Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Sorry - was AFK

Yea, it's been a while since my last post. I have no excuse except life has been.....a blur. On Acid.

This past Saturday, out local store, Comic Town, ran it's second Modern "Warfare" tournament. My friend Tony and I decided to go. He couldn't find a deck in time, so he just durdled around while I played a pet deck of mine. What should have happened was I should have gave the deck to Tony to play and I durdle the trade tables or help Ryan or Kranstuber with the event. My heart really wasn't into playing and I tossed back and forth the idea of not playing the entire week. I think this was the main contributor to me playing like an old dementia riddled fogy. Stress can really rape the mind.

The real reason I wanted to write this morning was that a few people seemed interested in my deck at the event. And since I was about as social as Hitler at a barmitzva, I figure this could redeem some societal backlash. 

I didn't have all of the cards for it when I got there except for Vengvines, fetches, BOP's, and Splinterfrights. I scrambled for the rest. Unbeknownst to me, I had dropped a Misty Rainforest on my dinning room floor at home. It wasn't actually detrimental to me when playing, but it did come up one time while I was playing. I also couldn't find an Overgrown Tomb, which is needed. Anyway, this isn't the list I really wanted, but I did what I could to get everything the way I'd been testing it.

Here's the list you impatient prick.

1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
4 Forest
4 Island
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Treetop village
2 Hinterland Harbor
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs

1 Life from the loam
4 Splinterfright
1 Boneyard wurm
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Elves of Deep Shadow
4 Vengevine
4 Drowned Rasulka
4 Bird of Paradise
3 Golgari Thug
2 Stinkweed Imp
4 Hedron Crab
3 Armored Skaab
4 Extractor Demon

SB
2 Gnaw to the Bone
4 Duress
3 Torpor Orb
3 Trickbind
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Doomblade

One notable MIA action star is Fauna Shaman. In testing, she was too slow. But that was because I only tested against Zoo and control. Against combo I'm sure she is fine. But in other match-ups Armored Skaab is amazing. I wanted it every time in my opening grip. The version above is far from where I want the deck to be. And yes, combo is it's worst match-up, blah blah. Sideboards motherfuckers.

Let's roll down each card of the deck starting with lands.

1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Forest
4 Island
1 Stomping Ground
1 Treetop village
1 Woodland Cemetary
1 Hinterland Harbor
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs

That's what it should look like. You absolutely need the extra black sources. I skimped on them when making the deck for the event and it came up several times to make turns as awkward as a high school dance. It is possible to play less lands, so I wouldn't fault anyone for cutting that deep. I also added a Stomping Ground and cut Tectonic Edge, although, I can still see Edge being relevant if there is a lot of Tron, but I'm not sure now relevant.

The main deck...

2 Life from the loam
1 Tombstalker
3 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Elves of Deep Shadow
4 Vengevine
4 Drowned Rasulka
4 Bird of Paradise
3 Golgari Thug
2 Stinkweed Imp
4 Hedron Crab
3 Armored Skaab
4 Extractor Demon
2 Fauna Shaman

After the event and during smoke breaks, Tony and I discussed the deck more. I really liked the idea of Tombstalker to fight spellbombs and rest of it's ilk (obv. not Leyline). I also was more impressed with Gnaw to the Bone than I was in testing. I added a third to the main to reflect that, but it could possibly be another Tombstalker, which I'd be fine with. I also added a second Life from the Loam. The card is 100% a tutor in the deck. I would consider running four and cutting the Stinkweed Imp's if more control decks were around, but Stinky is necessary for so many scenarios. I loathe and love Stinky :(

The two Fauna Shaman are a concession that people actually don't have the money to afford Tarmogoyf's or 600 dollar mana bases (okay maybe that's a little exaggeration), and they will play whatever they can manufacture from their binders, collections, friends binders and collections, and what they can rip off of little kids in the back ally. 

Speaking of Tarmogoyf. Fuck that card up it's stupid ass. 

The sideboard.....what a goddamn mess.

1 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Ancient Grudge 
3 Torpor Orb
1 Tombstalker
4 Raven's Crime
4 Nihil Spellbomb

So...the sideboard needs some 'splaining to do. One of the Gnaw's was moved to the main and I dropped Trickbind, Doomblade, and Duress. I originally had Ancient Grudges in the side, but for the event, I actually,  some-fucking-how, decided no one in their right fucking mind would play Affinity. But nay, there was probably just as much Affinity in the room as there was Storm Combo. I have no idea what I was thinking.

Anyway, I also added four Raven's Crime and maxed on my Nihil Spellbombs. I week before the event I bought four Raven's Crime for my online version of this deck, but ended up not playing them, or MTGO that much for that matter. I had forgotten about it till I saw Doug Linn running it like a boss. 

THANKS DOUG LINN!

IMO, the card is sicker in this deck vs the decks you want Duress in. This card could be what you want with style and feed the Loam (nom).

About Spellbomb: the card is good enough where I'm considering running some in my main. Against Storm Combo, just bring in these and Raven's Crime. Leave in the Gnaw to the Bones.

Tombstalker - This guy just seems so good at fighting hate. I kinda want more somewhere. Maybe cut an Extractor?

So there you have it. I went 2-3 with the deck. Made some shitty plays, got outplayed, and got unlucky a few times. Maybe you can pilot it better!

Thanks for reading and take care!

+1