4 Card Blind

Sorry that it ends like this without PJim. He was convincingly winning until having too little time to build entries :/

5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap
I chickened out of a more interesting build to have something that should score reasonably well against non-welder decks by discarding two cards by T2, leaving a 2/2 and a later 5/5 flyer. As I was almost two points ahead, that seemed to be the safe option, expecting quite a lot of 3-3.

1. Asthereal (TO): Great Furnace, Goblin Welder, Insolent Neonate, Noxious Gearhulk
Argh, welder!
0-6
0

2. Reeplcheep: Glint Hawk, Ancient Den, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk
3-3, 2 Hawks race my demon OTD. Very aggro deck resilient vs settler!
3

3. alphastryk: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Desert, Dauthi Slayer, Black Knight
6-0. One 2/2 is raced OTD.
9

4. Nasst: Den of the Bugbear, Molten Slagheap, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
6-0. You cannot keep Titan.
15

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Havenwood Battleground, Mountain, Fanatical Firebrand, Anurid Scavenger
3-3. Protection from black matters!
18

7. Wrath of Pie: Den of the Bugbear, Mercadian Bazaar, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
6-0. I race T8 Titan
24

8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest
6-0, colonnade is smaller than Urami, and banisher gets discarded.
30

9. RoosterCocoa: Swamp, Blinkmoth Nexus, Guul Draz Assassin, Pilfering Imp
The mirror! I guess it is a 2-2, neither of us is fast, you can always resolve and pump assassin while I can play Urami, which would race nexus.
32

10. silkster: Teferi's Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Trench Behemoth
6-0. Fun deck! but T3. Pretty elegant manabase and how you can get around banisher priest & noxious gearhulk.
38

11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth
3-3. The mirror the return, nice deck. Loses to 1/1 hate, but much more synergistic / aggro.
41

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dte

Sorry that it ends like this without PJim. He was convincingly winning until having too little time to build entries :/

5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap

(total:) 41

---

Yeah that's true. But for this particular round, your score would have forced PJim to score a near whitewash, including against you, to take the crown.
So your finish is deserved. Congrats on winning yet another season! In a row. We need PJim back for some competition. :laugh:

2. Reeplcheep: Glint Hawk, Ancient Den, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk
A more focused version of my last deck. Pure aggro, but gets to dodge LD and x/1 hate.

1. Asthereal (TO): Great Furnace, Goblin Welder, Insolent Neonate, Noxious Gearhulk
The wrong 1 cmc goblin LL 0-6

3. alphastryk: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Desert, Dauthi Slayer, Black Knight
3 2/2s with evasion > 2 2/2s. WW 6-0

4. Nasst: Den of the Bugbear, Molten Slagheap, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
I kill on t6; Titan is too slow. WW 6-0

5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap
WL 3-3 per above

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Havenwood Battleground, Mountain, Fanatical Firebrand, Anurid Scavenger
You can kill a Hawk on your t4, t6 & t8. That’s just barely good enough when I’m OTD WL 3-3.

7. Wrath of Pie: Den of the Bugbear, Mercadian Bazaar, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
I kill on t6; Titan is too slow. WW 6-0

8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest
I kill on t6 in the air. Collonnade is too slow by itself and I think banisher priest costs you too many counters to help. WW 6-0

9. RoosterCocoa: Swamp, Blinkmoth Nexus, Guul Draz Assassin, Pilfering Imp
You can start gunning down my flyers on t4 which is fast enough. LL 0-6

10. silkster: Teferi's Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Trench Behemoth
My 6 power races your 7 power with the 2 turn head start and a chump if needed. WW 6-0.

11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth
A fast big flyer hurts my deck quite a bit. LL 0-6
Edit: Forgot that tomb does 6 damage to maxx not 4. DD 2-2

12 W 2D 6L for 38/60. Beat up on durdle decks and lost to combo, as aggro decks do.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Asthereal

Yeah that's true. But for this particular round, your score would have forced PJim to score a near whitewash, including against you, to take the crown.
So your finish is deserved. Congrats on winning yet another season! In a row. We need PJim back for some competition. :laugh:

---

Thanks for the congrats!
Actually one of the decks I hesitated on would have done the clean sweep, including vs me, and so PJim could have won the season with it.
It is funny how the metagame evolves, it would have done not so great last week (weak vs LD).

