Chalice Bomberman/Bomberman Stompy

Eternal Weekend - Legacy Champs report

I swapped one of the Karakas for a second Plains in the Main and then changed a few cards in the sideboard for Legacy Champs:

4 Ancient Den
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
4 City of Traitors
1 Karakas
2 Plains
4 Auriok Salvagers
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Karn, Scion of Urza
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lodestone Bauble
4 Lotus Petal
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Mox Opal
4 Urza's Bauble
4 Walking Ballista

Sideboard:
2 Aura of Silence
1 Cast Out
3 Containment Priest
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Karakas
1 Sanctum Prelate
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Tormod's Crypt



Round 1 - UB Death's Shadow
Chalice took game 1 easily
Game 2 I could have played a turn-1 Chalice with a Petal but decided to wait a turn vs his turn-1 delver. Chalice resolves on turn2 with Daze protection from the Petal unneeded. He has a Throne of Geth as his follow up, but never uses it. I'm losing the race against his delver with a leftover Monk and finally have to try to Cast Out. It resolves, exiling the delver and my lone Monk goes the distance.
After the game he shows me the several Dazes in his hand that I had played around and caused him not to up my Chalice with Throne.

1-0


Round 2 - Grixs Control
He has a push for my Mentor game 1, but a Karn and his 7/7's are enough to win through an Angler
Game 2 I have an early Aura of Silence that strands an Engineered Explosives in his hand for nearly the entire game. There's also a turn when he fetches with 3 other untapped lands, and the fetch being the 5th card in his yard - I pop my Crypt in response to the fetch, the fetch resolves and he passes the turn. Turns out he had a Tombstalker that had to wait several more turns to come down. Eventually he plays EE w/ 3 sunburst counters to destroy my Aura of Silence, gets Tombstalker into play, and plays some Strixes that he didn't want to pay the tax for earlier. But again, Karn makes bigger creatures than his 5/5, and Ballista picks off the Strixes so they can't trade.

2-0


Round 3 - RUG Delver
Game 1 He Wastelands me three times, but I am eventually able to go off low-tide, drawing my deck and killing him the next turn.
Game 2 I have the pieces to combo, including a backup Salvagers but suspect a Dismember. I switch up my usual sequencing (usually you want LED in play before the Salvagers so the Salvagers can do some stuff on his way out in response to a kill spell) and play the Salvagers first. When I play LED next, the Salvagers is Dismembered while LED is on the stack. I play the 2nd Salvagers next turn and kill him, and I feel really smart for baiting the Dismember.

3-0


Round 4 - ANT
He leads on Thoughtseize on the play, game 1, and takes a Mentor - my only action. He's able to comfortably combo while I don't have any pressure.
Game 2 I have a Chalice and a Prelate shutting off 1's and 2's and am able to combo him after some chump-checks.
Game 3 He Thoughtseizes an Aura of Silence instead of Canonist or Chalice - which is pretty scary. I decide to lead on a Ethersworn Canonist tank while strongly considering a Chalice=0. I instead play the Chalice on 2 next turn. In response he Hurkyl's Recalls and Chalice resolves. He Ad Nauseums (0 mana floating) on his turn while Canonist is in my hand but has to pass the turn. I don't have a Cavern to re-deploy the Canonist and he's able to make 8 goblins the next turn while he's at 4. I find the Salvagers I'd been missing but have to slow combo him. I block one goblin and go to 3 with 40 something cards in hand. I start my turn with some Urza's Baulbles to try to learn the unknown card in his hand - it's a Surgical Extraction - which is trivial to play around at this point, but I do so, playing a Ballista x=2 and all my LED's before cracking any.

4-0


Round 5 - Grixis Delver
Game 1 he doesn't have a kill spell for my Mentor that makes 3 Monks on turn 1 - he gets stomped.
Game 2 He Dazes a Mentor cast off Cavern to which I immediately respond, "resolves" and Mentor goes all the way again.

5-0


Round 6 - Miracles
Game 1 takes half the round while I deploy extra Salvagers into play to get StP'd. I had 3x Salvagers in hand at one point, but I don't play the 3rd while I chain baubles trying to dig for an LED. He has Jace and Teferi going, but I don't concede since I have Chalice=1 to stop any more StP's, the Cavern, and enough mana to win through 3x counterspells if I can find the LED. But there are no LED's in the top half of my deck and I scoop to Jace:0 after he ultimates Teferi.
Game 2 we're late in the round and playing at table 1 and have a huge crowd watching us. I have a quick combo with Chalice protecting from StP and Surgical and it was this game that caught the attention of the coverage crew. :)
Game 3, though, I can't get much going and die from Clique beats.

5-1


Round 7 - Omnitell
Link to feature and my thoughts are above

6-1


Round 8 - Miracles
Games 1 & 2 are identical with turn-3 Back to Basics into turn-4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor. We need to figure out a plan for Back to Basics.

6-2


Round 9 - Eldrazi Post
No sense in figuring out a plan for opposing Chalice decks though - this deck, Aggro-Loam, Moon Stopmpy are all basically unwinnable as they have no problem answering an Ensnaring Bridge with an Ulamog trigger, Abrupt Decay, or Fiery Confluence.

Two games of helplessness vs Chalice=0 and Trinisphere.

6-3


I'm debating going home (4-hour drive) but standings show I have some of the best breakers of the 18-pointers and can cash with a 2-0 on Sunday

Sunday morning I meet another guy on the same list who is also 6-3 and we talk about how much fun the deck is, and about some of the matchups. The coverage guys also find us and I explain not going for the kill in game 1 of the feature - we also educate them that Lodestone Bauble is a win-con (the best win-con).

