Against mill... try boarding in your entire sideboard, as well as a strong playset of Hope//Pray.
I don't think that that matchup is winnable at all.
I boarded those in against Living End the past 2 times I played against it...and I won! It brought me luck. Thanks for the responses regarding Merfolk. I felt as much, but I feel that many of the players I play against can be baited to run it out on turn 2.
Round 1 vs. Merfolk. This is the guy who I saw last week and I played Humans against, winning 2-1. This time, I have Sweltering Suns, Lightning Bolt, and ramp up to win in game 1 and Anger of the Gods, Lightning Bolt X 2, and ramp to win in the next off Prime Time. Easy games, although my friend, an avid Merfolk player, said that he misplayed by not leaving up Spell Pierce when I had 5 mana coming up for a devastating Hour of Promise. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Dredge. His hand and dredges are slow in game 1. He dredges 3 Bloodghast and of course, he loses the next turn to Prismatic Omen/Scapeshift. In the next game, he starts slowly but gets 3 Prized Amalgam and Narcomoeba on turn 3. I play Anger of the Gods to be safe and win 2 turns later as he has no gas. I good sign was when his first Dredge of 4 off Insolent Neonate put Thoughtseize and Collective Brutality in the graveyard. Love to see those cards there and not in his hand! 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Mono Green Infect. This guy was a newer player running a budget deck. The Infect deck had him at 2-0 so far though. In both games, he tapped out on turn 2 for a Infect dude and I Bolted it right away. I still had another Lightning Bolt in hand when I won off Prismatic Omen again in the 2nd game. I think he should have run it out on turn 3 with protection, but I'm not sure if he really considered that. His friend said that he should have double Mutagenic Growth the creature on turn 2 to protect it from Lightning Bolt. I could have done the 2nd Bolt, but it would have put more pressure on me. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Living End. He beats me in the first one with an midgame Living End. I had a good ramp, but Beast Within and Fulminator Mage slowed me down. I'm about to win, casting Prime Time, but he does Kari Zev's Expertise and it's 1 over lethal. In the next game, he does a Slaughter Games, naming Prime Time. I Scapeshift 2 turns later. He made a mistake not running out the 2nd Slaughter Games because the Hour of Promise that I had was a much slower kill. Then in the last game, he names Scapeshift and Prime Time wrecks him. I end up mulliganing and then scrying a Relic of Progenitus to the top. He oddly did a Beast Within on my green source, instead of freeing up the graveyard on my Relic. I ended up drawing 2 more this game, but I killed him the turn after drawing my 3rd. So I didn't need to play it. Almost got stuck off 1 Green mana, but Hour of Promise was very promising again. I am now a HUGE fan of the card! 2-1.
I finish 4-0. I feel a little badly running a super good deck at this particular FNM, which is fairly easy and has some budget players. But then again, I really want the Fatal Push. I asked a friend if I should run Titan Shift or Knightfall. He said immediately that I should play Titan Shift. It's the better deck and super good in this meta where no one really tries to metagame against it and there are a lot of good matchups.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
FNM report for you all. 21 people in I imagine these will be higher than usual with the FNM promo this month (because the quality of the promo has nothing to do with attendance Wizards). Finished 2-2 10th over all.
Round 1: Merfolk 2-0. Ramp, ramp titan seals game 1. Game 2 ramp, ramp titan with my opponent using tec edge on a valakut instead of mountain. Board in Anger and Chalice to try and stop Aether Vial in place of 3 Hour of Promise.
Round 2: Burn 0-2. Game 1 within a few life of killing opponent but killed. Game 2 saw my baloth but no significant effect and no chalice. Board in 2 Chalice and 2 Baloth in place of 1 Hour of Promise and 2 Scapeshift.
Round 3: little kid abzan 2-0. ramp, ramp titan both games with scapeshift in hand. Bringing in Rec Sage, Beastwithin and Anger mostly in case of Layline and to deal with Lingering Souls in place 3 of Hour of Promise.
Round 4: Esper Mill 0-2: Game 1 I committed the cardinal sin and forgot to pay for pact with lethal in hand. Game 2 was close but I was greedy and bolted face instead of Hedron Crab late which milled me for 6 before chump blocking. Crypt Incursion put him back to 30 and Snappy Glimpse ate the last 6 of my library. Boarded in 1 Chameleon Colossus, 2 Baloth for extra threats in place of 3 Hour of Promise.
Things to learn and obviously need to remember to pay for pact, at least it was only FNM instead of PPTQ or GP. Ive not been all that impressed by Hour of Promise and boarded at least one out in every second game, Im considering putting Explore back in its place. Hope this is helpful.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Dude i'm pretty sure you could have called a judge. It's just fnm. they would have let you rewind nine times out of ten.
This is easy to say because it has been your experience.
