Showdown #11: Risk of Rain

Showdown

Spootyone

8 December 2013

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Hello all and welcome back to another episode of Spootygetsmanascrewed (Trying out some reverse-psychology here) where I pit my current standard deck against other standard builds that have been sent in to me. This week we have a brilliant deck by Ral Zar-- er...I mean Araganor.

How I picture Araganor IRL

This is a deck I've been anxious to test out since I first saw it, and it's quickly shot up to be one of the most popular decks on the site! I love decks that ensue chaos. They exist simply to remind us that we're all playing a game. Sometimes winning is second to the experience of the game, itself. You know, journeys and destinations and all that jazz! Now let's have some fun! Here's the deck:

Burning Storm

Standard Araganor

SCORE: 418 | 442 COMMENTS | 71663 VIEWS | IN 309 FOLDERS

I'm so excited to try this out. I don't even care who wins. I just want madness! >:D The main point? Survive til Possibility Storm hits and then abuse the hell out of it while your opponent is tilting out over the fact that their Angel of Serenity just became a Soldier of the Pantheon. Love it.

As for my deck, I've made a couple changes. The biggest is the addition of Polukranos, World Eater and Elvish Mystic. We all know the legendary hydra is a good card -- no doubt there. I just want to see how well he can play in my deck. And now that I have so many ways to take advantage of him, Elvish Mystic was brought in. Let's do this!

Also, if you've never heard the soundtrack for risk of rain, listen to it. Nao. While reading this. Do eet.

Disclaimer: Both decks are piloted by me, Spootyone. I am not a magic pro. This testing series is just as much for me as it is for the viewers, so please remember I'm learning, too. I'm bound to make mistakes or "bad" judgment calls, so bare with me.

Game 1

Spooty wins the flip and is on the play. He keeps an opening hand of 2x forest, Temple Garden, 2x Sylvan Caryatid, Elvish Mystic, and Voice of Resurgence. Not many threats are in this hand at all, but we have mana and acceleration, so anything we draw into can be played asap. I like that much more than hoping to top deck land with a 6 card hand.

Araganor keeps an opening hand of island, mountain, 2x Guttersnipe, Young Pyromancer, Mercurial Chemister and Blast of Genius. I'm not going to pretend this hand is amazing, but we have an early good play, and if we draw into more lands we can get even more done. I don't want to risk a mulligan if I don't have to, you know?

S1: Forest, Elvish Mystic. Pass.

A1: Draws Young Pyromancer. Plays mountain. Pass.

S2: Draws forest. Plays Sylvan Caryatid using the mana from the elf and forest. Then plays Temple Garden tapped. Pass.

A2: Draws Lightning Strike. It's removal that we can play, which is nice. But we need lands starting next turn or this can and will get messy. Given the chance to keep this hand again, I'd probably not do so (just fyi). Plays island. Casts Young Pyromancer. Pass.

S3: Draws Mistcutter Hydra MANA SINNNNKK!! Lol this might get nasty. Plays forest. Casts second Sylvan Caryatid. Casts Voice of Resurgence. Swings with Elvish Mystic. No blocks (no reason to trade here) (s 20/19 a). pass.

A3: Draws Magma Jet. Ug. Well, on the bright side, this kills his mystic and gives us a chance to dig for lands. I'm going to play it now before he has a chance to tap it for mana. Casts Magma Jet to destroy Elvish Mystic and makes a 1/1 elemental token with the pyromancer. The scry reveals Izzet Charm and Possibility Storm. I actually don't mind izzet charm because we can use it to cycle away some of the dead cards in hand. [[possibility storm hits the bottom of the deck, though. Pass.

S4: Draws Fleecemane Lion. Plays forest. I need to put the pressure on before the opponent can come back from their land deficit. taps out with both caryatids to make a 5/5 Mistcutter Hydra. Swings with it and the Voice of Resurgence. The elemental token gets chewed up by the hydra and Aragnor takes two. (s 20/17 a). Pass.

