[Deck] Deadguy Ale (B/w Confidant)

[sdematt]

I agree, that's likely what you miss the most. Not having an out to CB is a little more rough.

No Needle is due to no room. If you can squeeze it in, let me know :)

Slaughter Games has to hit Entreat here. We have no other way of stopping that card, but we can jockey Jace with equipment, Souls, CJ, etc.

Really tired so I don't have an in/out guide right now, but just something to think about :)

-Matt

[PCottell]

"Abzan Deathblade" Top 4 @ SCG Portland

Hey guys, Pete Cottell here. I had the list that got fourth place in the IQ, and I thought I would jump in here to share a few thoughts about the deck and open up a discussion about the card selection.

Quick background about myself: been playing since Ice Age. I got back in to Legacy after Avacyn Restored gifted the world with Griselbrand and Craterhoof Behemoth, and have been following the format closely ever since. I got really excited about Maverick when Treasure Cruise was still legal, but found myself siding in Thoughtseize and Abrupt Decay in almost every single matchup, and also getting beaten pretty bad without Knight of the Reliquary doing it's thing due to graveyard hate and the like. I looked for another deck and happened upon a B/W Deadguy list my fried Adam Brown had been playing for a while. He also made top 8 with a slightly different build. I love the play style of the deck- you attack their resources from every angle possible with cheap, high-impact spells and disruptive beaters that add up to lethal pretty fast while your opponent is struggling with card selection, mana, and getting threats/answers to stick. Having such a tight mana curve, it's imperative to get as far ahead with each spell as possible before your opponent has the chance to 2-1 you and get back in the game. I use cards like Hymn to Tourach and Dark Confidant as aggressively as possible, especially Bob, who must be dealt with right away before the game gets out of hand and you're way ahead on cards. Finding a balance between having a strong, threatening board presence and over-extending is the most important skill to learn when piloting Deadguy. I've found that having the ability to put up at least 4 points of damage each turn against decks known to have sweepers is a good place to start.

Here's a link to my list. If SCG hasn't fixed it yet, I was only running two Lingering Souls, not three. I threw in Chrome Mox last minute as the 61st card (yep- #scrublife) when I saw a few D&T players, one with the W/r version that runs Magus of the Moon, sorting their decks during registration.

A quick rundown of the tournament, which you can skip if you'd like:


R1- Grixis Control (2-0). My opponent had shaky nerves and misplayed a few times, most crucially when he Probed me, saw Liliana, Thalia, and a Sword of Fire and Ice, then Therapy'ed me taking Liliana then Thalia. His board was a Young Pyro and maybe one token, a Strix, a Jace at 3 loyalty, and maybe 3 lands. Getting SoFI equipped on any of my creatures would've been lethal next turn, which it was. He told me after the game that he had Null Rod in hand, but didn't realize until it was too late that he didn't have the mana to cast it. Party on. I sided in Bitterblossom, Rest in Peace, E Tutor, Chains, and Choke, and Zealous Persecutions. Only saw Choke at the end of G2 and ZP in the midgame, which did work in keeping a pair of Baleful Strixes from clogging up the board.

R2- Death and Taxes (2-0): This matchup seems 40/60% in their favor game one, especially if they get a Vial online before your discard can do work. I found myself at 7 but got some well-timed removal to clear the skies for some Spirit tokens and a Jitte to get me back in the game. Game 2 I popped a ZP very early to handle two Mother of Runes, which seemed like an overextension on my opponents behalf. A Sculler ripped a Brimaz and I ran him over with a Jitte again. Sided in all the sweepers plus SoLaS, E Tutor, and Pithing Needle, which got a Vial on turn one of game two. I added the SoLaS to my board after a lot of close losses to D&T in my local meta, but I never reached a point where it would've been a bigger splash than Jitte. Pro-black is relevant when they're trying to race with a Batterskull, but the ability to buy back creatures is often negated by a RiP, which they think is one of their best cards vs you. Pro tip: it's not. Side out all the cards that lean heavily on the GY for proactive threats that actually do things.

