I play Red. I like Red. I can count backwards in units of 2 or 3. I can open up 7 cards and decide if I will kill my opponent on turn 4 or turn 6. I know if I should remove their man or push the damage to the face. I know those decision trees. This is where Magic is very comfortable for me. This is where I like to play and how I like to play.
So I built a control deck.
I watched a good friend of mine pilot Blue Black control with some success for no small amount of time. He is essentially the only person, who regularly plays Standard, I know in our meta that seems to be truly comfortable with control as an archetype. So instead of looking to White for the secondary colour, I naturally drifted toward Black.
The very first card I started with was Think Twice. This card, as I have found in course of play, is amazing. If you don't need to cast a counter spell, you can cast it or flash it back. It works so much better than ponder for what you want to be doing in a control deck. Leave mana up to make your opponent not cast spells.
Next I added what is by and large my favourite card in this entire deck. Forbidden Alchemy digs you to the answer you need and with appropriate use of a Snapcaster Mage (a natural 4 of in most control decks) often nets you at least two solutions to whatever problem the board state may currently present. The 7 mana required to flash back Alchemy usually shows up by turn 7-9 and once you have done that, you feel like you are cheating. When you feel like you are cheating, you know your deck is doing what you want.
Speaking of feeling like cheating, Consecrated Sphinx fits that bill quite well. A big butt and the ability to fly doesn't hurt this card advantage machine. As a 6 drop, this indeterminately sexed creature may not finish a game but it almost certainly ensures that its controller has access to the resources that will.
So what do we dig to? First and most obviously are the 4 Mana Leaks that serve as the backbone of the counter package. Next, I elected for just 3 Dissipates. More often than not, I found that between 4 Snaps and 3 of these bad boys, if I so desired a spell to be removed from the game instead of resolve, I could make it so.
After those sweet counter spells, we need to have some sweet removal to dig to as well. The first of which is the ever classic Doom Blade. Why this instead of Go for the Throat? The answer is simple. In the present standard metagame, black creatures are as scarce as good blue planeswalkers. I put 2 Blades in, because we have more removal coming right up.
In the standard of Geist of Saint Traft, Thrun, the Last Troll and Dungrove Elder nontargeted removal and boardwipes become increasingly important. First up, I have 2 Geth's Verdicts. The reason for these over Tribute to Hunger is a bit complex. If mana dorks are present, you essentially need to cast 2 verdicts to hit the guy you actually want gone for either Verdict or Tribute. This means that between turn 3 and 4 you cannot cast and then Snapcaster back Tribute. However you can do that with Verdict. Yes, this means your mana base has certain requirements, which will be addressed further south in the article. On the other hand, Tribute can gain you some life that can actually be relevant in getting the control deck into the late game, where the deck truly shines. I find that a more guaranteed kill of your problem creatures is more important against the decks where it really matters.
Next up, we need to clear the board. For this, I have chosen Life's Finale. Against the present saturation of Aggro swarm lists and against Wolf Run, this can be quite punishing. Black Sun's Zenith was the other option for sweeping the board clean but as both cards need 6 mana to be appropriately effective, I would rather have a card that I can Snap back a little later in the game with an added bonus of potentially poaching men from their deck.
So we have a fair package of removal and counter spells, we should look to things that the deck cannot presently handle. If, Jace forbid, something makes its way through our wall of counterspells that we cannot simply remove with some creature removal, this deck folds fairly quickly. Appropriately placed Oblivion Rings or the odd planeswalker can turn our plan on its head. After a quick Gatherer search, I found that no card in Standard in Blue or Black said "Destroy target planeswalker or enchantment" which seems like a giant weakness to this deck. But then I discovered a solution to these pesky things. I turn my problems into 3/3 beasts via Beast Within. I know, its Green. More mana trouble ahead. But we can stretch the mana base to actually have a deck that can deal with every card that comes down, at least until WotC prints a card that can't be countered, sacrificed, or destroyed.
Now that we have three colours to work with we can take a look at what can be both a win condition and a source of card advantage-essentially the Standard Bitterblossom. Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil-Cursed can be a midgame threat that puts pressure up in the control match up. He can make blockers and act as removal against aggro decks and in a pinch can turn over and make some deathtouch dudes that may eventually trample over even the most stalwart of defenses. Not needing to waste time casting men allows you to keep that mana up to leak away whatever your opponent, who is now on the backfoot, may be trying to answer that Garruk with. He fulfills a suite of slots in just one card. Thanks, Green!
However, we cannot win on the back of Garruk alone. No indeed. So what fantastic finisher do I have in store for this deck? Frost Titan, perhaps? Too cheap! Then maybe the Fireball on wheels, Myr Battlesphere? Too creature! I'll give you a hint. This card has 3 Black mana symbols and a killer flavor text. Sorin's Vengeance! Too often did Grave Titan come down only to have a flier finish up its controller with little more than a few attack phases. Instead this both acts as an end game finisher and a stabilizer for the life total. A few turns later, Snapcaster Mage can flash this spell back, or you can keep bashing with 2/2 wolves from Garruk. For this sweet tech, I must tip my hat to my control playing friend Chris Allen.
Let us take a look at this mana base. It is tricky but not ambitious. First, we have some utility lands to look at. Ghost Quarter is no Tectonic Edge but if you have to kill a land, you take what you can get. Nephalia Drownyard doesn't quite stand up to its Worldwake counterpart either but it does offer the ability to expand your handsize (or mill your opponent out). Out of all the lands in this deck, this is the one I most want to turn into basic land but the advantage it creates can be massive. Just be judicious with the mill in the control match-up. Fair warning.
Next up, I have a singleton Traveler's Amulet. The reason for this over any Shimmering Grottos is twofold. First, having another, land that doesn't produce a colour by itself is actually a serious problem. Secondly, there were not enough cards with apostrophes in this deck list (now there are 4). There are 4 Islands, 3 Swamps and a Forest to get with this Amulet, and in a pinch you can Ghost your own land for appropriate fixing. That should be a rare happening though. Selecting the appropriate basic land to fetch, or play, is super important for this deck, given the abundance of buddy lands.
All told, there are 10 of the aforementioned buddy lands. We have 3 Woodland Cemeteries and 3 Hinterland Harbors, allowing us access to 7 total Green sources and allowing us to still cast the double Blue or Black spells that might otherwise have been tricky. 4 Drowned Catacombs and 3 of the Scars early lands (Darkslick Shores) make up the rest of the Blue/Black mana production. This means that we have 14 Blue sources and 13 Black sources. Given 25 land in the deck, you can reliably cast all of your spells and even flash back a turn 4 Verdict without too much trouble. The complete list can be found below.
Instants: 21
4 Think Twice
4 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
3 Dissipate
2 Doom Blade
2 Geth's Verdicts
2 Beast Within
Planeswalkers: 3
3 Garruk Relentless
Sorcerys: 4
2 Life's Finale
2 Sorin's Vengeance
Creatures: 6
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Consecrated Sphinx
Artifacts: 1
1 Traveler's Amulet
Lands: 25
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Island
3 Swamp
1 Forest
3 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Hinterland Harbor
3 Woodland Cemetery
Control is not by any means a style that I am comfortable with and to wiser eyes that may be obvious by my justifications and even by my choices. However I have had immense levels of fun and a fair amount of success playing this deck. If you play the deck correctly, you can often surprise your opponent with a turn 4 Garruk or a random Beast Within just by making your land drops carefully. That can be a huge advantage to you over the course of a game. If I can stress anything about playing this deck, it is keeping track of what you have played and what could be in your deck still. You have to be all there to sling these spells.
If you want to hear more of what I have to say, you can listen to the podcast, Planeswalker Asylum, I partake in on a biweekly basis. You can also consult me via the Twitter @samdavisboyhero. Thank you for reading! If you have questions or criticisms, feel free to comment or contact me however you see fit, though I take offense at too many bricks through my window.
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your beasts within.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
I Made a List and Checked It Twice
As many of you are likely aware, the DCI recently updated the Banned and Restricted list, removing two cards from the Modern format. Punishing Fire and Wild Nacatl have gone the way of Ponder and Preordain. With those out of the way, I have a few ideas for the upcoming Modern PTQ season that won't break the bank, allowing you to keep some of your Christmas cash in your pocket.
I have been working on an Aggro/Loam list designed to put enough pressure to give combo a problem and still have a solid match up against the multiple Zoo decks floating around. Initially this list was Red and Green but the thought of putting a little Black into the mix was creeping in to the thought process. I still believe that this list has great potential in a post Nacatl Modern, perhaps even more so than it did before.
Let's talk core pieces. Countryside Crusher, Seismic Assult, and Life from the Loam are where we want to start. You can already see where this is headed. It is a cute combo and can absolutely destroy a lesser aggro deck if the combo comes online. The fact that Crusher ensures that your draws are live for the rest of the game is also a pretty large factor in beating other decks. Any two of these pieces can actually run away with a board state and getting all three together is very powerful.
Now you are expecting me to say Swans of Bryn Argoll next. Well more likely you are expecting me just to say Swans, because no one actually knows the full name of that card. But we aren't playing it. As cute as it is, I think that this deck is strong enough without playing it. Additionally, the extra lands that Seismic-Swans wants to play coupled with the lack of Ponder and Preordain to filter to the combo make that particular take on the deck feel weaker.
