So now we\u2019re up to FRF and I\u2019m guessing there won\u2019t be a huge number of events for me since my LGS has gone to Modern on Sundays rather than Standard, but that\u2019s OK in that I think Modern is now pretty fun since the [card]Treasure Cruise[\/card] and [card]Birthing Pod[\/card] bans.<\/p>\n
\ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n
First FNM, 2\/6: Sultai Walkers\ufeff\ufeff<\/h1>\n
So, the first Standard rolled around, I hadn\u2019t really looked at singles, and sifted through what came out of what I got at the prerelease and what I got in the box I bought, and had very little time to be creative, so I just played a stock list that I liked, which was Fabiano\u2019s list from the SCG Open. Not very original, but it\u2019s a fun list!<\/p>\n
Round 1: Elliot playing Mardu Midrange<\/strong> Round 2: Alex playing Abzan Midrange<\/strong> Round 3: Mac playing UB Control<\/strong> Round 4: Dillon, playing UB Control<\/strong> Round 5: Karl playing Abzan midrange<\/strong> Quaterfinals: Karl playing Abzan Midrange<\/strong> We split in the top 4 because it was late and I was paired in the top 4 with my son, so splitting was the way to go for a final record of 4-0-3.<\/p>\n Comments on the Deck<\/strong> I never play the same deck twice in a row, and I try not to even repeat decks at all too often. So, I decided to go completely the other way here and go for the beatdown. This week I had a little more time to think about this and while I looked at other lists for inspiration, I came up with my own take. The 3-drop slot here is packed, but all with 2s and 3s rather than 4-ofs because I wanted a little more robustness to [card]Bile Blight[\/card]. So, here\u2019s the list:<\/p>\n [deck title=RG Aggro] Round 1: Marcus playing Mono-red Aggro<\/strong> Round 2: Alex playing Abzan<\/strong> Round 3: Jason playing RW Aggro<\/strong> Round 4: Kevin playing Esper Control<\/strong> Round 5: ID<\/strong> Quarterfinals: Zach, playing Mono-black Aggro<\/strong> Bleah, so much for good draws getting me there. Kind of disappointing to start out 8-0 in games and then fail to cash.<\/p>\n Comments on the Deck<\/strong> While all that was good, I\u2019m still not sure how this deck beats Drown in Sorrow<\/a>, which kills more than half of the creatures in here. Siege Rhino is a small problem in game 1 (though as I said, Chandra helps a lot with that), but it seems like such a juicy Harness by Force target in sideboard games that I\u2019m not that worried about it.<\/p>\n OK, so this is the juicy one, because (a) it\u2019s a little more off the beaten path, and (b) the results were quite good.<\/p>\n The list is based on Patrick Crowe\u2019s list from SCG Indianapolis<\/a>. I switched it up a little and in retrospect I would have switched it up a little more now that I\u2019ve played it, but the basic framework is the same. The main change is that list is Whip-less, and Whip seems really good with this, so I added one to the main and 1 to the sideboard. Also, I think I\u2019m playing Silumgar in almost any list that can support it right now. So, the final deal looks like this:<\/p>\n [deck] Now, there was an SCG in town, so the Game Day field was not huge: 4 rounds cut to top 4 rather than top 8. However, the Ugin playmat is gorgeous, so the folks who did show up all brought their A game and everyone really wanted the mat. <\/p>\n Round 1: Brianna playing RB Aggro<\/strong> Round 2: Michael playing Abzan Midrange<\/strong> Round 3: Zach, playing Mono-black Aggro<\/strong> Round 4: ID<\/strong> Semifinals: Victor playing Abzan Aggro<\/strong> Finals: Zach playing Mono-black Aggro<\/strong> Hooray, my second Game Day championship. Not really that big a deal since there weren\u2019t all that many players, but hey, now I have this:<\/p>\n Pretty hot, actually. I think it\u2019s even better than my Theros Game Day champion playmat. I own probably around 10 playmats and I almost always use my Baneslayer Angel playmat, but I gave it a rest for all of THS standard for that playmat, and I think I\u2019ll give it another rest for the remainder of FRF standard. Heh, fun.<\/p>\n Comments on the Deck<\/strong> So, now I need a new deck for this week\u2019s FNM. I hate Abzan Midrange, not because it\u2019s a bad deck, but because the mirror is just so awful. (Yes, most mirrors are, but so grindy\u2026)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, I haven\u2019t posted here in a long time. It\u2019s not because I haven\u2019t been playing MTG, it\u2019s just that I haven\u2019t gotten around to posting. My last post was\u2026 yikes, in the summer, back in June. I won\u2019t recount everything since then, but a little summary is in order. For JOU standard, I only … Continue reading Starting Off FRF Standard<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[15],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":627,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions\/627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFelt like a slightly unfair matchup overall with a couple caveats. Butcher of the Horde doesn\u2019t die to Sultai Charm, which puts some early pressure on the Downfalls, and that makes Sarkhan somewhat annoying. However, Kiora handles Sarkhan pretty well, so it all worked out just fine after a Dig found her.
