- Do you aggressively mulligan toward "unfair" start with a hierarch/temple and TKS? It appeared by my test that the drop 3 on turn 3 is a bit slow for the format, but i don't know if mulliganing more is the way to go
-did you like both dismember in the main? I run 1 explosive main in this spot and it appeared to be quite good!
-I play 2 eldrazi skyspawner instead of 1 reshaper and the second dismember and it was often relevant! Accelerating, double blocker, blood moon fighter, etc. Did you try it before putting it aside? Or did you just go with reshaper without questioning it?
-now sideboard questions. I have troubles leaving my rest in peace for grafdigger cages. Cages can be found on stirrings, but RIP come in against lots of deck (jund/abzan, delver, snapcaster.deck, storm). So what's the reason that pushed you toward cages only? Do you think a mix is doable or do i have to chose and dedicate all 3 spots to the same card?
-Finally, the mirror. Don't you miss world breaker? You have a big 0 ways to deal with worship. do the blessed alliances come in? I tried them and the opponents were saccing lots of spawns in the end.
Here are my thoughts:
- I always try to mull to either a mana dork, Temple, or an Ancient Stirrings to find a Temple in my opening hand. That's 12 cards you are looking for in your opener, which are pretty good odds. You can easily win on 5 or 6 cards with this deck, so mull aggressively, yes. The exception comes when you are playing against BGx decks and side out your mana dorks.
- I like one dismember main. I think the extra removal spell is worth it, but you cant take 8 damage in this format to remove creatures. Every other deck in the format is aggressive, i think 2 Dismembers is too much.
- I also run 2 SkySpawners and i love then. A Spawner with a Hierarch out is a reasonable clock during board stalls. Some people dont use them because of the mana. There are definitely awkward times where you need to fetch and play a Hierarch on turn one, do you get a Temple Garden or a Breeding Pool if you dont have a Diplacer or Spawner in hand? I've definitely chose wrong before and drew into the opposite of what i needed. But, i think the risk is worth it, Spawner is great, i almost want to go up to 3 and down to 2 Reshapers...
- I do a 2/2 split on Cage/RiP. I'm with you that RiP is useful in other matchups, like my local meta has a few Living End players. I've lost to Dredge through Cage before, they can remove it pretty easily, but they have no enchantment removal. You just need to get lucky that you draw it, but thats like any other deck.
- Opposing Worships are just game, i suppose. You just hope you dont see the mirror and they dont draw their one of Worhip. You cant have answers to everything in your board with such a wide meta. You pick and choose your battles. If you want a more well rounded sideboard, go for it, but then you are just less likely to draw the cards you need when you need them against basically all matchups.
Currently I'm looking at dropping Blue entirely and going with G/W with Endbringer
(which is doing well in Eldrazi-Tron decks) at the top of the curve.
I dont like Endbringer in this deck because it is too fragile for 6 mana. Drowner puts dudes on the table, even if it is immediately Terminated. TKS also does work, even when instantly killed, and Smasher is a 2 for 1 when killed. Endbringer costs 6 and you risk the chance of gaining nothing if it is Path'd or even Dismembered. If it was a 5/6, i might consider it more, but the die'ing to Dismember for no ETB trigger is brutal.
World Breaker is good in the mirror, since he is bigger than anything else. Besides that, it probably actually just comes down to who gets the sickest and fastest curve, unfortunately. Or, whoever can find their Worship first.
My last thought on Deep Fiend before i officially play zero copies going forward.... You have to look at what you want this deck wants to do, which i feel like is two things:
1) Busted Starts. This plan usually involves a turn 1 Hierarch, into a turn 2 Temple into Thought-knot. Then turn 3 if you have another Thought-Knot or a Smasher, thats awesome. A start like this is very hard for any opposing deck to stop. Sometimes, a just as good start is turn 2 Reshaper into turn 3 Thought-Knot into turn 4 Smasher, with perhaps a Cavern making sure nothing gets countered. Also very hard for opposing decks to stop.
2) Long Game Inevitability. The second thing this deck does involves a Displacer doing its thing in the mid to late game. Tapping down your opponents threats, killing their tokens, and blinking Thought-Knot, Drowner, or Skyspawner. If you get stuck in a long game against Jund and other midrange decks, this is how you usually eventually trump them.
I dont see how Deep Fiend fits in to help any of the two things this deck does. Its a great ambush blocker, i guess. I'm over this card, its not right for this deck, always feels terrible.
I feel like Deep Fiend needs to be compared to Drowner because we are treating Deep Fiend like a late game bomb. Unless i am playing the card totally wrong and it is better as a 4 drop, but i never feel comfortable playing one of our 3 drops on turn 2, only to immediately sac it the next turn and replace it with a Fiend on turn 3. I usually have other stuff to do, a board to build, and i hold onto the Fiend for a later game win. Once i get to that late game, i have the resources to drop a Drowner if i had one, but instead im stuck with this Deep Fiend that i dont really want to play, wishing it was a Drowner instead.
In most scenarios, it feels like a win more, because if i have extra creatures to sac and enough other creatures to attack hard, then i am obviously far ahead on the board as it is. I cant say i've had Fiend pull me out of sticky situations and steal games quite like a Drowner has.
I've tested one Elder Deep Fiend in the main for quite some time now and I am not convinced at all. I've drawn it enough to conclude that everytime i get it i wished it was a Drowner. The double blue is relevant, and i dont want to have to force myself to play towards getting that mana. Since the tap ability is on cast, it isnt a good blink target for Displacer. As opposed to holding Deep Fiend in my hand all game until i can flash it in at the end of their turn and alpha strike, i'd much rather just drop a Drowner and blink the hell out of it. Deep Fiend has won me a few games, but i feel like a Drowner would have done the job just as well if not better. I've never just played Deep Fiend on turn 4, its usually the card you hold until the time is right to close out a game.
I also dont like sacc'ing anything to cast it. The best sac guy is of course Reshaper, but then all you are doing is gaining +2 power and the chance that Reshaper might hit something good, which he usually does not considering the deck is half lands/mana dorks. Usually, if you are Deep Fiending into an alphs strike, you already have what you need on the board or in hand, so the extra card off Reshaper is irrelevant.
