4 Card Blind

Me. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief

1. Asthereal (TO): Sandstone Needle, Swamp, Fulminator Mage, Rotting Regisaur
Mayor is fast enough to mount a defense even on the draw, so I always tag Fulminator.
WW

2. dte: Endurance, Hickory Woodlot, Urza's saga, Ramunap Excavator
Mayor is going to be fast enough if you don't have Excavator.
WW
Your choice of Endurance makes me very curious about what lurks in your gauntlet. :tongue:
Endurance can target you. I'll have to think about this, but the 3/4 body seems especially bad for me.
With Solitude, Grief, and Fury being obviously powerful, I have of course been looking at the others. And all this time I thought Endurance was useless. While at the same time, I was also looking for recursion creatures. I need a facepalm emote.
I hope Endurance gets banned.

3. PJim: Creeping Tar Pit, Dreadship Reef, Tide Shaper, Murderous Rider
On the play, I tag the Murder and easily win.
Draw math is very close. I would have won with exactsies if the Mayor actually made 3/3s, but he doesn't.
WL

4. Reeplcheep: Grist, The Hunger Tide, Arboreal Grazer, Lair of the Hydra, Golgari Rot Farm
Tag Grist, make wolf army.
WW

5. Wrath of Pie: Cathedral of War, Inkmoth Nexus, Mana Confluence, Granger Guildmage
On the play, I tag the Guildmage and your clock is 7 turns. My damage per turn is 0, 0, 3, 6, 9, 12.
On the draw, Guildmage wins alone.
WL

7. RoosterCocoa: Undiscovered Paradise, Old-Growth Dryads, Fanatical Firebrand, Law-Rune Enforcer
WL versus Firebrand. I was heavily considering Old-Growth Dryads this week, but it didn't feel big enough to outclass slightly slow decks.

8. GoblinSmashmaster: Mercadian Bazaar, Fury, Squee, the Immortal, Bonecrusher Giant
I can tag Fury and flip before you make it to turn 4 to Stomp.
WW

9. FTW: Badlands, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend
WL versus Firebrand.

10. alphastryk: Icatian Store, Dust Bowl, Rogue's Passage, Windborn Muse
Tagging the muse is good. WW

11. maxx!: Inkmoth Nexus, Molten Slagheap, Bonecrusher Giant, Murderous Rider
On the play:
Woodlot, Grief the Giant; Nexus.
Mayor; Slagheap, 1 counter.
Flip Mayor, hit for 3 (to 17), make a wolf; 2 counters.
Hit for 6 (to 11), make second wolf; Swift End (to 9).
Hit for 4 (to 7); 1 counter.
Hit for 4 (to 3); 2 counters.
Hit for 4 (to -1).
On the draw, I get one less wolf, you get tons of extra turns, and lifelink and Nexus completely overwhelm me.
WL

13W, 5L = 39 by my count.

Regarding the season extension: I'm happy to go to 15. I agree that rounds have been satisfying diverse. I agree with FTW and alphastryk that once the 16 storage lands are free to roam, rounds will be even more unpredictable. And there are plenty of lands that make make 2 mana once or twice, and there are suspend cards, and certainly more craziness that I can't think of right now. Oh yeah, mana dorks too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoblinSmashmaster

GoblinSmashmaster Results for Round "Adventure"

3. PJim: Creeping Tar Pit, Dreadship Reef, Tide Shaper, Murderous Rider
Goblin smash! 6-0

8. GoblinSmashmaster: Mercadian Bazaar, Fury, Squee, the Immortal, Bonecrusher Giant
That's me, smashing with better Goblins!

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I'm not sure how you get through Murderous Rider. You have to evoke-Fury the Tideshaper, then Murderous Rider will hold down the fort. Eventually, Murderous Rider attacks through Squee. If you play Bonecrusher, then Rider sits on defense while Tar Pit very slowly goes face.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silkster

Me. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief

[...]

2. dte: Endurance, Hickory Woodlot, Urza's saga, Ramunap Excavator
Mayor is going to be fast enough if you don't have Excavator.
WW
Your choice of Grief makes me very curious about what lurks in your gauntlet. :tongue:

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I guess you mean endurance? It is indeed primarily a T0 answer vs some reanimation shenanigans, but also vs grief and mayor, as both were in my gauntlet, and endurance wins it, the 3/4 body helps a lot VS 3/3s ;)

Silk OTP.
Land/land
Mayor, grief on ramunap (if ramunap lands, we both make one token per turn, but I start and mine grow bigger)/endurance
Nothing/mayor filps, draw and play ramunap, play Hickory from the graveyard
Nothing, get a wolf/saga token, sac saga, play saga
Nothing, get second wolf/get second saga token, play Hickory

--->WW for me?