What do the colours Red and Green make you think of in the entire aggro spectrum of Magic? The first thing that pops into my head is the glory days of Bloodbraid Elf! The trill of cascading into some sweet free spells gives this deck some serious card advantage in addition to Loam. You may think that Bloodbraid into Loam may be a bit of a non-bo but in reality, you have likely cracked 2-3 fetch lands before getting to the needed mana base to actually cast our Christmas coloured elf. This allows you to get the rest of your engine started, as a worst case scenario.
What else might we want to cascade into? Well first off, we are already on the beat down plan and getting in some early damage won't be the worst. Goblin Guide makes a sweet 1 drop and also isn't the worst thing to cascade in to for added pressure. Along the same line both Keldon Marauders and Hellspark Elemental serve the same purposes in this Modern list as they would in a Legacy burn list.
The final addition, excluding Bolt (a clear must for this list), is Boggart Ram-Gang. Not something I would typically suggest, in a format where Tarmogyf exists along with Knight of the Reliquary, having what equates to an unblockable man that can double as a deterrent to the aggressiveness packed into those two powerhouses can be a powerful aid. The fact that you can cascade into this fellow or cast it with ease isn't the worst thing ever.
You will note, I squeezed two Teetering Peaks into this deck's mana base. As Modern denies us access to Barbarian Ring, we have to make due with this slightly lesser land based aggression. Slapping 2 more damage on a Ram Gang or an Elemental demands a Path to Exile in response and frankly our opponent can't afford to spend resources there with a Crusher continually getting bigger. Diversifying threats will ensure that any deck that gets a little greedy with their list will most assuredly be punished with losses.
Mans: 24
4 Countryside Crusher
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Goblin Guide
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
Enchantments: 4
4 Seismic Assult
Sorcerys: 4
4 Life from the Loam
Instants: 4
4 Lightning Bolt
Lands: 24
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
11 Mountain
1 Forest
2 Teetering Peaks
As far as not breaking the bank, if you don't mind supplying your own basic lands, Star City Games can provide this entire list (shopping frugally, of course) for $196.72 plus S&H. Getting in to Modern for under $200 is fairly doable and you end up with 8 fetch lands that are playable in both Modern and Legacy, which is a sound investment if you intend to continue playing Magic on a reasonably competitive level.
At the very least, I hope this has given you something to think about for the upcoming season. If you want to hear what I have to say about the current Magic culture and developments, you can find Planeswalker Asylum over on Couch Pirate Radio. You can also find me saying largely irrelevant things on Twitter @samdavisboyhero. Any feedback you have is appreciated and thanks for reading!
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your cascades full of value.
I have been working on an Aggro/Loam list designed to put enough pressure to give combo a problem and still have a solid match up against the multiple Zoo decks floating around. Initially this list was Red and Green but the thought of putting a little Black into the mix was creeping in to the thought process. I still believe that this list has great potential in a post Nacatl Modern, perhaps even more so than it did before.
Let's talk core pieces. Countryside Crusher, Seismic Assult, and Life from the Loam are where we want to start. You can already see where this is headed. It is a cute combo and can absolutely destroy a lesser aggro deck if the combo comes online. The fact that Crusher ensures that your draws are live for the rest of the game is also a pretty large factor in beating other decks. Any two of these pieces can actually run away with a board state and getting all three together is very powerful.
Now you are expecting me to say Swans of Bryn Argoll next. Well more likely you are expecting me just to say Swans, because no one actually knows the full name of that card. But we aren't playing it. As cute as it is, I think that this deck is strong enough without playing it. Additionally, the extra lands that Seismic-Swans wants to play coupled with the lack of Ponder and Preordain to filter to the combo make that particular take on the deck feel weaker.
What do the colours Red and Green make you think of in the entire aggro spectrum of Magic? The first thing that pops into my head is the glory days of Bloodbraid Elf! The trill of cascading into some sweet free spells gives this deck some serious card advantage in addition to Loam. You may think that Bloodbraid into Loam may be a bit of a non-bo but in reality, you have likely cracked 2-3 fetch lands before getting to the needed mana base to actually cast our Christmas coloured elf. This allows you to get the rest of your engine started, as a worst case scenario.
What else might we want to cascade into? Well first off, we are already on the beat down plan and getting in some early damage won't be the worst. Goblin Guide makes a sweet 1 drop and also isn't the worst thing to cascade in to for added pressure. Along the same line both Keldon Marauders and Hellspark Elemental serve the same purposes in this Modern list as they would in a Legacy burn list.
The final addition, excluding Bolt (a clear must for this list), is Boggart Ram-Gang. Not something I would typically suggest, in a format where Tarmogyf exists along with Knight of the Reliquary, having what equates to an unblockable man that can double as a deterrent to the aggressiveness packed into those two powerhouses can be a powerful aid. The fact that you can cascade into this fellow or cast it with ease isn't the worst thing ever.
You will note, I squeezed two Teetering Peaks into this deck's mana base. As Modern denies us access to Barbarian Ring, we have to make due with this slightly lesser land based aggression. Slapping 2 more damage on a Ram Gang or an Elemental demands a Path to Exile in response and frankly our opponent can't afford to spend resources there with a Crusher continually getting bigger. Diversifying threats will ensure that any deck that gets a little greedy with their list will most assuredly be punished with losses.
Mans: 24
4 Countryside Crusher
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Goblin Guide
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
Enchantments: 4
4 Seismic Assult
Sorcerys: 4
4 Life from the Loam
Instants: 4
4 Lightning Bolt
Lands: 24
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
2 Stomping Ground
11 Mountain
1 Forest
2 Teetering Peaks
As far as not breaking the bank, if you don't mind supplying your own basic lands, Star City Games can provide this entire list (shopping frugally, of course) for $196.72 plus S&H. Getting in to Modern for under $200 is fairly doable and you end up with 8 fetch lands that are playable in both Modern and Legacy, which is a sound investment if you intend to continue playing Magic on a reasonably competitive level.
At the very least, I hope this has given you something to think about for the upcoming season. If you want to hear what I have to say about the current Magic culture and developments, you can find Planeswalker Asylum over on Couch Pirate Radio. You can also find me saying largely irrelevant things on Twitter @samdavisboyhero. Any feedback you have is appreciated and thanks for reading!
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your cascades full of value.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Keeping Clean All Weekend: a Scrub's Tale of the Star City Invitational
Amid the hullabaloo of the scandalous, but not entirely unexpected, accusations against Alex Bertoncini and the article written by Brian Kibler about the problems with PWP, it seems one very important thing was forgotten: there was an Invitational this weekend. Now I am sure that there will be a few hundred tournament reports written about that and both Opens. That is not what I will be doing. I don't think you want to hear a play by play of even the most interesting game states. Instead, I am going to walk you through some things I learned over the course of the weekend and maybe that might help you the next time you head off to a Star City, or any Magic, event.
The first thing that should be noted is I am not a competitive player. I don't go to a lot of tournaments and I don't make an attempt to say ahead of the meta or to brew up the most secret of technologies. Instead, I enjoy the mildly competitive nature of FNM. I have never played a Grand Prix or a Pro Tour Qualifier. Instead, I have played what comes to three open weekends held by Star City. This likely means that my evaluative criteria may be slightly skewed. I feel that some of the things I learned, others may have picked up elsewhere without any real effort and think nothing of the observations I noted this weekend. In any instance, I hope this serves someone, somewhere.
It was late, Thursday when the three of us finally pulled away from Norman. The 18 hour drive was daunting and I had already made a 5 hour round trip earlier that day. However, I took the wheel and set our course eastward, toward opportunity and excitement. The drive was not dull. We talked. We laughed. Occasionally the passengers slept as their turn at the wheel neared. And of course, I got to catch up on a few choice podcasts while I awaited my turn in the back seat.
We pulled into Charlotte 17 hours later, despite the multiple deer sightings, the horror movie fog that covered the mountains eerily along I-26, and our slight detour to the pleasant state of South Carolina. Having made excellent time, we checked in to our hotel and proceeded to the venue a mere three blocks away. We sign up for the Invitational and the three of us acquire our free sleeves. You should note that this is only the second thing I have ever gotten from playing Magic, aside from product. I was thrilled to receive these, despite not actually wanting them at all.
Now here is where I thought the learning started. As we walk away, on the look out for trades and an empty table to iron out a few sideboard details, I run into a fellow I met at Star City Kansas City. He is from Canada and is friends with one of the 3-D alterists that were present at the Invitational. I note all this because there is almost no reason for me to know anyone from Canada. Except he plays Magic. He immediately recognized me and took a few moments to talk while he sideboarded for the match he was presently playing. This was surprising.
I look a little different than I did at the KC Open. November caused hair to sprout from my face and I was dressed reasonably well instead of just jeans and a t-shirt. I hardly recognize me. Yet he snap identified me. Why does he care about some kid he met a few months ago who lives in Oklahoma? Because over the course of that Open, I built a rapport with him, along with several other people whom I also ran in to over the course of the Invitational. I know what you are likely thinking: "Well I'm glad you made friends, Sam. Now why does this matter even remotely?"
It matters because I realized that the main reason I still play Magic is not the challenge to my mind, nor the competitive atmosphere, but the people who also play Magic. The community is what makes Magic fun to me. My best stories from the event don't come from my sweet plays or my bad beats but from the car rides there and back and from sitting at tables just talking with people or from our evening ritual of dining at Buffalo Wild Wings (For 3 days I ate nothing but BWWs. My insides feel odd.). This learning experience began long before I got to Kansas City or played my first game day.
