[Primer] R/G Lands

[Ciubulu]

Personally, I am looking more at Earth as a card. That's the one that has my eye.

They will probably fit two different roles, earth is a sweeper (like kozilek's return or similar) and it's probably the best fitting one because can kill large creatures and could be dredged without fear; drop deals with very problematic creatures like tnn or leovold. Imho it's mostly a meta call and also depends on what you are struggling against: earth seems better vs aggro decks, drop vs midrange and tempo decks. Elves will probably ignore drop while earth will be a game winner but it's useless vs tnn and they seems equivalent vs taxes, delver, bug...earth seems better vs gixis but is mana intensive that makes it slower/easier to counter. All that said mine is pure academy because I almost always played without sweepers and the few times I used one my sweeper of choice was k.return

[Crimhead]

They will probably fit two different roles, earth is a sweeper (like kozilek's return or similar) and it's probably the best fitting one because can kill large creatures and could be dredged without fear; drop deals with very problematic creatures like tnn or leovold.

Drop also beats Emrakul if you reveal it to S&T. Has a little bit of value vs Reanimator too.

I'm going to stick with EE for now, but probably make space for a couple Warping Wails in the side. I kind of would like a Drop or 2 for next time I run without .

[rlesko]

Personally, I am looking more at Earth as a card. That's the one that has my eye.

In what match up? Against something like Taxes RRx @ sorcery speed is trouble with thalias, rishadan ports, and revokers. It being a red source is trouble with mother of runes. And post board they may have rest in peace. Against Grixis delver Deathrite can interact with it before you get priority to cast it if you dredged it off Life from the Loam in your draw step, it doesn't hit delvers, and is unlikely to kill an Angler.

I am interested in the card too but these are some glaring holes IMO.

[Dice_Box]

Oh I agree, it has holes, but it plays hell with DnT if you fire it off early, Elves, Fish and Young Pyro. Also helps fight Miracles Mentor. I am planing to run one Main, so the effects that answer it, while all truly a pain, will not be going into my current planing. How to answer those is a question for sideboard choices and what I would remove for what I bring in. Mapping and building.

[Epeirogeny]

How much DoH(!) do you play?

I play one in the sideboard. My inspiration to play the card came from the two Japanese lists from about more than a year ago.
http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=11945&d=268382&f=LE
http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=11945&d=268380&f=LE


I have no idea why Drop of Honey spiked though. I do not think the card's power warrants the need to buy into the spike, though the card is on the reserve list. To be honest, I just picked up 3 LP ones on 6/16/17 at $75 each. There were about 4 cards left after that. Then it looks like someone took to opportunity to buy out the remaining HP and MP ones on TCGPlayer at around $70.
If anything, I think the market will correct itself on this card eventually. It should settle out to about $90-$100 after this spike.

Nevertheless, I do not think the deck needs to play more than two max.

Congrats to those who piloted successful finishes at Las Vegas!

I went an unimpressive 5-4 in the main event. Unfortunately most of my matches were uneventful. I found myself being the victim of some critical Wastelands against my only delver opponent. Other than that, played vs a ton of combo. List for reference: https://deckstats.net/decks/16827/749587-rg-lands

I liked the idea of some number of Pithing Needles in the sideboard (like Jody Keith was running). Drop of Honey is cute but I wouldn't feel pressured to buy one right now.

Its okay bro, you are still good looking. That's all that matters.

[Lord_Mcdonalds]

Reserved list card that is somewhat unique (green really doesn't have any affect like it) is spotted in a top 8 for a legacy GP after a banning, probably was going to happen.

Wouldn't get worried about it, I don't think there are any matchups the card changes significantly enough that makes it essential in the same way Grip/Spheres are but if you have the money, it's a good option certainly (and who doesn't like options)

[Chatto]

This spike has something to do with Old School, I'm sure of it. Permanent creature-kill in the color Green is special indeed. I had the same with Nether Void and UNL Savannah: both steady for years, traded them away to get some Volcs, and boom! Up they went. Old School is a fun 'casual' format, I like it a lot (perhaps even more than Legacy), but it can be rough getting your deck Götenborg Legal.

[Wiktul]

How about Jarvis Yu's (9th) list and the differences between it and the one played Jody Keith?



