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Welcome back to Budgeted Resources this week I've been looking at the recently spoiled Worldwake set which has some very interesting cards which I will be building decks around after its been released online towards the end of the month, there is also the slight delay as I wait for the prices to fall as well so the decks are budget friendly. This should hopefully give me time to finish the 'You win the game' series although it's going to be close.

There was a card a found a bit strange looking through the list which is Eye of Ugin as below, It's the first ability that seems very odd in the Worldwake set 'Colourless Eldrazi spells you cast cost 2 less to cast'. Now does that mean cards from the Eldrazi set which the card isn't in or cards with Eldrazi in the title like Eldrazi Monument. I have no idea if anyone knows please leave a comment as I'm intrigued to find out.

Back on track with the article at hand the last two in the series can be found here

You win the game part 1 Coalition Victory 

You win the game part 2 Epic Struggle 

This week's card is going to be Darksteel Reactor, now let's have a look at the card text to see how you can auto win the game with this card. It reads as follows 'At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a charge counter on Darksteel Reactor. When Darksteel Reactor has twenty or more charge counters on it, you win the game.'.

Now it's not the easiest card to build round, as your average game is going to take about seven to ten turns which means we need to find a way of adding more charge counters as the game progresses. There is a card which game out in the same block that helps greatly which is Energy Chamber, this card can add a charge counter each turn which reduces the number of turns we need to win from twenty to ten as we will be adding two counters a turn with just one in play if you play further Chambers of course you will win quicker. There is another card which is very popular in casual games which would even further increase the counters but unfortunately its a bit too popular and has a hefty price. Doubling Season is the card and it's currently on $9 each. That's well over the top for most budget decks so we are going to have to find another way to add counters.

Looking through possible cards I came across a very interesting one Power Conduit it has the possibility of moving counters from other cards onto Darksteel Reactor. Now this is the route I took to go with Power Conduit for this article as it can be built round to an amazing extent. The other idea I could have gone with you will find at the end of the article.

So lets have a look at what we can use in conjunction with Power Conduit the first cards I'm going to look at are the land's the best for this deck are Llanowar Reborn which can be used to boost creatures when they come into play, it's not that exceptional but useful. The second card is very exceptional in this deck as it generates its own counters which can be taken by Power Conduit and given to creatures or Darksteel Reactor. The card in question is Mirrodin's Core, having these in play can have the same effect as Energy Chamber.

Next up I'm going to look at what creatures can be used to fit in with all these counters, you could have Thaillds as they can build up loads but I went for creatures with persist as I feel they fit the deck far better. Persist creatures when they die come back with a -1/-1 counter and if they die again they go to the graveyard. With the the Power Conduit you can change the -1/-1 counter for a +1/+1 counter instead so they have to be killed twice again and you can keep repeating this over and over. The creature that most benefits from this is Kitchen Finks as you gain two life each time it comes into play. Rendclaw Trow is also very useful as it has Wither which makes it great at blocking larger creatures whittling them down over time. To round the persist creatures out I also included a play set of Safehold Elite.

The final deck list is below, current price from MTGOTraders as of the 31/01/10 $21.00

 

Games

Game 1 vs AJ_Impy

I take a mulligan from a one land hand to another bad one but I stick with it has it has lands. 3 Islands, Academy Ruins, Fabricate and Kitchen Finks.

This could go very badly for me as I know how good AJ’s decks are.

AJ starts off first with a tapped Stomping Ground followed by Steam Vents. I’m lucky and draw a forest and then Llanowar Reborn.
Nothing from AJ on turn three. I play an island and Kitchen Finks which is grafted from Llanowar Reborn.

AJ gets mana screwed for a few turns letting me get a few hits in with the Finks dropping him to twelve life. I also now have in play Darksteel Reactor, Energy Chamber and a Coretapper.

Turn six and AJ draws his third land a forest and casts Mage Slayer.  On my turn I attack with the Finks dropping AJ to eight life and play a second Energy Chamber and use Fabricate to search for a third Energy Chamber.