Think of these two scenarions, if its late enough in a game where you could cast Drowner or Deep Fiend, would you rather have Matter Reshaper, Drowner, and 2 Scions on the board, or One Deep Fiend and a land (because you sacced the Reshaper and hit a land). Its especially frstrating is they just have a Terminate for your Deep Fiend afterwards. The first scenario is simply so much more powerful. This isnt a tempo deck, i'd rather get the board big, then bink and tap myself to victory. Grinding it out is what this deck does if you dont already win on a busted fast start. But i'd argue that Deep Fiend is not part of a busted start.
Here is my loose guide, sometimes things change on the fly, for whatever reason. In general, i dont like to side out too many Auras, and almost always side out some number of Kors and Paths. My main deck has 25 Auras (if you count Open the Armory, which lets just say we count it), which means that by turn 5 we should have seen about 4-5 Auras. I dont like to make that % too much lower, but you obviously need to side out some Auras sometimes. In regards to Paths (creature removal), i think 3 is a good number. Our creatures should be bigger, and hopefully with lifelink, which beats any race. One Path a game is usually enough to keep other creature decks in check.
VS Burn: +4 Leyline, +2 Nature Claim, -4 Kor, -1 Path, -1 Spider Umbra. They have way too much direct damage to even try to get there with Kor, dont do it. I side in a few Claims to either hit my own Rancor or kill their Eidolon of the Great Revel, which is the only threat I am worried about. The goal here is to get a Coronet or Spirit Link ASAP, then you auto win.
VS Jund/Junk/BUG/BGx: +4 Leyline, +1 Dryad Arbor, -2 Kor, -1 Path, -1 Spirit Link, -1 Spider Umbra. Kor with an Umbra is really good in the Jund matchup, but i still side out a few. However, i'm more than happy to keep a hand with a Fetchland, a Kor, and an Umbra, unless youre against Junk who play Paths. Leyline is pretty clutch here to stop discard effects, Liliana's sac effect, and Lili's ultimate. Almost any deck can potentially run Spellskite, so if you see one, add in Paths or Claims for game 3. They will keep in some number of Bolts, so if you go in on an Arbor, try and get an umbra on it right away while they are tapped out. These decks are the hardest for us to beat, but i did get lucky and beat 3 BGx decks on my way to winning Colorado States.
VS Abzan Company: +2 Grafdigger's Cage, +1 Rest in Peace, +1 Dryad Arbor, -1 Kor, -1 Spirit Link, -1 Spider Umbra, -1 Bogle. This plays no main deck kill spells, but will side in Abrupt Decay. They dont bring in Path, which means Arbor is basically hexproof and you can afford to shave a Bogle. They will try to combo, so either kill them fast or hope to hit one of your sideboard cards. Cage is great, so they cant Chord for Pridemage.
VS Affinity: +3 Nature's Claim, +2 Stony Silence, -2 Path, -2 Kor, -1 Hyena Umbra. Claim is just better than Path here, but i still dont want too many kill spells because the goal is to get a bigger creature than they have. An opening hand of 3 kill spells isnt really that great. Like any aggro match, you are looking for a Coronet and some evasion.
VS Zoo and Merfolk: I dont do sh|t unless they have Spellskites or something weird. I could see bringing in a few Claims against fish since it hits Spreading Seas and Vial, but really both of these decks cant beat a Coronet. Mono blue fish cant handle a huge Kor, feel free to go all in on her. EDIT: i see mono-U fish are playing some Vapor Snags now, so maybe be cautious on the Kor plan. I dont think i've seen Snags in my local meta, though.
VS Scapeshift: +4 Leyline, +2 Gaddock Teeg, -3 Path, -1 Spider Umbra, -1 Hyena Umbra, -1 Kor. This is another matchup where you can usually rely on Kor if you need to, but i still shave 1 because its better to have a good density of Auras. Teeg stops Scape, Bring to Light, and Crpytics, which is a big deal. They simply cant kill you if you have Leyline out, which buys you a turn since they have to Cryptic bounce it before they can combo. Still, bringing in Leyline's is dubious here, i'm not sure if it is right. You dont need Path at all, even if they use their 'creature package' out of the board, i'm not afraid of Obstinate Baloths. This deck is the most likely to have a Spellskite in the board, but usually only 1, and they have to hit it.
VS Tron: +2 Stony Silence, +2 Gaddock Teeg, -2 Kor, -1 Path, -1 Spirit Link. This matchup can be kind of tough, but Teeg stops Karn and Ugin. Stony is really annoying for them to not be able to crack maps, spheres, and stars. You need to keep a few Paths for Wurmcoil. Stony stops Spellskites, too.
VS Jeskai/Grixis/UW Control: +1 Rest in Peace, -1 Path. It depends on what kind of deck we are facing, but usually we are faster than they can handle. Teeg might be a consideration here as it stop sweepers and Planeswalkers, but he doesnt stop Kiki/Angel combo. I think you just want to stay dense in Auras and present a fast clock. Dont attack into Snapcaster mana if your creature cant handle it. I see a lot of people attack with a Bogle with only a Rancor on it, only to have it get ambush viper'd.
I guess thats all i can think about for now. Like i've said before, we just lose to decks like Infect and Living End and i'm not going to waste a slot in the board for a one-of Melira that is very unlikely for me to draw. Even if you get a Rest in Peace out against Living End, they can still cascade into sweepers until they can hard cast their dudes, its rough.
Instead of another Dryad Arbor in the side, what are your thoughts on 1xBeckon Apparition in the side. It serves the same purpose against Jund, but also gives evasion and can be used as graveyard hate (can be used against CoCo Finks/Snapcaster/scavenging ooze/goyf/etc).
The token can be Abrupt Decay'd, which is a very good side effect for Arbor. Also, like Noobin pointed out, being able to fetch Arbor makes it feel like you have 6/7/8 Arbors.
I cant think of a common circumstance where Wheel would be better than RIP or Cage. RIP hurts us with Rancor and Boon not being able to come back, but i like that RIP gets rid of the graveyards right away. The one sided effect of Wheel seems attractive (it only hit your opponents), but it doesnt clear the yard of a Griselbrand if one is already in there. RIP and Cage would both prevent Griselbrand from coming into play.
RIP, Cage, and Wheel would all prevent a Finks from persisting, but only Cage prevents Collected Company and Chord, too. Cage does not stop Thopter Combo, but its been figured out that Thopters isnt that great. When evaluating all 3 cards against the popular decks, i think it goes Cage > RIP > Wheel. Abzan CoCo is the real deal and we need a way to not give it a free win. Its beatable, while decks like Living End or Infect just arent.
