Standard Deck Tech: Updating White Green

The day after my GW deck had a poor showing at Card Kingdom Alex Gerlock rocked a top 8 with a similar list at a SCG standard open:

Here's a link: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=60381

There are only a few differences. First: In the one drop slot he forgoes the Mystics to start the beats right away with Soldier of the Pantheon. Second: He cleaned up the two drop slot. Just 4x Voice and 4x Fleecemane. While I am underwhelmed by the Fleecemane I do think it is the best option after Voice in that slot. Finally he dropped the Ajani count to make room for GodsWilling. 

 

I honestly don't know how I feel about that. I like Ajani because he is a beast of a finisher and hoses control which is the majority of the meta. Gods Willing is good against black because it can effectively counter their removal. Perhaps having both in the deck is where you want to be to be more diverse.

As far as the sideboard go it is very similar to what I used. The only differences beside +/- one copy of a card is Polukranos and Celestial Flare.

 

I love the idea of playing Flare. Against decks with Stormbreath Dragon it is a pretty solid answer. I'm not sure about Polukranos because I usually don't have enough mana to make the Monstrous trigger more than X=2 but who knows.

As far as the mana base goes I will assume he is way more tuned than I am and I'm just going to play what did and see if I like it.

Draft Tech: How many copies should I play

I was listening to LR episode 205 and they were discussing how many copies of Sip of Hemlock to run.

Thinking more broadly I would like to discuss playing multiples of a card in limited. Often we draft a bunch of the same card but it's not right to run them all. Certainly curve considerations can be a deciding factor. In the case of black removal spells. I would speculate that I would need quite a few doom blades before I would consider cutting one but the Theros staple, Sip of Hemlock, not so much.

 

        i don't know 5 of them                  probably not more than 2

How about something where your curve can easily handle as many as you could reasonable draft. Say

I feel like a deck could handle 8 of these no problem. I don't really know where I'm going with this post. This is just a question I've been rolling around in my mind for a few years. Drop me some thoughts in the comments. And a question for the audience.

How many Celestial Archon would you run? How about Spear of Heliod?

 

Theros Draft at Card Kingdom: Match Reports

Ok, you've waited to hear how the Blue White deck fared. Well you have wait a little longer. I got a round one bye.

Round 1: Bye W 2-0 (1-0)

Round 2: This round was pretty interesting. No one had any mana troubles and there were no mulligans. Game one started off well for me. My opponent got down an early Shipwreck Singer and felt invincible. I responded by dropping a dork.

 v 

I thought I was telegraphing that I had a combat trick or something when I didn't use my unicorn the next turn. Buy my opponent went for it and forced the unicorn to attack, blocked it, and gave it -1/-1. So I pumped it with a trick and moved into solid control of the game. I was cruising and dropped some dudes and then on turn 6  he got his revenge.

Fortunately that early blowout put me ahead so I was able to withstand and rebuild. It was close in the end but I had a couple flyers that he couldn't handle.

Game two got off to a racy start as Sam Back said they tend to. This time however I was on the draw and didn't get an early blowout so the turn 6 Sea God's Revenge was back breaking. I couldn't recover from that.

Game three was rough. He got down a two drop, then suited it up with and ordeal and got in two swings. Then I got my Vanquish and removed it before he could sac the ordeal. However my opponent then dropped mama gorgon, what a haymaker now that my Vanquish was gone.

 meet 

I was doing ok but stalled out on 5 lands. I couldn't get to my Thassa's Bounty (which was my plan). My opponent was ahead from that early damage and I eventually fell to the pressure. L 1-2 (1-1)

I checked back later and my opponent was into round 4 with a 3-0 record. I didn't catch him afterward to find out if he 4-0ed it.

Round 3: This opponent was one of my favorites. He was a nice dude named Ed and was here with his son. But I think Ed is pretty into the game. Game one was EPIC. Ed dropped a Foil Polukranos on turn 5. So I responded with a turn 6 Vanquish the Foul.

 meet 

                        you just gotta imagine it's foil

However Ed was prepared and informed my Vanquish that the gods were not willing.

The pressure of polukranos and friends brought me all the way down to 2, but during that time I started clawing my way back and assembled a small army, lead by a Phalanx Leader. The Polukranos had been monstrousized and enchanted by this point so I was facing down a 9/9. But I gang blocked and then dropped a Dauntless Onslaught to bring it down. But I was now in control.

I targeted my phalanx and picked up a host of +1/+1 counters. I had lethal on the board and he couldn't stop me. But I had been under so much pressure I didn't see it. I killed him next turn with my horde but that is no excuse. I really should have seen the kill.

