I placed 9th at my last FNM with 30 people going 3-2. I lost to Boros Bushwackers (got land screwed both games) and Jund (Thought Hemorrhage got my removal purge/bolt and Ajani). Beat mono Black (first FNM, but made top 8), B/R discard (Ruinblasters took out his red source and he couldn't find a mountain), and Eldrazi Green (again land screwed, but Ajani ultimate games 2 and 3).
It's so weird getting land screwed with 27 lands, but I guess that's the right amount to be playing. I've been playing with triple plains for 2 FNMs. The one time I didn't like it was when I already had out 2 plains and top-decked into the third one. Still need to do some actual testing...
Toxic78 - I used to like Obelisk, but it kept getting pulsed, o-ringed, etc. However, that's not to say it wasn't useful. Gaining 5 life can keep you in the race, and dishing out 3 is another kill condition. My preference is Martial Coup with possible board sweeping abilities and producing dudes, which can also block and/or attack.
I was playing against WW and he went aggro until I could DoJ. Afterwards he played Conqueror's Pledge and on my turn I just played Martial Coup for 5. He was totally surprised and did not expect it at all. By then he was out of gas, I just kept attacking and playing burn spells.
FoodChainGoblins - I'd say Jund is a hard matchup with all their 2 for 1's, at least for me anyways. I've only been playing this deck for a couple FNMs but I haven't had any other deck give me as much trouble as that deck.
i-never-smile - Have you tested with a lower land count, say 25 or 26? I was just wondering how much more significant that 27 lands would be over 25/26. Not sure what I would put in its place, but just something I was thinking about.
So I played against Jund in top 8 of our 30-ish people FNM. I boarded like u said but still lost. I got to Ruincaster turn 4 his savage land, but he just dropped a swamp next turn for BBE. I just can't win the match against jund. I went 3-1-2 going 2-0 in all my matches, except my loss to Jund 0-2. Played against the Nissa monument deck, a BGW deck with Sorin, Lotus Cobra, Ob Nix, and Reliquary, and WW. I drew my last two rounds to make top cut and lost to Jund in top 8. I really like this deck, just too bad Jund has so many 2 for 1's. sigh
i-never-smile: That's some good matchup analysis. I think my weakness has been sideboarding. I know what to put in, but not what to take out. I think that will help me a lot in the future.
One change that I have made to my deck is adding one more plains over a mountain. I know you advocate only two, but every once and awhile, I find it hard to be able to get that 2nd plains. Also, it's very handy against an opposing Ajani, which kept my plains from untapping. On the off chance that something happens to one of the plains, like it somehow gets discarded, destroyed, or can't untap, I will still have two others available. I feel the risk of running a third plains is minimal and I just think it will help me improve my game overall.
I also had pithing needles instead of o-rings in my board. I'm going to switch to the o-rings tonight to see the difference.
Although I haven't been playing Valakut Control very long, I have been playing some form of R/W with Ajani. Against Jund the Ruinblasters just always yield the same result, at least for me anyways, where it seemed like it didn't really matter. I've probably only had less than 10 matches against them, but I am willing to test it out some more. Their SB Duress just hurts us more.
I am also thinking about taking out Lavaball Trap for O-rings. Does that sound like a good call? Yeah, I need to test more...
Nalaar is the right way to go. I've used her ultimate to get rid of annoying planeswalkers, and then played another one.
Still not sure about Ruinblasters. When I boarded my against Jund, he already had 6 lands and the other time he was already land screwed, so it didn't seem like it mattered.
What about adding Kor Sanctifiers for sideboard? Might help against opposing o-ring, luminarchs, pith needle, etc. Just tossing around some thoughts, o-ring probably sounds better.
Those decks play a more Dredge style with self-mill using Sharuum as the recursion engine. Sharuum doesn't fit as well here because most of the time it'd be coming into play off of Open the Vaults in which case it doesn't have a target for it's ability making nothing more than a vanilla flying beatstick. This deck is meant to have a more reanimator-like feel.
I know the decks you're referring to, but the one I was talking about doesn't self-mill. It also has sphinx as the only way of discarding things to reanimate.
Anyways, you could also just cast Sharuum. It does reanimate, only just one instead of all. I'm not sure how often you draw into your open the vaults, so it's just another option. Call it your 5th mini-open the vaults.
I played the R/W version last FNM. I went 3-1 and split in top 4. I played ???, Naya Cascade, Jund, and MWC.
First match don't remember but he got land screwed, twice. Against Naya, I path/burn his creatures eventually Ajani ultimate went off. In game two, I had 2x Valakut to burn anything he played. Finished him off with a mountain (6) + Banefire (10) for a total of 16. I lost against Jund 1-2. Won one game seeing all 4 Ajani and lost last game him seeing all 4 putrid leech. That last game I was holding two martial coup with only one plains out =/. MWC gave me the win so I could make top cut. We played for fun and I still won.