\n1-0 matches, 2-0 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAlex is a long-time regular and a strong player who\u2019s been on this deck since right after KTK came out. He does love his rhinos. Game 1 I had an early Ashiok, which is very good in this matchup and that gummed things up a bit until he finally managed to use a lot of his own cards killing, well, his own cards. He finally got ahead on board, with even an Elspeth out, but I was able to come back by casting Ugin and taking a -6 to wipe out his side of the table. Game 2 I stumbled a little bit, which was aided by an early Thoughtseize<\/a>, and he carried it without too much trouble. Game 3 was more interesting, and came down to a race. He had an [card]Ajani, Mentor of Heroes[\/card] on the table, and I had Tasigur and an Ashiok-stolen [card]Fleecemane Lion[\/card], and he was at 14 and had just swung at me with a rhino with 3 counters on it, putting me at 13. He had no cards in hand. Should I swing at the Ajani, or go for the two-turn clock and swing at Alex? I chose to swing at Alex. He untapped, made the rhino into a 10\/11 and hit me down to 3, and passed. I drew\u2026 not a removal spell. Well, I had lethal on the board, so I had to hope his last draw was also not removal\u2026 and it wasn\u2019t, for the win.
\n2-0 matches, 4-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI probably punted this first game somewhere along the way, because I actually got milled out with him at 7. I probably went one or two too deep on Digs. Game 2 I managed to stick and protect a Kiora long enough to ultimate her, and while he did a good job of staying alive for a while against he kraken tokens, they ultimately ran him out of cards and got there. Unfortunately, these games simply took way too long and these slow decks could not finish against each other in game 3.
\n2-0-1 matches, 5-2-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nGreat, two UB Control players in the room and I got both of them. Game 1 I managed to actually kill a Pearl Lake Ancient<\/a> by getting him to bounce it with a removal spell, then coming back with a Thoughtseize<\/a>. I again got Kiora to her ultimate, and the tokens got there. Game 2 I punted hard. I got a turn 2 Rakshasa Deathdealer<\/a> and was getting in there with it, but I got a little greedy with pumps and pumped twice to take one more turn off the clock, fearing a Perilous Vault<\/a>, and the second pump meant I could only regenerate once, and Dillon had the pair of removal spells to kill it, and I got milled out by his sideboard, cast on turn 2 Grindclock<\/a>. We didn\u2019t even get to start game 3.
\n2-0-2 matches, 6-3-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nKarl could draw in but I couldn\u2019t, so we played it out. My score sheet tells me that the only damage I took in game 1 was 2 from my own [card]Thoughtseize[\/card], but I don\u2019t remember how I won it.. Game 2 I managed to get to a board state where he had just an Elspeth and six tokens on the board and I cast Downfall at the end of his turn, untapped, and cast Ugin with a minus zero to wipe his board, and managed to get Ugin to ultimate.
\n3-0-2 matches, 8-3-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nTurns out Karl made it on breakers so we got to go again. He won the die roll and I was just a step behind all game, and simply could not draw a Crux to get back into it. (In fact, I never cast Crux the entire night.) Game 2 he mulled to six, kept a two-lander, did not draw a third land for way too long, and that was it. Game 3 was a tight one. He actually got me down to 7 and I cast [card]Interpret the Signs[\/card] and scry\u2019d to see two lands and a [card]Thoughtseize[\/card]. I sent them all to the bottom and flipped\u2026 Ugin. Whew. Drew 8 cards, he hit me down to 5, and I cast Ugin to wipe the board. That stabilized me and I just overwhelmed him with card advantage.
