Briars Cleared

Now I've come to the end of my Skullbriar tweaks.

The final cuts were Blood Bairn and Diabolic Servitude for Yavimaya Elder and Drana, the Last Bloodchief.

Yavimaya Elder is something that probably should go in more decks, honestly. The mana fixing is too relevant in the format to ignore. I cannot think of how many games I have lost because of mana issues

Drana is a neat threat with +1 counters as part of her mechanic. The recursion doesn't hurt, so that card slots in better for Diabolic Servitude. 

Which is to say that I like where the deck is at now! It's still got some quirks-it's quite likely Mazirek doesn't belong here. I'm certainly not maxing that card out. 

But I'm not really maxing any card out, which is how I like to play Commander. Games should end, but I don't need turn 3 loop combos to take over. I've beefed up the removal and the overall creature quality, while also improving on some of the synergies I wanted Skullbriar to emphasize. 

Seems pretty good. 

Instant 1 Altar's Reap 1 Tribute to the Wild 1 Golgari Charm 1 Grisly Salvage 1 Putrefy 1 Wretched Confluence 1 Inspiring Call	Artifacts 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Golgari Signet 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Bonehoard 1 The Ozolith
Enchantment 1 Branching Evolution 1 Pernicious Deed	Sorcery 1 Victimize 1 Ambition's Cost 1 Sever the Bloodline 1 Barter in Blood 1 Rise from the Grave 1 Spider Spawning 1 Overwhelming Stampede 1 Dread Summons 1 Dig Up 1 Casualties of War
Lands 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Golgari Rot Farm 1 Jungle Hollow 1 Polluted Mire 1 Slippery Karst 1 Tainted Wood 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Vivid Grove 1 Vivid Marsh 13 Swamp 12 Forest 1 Skemfar Elderhall 1 Pine Barrens 1 Bonders' Enclave Planeswalkers 1 Garruk, Cursed Huntsman 1 Vraska, Relic Seeker	Creatures 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder 1 Viridian Emissary 1 Wall of Blossoms 1 Korozda Guildmage 1 Phyrexian Rager 1 Skullwinder 1 Wood Elves 1 Eternal Witness 1 Corpse Augur 1 Bloodspore Thrinax 1 Shriekmaw 1 Indrik Stomphowler 1 Kessig Cagebreakers 1 Banshee of the Dread Choir 1 Acidic Slime 1 Mycoloth 1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest 1 Vulturous Zombie 1 Great Oak Guardian 1 Thief of Blood 1 Pathbreaker Ibex 1 Cloudthresher 1 Butcher of Malakir 1 Scourge of Nel Toth 1 Caller of the Pack 1 Verdant Force 1 Winding Constrictor 1 Corpsejack Menace 1 Sarulf, Realm Eater 1 Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager 1 Necropolis Regent 1 Steelbane Hydra 1 Yavimaya Elder 1 Drana, The Last Bloodchief

Late To The Party: Mad Max (2015)

Mad Max was released in 2015 and on a little buying spurt, I picked it up for under $20. The game clearly takes inspiration from and exists in the same universe as Fury Road, only with a couple knobs turned to the left, so it's kinda/sorta but not exactly the same.

The gameplay mechanics break down into two main wheelhouses: the first is the Batman: Arkham Asylum style fisticuffs. Essentially, a lot of button mashing, with occasional breaks in the action to counter an attack, and then continue the chain. 

The second is involves car combat and I don't have a point of reference here. Unfortunately, neither did the developer, according to the wiki. This shows, and it's a problem because driving is kind of a Mad Max thing right?

However there was a progression system, so the car would get better as the game played and I was enjoying that-I was even starting to get the hang of car combat. That's important because I was starting to find and activate fast travel points, just so I wouldn't have to drive. 

But just as I was getting the car combat, the fisticuffs experience was getting stale. I unlocked new moves but they never seemed applicable. This is the problem with one-button fighting: I don't ever seem to understand the context where new moves are available.

Or, a button prompt would come up and then that same button would suddenly prompt another move and by the time I had reacted, I was doing a move I did not intend. 

However, none of these were backbreaking. The world felt interesting and it could be thrilling. Combat could be something that I could improve on. 

Were there bullshit tasks? Yes: Collecting scrap was unnecessary, since outposts Max frees start to generate scrap automatically. But every game of this type has bullshit tasks.

There was also a missed opportunity: there are Strongholds in Mad Max where you meet allies and they provide you stuff while you bring items there for projects-more scrap production, water, food, bullets, better maps, things like that.