3. PJim: Creeping Tar Pit, Dreadship Reef, Tide Shaper, Murderous Rider
With apologies to WoP. Honestly, if this hadn't been played before with Gilded Drake, that might have been my first choice to try at the 2-drop slot. Tide Shaper is probably better though.

vs

1. Asthereal (TO): Sandstone Needle, Swamp, Fulminator Mage, Rotting Regisaur / 3-3, Faster land hate wins.
2. dte: Endurance, Hickory woodlot, Urza's saga, Ramunap excavator / 6-0, Shaper on Woodlot.
4. Reeplcheep: Grist, The Hunger Tide, Arboreal Grazer, Lair of the Hydra, Golgari Rot Farm / 6-0, Rider on Grist wins OTD.
5. Wrath of Pie: Cathedral of War, Inkmoth Nexus, Mana Confluence, Granger Guildmage / 6-0, Shaper on Nexus.
6. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief / 3-3, It is indeed easy for your play. On mine Rider is fast enough to kill Mayor before things get out of hand.
7. RoosterCocoa: Undiscovered Paradise, Old-Growth Dryads, Fanatical Firebrand, Law-Rune Enforcer / 6-0, OTD I have enough time to drop Shaper and Murder Dryads.
8. GoblinSmashmaster: Mercadian Bazaar, Fury, Squee, the Immortal, Bonecrusher Giant / 6-0, As silkster says. I did have this as my deck to beat.
9. FTW: Badlands, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend / 6-0, though only on account of Badlands being banned. I should be good vs Mountain or Swamp.
10. alphastryk: Icatian Store, Dust Bowl, Rogue's Passage, Windborn Muse / 6-0, Shaper on either Store or Dust Bowl. (+ Murder in the latter case)
11. maxx!: Inkmoth Nexus, Molten Slagheap, Bonecrusher Giant, Murderous Rider / Edit: 6-0, Shaper can turn off all your red/black mana, and with Rider support certainly races Nexus.

5. Wrath of Pie: Cathedral of War, Inkmoth Nexus, Mana Confluence, Granger Guildmage

1. Asthereal (TO): Sandstone Needle, Swamp, Fulminator Mage, Rotting Regisaur LL
2. dte: Endurance, Hickory woodlot, Urza's saga, Ramunap excavator LL
3. PJim: Creeping Tar Pit, Dreadship Reef, Tide Shaper, Murderous Rider LL
4. Reeplcheep: Grist, The Hunger Tide, Arboreal Grazer, Lair of the Hydra, Golgari Rot Farm LL
6. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief WL - I was trying to think of ways to help Mayor survive 1-toughness issues via toughness-based pump, and all along the answer was simply Grief.
7. RoosterCocoa: Undiscovered Paradise, Old-Growth Dryads, Fanatical Firebrand, Law-Rune Enforcer WL
8. GoblinSmashmaster: Mercadian Bazaar, Fury, Squee, the Immortal, Bonecrusher Giant LL
9. FTW: Badlands, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend WW - Badlands is banned (which naturally means it was a bad land this round), which means you get a basic and you can only cast one of Firebrand/Fiend.
10. alphastryk: Icatian Store, Dust Bowl, Rogue's Passage, Windborn Muse LL
11. maxx!: Inkmoth Nexus, Molten Slagheap, Bonecrusher Giant, Murderous Rider LL

4w = 12 points

I am slightly less bad at this format. (Still pretty bad, though.)

@PJim, I think you win vs maxx (nexus doesn't give red), and lose vs FTW (the gob kills the merfolk).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dte

@PJim, I think you win vs maxx (nexus doesn't give red), and lose vs FTW (the gob kills the merfolk).

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Beat you to it on the former. On the latter, the merfolk is 2/2 while Nexus is an Island. WoP's point about the Badland banning means the Goblin + Fiend really isn't an issue, but even if it's a Badland, I can't block Fiend, but I can attack back, which with the odd Tar Pit attack wins the race, I think.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PJim

Beat you to it on the former. On the latter, the merfolk is 2/2 while Nexus is an Island. WoP's point about the Badland banning means the Goblin + Fiend really isn't an issue, but even if it's a Badland, I can't block Fiend, but I can attack back, which with the odd Tar Pit attack wins the race, I think.