Sitting down across from my round 1 opponent, I was cheerful and so was he. I told him "Good Luck" and he replied with "Have Fun" which is something that I feel most Magic players forget. I enjoyed myself immensely all three games we played, despite the fact that in game 2, I literally could not cast any spells by my turn 2. Thanks, double Chalice of the Void. At the end of the match, I emerged victorious and cordially offered the handshake, thanking him for the games. Instead of my opponent's former positive outlook, I was met with a limp handshake and a fair amount of ridicule for my deck choice.
This player put me on tilt simply by being rude. Our games were fairly matched and each player demonstrated a fair amount of play skill and competence. Why then should he ridicule me for my deck choice? If anything, shouldn't I ask him why he chose his deck? The point I am attempting to make here is were I a less involved player, his conduct would have put me off Magic. Don't be that player. Yes, losing is bad but being a poor sport about it is worse. I know that the rage happens. But, as far as that tournament goes, a high majority of those players were adults. What is so special about Magic players that we feel like we can act like children? This kind of conduct hurts the game as a whole and is deplorable. Despite the stakes, at the end of the game you should recognize that at some point it is just a game and as my opponent said "Have Fun."
I played Burn for the Legacy portion of the Invitational (Shocking, I know.) and went 3-1. One other member of our car also opted to fling red spells instead of trying to make the fish swim upstream against Snapcaster Mage and the 12 swords (If I ever start a MTG related band, I so just found my band name). He went 3-1. Austin Yost also decided to burn it up and went 4-0 in the Legacy portion day 1. This is a point of pride for me. Ignore for a moment the fact that I am bragging on myself. One thing I noticed when watching the other two play is how confident they were about things. Then I realized that I too was exceptionally confident when I played.
Confidence is a huge strength in Magic. Not in the annoying, cocky sense but simply acting as if you are constantly making the best play not only presently but the best play imaginable. If you act like every spell you cast is a blowout, even if your opponent knows your list back to front, they start to wonder if this is the spell that blows them out. And as your confidence persists, despite possibly being on the clearly losing side of table, your opponent will start to question their own plays. I noted that most players, even ones who claimed many years of competitive play, were unsettled by my ease during the games. The fact that I was playing a deck that can just up and kill you from 18 on turn 4 also aided to the tilting but as I watched our friend play Caw Blade (I refuse to call that deck or any of its variance anything else), his play was tight and though his deck was not as explosive, there was a confidence there that mimicked the Burn players and that showed in his opponents.
Now perhaps you know all of these things but I think everyone could use a reminder occasionally. I actually was fortunate enough to be handed the perfect example while watching the Invitational, waiting for my next Legacy round to begin. Brian Kibler shuffled up across from a person I did not recognize. He drew his 7 after his opponent cut his deck. He looked at his hand, frowned slightly, and called a judge. He had forgotten to take one of his sideboard cards out from the previous round. He received a game loss and then proceeded to lose the match in game 3, I believe. The judge awarding the game loss apologized and Kibler simply smiled and said that it was okay; it was part of the game. He never got mad or acted rude towards his opponent, despite the fact that he was in a very awkward position, being down game 1. Instead he remained cheerful, focused, and cordial.
In short, Brian Kibler is how Magic players should act. He is friendly, even to people he doesn't know and likely has a great deal of friends and support from the Magic community. He doesn't act on tilt or rage, despite the times when he likely feels foolish or frustrated. He acts like an adult and has my utmost respect due to this. I know it isn't as catchy but perhaps the Magic community should #EmulateKibler. Be friendly, mature, and confident and even if you lose more games than you win, you will still be a better player than many of your opponents.
I know this wasn't my usual lighthearted, jovial romp through the magical, Christmas land of Magic but I feel that these observations need to be shared. Despite not taking home anything tangible, aside from 80 sleeves, the experience was worth every minute and dollar and I hope that my experience helps you. I hope the next time you want to flip a table because your opponent casts their 4th Doom Blade in a row, you decide instead to smile and politely ask "Targeting?"
If you actually want to hear my sweet stories from this weekend, tell me in the comments or contact me on Twitter @samdavisboyhero. Since you clearly have too much time on your hands, you should probably head over to Couch Pirate Radio and listen to the latest Planeswalker Asylum. Thanks for reading!
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your handshake firm.
The first thing that should be noted is I am not a competitive player. I don't go to a lot of tournaments and I don't make an attempt to say ahead of the meta or to brew up the most secret of technologies. Instead, I enjoy the mildly competitive nature of FNM. I have never played a Grand Prix or a Pro Tour Qualifier. Instead, I have played what comes to three open weekends held by Star City. This likely means that my evaluative criteria may be slightly skewed. I feel that some of the things I learned, others may have picked up elsewhere without any real effort and think nothing of the observations I noted this weekend. In any instance, I hope this serves someone, somewhere.
It was late, Thursday when the three of us finally pulled away from Norman. The 18 hour drive was daunting and I had already made a 5 hour round trip earlier that day. However, I took the wheel and set our course eastward, toward opportunity and excitement. The drive was not dull. We talked. We laughed. Occasionally the passengers slept as their turn at the wheel neared. And of course, I got to catch up on a few choice podcasts while I awaited my turn in the back seat.
We pulled into Charlotte 17 hours later, despite the multiple deer sightings, the horror movie fog that covered the mountains eerily along I-26, and our slight detour to the pleasant state of South Carolina. Having made excellent time, we checked in to our hotel and proceeded to the venue a mere three blocks away. We sign up for the Invitational and the three of us acquire our free sleeves. You should note that this is only the second thing I have ever gotten from playing Magic, aside from product. I was thrilled to receive these, despite not actually wanting them at all.
Now here is where I thought the learning started. As we walk away, on the look out for trades and an empty table to iron out a few sideboard details, I run into a fellow I met at Star City Kansas City. He is from Canada and is friends with one of the 3-D alterists that were present at the Invitational. I note all this because there is almost no reason for me to know anyone from Canada. Except he plays Magic. He immediately recognized me and took a few moments to talk while he sideboarded for the match he was presently playing. This was surprising.
I look a little different than I did at the KC Open. November caused hair to sprout from my face and I was dressed reasonably well instead of just jeans and a t-shirt. I hardly recognize me. Yet he snap identified me. Why does he care about some kid he met a few months ago who lives in Oklahoma? Because over the course of that Open, I built a rapport with him, along with several other people whom I also ran in to over the course of the Invitational. I know what you are likely thinking: "Well I'm glad you made friends, Sam. Now why does this matter even remotely?"
It matters because I realized that the main reason I still play Magic is not the challenge to my mind, nor the competitive atmosphere, but the people who also play Magic. The community is what makes Magic fun to me. My best stories from the event don't come from my sweet plays or my bad beats but from the car rides there and back and from sitting at tables just talking with people or from our evening ritual of dining at Buffalo Wild Wings (For 3 days I ate nothing but BWWs. My insides feel odd.). This learning experience began long before I got to Kansas City or played my first game day.
Sitting down across from my round 1 opponent, I was cheerful and so was he. I told him "Good Luck" and he replied with "Have Fun" which is something that I feel most Magic players forget. I enjoyed myself immensely all three games we played, despite the fact that in game 2, I literally could not cast any spells by my turn 2. Thanks, double Chalice of the Void. At the end of the match, I emerged victorious and cordially offered the handshake, thanking him for the games. Instead of my opponent's former positive outlook, I was met with a limp handshake and a fair amount of ridicule for my deck choice.
This player put me on tilt simply by being rude. Our games were fairly matched and each player demonstrated a fair amount of play skill and competence. Why then should he ridicule me for my deck choice? If anything, shouldn't I ask him why he chose his deck? The point I am attempting to make here is were I a less involved player, his conduct would have put me off Magic. Don't be that player. Yes, losing is bad but being a poor sport about it is worse. I know that the rage happens. But, as far as that tournament goes, a high majority of those players were adults. What is so special about Magic players that we feel like we can act like children? This kind of conduct hurts the game as a whole and is deplorable. Despite the stakes, at the end of the game you should recognize that at some point it is just a game and as my opponent said "Have Fun."
I played Burn for the Legacy portion of the Invitational (Shocking, I know.) and went 3-1. One other member of our car also opted to fling red spells instead of trying to make the fish swim upstream against Snapcaster Mage and the 12 swords (If I ever start a MTG related band, I so just found my band name). He went 3-1. Austin Yost also decided to burn it up and went 4-0 in the Legacy portion day 1. This is a point of pride for me. Ignore for a moment the fact that I am bragging on myself. One thing I noticed when watching the other two play is how confident they were about things. Then I realized that I too was exceptionally confident when I played.
Confidence is a huge strength in Magic. Not in the annoying, cocky sense but simply acting as if you are constantly making the best play not only presently but the best play imaginable. If you act like every spell you cast is a blowout, even if your opponent knows your list back to front, they start to wonder if this is the spell that blows them out. And as your confidence persists, despite possibly being on the clearly losing side of table, your opponent will start to question their own plays. I noted that most players, even ones who claimed many years of competitive play, were unsettled by my ease during the games. The fact that I was playing a deck that can just up and kill you from 18 on turn 4 also aided to the tilting but as I watched our friend play Caw Blade (I refuse to call that deck or any of its variance anything else), his play was tight and though his deck was not as explosive, there was a confidence there that mimicked the Burn players and that showed in his opponents.
