Main Entry: pi·ous
Pronunciation: \ˈpī-əs\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin pius
Date: 15th century
1 a: marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to divine worship b: marked by conspicuous religiosity <a hypocrite—a thing all pious words and uncharitable deeds — Charles Reade>
2: sacred or devotional as distinct from the profane or secular : religious <a pious opinion>
3: showing loyal reverence for a person or thing: dutiful
4 a: marked by sham or hypocrisy b: marked by self-conscious virtue : virtuous
5: deserving commendation : worthy <a pious effort>
— pi·ous·ly adverb
— pi·ous·ness noun
The event is #909628 - an early Sunday morning on the last day of January.
I have hope, I’m 0-0 – TOTALLY UNDEFEATED! (hey - the glass is always half full!)
Hope – is there nothing…well, more hopeful?
You know the feeling, the energy…that vibe that “today is YOUR day!” – the feeling that only Magic tournaments are able to bring. And take away.
Typical of Magic’s balance - MGTO tournaments are also VERY good at deflating hope - in an impossible cascade of what you selfishly consider ‘bad luck,’ ‘bad draws,’ and opponents that are, ‘so lucky!’
Well I came in to this tournament piloting my favorite of favorites…WHITE WEENIE. In December, I placed 2nd, then 1st with a deck similar to this:
deluxeicoff (1st Place)
Pauper Challenge #770308 on 12/11/2009
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/770308
Now obviously, the above deck HATES RED.
At the time, Angry/Spell Red, or Goblin Red was everywhere. You literally ran into it 2/3 matches…so I prepared for it accordingly.
It should be noted that I lost to Storm/Combo here, and it was one of the first times I saw it in force. Later that same month, I’d get a few top 8’s…but never the top…due to my nemesis Combo. I’ve said it before, it is VERY true…and I mean no disrespect for Magic…but when the decks are as they currently lay – Magic DOES become a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. If White Weenie is Rock, then Combo is Paper.
So let’s flash forward now that my “cred” is established and my ego still intact.
My decklist today is very different:
deluxeicoff (read on to see)
Pauper Challenge #909628 on 01/31/2010
As you can see, my sideboard is ready -(all be it I need to draw it) – for the combo matchup.
Sure, they have a lot of answers,
Duress and
Echoing Decay etc.., but I’m opting for this, as I know how to play it very well, and feel personally, it’s my best shot. Additionally, the last few weeks (losses for me) have shown an upsurge in swamp based hate toward combo. Yet another reason I wanted to bring this today.
As for the Scouts…I really had to look hard at them. They’re too fragile to live, and often too fragile to attack. They often don't attack against White/Blue! They sit there, turn after turn, (when you should be attacking) and when you have enough mana to turn them into a REAL threat, you often have other plays in hand that are just better than fetching another Scout, or Riftwatcher. TEMPO KILLER…
The defense of this is an argument of control…slip one under the counterspell radar on turn two (hoping they’re not playing white and/or black removal …see also: NEVER) and then wait a bunch of turns and start pumping out the riftwatchers…valid, but in a vacuum.
Really? That’s a good play/strategy?
I noticed playing these felt like playing with 4x
Standard Bearers main in a
bad way. Every deck either kills them no problem, or has no fear of them attacking…not something I want from my white weenie in a control heavy metagame…
HUGE RECORD SCRATCH SOUND EFFECT GOES HERE...WHAT? HUH?
At first the reverse seems more logical…if control won last week…well then, 4x (Amrou Scouts) – but that is only valid if you have a time machine and can go back to last weeks tourney and build a perfect deck for the top 8 AND somehow wave a wand and put yourself IN the top 8.
