You'll notice that the cornerstones of this deck (Devout Invocation, Angelic Accord, Brindle Boar, Assemble the Legion, Bubbling Cauldron and Warleader's Helix) were released during the Return to Ravnica Block and M14. The planeswalker Elspeth has already been confirmed in the Theros Block. Now as to what color(s) she will be is up to debate. However, traditionally, she has been an ALL WHITE planeswalker who's primary abilities include creating soldier tokens, gaining life for number of tokens on the battlefield, and making tokens indestructible/destroying other permanents except for tokens (Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Elspeth Tirel).
Then there's also the fact that many cards featuring lifegain from RTR Block and M14 includes cards that were created/reprinted to SPECIFICALLY gain you 4 life (most of them in White, or including White mana in the cost of some sort).
All I know is that this deck is hella fun to play right now. Just remember, you heard it here first!!!
2) Ha! I didn't even consider draft at all (I've only been to two drafts before). I can def see how big a difference that would make, especially in the first 2 to 3 turns in a match.
While flipping through my Magic binders, I couldn't help but notice that the card Arrest from Scars of Mirrodin and Arrest from Return to Ravnica are of two different rarities, but are the same exact card. Why did Wizards decide to do this? Is it because they believe the power level of the card in a given format needs to be adjusted accordingly?
Also, Prodigal Pyromancer and Goblin Fireslinger are almost the same exact card, however Fireslinger only targets a player and Pyromancer targets creatures AND players. I understand that there are many instances where targeting a creature is important (ESPECIALLY other abilities that take affect because a creature or player was targeted or dealt damge). But is Pyromancer an evenly costed card for two Mana more and being one rarity higher than Fireslinger to boot?
Long story short, I went to my LGS and picked up (2) Devout Invocations because I thought about running them in a couple of decks I'm building (one's STANDARD, the other, MODERN). In the MODERN deck, I'm currently running (4) Galvanoths along with the (2) Devout Invocations and various other cards with CMCs equal to or less than 5. I've only been playing Magic for roughly 3 years, and have only recently made the foray from kicthen table into competitive play, FNM's, and the like. But I have no idea what statistics good players use to determine how many lands they need in a deck, or how many dual colored lands (or any lands that produce more than one color for that matter) in a deck. If anyone cares to answer or can link to articles discussing this, it would be much appreiciated!
1.) While he can't cast spells during your untap step, your opponent can cast spells during your upkeep before you draw a card during your draw step.
2.) This is tricky. Steps and phases are invisible as are most priority passes; therefore, how do you know what step you are in? You drew a card, so we know you in the draw step. Pausing and thinking can occur at anytime, so waiting doesn't indicate anything at all. Until you make an action to move into your main phase, you are still in the draw step. As the active player, you are in the driver's seat. So when you try to perform your first action in your main phase, it is reasonable for your opponent to want to move back to your draw step and perform an action (unless you specifically pass priority in draw step and he passes in back to you).
3. As noted on the card, silence does nothing to spells already cast. So your creature is safe. (Casting is the act of putting a spell on the stack and paying for it)
4. Correct. Silence's card effect does nothing until the spell resolves. So you can counter the spell.
5. It's assumed players perform one action at a time and allows for each object to resolve individually unless the player specifically states otherwise. So the opponent didn't state he was retaining priority and casting the second spell, so counterflux can't get them both.
Everything you said makes sense except for #5. I thought that it is automatically assumed by the game that if the active player does not ask his opponent if his opponent has a response, then the active player still holds priority. If he casts his second spell without asking or giving me a chance to respond, I can Overload Counterflux (I'm told this is the "wait and see method" of playing) to counter all of his spells?
Awesome! I thought I could respond to both his spells. At first I thought I couldn't respond to anything he casted after Silence at all. I must have read that card 4 or 5 times before it finally sunk in that I could counterspell it. Thanks!
I know this question's probably been asked a thousand times. Please bear with me. I looked up all the other threads on silence, but have yet to see a FULLY comprehensive response to how it's supposed to work. Any responses are appreciated, but I ask that anyone who answers these questions/scenarios be as succinct and detailed as possible. Much appreciated in advance.
Scenario 1:
My opponent controls an Isochron Scepter + Silenceimprinted on said scepter. During my turn on my Untap Step, My opponent activates Silence on Isochron Scepter and says I can't cast any spells turn my turn before I've even drawn. Can he do this? I thought players could not cast spells until the First Main Phase?