This is my experience. I also thought that FNM was super casual, but it's not. It's at Regular REL. Casual REL events are deemed that way and are pretty rare - an example would be a 3 way Commander tournament at FNM. I also let the same guy rewind his Pact trigger (Slaughter Pact) 2 times in a 3 week span because I thought it was the Regular REL rules. I let him take it back, despite the fact that I had played a lot of Bloom Titan, missing the Pact trigger not once (have missed it twice since with Titanshift, once on purpose and once when I wouldn't have won anyways). I also want to point out that this same player won nearly every 30-50 person FNM (1st place) when I was playing Standard and even afterward, so he's not a newer player that "has an excuse" if someone here thinks that matters (it shouldn't). I called the Judge from the FNM on the phone later. Here's what he said. He said that land drops are allowed to be taken back. Plays can be taken back if close to that time. But it's "up to me" to allow him to take back his Pact trigger. If I knew that, I wouldn't have allowed it. Why would I allow it if I didn't have to? Just like why would I tell him he can't take it back when I know that he can? I thought that it would be a take back, like most things FNM, so I figured, why try to call him on it? That phone call that I made to the Judge weeks later clarified a lot for me.
But you have to realize this - 9 times out of 10, the "Judge" at an FNM is not a Magic Judge. So, they can call it any way they want. I had a Judge call years ago in Standard when an opponent did Green Sun's Zenith for 5 with 3 mana up search up a Primeval Titan. He was allowed to take it back now that he knew I didn't have Mana Leak and do it for 6. Sad. Even a certified Judge can call things the way they want.
In the end, you're right though. He should have at least called the Judge unless he personally wants to hold himself to a higher standard, which many players DO want to do. Not everybody wants a Judge to back up their sloppy play, regardless of the REL. And I'm somewhat sorry that I did a long post. I used to HATE people who responded waaaay too long to a post that needs very little. But I feel that hopefully this helps clear up some kind of confusion for some players. Basically, check with the Judge and then live with their ruling, regardless of correctness.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Im pretty sure that its up to the opponent if they allow it in cases like this. Anyway I would prefer to be strict with myself to get into good habits.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Played in a 74 person PPTQ today. I feel kind of like a broken record, but it's a good place to vent the salt, lol.
Round 1 vs. GB Tron. Map into turn 3 Tron. Doesn't get Karn, just some Stars. Then on turn 4, no Ulamog. He gets Kozilek of the Great Distortion. Prismatic Omen was out, so Scapeshift was a million. In the next game, he only got a lonely Karn on turn 4, which I Lightning Bolted and then he didn't have much else while I Prime Timed. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Burn. I Lightning Bolt his dude. Then I ramp. He has some burn. I am at 1 and win next turn with Omen and Shift. He draws and a blank. The next one is similar, but he waited until I had lethal before playing his Skullcrack. I think it's a mistake, since I only had 1 mana open at EoT for his turn. I can still just play it on my turn after I have lethal on the stack, right? Didn't matter. In the next game, I resolve turn 3 Obstinate Baloth into turn 4 Kitchen Finks and Farseek. He killed a Prismatic Omen with Destructive Revelry. Is that worth siding vs. us? He's a good Burn player that I know from a team and he sided 4 of them against me. I end up getting there pretty easily, cruising with a bunch of attacks from my creatures immediately and Lighting Bolt on my Kitchen Finks in response to his Lightning Helix on it to prevent the life gain. The Ob Baloth does the last 4. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Knightfall. He does fetch/BoP. Then fetch and...NOT Knight of the Reliquary, thank God. Retreat to Coralhelm. He does a Collected Company to try for Knight EoT, but gets 2 Noble Hierarch. I drew a Valakut and had Prismatic Omen out, so Hour of Promise was 18 damage. In the next one, he has Knight while I'm ramping. I have Scapeshift for lethal, except that he has untapped Ghost Quarter. I get him to use it to save his Knight of the Reliquary from my Lightning Bolt, then draw a land the next turn for Scapeshift. He had previously Disdainful Stroked a Prime Time. Now he has Negate, but I had drawn another copy of Scapeshift the turn before. One more turn and it's over. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Affinity. Turn 1, Memnite, Ornithopter, Steel Overseer, etc. on the play. The funny thing is that I thought I would draw Sweltering Suns and get it before it got out of hand, granted he doesn't draw something else super good. But I drew 4 land and lost on turn 5. In the next game, I had Lightning Bolt and Sweltering Suns. He got Vault Skirge and Cranial Plating. I took some hits, but was forced to do Sweltering Suns for 1 Skirge and Bolt the Inkmoth Nexus. Blinkmoth Nexus with Cranial Plating finished me off when a cast Signal Pest is enough for lethal. 0-2.
