Please include what kind of event it was, game/match results for every round, and the deck/play quality of your opponents. Also, it would be helpful if you could explain how you sideboarded for each match.
Went 3-2 at last night's event, good for 9th out of 24.
Round 1 - BG Zombies 2-0
Round 2 - Junk Tokens 0-2
Round 3 - BR Aggro 2-0
Round 4 - BR Aggro 2-0
Round 5 - UW Control 0-2
Overall I did as well as I expected, however detention sphere gave me fits all night, so I'm going to need some enchantment removal somewhere in my 75. Here is how I sideboarded every match -
R1: didn't sideboard, he only had one land and a slitherhead game 1.
R2: -3 pillar, -1 dead weight, +1 appetite, +1 sever, +2 duress
R3: -1 appetite, +1 pillar
R4: same as Round 3
R5: -1 garruk, -1 dead weight, -3 pillar, -2 sever, -1 mizzium mortars +2 liliana, +1 appetite, +1 deathrite shaman, +2 duress, +2 slaughter games,
Overall I did as well as I expected, however detention sphere gave me fits all night, so I'm going to need some enchantment removal somewhere in my 75.
I would suggest Vraska, the Unseen. It can kill both PWs and D-Spheres, even more than once, and commands a 2-for-1, which is great.
I went 3-0 and drew into top 4 where we split for prize.
Round 1 was against U/B control (2-1). Delvers and Jace with Tribute, Tragic Slips, and Mutilate backup hampered me but i powered through it.
Sideboard:
-3 Pillar of Flame -2 Borderland Ranger -1 Mizzium Mortars
+2 Slaughter Games +2 Sever the Bloodline +2 Underworld Connections
Round 2 was against Band Aggro/Tempo (2-0). Delver and various tokens with Pike and bounce backed by azorius and selesnya charms made for a tough matchup. I won off the back of a pair of Huntmasters that flipped a couple times each.
Sideboard:
-3 Pillar of Flame -1 Mizzium Mortars
+2 Sever the Bloodline +2 Abrupt Decay
Round 3 was against Esper Control (2-1). This was a pain. Jace, Delver, and Angel of Serenity looping made game 1 a grind. He eventually got game 1 and we went to sideboard and Slaughter Games for AoS on turn 5 snatched his main win condition. Deathrite Shaman and Underworld Connections grinded out the victory.
Sideboard:
-3 Pillar of Flame -3 Mizzium Mortars -2 Rakdos Keyrune
+2 Deathrite Shaman +2 Underworld Connections +2 Slaughter Games +2 Sever the Bloodline
Round 4 was the draw out for top 4 but we played it out anyways. He was playing Jund Zombies. It went awesomely. A pillar on 1 stalled until i dropped Thragtusk on 4 and mizzium mortars on 5. He had no gas after that. He said after that game that he wouldn't have stood a chance against me and he was glad that we drew into top 4.
I feel that i could have done fantastic against the people that made it into the top 4 but my ride had to be up early and couldn't stay so I opted to split.
The deck ran great. The only changes I might make is trying to squeeze at least a singleton Underworld Connections into the mainboard. It performed VERY well every time it saw play. I only stumbled on mana once for a Garruk (stuck on GG instead of GGG) in all the games i played. Plenty of fixing and duals makes the manabase very solid. I may also try Golgari Keyrune of Rakdos, or perhaps a 1-1 split. I did pull the pillars every game, but they are essential against zombies and RDW game 1 and i couldn't afford to cut them.
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First tournament top 8 11/4/12 at the SCG IQ in Santa Cruz!
Match 1 vs Grixis Control 2-0
Game One I curved into T4 Thrag -> Disciple -> Return for 5, and he scooped.
Game 2 he ultimate Tamiyo, but I had double Bloodhall and he couldn't deal with it.
Match 2 vs Rakdos Wins 1-0,
He got a game loss for having 14 SB cards. I get turn 3 Liliana, Turn 4 Rakdos's Return. He scooped as well.
Match 3 vs Bant Control 0-2
Both games he ultimated Tamiyo and I never got my draw online.
Match 4 vs Bant Control 1-1-1
Game one he got mana scrwed, game two I got mana flooded, had him at 2 with Bloodhall. Game 3 I ultimated Lily twice and was mana flooded, but he had nothing and it went into turns.
Match 5 vs 5c Control 2-0
Game one Thrag + Disciple was broken. Game 2 did the same thing, but with 3 slaughter games ruining his plan.
Top 8
Played against UW Humans, I had never lost a game to the deck. I thought he was play a bant control deck so I kept a slow hand and payed the price. Game two I had all of the removal and stabilized with Keyrune. Game 3 I mulled to 5 kept a hand of Thrag, HMotF, BotD and 2 lands. I got mana screwed while he was at 2 lands and he played everything.
Over all Bloodhall is a must in a control laden meta, steals games. Disciple was amazing, Liliana just wrecks most plans, sure Smiter and Gravecrawler might sting, but we have the resources to deal with it. I was almost ready to switch to something else seeing how everyone in my meta is control, but after today I'm sticking with it.
Match 1: G/W stuff.
New player, not very familiar with the game, no interactions. 2-0.
Match 2: Bant control.
Game 1 was a stalemate, with both parties packing more answers than threats and holding the correct answers at the correct times. I won because my opponent drew off of Sphinx's revelation and decked out.
Game 2 was a turn 4 slaughter games from me, naming Angel of Serenity, since that is the biggest board swing the opponent could play. I managed to hit an angel in his hand, and then resolve a Rakdos's Return for his entire hand. He was unable to answer my Thragtusk in topdeck mode.
Match 3: Bant midrange
Game 1 was incredibly long, with both players going over 30 life. Eventually I won the board with 2-for-1s and a giant Rakdos's return for X=16.
Game 2 I resolved slaughter games again, naming angel of serenity, since the opponent kept double land off of turn 4 jace. His hand was land, land, dissipate, angel. He then jaces again, keeping dissipate thragtusk over tamiyo and tapping out for Tusk. I rakdos away his hand and win the rest of the game off of 2 tusks and a keyrune.
Match 4: Esper control ft. drownyards
Game 1 was drawn out, but he ran out of answers for my resolved huntmaster and was unable to race me with drownyard. I had about 20 cards left in my library at the end of the game.
Game 2 he took a mulligan to 5 and was unable to answer my threats again. Huntmaster was an all star in this game too.
Match 5: UW Humans
Game 1 he lost to huntmaster flips and removal. I don't believe he had a mainboard answer to huntmaster that wasn't "force the opponent to block"
Game 2 he had a nuts start with 12 power over 4 creatures on turn 3: Silverblade + War Falcon, War Falcon, Champion. I play golgari charm on his attack step for the blowout, reducing a 12 damage attack to 2. I then proceed to stabilize with 2 thragtusks and take the game.
The humans and gw aggro matches came down to removing their threats and dragging the game out eventually running them over, fairly easy wins. Jund mirror was super grindy and it basically came down to who topdecked the rakdos's return or bonfire first. I had kessig wolf run in play last match and it was able to get me there.
Bant control was pretty rough. Sweepers, charms, and counterspells made keeping a threat out pretty difficult. Also tamiyo, entreat, jace, sphinx's revelation, and thragtusk all blew me out.
My sideboard needs work.
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Thanks to DarkNightCavalier @ Heroes of the Plane Studios for my avatar
Here is his sideboarding guide, listed in the first comment on the article:
G/B Zombies-
-2 Rakdos's Return.
-1 Garruk, Primal Hunter.
+2 Golgari Charm.
+1 Sever the Bloodline.
The difference between the two plans is Shaman against B/R, simply because if we untap with him he can pick up at least 2-6 life for us. G/B Zombies is just strictly worse against us since they completely lack the reach to kill us after we kill their first two guys.
Bant Control, U/W/x Control.
-4 Pillar of Flame.
-2 Mizzium Mortars.
-2 Olivia Voldaren.
-2 Vampire Nighthawk.
+2 Slaughter Games (Naming Sphinx's Revelation 90% of the time).
+2 Appetite for Brains.
+2 Underworld Connections.
+2 Liliana of the Viel.
+2 Golgari Charm.
If Bant boards into Sigarda and you're that terrified of it, -1 Liliana +1 Blasphemous Act.
W/x Aggro
-2 Rakdos's Return.
-1 Mizzium Mortars.
-1 Garruk, Primal Hunter (Unless they are G/W Aggro).
-2 Farseek (-1 on the play.
+2 Blasphemous Act.
+1(2) Appetite for Brains.
+1 (2) Golgari Charm.
Frites
-4 Pillar of Flames.
-2 Vampire Nighthawk.
-3 Mizzium Mortars.
-1 Rakdos's Return.
+2 Underworld Connections.
+2 Slaughter Games.
+2 Deathrite Shaman.
+1 Sever the Bloodline.
+2 Appetite for Brains.
+1 Golgari Charm (If you see or suspect O-Ring).
OR
+1 Liliana of the Veil (Mostly for the Sac ability.)
Mirror Match
-3 Pillar of Flame.
-3 Mizzium Mortars.
-2 Vampire Nighthawk.
+2 Underworld Connections.
+2 Appetite for Brains.
+2 Liliana of the Veil.
+2 Golgari Charm.
I like leaving in at least 1 Pillar of Flame as an answer to Huntmaster. The Charm is awesome because it lets us win combat situations, and in some occasions, gives us the opportunity to kill an animated Keyrune as well as taking out their Underworld Connections.
Match 1 Jund Midrange 2-0
He played a more midrange list, I was on the draw both games and I drowned him in card advantage. I got Underworld on both games, and Lily in game one and he could never top deck out.
Match 2 Jund Midrange 0-2
Both games I got Lily and Underworld out sent him into top deck mode and killing him slowly with Bloodhall when he top decked Hellkite game one, and Rakdos's Return (for 10) game two for the win.
Match 3 GW Aggro 2-0
Game one, surprisingly, was one by Rakdos's Return and Lily. Kept his board clear of threats, discard his hand with return and with Lily killed that silly Smiter. Game 2 was Olivia's show, she owned everything, well except that Sigarda.
Match 4 Esper Control 2-1
I can't sing enough praises about Lily, Return, and Bloodhall. Only game two was taken by Witchbane Orb.
Match 1: Epic Experiment 1-0
Game 1: He got mana flooded with nothing but 1 Increasing Devotion that i wiped right away with Bonfire
Game 2: Turn 3 slaughter games naming Epic experiment: Conceded.
Match 2: GB Control 2-0
Game 1: He surprise me with T4 and T5 Desecration Demon. Got olivia and stabilize/win with her at 2 life.
Game 2: T3 Huntmaster (flipping on his turn) and killing his treats as they spawn was too much for him.
Match 3: Selesnya Aggro 3-0
Game 1: She curved with T1 Dork, T2 Loxodon, T3 Rancor+Silverblade. Nut draw his nut ...
Game 2: Close match, thragtusk to stabilize is awsome and Olivia just finish the job.
Game 3: Clogged board full of creatures on both side. Miracled a huge bonfire of 18 ftw.
Match 4: GB Zombies 4-0
Game 1: Opening has Blood Crypt and 3 pillar, nuf said.
Game 2: Didnt remember this match, i was gettin tired ... i won btw.
Match 5: UW Aggro 4-1
Game 1: T3 GoST, T4 Spectral, swing for 8, i never recover...
Game 2: Won with VNH + Kessig WR to race his GoST.
Game 3: He used Swift justice on GoST to Kill my VNH and survive. Had a Bonfire in hand and 4 land on board, never found my 5th land to wipe his board.
Finally, great match up. The last match was just unlucky for me. His deck was a budget weenie splashing blue for GoST but he just draw em every game...
Im thinking to cut a Pillar and throw Sever the bloodline to SB to include Keyrune as they seemed to rock. My local meta doesnt have much zombies anyway.
Took this to a WNM and came in second (3-0-1) out of 45 people.
Here is the general tournament report. I lost all die rolls.
Round 1: Rakdos Aggro
Game 1: His deck brings the violence against me, but I manage to stabilize with Huntmasters to gain life. A well timed Rakdos's Return stalls him long enough that my Thragtusks make it impossible for him to win.
Game 2: Side out Vraskas, 1 Rakdos's Return, add in the extra Pillar and Nighthawks.
He manages to deal me a lot more damage this time around, due to a mistake he made (he Tragic slipped my Keyrune AFTER it killed his Gravecrawler, which allowed me to top deck Thragtusk and win).
Round 2: My buddy with Rakdos Aggro. He's a good player.
Game 1: His deck does not go off as fast as it normally does, and eventually I manage to control the board. He does not kill of a flipped Garruk, which resulted in me getting Huntmaster as well as Thragtusk in the same turn. He shakes his head realizing that he forgot about that, so he scoops.
Game 2: Same as Round 1.
I mull to 6, keep an okay hand (Pillar, Farseek, Olivia, 3 lands). Pillar his Geralf's Messenger. He Appetite For Brains Olivia away...........and then my deck does its thing and draws nothing but gas. He cannot keep up with my creatures, and I burn him out with Rakdos's Return
Game 3: UWR miracles.
Game 1: I don't remember much about this match. He misses a couple of land drops, I Farseek like a champ and I pretty much kick his head in. My deck came out like boss.
Game 2: Take out Pillars, added in Lilly. I missed a land drop, which allowed him to stabilize, and eventually he gets Tamiyo Emblem. Lilly was pretty useless against him. Tamiyo Emblem + a counterspell = me dead.
Game 3: We get called to time after my second turn. Neither one of us could kill the other in time, so we got a draw.
Game 4: Esper control
Game 1: He misses land drops, can't do anything. I bait his counterspells with a Nighthawk (when I had Kessig out), land a Thragtusk and win.
Game 2: Take out Pillars, add 1 Golgari Charm and 2 Underworld Connections. He draws better, but I run him out of counterspells, land a fatty, land Garruk, kill his Desecration Demon, and then I land Connections to draw a lot more than he does. Rakdos's Return seals the deal again.
Round 1: 2-0 UWR tempo (my wife!)
Game 1: she slows me down for a while, but never draws a threat. Eventually Huntmasters and Thragtusks grind through her removal.
Game 2: perfect hand with ramp into threats lets me play around Syncopate and keep ample blockers for her Geist.