Nothing from AJ again. This turn I play my third Energy Chamber and attack dropping AJ to four life.

AJ plays Misty Rainforest and sacrifices it for a forest and plays Stonebrow, Krosan Hero. In my turn I attack and AJ has to block loosing Stonebrow. Meanwhile the counters are rocketing up on Darksteel Reactor, it’s now on eleven.

AJ plays Bramble Creeper on his turn and passes but this is enough to stop my Finks, as the Coretapper is busy tapping on the reactor. In my turn the reactor goes up to 16 counters and I cast Rendclaw Trow.

Turn 10 and AJ plays Timbermaw Larva and passes. In my turn the Reactor goes up to 20 points for the win.

Win 1

Lost 0

Game 2 vs xeen6

I start off with 1 forest, 1 island, Llanowar Reborn, 2 Fog’s, Energy Chamber and Darksteel Reactor.

xeen6 gets off to a good start with Island into Ancestral Vision. I play a forest and pass.

Turn 2 and Academy Ruins and a second Ancestral Vision from xeen6. I play my Llanowar Reborn which I should have played first turn, this could be a big mistake as it puts me a full turn behind casting creatures as I know have a two drop I can’t cast until next turn.

xeen6 plays a swamp and passes and I play my Safehold Elite which is grafted by the Llanowar Reborn.

An island from xeen6and he passes again with four untapped lands, this is the first sign of a control player. I attack with my Safehold Elite and xeen6 plays a flashed Venser, Shaper Savant which bounces my Elite back to my hand. I then re play the Safehold Elite and a Power Conduit before passing.

In xeen6’s turn one of the Ancestral Vision’s resolves and Venser attacks. I block it with my Elite killing it. xeen6 then plays Shadowmage Infiltrator and I use the Power Conduit to remove the -1/-1 counter from the Elite and re-add it as a +1/+1 counter.

I attack with the Elite in my turn and then cast Darksteel Reactor which is Remanded back to my hand.  xeen6’s other Ancestral Vision resolves this turn and he plays Stuffy Doll which mean I’m going to have to try and win via Darksteel Reactor this game.  The infiltrator then attacks for a point of damage and a card.

In my turn I cast Darksteel Reactor and the clock starts ticking. xeen6 comes back and casts two Isochron Scepter’s both with Boomerang under. Now this card really gets me going unless it’s played with an interesting card but with counters or bounce spells it just makes me want to argghhhh.

As you can imagine the game rapidly went downhill from here on in. I did play the game out to the end though as per the below screen shot and yes the infiltrator does have a Sword of Fire and Ice in hand.

Win 1

Lost 1

Game 3 vs Purple Dragon 7

My starting hand consists of 1 forest, Llanowar Reborn, Safehold Elite, Coretapper, Darksteel Reactor, Power Conduit and Rendclaw Trow.

Purple Dragon starts off with a swamp into Golgari Rot Farm while I play Llanowar Reborn and a forest into Safehold Elite and give it the +1/+1 graft counter from Llanowar Reborn.

On Purple Dragon’s turn 3 he play’s a Swarmyard into Ravenous Rats and I discard Fabricate which I had just drawn as I have all the cards I need for the Reactor finish in hand. On my turn I don’t draw a third land and so I play Energy Chamber to start the counters off as I can remove them later with Power Conduit. I don’t attack as Purple Dragon’s Swarmyard is untapped to regenerate his rats.

Purple Dragon plays Nekrataal taking out my Safehold Elite, but she comes back with persist. The Ravenous Rats attacks dealing me a point of damage.  In my turn I draw into land a Mirrodin's Core and play it and Power Conduit and pass.

