I lost the first game because I had no idea what he was actually playing and I am not familiar with the archetype. Games 2 and 3 were never out of my control and I burned him down.
Game 2 against Boros Burn (2-1) 2-0
Three very intense games that were always close and more about who loses their nerve first. Lifegain through Helix is not really favouring my build. But I pulled it off in Game 3 thanks to Eidolon and and presenting enough pressure.
Game 3 against Hardened Scales (1-2) 2-1
I lost the first game because I was not on my toes and made a few misplays and not having an answer to Ravager triggers ... Game 2 went really well, Smashing my way through his artifacts, in the last game I flooded ... 4 turns just lands, fetching didn't help either ...
Game 4 against UW Control (2-0) 3-1
Both games were pretty lopsided, I was quite on curve, he flooded both games. Not much else to say.
All in all I am very happy with how this build performed, Game 1s felt like drag racing and having a more or less painless mana base makes a difference and (in a way) won me the mirror, although I have no lifegain. Light up the Stage is nice, but I need to play a bit more with it to have a real oppinion on it.
Usually I boarded LutS out in Games 2+ and boarded Eidolon in, playing both at the sime time doesn't feel very beneficial to my life total.
If I cast Lightning Helix, it's a 6 point life swing. If I cast Light Up the Stage into two Bolts, it's also a 6 point life swing. The difference is Eidolon deals 2 damage to me if I make the first play and 6 damage if I make the second.
You know how Eidolon *****s on Storm and Phoenix when they start spamming cantrips? Light Up the Stage is like that, only it's happening to yourself.
I would like to nitpick a bit ...
a) the life swing in your example would only be 4 points
b) let's say you're both at 9 life, with Helix and Eidolon you'd be at 10 and the opponent at 6, with LutS and 2 1-Mana Bolts both would be at 3 life, and since we're in Magic Wonderland, having the Eidolon in play and even if the opp has removal, your 3 life are most probably better than his 3 life, given the fact that our deck is supposed to "deal 3".
I like Relic against decks like BridgeVine, as I can immediately start to shrink their yard. Crypt is cheaper, yes, but also more limited in its usefulness, in my oppinion.
16 people, 4 rounds of fun - to make it short, I ended up winning 1st place (3 - 0 - 1).
Round 1 Zombies GB (sort of Mono-Black) Homebrew 2-0
Not much to say here, except landing a Mirran here was ending game 2 even faster than game 1.
Round 2 Ad Nauseam 2-1
This was the first time ever that I had to play against Ad Naseam ... G1 was rather short ... games 2 and 3 were pretty good for me, thanks to Stony Silence and Thalia. Sadly, my land destruction was rather underwhelming during those two games, as the cards just didn't want to come out. Regardless, in the end, I won against him.
Round 3 Esper Homebrew 2-1
Obzedat, Supreme Verdict and other stuff ... I won the first and last game. Not muich to say about the opponent's deck, except that I know the player quite well and he's quite good - he usually plays affinity or GR Tron, but this evening he chose his homebrew Esper deck and I got good hands. Selfless Spirit was quite an All Star here.
Round 4 Bant Eldrazi 1-1
One thing to say ... I do not like Bant Eldrazi ... definitely. Game 1 went in favour of my flyers, Game 2 he beat the crap out of me with 2 Reality Smasher (they quite literally smashed my reality ... and I couldn't cast my Wrath ... because I had Thalia in play and only 4 mana ... :(). Game 3 would have been mine ... but we went into the extra turns and that was not enough time.
All in all I was very surprised how effective and weel the deck performed in the meta, as the players there are quite good. Though I will change the deck somewhat, the Displacers will go for now, as they didn't do much the whole evening, they will be replaced with 2 Spirits in the main and 1 in the side, and 2 Sunlance in the SB. I wanted to bolt those mana dorks so often and couldn't that it was short of frustrating at times.
So ... next time, the list will look something like this:
2 Arid Mesa
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
9 Mountain
//Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
4 Skewer the Critics
//Burn - Instant
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Skullcrack
4 Searing Blaze
3 Shard Volley
4 Light up the Stage
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Smash to Smithereens
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Path to Exile
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
Matchups:
Game 1 againt UB Mill (2-1) 1-0
I lost the first game because I had no idea what he was actually playing and I am not familiar with the archetype. Games 2 and 3 were never out of my control and I burned him down.
