So this happened against Noah's new and improved aggro Scapeshift deck:
T1: Forest, Wild Dogs, go.
Noah: Stomping Grounds untapped (N:18 life), Bolt you for 3, (Me: 17) go.
T2: Wild Dogs find a new master with Noah during upkeep.
Play Forest, 2x Uktabi Drake, swing for 4 (N: 14 life), go.
Noah's upkeep: Yoink, steak means Wild Dogs are mine now.
"Oh crap, that's right. That happens on my turn now."
Raise the pints in a toast, and scene.
I pondered for quite a bit of time about What To Do with Dirty Deeds. Losing 8 games in a row will do that. I had a Eureka! moment and even pulled out Ring of Kalonia and Ranger's Guile from the binder to make things awesome. Bigger creatures? Hexproof with more damage? That's got to be fantastic for this deck, right!
Fortunately, I took a walk (my best thinking comes while walking or writing in a pub) before I actually did this and realized: Ring takes too long to do what I need it to do and taking out Colossal Might for a Ranger's Guile blunts this deck's impact in a pretty severe way. Something needed to be done: Shard Volley's additional cost is one I can't afford in a deck with only 16 mana producers and Elephant Guide is awesome but expensive. I wanted to go with Rancor-it's cheap, it's recastable pump effects (Spark Elemental and Uktabi Drake can both benefit from it without me having to lose a card) and the trample is critical when I have a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and can't punch through a 1/1. I've made 'arguments' that essentially say: you have to justify why you aren't using Rancor.
Alas, my Rancors are being used. So there you go.
But there is another. Oh yes. When Noah saw it for the first time said "Why don't I know this card: I have a bunch of Fifth Dawn."
That's right, the forgotten sister of Cranial Plating is out there and has found its time in the sun.
Horned Helm, Ladies and Gents. Horned Helm. I can cast it cheaper than I can get out an Elephant Guide and I can re-equip it to whatever creature I want like a more versatile Rancor and there is more!
I lose a card type by taking out the Elephant Guide, potentially decreasing the size of Tarmogoyfs. Horned Helm replaces that card type, allowing me to give the 'Goyf (or anything else) trample without decreasing the number of card types in the deck.
Don't get me wrong: I would still rather have trample but a deck like this has to work every angle it can and so far the Helm has been doing the dirty work I hoped.
Showing posts with label Dirty Deeds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dirty Deeds. Show all posts
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Concrete Shoes
stonethorn and I got some games in online over the weekend and he recorded them. You can watch me lose every game we played, here. The sound can be a little wonky and it's over an hour long, so I don't blame you for not viewing it but I've already found it useful.
For example, at about 6 minutes in I should have attacked with the Spark Elemental and in response to the activation of Cartel Aristocrat, I should have Incinerated the Aristocrat. I know what my thought process was-I was trying to bleed him out of creatures but it was the wrong gameplan. He has synergestic but not impressive creatures after the Aristocrat, until turn 5 when the Archangel of Thune arrives, so I should have done everything I could to kill it.The rest I could have rolled over, if I'm up to speed.
The main point however, is this: I got hammered in every game and that's a bad sign.
I also got a few games in against Fuz's G/B Darkest Hour/Elephant Grass deck. We split 1-1 before I had to go but in both games, I struggled.
No offense to Fuz's deck but I shouldn't have. I should have hammed the hell out of that deck. If his turn 1 and 2 plays are those enchantments, and my turn 1 and 2 plays are evil creatures, I ought to get some damage in and grind him out while he spends all his mana on cumulative upkeep (which is one reason I won the game I did.)
I think I understand what may be wrong: Dirty Deeds was built in the Dark Times, before creatures were good, when spells and removal were kings. Small creatures hitting hard made sense because you could overwhelm them rapidly, setting up and endgame before they were ready.
Now, a lot of decks have small, viable, resilient creatures and I'm probably not maximizing what I am using, especially as far as Horned Kavu is concerned.
The problem is that I have to deal with two worlds now: the NWO, where stonethorn and Noah live, and the Old Skool, where Jason and Fuz make things like Darkest Hour or Leveler + Endless Whispers decks. I'm not sure I can build something that can be compatible with both worlds and emerge victorious, without just loading every insane R/G card I own into this deck.
I don't want to do that: I think I'm going to have to focus more on one or the other world and accept that there is a set of bad matchups. But I'm not going to let 'bad' mean 'unwinable', so it's time to do some research.
For example, at about 6 minutes in I should have attacked with the Spark Elemental and in response to the activation of Cartel Aristocrat, I should have Incinerated the Aristocrat. I know what my thought process was-I was trying to bleed him out of creatures but it was the wrong gameplan. He has synergestic but not impressive creatures after the Aristocrat, until turn 5 when the Archangel of Thune arrives, so I should have done everything I could to kill it.The rest I could have rolled over, if I'm up to speed.
The main point however, is this: I got hammered in every game and that's a bad sign.
No offense to Fuz's deck but I shouldn't have. I should have hammed the hell out of that deck. If his turn 1 and 2 plays are those enchantments, and my turn 1 and 2 plays are evil creatures, I ought to get some damage in and grind him out while he spends all his mana on cumulative upkeep (which is one reason I won the game I did.)
