Zandl's Standard Pauper Challenge - Round 3

Deck Challenges

zandl

24 May 2013

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Round 3 is finished!

Go!

Lo, and the good zandl spake, “Behold.”


Here are this article’s decklists and entrants, by Guild colors.

Orzhov Syndicate

Nobilior’s [Put Clever/Corny Name Here]
Azure124’s the enchanting pauper
morek’s Morek's Orzhov Beat Down
tempest’s zandls-pauper-challenge-by-tempest
Taytora’s Just Dying to Live
tj70’s Debt and Death (PAUPER)
AGunWithLegs’s spare-some-coin-for-the-exalted
Wike900’s Death and Extortion

Gruul Clans

D=

Selesnya Conclave

RussischerZar’s Pauperproof

Boros Legion

carpediem’s so-common-its-pauper
PenitentKnight’s Po' Mans Army
Pokeq’s Speedy Token Pauper
grizzell’s Poor Us Boros

Simic Combine

januycheng’s Pauper

Rakdos Cult

Zerix’s Pauper Dark Burn
kevinbasham’s Standard Pauper Rakdos

Azorius Senate

D=

House Dimir

Dallie’s Pauper Challenge: Delverpocalypse
Slycne’s Impoverished Delver
zaddos’s Dime Store Dimir

Golgari Swarm

D=

Izzet Legaue

Lionheart’s Izzet Delving into Pauper
TristanTaylorsVoice’s Another Goddamn Delver Deck (ZPC 2013)

Completed round 3 results:

winning player (games won) vs. losing player (games won)

grizzell (2) vs. Lionheart (0)

Game 1: Lionheart only saw minimal amounts of burn and not all of it was relevant. Thunderbolt is okay, but grizzell played no Flying creatures. Electrickery can be a blowout, but not when your opponent has an army of X/2 creatures. grizzell laid down the beats after Spearing an Insectile Aberration  ^Flip and Lionheart really didn’t have an answer. Also, he got fairly land-flooded after casting both sides of a Think Twice, drawing for the turn, and seeing three lands in a row.
Game 2: Lionheart really needed spells that could do better than just going one-for-one in value. When the opponent has already cast seven creatures by the end of his fourth turn, you either need that many removal spells or need to be racing (and winning). grizzell kept ripping creatures off the top and Lionheart was drawing into things like Negate and Goblin Electromancer. Unfortunately, this is first Izzet deck to fall from the challenge and it pains me to see it go to such an aggressive deck. However, that just goes to show that grizzell knows what makes a powerful, fast deck.

TristanTaylorsVoice (2) vs. Dallie (1)

Game 1: The two decks began the game on fairly even ground. TristanTaylorsVoice managed to flip over a Delver of Secrets  ^Flip early on, but Dallie eventually came to destroy it. Without a way to push damage through, TTV had to sit and try to win with control. Archaeomancer, Ravenous Rats, and Ghostly Flicker appeared a number of turns later on Dallie’s side of the board, however, and he could flicker both creatures twice a turn. With no card left in his hand and being forced to discard before his first main phase, TTV could only respond with Instants. At that point, however, Dallie was sitting on a significant number of counterspells.
Game 2: When TristanTaylorsVoice started drawing lots of creatures, Dallie had some trouble keeping up on removal and board control. Add in a well-placed Searing Spear and a Brimstone Volley and Dallie had very little to stop the beats.
Game 3: There were Delvers on both sides of the board in the early turns of the game, but neither flipped for quite awhile. TristanTaylorsVoice had both copies of Cancel from the deck in his hand, both of which helped to stop Dallie’s Amass the Components and Mist Raven from generating card and board advantage. TTV then ground out a win with 1 copy of Insectile Aberration  ^Flip backed by Essence Scatter and Hands of Binding. Dallie couldn’t draw the crucial kill-spell in time and the challenge’s only remaining Izzet deck moved on.

Nobilior (2) vs. januycheng (0)

Game 1: januycheng got the beats on with a pair of Somberwald Dryad and a Spire Tracer, managing to counter one Seraph of Dawn and combat trick/Mizzium Skin another. Nobilior got a bit behind in the race, but drawing two copies of Ethereal Armor in a row with a Basilica Screecher for Extort and a Daggerdrome Imp for life-gain made januycheng slam on the brakes hard. Without drawing into Unsummon, the Flying assault and life-gain were too much to overcome.
Game 2: In the end, the game came down to one simple fact: januycheng had too many cards to save his creatures from impending issues and not enough cards to disrupt the opponent’s plans. In a Blue and Green deck, your biggest problems will come from not being able to outright kill your opponent’s threats, so you need a way to work around that. Without a way to deal with your opponent’s little, annoying creatures (like Daggerdrome Imp, for example), you eventually die to them.