Now perhaps you know all of these things but I think everyone could use a reminder occasionally. I actually was fortunate enough to be handed the perfect example while watching the Invitational, waiting for my next Legacy round to begin. Brian Kibler shuffled up across from a person I did not recognize. He drew his 7 after his opponent cut his deck. He looked at his hand, frowned slightly, and called a judge. He had forgotten to take one of his sideboard cards out from the previous round. He received a game loss and then proceeded to lose the match in game 3, I believe. The judge awarding the game loss apologized and Kibler simply smiled and said that it was okay; it was part of the game. He never got mad or acted rude towards his opponent, despite the fact that he was in a very awkward position, being down game 1. Instead he remained cheerful, focused, and cordial.
In short, Brian Kibler is how Magic players should act. He is friendly, even to people he doesn't know and likely has a great deal of friends and support from the Magic community. He doesn't act on tilt or rage, despite the times when he likely feels foolish or frustrated. He acts like an adult and has my utmost respect due to this. I know it isn't as catchy but perhaps the Magic community should #EmulateKibler. Be friendly, mature, and confident and even if you lose more games than you win, you will still be a better player than many of your opponents.
I know this wasn't my usual lighthearted, jovial romp through the magical, Christmas land of Magic but I feel that these observations need to be shared. Despite not taking home anything tangible, aside from 80 sleeves, the experience was worth every minute and dollar and I hope that my experience helps you. I hope the next time you want to flip a table because your opponent casts their 4th Doom Blade in a row, you decide instead to smile and politely ask "Targeting?"
If you actually want to hear my sweet stories from this weekend, tell me in the comments or contact me on Twitter @samdavisboyhero. Since you clearly have too much time on your hands, you should probably head over to Couch Pirate Radio and listen to the latest Planeswalker Asylum. Thanks for reading!
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your handshake firm.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
I've Still Got All Trees
As with most things in my life, Twitter inspired me to finally put finger to keyboard on a Doran list for Modern. Yes, folks I am writing about something besides mono-Red. I will allow time for gasps and swoons to resolve.
Now that that is over with, let's get down to the nuts and bolts of this list. The first thing a Doran list needs is Doran, the Siege Tower. The trick with Doran is that he is legendary so just don't play two. You are playing modern so like as not you are at least proficient with the legend rule but one never knows.
This deck has the potential to be underpowered without Doran. For this there are two immediate fixes. The first is Treefolk Harbinger. An obvious powerhouse for this deck, he can find the man that will make him a 3/3 for one green or he can go get those nonbasics you need to actually cast the tri-colour king of trees. Murmuring Bosk, Overgrown Tomb, Temple Garden, and if you felt so inclined (We don't have any such feeling) Sapseep Forest and Dryad Arbor are all Forests. Harbinger actually fetches 45% of your entire deck. He has some versatility.
Now that you have Doran, you need to protect him. He will be the most popular removal target on your entire board. Well guess who eats removal and doesn't have defender. Spellskite! For guessing correctly, you get to add what potentially equates to a 4/4 for 2 colourless mana into your deck. Cue victory noises.
However you cannot always go straight to Doran and beat face. You need to have mans that can be decent without the treefolk shaman. The first half of this solution is just a treefolk: Dungrove Elder. Another tutor target for the Harbinger and a fellow that, given an all forest mana base, will get absolutely massive. The fact that the sweetest removal in the format, Path to Exile, cannot hit him and just makes him bigger is pretty sweet. Your opponents won't be thrilled to work for your game plan with their removal.
The second half, a shaman (see what I did there?), has synergy with and without the Siege Tower. Skinshifter has 3 forms that are all relevant in this deck. In form of Rino, he tramples for 4. In form of Bird, he flies for 2. In form of Plant, he is a 0/8. So with Doran on the table, he is an 8/8. And he does not gain defender as a Plant! Absolutely nuts.
Now that we have all these sweet mans, I feel like they might need some support. First off, no matter who you are, in the realms of Magic, you can carry a sword. The developers are very progressive that way. The Sword I have in mind is Sword of Feast and Famine. Protection from green means you will get in for your damage a fair amount of the time, which means your best buddy (your opponent) is going to smile cheerfully and make his hand size one card smaller. He, or she, will be even more thrilled when you untap your lands and get to show him even more awesome things your deck can do.
Why not Slagwurm Armor? It would be such a power house if you ever got it on a man with Doran on the table, and even if you don't have the big guy, beating in with a Dungrove that can take an extra 6 points of punishment from those pesky chump blockers seems good. The prohibitive thing on this fine piece of equipment is that pesky 3 to equip. If, may heaven forbid, you go to equip and your best buddy decides not to be a pal and removes your man from the board, you have sunk most of your turn right there. Now let us say you get to equip and bash. Chump block! Your friend just throws one of his beasties under the bus. And where did that 3 mana get you? The exact same place a regular attack would have gotten you. It should be noted that, for the most part, your men will have a higher toughness than your opponents and like as not will trade up if double blocking is the order of the day. So Armor gets you a lot of mana investment for little reward. Cute but all in all just a "Win More" card.
Now your men have something to do with their hands, or branches as the case may be, you should probably give some thoughts to putting some pals in your deck. You know, just in case your opponent doesn't feel so chatty. I think that a gruff green walker by the name of Garruk fits the ticket here. There are 3 versions of this sweet fellow that you might desire to summon to your aid.
The biggest Garruk, weighing in at a whopping 5 converted mana cost, is Garruk, Primal Hunter. He draws you cards, which frankly is absolutely nuts for green. A massive power house. However he doesn't quite fit in this list. He comes down at 5 and makes a 3/3. Nothing to sneeze at but still not the board impacting play that you quite desire. Secondly he draws based on the highest power amongst your mans, many of which have 0 power. Whomp Whomp.
Next up, Garruk Relentless shows up a turn sooner and starts making 2/2 wolves. Or he can put up the fisty cuffs and bully that Noble Hierarch straight to the graveyard. He provides an alternate threat that easily gets out of control unless quickly answered. Moreover, he protects himself from those other nasty aggro lists, so long as they don't feel like taking to the skies. I feel like 3 of these fellows might not be a bad addition.
But wait! There's more! Garruk Wildspeaker! Yeah you know who that is. No, not the guy for Point Break. You know. He was from Lorwyn. Yeah now you remember. He untaps two land! That can equip a sword or play 3 of our 5 men. That can leave up Path mana. (Oh we are playing Path, btw. It really is the sweetest removal.) After he does that, leave him behind a guy or two for one turn. Then he gives all your fellows +3/+3 and Trample. That should mean you win. And even if it doesn't, it will likely tip the balance in your favor.
So these plansewalker things seem pretty powerful. It would be a major bummer if your opponent had one. We need a plan to deal with that, if at all possible. Normally I would suggest a ring of some sort. Perhaps to oblivion. However we are playing modern! That means we have Vindicate. Well. Not quite. But we still get to play Maelstrom Pulse. It even gets rid of that pesky triple Nacatl beatdown plan that can occasionally happen in Zoo.
Mans: 20
4 Doran, the Siege Tower
4 Treefolk Harbinger
4 Spellskite
4 Dungrove Elder
4 Skinshifter
Planeswalkers: 5
3 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
Artifacts: 3
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
Instants: 4
4 Path to Exile
Sorcerys: 3
3 Maelstrom Pulse
Lands: 25
4 Murmuring Bosk
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
5 Forest
Well that looks like one heck of a list, at least to me. I will allow you to think of an appropriate sideboard, given your meta. However I do have a few suggestions.
Sword of Light and Shadow is a pretty decent answer to a faster clock and it helps make chumps constantly occur. Were you so inclined, you could move these to the main and play Liliana of the Veil and Inquisition of Kozilek* and have a more Rock like build of Doran, which may be what the meta calls for eventually. However I presently believe that the aggro list above is better suited for the decks that came out of Worlds.
*Why Thoughtseize isn't what you want to be playing in this list. First, you rarely need to take anything over 4 cmc and you essentially never need to take a land. Additionally, have you seen this mana base? Seriously, you might as well start your life at 14. Playing Seize just makes it that much harder. Inquisition hits everything you will generally want to get rid of and Pulse should take care of the rest. If they are going to wipe the board, you can see that with Inquisition and play accordingly.
Another thing I wouldn't hate to stick in the board is Summoning Trap and/or Guttural Response. I honestly believe that a control match up will be hard fought for this deck but still winnable. A good side will be a part of that.
Along those lines, Thrun, the Last Troll is a fair man. He might even be maindeck able in the future. However I presently feel that there are not enough board wipes actively being played in the format to warrant him main and the deck runs smoothly without him.
Give serious thought to Nature's Claim, Naturalize, or even Qasali Pridemage. Personally, I favor the Pridemage but if the list shifts to a more control/rock oriented focus, Claim is a solid card. They play it in Vintage after all.
Hopefully you will be turning some Trees sideways in a Modern tournament near you. If this list inspired you, even if it inspired you to rage at my awful deck building skills, please let me know. You can obviously comment on the post or you can tweet at me @samdavisboyhero or even send me a strongly worded electronic mail. If you just like what I have to say, you can hear me making what I can only assume are iTunes explicit remarks over on Couch Pirate Radio under the Planeswalker Asylum category.
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your toughness high.