But the Strongholds aren't unique. The story rewards are unique, but once I have food production at Jeet's place, why do I need it at Gutgash's? A limited set of rewards would spur more interaction and choice for the player, in my opinion. Do I go for replenished food at one Stronghold, or do I look for more scrap at another? 

None of these things are why I quit playing though. 

Sandstorms are why. Check out this video. Five and a half minutes of shit visibility, impaired movement, constant damage and no way out. 

Where's the fun part of this loop? 

When I went through my third sandstorm-which happened in the middle of a raid I had on a base!-I tried to wait it out. The condition wouldn't go away and the only thing that stopped the sandstorm was my character dying and the game resetting. 

I have better things to do. 

Yes We Die

Yup, it's another riff on a deck I saw online. Named after a Dagoba song, I figured it was appropriate, given the endgame. 

Main		Sideboard
4	Chain of Smog	3	Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary
1	Thoughtseize	3	Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit
4	Sedgemoor Witch	4	Pernicious Deed
4	Witherbloom Apprentice	4	Leyline of the Void
2	Murderous Rider // Swift End	4	Veil of Summer
2	Grist, the Hunger Tide	3	Tsabo's Web
3	Beanstalk Giant // Fertile Footsteps
4	Abundant Harvest
4	Sudden Edict
2	Fabled Passage
6	Forest
6	Swamp
3	Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit
3	Bala Ged Recovery // Bala Ged Sanctuary
3	Once Upon a Time
4	Hymn to Tourach
4	Nurturing Peatland
1	Dragonsguard Elite

Obviously a work in progress.

This is the casual version. I'm thinking about taking a tuned up version to the Friday night events, because it has an 'I win' condition (Chain of Smog + Witherbloom Apprentice), which previous decks I've run did not. 

Also, I really like B/G as as color combination. 

Now, casually this is a very tight build-not a lot of lands, use of the double faced cards like Bala Ged Recovery and Hagara Mauling to make up for that. It's fairly low to the ground, which is good but the lands that enter tapped do create a delay. 

Again: under casual circumstances, I'm OK with that. Going into an FNM, I'm going to have to change it up.

0-3, 0-6

After some adjustments to Starve (the Pox deck) I went back in, feeling like I was better prepared for what awaited!

Spoiler: It didn't matter.

Match 1

Vs Branson on mono-W Death & Taxes.

Game 1: I kept a mana heavy hand and…drew more lands. While my Hymn was successful and more lands meant his Rishadan Port wasn't doing much, I couldn’t follow it up with a strong play and I failed to make a Tombstaker block vs a Lion Sash, trading for the biggest creature on the board. That one is on me: I did some faulty math and didn't value the Sash like I should have.

Game 2: I had a stronger hand-the Stromgald Crusaders are good, y’all-but I couldn’t draw a removal spell to save my life. Unable to respond to a Stoneforge Mystic activation, I failed to activate Ratchet Bomb the first turn it came out. That meant I ended up activating it at two instead of three, losing my own board. Then I was soon run over by a Kaldera Incompleat. 

Match 2
Vs Ryan on Jeskai controlish

Game 1: Young Pyromancer got online and that was going to be the end of it.

Game 2: Got a Leyline out and killed the first Pyromancer but I couldn’t make my creatures stick after that. With a Monastery Mentor out, I was facing down 5 tokens but couldn’t resolve a Ratchet Bomb and that was that. 

Match 3
Vs Trevor on Burn

Game 1: Goblin Guides came out, did their thing and I couldn’t remove them. Never got a draw off of them either.

Game 2; on one land, he burned me out and I mounted no pressure. Roiling Vortex was topdecked when I was at one life. The turn after I had played Vault Skirge. 

Sigh.

So that is some bad beats, right? There was one mistake I could identify but everything else just felt like the deck wasn't doing anything. 

I have won one game out of thirteen. That's not a good run. That is actively bad. 

On the upside, my first two opponent's were reasonably friendly and the last one was just quiet. So I didn't have a bad time. But I think I am going to have to rethink how I'm approaching this event. I clearly need to do something more objectively consistent or powerful. 

"...Just trying to figure it out"

In the last month and a half, two people who I play with have gotten COVID. They are both fine, which is the good news. I didn't have any direct exposure to them, which is good news too, although that's mostly about me. 

What I have noticed though in the passing weeks is that they are needing a little more time than usual to figure out what their next move should be. 

