Magic: the Gathering - The Resurrection

[Izulde]

So I used to play Magic way, way back in the day. I got out of it around Visions, just after that, I think.

One of my roommates and I were talking the other day about how we both used to play and got out of it, and how cool it would be to get back into it.

Today we found a card shop a few minutes drive from our house and each picked up a starter + booster of the Duels of Planeswalkers box, where it was a themed deck packaged with a 10th edition booster pack.

The shop had a black/green, a blue, a black, and a red deck available. My roommate got the black/green and I chose the blue.

We played a lot of games with just the base starter decks, which included the following:

The Nissa Revane Deck (Green/Black)

Lands (24)
16 Forests
8 Swamps

Creatures (21)
3 Elvish Eulogist
2 Elvish Visionary
1 Gaea's Herald
1 Talara's Battalion
3 Elvish Warriors
1 Greenweaver Druid
1 Imperious Prefect
1 Elvish Champion
1 Jagged-Scar Archers
1 Drove of Elves
1 Immaculate Magistrate
2 Moonglove Winnowers
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
2 Elven Riders

Other Spells (15)
4 Giant Growths
2 Wurm's Tooths
1 Naturalize
1 Nature's Spiral
3 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Elvish Promenade
2 Essence Drain
1 Coat of Arms

Thoughts
While both decks were balanced, we both thought this deck was initially much stronger constructed than the blue deck. It's an elf themed deck that can create some absolutely filthy creatures. Coat of Arms and Imperious Prefect were probably my two favorite cards out of this one. I love playing Creature Type theme decks and so Coat of Arms would go in a lot of my old decks if I still had them (including what was my most fun deck of all time, a goblin deck). I won one of my games by managing to get out CoA and IP and just continuously tapping the IP to add 1/1 Elven Green Warriors that would be 2/2 automatically without the CoA, and with the CoA, the elf army grows strong quite quickly, especially if there's other elf booster or boosted by elves in play, which this deck has a lot of.

Jace Beleren Deck

Lands (25)
25 Islands

Creatures (16)
4 Cloud Sprites
2 Wall of Spears
1 Phantom Warrior
3 Snapping Drakes
2 Thieving Magpies
2 Air Elementals
1 Mahamoti Djinn
1 Denizen of the Deep

Other Spells (19)
2 Unsummons
2 Kraken's Eyes
3 Essence Scatters
2 Negates
2 Boomerangs
2 Deluges
2 Cancels
1 Counterbore
1 Evacuation
1 Mind Control
1 Mind Spring

Thoughts
Not surprising for a blue deck that it was heavy on the counter and clock reset type cards. It also relies a lot on its flying creatures to do damage and the Cloud Sprites proved to be good early damage whittlers against the B/G deck. Evacuation and Deluge saved the deck's player's ass in a lot of games, mostly when my roommate played. It's a decent base to build off of, but definitely the weaker of the two decks and one that relies a lot more on good draws to succeed.

Booster Pack Modifications
We got a mix of cards in our boosters (I personally was thrilled to get the reprint of the Serra Angel in mine, as I love Serra Angels, even though I prefer the original artwork) and decided to mix and match the blue/green/black cards from each booster to adjust the base decks.

My Nissa Revane Mods
I dropped all 3 of the Elvish Eulogists, who while useful in that they're cheap elf drops and can buy you time with their sacrifice ability (gain 1 life for each elf in your graveyard), just didn't seem to fit in the deck in my opinion. I also dropped one of the Wurm's Tooths and one of the Elvish Riders, who while they have 3/3 and are unblockable except by walls and flying creatures, seemed too high a cost (3 colorless, 2 green) to justify being in the deck.

The 5 Additions
Oakenform
Tendrils of Corruption
Howling Banshee
Windstorm
Elvish Visionary

Effects
It made the deck much, much stronger. The Howling Banshee and Windstorm (which I wouldn't include except against this Blue deck and its flier-heavy nature) in particular were effective and Elvish Visionary's draw a card when played is awesome.

I forget the changes my roommate made to the deck with his turn, but I know he dropped Oakenform and added something else instead.

Roommate's Jace Beleren Mods
Took out all 4 Cloud Sprites and a Wall of Spears.

The 5 Additions
Sage Owl
Ponder
Merfolk Looter
Negate
Boomerang

Effects
Although the change wasn't as dramatic on the surface of it, the card control abilities of Sage Owl/Ponder/Merfolk Looter eliminates some of the luck element the basic theme deck has, and more counters are always good for blue.

The decks played fairly evenly after the substitutions. Denizen of the Deep got a perfect play during one of the times I won with the post-mod blue deck, in that there were no creatures on my board when I played him (he sends all your creatures in play back to your hand when he comes out, which is why I'd probably remove him from the deck later on, even though he's an 11/11 beastie).

We're planning on picking up some of the other starter + boosters next weekend. Definitely the red deck, although I'm disappointed Duels of the Planeswalkers doesn't come with any white in the starter decks.

Edit: I didn't make any other changes to the Jace deck other than my roommate made. We didn't have a great draw for blue in our booster packs. Some cool red/white stuff, though.

[Abe Sargent]

Yay Magic!!!

I'm not sure what this dynasty will do, though. As you buy cards you'll make decks? Document matches? trading for cards you want? Reading internet articles?

[Izulde]

Buy cards, make decks, probably. Maybe brief summary of the general flow of matches?

My roommate's mostly into it for the deck building, and perhaps by chronicling that, I can learn to be a better deck builder myself.

[Abe Sargent]

Awesome awesome!

[Izulde]

Nothing new to report cardwise. We were going to head to the shop today, but my roommate wanted to get some work done. This weekend I'll be in Washington DC for a conference, so that's out.

On the other hand, we played four games last night. He played exclusively with the blue deck, me with the black/green deck.

I won 3 games to 1, with a couple of very close games in there. The one I lost was because I got a terrible land draw, and there's not much you can do about that, but at least I was able to keep it going for a while.

[Abe Sargent]

It would have been awesome if you were there today - prerelease was today for the next set

[Izulde]

It's been an odd series of circumstances the last week. Walked out of the English Department of the new place I'm teaching at and there's a bunch of Magic players sitting at the tables.

Then tonight I wandered into a pizza place and saw a bunch of board gamers and a couple Magic players. Took it as a sign from God/The Universe that I'm meant to play Magic again. So I rushed home, grabbed the only deck of mine I could find (a black/green poison deck) and went back.

Played this one guy for like 7 hours straight I think it was. First against his rainbow sliver deck, which I got a few wins against, then against his blue deck, which was either 50/50 or in my favor. I definitely found some weaknesses in my deck that can use some correcting, but the guy said it has a lot of potential, and that mine was the first poison deck he'd ever lost to.

Playing against my deck also gave him some ideas of how to fine-tune his blue deck, and I'll look for my other deck(s) tomorrow so I have variety on Tuesday when I head to campus. Towards the end I was getting a little fatigued playing the same deck for 7 straight hours. I'll post my current card list and comments on it either in a bit or when I wake up next.

[BYU 14]

Very cool, playing Shadow Era a lot online right now, but miss magic. The one time I tried to get back into it online I realized just how behind the times I was after some bad beats and stopped.

[Izulde]

Very cool, playing Shadow Era a lot online right now, but miss magic. The one time I tried to get back into it online I realized just how behind the times I was after some bad beats and stopped.

Yeah I may see the same thing happen to me this week, but my confidence is up a bit after doing fairly well with my deck last night and seeing opportunities for change. I'll go over that in my next post. :)

[Izulde]

The No Name Poison Deck
10x Swamp
8x Forest
1x Khalni Garden
4x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1x Ichor Rats
1x Hand of the Praetors
1x Plague Stinger
1x Septic Rats
1x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Birds of Paradise
1x Blight Mamba
2x Cystbearer
1x Lotus Cobra
2x Llanowar Elf
1x River Boa
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
1x Ichorclaw Myr
2x Vector Asp
3x Contagion Clasp
1x Throne of Geth
2x Whispersilk Cloak
2x Phyresis
1x Relic Putresence
2x Harrow
1x Nature's Spiral
1x Quest for Renewal
2x Glissa the Traitor
1x Bonehoard

The stars of this deck in last night's marathon session were the Contagion Clasps. Once I got those going, it set my opponent on a clock because I had boku mana sources with the Elves and the Birds. Terramorphic Expanse was great in terms of getting me a land I was short of, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to instead swap them out for something else.

I used Harrow a ton, but I'm wondering if Cultivate is better than Harrow.

I used Phyresis a few times, and once it got me the win because I switched my Vampire Nighthawk from the Lifelink drain to Infect, and he had no fliers to stop me.

Drana was never a factor because she never hit the board, and Thrun, even when he did get in, was pretty useless. Glissa has potential because of her Deathtouch and First Strike, and I got the Phyresis and Whispersilk cloak combo on her once, but then he destroyed the WS Cloak. to negate that advantage.

The biggest weakness I saw from this deck after the extended run is that there's no way to win other than poison, which is great when it works, but it also makes it vulnerable and for a less fun deck to play.

So as I was starting to organize my cards tonight (it's going to take a long time to finish it), I hit upon the idea of using cards from my broken up Elves and Angels G/W deck.

After doing some tinkering and adjusting...

Glissa's Unholy Poison Elf Army (Working Title)
8x Swamp
12x Forest
2x Glissa the Traitor
2x Birds of Paradise
2x Cystbearer
1x Elvish Champion
1x Elvish Promenade
1x Gaea's Herald
1x Glistener Elf
1x Immaculate Magistrate
1x Imperious Prefect
1x Jagged-Scar Archers
1x Lys Alana Huntmaster
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Contagion Clasp
2x Coat of Arms
1x Nature's Spiral
2x Whispersilk Cloak
1x Plague Stinger
1x Hand of the Praetors
4x Phyresis
1x Relic Putresence
4x Unholy Strength
1x Quest for Renewal
1x Spider Umbra
2x Cultivate

As you can see, this deck has now transformed from a pure poison deck to one that will either poison you to death or slam you with buffed up elven hordes. I dropped Throne of Geth for Nature's Spiral, as while I had Throne in there to be an emergency poison counter add for tight games, in practice it doesn't seem to do much, and Nature's Spiral gives me greater versatility as a save for either one of my ways of winning.

One of the first things I did after Thrun and Drana was make the decision to take out all 2 black casting cost spells. The guy said that my deck really relied on green to get it started and that's even truer now, so I shifted to a 12/8 you see here and may even go 13/7 depending on playtesting.

I feel a little more vulnerable now to fliers after dropping 2 Birds, Drana, and the Vampire Nighthawk, which adding the Jagged-Scar Archers and Spider Umbra don't wholly alleviate.

Another couple cards I mulled over were Drove of Elves and Chimeric Mass, but decided not to include them for now.

As of this moment, this is the only complete deck I have, as I deconstructed my red deck (which frankly sucked ass when I looked at it again), and had already deconstructed my Elves & Angels deck before this.

I'd like to build a second deck tonight yet, and maybe I will, but the Poison Elf Army should be a lot of fun. It retains the quick mana and land buildup I loved about the original Poison deck while still maintaining the Poison, adding another win path, and using one of my favorite groups - elves. Also hearkens a bit back to my Goblin weenie deck back in the day that everyone laughed at until it took them down.

Oh, and I just realized as I went to get more cards to sort... I have almost a whole box of Time Spiral packs to open yet from the last time 3 years ago that I got back into Magic

[Izulde]

Had a lot of bureaucratic stuff I had to do today, so was only able to get in two and a half games before class.

Lost both games to a red/green deck, then had a three-way going with a red/green and red/blue where I was holding my own until the evening class folks (including me) had to book. A few things I noticed from those plays:

Unholy Strength is awesome, but I need to be patient with them against red decks, because of Lightning Bolt's ability to knock out 3 toughness guys. Had I been more conservative my first two games with it, I would have lasted longer.

The third game I was more patient and built up a Llanowar Elf to a 6/4 with Infect and hit the R/G for 6 poison damage, and was looking good to just sweep through everyone, but then I got Red Suns' Zenithed by R/U to lose my threat.

As far as the elf horde aspect of it... didn't really get it going, although I was able to get Coat of Arms out in two of the games and had two Llanowar Elves out in the one game (the one where I had the 6/4 Poison Elf going).

I still feel like this deck is good. I just need to play it some more to really get a feel for its success or not. Had a couple misplays in my first two games that come with using a new deck and all that, so we'll see how it goes on Thursday when I should have more time.

[Izulde]

Today was the first time I finally got to get a real run of Glissa's Unholy Poison Elf Army. Tuesday I got in for part of a four way game and I was pretty much controlling the board but I had to go to class.

Fast forward to today where I played a guy's 88 card Commander deck against my 60 card deck and won the first two games handily, then lost the third when he got his power combo out.

He told the other people at the table, "He's got a tough elf infect deck. It's hard to beat." Best part was, after I crushed him the first game with a Llanowar Elf with Unholy Strength, Phyresis, and something else - forget whether it was Spider Umbra or Whispersilk Cloak, he said, "I'm going to have to bring my serious deck with me next week. I underestimated you. You're very unassuming." To which I just smiled and thought to myself, "Yep, that absent-minded professor persona works well."

The second guy I played, I also played three games, and he had a serious blue/red deck. Followed the same pattern - beat him the first two games pretty handily, and the third one he got out some ultra-combo that blocked my massive 2/2 elf army and that I couldn't hear the particulars of because it was awfully noisy in there.

Thoughts on the Deck So Far
I still love the speed of this deck. Llanowar Elves and/or Birds of Paradise really get the mana generation going fast. Unholy Strength continues to be one of my favorite cards - 1 black mana for +2/+1? Absolutely!

Got out the Imperious Prefect a couple games this time, and I love the elf factory it creates, especially when I also got Coat of Arms out and created an army of +5/+5 elves - that was before the guy dropped the power combo I missed hearing all of what it was because of the noise (this was the first guy, by the way).

Quest for Renewal is turning into one of my favorite cards, too. Being able to have untapped creatures every turn is terrific. Contagion Clasp played a lesser role than in the earlier marathon from the first version of the poison deck, but still managed to be a key role in one of the second guy victories.

Elvish Promenade is a great card to keep in reserve until you're ready to drop it as a bomb. I did that one game when I had two Llanowar Elves and my Glistener elf out with Coat of Arms and the guy I was playing was like, "...Fuck." It's honestly one I thought about taking out until that play, so I'm not sure on it.

I feel like Cultivate could maybe be cut down to 1 or maybe even eliminated from the deck completely. I did use it once today, but overall, it doesn't seem to be anything more than a save in case I don't get out a swamp or forest quick enough.

Relic Putresence has yet to play a role in any of my games, so I wonder if I should drop it and/or make it a sideboard card if/when I get back into tournament play.

I will say though, overall, I feel like this is the best deck I've had since my Goblin weenie deck in high school.

But I also have the urge to create more decks, and have been tempted to create a milling deck, because as you might imagine, Jester's Cap is one of my favorite cards :D and it'd be cool to create a deck designed around something different than my usual creature-based victories (whether poison or otherwise).

I do love the uniqueness of my elf infect deck, though. Not a lot of people around this area play poison decks these days, so I've definitely got a signature going, whereas milling decks are much more common.

[Izulde]

So a runthrough my cards says I don't have enough yet to make a good milling deck. A half-assed one maybe, so I'll think about this for a bit and decide if I want to make the second deck that. Most of the cards I have are those I'm not excited to make a deck out of at the moment TBH. I'm weird in that I very much have aesthetics involved. I suppose I could take another crack at an Angel deck, but then I'd want to make it green/white because I love my Birds, even though there's other, less appealing options like Sphere of the Suns and Prismatic Lens, Phrophetic Prism, and Khalni Gem... and originally I wanted to make a Nicol Bolas mill deck, but the costs to get that going with what I had just weren't feasible. Besides which, Jace, Memory Adept is really the way to get a mill deck running, particularly in combination with a creature that has Sword of Body and Mind, which I do have one of.

So I may wait until opening the Time Spiral packs before deciding what/how to build a second deck. At least I have one I'm really happy with so far, even though I'm pondering tweaks - like do I really need two Glissas? She's boltable and hasn't been a major factor in any games so far.

Just to recap:

Up For Potential Elimination
1 Glissa the Traitor
1 or 2 Cultivate
1 Elvish Promenade (though it was great that one game even though I did eventually lose the game)
1 Relic Putresence
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster (2C2G - 3/3 - 1/1 Elf Warrior for every Elf spell cast, so a potential Elf factory since I can get her out by Turn 3, maybe Turn 2 if I have her in opening hand, but overall it seems like she could be dropped)

So we're talking 5, maybe 6 cards that can be swapped out for Overrun, Talara's Battalion, bringing back Contagion Clasp or Birds of Paradise in greater frequency, or even something like Praetor's Counsel. Definitely Overrun though, which I only have 1 of. The +3/+3 and Trample till end of turn would give this deck the knockout punch it currently lacks.

[Izulde]

Spent all day today hunting around town trying to find decent card storage options, and the only place I found them? Walmart. Yeah.

I went to one of the card/gaming shops that's ironically near where I'm teaching this semester. Took 5-10 minutes standing by the counter for anyone to even acknowledge me when I wanted to look at the binder they had and at least pick up some sleeves. Didn't like the binder, so just got the sleeves I liked best, even though I should still have enough for another deck out of my Black Lotus sleeves.

The Magic players there were a pretty cliquey bunch it felt like. They also seemed quite disorganized because there was supposed to be a league tournament today, and the following exchange happened:

*2 guys show up and ask about the tournament.
*Guy who's supposed to organize it: Eh, we don't have that many people yet, and we're waiting on X and Y to show up.
*2 guys: Okay, cool. We'll wait a bit then.
....
....
....
45 minutes pass during which the organizer is still chatting away to his two buddies while they're playing Commander/EDH, and another group of players at the next table are all chatting away to each other as well.

*2 guys: Are those coming? We really wanted to play that tournament today.
*Supposed organizer: Eh, I don't think we have enough people interested, so eh, probably not.
*2 guys: ...Fuck this. *storm out*

20 minutes later, X shows up.

*Supposed organizer: Hey, X.
*X: Hey. You guys finish the tournament already?
*Supposed organizer: Nuh, we're not doing it. 2 guys were here but they got pissed and left.
*X: Cool. I didn't wanna pay $5 anyway.

Shortly after that, I finally gave up and walked out myself, tired of the snobbery and the completely unprofessional nature of the setup there (which seemed to be heavily invested in Warhammer anyway).

So I may go back to the old Magic shop I went to a few years ago. The owner there isn't the greatest person on the planet, but they run a very well-organized, professional store.

Anyway, I've noticed both with the group I play with on campus and this bunch that Commander/EDH is the most popular format. It's one I'm not crazy about at first glance - I prefer the elegant cohesion of the 60 card format (and I'm quite irritated with WotC for eliminating the maximum deck size, although I realize it's designed to sell more cards and/or prevent everyone from running a milling deck). But I'll give it a shot if the campus folks (which is the most diverse group of Magic players I've ever seen by the way in terms of race and gender) prefer it.

I also discovered that my poison elf deck passed out of Standard, which I figured, but is Modern type legal. Problem is, from skimming the Net, it doesn't seem like Modern is a very popular tournament format, which sucks, because everything except the booster packs in the Holiday Box and the 3 pack of boosters I bought at Walmart are Modern only. I tried seeing if I could put together a deck with those 7 booster packs that didn't suck, but it was a no go.

I don't have the money to go crazy buying a ton of Magic cards, nor do I have the storage space, so for now, I'm just going to stick with creating Modern legal decks and playing them casual, and maybe see if I can find Modern tournaments in the city, or if there's sealed deck Standard tournaments around here.

Or I could move to Los Angeles. :D A lot of my closest friends live in the SoCal area so I've been wanting to move there anyway, and LA has a shop that does Modern tournaments every Wednesday I think it is. :D

(Note: I'm joking. The LA smog would probably kill me inside of a week.)

Haven't yet made the tweaks I was thinking of to Glissa's Unholy Poison Elf Army, because I not only have these new cards, but I also found a box with yet more cards in it that I'd forgotten about, and those offer some interesting tweak possibilities as well.

With the new cards and the ones I've found, I might be able to make my mill deck a watery reality (pun intended, both for the blue element of it and for the rather weak nature it's going to be).

There's also a Black/White legendary card I got that I'd love to build a deck around - Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts.

It's funny... From an ethical standpoint, I don't like Black. But from a sheer fun gameplay perspective...

Glissa's Unholy Poison Elf Army - Green/Black
Mill Deck I'm Mulling Over - Blue/Black
Teysa Deck I'm Pondering - White/Black

Overall I'd have to say Black and Green are my favorite colors to play, especially Green. It wasn't always that way, though. When I first started playing back in... 95 I want to say it was? I loved White/Blue, White/Green, and Mono Red. Tried Blue mono, and didn't like it. Tried Red/Blue Land's Edge deck and hated it.

One thing I've noticed though in my most recent return - I'm seeing a lot more variety in color plays than I ever have before, which is awesome, and makes for a lot more fun.

[Izulde]

Second 8 week class started at the community college, and there's still a dedicated daily Magic group there. Monday I didn't have a chance to play before teaching, but yesterday I did with Glissa's Unholy Elf Army, unchanged from its last version.

Played a three way against an obnoxious Mill deck and a red/black powerhouse deck. Was one turn away from winning.

Then I played some 1 v 1 against the Mill deck, and won 3 games to 1. He kept going on on and on about some scry combo he thought was so awesome, but that no one else believed in. His deck had some strength to it, but it was also quite weak in a way - a mono blue deck that had to hope it could mill me fast enough before I could destroy him with the Infect mechanism (as the elf build was too slow to go for wins against that).

Another guy showed up with a red/blue deck that had some insane combo - this guy is *good* (and I talked to him a bit at the bus stop later that night). Played him 1 v 1 once and I got mana screwed with not being able to do anything.

Then we did a couple of 4 ways with me, Mill deck guy, super red/blue, and a guy who was running blue/green that was evidently set to Standard format. The red/blue guy won both games, but I was able to get him down to a one turn victory in one of those games. Blue/Green guy just kept getting hosed.

Basic Thoughts
1. Infect with Contagion Clasps is still awesome.
2. Relic Putrescence has continued to be useless, so it'll drop.
3. I feel like Cystbearers should be dropped. 2/3 with Infect, but they're still Boltable (although they could be Holy Strengthed to 4/4). I don't know... the 3 casting cost seems a bit high.
4. Whispersilk Cloak is terrific, and got me the win a few times.
5. If I drop the 2 Cystbearers and Relic Putrescence, and add 3 Glistener Elves...

8x Swamp
12x Forest
2x Glissa the Traitor
2x Birds of Paradise
1x Elvish Champion
1x Elvish Promenade
1x Gaea's Herald
4x Glistener Elf
1x Immaculate Magistrate
1x Imperious Prefect
1x Jagged-Scar Archers
1x Lys Alana Huntmaster
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Contagion Clasp
2x Coat of Arms
1x Nature's Spiral
2x Whispersilk Cloak
1x Plague Stinger
1x Hand of the Praetors
4x Phyresis
4x Unholy Strength
1x Quest for Renewal
1x Spider Umbra
2x Cultivate

That would make the deck move a lot faster, and also allow me to put things out to start both the Elf and Infect trains sooner (In fact, one of the games I played the Mill deck 1v1, I was hitting him both with life whittling *and* infect creatures, which was fun.

I'm going to start another deck, too, to have some fun and variety. Not sure what I'll do... going to look through what I have this weekend and play around with things.

One thing I thought was nice to hear was that no less than three of the people played said, "You've got a really strong deck there." I was worried about how it would do since expansions have come out since the last time I played.

[Izulde]

Stupid me got suckered into buying Conquering Hordes deck, not realizing it was preconstructed with no randomization. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

What's worse, the deck is the most shit pre-constructed deck I've EVER seen. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

There goes the idea of me playing Standard at Friday Night Magic tomorrow. I wanted to try the booster draft anyway.

I thought I had enough Black Lotus sleeves to create a second deck, but it appears I don't... I'm like 3 or 4 short, which is really weird. But maybe that's accurate, because I have another set of sleeves I bought (that are much less cool incidentally) the last time I played.

It turns out, by some freak of nature, I only have 1 Glistener Elf, despite the fact that it's a Common. I am much disgruntled. I may throw 3 Giant Growths in there instead - not sure. Still some fine-tuning to do with that deck, which I *think* qualifies for Modern?

Anyway, I'm going to put together either the Teysa deck or the Mill one. Need to look through all my cards again and see. Will post again when I have a preliminary deck put together.

[Izulde]

Cards Dropped From Glissa's Unholy Elf Army
2x Cultivate
2x Cystbearer
1x Glissa the Traitor
1x Relic Putrescence
1x Spider Umbra
---------------------
7 total

Cards Added To Glissa's Unholy Elf Army
2x Copperhorn Scout
1x Ezuri's Archers
1x Giant Growth
1x Overrun
2x Tainted Strike

There's really not much point to having two Glissas in this deck, even though it's named after her. Literally, the only artifacts I have are the Contagion Clasps.

The Cystbearers, as I said before, didn't fit the theme of the deck, ad Relic Putrescence was useless. Spider Umbra was one I debated keeping in, but ultimately dropped for now.

Additions - The Copperhorn Scout untaps all your other creatures when it attacks - very useful for when I've used my Birds and Llanowars for mana.

Ezuri's Archers gives me a 1 green 1/2 with Reach that becomes 4/2 when it blocks a flier.

Overrun is perfect for this deck's elf army secondary method of winning, and I addressed the loss of Cystbearer infect in part with the Tainted Strikes - +1/+0 and Infect until end of turn for 1 Black.

Giant Growth may be dropped. We'll see.

And then there's the new deck I created, which I'm still not sure about, but I'll have to play it today and see.

Ajani and Teysa's Wedding
9x Swamps
10x Plains
2x Scoured Barrens
1x Ajani Goldmane (+1 for 2 life, -1 for +1/+1 counters on all your creates, -6 for Avatar with power and toughness equal to your life - 4 loyalty initial)
1x Blood Seeker
1x Child of Night
1x Contagion Clasp
1x Decimator Web
1x Divine Favor
2x Duress
1x Goldenglow Moth
2x Go for the Throat
1x Grindclock
2x Jester's Cap
2x Lone Missionary
1x Luminarch Acension
3x Mardu Hateblade
1x Purge the Profane
1x Pulse Tracker
2x Shriekhorn
2x Stormfront Pegasus
1x Soul's Attendant
1x Soul Warden
1x Spear of Heliod
1x Suture Priest
1x Sword of Body and Mind
1x Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts
1x Typhoid Rats
1x Undercity Informer
1x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Victory's Herald
1x Whispersilk Cloak
2x Whitesun's Passage

The main intended paths to victory are twofold here:

1) Milling/Removing cards from deck effects - Decimator Web, Grindclock, Jester's Cap, Shriekhorn, Sword of Body and Mind, Undercity Informer

2) Ajani's Avatar Owns All - Basically, a buttload of stuff gives me life (some of which also whittles down life of opponent), rock out with the Avatar, and *bam*, especially if Whispersilk Cloak comes along for the ride.

Basically, I had nothing in my cards that lend itself to the traditional blue Mill-focused deck, so I decided to improvise with a black/white melding of my two deck ideas.

How this plays remains to be seen. My initial gut says it's not as strong as Glissa's Unholy Elf Army, but maybe it can be with tweaks. At least this gives me a use for Ajani, who is one of two very sucky Planeswalkers I have.

[Izulde]

Different store, with great employees, but the clientele is again cliqueish. Going to stick around Booster Draft tournament though and come back tomorrow night for Modern tournament.

[Izulde]

Reduced to playing my decks against each other and talking to myself. What a complete fucking waste of time. Shot the whole fucking day on this bullshit.

[Izulde]

Red seems very popular for standard. Seeing a few tri-color decks too.

[Izulde]

Grand total of people who would play with me before Standard tournament started: 0

Number of people interested in Booster Draft tournament: 1 (Me)

Games where I played my decks against themselves: 2 and a little of a third.

Number of Booster Draft games played: 0, since I was the only one interested.

Hours fucking wasted today doing jack shit and sitting around as a result: 9

I had things I could have been doing, but I set this aside for what should have been a day/night of fun. All it did was leave me with renewed hatred for gaming store groups, and once again be disgusted with wasted time.

If it's dependent on a certain number of people showing up, don't fucking advertise it every week like it's a guaranteed thing

Modern tournament tomorrow there. I asked about the start time "It's supposed to start at 2, but can be as late as like 4, 4:30. It just depends on when people show up, and somebody might be like hey my friend's coming in half an hour so then we'll wait".

Needless to say, I'm calling tomorrow at 1 to see if it looks like they're going to hold the damn thing, and if they are, I'll ask them to please wait until I get there.

[BYU 14]

Getting a good store is tough, but I am lucky to have two very close. The one I mainly play at on Sunday will always have 10-14 players for a standard tournament on Sunday and up to 20 for FNM, which of course I have to miss due to Football right now. Everyone at the store is nice to play against and just enjoy the game. Even have a Dad/Daughter combo that come in a lot, which is pretty cool.

The other store is an exclusive gaming store and gets 20-30 for FNM, though I have heard the crowd there is somewhat cliquish too. I will try playing there at some point, but really like the comic store I play at now.

I am currently running a Mardu Mid-Range deck which us fun to play and lethal when it is hitting. Have gone 5-0-1 (1st) and 2-2 (9th) with the final tuned version below. The 2-2 day I had to Mulligan an insane 6 times, despite running 24 lands which is just ridiculous. Bad draw day.

Having just got back into the game after not playing for well over 15 years I am sticking to standard as I don't have the time to put into putting a modern deck together, not to mention the fact that it would be pricey and I have already sunken enough into standard :)

Mardu-Mid range deck
Creatures
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Butcher of the Horde
2 Wingmate Roc

Planeswalkers
2 Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker
1 Sorin Solmn Visitor
1 Chandra Pyromaster

Spells
3 Lightning Strike
3 Stoke the Flames
3 Crackling Doom
3 Hordeling Outburst
3 Banishing Light
2 Despise
1 Murderous Cut

Lands
2 Plains
3 Mountains
2 Swamp
1 Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Windscarred Crag
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Temple of Silence
2 Temple of Malice
2 Caves of Koilos
4 Nomad Outpost
1 Bloodfell Caves
1 Bloodstained Mire

Sideboard
2 Elspeth Suns Champion
2 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Murderous Cut
3 Erase
3 Deflecting Palm
2 Anger of the Gods
2 End Hostilities

The current standard metagame is quite a bit slower since rotation and I feel this deck adapts nicely. I can play a decent tempo game by getting a 1 drop Bloodsoaked Champion down, having a turn 2 lightning strike ready, then ramping to Goblin Rabblemaster and Butcher of the Horde on turns 3 and 4. Both BSC and the Rabblemaster tokens work well with Butcher as food to trigger 1 or more of his abilities, plus the fact that BSC has the raid ability to return from the graveyard if I attack each turn and can pay 1B. I added the Hordeling Outburst this week as having the ability to drop 3 Goblin tokens on turn 3 would allow a turn 4 Butcher to come into play with Haste, Lifelink and Vigilance if I sacrificed all three, a potential game changing swing. Outburst could also power-up Rabblemaster if dropped turn 4 to a potential 7-2 attacker if all 5 Goblin tokens possible were on the board.

A turn 5 Wingmate Roc dropped after attacking to trigger his 3/4 Bird partner will usually seal the deal. Of course, I don't always draw on curve to this so I have control elements in Banishing Light and Crackling Doom (a very underrated card IMO) to keep the board controlled and can also use Lightning Strike and Stoke the Flames to help here or just deliver 3 or 4 to the face of the opponent respectively.

If I am playing a pure agro deck I will board in Anger of the Gods and End Hostilities for the BSC and Elspeth and Deflecting Palm for Rabblemaster and Murderous Cut, with Stormbreath coming in for Despise. This will allow me to wipe the board, deflect damage back from pumped creatures and minimize damage until I can get the heavy hitters in on turns 4 and later, with Elspeth being the final win condition here. (Her +1 ability is also amazing with Butcher as it allows a Lifelink/Vigilance trigger on every turn)

For enchantment hate I board in erase to deal with decks running Suspension Field and/or Banishing Light.

Against Mono-Green or Abzan decks I board in Anger of the Gods (For mana dorks and to deal with Sylvan Carayatid, which is a staple of both decks and Hornet Queen which is huge in Mono-Green) and a second Murderous Cut to deal with the fatties and Siege Rhino. (another staple of Abzan) Deflecting Palm for Lightning Strike or Stoke is also a great addition to bounce back damage from Siege Rhino or a pumped up Hydra or Polukranos.

Sorry kind of thread jacked, but its early and I am awake way too soon :)

[Izulde]

That's awesome. :) I'd love to get into Standard, esp since that seems to be the only format that has actual tournaments that run, but alas... no good cards atm.

[Izulde]

Community college today. Ran into the Blue Mill deck guy again, and we immediately played each other in two games of 1v1 - him with some adjustments to his deck, me with Teysa and Ajani's Wedding.

First game was a thing of beauty - I got out Grindclock, Shriekhorn, and Contagion Clasp, and Sword of Body and Mind, cheerfully started milling him, much to his frustration. He's a rather excitable kid, and he immediately said he wanted all three of Shriekhorn, CC, and SoB&M for his deck (he has Grindclock). I won that one, but not before he got out a card that milled 33 of my own cards. :lol: It was one that milled the opponent for however many cards were in your graveyard. Great for Mill vs. Mill decks.

Funny thing was? I didn't beat him by milling. Instead, I got out Ajani Goldmane, and by the time I fired off his -6 ability while still keeping him at 1 loyalty, I was up to like 31 life, and I got Whispersilk Cloak on the Avatar, so I killed him with the 31/31 unblockable Avatar.

Second game played beautifully as well. I didn't get much mill action going, but I Jester's Capped his reshuffle graveyard into deck cards, and kept gradually pinging away at him with creatures (I think that was the game Mardu Hateblade and Storm Pegasus did most of the damage).

Then the guy with the powerhouse deck showed up, only he forgot to bring one, so I let him borrow Glissa's Unholy Army. This may have been a mistake in retrospect, as I think a few cards got scuffed up during the shuffling even with the sleeves (his motor skills aren't as good as they could be), and one was a foil rare, another a rare. If so, not a huge deal, I guess. I'll just pay whatever it is to replace them if it really bothers me. Maybe on my Christmas list, even haha. For now, I'll consider them as adding character or something, since I don't plan on selling them ever, and while I do my best to take care of my cards, wear and tear will naturally happen, I suppose. Good lesson not to ever loan out my decks to anyone, ever - and it's possible the scuffs were there before, and I just didn't notice it until now. I do know the kid didn't do it intentionally even if it happened today. It was clear even from talking to him last week that he has nothing mean about him, and he would be horrified if it did in fact happen through his shuffling.

Anyway, the 3 way. Blue mill was in a very strong position late in the game, thanks to a combo of Thessa and some card he had that made every land on the board an Island, and said card was also an 8/8 creature with Islandwalk. He also had a copy of that creature, and he was crowing about how he was going to kill us all.

That's until I Go To The Throated his original creature, and the kid playing my Glissa deck had out an Elf (I forget which one), next to Immaculate Magistrate, Coat of Arms, and a fully activated Quest for Renewal. Said elf also had Whispersilk cloak attached, which apparently negated the Islandwalk, and all lands are islands text of the Copy creature? Anyway, the elf had Infect due, thanks to Phyresis, and it was a 11/11 poison elf due to the pumps, and it killed the Copy, then killed the Mill deck on his next turn.

He was down to 2 life, I was at 2 poison counters. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to draw a card that allowed me to kill him, so my own deck beat me. :lol:

Then those two left and a third guy showed up who was new to me. He'd been watching with glee as I crushed the Blue mill deck, and I asked him to play with me. He had a red/black/white tri-color Standard deck, and the two games I played with him were the most enjoyable games I've had in a long time. They were tense, strategy filled games where either one of us could have won, and both of us had to think a lot about how to approach the situation.

Both games, he got out a card that gave his creatures Vigilance, which made it tough. He did beat me both games, but like I said, it was close each time. He admitted without vigilance, he would have lost, and I was one flipping mana from bringing Teysa into the field for two turns, which would have won me the second game. Ironically enough, that next turn, I drew Ajani, and I glared at the card and said, 'You know, if you'd shown up last turn, I could have survived this game." But at that point, it was too late.

He also used the Outlast mechanic, which I guess is new to standard. Also the Morph mechanic, which is new to me, too.

A fourth guy showed up then, and we did a 3 way. He had one of those powerhouse Standard decks that's designed around supercombos like a Planeswalker, a morph, and a Hornet Queen.

With the slower speed of the game, R/Bl/W guy was able to build up his army, and superstandard deck got out his Hornet Queen, and a Morph card. Meanwhile, I'm running my Glissa deck personally for the first time that day, and I'm not having much luck getting anything going after superstandard countered my Lys Alana Huntmaster. Superstandard went after Tri-color guy, and I was able to eke out a loss where I would have won the next turn to superstandard guy, but i had the very real feeling all game long that my deck was woefully underpowered compared to theirs. Not a good feeling.

Tomorrow one of the guys who was a year ahead of me in the MFA program is bringing his deck, and we'll be opening packs that I got this weekend (I got 3 each of the Standard, since he asked me to get 2 of each expansion, and when I asked what ones, he said he didn't know, so I just got the ones in current Standard rotation). We'll also probably play each other.

I have another 80 sleeve set I got, so I'll be making another deck this weekend most likely. I want to get to the point where I can put together a Standard deck, even though from what I saw this weekend, I'd get destroyed in a tournament.

Oh, another cool thing about Tri-color deck guy - He said it was an honor and a privilege to play me (this is also the day a few people found out I'm actually an instructor - a professor in their eyes - which I suppose I technically am.. an adjunct professor anyway), and that he really enjoyed the necessity of thought that went into our 1v1 games.

So damned refreshing to have a group of people actually want to play, and not act like snobbish dicks. Reminds me of how/why I love this game so much, and if I could, I'd sit and play Magic all day.

[BYU 14]

Cool you ran into those guys and rekindled the spark a bit.

Those Green Devotion decks are a pain in the ass and give my deck the most trouble right now. Hornet Queen, Courser of Kruphix, Polukranos and Genesis Hydra or Arbor Colossus are staples of that deck and tough to get by death touch if you don't have Anger of the Gods or Drown in Sorrow side boarded to get rid of the Hornets. If you run a deck with no red or black you need End of Hostilities.

The standard game now pretty much requires you to run 2 or 3 colors to be successful, with green being the best mono color to run because of the threats above. Red and Black are serviceable as mono decks, but far behind green IMO. I tweaked my deck above after Sunday as mono green is the only deck I have not beaten (0-2) since standard rotated. I now run 3 Angers and 2 End Hostilities in the sideboard, as well as the 4 Crackling Doom and 1 Murderous cut in the main to deal with this. Anger also crushes Aggro decks before they can overrun you.

Good luck on the deck building

[Izulde]

Pretty much all my decks through the years, with very few exceptions (the goblin deck back in the day) have been dual color decks. Mono is boring, and I still think tri-color decks are insane.

The cruddy pre-constructed (which I did use a few things out of for T+AW BTW) was black/white. My favorite card in that pre-constructed so far is Spear of Heliod. Mardu Hateblade is a great turn 1 drop, too.

I notice a lot of people running Sarkhan, but his -6 ability doesn't impress me, unless you can give the emblem to other people? His +1/-1 loyalty abilities are terrific, though.

[BYU 14]

Sarkhan ultimate is a double edged sword. By the time you would get to it you are usually top decking (at least with Mardu, Red agro, etc) so it is very useful for getting 3 cards in your hand at that point and you can usually play them all that turn if 1 is a land.

It lets you do more work on your turn, with the likelihood your opponent also is top deck or close to it, so they can't answer you effectively. The downside of course (for my deck) is you can't hold anything to counter your opponent, such as Deflecting Palm, or a Crackling Doom if plays a fattie his next turn. The former of which won a match for me last Sunday because I was able to hold it.

I have yet to use his -6, either because I have won the game prior to that or my opponent has used removal (usually Hero's Downfall or Utter End) on him. Don't know that I ever would use it, unless we were both top decked and I needed to catch up. Still, his +1 as a 4/4 indestructible flyer is great and the -1 is a good situational ability to deal with threats like Stormbreath Dragon, Wingmate Roc, Courser, etc

[Izulde]

Glissas Unholy Elf Army is going away. More on that later.

[Izulde]

Sarkhan ultimate is a double edged sword. By the time you would get to it you are usually top decking (at least with Mardu, Red agro, etc) so it is very useful for getting 3 cards in your hand at that point and you can usually play them all that turn if 1 is a land.

