Drafts Are Back pt 2

After the first failed attempt I joined a draft, and then another, and then another. Around 7am I'd finished my sixth draft in a row. Loosing the first draft and then loosing in round two of an 8-4 left me down a few packs though I made three or four packs in the other four drafts.

Last night about doubled the number of SSS drafts I'd done. Four of my drafts last night saw a good number of mountains played. Red in this set has some of the best removal in the form or Power of Fire, Puncture Bolt, and Burn Trail at common. Combine this to access than larger than normal creatures with GR hybrid mana and you have a very solid color.

Two of the drafts were mono red and I liked a lot. The first one was an 8-4, my first round opponent was eliminated before ten minutes had pasted. Curving out into a Furystroke Giant is pretty good I hear. Round two I get some quick damage in before my opponent plays turn six Oona with no other creatures in play and on ten life. I attack with a pair of 2/2s and he declines to block. I then drop Mountain #6 and Jaws of Stone his face ftw. Game two I stall on land while he dropped Sygg turn two and had a fairly aggressive start. I die the turn before I'd have drawn my sixth Mountain to cast Jaws of Stone wiping his team. Game three I have no answer to his turn six Oona or his turn eight Corrupt for seven.

The second mono red was a much less powerful deck but I rolled over my opponents pretty easily as none of their decks came close to the guy I faced round two last draft.

RDW #1 1-1 matches 3-2 games
15 Mountains
1 Swamp - this was wrong sided in a second Swamp for g2&3 taking out a Mountain
2 Intimidator Initiate - one of the decks key cards
1 Scuzzback Scrapper - I thought he was bad but in a Power of Fire deck or RDW he is fine
1 Puncture Bolt - RDW is one time this card is kinda meh but you still are happy to run it
3 Power of Fire - people don't pick this card highly enough
1 Bloodmark Mentor - Very good in mono red and makes Power of Fire even better
1 Mudbrawler Cohort - Having only one of this card was decks biggest problem, considering he is only good in this deck it seems you should get more passed
1 Rustrazor Butcher - very meh but with 3 Power of Fire he is fine
1 Sootstroke Kindler - can give hate to a four or five mana creature which helps
1 Spiteflame Witch - This is why I ran Swamps, really good in this archetype as often you get them to five or six life then need to finish them off
1 Giant Baiting - Sided in a second pretty much every game, really nice to hit for eight on turn three
1 Boggart Arsonists - A fine man unblockable v white decks
1 Burn Trail - Can always conspire it in this deck making it nuts
3 Muddbrawler Raiders - fine cards to five the deck some fat and make Runes of the Deus insane
1 Murderous Redcap - Becomes even better in a deck with Power of Fires can take out x/3s with ease
1 Runes of the Deus - Runes is such a blow out it seems a waste not to run it if you have 4-6 good targets
1 Furystroke Giant - Bomb.
1 Scuzzback Marauders - This is the only common creature I'd want in mono red that costs more than four mana
1 Beseech the Queen - Finds:
1 Jaws of Stone - Best card in the deck

The next deck was much the same but worse. Fury Stroke Giant became Deus of Calamity but there was no Jaws of Stone to back it up.


Well sealed events are back up so I will have to decide after dinner if I want to draft or sealed. I'm down to half a dozen packs and a few tickets but have a Tournament Pack and a $15 Coupon so I might join a sealed to restock on boosters and tickets.

Drafts Are Back!

Got back from FNM (don't ask) to find that drafts were up and working on MTGO. Needless to say I was stoked and joined one ASAP. First picked GW witch and was passed WItherscale Wurm 2nd which made me plan on G/x. Cards that came pushed me into nearly mono green ramp.

13 Forests
2 Plains
2 Mountains
Barkshell Blessing
Elvish Hexhunter
Seedcradle Witch
Gleeful Sabotage
Puncture Bolt
2x Devoted Druid
Medicine Runner
Scuttlemutt
Boggart Ram-Gang
2x Farhaven Elf
Hungry Spriggan
Mudbrawler Raiders
Wildslayer Elves
2x Crabapple Cohort
Scuzzback Marauders
Foxfire Oak
Morselhoarder
Witherscale Wurm
Howl of the Night Pack

Relevent Sideboard:
Last Breath, Safehold Sentry, Viridescent Wisps, Safewright Quest, Elvish Hexhunter, Safehold Duo, Scar, Medicine Runner, Cultbrand Cinder, Blazethorn Scarecrow

Before playing any games I'd probably rate the deck 7/10. Its decent but not amazing, I don't think I was in the right colors. By the end of pack one I could tell that BR was wide open but I decided to not move into it. I'm not sure if that would have improved my deck as I would have only been able to play a couple cards from pack one.

I'm playing in 4322s while I learn the format so my second account at 1731 is the highest rated account in the draft. Based on that I hope to make the finals but don't plan on winning them.

Two things in the draft were interesting, first was whether to abandon green (pretty much) by picking the BR liege p2p1 or not, I decided not taking I think Farhaven Elf. The second call was Ram-Gang v Scuttlemutt in p3. I'm not sure what the right call is I took Ram Gang but the Mutt is an amazing card.

