Is it ok to just run 1 Underground Sea? I'm planning to use 1 Underground Sea, 2 Bayou, 2-3 Tropical Island.
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Is it ok to just run 1 Underground Sea? I'm planning to use 1 Underground Sea, 2 Bayou, 2-3 Tropical Island.
It's enough, just be smart while playing.
I see that almost all decks run Parasitic Strix as the combo enabler. What's your opinion on Kalastria Healer?
I think it has a worse body than the strix but is much easier to find with Aluren + Harpy + Shardless on the table (or just Shardless in general). Is it worth it for the slight upside of being easier to find, or is it even an disadvantage of accidently cascading into Kalastria Healer early on and getting it exiled? Is it remotely relevant in a specific corner case that the combo doesn't gain you infinite life? Not targeting should be far more relevant ( >.> Leyline of Sanctity).
I've only played the deck for a couple of tournaments. The version with white Recruiters.
Yeah, cascading into it is not great... also, it doesn't pitch to force
Parasitic Strix is blue and is a 2-power flier. Thus it pitches to Force of Will and trades with a flipped Delver of Secrets.
I'll stay with the Strix.
Hello everyone!
I played at a 40~ player Legacy tournament this weekend and chose to play Aluren.
I really enjoy playing the red version with Imperial Recruiters and with the list that I ended up playing this weekend I also thought that it was a strategic pick for the predicted meta.
Here's my list:
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Baleful Strix
1 Cavern Harpy
2 Dream Stalker
1 Eternal Witness
4 Imperial Recruiter
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Parasitic Strix
2 Shardless Agent
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Thoughtseize
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Kolaghan's Command
4 Aluren
1 Badlands
1 Bayou
2 Forest
1 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Taiga
2 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volrath's Stronghold
Sideboard:15
1 Bone Shredder
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Dread of Night
2 Flusterstorm
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Null Rod
1 Toxic Deluge
I cut the library to add a Kolaghan's Command in the main which ended up being very good. The increase of Leovold decks made me want to try it out and I really liked how flexible it is. I also added REB and Pyroblast to my sideboard which felt great to have vs Leovolds/TNN etc.
I went 5-0-1 in the swiss playing vs:
DnT 2-0
Elves! 2-1
Jeskai Blade 2-0
BUG Delver 2-0
Shardless BUG 2-1
Eldrazi ID
Quarterfinals:
2-1 vs Burn
I was on 1 life when I pulled out the W in game three. All three games were intense. I always struggle with this MU because Eidolon and Vortex not allowing me to gain life. Rec sage pulled through g2 and saved me from a nasty situation where I was on 5 and my opponent had a Vortex in play.
Semifinals:
0-2 vs BR reanimator.
I got utterly destroyed two games in a row. Mulled to 6 game one and 5 game two but found no GY hate nor any good interaction. Found discard that did not end up mattering that game.
This list was very fun though. Kolaghan's Command is great right now against a lot of decks and having REB/Pyro in the sideboard is very nice. I've played the red version for quite a while now but I've never tried it with these modifications. Would recommend it to fellow Imperial fans.
Where Did you do this tournament ? I am curious because, i played bug aluren version at a tournament around 35 players this week.
Witch version is the best between BUG or 4C aluren when the meta game is Bug deck or blue deck?
It was in Stockholm, Sweden.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyanhur
I felt like the version with Imperial recruiters was very effiecient vs BUG matchups. Being able to string together a kill with only one card and a resolved Aluren is powerful when you've been grinding again your opponent for a while already. I really thought that the REB and Pyroblast made a big difference in those matchups as well.
Kolghan's Command was really great vs decks like DnT but also in a really grindy game when you can rebuy a good creature (shardless/Leovold/recruiter) and make your opponent discard in their drawstep or killing something on board won me a lot of matches.
Not sure which is better due to me having limited experience with the BUG list but the list I played felt great in those matches.
Did you have a side table? To compair with bug version ?
Thanks
I just saw Cartesian finished 5-0 with a list featuring 1 mb 1 sb Lotus Bloom... that seems pretty spicy as either a turn 1 play or to cascade into, before you have Aluren mana, but would it be otherwise worth it?
Also, if reading here: did you win thanks to, or rather despite the card? What situations were you glad or sad to see it?
Edit: guess it's also a way to get extra mana off Glint-Nest, but that would also work with arti lands or petal
When your meta game is delver deck (UR, bug delver, grixis delver...) witch version is better BuG or with imperial version?
Ofc i can not ignore the other match up (miracle, dnt, reanimator).
Hi guys, still playing Aluren as my pet deck :-) I attended two tournaments and I got very good results. First tournament at LGS I have won 4:0 and today I got to top 8 without a loss - then I was defeated by Miracles.
