Ye Olde Deckbuilding Challenge #15… Standard?
Challenges and Articles forum
Posted on Sept. 28, 2013, 10:58 a.m. by doinitwrong
This challenge is for two types of people: the Old Fogey that soothly misses the good olde days of Magic, before the mischievous age of Miracles, Infect, and Annihilator, and the Young whippersnapper that wants to know what the game was like when artifacts were brown.
Want to request a challenge? Visit the YODBC Request Page.
This is the deck which won the previous challenge, Ye Olde Deckbuilding Challenge #14- Combo Winter:
Phyrexian Guys Doing Phyrexian Things
This challenge was suggested by truble.
What to do:
- Build up to two 60-card decks (Thou shalt not count to 61, nor to 59).
- 48 of the cards must be standard legal.
- 10 must be Legacy legal nonland cards that were first printed before 8th edition.
- The final 2 may be from either of those groups.
- No normal Sideboard will be used. However, if you run a card which would access the sideboard (Judgement Wishes, Ring of Ma'ruf ), then you may have a sideboard of up to 5 cards.
Post your deck here by Sunday, October 6th, at which time I shall take all submissions and have a tournament to determine the superlative one. The tournament will be a few rounds of swiss, with the top 4 (or 8 if enough submissions are made) doing single-elimination afterwards.
Banned List- Fie upon the miscreant to post hither a deck whereinsoever contains a card mentioned forthwith:
- Any card thats not allowed in either Standard or Legacy.
- Any land that isnt Standard legal.
Good luck to all and may the best antiquarian win!
P.S. If anyone wants me to ping them when I post a new challenge so you don't miss out, let me know.
are the match results going to be posted on this thread or is there going to be a new thread for all the results???
October 6, 2013 11:23 a.m.
Absinthman says... #3
As far as I know, doinitwrong posts the result in the same thread.
October 6, 2013 3:06 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #4
Absinthman's right, I use 1 thread for the whole challenge.
October 6, 2013 8:33 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #6
Round 1 Pairings:
- Playing in the cemetary vs. Akroan Pantheon
- I See Trees of Black... Black Roses Too vs. Enduring Legion
- Mr. Grinny and His Rats vs. Reanimator
- Big Stax vs. Ye Olde Standard
- Ye Olde Standard 2 vs. Ack! Run Hans Run! The Slivers Are Coming!
- Purphoros of Akros vs. Dr.Millington, How May I Help You?
- Re-Genesis vs. GW aggro
October 6, 2013 8:55 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #7
Ah crap. My mill deck just had to be faced against a burn deck first thing didn't it? My sliver deck might have a good chance though, however it'll need to get the right draws out.
October 7, 2013 1:57 a.m.
It'll be interesting to see how my GW Genesis deck does against a GW aggro deck. Bit of a mirror match, I think.
I'm pretty worried about the matchup for my RW deck so far. Lots of unanswered things.
October 7, 2013 2:49 a.m.
Absinthman says... #9
I feel like the matchup for my monoblack should be favorable. Thoughtseizes and Hymns should be able to totally wreck the combo.
I'm always kind of anxious when I'm facing reanimator. I love the way it works, but I hate playing against it. We shall see.
October 7, 2013 4:41 a.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #11
I'm living vicariously through the MBC deck since that's what I was working on :P
October 7, 2013 11:52 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #12
Oh, I forgot to remind you of this doinitwrong ... a bit too late now, but did you ever create a post on the standard forums for this?
October 7, 2013 9:18 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #13
Femme_Fatale no, I never got around to it. I'll have to remember that for future challenges.
October 7, 2013 10:06 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #14
Sorry, guys. This week's ridiculously busy, so it may be a couple days before I finish round 1.
October 8, 2013 12:59 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #16
Round 1 Results (Part 1):
abenz419's Playing in the cemetary vs. sewellius's Akroan Pantheon
G1: An early Thoughtseize deprives Pantheon of Fabled Hero . Anax and Cymede + Seething Anger appear poised to quickly flatten Cemetary until Shadowborn Demon kills them. Desecration Demon arrives and beats down Pantheon before he can play blockers, with Whip of Erebos ensuring any potential counterattack won't be quick enough.
G2: Cemetary is stuck 1 mana shy of where he wants to be. Before he can recover, a blitz of Akroan Hoplite s and Boros Reckoner s take him down hard.
