I went to a 25 man GPT today and got 2nd! I finished the deck the week before the PT so I haven’t been playing it for that long. The deck had performed pretty well at FNM’s previously (I believe I had two 4-1-1 finished and a 3-3) so I felt pretty comfortable with it coming into the event. The deck I registered was almost the same 75 as Tom Ross’ newest, the main differences being my inclusion of 3 Spellskites in the 75 and Pulse of Murasa rather than Kitchen Finks. I expected a lot of Eldrazi (specifically the UW version that was cutting the Chalice of the Void) so I added Spellskites to the main to hedge against more Dismember and Path to Exile. As it turns out there was only one Colorless Eldrazi and a UR Eldrazi, but Spellskite was great anyway. Other than Eldrazi I didn’t know what to expect so I kept in most of the cards that were focused on speed.
I think the top 8 was: 1 UR Eldrazi, 1 UR Delver, 1 Affinity, 1 Junk, 1 Elves, 1 Naya Burn, 1 Kiki Chord and 1 UG Infect so surprisingly very diverse.
I’m not gonna lie, I did get pretty lucky at this tournament and had some insane draws.
Round 1 vs GR Tron
Game 1 I had a hand of Elf, Agent, Noble, Might, 2 land and a probe. I dump my elf on turn 1 then turn 2 I draw another Might. I decided to “play it safe” and not go all in, instead opting for Noble THEN Might in that order. He gets me with a Warping Wail then is able to drop Ulamog in 2 turns but I couldn’t kill him because my Agent just came into play. Game 2 he lands Karn on 3 and makes me discard rather than exile the Inkmoth on the battlefield. Game 3 I had Agent and double Vines but I wasn’t able to one shot him and his Ugin got there. This was a pretty awkward way to start my day.
1-2
Round 2 I got a bye.
Round 3 vs UB Mill
Game 1 I had a sketchy keep of an elf and my only pump spell being Become Immense. While wondering how I would win my opponent Glimpse the Unthinkable’s me on T2. I then topdeck a Might of Old Krosa and turn 2 him. Gotta love mill. Game 2 he lands a Hedron Crab but I have a Blighted Agent. I baited his Devour Flesh with a Glistener Elf. I then play Spellskite into Agent and proceed to kill him. Easy match but a really sweet brew with stuff like Shelldock Isle.
2-0
Round 4 vs Krark-Clan Eggs
This was a friend of mine so we both knew what we were playing. He almost play his 4C gifts which is obviously a much worse matchup, but he couldn’t find his Inquisition of Kozilek’s. I played against another player on Eggs on Friday and lost the MU on turn 4 both times, so I figured this matchup was bad to iffy. I don’t remember game 1 much, just that I had a turn 3 with Become Immense somewhere in the mix. I don’t remember much of game 2 other than killing his Spellskite with my Viridian Corrupter, which ended shortly after.
2-0
Round 5 vs. Mono White Hatebears/Death and Taxes
There were 7 of us on 9 points and I got paired down so I had to play it out. (Sad Life). Game 1 he mulled and his hand seemed pretty loose when I probed him. It had Finks, Arbiter, Mindcensor, Tec Edge and some other lands. The next turn he top decked a Path, but I was able to come back and take the game. Game 2 my infect guy was an Inkmoth and he had 2 Ghost Quarter’s and a Tec Edge. I wasn’t able to get the right spells to one shot him and lost this game. Game 3 my friend told me he kept a 2 Ghost Quarter hand with no other lands and topdecked the White source for the Path in his hand. I probed and saw the Path in his hand so I attacked with my elf and only used Pendlehaven with an exalted trigger to get in for 3. He doesn’t use Path on my end step or his turn. When I go for the kill he attempts to Path but I top deck a Probe to hit Vines for game. I should not have won this game, but you take them when you get them I guess.
