Showdown #32: I Need a Hero
Showdown
Spootyone
9 January 2015
1996 views
Showdown #32: I Need a Hero
9 January 2015
1996 views
Showdown #32: I Need a Hero
Hello all and welcome back to Showdown! Two weeks ago me and Kaveth premiered the new and improved setup we have going now in which we take turns choosing from submitted decklists to pilot against our own builds. I was running my GW midrange build and Kaveth decided to run a RB attrition build that, unfortunately, was not able to stand up very well in the match. And we ahve both been overjoyed to see the positive and constructive feedback you all left for us. Where have we been? Well, with the holidays we really didn't have the chance to meet up and get another one of these out, but barring an inopportune coincidence we should be weekly starting now!
This week I will be taking over the role of "community deck player". We both went into this week with decks that you guys have been requestion for a while, so without further ado, let us begin. This week we will see a battle between Kaveth's UW Heroic list and Obake's Sultai Superfriends deck.
Deck Tech With Spootyone
I chose this deck for a couple reasons. First off, I don't believe there has been a Sultai deck chosen since Khans came out and I wanted to give the colors a chance to share in the limelight. Secondly, Sultai has proven recently to be a real contender in the standard format -- most notably in a constellation or sidisi archetype, and both revolving highly around the card Whip of Erebos. However, I felt like it would be interesting to take a look at another branch on the colors' various archetypes: Superfriends.
Obake's superfriends deck has your traditional green starting pack in Caryatid and Courser. It also has your traditional black removal package in the form of Bile Blight and Hero's Downfall. Some notable things about the deck are the inclusion of Aetherspouts, which will do great things in this match since it neither target's Kaveth's creatures now cares if they are indestructible. Obake also has 1-ofs of each of his 5 planeswalkers. Not only does this appeal to my inner Vorthos (there can only be one!), but it also means the deck is not as weak to Stain the Mind and various similar strategies.
My biggest worry is simply that my opponent will come out of the game too quickly for me to stabilize. Unfortunately, a lot of my removal can be "countered" by cards like Ajani's Presence and Gods Willing. And Bile Blight can be easily overcome by making his creatures too big in response. I know this matchup will be a tough one but I'm hoping to do it justice.
3x bow of nylea 4x courser of kruphix 1x erebos, god of the dead 4x sylvan caryatid 2x aetherspouts 3x bile blight 4x hero's downfall 3x sultai charm 3x forest 2x island 3x llanowar wastes 4x opulent palace 3x polluted delta 2x swamp 3x temple of malady 3x temple of mystery 1x urborg, tomb of yawgmoth 1x ashiok, nightmare weaver 1x garruk, apex predator 1x jace, the living guildpact 1x kiora, the crashing wave 1x liliana vess 2x despise 3x thoughtseize 2x treasure cruise sideboard: 1x erebos, god of the dead 2x sagu mauler 1x aetherspouts 3x disdainful stroke 2x murderous cut 3x negate 3x drown in sorrow
Deck Tech With Kaveth
The deck I have chosen is my personal UW Heroic list. It has been performing well for me over the past months; it has won an FNM and is overall one of my favorites. Part of the reason I have chosen the deck is because there have been several requests to show a heroic list being piloted. Secondly, it creates a very interesting matchup with the deck that Spootyone has chosen.
Sultai in general is somewhat of an interesting case for UW Heroic. They have the capacity to create many different colored blockers to prevent Gods Willing from being a win condition. The capacity of creating death touch tokens with Pharika, God of Affliction, the amount of life that they can gain with Whip of Erebos and the sheer virtual card advantage the deck can generate are all things that can put UW Heroic in a tough spot. This flavor of Sultai seems to forgo the constellation route and relies on a Green creature base with Sylvan Caryatid and Courser of Kruphix to ramp into planeswalkers of various types. At a glance I would say the matchup is favorable for me.
For this matchup, my primary strong points are the amount of Ajani's Presence I have mainboard pairs well against the primary suite of removal that Sultai decks generally offer, from Murderous Cut to Hero's Downfall and the like. I do also main deck several copies of Stratus Walk which are at worst a cantrip and at best a way to push through damage against these kind of decks which operate primarily on the ground.
