This past weekend, I went 2-2 at FNM and really learned a lot about my deck versus the current fast-paced meta. It was a great test and allowed me the chance to practice sideboarding and adaptation. I ended up playing 2 straight up Selesnya decks, a Gruul aggro and another GWB Selesnya/pack rat combo deck.
Round 1 - Selesnya - 0-2
Bad draws first game but I didn't want to mulligan down to 5, acceptable-ish second game. He drew God hands both games, pulling Selesnya charms to counteract my Kalonian Hydra and 2 Voice of Resurgence each time as well. Soldier of the Pantheon is not my friend. Absolutely steamrolled, pulled none of my sideboard cards either game; worst luck possible.
Round 2 - Gruul Aggro - 2-1
First game, he allowed Corpsejack Menace to live, end of story. Game 2, drew no ramp and got mana screwed after a mulligan that didn't look to be too awful when I drew it. Overrun pretty quickly as he pulled his Clan Defiance to shoot down my Corpsejack Menace - he didn't make that mistake a second time. Game 3 was close but he kept top decking creatures with Domri while tossing hasted Xenagos tokens at me. Ended the game with a monstrous Stormbreath Dragon the turn before I was going to finish him off.
Round 3 - GWB Selesnya/Pack Rat - 2-0
Played my friend's new deck. Mopped the floor with him. Abrupt Decay took care of early Pack Rat drops, Corpsejack/Kalonian took care of the rest.
Round 4 - Selesnya (again) - 2-1
Basically played the first deck with a different opponent except i waited out his instants by sacrificing creatures to his attacks, just to drop a Kalonian Hydra on his face when he went dry on tricks. Overloaded Cyclonic Rift decimated. Also, its pretty gratifying to watch one creature clear the board of a weenie deck because they have no choice but to block with everything or die. Eat shit, Voice of Gayness.
What this told me is a number of things:
- No place for Give / Take, which makes me really sad because it's made for a deck like this. The fact that the current meta has made fun cards like this unplayable is really irritating. The extra room is needed for either more charms for protection or removal.
- 4x Elvish Mystics a must; Gyre Sage has to go. Deck is too slow without it. See previous comment for how I feel about this.
- 4x Prophet of Kruphix also a must - that 1 extra was very noticeable. Not drawing him felt like I was mired in quicksand. Even if he's smashed right away, as long as you play him when your opponent is tapped out, it's one free turn of casting. Absolutely invaluable, and hilarious to see the look on your opponent's face if you cast another next turn.
- Vorel of the Hull Clade is useful but not worth 2 copies. Possibly not even worth 1, as I'm finding myself spending the mana I'd normally use to activate him on draw or removal spells, or casting more creatures. EDIT - Removed him entirely :(
-Nylea, God of the Hunt doesn't fit any longer. Only mainboarded creature left in this build that doesn't have trample or is unblockable is Prime Speaker Zegana. I often found I held onto Nylea in favor of playing Corpsejack or something else.
Other misc. thoughts:
Still very concerned about control decks, although it does seem I've gotten aggro under better control. I have yet to play against control since I made a lot of noticeable changes. Thoughts on sideboarding/mainboarding appreciated!