As far as deckbuilding I couldn't decide between one plains and mountain or two. I went for two of each to be on the safe side.

R1G1 I mull zero lands into four and can't find an answer to his unblockable (Steel of the Goodhead) Leech bonder. He then casts Glamer Spinners moving the Godhead over to it and killing my Witherscale Wurm. Game two I keep a so-so hand and he again leads off with Oona's Gatewarden to blunt any offense I have. Turn four I topdeck Cultbrand Cinder and play him off an Elf taking out the 2/1 Wither. I then bash his face in with huge dudes. Game three the fact he is on the play lets his Leech Bonder go active and I can't find an answer to it plus Armored Ascension so it keeps swinging. He kills me on turn six with Elsewhere Flask.
1-2, 0-1

Crappy to loose to enchantments when I had so many ways to deal with them, just never drew any.

Well time to draft again...

Time to Add Shadowmoor to the Cube

I've held off on adding Shadowmoor to my cube for a while and decided it was time to take the plunge.

Mono colored additions:

White:
Spectral Procession
Order of Whiteclay
Twilight Sheppard
Armored Ascension

Black:
Dusk Urchins

Red:
Flame Javelin
Cragganwick Cremator
Furystroke Giant

I decided to change around my muti color cards. Before I'd had five cards in each two color combo. Clearly this was too simple. So now I'm moving to a 4/1/2 split for each color. Four gold cards, two hybrid cards, and an open slot for gold/hybrid/split.

Allied-color hybrid slots go like this:
UW:
Plumeveil
Mirrorweave

W/G:
Kitchen Finks
Wilt-Leaf Leige

UB:
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Inkfathom Infiltrator

BR:
Murderous Redcap
Rakdos Guildmage (might switch this to fulminator mage)

RG:
Tattermunge Maniac
Boggart Ram Gang

Need to sort out the other five slots for these colors, will post them when I do.

Here we go, UW cards:
Absorb
Sky Hussar
Teferi's Moat
Court Hussar
Thisledown Liege (flex spot)
Plumeveil
Mirroweave

Shadowmoor was a huge help to UW as frankly most of the gold cards in this classic color combination suck. Even with Shadowmoor it has one of the weaker lineups. Plumeveil and Mirrorweave might not be the most powerful hybrids from Shadowmoor. However they are both capable of huge blowouts and awesome stories. For that reason I'm more than happy to run them.

UB:
Psychatog
Undermine
Shadowmage Infitrator
Recoil
Spite/Malice (flex)
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Inkfathom Infiltrator

I like Inkfathom, suicide black decks will be happy to take him. In addition he might be good in blue control decks just dropping him turn two to put your opponent on a clock. Recoil is also replacing the unexciting Wydwen, the Biting Gale. I'm this close to trying Oona's Gatewarden. It seems like a great one drop for control decks, really setting back an aggressive start. It however just seems weaker than the other options from magic's two best colors.

BR:
Blazing Specter
Strangling Soot
Terminate
Void
Ashenmoor Gouger (flex)
Murderous Redcap
Rakdos Guildmage

Vampiric Dragon gets the cut because outside of reanimation it is pretty unplayable. Gouger gets the nod over Fulminator Mage for having a worse casting cost. Rather than cut back on mana fixing I want to push people into mono or two colored decks based on powerful cards.

RG:
Stormbind
Burning Tree Shaman
Savage Twister
Rumbling Slum
Giant Solifuge (flex)
Tattermunge Maniac
Boggart Ram Gang

Really, what absurd cards. Not much to say when Burning Tree Shaman is below average.

GW
Glare of Subdual
Mystic Enforcer
Armadillo Cloak
Loxodon Hierarch
Mirari's Wake (flex)
Kitchen Finks
Wilt-Leaf Leige

Pretty easily the deepest gold colors. In addition to the two Shadowmoor cards I cut Saffi Erksdotter for Wake to give the colors some more long-game appeal.

Really need to go through the cube and make sure my list is up to date.

Everything But the PTQ

So Friday night I went to FNM, ended up doing some team drafts instead of sealed. First draft I started off with an awful pack with Sonomancer and Devoted Druid as the best cards. Took the Druid as in G/R he is better than Sonomancer is in U/W. Went on to pick up plenty of good GR cards. Didn't write down list but had 2x Druid, 1x Farhaven Elf, and 1x Scuttlemutt for acceleration. Had 2x Crabapple Cohort and 2x Foxfire Oak as my main offense. That and 2x Wort, saw three that draft but figured two was plenty. Also had Tower Above, Burn Trail, and 2x Puncture Bolt as removal.

Went 2-0 pretty easily and other team scooped before my third game. Got a Reflecting Pool, Foil Wort, Vexing Shusher, and a few other rares out of the rare draft at the end.