Game 2 against Boros Burn (2-1) 2-0
Three very intense games that were always close and more about who loses their nerve first. Lifegain through Helix is not really favouring my build. But I pulled it off in Game 3 thanks to Eidolon and and presenting enough pressure.
Game 3 against Hardened Scales (1-2) 2-1
I lost the first game because I was not on my toes and made a few misplays and not having an answer to Ravager triggers ... Game 2 went really well, Smashing my way through his artifacts, in the last game I flooded ... 4 turns just lands, fetching didn't help either ...
Game 4 against UW Control (2-0) 3-1
Both games were pretty lopsided, I was quite on curve, he flooded both games. Not much else to say.
All in all I am very happy with how this build performed, Game 1s felt like drag racing and having a more or less painless mana base makes a difference and (in a way) won me the mirror, although I have no lifegain. Light up the Stage is nice, but I need to play a bit more with it to have a real oppinion on it.
Usually I boarded LutS out in Games 2+ and boarded Eidolon in, playing both at the sime time doesn't feel very beneficial to my life total.
I would like to nitpick a bit ...
a) the life swing in your example would only be 4 points
b) let's say you're both at 9 life, with Helix and Eidolon you'd be at 10 and the opponent at 6, with LutS and 2 1-Mana Bolts both would be at 3 life, and since we're in Magic Wonderland, having the Eidolon in play and even if the opp has removal, your 3 life are most probably better than his 3 life, given the fact that our deck is supposed to "deal 3".
He generates a sort-of card advantage and can crew the copter and chump ... I like him a lot and he can make the difference.
just a short report on my FNM last Friday.
Here's the list:
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Horizon Canopy
12 Plains
//Creatures
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Eldrzi Displacer
3 Blade Splicer
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Mirran Crusader
4 Thraben Inspector
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Restoration Angel
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
3 Selfless Spirit
2 Wrath of God
2 Celestial Purge
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
16 people, 4 rounds of fun - to make it short, I ended up winning 1st place (3 - 0 - 1).
Round 1 Zombies GB (sort of Mono-Black) Homebrew 2-0
Not much to say here, except landing a Mirran here was ending game 2 even faster than game 1.
Round 2 Ad Nauseam 2-1
This was the first time ever that I had to play against Ad Naseam ... G1 was rather short ... games 2 and 3 were pretty good for me, thanks to Stony Silence and Thalia. Sadly, my land destruction was rather underwhelming during those two games, as the cards just didn't want to come out. Regardless, in the end, I won against him.
Round 3 Esper Homebrew 2-1
Obzedat, Supreme Verdict and other stuff ... I won the first and last game. Not muich to say about the opponent's deck, except that I know the player quite well and he's quite good - he usually plays affinity or GR Tron, but this evening he chose his homebrew Esper deck and I got good hands. Selfless Spirit was quite an All Star here.
Round 4 Bant Eldrazi 1-1
One thing to say ... I do not like Bant Eldrazi ... definitely. Game 1 went in favour of my flyers, Game 2 he beat the crap out of me with 2 Reality Smasher (they quite literally smashed my reality ... and I couldn't cast my Wrath ... because I had Thalia in play and only 4 mana ... :(). Game 3 would have been mine ... but we went into the extra turns and that was not enough time.
All in all I was very surprised how effective and weel the deck performed in the meta, as the players there are quite good. Though I will change the deck somewhat, the Displacers will go for now, as they didn't do much the whole evening, they will be replaced with 2 Spirits in the main and 1 in the side, and 2 Sunlance in the SB. I wanted to bolt those mana dorks so often and couldn't that it was short of frustrating at times.
So ... next time, the list will look something like this:
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Horizon Canopy
12 Plains
//Creatures
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Selfless Spirit
3 Blade Splicer
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Mirran Crusader
4 Thraben Inspector
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Restoration Angel
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
1 Selfless Spirit
2 Sunlance
2 Wrath of God
2 Celestial Purge
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
Here's the list:
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Horizon Canopy
12 Plains
//Creatures
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Dryad Militant
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Blade Splicer
3 Restoration Angel
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Vryn Wingmare
4 Path to Exile
//Artifacts
4 Aether Vial
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Fracturing Gust
2 Ghostly Prison
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
2 Runed Halo
2 Stony Silence
My Meta is quite Tier 1 heavy: Abzan Company, Affinity, Jund, etc.
Any thoughts?