SOI Standard Poor-Man Challenge: Round 3 Results

Deck Challenges

zandl

3 June 2016

1522 views

SO-Sligh (Poor-man) by DruneGrey
      versus
Izzet Time for the Breadline? by Schlatre

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Results Show

DruneGrey (2)   vs.   Schlatre (0)

Game 1 Show

Schlatre flung a few Fiery Impulses at Drune’s creatures to keep the board clear for the first couple turns, but Drune was casting new threats each turn. On top of this, Drune was removing Schlatre’s efficient Prowess creatures before they could do too much damage. Without seeing something like Magmatic Insight or Slip Through Space to keep the hand stocked up, Schlatre was soon staring down an army of transformed Werewolves that couldn’t be contained. Offense turned to defense, and defense turned to death.

Game 2 Show

Impact Tremors landed on turn-2 for Drune while Schlatre’s Stormchaser Mage got to work in the air. After taking some big hits due to Titan's Strength, a Lightning Axe popped up and Drune nuked the Mage. From here, a pair of Lightning Berserkers were Dashed each turn to deal 2 extra points of damage from the Tremors, putting a clock on Schlatre that was impossible to stop without removal. More pump spells and creatures came up, but those elusive Fiery Tempers were nowhere to be found.

Wasting my Time by CaptainLick
      versus
Cult Sacrifice by Honeysliced

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Results Show

CaptainLick (2)   vs.   Honeysliced (1)

Game 1 Show

Captain’s turn-5 Bane of Bala Ged was somehow not fast enough as Honey’s Call the Bloodline flooded the board and an Indulgent Aristocrat buffed the tokens. Expose Evil kept the Bane at bay for a turn, giving Honey an essential turn for building up the board even further. By the time the Bane could start attacking, Honey’s lands weren’t doing much anyways and the lifelink that was mounting each turn gave Honey a huge lead. Tenacity then slammed down on one attack and Honey won the game on the spot.

Game 2 Show

On the play this game, Captain dropped a pair of Bane of Bala Ged by turn-7 and Honey, without any removal to deal with them in the deck, was at their mercy. A few chump-blocks could be made, but losing 2-4 permanents each turn was devastating and there was never going to be a real chance to recover. Captain even had a Warping Wail for Gisa's Bidding to prevent the last chump-block.

Game 3 Show

After quite a few turns of both players trading off resources, a Walker of the Wastes stuck and was too large for Honey to deal with immediately. A Pale Rider of Trostad, of all things, was threatening to kill Captain as it was unblockable on the then-current board. A timely topdeck in Spatial Contortion, though, fixed that problem and the Walker trampled over for a beastly sum of damage.

zandls-soi-challenge by eludemerlange
      versus
uw-midrange-flying-control-poor-man-challenge by JKLawson89

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Results Show

eludemerlange (2)   vs.   JKLawson89 (0)

Game 1 Show

A pair of Faerie Miscreants followed by a Thunderclap Wyvern seemed to be a powerful start for Lawson, but the Wyven was killed by Grasp of Darkness before it could enable any extra damage. A Call the Bloodline and Retreat to Hagra was an interesting yet potent combination, making good use of every card drawn. Lawson couldn’t keep up with the sheer number of Vampire Knight tokens as the Retreat slowly drained life away. Only a few more little creatures came up for Lawson, but they couldn’t get past all the life Elude was gaining each turn.

Game 2 Show

Lawson’s creatures this game were either too small to remain relevant through life-gain or died immediately to removal. As in the first game, a Call the Bloodline made things simple for Elude and a Retreat to Hagra soon thereafter all but ended the game. Stuck with a ton of slow, one-for-one removal spells and Dance of the Skywise with no targets, Lawson fell.

Unstable Power | The Poor Man Challenge by JerichoDarkstar
      versus
UR Colorless Beatdown by Wee_Dragonaut

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Results Show

Wee_Dragonaut (2)   vs.   JerichoDarkstar (1)

Game 1 Show

Without too many ways to exile Jericho’s cards, Processor Assault sat in Dragonaut’s hand as a Pyre Hound smashed in for huge damage on turn-5. Though Dragonaut had a pair of Tide Drifters on the board, there wasn’t actually enough power to kill the Hound through blocks. An Eldrazi Skyspawner and two Thopter tokens were bashing in each turn, but the race quickly favored Jericho’s Pyre Hound and slew of pump spells.