\n4-0-2 matches, 10-4-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s a very good deck and it\u2019s quite fun to play. Ugin is insanely powerful\u2014I will admit I really underestimated his -X ability until I got to make use of it. Good stuff indeed. Specific card comments:<\/p>\n\n
Second FNM, 2\/13: RG Aggro<\/h1>\n
\n[Creatures]
\n3 Elvish Mystic
\n2 Rattleclaw Mystic
\n4 Heir of the Wilds
\n2 Fanatic of Xenagos
\n2 Flamewake Phoenix
\n2 Goblin Rabblemaster
\n2 Yasova Dragonclaw
\n3 Boon Satyr
\n3 Ashcloud Phoenix
\n4 Stormbreath Dragon
\n[\/Creatures]
\n[Spells]
\n4 Crater’s Claws
\n3 Lightning Strike
\n2 Chandra, Pyromaster
\n1 Become Immense
\n[\/Spells]
\n[Lands]
\n2 Mana Confluence
\n2 Rugged Highlands
\n4 Temple of Abandon
\n4 Wooded Foothills
\n5 Forest
\n6 Mountain
\n[\/Lands]
\n[Sideboard]
\n2 Wild Slash
\n3 Back to Nature
\n2 Arc Lightning
\n2 Harness by Force
\n1 Chandra, Pyromaster
\n1 Fated Conflagration
\n2 Xenagos, the Reveler
\n2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
\n[\/Sideboard]
\n[\/deck]<\/p>\n
\nI apparently had ninja cutting skills in game 1, because he mulled to 3 and I had a strong draw, so on to game 2. This was more exciting. He got me down to 5 but I had an active Chandra which really took over the board, and then Sarkhan came to play as well and closed it out. The key to this game was that I managed a couple 2-for-1\u2019s with him enchanting creatures with Hammerhand<\/a> and then me burning the creature. Good to get ahead on cards in the aggro matchup.
\n1-0 matches, 2-0 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSame Alex as round 2 from last FNM\u2014we seem to get paired a lot. That\u2019s fine by me, he\u2019s a good guy and a skilled pilot so the matches are usually good. Well, this one wasn\u2019t that great. Game 1 I ramped into a turn 3 Chandra protected by a an Heir, which was a great way to control his [card]Siege Rhino[\/card], making it unable to block. He eventually did swing it into the Heir because he was worried about Chandra\u2019s ultimate, and then the coast was clear for Yasova and friends. Game 2 his best play other than Thoughtseizing Xenagos early was killing an [card]Ashcloud Phoenix[\/card] in response to me bestowing a [card]Boon Satyr[\/card] on it. It wasn\u2019t enough, though, and my air forces carried it.
\n2-0 matches, 4-0 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nJason is one of the store\u2019s stronger players (he won the Modern SCG Super IQ<\/a> last weekend) and he was really talking up his deck as the best deck in the format with no bad matchups. Well, it certainly didn\u2019t play out that way. Game 1 I kept a hand with triple Lightning Strike<\/a> in it and killed two early Rabblemasters with them, and used the third one to finish him after Chandra kept the other tokens at bay and my air force got there. Game 2 he got all excited when he slammed turn 4 Outpost Siege<\/a> on to the table. I slowly untapped, played my fourth land, played an [card]Heir of the Wilds[\/card] and then a Back to Nature<\/a>, followed that with a Stormbreath the next turn, and then a couple turns later made the Stormbreath into a true monster. Look, the RW aggro deck is really good, I like it a lot and will probably play it myself sometime, but there\u2019s not a lot it can do against a 7\/7 flyer with pro white.
\n3-0 matches, 6-0 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nNot a super popular deck in the format, but Kevin has been on it for some time and generally pilots it pretty well. At 3-0 it\u2019s sometimes possible to double-draw the last two rounds, so I offered Kevin a draw but at 2-1 he couldn\u2019t take it so we played. I won Game 1 largely on the back of multiple Ashcloud Phoenix<\/a>es, which just took him too many resources to deal with, though ultimately I got there against an active Elspeth. He had just cast her against my board of Chandra, Yasova, and an Heir. I pinged a token and stole another one so he had no productive blocks other than chumping the Heir, which was not a good long-term solution. Game 2 in came all 5 extra planeswalkers, but he got Xenagos early with a Thoughtsieze<\/a>. Turn 3 I cast a Fanatic and he paid tribute, and then he followed up by tapping out for Sorin and made a vampire. I thought that was a slightly weird play given the board, but I swung at Sorin\u2026 and he blocked with the token. Uhh, OK, Sorin\u2019s dead. \u201cWhat?\u201d he said. I reminded him that Fanatic has trample. Not his best play ever, but I was stuck on three land for a couple turns so he recovered (and my 4th land was a Rugged Highlands<\/a>, so not so great). There was some back and forth and we got to this board state: I had five lands, Chandra, and an Heir in play with three cards in hand and him at 11. I don\u2019t remember exactly how many lands he had untapped\u2014I think two\u2014and he had something on the board he could have blocked with. I activated Chandra for zero and hit exactly what I wanted: a Mountain (well, any untapped land would have done). Cast Ashcloud Phoenix<\/a>, resolved, which meant the coast was probably clear. Swing with Heir, ferocious trigger, he chose not to block. Delve five, cast Become Immense<\/a>, hit for 9. With my last land, cast Crater’s Claws<\/a> for 0, ferocious trigger for 2, GG. Sweet.