Round 2: 2-1 Esper tokens
Game 1: very grindy game, but I have Dreadbores for his planeswalkers while he has no answers to my Garruk or Underworld Connections. Eventually run him out of Souls.
Game 2: don't remember exactly what happened. I think I couldn't answer multiple early Restoration Angels.
Game 3: kill him with Wolf Run backing Keyrunes and Avengers that he can't effectively block or Verdict.
Round 3: 0-2 Frites
Game 1: turn 1 Deathrite Shaman on my side locks him out of the game for a while. I deal some damage, he plays some Thragtusks. Eventually he hard-casts an Angel of Serenity, eating my Deathrite. I have the Sever and replay the Deathrite, but while it's summoning sick he Salvages into another Angel to reanimate.
Game 2: turn 1 Deathrite Shaman again, backed up by Slaughter Games on Angel of Serenity. He Severs my Shaman. I have the second in hand, but while it's summoning sick he Mulches into Griselbrand. I kill it on my next turn, but I can't keep up with the 7 cards he draws.
Round 4: 2-1 Wu humans
Game 1: he goes all in on a Spectral Flight + Bonds of Faith'ed Elite Inquisitor after I clog up the ground with Huntmaster. I have the Abrupt Decay and Huntmasters clean up the rest of his team.
Game 2: I mulligan to 5, keeping a 1-lander with 2 Farseeks. I never draw the second land and die quickly.
Game 3: He mulligans to 5 and can't put any pressure on me.
Round 5: 2-0 BG zombies
Game 1: Strangleroots trade with all his guys, Olivia shuts the game down.
Game 2: Same as game 1, but a Blood Artist makes it close.
Quarterfinals: 2-0 GWB reanimator
Game 1: he beats down with Restoration Angels, but I eventually stabilize with removal and Olivia. He doesn't find an Angel of Serenity before Olivia kills him.
Game 2: early Slaughter Games on Angel of Serenity shows a hand full of Thragtusks on his side, but my hand of Avengers, Keyrune, and Garruk is well-positioned to grind through it. He gets above 40 life casting and Rites-ing Thragtusks, but can never get through to Garruk and I eventually deplete his beasts.
Semifinals: 1-2 GWB reanimator
Game 1: Olivia steals his first Angel of Serenity and I kill him with it before he finds a second.
Game 2: Couldn't find red mana. Get beaten down by Thragtusks and Garruk beasts with Dreadbores, Huntmaster, and Olivia in hand. Awkward!
Game 3: Couldn't draw my 5th land with Thragtusks and Garruk in hand. My Huntmaster can't hold off Townshipped mana dorks.
Overall deck thoughts: I was pretty happy with how the deck played. Olivia was consistently fantastic in every matchup. Underworld Connections was also awesome in all the grindy Thragtusk on Thragtusk matchups. Likewise, Wolfir Avenger overperformed as a Thrag-proof attacker.
I'm still not happy with the reanimator matchups. It's possible I should have been siding into Rakdos's Returns; they usually boarded out most of their reanimation package and went Tusk/Angel midrange. Maybe going to 4 Severs and some number of Rakdos's Returns would be better than Slaughter Games?
I really enjoyed this list at FNM it seemed to have a good matchup vs the field game 1. I was planning to see a lot of control which I didn't play once but seemed to beat all my bad matchups and lose to the mirror in which I should have won but the mull to 5 really hurt my start. All in all I am not sure I would tweak too much else going forward. Falkenrath did it's work too it should be a 3rd Olivia but I just tried this for fun.
I really enjoyed this list at FNM it seemed to have a good matchup vs the field game 1. I was planning to see a lot of control which I didn't play once but seemed to beat all my bad matchups and lose to the mirror in which I should have won but the mull to 5 really hurt my start. All in all I am not sure I would tweak too much else going forward. Falkenrath did it's work too it should be a 3rd Olivia but I just tried this for fun.
Round 2: Jund Mirror
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Loss)
Game 3: (Loss) (Mull to 5)
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Round 3: Reanimator
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Win)
-
Round 4: Mono Red
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Loss)
Game 3: (Win)
Ok, I'm interested in what went down for the Reanimator win. Was it Frites? Did you just draw the Slaughter Games and shut him down or did you win some other way?
The deck ran fantastically all night. I cut a dragonskull from the deck (i was previously running 25 lands) in hopes of having more aggressive draws and it definitely worked out. 2 Rakdos's Return mainboard really heled as the meta there was nearly entirely midrange and control decks. I didn't see a single zombie deck, which made the Pillars in my sideboard REALLY awkward wastes of space.
Matches
Round 1 U/W aggro.
I was playing against one of the guys i went down to the event with. All of my cards 2 for 1'd him and he lost quite quickly without seeing any geists of st traft.
2-0 / 1-0 overall
Round 2 U/W/R Tempo
Very similar to round one but he saw his geists. Searing spears and snaps made it a rough fight but the quality of my topdecks and thragtusks made the difference.
2-1 / 2-0 overall
Round 3 U/W/R Control
This one was quite a bit tougher. G1 I landed a turn 3 desecration demon and he got hit twice before he hit the Sphere to shut him down. He countered a lot of my stuff with snaps and syncopates, making the round very grindy. G1 took a lot of time but i got it. Game 2 he ended up controlling around a Tamiyo and ulting her the turn after i Rakdos to drop his hand to 0. He then topdecked a devil's play and proceded to win the game quite easily. Game 3 just grinded back adn forth with thragtusks and Sphinx's revelation keeping the life totals high. We hit time and drew.
1-0-1 / 2-0-1 Overall
Round 4 G/W/B/r Midrange
Round 4 was against my 3-0 buddy i rode down to the tournament with. He was running a solid G/W/B midrange list that splashed a couple red shocks he could farseek up with olivia mainboard and bonfires out of the board. Another very grindy game 1 with thragtusks on both sides but we regularly playtest so i know his weakness. I pull game 1 through better topdecks. Game 2 i sided in slaughter games and hit one and a farseek in opening hand a rip all the thragtusks out of his deck. Without thrags he cant withstand the beats that my next turn olivia that just ran the rest of the game.
Round 5 Jund Midrange mirror
We split to confirm both of us into the top 8
0-0-1 / 3-0-2 overall
My buddy i had beated in round 4 went 3-2 but was the one person to make the cut to top 8. Apparently all 5 of his opponents top 8'd so he got pulled to the top of the 3-2's.
Top 8 Quarterfinals Round 1 G/W Midrange
This one was a round i might not have won if not for a play error on his part. We fought back and forth with beats and thrags and we eventally get to the point where hes at 8 and im at 17. He swings for 15 in the air and i choose not to block, as i'd win the next combat in the air and he had no mana up and an arbor elf on the board. He facepalmed. Had he played his temple garden precombat like he had planned to but forgot to he would have selesnya charmed his guy for the +2 damage and the kill. I drop to 2 and he scoops it up. Game 2 was a blowout with me hitting an olivia on 3 and bonfire shortly after to wipe his board while my olivia beat in.
2-0 / 4-0-2 overall
Top 4 Semifinals G/B/W Midrange w/Unburial Rites
Too much to go over. Game one took 35 mins and was a host to a TON of thragtusk and lifegain on his part via vault of the archangel. Garruk and Desecration demon grinded me through it, drawing 6 cards multiple times for me. Game 2 he got after 25 mins on the back of an underworld connections and a vault of the archangel keeping his life total high enough to underworld multiple times off of an arbor elf a turn. Game 3 we grinded back and forth for a long time and he locked his win in with a topdecked unburialy rites late game for an angel of serenity wiping my board and a thragtusk bringing him back from 3 life to 8. I just couldn't push enough damage through after that. Definitely GG.
1-2 / 4-1-2 overall
Very, very fun. The meta has defintely shifted from aggro zombies to midrange and control and i feel itll stay this way for a while. Thragtusks are to much for zombies and rdw to handle, especially when they keep showing back up via resto and unburial rites.
I got my first top 4/ top 8 showing and i got a swaggy pin and playmat to show for it.
JUND REPRESENT!
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First tournament top 8 11/4/12 at the SCG IQ in Santa Cruz!
Ok, so my deck is a slight variation and here goes my report:
I went 3-1 Thursday night.
First deck was a u/w/g aggro style deck using auras, geists, and invisible stalkers. I had a rough start because of a bad hand I should not have kept... I had 2 shocks, a keyrune, thragtusk, abrupt decay, mortars, and olivia. It took me about 3 draws before I got another land and I pretty much fell apart after that. Terrible. By the time I got going he already nearly wasted me with an invisible stalker and 3 rancors on him and a geist in play and etheral armor on the geist.. It seemed his deck was full of hexproof dudes and it hurt a lot.
The second round I kept a hand with 3 lands, a farseek, 2 slaughter games, and an abrupt decay. I drew a keyrune first turn, second turn I drew another farseek. 3rd turn I played slaughter games naming geist and removed his Geists, two of which were in his hand. I drew into an underworld connections and slaughter games, naming invisible stalker. After that the win was easy. I drew into answer after answer, killing anything he played and blocking with a nice fat olivia that was living off a single thragtusk.
3rd round, I was on the draw again, milled to 5, and still didn't draw lands.
Game 2:
g/w/b tokens.
This deck was fast and vicious, but I stabilized fairly quickly. With 2 Deathrite Shamans in play, and holding onto cards that kept destroying or exiling anything he played I made short work out of him. I sided out the two Rak's returns for 2 more Slaughter Games and neutered his deck with taking out serenity, unburial rites, and thragtusk... he didn't last very long.
Game 3:
heavy u/w control
With the 3 abrupt decays, 3 shamans, a slaughter games , and 3 dreadbores, I nullified him. Abrupt Decay on 2 separate D Spheres, slaughter games on supreme verdict, and killing his p/ws with my dreadbores.. Round 2 I put Vraska in, drew her early, did not get her killed, and trampled an assassin for the win.
Game 4:
I hit the mirror. Except my version was able to kill the keyrunes, sever his stuff, and that's all I can remember. My version's better. vraska assassins with trample kills people. Using dreadbore on every threat he played got through. He still couldn't outrun me.
This isn't much of a tournament report, because a lot of the top players were in Dallas at the tournament this weekend... so the field wasn't as crazy.
Round 1:
Bad Human deck 2-0
Not much to say, it was kind of a mediocre aggro deck. Garruk and Mizzium Mortars did a lot of work.
Round 2:
Bad GW/token deck 2-0
This wasn't a horrible deck, it played Smiters and had the regular removal, but didn't play Silverhearts or Paladins or Rancor (unless he just didn't draw them). Instead had a token theme with GW guildmages and such. Olivia saw play both games. Killed a token before eating removal, 2nd game took control of two Smiters and put the game away with them. Olivia saw play in the first round as well... and I've noticed that at least at FNMs it is really effective against those weird decks that just durdle around and can randomly pull match wins out of then air.
Round 3: Bant Midrange 1-1-1
We go back and forth for the first couple of turns... then he drops a Revelation for 7 and I can never recover. This game took a good 30 minutes... about 10 minutes longer than it should've. I probably should've just conceded knowing my chances were slim, but I wasn't completely dead.
Game 2 we play fast... he completely punts the game keeping a 1 land hand after mulling to 6... I keep an opener of Appetite, Appetite, Slaughter Games, Olivia... 2 Appetites hit Tamiyo and Angel of Serenity, Slaughter Games hits the Thragtusk I know is in his hand and the other 3 in the deck. Olivia hits the table and with the help of Wolf Run I win fast.
Game 3 was a weird game. He gets Centaur Healer out and starts putting on beats with I believe 2 Thragtusk. He casts a second Thrag, and I Sever the Bloodline both, and I have to hold back a Thundermaw Hellkite to keep blocking so I don't die. I'm at 3 and I draw Underworld Connections, I stabilize with removal and Hellkite (which he eventually kills)... but I drew Thragtusk (I'm at 1 at this point) before he can draw the game winning Resto Angel. I get in with the Tusk, take 3 from Resto and then kill it with flashback Sever. And try to get in there with Tusk + Wolfrun. At this point time is called. He tries to Verdict and Terminus the same turn to take out the Tusk to try and save the draw... but didn't have the mana. And this is where I messed up. I swung in with the Beast token from Tusk dying, added 11 to it with Wolf Run... he was at 16, this put him down to 2. I completely forgot about the Terminus he misplayed that was in his hand and realized he was going to board wipe again... and I had the Rakdos Keyrune in my hand that I didn't play because I was pumping with Wolf Run. So because of that mistake I got the draw.
Round 4 Bant Midrange 2-1
I forget how I won game 1, but we took a solid 20-25 minutes playing. I remember an Olivia... him having both Jace and Tamiyo on the field at the same time before I did something about it. I remember at some point I took a leap of faith and cast Rakdos Return for 4 and it got through... and then the game just went downhill from there.
Game 2 I kept a hand that was basically a bunch of land and Keyrune and Wolf Run... not the best hand, but not horrible against control on the play. He played a Centaur Healer and just kept beating me in the face for 3. Resto Angel joined in and for whatever reason I just didn't draw the gas to stop that.
Game 3 I kept a hand that was 2 Keyrune and Thragtusk and Sever. He plays two Thrags early. It was a little awkward for me because I could've just Sever'd the Thrags, but I wouldn't be able to block the Beast tokens coming back next turn. So I had to durdle around a bit and eventually I just bit the bullet and did it. I went to 14 next turn before I flashed it back and got the Beast tokens. Now I realize I basically have the game in hand... his board is empty. I have two Keyrunes and a Tusk in hand (which I eventually play). A late Slaughter games hits Sphinx's Revelation because that's really the one card that could beat me in this board state. A Detention Sphere would've done it, but he just didn't have it.
Round 5 1-1-1 intentional draw
Top 8 Red deck wins 2-0
This didn't look like the most effecient RDW deck out there, but it played Zealots, Cacklers, Hellriders, and tons of burn. I win both games on the back of Farseek -> Huntmaster.
We split top 4 because 2 of my friends and some other guy were the other players. Won 34 bucks. I really like that I was able to beat aggro when my deck is more geared toward control. I was fortunate not to face Frites or UWr Midrange... but I got some legit matches in against Bant and am feeling good about how I play against that matchup.
So, this Friday I went 2 -2. I won against a R/B zombies deck (2-1) and a GW aggro-fatty deck (2-1). My losses were against the other Jund Midrange -player (0-2) and another, more aggressive GW deck (1-2).
