[Deck] Spanish Inquisition (B/x Storm Combo)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JCLe

You are right about the blooms, they are good but seem unecessary. I just fished a bit with them and sure, it does assure you a turn 4 win and only when you have them in your opener. They do give you fuel, but the point is its not instant fuel and it seems clunky to me.
I realized also when goldfishing that I tend to mulligan and/or draw4 into crap more and it feels like I'd die to a fast clock. Maybe I didn't goldfish enough but it really doesn't feel consistent. Drawing the extra tendrils wasn't as good as drawing anything else in any other version imo, and it does give you some 2 tendrils or 2 belchers openers that are quite annoying. Too much win isnt superior to having more consistency through pact / slithermuse / cantor etc. as far as it seems for the 20 average fishes I did. The chrome mox argument seems pretty invalid as it could have been any other card that gets imprinted if you weren't gonna use it anyway.

I understand the fizzle argument but you have to keep in mind that it cost you 1 or 2 card slots that might have made you win.
I believe that more than 4 opal 4 chrome 4 petal is quite a bit overkill, I'd rather have more business (cut some tendrils or belchers and run the pact package, which makes you much more efficient imo)

---

I completely agree with the first part of your post. I don't like bloom either because every card in this deck counts, we need to optimize our draw 4's to win now instead of in 4 turns while we're sitting on 1-10 life. 4 Mox Opal is ideal though, atleast in the non-pact version. Because of Opal I've upped the number of initial mana sources from 14 to 17, which is a huge difference, making mulligans less frequent and much smoother, and making the belcher package much more deadly. Multiples can be casted for storm, and fuel the graveyard for Cabal Ritual. Although I'd prefer not to draw multiples, the gains of running 4 outweigh the risks.

I don't like the pact package though, I've found it rather clunky having to summoner's pact for elvish spirit guide, and pray for a good Draw4. In addition, it loses Empty the Warrens, which has won me many games against blue that I would not have won, and Dryad arbor has summoning sickness to tap for mana, which means if you fetch it to use as culling fodder, you've lost your land drop. Vice versa, if you drop a Bayou then you have no means to tutor for a free creature unless you run Skyshroud Cutter, which not many lists I've seen do.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nonkel

First, about the wing snare, its there for 1 purpose: Iona on black. With al the Survival Retainers decks out there its a good thing to have an out maindeck via Burning Wish with the deck. It happened to me the latest tournament, if Iona hits its GG... So you never side it in after game 1, it stays in your sideboard.
Then tell me, what do you do if you can cast IT but don't have 4 mana lying around after you cast it? I know about the problems with IGG thats why this build doesnt play it. Im also missing the point on IGG, please enlighten me about this card. If I can play IT and Im going for an IGG, I need 5 mana floating, 4 to cast it and 1 after so I can cast Dark Ritual. So the only scenario its usefull when you got a Dark Ritual, LED, IT and an additional mana. Looks like a far off chance if you ask me, but maybe Im missing something obvious.
Casting a Tombstalker turn 1 against Merfolk is GG, they dont have any answers to this maindeck. Against goblins also, you can block incoming stuff with ,Tallmen. Survival is a bit trickier because of plowshares, but I would still take my chances.

---

If survival gets an Iona on black then how often do you have the mana to wish and cast Wing Snare without black rituals? It seems like a one in a million potshot, it might just be better to devote that slot to improving the control match post board. SI is fast enough to race most of the hate, they can't resolve Iona until turn 4+, and by then you've either won or are staring down a Gaddock Teeg, or bad draws, but it happens when you play this deck. And if you can't cast IT with 4+ mana floating, I generally just wait. If I need to win now there's always the go all in on a draw4 plan, which rarely works, but it's there. I'm a huge fan of Tombstalker, he's won me a lot of games vs blue, but if he is MD he is just going to make one of your opponents almost dead cards (removal) into a 4+ for 1 (assuming you cracked LED discarding your hand). And merfolk does have an out to Tombstalker, Coralhelm Commander. In the last Vestal tourney I lost G1 vs merfolk, won G2 because of a turn 1 Tombstalker, then G3 went like this:

Merfolk: Turn 1 Island, Vial, Pass
Me: I forget the rituals but it wound up casting my whole hand but tendrils, and turn 1 Xantid Swarm and Tombstalker, and Thoughseizing away a Coralhelm Commander
Merfolk: Turn 2 Silvergill Adept, reveal Lord of Atlantis
Me: Swing, pass
Merfolk: Turn 3 Coralhelm Commander, level, Vial in LoA, swing
Me: Swing, pass
Merfolk: Turn 4 Standstill, level twice, Vial in Reejery

Now Coralhelm commander is as big as Tombstalker, and when he leveled it fully next turn it was gg. Merfolk should never be able to block a Tombstalker ]=. This was when I was 4-1 too.

I'll concede that drawing lotus bloom sucks when the opponent has you clocked, but I can't find anything better. If another ritual came out I'd run that instead. I'd put the blooms in the board then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarthVicious

I'll concede that drawing lotus bloom sucks when the opponent has you clocked, but I can't find anything better. If another ritual came out I'd run that instead. I'd put the blooms in the board then.

---

Ya, blooms in the board seems like a good idea. I just wouldn't put them MD, because they're best vs control and lackluster vs aggro.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarthVicious

I'll concede that drawing lotus bloom sucks when the opponent has you clocked, but I can't find anything better. If another ritual came out I'd run that instead. I'd put the blooms in the board then.

---

Hmhm, maybe try MD protection as a replacement? I used to run some before opal print and it could probably fit in your list fine, the turns you lose by being slower and/or less consistent (less ritual effects because of no blooms) can be used with the protection spells + can give you random wins against blue tempo. It's also not really dead against any matchup, in your opener anyway. You can also just squeeze in more draw or more win I guess.

@marit

I see what you mean about the pact package, what's your most up to date list with warrens ? I've mostly played with pact lists and only play warrens in TES so I'm not sure how many to put in and/or wishes etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JCLe

@marit

I see what you mean about the pact package, what's your most up to date list with warrens ? I've mostly played with pact lists and only play warrens in TES so I'm not sure how many to put in and/or wishes etc.

---

Here is the skeleton of my most recent list, and most likely the list I'm taking to Vestal on the 19th.

4 Mox Opal
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
4 Land Grant
1 Bayou

4 Dark Rirual
4 Cabal Rutual
4 Culling the Weak
4 Phyrexian Walker
4 Shield Sphere
4 Lion's Eye Diamond

4 Cruel Bargain
4 Infernal Contract
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Empty the Warrens
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Goblin Charbelcher
2 Free Spots

In the 2 free spots I put a combination of Empty the Warrens, Slithermuse and Ill-Gotten Gains. I am still working it out to find the best combo. At vestal I played with an Empty and Slithermuse, but Slithermuse was lackluster, he was casted twice, the first time he was mindbreak trapped and the second I drew 7 cards with 10 mana floating. I need to test him more though. One Ill-Gotten Gains seems like enough, but every match I play I always want the second. It turns double LED+IT into an insta win, generating 10 storm by itself. This is very useful for discard strategies, or vs control when you are both are low pressed on resources. I lost 2 games I should have won because I only had 1 IGG maindeck. But at the same time, Slithermuse seems nuts vs control on paper, but it suffers from all the drawbacks of IGG, except it can potentially win with only 1 LED in play. And Empty is just fantastic, I really want to play 2 but right now I want to test more Slithermuse. Do you have any input?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by marit

Here is the skeleton of my most recent list, and most likely the list I'm taking to Vestal on the 19th.