Now that that is over with, let's get down to the nuts and bolts of this list. The first thing a Doran list needs is Doran, the Siege Tower. The trick with Doran is that he is legendary so just don't play two. You are playing modern so like as not you are at least proficient with the legend rule but one never knows.
This deck has the potential to be underpowered without Doran. For this there are two immediate fixes. The first is Treefolk Harbinger. An obvious powerhouse for this deck, he can find the man that will make him a 3/3 for one green or he can go get those nonbasics you need to actually cast the tri-colour king of trees. Murmuring Bosk, Overgrown Tomb, Temple Garden, and if you felt so inclined (We don't have any such feeling) Sapseep Forest and Dryad Arbor are all Forests. Harbinger actually fetches 45% of your entire deck. He has some versatility.
Now that you have Doran, you need to protect him. He will be the most popular removal target on your entire board. Well guess who eats removal and doesn't have defender. Spellskite! For guessing correctly, you get to add what potentially equates to a 4/4 for 2 colourless mana into your deck. Cue victory noises.
However you cannot always go straight to Doran and beat face. You need to have mans that can be decent without the treefolk shaman. The first half of this solution is just a treefolk: Dungrove Elder. Another tutor target for the Harbinger and a fellow that, given an all forest mana base, will get absolutely massive. The fact that the sweetest removal in the format, Path to Exile, cannot hit him and just makes him bigger is pretty sweet. Your opponents won't be thrilled to work for your game plan with their removal.
The second half, a shaman (see what I did there?), has synergy with and without the Siege Tower. Skinshifter has 3 forms that are all relevant in this deck. In form of Rino, he tramples for 4. In form of Bird, he flies for 2. In form of Plant, he is a 0/8. So with Doran on the table, he is an 8/8. And he does not gain defender as a Plant! Absolutely nuts.
Now that we have all these sweet mans, I feel like they might need some support. First off, no matter who you are, in the realms of Magic, you can carry a sword. The developers are very progressive that way. The Sword I have in mind is Sword of Feast and Famine. Protection from green means you will get in for your damage a fair amount of the time, which means your best buddy (your opponent) is going to smile cheerfully and make his hand size one card smaller. He, or she, will be even more thrilled when you untap your lands and get to show him even more awesome things your deck can do.
Why not Slagwurm Armor? It would be such a power house if you ever got it on a man with Doran on the table, and even if you don't have the big guy, beating in with a Dungrove that can take an extra 6 points of punishment from those pesky chump blockers seems good. The prohibitive thing on this fine piece of equipment is that pesky 3 to equip. If, may heaven forbid, you go to equip and your best buddy decides not to be a pal and removes your man from the board, you have sunk most of your turn right there. Now let us say you get to equip and bash. Chump block! Your friend just throws one of his beasties under the bus. And where did that 3 mana get you? The exact same place a regular attack would have gotten you. It should be noted that, for the most part, your men will have a higher toughness than your opponents and like as not will trade up if double blocking is the order of the day. So Armor gets you a lot of mana investment for little reward. Cute but all in all just a "Win More" card.
Now your men have something to do with their hands, or branches as the case may be, you should probably give some thoughts to putting some pals in your deck. You know, just in case your opponent doesn't feel so chatty. I think that a gruff green walker by the name of Garruk fits the ticket here. There are 3 versions of this sweet fellow that you might desire to summon to your aid.
The biggest Garruk, weighing in at a whopping 5 converted mana cost, is Garruk, Primal Hunter. He draws you cards, which frankly is absolutely nuts for green. A massive power house. However he doesn't quite fit in this list. He comes down at 5 and makes a 3/3. Nothing to sneeze at but still not the board impacting play that you quite desire. Secondly he draws based on the highest power amongst your mans, many of which have 0 power. Whomp Whomp.
Next up, Garruk Relentless shows up a turn sooner and starts making 2/2 wolves. Or he can put up the fisty cuffs and bully that Noble Hierarch straight to the graveyard. He provides an alternate threat that easily gets out of control unless quickly answered. Moreover, he protects himself from those other nasty aggro lists, so long as they don't feel like taking to the skies. I feel like 3 of these fellows might not be a bad addition.
But wait! There's more! Garruk Wildspeaker! Yeah you know who that is. No, not the guy for Point Break. You know. He was from Lorwyn. Yeah now you remember. He untaps two land! That can equip a sword or play 3 of our 5 men. That can leave up Path mana. (Oh we are playing Path, btw. It really is the sweetest removal.) After he does that, leave him behind a guy or two for one turn. Then he gives all your fellows +3/+3 and Trample. That should mean you win. And even if it doesn't, it will likely tip the balance in your favor.
So these plansewalker things seem pretty powerful. It would be a major bummer if your opponent had one. We need a plan to deal with that, if at all possible. Normally I would suggest a ring of some sort. Perhaps to oblivion. However we are playing modern! That means we have Vindicate. Well. Not quite. But we still get to play Maelstrom Pulse. It even gets rid of that pesky triple Nacatl beatdown plan that can occasionally happen in Zoo.
Mans: 20
4 Doran, the Siege Tower
4 Treefolk Harbinger
4 Spellskite
4 Dungrove Elder
4 Skinshifter
Planeswalkers: 5
3 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
Artifacts: 3
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
Instants: 4
4 Path to Exile
Sorcerys: 3
3 Maelstrom Pulse
Lands: 25
4 Murmuring Bosk
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
5 Forest
Well that looks like one heck of a list, at least to me. I will allow you to think of an appropriate sideboard, given your meta. However I do have a few suggestions.
Sword of Light and Shadow is a pretty decent answer to a faster clock and it helps make chumps constantly occur. Were you so inclined, you could move these to the main and play Liliana of the Veil and Inquisition of Kozilek* and have a more Rock like build of Doran, which may be what the meta calls for eventually. However I presently believe that the aggro list above is better suited for the decks that came out of Worlds.
*Why Thoughtseize isn't what you want to be playing in this list. First, you rarely need to take anything over 4 cmc and you essentially never need to take a land. Additionally, have you seen this mana base? Seriously, you might as well start your life at 14. Playing Seize just makes it that much harder. Inquisition hits everything you will generally want to get rid of and Pulse should take care of the rest. If they are going to wipe the board, you can see that with Inquisition and play accordingly.
Another thing I wouldn't hate to stick in the board is Summoning Trap and/or Guttural Response. I honestly believe that a control match up will be hard fought for this deck but still winnable. A good side will be a part of that.
Along those lines, Thrun, the Last Troll is a fair man. He might even be maindeck able in the future. However I presently feel that there are not enough board wipes actively being played in the format to warrant him main and the deck runs smoothly without him.
Give serious thought to Nature's Claim, Naturalize, or even Qasali Pridemage. Personally, I favor the Pridemage but if the list shifts to a more control/rock oriented focus, Claim is a solid card. They play it in Vintage after all.
Hopefully you will be turning some Trees sideways in a Modern tournament near you. If this list inspired you, even if it inspired you to rage at my awful deck building skills, please let me know. You can obviously comment on the post or you can tweet at me @samdavisboyhero or even send me a strongly worded electronic mail. If you just like what I have to say, you can hear me making what I can only assume are iTunes explicit remarks over on Couch Pirate Radio under the Planeswalker Asylum category.
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your toughness high.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
A Magic Player's Dream of Electric Sheep: the MTGO Experience.
So I am about to start my first Magic Online experience and I have heard horror stories of how awful misclicks can be as well as the fact that the interface seems to be designed for people who are not from Earth. I thought that perhaps a blog taking you through what I encounter might be useful for those who haven't used MTGO and I may even find things that seasoned veterans might want to know about, though that is unlikely. I am going into this with an open mind.
So getting the account was easy. I like that. They give me a free pack. Sweet. It is M12. Not so sweet. But still, I can just get 2 more M12 packs and join a draft queue. It is either that or hope to open Garruk and that is likely not happening. Well, I joined for the increased limited availability. Let us draft!
My packs were all boring. My deck is decent but not full of bombs. I essentially rare drafted instead of taking functional sideboard cards. Hopefully even if I do poorly I will be able to move some of the things I got for tickets to keep drafting. I also grabbed some of the buddy lands. If I do decide to ever actually play on MTGO, they might not be bad to have. Oh! Round One is up. Let me see if I misclick my way through everything. Be right back.
Okay so I won games 1 and 2 against a white green aggro deck. That was kinda cool. 1 pack, in the bag. Now lets see what happens next. I did Paulo and mis mulligan though. oh well. In paper magic, my opponent usually asks me if I want to keep. If I want to keep, I say yes. MTGO asks me if I want to mulligan. This may take some getting used to. We were the last match to finish so I am off to the races again. Wish me luck. Yeah, I know this already happened. Just do it.
So I lost round 2 in what felt like an unwinnable match up. I blame you, readers, for not wishing into the past well enough. Hexproof is pretty good, turns out. I did not pick up a pack, looks like I will not be going infinite off of this. Maybe my rares will get me there but unlikely. I also feel like 17 lands may be too many, which is odd. I was rather flooded for those games.
Round 3, I proceed to not win any die rolls. That I can handle. This deck is starting to feel like the extra card might not be too bad. Maybe I will pick up a pack here. [about 29 minutes go by] This is what raging via blogging looks like. I am annoyed. I did not mess up my mulligan but I do need to put more stops in. Stops pause the game whenever priority shifts, ensuring you have a chance to respond. When you are tapping things down, to ensure that you do not lose, and you foolishly did not have a "Enter Combat" stop placed, you just lose. Womp Womp. That was totally my bad. I'm learning.
