5th at SCG Indy Legacy Open with GW on 6/17/12

Hello everyone, I’m Michael Antrim, and hail from Southeast Michigan. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here (I used to play RecSur), and mostly prefer to develop my decks individually. I’m been playing GW since Survival was banned, somewhere around here, and have been tearing up Michigan Legacy ever since. I’ve won thousands in the two years or so I’ve played this deck, and when I want to win, I play GW. I haven’t top 8ed an Open before this, but I’ve only been outside top 32 once, and that was a time I dropped to be with my girlfriend instead. I’ve also placed 20th at least 3 times. It’s safe to say I was cursed.

In the month leading up to the Indy Invitational/Open, my crew had gotten burned out after the GP in Indy, and it looked like none of them wanted to go, with the Detroit Open the weekend after. So I asked my girlfriend if she’d like to go, and she did. I got a room at the Marriott Fairfield, which is conveniently located next to the convention center, as well as the many museums, parks, and zoo.

Friday evening after dinner we left for Indy, and Saturday we hung out, walked around Indy for two hours looking for a store that sold sunscreen above spf 20 for my girlfriend so we could go to the zoo. After we finally found a CVS (I’m new to the whole smartphone thing), we walked all the way back towards the zoo. She was really excited for the free dolphin shows at the zoo, but naturally all showings were sold out on this above 90 degree day. So we walked around the rest of the zoo. It’s much smaller than the Detroit Zoo, but was still pretty nice.

Sunday morning I wake up later than I normally would since I don’t have to get friends up and fight for a shower and ect. I also got about 7 hours of sleep, which is about 3-4 more hours than normal since some like to get drunk or just won’t go to bed. I don’t even have to go downstairs for breakfast, as the day before I took about 7 Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches from the continental breakfast and put them in the mini fridge.

I get over to the convention center at 9, meeting up with Jason Golembiewski, who is living about an hour away for the summer. He wanted a combo deck that he didn’t have to understand the state of the meta in. He got the choice of Hypergenesis, or Belcher. He went Belcher, and came in 31st. Some other Michiganders find us and we talk with them for a bit while we wait for the tournament to start.

Here’s my list for this event:

4 Mother of Runes
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Thrun, the Last Troll

1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

2 Sylvan Library

4 Green Sun’s Zenith

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Savannah
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Dryad Arbor
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Gaea’s Cradle


3 Path to Exile
3 Faerie Macabre
3 Phyrexian Revoker (Star City has this listed as Phyrexian Metamorphs)
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Bojuka Bog


Round One: Maverick
My round one starts off against another Michigander. In the past he played Dredge and Cephalid Breakfast. He claims to be playing something different without any experience. I keep my opener as it has an Ooze just in case.

Turns out he wasn’t lying, he’s on Maverick. I cast a turn two SyIvan Library , he Zeniths up a Knight, which makes my Ooze keep pretty strong. I follow that up with a Knight of my own and next turn my Ooze. He Plows the first Ooze, and I Knight up a Cradle to GSZ up another Ooze and finish what the first one started. He packs it in after my Knight and Ooze are fat and happy.

Boarding:
-3 Thalia
-1 Teeg
-1 Sword of Fire and Ice

+1 Jitte
+3 Path to Exile
+1 Pridgemage

Game two he lands his one-of Elspeth, and the game drags on. He misses Scyrb Ranger/Dryad Arbor interactions, opting to Wasteland himself instead rather than give me Jitte counters to kill his ‘indestructible’ creatures, so I stay in until he drops a his whole hand in.

With less than 10 minutes on the clock, game 3 begins. We both play Moms, but he plows mine. I cast a Library, and he fixes his mana with a GSZ. A couple turns later, I EOT Plow his Mom to tap it, then cast and equip the Jitte I’ve kept on the top of my library. He only has 1/1 creatures, so I take out the Mom and a mana source, and when the Jitte gets in again, I take the rest of his 1/1’s, leaving him stranded.

