Franken-storm Magic

This weekend’s Magic playing resulted in a standard Game Day RTR tournament at Games & Stuff.  I really wanted to play limited, but Game Day was going on at every store so I opted for it.  Jimmy and Eric joined in the fun.  Mike was unable to join as he had surgery on his vagina (j/k his arm) earlier in the week.  I had to scrounge up some last cards for both Jimmy and Eric heading to a store that just opened in Glen Burnie crap-hole mall.  Glen Burnie would be an ok place if it wasn’t for all the people…lots of white trash…and not even the country bumpkin kind of trash, but the gross disgusting stupid white trash.  I digress, the store is called Squabbles and I only found out about it after looking up events on StarCityGames.  They are holding a SuperIQ soon.  I was able to pick up some cards for all of our decks as well as a Rashadan Port for my Goblins deck.  Anyway, I got to G&S with just enough time to throw my cards in the deck.  I was playing a B/R zombies variant with 2x Vexing Devils.  I’m not sure if Vexing Devil is house in this deck, but it is definitely a good card and one that should be in every burn deck.  My sideboard was thrown together and not well thought out, but this tourney was not a big one so I didn’t mind.  Jimmy through together Shaheens U/B/W Esper control minus 2 Sorin of Innistrad due to not finding non foiled ones.  Instead he ran 1 extra Tamiyo and 1 extra Jace.  Eric was running W/G/R Midrange deck with Huntsmasters and Thragtusks. 

The tourney had about 26 players.  I ended up getting paired round 1 to a player that had just built a new deck the night before and hadn’t tested it.  It was B/G/W and I didn’t have trouble dismantling it cheap burn and fast creatures.  I must say that if I opened with land 2/2 then played another 2/2 on my second turn and was on the play I was about 80% to win that game.  Round 2 I got paired against a B/G Zombies running the new Elf Shaman and no Geralfs Messenger???  Lolleth Troll was clutch both games I dropped as I could not deal with him.  Round 3 I got paired against a Rakdos burn deck.  Now, let me say something about the burn decks.  They are currently not built correctly.  They should be running Vexing Devil and should not contain any Stromkirk Noble.  Stromkirk Noble if left unchecked, yes will grow big, but he doesn’t have haste and is running around in an environment where people play lots of 1 and 2 drops.  I never was worried about blocking him, more so worried about using him as a blocker to my 2/2’s.  The games against Rakdos could be determined on a die roll as I won the die roll I won the match.  Game 3 I was on the play and my opponent seemed to claim he made some play mistake that cost him the turn he lost, but I’m not sure as I had another piece of burn left when I killed him.  Another trick card I believe is the Gore-House Chainwalker.  Yes he is a 3/2 for R1, but that’s it.  Burn needs fast (haste) creatures or creatures with trample.  Or a creature that deals a point or 2 every turn.  Anyway on to round 4.  I get paired against Jimmy’s 3^rd round opponent that went to time when Jimmy could have beaten him.  He was playing a U/R Delver, Snapcaster, counter burn deck.  I kind of liked it as you could flashback searing spear which is pretty good.  I was able to beat him in game 3 after he had every perfect spell for my dudes.  Flashing back pillar of flame is pretty good against Zombies.  I was able to ID round 5 into top 8.  I checked in with Jimmy and Eric.  Jimmy was 2-0-2 and I believe Eric was 2-1-1 making it possible for either to get in.  Eric wanted to leave for some early Halloween activities so he scooped Jimmy in.

Top 8

I got paired against…drawing a blank…well whatever it was I took it down J.  The more memorable was another Rakdos burn deck that had given Eric his loss.  He was wearing Steelers fan gear so he already had to be beaten.  He informed me of how he had already beaten B/R Zombies twice today.  That got me excited for the match as I had already dismantled Rakdos today.  We sit down and he wins the die roll.  I miss an important land drop turn 3 and he runs me over.  Game 2 we are shuffling up talking about Vexing Devil.  He’s not running it and I can’t understand why not.  I play one, game 2, where he eats 4 damage.  I reiterate me paying 1 mana to deal 4 damage.  He claims he was not winning the game anyway.  Game 3 I get 2 2/2’s by turn 2 and slowly deal with his Stromkirk Noble after is gets to 3 with Searing Spear and that’s the game.  I am anxiously awaiting the results of Jimmy’s game 3 against his opponent.  If he wins, we top two and play for the playmat.  I also, want it to be over as my girlfriend is waiting to go to some Halloween festivities.  Jimmy takes him down in extra turns and we both race out of there with the playmat and 9 packs each.

