Evolving Tech

I was in Seattle last weekend and I got to take Tinkertoy up against a Miracles-variant deck that Jason was piloting. He was using Sensei's Divining Top and, cleverly, Elixir of Immortality to help shuffle away cards he didn't want. This is how you innovate when fetchlands get expensive.

I think Jason is out of practice though. In game two, he had an Elixir available and mana up but burned it on his turn to try and get a fresh set of three cards. The next turn, I milled him out, something I couldn't do otherwise. If he'd waited, he could've just kept biding his time until he miracled Entreat the Angels and boom: game is over.

I hesitate to suggest that I'm a better player than Jason is. He still comes up with the craziest decks and really bends concepts to his will in a way that I just don't see anybody else trying. His Hellcarver Demon deck is absolutely cool and I need him to send me that list so I can abuse others with it.

Hint, hint, man. Send me that list! That thing is awesome!

I think I've been playing with people more often than he has though and it's giving me a little edge when we play now. Also, I think I've been challenged to improve my decks in a way I hadn't before and that may allow for some slightly results.

On the more practical side, Conjurer's Bauble was pretty useful and the reduction in land didn't seem to make a big impact on my deck. Trinket Mage has been a great role player, getting not just Lion's Eye Diamond but appropriate Spellbombs as needed. I have yet to test Mana Severance out but with this month's paycheck, I look forward to adding one in there. 61 cards is not going to hurt Tinkertoy in the slightest and...I'll admit, I want to see the look on someone's face when I remove all my land for the first time. (Only stonethorn and indigo are people I know who read this blog so it'll be a surprise for everyone else!)

Unfortunately, I have to accept that Tinkertoy isn't ever going to make the grade. It's a neat concept but it's not nearly efficient or powerful enough to really be a frightening deck. That's OK, since I feel as though I've brought this deck up a notch.