I didn't tune my deck at all during the week, and some of my losses were due to this. This is the deck I played with:
I had tuned my deck to beat Bant. Last time I played I faced 3 Bant control decks and 1 mirror (before that it was just RB aggro and zombies. My metagame shifts like hell, yeah). Instead, I faced 2 GW decks, 1 Zombie decks and a mirror match.
G1 vs RB zombies
This guy had a really solid zombie deck. I didn't have any VNHs or Pillars in my 75, so the moments he slammed a diregraf ghoul I knew it was going to be a tight game. Game one was nothing special. He slams two Geralf's Messengers, some Gravecrawler and I don't see any Sever the Bloodlines. It was over pretty fast. I was stuck at four mana and manage to play a Huntmaster and a Keyrune, while there were four Thragtusks sitting in my hand. Really! Game 2 went a lot better. I put in all of my Shamans, and see one in my opening hand. He plays his creatures, I remove them, use shaman's abilities and play one Tusk to balance the game for me. He almost got me with two Bump in the Nights with flashback, but the lifegain was too much for him. I attack to the dome and win. Game three he's stuck with two mana. You'd think that's bad news for him, but he actually played a gravecrawler and a total of three Pain Artists. I had to be real careful there. Lucklily for me though, I see a shaman and an Olivia that pings his artists one by one. 2-1 for me.
G2 vs the Mirror
Game one was really funny. He plays Keyrunes that I can't touch, I play a Underworld Connections that sticks. The guy is giving me a real hard time, until I finally can trade my second Keyrune with his second Keyrune. The game had lasted like fifteen turns, and he thought he could Kessig enough damage to close the game. I flash an Avenger during the combat and naysay that. I stabilize off of the CA from UC and start pushing damage. I would have won the game, but he luckily topdecks a Bonfire just in time. Game two is over a lot faster. We both play Connections. I Slaughter Game his Thragtusks and Bonfire of the Damneds. He plays Big Garruk. I Thundermaw it. He plays Vraska and -3's my Hellkite. I overload a Mortars to kill his Beast Tokens. He plays a Rakdos's Return for five damage and kills me. Nothing much to say about the game, fireballs win the mirror games. 0-2
G3 vs GW aggro
Wolfir Silverhearts and Predator Oozes together are a nightmare! I lose game one because I don't see any Sever the Bloodlines. I lose my chance to stabilize because he hastily kills my flipped Garruk. I forgot about the possibility that SRG could kill him. Game two is a lot smoother, I Appetite for Brain his Restoration Angel and kill his lone Wolfir Silverheart, then roll to victory. Game three is over when I try to kill his Wolfir Silverheart with my Vraska. He flashes a RA, the kills me with massive damage. The game was certainly in my favor before that happened. 1-2.
G4 vs GW Midrange. She plays a slightly slower deck with Thragtusk and Armada Wurms. Once again Wolfir Silverhearts are KILLING me. However, I manage to win the last game with super tight play. I'm pretty proud about it. 2-1.
I'm going to take my Mizzium Mortars off and replace them with Ultimate Prices to improve the GW match-up. Wolfir Avengers and Olivia are replaced with a fourth Keyrune, Vraskas, Small Garruk and Big Garruk. I'll also put 2 Golgari Charms for Mirror matches and 3 Pillar of Flames for RB aggro and zombies to the SB.
To start off I live in Austin, I woke up late and made a 3 hour drive in about 2 1/2 hours. I was a little worn already.
Round 1 Frites 0-2
Game 1 D
He turn 1 Drops Faithless Looting dumping Angel and Unburial. Then Salvages Craterhoof and two Lingering Souls. I got a turn 2 Farseek, Turn 3 Huntmaster. He dreadbore's it. I drop Thragtusk, he eventually flashes back both lingering souls, and craterhoofs me and I scooped pre-emptively, forgetting Thragtusk gives me a token.
Game 2 D
I keep a hand of Overgrown Tomb, Kessig Wolf Run, Cavern of Souls, Rakdos Keyrune, Deathrite Shaman, Slaughter Games, Thundermaw Hellkite. The only red mana I produced was with Deathrite for a turn four Slaughter Games, as he Decay'd the keyrune and got there with 3 Centaur Healer and 2 Thragtusk. Should have mulled.
Round 2 Bant 2-0
Game 1 W
Got in Thragtusk on a clear board with Cavern, he tap out to play Tamiyo, I then played Garruk. Next turn drew 5, dreadbore'd and the only counter he had was Syncopate.
Game 2 W
He landed a Sigarda, but Thundermaw races. Got a Garruk after he countered Rakdos's Return and I drew 5. He drew 5 off of Sphinx, Detention'd Tundermaw. I play another Garruk and produced a beast, he plays RestoAngel. He then played Angel of Serenity. And attacked Garruk. At end of his turn I Decay the Sphere and he's at 4.
Round 3 GW Humans
Game 1 W
I got a huntmaster to stick, flip 5 times and land a thragtusk. And had all the removal.
Game 2 D
He got a turn 4 win hand with faith's shield back up.
Game 3 W
Kept a hand of 4 removal and three lands. Nothing lived and then I drop double Thragtusk.
Round 4 Junk Tokens 0-2
I want to start off, I have never played this match up, so I may have misplayed like a beast and honestly all I remember of the match up is that game 2 I had 2 bonfires for 10, A beast token get in for 15 twice and a RR for 9 and he ended with 26 life.
Round 5 Frites 1-2
Game 1 D
He put me on tilt, before the round started or I drew my hand he played a Blood Crypt. I call a judge, I'm a little insulted by this. As the game went on he dropped a Grisslebrand, I kill it. He then calls a judge to ask if he can discard his hand on my turn. Then gets Six Lingerings Souls, the next turn a huntmaster and a flashed back Craterhoof dropping me from 20.
Game 2 W
I get out a turn 1 Deathrite, turn 3 Slaughter Games getting the 2 Thragtusks in his hand (he has 2 Unburial in the grave and instinctively went for them). I remove both his Unburial Rites, as he slaughter games my slaughter games. I drop Thragtusk, he drops huntmaster. I have kessig, and he scoops.
Game 3 D
He again plays a Blood Crypt before I look at my, (once again rationally it doesn't make sense why this pissed me off, but it did. Maybe the long day and no food). I then look at my 7 no land, 6 no land, 5 no land. I storm off.
Round 6 GW Midrange 2-0
Game 1 W
Removal, huntmaster and thrag gets there.
Game 2 W
He drew another slow hand, I'm able to kill everything and drop 3 Thragtusk and a Thundermaw.
Round 7 GW Humans 2-1
Game 1 W
She gets a nutty hand, but 2 Huntmaster and Rakdos Keyrune help me stabilize at 2. She misplayed with a silverblade paladin double striking and rancor'd while I'm at 2 into a raveger of the fells, rakdos keyrune and a wolf token thinking that she still would kill me. I was horribly rude about it and throw her on tilt with calling a Judge. She plays the rancor on her newly played presinct captain, I dreadbore it and Rakdos's Return it out of her hand. And play a second huntmaster and that is all she wrote.
Game 2 D
Got a nut draw of double Silveblade, Thalia and Mayor and I drew slow.
Game 3 W
4 Removal, 3 land snap keep And I get there.
Round 8 2-1
Game 1 D
Had 3 GoST...
Game 2 W
He kept a 2 land hand of Island, Moorland. Manages a turrn 5 GoST because he names cleric with Cavern and Lily takes him out. He then scooped.
Game 3 W
Kept a hand of Bonfire, Rolling Temblor, and Pillar, and Huntmaster. Kept the board clear and killed him.
Match 9 1-2
He got connections games 1 and 3, I got it game 2. And those where the games we won.
Overall I need to play more frites, cool my temper, and play that junk tokens list. I never missed Olivia, I smashed Bant between rounds, and had 50/50 with UW Tempo and UWR America. I just need connections in main, still a strong deck.
First round:
Zombies vs Jund 2/0 sweep
Needless to say Sever the bloodline is one of the most fantastic answers to zombies. And when I couldn't keep them dead olivia kept pinging and/or stealing them. GG It went on that way in both games.
Second Round:
It was some sort of a rakdos vampire deck. 2/0 sweep
It was a good deck, and came very close to beating me the first game, until I was able to keep Olivia in play and start taking his vampires. He was running olivia too so it was a contest. Second round I placed both severs in my deck and pulled out all the stops with all the removal I could get. A third turn slaughter games took out olivia and I was in the free and clear after that.
Third round:
u/w/g humans. 2/1
Game 1, it all came down to the luck of the draw. I had topdecked underworld connections twice and had them both in play and using them to try to find answers to his geist and friends. Olivia came to bat for me as usual and singlehandedly won me the game when I managed to steal his stuff to beat him over the head. Let me say it is very pleasurable to steal his stuff and force him to choose how to deal with it. He played detention spheres twice on olivia and both times I had abrupt decay waiting to sneak in. The second time was during his attack phase and I killed the sphere, brought olivia into play, hit the angel twice, and blocked the geist for the win.
Second round didn't go so well. He had answers to my answers, playing that exalted pro black dude and loading him up with enchantments. I died very quickly. as I never drew a huntmaster or thragtusk the entire round.
Third round, I bluffed him. I started drawing my cards slowly, 1 at a time, and when I had my 4th card I flashed a grin and said I'm keeping this hand and I didn't even know what the last 3 cards were. He mulled twice, didn't get anything good, and I went on playing 4 lands before I played any cards. Geist never showed, nor did anything else. Underworld connections dug me to answers.
Round 4, I played against a g/w aggro deck and I won hands down. 16 spells that kill creatures made sure he never had anything in play for more than a turn and two huntmasters in play constantly flipped back and forth. All in all, really fun.
Won 12 boosters, and got my first bonfire. Though I don't know if it's really needed for the deck.
I enjoyed moderate success yesterday at the FNM. I went 3 - 1, facing BG Zombies (2-1), Bant Enchantment Aggro (0-2), Junk Frites (2-0) and Jund Midrange (2-0).
This was list. I was missing a few Abrupt Decays and Bonfires, otherwise it's a very complete list.
BG Zombies 2-1
The deck's curve ended at 3. It was pretty solid, explosive at best. I win the roll. First game I stomp with T3 Huntmaster, T4 Thragtusk, T5 PM. Second game I keep an iffy hand for the heck of it, while he goes off really fast. Multiple 1-drops. 1-1. Third game is pretty even, I play Tusk and he Blights it. We exchange a lot of resources and the game last long. My life total is somewhere between 2-10 and I always get to recover of a Thragtusk. I Sever his last guy and start pounding him. Overall it was pretty easy match-up, I didn't feel I was in danger of losing the round at any point. 2-1.
Bant Enchantment 0-2
This was infuriating. It was an absolute rogue deck, and he gest nutty hands in both games. I hadn't seen any Geists in my meta, so I didn't have any answers to his hexproofed creatures. All of my removal is useless except for the single Bonfire of the Damned. I win the roll, which isn't much comfort, because I get eaten by an Invisible Stalker and lose T4. Second game I Bonfire his stalker for one damage. It was probably a mistake, because he then draws into a Geist and unloads his enchantments and wins me in two turns. I wasn't happy about this game, I will definitely put Lilianas in my SB for these kind rounds. My playes meant nothing to him.
Junk Frites 2-0
I was super happy about this game, since reanimator is usually a really tough match-up for this deck. I lose the roll, and he starts doing his stuff. Happily for me I draw into a T3 Deathrite Shaman, which completely hoses his deck. He plays nothing except for mana dorks, and I close the game relatively fast. Next game I get two Shamans on the field at the start of the game. I was really confident, until he Severs both. It was really devastating for me. However, I get to play an Underworld Connections that eventually draws me both of my Thundermaw Hellkites. Even though he gets to play Angel of Serenities, I'm able to beat him with tempo:
O: Liliana, disc.
M: Thundermaw Hellkite, kill Liliana.
O: Reanimate Angel, snap Thundermaw and my Thragtusk and his from the Grave.
M: Draw into Second Thundermaw off the UC, Ultimate Price his Angel on his turn. Slam Thundermaw Hellkite, opponent at 7.
0: Hardcast AoS, snap Hellkite
M: Activate keyrune, slam Thundermaw Hellkite with the remaining mana and attack for game.
Mirror match, 2-0
I've played against him twice before, I'm not going to dive into this game because we know what our decks do. Long story short, game one I draw five with Garruk + Thragtusk and exhaust him, game two I play two UCs, one sticks, I empty his hand with RR for three and win the game after that. I drew better this time.
The reason for the main decked Duress and Ultimate Price is because the night before, at FNM, I got royally trounced by UW-Flash. So instead of trying to rework the mana-base to fit in Caverns and try to figure out the creature base, I just did a swap. I know I should have thought it more through, but whatever.
Round 1: Faced Grixis control with white.
Those Duresses main got rid of Detention Spheres and counterspells. Eventually, Rakdos's Return put him in top-deck mode. Garruk went all the way with the beasts.
Get turn 3 UC, turn 4 UC, that for some demented did not get countered. I get hit with a Rakdos's Return that eliminates my hand. This results in my friend snickering and asking me how that felt. I return the favour, and he goes 'oh boy, top deck mode', while I just point out that I have 2 UC's out. The look of horror on his face was priceless. HE is in top-deck mode, I'm trading away life for more power. I land Thragtusk, beat face for a couple of turns until Tamiyo shows up and taps him down. Out comes Garruk on my side and the beasts start beating him up. Sorin puts out a chump blocker, but hey, look, Rakdos's Return #2 shows up and I burn him out for lethal.
1-0
Round 2: GW aggro.
Game 1: Well, crap. I miss Pillar of Flame already. His deck does its thing and beats my face in. Loxodon Smiters with Rancors HURT.
Game 2: Take out 2 Rakdos's Return, 3 Rakdos Keyrune. Add 1 Golgari Charm, 2 Dreadbore, 2 Sever.
My early removal slows him down enough until Olivia shows up and takes control of the game. Olivia, how I love thee in this match-up. DIE YOU FILTHY HUMAN SCUM!
Game 3: He gets the nuts. I die before I make my fourth land drop. Well, that was quick. Painful, but quick.
1-1
Round 3.
