Forge-Tender is a new one.
Protecting the combo and blocking is pretty juicy.
Hello all,
I'm new to Strawberry Shortcake and have quickly fallen in love with the deck. Any advice you would have to help me get better with it would be greatly appreciated. I've been testing for some time on MODO but have now taken it out to Legacy Night(s) twice now. I was 1-3 my first time out 3 weeks ago, beating Dredge and losing to ANT, and two other decks I can't remember.
This past Monday I was fortunate enough to have played 2/4 matches on stream so I can share the video!
I'll be playing out again tonight. The stream starts at 7:30p Central Time on WUBRGxyz's Twitch Channel.
Please forgive my very poor memory for Monday's report below, I promise to take better notes tonight.
Round 1: Reanimator - Win
I forgot to put a Containment Priest in my deckbox that night. I immediately regretted it when I saw the first Entomb.
Game 1: I combo-ed first
Game 2: He combo-ed first
Game 3: I combo-ed first
Round 2: Omnishow - Loss
http://youtu.be/7Q8VOrmBnaw?t=1h10m30s
Game 1: I kept a land heavy hand with an Ensnaring Bridge because I know that Kyle had previously played Sneak & Show. I misplayed when I tutored for a third Imperial Recruiter when I should have picked Simian Spirit Guide having the blast in hand, but it was kind of irrelevant because Kyle had just drawn Force of Will.
Game 2: Apparently I'm not as familiar with Omnishow as I thought because I forgot about Emurkal and neglected to SB in RIP and Tormod's Crypt. Luckily, Kyle also forgot about Emurkal and scooped when I was ready to grind him out.
Game 3: Game three was all about trying to land my Ethersworn Canonist, which was unfortunately forced. In turn 3 I was tapped out and Kyle had the combo and that was GG.
Round 3: Death & Taxes - Loss
Game 1: I got the combo together and blasted a StP headed for my Painter after my opponent forgot to cast it when I was tapped out.
Game 2: My opponent who plays DnT at an extremely high level was really kicking himself and was determined not to drop another game. He had a great hand and basically ran me over in this one.
Game 3: He StP THREE painters in this game. It was grindy but he eventually got there with a Serra Avenger and Flickerwisp in the air.
Round 4: 4-Color Pod - Win
http://youtu.be/7Q8VOrmBnaw?t=2h50m14s
Game 1: I'm always nervous playing David, who's been on the Pro Tour. In this one I got the combo together really quickly and that was that.
Game 2: I feel like I need to explain my thinking when I -2'ed Daretti. The plan was to -2 and exchange Grindstone for Painter, blow up the pithing needle, then at EoT weld Painter for Grindstone. That way on my next turn I could activate Grindstone and then weld into Painter before it resolved. I majorly misplayed by not blasting the needle while he was tapped out. Totally missed that. Even still, I feel I would have won if not for David finding that damn FoW in his brainstorm.
Game 3: I got lucky that David used Abrupt Decay early. I also was lucky that he named REB with his Cabal Therapy. I see how the commentator thought I should've stuck with the Imperial Recruiter and saved my Enlightened Tutor but I guess it worked out.
Anyways, thanks in advance for any tips! Looking forward to playing it out again tonight!
Advice? Play play play! The interactions within the deck are not kept secret, however only time and experience will give you insight on percentage and likelihood of draws.
Sounds good! Many thanks! :D
@Nonbasicland
Mind posting your current list so that we can compare and help evaluate other possibilities? It may also help you to explain your choices of cards in the MD as well as which cards you may have SB'd in the games above. I Sure hope to see you on stream again as I do like WUBRG's channel already. Even thought about driving over for a night to play but 2 hour drive is pushing it. But for legacy and a chance to play painter...it's worth lol.
Last edited by Uroborian; 01-08-2015 at 05:48 PM.