Biggest concerns I have are Bile Blight and Despise early as my list often operates on very threat light hands. Any early disruption can possibly give my opponent enough time to set up their board state. Sultai Charm presents an interesting removal option that only Battlewise Hoplite is immune to in all of my 75 and Aetherspouts or bounce effects in general are sincerely the best cards against UW Heroic. It should prove to be an interesting match.
4x battlewise hoplite 2x heliod's pilgrim 2x island 8x plains 4x flooded strand 2x mana confluence 4x temple of enlightenment 1x aqueous form 1x ordeal of heliod 4x ordeal of thassa 4x defiant strike 4x gods willing 4x hero of iroas 4x seeker of the way 3x stratus walk 2x ajani's presence 1x feat of resistance 4x favored hoplite 2x tranquil cove sideboard: 1x aqueous form 4x stubborn denial 3x glare of heresy 1x triton tactics 2x lagonna-band trailblazer 1x dig through time 2x erase 1x ordeal of heliod
Game 1
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Spootyone wins the die roll. I mulligan a hand with 2 coursers and 2 Polluted Delta. It just doesn't seem smart to keep this one. The 6-card hand contains only 1 land: a Forest. Not gonna happen. I keep a five-card hand of Swamp, Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix, Bow of Nylea and Hero's Downfall. This hand is bad -- let's not kid ourselves. But I don’t' win at 4 cards. This will probably be a lame game. |
Lost the die roll, looking for a quick start; with an opening hand of Plains, Island, 2x Stratus Walk, Ordeal of Heliod, a Hero of Iroas and a Tranquil Cove, this looks to be a moderately slow start with the potential to win without interaction. I plan to see what my draw brings, most likely lead with the Tranquil Cove, and see how things work. “Blown out by Thoughtseize ™” |
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S1: Draw: None Swamp. Pass. |
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S2: Draw: Island I play the land and pass. |
K2: Draw: Battlewise Hoplite Plains into Battlewise Hoplite. The plan here is to lead with the Battlewise Hoplite, if it eats some removal, I still have the Hero of Iroas and can protect him with the Gods Willing in preparation to combo off the next turn. |
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S3: Draw: Llanowar Wastes I play the drawn land and don't hesitate to use Hero's Downfall on his creature while he is tapped out. Hopefully is keeps a hand low on creatures. (19/21) |
K3: Draw: Favored Hoplite The plan is still to jam the Hero of Iroas, use the Favored Hoplite as backup and hope to combo off at some point, leaving the Tranquil Cove open for Gods Willing in case of removal. I play the hero. |
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S4: Draw: Llanowar Wastes These draws have been great. Unfortunately there still doesn't seem to be a great play here, as I have no way to interact. I play the courser to reveal a courser. (17/21) |
K4: Draw: Ordeal of Thassa Time to combo off. Started with a Stratus Walk, drew into a Plains.. which gets me to double ordeal. Played the Plains and dropped Ordeal of Thassa and Ordeal of Heliod and swung for 7, drawing Tranquil Cove and Heliod's Pilgrim, and gaining 10 off the ordeals. (10/31) |
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S5: Draw: Courser of Kruphix Drawing the courser reveals another Bow. I concede. |
Kaveth wins game 1
Sideboarding with Spootyone
Out: 1x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, 1x Erebos, God of the Dead, 1x Thoughtseize, 3x Bow of Nylea
In: 1x Aetherspouts, 2x Murderous Cut, 3x Negate
It's hard to get a real feeling for the matchup when a game 1 goes so poorly due to bad opening hands, but I do think this speaks to the difficulty this sort of deck can have when it comes to the mana base. You need lots of green for early plays, but you also need heavy black for early plays. Combine this with the mana requirements for cards like Sultai Charm and you can get a real cluster of a mess when it comes to opening hands. This was one of the primary reasons for me moving away from Temur control.