Game 2 Show

In a show of Processor Assault’s power, a turn-1 Salvage Drone swung in past a tapped Stormchaser Mage to ingest a card and turn on the spell. From here, Jericho’s hand got a bit tripped up without a fourth land-drop. Dragonaut wasn’t having much trouble dealing with Jericho’s one creature per turn, going over the top of them with a Ruination Guide and a Vile Aggregate. Jericho couldn’t deal with any of the creatures and fell quickly.

Game 3 Show

Jericho managed to smash through with a Jhessian Thief after Titan's Strength, Slip Through Space, and Brute Strength all at once, but the explosive play used up all of Jericho’s fuel. Even after a scry and draw, just lands and creatures came up over the next couple of turns. In the meantime, Dragonaut was jamming out a pair of Vile Aggregates and a Ruination Guide. Jericho had very little in the way of momentum and even less to deal with the mounting pressure. Nothing else of worth was drawn and the game was over.

zandl's challenge by tempest
      versus
aristocrats-in-black-soi-poormans-challenge by Saturn999

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Results Show

tempest (2)   vs.   Saturn999 (0)

Game 1 Show

Both decks efficiently dealt with the other’s creatures as life was drained periodically in both directions. After about 12 or 15 turns of no real action and Saturn’s Nantuko Husks being killed off by Ultimate Price, Tempest drew into Bane of Bala Ged. The Bane presented Tempest with a real clock as the rest of the board was cluttered with high-toughness creatures. After attacking through blockers with removal, Tempest slowly gained the upper hand and forced Saturn out of the game.

Game 2 Show

Saturn’s Nantuko Husk was again destroyed the instant it came down, preventing the combo with Sanitarium Skeleton and Zulaport Cutthroat. The Skeleton did some work still, but its low impact on the board wasn’t doing much to get Saturn ahead. Tempest kept following up combat steps with more and more creatures and was beginning to go wide around Saturn’s board. Considering that Saturn’s creatures mostly had just 1 power, the trades from blocking weren’t too efficient and Tempest’s multiple copies of Sludge Crawler made assigning blockers a nightmare. With no more real value coming off the top of the deck and Tempest’s Catacomb Sifters finding new creatures, Saturn’s inevitable defeat was slow and painful.

Because even paupers like control by tpmains
      versus
cushion-fluff by professorducky

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Results Show

tpmains (2)   vs.   professorducky (0)

Game 1 Show

Professor got tripped up early on lands for a turn and had some trouble getting threats to stick to the board afterward. TP was exiling almost all of Professor’s creatures and using them to fuel Ulamog's Nullifier. A Possessed Skaab reclaimed a Void Shatter with 3 lands open as Professor had just found a fifth land. By this point, TP was chaining together draw spells while keeping the board clear, letting the Nullifier and the Skaab bash in for 5 damage each turn. Nothing really came together for Professor after this, leading the game to its end.

Game 2 Show

Professor’s curve was Thraben Inspector into Heir of Falkenrath  ^Flip with Gisa's Bidding the following turn. This all, however, made TP’s Flaying Tendrils quite the snazzy spell. Professor managed to rebuild a solid board with Nantuko Husk and Nearheath Chaplain, but both were removed from the board by more control. The Chaplain made Spirits, but an Ulamog's Nullifier outclassed them by quite a bit. Now in topdeck mode, Professor was at the mercy of chance. TP was still sitting on a volley of countermagic, preventing much of anything from happening as the game wound down into the final turns. Professor tried to bait out a counterspell to get a Grasp of Darkness to resolve on a Nullifier, but there was too much control to fight through.

Rise from the Tides! UR Budget Build by PhnxLdr
      versus
Bounty of the Tides- Necro-Alchemy on a Budget! by Mortem

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Results Show

Mortem (2)   vs.   PhnxLdr (1)

Game 1 Show

Phnx spent the first several turns of the game fixing mana and drawing spells as Mortem sat on a growing amount of removal. By the time turn-6 rolled around, Phnx tested the waters with a copy of Rise from the Tides (with another in-hand) and Mortem didn’t actually have any countermagic despite drawing so many cards. Send to Sleep held off a portion of the assault for some turns, but Mortem’s lands were all entering the battlefield tapped beyond this point. Mortem couldn’t get up to a Rise and survive the swing back at the same time, meaning the game was over.