Round 10 - BUG Control
I play around Leovold with bauble activations on my turn, and then targeting myself with baubles once Leo is in play, but don't really get anything going. Neither game is quick, but they both play out with me just trying to stay alive and fight for an extra couple turns for the chance to try and combo. It isn't in the cards.

6-4 (drop)

Thanks for the writeup -- sucks to fizzle out like that but winning a feature match is a feat in itself!

BTB/Blood Moon: This is the main situation I like more basic plains over Ancient Den

Chalice on 0: I run a single EE main to hedge that also serves as a board wipe with the combo

How were the 4 Karns/4 City of Traitors? Whenever I ran 4 I'd always end up with too many 4-drops in hand.

Ever test with Magus of the Balance? Theoretically it's strong vs Miracles/Eldrazi Post

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaono

BTB/Blood Moon: This is the main situation I like more basic plains over Ancient Den

Chalice on 0: I run a single EE main to hedge that also serves as a board wipe with the combo

How were the 4 Karns/4 City of Traitors? Whenever I ran 4 I'd always end up with too many 4-drops in hand.

Ever test with Magus of the Balance? Theoretically it's strong vs Miracles/Eldrazi Post

---

I had tested a RW list leading up to GP Richmond that shaved on Dens and Cities to fit in fetches and Plateaus for Abrade in place of the StP's and Disenchant effects. I missed the consistency of full play sets of the artifact land and sol land, which had me abandon the list. I'm thinking of maybe toying with it again though, with Pyroblasts for Back to Basics/Jace. When I was testing the list a few months ago I also had my own Blood Moons in the board.

I also had an EE in the deck after moving from WB with Dark Confidant to MonoW, but the loss of utility (being able to easily play it on 2 or 3 counters) made me hate it each time I drew it. It moved to the board before being dropped completely.

I haven't tested Magus of the Balance since he doesn't exist online. It's on my list of things to try, though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by f7eleven

We need to figure out a plan for Back to Basics.

---

I have an idea for this match-up that I plan to try at at 2-5k this weekend, which is two Grand Abolisher in the board. My thought is that I can effectively play nothing of value except for Chalice, get to six mana sources (including one cavern for the Grand Abolisher) and go off. I think the trap with Miracles is the feeling what we need to do stuff while they are doing nothing.

First time poster in this thread, but have been following recently.

I took mono white bomberman to my LGS last night and went 3-1. Deck felt really sweet. I am usually on Shortcake and everyone was surprised and confused when I played against them. Here is my list which seems pretty in line with the lists floating around here.

4 cavern
4 ancient tomb
4 ancient den
3 city of traitors
2 plains
2 karakas

4 Monastery Mentor
4 Ballista
4 Salvagers

4 mishra’s bauble
4 urza’s bauble
1 lodestone bauble
4 lotus petal
4 lion’s eye diamond
4 chalice of the void
4 Mox Opal
4 Karn, Scion of Urza

Sideboard:

3 containment priest
2 canonist
2 sanctum prelate
2 sorcerous spyglass
3 aura of silence
1 cast out
2 ensnaring bridge

0-2 vs UW Stoneblade
2-0 vs MUD
2-0 vs Infect
2-0 vs UR Delver

I’m really digging the Aura of silence, kudos to F7 for reminding me that that is a card. Seems like a very versatile answer. Against Infect and UR Delver I found myself siding at least one in to play around null rod. Is this correct?

Also vs Sneak and Show it seems like we have a lot of really good answers in our board. What do you bring in without overboarding? I would bring in 3 containment priest, 2 ensnaring bridge, a cast out, and 2 spyglass. Is that too much and what would you take out? Also would you board chalices out vs D&T?

Let me know if there is anything in the main or the board that you think needs changing. Also really liking cosmic’s idea with grand abloisher. Let me know how it goes.

Welcome! I just picked up Shortcake and got the same reaction.

Yeah, Aura of Silence was a good find. It's a bit sketchy to cast sometimes off 15-16 actual white sources (and that includes Lotus Petal) but Engineered Explosives is such a beating that I continue to think it's worth it over Seal of Cleansing.

If I pick up game 1 vs UR Delver there's no way I'm bringing in Aura game 2, and I would only bring it in game 3 if I actually see a Null Rod. I think Aura can come in vs Infect regardless since it kills Inkmoth Nexuses.

I board 9-10 cards vs Sneak - and I'm not playing Sorcerous Spyglass, which is fine to bring in also. I cut the Mentors and Karns and go full combo in this matchup. Priests, Prelates, Bridges, Cast Out, Canonist if they're on Omniscience, and maybe an Aura or two. They shouldn't bring in Surgical against us, but I would still be wary of it.

I always cut all Chalices vs D&T. Our deck can't function under a Chalice=0 and I'm not going to play that against myself for them (FWisp). In this matchup I've been cutting most of the combo (leaving 1x LED, 2x Salvagers) and relying on Mentor/Ballista/Karn to get there - all of which are awesome vs them.

FYI, I tested with Spyglass a lot, I love the card, but it was ultimately too-low impact for my liking and I no longer play it. It was also often a trap that would lead to overboarding since most decks are going to have activated abilities.

Good luck with the deck - it's a blast to play!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by f7eleven

Welcome! I just picked up Shortcake and got the same reaction.

Yeah, Aura of Silence was a good find. It's a bit sketchy to cast sometimes off 15-16 actual white sources (and that includes Lotus Petal) but Engineered Explosives is such a beating that I continue to think it's worth it over Seal of Cleansing.

If I pick up game 1 vs UR Delver there's no way I'm bringing in Aura game 2, and I would only bring it in game 3 if I actually see a Null Rod. I think Aura can come in vs Infect regardless since it kills Inkmoth Nexuses.

