[Deck] U/G Infect

[RhoxWarMonk]

Have you considered corrupter in the main to free up a spot? it comes in handy against maindeck jittes and can fight through some of the random hate people have mentors and peezy. If you are running green suns zenith it is a pretty powerful maindeck option. The other thing you can do is put savannah in your main deck and only run three trops. You can always brainstorm away the savannah to not give up your game plan and only fetch trops game one. I've been running one pithing needle but I am considering cutting it.

I have considered corrupter main, though I don't run GSZ, so I'm not sure if it's really all that worth it without being able to tutor for it when needed.

I also have played with Savannah in my MD as well (I've tried it in place of a Trop, a Forest and as the 20th land) but I may go back to it in place of a Tropical. It just really sucks keeping a 2 land hand, 1 inkmoth and 1 Savannah and not being able to cast blue (sadly, it's happened... but I have "all the luck" like that LOL) :p Basically, forces you to mulligan, even with a good hand.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'm going to tinker with my deck a little and see if I can find some room :)

[poxy14]

2nd on a mini legacy last weekend with some very fast games on all won matches! just wasnt fortunate on the last round.. i’ll be adjusting the sb list if i’ll see more of these eldrazi pilots come sunday..

2-1 reanimator - loses game1 turn1 via petal entomb, reanimate.. he plays first i scooped immediately haha, had a turn 2 kill and had numerous permissions when he went to SHOW turn 3, i already had a pithing for gbrand and a live relic in play.

2-0 adnaus - very easy wins, im loving the 2nd ponder over the maindecked sylvan as it gives me another blue card and can win the game right there and then!

2-0 lands - my opponent thought i was on RUGdelver, he kept a land heavy hand without his pfires... he was punished... game2 he pfired my glistener, i invigorated.. i had 3 on hand! and when i pondered i saw 1 of my pendelhavens to assemble 10 toxins : )

0-2 eldrazi stompy - the guy had ghost quarters, wastelands and it gave me trouble... several spheres too went in and i wasnt able to croprot or vine my inkmoths... game2 wherein i had the kill combo but lack permission, thoughtknot seer took my lone invi, and it made me slower... then he drew glacial chasm : (

i’ll be replacing my 2nd pendelhaven with a wasteland, so far i feel secured with 2 pithings, 2 grips and a primordium.. 2nd ponder is awesome over the sylvan though i still would want to find space for this enchantment main. i’ll add back reality ripple for more hate packed against us and that shitty glacial chasm. i’ll post report soon.

[Jesture]

I have considered corrupter main, though I don't run GSZ, so I'm not sure if it's really all that worth it without being able to tutor for it when needed.

I also have played with Savannah in my MD as well (I've tried it in place of a Trop, a Forest and as the 20th land) but I may go back to it in place of a Tropical. It just really sucks keeping a 2 land hand, 1 inkmoth and 1 Savannah and not being able to cast blue (sadly, it's happened... but I have "all the luck" like that LOL) :p Basically, forces you to mulligan, even with a good hand.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'm going to tinker with my deck a little and see if I can find some room :)

If you're going to play Corrupter, I'd recommend finding room for a GSZ maindeck as well. It's generally a bad idea if you're playing the Arbor alongside white splash (2 lands you don't want in the opening hand) but without the Arbor you should be able to make it work.

Related note, Sylvan Safekeeper becomes significantly more consistent with GSZ in the deck. Singletons can be hard to find, and having a GSZ in the list really helps with accessing your miniature toolbox.

On the topic of Needle, I've tried everything from 1x needle to 2x Needle 1x Null Rod. Still undecided on what I like best, but I wouldn't go under 2 activated ability hosers in the sideboard. Same goes for Naturalize effects, some split of 2-3 disenchant effects is mandatory for an open meta.