Game 2 Show

Not to be discouraged, Mortem fought back (now with countermagic) until both decks were basically just waiting for the other to make a move. With a backup Clash of Wills in-hand and Mortem on two lands open after Pieces of the Puzzle to find nothing of value, Phnx pulled the trigger with Rise from the Tides. Mortem’s clutch card in the matchup, though, was Invasive Surgery. Phnx attempted to counter it, but Dispel came to the rescue and Phnx’s deck was essentially stripped of all win conditions thanks to Pieces enabling Delirium. Without enough burn coming up (all of which would’ve barely been enough), Phnx was done for in a matter of turns.

Game 3 Show

With both copies of Invasive Surgery at the ready and Delirium off of Pieces of the Puzzle, Mortem was able to counter Pore Over the Pages to see Phnx’s hand. Since the coast was clear and Phnx wasn’t sitting on much, Mortem took the opportunity to cast a Rise from the Tides a few turns later. Phnx actually managed to get rid of nearly all the Zombies between multiple copies of both Just the Wind and Lightning Axe, but Mortem had another Rise with Dispel for support. In the battle of Rise from the Tides, Mortem’s specified countermagic was the deciding factor.

Swaggys SOI Poor Mans Challenge deck by SwaggyMcSwagglepants
      versus
Rakdrone: Poor-man challenge by CRKFIEND

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Results Show

CRKFIEND (2)   vs.   SwaggyMcSwagglepants (1)

Game 1 Show

Swaggy began with a Kalastria Healer into Serene Steward, setting the bar high from a very early turn. Fiend kept the threats in check, though, with removal as a Kozilek's Sentinel was sneaking in for damage each turn. When a Bloodbond Vampire hit the board and gained counters instantly, Fiend was temporarily at a loss for how to deal with it. A fifth land, though, enabled Spatial Contortion and Touch of the Void to get the job done. As the game progressed, Swaggy stayed ahead with creatures that offered a lot of synergy to whatever was on the board already while Fiend’s hand was becoming clunky with expensive spells. In the end, Swaggy’s pair of Drana's Emissary flew overhead uncontested and sealed the deal.

Game 2 Show

For Swaggy, this game started up in much the same way the previous one did. This time, though, Fiend’s curve figured itself out and provided a number of threatening creatures very early on. A pair of Forerunner of Slaughter forced Swaggy to trade away some high-value creatures (or die) as both players started drawing lands. A handful of turns passed while neither player had much going on, but Fiend’s Nettle Drone was chipping away at Swaggy’s life each turn. Swaggy’s removal spells always seemed to line up with Fiend’s draws of threats, causing Swaggy to always be short of dealing with the Drone. By the time it could’ve been removed, Swaggy was already in burn range and a topdecked Touch of the Void ended the game.

Game 3 Show

Fiend’s curve was downright fierce this game, allowing for a Kozilek's Sentinel on turn-2 and a Vile Aggregate on 3, followed by a Sludge Crawler and a pair of Reaver Drones. Swaggy gained a significant amount of life in the first handful of turns, but Fiend’s creatures were all big enough to force trades in combat. Faced with death, Swaggy had to sweep away all the Allies on the board to trade with the Aggregate, among other threats. Again, by the time Swaggy was about to start stabilizing, Fiend swooped down with Touch of the Void and snatched the game just in time.

Hit-Elves for Hire by mtgThaen
      versus
Moneyless Vampires by Nightdragon779

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Results Show

Nightdragon779 (2)   vs.   mtgThaen (1)

Game 1 Show

What a game! Thaen cast a Sylvan Messenger that hit all Elves and got Night down to 2 life with a Shaman of the Pack the following turn. A series of great topdecks from Night, though, scored enough damage to make Night the victor. An Heir to the Night  ^Flip swung in overhead with Titan's Strength, scrying to the bottom. Night then drew into a Fiery Temper with Thaen at exactly 6 life, making the swing and the instant game-over.

Game 2 Show

Unimpressed, Thaen geared up and flooded the board with a slew of Elves. A pair of Heir to the Night  ^Flip were getting the beats on overhead while Night removed a few key Elves from the board. Thaen then netted three more creatures off of Sylvan Messenger while falling to exactly 1 life. On the final turn, Thaen cast two dorks and a Shaman of the Pack. The resulting alpha strike, even through a couple copies of Incorrigible Youths, was just enough to kill Night with exact damage.

