G
Gizmo
Guest
Amrou Scout (x2)
Errant Doomsayers (x2)
Benalish Cavalry
Knight Of The Holy Nimbus
Magus Of The Disk
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Temporal Isolation
Thick-Skinned Goblin
Flowstone Channeler
Viashino Bladescout
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Flamecore Elemental
Firemaw Kavu
Bogardan Rager
---
Grapeshot (x2)
Rift Bolt
Scarwood Treefolk
Durkwood Tracker
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Thrill Of The Hunt
Assembly Worker (x2)
Pendelhaven
Terramorphic Expanse
Forest
Plains (x7)
Mountain (x7)
This deck went 5-1-0. (5 and a draw)
Not a particularly busted deck, although obviously it benefits from the inclusion of two of the chase Limited bombs in Magus Of The Disk and Jaya Ballard. The only really tough decision I was faced with was playing the Flashback StP or not (W,tap 3 white creatures: remove target monsters. Flashback 5W, tap 3 white creatures) and I think I got it right by leaving it out - although the idea of flashback StP is very attractive the tapping of creatures means a) not being able to cast it a lot of the time, b) when you're defending having to take out 3 of your blockers to kill 1 attacker, c) when you're attacking having to take out 3 attackers to kill 1 blocker. I couldnt think of any time would actually rather tap 3 guys to kill one than just use those guys, and I think that's exactly right, and without the need for white monsters two of the Jedit Dragoons were replaced by Assembly Workers just as mana-curved bodies and that was an extremely good decision as it turned out, those Assembly Workers were very important over the course of the day.
Aside from the rares the rest of the deck lacks punch but has strong synergy and to be honest that won me far more games than either of the rare guys did. For every game that came down to Magus sweeping up 6 of their permanents, there was one that was won decisively on turn 4 when I cast Thrill Of The Hunt, flashed it back, then Grapeshotted his blocker away with the Storm and swung in my guys. In the deck this was all about curve, and I was hoping when building it that I would meet people racking up big Suspend spells and I would be able to do them a whole heap of damage in the meantime. I wasn't confident it was going to work, and as it turned out it was a pretty close run thing - I went 6-0 with the deck but there was really only one opponent who I crushed rapidly and the other matches required me to put some effort into securing the win. Curiously the Magus spent as much time attacking as a 2/4 body as he did blowing stuff up, and while Jaya was amazing when active she had a big target on her. Oh, Flamecore Elemental is seriously tough and well worth the Echo of 2RR, although obviously it's nice when your Thick-Skinned Goblin can cut that back to 0.
Picking out any one card that was better than the rest would be pretty much impossible as to be honest it was a simple case of playing a 2/2 flank Knight, a Gray Ogre Assembly Worker, maybe an Ernest Doomsayer to prevent them blocking then by the time they were beginning to stabilise that sort of offense I was ready to bust out the Stormed Grapeshot or Bogardan Rager and get the win. And if you notice there's very few 'Time Spiral' mechanics like Suspend or Split Second, this is actually a pretty honest and straightforward Sealed deck of monsters and tricks. Timeless. Perhaps that's the answer then - because it was cheap, very easy to cast, very hard to block effectively, and a virtual guarantee that I was the aggressive deck - Benalish Cavalry gets the nod, but it was a genuine team effort in every way.
Onto tournament two, and I got a totally different cardpool but did my best to build a pretty similar deck...