Azure124 (2) vs. tj70 (1)

Game 1: The first game of this match was stalemated for a good deal of turns. Extortion from both sides kept things in balance and selective removal spells neutralized opposing threats. A Seraph of Dawn became cursed with a Stab Wound (again, the antithesis of Seraph of Dawn) and tj70 started getting ahead. Azure124, not to be deterred, ripped a Dark Favor and an Ethereal Armor (with a ton of Auras stacked up everywhere) and the Angel became an 8/8, easily offsetting Stab Wound’s life-loss ability and tj70’s Extortion. tj70 couldn’t find any removal and the game ended.
Game 2: tj70’s deck worked flawlessly in this game. With just a Syndic of Tithes getting in for 2 damage each turn, he controlled the board through Extorted removal and Sign in Blood to keep his hand refreshed. Azure124 lost a bit of momentum by being stuck on a single White source with Seraph of Dawn in his hand, but the removal in tj70’s hand wouldn’t have let it live beyond the End Step.
Game 3: Azure124 landed a Daggerdrome Imp and 2 copies of Tormented Soul, outfitting them all with an assortment of Auras, including Ethereal Armor, Dark Favor, and Predator's Gambit. 1 Pacifism surfaced for tj70, but he couldn’t hold down the fort and got blown out by unblockable damage and life-gain.

Slycne (2) vs. PenitentKnight (1)

Game 1: The game looked to be over in PenitentKnight’s favor, but Archaeomancer landing and returning a spent Ghostly Flicker meant that Slycne could flicker Bloodhunter Bat as many times as 3 mana could be spent in a turn, each turn. Bloodhunter Bat could attack unimpeded and then Slycne could flicker the Archaeomancer and Bat, get back the same Ghostly Flicker, and use it again with his6 lands. Nutty.
Game 2: Slycne had to take a tough mulligan down to 6 and kept 2 lands, 2 Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, and 2 Psychic Strike. By the time Slycne had counter mana open (with unflipped Delvers on the board), PenitentKnight was already packing a pair of Wojek Halberdiers and a Skyknight Legionnaire. Slycne just kept drawing Archaeomancers and lands, and had nothing to deal with the violent onslaught from Knight.
Game 3: Slycne fell all the way to 3 life after stalling hard and then managed to get a Delver to flip over. With a bit of air defense going for him, Slycne started drawing into removal and Archaeomancer. PenitentKnight was top-decking mostly lands with a Martial Glory and a Dynacharge in his hand, but couldn’t find a haste creature or Searing Spear to finish the job. Slycne drew a Bloodhunter Bat with a Ghostly Flicker in his hand and that solidified the results of the match in his favor.

zaddos (2) vs. tempest (1)

Game 1: tempest managed to get a Basilica Screecher going with 2 copies of Ethereal Armor. Even with 2 Altar's Reaps and stalling out the game a ton, zaddos couldn’t get to 1 of his 3 kill-spells to stop the Bat. The board was clogged with creatures, but the only one that would eventually win the game for tempest was the Bat.
Game 2: tempest actually seemed to be coming out on top of the grindy battle with 3 copies of Dutiful Thrull against zaddos’s 2 unbound Ogre Jailbreakers and a Headless Skaab with Dark Favor. tempest’s Basilica Screecher with an Ethereal Armor was pinging for 2 damage each turn in the air and zaddos had nothing to stop it, but drawing Downpour to tap the wall of Thrulls meant zaddos could swing in for 14 damage in a single turn - more than enough to end the game.
Game 3: These games will be the death of me, people. Over the course of 25 turns, the game was stalled out by zaddos’s Daggerdrome Imp + 2 Dark Favors being repeatedly blocked by tempest’s Daggerdrome Imp + Skeletal Grimace. With both players gaining a ton of life each turn and nothing else happening, the only thing that could really do anything was zaddos’s lone Doorkeeper. Even then, milling just 1 card per turn doesn’t cut it. It wasn’s until zaddos drew a second Doorkeeper and could mill for 4 cards each turn did the game finally grind to its inevitable end, both players sitting at a cushy 80+ life.

