[Deck] The Gate

Thanks for the list! Great to see you and the gate in another feature match.

How did Gaea's blessing work out?

Why play fetch lands without Tombstalker? I don't think it's worth it just for the two Tops, especially with RUG packing Stifle and being so popular.

the shuffle effect with top was pretty good to me throughout the day. i went 3 for 3 against RUG and only got blown out by stifle once. i tried waste landing his volcanic island on turn 1 and got stifled, i still ended up winning that game too.

didn't get a chance to use gaea's blessing but i did sit next to painter servant and a high tide player. i only lost to maverick and dead guy, i feel at least 2 dread of night or engineered plague need to have a spot in the board. lingering souls just wrecks the gate.

i did play against the cheater guy in round 7 and the guy was a tool.

I am greatly interested in revisiting this deck in the near future.

yes please mr. hollywood sir..knowing that you're gonna dust off and tweak and update your old "THE GATE" deck will be totally inspiring..
:laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hollywood

I am greatly interested in revisiting this deck in the near future.

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As someone who is new to Legacy and have decided to enter via The Gate, I'm really looking forward to your comments concerning The Gate in the current meta!

is chrome mox worth considering again?

gonna bring this to my local legacy tournament tomorrow for kicks. Still finalizing a list, mostly based on what I have left lying around after I traded a bunch of stuff for EDH.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hollywood

I am greatly interested in revisiting this deck in the near future.

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I'll really look forward to that. Thanks :)

i've heard from some people that the GATE may sometimes not be fast enough to handle very fast aggro decks like goblins or elves..

what do you guys think of contagion? its a pitch card so the cost doesn't really matter, and the loss of 1 life is hardly painful at all compared to dismember..

just my 2-cents..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zenitramleirdag

i've heard from some people that the GATE may sometimes not be fast enough to handle very fast aggro decks like goblins or elves..

what do you guys think of contagion? its a pitch card so the cost doesn't really matter, and the loss of 1 life is hardly painful at all compared to dismember..

just my 2-cents..

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i've never had a problem with goblins or elves, it comes down to if you got the turn 1 innocent blood or discard spell. if you can follow it up with a turn two hymn it becomes pretty hard for them to recover after that. AND games 2 and 3 you bring in more hate in the form of dark blast/engineered plague/perish. favorable match ups that i would take all day.

I should add that I did rock the Gate at SCG St. Louis the other weekend. I'll try to give a quick rundown the best I can remember. I had miserable match ups throughout the day. that's that shit I don't like.

The deck is about the same as from last time, I cut a sword for a 3rd jitte and a macabre for a 3 thoughtseize. In the sideboard I added dread of nights, engineered plague and duress.

4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Faerie Macabre
2 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Innocent Blood
3 Bitterblossom
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Thoughtseize
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Bojuka Bog
4 Wasteland
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Verdant Catacombs
11 Swamp

Sideboard
1 Vampire Hexmage
2 Perish
2 Massacre
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Extirpate
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Duress
2 Dread of Night
1 Engineered Plague


Round 1-Merfolk
I mulligan both games and get stuck on 2 land when I'm staring down at a hand full of nighthawks/gatekeepers/liliana :(
0-1

This is where the misery starts
Round 2- Reanimator
He combos game 1 and crushes me. Games 2 and 3 I bring in all the hate and smash. In game 3 I win the game with an 0/1 nighthawk with an active jitte while he has an elesh norn on the table. The dude gave a shout out to the gate and said he respects anyone playing it at big event. :cool:
1-1

Round 3 - Loam
I crush game 1 with jitte and nighthawk. games 2 and 3 he resolves a seismic assault and I go nowhere fast. He kills everything then burns me out. This match up blows.
1-2

Round 4- Dredge
He combos out game 1, I die. Games 2 and 3 the hate comes and we have some grindy games but I come out on top. Vampire hexmage is pretty solid against dredge, you can nuke their bridges and reset a gravetroll if you really need too.
2-2