8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest

Playing the manland I should have played last round. I considered Gilded Drake and a few other things for the creature slot, let's see how this package does.

1. Asthereal (TO): I play T2 Chaplain. If you ever make Gearhulk, Banisher Priest exiles it and wins. If Neonate beats down, eventually I get to enough mana to double block with Colonnade & Chaplain so you can't attack anymore. I stabilize above 10 life, so I can eventually attack with Colonnade 5 times in a row before you could race me back. WW 6-0

2. Reeplcheep: Colonnade is way too slow to block these. LL 0-6
3. alphastryk: Did you specifically hate out my deck? It looks bad against most things, but I just can't beat Black Knight! Desert even stops Beloved Chaplain! LL 0-6

4. Nasst: T2 Chaplain holds off most early damage. If Den makes a token, I can always choose to block & kill the token, so I can choose to not let you gain tokens. If you play Inferno Titan, I take 3 damage but can Banisher Priest it and gain a body. Eventually I have mana to block Den with Colonnade (you can sac Firebrand to force a trade, but Chaplain blocks the created token and then you lose your board while I still have Chaplain; you could make postcombat Inferno Titan to kill Colonnade, but then I make Banisher Priest to kill Titan and have 2 bodies to your 1). If you stop attacking, I can eventually go over the top with evasion. WW 6-0?

5. dte: I almost played a cross between your deck and Rooster's deck, but missed Tomb. Tomb is great tech! Your flyer is bigger and takes less mana. LL 0-6
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Banisher Priest removes Scavenger. WW 6-0
7. Wrath of Pie: Same as Nasst. WW 6-0
9. RoosterCocoa: If you don't use Imp to remove Banisher Priest, then I can Banish the Assassin and my 2/2 + 4/4 flyer beats your 1/1 + 1/1. So you activate Imp on T2 to remove Banisher Priest. Then we stalemate. As long as your mana is untapped, you can threaten to kill Colonnade, so I can't attack. But 4/4 Assassin can't kill Chaplain or attack through it. If Blinkmoth attacks, I can block with Colonnade and you won't have mana to use Assassin. So you can only get a few Blinkmoth hits in before we have to stare. DD 2-2

10. silkster: Beloved Chaplain holds off your deck. Eventually Colonnade can fly over. WW 6-0
11. maxx!: If I discard Beloved Chaplain to Mummy, I can Banisher Priest Scourge in time to stabilize. If you don't make Scourge and beat down with your dorks, I Banish the Mummy instead and then you can't play Scourge. WW 6-0

38 points (12 wins, 2 draw, 6 loss)

@dte: Congrats on a strong season! Too bad PJim wasn't around to give a good fight the last 2 rounds.

@silkster: That deck looks fun! I was hoping to see more decks like that for this format and less Swamp + Thoughtseize (in creature form). I had so many durdly ideas, but the presence of T2 combo and T2 LD invalidated most of them.
Academy Ruins, Calciform Pools, Walking Ballista, Mirrorshell Crab -> Of all the slow ideas, this at least has T2 interaction vs Goblin combo and resists discard.
Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Ulamog's Crusher/Void Winnower
Vault of Whispers, Hex Parasite, Memnite, Salvage Titan
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Molten Slagheap, Nissa's Chosen, Braids, Cabal Minion
Lake of the Dead, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Sengir Autocrat, Demon of Death's Gate

I was so far out of the race that I decided to just submit the legal sample deck from Asthereal's post announcing this round to see if it was capable of winning, and surprisingly I might have won a few!

