Daily Dose 46 - Standard

Daily Dose of Standard

KrazyCaley

8 March 2013

1452 views

vs. K1NGadaH1LL

My deck:

Bolas for a Better Tomorrow

Standard* KrazyCaley

SCORE: 107 | 506 COMMENTS | 23119 VIEWS | IN 42 FOLDERS

Recently retuned.

Game 1

Caley plays first and keeps an opener of Watery Grave, Swamp, Sulfur Falls, Nephalia Drownyard, Dragonskull Summit, Murder, Counterflux.

Slightly land-heavy, but that's no big deal in such a mana-heavy deck.

E keeps their opener.

Turn 1

C plays Watery Grave tapped and passes.

E plays Mountain for Stonewright and passes.

It's Bolas' greatest nemesis, Red Deck Wins. I'm not sure I like Stonewright as a RDW guy, though. It's not hasty and eats mana to be any good.

Turn 2

C draws Barter in Blood, plays Sulfur Falls, and passes.

E plays Mountain and attacks with the Stonewright. (E 20, C 19). He passes.

That's a terrible turn 2 for RDW. I've basically already won, if indeed this actually IS RDW.

Turn 3

C draws Mystic Retrieval and plays Dragonskull Summit. He passes.

E plays Mountain and casts Rakdos Cackler, but that runs into Counterflux. E attacks with Stonewright and passes. (E 20, C 18).

I was actually hoping he'd have something else to cast so I could Barter in Blood it.

Turn 4

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He plays Swamp and passes.

E plays Mountain and attacks with Stonewright. C Murder s it. E passes.

I'd wager he's sitting on a ton of burn spells. I should probably get my Counterflux back at the earliest opportunity that won't leave me defenseless against Hellrider or whatever.

Turn 5

C draws Barter in Blood. He casts Mystic Retrieval on Counterflux and passes.

Probably better now than any other time; I have no instant responses anyway.

E plays Mountain and casts Ash Zealot. He attacks with it and passes. (E 20, C 16).

Turn 6

C draws and plays Island. He flashes back Mystic Retrieval for Murder, triggering Ash Zealot. (E 20, C 13). C passes. End step, E casts Searing Spear to the face. (E 20, C 10).

Getting Murder gives me much more flexibility. If he does nothing and just attacks I now have an efficient answer.

E casts Ash Zealot and attacks with both Zealots. They hit. (E 20, C 6). E passes.

It's possible that he is holding two Searing Spears, but I doubt it, and even if he is, I'll still stay alive against it if I draw a land.

Turn 7

C draws Mystic Retrieval. He casts Barter in Blood, killing the Zealots. He passes.

So he doesn't have Searing Spear. What DOES he have? Pillar of Flame, maybe?

E plays Mountain and passes.

This qualifies as mana flooding for RDW.

Turn 8

C draws Watery Grave. He plays it and passes.

E casts Rakdos Cackler and passes. End step, C Murder s it.

Turn 9

C draws Dragonskull Summit and plays it. He does nothing and passes.

I could get Murder back with the Retrieval, but I'd rather save it for use on Counterflux.

E casts Boros Reckoner and passes.

Your $20 rare is a mere 3/3 to the mighty Bolas! Reckoner WILL let him hit me directly with a creature-damage spell once, of course, so I may indeed want to get Murder back before that happens. Oh wait, I just had a BETTER idea.

Turn 10

C draws Sulfur Falls and plays it. He casts Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Bolas steals Boros Reckoner. In response, E casts Searing Spear to kill Bolas.

I'm starting to think that this guy is either not very experienced with RDW, or else is very wary and cautious about what he's seeing from my deck. This spell should have been cast to my face long ago. Perhaps he just drew it. Still, he killed Bolas with it, although I now have his Reckoner.

E casts Traitorous Blood on Boros Reckoner, and then Volcanic Strength. He attacks with it and hits. (E 20, C 1). He passes.

No pressure. This is a weird RDW build.

Turn 11

C draws and plays Desolate Lighthouse. He passes.

No need to use Mystic Retrieval yet, as he is topdecking and I have a counterspell. You might think I ought to attack with the Reckoner, and you might be right, but I prefer to have him just sit here and deter him from casting and attacking with creatures.

E does nothing and passes.

Like that, for instance.

Turn 12

C draws Drowned Catacomb, does nothing, and passes.

E plays Mountain and passes. End step, C uses Desolate Lighthouse, drawing and pitching a Swamp.

Turn 13

C draws Think Twice. He does nothing and passes.