Humble Defector as a possible one of? I've seen mentions of Homeward Path as an engine elsewhere, but for us it is tutorable with Recruiter for when you just really need to find Grindstone and close out the game.
Isn't top just strictly better even without being able to tutor for it?
In your situation, you would need 6 mana for it to be a great drop and then hit grindstone with the first draw. After that each person is essentially drawing 3 cards a turn. In this scenario generally a blue deck will be favored to find removal/answer to combo before you are able to drop and activate grindstone.
Watched the last round broadcast. The only obvious "mistake" I saw was at the end of game two just casting your blast into abrupt decay that you knew he had. I would have at least tried to bait out the decay then blast and activate in response. It probably wouldn't have happened but you've gotta play to your outs. I'm also just curious what your list was. Otherwise, seemed solid. Enjoy your painting!Originally Posted by nonbasicland
In reference to the Humble defector and homeward path, you are able to activate him draw two and proced to activate homeward path gaining control of him again. This isn't a horrible idea but our reliance on blood moon cuts this engine off. So maybe it's a possible but having that utility land in the deck is a bit sketchy wait for soke playtesting before jumping on that bandwagon.
Dear Painter Hive Mind:
Gonna play in a SCG IQ this weekend. Looking for some SB advice.
First, up to this point I have actually been running both Chandra and Daretti in my main. I have decided to cut one of these for the 3rd enlightened tutor, and I'm leaning heavily toward cutting Daretti. Having said that, here is my current SB:
3 x pyrokinesis
1 x Duergar Hedge-Mage
1 x Ethersworn Canonist
1 x Sphere of Law
1 x Containment Priest
1 x Tormod's Crypt
1 x Rest in Peace
1 x Magus of the Moon (none is main)
3 x Leyline of Sanctity
This leaves two open slots. I want both of them to have value against Miracles with at least one being a stand alone win condition. So, one of them is going to be one of these cards:
Assemble the Legion (currently in), Koth of the Hammer, Phyrexian Processor, or other? I prefer it to be searchable with the tutors so Koth is probably not going to make it in unless I took up both slots with Koth. I really wish Assemble the Legion was just white and it would be my shoe-in, as I have now experienced losing it to hydroblast. Did consider a Genju of the spires as it's really hard to totally get rid of, except AGAINST MIRACLES! All of their removal just blanks it. Another stretch I considered was Keranos, as it's really hard to get rid of and is searchable and acts as creature kill. Of course I would have to splash a third color, meaning going one U/x dual for fetches, 4 lotus petal and one chrome mox as my 5th fast mana. That way if I do ever land a painter I can name blue and the mox will make blue. I can just see not finding blue to easily though.
The second card could be another win con but I'm thinking more of a utility card. This could be things like Daretti, Phyrexian Revoker, Vexing Shusher, Absolute Law (with Painter on Red to null opponent's spot removal), Word of Seizing (steal and ultimate their Jace, very corner case, I know, but also has play against Griselbrand decks), Batterskull, or whatever. Right now I'm leaning toward putting the Daretti or Vexing Shusher here because I want something that can get around both Counterbalance and Chalice of the Void on 1. Shusher is searchable with Recruiter but has more limited scope and is more easily killed. Again, other ideas are also welcome.
I feel like I've asked a question similar to this in the past, but I really am having a hard time. Thanks for all input.
p.s. the second slot was actually a second Containment Priest until now, which I guess isn't terrible just because you can flash it in for quick beats against Jace or whatever. But it obviously isn't made for this match-up.
Last edited by drude1; 01-10-2015 at 07:36 PM.
I'm still using a one-of Koth in the MD as my alternate win-con, and I haven't been running into blue blast as much lately. He's also good in any ensnaring bridge games.
If you aren't running engineered explosives, that's a good flexible SB or MD card against miracles.
Drude1 is 5 graveyard hate cards necessary? seems a bit extreme. i think you could cut the crypt for Daretti if your planning on taking him out of the MD. As for your flex spots i agree with EE being amazing specially when abused with welder and Daretti. And of course ill always make a suggestion of have trinispheres in the SB. its just special to me and slaming that turn one is enough sometimes.
