I could've returned to the original thread for this, but it's too old, so a new one was necessary. For reference though, here is the old thread:
Turboland
The only reason I actually link that thread is because it does have some good discussion in it. The list, however, was horrendous. But since the Big Arse, I've continued to work on the deck, believing it has the ability to perform well in the metagame. From the last few months, along with the great help and extensive work from Adam Barnello aka Mr. Nightmare, we've developed a list that solved any problem from the original list's weaknesses, and has a better Goblin matchup. The matchup is really swingy, greatly depending on who gets to go first, but none-the-less, not bad. After my performance at the Rochester GPT going 4-1-1, and Adam going 4-2(both of which reports are to follow), I think a contender sits here.
Turboland 2.0
4 Exploration
3 Horn of Greed
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Brainstorm
2 Impulse
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
2 Constant Mists
2 Hail Storm
1 Upheaval
2 Time Warp
2 Gaea's Blessing
4 Tropical Island
5 Island
3 Forest
3 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
3 Mishra's Factory
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
Sideboard:
3 Zuran Orb
3 Troll Ascetic
1 Capsize
1 Hail Storm
1 Gaea's Blessing
2 Damping Matrix
2 Naturalize
2 Stifle
As you can tell between this list and the old one, the changes are drastic. I'll go through them individually.
Removed:
Meloku/Masticore: Creatures were nice in this deck to be able to provide defense, as well as a quicker win. However, I've come to the realization that I don't care about creatures, because if I have infinate turns, Factory does the job just fine. These were basically wasted slots.
Mana Leak: Most aggro decks these days play Aether Vial. Goblins also consists of like 1/3 of the field. That makes countermagic shit the bed. Instead of useless counter, we replaced this with green removal in Hail Storm.
Additions:
Accumulated Knowledge: First, let it be known I'm aware Intuition is not in this deck. No, I don't like Intuition in this deck. But moving on. Tested showed the deck could run out of gas early because it didn't have enough quick card drawing in it. AK gives the small boost it needs early game to start to combo, and the deck will just draw so many cards that the AK's flow into each other.
Hail Storm: Instant speed Pyroclasm anyone? Constantly you see Goblin players(as well as basically any aggro deck) overextend their hands and then walk right into this. It's freaking incredible. Also allows you to take down bigger creatures if you throw a Factory in front of it too.
3rd Forest: When we added Hail Storm to the maindeck, another basic forest was necessary to increase the odds of getting GG by turn 3. Eh, it works :p
Sideboard additions:
Damping Matrix: The best card in the sideboard. The sole reason Goblins was beating this deck was because it could get around Mistlock by vialing out Sharpshooter and SGC. Damping Matrix shuts all that off, and then hits Time Vault, Belcher decks, Survival decks, Tormod's Crypt, Phyrexian Furnace, Affinity decks, etc. It's the tits.
Hail Storm: an additional one from the board to fight aggro.
Stifle: Flexible card that hits half of Goblins triggers, Brain Freeze, fetches, Decree, etc. Awesomez
Troll Ascetic: The freaking house. Control decks sideboard out their Wrath of Gods and such in this matchup, then it leads the way for you to just get a quick house to bash their face in, which is a lot easier than trying to win through Time Warp.
Capsize: There was a slot in the board left, and we wanted something to get rid of Meddling Mage, and Capsize fit perfectly.
I would post the matchup analysis again, but you can read them in the other thread. I'll note the changes though:
Goblins: You play Pyroclasm now. And shutoff Vial and pingers. Awesome.
Landstill/other crappy control decks: Troll Ascetic rockzzzz. Stifle is cool too. Blessing also gives you more card advantage and counter. You also run more card draw.
Those are the only relevant matchups, as all other decks just flatout suck. Solidarity is a freaking joke to play against. Monowhite control? lol. Seriously, there are too many decks that just do nothing relevant to this deck, and you punish them for it.
I had this written up before, and then talked to Di, who was also writing a new thread. I’ve also gotten PMs about the deck, so thought I would write my report out. I added my thoughts on the new cards, although they are basically the same as above.