A4: Draws Izzet Charm. I hope this draws us into lands 3 and 4. Casts Izzet Charm (elemental token enters battlefield due to the pyromancer) to draw 2x Mountain (Hell yeah!). Then discards 2x Guttersnipe. I think we need to try to win with burn, but Guttersnipe is arriving too late at this point to make any headway. I'd rather have the two big cards in hand to try to combo into some good stuff. Plays mountain. Pass.

S5: Draws Temple Garden. Casts Fleecemane Lion. Swings with the voice and hydra. Again, the token jumps in front of the hydra and Aragnor takes 2 (s 18/15 a). Spooty then activates the monstrous ability of the Fleecemane Lion, giving it a counter and making it indestructible and hexproof. I do this now since I know the opponent has nothing they can do about it. Pass.

A5: Draws Guttersnipe. That's...kind of hilarious. I think Aragnor's deck is trying to tell me something here. Plays mountain. Casts Young Pyromancer #2. Then plays Lightning Strike on the Spooty and makes two 1/1 elemental tokens. (s 15/15 a) Pass.

S6: Draws forest. Attacks with the voice, hydra and lion (oh my!). The elemental tokens chump the lion and hydra and Aragnor takes 2 (s 15/13 a). Pass.

A6: Draws Shock. Mkay. It's more damage I suppose. Casts Guttersnipe. Then plays Shock on Spooty and makes two 1/1 elemental tokens and deals an additional 2 through the Guttersnipe.
(s 11/13 a) Pass.

S7: Draws forest. Plays forest. Swings with everything once more. And once again the hydra and lion are chumped to tokens and the voice gets through for two. (s 11/11 a). Pass.

A7: Draws Magma Jet. Yes! :D More burn! Plays Magma Jet on Spooty and deals an additional two and makes two 1/1 elemental tokens. (s 7/11 a). Scrys Magma Jet and island off the top. This seems okay. They stay. Pass.

S8: Draws Loxodon Smiter Alright! More beats!. Casts loxodon smiter. Swings with the voice, lion, and hydra. Tokens chump the hydra and lion. Voice does damage. (s 7/9 a). Pass.

A8: Draws Magma Jet. Casts Magma Jet on Spooty, deals an additional 2, and makes two tokens. (s 3/9 a). pass.

S9: Draws Celestial Flare. Fairly useless right now. I wish we had our trample guys out here or I had gotten a Selesnya Charm or something. We have to hope the opponent has no more burn spells. Swings with voice, lion, hydra and the Loxodon Smiter. Elemental tokens chump the lion and hydra and Aragnor takes 6 damage (s 3/3 a) Pass.

A9: Draws Island. I'm starting to wish I'd shipped that to the bottom and possibly drawn into another burn spell here. All well. Plays island. Casts Mercurial Chemister. Pass.

S10: Draws Loxodon Smiter. Swings with the voice, hydra, lion and smiter. Pyromancers chump the hydra and lion. We have to block the smiter or else we die. And since we need the Guttersnipe to deal the final damage, we have the Mercurial Chemister chump the smiter. (s 3/1 a). Casts Loxodon Smiter. Pass.

A10: Draws Possibility Storm noooooooo. It's not burn. GGs.

Spooty wins game 1!!

Sideboard tech with Spooty: Alright so Game 1 proved to be a fairly close one that simply came down to the luck of the draw. Celestial Flare is god-awful against this matchup, so it'll be replaced by the playset of Last Breath which can hit Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, and Mercurial Chemister -- which just happen to be all the creatures we witnessed last game.

Sideboard tech with Araganor: Unfortunately we didn't get to see what this deck is supposed to be capable of last game. Shock doesn't hit very much in this matchup, so I'll be replacing it with the playset of Rapid Hybridization. That way we can remove threats or turn our elementals into 3/3s!

Game 2!

Araganor chooses to be on the play and keeps an opening hand of island, mountain, 2x Young Pyromancer, Magma Jet, Rapid Hybridization and Possibility Storm. While still a two-lander, this one looks much more feasible.

Spooty keeps an opening hand of 2x plains, forest, Voice of Resurgence, Selesnya Charm, Last Breath and Polukranos, World Eater. Looks like a really good hand! Hopefully we'll draw into that second green source sooner rather than later.

A1: Mountain. Pass.

S1: Draws Voice of Resurgence. Plains. Pass.