Scenario 2:
My opponent controls an Isochron Scepter + Silenceimprinted on said scepter. On my turn after my Draw Step and at the beginning of my First Main Phase, my opponent activates Isochron Scepter + Silence and says I can't cast any spells during my turn before I cast a single spell. Can he do this at this time, or is priority still mine until I decide to play a spell?
Scenario 3:
My opponent controls an Isochron Scepter + Silenceimprinted on said scepter. During my First Main Phase, I cast a 1/1 creature spell. Priority passes to him. In response, my opponent activates Isochron Scepter + Silence and says I can't cast any spells during my turn. Priority passes to me. His Silence resolves first, unless I have a counterspell to stop his Silence from resolving. Assuming I have NO response to his Silence, My 1/1 creature spell DOES NOT resolve and I can no longer cast any spells my turn?
Scenario 4:
During my opponent's First Main Phase when he has priority for the first time on his turn, he casts Silence. When priority passes to me, I respond to his Silence with Counterflux(not overloaded). My Counterflux would resolve first, countering his Silence, correct?
Scenario 5:
During my opponent's First Main Phase when he has priority for the first time on his turn, he casts Silence. My opponent never asks me if I have a response to his Silence. He IMMEDIATELY casts his next spell. I respond then by Overloading a Counterflux countering both spells. Can I do this?
Again, my apologies for asking this question again. played a frustrating day of Magic with a friend I have to drag kicking and screaming to follow/learn the rules of the game.
Just got back from my LGS's FNM. The results... Sad to say, but this deck was just about dead on arrival. In most instances, it was MUCH TOO SLOW!!! Especially against aggro and bant auras. I went 2-3 in a 5 round tourney. This deck wants to be more of a burn control, instead of a midrange one. Too tired to post how i lost, but will do so for anyone who cares to read about.
Fooled around with the deck a little bit more today playing casuals among friends. Definitely dropping Domri. To few creatures in the deck and not enough protection. And none of my guys fly... Also dropping Melek. He costs too much and does too little. Took out 1 Plasm Capture and added in a Cavern of Souls, and replaced Domri and Melek with 2 Garruk Relentless, primarily to help with Aggro matchups, small creature removal, and searching out Borborygmos. I'll post tomorrow's FNM results and try to take notes for discussion later.
I also question Melek. I think his power level in general is really low in any deck, even in a deck packed with instants & sorceries and this one isn't. I'd probably replace him with Niv Mizzet or something (who also combos with Curiosity).
It also feels wrong for this deck not to run 2-4 Thragtusks... because they're Thragtusks.
4 Curiosity seems high for a deck with only 11 creatures (?). I'd either bump up the creature count a little or reduce Curiosity down to 2 or 3. When they land I'm sure they're awesome, but how often are they dead cards in hand?
But I like the deck. I'll mess around with it a little bit and then post my version of the list.
I think I agree with you concerning Melek. Often times I've found myself siding him out in almost every single match up, but when he works, he works beautifully. Double urban evolutions, double farseeks, double turn/burns, etc.
And yeah, 4 Curiousity is a bit much. Truth be told, I had 2 open slots left that needed to be filled. I choose 2 more Curiousity because I wanted to make sure i have more card draw, and because their CMC is so low. This deck is very dependent upon it, i think. 2 Thragtusk sounds like an awesome idea instead though, and I am STRONGLY considering it, because, like you said, it's Thragtusk!
Melek and Domri Rade in the same deck will produce an antimatter explosion while shuffling.
Seriously, I love Domri and this deck seems fun, but I don't think he fits in a deck with 11 creatures. Even more when you consider that the low drop creatures don't want to fight.
I love the Zhur-Taa Druid/Curiosity combo.
You may be right about there being too few creatures for him to work with. I just love the idea of beating down my opponents bigger creatures with Borborygmos before he even swings using Domri's -2 and this deck NEEDS the creature draw because I'm only running 2 of Borborygmos and have not other means of tutoring him out unless I find him through drawing or topdecking. Garruk, Relentless then, perhaps? As a 1 or 2 of (I'm leaning more towards 2)? Maybe subtract Melek?
New to the site (posting, not lurking) and i've been playing Magic competitively a little over 3 months now. I most play Bant Auras but want to play a deck I came up with all on my own. Here is a deck I've been working on since the release of Dragon's Maze and will be running this week at FNM for the first time. The deck is predominately a midrange deck that leans more on the control side of things. ALL criticism is welcome.