Game 1: The first thing I do is lay down a Shock Land and pass. He lays down Hallowed Fountain. I did NOT want to be facing UW-Flash in the X-1 bracket, so I was praying he was playing Bant Control. I Duress him....yep, UW-Flash. UGH. Duress worked overtime in this match-up, and I managed to resolve a Rakdos's Return against him which made me be able to resolve everything I needed while he's crippled. I wound up bashing face with my armada. I kept killing his EOT Restos with Ultimate Price, which was pretty good
Game 2: I keep a 1 green land, 2 Farseek hand with 2 Duress....My deck decides to be a jackass and not provide me land. Duress on turn 2 reveals 2 Resto Angels..........and the one on turn 3 shows THREE. I silently wish that I had access to Thoughtseize in this format. ANYWAY.......my second land came out far too late and he stabilized. UC's did not fill me hand with enough gas to punch through. So at one life, I decide to UC and die to go to game 3.
Game 3: Same thing as game 1, but he was more prepared for me, although I think me doing silly things like giving some of his unblocked creatures trample and me killing myself game 2 threw him off his game. I dragged the game on forever, I landed both my UC's against him. I manage to stick 2 Thragtusks on the field, and a Duress -> Rakdos's Return saves the day, albeit temporarily. He lands Resto, then Runechanter's pike. I think the fact that I just wouldn't die threw him off his game a bit.........and after I checked his graveyard with no relevant countermagic and he had only 3 cards, 2 of which I knew of, I formulated a plan: I need to find a Duress, Bonfire his board out of the way then bash in for lethal. I me using UC's to wild abandon. I finally get the Duress at 1 life, and just go for it. He has 3 cards in hand. He Snapcasters in response to cast Dispel.......F!@#!@%!.....wait, no, Dispel only hits Instants....YAY! I play Bonfire, and he Restoration Angels, targetting Snap, targetting Sphinx for 6.......but I wipe his board, and kill him when he's tapped out. He told me after the game that the fact that I would just not die and I fought him tooth and nail kinda threw him off his game.
I did notice that in this game I was also trying to control what he was going to counter by essentially playing a creature I didn't really care about (Huntmaster) then dumping it in the yard right away, just to bait out his counters so I can stick my flyers. Plus doing some goofy things like giving his creatures trample with Kessig might have gotten into his head. Cheap? Probably.
2-1
Round 4: 4-colour Rites.
Game 1: It is wonderful seeing a reanimated Griselbrand on turn 4 against you with with 2 more Unburial Rites in the yard. I don't have enough removal to keep him at bay, let alone Angel of Serenity shenanigans that deck is capable of doing, so I scoop.
Game 2: Remove 2 Bonfire, 1 Huntmaster, 2 Rakdos's Return, 3 Rakdos Keyrune. Bring in 2 Dreadbore, 2 Ground Seal, 2 Rakdos Charm, 2 Sever The Bloodline.
He tries to do the same nonsense as before, dumping as much as he can into his graveyard. He tries to Unburial Rites Angel (I think), but he walks right into Rakdos charm, so no more graveyard. Got rid of 3 Unburial Rites this way, plus half his creatures. VALUE. He has one card in hand, and he can't recover and keep up with Thragtusk beats.
Game 3: I land Ground Seal on turn 3 which forces him to change plans, but he is better prepared at playing fair now (you know, hardcast creatures instead of reanimating them). Olivia lands, machine guns the world. I was also sandbagging an Ultimate Price and Sever the Bloodline for his Angel, so I eventually get there.
3-1
Round 5: Mirror.
Damn, I knew coming in I did not want to face the mirror. I'm not great at mirror matches, plus I knew my build was weaker in the mirror. Ah well.
Game 1: He stumbles on mana, take his Rakdos's Return away via Duress, play my own, Bonfire his board, land Olivia and Hellkite and Garruk, much to his chagrin. He Bonfires my board (non-miracle) to kill all the beast tokens, but Olivia + Hellkite = win.
Game 2: Took out the Nighthawks, brought in Dreadbores. Mulling hurts, plus he lands and Olivia which completely takes over the game. Olivia feeds on my creatures and grows bigger. So any creature at this point is going to die a horrible, horrible death to the evil pale redhead. Well, at least today I've learned what it's like to get Rakdos Returned, and what it's like to have my board be at the mercy of a flying Vampiress.
Game 3: He stumbles a bit on mana, which allows me to go over the top with Olivia. Miracle Bonfire his board away (2 Huntmasters, I think). I land Garruk and Thragtusks and Hellkites. And much violence was brought.
Round 6: GW-Humans.
Game 1: Same thing as Round 2. Beats after beats after beats.
Game 2: I side in all my removal. Take out Rakdos's Return and Keyrunes. Hell, Golgari charm works here too. I forgot how I sideboarded here, to be honest.
All I remember is that I was killing everything that landed, then landed Huntmasters to stabilize, then beat people to death with it.
Game 3: Unlike Round 2 Game 3 where I get demolished, I managed to keep him at bay and then after trading and killing most of his creatures, Ravager of the Fells + Kessig seals the deal for me.
5-1
Round 7. UW-Aggro. God dammit, why can't I play some stupid durdly control deck where I can smash their face in?
Game 1: Sublime Archangels keep coming out of his deck! The pain, oh the pain!
Game 2: Golgari Charm did so much work in this game it wasn't funny. It sometimes turned out to be a 3-for-1, which was nice. Also, blocking a 3/3 with a 2/2 wolf token and then Golgari Charming after combat is a nice way to kill things.
Game 3: All I have to say is I ****ING PUNTED BY PLAYING THE WRONG LAND ON TURN 2, which meant I couldn't kill his Champion Of The Parish in time, which then degenerated into me dying in epic fashion. I essentially snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
5-2
ID round 8 to get into top 32. My tie-breakers are horrible (my first 3 opponents all dropped) so I don't think I could have made top 16 if I had beaten him anyway, so whatever. I discuss what would have happened with my opponent had we played.....he was on UWR control...I probably would have beaten him was I not dead tired, and I don't think either one of us would have made top 16 with a win due to our horrible tie-breakers.
I stick around for prize money and stuff, and my friend is 5-1-1 at this point and playing the last round. Unfortunately he lost.
5-2-1
Got a nice playmat and 50$ for my troubles.
Some notes:
1. Yes, I am weak in the mirror. I know this.
2. Yes, I know I have to rework the deck again. I know this as well.
3. The Keyrune was great in the control match up and the mirror, but was taken out against aggro where I need more removal and ways to survive.
4. The charms are sick. Golgari Charm was my swiss army knife of the day.
5. Nighthawk has gotten me out of way too many binds in this Standard (and the last time it was in the format) for me to get rid of. Oh, and I did Vampire + Kessig a couple of times that day. So much fun.
6. I want Thoughtseize in this format.
@INF: I see that there is a thread about Knight of Infamy, and hearing a lot of recent tournament reports makes me wonder if it should see play in the side as a 2 or 3 of. I've been fortunate enough to only have to play one official match against GW (I need more practice against it) and it seems like a coinflip to me. Because if they get the nuts hand or if I get a particularly slow hand, they win. But if I can land a turn 3 threat and have some removal to back it up... maybe getting lucky and getting Sever in as a 2 for 1... then usually I win.
It seems like if you sometimes had Knight of Infamy in those situations, you could just block their Paladin all day. And the same thing goes for Giest decks. You could block Giest all day and they can't charm him.
It seems like if you sometimes had Knight of Infamy in those situations, you could just block their Paladin all day. And the same thing goes for Giest decks. You could block Giest all day and they can't charm him.
I am willing to try Knight Of Infamy somewhere in the 75 somewhere in the 75, but I think it's a more narrow meta call than some of my other choices.
What did you think of the deck? And how would you add Cavern of Souls in the list?
This deck is basically a 60-card version of an RTR draft deck with a few things like Searing Spear and Bump in the Night thrown in. Not much to say here as I was able to Sever three Rakdos Cacklers in Game 2. Easy round.
Sideboard: Nothing as all I saw Game 1 was two Splatter Thugs and some burn.
Round 2 vs. B/R Vampires
This person is a very casual player, but it definitely can surprise. It uses Nocturnus, Nighthawk, Blood Artist, and Falkenrath Aristocrat with a suite of removal. Game 1 he had me close to death until I was able to Mizzium Mortars his Blood Artist and attack for the win. I was at 4 but could not profitably attack because of the Artist, but he had to block all of my creatures or else he would die, so I went in for the kill the next turn. Game 2 he didn't draw but two threats and I curved out perfectly with Deathrite Shaman into Farseek into Huntmaster into Thragtusk.
All the rest of the games are against really good players.
Round 3 vs. Selesnya Aggro
Sigarda is scary. I'll just put it at that. Game 1 a Rancored double strike Sigarda flew over for the win on his side. Game 2 I rolled over him as he only got one major threat to stick, a Silverblade Paladin, and by that time I had a Huntmaster and Thundermaw out, and he only had a mana dork to pair with. Game 3 was looking to be similar to Game 1 but I stabilized with my own Thundermaw against his Sigarda. This game ended with a topdecked Rakdos's Return for 10.
This was an interesting deck to play against. It uses Geist of Saint Traft and Invisible Stalker in combination with Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Ethereal Armor, Crippling Blight, Spectral Flight, and a few other one-drop enchantments to make some scary, hard-to-block creatures. I feel lucky to win this round as first game he got manascrewed. Second game I lost to a flying, double-strike, 6/6 Geist of Saint Traft. I had tried to overload Mortars to take it out but of course he had the counter. Third game the board was a loggerjam with him only being one point out of range of killing me. Topdeck Rakdos's Return again for the win. Sometimes having an X burn spell is helpful.
Sideboard: -2 Sever the Bloodline, -4 Dreadbore, +1 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Thundermaw Hellkite, +2 Slaughter Games, +2 Abrupt Decay
Round 5 vs. Selesnya Aggro
This deck was very popular last night as four people were playing it. Game 1 was very quick as I Mizzium Mortars his unpaired Wolfir Silverheart and Abrupt Decayed his Silverblade, and he had no more threats. Game 2 he was able to use Gavony Township to full effect as he had a 3/3 Avacyn's Pilgrim paired with a 4/4 Silverblade Paladin. He then threw a Rancor down on each of them and it was lights out. Game 3 I believe he kept a sketchy hand as his only threat was Wolfir Silverheart, which immediately met a Dreadbore.
Sideboard: -1 Underworld Connections, -3 Rakdos Keyrune, -2 Sever the Bloodline, +4 Pillar of Flame, +2 Abrupt Decay
Please include what kind of event it was, game/match results for every round, and the deck/play quality of your opponents. Also, it would be helpful if you could explain how you sideboarded for each match.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Round 1 - BG Zombies 2-0
Round 2 - Junk Tokens 0-2
Round 3 - BR Aggro 2-0
Round 4 - BR Aggro 2-0
Round 5 - UW Control 0-2
Overall I did as well as I expected, however detention sphere gave me fits all night, so I'm going to need some enchantment removal somewhere in my 75. Here is how I sideboarded every match -
R1: didn't sideboard, he only had one land and a slitherhead game 1.
R2: -3 pillar, -1 dead weight, +1 appetite, +1 sever, +2 duress
R3: -1 appetite, +1 pillar
R4: same as Round 3
R5: -1 garruk, -1 dead weight, -3 pillar, -2 sever, -1 mizzium mortars +2 liliana, +1 appetite, +1 deathrite shaman, +2 duress, +2 slaughter games,
(246-174-26)
I would suggest Vraska, the Unseen. It can kill both PWs and D-Spheres, even more than once, and commands a 2-for-1, which is great.
Youtube Channel
3 Borderland Ranger
3 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Thragtusk
2 Olivia Voldaren
2 Desecration Demon
Planeswalkers
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Vraska the Unseen
Spells
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Dreadbore
1 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Farseek
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Rakdos Keyrune
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Pillar of flame
2 Appetite for Brains
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Underworld Connections
2 Golgari Charm
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Slaughter Games
2 Abrupt Decay
I went 3-0 and drew into top 4 where we split for prize.
Round 1 was against U/B control (2-1). Delvers and Jace with Tribute, Tragic Slips, and Mutilate backup hampered me but i powered through it.
Sideboard:
-3 Pillar of Flame -2 Borderland Ranger -1 Mizzium Mortars
+2 Slaughter Games +2 Sever the Bloodline +2 Underworld Connections
Round 2 was against Band Aggro/Tempo (2-0). Delver and various tokens with Pike and bounce backed by azorius and selesnya charms made for a tough matchup. I won off the back of a pair of Huntmasters that flipped a couple times each.
Sideboard:
-3 Pillar of Flame -1 Mizzium Mortars
+2 Sever the Bloodline +2 Abrupt Decay
Round 3 was against Esper Control (2-1). This was a pain. Jace, Delver, and Angel of Serenity looping made game 1 a grind. He eventually got game 1 and we went to sideboard and Slaughter Games for AoS on turn 5 snatched his main win condition. Deathrite Shaman and Underworld Connections grinded out the victory.
Sideboard:
-3 Pillar of Flame -3 Mizzium Mortars -2 Rakdos Keyrune
+2 Deathrite Shaman +2 Underworld Connections +2 Slaughter Games +2 Sever the Bloodline
Round 4 was the draw out for top 4 but we played it out anyways. He was playing Jund Zombies. It went awesomely. A pillar on 1 stalled until i dropped Thragtusk on 4 and mizzium mortars on 5. He had no gas after that. He said after that game that he wouldn't have stood a chance against me and he was glad that we drew into top 4.
I feel that i could have done fantastic against the people that made it into the top 4 but my ride had to be up early and couldn't stay so I opted to split.
The deck ran great. The only changes I might make is trying to squeeze at least a singleton Underworld Connections into the mainboard. It performed VERY well every time it saw play. I only stumbled on mana once for a Garruk (stuck on GG instead of GGG) in all the games i played. Plenty of fixing and duals makes the manabase very solid. I may also try Golgari Keyrune of Rakdos, or perhaps a 1-1 split. I did pull the pillars every game, but they are essential against zombies and RDW game 1 and i couldn't afford to cut them.
My decks
Top 4 (4th) SCG IQ 11/4/12
2 Borderland Ranger
2 Disciple of Bolas
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
Spells
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
2 Garruk Relentless
1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Pillar of Flames
2 Rakdos Keyrune
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Sever the Bloodline
4 Blood Crypt
2 Forest
2 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Mountain
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
1 Stensia Bloodhall
1 Swamp
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Pillar of Flame
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Sever the Bloodline
3 Slaughter Games
1 Stensia Bloodhall
2 Underworld Connections
I went 3-1-1 in the Swiss.
