Daily Dose of Standard - Ep. 6

Daily Dose of Standard

KrazyCaley

7 December 2011

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vs. Sinestro

Caley's deck: Crawling Chaos. Crawling Chaos is brought to you by Hipster Nyarlathotep: "The Great Nameless One? You've probably never heard of him."

Game 1

Caley wins the toss and plays first.

C keeps an opening hand of Darkslick Shores, Island, Swamp, Reassembling Skeleton, Go for the Throat, Evil Twin, Think Twice.

E keeps the opening hand.

T1

C plays Darkslick Shores and passes.

E plays Forest and casts Avacyn's Pilgrim, and passes.

The usual sign of W/G Humans.

T2

C draws Swamp, plays Island, casts Reassembling Skeleton, and passes.

E plays Forest, casts Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip, and passes.

T3

C draws Island, plays Swamp, and attacks with Reassembling Skeleton. E blocks with Avacyn's Pilgrim, currently a 2/2 thanks to the Mayor. During the declare blockers step, C casts Go for the Throat targeting the Mayor, which dies. The pilgrim and the skeleton thus kill each other. C passes.

This kind of play works all the time in MTGO, but a pro would never fall for this kind of trickery. Ask yourself in "suspicious attack" situations like this- which is worse: them bluffing one damage through if they DON'T have a kill spell, or me losing all my creatures if they do?

E plays a Forest. Then he casts Caravan Vigil and finds a Plains. Then he casts Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip.

T3

C draws Drowned Catacomb. He plays it and casts Think Twice, drawing Skinrender, then passes.

Had to cast something to prevent transformation or things would get out of hand quickly. Evil Twin is a poor choice here because my opponent can just do nothing for a turn and dodge Evil Twin's killing ability by transforming the mayor. My twin, on the other hand, will stay Mayor forever, as there is nothing for him to transform into. Think Twice delays the transformation and is likely to draw me a better answer, as it did.

E plays a Plains and attacks with the Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip. (Enemy 20, Caley 19). He does nothing else and passes, and Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip transforms during C's next upkeep.

T4

C draws Reassembling Skeleton. He plays Island and casts Skinrender, killing the new Howlpack Alpha. C passes.

E taps out for Mausoleum Guard and passes.

Interesting. This deck is G/W, but it's not really the normal human deck you usually see.

T5

C draws Island. He plays Swamp, casts Reassembling Skeleton, and passes.

Now I can block the Guard indefinitely without making those damned flying tokens that I can't stop.

E casts Caravan Vigil and finds a Plains, which he plays. Then he casts Doomed Traveler. Then he passes. End step, Caley flashes back Think Twice, drawing Rune-Scarred Demon.

Wait, is this a token deck? Where's the Intangible Virtue?

T6

C draws Skinrender. He plays Island and casts Rune-Scarred Demon, finding Sorin Markov. He attacks with Skinrender, which goes unblocked. (Caley 19, Enemy 17). C passes.

E casts Timely Reinforcements and Avacyn's Pilgrim. (Enemy 23, Caley 19) Then he passes.

This IS a token deck. He must not have his Intangible Virtue yet. Or his Parallel Lives, for that matter.

T7

C casts Sorin Markov and blows up Avacyn's Pilgrim with it. (Caley 21, Enemy 17) Then he passes.

E casts Fiend Hunter and exiles Rune-Scarred Demon with it. He attacks Sorin Markov with all available creatures. C blocks two soldier tokens, one with Skinrender and one with Reassembling Skeleton. Everything else hits Sorin, dropping him to 2 loyalty. Then E passes.

An especially bad choice for Fiend Hunter. If he could make this stick, this WOULD be the best creature to exile, but it won't. He's giving me a free Demonic Tutor.

State of the Board.

Things are getting confusing here, so let's recap what's in play.

Enemy has 3 Forest, 2 Plains. 1 Mausoleum Guard, 1 Doomed Traveler, 1 Fiend Hunter with a Rune-Scarred Demon under it, and 1 1/1 soldier token. Enemy has 2 cards in hand.

