B.Collins's blog listings. Feed Zend_Feed_Writer 1.10.8 (http://framework.zend.com) http://community.wizards.com/b.collins Splitting Golems
I have played a few golem type decks trying to get it just right. There was a W/G with removal like Oblivion Ring and Rebuke. It also found a few blade splicers. I exploited them with Cloudshift. The problem was that cloudshifting a golem would phase them all out. We all know that phasing out tokens, will destroy them as a state based action of the game. It is just how it goes. 

Then there was addition of Solemn Simulacrum. He gave me a little more speed and some draw ability. It just turned out to be a little slower then I liked. With that being said, this is my favorite one. I abuse his abilities and I like it. 

I found this decks savior in M13. In the form of Chonomaton. It seems so simple. Its problem was that the golems all have a larger casting cost. The 1 colorless drop 1/1 that is growing provides suitable defense. I always found myself ran over by weenies.  

U/G   Splitting Golems

Artifacts
4x Precursor
4x Solumn Simulacrum
4x Chronomaton   
  
Blue
4x Cackling Counterpart
4x Dissipate
2x Rewind
2x Essence Scatter

Green
3x Revenge of the Hunted
4x Sheltering Word
4x Rampant Growth
2x Recall
             
Land
4x Hinterland Harbor 
9x Island
9x Forest  

=60 cards

So here is what I found. It is clever and works well together. The Chronomaton offers amazing protection for cheap. He is not as threatening early game as a Goblin Guide or Champion of the Parish. I don't suspect that he will draw as much agro either. The Rampant Growth and Solemn Simulacrum offer land, while Solem gives me the benefit of an extra draw when he dies. I love Cackling Counterpart. It does serious work in this deck. I will Cackle a Solumn any day of the week. People are always looking at me baffled as to why I do this. The answer is simple. He grabs me a land, I get to draw a card if and when he dies, but more so... the retrieval of land thins my deck so that I can get into the more important things. 

There is obvious counter spells to protect the golems and serious threats. It isnt really control, it is more protection. I don't really care about much of the stuff that people do. I will counter Deathtouch abilities and obvious removal. The sheltering word is painful for those targeting Precursor, which lets face it is the win in this deck.

With that being said, Precursor is who I protect and abuse the most. Cackling Counterpart offers a total of 5 extra golems. That's with only him out there. When it targets him, it produces him and his two friends (+3), then it targets the other two tokens that he originally came out with (+2). Revenge of the hunted will simply knock teeth out of your opponet, esp with Precursor. With Solemn and Chronomaton there are more willing targets. The real fun thing to do is, after they declare attacks to produce more targets with Cackling Counterpart as it is an instant. 

I will just say this, If you get bored play this.
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:03:06 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/08/10/splitting_golems http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/08/10/splitting_golems
I have played a few golem type decks trying to get it just right. There was a W/G with removal like Oblivion Ring and Rebuke. It also found a few blade splicers. I exploited them with Cloudshift. The problem was that cloudshifting a golem would phase them all out. We all know that phasing out tokens, will destroy them as a state based action of the game. It is just how it goes. 

Then there was addition of Solemn Simulacrum. He gave me a little more speed and some draw ability. It just turned out to be a little slower then I liked. With that being said, this is my favorite one. I abuse his abilities and I like it. 

I found this decks savior in M13. In the form of Chonomaton. It seems so simple. Its problem was that the golems all have a larger casting cost. The 1 colorless drop 1/1 that is growing provides suitable defense. I always found myself ran over by weenies.  

U/G   Splitting Golems

Artifacts
4x Precursor
4x Solumn Simulacrum
4x Chronomaton   
  
Blue
4x Cackling Counterpart
4x Dissipate
2x Rewind
2x Essence Scatter

Green
3x Revenge of the Hunted
4x Sheltering Word
4x Rampant Growth
2x Recall
             
Land
4x Hinterland Harbor 
9x Island
9x Forest  

=60 cards

So here is what I found. It is clever and works well together. The Chronomaton offers amazing protection for cheap. He is not as threatening early game as a Goblin Guide or Champion of the Parish. I don't suspect that he will draw as much agro either. The Rampant Growth and Solemn Simulacrum offer land, while Solem gives me the benefit of an extra draw when he dies. I love Cackling Counterpart. It does serious work in this deck. I will Cackle a Solumn any day of the week. People are always looking at me baffled as to why I do this. The answer is simple. He grabs me a land, I get to draw a card if and when he dies, but more so... the retrieval of land thins my deck so that I can get into the more important things. 