After winning my SCG States with Bogles, i'm going to stay on it for an upcoming SCG IQ and then GP LA. I tweaked things a little bit, though, but think this is a sweet final build. I've been doing very well online against the current meta in my testing:
I upped my Open the Armory count to 2, at the expense of a Spirit Mantle. While i love Spirit Mantle, OtA counts as evasion. It can grab the singleton SM, or anything else, and it has been awesome. Most of the time, i'm using it at 3 mana for a Rancor or Ethereal Armor to finish out a game/apply crazy pressure. Rarely, it seems, do i go get a Coronet, surprisingly enough, but that option is there, too. Having access to Boon, SM, and Rancor make for great evasion targets. This mix of tutors and enchantments has been working out real well for me.
I like one Arbor in the main, i go all in on Arbor a lot, or as a last resort. Obviously, it is particularly good against BGx decks, to the point where i was really considering a second Arbor in the main. I tested it, and didnt like it, though. One in the side, however, for those BGx matches, has been great.
Speaking of the sideboard, I dropped down in count on Stony Silences, got rid of Suppression Field (which is a shame, i like this card), and added Grafdigger's Cages to fight against CoCo/Chord decks. Against Abzan Company, i'm only bringing in the 2 Cages and 1 RIP, which is usually enough to stop the combo.
All in all, i still think this deck is very well positioned and it is getting even smoother with Oopen the Armory. Yes, you still need to find a creature and protect it, but getting your mix of auras out there has never been easier.
Yes, this deck punts to Infect and Living End, but you cant beat them all, many people feel the same way towards Bogles with their deck. This is Modern, after all.
I didnt need to use Path too much, but yeah, i wouldnt want a main deck without them. It was good in a Merfolk race, one game, and hitting a Siege Rhino another game. Some maniacs like to play maindeck Spellskites, so its good insurance against that.
I like Ethersworn Canonist for the Living End matchup besides Rest in Peace, but I do not play Bogles that often. I still do not understand why I should want two copies of Gaddock Teeg in the sideboard. Can someone explain that to me, i.e. against what relevant decks do I want to play the card?
Ill bring in Teeg in any control matchup. It is a must remove for Scapeshift, Gifts decks, and something like Jeskai/UW if they want to play their Cryptics and Wraths. Bogles are hexproof, so what kills them? Wraths, which always cost 4+. Its just another hedge against sweepers. Plus, getting Cryptic Commanded multiple times in a row is one way control decks stabalize.
Cannonist just dies to Shriekmaw, which LE plays maindeck. At least with RIP they need to hit one of their Beats Within.
Hey guys, I played in the SCG Colorado Modern States tournament yesterday with the following Bogles list, which is a few cards different from what i posted before, a few days ago, in the earlier thread page. Last minute changes, as always, most notably was getting rid of Keen Sense altogether for a Gryff's Boon:
I play tested with some buddies on Saturday night, before the tournament, and we did a mock 8 man tournament which I crushed, so I was in good spirits heading into Sunday. In testing, Boon felt great and even won me a game out of the graveyard. At the tournament, there ended up being 80'ish people, which translates into 7 rounds of swiss and a top 8.
As far as deck selection, I felt Bogles might be a good call in the Colorado meta right now, as it is usually full of Burn, Zoo, Merfolk, Affinity, and other aggro. In an aggro mirror, Coronet is the nut and not a lot of those decks can handle it. Open the Armory gave access to a 5th Coronet, which I felt would be sweet. I tested a bunch of blue based decks, but they all didnt feel right. This format, you can obviously get away with being massively linear, as long as free counter spells remain banned. Situational removal and counter spells just cant beat getting faced.
Round 1 vs Junk Midrange
Right off the bat, a BGx matchup, yuck. I won the roll and was lucky enough to steamroll pretty easily at the start. He didnt get a Lilly or decay to slow me down, and all i saw was a Finks before he scooped. So, i thought he was maybe on the CoCo/Chord Abzan combo, but the next game i did see discard, Siege Rhino, and Lilly. However, i was able to play myself around those threats and took the match. Fighting off a legit Junk deck in round 1 felt great. Win 2-0.
1-0-0
Round 2 vs Jund
Geez, can you ask for a worse round 1 and 2? Discard, Lilly, and Abrupt Decay are easily the worst cards to play against with this deck. Again, though, i won the die roll and was able to sprint to a quick turn 4 win before things got nasty. Winning on the play, every time, is very crucial for this deck. Against BGx, my only sideboard plan is to bring in 4 Leylines and then i shave things like an Umbra, 2 Spiritdancers (who usually die to Decay), and a Spirit Link. On the draw in game two, here, i stick a turn 0 Leyline and turn 1 Bogle, which i was able to get there with. Win 2-0
2-0-0
Round 3 vs UW Control
Well, so much for my meta call. So far, all i've seen is midrange and control, as opposed to the aggro and Burn i was expecting. I lost the die roll here, but ground my way to a game 1 win. He got to draw a lot of cards through Ancestral Vision, but i was heavy on the umbras which thwarted any Supreme Verdicts. I felt like i was in good position to win this match, but the next two games i got Fracturing Gusted. Ugh, that had to only be a 1 of in his board, i would imagine, but he drew it games 2 and 3 and got me good. Loss 1-2.
2-1-0
Round 4 vs Bright to Light Scapeshift
Luckily, a lot of my buddies are on this list and i played against it the night before during our testing. It’s a good matchup for Bogles, unless they get a few Tribe Elder fogs and chain a couple Cryptics together. A Rancor, though, totally ruins their Tribe Elder plan. So, draw Rancor, hope they dont draw a lot of Cryptics and snaps. Game 1 he just got browned on as my deck started getting hot. I played a turn 2 Kor, which i got to untap with, and went then Ethereal, draw, Rancor, draw, and Boon draw to attack for 12 and essentially end the game. See, Bogles has its own Ancestral Vision. Game 2 i hit a double Leyline opener, which doesnt outright make the game unwinnable for Scape, but it delays them a few turns, for sure, which was enough. Win 2-0.