After, the splits we proceeded to start an 8 man draft. I got a friend to sponsor me, so I played for free and he got the cards (he played too). I get passed Halo Hunter and Sea Gate Loremaster and start picking up allies. Last pack opened up Roil Elemental and I won most my games with this card. Once again packs were split and I got to keep a couple from my sponsored friend. He opens the rest getting 3 fetchlands and another money card, thus paying for both mine and his draft. All things considered, not a bad night...
This is what I ended up playing. I agree with mark of mutiny, could be a finisher but chose not to play it. It seems I went with a higher creature count, though I see now some could have been cut for something else. I may have misjudged Noble Vestige as I thought it did both creature or player (found that out round 6). I am surprised at the lack of Celestial Mantle. That card won me a few games with flying and first strike creatures. Not too sure about the Explorer Scope, but I guess it does give advantage of either land or looking at your next card (which I thought was revealed not look). Overall, I was very happy with my deck. Not sure how I would have done during the drafts had I made Day 2, but I am working on that now. Thanks to everyone for the comments. It's good to get a little feedback every now and then.
Well, here's my sealed pool from GP Tampa.
I built a deck and went 6-3 getting 169th place, with no byes might I add.
I will post the deck I played later on, I would just like to see what others might build.
Ok, I had one of the funniest games ever happen at the PTQ this weekend.
G1: My opponent mulls to 3... Seems like an easy win. My deck is really slow, so I don't play threats until turn 4. He draws an island turn 1 and plays hedron crab. Over the next 6 turns he hits lands or harrows and mill me a lot. Eventually I kill it. Then I get him dead on board with 6 cards in my library and he draws for his last turn. After that he loots. Then he starts screaming "Yes!!" over and over. (If any of you were at the Colombus PTQ you propably heard him.) Then he plays hedron crab and harrow and exacly mills me... :o:facepalm:
In the end though, I won the match.
I've seen that before at my release event. This guy went:
Turn 1 - Land. hedron crab.
Turn 2 - Land (mill 3). 2nd hedron crab.
Turn 3 - Land (mill 6). harrow (mill 12).
Turn 4 - Land (mill 6). 2nd harrow (milled you, gg).
So this is what I took to the last FNM.
Made top 8 going 3-1-1 and had to play my friend who borrowed Jund from me.
We worked something out ;).
I played against Jund(draw), Vamps(win), random G/W or Naya(win), 5CCruel(lose), MWC(win).
There was about 3-4 games I had trouble getting to that 4th land drop.
Only used Ascension in two games, and Obelisk in one game FTW.
Got a few Ultimates off with Ajani and Chandra.
Scepters were a last minute changed but they really helped out.
I wasn't sure about sideboard as I didn't know the meta ( hadn't played there in awhile).
If I had more Baneslayers, I would have gone more creature based (only have 1).
Most of the time I just burned them out, occasionally attacking with soldier tokens.
I think one of my favorite cards is Cloudgoat Ranger. I've done extremely well with it in the past, both limited and constructed play. I have also made it a rule to first pick it in any cube draft, even over P9 cards.
It's so weird getting land screwed with 27 lands, but I guess that's the right amount to be playing. I've been playing with triple plains for 2 FNMs. The one time I didn't like it was when I already had out 2 plains and top-decked into the third one. Still need to do some actual testing...
I was playing against WW and he went aggro until I could DoJ. Afterwards he played Conqueror's Pledge and on my turn I just played Martial Coup for 5. He was totally surprised and did not expect it at all. By then he was out of gas, I just kept attacking and playing burn spells.
FoodChainGoblins - I'd say Jund is a hard matchup with all their 2 for 1's, at least for me anyways. I've only been playing this deck for a couple FNMs but I haven't had any other deck give me as much trouble as that deck.
i-never-smile - Have you tested with a lower land count, say 25 or 26? I was just wondering how much more significant that 27 lands would be over 25/26. Not sure what I would put in its place, but just something I was thinking about.
One change that I have made to my deck is adding one more plains over a mountain. I know you advocate only two, but every once and awhile, I find it hard to be able to get that 2nd plains. Also, it's very handy against an opposing Ajani, which kept my plains from untapping. On the off chance that something happens to one of the plains, like it somehow gets discarded, destroyed, or can't untap, I will still have two others available. I feel the risk of running a third plains is minimal and I just think it will help me improve my game overall.
I also had pithing needles instead of o-rings in my board. I'm going to switch to the o-rings tonight to see the difference.
I am also thinking about taking out Lavaball Trap for O-rings. Does that sound like a good call? Yeah, I need to test more...
What about Relic of Progenitus to counter Haunting Echoes? That could also help against RDW unearth creatures and Emeria, the Sky Ruin.
Still not sure about Ruinblasters. When I boarded my against Jund, he already had 6 lands and the other time he was already land screwed, so it didn't seem like it mattered.
What about adding Kor Sanctifiers for sideboard? Might help against opposing o-ring, luminarchs, pith needle, etc. Just tossing around some thoughts, o-ring probably sounds better.
I know the decks you're referring to, but the one I was talking about doesn't self-mill. It also has sphinx as the only way of discarding things to reanimate.
Anyways, you could also just cast Sharuum. It does reanimate, only just one instead of all. I'm not sure how often you draw into your open the vaults, so it's just another option. Call it your 5th mini-open the vaults.