The next day I went to Jimmy’s house and played the final match taking him down 2-0 as the Game Day Champion.  I feel with a little more tweaking the Zombies deck will have a 50% chance to win its worst matchup.

Eric here, with an EDH FNM report

I was able to convince Mike to take a break from Standard and play EDH FNM at Gotham with me last night.  Yay!

I was looking forward to playing my U/W Blink deck, formerly commanded by Rasputin, and now lead by the new Isperia from Return to Ravnica and updated with a handful of the new cards.  With the change in commander, the top end of my curve shrunk with Eldrazi and Storm Herd getting the axe.

I got to Gotham early and played some standard with Mike using his decks.  I liked his Bant deck I was piloting though I think it needs Avacyn's Pilgrim and Farseeks.  Chromatic Lantern not so much.  On to the tourney!

Round 1 vs Dayne w/ Sen Triplets and  Chris w/ Jarad, Glolgar Lich Lord

I'd never seen Sen Triplets before and was very scared of him.  I actually misread him, so some of my fear was probably unwarranted (I thought I wouldn't be able to play spells on my turn).  Still, Sen would most likely target me every turn possible since Dayne would be able to cast any card in my hand.

I would go on to dominate the match however with Galepowder Mage blinking Duplicant and Phyrexian Ingester to exile every opposing creature - literally.  By the end I felt a little bad about taking out Dayne as fast as possible when it turned out he had a Sphinx themed deck and was in hindsight not nearly as much of a threat as I treated him as.  He was a good sport though, as was Chris who played lots of cool equipment but couldn't find enough creatures to get things going.  One play of note: I did Ghostaway + Supreme Verdict one turn :)

Round 2 vs Jack w/ Maelstrom Wanderer and Tom w/ Isperia, Supreme Judge

So I'm playing against the RUG combo deck that took a 15 minute turn 5 in the last round, knocking Mike out, and a U/W control that I witnessed dominate his first table.  I felt a little underpowered having cut my explosive Rasputin powered starts and top end haymakers in Storm Herd and Eldrazi before the tourney.

I copied Jack's Magus of the Library with Phyrexian Metamorph in hopes of ramping a bit and I was able to steal a Grand Arbiter Augustine with Gilded Drake early, but Supreme Verdict from Tom ended that.

I then rebuilt my board quickly by copying Tom's Sun Titan with Rite of Replication, returning Gilded Drake and stealing the actual Sun Titan, then blinked Drake with Galepowder Mage and let it be sacrificed as neither other guy had any creatures left.  Readying drake to be returned by either Sun Titan if they played any creatures.  Unfortunately, another sweeper from Tom knocked me back down.

I pointed out that while Tom and I were battling each other, Jack was appearing to get close to going off... He had Eladamri's Vineyard in play with Garruk (the one that untaps two lands) and a full seven cards in hand thanks to the early Magus and multiple Fact or Fictions.

I pass a couple turns in a row having run out of gas after two awesome "starts".  Tom then casts Hive Mind followed by.......................................... Shahrazad!

me: "Um, what do we do now?"

Jack: "JUDGE!"

Judge: "You guys are gonna be here 'til 2AM!"

Tom: "I don't have anything to do tomorrow"

me: "me neither.  but I have to take a picture of this"

Jack: "Fuck this!  I have a fucking life!" throws hand across the table and onto the floor, packs up his stuff and is literally out the door within minutes.

Tom is looking a bit regretful at this point, but there's little I enjoy more in EDH than one of my opponents rage-quitting.  I can't stop laughing at Jack.  This lightens the mood for Tom who also starts laughing which only sends Jack further over the edge.  The judge rules that we only have two subgames to play since Jack scooped and Jack actually argues with him that Tom and I have to play three!

