I don't think by adding another Wasteland and a Horizon it'll be THAT much better. I usually get my Knights to 4/4 or 5/5 when cast, and they just go from there. You could always add another Wasteland, but if you're running no acceleration, I'd rather have another basic to not get Wastelanded out of the game.
Bojuka Bog feels like the weakest slot in the deck, so I think I'm going to change it to a singleton Null Rod. It helps against Combo, Equipment, MUD, Affinity, Top (which I can side out), Mox Diamond based decks, etc. It goes in against more decks than Bog, since you don't ALWAYS want Bog where you want Crypt, if that makes sense. Bog is great against Knight decks and Dredge, but that's about it. Null Rod shuts down more matchups to end in my favour rather than a Bog.
I've listed some sideboarding notes I did today, let me know if you think anything seems unreasonable. It's definitely possible, considering I've been playing Magic for eight hours grinding matches with Rock.
Storm:
+2 Teeg
+1 Crypt
+1 Cannonist
+3 E. Tutor
+1 Runed Halo
+1 Plague (for TES)
+1 Deed
-2 Jitte
-4 Swords
-1 Maze of Ith
-3 Vindicate
Enchantress:
+ all in except 2 E. Plague and a Crypt
-2 Jitte
-1 Maze
-4 Swords
-1 Goyf/Knight
-4 Hymn
Merfolk:
+2 Deed
+2 Plague
+3 E. Tutor
+1 Needle
-4 Hymn
-1 Qasali
-3 Vindicate (or what else here?)
Zoo:
+3 E. Tutor
+2 Deed
-1 Bob
-4 Thoughtseize
Goblins:
+2 Plague
+2 Deed
+2 E. Tutor
+1 Needle
-3 Vindicate
-1 Top
-2 Pridemage
-1 Thoughtseize (on the draw)
43 Lands:
+1 Needle
+3 E. Tutor
+1 Crypt
+1 Spellbomb
+1 Null Rod
-1 Maze
-2 Jitte
-4 Hymn to Tourach
Dredge:
+3 E. Tutor
+2 Deed
+1 Crypt
+1 Spellbomb
+2 Teeg
+1 Null Rod (if LED)
+1 Plague
-2 Jitte
-4 Hymn
-3 Vindicate
-1 Swords
-1 Thoughtseize
Elves!
+2 E. Tutor
+1 Cannonist
+2 Plague
+2 Deed
+2 Teeg
-1 Maze
-4 Hymn
-3 Vindicate
-1 Top
High Tide:
+3 E. Tutor
+1 Cannonist
+1 Needle
+2 Teeg
+1 Runed Halo
+1 Null Rod (possibly)
-4 Swords
-1 Maze
-2 Jitte
-1 Deed
Team America:
No boarding that I saw that was relevant, Crypts aren't better than my other cards.
NO Bant:
+2 Deed
+2 Gaddock Teeg
+1 Runed Halo
-1 Vindicate
-2 Hymn
-2 Qasali
4C Counterbalance
-1 Maze
-2 Jitte
-2 Thoughtseize
-1 Swords
+2 E. Tutor
+1 Deed
+1 Needle
+1 Runed Halo
CounterTop Thopters:
+3 E. Tutor
+1 Spellbomb
+1 Needle
+1 Runed Halo
+2 Gaddock Teeg
+2 Deed
+2 Plague
-4 Swords
-1 Maze
-2 Jitte
-1 Thoughtseize
-4 Hymn
MUD:
+1 Null Rod
+2 Deed
-2 Jitte
-1 Random
Affinity:
+2 Deed
+3 E. Tutor
+1 Needle
-4 Hymn
-2 Jitte
Painter:
-1 Maze
-2 Jitte
-3 Vindicate
-1 Top
-1 Goyf
-1 Hymn
+3 E. Tutor
+2 Deed
+1 Runed Halo
+1 Crypt
+1 Needle
+1 Spellbomb
Aluren:
+3 E. Tutor
+1 Runed Halo
+2 Gaddock Teeg
+1 Needle
+1 Cannonist
+2 Deed
+1 Plague
-2 Jitte
-1 Maze
-3 Top
-3 Vindicate
-1 Goyf
-1 Knight
New Horizons:
+2 Deed
+1 Spellbomb
+1 Needle
-2 Jitte
-1 Hymn
-1 Qasali
Stax:
+2 Deed
+2 Teeg
+1 Needle
-2 Jitte
-4 Swords
+1 Crypt
Dreadnought:
+2 Deed
+1 Runed Halo
+1 Needle
+1 E. Tutor
-2 Jitte
-2 Hymn
-1 Goyf
Thoughts?