Match 1 vs Grixis Control 2-0
Game One I curved into T4 Thrag -> Disciple -> Return for 5, and he scooped.
Game 2 he ultimate Tamiyo, but I had double Bloodhall and he couldn't deal with it.
Match 2 vs Rakdos Wins 1-0,
He got a game loss for having 14 SB cards. I get turn 3 Liliana, Turn 4 Rakdos's Return. He scooped as well.
Match 3 vs Bant Control 0-2
Both games he ultimated Tamiyo and I never got my draw online.
Match 4 vs Bant Control 1-1-1
Game one he got mana scrwed, game two I got mana flooded, had him at 2 with Bloodhall. Game 3 I ultimated Lily twice and was mana flooded, but he had nothing and it went into turns.
Match 5 vs 5c Control 2-0
Game one Thrag + Disciple was broken. Game 2 did the same thing, but with 3 slaughter games ruining his plan.
Top 8
Played against UW Humans, I had never lost a game to the deck. I thought he was play a bant control deck so I kept a slow hand and payed the price. Game two I had all of the removal and stabilized with Keyrune. Game 3 I mulled to 5 kept a hand of Thrag, HMotF, BotD and 2 lands. I got mana screwed while he was at 2 lands and he played everything.
Over all Bloodhall is a must in a control laden meta, steals games. Disciple was amazing, Liliana just wrecks most plans, sure Smiter and Gravecrawler might sting, but we have the resources to deal with it. I was almost ready to switch to something else seeing how everyone in my meta is control, but after today I'm sticking with it.
3 Thragtusk
2 Bloodline Keeper
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Vraska the Unseen
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Sever the Bloodline
4 Pillar of Flame
2 Rakdos's Return
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Farseek
3 Dreadbore
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Mountain
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Golgari Charm
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Dreadbore
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Slaughter Games
Match 1: G/W stuff.
New player, not very familiar with the game, no interactions. 2-0.
Match 2: Bant control.
Game 1 was a stalemate, with both parties packing more answers than threats and holding the correct answers at the correct times. I won because my opponent drew off of Sphinx's revelation and decked out.
Game 2 was a turn 4 slaughter games from me, naming Angel of Serenity, since that is the biggest board swing the opponent could play. I managed to hit an angel in his hand, and then resolve a Rakdos's Return for his entire hand. He was unable to answer my Thragtusk in topdeck mode.
Match 3: Bant midrange
Game 1 was incredibly long, with both players going over 30 life. Eventually I won the board with 2-for-1s and a giant Rakdos's return for X=16.
Game 2 I resolved slaughter games again, naming angel of serenity, since the opponent kept double land off of turn 4 jace. His hand was land, land, dissipate, angel. He then jaces again, keeping dissipate thragtusk over tamiyo and tapping out for Tusk. I rakdos away his hand and win the rest of the game off of 2 tusks and a keyrune.
Match 4: Esper control ft. drownyards
Game 1 was drawn out, but he ran out of answers for my resolved huntmaster and was unable to race me with drownyard. I had about 20 cards left in my library at the end of the game.
Game 2 he took a mulligan to 5 and was unable to answer my threats again. Huntmaster was an all star in this game too.
Match 5: UW Humans
Game 1 he lost to huntmaster flips and removal. I don't believe he had a mainboard answer to huntmaster that wasn't "force the opponent to block"
Game 2 he had a nuts start with 12 power over 4 creatures on turn 3: Silverblade + War Falcon, War Falcon, Champion. I play golgari charm on his attack step for the blowout, reducing a 12 damage attack to 2. I then proceed to stabilize with 2 thragtusks and take the game.
3x wolfir avenger
2x borderland ranger
4x huntmaster of the fells
3x olivia voldaren
3x thragtusk
1x wolfir silverheart
1x garruk, primal hunter
4x farseek
3x pillar of flame
2x abrupt decay
2x dreadbore
2x bonfire of the damned
2x sever the bloodline
4x woodland cemetery
3x rootbound crag
2x blood crypt
5x forest
2x mountain
2x swamp
2x kessig wolf run
2x appetite for brains
1x pillar of flame
2x slaughter games
2x rakdos's return
2x golgari charm
2x rakdos charm
2x acidic slime
2x curse of deaths hold
The humans and gw aggro matches came down to removing their threats and dragging the game out eventually running them over, fairly easy wins. Jund mirror was super grindy and it basically came down to who topdecked the rakdos's return or bonfire first. I had kessig wolf run in play last match and it was able to get me there.
Bant control was pretty rough. Sweepers, charms, and counterspells made keeping a threat out pretty difficult. Also tamiyo, entreat, jace, sphinx's revelation, and thragtusk all blew me out.
My sideboard needs work.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=10770
Read about the matches here. ^
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Creatures [15]
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Vampire Nighthawk
Spells [20]
3 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Pillar of Flame
2 Rakdos Keyrune
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Sever the Bloodline
4 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Forest
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Mountain
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Rootbound Crag
2 Swamp
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Appetite for Brains
2 Blasphemous Act
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Golgari Charm
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Slaughter Games
2 Underworld Connections
Here is his sideboarding guide, listed in the first comment on the article:
G/B Zombies-
-2 Rakdos's Return.
-1 Garruk, Primal Hunter.
+2 Golgari Charm.
+1 Sever the Bloodline.
B/R Zombies
-2 Rakdos's Return.
-1 Garruk, Primal Hunter.
-1 Farseek
-1 Thundermaw Hellkite.
+2 Deathrite Shaman.
+2 Golgari Charm.
+1 Sever the Bloodline.
The difference between the two plans is Shaman against B/R, simply because if we untap with him he can pick up at least 2-6 life for us. G/B Zombies is just strictly worse against us since they completely lack the reach to kill us after we kill their first two guys.
Bant Control, U/W/x Control.
-4 Pillar of Flame.
-2 Mizzium Mortars.
-2 Olivia Voldaren.
-2 Vampire Nighthawk.
+2 Slaughter Games (Naming Sphinx's Revelation 90% of the time).
+2 Appetite for Brains.
+2 Underworld Connections.
+2 Liliana of the Viel.
+2 Golgari Charm.
If Bant boards into Sigarda and you're that terrified of it, -1 Liliana +1 Blasphemous Act.
W/x Aggro
-2 Rakdos's Return.
-1 Mizzium Mortars.
-1 Garruk, Primal Hunter (Unless they are G/W Aggro).
-2 Farseek (-1 on the play.
+2 Blasphemous Act.
+1(2) Appetite for Brains.
+1 (2) Golgari Charm.
Frites
-4 Pillar of Flames.
-2 Vampire Nighthawk.
-3 Mizzium Mortars.
-1 Rakdos's Return.
+2 Underworld Connections.
+2 Slaughter Games.
+2 Deathrite Shaman.
+1 Sever the Bloodline.
+2 Appetite for Brains.
+1 Golgari Charm (If you see or suspect O-Ring).
OR
+1 Liliana of the Veil (Mostly for the Sac ability.)
Mirror Match
-3 Pillar of Flame.
-3 Mizzium Mortars.
-2 Vampire Nighthawk.
+2 Underworld Connections.
+2 Appetite for Brains.
+2 Liliana of the Veil.
+2 Golgari Charm.
I like leaving in at least 1 Pillar of Flame as an answer to Huntmaster. The Charm is awesome because it lets us win combat situations, and in some occasions, gives us the opportunity to kill an animated Keyrune as well as taking out their Underworld Connections.
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Olivia Voldaren
3 Rakdos Keyrune
4 Thragtusk
Planeswalker
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Liliana of the Veil
Spells
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Searing Spear
2 Underworld Connections
4 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
2 Forest
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Stensia Bloodhall
1 Swamp
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Deathrite Shaman
3 Duress
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
3 Pillar of Flame
1 Rakdos's Return
3 Slaughter Games
1 Vraska the Unseen
Match 1 Jund Midrange 2-0
He played a more midrange list, I was on the draw both games and I drowned him in card advantage. I got Underworld on both games, and Lily in game one and he could never top deck out.
Match 2 Jund Midrange 0-2
Both games I got Lily and Underworld out sent him into top deck mode and killing him slowly with Bloodhall when he top decked Hellkite game one, and Rakdos's Return (for 10) game two for the win.
Match 3 GW Aggro 2-0
Game one, surprisingly, was one by Rakdos's Return and Lily. Kept his board clear of threats, discard his hand with return and with Lily killed that silly Smiter. Game 2 was Olivia's show, she owned everything, well except that Sigarda.
Match 4 Esper Control 2-1
I can't sing enough praises about Lily, Return, and Bloodhall. Only game two was taken by Witchbane Orb.
Here's what i ran:
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Woodland Cemetery
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Stensia Bloodhall
1 Forest
1 Mountain
Creatures (13)
3 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
2 Vraska the Unseen
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Removal (8)
3 Dreadbore
4 Pillar of Flame
1 Abrupt Decay
Sweepers (4)
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Sever the bloodline
Utilities(6)
4 Farseek
1 Underworld Connections
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Golgari Charm
1 Rakdos's Return
3 Slaughter Games
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Underworld Connections
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Rakdos's Return
Match 1: Epic Experiment 1-0
Game 1: He got mana flooded with nothing but 1 Increasing Devotion that i wiped right away with Bonfire
Game 2: Turn 3 slaughter games naming Epic experiment: Conceded.
Match 2: GB Control 2-0
Game 1: He surprise me with T4 and T5 Desecration Demon. Got olivia and stabilize/win with her at 2 life.
Game 2: T3 Huntmaster (flipping on his turn) and killing his treats as they spawn was too much for him.
Match 3: Selesnya Aggro 3-0
Game 1: She curved with T1 Dork, T2 Loxodon, T3 Rancor+Silverblade. Nut draw his nut ...
Game 2: Close match, thragtusk to stabilize is awsome and Olivia just finish the job.
Game 3: Clogged board full of creatures on both side. Miracled a huge bonfire of 18 ftw.
Match 4: GB Zombies 4-0
Game 1: Opening has Blood Crypt and 3 pillar, nuf said.
Game 2: Didnt remember this match, i was gettin tired ... i won btw.
Match 5: UW Aggro 4-1
Game 1: T3 GoST, T4 Spectral, swing for 8, i never recover...
Game 2: Won with VNH + Kessig WR to race his GoST.
Game 3: He used Swift justice on GoST to Kill my VNH and survive. Had a Bonfire in hand and 4 land on board, never found my 5th land to wipe his board.
Finally, great match up. The last match was just unlucky for me. His deck was a budget weenie splashing blue for GoST but he just draw em every game...
Im thinking to cut a Pillar and throw Sever the bloodline to SB to include Keyrune as they seemed to rock. My local meta doesnt have much zombies anyway.
3 Rakdos Keyrune
Creatures
4 Huntmaster Of The Fells
3 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
2 Vampire Nighthawk
Instant
1 Abrupt Decay
Planeswalkers
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Vraska The Unseen
Sorceries
2 Bonfire Of The Damned
3 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
3 Pillar Of Flame
2 Rakdos's Retrn
1 Sever The Bloodline
3 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Craig
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Golgari Charm
2 Ground Seal
3 Liliana Of The Veil
1 Pillar Of Flame
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Sever The Bloodline
2 Underworld Connections
2 Vampire Nighthawk
Took this to a WNM and came in second (3-0-1) out of 45 people.
Here is the general tournament report. I lost all die rolls.
Round 1: Rakdos Aggro
Game 1: His deck brings the violence against me, but I manage to stabilize with Huntmasters to gain life. A well timed Rakdos's Return stalls him long enough that my Thragtusks make it impossible for him to win.
Game 2: Side out Vraskas, 1 Rakdos's Return, add in the extra Pillar and Nighthawks.
He manages to deal me a lot more damage this time around, due to a mistake he made (he Tragic slipped my Keyrune AFTER it killed his Gravecrawler, which allowed me to top deck Thragtusk and win).
Round 2: My buddy with Rakdos Aggro. He's a good player.
Game 1: His deck does not go off as fast as it normally does, and eventually I manage to control the board. He does not kill of a flipped Garruk, which resulted in me getting Huntmaster as well as Thragtusk in the same turn. He shakes his head realizing that he forgot about that, so he scoops.
Game 2: Same as Round 1.
I mull to 6, keep an okay hand (Pillar, Farseek, Olivia, 3 lands). Pillar his Geralf's Messenger. He Appetite For Brains Olivia away...........and then my deck does its thing and draws nothing but gas. He cannot keep up with my creatures, and I burn him out with Rakdos's Return
Game 3: UWR miracles.
Game 1: I don't remember much about this match. He misses a couple of land drops, I Farseek like a champ and I pretty much kick his head in. My deck came out like boss.
Game 2: Take out Pillars, added in Lilly. I missed a land drop, which allowed him to stabilize, and eventually he gets Tamiyo Emblem. Lilly was pretty useless against him. Tamiyo Emblem + a counterspell = me dead.
Game 3: We get called to time after my second turn. Neither one of us could kill the other in time, so we got a draw.
Game 4: Esper control
Game 1: He misses land drops, can't do anything. I bait his counterspells with a Nighthawk (when I had Kessig out), land a Thragtusk and win.
Game 2: Take out Pillars, add 1 Golgari Charm and 2 Underworld Connections. He draws better, but I run him out of counterspells, land a fatty, land Garruk, kill his Desecration Demon, and then I land Connections to draw a lot more than he does. Rakdos's Return seals the deal again.
2 Deathrite Shaman
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Wolfir Avenger
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
Planeswalkers
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Enchantments
2 Underworld Connections
Artifacts
2 Rakdos Keyrunes
Spells
4 Farseek
3 Dreadbore
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Sever the Bloodline
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Woodland Cemetary
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
5 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Pillar of Flame
3 Slaughter Games
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Rolling Temblor
3 Victim of Night
Round 1: 2-0 UWR tempo (my wife!)
Game 1: she slows me down for a while, but never draws a threat. Eventually Huntmasters and Thragtusks grind through her removal.
Game 2: perfect hand with ramp into threats lets me play around Syncopate and keep ample blockers for her Geist.
Round 2: 2-1 Esper tokens
Game 1: very grindy game, but I have Dreadbores for his planeswalkers while he has no answers to my Garruk or Underworld Connections. Eventually run him out of Souls.
