I don't think you could get a much better hand than that against ANT with a GBW nic fit deck.Quote:
Originally Posted by CRich3
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I don't think you could get a much better hand than that against ANT with a GBW nic fit deck.Quote:
Originally Posted by CRich3
Fleshbag Marauder:smile:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tao
True. If you have no other creatures, it stalls your pod chain.Quote:
Originally Posted by kiblast
Man-o-war is good for tempo. Deceiver is also an option of course.
After watching the round 3 match vs shardless bug....this durdles a lot.
Ok, because I kept it and drew deed, swamp, rector. And then proceed to lose to empty the warrens. Was just curious if I should have mulligan since I didn't have green mana.Quote:
Originally Posted by mini1337s
Yeah, I would've kept this hand, too (and in fact kept one very similar to it and lost to TES after not drawing a green land). Despite these bad experiences, from a theoretical standpoint, I still agree with making that call -- it's going to work out more often than not just by simple statistics.Quote:
Originally Posted by CRich3
Hey, this is the guy who top 8'd the scg open with the deck on Sunday. I have indeed read some of the thread and found it helpful. I talked to Caleb before this tournament and was pretty set on running Pod, it just looked too awesome not to try. He advised against it, but I played a few matches and found it to be alright. With some advice from him about card choices (2nd nightmare and 1st GSZ approved), I sleeved it up. I probably had the most fun playing magic on Sunday that I've had in years.
Some responses to ideas about the deck:
Bone shredder - Yeah I kinda agree this guy might not be good enough. He was actually decent on the day, but the echo cost is really rough if you aren't immediately sacrificing him to pod. Also killing Tarmogoyf isn't even that impressive because the rest of the deck is so well set up to fight Goyf anyway. I am thinking of replacing it with Fleshbag Marauder or Sower of Temptation, leaning towards Sower. It's an extra mana but it's a very powerful card, and you can sacrifice their creature right away to pod or therapy which is pretty awesome.
Grave Titan - This card is insane and should not be cut. Don't know what else to say. People are not prepared for it in legacy.
Melira - Related to Grave Titan, but there's just no need to play a card this bad on its own when you can just win normally and more reliably with Grave Titan and/or random beaters. You'd also have to play Viscera Seer (or something like it) which just isn't a great card (though better than Melira for sure).
Mana Base - I was a little worried about the mana but it turned out surprisingly well. I had basically no mana issues at all for the whole tournament. If I added Sower I could see maybe cutting a forest for an island, but the mana was really great. Deathrite shaman and veteran explorer really do wonders. Oh and wood elves.
Wood elves - Very nice when you need to pod baleful strix away for a land. It's not a super high impact card but I was pretty happy with it. Just smooths out the deck to make sure you can do your thing once pod gets going. The deathrites aren't always reliable for mana in the midgame since the yards get eaten quickly.
2 Recurring Nightmare - This card was amazing but it's true that it's not useful until later in the game. I could see cutting one but I would cut it for a brainstorm so you can find it later on in the game if you need to.
Number of Pernicious Deeds - I had 2 main, 1 board. I boarded the third one in sometimes but not that often. I could see adding another main but unsure what I'd cut. Because you have brainstorms in this list to find them, I think I'm ok with 2 for now.
Sensei's Divining Top - Again, it seems like a fine card but I'd be unsure what to cut. Brainstorm seems like the most likely candidate and I think I like Brainstorm better. I could see playing one top though maybe.
One of Jitte - Seems weird but it was really good vs any creature deck. I guess the questionable part is why only 1? Basically 1 feels like enough with all the card drawing, library manipulation, and ability to grind the game out. It was really good though so maybe 2 is correct.
On the day I beat
"Oops, all spells" (2nd place guy)
Dredge
Death and Taxes
Shardless BUG with red
Esper Blade
Jund
BUG Delver
One intentional draw and lost to
Reanimator in the swiss (guy in T8)
Sneak and Show in the T8 (eventual winner).
The combo matchups need some shoring up. Which is convenient because my SB was pretty bad so there's plenty of room to work with. Sadistic Hypnotist is unplayable, and mindbreak traps would be better off as something else. Right now I'm debating between Headhunter, Nezumi Shortfang, Cabal Inquisitor, or Tarmogoyfs. Suggestions are welcome.
Congrats on the finish!
Looks like you got pretty lucky with your matchups in the swiss, except Oops, All Spells! How did that match go? How do you think the matchup is vs. show and tell & storm? What would you change for those matchups?
How were the 3 pods? Did you ever feel like 3 was too many?