You must assume other players are going to make changes…evolve…get smarter and come with answers…just like you did…and answers similar to YOU. This is why I expected a lot of speed/removal this week. Goblins, TE Green/Black, other white weenie seem like great answers for last weeks winner. The riftwatchers still show up when they need to. If you have an untouched
Amrou Scout against red (rare situation) and have lived to turn 4 with all your lands and still have some life (rarer still) then your opponent is probably drunk, or what my magic mentor Chris Haynie and I call, PWI (
Playing While Intoxicated). Scouts come and go with every build…ranging from 4 to ZERO…this week the forecast is: ZERO with a chance of no.
Regarding
Akrasan Squire – I chose this because I REALLY needed more speed in testing. When I lose with this deck my opponent usually has 2 or less life). I decided I needed another quality one drop.
I considered other suspension goodness like,
Knight of Sursi – which proved too slow, almost clogging the opening hand, not helping…sometimes “SUSPEND” feels more like a department stores “LAYAWAY”.
Of course there’s
Soul Warden and/or
Icatian Javelineers – the latter of which I don’t like, seems way too slow and playing 3x
Serrated Arrows is like playing with 9 javelineers anyways. Soul Wardens are not to be taken lightly, they have a BIG PRESENCE in the metagame and should be treated with respect…even in combo, they buy you a turn if they don’t fall to grapeshot - which isn't hard with the help of your neighborhood bodyguard...and then warrens…40 tokens gets you 40 life - and another crucial chance at drawing a holy light.
The Squire attacks turn 2 for 2/2 at its worst, or makes your skyfishers eat other winged beasts with just some slight indigestion..great vs White/Blue. Moreover, the Squire is also great against Affinity match-ups as the golem and company can run through
Myr Enforcer and the like…so now that my ego-biased deck justification is complete…
let’s go!
So off to the actual tournament:
Round 1 Vs. Papa_DZEN who is playing….(DRUMROLL Please...)
Combo.
Yikes. I figured I’d be 4-0 before facing this. But Murphy’s law has struck and "Hope" has come to have breakfast with me, and didn’t even bring his wallet…jerk.
Not my opponent mind you…he was nice.
The first game begins, and my hopeful face quickly turns down towards despondency upon seeing his first play:
Irrigation Ditch…sigh. I won't bore you with the details...now off to match 2!
I start strong, and have the answers (more on that later) –
Benevolent Unicorn and by turn 3 my side of the board feels REALLY good, knowing ½ of his strategy won’t work now. Did I mention I had
Benevolent Bodyguard on the board and some other friends? It was a damn party!
Nope. After he goes off, with about 30 goblin tokens…something changed.
(Cue spooky music sting)
I knew somehow, something was wrong. As if his digital avatar started morphing its pixels into a visage resembling more of an evil grin…
I was screwed.
(Goblin Bushwacker)
I’m sure the above has changed a card or three…but hey, I went to the trouble to link this so that you can become better!
My MVP for this matchup is:
(pic= Benevolent Unicorn)
Now off to…..
Round TWO!
Playing against “andizzle” who is playing Mono Black.
This deck was black, I mean REALLY black…blacker than the inside of a dead cat!
This feels like a present - I thought Christmas was last month!? Kidding aside, he sported some nice cards…but when played right - White Weenie has a very hard time losing to MonoBlack…at least in my shortsighted and selfish experience!
Yeah, pretty nice, and it was about to get nicer. I drew an
Order of Leitbur. This felt totally unfair as I steamrolled him with fast shades, bodyguard backup and my pious order…6 turn kill.
Game two felt lopsided as it often does with MonoBlack. My earlier analogy of Rock/Paper/Scissors still holds, however this time I’m rock - and black is not just scissors, their those little badly-put-together kindergarten scissors with the dull edges.
No bodyguards showed, but
Prismatic Strands sure did, and about the only thing my opponent was able to muster was an
Aeolipile on my Order. Nice tech, not new…but nice.
Take note Monoblack fans…good card…also remember that when using
Tendrils of Corruption, you STILL GAIN LIFE if any sort of bodyguard shenanigans take place.