I board 9-10 cards vs Sneak - and I'm not playing Sorcerous Spyglass, which is fine to bring in also. I cut the Mentors and Karns and go full combo in this matchup. Priests, Prelates, Bridges, Cast Out, Canonist if they're on Omniscience, and maybe an Aura or two. They shouldn't bring in Surgical against us, but I would still be wary of it.

I always cut all Chalices vs D&T. Our deck can't function under a Chalice=0 and I'm not going to play that against myself for them (FWisp). In this matchup I've been cutting most of the combo (leaving 1x LED, 2x Salvagers) and relying on Mentor/Ballista/Karn to get there - all of which are awesome vs them.

FYI, I tested with Spyglass a lot, I love the card, but it was ultimately too-low impact for my liking and I no longer play it. It was also often a trap that would lead to overboarding since most decks are going to have activated abilities.

Good luck with the deck - it's a blast to play!

---

Thanks for your response. In the UR Delver matchup I knew that my opponent played null rod in his board in the past so I had that advantage. That’s interesting vs sneak and show. I never thought to cut all the mentors but I can see how that absolutely makes sense. That’s funny how in Rw painter you pretty much cut the combo and go Aggro leaving in a few combo pieces to three card combo them, but in bomberman you go all in on the combo. I find myself bringing in spyglass for sneak and show and any Jace/liliana deck. I feel the opponent always has a way to deal with it but that’s one more piece of their removal that’s not hitting one of our business spells.

The deck has been a blast to play, even online, where it can sometimes be a nightmare with all the clicks. I’ll only play it in practice rooms and won’t play it in an actual online league for that reason. Definitely more fun to play in paper though. I find it great how your opponent can be so far ahead and if you get that one draw sometimes the game just ends and your opponent has that look of wth just happened?

hi, I played a bomberman deck at GP Shizuoka and ranked top32. It's first time for me to play this bomberman build on Thursday's PTQ and learned a lot during the whole event. It's a lot fun to play this deck and here is the deck list.

4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Ancient Den
4 Glimmervoid
1 Spire of Industry
3 Auriok Salvagers
4 Walking Ballista
2 Sai, Master Thopterist
4 The Antiquities of War
3 Karn, Scion of Urza
4 Intuition
1 Unburial Rites
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Mox Opal
3 Dimir Signet
1 Azorius Signet
1 Lodestone Bauble
1 Enginneered Explosives
1 Search for Azcanta

Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Helm of Obdience
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Choke
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Echoing Truth
1 Ethersworn Canonist

This deck is most based on Tamura Hajime and Tanaka Mikito's design. Though I think the first player who started using Intuition and Unburial Rites is Katayose Takahito. Intuition is very powerful in this deck. Normally you search for Salvagers, Unburial Rites and LED/Ballista which finds you 2 combo pieces. The deck can win on turn 2 by Auriok Salvagers but it's very rare. Fair decks can not beat Antiquities of War. And of course turn1 chalice on 1 is usually a free win. Now I think Karn and Search for Azcanta are not must in the deck but I have no idea what cards to replace.
It's interesting I paired with Tanaka Mikito 2 years ago at GP Kyoto. He was playing a human based bomberman deck with Magus of the Moon and Dark Confidant while I was playing Eldrazi Stompy. I luckily won game 3 by turn1 chalice on 0 and stopped his Mox Opal.

2bye

R3 ANT
G1 He duressed me on turn1 and left me nothing. I topdecked chalice on turn3 and turn4.
G2 I had Leyline in opening hand. He thoughtseized me on turn1 and I topdecked chalice again.
3-0

R4 Maverick
G1 He played bird on turn1 and I combo on turn2.
G2 Exchanged cards on the first several turns. On turn6, I draw Salvagers and I have LED in the graveyard and Ballista in the battlefield while I only have 4 mana avaliable. I played Auriok Salvagers and pass. He played Green Sun's Zenith to find Ooze and had 1 mana left. He didn't active Ooze on his turn and I untapped. I thought I have won and tapped 2 lands to active Salvagers. But at that time I have Seat of the Synod, Glimmervoid, Mox Opal and Dimir Signet on the battlefield and can not active Salvagers again. Ooze exiled LED and I then lost quickly. Both of us made huge mistake in this game.
G3 He had too many artifact hates and won the game.
On G2 and G3 I planned to play fair game but I didn't draw any Antiquities of War or Karn.
3-1

R5 BUG Delver
G1 Turn2 Chalice on 1
G2 He played Pyromancer and had all the counters.
G3 Turn2 Sai and made 3 thopters. He pyroblasted Sai but can not handle 3 thopters.
4-1

R6 UR Delver
G1 He played delver and flipped with Daze on turn2. But he can not beat turn2 Chalice on 1.
G2 He played Stormchaser Mage on turn2. I have EE to handle it. But he played 2 Delvers on turn3 and flipped on turn4 to kill me quickly.
G3 Turn1 Chalice on 1 and he didn't have FOW.
5-1

R7 Reanimate
G1 He thoughtseized me on turn1 and had Tiderspout Tyrant on turn2. I played Karn but can't find anything can stop 5/5 flying.
G2 I started with 2 Leylines. On turn3 I have Salvagers and Intuition in my hand and passed the turn. He then thoughtseized me and I played Intuition. I side out AOW, Karn and Unburial Rites and I searched for Salvagers, Karn(only 1 left) and Search for Azcanta. He left me Salvagers.
I think I played very bad here. If I searched for Ballista should win me the game. If he left me Ballista and discard the Salvagers in my hand. Next turn I can play a 2/2 Ballista and close the game quickly. At that time I learned that if you have no idea what to search with Intuition, you should search for at least one Ballista because you can have Ballista back later.
Finally I can't do anything with Salvagers and LED in the following turns and can't draw any outs like Helm or Ballista. He played Liliana, the Last Hope and -7 to win the game.
5-2