Anyway, with Jack gone Tom and I push our cards to the side, I switch to the other side the table and we start subgame1 (at 40 life each!). I get stomped as I stall on two islands and a colorless land with Wall of Omens and white blink instants in hand.  The game lasts maybe 10 minutes.  On to subgame2!

I keep a one land hand and Enlightened Tutor for Land Tax, determined not to get land screwed this game.  We both skip land drops a couple turns until I get Tom to play a land by telling him I have an infinite combo in my deck, and Land Tax goes to work.  I can't remember what happened the next 5 or so turns, but no one had any board advantage until I played Venser, the Sojourner and blinked Wall of Omens for a couple turns. Tom gets a flier on the board to try to control Venser, but I play Angel of Serenity (with Cavern of Souls), take out his flier and the Mulldrifter in my yard.  With Venser a turn from his ultimate Tom scoops.  The game lasted only about 15 minutes.

We go back to the original game with each of us halving our life totals.  I'm also short on cards in hand and permanents in play. After Tom casts Kozilek and draws 4 I'm able to Overload Cyclonic rift while I have zero non-land permanents in play (so Hive Mind doesn't effect me).  He discards Kozilek to use the shuffle effect. Disaster averted! Trinket Mage for Pithing Needle to shutdown his Sensei's Divining Top slows down his card advantage (he also has Future Sight). Isperia joins the table and starts drawing me cards while Tom is beating me down and Maze of Ith-ing whoever Isperia blocks.

I'm dangerously low on life now (having come back to this game with only 19 life instead of 38).  Isperia has drawn me into Blasting Station and I cast Enlightened Tutor unsure if I should get Scroll Rack and try to dig for Karmic Guide and Reveillark/Body Double, or if I should just grab Parallax Wave and stall.  I decide to stall and it works for a couple turns.  But Tom plays Chancellor of the Spires and plays my Rite of Replication 9000 times (while I have Grafdigger's Cage in hand :'( ), with the last Chancellor targeting my Enlightened Tutor, grabbing Phyrexian Metamorph, playing it off the top with Future Sight, copying my Blasting Station, then casting Wipe Away on my Parallax Wave (that has zero counters left) and shoots me three times with his cloned Blasting Station.

 A very cool way to finish a very crazy Commander game.

-Eric

ThNM 10/18/12

Thursday night Magic at Beyond Comics in Frederick, MD.
I took my Jund, but before I did, I opted to take out three Falkenrath Aristocrats (moving them to the sideboard) and put back in Deadbridge Goliath.  I felt that against aggressive decks, having the ability to be a  5/5 blocker was very good.

We had 10 people and played three rounds.

Round 1: Stephen with B/W/G tokens

Stephen came out swinging in game 1 with multiple Rancors, Lingering Souls, and Intangible Virtue.  I played my Deathrite Shaman poorly (forgetting to exile Lingering Souls before he could flash it back in the next turn.)   In games two and three I was able to get Olivia Voldaren and Bonfire of the Damned working to take control of his creatures (getting them to block each other) and wiping his board in general.  He did make at least one error as he played and flashed back a Lingering Souls in the same turn which let my Bonfire of the Damned get full value when I swept his board again.  Vraska the Unseen performed very well here, taking out the Intangible Virtues. (2-1)

Round 2: George with B/R aggro.  George opened up early with an unleashed Rakdos Cackler followed by back to back Vexing Devils.  I got out a Huntmaster of the Fells followed by Thragtusk and played defensively until I drew a Bonfire to sweep him up.  In game two, he drew too many "dependency cards" (Cards that depend on another permanent to use) and was facing down Garruk Relentless and a Vampire Nighthawk.  I finally was able to cast the face-rape-o-matic (Thundermaw Hellkite) to win but it was not close.  George showed his hand of two Flings and two other creature enchantments, perfect for his 9 lands and lone Grafdigger's Cage...
(2-0)

We then played some practice games with me piloting my Bant control deck.

Round 3: Tim with B/R Zombies.
[At this point Tim and I are the only 2-0's and choose to ID to lock up 1 and 2, we decide to play for fun]

Tim: Turn 1: Unleased Rakdos Cackler; Turn 2: Unleased Rakdos Cackler, Gravecrawler, Swing for 2.
I then spent two turns Ramping into a 2 point Bonfire of the Damned.  He finally dropped a Falkenrath Aristocrat (he was having issues getting BBB for Geralf's messenger) who died to FRoM (Face-Rape-o-Matic).  Blood Artist and Geralf's Messenger came down to hang.  I dropped some Thragtusks and Olivia Voldaren and was able to ping and swing.