Report time:
Round 1: Goblins
Game 1: I didn't seem to be under much pressure and won fairly easily. Out: Teeg, Witness In: Pridemage, Bounty
Game 2: He mulls to 5 for a vial hand. I keep a hand that has a 2nd turn baneslayer. I start to race. But a piledriver hits plays and packs a wallop. I dig for deed but I can't find it. But I do find an intent (sacing the angel) to find the deed and deed for 3 (He was at 4 after the attack but his swingback is lethal) Wipes his board minus a ringleader. I'm at 11. He topdecks fairly well and kills me.
Game 3: He assembles Warchief and Krenko and kills me quickly.
0-1 (1-2, 0 mulls)
Round 2: Shardless Brug with punishing Fire
Game 1: I blind name shardless agent after he plays a fetchland and deathrite. I see a bloodbraid. And pretty much just lose from there. In: Surgical/Extirpate?
Game 2: I stabilize after some damage with a deed and sigarda/karakas combo. I get him down to 9 but fire finishes me.
0-2 (1-4, 0 mulls)
Round 3: Hypergenesis
Game 1: Ends quickly at the tentacles of the FSM. In: Surigcal/Extripate/Ashen Rider/Canonist? Out: Thrag, Baneslayer, Finks?
Game 2: He never finds a third land to show/cascade and I extripate the FSM when he discards it. I rip his hand apart while beating down.
Game 3: I keep a hand with a Rider and at least one discard. I Therapy naming FSM? don't hit but see the show, grisel, guide and prog. He shows in the Griselbrand which meets the rider.
Beatdown continues. I play a tower just in case. I also have a wish in hand to get marauder/karakas if needed.
1-2 (3-5, 1 mull)
Round 4: Delver Blade (uwr)
Game 1: I rip his hand apart while never going below 19. In: Bounty?
Game 2: Pretty much the same as one.
2-2 (5-5, 1 mull)
Round 5: BUG Delver
Game 1: Sigarda makes quick work.
Game 2: Early discard by him and a wasteland quickly ends the game with me having one land at the end.
Game 3: He hymns away my hand but I have a top along with a thrun/Karakas/Carpet in play. I green sun for 5 into a double daze that I knew he had. We still stare at each other.
I have a deed, thrun, ooze, top, carpet vs his bob and goyf. I top into another Carpet. I blow deed for 2. Play carpet. Get finks via GSZ and stabilize.
3-2 (7-6, 2 mull)
Round 6: Dark Depths Maverick
game 1: I mull to 5 (5 lander, then none) while he plays some little dudes. I strip an early mystic from his hand which was huge. I dig for a deed while getting a finks and a tusk. I find it and blow up his world. He sticks a KotR for a turn before titan lock comes out. I deed to kill the mystic to force dark depths combo when I swords hits that token. He gains 20....but I'm attacking for 6 every turn. In: Pridemage?
Game 2: He gets some early beats in before deed hits. I win with a tusk and finks on board.
4-2 (9-6. 4 mull)
Round 7: Enchantress
Not a deck I expected to see.
Game 1: He quickly ramps and I die to a FSM. Out:Tusk, Angel, Ooze? In: Traps, Nether Void, Pridemage
Game 2: Early discard and a deed sets him way back. I win with Teeg.
Game 3: Early discard sees a mistcutter hydra?!? I hold a GSZ for 2 until I hit my fourth land since he had words of war out. Looks like sigarda finished the game.
5-2 (11-7, 4 mull)
Round 8: Punishing Jund
Game 1: Bloodbraid/lily/goyf Wrecks my face.
Game 2: Game goes long...while I discard 2 BBE he topdecks another into a lily. And takes the last card out of my hand which was a wish. I die soon after.
5-3 (11-9, 4 mull)
Round 9: RUG Delver
Game 1: Sigarda doesn't get countered and takes over.
Game 2: Early teeg stops stops force/submerge. At one point I'm down to 4 and have a swords in hand. I'm missing a 2nd white for my Baneslayer, so I wish for the karakas play it and pass. I have to use the swords on the witness because he wastes the karakas. Luckily, I top deck the white source and the Angel closes it out.
6-3 (13-9, 4 mull) 50th overall. 2nd cash in a row.
Going back to the original junk build feels pretty solid. Having the wish board is still awesome to have. Needs a couple of changes still.
High tide matchup still scares the crap out of me. Mono-red sneak attack seems icky too. BBE/agent are both hard to deal with. Thoughts?