Game 2: don't remember exactly what happened. I think I couldn't answer multiple early Restoration Angels.
Game 3: kill him with Wolf Run backing Keyrunes and Avengers that he can't effectively block or Verdict.
Round 3: 0-2 Frites
Game 1: turn 1 Deathrite Shaman on my side locks him out of the game for a while. I deal some damage, he plays some Thragtusks. Eventually he hard-casts an Angel of Serenity, eating my Deathrite. I have the Sever and replay the Deathrite, but while it's summoning sick he Salvages into another Angel to reanimate.
Game 2: turn 1 Deathrite Shaman again, backed up by Slaughter Games on Angel of Serenity. He Severs my Shaman. I have the second in hand, but while it's summoning sick he Mulches into Griselbrand. I kill it on my next turn, but I can't keep up with the 7 cards he draws.
Round 4: 2-1 Wu humans
Game 1: he goes all in on a Spectral Flight + Bonds of Faith'ed Elite Inquisitor after I clog up the ground with Huntmaster. I have the Abrupt Decay and Huntmasters clean up the rest of his team.
Game 2: I mulligan to 5, keeping a 1-lander with 2 Farseeks. I never draw the second land and die quickly.
Game 3: He mulligans to 5 and can't put any pressure on me.
Round 5: 2-0 BG zombies
Game 1: Strangleroots trade with all his guys, Olivia shuts the game down.
Game 2: Same as game 1, but a Blood Artist makes it close.
Quarterfinals: 2-0 GWB reanimator
Game 1: he beats down with Restoration Angels, but I eventually stabilize with removal and Olivia. He doesn't find an Angel of Serenity before Olivia kills him.
Game 2: early Slaughter Games on Angel of Serenity shows a hand full of Thragtusks on his side, but my hand of Avengers, Keyrune, and Garruk is well-positioned to grind through it. He gets above 40 life casting and Rites-ing Thragtusks, but can never get through to Garruk and I eventually deplete his beasts.
Semifinals: 1-2 GWB reanimator
Game 1: Olivia steals his first Angel of Serenity and I kill him with it before he finds a second.
Game 2: Couldn't find red mana. Get beaten down by Thragtusks and Garruk beasts with Dreadbores, Huntmaster, and Olivia in hand. Awkward!
Game 3: Couldn't draw my 5th land with Thragtusks and Garruk in hand. My Huntmaster can't hold off Townshipped mana dorks.
Overall deck thoughts: I was pretty happy with how the deck played. Olivia was consistently fantastic in every matchup. Underworld Connections was also awesome in all the grindy Thragtusk on Thragtusk matchups. Likewise, Wolfir Avenger overperformed as a Thrag-proof attacker.
I'm still not happy with the reanimator matchups. It's possible I should have been siding into Rakdos's Returns; they usually boarded out most of their reanimation package and went Tusk/Angel midrange. Maybe going to 4 Severs and some number of Rakdos's Returns would be better than Slaughter Games?
FNM: 3-1
5th place out of 18.
3 Rakdos Keyrune
Creatures
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Legendary Creatures
2 Olivia Voldaren
Instants
2 Abrupt Decay
Planeswalker
2 Liliana of the Veil
Sorceries
3 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Sever the Bloodline
3 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Woodland Cemetery
1 Ultimate Price
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Appetite for Brains
1 Dreadbore
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Slaughter Games
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Underworld Connections
Round 1: UW Aggro
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Loss)
Game 3: (Win)
Round 2: Jund Mirror
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Loss)
Game 3: (Loss) (Mull to 5)
-
Round 3: Reanimator
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Win)
-
Round 4: Mono Red
Game 1: (Win)
Game 2: (Loss)
Game 3: (Win)
WUBRGProgenitus
BGWUAtraxa, Praetors' Voice
BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores
BGRKresh, The Bloodbraided
BWRKaalia of the Vast
RWUShu Yun, The Silent Tempest
BUGrimgrin, The Corpse-Born
RDaretti, Scrap Savant
Ok, I'm interested in what went down for the Reanimator win. Was it Frites? Did you just draw the Slaughter Games and shut him down or did you win some other way?
2 Borderland Ranger
3 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Olivia Voldaren
2 Desecration Demon
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
Spells
4 Farseek
3 Dreadbore
1 Underworld Connections
2 Sever the Bloodline
3 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Rakdos Keyrune
Planeswalkers
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Lands
4 Overgrown Cemetary
4 Woodland Cemetary
4 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Golgari Charm
2 Slaughter Games
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Curse of Death's Hold
4 Pillar of Flame
The deck ran fantastically all night. I cut a dragonskull from the deck (i was previously running 25 lands) in hopes of having more aggressive draws and it definitely worked out. 2 Rakdos's Return mainboard really heled as the meta there was nearly entirely midrange and control decks. I didn't see a single zombie deck, which made the Pillars in my sideboard REALLY awkward wastes of space.
Matches
Round 1 U/W aggro.
I was playing against one of the guys i went down to the event with. All of my cards 2 for 1'd him and he lost quite quickly without seeing any geists of st traft.
2-0 / 1-0 overall
Round 2 U/W/R Tempo
Very similar to round one but he saw his geists. Searing spears and snaps made it a rough fight but the quality of my topdecks and thragtusks made the difference.
2-1 / 2-0 overall
Round 3 U/W/R Control
This one was quite a bit tougher. G1 I landed a turn 3 desecration demon and he got hit twice before he hit the Sphere to shut him down. He countered a lot of my stuff with snaps and syncopates, making the round very grindy. G1 took a lot of time but i got it. Game 2 he ended up controlling around a Tamiyo and ulting her the turn after i Rakdos to drop his hand to 0. He then topdecked a devil's play and proceded to win the game quite easily. Game 3 just grinded back adn forth with thragtusks and Sphinx's revelation keeping the life totals high. We hit time and drew.
1-0-1 / 2-0-1 Overall
Round 4 G/W/B/r Midrange
Round 4 was against my 3-0 buddy i rode down to the tournament with. He was running a solid G/W/B midrange list that splashed a couple red shocks he could farseek up with olivia mainboard and bonfires out of the board. Another very grindy game 1 with thragtusks on both sides but we regularly playtest so i know his weakness. I pull game 1 through better topdecks. Game 2 i sided in slaughter games and hit one and a farseek in opening hand a rip all the thragtusks out of his deck. Without thrags he cant withstand the beats that my next turn olivia that just ran the rest of the game.
Round 5 Jund Midrange mirror
We split to confirm both of us into the top 8
0-0-1 / 3-0-2 overall
My buddy i had beated in round 4 went 3-2 but was the one person to make the cut to top 8. Apparently all 5 of his opponents top 8'd so he got pulled to the top of the 3-2's.
Top 8 Quarterfinals Round 1 G/W Midrange
This one was a round i might not have won if not for a play error on his part. We fought back and forth with beats and thrags and we eventally get to the point where hes at 8 and im at 17. He swings for 15 in the air and i choose not to block, as i'd win the next combat in the air and he had no mana up and an arbor elf on the board. He facepalmed. Had he played his temple garden precombat like he had planned to but forgot to he would have selesnya charmed his guy for the +2 damage and the kill. I drop to 2 and he scoops it up. Game 2 was a blowout with me hitting an olivia on 3 and bonfire shortly after to wipe his board while my olivia beat in.
2-0 / 4-0-2 overall
Top 4 Semifinals G/B/W Midrange w/Unburial Rites
Too much to go over. Game one took 35 mins and was a host to a TON of thragtusk and lifegain on his part via vault of the archangel. Garruk and Desecration demon grinded me through it, drawing 6 cards multiple times for me. Game 2 he got after 25 mins on the back of an underworld connections and a vault of the archangel keeping his life total high enough to underworld multiple times off of an arbor elf a turn. Game 3 we grinded back and forth for a long time and he locked his win in with a topdecked unburialy rites late game for an angel of serenity wiping my board and a thragtusk bringing him back from 3 life to 8. I just couldn't push enough damage through after that. Definitely GG.
1-2 / 4-1-2 overall
Very, very fun. The meta has defintely shifted from aggro zombies to midrange and control and i feel itll stay this way for a while. Thragtusks are to much for zombies and rdw to handle, especially when they keep showing back up via resto and unburial rites.
I got my first top 4/ top 8 showing and i got a swaggy pin and playmat to show for it.
JUND REPRESENT!
My decks
Top 4 (4th) SCG IQ 11/4/12
3 Olivia Voldaren
2 Deathrite Shaman
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
Spells - 20
4 Farseek
2 Dreadbore
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Underworld Connections
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Rolling Temblor
1 Slaughter Games
3 Rakdos Keyrune
Lands - 24
4 Overgrown Cemetary
3 Woodland Cemetary
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
2 Forest
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Dreadbore
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Slaughter Games
1 Deathrite Shaman
2 Duress
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Vraska the Unseen
2 Desecration Demon
Ok, so my deck is a slight variation and here goes my report:
I went 3-1 Thursday night.
First deck was a u/w/g aggro style deck using auras, geists, and invisible stalkers. I had a rough start because of a bad hand I should not have kept... I had 2 shocks, a keyrune, thragtusk, abrupt decay, mortars, and olivia. It took me about 3 draws before I got another land and I pretty much fell apart after that. Terrible. By the time I got going he already nearly wasted me with an invisible stalker and 3 rancors on him and a geist in play and etheral armor on the geist.. It seemed his deck was full of hexproof dudes and it hurt a lot.
The second round I kept a hand with 3 lands, a farseek, 2 slaughter games, and an abrupt decay. I drew a keyrune first turn, second turn I drew another farseek. 3rd turn I played slaughter games naming geist and removed his Geists, two of which were in his hand. I drew into an underworld connections and slaughter games, naming invisible stalker. After that the win was easy. I drew into answer after answer, killing anything he played and blocking with a nice fat olivia that was living off a single thragtusk.
3rd round, I was on the draw again, milled to 5, and still didn't draw lands.
Game 2:
g/w/b tokens.
This deck was fast and vicious, but I stabilized fairly quickly. With 2 Deathrite Shamans in play, and holding onto cards that kept destroying or exiling anything he played I made short work out of him. I sided out the two Rak's returns for 2 more Slaughter Games and neutered his deck with taking out serenity, unburial rites, and thragtusk... he didn't last very long.
Game 3:
heavy u/w control
With the 3 abrupt decays, 3 shamans, a slaughter games , and 3 dreadbores, I nullified him. Abrupt Decay on 2 separate D Spheres, slaughter games on supreme verdict, and killing his p/ws with my dreadbores.. Round 2 I put Vraska in, drew her early, did not get her killed, and trampled an assassin for the win.
Game 4:
I hit the mirror. Except my version was able to kill the keyrunes, sever his stuff, and that's all I can remember. My version's better. vraska assassins with trample kills people. Using dreadbore on every threat he played got through. He still couldn't outrun me.
4 Thragtusk
4 Huntmaster
3 Olivia
3 Rakdos Keyrune
Removal:
4 Dreadbore
2 Searing Spear
2 Ultimate Price
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Sever the Bloodline
4 Farseek
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Rakdos Return
2 Garruk Primal Hunter
24 lands (maxed on duals other than the Core RB dual, 2 Wolfrun, the rest are forests and maybe a mountain cause I'm heavy green)
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Sever the Bloodline
3 Slaughter Games
2 Rolling Tremblor
4 Appetite for Brains
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Underworld Connections
This isn't much of a tournament report, because a lot of the top players were in Dallas at the tournament this weekend... so the field wasn't as crazy.
Round 1:
Bad Human deck 2-0
Not much to say, it was kind of a mediocre aggro deck. Garruk and Mizzium Mortars did a lot of work.
Round 2:
Bad GW/token deck 2-0
This wasn't a horrible deck, it played Smiters and had the regular removal, but didn't play Silverhearts or Paladins or Rancor (unless he just didn't draw them). Instead had a token theme with GW guildmages and such. Olivia saw play both games. Killed a token before eating removal, 2nd game took control of two Smiters and put the game away with them. Olivia saw play in the first round as well... and I've noticed that at least at FNMs it is really effective against those weird decks that just durdle around and can randomly pull match wins out of then air.
Round 3: Bant Midrange 1-1-1
We go back and forth for the first couple of turns... then he drops a Revelation for 7 and I can never recover. This game took a good 30 minutes... about 10 minutes longer than it should've. I probably should've just conceded knowing my chances were slim, but I wasn't completely dead.
Game 2 we play fast... he completely punts the game keeping a 1 land hand after mulling to 6... I keep an opener of Appetite, Appetite, Slaughter Games, Olivia... 2 Appetites hit Tamiyo and Angel of Serenity, Slaughter Games hits the Thragtusk I know is in his hand and the other 3 in the deck. Olivia hits the table and with the help of Wolf Run I win fast.
Game 3 was a weird game. He gets Centaur Healer out and starts putting on beats with I believe 2 Thragtusk. He casts a second Thrag, and I Sever the Bloodline both, and I have to hold back a Thundermaw Hellkite to keep blocking so I don't die. I'm at 3 and I draw Underworld Connections, I stabilize with removal and Hellkite (which he eventually kills)... but I drew Thragtusk (I'm at 1 at this point) before he can draw the game winning Resto Angel. I get in with the Tusk, take 3 from Resto and then kill it with flashback Sever. And try to get in there with Tusk + Wolfrun. At this point time is called. He tries to Verdict and Terminus the same turn to take out the Tusk to try and save the draw... but didn't have the mana. And this is where I messed up. I swung in with the Beast token from Tusk dying, added 11 to it with Wolf Run... he was at 16, this put him down to 2. I completely forgot about the Terminus he misplayed that was in his hand and realized he was going to board wipe again... and I had the Rakdos Keyrune in my hand that I didn't play because I was pumping with Wolf Run. So because of that mistake I got the draw.
Round 4 Bant Midrange 2-1
I forget how I won game 1, but we took a solid 20-25 minutes playing. I remember an Olivia... him having both Jace and Tamiyo on the field at the same time before I did something about it. I remember at some point I took a leap of faith and cast Rakdos Return for 4 and it got through... and then the game just went downhill from there.
Game 2 I kept a hand that was basically a bunch of land and Keyrune and Wolf Run... not the best hand, but not horrible against control on the play. He played a Centaur Healer and just kept beating me in the face for 3. Resto Angel joined in and for whatever reason I just didn't draw the gas to stop that.