[poxy14]

On the topic of Needle, I've tried everything from 1x needle to 2x Needle 1x Null Rod. Still undecided on what I like best, but I wouldn't go under 2 activated ability hosers in the sideboard. Same goes for Naturalize effects, some split of 2-3 disenchant effects is mandatory for an open meta.

i'll be trying the 1 needle 1 null rod split this sunday.. null rod is boss vs affinity, leds, petals, dnt and i might be seeing those decks again.. my anti artifact hate will remain at 2 kgrips 1 primordium... i really wanna go fast, and im still pondering whether i shld use 2 bimmense or a split bimmense/3rd berserk...

[shocked439]

i'll be trying the 1 needle 1 null rod split this sunday.. null rod is boss vs affinity, leds, petals, dnt and i might be seeing those decks again.. my anti artifact hate will remain at 2 kgrips 1 primordium... i really wanna go fast, and im still pondering whether i shld use 2 bimmense or a split bimmense/3rd berserk...

2 become immense/3 berserk is serious aggression. I would think the 3rd berserk is the better option as it's a lot easier to cast berserk on turns 2 & 3 than it is a become immense.

[poxy14]

2 become immense/3 berserk is serious aggression. I would think the 3rd berserk is the better option as it's a lot easier to cast berserk on turns 2 & 3 than it is a become immense.

thanks, i'll try to test the 3rd berserk over the 2nd bimmense later, then i'll decide what to use on sunday. thanks for the feedback man!

[Jesture]

I don't think running extra pump spells is the best way to kill faster. While it does provide extra combo pieces to work with, the limiting factor of fast kills tends to be opponents interacting with you, not assembling the cards you need to go off. Additionally, what matchups are you trying to improve by adding additional pump spells? Vines and Invigorate do double duty as protection/pump spells, but Berserk does nothing to protect our creatures. I can't imagine you'd want a non defensive pump spell against Delver decks or Miracles, maybe against storm to up your threat density but I'd probably just run more main deck counter magic if storm was my biggest concern.

If you're looking to end games sooner, try playing more copies of Daze/FoW. That said, I'm personally not a fan of upping the counter spell beyond what's stock, as both of our free counters come with notable drawbacks. In a broader sense, you're likely much better off just playing a slower and more careful game than you are trying to turn this deck into a worse version of belcher (Read: no turn 1 kill potential) that also folds to creature removal.

[poxy14]

@jesture: good point, i tested 3 berserks last night with a friend (ur) and lend my rug to him too for some more game and indeed the 3rd berserk is not much of a help, even when i have 2 copies at hand, still it was short sometimes, so i'll bring back the 2nd bimmense...if i see lots of mud/miracle pilots i'll cut it for the 4th fow or 3rd pierce...it depends, but for now im decided not to sleeve the 3rd berserk (it was basically intended vs combo decks, elves and some midrangey decks.) thanks for the feedback man.

[qomori]

Interesting decklist that 5-0'd an MTGO league (link)

Running a single copy of Jace TMS in the main and 2 Preordains with no Ponder.

[Jesture]

Interesting decklist that 5-0'd an MTGO league (link)

Running a single copy of Jace TMS in the main and 2 Preordains with no Ponder.

Saw this, I'm not convinced I want to be running a JTMS maindeck. The Preordains are interesting though, anyone have any experience playing them vs. Ponder? I know Rynkiewicz did a one/one split of Ponder Preordain when he top 16'd an SCG open, but haven't seen much of it since. Obvious downside is looking at one less card, but is that offset by not needing a fetch? I feel as though we have enough fetches to take advantage of the extra look off of Ponder.

[poxy14]

finalist on a +20man legacy tourney, got paired with a teammate in the finals and as it was late already, we decided to split the prize. real glad with the last minute tweaks, as my meta show lots of mud variants, miracles and rogue decks. as i was undecided what to bring vs these matchups, i took JESTURE's notes and brought in the 3rd pierce and cut the 2nd bimmense, thanks a lot man! it helped a lot! my sideboard was mainly adjusted to what the team scouted.