\n4-0 matches, 8-0 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWe were the 1 and 2 seeds, so we took the draw. It\u2019s pretty rare to run the table without even a game loss, but sometimes that happens. I credited my quality draws (I had a few mulligans, but nothing below six), but I was feeling good about the situation. Then the top 8 happened and the pairings\u2026ugh.
\n4-0-1 matches<\/em><\/p>\n
\nGame 1 I kept a very slightly sketchy draw with only one land, but multiple mana dorks. As it turned out, that wasn\u2019t going to get it done against his awesome draw of turn 1 Bloodsoaked Champion<\/a> followed by two more of them on turn 2. His turn 3 was a Bile Blight<\/a> on my two Elvish Mystic<\/a>s and that pretty much ended it. Game 2 I kept a better hand, but his turn 1 play was to get an Arc Lightning<\/a> with a Thoughtsieze<\/a> and then strip my only threat card with a Despise<\/a>. Not much happened for a while after that since he was stuck on two land and I was flooding, but he can function better on two land than I can with no spells, and when he ripped the third land and started dropping Herald of Torment<\/a>s, it was over.
\n4-1-1 matches, 8-2 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nOverall I liked it a lot. It\u2019s fast and powerful, with a little more resilience and reach than a lot of other aggro decks. I can definitely see myself playing this deck again. Card choice comments:<\/p>\n\n
Fate Reforged Game Day Champion: 4-Color Delve<\/h1>\n
\n[Creatures]
\n2 Elvish Mystic
\n2 Rattleclaw Mystic
\n3 Sylvan Caryatid
\n4 Satyr Wayfinder
\n3 Courser of Kruphix
\n4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
\n4 Siege Rhino
\n2 Wingmate Roc
\n1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
\n3 Soul of Theros
\n3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
\n[\/Creatures]
\n[Spells]
\n1 Commune with the Gods
\n1 Whip of Erebos
\n4 Murderous Cut
\n1 Treasure Cruise
\n[\/Spells]
\n[Lands]
\n1 Caves of Koilos
\n1 Llanowar Wastes
\n2 Forest
\n2 Plains
\n2 Yavimaya Coast
\n3 Mana Confluence
\n3 Windswept Heath
\n4 Opulent Palace
\n4 Sandsteppe Citadel
\n[\/Lands]
\n[Sideboard]
\n3 Thoughtseize
\n1 Negate
\n2 Disdainful Stroke
\n2 Glare of Heresy
\n1 Banishing Light
\n2 Drown in Sorrow
\n1 Whip of Erebos
\n1 Soul of Innistrad
\n2 Treasure Cruise
\n[\/Sideboard]
\n[\/deck]<\/p>\n
\nTurn 1 Monastery Swiftspear<\/a> had me thinking mono-red aggro, which is probably not the ideal game 1 matchup for this deck, but hers was a slower build that ran black for things like Bloodsoaked Champion<\/a> and Hero’s Downfall<\/a>. I\u2019ve gone a little sour on the Courer-Carytid thing, in part because I\u2019ve played it a fair amount, and in part because so many decks are so well-tuned to beat it, but turns out those are still good vs. weenie aggro, and I got Coursers active in both games. Also, Wayfinder is also great vs. weenie decks. Siege Rhino<\/a> also still good here, and the rhino\/Sidisi combo was just way too much.
\n1-0 matches, 2-0 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cAbzan Midrange\u201d is itself kind of a range of decks right now\u2014this was at the more control-y end of that range. Still running Carytid and Courser, with Rhinos and Elspeths and lots of removal. Michael is a regular at my LGS and we\u2019ve played lots of times in the \u201cMichael Mirror\u201d and he\u2019s always fun to play against and a gracious guy, win or lose. Anyway, he got on the board first with a Courser, and I got a turn 4 Sidisi, which flipped a Soul into the graveyard. He made a Rhino but didn\u2019t swing with it the following turn because he wanted to force me to keep Sidisi back. Other than land drops, we both blanked turn 5. Turn 6 I cast Silumgar, and turn 7 I swung with the dragon, Sidisi, and the zombie token. Sidisi\u2019s trigger got me another zombie. He blocked Sidisi with Rhino and the token with Courser, and before damage I exiled Soul for the blowout 13-point life gain and board wipe. He came back with a bunch of removal spells and Nissa, but the dragon was still doing work. After activating two of his lands, he did gain 8 life and draw a couple cards off of a Shamanic Revelation<\/a> but once I got a Rhino and he was out of removal, it was over. Game 2 wasn\u2019t very exciting, as he was a bit mana screwed and I generated both a Rhino and a Whip, so that ended ugly.