2-1
Top 8 vs Kiki Chord
Game 1 he mulligans and only had Wall of Roots. Blighted Agent with Spellskite to take a Path wins me this one. Game 2 I should have Dismembered his Scavenging Ooze as soon as it came out because I had 2 Become Immense in hand. I think I was saving it because I was respecting the combo too much. I end up dying with the 2 Become Immense in my hand that I cannot cast. Game 3 was pretty intense. I mull to 6 and get a hand with Forest and Noble Hierarch with Blighted Agent as my infecter. The scry sees me Inkmoth Nexus. Pretty good scry except I have Might of Old Krosa and Vines in hand. I decide to take the chance and keep it on top anyway in case he has removal. I turn 2 a Spellskite and plan to play my Agent on 3 to be super careful. When I probed him on turn 3 I saw a hand of Kiki, Voice, Chord, Pridemage, Restoration Angel and Sacred Foundry. Since he had a Wall of Roots on the field I was dead if I didn’t play it correctly. I opt to play Agent and say go. When he plays the Angel end of turn I cast Twisted Image on the Wall of Roots which buys me a turn. He attacks since I have an Agent and says go. I don’t topdeck the green source to kill him with Vines and Might so I play the second Spellskite I drew and held up Dispel mana. He does not draw the 5th land and I proceed to kill him.
Top 4 vs. Burn
Since I switched my build and removed some protection spells, I knew this matchup would be a lot worse than it should be. Game 1 he keeps a hand with a lot of creatures but I have Blighted Agent on 2 with Noble for protection. He gets me down to 7 life but I kill him the next turn. Game 2 I mulligan to a hand with Forest as my only land and Noble Hierarch with Blighted Agent as my Infecter. Since I am up a game I get greedy and keep this hand. I scry Inkmoth Nexus to the top (yes this scenario happened twice lol). He had 2 Nacatl’s and a Swiftspear and got me down to 4 life, but Pulse of Murasa came up clutch and with a Dryad Arbor Block I was able to go to 6 life. He taps out for Molten rain on my Pendlehaven and I Become Immense him for the kill.
*Looking back, Kitchen Finks would have most likely netted the same result, but I love green Kolaghan’s Command too much.
Top 2 vs UR Delver
This is another local at my LGS and I know he is really good. We mutually decide to have second place receive more money than first since first also gets byes. At this point I’m surprised to have made it this far and I know this matchup isn’t great so I didn’t have too high expectations going in. Game 1 he was able to land a Grim Lavamancer and won a fight over my Blighted Agent. He probed me so I revealed a Forest in my hand. He then end of turn Vapor Snags my Noble Hierarch. Without thinking I play the Forest I revealed and play the Noble. This was huge because I drew an Inkmoth Nexus for the turn. The next turn I drew my single copy of Groundwell and got punished big time. I play the Inkmoth and hope for a miracle that I can get there. He gives me an opening by attacking with his Pia and Kiran Nalaar token but by then it was too late. I topdeck Vines of Vastwood, which in tandem with the Forest I should have saved would have been 11 poison even if he dealt 2 damage to the Noble Hierarch I had on field. Game 2 was also really close. I probed which saw Snapcaster Mage and Vapor Snag. His Delver flip revealed Remand so I had to try and play around those 3 cards all game but I could not find a second Vines or another counter. He probed me and was able to perfectly tap his mana leaving only a blue up. I had to cast a Pulse of Murasa to not die but he had the Dispel to lock up the game.
All in all this was a great experience and I learned a lot more with the deck.
Some other things about the deck:
I really am liking the 3rd Forest opposed to the 3rd Breeding Pool. Life total is very relevant and Path to Exile/Ghost Quarter are everywhere.
Spellskite was insane. I might even want to go up to 4 copies (probably a bad idea though)
Dryad Arbor is a must in the 75. I was actually on the fence and originally cut it, but the card proved to be too valuable and is an irreplaceable effect.
I’m 60% sure that 4 Become Immense is not correct. Honestly it might be, but the times that I drew 2 of them felt so bad. I think I’ll go back to the 3 I ran before, but just keep the Mutagenic Growths in.