So the main focus of the deck is to produce as much mana as we can as fast as we can to empower the vast majority of our cards with high CMC. You'll notice that there are 15 cards in our deck (sideboard included) that have CMC 4 or higher. We do this with Farseek, Zhur-Taa Druid, and, in some cases, Burning-Tree Emissary and Ral Zarek. Before we reach our cards with CMC's higher than 4, we stahl, using such cards as Plasma Capture, primarily used as a hard counter (unless we have a Borborygmos Enraged in our hands which Plasma Capture will enable us to cast him much sooner), Turn/Burn, and Simic Charm. For card advantage and options we use Urban Evolution and Curiousity.
The Synergies:
Melek, Izzet Paragon+Most of our spells. Double casting just about any of our spells is beneficial to this deck, especially in the late game when an opponent may have a better board state then us.
Zhur-Taa Druid+Curiousity. If not answered we will always have a card in hand while simultaneously dealing one damage to our opponent and generatiing mana all at the same time. Hopefully, the card we draw will be yet another answer to anything our opponent can throw at us.
The Matchups:
Aggro/Naya: The best way to deal with this matchup is to sub in as much creature removal as possible. That means Aetherize, Gruul Charm, and, in some cases, an overloaded Dragonshift.
Bant Auras: Acidic Slime to destroy enchantments. Aetherize to remove hexproof attackers. Turn/Burn and Simic Charm to kill and remove mana dorks and non-hexproof attackers.
Aristocrats: One of our hardest matchups. The secret is to Turn/Burn or Simic CharmBlood Artist as we see him hit the battlefield. Alternatively, we may have to Gruul Charm their creatures (this is a dangerous gambit for we are taking damage for the creatures we're killing and our opponent is gaining life for each one killed as we lose it). Aetherize, again, for multiple attackers.
Control: Skullcrack to stop life gain for Sphinx's Revelation and Alpha Authority to give our guys hexproof along with a small form of evasion.
Jund: Another of our hardest matchups. Thier decks are essentially designed the same as ours, just with different colors. Create board advantage by having tons of removal until they can play their bigger threats. To win we must have better card advantage, which we do with all of our draw/mana generation. Urban Evolution, Garruk, Primal Hunter, and Curiosity fit the bill. Alpha Authority and Simic Charm are a MUST to protect Borborygmos Enraged from any removal once he hits the field.
The Sideboard:
I spent a long time trying to figure out which cards would work the best with this deck. The only card I'm really iffy on whether it actually belongs in the deck, let alone side board is Alpha Authority. During playtesting against friends, I often found my Borborygmos Enraged being wiped off the board the turn after I played him. Essentially he's a sitting duck unless you have some means of protecting him from removal. Otherwise, he's just about the biggest (P/T wise), baddest guy on the field that trades with just about all of the fattest fatties. I'm thinking about replacing Alpha Authority with either Searing Spear or Dissipate as 3 or 4 of's. Or 2 Dissipate and 2 Syncopate replacing Alpha Authority and 1 of the Skullcrack.
New to the site, but I've been a long time follower. Just started playing the game competitively about 2-3 months ago. Been running Bant Enchant/Bant Hexproof for a while in many variants as new sets have been released. Went with ElMikkino's deck from http://www.mtgsalvation.com/1389-close-to-the-edge-auramancy.html I was very satisfied with the build and think I'll probably be running with it for the time being. That being said, most of my loses came from mistakes I made rather then the deck's build.
Game 2: 0-2 against Gruul Aggro Variant. Wish I had taken notes on this one, but the games were so fast I really didn't know what hit me. I'd never seen a build like it before. Towards the end of round one I forgot to Spell Rupture one one of my opponents spells which I think costed me the round. Before Round 2, I boarded out Increasing Savagery, Give//Take, and Spell Rupture, and boarded in 4 Nearheath Pilgrim, 3 Pacifism hoping to stop some of his guys from attacking while simultaneously gaining more life then him and attacking with my unblockable Invisible Stalkers. It didn't work. Don't really know if it had more to do with my draw then being outmatched by number of creatures on the field.
Game 3: 2-0 against U/G Evolve Deck. An easy win. None of his removal could could hit my hexproof guys and his manabase wasn't there.
