All Quite

So we've been a little quite here. The reason is that 2/3 of the contributors were on vacation. But don't worry even when on vacation we are still playing magic.  Fat stack takes up a small amount of space and you can spring it on anyone without warning.

PS: That blue cup contained one of the worst cappuccinos I have ever had.
PPS: Not my first foreign experience playing magic. I bought some cards in Zuerich back in 2007. My favorite card was vampire bats, with thought stone coming in a close second.

Rebuilding Death & Taxes

Okay, in no particular order, here's the weaknesses of Death & Taxes

1) Having more than one extort out makes it hard to play more than one card at a time. Kind of a 'duh' statement, but the hilarity of cycling seems a lot less useful when you are still only casting one spell at a time
2) Extraordinarily vulnerable to being picked off. Extort decks don't work terribly well without any extorters out there. It might have only been bad luck to have faced two red/blue burn decks, but the degree of helplessness I felt was pretty much total.
3) Ciphers, even my middling ones, were such targets that they either not long for this world or died in an exchange. Something ciphered really needs evasion.
4) Too damn slow. Lengthening the game might be a viable strategy in sealed but it gives constructed decks too long to draw their outs.


I remain more-or-less committed to the idea of a W/B/U deck playing with extort and ciphers. Let's break it into its constituent parts

A) Staying Alive. Somehow, it needs to stay alive in the early game, either useful blockers or clearers.
B) A time to kill. Where does death come from? Something big? Something small? Milling?
C) Control/disrupt. How does it knock the opponent off her game plan long enough to achieve its own? Related to the first point but can be different.

What if instead of small ciphers trying to trigger large extorts, what if we went for much larger ciphers on stronger creatures? Something like these fine fellows:

 

A cipher on those guys is probably going to stick around for a while and probably land. Might actually be worth a 4 mana sorcery investment. If I have an extort or two to plink off, so much the better. I don't have a formal deck written up yet, but here are some loose categories and thoughts.

Staying Alive
Basilica Guards
Augur of Bolas
Tithe Drinker

Cipher Targets
Invisible Stalker
Ascended Lawmage
Lone Revenant
AEtherling

Control/Disrupt
Dimir Charm
Far // Away
Restore the Peace
Negate

Controlling Ciphers
Last Thoughts
Mental Vapors

Kill Cards
Drogskol Reaper
Undercity Plague



I still worry that this deck is trying to do too much, too unpredictably. But this is the direct I'm puttering.

Standard FNM - Double Your Emissary Report

All right everyone. This post is a little delayed. I played the FNM at card kingdom with Stefan and Jed. I played my double strike deck.

Round 1: vs Homebrew Innistrad Block Vampires. Won both games on turn 4, he played a total of three spells in the match. My deck did what it does and thanks to a boros charm in game one and a turn two Burning-Tree into Lightning Mauler in game two it killed on turn 4. W 2-0 (1-0)

Round 2: vs Homebrew, mill + aggro. Wait what? I was confused. In each game I got milled for about 10-15 cards. The only damage I ever took in the match was from the shocklands I played. Won game one on turn 4, but game two was nuts. It took 25% longer. I had a kind of awkward start so I didn't kill him till turn 5. Gross.   W 2-0 (2-0)

 

Round 3: vs mutilate.dec. Which is to say, tragic slip, liliana, mutilate, thragtusk, etc. Got him down to 1 in game one while on the play, and his hand was empty all I needed was any card in my deck but a land. I drew a land, he swung and i went down from 16-14. He dropped a dude, but still I had all my outs. I drew a land. He swung and I went to 4. Held his card (which I later learned was a land). I drew a land. He killed me.  Ugg. I really liked my game plan. It was to not finish the match with land, land, land. Didn't quite get there.

Game two he dropped mutilate on turn 4 killing two creatures. I dropped two creatures on turn 5, he mutilated again. I couldn't recover from that. I got him down to three but he had my board and trampling damage through wasn't going to be an option. I needed a Boros Charm or Searing Spear (from the board) to his face for the win. I drew a land. He swung me down to 16. I drew a land. He swung me down to 8. I drew a land. He swung me down to 1. I drew a card. But this time did so in a windmill slam fashion, as I pulled my hand back we all saw  A LAND. Straight deck betrayal to end both games. They were totally winnable but I bricked. Hard. L 0-2 (2-1)

Round 4: vs THE MIRROR. Or at least as close as anyone gets to my deck (paladins->searing spear, selesnya charm->Hellrider) . I played an 8 year old girl named Seraph. It's always tough when you play a kid. You really don't enjoy winning, but what are you going to do. In this case my opponent was very good with the rules and the math. She played cleanly, and made fewer arithmetic errors then I did. However she hadn't learned the importance of timing your instants to reveal the information as late as possible. As a result in game one I was able to race freely. And when she tapped out on turn 4 I was able to reply on my turn by bloodrushing my 3/3 stromkirk noble up to 7/7, and then Boros Charming for double strike for the kill. If only she hadn't searing speared my face during her second main phase.