I think I understand what may be wrong: Dirty Deeds was built in the Dark Times, before creatures were good, when spells and removal were kings. Small creatures hitting hard made sense because you could overwhelm them rapidly, setting up and endgame before they were ready.
Now, a lot of decks have small, viable, resilient creatures and I'm probably not maximizing what I am using, especially as far as Horned Kavu is concerned.
The problem is that I have to deal with two worlds now: the NWO, where stonethorn and Noah live, and the Old Skool, where Jason and Fuz make things like Darkest Hour or Leveler + Endless Whispers decks. I'm not sure I can build something that can be compatible with both worlds and emerge victorious, without just loading every insane R/G card I own into this deck.
I don't want to do that: I think I'm going to have to focus more on one or the other world and accept that there is a set of bad matchups. But I'm not going to let 'bad' mean 'unwinable', so it's time to do some research.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Contracts!
In my first game against stonethorn, I went: Wooded Foothills, sac, pay a life to get a Forest, tap Forest to play Wild Dogs. I'm at 19.
stonethorn's play was: swamp, go. He's at 20.
It wasn't until two turns after that when I realized I failed to recognize the upkeep trigger on the Wild Dogs and that it should have passed to stonethorn on my upkeep.
In a later game, I forgot to count stonethorn's graveyard when it came to my Tarmogoyf, which means that instead of being a 4/5, it was a 3/4.
It's clearly been quite some time since I picked up this deck. Despite knowing an absurd amount of Magic cards, I still take some basic interactions for granted. This is why so many pros advise that people play the deck they are most comfortable and familiar with: They won't overlook things and make those kinds of mistakes.
It does raise the question; why play Wild Dogs, if a bad play like this is clearly there but if I can land this on turn 1 with a Forest and then attack for 5 with that and a Spark Elemental on turn 2, that's a pretty good deal. If it's later in the game, I can just cycle them for another card.
I just can't play them off a fetchland on turn 1. I mean, seriously.
And I also keep thinking about the Treefolk deck. Ideas include: Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, Pyrewild Shaman, Wasteland Viper and some cool lands. Avoiding Ruric Thar damage is going to be helpful: maximizing it via Heartwood Storyteller is key. Might be a one trick pony but maybe it'll be a fun one, especially if I can give creatures trample without using a spell. Rancor might be worth it but Brawn might be the more interesting choice.
stonethorn's play was: swamp, go. He's at 20.
It wasn't until two turns after that when I realized I failed to recognize the upkeep trigger on the Wild Dogs and that it should have passed to stonethorn on my upkeep.
In a later game, I forgot to count stonethorn's graveyard when it came to my Tarmogoyf, which means that instead of being a 4/5, it was a 3/4.
It's clearly been quite some time since I picked up this deck. Despite knowing an absurd amount of Magic cards, I still take some basic interactions for granted. This is why so many pros advise that people play the deck they are most comfortable and familiar with: They won't overlook things and make those kinds of mistakes.
It does raise the question; why play Wild Dogs, if a bad play like this is clearly there but if I can land this on turn 1 with a Forest and then attack for 5 with that and a Spark Elemental on turn 2, that's a pretty good deal. If it's later in the game, I can just cycle them for another card.
I just can't play them off a fetchland on turn 1. I mean, seriously.
And I also keep thinking about the Treefolk deck. Ideas include: Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, Pyrewild Shaman, Wasteland Viper and some cool lands. Avoiding Ruric Thar damage is going to be helpful: maximizing it via Heartwood Storyteller is key. Might be a one trick pony but maybe it'll be a fun one, especially if I can give creatures trample without using a spell. Rancor might be worth it but Brawn might be the more interesting choice.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
When I first built this deck, the goal was to make a cheap, G/R beatdown deck. A bit like Wildrider but with the advantage of having burn. And then...years pass and Tarmogoyf is a $120 card. I suppose these deeds aren't done cheaply anymore.
On the upside, I'll know quickly if I'm going to win or not. On the downside, I'm not sure I can push this deck much further but we shall see.
The other thing this deck makes me want to do is mock up another R/G aggro build, using the Bloodrush mechanic and Heartwood Storyteller. I may have to do that while testing this one.
4 Spark ElementalI did some tweaking from my original deck in order to include cards that would boost Tarmogoyf but I did my best to be smart about it. Elephant Guide helps protect against creature sweeps and is an enchantment, Browbeat forces my opponents into horrible decisions, even Shard Volley has the bonus of adding a land to my graveyard, in case Wooded Foothills don't show up.
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Wild Dogs
2 Scab-Clan Mauler
4 Uktabi Drake
2 Kird Ape
3 Horned Kavu
2 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Rift Bolt
3 Browbeat
2 Shard Volley
3 Incinerate
3 Colossal Might
8 Mountain
8 Forest
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Elephant Guide
On the upside, I'll know quickly if I'm going to win or not. On the downside, I'm not sure I can push this deck much further but we shall see.
The other thing this deck makes me want to do is mock up another R/G aggro build, using the Bloodrush mechanic and Heartwood Storyteller. I may have to do that while testing this one.
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