Round Two: BUG
My opponent shows me a Force, a check list card, Island, Counterspell, as well as something black. Figured it was some sorta Delver variant. I would have kept most anything game 1 against a BUG deck, he keeps his seven, yet all my hands only contained one land. 6-5-4, keep a one lander (basic plains) with Thalia on the play, sounds like a winner. I draw Wasteland after a turn or two, cast my Thaliaand it gets Forced, which is migrates having to keep this terrible hand. Maybe I’ll get this after all. He casts a Top, then Forces whatever I try to play next, leaving me with a Teeg in hand, and him with nothing. He gets a 4/5 Goyf with his top, and I cast the Teeg with a Horizon Canopy. The Teeg get his Throat removed, and my Mother I cast after that is dispatched with an Edict. Not bad for a mull to 4 I suppose. Eli Kassis, sitting parallel, agrees, and notes he went down to 4 in his game as well, but didn’t fair half as well.

Boarding:
-1 Teeg
-1 Pridemage

+2 Path to Exile

I board in 2 Paths, as I saw those checklist cards, and am expecting Delver, and an unanswered Delver is a good way to lose a game. I stick a turn two Library, and turn 4 Thrun. Good stuff.

In game 3 I stick a Library as well, to find a Sword of Light and Shadow. When it isn’t countered, he tries to make me sac the creature I’m trying to equip, but I fetch a Dryad Arbor, and sac that instead. Then get it back with a Sword hit, and play it. He gets Dark Confidant, I plow it, I play some white cards that won’t get Perished, all the while beating down with a Mother equipped with Light and Shadow. He Perishes, at some point, but it is quite ineffective.

It turns out the checklist card was a Garruk Relantless. >.<

Round Three: Sneak and Show
Game one, I win the roll, he keeps a hand with nonbasics; I keep a hand with Thalia and Wastelands. I see a Volcanic Ponder, cast a Thalia with Wasteland open, it resolves, so I Waste that Volcanic. He plays another Volcanic, I Waste that one, play Hierarch, beat for 3 twice, then he concedes.

He’s either Sneak and Show or RUG. The problem is these decks are both on the opposite spectrum. I don’t want to board for one and get completely hosed, so I work up a hybrid plan that isn’t boarding all my Sneak and Show hate, as Revoker’s and Mindcensor’s aren’t very good against Forked Bolt and Sulfur Elemental.

Game 2, it turns out he’s Sneak Attack, and he Shows up a Sneak Attack, Emrakuling me, than following that up with a Grislbrand.

Boarding:
-4 Swords to Plowshares
-1 Thrun, the Last Troll
-1 Jitte
-1 Scavenging Ooze

+3 Phyrexian Revoker
+1 Teeg
+1 Pridemage
+2 Aven Mindcensor

A turn 1 GSZ for me, a turn 1 Show and Tell for him. I Show him my Knight, he Shows me his Emrakul, and I Show him my Karakas.

Round Four: Affinity
I lose the roll, and I opponent drops his hand on the board. Mennite, Mennite, Frogmite, Opal, blah, blah, Signal Pest. I take a couple hits, but play some guys that aren’t 1/1’s, so I can start trading. A Stoneforge Mystic nabs a Jitte, and Jitte makes quick work of his x/1’s. The game ends with me at 4, but Jitte doesn’t even make it look close.

Boarding:
-3 Thalia
-1 Teeg
-4 Mother of Runes

+3 Path to Exile
+3 Revoker
+1 Pridemage
+1 Jitte

Game 2, Jitte.

Round Five: BW
He wins the roll, and leads off a Chrome Mox imprinting Lingering Souls, land, Stoneforge Mystic for Jitte. He passes with only those two mana sources. I play a land, and a Library, and next turn a Mystic of my own to get my Jitte. He plays a land and Lingering Souls. My Library doesn’t reveal any lands, which I need, so I have to GSZ for a Dryad Arbor instead of the Pridemage I wanted to. He puts in Batterskull EOT, which I am ill prepared for, as I was expecting a Jitte. I get beat by a Germ and two Souls. EOT I put in my Jitte. My library yields a second Horizon Canopy, which I’m forced to take over my Sword of Light and Shadow so I can equip my Jitte to my Mystic and cast a Hierarch. Swinging in for an Exalted two, he blocks my Mystic with his Batterskull, and I used the Jitte counters to kill the Germ, buying myself some time. He casts his Jitte next turn to Legend rule mine, and beats for 2. I pick up the Light and Shadow, but still don’t have the mana to cast and equip in the same turn. I believe I cast another Hierarch, beat for 2, and leave mana open to Plow something. He casts another Lingering Souls, and then plays Hymn to Tourche. I concede, not wanting him to see my trump, Light and Shadow. Double Horizon Canopy against Lingering Souls was not so strong.