Round 5 vs. Blue Moon. He got stuck on 5 land. So I just ramped up until I had Prime Time AND Scapeshift on the same turn. It sounds odd, but I'd rather not play into 3 Cryptic Command. He missed 2 more land drops and Cryptic Commanded Prime Time, paving the way for a lethal Scapeshift. In the next game, he got Blood Moon and had enough pressure to get me. His hand was more pressure and despite the fact that I got on board first and had Kitchen Finks, Vendilion Clique finished me off. He also had Bloon Moon out and only 2 BLUE sources, but topdecked an Island with a card in hand to Cryptic my Prime Time. Game. In the last game on the play for me, I Beast Within his land to force my Hour of Promise through next turn. It works and he taps out for Vendilion Clique during my upkeep. I have Prime Time AND Summoner's Pact, so he takes the Prime Time. I Pact and do the Valakut triggers to kill Beast, Snapcaster Mage, and Vendilion Clique. I had to allow a topdecked Blood Moon to kill me. He did Serum Visions, but couldn't find it. It was the next card scryed. The epitome of Modern, kind of like when I hope to draw hate vs. Affinity, but see only lands as my draw steps. 2-1.
Round 6 vs. GDS. He does some Thoughtseizes and a Tasigur, but I have a really gassy hand. I get Prime Time into play and he makes short work of him. In the next game, it is similar, but my hand was a little less gassy and I resolve Prime Time. I probably made a mistake of putting only a 2nd and 3rd Valakut into play with a land in hand. I should have killed at least 1 of his creatures, as Death's Shadow, Young Pyromancer, and 3 tokens killed my Prime Time. I played Mountain and he's at 2 now. He draws and plays Death's Shadow/Tasigur. I draw Farseek. Stubborn Denial. I draw Chameleon Colossus, but he has 2 lethal attackers. I considered not playing the Mountain, but I figured my next draw step would be a Mountain for lethal, so I may as well. I could have also opted not to do as much damage since 1 Mountain does 9 and he's at a low life total anyway, but I think the mistake was not killing at least 1 creature. I felt that he may top deck Terminate and I lose because of that when I just need to draw a Mountain in 2 turns. I'm eliminated at 4-2. 1-2.
Round 7 vs. ?. I dropped out, so 0-2.
I finish 4-3. I had a win-and-draw-in during Round 6, but alas, I could not get it done vs. Shadow. I could have played the final round for 5-2 and 9th-16th, which means nothing to me. But it was super hot and it ... started raining. I wanted to just get home to my family since I couldn't make the top 8. I feel pretty frustrated making a lot of posts about NOT winning PPTQs, but that's the way this season is going. Hopefully it makes me a stronger player. I'm having pretty good luck on the way. There's just usually someone else who's luck is a bit better or has a Judge friend judging.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
He killed a Prismatic Omen with Destructive Revelry. Is that worth siding vs. us? He's a good Burn player that I know from a team and he sided 4 of them against me.
Burn players tend do oversideboard with Destructive Revelry. They brought 4 in when I was playing Merfolk (4 Vials), Bant Eldrazi (2 Spellskite) and Titanshift (2 Omens). I think in none of these 3 matchups it's correct for the Burn player to bring in 4 copies. There is just a very large chance that they won't find a target. And I always try to make that chance 0% postboard (If they saw something). You killed him Game 1 with Omen out. There is a really good chance that he is scared of it and brings in Destructive Revelry. If I were in your position I would have taken out the Omens Game 2 and make Revelries a dead 4-of in his deck. We can still kill them Turn 4 with Scapeshift (more likely if he has dead cards in hand) or Turn 5 the latest if we've drawn some interaction.
Good run, I know your feel about Affinity. I just hate playing against that deck, as it is so "hate-draw" dependent and normal interaction isn't enough. But you were on the edge of winning against GDS and seemed to be really close, so keep up the grinding, I'm sure next time you'll make it:) Next two weekends I'm attending 2 PPTQ's as well:)
Thanks. It's been really tough for me because I've had some things go my way somewhat recently. Before the PPTQ system, I had top 8ed 25 of 52 PTQs that I attended in my lifetime, but had never won A SINGLE ONE. So, winning the first every PPTQ that I played in made me feel like I got that giant monkey off my back. Then, the other 2 PPTQ wins came pretty easily as well. Now I have to get the RPTQ monkey off my back as well.
I think a huge problem that I have is that I respect my opponents too much. I have a friend whose on my level at Magic and he said as much. He had been a big help for me, just talking with him, but he hasn't played for 4 months now. I considered taking out Prismatic Omen, but I did not think that he would put in Destructive Revelry. This guy is one of the best local Burn players that I know, but he has a lot of family considerations (which I can identify with too), so maybe that can throw off his game as well. The other guy I played last week was one of those guys that I've seen for the past 12 years at local tournaments. He always plays Burn and he top 8s sometimes too, although it's usually more his son who top 8s. So, I assumed he knows how to play it super well since I had not actually seen him in action. And I could be correct about him as well. Maybe he just had a brain fart. I considered taking out the Prismatic Omens because it doesn't hurt even if Revelry doesn't come in, but I felt like I wanted a quicker kill when I assumed that they wouldn't come in. (Remember, my last opponent died after playing one on my Prismatic Omen because he had one in hand, but no target.) I personally think it's just too risky for a deck like Burn to side it when the games SO, SO often come down to topdecking a Burn spell. I could certainly be incorrect, as I don't play Burn and haven't played it ever, outside of 1 PTQ, and 3 tournaments when Treasure Cruise was legal and played in Burn.