\n2-0 matches, 4-0 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nYes, this is the same Zach that I lost to in the top 8 at FNM. The super-aggro deck didn\u2019t seem like the best matchup for me in game 1, but the extra Whip and the Drowns in game 2 gave me hope for the later games. Game 1 he had another great draw, I didn\u2019t, and he just mowed me down. Game 2 I boarded in the two Drowns, the Whip, and the Banishing Light<\/a>. He did not manage much early pressure and if I\u2019m still at 16 life at turn 6 and I can cast a Soul, the game is not going to end well for him. Game 3 was the closest game of the day. I got Sidisi going to make blockers that traded with most of his stuff, but he got out a Brutal Hordechief<\/a> and that was a problem. Fortunately, I got a Whip, but he came back by bestowing a Herald on something and got me down to 3. I got something else and a Tasigur to make all of his attacks bad and swung with Sidisi to get myself back to 6. I finally locked it up with Silumgar after a swing that brought me from 6 to 12.
\n3-0 matches, 6-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMy 11-year-old son, playing RW Aggro<\/a>, was the only other undefeated so we ID\u2019d. This was the first time my LGS was going to use play-draw in the elimination rounds based on seeding, so we could have played for the 1 seed, but the loser would probably lose the 2 seed, so we didn\u2019t play it out.
\n3-0-1 matches, 6-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nReal aggro with Deathdealers and Fleecemane Lion<\/a>s, and a new twist I liked, Warden of the First Tree<\/a>. Fortunately I was on the play and had a turn 2 Wayfinder and a turn 3 Courser. He got two early Wardens, though, but I managed a Rhino and he kept dumping mana into the Wardens, plus got a Downfall for my Rhino. I got a Whip, though, so I had some cushion, and then got Sidisi, which I needed because he got a Warden up to 8\/8, but now I had enough in my yard to also delve for a Cut on his big Warden. A Sidisi attack got a Soul into the yard and a full swing out got me to 47 life, which was it. Game 2 I ended up using two Glares on two Lions in order to prevent them from going monstrous, I managed to dump stuff into the yard with Wayfinders, including a Soul, and another Soul-fueled attack got me from 4 to 13 life and a Rhino stabilized the board fully and dropping a Soul onto the board from my hand ended it.
\n4-0-1 matches, 8-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSo Zach ended up being the #4 seed and beat my son in the other semis by apparently topdecking a Bile Blight<\/a> in one game and a lethal Mogis’s Marauder<\/a> in the other one, so we had the rematch, and the rubber match for the weekend since we had played each other twice since Friday. Hooray for being the top seed and being on the play. Game 1 I mulled to six into a hand with a Wayfinder and another dork plus a Whip, which is a snap keep. He Thoughtseize<\/a>d me for the Whip, though, but I was happy to trade the Wayfinder for one of his 2\/1s and then hit another Wayfinder to fill the yard, giving me an early Tasigur and a Rhino. He had a bunch of 2\/1s on the board and cast Grim Haruspex<\/a>, figuring he could swing in and not worry about losing too many guys since he\u2019d get card draw, but I had a Cut in hand and just enough to delve it mid-combat, so his guys died without replacement, and my 4\/5s were just better than his guys and carried me. Game 2 was another game decided by life gain, including two Rhinos and a Whip-backed attack that brought me from 3 to 15. He hit me back to 10 in the air with a something that had a Herald on it, but I got out Silumgar and even though he drew another Herald and had the mana to bestow it, he couldn\u2019t get through the flier and that was it.
\n5-0-1 matches, 10-1 games<\/em><\/p>\n![\"wpid-PastedGraphic1-2015-02-17-00-33.png\"](\"http:\/\/byrneweb.com\/sunburn\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/wpid-PastedGraphic1-2015-02-17-00-33.png\")
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nWhile I really enjoyed the deck a lot \u2014winning is always fun\u2014and it\u2019s plenty powerful, I\u2019d make a bunch of changes were I to play it again. Some thoughts on the good and the bad:<\/p>\n\n