MKM Pre-Release (2-1)

Special thanks to Red Castle Games for hosting a great event, making things a lot of fun! Extra thanks to my teammate Rebecca for being a good human to play with, and making some great plays that absolutely won us games. 

I've put our respective decklists at the end, but we were able to put together a solid GB deck with some real haymakers for her, and a more complex UR deck for me that could power through some shortcomings. UR artifacts & clues did me some good!

Round 1 Vs Milo & Vin

Got out to a fast start with a Frantic Scapegoat and Snarling Gorehoud, but some key Reasonable Doubts kept Rebecca’s stuff of the table. They put a  Topiary Panther out and we held off on dealing with it because I had thopters, and Rebeca was bound to topdeck something else. Instead, she drew three lands in a row and by the time we were able to stabilize our side of the board, we were down to six life, just like them. The final blow was countering a Cornered Crook once they had solved The Case of the Gateway Express. We almost got there...

Round 2 Vs Daniel & Joe

After the turn four No Witnesses board sweep I thought we were in trouble: Rebecca lost one creature, but I lost three. Fortunately, I was able to make two Clue tokens off that, which kept me in cards. Then Rebecca followed up with a Vein Ripper, and I used my clues to generate more creatures. This was critical, because they were using Warleader's Call to ping us for two, every time Daniel cast a creature. Plus, they were able to use Makeshift Binding to keep our early pressure off.  Fortunately, the Vein Ripper did what it was supposed to do: completely wreck a game. Killing creatures came with the punishment of a four point life swing each time, and 6 damage in the air per turn did them in after that. 

Round 3 Vs Alex and Nick

The game started fairly evenly, until Rebecca used Analyze the Pollen on turn 3 to get the Vein Ripper, and we put massive pressure on them after that. I kept the smaller beats going with the low key help of Gleaming Geardrake and a well timed Felonious Rage, but make no mistake about it; once the Vein Ripper arrived, they were on a clock and they just couldn't quite get there. 

In the end, we came in fourth overall and our only loss was to the team that won the entire event. That feels pretty good!

The GB deck:

Kraul WHipcracker

Nix Weaver

Urgent Necropsy

G

Topiary Panther

Rubbelbelt Mavrick

Pompous Gadabout

Analyze the Pollen

Tunnel Tipster

Axebane Ferox 

Sample Collector

Vitu-Ghazi Inspector

Nervous Gardener

B

Hunted Bonebrute

Repeat Offender

Unscrupulous Agent

Nightdfrinker Moroii

Extract a Confession

Snarling Gorehound

Toxin Analysis

Undercity Eliminator

Murder 2

Vein Ripper

The UR deck

Multi

Gadget Technician

Gleaming Geardrake

R

Case of the Burning Masks

Garbage Orangutan

Person of Interest

Suspicious Detonation

Frantic Scapegoat

Torch the Witness

Bolrac-Clan Basher

Crime Novelist

Innocent Bystander

Vengeful Tracker

Harried Dronesmith

Shock 2

Corners Crook

Reckless Detective

Felonious Rage

U

Deduce

Hotshot Investigators

Burden of Proof

Steamcore Scholar 

Dramatic Accusation

Cold Case Cracker

Escape Tunnel 2

1-2 (again)

Round 1 vs Wann on Cephalid Breakfast

Game 1: I was able to resolve a Sudden Edict while they had the Nomads on the table, then move to a Tourach, Burning Inquiry, line. After an attack for 5, I dropped a Buccaneer to swing for 7 and pull off game 1.

Game 2: I opened with a Grief and removed their Stoneblade, which was the first game-saving action I took. On turn 3, with a Bowmasters on the table, I used Meltdown for 1 to take out a Currency Converter and two Construct tokens. That left them with nothing on the table, and they weren’t able to come back from that.

Round 2 vs Salli on Reanimator

Game 1: She had a turn 1 reanimation of Griselbrand, then Lotus Petal into Thoughtsieze. If I topdecked an Edict effect, I would’ve kept going but I did not.

Game 2: She mulliganed to 4 and I had a turn 2 Voidwalker. Except in response to the Voidwalker, she Entombed an Archon of Cruelty, and on her turn 2 reanimated that, causing me to sacrifice the Voidwalker. That was it. I thought about mulliganing to a Grief, but I had hoped a turn 2 Voidwalker-with two more Bojka Bogs in hand-would do the trick. Not so much.