It lets you do more work on your turn, with the likelihood your opponent also is top deck or close to it, so they can't answer you effectively. The downside of course (for my deck) is you can't hold anything to counter your opponent, such as Deflecting Palm, or a Crackling Doom if plays a fattie his next turn. The former of which won a match for me last Sunday because I was able to hold it.

I have yet to use his -6, either because I have won the game prior to that or my opponent has used removal (usually Hero's Downfall or Utter End) on him. Don't know that I ever would use it, unless we were both top decked and I needed to catch up. Still, his +1 as a 4/4 indestructible flyer is great and the -1 is a good situational ability to deal with threats like Stormbreath Dragon, Wingmate Roc, Courser, etc

I got to open a few of the current Standard rotation packs today, and I'm very quickly seeing where multi-color is a huge thing right now. The guy I bought some packs for pulled a tri-color land in one of his packs. I still have a few more packs to open myself, but I got a couple interesting cards that I'll go into more detail on later.

[Izulde]

So the guy a year above me in the program brought his powerhouse, rares-filled deck and some other decks today. My growing suspicion that Glissa's Unholy Elf Army is too slow in the elf building mechanic was confirmed, despite the fact that I have the slow build built in, in case the infect mechanism doesn't start early enough.

So I'm going to deconstruct the deck this weekend, and build a much faster black/red Infect deck that deals in Infect and burn.

As for as Ajani and Teysa's Wedding, he beat me a fair number of games because his deck was highly tuned from the Guild days, and built to be a powerhouse Standard from that block, whereas mine is just cards I happened to have round. I still scored a few wins off that deck, a tri-color deck he built back in the day, and destroyed a blue/green deck he threw together some time ago.

I discovered the beauty of Undercity Informer with Sword of Body and Mind having free reign against his blue/green deck. Sword of Body and Mind mills 10 each time it does damage to him as a player *and* the 2/2 green wolf token created is a creature that I can then sacrifice to force him to mill to a land every turn.

It makes me want to explore this mechanic further potentially (I ended up killing him via life points because he had an 80 card deck, and I slapped Divine Favor on it).

A&T's W can use some more tweaks obviously, but I'm definitely feeling now that it's the far stronger of the two decks, which pleases me.

So we'll see what the weekend brings (or maybe sooner, depending on how awake I am when I get home tonight and tomorrow).

[BYU 14]

I got to open a few of the current Standard rotation packs today, and I'm very quickly seeing where multi-color is a huge thing right now. The guy I bought some packs for pulled a tri-color land in one of his packs. I still have a few more packs to open myself, but I got a couple interesting cards that I'll go into more detail on later.

Tri-colored lands are still cheap too, if you are going to build a standard deck using three colors you can just pick then up as singles for about a buck each still. They were 49 cents when I bought mine. Only disadvantage is that they are tap lands, but most games now don't see anything hit the board until turn 2 or 3, so not a huge deal.

[Izulde]

Tri-colored lands are still cheap too, if you are going to build a standard deck using three colors you can just pick then up as singles for about a buck each still. They were 49 cents when I bought mine. Only disadvantage is that they are tap lands, but most games now don't see anything hit the board until turn 2 or 3, so not a huge deal.

Yeah with all the tri-colors running around, even with the mechanics built into it the in-rotation cards to make tri-color viable, it's still an overall slower play, you're right - though people still go hunting for that unbeatable insta-kill infinity combo, which irritates me.

[Izulde]

So, some social commentary regarding today's games: The guy and I played in the reception area of the adjunct building, which led several people to comment on our playing Magic, many expressing curiosity about the game, and interest in what we were doing (Magic has that effect on people I've noticed).

Things got interesting when one of my students came in to office hours for help with a paper:

"You guys are playing Magic? I've played a few times." So we paused the game of course, so I could help with his paper, and he hung around to do rewrites on his draft and watch us play while he made adjustments.

Then another student came in for help with their paper, and said, "Oh, you guys are playing Magic? That's pretty awesome." He didn't play himself, though. So again paused game, helped student with paper.

And we also occasionally paused a game so my opponent could go out for a smoke with his girlfriend, a senior undergrad who he's living with, and who hangs out with him in the building sometimes between classes.

Also during this time, there was another adjunct who was holding mid-term conferences with their students. This cute girl (one of the students) saw we were playing and that we were discussing tournaments, and she asked if there was a tournament on campus. We said no but that it was a good idea. Naturally this led me to ask if she played. She did a couple years ago, but then someone stole her cards. She used to play a white Angel deck with defending walls to stave off attackers until her angels got out (note: Of the 4 women that I've personally known to play Magic, 2 of them have played white angel decks.)

So I walked over to the couch, sat next to her, and flipped my binder open to show her my various Serra Angel art forms. We chatted a bit more - she'd been in a tournament once, just for fun, and she played this guy who snidely said, "I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a girl" and she was like "O-kaaaay..." He was naturally one of those dudes with a powerdeck and squashed her and then he was like "Sorry about that." And she was all like, "I didn't expect to win. I'm just here to have fun." She was also the only girl at the tournament too, which I'm sure didn't help matters.

Anyway, then it was her turn to go in for conference, so I went back to check on my student (Opponent was still out on smoke break at that point). Then when cute girl came out, she was heading out the door (it was Opponent's turn in the game we were playing then), and I called out, "Hey, I didn't get your name."

"Liliana*," she replied. "Nice to meet you," I said. She paused, and then glanced at me, which made me realize, oh crap I'm supposed to give my name! "Izulde", I answered, and we shook hands, and she headed out, mentioning that she might buy cards again, as I'd said that the campus tournament was a good idea. When I related this to one of my female friends later, she said, "You didn't get contact info?" And I was like, "...No... forgot".

* - Not her real name. I'm substituting it with a reference to the planeswalker of that name.

Oh well! :D

This exchange, small talk though it was, gave me the werewithal to say hello to people, and another girl remarked that she liked my hat. Inconsequential exchanges of course, but I've noticed that when I'm playing Magic, people will talk to me much more often, and I'm more likely to talk to people. There must be something that changes in my face and the way I present myself when I'm playing, because outside of that, I'm usually either ignored, or regarded with wary suspicion.

Weird times, man. Weird times.

[Izulde]

Infect isn't here. Infect went away.

As I was in the middle of creating what I intended to be a black/red infect deck, I very quickly realized what I was creating was something that had nothing to with infect, so I ended up with something completely different.

Drana's Burning Vampire Kisses
11 Swamps
10 Mountains
2x Blood Seeker
1x Bonehoard
1x Chandra's Spitfire
3x Child of Night
1x Claws of Valakut
1x Crowd of Cinders
1x Deathbellow Raider
4x Doom Blade
1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1x Feast of Blood
1x Fireball
2x Flame Slash
1x Forked Bolt
1x Generator Servant
2x Guul Draz Vampire
2x Kiln Fiend
2x Lightning Bolt
2x Lightning Strike
1x Pulse Tracker
1x Punishing Fire
2x Red Sun's Zenith
1x Shadow Alley Denizen
1x Tuktuk the Explorer
3x Unholy Strength
1x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Volcanic Strength

Burn, control, and lots of vampires. I'm hoping this will be a fun deck to play, and one that can either go fast, or slow. If not, I'll just make up another deck. I did have to raid 4 cards from A&TW to make this deck, so...

Changes to Ajani and Teysa's Wedding As A Result
+2 Stormfront Pegasus
+1 Whitesun's Passage
+1 Exsanguiate

More life stuff and more flying (took out a Blood Seeker, Guul Draz Vampire, and 2x Child of Night for this).

[BYU 14]

You using this for modern, or just casual?

[Izulde]

Casual. Modern is too hard to find.

[Izulde]

Walked into the commons today, said hello to Blue Mill kid and another guy he was playing. Blue Mill kid left to go get something and other kid asked me "Is he always this arrogant and boisterous? I mean, he's even more arrogant than me, and that's saying something." "Yep," I said.

So we played 3 games of 3 way. First game was me trying out Vampire Kisses, and Other Kid destroyed us both with a black/white Lifelink and control deck he first built when he was 10, and has been adjusting and editing for the past 9 years, so it's a powerhouse and a half, to say the least. His life was up to 80something by end, and his record was something like 11 million life in a previous version of the deck.

Blue Mill started saying I should use my black/white, which I planned to anyway. Black/White Lifelink said "If you two are going to use your mills on me, I'm bringing out my EDH deck." So I said, "How about this? I'm open to attacking either of you, though I'll only mill Blue Mill." "Okay."

What I did instead was focus my attacks on Lifelink and mill Blue Mill. :D Second game was a very long, protracted battle, the longest 60 card 3 way any of us had been in for a very long time. Blue Mill could have killed Lifelink for multiple turns, but opted not to, because he said he wanted to make the game interesting. This turned out to be a very stupid mistake on his part. Lifelink built up to 31 life after having been whittled down extensively. Only problem? I had been building up my own life with the two Soul creatures and with Ajani Goldmane, and even though Lifelink had Sanguine Bond out, and had us both down a fair ways, I was holding steady at 26 life, with Ajani out at 6 loyalty.

"I will -6 loyalty Ajani, essentially sacing him to create a 26/26 creature. ...Then I'll tap 3 to put Whispersilk Cloak on him, making him unblockable with Shroud... and then I'll cast White Sun's Passing, to put myself at 31 level, making the Avatar 31/31... and... bye-bye."

That defeat of him was so beautiful. And then Blue Mill's trying to figure out a way to beat me, and Lifelink and I are both like "You realize you're dead next turn, right?"

"What? Why?!"

"Unblockable 31/31 avatar that can't be targeted."

"...DAMN IT!"

:D

Next game, Blue Mill got really pissy because I milled two of his reshuffles, and he kind of threw a crying hissy fit about it. So then he kept trying to divert attention between me and Lifelink, which of course led Lifelink to win handily again. Most irritating moment of the game: When Bluemill is like "My deck went off with that High Tide!" and Lifelink and I just looked at each other, not saying a word. So Blue Mill had managed to mill us for some cards each. Not a big deal.

Then Superdeck Standard guy came along and we played four way. I brought out my test deck, which, incidentally, means I have yet to play Superdeck standard guy with Ajani and Teysa's Wedding.

Vampire Kisses did all right, considering it's a test deck, and a severely underpowered one at that I was able to *almost* kill Lifelink but there was a confusion on the life total that left him with 1 life, but Superdeck Standard stomped us all. Blue Mill had mana screw, and unfortunately, nobody takes him seriously anyway, either as a person, or as a player.

Interestingly, both Lifelink and Superdeck Standard are convinced Blue Mill should devote his deck entirely to Mill, and just forget the 10 or so creatures he has in his deck. Which is a good point, come to think of it - I've yet to see him actually win a game by completely milling someone. Knowing him, though, he won't listen.

As I left to teach class, I asked Lifelink what he thought of Ajani and Teysa's Wedding. "Too slow. Stick with the other deck and build that."

While I see his point, I also happen to like Ajani and Teysa's Wedding to play with a lot more. Drana's Burning Vampire Kisses felt quite dull honestly.

And yes, I know I need to remark on the cards I got in the packs, but before I do that, I'm going to go deconstruct Burning Kisses for a different deck idea.

Oh, side note - I love Crowd of Cinders, and eventually want to build a deck where that becomes a potential knockout punch.

[Izulde]

New deck!

Thrun's Redemption
8x Mountains
11x Forests
1x Copperline Gorge
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Bellowing Tangleworm
4x Birds of Paradise
1x Bonehoard
1x Chandra's Spitfire
2x Copperhorn Scout
1x Drove of Elves
1x Ezuri's Archers
1x Fireball
2x Flame Slash
1x Forked Bolt
1x Generator Servant
1x Gaea's Herald
1x Khalni Gem
2x Kiln Fiend
2x Lightning Bolt
2x Lightning Strike
4x Lllanowar Elves
1x Nature's Spiral
1x Overrun
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Punishing Fire
1x Quest for Renewal
2x Red Sun's Zenith
1x Summit Apes
1x Thrun the Last Troll
1x Tuktuk the Explorer
1x Volcanic Strength

I swear the box of Time Spiral is looking at me, coughing and going, "Aren't you going to open me? I might, you know, have useful stuff?" Maybe, but I hate the suspend mechanic which seems to be the priority of Time Spiral. Oh well, probably why it was so cheap, and the old roommate and the other dude never did pay me their share, so the box became mine completely.

But back to this deck. I know I said Thrun did nothing in Glissa's Unholy Elf Army, but I have a soft spot for him. He was the first mythic rare I pulled when I got back into Magic the first time a few years ago. I'm also not sure about Tuktuk and Khalni's Gem. Feels like I should put another Summit Apes in here (I have another one) since I'm running red/green.

Maybe should bump up the forests more since it's green heavy, but yeah, basically the way this deck started, I took a bunch of stuff from the previous two decks and blended them together, with mana dorking and burn as baseline things.

Then I looked through my binders for rares/uncommons I wanted to run, and thus arrives Thrun, Avenger of Zendikar, Praetor's Counsel, and Bellowing Tangleworm, and Drove of Elves - very pleased to see I have the green version of Crowd of Cinders in DoE.

Not sure yet about the Copperhorn Scouts, but I'll play them to see how they do as attacking untaps of Birds and Elves. Also not certain about Gaea's Herald negating the countering of creatures, though I feel like it should be in there to frustrate blue decks. Perhaps a sideboard item.

Maybe *this* will be the deck that can finally compete with the powerhouses.

[Izulde]

So... I played against a preconstructed Standard deck today.

Thrun's Redemption won 1 and lost 1. Ajani and Teysa's Wedding won 1.

That's not a good thing when your deck is barely holding even against a precon, even an excellent one as this one was in many respects (Sultai Schemers). Makes me angrier still that I got conned by the pre-con that suggested it was random, especially since these intro decks are cheaper, I think.

So I have the flier with the 5 Khans of Tarkir intro decks in my possession now. I may get one tonight and build off of that. I still do have 3 standard boosters to open as well.

It will get its tail kicked, but I'm going to put a deck together for standard play and do Friday Night Magic with the Standard Tournament tomorrow, I think.

[BYU 14]

The one nice part is that all the clans have a variety of decks that can be successful, but a few core cards are common (and key) to all variants.

With the Mardu deck I play you will see some decks with Wingmate Roc (my choice) and some with Stormbreath Dragon instead, or even extra planeswalkers. But for creatures you can count on 4 X Goblin Rabblemasters and 3X or 4X Butcher of the Horde as the lynchpins, with Seeker of the way making a strong push for a standard component as well.

Spells in Mardu will pretty much always include 4X Crackling Doom and 3 or 4X Lightning Strike and 3 or 4X Hordeling Outburst. After that is a variety that includes Chained to the Rocks, Hero's downfall, Thoughtseize, Despise, Mardu Charm or a couple of others.

You can count on 4X Siege Rhino and Abzan Charm in Abzan decks, 4X Mantis Riders and usually 4X Rabblemasters in Jeskai decks, etc.

My advice would be to pick a clan, identify the 2 or 3 core cards that are common to most all of the deck types and build from there to suit your preferred style of play. Jeskai is very versatile here in that it can go tempo, control, or combo.

[Izulde]

Thanks, BYU 14. :) I found four of the five clan intro decks in Target (Temur may have been there too, but I didn't notice it), so I googled the core cards for the Abzan and Jeskai decks (I hate Mardu from that useless pre-con with a die I bought last week, and my other opponent ran the second deck, so I knocked those two out immediately)

Abzan was the best match for the type of game I like to play and it wasn't even close.

Abzan Siege Pre-Con
Creatures (23)
2x Disowned Ancestor
3x Ainok Bond-Kin
1x Sungrace Pegasus
2x Child of Night
2x Abzan Falconer
2x Tuskguard Champion
1x Abzan Battle Priest
1x High Sentinels of Arashin
1x Razorfoot Griffin
2x Saltroad Patrol
1x Mer-Ek Nightblade
2x Longshot Squad
1x Armament Corps
1x Ivorytusk Fortress (Foil)
1x Carnivorous Moss-beast

Other Spells (11)
1x Suspension Field
1x Eternal Thirst
2x Abzan Banner
2x Kill Shot
1x Abzan Charm
1x Dragonscale Boon
1x Hunt for the Weak
1x Flesh to Dust
1x Incremental Growth

Lands (26)
1x Blossoming Sands
1x Jungle Hollow
2x Sandsteppe Citadel
1x Scoured Barrens
8 Plains
7 Swamps
6 Forests

I very quickly determined that what I wanted to do was merely splash Black, so out went the Swamps.

From there, other adjustments followed, based on various packs I opened and a vision I developed for the deck. To that end we have...

The Deck That Needs A Name
Creatures (24)
3x Abzan Falconer
1x Abzan Battle Priest
3x Ainok Bond-Kin
1x Ajani's Pridemate
1x Armament Corps
2x High Sentinels of Arashin
1x Ivorytusk Fortress (Foil)
1x Mer-Ek Nightblade
1x Opaline Unicorn
1x Pharixa's Mender
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Servant of Tymaret
1x Scourge of Skola Vale
1x Sungrace Pegasus
1x Supply-Line Cranes
1x Sylvan Caryatid
2x Tuskguard Champion
1x Vanguard of Brimax

Other Spells (15)
1x Abzan Banner
1x Abzan Charm
1x Ajani's Presence
1x Dragonscale Boon
1x Eternal Thirst
1x Feed the Clan
1x Incremental Growth
2x Kill Shot
1x Pillar of Light
1x Ray of Dissolution
1x Reviving Melody
1x Solemn Offering
1x Suspension Field
1x Viper's Kiss

Lands (21)
1x Blossoming Sands
1x Jungle Hollow
2x Sandsteppe Citadel
1x Temple of Silence
8 Plains
8 Forests

Bold = changes to the original pre-constructed deck.

So yeah... it'll get its tail kicked tomorrow in the tournament, but that's okay. I'm keeping the original premise of the deck, which is +1/+1 counters, and abilities kicking in for that - hence adding some more counter-adding stuff.

Also added stuff to get more life, and things to control against super-creatures I come up against, along with enchantments and artifacts. Tossed in a couple graveyard retrieval items as well.

Is it a tournament-winning deck yet? Of course not. But I feel like this new version is much more streamlined, and much more capable of dealing with different types of threats. That's a big weakness I noticed about A&TW - very little threat control.

Thrun's Redemption got another play today, by the way. Student came in with a blue/white deck from back in the day that did some nice counter things and had an 8/8 flier out at one point, until I was able to Red Sun's Zenith it. :D

So I'll probably stick with tweaking those three decks for now. Still nothing with blue, which is a shame, because I like water, and islands, but blue is always the color I do worst with.

[BYU 14]

Abzan is a solid deck and is probably the most popular right now, though there are several different takes in it, so it is still offers a lot of diversity. My deck is geared more to beat this than any of the other clans because so many people play variants of it.

So since you are going for a life gain theme I would definitely look to collect 4 Siege Rhinos, 3 more Abzan Charms and 3 more Caryatid as the next additions.

If you are going to run more Ajani Pridemates for that token pump from life gain I would definitely add some protection for him (God's willing is good here and I have some extras I will mail to you if you want, FB your address to me if interested)

For removal suspension field is cheap, a 2 drop and handles creatures of toughness 3 or greater which are big in this meta. Doesn't take care of Stormbreath Dragon though, so that is a bad matchup for you. You can also pick up Despise as a short term solution as it deals with creatures and planeswalkers before they hit the board and both these cards will be plentiful at your local store for a quarter each.

As you build the deck you can look towards getting Hero's Downfall and Utter end as more versatile, but pricey removal.

[Izulde]

I actually do have a Gods Willing, but since it's only for one turn, and it can't be used to counter a counter, I didn't include it.

I did, however, go through Ajani and Teysa's Wedding, and pulled the last Abzan Banner from tournament deck to put in Spear of Heliod instead.

[BYU 14]

Spear will be good short term, but just expect your Ajani to be targeted by removal, which this meta plays a lot of once he starts to gain tokens.

[Izulde]

I also took out a Kill Shot and replaced it with Roar of Challenge.

[Izulde]

Spear will be good short term, but just expect your Ajani to be targeted by removal, which this meta plays a lot of once he starts to gain tokens.

Yeah that's why I have graveyard retrievals built in, in part.

[Izulde]

As I was eating lunch, I realized my long-term strategy means I'm going to have to favor 2 or 3 mechanics at most, and what do I want? Trample? First Strike? Flying? Lifelink? Deathtouch?

I'll probably have to play more to find out, but for now, I'll re-drop Roar of Challenge, since it needs Deathtouch to be effective and I have one Deathtouch granting thing in the deck, and Ajani's Presence, since it only adds +1/+1 and not counters. Instead, I'll add in Divine Favor (while not a counter add, the +1/+3 is a much bigger buff, and I gain 3 life), and Tormented Hero (Heroic ability is Opponent loses 1 life, I gain 1).

[Izulde]

Played Mill kid today. He's made some adjustments to his deck and added more defensive fliers. First game I played him with my Standard deck, and he said, "What's the point of this deck? I'm not really seeing it." Then the abilities started kicking in on my all +1/+1 counter guys and he saw the point of it. :D Beat him a second time, but overall, I started to really hate how slow this deck is, so I may try reconstructing it as aggro. BYU 14, any ideas on how to do that?

The rest of the time I played Thrun's Redemption, and mopped the floor with him every.single.game. Kept destroying his defensive fliers with burn, and I kept getting out mana dorking fun with Birds and Elves. I even beat him when I was getting incredible green mana screw, until I was finally able to pull a forest and start dropping stuff.

I've discovered Khalni's Gem has a definitive use in this deck. When I drop Avatar of Zendikon, as I did twice this game, by following it up with Khalni's Gem, I'm able to guarantee landfall for my plant creatures. In fact, one game I killed him with a Plant token. :D

There was one contest where he got out a great opening hand, and eventually was able to mill me down to 15 cards left. That kind of wasn't a problem because I had Avatar and Khalni's Gem out, plus some other stuff, and he only had one blocker.

The first game with Redemption, I managed to kill him with a Volcanic Strength Bird. One game I beat him despite having no mountains out - just Birds for red mana.

So I'm starting to rediscover faith in this deck - its ability to control and burn, while quietly building up. One game, he thought he had me on the ropes and in position to bounce back... only for me to crush him with Overrun. :D

[BYU 14]

Sticking with the Abzan theme, this is much more agro if that's what you want. Curves out at Siege Rhino, ramps mana with Mystic and Caryatid to monstrous Fleecemane and get Rhino out on turn 3. While you build to this, plenty of 1 drops to get threats down quick.

2 Elvish Mystic
3 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
3 Fleecemane Lion
3 Mardu Hateblade
3 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Siege Rhino

Spells
3 Raise the Alarm
2 Bow of Nylea
3 Abzan Charm
3 Abzan Ascendancy

Land
4 Caves of Koilos
3 Forest
4 Llanowar Wastes
3 Plains
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Windswept Heath (or Temple of Plenty since Fetches are pricey)

Sideboard
4 Despise
3 Nyx-Fleece Ram (A good counter to keep Red agro at bay while you build)
2 Bow of Nylea
3 Gods Willing
2 Arethos God of Passage
1 Whip of Erebos

[BYU 14]

Other good Abzan mainboard options for agro

Heir of the Wilds
Rakshasa Death Dealer
Anafenza the Foremost

[Izulde]

Thanks. Good to know. I remembered today why I played a lot of green back in the day and still do now... I *love* mana dorking.

[Izulde]

I got a Khans of Tarkir and a Magic 2015 booster yesterday with a Target gift card I had lying around. Rares were End Hostilities and Soul of Ravnica (which of course are both not that expensive, and Ravnica is very disappointing value-wise for a mythic rare).

Based on the cards I got, and some adjustments I did at home, I played with the following Standard deck yesterday (no change to Thrun's Redemption)

Oh, some other things to note. Based on BYU 14's advance, I did shuffling of stuff from first edition of this deck, putting in more multi-lands and dropping things like the Mender, the high cost removals, etc, to replace them. That included dropping to 7 Plains, 7 Forests, so keep that in mind. I'll further heighten it by bolding the changes from the interim deck.

New Deck
6x Plains
7x Forests
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
2x Temple of Silence
2x Blossoming Sands
2x Jungle Hollow

1x Eternal Thirst
1x Suspension Field
1x Spear of Heliod
1x Triplicate Spirits
1x Solemn Offering
1x Naturalize
4x Abzan Charm
1x Feed the Clan
1x End Hostilities
1x Viper's Kiss
1x Titanic Growth
1x Incremental Growth
1x Reviving Melody

2x High Sentinels of Arashin
1x Ajani's Pridemate
3x Ainok Bond-kin
1x Paragon of New Dawns
1x Servant of Tymaret
1x Scourge of Skola Vale
1x Sylvan Carytid
3x Mardu Hateblade
1x Ivorytusk Fortress
1x Sungrace Pegasus
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Tuskguard Captain
1x Tormented Hero
1x Heir of the Wilds
1x Armament Corps
1x Seraph of the Masses

Essentially what I tried to do is reduce the mana curve, so I took out a lot of 4 casting cost creatures and replaced them with stuff like the Hateblades.

Booster Pack Adds
Seraph of the Masses
Paragon of the New Dawns
End Hostilities
Naturalize
Triplicate Spirits
Blossoming Sands

So I played against Mill Guy again. He did beat me a few times, but once I was mana screwed, and another time he managed to pull off the Thassa unblockable combo.

Interesting side note: the guy who I let borrow my deck that one time... he told Mill Guy "I could beat Professor with your deck. You're not playing it right." Mill Guy was like Okay! I destroyed him. :D After which, Borrower shouted at Mill Guy, "Your deck is terrible. It's the worst one I've ever seen in my entire life!" Mill Guy just shrugged.

But after next game (he ironically won that time), he had me look through his deck. I told him to get rid of Distant Memories and Lens of Clarity for, I forget what other two cards, but they were ones that pushed his deck more firmly to mill, which is what it needs to do.

Then when he started losing again, he kept whining about how he wanted Lens of Clarity in there and it's awesome and this and that, even though I was like Lens of Clarity serves no function in your deck other than looking at your next card at any time.

I noticed he kept looking anyway after a couple games, and there reached a point in one contest where he had some Tome thing out that milled me for 2 during every one of my turns. I had Praetor's Counsel in my hand that I think I picked up one turn, but I couldn't remember if I'd remembered to mill that turn or not. I *think* by the card count I forgot to, but at that point I was so tired of his whining and the couple of times that I caught him peeking, and I had 8 mana available, that I said to myself screw it, I finally have a chance to cast this and I want to see what it's like. And oh it was so damned glorious. Like sex with your favorite celebrity ever glorious, to return all graveyard cards to my hand and have a giant, no limit hand. Needless to say I won. :D

Besides, one of the times he won, I think he was using a wall that couldn't block fliers to block my fliers. My own fault for not catching that until the last game, but it still cost me a victory.

Anyway, as to how this new deck performed. Triplicate Spirits and Seraph of Masses both have the Convoke mechanic, which allows you to tap creatures for mana to help with the casting cost - either colorless or one of the tapped creature's mana colors. It is my new favorite mechanic, because I can treat creatures as mana sources. :D Paragon of New Dawns was somewhat useful, but would obviously be more so if I had more white creatures in the deck. Scourge of Skola Vale, Sylvan Carytid, and Reclamation Sage are staying in, but the rest might go, even Servant of Tymaret and Tormented Hero, as their drains are too slow.

I did play End Hostilities once, when he got out a creature that allowed him to put a 2/2 flying Drake into play every time he cast an instant or sorcery, but overall, I don't think it's useful enough to keep long-term.

So glad they reprinted Naturalize. That obviously went in.

Ajani's Pridemate with Eternal Thirst is a fun combo. Oh look, I have Lifelink. Oh look, I gained life. Bam +1/+1 counter. Oh, one of your creatures died? *Bam* another +1/+1 counter. Keeps getting more and more powerful every turn. :D

I may drop 1 or 2 of the Bond-kins. 3 seems overkill, and while first strike is very useful, that's too many cards to one ability IMO. Note that I got rid of the deathtouch, lifelink, and flying mechanics. I have enough fliers to where I don't need the flying, and my thinking was with the Hateblades and Heir to the Wilds, I didn't need deathtouch. I might swap the Abzan Priest back in for one of the Bond-kins to restore lifelink.

[Izulde]

A couple of other notes from yesterday's games (My program partner lost interest in playing, unfortunately):

1. In one of the 2 or 3 games I played with Thrun's Redemption, I didn't have much out for creatures, and Mill Guy was absolutely convinced he was going to destroy me. I burned him for 20 life in 2 turns - that was the Praetor's Counsel game. He got mad at that one. :D

2. During our last game, a guy showed up who apparently has a Blue/Black infect deck. The exchange went something like this:

Mill Guy: Hey, you have another Elixir of Immortality? (Izulde Note: Mill Guy pulled it 3 times during one game because of reshuffle/recall type cards. All it did was delay the inevitable of my beating him that game). If I get one, I think I can beat your deck.

BBI Guy: ...How is that going to help you? I have infect.

Mill Guy: *rambles about other stuff*

BBI Guy to me: You know what his problem is? He has no counters to creatures, so they can just build up and destroy him before he mills.

Mill Guy: I have defender walls and some with flying.

BBI Guy: So? That's not good enough, especially against an infect deck.

Me: I have an infect deck, too.

BBI Guy: Really? What colors you run?

Me: Black/green, but I broke it apart. I'd still like to play infect vs infect if I reconstruct it. What do you run?

BBI Guy: Blue/black.

Me: ...Interesting.

Mill Guy: Oh, that'd be awesome!

Other miscellaneous notes:

Seraph of the Masses hit the board quite a few times thanks to its Convoke. It was a major damage dealer because its power/toughness is equal to # of creatures in play.

Sentinels of Arashin really got to shine these games, with Abzan Charm and Armament Corps dropping off +1/+1 counters everywhere on creatures. At one point in a game, I had a 9/9 Seraph and two 8/9 Sentinels, plus some other stuff obviously.

Incremental Growth is so fun, (+1/+1 counter, two +1/+1 counters, three +1/+1 counters to three different creatures. You can see where this plays nicely with the Sentinels, Ivorytusk, and the ability grants.

Speaking of, I'm currently considering having one each of Lifelink, Trample, and First Strike granters in the deck (Abzan Priest, Tuskguard Captain, and Ainok Bond-Kin). While each ability is useful, none of them are so imperative that they need multiples. So that would leave me another slot open for that third dropped Bond-Kin.

Viper's Kiss I may move to Sideboard - it hasn't done much of anything in the games I've played thus far.

Titanic Growth is just meh unless trample kicks in, so I may pull it. It's not strong enough to be a game-ender, and there's no recall ability for it.

So that would be 3 cards dropped. Tormented Hero coming into play tapped really limits its aggro effectiveness, and the drain is slow, so if I kicked that out, I'd be at 4 open slots. 5 if I drop Servant of Tymaret. If Paragon of New Dawns goes, then I'd have 6 slots available. Oh, obviously End Hostilities goes, too. 7.

Which would give me quite a bit of play to work with.

[Izulde]

So after opening all my Time Spiral packs, I got some new ideas for decks, including reshuffle of a current one. So I present to you...

Dropped Cards
2x Mountains
1x Bonehoard
1x Chandra's Spitfire
2x Copperhorn Scout
1x Forked Bolt
1x Generator Servant
1x Gaea's Herald
1x Khalni Gem
2x Kiln Fiend
1x Punishing Fire
1x Tuktuk the Explorer

Thrun's Rainbow Redemption
6x Mountains
11x Forests
1x Copperline Gorge
2x Fungal Reaches
1x Ancient Grudge
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Bellowing Tangleworm
4x Birds of Paradise
1x Drove of Elves
1x Ezuri's Archers
1x Disintegrate
1x Fireball
2x Flame Slash
1x Foresee
3x Gemhide Sliver
1x Hivestone
2x Lightning Bolt
2x Lightning Strike
4x Lllanowar Elves
1x Mirari
1x Nature's Spiral
2x Naturalize
1x Nicol Bolas, the Elder Dragon Legend version
1x Overrun
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Quest for Ancient Secrets
1x Quest for Renewal
2x Red Sun's Zenith
1x Summit Apes
1x Thrun the Last Troll
1x Wurmcalling

This deck's main purpose in life is now to either burn you or destroy you with some big creatures. Or destroy you with burn caused by creatures.

Gemhide Slivers makes all slivers into non-flying 1/1 Birds essentially, and Hivestone makes all creatures slivers in addition to their other creature types, thereby making *every creature* able to be tapped for any color mana.

Not only can this mana be used for burn (Red Sun's Zenith, Fireball, Disintegrate), but also to summon giant ass creature (Wurmcalling - XG, where the power/toughness of Wurm is equal to X).

We also have the fun of Mirari, which allows me to spend 3 colorless mana to copy any Sorcery or Instant I cast this turn, including copying all the mana spent on that spell. For example, say I tap 8 mana for a 7 damage Fireball. If I tap 3 more, I can do another 7 damage fireball and change targets if I want. It's limited to once per turn, but still very nice.

What's that, Izulde? You're splashing blue with Foresee, and Quest for Ancient Secrets? Yep. And you're putting Nicol Bolas in, even though you only have red of this three colors as your base?

Yep. Seems a damn shame to waste what is essentially a rainbow deck by not *finally* putting in my Elder Dragon Legend I've been hanging on to for a while.

Deck Storyline
Thrun has finally decided to break his silence and speak of the Phyrexian dangers of Mirrodin. More to the point, he has surmised that if he can master the five magics, he can summon the mighty Nicol Bolas and protect the plane from the menace that assails them all.

To that end, from deep in his forest home, he calls upon his innate understanding of nature to summon the birds who have the might of all magic within them, and re-establishes contact with the elves, so that they might relent of their fury over Glissa's alleged treachery (actually false from what I've read of canon), and work together to save Mirrodin. He also is stunned to find strange new beasts who also have the light of the five magics glowing in their gem-encrusted hides. He studies these creatures, and finds their source in a massive stone hive, from which he ascertains how to draw the essence of all magic from all his followers. Around the same time, Thrun masters the art of teaching his allies to stay ever vigilant.

The great troll shaman then leaves the forest, journeying to the mountains to learn the ways of fire and lightning's righteous destruction. There, too, he meets great apes who live on the border of the forest, and enlists their aid.

He delves into the waters for a brief time, just long enough to discover the secrets of knowing what is to come, and how to revive the fallen and the spent. Yet, knowledge is not all Thrun finds, for deep in an underwater temple, he discovers a gleaming silver globe set in a gold holder - a prize he senses is extremely powerful indeed. He takes it with him, believing the shimmering sphere to be of great value in the coming war.

Newly strengthened, Thrun returns to the forest and uses all the power that he has acquired, summoning mighty beasts as preparation before at last calling forth the great Nicol Bolas, seeking that venerable dragon's help in saving the troll's beloved homeland...

[Izulde]

Dramatis Personae Update
1. Mill Guy = Pip
2. Powerhouse Red Deck/Scavenge Guy/Guy Who Borrowed My Deck To Play Once = Robbie
3. SuperStandard Deck/Blue Green Standard the 4 way times = Franz
4. Student who plays Magic = Ajani
5. Super Red/Blue = Rushdie

I think that'll be a good summation of the main cast of characters, with pseudonyms of course.

So I get to campus today, and see Rushdie sitting at a table, so I take a seat, as Pip's at a huge table with a ton of people playing, talking, and watching a four way game.

Another guy playing with Rushdie says to me, "Magic or Yu-gi-oh?" "Magic." "*grin*I'm sorry. You're at the wrong table." "Oops." So they get back to their game, and I notice Pip is just checking his phone, so I tap him on the shoulder. We head off to a spare table to play.

So, remember last week how I had Pip make a few adjustments to his mill deck? Well, apparently later that week, Robbie got so mad at Pip's deck he made major adjustments. Pip playtested the overhauled mill against another guy who made yet more adjustments.

Pip wasn't very happy with all these changes, remarking to me, "I get that they're trying to help, but just let me do my own thing, you know?" So I asked if I could look over his deck. I was then horrified to discover he carries his Magic cards around in a lunch bag, which ripped apart earlier in the day. I told him he needs to get a deck box for his Mill deck, and a box like I have for all his cards. He agreed, but I got the sense he doesn't have the money, so I'm debating whether to bring one of my spare boxes tomorrow to give to him.

Anyway I look through the deck, and immediately pull all of the Unsummons and a Doorkeeper, which would be great, except he doesn't have enough creatures with Defender in the new deck to make it work. The thing I immediately notice is that the mill starts *much* faster (a lot more 1 and 2 drop mills), and it's a much more focused, consistent deck overall. I was also pleased to see Lens of Clarity and Distant Memories were nowhere in sight, and that Sands of Delirium, a a card I insisted he put in last week, was still there.

So Pip picks out some replacement cards, and asks me my opinion on them, which I do, and in the end, his deck is looking much tougher and sleeker.

Then we start playing. We get through six games, and the following patterns emerge in what becomes a 3-3 draw:

Conditions In Which Pip Is Able To Win
1. He gets a quick 10 mill out on me and Jace's Phantasm becomes a 5/5. If he gets two out, I can potentially lose by Turn 4, as happened once.
2. He mills Quest for Ancient Secrets and Praetor's Counsel, which are my two mill stoppers.

Conditions In Which I'm Able To Win
1. Praetor's Counsel or Quest for Ancient Secrets hits the field.
2. Bellowing Tanglewurm hits the field.

Anything in between that and I usually win, because Jace's Phantasms are his only real offensive creature threat in the deck. He did mill me out once, in a game when he not only milled out Quest for Ancient Secrets, but also Nature's Spiral (which would have allowed me to re-fetch Quest for Ancient Secrets), and a good percentage of my burn spells. That was also the game Praetor's Counsel was the very last card in my library when it got milled out to end game.

Great moments from those six games
1. When I played Praetor's Counsel with no uncertainty for the first time (remember, last week it was uncertain memorywise if I did it legally or not). At this time, I also had out Hivestone and Gemhide Slivers. Needless to say, Pip was fucked. (Side note: Robbie and Franz came by to watch around this time, and they were both like, "You are so, so dead, Pip." Pip of course insisted that he was still alive. He wasn't. :D)

2. I finally got out Nicol Bolas that same game... only to have Pip counter him (Robbie forced him to put some counters in his deck, which would save Pip's ass a number of games this session. This wasn't one of them, but as of right now, Nicol still has yet to unleash his might).

3. The damn! look on Pip's face when I unveiled new toys Hivestone, Gemhide Sliver, and Mirari.

4. The time I had Quest for Ancient Secrets sitting out mid-game with a moderate graveyard, and Pip decides to use Traumatize on me, which forces me to mill half my deck. I immediately sac Quest and shuffle my graveyard in, "Thanks, Pip!" Robbie's like, "You know you just played right into his strategy there, right?" Needless to say, that was a win for me, because there's only one Traumatize in the deck, and Pip couldn't get any of his reshuffles out.

After those six games, Pip and Robbie play each other because Robbie's black/green Scavenge deck is a horrible opponent for Mill. Franz and I chat about card game mechanics in general while we watch.

Then Franz leaves, after Robbie whomps all over Pip. Pip's eager to break the stalemate, but Robbie asks if we can 3 way. I'm perfectly fine with this, as playing Pip's Mill all the time gives me tunnel vision, and I love playing a variety of people and decks.

What follows is one of the best games ever from a fun and drama standpoint.

It starts off with Robbie slowly building up his Scavenge army and my mana ramping. Pip is stuck on 3 mana and is getting attacked by me because 1. He has no creatures. 2. Keeping mill alive is dangerous to me because of milling, and because of Robbie's scavenge mechanic.

So it's Robbie and I going at it. We reach a point where he has several creatures out, including a 6/6, 5/5, and a creature that doubles the +1/+1 counters from scavenge, maybe one or two other things. I have two blockers out - Thrun and I forget who else. I of course immediately burn the counter doubler, which leads Pip to declare, "It's getting interesting now!"

This is Thrun's greatest hour, and where he shows why I named this deck after him. Turn after turn, Robbie's creatures attack, and turn after turn, Thrun blocks the 6/6 and regenerates. I'm eventually able to burn out the 5/5 and a 5/4, but I'm also down to 4 life and just Thrun as a blocker. Worse yet, Robbie's able to bring back the 5/4.

It's looking dire for me now. 4 life, a 6/6 ad a 5/4, with only Thrun's infinite regeneration standing between me and defeat. I should also point out that Robbie has 23 life, or something like that. Don't remember the exact total.

Wurmcalling hits my hand. 5/5 Wurm, and I'm able to survive at least another turn.