Round 5- Dredge
AGAIN combos me out game 1 and the hate comes in. I get game 2 but then we have a LONG game 3. I get flooded and don't see much hate. There was a bad judge call that costed me that match. The dude was about to dredge his deck then kinda concedes and picks up the remainder of his library and sort of fans it out (seeing whats in it) then puts it back down. I called him out on it and called a judge, judge didn't do much, it was his word vs mine and I lost.
2-3

Round 6- Storm
He gets me game 1 with a turn 3 tendrils. Game 2 I get there with Bob and discard, boring. Game 3 only goes to turn 4 but was like a 20ish min long game. I force some discard on my turn 1 and he Ad Nauseum's down to 1 and passes the turn. I play an unkicked gatekeeper, hoping that i can untap and swing. He goes off the following turn with diminishing returns, I surgical in response netting an LED and a rite of flame. But he manages to empty the warrens for like 14 goblins. on my turn i start digging for engineered plague with top/fetch lands. I looked at a fresh 3 cards 3 different times and don't find it.
2-4

Round 7- RUG
I finally get a fair match up and take it down. Lots of his dudes died and I get the win.
3-4

Round 8- Sneak & Show
He show and tells turn 1 and I drop a bitterblossom while he drops an emrakul. i cast innocent blood on my turn and kinda win from there. Game 2 I keep a dope hand of thought seize, hymn, cabal therapy and bob and some lands. He drops a white leyline and little part of me dies inside. Luckily he gets a land screwed and I punish him for it with wastelands and such.
4-4

Overall I was still happy with the deck and the way I piloted, I just had some really tough match ups. The positive thing though is that those tough match ups are still winnable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xdavisx

i've never had a problem with goblins or elves, it comes down to if you got the turn 1 innocent blood or discard spell. if you can follow it up with a turn two hymn it becomes pretty hard for them to recover after that. AND games 2 and 3 you bring in more hate in the form of dark blast/engineered plague/perish. favorable match ups that i would take all day.

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you're right..perish indeed does the job against elves!
hmm, i might try to fit in some engineered plagues in my SB..
thanks a bunch!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xdavisx

I should add that I did rock the Gate at SCG St. Louis the other weekend. I'll try to give a quick rundown the best I can remember. I had miserable match ups throughout the day. that's that shit I don't like.

The deck is about the same as from last time, I cut a sword for a 3rd jitte and a macabre for a 3 thoughtseize. In the sideboard I added dread of nights, engineered plague and duress.

4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Faerie Macabre
2 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Innocent Blood
3 Bitterblossom
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Thoughtseize
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Bojuka Bog
4 Wasteland
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Verdant Catacombs
11 Swamp

Sideboard
1 Vampire Hexmage
2 Perish
2 Massacre
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Extirpate
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Duress
2 Dread of Night
1 Engineered Plague


Round 1-Merfolk
I mulligan both games and get stuck on 2 land when I'm staring down at a hand full of nighthawks/gatekeepers/liliana :(
0-1

This is where the misery starts
Round 2- Reanimator
He combos game 1 and crushes me. Games 2 and 3 I bring in all the hate and smash. In game 3 I win the game with an 0/1 nighthawk with an active jitte while he has an elesh norn on the table. The dude gave a shout out to the gate and said he respects anyone playing it at big event. :cool:
1-1

Round 3 - Loam
I crush game 1 with jitte and nighthawk. games 2 and 3 he resolves a seismic assault and I go nowhere fast. He kills everything then burns me out. This match up blows.
1-2

Round 4- Dredge
He combos out game 1, I die. Games 2 and 3 the hate comes and we have some grindy games but I come out on top. Vampire hexmage is pretty solid against dredge, you can nuke their bridges and reset a gravetroll if you really need too.
2-2

Round 5- Dredge
AGAIN combos me out game 1 and the hate comes in. I get game 2 but then we have a LONG game 3. I get flooded and don't see much hate. There was a bad judge call that costed me that match. The dude was about to dredge his deck then kinda concedes and picks up the remainder of his library and sort of fans it out (seeing whats in it) then puts it back down. I called him out on it and called a judge, judge didn't do much, it was his word vs mine and I lost.
2-3