Sorcery (8)

4 Gamble

4 Life from the Loam
.

Instant (8)

4 Crop Rotation

4 Punishing Fire (2 in Keith's)
.

Artifact (4)

4 Mox Diamond
.

Enchantment (5)

4 Exploration

1 Manabond
.
(1 Molten Vortex in Keith's)

Land (35)

1 Barbarian Ring

4 Dark Depths

1 Forest

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Glacial Chasm

4 Grove of the Burnwillows (3 in Keith's)

3 Maze of Ith

3 Rishadan Port (none in Keith's)

1 Sheltered Thicket

2 Taiga

1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

4 Thespian's Stage

2 Tranquil Thicket (1 in Keith's)

1 Verdant Catacombs

4 Wasteland

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Foothills
.
60 Cards

(4 Ghost Quarter in Keith's)
(1 Horizon Canopy in Keith's)


Sideboard (15)
1 Ancient Tomb (main deck in Keith's)
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Chalice of the Void (Trinisphere in Keith's)
1 Drop of Honey (2 in Keith's)
1 Karakas (main deck in Keith's)
3 Krosan Grip
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Tireless Tracker


How do you feel about those differences between two decks that has reach practically the same point in the tournament?
Is Karakas really necessary today and against what, as long as there was no target for it in top 8 and hardly any in top 16 (besides possible mirror-match)?
Is Ancient Tomb necessity today if we aim for fast, firm combo as the number 1 plan for us?
Would anyone risk a build with so few removal as Keith had (2 fires) and how did this prooved to be effective?

I look forward to hear from you about this :) I'm heading towards MKM series Prague and I'm still hesitating what my final build should look like.

[Dice_Box]

Looks like I might get some drops. I just pulled out a pile of cards I don't use anymore to start selling and found more than enough to trade. If I don't have to pay cash, I might as well try and get some.

If anyone has any for trade, pm me.

[grmpytopdecker]

I got a well-loved Drop of Honey for US$89 including shipping to me in Canada via the High End Magic Cards Facebook group. Can't recommend that group highly enough


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Crimhead]

3 Drops in the 2 top16 decks is not only going to spike the card - it's going to act as yet another deterrent for anybody thinking of buying into the deck.

[Dice_Box]

I got a well-loved Drop of Honey for US$89 including shipping to me in Canada via the High End Magic Cards Facebook group. Can't recommend that group highly enough


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not on Facebook, but if you see something and can let me know, please do. At the moment I am liquidadating almost everything but lands. So I have things, like Chains, Antiq Trikes, Recruiters, Diamond Valley, and Goblin settlers to part with. This means I have shit people would want, but no way to get in touch.

[Lord_Mcdonalds]

3 Drops in the 2 top16 decks is not only going to spike the card - it's going to act as yet another deterrent for anybody thinking of buying into the deck.

Possibly but if they weren't scared by the price of tabernacle and Rishadan Ports, I doubt a sideboard card is going to

[supremePINEAPPLE]

How do you feel about those differences between two decks that has reach practically the same point in the tournament?
Is Karakas really necessary today and against what, as long as there was no target for it in top 8 and hardly any in top 16 (besides possible mirror-match)?
Is Ancient Tomb necessity today if we aim for fast, firm combo as the number 1 plan for us?
Would anyone risk a build with so few removal as Keith had (2 fires) and how did this prooved to be effective?

I look forward to hear from you about this :) I'm heading towards MKM series Prague and I'm still hesitating what my final build should look like.

I liked all the cool little differences like Jody being a bit more Loam-focused in his build with three different cyclers. He's still running 4 pieces of removal including 3 that are recursive so he isn't that far out of the mainstream even though 5 removal spells seems to be more common now.

I've been fine with Karakas maindeck recently. I've used it to bounce Leovold and kill some small stuff or wasteland while he's in hand and it's still something to do versus Show and Tell or Reanimator. I've usually only been playing it maindeck when I'm on a Ghost Quarter build, it will normally get replaced in the main with a Ghost Quarter when I'm on Ports. I've never tried the Port/Quarter split like Jarvis, does anyone else have experience with that?

I haven't had much luck with Ancient Tomb personally and will probably be cutting it once I get my overpriced drops shipped out. Speaking of, I've been playing with Drop of Honey online and it convinced me to grab some. Sure it's just Porphory Nodes but if you are having trouble against TNN or Leovold then it's beautiful. It's also cool in Grixis Pyromancer/Delver matchups since you can always hit the Deathrites. I've been pleasantly surprised and decided to bite the bullet since it's a RL card that just did well in a GP for an archetype that is played by people who can go out and get them immediately for the most part. I absolutely do not think they are required though, just nice to have.

I'm personally really happy with Molten Vortex over Barbarian Ring too. It's been a huge card in the Grixis/4 Color, Elves, or New Miracles matchups.

[Crimhead]

I'm not on Facebook, but if you see something and can let me know, please do. At the moment I am liquidadating almost everything but lands. So I have things, like Chains, Antiq Trikes, Recruiters, Diamond Valley, and Goblin settlers to part with.

I've pretty much already done this (but I kept some EDH decks plus I'm rebuilding Enchantress). My best option to trade into the new hotness is a Trop. I kept 3 copies for Lands, but in 3.5 years have never gone above 2 (and we might get a bicycler soon).
Edit - Drop's in the $250.00 range now. Trop's not going to do it. :(

If I were you I'd trade Chains last. It was really good when Omnitell was the big thing, so it could be useful again someday.