4 Mox Opal
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
4 Land Grant
1 Bayou

4 Dark Rirual
4 Cabal Rutual
4 Culling the Weak
4 Phyrexian Walker
4 Shield Sphere
4 Lion's Eye Diamond

4 Cruel Bargain
4 Infernal Contract
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Empty the Warrens
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Goblin Charbelcher
2 Free Spots

In the 2 free spots I put a combination of Empty the Warrens, Slithermuse and Ill-Gotten Gains. I am still working it out to find the best combo. At vestal I played with an Empty and Slithermuse, but Slithermuse was lackluster, he was casted twice, the first time he was mindbreak trapped and the second I drew 7 cards with 10 mana floating. I need to test him more though. One Ill-Gotten Gains seems like enough, but every match I play I always want the second. It turns double LED+IT into an insta win, generating 10 storm by itself. This is very useful for discard strategies, or vs control when you are both are low pressed on resources. I lost 2 games I should have won because I only had 1 IGG maindeck. But at the same time, Slithermuse seems nuts vs control on paper, but it suffers from all the drawbacks of IGG, except it can potentially win with only 1 LED in play. And Empty is just fantastic, I really want to play 2 but right now I want to test more Slithermuse. Do you have any input?

---

I'd definately go with the second IGG, for the other slot I'm not sure. An additional belcher or ETW as they both are fine versus pretty much everything. VS control you can always try a 4 storm empty turn 1, or landing the belcher turn 1, which both leave you with half a hand or so. I'd maybe incline for the belcher, I usually board in a few with my deck and I really like it vs most decks. The fact that ETW might not even win you the game is the biggest pushing factor I think since both of these don't make you lose through bad drawing or anything.

Try Reprocess, for the used Opals, extra tallmen, etc.

Agree with the reprocess way of thinking. It is very good for eating up excess tallmen, opals, and what not. When I was testing a 16 tallmen, 4 mox opal list of GSI reprocess was a king that could draw you 7 cards very easily. And it isn't an additional cost of playing the spell so countermagic won't typically ruin your day unless you crack LED in response or just have zero other cards in hand. Also reprocessing opals is so awesome it isn't even funny. Don't go overboard though; try to leave one tallmen left over to sack to diabolic intent or culling the weak. Unless you absolutely think you need to draw 1 extra card.

2 IGG's in SI is usually not right IMO because usually you achieve ten storm very easily, especially with the PSI list. 1 is the max number for me. Because after one you can usually go IT -> tendrils.

I think if you're using 4 Land Grant and 1 Bayou and you're not using Goblin Charbelcher(s) or the Summoner's Pact, Dryad Arbor and Elvish Spirit Guide package, then you're just using a manabase that's unnecessarily vulnerable to discard, counterspells and wasteland for little to no reason. Even Xantid Swarm and Carpet of Flowers in the SB aren't worth exposing your manabase to disruption, because Cabal Therapy is more than sufficient vs. control and you can use Swamps to secure your manabase vs. wastelands.

I'm not certain whether or not SI with Mox Opal is better than SITES with Simian Spirit Guide, as imprinting Kobolds for red mana and threatening Empty the Warrens to protect Draw 4s from counters by forcing them to target mana is tactically why "no disruption" is plausable, but if you're set on playing Mox Opal than 4 Vault of Secrets is a "no brainer" for consistency and you can just board out Mox Opal and Vault of Secrets for Cabal Therapy and Swamps vs. Merfolk etc.

Also, IMO, I think a lot of you guys are "re-inventing the wheel" and making it worse, just Mono-B SI with Swamps instead of Land Grant is faster and more consistent than a lot of the lists posted above. You're just losing a lot of ground vs. Merfolk to make already good match ups better, fwiw.

I'd love to see your take on this Mono-B SI you're talking about.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kicks_422

I'd love to see your take on this Mono-B SI you're talking about.

---

It's nothing profound,

4 Tendrils of Agony
1 Ill Gotten Gains
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Infernal Contract
4 Cruel Bargain
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Shield Sphere
4 Phyrexian Walker
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Culling the Weak
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chrome Mox
7 Swamp

SB

4 Death Mark
11xWhatever, honestly, a transformative board with Empty the Warrens is probably enough.

Using Swamps instead of the Land Grant/Bayou or Fetch/Badlands manabase helps stabilize vs. Wastelands and Stifle etc., I find SI wants a resilient manabase because it can hold the ground with artifact creatures while it top decks into threats. The Land Grant versions are too "all or nothing" and don't offer advantages over and above R/g Belcher, the marginal loss in Storm and Threshold don't make that much of a difference on the goldfish but the match up % vs. Merfolk or Wasteland.dec increases meaningfully IMO.