-Matt
Last edited by sdematt; 05-14-2011 at 02:08 PM.
Against Stax you should also add in one additional Gaddock Teeg and a Tormod's Crypt. Right now you're taking out six cards and bringing in four. I believe those are the ones we agreed on earlier.
Null rod isn't correct in every metagame but it is an incredible paradigm changer against a subset of decks that can otherwise be a definite threat. With discard, a combo deck can simply topdeck a win; null rod generally requires them to first draw a solution. Plus, watching affinity players squirm is always fun.
+2 Deed : Enchantress, Elves, Dredge, Goblins, Zoo, Merfolk, Affinity, MUD, CounterTop Thopters, NO Bant, Dreadnought, Stax, New Horizons, Aluren, Painter.
+1 Deed : Storm, 4C Counterbalance.
+0 Deed : Team America.
-1 Deed : High Tide.
Why not more Deed MD Matt ?
We were actually having this same discussion over coffee at 2am yesterday. As much as I love Deed in the main, I don't really want to cut anything FOR it. Out of the board I don't mind, but most game 1's I seem to draw them both all the time. As of yet, 1 Deed main has been fine.
But I agree with your observation: I bring Deed in a hell of a lot, but, is this the right call against the decks I've listed?
-Matt
I wouldn't bring Deed in against non-lynx Zoo, NO, New Horizons, or Storm but otherwise you seem right. It depends too on what alternatives you might have.
I'd probably use Deeds against 43 Lands also.
About the sideboard-strategies:
Goblins:
I take out Hymn to Tourach instead of Thoughtseize, since the Thoughtseize can hit Lords//Piledriver, while Hymn is just random. Thoughtseize also works better with the "I resolve two plagues and he will scoop them up"-plan.
Merfolk:
I always board out some dudes, since they will have answers post-board. Possibly Perish (you can take a guess after the first game), but also stuff like Sower of Temptation or Mind Harness or Vedalken Shackles. I always keep Vindicate in against merfolk. They can also board in Back to Basics...
Mud:
When boarding in Null Rod, you also want Enlightened Tutor.
Affinity:
Null Rod looks good here too... Effectively being a 2-mana Armageddon.
Painter:
Null Rod should go in.
You forgot a plan for the mirror
i was wondering why sideboarding out jitte against affinity, ... i play affinity as well, and when playing affinity if i do not have the nuts i feel very uncomfortable when jitte hits the table, i would actually take out 2 vindicates as they feel very slow to me against affinity (of course jitte is not much faster^^, but it takes out more of the opposing creatures)
I can't imagine taking out Jitte vs Affinity.
Originally Posted by Ertai's Familiar
Tom? Is that you? I thought you were going to go work on DnD?
Jitte seems pretty good against Affinity. I'm guessing it's being sided out because it conflicts with Deed.
@ no Rod against MUD/Affinity
I just forgot to add in the tutors and Null Rod, but I meant for them to go in there :P
My thoughts were that Jitte doesn't kill Tezzeret and usually gets Deeded away, whereas Deed and Vindicate kill things. I wouldn't board out Vindicate, it tends to hit bad things like Cranial Plating, Tezz, etc.
Merfolk is moving towards mono-blue as of late (I figure people are going to play what Bertoncini plays). I wouldn't want to board out threats, since they have more threats than you and you can't always 6-for-1 them.
@ Mirror match
My thoughts on the mirror were as follows, considering the success of the GSZ version:
Possibly board in Teegs, not only as threats, but to shut off EE, possible Elspeth, GSZ, etc. Qasali doesn't seem like too much of the nuts, but exalted could be pretty hot. When playing the Rock Mirror, Deed was SO important, at least that's what I found, as was the discard war. Usually, taking their Hymn was the right play, and taking them off green with Wasteland. There wasn't a card I really want to board out, to be perfectly honest.
-Matt
Did choke just disappear from people's boards? The entire format is blue...
too many free spells. and with vial, tapping their islands isn't all that great. and its only good against blue.
If the hivemind appears, then I anticipate seeing more traditional blue-based control decks ala Drew Levin and Gerry T's UW Landstill approach that were piloted to two top 4 finished at the most recent SCG Open. Choke may be a good card to have as a 1-of in your Tutor board.