There is obvious counter spells to protect the golems and serious threats. It isnt really control, it is more protection. I don't really care about much of the stuff that people do. I will counter Deathtouch abilities and obvious removal. The sheltering word is painful for those targeting Precursor, which lets face it is the win in this deck.

With that being said, Precursor is who I protect and abuse the most. Cackling Counterpart offers a total of 5 extra golems. That's with only him out there. When it targets him, it produces him and his two friends (+3), then it targets the other two tokens that he originally came out with (+2). Revenge of the hunted will simply knock teeth out of your opponet, esp with Precursor. With Solemn and Chronomaton there are more willing targets. The real fun thing to do is, after they declare attacks to produce more targets with Cackling Counterpart as it is an instant. 

I will just say this, If you get bored play this.
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> 0 M13 Pre-release Indiana! Since I returned on the release of Avacyn Restored, I missed the pre-release. It in all honesty was never something that I was into. I didn't really understand the dynamics to it. Sealed was a little different back in the days. If I remember right, you got a starter box and then 3 boosters. That is what you ended up making your deck with. I think some things have changed in the format. Do not quote me on that though.

I ended up wanting to go to Grand Prix Columbus, which is a modern format. I started acquiring cards for this. Meanwhile, my better half was in the plans of making arrangements for our vacation. She happily attends my things when able, so I am ok with building my vacation around her needs. Turns out two things happened. First, I was unable to get the cards I needed in due time for Columbus. Secondly, I am scheduled to go on vacation with her the weekend before. While it is possible to take of two weekends in a row, I myself would go absolutely nuts. Aside from that, I would be eating at soup kitchens throughout the Indianapolis area, trying to recover from the funds that I missed those days. Bottom line, "Happy wife, happy life."

In response to me not really able to attend to GP Columbus, I opted to waste my allocated funds on Indianapolis M13 Pre-release at Gamerz at midnight. I wasn't really sure what to expect. The day of the event, I spent my down time at work, going over some suggestions, stratagies, and reviewing the spoiler for M13. I read about how people do the B.R.E.A.D. rule. I kind of had a similar theory, with the exception that I don't use the word Bombs (B.) and I have no idea what Dregs (D.) are. I still don't know. For the sake of not looking like a complete noob, I opted out of even asking people at the pre-release. So my worse case scenario is really a simple thought. I spend money, get six packs of boosters and a promo foil Gorgon. That was my worth my money to me. Even if I pulled three dollar rares.  

We all sat down about Midnight and the owner explained that the judge was a little late, and would be there shortly. At that time he gave away door prizes, which I netted a pretty nice looking Signed and Certified play mat. Keep in mind, I have never won anything in my life. It was a great score and only made me feel better about forking over the dollars to play. Shortly after, the head judge came in and packs were distributed. I looked at a random guy that I have never seen or met before and pleaded that his cards were better and I wanted to trade him booster packs. He looked at me and said, "I have nothing but bad luck, so sure." So we traded. Honestly, I was really just poking fun at him and completely joking. His response pretty much put me in over my head and I went with it.

When it was time to bust open the packs, I only hoped for something playable. My plan was to look at the rares, since more than likely they are generally the stronger cards of the set. From there, separate them into piles by color and artifact. We will get to that later. So my first pack I pulled a Thundermaw Hellkite. Looks like I will be playing red. Following packs granted me a Glacial Fortress, Clone, Void Stalker, Krenko, and a Faith's Reward. 