That’s the second week in a row I’ve just gotten slapped down by combo decks. Whew.

Round 3 vs Curran on Reanimator

Game 1: I had opened with a Grief and got rid of the Animate dead, which was good! But he drew into entomb, and Reanimated a Griselbrand and that was that.

Game 2: Grief and then Voidwalker did good things! Buuuut he was able to work though it until he could take out my Voidwalker, Show & Tell a Griselbrand in and overwhelm me with card advantage. I also made the unfortunate mistake of hoping I could get a Liliana into play off Show & Tell but that is not how the card works. 

Rounds 2 and 3 took 20 minutes total to complete. Yikes. 

So I went home, had a beer. I think the suggestions from last week have given Trash Truck more options against combo, which is great! But combo is very difficult to deal with as a non-blue deck. Facing two reanimator decks in a row and just getting crushed was definitely a tough evening. 

I still really like this deck and maybe it could be brushed up even more. I'm not sure exactly how, at least if I want to keep it as a RB deck. But the games have been interesting and mostly interactive, so for a homebrew build I feel pretty good.

1-2 (But It Isn't So Bad)

Last Friday's results:

Rd 1 vs Dennis on Lands/Field of the Dead version

Game 1: I started with a Dark Confidant then a Dauthi Voidwalker. I was then able to triple Bowmaster to whittle down the three zombies he made and that left me with a surprising army on my side of the board instead of his. 

Game 2: Voidwalker, then Confidant again, then I drew into a land to play turn Blood Moon on turn 3. He had a Forest out to play Explore, Mulch, and more but he didn’t draw into the Boseju he needed and I quickly got in while the getting was good.

Rd 2 vs Trevor on Ad Nauseum storm

Game 1: With a Confidant and then a Buccaneer, I put just enough pressure that when he missed by turn 3, that was it.

Game 2: I’d sideboarded in Meltdown and a Kolaghan's Command; they did not arrive in time for him to Burning Wish and Tendrils me out.

Game 3: He was able to remove my early pressure of Voidwalker and went off with Ad Nauseam before I could get a second draw off a Dark Confidant.

Tough matchup is tough: I’m not sure I’ve got much for this one. That said, I kept a land-heavy hand in the third game, expecting to have turn two plays to get me going and perhaps more action would’ve been the order for the day.

Rd 3 vs Ty on Grixis Delver

Game 1: I mulligan to 5, and wasn’t able to come back to his card selection & advantage. When the 6/6 Murktide arrived, I scooped it up.

Game 2: I made a critical mistake here, listening for Braintorm to cast Bowmasters in response to, instead of just what card was being played. As a result, I missed casting it during the two Ponders.

When I did cast it, Ty was kind enough to suggest he rewind things so I could respond, but I am taking this as a lesson: I need to be patient and practice. As it was, that cost me the game and the match, because my next play was a Burning Inquiry, which did 3 damage to him, and allowed me to swing for 8, bringing him to 3.

I was then double bolted from 5. The response to Ponder would have changed things. Next time. 

However, as a bonus Ty asked to look at my deck and suggested adding in some of the BR Scam package. He could see some of the spice cards and wasn't disparaging, and he even said he liked what I was doing with the deck. (Which was very kind, I know I'm in the wilderness a bit here). 

But he has a point, and adding in some copies of Grief with ways to get my creatures back from the graveyard might be the buttress I need to help Trash Truck perform a little better. 

Here's the new plan:

2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

2 Tourach, Dread Cantor

1 Glint-Horn Buccaneer

4 Orcish Bowmasters

4 Dauthi Voidwalker

3 Dark Confidant

2 Grief

3 Dream Salvage

4 Sudden Edict

2 Sheoldred's Edict

2 Kolaghan's Command

4 Mountain

4 Swamp

2 Bojuka Bog

4 Bloodstained Mire

4 Blood Crypt

4 Badlands

1 Wasteland

3 Liliana of the Veil

1 Reforge the Soul

4 Burning Inquiry

Sideboard

SB: 4 Plague Engineer

SB: 3 Blood Moon

SB: 4 Pyroblast

SB: 4 Meltdown

3-1

Quite the turnaround, right?