Game 3 Show

Night’s removal went after Thaen’s mana dorks as soon as Thaen missed land #3, and the epic conclusion to the white-knuckle match quickly turned into a landslide in Night’s favor. Thaen might’ve actually been able to hold back the assault if an answer to Heir to the Night  ^Flip would’ve come up, but there were only two copies of Grasp of Darkness. Neither of which appeared and Thaen’s run in the challenge ended.

U/B Poor Man's Sleepy Dead People by DarkLaw
      versus
Poor-man (Were)wolf by Volvary

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Results Show

DarkLaw (2)   vs.   Volvary (0)

Game 1 Show

Darklaw was able to deal with Volvary’s first few threats with relative ease, picking them off at instant-speed. Though Darklaw’s first Aberrant Researcher  ^Flip was killed by a Moonlight Hunt, a second one stuck and transformed on the following turn. Volvary didn’t have any answers to a 5-power beatstick and couldn’t race through the remainder of Darklaw’s removal.

Game 2 Show

With enough removal to destroy half the guilds of Ravnica, Darklaw again had no issues with Volvary’s creatures. A good deal of Darklaw’s deck plays at instant-speed and that kept throwing off the Werewolves’ transform triggers. Also, the Werewolf deck seemed to be stuck in a constant tempo struggle with itself, needing to play more creatures for pressure but also needing to not for them to transform. After a few turns of stabilization to ensure the course was clear, Rise from the Tides came down and there was nothing Volvary could do about a dozen Zombies.

Poor Men Flying Over!!! by Nobueno95
      versus
ur-prowess-zandls-challenge by Dalektable

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Results Show

Nobueno95 (2)   vs.   Dalektable (1)

Game 1 Show

Dalektable’s turn-2 Elusive Spellfist met its demise at the hand of Horribly Awry, though a Jhessian Thief made it to the board unscathed. NoBueno was having some trouble keeping it under control as a big Brute Strength let it crash over a blocker and draw a card for Dalektable. From here, NoBueno was having to cast new creatures each turn just to stay alive. Between four different Prowess creatures, Dalektable was having a field day when it came to drawing cards and getting through for damage. NoBueno couldn’t get any sort of momentum going through the onslaught and quickly fell out of relevance.

Game 2 Show

After a Silkwrap on Dalektable’s Stormchaser Mage, NoBueno’s devotion to Faerie Miscreant finally paid off with two more copies, drawing those coveted free cards. With plenty of lands and answers now, NoBueno was able to ward off all of Dalektables new threats for a couple turns. Those Faeries, soon joined by a Whirler Rogue, bashed in through the air over enough turns to end the game without Dalektable getting much traction.

Game 3 Show

NoBueno’s Silkwraps bound up a Jhessian Thief and Elusive Spellfist, preventing Dalektable from berserking through for damage early on. A Faerie Miscreant found a twin, drawing NoBueno a Thunderclap Wyvern that landed the following turn. Dalektable managed to sneak through blockers with Slip Through Space on a Jhessian Thief, but two lands in a row ended whatever momentum had been gained. With the race now thoroughly in NoBueno’s favor, the flyers swung in for the game uninhibited.

Black-red Crazy poor vampires by amerishin
      versus
Mysterious Ramp by tulse

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Results Show

amerishin (2)   vs.   tulse (0)

Game 1 Show

A Jaddi Offshoot and a Graf Mole gained back a bit of life that Tulse was dealt early on. Amerishin’s deck was polished and straightforward, though. Stensia Masquerade came down on turn-4 and a pair of Olivia's Bloodsworn were growing larger and more intimidating by the turn. Tulse did gain quite a bit of life and land a Plated Crusher, but there was no way to permanently answer the flying threats.