I love the in-bred Top 16 of Orlando, and it proves SCG only shows popularity and not what's actually good. So many scoops, so little time, apparently.
So, a Reanimator deck placed Top 16 at BoM, as did Team America, Dredge, and the rest of the usual suspects. UBG Landstill placed first, and Levin and Gerry played U/w Landstill for 2/3rd place. I suspect GP Providence will reflect this quite a bit with, perhaps, more players getting out there and playing Landstill.
The nice thing about this is, we're usually alright against Landstill due to the early disruption. The bad thing about Landstill is that they have more counters and removal than we have threats. That makes it a tad awkward. But, most players who would just be picking up the deck now would be absolutely terrible for GP Providence, and it's certainly not a deck that pilots itself. This could make the metagame very interesting.
-Matt
If landstill gets popular you will see thrun and stronghold make it into more junk builds.
I've recently adopted a GSZ variation and I'm in love with it. The ability to run my discard and vindicates/swords and still be able to find the right dude for the situation is amazing. One topic I'd like to push for is engineered plague vs. Merfolk. My sideboard is currently an Enlightened Tutor and I would like to get thoughts on E plague vs folk. Is it worth running, if so how many do I run? Is it worth it to put Deed instead and or in conjunction? Is Jitte the stronger call instead of E plague? I've always felt E Plague not shinning against folk due to the massive lords. Granted in if you can get them out early its pretty much an auto win. Just wanted to hear from some feedback from my fellow Junk players.
Running both would be the best way to take advantage of Merfolk. E. Plague really only has that "OMG I winZ!" against Goblins. Beyond that even weakening their Lords by 1 can mean anywhere from 1-5 damage prevented just by negating 1 Lord. Deed, similarly, is always a fantastic board sweep although sometimes annoying as you'll usually crack it on 3 which gives them an extra turn to pump through damage or respond with Echoing Truth.
Since you're running E. Tutor I would suggest you really only need a 2/2 split. You might also consider running Dueling Grounds as a stall tactic until you can dig for an EE or Deed.
I have to say I'm also falling in favor with GSZ. I've fit in 2 quite nicely (-1 Waste/Vindic) and have definitely found them useful in hastening the deck's clock when faced against more aggressive decks (the meta for me has shifted more towards aggro esp. tribal so in go the 3 Moxes as well ^^').
Forlorn Egoist
How to play Belcher:
Step 1) Draw 7 cards.
Step 2) Throw said 7 cards onto the table while making a "BLAH!" sound.
Step 3) Hold up hands quizically and ask: "Do I win?"
Decks
Enchantress
Dragon Stompy
Rock
UG Madness/Thresh (Pauper)
Forlorn, have you tried it without the 3 Moxen? MY list has been playing plenty well, I reckon. I'm going to run it at a tournament tomorrow and see how I do.
-Matt
I usually don't run Moxen in my build but I have found it to be a meta card. In metas with a lot of control the Moxen really aren't necessary whereas in more aggressive metas you need to be more proactive rather than responsive in terms of disruption and threats. My meta, unfortunately, has tipped into the tribal aggro which means that both Rock and Enchantress aren't doing so hot and I dislike running DS without a meta full of Thresh (lol :P). As a whole I've had mixed feelings with the Moxens. I'm still new to the GSZ's (having traded mine when they peaked at $12) and as such have yet to test them in the deck Mox-less.
However I am quite fond of your list. ~^^~
Forlorn Egoist
How to play Belcher:
Step 1) Draw 7 cards.
Step 2) Throw said 7 cards onto the table while making a "BLAH!" sound.
Step 3) Hold up hands quizically and ask: "Do I win?"
Decks
Enchantress
Dragon Stompy
Rock
UG Madness/Thresh (Pauper)
i am actually running allmost the same list as matt, and love it, ... the only difference right now is that i am running only 23 lands (but probably will go up to 24 to add dryad arbor cutting 1 deed) and running 61 cards including 2 MD deeds
i really like this list way better over the ones with moxen, it is more consistent in my eyes and green sun's zenith is a very nice inclusion
one thing i would suggest if anyone is running quasali as a zenith target, run volraths stronghold, a recurring quasali helped me out in so many situations, it is awesome, it works allmost as a every-turn vindicate on troublesome permanents, plus stronghold makes blowing a deed on a full table a more assymetrical move, since you can recurr your beaters
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Reply With Quote