Rd 1 vs Ryan on dredge

Game 1: I got to see the deck in action, as he used Ichorids to create Cabal Therapy fodder and make 8 zombie tokens and a Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis.

Game 2: He vomited a portion of his library into his graveyard on his turn 1, and on my next turn I put out a Dauthi Voidwalker. That gave me enough time to get creatures on the board and pressure him down.

I did miss a Dark Confidant trigger, and that ended up costing me-the judge ruled I should resolve the ability after I’d drawn (and I’d drawn a land) but the next card was Sheoldred. Four needless damage in a matchup that could have easily gone the other way. 

Game 3: His turn 1 was great, putting a Troll into the GY after a Faithless Looting that had been flashed back. My turn 1 was Bojuka Bog.

After that, he was in topdeck mode and I was putting permanents into play, until I got a Sheoldred and an Orcish Bowmasters out. Then I was able to double Burning Inquiry into the win.

First win!

Rd 2 vs Robin on Yorion 4 color C

Game 1: I got put down by a Minsc and Boo. Really good card is good. 

Game 2: Blood Moon on turn 3 let me play my cards, and Robin was locked out of the game at that point. I was able to press the advantage.

Game 3: while I had a Dauthi Voidwalker, a Liliana and a Blood Moon, Robin was able to hang in there with a Teferi and The One Ring. They played to their outs by getting basic lands on the table as fast as they could, so were still able to interact-just slower. Once they were able to Minsc and Boo out my Liliana (the turn before ultimate!) and I drew 3 lands in a row, there was no coming back for me.

Tough loss but Robin earned it. 

Rd 3 vs Brandon on Merfolk

Game 1: Tide Shaper turned my Badlands into an Island which meant he got free attacks in until I died. I had a hand full of removal, but didn’t draw into any action.

Game 2: I was able to resolve a Plague Engineer to stabilize the board. At 3 life I played a Bowmasters to take out the lords that kept his army boosted. He conceded after that.

Game 3: Bowmasters on deck: they did work with Burning Inquiry to keep his army down, and I was able to get the concession shortly after.

Rd 4 vs Chris on Yorion Grixis control

Game 1: I got pushed out by his card draw and multiple Thoughtsieze.

Game 2: With two Dauthi Voidwalkers out, I was able to press my advantage. He made a critical mistake, trying to Bowmaster my Voidwalker and block it, forgetting it had shadow. I was able to close the game shortly after.

Game 3: Chris was stuck on two lands, so I grew an Army off a Bowmaster to 4, via Burning Inquiry. With the Lighting Bolts blanked, and a Buccaneer to add to the damage, and was able to win after that!

Here's my takeaways:

First, it's fucking hard to win games of Magic. I am realizing that people really have to focus on the game as all but a full time job if they want to reach winning records with regularity. 

That's OK, but also it feels pretty damn gratifying to post a winning record. 

Second: I absolutely had good matchups. My deck is practically pre-engineered to create problems for graveyard based strategies or typal decks. On the one hand: I won matches that I should have. On the other: there is so damn much blue-based control out there that it's hard to pull those matches out.

Still, week two's showing was pretty good! 

1-2

Last Friday I took my B/W Scam deck to the Legacy event at Mox and here's how things went!

Rd 1 vs Tony on BUR reanimator

Game 1: Despite exiling an Archon of Cruelty, new Atraxa, and a Griselbrand, eventually I ran out of Solitudes and a Greselbrand that had been Animate Dead got me.

Game 2: I had the removal in hand, and a Currency Converter to turn my draws into 2/2s. The pressure eventually won out.

Game 3: with an early Grief, taking the Show & Tell, I was able to delay Tony’s actions. The delay was good enough that I was able to win out.

Rd 2 vs Trevor on mono-B Initiative.

Game 1: While I was able to remove many of his initiative creatures from the game, I wasn’t able to claim it for myself. I saw three Throne of the Dead Three triggers before calling it.

Game 2: I had the early delay with Chancellor and turn 1 Thalia, but I didn’t draw another removal card. Eventually he was willing to pay 3 mana for a Dark Ritual and a creature and once again, use the initiative to take over the game.