MVP = REALITY RIPPLE! won me the crucial game3 1st match, and the FINALS clinching game. it was huge!

here's my short report, coz im too sleepy : )

1-0 (2-1 vs eva green)
thought he was on bugdelver, he raped my hand with a very good opening of berserk invi via inqui and thoughtseize, i scooped when he had an lotv...i got game 2 fast, tempo'ed him when he wasted me via croprots... game 3 wherein he landed a vampire nighthawk...i got only inkmoth with the kill combo, eot i brainstormed and got REALITY RIPPLE, i rippled his flyer eot and went for the combo, he dismembered the inkmoth as his only card, but i still got vines!

2-0 (2-0 vs MUD)
as expected! but im confident with this matchup... my opponent was so unlucky he mulled to 4 and i capitalized easily via horde of creatures... game 2 i needled his 2 wastelands and inkmoths got in there easily

2-1 (0-2 vs pox)
this was brutal, any of my permissions didnt show up especially on game 2 where in i had the kill combo but no permission... he resolved a smallpox and wasnt able to climb back..

2-1-1 (draw vs miracles)
i scooped early midway when he assembled the lock, got a very difficult game2 and short of life via numerous punches of venser... i needled karakas and when he attacked i berserked it... midway thru he casted RUINATION and i was brutal i have no lands in play... i was lucky still to find a fetch to ponder and grab an inkmoth next turn... he ran out of removals already, showing 4 stps/3terminus in his gy... and 2 invis sealed the draw.. we knew we're running out of time for another game...

3-1-1 (lands)
theyve got slower removals, and i was able to counter key crop rots as my opponent is trying to grab a maze ith. it was quick both games.

6th seed, TOP 8

2-0 vs reanimator
opponent was otp, but couldnt find lands, he mulled to 4 and upon missing his 2nd land drop, i decided to croprot for wasteland to destroy his usea, and i began unloading poison the next turns... game2 wherein i had a solid hand of counterspells and a relic, when he went reanimating gbrand, he forced pitching show and that costed him several turns still to assemble a show combo... he knows i had complete control of the yard.

2-0 vs DNT
dazed an SFM and quickly i got back with numerous nobles, he landed a thalia and i took several hits. i was land heavy and when i wasted his karakas...he only have 1 land left which is insufficient for an STP attempt over my berserked blighted...
game 2 wherein he resolved an sfm getting ofcourse jitte, i was able to waste his port thus leaving me room still if he activated it and attach the equipment... when he tried equipping it on a freshly drawn plains.... i RIPPLED sfm, and swing lethal with my lone blighted vis numerous invis! if jitte connected, it was a different story already.

played 19 lands (3trop/1savannah/1wasteland/1pendelhaven...)
sides: 2 needles, 1 nullrod, 2 krosan grips, 1 seal primordium, 2 stps, 1 relic progen, 1 surgical, 1 fow, 1 fluster, 1 graf, 1 sylvan lib, 1 REALITY RIPPLE!

very happy with how it performed today, still it was a beast and presents immediate bluffs to opponents as early as the opening hands. compared to piloting a different deck...here there's no turning back! every opponent has only 10 life and that's it! It kept worry free vs drs, wurmcoils and batterskulls. GO INFECT!

[Sparkii]

Nice job! Reality ripple looks pretty sweet, but is it better than a universal bounce spell like Disperse?

I might have to try cutting the second BI for a third spell pierce, but I think my deck is already pretty high on the counters in the MD. I like the second one so I can see it more often.

[poxy14]

Nice job! Reality ripple looks pretty sweet, but is it better than a universal bounce spell like Disper.

thanks man! well, reality ripple is a tempo card. u can hide our lands or crits when they try to destroy it on their turn (the best way to attack our infector from an opponent's view) and if they do... ripple gets em, as it comes or phases in back on our turn live already.. i also like hiding impt infectors from mass kill and go for lethal nxt turn..this time, i was able to hide an impt blocker and an attacker holding a jitte. well, i just considered ripple last minute coz ive seen mud with glacial chasm.. and i dont carry with me the 2nd wasteland.. it's a very surprising card, and it did wonders yesterday!