Next draft was meh, had what I though was a good but not great GW deck but it just didn't go anywhere. Lost r1 to drawing 0 relevant cards in about 8 turn vs a Blistering Dieflyn with Elemental Mastery on it. He was on two most of the game but I just couldn't get in there. Round two I lost to a pretty sick UB deck with 8,000,000 ticks. The main problem was Scuttlemutt in both games. G1 it turned off Shield of the Oversoul, g2 it let him block my Oversoul of Dusk. Had a couple chances to pick up a Gleeful Sabotage in that draft but didn't so really my fault for loosing to Sucttlemutt and Elemental Mastery.

My cube is getting closer and closer to being fully pimped. The foils I picked up at the PTQ included some of the high dollar ones I needed. Still need a bunch more foil lands, some random cheap foils, and some money rare foils. Also managed to finally pick up the foil cycling lands for my pimped-out EDH deck with Vorosh the Hunter.

Weekend Upate

Friday: Two team drafts at FNM, 2-0 first one (other team scooped) with really good RG deck. 0-2 second one with GW deck, should have been 1-1 but went 0 for 5 on outs over about 8 turns in one game. First draft opened insane cards, second awful so I'll call it a win.

Saturday PTQ: 4-2-1, drop before r8. Should have been 6-1 but I'm an idiot, will post more on that later. Did get a ton of cube foils:

Vindicate
Pernicious Deed
Vedalken Shackles
Akroma Angel of Wrath
Steam Vents ($12 in trades for beat ass foil that looks fine in sleeve)
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Loxodon Hierarch
Wrath of God (player rewards, still want 7ED foil)
Isochron Scepter
Ravenous Baloth
Stroke of Genius
Troll Asetic
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Jace Beleren ($7 lol)
Crusade
White Shield Crusader
Draining Whelk
Magus of the Moat
Saffi Eriksdotter
Armadillo Cloak
Burning-Tree Shaman
Knight of Meadowgrain
Giant Solifuge
Kodama's Reach
last but not least upgraded from DCI tog to altered art/signed DCI tog aka Martinitog


Best part of getting cube foils? Gives me more cards to add to EDH decks!

Crazy Thought

I think Tower Above is better than Flame Javelin in limited. Yeah, Javelin can shoot creatures. But what if they have more than four toughness? Sure it can goto the dome but what if they have more than four life? Tower Above just strait-up wrecks the discotech. Whenever I cast it I usually kill their best creature and bash their face for four or something.

Dunno I could be wrong but if faced with both cards p1p1 I think I'd take the green card. That said don't think the print run would allow that option barring foils.

In sealed I'd be more likely to play the Tower Above in an off-color deck. I don't really want to play ether but I'd rather have the larger effect if I'm paying six mana.

A Few More Thoughts On Block Constructed

(Sorry for two long rambling articles in a row but its 7am and I've had no sleep.)

So yeah have not been able to get much practice in this week but here it goes:

Azure Command>>>>>>>>>>Incendiary Command - Being able to kill 4/4s and 5/5s is so much more important than killing Mutavaults. The "half a wrath" ability of this card can also come in useful wiping out the board of a faerie player and leaving your fat intact.

Mana Reflection might be the tech - I played against an AWFUL 5c control deck with maindeck Mana Reflection. Imagine seeing that in hand versus kithkin... That said for the mirror match it was insane. I'll give you a hint, Mirari's Wake was not a format defining card because of the +1/+1. I don't know if this is worth sideboard space but it seems to be a great mirror trump.

Puppeteer Clique is the real deal - This reminds me of Primal Command. When I saw the card I thought it was awesome but not constructed worthy. Pretty wrong on both counts. Clique is going to be one of the main tools in the 5c mirror and for other decks to fight against it. In both situations you have to watch out for Makeshift Mannequin. The internets have beens swirling with stories of Cliquing a Cloudthresher, having it die then grabbing the other Thresher, take 18. Mannequin on the first target (or second) means you take 4-11, not 18.

The 5c Mirror Will Suck to Play but Reward Skill - I think the 5c control mirror will be possibly the most skill intensive mirror in a while. Why? It is slowwww. Mind Shatter is the only card in play that can turn a game into a rout with few options for escape. What spells to counter will be one of the most important facts of the matchup. Most of the spells are so big that you don't want your opponent to resolve them. From what I've seen the best way to win the mirror is to try and keep your opponent behind. If you counter their Mulldrifters and try and Cryptic their lands they will be under pressure. This should let you resolve game-breaking spells like Oona, Mind Shatter, and Mind Spring.

The 5c Mirror Has Lots of Dead Cards g1 - Seriously, Firespout?

The Vast Majority of T8s Have Been Three Decks - This will probably change over the block season but at the moment at least at the top tables you need to have game vs 5c control, fae, and kithkin. I like fae and 5c control because they are more adaptable. Kithkin can't really switch its maindeck around much. 5c and faeries have many, many options to tweak their deck to beat whatever they feel the need to beat. Kithkin on the other hand are by far the most consistent deck, and I mean come on who doesn't like a beatdown deck with 26 land?

Mana Ramp Seems Unexplored - Green has many good accelerators in this format, one GW ramp deck made a PTQ t8, more might. Personally I think Devoted Druid might become the new Smokebraider allowing powerful turn three plays. Also I want to play Grim Poppets.