Game two was tight. There was some back and forth early and and was down to 13 while my opponent was at 18 (being on the play was good to him). Then I finally drew my Bident.

Man had I been waiting to see this guy. I was still under some pressure but I was able to sneak in every turn with a flyer and the extra cards were enough to get me there.   W 2-0 (2-1)

Round 4: Allright, here we go. Win this round and I'm feeling good. Game one was sweet. I was on the play and curved out nicely. Two drop, Wingsteed Rider, Triton Fortune hunger, Dauntless Onslaught. That was brutal and my opponent didn't get any removal. It was never close.

At this point I was flying high. I had an easy win and was feeling good. Then I caught a run of the mulligans. I did a total of four damage over the next two games. I had a plan in game 2 when I was at 3 and he was at 20. I had almost stabilized and made a window to resolve my Thassa's Bounty, but he stymied those hopes.

 meet 

I had to scramble but I managed a back up plan, which involved a combat trick on my Triton Fortune Hunter to draw some extra cards. That also got Stymied. Seriously who plays two stymied hopes? Anyways let's move to game three.

Mulligan, Mulligan, keep a 1 lander. Yeah I didn't draw well and really had no chance that game. I did win a game where I mulled to 5 in FNM but for this game I was on the play and just was too far behind. L 1-2 (2-2)


Well that was a kick in the balls. Halfway through the draft I was flying high. But the last pack fell pretty short for me. I was hopeful but my deck just was missing something that I think a couple bestow dudes and a bounce spell would have helped with. Well, I'll just have to get em next time.

Theros Draft Review and Deckbuilding

I drafted at Card Kingdom on Saturday. There was an added bonus because Marshall and Bryan were there. I didn't draft with them or play against them, maybe next time. Anyways I've only drafted Theros once before, I've watched some videos and read some blogs. But I'm still pretty raw at this format. It is going to be rough. I don't have the luxury of displaying every pick in full glory so I will just try to capture my impressions of the draft.

Well pack one pick one has a Curse of the Swine in it. I don't know if that card is really amazing but it says "Exile X target creatures" so I'm feeling it. My next pick was a Heliod's Emissary, aka Elmer. 

 

so far so good

 My next pick I honestly don't remember what I took. Pick 4 was a Phalanx Leader. This felt late to me so I snapped it up and started looking white. The next pick was a Dauntless Onslaught. It's on!

 

I don't know what I'm doing in this format but it looks like I'm on my way to making a white heroic deck work. I've already got that blue spell so I'm leaning blue, but could be talked into something else. My next few packs are pretty empty and I snag a pair of Triton Fortune Hunter. I don't know about this guy. 2/2 for 3 is not where I want to be but it may be fine in the format. Certainly if half an Onslaught hits once or I can bestow on them, then I'm in like Flint. There isn't much more in this pack.

Pack two started off as good as possible.

This card is obviously the nuts, right? I was feeling blue before and now I'm fully on board. We are white blue heroic. Which I think people say is a deck (http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptths13/video5). So how does pack two follow up the Bident for me?

 

Hell Yeah! This feels great! Let's make it happen. All I want to see now is a pile of those sweet bestow dudes. But I don't. The rest of the draft I saw very little that was exciting for me. It fell off pretty quick. I did manage to grab 2x last breath and 2x vanquish the foul putting me in a good sideboard position.

Anyways here's the deck I wound up with:

Main Deck - 23 spells / 17 lands - 9 Plains, 8 Islands

2 drop - Phalanx Leader, Vaporkin, Leonin Snarecaster

3 drop - 2x Wingsteed Rider, Wavecrash Triton, 2x Triton Fortune Hunter, Opaline Unicorn, Lagonna-Band Elder

4 drop - Elmer, Breaching Hippocamp, Anvilwrought Raptor

5 drop - Prescient Chimera

Spells: 

• Removal: Curse of the Swine, Vanquish the Foul
• Enabler: 2x Dauntless Onslaught, 2x Battlewise Valor, Fate Foretold, Aqueous Form
• Awesome: Bident of Thassa

Sideboard: Battlewise Valor, Vanquish the Foul, Crackling Triton, Silent Artisan, Gods Willing, Decorated Griffin, Ray of Dissolution, Flamecast Wheel, 2x Last Breath

Now let's go take a look a the deck techs about the White Blue Heroic deck and see what I hit and what I missed. I found a video deck tech from PT Dublin with Sam Black

"The games in this format are often racy" ~ Sam Black. Yeah I totally didn't know that. I think my curve was fine, but needed more in the 2 slot (I'm still used to M14 style).