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Firebrand kills the merfolk, it is a 2/2 only if the EtB resolves?
Blackcleaves cliffs >> badlands

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dte

Firebrand kills the merfolk, it is a 2/2 only if the EtB resolves?
Blackcleaves cliffs >> badlands

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Fair point, though I think I still win as Tar-Pit is a threatening blocker, so I attack when I hit 6 counters, when it attacks it attacks for 3, Fiend attacks for 1, and the Goblin has to hold in case of Tide Shaper, then hold up as a blocker while I build back to 6.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PJim

Fair point, though I think I still win as Tar-Pit is a threatening blocker, so I attack when I hit 6 counters, when it attacks it attacks for 3, Fiend attacks for 1, and the Goblin has to hold in case of Tide Shaper, then hold up as a blocker while I build back to 6.

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Nexus kills faster than that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dte

Nexus kills faster than that?

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Alright, I'll grant you that. However, I'm pretty sure I take it against a Mountain (with a Murder) or Swamp (where Shaper lands).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wrath of Pie

6. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief WL - I was trying to think of ways to help Mayor survive 1-toughness issues via toughness-based pump, and all along the answer was simply Grief.

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I was trying to think of other ways to protect Mayor. I was also looking for a Grief deck. I'm glad I figured out to try mashing them together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wrath of Pie

9. FTW: Badlands, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend WW - Badlands is banned (which naturally means it was a bad land this round), which means you get a basic and you can only cast one of Firebrand/Fiend.

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I didn't notice the Badlands! Extra unfortunate for FTW who could have played Blood Crypt or Sulfurous Springs Blackcleave Cliffs, as reading more has shown me. I got excited reading this for a moment, but unfortunately for me, I lose to Mountain Firebrand Nexus on the draw anyway. :/

9. FTW: Swamp, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend

I considered replaying my Saga deck with Endurance tech (dte's), but I was worried about losing to Goblin Welder and Goblin Lackey without T1 interaction. Looks like everyone else played around X/1 hate, even though most of the pingers were banned last round, and accepted being weak to Goblins. Even GoblinSmashmaster went for a slow Goblin deck instead! I'm bad at reading this meta.

I also considered a Grief deck, but my wincon was much worse than Mayor. Grief was good at protecting Mayor.

1. Asthereal (TO): OTP T2 Fiend exiles Regisaur. Inkmoth will race Fulminator by 1 turn, forcing LD at 9 poison counters, then Fiend kills in 20 turns. OTD I can't beat T2 Regisaur. WL 3-3
2. dte: OTP Fiend exiles Ramunap, but Endurance's reach stops Inkmoth and 3 constructs get there. OTD I can't even stop Ramunap. LL 0-6
3. PJim: T1 Mountain + Fanatic would let me beat Tide Shaper in response to ETB trigger, but instead I chose Swamp+Fiend. Fiend exiles Rider but you get your 2/2 shutting off Inkmoth and race my 1/1. LL 0-6
4. Reeplcheep: OTP T2 Fiend exiles Grist and Inkmoth gets there. OTD Grist comes down first. WL 3-3
5. Wrath of Pie: Even if I had my full deck, I can only kill Guildmage and then lose to your bigger Inkmoth. LL 0-6
6. silkster: OTP T1 Mountain + Fanatic would handle Mayor while Inkmoth races Guildmage, but I chose Swamp + Fiend instead, which you can beat with Grief. LL 0-6
7. RoosterCocoa: Even with my full deck, I can't stop Dryads. It comes down before Fiend, outsizes my creatures and removal, and races Inkmoth. LL 0-6
8. GoblinSmashmaster: T2 Fiend exiles something, but no matter what I choose you can hold up Stomp for Inkmoth and then win with Squee or Fury. LL 0-6
10. alphastryk: T2 Fiend exiles Muse and wins. WW 6-0
11. maxx!: Fiend exiles one of your creatures, but you use the other to kill Fiend and get it back, then you have 3 threats and removal for my Inkmoth. Fanatic wouldn't save me. LL 0-6

12 points (4 wins)

Mountain + Fanatic is worth 3 pts (WL vs silk), so I'm better off choosing Swamp + Fiend.