5c Control Will Keep the Format Honest - Without a control deck in the format cards like Peppersmoke would be amazing maindeck, if 80% of the field was Kithkin and Faeries instead of kithkin, faeries, and 5c then Peppersmoke would be a 4x.

Non-Kithkin Decks Will Probably Move to Five Colors - Kithkin is the only playable mono-colored deck in the format. Three color mana bases are worse than five color in this format. Heck the five color mana bases are more consistant if a bit slower than TWO color manabases. I think the lure of being able to play any card will pull decks like faeries to five colors. The only thing that could counteract this is the hyper-awkward hybrid cards like Demigod of Revenge and Gilt-Leaf Cavaliers (which by the way seems nuts v Kithkin (and awful vs 5c and fae)).

Puncture Bolt Might Be Playable - Persist creatures are all over, non-Incremental Blight -1/-1 counter cards might become worthwhile to deal with them.

If a Non-Fae Two Color Deck Makes it There Will be Red - I think RG Warriors or Shamans and something Rakdos could maybe work out. That said I think the RG deck should probably be a Firespout deck and in that case just run five colors.

Random Crap

16-5 in PEs this week. Of my losses I remember four. Of those two I couldn't win due to opponent having the ultimate nuts in two games and mana screw in all three games the other match. Two I punted on mechanics. One was misclick for one point of mana burn ftl. Other was screw up combat when opponent had creature with First Strike and Wither. Both mistakes were small but cost me a game in matches that went to three.

I'm 99% sure I wouldn't make those mistakes again especially playing paper magic. This makes me with I had decided to make the effort and goto GP Indy this weekend. Without those dumb losses I'd have been 18-3 which is absurd as shit (and my account would have 18-53 more packs).

Anyways, been updating my paper EDH decks and starting to post my lists check them out here. EDH is pretty much the best thing ever. Time Stretch->Relearn->Sins of the Past=Win. Had a game yesterday where opponent played Myonsynth Lattice. In response to my Time Stretch he Hurkyl's Recalled me. I floated four mana and Memory Plundered his Recall bouncing his board. I then only managed to take five turns in a row and could not build back up to a great enough level. Slivers killed us both... (I was on two most of that game.)

Might play another sealed today, might not. Going to FNM tonight and plan on playing in the sealed event but if I can find someone to playtest block with me I'd do that. Didn't sleep last night and have to drive upto PA tomorrow so I think I'll pass out right after FNM.

Played a few games on MODO with 5c control. Most were in TP room and useless. A parade of awful 5c decks and then bad aggro and midrange decks. Now if you thought the decks were bad you should have seen the people playing them. Hint: side Nameless Inversion out versus fucking control decks!! Did play some mirror games versus a friend, was kicking his ass but that was not many games. Still need like a 1/3rd of the deck for tomorrow but I'm not too worried about that. Could always fall back on the deck I have and know how to play, Faeries. Also have like 65 cards out of Kithin so that is also an option.

Oh lets do some math. I think I might not Ponder in block Faeries. The best reason to run Ponder is for the turn two Bitterblossom. This much is clear. Now how does this work out in reality? First we have to assume no Bitterblossom is in hand. I will also do all of this off seven card hands on the play. Last assumption is that we are trying to get Bitterblossom, if we don't see it we'll take a random card.

53 cards left in deck, four are Bitterblossoms. 7.547% of those cards are Bitterblossom. You see three off Ponder giving you a 22.641% chance of finding one. Miss it? Shuffle and see one more, again 7.547% chance. So if you always shuffle with Ponder you have a 31.2% chance of seeing a Bitterblossom off your turn one Ponder. Now this does not include the card you draw turn two. If you found Bitterblossom this doesn't matter. If you didn't you draw a random Ponder card then see one more off the top on turn two. This last card is four in 52 or 7.692% so your total chance is 38.9% to find it off Ponder.

Oh by the way, that 39% or so is for hands with Ponder but no Bitterblossom. Add to that the fact that Bitterblossom on turn two is not amazing versus Kithkin and you might see why I'm unimpressed. Run 0 Ponder, 25 land, and lots of good spells.

Told ya this was going to be random...

I Iz A Master

Round two of a t8 PE I keep a two land hand game one. Turn 13 I play land #4. I won it, Mirror-Weave on Boartusk Liege ftw. Game two I loose. Game three he goes Devoted Druid turn two, the 3/5 guy turn three and Boartusk Liege turn four. He then plays a second Liege. I also won that game with no Mirroweave involved. Go me.

So yeah 2-0 in it at the moment, will be six rounds. This means that I'll be up till 7-9am playing in the PE which is a bad thing. Did another PE today another no top 8 and went 4-1 again. Have yet to manage the 5-0 but these Shadowmoor packs are piling up. Which is good because I want 4x of the set pretty much.

Update: R3G1 I miscount my lands and manaburn for one. That puts me on nine and a removal spells later I'm on 0 turn before Mirrorweave ftw. g2 I get him. g3 I die with three lands in hand and three bombs on top of deck. His deck was absurd 2x Steel of the Godhead, 2x Helm of the Gastlord, 2x Inkfathom Infiltrator, plenty of UW and UB creatures, 2x Gloomlance, etc. Annoying to punt game one in this match. I died to enchantments in both games I lost which was also annoying as I have plenty of answers but couldn't draw any.