Hoplites: Favored and Battlewise. I know I didn't see the Battlewise. I probably missed a Favored somewhere but i don't remember seeing one.

Bestow:

   

I got none of these bestow guys. I feel like they are critical. Especially the lifelink guy given my deck. I'm sure I had the opportunity to pick them and chose something else instead.

Enchantments: Ordeal of Heliod and Chosen of Heliod. I had neither of these. I had an interesting pick between Fate Fortold or Chosen of Heliod

 or 

I think in heroic these are both where you want to be. I picked the blue on and wish I had picked the white one. The butt plus is huge. The Fate Foretold death trigger just didn't feel as good. They both influence combat but I really needed my dudes to get bigger, I was totally missing out on size so the bonus from Heliod would have been greatly appreciated.

Bounce: I had no bounce! Oops. I actually didn't see much and can't remember what I picked over it but I really could have used a grip tide, or a sea god's revenge (that one is a little greedy).

~"My plan was to play some early guys and bestow on turn 5."

He played 13 creatures, I played 14 creatures.

FNM at Card Kingom - Rounds 3 and 4

I started live blogging the FNM from Card Kingdom because there was some extra time between rounds. However when I got home after the tournament I was a bad game and didn't report. It is time to correct that error.

Round 3: This round my opponent was rocking the Naya Control list that I love so much. I think this is a disastrous matchup for me. Anyway in game one I was on the draw and didn't have a super fast start. He Avenged the Gods early and then made a turn 6 Elspeth and just cranked out dudes for the rest of the game.

 

I really don't have a plan for that. Oh wait I do. The score was 18-7 and my opponent was tapped out and had nothing but 3 1/1 dorks on the field. I had a few dudes in play and one was a 5/5 Voice token. I needed either a Selesnya Charm or an Ajani. Didn't get one. Next turn same thing, didn't get one. You get the idea. Oh and I could have gotten an Advent. Basically I needed my trample but didn't see it.

Game two I'm on the play and start firing. I get him down to 2 and then he stabilizes. It was the exact same situation as last game. I had 12 outs in my deck and never got to them. Maybe I could have boarded differently I don't know. L 0-2 (1-2)

Round 4: Ok this round is for all the marbles (aka 1 pack). My opponent is on the play and double mulligans. That game was quick. He did manage a Supreme Verdict on turn 4 so it took a little longer than anticipated. His lands however didn't indicate Esper of UW control. He was playing green. I had no idea what was going on with this deck. So I brought in my standard package against control. The miscutter hydra and rootborn defenses.

 

Game two it was my turn to mull to 5. Both decisions were pretty easy, I had one land. My third hand also was one land but at this point it seemed best to roll with it. I lost hard. Turns out he wasn't really a control deck. He dropped a Smiter and a Voice. Anyways let's move to game 3, aka the one where neither of us mulled.

Round 4, Game 3, between two 1-2 players. The loser goes home with nothing. The winner goes home with a pack. You are still a loser but at least you have something.  I had a sick nasty 7 and decided to keep.
Turn 1: Elvish Mystic 18-20 ( i shocked my self). Turn 2: Smiter. Turn 3: Ajani - 18-12. Her responded with a detention sphere on the smiter. Turn 4: I +1 Ajani on the mystic and get in for 2 18-10, also I drop an expt 1. Turn 5 I bash him down to 5 and leave my mana up. He wraths on his turn and I flash in a Boom Satyr. That's all she wrote. W 2-2 (2-2)

 

Recap: I'm obviously disappointed. I feel like anything less than 3-1 is just bad. Was my deck good enough to do better, probably. But my two losses were to bad matchups (or so I believe). I was 2-0 against decks with Supreme Verdict in them, which was the goal. Maybe I just need to only play against those decks. It seemed that Naya Control was pretty popular at the tournament so I'm going to have to think about my board against them before next time. Also I want to work a couple Gods Willing into the deck. The occasional counterspell for W is good but it also gives a way to push damage through via protection. Could be what I need. In the games I lost I was pretty close to the win just needing trample or evasion to do it so adding a little more is probably good. I think the mana base was fine. I didn't see much from Mutavault, maybe I should work a second one in.

FNM at Card Kingdom Live Blog

Well I'm packing the GW deck I blogged about before. So far we are two rounds into the tournament but I've got 20 minutes till turns so I figured it's live blog time!

Round 1: I was paired against a GW deck. But not like mine at all. He is rocking some Call of the Conclave main deck which made it no surprise when he dropped a Trostani.