[qomori]

First off, nice one Poxy!

I was in Seattle yesterday for the Card Kingdom/Mox Boarding House Monthly $1k. There were 74-players pre-registered, but also 4-no shows, so I believe we fired with 70 people. I ended up 19th, but I played out my final round even though I was technically out after round 6, since my car-mates were both live (and ended up in the top-8), so I had to wait around anyhow.

Played the white splash, maindecking Sylvan and Charm, 2 Pierce, 1 Ponder, 2 Probes, 1 Crop Rot, 3 Trop/1 Savannah. Board was FoW, RiP, RiP, Swords, Swords, Needle, Needle, Vines, Flusterstorm, Seal, Krosan, Krosan, Absolute Law, Grafdigger's Cage, and Teferi's Response. I usually board Stifle, but swapped it out for Response, expecting lots of Wasteland. Funnily, after reading Poxy's report, I can think of a couple, "I just need to buy a turn" scenarios when I was facing down lethal where Reality Ripple would have saved me!

1-0 (2-1 vs Shardless)
Kept a slowish hand game 1 and eventually got beat down by random creatures. Game 2, I chip away for 2-3 poison at a time before finishing him off after peeling a Krosan Grip to clear Strix out of Inkmoth's way. Game 3, he prevents me from comboing off early with disruption. I stick an Agent and get to double invigorate to get him to 9 poison, before finishing him off next turn holding an additional threat in hand. He was playing an interesting build that splashed red for Imperial Recruiter.

2-0 (2-0 vs Enchantress)
He gets a couple hits in on me, but I combo off before he can get anything going in game 1. Game 2, he sticks a few more threats and bounces my Agent a few times, but I counter his card draw enablers and Hierarchs let me deal 2-3 at a time to get there.

2-1 (1-2 vs Aggro/4-color Loam)
Game 1, I can't really get going and he gets me with a giant Knight over a few turns. Game 2, I outrace him with an Agent/Hierarch with a pump to finish it after a few turns of attacking. Game 3, I mull to 5, he rips my remaining hand apart on the play, and then lands Lili to keep me hellbent. Eventually, he finds a Knight and that's the match.

3-1 (2-0 vs Belcher)
Haven't played Belcher in ages and he had already gone mox, mox, before he dropped Tinder Wall and I realized what he was on. I had FoW/Daze when he tried to drop Belcher a couple turns later and then found Invg for the Berserk and my Elf on board to get him game 1. Game 2 he has a way slower start and I'm holding permission when I get in there for 10 poison.

3-2 (1-2 vs Tin Fins)
I keep a slower hand game 1 and he reanimates a Griselbrand on turn 4 or so that I can't answer. Game 2, I mull to 6 and he goes to 5. I've got a counter for the only reanimation spell he tries to fire off and hit him with one pump and then chip away the next few turns to get him. Game 3, he mulls to 6. I keep a hand with a 2 threats, a pump, and RiP. He opens with swamp, petal, petal, and I know I'm in trouble. I fetch go and hope he doesn't have it, but he entombs EOT, then reanimates Griselbrand.

3-3 (1-2 vs Reanimator)
I take game 1 after comboing off relatively early when he can't get a threat into his yard. Game 2's the reverse, as he's able to get going fast and beats down. Game 3 goes long as he's able to deal with my early threat and I can't find much action. He eventually reanimates a Griselbrand, but I stay alive by drawing running Swords for Griselbrand and then the Elesh Norn (that he finds off of his GB draws in response to Swords) that kills my Hierarch. He finds another Griselbrand and I'm out of removal/pondering why I really still need to get that Karakas, which eliminates me from top-8 running.

