Thisismich's picture
By: Thisismich, Michele Furno
Jun 03 2011 12:15pm
4
Login to post comments
2493 views


 Hi there, it's New Phyrexian time!!! Since I had some tickets left from my previous drafts and I got out of the office early for once I decided to wait for the prerelease queues to fire to join one of the first out there.

Here's what I opened:

 

Uhm, no swords and no Karn, also not a whole lot here, unfortunately.

Infect is not viable, I don't have many infectors and they are spread in odd colors.

Black had some good removal but the rest of it was not that great.

White was extremely short but it had some good cards (the Sensor Splicer, Apostle's Blessing, Porcelain Legionnaire).

Red offered a nice bomb in the form of an Hoard-Smelter Dragon and also a nice set of artifact removal (Shatter, Oxidda Scrapmelter, Victorious Destruction) and the new infect pinger (Fallen Ferromancer) so I thought it had a good possibility to be one of my main colors. 

Green offered a nice amount of big fatties, including the new Thundering Tanadon so I considered for a while to go RG Dyno but then I looked at blue.

I must admit I became a huge fan of Volition Reins and Corrupted Conscience and that, in my eyes, made blue shine over the solid green and decided to go RB, but first let's take a look at colorless.

Admittedly there isn't a whole lot going on here too but a Gold Myr permitted me to splash the porcelain legionnaire and a Blinding Souleater with more ease without fear to delve too much into phyrexian mana, a Trespassing Souleater made a nice pair with the Neurok Invisimancer I had in the blue pile and a Neurok Replica along with a Flight Spellbomb were nice additions to said color too.

The Sickleslicer, while it not being a Batterskull, a Bonehoard or a Strandwalker, was a good cheap living weapon and the Rust Tick is always solid.

That convinced me to play blue-red "splashing" white, adding the Idol too even if it probably was a bit weak in this deck, anyway that's what I built:

 

Honestly I don't remember why I first thought that Caged Sun was a good idea but I soon changed my mind and I sided it out as soon as I could for the Cerebral Eruption I absentmindedly forgot to add...

M1G1:

I keep this on the play:

Not the best hand, really but I decide to give it a shot anyway. My draws in the first two turns (Fallen Ferromancer and Shatter) are definitely not helping me but my opponent is slow as well so I'm able to lead the dances with my Sickleslicer to which he answers with a Blinding Souleater.
Tappers are always a problem but fortunately I rip a mountain and I'm able to shatter it before swinging (20-18); my hand got definitely better with that mountain and I already made my plans for the next few turns BUT it seems I need to change them because my opponent revokes the existence of my slicer and plays a Suture Priest.
It's surely not that threatening but it can be an annoyance, especially if he has cheap creatures so I decide to run out my ferromancer to kill it next turn; I obviously refuse to trade for it when he attacks (18-18) and then wait for his next move which is, unfortunately, a Parasitic Implant.

It's sad the ferromancer has to go, but it will stay for my turn so I just ping the priest to reset the board and then pass the turn (I drew Psychic Barrier and I had 2 blue mana up).
In his turn he gets the myr token out of my ferromancer (BTW, nice art on the token) and tries to play another blinding souleater... wow, double tapper can be troublesome in the next games but not this time as I counter it dealing him 1 in the process before he passes (18-17).
Now it's time to do something but unfortunately I can't get my second mountain for my bomby dragon so it's between a Glint Hawk Idol and the Lumengrid Drake, since I won't be able to get metalcraft in the near future I decide to run the latter and ship the turn back and wait for his next move which is also the first card played with phyrexian mana of the tournament (a Spined Thopter) (18-15).

My turn again and again I draw an island... meh, I play it, along with the invisimancer to get the 2 damage from the drake through (18-13) and my idol with one white mana up to activate it; overall not a bad turn but I'm just waiting to run out the Hoard-Smelter Dragon at this point.