Card Discussion
AK over Mana Leak and the 4th Horn – So savage. It gets you 4 more spells to pitch to FoW at worst, and draws insane amounts of cards. I know what you’re thinking – But you don’t run Intuition… wait, could we run Intuition? No. Intuition is bad in this deck. But AK is amazing. (edit - I wrote this 4 hours before Caulyn did) When you can Blessing back AK’s 3 and 4 and use them as Ancestrals over and over again, the engine is fine as is. There have been a couple times (read: 2) when I wished I had a Mana Leak, but those were when I had Counterspell and only 1 Blue source, not when it was an AK.
Number of Impulse/Brainstorm – Although I would love to say that we could fit in sets of each, three Brainstorm isn’t unheard of. I was running 3/3, but I cut the third Impulse for the fifth Island, and haven’t looked back since.
Constant Mists has become a proven stall tactic against Aggro Matchups, and if you can keep Crucible on the table, just wins against many Aggro decks.
Where Constant Mists sucks, Hail Storm OWNS FACE. Now that the tech is out, people won’t be walking into it as much, but man, so many a goblin hoard has gotten smashed by a card they’ve never seen before. Green Wrath, as we’ve begun to call it, is best as a surprise factor, but the 1GG cost is prohibitive. We considered Propaganda in its place, and it’s still not a bad call if you don’t like the double green. As a bonus, Propaganda is blue.
Time Warp and the Meddling Mage question. If Meddling Mage scares you, then find a place that sells Portal 2 and P3K cards, and pick up Temporal Manipulation ($10 – 15) and or Capture of Jingzhou ($30ish). Both are identical reprints of Time Warp and are not named Time Warp. Not legal until Friday though.
Troll – What does Landstill do against turn 2 Troll when they side out the “dead” Wraths? Scoops. Turns out, so do a lot of decks. He shores up a lot of matchups, and shines when there are Vedalken Shackles on the table.
Damping Matrix – Oh, the look on the face of Goblins when the Matrix has them. Our issue has been when getting them in Mistlock, the Sharpshooter and Siege Gang Shenanigans can still torch you out. This puts a stopper on that, and Shuts off Vial to boot! There are a slew of other important cards this turns off for other decks, but very few for you. In fact, self-pumping a Factory is the only thing it hurts. Easily the best innovation we found for the board recently.
Third Gaea’s in the Board – We had 1 slot before the GPT, and I suggested this, and was SO glad I did. It’s so important to have 2 active Gaea’s that having the second one countered is basically GG. To have a third in the face of that possibility is great. Forcing Solidarity to Stroke you out is nice too.
With that, on to the trial.
Night before the trial, Di and I decided it would be a good idea to stay up until 4 am testing the mirror, and discussing SB strategies in TeenieBopper’s living room. It was great, until 8:30 rolled around and we had no sleep. On the road we go.
Dunkin Donuts on the thruway is the savage tech, for real. We picked up breakfast and coffee and were caffeinated enough to make it through the day.
Once we got there, I picked up some new pink sleeves, leant my other ones to BigBear, and sat down for round one, against Nick Wowelko, who I play like every week. Way to drive an hour to play a local. He’s playing Goblins with Bolt, and goes nuts on my face game 1, like Goblins is want to do. Game 2 I get turn 2 Matrix, turn 4 Mistlock with Horn, but because Nick didn’t see me combo first game, he makes me go through the motions. Game three, I stabilize at low life, but he gets a couple beats through and about a turn or two before I can combo @ 1 life, he finds a Fanatic to fling at my head. Great Start to the Tourney.
Record: 0-1
Round 2 – Jack Black (saxking93)
After Round 1 I talked to Di, and he said he beat MBC with Withered Wretch. I thought maybe this was the guy when I saw turn 1 Swamp, but it wasn’t. Wasteland hit Coffers, and he didn’t see much but dead removal and land game 1, but even though he drained me for 7, I went infinite and won game 1. Game 2: See game 1, but this time I read Chains, said – wait, I have to discard every time I play a land? Fuck that. And countered it. 2 – 0. Note: Damping Matrix >>>>>> O-stone and Staff.