Game 4: 2-1 against another Gruul Aggro deck. This was a variant I was used to seeing and boarded against it the same as the first Gruul Aggro deck I faced. My only lose came from a stupid block I made against a Flinthoof Boar with my Geist of St. Traft forgetting Boar was a 3/3 because my opponent controlled a Mountain.
Game 5: 1-2 against U/W/B Control Deck. What Can I say? I should have won this matchup. Misplays galore. Round 1 was his to win and he did with the usual Spinx's Revelation/Supreme Verdict + Azorius Charm/Think Twice draws and Nephalia Drownyard mill to keep me from top decking my creature draws. Round 2 I somehow eck out a win. I don't quite remember how. He boards in 4 cards. I board out 2 Increasing Savagery, 2 Give/Take, and 1 Hidden Strings and board in 2 Mending Touch and 3 Murder Investigation to negate his Supreme Verdicts. In my starting hand was Avacyn's Pilgrim, Spell Rupture, Mending Touch, Rancor, and three lands.
Him on the play Round 3:
Turn 1: He plays Nephalia Drownyard.
Turn 2: I draw a land. I play Land + Avacyn's Pilgirm.
Turn 3: He plays a Hallowed Fountain tapped.
Turn 4: I draw a land. Land + Rancor on Avacyn's Pilgrim. I swing for 3.
Turn 5: He plays another Hallowed Fountain tapped.
Turn 6: I draw land. I swing for 3.
Turn 7: He plays a Drowned Catacomb (at this point I know he may Supreme Verdict me, but I'm prepared for it because I have both Mending Touch and Spell Rupture in my hand).
Turn 8: I draw a Ethereal Armor. Land + Ethereal Armor on Avacyn's Pilgrim. I swing for 5. He surprises me by flashing in a Restoration Angel (here is where I made the mistake that cost me the game). His 3/4 versus my 5/3. I decide to Spell Rupture his Resto Angel instead of trading 1 for 1 so that my 5 damage gets thru (I remember thinking to myself that I should have saved the Spell Rupture just in case he has a Supreme Verdict in his hand).
Turn 9: He plays a land.
Turn 10: I forgot what I drew. I swing for 5 again. He Azorius Charms my Pilgrim and I have no answers in hand for it because I used it last turn. He proceeds to mill me to death with Nephalia Drownyard and Jace, Memory Adept the same way he did the first game and I never get another creature on the battlefield again. This match stands out to me the most not only because it was my last match of the night, but because it was my game to win and I didn't. My opponent even mulliganed down to 5 cards and was still unhappy with his draw, but still defeated me.
All in all, not a bad night. This is what I learned:
1) Like ElMikkino said, do NOT be afraid to mulligan once or twice. There were a few games I mulliganed down to five cards just to make sure I had at least 2 creatures and 2-3 lands in my opening hand. This deck LIVES by it's creatures and not having at least 2 of them in your hand (preferably 1 or both of those creatures having hexproof) kills whatever strategies this build has.
2) Against Gruul Aggro, you'll be tempted to waste your Pacificisms on Stormkirk Noble, Flinthoof Boar, and Rakdos Cackler. Don't. The creature to watch out for is Firefist Striker. Remember, aggro plays more creatures faster than you do, and you will almost never have as many creatures on the battlefield as your opponent. Firefist will make your life hell because you won't have enough creatures on the field to protect against his battlion trigger and all the other guys swinging on you at the same time.
3) Give/Take really didn't work out all that well. You'll hardly ever be using the Take side unless you've played an Increasing Savagery prior to casting it. Simic Charm is a much better choice because it gives you more options as far as pumping your guys, protecting your non hexproof creatures, and more removal alongside Pacificism.
Angelic Accord x3
Devout Invocation x2
Elspeth Tirel x1
Garruk, Primal Hunter x1
Warleader's Helix x3
Brindle Boar x4
Bubbling Cauldron x1
Assemble The Legion x1
Birds of Paradise x4
Llanowar Elves x3
Quest for Renewal x1
Aurelia, the Warleader x1
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight x1
Farseek x4
Intangible Virtue x2
Oblivion Ring x3
Mesa Enchantress x1
Assemble the Legion x1
Sideboard (work in progress)
Luminous Wake x4
Blind Obedience x1
Druid's Deliverence x3
Sundering Growth x3
You'll notice that the cornerstones of this deck (Devout Invocation, Angelic Accord, Brindle Boar, Assemble the Legion, Bubbling Cauldron and Warleader's Helix) were released during the Return to Ravnica Block and M14. The planeswalker Elspeth has already been confirmed in the Theros Block. Now as to what color(s) she will be is up to debate. However, traditionally, she has been an ALL WHITE planeswalker who's primary abilities include creating soldier tokens, gaining life for number of tokens on the battlefield, and making tokens indestructible/destroying other permanents except for tokens (Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Elspeth Tirel).