As scripted he attacks with the thopter and I decide to let it pass once (16-13) and then a Sensor Splicer comes out... ouch (BTW2, this guy seems to have the same white commons as I do), that can be a problem... I don't even finish this line of thought when I finally rip my second mountain and life smiles on me again so I just swing with the team (16-9) and then run out my dragon with one white mana up to activate the idol if needed.

It seems he's in the tank because he thinks for a while and then plays another Parasitic Implant on my dragon... darn it...
Unfortunately for him I realize the effect will come too late to save him because the thopter is an artifact and also the only creature that can block my dragon, so if I activate his ability I will take it out of the way and my whole team will become unblockable (3 flyers and an unblockable creature).
He realizes this too and after I kill the thopter he concedes.

M1G2:

Opponent decides to play last and I keep:

This is a better starting hand even if, again, I don't have a play before turn 3, or, at least, that would have been the case if I didn't draw a Gold Myr, turn 3 Slash Panther? Oh, yes please.

Wait... probably not... I don't feel like wasting 2 life just to trade for the Spined Thopter he just played so I decide to wait and test his willingness to trade swinging with the myr (20-17) before playing a Neurok Replica.

After the swing (18-17) here comes Blinding Souleater #1 but I get mountain #2 and, with the dragon in hand, I feel better; now, let's return to the matter at hand, what should I run out? Hmmm, a Victorious Destruction targeting the tapper before swinging with the replica seems a good idea (18-15) and it also lets me stay ahead in the race.

Again he swings (16-15) and then taps out for a Moriok Replica missing his land drop and I rip the shatter; time to think... if I let him draw he may get out of the mana screw, if I don't he may get out anyway but I would gain a turn to get a land and run out the dragon; it still seems a bit wasted to get rid of a creature he would sac anyway, but it's called card advantage for a reason, so I just shatter the replica and swing (16-13).

Time for him to swing again (14-13) and play both the Suture Priest and a Porcelain Legionnaire with phyrexian mana and that's where I do a very silly move. I honestly can't bring to memory what I was thinking then or what were my game plans because this is a very stupid move that could cost me the game, in fact I decide to sac the replica to bounce the thopter... I sacced the only creature that could hold the ground against the legionnaire easily...

Even worse, I topdeck my Volition Reins with only one land in play and I'm forced to play my Slash Panther for no good value since his next play is a Mortis Dogs.

A fifth land does refill me with hope as I play my Dragon but a Grim Affliction cast after I declare it as a blocker for the dogs and a totally useless topdeck (the Caged Sun I forgot to take out) are enough for me to say gg.

M1G3:

Sketchy hand on the play but it could work with the help of a few lands:

Long story short, I NEVER get a third land... yep, fun times.GGS.

M2G1:

A two lander again on the play? Urg...

This time though it's a little better... Let's not get too paranoid here; it won't happen two times in a row, right? RIGHT?

Anyway, I keep and start with my Gitaxian Probe only to see this:

That's a perfect hand... sadness... even worse, the card I get is a Slash Panther and not a land.

My next card isn't a land either but it's the gold myr... it can work; since it's 2nd turn he can't know I'm in desperate need of a third land so probably will save his removal for something better, he will likely play the Ichorclaw Myr... that's a good and a bad news at the same time because I will use the myr to play something better and that will make the perfect target for the grasp.

Everything goes as I suspected and I get my third land... now I have an option: I can go full aggro and run out the panther but it will surely be short lived OR I can bait him into using the grasp on some utility card and then go full aggro (maybe without even using phyrexian mana). I decide the latter option seems better and I play my own Blinding Souleater; I think I could have attacked with the myr here but 1 damage probably would not matter much.

I thought it was already time to say goodbye to my souleater and he indeed tapped two swamps but it appears he decided to play his Perilous Myr before swinging (20 1p-20). I get a Rust Tick and I play it immediately, will this be enough for him to play the grasp? Nope, he lets me tap his ichorclaw (letting him attack with the perilous myr) before casting a Pith Driller with phyrexian mana (19 1p-18).

