10 minutes of me & stonethorn playing

I found this pretty interesting to watch, (and if you watch it, be warned that I swear a lot) but I didn't notice any significant play errors, which is good. I was playing from two life, which meant that I couldn't be as aggressive with Kickback as I would have liked.

Despite that, I wonder if it might've been a good play to kill the Baleful Strix and start swinging with the dragon. Six a turn is not a small thing and might have shaken stonethorn into making a mistake. That's a long shot but it's possible. In the end though, I think I played it correctly, I just didn't get what I needed.

Still, it's fun to watch and it won't take much time!

Easy Answers

Let's me give you a big hint at the problem I faced in my last matchups:

If you said: missing a color, then line up for your prize! (Note, I have no prizes.)  I hate being right, although I don't get tired of it.

On the other hand, it confirms that this deck needs a little bit more. Being efficient may not be enough. These games were played before Phyrexian Boon had been removed so I still have a little room to play with but these games just made me groan inside. Both were multiplayer games, so I had time to develop my board but it didn't matter; I could not get the key third color and that led to everything collapsing. I was denied access to some of my most powerful spells, the Charms, because of it.

Reviewing the decklist, I'm wondering if the concerns that led me to add Phyrexian Boon, namely the necessity of removal + attempt to shorten the game clock, were unfounded. I have 10 removal spells without Boon. Maybe what I really need is an additional Mountain and some card draw. Curiosity is fun but something that isn't reliant on another permanent is probably wise. Also, if I could put in something that got a bonus from either the Liege (blue/black creature) or the Familiar (blue/red spell) that might be ideal.

Desperate Ravings might be the solution I'm looking for. Between the colors being spot on and the card draw, that could help Kickback smooth out some issues. I wish there was a hybrid mana card to add in and so a review of Ravnica, Return to Ravnica, Shards of Alara and Shadowmoor blocks may be in order. Hybrid mana is a godsend to decks in this position so I may as well take advantage of it, if it's available.

Predictability

Remember how I said that the mana would now wreck me?

Well it did in my first game against Noah, who was piloting his Birthing Pod deck. So let's hear it for predictions!

My next set of matches weren't plagued by this issue and I played hard fought but losing matches. This wasn't so bad: interesting matches are a good sign, especially against a deck like Pod, which is established. The weakest link was Phyrexian Boon, which isn't too surprising as it is unfortunately situational, even for my deck. Going against a BUG Pod deck? Even fewer targets.

The challenge for me is simple: is the flexibility of the Boon worth it? At the moment, I have to say it isn't, especially since I'm running the exceptionally useful Cloud of Faeries which cannot be targeted by the Boon. At the same time, I really do not want to be stuck with removal spells that are too limited. Lash Out is fun but I can't redirect it at someone's dome if they happen to be creatureless.

The Charms are very, very useful and in every game I've been able to play them, they've proved invaluable.

It's the getting to play them aspect that becomes worrisome. Three different mana is quite the demand for the kind of flexibility the Charms provide. I'm not looking to get rid of the Charms but I do need to make some concessions to practicality. Creatures are pretty important and I probably won't find myself sad if I have proper removal. It's time to go to the binders.