Block PTQs

Plan is to goto Philly this weekend to play some block constructed. Only problem is I've played about three games of it. Want to run 5c control but need to find cards to build that, have maybe half the deck. Other option is to run fae which I've a ton but I am down on after lots of losses. I'm also not a fan of the Kithkin matchup, think you have a slight edge but whoever wins the die roll has a huge edge.

I really want to run 5c control with Farhaven Elf, but we'll see. My tech is Bitterblossom in the sideboard for the mirror. That card is some good.

Shadowmoor Release Event #2

Movie didn't work out so after some Mexican food I'm home to fart and play Magic. My second PE also has a great pool and three money rares. This pool showed me two decks, a Gwu deck and a BUr deck. I am starting the green deck but I figure can get some surprise value from boarding into another deck. Both decks are running 2x of Thistledown Duo and 2x Steel of the Godhead. I figure those cards alone should steal some wins. The blue black deck has better removal while the green deck has better creatures. Normally I'd err on the side of removal but Oversoul of Dusk is a strong reason to run the green deck.

Round One - Me: 1783 Him: 1573
He plays first and I keep a spicy looking hand, aiming to lay Oversoul down on turn five. We both curve out well, however my spells are more powerful. My Oversoul doesn't come down on turn five as I've only drawn one land, an Island. He stops playing spells after a few turns and I roll over him.
For game two I decide to give my other deck a shot. Want to get a game or two in with it and seems like no better time than now. Then he mulls to four... Despite that he manages to drop a Deus on turn eight which makes the game much closer.
1-0

Round Two - Me: 1789 Him: 1948
Game one I race his Windbrisk Raptor ftw. Game two my opening hand is a mull to a poor six card hand. I draw all the Islands in my deck and can never cast half the spells in my hand. Game three I switch decks because I think Gloomlance will be a house in this matchup. He has Mistmeadow Witch to answer my Steel of the Godhead on a duo. I Gloomlance the Witch. I then three for one him by casting Gloomlance on his Steel of the Godheaded Slikbind Faerie. I get there eventually with both of us playing countless lands. I misclick and throw away a Power of Fire enchanted creature in combat. My opponent makes up for this by not using his on-board lifegain when I attack for lethal.
2-0

Round Three - Me: 1806 Him: 1817
A mulligan into a weak hand is again the way I start a game. He plays Spawnwrithe followed by Boartusk Leige followed by a foil Furystroke Giant. Between that and me being mana screwed the game was a joke. Game two I keep a sketchy hand that could work out. I never draw a land and his slightly less absurd draw gets me. I drew the Island I needed turn seven when it no longer mattered.
2-1

Round Four - Me: 1794 Him: 1748
My opponent ran the sick fall asleep play. Or at least that is my guess.
3-1

Round Five - Me: 1805 Him: 1707
Game one I never saw a Forest and killed him with a pair of Thistledown Duos.
Game two I brought in my second Inquisitor's Snare in exchange for a Merrow Wavebreaker. I made the mistake of leaving in Gloomwidow's Feast which ended up sitting in my hand this game. It was that mistake in sideboarding that cost me the game, another card would have had a huge impact on the damage race that game. His Wilt-Leaf Liege and field of G/W creatures didn't help... He could have killed me a turn early but decided to give me one more turn to draw an out. For game three I moved to the backup deck. I spent time thinking if I could make a five color deck work with all my good cards but however I tried it the mana wouldn't work. He had almost no ways to kill creatures from what I saw so I also brought in both Helm of the Ghastlords.
Game three I see a strong hand with no white or blue mana, I keep as a source of one of those colors means I am in very good shape to win the game. I don't find one till turn four but that is enough and a Steel of the Godhead equiped Duo gets me there.
4-1
Final Rating: 1814

Well two PEs today which means I spent 2 Tournament Packs, 4 boosters, and 4 tix. I got 22 boosters, 4 avatars, 11 rares, and 64 rating points. Of my rares most are worth 4-14 tix. I'd count today as a big thumbs up as far as magic goes.

Tomorrow I'll try and get my pools and decks posted and probably do another sealed. The pack winnings are nice as I need to learn to draft Shadowmoor. I'll be doing this on a non-1800 account and I think 22+ packs will more than get the job done.