Rd 3 vs William on Delver

Game 1: the DRC came down turn one and I didn’t draw my removal for it. This lead to a second, then a Delver that flipped.

Game 2: while I was able to get out an early Solitude and Thalia to keep things expensive for my opponent, I couldn’t draw any removal-again. (I have 4 Sudden Edict and 4 Solitude by now). When the Murktide Regent appeared, that was it.

The positives: I liked the way the deck performed. Exiling creatures was a real bonus in the Initiative and Reanimator matchups, as one might expect. I often felt like if my deck would cough up the cards I needed, I could still have a chance. 

The negatives: the deck did not cough up the cards I needed. Multiple games went without me seeing a single-or only one-sideboard card and, coupled with the tendency to provide dead draws, I just couldn't stay in the game. 

I'm starting to think four copies of Currency Converter maindeck might be the answer. Or an answer, since it will help keep me churning through the deck. The extra 2/2 every other turn doesn't suck either but the ability to just get cards that I need to work out would be good.

Of course, the format has now undergone a "shakeup". 

However, my opinion is that all this is going to do is punch the White initiative decks in the junk, and the UR Delver decks will promptly shift to Faithless Looting or Preordain. My money is on Faithless Looting, since it can be used to hit Delirium faster and fill the graveyard for Murktide faster. 

I'm very, very tired of Delver being the best deck in the format, folks. Ten+ years of tier 1 status is too much. 

0-2

Back into the breach with a BW Scam take. This time with upgrades from last time and a little more focus maindeck: Elite Spellbinders for their evasion, and Hymn to Tourach to help reinforce the Grief line of play.

Match 1 vs Dravyen on UR Delver

Game 1: I had a great curve with Thalia, Anguished Unmaking and then a kicked Tourach.

It didn’t matter: Brainstorm and Ponder did their thing, and before I was ready I was facing down a Delver and a DRC.

Game 2: I thought the plan was good: Spirit of the Labyrinth and Sudden Edict. The Spirit kept him in check, but I drew zero removal, and soon had a 5/5 Murktide to face down. Since I couldn't take the Murktide out, well....

In between games, the head judge offered to play a couple rounds with me-and hey, practice is good! So I said yes and matched against Jacob's Nic Fit deck.

I lost those games. But practice is still good! 

Match 2 vs Bill on UG Omnitell

Game 1: I had a Grief get countered and brought it back with Exhume. Then I was able to use Elite Spellbinder to keep him off his Show & Tell. I had him down to six, which was great! But he drew Uro and was able to climb out of range. Then he got enough mana to cast the Show & Tell, leading into an Emrakul and that was it.

Game 2: Very similar start, except I got the Spellbinder in off a Show & Tell and took the Dress Down instead of the Intuition. Because his reveal was Omnicience, leading to Emrakul which I Sudden Edict’d.

Huzza! My plan is working!

But his next turn had him top deck another Emrakul. So. Um…..

Yeah, I died.

Then I got the bye and I figured: this is the Universe telling you to go home. So I went home at 0-4. 

That was a pretty rough night for a couple reasons but most of them had to do with me being alone to sit with my losses each time. My opponents were all pleasant to nice and I can't say I had a bad time. 

But not winning even a game is hard. And I've lost every time I've gone. Under these circumstances, it can be challenging to remember that I'm playing untested, weird stuff and that comes with failing a bunch. That's OK! 

It also means that I need to take some time to take care of my own mental health under those circumstances, because I don't want to be miserable to play against. It is difficult to take a beating each time. That's just the facts. I'm signing up for the beating though so...well, it's on me.

However, it has me thinking about something else, which I'll get to next time.

Brothers' War Burnout (Or, 1-3)

Last Friday's matchups:

Round 1 vs Scott playing Dark Depths Lands

Scott was a new player, so he was a little inexperienced with his deck but a good sport with his game.

Game 1: I got a Thrun and Confidant out, and with some light removal cleared the way to win.

Game 2: I was worried when his T1 Duress took my Pernicious Deed, but I was able to follow my game up with an Apprentice and then a Smog, and combo out before his turn 3 Marit Liege

Rd 2 vs Sol on Helm/Leyline combo

Games one and two went the same: By turn 3 his Profane Tutor and Urza’s Saga had gone off, and he was able to activate Helm of Obedience with a Leyline of the Void to mill me out.