I just think for what should be a very straight forward, consistent Storm deck SI players are trying to get too cute. The only iteration of SI worth playing is SITES, IMO, because Empty the Warrens increases threat density and decreases mulligans signifcantly - albeit at the cost of Cabal Therapy, vulnerability to Wasteland/Stifle and Engineered Explosives.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Final Fortune

I just think for what should be a very straight forward, consistent Storm deck SI players are trying to get too cute. The only iteration of SI worth playing is SITES, IMO, because Empty the Warrens increases threat density and decreases mulligans signifcantly - albeit at the cost of Cabal Therapy, vulnerability to Wasteland/Stifle and Engineered Explosives.

---

I think I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. Each version is a different animal, sure, and they all have different ways of doing things in the same shell. The reason I believe they run differently is the pilot, however. Some pilots enjoy the more convoluted plays like those in PSI. Some pilots like a more straightforward list. Some pilots are more comfortable running lands. I personally like my build the most, of course, but I have noticed it can have trouble against a fast aggro hand due to LB. Vacrix has pointed out quite a few times that PSI can have trouble against blue decks. LGSI has to reveal its hand against unknown opponents all the time. None of us jump for joy when seeing a turn 1 Chalice@0. Yet the pilots naturally lean towards these builds, myself included, because they've tested it and are comfortable with the way it runs.

It's not just about consistency and power, but enjoyability. I know people that stopped playing certain decks (CB, Stax, Lands, etc) because they weren't fun to play.

No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition..... to win!

I attended a tournament the other day at the local magic shop. It’s one of the most attended regular legacy events in the UK, I think. Today was a nice turn-out, with maybe 18-20 people. I saw some counterbalances pre-tournament, so I nearly bottled it and went to my ‘go to’ deck, Enchantress, but I thought I would mix it up and play SI instead :).

So.... Here is my deck. Nothing to spectacular-ly odd...

Acceleration-
4 Dark ritual
4 Culling the weak
4 Cabal ritual
4 Lions eye diamond

Initial mana sources-
4 Lotus petal
4 Chrome mox
4 Land grant
2 Bayou

MD protection-
4 Cabal therapy

Busted draw-
4 Cruel bargain
4 Infernal contract

Other business-
4 Infernal tutor
2 Ill gotten gains

Cards that people should scoop to-
4 Kobalds of kher keep
4 Crimson kobalds

I guess you have to win after all those cards, right?-
3 Tendrils of agony
1 Goblin charbelcher

Sideboard-
4 Carpet of flowers
4 Xantid swarm
3 Goblin charbelcher
1 Taiga
3 Empty the warrens

I have this joke of asking people if they scoop to the kobalds before culling the weak then tendrils. Its not so funny, but keeps me amused. Just to explain the reference :). The side-board is a fairly standard protection plan against blue. I knew there was going to be people playing the white leyline, so I went with the goblins as the main ‘man-plan’, and using them as extra win-cons if there was no disruption. I went with the kobalds for extra red sources for the chrome mox, if it ever came down to it, and I feel you need the taiga for land grant ---> red if you want to wheel in the goblins.

So......

Round 1 - Joe Fletcher Homebrew U/B/w dark depths/hexmage with counterbalance

So. I work in a shop with Jo. Sometimes we play in the lunch break, and to be honest, he is a beast of a player, with a deck that I know beats me on a fairly regular basis. He has discard, forces, spell pierces and counterbalance/top set up. So I settle in for a tough one.

Game 1 - I lose the roll. Which means most of his cards are ‘online’.... I mull to 5, and he thoughtseizes my infernal contract. Hm..... I do an early therapy to try and hit counterbalance, but he doesn’t have it. I’ve got the belcher for next turn, so I’m feeling good. Until him - Pithing needle (belcher). Hm.... His psychic powers seemed to be working today. Fortunately he gets a bot land-screwed and a few turns later I manage to tendrils out.