@Uroborain: You should totally come out! It's always a blast. I love our Legacy community in Chicago. Everyone is great!
Last night went pretty poorly for me but I did learn a lot. Having only played Painter for a short time I'm learning my way through all the matchups so I'm not being too hard on myself for my bad night. It seems like I had a ton of poor opening hands. I did lots of mulliganing.
Round 1 was vs UWR Stoneblade & in Game 1 I had to mull to 4 and keep a hand with just a City of Traitors. In game 2 I fell behind and tried like hell to find my Engineered Explosives which would've given me a good shot at stabilizing, but at the end of the game it was 2 cards below what I could reach with my top. #JustPainterThings
Round 2 I faced Lands and it was very close. I had him on the ropes and under the bridge but two late Krosan Grips in G3 took me down.
Round 3 was against BUG Delver. Game 1 I was stuck on one land and he was eventually able to beat me down with a goyf. In retrospect I should've Enlightened Tutored for Great Furnace on Turn 1 or at least Turn 2. Game 2 I had a turn 1 blood moon but fittingly my opponent had a basic swamp in hand. Shortly after I had the combo & three lands on board, a Simian Spirit Guide & REB in hand vs his DRS. At the end of his turn I decided to go for it and he Abrupt Decayed my Painter. Having now thought about it, I should have Blasted his Swamp, in which he would have responded with the Decay, and I could have responded with Grindstone. I guess those are the things you have to play out to learn.
Round 4 Bye
As for my list basically playing Kap'n Cook's List (Much appreciation to the Kap'n.)
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
1 Great Furnace
5 Red Fetches
4 Mountain
2 plateau
4 Imperial Recruiter
4 Painter's Servant
3 Goblin Welder
2 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
1 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Blood Moon
4 Grindstone
3 Lotus Petal
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 engineered explosives
4 Pyroblast
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 enlightened tutor
1 ensnaring bridge
SB: 4 Firebolt
SB: 1 Peacekeeper
SB: 1 Assemble the Legion
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Rest in Peace
SB: 1 trinisphere
SB: 1 thorn of amethyst
SB: 1 Ensnaring Bridge
SB: 1 red elemental blast
SB: 1 Duergar hedge-mage
SB: 1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
SB: 1 Vexing Shusher
It would be 5 mana, 3 for Recruiter + 2 for Defector, the problem is you have to wait a turn. I would only tutor if I already had a Painter out and just really needed some gas, or wanted a blast to protect or something.
This is all pretty situational, but ideally you would be going for the win after drawing the cards, but honestly it doesn't sound good enough to use up a card slot, I was just throwing it out there.
Is anyone still on mono red ?
After having tried both I don't like going to 7 Sol lands and I also really dislike turning off my SB options and E tutors after a Moon
Pox
Imperial Painter
Team America
I feel for you, I preferred mono red for quite a while, though I do think it's insane to run anything less than 7 Sol Lands in it, since it is better with and more reliant on Blood Moon, which itself is better with more fast mana and earlier.
However, the thing I'm finding increasingly is that in R/W post-board with white cards coming in, you basically only cast Blood Moon if it's essentially game ending, or close to it. Against most decks these days, this means on turn 1 or turn 2 if at all. With E-Tutor, your chances of doing this on T2 are much higher, as are your chances of finding other relevant hate that might be better. I also run 4 Lotus Petals and 1 SSG as my fast mana split, so I'm rarely locked out of at least one chance to play a white card in my deck, though that situation is still not always ideal. However, the vast majority of the time, I try not to Blood Moon myself before casting relevant white cards in my hand or that are important to find quickly in a match up. The times that this can be clunky are often offset by the speed and selection that it usually provides if you think about your sequencing carefully. Even against decks that are super cold to Blood Moon, if you use your Tutors exclusively to find it, I think it makes you more powerful when it gets countered or discarded and increased your chances of resolving it.
