First of all, I find it interesting that you put down Faeries due to the domination of Valakut when you also acknowledge Owen T's insane run with the deck. Pretty much everyone in that group day 2ed with Faeries as well as Ari Lax showing up in the top 8 too.
Secondly, I find it amusing that you made a terrible punt in the valakut mirror due to not following the trends and decided to stop playing the deck. You had insane board position and would win next turn if not that turn. You know he can't win unless it is off the top and he is representing Reverberate. I would say there is a much bigger chance of him having Reverb in hand than a shift off the top.
- BassmanARW
- Registered User
-
Member for 16 years, 7 months, and 4 days
Last active Wed, May, 3 2017 22:12:53
- 0 Followers
- 2,963 Total Posts
- 2 Thanks
-
May 20, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Roiled Cats and Archive TrapsWhere are the cats?Posted in: Twdwr Blog
-
May 12, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Back to work! Welcome to my blog.Doomblade seems leagues better than Deathmark right now with Eldrazi Conscription on the rise in Mythic and the rise of RDW as well. I feel like 3 Doomblade/2 Vapors is the way to go or further divide the doomblades into 2 doomblade/1 terminate in case of vampires.Posted in: JeffnBurns Blog
Also Stag seems a lot weaker than he once did. He is naturally great v. vamps and ok in the mirror, although it doesn't seem that great against UWr. -
Apr 26, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Just won Detroit's Midwest Masters!They are pretty insane. UW folds hard to them on a raging ravine. They are good against Ruinblaster, Spreading Seas, spot removal, etc. I convinced Tyler Mantey to audible into them b4 the event and he rocked them to top 8 as well. Keep an eye out for the decklists. For as much as the staff talked about how anxious everyone was to see the first event post ROE it sure is taking them a long time to post them.Posted in: BassmanARW Blog
-
Apr 26, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Just won Detroit's Midwest Masters!No Sarkhan the mad, but it would have been a better cute singleton from ROE than the one I decided to MD for this event.Posted in: BassmanARW Blog
The list:
Lands - 26
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Savage Lands
2x Rootbound Crag
1x Dragonskull Summit
4x Raging Ravine
2x Lavaclaw Reaches
3x Swamp
3x Mountain
3x Forest
Creatures - 18
4x Bloodbraid Elf
4x Sprouting Thrinax
4x Putrid Leech
3x Goblin Ruinblaster
3x Broodmate Dragon
Spells - 16
4x Blightning
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Maelstrom Pulse
2x Terminate
2x Trace of Abundance
1x Momentous Fall (should probably just be a 4th Ruinblaster)
SB
2x Great Sable Stag
2x Thought Hemorrhage
2x Duress
2x Consume the Meek
2x Doomblade
1x Terminate
1x Maelstrom Pulse
1x Baslisk Collar
1x Goblin Ruinblaster
1x Acidic Slime
@Nick - congrats for a job well done to you as well. Hopefully we can meet in the finals for the next one! -
Mar 5, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Total rating in danger!Yeah, I know how it works, alas it was more of an outrage because I think it was ran at a higher K than fnm since it was a special saturday series of drafts and I lost 13 points from losing to 1 person. Any idea on how many points you can lose at an fnm K level event? I thought it was 6. I am sitting a little under 1900 atm and although fnm is kind of silly to go to if I genuinely care about my rating, its a fun time to hang out and normally its fine to lose 6 to someone and win 1-4 since I can generally put out a winning record enough to gain a couple points then lose a couple points. The bigger events are what actually swing it one way or another.Posted in: BassmanARW Blog
-
Feb 16, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on 2009 PTQsPlaying control you just run the risk of draws, but they are frequently your fault due to your own slow play or slow play of your opponent. I have yet to ever call slow play on an opponent and I'm pretty sure that is pretty bad on my part.Posted in: BassmanARW Blog
-
Feb 8, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on I hate MinnesotaMinnesota has the Green Mill tho!Posted in: SGT_Chubbz Blog
-
Feb 3, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Treasure HuntThe idea was not to add counters to the deck, but to simply run 4 Assault in case one of the assaults gets countered. As is, if by chance the 1 is countered, even in casual, then the game is over.Posted in: subrosian Blog
-
Feb 3, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Treasure HuntThat question isn't "noobish" at all. This deck would fail miserably against any deck with counters even by running 4 Assaults, but you do need more assaults than just one.Posted in: subrosian Blog
-