Game 2 - Turn 1 he thoughtseizes me, taking my tendrils after a lot of thought. I go off, drawing 4 until i’m down to 2, but fizzle. He plays a bob. Which is a bit of clock at this stage. He turns bob sideways. I lose. What can you do? :). This was the only game I really felt I was unlucky in all day, at least....

Game 3 - I turn 1 draw 4 to set going off, but really draw too much business. He extripates cabal therapy. Which I thought was odd. So now im thinking he has shed-loads of counters that he needs to protect. We both draw-go for a couple of turns, with me just needing some gas to GO POSTAL. I don’t find any. Then he lands a counterbalance, but is tapped out with the top. I miss the window, and am eaten my Marit Lage 2 turns later. He even countered my Xantid swarm (flying blocker ^^) to swing him in.

Wise words from Jo- talking with Jo afterwards, he admitted to being a bit lucky in game 3. He needed to find both a counterbalance and a force in one Lim-dull’s vault to win, which he managed to. He thinks that the key to the match-up is not to mull to force, but hope you get a few land-drops and disrupt before landing the counterbalance. Fair enough. That was a pretty epic game!

0-1

Round 2 - Dave Sherwood R/G/B Allies

I don’t know Dave, but I feel a bit guilty for ninja-ing his face off. He came quite a way to play, and didn’t really have a deck that was up to the high standard of legacy decks that were there on the day. I hope he had fun....

Game 1 - I lose the roll. Him - forest, go. Me - Play stuff, tendrils for 24. He refused to scoop to the kobalds, so I had to punish him with sitting through the combo.

Game 2 - (No side). I make a belcher turn 2 and activate it for lethal with 2 land still in the deck. There was no pressure on the board at all.

This one was a bit of a blow out. He took it well though.
Wise words from Dave- “More than 1 turn would be nice”

1-1

Round 3 - Steve Richard Old skool white weenie

I like Steve. He’s into vintage computer games and beating people up with little dudes with shadow. Awesome sauce!

Game 1 - T4 he kills me with little dudes. I kept a dodgy one that needed some gas, but I don’t find any.

Game 2 - I take out the cabals for extra business (ie the Empty the warrens and tiaga). I thought he might either bring the leyline of sanctity in or chant effects. After drawing, I find the extra initial mana I need to go off and do so. IGG loop for tendrils.

Game 3 - He puts a bit of pressure on, weenie style. T3 I play a mox, and he disenchants it with the imprint trigger on the stack (the sly old dog). I keep going off though it, and reach 10 storm exactly with the tendrils. Turns out his own disenchant killed him :).

He didn’t really draw any relevant cards against me, and he didn’t mull so much for them. I think that is what killed him, I think.

2-1

Round 4- Jim B/W helm + leyline combo

I draft a lot with Jim, and I know he’s a good player. He’s also just come back from Florence, where he finished quite well in the legacy event there, although i’ve never played him at legacy, and am not familiar with the combo he plays so much... Should be tough.

Game 1 - Turn 1 I 2 x draw4 into a fizzle. Turn 2 I get hymn-ed but its pretty much a ‘miss’. Turn 3 I land the belcher and activate with all the land stripped out.

Game 2 - I side out IGG :)and 2x Cabal therapy and put in the goblins. This turns out to be a mistake. I needed the therapies in to protect the goblins from engineered plague, etc. I learnt that hard this game... He starts with leyline and top. I empty the warrens for 10, He topdecks a plague... (sadface). We draw-go for a bit with him topping to try and find the helm. He lands another plague (kobalds!!!!) while all I seem to draw are empty the warrens.... Turn 6 I mini-tendrils to try and get hellbent for next turn (It was really clogging my hand up). He manages to find the helm on his next turn and fires it at my face.

Game 3 - Therapy goes back in for 2 x empty the warrens. I turn 1- 2 x draw4 into tendrils fun. He didn’t scoop to the kobalds either, though. He is made of sterner stuff...