A2: Draws Explosive Impact. Plays island. Casts Young Pyromancer. Pass.

S2: Draws Mistcutter Hydra. Plays forest. Casts Voice of Resurgence. Pass.

A3: Draws island. Plays island. Casts Young Pyromancer. Pass.

S3: Draws plains. Plays plains. Swings with Voice of Resurgence. (s 20/18 a). Casts Last Breath on opponent's Young Pyromancer. It is exiled. (s 20/22 a) Pass.

A4: Draws Mountain. Things are going well for our draws so far, I'd say. Plays mountain. Casts Magma Jet targeting Voice of Resurgence and gets a 1/1 elemental token. The voice dies and an elemental token is created for Spooty. Magma Jet and island are scry'd off the top. (again?). This time, however, the Magma Jet is put on the bottom while the island is left on top to allow for the storm next turn. Pass.

S4: Draws Selesnya Guildgate. Plays the guildgate. Casts Voice of Resurgence #2 and swings with the now 2/2 elemental token.. It is chumped by the 1/1 elemental token. Pass.

A5: Draws Island. Plays island. Let's have some fun. Plays Possibility Storm. Pass.

S5: Draws Sylvan Caryatid. Well...Possibility Storm is a thing, huh? Plays plains. I guess we should try to scum the hell out of it if we can. Casts Mistcutter Hydra for x=0. The storm activates. Mistcutter Hydra is transformed into the MIGHTY Sylvan Caryatid!!! Oh...nvm that's lame... Let's try again. Attempts to cast another Sylvan Caryatid. Storm activates. The caryatid is transformed into...Sylvan Caryatid. Seriously? I'm calling shenanigans on that one...Plays plains. Swings with the now 4/4 elemental token and the voice. (s 20/16 a) Pass.

A6: Draws island. Plays island. Casts Rapid Hybridization and gets a 1/1 token. The spell is transformed into Izzet Charm, which is used to draw into a mountain and island. Both are discarded. Pass.

S6: Draws forest. Plays forest. Attempts to cast Polukranos, World Eater. it is transformed into the all-powerful...Elvish Mystic. You've gotta be screwing around with me by this point lol. Attempts to cast selesnya charm to make a 2/2 knight. The spell is transformed into Last Breath, which targets the young pyromancer, exiling him. Now THAT is what I wanted to happen. (s 20/20 a). Swings with the now 5/5 token and the voice. The token is blocked by the opposing elemental token and the voice gets in for 2. (s 20/18 a) Pass.

A7: Draws Young Pyromancer. Casts it. It is transformed into...Worldspine Wurm. I am speechless. Pass.

S7: Draws forest. Plays forest. This is terrible news. Simply terrible. Pass.

A8: Draws island. Who cares? WE HAVE A 15/15 TRAMPLER. Swings with the big freaking wurm. The Voice of Resurgence blocks it and another elemental enters the field. (s 7/18 a). Attempts to cast Explosive Impact. The spell is transformed into Lightning Strike, which is just sent to Spooty's dome. (s 4/18 a) Pass.

S8: Draws plains. Fack. Swings with one of the 5/5 tokens. (s 4/13 a) Pass.

A9: Draws Blast of Genius. Swings with the wurm. All of Spooty's remaining creatures block, preventing 12 of the damage. They all die. (s 1/13 a). Casts Blast of Genius which is transformed into Blast of Genius. Possibility Storm, Mercurial Chemister and Magma Jet are drawn, and the storm is discarded for the victory.

Araganor wins game 2!!

Sideboard tech with Spooty: Crap! I was so close! Well, although the storm in that game felt very one-sided, I'm glad it was able to showcase just how ridiculous Araganor's deck can be. I mean, I thought I had that one til that freaking wurm hit the field. I see now I must become every bit more aggressive. 2x Mistcutter Hydra and 2x Scion of Vitu-Ghazi are coming out in place of 4x Experiment One. I'm ready.

Sideboard tech with Araganor: That was absolutely hilarious. Let's try to make it happen again.

Game 3

Spooty chooses to be on the play and keeps an opening hand of 2x plains, forest, 2x Advent of the Wurm, Selesnya Charm, and Loxodon Smiter. Assuming we get another green source, this could be a deadly curve.