Aetherspouts is the best card I have in this matchup, assuming I live until then. I can bring the third copy of that in. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a bit too slow of a win-con for this matchup, and Bow of Nylea (while normally used to battle aggro) is also just too slow to stabilize with. I will be taking out a single Thoughtseize as well. Murderous Cut is a card I'll be bringing in simply because it provides another answer to his creatures, and I'll be bringing in Negate since it can hit some key spells such as Ordeal of Thassa and Dig Through Time. Lastly, Erebos can come out in this match. Let's hope this works out well.
Sideboarding with Kaveth
Out: 2x Heliod's Pilgrim, 1x Ordeal of Heliod, 1x Aqueous Form, 1x Feat of Resistance
In: 4x Stubborn Denial, 1x Dig Through Time
Stubborn Denial is most certainly coming in. Primarily targeting any planeswalkers he attempts to resolve, Aetherspouts but most importantly acting as more opportunities to protect my creatures. Dropped Ordeal of Heliod, Feat of Resistance, Aqueous Form and 2 Heliod's Pilgrim for all 4 copies of Stubborn Denial and 1 Dig Through Time to replace the selective card draw lost by siding out the pilgrims.
Game 2
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Spootyone is on the play. I keep a hand of Opulent Palace, Llanowar Wastes, Temple of Mystery, Sylvan Caryatid, Hero's Downfall, Murderous Cut and Aetherspouts. This hand seems god-like compared to some of the others I've been getting. |
Opening hand of: Defiant Strike, 2x Favored Hoplite, Hero of Iroas, Dig Through Time, a Tranquil Cove and a Flooded Strand. Definite keep, possibly a little creature heavy, but with Defiant Strike and Favored Hoplite I have a strong early play. I am on the draw. |
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S1: Draw: none Opulent Palace. Pass. |
K1: Draw: Defiant Strike]] Drew a Defiant Strike which I am very happy to see.. I start off by going to 19 with a Flooded Strand, and throwing a Favored Hoplite on the field. (20/19) |
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S2: Draw: Temple of Malady I play the wastes and a caryatid. Pass. |
K2: Draw: Stratus Walk Drew Stratus Walk, no plans for it at the moment… going to swing in and see what happens. No blocks, cycled the Defiant Strike to get some extra damage in and try to hit my future land drops. Drew into an Island. Second main dropped my Tranquil Cove and went back up to 20. (17/20) |
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S3: Draw: Polluted Delta I downfall his guy and then play my temple, scrying a Despise. I think I can do better at this point. His stuff is not so scary when in the hand. |
K3: Draw: Seeker of the Way The Favored Hoplite was downfalled which sucks but is something we can work with. Drew into Seeker of the Way, not very interesting but perhaps we can bait a removal spell to be used on it as I don’t actively have a way to protect my creatures. Played the Island, Seeker of the Way and passed. |
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S4: Draw: Treasure Cruise I play a temple of malady this time around, scrying and keeping an Aetherspouts on top. Pass. |
K4: Draw: Temple of Enlightenment Drew Temple of Enlightenment. Played it and scryed a Battlewise Hoplite to the bottom; I have enough creatures here. Swung in with Seeker of the Way, second main dropped both Hero of Iroas and Favored Hoplite. He only has so much spot removal and I wouldn’t mind a Dig Through Time in the near future if he does kill something. At my endstep Hero of Iroas eats a Murderous Cut. (18/17) |
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S5: Draw: Aetherspouts I knew I had to cut the hero due to his ability to enable things. I play a delta and pass. |
K5: Draw: Flooded Strand Drew Flooded Strand, if I hadn’t seen this the plan was to Dig for an untapped land and hopefully something to protect my Favored Hoplite. This makes my line more obvious. Played the Strand, Went to 19 and grabbed a plains. Swung in with both Favored Hoplite and Seeker to which he said Aetherspouts. I Defiant Strike drawing into a Seeker of the Way. It resolves, hits the grave I pass priority, he passes it back and I Dig Through Time grabbing a Stubborn Denial and an Ajani's Presence, countering the spouts, swinging for 8 gaining 5 (24) and holding up 1 white for Ajani's Presence next turn. (6/24) |
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S6: Draw: Swamp I play the swamp and prepare to (hopefully) blow him out with the second spouts. Please? |
