Nature's Candy

I think I've come to the end of the road with Peaches--and I mean this in a good way!

It was in a game against Rebecca that she pointed out that the ninjas could get huge in a way that she couldn't interact with. In another against Noah, I had multiple copies of Ronin Warclub that had to sit in my hand because I was using all my mana to recast my creatures. 

I don't need Ronin Warclub to help accelerate my victory anymore: that's what Silver-Fur Master and Kaito are for!

In their place, removal is going in. That leaves me with this:

4 Will-o'-the-Wisp
1 Higure, the Still Wind
2 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
3 Mistblade Shinobi
3 Silver-Fur Master
3 Biting-Palm Ninja
1 Ingenious Infiltrator
1 Fallen Shinobi
4 Silent Hallcreeper
1 Prosperous Thief

4 Standstill

4 Long Goodbye
3 Collective Nightmare

4 Polluted Delta
7 Swamp
7 Island
4 Choked Estuary
1 Creeping Tar Pit

3 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares 

The one change to note comes from a lesson I learned in last night's game against Noah and Matt: Collective Nightmare seemed like a solid idea. A cheap removal spell hardly ever seems bad, right?

But the limitation of Long Goodbye (which has been doing it's job very well!) means that I need something to take care of creatures that avoid Long Goodbye. I think that I'm going to have to switch Collective Nightmare out for Hero's Downfall. 

But otherwise: I'm happy with this deck. 

 

If I Had My Little Way

So...look at this absurdity. 

That's 23 human tokens and eight Kaito tokens. What this tells me is that Peaches has a tempo issue, and I need to make sure I'm getting ahead of it. 

While it is true that four Soul Wardens in play will make for something very dumb, when I am attacking for 30 a turn and losing, something is still wrong. 

Basically: I need a way to establish tempo or take it from my opponent. Establishing tempo should be easy enough, because I think the curve is solid so I shouldn't have a lot of difficulties. But if for some reason I can't or don't, say because the game is just random or I come up against a aggressive deck then I need a way to make sure can climb back into the game. 

Which means taking a look at what kind of resources I have early on.

Currently, I'm thinking of cutting my copies of Prosperous Thief and Thousand-Faced Shadow but this leaves me with a very particular problem: I need two more cards and there isn't an obvious fit. Because with two slots, those cards need to be useful in nearly any situation I draw them in-let's say from turn three on. I can't be sad that I've got a card in hand that there aren't may duplicates of. 

The Long Goodbye makes a strong case for running four copies of (I currently have 3) but now I have one slot left!

I think that I've got the right amount of planes walkers (3) and creatures (24) so I really am in need of something to help me with tempo. Chain of Vapor effects come to mind but I'm feeling a little stymied!

And that's it for this week! I'm on vacation, and will have another post next week folks. Cheers!

In A Factory Downtown

So, after a major overhaul of the deck, Peaches definitely had some trouble. I played this against a MUD deck with Metalworkers but found myself really throttled by Lodestone Golem. In both games Noah was able to resolve one fairly early and that just made the rest of the game cost too much for me. 

At the same time, the fact that I was being pinned down by one card suggests to me that it may be possible that there's something to this deck. Or at least I'm doing something right, because most decks won't be running Lodestone Golem.

So I dialed it up again, this time in a three player game. The mana issues weren't prevalent and the deck functioned very smoothly! I even won out, being able to utilize the ninja abilities, coupled especially with the ability to replay my cheapest evasive creature, Will-o-the-Wisp. It was especially good when I could hold up regeneration mana. 

I'm on to something, which is great! 

Movin' To The Country

The first run out with Peaches went about the way I expected: the game was interesting but with a few mistakes and cards that felt weak. 

Yes, Standstill + Ninjutsu is a great combo but I found myself without much to do afterwards. In addition the mana base felt a little off, so I'll be taking a look at that as well. 

Now, the good news is: there's a whooooole lot of new cards to help up the power level and lean into the theme. From a new Planeswalker to a full decade's worth of cards that have activated abilities, including lands that could operate under a Standstill. 

After some research at Moxfield, I ended up cutting Cavern Harpy, Dauthi Horror, Escape Artist, Okiba Gang Shinobi, Thalakos Sentry, Into the Roil, and Throat Slitter.

In went Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, 4 Silent Wallcreeper, 1 Fallen Shinobi, 1 Ingenious Infiltrator, 3 Biting Palm Ninja, 1 Thousand-faced Shadow and 3 Long Goodbye.

After a look at the deck via Deckstats, I noticed Peaches was 40% lands, so I trimmed an Island for a Creeping Tar Pit and a Swamp for a Prosperous Thief,

That's a lotta lotta. But I said I wanted to update the deck, so let's commit!

Peaches

"Movin' to the country...."

3 Ronin Warclub

4 Will-o'-the-Wisp
3 Throat Slitter
1 Higure, the Still Wind
2 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
3 Mistblade Shinobi
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
4 Escape Artist
3 Cavern Harpy
1 Thalakos Sentry
3 Dauthi Horror

4 Standstill

3 Into the Roil

4 Polluted Delta
8 Swamp
8 Island
4 Choked Estuary

As a result of me tweaking Weapon of Choice, I had to snag some Cavern Harpies from this deck--so why not give it an entire facelift!

Note to future me; first change -2 Cavern Harpy +2 Silver-Fur Master