It feels great to have breathing room... I miss it. I love what Epochrasite brings to the deck. It's just beautiful and reminds me of what this great format was preFlash. Note that 1xWinter Orb or 1xChains of Mephistopheles can be fit into the board if desired.
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
shadowmage will get you draws all day and brainstorm is a card which works great with fetchlands and what you got going. i would can the sage for sorting. sure it is a 1/1 but it only pre-sorts instead of nets real card advantage.
shadowmage is tried and proven, and he works great in tandem with bob dark confidant.
It feels great to have breathing room... I miss it. I love what Epochrasite brings to the deck. It's just beautiful and reminds me of what this great format was preFlash. Note that 1xWinter Orb or 1xChains of Mephistopheles can be fit into the board if desired.
This may have been already asked and answered so I am sorry if thats the case.
Why more Despotic Scepter over Tel-Jilad Stylus? Seems like Stylus would allows you to save StP'd Horros, and then transmute them back up if needed. I understand it is situational, but it seems like there is no upside to Scepter's "bury" ability other than the "kill a token" use. So wouldn't it be optimal to run more stylus, or have I missed a Scepter use?
This may have been already asked and answered so I am sorry if thats the case.
Why more Despotic Scepter over Tel-Jilad Stylus? Seems like Stylus would allows you to save StP'd Horros, and then transmute them back up if needed. I understand it is situational, but it seems like there is no upside to Scepter's "bury" ability other than the "kill a token" use. So wouldn't it be optimal to run more stylus, or have I missed a Scepter use?
Destrius you are right, and sending Horror to the graveyard if Stronghold is out is a [7-life painful] option, too.
The only other reason besides the Drake lock and that is that I have seen most opponents name Stylus with Needle, because they can remember the name better and because they remember it from playing with it when Mirrodin was around.
The real advantage to stylus, though, is stopping mill... which has actually saved me twice vs. Solidarity :-p.
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Celebrating 3 years of open-minded acceptance, indispensable help, great advice, and incalculably-creative deck-design... Thanks for all the magic!
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
I believe I played you in Round 1 at Columbus. I was playing the Wb Stax deck. I must say that your deck has game against a lot of the field. You finished slightly ahead of me as I was 422 out of 883.
I just hope Wizards and the DCI nerf the Hulk (let Flash stick around without him) so that you can continue to be successful in future tournaments.
BTW - Come visit us at mtgthesource (I'm realmlord there too.)
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Team NE Magic, retaking the Midwest one tournament at a time.
I said what I thought about certain cards below them. I'm flickering between MD duress or therapy, I could be convinced either way. I cut the infiltrators for md leyline, as this is my list until bannings. I think infiltrator is too slow in the current meta, and opted for hate instead. Barring super secret tech, this is what I would've taken to columbus, maybe switching the therapy and duress slots.
What about the Legacy champs? Isn't that at Gencon? Or are you piloting thresh / something else there? Flash Will Be Banned Come June 1. Or else Forsythe=:smiledown::flame:. BTW, we need a :dead: smilie. I bet you can geuss what the flame means. I can't wait for the full report tomorrow!
We live in a country were ~50% of the populace believe public schooling is a socialist conspiracy and that being called Einstein is an insult. We could try and fix it, but unfortunately the other 50% don't believe in euthanasia.
What about the Legacy champs? Isn't that at Gencon? Or are you piloting thresh / something else there? Flash Will Be Banned Come June 1. Or else Forsythe=:smiledown::flame:. BTW, we need a :dead: smilie. I bet you can geuss what the flame means. I can't wait for the full report tomorrow!
I think that the ban is only declared on June first. The ban goes in to effect on July first.
It feels great to have breathing room... I miss it. I love what Epochrasite brings to the deck. It's just beautiful and reminds me of what this great format was preFlash. Note that 1xWinter Orb or 1xChains of Mephistopheles can be fit into the board if desired.
You forgot to add the anti-board control cards into your sideboard for your post flash version. Is explosives really needed in that board, if so what would you bring them in against. Enchantress? but in that MU I would think that winter orb and chains would be great, with pithing needle to shut down there kills. You have E. Plague, Stifle, and Echoing Truth all to stop ETW though Plague might be to slow since you have no acceleration. At the very least I think putting a G dual md over the scrubland and changing the Explosives to deeds would be better than the current set up.
I think upping the number of epochrasites would be good too but the only thing I could really see it coming in over is a Horror and evasion is better. Also have you found any room to squeeze in the 2nd Jitte?
I still can't believe you changed the therapy to duress but atleast you didn't throw top in
I believe I played you in Round 1 at Columbus. I was playing the Wb Stax deck. I must say that your deck has game against a lot of the field. You finished slightly ahead of me as I was 422 out of 883.
I just hope Wizards and the DCI nerf the Hulk (let Flash stick around without him) so that you can continue to be successful in future tournaments.
BTW - Come visit us at mtgthesource (I'm realmlord there too.)
Hey I didn't even know you had black in there, thought it was Angel Stax. Can you send me your thoughts on the match in PM so I can try to jog my memory?
I would love to come visit the source - you guys did a lot to support Legacy, as far as I can tell by attendance.
I'm testing a hate filled deck until June. I'm flickering between MD duress or therapy, I could be convinced either way. I cut the infiltrators for md leyline, as this is my list until bannings. I think infiltrator is too slow in the current meta, and opted for hate instead. Barring super secret tech, this is what I would've taken to columbus, maybe switching the therapy and duress slots.
I like your list for until June. I think you only need 5 Stylus/Scepter, and you have to use a Stronghold and or a Riptide Lab in there.
I felt the exact same way you did about Infiltrator in the Hulk Flash Meta - it was too slow; so, at the GP I ran Brainstorm. It was very very unimpressive overall, as I missed not having 12 shuffle effects. I guess it wasn't as disappointing as not using Therapy at the GP was, though, as Brainstorm is sort of helpful... but I would need more than 8 shuffle effects, or to be using Force of Will.
What about the Legacy champs? Isn't that at Gencon? Or are you piloting thresh / something else there? Flash Will Be Banned Come June 1. Or else Forsythe=:smiledown::flame:. BTW, we need a :dead: smilie. I bet you can geuss what the flame means. I can't wait for the full report tomorrow!