Round 6- Storm
He gets me game 1 with a turn 3 tendrils. Game 2 I get there with Bob and discard, boring. Game 3 only goes to turn 4 but was like a 20ish min long game. I force some discard on my turn 1 and he Ad Nauseum's down to 1 and passes the turn. I play an unkicked gatekeeper, hoping that i can untap and swing. He goes off the following turn with diminishing returns, I surgical in response netting an LED and a rite of flame. But he manages to empty the warrens for like 14 goblins. on my turn i start digging for engineered plague with top/fetch lands. I looked at a fresh 3 cards 3 different times and don't find it.
2-4

Round 7- RUG
I finally get a fair match up and take it down. Lots of his dudes died and I get the win.
3-4

Round 8- Sneak & Show
He show and tells turn 1 and I drop a bitterblossom while he drops an emrakul. i cast innocent blood on my turn and kinda win from there. Game 2 I keep a dope hand of thought seize, hymn, cabal therapy and bob and some lands. He drops a white leyline and little part of me dies inside. Luckily he gets a land screwed and I punish him for it with wastelands and such.
4-4

Overall I was still happy with the deck and the way I piloted, I just had some really tough match ups. The positive thing though is that those tough match ups are still winnable.

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very nice report! that's what i like about this deck, it may have tough match-ups but, you're right, they are winnable..:laugh:

i'm not sure what happened in round 5 with the dredge player, but if he was indeed cheating, then that was so uncool..

uhm, have you tried soul spike against ANT? i've heard they're quite effective..

pardon my english. im not a native speaker..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xdavisx

I should add that I did rock the Gate at SCG St. Louis the other weekend. I'll try to give a quick rundown the best I can remember. I had miserable match ups throughout the day. that's that shit I don't like.

The deck is about the same as from last time, I cut a sword for a 3rd jitte and a macabre for a 3 thoughtseize. In the sideboard I added dread of nights, engineered plague and duress.

4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Faerie Macabre
2 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Innocent Blood
3 Bitterblossom
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Thoughtseize
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Bojuka Bog
4 Wasteland
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Verdant Catacombs
11 Swamp

Sideboard
1 Vampire Hexmage
2 Perish
2 Massacre
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Extirpate
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Duress
2 Dread of Night
1 Engineered Plague


Round 1-Merfolk
I mulligan both games and get stuck on 2 land when I'm staring down at a hand full of nighthawks/gatekeepers/liliana :(
0-1

This is where the misery starts
Round 2- Reanimator
He combos game 1 and crushes me. Games 2 and 3 I bring in all the hate and smash. In game 3 I win the game with an 0/1 nighthawk with an active jitte while he has an elesh norn on the table. The dude gave a shout out to the gate and said he respects anyone playing it at big event. :cool:
1-1

Round 3 - Loam
I crush game 1 with jitte and nighthawk. games 2 and 3 he resolves a seismic assault and I go nowhere fast. He kills everything then burns me out. This match up blows.
1-2

Round 4- Dredge
He combos out game 1, I die. Games 2 and 3 the hate comes and we have some grindy games but I come out on top. Vampire hexmage is pretty solid against dredge, you can nuke their bridges and reset a gravetroll if you really need too.
2-2

Round 5- Dredge
AGAIN combos me out game 1 and the hate comes in. I get game 2 but then we have a LONG game 3. I get flooded and don't see much hate. There was a bad judge call that costed me that match. The dude was about to dredge his deck then kinda concedes and picks up the remainder of his library and sort of fans it out (seeing whats in it) then puts it back down. I called him out on it and called a judge, judge didn't do much, it was his word vs mine and I lost.
2-3

Round 6- Storm
He gets me game 1 with a turn 3 tendrils. Game 2 I get there with Bob and discard, boring. Game 3 only goes to turn 4 but was like a 20ish min long game. I force some discard on my turn 1 and he Ad Nauseum's down to 1 and passes the turn. I play an unkicked gatekeeper, hoping that i can untap and swing. He goes off the following turn with diminishing returns, I surgical in response netting an LED and a rite of flame. But he manages to empty the warrens for like 14 goblins. on my turn i start digging for engineered plague with top/fetch lands. I looked at a fresh 3 cards 3 different times and don't find it.
2-4