Game 3 I kept a hand that was 2 Keyrune and Thragtusk and Sever. He plays two Thrags early. It was a little awkward for me because I could've just Sever'd the Thrags, but I wouldn't be able to block the Beast tokens coming back next turn. So I had to durdle around a bit and eventually I just bit the bullet and did it. I went to 14 next turn before I flashed it back and got the Beast tokens. Now I realize I basically have the game in hand... his board is empty. I have two Keyrunes and a Tusk in hand (which I eventually play). A late Slaughter games hits Sphinx's Revelation because that's really the one card that could beat me in this board state. A Detention Sphere would've done it, but he just didn't have it.
Round 5 1-1-1 intentional draw
Top 8 Red deck wins 2-0
This didn't look like the most effecient RDW deck out there, but it played Zealots, Cacklers, Hellriders, and tons of burn. I win both games on the back of Farseek -> Huntmaster.
We split top 4 because 2 of my friends and some other guy were the other players. Won 34 bucks. I really like that I was able to beat aggro when my deck is more geared toward control. I was fortunate not to face Frites or UWr Midrange... but I got some legit matches in against Bant and am feeling good about how I play against that matchup.
I didn't tune my deck at all during the week, and some of my losses were due to this. This is the deck I played with:
2 Deathrite Shaman
3 Wolfir Avenger
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
2 Garruk Relentless
1 Vraska the Unseen
Other spells (9)
4 Farseek
3 Rakdos Keyrune
2 Underworld Connections
4 Dreadbore
3 Sever the Bloodline
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Bonfire of the Damned
Land (24)
2 Kessig Wolf Run
22 other lands
I had tuned my deck to beat Bant. Last time I played I faced 3 Bant control decks and 1 mirror (before that it was just RB aggro and zombies. My metagame shifts like hell, yeah). Instead, I faced 2 GW decks, 1 Zombie decks and a mirror match.
G1 vs RB zombies
This guy had a really solid zombie deck. I didn't have any VNHs or Pillars in my 75, so the moments he slammed a diregraf ghoul I knew it was going to be a tight game. Game one was nothing special. He slams two Geralf's Messengers, some Gravecrawler and I don't see any Sever the Bloodlines. It was over pretty fast. I was stuck at four mana and manage to play a Huntmaster and a Keyrune, while there were four Thragtusks sitting in my hand. Really! Game 2 went a lot better. I put in all of my Shamans, and see one in my opening hand. He plays his creatures, I remove them, use shaman's abilities and play one Tusk to balance the game for me. He almost got me with two Bump in the Nights with flashback, but the lifegain was too much for him. I attack to the dome and win. Game three he's stuck with two mana. You'd think that's bad news for him, but he actually played a gravecrawler and a total of three Pain Artists. I had to be real careful there. Lucklily for me though, I see a shaman and an Olivia that pings his artists one by one. 2-1 for me.
G2 vs the Mirror
Game one was really funny. He plays Keyrunes that I can't touch, I play a Underworld Connections that sticks. The guy is giving me a real hard time, until I finally can trade my second Keyrune with his second Keyrune. The game had lasted like fifteen turns, and he thought he could Kessig enough damage to close the game. I flash an Avenger during the combat and naysay that. I stabilize off of the CA from UC and start pushing damage. I would have won the game, but he luckily topdecks a Bonfire just in time. Game two is over a lot faster. We both play Connections. I Slaughter Game his Thragtusks and Bonfire of the Damneds. He plays Big Garruk. I Thundermaw it. He plays Vraska and -3's my Hellkite. I overload a Mortars to kill his Beast Tokens. He plays a Rakdos's Return for five damage and kills me. Nothing much to say about the game, fireballs win the mirror games. 0-2
G3 vs GW aggro
Wolfir Silverhearts and Predator Oozes together are a nightmare! I lose game one because I don't see any Sever the Bloodlines. I lose my chance to stabilize because he hastily kills my flipped Garruk. I forgot about the possibility that SRG could kill him. Game two is a lot smoother, I Appetite for Brain his Restoration Angel and kill his lone Wolfir Silverheart, then roll to victory. Game three is over when I try to kill his Wolfir Silverheart with my Vraska. He flashes a RA, the kills me with massive damage. The game was certainly in my favor before that happened. 1-2.
G4 vs GW Midrange. She plays a slightly slower deck with Thragtusk and Armada Wurms. Once again Wolfir Silverhearts are KILLING me. However, I manage to win the last game with super tight play. I'm pretty proud about it. 2-1.
I'm going to take my Mizzium Mortars off and replace them with Ultimate Prices to improve the GW match-up. Wolfir Avengers and Olivia are replaced with a fourth Keyrune, Vraskas, Small Garruk and Big Garruk. I'll also put 2 Golgari Charms for Mirror matches and 3 Pillar of Flames for RB aggro and zombies to the SB.
Youtube Channel
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Abrubt Decay
1 Victim of Night
3 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Dragonskull Summit
1 Forest
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mountain
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
1 Swamp
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Dreadbore
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Rolling Temblor
2 Slaughter Games
2 Underworld Connections
1 Victim of Night
1 Vraska, The Unseen
To start off I live in Austin, I woke up late and made a 3 hour drive in about 2 1/2 hours. I was a little worn already.
Round 1 Frites 0-2
Game 1 D
He turn 1 Drops Faithless Looting dumping Angel and Unburial. Then Salvages Craterhoof and two Lingering Souls. I got a turn 2 Farseek, Turn 3 Huntmaster. He dreadbore's it. I drop Thragtusk, he eventually flashes back both lingering souls, and craterhoofs me and I scooped pre-emptively, forgetting Thragtusk gives me a token.
Game 2 D
I keep a hand of Overgrown Tomb, Kessig Wolf Run, Cavern of Souls, Rakdos Keyrune, Deathrite Shaman, Slaughter Games, Thundermaw Hellkite. The only red mana I produced was with Deathrite for a turn four Slaughter Games, as he Decay'd the keyrune and got there with 3 Centaur Healer and 2 Thragtusk. Should have mulled.
Round 2 Bant 2-0
Game 1 W
Got in Thragtusk on a clear board with Cavern, he tap out to play Tamiyo, I then played Garruk. Next turn drew 5, dreadbore'd and the only counter he had was Syncopate.
Game 2 W
He landed a Sigarda, but Thundermaw races. Got a Garruk after he countered Rakdos's Return and I drew 5. He drew 5 off of Sphinx, Detention'd Tundermaw. I play another Garruk and produced a beast, he plays RestoAngel. He then played Angel of Serenity. And attacked Garruk. At end of his turn I Decay the Sphere and he's at 4.
Round 3 GW Humans
Game 1 W
I got a huntmaster to stick, flip 5 times and land a thragtusk. And had all the removal.
Game 2 D
He got a turn 4 win hand with faith's shield back up.
Game 3 W
Kept a hand of 4 removal and three lands. Nothing lived and then I drop double Thragtusk.
Round 4 Junk Tokens 0-2
I want to start off, I have never played this match up, so I may have misplayed like a beast and honestly all I remember of the match up is that game 2 I had 2 bonfires for 10, A beast token get in for 15 twice and a RR for 9 and he ended with 26 life.
Round 5 Frites 1-2
Game 1 D
He put me on tilt, before the round started or I drew my hand he played a Blood Crypt. I call a judge, I'm a little insulted by this. As the game went on he dropped a Grisslebrand, I kill it. He then calls a judge to ask if he can discard his hand on my turn. Then gets Six Lingerings Souls, the next turn a huntmaster and a flashed back Craterhoof dropping me from 20.
Game 2 W
I get out a turn 1 Deathrite, turn 3 Slaughter Games getting the 2 Thragtusks in his hand (he has 2 Unburial in the grave and instinctively went for them). I remove both his Unburial Rites, as he slaughter games my slaughter games. I drop Thragtusk, he drops huntmaster. I have kessig, and he scoops.
Game 3 D
He again plays a Blood Crypt before I look at my, (once again rationally it doesn't make sense why this pissed me off, but it did. Maybe the long day and no food). I then look at my 7 no land, 6 no land, 5 no land. I storm off.
Round 6 GW Midrange 2-0
Game 1 W
Removal, huntmaster and thrag gets there.
Game 2 W
He drew another slow hand, I'm able to kill everything and drop 3 Thragtusk and a Thundermaw.
Round 7 GW Humans 2-1
Game 1 W
She gets a nutty hand, but 2 Huntmaster and Rakdos Keyrune help me stabilize at 2. She misplayed with a silverblade paladin double striking and rancor'd while I'm at 2 into a raveger of the fells, rakdos keyrune and a wolf token thinking that she still would kill me. I was horribly rude about it and throw her on tilt with calling a Judge. She plays the rancor on her newly played presinct captain, I dreadbore it and Rakdos's Return it out of her hand. And play a second huntmaster and that is all she wrote.
Game 2 D
Got a nut draw of double Silveblade, Thalia and Mayor and I drew slow.
Game 3 W
4 Removal, 3 land snap keep And I get there.
Round 8 2-1
Game 1 D
Had 3 GoST...
Game 2 W
He kept a 2 land hand of Island, Moorland. Manages a turrn 5 GoST because he names cleric with Cavern and Lily takes him out. He then scooped.
Game 3 W
Kept a hand of Bonfire, Rolling Temblor, and Pillar, and Huntmaster. Kept the board clear and killed him.
Match 9 1-2
He got connections games 1 and 3, I got it game 2. And those where the games we won.
Overall I need to play more frites, cool my temper, and play that junk tokens list. I never missed Olivia, I smashed Bant between rounds, and had 50/50 with UW Tempo and UWR America. I just need connections in main, still a strong deck.
3 Olivia Voldaren
2 Desecration Demon
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
Spells - 20
4 Farseek
3 Dreadbore
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Underworld Connections
3 Sever the Bloodline
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Rolling Temblor
3 Rakdos Keyrune
Lands - 24
4 Overgrown Cemetary
3 Woodland Cemetary
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
2 Forest
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Dreadbore
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Slaughter Games
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Duress
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Vraska the Unseen
2 Garruk Primal Hunter
First round:
Zombies vs Jund 2/0 sweep
Needless to say Sever the bloodline is one of the most fantastic answers to zombies. And when I couldn't keep them dead olivia kept pinging and/or stealing them. GG It went on that way in both games.
Second Round:
It was some sort of a rakdos vampire deck. 2/0 sweep
It was a good deck, and came very close to beating me the first game, until I was able to keep Olivia in play and start taking his vampires. He was running olivia too so it was a contest. Second round I placed both severs in my deck and pulled out all the stops with all the removal I could get. A third turn slaughter games took out olivia and I was in the free and clear after that.
Third round:
u/w/g humans. 2/1
Game 1, it all came down to the luck of the draw. I had topdecked underworld connections twice and had them both in play and using them to try to find answers to his geist and friends. Olivia came to bat for me as usual and singlehandedly won me the game when I managed to steal his stuff to beat him over the head. Let me say it is very pleasurable to steal his stuff and force him to choose how to deal with it. He played detention spheres twice on olivia and both times I had abrupt decay waiting to sneak in. The second time was during his attack phase and I killed the sphere, brought olivia into play, hit the angel twice, and blocked the geist for the win.
Second round didn't go so well. He had answers to my answers, playing that exalted pro black dude and loading him up with enchantments. I died very quickly. as I never drew a huntmaster or thragtusk the entire round.
Third round, I bluffed him. I started drawing my cards slowly, 1 at a time, and when I had my 4th card I flashed a grin and said I'm keeping this hand and I didn't even know what the last 3 cards were. He mulled twice, didn't get anything good, and I went on playing 4 lands before I played any cards. Geist never showed, nor did anything else. Underworld connections dug me to answers.
Round 4, I played against a g/w aggro deck and I won hands down. 16 spells that kill creatures made sure he never had anything in play for more than a turn and two huntmasters in play constantly flipped back and forth. All in all, really fun.
Won 12 boosters, and got my first bonfire. Though I don't know if it's really needed for the deck.
This was list. I was missing a few Abrupt Decays and Bonfires, otherwise it's a very complete list.
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
4 Farseek
4 Rakdos Keyrune
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
3 Sever the Bloodline
2 Ultimate Price
1 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Evolving Wilds
20 other lands
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Thundemaw Hellkite
2 Vraska the Unseen
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Staff of Nin
BG Zombies 2-1
The deck's curve ended at 3. It was pretty solid, explosive at best. I win the roll. First game I stomp with T3 Huntmaster, T4 Thragtusk, T5 PM. Second game I keep an iffy hand for the heck of it, while he goes off really fast. Multiple 1-drops. 1-1. Third game is pretty even, I play Tusk and he Blights it. We exchange a lot of resources and the game last long. My life total is somewhere between 2-10 and I always get to recover of a Thragtusk. I Sever his last guy and start pounding him. Overall it was pretty easy match-up, I didn't feel I was in danger of losing the round at any point. 2-1.
Bant Enchantment 0-2
This was infuriating. It was an absolute rogue deck, and he gest nutty hands in both games. I hadn't seen any Geists in my meta, so I didn't have any answers to his hexproofed creatures. All of my removal is useless except for the single Bonfire of the Damned. I win the roll, which isn't much comfort, because I get eaten by an Invisible Stalker and lose T4. Second game I Bonfire his stalker for one damage. It was probably a mistake, because he then draws into a Geist and unloads his enchantments and wins me in two turns. I wasn't happy about this game, I will definitely put Lilianas in my SB for these kind rounds. My playes meant nothing to him.
Junk Frites 2-0
I was super happy about this game, since reanimator is usually a really tough match-up for this deck. I lose the roll, and he starts doing his stuff. Happily for me I draw into a T3 Deathrite Shaman, which completely hoses his deck. He plays nothing except for mana dorks, and I close the game relatively fast. Next game I get two Shamans on the field at the start of the game. I was really confident, until he Severs both. It was really devastating for me. However, I get to play an Underworld Connections that eventually draws me both of my Thundermaw Hellkites. Even though he gets to play Angel of Serenities, I'm able to beat him with tempo:
O: Liliana, disc.
M: Thundermaw Hellkite, kill Liliana.
O: Reanimate Angel, snap Thundermaw and my Thragtusk and his from the Grave.