Here is my deck list:
4 Aluren
4 Baleful Strix
1 Cavern Harpy
1 Eternal Witness
1 Parasitic Strix
4 Brainstorm
3 Cabal Therapy
1 Bayou
2 Forest
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Arctic Merfolk
1 Island
4 Recruiter of the Guard
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
4 Ponder
4 Force of Will
1 Tundra
1 Intuition
1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 Toxic Deluge
SB: 2 Faerie Macabre
SB: 2 Diabolic Edict
SB: 1 Sylvan Library
SB: 1 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 2 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Abrupt Decay
SB: 2 Carpet of Flowers
I decided to play a strictly combo oriented version combining Recruiter and Leovold and it went super well. I resigned to play grindy midrange matchup, because our Prague scene is full of "card-advantage-value" 4C decks, which we hardly beat. The only problem I faced was Miracles matchup, especially if the opponent is a good one. I would change the sideboard and add Garruk Relentless and Painful Truths to improve the matchup.
I beated decks like Show and Tell, various Delvers, Death and Taxis, Lands or Burn. Miracles is my most difficult matchup.
Anyway, this deck is super cool and can dooooo stuff :-)
M.
That's odd. I find Miracles to be an easy matchup for Recruiter Aluren. I however do play 3 Decay main and 1 side.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
it can be the diference, on the other hand our Miracles players are very skilled and playing the deck for years in row, so my experience can be little shifted. And I don't play Shardless Agent which is usually played in Recruiter versions and which can be a nice alternative wincon against them. I will be more practicing to sign your statement in a while ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by TTX
I love the Miracles match up with my Recruiter list
Main: 60
4 Brainstorm
2 Dreamstalker
1 Parasitic Strix
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Duress
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Minister of Pain
4 Imperial Recruiter
4 Aluren
1 Eternal Witness
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Sylvan Library
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Baleful Strix
1 Cavern Harpy
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Bayou
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Forest
Side: 15
1 Bone Shredder
1 Duress
1 Mesmeric Fiend
2 Toxic Deluge
2 Carpet of Flowers
2 Krosan Grip
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Null Rod
1 Tsabo's Web
Played EE6 in Baltimore with my BUG Aluren deck. It was a great choice. Cashed the tournament despite an extreme variance loss and two rounds with questionable lines on my part leading to loses. This was an excellent deck for the room.
R1: D&T 0-2 G1 My opener had brainstorm, force, strix, deathrite and 3 lands. When this game ended I had cast shardless, 2x strix, brainstorm and ponder, he wastelanded me twice, and I finished the game with 6 lands in play and 6 in my hand. I had shuffled continuously throughout the players meeting and before the game, so I think this was just one of those games. Game 2 our board was at parody. I cast a cabal therapy naming Thalia because my mana was a bit soft. He only had a jailer, so I flashed back, sacing my strix and pulled the jailer. He next draw was Thalia, followed by stoneforge, then wasteland and port. Just not going to win those two games. This is the first time in seven tournament matches I have lost to D&T, so I like the matchup, but I didn't even get to play magic in this one.
R2: Elves 2-0 Inexperienced elves player. G1 I stalled the board for a while, using my shaman to keep his from making mana, wasting his arbor and decaying a ranger, to give me time to develop my mana. I was able to counter his glimpse ~T5 but he was building a board so I committed the aluren on my next turn without a wincon but was able to harpy-strix loop and find everything I needed. G2 he kept a hand with 2 caverns and a cradle. I had both of my prowlers and a harpy, so he was never able to establish a board presence, and I just beat down with a hoard of idiots.
R3: BUG Delver 2-0 Neither of his draws were very aggressive and he only saw one hymn throughout both games, so this match was fairly easy. Baleful strixes were enough to stall him until I could combo in G1 and in G2 I boarded out all but one Aluren and just went for maximum grinding and disruption.
R4:Manaless Dredge 2-0 I won the roll and chose to go first because I didn't know what he was on. Luckily I had a T1 deathrite and a force to adequately disrupt him and keep him from every getting the engine really going. Game 2 he had a slightly more robust start, cycling a wraith when I tried to eat the only dredger in his yard. He built a decent yard so I was forced to surgical his ichorids to buy some time and eventually won on the back of three deathrites eating everything in sight.
R5: Grixis Delver 1-2 This was an interesting back and forth match. I lost G1 when he had a T2 TNN on the play and some descent disruption for the combo. On the play G2 I kept in 3 Aluren but won grinding him out. In G3 on the draw I took out all the alurens, intending to play a longer game. I thought I had stabilized but he pulled three bolts in a row and I died. Here I think I could have played for a longer game by playing to gain life with my shaman early in the game rather than trying to pressure him. I retrospect I was playing the wrong role there, not really sure why, but it cost me.