Boarding:
-1 Teeg
-3 Thalia
-1 Sword of Fire and Ice

+3 Path to Exile
+1 Jitte
+1 Pridemage

I don’t remember a lot about game 2. I get a Jitte online, he answers with a Revoker, and I plow that Revoker.

Game 3 he doesn’t play anything for 2 turns, despite keeping his 7. He must have a lot of Perishes. I set up a Library. Turn 3 he plays Lingering Souls, and I play Ooze on my turn, removing the spell from his grave. Somewhere I land a Jitte, kill the Souls. He casts his Jitte, and I cast and equip the Jitte I’ve kept hidden on the top of my Library.

Round Six: Merfolk
Apparently Merfolk is back, and I’ve seen quite a few people playing it and saw this guy playing it near me last round. He wins the roll, and leads with an Island. I kept a 6 with a Hierarch, Sword of Fire and Ice, Library, and lands and a Pridemage. I cast a Hierarch, and he plays a Wasteland on his turn, casting Aethe Vial. I play Pridemage next turn, and sac to destroy the Vial. He then casts Phantasmal Image, copying my Hierarch. That’s weird, but I guess he really needed that Vial. I cast Library, and he Wastes my Savannah on his turn. Also weird, considering he needed that mana, I hadn’t missing a land drop yet, and I have a Library, but whatever. Next turn I pick up a Mom, cast her, and play a land, beat for one with the Noble. He Silvergills into land, revealing a Lord, I cast Fire and Ice which is Spell Pieced, but paid for. He plays two Lords and I block with Mom, and prevent the damage. I equip Fire and Ice on my Noble, and start swinging, killing the Phantasmal Image copying the Hierarch. He swings back I block the Silvergill again with Mom, and take some damage. Next turn I GSZ for 0, looking for a Dryad to chump, and cast a Pridemage to block as well. Swing in again with my double Exalted Hierarch. Chump his team with Mom, Pridemage, and the Arbor. Swing in for the win next turn.

Boarding:

-1 Teeg
-3 Thalia
-1 Sword of Light and Shadow

+3 Path to Exile
+1 Jitte
+1 Pridemage

Game 2 he’s on the play and leads with Submerge your mana dork , Silvergill, Silvergill, Lord, Lord, Force your Plow. Yep. That’s the Merfolk I remember. Wasn’t even close.

I mull to 6 on the play, and he’s keeping his 7. Mull to 5 at this point seems like a death sentence, so I keep the terrible 6 which is, Dryad Arbor, Cradle, Wasteland, Wasteland, Plains, and Path to Exile. So I play Dryad Arbor and pray he doesn’t Dismember, Wasteland or Submerge it, as I’ll have no actually way to make green mana if he does. “You gotta risk it for the biscuit.” He plays an Island, and passes. I draw another Wasteland, awesome, play the Plains, beat for 1. He plays a turn 2 Commander and passes. I draw Mom, and cast her. He levels his Commander and beats for 3. I draw and cast Jitte, which is Forced. He levels his Commander again, and I Path him to buy myself some more time. He Wastes my Arbor. I draw and cast Pridemage. He plays another Commander, and levels him twice. I cast a Knight, which is a 4/4. He plays a Mutavualt, and plays Lord of Atlantis, and an Image, copying the Lord. He beats for 5, and my Mother blocks. I draw a Plow and cast it immediately targeting the Commander, he Forces. I start to lose hope. He levels the Commander all the way, playing the last card in his hand, a land (leaving him hellbent), and swings with everything, even the Vault. Had he just swung with the Flying 6/6 Commander, I’d be dead in 2 turns, but instead, I Waste the Vault, making Knight a 5/5, block the Lord with that Knight, block the Image with my Pridemge and Mom, and give the Mom pro-blue. His attack leaves him with only a Commander, and I only lose my cat. At this point, I’ve got a couple live draws, 6 Plows, 2 Mystics, 1 Jitte, I Fire and Ice. Topdeck Jitte, equip to the Knight and swing. He swings back after playing a Rejeery, and I remove one Jitte counter to live at 1 or 2. Swing back again, get more counters, cast a Library and pass. Gain 6 for Jitte, block with Mother, and I live at 1 again. Go to the Library in my draw step, and find that Plow I’ve always wanted. Jitte finishes the other Lord off, and I’m back in business.