R3- Shardless BUG (2-1): My first truly grindy match against a talented player who seemed to have his shit together. They have massive card draw, which seems relevant, but having a Spirit maindeck that hit play game one was clutch- he sided out his Visions because he thought more was coming. He was correct- I dropped a Chains in G2 and he made a face like he just smelled a fart. Lingering Souls grinded him out in G3 for the match win. I learned that one of the keys to this matchup happens to be Deathrite Shaman showdowns, which is a tricky game to win without information on your opponents hand. I dropped a Choke in G3 and used my Shaman to counter the mana production of his own, which bought me time to ultimate Liliana and get his board down to just a Bayou and an Underground Sea before the ability resolved. Their manabase can be abysmal- time your removal just right and they'll be a turn behind all game, which is a terrible spot when you pressure their hand with Liliana. Dropping Jace doesn't automatically get them back in the game like it does when you have access to Lingering Souls and Bitterblossom (which came in and did work in game 3).

R4- Miracles (2-0): Never in my life have I given Miracles such a thrashing. The cherry on top was in the prior round I was seated next to Adam, who got in to a small situation with this Miracles player over a Jace ultimate. Adam lost and looked none too happy about it, and I absolutely cannot stand Miracles one bit, so this win was huge for me. I basically goldfished against the guy and was perfectly on curve- T1 discard, T2 Thalia, a Wasteland or two, then a Bob to take it home. No excitment or fanfare here. I left the table feeling OK about the matchup, and then...

R5- Joe Lossett with Miracles (0-2): I'm not going to bother talking about the play by play here, because I lost and it was heartbreaking and I agree with most other people's assessment of this road-hardened Grinder of SCG Points. The discussion here is regarding the deck itself, and how it is on the slow, steady track to becoming incredibly oppressive. Bad players spin top and grind down the clock until they (a) win after time runs out at 1-0, or (b) set up the third bracket of every SCG Legacy event's second round: the "I drew vs Miracles in round one" bracket. F-ck all of this nonsense. It has to stop.

Joe's version was more creature-based, which is actually a dubious thing to sideboard against. He brings in Monastery Mentor from the board to kill you out of nowhere with 100 Monk tokens with Prowess and a pair of Tops, which makes taking all the Swords to Plowshares out a less than ideal gameplan. Game one was pretty quick, and a standard matchup- I felt like I was winning until I wasn't, then I got blown out by angel tokens. Game two was much, much longer, ad I almost had him with a Bitterblossom in play as well as a Batterskull and the mana to equip it. My sideboard plan was multi-faceted: Chains to shut off his cantripping, Needle to shut off top, and Gaddock Teeg + Sword of Light and Shadow to keep his win cons from going off. Nothing goes as planned, of course, but I can't imagine SoLaS having been a huge help in this game. What really did work was Bitterblossom. They're likely to bring in Wear//Tear, but the standard rule of not overextending is in effect here so be smart about it and you won't get totally blown out. Then again you will because they just activate top, fetch, and activate top some more until they get what they need. NOT FUN.

R6- BUG Delver (2-1): Game one was absolutely terrible and over in less than four minutes. He was on the play and had the Delver nut draw of Daze, Stifle, Goyf, etc etc and ran me over in a joyless fashion. Games two and three were close- G2 he caught me off guard with a Golgari Charm and wrecked my board, but I got another Lingering Souls going and won with a Jitte in the air. G3 was a fight to the death with Deathrite Shamans. I dropped a Choke with his board looking like Tropical Island and 2 Wastelands plus a DRS. I don't remember exactly how the match ended, but he was frustrated with some misplays on his end with DRS activations- all that land in the GY he was counting on for mana ran dry quickly and he eventually ran out of options. I suggest enduring as many DRS showdowns as possible before sleeving this deck up for a big tournament with a varied field. Deciding when to use it proactively and when to sit back and keep him up to foil your opponents activations are key.