R8 Zombardment
G1 I had a 2/2 Ballista on turn2 and Chalice on 1 later.
G2 He can not beat my opening Leyline.
6-2

R9 Sneak and Show
G1 I mulliganed and he played Preordain. I luckily draw Salvagers and combo on turn3, but he had FOW.
G2 Turn1 Chalice on 1. He had Abrade and showed Emrakul on turn3. I draw Salvagers on Turn4 and got FOWed again. If I draw it one turn earlier and showed it should win me the game.
6-3

R10 Soldiers
G1 He played Thalia and I had Ballista. Then he played Chalice on 1 do nothing to me. I played AOW he can not stop.
G2 He played Thalia and I had Ballista. I played AOW and he had Council's Judgment. Then I combo to win the game.
7-3

R11 DNT
G1 He played Thalia I can not handle. Then he had Port and two Wastelands to close the game. I played some sol lands and did nothing else. So he had no idea what I was playing.
G2 I combo on T3 and he can not stop me.
G3 He played Thalia and I had 2/2 Ballista on turn2. He disenchated Ballista and sugicaled my Ballista. I played Salvagers and he had STP. Then he played Recruiter to find Revoker. But I played Intuition to find Salvagers, Unburail Rites and Bauble on that turn and win the game with led on the battlefield next turn.
He told me that he thought he had won the game when he sugicaled Ballista.
8-3

R12 SNT
G1 He FOWed Salvagers and showed Omniscience.
G2 He mana screwed and didn't run smooth. I played Chalice and won by AOW.
G3 He mulliganed but countered my turn1 Chalice, turn2 Chalice and turn3 AOW. I had Salvagers and LED in my hand and draw Ballista. He thought I was lucky to draw Ballista though at that time I can get my Chalices back and play them again.
9-3

R13 Eldrazi Stompy
G1 He mulliganed and didn't run smooth. I had nothing but one Ballista. He then played 2 Matter Reshapers, Thought-Knot Seer and Batterskull. Luckily my Ballista bumped to 5/5 to keep the board. I finally draw another Ballista to win the game.
G2 He mulliganed again and I played a turn1 Spyglass and hope to play turn2 Karn. He kept a hand like Thought-Knot Seer, Endbringer, Ulamog, Ratchet Bomb, Cavern of Souls and Waste. But I can't make 4 mana on turn2 and he draw Eldrazi Temple on turn3 to play Seer. Seer exiled Karn and then I had nothing but 2 LED in my hand. On turn5 I topdecked Intuition and combo in the same turn with 4 life left.
10-3

R14 Depths
G1 I luckily had Sai and made some thopters to block 20/20. He tried to play Crop Rotation to find Bojuka Bog to stop my combo. But I had 4 mana open to active Salvager again.
G2 I had a turn1 Spyglass. He had a hand like Hexmage, Assassin's Trophy, Bayou and Depths. I named Hexmage. Turn2 he played Hexmage first and I had Ballista. Then I played AOW and thought I had won. He then played Crop Rotation to find Stage to close the game.
G3 I mulliganed to 5 and kept a hand Glimmervoid*2, Bauble, Dimir Signet, AOW. Turn1 I played Bauble and Glimmervoid. He Abrupt Decayed my Bauble. I actived Bauble and sacrificed Glimmervoid. Luckily I draw a City of Traitor and played Dimir Signet on turn2 and AOW on turn3. He couldn't make 20/20 while I have 5 5/5 to close the game.
11-3

R15 ID 11-3-1

Congrats on the finish! I love Antiquities War and have had fun with it in other, non-Bomberman decks.

I played in MTGFirst's final Quest for Power of the year - roughly a $10K with a Black Lotus to 1st, Mishra's Workshop to 2nd, an Underground Sea for 3rd and 4th, and a Tropical Island for 5th through 8th, plus $100 credit for 9th through 16th.

I wanted a second Ethersworn Canonist in the SB for Storm, and moving the SB Karakas to the main (2x total) was the easy swap since Marit Lage is really popular in and around Baltimore. Back down to 1x Plains.

Those were the only changes since Eternal Weekend.

4 Ancient Den
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
4 City of Traitors
2 Karakas
1 Plains
4 Auriok Salvagers
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Walking Ballista
4 Karn, Scion of Urza
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lodestone Bauble
4 Lotus Petal
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Mox Opal
4 Urza's Bauble
Sideboard:
2 Aura of Silence
1 Cast Out
3 Containment Priest
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Sanctum Prelate
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Tormod's Crypt

Round 1 - Aggro Loam
I have to play my buddy who borrowed a couple cards and we both know what the other is playing. The matchup is rough, especially when they know to Chalice on zero before the match even begins.

Game 1 an early Gaddock Teeg strands a Karn in my hand. I pick off a small KotR with a Ballista which buys me enough time to combo.

-4 Chalice
-2 Karn
-1 Mox Opal
-1 Urza's Bauble
+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Cast Out
+2 Ensnaring Bridge
+2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Sanctum Prelate

I decided against bringing in Crypts feeling they were too low impact since nabbing multiples of PFire and/or Loam hardly ever happens, plus I expected to be facing a Chalice on 0. Also, temporarily shrinking Knights doesn't buy as much time as a Bridge does. Karn's -2 and Bridge are a nonbo, so I shave a couple for the bridges. Prelate comes in even though Chalice comes out since naming 2 stops Abrupt Decay.

Game 2 an early Chalice on 0 and a Punishing Fire to clean up my Mentor and monks. Then an Assassin's Trophy hits my Bridge and I die to Knight beats.

+2 Karn
+1 Opal
-2 Bridges
-1 Urza's Bauble

On the play I want to be able to get an Opal in play, preferably with metalcraft, on turn 1 before he can play a Chalice. And then hope to be faster, so Karns back in and Bridges back out.