Spell Pierce was extremely underwhelming. I kept it in a lot since it was pretty good against most of those decks, but I either never drew it or drew it when my opponent could pay the 2. It is probably very good but I just drew it at the wrong times.
2 Dismember (or at least 2 Spellskite killers) is also probably correct just in case I face decks with Melira, Sylvok Outcast or Spellskite in the main deck. They weren’t amazing today, but I will still stick with the 2 main for now.
I think I want another Apostle’s Blessing or Slip Through Space in the main. Other than that I think the deck was fine.
TLDR; infect is a good deck when there isn’t a lot of eldrazi everywhere.
I have been running 3 Blood Moon in my SB because I haven't gotten around to buying Fulminators yet. I would personally rather have an extra Dispel in my SB than the Claw because burn brings in almost all their Revelry anyway.
Pumpmonkey, for the side plan against CoCo, I'm not sure how good Fulminator is in the matchup, but I would also bring in copies of Magma Spray/Izzet Staticaster/Pyroclasm and either a Flashfreeze or extra Dispel. I have not gotten around to test CoCo yet, but this is just information I've gathered from others discussing the matchup.
Discard spells like Inquisition are awkward with Tasigur and not necessarily where the deck is trying to be. Also what are your guys' thoughts on 4 Terminate? I've heard people recommend Go for the Throat over terminates since it is less stressful on the mana. I'm trying out 3 Go for the throat and 1 Dismember in my build, but once Terminate goes down I will probably run a 2 Terminate/2 Go for the throat split.
I remember Chapin saying that Tar Pit was more of a late game card. I saw him activate it when it gave the extra push for lethal and had counter backup. I can't afford Tar Pits atm and am running a Lavaclaw Reaches(which I know is terrible), but being able to have an extra threat or two and also help mana fix is great.
Might I suggest a couple reasons for running 1-2 Ghost Quarters in place of 1-2 Fulminator Mages in the side.
First off, I realize how huge bringing in a few more threats can be, especially in a deck as threat-light as this may seem. Having a 2/X beater can help chip away at the opponent, eventually allowing you to burn them out as an alternate way to victory. Also the synergy that this card has with Kolaghan’s command is amazing and can blow out big mana decks.
Here are some pros for adding Ghost Quarter (some of these might be a stretch):
1. It can act as a “Last minute fetch” against Blood Moon. Of course the argument against this is that we should be aware of Blood Moon and consciously searching for basics G2 and G3, however sometimes we can’t. We may draw the non-basic/fetch side of our mana (and a Ghost Quarter) and it may be our last hope. Sometimes there may be hands with Cryptic, Terminate and a bolt effect and we may have to search for duals the first couple of turns. Blood Moon can obviously make things awkward, but Ghost Quarter may be the last chance attempt at getting a basic so we don’t necessarily get blown out. Being down a land at that point may hurt, but not as much as being shut off of 2 colors. Ghost Quarter more often than not will probably not come in against Blood Moon decks, but this is something to keep in mind in case a deck you might not expect to bring it in attempts to land one on you. (I recall seeing a few Jund decks have 2 in their side)
2. I’m not sure if many decks play Pithing Needle other than Goryo’s Vengeance, but as this deck gets more popular people will notice the playset of Fulminators in the deck. Any deck with Pithing Needle just has to name Fulminator and all we are left with is a 3 mana 2/2 which can get awkward. Ghost Quarter can help get around this if they do name Fulminator and we can’t find any copies of Kolaghan’s Command.
3. With the new Goryo’s Vengeance list catching on, it’s only a matter of time before the meta is full of the deck. From what I gather the deck wins on average by turn 3. As a blue deck the last thing we want to do is tap out on turn 3 to cast Fulminator to hit Boseiju. Ghost Quarter lets us land-go with counter back up and a way to instantly destroy Boseiju when it does show up. This can also apply to Amulet Bloom, since that deck is very fast as well. That deck also has the potential to kill on turn 2 or turn 3 on the play. Since we may not even get the chance to cast Fulminator, Ghost Quarter gives us a chance to prevent them from T2’ing us.