G3: T1 Thoughtseize hits Seething Anger in hope of slowing the heroicness. Pantheon gets stuck at 3 mana, though he can still do a lot despite that. He rushes out Phalanx Leader s, Boros Reckoner s, and Fabled Hero s. Unfortunately, Abrupt Decay , Hero's Downfall , and Shadowborn Demon do a good job of killing most of them and holding the rest at bay. Eventually Desecration Demon and a Reckoner borrowed with Coffin Queen beat Pantheon down for the win.
Playing in the cemetary wins 2-1
Absinthman's I See Trees of Black... Black Roses Too vs. sewellius's Enduring Legion
G1: Legion gets a hand full of combo pieces, but manascrew and missed land drops keep him from comboing off. Black catches up and wrecks Legion's plans with Thoughtseize , Hymn to Tourach , and Lifebane Zombie . Legion can't recover by the time the Lifebanes beat him down.
G2: Black keeps an opening hand of multiple Thoughtseize s. Legion, however, topdecks Boros Reckoner and plays it before he can be forced to discard it. The Reckoner, 2 Thoughtseizes, and Phyrexian Arena do more damage to Black than he likes. He Mutilate s and tries to take down Legion before the Arena kills him. Unfortunately, he dies the upkeep before Desecration Demon would have swung for lethal.
G3: Killspells stop Firedrinker Satyr and Boros Reckoner , and Hymn to Tourach disrupts Legion's other plans. Desecration Demon and 2x Corrupt give Black the match.
I See Trees of Black... Black Roses Too wins 2-1
Absinthman's Mr. Grinny and His Rats vs. truble's Reanimator
G1: Reanimator has trouble putting creatures in the grave as Grinny counters most of his Golgari self-mill cards. Psychatog arrives and after a couple attacks for 1, blasts Reanimator for lethal.
G2: Reanimator gets rotten luck with Grisly Salvage and Commune with the Gods , being unable to find a fatty. He finally gets Entomb , but by then Grinny has Psychatog out. Opportunity and 2x Accumulated Knowledge fuel an attack for 19, taking the game and match for Grinny.
Mr. Grinny and His Rats wins 2-0
atreyujames's Big Stax vs. Azure124's Ye Olde Standard
G1: Stax has mana problems early, made worse by Detention Sphere hitting Elvish Mystic . Supreme Verdict s take out any other creatures Stax plays, and counterspells neutralize everything else. AEtherling arrives and ends the game.
G2: Stax gets Agent of the Fates + Flickering Ward early. Smokestack slows both player's mana situations, but Force of Will keeps Standard from being too disadvantaged here. AEtherling and Elspeth, Sun's Champion arrive, overpowering the Agent and ending the match.
Ye Olde Standard wins 2-0
October 10, 2013 1:26 a.m.
atreyujames says... #17
Dang, I guess that mono black really was a bad matchup XD. I hope I do better next round. (P.S.- Enduring Legion is my deck, not sewellius' =) )
October 10, 2013 2:51 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #18
I actually kind of expected these first results, for the next three I expect both of mine to lose and Re-genesis to lose. I don't like my match-ups.
October 10, 2013 3:03 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #19
Round 1 Results (Part 2):
Azure124's Ye Olde Standard 2 vs. Femme_Fatale's Ack! Run Hans Run! The Slivers Are Coming!
G1: Hans runs headlong into numerous Swords to Plowshares , with Fleecemane Lion deterring the survivors from attacking. Hans gets stuck 1 mana shy of Progenitor Mimic . Vraska the Unseen goes ultimate, and 2x Vindicate s kill enough slivers for an assassin token to get through for the kill.
G2: Crystalline Sliver saves many a sliver from destruction. A lot of creatures die on both sides during combat, and Vindicate s mess with Hans' mana. A pair of Predatory Sliver s, however, give him a leg up on Standard's Loxodon Smiter s. Decree of Pain wipes both boards and recharges Standards hand. Fleecemane Lion , Voice of Resurgence , and Elspeth, Sun's Champion give Standard the advantage. Hans can't stop the tide and succumbs.
Ye Olde Standard 2 wins 2-0
doinitwrong's Purphoros of Akros vs. Femme_Fatale's Dr.Millington, How May I Help You?
G1: Purphoros starts making tokens early with Akroan Crusader and Young Pyromancer . Millington can't do much beyond countering spells after they trigger token production. Mutavault blocks the best he can, but eventually gets hit with Magma Jet . Millington is forced to use Cyclonic Rift before she can afford to Overload it, and the tokens march on to victory.