1. Asthereal (TO): Great Furnace, Goblin Welder, Insolent Neonate, Noxious Gearhulk
LL 0-6
2. Reeplcheep: Glint Hawk, Ancient Den, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk
LL 0-6
3. alphastryk: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Desert, Dauthi Slayer, Black Knight
Me, on the sample deck
4. Nasst: Den of the Bugbear, Molten Slagheap, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
LL 0-6
5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap
LL 0-6
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Havenwood Battleground, Mountain, Fanatical Firebrand, Anurid Scavenger
LL 0-6
7. Wrath of Pie: Den of the Bugbear, Mercadian Bazaar, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
LL 0-6
8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest
WW 6-0
9. RoosterCocoa: Swamp, Blinkmoth Nexus, Guul Draz Assassin, Pilfering Imp
LL 0-6
10. silkster: Teferi's Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Trench Behemoth
LL 0-6
11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth
LL 0-6

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FTW

8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest
3. alphastryk: Did you specifically hate out my deck? It looks bad against most things, but I just can't beat Black Knight! Desert even stops Beloved Chaplain! LL 0-6

---

Who knew the sample deck was secretly a good meta game choice against you! :laugh:

Total: 6 points

7. Wrath of Pie: Den of the Bugbear, Mercadian Bazaar, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan

1. Asthereal (TO): Great Furnace, Goblin Welder, Insolent Neonate, Noxious Gearhulk WW
2. Reeplcheep: Glint Hawk, Ancient Den, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk LL
3. alphastryk: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Desert, Dauthi Slayer, Black Knight WW - You won this round in spirit.
4. Nasst: Den of the Bugbear, Molten Slagheap, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan DD - We missed out on playing Grave Titan, the mightiest titan of them all, and it cost us a bit.
5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap LL
6. GoblinSmashmaster: Havenwood Battleground, Mountain, Fanatical Firebrand, Anurid Scavenger WL
8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest ??
9. RoosterCocoa: Swamp, Blinkmoth Nexus, Guul Draz Assassin, Pilfering Imp WW - Assassins die to pingers. Who knew?
10. silkster: Teferi's Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Trench Behemoth LL
11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth WW

9w2d = 29 points

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dte

Thanks for the congrats!
Actually one of the decks I hesitated on would have done the clean sweep, including vs me, and so PJim could have won the season with it.
It is funny how the metagame evolves, it would have done not so great last week (weak vs LD).

---

True. I can't get over the fact that I never got to play Cloudpost x2 Eater of Days x2. At the start I was expecting that to be killing by round 12 or so. :wink:

Me. silkster: Teferi's Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Trench Behemoth

1. Asthereal (TO): Great Furnace, Goblin Welder, Insolent Neonate, Noxious Gearhulk ??
2. Reeplcheep: Glint Hawk, Ancient Den, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk LL, close but blocking is relevant
3. alphastryk: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Desert, Dauthi Slayer, Black Knight WW
I laughed out loud when I read this. I hope Asthereal did too.

4. Nasst: Den of the Bugbear, Molten Slagheap, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan WW (I think you're forced to chump block the turn you play Titan)
5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap LL
I tried to make a Tomb of Urami list, but I was using it as a second thread beside removal and it never felt great.

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Havenwood Battleground, Mountain, Fanatical Firebrand, Anurid Scavenger WW
7. Wrath of Pie: Den of the Bugbear, Mercadian Bazaar, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan WW, same as against Nasst
8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest LL, the one matchup where hexproof could have mattered!
9. RoosterCocoa: Swamp, Blinkmoth Nexus, Guul Draz Assassin, Pilfering Imp LL
11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth LL
I looked at Scourge of Nel Toth many times over this season, but I thought it was way too many hoops to jump through: BB, two creatures in play, plus discard outlet. Very elegant.

I briefly tried to do the math against Welder+Gearhulk while I was planning this deck, but I never finished. I think it's very close and Welder blocking might be critical.