4. Ghost Quarter is faster at stopping decks that can put fast pressure on us with their man lands as well (BGx , Affinity and Infect come to mind) since it can come down before turn 3. Also, a friend of mine is playing a copy of Academy Ruins in his affinity deck, which is the best way to combat KC. If other affinity decks use that tech, Main deck Ghost Quarter could become a thing (and then we could go back to 4 Fulminators in the side)
Plus we could save a few bucks by not having to buy 1 or 2 more Fulminators.
I think the top 8 was: 1 UR Eldrazi, 1 UR Delver, 1 Affinity, 1 Junk, 1 Elves, 1 Naya Burn, 1 Kiki Chord and 1 UG Infect so surprisingly very diverse.
I’m not gonna lie, I did get pretty lucky at this tournament and had some insane draws.
This was my 75:
3 Forest
2 Breeding Pool
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
2 Pendelhaven
Creatures:
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blighted Agent
2 Spellskite
4 Become Immense
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Rancor
2 Dismember
1 Apostle’s Blessing
1 Spell Pierce
1 Groundswell
3 Nature’s Claim
2 Viridian Corrupter
2 Twisted Image
3 Pulse of Murasa
1 Dispel
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Wild Defiance
1 Dismember
1 Spellskite
Round 1 vs GR Tron
Game 1 I had a hand of Elf, Agent, Noble, Might, 2 land and a probe. I dump my elf on turn 1 then turn 2 I draw another Might. I decided to “play it safe” and not go all in, instead opting for Noble THEN Might in that order. He gets me with a Warping Wail then is able to drop Ulamog in 2 turns but I couldn’t kill him because my Agent just came into play. Game 2 he lands Karn on 3 and makes me discard rather than exile the Inkmoth on the battlefield. Game 3 I had Agent and double Vines but I wasn’t able to one shot him and his Ugin got there. This was a pretty awkward way to start my day.
1-2
Round 2 I got a bye.
Round 3 vs UB Mill
Game 1 I had a sketchy keep of an elf and my only pump spell being Become Immense. While wondering how I would win my opponent Glimpse the Unthinkable’s me on T2. I then topdeck a Might of Old Krosa and turn 2 him. Gotta love mill. Game 2 he lands a Hedron Crab but I have a Blighted Agent. I baited his Devour Flesh with a Glistener Elf. I then play Spellskite into Agent and proceed to kill him. Easy match but a really sweet brew with stuff like Shelldock Isle.
2-0
Round 4 vs Krark-Clan Eggs
This was a friend of mine so we both knew what we were playing. He almost play his 4C gifts which is obviously a much worse matchup, but he couldn’t find his Inquisition of Kozilek’s. I played against another player on Eggs on Friday and lost the MU on turn 4 both times, so I figured this matchup was bad to iffy. I don’t remember game 1 much, just that I had a turn 3 with Become Immense somewhere in the mix. I don’t remember much of game 2 other than killing his Spellskite with my Viridian Corrupter, which ended shortly after.
2-0
Round 5 vs. Mono White Hatebears/Death and Taxes
There were 7 of us on 9 points and I got paired down so I had to play it out. (Sad Life). Game 1 he mulled and his hand seemed pretty loose when I probed him. It had Finks, Arbiter, Mindcensor, Tec Edge and some other lands. The next turn he top decked a Path, but I was able to come back and take the game. Game 2 my infect guy was an Inkmoth and he had 2 Ghost Quarter’s and a Tec Edge. I wasn’t able to get the right spells to one shot him and lost this game. Game 3 my friend told me he kept a 2 Ghost Quarter hand with no other lands and topdecked the White source for the Path in his hand. I probed and saw the Path in his hand so I attacked with my elf and only used Pendlehaven with an exalted trigger to get in for 3. He doesn’t use Path on my end step or his turn. When I go for the kill he attempts to Path but I top deck a Probe to hit Vines for game. I should not have won this game, but you take them when you get them I guess.