G2: Cyclonic Rift bounces Young Pyromancer to stop him from swinging for 12 on turn 3 (Armed / Dangerous + Seething Anger ). Nevinyrral's Disk clears the field, and Jace, Memory Adept arrives. It and multiple Breaking / Entering s end the game.
G3: Akroan Crusader gets hit with Hero's Downfall before he can make many tokens. After Jace, Memory Adept dies quickly, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver arrives. Purphoros can't find a way to stop him, and Ashiok and Breaking / Entering end the game surprisingly quickly.
Dr.Millington, How May I Help You? wins 2-1
sewellius's Re-Genesis vs. truble's GW aggro
G1: Aggro puts out a lot of creatures early then plays Armageddon , leaving Genesis unable to trigger Phalanx Leader . Genesis is overpowered and succumbs.
G2: Genesis goes crazy with Phalanx Leader + Elvish Fury , creating quite the formidable army. Aggro can't outmuscle him and is summarily overrun.
G3: Both players slug it out early. Aggro gains the advantage with Advent of the Wurm and being the first to make Fleecemane Lion monstrous. After that, it's all Genesis can do to stall and hope to get a fifth land to make his Lions monstrous before he has to chump block with them. Alas, he has no such luck and succumbs.
GW aggro wins 2-1
Round 2 Pairings:
- Big Stax vs. Re-Genesis
- Enduring Legion vs. Ack! Run Hans Run! The Slivers Are Coming!
- Purphoros of Akros vs. Reanimator
- Akroan Pantheon vs. Ye Olde Standard 2
- Mr. Grinny and His Rats vs. Dr.Millington, How May I Help You?
- Playing in the cemetary vs. Ye Olde Standard
- I See Trees of Black... Black Roses Too vs. GW aggro
October 11, 2013 12:33 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #20
Wonderful matches, it's a shame I died even after I got Crystalline Sliver out though. I'm glad Mutavault was useful, I thought that I always did need a form of a creature. I'm also really happy that I won one. Congratulation to both Azure124 and Absinthman on winning both matches!
October 11, 2013 1:42 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #21
Oh, and I would like to be added to the ping list for future challenges, doinitwrong.
October 11, 2013 7:52 p.m.
I also would love to be on such a ping list good sir!
October 11, 2013 11:24 p.m.
I haven't heard anything on the second round matchup. I assume your really busy, but I was just curious and wondering if everything is still going on or if it might have gotten canceled or something
October 15, 2013 6:44 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #27
abenz419 Sorry it's taking so long. The tournament's not canceled, just running very slowly.
October 15, 2013 7:15 p.m.
that's not a problem, it has just been a few days and I thought maybe it got canceled because things came up and your schedule just got to busy to continue. I understand you've got other priorities so I thought I'd ask, figured it couldn't hurt.
October 15, 2013 7:18 p.m.
I thought it had been a while since I'd seen anything for a Ye Old challenge. Re-add me to the ping list, please!
October 17, 2013 4:49 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #30
Well, something's better than nothing, I guess.
Round 2 Results (part 1):
atreyujames's Big Stax vs. sewellius's Re-Genesis
G1: Genesis floods the field with Loxodon Smiter s, Voice of Resurgence , and Heliod, God of the Sun . Stax cant keep up and is pummeled down.
G2: Agent of the Fates + Flickering Ward kills everything Genesis plays, and slowly beats him down for the victory.
G3: Stax kills a lot of Genesis's things early on, and gets a lot of life advantage with Obzedat, Ghost Council . Genesis strikes back, though, with a Voice of Resurgence token and a bunch of Heliod, God of the Sun 's tokens. Stax is overwhelmed and defeated.
Re-Genesis wins 2-1
atreyujames's Enduring Legion vs. Femme_Fatale's Ack! Run Hans Run! The Slivers Are Coming!
G1: Hans keeps a slow but powerful hand. Door of Destinies makes Megantic Sliver an 8/8 and Sliver Overlord a 12/12. Boros Reckoner takes down the Overlord and Cartel Aristocrat stalls Megantic for several turns. Hans hits a land pocket and doesn't draw another Sliver for the rest of the game. Legion eventually gets Academy Rector , and sacrifices it to get Enduring Renewal . He then continually plays, sacs, and recurs Burning-Tree Emissary , triggering Purphoros, God of the Forge for lethal damage.
G2: A swarm of buffed, Double-striking, flying, manadork Slivers takes down Legion before he can do much.
G3: Hans ramps into an early Sliver Overlord and Megantic Sliver , quickly overwhelming Legion for the win.
