Showdown #6: A Very...Especial Match (I tried...)

Showdown

Spootyone

25 October 2013

1741 views

Showdown #6: A Very...Especial Match (I tried...)

Hello all and welcome to another edition of my showdown series where I pit my current standard build against various decks submitted to me for playtesting. This week's entry is from Chubbub:

Death By EXILE!

Standard Chubbub

SCORE: 73 | 104 COMMENTS | 25591 VIEWS | IN 13 FOLDERS

This is your standard Esper control deck (and I mean that with the utmost respect), so I'm prepared to fight hard to be able to get damage in before a Supreme Verdict and then keep the beatings going after one inevitably occurs.

Elspeth, Sun's Champion has yet to prove her worth in my deck and I fear this is her last stand. If she doesn't do well in this matchup she will definitely be replaced by a fourth copy of Mistcutter Hydra. But we will see. Let's get to it!

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 (s) wins the flip and will be on the play. I keep a hand of 2x Selesnya Charm, Mistcutter Hydra, Sylvan Caryatid, Advent of the Wurm, forest, and plains. Not bad. It's nice to already have a hydra.

Chubbub (c) keeps a hand of 2x Temple of Silence, AEtherling, Jace, Architect of Thought, Sphinx's Revelation, island, and plains. I understand there are no kill spells here, but we do have Jace and scrylands. I think this is a viable keep.

S1: Plains. pass.

C1: draws island. plays temple of silence. Scrys Far / Away off the top. That seems good to me. It stays. pass.

S2: draws Unflinching Courage. plays forest. plays sylvan caryatid. pass.

C2: draws Far / Away. plays temple of silence and scrys Doom Blade off the top.
Also good. it stays. pass.

S3: draws Fiendslayer Paladin. A little mana poor at the moment, but we'll do what we can I guess. taps all with caryatid for fiendslayer paladin. pass.

C3: draws doom blade. plays island. pass.

S4: draws temple garden. better. I can expect a verdict here soon. I actually am going to play both charms as knights on his turn if I can. Swings with paladin. no blocks. shocks with temple garden and passes. (s 20/18 c)

C4: draws Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver (Oh man...I'm not experienced with using this guy yet lol). Okay so I'd guess maybe play him or Jace here? Then again, we're staring at what will likely be a 5/5 wurm or something of the sort so any walker will likely die. I guess we can doom blade next turn. That seems smartest to me. Then maybe next turn we get Jace or Ashiok out with (hopefully) less threats on the field. Island. pass. EoT S plays 2x charm to make 2/2 knights.

S5: draws selesnya guildgate. plays gate. swings with paladin and knights. C casts doom blade on one knight and takes the rest. pass. (s 22/14 c)

C5: draws Watery Grave. Alright so he didn't play advent last time but he almost certainly has one here. Far / Away, while it won't handle all the threats, handles many very well I think in this position. I would likely play Jace if not for the possibility of the wurm, but this is the position we're in. plays plains. pass. EoT S casts Advent making a 5/5 wurm token.

S6: draws Voice of Resurgence. that's nice. Plays Voice. In response, C plays far / away, bouncing the wurm token to hand and killing it. S sacrifices the knight token. S casts unflinching courage on the paladin. Swings with paladin. pass. (s 26/10 c)

C6: draws island. Okay so things are looking down but not horrible. Personally I think it's a little late for Ashiok. Jace seems like the play here. I think using his -2 is good since we really need to dig for a verdict. Plussing him could also possibly allow him to survive and us to take less damage. It's a hard call for me. Ultimately, I decide to choose the second call anticipating a mistcutter hydra, something I probably would've forgotten had I not been controlling both decks. Play Jace, +1, watery grave tapped. pass.

S7: draws Elspeth, Sun's Champion. wow lol. Finally her chance to shine and I can't play her. Doesn't matter. Hydra is the way to go I think. Taps all for a 4/4 mistcutter hydra. Jace scares me, but I need to keep the pressure on so he can't come back from this. Swings everything at Chubbub. pass. (s 33/2 c)

C7: draws Jace, Architect of Thought. Hmm. I think we need a wrath here to not die. -2 jace reveals 2 islands and a Detention Sphere (seperated as such). The sphere is taken. It's something, but ultimately no enough. Concedes.