In game two he got a similar start (Unleashed Rakdos Cackler, Gravecrawler, Gravecrawler)
I went Tapped Blood Crypt, Forest, Farseek for Overgrown Tomb, Forest into two Gatecreeper Vines, Bonfire for 2.  I then asked "cards in hand?" he said five and I Rakdos's Returned him for four of them.  I then dropped Thragtusk and Deathrite Shaman.  He dropped Geralf's messenger.  Messenger attacked, I blocked with Thragtusk, they traded, then with "Undying" on the stack, Deathrite Shaman exiled Geralf's Messenger.  It pretty much ended there.

(ID) [2-0]

So I went 2-1, 2-0, ID(2-0).  My tiebreakers
Got four packs, a Silverblade Paladin Promo, and a Staff of Nin promo. (Not bad)

I am really liking having Deadbridge Goliath instead of Falkenrath Aristocrat for the added value of a Body that does not die to Mizzium Mortars and the ability to Scavenge it out of the Graveyard. (Which I did to a Vampire Nighthawk, giving him 'swing like you are Griselbrand' status).

Vraska the Unseen was excellent as a remover of trouble permanents, although I did not face any Planeswalkers.  Garruk Relentless continues to win games.  Bonfire (despite dropping in price) continues to impress.

Until next time.

FNM 10/12/12

I went to FNM on 10/12/12 at Gotham Comics in Westminster, MD.

I took an early iteration of my Jund mid-aggro deck.  The format was only a week old at this point.

1     Deathrite Shaman
2     Gatecreeper Vine
3     Vampire Nighthawk
3     Deadbridge Goliath
3     Huntmaster of the Fells
1     Olivia Voldaren
4     Thragtusk
3     Thundermaw Face-raper

4     Bonfire of the Damned
4     Farseek
2     Rakdos's Return

3     Garruk Relentless
2     Vraska the Unseen

4     Blood Crypt
7     Forest
2     Kessig Wolf Run
5     Mountain
4     Overgrown Tomb
3     Swamp

Sideboard:
2     Deathrite Shaman
3     Pillar of Flame
2     Dreadbore
2     Mizzium Mortars
2     Sever the Bloodline
2     Slaughter Games
2     Zealous Conscripts

Round 1:   Paul with Red/White/Blue Miracles

Pauls deck was a lot like the deck that won the SCG event the weekend before.  The combination of Jace, Architect of Thought and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage was a little much for me to deal with after being hit by Terminus.  In game two, I sided in Slaughter Games, but went for Terminus rather than Entreat the Angels, which I lost to.  Definitely a misplay on my part.
(0-2)

Round 2:  Eric with Budget Mono Blue Mill

Eric has very little board interaction in his deck, opting just to mill the opponent.  In both games, he died to Vraska's Assassins, while I was above 20 life.
(2-0)

Round 3: Brandon {For the life of me I cannot recall what he played}

Brandon probably did not build his deck very well as he had all sorts of mana issues in both games.  We didn't really play magic so much as Thragtusk and Huntmaster ran all over the board, while he got mana screwed and then color screwed.
I did however, get some practice games in with my Bant deck.
(2-0)

Round 4: Tyler with Red/Blue Control

This was my most unpleasant match-up in a long time.  I won both games handily.  It was the attitude of my opponent that made the match unpleasant.  To be fair to him, he did not start becoming angry until after game one.