Round 7- RUG
I finally get a fair match up and take it down. Lots of his dudes died and I get the win.
3-4

Round 8- Sneak & Show
He show and tells turn 1 and I drop a bitterblossom while he drops an emrakul. i cast innocent blood on my turn and kinda win from there. Game 2 I keep a dope hand of thought seize, hymn, cabal therapy and bob and some lands. He drops a white leyline and little part of me dies inside. Luckily he gets a land screwed and I punish him for it with wastelands and such.
4-4

Overall I was still happy with the deck and the way I piloted, I just had some really tough match ups. The positive thing though is that those tough match ups are still winnable.

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very nice report! that's what i like about this deck, it may have tough match-ups but, you're right, they are winnable..:laugh:

i'm not sure what happened in round 5 with the dredge player, but if he was indeed cheating, then that was so uncool..

uhm, have you tried soul spike against ANT? i've heard they're quite effective..

pardon my english. im not a native speaker..

Anybody have any experience with the Lands matchup? How do we beat them in games 2 and 3? (game 1 is obviously an auto-scoop for the most part)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MoxBropal

Anybody have any experience with the Lands matchup? How do we beat them in games 2 and 3? (game 1 is obviously an auto-scoop for the most part)

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Not if you're running multiples of Faerie Macabre. Being able to cripple Loam/Intuition shenanigans is incredibly useful and can catch an unknowing Lands opponent off guard.

The match is still kind of difficult preboard, though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MoxBropal

Anybody have any experience with the Lands matchup? How do we beat them in games 2 and 3? (game 1 is obviously an auto-scoop for the most part)

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Basics, Planeswalkers and grave hate are your best weapons.

Here is my new list. I will try it in a tournament tomorrow and would like some last minute feedback =)

I would really want more macabres, but have no access to more at the moment.

4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Abyssal Persecutor

3 Innocent Blood
2 Go for the Throat

3 Bitterblossom
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Liliana of the Veil

3 Cabal Therapy
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Duress

4 Wasteland
17 Swamp

Sideboard
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Spinning Darkness
3 Extirpate
3 Pithing needle
3 Dystopia

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cosboy

Here is my new list. I will try it in a tournament tomorrow and would like some last minute feedback =)

I would really want more macabres, but have no access to more at the moment.

4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Abyssal Persecutor

3 Innocent Blood
2 Go for the Throat

3 Bitterblossom
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Liliana of the Veil

3 Cabal Therapy
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Duress

4 Wasteland
17 Swamp

Sideboard
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Spinning Darkness
3 Extirpate
3 Pithing needle
3 Dystopia

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A few things:

1.) Abyssal Persecutor should be at three, not four. You certainly don't want to flip it off Bob multiple times and having multiples in play and your hand is kind of awkward.

2.) Liliana isn't really good in this deck. It's not aggressive and frankly it's more of a liability than anything else. It's not a bad card, I just don't like it in this archetype anymore. (Pox is a different deck all together.)

3.) You should be maxing out on Therapy at four if you opt to run four Persecutor. Not to mention the fact it gives you value with Bitterblossom.

4.) I would cut the 'Throats (no pun intended) and up the Innocent Blood count to four. I would then replace the second 'Throat for the fourth Therapy.

5.) Diversifying your hate is fine, but one Faerie Macabre is kind of awkward. I would run three with a pair of Nihil Spellbomb in there someplace. Faerie gives you value because it can attack, and Spellbomb can replace itself with a draw.

6.) Extirpate is kind of nice, but it doesn't really do anything relevant. I don't advocate cards like Surgical Extraction or Extirpate in mono black variants due in large part to their inability to be completely effective against dedicated graveyard decks. It's uncounterable, sure, but so is Faerie Macabre. The ability to attack is key here. I know you said you don't have access to any more Faeries at the moment, but I'm sure you can find some eventually.