3-1-0
Round 5 vs UW Merfolk
Finally, an aggro match. I was ready for this and ready to see how awesome Cornet would be. I recognized this guy as a writer to that Modern Nexus website, so i wanted to make sure i got him good. Unfortunately, this was the round i decided would be a good idea to smoke a joint in between rounds and I was really feeling it. So, i wasnt very talkative and started to get nervous. Game 1, i curved into Coronet and stomped all over him. That was nice, but in game 2 i got blown out by a Hibernation mid-attack, which was gross. We had a little issue after that because after the Hibernation i had 8 cards in hand and we both didnt notice, so I never discarded. He finally noticed on my next turn when i drew and had 9 cards in hand. Dont smoke pot, kiddos. We called a judge and he just made me discard, which i had plenty of lands to do, so all was good and my opponent ended up winning that game anyway. Game 3, i was freaking out over another possible Hibernation, because there is no way to play around it. I just went fast and Coronet crushed. Win 2-1.
4-1-0
Round 6 vs BtL Scapeshift
This guy's deck was just like round 4, but he, as a person, was saltier then the guy in round 4. No one likes losing to Bogles, i get it, but how is your one card combo deck any fairer than what i am doing? You dont see me get all bitter. I was in a good state of mellow at this point and steamrolled game 1. Game 2 was a little slower, but i was able to start gaining massive life with a Spirit Link and Coronet on a 6/6 Bogle. Gaining 12 a turn quickly got me up to 43 life and far out of Scape range. Regardless, he went for scape with 8 lands, which equals 2 Valakuts, 6 Mountains, and 36 damage. I think he thought his only out was to go through the motions and hope i scoop. He scapes, plays all his lands and says, “All the triggers are pointed at you.” Without evening mentioned how much damage, but i know how math works, so i say, “Ok, I take 36, you done with your turn?” then swung for lethal the next turn. Win 2-0
5-1-0
Round 7 vs Naya Company Hoogland.dec
I was hoping to draw into the top 8 this round, but we had to play. Per the standings, i was #7, my opponent was #8, and there was a #9 who had the same record as we did and got paired down. If we drew and that #9 won, then my opponent would have been leap-frogged and not made top 8. So, i offered a draw, he declined, then got shellacked. The first game, i had a to mull to 6 and kept a hand with two Kor's and a fetch (for a possible Dryad Arbor later). I'm usually ok with these hands post board, when they side out removal, but it was risky this time. Luckily, he pathed my first Kor, but the second Kor stuck and instantly got huge and won me the game. Game 2 was a little grindier. I had a Bogle out, early, and on his turn 3 he casted an Engineered Explosives on 1. Now, this guy was reading my cards all match, not understand how Kor worked or how the Umbra's worked... so i played on his lack of knowledge in my next sequence. He sticks EE on 1 and passes with 2 mana open to blow it up. I think a bit, and play Umbra on my Bogle, he lets it resolve, i play Rancor on my Bogle?, he lets it resolves, i move to attacks and then he triggers the EE, so i got Rancor back to my hand and the Bogle lived. We had to have a judge call on that, but i knew how it worked. He definitely should have popped the EE in response to the Umbra, but he admitted later that the thought the EE would just take care of everything, which I was banking on him getting wrong. Win 2-0.
6-1-0
I got second seed in the top 8.
Top 8 vs BUG Control
This guy cubes with me and my friends sometimes, so i know him well enough. He is a great player and he built a tight Control brew with Goyfs, Lilly, Snaps, Tasigur, Ancestral, Decay... all the good stuff and expensive stuff. Essentially, this is another BGx matchup that i was trying to avoid. Even on the play, he got me game 1 with two Lilly's. I was able to fetch my Arbor once, and kill the first Lilly on the swing back, but the second won the game. Losing on the play felt awful. In game 2, i had a great opener of Bogle and Leyline, so i kept. I was chipping away, but never drew an Umbra, so a Damnation set me back and i had to go all in on an Arbor. The pivotal play in this game was him making a sequence where he thought he could Abrupt Decay my Dryad Arbor. I had lethal swinging in and he tried the Decay, which i told him he couldnt and he lost as hitting any of the enchantments on the Arbor wouldnt have mattered at that point since he was at 2 life. Had he realized that Decay is non-land, he could have played his turn differently and lived. Yay for punts. Game 3 had the most insane luck i've ever experienced with this deck thus far. I hit another Leyline and Bogle in my opener, which was sweet and started to chip away. His Damnations and Snap Damnations really kept ruining my plans, though, and then he stuck a Night of the Souls Betrayal while i had nothing out. I almost scooped here, but i remembered that Kor is still an out and he was at 7 life. We were both in top deck mode when i finally hit a Kor, played her, and passed. He, on his draw, hits a Tasigur and has enough lands to do Tasigur, use Tas ability (i give him a useless Inquisition), use Tas ability again (i give him a Goyf), then he plays the Goyf and is completely tapped out, and passes the turn. I'm about to get buried in card advantage and even though i'm at like 17 life (him still at 7), i know my clock is quick. So, i comment, "Man, i need an epic string of Aura's here." Empty handed, on my draw, i get Hyena Umbra, cast it on my Kor, draw, Ethereal Armor, cast, draw, Rancor, cast, draw, Ethereal, cast, draw, hit a blank. Holy *****, I attack for 21 (20 after the Betrayal -1/-1) trample and win. Never have i had a string off a Kor like that in such a crucial moment. Get wrecked. Win 2-1.
Top 4 vs Merfolk
Different Merfolk player than the one earlier in rounds, but the same matchup that i like playing against. Hopefully, this guy didnt have Hibernation to smash me, though. I was on the play and mulled to 5 game 1 and farted out pretty easily. Again, losing game 1 on the play felt gross, but i remembered that i should be favored, no matter what, in this matchup. Game 2, i mulled to 6, on the play but had a real hand and i was way too fast for him. I got a Coronet, which matters. Game 3, i again had to mull to 6, but again had the nut. Without Hibernation, i dont think Merfolk can deal with a Bogle, Ethereal, Rancor, Coronet hand. Well, actually, not a lot of decks can. Win 2-1
Finals vs Living End
I was hoping to dodge this match-up all day, too. Living End says "Sacrifice your creatures", so even an Umbra cant help against the unfair sweeper. I didnt know what to do, I figured I would get slammed game 1, then hope i draw Rest in Peace both times for games 2 and 3. Not the best odds. At the beginning of the match, my opponent proposed a prize split. Split the packs pool 50/50, winner gets the SCG invite and playmat, and loser gets the medal. 'Loser gets the medal?', i though to myself, thats weird, but whatever, i accepted and kept shuffling, but a second later he just announces that he concedes to me. That dude REALLY just wanted the medal, lol. He told me later that he had invites already. Since I was technically the winner then, the judges made me take a picture with the mat and medal before I gave the medal to the second place guy. So, it looks like i get all the glory, but he gets the medal, which i'm ok with since i'm sure i would have been ROFLstomped by his deck. So yeah, i took this ***** down!