Shortly after that, I piled them into colors and went through them. Obviously I went through red first. I mean face it, the Hellkite is a stout card in probably every format. He was the monster that I would have to rely on. I got lucky with my red. I pulled six removal cards, a mindclaw, and a couple smelts. I also pulled a questionable fire elemental and crimson hellkite.

Then I went to blue, I also was lucky here. I grabbed two essence scatters and a rewind. Not to mention the void seeker who I really wanted to abuse. Aside from that, the clone was potentially a kick in the teeth. I also received an index and the 5/5 islandwalker. I was leaning blue/red as it was my speed of deck anyhow.

I looked through all the other colors and ended up with another potentially beneficial set of black. Since I was new to the format I asked my buddy Frank, who I came with, what he thought of my black and he brought up some valid points. I ended up scratching blue control for the black agro that I got. I pulled a murder which is win in all aspects. I also grabbed two Dark Favors and three Souls. Along with a lifetapping bat and the black Ring.

So I went red black. The hellkite won me so many games. Suprising though, the souls turned out to be a force to be reckoned with. First turn soul, second turn dark favor usually ended in an early match. After offering no answer to the souls/favor combo I realized that I needed to thank Frank for the advice. I ended up going undefeated in the event with a record of 4-0-0. Since there was no top prize, they ended up giving us packs per record. I received 10 for my record, and a free booster draft certificate for placing top 8. When it was all done and said with everyone's record, I finished the tournament in 1st. I was unable to attend any of the booster drafts and was offered three packs for it. So my total cost $25, and I left with 20 booster packs, and a signed play mat. I would say that it worked out.

p.s. Thank you Frank for the sound advice.

0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:38:23 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/07/07/m13_pre-release_indiana! http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/07/07/m13_pre-release_indiana! Since I returned on the release of Avacyn Restored, I missed the pre-release. It in all honesty was never something that I was into. I didn't really understand the dynamics to it. Sealed was a little different back in the days. If I remember right, you got a starter box and then 3 boosters. That is what you ended up making your deck with. I think some things have changed in the format. Do not quote me on that though.

I ended up wanting to go to Grand Prix Columbus, which is a modern format. I started acquiring cards for this. Meanwhile, my better half was in the plans of making arrangements for our vacation. She happily attends my things when able, so I am ok with building my vacation around her needs. Turns out two things happened. First, I was unable to get the cards I needed in due time for Columbus. Secondly, I am scheduled to go on vacation with her the weekend before. While it is possible to take of two weekends in a row, I myself would go absolutely nuts. Aside from that, I would be eating at soup kitchens throughout the Indianapolis area, trying to recover from the funds that I missed those days. Bottom line, "Happy wife, happy life."

In response to me not really able to attend to GP Columbus, I opted to waste my allocated funds on Indianapolis M13 Pre-release at Gamerz at midnight. I wasn't really sure what to expect. The day of the event, I spent my down time at work, going over some suggestions, stratagies, and reviewing the spoiler for M13. I read about how people do the B.R.E.A.D. rule. I kind of had a similar theory, with the exception that I don't use the word Bombs (B.) and I have no idea what Dregs (D.) are. I still don't know. For the sake of not looking like a complete noob, I opted out of even asking people at the pre-release. So my worse case scenario is really a simple thought. I spend money, get six packs of boosters and a promo foil Gorgon. That was my worth my money to me. Even if I pulled three dollar rares.  

We all sat down about Midnight and the owner explained that the judge was a little late, and would be there shortly. At that time he gave away door prizes, which I netted a pretty nice looking Signed and Certified play mat. Keep in mind, I have never won anything in my life. It was a great score and only made me feel better about forking over the dollars to play. Shortly after, the head judge came in and packs were distributed. I looked at a random guy that I have never seen or met before and pleaded that his cards were better and I wanted to trade him booster packs. He looked at me and said, "I have nothing but bad luck, so sure." So we traded. Honestly, I was really just poking fun at him and completely joking. His response pretty much put me in over my head and I went with it.