Record: 1-1
Round 3 – Mono Black Control (Kevin something, unregged?)
Well, this time I did get to play Di’s round 1 opponent. Game 1 I play forest, Exploration, Island and the kid just sighs. What luck for him to get set up vs. us both. I fight through 3 back to back Hymns thanks to savage luck on my part, and Gaea’s not getting hit, and Horn of Greed takes the MVP. Game 2 sucked. He Haunting Echoes’d early, hitting: Force of Will, Counterspell, AK, Impulse. What the fuck. Then he goes Wretch, Wretch. It looks bad for me. I get 1 Blessing removed with a Wretch, and this game is where the SB Blessing really shined. I managed to get him to tap out, and then took every turn for the rest of the game. Hard fought battle, and a really nice kid. 2 – 0
Record: 2-1
Round 4 – NQG (Don’t remember, someone tell me and I’ll edit this)
Game 1, I got the nuts vs. Gro. Turn 1 Exploration, Waste. Turn 2 Crucible. He draws no land for 5 turns, I cast Time Warp with a couple Explorations and Horn on the table, he scoops. Game 2 is much worse for me, as I get stuck on 3 land and he’s beating my face in with Mongooses (Mongeese?). Game 3, I get the nuts again. My opening hand has Trop, Stifle, Stifle, Island, Fetch, Crucible, Capsize. He gets an early Meddling Mage naming Time Warp (Portal needs to be legal!!) and draws a whole bunch of cards, looking for that third land. He finds some Fetches and I stifle them. I get six land and Capsize Mage end of turn. On my turn I rip Waste for the Tundra so he can’t replay Mage, and proceed to take the rest of the turns. Sitting next to me was Di, who took all 5 of the turns for time in round (with lethal damage on the table, and not going infinite) for the 1-0 win vs. Wastedlife.
Record: 3-1
Round 5 – Vial Gobs (Teeniebopper)
Before the match, I asked for the ID, since he was 3-1 also and we could both make it (so we thought) at 4-1-1. He wanted to be guaranteed top 8, which I understood, so did I, so we had to play it. We got deck checked, but no losses to either of us. Game 1 sucked ass. Turn 1 Lackey. Turn 2, swing Lackey, drop Kiki-Jiki. After EOT triggers on my turn, copy Lackey. Copy Lackey. Swing with 3 Lackeys. Drop Ringleader into SGC. Drop SGC, Drop Warchief. Play Piledriver. I’m staring at the Hail Storm in my hand, and the two Islands in play on my side… Game 2 was a little less retarded, but still pretty bad. Mike is a good Goblins player. I wanted the draw bad.
Record: 3-2
Round 6 – Garv (Garv)
I tested this matchup with GetSickAndDie, who plays Wasteland in his build, and dropped White. That was really bad for me. Garv hasn’t done that. Game 1 he mulls bad, and gets off to a slow start with me having Mistlock. I win before he can burn me out. Game 2 he goes nuts and wins with Mongrel, Monkey, and Troll. Game 3 I have won. There’s ten Minutes left, and I have Mistlock with Damping Matrix, and although I’m at 6 at one point, I gained some life from Zorb before I dropped matrix. Because of Matrix, I can swing into his dudes with one Factory, pump with the others, and take his guys out one at a time, since he can’t regenerate Troll. He would eventually run out of enough cards to keep Mongrel alive, and I would get through unblocked. Because he’s Garv, he wanted to draw it out rather than go 3-3 on the day, so I had to fast play to get the damage through. I eventually did, but he was an ass about it, for sure. It’s ok though, because the ride home was hilarious.
Final record: 4-2
So Goblins still suck, and Damping Matrix is awesome. I don’t think I’ll be playing Turboland in Philly, but if you do, I’d recommend serious testing of Propaganda vs. Hail Storm. One is a permanent solution, the other slows them down a ton.
Props: Millennium for hosting, Mike for the ride and FTW, Dunkin Donuts coffee, Syracuse for representing with the Pink sleeves and the top 2, Jim for actually running “Party Like it’s 1999,” his 99 card zoo deck that’s as consistent as a 60 card one. All of my opponents, I had a ton of fun, more than I’ve had at a tournament in a long ass time.