Shadowmoor Release Events

Was busy this weekend so today is my first chance to play in a Shadowmoor PE online. I picked a good one to join cracking a pretty damn good pool.

click on image for fullsize

Round One - Me: 1750 Opp: 1808
Game one I elect to play and have a solid hand with some three drops and Redcap and Corrupt to fill out my bomb quotient. He mulls to six and keeps a hand that is super slow and does nothing. By the time he can start casting spells he is way behind on tempo. His deck seemed slow so I take out Torpor Dust for Inescapable Brute which I've seen do some sick things in limited. I expected to be on the draw, on the play I would have brought in Poison the Well versus his slow deck. Turn three Tattermunge Duo into turn four Poison seems pretty sick.
Game two he elects to draw. We trade two drops then I Redcap his turn three Scuttlemutt. He has no follow up. On my fifth turn I drop Cinderhaze Witch and the game is starting to look like a blowout. He drops Illuminated Folio but on my turn six I knock him to two cards in hand. He keeps drawing off the Folio but can't find much defense and he concedes.
2-0

Round Two - Me: 1764 Him: 1766
I start by picking to play and laying Sygg turn two. My opening hand was sick with Sygg, a RG duo, Ruins of the Deus, Demigod, and three land. I miss land drops #4&5 but get Sygg active through a large number of creatures. I misclick my turn six attack which costs me the turn seven win and a card off Sygg. I get him turn eight without having to cast Demigod of Revenge which I'd rather not show if I don't have to.
Game two I cast turn five Deus off a pair of Scuttlemutts, which seems good. He plays an Inkfathom Witch which could cause issues but I have a Redcap in hand to kill it. The game slows down but Deus keeps hitting for six. Both of us have drawn at least nine lands. He doesn't find an answer to my 6/6 and concedes the turn before I draw a Jaws of Stone for 5 damage.
"
Round Three - Me: 17something Him: 1618
Well my luck sac of an opponent gets a Mistmeadow Witch and plays Steel of the Godhead on it turn before I can Redcap it. He then goes on to attempt to punt the match but my last three draws were blanks. Game two I smash him. Game three I see six land and mulligan into a five card hand, Corupt two spells and three mountains. My first three draws? Mountain, Mountain, Oona. He again Godheads his witch and is beating me down with that and his turn two Inkfathom Infiltrator. Jaws of Stone gets me back into it. He throws away three creatures to kill a Deus when he should have raced. I then manage to get a swamp and Scuttlemutt into play. Turn 12 he plays Twilight Sheppard with me at five life (and after I blew up a plains). I cump block it one turn. Turn 14 I draw Swamp #2 (have 7 mountains out atm) and cast Oona. I have to block with it of course to live. Just to make sure I'm totally out of the game he scars Oona so I can't even "trade" with the Sheppard. On my last turn I draw Swamp #3. Getting Oona out a turn sooner would have been the win assuming I could hit once with her ability x=4. That would give me blockers and then in two turns I'd mill him. Nothing like loosing to someone's bombs in their awful deck and awful plays.
2-1

Round Four - Me 1759 Him 1729
He Curse of Chains my two and three drop creatures. I get stuck on four lands with three six drops in hand. Once I hit six lands I drop Oona who pretty much ends the game.
Game two he keeps a one lander on the play but gets lucky and drops a land turn three. He however doesn't hit land #3 and I kill his two drop with Redcap. He scoops on turn five to Ruins of the Deus on my Tattermunge Duo.
3-1

One thing I notice at this point is all of the 3-0 players at the end of round three were in the 1600s. This means that probably a couple started under 1600 before the event. I'd say ratings don't matter but the 16xx I lost to was awful just had bombs and I got screwed g3. It is 5:20 now with probably 25-35 minutes till round five. I have a movie in Bethesda (30 minute drive at least this time of day) in two hours, hope for another quick 2-0 match.

Round Five - Me: 1770 Him: 1817
Start with six land into two mountains and 4 unplayable spells into two swamps and 0 playable spells. I'm good at this game. Clearly I turn six him off the mull to five. And that is without casting the Demigod turn six which I could have.
I take out Smash to Smithereens for Bloodmark Mentor as his only creatures g1 had persist. Game two he does nothing and I splitting headache him seeing Grim Poppet, Reaper King, and Mossbridge Troll in hand... I take a four drop (he is stuck on four lands) and he concedes to turn five Demigod the first time I cast it in five rounds.
4-1

I end 4-1 at 1783 (would probably be 1800 if not for Mr. 1600) and get 11 packs and a good number of money cards. So I had 9 blow out games and two close losses, kinda sucks that both had to happen in one match but whatever. Will post pool and stuff after movie tonight.

Regonals in <12 Hours Sideboarding and Mana

Well I'll be (re)sleeving my deck soon. Looking to do well tomorrow. I'd love to Q for Nationals but the main reason I want to do well is so people see my decklist. Why do I want this? The awesome (random looking) sideboard.

3 Razormane Masticore
3 Damnation
2 Nameless Inversion
2 Thoughtseize
2 Persuasion
1 Mindspring
2 Counterbore

0 4x spells and three spells no other fae lists are running, whats not to like? Now to be fair Nameless is Terror 5 & 6, and the other two Thoughtseizes are in the maindeck. 3/3 on Damnation and Razormane is pretty typical so I won't comment on it.

Persuasion - Elf decks hold back a Colossus to play post Damnation. This means that you can tap out again the next turn and laugh all the way to your win.
Mindspring - For the mirror mostly. Most mirror games post sideboard go fairly long unless one player gets a quick Bitterblossom edge. It also is not hard to tap your opponent out at the end of his turn with a bunch of instants. Its okay to throw away some good spells getting him tapped out. You untap draw 4+ cards and then go on to win.
Counterbore - The latest versions of Revillark preform better versus fae from what I've seen. Counterbore on Revillark or Body Double stops their combo cold. Also bringing it in helps as it gives you another counterspell to help beat theirs.