In retrospect, I needed to mulligan to my combo-or at least one of two pieces of it-because I think my deck can be faster than his.

Match 3 vs Brandon playing Death & Taxes

Rd 1: My Apprentice was Sworded, as was my Confidant, which lead to a board of white creatures doing their thing, including a Jitte with 6 counters on it that I couldn’t stop.

Rd 2: I had a Confidant and a Deed-but both of these were eliminated by Skyclave Apparition away and…well I couldn’t do anything else.

Sigh. Brandon drew all four of his Rishadan Ports that game, so it would've been a slog at best.

Match 4 vs Derek on Goblin Prison

Game 1: Goblins rushed me out.

Game 2: I got a Thrun the Last Troll out and that blanked his removal so I swung in.

Game 3: I had a good opening hand, and Abrupt Decay’d 2 Goblin Rabblemasters but couldn’t get a 3rd land for a Pernicious Deed to remove the Goblin tokens. I dead.

..........

The previews for the Brothers' War are all a go and I...am so very bored. 

I know this happens every so often, and it happens to everyone sometimes but I am both a little bit burnt out on Magic in general, and apathetic towards the newest set. 

Part of this undoubtedly is coming from the bad blood WotC has generated with the Magic 30 set, part of this is coming from focusing on a Legacy format that is stagnant, and part of it has to do with the Brothers' War. 

Because hoboy is that boring. The fight-a squabble between overpowered brothers effectively over whose dick is bigger-holds zero interest for me. That one brother is eventually 'corrupted' by the Phyrexians doesn't mean much to me, since both of them are jerks. 

Then there's the set itself: I understand that it's trying to give us "battlecruiser Magic" in a mechanically on point way, much like Rise of the Eldrazi did back in the day. However, every bonus being a powerstone-even Red and Green get them, and for those colors powerstones are just not part of their character, especially Green-feels tiresome. It might play well but from out here, I am not excited about it.

I don't like Meld cards. I didn't like them in Eldrich Moon and they hold no sway for me here. Which means the big reveal of this set is something I dislike. I don't even think these cards do anything interesting; they're just wrecking balls. 

It feels like a letdown from Neon Dynasty, Streets of New Capena and Dominaria United. 

On to of all that, I think I just am tired. There's circumstances around me contributing to this, to be sure, some of it just having too much Magic content and not enough actual fun. But whatever it is, I'm all over the place, disjointed and at least a little sad.

So I'm gonna pivot for a little bit. I have recently received all of the Warhammer 40000 Conquest cards made up by Team Apoka which means my collection is complete!

It also means I have a chance to build new decks and with Thanksgiving coming up, that will mean an opportunity to play a whole lot of Conquest games with Jason! I already have more Magic decks than 10 people might need; building Conquest decks to play over Thanksgiving is going to be a nice break. 

So from now until then, new Conquest decks! Revised Conquest decks! And a review of the Brothers' War which I'm sure will be a thing.

0-2-1

Well, here's a bit of a slide from the last event. 

Rd 1 vs Derek on mono Red prison

G1: my first play was to get a Swamp, but the response was a turn one Blood Moon.

Unfortunately, the next three lands in my hand were a Verdant Catacombs and two Bayous. I could play nothing, while he cast Goblin Rabblemaster. I cut out before he could see what I was up to.

G2: There was a Chalice of the Void set to 1, then another on 2, and I was hanging on until I got a Pernicious Deed, which I cleared most of the board with. Then it was Apprentice, Chain to win.

G3: This time there was a turn two Chalice on 2 and every card in my hand cost 2. I cast a Once Upon A Time in response, saw 2 Pernicious Deeds in the top five and thought: Uh-oh, I’m not going to see another one. I didn’t and that was that.

What I didn't do: Sideboard in Abrupt Decay. That card solves my Chalice problem, along with just about any other problem that deck can resolve and I didn't realize this until after the fact. Next time!

Rd 2 vs Ryan on 4c Control w/Minsc & Boo.
G1: He didn’t seem to get much board presence, and eventually I whittled his hand down to a Chain of Smog on him-which he countered, letting me Chain myself to win. Unfortunately, I don't think I saw a nonland permanent from him this game, so I wasn't sure what to do and merely boarded in three copies of Choke.