Round Seven: UR Delver
I spotted this fellow over a couple seats last round, and know he’s on UR Delver. He says something about winning a couple Opens already, and seems like a really cool guy. He wins the roll and leads with a Mountain, Grim Lavamancer. My Mother in my hand is disappointed. I play the Mom turn one anyways, as a bolt to a creature is better than a bolt to the dome here. He Ponders, finds a Chain Lighting for my sick Mom, and he beats for 1. I play a Library, and he follows up with another Lavamancer, beating for 1 again. Library reveals Thrun and Jitte, so I take the Jitte and cast a Pridemage. One burnt cat later, he beats for 1 again. I windmill slam the Thrun off the top, and he laughs at how awesome that is. Next turn I cast the Jitte off the top, which is Pierced and paid for, and I equip and swing. He flashes in Snapcaster, flashing back a bolt at my face, and triple blocking Thrun, I only have Waste open (Price insurance) and I do not have enough mana to regen. I figured it might happen, but 3 for 1’ing is pretty good, and I’m not going to win by not using that Jitte. So both boards are wiped, he has one in hand, and I have a Jitte with two counters, and I’m at about 14 life. He draws and casts Delver, I library and pick up a creature, and remove a counter to kill the Delver. He concedes

Boarding:
-1 Teeg
-1 Sword of Fire and Ice
-2 Pridemage

+3 Path to Exile
+1 Jitte

Mull to 6 on the draw. My Oozes that I cast didn’t live long enough to gain life, and on a critical turn I play Light and Shadow, equip to my Dryad Arbor, attack, and the Sword is blown up by Crush. I then get Priced for 4, followed by a Snapbacked Price for 4, then bolted.

In game 3 I’m on the play, and after three turns he’s got nothing but lands on board. My hand was pretty solid, containing a basic Forest and a Windswept, other nonbasic and some business. Tap out with my Plains, Forest, Arbor, and Waste because I’m the one with a clock, and he’s got nonbasics as well. He ends up Pricing 3 times, bringing me down to around 8, and him to 9 as he fetched another Volcanic to Snapcast for the third time. I play an Ooze, and pass, looking to go lethal next turn. On his turn he Brainstorms, plays a basic, Puts in another Snapcaster targeting the other Price, I do not respond. Before flashing back Price, he Submerges my Knight, which I activate, and he responds by Pricing. I float a white, waste my Karakas, and Plow my Knight to gain 5 (as I have another via GSZ in my hand). He casts his last card, a Goblin Guide, and swings. I trade an Arbor for the Snapcaster, floating a green, and take two, put me around 7. I gain one with Ooze, and he concedes as I get to untap with our graveyards stocked.

At this point I’m 7-0 and have 21 points, with the only other person with 21 being Chris Andersen on Elves and he’s beating me on tiebreakers.

I ID round 8 with Anderson. He asks if I’ve tested the matchup, I say I have, but tell him I think I got a pretty good shot (Boarding 9 cards should help, although I no longer have Canonists in the board which have always been really good in this matchup). It’s clear he doesn’t believe me, but I’d feel fine playing him in top 8.

I ID round 9 with Rudy Briksza on Esper Stoneblade as I’m still in second, and was looking to be one of the higher seeds to take advantage of the new ‘higher seed play/draw choice’ rule. My girlfriend shows up, and I go on a walk with her to Steak and Shake, as it’s the only place to get food in a reasonable amount of time in Indy on a Sunday as the whole city-mall shuts down. Naturally, the greasy burger upsets my stomach, and I regret eating anything at all.

After round 9 I wait with a friend who was waiting for his top 32 prize to hear the judge announce top 8. I’m in third coming into top 8, no surprises there. I’ve already sorted my deck, and I head over to the top 8 stage. Get some pictures taken and everything.

The coverage crew asks me what I’ve playing, and I get excited, as cause I’m ready to kick some ass on camera, and I know all my friends back home are watching. Nope, guess they still don’t like me, and probably wouldn’t feature me unless I was their only choice. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to go to the finals then.