The only other thing I'm considering in the sideboard is one Mystical Teachings and one Counterbore. This gives you the virtual 2x Counterbore but the Teachings is more flexable and can be played in the mirror for instant speed card advantage.

The only thing left is deciding on my manabase.
As it stands now:
4 Underground River
4 Secluded Glen
4 River of Tears
4 Mutavault
4 Faerie Conclave
3 Island
2 Pendelhaven
1 Sunken Ruins

This is one more land and three fewer islands than the typical Faerie manabase. I'm considering cutting two Conclaves for an Island and second Sunken Ruins. Dunno probably won't decide till filling out my decklist tomorrow. Might also just cut one Conclave in favor of a Ruins. Islands help your turn one Ancestral but they hurt you versus Merfolk and for casting black spells. I personally am going to favor the Ruins.

MMM Drafting Part Two

Well I'll try and finish up my MMM draft guide. Lets get right two it with uncommons.

#1 Swell of Courage - This is an uncommon bomb. You have to pick it highly because Kithkin decks also want it. That said people undervalue it and you can get it 4-5th pick sometimes.
#2 Sage of Fables - Your lord is one of the better ones. Combined with an active Schoolmaster this will give you tons of cards and 2/2s. Three is the most I've had and you should be happy to play as many as possible.
#3 Diviner's Wand - This is a strong equipment. It can give a Schoolmaster evasion to let it attack in the absence of a tap effect. It also can deal tons of damage with Distant Melody of a Sage of Fables. Ideal decks have two.
#4 Sage's Dowsing - A two for one counterspell is very nice in limited. Ideally you'll be casting this on the cheap of a Banneret.
#5 Wandering Greybeard - He serves two roles. First as a 4/4 he is the fattest creature in the archetype. Secondly gaining four life is very strong. Many games versus aggressive decks you hit his kinship twice and that pretty much puts it out of reach for them.
#6 Waterspout Weavers - This is the first uncommon on the list I'd not always run. If you already have plenty of five drops leave them on the bench. They are nice in that they can randomly win games off kinship. I'm not upset to play them but I don't aim to.
#7 Inspired Sprite - This card is much weaker in this archetype than you'd think. The problem is it costs four and has little impact on the board. I usually run him partly for mana curve reasons but he is not a high pick.
#8 Meadowboon - A decent pump spell and a decent body versus green decks. I run him in decks lacking other pump effects (Swell and Sage)
The rest of the uncommons are not really worth it. Thornbite Staff is the strongest of the off tribe equipment for this deck but I don't think its worth running.

Rares -
Most suck.

Bombs:
Notorious Throng
Reveillark
Solid:
Mind Spring
Vendillion Clique
Fuedkiller's Verdict
Playable:
Grimoire Thief
Sigil Tracer
Stonehewer Giant

Example Decks:

1 Coordinated Barrage
2 Stream of Unconsciousness
3 Mothdust Changeling
1 Disperse
1 Weight of Conscience
3 Stonybrook Banneret
1 Diviner's Wand
2 Sage of Fables
2 Stonybrook Schoolmaster
2 Distant Melody
1 Inspired Sprite
1 Swell of Courage
3 Wandering Graybeard
7 Plains
1 Rustic Clachan
9 Islands

Relevant sideboard cards:
Meadowboon
2 Distant Melody
2 Negate
1 Inspired Sprite
2 Waterspout Weavers

This deck is a pretty solid one. Its a bit short on removal ans Schoolmasters but has everything else I'd want. Currently playing round one with it so will post on how it did.

I'd post more decks but I can't find any in my v2 folder and I'm not sure where v3 stores draft decks (if it does).

To sum up MMM drafting, force merfolk and you'll win.

Update: Made it to finals, played first opponent didn't show in first five minutes of game. I forget about it and next time I click on MODO I've timed out. Whatever 3 packs+foil Mind Shatter=profit. Kinda annoying that v3 doesn't highlight itself in your task bar when it needs you.

MMM Drafting

I probably should have written this a while ago as MMM drafting is short for this world on MODO. I don't think I've ever been more successful with a format than MMM. Just with 4-3-2-2s I've gone well past just infinite with the format. What is my secret?

Draft UW Merfolk. I don't care what spells you see, just force merfolk. The deck is insane, I rarely miss the finals. Most losses with the deck are due to nut draws from the opponent or mana issues. For example finals of the craft I'm currently in, g1 he plays turn two Bitterblossom and I can't hit five mana for Swell of Courage. Game two we get the sick four spell eight land draw with no removal or card advantage.

If you don't get screwed over the deck is hard to loose with. It has the best commons and uncommons in the format and you'll be able to pick up lots.

I'll go card by card with what you want for the deck. I'm not going to cover on color cards that I don't think are worth playing.