Slops: Kadilak. Little Green men. Naturalize, for not being sided in 1 time the whole day. Suppression Field, for not being legal yet. My alarm clock, for not waking me up until 15 minutes before work this morning. Wastedlife, for keeping Turboland out of the top 8 (why did you drop?). Mike’s toilet, for having pee in it every time I wanted to use it.
Well, gentlemen, it looks extremely interesting and it looks like you've put a lot of time into it. What are your matchups like for the major decks? (goblins, landstill, solidarity, rgsa, gro, wombat, burn, anything else that i've missed)
If you actually read my post, you'd know where to find that. I'll add some stuff after I get out of class. -Di
Why aren't you playing 2 Oboros? I did some brief testing with this and wanted to draw it every single game as soon as possible. It's so insane it's not funny.
When in doubt, mumble.
When in trouble, delegate.
Question... you mentioned that Damping Matrix was MVP and then made a long list of cards that Pithing Needle shuts down just as effectively for a third of the cost, while being more versatile against other threats as well. Now I recognize that it doesn't shut down every thing in a given deck, but honestly, how often is it truly necessary to shut down more than a single threat in the race to survive until you combo off?
The question isn't rhetorical, but I postulate that aside from Ravager and possibly Goblins, you rarely need to disable more than one opposing threat. Am I wrong?
I noticed a lack of Daze, did you just find it useless in most matchups? It seems like it'd be pretty good with Exploration and Horn. I would just like to see it tested because it seems like it'd be pretty decent, as a first turn counter for the Lackey or Aether Vial.
Proud Member of Team Unicorn.
A unicorn is like a horse, but with a horn on its head. I think that's pretty cool.
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Because running 25 land with Horn of Greed between Crucible, AK, Impulse, and Brainstorm essentially doesn't make you miss a landdrop every game. Oboro is the clutch slot you have in the sinarios that you won't have more lands. I dislike the fact that it's nonbasic(yes, I know you can bounce it derf, but situations where you tap out with it can happen), and generally that I can't fetch it with fetchlands. Fetchlands play such a crutial role in the deck(yet more will hurt the deck) that another land that can't be grabbed hurts. Oh yeah, it's stupidly legendary. If I saw multiples of them early, I'd choke a bitch.Why aren't you playing 2 Oboros? I did some brief testing with this and wanted to draw it every single game as soon as possible. It's so insane it's not funny.
Damping Matrix is the strongest card in the sideboard against Goblins. This is because Goblins was beating this deck with last few points of Sharpshooter and SGC pingings, both creatures that were obviously vialed out. Originally the card was just exclusively for Goblins because we wanted to create effeciency in cards while minimizing the numbers of slots and cards drawn. If I was going to run Needle, it'd have to be a 3 or 4of, and I'd need to draw multiples in order to fully protect myself. "Woot, my Needle just shutdown your Vial. Shit, I now stare at Sharpshooter, SGC, Kiki-Jiki, and Mogg Fanatic. Scoop.Question... you mentioned that Damping Matrix was MVP and then made a long list of cards that Pithing Needle shuts down just as effectively for a third of the cost, while being more versatile against other threats as well. Now I recognize that it doesn't shut down every thing in a given deck, but honestly, how often is it truly necessary to shut down more than a single threat in the race to survive until you combo off?
The question isn't rhetorical, but I postulate that aside from Ravager and possibly Goblins, you rarely need to disable more than one opposing threat. Am I wrong?
Damping Matrix also randomly nukes Survival decks too, while not hitting Survival itself, taking care of Zealot, Ranger, Tradewind, etc whatever at the same time is cool.
Never actually tested Daze. It does seem like a good idea though, so I'll give it a shot. Only problem is there are literally 0 cards I plan on moving from the maindeck right now. Daze would essentially replace Hail Storm, because if Lackey is countered then the rush is going to be a lot slower, freeing up some time to search for Mistlock, but Hail Storm nukes all aggro decks and isn't useless after like turn 3.I noticed a lack of Daze, did you just find it useless in most matchups? It seems like it'd be pretty good with Exploration and Horn. I would just like to see it tested because it seems like it'd be pretty decent, as a first turn counter for the Lackey or Aether Vial.