 

Living the dream! Game two was a disaster. My opening hand was as follows:

   

  

How do you mulligan that? Hit any red source and it is an auto win. I did not draw a land. Her aggressive deck killed me on turn 4.

Game three was sweet. We just free raced right at each other and I set up a devastating, Selesnya Charm surprise blocker, which happened to soulbond with a Silverblade Paladin. It was all over from that point. The next turn a Ghor-Clan Bloodrush onto the double striker ended the match and the tournament.  W 2-1 (3-1)



RECAP: I went 3-1 on the tournament with a loss in round 3. Good for 9th place out of 72. Needed a little help from my breakers to make top 8. No dice. I felt like I played well. The only competitive match was round 3 which I lost. But both losses ended with me bricking hard. I think I put myself in solid position to win both of them and drawing land to finish the game just didn't cut it (my plan was to not draw land). But that's magic. That opponent did have the deck I am worst against.

 

Liliana is brutal, she usually makes me sac a creature, and then discard a card, and then sac a creature. At least if my opponent plays her well. The Thragusk is just a brutal speed bump. With my pump all of my creatures crush it in combat, but it eats up a full 11 points of life. Getting to 20 ish is easy, breaking 30 is near impossible. I for one will be very happy when she rotates out, I just hope the same happens to Thragtusk. Of course the Silverblades and Lightning Maulers also rotate.

Fortunately not all was wasted, in my prize packs I cracked a ...

PS: This is my fifth tournament in a row going 3-1. I seem to have hit a wall. I just can't break 4-0. In the past year I only have one 4-0 to my name. Going to have to figure something out to improve. Probably right now the best thing is to just play more. But I refuse to play online b/c onetime like 5 years ago the program was shitty and I couldn't even make an account. So I'm not sure what to do.

Standard FNM: A bad night for the IRS

It was a grim week for the IRS and Friday night brought absolutely no relief. Death & Taxes was pretty much wrecked from the word go.

Match #1: Blue/red burn, Geist nonsense. 0-2
The first match wasn't much fun as I got manascrew off a mulligan and got toasted pretty fast. Actual quote from opponent, "I'm not sure what your deck is really trying to do." You and me both buddy. The second match was significantly more interesting. I get my extorts up and running and I'l steadily whittling him down to a 15-10 split when the damn Geist of Saint Traft gets up and running. I don't really have a lockdown option for it (hexproof?!) and after he pulls his third damn Geist I've lost all my extorters and it's all over. My opponent, Justin, was very friendly and rattled off a bunch of advice that made absolutely zero sense to me.

Match #2: Green/Red homebrew 1-1
Back in the 'quiet room' with the rest of the 0-2 losers I play a friendly guy named Matt. He's running this weird red/green land destruction deck that drew absolutely zero land destruction against me. The first match was the most enjoyable game I played where we're trading blows but I steadily work him down to 1 life when I'm at 19. He goes on an all-out attack with this weird artifact that mills me until I pull a land, granting +1/0 for each card revealed. All I need is one land in my top five cards and I win. I do not. 19 point swing, fucking rad. I win the second one pretty handily and then the third game is called though I think he probably had me.

Match #3: Blue/red planeswalkers?! 0-2
The first game was pretty interesting as Andrew was manascrewed... at four lands (huh?) and could do little but poke my extorters down. Still, I swing him to 3 life then he finally powers up

Pulls an azorius charm to give his AEtherling lifelink to grant enough health to where he was out of danger and then killed me. It was a slick move.

Game two ended fast and dully. Sphinx's Revelation can blow me.

Match #4: Vaguely interesting red/green heavy hitter deck 1-1, then forfeit.
Back in the 'quiet room' where I belong, I play against another homebrew that appears to have a little of everything. A black planeswalker, some lifegain... it was mostly just confusing and I steadily whittled him down. Pretty bad strategy on his part as he was so desperate to keep Lillana safe that he held back his huge 5/3 thumpy (that I had no answer for). Extort downed him on turn 12 or so.

The second game was much like the first except uglier. He got his Scar Troll down and throwing +1s all over the place. I actually manage to deal with it for a little while with some chumping and Hands of Binding and get him to 3 life, but I couldn't fend off his final attack.

Conclusion: the deck pretty needs a total rework. A fun workable mechanic in Sealed (cipher/extort hilarity) cuts zero ice with real constructed decks that disrupt and destroy. The gameplay of "I'll gain enough life to fend off whatever scary things you have" doesn't work especially when someone is rudely plinking off my extorters. Or another way of putting it, my deck needs more "good cards" and fewer "cute cards" that fit my conceit. There's just too much conflict between tapping out aggressively to extort, leaving mana untapped for instants, and whatever the hell I'm trying to do with the ciphers.

Adding Flashback (D&T v1.2)

Current state of Death & Taxes. Dropped the Duskdale Seer (a little too clumsy and didn't work with too much) and the Deputy of Acquittals (boomeranging was a little too cute and the whole point is to NEVER have untapped mana so it was useless against board clearers and defense. Restocked with Last Thoughts (which if it works would be a delight but it still might be too clumsy), Blind Obedience, and an additional Denizen.