That's when Robbie makes the mistake that costs him the game. Instead of scavenging counters on the 5/4, he puts it on the biggest creature to make it 8/8. I block with the Wurm and Thrun, regenerate Thrun, and lose my Wurm, but also again kill his 5/4.

And then it happens. With 8 lands on the table, Avenger of Zendikar comes into play. Just like that, I have 4/4 Thrun, 5/5 Avenger, and eight 0/1 plant tokens to serve as cheap blockers.

I attack with Thrun, since I have blockers open. Down goes Robbie to 19.

I believe Robbie's 6/6 creature had attacks each turn if able, because he swung next turn, and a 0/1 plant creature chump blocked, and he's too smart to attack when he needs to work at whittling me away another way.

But then he also destroys my Fungal Reaches,and the card has another effect where I can put a basic land into play tapped. Landfall kicks in, and I now have 7 plants with 1/2 tokens.

Next turn, I must have gotten out another blocker - Gemhide Sliver, I think it was, because I swing with everyone, so Robby takes 16 damage from the plants, Avenger, and Thrun, knocking him down to 3 life. Otherwise I wouldn't have en masse attacked, because his 6/6 was still on the board.

Me with 4 life, Robbie with 3, and unless he can pull out a miracle, he's done.

*BAM* Board clearing card that wipes out everyone who is X converted mana cost or lower, including *just enough* to send Avenger of Zendikar home.

Only problem for Robbie? I drew Lightning Bolt and took him out (could have done it the turn before with Lightning Strike but I forgot to, so we both had blankout moments).

Still an epic game, and Robbie kept raving about how awesome Thrun was, and that it was one of the best games he'd played in a long time. For me, I've *never* had a comeback like that, ever, and for the guy I named my deck after and build the storyline around to be the one to keep me alive.. that's just awesome. :)

[Izulde]

A couple other notes:

After class, I always check to see if there's people still around and playing. Last night, Franz was with a couple people. This guy I've seen around offered to play me (I'll dub him Hagrid in case he comes up again).

Hagrid played a black/white life gain Standard deck. I stuck with Thrun's Rainbow Redemption, and ran into problems with having tons of mana, but nothing to cast other than a couple pumpable burn spells that couldn't completely wipe Hagrid out in two turns due to life gains he picked up.

Worse still, he had a black creature with Intimidate. I held my own for a while, trying to pump my storage land enough to knock him out with 2 turns of burn spells, but never got tot hat point. Then when I used a burn spell on his 6/8 flier, he tapped two white mana to make the creature indestructible, and after that, I had no shot.

Was funny seeing Paragons of the New Dawn and Ajani's pridemate used against me, though.

I was looking through my cards today for putting together a third deck, when I came across Chimeric Mass, which, like Wurmcalling, is a pumpable summons that would go great with Thrun's deck (artifact with +1/+1 counters for every mana cast). Even better, it can be made an artifact creature for just 1 colorless mana.

This becomes particularly useful when facing things like Hagrid's intimidate creatures, in addition to giving me another potentially big creature. I swapped out Ancient Grudge for it, as I prefer Naturalize anyway.

[Izulde]

While parts of my Standard deck were fun, overall it just wasn't very exciting to play - not like Thrun's Rainbow Redemption. So after buying a Fat pack of Magic 2015, and considering what I had, I made some big changes, and came up with a name and theme for the deck.

Avacyn's Meek To Mighty Warrior Horde
6x Plains
7x Forests
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
2x Temple of Silence
2x Blossoming Sands
2x Jungle Hollow (This will probably need editing, but didn't want to mess with it for now

3x Abzan Charm
2x Banishing Light
1x Dictate of Heliod
1x Divine Favor
1x Feast on the Fallen
1x Incremental Growth
1x Ordeal of Nylea
1x Reviving Melody
1x Roar of Challenge
1x Spear of Heliod
1x Spirit Bonds
1x Triplicate Spirits

1x Ancient Silverback
1x Avacyn, Guardian Angel
1x Bloodsoaked Champion
2x Chief of the Edge
2x Chief of the Scale
2x Elvish Mystic
1x Heir of the Wilds
1x Herald of Anafenza
2x High Sentinels of Arashin
1x Ivorytusk Fortress
3x Mardu Hateblade
2x Seeker of the Way
2x Seraph of the Masses
1x Sylvan Carytid
1x Tuskguard Champion

Basic scheme here - flood the field with creatures, warriors in particular, and pump them up as quickly as possible. Then, if it gets to mid-late game, out come the angels, who should be large creatures, and who would grant me protection from colors. I want to fit another Triplicate Spirits in here, but not sure what I'd cut.

Again, obviously not a tournament winning deck or anything, but one that should hopefully be a lot faster and more fun to play than the previous two versions.

I'm also working on another deck for tomorrow, and may make another small change to Thrun's Rainbow Redemption based on the 2K15 fat pack pull.

[Izulde]

Made a third deck, but it's way too slow on the mana curve, so I'm just going to sit on it for now I think and decide what direction I want to go in.

I did make another change to Thrun's Rainbow Redemption though - swapped out a Flame Slash for a Siege Dragon - 5/5 flying dragon who destroys all opponent walls when he comes into play, then does 2 damage to each non-flying creature opponent controls when he attacks.

So basically, with the last two changes I made, I really beefed Thrun up for the mid and late game.

[Izulde]

So I got to campus yesterday and played Pip, as per usual. Naturally I wanted to test out Avacyn. First game he milled me like mad, and I was stuck with two Plains the whole game for mana, and I was thinking it's going to be a long day.

Then I beat him three straight games, largely on the back of various Warrior buffs and, in one game, Avacyn. Like I told Pip, this was designed to be much more aggressive. One game in particular, I was off to a bad start, and looking on the ropes, but then the Mystics kicked in, and I turned it around.

After that, I switched to Thrun, and proceeded to whip him five straight games, including one game where I won on Turn 6. The game after that, he started milling out my land and mana sources like mad, and I'm seriously mana screwed. But *finally* a mana source hit the board (I forget whether it was Bird or Elf), and I was able to bring out Summit Apes to again turn it around and force a victory.

Thoughts from that initial session re: Thrun - I continue to love on Avenger of Zendikar. Something like 3 or 4 of my last TRR deck wins have been due to Avenger. Bellowing Tanglewurm and Summit Apes are fantastic against Pip's deck, but that's because he's mono blue mill focus with very little creature capability. He admitted himself that he plays extremely defensively - to a fault.

So then a guy I'll call Java comes along. I first met Java last week, when he got annoyed at Pip for playing a non-Standard deck and was eh, whatevs about Thrun mana ramping because it's not Standard. Java really likes Standard.

Pip reached over to show Java how much land I milled, and I was getting nervous he was going to bend my cards, because Pip's very excitable, as I've indicated previously. Java bellows, "DO *NOT* TOUCH A MAN'S CARDS WITHOUT ASKING!" I very much appreciated that, and though my initial impressions of Java were not the best, they changed yesterday, in part because of that.

Anyway, Java asks if we can three way. I mention that's great because I have a Standard deck I've been wanting to test out against other Standard decks.

The First 3 Way
As has happened in every three way I've ever played, Pip is a threat to no one, but he annoys Java by milling various Aegis cards (including one that grants the player hexproof) and his second Ajani planeswalker. This leads Java to keep swinging for Pip, in part because of the milling, and in part because of my board.

But before I discuss my board, I want to reinforce the second Ajani planeswalker thing. Java has a powerhouse standard deck, and that planeswalker is *AWESOME*. So awesome, in fact, I'll show it here:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/AjaniMoH_zps830ef0ff.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/AjaniMoH_zps830ef0ff.jpg.html)

As you can imagine, 1) this is an expensive as hell card. 2) would be perfect for any Abzan deck.

Unfortunately for Java, I got out Spirit Bonds on Turn 2, and had a couple fast drops (Mardu Hateblade and Chief of the Edge) that I also pumped for two flying spirit creatures. Add in Triplicate Spirits and Feast on the Fallen, and we have a situation where I have 5 flying Spirits, who I'm consistently pumping with Feast on the Fallen and with Dictate of Heliod. I also got another spirit by bringing in another creature, I forget who.

So at one point in the game, I've got 6 Flying Spirits, 5 of whom are at 3/3, 1 of whom is at 4/4. Java has no defense against fliers. Ajani's at 7 loyalty, 1 away from the 100 life gain. *Bam*. In fly the 4 and 2 of the 3 spirits, wiping out Ajani and dealing damage to Java for another FotF pump. I also have Ordeal of Nylea on one of the flying spirits.

I should also note that Pip went out about this timeframe to Java, but Java had nothing to stop my fliers, so I won the game next turn.

The Second 3 Way
Interesting early game note: Pip has both Elixir of Immortality out, and plays one right away. I go, "What the... Why are you even...?", and Java proceeds to lecture Pip on the three circumstances to utilize EoI, none of which apply at that moment.

Pip decided to go after me for milling this time, at least to start, but when he changes to Java, who has a much bigger army, that's when Java starts attacking him. Meanwhile, I'm sitting back with Mardu Hateblade, Chief of the Edge, and Sylvan Carytid.

Then another land hits. In comes Ivorytusk Tower. Next turn, Incremental Growth. 1 to Hateblade, 2 to Edge, 3 to the Tower. Say hello to very short tap periods!

By this stage, Pip's been pinging Java with a 5/5 Jace's Phantasm, so Java is down to 10 life. It comes back around to me and I attack with all three of my creatures, then cast Roar of Challenge on Hateblade and activate his Deathtouch ability - thrilled that I'm finally able to try out my little sequence. Java's creatures all swarm to Hateblade, and though I don't kill all of them, it's enough for the elephant and the chief to stomp him out of the game. Yay, pachyderm power!

That leaves Pip, who has a Fog Bank and the Phantasm still out. His life has also been whittled by Java. At this point, Pip is thinking he's still got a shot at this. Maybe he did. Buuut.... Banishing Light, followed by my second Banishing Light, and he's left defenseless.

Game.Over.

Needless to say, I was thrilled at how Avacyn performed. Not sure that it's strong enough to play in a tournament yet, and I'm very busy tomorrow night anyway with friends in town, but maybe next week...

I so, so want that Ajani Planeswalker, though.

[BYU 14]

Ajani is amazing and if I was playing Abzan would be a staple. I am surprised that quite a few Abzan players don't play him.

The Mardu deck we tested on Cockatrice last week has been pretty solid. I put most of it together on Magic online to test different things and was winning at a solid 78% clip through yesterday.

Today I have experimented and haven't been as successful, which confirms I pretty much had it right.

[Izulde]

When we both have time, I'd like to try Avacyn against you. My guess is that I'll still get whipped, but maybe I can actually offer a small bit of resistance this go-round :)

[BYU 14]

Sure thing, maybe Sunday morning?

[BYU 14]

The print below is the aftermath of just how good a card Seeker of the Way can be the current Standard Meta.

Cast it on turn 2
Turn 3 attacked for 2 - Opponent played Ainok Bond-Kin

Turn 4 Cast Lightning Strike to kill Bond Kin, pumped Seeker, attacked for 3, gained 3 life - Opponent played Abzan Falconer

Turn 5 Cast Crackling Doom to Kill Falconer, plus 2 to opponent, pumped Seeker, attacked for 3, gained 3 life - Opponent passed turn

Turn 6 Cast Hordeling Outburst, pumped Seeker, attacked for 3 gained 3 life - Opponent passed turn (At this point I was worried about End Hostilities from him, but it never came.

Turn 7 Attacked with 3 Goblins for 3, held Seeker back in case of Devouring Light (another Abzan removal staple) - Opponent played Anafenza the Foremost, which can get nasty, but......

Turn 8 Cast Crackling Doom to kill Anafenza and deal 2 to opponent, pumped Seeker, attacked with Seeker and Goblins for 7, game over.

If he gets down on turn 2 and you can control the opponent with removal, he just takes over. Plus you can see that I still had answers in hand :)

[Izulde]

Seeker of the Way hasn't done anything so far for me, but it's been used against me to great effect. Why does your screen capture look so nice and my Cockatrice so ugly?

[Izulde]

Venser and Ajani's Iridescent Knights
12x Plains
7x Islands
1x Sejiri Refuge
1x Calciform Pools

1x Blue Sun's Zenith
2x Call to Mind
1x Decimator Web
1x Evanescent Intellect
1x Luminarch Acension
2x Mind Sculpt
3x Negate
1x Mirrorworks
2x Pentarch Ward
1x Sword of Body and Mind
1x Strata Scythe
1x Tefiri's Moat
1x Truth or Tale

1x Ajani Goldmane (Planeswalker)
1x Ajani's Pridemate
1x Archon of Redemption
1x Children of Korlis
2x Drowner Initiate
1x Flying Men
1x Griffin Guide
1x Knight of the Holy Nimbus
1x Paragon of the New Dawns
1x Pentarch Paladin
1x Sage of Epityr
1x Serra Avenger
1x Sejiri Merfolk
1x Soltari Priest
2x Sungrace Pegasus
1x Suture Priest
1x Tividar of Thorn
1x Venser, the Sojourner (Planeswalker) (3 Loyalty, +2 Exile Target Permanent you own. Return it to battlefield under your control at next end step, -1 Creatures are unblockable this turn, -8 You get an emblem that says "Whenever you cast a spell, exile target permanent")
2x Victory's Herald

At first blush you might think, gee, this looks a lot like Ajani and Teysa's Wedding. But they're dealing with different mechanics. A&TW was all about slow life gain and slow milling. This deck does have a small amount of life gain in it, but it also has quicker milling (Mind Sculpt, Drowner Initiate, Evanescent Intellect) and is loaded with stuff that has protection or can bring protection (Tividar of Thorn, Solitari Priest, Pentarch Ward, Tefiri's Moat, Sword of Body and Mind)

Although this combo may not ever happen, it's possible that I could have Solitari Priest or Tividar of Thorn with Sword of Body and Mind, and two Pentarch Wards for all five color protection. :D

Basically the subtitle for this deck is "Fuck With Pip". With the protection stuff I have built in, the Negates to slow his milling and reshuffle stuff, and my own milling ability, to say nothing of the various forms of permanent destruction (Pentarch Paladin, Venser), he's going to hate this one even more than he does my mana ramp deck. (He especially hates Praetor's Counsel and is thrilled whenever he mills it).

Keep in mind - I made this deck less of a fuck with Pip than I could have... there's islandwalk stuff I left off the board. :D

Blue Sun's Zenith could probably go away, but I wanted *something* to build mana on Calciform Pools for.

[Izulde]

Aaand the Venser deck is getting junked after 1 day. Lost 4 straight times to Pip and it wasn't close.

Played a couple three ways with the Avacyn deck. Lost once to Franz, but once won against Sailor (new person). Pip finished last in each three way of course.

Got sick of losing to Pip, so I brought in Thrun. Went like 3-1 against him, losing only because he got 3 Tome Scours and a Jace's Phantasm out in the first three turns.

Then Thrun went into three way against Pip and Franz. Pip once again finished last, and I took second to Franz - wasn't even close, really.

Might try a blue/green mill and mana ramp deck, or in other words, combining the blue and green parts of Thrun and Venser. We'll see how that goes, though. Nicol Bolas and Mirari have been sadly underwhelming thus far, and the storage lands, because they require a colorless mana even to put a counter on, are slower than I thought they would be.

[Izulde]

So Sailor taught me the basics of Vanguard, and I played a game. Not a fan at all - the print is tiny, the artwork so-so, and the mechanics boring.

Oh, another side note: Pip was looking through Fellow Instructor (I'm not the only faculty that plays MtG)'s trade/buy stuff to figure out what to get. Robbie is trying to help him with the right cards to get for the deck, both his mill and I guess a Blue/Green/White EDH deck Pip's trying to put together? Anyway, Pip kept shooting Robbie's suggestions down, and finally Robbie got so frustrated he said, "Fine. Then I'm not helping you anymore!"

I didn't hear the entirety of this, since that's when Sailor was walking me through Vanguard, but I did notice a lot of cards Pip was picking out weren't that good. I know Pip is young and immature, but damn do I want to make a deck that just rips right through him again and again. I mean Thrun's Rainbow Redemption already does that on a very consistent basis, but still...

After class, I ran into Java and Franz, who were dueling in EDH. They asked if I wanted to join. Tried making a deck out of the three I had with me (Thrun, Avacyn, Venser), but couldn't do it, so Franz let me borrow one of his EDH decks. Franz won thanks to Omniscience, which feels broken as shit to me, especially if he's managed to drop Jace's 20 card on himself.

Afterwards Java drove me home when I mentioned I had an hour and a half bus ride and wanted to get back in time to pick up Dragon Age: Inquisition. I paid him $5 gas money because A) it's the polite thing to do, and B) It's a 25 minute drive. We had a good conversation, and he mentioned a store opening up soon that's going to be casual friendly, and is hosting a get together Thursday night that I could go to after classes.

It's worth noting that EDH really intrigued me as a format, and is something I'd like to try at some point. Vanguard, I never care to play again.

[Izulde]

Today was a most amusing day. Notes when I get home.

[Izulde]

Before I describe my day, the deck I built this morning.

Thrun's Mana Ramp City
20 Forests

1x Chimeric Mass
1x Decimator Web
3x Essence Scatter
2x Mind Sculpt
1x Mirrorworks
2x Naturalize
1x Nature's Spiral
1x Order of Nylea
1x Overrrun
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Quest for Ancient Secrets
1x Quest for Renewal
1x Reviving Melody
1x Strata Scythe
1x Sword of Body and Mind
1x Wurmcalling

1x Ancient Silverback
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Bellowing Tanglewurm
4x Birds of Paradise
2x Elvish Mystic
1x Ezuri's Archers
1x Gaea's Liege
1x Gemhide Sliver
4x Llanowar Elves
1x Sylvan Caryatid
1x Talara's Battalion
1x Thrun, the Last Troll

So I took advantage of my decks breaking up trying to put an EDH one together to allow myself to completely rip apart my standard deck. Most of this is stuff you've seen in previous decks before. I think the only new ones are Essence Scatter (counter creature spell) and Gaea's Liege (a Time Spiral mythic where power and toughness when defending are equal to number of forests you control, and power and toughness when attacking are equal to number of forests opponent controls.. and you can tap Gaea's Liege to make any land a forest.)

I didn't think this deck was going to be very good at all, and when I got to campus and Fellow Instructor said he wanted to duel me with his nasty Sliver deck. I warned him that it was a crap test deck, but he didn't care and wanted to play it anyway.

Oh, a couple of notes. I said hello to Robbie, but he was busy with Yu-Gi-Oh, and that's a game I know for sure I have no interest in. Then I spotted Pip and Fellow Instructor on the other side of the room, so made my way there, whereupon I found out Pip spent $22 on a commander card that, frankly to me, is not worth that much at all. Yes, it's a one drop (one mana cost), and it has elf-making abilities, but it's tapped every use, making it a very slow build. This will become significant later. At the moment, I was just dumbfounded that he spent that much money. Java was there, too, but he was busy at another table.

So anyway, Fellow Instructor's challenge...

Game 1 - vs Fellow Instructor
He crushed me. I got out mana galore, but had no spells to cast, and the slivers of his red/green deck absolutely railroaded me. At this point, I was thinking my initial instincts were right, and the Mana Ramp City was indeed crappy.

Pip then asked if we could 3 way, which we were both cool with. During the ensuing 3 way, this strikingly pretty girl showed up and apparently was going to be back later to talk trade/buy with Fellow Instructor. I was going to introduce myself because I heard Lathum screaming in my head, "Talk to her, you pussy! Man up!" buuuut I didn't, even though my mouth opened to say something, and she saw me looking at her, so I'm sure I looked quite stupid, like a giant fucking Izuldefish.

Anyway, on to the game.

Game 2 - 3 way vs Fellow Instructor and Pip
The usual saw of Pip being a complete non-factor in 3 player games applies here. He says he's won a couple of 3 player games, and I believe him, but it has to be through a fast Jace's Phantasm run, because otherwise, he only survives past the first one out if other players ignore him. Which they'll sometimes do, because he's so weak.

Fellow Instructor got mana screwed - no mana in his opening hand, but he felt adventurous and loved his opening hand. Problem being, the mana screw continued. Finally, he started coming back. I'm sitting there at 7 mana with Avenger of Zendikar out with 5 plants, and I'm looking in fairly decent shape, but Fellow Instructor's starting to sliver ramp.

And then I get another land drop. Never mind the 1/2 plants, that brings out your friend and mine... Praetor's Counsel. Fellow Instructor and Pip both swear, because it's pretty much game over when that happens.

Sure enough, it was, though by this point, Pip had milled me down so much that I tapped a Bird to bring in Quest for Ancient Secrets to prevent my getting milled out. It ended up largely academic, but still.

Game - 3 way vs Fellow Instructor and Pip
I can't remember exactly what I had out - Ancient Silverback and some mana sources, plus one or two other things. Drove of Elves maybe as a 4/4? Anyway, I attack Pip with the Ancient Silverback and the Drove I'm pretty sure it was. Pip blocks with Wall of Frost, and I Overrun to kill the Frost. Fogbank is out there too and blocks the other one. Unfortunately that meant the Silverback was frozen the next turn even with Wall of Frost gone, but still.

Fellow Instructor I hadn't attacked because he had a couple nasty slivers out, including one that granted deathtouch as I recall. Next turn, I drop Bellowing Tanglewurm. This naturally means Pip is finished whenever I decide to take care of. Fellow Instructor is cool with this because all he needs is a green mana.

Until Pip mills two Forests. :D

Long story short, I wiped out Fellow Instructor, one turn shy of his finally getting a forest to combat the Tanglewurm's Intimidate.

Pip, of course, was an easy finish after that.

Following this game, a guy who'd been at the table and was working on making a black/white deck who I'll call Jace (he was fairly new to Magic) asked if we could four way. Naturally, no problems, so off to the races we go.

Game 3 - 4 way vs Fellow Instructor, Jace, and Pip
We follow what is an unwritten rule of this particular Magic playing community, which is to leave new players alone in a multi-way game - for the true newbies, so they can have the fun of staying in the game as long as possible and learn by watching how other people's decks plays out; and for new to the other players newbies, to see how this new arrival's deck works (I've had this latter courtesy extended to me on more than one occasion since joining the group).

Jace actually hangs back for much of the early game. Fellow Instructor is slowly building, and I very quickly realize I'm in a situation where I can have some fun. Turn 1, Bird of Paradise. Turn 2, Strata Scythe, exiling a forest. When the others at the table read what Strata Scythe does, it's a collective swearing situation. (Exile a land. For every other land of that type on the battlefield, attached creature gets +1/+1).

Recall, if you will, that Fellow Instructor was playing red/green, and forest is the land that grants my Bird +1/+1. :D

*Then* on top of that, a turn later, Ordeal of Nylea on the Bird. +1/+1 counter every time the Bird attacks, and when it hits 3 +1/+1 counters, sac Ordeal to bring two basic land cards into play tapped.... which of course feeds right into the Strata Scythe.

So I work on Pip until Fellow Instructor starts his Sliver ramp. Then, I switch to him and get him down to 11 life. My next turn, my Bird is now a 9/10, and I attack again. Fellow Instructor goes to move his life total to 2.

"Wait," I say with a grin. "Tap tap tap tap tap... aaand Overrun."

"....Shit."

Pip comes back from making a phone call, "What happened?"

"...He overran me."

"Damn."

Pip was an easy squash, and when I go to turn on Jace, I'm sitting at 12 life through various attacks, mostly by Fellow Instructor.

Just when I think I have Jace finished off (he had 2 creatures out by this time, Undercity Informer and another one I forget the name of - tap for colorless mana any time a spell is cast, and each opponent loses 1 life, and Jace gains that much life), he pulls Elixir of Immortality. 5 life and he's still alive.

Next turn, he casts a card that gives him 3 life for every creature in my graveyard, and he survives for yet *another* turn. In fact, it took two turns to finally finish him off, but that was damn heroic on his part the way he kept fending me off.

Found out after the game the reason he played so passively was because he had a 6 land opening hand, and decided to roll with it (he was playing black/white, by the by), hoping he could pull his Angel to stop my rampaging Bird of Paradise. :D

At this point, Fellow Instructor says he's done playing and is going to discuss transactions with some people at another table. Jace, Pip, and I decide to 3 way.

Oh, and during this game, the girl came back, and I was once again going to introduce myself, and she even said, "What's going on here?" and Jace was like, "He's winning pretty easily right now." Perfect opening and I didn't say anything because I was studying the fucking field. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Game 4 - 3 way vs Jace and Pip
I drop a Bird of Paradise first turn, and Turn 2, Sword of Body and Mind. Pip swears, because Pip knows he's done. So I start cheerfully swinging and doing 2 damage, milling for 10 cards.

A turn or two later, Strata Scythe again, which made my Bird a 4/5 because I had 2 forests out (this is what I would have for a large portion of the game. I keep attacking and milling Pip, and I'm starting to get excited now because I'm going to finally mill his ass out if he doesn't get Elixir of Immortality.

WHICH HE DOESN'T, AND I FINALLY MILL HIM OUT!

...But he'd stopped paying much attention to the game because Merchantess, a girl with a massive Magic collection who has a side business in trading and selling cards came back, and he was looking through her blue cards, so he was like "Yeah, whatever, don't really care right now. I'm looking at cards."

I'm going to damn sure remind him Monday though. :devil:

Anyway, to Jace. He's got some stuff out, but nothing that worries me. I build up finally mana wise to where I'm able to bring out Bellowing Tanglewurm, but it was already pretty much over before then, especially since I'd gotten Quest for Renewal going long before. Jace had a hard time grasping the concept of not being able to attack creatures directly like in Yu-gi-oh, because he kept trying to Mardu Hateblade my mana sources, and I'm like "Nope. Sorry man, but only players and planeswalkers."

So that was an easy win, too, and a SECOND VICTORY FOR BIRD OF PARADISE!

Yeah, I'm that jazzed up. As I've said before, I *love* Bird of Paradise. If I could get a playmat of it, I would. ....Oh wait, evidently there's one on eBay. Guess I'll go bid on it!

Back to the cards, Pip was complaining that he really wanted Lord of Atlantis and a few other cards, but didn't have the money. And the girl was trying to work something out to where she would hold it for him and they'd figure out a meeting time with payment next week, but the logistics were proving difficult. And Pip was just like "Guh, it's so hard to find this card!"

If it is or not, I don't know. All I know is, I myself hadn't seen one in literal years. So finally I asked her how much everything together was, and she said, "4.25." I looked at Pip and said very calmly, "Will you pay me back on Monday?" He said he would, so I bought the cards for him, and insisted he pay me back Monday. We'll see if he does or not.

Then as I was briefly looking through her green cards before class (Jace was putting together a red/green deck to challenge me but I was running out of time), and saw some interesting cards - the one that takes away hexproof from opponent creatures and grants hexproof to yours. But the mana cost on it was like 8 or 9, so I held off for now, especially since it's a card that's in current rotation.

And then my eye fell on Bellowing Tanglewurm, which is fast becoming one of my favorite cards. Asking price was a quarter, so I took out Gaea's Liege, which is too slow anyway, and put in my second Bellowing Tanglewurm.

Pip did not look pleased at the change. :D

[Izulde]

eBay one is going for too high a price. Found a seller of Birds of Paradise playmats for $28 plus $2 shipping, but I'm asking about the condition first.

[Izulde]

Java told me that there would be a lot of people playing casual Thursday night at this one gaming store that isn't officially open yet (I think I mentioned this already, but if not, here it is).

After class, I go to the intersection he says it's at, and like a lot of gaming stores in the Vegas area, this is not exactly what I would call a good neighborhood. And I can't find the bloody store. Try texting and calling Java, and nothing.

So I'm like fuck this, and leave. One thing about living in Vegas, or really any major metro area - you develop a pretty good danger sense after a while, and mine was going off here.

On my way home, I stop in at Target, and grab the last pack of Nyx. (Because Fat packs are a ripoff - deck boxes are for shit, and the spindown die is meh). I'm standing there looking at the Commander decks, wondering do I get or do I not get. Obviously green is going to be my choice if I do get - no matter what time in my life I've played Magic, I always gravitate towards green as one of my most heavily played colors, as I think I may have mentioned before.

I put the green Commander deck in my basket and wander the store, debating whether I actually want to go through with getting into Commander or not.

I circle back around and there's two guys standing there. We get into small conversation, and I'm thinking the one guy looks familiar, and finally he says "...You look familiar."

"Yeah, so do you."

"...Don't you teach English?"

"Ah! That's it."

IOW, one of my former students. :D From one of my college sports sections. So it turns out that at UNLV, where I haven't played yet because it's difficult to find time on Tues/Thurs when I'm there, they play Commander almost exclusively. And at the community college, Franz, Java, and Fellow Instructor all play Commander. So that sealed the deal for me, and alleviated any qualms I had about getting into that particular format.

Haven't opened the green Commander pre-con to see what's in it yet, but Nyx was a little disappointing. The rare was another Dictate of Heliod, though there may be a couple cards I have use for elsewhere.

[Izulde]

Guided By Nature Pre-Con Commander Deck
Commander
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury

Creature (37)
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Elvish Skysweeper
1 Essence Warden
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Priest of Titania
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Wellwisher
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Timberwatch Elf
1 Titania's Chosen
1 Wood Elves
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Drove of Elves
1 Immaculate Magistrate
1 Wren's Run Packmaster
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
1 Masked Admirers
1 Wolfbriar Elemental
1 Creeperhulk
1 Silklash Spider
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Grave Sifter
1 Primordial Sage
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Thunderfoot Baloth
1 Siege Behemoth
1 Tornado Elemental
1 Terastodon
1 Lifeblood Hydra

Sorcery (10)
1 Hunting Triad
1 Whirlwind
1 Overwhelming Stampede
1 Overrun
1 Grim Flowering
1 Collective Unconscious
1 Desert Twister
1 Wave of Vitriol
1 Praetor's Counsel
1 Sylvan Offering

Instant (2)
1 Harrow
1 Fresh Meat

Artifact (10)
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Emerald Medallion
1 Moss Diamond
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Assault Suit
1 Seer's Sundial
1 Predator, Flagship
1 Loreseeker's Stone

Enchantment (3)
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Song of the Dryads
1 Wolfcaller's Howl

Land (37)
1 Crystal Vein
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Havenwood Battleground
1 Jungle Basin
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Slippery Karst
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tranquil Thicket
25 Forest

Draw power is obviously a thing in Commander, judging from these cards I was skimming through. Quite a bit of draw card, mana ramping, some protection against flying... overall, this is a pretty damn strong deck out of the box, and that's what I've heard. Although quite a few people have told me black is the single strongest out of the box.

The primary purpose of this deck is obviously big creature swarm, principally elves, although there's a nice setup of wolves with Deathtouch due to Wren's Run Packmaster, which makes for a nice pairing with Sword of Body and Mind - a combo I initially had in, but dropped, along with other wolf cards (Wolfbriar Elemental, Wolfcaller's Howl).

So here's what I did instead :D

Thrun's Swarming Elf Army
Commander
Thrun, the Last Troll

Thrun is my boy. I've made him the naming convention of most of my green decks since I got him, and of course he was instrumental in the epic comeback win against Robbie in the three way with Pip. Plus, he's damn hard to kill, which is important for commander decks.

Lands (37)
34 Forests
1 Havenwood Battleground
1 Jungle Basin
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

Fuck that to all the non-basic land stupidity. We're playing it straight here. Jungle Basin calls back an untapped forest, but then is a two mana source after that. Havenwood Battleground can be an emergency 2 green mana reserve, but it's the weakest of the three, so I may drop it. The Vastwood can be tapped to put a +1/+1 counter on each green creature that entered the battlefield this turn. It's nice enough in the default deck with some of these cards, but can become downright dangerous with a few other cards, as you'll see.

Artifacts (9)
1 Chimeric Mass
1 Coat of Arms
1 Colossus of Akros
1 Emerald Medallion
1 Mirrorworks
1 Sol Ring
1 Strata Scythe
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sword of Body and Mind

Here we have our first non-Thrun additions (not counting land swaps obviously). Sol Ring is a Commander staple. Emerald Medallion I kept in because it's mono green, so bar the artifacts, this knocks casting costs down one colorless mana - which will be important for quicker getting out of things. Swiftboot Boots is in there for indestructible plus haste, which is very useful for certain cards in particular. Coat of Arms is a given in this deck, and won't just benefit Elves (more on that later). Strata Scythe has proven its worth multiple times obviously, and is a new favorite of mine. Colossus will be a fun 20/20 indestructible attacker when made monstrous, which can come soon in this deck. Mirrorworks I'm still going to try and get going, because can you imagine doubles of any of this stuff? That's what we call nice - though Sol Ring and Emerald Medallion are obviously meant to be early drops.

Sorcery (10)
1 Cultivate
1 Elvish Promenade
1 Nature's Spiral
1 Overrun
1 Overwhelming Stampede
1 Praetor's Counsel
1 Reviving Melody
1 Sylvan Offering
1 Whirlwind
1 Wurmcalling

Can you imagine Sylvan Offering and Elvish Promenade on back to back turns? Talk about a flood of elves. Sylvan Offering does have a bit of a drawback though - it not only gives you an X/X green Treefolk Creature token and X 1/1 green elf Warrior tokens, but one of your opponents, too. Then again, if Coat of Arms was out, or if Overrun or Overwhelming Stampede hit the field... that wouldn't be an issue at all. :D I was so very very excited to get another Praetor's Counsel, though left my old one in since it already was properly sleeved. Whirlwind is here because I only have one creature with flying in this deck (and we all know what it is), and while I do have a few other protections against fliers, board clearance is always good. Cultivate and Reviving Melody are fetches, of course.

Instant (2)
Naturalize
Nature's Claim

Artifact/Enchantment destruction. Only difference is Nature's Claim gives its controller 4 life. Not an issue with how this deck runs.

Enchantment (3)
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Ordeal of Nylea
1 Quest for Renewal

My following the pre-con deck in terms of distribution is purely accidental, though it's scary in a way how they're lining up exactly, minus an artifact. Anyway, Beastmaster Ascension is almost broken. Quest counter every time one of my creatures attacks, and when there's 7 or more quest counters, all creatures I control get +5/+5. Well shit, I can do that just with an elf-making swarm. Ordeal of Nylea is a fave too - it not only pumps, it fetches land when it falls off! Quest for Renewal is a <3 card, too.

Creatures (37)
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Drove of Elves
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Elvish Champion
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Essence Warden
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Ezuri's Archers
1 Greenweaver Druid
1 Immaculate Magistrate
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Jagged-Scar Archers
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Karametra's Acolyte
1 Lifeblood Hydra
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
1 Masked Admirers
1 Nylea's Disciple
1 Priest of Titania
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Reverent Hunter
1 Siege Behemoth
1 Silklash Spider
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Sylvan Caryatid
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Talara's Battalion
1 Terastodon
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Thunderfoot Baloth
1 Timberwatch Elf
1 Titania's Chosen
1 Wellwisher

The base of the deck was already quite strong as I said, so of the 37 creatures, I only felt the need to change out 13, strengthening the elf presence, adding another couple flying creature blockers, increasing the mana ramp, adding more permanent destruction, and the new mechanic for me that I've never used in any deck before - devotion to green, the last of which involves Reverent Hunter, Nylea's Disciple, and Karametra's Acolyte. That's two humans and a centaur, which doesn't seem to fit the other deck creature types (elves, beasts), until you consider that two of them are archers and one is a druid. Why does this matter? For Coat of Arms. To wit:

Elf Creatures or Creature Summons
1 Elvish Promenade
1 Sylvan Offering
1 Drove of Elves
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Elvish Champion
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Essence Warden
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Ezuri's Archers
1 Greenweaver Druid
1 Immaculate Magistrate
1 Imperious Perfect
1 Jagged-Scar Archers
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
1 Masked Admirers
1 Priest of Titania
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Talara's Battalion
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Timberwatch Elf
1 Titania's Chosen
1 Wellwisher

Archers
1 Ezuri's Archers
1 Jagged-Scar Archers
1 Nylea's Disciple
1 Reverent Hunter
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Titania's Chosen

Druids
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Greenweaver Druid
1 Karametra's Acolyte
1 Llanowar Elf
1 Priest of Titiana

In fact, every single creature has the potential of having another of its type on the field in this deck with the following 4 exceptions: Sylvan Primordial, Birds of Paradise, Silklash Spider, and Lifeblood Hydra. Spider has reach and is 2/7, and for XGG can do X damage to target creature with flying; Hydra is XGGG with Trample, X power/toughness in form of counters, and when it croaks, gain life and draw cards equal to its power; Primordial destroys target non-creature permanent of each opponent, and for each permanent destroyed that way, I get to fetch a Forest and put it into play tapped. Oh and it's 6/8 with Reach. :D And of course, you all know what the Birds do.

Planeswalker (1)
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury

In a certain sense, Freyalise is better as a commander than Thrun because she's a mana dork pump (+2 loyalty = Elf Druid that's the same thing as Llanowar/Elvish Mystic) when she hits the field, and can destroy artifacts and enchantments (-2 loyalty). But Thrun can't be countered and regenerates, and he's my boy, like I said, so he stays. I'd probably mill myself if I used her second minus ability (-6 loyalty - draw a card for each green creature you control). :D Then again, if I had Praetor's Counsel in hand... so she might be useful yet.

So yeah... I have a feeling this is going to be a very fun deck to play. Once the elf and mana ramping starts, it's going to get pretty ridiculous. Or so I hope anyway. :D

[Izulde]

Halimar, the Poison Sea
10x Forests
8x Islands
2x Halimar Depths

3x Birds of Paradise
1x Bellowing Tanglewurm
1x Blighted Agent
3x Blightwidow
1x Cryptoplasm
4x Cystbearers
2x Elvish Mystic
1x Glistener Elf
2x Halimar Wavewatch
3x Llanowar Elves
1x Phantom Warrior
1x Phyrexian Juggernaut
1x Triton Shorestalker

2x Grafted Exoskeleton

1x Boar Umbra
1x Ice Cage
1x Incremental Growth
1x Mana Leak
2x Naturalize
2x Negate
1x Ordeal of Thassa
1x Overrun
1x Praetor's Counsel
1x Quest for Ancient Secrets
1x Spell Pierce
1x Walk the Aeons

This is markedly different from Glissa's Unholy Elf Army, not least because it's green/blue. That deck also focused more heavily on elf swarming for the win (and did only a so-so job at it), with infect as a secondary win.

Here, it's all about the infect, and as fast as possible. We have my usual mana ramping love, with infect creatures (Cystbearers, Glistener Elf, Blightwidow, Phyrexian Juggernaut, Blighted Agent), and Blighted Agent, Triton Shorestalker, and Phantom Warrior are all unblockable. Plus the usual fun from Bellowing Tanglewurm. I want 3 more Blighted Agents for this deck and drop 3 of the Cystbearers.

Notice there's no Contagion Clasps and no other form of Proliferate? No Phyresis either. Instead, we have the 4 drop Grafted Exoskeletons which give +2/+2 and infect. Is Phyresis better? Yeah, but that's the tradeoff by going from black/green to blue/green.

I think it'll be fun using the mana ramp to quickly level my Halimar Wavewatch to Level 5 (2 colorless mana/level) and be 6/6 with Islandwalk. Especially against Pip. Then again, remember when I thought Venser and Ajani's Iridescent Knights was going to hose him, and I lost every single game against that fucking mill deck?

Might make a second deck yet tonight. Well, it'd be third because, well, Commander and all that. But we'll see.

[BYU 14]

This is my current standard competitive Mardu deck right now. Made some tweaks to get it faster. So far promising, 23-4 in testing including 4-1 with the alternate version.

Creatures
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster (alternate 4 Bloodsoaked Champion, even faster)
4 Butcher of the Horde

Planeswalkers
2 Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker
2 Sorin Solemn Visitor

Spells
3 Hordeling Outburst
2 Raise the Alarm
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Crackling Doom
4 Lightning Strike
2 Magma Jet
1 Murderous Cut
1 Stoke the Flames

Lands
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Temple of Triumph
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Caves of Koilos
6 Mountain
4 Nomad Outpost
1 Plains
1 Swamp (drop the plain and run 2 Swamp with the BSC version)
2 Temple of Malice
1 Temple of Silence

Sideboard
2 Elspeth Suns Champion
1 Chandra Pyromaster
2 Read the Bones
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Utter End
1 Glare of Heresy
1 Suspension Field
2 End Hostilities
2 Dictate of Erebos
(Also run an alternate version with 2 Hushwing Gryff instead of Read the Bones depending. Haven't decide which to keep yet)

Adding the Raise the Alarm makes it faster as I can usually get something out on turn 2 every game now. Bloodsoaked Champion is a 1 drop, so I can a first turn creature down, but have to draw a Bloodstained Mire, Swamp or Cave of Koilos to do so, which is not always a guarantee.

