1 Wildfield Borderpost
1 Mistvein Borderpost
1 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Forest
1 Island
4 Mountain
3 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Obelisk of Jund
1 Nacatl Outlander
1 Stun Sniper
1 Matca Rioters
1 Wall of Denial
1 Jund Sojourners
1 Rhox War Monk
2 Rhox Brute
1 Esper Cormorants
1 Rakeclaw Gargantuan
1 Enlisted Wurm
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Colossal Might
1 Drag Down
1 Resounding Thunder
1 Soul’s Fire
1 Resounding Silence
1 Fiery Fall
1 Esper Panorama
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Jenara, Asura of War
1 Voices from the Void
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Lavalanche
Round 1:
My curve out in game one was met with a Bitumous Blast so that he could keep up. However his collections of 1/1′s were no match for my board of Nactal Outlander, Rhox Brute, Enlisted Wurm, and Sphinx of the Steal Wind.
In the second game, turn two Nactal Outlander basically went the distance. He terminated my big men. I Silenced, Drug Down, Lavalanched, and Souls Fired his men. Along with Voices of the Void on 5 that made him discard Enigma Sphinx.
1-0
Round 2:
My opponent had turn 5 Battlegrace Angel. I was one mana off of Lavalanching it and the rest of his team out, before I had to deal with it by other means or die. I traded alot of me away. Lavalanch was a one for one. Eventually I took a 30 to 5 game, his favor, to a 8 to 26 game, my favor, via Rhox War Monk. Then Drew Artifact Akroma, with protection from my opponent and then drew Resounding Thunder to cap it off.
Game two saw a Wall of Denial hold him at bay. My Jenara was Crystalized. It was just my Wall against his Knight of the Skyward Eye when I played Sphinx of the Steal Wind. He digitally scooped em up.
2-0
Round 3:
My oppoenent only had swamps forest and Kederkt Parasite. I had Rhox Brute and Elisted Wurm flipping removal for the 1/1.
Game two I mulliganed to 5 and he had Blightning to stick it in me. However I came back and got him down two 2 with Lavalanche and Resounding Thunder in hand. I died with 21 cards left in my deck and no red sources. It was very frustrating to claw back into this one and fail to draw a mountain in almost half of my deck.
Game three was looking good until he Voices of the Void on 5 and followed it up with the Blightning for my hand. His Nactal Outlander and Kederkt Parasite took it home while I drew Colossal Might with no creatures on the board.
2-1
After this is where I first realize my error in Red sources. I should have found a way to get one more red source in here. Or cut some of the red cards out. I easily could have played Cylian Elf over the Nactal Outlander or just cut the Outlander for another Mountain.
Round 4:
Enlisted Wurm flipping Voices of the Void caused him to concede, rather than give me information.
My opponent rolled me in the rest of the games. Must be nice, since these games were all close.
2-2
Round 5:
Lavalanched his team in game two. This guy is a champ, despite me only playing Oblivion Ring once in the tournament, he name it with his Meddling Mage. I draw it two turns later.
Lavalanched his face in game three.
3-2
I lost one of the first two games when I had finally gained board position. He top decked, from an empty hand, Slave of Bolas for the win.
Long game three. We killed each others men and drew many lands. Finally I draw Sphinx of the Steal Wind. I find it ironic that I have Colossal Might and Souls Fire in had and my creatures are the afore mentioned Sphinx and Wall of Denial.
4-2
Round 7:
Lost game one in typical 5 Color fashion by not having one of the main colors until it was too late.
Got game two with Lavalanche following it up with Rhox War Monk and Jenara.
Game three he ramped me into Sphinx of Victory with Path to Exile which was likely his only way to kill it.
4 Terminate
1 Terror
3 Thought Hemorrhage
3 Magma Spray
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Banefire
2 Pithing Needle
Round 1 “Slander”
Guy from Toledo – BW Tokens
We started talking about his home town and retards. I asked him who rode the short bus in Toledo. He told me the biggest idiot in Toledo was Ryan Dilgart. Dilgart is so dumb that he once blew Sidney Crosby just to taste greatness. He once had an awkward moment just to see how it felt. He doesn’t always drink beer, but when he does, he drinks dos equis. Stay thirsty Toledo.
1-0
Round 2 “Who watches the watchmen?”
??? – ???
I won this round. I don’t know who I played against. I don’t know what he played. I do know that I smashed. For you enjoyment I present:
2-0
Round 3 “Lose the Clash. Win the Game.”