Thick-Skinned Goblin
Flowstone Channeler
Burning Blade Askari
Ironclaw Buzzardier
Basalt Gargoyle
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Coal Stoker
Tectonic Fiend
Pardic Dragon
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Lightning Axe
Orcish Cannonade
Deathspore Thallid
Pit Keeper
Trespasser il-Vec
Viscid Lemures
Gorgon Recluse
---
Strangling Soot
Tendrils Of Corruption
Phthisis
Errant Ephemeron
Sol'Kanar The Swamp King
---
Void
Grinning Totem
Molten Slagheap
Island (x3)
Swamp (x6)
Mountain (x7)
This deck went 4-0
The main difference is that the huge bank of 2cc 2/2 guys is now a bank of 3cc guys but what the deck loses in speed it gains way WAY more in punching power. Tons of rares in here, and many of the best cards are Suspend that I can set up on turn 2 instead of making a guy like I had with the first deck. And when those spells kick in... boy, oh boy this deck hits hard at 5/6cc, and the Coal Stoker was always amazing because of his much I was clumped at 3cc in red spells he was ALWAYS free card out of my hand and that was so strong it felt like cheating. Blue was splashed into the deck for two very strong cards in the Ephemeron and Sol'Kanar, and to be honest there was such a slew of good blue that I could have made a main colour (initially this was UR with a black splash) with tons of curved flyers and a Giant Oyster. In fact boiling the blue down to just two cards was really the toughest deckbuilding decision here as White and Green were too poor to consider even as a splash, and all the playable red and black went into the deck already.
Where my first deck had been running out of steam a little as it crossed the finish line this was a monster truck of a deck that was really only just hitting top gear as it swung for the win. In fact on the first game of the first round I dealt 21 damage on my first attack! I'd spent turn 2 Suspending a Phthisis, turn 3 Suspending an Ephemeron (so now both would resolve on the same turn), turn 4 I killed his creature, turn 5 I made Sol'Kanar to stop him attacking, turn 6 I made a Pardic Dragon, then turn 7 the Phthisis killed a 2/4 Sliver for 6 damage and I swung with 4/4 flying Ephemeron, 5/5 Swampwalk Sol'Kanar, and a 6/4 pumped Pardic Dragon. In for 21, GG! An absolute beating from a real bulldozer aggressive deck that starts hard then gets harder... and that's without ever drawing the Void, Grinning Totem, or Tectonic Fiend. If I had to pick an MVP from this second deck I think it would be the Coal Stoker. as it was absolutely invaluable in ensuring I was aggressive in the matches (plays like only having one mountain then making Coal Stoker and Jaya, or Coal Stoker and Orcish Cannonade) and I think he's the deserving champ of this deck.
Errant Doomsayers (x2)
Benalish Cavalry
Knight Of The Holy Nimbus
Magus Of The Disk
---
Temporal Isolation
Thick-Skinned Goblin
Flowstone Channeler
Viashino Bladescout
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Flamecore Elemental
Firemaw Kavu
Bogardan Rager
---
Grapeshot (x2)
Rift Bolt
Scarwood Treefolk
Durkwood Tracker
---
Thrill Of The Hunt
Assembly Worker (x2)
Pendelhaven
Terramorphic Expanse
Forest
Plains (x7)
Mountain (x7)
This deck went 5-1-0. (5 and a draw)
Not a particularly busted deck, although obviously it benefits from the inclusion of two of the chase Limited bombs in Magus Of The Disk and Jaya Ballard. The only really tough decision I was faced with was playing the Flashback StP or not (W,tap 3 white creatures: remove target monsters. Flashback 5W, tap 3 white creatures) and I think I got it right by leaving it out - although the idea of flashback StP is very attractive the tapping of creatures means a) not being able to cast it a lot of the time, b) when you're defending having to take out 3 of your blockers to kill 1 attacker, c) when you're attacking having to take out 3 attackers to kill 1 blocker. I couldnt think of any time would actually rather tap 3 guys to kill one than just use those guys, and I think that's exactly right, and without the need for white monsters two of the Jedit Dragoons were replaced by Assembly Workers just as mana-curved bodies and that was an extremely good decision as it turned out, those Assembly Workers were very important over the course of the day.