8W, 10L = 24 points

I've wanted to play Lake of the Dead for a long time, but it always felt like there was better stuff to do, like attacking lands with Mangara of Corondor, Vedalken Plotter, and Akki Blizzard-Herder. I was sure that there would be a lot of removal this week, probably because that's what I would have tried to play if I had time to try to find what I thought would be the "best" deck. If I hadn't been expecting removal, I'd have gone with Hall of the Bandit Lord, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Visara the Dreadful. I also couldn't resist playing such a ridiculous mana base. I think Visara would have beaten the Glinthawks but lost to the Frog, so a wash anyway. There was at least one week somewhere along the way when this would have dominated, but I was afraid of Karakas at the time. I really hoped that my Mangara deck would win out in large part to open the way for Visara.

My path on Lake of the Dead was long and winding. First I was just looking at black 6 drops: Visara and Midnight Banshee. Then I realized that I could play dual lands, which opened up Archon of Valor's Reach. Weeks later, I found Tetzimoc, Primal Death, but I couldn't force my opponents to play their creatures first. Somehow I then thought to play it with Urborg and Mutavault so that I could beat an inactive opponent. Then I realized that I could fit other utility lands in, including getting up to 7 mana, but it had to be UUBBBBB.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dte

Actually one of the decks I hesitated on would have done the clean sweep, including vs me, and so PJim could have won the season with it.
It is funny how the metagame evolves, it would have done not so great last week (weak vs LD).

---

Sooo... curious... must... know...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FTW

@silkster: That deck looks fun! I was hoping to see more decks like that for this format and less Swamp + Thoughtseize (in creature form). I had so many durdly ideas, but the presence of T2 combo and T2 LD invalidated most of them.
Academy Ruins, Calciform Pools, Walking Ballista, Mirrorshell Crab -> Of all the slow ideas, this at least has T2 interaction vs Goblin combo and resists discard.
Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Ulamog's Crusher/Void Winnower
Vault of Whispers, Hex Parasite, Memnite, Salvage Titan
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Molten Slagheap, Nissa's Chosen, Braids, Cabal Minion
Lake of the Dead, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Sengir Autocrat, Demon of Death's Gate

---

Yeah, durdly decks! I wanted to play Cloudpost too, though I was looking at 7 drops to be able to play them on turn 3. I felt like a few cards hung around too long overstayed their welcome, so I'm excited for the accelerated ban rate. I suppose would could have continued this season, but I do think it's a real cost to deal with such a large ban list.

I like the Ruins with Walking Ballista, though it was far too slow to be played round 3 when Ballista was banned. I'm not sure what the Mirrorshell Crab does for you, though.

I kept looking at Salvage Titan, but it was really embarrassing against Fury. I thought it would be good after that, but it just wasn't. It also felt just worse than
Tree of Tales, Tinderwall, Voldaren Epicure, Dargo, the Shipwrecker, (or Great Furnace and Shield Spheres after Tinder Wall was banned).
The trample is super relevant, as is the extra power, but even with that it always felt bad. In the early rounds, I expected to pop this out and dominate round 10 or so, but it loses to Grazer Grist and Sidisi's Faithful and Welder and Brazen Borrower and... It does beat Fury, though, so I wonder if I could have snuck it in somewhere.

That Braids deck is nice, but it's really unfortunate how slowly Braids herself comes down.

I don't think your Lake of the Dead deck works. It has a replacement effect, so Urborg will be in your graveyard before you get priority (unless I'm missing something, as tends to happen).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silkster

I briefly tried to do the math against Welder+Gearhulk while I was planning this deck, but I never finished. I think it's very close and Welder blocking might be critical.

---

T2 Menace 5/4 Noxious Gearhulk vs T3 7/7 Trench Behemoth

With no blockers, each kills on Turn 6. OTD Gearhulk races.

The question is if you can win OTP or if blocking can stall you. Goblin Welder blocking would stall the critical 1 turn to tilt the race. You can activate Trench Behemoth (returning Urborg) and replay the land T4 to force Welder to attack into the Behemoth. But that's too slow to stop Welder from blocking your turn 4 attack. It would only tap out Welder the next turn. Whether you wait to eat Welder or attack into Welder, you miss 1 attack and Gearhulk races.

LL 0-6

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silkster

I've wanted to play Lake of the Dead for a long time...

