Late To The Party: Evil West

 I finished up Evil West recently, having had it recommended back last year via the Jimquisition channel. 

I have to say: I dig it! There was a comment that Evil West was a bit of a throwback to the PS2 era and I can see it: the graphics are solid but not overly detailed, the gameplay is medium on it's depth, the locations are reasonably bite sized, and the enemy AI strategy seems to be: fuck it throw a lot of dudes at you. 

But the thing is? I enjoyed it anyway! A reasonably sized game executed reasonably well for a reasonable price. Call it a AA game if you like, but I found Evil West to be pulpy fiction and fun.

The controls were tight, and I was able to figure out different combos that fit a playstyle I enjoy. There were neat little rewards (just cosmetics) for collecting pieces of lore, there were just enough enemy varieties that I had to remember to change up my strategies when they showed up in different combinations. 

It wasn't perfect by any means; there were points of frustration that felt like I was being punished for not being perfect, and occasionally it felt like the controls were not as crisp as I would have liked. 

But all in all, a solid game!

Nervous Wrecks Going Down

I think I've come to the final list.

Playing Let's Take A Trip Together against Noah's goblins deck, one thing has become clear:

It's about a turn slow. 

This is a fun deck to play and there's a lot of outs to problems! Lifegain from Knights and Thrags, global resets leaving me a 3/3 beast, and I've even figured out Astral Slide flickers a creature when you cycle it!

It's still a turn slow; the plays on turns one and two don't suck (if I can get them) but the whole deck needs to stop for a turn to get the Astral Drift/Slide out. That's a problem if I don't have good follow up plays.

Now: between Wrath of God and Thragtusk, I can absolutely have those great follow up plays! 

As much as it pains me, I will probably have to remove Titanic Bulvox for something that I can play sooner; Fanatic of Rhonas or Tender Wildguide seem like reasonable choices. 

In addition: Titanoth Rex was a card I just didn't care about: I'm not here to give my creatures trample. ETB triggers and if I get behind, Wrath 'em. For that reason, Fanatic of Rhonas is probably the better choice. 

What I need is mana to do things with-so to that end, I'm swapping the Rex for Timeless Dragon. 

Edit:I don't have a Timeless Dragon available, but I do have a Pale Recluse. It'll do! Here's the final listing.

2 Tilling Treefolk
4 Flourishing Fox
2 Eternal Witness
4 Knight of Autumn
4 Charming Prince
3 Thragtusk
1 Splendor Mare
1 Greater Sandwurm
3 Fanatic of Rhonas
1 Pale Recluse

1 Astral Slide
4 Astral Drift

2 Secluded Steppe
2 Tranquil Thicket
1 Grasslands
4 Plains
6 Forest
4 Scattered Groves
4 Overgrown Farmland

4 Edge of Autumn
2 Wrath of God
1 Akroma's Vengeance

With the Glistening Edges

Research begins: 

If nothing else, I need to let go of what this deck was and look at what people are doing with it now. So much has changed in the Magic landscape since the original Astral Slide decks were a thing that it's only sensible to see how it's advanced.

And they are doing something completely different. 

Why try to sneak a big creature into play when you can abuse enter the battlefield triggers? 

So here's what I ended up building out of the cards I had available. 

2 Tilling Treefolk
2 Titanic Bulvox
4 Flourishing Fox
2 Eternal Witness
4 Knight of Autumn
1 Charming Prince
3 Thragtusk
2 Splendor Mare
2 Titanoth Rex
1 Greater Sandwurm
1 Valiant Rescuer

1 Astral Slide
4 Astral Drift

2 Secluded Steppe
3 Tranquil Thicket
1 Grasslands
4 Plains
6 Forest
4 Scattered Groves
4 Overgrown Farmland

4 Edge of Autumn
2 Wrath of God
1 Akroma's Vengeance

And whoa. What an improvement! The deck actually did things!

I'm still having a little trouble; if I draw the payoff cards but no cycling then obviously that's an issue. But at least I'm getting to play the game in a way that executes the plan. 

Cold Black Space

 What. A. Disaster.

Fuz was playing a Big Eldrazi deck (are there small Eldrazi decks?) and Trip just did nothing. Nothing at all. 

In a different game, I had the same problem: nothing meaningful to do and very frustrating turns.  

Part of the issue might be that Let's Take A Trip Together doesn't do anything until turn four. Despite running Flourishing Fox, the deck doesn't do anything for too long. It needs to be sped up by a turn or it needs to be able to nuke the board so I have enough time to do what I need to.

Considering Astral Drift and Slide both exile creatures until end of turn, there are ways to avoid mass removal, if I can get to that point. 

But I really have to rethink this deck if I want to keep it. 

Into The Irresistible Orbit

 The first new take on the deck:

2 Tilling Treefolk
2 Disciple of Grace
2 Titanic Bulvox
2 Bloated Toad
1 Darkwatch Elves
2 Peacekeeper
1 Disciple of Law
1 Krosan Colossus
4 Flourishing Fox
2 Eternal Witness
4 Knight of Autumn
2 Aurelia's Vindicator
1 Pale Recluse

2 Astral Slide
4 Astral Drift

2 Secluded Steppe
3 Tranquil Thicket
1 Grasslands
4 Plains
6 Forest
4 Scattered Groves
4 Overgrown Farmland

4 Edge of Autumn

What changed: More copies of the Astral effect, some good ETB creatures with Eternal Witness and and Knight of Autumn, and a few more lands, just at a glance. 

It isn't huge, but I hope that it gives the deck a little more consistency and a little bit of power. 

Go The Scenic Route

The first game with Let's Take A Trip Together went the way I suspected it would. I can't be too hard on the deck though: it hasn't been meaningfully updated since Onslaught (so, never) and my metagame has shifted significantly. 

This means that Aura Shards, Phantom Centaur, and Phantom Flock can be removed immediately. Aura Shards is fine in the sideboard but I need to make room for threats. 

There's good news though: people have been messing with Astral Slide and Astral Drift, which means I already have some neat ideas about where to take this deck!

Cards like Flourishing Fox offer a scaling threat, Eternal Witness is such an obvious card I can't believe I wasn't running it already, Knight of Autumn slots extremely well in, and look at these Disguise creatures that might be worth considering.

This means that there's cards from Ikora-a sadly underrated set-and Murders at Markov Manor-a kinda sad set- to explore and that's exciting to me, too!

Sick Day

 Sorry folks; not quite feeling up to snuff today. Catch you in a couple.