 

But I get ahead of myself. He drops a Fleecemane Lion on turn 2. And then suits it up with the main deck Unflinching Courage...on turn 3. Ugg

 onto 

ouch!

Even still I wasn't dead. There was a window for me to draw Selesnya Charm and take out the Fleecemane Lion. Sadly he won the race and got the monstrous mana online.  I was still doing ok at one point I had two Advent Wurms and a 6/6 Voice token, and a couple 5/5 experiment ones. But eventually he got the Trostani engine online. I had no answer and I lost about 15 turns later...because I conceded...because I was losing 1 to 66. I had stabilized but he had the inevitability.

Game 2. I keep a two lander with no action unless I draw a land or a dude I can play, which amounted to 39 cards out of my remaining 53. I got a Fleecemane Lion on turn 3, but didn't get another land til turn 5. That was too slow and I was under too much pressure to pull out. But man those 3 Advent of the Wurms would have been sweet. Mulling may have been the right option. I don't know. 21 lands from 53 cards and two draw to hit one. I realize now that I really needed to hit my third land on time to make the rest of my hand pay off. Looking at it that way I had two pulls with odds of 21/53 (40%) and then 21/52 (40%).  That feels to me like I got a 2/3 chance to make this happen, so I rolled the dice. I lost. L 0-2 (0-1)

ROUND 2: I draw my 7 and it's a one lander. I am tempted but I mull. I draw my 6 and it's a one lander. I am tempted but I mull. I draw my 5 (i'm on the draw btw) and it's a one lander. I am tempted and I keep. Guess I shoulda kept the first one. Anyways my opponent is playing UW control. He gets off a wrath early and stabilizes. Then he plunks down a Jace (RTR edition) and starts +1 ing

 

It felt like he shoulda +2'd Jace some but anyways. I got my dorks and I keep piling the damage on my opponent. Once I had to attack jace to prevent the blowout that his ultimate would have been. Eventually my opponent is down to 7 and drops the -2 on Jace. *** WARNING *** Why is he doing that now. I sense that he is desperate and go for it. I drop Ajani and double strike up my 4/4 Experiment One. He slams in for the win. Nice! I really had to dig deep for this one and was pretty worried for a while. But I was slowly able to drop threats and just pile in enough damage.

Game two was sweet. I was on the draw again but manage a turn 1 mystic into a turn 2 Smiter. Turn 3 I smash (18-15) then have a boon satyr and a rootborn defense. My plan is to defend wrath if he has it and satyr if he doesn't. My opponent Detention Sphere's my Smiter so I EOT out a Satyr. Next turn I smash for 5 (18-10) and hold back my Rootborn defenses. My opponent dicks around drawing cards and we repeat the same game (18-5). Then I attack the next turn for the kill and he rolls over with a hand of slow stuff. W 2-0 (1-1)

time for the next round!

Theros Draft Walkthough #2

My second online Theros draft starts with a busty bomb, then goes in a couple directions at once, then returns back to finish off strong. Let's jump in.

Pack 1 pick 1:

A+C is a B-O-M, bomb. Vig + first strike + the potential for blowouts? Sign me up. Too bad it's approximately 0 tix.

 My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 2:

It looks like our direct neighbor is probably not in red, although they took a rare, so it is no sure thing. Cyclops, Dryad, Vaporkin, and Griptide, are all very good.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 3:

Acolyte is probably the best card here, Jonathan has had some success with the minotaur tribal archetype, the scorpion is criminally strong, and there is no white worth mentioning. Cheap trick it is.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 4:

Potential turning point: there is no good white or red. Disciple and big green is better than it looks, but I <3 emmisaries.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 5:

Good red heroic enabler means I will stick with that for now.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 6:

Black Eidolon is sweet, but again a quality red card will keep me on track.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 7:

Outside of green-white, there is not much here.I could pick up a cheap Amulet to enable a splash of A+C perhaps? The 3/2 is serviceable but not synergistic, so he (she?) will likely be our 23rd/24th card.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 8:

That is a real late Acolyte, so now I'm thinking about bailing for green. I give up one of the two combat tricks, which is a fair trade considering I already have a Titan's Strength in the pile.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 9:

Gods Willing. Ding!

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 10:

The cantrip enchantment cycle is wayyyy better than it looks.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 11:

That being said, we could use some early dudes, even if they are underwhelming.

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 13:

Ask and ye shall receive, eh?

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:


After pack one, our color situation looks like this:

The red is stronger than the white, but if we open the right bombs, I'm not married to any of it. Keep in mind we could splash A+C if we need.