So I have a single M12 pack. What should I do with it? Buy more M12 and draft again or just open it? Open it, you say? That will save me from drafting M12 again and I love that idea. Oh look, Throne of Empires. Value. Oh well. Perhaps I will have better luck in Innistrad Swiss.
Alright kids. Instead of step by stepping this one for you, I will instead tell you the things I learned from my first Innistrad Swiss Draft.
Firstly, 15 land plus a Traveler's Amulet is totally enough. MTGO, it would seem, shuffles better than humans do. When it rains, it pours. You will either have too few or too many land. This works well for the present format as you can build a deck that goes: 1 drop, 2 drop, 3 drop, Beat-Beat-Beat and never need more than three land. I feel like that is where you want to be.
Secondly, there is a button upon your keyboard that will save you approximately all the time if you know about it. However, if you do not, be quick clicking through your stops. I actually lost a match due to time out in game three when I was literally about to beat for lethal. This magical button is "F6". No, not the car, snow ski, or plane. Just a button. And when I finally remembered it, my turns went so much more quickly. However at one juncture I became a little "F6" happy and maybe, kinda, just a little bit missed a land drop. Derp.
All in all, MTGO seems like a good resource for those of us who may have to travel and for the Holidays but I cannot imagine giving up paper magic for this. To me, it is comparable to jonesing to play some Skyrim and instead enjoying some sweet Rapala Tournament Fishing. While also a nature simulator, it isn't what you wanted.
Well guys, thanks for reading. Hopefully you learned something besides the fact that I eventually get tired of drawing land after land. You can, as always, contact me via Twitter. If you just can't get enough of what I have to say, when you are done rereading my brilliant blog you can listen to the dulcet tones of my voice in Planeswalker Asylum, a podcast about how awesome we are and occasionally Magic: the Gathering.
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your lands right on time.
So getting the account was easy. I like that. They give me a free pack. Sweet. It is M12. Not so sweet. But still, I can just get 2 more M12 packs and join a draft queue. It is either that or hope to open Garruk and that is likely not happening. Well, I joined for the increased limited availability. Let us draft!
My packs were all boring. My deck is decent but not full of bombs. I essentially rare drafted instead of taking functional sideboard cards. Hopefully even if I do poorly I will be able to move some of the things I got for tickets to keep drafting. I also grabbed some of the buddy lands. If I do decide to ever actually play on MTGO, they might not be bad to have. Oh! Round One is up. Let me see if I misclick my way through everything. Be right back.
Okay so I won games 1 and 2 against a white green aggro deck. That was kinda cool. 1 pack, in the bag. Now lets see what happens next. I did Paulo and mis mulligan though. oh well. In paper magic, my opponent usually asks me if I want to keep. If I want to keep, I say yes. MTGO asks me if I want to mulligan. This may take some getting used to. We were the last match to finish so I am off to the races again. Wish me luck. Yeah, I know this already happened. Just do it.
So I lost round 2 in what felt like an unwinnable match up. I blame you, readers, for not wishing into the past well enough. Hexproof is pretty good, turns out. I did not pick up a pack, looks like I will not be going infinite off of this. Maybe my rares will get me there but unlikely. I also feel like 17 lands may be too many, which is odd. I was rather flooded for those games.
Round 3, I proceed to not win any die rolls. That I can handle. This deck is starting to feel like the extra card might not be too bad. Maybe I will pick up a pack here. [about 29 minutes go by] This is what raging via blogging looks like. I am annoyed. I did not mess up my mulligan but I do need to put more stops in. Stops pause the game whenever priority shifts, ensuring you have a chance to respond. When you are tapping things down, to ensure that you do not lose, and you foolishly did not have a "Enter Combat" stop placed, you just lose. Womp Womp. That was totally my bad. I'm learning.
So I have a single M12 pack. What should I do with it? Buy more M12 and draft again or just open it? Open it, you say? That will save me from drafting M12 again and I love that idea. Oh look, Throne of Empires. Value. Oh well. Perhaps I will have better luck in Innistrad Swiss.
Alright kids. Instead of step by stepping this one for you, I will instead tell you the things I learned from my first Innistrad Swiss Draft.
Firstly, 15 land plus a Traveler's Amulet is totally enough. MTGO, it would seem, shuffles better than humans do. When it rains, it pours. You will either have too few or too many land. This works well for the present format as you can build a deck that goes: 1 drop, 2 drop, 3 drop, Beat-Beat-Beat and never need more than three land. I feel like that is where you want to be.
Secondly, there is a button upon your keyboard that will save you approximately all the time if you know about it. However, if you do not, be quick clicking through your stops. I actually lost a match due to time out in game three when I was literally about to beat for lethal. This magical button is "F6". No, not the car, snow ski, or plane. Just a button. And when I finally remembered it, my turns went so much more quickly. However at one juncture I became a little "F6" happy and maybe, kinda, just a little bit missed a land drop. Derp.
All in all, MTGO seems like a good resource for those of us who may have to travel and for the Holidays but I cannot imagine giving up paper magic for this. To me, it is comparable to jonesing to play some Skyrim and instead enjoying some sweet Rapala Tournament Fishing. While also a nature simulator, it isn't what you wanted.
Well guys, thanks for reading. Hopefully you learned something besides the fact that I eventually get tired of drawing land after land. You can, as always, contact me via Twitter. If you just can't get enough of what I have to say, when you are done rereading my brilliant blog you can listen to the dulcet tones of my voice in Planeswalker Asylum, a podcast about how awesome we are and occasionally Magic: the Gathering.
Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your lands right on time.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Collecting the Price of Progress
My last article focused on what you should be playing in RDW in Standard. In this article, I intend to take you through my thought process in card selection for the Burn list I played in Kansas City.\
Now the first steps were easy. One mana should equal 3 damage, as much as possible. Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Spike, and Rift Bolt (Don't forget, you can cast Rift Bolt for 3 if you really have to. It is still 3 damage!) all fit this line of thought. These cards were natural 4 ofs.
Now why not play Shard Volley? One mana. 3 damage. Instant speed. It seems like exactly what the deck wants. However it requires you to sack a land. Given that I am playing Fireblast, this seems fine. It is not. First, this deck frequently doesn't see a second land until turn 3 or 4, which is where you start playing your 2 mana spells and move from winning by a narrow margin to winning like an unstoppable ball of fire. Delaying that by even a turn is not what you want to be doing for 3 damage. All told, the cost is too high.
Keeping with the one mana plan, I took a look at mans that generate the most value, which in my case translated into direct damage. Goblin Guide, Grim Lavamancer, and Figure of Destiny were natural choices. Here is where some actual design began to take place.
Creatures can generate value for my opponents as well. For example, many of my Goblin Guide attacks were met with "in response to the trigger, Brainstorm." I decided that playing a red spell that said "the first time this creature attacks, defending player discards a card and draws a card" was worth 4 slots.
Next I took a long hard look at Grim Lavamancer. Here is where I take a wild leap away from the traditional Red mentality. What I found was, in the deck I wanted to play, Grim Lavamancer did nothing. Maybe it would get in for a total of 3 between an attack phase and an activation. However, with so many decks running around with Stifle and Snapcaster Mage, I could not safely run the Fetch Lands I needed to power the Lavaman, nor could I guarantee an activation with any reasonable reliability. Additionally, the card is a nonbo-anti synergetic-with the Barbarian Rings I wanted to run. The Lavamancer got the Lava Axe (I know, mechanically that makes no sense. Shut up and chuckle at my bad joke.) in the end, with zero spots in the total 75.
If you have actually seen my list, you will be surprised by what comes next. Figure of Destiny was not good enough for the ideal of the deck. You pay one mana for zero damage. That is very bad for a deck entitled Burn. You do get to sink mana into it in the mid game, but honestly if you are in the mid game with a deck like this, you have probably lost or you are slow rolling that Bolt like a champion. Thus the total spots awarded to this fine fellow are zero. Wait. I lied. Due to the urging of a friend of mine, I squeezed in three of these mans at the last minute. I found out two things by doing so. First, I was right. This is not a good card for Burn. Second, it is a ridiculous threat that must be countered or killed as soon as possible. Which meant that the three Figures I played read: "1 Red. Sorcery. Target opponent loses one life and discards two blue cards." (Force of Will). This meant that whenever I needed to resolve any other spell, I could try, knowing they were at least one counterspell down. If Mental Misstep ever becomes unbanned, my first change to this deck will be to cut one mountain for the 4th Figure.
Now I am out of 1 mana ~ 3 damage spells and 1 mana value creatures. Time to move on to the 2 drops. The first 2 mana men I looked at were Keldon Marauders and Stormblood Berserker. Keldon Marauders does two sweet things. First he is 2 mana for a guaranteed 2 damage. This seems like awful value but I can say that more than once, my opponent was at one or two life and could not deal with a Marauder. Additionally, this man has the option to turn into Lava Axe, or to eat a Wild Nacatl or block a Tarmogoyf. I got to stall a goyf for 4 whole turns with this man, playing burn spells like mad, knowing the Keldon had my back.
Now the first steps were easy. One mana should equal 3 damage, as much as possible. Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Spike, and Rift Bolt (Don't forget, you can cast Rift Bolt for 3 if you really have to. It is still 3 damage!) all fit this line of thought. These cards were natural 4 ofs.