My path on Lake of the Dead was long and winding. First I was just looking at black 6 drops: Visara and Midnight Banshee. Then I realized that I could play dual lands, which opened up Archon of Valor's Reach. Weeks later, I found Tetzimoc, Primal Death, but I couldn't force my opponents to play their creatures first. Somehow I then thought to play it with Urborg and Mutavault so that I could beat an inactive opponent. Then I realized that I could fit other utility lands in, including getting up to 7 mana, but it had to be UUBBBBB.

I don't think your Lake of the Dead deck works. It has a replacement effect, so Urborg will be in your graveyard before you get priority (unless I'm missing something, as tends to happen).

---

You are correct. I forgot how the errata worked. It's been so long since I've used that card. In that case, Lake needs 3 lands like your decks, so you're limited to one threat and maybe a utility land. You've clearly thought that card through a lot more.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silkster

I like the Ruins with Walking Ballista, though it was far too slow to be played round 3 when Ballista was banned. I'm not sure what the Mirrorshell Crab does for you, though.

---

Yeah, it's painfully slow and wasn't relevant until too late. Crab is recurring Mana Leak that also attacks. I just wanted artifact creatures that could double as disruption: 1 to interact with the board, 1 to interact with the stack. Crab is so slow and durdly though... so I never played the deck.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silkster

I kept looking at Salvage Titan, but it was really embarrassing against Fury. I thought it would be good after that, but it just wasn't.

---

I hoped it would finally work in the last rounds after Fury and Grist were banned. But it's also embarrassing against Goblin Welder (Weld back into 0 drop), Sidisi's Faithful, Brazen Borrower, Gilded Drake, Mangara of Corondor, Anurid Scavenger (pro black), Vengevine (4/x and faster aggro deck)... cards that saw repeated play.

I've never even seen Dargo. That one's better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silkster

That Braids deck is nice, but it's really unfortunate how slowly Braids herself comes down.

---

It looked good at grinding out the slow decks, but it just loses hard to T2 combo and T2 disruption, so it was never worth playing. dte must have had some even more creative grindy decks that never saw play due to the need to interact by turn 2.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reeplcheep

11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth
A fast big flyer hurts my deck quite a bit. LL 0-6

---

but surprisingly, not enough for you to lose! ​ ​ ​ I get ​ DD 2-2 ​ .





T1


play Tomb untapped
18-20
Ranger

one Hawk



T2


the 1/1 does not attack into the untapped 2/2
re-play Tomb untapped
16-20
Mummy, so Scourge and a Hawk get discarded

one Hawk attacks
14-20
cast remaining Hawk



T3


If maxx! attacks, then Reeplcheep blocks.
That would leave maxx! unable to
cast Scourge and Reeplcheep with at
least 18 life, after which even just
a single 2/2 flyer beats even a 2/2.
Thus, maxx! instead pays for
12-20
Tomb untapped to cast Scourge.




Scourge needs 4 attacks to win,
whereas the Hawks only need 3 attacks
to win, so this would be a draw.
maxx! playing Tomb tapped comes to
the same thing, one turn later.




T1


play Tomb tapped
still 20-20

one Hawk



T2


Ranger

Hawk attacks
18-20
cast another Hawk



T3


the 1/1 does not attack into the untapped 2/2
play Tomb untapped
16-20
Mummy, so Scourge and the
remaining Hawk get discarded

exactly one Hawk attacks
14-20

​

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by alphastryk

I was so far out of the race that I decided to just submit the legal sample deck from Asthereal's post announcing this round to see if it was capable of winning, and surprisingly I might have won a few!

---

Completely missed it was the sample deck, I thought it was a rather strange entry. Definitely hilarious :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FTW

8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest

Playing the manland I should have played last round. I considered Gilded Drake and a few other things for the creature slot, let's see how this package does.