I know: Magic is a complicated game. My friends are playing complex decks, some of those decks coming out of mothballs for a spin. Decks that are over a decade old-or have cards that go back to the beginning of Magic entirely. 

However, the saying goes 'Once is happenstance. Twice is circumstance. Three times is enemy action'. 

Let me be clear: I am not slamming my pals at all. This isn't about me getting impatient with them needing more time than usual to make a decision in a game that is incredibly difficult. 

But the current CDC guidelines are just....bogusness. 

I get that everyone is tired and I also understand that I live in the era of Mammon. I don't like either of those facts very much but I do accept that they are true. 

What I also understand is two very smart people that I know have been working through various levels of what I suspect is COVID related 'brain fog', and that bothers me a whole lot. These are people who have been vaccinated, and yet there are still real impacts on their lives that have lasted beyond their contagion. 

Now, they both seem to be getting better and have been allowed some time to rest and recover and that's all great! It just isn't the norm for everyone and I wish it was. 

We're trying to play a game together and I would like the opportunity to continue doing so without making anyone sick-including me.

Early Skulls

 

One thing I like about Skullbriar is that it has an early game; a turn two Skullbriar is pretty common and gets the game going early. If Skullbriar grows to a 3/3 or 4/4, then not only does it have a legitimate chance to end the game on its own, it is a threat that isn't easy to remove or block!

Sure, Skullbriar often eats a removal spell early too but now that's one less thing they have to deal with my other creatures. 

The deck does seem to rely on haymakers to do it's thing; Pathbreaker Ibex, Mycoloth, that sort of card that can really change everyone's combat math.

That might be something to keep in mind as testing goes forward-either needing more mid-range cards to get me where I need to be, or ways to protect my heavy hitters so that I can get my attacks in. In this regard, it might be better to swap out Necropolis Regent for Drana, Liberator of Malakir, for example. 

There's also a question about removal and how much of it will be needed. Adding Pernicious Deed to the deck was a smart choice but do I have enough effects there to keep me in the game?

All things to work on. 

Skullbriar and The Databases

 With a bit of diligence and a salting of lazy, I made these additions to Skullbriar:

Pine Barrens (which everyone knew I was going to do)
Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager
Inspiring Call
Necropolis Regent
Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
Pernicious Deed
Bonders' Enclave (testing this out)
The Ozolith
Steelbane Hydra
Dig Up
Vraska, Relic Seeker
Casualties of War

I made some last minute adjustments because I have an issue with Terastodon and Champion of Stray Souls. 

I never understood why Champion is/was a thing. It's been reprinted three times! But a 4/4 for six mana with no evasion and an expensive tap ability seems bad. Especially at Mythic rarity. Even though I am creating some tokens in this deck, this card just doesn't generate the kind of impact that I want it to.

Terastodon though is thought of as a Commander staple. A popular card, there are nine! reprints of this one, five of them in Commander sets. That is wild to me. 

However, I never thought of it as good. Eight mana for a 9/9 with no evasion that has a reasonable ability but a not inconsiderable drawback...there has got to be better ways to do this, especially in Black/Green. 

That left me two creatures to try and replace in Skullbriar, ones that should be on the top end of the curve and really do something that impacts the game!

I promptly got as lazy as I could about it and just thought: Well, why not look for Planeswalkers? It didn't take long for me to decide on Garruk, Cursed Huntsman and Vraska, Relic Seeker. (Although I will admit I was looking for a Garruk Apex Predator in my collection at first. Surprisingly I don't have any!)

I feel a wee bit disappointed about this, but also: who has the time? 

Here's what I mean: Planeswalkers are the most powerful card type in the game. They've posed a problem since they were introduced and I don't see that ever changing. While their power has been curbed a bit since War of the Spark started giving players common removal spells, the fact still remains they are very strong.

So, if I'm looking for a card to fill a role in a deck, why wouldn't I start with Planeswalkers every time? Especially in a format like Commander, which allows and encourages players to build up manabases to cast absurd spells. 

Given this quality, plus the sheer volume of Magic cards that come out now, anything that we can do to minimize the processing time we have to spend just figuring out what card should go in a deck vs getting to play said deck is a bonus in my opinion. 

Magic is a game that you now want an online database to access for deckbuilding. That's part of being a 30 year old game, and part of a flood of new material appearing over the past five years. 

There are certainly creatures I could consider for this deck but because the possibilities can only be managed with a database, it's overwhelming to deal with unless you've just got a lot of time. It's why sites like EDHrec become so valuable! 

Even then though, why mess about? Why not just look at the strongest card type in the game and see if something fits?  