October 17, 2013 6:33 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #31
Woot! Sliver Overlord for the win!! It would be even more powerful if I had Amoeboid Changeling , but he wasn't legal for this challenge.
October 17, 2013 7:04 p.m.
doinitwrong says... #33
What's this? Free time? *plays 3 matches* ah, that felt good.
doinitwrong's Purphoros of Akros vs. truble's Reanimator
G1: Reanimator starts with bad luck milling himself, but eventually mills and reanimates Ashen Rider . Purphoros responds next turn by casting 4 spell targeting Akroan Crusader , triggering it and Young Pyromancer , whose tokens trigger Purphoros, God of the Forge for lethal damage.
G2: Reanimator gets a T3 Ashen Rider and pummels Purphoros before he can do anything.
G3: Purphoros gets 11 quick damage with Akroan Crusader before Reanimator brings back Utvara Hellkite and starts smashing. Purphoros is a turn away from annihilation when he uses 2 Seething Anger s on the Crusader, triggering Purphoros, God of the Forge , meaning a Double-Striking Boros Reckoner wins the match regardless of whether hes blocked or not.
Purphoros of Akros wins 2-1
sewellius's Akroan Pantheon vs. Azure124's Ye Olde Standard 2
G1: Chained to the Rocks proves vulnerable to Abrupt Decay and Vindicate , as Fleecemane Lion and Loxodon Smiter are both brought back from exile. Pantheon is able to race him for a while with Akroan Crusader and Seething Anger , until Decree of Pain clears the board. Blood Baron of Vizkopa arrives and picks up the win.
G2: Pantheon's early creatures are all quickly removed. He eventually, however, gets out Phalanx Leader and Akroan Crusader , plays 2x Coordinated Assault and Seething Anger on them, and takes out Elspeth, Sun's Champion before she has a chance to blow the field. Vraska the Unseen and Blood Baron of Vizkopa cant stop the onslaught, and Pantheon forces game 3.
G3: Browbeat s burn Standard and get Pantheon some cards, but Pantheon can't get enough attackers out to get past all of Elspeth, Sun's Champion 's tokens. Standard gets Elspeth's emblem and soars over for the victory.
Ye Olde Standard 2 wins 2-1
Absinthman's Mr. Grinny and His Rats vs. Femme_Fatale's Dr.Millington, How May I Help You?
G1: Millington counters and kills any creatures Grinny plays while slowly milling him. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver gets hit with Hero's Downfall . Grinny manages to get Pack Rat out. Despite Millington's best efforts to mill, the rats get the win while Grinny has 3 cards left and Millington is 1 blue shy of a lethal Vision Charm .
G2: Millington holds Grinny at bay long enough for Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Jace, Memory Adept to mill Grinny out, forcing game 3.
G3: Pack Rat s swarm the field early, and Millington is overwhelmed.
Mr. Grinny and His Rats wins 2-1
October 22, 2013 9:50 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #34
Kinda figured I would lose this one. Though it was a really close game for the first match, nice to see my decks are pulling their own considering I never play standard and rarely play legacy,
October 22, 2013 9:59 p.m.
Absinthman says... #35
Wow, that first game! Shame I couldn't see it. Reading it like this lacks the thrill. GGs, Femme_Fatale.
October 23, 2013 2:34 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #36
You to Absinthman, I knew your deck would be tough to beat as soon as I saw Psychatog . But it seems that your Pack Rat s are winning you more games!
October 23, 2013 2:41 a.m.
Absinthman says... #37
Yeah, Pack Rat s are surprisingly efficient. I included them as an experiment. I'm really glad they perform this well and justify their inclusion.
October 23, 2013 2:47 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #38
Absinthman Psychatog wasn't very effective because it was hated on aggressively. I underestimated how good Pack Rat was, though, and didn't give it the appropriate level of hate.
October 23, 2013 8:35 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #40
Sorry this took so long. Blame the Red Sox
Round 2 Results (part 1):
abenz419's Playing in the cemetary vs. Azure124's Ye Olde Standard
G1: Standard gets colorscrewed out of blue, which prevents him from doing anything but Swords to Plowshares and Celestial Flare . An army of Deathrite Shaman and Alley Grifters take him down.
G2: Cemetery does his best to disrupt Standard with Thoughtseize , but Sphinx's Revelation keeps his hand full. After a while of Cemetery playing things and Standard promptly removing them, the tokens and emblem from Elspeth, Sun's Champion fly over for the victory.