I read your post and noticed the link to the previous list, but you yourself advocated that the previous list was "terrible". Should I take that to indicate that your non-goblin matchups have not changed or was the previous list truly awful enough that everything has been shored up?
I'll admit the original list was terrible, but most of it is still there, so most of the aspects of the matchup still applies to the list currently. The only difference is the matchups are better, because you have a stronger manabase, more and better hate cards, faster draw to combo out faster, and the ability to actually kill creatures. I explained all the new sideboard choices, so you just need to apply them to the matchups.
Nice, I think I like this build a lot more than the other one actually. Trolls were a good idea.
And I was thinking, that deck has so much Draw Power, why not just add a 61th card? That slot could be 4th Crucible, because, IMO, that if your going to rely on Crucible on early game, you might as well add it in, just so you can keep drawng it...
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"The Citrus-God just had a Citrus-Supernova... in your mouth."
That is a good idea, but the fact that Crucible is only good when you have it as a one of in your hand or on the board. You've got enough dig in the deck that you don't need more than 3 in the deck. Because eventually it'll lead into a dead draw if you already have one on the board, or in your hand. As of now, 3 seems like the correct number for this deck.
Proud Member of Team Unicorn.
A unicorn is like a horse, but with a horn on its head. I think that's pretty cool.
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There are already are 61 cards. 25 lands + 36 spells= 61. Plus a 4th Crucible wouldn't be worth it. When this deck goes off, it often draws into useless multiples of them. I do occasionally board one out because they are annoying as hell to see in multiples.Nice, I think I like this build a lot more than the other one actually. Trolls were a good idea.
And I was thinking, that deck has so much Draw Power, why not just add a 61th card? That slot could be 4th Crucible, because, IMO, that if your going to rely on Crucible on early game, you might as well add it in, just so you can keep drawng it...
Troll over Gigapede? As a control-hate slot?
AK is terrible at giving you a small early-game boost in cards. Brainstorm, Serum Visions, Impulse, etc. are much better. If you justify AK by saying that the combo will draw you into multiples, it sounds like win-more. Have you tested Compulsive Research?Originally Posted by Diablos
For a deck based around card interactions, this list is just as ugly (as in, lots of 2s and 3s) as the old one.
Yeah I really like the idea of Gigapeade. Recurable beats seem really good. If you are looking for extra draw, you could look at Compulsion, it's out there, but it might do well. Pitch your dead cards, such as an Extra Crucible, AK, you could pitch Gigapeade, and extra land after you run out of Explored lands.
It's just a thought though.
Proud Member of Team Unicorn.
A unicorn is like a horse, but with a horn on its head. I think that's pretty cool.
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The fact that Troll regenerates and is a lot quicker is huge reasoning. Gigapede isn't something that I want to cast every turn because it gets chumped. Troll gets through all defenses same as Gigapede, but starts a lot earlier. Plus, it's decent against Gro too, blocking every creature sans threshold Mystic Enforcer. Gigapede is too costly in a deck that also wants to cast bad 3UU sorceries on their turn too.Troll over Gigapede? As a control-hate slot?
I failed to mention this in my original analysis of AK, but it's most important function is that is greatly lightens the burden on Horn of Greed. The original list was incredibly dependant on Horn of Greed, and if it was named by Meddling Mage, countered, or destroyed, it sucked. I've won plenty of games without Horn, simply by casting AK for 3 then shuffling it back with Gaea's Blessing. I'll admit it isn't great advantage early game, but it still digs down for the early game at least helping search for pieces, then getting towards the late game it just gives you incredible advantage. I tested Visions, more Brainstorms, and more Impulses, but I went with AK because I had 4 slots open and wanted a card that would give good advantage both early and lategame. Although Impulse fulfills this role rather well for both early and lategame, it isn't as amazing as AK recursion when you're running without a Horn. Running them together makes the deck run very smoothly. My testing and performance with the deck can ammend to that. It's one of the cards I definately want to keep.AK is terrible at giving you a small early-game boost in cards. Brainstorm, Serum Visions, Impulse, etc. are much better. If you justify AK by saying that the combo will draw you into multiples, it sounds like win-more. Have you tested Compulsive Research?