When it was time to bust open the packs, I only hoped for something playable. My plan was to look at the rares, since more than likely they are generally the stronger cards of the set. From there, separate them into piles by color and artifact. We will get to that later. So my first pack I pulled a Thundermaw Hellkite. Looks like I will be playing red. Following packs granted me a Glacial Fortress, Clone, Void Stalker, Krenko, and a Faith's Reward. 

Shortly after that, I piled them into colors and went through them. Obviously I went through red first. I mean face it, the Hellkite is a stout card in probably every format. He was the monster that I would have to rely on. I got lucky with my red. I pulled six removal cards, a mindclaw, and a couple smelts. I also pulled a questionable fire elemental and crimson hellkite.

Then I went to blue, I also was lucky here. I grabbed two essence scatters and a rewind. Not to mention the void seeker who I really wanted to abuse. Aside from that, the clone was potentially a kick in the teeth. I also received an index and the 5/5 islandwalker. I was leaning blue/red as it was my speed of deck anyhow.

I looked through all the other colors and ended up with another potentially beneficial set of black. Since I was new to the format I asked my buddy Frank, who I came with, what he thought of my black and he brought up some valid points. I ended up scratching blue control for the black agro that I got. I pulled a murder which is win in all aspects. I also grabbed two Dark Favors and three Souls. Along with a lifetapping bat and the black Ring.

So I went red black. The hellkite won me so many games. Suprising though, the souls turned out to be a force to be reckoned with. First turn soul, second turn dark favor usually ended in an early match. After offering no answer to the souls/favor combo I realized that I needed to thank Frank for the advice. I ended up going undefeated in the event with a record of 4-0-0. Since there was no top prize, they ended up giving us packs per record. I received 10 for my record, and a free booster draft certificate for placing top 8. When it was all done and said with everyone's record, I finished the tournament in 1st. I was unable to attend any of the booster drafts and was offered three packs for it. So my total cost $25, and I left with 20 booster packs, and a signed play mat. I would say that it worked out.

p.s. Thank you Frank for the sound advice.

0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> 0 Human Stampede!
With some thought and research I came up with my version of a human stampede. First off I decided to go red/white for it. Simply because of two things. First, Bonfire of the Damned. Hands down, one of the most brutal cards printed in magic ever. If you doubt me, look up the price of them. The girl will throw a fit, if I told her I bought three to complete this deck. So please, don't tell her. Secondly, Slayer's Stronghold. Sometimes the wheenies need a little more kick to them. Its a perfect way to have an opponent question why you have them. I will go ahead and activate my land, give my Silversteel Paladin +2 and vigilance. Yeah, eat 8. I have mostly played solo to see how draws have came out on this one. So far, its looking pretty good. Here is where I am sitting with the deck and why I placed each card in them. 


Rough Draft:
RED
4x Bonfire of the Damned
2x Reforge the Soul
   
WHITE
4x Champion of the Parish
3x Grand Abolisher
3x Mentor of the Meek
4x Silverblade Paladin
3x Thraben Doomsayer
3x Elite Inquisitor
3x Gideon's Avenger
3x Elder Cathar
2x Mikaeus the Lunarch       
4x Mirran Crusader 
3x Oblivian Ring 

LAND
4x Clifftop Retreat
2x Slayer's Stronghold
2x Cavern of Souls
3x Haunted Fengraf
3x Mountain  
7x PLains 
     
Bonfire of the Damned: I really dont need to talk about this card, do I?

Reforge the Soul: Just a miracle card that has the potential reload my creatures. I suspect that this will be brutal metagame. When I have been bonfired, or cleared. We will see how play testing goes with this. So far, I do like it here. 

Champion of the Parish: This card is brutal first turn. I expect gut shot on this all day. One for one removal, thats good for me any day that ends in Y! If this sits on the table, he will set the pace of the game. Really for W, I can have a first turn drop who gets bigger per creature I play? You know I will.

Grand Abolisher: This is just a really neat card. Its a WW for 2/2 that states that my opponent cant play abilities or cast spells on my turn. You really had me sold at WW for 2/2.