K6: Draw: Stratus Walk I think the play is to make both of my critters fly, try to find a Stubborn Denial to fight through the second spouts if he has it. First Stratus Walk reveals an Ordeal of Thassa. 2 Cards are better than 1, Played the Ordeal, moved to combat and he says Aetherspouts in response to the Ordeal Trigger. No cute tricks this time, Seeker goes to the bottom and the Hoplite on top. I draw him back and a Defiant Strike. I use my last remaining mana to put the Favored Hoplite back in play and hope to win next turn. |
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S7: Draw: Courser of Kruphix I play the courser and then cruise to reveal and draw Garruk, Apex Predator, temple of malady and a caryatid. I see and play another temple from the top to gain one andSultai Charm is left on top. (7/24) |
K7: Draw: Seeker of the Way I see a Sultai Charm on top. I need to win now. Untapped, drew into a Seeker of the Way. Not useful, start things out with a Stratus Walk, Drew a Flooded Strand. Played it and fetched for a Plains (23). Defiant Strike pulled out a Tranquil Cove not enough to win it. Swinging for 4 and holding back the Ajani's Presence to stop from dying to Charm. (3/23) |
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S8: Draw: Sultai Charm I reveal another courser from the top. I play Garruk and use his-3 to attempt to destroy the hoplite. In response, he plays Ajani's Presence on it. It lives, but I get to gain 7 very important life points. I play the caryatid and pass. (10/23) |
K8: Draw: Mana Confluence That will not deal the 10 damage I need this turn. I swing in and kill Garruk, resolve 2 Seeker of the Way and play a Tranquil Cove and open myself to a very painful blowout involving the Sultai Charm in hand and a potential Bile Blight but I need a way to keep the pressure on strong. |
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S9: Draw: Courser of Kruphix I play the courser, play a land off the top to gain 2, reveal a Sultai Charm, and then play the first charm on his hoplite. (12/24) |
K9: Draw: Hero of Iroas I guess I will hold out with him in hand hoping for some gas in the coming turns. Control gets its way for now. |
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S10: Draw: Sultai Charm I play a scryland to gain a life and remove the Thoughtseize from the top of my deck. This reveals a liliana vess. Pass. |
K10: Draw: Stubborn Denial Can’t stop the revealed Liliana with it. Sad. Pass turn. |
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S11: Draw: Liliana Vess Bile Blight on top. I play liliana and force him to discard a confluence. Pass. |
K11: Draw: Ordeal of Thassa Going to try to eat the Sultai Charm and set up for getting more cards off of Seeker. Lili will get the Hero, but hopefully we don’t need him. Ordeal of Thassa on Seeker, moved to combat, at the start of combat countered the Sultai Charm with a ferocious Stubborn Denial. Seeker attacks and is blocked by a caryatid. At this point, we seemed to have forgotten the lifegain from seeker's attack. Thankfully, it isn't going to matter soon, but I'm going to ignore the life totals we recorded at the time. Sorry! |
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S12: Draw: Bile Blight I plus lily to make him discard his last card, and then I blight his creatures. Left with nothing, I attack with my coursers. Pass. |
K12: Draw: Hero of Iroas Played the hero. |
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S13: Draw: Sylvan Caryatid I play the caryatid and reveal another blight. I attack with my coursers. |
K13: Draw: Gods Willing Will play on his turn to stop the blight... |
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S14: Draw: Bile Blight I play the blight on his guy and he protects it with gods willing. I have negate on top and I continue my attacks after a lily plus, putting her at 9 loyalty. |
K14: Draw: Plains Gonna pretend it is a spell and hold it in hand. |
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S15: Draw: Negate I ultimate my walker to gain control of two seekers, a favored hoplite and a hero of iroas, as well as one of my own caryatids. I continue my attack. |
K15: Draw: Defiant Strike Drew Defiant Strike, play the Plains no need to bluff any longer. Played the Defiant Strike into the Negate I was familiar with. |
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S16: Draw: Thoughtseize I play the seize to get some prowess triggers. I plsu lily. I attack for near lethal and pass, with a downfall on top. |
K16: Draw: Gods Willing Not a cantrip. I concede. |
Spooty Wins Game 2!
