[Offical Thread]Dirt - BWG control

[Finn]

This is the original BWG control deck of the format. There are plenty of hybrids in these colors today, and as such with Tarmogoyf enteringThe board control aspect is trimmed a bit in favor of disruption through land and hand destruction. The list below has been de-Goblinized, so that matchup is probably no longer favorable. But with the amount of decks that all look the same, Dirt, and all of the hybridized board control decks should continue to be able to deal with them.

Deck
Spells 4 Duress 4 Hymn to Tourach 4 Sinkhole 4 Vindicate 4 Swords to Plowshares 4 Pernicious Deed 4 Living Wish 2 Engineered Explosives Creatures 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Eternal Dragon	Land 1 Savannah 4 Bayou 4 Scrubland 3 Bloodstained Mire 3 Polluted Delta 4 Wasteland 2 Swamp 1 Plains	Sideboard 1 Godless Shrine 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale 1 Withered Wretch 1 Bane of the Living 1 Glowrider 1 Loxodon Hierarch 1 Exalted Angel 2 Leyline of the Void 4 Sphere of Resistence 2 Nevinyrral's Disk

Somebody on MWS told me that the deck "sux" and that Eternal Dragon and Sinkhole are unusable in the same deck. While he was clearly wrong, his claim does make the point that you must choose your lands carefully. When mana seems to not be tight, Dragons fetch Scrublands typically, and fetchlands get the Bayous (or Swamps). That strategy will keep you from running out of a type later on.

[Finn]

Will this poll be voted on by folks who have never played with or against the deck?

I mention this because I have noticed that it is extremely unpopular despite its stellar winning percentages.

Is it's ability to win even a consideration? That sounds like an odd question even as I type it, but I have found that some sites do not consider a deck's ability to win, only its PERCEIVED ability to win.

And no need for apology.

[Elf_Ascetic]

Well, with these percentages of win/lose, I consider this deck Competitive.

I would love to see the results versus Solidarity.

[Sr. Kitty]

I would consitter it if it had a major title like a top8 or even top16. I'm so so on it staying here.

[Sapphire Tri]

Originally Posted by Sr. Kitty

I would consitter it if it had a major title like a top8 or even top16. I'm so so on it staying here.

The problem of it getting a decent title is there is still a severe lack of legacy tournaments

[Finn]

Well, getting a major top-8 is very much a problem. SapphireTri hit it there.

And until one comes to South Florida I will likely never be able to attend one anyway. Of course, if I lived in the N.E. United States, I could just attend a local event and that would do. Don't get me started on that.

The real trick would be to get folks to try Dirt out themsleves. I have always advocated that. But since that rarely seems to happen - despite the ease of just building a new deck on MWS or Apprentice and trying it - I am afraid people will just have to take a guess. Uggh.

Enter the perceived ability to win.

[Kernal Kudzu]

This looks an awful lot like The Rock. Does it play that way?

Either way, how can we trust that it is as good as you claim? If you could manage to somehow prove the numbers you have posted, i would sign off on the deck, because the synergy is apparent. it is just occasionally hard to tell. I mean, control typically does so poorly against good aggro. Legacy is so full of aggro, how can any slow control deck like this compete?

[Belgareth]

I think this should stay
* Belgareth points to tag


I know a thing or two about legacy and have tested this sort of deck , and it is equally as good as RGSA or landstill which still see play.
I will post further findings soon.

[Kernal Kudzu]

OK, I borrowed Sinkholes and took it to the local tourney, though I could not get ahold of The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. I didn't lose a match. So, needless to say, I am giving the thumbs up.


Rd 1: U/R aggro jank with Cloud of Fairies, Jitte, Flying Men, FOW, Fire/Ice, Lightning Bolt, etc. Is this Fish? I suppose so.

won 2-0, (1-0) - At the end of the second game, I flew in with a Dragon, while he had Jitte in play and only 2 Mishra's Factories and a Mountain (I killed and Hymned the blue lands). H eshowed me 3 Cloud of Fairies and a Flying Men in his hand.

Rd 2: Landstill: it was blue and white with both Eternal Dragon and Decree of Justice. At the end of both games, he did not have any useful cards in hand. I beat him down wth an Exalted Angel out of the board.

won 2-0, (2-0)

Rd 3: Pikula: Ouch
Game 1, I was down to 5 life facing a Nantucko Shade and a Hippie, when I ripped Funeral Charm to kill the Shade and STP for the Specter. That was late in the game. I eventualy got Life from the Loam, and it was smooth sailing.

Game 2, he Ritualed for a Duress and a Hymn. The Duress took my STP, and the Hymn took Bloodstained Mire and Scrubland. That left me with only a Wasteland in the opening hand. Turn two he ritualed again and Duressed my Living Wish and brought out a Hippie. hrmph. game

Game 3 I knew I had won in the opening grip. he dark Ritualed, Duressed my Life from the Loam, and played a withered Wretch but on my turn 2 I dredged it back up and held it. I Chainer's Edicted the Wretch. he actually got it removed with another withered Wretch, but I had already used it a couple of times, and I had way too many lands for him. He kept drawing Sinkholes and Vindicates, but so did I. And once i got an Angel in play it was soon over.