So now I’m 1-1…and our friend hope is back. Not sitting across from me, as I still think he’s a bit of a jerk, but I hear him outside knocking gently at the front door. I don’t know if I should let him in, as I fear he’s going to pitch some ridiculous new religion or some other solicitation at me…I’m going to close the shades (pun intended) and turn off the lights and hope the knocking stops…
My MVP for this matchup is:
(pic = benevolent bodyguard)
ROUND THREE
My opponent is “Iwakura” and he’s playing Goblins. The first game is a nuts draw for him, as he quickly rolls me by turn 5. I had two shades ready to join the good fight, but they were probably delayed while listening to our friend “hope’s” spiel.
0-1
I sided out 4 Journey, 1 Shade and 4 Unmake, bringing in 4 Holy Lights, 3 Prismatic Strands, and 2 Standard Bearers.
I usually don’t lose game one verses Goblins…unless they draw the nuts. Game two quickly turns in my favor as the
Razor Golems have too big of a backside to push through.
1-1
Prismatic Strands is only answered from red by
Flaring Pain – which may or may not be in their board/hand. I don’t think Iwakura had much coffee today however, as he repeatedly kept forgetting about
Prismatic Strands flashback goodness…so much so that I assumed he was holding said
Flaring Pain.
2-1
Game 3 is a walk in the park. I have plenty of (Aven Riftwatchers),
Razor Golems and friends…all playing under the colorful rainbow of
Prismatic Strands…it’s turning out to be a hopeful day afterall! But I must keep my guard up!
My MVP for this matchup is:
(pic= Prismatic Strands)
Round FOUR!
I was really smitten with this deck last week…so much so that I tried piloting it and lost badly. I think I got 34th out of about 70ish players…yuck. The decklists' I've seen have NO REMOVAL…and it has a horrible time with its creatures being repeatedly exiled.
Game one showed me a opening hand of 2x
Kor Skyfisher, 1x
Journey to Nowhere, 1x
Razor Golem 1x
Akrasan Squire and 2 Plains. Knowing this decks weaknesses inside and out…I quickly took to the air, and by turn 4 had an air armada and exile answers in my hand. Worse for him, he had leeches…and his blood supply was dwindling quickly…
Game 2 was more of the same. I exiled everything on the board, flew in the air to peck his eyes out and then started rubbing salt in the wounds…not pretty:
Here’s hoping my luck continues…I’m starting to like Mr. Hope…maybe I’ll let him in for a small snack…after all, it started raining outside and I don’t want to be Totally uncivil…
My MVP for this matchup is:
(pic= Unmake)
Off to –
ROUND 5
Besides Combo…my deck historically has lost to Slivers…not by much. But about 49-51. So of course, the moment I invite Mr. Hope in for some tea, my house quickly becomes infested with…
SLIVERS
I have a lot of respect for this deck. If you can’t hold your ground in the first 4 turns, you’re finished. This is exactly what I did. Trade early and often, and hope for removal…which I have quite a lot of.
I kept a opening hand of 2 Plains 1 Akrasan Squire, 1 Benevolent Bodyguard, 1 Aven Riftwatcher, 1 Kor Skyfisher and one Order of Leitbur.
He comes out quick, as always…with poison…but I already had him at 16 due to the squire. I stabilize and win a trade with the bodyguard…draw removal and win. I had however started to feel dizzy…Mr. Hope also spiked my tea with a bit of poison…(see glowing green "2" on my moniker below):
I was surprised to see him play Prismatic Strands maindeck, but it only delayed the inevitable.
I quickly squashed him game two with an absolute avalanche of removal. I drew 3 Journeys and later was HOLDING 3 Unmake…YIKES! In a format where 90% of the decks have creatures…this seems like a strong thing to have access to. I have to reconsider this match up…as my deck has gone through so many metamorphosis over the last few weeks…I can’t remember losing to Slivers anytime in the last month…the first build of the deck, yes…but not this one. Strange indeed.