Game 3
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Kaveth is on the play with a hand of Ordeal of Thassa, Gods Willing, 2 Battlewise Hoplites, a Favored Hoplite, Island and Temple of Enlightenment. Seems okay. |
I am on the draw. I keep an opening hand of Island, Temple of Malady, Temple of Mystery, Polluted Delta, Sylvan Caryatid, Negate and Liliana Vess. Seems to be a nice assortment of lands and spells. Keep. |
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K1: Draw: none Temple of Enlightenment, Scrying a Mana Confluence to the top. Land drops feel important here. More importantly it allows me to either play and protect a Favored Hoplite or just go straight for the Battlewise Hoplite. |
S1: Draw: Courser of Kruphix I play a scryland and keep a Murderous Cut on top. |
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K2: Draw: Mana Confluence Played it and decided to take the more aggressive line of Battlewise Hoplite. Pass turn. 19 health. (20/19) |
S2: Draw: Murderous Cut I play an island and the caryatid. |
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K3: Draw: Battlewise Hoplite It seems he really wants to get me there… Played the Island, Ordeal of Thassa taking 1 (18). Heroic Scry reveals Gods Willing leaving it on top and leaving up mana to cast the Gods Willing in hand. Swing for 4. (16/18) |
S3: Draw: Sultai Charm Suddenly I'm regretting not holding back for the negate this past turn. I lose the quick mana boost but I know how big it is that he just got that there. Perhaps this was an oops? I play my courser and then scry away a treasure cruise from the top to try and find more early plays. This reveals an Opulent Palace (17/18) |
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K4: Draw: Gods Willing Drew the Gods Willing and cast it during my main naming protection from green, scrying twice revealing a Hero of Iroas which I bottom, then a Plains which I leave on top. Moving to combat, Thassa trigger grabs me the Plains and a Temple of Enlightenment. I play the Temple, scry reveals a Plains which I bottom without question. |
S4: Draw: Opulent Palace Time for some intense turns. I use my charm to draw a Garruk and a Jace, and reveal a Kiora on top. I discard Liliana. I then play and crack my Polluted Delta for a swamp, shuffling Kiora away and revealing an Aetherspouts instead. Perfect. I then use the remaining mana and grave to delve for a Murderous Cut on his hoplite, to which he responds with a gods willing to protect his guy and scry to bottom a card twice. Phew. Pass. (12/17) |
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K5: Draw: Stratus Walk Lets try it. Plains into Stratus Walk, heroic scry reveals Gods Willing. I draw it and commit a Battlewise Hoplite to the board, swinging 7 in the air and praying for a miracle. (5/17) |
S5: Draw: Aetherspouts He knows about everything I have apart from the first negate (another is revealed on top). Playing jace to bounce his guy leaves me open to gods willing or stubborn denial. Aetherspouts just leaves me open to the denial, so it seems smarter. PLEASEEEEE don't have it. EoT he plays Gods Willing on his guy to scry away twice yet again. He's clearly digging hard for a counter to this spouts. (6/17) |
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K6: Draw: Plains At his end, Gods Willing on the smaller hoplite revealed a Ajani's Presence which isn’t a sure win, bottomed it to find a Hero of Iroas who is also bottomed. Drew a Plains and died a little inside. Attacked with my 3/3 Hoplite hoping to find an answer soon. It is hit by a spouts and I place it on the bottom. Seeing the Jace, the Living Guild Pact and the Garruk, Apex Preditor I need to commit more threats to the board, Second main the third Battlewise Hoplite and a Favored Hoplite hit the field and I continue my prayers. |
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K7: Draw: Temple of Enlightenment Drew a Temple of Enlightenment which revealed a Stubborn Denial. Too little too late.. I bottom it in search of a way to push through damage before the planewalkers take control. The Battlewise Hoplite returns to the field and I pass turn. (6/17) |
S7: Draw: Thoughtseize I reveal Treasure Cruise. I plus my jace to put the cruise in my grave and keep a downfall on top. I play the seize since there just isn't a way he can top deck a win with my negates in hand. He shows me the plains. I pass. This should be over soon I think. (4/17) |