1. Asthereal (TO): I play T2 Chaplain. If you ever make Gearhulk, Banisher Priest exiles it and wins. If Neonate beats down, eventually I get to enough mana to double block with Colonnade & Chaplain so you can't attack anymore. I stabilize above 10 life, so I can eventually attack with Colonnade 5 times in a row before you could race me back. WW 6-0

---

If you do the above double block, saccing neonate and killing colonnade should do the trick.
Actually making gearhulk, then if you try to exile it exchange it should be enough. I think this MU is Asthereal's!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FTW

@dte: Congrats on a strong season! Too bad PJim wasn't around to give a good fight the last 2 rounds.

---

Thanks! I had more or less given up hope mid-season, when PJim had a great advance and was never putting a foot wrong :/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FTW

@silkster: That deck looks fun! I was hoping to see more decks like that for this format and less Swamp + Thoughtseize (in creature form). I had so many durdly ideas, but the presence of T2 combo and T2 LD invalidated most of them.
Academy Ruins, Calciform Pools, Walking Ballista, Mirrorshell Crab -> Of all the slow ideas, this at least has T2 interaction vs Goblin combo and resists discard.
Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Ulamog's Crusher/Void Winnower
Vault of Whispers, Hex Parasite, Memnite, Salvage Titan
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Molten Slagheap, Nissa's Chosen, Braids, Cabal Minion
Lake of the Dead, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Sengir Autocrat, Demon of Death's Gate

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silkster

Sooo... curious... must... know...

---

ammit eternal, karoo, unholy grotto, fleshbag marauder
It makes you sac a creature on T3, 5, 7, which is just enough to win OTD at 1 life vs welder/gearhulk, and at 2 life versus hawks.
But it would have performed terribly last week, between lackeys, rishadans, dust bowl, or your orc/monkeys.

I was hesitating with another grotto deck:
mindleech ghoul, Swamp, unholy grotto, shambling ghast
This one manages to 4-1 welder and lackey, and I think it is elegant it can have an eternal blocker by choosing treasures.

I also had other karoo deck, mostly with either Moorland Haunt or Kor Haven as back-up lands, but all had the trouble of losing to the fast gobs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by silkster

I kept looking at Salvage Titan, but it was really embarrassing against Fury. I thought it would be good after that, but it just wasn't. It also felt just worse than
Tree of Tales, Tinderwall, Voldaren Epicure, Dargo, the Shipwrecker, (or Great Furnace and Shield Spheres after Tinder Wall was banned).
The trample is super relevant, as is the extra power, but even with that it always felt bad. In the early rounds, I expected to pop this out and dominate round 10 or so, but it loses to Grazer Grist and Sidisi's Faithful and Welder and Brazen Borrower and... It does beat Fury, though, so I wonder if I could have snuck it in somewhere.

---

I had Arcbound Javelineer with salvage titan, it was beating fury and hilariously lackey/sisidi by not making the titan :)
It was still pretty bad though.
Edit: I actually think now that it should not work? Paying the costs while casting, the modular trigger should go on the stack before titan resolve - glad I never played the deck :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FTW

It looked good at grinding out the slow decks, but it just loses hard to T2 combo and T2 disruption, so it was never worth playing. dte must have had some even more creative grindy decks that never saw play due to the need to interact by turn 2.

---

Not crazy durdly, mostly karoo decks. One of the trouble of the gobs - I think we could rename it the gobs' season, fanatical appeared 17 times, welder 12, lackey a bunch too - is that you had to dare playing a deck with no interactions before T3.
And for decks that are T3+, I think the karoo lands are crazy good, above the storelands.

It resulted in me never building new decks since Christmas, as the metagame never changed (welder, lackey, pinger, others), and I have a few decks for this meta. I just rebuilt the one for last round, as I realized after playing round 13 that I had build it incorrectly, and that rishadan should be the card to pair with brazen borrower.