G3: Once again, Elspeth, Sun's Champion arrives and soon thereafter takes the game.
Ye Olde Standard wins 2-1
Absinthman's I See Trees of Black... Black Roses Too vs. truble's GW aggro
G1: Black lets Aggro take a chunk out of him early, then clears the board with Mutilate . A pair of Desecration Demon s follow. A second Mutilate take out Aggro's guys, though isn't big enough to kill the Demons and allows them to get the lethal beatdown.
G2: An early rush by Aggro once again meets Mutilate . Desecration Demon 's ability and killspells are able to keep the board clear long enough for the Demon to deal lethal damage.
I See Trees of Black... Black Roses Too wins 2-0
Round 3 Pairings:
- Big Stax vs. Enduring Legion
- Akroan Pantheon vs. Reanimator
- Purphoros of Akros vs. GW aggro
- Ack! Run Hans Run! The Slivers Are Coming! vs. Re-Genesis
- Playing in the cemetary vs. Dr.Millington, How May I Help You?
- Mr. Grinny and His Rats vs. I See Trees of Black... Black Roses Too
- Ye Olde Standard vs. Ye Olde Standard 2
October 31, 2013 12:39 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #41
My mill deck versus a re-animator deck? Great ... I've playtested against that one and it was hard to face. I lost to the Grindstone every match.
October 31, 2013 12:45 a.m.
atreyujames says... #42
lol I guess my decks face off together again..... I want stax to win. Just cuz
October 31, 2013 3:42 a.m.
Absinthman says... #43
Heh, my decks are pit against each other too. Go Mr. Grinny, go rats!
October 31, 2013 4:53 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #44
I haven't forgotten about you guys! I'll try and get as many matches as possible done and posted tomorrow.
November 8, 2013 12:08 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #45
Does it usually take a month and a half to finish + to finish a challenge? Life must have pulled out the machete ...
November 8, 2013 12:28 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #46
Femme_Fatale I could almost always get a challenge done in 2-2.5 weeks. One reason this one's been taking a while is that there were twice as many submissions as I was expecting. (Not that I'm complaining! I love that so many people like these challenges, but I may need to limit submissions to 1 per user from now on.) Also, right when the matches were supposed to begin, life got really busy and I didn't have any time to play for a few days. That proved enough to throw me out of my rhythm of "free time -> play matches". I've been trying to get back into the rhythm, but it's been slow.
November 8, 2013 9:55 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #47
Round 3 Results (Part 1):
atreyujames's Big Stax vs. Enduring Legion
G1: Stax gets a quick Obzedat, Ghost Council and builds a strong defense. Legion can't combo off and is exsanguinated to death.
G2: Legion has trouble finding combo pieces and gets beaten down by Obzedat, Ghost Council and a pair of Agent of the Fates .
Big Stax wins 2-0
sewellius's Akroan Pantheon vs. truble's Reanimator
G1: Pantheon gets a fast start, but Reanimator manages to get Borborygmos Enraged out. Bory's ability clears Pantheon's board, and his body soon takes down Pantheon himself.
G2: Reanimator clears Pantheon's board with Angel of Serenity . Pantheon nearly manages to fight back with Boros Reckoner , but the Angel outraces him.
Reanimator wins 2-0
November 8, 2013 11:56 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #48
Round 3 Results (Part 2):
doinitwrong's Purphoros of Akros vs. truble's GW aggro
G1: Purphoros can't develop enough board presence to deal with the flood, and Aggro quickly wins.
G2: Aggro again overpowers Purphoros, who has trouble getting the right cards at the right time.
GW aggro wins 2-0
Femme_Fatale's Ack! Run Hans Run! The Slivers Are Coming! vs. sewellius's Re-Genesis
G1: Both sides build large forces quickly. Giving all slivers Flying and Vigilance, however, allows Hans to damage Genesis while still blocking. Genesis gets beaten down by the flock of Slivers.
G2: An early Manaweft Sliver and Door of Destinies allow things to spin quickly out of control. A T5 Megantic Sliver makes them big enough to fly over Genesis's blockers and get the kill in just 1 attack.
November 9, 2013 12:17 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #49
Yay, go slivers! I was very lucky I remembered to put in the Sentinel Sliver , I almost forgot about it. I'm glad I did as it helped me get a win.
doinitwrong says... #1
Time's up! Let the games begin!
Just a heads-up, since there are twice as many decks as usual, it will take longer to get the matches done.
October 6, 2013 10:32 a.m.