Now why not play Shard Volley? One mana. 3 damage. Instant speed. It seems like exactly what the deck wants. However it requires you to sack a land. Given that I am playing Fireblast, this seems fine. It is not. First, this deck frequently doesn't see a second land until turn 3 or 4, which is where you start playing your 2 mana spells and move from winning by a narrow margin to winning like an unstoppable ball of fire. Delaying that by even a turn is not what you want to be doing for 3 damage. All told, the cost is too high.
Keeping with the one mana plan, I took a look at mans that generate the most value, which in my case translated into direct damage. Goblin Guide, Grim Lavamancer, and Figure of Destiny were natural choices. Here is where some actual design began to take place.
Creatures can generate value for my opponents as well. For example, many of my Goblin Guide attacks were met with "in response to the trigger, Brainstorm." I decided that playing a red spell that said "the first time this creature attacks, defending player discards a card and draws a card" was worth 4 slots.
Next I took a long hard look at Grim Lavamancer. Here is where I take a wild leap away from the traditional Red mentality. What I found was, in the deck I wanted to play, Grim Lavamancer did nothing. Maybe it would get in for a total of 3 between an attack phase and an activation. However, with so many decks running around with Stifle and Snapcaster Mage, I could not safely run the Fetch Lands I needed to power the Lavaman, nor could I guarantee an activation with any reasonable reliability. Additionally, the card is a nonbo-anti synergetic-with the Barbarian Rings I wanted to run. The Lavamancer got the Lava Axe (I know, mechanically that makes no sense. Shut up and chuckle at my bad joke.) in the end, with zero spots in the total 75.
If you have actually seen my list, you will be surprised by what comes next. Figure of Destiny was not good enough for the ideal of the deck. You pay one mana for zero damage. That is very bad for a deck entitled Burn. You do get to sink mana into it in the mid game, but honestly if you are in the mid game with a deck like this, you have probably lost or you are slow rolling that Bolt like a champion. Thus the total spots awarded to this fine fellow are zero. Wait. I lied. Due to the urging of a friend of mine, I squeezed in three of these mans at the last minute. I found out two things by doing so. First, I was right. This is not a good card for Burn. Second, it is a ridiculous threat that must be countered or killed as soon as possible. Which meant that the three Figures I played read: "1 Red. Sorcery. Target opponent loses one life and discards two blue cards." (Force of Will). This meant that whenever I needed to resolve any other spell, I could try, knowing they were at least one counterspell down. If Mental Misstep ever becomes unbanned, my first change to this deck will be to cut one mountain for the 4th Figure.
Now I am out of 1 mana ~ 3 damage spells and 1 mana value creatures. Time to move on to the 2 drops. The first 2 mana men I looked at were Keldon Marauders and Stormblood Berserker. Keldon Marauders does two sweet things. First he is 2 mana for a guaranteed 2 damage. This seems like awful value but I can say that more than once, my opponent was at one or two life and could not deal with a Marauder. Additionally, this man has the option to turn into Lava Axe, or to eat a Wild Nacatl or block a Tarmogoyf. I got to stall a goyf for 4 whole turns with this man, playing burn spells like mad, knowing the Keldon had my back.
"Fields can be replanted. Settlements can be rebuilt. Burn it all."
—Latulla, Keldon overseer
Now to Stormblood Berserker. What I noticed about this fellow was that he guaranteed zero damage, similar to the Lavaman that did not make the cut. While he is essentially unblockable in the Legacy metagame, he still has to resolve and live through my next upkeep. This simply wasn't good enough for the deck. So what do I put in its place? A good friend of mine suggested I take a look at a hasty fellow by the name of Hellspark Elemental. I did and I was happy with what I found. This dude usually got in for the full 6 damage, could kill himself against Dredge with their Bridge from Below laden graveyard, and only stole one card from my threshold count if I had to activate Barbarian Ring. This is a sweet man. In the original draft of the list, both the elemental and the marauders were 4 ofs. However eventually I cut one mountain and one of each of those fine men to fit in the abomination that was Figure of Destiny.
Now the fun part of the deck! 3 spells that I absolutely don't ever want to play without.
First was a game winning all star: Fireblast. After playing with the card for probably three rounds, I realized that it had a converted mana cost of 6! Do you know how many 6 drops the typical Counterbalance deck runs? Did you guess the same number as the amount of Grim Lavamancers a good burn deck runs? If so, you were correct! Between that and the ability to put 3 cards in my graveyard to turn on my Rings, the fact that this spell does 4 damage at instant speed is almost unimportant. Except that is 4 damage. At instant speed. SO FAST! Needless to say, this was an auto 4 of.
Next was the decidedly slower version of 4 damage for 2 mana: Flame Rift. Aside from the two games I dropped in the swiss portion, The most damage done to me was from this spell. That means that 4 to you is entirely insignificant. 4 to your opponent, however, brings them to a life threatening 16 life. The fact that it is Sorcery speed is the only complaint I have about this spell. But one more mana for one more damage on Lava Spike seems worthy of 4 slots in any burn deck I intend to build in the near future.
If you don't like sorcery speeds, Sam, why not consider Magma Jet? 2 mana. 2 damage. (Already I am underwhelmed.) Instant speed! And I can scry 2! That seems sweet. Now what do I want to scry to or from? I have two land so I could pitch the lands away, keeping my draws live. However, getting mountain number 3 can keep me in the game after I Fireblast, so rarely do I want to hide those precious resources, especially if someone ever gets a Rishadan Port active against my sparse land count. And I certainly don't want to scry away from burn spells. I could pitch that turn 4 Goblin Guide but in all honesty, in burn, if you must, you can clear the way for your men with all the direct damage and if you don't have to clear the way, drawing a dude is just like drawing a spell. I would rather just wait until my turn to cast Flame Rift. The scry is a useful thing but it doesn't have a place in this deck.
"Target opponent discards 1 or 2 blue cards or loses the game." That is the text on Price of Progress. This card,and you will excuse my subtlety here, is good. I play a mountain and pass against Ian Ellis. He draws his card, plays a swamp and casts Thoughtsieze. In response, I Lightning Bolt him to the face. He looks at me and says "I think I heard about you." then looks at my hand and just stares at the Price sadly, knowing that if he doesn't strip it from my hand it will certainly end game 1 without much trouble. At the Top 8 players meeting, Alex Bertoncini straight up asks me how many Prices I am running. When I reply 4 in the main, he scowls and says "I don't want to play you." The player reactions alone told me that this card is straight up phenomenal. The fact that it, on a regular basis, was 4-8 damage at instant speed for just two mana means that seeing that in my opener or off the top took me to a magical land full of winning whatever game I was playing. Once it was dead against mono blue, which just made finding a spot for 4 Pyroblasts out of the side really easy. I wish I could play 8 of this card but since 4 is the maximum legal number, I settled for 4. Unless legacy vastly changes to mono colored decks or 100% basic land, this card will remain an all star.
You will note that there are no Volcanic Fallouts or Sulfuric Vortexs and here is why. Those spells are just fine. Actually they are both really solid spells. But first, they cost 3 (That is double infinity for this deck), and secondly, The mana to damage ratio is already so finely tuned that you can't cut spells to find a spot in this deck and for 3 mana you certainly cannot cut land either. In the Legacy format, there are simply more efficient spells to be cast.
All told, I ended up with 19 lands, 13 men, 12 instants, and 16 sorceries in my deck. To see the full 75, look here! This deck was probably the most fun thing to play with since I started playing Magic in any competitive sense and I feel I can say, with relative certainty, that I am officially a red mage.
Hopefully those of you who intend to play Burn! this Sunday in Las Vegas will take a gander at this and find some help or inspiration. You can always find me on Twitter and listen to my podcast over on Couch Pirate Radio! Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your mana to damage ratio low.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Red Deck Wins. Seriously.
As some of you may have heard, I took 8th at Star City Kansas City in the Legacy portion of the event. It was pretty exciting for me, as I, as of now, have played 16 games of legacy. Yes, my first time playing Legacy was when I sleeved up the red cards that I had shipped to site-awesome service but more on that later. This post will not actually be about my time at Kansas City but as that time was very influential, I feel like I need to mention a few people that helped shape that event for me.
First, a big shout out to Daniel Dusang, one of my travel companions and fellow blogger. He top 16ed the Standard portion of the event and ended up 22nd in the Legacy Open. I was very impressed by his showing over both days and if we are lucky, he may share some of his tech with us in the coming days. Secondly, I got to meet Gavin Verhey, who is one of the reasons why I am writing this very moment. Thirdly, I got to play against Star City Writer and Pro Gerry Thompson. He is an immensely skilled player and was very cool. He and I actually got a feature match which you can find here. I intend to buy premium just to see what this man has to say and honestly, you might want to as well. Will Craddock took down the first draft open, which is kind of a big deal. And a special thanks is owed to Kyle for convincing me to fit 3 Figure of Destinies into my list, which you can find on the Star City Top 16 deck lists. Those puppies ate the turn one Force of Will just like they were supposed to, clearing the way for a ton of sweet burn. Lastly, but certainly not least, a big shout out goes to Ryan Daly. This young man is a talented player, no doubt, and despite what many people think, Dredge takes no small amount of skill to pilot, as I found out. I hope to see him on the top 16 deck list page more often!