No 4th land for me and now I need to think... if I tap something with the tick I won't be able to play the replica but even if I do it's a great target for the grasp... Is the tick a better target though since he only has artifacts in play? Good question but I think I missed it because I decided to tap the driller and ship the turn. Nonetheless he is scared enough not to attack with the Perilous Myr and I gladly let the ichorclaw one pass (19 2p-18); grasp now? Not yet, he just passes.

Well the grasp is instant so it's not a sign, nonetheless I can't wait forever and I just run out the replica, saving a newly drawn shatter for next turn.

Again, no grasp so I just block his ichorclaw with the replica before he plays his own Fallen Ferromancer; yet I can't get a fourth land, instead a get the Flight Spellbomb. Now, if I'd play it I could be able to bounce something with the replica since he was a walking dead thanks to the pinger but I decided to be a little more proactive, killing the driller with the shatter and tapping his ichorclaw with the tick; too bad for the replica but now all he has left are two small creatures using two different game mechanics in terms of damage so it will take a while before he's able to kill me.

Even stranger, he does not use his ferromancer but just swings with the myr and I gladly take (18 2p-18).

Again, no fourth land... this is frustrating as hell... let's push things a little bit, time to draw a card with the spellbomb and, finally, an island... that's even better because now I have the mana to sac my replica if need be so I just pass. Before I could pass he finally decides to use the ferromancer targeting... me... oook. (18 3p-18).

Look ma', no lands... again... this is getting on my nerves but let's not tilt here, I'm not dead yet; Slash Panther? Nah, insta-grasp material, Artillerize? I'd hate to lose either of my tappers and if I chose the replica he could just use the ferromancer to void my spell so it's between a Glint Hawk Idol and a Lumengrid Drake; I have metalcraft but if he used the ferromancer in response he could void it the same way but playing the idol now just to have metalcraft next turn seems weak so I just run the drake out.

As suspected he killed my replica but he didn't play the grasp on the drake, instead he just attacked with the perilous myr and played a Lux Cannon (16 3p-18).

Finally a land!!! Ok, now let's get rid of that cannon with Victorious Destruction before stupid things happen... just, not really because in response he sacs it to an Artillerize to kill my rust tick and now I'm in trouble. I need to speed things up and the drake won't do any good so I swing (16 3p-16) before passing the turn.

I pay the phyrexian mana to tap the ichorclaw this time and let him attack with the other myr (13 3p-16) but it's clear I need to do something quickly because I'm losing the race; he, however, seems not in a hurry because all he does is play a Copper Myr. Either that or his deck is REALLY slow.

An island makes me wonder if he's willing to sac his ferromancer to itself to prevent me stealing it with the volition reins and indeed he does, now that's a little better but I still have to solve the ichorclaw problem because I'm not gonna tap it again anytime soon unless I rip my lone plains, so it's time to be aggressive and I swing with the team convinced he'd finally use the grasp but he doesn't (13 3p - 13), even better he just swings back in response and does nothing (11 4p-13).

The slash panther should finally trigger the grasp and he finally plays it before I deal him 7 (11 4p-10), then I play the idol just to have a sac outlet for the artillerize (before I die to poison).

Another swing-pass from my opponent (9 5p-10) and I finally get my plains, should I still run the artillerize? Uhm, let's see, he's at 10, If everything connects he'd go to 5 and artillerize should finally seal the deal so I activate the idol and swing.

Everything connects and it's game over.

Wow, way to get out of a screw!!!

M2G2:

Nice opener on the play:

I'm able to draw and cast my Gitaxian Probe again and again I see a nice hand for my opponent:

Again I'm faced with a removal spell he could cast so I just try and play around it running first my Sickleslicer only, this time, he uses it on my next attack phase, good, better out than in and I still have the equipment.
He continues playing the cards I saw (an Ogre Menial) and passes while I'm able to cast my Slash Panther that he, unsurprisingly decides not to block (19-16).