The deck ran hot all day, but i'd also like to think i navigated myself through the field very well. I play a lot of Modern and Legacy and i know the decks throughout each format very well, which really helps in decision making. Against any non-red deck post-board, for example, you can rely on a Kor or Arbor to get there pretty consistently, which makes mulligan'ing easier. Knowing when to double down on certain decisions like this won me the day. Not playing around Lilly's or ambush viper Snapcasters are misplays i see other Bogle players make all the time. I'll never run my Bogle, with just a Rancor on it, into your open two mana, blue mage, thank you very much. I dont dilute my deck with too many sideboard cards each match. I feel like 6 is the upper limit, and out of the 6 you take out, some number needs to be Kors and Paths, so you dont run too few Aura's.
Open the Armory was sweet all day. I used it throughout to get a Rancor, Ethereal, an Umbra, and Coronet, whatever the situation called for. I like it as a one of, though, because it is still important to have enough one drop enchantments for the turn 2 double Aura plays. I could possibly see myself going up to two Gryff's Boon, though. Card was sick, even though i never got to play it from the graveyard during the entire tournament, the extra evasion was awesome.
TLDR: I sent a bunch of mages on one way trips to Browntown and won Colorado States.
Here are my thoughts:
- I always try to mull to either a mana dork, Temple, or an Ancient Stirrings to find a Temple in my opening hand. That's 12 cards you are looking for in your opener, which are pretty good odds. You can easily win on 5 or 6 cards with this deck, so mull aggressively, yes. The exception comes when you are playing against BGx decks and side out your mana dorks.
- I like one dismember main. I think the extra removal spell is worth it, but you cant take 8 damage in this format to remove creatures. Every other deck in the format is aggressive, i think 2 Dismembers is too much.
- I also run 2 SkySpawners and i love then. A Spawner with a Hierarch out is a reasonable clock during board stalls. Some people dont use them because of the mana. There are definitely awkward times where you need to fetch and play a Hierarch on turn one, do you get a Temple Garden or a Breeding Pool if you dont have a Diplacer or Spawner in hand? I've definitely chose wrong before and drew into the opposite of what i needed. But, i think the risk is worth it, Spawner is great, i almost want to go up to 3 and down to 2 Reshapers...
- I do a 2/2 split on Cage/RiP. I'm with you that RiP is useful in other matchups, like my local meta has a few Living End players. I've lost to Dredge through Cage before, they can remove it pretty easily, but they have no enchantment removal. You just need to get lucky that you draw it, but thats like any other deck.
- Opposing Worships are just game, i suppose. You just hope you dont see the mirror and they dont draw their one of Worhip. You cant have answers to everything in your board with such a wide meta. You pick and choose your battles. If you want a more well rounded sideboard, go for it, but then you are just less likely to draw the cards you need when you need them against basically all matchups.
I dont like Endbringer in this deck because it is too fragile for 6 mana. Drowner puts dudes on the table, even if it is immediately Terminated. TKS also does work, even when instantly killed, and Smasher is a 2 for 1 when killed. Endbringer costs 6 and you risk the chance of gaining nothing if it is Path'd or even Dismembered. If it was a 5/6, i might consider it more, but the die'ing to Dismember for no ETB trigger is brutal.
1) Busted Starts. This plan usually involves a turn 1 Hierarch, into a turn 2 Temple into Thought-knot. Then turn 3 if you have another Thought-Knot or a Smasher, thats awesome. A start like this is very hard for any opposing deck to stop. Sometimes, a just as good start is turn 2 Reshaper into turn 3 Thought-Knot into turn 4 Smasher, with perhaps a Cavern making sure nothing gets countered. Also very hard for opposing decks to stop.
2) Long Game Inevitability. The second thing this deck does involves a Displacer doing its thing in the mid to late game. Tapping down your opponents threats, killing their tokens, and blinking Thought-Knot, Drowner, or Skyspawner. If you get stuck in a long game against Jund and other midrange decks, this is how you usually eventually trump them.
I dont see how Deep Fiend fits in to help any of the two things this deck does. Its a great ambush blocker, i guess. I'm over this card, its not right for this deck, always feels terrible.
In most scenarios, it feels like a win more, because if i have extra creatures to sac and enough other creatures to attack hard, then i am obviously far ahead on the board as it is. I cant say i've had Fiend pull me out of sticky situations and steal games quite like a Drowner has.
I also dont like sacc'ing anything to cast it. The best sac guy is of course Reshaper, but then all you are doing is gaining +2 power and the chance that Reshaper might hit something good, which he usually does not considering the deck is half lands/mana dorks. Usually, if you are Deep Fiending into an alphs strike, you already have what you need on the board or in hand, so the extra card off Reshaper is irrelevant.
Think of these two scenarions, if its late enough in a game where you could cast Drowner or Deep Fiend, would you rather have Matter Reshaper, Drowner, and 2 Scions on the board, or One Deep Fiend and a land (because you sacced the Reshaper and hit a land). Its especially frstrating is they just have a Terminate for your Deep Fiend afterwards. The first scenario is simply so much more powerful. This isnt a tempo deck, i'd rather get the board big, then bink and tap myself to victory. Grinding it out is what this deck does if you dont already win on a busted fast start. But i'd argue that Deep Fiend is not part of a busted start.
I think it would look the same as against Abzan CoCo, just bring in your graveyard hate, but also keep in Paths.
VS Burn: +4 Leyline, +2 Nature Claim, -4 Kor, -1 Path, -1 Spider Umbra. They have way too much direct damage to even try to get there with Kor, dont do it. I side in a few Claims to either hit my own Rancor or kill their Eidolon of the Great Revel, which is the only threat I am worried about. The goal here is to get a Coronet or Spirit Link ASAP, then you auto win.