Legacy Champs is the main event at Gencon, and then I think there are 2 side tournaments. Pros: I have a definite ride to get there. Cons: the prize support sucks (oversize cards? huh?) and the event itself is a bit pricey.
Bladewing, what about this to fit in the 3rd Epochrasite (I want it in badly too. Is it worth losing an Infiltrator? I think it might be)
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
Hey there! I heard you did pretty good at columbus. Round 9? And yes, I sympathize entirely with you. I can't tell you how pissed off I get when I look at tournament reports where they casually pick up a deck to play right before a tournament, and top eight when I've been tweaking my elf deck for months and don't get results. I can't believe Gladiel really said who cares about hulk flash. I'm too discusted with the format right now to look at the tourney report. It's just not the same.
Alright, putting on a happy face. See? Everything better.
I would not run Winter Orb post flash ban. The types of decks it's good against are long gone. Control is dead. Can I get an amen?
Try to remember the format before hulk flash destroyed legacy and rewrote the rules of relativity. I know, it's been sooo looong...but think back...Combo was on the rise, Empty The Warrens was the new tool on the block. It's gonna return to that once flash is gone, except combo is going to be even stronger thanks to CRET Belcher. Belcher is going to be so popular.
Both TES and Belcher use Empty the Warrens but that's not the only way they win. TES also uses Grapeshot and Tendrils. Belcher uses...
...
...
hmm...
...
What does belcher use?
...
Anyway. Belcher also uses a card that escapes my brain right now. You've got solutions to Warrens but you don't have a solution for Tendrils, Grapeshot, or whatever Belcher uses. So I reccomend a combination of Mana Maze and judicious use of Cabal Therapy. TES is heavily impacted by the maze, and can't win if it hits play. Once it does, disrupt them and win quick enough. If they try to Burning wish for a Hull Breach/Tranquility, Therapy them. Or you could premptively therapy them for burning wish.
Belcher follows a similar suit. Either route they take, belcher kill or etw kill, they need to more than one red card in a turn. They'll be impacted hard by the Maze. Once again, they'll wish for whatever, therapy it.
I don't know if I can go to Gen Con. Assuming I could get there, the next biggest problem would be getting the cards for it. If I don't find my elf deck before the tournament and can pull together Vial, I'll be playing there.
Edit: Either Mana maze or Arcane Laboratory. Arane would actually be a whole lot better.
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"You're going to fight that?!"
"No...I'm going to kill that."
A GAME OF THRONES ON HBO!!!! AAAAAH~!!!!
Oooh that does sound good, Shindig. So Mana Maze is good again? I will keep it 1x in the sideboard (is that too slow? Trickbind faster?) since I don't have much room. Arcane Lab is better, but there is definitely no room for it, and it doesn't cost 2. I wouldn't want to lose Stifle slots for it.
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Celebrating 3 years of open-minded acceptance, indispensable help, great advice, and incalculably-creative deck-design... Thanks for all the magic!
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
Mana Maze is way too slow as a 1 of. You will most often need 5 mana to find it and play it. So 2 turns and coming out on the 4th turn at the earliest. If your on the draw 99% of the time this will be too slow to stop the decks you want it too. Running 4-ofs that you don't have to tutor for is probably your best bet vs. combo since you have sage to smooth out your draws and flashback therapy with. Combo is just too fast to rely on transmuting for an answer. Mana Maze is also going after decks I thought you had a fairly decent MU against, compared to winter orb which helps shore up your worst MUs and to a lesser extent chains.
Cutting an infiltrator for an epochrasite is sacrificing a lot of flexibility for pretty much pure aggro. Which doesn't seem to be the direction you want to take VH, I would try to find a different slot to cut.
He won't be back on today, at least not until late but if I remember correctly he lost to Wb staxs in the first round, he lost to a disciple version of hulk flash in round 3 or close to that. He beat a Bw aggro deck mainly due to play mistakes on the other players part. He beat a 4 color gro build after getting a game loss penalty for showing up late. I don't really remember the rest but I'm pretty sure he went 4-4-1. Mainly he found out that Cabal Therapy is better than Duress, and he was disappointed with brainstorm. You will have to wait until at least tomorrow to find out more details.
Bladewing is right. Transmuting for it is not the way to go. You'll need to draw into it. I don't like trickbind because TES has Xantid Swarm which will make their storm spells untrickbindable. It probably won't even work for CRET belcher because they can pull a duress out of the board with wish if they need to.
Just some food for thought here: Mana Maze can also be used as a lockdown tool. You don't run enough instants to make it useful, but if you Pongify a creature in response to their untap step they won't be able to play blue cards for the entire turn.
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"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." -Groucho Marx
"You're going to fight that?!"
"No...I'm going to kill that."
A GAME OF THRONES ON HBO!!!! AAAAAH~!!!!
I had a band concert tonight, so I couldn't do the tournament report. I will work on that tomorrow, but I want it to be good! And thorough.
I think the non-Flash combo matchups will be fine, and I think there are very very few matchups I am worried about with VH (it helps also now that Epochrasite is legal.) Once the meta finally settles back down, we can see where things are.
So no cutting an Infiltrator, eh.... well... it's hard to cut anything else. It would have to be a Wretch (moving it to the board kinda sucks) or a Pongify (worth it?).
Burkey_boy, I got moated
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Celebrating 3 years of open-minded acceptance, indispensable help, great advice, and incalculably-creative deck-design... Thanks for all the magic!
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
Just some food for thought here: Mana Maze can also be used as a lockdown tool. You don't run enough instants to make it useful, but if you Pongify a creature in response to their untap step they won't be able to play blue cards for the entire turn.
*The Melvin in me screams silently lol*
You can't respond to untap steps, or play spells during them. You can't play it until their upkeep step, and they get priority first if it is their turn. So if they play a blue spell at that point you will be unable to Pong.
I should know, I already tried to break the meta with a Mana Maze lock deck. As GP Columbus shows, I appear to have failed.;)
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Johnny (with a touch of Spike)..
Creator of Thoughtless Sensei and Morph Aggro
Gaymer Raccoons please My artworkz
"We've made OVER NINE THOUSAND unique cards."
- MaRo, October 8th, 2007 IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND!!!!!
forgive my ignorance here... but please explain why you want to get hunted horror into play with an aether vial? It is still coming into play so your opponent should get the centaur tokens am I right? Thanks in advance.