Mentor of the Meek: This card is in here for its draw engine. Combined with a few cards in here, this thing will replenish my hand easily. 

Silverblade Paladin: Its a cheap creature that soulbonds double strike. Its a painful experience.

Thraben Doomsayer: Has the ability to pump out weenies or come through in a clutch (fateful hour = all other creatures I control recieve +2/2) Draw engine combination with Mentor of the Meek or last stand. Pretty decent if you ask me.

Elite Inquisitor: To hell with you Wolf-Run. I have nothing but hate for you. This guy is WW for a 2/2 first strike and vigilant, who has protection from wolves, zombies, and vampires. He will sit maindeck with a possible sideboard slot. Problem is for WW its still an all around broken creature. 

Gideon's Avenger: Lets face it, this card is broken when used with Silversteel. Oh, you sure you want to tap that creature? Because this dude gets angry real fast. It is pretty decent card to have opponets on their heels. Lets face it, the best defense is a great offense. 

3x  Eldar Cathar: Just for some extra punch. Its a 2/2 for 2W and it adds counters to things. It just a filler card that can be a fun experience. 

2x Mikaeus the Lunarch: Late game this card is pretty mean. Not to mention he can be pretty upsetting in the early game. I have in one came casted him with a single 1/1 counter. It just makes things interesting.    

4x Mirran Crusader: Another weenie that is broken in this format. Protection from black and green, plus double strike? You are kidding right? Nope, its here and it is going to see some play time in this deck. Broke-Sauce supreme here. 

Oblivion Ring: Just an all around great card. I am not sure if I am going to use this in this deck; however, early play tests show pretty good use for it. I may actually go with something like cloudshift or something that will remove enchantment/artifacts permanently. Opposed to something that will actually only bounce them for a period of time. We will see, and time will tell. 

Clifftop Retreat: I will consider this a Plain, with the added ability to produce red mana. Its a simple idea. Solid in any R/W deck.

Cavern of Souls: Lets face this, I am casting so many humans, its rediculous to not use this. I honestly wish I could play 4. I only have two, and they will do. I may proxy two in and see how it works. We will see, so far two is pretty solid. 

Slayer's Stronghold: Little extra punch. With the low casting cost of this deck, the colorless is a bonus, but really don't generally use it.

Haunted Fengraf: Just one of those potential cards. Again, the colorless isn't a big deal. I really like the idea of being able to retrieve dead creatures from the grave though. Esp in theme decks. Silverblade, Mirran, and Elite Inquisitor will more than likely be targets here.  
          
Rounding it out, I was bored at work and had the time to do some research. I wasn't making any money, so I was spending money."Boys be shopping", is all I can here her say in my mind. With the upcomming magic season around the corner. I plan on attending a few. I believe that Grand Prix Trials are next weekend. Most of this deck is based on a WW, 1WW, or a 2W casting cost. It handles a lot of things. Large removal is one of the things that will set me back. We will see how it develops over a period of the next week.

    


  
  

  

  

    

  
    
  
   
  
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> Sat, 16 Jun 2012 19:07:29 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/06/16/human_stampede! http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/06/16/human_stampede!
With some thought and research I came up with my version of a human stampede. First off I decided to go red/white for it. Simply because of two things. First, Bonfire of the Damned. Hands down, one of the most brutal cards printed in magic ever. If you doubt me, look up the price of them. The girl will throw a fit, if I told her I bought three to complete this deck. So please, don't tell her. Secondly, Slayer's Stronghold. Sometimes the wheenies need a little more kick to them. Its a perfect way to have an opponent question why you have them. I will go ahead and activate my land, give my Silversteel Paladin +2 and vigilance. Yeah, eat 8. I have mostly played solo to see how draws have came out on this one. So far, its looking pretty good. Here is where I am sitting with the deck and why I placed each card in them. 