VS Jund/Junk/BUG/BGx: +4 Leyline, +1 Dryad Arbor, -2 Kor, -1 Path, -1 Spirit Link, -1 Spider Umbra. Kor with an Umbra is really good in the Jund matchup, but i still side out a few. However, i'm more than happy to keep a hand with a Fetchland, a Kor, and an Umbra, unless youre against Junk who play Paths. Leyline is pretty clutch here to stop discard effects, Liliana's sac effect, and Lili's ultimate. Almost any deck can potentially run Spellskite, so if you see one, add in Paths or Claims for game 3. They will keep in some number of Bolts, so if you go in on an Arbor, try and get an umbra on it right away while they are tapped out. These decks are the hardest for us to beat, but i did get lucky and beat 3 BGx decks on my way to winning Colorado States.
VS Abzan Company: +2 Grafdigger's Cage, +1 Rest in Peace, +1 Dryad Arbor, -1 Kor, -1 Spirit Link, -1 Spider Umbra, -1 Bogle. This plays no main deck kill spells, but will side in Abrupt Decay. They dont bring in Path, which means Arbor is basically hexproof and you can afford to shave a Bogle. They will try to combo, so either kill them fast or hope to hit one of your sideboard cards. Cage is great, so they cant Chord for Pridemage.
VS Affinity: +3 Nature's Claim, +2 Stony Silence, -2 Path, -2 Kor, -1 Hyena Umbra. Claim is just better than Path here, but i still dont want too many kill spells because the goal is to get a bigger creature than they have. An opening hand of 3 kill spells isnt really that great. Like any aggro match, you are looking for a Coronet and some evasion.
VS Zoo and Merfolk: I dont do sh|t unless they have Spellskites or something weird. I could see bringing in a few Claims against fish since it hits Spreading Seas and Vial, but really both of these decks cant beat a Coronet. Mono blue fish cant handle a huge Kor, feel free to go all in on her. EDIT: i see mono-U fish are playing some Vapor Snags now, so maybe be cautious on the Kor plan. I dont think i've seen Snags in my local meta, though.
VS Scapeshift: +4 Leyline, +2 Gaddock Teeg, -3 Path, -1 Spider Umbra, -1 Hyena Umbra, -1 Kor. This is another matchup where you can usually rely on Kor if you need to, but i still shave 1 because its better to have a good density of Auras. Teeg stops Scape, Bring to Light, and Crpytics, which is a big deal. They simply cant kill you if you have Leyline out, which buys you a turn since they have to Cryptic bounce it before they can combo. Still, bringing in Leyline's is dubious here, i'm not sure if it is right. You dont need Path at all, even if they use their 'creature package' out of the board, i'm not afraid of Obstinate Baloths. This deck is the most likely to have a Spellskite in the board, but usually only 1, and they have to hit it.
VS Tron: +2 Stony Silence, +2 Gaddock Teeg, -2 Kor, -1 Path, -1 Spirit Link. This matchup can be kind of tough, but Teeg stops Karn and Ugin. Stony is really annoying for them to not be able to crack maps, spheres, and stars. You need to keep a few Paths for Wurmcoil. Stony stops Spellskites, too.
VS Jeskai/Grixis/UW Control: +1 Rest in Peace, -1 Path. It depends on what kind of deck we are facing, but usually we are faster than they can handle. Teeg might be a consideration here as it stop sweepers and Planeswalkers, but he doesnt stop Kiki/Angel combo. I think you just want to stay dense in Auras and present a fast clock. Dont attack into Snapcaster mana if your creature cant handle it. I see a lot of people attack with a Bogle with only a Rancor on it, only to have it get ambush viper'd.
I guess thats all i can think about for now. Like i've said before, we just lose to decks like Infect and Living End and i'm not going to waste a slot in the board for a one-of Melira that is very unlikely for me to draw. Even if you get a Rest in Peace out against Living End, they can still cascade into sweepers until they can hard cast their dudes, its rough.
The token can be Abrupt Decay'd, which is a very good side effect for Arbor. Also, like Noobin pointed out, being able to fetch Arbor makes it feel like you have 6/7/8 Arbors.
Ohh, interesting. Still doesnt change my opinion on it.
I cant think of a common circumstance where Wheel would be better than RIP or Cage. RIP hurts us with Rancor and Boon not being able to come back, but i like that RIP gets rid of the graveyards right away. The one sided effect of Wheel seems attractive (it only hit your opponents), but it doesnt clear the yard of a Griselbrand if one is already in there. RIP and Cage would both prevent Griselbrand from coming into play.
RIP, Cage, and Wheel would all prevent a Finks from persisting, but only Cage prevents Collected Company and Chord, too. Cage does not stop Thopter Combo, but its been figured out that Thopters isnt that great. When evaluating all 3 cards against the popular decks, i think it goes Cage > RIP > Wheel. Abzan CoCo is the real deal and we need a way to not give it a free win. Its beatable, while decks like Living End or Infect just arent.
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Temple Garden
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Spider Umbra
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Daybreak Coronet
1 Gryff's Boon
1 Spirit Link
1 Spirit Mantle
2 Open the Armory
3 Path to Exile
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Stoney Silence
1 Rest in Peace
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Nature's Claim
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Dryad Arbor
I upped my Open the Armory count to 2, at the expense of a Spirit Mantle. While i love Spirit Mantle, OtA counts as evasion. It can grab the singleton SM, or anything else, and it has been awesome. Most of the time, i'm using it at 3 mana for a Rancor or Ethereal Armor to finish out a game/apply crazy pressure. Rarely, it seems, do i go get a Coronet, surprisingly enough, but that option is there, too. Having access to Boon, SM, and Rancor make for great evasion targets. This mix of tutors and enchantments has been working out real well for me.
I like one Arbor in the main, i go all in on Arbor a lot, or as a last resort. Obviously, it is particularly good against BGx decks, to the point where i was really considering a second Arbor in the main. I tested it, and didnt like it, though. One in the side, however, for those BGx matches, has been great.
Speaking of the sideboard, I dropped down in count on Stony Silences, got rid of Suppression Field (which is a shame, i like this card), and added Grafdigger's Cages to fight against CoCo/Chord decks. Against Abzan Company, i'm only bringing in the 2 Cages and 1 RIP, which is usually enough to stop the combo.