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K8: Draw: Ordeal of Thassa I know about the Negate in his hand, his Garruk, Apex Preditor and the Hero's Downfall on top. I think the line here is to allow him the opportunity to resolve a Garruk, Apex Preditor or some other spell and hope that he taps out, or draw into a second spell that can get that last 4 points of damage in. |
S8: Draw: Hero's Downfall I play a palace from the top and reveal yet another downfall. Yikes. Lastly, I use Jace to put a land from the top two into my grave. |
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S9: Draw: Hero's Downfall Things are getting more and more rough for him, as I now use jace to put a courser in my grave and reveal a Sultai Charm from the top of my deck. I guess I'll leave up...downfall and double negate mana up? I'm not sure how he's going to get anything through at this point. |
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K10: Draw: Plains Probably not going to win. Going to wait 1 more turn and see. Pass. I get one of my Battlewise Hoplites downfalled at the end of turn. |
S10: Draw: Sultai Charm Welp. I play a Llanowar Wastes from the top and reveal an urborg. I -3 Jace to bounce his multicolored hoplite and use my charm to kill his monocolored one. Left with no creatures, I proceed to begin my courser assault. Pass. (6/15) |
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K11: Draw: Tranquil Grove Tranquil Cove from the top, gained a life up to 16 and passed turn. |
S11: Draw: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth I use jace to put a caryatid into my grave and reveal a Despise. I play Garruk and use him to make a 3/3 token. I then pass. This is over. |
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K12: Draw: Flooded Strand I concede. |
Spooty Wins the Match!
Afterthoughts
Spooty: Annndddd the award for two most impactful cards goes to Aetherspouts and Garruk, Apex Predator! For real though...I can't believe I managed to pull a victory out of my Fat Ass there. Game 1 was horrendous for me and I was worried this deck wasn't even going to perform but it seems as though it was a fluke of bad luck when it came to the mana base. I knew going into this that it was going to be a difficult matchup for me and all I wished was to not get completely blown out, but Aetherspouts was even more effective that I originally thought it would be. Without it, I surely would have lost.
It was incredibly interesting how having one of each walker seemed to be fine. I thought that it was going to be difficult to find the right one when I needed them but somehow they kept seeming to show up right on time -- especially Garruk. Also, I totally had just learned in that game that I owuld still gain life off of Garruk even though the creature wouldn't die. And that was awesome.
Overall, I find it difficult to give advice here, but I will say that Bow of Nylea probably can be reduced to at least a 2-of. I understand its implications as I also used to pilot of green control deck, but I do think that it pales a bit in this current metagame. Having a fourth Bile Blight or even just some number of Jorubai Murk Lurker could really help this deck quite a bit in that department. Thank you, Obake for your submission!
Kaveth: I felt like I was on my back leg for both matches 2 and 3. My deck was doing stuff, swinging massive haymakers but his deck’s amount of removal on top of the reusable answers of his planeswalkers felt like I was solidly trumped. Two maindeck Aetherspouts did some serious work.. overall I am impressed with Obake’s deck and I am pleasantly surprised that I lost the match.
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Maybe I'm missreading it but in G2T5 shouldn't the AEtherspouts have resolved before the Dig Through Time? If I understand the part correctly Spootyone casts AEtherspouts to wich Kaveth responds with Defiant Strike. After that it says that both players pass priority, so if my understanding of the rules is correct, AEtherspouts should resolve.
Please correct me if I'm understanding the situation wrong and keep up the great work.
January 9, 2015 7:55 a.m.
Wow, I'm impressed my deck managed to take that. Along with RDW, UW Heroic is one of my worst matchups. It is the the entire reason I added AEtherspouts, and I still find the matchup difficult.
I agree that Bow of Nylea is not ideal, I just really couldn't find anything better for the lifegain I felt I needed. I always seem to be drawing 2-3 of them in my opening hand though, which is problematic. Perhaps I should give that Jorubai Murk Lurker a shot - I didn't realize that was a card.
Thanks for highlighting my deck, and giving me hope that it can actually work.
January 9, 2015 7:56 a.m.
I got a control brew for you guys!