Aside from the rares the rest of the deck lacks punch but has strong synergy and to be honest that won me far more games than either of the rare guys did. For every game that came down to Magus sweeping up 6 of their permanents, there was one that was won decisively on turn 4 when I cast Thrill Of The Hunt, flashed it back, then Grapeshotted his blocker away with the Storm and swung in my guys. In the deck this was all about curve, and I was hoping when building it that I would meet people racking up big Suspend spells and I would be able to do them a whole heap of damage in the meantime. I wasn't confident it was going to work, and as it turned out it was a pretty close run thing - I went 6-0 with the deck but there was really only one opponent who I crushed rapidly and the other matches required me to put some effort into securing the win. Curiously the Magus spent as much time attacking as a 2/4 body as he did blowing stuff up, and while Jaya was amazing when active she had a big target on her. Oh, Flamecore Elemental is seriously tough and well worth the Echo of 2RR, although obviously it's nice when your Thick-Skinned Goblin can cut that back to 0.
Picking out any one card that was better than the rest would be pretty much impossible as to be honest it was a simple case of playing a 2/2 flank Knight, a Gray Ogre Assembly Worker, maybe an Ernest Doomsayer to prevent them blocking then by the time they were beginning to stabilise that sort of offense I was ready to bust out the Stormed Grapeshot or Bogardan Rager and get the win. And if you notice there's very few 'Time Spiral' mechanics like Suspend or Split Second, this is actually a pretty honest and straightforward Sealed deck of monsters and tricks. Timeless. Perhaps that's the answer then - because it was cheap, very easy to cast, very hard to block effectively, and a virtual guarantee that I was the aggressive deck - Benalish Cavalry gets the nod, but it was a genuine team effort in every way.
Onto tournament two, and I got a totally different cardpool but did my best to build a pretty similar deck...
Thick-Skinned Goblin
Flowstone Channeler
Burning Blade Askari
Ironclaw Buzzardier
Basalt Gargoyle
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Coal Stoker
Tectonic Fiend
Pardic Dragon
---
Lightning Axe
Orcish Cannonade
Deathspore Thallid
Pit Keeper
Trespasser il-Vec
Viscid Lemures
Gorgon Recluse
---
Strangling Soot
Tendrils Of Corruption
Phthisis
Errant Ephemeron
Sol'Kanar The Swamp King
---
Void
Grinning Totem
Molten Slagheap
Island (x3)
Swamp (x6)
Mountain (x7)
This deck went 4-0
The main difference is that the huge bank of 2cc 2/2 guys is now a bank of 3cc guys but what the deck loses in speed it gains way WAY more in punching power. Tons of rares in here, and many of the best cards are Suspend that I can set up on turn 2 instead of making a guy like I had with the first deck. And when those spells kick in... boy, oh boy this deck hits hard at 5/6cc, and the Coal Stoker was always amazing because of his much I was clumped at 3cc in red spells he was ALWAYS free card out of my hand and that was so strong it felt like cheating. Blue was splashed into the deck for two very strong cards in the Ephemeron and Sol'Kanar, and to be honest there was such a slew of good blue that I could have made a main colour (initially this was UR with a black splash) with tons of curved flyers and a Giant Oyster. In fact boiling the blue down to just two cards was really the toughest deckbuilding decision here as White and Green were too poor to consider even as a splash, and all the playable red and black went into the deck already.
Where my first deck had been running out of steam a little as it crossed the finish line this was a monster truck of a deck that was really only just hitting top gear as it swung for the win. In fact on the first game of the first round I dealt 21 damage on my first attack! I'd spent turn 2 Suspending a Phthisis, turn 3 Suspending an Ephemeron (so now both would resolve on the same turn), turn 4 I killed his creature, turn 5 I made Sol'Kanar to stop him attacking, turn 6 I made a Pardic Dragon, then turn 7 the Phthisis killed a 2/4 Sliver for 6 damage and I swung with 4/4 flying Ephemeron, 5/5 Swampwalk Sol'Kanar, and a 6/4 pumped Pardic Dragon. In for 21, GG! An absolute beating from a real bulldozer aggressive deck that starts hard then gets harder... and that's without ever drawing the Void, Grinning Totem, or Tectonic Fiend. If I had to pick an MVP from this second deck I think it would be the Coal Stoker. as it was absolutely invaluable in ensuring I was aggressive in the matches (plays like only having one mountain then making Coal Stoker and Jaya, or Coal Stoker and Orcish Cannonade) and I think he's the deserving champ of this deck.