4-3 (2-1 vs Elves)
I combo off game 1 on my second turn, after she takes two slow turns. Game 2, she finds early action and outraces me to land Hoof for exactsies. Game 3, I land Agent on turn 2 and she has no Abrupt Decay mana on turn 3 and I invigorate, BI for the win.

Overall, a little disappointed with my finish, but the Reanimator/Tin Fins matches were close and I think I would've got there if I found any of my hate cards. Pretty diverse meta. Lots of Delver and Miracles as usual, but also quite a few Loam players and a half dozen or so different Eldrazi builds, with lots of diversity beyond that. They're aiming for one a month, so if you're close enough to Seattle to make it out, I would definitely recommend it.

[poxy14]

Thanks qomori! Yours was good early run, but folded midway vs some very tight reanimator matches. This you have to have the early combo pieces or a keep with brutal permissions. We have almost the same list main, but from several tourneys back i decided to bench sylvan for the 2nd ponder as it was faster getting our combo piece or counters we needed (and sideboards too), provides us another blue card vs combo matches.

I never was a fan of RIP though ive experimented with them before as it was too slow vs reanimators. I ran these GYHate package yesterday: 1 surgical (reacts fast), 1 graf (can help us vs elves) and relic progenitus (hits alot of decks and can provide a crucial draw if we needed it).

I also dont find piracy with a lot of use for my playstyle, id rather have an extra pump or permission over it, well successful lists have em too. to each his own: )

the shardless list u faced with recruiters on it, was an ALUREN variant... he might sided in the combo piece.

[ns407]

My local game store decided to run an event for a volcanic island to try and revive their legacy scene. I knew it was coming a few weeks in advance so I decided to get the stuff I needed to convert Modern Infect. Going in I had like maybe 5 games of Legacy ever under my belt, but had watched a bit here and there. Figured I'd probably not do great till I got more experience, but wanted to support the scene.

Ran a pretty typical list except a breeding pool in place of the 3rd trop because of usps. This ended up being pretty devastating in my top 8 match. It departed Minnesota and a week and a half later arrived in San Francisco California (I'm in Orlando Florida), so still waiting on that to arrive. I bolded the interesting games.

Match 1 - Miracles - Won 2-0
G1: I got him t2 after t1 glistener elf, then t2 crop rotate into pendlehaven and double invigorate with a spell pierce in hand
G2: Something similar except it happened on t3

Match 2 - Aggro Loam - Lost 2-0
G1: Punted due to inexperience I guess. Was in a pretty good position with inkmoth and invigorate berserk in hand. He was tapped out with a tapped maze on the battlefield he used to untap his knight, no cards in hand and only the untapped knight on the field. I tanked for like a minute thinking about what could possibly go wrong here, somehow couldn't think of anything and decided to go for it. He got a wasteland for the inkmoth. Durp.
G2: mul to 5 with only mana source being inkmoth and a gitaxian probe. Decided between the scry and the probe and t2 draw I might get there, but went 4 turns without seeing a land and scooped.

Match 3 - Omnitell - Win 2-0
Not much happened here, he never really had permission so it was just quick kills

Match 4 - Elves - Win 2-0
Was pretty nervous here because I was very unfamiliar with elves.

G1: Opening hand has double invigorate and inkmoth as the infecter. I plink him for 1 t2, he doesn't do anything relevant on his t2 and I get him dead on t3

G2: This one was more interesting. I believe I had a blighted agent and inkmoth. His t1 was nettle sentinel and t2 was priest of titania. My t2 was the agent. T3 he casts a visionary, then cast green sun's zenith for 2. I have a force in my hand and tank for a bit wondering what he could get for 2 mana that I care about. I decide to let it resolve since I know what I'm supposed to stop is anything towards a craterhoof or maybe a glimpse. So he pulls out a Melira, Sylvok Outcast. Great. He then follows this up with a Summoner's pact which I also let resolve. He gets quirion ranger and I decide to FoW it to stop him from doing anymore stuff this turn and also time walk him a bit on the next turn since he needs to tap everything except a forest to pay for the pact.