Game 3 I do have an Opal in play and uncracked baubles to turn it on before he plays his Chalice. An Aura of Silence makes him pay 4 for a Sylvan Library and threatens to remove the Chalice, but I'm a Salvagers away from comboing, and killing the Chalice before I can win would let him play another. Some Ancient Dens let me crack the baubles to dig further and I make sure to protect the LED in hand from any Liliana's. He does find a Liiiana which forces some discards and I find a Karn that starts up-ticking to both dig and not play into Liliana -2. An Assassin's Trophy takes out Karn though and I die to Dark Confidant, Dryad Arbor, Ramunap Excavator beats before I can find the Salvagers.

My friend ends up going 4-0-2, double drawing in top 8
(0-1)

Round 2 - ANT
Game 1 he mulligans to 5 and then never plays a card while I have turn-1 Chalice into Mentor into Karn and beat down quickly

I suspect combo from the no-land keep, but decide to make nearly zero changes - the one being:
+1 Cast Out
-1 Urza's Bauble

Game 2 he keeps 7 and I don't have Chalice and get stormed.

+2 Ethersworn Canonist
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+1 Sanctum Prelate
+2 Aura of Silence
-1 Cast out
-4 Karn
-2 Mentor

Game 3 I go Chalice on 1 into Chalice on 2 into slow combo with Urza's Bauble to see his hand and draw 40 cards.
(1-1)

Round 3 - ANT
Game 1 we go undercover, winning with Eldrazi cards.. Chalice plus Ballista/Karn beats.

+2 Ethersworn Canonist
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+1 Sanctum Prelate
+2 Aura of Silence
-4 Karn
-1 Urza's Bauble
-2 Mentor

Game 2 the only sideboard card I see is an Aura of Silence that gets discarded, but the opponent's combo turn only produces 10 goblins while I have a 1/1 Ballista in play. I play a Salvagers, block 2 and shoot 1 to take 7. Then return Ballista and play it as a 2/2 to block 2 more goblins next turn and shoot 2 (3 left). I'm mindful not to go too low with Ancient Tombs, but am able to rebuy and replay Ballista again and stabilize at 3 life and attack for the win.

He does say that he sideboarded for Eldrazi, which probably just means he didn't bring in Surgicals.
(2-1)

Round 4 - Mono R stompy
Game 1 he plays a turn 1 Bloodmoon on the play but I'm able to play a turn 2 Karn anyway. Baubles get played but not cracked and another Karn follows while I beat down as quickly with constructs as I can before he finds a Fiery Confluence, and I steal game 1

+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Cast Out
+1 Sanctum Prelate
+2 Swords to Plowshares
-4 Chalice
-1 Urza's Bauble
-1 Mentor

Game 2 he has the Chalice for 0 on turn 1, but I have the Swords to Plowshares for his follow-up Goblin. I Cast Out the Chalice and drop my hand fearing a second Chalice and play Karn. He has a Trinisphere a turn late and I start attacking while playing 3-mana baubles. I have a turn where I know his top card is a blank and decide to attack face instead of a Chandra that can only tick up, setting up a lethal attack the following turn as long as the card second from the top isn't relevant. Unfortunately the Chandra+ finds a Bridge and I'm punished. Two Fiery Confluences later and on to game 3.

Game 3 I have a turn 1 Mentor and a monk. He plays a turn 1 Bridge with two Spirit Guides. My second turn is an Aura of Silence that ends up stranding artifacts in his hand so I can keep attacking for the win.
(3-1)

Round 5 - Dredge
Game 1 turn 1 Chalice into turn 2 combo with Lodestone Bauble though the head judge says my opponent can replace each draw with dredge, even with no cards in library. Luckily every nearby player chimes in to correct him and he looks up the ruling (you can't dredge unless you have at least that many cards in your library).

+3 Containment Priest
+2 Tormod's Crypt
-4 Karn
-1 Mentor

Game 2 he hits my Chalice with a Cabal Therapy but can't flash it back since he didn't hit a Bridge from Below. I have the LED and a Ballista already and find a Salvagers and a Petal among my 3 draws for another turn-2 combo.
(4-1)

Round 6 - Esper Stoneblade
We can't draw because there's a 10 with better breakers vs a 9 that would pass either of us on breakers if we are the last three 13's for the last two spots.

Game 1 he has an EE to decimate my board but I get to keep my Mentor, which makes chump blockers for Batterskull. I had played an LED before the EE so when I find a Salvagers that is uncounterable I'm a mana short of comboing immediately. Jace comes down and bounces the Savlagers and the following turn I decide to play a freshly drawn Ballista to take out Jace. When I replay the Salvagers the following turn I do have the extra mana to combo immediately - probably my last opportunity to do so since he has a Jitte with 2 counters on it.

+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Cast Out
-2 Urza's Bauble
-1 Walking Ballista

Game 2 I have the turn-1 Chalice and he searches up Batterskull with Stoneforge Mystic while I make a Mentor. He has Back to Basics but I am still able to play a Karn to make a 5/5 to trump the germ. Karn then starts ticking up to find lands while he's pinging it with a Baleful Strix each turn. I -1 Karn to get back and play an Aura of Silence to protect from an EE. I can't blow the Aura on the Back to Basics though or I lose that EE protection, so we draw-go for a while until I have enough to start attacking through the Baterskull's potential +8 lifegain per round. He ends up scooping, probably a turn or two early, but he had a hand full of 1CMC's and had had enough.
(5-1) and 1st seed in Top 8

Quarterfinals - Sneak & Show
I think the split was like $600 each, but my opponent and I were both there for the Lotus, so no split.

Game 1 I have turn-1 Chalice, turn-2 Mentor and monks make quick work of him while he can't cantrip.