Before I move on to the main event, I must talk about the Star City Ship to Site set-up. It is possibly one of the best things that Star City offers. Having the ability to go to an open and easily acquire your cards is fantastic. I literally had to do next to nothing to get them. The exchange went as follows:
Me: "I have an order to pick up. How do I make this so?"
Helpful Star City Employee: "Show me your I.D. and I can find your order."
Me: *Shows I.D.* "Should be a bunch of red cards."
At this point the man wanders away for about 15 seconds and then returns, my cards in hand.
Helpful Star City Employee: "You had a whole box! Here you go."
It was the most painless process I have had with online ordering as it felt like I essentially called in my order to a Chinese place and showed up a bit later to get it. And they gave me free egg rolls. It was awesome. If you need something you can't find at your local store (because you should support that place where you play, seriously guys) and intend on going to an open any time soon, I highly recommend this!
Now lets get down to some sweet burn spells! I am going to focus on Standard for this entry and then perhaps take a step into Legacy for my next entry.
I faced down a Red deck in Kansas City, round one of Standard. While he took the victory from me, there was one card that he was not playing main deck that I think would have vastly increased his win percentage across the day. This card is Gut Shot.
Gut Shot has about 1 trillion uses. They mostly involve dealing one damage to things, obviously. It takes care of a turn one Birds of Paradise or Llanowar Elf, clearing the way for your one drop while slowing the tempo of Wolf-Run Ramp or any Pod list, and making it even harder to find those two mans needed to stop the inevitable march of your Stormblood Berserker. It can also make sure that the Lashwrithe of Mono Black Infect never makes it to any of their 1/1 fliers that wreck your day.
Speaking of that blood crazed man, Gut Shot can be the 1 drop you need to make sure that Stormblood is a thirsty fellow when he enters the battlefield. Going turn one Mountain-Go can lull your opponent into an incredibly false sense of security that can be shattered quickly as they find themselves facing down a 3/3 with an ill equipt hand and an empty board.
Now Red can easily handle everything with Toughness 1-3, but once that rear end hits 4, red gets mighty awkward. Hero of Bladehold can make even the most experienced player sweat when you only have-as red so often does-2 mountains on your side of the field. In the glory days of Lightning Bolt, this was no problem, but now that we are paying two to make 3 damage happen, the free Gut Shot looks a lot better than taking a minimum 7 from a Hero swinging at the face.
As far as red goes, we have no end of things that target, forcing that pesky Phantasmal Image to take a rest in the graveyard. However, pointing an Incinerate at him can feel a tiny bit wasteful, knowing you could send it to your opponents face, making the game vastly more winnable, if it weren't for that silly Image in your way. Gut Shot again comes to the rescue you are now using it as "Pay 2 life: destroy target giant threat" which can be a massive advantage for red in games that can seem entirely unwinnable.
The last reason to be playing Gut Shot is possibly the strongest. Shrine of Burning Rage. I am going to let that sit for a moment. This card grows your shrine at instant speed. For free. Activating Shrine costs 3 mana. That is practically infinity, especially when you want to keep playing things to keep that pressure up and make your opponent feel the burn. Now you can leave that 3 open, not worrying about a huge blow out to artifact destruction, and still maintain an ability to respond to potential threats as they might come up. More importantly is the reach that they give Shrine in the mid game. Having a shrine at 5 and an opponent at 10 makes your opponent feel like they have a few turns to draw an answer. Get in for 3, even if you have to make bad attacks, puts your opponent at 7. Gut Shot drops them to 6 and grows your Shrine to 6. Wait. Those are the same number. And you won another game.
The fact that this card is almost never a disappointing top deck should be a huge indicator that you should be playing it in your monored list. It is a hugely versatile card and it forces your opponent to do nearly impossible guestimations on combat math that make even the most experienced control player very uncomfortable. Gut Shot offers creature control in multiple ways, tricky midgame and combat choices for your opponent, and the ability to kill your opponent out of no where. It is exactly what Red wants in a 1 mana burn spell (that isn't Bolt).
Thanks for reading! You can contact me on Twitter to enjoy more of my wit. If you would prefer to just sit back and listen to the soothing sound of my voice, check out the podcast in which I partake. Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your shipping free!
First, a big shout out to Daniel Dusang, one of my travel companions and fellow blogger. He top 16ed the Standard portion of the event and ended up 22nd in the Legacy Open. I was very impressed by his showing over both days and if we are lucky, he may share some of his tech with us in the coming days. Secondly, I got to meet Gavin Verhey, who is one of the reasons why I am writing this very moment. Thirdly, I got to play against Star City Writer and Pro Gerry Thompson. He is an immensely skilled player and was very cool. He and I actually got a feature match which you can find here. I intend to buy premium just to see what this man has to say and honestly, you might want to as well. Will Craddock took down the first draft open, which is kind of a big deal. And a special thanks is owed to Kyle for convincing me to fit 3 Figure of Destinies into my list, which you can find on the Star City Top 16 deck lists. Those puppies ate the turn one Force of Will just like they were supposed to, clearing the way for a ton of sweet burn. Lastly, but certainly not least, a big shout out goes to Ryan Daly. This young man is a talented player, no doubt, and despite what many people think, Dredge takes no small amount of skill to pilot, as I found out. I hope to see him on the top 16 deck list page more often!
Before I move on to the main event, I must talk about the Star City Ship to Site set-up. It is possibly one of the best things that Star City offers. Having the ability to go to an open and easily acquire your cards is fantastic. I literally had to do next to nothing to get them. The exchange went as follows:
Me: "I have an order to pick up. How do I make this so?"
Helpful Star City Employee: "Show me your I.D. and I can find your order."
Me: *Shows I.D.* "Should be a bunch of red cards."
At this point the man wanders away for about 15 seconds and then returns, my cards in hand.
Helpful Star City Employee: "You had a whole box! Here you go."
It was the most painless process I have had with online ordering as it felt like I essentially called in my order to a Chinese place and showed up a bit later to get it. And they gave me free egg rolls. It was awesome. If you need something you can't find at your local store (because you should support that place where you play, seriously guys) and intend on going to an open any time soon, I highly recommend this!
Now lets get down to some sweet burn spells! I am going to focus on Standard for this entry and then perhaps take a step into Legacy for my next entry.
I faced down a Red deck in Kansas City, round one of Standard. While he took the victory from me, there was one card that he was not playing main deck that I think would have vastly increased his win percentage across the day. This card is Gut Shot.
Gut Shot has about 1 trillion uses. They mostly involve dealing one damage to things, obviously. It takes care of a turn one Birds of Paradise or Llanowar Elf, clearing the way for your one drop while slowing the tempo of Wolf-Run Ramp or any Pod list, and making it even harder to find those two mans needed to stop the inevitable march of your Stormblood Berserker. It can also make sure that the Lashwrithe of Mono Black Infect never makes it to any of their 1/1 fliers that wreck your day.
Speaking of that blood crazed man, Gut Shot can be the 1 drop you need to make sure that Stormblood is a thirsty fellow when he enters the battlefield. Going turn one Mountain-Go can lull your opponent into an incredibly false sense of security that can be shattered quickly as they find themselves facing down a 3/3 with an ill equipt hand and an empty board.
Now Red can easily handle everything with Toughness 1-3, but once that rear end hits 4, red gets mighty awkward. Hero of Bladehold can make even the most experienced player sweat when you only have-as red so often does-2 mountains on your side of the field. In the glory days of Lightning Bolt, this was no problem, but now that we are paying two to make 3 damage happen, the free Gut Shot looks a lot better than taking a minimum 7 from a Hero swinging at the face.
As far as red goes, we have no end of things that target, forcing that pesky Phantasmal Image to take a rest in the graveyard. However, pointing an Incinerate at him can feel a tiny bit wasteful, knowing you could send it to your opponents face, making the game vastly more winnable, if it weren't for that silly Image in your way. Gut Shot again comes to the rescue you are now using it as "Pay 2 life: destroy target giant threat" which can be a massive advantage for red in games that can seem entirely unwinnable.
The last reason to be playing Gut Shot is possibly the strongest. Shrine of Burning Rage. I am going to let that sit for a moment. This card grows your shrine at instant speed. For free. Activating Shrine costs 3 mana. That is practically infinity, especially when you want to keep playing things to keep that pressure up and make your opponent feel the burn. Now you can leave that 3 open, not worrying about a huge blow out to artifact destruction, and still maintain an ability to respond to potential threats as they might come up. More importantly is the reach that they give Shrine in the mid game. Having a shrine at 5 and an opponent at 10 makes your opponent feel like they have a few turns to draw an answer. Get in for 3, even if you have to make bad attacks, puts your opponent at 7. Gut Shot drops them to 6 and grows your Shrine to 6. Wait. Those are the same number. And you won another game.
The fact that this card is almost never a disappointing top deck should be a huge indicator that you should be playing it in your monored list. It is a hugely versatile card and it forces your opponent to do nearly impossible guestimations on combat math that make even the most experienced control player very uncomfortable. Gut Shot offers creature control in multiple ways, tricky midgame and combat choices for your opponent, and the ability to kill your opponent out of no where. It is exactly what Red wants in a 1 mana burn spell (that isn't Bolt).
Thanks for reading! You can contact me on Twitter to enjoy more of my wit. If you would prefer to just sit back and listen to the soothing sound of my voice, check out the podcast in which I partake. Until next time, keep your sleeves clean and your shipping free!
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