R7- My opponent offered to ID first, which seemed odd because the math was not in his favor. I got in and he didn't, but it didn't seem like he cared so it's all the same in the end.

Top 8, R1: Storm (2-1)

G1 was shitty on both sides of the table. He got the play and went Probe- Therapy and saw a Bob, a Thalia, and 5 land. He took Thalia. I rip Thoughtseize off the top on my first turn, cast it and see hot garbage. I can't even remember what I took, but it was only one of two spells, the rest being land. I dropped Bob and played too much pressure for him to get anywhere.
G2 he goes off on turn 2. Sometimes that happens, because it's Storm.
G3 was pretty disgusting. He ponders on T1, then I inquisition and take a brainstorm- his hand was mostly combo pieces but no land or card selection. Next turn I drop a Chome Mox, Wasteland something, then drop Thalia. Next turn I drop Bob and that's it for him.

Top 8, R2: Miracles (0-2)

More Miracles! Yay! This time it was vs Shawn Yu, a very nice, funny guy I've seen around the region and on this site commenting on Maverick with a high degree of prescience and humor. I did the thing where I played some dudes, felt like I was winning, then lose to Entreat twice. Fun.

####end tournament report###

Notes on card selection:

3 x Thalia: The line that involves T1 discard, T2 Thalia and T3 wasteland + Bob is pretty damn hard for any deck besides Elves and D&T to recover from. Thalia is also a first-striking body in the matchups where her ability is "dead", so I'll be keeping her maindeck for the foreseeable future.

1 x Chrome Mox: Brought in mostly as a hedge against decks that lean on early land disruption to overcome your discard and hatebears. T1 Thalia vs Storm is absolutely back-breaking. I always take it out vs decks where card advantage is paramount, like Miracles or the Shardless deck I faced in R3.

2 Tidehollow Sculler: I grossly underestimated this guy before picking this deck up. Holy moly, he's good. I would love to run a third, perhaps at the expense of the 4th StP, but I'm not entirely sure if that tilts me too far in the wrong direction against fair creature decks with removal like Delver or B/G/x decks with Decay and whatnot. I always try not to jam him out until I have more information about the opponents hand. If they don't have immediate access to instant-speed removal, go for it.

2 Lingering Souls: If Miracles gets even more omnipresent than it is, I would up to this three in a heartbeat. Joe Lossett made some weird, uncomfortable noises every time I cast this card vs him. Between games he mentioned how he had a Clique in his hand for most of G1 and immediately gave up on it when he saw I was on a deck with Lingering Souls, rather than a Maverick build he was expecting. This card is kind of the essence of what makes this deck competitive: undercosted, highly-disruptive and able to change gears to an aggressive plan on a dime. Look at me go on about this, we all know how good this card is.

1 Council's Judgement: Not too sure about this one. Every time I had it, I wished it was a Vindicate which could've hit a basic Island and slammed the door shut much more quickly, but the specter of Progenitus and True-Name Nemesis still looms large in the metagame. I'd like to solicit everyone's opinion on this.

2 Hymn to Tourach: Adam only ran one, which he said he only casts when he knows it will for sure win him the game. I see his logic, but went for a more aggressive build that's more tuned to get busy winning the attrition war by turn 3. 2 was perfect all day. I took one out vs the various deck with Wasteland when I wasn't on the play, because committing to BB that early can bite you in the ass when you're wanting a Bayou or Savannah in play to activate DRS profitably to stay alive or cast Abrupt Decay to take out a Goyf or a Delver.

1 Sword of Fire and Ice: I preferred the third equipment over the third Lingering Souls because I expected Jace to having a field day all day long. I wasn't wrong, and it paid off. Even a Birds of Paradise looks scary holding this sword.