Then there's also the fact that many cards featuring lifegain from RTR Block and M14 includes cards that were created/reprinted to SPECIFICALLY gain you 4 life (most of them in White, or including White mana in the cost of some sort).
All I know is that this deck is hella fun to play right now. Just remember, you heard it here first!!!
2) Ha! I didn't even consider draft at all (I've only been to two drafts before). I can def see how big a difference that would make, especially in the first 2 to 3 turns in a match.
Thank you for the quick responses!
Also, Prodigal Pyromancer and Goblin Fireslinger are almost the same exact card, however Fireslinger only targets a player and Pyromancer targets creatures AND players. I understand that there are many instances where targeting a creature is important (ESPECIALLY other abilities that take affect because a creature or player was targeted or dealt damge). But is Pyromancer an evenly costed card for two Mana more and being one rarity higher than Fireslinger to boot?
Everything you said makes sense except for #5. I thought that it is automatically assumed by the game that if the active player does not ask his opponent if his opponent has a response, then the active player still holds priority. If he casts his second spell without asking or giving me a chance to respond, I can Overload Counterflux (I'm told this is the "wait and see method" of playing) to counter all of his spells?
Scenario 1:
My opponent controls an Isochron Scepter + Silenceimprinted on said scepter. During my turn on my Untap Step, My opponent activates Silence on Isochron Scepter and says I can't cast any spells turn my turn before I've even drawn. Can he do this? I thought players could not cast spells until the First Main Phase?
Scenario 2:
My opponent controls an Isochron Scepter + Silenceimprinted on said scepter. On my turn after my Draw Step and at the beginning of my First Main Phase, my opponent activates Isochron Scepter + Silence and says I can't cast any spells during my turn before I cast a single spell. Can he do this at this time, or is priority still mine until I decide to play a spell?
Scenario 3:
My opponent controls an Isochron Scepter + Silenceimprinted on said scepter. During my First Main Phase, I cast a 1/1 creature spell. Priority passes to him. In response, my opponent activates Isochron Scepter + Silence and says I can't cast any spells during my turn. Priority passes to me. His Silence resolves first, unless I have a counterspell to stop his Silence from resolving. Assuming I have NO response to his Silence, My 1/1 creature spell DOES NOT resolve and I can no longer cast any spells my turn?
Scenario 4:
During my opponent's First Main Phase when he has priority for the first time on his turn, he casts Silence. When priority passes to me, I respond to his Silence with Counterflux(not overloaded). My Counterflux would resolve first, countering his Silence, correct?
Scenario 5:
During my opponent's First Main Phase when he has priority for the first time on his turn, he casts Silence. My opponent never asks me if I have a response to his Silence. He IMMEDIATELY casts his next spell. I respond then by Overloading a Counterflux countering both spells. Can I do this?
Again, my apologies for asking this question again. played a frustrating day of Magic with a friend I have to drag kicking and screaming to follow/learn the rules of the game.
Thanks
I think I agree with you concerning Melek. Often times I've found myself siding him out in almost every single match up, but when he works, he works beautifully. Double urban evolutions, double farseeks, double turn/burns, etc.
And yeah, 4 Curiousity is a bit much. Truth be told, I had 2 open slots left that needed to be filled. I choose 2 more Curiousity because I wanted to make sure i have more card draw, and because their CMC is so low. This deck is very dependent upon it, i think. 2 Thragtusk sounds like an awesome idea instead though, and I am STRONGLY considering it, because, like you said, it's Thragtusk!
Thanks for the input!
You may be right about there being too few creatures for him to work with. I just love the idea of beating down my opponents bigger creatures with Borborygmos before he even swings using Domri's -2 and this deck NEEDS the creature draw because I'm only running 2 of Borborygmos and have not other means of tutoring him out unless I find him through drawing or topdecking. Garruk, Relentless then, perhaps? As a 1 or 2 of (I'm leaning more towards 2)? Maybe subtract Melek?