G2: This was a grinder of a match. We traded removal and creatures but eventually he got the better of me. He had Uro to recur, so I switched up my sideboard to include Leyline.

G3: While I had the opening Leyline hand, my follow up didn't include enough pressure. He answered my threats but I was able to answer his and eventually, we went to time. Still, interesting match!

Rd 3 vs Chris on UW/r control
Game 1: Not much. Just got Narcet/Days Undoing’d. 

Game 2: I got stuck on two lands. While my turn two and three Hymns did what they were supposed to, I couldn’t draw anything else to help me. Eventually Narcet arrived and I didn't have any pressure. When Day's Undoing was cast on my turn after I drew, that was that. 

I'm not sure I sideboarded well in that last match; I knew my Sudden Edicts didn't matter but would Leyline have been a good decision? It seems like the Day's Undoing decks are notoriously light on threats and many rely on resources coming back from the graveyard. 

That second game I conceded, my opponent didn't win. He might've, given enough time but perhaps if I had been looking for a hand that targeted my opponent's deck's weaknesses I might've hung in there.

Mostly this evening felt like I had some bad luck. Aside from missing the Abrupt Decay vs Chalice interaction I didn't miss anything. Teferi is still a problem and the white removal suite (Swords to Plowshares/Prismatic Ending) is a grinder. I wish I had an answer to that. 

Thragtusk might actually be helpful if I could ramp up mana, but what was suggested to me was Thrun the Last Troll.

It can't be countered and it can't be targeted. Can this do what I need it to? 

2-2

After weeks of going without a single match win, I decided to change decks again. I'll be talking about that soon but for now, here's how last Friday went!

Round 1

Vs Chris on Day's Undoing combo
1: We traded board position in the early going, but eventually he landed a Narset, Jace and a Teferi and I had lands on my side. I made a critical mistake when I used Questing Beast to attack Jace instead of my opponent, then using the Beast’s trigger. Being at 6 or less life is definitely better than being at 10. Live and learn.

2: I got a Choke out on turn 3 and he scooped. 

3: I had four Dark Confidants, he had 4 Prismatic Endings and I never got to draw a single card off a Confidant. I got a bit stuck on lands, too, but by the time I had five lands out, I was facing a board of Jace-after destroying Teferi and Narcet with Abrupt Decay. I didn’t have any other pressure though and Jace ticked up to 13. Man I hate Teferi.

Round 2
Vs William on UR delver
1: an early Hymn took out the two Murktides in hand, so he used DRC and Delver (which had easily flipped) to take out my Grist, the Hunger Tide. But I landed a Questing Beast and used it and two insect tokens to pull ahead. He'd attacked for six, while at 5 life, then played another Delver to block my Questing Beast. 

Unfortunately, Questing Beast has text relevant to Delver of Secrets. 

2: He got suck on a Volcanic Island, and I capitalized with a Choke on turn 3. He responded by Wasteland-ing my Bayou, but I had a Witherbloom Apprentice out and once I cast Sudden Edict to remove his only creature, he didn’t have any way to follow up.

Round 3
Vs Brandon on Changling combo
1: I got run over by all the changelings coming out after a Dwarven Recruiter appeared.

2: On turn 3 I had the Chain/Apprentice combo and that was it.

3: Turn 3 Brandon was all set up, and I was taking for 7 a turn. With an Apprentice on the table I paused and he said "If you're waiting, that's good news for me" and I said "It is good news for you". Then I cast Abundant Harvest drawing a Chain of Smog and that was it. Whew.

Round 4
Vs Jonathon on Stiflenaut
1: He started off with a Minsc and Boo I almost stabilized from being hamstered every turn. But I couldn't get away from a recurred Uro, and when my last ditch Eternal Witness was countered that was it.

2: I dropped Leyline of the Void on turn 0 meant that his plan B was out-but he had Torpor Orbs and I was not expecting those. However, with a resolved Dark Confidant, I was able to keep my hand full and the pressure on. Eventually I got the win.