2-1
Top 8 vs Kiki Chord
Game 1 he mulligans and only had Wall of Roots. Blighted Agent with Spellskite to take a Path wins me this one. Game 2 I should have Dismembered his Scavenging Ooze as soon as it came out because I had 2 Become Immense in hand. I think I was saving it because I was respecting the combo too much. I end up dying with the 2 Become Immense in my hand that I cannot cast. Game 3 was pretty intense. I mull to 6 and get a hand with Forest and Noble Hierarch with Blighted Agent as my infecter. The scry sees me Inkmoth Nexus. Pretty good scry except I have Might of Old Krosa and Vines in hand. I decide to take the chance and keep it on top anyway in case he has removal. I turn 2 a Spellskite and plan to play my Agent on 3 to be super careful. When I probed him on turn 3 I saw a hand of Kiki, Voice, Chord, Pridemage, Restoration Angel and Sacred Foundry. Since he had a Wall of Roots on the field I was dead if I didn’t play it correctly. I opt to play Agent and say go. When he plays the Angel end of turn I cast Twisted Image on the Wall of Roots which buys me a turn. He attacks since I have an Agent and says go. I don’t topdeck the green source to kill him with Vines and Might so I play the second Spellskite I drew and held up Dispel mana. He does not draw the 5th land and I proceed to kill him.
Top 4 vs. Burn
Since I switched my build and removed some protection spells, I knew this matchup would be a lot worse than it should be. Game 1 he keeps a hand with a lot of creatures but I have Blighted Agent on 2 with Noble for protection. He gets me down to 7 life but I kill him the next turn. Game 2 I mulligan to a hand with Forest as my only land and Noble Hierarch with Blighted Agent as my Infecter. Since I am up a game I get greedy and keep this hand. I scry Inkmoth Nexus to the top (yes this scenario happened twice lol). He had 2 Nacatl’s and a Swiftspear and got me down to 4 life, but Pulse of Murasa came up clutch and with a Dryad Arbor Block I was able to go to 6 life. He taps out for Molten rain on my Pendlehaven and I Become Immense him for the kill.
*Looking back, Kitchen Finks would have most likely netted the same result, but I love green Kolaghan’s Command too much.
Top 2 vs UR Delver
This is another local at my LGS and I know he is really good. We mutually decide to have second place receive more money than first since first also gets byes. At this point I’m surprised to have made it this far and I know this matchup isn’t great so I didn’t have too high expectations going in. Game 1 he was able to land a Grim Lavamancer and won a fight over my Blighted Agent. He probed me so I revealed a Forest in my hand. He then end of turn Vapor Snags my Noble Hierarch. Without thinking I play the Forest I revealed and play the Noble. This was huge because I drew an Inkmoth Nexus for the turn. The next turn I drew my single copy of Groundwell and got punished big time. I play the Inkmoth and hope for a miracle that I can get there. He gives me an opening by attacking with his Pia and Kiran Nalaar token but by then it was too late. I topdeck Vines of Vastwood, which in tandem with the Forest I should have saved would have been 11 poison even if he dealt 2 damage to the Noble Hierarch I had on field. Game 2 was also really close. I probed which saw Snapcaster Mage and Vapor Snag. His Delver flip revealed Remand so I had to try and play around those 3 cards all game but I could not find a second Vines or another counter. He probed me and was able to perfectly tap his mana leaving only a blue up. I had to cast a Pulse of Murasa to not die but he had the Dispel to lock up the game.
All in all this was a great experience and I learned a lot more with the deck.
Some other things about the deck:
I really am liking the 3rd Forest opposed to the 3rd Breeding Pool. Life total is very relevant and Path to Exile/Ghost Quarter are everywhere.
Spellskite was insane. I might even want to go up to 4 copies (probably a bad idea though)
Dryad Arbor is a must in the 75. I was actually on the fence and originally cut it, but the card proved to be too valuable and is an irreplaceable effect.