Zerix (2) vs. Taytora (1)

Game 1: You might remember me mentioning that Geistflame is really good against X/1 creatures. Well it is. However, Taytora’s creatures are nearly all X/2, making Geistflame somewhat awful. Zerix put up a good defense with Defenders, but the problem came from the fact that Taytora had Kingpin's Pet to fly right over the battlefield and Extort each turn to drain away his opponent’s life. With incredibly clunky removal and no defense for Extort, Zerix fell hard.
Game 2: Everything changed in this game when Zerix saw a Basilica Screecher. Geistflame becomes a baby Lightning Helix for (R)(B) and Bump in the Night becomes a 5-point life-swing. When Taytora tried to get a bit of his own Extortion going and stop the air-beats with a Kingpin's Pet, Zerix had the Act of Treason (with Extort) waiting and the Corpse Blockade hungry. Taytora managed to get 2 copies of Renegade Demon out, but he was at 4 life and Zerix had 2 Geistflames aimed at the dome, each with Extort.
Game 3: Corpse Blockade and Act of Treason is just too good to beat. It essentially allows you to Fling an opponent’s creature at their own face. And when that creature is a Renegade Demon or Stromkirk Patrol, the repercussions of the combo are huge. A bunch of Geistflames and Bump in the Night in the graveyard for Zerix meant a lot of damage, especially with Extort.

Wike900 (2) vs. morek (0)

Game 1: morek started strong with a Tormented Soul, Dark Favor, and Ethereal Armor, but a single Murder ended that spree. Without drawing any other creatures and with Wike900 Extorting more and more each turn, the game ended very quickly and simply.
Game 2: Do I really need to explain how this game went?

RussischerZar (2) vs. Pokeq (1)

Game 1: RussischerZar managed to crank out two copies of Primal Huntbeast but didn’t have anything to make them stronger. After combat-tricking one to death, Pokeq had RussischerZar down to 5 life, making Massive Raid lethal after Captain's Call on the following turn.
Game 2: If nothing else, Pokeq’s deck can chump-block all day long. RussischerZar had a Rubbleback Rhino with an Ethereal Armor and a Knightly Valor on it for at least 8 turns and Pokeq held it off all that time. Eventually, though, he ran out of things to block with an died to the massive beast. RussischerZar was sitting on a pair of Sheltering Words for big life-gain anyhow.
Game 3: RussischerZar pimped out a Young Wolf with Ethereal Armor and a pair of Call To Serve. The 6/8 monstrosity had Sheltering Word to save it from Massive Raid, gaining RussischerZar a ton of life and keeping his fast clock active. When a Centaur Healer landed the turn before lethal damage, Pokeq had nothing in the deck that he could draw and deal enough damage with to win before defeat.

kevinbasham (2) vs. AGunWithLegs (1)

Game 1: AGunWithLegs tried to hang on with Duty-Bound Dead regenerating, but Deviant Glee pushes through way too much damage, especially when it’s on a Grim Roustabout that can’t be killed.
Game 2: Intensely close. Both decks were pretty good at destroying each other’s creatures, but AGunWithLegs had more Regeneration on his board and, unfortunately for KevinBasham’s tricked-out Grim Roustabout, Tragic Slip. And since Tragic Slip isn’t stopped by Regeneration, the game ended in AGunWithLegs’s favor.
Game 3: Yet again, the decks smashed into each other with a Narnia-esque flair about them. The only thing left on the battlefield once each player was top-decking was a lonely Guardians of Akrasa for AGunWithLegs. After a bit of lands and auras being drawn (none of which do anything with Guardians of Akrasa), KevinBasham drew Stab Wound. It drained Gun’s life all the way down to 0 from 14 life as both players simply drew nothing else to affect the battlefield or destroy the Guardians.

Round 3 complete!

Congratulations to the winners of this round! You will not be receiving your prize of Feature Tokens, however, until you’re out of the challenge (for simplicity’s sake). Rest assured! I’m keeping tabs on who’s got prizes and you won’t be forgotten. In the meantime, let’s check out the next round’s pairings!

(6) zaddos - (9) RussischerZar
(7) Zerix - (2) TristanTaylorsVoice
(10) KevinBasham - (8) Wike900
(1) grizzell - (11) Carpediem
(5) Slycne - (4) Azure124
(3) Nobilior - BYE!

Starting with the next article, we’re going to be knocking out a couple rounds at once, mostly to keep the articles lengthy and less frivolous. So you can expect to see round 4’s and round 5’s results next time!

As I said somewhere yesterday, I’m headed out of town until the middle of next week. You can expect the next article in the series to show up next weekend (June 1, probably). Until then, happy tapping!