Feb 1, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Treasure HuntFun fact: PlanesJaywalker is right. Gatherer shall tell you of your misconception.Posted in: subrosian Blog
-
Jan 18, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Emo blog post is emoYou need to take a step back and look at this thing is perspective. Breakups can be difficult, but if you keep thinking about how great your ex was, then the situation will only get worse as you will continue to reinforce the idea in your mind that she IS happiness and a life without her is misery. Realistically, break ups can sometimes get easier as you then meet another girl and all of a sudden don't really care that things ended with the first one. Continueing to obsess really gets you no where and if she has moved on, which she should have, then you should move on too. I imagine the feeling of your mind being controlled by someone who has no interest in you anymore should not be something you desire so don't let it. Focus on other things in life and try to view the situation from another person's perspective or an objective one. Hopefully that can allow you as days pass by to realize that you are only digging this emotional pit for yourself and that leaving memories behind is more than ok, its growing up and moving towards something better.Posted in: SGT_Chubbz Blog
-
Jan 18, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Awaiting WorldwakePlaying magic competitively will never be budget friendly. I'm not sure what period of time you are comparing to when the best deck was not reasonably expensive.Posted in: Thoughts on the state of current Magic environments
-
Jan 11, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on First Blog entryWell, at least as college progresses you get more flexibility in your course schedule if you desire friday nights openPosted in: Quicky Blog
-
Jan 2, 2010BassmanARW posted a message on Life, the Universe and Everything.That is certainly a possibility; however, I don't find it being a rather practical one. There is still the natural food chain.Posted in: AWOL Blog
- To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I feel like Glorybringer is so much more aggressive and fits in a lot more for what the deck is doing, but Avacyn certainly has more play to it.
I typically play Vendilion Clique and have been dabbling with Maelstrom Wanderer, which are both likely just better decks at the end of the day.
With that said, the idea of using Zedruu in a slow controlling build with enchantments appeals to me. I also own a Moat so I can put it to more use.
Here is yon list
1x Tundra
1x Volcanic Island
1x Plateau
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Steam Vents
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Mystic Gate
1x Cascade Bluffs
1x Rugged Prarie
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Marsh Flats
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Polluted Delta
1x Flooded Strand
1x Celestial Colonnade
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Wasteland
1x Maze of Ith
1x Command Tower
1x Kher Keep
1x Mystic Monastery
1x Serra's Sanctum
1x Cavern of Souls
3x Plains
3x Island
1x Mountain
1x Academy Rector
1x Keranos, God of Storms
Planeswalkers - 1
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Instants - 12
1x Brainstorm
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Counterspell
1x Negate
1x Forbid
1x Cryptic Command
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Force of Will
1x Misdirection
1x Sphinx's Revelation
1x Dig Through Time
Sorceries - 9
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Gamble
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Wrath of God
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Day of Judgment
1x Replenish
1x Treasure Cruise
Artifacts - 11
1x Azorius Signet
1x Izzet Signet
1x Boros Signet
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Coalition Relic
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Pithing Needle
1x Expedition Map
1x Defense Grid
1x Helm of Obedience
1x Arrest
1x Banishing Light
1x Blood Moon
1x Celestial Dawn
1x Copy Enchantment
1x Declaration of Naught
1x Detention Sphere
1x Diplomatic Immunity
1x Energy Field
1x Faith's Fetters
1x Illusions of Grandeur
1x Island Sanctuary
1x Karmic Justice
1x Luminarch Ascension
1x Moat
1x Nevermore
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Pacifism
1x Pyromancer's Swath
1x Rest in Peace
1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
1x Solitary Confinement
1x Statecraft
1x Temporal Isolation
1x Treachery
1x Wild Research
Notes/Observations:
1. There are a few combos here: Celestial Dawn locks them out unless their general is white, Pyromancer's Swath puts them into topdeck mode for the game, Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience kills them and Rest in Peace + Energy Field prevents me from taking any damage.