+3 Containment Priest
+2 Ensnaring Bridge
+1 Cast Out
+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Sanctum Prelate
-4 Karn
-4 Mentor
-1 City of Traitors
I wait to see if he has Omniscience before bringing in the Ethersworn Canonists. Siding out a land might seem odd, but I think it's fine on the draw AND when siding out Karns.

Game 2 my turn 1 is one of each bauble, LED, Opal, Petal, Cavern (on Human) and the only card left in my hand is Containment Priest. He casts Show and Tell on his second turn and I flash in Priest. He chooses to put nothing in :).
I draw a bunch of cards an play a 2/2 Ballista that can go to 3 with the LED+Petal if he Pyroclasms. I beat down down until he's at 9 and he Abrades my Priest and plays another Show and Tell, putting in a Griselbrand that he can't activate because of Ballista. I draw and play an Ensnaring Bridge then spend the next few turns just adding a counter to Ballista.
When I have a 5/5 Ballista I play another as a 3/3 using a Cavern on Construct (that was clearly marked because I still have the one on Human also) which he FoW's, going to 8. I let FoW resolve, my Ballista resolves and I ping him 8 times.

Semifinals - Infect
The split is $1,100 each, but I'm the only one who declines.

Game 1 My 7 has no lands then my 6 and 5 were 3x Karn + 3x Sol lands, then 3x Karn + 2x Sol lands. I go to 4 and am able to put up a fight with a Mentor and some baubles, but even though his hand wasn't great either he pays 4 mana for a lethal Become Immense on Blighted Agent.

+2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Cast Out
-3 Karn

Game 2 I have a Chalice and uncounterable Mentor that out races him.

Game 3 I decide to play a turn-1 Chalice without playing a Lotus Petal first since my plan is to play a turn-2 Mentor that I don't have a Cavern for. He does Daze the Chalice, but then also has FoW for my Mentor. I'm cracking baubles on my turn, hoping to draw one of the instants I sided in, but he makes a smart play, kicking a Vines of Vastwood on his infector during his upkeep while my triggers are on the stack to cancel my outs (I don't draw any anyway, but I liked his line). Then an Invigorate for lethal.

I never saw a single Ballista during the match, but was happy with my play and mulligan decisions.

I take the Underground Sea for finishing 3rd with no regrets (play-wise nor split-wise).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by f7eleven

I played in MTGFirst's final Quest for Power of the year - roughly a $10K with a Black Lotus to 1st, Mishra's Workshop to 2nd, an Underground Sea for 3rd and 4th, and a Tropical Island for 5th through 8th, plus $100 credit for 9th through 16th.

I wanted a second Ethersworn Canonist in the SB for Storm, and moving the SB Karakas to the main (2x total) was the easy swap since Marit Lage is really popular in and around Baltimore. Back down to 1x Plains.

Those were the only changes since Eternal Weekend.

4 Ancient Den
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
4 City of Traitors
2 Karakas
1 Plains
4 Auriok Salvagers
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Walking Ballista
4 Karn, Scion of Urza
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lodestone Bauble
4 Lotus Petal
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Mox Opal
4 Urza's Bauble
Sideboard:
2 Aura of Silence
1 Cast Out
3 Containment Priest
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Sanctum Prelate
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Tormod's Crypt

Round 1 - Aggro Loam
I have to play my buddy who borrowed a couple cards and we both know what the other is playing. The matchup is rough, especially when they know to Chalice on zero before the match even begins.

Game 1 an early Gaddock Teeg strands a Karn in my hand. I pick off a small KotR with a Ballista which buys me enough time to combo.

-4 Chalice
-2 Karn
-1 Mox Opal
-1 Urza's Bauble
+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Cast Out
+2 Ensnaring Bridge
+2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Sanctum Prelate

I decided against bringing in Crypts feeling they were too low impact since nabbing multiples of PFire and/or Loam hardly ever happens, plus I expected to be facing a Chalice on 0. Also, temporarily shrinking Knights doesn't buy as much time as a Bridge does. Karn's -2 and Bridge are a nonbo, so I shave a couple for the bridges. Prelate comes in even though Chalice comes out since naming 2 stops Abrupt Decay.

Game 2 an early Chalice on 0 and a Punishing Fire to clean up my Mentor and monks. Then an Assassin's Trophy hits my Bridge and I die to Knight beats.

+2 Karn
+1 Opal
-2 Bridges
-1 Urza's Bauble

On the play I want to be able to get an Opal in play, preferably with metalcraft, on turn 1 before he can play a Chalice. And then hope to be faster, so Karns back in and Bridges back out.

Game 3 I do have an Opal in play and uncracked baubles to turn it on before he plays his Chalice. An Aura of Silence makes him pay 4 for a Sylvan Library and threatens to remove the Chalice, but I'm a Salvagers away from comboing, and killing the Chalice before I can win would let him play another. Some Ancient Dens let me crack the baubles to dig further and I make sure to protect the LED in hand from any Liliana's. He does find a Liiiana which forces some discards and I find a Karn that starts up-ticking to both dig and not play into Liliana -2. An Assassin's Trophy takes out Karn though and I die to Dark Confidant, Dryad Arbor, Ramunap Excavator beats before I can find the Salvagers.

My friend ends up going 4-0-2, double drawing in top 8
(0-1)

Round 2 - ANT
Game 1 he mulligans to 5 and then never plays a card while I have turn-1 Chalice into Mentor into Karn and beat down quickly

I suspect combo from the no-land keep, but decide to make nearly zero changes - the one being:
+1 Cast Out
-1 Urza's Bauble

Game 2 he keeps 7 and I don't have Chalice and get stormed.