3-1

Round 5 - Dan Stokes B/W/G the rock

I like Dan a lot, and it’s nice play against people who you know, like and play well. He’s got some nasty discard package, so I decide to try and make it so he doesn’t get a land drop. What happened next was probably the funniest magic game i’ve ever had...
Game 1 - I go first with cabal therapy naming ‘hymn’, as I think its the only thing that will wreck my hand if I settle in for a few turns. I hit 3 of them :). He goes turn 1 crack a fetch mox diamond, make a dark confident. I mini-tendrils him for 10 with my new ‘win-con’ on the table. he goes down to 3 life with bob while I wait for the gas I need to start up again. He keeps me from going off by using vindicates and wastelands. He swords-ed his own bob, and beat me down with something a few turns later. Some of the faces he made drawing with bob were priceless though :).

Game 2 - I know he likes the leyline. I put full goblin package in instead of the tendrils. He mulls to 6 and has a smug look. Sure enough he drops the leyline. I turn 1 empty the warrens for 12. I say something like ‘Could be ok, I just need to race pernacious deed.’. His jaw dropped EXACTLY like they do in cartoons. Turns out he sided them out :).

Game 3 - He goes turn 1 top. I ‘semi-fizzle’ just needing to draw gas (story of my day...). He also seems to use his psychic powers by extirpating dark ritual. Hmmm.... I manage to get the mana together somehow for a turn 2 lucky draw4 into belcher with all the land stripped.

Wise words from Stoke - “I hate you!”. He’s joking... I think. :).

4-1 top the swiss. Cut to top 8!

Andy B/W/g Homebrew deck of sinkholes and discard

Andy plays a lot of vintage and likes making decks, which he is pretty decent at. This one played a lot like ‘the rock’ but had no green. He’s called ‘the chicken’ because I his mohawk :).

Game 1 - He mulls to 6. I turn 1 ‘semi-fizzle’ and pass, just needing to untap before I can IGGy loop him into submission. Tun 2 I draw4 a few times and can get the storm for the IGG, so I just land a belcher. I’m on 2 life and he puts down a knight of the reliquary. I top a mox which means I can belcher for lethal. Phew.

Game 2 - We both mull to 5. I wonder what hes going for... I put in 1 empty the warrens just as ‘extirpate’ defence.... So. I cabal theapy hymn and miss. He lands an early knight and starts wastelanding my bayous, which were pretty key. knight beats follow, putting me out before I could get 1 more mana to storm away.

Game 3 - I turn 1 empty the warrens for 10. He was hoping to top ghostly prison, but I could have payed with LEDs for a large swing anyway. I ride the goblins home!

Top 4!

No blue in the top 4. After a little scout I see it’s elf combo, goblins, zoo and me. I’m feeling good :). I’ve done well at blue-dodging most of the day. Even if that means most of my sideboard is dead :/.

Tom R/b vial goblins

No blue in the top 4. After a little scout I see it’s elf combo, goblins, zoo and me. I’m feeling good :).
I know Tom too. Another great legacy player who normally plays merfolk. Instead today he’s rocking the goblins. Great news for me :).

Pre-game banter - “Help im goblins!”

Game 1 - Turn2 lethal belcher

Game 2 - BLOCK A LACKEY WITH A KOBALD. First block of the day ;). Turn 2 he has plenty of goblins down and I need to draw gas for the belcher. I get it but he springs a mindbreak trap, so my poor belcher gets removed... He matrons for a goblin tinker (which could cause some trouble), and gets in some general beats, but I get some lucky draw4’s into tendrils with me being on 1 life. CLOSE!!

Final!

Luke G/b Elf combo

I don’t know Luke, but I know his deck. He borrowed it from a friend of mine. It seems to regularly goldfish turn 2, so I didn’t want to let him get any time. The thing can explode from nowhere and had been munching on survival all day... He was a good player, but unfamiliar with a lot of cards, as I think he had only just got back into magic.

Pre-game banter - “Charbelcher is bad!”

Game 1 - My cabal hits glimpse (phew!), and I make a turn 2 belcher with 2 lands still in the deck. He makes some dudes and takes a few swings. Turn 3 I belch him for 2. Turn 4 I belch him for 4..... :/. His regal force eats me alive.

Game 2 - Turn 2 IGGy tendrils for 24 after turn 1 therapy

Game 3 - T1 belcher with all the lands stripped.

Wise words from Luke - “Toughtseize is only good if you draw it!”