Still not sure I will run with Bloodsoaked or Goblin Rabblemaster (a 3 drop), which has been underwhelming for me as people try and deal with it quick, so I usually get 1 token for it. Even when it does get pumped from multiple tokens, it can be blocked by a 2 toughness creature, no matter how big it's power gets. So to use Rabblemaster effectively I have to use removal to have it run unopposed, which isn't always possible on turn 3/4. With Bloodsoaked Champion's raid ability I can bring him back for 2 mana after he gets killed, so it can still be a factor late game for 2 damage, or a sacrifice to trigger Butcher's abilities, but it can't block so I lose that.

[Izulde]

Only 12 creatures would scare me. :D I tend to run very heavy creature decks. I've noticed you tend to be the reverse. I need to put a standard deck together again at some point, but may wait until after the new expansion comes out in mid-January.

[BYU 14]

Only 12 creatures would scare me. :D I tend to run very heavy creature decks. I've noticed you tend to be the reverse. I need to put a standard deck together again at some point, but may wait until after the new expansion comes out in mid-January.

Actually it is 28 creatures, since Outburst and Raise the Alarm produce 16 1/1 creatures between them. Good for early advantage and late game chump blocking/sacrifice to Butcher's abilities.

Then when you factor in Sarkhans +1 is a 4/4 indestructible Dragon, and Bloodsoaked Champion (when I run it) has the raid ability to be resurrected if it is in the graveyard and I attack that turn, it is really 30+ creatures, with plenty of removal to spare :)

[Izulde]

Touche`.

[Izulde]

BREAKING NEWS!!! PIP ACTUALLY PLAYED A NON-MILL DECK!!!!

It was his merfolk deck that he'd talked about as building, and one he needed Lord of Atlantis for (he did pay me back, by the way). Not too much exciting to say here - The Poison Sea went roughly .500 against his deck. He had a lot of islandwalk mechanics, but I was able to avoid that after the first game due to constantly pulling either Halimar Depths or a Bird of Paradise for my blue mana.

The merfolk deck was eh speedwise. Can get out the swarm, but it's a lot like Glissa's Unholy Elf Army in that it takes time for the mechanic to get going, and I kept thinking "If I still had the red green mana ramp/burn deck, I would be destroying his deck again and again."

Not all a loss, though. We played two games of three way against a guy who ran a 1 creature control/burn deck. The dude won both times because Pip was trying to prevent my infect, and I was trying to kill Pip off before Islandwalk took effect. The first one was great - I killed Pip with Bellowing Tanglewurm and Llanowar elf on a life kill (this was also the game I had both Halimar Wavewatch fully leveled out, but he kept tapping them both turns with a creature he had out), and the dude killed me with burn in the exact same instant.

Truth be told, Poison Sea is boring as shit to play. Infect is a very boring mechanic. So I'm going to completely deconstruct it. I'm hoping after class to finally break out Thrun's Swarming Elf Army (which needs a cool name BTW), but it depends on when everyone goes home.

We did have an interesting scenario breakout. This one guy accused another guy of taking his binder and wanted it back, and it looked like a fight might break out. I was looking around for security to bring them over, as they usually patrol the area pretty frequently, but couldn't find them. Fellow Instructor was there, but was busy in one of the Lord of the Rings CCG variants.

Finally Accuser makes his umpteenth grab for the other guy's backpack to get his binder back, and Other Guy screams, "Fine! Take your bitch ass binder back!", throws it up in the air, scatters cards out of it, and spits on one before storming off. Fellow Instructor caught the tail end of this and said something to Other Guy as he walked off, but I didn't hear it - too far away.

So Pip, somebody else, and I, helped Accuser pick up his cards. I don't know what exactly happened there. I do know people have had cards stolen before, so I always make sure to watch my cards very closely, and have my box secure in my backpack, and my backpack secured to me when I play. Still a sad event.

In other news, The Girl was there again today, for brief instances twice. The first time I wasn't sure entirely it was her, as it was from a distance. The second time, I knew it was her, and I was going to get up and introduce myself, but she was clearly on her way out, and talking to Robbie and another guy I've seen in passing.

Soooo I went to a possible source close at hand.

"Hey, Pip. You know who that girl is over there?"

"*distracted look* Eh, no."

And then she was gone. Not a big deal. If I see her again Wednesday, I can introduce myself then. If I see Fellow Instructor tonight or him and/or Robbie Wednesday, I can ask them. I did, however, find the striking contrast in fashion styles fascinating. Last Wednesday, she was dressed in striking purple/black goth style attire. Today? Dark blue sweatpants and a Denver Broncos stocking cap with a pom-pom on top. :D

So this is a girl who I'm pretty sure likes Magic and football, and is cute to boot. Seems like a really nice trifecta to have.

Now to decide what deck to build for Wednesday...

[Izulde]

After class last night, I stopped by the union. There was a tabletop rpg session going on, but Franz broke away to play against me - a few Commander games, and then some 60 card games.

Going against Franz is pretty much going against one of those obnoxious tournament players, so needless to say, he beat me all games but one 60 card, where I had my unblockables out and managed to roll with Walk the Aeons and Overrun to get my first ever victory over him.

We chatted about decks and various cards, and he commented, "I like your Abzan Warrior deck", and implied I should go back to it, though the warrior mechanic is perhaps a little too underpowered for tournament play.

One 60 card game was amusing/frustrating. I kept building up Birds with Grafted Exoskeleton, and he kept finding ways to kill the Birds. He plays heavy blue, but a much nastier form of multi-color blue than Pip's mono blue forays.

In three games of Commander, I managed to build up in two games, but every time, Franz came back with either a field reset or some other way to neutralize me. He's of the opinion that blue is the best commander color, and perhaps he's right. I do eventually want to make a Nicol Bolas Commander deck. That said, the craziness of having 24 mana out by like Turn 6 or 7 was a bit dizzying, and involved me doing a lot of math to play as much stuff as possible in a single turn. Franz also approved of Thrun as a commander because he's such a difficult kill, and apparently there's such a thing as 21 commander damage leading to a win, no matter what the life total. So I need to reconfigure the deck to make Thrun the best badass of them all.

[Izulde]

Went to the Gaming Room after office hours and waited around a table while a four way game of EDH went on. One player had to leave after that, and he asked if I wanted to hop in, which I did. Three games of four-way ensued, and I discovered just how damn much fun Commander is.

It's crazy to see all the mana and combinations fly around everywhere, and it allows for a more fun, slower play that shows off just how elegant and pretty Magic can be at its highest levels.

The first game got ridiculous. I had an elf deck, and so did someone else. Priest of Titiana hit my field Turn 2, and then it was off to the races. I think it got up to 10 elves (including a third player who copied my Priest of Titiana to put in an elf and hitch the elf mana riding train). Both elf players also had out Timberwatch Elf, which you tap to give +1/+1 to target creature for each elf on the battlefield... so needless to say, Thrun ramped up mighty quick, and singlehandedly won the game for me, my first ever Commander win! :D

The other games I lost, but I was competitive in every game. Thrun made people very nervous and I was close to controlling the board with a 14/14 Thrun in one game when a black/white player brought out a Wrath of God to clear the field everywhere. I was so damned mad, because I was well on my way to winning that game, I think.

Anyway, two of the decks I played multiple games against both belonged to the same guy, who let other people borrow them. One was a Goblin deck (literally creating hundreds of goblins), the other an infinite mana combo deck (I despise infinite combo decks on general principle, because they're bullshit).

For further tweaking, I think my initial hunch of building Thrun up to be an absolute badass is the way to go.

Edit: Neither one of us had the green Planeswalker as our commander, by the way. I had Thrun and he had Ezuri.

I also really, really wish there was a Thrun playmat. But I can't find anything official, and the only custom mat I found had Thrun holding a light saber as an obvious Yoda play, and crossing universes like that isn't to my interest.

[Izulde]

I made up another 60 card this morning, but I was late getting out the door so I didn't post it. It's getting broken up anyway, as I didn't like playing it. Essentially it was a green/red with the obligatory 4 Birds, and the idea of pumping up creatures.

Got to campus, and I notice it feels empty. Pip is looking through a Yu-Gi-Oh collection for cards to buy, Robbie is playing Yu-Gi-Oh, though he did say hi and I stopped by his table to chat with him a bit. No, I didn't ask about the girl. :P The day just felt weird, and I'm not used to waiting to see if a game opens up I can get in there.

Franz was busy in a 60 card 4 way and then putting together a 60 card aggressive Jeskai deck, so we played after he put the deck together. I got ROFLstomped every game. I hate, hate, -hate- aggro decks with red in them.

Pip eventually made his way over and we played a couple games of 3 way before I had to head off. Most notable part of this - Franz with his normal 60 card, playing a game where he kept us both alive until he felt like knocking us out at the same time. I could have killed Pip at any time, but went along with Franz's gambit, just to see what happened. When I got back (turned out very early because I wanted to give students more time to write their research paper), I was met by a frazzled looking Pip and a cheerful Franz.

"So what's gone on since I've been gone?"

"He's been toying with me and toying with me."

"Not surprised."

So after Franz finally finished Pip off, beating him with his entire deck, we got into a 3 way. Franz won again naturally, but this time he showed no mercy, making short work of Pip, who had to go anyway.

After Pip left...

Franz: "I can't stand that kid. He's all like oh look I've got a 3/2, a 2/2, and a 3/3, and I'm like okay... I've got a 5/5, 6/6 with flying.. it's like what's your point?"

Me: "True... and he was all bragging about his deck, and I'm like ...it's a merfolk deck. It takes a long time to build up and is really reliant on opponents playing blue."

It turns out Pip also pisses people off by not asking before he can touch cards, and he digs his fingernails into cards when he goes to look at them, which causes dents (as Franz told me after I instinctively reached for a card, then immediately apologized when I realized what I did).

Oh, side note: The guy who threw the binder in the air Monday evidently bought a stack of Magic cards and had just left them a few on the table... and there was a Launch the Fleet rare. Guess who bent the corner of it? Yep, Pip. I mean, he's not a bad kid at all, but people just do.not. like him because of how loud, obnoxious, and careless he is.

Anyway, after that, we play a couple games of Commander, which against Franz's deck is still a head-banging experience. Then, as we're starting to get set up, two other guys who were on their way to grab supper stopped by, and Franz asked if they wanted to 4 way. They agree, and we settle in to play.

What followed was an insanely fun game - Franz with mono blue and a 1/3 Commander that everyone draws extra cards (I despise playing against that deck btw because of his abilities to take extra turns, and that fucking Omniscience), a guy I'll call Mario with red/blue/black/white and a commander that does damage to other players every time they draw a card, and the fourth guy, who I'll refer to as Prez who played... blue, green, and red I think it was. Don't remember what his commander did off the top of my head.

So three baseline blue players, and a green. What followed was a build up by me, including playing Terastodon to destroy a non-creature permanent of each player. What I didn't realize was that I could have destroyed land, but it's something to know for next time. It also gives the players who had their property destroyed a 3/3 green elephant. This naturally led to some hilarious jokes about finding elephants in the strangest places, etc.

Franz is up next and he copies my Terastadon, and he shows no mercy, destroying a land on everyone's field. So yeah, lots of elephants roaming around the board now. :D He did it even though I told him if he left me I wouldn't destroy his permanents next turn, because I had more permanent destruction coming next turn, which made Mario and Prez very nervous. He didn't take my offer, though. :P

Then I play my next permanent destruction card when my turn rolls around.. only to find out that 1) It's been banned in EDH play, and 2) Prez countered it anyway.

That card?

Sylvan Primordial.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/SylvanPrimordial_zpsbf7233f1.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/SylvanPrimordial_zpsbf7233f1.jpg.html)

So I have to take it out of my deck, which makes me a sad panda.

Anyway, I'm getting out a lot of stuff, including the usual insane mana ramp that comes with mono green Commander madness and I'm clearly in control of the board. Prez is begging Franz to overload Cyclonic Rift because otherwise they're all doomed... especially since I have Thrun out with Sword of Body and Mind attached to him, and that whole protection from green/blue thing... :D

Sadly, when I attack Franz to try and start taking him out, he does indeed overload Cyclonic Rift, which wipes out the board. I build up again, intent on killing him before he can nail me again, and it gets to a point where I'm able to drop Overwhelming Stampede with a 10/10 Thrun hanging out on the field with a bunch of elves, including Elvish Champion, and Prez had a forest out.

Franz: "You know you can kill us all, right?"

Me: "Really?"

Franz: "If you assign the damage right."

So I assign the damage. Prez is an easy kill because of forestwalk, but Mario pulls out a ton of stuff that kills off my Champion and a couple other things, which is *just* enough for Franz to survive, and because Drove of Elves was part of the attacking band, it gets then killed off as well, leaving me with only Thrun left. I'd also built up my life to 50 by this point, thanks to the green elf that grants 1 life for every creature that comes into play.

So it was down to me and Mario, who scared me because he's a powerhouse player like Franz from what I hear. Sure enough, I give it my best shot, but I was always destined to second by that point of the game, even though I pulled off turning his Commander into a forest to try and buy me time. (Thanks Song of the Dryads!). The ballsiness of that move got me props.

In chatting with Mario and Prez as we packed up and headed out, I discovered that they originally played green when they started learning Magic, and watching my deck, even though I didn't win, made them want to go back to their roots. That made me feel damn good, like my deck is worth something.

I did drop the Bird and Nature's Calling and don't remember what I put in to replace them, save that one was a Split Second spell to kill Franz's Omniscience right away. I think I'm also going to drop Sylvan Caryatid, and obviously I have to drop Sylvan Primordial, so I've got some wiggle room. I have a few ideas of what might replace them, but we'll see.

Oh, another note: Franz could have made me the first person out but he misplayed when to bring in Thassa, which would have made his Infect-bearing Sphinx unblockable and killed me in a single turn, since I had no response on hand. The next turn is when I launched my Overwhelming Stampede, so even I had been first out, at least I was still competitive against three guys with very strong decks, so that's good.

Important Note #2: Mario had a Cyclonic Rift in his opening hand, but held back on using it unless he needed to, so I would have finished second no matter what. As far as I know, green has no answer to Cyclonic Rift other than to rebuild as soon as it can.

I feel like I should end this post by finally showing my boy:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/thrun_zps0ce53898.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/thrun_zps0ce53898.jpg.html)

So, so awesome!

[Izulde]

Avacyn's Legion of Heliod
11x Plains
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
2x Forests
2x Blossoming Sands
2x Jungle Hollow
2x Temple of Silence

2x Abzan Charm
2x Banishing Light
1x Dictate of Heliod
1x Gods Willing
1x Feast on the Fallen
1x Incremental Growth
1x Market Festival
1x Mass Calcify
1x Naturalize
1x Ordeal of Nylea
1x Reviving Melody
1x Revoke Existence
1x Spear of Heliod
1x Spirit Bonds
1x Suspension Field

1x Abzan Battle Priest
1x Archetype of Courage
1x Avacyn, Guardian Angel
1x Cavalry Pegasus
1x Evangel of Heliod
1x Favored Hoplite
1x Herald of Anafenza
2x High Sentinels of Arashin
1x Ivorytusk Fortress
1x Master of Pearls
1x Oreskos Sun Guide
1x Paragon of New Dawns
2x Seraph of the Masses
2x Seeker of the Way
1x Sungrace Pegasus
1x Warden of the Beyond
1x Wingsteed Rider

All white creatures and a non-white boardwipe, with green and black used for support spells/buffs. I have no idea if this will play any better than the Meek to Mighty Army before - I just know that it's going to play much slower due to the reduction of turn 1 drops. We're also losing the Mystics, though the total ramp will stay the same due to Market Festival. It's a much more concentrated deck anyway, whereas the other one couldn't seem to make up its mind what it wanted to be the basis. Here it's clear - white the base, with green/black support.

[Izulde]

Legion of Heliod proved a very fun deck to play. Went up against Pip's merfolk deck and beat it four straight games thanks to Cavalry Pegasus (all humans gain flying when it attacks), the +1/+1 counter effects of Incremental Growth and High Sentinels of Arashin, and the creature production of Spirit Bonds.

I really appreciated removal in this deck, too. Especially one game where Pip had out major board control, including two unblockable Phantom Warriors. Mass Calcify hit the field and he was done. People really praise Seeker of the Way, and it showed off its awesomeness several times.

Then Franz came over and we did a few 3 ways, of which I won 2. It was during this that we realized Avacyn is only good at protecting *other* creatures, not itself. oops. So I might revisit the name of this deck. I do like having the Sun Guide in here for the cheap, quick life gain. Fun part of this one - bringing out Evangel of Heliod for 7 1/1 soldier tokens. I'm still not convinced of this card due to the 6 mana cost.

Banishing Light is becoming another favorite card as a cheap exile mechanic. Sure it can get removed, but it's still very nice to have. Then we four wayed with Sailor, who used Pip's Mill deck and had as his only objective destroying Pip as revenge for all the mill outs he'd suffered from it. Forget who won that one.

Then Sailor had other stuff to do, so we reverted to a 3 way.. and it's here that we finally saw Pip's deck what it's intended to - bring out Lord of Atlantis and Stormtide Leviathan. And the thing was... he *still* lost. :D Even funnier - he would have lost either to Franz's Temur aggro deck, or to my deck, because I had Incremental Growth in hand with fliers that would have destroyed him.

Pip is like "Oh my deck's not that bad. I know it needs work but it's a pretty good deck." And Franz is like, "...You were able to do what your deck is supposed to do 1 time in how many games?" and I added, "And you *still* lost."

After class, Franz was still around, so we played both Standard and EDH. In Standard I won maybe once or twice, but I very quickly realized that Master of Pearls and Herald of Anafenza completely suck in this deck, and they're going to get removed. I also need to put in black removal, because Stormbreath Dragon absolutely ruins me whenever it comes out. Hornet Queen is a real assfarmer, too.

EDH got a little ridiculous. Mirrorworks got out and I just started copying artifacts, including Coat of Arms, which led to a scenario where both of us had 40/40 Elf Warrior tokens, to say nothing of my own elves out. Unfortunately, that was also when he had Stormtide Leviathan out, which I had zero answer to, thanks to his also putting Swift Boots on it to make it hexproof.

Finally that game ended and we had a 4 way EDH with Fellow Instructor and a guy I'll call Pudge. I had major mana screw for the early game, which I've never had before, and it hurt my chances of winning, even when I finally started getting mana and began building up. Still, I might have had a chance due to Elvish Champion and Ezuri out, plus the elf that gives me life for each elf on the battlefield.

But Fellow Instructor had out N's Disc (forget the full name) that wipes the entire board, plus Elpseth as another removal. Then Pudge played a card that turned all permanents on the board into artifacts. By this time, it was time for the union to close, and Pudge was just like, "Use the Disc, wipe out the board, and let's call it a stalemate". Which Fellow instructor finally did, and it would have meant a Turn 1 reset because lands being artifacts now made them destroyed as well (which in turn would have wrecked my plan to bring out Praetor's Counsel after the board wipe and regain position).

Thrun deck definitely needs more flying/anti-flying measures put in. I'd made some changes to it already, designed around more mana fun, but I think I might junk Sylvan Offering - too equalizing a force, even if the elf production is great.

And of course, Avacyn isn't even close to tournament worthy - it's just capable in casual play.

[BYU 14]

Just finished one of the craziest matches I have had on Magic online. I was playing my Mardu deck against a B/W life gain. I won game 1 in short order, but game 2 became a battle of life back and forth.

We were bout even mid game, but then I got Butcher and Sorin in play, followed up with a Sarkhan and it was steadily downhill for my opponent from there. Created enough tokens to protect the planeswalkers and ended up triggering both of their ultimate abilities, which turned it into a runaway at that point. When I delivered the lethal damage, I ended up with 126 life at the end, easily the highest total ever.

You can see the sequence below from mid to late to end game

[Izulde]

Wow. That's insane. Where did all your lifelink for your creatures come from?

[BYU 14]

Wow. That's insane. Where did all your lifelink for your creatures come from?

Once I got Sorin up I was plussing him for lifelink and getting 11 each swing by Butcher and Sarkhan and 2 each for every block on the swing back from the tokens, plus Seeker of the Way had it's prowess trigger go off every time. I was gaining 20 life a turn sometimes, pretty cool. His issue was he put everything into gaining life and really had no answers in terms of removal except I think 1 Murderous Cut. I told him to invest in 1 or two more of those and look at picking up either Utter End or Hero's Downfall, preferably the latter. Then get Glare of Heresy in the sideboard for extra removal against decks like mine and Abzan.

[Izulde]

Yeah I've really come to appreciate removal's importance in Standard.

As for the updates of my playing, etc...

I've given up on playing at UNLV. Went Tuesday and it was just stupid because everyone there has win combos that can and do win by like Turn 4 or 5. When like 5 games of 4 player EDH last maybe 30 minutes, you know it's just gotten stupid. Particularly annoying - an infinite drakes combo leading to my Coat of Arms getting stolen to give those infinite drakes infinite power and toughness.

Yesterday at my other campus, Franz and Pip were playing the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers edition game with a guy I'll call Scrooge (he's a self-admitted cheapskate but who also has a very strict moral code - fascinating dude in a lot of ways). Scrooge was well on his way to winning with a crazy scenario until Franz convinced Pip to play a sequence that led to everyone losing. I've never played it so I can't explain the mechanics.

Pip was loud and obnoxious this game as per usual. He kept shouting that he would have won the game if he had one card to get another card, and Franz and Scrooge are like "...No... no you wouldn't have. Scrooge had a ton of points just from this pile, and that's not counting all the other stuff."

Pip: "It would have been close!"

Franz, Scrooge & Me (I'd ascertained something of VP total calculation from listening: "Nope, it wouldn't have. It would have been a rout."

Pip: "But I did really well for it being my first time."

Scrooge: Eh, it wasn't bad.

Franz: And actually it was your second time.

Pip: First real time! Professor, wanna play?

Yes, yes I did. I then promptly waxed Pip who got mana screwed, while I had Seeker of the Way, and I think Cavalry Pegasus up, maybe one or two other things. Pip still has yet to beat this deck. Oh by the way, I chucked Herald of Anafenza and Master of Pearls for Murderous Cut (black removal) and the black card that makes a land so that target opponent loses life whenever the land is tapped. Neither one got in play, however.

Then Franz, who was tweaking his aggro Temur deck, joined in for a couple games of three way. I don't remember offhand who won the first game between me and Franz, and I had to go after I was the first one knocked out in the second game (which rustled my jimmies, because I should never be last in a multi-play with Pip, even with his Merfolk deck).

Oh, and I also found out about a card/comics shop close to campus that's got great reviews. Pip got an Arbor Colossus for 10 cents (worth 33 cents, it turns out) there, which is a card that'd be great for my deck.

Also talked trade/sale a bit with Franz. We may have a framework whereby I trade a Stoke the Flames for a Siege Rhino, though I would try to get a little something extra since STF is worth slightly more than SR.

Pip kept whining about how he needed Bident of Thassa, but he didn't have anything Franz wanted for it. So then Pip asked me to get it for him, and I'm like, "...No." I helped him out once with Merchantess, and that was enough. Besides, I was frankly getting tired of his whining.

After class, I stopped by and Franz, Scrooge, Mario, and Prez were playing four way Commander. Mario sped up the game as much as possible so that we could five way EDH. As he noted, we would then finally have all five colors represented, as they were lacking green in any of their decks (It's so fun being the mono green guy).

I built up with elves quickly and got out Coat of Arms. Sylvan Offering for 8 proved my friend, although I mistakenly attacked Scrooge (who I gave the elves to... they were 22/22 elves by the way) at Franz's urging. I should have left him open to keep my elves at +21/21. Lesson learned. Anyway, I attack everyone in turn. Mario survives 99 damage attack from 9 elves who were 11/11 at that point, thanks to some destruction cards, and a little help from Franz to survive with 3 life.

Then when I attacked Franz, he used Aether Storms or something like that to send attackers back to my hand and survive. Mario started pinging me, and then Prez finished me off with attackers that needed 2 blockers for every attack plus all damage dealt to attackers was nullified (should have killed him first rather than Scrooge).

So Franz won that game.

Prez, Mario, and Scrooge started playing 3 way Yu-gi-oh, while Mario, Franz and I played a 3 way of EDH. I'm sitting in a decent position, with Thrun, Mirrorworks, activated Quest for Renewal and Beastmaster Acension on the board, and Sword of Body and Mind is in my hand, just waiting to get Mirrorworks treatment and equipping to Thrun to destroy both Mario and Franz with his what would have been 13/13 and protection from blue (to say nothing of milling 20 cards with each swing).

...And then Franz hits with Cyclonic Rift overload right before my turn.

Me: DAMN IT! *table slam*

I guess I was louder than expected, because everyone in the area looked at me. Oops. Afterwards Franz was like, "Why were you so surprised? I said I was putting it on the top of my library with that fetch." "I didn't hear you... I thought you said something else."

I've never, ever gotten to Mirroworks Sword of Body and Mind. Other artifacts, yes (including Coat of Arms, which was awesome fun), but not the Sword. I think I'll keep Sylvan Offering in, though.

The problem with being mono green is that you can be awesome early, but then everyone guns for you as the biggest threat on the board (literally). I've thought about switching to Surrak Dragonclaw and running green/red/blue, but I love Thrun so very much.

Difficult decisions.

[Izulde]

Today I had to drop off paperwork at community college, so went to store Pip was telling me about... only to discover that it's the same exact store where people had hissy fits over Saturday tournaments a few years ago. :lol: :lol:

I spent a lot of time searching through the 10 cent singles and 25 cent singles drawers. They had a special where if you got 20 cards at 10 cents each (for $2 total) the price dropped to 5 cents a card, or a buck. So I put together a pack of 20 and I think I'm set, until I look through the cheap rares binder and find two Fabled Heroes sitting there at $1 each. I immediately buy them and go to swap out 3 of my 20 pack for a playset of Cavalry Pegasus. Only I couldn't find a third one, so I ended up stumbling upon Acolyte's Reward, which, after some thought, I find I'm intrigued enough to put in.

After all the purchases, I'd spent $3.25, and we had...

Dropped
1x Evangel of Heliod
1x Herald of Anafenza
1x Master of Pearls
1x Oreskos Sun Guide
2x Seraph of the Masses
1x Sungrace Pegasus

Avacyn's Legion of Heliod: The Tournament Edition
11x Plains
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
2x Forests
2x Blossoming Sands
2x Jungle Hollow
2x Temple of Silence

2x Abzan Charm
1x Acolyte's Reward
2x Banishing Light
1x Dictate of Heliod
1x Gods Willing
1x Feast on the Fallen
1x Incremental Growth
1x Market Festival
1x Mass Calcify
1x Murderous Cut
1x Naturalize
1x Ordeal of Nylea
1x Reviving Melody
1x Revoke Existence
1x Spear of Heliod
1x Spirit Bonds
1x Suspension Field

1x Abzan Battle Priest
1x Akroan Skyguard
1x Archetype of Courage
1x Avacyn, Guardian Angel
3x Cavalry Pegasus
2x Fabled Hero
1x Favored Hoplite
2x High Sentinels of Arashin
1x Ivorytusk Fortress
1x Paragon of New Dawns
2x Seeker of the Way
1x Warden of the Beyond
1x Wingsteed Rider

Oh, one more thing - I *finally* get a set of mini-dice today, so Franz can stop bitching at me to get some. :D They're very cool orange and red speckled dice with green pips (you can argue they're yellow, too). Was very glad to have them during the tournament.

Round 1
I draw the guy who's organizing the whole thing. That means umpteen planeswalkers and lots and lots of high powered cards. Needless to say, I got squashed. He told me afterwards, "You did well with what you have. Just got to improve your deck little by little with stuff."

Round 2
One of the cards I think I pulled recently (I'll have to check to be sure) is Villainous Wealth. I've been tempted to try and splash blue for it, because it looks awesome. Guess what I faced this round? Yeah... a black/green/splash blue deck built around Villainous Wealth. It pissed me off to no end seeing my cards be used against me. He also had the planeswalker who lets you steal creatures from opposing players. I fell pretty hard to this one, too, though was able to stay alive for extended periods of time, thanks to removals and Spirit Bonds.

Round 3
This is the one guy I thought I maybe had a shot at beating. I'd seen him play before the tournament, and noticed he ran red/white/black. I was tipped off to his deck not being tournament great when I saw Herald of Anafenza on the field. Game 1, he's slightly mana screwed early, but then starts building and has Raise the Alarm soldiers out and a planeswalker, I think it was? Meanwhile, I'm sitting there with Seeker of the Way, Spirit Bonds, and a spirit token. He's down to enough life that I can beat him in a couple of turns if he doesn't draw mana, but I don't feel safe about that. I draw Incremental Growth to hand, and I'm cursing my having only two creatures when it dawns on me.... it doesn't say creatures I control! So I +1/+1 one of his soldiers, +2/+2 Seeker, and +3/+3 the Spirit token, which flying damage is enough to kill him and net me my first ever MtG tournament game win!.

Other notes: The early game was dominated by Avacyn, who did her damnedst to show she was worthy before he hit her with Hero's Downfall.

Second game, I see the dreaded Butcher and Ankle-Shanker combo, the Ankle-shanker of which I got recently. So I lose that one, even though I've got Spirit Bonds out yet again, and am constantly using it to summon blockers and stay alive, stay alive.

Third game - we're going back and forth. I've destroyed one Butcher and exiled another via Banishing Light. He's got the Ankle-Shanker out again and a couple other things I can't recall. I once more have Spirit Bonds out (Seriously, I was getting incredible luck all night with Spirit Bonds in play), along with High Sentinels of Arashin, plus whatever spirit tokens I had floating around (har-har).

I get him down to one life, with the Butcher out and Ankle-Shanker gone via some removal of mine - I forget which. High Sentinels and a spirit are back on the board, thanks to Reviving Melody. I think I've got him, when all of a sudden, he sacs one of his soldier tokens and gives the Butcher lifelink to shoot up to a safe level of life.

I think I got rid of the Butcher after that, and I'm sitting with a 1/1 spirit token. Organizer calls time and there's 5 turns. Long story short over the next five turns, as I don't remember the exact sequence, neither one is able to secure victory conditions, thereby ending in a draw and my first non-forfeit, non-bye tournament points ever in Magic!

Round 4
A real jokester was my opponent this time. Played mono black and harming Herald of Torments, and other stuff. First game, I had to mull down to 5, so it was over before it started. Second game, he got mana screwed, but Warden of Beyond got its chance to shine here, as I exiled something of his to make my Warden 4/4, and I had a couple other creatures with total board control, and won shortly, making it my second ever tournament game win. Third game, mana screwed again.

Round 5
I was given a bye, and automatic 3 points. Like the guy who forfeited the last tournament I played in, I don't count this.

Promo card for participation was meh. Our choice of three, and I picked up the black/white multi-player card, not realizing it was MP until after I'd already chosen it. Should still be fun, though.

General Tournament Notes
1. Removal is *heavy* in Standard right now. I can't count the number of times I got slammed by Hero's Downfall, which I probably need four of. Bile Blight got a lot of play too, which is a card I have. Something to think about, I guess, though it's useless against Stormbreath dragon.

2. Everyone, and I mean *everyone* I played against had at least one planeswalker, and most had multiple. Guess who has not a single planeswalker who's Standard legal? Yeah, me.

3. Spirit Bonds was a frigging champ tonight. It hit the board in several matches and kept me alive turn after turn after turn.

4. I got to attack with Fabled Hero a grand total of once. Every other time he arrived on the field, he was an immediate removal target. So it appears my hunch about his awesomeness is right.

5. Seemed like every deck I played with green in it had multiple Coursers of Krufix (sp) in it. It was worth keeping the enchantment removals in my mainboard (I had no sideboard) just for that alone. Guess who doesn't even have 1? Yep, me again.

After the tournament, I bought 3x Abzan Ascendancy at 25 cents each from Merchantess, who, it turns out, works at the store. She asked if I'd seen Fellow Instructor, who apparently plays there some Fridays, but I hadn't and didn't.

Siege Rhino down to 4.50 store price. So tempted to buy a playset, but then I would need to bring in Abzan Falconers, which would raise the mana curve back up again after I lowered it by getting rid of the Seraphs and Evangel. Still, I can't get this image of flying Siego Rhinos out of my head.

I do like this deck, though, and I think it can be tweaked to be more successful even if I do get rid of the humans + Cavalry Pegasus to fly mechanic, in favor of flying rhinos with lifelink (Abzan Falconers and Battle Priests is my current thought). But I need to think about the path I want to take the deck before I commit serious money to it.

[BYU 14]

Good showing, deck is slowly coming along. Would definitely pickup Rhino and add 3 or 4 Sylvan Caryatids in their as well, always nice when you can use it to drop a Rhino on turn 3.

I hate playing Villainous Wealth decks with all the burn I was playing in my Mardu deck. Only one guy was running it at the store I play at and I was able to beat him both times, but they are always tense matchups if he gets it out late. The key against them is press early and make them have to use it when they can only steal 3 or 4 cards, then hope half of them are land :)

I am going with my Mardu protect deck today. All removal out except 4 Crackling Doom, 3 Chained to the Rocks and 2 Hero's downfall. Anxious to see how the 8 protection from cards (4 Gods Willing and 4 Feat of Resistance) will fair. I am expecting they will give me an element of surprise since I have never seen a Mardu deck run them and could be game savers by keeping Butcher in play.

[Izulde]

Thanks. :) Rhinos and Caryatids I'm a bit conflicted on - it would involve a complete reconstruction of the deck, but we'll see.

Other things I noticed - any deck with black in it usually had Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall, but both are out of my price range atm, and I'm morally against spending more than a few bucks on a single card (my screwup with Temple of Silence the tournament before this notwithstanding).

Yeah, that Villainous Wealth is not fun at all to go against. I just checked and I did pull it and Ankle-Shanker over the last couple weeks. Ankle Shanker was a *bitch*. Even when I had enough power to stop it, that combo of first strike + death touch was unbeatable.

I'm curious to see how the Gods Willing and Feat of Resistance go, too. I was thinking this morning that they act as essential counterspells to removal spells, and Feat of Resistance would be particularly useful in the deck that I'm running - even if I do eliminate the Humans + Cavalry Pegasus baseline.

[BYU 14]

The new build was solid today, place top 4 and my only loss was to a R/B constellation deck whip deck. Game 1 went almost 25 minutes and he just wore me down. Game 2 I boarded in all the right answers (Hushwing Gryff, Anger of the Gods, Utter End and Erase) but only drew a Hushwing Gryff and an Utter End and while Hushwing stopped Doomwake Giant and Hornet Queen from triggering their effects he had mana advantage and got a second Whip of Erebos down after I used Utter End on the first and I didn't have enough gas to stay up with him.

Thinking I will keep Feat of Resistance and put three Lightning Strikes back in for Gods Willing. Not having some burn can be a frustrating late game, but overall I am happy with the results.

Also played Commander for the first time after the tournament, borrowing the store owners deck which was just insane, but so many of the cards are older, so I wouldn't have had a clue on how to pilot it if he hadn't been giving me pointers. Still fun, so I may look into playing this more.

[Izulde]

Commander is like crack once you start playing it. :D

Surrak Dragonclaw is going to be my new Commander, I think. I love Thrun, but mono green has no answer for things like Stormtide Leviathan, so I need to run R/G/U to get some destruction/counter stuff to deal with those sorts of threats. It's weird, actually... my Standard deck is built around flying, but my Commander deck currently has no fliers.

Think I'll keep the elf swarm as the main basis of the deck, but remove some stuff to get red destruction and blue counter in there - perhaps some fliers as well. It'll be tough figuring out how to distribute the lands due to the 1 per card limit with exception of non-basic lands, but we'll see how it goes.

[Izulde]

Played Current Student last week against his legacy Blue/White deck built around control and defense until he gets a creature hexproofed and pumped up. I won 3 games out of 4, so that was pretty good.

Then yesterday, while I was waiting for students to drop final assignments off after I took my math final, I played the new Lord of the Rings deck-building game with Pip and a couple other people. It was the last one with the journey of the Ring either destroyed or not. Lot of fun, but it's a long play. Everyone lost, which was my objective when my win con got screwed, so yay.

I also made tweaks to the Avacyn deck to be able to test out which of the added abilities I liked best, and cut away the Human + Cavalry Pegasus combo. Although I beat Pip 4 games to 2 against his merfolk deck, which has new nastiness in that he got cards that turn lands into islands, I was annoyed at losing even once to him. Yes, his is a legacy deck, and yes he was bragging about beating some guy by Turn 7 thanks to Door of Destinies and a merfolk he can keep blinking in and out to pump up all his merfolk, but I hate losing to him, and the Avacyn deck felt worse for the changes I made.

Then I played against his mill deck and went 1-1. He almost milled me out twice, but the first game I managed to get Sentinels of Arashin and Fabled Hero pumped up and once I exiled his board, it was a quick two turn wipeout to save me. Standard isn't really made to mess with mill right now, or have defenses against it.

I've made major changes to the standard deck, but I'm still not happy with it, so I'm not going to post the overhaul I did, like I usually do. I still need to reconfigure my Commander deck as a Surrak Dragonclaw deck, but I also want to make a G/Blue/B modern Mill deck around Villainous Wealth and mill stuff.

I'm also a little annoyed with myself right now - I can't find where I put my Bile Blight, and I need that as a sideboard for dealing with those damn goblin swarm decks that certain people run. :P

[BYU 14]

I'm also a little annoyed with myself right now - I can't find where I put my Bile Blight, and I need that as a sideboard for dealing with those damn goblin swarm decks that certain people run. :P

Don't hate :D

[Izulde]

Don't hate :D

:D Found my Bile Blight, and I have some other toys on tap for dealing with your deck. You'll ROFLstomp me still, but at least I might last a few turns.

[Izulde]

Based on my Christmas pulls, I'm toying with a green/black base and a red/black base in two new decks. Both have new themes. The black/red took me by surprise, but the pulls demand a deck around them. The big question is where and how much white is involved in each deck.

[Izulde]

Pharika's Enchanted Circle

Lands
7x Forests
4x Swamps
3x Blossoming Sands
4x Jungle Hollow
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
2x Temple of Silence
1x Temple of Malady

Creatures - E=Enchantment
1x Archetype of Courage (E)
1x Courser of Kruphix (E)
1x Elvish Mystic
2x Hero of Leina Tower
3x Leafcrown Dryad (E)
1x Mistcutter Hydra
1x Nighthowler (E)
1x Pharika, God of Affliction (E)
2x Rotting Mastodon
2x Seeker of the Way
1x Siege Rhino
1x Sightless Brawler (E)
1x Underworld Coinsmith (E)

Enchantments
1x Armament of Nyx
1x Bow of Nylea
1x Brave the Sands
1x Whip of Erebos

Non-Enchantment Non-Creature Spells
4x Abzan Charm
1x Incremental Growth
4x Feat of Resistance
3x Kin-Tree Invocation
1x Reviving Melody

It's not a perfect deck, and I may take out the Heroes of Leina Tower and Feats of Resistance in favor of making it even more of a black/green/white constellation deck. It's the Pharika pull that got me really interested in building this deck, and I kept going back and forth on how to construct it. I may still make some changes before Friday, including making this a green/black/blue deck instead. There's some blue cards I got that I really want to play, and if it wasn't for Underworld Coinsmith, Brave the Sands, Siege Rhino, and the Heroes, I would have switched over.

I love the idea of Rotting Mammoth + Kin-Tree Invocation combo... 2/8 zombie elephant, and then that 8 toughness is used to create an 8/8 creature for one black/one green. :D Or if Heroes are pumped up, using those for Kin-Tree Invocation...

Still a black/red deck I'm trying to sort out, too.

[BYU 14]

I like the direction you are going, a couple more Siege Rhinos and a pair of Doomwake Giants and you are going to compete

[Izulde]

I do have a Doomwake Giant, but I'm not sure it's worth it?

[BYU 14]

I do have a Doomwake Giant, but I'm not sure it's worth it?

At very least a great sideboard card, especially with whip. It gives the -1/-1 when it hits the board to take care of tokens and agro decks and also comes out ahead of the curve with Mana Dorks, plus the added bonus of being able to whip it back in and repeat the cycle.

It is a staple in a lot of Sidisi whip and Abzan reanimator decks and has to be dealt with when it hits the board.

[Izulde]

I'll try it out then, as I initially had it in. Need to decide what to drop.