Purple Dragon attacks in his turn with both the rats and Nekrataal. I block Nekrataal with the Elite Purple Dragon Ninjutsu’s it back to his hand and I use Power Conduit to take its counter off and give it back changing it from a 1/1 to a 3/3. Okiba-Gang Shinobi comes into play from Ninjutsu and I lose two cards from my hand a Rendclaw Trow and Coretapper. In my turn I attack for three damage from the Elite and play Kitchen Finks.

Turn six and Purple Dragon plays Phyrexian Arena for extra card draw and doesn’t attack. At the end of his turn I use the Conduit to take a counter from Energy Chamber and place it on Kitchen Finks. On my turn I attack with both the Elite and the Finks, the Finks is blocked by the Shinobi and it regens from Swarmyard. I use the Conduit to add a counter onto the Elite which swings through for four damage taking Purple Dragon down to thirteen life. The Finks died but came back with persist brining my life total back up to twenty. I play a Rendclaw Trow before passing the turn.

Purple Dragon plays double Ravenous Rats on his turn emptying my hand of a Trow and Darksteel Reactor, looks like I’m going to have to resort to beat down this game. In my turn I attack with all three the Elite, Trow and Finks. Purple Dragon blocks and loses both of his Ravenous Rats and my Finks comes out of the fight as a 4/3 thanks to the Conduit. I play the land I drew Academy Ruins and pass.

Bloodbond March from Purple Dragon this turn and he passes. I play a second Power Conduit and attack full out. The Elite is blocked by the Shinobi and it regenerates and I give the Trow and the Finks +1/+1 counters this turn hitting for eight damage dropping Purple Dragon down to three life.

Purple Dragon plays Nekrataal on my Elite and the other Nekrataal comes back from the graveyard due to Bloodbond March which kills the Elite dead, this time there’s no coming back. In my turn I play a Kitchen Finks and Purple Dragon concedes the following turn on one life due to Phyrexian Arena.

Win 2

Lost 1

Game 4 vs Unrelenting

I start out with a nice hand just no creatures in sight 1 forest, 1 island, Mirrodin's Core, Llanowar Reborn, Energy Chamber, Power Conduit and Fog.

I’m first with Llanowar Reborn and an Island into Energy Chamber. Unrelenting plays a mountain and a swamp into Simic Signet.

Next turn I play Coretapper which I graft with a +1/+1 counter from Llanowar Reborn and then play Mirrodin's Core. Unrelenting plays a swamp and then tendrils of Agony on my Coretapper I sacrifice him adding two charge counters to the chamber.

I draw into and play Kitchen Finks in my turn and pass. Unrelenting plays Fire-Field Ogre and passes.

I play double Power Conduit and pass. Unrelenting plays Gate to the AEther and passes. At the end of his turn I add two counters from the chamber with the Power Conduits onto the Kitchen Finks.

I play Coretapper and then attack with my Finks, Unrelenting blocks with his Fire-Field Ogre. I use a conduit to add another counter taking my Kitchen Finks out of first strike range and the ogre dies. Unrelenting plays Damnation on his turn and wipes the board. The Finks come back due to persist and I graft them from Reborn. At the end of his turn I add another counter to the Finks via Power Conduit.

In my turn Gate to the AEther places a Energy Chamber into play for me. I attack with the Finks and add a counter to them dropping Unrelenting down to fifteen life. In Unrelenting’s turn Gate to the AEther places Oni of Wild Places into play and he casts Dread Return to bring back the Fire-Field Ogre with a +1/+1 counter. Oni attacks taking me down to eighteen life. Unrelenting finishes off with a Azorius Signet. At the end of the turn I add another counter to the Finks making it a 6/5.

I get an island from Gate to the AEther this turn. I send in the giant Finks which deals six damage dropping Unrelenting down to nine life. I then play the Rendclaw Trow I just drew and pass.

The Gate gives Unrelenting a swamp and Oni goes back to his hand and is re-cast. Oni and the Ogre attack and I block the Oni with the Trow and give it two +1/+1 counters. The Trow comes back with persist  and Oni is reduced to a 2/1. Yes there was a flaw here that I over looked in that Oni will be returned to Unrelenting’s hand next turn.