@ Lord McDonalds, Tabernacle will always be the linchpin for building Lands. But an extra $500.00 of obscure RL cards from '94 with no format cross-over isn't exactly going to help!

[Claymore]

at $500 for 2 slots of sideboard, white splash might be worth a shot.

Edit: No way it stays there at all, but will still likely settle to $150ish

[Chatto]

So really everyone's jumping the bandwagon?

[jarvisyu]

So really everyone's jumping the bandwagon?

Jody and I were both locked into playing 1-2. I decided on 1, he decided on 2. Card is legitimate.

Postboard you need to be more controlling vs a lot of decks and not try to rush things cause of surgical // edict, etc.

Just FYI, here were my pairings:

r4: grixis delver
r5: jund
r6: grixis delver
r7: UW ( 0-2 loss)
r8: grixis delver
r9: br reanimator (1-2 loss)

r10: grixis delver
r11: ANT storm
r12: bug delver
r13: ur delver
r14: grixis delver
r15: grixis delver

For 13-2 9th. Obviously I got somewhat lucky with pairings, but I usually believe that grindier blue decks tend to rise to the top because of theri consistency.

[supremePINEAPPLE]

How did the UW matchup go?

[Sparkii]

Okay, here we go from memory. My list:


1 Academy Ruins
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Dark Depths
1 Forest
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Glacial Chasm
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Karakas
3 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Sheltered Thicket
2 Taiga
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Thespian's Stage
1 Tropical Island
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Crop Rotation
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Exploration
4 Gamble
4 Life from the Loam
1 Molten Vortex
4 Mox Diamond
3 Punishing Fire
Sideboard:

1 Ancient Tomb
1 Chalice of the Void
3 Krosan Grip
2 Sphere of Resistance
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Warping Wail


The deck felt great. I didn't have any byes in the tournament so I knew I was in for a long haul of a day. I bought a pack foil ONS windswept heath to replace my judge foothills but wasn't able to play it for the event since I had already registered. Darn. :P I ate a little bit of a bagel sandwich and we were off to the races. I last minute replaced revokers with trackers the night before as an extra hedge against the fair decks, they ended up being great and I missed playing them. Revokers are great in a lot of ways but I figured I was overboarding for the combo MU.

R1 Jund 2-1

G1: Fetches basic swamp -> DRS, fetches basic forest plays a second DRS and Hymns, I draw dead to DRS and die.
G2: Punishing Fire keeps everything dead with goyfs held off with maze. He needles and I copy his bayou in response with stage and he names stage. I play Depths and copy it on his EOT and kill him.
G3: I have the turn 2 kill with T1 exploration T2 stage depths go.

R2 TES 0-2

G1: He cantrips a bunch and probes me 3 times before burning wish into a telemin performance. :|
G2: He mulls to 6, I gamble T1 for a thorn. He rips dark ritual off the top and I die to an Ad Nauseum T1.

R3 Elves 2-0

G1: Punishing Fire all the guys, ghost quarter all the basics. Play tabernacle.
G2: I have a sick hand which goes T1 Mox diamond + stage Pfire your guy, T2 grove Pfire your guy, T3 Dark Depths and kill you.

R4 ANT 2-0

G1: We play draw go for a bit and I start to ghost quarter him out. He realizes he can't wait too much longer and goes for it, and in response to a dark petition with 6 mana floating from LEDs, I rotate bog him since I figure that's the best line I have to cut him off spell mastery and PiF. I expect to lose to Ad Naus but he didn't have it maindeck and tendrils me for 14 before passing. I also noted he discarded empty the warrens to the LEDs, so on my turn I rotate again, sacrificing my bog, cast Loam and bog him again and he scoops without any wincons left.
G2: He T1 cantrips, I T1 have Land, Exploration, Tomb, Thorn, followed by T2 sphere and then a 20/20 shortly after.

R5 Elves 0-2

G1: I mull hard this game, down to a super shaky 5 and get hoofed real easily.
G2: I mull to 6 and keep an insane hand if I can find a green source, scry to the bottom. I don't find it till it's too late and with chasm in play with Marit lage ready, he drains me for 12 with double deathrite and 4 untap effects after an insane double glimpse turn.

R6 BUG Delver 2-1

G1: I get beat up by double delver and a couple wastelands, force and daze on the loams keep me off action enough to take the game.
G2: He has an early Leovold taxing me out but I take this crazy line where I triple waste + GQ him out letting him draw a bunch of cards but then play tabernacle which kills both of his creatures including Leo. This lets me keep him off mana in spite of the card advantage and i take it.
G3: He has an early Sylvan Library which is great in this MU, but I grind out a 20/20 in turns before some goyfs eat me.