One Drop (12)
4 Thrull Parasite
4 Faerie Imposter
4 Shadow Alley Denizen

Two Drop (26)
4 Tithe Drinker
4 Basilica Screecher
3 Azorius Arrester
3 Blind Obedience
4 Hidden Strings
4 Hands of Binding
4 Blood Scrivener

Four Drop (2)

2 Last Thoughts

Land (20)

4 Watery Grave

4 Drowned Catacomb

4 Glacial Fortress

4 Isolated Chapel

4 Godless Shrine

(I also need some SERIOUS help with my sideboard, but that's a post for another day)

After some more playtesting against Pete last night, I decided to dig into some flashback cards. Here's our contenders for B/W/U after tossing out obviously irrelevant ones (Sorry Alter Reality, nothing personal)

      

Artful Dodge: Well the price sure is right! Easy to extort and good synergies with landing my ciphers.
Bump in the Night: An extorted Bump is just cruel but I'm not wild about the flashback cost truthfully. Splashing a fourth color I suppose isn't impossible to picture but man. MAN.
Feeling of Dread: Looks absolutely hilarious against aggro decks. Sideboard?
Lingering Souls: I'd be a lot more excited about this if they were white/black spirits (triggering the denizen)
Saving Grasp: Useful against board clearing I suppose. Bring the boomerang back? Just cheaper and at instant speed?
Think Twice: Probably the most vanilla choice. Who doesn't love drawing cards? But vanilla might also be "correct"
Silent Departure: love the initial cost, not as wild about the sorcery part and high flashback.

What can be tweaked out of the deck easily:
Shadow Alley Denizen. It's not that it's bad, it's just that I don't summon creatures before my combat phase due to extorting.
Azorius Arrester: Great card (and it's fan-tastic fodder for the Faerie Imposter) but it does feel a little more clumsy sometimes.
Last Thoughts: I kinda like have 10 cipher cards but 4 might just be too high for the extort mana curve.

Love to hear some feedback. The deck definitely kills with extort but sneaking a few hits through is always nice. Toss in 3 apiece of the Artful Dodge, Saving Grasp, and Last Thoughts? Too few creatures. Drop the shadow and last thoughts and put in some Think Twices and Artful Dodges?

My biggest concern about the Think Twice- the seeming no-brainer- is that this deck does very little 'leaving mana untapped to keep surprises up one's sleeves'  Ideally I tap out with extorts on EVERY turn. Think Twice might as well be a sorcery for all I care and I think that removes a lot of utility.

Thoughts?

AEtherling Playtesting - Standard

Yesterday I did some playtesting with the AEtherling deck I blogged about before. Based on interviews with players from GP Portland I decided to main deck 4 Voice of Resurgance. Now this card is not my style at all due to the price tag and the contrived ability. Hopefully the playtesting will show it is not necessary. Also the art is HOOOOORRRRIBBBLLEEEEEEE.

Blech! Just a disaster of a card. But hey this is standard and spike rules. Anyways I played against a typical reanimator deck. I had the game under control and got an AEtherling online. And then the next turn I tapped out for a 6 card Sphinx's Revelation. That left a window where the ling was vulnerable and my opponent pounced. Oops! Game loss. Consulting my opponent after the match we are in agreement that I probably would have won if I left mana up for the ling. Also I missed an attack for 5 with a wurm earlier in the game. Overall it was a fail fest. But this is why I'm practicing with this kind of deck. Because I suck at it.

We also played some against the Obzedat Aid combo deck.  I went 2-1. Nothing exciting from that yet because we are still working out the builds.

Overall I like how the deck is going. However I had no answer for the board when my opponent had a few creatures down. It really felt like I needed a reset button. I will playtest with:

 

and see how it goes. I also think I want to maindeck 4 Snapcaster and increase the number of charms overall. Finally I am thinking about testing with some red for

 

Keep you posted.

A pox on both your houses

You gotta love any time a magic card busts out fractions. And we're not talking P/T, we're talking old school straight up, fractions. Combine that with my favorite casting cost of all time, BBB, and you get one hell of a card.

And the icing on the cake? "Round each loss up", magnificent. Apparently the guys at Wizards also like this card because they keep bringing it back. Originial printing 1995, then the core set in 1997. But I guess someone realized cards like Pox and Balance didn't belong and it disappeared for a while. However they did find a way to sneak it back in. Sort of. Sadly the fractions were gone but for those of use who remember the good old days this guy did the trick. In 2006 we got Time Spiral's Smallpox.

Oh baby that's a card. Sure you have to lose one life, that blows. But everything else is all upside, discard a card, don't mind if I do

Oh you mean I must sacrifice a creature? Too bad I haven't played one yet. Sacrifice a land, ok fine if I must

It might as well be

And they brought it back for standard in 2011 with new, albeit, much shittier art.

Which brings us to today. They made the card 1,000,000 times worse by upping the cost to "unplayable" and unfortunately it now only targets one player. But hey they can't all be winners.