Rough Draft:
RED
4x Bonfire of the Damned
2x Reforge the Soul
   
WHITE
4x Champion of the Parish
3x Grand Abolisher
3x Mentor of the Meek
4x Silverblade Paladin
3x Thraben Doomsayer
3x Elite Inquisitor
3x Gideon's Avenger
3x Elder Cathar
2x Mikaeus the Lunarch       
4x Mirran Crusader 
3x Oblivian Ring 

LAND
4x Clifftop Retreat
2x Slayer's Stronghold
2x Cavern of Souls
3x Haunted Fengraf
3x Mountain  
7x PLains 
     
Bonfire of the Damned: I really dont need to talk about this card, do I?

Reforge the Soul: Just a miracle card that has the potential reload my creatures. I suspect that this will be brutal metagame. When I have been bonfired, or cleared. We will see how play testing goes with this. So far, I do like it here. 

Champion of the Parish: This card is brutal first turn. I expect gut shot on this all day. One for one removal, thats good for me any day that ends in Y! If this sits on the table, he will set the pace of the game. Really for W, I can have a first turn drop who gets bigger per creature I play? You know I will.

Grand Abolisher: This is just a really neat card. Its a WW for 2/2 that states that my opponent cant play abilities or cast spells on my turn. You really had me sold at WW for 2/2.

Mentor of the Meek: This card is in here for its draw engine. Combined with a few cards in here, this thing will replenish my hand easily. 

Silverblade Paladin: Its a cheap creature that soulbonds double strike. Its a painful experience.

Thraben Doomsayer: Has the ability to pump out weenies or come through in a clutch (fateful hour = all other creatures I control recieve +2/2) Draw engine combination with Mentor of the Meek or last stand. Pretty decent if you ask me.

Elite Inquisitor: To hell with you Wolf-Run. I have nothing but hate for you. This guy is WW for a 2/2 first strike and vigilant, who has protection from wolves, zombies, and vampires. He will sit maindeck with a possible sideboard slot. Problem is for WW its still an all around broken creature. 

Gideon's Avenger: Lets face it, this card is broken when used with Silversteel. Oh, you sure you want to tap that creature? Because this dude gets angry real fast. It is pretty decent card to have opponets on their heels. Lets face it, the best defense is a great offense. 

3x  Eldar Cathar: Just for some extra punch. Its a 2/2 for 2W and it adds counters to things. It just a filler card that can be a fun experience. 

2x Mikaeus the Lunarch: Late game this card is pretty mean. Not to mention he can be pretty upsetting in the early game. I have in one came casted him with a single 1/1 counter. It just makes things interesting.    

4x Mirran Crusader: Another weenie that is broken in this format. Protection from black and green, plus double strike? You are kidding right? Nope, its here and it is going to see some play time in this deck. Broke-Sauce supreme here. 

Oblivion Ring: Just an all around great card. I am not sure if I am going to use this in this deck; however, early play tests show pretty good use for it. I may actually go with something like cloudshift or something that will remove enchantment/artifacts permanently. Opposed to something that will actually only bounce them for a period of time. We will see, and time will tell. 

Clifftop Retreat: I will consider this a Plain, with the added ability to produce red mana. Its a simple idea. Solid in any R/W deck.

Cavern of Souls: Lets face this, I am casting so many humans, its rediculous to not use this. I honestly wish I could play 4. I only have two, and they will do. I may proxy two in and see how it works. We will see, so far two is pretty solid. 

Slayer's Stronghold: Little extra punch. With the low casting cost of this deck, the colorless is a bonus, but really don't generally use it.

Haunted Fengraf: Just one of those potential cards. Again, the colorless isn't a big deal. I really like the idea of being able to retrieve dead creatures from the grave though. Esp in theme decks. Silverblade, Mirran, and Elite Inquisitor will more than likely be targets here.  
          
Rounding it out, I was bored at work and had the time to do some research. I wasn't making any money, so I was spending money."Boys be shopping", is all I can here her say in my mind. With the upcomming magic season around the corner. I plan on attending a few. I believe that Grand Prix Trials are next weekend. Most of this deck is based on a WW, 1WW, or a 2W casting cost. It handles a lot of things. Large removal is one of the things that will set me back. We will see how it develops over a period of the next week.