Commons:
#1 Stonybrook Schoolmaster - This is the card that makes the deck tick. You'll usually pick up three or four of him but I've seen as many as seven and as few as one.
#2 Weight of Conscience - This is great removal for the deck. First off you're the control deck so you don't need to RFG the card right away. The other advantage is lets you tap Schoolmasters. You fight for these with Kithkin decks so don't expect to see many.
#3 Mothdust Changeling - The format was two playable one drops, he is one of them. Mothdust turns on your Schoolmasters and helps pump your tribal effects.
#4 Stonybrook Banneret - You want to get lots of these, its the deck's best two drop. Most decks have two to four of these but you should aim for as many as you can.
#5 Distant Melody - This is a slightly unusual card as its great in the deck and you should pick it accordingly. However you don't want to play a number other than two of them. Aim to get two of them in your three packs, more than that is usually a waste.
#6 Coordinated Barrage - This is fine removal, usually not hard to pick up a couple.
#7 Burrenton Bombardier - Bombardier is a card Kithkin players pick highly. This means you often won't have any which is fine. They will often sit on your sideboard when you have them as the deck will almost never want to cast them as a spell.
#8 Disperse - This spell is a good all-around utility spell. It can slow down fast starts from aggressive decks, save your creatures, and can mess with auras or reinforce cards.
#9 Stream of Unconscious - A spell you can pick up 15th it is quite playable. It can let you attack with a Schoolmaster, screw up combat, or slow down your opponent.
#10 Negate - I generally only play this maindeck if I'm short on spells. You will want one or two in the sideboard for non creature bombs or removal. Countering a Violet Pall with this is well worth two mana.

The rest of the UW commons are not cards you'd want to play. A few are mildly useful out of the sideboard but very rarely.

I'll update this post tomorrow with uncommons pick order and some example decklists. For now its time to finish Kung Fu Hustle then get to bed so I can wake up for 7am PE tomorrow.

More Fae Ovb

T8'd a Standard PE last night with faeries. Six rounds of swiss went WWLWWW then lost in quarter finals. No IDs make PEs pretty weird as I was playing round six at 4-1 when I think I was in regardless on breakers.

Round one: mono black rouges 13xx - um yeah won this one
Round two: GB Elves 18xx - He took game one but I got the next two. He sideboarded like ass having both Nameless and Terror in post board. This let me get him by just killing the few creatures he played and two for oneing his removal with Spellstutter Sprites.
Round three: Merfolk 17xx - Game one he had one turn to play Lord of Atlantis ftw. He did and I died with a hand of two land. Game two I kept a two lander, nine cards later still had two land. I played two spells that game. Had 3 Terror effects in hand but no land to turn on River of Tears. Only loss of the swiss can be blamed on awful draws.
Round four: Merfolk 16xx - Game one he got me with drawing four lords and I only answered three. Games two and three I played control and didn't play Islands.
Round five: Mirror 17xx - Game one I Thoughtseize away his Bitterblossom. I get some beats in with 1/1s and Mutavaults. I cast a Mistbind on my turn while he is tapped out and Terror his attempts to Scion it. Game two I again Thoughtseize his Bitterblossom. He has a Peppersmoke in hand but I had sided out my Scions so I never give him a chance to use it. Mind Spring was key in game two, drawing me four cards while he was tapped out. Winning the mirror 2-0 when I drew 0 Blossoms and he drew 4 is pretty sweet.
Round six: Mirror 18xx - Like round five I Thoughtseize on the draw game one. His hand is awful and I take one of his Scions. Turn two I draw a second Ancestral and suspend both.
He is never really in this game. Game two I keep a hand with Ancestral, Thoughtseize, and Bitterblossom, but no black source. He does nothing for the first turn. Turn two he drops a second Island then suspends Ancestral. Turn three he misses his third land. Turn three I draw a black source and Bitterblossom. The next turn I Thoughtseize him and take his Bitterblossom. That pretty much wrapped the game up. He was pissed when he lost it but honestly it was his fault. Keeping a two land hand with no Ancestral and no way to cast Bitterblossom is a mistake in the mirror.
Quarter Finals: UWr Revillark - Game one he has a fast draw and I'm stuck on lands. I'm trying to race him. Turn eight or so I draw my fifth land and see a way to win. If I Thoughtseize him then cryptic tappting his team I can swing for the win. Thoughtseize reveals both Rune Snag and Pact of Negation, I loose. Game two I draw two Spellstutter Sprites, and no other countermagic (or Bitterblossoms.) He has two Rune Snags and is able to resolve his spells and combos me out.

Loosing to Revillark sucks but when they draw more counters than you it is what happens. For regionals I'm thinking of running Faerie Macabre to improve the matchup versus the new 'lark decks. The old deck had trouble with Terror, this new version does not.

Tentative regoinals sideboard:
3 Damnation
3 Masticore
2 Redcap
1 Mindspring
3 Nameless Inversion
1 Thoughtseize
2 Faerie Macbare

The Redcap and Macbre are the parts of that I like the least as I can only fit two of each and each is only useful in one matchup. We'll see kinda want Pithing Needle as another 2x. Turn one Needle on Treetop Village should make beating elves simpler but who knows if it is worth it.