Kenta – Faeries
Game one he counters one of my spells with Broken Ambitions. He wins the Clash. I mill two Anthemancer and a Hellspark Elemental. Kenta proves his masterfullnessingness by beating me on his play on the double Paris trip. This matchup is supposed to be my best. In game three Kenta had to run out the Bitterblossom on turn 2. I whittle him down with it. We end up in turns. On my last turn I draw Anthemancer and he doesn’t have the counter magic for it.
3-0
Round 4 “SSSSSSSS-Snake”
Stuart Parnes – Elves
My memory is so good that this match could actually have happened one round later.
Stu is a very good player, who deserves respect as a deck builder and player. I really like what his deck had going on. My oral fixation with Putrid Leech has been well documented on the forums at PlayOrDrawGames.com. Stu’s deck has both Leech and Wren’s Run Vanquisher, the only way the two drops could get better is with Tarmogoyf. After throwing Chameleon Colossus and Imperious Perfect in, there are quite a few creatures that demand my attention. The terminates, post board, we’re very important in this matchup so I could save Flame Javelins and Banefires for the Camel-lions.
He also had an interesting wrinkle in his deck, when I was expecting him to Eye-blights Ending my attacking man he ran out the Snakeform instead. I knew I was going to lose my guy, but having him draw a card was just unfair. This was very good for him in game two.
In the deciding game, he got a slower start, some kitchen Finks delayed the inevitable. Which is all they can do. More on Finks as fail boat later on. I eventually started shipping with Demigod of Revenge. Demigod is a substantially sized man with evasion.
4-0
Round 5 “Mirror Match. Ready. Fight.”
BenSW – Rb Deck Wins
As previously noted this could have happened one round earlier.
Ben is a former teammate of mine from team unknown stars. I got booted from the team/message boards because I stopped visiting the forums and Gavin had a post or die thread. I died.
***Begin Strategy***
Drawing first is correct. The extra card is important, because the winner is usually the guy with the last creature to stick or the one with the last burn spell. Missing land drops on the way to flashing back Anthemancer or ramping to Demigod is www.Sadhorns.com
Also you should slow roll your Figure of Destiny until you can evolve him at least twice. You’ll either have a sad Mogg Fanatic in your opponents graveyard and a Figure in you battlefield… ::shivers:: or two Mogg Fanatics in your opponents graveyard and a Figure in yours. That telekinesis Kyle! Or card advantage! Or something! Ben brought in Thought Hemorrhages from his board. I’m a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves (or in the forums). I’ll give you a topic: is bringing in Thought Hemorrhages for the mirror correct or incorrect?
Also the mana base of this deck should definitely be -1 Sulfurous Springs +1 Ghitu Encampment. More on this later.
***End Strategy***
5-0
Round 6 “I’m not even supposed to be here today”
Aaron Brieder – Jund Beats
In game one, I ship to six cards and keep a one lander on the draw. I scoop it up on turn five with one land in play. In the next game, I make a bad play when he Primals gaining 7 life and putting my Ghitu Encampment on the top of my deck. Do you see the problem with this? I did before I redrew the Encampment. I proceed to announce how bad I am just so I can beat everyone else to it. Then Aaron makes the same play again. Thinking that I thought I could fizzle the whole spell (which had two targets) by activating my Encampment and sacrificing my Mogg Fanatic. In reality I just needed to activate my man land so it wouldn’t get plowed. So Aaron gained 14 life this game. When I lost he was at 14 life.
Round 7 “Small price to pay for the smiting ones enemies”
Michael Monroe Stephens – Rafiq
Monroe kicked things of by shipping his hand back twice. Got to be good for me, right? Wrong!
He crushes me with his Rhino. Monroe’s unlucky number is seven. He decides that his five card hand was so good that he’s going to give six a try in games two and three. I smash him in the second game. In game three I get demoralizing victory with peeled Mogg Fanatic to kill his turn one Noble Hierarch. Monroe cries about justice while not playing much. I ask him if he is a god and he says no. “Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a (demi)GOD, you say “YES”!”
6-1
Round 8 “Dinner Time”
Nathan Bramlett – Jund Aggro
I started off with a mulligan, to remove the tomatoes from my sandwich. Had curly fries on turn one. I run out the Turkey Ranch and Bacon on two. On three I played donate, giving the tomatoes to Kyle Boggames. I washed it all down with a tasty beverage. KING KONG AIN’T GOT SHIT ON ME!
I don’t recall much about this match except for the last game. He stalled on two lands. I get to mana for Thought Hemorrhage before he gets to three lands. I decide that I don’t care about the Kitchen Finks, of which I am sure he has at least one in his hand. I get some damage in with my man land instead of Cranial Extractioning the Finks after deciding that I want to get Cryptic or Lark on a later turn. Mostly just to prove something I have been screaming about for weeks:
Kitchen Finks Suck
They are fucking clown shoes. Kitchen Finks are one note jokes that only stoners laugh at.