@ reasons; 1) You don't have to pay mana for it! Free 7/7s are better than 2 mana 7/7s! 2)if you only have one scepter effect, then you vial in horror at eot, kill token 1, untap kill token 2 for 0 damage taken from tokens. Vial also improves drake and makes epochrasite playable.
Round: 1 Opponent’s Name: Stephen Opponent’s Deck: Wb Angel Stax
Round 1 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He plays first turn Defense Grid (not many copies in the deck I find out later) off a City of Traitors and I can’t figure out what deck he’s playing. I end up having a Horror, his Exalted Angel, a Morphed Angel, and a Dark Confidant out about to attack, but Stax had been ramping up, and he had it to 4 and we both lost everything we had out. He beat me because I didn't draw land for 5 turns after that, and when I finally did, he played Trinisphere and I couldn't draw 3 land until it was too late.
Round 1 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He gained a lot of life off of Angels and I drew a LOT of Pongify instead of Drake. He played Ghostly Prison and Humility, and a 1/1 Horror that costs 2 to attack - seems kinda bad.
Revealed Cards 1: Armageddon, Chalice of the Void, Magus of the Tabernacle, Defense Grid, Smokestacks, Ghostly Prison
Revealed Cards 2: 2x Exalted Angel, City of Traitors, Mishra's Factory, Plains, Magus of the Tabernacle
Round 2 - Game 1
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He was playing 4x Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Plunge Into Darkness, Cranial Extraction, Smallpox, Burning Wish it looked like, so I thought it was TES and was holding back Stifle mana until I Duressed (hereafter, please forgive me for even typing the fact that I was using it over Therapy) to see expensive stuff like Terravor, Spirit Monger, and Avalanche Riders. Turn 2 he played Plunge for 3. He played Destructive Flow on turn 3 off of a Petal and a basic mountain and a Mox Diamond. I just fetched my 4 basic lands and won off of Horror after he Cranial Extracted naming Dark Confidant while one was already out. (*taps Scepter* "You can't do that!" "If that works, then that artifact is the most broken card ever!" - *calls judge over*)
Round 2 - Game 2
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He got severly mana screwed and plunged for 3 again... I won with a Horror + Jitte. The turn before I swung for the last few points, he played a Terravore that ended up being a 7/7.... I didnt have the heart to Pongify his first (large) creature at the end of his turn, so instead I just used Jitte to win.
He had a game loss from an illegally filled out deck registration, and I didn't remember this until after we played two games... but, again, I didn't have the heart to simply steal the round, as he was bigger and stronger than me and I almost had a game loss from showing up late, but I talked my way out of it with the mostly-correct truth that a judge had helped me to find the table.
Round: 3 Opponent’s Name: Robert Spry Opponent’s Deck: Hulk Flash - Disciple / Robots
Round 3 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He sits down, I say "Hi" - he puts in his headphones, sets his Zune on the table, and ignores me. I roll and say I will play first, he shakes his head, we say we both keep. He stops me before I can play a land and slaps his Gemstone Mine on the table. He plays Flash second turn and quickly gets 3 Disciple, 4 Marauder, 4 Shifting Wall. I am worried because I had prepared mainly to beat the Kiki version, and have 8 extra hate cards vs. Kiki over Disciple.
Round 3 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 1 / Opponent 1
Description: I get a Leyline and he is stuck on one land and a crap lotus petal. I don't draw Stifle or anything good, but I still win with Dark Confidant.
Round 3 - Game 3
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I didn't draw Stifle in the opening hand (or the entire game - all 3 in fact I didn't see one), but it has Leyline so I keep a slow hand. I end up drawing 4 more land for a total of 7 land out on the board AND a Vial. Finally I drew a Confidant and a Scepter, reveal a Pongify and Draw a Horror. At the end of my turn, he LDVs for 8, bringing him down to 9. This means that at the end of his turn, I can Pongify Confidant and EOT Horror him to swing for 10. Instead, he Chain of Vapors the Leyline and gets to win.
I know I am a bit of a poor sport, but I didn't think I was off base: After the game I commented. "So, you went on the internet. You found a netdeck. And you win." He got so offended that he started reprimanding me, and told me he was going to tell a judge how rude I was. After I attempted to object, he replied "we're done here" - and pretended he couldn't hear me.
Round: 4 Opponent’s Name: Patrick Opponent’s Deck: Faerie Stompy
Round 4 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I go first and play Vial. He says "... eh that sucks" and plays a Turn 1 Chalice for 1 off a double land. I am holding Brainstorm - the worst card ever shoved into VH next to Duress - and 3 other 1cc cards (I think 2 Pongify and maybe a Scepter). He played turn 2 Sea Drake. Turn 3 he plays a land and I say "Sword of Fire and Ice now?" - "Yes." There goes the game, thanks to Chalice at 1 preventing me from making it a Sea Ape.
Round 4 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Turn 1 - I needle Sword of Fire and Ice. Turn 1 - He needles Aether Vial. Turn 2 - I needle Umezawa's Jitte. Turn 2 - He needles Polluted Delta. I ended up draking a Sea Drake, which he had to Psionic Blast. I duressed later and saw he had Jitte (score), Sword of Fire and Ice (score) and Misdirection (which Duress then took). He started racing with Cloud of Faeries, I stole a Trinket Mage (he got a Chalice with it) and started racing him back. He played a 2nd Trinket Mage (got a second Chalice with it) and I let the two Trinket Mages trade. He put a Chalice on 1, then a Chalice on 2. Then I dropped Explosives for 0. "...crap."
I played Aether Vial, Despotic Scepter, and Dark Confidant. Shortly after, I suprise EOT Horror to race him by only 4 turns.
Round 4 - Game 3
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He had Sea Drake and Cloud of Faeries both out. I Brainstormed (eww) into Scepter, Drake, Pongify, Horror. I played Scepter, he swung me to 8. I played Drake - he Forced of Willed, saying "haha none of that!" - at this point, I lost. He had attacked me to 8 already, so I got taken to 3 before my next draw got me the Pongify that I had put on top for after Gilded Drake (was supposed to have) took the Sea Drake. I pongified and he played a second Cloud of Faeries. The two Clouds raced me faster than my Horror could kill him - I needed two more turns. I had 2x Engineered Plague boarded in, but not 3 or anything because I didn't know how the game would go / be lost.