Spooty wins Game 1!

Sideboard tech with Spooty: Wow did we get lucky. No wraths = fairly simple victory. I already wish elspeth were another hydra though. The Trostanis and archangels are coming out. Pithing Needle is coming in to handle AEtherling and any planeswalkers that may show up. Besides that, Glare of Heresy can come in to handle d-spheres or elspeth if she shows up. And since we have two open slots, I'll bring in the reckoners.

Sideboard tech with Chubbub: Bad luck cost us the game honestly. But we can try to help things for the next game. glare of heresy can come in to give better removal. [[thoughtseize also seems good to help get rid of things we can't easily handle before they hit the field. To make room, I decide to remove the Dissolve and Syncopate (counters don't seem very useful against uncounterable creatures and voices) as well as Hero's Downfall (we have better removal coming in) and one copy of Ashiok (2x should be enough. It felt a bit clunky).

Game 2

Chubbub chooses to be on the play and keeps the opening hand of 2x temple of silence, island, Ashiok, Azorius Charm, Doom Blade, and Far / Away.

Spooty mulls a hand of lands Glare of Heresy and Mistcutter Hydra, then mulls another hand with just one land. The kept hand contains temple garden, Fleecemane Lion, Selesnya Charm, Advent of the Wurm, and Boros Reckoner. This may be brutal.

C1: temple of selence tapped. scrys Godless Shrine off the top. That can stay. We need more lands, honestly.

S1: draws Fiendslayer Paladin. temple garden tapped. pass.

C2: draws godless shrine. plays island. pass.

S2: draws plains (phew). plays plains. Casts fleecemane lion. EoT it runs into Doom Blade.

C3: draws AEtherling. plays second temple tapped. scrys Temple of Deceit off the top. Also okay in my opinion. pass.

S3: draws plains. okay still good. There are probably more kill spells coming, but we have to power through. plays plains. casts Boros Reckoner. pass. EoT C draws a card with his Azorius Charm.

C4: draws doom blade. Beautiful! plays temple of deceit tapped. scrys glare of heresy off the top. This is...also good lol. It stays. pass.

S4: draws plains. Well we drew mana. let's stop drawing white mana now... plays plains. attack with reckoner and it falls prey to the doom blade. plays Fiendslayer Paladin. pass.

C5: draws Glare of Heresy. Plays godless shrine and shocks self (s 20/18 c). Casts Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and uses +2 ability. This exiles a guildgate, s. charm, and Sylvan Caryatid. Casts Glare of Heresy on the paladin which is then exiled. pass.

S5: draws Fiendslayer Paladin. plays the paladin. pass.

C6: draws Hallowed Fountain. plays fountain tapped. Uses-2 to bring back Sylvan Caryatid and passes.

S6: draws Mistcutter Hydra. Better than nothing I suppose. Taps out for the hydra and moves to attack with both creatures at ashiok. C casts Far / Away. Paladin returns to hand and the hydra is sac'd. pass.

C7: draws Glare of Heresy WHAT IS THIS MADNESS. Uses +2 to exile a voice plains and a gate. Then taps everything but an island to play AEtherling. pass.

S7: draws forest. plays forest. plays paladin. pass.

C8: draws hallowed fountain. plays fountain and shocks self (s 20/16 c) casts glare of heresy on the paladin. uses ashiok -2 to play voice. In response, S makes a knight with the charm. Swings with AEtherling and makes it unblockable. And then pumps four times. pass. (s 12/16 c)

S8: draws advent of the wurm. plays advent and makes a 5/5. passes.

C9: draws island. makes AEtherling unblockable and swings and then pumps four times. (s 4/16 c) uses +2 and exiles voice temple garden and glare of heresy. pass.

S9: draws Sylvan Caryatid and scoops.