Blackcleave + Fiend + Fanatic would be an extra +6 pts (WW vs PJim with Fanatic stopping Tide Shaper and Fiend exiling Rider) for 27 pts total. Still not much, but a lot better than 12!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FTW

DD vs PJim (Fanatic stops Merfolk in response to trigger, then Inkmoth could race either threat so you have to hold open Swift End and we stare)

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I know it's irrelevant, but just in case things change:

Mountain, Fanatic | Tar Pit
Nexus | Reef
1poison, 1storage | Pass
2poison, 2storage | Pass
Pass, 3storage

If Nexus animates it'll be murdered, if Fanatic attacks I'll drop Shaper. I can store enough mana to murder Fanatic then drop Shaper in a single turn.

1. Asthereal (TO): Sandstone Needle, Swamp, Fulminator Mage, Rotting Regisaur
3-3. Whoever's first wins.
3

2. dte: Endurance, Hickory woodlot, Urza's saga, Ramunap excavator
Me, stealing FTW's deck but putting Endurance in.

3. PJim: Creeping Tar Pit, Dreadship Reef, Tide Shaper, Murderous Rider
0.6. Tide shaper is an amazing find!
3

4. Reeplcheep: Grist, The Hunger Tide, Arboreal Grazer, Lair of the Hydra, Golgari Rot Farm
1-4. OTP, I play EoT endurance:
hicko/arbo
saga, pass/grist, token G4 T1, EoT endurance
play ramunap, hickory, attack grist G4 T0/Grist sac the grazer to kill ramunap G2 T0
saga token, attack grist, animate lair to defend it/token G3 T1
From now on, I attack every turn, the token blocks endurance, the saga token reduces grist loyalty to 2 every turn.
4

5. Wrath of Pie: Cathedral of War, Inkmoth Nexus, Mana Confluence, Granger Guildmage
6-0. I planned vs pingers!
10

6. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief
6-0, see above. Endurance putting some work in.
16

7. RoosterCocoa: Undiscovered Paradise, Old-Growth Dryads, Fanatical Firebrand, Law-Rune Enforcer
6-0. Army > few dudes.
22

8. GoblinSmashmaster: Mercadian Bazaar, Fury, Squee, the Immortal, Bonecrusher Giant
6-0. giant does not kill anything, endurance recures ramunap.
28

9. FTW: Badlands, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend
6-0. I am happy I was winning with badlands too, but feel very sorry for you. Small positive point: you 6-0 alphastryx, fiend can do that ;)
34

10. alphastryk: Icatian Store, Dust Bowl, Rogue's Passage, Windborn Muse
6-0. I do not care about LD after T2, and even have a bigger reach body!
40

11. maxx!: Inkmoth Nexus, Molten Slagheap, Bonecrusher Giant, Murderous Rider
6-0. I planned vs this deck. I lead with ramunap (giant proof) and keep Endurance ready for when you can murder it. If you try the nexus road, I have reach to kill it.
46

Asthereal's scores for round 6:

1. Asthereal (TO): Sandstone Needle, Swamp, Fulminator Mage, Rotting Regisaur <-me
2. dte: Endurance, Hickory woodlot, Urza's saga, Ramunap excavator WL
OTP I can kill the Woodlot before it untaps. You can save it but lose the Excavator, which means you can't stop the dino and I win.
OTD you get to cast Excavator, which means I won't be able to stop you from playing lands forever. Excavator, Endurance plus one token already beats my dino, so I won't be able to race that.
3. PJim: Creeping Tar Pit, Dreadship Reef, Tide Shaper, Murderous Rider WL
Whoever gets the land hate going first will win.
4. Reeplcheep: Grist, The Hunger Tide, Arboreal Grazer, Lair of the Hydra, Golgari Rot Farm WL
OTP I get to blow up the Farm before you can drop Grist. OTD you get Grist, and the 0/3 wall is also relevant as a blocker for my 2/2. I like this brew.
5. Wrath of Pie: Cathedral of War, Inkmoth Nexus, Mana Confluence, Granger Guildmage WW
Fulmy blows up the Nexus and the Guildmage was designed to be good against other things than the "big dino hit hard" plan.
6. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief LL
This deck is excellent. Grief takes the land hate and Mayor is fast enough to mount a defence against big dino hit hard, as big dino sadly lacks the trample feature.
7. RoosterCocoa: Undiscovered Paradise, Old-Growth Dryads, Fanatical Firebrand, Law-Rune Enforcer WW
Fulmy blows up the Paradise, which stops the Enforcer from tapping big dino, which hits harder than a 3/3 and a 1/X.
8. GoblinSmashmaster: Mercadian Bazaar, Fury, Squee, the Immortal, Bonecrusher Giant WW
Fulmy blows up Bazaar before you can drop threats. Evoking Fury doesn't kill the big dino.
9. FTW: SWAMP, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend WL
OTP I actually go T2 big dino and just smack face. OTD you Fiend away the dino, and Inkmoth would race me, so I have to use Fulmy, which means I die to the Fiend.
10. alphastryk: Icatian Store, Dust Bowl, Rogue's Passage, Windborn Muse WW
Another storage land. This is why I went for land hate. Fulmy blows up the Store and big dino hits hard.
11. maxx!: Inkmoth Nexus, Molten Slagheap, Bonecrusher Giant, Murderous Rider WW
Ah, my own deck. Well stolen, my friend. :wink: But I played something else because I expected this deck, or similar decks, to be prevalent. So yeah, Fulmy blows up the Slagheap, and big dino hits hard again.