Round: 5 Opponent’s Name: Garrett Opponent’s Deck: UWb Fish - An Exact Hanni Duplicate
Round 5 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I lost game 1 to Mother of Runes almost single-handedly. Meddling Mage went on PonJIFY - whatever that card is. I can't beat Fish with Mother of Runes without Pithing Needles in, so I can't win game 1. He actually said to me "oh cool a Wizard deck" when he saw me play Riptide Lab.
Round 5 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I brought in Pithing Needles for Mother of Runes and other stuff, but he didn't draw her game 2. He put a Meddling Mage on Aether Vial (huh?) and one on Confidant (oh well) and a Jotun Grunt. He attacked me down to 7 before I could get a Hunted Horror - I Brainstormed into 2 of them. He pays the upkeep for Grunt (the last time he can pay it) and plays Confidant. I laughed and pointed to his Meddling Mage. He STP'd a Horror, so I go to 12. Then, after praying to God for 3 draw steps in a row, I drew Gilded Drake. Stronghold Lock took two Meddling Mages before he Needled Scepter. I took a 3rd creature (I think a 3rd Mage?) and sent Drake to the bottom finally. I Pongified Jotun Grunt after he payed its upkeep, and tapped the Scepter. He yelled "JUDGE" - saying that it wont work the same way as Hunted Horror because it says the controller puts it into play instead of me putting it into play on behalf of Horror. The judge agreed with him and I got nervous, but asked for a printout on Rule 216.1 - he went to the main table and came back. "Okay, I was wrong. It works because he still controls the effect that puts it into play." Thank god for Rule 216.1 I topdecked a 2nd Gilded Drake to take his only blocker and swing for the win.
Round 5 - Game 3
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Because of the ruling, we got called for time! We sped through our turns in Game 3, but I could only get him to 14 life (with me at 20) before the 5 turns were up. I swear I would have had that game, and I also have a good overall matchup as testing revealed earlier, and later that day as well.
Round: 7 Opponent’s Name: Andy Opponent’s Deck: IGGYpop
Round 7 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I got him down to 11 and was at 23 from Jitte... but he Tendrils'd me with an Ill-Gotten Gains loop for a lot more than 24...
Round 7 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Leyline sort of recked him. Duress was horrible as always (therapy would have been amazing, as always). I still won, though, because I Stifled his Empty the Warrens and killed him with a Horror.
Round 7 - Game 3
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 1 / Opponent 1
Description: Leyline stalled for a long time, I was really distracted, but he couldn't go off before I could win, or I had a lot of Stifles in hand...
Round: 8 Opponent’s Name: Carl Hedrix Opponent’s Deck: Hulk Flash - Kiki Version
Round 8 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I played turn 1 Aether Vial. He played an Island. I played a scepter or something, with Brainstorm in hand. He played turn 2 Flash... maybe I should have went with 4 Stifle 3 Brainstorm after all... He revealed the Kiki kill, and I was happy because I had so much more hate vs it.
Round 8 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 1 / Opponent 0
Description: I have a lot of land in the opening hand and no Leyline. I mulligan and see 2 Leyline and 2 Duress... I didn't want to get greedy. I duressed and saw Hulk, Swamp, LDV, Mystical, Echoing Truth, Duress, Body Snatcher. I took Echoing Truth. He Duressed my Duress. I drew another Duress. I saw he drew an Impulse, and I took something random. I drew more and more and more land (the only business spells I saw were 3 Duress and the 2 Leylines) while he Echoing Truthed my Leylines and went off next turn. If I had at least drawn a Scepter/Stylus, I could have stopped the Echoing Truth from taking both Leylines... instead, I lose to Hulk Flash twice. I didn't draw Stifle in any of the 5 games I played vs. it, either.
Description: I was quite upset about losing to Hulk Flash, ensuring I was out of Day 2... so I just moped around. Apparently my mom had called me so I called her back. My friend said they had called my name though, so I ran over to pairings. I was quite late, and the judge was standing there. I said "Well, I think I was going to drop anyway... is my penalty a game loss?" Judge: "Yes." Me: "Well... what are you playing?" Opponent: "err... 4 color" Me: "well I might as well play a game"
Round 9 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Discard had made him Bolt my face in response to it (I think he would have done the same if it were Therapy though, since it was the last card in his hand). I had an EOT Confidant which revealed a land or a scepter, and drew me into a Horror that I surprise Blocked his 4/4 Dryad with. It would have been amazing to Drake a Dryad, but I just won with Horror that game.
Round 9 - Game 3
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I played around Daze the entire game - afterwards he told me that he didn't play Daze at all, but he did maindeck spellsnare(!) which a Horror ran into. [Good meta choice, though, definitely]. I played turn 1 Scepter. He played a cantrip. I played a land. He went for Turn 2 Confidant - I played a land and played Gilded Drake (with Daze protection). That Dark Confidant stayed alive for the rest of the game and beat him singlehandedly! "I mean, obviously the combo is horrible, but I guess it is beating me, so what can I say?" I went for an EOT Horror when he was at 9 and I had Confidant out. "I'll do you a favor and Stifle the trigger for you."
Afterwards, I sat two seats away from Roland Chang and ate out of the same Wendy's bag that he was eating food from by paying MD $1.25 for a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. Therefore, Roland and I are practically related!
It's a tradition, though a bit too cliché:
Props:
- To David, Tom, and Kyle (MD) for making me feel appreciated.
- To Gilded Drake, for being the best creature ever printed. Slops:
- To Hulk Flash (of course) for stealing the spotlight and letting Gadiel and tons of other numbskulls Top 8 without even knowing anything about our format. Steve Sadin won a grand prix without even knowing how to combo out, and by picking up a netdeck the day before the Grand Prix.
- To Robert Spry. It is a game, try doing something for satisfaction and enjoyment instead of money and stupidity.
- To Myself. I didn't get the word out to allow people to aid me in playing Vile Horror. I also insulted two years of our hard work by running Duress over Therapy because I was worried I didn't have enough sleep to aim it properly.