In his turn he plays a Darksteel Axe that gets me worried because it's a great card to use on the menial but instead of equipping and bashing he decides to pay 2 life and cast a Pith Driller targeting the panther with the effect.

Not a big deal because I can, and do, equip the slicer to the panther and send it into the red zone; again he decides not to block (19-9) so I just tap the driller before passing.

Now, if he does not get other pump spells I should be fine for a couple of turns because I have the invisimancer in hand so all I need is another turn, after that I'll have a blocker for the ogre and will be able to finish my opponent with the invisimancer IF he does not get the grasp, that is...

I think that my opponent is up to something when he equips, pump the ogre with a mountain, swings (19 3p-9) and THEN plays another mountain. Now I don't really need to run my invisimancer because he has no blockers for my panther, my only real worry is the ogre, in case he gets the third land he could deal me 5 poison damage and if he rips something along the lines of a Trigon of Rage he could end the game immediately BUT I rip a volition reins, so I just swing (19 3p-4), I steal the ogre and it should be game over if he doesn't remove my panther or the equip by next turn.

Unfortunately he plays a Praetor's Grasp and I think I know what he will get out of my deck... yup... my Oxidda Scrapmelter to kill the panther and get a creature at the same time.
Unfortunately for him, that meant tapping out, so the ogre menial I stole still wore the axe when my turn started; this is the plan:

  • Equip my own equipment to the ogre
  • Play the invisimancer
  • deal him 4 poison damage before he's able to get the axe back

And that's exactly what happens. Now that wasn't entirely necessary because my invisimancer equipped with the slicer is enough to kill him but he still has a grasp of darkness hidden somewhere and what better moment than now to rip it? This way, even if he removed the threat he would still have 4 poison damage and I would still have his infector.

Anyway this is just for the record because he rips no means to kill my invisimancer and he concedes after I equip it.

Thank you invisimancer, you're so underrated but I love you.

M3G1:

Not perfect but keepable:

Usual SOM opening, land-land-myr for me and nothing from my opponent, then I finally draw my Porcelain Legionnaire for the first time and I don't even have to use phyrexian mana to play it.

My opponent's next turn is land-pass again so I just attack; it turns out he has a Grim Affliction for my legionnaire but I still connect with the myr (20-19), then I just run out my Lumengrid Drake and pass the turn.

Finally my opponent plays something in the form of an Impaler Shrike that, while not being extremely worrisome it could gain him some card advantage, nonetheless I draw the land I needed for my hoard-smelter dragon so I swing with the team (20-17) and play it out before passing.

A Blind Zealot comes into play but nothing else happens; I'm not that worried since all I need to do is to keep blocking my opponent's creatures so I just swing with the dragon, which connects (20-12) before playing a Rust Tick.

Now it begins a really eventful turn; first my opponent plays an Entomber Exarch trying to get my last card out of my hand, but it's an instant (Artillerize) so I try to use it on his zealot (saccing the now kinda useless myr) BUT he saves it with an Apostle's Blessing, he then propose to trade the flyers and I accept.

My turn again and I draw a Flight Spellbomb which I play immediately, then I use the dragon's ability to destroy it (a mistake, it wasn't worth the +1/+0) drawing a volition reins out of it that could end the game if played correctly next turn so I swing and pass (20-6).

My opponent's next turn is great for him because he rips a Bladed Pinions that he immediately attach to the zealot to give it flying before swinging (18-6) and using his ability to kill my dragon before playing an Origin Spellbomb and passing.

I don't feel like stealing his exarch so I just play a Glint Hawk Idol and pass while he plays a Wing Splicer (BTW3: I don't like the art of the golem token), equips the pinions to the exarch and passes.

