Quote Originally Posted by Cartesian View Post
Well, Jace is a creature also. That was my idea.
And there were times where the extra damage from getting Anger with Pyromancer in play added up to more than an extra Phoenix would have.
But overall I don't know if it is worth it, no.

You are right about the Thoughtseizes, I will get them.
Ah I see, pretty cute with Jace yeah.

I played the challenge today, pretty mediocre 4-3 but may as well comment on the matches.

2-1 vs Rip Helm - This should be a nightmare matchup for us, I was locked out by rip and energy field quite quickly game one and couldn't find a Liliana of the Veil before they found a Helm. I was then able to take the sideboard games, second game from Echoing Truth and the third from a Veil ultimate, especially Liliana really proved her worth by breaking up Rip and Field as well as destroying 3 lands at the end.

1-2 vs Eldrazi - Game one I got Chaliced out into multiple Thought-Knots, didn't stand a chance. Game two I had a turn two combo and they didn't have sb cards for it. Game three they had Leyline and a Matter Reshaper to open, I thoughtseized and took a Smasher leaving them with a Macabre and All is Dust, they drew running Wastelands then a Ballista to take out a Pyromancer I finally got down. In retrospect I could have fetched basics despite knowing there were no Wastelands in their hand and potentially won this game.

2-1 vs TES - I think I was a little lucky to take this match too. Game one I had a turn two combo putting them to 9, they had to Ad Nauseum with no mana floating and didn't find a Petal or Mox. Game two they killed me on their turn two. Game three I had a Fluster for their Duress for a turn two combo, they had a slower hand and conceded their turn three.

0-2 vs UW Blade - Game one I had a decent hand with cantrips and sculpted into the combo plus some discard, but that was met with Pierce, Counterspell and a Force and I wasn't able to pull anything together. Game two I played poorly, I got a little frustrated and forgot that Phoenixes aren't a 'may' return and threw a Buried Alive after multiple spells into a Containment Priest, with the intention of killing it the following turn to return then. Again this game they had a lot of interaction too, felt rough for a usually great matchup.

1-2 vs SnS - JPA does JPA things episode 578345743. Game one he had a turn three combo after Intuitioning for Show and Tell after Forcing my combo, then Omni into two Emrakuls. Game two I Thoughtseized a Petal out of a hand with no other coloured mana, this gave me the time to combo twice (first being Forced) and stripping his combo cards away. G3 was a turn two Griselbrand, I put in a land and had two Rituals, Buried and Lili Veil, so went for Buried which got Forced, then went for Liliana which got forced too. Sometimes there's nothing you can do...

2-0 vs UW Blade - This match was a bit more textbook, discarded relevant cards and comboed, they had a Swords and CJ for two Phoenixes but a harcdcast fourth put it away. Game two was again fairly textbook, they had surgical, flusters, force etc but discard and Young Pyromancer/s eating the Force cleared the way for the combo.

2-1 vs Moon Stompy - Game one I get to Preordain off a Sea which is met by a Magus of the Moon followed by a Chalice, I have a couple of turns to draw basic Swamp and Buried but a Rabblemaster puts it away quickly. Game two they get a Chalice down but I play Buried Alive turn three and throw three spells into it, smack for nine. They have a Magus on the board but are forced to Fiery Confluence wiping it, which unlocks my blue mana to play some more cantrips into chalice and bring the birds back. Game three they keep a hand of multiple Chalices but just an Ancient Tomb, I get to eot Echoing Truth two of them then untap and throw a Bolt and four Phoenixes at them, putting them to one with just a Tomb in play. This matchup plays out a bit better than it looks on paper.

A bit sad to lose vs UW Blade as like I said the matchup has been pretty favourable, can't feel too bad about losing to SnS or Eldrazi though, those two decks will get you sometimes.

I was playing two Liliana of the Veil main today, in the small testing with her so far she's really overperformed so I'll continue with two. Last Hope on the other hand has been fine, but a little lacking, I might trim back to one copy and play a third Bolt. While it wouldn't have been too great in the matchups today, I think it's pretty key to a lot of others to have multiple of them.

I was also playing a Spell Pierce in the board to accompany two Flusters, it felt great vs UW Rip Helm at least! May try a second over a Fluster too.