E does nothing and passes. End step, C casts [Think Twice]], drawing Drowned Catacomb. Then he uses the lighthouse to draw and discard Island.

I have the mana for it, but I am not going also going to use the Think Twice flashback just yeto as that would lower my Counterflux shields.

Turn 14

C draws Chromatic Lantern. He plays Drowned Catacomb and casts the Lantern, then passes.

E casts Rakdos Cackler and Stromkirk Noble. He passes. End Step, C flashes back Think Twice drawing Sulfur Falls.

Not a worry at all.

Turn 15

C draws Mountain. He plays Sulfur Falls. He casts Mystic Retrieval on Murder, then passes.

E does nothing and passes. End step, C Lighthouses, drawing Think Twice and ditching Mountain.

Attacking would result in him getting two-for-one'd due to Murder. Also, did not cast Think Twice here because I am trying to represent TWO counterspells.

Turn 16

C draws Watery Grave. He casts Murder on Rakdos Cackler, then flashes back Mystic Retrieval on Murder and passes.

He is accumulating cards in hand, so I don't want him casting too much stuff at once that I can't handle.

E plays Mountain, then casts Volcanic Strength on Stromkirk Noble and attacks with it. Boros Reckoner blocks it and deals 3 damage to E. (E 17, C 1).

He assumed, wrongly-but-understandably, that I had mountains out. Note that I have been careful not to play any ever since I saw he had Mountainwalk stuff.

End step, C Lighthouses up a Slaughter Games and discards Watery Grave.

Turn 17

C draws Dreadbore. He casts Slaughter Games naming Searing Spear. He exiles two from the library, none from the graveyard.

The rest of his deck was a slightly-creature heavy, but otherwise mostly conventional RDW. The only direct damage spell left was 2x Pillar of Flame, which is next if I get to Slaughter Games again.

E casts Stonewright and passes. End step, C casts Think Twice and flashes it back, drawing Gilded Lotus and Swamp.

Turn 18

C draws Gilded Lotus. He plays Swamp and casts Gilded Lotus. He casts Dreadbore on Stonewright and passes.

E does nothing and passes. End step, C lighthouses, drawing Dreadbore and ditching Gilded Lotus.

Turn 19

C draws Counterflux.

Now I basically win, as I have enough counterspells to deal with all his direct damage in hand, and can kill his creatures at leisure with the rest of my deck. I feel comfortable attacking with the Reckoner now.

C attacks with the Reckoner and hits. (E 12, C 1).

Turn 20

E does nothing and passes.

C draws Think Twice. He attacks with Boros Reckoner and hits. (E 7, C 1).

Turn 21

E casts Hellrider. C Murder s it. E passes. C casts Think Twice and flashes it back in the end step, drawing Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Barter in Blood. Then he lighthouses to draw and discard Swamp.

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He attacks with the Reckoner and passes.

I could cast Bolas, but it's safer just to swing.

Turn 22

E casts Pillar of Flame to the face, but C Counterfluxes it. E concedes.

Sorry I made you kill your owner, Reckoner. You are not to blame.

Sideboarding

C boards in 3x Cyclonic Rift, 3x Dissipate. He boards out 2x Gilded Lotus, 2x Slaughter Games, 2x Mystic Retrieval.

These are all fine cards, but I need to increase the speed against RDW.

Game 2

E plays first and keeps.

C mulls a hand of 2x Swamp, Dragonskull Summit, 2x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Think Twice, Cyclonic Rift.

Asking for death.

C mulls a 6 hand of Mountain, Swamp, Watery Grave, Barter in Blood, Counterflux, Chromatic Lantern.

I'm not sure why I mulled this, in retrospect. I think I was very afraid of being swarmed and REALLY wanted fast spot removal.

C keeps a 5 hand of Drowned Catacomb, Dragonskull Summit, Dreadbore, Barter in Blood, Dissipate.

Not too much better than the 6 hand, really.

Turn 1

E plays an unleashed Rakdos Cackler with his first Mountain and passes.

C draws Counterflux and plays Dragonskull Summit, then passes.

Turn 2

E plays Mountain for another Cackler, unleashed. He attacks with the first one and hits. Then he casts Grafdigger's Cage and passes. (E 20, C 18).

I suppose that's an ok sideboard choice against my Mystic Retrieval and Think Twice.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. He plays Drowned Catacomb and passes.

Not going well.

Turn 3

E attacks with his dudes and passes. (E 20, C 14).