Yep, Affinity is just so draw dependent. I don't know if I mulligan to hate. I can certainly do so, but I feel that I have to have trust in my deck too. 4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Sweltering Suns, 1 Anger of the Gods, 2 Summoner's Pact, Reclamation Sage, 2 Beast Within, Ancient Grudge, and Nature's Claim are all possible options to draw, although no 1 of those will beat Affinity on its own. Also a quick turn 4 kill gets them as well. The last few times I've depended on drawing hate, it hasn't worked out well and the last game where I had Lightning Bolt and Sweltering Suns, they were just not enough.
I just hope all the failures can help me get better. I'm going to have a talk with a guy from that local team who grinded a whole season without winning one, but with so many close calls, but then won his first one last season (before this current Modern one). He may have some perspective for me. I always hear that failures make you a better player or person in other cases, but I felt that I paid those dues with so many PTQ top 8s without a single win.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Revelry from burn is more in fear of Chalice on 1 which they basically can't beat. How have you found the Finks in the SB? presumably its for the burn matchup which is far and away my most common loss.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
I had a friend around the time of the Las Vegas Modern Grand Prix who had been running 2 of them for quite a while. I really doubted him for it and said that I don't want to have a card that's only good in 1 matchup. But after seeing the percentage of Burn players increase locally, they because a necessity. And I have used them against Death's Shadow as a speed bump and against some Control decks when I transform to a deck trying to win with creatures, just having Valakut as a by product. My theory from what I see at PPTQs is that Burn players are not winning the PPTQ, so there are more of them trying to get the next PPTQ. A Jeskai Geist ended up winning this PPTQ that I left early at. Against him, my friend forgot to pay Summoner's Pact in the top 4 match where he would have won otherwise, granting him a Titanshift/E Tron finals. He is a newer player, especially to competitive, and it was his first PPTQ this season, so I can't be that mad.
I didn't consider the use against Chalice. I would love to run some Chalice, but I feel it's really a 4 of and I can't justify using 4 slots for it right now. I may get down with a 3 of, but even in Grishoalbrand (in just a few matches with it), I found 3 somewhat tough to get to in time. And that's with Faithless Looting, Cathartic Reunion, and Night's Whisper. Witchbane Orb is probably much better on the play than on the draw. I guess most things are, lol.
I still run 2 Beast Within in the SB. The card is just so versatile. It kills Planeswalkers. It complements my SB artifact/enchantment hate. It is the card for the mirror and Tron decks for land destruction. I don't know what I'd do without this card, that I see literally NO ONE else playing. I also put all of the Relics in the SB. Hour of Promise seems like the real deal and I run 3 now.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I still run 2 Beast Within in the SB. The card is just so versatile. It kills Planeswalkers. It complements my SB artifact/enchantment hate. It is the card for the mirror and Tron decks for land destruction. I don't know what I'd do without this card, that I see literally NO ONE else playing.
If you look on MTG Goldfish most lists have 1-2 Beast within. It is definitely seeing play. Will 100% agree about it's usfeulness and versatility. I'm currently not sure if 1x rec sage, and 1x beast within, or 1x rec sage, and 2x beast within is correct. Especially since our SB's are so tight already....
I use 2 Chalice and the games it comes up in are often decided by it and often worth mulling into as the deck is very mulligan resistant. Basically makes infect winnable, slows burn to a crawl and is a speed bump for delver, control or Shadow decks. Beast within has been pretty good for me although I only run it as a 1 of with rec sage and Revelry as my other two bits of small sideboard enchantment/ artifact hate.
I've not been that impressed by Hour, im currently running 3 MB but am considering taking it out and reverting to 3x Explore and swapping Wood Elves for Courser of Kruphix. I can think of a handful of times where it has been game ending but a lot more of the time it feels clunky whereas Explore digs deeper and, especially with Courser, really racks the land count up. Arguably it relies on you having a land heavy hand but in our deck this is quite common.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Yeah, I think the Beast Withins locally have died down or I probably just rarely see the 1 copy. I would love to go down to 1 as well so I could play a dedicated Control "hate" card like Thrun, the Last Troll or Gaea's Revenge, but I often rarely see the card come up as it is and the land destruction part of it is invaluable. I could streamline it and run 1 Crumble to Dust and 1 Gaea's Revenge, but it's less versatile. I should have recognized that mtggoldfish would come up with some lists with them. I haven't looked there since the change of not showing as much data by WotC.
Chalice of the Void is certainly useful. The main problem for me is that mulling to the card has rarely worked for me, but then I don't mull past 5 if I have a playable hand that can win. Against Burn, I could easily see a situation where the Destructive Revelry it and your hand was slowed down enough by mulling for them to win. For Infect, it would be tougher to find Viridian Corrupter if they did even side it in, but mulling to a card like that is certainly a risky proposition (mostly because it can affect your hand to mull too much, as opposed to it being destroyed, which is a smaller consideration).