It's your deck, I'm just offering a suggestion.
First match don't remember but he got land screwed, twice. Against Naya, I path/burn his creatures eventually Ajani ultimate went off. In game two, I had 2x Valakut to burn anything he played. Finished him off with a mountain (6) + Banefire (10) for a total of 16. I lost against Jund 1-2. Won one game seeing all 4 Ajani and lost last game him seeing all 4 putrid leech. That last game I was holding two martial coup with only one plains out =/. MWC gave me the win so I could make top cut. We played for fun and I still won.
After, the splits we proceeded to start an 8 man draft. I got a friend to sponsor me, so I played for free and he got the cards (he played too). I get passed Halo Hunter and Sea Gate Loremaster and start picking up allies. Last pack opened up Roil Elemental and I won most my games with this card. Once again packs were split and I got to keep a couple from my sponsored friend. He opens the rest getting 3 fetchlands and another money card, thus paying for both mine and his draft. All things considered, not a bad night...
2 Burst Lightning
2 Geyser Glider
1 Goblin Shortcutter
2 Magma Rift
1 Molten Ravager
1 Plated Geopede
1 Shatterskull Giant
1 Brave the Elements
1 Celestial Mantle
1 Conqueror's Pledge
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Kazandu Blademaster
1 Kor Aeronaut
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Kor Outfitter
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Noble Vestige
1 Pillarfield Ox
1 Shepherd of the Lost
1 Steppe Lynx
10 Plains
7 Mountain
This is what I ended up playing. I agree with mark of mutiny, could be a finisher but chose not to play it. It seems I went with a higher creature count, though I see now some could have been cut for something else. I may have misjudged Noble Vestige as I thought it did both creature or player (found that out round 6). I am surprised at the lack of Celestial Mantle. That card won me a few games with flying and first strike creatures. Not too sure about the Explorer Scope, but I guess it does give advantage of either land or looking at your next card (which I thought was revealed not look). Overall, I was very happy with my deck. Not sure how I would have done during the drafts had I made Day 2, but I am working on that now. Thanks to everyone for the comments. It's good to get a little feedback every now and then.
I built a deck and went 6-3 getting 169th place, with no byes might I add.
I will post the deck I played later on, I would just like to see what others might build.
Lands
Artifacts
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green
Scepter also works great with Ajani, tap it down and keep it tapped.
I like pithing needle against planeswalkers, could work on time sieve as well.
I've seen that before at my release event. This guy went:
Turn 1 - Land. hedron crab.
Turn 2 - Land (mill 3). 2nd hedron crab.
Turn 3 - Land (mill 6). harrow (mill 12).
Turn 4 - Land (mill 6). 2nd harrow (milled you, gg).
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Burst Lightning
4x Path of Exile
3x Volcanic Fallout
4x Ajani Vengeant
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2x Chandra Nalaar
2x Martial Coup
2x Scepter of Dominance
1x Obelisk of Alara
4x Jungle Shrine
4x Arid Mesa
8x Mountain
8x Plains
4x Celestial Purge
3x Pithing Needle
4x Oblivion Ring
2x Relic of Progenitus
3x Harm's Way
So this is what I took to the last FNM.
Made top 8 going 3-1-1 and had to play my friend who borrowed Jund from me.
We worked something out ;).
I played against Jund(draw), Vamps(win), random G/W or Naya(win), 5CCruel(lose), MWC(win).
There was about 3-4 games I had trouble getting to that 4th land drop.
Only used Ascension in two games, and Obelisk in one game FTW.
Got a few Ultimates off with Ajani and Chandra.
Scepters were a last minute changed but they really helped out.
I wasn't sure about sideboard as I didn't know the meta ( hadn't played there in awhile).
If I had more Baneslayers, I would have gone more creature based (only have 1).
Most of the time I just burned them out, occasionally attacking with soldier tokens.
Game Center
5800 Beach Blvd. Suite 110
Jacksonville, FL 32207
Phone number: (904) 399-1975
Website: http://www.sgtsniff.com/
FNM
War Dogs regularly hosts FNM Sanctioned events each Friday
ZENDIKAR PRERELEASE
Zendikar Prerelease Event Saturday Sept. 26, 2009
Main event: Sealed - 6 packs Zendikar
Registration: 1pm
Start time: 2pm
Price: $20
Zendikar Draft Event Sunday Sept. 27, 2009
Main event: Draft - 3 packs Zendikar
Registration: 12pm
Start time: 1pm
Price: $12
Zendikar Release Event FNM Friday Oct. 2, 2009
Main event: Sealed - 6 packs Zendikar
Registration: 5pm
Start time: 7pm
Price: $20
Zendikar Release Event Saturday Oct. 3, 2009
Main event: Sealed - 6 packs Zendikar
Registration: 1pm
Start time: 2pm
Price: $20
Zendikar Draft Event Sunday Oct. 4, 2009
Main event: Draft - 3 packs Zendikar
Registration: 12pm
Start time: 1pm
Price: $12