1 Cabal Therapy: I ran this over a second Inquisition, and it was awesome. I used to play a ton of Nic Fit and use Caleb Durward's article on how to use this card properly as my own personal gospel. The flashback is also great and catches people off guard. Rather than use it to gut their hand immediately like in a Nic Fit build, I leave it in the GY as long as I can until flashing it back can seal the deal by ripping the right removal spell they're not yet in a position to cast profitably. Naming Bolt/StP/AD and sac'ing a Stoneforge Mystic for the cost before spending the mana to equip a Sword or Jitte is almost always a strong play. Pairs well with Liliana as well.

Sideboard selection:

Lots of one-ofs that don't need much explanation. As I said before, Bitterblossom is great against a lot of decks, which is just about any that doesn't have the reach to kill you through a stalled board. It's great against Miracles, although I did lose a very close game when it was in play for several turns because winning out of nowhere is just the nature of their deck. I would like to devote at least one, if not two more SB slots to that matchup. Sword of Light and Shadow didn't do much for me all day- it was never option #1 vs the decks I thought it would be relevant against, so I'm considering cutting it for an Engineered Explosives to deal with angel tokens, goblin tokens, and to put pressure on storm and their tendency to run out all their Lion's Eye Diamonds right away. Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure what the right move is. I'd like another planeswalker for token generation. I've thought about Sorin, Solemn Visitor because he gives you 2/2 fliers and beefs your dudes and gets you life, but I'm not sure what to cut. Council's Judgement? In the few games I've played vs elves, it's almost always more effective to keep their critical mass of guys at bay with a well-timed sweeper, get a Jitte online to pick off extraneous dudes, and lock it down with a Liliana ultimate. That's all in theory, though- in practice they can just beat you with a T3 Progenitus and that's that.


So to sum it all up: this is a very competitive deck that has a great gameplan against most of the tier one decks. You have access to the best sideboard cards and are dropping undercosted bombs all day long, which is always a great feeling. Most of the cards in this deck win games on their own. The trick is getting the right combination of them on the board at the right time. Legacy is a game of inches, and being able to tell which part of your opponents gameplan is weak and when to take a pickaxe to it is the key to winning with this deck. Your plays on turns one, two and three will often dictate the outcome of the game, which is my favorite thing about it: play tight and use your information advantage proactively, and you'll win.

Feel free to reply with incites as to how to make this deck more resilient going forward vs a Miracles-heavy meta, which I think is a thing that will not be going away any time soon. Their bad matchups are weird fringe decks like 12 Post which are not a worthwhile representation of any actual meta, so that info is mostly useless in my opinion. The sad reality of it being a "best deck" means more idiots will pick it up, misplay the shit out of it but still get free wins because they have access to Jace and Terminus, and make life miserable for the rest of us. I understand this opinion is borderline soapbox at this point, but until Wizards band Top (they won't, it's too fair) we have to learn how to outsmart and outplay the big guys.

Thanks for reading!

-Pete

[sdematt]

Good job, Pete! I'm glad my tech did work!

-Matt

[Wilkin]

Hey Peter,

-So you didn't like Sword of Light and Shadow at all? Dang, I'm considering adding it to my sideboard. Was also considering Specter's Shroud so Stoneforge wouldn't be as bad in Combo matchups. And I thought about Specter's Shroud over Feast and Famine because it costs less to cast and equip and the untap ability doesn't really do that much for this deck. Too bad it didn't make the Wolf token like Body and Mind. Oh well.
-I kinda like the other Sorin, Sorin Lord of Innistrad. A 2/2 Flyer is nice with Solemn Visitor but his loyalty has to go down to do that whereas Lord of Innistrad's goes up by making a guy. I've only run Lord of Innistrad once in a tournament, it was Thoughtseized away before I could cast it.
-As far as Council's Judgment is concerned, I really like it. There have been many situations where it was needed to kill an Emrakul or Progenitus. But I do still love me a Stone Rain and I still run 2 Vindicate.
-Yeah it sucks that there aren't an "Can't be Countered" cards in Black.white. Even Considered running more humans and then a Cavern of Souls in the board. Hey, another excuse to run more Hero of Bladeholds. lol
-Love the Chrome Mox of course.
-Also found it really interesting how yours and Adam's Builds differ in some cases. Thalia in the main in yours. Thalia in the board in Adam's for instance.
-I totally recommend Engineered Explosives. A versatile sweeper. Yes, sometimes there's collateral damage but it's worth it most of the time.