Now what to do? I draw the useless Caged Sun and I can't attack with the idol because of the first strike ability, also I don't have 7 lands to steal the exarch AND activate the idol too. Anyway I think that stealing his exarch is better than doing nothing and try that way.

In his turn he sacs the spellbomb, attach the pinions to the splicer, plays a Mycosynth Wellspring getting an island and passes.

Good news, I can swing again but I don't want to lose the exarch so I have an idea, I play the caged sun choosing black, that also triggers the idol and I'm able to swing freely. He decides just to block the exarch and the idol connects (18-4).

He does nothing so I'm able to repeat the attack and again he blocks the splicer (18-2), even better he does nothing AGAIN and I repeat the attack once more, only, this time, I'm presented with a Dispense Justice WITH metalcraft, ach, if I only run out my scrapmelter before I would have won on the spot... but I'm still fine so I sac both creatures and play my scrapmelter.

It apparently is enough because he concedes.

M3G2:

Mull \/

Keep /\

Again not perfect but keepable and again I go land-land-myr and again my opponent does nothing, only this time I don't have the legionnaire but a perfectly fine Blinding Souleater on turn 3.

He misses his land drop and passes again and that's my cue, if I run my idol now next turn I will have metalcraft for my lumengrid drake to time walk another turn. Even better, after my swing (20-18) he misses the land drop again and just plays a Sword of War and Peace.

Nice card but I'm on a roll and I draw the perfect card to deal with it, an Oxidda Scrapmelter that gets played immediately after my swing (20-15).

Here comes out again the Wing Splicer but I have another bad news for him because I still have metalcraft and I'm able to bounce his token with my lumengrid drake before swinging with the team again; the scrapmelter gets chumped but the rest of the team connects (20-12).

An Entomber Exarch from my opponent threatens to bring back the splicer next turn but I have a Victorious Destruction in hand that is only waiting for a land to go off and indeed I rip an island so I just swing with everything but the tapper and again the scrapmelter gets chumped (20-8).

On his turn he decides not to run out the splicer again, but he plays a Mycosynth Wellspring fetching an island and a blind zealot to which I answer with an end-of-turn Spire Monitor to add flying pressure to the board. A Flight Spellbomb threatens to send the scrapmelter to the skies where the zealot can't reach it and that's enough for my opponent to concede.

Yay me, 2-1, with a little help I can still get some packs and a nice foil promo.

M4G1:

Unkeepable \/

Urg... barely keepable /\

I start with the Gitaxian Probe and see this:

Ouch, pretty bad keep... As I said in one of my previous articles this "hand set" leads more often than not to a flood.

While this not being a fact it seems to be true here (as it was true in the aforementioned article) because all he does in this game is to cast both the creatures I've seen in his hand. I answer with my Fallen Ferromancer killing first his Porcelain Legionnaire and then reducing the Viral Drake's power to 0 before he's able to give me a poison counter; after that he concedes.

M4G2:

I keep on the draw:

Definitely keepable, will need a couple of mountains but that's fine.

He has his legionnaire again as I have my ferromancer (and the gold myr) again but unfortunately I don't have mountains yet so all I can do is wait and take the damage (17-18); also worth noting he is stuck on 2 lands.

Having said that I get my mountain so now what? I could run my Oxidda Scrapmelter to remove the threat immediately or run my ferromancer and replay last game; I decide the first is a better plan and cast the scrapmelter but I'm presented with an Apostle's Blessing that saves his legionnaire and forces me to kill my own myr not to lose the creature, dang...

He's also out of the mana screw because after swinging (14-18) he plays a land and casts a Neurok Replica, that's bad news because my next turns will be slow.

I start with the ferromancer and pass again while he swings (11-18), Arrests my ferromancer and plays a Glint Hawk.

I need to start racing here so I swing (11-15) and pass the turn waiting for him to attack with the hawk because I have a Spire Monitor in hand, also I'm waiting for a second mountain to play the Cerebral Eruption I sided in for the useless Caged Sun, but he decides to swing with just the legionnaire (8-15) and passes instead of replaying the replica...