Caley has 3 Island, 2 Swamp, 2 U/B dual lands. 1 Skinrender out. 1 Sorin Markov with 2 loyalty. Caley's hand is 2x Evil Twin, 1x Skinrender.

T8

C draws Reassembling Skeleton. He casts Skinrender targeting Fiend Hunter, which dies. Rune-Scarred Demon returns and C finds another copy of Sorin Markov to put into hand. C destroys the remaining soldier token with Sorin Markov, which goes to 4 loyalty. (Caley 23, Enemy 23). He casts Reassembling Skeleton. Then he attacks with a single Skinrender, which hits. (Caley 23, Enemy 20). C passes.

E casts Caravan Vigil and finds a Plains, which he plays. Then he taps out for Kessig Cagebreakers. Then he attacks Sorin Markov with the Mausoleum Guard and Doomed Traveler. These get blocked by Skinrender and Rune-Scarred Demon (but not in that order), killing E's creatures but not C's, and generating 3 flying 1/1 spirit tokens.

Kessig Cagebreakers would be a great target for a kill spell, but I don't have one! Unless I draw one next turn, I'll have to make do with Evil Twin, which is a fun play, but which will let him get off one attack with the Cagebreakers. That would give him a lot of wolves. This is a fun duel so far; every time I think I'm getting on top of this deck, it squirms back out.

T9

C draws Evil Twin.

Not exactly what I needed.

C casts Evil Twin copying Kessig Cagebreakers. He uses Sorin Markov to destroy a spirit token, putting Sorin at 6 loyalty. (Caley 25, Enemy 20). C passes.

E attacks Sorin Markov with Kessig Cagebreakers and 2 1/1 flying Spirit tokens. 7 2/2 wolves enter the battlefield, all attacking Sorin Markov. C blocks as follows:

Rune-Scarred Demon on Kessig Cagebreakers. 2x Skinrender on 2x wolf token. Kessig Cagebreakers on another wolf token. Reassembling Skeleton on another wolf token. Results are:

On E's side, Kessig Cagebreakers and 3 2/2 wolves die. On C's side, Reassembling Skeleton dies. 3 2/2 wolves and 2 1/1 spirit tokens hit Sorin Markov, who dies. Combat phase ends. E passes.

Phew! I lost Sorin, but I am still winning this game, especially since my opponent made the mistake of letting me grab another one with Rune-Scarred Demon by exiling it with Fiend Hunter. Note that I did not reanimate any skeletons; I want more 2/2 wolf tokens when I attack with Kessig Cagebreakers.

State of the Board

E has 3x Forest, 3x Plains, 4x 2/2 Wolf Tokens, 2x 1/1 flying Spirit tokens. 2 cards in hand.

C has 3x Island, 2x Swamp, 2x U/B dual lands. 2x Skinrender, 1x Rune-Scarred Demon, 1x Evil Twin copying Kessig Cagebreakers. C's hand is 2x Evil Twin and 1 Sorin Markov.

T10

C draws Island and plays it. He casts Sorin Markov and destroys a wolf token with it, putting Sorin at 6 loyalty. He attacks with Kessig Cagebreakers. 3 2/2 Wolf tokens enter the battlefield attacking E. All attackers hit. (Caley 25, Enemy 11). C passes.

E does nothing and passes.

T11

C draws Swamp and plays it. He destroys a Spirit token with Sorin Markov, who goes to 8. He passes. End step, E casts Midnight Haunting twice.

My conservative play was rewarded, though I would have been fine either way. Selling out to attack would have ruined my Sorin. Now he'll live. Also, where ARE those Intangible Virtues and Parallel Lives?

E attacks Sorin with everything. C blocks as follows:

Rune-Scarred Demon on a Spirit token. 2x Skinrender and 1 wolf token block 3 wolf tokens. results:

E loses 3 Wolf tokens and a spirit token. C loses nothing. 4 spirit tokens go unblocked and hit Sorin, who goes to 4 loyalty. Combat phase ends.

E plays a Plains and passes.

T12

C draws Volition Reins. He destroys a Spirit token with Sorin Markov, who goes to 6. E concedes the game.

Massive beatdown follows otherwise.