[Izulde]

Pharika's Enchanted Circle Adjustments
Dropped
1x Elvish Mystic
1x Incremental Growth
2x Hero of Leina Tower
1x Sightless Brawler

Added
1x Underworld Coinsmith
1x Godsend
1x Gnarled Scarhide
1x Master of the Feast (Might drop, though)
1x Fleecemane Lion

Shifting it more and more towards a pure enchantment creature deck. Godsend is an absolutely amazing card, though it takes 6 mana total to activate. This does make the deck run slightly slower with the loss of 3 one-drops and a 2 drop, replacing it with two 2 drops, two 3 drops, 1 drop, and the one I can't remember.

Master of the Feast allows opponents to draw a card on my upkeep, which is the tradeoff of a 3 mana (1C2B) 5/5 flier. Still debating on it. One thing I might do instead is drop it and maybe another card and put in a couple Grim Guardians (2C1B - Whenever it or another enchantment enters the field, each opponent loses 1 life). Still need to put my Doomwake Giant in, too, but I'll do that when I get back to Vegas, as my cards are all packed away right now.

The one thing I'm not sure on is if say I have both Underworld Coinsmiths out and I spend one black/one white for the mana activated ability... can I double up and spend 2 life in the same action to cause the opponent to lose 2 life, or does each ability need to be paid for separately?

It kills me to take out Incremental Growth, but with dropping the Heroes, it just wasn't worth it. Can't wait to try this deck out finally, though. Hope the Rotting Mastadons and Kin-Tree Invocation prove a consistently great combo. If not, no worries. Then I just drop them and use the slots for an even heavier enchantment-based deck. (And of course, Siege Rhinos ;)

[Izulde]

Oh duh. The fifth card I forgot was Fleecemane Lion, which is an awesome, awesome card. The dropping of three green 1 drops, a 1C1W and 3C2G Enchantment in favor of a BW, WG, B, 1C2W, 1C2B means I need to reconfigure my mana distribution and bring Plains into it.

[Izulde]

Fate Reforged prelease event tomorrow night immediately after Friday Night Magic at my current favorite gaming store in town. I *could* go to one that's a lot closer to my apartment on Saturday, but if the crowd stays consistent to what I had last FNM, I'd prefer my current fave.

[Izulde]

Pharika's Enchanted Circle v 2.0

Lands
7x Forests
4x Swamps
3x Blossoming Sands
4x Jungle Hollow
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
2x Temple of Silence
1x Temple of Malady

Creatures - E=Enchantment
1x Archetype of Courage (E)
1x Courser of Kruphix (E)
1x Doomwake Giant (E)
1x Fleecemane Lion
3x Grim Guardian (E)
1x Humbler of Mortals (E)
3x Leafcrown Dryad (E)
1x Nighthowler (E)
1x Pharika, God of Affliction (E)
1x Siege Rhino
1x Sightless Brawler (E)
1x Sylvan Caryatid
2x Underworld Coinsmith (E)

Enchantments
1x Armament of Nyx
1x Bow of Nylea
1x Brave the Sands
1x Eternal Thirst
2x Feast on the Fallen
1x Whip of Erebos

Non-Enchantment Non-Creature Spells
4x Abzan Charm
4x Feat of Resistance
1x Godsend
1x Reviving Melody

The first version of this deck had 11 enchantments. V 1.5 had 13. This one has 22 if I'm counting right. I realized as I was looking over the deck again that by putting in the Grim Guardians and having Underworld Coinsmith and Siege Rhino on tap, I was setting myself up beautifully for Feast on the Fallen's effects to kick in every turn, and those are enchantments besides, which help the constellation effects of Grim Guardian, Underworld Coinsmith, and Doomwake Giant. Oh and Humbler of Mortals too, obviously.

I'm thinking I'll drop two Feats in favor of Rhinos if they're cheap enough. Or maybe add more Coursers since they've dropped in price and would up the enchantment in addition to de facto mana dorking? Or maybe drop 2 Feats for Rhinos and the Caryatid for a Courser?

Stuff to think about anyway. I'm sad to shelve the Mammoth + Kin-folk Invocation before getting a chance to try it out, but I think this new, more dedicated enchantment version will be better in the long run, as the 8/8 token creatures introduced by Kin-Folk Invocation would be automatic targets for removal, and I have no way of retrieving those once they're gone.

[Izulde]

No Siege Rhinos in stock, but I got Erebos, God of the Dead, for $4. He instantly went in my deck, replacing a Feat of Resistance. $10.50 for Coursers, which made them automatic No.

[Izulde]

What an eventful, crazy night (as weird as that sounds to say about Magic.) Just got home an hour ago (yes, it was literally all night), and have lots to write up on, but will wait until I'm more awake.

[Izulde]

Small crowd for Friday Night Magic. So small, there's only 3 rounds.

Round 1
Up against a Mardu deck. Nggggh. Underworld Coinsmith and Grim Guardian hit the board early in Game 1, though, and start their constellation thing. By the time Pharika makes an online appearance and gets that good Eternal Thirst, it's all over. He had some big creature out that was causing me problems temporarily, but I forget who it was, and I had board control. Also, Brave the Sands was out.

Game 2, he's able to get his aggro mechanics out and I'm easily crushed.

Game 3, I learn the most satisfying sound in the world, and that's the great whomp of Siege Rhino hitting the board. Once again, Brave the Sands took effect, and there were one or two other items on the board, but this was a quick win for me and my first ever authentic match victory that wasn't forfeit or bye!

Round 2
Organizer, who I got Round 1 last time I played here. I joked that I hoped he wouldn't kill me as badly as he did last time. He did still hammer me, but he did it very politely, mulling down to 5 with me, before I finally had to mull down to 4. I actually lasted longer than expected, and he had some great advice for me after the game.

"Your mana curve is too low to be running 25 lands. You should be running 23, maybe 24 at most. Also, you're trying to run a constellation deck, but the problem is, your constellation is too small (Izulde thought: That's what she said).

You've got what, 7 or 8 constellation cards? That's not enough. You're concentrating so hard on that small constellation that you have a lot of weaker cards that are sacrificing a lot better things you could have in there. I mean it's your deck, but if you want to do constellation, you need things like Eidolon of Blossoms and think about going black/green."

It gave me a lot to think about.

Round 3
Up against *another* damned Mardu deck. I don't remember much how this match went, only that I actually managed to get a win off him, and he actually sideboarded me, which the first guy did as well, come to think of it. I just recall in one of the two Mardu matches that my Rhino got nailed by Utter End after a sideboard. I think that was Round 1, come to think of it. Means that I'm finally starting to have a deck that people take seriously.

So I've gone from pure 0-2 whomps the first two tournaments I've been in (bar the forfeit in the first one) to getting a draw last tournament and now yesterday getting my first match win and first tournament where I won games in two separate matches.

Post-FNM
Merchantess showed up, and she had Siege Rhinos. They were like $4.50 before the winter break, and now they're up to $4.75. I think they're likely to go up in price again, so I bought 3 to give myself a playset before the spike I think will come does.

Stars of FNM
1. Brave The Sands
Vigilance for all my creatures was a damned champ and a key factor in my Round 1 victory.

2. Siege Rhino
Obvious hero is obvious.

3. Archetype of Courage
Hit the board a couple of times and I still love this card so v.v. much. First strike is totally on my side? Yes.pls.

Duds of FNM
1. The Grim Guardian + Feast On The Fallen Combo
Yes, this hit the field at least once. In fact, I had *both* FotF out. And it was just a very anticlimactic combo. Granted, it was probably because Guardian was my only creature out at the moment, but still... I definitely got what Organizer was saying.

2. Underworld Coinsmith
He would only work in a dedicated B/W constellation deck. In a heavy green/black base like this one, he's pretty weak and not very exciting.

And since you asked, Lee, Doomwake Giant never made an appearance, although Humbler of Mortals did... and he came out when Siege Rhino was already on the board as my other creature, making him redundant. :D

So it's simply a matter of going to B/G constellation and splashing white for the Rhinos and Feats, right?

Well... not exactly. You see, there's this thing called the prerelease of the new expansion....

And that's next post.

[Izulde]

My first ever prerelease event. I was supposed to go to one back in 2010 or 2011, but the guys I was going with took off without me, then spent all the next few days talking about it. Needless to say, I was pissed. I've never quite forgiven them for it, either.

But this one I wasn't going to miss.

$30 charge, and the way it worked is this: You chose your clan: Abzan, Jeskai, Sultai, Temur, and Mardu, and got a special box for that clan. Guess which one I chose?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/yayabzan_zpse859edb8.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/yayabzan_zpse859edb8.jpg.html)

Duh. Though I was tempted by Temur and Sultai, as I've been toying with R/G/U and B/G/U decks respectively over the last few weeks, in addition to a R/B deck I've been contemplating.

Oh, and that's my new placemat beneath it. $7 for a plain green one until I can find a playmat I really like.

Inside the box was a package of clan-specific cards, four boosters of Fate Reforged, and one of Khans of Tarkir. We had 30 minutes to assemble a deck out of the cards we had, with a 40 card minimum.

First off, my promo card:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/daghatar_zpsad1572d3.png (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/daghatar_zpsad1572d3.png.html)

"Hi, I'm in ur game, stealin ur counterz"

Beyond that, I'm sorry to say, I didn't get much exciting, except for the following two cards:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/atarkaworldrender_zps6c38c278.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/atarkaworldrender_zps6c38c278.jpg.html)

I'm already drooling, envisioning a Modern deck I'm going to build around this possibly.

And then the most expensive card I drew:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/brutalhordechief_zps918f103d.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/brutalhordechief_zps918f103d.jpg.html)

$8.53 midpoint price. This dude would be freaking AWESOME in Mardu goblin token decks. Ping: BYU 14

So I'm sitting there, and I really, really want to find a way to force the dragon in the deck. But it's just not going to work, I finally decide. And in fact, it's getting 3 of this card that settle my direction:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/harshsustenance_zpsfc4e4093.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/harshsustenance_zpsfc4e4093.jpg.html)

The fact that this is a common is ridiculous, and I think we're going to see even more obnoxious Mardu aggro decks as a result of Harsh Sustenance and Brutal Hordechief.

I immediately snap up all the cheap casting cost creatures in B/G/W I can find and throw in some others, ultimately ending with this:

Fate Reforged Prerelease Tournament Deck
Lands
4x Forests
6x Plains
7x Swamps
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
1x Scoured Barrens

Note: Basic lands were provided free by the shop

Creatures
1x Abzan Skycaptain
1x Alabastar Kirin
1x Arashin Cleric
1x Archers' Parapet
1x Armament Corps
1x Brutal Hordechief
1x Daghatar the Adamant
1x Disowned Ancestor
1x Elite Scaleguard
1x Hewed Stone Retainers
1x Hooded Assassin
1x Mer-Ek Nightblade
1x Rakshasa Deathdealer
2x Sandsteppe Outcast
3x Sultai Emissary
1x Typhoid Rats
1x Wandering Champion

Instants
1x Abzan Advantage
1x Feat of Resistance
3x Harsh Sustenance
1x Pressure Point
1x Reach of Shadows

b]Sorceries[/b]
1x Seek the Horizons

Now what I didn't know was that you're supposed to go 23 non-lands, 17 lands and make a 40 card deck in this format. Instead, I went 28 non-lands and estimated the landcount to 19, for a total of 47 cards - or 7 over the ideal size.

I should also note that I was frantically sleeving my cards as time was counting down, after having to buy a pack of sleeves to sleeve stuff (green, of course). Really, really feeling the time crunch.

Six round Swiss. Top 8 advance

Round 1
This guy had great luck in terms of card value draw in that he got no less than *3* of the dragons. Unfortunately for him, it meant a shit deck in composition, though he tried with a Jeskai red/white/blue. We also started late because he, too, was slow to sleeve though I had mine down before we were to start. I wiped him out pretty easily both games, thanks to the Harsh Sustenance and Reach of Shadows for removal. Don't remember the creatures that knocked him out, though. At the end of the 2-0 sweep, he said, "Fuck it. I'm going in all in on a five color deck for my dragons." Another guy was like, "You're playing dangerous." Dragons Guy: "I don't care. I got screwed in stuff to construct with."

Round 2
Best battle of the whole night. He was running Sultai, I think, and our first game went 30 minutes before he conceded, and then I beat him handily the second game. The beauty of Daghatar and Brutal Hordechief made themselves known this round. Although I didn't use Daghatar to steal counters, I used him to transfer his counters to my flying spirit. Which leads me to one of the cool mechanics of Fate Reforged - that of some cards that have choices. Sandsteppe Outcast is one - it allows you to either put a +1/+1 counter on it *or* bring in a 1/1 flying Spirit token when Outcast comes into play. Hooded Assassin is another one - +1/+1 counter or destroy a creature that took damage this turn.

Round 3
I'm in total shock that I swept both opening rounds and am in play to maybe, somehow pull off a Top 8. Then I go up against someone, I don't remember what he played, but I won the first, he won the second because I was green mana screwed the entire game until the last couple turns, and by then it was too late. Third game, I'm losing, and I'm trying to stall for the draw. Time's called. I continue stalling. Then on Turn 5, the last turn, he hits me with everything... and beats me by 1.single.fucking.point. If I'd gotten one more blocker out during Turns 0, 2, or 4, I would have salvaged the draw. Instead, 0 points, and a 2-1 defeat.

Round 4
There are some people who got insanely lucky on their draws. One was my next opponent, who not only drew a Brutal Hordechief, but *2* of this next card - a promo, and then another one:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/wardentree_zps70c2dc85.png (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/wardentree_zps70c2dc85.png.html)

Yeah. First game he got both of those assholes out and stomped me. Second game I was able to get stuff out quick enough to beat him. Third game he won, and it's another 1-2 defeat.

Round 5
By this turn, I'm getting hungry, and I'm getting mad. To go from 2-0 sweeps to nut-kicked in one round and a shit opponent draw in the next was really pissing me off. So I was quite snappy and an ass during this round, when I kept getting spell-screwed in both games I lost. I felt bad about it afterwards, especially since it was against the kid I got my first tie against it. Oh by the way, he got Ugin,the Planeswalker. I still do not have a planeswalker that's standard legal after umpteen gazillion packs that I got for Christmas presents, plus the odd one-offs I've opened here and there.

Round 6
By this time, I know I'm not going to make Top 8, and I'm trying to find the hey it's fun to play Magic mood again. It helps when my last opponent is a Jeskai player who has a very, very slow deck. He wins the first one because he lasts until his stuff hits the board, but Games 2 and 3, I brutally crush him to salvage a .500 record and 9 points in my first prerelease event.

Before Top 8 drawings are announced, the raffle results are held. $5 a ticket, max 2 tickets per person. 3rd place is 5 Khans of Tarkir packs, 2nd place is 5 Fate Reforged packs, and 1st place is an expensive card.

3rd place comes... it's a guy who had to leave early, so his Khans packs are set aside.

2nd place comes... it's somebody in attendance, and he gleefully accepts his Fate Reforged packs.

1st place number is announced... I check my ticket.... You've got to fucking be kidding me.

Izulde won the raffle!

What did Izulde win?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/toyworkshop_zps08c1e9f8.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/toyworkshop_zps08c1e9f8.jpg.html)

Congratulations are offered all around, and a couple of guys tell me it's going for around $80 on eBay. Cool stuff.

I immediately get an offer for the card from a guy in back. "I'll give you $50 for it."

"...No."

"Give you 65."

"...No, I want to wait and check the value first."

Come to find out, that $50 price he offered first? That was the low price point on TCG. Even the 65 bucks was below the $75 midpoint price. I don't appreciate people who try to rip off of others, so I wouldn't have sold it to him even he offered the $75 then. I don't care that it's good negotiation tactics or business sense - I have a strong sense of ethics about that sort of thing.

Side Note: As the time of this post, the low price is up to $58, the midpoint price to $76

Honestly, I'm probably not going to sell it. Christmas is my favorite holiday to begin with, and it was kind of a special season for me. Biggest reason is Mom getting her liver transplant when she had a month left to live (as we found out afterwards), but also me getting back into Magic and developing the beginnings of potential friendships through it. Plus, I've never, ever owned a card that was worth that much.

Other New Mechanics
Bolster - Gives +1/+1 counters to the creature with the lowest toughness among those you have. I *love* this mechanic.
Manifest - Next card on your deck comes into place face-down as a 2/2 creature. You can then cast the card if it's a creature for its casting cost. This sounds great in theory, but it can really screw you over, as it did me in the first game of Round 5.

When Sultai Emissary dies, it manifests the next card. Guess what it manifested? Daghatar. And when a card manifests, all enter the battlefield effects are nullified, because it's already in the field when it's face down

So I have some thinking to do on whether to pursue the constellation route, bring back Avacyn's Meek to Mighty Warrior Horde, or pursue some other angles.

Semester starts again tomorrow, so I'll create a couple of decks to play with (and post them here, obviously).

[Izulde]

Erebos and Pharika's Deadly Flying Rhino Circus
Lands
4x Plains
4x Forests
4x Sandsteppe Citadels
4x Jungle Hollows
2x Temple of Silence
1x Temple of Malady
3x Blossoming Sands
1x Windswept Heath

Creatures
2x Abzan Falconer
1x Archetype of Courage
1x Brutal Hordechief
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Daghatar the Adamant
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Fleecemane Lion
1x Ivorytusk Fortress
2x Mer-Ek Nightblade
1x Nighthowler
1x Pharika, God of Affliction
1x Rakshasa Deathdealer
2x Seeker of the Way
4x Siege Rhino
1x Sylvan Caryatid

Artifacts
1x Bow of Nylea
1x Whip of Erebos

Enchantments
3x Abzan Ascendancy
1x Brave the Sands

Equipment
1x Godsend

Instants
2x Abzan Charm
2x Feat of Resistance
2x Harsh Sustenance
1x Raise the Alarm

Sorceries
1x Launch the Fleet
1x Reviving Melody

Just a deck to test out today and see how it goes. Originally I had 4 Abzan Charms and 4 Abzan Falconers in here, but cut them for Harsh Sustenance and Mer-Ek Nightblade respectively. The Ascendancies stack, and obviously it's built around the Rhinos and creature swarm - 21 actual creatures, plus the Raise the Alarm and Launch the Fleet, and however many of Abzan Ascendancy are out to give flying spirit tokens. Brutal Hordechief is potentially huge here.

More of a midrange deck really, but one that should hopefully generate enough life gain/drain with the Rhinos and Sustenances to keep me alive against aggro decks.

[Izulde]

Brief Erebos and Pharika's Flying Rhino Circuses Report
Played it against a Sliver Modern deck and a Legacy Stasis deck this past week. Won 1 game out of 5 against the sliver deck and managed to beat the Stasis deck, but overall, I just wasn't feeling it. If anything, it seemed like it was taking a step back.

EDH Deck Change
Thrun got dethroned by Surrak Dragonclaw, making a red/blue/green deck because the community college has suddenly gone EDH-mad. I haven't seen Pip at all, so I think he quit school. This saddens me on many levels. I spend most of my pre-class time talking to Fellow Instructor, and I'll usually see Robbie around, though our schedules don't match much. I've seen Franz a couple times, too.

Anyway, the Dragonclaw deck (which still needs a name) is still elf tribal, but it sneaks in every dragon I have for doublestrike fun with Atarka, and has a couple counterspells in it, which will be stripped away soon in favor of another build. It's been an enjoyable deck so far. In the two complete games I've managed to play (a six-way and then a 1 v 1 with Prez, who I just saw again last night), I took 3rd in a game against decks that are strong without being stupid like certain UNLV players' decks, and I beat Prez's Soldier swarm deck thanks to Siege Behemoth, elf buildup and Coat of Arms hitting the field.

Last Night
I didn't realize last night was Modern. I brought Flying Rhino Circus. Oops. Important note: I bought a pack of Fate Reforged and got a mana dork, the blue/black dragon, and something else I can't remember. I also bought from Merchantess a green bard fetch card and Heliod, since I'm A) getting into the habit of collecting god cards apparently, and B) Heliod makes much more sense with Flying Rhino Circus. Pharika and Erebos went out, Heliod and some other stuff went in, including an Elite Scaleguard.

But it was Standard against Modern, which is the Magic equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight. So all night I was facing Modern decks built around destroying my board and/or forcing me to discard. I did get to play Merchantess for the first time, though, and listen to a long, drawn-out negotiation she had over a complex series of card trades, which was cool.

What really reached me, though, was my last match against the guy running it (Not the normal organizer, but one of the regulars). He fucking played one of those stupid as shit Jeskai Ascendancy infinite combo decks, and won on Turn 3 or 4 in both games. I was so irate over another one of those fucking things that I left without getting my card, vowing that I was done with Modern, and done with Abzan.

So people want to play removal and denial huh? Two can play at that shit. In the process of building a deck idea that I've wanted to for a long time anyway.

[Izulde]

So I uh... um... went with a mono white heroic deck for tonight

[Izulde]

Heliod's Heroic Horde
Lands
20 Plains

Creatures
1x Abzan Battlepriest
3x Abzan Falconers
3x Akroan Skyguards
1x Archetype of Courage
2x Elite Scaleguards
3x Fabled Heroes
1x Favored Hoplite
1x Heliod, God of the Sun
1x Phalanx Leader
2x Seeker of the Way

Noncreature Spells
1x Godsend (Buff and Cockblocking fun)
3x Acolyte's Reward (Protection)
3x Banishing Light (Removal - Thought I had a playset, but guess not)
4x Feat of Resistance (Protection)
4x Gods Willing (Protection)
1x Hold at Bay (Protection)
1x Raise the Alarm (Chump blockers)
1x Revoke Existence (Artifact/Enchantment removal)
1x Spear of Heliod (Buff + maybe removal)
3x Suspension Field (Big creature removal)

And I'll sideboard 4 Glare of Heresy and another Revoke Existence.

This is quite literally a cheap and dirty deck. It'll be the first monocolor deck I've seen in this meta I believe, and I hope it can do *something*.

[Izulde]

Dropped 2 Falconers, the lone Revoke Existence, and Raise the Alarm in favor of beefing up the Heroics.

Lands
20 Plains

Creatures
1x Abzan Battlepriest
1x Abzan Falconers
3x Akroan Skyguards (H)
1x Archetype of Courage
2x Elite Scaleguards
3x Fabled Heroes (H)
2x Favored Hoplites (Found my other one) (H)
1x Heliod, God of the Sun
1x Phalanx Leader (H)
2x Seeker of the Way
3x Wingsteed Rider (H)

12 Heroics. Perhaps a bit short still, but we'll see how this goes.

Noncreature Spells
1x Godsend (Buff and Cockblocking fun)
3x Acolyte's Reward (Protection)
3x Banishing Light (Removal - Thought I had a playset, but guess not)
4x Feat of Resistance (Protection)
4x Gods Willing (Protection)
1x Hold at Bay (Protection)
1x Spear of Heliod (Buff + maybe removal)
3x Suspension Field (Big creature removal)

[BYU 14]

How did Brutal Hordechief do for you? I am thinking about adding either that or Monastery Mentor to my Mardu deck, though Mentor is the likely choice, I am curious if Hordechief did anything of note?

[Izulde]

How did Brutal Hordechief do for you? I am thinking about adding either that or Monastery Mentor to my Mardu deck, though Mentor is the likely choice, I am curious if Hordechief did anything of note?

He was solid in pre-release, and I think he'd be good in your deck (hence the ping), but he's one of those cards where to get the most use out of him, you need to play wide and not tall.

I was wondering why Mentor is so expensive, and then I saw the "with prowess" part of the token trigger. Makes me want to think about hunting him down myself. :D

[Izulde]

So I get there shortly after 6, and it's a bit iffy to run because I'm the 6th guy and 8 is the minimum (supposed to start at 6:30). One more guy shows up, and then the manager says okay, he'll play too so we can run a tournament, even though Magic isn't his game (I love the staff there).

Oh, I should also mention, the last time I played a mono white deck was 1997 at the very latest, so I'd been listening to '90s music for most of the bus rides there, and felt very odd/nostalgic moodwise. :D

Round 1
As it turns out, I draw Manager first round. He borrowed a deck from Woodchuck, one of the regulars, and it happens to be a blue/red artifact deck built around the obnoxiousness that is Scuttling Doom Engine. First game, Scuttling Doom Engine hits the board twice, only to be immediately removed by Banishing Light and Suspension Field. I win, carried by Fabled Hero with a +1/+1 counter, and Abzan Battlepriest sitting back to let FH provide the 6 damage attack with lifelink. Second game, Seeker of the Way pounds away, and I have my first 2-0 victory in Standard ever! Yay!

Round 2
So here's me with my little maybe $30 at most in value deck up against one of those expensive Sidisi Sultai B/G/U Sultai constellation whip decks (thought it was $250, but it appears I'm wrong after looking at it. Still, one of his Polluted Deltas alone is worth almost as much as my deck). Game 1, he hits a land pocket and draws 7 straight lands. Fabled Hero destroys him yet again, and Battlepriest makes another appearance. Oh, and I'm able to exile Whip and Sidisi. Second game, he boards in Sultai Charms and wins with a fast getting out of Whip and my counters absent. Third game, he wins again because despite exiling one Whip, he gets out another one.

Oh, and in Game 2, guess what he took me down with? That damned two Doomwake Giant BYU 14 mentioned :D So as Game 2 was winding down and the loss was inevitable, I asked him, "What can I do to prevent the -/- of Doomwake Giant?" after I tried to use protection on Favored Hoplite to keep it alive, only to find it doesn't work. He said, "Nothing, really. Just like how the only reason I was able to win this game was because I was able to use Sultai Charm to get my stuff back." Still, I was glad my little budget deck was able to take down a much more expensive Sidisi whip deck for even one game.

Round 3
Despite there only being the minimum 8 players, Manager was still allowing Top 4 to have prizes, with a 20-10-5-5 in store credit breakdown ($5 is the entry fee, so a Top 4 allows you to break even). Despite the 1-1, I was still in play to finish 3rd or 4th if I won this match. Mardu midrange against Woodchuck, which meant.... Stormbreath Dragon, the bane of every fucking deck I build. I hate it when Franz played this again me so often, and I hated it when Woodchuck brought it out. So close to 4th...

So obviously monowhite needs to go out the window, but I want to stick with the Heroic theme. It was surprisingly fun to play, and the most enjoyable deck since Avacyn's Legion of Heliod. Funnily enough, I realized as I was waiting for first bus on my way to the store that I should have put Cavalry Pegasus in rather than Abzan Falconer.

Heroes of the Night (Pardon Pun)
1. Fabled Hero
When looking up different dual color heroic decks afterwards, I noticed there's a raging debate going on over FH. He's a card people either love or hate because of his 3 mana cost. Me personally? I love him, and was thrilled when I pulled a third one of him over Christmas, even though I'd already bought 2 (back when it was $2 even). He's down to $1, so I'll see if Merchantess has any more next time I see her. There weren't any in the cheap rares binder the store has on stock... but it might be Merchantess' anyway - not sure.

2. Abzan Battlepriest
For the most part, he just sat there and let whoever had the +1/+1 counter get lifelink, but that's all he needed to do, especially when Fabled Hero went to town. He did get a couple swings in during one of the Round 1 games, however.

3. Archetype of Courage
I've yet to see him in any of the Heroic netdecks, but he's still great. Even better, he drew a lot of the removal attention the two games he hit the field, freeing up the heroic guys.

4. Suspension Field/Banishing Light
These guys did work all night long. While they can be disenchanted, which is their main weakness as the Sidisi deck proved, they did their thing.

Duds of the Night
1. Elite Scaleguards
Every time he came up, I glared at him. 5 mana casting cost, which put a real crimp in my ability to run protection or banish stuff, and while the bolster is nice, his secondary ability never saw play. He quite simply does not belong in this deck after all.

2. Phalanx Leader
He came out a couple times, but did nothing. His main function is in a wide heroic deck, and I never had more than four creatures out at any one time. He really needs Launch the Fleet or something to fan out. And with a double white cost, I'm not too thrilled with him. Yes, I know FH is also double white as part of his 3 CMC, but he does stuff.

So the question now becomes, which color do I pair up with white? That's a tough choice, one I'll talk more about later (probably after I've decided what direction to go in).

But for now..

Obvious Drops
1x Godsend
2x Elite Scaleguard
1x Phalanx Leader
4x Wingsteed Riders

Why Wingsteed Riders? Well, 2/2 flying is cool and all, but the double white really needs to be worth it in a dual color deck. Fabled Hero and Archetype of Courage have proven themselves. Wingsteed Riders, no.

It kills me to get rid of Godsend, but its effective mana cost is 6, and it's a double white. Plus, equipment isn't targeting.

One of the big arguments going right now is Feat of Resistance vs Defiant Strike. Most people are in love with Strike because it targets and draws a card for just one white mana. Personally, I'm just sitting here going, um, I'd rather have the protection and the +1/+1 counter rather than the temporary +1/+0 effect.

Probable Drops
1x Abzan Falconer
3x Akroan Skyguards
1x Spear of Heliod (It's another card that's best for wide Heroics, and the mana I need to keep open for killing creatures that do damage to me is best used for protection targeting IMO)

Much of this is going to depend on the direction I go in, whether wide or tall, and what color I pair up with white.

Possible Drops
1x Heliod, God of the Sun
1x Hold at Bay
2x Seeker of the Way

9 Protection spells might be overkill, and if we're going dual color, Heliod might no longer be a thing (he didn't hit the board for me anyway). Losing Heliod would really suck thematically, so I'll try to keep him in if it makes sense.

Dropping Seeker of the Way might sound like heresy, but it depends on what I do with the rest of the board.

We might also see the Suspension Fields and Banishing Lights drop if the other color offers more reliable removal. Hell, Fabled Heroes might drop in the end if I decide the 2W is too high after looking at possible options.

Oh, and there's a lot of chatter about Lagonna Traiblazers as a Heroic deck staple. Not gonna happen with me. 1. I don't like 0 power creatures. 2. The burn-proof thing isn't a big deal because my meta doesn't see a lot of burn anyway - it's heavily direct removal focused.

[Izulde]

BYU, have you considered Dragonrage for your deck? That card is just stupid, and capable of infinite combos, apparently.

[BYU 14]

Oh, and in Game 2, guess what he took me down with? That damned two Doomwake Giant BYU 14 mentioned :D So as Game 2 was winding down and the loss was inevitable, I asked him, "What can I do to prevent the -/- of Doomwake Giant?" after I tried to use protection on Favored Hoplite to keep it alive, only to find it doesn't work. He said, "Nothing, really.

That card is a pain in the ass, but it can be shut down, get 2 or 3 Hushwing Gryff's in your sideboard and it negates the -1/-1, plus stops triggers from Siege Rhino and Hornet Queen. The best part is it has flash, so you just keep it in your hand and cast as an instant in response to those cards being played.

[BYU 14]

BYU, have you considered Dragonrage for your deck? That card is just stupid, and capable of infinite combos, apparently.

I have given this card some thought, it would fit fairly well with a play set of Hordeling Outburst and Raise the Alarm, just don't know what I would cut and since I am cutting 2 Raise the Alarms and 1 Seeker to add 3 Monastery Mentor's it makes it even harder to add.

4 cards I will never cut from my main deck are Goblin Rabblemaster, Butcher of the Horde, Crackling Doom and Hordeling Outburst, but then how to you choose between Chained to the Rocks, Stoke the Flames and God's Willing, which has made this deck ultra competitive again and is responsible for 1 or more matches won every tournament because it saves my big threats and is under the radar as I have never seen it in another Mardu deck.

I am thinking about building a Jeskai tokens deck and I think this card would really fit well in there or in a Red/White deck along with Howl of the Horde.

[Izulde]

I thought Hushwing Gryff was like super expensive, but I guess it's $2.50 a card. Worth getting then at that price for sideboard.

Speaking of... I pulled a card today in a Fate Reforged pack that immediately dropped two colors from heroic dual color consideration.

Presenting, at currently $19 midpoint price, none other than...

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/soulfire_zpscn6tfgyh.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/soulfire_zpscn6tfgyh.jpg.html)

Yeah. He's almost worth as much by himself as the rest of my monowhite heroic deck put together. :D So I'm down to either R/W or U/W heroic... or if I felt like being super daring, American Heroic (what R/U/W heroic decks are called).

Obviously the lifelink for sorceries and instants favors red burn as removal instead of the temporary exile friends in Banishing Light and Suspension Field.

Definitely gives me a lot more to think about.

[BYU 14]

I thought Hushwing Gryff was like super expensive, but I guess it's $2.50 a card. Worth getting then at that price for sideboard.

Speaking of... I pulled a card today in a Fate Reforged pack that immediately dropped two colors from heroic dual color consideration.

Presenting, at currently $19 midpoint price, none other than...

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/soulfire_zpscn6tfgyh.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/soulfire_zpscn6tfgyh.jpg.html)

Yeah. He's almost worth as much by himself as the rest of my monowhite heroic deck put together. :D So I'm down to either R/W or U/W heroic... or if I felt like being super daring, American Heroic (what R/U/W heroic decks are called).

Obviously the lifelink for sorceries and instants favors red burn as removal instead of the temporary exile friends in Banishing Light and Suspension Field.

Definitely gives me a lot more to think about.

Yeah this card is broken and is the reason I am looking at Jeskai Tokens or R/W Heroic. Would be a sweet combo with Launch the Fleet in a U/W soldiers deck too using Battlefield Thaumaturge too.

[Izulde]

Working on putting together a hyper-aggressive American Heroic deck (Mana curve tops out at 3, with most 1 and 2). Its main effect will be to Voltron, with Battlefield Thaumaturge (which I only have 1 right now), knocking things like Feat of Resistance and Lighting Strike down to 1 colored mana.

Won't get it done before I have to leave for campus today (Damn that hour and a half bus ride), but I'm getting kind of stoked to see how it will work.

[Izulde]

So I found out today that a couple of readers are fascinated by this thing, but aren't clear on what the hell I'm talking about specifically :D So I figured I'd take this time before class to talk a bit about the basics of Magic.

Magic the Gathering: The Colors
You've heard BYU 14 and I talk a lot about colors so far. Magic is ruled by the most basic concepts of colors and mana.

There are five colors in Magic - red, white, blue, black, and green. The descriptions I give here will be very brief and generic, but should give a general sense of what each color is designed to do.

Red
Uses red mana. This is where you find what we call burn spells, or spells that deal direct damage to creatures or players. It tends to play very aggressively and be focused on offense, relative to other colors. One of the strongest colors to play mono (by itself).

White
Uses white mana. White is usually a much more defensive color (hence why I had so many protection cards in my monowhite heroic deck from last tournament). White does have some offensive capabilities as well, though not as much as some other colors. It can play well as mono color, though not quite as well as red.

Blue
Uses blue mana. Blue is what I like to call the thinking man's color. It's based heavily on control, whether that's through countering things other players try to do, drawing more cards themselves, stealing stuff other players have, or what have you. Milling (or forcing another player to draw all their cards from their deck and lose the game) is another strategy involved here. IMO, blue is the weakest color to play mono.

Black
Uses black mana. It's a fairly aggressive color too, with some of the same trickery aspects as blue. Unlike blue, which has very limited options for creatures and offense, and what options there are, are expensive, black has a nice suite of offensive powerhouses. I'd probably put it in the middle for mono ability, along with white.

Green
Uses green mana. This color is all about growth and big, fat creatures. When you hear me talking about mana dorks and mana ramping, I'm talking about green almost exclusively (there are some exceptions). This is my favorite color of the entire game and it plays really, really well mono, like red.

People pouring in, so time to head out. Hopefully this gives a little bit more of an idea. I'll continue the basics next time. Feel free to chime in with any specific questions you have, or if you also want to add stuff, Abe and BYU, go ahead. :)

[Izulde]

I'll talk a little bit more about the basics another time. For now, I want to point out the dangers of Magic. See, I turned on the bath and thought I would go work on deckbuilding while the tub filled. Yep. You guessed it... Damn forgot about the water running until half the apartment was flooded. Lot of mopping, towel wringing, and laundry as it turns out, as it got into my dirty clothes pile.

But I have the basics of a deck.

Grandmaster's Heroic Monks and Hoplites
Land
1x Battlefield Forge (R/W painland - it costs me 1 life to tap for red or white mana)
1x Mystic Monastary (R/W/U - In M:tG, U = Blue, B = Black)
3x Islands
5x Mountains
7x Plains
1x Temple of Enlightenment (U/W)
1x Temple of Triumph (R/W)

19 lands

Creatures
1x Akroan Crusader (R) (H)
4x Akroan Skyguard (CW) (H)
1x Battlewise Hoplite (UW) (H)
1x Battlefield Thaumaturge (CU) (H)
3x Fabled Hero (1C2W) (H)
2x Favored Hoplite (W) (H)
1x Monastery Swiftspear (R) (Haste) (P)
4x Satyr Hoplite (R) (H)
1x Soulfire Grandmaster (CW) (P) (L)
1x Seeker of the Way (CW) (P)

19 creatures, of which 14 are +1/+1 counter Heroics, and 3 of whom have Prowess, which is where a non-creature spell is cast, they gain +1/+1 until end of turn.

Heroic Triggers
2x Fall of the Hammer (CR)
4x Feat of Resistance (CW)
4x Gods Willing (W)
2x Jeskai Runemark (2C1U)
2x Ordeal of Thassa (CU)
3x Temur Battle Rage (CR)
1x Triton Tactics (U) (Targets *2* creatures)

18 Heroic triggers, which might seem like too many, but in Voltron, you're trying to pump up one hero as hugely as you can - hence the largeness.

Other Spells
2x Banishing Light (2C1W)
2x Deflecting Palm (RW)

I can't completely get ride of removal. While Fall of the Hammer is removal, too, I also need non-creature removal, so two of Banishing Light stays. Deflecting Palm is great for when there's a huge creature I can't get rid of, or when a big burn spell comes flying at me. For its mana cost, the damage is not only prevented, but gets turned right back on the opponent.

That's going to be a nasty surprise for somebody. :D

Notice all the RW and 2C1W next to the cards? That's their casting cost. In the case of Deflecting Palm, that's 1 red mana and 1 white mana. For Banishing Light, it's two colorless mana, which can either be colorless mana, or mana of any color, plus 1 white mana. So we say that the Converted Mana Cost, or CMC, is 2 for Deflecting Palm, and 3 for Banishing Light - IOW, the *total* mana it takes to cast it.

Aggressive decks want low mana costs. In this case, I have:

8 1 CMC creatures
8 2 CMC creatures
3 3 CMC creatures

5 1 CMC heroic triggers
11 2 CMC heroic triggers
2 3 CMC heroic triggers

2 2 CMC other spells
2 3 CMC other spells

All in all, a low curve deck with 13 1 CMC cards, or what we call 1 drops, 19 2 CMC cards, or 2 drops, and 9 3 CMC cards, or 3 drops. We say that the curve on this deck tops out at 3.

But just as important as the curve, particularly in a tri-color deck, is looking at what *kind* of mana it needs. For that, the important thing to know is how much of each *color* is needed.

Spells needing 1 Blue: 1 - A two creature heroic trigger
Spells needing 1 Red: 6 - All of which are 1 drop creatures
Spells needing 1 White: 6 - 2 creatures, 4 heroic triggers
Spells needing 1 colorless, 1 White: 10 - 6 creatures, 4 heroic triggers
Spells needing 1 colorless, 1 Red: 5 - All of which are heroic triggers
Spells needing 1 colorless, 1 Blue: 3 - 1 creature, 2 heroic triggers
Spells needing 1 Blue, 1 White: 1 - a creature
Spells needing 1 Red, 1 White: 2 - Both other spells
Spells needing 2 colorless, 1 Blue: 2 - Both heroic triggers
Spells needing 1 colorless, 2 White: 3 - All Creatures

So we have:
8 1 drop creatures, which are either red or white
8 2 drop creatures, 6 CW, 1 CU, 1 UW
3 3 drop creatures, which are 1C2W

So from the creature count alone, we can see that red and white should be prioritized for mana sources if we want to make this deck fast, which I've done above - mountains adding red mana, plains adding white mana. I've privileged the white mana, because double as many 2 drop cards are 1 White as there are that need 1 Red as part of the equation.

Blue may getting shafted here, but that's going to have wait for further discussion, because I need to head to campus, despite a still drying out apartment.

[Izulde]

The elf tribal EDH deck has been fun, especially when I made it into a R/U/G Surrak Dragonclaw one, but I started to break it apart when I tried putting a Villainous Wealth Standard deck together. Didn't feel like trying to put it back together again (and am not sure I can find the sleeves for it anyway - I really need a two bedroom apartment that has a room I can devote exclusively to Magic).

Instead, I'm working on putting together a junkball Voltron Erebos deck. I won't have time before I need to head out to finish it, but the idea is low-cost creatures to keep the devotion kicked in, then Voltron Erebos with lots of enchantments and artifacts, then kill everyone with Commander damage. Also a ton of summon from graveyard cards for the inevitable board wipes that hit the field.