  Pack 2 pick 1:

The proverbial "I would take this whole pack" pack. In order, I would take Spear, Rider, Onslaught, Emissary. The enchantment part of the spear fits my goals nicely. The artifact part is pretty unbeatable if you play it right.

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 2:

Leader is a pretty easy pick here.

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 3:

A gift!

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 4:

The new FoF is worth zilch, so I pick up this set's Knightly Valor.

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 5:

I don't think we have enough humans to make the Pegaus sing, so a second 4/3 it is.

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 6:

Late blue bestow (the best one), but I'll take the red one.

   My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 7:

I like Fanatic as a surprise closer of games.

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 8:

We will have some awkward mana requirements, but so many cards combo well with double strike.

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 9:

And now some diversification, I guess. Not sure why I didn't go with a second hound. We won;t be suicide red, but more like Voltron Red, where the double strike will shine.

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 15:

  My Pick:


After pack two, we look like this:

  Pack 3 pick 1:

It's too late to move into blue or green, but our deck could certainly use some top end.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 2:

I hurts to pass Shellie, but she is not for us today.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 3:

Divine Verdict is surprisingly good in this format.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 4:

This pick was very close for me, between the white Eidolon and the Emissary. Both are more often cast for four mana and I think I would prefer the bigger creature at that point.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 5:

We actually have a few humans we might play, but this is probably one of those situations where if I put the awkward human package in, I will have 25 cards and if I take it out I will have 21.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 6:

Just what the doctor ordered. Rage is actually not very good, so I might not even take it over the hasty minotaur still in this pack.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 7:

Ugh. Nothing here for us.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 8:

If this guy were human, maybe he'd fit in the awkward human package, but he's not and he doesn't.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 9:

Sideboard against Scorpions and Vaporkin.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 11:

Siddeboard against godly weaponry. I don't need another human bear.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 14:

This is NOT last pick material. If you aren't green, it is still OK.

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


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I ended up cutting two four-drop minotaurs for the humans package, but that got swapped in and out at sideboard time against fliers and decks with bigger ground guys (most non-heroic decks). Our curve stops at 5 (with two six-mana bestow guys and an 8-mana monster), so 17 land seems fine, although that three slot is full of tough mana costs.

Round 1, I played a blue-black deck with Ashiok, Abhorrent Overlord, Prognostic Sphinx, 2x Griptide and 2x Shipwreck singer. Obviously I won 2-1, losing only the game I mulled to 4.

Round 2 was a blue-white deck where I played into Stymied Hopes, Triton Tactics, and Battlewise Valor. It seemed like our Villain just had it every time.I lose game one, then win game two when Villain mana screws for a couple turns on three land. Game three, I play A+C for the first time of the draft and grind away with two auras on it (them).

There was one fun situation that came up in game three but just didn't quite work out right. First strike damage has already been applied.

Do you see it?

I could Divine Verdict my own bomb (since first stike is over and it already dealt its six), granting another +1/+1 to each of my creatures, saving my minotaur but killing Villain's giant, killing the wall, and trampling over for one more. I'd also get my 2/2 vigilant guy in play. With Villain tapped out, that would have been a sweet finishing move, but in reality he would still be at 1, so I decide to carry on with a dominating monster in play and a removal spell still in hand. I trade giants, keep the game going and grind out the win a few turns of chumping later.

Match three is against a green-red deck. In game one, my double- and first strikers beat past his deathtouch scorpion then I Voltron up a 5/5 vigilant first-striker and a 7/6 first striker.

Must be nice.

Game two, I keep a sketchy hand that could get real good, real quickly.

Four of my best cards and just a mountain away from casting all of them.

On turn two, I draw a mountain and I'm in business. I have three great heroic creatures, but none of my ways to target them. I'm sure I punted here. Because I was mana light, I wanted to get creatures on the board before I started saving mana for Spear activations. In the end, I never activated Spear and lost with Divine Verdict in hand and an army in play when Villain dropped an island and Nimbus Niad out of nowhere for the win while I was holding Spear mana open.

Definitely should have won this game.

Game three of the finals doesn't go well. We both mull to five cards, and I keep four land and a three-drop first striking Gray Ogre on the play. I draw well, picking up a four-drop minotaur, but Villain makes a turn two Vaporkin, then turn three red ordeal and I find no answer by turn 6, when the 5/4 flier left behind kills me.

Was that a splashed Vaporkin or did Villain have three colors all along, only showing me one island and one blue card in the first two games? In the last game, Villain finished with one mountain, one forest, and two islands in play. Certainly that was a weird one, but if I take care of business in game two, it wouldn't have mattered.