4 Zhur-Taa Druid
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
1 Melek, Izzet Paragon
2 Borborygmos Enraged
Planeswalkers: (3)
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Ral Zarek
1 Domri Rade
Spells: (18)
4 Farseek
4 Plasma Capture
2 Urban Evolution
4 Simic Charm
1 Dragonshift
3 Turn/Burn
4 Curiousity
3 Gruul Charm
3 Alpha Athority
4 Skullcrack
2 Aetherize
1 Ground Seal
2 Acidic Slime
Lands: (24)
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Stomping Grounds
4 Rootbound Crags
4 Breeding Pools
4 Hinterland Harbors
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Forest
The Discussion:
So the main focus of the deck is to produce as much mana as we can as fast as we can to empower the vast majority of our cards with high CMC. You'll notice that there are 15 cards in our deck (sideboard included) that have CMC 4 or higher. We do this with Farseek, Zhur-Taa Druid, and, in some cases, Burning-Tree Emissary and Ral Zarek. Before we reach our cards with CMC's higher than 4, we stahl, using such cards as Plasma Capture, primarily used as a hard counter (unless we have a Borborygmos Enraged in our hands which Plasma Capture will enable us to cast him much sooner), Turn/Burn, and Simic Charm. For card advantage and options we use Urban Evolution and Curiousity.
The Synergies:
Melek, Izzet Paragon+Most of our spells. Double casting just about any of our spells is beneficial to this deck, especially in the late game when an opponent may have a better board state then us.
Zhur-Taa Druid+Curiousity. If not answered we will always have a card in hand while simultaneously dealing one damage to our opponent and generatiing mana all at the same time. Hopefully, the card we draw will be yet another answer to anything our opponent can throw at us.
The Matchups:
Aggro/Naya: The best way to deal with this matchup is to sub in as much creature removal as possible. That means Aetherize, Gruul Charm, and, in some cases, an overloaded Dragonshift.
Reanimator: Ground Seal to keep there creatures the graveyard. Aetherize and Simic Charm to put their higher CMC creatures with CMC's higher than Unburial Rites back into their hands. Gruul Charm if they main board Lingering Souls.
Bant Auras: Acidic Slime to destroy enchantments. Aetherize to remove hexproof attackers. Turn/Burn and Simic Charm to kill and remove mana dorks and non-hexproof attackers.
Aristocrats: One of our hardest matchups. The secret is to Turn/Burn or Simic Charm Blood Artist as we see him hit the battlefield. Alternatively, we may have to Gruul Charm their creatures (this is a dangerous gambit for we are taking damage for the creatures we're killing and our opponent is gaining life for each one killed as we lose it). Aetherize, again, for multiple attackers.
Control: Skullcrack to stop life gain for Sphinx's Revelation and Alpha Authority to give our guys hexproof along with a small form of evasion.
Jund: Another of our hardest matchups. Thier decks are essentially designed the same as ours, just with different colors. Create board advantage by having tons of removal until they can play their bigger threats. To win we must have better card advantage, which we do with all of our draw/mana generation. Urban Evolution, Garruk, Primal Hunter, and Curiosity fit the bill. Alpha Authority and Simic Charm are a MUST to protect Borborygmos Enraged from any removal once he hits the field.
The Sideboard:
I spent a long time trying to figure out which cards would work the best with this deck. The only card I'm really iffy on whether it actually belongs in the deck, let alone side board is Alpha Authority. During playtesting against friends, I often found my Borborygmos Enraged being wiped off the board the turn after I played him. Essentially he's a sitting duck unless you have some means of protecting him from removal. Otherwise, he's just about the biggest (P/T wise), baddest guy on the field that trades with just about all of the fattest fatties. I'm thinking about replacing Alpha Authority with either Searing Spear or Dissipate as 3 or 4 of's. Or 2 Dissipate and 2 Syncopate replacing Alpha Authority and 1 of the Skullcrack.
Game 1: 2-0 against UB Mill. Basically finished the games by turn 5-6 with Magic Christmasland draws of Turn 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim, Turn 2 Invisible Stalker + Rancor, Turn 3 Geist of St. Traft + Ethereal Armor on Stalker, etc.