I’m 4-1 (0-2, 2-0, 2-1, 2-0, 2-0)
Despite this, I ask Mr. Hope to leave demanding he pay for a pest company to come out and de-sliver my residence.
My MVP for this matchup is:
(pic= Journey to Nowhere)
Off to…..
ROUND 6
Vs TarPitShaman
Man, this was a TOUGH GAME. First game I mulliganed down to 5…got only 3 lands in 14 turns! I got him to 8 life…then the White/Blue engine started kicking in gear and I lost.
I brought in some Holy Lights and lost some Serrated Arrows…not sure what the right formula is yet...probably not what I did.
Second game I steamrolled him by turn 6….not even close.
Third game would make a great video. He’s an awesome player and his resiliency was horribly frustrating…swear he was at 1 life for half the game…finally broke through his pestersome mites. Unmake stopped a blink from resolving and it was slowly downhill for him from there. Man, that was CLOSE.
My MVP for this matchup is:
(pic= Akrasan Squire)
Did I say close? This next match was more so:
Round 7 Vs “baldr 7” Playing TE Green/Black graveyard control
I win game one, he wins game two, and game 3 I exile all relevant resurgence, and it’s a close one…but in the end, dredging takes the win and I MILL HIM! Wish I screengrabbed it, but I was sweating the time as it was...and I was late to the TOP 8! A very nerve-wracking finish!
Off to the TOP 8!
And my first opponent is…(DRUMROLL….wait a minute, last time I wrote Drumroll, it didn’t work out so well…)
Papa_DZEN…you may remember him as the only one to beat me, way back in the first round. Well, he had no problem doing so again, first game on turn 4 and the second game, I mulligan heavy to reach the benevolent unicorn, but failed.
Wouldn’t change a thing…which is a big problem!
Result: 4th place.
Till next time~
Adrian Grey aka: ’deluxeicoff’
31 Comments
yeah, i'm the guy you beat in the top 8. very close games, maybe if i had been a little more aggressive i would've taken it, but well played on both sides :). i should have my own report of this tournament up soon.
Yeah, those were close! I played that deck last week, and really wished I packed some removal SOMEWHERE...ghastly demise seemed perfect, as did Rancor...The latest decks have lost this, but in my playtesting it was the MVP. Additionally, knowing the list, I knew you were holding the gorgon, due to your entire deck being in the yard - I think you played wonderfully, had you been more aggressive - you'd of lost the mongrel sooner, that was a tightrope walking-match if ever there was one! I'm sure you'll get me next game :)
just curious but if you lost in the top 8 wouldn't that make you 5th place, since there was still a top four?
ShardFenix - I'm not even going to pretend I know the math envolved at splitting the top 8...I wrote that report in real time between rounds (another reason the coverage gets more hurried with each round) - mistakenly thinking top 8 was a turn later than it was. Here's the official link if you like math:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital...
ahhh i see now. For some reason when i first read it i thought you had lost your match in the top8. I see now you made it to top 4....that makes a lot more sense now. Maybe i should quit reading tournaments report after checking emails first thing when i wake up
yeah, it is a bit annoying to have no removal, especially if you play against a list that has Amrou Scout. but I feel that the greater power and synergy of the deck allows you to get away with it. the games were extremely close, and i'll need to watch the replays a couple more times to figure how or if i could have won. shardfenix is right, you lost in the 2nd round of the top 8. hope we get paired up again in the next PE :)
Can't wait. I faced another TE deck, but the pilot was nowhere near your caliber. One of the best things about that deck is that there are no solo-color damage creatures...cop's won't work and P.strands is a bad idea too. It's like a rainbow attack ;)
BTW - I did mention I wrote the Top 8 wrong, as I was a round behind due to writing/hurriedly...