    


  
  

  

  

    

  
    
  
   
  
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> 0 Splitting Golems

For this deck I am going to use the infamous Precursor Golem. I know people are thinking,"WTF?" Lets think about the outcome of a Revenge of the Hunted targeted on a golem? All of a sudden we are dealing with 27 damage, trample, and lure. If it doesn't kill them, it will for sure eliminate any available creatures and damper out their plans a little. I have a deck list for it atm, but I need to seperate it and play test, tweek it a little.  
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> Tue, 22 May 2012 09:58:41 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/05/22/splitting_golems http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/05/22/splitting_golems

For this deck I am going to use the infamous Precursor Golem. I know people are thinking,"WTF?" Lets think about the outcome of a Revenge of the Hunted targeted on a golem? All of a sudden we are dealing with 27 damage, trample, and lure. If it doesn't kill them, it will for sure eliminate any available creatures and damper out their plans a little. I have a deck list for it atm, but I need to seperate it and play test, tweek it a little.  
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> 0 My return!
My day went something like this:
Match 1.
Game 1: Opponent decides to play first. Guess what? It was a wolf run. I am like nice, this will be a beautiful thing. So I start stacking mana while mana-leaking what ever I can. Eventually he gets a few minis out. These minis where nothing, elves and birds you know... mana for an eventual titan or green sun zenith. I forunately top deck a mountain. I bet at this point you are wondering whats up with that? How is that good. Well, it turns out it was my second mountain to play slagstorm effectively removing his creatures (mana) if you will from game. It put a small damper in his plans. Next turn I offer an answer. Mindshrieker. He shrugged it off. I secretly giggled inside and just thought to myself this is gonna be funny. I pass turn, he casts the GG haster with undying. I offered no block and ate my two damage. Next turn, untapped and drew. I pondered and he looked at me like he knew what I was doing. So I am weary at what his plans were. It turns out I showed a land, temperal mastery, and thunderous wrath. I stack them in that order. Draw my land from ponder and declare combat phase. I declared shrieker an attacker and he offered no resistance. I tapped two and revealed a temporal mastery. Now my 8/8 shrieker is a viable threat. I expected a gutshot or something rediculous in response. Instead he passed priority and revieved another +6 from the milled thunderous wrath. Here you are, take 14 from my shrieker. Good game.

Game 2: He plays first and casts birds. I go, play a montain and pass turn. I was hoping to turn two top deck a thunderous to just hit him for 5. I mean at this point I saw what he was doing and I am going strait B-line agro instead of worrying about what i am going to counter. Luckily I did top deck it and I sent it to him. I played an island and pondered. I was really just trying to paw a slag/mountain arrangement. I ended up getting the second mountain but no slag. So I drew my land and passed turn. Some time later he plays a Gavony Township and plays the 2/2 haster with undying. I am kind of baffled myself. Keep in mind, I am not to familiar with non-tournament winning variations of the same deck.  Not a big deal I am thinking until his birds offered more of a threat by counters from the Gavony. I was eventually overrun by counter creatures. I admit I wasnt ready for that. Now we are 1-1.


Game 3. Prepared for the Gavony (keep in mind I am learning as I go) I stumbled upon the Ravager. While he wasn't a big issue he became an issue as i soon ran out of top deck devastation tides and vanishments. Keep in mind, gaining my opponent life in exchange for not losing mine. I offered a final stand and was met with an Autum's Veil. Now its not that serious really... but really it was. It was a game changer and it was not something that I really had an answer for. I ended up falling 1-2. 

My remaining matches were similar. Win the first with shrieker and gain their attention. He soon met pillar of flames and random arc trails. Keeping him at bay for the duration. While I had nothing but troubles with titans. I never got to act of aggression one, nor any of the fun trickery my deck offered.  Eventually my bounce left me cardless as I was trying to desolate lighthouse something miraculous. I really had issues with Autum's Veil. It broke me off in ways that I could not even of imagined.