R6: Grixis Delver 2-1 Learned my lesson from the previous round. Lost G1 to 2 TNNs. G2 and G3 I took out all the Alurens, played slow and ground him out with little difficulty.
R7: Eldrazi w/ Walking Ballista: 2-1 I lost game 1, again choosing to be agressive with my DRS, and he hit me for exact damage the turn before I had lethal. Diabolic edict was great in both post board games and were my string of strixes. This matchup feels really good.
R8: LED Dredge 1-2 Really solid player here. I somehow won G1 but mulligans to 6 and 5 coupled with a timely street wraith (which I hadn't seen in G1) and multiple discard outlets allowed him to get the engine going quickly in G2 and G3.
5-3 overall. Loved the deck choice for the room. My grixis loss definitely could have been a win, no hope in that D&T match, and the last dredge match had a lot of play so I am sure there was room for improvement. Definitely love the deck for the paper metagame right now. I didn't even get to play miracles, which is also a matchup I have had good success with recently.
limbo - are you able to share you decklist and sideboarding guide?
I plan to play BUG Aluren at the European Eternal Weekend and any advice etc would be greatly appreciated :)
My list is pretty standard I think although I'm playing a single Traverse the Ulvenwald in the main.
Also currently trying to decide whether I want 2 Glint-Nest Crane and 1 Parasitic Strix, or 1 Crane and 2 Strix. And the effect this may have on my sideboarding choices re increased number of artifacts etc
Game one I dredged three times turn 2, and hit not a single creature. Game three, we BOTH mulled to five. Of course, that's not really symmetrical between decks. Game two, though, was excellent. You took a line that after I discarded two dredgers, would allow you to remove both before I got the turn back. I did this, of course, because I had the Wraith. Which gave me just enough tempo to win the race. The reason you missed them in game one is because I only have them in the board. Specifically for the BUG Deathrite/Surgical decks. Which in broad terms, probably applied to 40% of the room. Funniest part of the match I think, to someone watching anyway, was my naming Aluren three times with Therapy during the course of the match, and missing. I was happy to in this case. Since every time I had to do so because you had enough to combo out on board and/or in hand. Dunno if you even kept them in. But great playing either way.Quote:
Originally Posted by limbo
Awesome! Thank you for the much better report than I could remember. I didn't take notes other than lifepad and my memory of the weekend was more overshadowed by vintage on Sunday. Wraiths out of the board makes total sense. I should have played around that at least a little, but targeting the smaller dredger first (stinkweed rather than the troll). The therapies were indeed funny, though I agree with you, it was a solid line since that was one of the few ways I could catch up when I was behind on board.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parcher
Edit:
@ Cabs
I am happy to post my list and some matchup thoughts/boarding strategies. I will update this post soon, hopefully later tonight.
Some super quick thoughts on board building and boarding:
- Against most midrange matchups I think BUG Aluren is favored, so I normally just want to have 4 sideboard cards to bring in for my forces.
- Against delver I like trimming or even completely cutting the aluren. They cannot compete with the card advantage, so keeping forces, bringing in discard and removal all line up well with what they are trying to do. Attack their threats and assuming you don't flood you should have a good shot.
- Fourth Bridge Prowler is awesome! But 2 in the board is plenty.
- Most of my board is dedicated to combo of various sorts. When I don't think I have a good axis to interact on I will try to combo quickly, but mostly I trim an aluren and some other creatures to take on a control role.
Edit 2:
Current list:
4 Aluren
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Cavern Harpy
4 Baleful Strix
4 Shardless Agent
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Glint-nest Crane
2 Parasitic Strix
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
1 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Force of Will
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Swamp
3 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs
Sideboard
2 Carpet of Flowers
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Duress
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Fourth Bridge Prowler
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Diabolic Edict
The maindeck is very stock. I have played with 1 clique in place of a leo and in place of a harpy. I have tried 2 crane, 1 PStrix, and vice versa. I tried the 4 decay, 4 ponder. I haven't tried some of the more exotic builds with VExplorer, tribe-elder, etc. I have changed the board up a ton, but come back to something pretty closely resembling the consensus board. On 2 cranes one strix: Crane is the better creature, but having the strix removed (pitched to force, plowed, thoughtseized, etc) in matchups where comboing is important was problem that I didn't think the extra efficiency was worth. It is also occasionally nice to have both PStrix in a game just for life gain, as it was for me on two occasions this weekend. I don't fault people who play for the more efficient card, but this is the way I like the deck. Clique is really nice and great when comboing. I like it in place of one harpy most of the time but when the metagame is aggressive, not having the 4rth combo enabler is risky. Having a harpy you can't cast feels bad but dying because you can't find one feels worse. I love clique and if I was going to play 61 cards I would play the clique ahead of the 4rth decay or 4rth ponder.