3: I failed to sideboard between these games and that was a mistake. I needed Pernicious Deed and didn’t think to bring it in. At this point, I had seen Torpor Orb and should've looked for a way to remove it. I instead mulliganed a solid hand down to one with sideboard options-so it had a Leyline, followed by a Choke-which was countered- but I couldn’t generate any other pressure on the board. Eventually a Torpor Orb was followed by Uro and that was all she wrote.

Still, 2-2! That's the first time I've won a match. 

Takeaways from this experience:

Choke is good. I had tilted my sideboard towards Defense Grid, because it is cheaper, has no color requirements, and could potentially do something in games where I didn't face Islands.

But nobody is doing anything like that at Mox Boardinghouse. Nearly every deck I faced had land types that included Island. It is better to just lock them out of the game, then try to prevent them from acting during my turns. 

Graveyard hate is still necessary. Leylines were useful in many matchups and despite the field being relatively broad, it still seems like they are required.

Practice helps. Jason was kind enough to load up a UWR control deck and UR delver for me to play against. Those matches helped me have a plan for the Blue-based decks I faced.

Finally, I need to figure out what is better to sideboard out. Many opponents were scared of a Hymn even when I'd boarded that out. But should I have boarded it out? 

Protection effects still matter and counterspell disruption is still important. I'm not sure how to incorporate these things. 

My decision to add in Abrupt Decay was a good one. Getting rid of the two most common Planeswalkers I've seen has been very useful. If a deck is running Tundra, I guarantee I will see Teferi, Time Raveler. 

Not a bad first showing. 

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. 

Updates

 I have a couple decks in the wings to talk about, including a crack at updating a Skullbriar, the Walking Grave Commander deck.

But I've been running tests on updating Starve, for the Friday Night Legacy games, which I hope I can get to this week. No promises, things have been needing attention that aren't Magic stuff. That's life, right?

But the tests have been pretty solid, and the list currently looks like this:

3 Tombstalker

3 Bloodghast

4 Stromgald Crusader

3 Gravecrawler

4 Shambling Ghast

3 Dakmor Salvage

18 Swamp

2 Castle Locthwain

3 Liliana, the Last Hope

3 Pox

4 Smallpox

2 Innocent Blood

4 Duress

4 Hymn to Tourach

// 15 Sideboard

SB: 3 Null Rod

SB: 2 Dauthi Voidwalker

SB: 4 Leyline of the Void

SB: 2 Engineered Plague

SB: 4 Sudden Edict

0-2-1

Sigh.

I thought I made some good changes to the deck, cutting the Cloudsteel Kirin, two lands, and moving Sword of Fire & Ice to the sideboard for three copies of Path to Exile (with a fourth in the SB), and four copies of Patchwork Automaton. 

Patchwork was a card I was really excited about, because like Esper Sentinel, it would put a tax on my opponent's mana. A difficult to remove threat that scales? Sounds good, right?

The sideboard consisted of 3 Sword of Fire & Ice, 3 Red Elemental Blasts, 1 Path to Exile, 3 Wear/Tear, 3 Unlicensed Hearse, and 2 Price of Progress. I saw a lot of non-basics my last time out and thought that would be a good addition.

My matchups didn't work out very well, though.

Rd 1 vs Nathan on UW Standstill

Game 1: got locked out. Thanks Teferi, Time Raveler. (I hate this card).

G 2: Turn 3 with a 11/11 and him at 9, he conceded. This is what I was hoping for!

G 3: a slog. I couldn’t remove his Teferi, again, and he couldn’t eliminate my creatures. It eventually ended in a tie.

As he's scooping up his cards he says, "I think I had you, in the end."

What can I say to that? He didn't, so...my reply was "On a long enough timeline, everyone dies."

Rd 2 vs Tyler on UWR Counterbalance

G1: I kept up a good fight, but eventually succumbed to an ultimated Jace, the Mind Sculptor, despite fighting through a Teferi, Time Raveler.

G2: I started off with an Automaton, got it to 3, but my opponent's removal was eventually too much-there were Swords to Plowshares and Prismatic Endings all over the place- and I conceded once I had a hand of nothing but a land and no board presence. Thanks, Telferi, Time Raveler. (I hate this card).

G 3: William

No Show as you can see from the pic. Sigh. This is 'technically' a win but in this instance, being technically correct isn't the best kind of correct at all.

