Two Stories

Continuing last post's suggestion of 'Why', Extra Credits has a bit on Why as it specifically regards game design. Pretty cool and somewhat connected. Now on with the show.

I have been tinkering with running both Burning-Tree Emissary and Snake Umbra, in place of Aggressive Urge. Games in meatspace have been very good, with Jetfire winning multiplayer games, which it is not designed to do. It also took a Boros deck apart, finishing faster than my opponent could build up an attack. Very encouraging!

I had a solid game online vs Fuz playing an unpolished Naya build. I took all of these things as good signs. Then he changed to Nip/Tuck, an aggro BW build and I got decimated. Four games, four losses.

This was when I gave up

In at least three of those games, I was subject to mana flooding, having anywhere from four to six lands in play and three to four lands in hand. I started mulliganing more aggressively in games 3 and 4, because I knew I had to get out to a good start. It didn't matter, in part because Fuz drew a lot of removal, and then the winning cards dried up, the draw spells eagerly pushed the lands to the top of the deck and that was that.

At moments like that, I want to blame the program: how can I possibly be mana flooded in 4 straight games!? Isn't this program shuffling in a faulty manner! (Answer; no.)

The truth is a little more complicated: as aggressive as this deck is, the creatures aren't very resilient. Fuz has a lot of removal in the above game and it showed. The fact that I couldn't draw more threats, while problematic, is also symptomatic of the fragility of my creatures. I don't have a lot of removal, I have speed and in these four games, that speed shorted out.

The problem is: I don't know if there are creatures that will fit into the mold of this deck and increase the resilience. Monochrome creatures don't get the boost from Psychotic Fury or Liege. Other creatures are too expensive. Fuz thinks I could have less land in the deck but there are only 21...less seems super risky!

Which is why Snake Umbra is in there now. I can't say it hasn't worked out like I hoped, because it hasn't really shown up yet in games and it's one of those cards that can't be goldfished, it really has to be tested under real world conditions. Still, I feel like there is something I am overlooking and I just don't know what it is, yet.