MTG Salvation

Quote from Barbed Blightning

Played at my weekly last night, 36 players, four rounds, had a nearly flawless record. At the last moment I guilted myself into playing Mangara--and was so glad I did.

The List:

DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Mother of Runes 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 4 Phyrexian Revoker 4 Stoneforge Mystic 3 Serra Avenger 3 Flickerwisp 2 Mangara of Corondor 2 Mirran Crusader 4 AEther Vial 4 Swords to Plowshares 1 Sword of Fire and Ice 1 Umezawa's Jitte 1 Batterskull	4 Rishadan Port 4 Wasteland 4 Karakas 10 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Cavern of Souls	Sideboard 2 Ethersworn Canonist 2 Rest in Peace 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege 2 Ratchet Bomb 2 Cataclysm 1 Oblivion Ring 1 Leonin Relic-Warder 1 Manriki-Gusari 1 Celestial Flare 1 Grafdigger's Cage

Matches were:

1) Zoo (2-0): He apparently has played this matchup and hates it, especially game two when I Cataclysmed, leaving behind a plains and a batterskull--then drop Port for the turn.

2) Forgemaster MUD (2-1): Karn turn three was GG game one. Then I had all the land destruction games two and three--with best friends SFM and Batterskull pummeling him.

3) BURG Tempo (2-0): Like the RUG matchup, fairly easy--though more complicated due to the presence of DRS, Decay and -1/-1 effects out of the board. Game one I destroy all of his lands and finish the game with 2 Wisps, a Revoker on DRS and active Mangara vs his completely empty board. I removed my Wisps and Mangaras (3 and 2) in favor of Liege, RIP and Flare. Game two goes on long since I kept risky non basics-vial hand--and it pays off. Liege is apparently impossible for that deck to kill, and 4/4 Avenger was nice. Game ends with an SFM + SoFI.

4) ID with Burn, since I'd rather have the reduced grand prize and time to grab a quick beer at the Mox Cafe.

Observations:

Celestial Flare is actually kind of badass. It helped vs Zoo and while my BURG opponent totally caught onto what I was trying to do (since he knew I had a SoFI in hand and only two mana up in game two) having it still felt nice, esp. since all he had were Mongeese.

I doubt I would have missed Mindcensor. There are no Elves in Seattle (that I've seen) so the "Gotcha!" effect would never have been useful. Even as a one-off removal, Mangara is still great.

Very happy I came back to the deck. Feel a little foolish for leaving in the first place, but I did get the chance to understand the nuances of other decks.

Quote from from Cairo

Against Reanimator (with the GP list) I would likely do something close to the following:

+2 Rest in Peace
+1 Leonin Relic Warder
+1 Oblivion Ring
+1 Relic of Progenitus

Obviously Rest in Peace and Relic of Progenitus attack their GY plan. Leonin Relic Warder attacks Animate Dead and opposing Pithing Needles (likely naming Karakas or Waste/Port). Oblivion Ring trumps their Show and Tell SB plan and can be a pricey piece of removal when need be.

-2 Phyrexian Revoker
-1 Mirran Crusader
-1 Umezawa's Jitte
-1 Stoneforge Mystic

Revoker, to me, is the most unexciting card in this match. It can name Griselbrand and keep them off Yawg Bargain mode, but one still has to answer a 7/7 flying lifelink. Some lists also have Lotus Petal that one could name, but Thalia attacks Petal better if you reach 2 mana. I'd trim some of your anti-aggro package from here. Mirran Crusader is a great beater, but incidental damage will be ok against Reanimator if you can keep a fatty off the table. Umezawa's Jitte isn't going to race very much if the opponent successfully reanimates, and it ties up considerable tempo to get it online. Stoneforge into Batterskull is actually pretty good, so I would keep 3 in to tutor it. That said, multiples are going to be in squire mode, so I could see the rational in say trimming 2 SFM and keeping the Mirran which will always be a stand alone threat at least.

The cards I wouldn't touch and why: Mangara is going to usually be good enough to deal with opposing fatties. Fiend Hunter is obviously very good at answering reanimated guys - even Elesh Norn. Flickerwisp offers a bunch of utility - blinking out Animate Dead targets or opposing Pithing Needles to utilize Karakas are legitimate plays. The fact that 'Wisp and a Mom can 'Maze of Ith' many reanimation targets is also real. Aven Mindcensor is usually going to be too slow to beat Entomb, but on the play I think it could still be relevant. The fact that it's flying again adds up to a means to stall with Mother of Runes. Thalia is awesome when she comes down before the opponent gets to reanimate. Sometimes we have the Karakas for their initial target and then get to soft lock them out with Rishadan Port, Wasteland and Thalia. Mother of Runes facilitates our fliers as fog machines, and keeps things like Echoing Truth or Chain of Vapor from bouncing Thalia or Fiend Hunter. Swords to Plowshares resets the opponents efforts in reanimating.

Hope this helps.