I had such a blast all day with the deck and its a shame I didn’t meet any blue with all the preparation i’d done for the u.dec match up, but I’d be happy to face aggro and discard all day with it. I played quite tight and I moved away from the ‘must get a turn 1’ mentality and focus more on being steady, not afraid to untap if there is no pressure and generally focusing on the quick re-building qualities of the deck.

Things I learnt-
People usually don’t scoop to the kobalds. Strange....
Keep in the cabal therapies always to protect the goblins/hit mindbreak trap.
Not to go to the belcher as an ‘easy out’, even it looks good. Try the draw4’s.
I love the LG list, so i’ll keep working on it.
The goblins won a few but they always made me nervous when I played them. Maybe try out death shadow for the man plan?

Well thanks for reading. Any comments/better plays I could have made, please let me know! I hope it's ok to post a report here, but feedback from you guys is probably going to be more valuable than posting it somewhere else. :).

The Spanish Tunnel King

Congrats on your finish!

I'm willing to pick up this deck as soon as I'll be able to get all cards for it, however - which version of the deck would be the most fitting for metagame with almost zero counterbalance and mostly Deadguy, Merfolk and Burn? (plus some goblins etc., but they don't count as they're not disruptive nor fast enough) Also, how's the Burn matchup? I imagine Draw4's might be quity risky there sometimes...

P.S.: Question to all: are Cruel Bargains very hard to find? I seem to find only a few singles for trade online, and prices in sales are usually atrocious. If anyone would be willing to trade/sell a playset, let me know:smile:

In Game 1 of the Finals match, did you have the resources to activate Charbelcher multiple times, or did you draw into the mana to activate it the second time? If the case was that you knew that you had the ability to Activate Charbelcher more than once, I would've been killing the elves with my first activations and stacking my deck.

I lucked into Cruel Bargains. I think I might have purchased the last three on Coolstuffinc and the last one on Trollandtoad.

Try ABUgames. I got my whole playset there. They also have a really good system for trade credit ;)

Edit: Nevermind, they only have two used ones in stock. Guess I did get lucky.

Grats on the finish, STK!

I sat next to you during your Rock matchup, and that match was absolutely epic. I don't even remember who I played in that round, I spent more time watching you play.

FYI, after the swiss I overheard one player ask another if he wanted to join the draft. His response? "No, I want to watch SI combo off."

That's when you know your deck is awesome.

-Silent Requiem

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarthVicious

I think I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. Each version is a different animal, sure, and they all have different ways of doing things in the same shell. The reason I believe they run differently is the pilot, however. Some pilots enjoy the more convoluted plays like those in PSI. Some pilots like a more straightforward list. Some pilots are more comfortable running lands. I personally like my build the most, of course, but I have noticed it can have trouble against a fast aggro hand due to LB. Vacrix has pointed out quite a few times that PSI can have trouble against blue decks. LGSI has to reveal its hand against unknown opponents all the time. None of us jump for joy when seeing a turn 1 Chalice@0. Yet the pilots naturally lean towards these builds, myself included, because they've tested it and are comfortable with the way it runs.

It's not just about consistency and power, but enjoyability. I know people that stopped playing certain decks (CB, Stax, Lands, etc) because they weren't fun to play.

---

My case and point, SI players are more concerned with playing SI like TES than they are with winning - it's classic Johny mentality.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Final Fortune

My case and point, SI players are more concerned with playing SI like TES than they are with winning - it's classic Johny mentality.

---

I can see where you're coming from, and that's the reason I don't run protection in my build, apart from a few key SB pieces of antihate. I'd rather force them to react to me, putting them on the defensive and forcing them to come up with answers. They usually can't find enough.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarthVicious

I can see where you're coming from, and that's the reason I don't run protection in my build, apart from a few key SB pieces of antihate. I'd rather force them to react to me, putting them on the defensive and forcing them to come up with answers. They usually can't find enough.

---

that is a good way to play the deck imo, diluting the deck 14 reactive slots just make it worse for when they can actually land a counter or disruption on your low count of business spells. (ex. team america with both counters and discard)