[maharis]

Nice report Pete. Congrats.

Regarding Miracles: I've always felt counterbalance was the biggest problem, because we can race Entreat by going after their mana base and we have good threat density vs. Terminus, but it seems like you solved that problem with Abrupt Decay. Was that important?

My favorite card against them is Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, because it threatens Jace and finishes the game faster. solemn visitor is nice for evasion, but seems awkward, in order to get a 2/2 you have to pay 4 and minus. I agree that the deck is starting to lean on the format a bit.

Did you have any problems casting your 2 and 3 drops under your own Thalia? That was the only thing I didn't like about your list, but Thalia and Wasteland is just so good against much of the field that I can see why you went there.

[Tokugawa]

What is the minimium creature number, for effective running SoLaS? ...20? But this deck could almost never exceed that count.

[sdematt]

I wouldnt say its like FoW where you need that many. Creatures will die, plain and simple. For me, SoLaS giving pro white and black if your bonus. The gaining of life helps combat racing snd the recursion is just bonus. I am playing Cabal Therapy so I am always getting tons of value.

[Wilkin]

How do you guys find Ethersworn Canonist vs Omnitell? Finding it hard to find cards that are really good vs both Miracles and Omnitell as well. I find Teeg great vs Miracles but not so much vs Omnitell (they do Force of Will him, so they at least consider him some sort of threat). And Thalia is much better in D&T than here because of Ports. I find it doesn't do a whole bunch vs Miracles but decent vs Omnitell.

I did finally live the dream with Surgical Extraction vs Miracles. He had a Terminus in his yard and he tried to Miracle another one. No sir.

Gonna go to SCG Worcester. Wish me luck. In a meta probably full of Miracles and Omnitell I may need it. lol. Top is soooo annoying. I've actually tested as Miracles before, I really don't see why it takes so freaking long to resolve a Top activation.

[Megadeus]

Could always try Revokers to shut down top. It's much weaker now though that it is a complete brick against the number one show and tell deck where it used to be insane.

[Wilkin]

Oh I definitely have Needle effects for Top. But as you said, Omnitell doesn't care one iota about Revoker. When it was Sneak and Show it was awesome as you could name Sneak Attack or Griselbrand.

I have made some changes again to my board and I feel alright vs Miracles post board. Omnishow....not so sure. May have to fit in a Canonist in there somehow.

[Tokugawa]

Battle against Omnitell start at game 2. So many weapons to side in.

Unfortunately, unless Omnitell has crap drawing, DGA just fold in game 1 like other "fair" decks.

Moving Thalia/Teeg/Canonist usually hurt us more in a tournament. Sculler may be an exception, he is "OK" in MD, would penetrate spellpierce/flusterstorm and give some clock against combo.

[sdematt]

Against OmniTell, I've found the red splash to be good because of the mix of REB, Slaughter Games, Thalia, Sculler, etc. Realistically, in BGW, you need to use a bunch of hand disruption and hope you get there. Thalia means if they tap out, they can't get through. They need 1 mana for Wish, 1 for Call, and Emrakul can be played for nothing. So, unless they have two mana open, they're not going off that turn.

This is what I was running in testing:

4 Deathrite shaman
4 Dark Confidant
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Tidehollow Sculler

3 Lightning Bolt
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Terminate

3 Thoughtseize
2 Cabal Therapy
3 Hymn to Tourach
2 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Lingering Souls
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Council's Judgment
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte

3 Scrubland
2 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Plateau
4 Marsh Flats
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Swamp
2 Plains
3 Wasteland

//BOARD

3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Containment Priest
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Slaughter Games
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Wear//Tear
1 Disenchant

-----------------------------

I think you might definitely want a Needle effect, even though we have our own Tops. Containment might not be absolutely necessary, which means you just put in Pithing Needles. Maindeck Judgment might be loose in the meta, so do what you want with that slot. Might just be Sculler #3. I think BGW has its own set of advantages because of Decay, but Bolt is going to give you reach and REB/Games is better against the blue decks currently in the format (Miracles/Omni). Sure Teeg and Choke are great, but Games cannot be beaten, those other cards can.