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
What do you guys think of Kozilek's Return? In my meta Dredge is a dead deck and the Exile + 1 more damage effect of Anger wasn't really important the last matches/weeks. The instant speed seems much more appealing to me as I still have many troubles against Affinity (Which is a popular deck around here) despite playing all the hate. The normal wrath's just aren't "as good" against them. An instant speed wrath dealing with the manlands is great, and you can cast it in response to a Steel Overseer activation. The instant speed also helps in many other matchups as you can wait for them to play more creatures, I don't think anyone expects this wrath from our deck. 2 damage is also enough to kill/slow down Abzan Company (except Kitchen Finks, it's worse there), Elves, Death&Taxes, Burn and any Token decks.
Why not just pyroclasm then?
Especially against elves it can be too late to deal 2 dmg for 3 mana.
I have no experience with Pyroclasm, but I wanna try out Kozilek's Return because of the Instant speed and how powerful it sounds against Affinity. Pyroclasm sounds interesting because you can cast it on Turn 2, which makes it much better when you're on the draw. Has anyone else experience with those two sweepers? Is the 2 mana really worth it, because I feel the 1 mana less wouldn't matter to often.
Hey guys, I've been running the Prismatic Omen/Hour of Promise list for a while now, and I absolutely hate how at the mercy of the match up/draw the deck feels. There are some match ups that are virtually unwinnable game 1, and other match ups are so sideboard dependent that you lose if you don't hit a specific card in the opening hand or first couple of draws. Nothing is more frustrating/demoralizing than having a UW player drop a turn 2 Ruined Halo then having them sit back laughing at you, knowing full well that you got jack all to deal with it mainboard.
Some days I go undefeated, others I get destroyed, despite the decks and players being consistent....just a coin toss.
Surely there is a way to keep the core of the deck while adding in more interactive elements to add consistency. I am considering splashing black and adding in Abrupt Decays mainboard for more universal removal. Having access to Maelstrom Pulse/Slaughter Games/Discard in sideboard also seems nice. Anyone ever try anything like this? Thoughts?
Im still not altogether fond of the third colour splash. In this case you may want to just run 1 or 2 rec sages mainboard which can be fetched with pact and provides a blocking body. I'll do some bolts to complement it.
Anyway a UW list with runed halo mainboard is metagamed to fight valakut decks anyway
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I don't think that that matchup is winnable at all.
RG Titan Scapeshift GR
UBWAd Nauseam WBU
CEldrazi TronC
I boarded those in against Living End the past 2 times I played against it...and I won! It brought me luck. Thanks for the responses regarding Merfolk. I felt as much, but I feel that many of the players I play against can be baited to run it out on turn 2.
Played in a 13 person FNM - Fatal Push FNM.
Round 1 vs. Merfolk. This is the guy who I saw last week and I played Humans against, winning 2-1. This time, I have Sweltering Suns, Lightning Bolt, and ramp up to win in game 1 and Anger of the Gods, Lightning Bolt X 2, and ramp to win in the next off Prime Time. Easy games, although my friend, an avid Merfolk player, said that he misplayed by not leaving up Spell Pierce when I had 5 mana coming up for a devastating Hour of Promise. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Dredge. His hand and dredges are slow in game 1. He dredges 3 Bloodghast and of course, he loses the next turn to Prismatic Omen/Scapeshift. In the next game, he starts slowly but gets 3 Prized Amalgam and Narcomoeba on turn 3. I play Anger of the Gods to be safe and win 2 turns later as he has no gas. I good sign was when his first Dredge of 4 off Insolent Neonate put Thoughtseize and Collective Brutality in the graveyard. Love to see those cards there and not in his hand! 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Mono Green Infect. This guy was a newer player running a budget deck. The Infect deck had him at 2-0 so far though. In both games, he tapped out on turn 2 for a Infect dude and I Bolted it right away. I still had another Lightning Bolt in hand when I won off Prismatic Omen again in the 2nd game. I think he should have run it out on turn 3 with protection, but I'm not sure if he really considered that. His friend said that he should have double Mutagenic Growth the creature on turn 2 to protect it from Lightning Bolt. I could have done the 2nd Bolt, but it would have put more pressure on me. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Living End. He beats me in the first one with an midgame Living End. I had a good ramp, but Beast Within and Fulminator Mage slowed me down. I'm about to win, casting Prime Time, but he does Kari Zev's Expertise and it's 1 over lethal. In the next game, he does a Slaughter Games, naming Prime Time. I Scapeshift 2 turns later. He made a mistake not running out the 2nd Slaughter Games because the Hour of Promise that I had was a much slower kill. Then in the last game, he names Scapeshift and Prime Time wrecks him. I end up mulliganing and then scrying a Relic of Progenitus to the top. He oddly did a Beast Within on my green source, instead of freeing up the graveyard on my Relic. I ended up drawing 2 more this game, but I killed him the turn after drawing my 3rd. So I didn't need to play it. Almost got stuck off 1 Green mana, but Hour of Promise was very promising again. I am now a HUGE fan of the card! 2-1.