If you are willing to join with me in playing Vile Horror at Gencon in Indianapolis in August, please contact me through the thread, PM, IM, or email. I need your help!
While netdecking and testing VileHorror i thought about Biorhythm. Sure its really expensive, off-color and crappy but still you're always the one with creatures while playing VH. That made me think.
nice tourney report isamaru. a lot of matchup problems you had were stuff that i already mentioned to you like ghostly prison and the like, and of course vile horror has issues with other combo decks since it has a less reliable and slower clock.
vile horror is a combo deck and thus it has the similar situations and similar mechanics that are needed.
1) disruption or counterspells
2) search or reliable draw engine
3) combo pieces
i think the main problem you are having with VH though is the shift in direction you try to go with it. since you dont identify VH with a combo and like to think of it as a quick aggro deck, you were clogging up the design. and then you liked to think of it as control (where all control deck require board sweepers) because of the drakes etc.
thus you started to make the deck shift towards aggro/control. i think to improve VH you have to get back to the roots of it and shift it more back towards a combo deck. that's how i see it.
a deck like death and taxes is more aggro/soft control. and a deck like VH is really purely combo.
anyhow props to you on just making it out there and enduring 10 or so rounds of playing. g/l on future designs. and please dont feel too bitter about two years working on VH... it is probably better to have 2 or 3 favor decks before you walk into a tourney and then decide at the last moment of which deck to play. the meta game can shift too quickly and what people want to play will change impulsively. a lot of the time whenever i go into a tourney i have an idea of what i want to bring beforehand, but ill change at the last moments... and honestly it is those times i do the best because i didnt anticipate certain shifts in the meta for the moment.
4 Gilded Drake
3 Hunted Horror
4 Dark Confidant
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Dimir Infiltrator
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Stifle
4 Aether Vial
3 Despotic Scepter
2 Tel-Jilad Stylus
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Echoing Truth
1 Riptide Lab
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland (for Explosives only)
2 Swamp
2 Island
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Pithing Needle
4 Engineered Plague
3 Engineered Explosives
If Flash does get banned:
4 Gilded Drake
3 Hunted Horror
4 Dark Confidant
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Dimir Infiltrator
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Withered Wretch
2 Epochrasite
4 Aether Vial
3 Despotic Scepter
2 Tel-Jilad Stylus
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Echoing Truth
1 Riptide Lab
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland (for Explosives only)
2 Swamp
2 Island
4 Force of Will or Stifle or Duress
4 Pithing Needle
4 Engineered Plague
3 Engineered Explosives
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shadowmage will get you draws all day and brainstorm is a card which works great with fetchlands and what you got going. i would can the sage for sorting. sure it is a 1/1 but it only pre-sorts instead of nets real card advantage.
shadowmage is tried and proven, and he works great in tandem with bob dark confidant.
This may have been already asked and answered so I am sorry if thats the case.
Why more Despotic Scepter over Tel-Jilad Stylus? Seems like Stylus would allows you to save StP'd Horros, and then transmute them back up if needed. I understand it is situational, but it seems like there is no upside to Scepter's "bury" ability other than the "kill a token" use. So wouldn't it be optimal to run more stylus, or have I missed a Scepter use?
Volrath's Stronghold + Gilded Drake + Despotic Scepter
Admittedly, he only runs one Stronghold, but that's a pretty compelling reason to prefer the destroy ability.
Also, you could theoretically save an Epochrasite from being removed with it.
The only other reason besides the Drake lock and that is that I have seen most opponents name Stylus with Needle, because they can remember the name better and because they remember it from playing with it when Mirrodin was around.
The real advantage to stylus, though, is stopping mill... which has actually saved me twice vs. Solidarity :-p.
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I believe I played you in Round 1 at Columbus. I was playing the Wb Stax deck. I must say that your deck has game against a lot of the field. You finished slightly ahead of me as I was 422 out of 883.
I just hope Wizards and the DCI nerf the Hulk (let Flash stick around without him) so that you can continue to be successful in future tournaments.
BTW - Come visit us at mtgthesource (I'm realmlord there too.)
I'm testing a hate filled deck until June. Here's what I'm currently playing;
4 force of will
4 AEther Vial
4 Tel-Jilad Stylus
2 Despotic Scepter
4 duress
4 pongify
4 gilded drake
4 dark confidant
4 hunted horror
2 Jotun Grunt.
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Underground Sea
2 Scrubland
2 Tainted Isle
4 swamp.
3 pithing needle
4 cabal therapy
4 hymn to tourach
I said what I thought about certain cards below them. I'm flickering between MD duress or therapy, I could be convinced either way. I cut the infiltrators for md leyline, as this is my list until bannings. I think infiltrator is too slow in the current meta, and opted for hate instead. Barring super secret tech, this is what I would've taken to columbus, maybe switching the therapy and duress slots.
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What about the Legacy champs? Isn't that at Gencon? Or are you piloting thresh / something else there? Flash Will Be Banned Come June 1. Or else Forsythe=:smiledown::flame:. BTW, we need a :dead: smilie. I bet you can geuss what the flame means. I can't wait for the full report tomorrow!
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I think that the ban is only declared on June first. The ban goes in to effect on July first.
I'm not positive, so don't quote me on that.
You forgot to add the anti-board control cards into your sideboard for your post flash version. Is explosives really needed in that board, if so what would you bring them in against. Enchantress? but in that MU I would think that winter orb and chains would be great, with pithing needle to shut down there kills. You have E. Plague, Stifle, and Echoing Truth all to stop ETW though Plague might be to slow since you have no acceleration. At the very least I think putting a G dual md over the scrubland and changing the Explosives to deeds would be better than the current set up.
I think upping the number of epochrasites would be good too but the only thing I could really see it coming in over is a Horror and evasion is better. Also have you found any room to squeeze in the 2nd Jitte?
I still can't believe you changed the therapy to duress but atleast you didn't throw top in
Hey I didn't even know you had black in there, thought it was Angel Stax. Can you send me your thoughts on the match in PM so I can try to jog my memory?
I would love to come visit the source - you guys did a lot to support Legacy, as far as I can tell by attendance.
I like your list for until June. I think you only need 5 Stylus/Scepter, and you have to use a Stronghold and or a Riptide Lab in there.