All in all, i still think this deck is very well positioned and it is getting even smoother with Oopen the Armory. Yes, you still need to find a creature and protect it, but getting your mix of auras out there has never been easier.
Yes, this deck punts to Infect and Living End, but you cant beat them all, many people feel the same way towards Bogles with their deck. This is Modern, after all.
Ill bring in Teeg in any control matchup. It is a must remove for Scapeshift, Gifts decks, and something like Jeskai/UW if they want to play their Cryptics and Wraths. Bogles are hexproof, so what kills them? Wraths, which always cost 4+. Its just another hedge against sweepers. Plus, getting Cryptic Commanded multiple times in a row is one way control decks stabalize.
Cannonist just dies to Shriekmaw, which LE plays maindeck. At least with RIP they need to hit one of their Beats Within.
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Temple Garden
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Spider Umbra
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Daybreak Coronet
1 Gryff's Boon
1 Spirit Link
2 Spirit Mantle
1 Open the Armory
3 Path to Exile
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Stoney Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Nature's Claim
1 Suppression Field
I play tested with some buddies on Saturday night, before the tournament, and we did a mock 8 man tournament which I crushed, so I was in good spirits heading into Sunday. In testing, Boon felt great and even won me a game out of the graveyard. At the tournament, there ended up being 80'ish people, which translates into 7 rounds of swiss and a top 8.
As far as deck selection, I felt Bogles might be a good call in the Colorado meta right now, as it is usually full of Burn, Zoo, Merfolk, Affinity, and other aggro. In an aggro mirror, Coronet is the nut and not a lot of those decks can handle it. Open the Armory gave access to a 5th Coronet, which I felt would be sweet. I tested a bunch of blue based decks, but they all didnt feel right. This format, you can obviously get away with being massively linear, as long as free counter spells remain banned. Situational removal and counter spells just cant beat getting faced.
Round 1 vs Junk Midrange
Right off the bat, a BGx matchup, yuck. I won the roll and was lucky enough to steamroll pretty easily at the start. He didnt get a Lilly or decay to slow me down, and all i saw was a Finks before he scooped. So, i thought he was maybe on the CoCo/Chord Abzan combo, but the next game i did see discard, Siege Rhino, and Lilly. However, i was able to play myself around those threats and took the match. Fighting off a legit Junk deck in round 1 felt great. Win 2-0.
1-0-0
Round 2 vs Jund
Geez, can you ask for a worse round 1 and 2? Discard, Lilly, and Abrupt Decay are easily the worst cards to play against with this deck. Again, though, i won the die roll and was able to sprint to a quick turn 4 win before things got nasty. Winning on the play, every time, is very crucial for this deck. Against BGx, my only sideboard plan is to bring in 4 Leylines and then i shave things like an Umbra, 2 Spiritdancers (who usually die to Decay), and a Spirit Link. On the draw in game two, here, i stick a turn 0 Leyline and turn 1 Bogle, which i was able to get there with. Win 2-0
2-0-0
Round 3 vs UW Control
Well, so much for my meta call. So far, all i've seen is midrange and control, as opposed to the aggro and Burn i was expecting. I lost the die roll here, but ground my way to a game 1 win. He got to draw a lot of cards through Ancestral Vision, but i was heavy on the umbras which thwarted any Supreme Verdicts. I felt like i was in good position to win this match, but the next two games i got Fracturing Gusted. Ugh, that had to only be a 1 of in his board, i would imagine, but he drew it games 2 and 3 and got me good. Loss 1-2.
2-1-0
Round 4 vs Bright to Light Scapeshift
Luckily, a lot of my buddies are on this list and i played against it the night before during our testing. It’s a good matchup for Bogles, unless they get a few Tribe Elder fogs and chain a couple Cryptics together. A Rancor, though, totally ruins their Tribe Elder plan. So, draw Rancor, hope they dont draw a lot of Cryptics and snaps. Game 1 he just got browned on as my deck started getting hot. I played a turn 2 Kor, which i got to untap with, and went then Ethereal, draw, Rancor, draw, and Boon draw to attack for 12 and essentially end the game. See, Bogles has its own Ancestral Vision. Game 2 i hit a double Leyline opener, which doesnt outright make the game unwinnable for Scape, but it delays them a few turns, for sure, which was enough. Win 2-0.
3-1-0
Round 5 vs UW Merfolk
Finally, an aggro match. I was ready for this and ready to see how awesome Cornet would be. I recognized this guy as a writer to that Modern Nexus website, so i wanted to make sure i got him good. Unfortunately, this was the round i decided would be a good idea to smoke a joint in between rounds and I was really feeling it. So, i wasnt very talkative and started to get nervous. Game 1, i curved into Coronet and stomped all over him. That was nice, but in game 2 i got blown out by a Hibernation mid-attack, which was gross. We had a little issue after that because after the Hibernation i had 8 cards in hand and we both didnt notice, so I never discarded. He finally noticed on my next turn when i drew and had 9 cards in hand. Dont smoke pot, kiddos. We called a judge and he just made me discard, which i had plenty of lands to do, so all was good and my opponent ended up winning that game anyway. Game 3, i was freaking out over another possible Hibernation, because there is no way to play around it. I just went fast and Coronet crushed. Win 2-1.