Match-up guide (just my opinions, don't take as canon):
BUG Delver - Hymn is the card I am most scared of here, followed by a quick TNN. Carpet of flowers is the best board card here. Leo, decay, and edict are also strong. When I go full control mode, I cut 4 aluren, 1 harpy, 1 Pstrix. Can also cut forces for discard.
Grixis Delver - Pretty similar to BUG delver, though the prowlers may be more valuable here as they sometimes have Young Pyromancer. I generally don't bring them in unless I see a YP. When I see YP I also typically board out edict, and just accept that I have to race a TNN if it sticks.
BUG Midrange (Shardless, Noble-TNN, good stuff control, etc) - These matchups are fun but I think Aluren is considerably favored. It is perfectly reasonable to not board, but all 4 forces is probably not ideal, especially against shardless. Forces are best against Noble-TNN because of the Jaces and TNN. I typically cut the forces for leo, decay, and discard. For TNN I bring the edict and often cut a PStrix or ponder.
Lands - Cavern Harpy is the best card here, followed by deathrite. Looping a harpy and baleful strix is a great way to buy time against a marit lage and build. They bring in Kgrip to cut off aluren and to kill random creatures, so pay attention to their open mana post board if you plan to try to combo. I generally bring in 2 surgical, decay, leo and edict for force and 1 ponder/aluren/don't bring in Leo 3 depending on build.
Miracles - There is a ton of play to this matchup. Don't over commit to the board. 3-4 power is enough to force a terminus. Forces have a lot of value, even post board. The value of decay changes a lot depending on what your opponent does. I haven't seen anyone board out the counterbalances when they know I am playing Aluren but when game 1 looks like shardless, sometimes they will. Mentor can be fast enough to beat us so watch out for that. I typically cut 2 aluren and a PStrix for Leo and duress with the intention of just grinding them down while preserving the fear of the combo. Be aware of blood moon. You don't have to worry too much about it, as most miracles players won't bring it in if you show them basics in G1, but if they think you are shardless pay close attention to the post-board lands you fetch. The games go long so you can normally afford a few awkward mana turns if you go for basics.
D&T - Think this matchup is favored for Aluren. Prowler is outstanding. I normally cut 4 forces for 2 prowler, decay and edict, then I trim 2 cards to make room for therapy. I bring in therapy because they are likely to have hatebears to mess up combo turns (revoker, canonist, relic-warder)
Elves - Only played this match a few times. Prowlers are great. I just bring in 2 prowlers, decay and edict for baleful strixes. This makes comboing a bit more difficult but it also cleans up cascades a ton so you should be able to find crane/ponder/brainstorm off of cascades to combo.
Eldrazi - 4 strix and decays are tough for them. +edict and decay, -1 force, -1 traverse
Sneak and Show - Especially G1, you can get free wins by disguising yourself as shardless, then putting in Aluren off of their show and tell. Post board I shave creature numbers and a decay to bring in discard
BR reanimator - This one is tough. If you want to beat it consistently, you need different grave hate than I run, but I don't think leyline or macabre are worth it. +2 surgicals, +2 duress, +2 mindbreak trap, +2 therapy -1 tropical island, -3 decay, -3 shardless, -1 strix
Storm - Similar sideboard to BR reanimator but better matchup overall.
Dredge - My board is probably 1-2 cards short of having appropriate dredge hate, but until this weekend I hadn't seen much of it, and two surgicals do a lot of work elsewhere. I brought in the prowlers and surgicals. Prowler can kill itself to clear bridges from the opponent's yard. I cut 1 trop, 2 agent, 1 traverse. There is an argument for going in on leos and more removal (mostly for your own creatures) but I opt for the more combo centric approach here.
Burn - This matchup is bad. I tried 2 blue blasts, I tried 2 chills. Ultimately I decided the best strategy, especially for paper was to hope to dodge. I bring in my 2 duress, fourth decay, 2 therapy, 1 leo cutting bayou, 1 aluren, 1 harpy, 2 agent, 1 traverse. I am sure this is suboptimal, I don't really have a plan here other than buy some time for my more powerful spells.
Most of that is pretty general, but I hope it helpful.
Thanks - much appreciated. I'm surprised you don't have Jitte in the board. Seems really good to me :)Quote:
Originally Posted by limbo