I felt the exact same way you did about Infiltrator in the Hulk Flash Meta - it was too slow; so, at the GP I ran Brainstorm. It was very very unimpressive overall, as I missed not having 12 shuffle effects. I guess it wasn't as disappointing as not using Therapy at the GP was, though, as Brainstorm is sort of helpful... but I would need more than 8 shuffle effects, or to be using Force of Will.
Legacy Champs is the main event at Gencon, and then I think there are 2 side tournaments. Pros: I have a definite ride to get there. Cons: the prize support sucks (oversize cards? huh?) and the event itself is a bit pricey.
Bladewing, what about this to fit in the 3rd Epochrasite (I want it in badly too. Is it worth losing an Infiltrator? I think it might be)
4 Gilded Drake
3 Hunted Horror
4 Dark Confidant
4 Sage of Epityr
3 Dimir Infiltrator
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Withered Wretch
3 Epochrasite
4 Aether Vial
3 Despotic Scepter
2 Tel-Jilad Stylus
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Echoing Truth
1 Riptide Lab
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Underground Sea
1 Bayou / Scrubland (for Explosives only)
2 Swamp
2 Island
4 Stifle
4 Pithing Needle
3 Engineered Plague
3 Engineered Explosives
1 Winter Orb
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Alright, putting on a happy face. See? Everything better.
I would not run Winter Orb post flash ban. The types of decks it's good against are long gone. Control is dead. Can I get an amen?
Try to remember the format before hulk flash destroyed legacy and rewrote the rules of relativity. I know, it's been sooo looong...but think back...Combo was on the rise, Empty The Warrens was the new tool on the block. It's gonna return to that once flash is gone, except combo is going to be even stronger thanks to CRET Belcher. Belcher is going to be so popular.
Both TES and Belcher use Empty the Warrens but that's not the only way they win. TES also uses Grapeshot and Tendrils. Belcher uses...
...
...
hmm...
...
What does belcher use?
...
Anyway. Belcher also uses a card that escapes my brain right now. You've got solutions to Warrens but you don't have a solution for Tendrils, Grapeshot, or whatever Belcher uses. So I reccomend a combination of Mana Maze and judicious use of Cabal Therapy. TES is heavily impacted by the maze, and can't win if it hits play. Once it does, disrupt them and win quick enough. If they try to Burning wish for a Hull Breach/Tranquility, Therapy them. Or you could premptively therapy them for burning wish.
Belcher follows a similar suit. Either route they take, belcher kill or etw kill, they need to more than one red card in a turn. They'll be impacted hard by the Maze. Once again, they'll wish for whatever, therapy it.
I don't know if I can go to Gen Con. Assuming I could get there, the next biggest problem would be getting the cards for it. If I don't find my elf deck before the tournament and can pull together Vial, I'll be playing there.
Edit: Either Mana maze or Arcane Laboratory. Arane would actually be a whole lot better.
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Cutting an infiltrator for an epochrasite is sacrificing a lot of flexibility for pretty much pure aggro. Which doesn't seem to be the direction you want to take VH, I would try to find a different slot to cut.
Hey...You promised a full GP report today...Let's see it!
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Just some food for thought here: Mana Maze can also be used as a lockdown tool. You don't run enough instants to make it useful, but if you Pongify a creature in response to their untap step they won't be able to play blue cards for the entire turn.
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"No...I'm going to kill that."
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I think the non-Flash combo matchups will be fine, and I think there are very very few matchups I am worried about with VH (it helps also now that Epochrasite is legal.) Once the meta finally settles back down, we can see where things are.
So no cutting an Infiltrator, eh.... well... it's hard to cut anything else. It would have to be a Wretch (moving it to the board kinda sucks) or a Pongify (worth it?).
Burkey_boy, I got moated
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*The Melvin in me screams silently lol*
You can't respond to untap steps, or play spells during them. You can't play it until their upkeep step, and they get priority first if it is their turn. So if they play a blue spell at that point you will be unable to Pong.
I should know, I already tried to break the meta with a Mana Maze lock deck. As GP Columbus shows, I appear to have failed.;)
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@ reasons; 1) You don't have to pay mana for it! Free 7/7s are better than 2 mana 7/7s! 2)if you only have one scepter effect, then you vial in horror at eot, kill token 1, untap kill token 2 for 0 damage taken from tokens. Vial also improves drake and makes epochrasite playable.
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Grand Prix Columbus
Final Record: 4-4-1
Final Placing: 367 of 880
4 Gilded Drake
3 Hunted Horror
4 Dark Confidant
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Brainstorm
4 Duress
3 Stifle
4 Aether Vial
3 Despotic Scepter
2 Tel-Jilad Stylus
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Riptide Lab
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland (for Explosives only)
2 Swamp
2 Island
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Pithing Needle
4 Engineered Plague
3 Engineered Explosives
Round: 1
Opponent’s Name: Stephen
Opponent’s Deck: Wb Angel Stax
Round 1 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He plays first turn Defense Grid (not many copies in the deck I find out later) off a City of Traitors and I can’t figure out what deck he’s playing. I end up having a Horror, his Exalted Angel, a Morphed Angel, and a Dark Confidant out about to attack, but Stax had been ramping up, and he had it to 4 and we both lost everything we had out. He beat me because I didn't draw land for 5 turns after that, and when I finally did, he played Trinisphere and I couldn't draw 3 land until it was too late.
Round 1 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He gained a lot of life off of Angels and I drew a LOT of Pongify instead of Drake. He played Ghostly Prison and Humility, and a 1/1 Horror that costs 2 to attack - seems kinda bad.
Revealed Cards 1: Armageddon, Chalice of the Void, Magus of the Tabernacle, Defense Grid, Smokestacks, Ghostly Prison
Revealed Cards 2: 2x Exalted Angel, City of Traitors, Mishra's Factory, Plains, Magus of the Tabernacle
Round: 2
Opponent’s Name: Rocky Harris
Opponent’s Deck: RGB Destructive Flow
Round 2 - Game 1
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He was playing 4x Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Plunge Into Darkness, Cranial Extraction, Smallpox, Burning Wish it looked like, so I thought it was TES and was holding back Stifle mana until I Duressed (hereafter, please forgive me for even typing the fact that I was using it over Therapy) to see expensive stuff like Terravor, Spirit Monger, and Avalanche Riders. Turn 2 he played Plunge for 3. He played Destructive Flow on turn 3 off of a Petal and a basic mountain and a Mox Diamond. I just fetched my 4 basic lands and won off of Horror after he Cranial Extracted naming Dark Confidant while one was already out. (*taps Scepter* "You can't do that!" "If that works, then that artifact is the most broken card ever!" - *calls judge over*)
Round 2 - Game 2
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He got severly mana screwed and plunged for 3 again... I won with a Horror + Jitte. The turn before I swung for the last few points, he played a Terravore that ended up being a 7/7.... I didnt have the heart to Pongify his first (large) creature at the end of his turn, so instead I just used Jitte to win.