4-1-0
Round 6 vs BtL Scapeshift
This guy's deck was just like round 4, but he, as a person, was saltier then the guy in round 4. No one likes losing to Bogles, i get it, but how is your one card combo deck any fairer than what i am doing? You dont see me get all bitter. I was in a good state of mellow at this point and steamrolled game 1. Game 2 was a little slower, but i was able to start gaining massive life with a Spirit Link and Coronet on a 6/6 Bogle. Gaining 12 a turn quickly got me up to 43 life and far out of Scape range. Regardless, he went for scape with 8 lands, which equals 2 Valakuts, 6 Mountains, and 36 damage. I think he thought his only out was to go through the motions and hope i scoop. He scapes, plays all his lands and says, “All the triggers are pointed at you.” Without evening mentioned how much damage, but i know how math works, so i say, “Ok, I take 36, you done with your turn?” then swung for lethal the next turn. Win 2-0
5-1-0
Round 7 vs Naya Company Hoogland.dec
I was hoping to draw into the top 8 this round, but we had to play. Per the standings, i was #7, my opponent was #8, and there was a #9 who had the same record as we did and got paired down. If we drew and that #9 won, then my opponent would have been leap-frogged and not made top 8. So, i offered a draw, he declined, then got shellacked. The first game, i had a to mull to 6 and kept a hand with two Kor's and a fetch (for a possible Dryad Arbor later). I'm usually ok with these hands post board, when they side out removal, but it was risky this time. Luckily, he pathed my first Kor, but the second Kor stuck and instantly got huge and won me the game. Game 2 was a little grindier. I had a Bogle out, early, and on his turn 3 he casted an Engineered Explosives on 1. Now, this guy was reading my cards all match, not understand how Kor worked or how the Umbra's worked... so i played on his lack of knowledge in my next sequence. He sticks EE on 1 and passes with 2 mana open to blow it up. I think a bit, and play Umbra on my Bogle, he lets it resolve, i play Rancor on my Bogle?, he lets it resolves, i move to attacks and then he triggers the EE, so i got Rancor back to my hand and the Bogle lived. We had to have a judge call on that, but i knew how it worked. He definitely should have popped the EE in response to the Umbra, but he admitted later that the thought the EE would just take care of everything, which I was banking on him getting wrong. Win 2-0.
6-1-0
I got second seed in the top 8.
Top 8 vs BUG Control
This guy cubes with me and my friends sometimes, so i know him well enough. He is a great player and he built a tight Control brew with Goyfs, Lilly, Snaps, Tasigur, Ancestral, Decay... all the good stuff and expensive stuff. Essentially, this is another BGx matchup that i was trying to avoid. Even on the play, he got me game 1 with two Lilly's. I was able to fetch my Arbor once, and kill the first Lilly on the swing back, but the second won the game. Losing on the play felt awful. In game 2, i had a great opener of Bogle and Leyline, so i kept. I was chipping away, but never drew an Umbra, so a Damnation set me back and i had to go all in on an Arbor. The pivotal play in this game was him making a sequence where he thought he could Abrupt Decay my Dryad Arbor. I had lethal swinging in and he tried the Decay, which i told him he couldnt and he lost as hitting any of the enchantments on the Arbor wouldnt have mattered at that point since he was at 2 life. Had he realized that Decay is non-land, he could have played his turn differently and lived. Yay for punts. Game 3 had the most insane luck i've ever experienced with this deck thus far. I hit another Leyline and Bogle in my opener, which was sweet and started to chip away. His Damnations and Snap Damnations really kept ruining my plans, though, and then he stuck a Night of the Souls Betrayal while i had nothing out. I almost scooped here, but i remembered that Kor is still an out and he was at 7 life. We were both in top deck mode when i finally hit a Kor, played her, and passed. He, on his draw, hits a Tasigur and has enough lands to do Tasigur, use Tas ability (i give him a useless Inquisition), use Tas ability again (i give him a Goyf), then he plays the Goyf and is completely tapped out, and passes the turn. I'm about to get buried in card advantage and even though i'm at like 17 life (him still at 7), i know my clock is quick. So, i comment, "Man, i need an epic string of Aura's here." Empty handed, on my draw, i get Hyena Umbra, cast it on my Kor, draw, Ethereal Armor, cast, draw, Rancor, cast, draw, Ethereal, cast, draw, hit a blank. Holy *****, I attack for 21 (20 after the Betrayal -1/-1) trample and win. Never have i had a string off a Kor like that in such a crucial moment. Get wrecked. Win 2-1.
Top 4 vs Merfolk
Different Merfolk player than the one earlier in rounds, but the same matchup that i like playing against. Hopefully, this guy didnt have Hibernation to smash me, though. I was on the play and mulled to 5 game 1 and farted out pretty easily. Again, losing game 1 on the play felt gross, but i remembered that i should be favored, no matter what, in this matchup. Game 2, i mulled to 6, on the play but had a real hand and i was way too fast for him. I got a Coronet, which matters. Game 3, i again had to mull to 6, but again had the nut. Without Hibernation, i dont think Merfolk can deal with a Bogle, Ethereal, Rancor, Coronet hand. Well, actually, not a lot of decks can. Win 2-1
Finals vs Living End
I was hoping to dodge this match-up all day, too. Living End says "Sacrifice your creatures", so even an Umbra cant help against the unfair sweeper. I didnt know what to do, I figured I would get slammed game 1, then hope i draw Rest in Peace both times for games 2 and 3. Not the best odds. At the beginning of the match, my opponent proposed a prize split. Split the packs pool 50/50, winner gets the SCG invite and playmat, and loser gets the medal. 'Loser gets the medal?', i though to myself, thats weird, but whatever, i accepted and kept shuffling, but a second later he just announces that he concedes to me. That dude REALLY just wanted the medal, lol. He told me later that he had invites already. Since I was technically the winner then, the judges made me take a picture with the mat and medal before I gave the medal to the second place guy. So, it looks like i get all the glory, but he gets the medal, which i'm ok with since i'm sure i would have been ROFLstomped by his deck. So yeah, i took this ***** down!
http://i.imgur.com/aYNUoqc.jpg
The deck ran hot all day, but i'd also like to think i navigated myself through the field very well. I play a lot of Modern and Legacy and i know the decks throughout each format very well, which really helps in decision making. Against any non-red deck post-board, for example, you can rely on a Kor or Arbor to get there pretty consistently, which makes mulligan'ing easier. Knowing when to double down on certain decisions like this won me the day. Not playing around Lilly's or ambush viper Snapcasters are misplays i see other Bogle players make all the time. I'll never run my Bogle, with just a Rancor on it, into your open two mana, blue mage, thank you very much. I dont dilute my deck with too many sideboard cards each match. I feel like 6 is the upper limit, and out of the 6 you take out, some number needs to be Kors and Paths, so you dont run too few Aura's.
Open the Armory was sweet all day. I used it throughout to get a Rancor, Ethereal, an Umbra, and Coronet, whatever the situation called for. I like it as a one of, though, because it is still important to have enough one drop enchantments for the turn 2 double Aura plays. I could possibly see myself going up to two Gryff's Boon, though. Card was sick, even though i never got to play it from the graveyard during the entire tournament, the extra evasion was awesome.
TLDR: I sent a bunch of mages on one way trips to Browntown and won Colorado States.