So I’m paired against Brad Campbell with Goblins for the first round of top 8. Not bad, I think to myself, as I have a very positive record against Goblins, but I know it’s no cakewalk as sometimes they just get the nuts and you never really had a chance. Apparently Maverick was also Brads only loss in swiss. You can find the Star City written record here.

Essentially, Game one I blow up his Vial before it gets to 2 with a Pridemage. I then have a choice of casting my Library, Thalia, and/or my Mother. I choose Mother and Thalia, as he just played a Warchief, and I could be very dead that turn, as most of his Goblins cost 1 with a Warchief out. Turns out that was a good call as he then casts two Piledrivers and a Mogg War Marshal. If just one of those Piledrivers hit me, I would have been dead. The first striking Thalia was pretty good verses the Driver, and I let the Lackey hit me instead of trading the Mom, hoping that he didn’t have anything. He had a Ringleader that found Commander, Lackey, War Marshal, in that order. Yikes! My Library I casted last turn yielded a Plow for his only Siege-Gang, but my own Thalia choked my mana enough where I couldn’t GSZ for the Ooze I desperately needed, and two or three of my land were colorless Wastelands.

Boarding:
-1 Teeg
-3 Thalia
-1 Sword of Light and Shadow

+3 Path to Exile
+1 Jitte
+1 Aven Mindcensor

I take to the play again, and have to mull to 6. I keep a hand with Mother, Savannah, Dryad Arbor, GSZ, Library, and Pridemage. It probably wasn’t going to get any better with 5. I lead with Mom, he leads with a Vial. I play the Arbor, and GSZ to try and fix my mana problem. I pray he does not have Pyrokinesis, otherwise I’m going to look very stupid. He doesn’t, and just plays another Vial. I draw a land, and cast both the Library that will hopefully find me a Jitte. He casts Matron, and my stomach drops, as he tutors the Sharpshooter that makes my Arbors quake.

On my turn I Library into nothing but a Pridemage, and take and a GSZ it hoping to dig deeper next turn. I cast the Pridemage attacking with my other cat for double Exalted and try to put on some pressure, but my cat is met by a War Marshal, and Brad acquires two Goblins. Post combat I blow up the untapped Vial at 1 with a Pridemage first, making sure there are no surprise Lackeys. There aren’t, and I trade my other cat for his other Vial, which will hopefully contain his hand long enough to find a trump card. I’m attacked by three 1/1’s and I trade an Arbor now that I have Library, and block with Mom, to give pro red, taking one. He cast Warchief and ends. Look at my top 3, still no lands, I pick up a Hierarch over another Hierarch and something else that was no good. I GSZ to clear the chaff and look for an Ooze that has the potential to go big.

Brad casts a second Warchief, and then his Sharpshooter and passes it back, I exile a dead Goblin, growing the Ooze and gaining one. I feel pretty good with the on board Ooze, until I go to the Library a brick on lands, again. The top 3 cards are two Paths, and another Mom, and I still only have the single white source I started the game with. I pick up a Path to deal with the Sharpshooter and pass. He cracks his fetch and gets his last basic Mountain, and casts Matron for Incinerator. He shoots my Arbor, and I Path his Sharpshooter before it becomes a problem, and Brad has no more Mountains to fetch. He then casts a Ringleader, finding a Warchief and Incinerator. He passes the turn, and I removed another Goblin, making Ooze a 5/5 and putting me to 18.

I take the Mother from the Library, leaving a Path and Knight on top. I cast my second Mom, hoping to build my defense. Brad uses an Incinerator to target my non-sick Mother. I give it pro-red in response, and he removes another Incinerator to cast Pyrokinesis in response, killing both Mothers. He swings in with everything, and I declare Ooze to block the Warchief. Before damage, yet another Incinerator, Targeting Ooze for 6. I remove one more card to gain 1, and the Ooze dies, and I take 5. I finally find a land off my Library, but it’s too late to pick it up and it’s only a Wasteland, I need blockers. I take the Knight, and cast it, tapping out. Brad emptied his hand and used a fourth Incinerator to kill my Knight. I concede.