When I did Extract him on a following turn, he showed a second Finks and a Mannequin. But get this, his deck revealed only TWO Cryptic Commands. I must have looked between his deck and the peanut gallery at least three times with the most bewildered look on my face.
So three Finks and a Reanimated Finks later, I win. The supposed best cards against red lost the red deck, in quantities of four. I would also like to state for the record that none of the Finks were Magma Sprayed and the Makeshifted Finks got to persist.
After the match I asked him about the Cryptic Command and he said he boarded one out. Let me repeat he boarded ONE out. I asked him why he only had three Cryptic Commands, the reason that one plays Blue. He said that he didn’t have enough room. Cheeks overheard this and stated, “If you show me your deck, I will show you 57 worse cards.”
I couldn’t have put it better. Oh and Finks are garbage.
Semifinals “This train is carrying jobs out of Cleveland”
Aaron Wyant – Kithkin from Cleveland
Aaron was from Cleveland, I don’t know how we got to it but needless to say we are both fans of this:
I impressed him by singing the whole first half while applying beats and burns. I mulled to five on the play in game one and he got me. He however didn’t play any Burrenton Forge-Tenders in the second two games, and well placed burn spells and hasty creatures gave me more decision and choices. Also, Volcanic Fallout happens to be good times for red decks. At least we’re not Detroit.
There really isn’t much to say about this match. I wasn’t in game one at all. In game two he one dropped a Burrenton Forge-Tender, which I would later learn was a one of. I was close to a big Banefire, but did not get there in time. Good luck at the PT Kurtis, after googling you it seems you deserved this win far more than I did. It still doesn’t make me any less bitter about losing in the finals. It’s a very unfulfilled feeling.
4 Mulldrifter
3 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Reveillark
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Figure of Destiny
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Cryptic Command
4 Path to Exile
3 Wrath of God
7 Plains
5 Island
4 Mystic Gate
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Mind Stone
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
Sideboard:
2 Wispmare
2 Remove Soul
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Heap Doll
4 Meddling Mage
2 Martial Coup
1 Wrath of God
2 Celestial Purge
If you would like to play this deck, here are the suggested changes:
Land
-1 Sulfurous Springs
+1 Ghitu Encampment
This deck plays a lot of land for a red deck. It needs to so it can get to Anthemancer rebuys and Demigod of Revenge quickly. With all the red needed for this deck I found myself taking pain frequently from the springs. In fact one of the mirror match games I played with BenSW, I was helped out by his spring damaging him. Effectively giving me two free burn spells. The deck can also flood easier than traditional red decks, the fourth Ghitu Encampment gives the deck something to do when it draws a few many land. I really want more man-lands but Mutavault would mess with the core spells need for colored mana too much.
Spells
I think the deck wants all of the Volcanic Fallouts main. I think you would either cut one Incinerate or one Mogg Fanatic. There are just a lot of decks that the fallout is good against right now.
Sideboard:
The only cards I would keep with out a doubt would be:
4x Terminate
3x Magma Spray
(1x Volcanic Fallout if you don’t main board all four)
The Thought Hemorrhages are probably fine as well, but I will note that it never did much of anything when I played it. I am not a fan of this card in general. It does have its applications, Its quite good against cards like Revilark, and combo decks (this deck is particularly vulnerable to combo.)
I wanted to run some Chaotic Backlashes in the board, however I couldn’t get ahold of them before the tourney. I like them in theory, however I didn’t have much problem with the token based decks I played against.
Pithing needle is always a fine choice to fill out a sideboard, and there are many applications for the card in the current standard. Treetop Villages, Planeswalkers, a random story circle. I don’t think you would ever side more than two in, for fear of bringing your threat density too low.
I would be looking for ways to shore up the Revilark matchup. Maybe the terrors in the original decks sideboard were for killing Forge-tenders. Blightnings seem that they could be okay against Lark, however I am not sure if they are a home run. Not sure what to do here. I think I would need more data before making an official suggestion.
Until then Good luck. Now play me off keyboard cat.