My turn comes and I draw a brainstorm. I fire it off and I see a Submerge. I think for a few seconds then ask to look at pact to confirm what he has to pay on his upkeep. At this point his only mana sources are two forests and the priest, so I Submerge the priest for the game win.

Match 5 - Draw into top 8 at 5th seed

Top 8 Match 1 - BUG Delver
G1: Pretty grindy, I got him to 7 infect, but couldn't get there in the end
G2: He misses a land drop and I wasteland him. We have a pretty epic counterspell battle a few turns later over a lethal inkmoth but I manage to get there.

G3: Low point of the tournament for me. I have an agent, forest and trop on the table and am at like 11 life, he has deathrite, dark confidant, and a flipped delver. My hand is berserk, vines, fow and spell pierce and something I can't remember. I draw brainstorm and cast it into invigorate, submerge and something else I can't remember. I take the submerge and the invigorate. Debate going for it this turn but he is fully untapped with 2 cards in hand. I decide to wait until my next turn so I can Berserk with the vines backup. I plink for 1 and pass. He untaps, gets a wasteland from the bob and uses it on my trop. He then try's to hymn me which I force to protect the combo. He casts another delver and is only left with the untapped deathrite for mana.

I feel like what I should have done here was submerge the deathrite at end of turn. Anyways I don't. I untap and am still just on forest, agent. He has 1 card in hand and deathrite for mana. I decide I may as well go for it. I cast the invigorate and ask if it resolves. He looks really flustered and puts his hand on his head thinking for a minute during which time he mutters what sounds like murderous cut and vines. He eventually says it resolves but now I'm totally stumped on what to do. I have berserk, vines and submerge in hand. I end up getting too scared to cast the berserk and just get in for 5 putting him to 6 infect. I think I should have submerged the deathrite maybe to force his hand and see what it was?

Anyways, from there he gets me for normal damage. On my last turn before I'm dead I'm at 4 health with brainstorm, submerge and berserk in hand with still forest and agent in play. I think if I can top deck a fetch or trop I can brainstorm into invigorate or hierarch and maybe pull it off. Instead I top deck breeding pool, lol. I submerge the deathrite hoping he floats mana, instead he pings me for 2. I can't shock the pool so I lose on the next turn.

After the match he tells me he was just bluffing the cut. Felt pretty bad for awhile as I think I really should have won that game. Took packs for consolation prize and pulled an expedition (not a good one, fire-lit), thought-knot and reality smasher which improved my mood a bit. Overall had a great time. Did way better than I expected considering I had very little experience and this was my first time playing in person. Infect is a blast in Legacy.

[poxy14]

@ns407: grats on a great finish knowing that u had little experience with the deck and the matches you will be going through on this format, having a bpool too over the trop certainly will have a big impact on the game.. the deck is fun to play, and very exciting especially when the manuevering the kill con. know the current meta and itll help u alot polishing your game plays and sideboarding skills. hope to see more of ur amazing run with the deck here in the thread.

[Jesture]

My local game store decided to run an event for a volcanic island to try and revive their legacy scene. I knew it was coming a few weeks in advance so I decided to get the stuff I needed to convert Modern Infect. Going in I had like maybe 5 games of Legacy ever under my belt, but had watched a bit here and there. Figured I'd probably not do great till I got more experience, but wanted to support the scene.

Ran a pretty typical list except a breeding pool in place of the 3rd trop because of usps. This ended up being pretty devastating in my top 8 match. It departed Minnesota and a week and a half later arrived in San Francisco California (I'm in Orlando Florida), so still waiting on that to arrive. I bolded the interesting games.