Erebos's ability to prevent opponents from gaining life also nerfs the ridiculous life gain EDH decks in my meta, though commander damage is considered separate from life damage.

[Izulde]

I have trouble finding all my sleeves when putting decks together, so the other night after class, I walked to the game shop to buy a box of Dragonshield sleeves for my Erebos deck. Chose red because black on black is meh, and I already have green and turquoise so didn't want to get blue. Clear, Brown, and Fusion I had no interest in. Ditto Pink and some other color I can't remember. I almost got Purple, but decided Red would look better with the black theme.

I also picked up two more Favored Hoplites at a buck each for the Grandmaster Heroic deck, which will allow me to drop the Akroan Crusader (he doesn't fit the Voltron aspect of the deck) and probably a Fabled Hero to reduce the curve so more.

Other cards I picked up - a handful of 50 cent cards for my Erebos deck, and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx for $3, and I consider it a steal at that price. Why?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/Nykthos-Shrine-to-Nyx_zps4wpsiwdk.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/Nykthos-Shrine-to-Nyx_zps4wpsiwdk.jpg.html)

This thing is great in so many different kinds of decks. Probably not the American Heroes deck I'm building, to be honest, but this should be an EDH staple like Reliquary Tower is. Incredibly insane mana ramp opportunity, and I think the price is going to shoot up as more EDH players realize how important this card is. Sadly, I didn't realize until after I got that there's a couple of small nicks in the top of mine. Oh well, consider it as adding character, I guess? I do tend to be pretty sensitive to card condition.

Anyway, I picked up yet *another* card for cheap yesterday from Fellow Instructor. A quarter bought me Flying Crane Technique, which may mean I have to reconfigure my deck.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/flyingcranetechnique1_zpsvalegnal.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/flyingcranetechnique1_zpsvalegnal.jpg.html)

You can see where this lends itself more towards a token/wide Heroic deck, or even more so, a Prowess deck. There's considerable argument over whether this card is a get the win card, or whether it's a win more card. In Magic community parlance, the phrase "win more" means it's a card that if you play it, you're already winning the game, and this is just making that win bigger.

Personally, I'm going to see it as a get the win card (AKA win con, or win condition) until further notice.

On the other hand... is American *really* the way to go? Shouldn't I be reducing the mana stress by going R/W or U/W instead?

Let's take a closer look... both at the cards I have in the deck and the ones I'm thinking of adding

White
4x Akroan Skyguard (CW) (H = +1/+1 counter)
3x Fabled Hero (1C2W) (H = +1/+1 counter) (DS)
4x Favored Hoplite (W) (H = +1/+1 counter + prevent all damage dealt)
1x Soulfire Grandmaster (CW) (P) (L)
2x Seeker of the Way (CW) (P) (L when Prowess triggers)
4x Feat of Resistance (CW) (Protection) (Add +1/+1 counter)
4x Gods Willing (W) (Protection)
2x Banishing Light (2C1W)

Red
1x Akroan Crusader (R) (H = Add 1/1 red soldier token with Haste)
1x Monastery Swiftspear (R) (Haste) (P)
4x Satyr Hoplite (R) (H = +1/+1 counter)
2x Fall of the Hammer (CR) (Target creature deals damage equal to power to another target creature)
3x Temur Battle Rage (CR) (Target creature gains doublestrike until end of turn. Ferocious - If you have a creature with power 4 or greater, target also gains trample until end of turn)

Blue
1x Battlefield Thaumaturge (CU) (H = Hexproof until end of turn) (Instants and Sorceries cost one less colorless mana to cast)
1x Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest (2C1U) (P) (Whenever you cast non-creature spell you can pay 2 of R and/or White mana. If you do, target creature gains double strike until end of turn)
2x Jeskai Runemark (2C1U) (Enchanted creatures gets +2/+2. If you control R or W permanent, creature also gets flying)
2x Ordeal of Thassa (CU) (Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature when it attacks. When target creatures has 3 or more +1/+1 counters, sac Ordeal and draw 2 cards)
1x Triton Tactics (U) (Up to two target creatures get +0/+3 until end of turn. Untap creatures. At this turn's end of combat, tap each creature that was blocked by one of those creatures this turn and those creatures don't untap during controller's next untap step).

Red/White
1x Akroan Hoplite (RW) (Whenever attacks, gains +1/+0 for each other attacking creature you control)
2x Deflecting Palm (RW)

Blue/White
1x Battlewise Hoplite (UW) (H = +1/+1 counter and Scry: 1)

Red/White/Blue
1x Flying Crane Technique (see above)
1x Jeskai Ascendancy (RUW) (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Untap those creatures. Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.)

You can see where Jeskai Ascendancy lends itself to those stupid infinite combos I hate seeing so much.

Of course, then one might also have to consider Mantis Rider, a 3/3 flying/vigilance/haste for RUW - the Jeskai answer to Siege Rhino.

So you can see where this gets very complicated.

Red/White? Blue/White? Red/White/Blue?

I'm thinking no on Blue/White... I just see Deflecting Palm being too valuable to lose, and I'm tempted to get 2 more and run a full playset for what's in my meta.

So we're down to Red/White or Red/White/Blue.

What We Lose By Dropping Blue
Battlefield Thaumaturge
Battlefield Hoplite
Ordeal of Thassa
Triton Tactics
Flying Crane Technique
Jeskai Ascendancy
Jeskai Runemark

The question then becomes... what replaces those items, and how do the lands then shift?

Well, here's the thing... if we drop blue, then Akroan Crusader becomes useless. Red does have Coordinated Assault as the answer to Triton Tactics (+1/0 and first strike until end of turn for up to two target creatures).

There's also Valorous Stance if I can find it, which is CW and offers the choice of making a creature indestructible until end of turn, or killing a creature with power 4 or greater.

Decisions, decisions. Another possibility is to splash blue for FCT and Ascendancy. That might be the smartest route to go, actually. That also means chucking the 3 islands in favor of a second Mystic Monastery I have, a Tranquil Cove, and a Saltwater Cliffs. (Ideally all of them would be MM but I don't have 4 yet)

So if we do that.... here's what I for sure know I want as a base.

Lands
2x Mystic Monastery
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Temple of Enlightenment (U/W)
1x Temple of Triumph (R/W)
1x Tranquil Cove (U/W)
1x Saltwater Cliffs (U/W)
7x Mountains
5x Plains

19 lands

Creatures
1x Akroan Crusader
1x Akroan Hoplite
4x Akroan Skyguard
4x Fabled Hoplite
1x Monastery Swiftspear
4x Satyr Hoplite
1x Soulfire Grandmaster

16 creatures

Heroic Triggers
4x Gods Willing
4x Feat of Resistance
3x Temur Battle Rage

11 triggers

Other Spells
2x Deflecting Palm
2x Banishing Light
1x Launch the Fleet
1x Jeskai Ascendancy
1x Flying Crane Technique

7 other spells

19 + 16 + 11 + 7 = 53

7 slots left, as I think Fabled Hero is just too much mana for this deck. It's designed to be aggressive, so we don't want any double colors if we can help it.

Let's say I pick up 3 more Akroan Crusaders and 3 more Monastery Swiftspears before tournament starts. That would be 59, which leave me a perfect slot for a certain god, if Merchantess has him...

[BYU 14]

I would play crane as a win card too, though probably from the sideboard if I was facing a ground army with bigger threats than mine. Could also come in handy from the sideboard as a defensive card if you were facing a U/W deck using stratus walk

[Izulde]

Sooo.... the deck ended up changing quite a lot.

Pre-tournament Purchases from Merchantess
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/Iroas-God-of-Victory-Journey-into-Nyx-Spoiler_zps6jfcxg1d.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/Iroas-God-of-Victory-Journey-into-Nyx-Spoiler_zps6jfcxg1d.jpg.html)

Say hello to Mr. Awesome.

I also bought 3 more of Akroan Crusader and 3 more of Monastery Swiftspear. Out went the Satyr Hoplites and in went the Crusaders.

Iroas's Akroan Heroes
2x Mystic Monastery
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Temple of Enlightenment (U/W)
1x Temple of Triumph (R/W)
1x Tranquil Cove (U/W)
1x Saltwater Cliffs (U/W)
5x Mountains
7x Plains

4x Akroan Crusader
1x Akroan Hoplite
4x Akroan Skyguard
2x Cavalry Pegasus
4x Fabled Hoplite
1x Iroas, God of Victory
4x Monastery Swiftspear
1x Soulfire Grandmaster

4x Gods Willing
4x Feat of Resistance
3x Temur Battle Rage

2x Deflecting Palm
2x Banishing Light
1x Valorous Stance
1x Jeskai Ascendancy
1x Flying Crane Technique

Round 1 - Bye
I sat and watched Merchantess play Tie Guy (the dude I got my first ever tie from, who I've played a few times). Tie Guy was playing blue/white heroic, and so I saw stuff like Battle Hoplite and the new expansion blue spell that allows you to untap target creature, which was great for him in defense. Favored Hoplite was a thing as well, and he clearly was using the Voltron strategy. He won game 1, she won games 2 and 3, as Tie Guy got hosed on card draw Game 3. I definitely saw why so many people rave about Defiant Strike this match, too.

Round 2
Some new guy who threw together a hella expensive deck 2 minutes before tournament start. Genesis Hydra, Poulkranos, that G/R Planeswalker whose -6 is draw seven cards and play any creatures for free I think it was. Nasty, nasty deck. Game 1, he beat me after a very long, 20-25 minute battle. Iroas hit the field in this second game and his abilities meant I was running and gunning for far longer than I should have been able to. And that's with him having two Stormbreath Dragons in play - the bane of my monowhite heroic. Game 2 saw me winning thanks to Monastery Swiftspear, Cavalry Pegasus and I think Akroan Skyguard and maybe Grandmaster? I wanted to hold out for a tie Game 3, but Genesis Hydra and yeah... 1-2 loss.

Round 3
Up against Woodchuck, a very familiar foe. Game 1 was a victory for him, thanks to getting two Butcher of the Hordes and Stormbreath Dragon out. Game 2, Cavalry Pegasus did magic flying stuff with humans, and I was able to Glare of Heresy his Sorin, and Deflecting Palm one of his 2 Butchers and got the win. He tried to sac the Butcher after I did Deflecting Palm, but the judge overruled him, saying Deflecting Palm would just transfer to the next Butcher. So, controversial win. Game 3, he had *3* fucking Butcher of the Hordes out. I fought well, but still wasn't able to win. Came down to one game.

Round 4
Merchantess this time. One game, Akroan Skyguard rocked her world. Another game she won because I could not draw a single damned creature to save my life. Third game was very close and could have gone either way, but I misplayed the last turn because I forgot Iroas's second ability, so I lost.

So, 1-2, 1-2, and 1-2. I'm a lot more competitive than what I was when I first started, though.

Heroes of the Night
1. Monastery Swiftspear
I can see why she's a $2.63 uncommon. One drop 1/2 with haste and prowess? Yes, please! Merchantess killed her outright Game 1, commenting, "She's a real C-word." Definitely going to keep the playset in.

2. Iroas, God of Victory
Balla god is balla. He was as exactly as awesome as I predicted he would be, and gives the deck much needed power force and protection. Then I can use my protection spells for breaking through defenses.

3. Akroan Skyguard
I wasn't sure about him, because of his 2 casting cost and 1/1 start, but his flying was hugely helpful, so his playset will stay in.

4. Temur Battlerage
Doublestrike even on one turn proved amazing, especially on the Skyguard with no flying defenses. I need a fourth one.

5. Fall of the Hammer
It doesn't affect Grandmaster's Instants and Sorceries have lifelink thing, but this is still a heroic trigger and ended up being a very effective source of removal, especially early on. It gets rid of a creature, plus triggers prowess, so this might become a playset thing.

6. Deflecting Palm
This card is so, so, *sooooo* good. I need two more for the playset.

Duds of the Night
1. Jeskai Ascendancy
Hit the field in Round 2, but didn't really do anything when it was there.

2. Flying Crane Technique
Drew it a couple times, but was never in danger of getting played.

3. Akroan Crusader
...Yeah. He just did nothing at all, really. The one drop is nice, but the extra soldier does nothing but add chump blockers, and weakens the deck when it goes to midrange.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this deck. I only had to mull once (and should have mulled one other game).

I think I'm going to drop blue and just go pure R/W Heroic.

Drops
2x Mystic Monastery
1x Tranquil Cove
1x Saltwater Cliffs (R/U)
1x Temple of Enlightenment
1x Jeskai Ascendancy
1x Flying Crane Technique

7 cards

Probable Drops
4x Akroan Crusader

11 cards

I may pour the lands right back into more lands. Ascendancy and FCT will get replaced by Deflecting Palm. Not sure what I'll do with the Crusader slots. If I put the Satyr Hoplites back in, then the Cavalry Pegasi might need to go because between the Skyguards and the Satyr Hoplites, that's 8 creatures who can't take advantage of the main reason for having Cavalry Pegasus in here.

Still need to find room for Defiant Strike, too. Maybe drop Banishing Light to the sideboard? Decisions, decisions.

[Izulde]

I didn't go last week, due to being sick.

This week, however, there was a Gameday event (plus a Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier, which is why it was stupid to have Gameday events the same day).

I bought 2 Deflecting Palms before the tournament to give myself a full playset, and this is the deck I went with.

Iroas's Quick Heroes
Lands
9x Plains
7x Mountains
1x Temple of Triumph
1x Battlefield Forge

18 lands

Creatures
4x Akroan Skyguard
4x Favored Hoplite
1x Iroas, God of Victory
4x Monastery Swiftspear
1x Satyr Hoplite
1x Soulfire Grandmaster

15 creatures

Non-Creature Spells
2x Banishing Light
4x Deflecting Palm
4x Defiant Strike
2x Fall of the Hammer
4x Feat of Resistance
4x Gods Willing
2x Hammerhand
3x Temur Battlerage
1x Titan's Strength
1x Valorous Stance

27 non-creature spells

I was hoping to sell/trade my foil Wooded Foothills, but Merchantess wasn't there today, sadly. I played Woodchuck in a game before starting, and he whipped me soundly. Not a good start.

Round 1 - Vs Organizer
I actually managed to whittle him down to single life in the first game before his Coursers took over and stabilized his life total. Game 2, I got red mana screwed and lost fairly easily. Still pretty proud that I managed to take him that long, though. Third game was stupid, though. All four of my Favored Hoplites dropped by Turn 4, but without red mana, I had no way of buffing from the stuff in my hand.

Round 2 - Vs Doomwake
Doomwake is the nickname I'm giving to the guy who double Doomwake Gianted me a couple weeks ago. Follows a lot of the same pattern as against Organizer, only this time, in the 0-2 defeat, I whittled him down to single digit life totals before his own Coursers came in. After the match, he confirmed my thoughts about a playset of Titanic Strength to make the deck far more aggressive. Oh, and I found out that double strike does *not* mean damage to the player if first strike kills a blocking creature, which was disappointing to learn. Might have to rethink Temur Battle Rage's place in this deck now. Oh, and my deck is starting to get known around the shop, because during one game, Doomwake was like, "Okay, now I have to ask myself... how many protection spells do you have in your hand?" Worst feeling of the afternoon: When he used a Planeswalker's ability to exile/mill my cards, and used my own Soulfire Grandmaster against me to win :(

Round 3 - Vs New Guy
Haven't played this dude before, but he had a Whip deck he put together from a bunch of cards he got from Doomwake. The first game, I lost, because he got his Whip out and nailed me with not 1, but *2* Hornet Queens. I also had Iroas out, which negated his deathtouch creatures We also had a crazy amount of life swings, because I kept hitting him for huge life totals from my board, and got some lifelink from Soulfire Grandmaster, and then he would hit right back with his whip crew next round. Second game, I got fast enough to beat him, thanks to Monastery Swiftspear and two Akroan Skyguards, I think it was. Third game, Soulfire Grandmaster, an Akroan Skyguard, and two Monastery Swiftspears for the comeback victory! The guy was disgusted because he didn't win a single match with the deck.

We then discovered that because there were only 6 people, Woodchuck and I tied in every single tiebreaker. The program put him in the Top 4, but Organizer was debating it, because that didn't seem fair to him. I offered to play for it. Manager said why not flip a coin or have them play for it or something. Woodchuck also suggested playing for it. So finally Organizer said, "Okay. Play for Top 4, then."

vs Woodchuck For Top 4
I told Woodchuck he'd probably win anyway, because I've never beaten him in a match. Lo and behold, Game 1, I win. I played it very stupidly, though. Had out Akroan Skyguard pumped up to a 5/5 I think it was, and Soulfire Grandmaster. If I'd attacked with both, I would have won, but only attacked with Skyguard. This allowed him to build up, and I was in danger of losing until Feat of Resistance came through.

Game 2 was insane. I had him down to 1 life, and 3 creatures out. He's got the red/green god out that pumps up an attacker, and one of his attackers is Avalanche Tusker, which forces a creature to block. I forgot Tusker's ability, so when he attacked, I started tapping a Plains. Woodchuck said, "Hold on! I'm using his ability to force the Swiftspear to block". That turned out to be a huge mistake, because the instant I tapped the Plains, he knew I had Deflecting Palm in my hand. What followed was his using Nykthos and Genesis Hydras to build up an insane board state and I'm sitting there with a completely empty board. He whittles me down with Elvish Mystics until he gets a Courser out and is finally able to build up enough life that he's able to withstand Deflecting Palm when I have to play it, and goes on to win.

As one observer remarked, "That game was just retarded."

Game 3 was much quicker. Iroas hit the board and it was goodnight. When somebody else expressed surprise that Woodchuck lost, he grumbled, "I couldn't deal with Iroas."

Top 4 Matchup - Vs 3 Dragons Guy[/b]
Remember the guy who bitched about drawing 3 dragons in the prerelease event? Yeah... it was him. I wasn't expecting my luck to continue, and it didn't. Got white mana screwed in Game 1, and in Game 2, I didn't understand an ability so I declared blockers wrong and went out pretty poorly. Still my first Top 4 showing, though!

These were my prizes:
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/sup_zpsjbrzlddm.png (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/sup_zpsjbrzlddm.png.html)
Foil version of this card

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/card_promo_FRF_Champ_Mardu_Shadowspear_zpssrteudga.png (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/card_promo_FRF_Champ_Mardu_Shadowspear_zpssrteudga.png.html)
Playset of this card

My $5 entry fee back

This was on Saturday, by the way. Was going to post it last night, but drank a lot of wine instead, and fell asleep. Best Valentine's Day I've had in years. Now if I can just find where my other Titanic Strengths are... I'd also like to add Ordeal of Heliods, to give me that extra boost of life.

Heroes of the Afternoon
[u]1. Iroas, God of Victory
Every time he hit the field, I had a legit shot at winning in the midrange, even against all the other, much more expensive decks. He was also MVP in the Woodchuck match.

2. Monastery Swiftspear
She's become the card that really makes this deck go. With her prowess and all the non-creatures I have in this deck, she becomes deadly. I also love her artwork. In fact, she joins Birds of Paradise in my Favorite Magic Cards Of All Time list. If there was a playmat of her artwork, I would so buy it.

Don't think I've posted her before, so here she is:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/monastery_swiftspear_1_zpswfmudcl9.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/monastery_swiftspear_1_zpswfmudcl9.jpg.html)

3. Akroan Skyguard
I keep wanting to kick him to the curb, but time and time again, he just gets it done in a format that tends to play much lower on fliers.

4. Fall of the Hammer
Continues to be a sneaky good removal spell in addition to firing prowess and heroic. Lot of times there would be a 2 Toughness creature who would cause me problems. Drop it on the Swiftspear, and bye-bye creature. Seriously considering playsetting this.

5. Banishing Light
2 is the perfect number for Banishing Light. With a 3 CMC, it's one of the most expensive cards in my deck, but it was great for planeswalker banishment. Still thinking about possibly sideboarding it, but it was key in the Woodchuck match to remove Kiora, the Crashing Wave and prevent her from screwing with my universe.

6. Soulfire Grandmaster
His lifelink is so damned useful for building up my life total to stay alive in the midgame if it goes that far. One of my favorite plays was targeting him with a pump spell that also fired the Swiftspears. Is he really being used to maximum advantage in this deck? No. But when the Theros block rotates out and I lose my Heroic theme, I can still keep the Swiftspears and him around as a R/W aggro base.

Duds of the Afternoon
1. Hammerhand
I thought this would be more useful than what it was, but this is one of those cards that unless it's a Turn 1, 2, or maybe 3 draw, the target creature can't block ability is useless, and in order for the haste to benefit, it's at minimum a 2 or 3 mana commitment. I mean, the +1/+1 is supposed to be a nice pump, but I feel like Titanic Strength is better and will be more of a winning card.

2. Temur Battle Rage
Last week, it was great when put on the Skyguard. This week, it did not much at all. Thinking this is a good place to cut down to 2 in order to create slots for the Titanic Strength.

Future Plans
*Drop 2 Hammerhands and 1 Temur Battle Rage at minimum
*Add 3 Titanic Strength at minimum
*Consider other adjustments to add in Ordeal of Heliod

Hero of Iroas is an interesting card, but not one I'm including in this deck. He's not only $5.52 a card, he runs much better in a U/W heroic that has Ordeal of Thassa and Ordeal of Heliod, and I'm committed to R/W because of the Swiftspears.

Of course, looking this deck over, I could consider splashing blue for Aqueous Form... Hmm...

[Izulde]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, somebody asked Woodchuck why Avalanche Tusker was in his deck. He gestured to my board and said, "To deal with shit like this." :D It's a sideboard card of his, apparently. I wonder if playing my heroic deck the last few weeks caused him to put it in sideboard.

This is Avalanche Tusker:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/avalanchetusker2_zpsw7hqaqgf.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/avalanchetusker2_zpsw7hqaqgf.jpg.html)

3 Dragons Guy was also running R/W, by the way... but he was running it as a Goblin aggro deck. Flashback to a certain Mr. BYU 14's deck for sure. :mad:

[Izulde]

So I dropped the 3 I said I would. Right now, I've got in 2 Ordeal of Purphoros and 1 Chained to the Rocks. I also have 4 Glare of Heresy, 4 Barrage of Boulders, 2 Revoke Existence and 2 Glimpse of the Sun God in my sideboard.

I *think* BoB and/or GotSG could be win con cards in the right circumstance, but for now, I'm going to sideboard them. Note that the maindeck and sideboard may/will change before the actual start of play if Merchantess is there tonight.

That may include dropping one or both Banishing Light, another or both Temur Battlerages, and one or both Fall of the Hammers. Need to open up slots for 3 Titanic Strengths to test the playset, plus I might find other cool stuff I want.

[Izulde]

A Brief Synopsis of Last Week
Ran with the same deck and went 2-2 (one was a forfeit, though). Akroan Skyguard and Monastery Swiftspear continue to be the best cards in the deck, but I'm still having problems killing someone fast enough, and I'm starting to feel like this deck is underpowered.

This Week
Merchantess was finally there last night. Low price on foil Wooded Foothills is $40, but since midpoint is only $47, she offered $34 in trade-in value. I took it, because I don't have a very good storage setup yet for my cards and don't want to risk the condition getting worse. I picked up 3 Titan's Strengths to max the playset, and 3 Ordeal of Heliods, dropping Banishing Lights, 2 Deflecting Palms, and a couple other cards I don't recall to sideboard.

Match 1 - vs Mirror
I'm calling this guy Mirror because he runs a lot of the same cards I do, but has Mardu colors to get in Butcher of the Horde. Game 1 sees me winning, but I lose Game 2 because of two straight terrible draws after mulling, and in Game 3, I was stuck on one white mana the whole game.

Match 2 - vs Organizer
Game 1 I get him down to single digits before he again stabilizes with Elpseth. Note that this was with a 5 card mulligan that I almost came back from being down that much to beat him. Game 2, I have him on the ropes, and he comments after destroying my Swiftspear with Ordeal of Heliod and me with no protection in hand, "I'm hanging on by a thread here." I've sideboarded in 4 Glare of Heresy, dropping the Temur Battlerages and the remainder of my Deflecting Palms. He gets out Elspeth. Glare of Heresy. He brings out a second Elpseth. I top deck Glare of Heresy and wipe that one out, too. A third Elspeth hits the board, and this time I can't get my removal out in time, so he wins. (He runs four Elpseths in the deck, by the way).

Match 3 - vs Merchantess' Boyfriend
He plays monoblack Aggro. Game 1, I get a shit draw and he ROFLstomps me. Game 2 is a whiteknuckle race, but he eventually beats me by wiping my board, though I was able to use Valorous Stance to knock out his Erebos Devotion (I later realized that I incorrectly played this, because VS is creature 4 toughness minimum, but he missed it, too.)

Match 4 - vs Tie Guy
The Waste Not deck. Game 1 is a farce where I again can't get close to killing him fast enough. Game 2, I get him down to 2 life, but his shenanigans stabilize the board enough that he's eventually able to come back and beat me.

So, rough night all around. No heroes this time. Bile Blight, Drown in Sorrows, and Hero's Downfall are running wild all throughout my meta, and even with all the protection spells I have in my deck, it's not enough. Not when I'm running as few a creatures as I am. I also either got mana screwed or mana flooded a lot tonight, and I can't seem to consistently find the right amount of mana.

The sense that this is a weaker deck in this meta continues to grow, and I'm thinking of changing the deck.

I also still have $32.50 in credit with Merchantess

So I have to think about the direction I want to go from here. My meta features a *ton* of black and removals, so I have to figure out a way to combat that, and I have to decide if I want to stay aggro, or shift to midrange. And do I even want to stay in red/white? Maybe go to green/red? I don't know.

I really don't.

[Izulde]

Been a long time since I've updated. Honestly, with the 3+ hour round trip commutes most days (save the one day a week I've been getting a ride to school as part of hanging out with a girl), I just have not felt like making that same trek on a 5th day just to play Magic in a meta I'm mediocre in.

I missed most of the Dragons prerelease events, but managed to catch one on the Sunday before release day. I was kind of pissed off because I asked for, and confirmed Green/White over the phone. I got handed the last box, which was Blue/White. I said, "I confirmed Green/White over the phone because you said you had everything but Green/Red." "Sorry, Blue/White's the last I got."

Needless to say, I was pissed. My anger also carried over when I realized I got a really shit box and pack draw, and wound up having to go Green/White anyway. My first match I lost 1-2 in a close one, then proceeded to get destroyed 0-2 in every other match. The one bright side about it all? I managed to pull a mythic rare, and quite a few dragons. The mythic rare?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/Shaman-of-Forgotten-Ways-Dragons-of-Tarkir-Spoiler_zpsb27hwyyq.png (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/Shaman-of-Forgotten-Ways-Dragons-of-Tarkir-Spoiler_zpsb27hwyyq.png.html)

So yeah, this is gonna be a thing. I might even get a playset of these in order to be able to go back to my Green roots. Also picked up a few more Dragons (I describe Dragons of Tarkir as DRAGONS, DRAGONS EVERYWHERE!)

Currently the Shaman is sitting in my Commander deck, but he'll probably be moved to a Standard deck for next week. Which reminds me... after the prerelease event, I revamped my Commander deck to put more Dragons in, and lessen the emphasis on elf tribal. Don't remember what all tweaks I made.

Which brings me to Thursday. I *finally* get to campus early enough to jump in a game. 4 way Commander and my elf tribal gets going, especially with Titiania's Chosen and Elvish Champion, and all four players having green as part of their manabase. And Coat of Arms is out on the field. :D But then my CoA gets destroyed, and then Planar Cleansing hits the board.

"I'm not worried," I said.

"You're not?" somebody else asked.

"Nope. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8... Perfect. Just enough. Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap... Praetor's Counsel!"

A collective groan from the table.

Skimming through the dynasty, I've mentioned the joy of Praetor's Counsel before, but have never posted it.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/pc_zpsuqixj9t0.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/pc_zpsuqixj9t0.jpg.html)

You can see where it's one of my favorite cards. :D I still need to get a Reliquary Tower. That's one of the things I'll have to get from Merchantess next time I see her. Which reminds me, I need to text her sometime this week, because....


...Izulde's go-to store has changed. More on that in the next post.

[Izulde]

So a very, very long story short, Izulde won his first ever tournament! It was a draft tournament that was Dragons/Fate/Dragons. I built a green/red deck after originally planning to go red/blue. It featured several games that ended on the very last turn, where either my opponent would win or I did. My prize was 7 packs of Dragons of Tarkir, the best pull of which was Dragonlord Dromoka (sp).

I switched to a red/green in standard, and found I hated it when I tried it at my old place. My new place, where I won, and that's within walking distance of Izulde Palace, hasn't had anyone show up on FNM, so you might think I've been out of Magic.

Nope! A Sunday EDH/Commander tournament opened up a half-hour's walk away (give or take 10 minutes) so I've been doing that. I started off with Surrak Dragonclaw, then switched to the Dragonlord I pulled. Elf tribal has always been the backbone, and while I enjoyed the Dragonlord deck, and even came close one week to getting out of my pod to the winners one, I just wasn't satisfied (that's what she said). The close time? It got to time running out and then draw. I was sitting on the highest level total thanks to Suture Cleric. Then, on the very last turn of the game, the final player hit Laboratory Maniac draw out combo for the win. I was *sooo* damned pissed.

Last week I piloted a crappy Glissa the Traitor deck. It did okay for being crappy. But I decided I really wanted to put together an actual, working Glissa deck. Tooling around the Internet, the main basis for her seems to be three deck types:

1) Control
2) Reanimate
3) Combo

or some combination (ha!) thereof. Only Izulde does not have the cards for that. More to that, he's not really interested in playing control or combo. Izulde is a true green player at heart, which involves smashing people in the face with big fatties.

Who is Glissa?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/glissa_zpsdb4ldcra.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/glissa_zpsdb4ldcra.jpg.html)

Obviously this is promo card artwork, and it's the first promo card I got back when I first re-entered Magic my first semester of the MFA program at UNLV. I've always had a soft spot for her ever since. Remember my original Glissa's Poison Elf Army deck? Well, now she's elevated to Commander.

So the last version had elf tribal as the basis, with some removal and some voltroning artifacts in, but the win cons were awfully weak, so I revamped the deck to give it much more focus.

Glissa's Elven Crusade (Working title until I can find a better one)

Planeswalker (1)
Glissa the Traitor (Elf)

Lands (29)
Evolving Wilds
Golgari Guildgate
Jungle Basin
Jungle Hollow
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
15x Forests
8x Swamps

Creatures (28)
Bellowing Tanglewurm (still a favorite)
Birds of Paradise (Like I was going to leave this out)
Carapace Forger (Elf)
Copperhorn Scout (Elf)
Elvish Archdruid (Elf)
Elvish Champion (Elf)
Essence Warden (Elf)
Ezuri, Renegade Leader (Elf)
Ezuri's Archers (Elf)
Gaea's Herald (Elf)
Gladecover Scout (Elf)
Greenweaver Druid (Elf)
Immaculate Magistrate (Elf)
Imperious Prefect (Elf)
Jagged-Scar Archers (Elf)
Joraga Warcaller (Elf)
Llanowar Elves (Elf)
Lys-Alana Huntmaster (Elf)
Paragon of Eternal Wilds
Priest of Titiana (Elf)
Reclamation Sage (Elf)
Skirsdag High Priest (the only black creature in the deck)
Talara's Battalion (Elf)
Thornweald Archer (Elf)
Thrun, the Last Troll (I found my boy my Japan binder, and he's going back in)
Timberwatch Elf (Elf)
Titiana's Chosen (Elf)
Wellwisher (Elf)
Wildheart Invoker (Elf)

Artifacts (20)
Barbed Battlegear (+4/-1 to creature)
Bow of Nylea (an enchantment artifact, but still an artifact able to be recalled by Glissa!)
Brawler's Plate (+2/+2 and trample for creature)
Chariot of Victory (Creature has first strike, trample, and haste)
Coat of Arms
Commander's Sphere
Darksteel Plate (Indestructible, and equipped creature is indestructible, too. Another Glissa staple).
Heart-Piercer Bow (Whenever equipped creature attacks, deal 1 damage to target creature defending player controls - which, with Glissa's deathtouch = instakill)
Jester's Cap
Nihil Spellbomb (A Glissa staple)
Nim Deathmantle (Creature has +2/+2, Intimidate and is a black Zombie. When nontoken creature is put into graveyard, you can pay 4 mana to return creature to battlefield with Nim Deathmantle attached.)
Piston Sledge (+3/+1 to creature)
Prowler's Helm (Creature can not be blocked except by Walls)
Rogue's Gloves (If equipped creature deals combat damage to player, draw a card)
Strata Scythe (When it enters play, search library for land card, exile it, and shuffle library. Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land in play with the same name as exiled card)
Swiftfoot Boots (Creature has hexproof and haste)
Sylvok Replica (Also a creature)
Thought Prison
Tormod's Crypt
Trailblazer's Boots (Creature has non-basic landwalk)

Sorceries (7)
Elvish Promenade (Elf generator)
Nature's Spiral
Overrun
Praetor's Counsel
Read the Bones
Roar of Challenge
Sign in Blood

Instants (6) - Every single one of these is artifact or enchantment hate, due to the Sunday meta being heavy in combos involving these
Back to Nature
Krosan Grip
Molder
Nature's Claim
Naturalize
Unravel the Aether

Enchantments (8)
Beastmaster Ascension (People get a little nervous when this hits the table)
Eternal Thirst (Creature has lifelink and whenever creature opponent controls dies, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature)
Fallen Ideal (Creature has flying and sacrifice a creature to gain +2/+1 until end of turn)
Feast on the Fallen (At each upkeep, if an opponent lost life last turn, put +1/+1 counter on target creature you control)
Nighthowler (although a creature, it will only see the field as enchantment for Glissa, as its effect is +X/+X, where X is number of creature cards in all graveyards. )
Quest for Renewal
Song of the Dryads
Underworld Dreams

So as you can see, Elf tribal is still very much at the heart of this, but the deck is also built to Voltron the hell out of Glissa as a primary win condition.

To be honest, the land total is a little low for an EDH deck, even with one that has mana sources outside of lands, but we'll try it and see.

Other Cards To Consider Getting
Thornbite Staff - Almost every Glissa deck has this, and I consider it priority #1.

Expedition Map - Another Glissa staple, but before I get it (it's a landfetch artifact), I need to get...

Urbog, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Every land is a swamp in addition to its other types

Cabal Coffers - 2 colorless and tap, add a black mana for every Swamp you control. You can see where Urbog + Cabal Coffers = black mana heaven.

Forbidden Orchard - This shows up in a lot of Glissa decks, too. Tap for any color, and when it's tapped, the opponent gets a 1/1 colorless Spirit token - aka fodder for Glissa's recursion ability (i.e. fetching an artifact from graveyard when creature dies)

Other stuff I need:

Loxodon Warhammer and O-Naginata - both equipment pieces that not only buff Glissa (or Thrun!), they give trample.

Demonic Tutor/Diabolic Tutor/Vampiric Tutor/Wordly Tutor/a bunch of other cards I've forgotten - one of the best things about black, and also a little bit in green, is the ability to search for specific cards with the Tutor cards. I have none. And they become particularly important if I'm going to need to up to my land count at some point.

Of course, I'll have to cut cards to add all of these nifty things in, if and when I get them, and perhaps the Elf tribal theme will go away, as I add in more powerhouse cards.

Oh, the one black creature I added?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/Skirsdag-High-Priest_zpsvve1kjjz.png (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/Skirsdag-High-Priest_zpsvve1kjjz.png.html)

Fantastic Glissa synergy, and I'm surprised I don't see him in more decks of hers.

[Izulde]

Izulde went shopping at the Grand Prix event today and picked up 9 cards for his deck - some of which will stay no matter what Glissa's deck turns into, some of which are for this edition, or another elf tribal if Glissa changes form.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11069219_10100794744892395_6326780260966078977_n_zpsb9uqn1t3.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11069219_10100794744892395_6326780260966078977_n_zpsb9uqn1t3.jpg.html)

Door of Destinies is the second card I bought after hunting around a few places looking for price/condition combination. Note that I did this for *all* the cards I bought - some to greater success on condition than others, and ditto the price, which we'll see later.

Obviously this card is built for tribal decks and only tribal decks. Remember Pip? He bought this card for his not that great 60 card merfolk legacy deck. It's much better in a green tribal, which has more mana ramp sources to get it out quickly. You can see where it potentially becomes very powerful when I name elves, and if this and Coat of Arms both hit the field, opponents better have a board wipe handy, or they'll be toast.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11329743_10100794733575075_849480301396443982_n%201_zpswjruwpzj.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11329743_10100794733575075_849480301396443982_n%201_zpswjruwpzj.jpg.html)

Expedition Map was my first purchase, which I found at the right price/condition combo at my second vendor. From then on, one of my primary focuses became getting non-basic lands to make it worthwhile, as I alluded to in my last post. Most land fetches will only get you basic lands (Plain, Swamp, Island, Mountain, Forest), so to have something that will allow you to fetch a non-basic land, particularly one that can be used over and over with Glissa's artifact recursion ability, is *fantastic*. I also love the artwork on this card - it's like the elephant is hoisting the warhammer to the creature above it, saying, "Here you go. SMASH THEM WITH PACHYDERM POWER!" :D

Oh, Loxodon Warhammer! I hunted all day for this card until finding it at a certain vendor I'll describe below. Obviously, this card is *perfect* for a Glissa deck with any sort of Voltron theme. +3/+0, trample, *and* lifelink on a creature with death strike and first touch? Amazing, simply freaking AMAZING!

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11351133_10100794744822535_333783563281881725_n_zps3uqwuuab.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11351133_10100794744822535_333783563281881725_n_zps3uqwuuab.jpg.html)

One of the things I love about looking through any binder I find is discovering wholly new cards. The first one I saw today was dirt cheap because it had a blue water stain on the side. Obviously I didn't get that, but I was instantly hooked. Cast a creature for a single green mana and tap?! YES PLEASE! Obviously one of the more expensive cards I bought, but this is going to be permanently in this deck unless it loses creature focus completely.

The place I bought this, I got three cards from them, and they were wonderful people (AmazingMTG.com). They listened to my concerns about card condition, and asked me what artwork and set I wanted the cards from. There's two versions of Elvish Piper artwork - female and male. I hated the male one and loved this one. The prices were also quite fair, and I was thrilled with their customer service. I also saw they had 3 laptops and multiple cellphones that kept up to date digital records of their inventory, so it was just a very well-run and maintained booth overall, despite the fact that they were one of the busiest vendors at the GP (and for good reason).

They also asked me what art I wanted for Loxodon Warhammer. One has a badass elephant handing the warhammer off. The other just has the warhammer. Guess which one I wanted? I said I didn't care what set, just as long as it was the best card condition possible. That meant I got the Commander edition, which isn't as cool as getting it from one of the non-Commander sets (non-Commander versions are also more expensive), but it's still awesome, and condition matters. This card is always going to hang out in this Glissa deck. That's an unchangeable lock.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11390379_10100794744792595_1063824206950112423_n_zpszo5612zi.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11390379_10100794744792595_1063824206950112423_n_zpszo5612zi.jpg.html)

I took a slight hit on Vraska in terms of price and condition, but there were literally only two places that had her out, and the other one, while in better condition, was asking far more than the midpoint price, so I got it anyway - especially since the guy offered me my choice of his two copies to pick which condition I liked better. While her ultimate will probably never seen the light of day, her protection mechanic and permanent destruction mechanics are both first-rate abilities. And if her ultimate *does* hit, it's good night with the Super Assassins, if I can make even one unblockable.

Gilt-Leaf Palace was one of the 3 cards from Great Place. A slight nick, but again, I only found it in 2 places - the other being where I found Elvish Piper, so I discovered 2 new cards in the same binder, both with major condition issues. It's fantastic for the deck as constructed - in Glissa's colors and very easy to turn it into a defacto dual land rather than a tap land. Perhaps not a permanent home, but one worth having in its current format.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11392933_10100794744842495_4852581400559347240_n_zps6nzvz5eg.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11392933_10100794744842495_4852581400559347240_n_zps6nzvz5eg.jpg.html)

I was a little irritated when I saw the condition of this card after I bought it, but I literally found it only one other place, and that also had not great condition. It's from one of the Kamigawa sets, which are popular (Asian theme) and expensive ($19 for Champions, $14 for Destroyers or whatever it is, for a single pack). I'm furious I missed that block in one of my breaks form the game. I would have loved the shit out of that set.