+2 Ethersworn Canonist
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+1 Sanctum Prelate
+2 Aura of Silence
-1 Cast out
-4 Karn
-2 Mentor

Game 3 I go Chalice on 1 into Chalice on 2 into slow combo with Urza's Bauble to see his hand and draw 40 cards.
(1-1)

Round 3 - ANT
Game 1 we go undercover, winning with Eldrazi cards.. Chalice plus Ballista/Karn beats.

+2 Ethersworn Canonist
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+1 Sanctum Prelate
+2 Aura of Silence
-4 Karn
-1 Urza's Bauble
-2 Mentor

Game 2 the only sideboard card I see is an Aura of Silence that gets discarded, but the opponent's combo turn only produces 10 goblins while I have a 1/1 Ballista in play. I play a Salvagers, block 2 and shoot 1 to take 7. Then return Ballista and play it as a 2/2 to block 2 more goblins next turn and shoot 2 (3 left). I'm mindful not to go too low with Ancient Tombs, but am able to rebuy and replay Ballista again and stabilize at 3 life and attack for the win.

He does say that he sideboarded for Eldrazi, which probably just means he didn't bring in Surgicals.
(2-1)

Round 4 - Mono R stompy
Game 1 he plays a turn 1 Bloodmoon on the play but I'm able to play a turn 2 Karn anyway. Baubles get played but not cracked and another Karn follows while I beat down as quickly with constructs as I can before he finds a Fiery Confluence, and I steal game 1

+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Cast Out
+1 Sanctum Prelate
+2 Swords to Plowshares
-4 Chalice
-1 Urza's Bauble
-1 Mentor

Game 2 he has the Chalice for 0 on turn 1, but I have the Swords to Plowshares for his follow-up Goblin. I Cast Out the Chalice and drop my hand fearing a second Chalice and play Karn. He has a Trinisphere a turn late and I start attacking while playing 3-mana baubles. I have a turn where I know his top card is a blank and decide to attack face instead of a Chandra that can only tick up, setting up a lethal attack the following turn as long as the card second from the top isn't relevant. Unfortunately the Chandra+ finds a Bridge and I'm punished. Two Fiery Confluences later and on to game 3.

Game 3 I have a turn 1 Mentor and a monk. He plays a turn 1 Bridge with two Spirit Guides. My second turn is an Aura of Silence that ends up stranding artifacts in his hand so I can keep attacking for the win.
(3-1)

Round 5 - Dredge
Game 1 turn 1 Chalice into turn 2 combo with Lodestone Bauble though the head judge says my opponent can replace each draw with dredge, even with no cards in library. Luckily every nearby player chimes in to correct him and he looks up the ruling (you can't dredge unless you have at least that many cards in your library).

+3 Containment Priest
+2 Tormod's Crypt
-4 Karn
-1 Mentor

Game 2 he hits my Chalice with a Cabal Therapy but can't flash it back since he didn't hit a Bridge from Below. I have the LED and a Ballista already and find a Salvagers and a Petal among my 3 draws for another turn-2 combo.
(4-1)

Round 6 - Esper Stoneblade
We can't draw because there's a 10 with better breakers vs a 9 that would pass either of us on breakers if we are the last three 13's for the last two spots.

Game 1 he has an EE to decimate my board but I get to keep my Mentor, which makes chump blockers for Batterskull. I had played an LED before the EE so when I find a Salvagers that is uncounterable I'm a mana short of comboing immediately. Jace comes down and bounces the Savlagers and the following turn I decide to play a freshly drawn Ballista to take out Jace. When I replay the Salvagers the following turn I do have the extra mana to combo immediately - probably my last opportunity to do so since he has a Jitte with 2 counters on it.

+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Cast Out
-2 Urza's Bauble
-1 Walking Ballista

Game 2 I have the turn-1 Chalice and he searches up Batterskull with Stoneforge Mystic while I make a Mentor. He has Back to Basics but I am still able to play a Karn to make a 5/5 to trump the germ. Karn then starts ticking up to find lands while he's pinging it with a Baleful Strix each turn. I -1 Karn to get back and play an Aura of Silence to protect from an EE. I can't blow the Aura on the Back to Basics though or I lose that EE protection, so we draw-go for a while until I have enough to start attacking through the Baterskull's potential +8 lifegain per round. He ends up scooping, probably a turn or two early, but he had a hand full of 1CMC's and had had enough.
(5-1) and 1st seed in Top 8

Quarterfinals - Sneak & Show
I think the split was like $600 each, but my opponent and I were both there for the Lotus, so no split.

Game 1 I have turn-1 Chalice, turn-2 Mentor and monks make quick work of him while he can't cantrip.

+3 Containment Priest
+2 Ensnaring Bridge
+1 Cast Out
+2 Aura of Silence
+1 Sanctum Prelate
-4 Karn
-4 Mentor
-1 City of Traitors
I wait to see if he has Omniscience before bringing in the Ethersworn Canonists. Siding out a land might seem odd, but I think it's fine on the draw AND when siding out Karns.

Game 2 my turn 1 is one of each bauble, LED, Opal, Petal, Cavern (on Human) and the only card left in my hand is Containment Priest. He casts Show and Tell on his second turn and I flash in Priest. He chooses to put nothing in :).
I draw a bunch of cards an play a 2/2 Ballista that can go to 3 with the LED+Petal if he Pyroclasms. I beat down down until he's at 9 and he Abrades my Priest and plays another Show and Tell, putting in a Griselbrand that he can't activate because of Ballista. I draw and play an Ensnaring Bridge then spend the next few turns just adding a counter to Ballista.
When I have a 5/5 Ballista I play another as a 3/3 using a Cavern on Construct (that was clearly marked because I still have the one on Human also) which he FoW's, going to 8. I let FoW resolve, my Ballista resolves and I ping him 8 times.

Semifinals - Infect
The split is $1,100 each, but I'm the only one who declines.