It's been working pretty well for me lately
January 9, 2015 9:59 a.m.
As a correction to my previous post, it says that Defiant Strike resolves and than both players pass prioroity, so AEtherspouts should resolve, since it's the object on top of the stack and all players passed priority.
January 9, 2015 10:09 a.m.
Hey Spoots and Kaveth! Top notch work as always. I don't currently have a submission for you, but I did have a question. Do you think it was correct for Spootyone to side in the two Sagu Maulers in the board? As was somewhat evident a longer the game means more draw steps for the U/W player player to assemble the perfect storm of Ordeals and protection spells. From my experience piloting heroic 90% of the games you lose to U/B control are to an early Pearl Lake Ancient. You get forced into racing, or chump blocking, neither of these are winning propositions.. This is even more true post board when U/W sides out Ordeal of Heliod and sides in more of the draw spells. U/W is preparing themselves for a longer game, and can be taken totally off guard by an early Sagu Mauler. I'm not sure if I did a great job articulating myself, but I'd love your thoughts on this sideboard plan.
January 9, 2015 10:15 a.m.
magicnerd0815: Apologies is what we wrote did not come out clear here -- we're both still on our way to becoming genuine rules lawyers. I could not find the exact area of the rules to prove what we did was correct, but I do have this. Essentially, we allowed the defiant strike to resolve and then before Aetherspouts could resolve, he played a Dig to find a Stubborn Denial for said Spouts.
tooTimid: Yo dawg. I see your reasoning for boarding in Sagu Mauler in the match and it's possible it is the correct line, but I will play devil's advocate for the sake of argument and discussion. Keep in mind I'm at a bit of a disadvantage since thsi is my first time ever playing a Sultai Superfriends deck in Khans. ehem
I've found in my many playtesting and IRL games against Kaveth's deck that very few decks can hope to race his. As I'm sure you are aware, UW Heroic has the innate ability to disallow this sort of plan with their use of card like Ordeal of Heliod and in some lists Seeker of the Way. One of the biggest strengths of Heroic, I feel, is this one. It essentially means your opponent must interact with them or die, and we all know interacting with a heroic deck is hard already what with Gods Willing and other cards like Feat of Resistance and Stubborn Denial.
The only decks that I've found to be able to race his build were some forms of Temur that I had been toying around with. Apart from that, I've had a hard time. This includes while piloting decks such as post-fate Gruul, which is highly aggressive.
I think what it comes down to is that Kaveth runs the full playset of Seeker of the Way, whereas most decks are beginning no to do so. Because of that, it can be very hard to commit a threat to the board (opening up him to a "combo" turn) and dealing enough damage to kill him before his swings of 7-10 take me down.
I think that in some cases Sagu Mauler makes sense to be brought in, but in my particular case and due to my own preferences of wanting to be reactive, Negate and more removal was a bit more sound.
January 9, 2015 11:22 a.m.
Spootyone I know that it works like in the thread you linked but that was not what I meant. You wrote that after Defiant Strike resolved you both passed priority. If you actually did this then AEtherspouts should resolve since it was the object on top of the stack and all passed priority. My point is, that Kaveth shouldn't have passed priority after Defiant Strike resolved but he should have hold priority to cast Dig Through Time. I have to admit though that I'm very much into detail here and my problem is just caused by the fact that what you wrote in the article doesn't work the exact way you wrote it but in general it is completely possible.
January 9, 2015 2:23 p.m.
January 9, 2015 2:35 p.m.
I also submit
Selesnya Has Returned To The Ranks Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 4 | 4 COMMENTS | 197 VIEWSJanuary 9, 2015 2:37 p.m.
D'oh Mine's FTF ready, I forgot I'm running Crux of Fate and Monastery Siege.
Welp whenever FTF is dropped and you wanna try an Esper control brew to see how it's doing. You got one naooooow
January 9, 2015 3:01 p.m.
Really glad to see you doing Sultai superfriends control! My favorite standard deck is one like that, and I'm glad to see it doing well.
I've got a kind of midrangey-comboey-gimmicky Alesha, Who Smiles at Death test deck up --
Wait... Reanimator? - Naya Midrange Playtest
Standard*
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 56 VIEWS-- and I think it would be interesting to see how that type of deck would hold up after FRF comes out!