One match up I notice a lot where this is problem occurs frequently is against ANT or TES, where your most powerful cards are Canonist and Thorn of Amethyst, and finding these with E-Tutor is what makes many hands possible to keep. On the other hand, Blood Moon is very good at at least slowing down these decks, with the obvious caveat being that you probably have to rely on Phyrexian Revoker and a fast clock or combo in order to survive without Canonist or tutoring for Thorn as soon as they have a Lotus Petal and a couple of draw steps. This can make for some awkward hands, but on the whole, you can keep a lot more 7s, find hate reliably and appropriately, and your mulligans are less dangerous overall, even if on occasion you get blown out by Abrupt Decay when you have a Canonist or a Lotus Petal when you have Moon instead.
Furthermore, your SB can be constructed with greater diversity, which I think is the main draw of the white splash and tutor package. Certainly, I feel like Mono Red often plays a much stronger game against our good match ups, but I also think it's pretty cold relative to the white splash when it comes to difficult match ups. People sometimes talk about running a single Plains and Arid Mesas, and while I don't really love the idea of having an opening hand with all red spells, sol lands, and a Plains, I imagine that if you'd like to run less than 7 Sol Lands and replace those with a Plains and Plateaus or Mountains, that this wouldn't be a very common issue.
So yeah, it definitely sucks to lock yourself out, but I think the occasions that that happens are generally worth the boons of better hard match ups and a more effective sideboard. As a permanent based combo/control deck, having the right cards to cast is often a lot better than the card disadvantage and potential lock outs are bad.
Not to harp on Containment Priest again, but I will also say that in my personal opinion, this card alone is incentive to play white, as it very effectively deals with virtually every combo deck besides storm that we can have difficulties with.
One of the stores in my area does Legacy FNM's and for the next few weeks they're doing 4-0 get a certain dual land. Tonight was their first night for a Volcanic Island and went 4-0 with this list (their were 3 total 4-0's out of 50, so 2 people got non-blue duals).
Land (20)
4x Ancient Tomb
1x Arid Mesa
2x Bloodstained Mire
3x City of Traitors
1x Great Furnace
4x Mountain
2x Plateau
1x Scalding Tarn
2x Wooded Foothills
Enchantment (4)
4x Blood Moon
Artifact (13)
1x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Grindstone
4x Lotus Petal
4x Sensei's Divining Top
Creature (13)
3x Goblin Welder
4x Imperial Recruiter
4x Painter's Servant
2x Simian Spirit Guide
Instant (10)
2x Enlightened Tutor
4x Pyroblast
4x Red Elemental Blast
Sideboard
1x Containment Priest
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Pithing Needle
4x Pyrokinesis
2x Sphere of Law
1x Surgical Extraction
1x Thorn of Amethyst
2x Tormod's Crypt
R1 vs URg Delver 2/0
R2 vs URb Delver 2/1
R3 vs Miracles 2/0
R3 vs Esper Deathblade 2/0
Didn't win a single dice roll any game, nor did I win the dice roll for the Volcanic and ended up getting a Scrubland, at least it was in really nice condition.
Last edited by Moomba; 01-10-2015 at 02:49 AM.
I've been rocking mono red for the past few months and don't plan on switching anything anytime soon. Just won a trial with it on New Year's Day. Posted my list on this page. I'll probably be playing a similar list at the Open at the end of the month.
Moomba nice job! congrats and hey a dual is still a dual.
As for mono red its still fine and definitely has its perks. But lately with the meta where it is having the white splash for things like containment priest, e tutor, RIP, some leylines, Sphere of Law, etc... It is just giving another angle that allows us to fight against the decks that are annoying imo.
This deck looks very interesting to play! If it weren't for Imperial Recruiter's insane price tag I'd like to put it together and try it out!
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