Turn 9 and the Gate gives me a Kitchen Finks and I attack with the Finks and the Trow, I add a counter to each dealing exactly nine damage for the win.

Win 3

Lost 1

Game 5 vs rutony

My starting hand is 2 forests, 1 island, Mirrodin's Core Fog, and 2 Kitchen Finks.

From the starting hand it looks promising for the beat down route.

The first non land play is on my turn three I have two forest and Mirrodin's Core in play and cast Kitchen Finks. On rutony’s side he has a mountain and Golgari Rot Farm and casts Giant Scorpion.

On my next turn I attack and blocked and play Darksteel Reactor which I had just drawn.  Rutony plays Gorgon Flail and Power of Fire on his scorpion. This gives the scorpion a deadly ping ability with Deathtouch. The scorpion takes out the Finks but it comes back with persist.

I attack with the Finks on my turn dropping rutony down to fifteen life and then play my other Kitchen Finks boosting my life to twenty six. Rutony plays a Rendclaw Trow of his own and equips it with the Gorgon Flail and passes. 

In My turn I play my own Rendclaw Trow and Coretapper, rutony pings the Coretapper with the scorpion and I sacrifice him to add two counters to Darksteel Reactor and pass. rutony plays Terminate on my un-persisted Finks and attacks with the Trow.

On my turn I attack with my Trow for it to be taken out by the scorpion leaving me with three persist creatures with -1/-1 counters on. I could really do with Power Conduit about now. In rutony’s turn he pings my Trow and it dies and attacks with his own Trow dropping me to twenty two life.

In my turn I counter attack with the two finks taking rutony down to eleven life and pass. rutony sends in the Trow again and passes.
I’m just drawing lands at this point in the game, at the end of my turn the scorpion pings one of myfinks which dies. In rutony’s turn he pings the last Finks and attacks with the Trow dropping me to sixteen life.

I draw a Fog this turn which is quite funny as I already have two in hand I just need to stay alive and hope I can build enough counters up on the Darksteel Reactor which currently has eight counters. Rutony attacks and I Fog and he passes.

My turn and I draw another Fog and pass. rutony plays Boggart Ram-Gang and sends in all three and I Fog.

I draw the card I was after a few turns ago Power Conduit and pass. rutony attacks with his three creatures again and I Fog. At the end of his turn I move a counter from one of my Mirrodin's Cores onto Darksteel Reactor with Power Conduit.

I draw another Darksteel Reactor in my turn which isn’t going to help and pass. rutony attacks again to yet another Fog from me he must be really fed up with that four Fogs in a row. I siphon a counter onto my Reactor at the end of his turn.

Finally I get a creature in my turn Safehold Elite. In rutony turn he plays a second Rendclaw Trow and a Sakura-Tribe Elder. My Safehold Elite is Lightning Bolted and then the scorpion goes to finish it off but I remove and re-add the counter with the conduit so the Elite dies but comes back with persist. Rutony attacks and I’m dropped to ten life.

Nothing from me this turn as I draw another land. Rutony plays Acidic Slime targeting the Reactor by mistake which does nothing as it’s indestructible. He then does an all out attack I block and lose my Elite to a wither creature and go down to three life.

Another land in my turn and I die to rutony’s attack on his turn with the possibility of hitting 17 counters on Darksteel Reactor.

It was close but I couldn’t hold him off long enough, the main problem was from the Giant Scorpion (Deathtouch) with Power of Fire which is a nice little combo.

Win 3

Lost 2

Thoughts

I didn’t do so well this week maybe I should have tried walls instead of persist creatures would it have worked out better I’m not sure.  Power Conduit and persist creatures are very fun to play together and very hard for your opponent to remove.

I had another Idea which is a bit more expensive which is to use more blue cards and artifacts built around March of the Machines and Tezzeret the Seeker, I'll save that for another article though.

Until next time have fun power conduiting