-Matt

[lordofthepit]

Against OmniTell, I've found the red splash to be good because of the mix of REB, Slaughter Games, Thalia, Sculler, etc. Realistically, in BGW, you need to use a bunch of hand disruption and hope you get there. Thalia means if they tap out, they can't get through. They need 1 mana for Wish, 1 for Call, and Emrakul can be played for nothing. So, unless they have two mana open, they're not going off that turn.

This is what I was running in testing:

4 Deathrite shaman
4 Dark Confidant
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Tidehollow Sculler

3 Lightning Bolt
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Terminate

3 Thoughtseize
2 Cabal Therapy
3 Hymn to Tourach
2 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Lingering Souls
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Council's Judgment
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte

3 Scrubland
2 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Plateau
4 Marsh Flats
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Swamp
2 Plains
3 Wasteland

//BOARD

3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Containment Priest
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Slaughter Games
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Wear//Tear
1 Disenchant

-----------------------------

I think you might definitely want a Needle effect, even though we have our own Tops. Containment might not be absolutely necessary, which means you just put in Pithing Needles. Maindeck Judgment might be loose in the meta, so do what you want with that slot. Might just be Sculler #3. I think BGW has its own set of advantages because of Decay, but Bolt is going to give you reach and REB/Games is better against the blue decks currently in the format (Miracles/Omni). Sure Teeg and Choke are great, but Games cannot be beaten, those other cards can.

-Matt

This four-color monstrosity brought to you by the gentleman who publicly derides players for terrible manabases. I'm pretty sure you just wanted to brew something that would allow you to play with your pimped out duals.

[Tokugawa]

Cannot agree that Slaughter Games is a "real" card in legacy.

Mardu received no favor in almost every constructed format(although Zurgo and Kaalia may disagree)...you need very strong reason to pursuade people playing it.

[sdematt]

You only play Bayou to activate Deathrite once in a while. You really want it against Reanimator ;)

-Matt

[ahg113]

@sdematt- Since you're rocking Team Italia with the multiple Lingering Souls and Scullers, a singleton Tymaret, the Murder King might do work. He's better than given credit for; and since that's no credit, he's a lil bit better than poop on a stick. I'd cut a SFM, always played that card 1:1 with equipment in deck for the starting 60.

But yeah, this deck is dead in the water usually. Every once in a while match-ups are good, and luck draws get there, but ... then reality sets in. Too many tournaments, too much sad sack history.

[sdematt]

Yeah, played against Omni last night and a nice guy played 10 games with me, 6 postboard for fun. Lost all but one, which was even preboard. It was miserable. Dig Through Time - good card.

-Matt

[Wilkin]

Played at the SCG Open at Worcester. Finished 46th with a 10-5 record. On the day 2 meta breakdown I was the only Deadguy Ale player and they actually call it by that name.......for now.

May write up a report later as I just got home. Hero of Bladehold killed 5 people. Lol. The most ever in a tournament for me. And of course, got lots of puzzled looks by Shriekmaw.

[Mr. Safety]

I've always played junk but with a deadguy approach, mostly maindeck scullers and a vindicate for added land disruption and catchall vs pulse. I can honestly say that adding sylvan library would be worth testing. I of course play goyfs but I feel library more than any other card is worth more green. When your life total is fairly negligable against combo decks it gets really good to draw extra cards, especially things like sculler and discard. Top and fetches will always get you the best card in your top 3, but it will only ever give you one card.

[Wilkin]

Mr. Safety, seems every time you post on here you are basically saying we should just play Junk instead.