I’m 60% sure that 4 Become Immense is not correct. Honestly it might be, but the times that I drew 2 of them felt so bad. I think I’ll go back to the 3 I ran before, but just keep the Mutagenic Growths in.
Spell Pierce was extremely underwhelming. I kept it in a lot since it was pretty good against most of those decks, but I either never drew it or drew it when my opponent could pay the 2. It is probably very good but I just drew it at the wrong times.
2 Dismember (or at least 2 Spellskite killers) is also probably correct just in case I face decks with Melira, Sylvok Outcast or Spellskite in the main deck. They weren’t amazing today, but I will still stick with the 2 main for now.
I think I want another Apostle’s Blessing or Slip Through Space in the main. Other than that I think the deck was fine.
TLDR; infect is a good deck when there isn’t a lot of eldrazi everywhere.
Feel free to ask me questions about the event.
Pumpmonkey, for the side plan against CoCo, I'm not sure how good Fulminator is in the matchup, but I would also bring in copies of Magma Spray/Izzet Staticaster/Pyroclasm and either a Flashfreeze or extra Dispel. I have not gotten around to test CoCo yet, but this is just information I've gathered from others discussing the matchup.
Typo edited*
More like Rest in Pieces
First off, I realize how huge bringing in a few more threats can be, especially in a deck as threat-light as this may seem. Having a 2/X beater can help chip away at the opponent, eventually allowing you to burn them out as an alternate way to victory. Also the synergy that this card has with Kolaghan’s command is amazing and can blow out big mana decks.
Here are some pros for adding Ghost Quarter (some of these might be a stretch):
1. It can act as a “Last minute fetch” against Blood Moon. Of course the argument against this is that we should be aware of Blood Moon and consciously searching for basics G2 and G3, however sometimes we can’t. We may draw the non-basic/fetch side of our mana (and a Ghost Quarter) and it may be our last hope. Sometimes there may be hands with Cryptic, Terminate and a bolt effect and we may have to search for duals the first couple of turns. Blood Moon can obviously make things awkward, but Ghost Quarter may be the last chance attempt at getting a basic so we don’t necessarily get blown out. Being down a land at that point may hurt, but not as much as being shut off of 2 colors. Ghost Quarter more often than not will probably not come in against Blood Moon decks, but this is something to keep in mind in case a deck you might not expect to bring it in attempts to land one on you. (I recall seeing a few Jund decks have 2 in their side)
2. I’m not sure if many decks play Pithing Needle other than Goryo’s Vengeance, but as this deck gets more popular people will notice the playset of Fulminators in the deck. Any deck with Pithing Needle just has to name Fulminator and all we are left with is a 3 mana 2/2 which can get awkward. Ghost Quarter can help get around this if they do name Fulminator and we can’t find any copies of Kolaghan’s Command.
3. With the new Goryo’s Vengeance list catching on, it’s only a matter of time before the meta is full of the deck. From what I gather the deck wins on average by turn 3. As a blue deck the last thing we want to do is tap out on turn 3 to cast Fulminator to hit Boseiju. Ghost Quarter lets us land-go with counter back up and a way to instantly destroy Boseiju when it does show up. This can also apply to Amulet Bloom, since that deck is very fast as well. That deck also has the potential to kill on turn 2 or turn 3 on the play. Since we may not even get the chance to cast Fulminator, Ghost Quarter gives us a chance to prevent them from T2’ing us.
4. Ghost Quarter is faster at stopping decks that can put fast pressure on us with their man lands as well (BGx , Affinity and Infect come to mind) since it can come down before turn 3. Also, a friend of mine is playing a copy of Academy Ruins in his affinity deck, which is the best way to combat KC. If other affinity decks use that tech, Main deck Ghost Quarter could become a thing (and then we could go back to 4 Fulminators in the side)
Plus we could save a few bucks by not having to buy 1 or 2 more Fulminators.