Game 2 Show

As previously mentioned, Amerishin’s deck is pretty refined, opting for speed and efficiency over frills. Tulse was able to hold back a decent army by keeping the bigger threats tapped down, but the inevitable attacks in the air were the problem. By turn-7, Tulse had plenty of bombs to cast yet no way to survive another swing from Amerishin’s flying Vampire army. A pair of Olivia's Bloodsworn and an Heir to the Night  ^Flip turned sideways and Tulse’s "against all odds" run (at least in my eyes) finally came to an end.

poor man challenge deck by TheDeckBuilder_mage
      versus
Process of Elimination-For the Poor Man Challenge by xcn

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Results Show

TheDeckBuilder_mage (2)   vs.   xcn (0)

Game 1 Show

Games are gettin’ good, dude. XCN exiled every one of Mage’s creatures for four turns straight with Silkwrap, Stasis Snare, and Complete Disregard. Mage was able to recover a bit with a Stormchaser Mage putting XCN to 10, but not before XCN could smash in for 9 damage with Ulamog's Despoiler. In true U/R Prowess fashion, though, Mage chained together Expedite into Slip Through Space into Uncaged Fury for exactly 10 damage in the air.

Game 2 Show

Mage crashed in with a Stormchaser Mage and Sanguinary Mage + Expedite on turn-3, setting a grueling pace for XCN to keep up with. Both creatures were soon contained though others quickly replaced them. An unfortunate number of XCN’s draws wound up being Ulamog's Nullifier and Ruin Processor without the requisite lands to cast them. To add more insult to injury, Read the Bones was a pain (ha!) to cast, but the alternative wasn’t any better. By turn-6 or so, Mage had all the spells needed to finish out the game and XCN had no removal to speak of.

(deck not found - "U/B Ruthless Deathfang Control") by ThoughtShift
      versus
Zandl's Silverblack 2016 - UB Delirium Control by Boza

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Results Show

Boza (2)   vs.   ThoughtShift (1)

Game 1 Show

Boza’s early-game Heir to the Night  ^Flip was halted by three copies of Palace Familiar on blocking duty. Though they were eventually dealt with, the free cards that Thoughtshift netted left Boza behind for the majority of the remaining game. Necromantic Summons popped up but had no decent targets, Grasp of Darkness had only Zombie tokens from Rise from the Tides to kill, and no momentum could seem to get rolling. Thoughtshift was just straight-up out-valuing Boza.

Game 2 Show

In what became a very drawn-out game, both decks did a fantastic job of doing absolutely nothing for what seemed like a veritable eternity. A few creatures were traded off here and there, but no real action happened until Boza decided it was time to fight for an Aberrant Researcher  ^Flip. It was, of course, mutilated. The real prize, though, was that Thoughtshift was now sitting on far less control than Boza. Using this advantage, Boza aggro’d out hard and put a lot of pressure on Thoughtshift that wasn’t easy to answer. Gisa's Bidding, for instance, was a particularly troublesome spell for Thoughtshift to confront considering it screwed up all the sacrifice effects. Within a matter of turns, Thoughtshift was staring down a slew of creatures that simply couldn’t be stopped in time.

Game 3 Show

In another truly riveting game of Magic, both decks did what they do best: wait. In similar fashion to the previous game, a few minor threats were traded off, but nothing great was accomplished until about turn-3561 turn-20. Here, a Necromantic Summons retrieved a Kindly Stranger  ^Flip to nuke a Ruthless Deathfang, with Boza’s Blighted Fen firing off in response to Thoughtshift’s Ultimate Price which was in response to something else, I think. It was complicated. The game played itself out naturally, but Boza had the upper hand for quite some time after this turn. Thoughtshift was drawing into just more card-draw for several turns as Boza was finding fuel in the form of Aberrant Researcher  ^Flip and more copies of Necromantic Summons. By the end of the game, Boza had a commanding lead and shoved my personal favorite deck out of the challenge. :(

Statistics

Let’s break down the color trends:







In just two rounds’ time, White has gone from being 25% of the field to a tiny fraction. Blue and Red (due in part to U/R Prowess’s inherent strength) have firmly remained. Even CaptainLick’s all-Wastes deck has stood the test of time so far (the only "Colorless" deck). Archetype-wise, we’re seeing many of the control decks stick it out as some of the more "gimmicky" aggro decks (i.e. Allies) have really fallen by the wayside. Where will we be by the end of the fourth round?

Round 4’s Matches

Just one round remains before the Round Robin bracket featuring the Top 7 decks!

tempest vs. Mortem
Boza vs. DarkLaw
Nightdragon779 vs. amerishin
TheDeckBuilder_mage vs. tpmains
eludemerlange vs. Nobueno95
DruneGrey vs. CaptainLick
Wee_Dragonaut vs. CRKFIEND


Happy tapping, players!
zandl

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