Total: 42 points

I hadn't realized exactly what happened with banned cards. That puts me back up to 42 and tied for 3rd place, which means more bans!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silkster

I hadn't realized exactly what happened with banned cards. That puts me back up to 42 and tied for 3rd place, which means more bans!

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Could be worse. I needed this remark to notice someone played a banned card.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FTW

8. GoblinSmashmaster: T2 Fiend exiles Fury. T4 Stomp kills Fiend, getting back Fury, then you play T8 Giant and T12 Squee. That only kills turn 13, so my Inkmoth races. WW 6-0

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GSM can hold Stomp to prevent Nexus from winning, and drop Squee as an attacker. I think 0-6.

Quote:

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10. alphastryk: T2 Fiend exiles Muse, but Dust Bowl stops my Inkmoth. If I had Fanatic too I could win both, but instead we draw. DD 2-2

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None of the lands can stop Fiend from winning by itself. I think 6-0.

I definitely thought this would be a slower round but there's too much fast land hate still. I struggled with my 3rd land for a while (had a second Dust Bowl at first) and ended up on Rogue's Passage to sneak Muse past a blocker but should have been less cute and gone for a token producer or a manland to have a second threat. Or even just a second storage land!


1. Asthereal (TO): Sandstone Needle, Swamp, Fulminator Mage, Rotting Regisaur
Your turn 2 Mage blows up my storage land. LL

0-6

2. dte: Endurance, Hickory woodlot, Urza's saga, Ramunap excavator
Once we both play everything out, if you attack with Endurance to race, you can attack every 2 out of 3 turns from replaying Woodlot and when you don't attack I can't attack either and that's enough. Having a relevant land instead of Rogue's Passage would be huge here. LL

0-6

3. PJim: Creeping Tar Pit, Dreadship Reef, Tide Shaper, Murderous Rider
Shaper beats Store and I do nothing. LL

0-6

4. Reeplcheep: Grist, The Hunger Tide, Arboreal Grazer, Lair of the Hydra, Golgari Rot Farm
Bowl is too slow, can't beat Grist. LL

0-6

5. Wrath of Pie: Cathedral of War, Inkmoth Nexus, Mana Confluence, Granger Guildmage
I'm able to Dust Bowl on my turn 4, killing Inkmoth. After that, its a race between Granger Guildmage and Muse, but Conflucence kills you along the way as you pay the Must tax. WW

6-0

6. silkster: Hickory Woodlot, Mayor of Avabruck, Golgari Guildmage, Grief
Grief beats Muse. LL

0-6

7. RoosterCocoa: Undiscovered Paradise, Old-Growth Dryads, Fanatical Firebrand, Law-Rune Enforcer
Muse stops your team and Dust Bowl blows up your land to stop Enforcer from tapping Muse. WW

6-0

8. GoblinSmashmaster: Mercadian Bazaar, Fury, Squee, the Immortal, Bonecrusher Giant
I go for Dust Bowl ASAP (my turn 4), but you can play Squee first on your turn 4 when you are OTP. Once I play Muse you can pitch Fury to kill it. DL

1-4

9. FTW: SWAMP, Inkmoth Nexus, Fanatical Firebrand, Mesmeric Fiend
You're always able to Fiend my Muse and kill me with Fiend. LL

0-6

10. alphastryk: Icatian Store, Dust Bowl, Rogue's Passage, Windborn Muse
This is my poorly designed deck

11. maxx!: Inkmoth Nexus, Molten Slagheap, Bonecrusher Giant, Murderous Rider
I'm always able to Dust Bowl your Slagheap and you can't beat Muse without it. WW

6-0

19 total points by my math, Muse + Dust Bowl was a good half of a deck but the other half could have been better.