Can't wait for next Showdown! I always think it's cool to see new and interesting decks.
January 9, 2015 4:28 p.m.
Just got back from holiday vacation to catch up. Awesome job on the articles here! I'm really liking the switchup for who pilots what.
I see the border has been adjusted to look nicer in the match write-up, looks good to me. It was a little distracting to have the larger, brighter border like the previous article.
I think if you do have an occasional Showdown with two community decks at once, it would help you cycle thru submissions at a greater rate. Right now, there are so many submissions that I feel bad submitting anything that has already been featured somehow. On the other hand, I would love to see an occasional re-feature of a deck in a new matchup.
With all that said, I'd like to submit a couple more options for your upcoming showdowns (Both homebrews):
Mono-White Heroic:
New Dawn Soldiers Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 341 VIEWSMardu Midrange:
Unshackled by Death Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 94 VIEWSJanuary 9, 2015 4:36 p.m.
Spootyone I'm willing to agree to disagree, but I still think siding in the Sagu Mauler is correct. Part of the reason U/W Heroic is such a good deck is lots of people sideboard incorrectly. They board in a ton of 1-1 removal and things like Drown in Sorrow. Obviously a lot of this is good, but say on turn 8-10 you've finally untapped on a clear board, and your opponent is still at 20 life! This is huge! It still gives your opponent plenty of time to recover with cards like Dig Through Time/Treasure Cruise or just a creature with a protection spell into an Ordeal. Then you're back under the gun. So imagine now that on turn 8-10 you finally cleared the board, but on turn 6-7 you played a Sagu Mauler. Now the game is totally different! Your opponent is forced into dealing/chumping/racing the Sagu Mauler. This is a game you almost can't lose. Disruption backed up with a solid clock is the best way to win this match-up.
Does that make any sense?
January 9, 2015 6:35 p.m.
HolyFalcon says... #16
I love reading these, they're so entertaining. I would like to submit a deck:
You Wanna Go? | Mardu Aggro | Semi-Tokens Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 7 | 0 COMMENTS | 1044 VIEWSJanuary 10, 2015 5:24 p.m.
SevynnthDimension says... #17
Hey hey,
Once again you're bringn' great content Spootyone. I've come up with a new Temur deck I'm starting to like perhaps more than my other. Ik I've already faced you in showdown but I'd like a rematch (with different decks) haha.
This is my GUR Face! II | FRF Edition Playtest
Standard*
SCORE: 4 | 7 COMMENTS | 304 VIEWS-SD
January 11, 2015 5:07 p.m.
deltacobra says... #18
You guys should play test this deck out a bit.I tried tagging it but brings up a different deck if you click on my profile it called Does This Look Infected???
January 13, 2015 8:54 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #19
deltacobra Here you go! :3
Does This Look Infected??? Playtest
Modern
SCORE: 17 | 2 COMMENTS | 1841 VIEWSNext time in order to bring up your deck look at the last part of the deck's url which was 12-11-14-does-this-look-infected because someone already used the name before you it has extra digits. :3
January 13, 2015 9:16 p.m.
deltacobra says... #21
If your looking for standard stuff you could take my abzan mid range control out for a spin Prisoner of Abzan
January 13, 2015 9:24 p.m.
Blizzicane says... #23
deck-large:inserturlhere with double brackets on each side, you can read about this and more in formatting tips below the comment box. :3
January 13, 2015 9:29 p.m.
deltacobra says... #24
Blizzicane thank you never noticed that before u have been very helpful
January 13, 2015 10:35 p.m.
It's the first time that I've been reading this showdowns and they are awsome. I even feel anxious reading the outcomes of every match.
-Fulcrum says... #1
Interesting article. Glad to see control isn't completely out of it. I like that you're alternating decks, keeps it fresh.
Abzan Endures Playtest
Standard vault
SCORE: 30 | 0 COMMENTS | 21479 VIEWSStupid boring Abzan right? Nope. Junk Mid/Control. This is a powerful attrition deck.
January 9, 2015 3:01 a.m.