Somehow it looks to me that fanatical was a sideboard card vs gobs, which crushed these MU bet let you play 3CB vs the rest of the field. The side effect was it was never good to play a deck that would lose to pingers (lumberjack, nexus-centric), as it would usually be less good than welder or lackey. And that any deck playing a gob (be it fanatical, welder, or lackey) would always score around 2.5-3.5. I find it funny how the metagame equilibrated around that. After all, the other firebrand variants (mogg, devil, ballista) got all banned first time of asking, and they are not far superior to the 17 times played fanatical.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Phasmoid

Scourge needs 4 attacks to win,
whereas the Hawks only need 3 attacks
to win, so this would be a draw.
maxx! playing Tomb tapped comes to
the same thing, one turn later.
​

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I definitely forgot that maxx needs to ping himself a 3rd time. Bayou being banned hurts a lot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reeplcheep

I definitely forgot that maxx needs to ping himself a 3rd time. Bayou being banned hurts a lot.

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Dryad arbor / urbog could also have done the trick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dte

Dryad arbor / urbog could also have done the trick.

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Then he doesn’t have a way to discard scourge?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reeplcheep

Then he doesn’t have a way to discard scourge?

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Dryad/urborg/mummy/scourge?

I meant just to replace quirion and tomb.

9. RoosterCocoa: Swamp, Blinkmoth Nexus, Guul Draz Assassin, Pilfering Imp

1. Asthereal (TO): Great Furnace, Goblin Welder, Insolent Neonate, Noxious Gearhulk
OTP I make you discard Neonate and win, OTD I can't beat your Gearhulk. WL

2. Reeplcheep: Glint Hawk, Ancient Den, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk
I get Guul Draz Assassin online soon enough to kill all of your Hawks. WW

3. alphastryk: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Desert, Dauthi Slayer, Black Knight
Guul Draz Assassin kills your creatures. WW

4. Nasst: Den of the Bugbear, Molten Slagheap, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
Fanatical Firebrand kills my Assassin, I take Inferno Titan with my Imp, but your creature land is much better than mine. LL

5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap
OTP I play Imp, you play Steward and go to 19. I play Assasin and attack you to 18, then you play Mummy and go to 17, and attack me to 19. I level up Assassin and attack you to 16, you attack me to 16 and get a storage counter, putting you at 15. I level up Assassin and attack you to 14, you attack me to 13 and get a second storage counter, putting you at 13. I attack you to 12. On you turn you don't attack with Liliana's Steward because I am holding back my 2/2 Assassin to block, then before damage I use the Assassin to kill your Mummy. You get a third storage counter and go to 11. I level up Assassin and attack you to 10, then you attack me to 12 and go to 9 to get a fourth storage counter. I level up Assassin for the final time and attack you to 9, then you attack me to 11 and hold up your Tomb for the end of my next turn. However, from now on I can attack with Imp and hold the Assassin's ability up so if you block the Imp I can kill your Demon Spirit. If you instead try to race me, I can block and kill your Steward with Assassin and make your Demon Spirit a 1/1 each time it attacks, so I win that race. No matter what I win this I think. OTD I play Assassin and you make me discard Imp. I level up Assassin to full and kill Mummy, and then we are left with you having a 5/5 Spirit Demon and me with a fully leveled Assassin. If you try to race I think I win since I have a 4/4 and a 1/1, and I can chump block your 5/5 once with my 1/1. However, if you don't attack I can't get through so we draw. WD

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Havenwood Battleground, Mountain, Fanatical Firebrand, Anurid Scavenger
Someone had to play the one card this deck can never beat. LL

7. Wrath of Pie: Den of the Bugbear, Mercadian Bazaar, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
Fanatical Firebrand kills my Assassin, I take Inferno Titan with my Imp, but your creature land is much better than mine. LL

8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest
I make you discard Banisher Priest with my Imp. If I level up my Assassin, I can kill your Colonnade but I can't do anything about Beloved Chaplain so I think I lose. LL

10. silkster: Teferi's Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Trench Behemoth
Pilfering Imp takes your Behemoth. WW

11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth
OTP I make you discard Mummy, and my creatures beat your remaining 1/1. OTD you get your 6/6 and I think its too much for me. Your land costs you enough life that we draw. WD

9W 2D 9L = 29

I enjoy reading all the crazy ideas that were left over and didn't get to see the light of day. I think it's unfortunate that Lackey and Welder both made it to 3.8 but continued to loom over all deckbuilding. I think banning anything that scores above 3.00 will keep anything like that from happening again.