Game 2: 0-2 against Gruul Aggro Variant. Wish I had taken notes on this one, but the games were so fast I really didn't know what hit me. I'd never seen a build like it before. Towards the end of round one I forgot to Spell Rupture one one of my opponents spells which I think costed me the round. Before Round 2, I boarded out Increasing Savagery, Give//Take, and Spell Rupture, and boarded in 4 Nearheath Pilgrim, 3 Pacifism hoping to stop some of his guys from attacking while simultaneously gaining more life then him and attacking with my unblockable Invisible Stalkers. It didn't work. Don't really know if it had more to do with my draw then being outmatched by number of creatures on the field.
Game 3: 2-0 against U/G Evolve Deck. An easy win. None of his removal could could hit my hexproof guys and his manabase wasn't there.
Game 4: 2-1 against another Gruul Aggro deck. This was a variant I was used to seeing and boarded against it the same as the first Gruul Aggro deck I faced. My only lose came from a stupid block I made against a Flinthoof Boar with my Geist of St. Traft forgetting Boar was a 3/3 because my opponent controlled a Mountain.
Game 5: 1-2 against U/W/B Control Deck. What Can I say? I should have won this matchup. Misplays galore. Round 1 was his to win and he did with the usual Spinx's Revelation/Supreme Verdict + Azorius Charm/Think Twice draws and Nephalia Drownyard mill to keep me from top decking my creature draws. Round 2 I somehow eck out a win. I don't quite remember how. He boards in 4 cards. I board out 2 Increasing Savagery, 2 Give/Take, and 1 Hidden Strings and board in 2 Mending Touch and 3 Murder Investigation to negate his Supreme Verdicts. In my starting hand was Avacyn's Pilgrim, Spell Rupture, Mending Touch, Rancor, and three lands.
Him on the play Round 3:
Turn 1: He plays Nephalia Drownyard.
Turn 2: I draw a land. I play Land + Avacyn's Pilgirm.
Turn 3: He plays a Hallowed Fountain tapped.
Turn 4: I draw a land. Land + Rancor on Avacyn's Pilgrim. I swing for 3.
Turn 5: He plays another Hallowed Fountain tapped.
Turn 6: I draw land. I swing for 3.
Turn 7: He plays a Drowned Catacomb (at this point I know he may Supreme Verdict me, but I'm prepared for it because I have both Mending Touch and Spell Rupture in my hand).
Turn 8: I draw a Ethereal Armor. Land + Ethereal Armor on Avacyn's Pilgrim. I swing for 5. He surprises me by flashing in a Restoration Angel (here is where I made the mistake that cost me the game). His 3/4 versus my 5/3. I decide to Spell Rupture his Resto Angel instead of trading 1 for 1 so that my 5 damage gets thru (I remember thinking to myself that I should have saved the Spell Rupture just in case he has a Supreme Verdict in his hand).
Turn 9: He plays a land.
Turn 10: I forgot what I drew. I swing for 5 again. He Azorius Charms my Pilgrim and I have no answers in hand for it because I used it last turn. He proceeds to mill me to death with Nephalia Drownyard and Jace, Memory Adept the same way he did the first game and I never get another creature on the battlefield again. This match stands out to me the most not only because it was my last match of the night, but because it was my game to win and I didn't. My opponent even mulliganed down to 5 cards and was still unhappy with his draw, but still defeated me.
All in all, not a bad night. This is what I learned:
1) Like ElMikkino said, do NOT be afraid to mulligan once or twice. There were a few games I mulliganed down to five cards just to make sure I had at least 2 creatures and 2-3 lands in my opening hand. This deck LIVES by it's creatures and not having at least 2 of them in your hand (preferably 1 or both of those creatures having hexproof) kills whatever strategies this build has.
2) Against Gruul Aggro, you'll be tempted to waste your Pacificisms on Stormkirk Noble, Flinthoof Boar, and Rakdos Cackler. Don't. The creature to watch out for is Firefist Striker. Remember, aggro plays more creatures faster than you do, and you will almost never have as many creatures on the battlefield as your opponent. Firefist will make your life hell because you won't have enough creatures on the field to protect against his battlion trigger and all the other guys swinging on you at the same time.
3) Give/Take really didn't work out all that well. You'll hardly ever be using the Take side unless you've played an Increasing Savagery prior to casting it. Simic Charm is a much better choice because it gives you more options as far as pumping your guys, protecting your non hexproof creatures, and more removal alongside Pacificism.
Hope this helps.