for Aluren to deal with before sideboarding.
Game 2: This game lasted quite a bit longer, with Phil’s disruption doing its job, but my walls doing their job almost as well. I know that I used a Deed early on to wipe away a Mage or something, although his Knight of the Holy Nimbus lived through it. I also threw this game away.
There was a point at which Phil had a Mage (naming Aluren), a Pithing Needle (naming Cavern Harpy), and two Knights of the Holy Nimbus in play, and I thought I had worked out a way to win. It involved playing Chain of Vapor on Mage, playing Aluren, playing Eternal Witness for Chain of Vapor, and then playing Raven Familiar and Cavern Harpy to find the land I needed to play the Chain of Vapor on the Pithing Needle. I drew the second Pernicious Deed for that turn, and I could have played it and activated it to simply destroy the Mage and the Needle, but instead I went for what I thought was a win. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the plan that I realized Phil could replay the Mage at instant speed, thanks to Aluren, which forced me to take a Force of Will off of the second Familiar trigger, instead of the land I needed. I ended up passing the turn, hoping to go off the next turn.
Phil actually played the Mage during his main phase on the next turn, so I Forced it, but he had drawn another, which resolved (naming Chain of Vapor, I think). This meant that I had to play and activate the Deed the next turn, which unfortunately took all of my combo creatures with it. His Knights lived through this Deed as well, and he later was able to play two Exalted Angels and a Jitte to put some real pressure on me. On the last turn, I was able to play a Wall of Blossoms and bounce it with a Man-o-War, but couldn’t dig into the win. I’m pretty sure I made plenty of mistakes this game, and I certainly earned the loss.
Bonus Section: The Mana Leak Open
Like I said, my memory isn't great, and I didn't take any notes. I can remember what I played against, though.
Day 1:
2-0-0 vs. B/W Pox (Josh Race, Scrumdogg's son)
2-1-0 vs. Iggy Pop
2-1-0 vs. TES (Bryant Cook, wastedlife)
1-1-0 vs. U/B Landstill (Scott Scheurer, overlord95)
2-1-0 vs. Faerie Stompy
ID vs. Enchantress (Zach Tartell, lonelybaritone)
4-0-2 after the swiss, 9-4-0 in games
Top 8: Dave Price (quicksilver) with RGb Survival
He raped me with 4 discard spells in game 1, and I beat him when he didn't draw them in multiples in game 2. Game 3 was amusing because I ended up going into beatdown mode. The critical turn was when I let Spike Feeder die without moving the counters onto a Raven Familiar, opting instead to use the mana to Man-o-War Dave's BoP. Seeing as how Dave later had to activate Baloths three times to stay alive, I think I would have won the game had I grown the Familiar. Hindsight is always 20:20, though.
Day 2:
1-1-1 vs. Train Wreck (Jim)
1-2-0 vs. U/W Landstill
2-0-0 vs. GaT (Ebinsugewa)
1-1-1 vs. Red Death (Jon Rusecki, Mr. Nipples)
1-1-2 drop, 5-4-2 in games
I actually scooped to Jon because I had been paired up against him, and I was out of contention with a draw, anyway.
My day 1 record shows that Aluren can put up decent results against Tendrils decks, which will probably become more popular after this tournament (Congratulations to Wastedlife). Also note that Aluren placed without playing against any Goblins or other aggro decks (depending on how you classify Faerie Stompy). Take that how you will.
All four matches on day 2 took forever, and three of them went to extra turns (in round 2 against Landstill, I lost game 3 on turn 5). I take this to mean that I need very badly to speed up my play with the deck.
I hope you enjoyed the read!