Anyway, it gives a legendary creature Fear until end of turn for one black and tap. What is Fear, you ask? Can not be blocked except by black and artifact creatures. Not quite as useful in my meta, which features a lot of artifacts, but it can be used on Glissa and Thrun - maybe one or two others? I'd have to look again - which makes it a worthwhile inclusion, as well as another non-basic for the Map to go find. It'll stay as long as Glissa's my commander, which means it'll always be there. :P More legendaries for it to interact with would be good to make it have greater usefulness, though.

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11269509_10100794744872435_3294628969044014752_n_zpsf4txrofr.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11269509_10100794744872435_3294628969044014752_n_zpsf4txrofr.jpg.html)

I looked at least 10 vendors for an Urbog that I liked with price/condition combo. Ironically, I got it at the same place as the previous card. This land is an absolute must in any deck that runs black for mana fixing. Unfortunately, the other half of the combo, Cabal Coffers, I couldn't find a price/condition match I wanted, so I'm still without it. But at least I have one half of it.

Ah, Garruk Apex Predator aka Serial Killer Garruk. Expensive as hell casting cost, but his abilities are great - kill a planeswalker, put a deathtouch beast in play, creature destruction, and another great ultimate. To be honest, he's probably a luxury in this deck, and I wasn't going to get him until I saw a price/condition combination I simply couldn't refuse.

How did the prices go, by the way?


Door of Destinies - $3 TCG Midpoint - $4.04
Elvish Piper - $7 TCG Midpoint - $7.62
Expedition Map - $1.50 TCG Midpoint - $1.85
Garruk, Apex Predator - $11 TCG Midpoint - $13.40
Gilt-Leaf Palace - $2 TCG Midpoint - $1.89
Loxodon Warhammer - $1 TCG Midpoint - $0.81
Shizo, Death's Storehouse - $7 TCG Midpoint - $7.62
Urbog, Tomb of Yawgmoth - $9 TCG Midpoint - $9.33
Vraska the Unseen - $4 TCG Midpoint - $3.55

Total: $45.50
TCG Midpoint Total: $50.11
Total Savings: $4.61
% Savings: 9.2

Not bad at all, thanks to my heavy shopping. Lost on the Warhammer due to Commander version, and the biggest bath I took was on Vraska, but overall, I'm pretty damned pleased with the work I did.

Other Cards
Thornbite Staff
Completely forgot to look for this somehow. Obviously, priority #1 tomorrow.

Cabal Coffers
Already discussed. Might just end up getting it from Merchantess, though I won't get any midpoint savings, and who knows about the condition? Will look again tomorrow.

Forbidden Orchard
$6 and honestly, the more I look at it, the more I'm eh on it, particularly since I have so few ways in the deck of dealing with fliers (my single biggest weakness in a creature fight). Not worth the money in this deck after all.

O-Naginata
I literally asked at every single vendor, I think. Nobody has it. I asked Merchantess via text, but she said she needs to look later to see. Ironically, we were both at the Grand Prix all day and never saw one another.

Tutors
Cheapest I saw Vampiric Tutor for? $28. That's a nope card. Didn't see the other black tutor cards. Did find Worldly Tutor for $7, but 1) I didn't like the condition, and 2) I'm honestly not seeing a creature in this deck that demands being tutored for. So that's on the wait and see list.

A friend of a friend and I got into discussion about the deck after a mutual friend of ours shared my photo album and tagged him. He pointed out the fliers weakness and suggested Spiders, which I'm not going to do. It cuts into the elf tribal, and I don't like spider card artwork. He was also cool to the idea of Thornbite Staff because it makes Glissa or the artifact itself an instant target.

He did, however, suggest I add Sidisi, Undead Vizier, which has an enter the board effect of sacrifice a creature, tutor for a card, any card. It's cheap enough that I'll look at adding it if I can find it tomorrow.

Akroma's Memorial
Saw this a few different places, and damned near pulled the trigger. I probably should have, as it would be a game finisher in this deck. I'll probably pick it up tomorrow, pending price/condition combo, of course. FoF was like, well it can be exiled. And I'm thinking to myself, yeah, so can every other artifact I have. 7 mana costing cost, but oh so amazing.

Nath of the Gilt Leaf
A FoF suggestion. In fact, he recommended changing commanders to Nath and running a discard subtheme. That's not a bad idea at all, especially since it should be cheap. A potential new commander for Elf tribal (which is where he gets used a lot), but 5 mana casting cost makes me a bit eh. We'll see, though. Glissa's not moving from the commander slot of this deck, however. Not after I put this much into it.

Nylea, God of the Hunt
I might already have this card. I can't remember. At $4 most places, it wouldn't be the end of the world to get a double, and honestly, this deck is primed to be Green devotion, so she can get online pretty quickly. Plus, trample effects, yo!

What the Hell Do I Cut?
9 cards wanting entry.

Immediate Cuts
1. Paragon of Eternal Wilds (The +1/+1 doesn't add much, and I have lots of other ways of giving Glissa trample).
2. Wildheart Invoker (4 mana to get in, and 8 mana for the +5/+5 and Trample is too much mana that needs to be spent elsewhere in this deck)
3. Brawler's Plate (7 mana total - 3 to get in, 4 to equip, for a +2/+2 and trample on one creature. Again, mana better spent elsewhere)
4. Rogue's Gloves (card draw is nice, but it needs other cards to ensure that Glissa or whoever can deal damage to somebody. Just not efficient.)
5. Thought Prison (The gradual life drain is cool, but 5 mana to get in, and who knows when someone's combo is going to go off before then? I honestly almost didn't put in for the first rework.
6. Tormod's Crypt (If I had a discard/mill subtheme, this would be great. Because it's not, it just simply isn't going to do much unless other players are running control).
7. Overrun (Seems like a win more card than anything else, since in Commander, it would need a lot of buildup already in place from creatures to be effective. Not a finisher, so out it goes.
8. Nighthowler (Again, not running enough discard/mill mechanics for this to work, and also not very effective in my meta with artifact and enchantment emphasis)
9. Fallen Ideal (3 mana to make Glissa fly isn't really worth it in the end. And it's only a win con if other cards are in play, or if opponents have no fliers).

That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. So, in essence:

-2 creatures
-4 artifacts
-1 sorcery
-2 enchantments

+1 creature
+3 artifacts
+2 planeswalkers
+3 lands

So in total:

Going from 28 to 27 creatures
Going from 20 to 19 artifacts
Going from 0 to 2 planeswalkers
Going from 29 to 32 lands, which now puts us much more in the traditional acceptable range (34-37 is the norm for Commander decks)
Going from 7 to 6 sorceries
Going from 8 to 6 enchantments

One last thing - Glissa herself underwent a transformation today!

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/20392_10100794468626035_702277284532317382_n_zpsdccmdmau.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/20392_10100794468626035_702277284532317382_n_zpsdccmdmau.jpg.html)

Yep, quite a lot of MtG artists were in attendance, and Steve Argyle, the guy who did Glissa's promo, also did one of my other favorite art cards, Monastery Swiftspear, which I didn't have on me. :( So I need to go there tomorrow morning and get him to sign those.

This quickly led me to find other cards I had on hand in my deck or binder for artists to sign, and the following came up:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11391146_10100794613845015_2287269143900941985_n_zpsz4ufbeya.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11391146_10100794613845015_2287269143900941985_n_zpsz4ufbeya.jpg.html)

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11201615_10100794656279975_4919574158733937539_n_zpsdcflkwsz.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11201615_10100794656279975_4919574158733937539_n_zpsdcflkwsz.jpg.html)

I'm also going to be looking for cards I have by other artists who were there, so I can have those signed, too.

[BYU 14]

With as expensive as standard can get going through rotation, this is getting me interested in commander. Might have to try this out. :)

[Izulde]

With as expensive as standard can get going through rotation, this is getting me interested in commander. Might have to try this out. :)

I'll never go back to Standard or Modern or any of the 60 card formats unless I come into a ton of money. It's actually a lot more fun than I expected.

[BYU 14]

Think I will work on a Mardu commander with Kolghan

[Izulde]

Glissa's Elven Crusade (Working title until I can find a better one)

Commander (1)
Glissa the Traitor (Elf)*

Lands (31 +2)
Cabal Coffers - GP Sunday buy*
Evolving Wilds*
Gilt-Leaf Palace - GP Saturday buy*
Golgari Guildgate*
Jungle Hollow*
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx*
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood*
Shizo, Death's Storehouse - GP Saturday buy*
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - GP Saturday buy*
14x Forests
8x Swamps

Planeswalkers - Both GP Saturday buys (+2)
Garruk, Apex Predator*
Vraska the Unseen*

Creatures (28 Unchanged)
Bellowing Tanglewurm*
Birds of Paradise*
Carapace Forger (Elf)*
Copperhorn Scout (Elf)*
Elvish Archdruid (Elf)*
Elvish Champion (Elf)*
Elvish Mystic (Elf)*
Elvish Piper (Elf) - GP Saturday buy*
Essence Warden (Elf)*
Ezuri, Renegade Leader (Elf)*
Ezuri's Archers (Elf)*
Gaea's Herald (Elf)*
Greenweaver Druid (Elf)*
Immaculate Magistrate (Elf)*
Imperious Perfect (Elf)*
Jagged-Scar Archers (Elf)*
Joraga Warcaller (Elf)*
King Macar, the Gold-Cursed - GP Sunday buy*
Llanowar Elves (Elf)*
Lys-Alana Huntmaster (Elf)*
Priest of Titiana (Elf)*
Skirsdag High Priest*
Talara's Battalion (Elf)*
Thornweald Archer (Elf)*
Thrun, the Last Troll*
Timberwatch Elf (Elf)*
Titiana's Chosen (Elf)*
Wellwisher (Elf)*

Artifacts (23 +3)
Bow of Nylea*
Chariot of Victory*
Coat of Arms*
Commander's Sphere*
Darksteel Plate*
Door of Destinies - GP Saturday buy*
Expedition Map - GP Saturday buy*
Heart-Piercer Bow*
Hero's Blade*
Jester's Cap*
Loxodon Warhammer - GP Saturday buy*
Nihil Spellbomb*
Nim Deathmantle*
Piston Sledge*
Prowler's Helm*
Sensei's Divining Top - Kamigawa packs*
Scroll of the Masters - GP Sunday buy*
Strata Scythe*
Swiftfoot Boots*
Sylvok Replica*
Tenza, Godo's Maul - Kamigawa packs*
Thornbite Staff - Russian - GP Sunday buy*
Trailblazer's Boots*

Sorceries (4 -3)
Nature's Spiral*
Praetor's Counsel*
Read the Bones*
Roar of Challenge*

Instants (4 -2) - Every single one of these is artifact or enchantment hate, due to the Sunday meta being heavy in combos involving these
Krosan Grip*
Molder*
Nature's Claim*
Naturalize*

Enchantments (7 -1)
Beastmaster Ascension*
Eternal Thirst*
Feast on the Fallen*
Midnight Covenant - Kamigawa packs*
Quest for Renewal*
Song of the Dryads*
Underworld Dreams*

The asterisks are because I was checking to make sure I had all my cards. I was getting 101 on the decklist here (forgot I removed a forest), and 99 when I was actually hand-counting, but when I went through one by one, I'm getting 100 exactly. And I just got it again, so we're all good.

In total, 16 cards swapped from Glissa v 1.1. As you can see, lands, artifacts and planeswalkers got boosts at the expense of enchantments, instants, and sorceries.

This is also a much more heavy Glissa Voltron deck now, and playing more to her particular strengths. There's still a considerable elf tribal element here, but it's much more about her, as I wanted it to be - the elf tribal took too long to get going, although when it did, I usually had a very good chance of winning.

We lost an elf or two along the way to make room for the artifacts. The GP buys are noted on the day that I purchased them. The Kamigawa packs? Those are from a pack each of Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa, and Saviors of Kamigawa that I bought for myself as a splurge present at the end of the GP Sunday night.

The biggest pull I got from the Kamigawa packs is one that almost paid for all 3 packs by itself:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/Senseis%20Divining%20Top.full_zpsgte3ugow.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/Senseis%20Divining%20Top.full_zpsgte3ugow.jpg.html)

This card clocks in at $31.63 midpoint TCG price. I've seen a *ton* of commander decks with it. I'd go so far as to call it one of the primary staples, regardless of what color you're using. Sol Ring is another primary staple, but since I'm green, I don't worry too much about mana.

The other card I want to talk about from Kamigawa, that's only worth 14 cents?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/midnight_zpsnk8vbxxz.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/midnight_zpsnk8vbxxz.jpg.html)

This really needs the Urborg and Cabal Coffers combo out to be truly effective, and would work better in a mono black deck, especially since I don't have that many black mana sources out. So perhaps it'll get cut. Still a fun card, however.

And the other fun card I added?

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/kingmacarthegoldcursed_zpsnrccrsj2.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/kingmacarthegoldcursed_zpsnrccrsj2.jpg.html)

Admittedly, the exile works against Glissa's recursion ability, which is graveyard and not exile. And it'd be a lot more powerful if it exiled something other than creatures... but then it wouldn't be overpriced at the dollar I bought it for. :D

Realistically this card will get cut for something else. I just wanted to add an element of fun, though, by putting in as many new cards as I could see making reasonable sense to include.

[Izulde]

Think I will work on a Mardu commander with Kolghan

The Dragonlord version to give all your creatures haste? Interesting... I'm not sure he'll be a good commander, though. His secondary ability is useless in Commander, and his 6 mana casting cost means the aggro effect won't kick in until later in the game. I figured you'd go with a black/white/red commander to get the full Mardu range.

[BYU 14]

The Dragonlord version to give all your creatures haste? Interesting... I'm not sure he'll be a good commander, though. His secondary ability is useless in Commander, and his 6 mana casting cost means the aggro effect won't kick in until later in the game. I figured you'd go with a black/white/red commander to get the full Mardu range.

I was thinking Kolghan because of the dash ability and +1 to all attackers. That way he doesn't stay exposed

[Izulde]

I was thinking Kolghan because of the dash ability and +1 to all attackers. That way he doesn't stay exposed

Ah right. Storm's Fury then. There have been people who have built some very interesting decks based on her, just from my skimming.

[Izulde]

So tonight's playtest... I got mana screwed on 2 of 3 games, so I need to bump the lands up. Glissa decks in general tend to run about 35-38 lands, so I'm behind the curve on that.

The one game I wasn't mana screwed, I got off too late because I didn't realize Urborg is also a swamp, so I could have started Glissa going like 3 or 4 turns sooner. Oops. Stupid me. But live and learn.

I did get to play Vraska, and she drew much approval when she hit the board, because I was able to use her minus ability to blow up a permanent. I chose Helm of Obedience to wreck another player's combo that would have won him the game. He told me afterwards that it was a very smart play on my part. Even though she died my next turn, she's going to be a keeper in this deck.

Although it got countered, the appearance of Underworld Dreams also was applauded. It's not a card that many people have in their decks apparently, but it destroys certain types of decks (the fucking Laboratory Maniac, I'm looking at you).

Another game, I found out Heart-Piercer Bow is useless... it's the bow that does the damage, *not* the creature. So that's out.

Sensei's Divining Top hit the board 2 out of 3 games, and one game, it saved me from mana screw. To show just how much a staple it is, and how versatile it is, I saw it in at least 3 other decks tonight, all with widely different colors.

The one I didn't get mana screwed, I might have won via commander damage if I could have gotten Glissa out sooner. As it was, I had the guy who won at 15 Commander damage (Nim Deathmantle, and then NDM + Loxodon Warhammer on my last turn).

This has me thinking that I need to rip out the elf tribal, and focus specifically on Glissa as a Voltron commander. So, looking through the current deck...

Lands
Needs to go up, but if I take out the elves, then Nykthos is on the chopping block. Shizo hit the board and was redundant due to Nim Deathmantle, but building redundancy in a deck isn't necessarily bad, especially EDH. Nykthos is the only drop I'm considering, though, other than a possible redistribution of the Forests/Swamps.

Planeswalkers
Vraska stays. Garruk I'm still on the fence about.

Creatures
Staying
Birds of Paradise - Mana dork of any color
Carapace Forager - Becomes a 4/4 with 3+ artifacts in play
Thrun, the Last Troll - A secondary Voltron possibility

Everything else is up in the air, though the mana dorks (Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves) will probably stay.

Artifacts
Automatic Drops
Coat of Arms
Door of Destinies
Heart-Piercer Bow

Possible Drop
Bow of Nylea, depending on how many creatures are cut.

Enchantments
Possible Drop
Beastmaster's Ascension, again depending on the creature cuts

I have to go to bed soon, and if I start looking more heavily at what I have, I'll be up until it's time to go to work... but initial thoughts:

1. If I'm going to be Voltroning with equipment, I need mana... lots and lots and lots of mana. Land retrievals might again be a thing in this deck, and if so, Avenger of Zendikar meanders his way back in.

2. There's not a lot of creatures in my particular meta. Most of the decks tend to run on artifact and enchantment infinite combos, so I probably need to beef up the artifact/enchantment hate.

3. I need an alternate win con to keep people from slamming Glissa until her casting cost gets too ridiculous. Thrun helps out with that (Hi, hexproof!) due to his own Voltron suitability, but I feel as though I should include more fat creatures.

4. So maybe I should include some control elements? Not necessarily Stax, which is about locking down opponents (and I fucking *hate* people who play that shit - really ruins the game), but spot removal (even though it tends to be scorned in EDH) and what not. Which reminds me I totally forgot about Executioner's Capsule! Oops.

5. I looked at cards that would transfer +1/+1 counters to Glissa, but when she bites it, those go away, and it doesn't feel like it's any faster than equipment. Plus, that mana and time is better spent simply re-equipping her with stuff (and I now see the utility of Hero's Blade is better than I thought... Oh, you knocked out Glissa? Guess what... she gets Hero's Blade for free when she comes back).

Sooo...

Basic Things
1. Mana, mana, mana
2. Equipment for Glissa, and perhaps enchantment buffs, too, just in case I run across artifact hate and the enchantments end up being much cheaper than equipment.
3. Enchantment/artifact hate.
4. Fat creatures for alternate win cons.
5. Consider control.
6. Also consider deathtouch creatures for 1 v 1 trades.
7. Does Vesuva have a role here to play? (Non-basic land that become a copy of any other land in your control) ...Yaass... Vesuva can become another Cabal Coffers. MOAR BLACK MANA!

While I was searching, I found a couple cards that I brought back from Wisconsin that are the same thing as a swamp and a forest respectively, but they're non-basic lands. Can you say Expedition Map targets?

I need to meet with Merchantess this week and spend out my credit for cards to beef it up. Why? Because I'm entering the big commander tournament next Sunday, where the prize is a full set of Revised dual lands. Go look up the prices. Drool and/or cry, at your leisure.

[Izulde]

Glissa's Dark Crusade (New working title)

Commander (1)
Glissa the Traitor (Elf)*

Lands (34 +3)
Cabal Coffers - GP Sunday buy*
Evolving Wilds*
Gilt-Leaf Palace - GP Saturday buy*
Golgari Guildgate*
Jungle Hollow*
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood*
Shizo, Death's Storehouse - GP Saturday buy*
Tree of Tales (New)
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - GP Saturday buy*
Vault of Whispers (New)
Vesuva (New)
12x Forests (Altered; -2)
11x Swamps (Altered; +3)

Out went Nykthos, and in came 3 swamps, Tree of Tales, and Vault of Whispers, the latter of which are artifact lands that produce a green mana and black mana respectively. IOW, 2 lands that can have Glissa recursion ability, in case they get blown up.

Planeswalkers - Both GP Saturday buys (+2)
Garruk, Apex Predator*
Vraska the Unseen*

Creatures (22 -7)
Arashi, the Sky Asunder (New)
Bellowing Tanglewurm**
Birds of Paradise**
Brass Squire (New - Artifact Creature)
Carapace Forger (Elf)**
Elvish Archdruid (Elf)**
Elvish Champion (Elf)**
Elvish Mystic (Elf)**
Elvish Piper (Elf) - GP Saturday buy**
Ezuri, Renegade Leader (Elf)**
Greenweaver Druid (Elf)**
Immaculate Magistrate (Elf)**
Joraga Warcaller (Elf)**
Llanowar Elves (Elf)**
Lotus Cobra (New)
Painsmith (New)
Priest of Titiana (Elf)**
Skirsdag High Priest**
Soul Collector (New)
Sylvok Replica (Artifact Creature)
Thrun, the Last Troll**
Timberwatch Elf (Elf)**

A lot of cuts here - wiping out the Elves that don't add mana, or buff Glissa in some way. Lotus Cobra is a mana generator via Landfall, Painsmith has great synergy (whenever you cast an artifact spell, target creature gets +2/+0 and deathtouch until end of turn). Obviously the DT is redundant, but it's another Glissa buff. Arashi is in here as another way of dealing with fliers, and a 5/5 body, though he'll probably be a first cut. Soul Collector allows me to gain control of creatures that it deals damage to, if that creature goes into a graveyard that turn. The idea here is, have it do damage, then finish it off with Glissa. Not sure how well it'll work, though. Brass Squire is another synergy add - I tap him to attach target equipment I control to target creature I control. So instead of paying all that mana to equip Glissa or Thrun or whomever with stuff, he allows me to do one for free. We'll have to see how useful he is.


Artifacts (22 - Unchanged; I just moved Sylvok Replica to Creatures)
Chariot of Victory**
Chromatic Star (New)
Darksteel Plate**
Expedition Map - GP Saturday buy**
Hero's Blade**
Jester's Cap**
Livewire Lash (New)
Loreseeker's Stone (New)
Loxodon Warhammer - GP Saturday buy**
Nihil Spellbomb**
Nim Deathmantle**
Piston Sledge**
Prowler's Helm**
Sacred Armory (New)
Sol Ring (New)
Sensei's Divining Top - Kamigawa packs**
Scroll of the Masters - GP Sunday buy**
Strata Scythe**
Swiftfoot Boots**
Tenza, Godo's Maul - Kamigawa packs**
Thornbite Staff - Russian - GP Sunday buy**
Trailblazer's Boots**

The new stuff here is mana (Sol Ring); mana fix/card draw (Chromatic Star); buff (Sacred Armory - albeit a bit costly at 2 colorless mana for a mere +1/+0, but it's repeatable for infinity); buff/recursion subability (Livewire Lash); draw power (Loreseeker Stone).

Sorceries (5 +1)
Cultivate (New)
Journey of Discovery (New)
Nature's Spiral*
Praetor's Counsel*
Roar of Challenge*

Cultivate is a land fetch card (2 basic lands, 1 in play tapped; the other in hand) while Journey of Discovery is fascinating. For the same cost as Cultivate, I can either fetch two basic land cards and put them in hand *or* play an additional two lands this turn. If I pay the cost twice, I get to do both things.

Instants (4 Unchanged) - Every single one of these is artifact or enchantment hate, due to the Sunday meta being heavy in combos involving these
Krosan Grip*
Molder*
Nature's Claim*
Naturalize*

Enchantments (10 +3)
Beastmaster Ascension*
Boar Umbra (New)
Eternal Thirst*
Feast on the Fallen*
Forced Adaptation (New)
Midnight Covenant - Kamigawa packs*
Molting Snakeskin (New)
Quest for Renewal*
Song of the Dryads*
Underworld Dreams*

3 additions here, all of which are enchantment buffs for Glissa. The Umbra has Totem armor, which means if Glissa would be destroyed, she stays in and the enchantment is lost. The Snakeskin has 2C1B to regenerate her, which is another form of protection. Unholy Strength may get chucked for Executioner's Capsule, which I'm supposed to get from Merchantess tomorrow morning.

Still To Go In
Executioner's Capsule

Cards I Debated Putting In
Mirrorworks - But it's 5 mana itself, and copying artifacts costs an additional 2 mana. Probably too slow for the meta, which has stupid shit like Turn 1 etc wins.

Sylvan Caryatid - The hexproof doesn't really matter for Commander, which has very little spot removal, and I felt like with the increased land fetches that Lotus Cobra was a better fit. Not as reliable, but the chance for more mana in a turn.

Nykthos - Yes, I'm still thinking about putting it back in. I have enough permanents that it might be useful, and it'd be another thing for Vesuva to consider turning into. Maybe not, though.

Colossus of Akros - He would be another potential wincon, so maybe he should go in over Arashi. I mean right now, my wincon is Glissa or Thrun via Voltron.

Overall, I feel like I strengthened the mana and have more synergy to improve Glissa's Voltron wincon ability. I'm probably not going to win the big event tomorrow - $25 entry with the prize for winning one of every single Revised dual land. But it seems like I've given myself a better shot this time.

[Izulde]

Round 1
Guy wins my pod on Turn 3 with the Hermit Druid combo. Scion of the Ur-Dragon was his commander. I hate when EDH does stupid shit like this.

Round 2
A lot more fun. Two green players against two blue players. The green players (I and another guy) ganged up on the blue players to take them out, and while he already had the game won unless I pulled a board wipe, which I don't have, it was still fun to take 2nd. Vraska the Unseen got to destroy a Winter Orb, and Thrun the Last Troll got Voltroned because I had no black mana available until the last couple turns of the game. I could have maybe held out another turn by destroying his commander with Garruk, Apex Predator on the next turn... but yeah.

Sit N Go
Two pods of 4 players each. Prize was a box of boosters (don't remember the set). One of the guys from Round 2 was in my pod, a Co-Organizer of the Sunday EDH that is my weekly Magic fix now. He was one of the blue players, and he's the guy who plays a deck that locks down and steals your stuff - hence why he was a primary kill target in Round 2. As it turns out, I had an artifact/enchantment destroyer in hand, and I should have left a green mana open to kill his infinite mana combo. Unfortunately, I had tapped out to bring Glissa into play for my Turn 3, and couldn't stop his infinite mana from going off. Three green players at the table and we couldn't beat him. Darksteel Forge hit the table, or whatever card makes all artifacts indestructible, and we were done unless somebody had an Exile or Sacrifice-style board wipe, which none of us did. I and another green player did have Song of the Dryads in our deck to transmutate something of his, but neither of us could pull it.

Afterwards I was talking to Co-Organizer, and he mentioned, "Your Glissa deck is too fair. Black/Green is a really powerful combo, but your deck is too dedicated to her, and doesn't do enough to disrupt the janky shit that everyone else is doing."

Point taken. I need to again reconstruct this deck to better fit the meta, which is all about stupid combo shit for the most part, that can win in the first few turns.

So what are some common Black/Green combos, if I wanted to fight fire with fire?

Druidspike
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/Basketball%20Stuff/druidspike_zpsgkkomic7.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/Basketball%20Stuff/druidspike_zpsgkkomic7.jpg.html)

Put counter on Devoted Druid, take it off with Quillspike for +3/+3 boost. Repeat this for infinite power/toughness Quillspike. Very simple, clean, basic combo.

Mike + Trike Combo
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwYMOXmIUAAy5wy.png

Because of Mike giving Trike undying, Trike can do infinite damage to infinite opponents. This requires a fair bit of mana to pull off, but it's one of the easiest infinite combos in the format.

There's other combos, but they're multi-card, complex, and give me a headache just thinking about them. I like clean, straight shots. But the question is, would I have fun putting these combos in? ...I'm not really sure.

Any Glissa combos? Well, there's the machine gun effect of Glissa + Executioner's Capsule, which can essentially wipe the board of nonblack creatures opponents control for as long as I have black mana open. That's in the deck already, and will stay.

Other than that, not really. Besides, I despise infinite combos and find them completely unsporting. It's a trait shared by my fellow Glissa players I've noticed, who frequently, when posting decklists, say they don't want infinite combos as part of the suggestions (indeed, one decklist creator groused that he accidentally put an infinite combo in, but since it took four cards to pull it off, he supposed he would live with it. :D)

The Questions
1. What are my wincons right now?
Glissa/Thrun Voltron and Vraska's ultimate, which I've never managed to fire because I keep using her to blow stuff up instead. I mean, that's great, don't get me wrong, but still... it's an unused win con.

Neither one has worked, and in fact, I haven't won a single game since making Glissa my commander. Granted, that's because I haven't played her casual, but still. OTOH, I don't want to throw out the possibility of a Glissa commander win. I'd still like that to be an option.

2. How can I answer threats?
This is the big issue right now. As Co-Organizer said, my deck plays too fairly. It needs more hate, more answers.

So those are the two biggest questions that need answers. So just thinking aloud here...

The Core - Cards That Are Locks In This Deck
Commander (1)
Glissa the Traitor (Elf)

Lands (4)
Cabal Coffers
Evolving Wilds
Shizo, Death's Storehouse
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Planeswalkers (1)
Vraska the Unseen

Creatures (1)
Birds of Paradise

Artifacts (4)
Executioner's Capsule
Expedition Map
Loxodon Warhammer
Sensei's Divining Top

Instants (3)
Krosan Grip
Nature's Claim
Naturalize

Enchantments (3)
Midnight Covenant
Song of the Dryads
Underworld Dreams

So that's 17 cards for absolute certain I want in the deck. Either they're cards I love (Loxodon Warhammer, I'm looking at you), or they go to supporting specific things I want to do in this deck. Or they're answers (see the Instants).

By the way, in that essential green vs blue game, Co-Organizer played Gauntlet of Power, naming blue, which would mean that Islands produce 2 blue mana instead of 1 - or a way for the blue guys to get back in the game. I glanced at my fellow green player and asked, "Do we want to let them back in the game?" "Nah." "Okay... taptaptap... Krosan Grip your Gauntlet of Power." "Fuck!"

Random Thoughts
If I'm not going to be one of those early turn infinite combo doofuses, I need more answers to those combos. And they have to be low casting cost.

Tutors would really help the deck out, but $$$$. Liliana Vess would be one of the cheaper ones at $9, because she's a 5 mana casting cost and the fact she only tutors to top of the library. Then again, if I had the Top out or another card draw mechanic... Hmm. Still, I like the idea of adding more planeswalkers, and I can then chuck Garruk, who I think belongs in a new Elf tribal deck I may build at some point.

Urf, which reminds me... I didn't hear what Merchantess said the price on Executioner's Capsule was. I think she said $4, but it's like 20 cents on TCG. I may have gotten robbed, but we'll see when I get my phone back tomorrow, what the text message says.

I should revisit this when I'm more awake and have time to look through cards to start planning my deck better. I do have some ideas though... but they're mostly along the Glissa Voltroning track. :P

[Izulde]

I'm just not sure if I can put together a deck with Glissa I really like that has a shot of winning. Which kind of sucks after I sunk cards into it, but I don't know. Started putting together a deathtouch-based deck, but that doesn't stop trample, which makes it pretty useless as a defensive mechanism, since the creature-based decks, when they go off, go off because of trample.

And then I found myself looking at my old buddy Iroas. He's been insanely powerful whenever I've played him in Standard, and if I decide to drop $20 on a card from a set that wasn't released in the US (Portal of Three Kingdoms), all my creatures become unblockable, because Iroas says they can't be blocked except by two or more creatures... and this card says...

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=10516&type=card

So yeah... unblockable.

I think I need to roll with Glissa for a while yet, while also think about Iroas and this other card I have that I'd love to build a deck around:

http://www.mtgotraders.com/store/media/products/gtc/Prime_Speaker_Zegana.jpg

Some very interesting commanders to consider, certainly.

[Izulde]

So I had Glissa partially deconstructed. Merchantess couldn't meet with me because of going to her SO's dad's for Father's Day. I was waiting for cards to put in the deck. Didn't feel like trying to put Glissa back together for Sunday, so I said hell with it, and threw together an Iroas deck built around Human tribal.

I made a couple of changes already (took out a Dragon and two single creature red mana pumps and added Leyline of Sanctity, the elephant hammer, and Sensei's Diving Top), but for all its intents and purposes, the following is the decklist I ran with last night:

http://www.mtgvault.com/travelingman/decks/iroas-mtg-teddy-roosevelt/

Game 1
I made a very stupid play early on. I was so eager to get the card draw going with Wandering Champion that I cast Pressure Point to have an open field of Second Organizer and attacked. He told me, "That was a mistake. The third guy has Priest of Titiana out." You guys may remember PoT from every elf tribal deck ever.

Sure enough, next turn, the elf tribal guy gets out an artifact that allows him to create infinite mana, and he kills us both by being able to pump up his creatures to infinite power/toughness. The sad part? I had a Divine Offering in hand, and could have destroyed his artifact in response to keep the game going. So... second straight week I could have kept the game going longer, and didn't. Second Organizer was disgusted with me, and Elf Tribal guy apologized for the quick win, saying, "I don't like to win that early, and it's the first time I've ever pulled that off." It was also only his second pod win.

Oh well, lesson learned. I rebought in for $5.

Game 2
Co-Organizer, Second Organizer, Friendly Giant, and me. I felt like a guppy amidst sharks, because all three of these guys are way experienced, and I think every single one of them has at least one card in their deck that's worth more than my entire deck put together, or close to it.

I'd learned my lesson from the last game and the week before finally, and just hung back. I got Door of Destinies in my opening hand, and that's the engine that makes this deck run. Co-Organizer is getting hated on, so he's struggling to get his Memnarch engine running. Friendly Giant and Second Organizer are building, while I very quietly work on my board state, getting Door out and dropping a few humans.

It gets to the point where Second Organizer very much has dominant board position, even with Friendly Giant hosing everyone with Winter Orb, a card I normally hate. In this situation, however, I loved it. As you can see from the decklist, my mana curve is quite low, and anything that kept the sharks from going off was perfectly fine with me!

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/winter-orb_zpszaooqa7e.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/winter-orb_zpszaooqa7e.jpg.html)
This card causes major problems

Second Organizer was fine though, because he had mana rocks out, like Gilded Lotus, so he was able to keep doing his thing. Surprisingly though, some very stupid plays were made by Co-Organizer and Friendly Guy, which led Second Organizer to shake his head and remark on it. SO is a cool dude really - just an abrasive personality. CO had been having a shit day, both in Magic and IRL, so his head wasn't right.

Fast forward, and one of the dumb plays forces Winter Orb to be sacrificed. By that point, I'm okay. I've got a decent board set up, including Cavalry Pegaus, and the newly opened mana allows me to bring in both Heliod and Iroas. Unfortunately, we're at the point where SO will win the game on the next turn after killing CO. I do what damage I can to SO, knowing I can kill FG off if he manages to finish SO on his turn, which FG readily admitted. SO taps out my Cavalry Pegasus and goes to block. FG points out Iroas' ability that requires all attacking creatures to be blocked by two or more creatures. SO grunts and says, "Fine. I'll just take the damage then." That put SO down to 13 life - easily within killing range for FG.

And then FG lands the Tezzeret that allows him to tutor, and pulls out an infinite damage combo that kills us both, winning the game.

Still, I was proud of what I'd managed to do with my budget, last minute Iroas deck, and more importantly, I had fun with a Commander deck for the first time in months. I mean, I always enjoy playing Magic, and I liked my previous decks, but this was the first real delight to play. Sentimental value and money sink aside, Glissa just never fit my preferred playstyle.

So I text Merchantess and apologize for the annoyance of my switching decks to focus on, and that I'll have a new cardlist for her. She answering saying it's no problem, and just let her know what I need.

Oh, one more thing... SO asked to see Bloodfire Enforcers when I played it, and remarked, "A 4 drop that's 5/2 and can easily be given first strike and trample? That's actually a really decent card.. and it's Standard legal! Wow." I :D ed at that.

There are some very obvious drops in this deck, which I'll go through one by one.

Obvious Drops
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
-I regret getting him now. A house in Standard, yes, but in EDH, he's the very definition of mediocre, and doesn't really fit fantastically in any deck.

Lose Calm
-I had a creature steal subtheme running, as you'll see if you look through the cards, but single shot creature steals don't seem like a strong enough wincon to me. The next couple cards have the same single shot issue.

Rush of Battle
Trumpet Blast
-These are one turn use anthems (or cards that give bonuses to all your creatures, or all creatures of one type, whatever). As single use cards, their buffs are so minor (+2/+0, +2/+1), combined with their casting cost, that they need to be dumped.

Avacyn, Guardian Angel
-Love the card, but this is not a deck that cares about saving single creatures, other than the gods, who are only creatures if the devotion is up. The second ability is too mana-intensive. And the triple white cost is sketchy in a dual-color deck anyway. Soo... out she goes.

Mortal Obstinancy
-The buff is single creature, weak, and the enchantment destruction is too conditional.

Claws of Valakut
-I mean, if I have a lot of Mountains out, it becomes a nice buff. If I don't, then it becomes a bit too pricey casting cost wise, on a lot that could better be used for something else.

And with the drop of two single creature target spells, we can also eliminate...

Phalanx Leader
-He's great if you have cards to target him. But with only Spirit Loop and Acolyte's Reward remaining, he becomes pretty useless.

Akroan Conscriptor
-See Phalanx Leader, especially since AC is a 5 drop.

So that's 9 very easy cuts to make, and there's others we can drop out with little issue for upgrades, most likely.

Upgrade Possibilities
Lands
----------
Reliquary Tower - $3.87
Clifftop Retreat - $4.45
Cavern of Souls - $43.97

Tutors
------------
Idyllic Tutor - $14.50
Goblin Tutor - $0.73
Enlightened Tutor - $14.50

Creatures
-----------------
Yuan Shao, the Indecisive - $20.56
Champion of the Parish - $2.69
Angel of Glory's Rise - $0.33
Taurean Mauler - $2.73
Tajic, Blade of the Legion - $0.58
Silverblade Paladin - $0.50
Purphoros, God of the Forge - $6.37
Gisela, Blade of Goodnight - $11.20
Eidolon of Countless Battles - $1
Aurelia, the Warleader - $4.58
Angel of Jubiliation - $2.58
Intrepid Hero - $1
Mikeaus, the Lunarch - $3.05
Herald of War - $1.25
Iona, Shield of Emeria - $13.49

Artifacts
----------
Sunforger - $2.11
Akroma's Memorial - $11.95

Enchantments
----------------
Aggravated Assault - $10.62
Nevermore - $0.47

Can I afford Cavern of Souls? No. But it would be flipping awesome in this deck. It's a long-term addition. Lands can just replace basics, no problem.

Going down the list... all three tutors are pretty much auto-include, even though the Goblin one only gets me something I can use 4 out of 6 rolls. Enlightened Tutor is an artifact/enchantment tutor, Idyllic only an enchantment tutor. Red sucks ass for tutors - the worst color of all for it, in fact. Gamble lets you tutor for anything, but random discard is also required, which means you might discard the thing you just fetched for... aaand it's also $21. Nope!

Yuan Shao, which you may recall from last update, is an auto-include despite its heavy price tag, if I can find an English language version in good enough condition. Most of the ones available are Chinese, which I have no interest in. I may have to buy this one online, though I hate doing that. With him and Iroas out, ALL MY CREATURES ARE UNBLOCKABLE. I know, I'm repeating myself. Don't care. Too psyched about it.

Gisela (4C1R2W) and Aurelia (2C2R2W) are expensive as hell to cast, but if you look up the cards, you'll see that they're both huge gamechangers. Or just wait until I get them and post them in this thread. :D They're staples in pretty much every Iroas deck I looked at, and I remember when I played 60 card casual, how badly Gisela wrecked everyone at the table.

Important note: this Mike is the white Mike, *not* the infinite combo, instawin black Mike. He's also a little slow because without other card support, he can only be tapped once per turn. Very cool card, though.

Champion of the Parish also needs to go in this deck. +1/+1 counter every time a human enters play under my control? Sure thing, bro! Tajic, Blade of the Legion is a bit costly in casting (2C1R1W), but he's indestructible, and has a Battalion effect (attacking with at least 2 other creatures) of becoming a 7/7. That's value right there, so he probably needs to go in.

Herald of War is a slow build, but with each +1/+1 counter on her (she gets one for every time she attacks), Human and Angel spells I cast cost 1 colorless mana less. That goes a long way to making the deck run faster, so is probably another auto-include.

Angel of Jubilation is an anthem effect, but the real reason she's 1C3W is her second ability, which is Players can't pay life or sacrifice creatures to play spells or activate abilities. IOW, it completely shuts down certain types of decks. I don't know if there's enough of those decks in my meta to justify her, but she's a strong candidate.

Taurean Mauler gets fat very quickly in EDH, because he gets a +1/+1 counter every time an opponent casts a spell. Oh, and he's also all creature types at all times, so he gets Door and Coat buffs. Probably *should* include.

Angel of Glory's Rise is great for this deck, though hella expensive at 5C2W. Why is she great? Because when she enters the battlefield, she destroys all Zombies (not relevant here), and returns all Humans from my graveyard to the battlefield (ABSOLUTE RELEVANCY!) ...Yeah, I'm screwing my mana curve here, but probably another need to include.