Chubbub wins game 2!

Things seemed as good as they could be to me for both decks so no further sideboarding was done.

Game #3

Spooty chooses to be on the play and keeps a hand of 3x plains, forest, Voice of Resurgence, Boros Reckoner, and Selesnya Charm.

Chubbub keeps a hand of island, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Detention Sphere, Azorius Charm, Jace, Architect of Thought, and Far / Away.

S1: plains. pass.

C1: draws far/away. godless shrine tapped. pass.

S2: draws Fiendslayer Paladin. Forest. Plays voice. pass.

C2: draws Glare of Heresy (ugh...). plays island. exiles voice with GoH. pass.

S3: draws Advent of the Wurm. plains. paladin. pass.

C3: draws Doom Blade. plays watery grave tapped. pass.

S4: draws Sylvan Caryatid. attacks with paladin, it's bounced by Azorius Charm. plains. caryatid. pass.

C4: draws Jace#2. We're a bit stuck on lands. pass.

S5: draws Fiendslayer Paladin. Plays paladin. pass. EoT far is cast on paladin bouncing him to hand. (Just trying to maximize our use of mana right now.)

C5: draws Thoughtseize. It's something. casts thoughtseize. In response, Spooty makes a 2/2 knight with the charm. Chubbub removes the paladin from Spooty's hand (Advent could have been taken, but we have bounce spells for him.). pass (s 20/18 c)

S6: draws Pithing Needle. That could really come in handy. I know the opponent is stuck on lands, so Jace might be what we should pith right now. I don't fear AEtherling at the moment. Plays pithing needle naming jace. Attacks with knight token. (s 20/16 c) pass.

C6: draws Sphinx's Revelation. A wurm is about to be made. I want to kill it next turn, but I also want to sphere the needle since jace is one of our only ways out right now with no lands. This is another really difficult decision, so hopefully you'll forgive me if I choose what you would not have. I say killing the creature is better than potentially playing jace next turn. Pass. EoT, a wurm is made.

S7: draws s. guildgate. Attacks with wurm and knight. wurm is doom bladed. (s 20/14 c). plays gate. plays reckoner. pass.

C7: draws Thoughtseize. Ugh, that's awkward. Where is the land? Okay well we should d. sphere something here. And I think it should be the needle so we can maybe salvage something with jaces. casts the sphere and targets the needle which is exiled. pass.

S8: draws Voice of Resurgence. Nice timing. Casts voice. swings with knight and reckoner for 5 damage. pass. (s 20/9 c)

C8: draws Watery Grave. finally...Well now we can't even play jace without plussing him and thats still not doing anything spectacular. Far/away can bounce a token or reckoner. That still doesn't do very much. We don't even have double white to cast supreme verdict if we wanted to... I actually really don't see a way to win. Casts far on the reckoner. plays grave tapped. pass.

S9: draws Mistcutter Hydra. Overkill! taps out for the hydra and then swings all for the win.

Spooty wins the match!

Afterthoughts

This was one of those matches where I knew I was up against a tank and I had nowhere to run. Control matches such as this which focus on heavy-removal are what is likely to be one of my worst matchups. Elspeth is definitely becoming a fourth Mistcutter Hydra. No doubt on that one. Hydra did serious work. I understand that Game three was a little dumb since there was mana screw, but it's important to remember that in game two I also had to mull to 5 because of mana issues, so I think it evens out a bit. I was happy with the sideboard changes for both decks and with my choices that were made. Others may disagree, but I think that with the information I had and the situations provided to me I did all I could to make things work fairly for both sides.

I would like to thank Chubbub for his entry and for a steller matchup that I feel lucky to have won. Check out both decks if you'd like to give suggestions, comments, or just an upvote assuming you liked the deck. If you would like to be in the next edition of Showdown, Just comment below with your deck and I'll choose based on those.

Thanks everyone for reading!

Death By EXILE!

Standard Chubbub

SCORE: 73 | 104 COMMENTS | 25591 VIEWS | IN 13 FOLDERS

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