For example:

• When I cast Slaughter Games in game two naming "Jace, Architect of Thought", he revealed his hand, which had a Jace, Cyclonic Rift, and a Bonfire of the Damned.  He asked if I was going to search his library to which I replied that I wanted to write down the two cards in his first.  Then he exploded with "Are you one of those people?  You are THAT guy!  This is fucking FNM!  Do you want to search my fucking sideboard too?"  Ugh.
• Later, he had managed to flip two delvers, he hit me for 6.  I bonfired (non-miracle) for two.  He literally shook with rage.  He then mentioned that he was "fine until his third round".  (The one he lost to get paired with me)  I think I see a pattern.
• I cast Rakdos's Return, for two to play around Izzet Charm and he scooped.  He refused a handshake offer.  I told him "be sporting".  He replied "if I was anything it is not a good sport".
• He then proceeded to mention about how much he hates playing me, but I could not remember ever playing him.  (apparently I had)  The reason that he gave was "because I was too full of myself.  I do not know exactly what I said to him, but apparently he has a big issue with losing games of Magic: The Gathering.
• He then complained to the store owner about the game and how bullshit it was.

 This really makes me want to never return to Gotham Comics in Westminster, MD.  Is it possible that he has anger management issues?  Maybe.

So I went 0-2, 2-0, 2-0, 2-0.  I took third, I got a few packs and a promo Evolving Wilds.  Not too bad!

I have since made changes to Jund by subtracting a Thragtusk and adding in a second Olivia.  I subbed out the three Deadbridge Goliaths and threw in three Falkenrath Aristocrats.

Until next time.

Limited RTR Weekend 6-1-1, 2-1-1, 2-0

Magic, magic, and more magic.  After picking up my two boxes of RTR (Return to Ravnica) I decided on building a GWB Rock standard deck.  After spending $200 on the cards I needed, I goldfished the deck and hated it.  My deck kept morphing over the next couple of days from G/W midrange to Bant midrange back to G/W.  Finally, I decided on G/W, but still needed to pick up some Tristoni’s.  This weekend had States standard event on Sunday at Dreamwizards, but also had a sealed PTQ on Saturday.  Since my better half was working this weekend I decided to part take in the all day PTQ on Saturday with James Peyton.  I was passed a decent pool with Isperia, Supreme Judge, Mercurial Chemister, and Righteous Authority.  I had some decent detain guys packed with a few good removal spells.  Jimmy and I both started out 2 -0.  We got paired in the 3^rd round and ID’d so that we could get some PHO noodles.  Our 4^th round we both lost, but the games were close.  I continued to dismantle opponents until the 8^th round where before I sat down I told the guy I am X-1-1 and can make top 8 so whatever you are thinking the answer is yes, followed with a chopping motion in my hand to signify half the box prize split.  He scooped and we played for fun, which he ended up beating me.  The round ended with 5th-10th all having the same records.  I got 10^th.  A guy whom I thought to be a nice individual, Ty Dobbertin, got 9^th and was very pissed that my opponent who he knew scooped to me.  Ty claims he could have gotten in as he had already played and beaten him earlier, screw Ty.  I was not upset, I guess because it had been awhile since I had done well at a medium level event.  I was also tired and wanted to go home (9 hours of magic).  I received 12 packs for 10^th and gave 9 to the guy who scooped to me as that’s what he would have gotten had he beat me with an X-2 record.  I did also pick up an Overgrown Tomb and a Loelth Troll so I at least got my money back as rage busting the packs got nothing.

                Sunday I was overwhelmed with many choices in States (Rockville), GPT (Sealed – Frederick), Colorfest with Jimmy (Thumont), Ravens game (Scalp Tickets), or fishing.  States was immediately thrown out as Saturday I tested my G/W against a U/W control and got crushed.  I could play my zombies, but didn’t feel like it.  I decided to organize my cards and go to the GPT for another whack at sealed after doing so well the day before.  Some guys I haven’t played with for awhile were there and Dave’s “Thanks for Playing” had moved to a new location, 5 mins from its old.  I immediately sold off my extra Badlands for $40 and wanted to sell lots of cards I don’t use ever.  I unloaded $350 to the store getting about half of Star City pricing.  I didn’t mind as one day these cards will be worth less than it costs to make them.  The tourney only had 16 kids which was nice as it was cut to top 8 with a draft.  I opened a pretty good pool with 2 chaotic imps and the rakdos lord, but unfortunately had to pass it.  I ended up building a bant deck.  It didn’t have any real bombs just some good cards that worked well together.  I ended up going 2-1 and everyone in the last round could draw in so we saved some time and started the draft.  I had never drafted the new set RTR, but after playing so much limited I knew which cards were good.  I opened a terrible rare, but the pack contained the u/w detain guildmage.  This pick was a poor first pick as it could lock me into u/w off the bat.  I didn’t mind though because this set has multiple fixers.  Pack 2 opened a Supreme Verdict and pack 3 opened a Detention Sphere so it was probably a good choice going with u/w/g.  I managed to pick up some detain creatures, lots of removal, 7 I believe.  My bant deck came together nicely.  I won the first 2 rounds.  After finding out that Gran Prix Philly is the weekend before Halloween (P-A-R-T-I-E-S) I decided to drop before the finals with Nick Stone, giving him the 3 byes.  I did want to play him for fun to see if my bant could beat his Rackdos, but it was getting late and I needed to get some stuff done.  So another fun filled Magic weekend…