I haven't looked at Compulsive Research, but won't run it because it just adds onto that 3cc spell on your turn slot. We have enough of those, and I want to play combo pieces with that 3 mana, so Research is too slow.
Ew, I know. Having 3ofs isn't bad at all in a blue deck by any means, but I'll admit the 2ofs are ugly. Problem is, you basically have to run 2of each of the shitty cards being Time Warp and Blessing, as you want enough to draw for the mid-to-late game, yet not open them often. 2 Constant Mists and 2 Hail Storm because I decided 4 slots would be dedicated to aggro(due to room), and I wanted both the option of the lock and WoG effect. With the card drawing in the deck, they come when I need them in the midgame, and opening them isn't a bad thing. I only run 2 Impulse because that's all the room I have left in the deck. I don't remember what I cut the 3rd Impulse for, but Mr. Nightmare's list before we ran identical lists ran it over the 25th land, but then switched it for the land, and likes it a lot more.For a deck based around card interactions, this list is just as ugly (as in, lots of 2s and 3s) as the old one.
Eh, even though there are a good amount of 2ofs, most of them are the cards that you won't want to open but want midgame, so I feel the ratio between them fits right.
Yeah, I realize the Time Warp and Blessing counts are what they have to be. It was more the Mists/Hail Storm that stuck out. It seems like one should be better than the other, and so you should choose. Or, if you want to have either option open in most games, you should up the counts of both.
Your reasoning for Troll and AK makes sense, as does your reasoning against Gigapede and Research. However, I still doubt AK; this deck has more problems in the early-game than it does in the late-game. I also question whether the decreased reliance on Horn means you shouldn't run 4.
Edited By Obfuscate Freely on 1129609009
If there was space in the deck, I would definately run more Mists and Hail Storm in the maindeck, but there really isn't enough room. I know I should choose one or the other, but one of them is good in situations that the other isn't, and vice versa. Hail Storm isn't going to do anything against an army of Baloths and Kird Apes and Wild Mongrel, when Constant Mists can, yet Constant Mists isn't playable until you have either a significant amount of lands without Crucible in play, or you have Crucible in play. There are too many situations where only one of them would be bad for the deck, so it's important to have both of them.Yeah, I realize the Time Warp and Blessing counts are what they have to be. It was more the Mists/Hail Storm that stuck out. It seems like one should be better than the other, and so you should choose. Or, if you want to have either option open in most games, you should up the counts of both.
If I replaced any of the card draw, it would be for better card draw, same for everything else in the deck. And I still won't cut Upheaval, it's the only way to remove problems that hit the board.
I'll admit AK isn't that solid early game, but it gives you just enough boost to make the difference, because it digs in the early game allowing your mid-game to go faster. The decreased reliance on Horn is only partially the reason we don't run 4. The other part of the reason is because I cut my 4th Horn for the 25th land. It was either 24 land and 4 Horns, or 25 land and 3(Mr. Nightmare's list was a few cards different from my own until yesterday). I decided I'd rather have the more consistant manabase than the 4 Horns, and since I added 4 more cards to find Horn, it seemed to work out in the end.Your reasoning for Troll and AK makes sense, as does your reasoning against Gigapede and Research. However, I still doubt AK; this deck has more problems in the early-game than it does in the late-game. I also question whether the decreased reliance on Horn means you shouldn't run 4.
I still know the early game problems can be difficult, which is why I still seek options to solidify the early game. Against Goblins, Moment's Peace isn't terrible for negating Lackey turns 2 and 3, but I question if it is too much to run of the Fog effects. I only target Goblins with this analogy though, because it's the only deck in the format who's early game actually scares me. Honestly, I feel confident going into every matchup except Vial Goblins and 2-land Belcher(which isn't viable, meh). Although Vial Goblins is the most popular deck, your matchup is still 45/55 their favor to 50/50, and with the confidence I have against the rest of the field, I still think it's a great choice.
