Well, this deck is still in need o tuning but feels much more consistent and plays well as the beat down or the control but does run out of answers right about the time when it should be turning the corner. Brief overview of last night:
Pre FNM friendly Marduken vs R/G Landfall
Here is one of the games where this deck was required to be the control deck and it did it's job. After he emptied his hand, R/G Landfall in top deck mode is no longer scary. Picked off his creatures one by one not letting him truly overwhelm the board while establishing mine. Seeker of the Way return attacks kept me in until we turned the corner to finish the game.
Round 1: Marduken vs. Bant Control?
Game one he was stuck on four lands and his answers we quickly overcome by sheer volume. Mardu Strike Leader resolved and put me in great position. Butcher of the Horde on T5 put game two away almost as quickly. Marduken 2-0
Round 2: Marduken vs U/R Tutelage
Let me say, I hate playing against this deck even though I'm something like 3 or 4-0 vs it. He gets the mill in game one and with the amount of Mardu colored cards one trigger would get 4 cards what seemed like a majority of the time. When your answer go to the grave, you can't answer anything. Game 2 opened with Felidar Cub in hand and snap kept it and was rewarded for it. Destroying the first tutelage bought time to draw into an utter end to remove the next one that would hit a turn or two later. Game three got utter end in the opening hand with 4 lands that could play utter on 4 and another snap keep. Once the first Sphinx's Tutelage was removed he never drew into another and 4 turns later I was the victor.
Round 3: Marduken vs Jeskai Black
I still feel like we have a decent matchup against them regardless of how this one played out. Game one we both were trying to get the upper hand but an Ojutai's Command on T6 to get a Dragonmaster Outcast put this one away as I didn't find the answer for him. Game two was dominated by Mardu and he conceded by Turn 7. Game three is where this matchup took a turn. Neither of us got the upper hand until Turn seven when he was able to resolve a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Flip and flip him. I was unable to maintain my larger creatures thanks to Crackling Doom and he eventually ult'd Jace. I was milled out over the course of the next 9 turns as most. of the draws were land go for both of us. Until he drew into a Dig Through Time to find more spells. Jeskai Black 2-1
Round 4: Marduken vs. Attarka White
He was splashing white for Dromoka's Command? Seeker of the Way did work in these games and never let him come from no where for stupid damage. Mardu Strike Leader always left me a blocker or two and just ran over him in two games.
Should have made top 8 but the tiebreakers didn't fall my way. I think I was listed 9th so very disheartening. Over all, I think this is a solid deck and will continue to tweak and tune for better results. I'm thinking of testing a version Mardu Tokens v2 that takes out the ascendancy and some creatures for Monastery Mentor, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Sorin, Solemn Visitor for an alternate token build. Let me know what you think.