He had a game loss from an illegally filled out deck registration, and I didn't remember this until after we played two games... but, again, I didn't have the heart to simply steal the round, as he was bigger and stronger than me and I almost had a game loss from showing up late, but I talked my way out of it with the mostly-correct truth that a judge had helped me to find the table.
Round: 3
Opponent’s Name: Robert Spry
Opponent’s Deck: Hulk Flash - Disciple / Robots
Round 3 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He sits down, I say "Hi" - he puts in his headphones, sets his Zune on the table, and ignores me. I roll and say I will play first, he shakes his head, we say we both keep. He stops me before I can play a land and slaps his Gemstone Mine on the table. He plays Flash second turn and quickly gets 3 Disciple, 4 Marauder, 4 Shifting Wall. I am worried because I had prepared mainly to beat the Kiki version, and have 8 extra hate cards vs. Kiki over Disciple.
Round 3 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 1 / Opponent 1
Description: I get a Leyline and he is stuck on one land and a crap lotus petal. I don't draw Stifle or anything good, but I still win with Dark Confidant.
Round 3 - Game 3
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I didn't draw Stifle in the opening hand (or the entire game - all 3 in fact I didn't see one), but it has Leyline so I keep a slow hand. I end up drawing 4 more land for a total of 7 land out on the board AND a Vial. Finally I drew a Confidant and a Scepter, reveal a Pongify and Draw a Horror. At the end of my turn, he LDVs for 8, bringing him down to 9. This means that at the end of his turn, I can Pongify Confidant and EOT Horror him to swing for 10. Instead, he Chain of Vapors the Leyline and gets to win.
I know I am a bit of a poor sport, but I didn't think I was off base: After the game I commented. "So, you went on the internet. You found a netdeck. And you win." He got so offended that he started reprimanding me, and told me he was going to tell a judge how rude I was. After I attempted to object, he replied "we're done here" - and pretended he couldn't hear me.
Round: 4
Opponent’s Name: Patrick
Opponent’s Deck: Faerie Stompy
Round 4 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I go first and play Vial. He says "... eh that sucks" and plays a Turn 1 Chalice for 1 off a double land. I am holding Brainstorm - the worst card ever shoved into VH next to Duress - and 3 other 1cc cards (I think 2 Pongify and maybe a Scepter). He played turn 2 Sea Drake. Turn 3 he plays a land and I say "Sword of Fire and Ice now?" - "Yes." There goes the game, thanks to Chalice at 1 preventing me from making it a Sea Ape.
Round 4 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Turn 1 - I needle Sword of Fire and Ice. Turn 1 - He needles Aether Vial. Turn 2 - I needle Umezawa's Jitte. Turn 2 - He needles Polluted Delta. I ended up draking a Sea Drake, which he had to Psionic Blast. I duressed later and saw he had Jitte (score), Sword of Fire and Ice (score) and Misdirection (which Duress then took). He started racing with Cloud of Faeries, I stole a Trinket Mage (he got a Chalice with it) and started racing him back. He played a 2nd Trinket Mage (got a second Chalice with it) and I let the two Trinket Mages trade. He put a Chalice on 1, then a Chalice on 2. Then I dropped Explosives for 0. "...crap."
I played Aether Vial, Despotic Scepter, and Dark Confidant. Shortly after, I suprise EOT Horror to race him by only 4 turns.
Round 4 - Game 3
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: He had Sea Drake and Cloud of Faeries both out. I Brainstormed (eww) into Scepter, Drake, Pongify, Horror. I played Scepter, he swung me to 8. I played Drake - he Forced of Willed, saying "haha none of that!" - at this point, I lost. He had attacked me to 8 already, so I got taken to 3 before my next draw got me the Pongify that I had put on top for after Gilded Drake (was supposed to have) took the Sea Drake. I pongified and he played a second Cloud of Faeries. The two Clouds raced me faster than my Horror could kill him - I needed two more turns. I had 2x Engineered Plague boarded in, but not 3 or anything because I didn't know how the game would go / be lost.
Round: 5
Opponent’s Name: Garrett
Opponent’s Deck: UWb Fish - An Exact Hanni Duplicate
Round 5 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I lost game 1 to Mother of Runes almost single-handedly. Meddling Mage went on PonJIFY - whatever that card is. I can't beat Fish with Mother of Runes without Pithing Needles in, so I can't win game 1. He actually said to me "oh cool a Wizard deck" when he saw me play Riptide Lab.
Revealed Cards 1: Daze, Serum Visions, 2x Meddling Mage, Stifle, Jotun Grunt, Flooded Strand
Round 5 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I brought in Pithing Needles for Mother of Runes and other stuff, but he didn't draw her game 2. He put a Meddling Mage on Aether Vial (huh?) and one on Confidant (oh well) and a Jotun Grunt. He attacked me down to 7 before I could get a Hunted Horror - I Brainstormed into 2 of them. He pays the upkeep for Grunt (the last time he can pay it) and plays Confidant. I laughed and pointed to his Meddling Mage. He STP'd a Horror, so I go to 12. Then, after praying to God for 3 draw steps in a row, I drew Gilded Drake. Stronghold Lock took two Meddling Mages before he Needled Scepter. I took a 3rd creature (I think a 3rd Mage?) and sent Drake to the bottom finally. I Pongified Jotun Grunt after he payed its upkeep, and tapped the Scepter. He yelled "JUDGE" - saying that it wont work the same way as Hunted Horror because it says the controller puts it into play instead of me putting it into play on behalf of Horror. The judge agreed with him and I got nervous, but asked for a printout on Rule 216.1 - he went to the main table and came back. "Okay, I was wrong. It works because he still controls the effect that puts it into play." Thank god for Rule 216.1 I topdecked a 2nd Gilded Drake to take his only blocker and swing for the win.