Deck Tech: Bant Mid Blink Control

Back when Avacyn Restored was released, I toyed with the idea of a Flicker deck using (then the new) Deadeye Navigator and a bunch of utility creatures with Havengul Lich.  The deck, at the time, turned out to be bad.  The mana was funky and there were not a lot of good creature targets in the colors I had.

With the addition of M13 and RtR, I found a more suitable host of creatures, stall cards, and mana fixers to make this deck a reality.

Creatures(25)
3     Centaur Healer
3     Fiend Hunter
2     Lyev Skyknight
2     Azorious Justicar
2     Restoration Angel
3     Acidic Slime
3     Thragtusk
4     Deadeye Navigator
3     Angel of Serenity

Instant(2)
2     Sphinx's Revelation

Artifact(4)
4     Chromatic Lantern

Enchantment(2)
2     Detention Sphere

Planeswalker(2)
2     Garruk Relentless

Lands(25)
6     Forest
4     Hallowed Fountain
4     Hinterland Harbor
3     Island
4     Plains
4     Temple Garden

Centaur Healer:  Great 3-drop, especially against all of the two power creatures out there. 3/3 and gain three life.

Fiend Hunter:  Almost a necessity against LOLtroll and others.  You can play some fun games with him and Deadeye Navigator.

Lyev Skyknight:  Good for stalling (through Detain)  and can lock down any Non-Land permanent.  (Including Planeswalkers)

Azorious Justicar: An exceptional value four-drop.  The ability to detain two creatures can get you out of some early games LOLtroll/Geralf's Messenger messes.

Restoration Angel:  Makes all other creatures around her better. A fun utility target for Deadeye Navigator.

Acidic Slime:  If you are not a creature, you are going to die.  One of my favorite green cards of all time for his utility and chump-blockerness.  When paired with Deadeye, he can level your opponents game-state.

Thragtusk:  5/3, gain 5 life, when Deadeye blinks him, the game can get out of hand.  He is my go-to aggro finisher.

Deadeye Navigator: My only 6 drop in the deck, he is also the lynchpin of the deck.  When he is paired with any other creature in this deck, he provides an incredible impact to the board-state.  Also allows for instant speed shenanigans with Fiend Hunter and Angel of Serenity.

Angel of Serenity:  This card lives up to the hype.  It is pricey in terms of mana cost as a seven-drop that needs three white.  If I can untap with her and a Deadeye Navigator, I feel it is hard to lose.

Sphinx's Revelation:  Pretty much a stall-breaker if I am getting flooded.

Chromatic Lantern:  An mana accelerator and the ultimate color fixer.

Detention Sphere:  I do not know if Populate is a thing yet, but I want to make sure I am not caught unawares.  Also, Entreat the Angels is still legal, and awesome.

Garruk Relentless:  My love for this jack-of-all trades is nothing new.  This card does it all.

 The sideboard for this deck is still a work in progress.  See how the landscape develops.  Right now I put in some Supreme Verdicts, Nevermore, Pithing Needle, and Rest in Peace.

There are a distinct lack of one-drops and two-drops in this deck.  I feel decks that utilize a ton of them, tend to falter in the mid-to-late game.  Unless those decks can kill me in 4-5 turns, I feel like I can come back and regain control of the board.

I think that playing against this deck might be frustrating to an opponent, as I have many ways of locking them down and unless they concede, it might take a few turns before I can actually kill them.