List is here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...l=1#post757951
@Jbone -- not too many comments for you, but I did notice one thing in particular that I think was a misplay:
If the game is going this long, and you're sandbagging a wish, try to keep a land or two in your hand to protect against this. Yes, he can still rip a Hymn or a Seize and you're sad anyway. But, if you keep 1 land in your hand, you have Liliana protection, at least.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jbone
In games 2 and 3 vs any deck, do you show PFire before having a Grove in play? My thinking is I don't want to be caught with my pants down and have my PFires Surgically extracted.
Also, I've been testing a lot against Death and Taxes and games 2 and 3 are so goddamn tough. Rest in Peace is a tremendous wrench in my gears, and Batterskull is really not easy to beat. I'm considering putting a Nature's Claim in my SB to help against equipment. Does 3 REB and 1 Nature's Claim make sense to anyone?
Virtue's Ruin and Infest will serve you much better, I think. Some artifact hate of some kind wouldn't be a bad idea, though -- perhaps Destructive Revelry?Quote:
Originally Posted by hymntotourcock
With all the hubub about the new Pro-Everything Merfolk, I'm sure glad that my deck of choice has 4 Pernicious Deeds MD. :cool:
How good is the blue splash? Is Strix that much of an improvement over any other two drop?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hymntotourcock
- Usually I don't do this because it is too costly to do this over the entirety of a game because you need a second Grove in play and leave it untapped at all times when there is a Fire in your graveyard to do it. If you can kill a SFM or a Bob on turn 2 you should certainly not wait. If they Surgical Fire it is not the end of the world. They are down a card and Titan can still get Wolf Run and Stronghold so your late game still has power and if they play Jaces you have Red Blasts for him because it is post board.
But if you have the resources to play around Surgical and the matchup comes down to attrition it is a good play to not expose yourself unnecessarily.
- For the Sideboard, against D&T, Golgari Charms! Don't cut them, they are important, and this matchup is one of the reasons why!!! Charm basically wipes their entire board (Mother of Runes, Phyrexian Revoker, Thalia, Aven Mindcensor, Mangara, Flickerwisp) for cheap at Instant speed. It could get Rest in Peace, too, but usually the -1/-1 mode is just better. The biggest worry in G2/G3 is Cataclysm.
Oh I'm definitely not cutting Golgari Charm. I'm just thinking of ways to make your (Tao) SB better suited to my meta. The list I've built is basically a carbon copy of yours (-1 SDT +1 Decay).
Another point I'd like to make: sometimes I really wish I had a 3cmc GSZ target that destroys an artifact (Elf thing, Uktabi Orangutan) or even an Acidic Slime to take out a problem card later on. I may cut 1 Witness to fit either Slime or Orangutan in the MB.
The Junk player above mentioned Ashen Rider. Would it benefit us to play out-of-color cards in the SB to shore up the SnT matchup? You've said it's one of our hardest, and I know for a fact people will be playing it at Atomic Empire this weekend. I know goblins players sometimes board 4 Angel of Despair solely for Show and Tell, and I would feel better having a similar surprise for my most hated combo players.
I also feel that 2 Surgical is really light. It's our only bit of graveyard hate in the entire deck. Expecting to draw 2/60 cards when they're desperately and immediately needed seems ludicrous. Would a SB Loaming Shaman be worth looking into? He fits the GSZ toolbox, but that's a really slow play which doesn't thrill me.
Wasteland has also been a thorn in my side. Which makes me want to reconsider cutting a Witness. Rishadan Port is scumland and it makes me weep for the days of yore when i was loaming wastelands every turn.
Unrelated response to an earlier post I made: I traded in a fat stack of cards and now am the proud owner of 1 Badlands 1 Taiga 1 Foothills. feelsgood.dec
Acidic Slime and Viridian Shaman are both good cards if they are right for your meta. Shaman can be a blowout and Slime is super flexible. But like you said, cutting things is really hard. Can't help you with that.
For Ashen Rider: In a format as wide as Legacy I want my SB cards to target as many decks as possible. I think Charm, Thoughtseize, Red Blast, Surgical and Slaughter Games do a good job at that. If you play for example 4 Ashen Rider for Show and Tell and 3 Mindbreak Traps for Storm, that is less cards total for either of those matchup but most importantly both are dead against other popular combo decks like Reanimator, Dredge and Painterstone.
For the yard hate: There is a Scavenging Ooze maindeck that is your most important yard hate and there are also the 2 Slaughter Games in the SB which are useful against Graveyard based decks. I wouldn't mind a third Surgical or an Extirpate but I think the other cards are more important.
I think my logic there was to get the Rider with the Wish but that's a lot of mana. Canonist might have been a better play? Stops his cacade from the BBE then trades. I know I sacced a non vet to flashback therapy to get the BBE out of his hand. Jund has a lot of value that we need to deal with.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arianrhod