Game 4: Derek on Nic Fit

G 1: a Path to Exile saves me from taking 18 from two Greater Gargadons and he concedes.

G2: Collector Ouphe stalls me out and then it's twin Mayhem Devils to whittle my life total to zero.

G3: Nic Fit decks love Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. They especially love it when the opponent cannot find a Path to Exile.

What a drag. Winning 4 out of 17 games is rough. 

Some of this was matchup driven; if my opponent can produce plenty of mana, effects like Patchwork Automaton or Esper Sentinel really don't matter. I faced two control decks in this event and both of them were easily able to work around my cards. 

Some of this is a matter of consistency: Hold The Heathen Hammer High needs more Sigarda's Aid effects to consistently do what it wants to do. Puresteel Paladin helps, but I might've been on the right track with Magnetic Theft, too.

It would certainly be useful for the times when I've got a Colossus Hammer on the table but not enough mana to equip a creature. 

However, that consistency is part of the problem, too. Only twice, in all the games I played, was I able to actually do the thing this deck wants to do. 

If I can't et things to happen until turn 4, this aggro deck isn't aggro enough.

On the upside, this is a hell of a fun casual deck. So let's talk about that.

1-3

So here's the "tournament version" of a deck I thought up.

1 Batterskull
1 Kaldra Compleat
3 Nettlecyst
2 Colossus Hammer
1 Shadowspear
2 Sword of Fire and Ice

3 Cloudsteel Kirin
3 Lizard Blades
3 Sram, Senior Edificer
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Rabbit Battery
4 Esper Sentinel
1 Halvar, God of Battle
1 Lion Sash

4 Sigarda's Aid

3 Mountain
6 Plains
4 Rustvale Bridge
4 Plateau
4 Arid Mesa
2 Sacred Fountry

Sideboard

1 Sword of the Realms (here so I wouldn't have to flip my Halvar every time I wanted to play it(

2 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Unlicensed Hearse
4 Path to Exile
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Wear // Tear

The sideboard thinking went like this: Path to Exile for sudden big creatures, Unlicensed Hearse for graveyard stuff, Sword of Fire & Ice for the Delver match, Red Elemental Blast for blue nonsense, and Wear/Tear because artifacts are a thing.

And here's how the rounds went:

Match 1 vs David, Dark Depth Lands

1. I was doing OK until the he cast Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger twice in one turrn by generating 20 mana and using Karakas. 

2 Force of Vigor blew me out early and I couldn't recover. 

Match 2 vs Mike, Fireflux Squad mono R

1 Fury took out my creatures and I died to overwhelming Fireflux Squads.

2 I drew 6 land and 3 creatures: It did not work out.

Match 3 vs Kade on Yorion Stoneblade

1 Won-despite blocks with True-Name Nemesis because he couldn't draw into another creature.

2 Lost when he got True-Name and Jitte active. Can't get a creature to stick when that happens.

3 Won on Kirin attacks while Kade got a Tefri out but not much else.

Rd 4 Thomas on Omnath landfall

1 Lost because I couldn’t remove Omnath, Locus of Creation.

2 Also lost because I couldn’t remove Omnath and had double Force of Vigor cast at my permanents.

So, what did I learn?

First, I need to run four Colossus Hammer. I should be giving myself the most opportunities to have a turn one play, with a turn two Sigarda's Aid and Hammer, attack for 11 event. 

Second, I have trouble closing games. This adds to point one, where if I had been able to do more damage early, perhaps that would've changed the outcomes.

My final opponent, Thomas, thought my deck idea was neat and took a look at it. He suggested running fewer lands-down to 20-and that Cloudsteel Kirin was probably not strong enough for a turn three play. 

He's probably right about the Kirin; while flying is a relevant thing, it really needs to come with some more pressure. Cutting down to 20 lands though feels far too risky. 

Third, I need a way to deal with Force of Vigor. The card was rough on this deck and might be enough splash damage that the deck isn't a good one to run. I got hammered twice by it and couldn't find ways to get back into the game. 

I think it's worth taking the deck for another spin, honestly. But I think it needs some tune ups if I want to play in an event and improve on the record. 

However, I'll start by talking about the casual version of this, on Thursday.