Anywho, here's my tournament report. 46th at Worcester. 10-5 record. 500+ people. Placed in the money but I was kinda hoping for a better result. Well, I at least keep to my record of always cashing at SCG events...

Maindeck Decklist is exactly the same as SCG Syracuse. Sideboard a bit different. 2 Surgicals instead of one. Cut the singleton Leyline for a RIP. Added a second Gaddock Teeg.


Round 1. UR Delver. Matt. Lost 2-0
My hands are mediocre, his were not. I'm burned out and the aggressiveness of Swiftspear and Young Pyro are too much. And didn't see my board wipes or even much of my removal for that matter.

Round 2. Aggro Loam. Oscar Chapelle. Win 2-1.
I think he may be a Sourcer. Someone on Aggro Loam thread said he was there and lost to a DeadGuy deck. Game 1, Hero of Bladehold takes care of things for an exact kill, even with a Knight of the Reliquary (summoning sick) and a Maze of Ith out. Game 2. He has an active Knight on an empty board with me having non-basics out. Lol, you do the math on my chances on that one. Can't remember much from game 3 but I think I had turn 1 Bob out. I was lucky to not see Punishing Fire much. I hate that card.

Round 3. Grixis Control Pyro. Matthew Smith. Won 2-0
I'm able to win the attrition war game 1. Game 2, I toxic deluge for 5, killing Gurmag Angler, Young Pyro and friends. Hero of Bladehold then comes in a bit later to clean things up.

Round 4. Death and Taxes. Alex Simmonds. Win 2-1
Game 1, my hand is a bit meh mulling to 5 doesn't help obviously and he has early Mom, stoneforge and Thalia. I scoop pretty early.
Games 2 and 3, I have an early Bob in both games and I'm able to get enough removal to kill everything.

Round 5. Miracles. Mason Sokol. Win 2-0
He's a bit mana light even with a Top trying to dig. Vindicate and Wasteland makes things worse for him.
Game 2. He has Monastery Mentor and Top out. Luckily I have a Revoker naming Top but he still cantrips a bunch. At one point he attacks with 3 tokens and the mentor (no spells cast) into me. I feel I have no choice but to block the Mentor, which I felt he shouldn't have attacked with. I'm able to stabilize killing the tokens and get an active Liliana out. When she's at ulitmate, I have a Teeg out and 2 tokens. He has 4 Islands, 1 Plains, 1 Counterbalance and a Top. I put Plains, top and Counterbalance in one pile and the Islands in the other. He scoops.

Round 6. Stoneblade UW I think? Don McFarlane. Lost 2-1
I punted Game 2. He has a True Name as a blocker and for some odd reason I don't swing with Hero of Bladehold. Why, I don't know. I'm on tilt so Game 3 doesn't go so well either.

Round 7. Lands. Jacob Haversat. Won 2-0.
Game 1, he's able to Manabond. But no Loam, No Punishing Fire and only 1 of either Dark Depths or Stage. I'm able to cast Hero of Bladehold and Maze of Ith only slows down the onslaught.
Game 2. He makes a Marit Lage token. I swords it. He makes another soon after. But I chump with Lingering Souls token. And then Liliana Sacrifice it on my turn.

Round 8. Reanimator. Oliver Higgins. Win 2-1.
Game 1. He has to mull to 5. I thoughtseize his hand and realize 2 things....the first is that he's Reanimator. The second is my Hymn to Tourach in my hand is going to stay there. I'm able to discard enough cards to stop him from doing anything and Batterskull does the rest.
Game 2. Griselbrand shows up from Exhume. Game ova.
Game 3. He casts Stronghold Gambit. it resolves, Shriekmaw from my hand stops Griselbrand from coming into play and stops my Stoneforge Mystic from living. Shriekmaw and Batterskull token finish him off.