Game 1 My 7 has no lands then my 6 and 5 were 3x Karn + 3x Sol lands, then 3x Karn + 2x Sol lands. I go to 4 and am able to put up a fight with a Mentor and some baubles, but even though his hand wasn't great either he pays 4 mana for a lethal Become Immense on Blighted Agent.

+2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Cast Out
-3 Karn

Game 2 I have a Chalice and uncounterable Mentor that out races him.

Game 3 I decide to play a turn-1 Chalice without playing a Lotus Petal first since my plan is to play a turn-2 Mentor that I don't have a Cavern for. He does Daze the Chalice, but then also has FoW for my Mentor. I'm cracking baubles on my turn, hoping to draw one of the instants I sided in, but he makes a smart play, kicking a Vines of Vastwood on his infector during his upkeep while my triggers are on the stack to cancel my outs (I don't draw any anyway, but I liked his line). Then an Invigorate for lethal.

I never saw a single Ballista during the match, but was happy with my play and mulligan decisions.

I take the Underground Sea for finishing 3rd with no regrets (play-wise nor split-wise).

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Nice report. Great read. I was on my toes as to whether you won the lotus til the very end. Underground sea ain’t bad either. That Aggro Loam matchup seems really tough. I stole game 1 from an opponent once and it was only because he went turn 1 chalice for 1 instead of zero. Your sideboarding is really helpful. I think I’m gonna try the stp in board as well even though it’s not good with the chalice. The argument makes sense that they are gonna have an answer to it in game 2 and 3, also good for opposing chalice decks.

This is a useless post but "+1", really nice report! I want to play monowhite bomberman too now..

A local player here in Maine split in the finals at a 1K recently with mono-white Bomberman. I'll try and nab the list of mtgtop8 if anyone's interested. Sean is a really good player, and honestly a really good brew-master.

EDIT: https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=20671&d=336196&f=LE

It says he got 2nd, but that was only because they split in the finals and Casey had better tie-breakers. He was beating up on Lands players all day (fun fact: in the top 4, 3 were Lands decks.)

I could be wrong here, but wouldn't it make sense for the mono-white lists to play 4 maindeck canonists? It seems like such a perfect card for this deck (artifact/hate-piece that's also a threat, human, pretty much asymmetrical impact, great against a variety of strategies, etc.). I've been really impressed with it in painter, and they play 3-4 even with tutors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rebelwithapen216

I could be wrong here, but wouldn't it make sense for the mono-white lists to play 4 maindeck canonists? It seems like such a perfect card for this deck (artifact/hate-piece that's also a threat, human, pretty much asymmetrical impact, great against a variety of strategies, etc.). I've been really impressed with it in painter, and they play 3-4 even with tutors.

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I was thinking the same thing.

I haven't played the mono-W version (played Imperial Bomberman Stompy for a decent stint) but the downside seems negligible.
I also have been very impressed by the card in Painter, running 3 main, plus a 4th in the side. Although, it does have the additional upside in Painter of making your red-blasts always win the counter war.

A lot of times, a Canonist wins you the game against the fair matchups if you can get it to stick around, along with having the added bonus of locking out Storm and making life inconvenient for Omni players.

Canonist is great in the sideboard, but the maindeck is so tight - I think there's only one actual flex spot in monoW and that is the 4th Karn. I have no idea how you would fit 4x Canonist in the main.

Shortcake is getting extra value out of their Canonists since it makes your own counterspells (REBs) better, and it has synergy with Goblin Welder and Smuggler's Copter.

Also, one of the reasons I think monoW is the BEST Chalice deck (that just happens to lose to other Chalice decks) is because we can play our Chalices on 1 AND 2 and not worry about it, as neither affects us.

If you're playing chalice on 1 and 2, then I think the downside of having your own canonists countered is pretty negligible because most decks will be locked out by that anyway. Still, you can resolve your own canonists through cavern on human.

Is a 3rd maindeck karn, a single inventor's fair, and a single lodestone bauble really all that important? These seem like pretty flexible slots as well. Here's what I just jotted down:

4x Ancient Den
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Cavern of Souls
3x City of Traitors
3x Plains

4x Auriok Salvagers
4x Ethersworn Canonist
4x Monastery Mentor
4x Walking Ballista

4x Chalice of the Void
4x Lion's Eye Diamond
4x Lotus Petal
4x Mishra's Bauble
4x Mox Opal
4x Urza's Bauble

2x Karn, Scion of Urza

I wouldn't play the deck (in paper) without a Lodestone Bauble. I've tested a lot at 18 lands, and definitely prefer 19. I would also miss having 4 Karns.

All that said, though, that's probably a good list for online leagues where storm is really popular (and Lodestone Bauble is unplayable). I'd still go back to 19 lands though, cutting a Canonist. I'd also cut another Canonist for a Board the Weatherlight as the psuedo 3rd Karn/3rd Canonist and as a single card that double triggers Mentor.

http://mythicspoiler.com/rna/cards/l...srenegade1.jpg

I'm not sure how to feel about this... a Human that stops the opponent from playing a Chalice on 0!!!

Another Chalice on 0 that can be played against us. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by f7eleven

http://mythicspoiler.com/rna/cards/l...srenegade1.jpg

I'm not sure how to feel about this... a Human that stops the opponent from playing a Chalice on 0!!!

Another Chalice on 0 that can be played against us. :(

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I highly doubt there will be that many decks that can run this except a U/W build of Bomberman--other than Legacy Humans. It's a human so it is uncounterable in our deck. It stops EE on zero and Chalice on zero. it stops FoW and Terminus. It stops the biggest threats out of Moon Stompy and the noncreature threats in Post. It also further slows down storm and functions as a chalice on zero against them without turning off anything in our deck. I have always liked the blue splash for Trinket Mage and this slots nicely into the sideboard as a two-of.