RE: TE - I found that against COMBO, using "CLOAK OF CONFUSION" was insane. 1/2 a tourach everyturn, which is easy due to the number of creatures your running. Agur of Skulls and this with duress are amazing...But Cloak lets you keep being aggressive - give it a try, you won't be dissapointed!
This was a fun article too read. You still think ww would do good in the next event?
Thanks! WW is always in it. It beats what beats combo...best lesson I've never quite learned is to play what you like.
In your first match, why did you play the Unicorn? Had you left all three lands untapped you would have been able to cast Strands against Grapeshot or Light against the tokens.
Yeah, in hindsight, it is quite easy to do the above. To speak honestly, I rarely draw the unicorn, so I think I was a bit hasty to use it...great point...funny, don't think I would have thought of that, so simple ;) The unicorn is such a 'safe' feeling when it sticks...I'll try out your idea next time if it presents itself!
I totally think WW is there...anything with swamps beats combo, and WW tends to beat anything with swamps...I've got a few more 'tricks' up my sleeve for this week :)
"Take note Monoblack fans…good card…also remember that when using Tendrils of Corruption, you STILL GAIN LIFE if any sort of bodyguard shenanigans take place."
Good card part is true, but the upper case part is false. The spell is countered when it has no legal targets, such as a creature with protection from black.
yes, but you still gain life for the # of swamps you control, it's two steps
no, that's wrong. it's countered because of no legal targets before resolution. if the damage would be prevented instead of the target becoming illegal, then you would still gain the life. cloak of confusion looks awesome by the way! think i'll definitely be putting that in my sideboard instead of my okiba gang shinobis and maybe an augur of skulls.
I think there was a misunderstanding...if someone tendrils my skyfisher, and I save it via bodyguard...the skyfisher lives, AND the opp gains life = to swamps...that's what I meant :)
I'd run the cloaks with augur to play it safe :) I'm giving Kami of False hope a try for extra time vs. bushwacker madness
no misunderstanding - you are still wrong.
suppose opponent target skyfisher with tendrils, you uses bodyguard to give pro black to skyfisher, then tendrils is countered - meaning the spell does not resolve (either part of it)
what you should have said to cover your butt is that you didn't use bodyguard, but rather, prismatic strands on black. that will save skyfisher from dying because the damage is prevented but the tendrils will still resolve and gain life.
good job on ur t4.
I swear I've done that a dozen times and they still gain life...
Something I've wondered, is if I have P.strands cast...then opp casts flaring pain, if I recast P.Strands...what happens?
you shouldn't swear then :(
flaring pain wins everytime.
You're wrong here, Deluxicoff. A spell is countered if all of its targets are made illegal, and as such they do not gain life.
Very Entertaining and a good finish. Glad see you did well with the pious deck. :)
Thanks for reading, sorry it got a bit more rushed towards the end, the matches were getting longer/harder :)
Good article! Always nice to see a PE walkthrough. I disagree with the WW > swamps thing though, my experience has always been the other way around. It might be because my black control decks are always running 8x blood 8x edict though. Anyway, hit me up online sometime and we'll test.
I'd caution on the cloak of confusion though. I could see it replacing Okiba if you're afraid you wont hit 4 mana in time (okiba is better because it deals 3 damage and discards 2), but I always bring in my augurs vs. control, and enchantments are never a good idea against heavy removal.
@doctor anime: in my experience i've found that you rarely need much against control, though discard does help. the main matchup i worry about is storm, where you rarely get to 4 mana, and there the cloaks are much better than okibas. but, you DID create the deck so i defer to you in this
No, you bring up a valid point. 4 mana is a luxury which you usually do not get unless you've been consistently hitting him with other discard spells in the previous turns. I'll have to try out the cloak then.
2pm this saturday? I actually might be able to make that for once!
To be clear, I'd ONLY suggest the Cloaks against storm. I respect that deck a lot, and if running TE, I'd try and maindeck either Okiba and/or Augur and run 4 cloak/4 duress for Storm, since they have little to no removal (depending on build)
I agree with you Baldr7 - getting to 4 is a luxury vs Storm, or a good player with it.