That still feels lacking to me, though. As if an element of creativity has been dimmed. 

That observation aside, I do like my picks. Garruk and Vraska both do something necessary in Commander games: Work to an endstate. If I can ultimate either of those Planeswalkers, I am putting myself in a position to either win or be defeated, and quite promptly. No faffing about with destroying your permanent but also making a 3/3 elephant, or waiting a turn to combo tokens into other creatures that don't just win. 

So let's run it like that.

The Dilemma (Or: Play to Your Outs)

I got a game with Skullbriar in with Noah last weekend that really stuck a point to me. As the game was winding down, Matt showed up, so as the last turn comes up there are three people looking at the situation.

Noah is playing a RUW goad deck, forcing players to attack, punishing them when they attack. He's at close to 40, which actually doesn't matter because I have a 14/14 Mycoloth in play, with eight tokens and a Pathbreaker Ibex, one of the dumbest cards in the deck. 

It's Noah's turn and he doesn't have a way to deal with the oncoming bad times. But what he does have is a Vengeful Ancestor and a flying white creature I cannot remember, but he attacks me down to one life, goading the Pathbreaker Ibex with the Ancestor.

My hand has Victimize, and my graveyard has a Wall of Blossoms. Neither Matt or Noah know my hand or deck but we discuss what my options are. After a lively bit of chatter, things are boiled down. 

My options are very simple: I need to gain one life, or I need to be able to destroy Vengeful Ancestor. Once we've established that, I decide to go for my extra draw because it is possible that I win off the right draw! 

But my brain doesn't actually sit with that information. What it knows is that when I attack with the Ibex, I lose. It conveniently dismisses that the only way to win is with Ibex.

So when I play Victimize, I sacrifice the Ibex, to return the Wall of Blossoms and another creature that doesn't kill the Vengeful Ancestor.

Wall of Blossoms draws into Jungle Hollow. A card I knew was in my deck and seemingly played into!

Except I sacrificed the only card that allowed me to win the game.

This was a bit epic, in the worst way. 

The Pox Report

Although I'm a week late, I finally made it out to play some Legacy. 

Match 1
vs Brandon on Changeling combo

Won game 1, Lili and poxes helped keep the board clear and I mopped up with Stromgald Crusader

Games 2 & 3 though I couldn’t get enough disruption going in the early game, and I got run over. Hex Parasite DID show up in both games! But I was stuck on 2 mana so I couldn’t actually use it to make a dent in the Aether Vial or the Grist, the Hunger Tide.

Match 2
Vs Zach on UW Standstill
Game 1: got stuff countered and eternalized Timeless Dragons got to to me. My deck really does need Pox spells to resolve...

Game 2: an aggressive start for me with some discard and Crusaders bringing him down to 9, but I couldn’t follow it I up with any board control, and eventually eternalized dragons worked me over again.

Match 3
vs Dennis on GW Maverick

Game 1: hand played out perfect, with a discard hitting Solitude and Swords to Plowshares. With a Stromgald Crusader and a Smallpox to follow, he saw the writing on the wall.

Game 2; I spent my turns casting removal through a Deafening Silence, and then settled into a actual Pox, followed up by 2 Stromgald Crusaders and a Tombstalker.

Match 4 

 Vs Matt on Parfait homebrew 

Game 1: I was able to Hymn out his early win conditions (Dark Depths and Urza's Saga), but I couldn't get enough pressure going afterwards. Eventually, Urza's Saga tokens got there. 

Game 2: I had a Null Rod to stop his artifacts from artifacting, which was great until Blast Zone cleared it away. It looked like it wouldn't matter, as I had a Liliana I was going to ultimate-until Urza's Saga got a Pithing Needle. From there, he was able to grind the rest of the game out. 

So what did I learn? 

First, when I fell behind, I didn't have a way to catch up. I either had hand disruption or I had a Pox/Smallpox but rarely both-the games I won are when they both appeared. I didn't have enough pressure without this combo to win. 

Second, Pithing Needle. That is a card I need to account for in my sideboard. It's a very popular card to use to solve a bunch of problems.

Third: Protection from White is relevant! At least, it was until it wasn't-eternalized tokens are Black. This suggests that a card like Surgical Extraction, one I'd thought wouldn't be helpful, has a place in the Sideboard. Or, maybe graveyard removal is just useful enough to maindeck?

Possible adjustments to the Sideboard include: Ratchet Bomb, Unlicensed Hearse, and Bontu's Last Reckoning.