1 Drag Down
2 Putrid Leech
2 Singe-Mind Ogre
1 Valley Rannet
6 Swamp
5 Mountain
1 Monstrous Carabid
1 Yoke of the Damned
1 Molten Frame
1 Resounding Roar
1 Mosstodon
1 Sprouting Thrinax
1 Colossal Might
1 Vein Drinker
6 Forest
2 Absorb Vis
1 Bloodhall Ooze
1 Suicidal Charge
1 Giant Ambush Beetle
1 Spore Burst
1 Gift of the Gargantuan
1 Matca Rioters
1 Rhox Charger
Sideboard
1 Etherium Abomination
1 Grixis Illusionist
1 Gustrider Exuberant
1 Rockcaster Platoon
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Esper Battlemage
1 Lapse of Certainty
1 Deny Reality
1 Dreg Reaver
1 Mask of Riddles
1 Nulltread Gargantuan
1 Winged Coatl
1 Island
1 Countersquall
1 Island
1 Jhessian Infiltrator
1 Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer
1 Akrasan Squire
1 Mask of Riddles
1 Bone Saw
1 Volcanic Submersion
Round 1:
Got him with Putrid Leech on turn two of game one. He killed my turn two Leech game 2 and gained a ton of life with Filigree Angel putting him out of range of my alpha strike plus Absorb Vis. In game three I played turn three Macta Rioters and followed it with turn 4 Putrid Leech (awkward but still good) and turn 5 Mostadon. Putting him on his back foot, he had to chump with the Sens Triplets that I opened. Resounding roar sealed the deal when he tried to kill the unblocked Macta Rioters.
Round 2: I played against Mark Herberholtz roomate Phil Atkin. His deck got out of the blocks slowly so even though my start wasn’t that nutty in game one I was able to push through with Resounding Roar. In game two I had turn 2 Putrid Leech again. It must be nice, huh?
Round 3: My opponent was also jund. He got ahead in game one and removed my blockers. In game two I had turn 2 leech… again. Turn three EOT murder his first drop. Follow it with spore burst and combine that with Suicidal Charge to put him out of the game. In the third game we both we’re missing a color for five plus turns (him green, me black) I drew the swamp (he never played a forest) I used Suicidal charge to kill his only two men while I had 9 power on the board. I played two Singe Ogre (who is underrated) one revealed that he had Jund Charm. He cried about the game being unreal sometimes and told me to enjoy the ratings bump. I said nothing. Turn two Putrid Leech says it all. I think it is the best common in Alara Reborn. On turn two it extremely hard to overcome. I also can’t think of many uncommons I would rather have.
This was a spicy one. I really wanted to have the red in there for the ForceField Ogre, +1 on the Voice of the Void (and playing it), and to make my triplets a bigger blow out. However I decided I wanted to be able to cast Martial Coup everytime I needed too.
Round1:
My opponent didn’t do to much just sat there with two pair of Swamp and Plains. Meanwhile I curved Borderpost >> into Grixis Grimblade >> into Brackwater Elemental >> into Tower Gargoyle. In game two he was stuck on land again and I had turn for Tower Gargoyle again. My opponent played Forest, Plains, Swamp this game.
Round 2:
Despite drawing many extra cards with my equipment. My opponent had knotvine mystic into 5/5 4GG and many other men. Could get my 2nd white for Wrath. Game two he played Behemoth Sledge and I couldn’t beat it.
Some weird cuts here. The Bone Splinters b/c i was really light on creatures, esp ones I would sacrifice. This was a really weird draft.
Round 1:
Managed to slow him down and stabilize at 10 in game one before starting to bash with my large Green/White men.
Game two was playing out similarly to game one, until Madrush Cyclops brought his Broodmate Dragon friends.
Game three featured much reanimation. I used Vengful Rebirth to regrow Resounding Silence thus negating his Broodmate Dragon this game. Then archived Sigil Captain plus Necrogenisis for the victory.
Side note Enlisted Wurm, would be called Endless Wurm had there not already been a card of the same name. He is also redonkulous.
Round 2:
Regrowing things is be teh good. Infesting things is better.
Round 3:
This is the man with his own Enlisted Endless Wurm and he also has Bull Cerrodon. I manage to steal game 2 but he eventually out creatures my 10 9 man deck in game three.
This was quite a weird deck. I was suprised to do so well, but some of the cards were quite powerful and I did manage to pull of a slick combo of Necrogenisis and Sigil Captain.
I’ve been having some success with this archtype lately. Aggressive R/B featuring key commons like: Goblin Deathraiders, Manical Rage, Suicidal Charge and cheap removal. In fact almost all of your cards should be three mana or less for this deck to work. The deck plays out much like old school sligh.
I ended up winning with this deck in an 8-4 queue. I won a memrable game where I had my Shambling Remains excommunicated on turns 3, 4, and 5. Suicial Charge was huge against the bant/exalted deck in the finals, that also had two protection from black bears.
I don’t remember much about this draft except that I won some real close games in the finals, by just barely holding back my opponent until I got to martial coup mana and then going into top deck mode at low life. I really thought that the first game in which I did this I was going to lose after Martial Couping for the first time ever in the history of AAC drafts.