I finish 4-0. I feel a little badly running a super good deck at this particular FNM, which is fairly easy and has some budget players. But then again, I really want the Fatal Push. I asked a friend if I should run Titan Shift or Knightfall. He said immediately that I should play Titan Shift. It's the better deck and super good in this meta where no one really tries to metagame against it and there are a lot of good matchups.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1: Merfolk 2-0. Ramp, ramp titan seals game 1. Game 2 ramp, ramp titan with my opponent using tec edge on a valakut instead of mountain. Board in Anger and Chalice to try and stop Aether Vial in place of 3 Hour of Promise.
Round 2: Burn 0-2. Game 1 within a few life of killing opponent but killed. Game 2 saw my baloth but no significant effect and no chalice. Board in 2 Chalice and 2 Baloth in place of 1 Hour of Promise and 2 Scapeshift.
Round 3: little kid abzan 2-0. ramp, ramp titan both games with scapeshift in hand. Bringing in Rec Sage, Beastwithin and Anger mostly in case of Layline and to deal with Lingering Souls in place 3 of Hour of Promise.
Round 4: Esper Mill 0-2: Game 1 I committed the cardinal sin and forgot to pay for pact with lethal in hand. Game 2 was close but I was greedy and bolted face instead of Hedron Crab late which milled me for 6 before chump blocking. Crypt Incursion put him back to 30 and Snappy Glimpse ate the last 6 of my library. Boarded in 1 Chameleon Colossus, 2 Baloth for extra threats in place of 3 Hour of Promise.
Things to learn and obviously need to remember to pay for pact, at least it was only FNM instead of PPTQ or GP. Ive not been all that impressed by Hour of Promise and boarded at least one out in every second game, Im considering putting Explore back in its place. Hope this is helpful.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
This is easy to say because it has been your experience.
This is my experience. I also thought that FNM was super casual, but it's not. It's at Regular REL. Casual REL events are deemed that way and are pretty rare - an example would be a 3 way Commander tournament at FNM. I also let the same guy rewind his Pact trigger (Slaughter Pact) 2 times in a 3 week span because I thought it was the Regular REL rules. I let him take it back, despite the fact that I had played a lot of Bloom Titan, missing the Pact trigger not once (have missed it twice since with Titanshift, once on purpose and once when I wouldn't have won anyways). I also want to point out that this same player won nearly every 30-50 person FNM (1st place) when I was playing Standard and even afterward, so he's not a newer player that "has an excuse" if someone here thinks that matters (it shouldn't). I called the Judge from the FNM on the phone later. Here's what he said. He said that land drops are allowed to be taken back. Plays can be taken back if close to that time. But it's "up to me" to allow him to take back his Pact trigger. If I knew that, I wouldn't have allowed it. Why would I allow it if I didn't have to? Just like why would I tell him he can't take it back when I know that he can? I thought that it would be a take back, like most things FNM, so I figured, why try to call him on it? That phone call that I made to the Judge weeks later clarified a lot for me.
But you have to realize this - 9 times out of 10, the "Judge" at an FNM is not a Magic Judge. So, they can call it any way they want. I had a Judge call years ago in Standard when an opponent did Green Sun's Zenith for 5 with 3 mana up search up a Primeval Titan. He was allowed to take it back now that he knew I didn't have Mana Leak and do it for 6. Sad. Even a certified Judge can call things the way they want.
In the end, you're right though. He should have at least called the Judge unless he personally wants to hold himself to a higher standard, which many players DO want to do. Not everybody wants a Judge to back up their sloppy play, regardless of the REL. And I'm somewhat sorry that I did a long post. I used to HATE people who responded waaaay too long to a post that needs very little. But I feel that hopefully this helps clear up some kind of confusion for some players. Basically, check with the Judge and then live with their ruling, regardless of correctness.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Round 1 vs. GB Tron. Map into turn 3 Tron. Doesn't get Karn, just some Stars. Then on turn 4, no Ulamog. He gets Kozilek of the Great Distortion. Prismatic Omen was out, so Scapeshift was a million. In the next game, he only got a lonely Karn on turn 4, which I Lightning Bolted and then he didn't have much else while I Prime Timed. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Burn. I Lightning Bolt his dude. Then I ramp. He has some burn. I am at 1 and win next turn with Omen and Shift. He draws and a blank. The next one is similar, but he waited until I had lethal before playing his Skullcrack. I think it's a mistake, since I only had 1 mana open at EoT for his turn. I can still just play it on my turn after I have lethal on the stack, right? Didn't matter. In the next game, I resolve turn 3 Obstinate Baloth into turn 4 Kitchen Finks and Farseek. He killed a Prismatic Omen with Destructive Revelry. Is that worth siding vs. us? He's a good Burn player that I know from a team and he sided 4 of them against me. I end up getting there pretty easily, cruising with a bunch of attacks from my creatures immediately and Lighting Bolt on my Kitchen Finks in response to his Lightning Helix on it to prevent the life gain. The Ob Baloth does the last 4. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Knightfall. He does fetch/BoP. Then fetch and...NOT Knight of the Reliquary, thank God. Retreat to Coralhelm. He does a Collected Company to try for Knight EoT, but gets 2 Noble Hierarch. I drew a Valakut and had Prismatic Omen out, so Hour of Promise was 18 damage. In the next one, he has Knight while I'm ramping. I have Scapeshift for lethal, except that he has untapped Ghost Quarter. I get him to use it to save his Knight of the Reliquary from my Lightning Bolt, then draw a land the next turn for Scapeshift. He had previously Disdainful Stroked a Prime Time. Now he has Negate, but I had drawn another copy of Scapeshift the turn before. One more turn and it's over. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Affinity. Turn 1, Memnite, Ornithopter, Steel Overseer, etc. on the play. The funny thing is that I thought I would draw Sweltering Suns and get it before it got out of hand, granted he doesn't draw something else super good. But I drew 4 land and lost on turn 5. In the next game, I had Lightning Bolt and Sweltering Suns. He got Vault Skirge and Cranial Plating. I took some hits, but was forced to do Sweltering Suns for 1 Skirge and Bolt the Inkmoth Nexus. Blinkmoth Nexus with Cranial Plating finished me off when a cast Signal Pest is enough for lethal. 0-2.