Araganor mulls a one land hand. The kept hand contains 2x mountain, island, Young Pyromancer, Possibility Storm and Blast of Genius. It'll have to do.

S1: Plains. Pass.

A1: Draws island. Plays island. Pass.

S2: Draws Voice of Resurgence. Plays forest. Casts Voice of Resurgence. Pass.

A2: Draws Guttersnipe. Plays mountain. Casts Young Pyromancer. Pass.

S3: Draws plains. Plays plains. Swings with the voice. No blocks (s 20/18 a). Casts Loxodon Smiter. Pass.

A3: Draws island. Plays island. Casts guttersnipe. Pass.

S4: Draws forest. FINALLY! I think my deck is finally obeying me! :D Plays forest. Swings with the voice and smiter for 6, no blocks (s 20/12 a). Pass.

A4: Draws Mercurial Chemister. Plays mountain. Nothing to do here unfortunately... I know I don't want to block with these guys, but The opponent might have a flashy wurm token coming out, so I will not be attacking. Pass. EoT a magnificent, beautiful and majestic big-ass wurm is made using Spooty's Advent of the Wurm.

S5: Draws plains. Plays plains. Swings with the voice, smiter and wurm token. As Aragnor, I know the situation looks really bad. Guttersnipe attempts to chump the smiter. In response, Spooty gives the smiter 2/2 and trample with Selesnya Charm. Snipey dies. (s 20/1 a). Pass.

A5: Draws island. Meh...that's game. Concedes.

Spooty wins the match!

Afterthoughts

Game one was a bit of a derp-fest by both sides where my deck simply got luckier on the draws. Game 2 was where things really got interesting with Aragnor and his deck. As stated above, I'm so happy we all got to witness the two extremes Possibility Storm can offer, transforming 2/1s into 15/15 tramplers and 5/5s into 1/1 mana dorks. Game 3 was also good for my own sanity because fankly I've been on a terrible losing streak. Seeing a good old-fashioned I've-got-cheap-amazing-creatures-and-you-don't beatdown by my deck was a much needed boost to my morale.

Ultimately, this deck functions on a principal that cannot happen before turn 5 and sometimes will happen after that. It's for this reason things like game 3 can happen. And thus, I wouldn't suggest taking this thing anywhere near a real competitive environment like a GP or something. But for casual and FNM play, this deck is a sure to please favorite of mine.

Many thanks to Araganor for the awesome deck and thank you to everyone else who entered decks for the article. Keep 'em coming please!

The Question of the Week

One place where I've had many Battle of Wits with people is my one-drop slot. And the two main entries for that slot are Soldier of the Pantheon and Experiment One. Ultimately after testing, I have gone with the latter. Soldier of the Pantheon works as well as it does because it is a Savannah Lions that has "protection from RTR block", and many mono decks run multicolored hybrid creatures which the soldier can take advantage of. But he fails to block well things like Boros Reckoner and Nightveil Specter. Experiment One on the other hand is a 1/1 that has great potential to grow bigger as the game goes on. Especially in G/W deck which have access to low cost high p/t creatures, this is amazing. Add to that his regeneration ability and you've got yourself a threat. But in the top decking portion of the mid/late game, this guy can suck to draw into.

What do you all think? Which is the better creature for the current meta?

Magic Fun Facts

Did you know that early in the development of Magic, the mana cost of cards was going to be different than it is now? Let's take Possibility Storm. As stands, the card is a 5-drop which means it costs five total mana to play or in other words has a converted mana cost (CMC) of 5. That mana must contain 2 red sources but the rest can be any other color. This is represented by the colorless "3" at the top of the card. However, if things had gone as they almost did, that 3 would have actually been a "5".

Card costs would have contained a number that indicated the CMC of the card first, and then they would be followed by any specificities that the cards may or may not have. So, for example, instead of costing 3RR, possibility storm would have read that it cost 5RR. Weird huh? (Izzet pun).

If you've enjoyed this article, please let me know! I love feedback as long as it's constructive. And don't forget that if you want to be in the next Showdown, place your deck in the comments below!

Thanks for reading everyone!

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