So after that, I finish 5th. I honestly don’t think I could have done anything differently, my hands weren’t great, my Libraries didn’t work with me, and Brad had some pretty good hands and played flawlessly. Brad goes on to win it all, so I don’t feel too bad about the lost either.

That said, hope you enjoyed the report, and I hope to see you in Detroit for the Star City Games Open this weekend, and feel free to engage me in conversation if you see me! Thanks for reading!

Props:
-Broke my 20th place curse
-My friends, supporting me all the way, checking up on me, and being great sports about me losing
-My girlfriend, who also supported me
-Each and everyone one of my opponents, who were all really nice people. Normally I play at least one asshole. Not this time! 

Slops:
-Only being able to find Steak and Shake right before top 8, it made my stomach upset :/
-Downtown Indy, which shuts down after 4 on Sundays (My girlfriend was no long occupied after that)
-The zoo, for selling out of dolphin shows, which we were excited for

Additionally, see the deck in foil here. :)

Hi,

Great finish!

How do you feel about the new Ajani? Do you believe it will make a difference?

Why don't you go with the 3 Hierarch/1 BoP plan if you're using SFM?

Good job Mikey! Did you finally get your Onslaught foil Heaths together?

Great report! This was a fun read, really well detailed, and also well written. You must either take a lot of notes during your games, remember this event especially vividly, or just make up stuff when need be because I was really impressed with all the details you crammed in there. Your decklist is also pretty sweet. Once again, good job on the report, good job on the Top-8, and thanks for the read!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Odd Mutation

Hi,

Great finish!

How do you feel about the new Ajani? Do you believe it will make a difference?

---

I wasn't really considering him for the deck, as his abilities didn't impress me much. Additionally, I don't think there is a matchup where he'd shine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AlmostGrown

Why don't you go with the 3 Hierarch/1 BoP plan if you're using SFM?

---

I'm a big fan of Exalted, I normally play 4 Pridemages. That said, I normally don't find myself Zenithing for 1 very often. Maybe if I did have a Birds, I'd do it more often.

I certainly don't think anyone is wrong on whether you should do the 4 or 3/1 spilt, it just comes down to preference. I obviously prefer Exalted.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Patrick

Good job Mikey! Did you finally get your Onslaught foil Heaths together?

---

I did! The last one showed up at my door a couple hours before I left, cutting it close! Maybe since I got all the best foils now is why I did so well. :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jrw1985

Great report! This was a fun read, really well detailed, and also well written. You must either take a lot of notes during your games, remember this event especially vividly, or just make up stuff when need be because I was really impressed with all the details you crammed in there. Your decklist is also pretty sweet. Once again, good job on the report, good job on the Top-8, and thanks for the read!

---

Heh, thanks a bunch! I don't take notes, but I started writing right when I got home (and I had the 4+ hour drive to think about everything).

Thanks everyone for the congrats and comments! :)

I just want to echo some on the earlier comments and say very nice report! You do a great job describing the details - your thought process, the board state, etc.

I like your list and it feels well-tuned.

In the Sneak and Show match up, I'm surprised you cut all 4 STPs. I can see your logic behind it, but STP does have value against Griselbrand. Usually, S&S cuts at least 1 Misdirection vs. Maverick, maybe more, so the S&S player is left searching for a FOW or the remaining Misdirection. What do you think about -2 SFM -2 SoXaY +4 STP in the Sneak and Show match up?

Also, I must commend you on your decision to remove Sword of Fire and Ice vs. UR Delver. When I first read that, I thought "He removed the SoFaI over the SoLaS!?!", but on second thought, it makes perfect sense. The life gain is more important than the protection from blue and red.

Very nice report, I can tell you have a lot of experience with this deck.

Thanks Water Wizard! :)

Yeah, you might be right about the Sneak and Show match up. I had been just doing that because I've found that I win that match up by being proactive, not reactive. That said, some Sneak and Shows keep Progenitus in the board for this match up, and Stoneforge and Light and Shadow shine if that happens.

Interestingly enough, Maverick is showing positive results against Sneak and Show (despite testing I've done), and I have beat it every time I've played it in the past few months. For now I'm still boarding on an case-by-case basis.

Yeah, against UR Delver, the equipments have to be all about the lifegain. Not too mention they normally would need to two for one to kill the equipped creature.

Thanks again for the comments and compliments!