C draws Dissipate. He casts Dreadbore on a Cackler and passes.

Turn 4

E casts Ash Zealot, attacks with everything, and passes. (E 20, C 10).

C draws Watery Grave and plays it untapped. (E 20, C 8). He casts Barter in Blood and passes.

I can get back to stability if I can just avoid any hasty creatures.

Turn 5

E plays Mountain and passes.

C draws Cyclonic Rift. He does nothing and passes. End step, E hits him with Searing Spear, but C Counterflux es it.

Can't afford to let this through with two other counters in hand, and him at least pretending that he has no hasty creatures in hand.

E casts another Searing Spear, which resolves. (E 20, C 5).

Very bad.

Turn 6

E plays Mountain and passes.

Still alive!

C draws Devour Flesh. He does nothing and passes.

Drawing enough control to live, but not making any mana progress.

Turn 7

E does nothing and passes.

C draws and plays Dragonskull Summit, then passes.

Turn 8

E does nothing and passes.

He now has 3 cards in hand.

C draws Mountain, plays it, and passes.

I get the feeling that I'm kind of in his head re: counterspells a little. He needs to loosen up a bit and throw what he's got at me; he's playing RDW!

Turn 9

E plays Mountain and passes.

C draws Watery Grave, plays it tapped, and passes.

Turn 10

E plays Mountain and casts Pillar of Flame, but that gets a Dissipate. Then E casts Hellrider, but C casts Devour Flesh. (E 23, C 5).

I have a pretty good handle on the game now, but I may have lost just a bit too much life in the beginning.

C draws Devour Flesh, does nothing, and passes.

Turn 11

E does nothing and passes.

C draws Counterflux, does nothing, and passes. End step, E casts Skullcrack, which runs into Counterflux.

Turn 12

E casts an unleashed Rakdos Cackler and passes. End step, C casts Devour Flesh. (E 25, C 5).

C draws and plays Watery Grave tapped. He passes.

Turn 13

E does nothing and passes.

C draws Swamp. He plays it and passes.

Turn 14

E casts Boros Reckoner, but it runs into Dissipate. E passes.

C draws Cyclonic Rift. He does nothing and passes.

Turn 15

E does nothing and passes.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. He does nothing and passes.

C'mon, need a win condition, or at least Desolate Lighthouse.

Turn 16

E casts Boros Reckoner and passes. End step, C overloads Cyclonic Rift to return it and Grafdigger's Cage to hand.

C draws Think Twice. He does nothing and passes.

Turn 17

E casts Grafdigger's Cage and passes. End step, C casts Think Twice drawing Think Twice, then casts THAT Think Twice drawing Swamp.

Ok, now I KNOW I'm in his head re: counterspells. This is not how to play an aggro deck. Not casting that Reckoner is just as good for me as if I had countered it, in this situation. When you're running an aggro deck, you HAVE to play aggressively!

C draws Barter in Blood. He plays Dragonskull Summit and passes.

Turn 18

E casts Boros Reckoner, then Hellrider. C casts an overloaded Cyclonic Rift before combat, returning Reckoner, Cage, and Hellrider to hand. C then flashes back Think Twice, drawing Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

C draws Barter in Blood and plays Swamp. He casts Bolas, who blows up a Mountain, and passes.

I'm dangerously low on life, but I still have three blue/black lands open, which will hopefully make him think a little.

Turn 19

E casts Grafdigger's Cage and Boros Reckoner.

Here I tapped two of my lands, but then undid the action and let him proceed, to further screw with his head. He really should be casting Hellrider rather than Grafdigger's Cage.

E casts another Grafdigger's Cage and passes.

C draws Drowned Catacomb. He steals Boros Reckoner and passes.

It's possible the right play is to Barter in Blood and then blow up another land with Bolas, but with a Hellrider in hand, I'd rather have the blocker.

Turn 20

E casts Mizzium Mortars on Boros Reckoner, killing it. (E 21, C 5).

Again, here I tapped some lands, but then reflected thoughtfully for a few moments and let the spell resolve. I, of course, have no more counterspells, but he doesn't need to know that. I really don't want him to try and resolve Hellrider.

E casts Hellrider and attacks with it. (E 21. C 1).

Well, worth a shot.

C draws Desolate Lighthouse. He casts Barter in Blood and blows up a Grafdigger's Cage with Bolas. He passes.

Turn 21

E casts Grafdigger's Cage. He casts Skullcrack at C. C activates Desolate Lighthouse, drawing Devour Flesh, then concedes.