Match 1 - Miracles - Won 2-0
G1: I got him t2 after t1 glistener elf, then t2 crop rotate into pendlehaven and double invigorate with a spell pierce in hand
G2: Something similar except it happened on t3

Match 2 - Aggro Loam - Lost 2-0
G1: Punted due to inexperience I guess. Was in a pretty good position with inkmoth and invigorate berserk in hand. He was tapped out with a tapped maze on the battlefield he used to untap his knight, no cards in hand and only the untapped knight on the field. I tanked for like a minute thinking about what could possibly go wrong here, somehow couldn't think of anything and decided to go for it. He got a wasteland for the inkmoth. Durp.
G2: mul to 5 with only mana source being inkmoth and a gitaxian probe. Decided between the scry and the probe and t2 draw I might get there, but went 4 turns without seeing a land and scooped.

Match 3 - Omnitell - Win 2-0
Not much happened here, he never really had permission so it was just quick kills

Match 4 - Elves - Win 2-0
Was pretty nervous here because I was very unfamiliar with elves.

G1: Opening hand has double invigorate and inkmoth as the infecter. I plink him for 1 t2, he doesn't do anything relevant on his t2 and I get him dead on t3

G2: This one was more interesting. I believe I had a blighted agent and inkmoth. His t1 was nettle sentinel and t2 was priest of titania. My t2 was the agent. T3 he casts a visionary, then cast green sun's zenith for 2. I have a force in my hand and tank for a bit wondering what he could get for 2 mana that I care about. I decide to let it resolve since I know what I'm supposed to stop is anything towards a craterhoof or maybe a glimpse. So he pulls out a Melira, Sylvok Outcast. Great. He then follows this up with a Summoner's pact which I also let resolve. He gets quirion ranger and I decide to FoW it to stop him from doing anymore stuff this turn and also time walk him a bit on the next turn since he needs to tap everything except a forest to pay for the pact.

My turn comes and I draw a brainstorm. I fire it off and I see a Submerge. I think for a few seconds then ask to look at pact to confirm what he has to pay on his upkeep. At this point his only mana sources are two forests and the priest, so I Submerge the priest for the game win.

Match 5 - Draw into top 8 at 5th seed

Top 8 Match 1 - BUG Delver
G1: Pretty grindy, I got him to 7 infect, but couldn't get there in the end
G2: He misses a land drop and I wasteland him. We have a pretty epic counterspell battle a few turns later over a lethal inkmoth but I manage to get there.

G3: Low point of the tournament for me. I have an agent, forest and trop on the table and am at like 11 life, he has deathrite, dark confidant, and a flipped delver. My hand is berserk, vines, fow and spell pierce and something I can't remember. I draw brainstorm and cast it into invigorate, submerge and something else I can't remember. I take the submerge and the invigorate. Debate going for it this turn but he is fully untapped with 2 cards in hand. I decide to wait until my next turn so I can Berserk with the vines backup. I plink for 1 and pass. He untaps, gets a wasteland from the bob and uses it on my trop. He then try's to hymn me which I force to protect the combo. He casts another delver and is only left with the untapped deathrite for mana.

I feel like what I should have done here was submerge the deathrite at end of turn. Anyways I don't. I untap and am still just on forest, agent. He has 1 card in hand and deathrite for mana. I decide I may as well go for it. I cast the invigorate and ask if it resolves. He looks really flustered and puts his hand on his head thinking for a minute during which time he mutters what sounds like murderous cut and vines. He eventually says it resolves but now I'm totally stumped on what to do. I have berserk, vines and submerge in hand. I end up getting too scared to cast the berserk and just get in for 5 putting him to 6 infect. I think I should have submerged the deathrite maybe to force his hand and see what it was?