2. Low creature count ideally will strand removal in their hand and there aren't too many I really want anyway. I have seen lists with like 15 creatures, some of them "bombs", which I don't think this deck wants. It isn't hard to win the game once you are drawing a ton of cards. Due to my low creature count I decided to omit Magus of the Moon/Moat to avoid just turning their removal on. Greaves, Swiftboot Boots, and Diplomatic Immunity keep my general safe. Due to how important he is to the deck being able to function, I could even see a consideration for a Champion's Helm or something of that nature.
3. I did not include a lot of the cards that exchange control of permanents. I don't think I want to spend cards, time, mana, etc on things like Political Trickery and Shifting Borders since in a sense they don't do anything a lot of the time. I am playing the deck with the assumption that the big hurdle is getting Zedruu to resolve and not die - NOT that I won't have the permanents to donate.
4. I am also not including cards like Steel Golem or Rust Elemental due to feeling that such cards take too much time to set up with limited payoff.
5. There is a nonbo between Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise with Rest in Peace (and I suppose Replenish, but I think the cards are powerful enough to play anyway. It will cause some tension when I want to cast Rest in Peace early to set up donating it, but if I am drawing enough cards then it probably just doesn't matter. There are also a couple graveyard decks locally (we have the occasional 1v1 edh events with a meta of sorts) that struggle quite a bit against cards like Rest in Peace or Relic so it is nice to have a tutorable target for them, which also functions as a combo piece for me.
With all that said, a lot of this is pretty theoretical so any thoughts would be great. I did build a version similar after Zedruu hit the shelves, but I would like to figure out the most streamlined list to be able to hang in a 1v1 match with the good decks if possible. I like having some countermagic so I attempted to incorporate the basic efficient ones with Cryptic being a tutorable bounce spell if needed also. I added Chromatic Lantern to make Blood Moon less annoying for some of my draws and the deck is probably fairly mana hungry anyway. Words of Wind and Words of War are some bubble card considerations, but I am hesitant to add too many cards that are great when I am drawing extra cards and awful when I am behind.
Thanks!
The sb has some weird stuff. I don't get the purpose of Thragtusk since it is probably just a worse version of other cards (Batterskull, Kernos, Thrun) based on what you want it for. Reid was runnings Relics in the sb (2 I believe), but they always felt super awkward in a snapcaster/goyf deck (and even moreso with ooze). What do you even want them for other than Living End? Opposing goyfs and snapcasters? Seems inefficient. The rest of the cards are all fine.
A couple other ideas to throw out there are streamling the manabase more to where Reid had it and running Gitaxian Probes and Pyromancers with Blood Moons. I could also imagine a deeper Blue Moon hybrid with Blood Moon, Spreading Seas, and Master of Waves. Perhaps that version could also keep Pyromancers, which is a card people have wanted to pair with Master of Waves since it was printed lol. At this time I really like Thrun in the sb and I also like Obstinate Baloth against the rock decks. I have kind of grown tired of Ooze due to the set up necessary of trying to play him when you can get him out of Bolt range and he makes the manabase a little rougher. Again, I think you really would rather have Blood Moon than Sowing Salts, but would agree that you definitely need something for Tron. I also have found that Spell Snare consistently overperforms due to hitting a lot of hard to deal with cards such as Goyf, Cranial Plating, Ravager, Pyromancer's Ascension, Ooze, Spellskite, Snapcaster Mage, Goryo's Vengeance, etc. I am up to 4 now after playing 3 for a while, but I could understand sticking to 3. Aside from Tron, it really does have a ton of targets and you want all you can get against affinity and the rock decks. Flame Slash is alright, but not always as great as it seems. Sometimes Goyf is a 4/5 and if you are behind then Slash isn't going to help you. I was playing a Dismember for a while and while it is quite painful, it is also very efficient and I would consider a split is that is what you want your removal to do. Being able to kill manlands is very nice as well. Our last PTQ in the area is this weekend so hopefully I can hammer out a list that I like. On the other hand, like I said earlier, the strength is in the core of the deck so you have a lot of room for playing what you want to play with and still doing well!