I can see he's up to something but there is not much I can do besides casting the spire monitor during the end phase, also I don't get my second mountain and all I can do is to play a Blinding Souleater hoping to slow him down but I think it's a bit late for that, nonetheless I try the race route and I also play my (Neurok Invisimancer to make my scrapmelter unblockable and swing with both it and the monitor. It turns out he has a monitor too and he decides not to trade it so now I'm in a really bad shape (8-9).

After his attack (3-9) it could be gg but a mountain gives me a tiny bit of hope even if he has the mana to use the replica's ability and save one of his guys.

I play the eruption and he decides to save ... wait... he decides to bounce my tapper. Well, if I miss it's a clever move but if I don't and I wipe his board then he can be in trouble.

Aaaaaand... I miss -__- I reveal a necropede (2cmc) that's enough to kill everything EXCEPT the spire monitor.

After a couple more turns he starts developing again his board while I can't so it's time to concede.

M4G3:

Nice starting hand on the play:

As usual I start with my Gitaxian Probe and I see this:

That's a good starting hand too...

As scripted he plays the legionnaire as soon as he can paying the 2 life points (20-18) and I answer with the Neurok Replica to slow him down. Obviously my greatest worry is that Viral Drake, without a ferromancer to stop it it can poison you very fast, nonetheless one turn ago I got my hoard-smelter dragon so I had some hopes for the future.

Next turn my opponent decides to suicide his legionnaire, or so I thought before he played a Deceiver Exarch to tap my replica before I could declare it blocker; nice combo but it can only work once (17-18).

Ok, now we both put a stop on the ground so the battle should start in the sky as soon as possible; unfortunately he will draw first blood but there isn't much I can do so I just play the Sickleslicer and pass. Now that was a stupid mistake, I should have played the Blinding Souleater to tap his viral drake even if that would cost me 2 life... I guess I'm just not yet accustomed to phyrexian mana...

As suspected his next play is the viral drake I saw in his hand and the plains I get afterwards came too late; I run the souleater anyway because it will slow him down and pass.

A Trespassing Souleater threatens to deal me 2 damage a turn but a topdecked Oxidda Scrapmelter puts a premature stop to his unauthorized trespassing ("Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again" kind of things), yet I have to do something to that infector and I start tapping it before the attack phase.

It seems my opponent is a bit mana screwed and that prevents him from proliferating me to death; even better he just plays a Glint Hawk Idol and passes so I'm finally able to run my Hoard-Smelter Dragon that... gets immediately arrested... grumble.

Ok, I still have the replica ready so it's time for a new game plan, I play a Lumengrid Drake bouncing his own drake then leave up enough mana to get my dragon back with the replica during his end phase; it sounds good but a Golem Artisan convinces me to use my Shatter instead of getting back my dragon. It's still fine though because doing that he didn't replay his drake.

Even better, I topdeck my Fallen Ferromancer and that's awesome enough to trigger a concession from my opponent as soon as I cast it.

Well, I still managed to go 3-1 in this tournament so I'm quite happy anyway despite the not stellar prize, but that I knew beforehand; I still had fun and the foil promo is nice, might think about it for a commander deck... hmmmm...

And oh, it turned out that my first opponent was the tournament "winner" (one of the two people to go 4-0) so I'm not that mad for that loss, I'm still a bit frustrated about the mana screw but, oh well, it's Magic.

As usual, thanks for reading this and see you next time.
--
Thisismich.

2 Comments

Thanks by silverwyvern4 at Fri, 06/03/2011 - 13:50
silverwyvern4's picture
4

Thanks

Phyrexian Ingester by fiffo416 at Sat, 06/04/2011 - 18:15
fiffo416's picture

How can you possibly not play it? It is a real bomb. :(