Round 9. UR Delver. Zen. Win 2-1.
Game 1. Taylor Swiftspear and Delver do a dance number on my hand.
Game 2. Hero of Bladehold returns the favor.
Game 3. I'm able to kill his threats. He Digs through time....and shows me 2 of the cards....Price of Progress. Lol, usually an awesome card but he has 4 non-basics out and I have only 1. And I'm at 24 life, he's at 2.

Round 10. MUD. Syed Ahmed. Win 2-1.
Game 1. I mull to 5 on the draw. Turn 1, Chalice on 1. Turn 2. Metal Worker. Turn 3, Puke hand out. There is no Turn 4.
Game 2. Removal.deck gets there.
Game 3. My hand isn't great. Bob, Mystic, fetch, Wasteland, Souls. Although for a 5 card hand,could be much much worse. He goes Cloudpost and then next turn cloudpost into Grim Monolith. Holy mana, Batman. He has Chalice at 1. Trinisphere. Lodestone Golem. Revoker on Jitte. Revoker on Liliana. Oh and did I forget to mention Wurmcoil Engine? lol. So Stoneforge Mystic gets me a Batterskull. A later draw a SOFI. Lingering Souls does a bunch of Chump blocking (I also draw another Lingering Souls later). My Batterskull token trades for a Golem only to see another. Things look grim. Eventually I Council's Judgment away the Wurmcoil Engine, Equip SOFI to a Souls token to kill the Revoker naming Liliana and I'm able to Stabilize. I was as low as 9 life and him at 49. Luckily he draws bricks for a few turns (seemed like an eternity to me) and I draw Hero of Bladehold. I equip skull to her and 49 life goes away pretty fast.

Round 11. UR Delver. Stephen Rice. Lose 2-0
Too fast for me to handle. I think his list had Goblin Guides in it.

Round 12. Canadian Threshold. Andrew Boswell. Win 2-1
Stoneforge Mystic MVP in this match winning games 1 and 3. Lol, in one game I have Liliana on an empty board with us both very light in cards in hand. But I don't activate for a couple of turns. He comments to me "Must be a really nice card in your hand." The card? Shriekmaw. lol, if he only knew. I didn't uptick Liliana since a Single bolt can put her down so that if he topdecks a dude I'm in trouble if I don't topdeck well.

Round 13. Jeskai Blade. Kevin Jones. Lose 2-0
Nahiri shows up returning a Batterskull to play. Nice. Good to see obscure cards do well. He has too much 1 mana removal plus Snapcaster. Hero tries to save me but gets Plowed.
After game 1, he comments to me that a few of his friends lost to a Deadguy player with Hero of Bladehold and Shriekmaw. Kevin assumes that player is me. Pretty safe assumption.

Round 14. RW Painter. Ian Carle. Win 2-0
I thoughtseize and see 5 lands including a City of Traitors, Blood moon and a blast. I take the moon. Batterskull does the rest.
Game 2. Too much removal for him to handle. I vindicate his Ensnaring Bridge and swing with the team.

Round 15. Grixis Pyro. Nicholas Spagnolo. Lose 2-0
I thoughtseize him and see Probe, Therapy, Snapcaster, Ponder, Strix and 2 lands. I take the probe. He blindnames Dark Confidant. I have 2 in hand. I'm still able to pressure with Lingering Souls but he's able to kill me before I get him with Bolt. Game 2, he has too much pressure with Pyromancer for me to handle. Also I'm mana screwed a bit.


I was the only Deadguy player to make day 2. No idea but quite possible I'm the only Deadguy player in the room.
-Hero of Bladehold kill count: 5. Most ever for me. Should have been 6 if not for my brain shutting off.
-My opponents were all cool. Some I think are posters on the Source.
-Sideboard MVP. Engineered Explosives. I like removal. My one of Rest in Peace showed up quite a bit in games I boarded it in.
-Faced no Omnitell decks at all. I've tested a bit against it, and I hate playing against it. So I didn't bother to side in specific hate cards for it.
-Also faced no Elves decks and only 1 Miracles player.
-Missed having Disfigure in the board. Could have used it against Delver decks.