I tested the deck for 7 hours. It is a bit complicated to play; very different from aggro or aggro-control. I feel the deck is control-combo, although it is on the slow side. In my testing however, I have combo the nuts as "early" as turn 6. Upheaval is a very good board reset, especially when the opponent is has too much on the board for me to handle. I think going with the AK's is the right choice, although the deck is still fairly reliant on Horn of Greed. As stated before, the early games could use improvement. Pre-sideboard, this deck has a hard time against burn or even burn-based aggro. Is Zuran Orb enough post-sideboard?
brought from the other post
Solidarity: They need to get around 11 counter and maindeck Blessings. Possible? Of course. Easy? Not really. As long as you don't play stupid and counter the right spells, it's simple to pull out a win. This matchup is a lot harder than the rest of the best decks, but they give you time to gather what you need.
so the plan is:
+1 blessing
+3 trolls
+2 stifles
for
-2 mists
-2 hail storm
-1 upheaval
-1 something
I'm a big solidarity fan. THAT seems really nasty. Game one seems like it'll be interesting if I can be patient, but with that coming in, I don't have the time to wait. Looks like something to test with. I'm glad to see Teeniebopper is not liking the match from the goblin perspective. He was a solid player back when I worked in Mechanicville. Hail Storm! What can I say about that? I was looking for a good alternative to pyroclasm. I was tempted to splash red for it becuase our testing showed it missing just a little v. goblins. We tested a third constant mists. That also works fair.
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Whenever I see a kid in a wheelchair it makes me a little sad. Because I always think, "Gee, they could have used those same wheels to make a bike for a regular kid. What a waste."
I wanted to respond to a few posts as well, bear with me, I have a working man's hours.
@ Troll vs. Gigapede - The reason we chose Troll in the first place is due to it's possibility of hitting turn 2 vs. control, with potential FoW backup. Gigapede is 2 - 3 turns slower than that, even if his 6/1 body is more powerful. If you test for a while, you'll see that after the first 3 to 4 turns, this deck uses every mana it can, every turn it has, and 3GG(and a card) when you only run 3 basic Forest and Trops is too much to pay every turn.
For a very long time, I was adamant against cutting the third Impulse. It took me watching Di play next to me when testing, and seeing the number of times I got mana screwed vs. him getting mana screwed to see how much difference that 1 land makes. I would still run the third if it fit. I have tested with Research, but it still says "Sorcery" and still sucks because of it. AK is bad early, yes, but its only bad the first time you cast it. Usually that happens EOT and only if I haven't needed to counter anything that turn, so it basically doesn't suck that bad. In that same situation (happens like 90% of the time) Serum Visions would be strictly worse, since it would leave me without Counterspell mana open. As for the fourth Horn, if it wasn't symmetrical, or if it said "May" draw a card, I'd go back to four in a second. I would cut Impulse and go up to 4 Horn, 4 Brainstorm. But it doesn't. And you never really want to combo with more than 2 on the table anyway, becaus it gets dangerous to play land. At the GPT, I ran into a situation where I needed to combo while recuring Factory every turn to swing in and kill blockers 1 at a time. With more than 2 Horns, you could get yourself in Math Trouble.AK is terrible at giving you a small early-game boost in cards. Brainstorm, Serum Visions, Impulse, etc. are much better. If you justify AK by saying that the combo will draw you into multiples, it sounds like win-more. Have you tested Compulsive Research?
@ Burn - It's an issue. Pre-board, you're pretty much screwed unledd you combo ASAP. Post Board, Orb is the nuts, and if you have it, all you need to watch for is Sulfuric Vortex and Pithing Needle. You also bring in Troll, and he speeds the clock up a ton. We didn't really expect to see a lot of burn on Sunday, so we didn't board for it, but if it's a concern I suggest fitting Chill in the Board. When I took t4 at Amrod's a few weekends ago, I beat burn in top 8. Chill is a house against them.
Keep testing, I'm excited to see the interest pick up!
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