I do not know this deck fares against any kind of disruption.  Discard cards and mass removal certainly can rain on my parade.  I am not sure how vulnerable I am to a pure creature-aggro deck.  I am certainly vulnerable in the first few turns.  I will see how playtesting pans out.

Until next time.

Decks, updated by Return to Ravnica

Mid-range aggro is my current favorite deck archetype.  I got myself some RtR cards from some boosters and such.  With the reprinting of the shock-lands, ramping and playing multiple colors is not too difficult.  Right now though, we only have half of the shock-lands so deckbuilders are still a bit limited in their color choices.

I experimented with different kinds of ramp.  I toyed with 4-color ramp, but the mana base just was not there yet.  I examined the options for Naya, and did not like the card selection.  I was basically splashing red for 7 cards;  not very efficient.  I toyed with bant, trying to utilize the "detain" mechanic, but realized that I cannot "Ranger's Path" to find a blue source. (as Simic is a guild not featured in RtR).

I finally made a tough decision, I removed White from my deck and replaced it with Black.
Naya Mid-aggro has become Jund Mid-aggro.  The decklist is as follows:

Creatures(20)
1     Deathrite Shaman
2     Gatecreeper Vine
3     Vampire Nighthawk
3     Deadbridge Goliath
3     Huntmaster of the Fells
1     Olivia Voldaren
4     Thragtusk
3     Thundermaw Hellkite

Sorcery(10)
4     Bonfire of the Damned
4     Farseek
2     Rakdos's Return

Planeswalker(5)
3     Garruk Relentless
2     Vraska the Unseen

Land(25)
4     Blood Crypt
7     Forest
2     Kessig Wolf Run
5     Mountain
4     Overgrown Tomb
3     Swamp


Some quick things to note:
There is only a single one-drop.  Deathrite Shaman.
There are six two-drops.
There are three three-drops.
Everything else is a four or five drop.
I tried to stick with creatures that have inherent mana cost value.

Deathrite Shaman: This was included to get some mid-late game value out of my Sorceries and control my opponents graveyard in a subtle way.  (as opposed to straight graveyard-hate)

Gatecreeper Vine:  An accelerant, mana-fixer, chump blocker, and Garruk Veil-cursed sacrificial fodder.

Vampire Nighthawk:  2/3 Flying, Deathtouch, Lifelink for three mana?  Yes please.

Deadbridge Goliath: a 5/5 for four mana.  No drawback, but can be scavenged for added value.  5 toughness is key vs Mizzium Mortars.

Huntmaster of the Fells:  A great value card.  Four power (spread across two bodies) and two life for four.  Gets better as the game progresses, assuming it can flip and unflip.

Olivia Voldaren: a great creature control card.  I only included one because ti is not an ideal four-drop.  It functions better as a six-drop.  (Drop and ping, next turn take control)

Thragtusk: Five power, five life, and a 3/3 when it dies.  Great value.

Thundermaw Hellkite (a.k.a. face-rape-o-matic):  5/5 haste, remove blockers.  Kill card.

Bonfire of the Damned:  Still the best and most expensive card in standard.

Farseek: The new (and improved) rampant growth, as it allows you to search for shock-lands.

Rakdos's Return: A bit untested, good on paper.  Mind twist+burn (which I believe you can re-direct to a planeswalker).

Garruk Relentless:  If my deck has green, it has Garruk Relentless.  He is THAT good.  He turns a late-game Gatecreeper Vine into a Thundermaw Face-raper.

Vraska the Unseen: This card replaced Acidic Slime in my deck, as they are both five-drops.  Vraskas ultimate can be game winning in 3 turns, but it is her second ability that excited me the most.  The inability to destroy land (as Acidic Slime could) is less relevant now that Inkmoth Nexus has rotated out.

I continue to play mid-aggro because it has such a strong mid-to-late game presence.  The ability to draw something relevant every turn is exceptional beyond compare, in my mind.  It is not without its weaknesses, however.  You are open to fast-aggressive starts, but the early life-gainers (Vampire Nighthawk and Huntmaster of the Fells) are meant to mitigate that.  Once my bigger creatures get rolling, they are difficult to stop, even through multiple board wipes.  (I had a game recently where I played through THREE Terminus to pull the win)  The high number of four and five drops makes it difficult to dump your entire hand into a board wiper, as lower curve aggro decks can.