Anyhow, much as anticipated I played decks that everyone was playing. Meaning you copied the deck from a previous winner. There was no suprise there. That peoples individuallity was sold out for the hopes of winning. I myself was proud that I was not in that catagory and took my beatings and walked away knowing that I would rather lose with my own creation then win with someone elses.

I tell you one revelation that I kind of put together while digging around for sideboard cards out of my friends collection, was possible solutions with Precursor Golem. I mean, while it seems like a terrible card it has some serious threating force behind it. Its right up my alley... trickery. Stay tuned for that.
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 13:05:13 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/05/19/my_return! http://community.wizards.com/b.collins/blog/2012/05/19/my_return!
My day went something like this:
Match 1.
Game 1: Opponent decides to play first. Guess what? It was a wolf run. I am like nice, this will be a beautiful thing. So I start stacking mana while mana-leaking what ever I can. Eventually he gets a few minis out. These minis where nothing, elves and birds you know... mana for an eventual titan or green sun zenith. I forunately top deck a mountain. I bet at this point you are wondering whats up with that? How is that good. Well, it turns out it was my second mountain to play slagstorm effectively removing his creatures (mana) if you will from game. It put a small damper in his plans. Next turn I offer an answer. Mindshrieker. He shrugged it off. I secretly giggled inside and just thought to myself this is gonna be funny. I pass turn, he casts the GG haster with undying. I offered no block and ate my two damage. Next turn, untapped and drew. I pondered and he looked at me like he knew what I was doing. So I am weary at what his plans were. It turns out I showed a land, temperal mastery, and thunderous wrath. I stack them in that order. Draw my land from ponder and declare combat phase. I declared shrieker an attacker and he offered no resistance. I tapped two and revealed a temporal mastery. Now my 8/8 shrieker is a viable threat. I expected a gutshot or something rediculous in response. Instead he passed priority and revieved another +6 from the milled thunderous wrath. Here you are, take 14 from my shrieker. Good game.

Game 2: He plays first and casts birds. I go, play a montain and pass turn. I was hoping to turn two top deck a thunderous to just hit him for 5. I mean at this point I saw what he was doing and I am going strait B-line agro instead of worrying about what i am going to counter. Luckily I did top deck it and I sent it to him. I played an island and pondered. I was really just trying to paw a slag/mountain arrangement. I ended up getting the second mountain but no slag. So I drew my land and passed turn. Some time later he plays a Gavony Township and plays the 2/2 haster with undying. I am kind of baffled myself. Keep in mind, I am not to familiar with non-tournament winning variations of the same deck.  Not a big deal I am thinking until his birds offered more of a threat by counters from the Gavony. I was eventually overrun by counter creatures. I admit I wasnt ready for that. Now we are 1-1.


Game 3. Prepared for the Gavony (keep in mind I am learning as I go) I stumbled upon the Ravager. While he wasn't a big issue he became an issue as i soon ran out of top deck devastation tides and vanishments. Keep in mind, gaining my opponent life in exchange for not losing mine. I offered a final stand and was met with an Autum's Veil. Now its not that serious really... but really it was. It was a game changer and it was not something that I really had an answer for. I ended up falling 1-2. 

My remaining matches were similar. Win the first with shrieker and gain their attention. He soon met pillar of flames and random arc trails. Keeping him at bay for the duration. While I had nothing but troubles with titans. I never got to act of aggression one, nor any of the fun trickery my deck offered.  Eventually my bounce left me cardless as I was trying to desolate lighthouse something miraculous. I really had issues with Autum's Veil. It broke me off in ways that I could not even of imagined.

Anyhow, much as anticipated I played decks that everyone was playing. Meaning you copied the deck from a previous winner. There was no suprise there. That peoples individuallity was sold out for the hopes of winning. I myself was proud that I was not in that catagory and took my beatings and walked away knowing that I would rather lose with my own creation then win with someone elses.

I tell you one revelation that I kind of put together while digging around for sideboard cards out of my friends collection, was possible solutions with Precursor Golem. I mean, while it seems like a terrible card it has some serious threating force behind it. Its right up my alley... trickery. Stay tuned for that.
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
]]> 0