Looking to next season, I've created a spreadsheet to vote on a starting banlist. I grouped a few cards, so hopefully people don't have split opinions on cards within a group, but the list was getting long. I also hope I didn't miss anything. They're easy to add, but then it might look like people who have already voted are okay with them. Though I guess voting is implicitly okaying all other cards. Hopefully this makes Asthereal's life easier.

Vote here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth

1. Asthereal (TO): Great Furnace, Goblin Welder, Insolent Neonate, Noxious Gearhulk
Can't beat this deck. 0-6

2. Reeplcheep: Glint Hawk, Ancient Den, Glint Hawk, Glint Hawk
My kingdom for a Bayou. I have to shock myself so many times with Tomb that I can't actually race your Hawks. But you can't attack through my Dragon. 2-2

3. alphastryk: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Desert, Dauthi Slayer, Black Knight
LOL. 6-0

4. Nasst: Den of the Bugbear, Molten Slagheap, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
Firebrand. 0-6

5. dte: miasmic mummy, Liliana's Steward, Tomb of Urami, Molten Slagheap
OTD you can use Steward and Mummy to shut off my combo and leave me with a 1/1. OTP I can stick both of my dorks first (causing you to discard Mummy, or Steward if you held it). Scourge should easily race you from there. 3-3

6. GoblinSmashmaster: Havenwood Battleground, Mountain, Fanatical Firebrand, Anurid Scavenger
Firebrand. 0-6

7. Wrath of Pie: Den of the Bugbear, Mercadian Bazaar, Fanatical Firebrand, Inferno Titan
Firebrand. 0-6

8. FTW: Celestial Colonnade, Calciform Pools, Beloved Chaplain, Banisher Priest
Banisher Priest either removes my Dragon or one of my dorks. 0-6

9. RoosterCocoa: Swamp, Blinkmoth Nexus, Guul Draz Assassin, Pilfering Imp
OTD your Imp pilfers my Mummy and then I just have a Quirion Ranger.
OTP
T1 Ranger / GDA (18 - 20)
T2 Mummy (discard Imp) / Level up (1) (16 - 20)
T3 Scourge / Level up (2) (14 - 20)
T4 Attack / Level up (3), attack (12 - 14)
T5 Attack / Level up (4), attack (8 - 8)
T6 Attack / Attack (4 - 2)
You can chump with Inkmoth and kill me on the counterattack. Overgrown Tomb sucks. 1-4

10. silkster: Teferi's Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Lake of the Dead, Trench Behemoth
T2 discard beats T3 combo both ways. 6-0

11. maxx!: Overgrown Tomb, Quirion Ranger, Miasmic Mummy, Scourge of Nel Toth
This is me :]

0+2+6+0+3+0+0+0+1+6 = 18

My deck reeeeeeeally wanted Bayou. I wanted to play Scourge of Nel Toth before this season ended, so I ran it for the last round. I had a few variants, such as using Elves of Deep Shadow or Ignoble Hierarch to avoid the painful Tomb bouncing, or an extra cool version with Deathrite Shaman and Gemstone Mine, but I thought Goblin Settler might show up again this week and Ranger was a nice way to hedge against one of the Goblin decks. Oops

GG everyone and congrats dte!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maxx!

My deck reeeeeeeally wanted Bayou. I wanted to play Scourge of Nel Toth before this season ended, so I ran it for the last round. I had a few variants, such as using Elves of Deep Shadow or Ignoble Hierarch to avoid the painful Tomb bouncing, or an extra cool version with Deathrite Shaman and Gemstone Mine, but I thought Goblin Settler might show up again this week and Ranger was a nice way to hedge against one of the Goblin decks. Oops

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I admire playing the thing you wanted to play at the end. I also didn't realize that Ranger played around Lackey. That's really nice.

I remembered another deck I wanted to play: Karakas, Gruul Turf, General Ferrous Rokiric, Horned Kavu. A little slow, but it ramps really hard and hexproof from monocolored is no joke.