Finn, I thought you said this was a hard matchup. haha

won 2-1, (3-0)

Rd 4: Vial Goblins - were both undefeated, but I declined to draw. In both games, he had turn 1 Lackey, but I had a Funeral Charm. He draw garbage the rest of Game 1 and I eventually flew in with an Angel.
Game 2 was more interesting, I killed a lot of lands, but he had two Vials going. I was at 4 life when I finally drew, played and sacced Pernicious Deed for 3, killing everything he had, except the Ringleader. he hit me again the next turn, but I topdecked a Dragon to block the next attack. He played a Lackey, I drew Living Wish, fetched and played an Angel face down. he held his draw (I think it was a land) and did not attack. I topped a Vindicate for the Lackey, flipped the Angel on my turn and hit him for 9 twice in a row to win. he was really upset.

won 2-0, (4-0)

Top 4, UGR Threshold
No contest. He had no hand and only a Nimble Mongoose and 2 lands in play when I flew over it for the final 5 with a Dragon that just won't stay dead. That was gane 1.
Game 2, I kept his Werebear out with a Maze of Ith, until I Vindicated his Pithing Needle set to Pernicious Deed, which I already had in play. Then, I just kept moving ahead in card count until he had to commit a little dragon, so I blew the deed. A few plaincycled Eternal Dragons later and I was slamming in for 5 a turn.

won 2-0, (5-0)

Finals vs. RGSA
He had been watching me play against Threshold, and offered to split, but I again declined. We each won a game killing offeach other's land, and in game 3, I pulled 2 Duresses and both 2 Hymns in my opening hand with the means t use them. Turn 1 Duress yielded Survival, and by the end of my turn 3, he had nothing of use left in his hand or in play. I put out an Angel for 3, morphed her next turn, and began the long, slow kill. He played 2 Birds of Paradise, but they only prolonged the inevitable, as I continued kill off all other creatures with STP, Vindicate, and Edict.

won 2-1, (6-0)

Anybody know where I can score me some Tabernacles?

[VestDan]

I like these results. How much worse would a budget version be? Without the Tabernacle, replace the Sinkholes with Choking Sands or Icequakes (obviously worse, but I happen to have them)?

[Kernal Kudzu]

Actually, before I got them, I was considering Rancid Earth, if I am remembering the card correctly. With Threshold, it will kill off annoying little critters while beating on a land. That could work well since Life from the Loam makes Threshold easy, and later in the game, the land destruction might not be as good as creature kill, anyway. The Tabernacle, however, I think is necessary. Against Gobbos, in particular, I was wishing I had some. There were times when he was sending out creatures from those pesky vials with only 1 land. Tabernacle keeps the Goblin player honest, requiring some lands in play, just to keep the creatures around.

[Finn]

I would say that land destruction as a strategy is greatly injured by the loss of Sinkhole. The deck loses a lot without it, and I am not sure it can compete. But Tabernacle, you should be able to by without for a while. If your Meta is hevy Goblins, you can not live without it, though, as it is almost always way better than Maze of Ith.

You could try Ghostly Prison, though, or even Engineered Plague.

Thank God somebody else actually took this thing to a tournament though. It is so tiring to be showing results when no one will pay attention.

BTW, I finally faced off against Solidarity over the weekend, and I am happy to say that I feel it is going to be a good matchup.

[Kernal Kudzu]

I noticed that Funeral Charm is instant speed discard. Can I make an opponent pitch his draw before he can use it?

I'm not sold on Living Wish. I am replacing it with Dark Ritual. And I am taking Cranial Extraction out of the sideboard for Engineered Plague.

BTW, I am having so much fun with this. My friend, Alex says that he expects to have a strong side against me for this weekend, but that he can not think of a single card that would be effective. That blows me away.

[Puzzle]

Originally Posted by Kernal Kudzu

I noticed that Funeral Charm is instant speed discard. Can I make an opponent pitch his draw before he can use it?

Yes, but that's only if he had no card in hand before (else he may discard another one) and he may respond by playing it if it's an instant.

There's a stupid idea that's been floating in my mind since I first saw Homebrew : isn't it feasible to increase the discard aspect and fit in Tempting Wurm and Dark Confidant instead of Dragons, Angels and Life From The Loam here. It could give the deck a nice clock.
LftL is sensitive to Threshold hate while Confidant is sensitive to Lackey and general creature hate. Additionally, Dragons and Angels go better with Pernicious Deed, a house card : upside to LftL maybe here, but I thought I'd still throw in the idea.

EDIT : I'd also probably play at least one more land.

[Finn]

Hmm. I thought about this a few hours before typing this. Tempting Wurm is, well, tempting. Here's the problem, as I see it. For you to rid your opponent of lands in play and in hand takes some time. You need to cast Hymns and Sinkholes, etc. Yes, Puzzle, you mentioned that we could tone down the land destruction element, but resource denial is incomplete without killing off lands, so it has to stay. Anyway, you have to essentially set up. If it takes a few turns to set up, anyway, the low casting cost is not nearly as attractive. And the idea of your opponent getting to put their lands in play for free is ouchie, much less some threats to deal with. Here's another problem. The deck is about card economy, and its creatures are no different. Angels get 2 for 1 when they hit, and Dragons are just absurd in the long game. Tempting Wurm doesn't really do either of those things. Finally, as you mention, Pernicious Deed works well with high cost creatures, and the Wurm is not one of those.

I think that Tempting Wurm could very well work in a hand destruction deck, but this one seems to be off in a different direction.

Dark Confidant, I don't really know about. What if you topdeck a Dragon? I don't think he is possible without, as you say, removing Dragons and Angels.

Life from the Loam, I should mention, is occasionally the closest thing you have to a dead card. But, that means that the opponent is not f*&cking with your mana, and that means either he is playing Combo, and you have a good matchup even with the nearly dead cards, or playing pure Aggro, and you have a very good matchup even with nearly dead cards. Since mana starvation is the only reliable way I have encountered to defeat Dirt, I think the Loams have to be in the main. I have even recently re-included an extra one in the sideboard.