Anyways, from there he gets me for normal damage. On my last turn before I'm dead I'm at 4 health with brainstorm, submerge and berserk in hand with still forest and agent in play. I think if I can top deck a fetch or trop I can brainstorm into invigorate or hierarch and maybe pull it off. Instead I top deck breeding pool, lol. I submerge the deathrite hoping he floats mana, instead he pings me for 2. I can't shock the pool so I lose on the next turn.

After the match he tells me he was just bluffing the cut. Felt pretty bad for awhile as I think I really should have won that game. Took packs for consolation prize and pulled an expedition (not a good one, fire-lit), thought-knot and reality smasher which improved my mood a bit. Overall had a great time. Did way better than I expected considering I had very little experience and this was my first time playing in person. Infect is a blast in Legacy.

Holy formatting, Batman. This tournament report was such a pleasure to read, very easy on the eyes.

In game 3 against BUG, you say that your only land was a basic forest. But then you have blue to cast brainstorm? Follow up question, if it was indeed just a basic forest in play at that time, how would you be able to cast submerge?

Delver decks, for all of their strengths, tend to have a very predictable clock. If you know you're going to face down lethal in the following turn, it's better to just force the combo and make them have it, as opposed to letting them whittle you down to zero health over several turns.

I'd argue that the invigorate for 5 play was incorrect not only because you could've swung for lethal, but given the cards that you were working with you needed at minimum another colored source if you wanted to outrace your opponent over two turns. With that in mind, going for a kill over two turns with invigorate one turn then vines the next leaves you just as vulnerable as going for invigorate berserk holding no backup.

In games where you're bottlenecked on mana like that, also consider berserking the Confidant or Delver early on as a removal spell. Taking double damage one time is better than taking 3+ hits from a creature.

Edit: Welcome to the community. Always good to have new players join us from the Modern counterpart. Feel free to ask any questions and have fun casting Brainstorms, Invigorates, Berserks and free Counterspells.

[ns407]

Thanks guys!

In game 3 against BUG, you say that your only land was a basic forest. But then you have blue to cast brainstorm? Follow up question, if it was indeed just a basic forest in play at that time, how would you be able to cast submerge?

Glad you liked the formatting. Was trying to make sure it was pretty readable.

You're right, I didn't even realize I couldn't cast the Submerge on the critical two turns. I guess it was an unintentional illegal play on my part when I did finally use it on the deathrite. Makes me feel slightly better that in reality it never really should have been an option for me.

It didn't even occur to me to try and use the berserk on the confidant...if I had I probably would have got there because he got a good 3 or 4 swings in with it not to mention the card advantage.

[Delarock]

Playing this list this weekend at Philly.

1 Become Immense
2 Berserk
4 Blighted Agent
4 Brainstorm
1 Crop Rotation
3 Daze
1 Dryad Arbor
3 Force of Will
1 Forest
2 Gitaxian Probe
4 Glistener Elf
1 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Invigorate
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Pendelhaven
1 Piracy Charm
1 Ponder
2 Spell Pierce
1 Sylvan Library
4 Tropical Island
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Vines of Vastwood
1 Wasteland
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills

The Piracy Charm hasn't really done much for me, considering swapping it out for a Ponder. Also, I'm considering swapping out the Sylvan Library for a Viridian Corrupter. Any suggestions?

Sideboard:

1 Bojuka Bog
1 Crop Rotation
1 Flusterstorm
1 Force of Will
1 Hydroblast
1 Karakas
1 Krosan Grip
1 Nature's Claim
1 Necropede
1 Spellskite
2 Submerge
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Viridian Corrupter
1 Wasteland

I feel like I might need more GY hate but don't have access to a Savannah. Was considering it for the STP/RiP package, but I think the Crop Rotation package is slightly more versatile. Also considering squeezing in a Pithing Needle.

Any suggestions? I was testing a list that was +1 Ponder, +1 Gitaxian Probe; -1 Piracy Charm, -1 Sylvan Library. I liked it, but I'm not sure if taking out a Sylvan Library is right. I've always felt slightly short on blue for FoW.