The other creatures I'm probably not going to add for now, as they're either too expensive or too eh. Purphorous I'm not sure about - the pump effect and the granting all creatures trample is great, but I'm not sure I'll have enough devotion to ever have him online.

Anyway, through creatures we have, not counting the lands... let's say I throw in everyone I said should probably be in, or is an Iroas staple... 12 cards, so we'd need to make 3 cuts.

Moving on... I don't run enough instants to make Sunforger worth it, and it's slow, so scratch that. Akroma's Memorial pretty much demands to be in this deck, though. Recall I was considering it for my Glissa deck. 7 colorless mana is insane cost, but it gives a TON of abilities to all my creatures.

Aggravated Assault gets me another combat step, albeit somewhat mana-intensive. It's also repeatable, so that needs to go in... I can literally give myself 3 combat steps a turn if Aurelia and Assault are both on the field and I have the mana. Maybe even more if I'm *really* mana flush. Nevermore is just a great fuck you card to problem commanders, so I really want to include that.

15 cards, which would mean 6 more cuts if I got them all. Actually, with the number of creatures I'm going to run, Eidolon of Countless Battles should probably go in, too... 16. 7 more cuts. I would also love to get Iona, 9 mana casting cost aside. Being able to completely shut down the blue players would be LOVELY! 8 more cuts.

Let's see here...

1. Crater Elemental (Just saw his Ferocious is Activated)
2. Ajani Goldmane - really only useful if I'm running a lot more lifelink.
3. Acolyte's Reward - damage prevent/redirect is devotion to white, so bai.
4. Impetuous Sunchaser - Weak card is weak, especially with forced attack.
5. Word of Seizing - May as well chuck the steal theme. Well, except for one card.
6. Citadel Siege - Belongs in a Voltron deck IMO. Single creature buffs are meh.
7. Nav Squad Commandos - 3/5 that becomes 4/6 with Vigilance if Battalion kicks in. 5 mana seems a bit blah for this, and it's a card I wasn't sure about to begin with.

Quick check before my 8th pick - I'm cutting 4 humans and adding... 4. So thus far, that means I have.. 22 humans. Okay, still good enough to be tribal. Or is it? I'm going to say yes for now, and then tweak as necessary. Or maybe I should be cutting some of these adds. Hmm... decisions, decisions.

Stuff to think about certainly.

Oh, and you'll notice there's quite a lot of angels cropping up in the add list. If you look at most Iroas decks, they tend to be a lot of Soldier tribal with angels mixed in. I'm going a similar route - just with Humans, and perhaps more angels than most Iroas decks have, outside of the Aurelia and Gisela staples. Maybe that's a mistake.

OTOH, as constructed, the deck is *heavily* reliant on getting Door of Destinies out early. Diversifying to angels who do stuff is probably a good thing - plus, Coat of Arms and all that.

A lot of Iroas tribal decks have more anthem pumps than I do. But IMO the pumps are so small relative to their casting cost, they're just not worth it. Particularly since my only token generators are one shot deals in Launch the Fleet (which I may make my last cut) and Secure the Wastes.

I'll think more about this later.

[Izulde]

So Goblin Tutor is from the joke set (Unhinged) and Merchantess doesn't have any Enlightened Tutors left. She also is out of Taurean Mauler.

The cards I'll be getting from her this weekend:

Lands
-----------------
Reliquary Tower
Clifftop Retreat

Spells
----------
Illuminated Tutor

Creatures
-----------
Champion of the Parish (Human)
Aurelia War Leader (Angel)
Tajic Blade of the Legion (Human)
Silverblade Paladin (Human)
Angel of Jubilation (Angel)
Herald of War (Angel)
Angel of Glory's Rise (Angel)

What about Gisela and Akroma's Memorial? Those will wait until I see how the rest of this plays out, since there's over $10/card.

I ordered an English Yuan Shao the Indecisive online, but that's not going to be here until the first full week of July. I got that and from eBay, my first ever true dual land. Thanks for the birthday presents, Mom! :D

Additionally, when sorting through my cards, I added Mirran Crusader, Tivadar of Thorn, Children of Korlis, and Serra Avenger - or 3 more humans and an angel.

So that's 12 non-land cards. We already have the 9 obvious drops below. The 3 drops after them will be Crater Elemental, Citadel Siege, and Word of Siezing, I think.

All told I'll be dropping 2 humans and adding 7, which takes my human count to 27.

My overall creature count is originally 24, so dropping... 4 and adding 12, once Yuan Shao gets here. That means 32 creatures, yay!

Oh, I also put in Expedition Map to be able to fetch Nykthos once I have a boardstate in play.

Edit: Make that 34 creatures. 36 if Iroas and Heliod are online. Forgot about the Archetypes.

[Izulde]

So it turns out Merchantess had a worn Enlightened Tutor that she was willing to give me $2 off for the condition, so I took it. She only has one Angel of Jubiliation at the moment and it's in one of her decks, so I said just to keep it. Not sure what happened to Herald of War - she may not have that, or it may have been missed.

I went to her house and played with 3 way Commander with her and her sig other (still don't remember if it's her bf or husband). I rolled with this deck:

http://www.mtgvault.com/travelingman/decks/iroas-mtg-teddy-roosevelt/

Game 1
Enlightened Tutor opens in my hand, so I play it to fetch Door of Destinies and things are going fine until Merchantess plays a card that wipes my board by dealing enough damage to kill my creatures. MM (Merchantess' Man, I've decide to call him), got land screwed the whole game, and it was a squash.

Game 2
I draw into the same.damned.part of my hand, so the game goes pretty much the same as last one, though MM is able to get a bit of a board state out himself before she squashes us. The kicker here? Enlightened Tutor, unlike most tutors, calls the card to the top of your library, so it's your next draw. Guess what my next draw would have been? ...Yeah. Door of Destinies. :banghead:

Game 3
Merchantess is slow off the draw this time, and I whittle her down with Borderland Marauder carrying the elephant hammer (Loxodon Warhammer). MM is gunning for her, too. But then she steals the Marauder from me and a lifelink creature from MM to stabilize her board. Still, we've got her down to 14 life, and by this time I've got Archetype of Courage, a pumped Warden of the Beyond, and an Angel of Glory's Rising wielding the elephant hammer. Oh, and we got her to 14 because Aurelia the Warleader hit the board on my side and I hit her twice. Then she steals Aurelia and even though I have my Angel of Glory's Rising kill Aurelia next turn, it's not enough to save us, due to the commander's recursion ability, so we lose again. The real Kicker? I completely forgot about Iroas, and could have delayed the game, or possibly even won if I'd remembered to bring him in play. So.damned.frustrating. But better to make that mistake in casual rather than in tournament.

Merchantess' Commander
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/marchesa_zpshceiwrse.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/marchesa_zpshceiwrse.jpg.html)

This is a fantastic commander. Merchantess tends to play a lot of black, though she also does green/white. Very much a control player. MM, on the other hand, is an aggro player, and as a result, he doesn't like EDH all that much.

Star of the Night - Iroas Edition
http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/aurelia_zpsyqdhjixj.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/aurelia_zpsyqdhjixj.jpg.html)

Absolutely badass. She's worth every penny it costs, and I <3 her very, very much.

Minor Stars
Archetype of Courage
That first strike ability keeps me alive against more powerful decks and creatures. It couldn't entirely keep up with Marchesa, but I lasted longer than anticipated because of it.

Loxodon Warhammer
I was seriously debating whether the Warhammer belonged. Well, never doubt an elephant. The pachyderm punch proved quite useful in the third game, and I noticed in looking through other Iroas decks that it's an equipment often included. Glad to see one of my favorite cards prove itself.

I'm thinking I really need to include Gisela sooner rather than later.

Going To Get Cut
1. Nav Squad Commandos
I've been iffy about this card even putting it in. A 3/5 with pseudo-vigilance and maybe 4/6 for 5 mana is really kind of crap.

2. Impetuous Sunchaser
As I said before, it's kind of garbage.

3. Outpost Siege
Mana ramp is a problem in R/W, so say I pull a card I don't have the mana for. Then it's bad. And the other ability is useless in EDH.

4. Launch the Fleet
Too mana-intensive for this deck. It's been a dead card in my hand every time I've drawn it.

Obviously Yuan Shao is replacing one, and Gisela will replace another when I buy one... probably tomorrow at the shop. :D That's a 5 mana and a 7 mana, significantly bumping up the curve - though Yuan Shao is a straight swap for Nav Commandos.

As for what will immediately replace those 4 cards tomorrow (other than Gisela for Nav Commandos if the shop has it), I'm not sure other than cards to buy. There's opportunities for other cuts, too.

What to add
Mana Ramp Stuff
As a green player at heart, y'all know I love having lots of mana to cast spells. That's one of the great weaknesses of red/white - there's just not much out there in terms of mana ramp or card draw, because you're gaining power (flying esp. in white), combat pressure, and burn (in red's case).

And the red/white/green commanders all stink. So it's basically rocks like Sol Ring, which I need to leech from my Glissa deck, and Gilded Lotus, etc. There's single use mana ramps, but I don't care for those, TBH. There's also Mana Vault and Mana Crypt, but they both deal damage to you, and Mana Crypt even in its cheapest version is over $150. Thanks, but no thanks (though I've seen plenty of Commander decks that actually have one).

Card Draw
I have a few of these options in the deck already, but most card draw in these colors, particularly red, are of the discard a card before drawing it. Not something I'm particularly interested in doing.

So what are my other options? Slow down the rest of the board. So if I had enough mana rocks, I could run Winter Orb (which you saw before), and there's a certain elephant card that slows down the game, too, which is only $1 so I'll toss it in if the shop has it, even though it's 4 mana (2C2W).

Sooo... more stuff to think about. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

[Izulde]

I forgot to mention a couple updates ago that I also added Soul Attendant (Gain 1 life every time a creature comes into play).

Dropped
Launch the Fleet
Outpost Siege
Impetuous Sunchaser
Nav Squad Commandos
Expedition Map

Added
Sol Ring
Walking Atlas
Soul Warden
Wojek Halberdiers
Fortune Thief

Sol Ring and Walking Atlas are mana ramps. Soul Warden is gain 1 life every time a creature enters play. Wojek Halberdiers is 1R1W for 3/2 and battalion with at least 2 other creatures attacking gives it first strike. Fortune Thief means any damage that would take me to less than 1 life, my life total moves to 1. It's 4C1R, or I can play it as a 3C morph, then flip it for 2R. So it's expensive to cast, especially since it's a 0/1 creature who won't contribute anything unless Doors or Coat of Arms is out, but it's still a nice nerf effect that allows me to last longer.

We're now at the point where I have to hem and haw over what gets cut.

And don't forget, Yuan Shao is still on his way. The Plateau will probably take the place of a Mountain, so that's an easy one.

So if Gisela and the elephant pop in today... I'll likely drop Secure the Wastes, as I don't see it having much value when my mana is going to be spent elsewhere, and seems like a win-more con, rather than helping me when I'm behind. And probably Word of Seizing, since it's a 5 mana (3C2R) single shot control of a permanent.

[Izulde]

Unfortunately the event got cancelled because the air conditioning broke down at the store. Boo.

I'm rethinking Walking Atlas' inclusion, as its mana ramp is only effective if I have two lands in hand, which is likely only to happen in the first few turns. As a late game draw, he's not very useful.

Borderland Marauder was an underrated card on the Saturday night games, by the way. Although a 1/2, she becomes a 3/2 when attacking, which with the Warhammer made her a 6/2 when attacking with trample and lifelink.

Also, Angel of Glory's Rise became a 7/6 flier with first strike, trample, and lifelink with the Warhammer on her plus Archetype of Courage out. :D

A lot of my current creatures have first strike and/or vigilance built in, so I'm pondering Heliod's utility in this deck. Then again, with the amount of white, getting five white devotion to make him a 5/6 indestructible isn't difficult.

I considered removing Combat Medic because I felt like indestructible duplicated Iroas' damage prevention ability. Nope! Destruction is different from damage, even though damage can destroy a creature. Confusing? Welcome to Magic!

Also, the protections only apply to creatures while attacking. Once the combat phase ends, and the second main phase is entered into, they can once again be damaged and/or destroyed. And the protections don't prevent exile effects or cards that would take their toughness to 0, because reducing a creature's toughness to 0 is a state-based effect, not damage or a destroy effect. That's the two ways to get rid of indestructible things - exile them, or reduced their toughness to 0 if they're a creature.

[BYU 14]

Ho about adding Dormant Volcano, have to pull back a Mountain when playing it, but from then on 1 red and 1 colorless mana every turn.

[Izulde]

A bounceland is a possibility, but if I do that, I'm going with Boros Garrison for RW rather than CR.

[Izulde]

Went to an informational meeting about learning to be a judge today. The shop is still closed due to AC issues, so it was held elsewhere. Very interesting, and while I'm probably not ready for that step, it's a cool option to keep in the back of my mind.

Played a couple games of Judge Tower. The rules of that format are everyone shares a library. Infinite mana, infinite life. If it's possible for you to perform an action, you must perform that action immediately. You lose if you don't perform the action when you can, or when you're asked about the game state and don't answer correctly.

First game I lost because I cast something during my draw step. I wasn't sure if it was still draw step or main phase. At first I thought it was main, then the judge was like "Are you sure?" And then I debated aloud with myself as to when exactly the draw step ended - was it when I drew the card, or was it when the stack resolved, with the card draw the last step of the stack? I stuck to main and was wrong. :D

Second game I lost because I didn't immediately tap a land after playing it. Simple mistakes, but provoking.

So everyone is still playing Judge Tower, and after a couple guys drop out, I ask if they want to play EDH/Commander. One says sure, but has a couple things to do first, so asks me to meet him at another table.

I go to the table, and am set up and shuffling, when another guy comes by and says, "Hey is that an EDH deck?" "Yeah." "Wanna play?" I hesitated a moment, but first guy was on the phone still, so said sure. We start going through the mulligan phase when first guy comes by and asks if he can join, since we haven't started play. I say sure. Then a fourth guy sees what's happening and asks to join as well. No problem. *Then* a fifth guy says, "Wait, you guys are playing EDH?! I want in!"

So it went from me setting up from a 1 v 1 to a 5 way EDH game. :D

As luck would have it, I draw Leyline of Sanctity in my opening hand, and Leylines in your opening hand can be played without having to pay the mana cost before the game. I happily put it in play (it would later save my bacon in preventing my creatures from getting sacrificed).

Accorder Paladin is my first actual play, and Loxodon Warhammer hits the board next turn, to the uh ohs from the rest of the group. Next turn, I equip it to the Paladin and start swinging at open boards (ie no creatures in play for those opponents). I gain 6 life every turn as a result, and get up to 68 life at one point. My girl Monastery Swiftspear is in, as Heliod, and while the Swiftspear never gets huge, she gets to 3 power a couple of times. Iroas makes an appearance as well, and Heliod is officially online.

Then a guy I've whittled to 7, who has Child of Alara as his commander, but refuses to play it despite the table's advice. Then he Black Sun's Zeniths for 2 to kill my Paladin and Swiftspear, thereby taking Heliod offline, and keeping himself alive.

More board wipe stuff happens as a result of a Norin player, and I'm able to play Mob Rule for the first time ever, knocking 8 life off the guy I view as the biggest threat (running a Wizards deck). The Wizards guy eventually wins, and though I scooped when his combo went off, I essentially took 2nd, because he couldn't kill my 68 life in one turn - only knock me down to 20something.

He would have wiped me out next turn, because his hand was full of counterspells and it'd have taken me a few turns to build back up (I only had 6 mana available at the time - missed a lot of land drops despite 38 lands in the deck).

I bought a couple Avacyn Restored packs and a Conspiracy pack. Nothing too exciting in those, but then I saw an Avacyn Restored sealed box for $150, and the temptation proved too much.

I've only opened 5 of the 36 packs so far, but I've already gotten some interesting cards that could cause a remodel of the Iroas deck - but we'll have to wait and see what happens once the other 31 are opened.

I also drew one of the mythic rares on pack 5, which made me quit for the night on a great note:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/tamiyo_zpskdkcu3up.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/tamiyo_zpskdkcu3up.jpg.html)

In certain cases, she can be a wincon if she survives long enough to Ultimate. But I need to research more for the best possible ways to use her for that, and decide what colors I want to build with her other than blue. Blue/White control and blink is a possibility, but so is Blue/Green with ramp fun - plus Doubling Season, which is $30ish, means I can ultimate her the minute she hits the board if she's not countered or removed. Doubling Season would also allow me to ultimate Vraska, the Unseen and Garruk, Apex Predator incidentally, so would be a fit in either my Glissa deck, or the hypothetical deck built with Tamiyo as a core piece.

So... stuff to think about.

[Izulde]

What a week it's been Magic wise. Cliff Notes: Opened up the rest of my Avacyn Restored boosters, reworked my Commander deck during FNM (I avoid Modern), and played the prerelease event. Oh, I got a few games of EDH in before the prerelease event.

But all that will have to come when I'm not so flipping tired.

[BYU 14]

So if you go green/blue what do you use for a commander?

[Izulde]

So if you go green/blue what do you use for a commander?

Currently the best green/blue option I have is Prime Speaker Zegana. But I'm also pondering blue/white with a general I have, so it's going to be a wait and see thing for that. I do, however, have a new general to rework my Glissa deck into:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/teneb_zpsbhqoucp3.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/teneb_zpsbhqoucp3.jpg.html)

Unlike Glissa, who really needs to be built around artifacts to be truly a competitive deck, Teneb opens up a lot of different possibilities because of his reanimate/steal effect, and being Abzan colors as opposed to the B/G limitations of Glissa or the G/W limitations of Dragonlord Dromoka - just to name the previous two generals of my essentially elf tribal deck.

The last time I went tri-color general was Surrak Dragonclaw (R/G/U), who also headed up the elf tribal. But with Teneb, I think I can *finally* break out of that mindset (which was largely based on the fact that the original Green commander deck I bought to get started in EDH is elf tribal).

But I'll reserve discussion of Teneb for another time. The next post is going to be about prelease tournament for Origins, and Friday night in general.

[Izulde]

I text Merchantess Friday morning and ask if she and Mr. Merchantess are going anywhere for prerelease, and it turns out my old Standard place is where they're going, and that they'll give a ride. Awesome.

We get stop for food on the way (Carl's Jr), and get to the shop in time for FNM, which is Modern. I have no interest in Modern (though Merchantess later said she would have loaned me one of her Modern decks, which was really cool of her), and besides I wanted to take time to rework my Iroas EDH deck.

Suffice it to say, the changes were substantial, and involved a lot of tough cuts, due to the pulls I got from the Avacyn Restored box. I won't talk about all of them, but I do want to mention the two other money cards I got from the AR box:

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/avacyn-angel-of-hope_zpsfzqkch9b.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/avacyn-angel-of-hope_zpsfzqkch9b.jpg.html)

The card for whom the set is named. Powerful, oh so fucking powerful. Was at $34.something when I opened it last week - now it's up to $35, and will probably creep up more as time goes by. There's a guy on the local Magic FB page who has an Angels Commander deck built around this card, and everyone has just been like, "...Your mana curve is too high, bro." And a fellow Iroas player commented that he'd had an Iroas Angels deck not too far off from that angels deck, but realized that the mana curve was too high, so he shifted to Soldiers/Angels.

And then the *other* card I pulled...

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/cavernofsouls_zpsvkhznq5a.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/cavernofsouls_zpsvkhznq5a.jpg.html)

BAAAAAM! Remember when this was $43.97 a few weeks ago? It's up to $49 now. See, the thing is, Avacyn Restored didn't have a huge open rate, compared to say, Khans of Tarkir where freaking EVERYONE was opening packs of that. So the rare cards from the Avacyn Restored set that are good have a higher value.

...Which means I probably should have bought Gisela when I had the chance. Nope. She's actually dropped slightly, at $11.06. Really need to get her today.

In any event, those cards both hit the deck faster than you can say, "Thrun is balla." Long story short, I reworked the deck to try and lower the mana curve overall, having greater concentration in the 1-3 range, and reserving the high mana cost for the true finishers.

Drops
Land
Reliquary Tower

Creatures (9)
Bloodfire Enforcers
Children of Korlis
Dragon-Style Twins
Dromoka Warrior
Herald of Dromoka
Palace Guard
Seeker of the Way
Tivadar of Thorn
Walking Atlas (Artifact)

Planeswalker (1)
Ajani Goldmane

Enchantments (2)
Spear of Heliod (Artifact)
Spirit Loop

Instants (3)
Secure the Wastes
Silence
Word of Seizing

Additions
Land (1)
Cavern of Souls

Creatures (8) (-1)
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Devout Chaplain (Foil)
Kessig Malcontents
Kruin Striker
Lightning Mauler
Nearheath Pilgrim
Riot Ringleader
Zealous Conscripts (Foil)

Artifacts (2) (+2)
Otherworld Atlas
Vessel of Endless Rest

Enchantments (2) (NC)
Cathars' Crusade
Commander's Authority

Instants (3) (NC)
Battle Hymn
Cursebreak
Dangerous Authority

Basically, the creature swaps are about Human things, soulbonding (pairing creatures together to give them some type of ability), artifact/enchantment exiling, and of course, indestructibility. The Zealous Conscripts allow for stealing of a thing as well.

Enchantments see us exchange recurrable lifelink and minor buff/creature revenge destruction for repeatable buffs (+1/+1 counter every time a creature comes into play under my control), and the ability to have a 1/1 Human enter the battlefield on my upkeep (which triggers Coat of Arms and Cathars' Crusade - but *not* Door of Destinies, because it's an enchantment effect, not a spell I cast).

Instants, we're moving out a one shot token generator that doesn't have synergy with the rest of our deck, a one shot permanent stealer, and a white thing that I thought was a counterspell, but isn't. Coming in we have a one shot red mana boost, a one shot enchantment destroyer/minor lifegain, and a 2 card draw that's useful when I have an empty hand, or a 1 or 2 card hand that's dead.

Artifacts is about group hug card draw (though *very* slow to get going), and minor mana ramp and moving a card from graveyard to bottom of the library.

So once that's done (and I may make a couple more tweaks before today), I see a guy I know a little from before, but I can't remember if I ever named him. I'll call him Jolly, though, because I forgot his other name if I did. Anyway, Jolly dropped out of Modern after losing his first couple rounds, so I ask him if he has an EDH deck, and upon learning he does, if he wants to play. He does and does.

Jolly plays his fair deck whose commander I don't remember, and I, of course, have my Iroas deck.

Game #1
Champion of the Parish is my Turn 1 play, and he gets very big, very quickly, thanks to my having a lot of opening low mana humans in my hand. Iroas hops out, and it's looking like I'm going to win easily, when Jolly gets out Platinum Angel, which means nobody can win or lose the game. But I had out Devout Chaplain, and enough humans on board to exile Platinum Angel, so I won that one, too.

Game #2
Man, this game SUCKED! I was red mana screwed, yet flooded with white mana, and most of my opening hand was red. *Finally* I get Vessel of Endless Rest, which tap ability is add a mana of any color to my pool, and I rode that 1 red mana to build up the board state and come back for the win.

Then a third guy shows up and asks if he can play. We say sure. He plays Zur the Enchanter. Jolly brings out Narset, Enlightened Master, because he's no longer playing nice after getting steamrolled twice in a row by Iroas.

Game #3
I build up board state and aggressively attack via random dice rolls to choose my opponent while the others work on building their combos. I see Grim Monolith and I'm thinking to myself I need to blow that shit up before infinite mana hits. I didn't, for some stupid reason, and the infinite mana + Exsanguinate combo hits, losing us the game.

Game #4
End game is the same as Game #3, but in this one, I hit Zealous Conscripts, stole Zur, and attacked him with his own commander. Unfortunately, the enchantment I fetched (has to be 3 or less casting cost) was Banishing Light to try and blow up Hermit Druid that Jolly was playing... and he managed to protect it. Then Zur guy wiped the Druid out next turn, and Jolly suddenly wasn't so jolly. It was a rough night for EDH for him, for sure.

After that, we packed up. With an hour left before prerelease, Jolly and I somehow ended up at the same food place and chatted about the prerelease before heading back.

By that time, it was gametime...

[Izulde]

Side note: My Yuan Shao was supposed to have shown up by now. It hasn't. If it isn't here by the time I get home from work Monday, I'm contacting the seller to find out what happened.

So... Origins... the storyline of this set is the origins of five planeswalkers:

White: Gideon
Black: Liliana
Blue: Jace
Red: Chandra
Green: Nissa

I'm a little surprised Gideon and Nissa made it in over Ajani and Garruk respectively, but Liliana, Jace, and Chandra are no-brainers for their respective colors.

I debated between White, Green, and Red for my color, but ultimately went with White.

The following card was my foil promo: Suspicious Activity Blocked | Distil (http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/magic-origins/tragic-arrogance)

Yeah. Cool card, but absolute shit in value, and I got shit for value overall in my 6 packs + seeded color pack. Needless to say, I was fairly well pissed off, especially since the guy next to me pulled a Jace and a Gideon, I think it was. Someone else pulled a foil Nissa in his green box.

Still, despite my aggravation, I put together the following deck, figuring I'd go 0-4 because sucky pulls suck:

Lands (17)
10x Plains
7x Forests

Artifacts (1)
1x Alchemist's Vial (Card draw ETB effect, 1 mana and sac so target creature can't attack or block this turn)

Creatures (14)
3x Cleric of the Forward Order (2/2; ETB effect gain 2 life for each creature controlled named Cleric of the Forward Order)
2x Consul's Lieutenant (2/1, First Strike, Renown: 1, Whenever attacks, if renowned, other attacking creatures I control get +1/+1 until end of turn)
1x Elvish Visionary (ETB effect card draw, 1/1)
1x Orchard Spirit (2/2, can't be blocked except by creatures with reach or flying)
1x Patron of the Valiant (4/4, flying, ETB effect add +1/+1 counter to each creature I control with a +1/+1 counter on it)
1x Pharika's Disciple (2/3, deathouch, Renown 1
1x Rhox Maulers (4/4, Trample, Renown 2)
1x Sentinel of the Eternal Watch (4/6, Vigilance, At the beginning of combat step on each opponent's turn, tap target creature that player controls)
1x Somberwald Alpha (3/2, whenever a creature I control is blocked, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn, 1C1G Target creature I control gains trample until end of turn)
1x Topan Freeblade (2/2, Vigilance, Renown 1)
1x Valeron Wardens (1/3, Renown 2, Whenever a creature I control becomes renowned, draw a card)

Enchantments (1)
1x Mantle of Webs (creature gets +1/+3 and reach)

Instants (4)
1x Might of the Masses (Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each creature you control)
2x Reclaim (Return target card from your graveyard to the top of your library)
1x Vine Snare (Prevent all combat damage dealt by creatures 4 or less this turn)

Sorceries (3)
1x Tragic Arrogance (read above link)
2x Wild Instincts (Target creature I control gets +2/+2 until end of turn and fights target creature opponent controls)

Things I've learned from prior 40 card formats (prerelease and draft):
1. Unless you're playing burn or mill, make sure you have enough creatures.
2. Card draw is of utmost importance.
3. Removal is at a premium.

At 14 out of 23 non-land cards as creatures, and 3 ways of getting card draw, I was doing okay. And for removal, I had the 3 sorceries. Still, I felt like this deck was going to be weak.

Round 1
Playing against a guy who was black/green. Game 1, Tragic Arrogance bails me out of a sticky situation, and I get the win. Game 2, Tragic Arrogance saves the day again, although as he pointed out afterwards, I missed my renown trigger on Rhox Maulers a trillion times and he was dead long before that. 2-0 win for me, and I'm surprised.

Round 2
Went up against the dude who pulled the foil Nissa, and I'm like uh oh. He's playing blue/green, which is a smart combo if he got the right cards in his box, because blue has the most draw power, and quicker chance of getting Nissa. Game 1, I have Rhox Maulers out, and he casts an enchantment to permanently tap Maulers. No problem. i cast Patron of the Valiant, and he can't stop the flying, so I win.

Game 2, he's well aware of my having Rhox Maulers and Patron of the Valiant. I have both in my hand. Maulers are 4 mana cost; Patron 5. I decide to play Maulers and see if he A) has the paralyzing card, and B) he'll take the bait. The answer to both is yes. He remarks, "Now watch, you'll topdeck* that damn Angel". I chuckle and say, "Funny thing is.... *taptaptaptaptap* ...I had it in my hand the whole time." Commence swearing from my opponent, and doubly so when Might of the Masses hits to deal him 9 points of damage. He gets Nissa out, but by that point, he has 4 life left, and though he manages to freeze the Patron a couple times, it's just delaying the inevitable.

Afterwards he mentions that he screwed up by not holding the paralyze for the Angel, and that his 0/6 wall would have stopped my Rhox Maulers. I pointed out that I simply would have Might of the Masses on the Maulers instead, trampled over the wall, and gotten renown on the Maulers anyway.
Still, that's another 2-0 win for me, and suddenly I'm 4-0 in games played, 2-0 in matches, and I'm guaranteed 7 packs of Origins boosters. I'm also wondering WTF is going on. I mean, I'm usually decent at 40 card formats, but nothing like this.

Round 3
I go up against an amazing mono white deck. Mono color decks are rare in limited. He's also gone 4-0 his first two matches. Game 1, he squashes me. Game 2, I make him sweat by his own admission, but he pulls out the win. I'm cool with this.

Round 4
The store recently flipped owners, and I draw one of the new owners for the last round. If I go 3-1, I get 11 packs. 2-2, I stay at 7 packs. I joke to the guy (who obliterated me the one Modern tournament I did play here), that, "There goes my shot at 11 packs."

Game 1, much as I have a lot of times, I get out an early Cleric of the Forward Order. This is a a tight, white-knuckle affair, but I pull out the win thanks to Patron of the Valiant Order. White Mono Guy is watching the game with interest, since he beat us in Rounds 1 and 2, and he commented that it was a really close game. New Owner says, "Yeah, but he hit me with that Angel, and I couldn't get out an answer to it." Foil Nissa guy overhears this and says, "Same fucking thing happened to me."

Game 2, for the second time that night, I get out *2* Cleric of the Forward Orders early to go up to 26 life. This time, when I get out Patron of the Valiant (I was seriously lucky with the number of times I pulled it), he has out a guy with Reach to stop it. Cue up Wild Instincts to eliminate that threat, and he just couldn't find any of his other flier or reach cards to stay alive.

2-0, and I go 6-2 through the 4 rounds, and win 11 booster packs of Origins!!!!

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o395/Izulde08/CK2andsuch/11originspacks_zpsmpfqzgft.jpg (http://s341.photobucket.com/user/Izulde08/media/CK2andsuch/11originspacks_zpsmpfqzgft.jpg.html)
The bounty

Heroes of the Night
Suspicious Activity Blocked | Distil (http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/magic-origins/patron-of-the-valiant)

The ETB effect only kicked in once, but this was a limited format that had very few fliers in the meta I was playing in, so he wreaked a lot of havoc. Would he make it in competitive play? *Maybe* EDH, but even that's doubtful, and would require very specific types of decks. Perhaps a heroic Standard deck, too. But even that's iffy. Still, I'll always be fond of this card because of tonight.

Suspicious Activity Blocked | Distil (http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/magic-origins/wild-instincts)

I really like the fight mechanic if the buff is big enough. In this format, it was, and served as my de facto removal spell by tossing it on one of my bigger guys, which when cast in my first main phase, had the effect of having clear the board for my large dudes to then charge through for damage.

Suspicious Activity Blocked | Distil (http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/magic-origins/cleric-of-the-forward-order)

The stack effect on these was great. Not as useful in 60 card, but for 40 card? Hell yeah!

Suspicious Activity Blocked | Distil (http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/magic-origins/rhox-maulers)

Designed to be the finisher in every deck that had it. In Round 1, both of us had these guys out, but then I cast Wild Instincts on my Rhox Maulers to take out his Rhox Maulers. These guys were phenomenal. Either they got me the win, as they did in Round 1, both games, or they served as decoys like they did in Round 2. Can't remember if I pulled them Round 3 or 4.. I don't think so, though. Still a winner of a card in limited. Actually a pretty damn useful card, and I'm a little surprised it's a common.

Merchantess went 2-2, and Mr. Merchantess went 1-3 after a really horrible misplay on his part that could have salvaged a 2-2. I wasn't the only one to make that renown mistake, however. Another guy I was talking to outside between rounds made the same error, and it cost him not just the game, but the match.

Anyway, Merchantess asked to see my deck that went 3-1, and she said, "Wow, that's actually a really strong deck." And I mentioned Mono White, and both of them laughed. Mr. Merchantess said, "Yeah, Racer X is really, really good. He can put together a great deck out of a crap pile of cards."

11 packs... even in the draft tournament I won, I only got 7 packs. This is the biggest haul I've gotten yet, and 40 card formats are still my strongest.

[BYU 14]

Knowing your love for all things elf, origins has some really sweet cards. I put together a G/B Elves deck and Shaman of the Pack is absolutely busted. It has singlehandedly won me no fewer than a dozen games in magic on line.

[Izulde]

Knowing your love for all things elf, origins has some really sweet cards. I put together a G/B Elves deck and Shaman of the Pack is absolutely busted. It has singlehandedly won me no fewer than a dozen games in magic on line.

Damn. Just damn. This and pulling Planeswalker Lilliana might get me back into Standard.

[BYU 14]

Damn. Just damn. This and pulling Planeswalker Lilliana might get me back into Standard.

It is actually now directly responsible for over half my wins. Winning about 80% with this deck.

[Izulde]

what's your decklist?

[BYU 14]

what's your decklist?

Creatures
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Gnarlroot Trapper
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Shaman of the Pack
3 Thornbow Archer
3 Leaf Gilder
3 Sylvan Messenger
3 Dwynen Gilt-Leaf Daen
2 Llanowar Empath

Spells
4 Collected Company
2 Ultimate Price

Lands
8 Forest
4 Swamps
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Jungle Hollow (Will replace these with Temple of Malady at some point)

Sideboard
3 Pharika God of Affliction (These will be replaced with Nissa, Vastwood Seer which will go main deck over the Messengers)
3 Hero's Downfall
2 Gilt-Leaf Winnower
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Naturalize
2 Unmake the Graves
1 Ultimate Price

[Izulde]

Just got a huge deal from a local shop... Got 4x Shaman of the Pack, 2x Thornbow Archer, 3x Leaf Glider, 2x Dwynen's Elite, 2x Dwynen Gilt-Leaf Daen... for $4.75. Completely forgot about Collected Company until now but maybe I can pick that up before GameDay event tomorrow.

[Izulde]

Lilliana's Elves V. 1
Lands (20)
9x Forests
7x Swamps
4x Jungle Hollow

Creatures (36)
1x Brutal Hordechief
3x Dwynen's Elite
2x Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daean
4x Elvish Mystic
2x Elvish Visionary
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
3x Gnarlroot Trapper
5x Leaf Glider*
1x Lilliana, Heretical Healer
2x Llanowar Empath
1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
4x Shaman of the Pack
3x Sylvan Messenger
4x Thornbow Archer

* - This is illegal, and it was an honest mistake on my part. Good to know though, as that's a cut.

Artifacts (2)
1x Angel's Tomb
1x Sigil of Valor

Instants (1)
1x Might of the Masses

Enchantments (1)
1x Palace Siege

Round 1
Went up against an Abzan deck. Game 1, he squashed me, and I'm thinking this deck is really underpowered. Game 2, I get out Angel's Tomb and Sigil of Valor, and keep hitting him with flying damage that he can't answer, because all his removals are sorceries or monocolor creatures, neither of which help him against Angel's Tomb, which turns into a 3/3 flier every time a creature comes into play under my control. But just when I'm about to win, he casts two Feed the Clans for 20 life, and comes back to win it. After the game, he congratulated me on the surprise insertion of Angel's Tomb, which isn't normally see in these decks. Not a single Shaman of the Pack in either game.

Round 2
A dreaded mirror match. His decklist was very close to BYU 14's. First game, I lose because I attacked at the wrong time. This is also the game that saw Brutal Hordechief hit the battlefield, leading to lots of jokes from people nearby about an orc leading an elf army. :D Second game, I'm down to 3 life when I get Palace Siege out. He's sitting at 14 life. Naturally, I choose the gain 2 life, opponent loses 2 life, on my upkeep. And that drain and gain is ultimately what wins me the game, even when he could have Nissa, Sage Animist creature/planeswalker's ultimate go off. So Palace Siege, another surprise inclusion, got me the win. :D Third game, it's back and forth until I double-block his Dwynen, Gilt-leaf Daean, while keeping mine alive. Shaman of the Pack hit the table multiple times on both sides. The guy was mad about losing, too, though he's a cool, laid back dude overall, who has a carefree attitude while playing. He's also the one who had the foil Nissa in the prerelease. Beat him then, too, as you'll recall. :D In one game, I don't remember which one, Shaman of the Ways hit the board, which not only got props, but provided a great mana source to get more board presence.

So at 1-1, having gone 0-2 and 2-1, I still have an outside shot at Top 4...

Round 3
First game, I place my Shaman of the Packs right to drain him down, and then was able to finish him off because he only had 3 blockers to my elf swarm coming in. Erebos, God of the Dead made his first appearance in this one. Second game, he gets out Managorger Hydra, who fucks my world up. I still manage to come close to coming back, thanks to Shaman of the Pack, Might of the Masses, and Sigil of Valor, but it just wasn't enough. Third game, I got the land pocket from hell, and it was all she wrote. Oh, and I was up against yet another Abzan deck.

Heroes of the Afternoon
Shaman of the Pack
While not *quite* a wincon as such the way I played it (though it did get me the Game 3 win in the mirror match as a finisher), it's still a fantastic card that really drives this deck.

Palace Siege
It literally won me a game, so of course it's going to go here.

Shaman of Forgotten Ways
The mana ramp is real, and perfect for this deck. Although he got killed once, when he was able to stay on board, he was brilliant.

Sigil of Valor
Put me in position to come back and/or win the game twice, and even though it failed both times,

Duds of the Afternoon
Brutal Hordechief
Good idea in theory. In practice, he wasn't the finisher I anticipated, so he's going to get dropped. It also goes against the minor exalted theme I have going with Sigil of Valor and Might of the Masses.

Lilliana, Heretical Healer
Hit the board twice, but couldn't manage to pop her either time. I think it came down to bad luck, however, because she's quite easy to turn into a Planeswalker.

Overall Thoughts
This deck is competitive, but it's not a top tier deck. Languish hits the field, and it's good night. Which is why I'm surprised BYU 14 has ~80% win rate. But it just might be that my meta runs heavy on Abzan, so I can expect to see Languishes.

There's a distinct lack of punch, in addition to that very real vulnerability. I was also sitting with a lot of empty mana sources in a deck that wants to play defensively. There's a couple of ways I can go about this - add bigger fatties or find ways to make creatures fatties. Collected Company gets a lot of love in this deck, but when I saw it in play, I just wasn't impressed by it. I'd rather be able to control my Shaman placements, and it'd take out my Dwynen, Gilt-leaf Dean, which is kind of necessary to keep this deck alive.

Chord of Calling is something I saw in the mirror match, but also didn't like it. Llanowar Empath was very meh to me. I mean sure, I got deck thinning and a creature out of it every time, but for 4 mana, it seemed a little too expensive. I'd rather those slots went to Elvish Visionary.

Cuts
1x Brutal Hordechief
2x Llanowar Empath
1x Leaf-Glider

Adds
2x Elvish Visionary
1x Gnarlroot Trapper

Which leaves one slot open.

I realize most are considering this as an aggro deck, but for me, because of the amount of waiting you're doing to build up enough elves for Shaman of the Pack to hit, it's a defensive mid-range in reality.

I don't know... maybe cut back on some of the high costing cast elves and put in Managorger Hydras? I think that's the direction I'm pushing for now. A playset will currently run me under 10 bucks... something to think about, at any rate.

Or, if I did go CoCo, cut every single 4 drop and make everything a 3 drop or less. Hmm.

[BYU 14]

I can't stress enough how much I would consider collected company. You can use it to get card advantage early or hold if you don't draw Shaman OTP early as the odds are good you will pull one out of 6 cards.

I have hit two Shamans in the 6 reveled 3 times and won the game right there each time.

I would also sideboard 2 or 3 Unmake the graves for those Abzan matchups to pull creatures back from the graveyard.

Palace siege is an interesting addition for the drain/gain, but also the ability to pull cards from the graveyard. I may try two of those main and sideboard ultimate price for mono-red aggro or mirror matches.

And put another Dwynen's Elite in that last slot, that extra Elf Token comes in handy with Shaman OTP as well.

And you are right, I have not played a lot of Abzan, but if I started to see a lot of it I would board some drown in sorrows to take out things like Siege Rhino or Doomwake Giant after Languish was cast.