Round 5 - Game 3
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Because of the ruling, we got called for time! We sped through our turns in Game 3, but I could only get him to 14 life (with me at 20) before the 5 turns were up. I swear I would have had that game, and I also have a good overall matchup as testing revealed earlier, and later that day as well.
Round: 7
Opponent’s Name: Andy
Opponent’s Deck: IGGYpop
Round 7 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I got him down to 11 and was at 23 from Jitte... but he Tendrils'd me with an Ill-Gotten Gains loop for a lot more than 24...
Round 7 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Leyline sort of recked him. Duress was horrible as always (therapy would have been amazing, as always). I still won, though, because I Stifled his Empty the Warrens and killed him with a Horror.
Round 7 - Game 3
Playing First: Opponent
Mulligans: Me 1 / Opponent 1
Description: Leyline stalled for a long time, I was really distracted, but he couldn't go off before I could win, or I had a lot of Stifles in hand...
Round: 8
Opponent’s Name: Carl Hedrix
Opponent’s Deck: Hulk Flash - Kiki Version
Round 8 - Game 1
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I played turn 1 Aether Vial. He played an Island. I played a scepter or something, with Brainstorm in hand. He played turn 2 Flash... maybe I should have went with 4 Stifle 3 Brainstorm after all... He revealed the Kiki kill, and I was happy because I had so much more hate vs it.
Round 8 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 1 / Opponent 0
Description: I have a lot of land in the opening hand and no Leyline. I mulligan and see 2 Leyline and 2 Duress... I didn't want to get greedy. I duressed and saw Hulk, Swamp, LDV, Mystical, Echoing Truth, Duress, Body Snatcher. I took Echoing Truth. He Duressed my Duress. I drew another Duress. I saw he drew an Impulse, and I took something random. I drew more and more and more land (the only business spells I saw were 3 Duress and the 2 Leylines) while he Echoing Truthed my Leylines and went off next turn. If I had at least drawn a Scepter/Stylus, I could have stopped the Echoing Truth from taking both Leylines... instead, I lose to Hulk Flash twice. I didn't draw Stifle in any of the 5 games I played vs. it, either.
Round: 9
Opponent’s Name: Steffon (Noobslayer from TheSource)
Opponent’s Deck: 4c Gro
Round 9 - Game 1
Description: I was quite upset about losing to Hulk Flash, ensuring I was out of Day 2... so I just moped around. Apparently my mom had called me so I called her back. My friend said they had called my name though, so I ran over to pairings. I was quite late, and the judge was standing there. I said "Well, I think I was going to drop anyway... is my penalty a game loss?" Judge: "Yes." Me: "Well... what are you playing?" Opponent: "err... 4 color" Me: "well I might as well play a game"
Round 9 - Game 2
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: Discard had made him Bolt my face in response to it (I think he would have done the same if it were Therapy though, since it was the last card in his hand). I had an EOT Confidant which revealed a land or a scepter, and drew me into a Horror that I surprise Blocked his 4/4 Dryad with. It would have been amazing to Drake a Dryad, but I just won with Horror that game.
Round 9 - Game 3
Playing First: Me
Mulligans: Me 0 / Opponent 0
Description: I played around Daze the entire game - afterwards he told me that he didn't play Daze at all, but he did maindeck spellsnare(!) which a Horror ran into. [Good meta choice, though, definitely]. I played turn 1 Scepter. He played a cantrip. I played a land. He went for Turn 2 Confidant - I played a land and played Gilded Drake (with Daze protection). That Dark Confidant stayed alive for the rest of the game and beat him singlehandedly! "I mean, obviously the combo is horrible, but I guess it is beating me, so what can I say?" I went for an EOT Horror when he was at 9 and I had Confidant out. "I'll do you a favor and Stifle the trigger for you."
Afterwards, I sat two seats away from Roland Chang and ate out of the same Wendy's bag that he was eating food from by paying MD $1.25 for a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. Therefore, Roland and I are practically related!
It's a tradition, though a bit too cliché:
- To David, Tom, and Kyle (MD) for making me feel appreciated.
- To Gilded Drake, for being the best creature ever printed.
Slops:
- To Hulk Flash (of course) for stealing the spotlight and letting Gadiel and tons of other numbskulls Top 8 without even knowing anything about our format. Steve Sadin won a grand prix without even knowing how to combo out, and by picking up a netdeck the day before the Grand Prix.
- To Robert Spry. It is a game, try doing something for satisfaction and enjoyment instead of money and stupidity.
- To Myself. I didn't get the word out to allow people to aid me in playing Vile Horror. I also insulted two years of our hard work by running Duress over Therapy because I was worried I didn't have enough sleep to aim it properly.
If you are willing to join with me in playing Vile Horror at Gencon in Indianapolis in August, please contact me through the thread, PM, IM, or email. I need your help!
Celebrating 3 years of open-minded acceptance, indispensable help, great advice, and incalculably-creative deck-design... Thanks for all the magic!
vile horror is a combo deck and thus it has the similar situations and similar mechanics that are needed.
1) disruption or counterspells
2) search or reliable draw engine
3) combo pieces
i think the main problem you are having with VH though is the shift in direction you try to go with it. since you dont identify VH with a combo and like to think of it as a quick aggro deck, you were clogging up the design. and then you liked to think of it as control (where all control deck require board sweepers) because of the drakes etc.
thus you started to make the deck shift towards aggro/control. i think to improve VH you have to get back to the roots of it and shift it more back towards a combo deck. that's how i see it.
a deck like death and taxes is more aggro/soft control. and a deck like VH is really purely combo.
anyhow props to you on just making it out there and enduring 10 or so rounds of playing. g/l on future designs. and please dont feel too bitter about two years working on VH... it is probably better to have 2 or 3 favor decks before you walk into a tourney and then decide at the last moment of which deck to play. the meta game can shift too quickly and what people want to play will change impulsively. a lot of the time whenever i go into a tourney i have an idea of what i want to bring beforehand, but ill change at the last moments... and honestly it is those times i do the best because i didnt anticipate certain shifts in the meta for the moment.