Remember everyone, 2pm this Saturday (PST) is the next one - mark your calendars...
In the first match I would have kept open strands as you can slowly pressure him into going off(though riftwatcher would go away soon) and have answers for it in hand. But as they say, Hindsight 20/20.
Just curious but almost every match I see arrows being taken out. Knowing control and combo will be a big part of the field I would question using arrows. Against combo you have to lay early threats to deal damage, and then sit back, and against control which most runs few creatures except MBC and some teachings variants. Maybe for ninja/rat/teachings it would be nice but I do think the javs put more pressure earlier, which is what you said you want. Those might be better as Oblivion rings even, as the arrows and javs do not help incredibly against bigger creatures. I like the idea of running more removal though, but making sure you topdeck fast threats in response to answers is also a must, and is the reason the deck runs a ton of creatures to begin with.
I would only take out arrows for creatures main deck, and be able to side in more removal if needed, being arrows, oblivion ring, or whatever. Or I am just curious of when arrows actually paid out, or would hypothetically pay out to hold its spot in the deck secure. I have been debating the use of arrows for a long time, I can never end up convincing myself it is good enough to play it.
I was thinking for a while to make a ww -shade and actually go blue splash for mull and counters vs storm, basically being able to turn into a blue white control deck in sideboard, but it seems you didn't have too much trouble late game against decks, it was just the storm that got you.(and the fact it would slow down the deck, and lower your sb options which is a bad idea in most respects but I will be working on some sort of mix to test it out)
Also ranth in an article he wrote says that standard bearer seems to not work against grapeshot but I have not confirmed this at all and was wondering if it was just bugged in magic online or something.
If this is true, I would prolly just run relics sideboard in place of bearers, and maybe even 3 copies filling the arrows spot sb. It would have helped you against TE, however you won both without the help.
Nice writing, keep the good work up!
Thanks for the response! Yeah, the arrows were a hard sell for me, but they REALLY rock the meta. The reason they come out is I can usually substitute holylight for them via instant speed suprise. The logic is quite sound as 90% of the creatures have a 1 or 2 backside...often unless the first play, the Icatian Javeleneers get countered via faerie, whereas the aarows only lose to a hard counter.
I have no fear of the graveyard, if the game gets to that point, I've lost anyways...don't have any loses to TE so far, some very close ones, but no losses (Fingers crossed)
The standard Bearers do have to be targeted by storm, but only once, and if you save them via bodyguard, well then...they just shift the rest of the damage towards you. SB's are great on goblins and W/G enchant decks, as the goblins have to give your dude +1/+1 - and they usually don't notice this till they sac a goblin :) I know they have their place...and would love a 30 card sideboard!...but I just didn't like seeing them, really...ever.
If control is what you want, the tithe and memorylapse (in white) are two solid options - most folks cast whatever they can as soon as they can, so forcespikes are almost always a counterspell...and your opp will slow WAY down after seeing those maindecked! Yikes :)
TE loses due to lack of air power and WW's exile abilities. If (from what I read) they add the Stinkweed Imps...they lose valuable space to other ideas (which is always true) but I like to push through via milling if that happens, a bodyguard or three help obviously...or strands :)
Knight of Sursi is proving quite valuable as of late...I'd have never thought it, but since most anything that flies is a 2/2 or a 2/3, this thing is a house, and helps vs topdecks as you have a bigger airforce with these - try and view them as a one drop
Given the lastest meta: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital...
I'm wondering if the Soul Wardens need to make a comeback. I came up with a list of good Pauper lifegain:
Children of Korlis
Martyr of Sands
Soul Warden
Renewed faith (In case red isn't present, this cycles into another treat)
Sun's Bounty
Of those, SW is still my fav....thoughts?