1. Remand - kind of weak against a deck with a low curve, still pretty good on t2, pretty weak topdeck after that.
2. Tarmogoyf - You can do some work if you play him turn 2, but it is easy to fall behind with them stuck in your hand for a number of turns.
3. Cryptic Command - Probably on the expensive side unless you are racing with Goyfs.
Anyway, I was boarding in 6-7 cards and had been siding out 4 Remands and 2 Cryptics and then sometimes cut a Goyf to leave in a Cryptic. At the end of the day, none of these cards seemed to be super relevant to my wins or losses since either I was able to sneak through the combo quick without open red mana or control the board with removal/snapcasters.
I suppose wotc has made it clear that they think Cancel is the fair counterspell. Someday Cancel will be too good and we will have to look to Convolute to have any interaction with cards on the stack. Then people will complain that their 3 mana 10/10 with hexproof creatures are getting countered by such a splashable and easy to cast counter. May the Ken Nagels rejoice.
These are the things you should do, but that I always had a problem actually doing:
1. Review the notes of today's lectures every night. If you review the notes you took each night then that will allow your mind to process that information all the better. You can also use the weekend to look through your past notes more thoroughly.
2. Study somewhere other than your room. When I was not at school or out doing whatever, I was in my room. Your room is where you sleep and if you are reading 4 chapters of a textbook at night, you are more likely to get tired due to the location. Also, if you are sitting in front of your laptop, you are more likely to be distracted by things like facebook, etc. Go to the library, somewhere on campus, or even the kitchen table if possible.
3. Outline the chapters of the textbook if the textbook is important to success on the exams. It might seem silly that the assigned textbook would not be essential reading, but some professors just don't use it or use it very sparingly. For the ones that do, outlining each chapter in your notes can be very useful. Many people (myself included) absorb information better when you write it down. It was not until my senior year of college that a professor told the class that this was the way we should be preparing for exams and studying. I then found out that some of my more studious friends studied like this for years already.
Just some ideas, but good luck
I agree as well. I think in the end, the better players will still get the invites/byes, with the exception of people like Paul Rietzl who have good jobs and don't have the time to grind enough. The FNM champs definitely seems to only allow players from stores that hold the bigger FNMs.
The part you were missing is that, while rating provided a guide into who the better players were, they were never set in stone as #2 is better than #3. There is too much variance in the game to allow that. With the way it was before, if you had a higher rating, you lost many more points due to a loss than someone with a lower rating. The other part of this is that you aren't likely to get any big invites by just attending fnm each week. You need to go to the bigger events with the bigger "multipliers" and do well. From what I understand they are taking the top X number at a cutoff date for PT invites and GP byes so it will be pretty competitive do get them. Every system is going to have its problems, but it was a depressing feeling to think, wow, I can't play any sanctioned magic for 2 months because I need my rating to stay where it is.
Level 40. 0o0o0o0
The second issue is that other white cards just aren't worth splashing. I tried to come up with other options for a spicy brew, but they were all just not up to par. Once you realize that white would only be for 4 Leyline in the SB, you also realize that it just isn't worth it. Leyline is good against Valakut, Shrine Red, and discard. You should beat Valakut regardless, there are better hate options for red variants and there are cards you can play against UB that don't wreck your manabase.
The best thing about playing white was going T1 Seachrome Coast, T2 Seachrome Coast, T3 Scalding Tarn, T4 Arid Mesa, only to have them tap out and be speechless when you flashed in Exarch. Mind. Blown.