Sideboarding

Caley inserts 3x Deathmark, 3x Doom Blade. Caley removes 3x Reassembling Skeleton, 2x Rune-Scarred Demon, 1x Evil Twin.

Not inserting Negate was a mistake, in retrospect. Having never seen Parallel Lives or Intangible Virtue, I kidded myself into thinking that perhaps this player had neglected to put these staples into his deck. I was wrong, big-time, or else he boarded them in.

Game 2

Enemy plays first and keeps the opener.

Caley keeps a hand of 2x Swamp, Island, Darkslick Shores, 2x Sorin Markov, and a Go for the Throat.

Interesting. Starting with both Sorins in hand may actually be an advantage as long a I draw some kill.

T1

E plays Forest for Avacyn's Pilgrim and passes.

C draws Doom Blade, plays Darkslick Shores and passes.

T2

E does nothing and passes.

Already? He kept a one-land hand?

C draws Drowned Catacomb and plays Island. Then he casts Go for the Throat, killing Avacyn's Pilgrim.

That should slow him down.

T3

E plays a Plains and casts Intangible Virtue. E passes.

Oh. Darn.

C draws Darkslick Shores and plays it. C passes.

T4

E casts Doomed Traveler and passes.

C draws Swamp. He plays Drowned Catacomb and passes.

T5

E plays a Plains. He attacks with Doomed Traveler. (Enemy 20, Caley 19). E passes.

C draws Go for the Throat. He plays Swamp and passes.

Well I'd prefer to have counterspells, but at least I have a clear path to Sorin.

T6

E attacks with Doomed Traveler and passes. (Enemy 20, Caley 18). E plays a Plains. E passes.

C draws Think Twice, plays Swamp, and casts Sorin Markov. Sorin hits E directly. (Caley 20, Enemy 18) Sorin goes to 6. C passes.

T7

E casts Oblivion Ring and puts Sorin Markov under it. He attacks with Doomed Traveler. (Caley 19, Enemy 18). He passes.

The presence of Oblivion Ring, likely a sideboard card given its complete absence last time, is a game-changer. Now I really do need those counterspells.

C draws Volition Reins. He plays Swamp and passes.

T8

E casts Parallel Lives. C responds with Think Twice, drawing Army of the Damned. C flashes back Think Twice, drawing Dissipate. Parallel Lives resolves.

Thanks for showing up, Dissipate. Your tardiness will go down on your permanent record.

E attacks with Doomed Traveler. (Enemy 18, Caley 18). E passes.

C draws Swamp and plays it. He casts Volition Reins targeting Parallel Lives and passes.

T9

E casts Oblivion Ring targeting Volition Reins. In response, C casts Doom Blade, destroying Doomed Traveler, which dies and produces a spirit token. Parallel Lives returns to E's control. E passes.

Aw, man. That would have been such a cool Army of the Damned, too.

C draws Evil Twin. He casts Sorin Markov. Sorin blows up the spirit token. (Caley 20, Enemy 16). Sorin goes to 6. C passes.

T10

E casts Mausoleum Guard. E passes.

C draws Dissipate. He hits E with Sorin's +2 ability. (Caley 22, Enemy 14). C taps out for Army of the Damned. C passes.

Let's try to finish this now before I get swarmed with tokens.

T11

E casts Fiend Hunter exiling a zombie, then passes.

C draws Corrupted Conscience. He casts Evil Twin copying Fiend Hunter and exiling Fiend Hunter. E concedes. Caley wins the match 2-0.

That was a close call. I could tell he was quite close to going insane on me.

Thoughts

1 - Fun token deck from my opponent, but it never had what it needed to give me a run for my money.

2 - Look at turn 3 of game 1. Do not do what my opponent did. If your opponent attacks with a creature that it's costless for you to block with, and you have a pumping creature out, and if the pumping creature were to subsequently die, your blocker would die after blocking, it is likely the opponent plans to kill your pumping creature. Common sense, but oft-overlooked.

3- People are misplaying Fiend Hunter on me all the time. Don't exile Skinrender or Rune-Scarred Demon (or anything similar) with it unless you really have to.