Sideboarding

C makes no changes.

I lost, but I was happy with my deck as it stood. Just a bad opening hand.

Game 3

C keeps an opener of Swamp, Mountain, 2x Sulfur Falls, Devour Flesh, Cyclonic Rift, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

E keeps their opener.

Turn 1

C plays Sulfur Falls tapped and passes.

E plays Mountain for an unleashed Rakdos Cackler and passes.

Going first against RDW is INCREDIBLY important.

Turn 2

C draws Murder, plays Swamp, and passes.

E plays Mountain and casts another unleashed Cackler. C casts Devour Flesh the first one. E passes. (E 22, C 20).

Turn 3

C draws Chromatic Lantern. He plays Sulfur Falls and passes.

Whoops! Obviously should have played Mountain here, but for some reason I thought the Falls would come in untapped. This might cost me.

E plays Mountain. He attacks with the Cackler. C bounces it with Cyclonic Rift.

When you've made a misplay, make the play that makes it look like you meant to do that.

E passes.

Bad, bad play. There is no reason not to recast the Cackler. I'm tapped out! This guy is really confused right now.

Turn 4

C draws Think Twice and plays Mountain. He casts Chromatic Lantern and passes.

E plays Mountain and casts Archwing Dragon, then passes. (E 22, C 16). End step, C casts Think Twice drawing Cyclonic Rift.

Turn 5

C draws Murder. He does nothing and passes.

E plays a Mountain, then casts Archwing Dragon and an unleashed Rakdos Cackler. C Murder s the dragon. E passes. C casts Cyclonic Rift on the Cackler.

I am buying lots of very valuable time with the bouncing, especially since he gave me a totally free turn by not recasting the Cackler earlier.

Turn 6

C draws and plays Drowned Catacomb and passes.

I'm two turns away from Bolas and have 16 life and a kill spell, plus Bolas in hand. He has five cards. This is a very good position for me to be in. Hopefully he tries to cast one really expensive thing next turn for me to Murder.

E casts Rakdos Cackler unleashed and passes. C flashes back Think Twice drawing Dissipate. He Murder s the Cackler.

In great shape still.

Turn 7

C draws Drowned Catacomb, plays it, and passes.

The card advantage of Think Twice now has me in exactly the same position as before, more or less, except with both players having one more land - I have Bolas and an answer, and I have seven mana. He only has four cards now.

Turn 8

E casts 2x Pillar of Flame. (E 22, C 12).

I haven't taken anywhere near scary damage yet; I can definitely afford to let these through.

C draws Chromatic Lantern.

Time's up next turn.

Turn 9

E casts Boros Reckoner, but it runs into Dissipate. E plays a Mountain and passes.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. He casts Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

Take it away, Sweet.

Bolas blows up a Mountain. C passes.

Turn 10

E casts Pithing Needle naming Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, then Hellrider, who attacks C and hits. (E 22, C 8).

Suddenly I'm in serious trouble! Very nice sideboard choice!

C draws Desolate Lighthouse and immediately plays and activates it, drawing Counterflux and discarding Dragonskull Summit.

Turn 11

E attacks with Hellrider and hits. (E 22, C 4). He passes.

C draws Cyclonic Rift. He casts it targeting Pithing Needle, then steals Hellrider with Bolas. He passes.

Turn 12

E casts Pithing Needle, but it runs into Counterflux. He passes.

Direct damage is REALLY bad for me. Luckily he doesn't yet seem to have any.

C draws Barter in Blood. Bolas blows up a Mountain and C passes.

Turn 13

E does nothing and passes. C activates Desolate Lighthouse, drawing Dissipate and discarding Barter in Blood.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. Bolas blows up a Mountain and he passes.

I could have activated the Bolaspocalypse here, but with a Dissipate in hand, I can be a bit more patient.

Turn 14

E casts Searing Spear but he runs into Dissipate. He passes. C activates Lighthouse, drawing Mountain and discarding Barter in Blood.

Barter will no longer be useful.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. Bolas' -7 ability activates and E concedes. C wins the match 2-1.

Thoughts

1 - Don't play conservatively and haltingly as an aggro player! Trust me, the control player loves it when you try to use a bunch of time and feints to get through his stuff. Time is ALWAYS on the control player's side, and the more of it you spend, the less likely you are to win. You HAVE to cast aggressively and try to kill, kill, kill. This is doubly true if you are playing RDW.

2 - I didn't care much for this RDW build. It was pretty slow and non-threatening, relatively-speaking.