Round 5 vs. Blue Moon. He got stuck on 5 land. So I just ramped up until I had Prime Time AND Scapeshift on the same turn. It sounds odd, but I'd rather not play into 3 Cryptic Command. He missed 2 more land drops and Cryptic Commanded Prime Time, paving the way for a lethal Scapeshift. In the next game, he got Blood Moon and had enough pressure to get me. His hand was more pressure and despite the fact that I got on board first and had Kitchen Finks, Vendilion Clique finished me off. He also had Bloon Moon out and only 2 BLUE sources, but topdecked an Island with a card in hand to Cryptic my Prime Time. Game. In the last game on the play for me, I Beast Within his land to force my Hour of Promise through next turn. It works and he taps out for Vendilion Clique during my upkeep. I have Prime Time AND Summoner's Pact, so he takes the Prime Time. I Pact and do the Valakut triggers to kill Beast, Snapcaster Mage, and Vendilion Clique. I had to allow a topdecked Blood Moon to kill me. He did Serum Visions, but couldn't find it. It was the next card scryed. The epitome of Modern, kind of like when I hope to draw hate vs. Affinity, but see only lands as my draw steps. 2-1.
Round 6 vs. GDS. He does some Thoughtseizes and a Tasigur, but I have a really gassy hand. I get Prime Time into play and he makes short work of him. In the next game, it is similar, but my hand was a little less gassy and I resolve Prime Time. I probably made a mistake of putting only a 2nd and 3rd Valakut into play with a land in hand. I should have killed at least 1 of his creatures, as Death's Shadow, Young Pyromancer, and 3 tokens killed my Prime Time. I played Mountain and he's at 2 now. He draws and plays Death's Shadow/Tasigur. I draw Farseek. Stubborn Denial. I draw Chameleon Colossus, but he has 2 lethal attackers. I considered not playing the Mountain, but I figured my next draw step would be a Mountain for lethal, so I may as well. I could have also opted not to do as much damage since 1 Mountain does 9 and he's at a low life total anyway, but I think the mistake was not killing at least 1 creature. I felt that he may top deck Terminate and I lose because of that when I just need to draw a Mountain in 2 turns. I'm eliminated at 4-2. 1-2.
Round 7 vs. ?. I dropped out, so 0-2.
I finish 4-3. I had a win-and-draw-in during Round 6, but alas, I could not get it done vs. Shadow. I could have played the final round for 5-2 and 9th-16th, which means nothing to me. But it was super hot and it ... started raining. I wanted to just get home to my family since I couldn't make the top 8. I feel pretty frustrated making a lot of posts about NOT winning PPTQs, but that's the way this season is going. Hopefully it makes me a stronger player. I'm having pretty good luck on the way. There's just usually someone else who's luck is a bit better or has a Judge friend judging.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Burn players tend do oversideboard with Destructive Revelry. They brought 4 in when I was playing Merfolk (4 Vials), Bant Eldrazi (2 Spellskite) and Titanshift (2 Omens). I think in none of these 3 matchups it's correct for the Burn player to bring in 4 copies. There is just a very large chance that they won't find a target. And I always try to make that chance 0% postboard (If they saw something). You killed him Game 1 with Omen out. There is a really good chance that he is scared of it and brings in Destructive Revelry. If I were in your position I would have taken out the Omens Game 2 and make Revelries a dead 4-of in his deck. We can still kill them Turn 4 with Scapeshift (more likely if he has dead cards in hand) or Turn 5 the latest if we've drawn some interaction.