M: Draw into Second Thundermaw off the UC, Ultimate Price his Angel on his turn. Slam Thundermaw Hellkite, opponent at 7.
0: Hardcast AoS, snap Hellkite
M: Activate keyrune, slam Thundermaw Hellkite with the remaining mana and attack for game.
Mirror match, 2-0
I've played against him twice before, I'm not going to dive into this game because we know what our decks do. Long story short, game one I draw five with Garruk + Thragtusk and exhaust him, game two I play two UCs, one sticks, I empty his hand with RR for three and win the game after that. I drew better this time.
Youtube Channel
3 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Swamp
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Rootbound Crag
Artifacts
3 Rakdos Keyrune
Creatures
4 Thragtusk
4 Huntmaster Of The Fells
3 Olivia Voldaren
2 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
3 Ultimate Price
1 Abrupt Decay
Sorceries
4 Farseek
4 Duress
2 Bonfire Of The Damned
2 Rakdos's Return
Enchantments
1 Underworld Connections
Planeswalkers
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
3 Golgari Charm
2 Ground Seal
2 Rakdos Charm
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Sever The Bloodline
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Dreadbore
1 Underworld Connections
1 Vampire Nighthawk
*this should be 75 total*
The reason for the main decked Duress and Ultimate Price is because the night before, at FNM, I got royally trounced by UW-Flash. So instead of trying to rework the mana-base to fit in Caverns and try to figure out the creature base, I just did a swap. I know I should have thought it more through, but whatever.
Round 1: Faced Grixis control with white.
Those Duresses main got rid of Detention Spheres and counterspells. Eventually, Rakdos's Return put him in top-deck mode. Garruk went all the way with the beasts.
Game 2: Sided out 1 Olivia, 1 Huntmaster, 2 Nighthawks, 2 Bonfires, 1 Decay, 2 I forget. Added 1 Thundermaw, 1 Rakdos's Return, 1 Underworld Connections, 3 Golgari Charm, 2 Dreadbore
Get turn 3 UC, turn 4 UC, that for some demented did not get countered. I get hit with a Rakdos's Return that eliminates my hand. This results in my friend snickering and asking me how that felt. I return the favour, and he goes 'oh boy, top deck mode', while I just point out that I have 2 UC's out. The look of horror on his face was priceless. HE is in top-deck mode, I'm trading away life for more power. I land Thragtusk, beat face for a couple of turns until Tamiyo shows up and taps him down. Out comes Garruk on my side and the beasts start beating him up. Sorin puts out a chump blocker, but hey, look, Rakdos's Return #2 shows up and I burn him out for lethal.
1-0
Round 2: GW aggro.
Game 1: Well, crap. I miss Pillar of Flame already. His deck does its thing and beats my face in. Loxodon Smiters with Rancors HURT.
Game 2: Take out 2 Rakdos's Return, 3 Rakdos Keyrune. Add 1 Golgari Charm, 2 Dreadbore, 2 Sever.
My early removal slows him down enough until Olivia shows up and takes control of the game. Olivia, how I love thee in this match-up. DIE YOU FILTHY HUMAN SCUM!
Game 3: He gets the nuts. I die before I make my fourth land drop. Well, that was quick. Painful, but quick.
1-1
Round 3.
Game 1: The first thing I do is lay down a Shock Land and pass. He lays down Hallowed Fountain. I did NOT want to be facing UW-Flash in the X-1 bracket, so I was praying he was playing Bant Control. I Duress him....yep, UW-Flash. UGH. Duress worked overtime in this match-up, and I managed to resolve a Rakdos's Return against him which made me be able to resolve everything I needed while he's crippled. I wound up bashing face with my armada. I kept killing his EOT Restos with Ultimate Price, which was pretty good
Game 2: I keep a 1 green land, 2 Farseek hand with 2 Duress....My deck decides to be a jackass and not provide me land. Duress on turn 2 reveals 2 Resto Angels..........and the one on turn 3 shows THREE. I silently wish that I had access to Thoughtseize in this format. ANYWAY.......my second land came out far too late and he stabilized. UC's did not fill me hand with enough gas to punch through. So at one life, I decide to UC and die to go to game 3.
Game 3: Same thing as game 1, but he was more prepared for me, although I think me doing silly things like giving some of his unblocked creatures trample and me killing myself game 2 threw him off his game. I dragged the game on forever, I landed both my UC's against him. I manage to stick 2 Thragtusks on the field, and a Duress -> Rakdos's Return saves the day, albeit temporarily. He lands Resto, then Runechanter's pike. I think the fact that I just wouldn't die threw him off his game a bit.........and after I checked his graveyard with no relevant countermagic and he had only 3 cards, 2 of which I knew of, I formulated a plan: I need to find a Duress, Bonfire his board out of the way then bash in for lethal. I me using UC's to wild abandon. I finally get the Duress at 1 life, and just go for it. He has 3 cards in hand. He Snapcasters in response to cast Dispel.......F!@#!@%!.....wait, no, Dispel only hits Instants....YAY! I play Bonfire, and he Restoration Angels, targetting Snap, targetting Sphinx for 6.......but I wipe his board, and kill him when he's tapped out. He told me after the game that the fact that I would just not die and I fought him tooth and nail kinda threw him off his game.
I did notice that in this game I was also trying to control what he was going to counter by essentially playing a creature I didn't really care about (Huntmaster) then dumping it in the yard right away, just to bait out his counters so I can stick my flyers. Plus doing some goofy things like giving his creatures trample with Kessig might have gotten into his head. Cheap? Probably.
2-1
Round 4: 4-colour Rites.
Game 1: It is wonderful seeing a reanimated Griselbrand on turn 4 against you with with 2 more Unburial Rites in the yard. I don't have enough removal to keep him at bay, let alone Angel of Serenity shenanigans that deck is capable of doing, so I scoop.
Game 2: Remove 2 Bonfire, 1 Huntmaster, 2 Rakdos's Return, 3 Rakdos Keyrune. Bring in 2 Dreadbore, 2 Ground Seal, 2 Rakdos Charm, 2 Sever The Bloodline.
He tries to do the same nonsense as before, dumping as much as he can into his graveyard. He tries to Unburial Rites Angel (I think), but he walks right into Rakdos charm, so no more graveyard. Got rid of 3 Unburial Rites this way, plus half his creatures. VALUE. He has one card in hand, and he can't recover and keep up with Thragtusk beats.
Game 3: I land Ground Seal on turn 3 which forces him to change plans, but he is better prepared at playing fair now (you know, hardcast creatures instead of reanimating them). Olivia lands, machine guns the world. I was also sandbagging an Ultimate Price and Sever the Bloodline for his Angel, so I eventually get there.
3-1
Round 5: Mirror.
Damn, I knew coming in I did not want to face the mirror. I'm not great at mirror matches, plus I knew my build was weaker in the mirror. Ah well.
Game 1: He stumbles on mana, take his Rakdos's Return away via Duress, play my own, Bonfire his board, land Olivia and Hellkite and Garruk, much to his chagrin. He Bonfires my board (non-miracle) to kill all the beast tokens, but Olivia + Hellkite = win.
Game 2: Took out the Nighthawks, brought in Dreadbores. Mulling hurts, plus he lands and Olivia which completely takes over the game. Olivia feeds on my creatures and grows bigger. So any creature at this point is going to die a horrible, horrible death to the evil pale redhead. Well, at least today I've learned what it's like to get Rakdos Returned, and what it's like to have my board be at the mercy of a flying Vampiress.
Game 3: He stumbles a bit on mana, which allows me to go over the top with Olivia. Miracle Bonfire his board away (2 Huntmasters, I think). I land Garruk and Thragtusks and Hellkites. And much violence was brought.
Round 6: GW-Humans.
Game 1: Same thing as Round 2. Beats after beats after beats.
Game 2: I side in all my removal. Take out Rakdos's Return and Keyrunes. Hell, Golgari charm works here too. I forgot how I sideboarded here, to be honest.
All I remember is that I was killing everything that landed, then landed Huntmasters to stabilize, then beat people to death with it.
Game 3: Unlike Round 2 Game 3 where I get demolished, I managed to keep him at bay and then after trading and killing most of his creatures, Ravager of the Fells + Kessig seals the deal for me.
5-1
Round 7. UW-Aggro. God dammit, why can't I play some stupid durdly control deck where I can smash their face in?
Game 1: Sublime Archangels keep coming out of his deck! The pain, oh the pain!
Game 2: Golgari Charm did so much work in this game it wasn't funny. It sometimes turned out to be a 3-for-1, which was nice. Also, blocking a 3/3 with a 2/2 wolf token and then Golgari Charming after combat is a nice way to kill things.
Game 3: All I have to say is I ****ING PUNTED BY PLAYING THE WRONG LAND ON TURN 2, which meant I couldn't kill his Champion Of The Parish in time, which then degenerated into me dying in epic fashion. I essentially snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
5-2
ID round 8 to get into top 32. My tie-breakers are horrible (my first 3 opponents all dropped) so I don't think I could have made top 16 if I had beaten him anyway, so whatever. I discuss what would have happened with my opponent had we played.....he was on UWR control...I probably would have beaten him was I not dead tired, and I don't think either one of us would have made top 16 with a win due to our horrible tie-breakers.
I stick around for prize money and stuff, and my friend is 5-1-1 at this point and playing the last round. Unfortunately he lost.
5-2-1
Got a nice playmat and 50$ for my troubles.
Some notes:
1. Yes, I am weak in the mirror. I know this.
2. Yes, I know I have to rework the deck again. I know this as well.
3. The Keyrune was great in the control match up and the mirror, but was taken out against aggro where I need more removal and ways to survive.
4. The charms are sick. Golgari Charm was my swiss army knife of the day.
5. Nighthawk has gotten me out of way too many binds in this Standard (and the last time it was in the format) for me to get rid of. Oh, and I did Vampire + Kessig a couple of times that day. So much fun.
6. I want Thoughtseize in this format.
It seems like if you sometimes had Knight of Infamy in those situations, you could just block their Paladin all day. And the same thing goes for Giest decks. You could block Giest all day and they can't charm him.
I am willing to try Knight Of Infamy somewhere in the 75 somewhere in the 75, but I think it's a more narrow meta call than some of my other choices.
What did you think of the deck? And how would you add Cavern of Souls in the list?
Deck:
4x Thragtusk
4x Huntmaster of the Fells
3x Deathrite Shaman
2x Thundermaw Hellkite
Planeswalkers
2x Garruk, Primal Hunter
Spells
1x Underworld Connections
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Mizzium Mortars
2x Sever the Bloodline
4x Dreadbore
3x Rakdos Keyrune
2x Rakdos's Return
4x Farseek
2x Evolving Wilds
2x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Swamp
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Blood Crypt
4x Rootbound Crag
4x Woodland Cemetery
1x Dragonskull Summit
2x Kessig Wolf Run
1x Sever the Bloodline
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Rakdos's Return
1x Deathrite Shaman
1x Zealous Conscripts
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Underworld Connections
2x Slaughter Games
2x Abrupt Decay
4x Pillar of Flame
Round 1 vs. B/R Aggro
This deck is basically a 60-card version of an RTR draft deck with a few things like Searing Spear and Bump in the Night thrown in. Not much to say here as I was able to Sever three Rakdos Cacklers in Game 2. Easy round.
Sideboard: Nothing as all I saw Game 1 was two Splatter Thugs and some burn.
Round 2 vs. B/R Vampires
This person is a very casual player, but it definitely can surprise. It uses Nocturnus, Nighthawk, Blood Artist, and Falkenrath Aristocrat with a suite of removal. Game 1 he had me close to death until I was able to Mizzium Mortars his Blood Artist and attack for the win. I was at 4 but could not profitably attack because of the Artist, but he had to block all of my creatures or else he would die, so I went in for the kill the next turn. Game 2 he didn't draw but two threats and I curved out perfectly with Deathrite Shaman into Farseek into Huntmaster into Thragtusk.
Sideboard: -1 Underworld Connections, +1 Thundermaw Hellkite
All the rest of the games are against really good players.
Round 3 vs. Selesnya Aggro
Sigarda is scary. I'll just put it at that. Game 1 a Rancored double strike Sigarda flew over for the win on his side. Game 2 I rolled over him as he only got one major threat to stick, a Silverblade Paladin, and by that time I had a Huntmaster and Thundermaw out, and he only had a mana dork to pair with. Game 3 was looking to be similar to Game 1 but I stabilized with my own Thundermaw against his Sigarda. This game ended with a topdecked Rakdos's Return for 10.
Sideboard: -1 Underworld Connections, -3 Rakdos Keyrune, -2 Sever the Bloodline, -3 Deathrite Shaman, -1 Dreadbore, +1 Mizzium Mortars, +4 Pillar of Flame, +1 Thundermaw Hellkite, +2 Slaughter Games, +2 Abrupt Decay
Round 4 vs. Esper Hexproof/Enchantments
This was an interesting deck to play against. It uses Geist of Saint Traft and Invisible Stalker in combination with Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Ethereal Armor, Crippling Blight, Spectral Flight, and a few other one-drop enchantments to make some scary, hard-to-block creatures. I feel lucky to win this round as first game he got manascrewed. Second game I lost to a flying, double-strike, 6/6 Geist of Saint Traft. I had tried to overload Mortars to take it out but of course he had the counter. Third game the board was a loggerjam with him only being one point out of range of killing me. Topdeck Rakdos's Return again for the win. Sometimes having an X burn spell is helpful.
Sideboard: -2 Sever the Bloodline, -4 Dreadbore, +1 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Thundermaw Hellkite, +2 Slaughter Games, +2 Abrupt Decay
Round 5 vs. Selesnya Aggro
This deck was very popular last night as four people were playing it. Game 1 was very quick as I Mizzium Mortars his unpaired Wolfir Silverheart and Abrupt Decayed his Silverblade, and he had no more threats. Game 2 he was able to use Gavony Township to full effect as he had a 3/3 Avacyn's Pilgrim paired with a 4/4 Silverblade Paladin. He then threw a Rancor down on each of them and it was lights out. Game 3 I believe he kept a sketchy hand as his only threat was Wolfir Silverheart, which immediately met a Dreadbore.
Sideboard: -1 Underworld Connections, -3 Rakdos Keyrune, -2 Sever the Bloodline, +4 Pillar of Flame, +2 Abrupt Decay
Trade thread - not up to date