The sideboard is still up in the air, so to speak, as the format is still in a but of turmoil.
I put in Deathrite shamans, Pillar of Flames, Mizzium Mortars, Slaughter Games, and Zealous conscripts.  It will change, as appropriate.

Until next time.

9/29/12 Return to Ravnica Pre-Release!

Eric and I attended the "Return to Ravnica" Pre-Release that was held at Xanadu Games in Baltimore, MD.
I did not pre-register for any specific Guild; I was offered the choice of Rakdos or Selesnya.  Since I tend to favor aggressive decks, I picked Rakdos.

The promo card was Carnival Hellsteed, a 5/4 Haste, First Strike, with Unleash for 4RB.
So, not a terrible aggro card.  I did not actually care much for Rakdos Charm, so I did not use it.
Two of the rares that I opened were playable (Desecration Demon and Corpsejack Menace)

I built the following 60 card deck (yes, 60 cards.  You read that correctly.)

Creatures(23)
Archweaver
Gatecreeper Vine
Korozda Monitor
Gore-House Chainwalker x2
Splatter Thug x2
Thrill-Kill Assassin
Dead Reveler
Dark Revenant
Sewer Shambler
Drainpipe Vermin
Desecration Demon
Spawn of Rix Maadi x2
Slitherhead x2
Sluiceway Scorpion
Rakdos Cackler
Rakdos Shred-Freak
Rix Maadi Guildmage
Carnival Hellsteed
Corpsejack Menace

Removal(8)
Street Spasm
Explosive Impact
Electrickery
Launch Party x3
Stab Wound
Auger Spree

Tricks(5)
Giant Growth
Dynacharge
Skull Rend x2
Golgari Charm

Land(24)
Swamp x10
Mountain x7
Forest x4
Rakdos Guildgate
Transguils Promenade
Rogue's Passage

Round 1: Adam playing Azorious

Adam did not have a good day, I recognized him from playing at Gotham Comics in Westminster, MD.  His deck was creature-light and his combat tricks involved "Detaining" one of my creatures.  I simply had too many threats for him to deal with.

(2-0)

Round 2: Matt (the Judge of the Event) playing Rakdos

In game one I had to mulligan to five cards.  I got crushed by two Rakdos Shred-Freaks.  In game two I rebounded with the Carnival Hellsteed and some pressure.  In game 3 it really came down to draws.  Matt got out his Hellsteed, unleashed it and attacked.  I Launch partied my Gatekreeper Vine at him and then cast Descration Demon.  I top decked an Auger Spree for the final 10 points of damage.

(2-1)

Round 3: Forgot his name playing Selesnya.

Since I finished Round 2 early, I went out and got some beers.  I was a little buzzed for round 3 and made some mistakes, like unleashing when I should not have and attacking into instant speed "populates".  Despite his colors, my opponents deck was surprisingly aggressive.  Green has a 1G drop 3/1 Vigilance creature.  In the end it was the 8/8 Vigilant Token that did me in.

(1-2)

Round 4: Forgot his name as well playing Golgari.  My opponent opened a Lotleth Troll.  I had no answer to a fully pumped (7/6) troll.  I stole game one from him, but the troll clobbered me in game 2, single-handedly.
In game three, my opponent erred when he tapped out to "Scavenge" four +1/+1 counters onto the troll.  I threw him a Launch Party with an "Unleashed" Rakdos Shred-Freak.  Carnival Hellsteed came out and swung for the win.

(2-1)

Round 5: At this point my opponent and I are both 3-1.  Prizes are paid out on W/L/D and not on standing, we both decided to Intentionally Draw (as did a number of others).  (ID)

Conclusion:  I finished 2-0, 2-1, 1-2, 2-1, draw for a 3-1-1 record.
I was lucky to get enough stuff to play 3 colors and to be able to curve out relatively reliably even with 60 cards.  Getting a Corpsejack Menace (the promo for Golgari) did not hurt either as it worked VERY well with "Scavenge" and "Unleash".
I walked away with 5 packs.  I opened an Abrupt Decay, a Cyclonic Rift, an Overgrown Tomb, and a Sphinxes Revelation.  I definitely got my moneys worth.

Until next time.