Good run, I know your feel about Affinity. I just hate playing against that deck, as it is so "hate-draw" dependent and normal interaction isn't enough. But you were on the edge of winning against GDS and seemed to be really close, so keep up the grinding, I'm sure next time you'll make it:) Next two weekends I'm attending 2 PPTQ's as well:)
I think a huge problem that I have is that I respect my opponents too much. I have a friend whose on my level at Magic and he said as much. He had been a big help for me, just talking with him, but he hasn't played for 4 months now. I considered taking out Prismatic Omen, but I did not think that he would put in Destructive Revelry. This guy is one of the best local Burn players that I know, but he has a lot of family considerations (which I can identify with too), so maybe that can throw off his game as well. The other guy I played last week was one of those guys that I've seen for the past 12 years at local tournaments. He always plays Burn and he top 8s sometimes too, although it's usually more his son who top 8s. So, I assumed he knows how to play it super well since I had not actually seen him in action. And I could be correct about him as well. Maybe he just had a brain fart. I considered taking out the Prismatic Omens because it doesn't hurt even if Revelry doesn't come in, but I felt like I wanted a quicker kill when I assumed that they wouldn't come in. (Remember, my last opponent died after playing one on my Prismatic Omen because he had one in hand, but no target.) I personally think it's just too risky for a deck like Burn to side it when the games SO, SO often come down to topdecking a Burn spell. I could certainly be incorrect, as I don't play Burn and haven't played it ever, outside of 1 PTQ, and 3 tournaments when Treasure Cruise was legal and played in Burn.
Yep, Affinity is just so draw dependent. I don't know if I mulligan to hate. I can certainly do so, but I feel that I have to have trust in my deck too. 4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Sweltering Suns, 1 Anger of the Gods, 2 Summoner's Pact, Reclamation Sage, 2 Beast Within, Ancient Grudge, and Nature's Claim are all possible options to draw, although no 1 of those will beat Affinity on its own. Also a quick turn 4 kill gets them as well. The last few times I've depended on drawing hate, it hasn't worked out well and the last game where I had Lightning Bolt and Sweltering Suns, they were just not enough.
I just hope all the failures can help me get better. I'm going to have a talk with a guy from that local team who grinded a whole season without winning one, but with so many close calls, but then won his first one last season (before this current Modern one). He may have some perspective for me. I always hear that failures make you a better player or person in other cases, but I felt that I paid those dues with so many PTQ top 8s without a single win.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
I didn't consider the use against Chalice. I would love to run some Chalice, but I feel it's really a 4 of and I can't justify using 4 slots for it right now. I may get down with a 3 of, but even in Grishoalbrand (in just a few matches with it), I found 3 somewhat tough to get to in time. And that's with Faithless Looting, Cathartic Reunion, and Night's Whisper. Witchbane Orb is probably much better on the play than on the draw. I guess most things are, lol.
I still run 2 Beast Within in the SB. The card is just so versatile. It kills Planeswalkers. It complements my SB artifact/enchantment hate. It is the card for the mirror and Tron decks for land destruction. I don't know what I'd do without this card, that I see literally NO ONE else playing. I also put all of the Relics in the SB. Hour of Promise seems like the real deal and I run 3 now.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)If you look on MTG Goldfish most lists have 1-2 Beast within. It is definitely seeing play. Will 100% agree about it's usfeulness and versatility. I'm currently not sure if 1x rec sage, and 1x beast within, or 1x rec sage, and 2x beast within is correct. Especially since our SB's are so tight already....
I've not been that impressed by Hour, im currently running 3 MB but am considering taking it out and reverting to 3x Explore and swapping Wood Elves for Courser of Kruphix. I can think of a handful of times where it has been game ending but a lot more of the time it feels clunky whereas Explore digs deeper and, especially with Courser, really racks the land count up. Arguably it relies on you having a land heavy hand but in our deck this is quite common.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Chalice of the Void is certainly useful. The main problem for me is that mulling to the card has rarely worked for me, but then I don't mull past 5 if I have a playable hand that can win. Against Burn, I could easily see a situation where the Destructive Revelry it and your hand was slowed down enough by mulling for them to win. For Infect, it would be tougher to find Viridian Corrupter if they did even side it in, but mulling to a card like that is certainly a risky proposition (mostly because it can affect your hand to mull too much, as opposed to it being destroyed, which is a smaller consideration).
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I have no experience with Pyroclasm, but I wanna try out Kozilek's Return because of the Instant speed and how powerful it sounds against Affinity. Pyroclasm sounds interesting because you can cast it on Turn 2, which makes it much better when you're on the draw. Has anyone else experience with those two sweepers? Is the 2 mana really worth it, because I feel the 1 mana less wouldn't matter to often.
Some days I go undefeated, others I get destroyed, despite the decks and players being consistent....just a coin toss.
Surely there is a way to keep the core of the deck while adding in more interactive elements to add consistency. I am considering splashing black and adding in Abrupt Decays mainboard for more universal removal. Having access to Maelstrom Pulse/Slaughter Games/Discard in sideboard also seems nice. Anyone ever try anything like this? Thoughts?
Anyway a UW list with runed halo mainboard is metagamed to fight valakut decks anyway