R7 BUG Delver 2-0

G1: Punishing Fire the DRS and delvers and ghost quarter keeps his board clean while I make a 20/20.
G2: Kill his early threat and draw go favors me while I have an active Loam and he fails to find action.

R8 Sneak and Show 2-1

G1: I ghost quarter his basic island 2 times and he gets a third basic so I put him on Omni or sneak. He petals to play a sneak and passes and I try to cut him off mana but he sneaks an emrakul in and drops me to 5. I try to rebuild with a topdecked Karakas but he draws into a second red source and another emrakul.
G2: He plays an early Sneak with no open mana and I Krosan Grip it and Surgical them away. I find Karakas for the show and we play draw go for a while before he blood moons me. I grip it away and make a 20/20.
G3: He mulls to 6 on the play and just says go. I lead with the intent to turn 3 combo but he petal Preordains into basic mountain and city of traitors -> blood moon before i get there. I gamble for Grip and keep it, Grip the moon and make a lage.

R9 BUG Delver 2-0

G1: Wasteland + 2 Ghost Quarter destroy this matchup early, with Loam and tabernacle sealing the deal.
G2: I get low down to 4 from goyf and angler along with wastelands on the mazes but rotate twice to make a surprise Marit lage on his EOT to steal it.

R10 Red and Taxes 0-2

G1: T3 magus of the moon followed by sword of fire and ice + jitte ends this one quick.
G2: We play a grindy game but a chalice on 2 shuts off fire and Loam, and he eventually gets a SoFaI on a flickerwisp while I don't have enough ammo for molten vortex and die quickly.

R11 Dragon Stompy 2-1

G1: He turn 1 chalices followed by double magus of the moon and a blood moon. Nope.jpg
G2: He opens with turn 0 Leyline of the void, T1 City of traitors, chrome mox, blood moon. I have a mox diamond and basic forest and play draw go while he plays double ensnaring bridge and a quicksmith rebel letting the bridge shoot. I gamble for EE and get to EE3 away in a glorious turn then make a lage to take it.
G3: He has an early moon as well as a Chandra, I mise a Grip in my hand for a long time while trying to set up a turn where I can Grip + make token in the same turn. He thankfully flips two lands off Chandra over a few turns which gives me the time I need to safely make the play I was hoping for.

R12 BUG Delver 1-2

G1: I mull to the saddest 4 cards ever, my 7 was do nothing lands + 2 mox, my 6 was the same minus a land, my 5 was gamblex2, EE, Loam,Exploration. It was not a game.
G2: I do what lands does best and deny everything he has before making a 20/20 at 7 life.
G3: He has double goyf and stops my EE with null rod, and also has 2 DRS + 3 wastelands. Yikes.

R13 Burn 2-0

G1: I buy myself two turns from double goblin guide double swiftspear with chasm, long enough for me to set up combo.
G2: My opponent gets land screwed on one land and is one point of damage short when I combo out.

R14 BUG Delver 2-0

G1: I mana deny him hard before locking him out with tabernacle. He scoops once my Loam resolves for double wasteland ghost quarter while he's on one land. He was actually playing 3 basics which was odd.
G2: He has turn 1 DRS followed by T2 bitterblossom which is annoying. I drop a little low on life keeping triple delver at bay with a maze and recurring pfire. I play a spell during a turn which he dazes which is great, because I crop rotate into a tabernacle and triple waste him cutting him down to 1 mana, while I pfire his only faerie each turn. I stabilize at 3 and he says he's had enough and packs it up.

R15 Infect 2-1

G1: My opponent leads tropical go which I waste. He plays foothills and passes which leads me to believe infect. I buy myself some extra time to buildup with chasm and he tries to become immense berserk me with it in play...? I end up ghost quartering all of his lands and tabernacling him out.
G2: He leads turn 1 tropical glistener elf. I wasteland his tropical and surgical all of them. Unfortunately his hand is fetch, invigorate x 2, brainstorm, so he fetches forest and hits me for 9 and I don't have an answer for the next swing. I had a GQ and tabby in hand so if he didn't kill me there he was most likely dead with no mana producing lands besides pendelhaven and inkmoth. I took a risk keeping the hand.
G3: I make a turn 2 Marit lage but he crop rotations for Karakas. Noble hierarch get a few beats in, but I eventually draw Loam to remake the beast and take him down.

Ended up 11-4, one win from prize placing, but enough for my first two pro points and a lot of fun.

Takesaways:

Wail wasn't super great during the event. I did board them in quite a bit but I think I'll try something else in the meantime. I currently went -2 wail + ancient grudge + pithing needle.

Tracker is still great. I didn't miss revokers too much.

Ancient Tomb in the sideboard is gas.

I also picked up some sweet japanese foils for the deck so I guess that's a long slippery slope I'll be taking for a while. XD