Time to wrap up the last Kaladesh/Aether Revolt friendly league, with the Nissa, Vital Force deck from last week. I also decided to try out some videos for Stage 3. The videos are of me discussing a replay, so let me know what you think of that format! Let's get to the last two stages...
With this series, I'm aiming to go through the friendly add-a-pack leagues and give readers a chance to give feedback and hopefully gain some insight. I'll likely vary where I break in the article, and sometimes will ask for community feedback as to how to integrate a new pack before playing more matches. Here is a list of previous entries in this series.
I'll also include a value of the pool and pack, and might do some EV calculations (i.e. how much is the add-a-pack league worth). While it won't be true EV, it will be a real world application, which should highlight some of the variance you'll expect to see.
Generally, I will do text write-ups, not videos. There may be times where I do include videos, but I will still include a write-up as well. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how to improve the series!
The issue I had with the pool at the start was the general inability to use Red or Black as they were not deep or have any bombs. The pack didn't add anything to those options, with only Alley Strangler and Welder Automaton as options. The blue did become interesting with the pack, particularly because using Trophy Mage to fetch Lifecrafter's Bestiary is sweet. However, White is still my best, and I don't think I have the pool to pair Blue with White. So, it's just about the Green and White. This pack offers:
Of these, I 100% want to fit Lifecrafter's Bestiary into the deck, and possibly Ghirapur Osprey, Mobile Garrison, and Caught in the Brights. At this point, I have so much enchantment removal that I doubt I'll add a second Caught in the Brights as it is already fairly weak. Generally, I have found Mobile Garrison serviceable, but my creature count is on the low side, so I am unsure of how well it will work. There were times in the first stage where Renegade Freighter went uncrewed for lengths of time, so adding to that problem seems unwise. On that note, I might add Ghirapur Osprey just to up the creature count.
As for what to take out, the Prophetic Prism was easily the worst card in my deck in the first stage, so that is an easy swap for Lifecrafter's Bestiary. Without revolt, both Countless Gears Renegade and Deadeye Harpooner were largely underpowered. So, picking between them to add a second Ghirapur Osprey is easy, since they are both mostly vanilla 2/2s, so I keep the cheaper one.
Game 1: I start with a no-lander, so I mull into Ninth Bridge Patrol, Nature's Way, Bastion Mastodon, Monstrous Onslaught, and land. My opponent gets off to a speedy start with Augmenting Automaton and Aether Poisoner. I get the patrol down and use Nature's Way to kill the poisoner. My opponent adds Thriving Rats and Quicksmith Rebel. I get a Walking Ballista down for 4, but misplay. I should have immediately used it to kill the servo attached to the rebel and to kill the automaton. However, thinking I will block and then ping, I pass and my opponent only loses the servo, but at least doesn't add anything to the board. My opponent has brought me to 6, and then adds Gremlin Infestation to the mastodon I played. With no way of removing it and staying alive, I concede.
Sideboard: I bring in Decommission because if they play Gremlin Infestation on a non-creature artifact, I have very little chance of removing it.
This is an interesting game because there was a fairly strong inclination for me to concede when I was at 3 and my opponent had a 3/4 Narnam Renegade and 6/6 Lifecraft Cavalry. I decided to keep playing as I wasn't dead on board, but luckily my Lifecrafter's Bestiary was able to get me enough value to turn this around--the game was at point 30-3 in my opponent's favor.
Sideboard: I bring in Impeccable Timing as it seems useful against the swarm of fliers.
Game 2: I open with Highspire Artisan, Impeccable Timing, Monstrous Onslaught, Ninth Bridge Patrol, Renegade Freighter, and 2 Plains. I keep this largely because the artisan will stop a good number of his attackers. Luckily, I draw a Forest and start filling the board, and my opponent starts with Scrounging Bandar. I add the freighter and my opponent adds Maulfist Revolutionary. I pass without playing anything, save a Plains so I can kill the cat monkey. Fortunately, my opponent does not move any counters so I get the full kill, while a Prey Upon eats my patrol. My opponent is stuck on 3 Forests going into turn 5, so I use Revoke Privileges on the Maulfist. My opponent whiffs on land, but adds Aetherstream Leopard. I play Druid of the Cowl and Highspire Artisan, making a servo, then crewing the freighter and attacking. My opponent hits their fourth land, and plays Irontread Crusher. I crew up again, and then use Monstrous Onslaught to kill the leopard. My opponent follows with Hinterland Drake and Prey Upon (with Maulfist Revolutionary) to kill my druid. I play Dawnfeather Eagle and crew with its ability on the stack, then swing for 6 with the freighter and 2 with the servo, bringing my opponent to 2. They add Aether Swooper and Skyship Plunderer, which at least empties their hand. I play Bastion Mastodon and pass the turn. Unfortunately, my opponent hits another flier, adding Aether Swooper number 2. A turn of nothing happens, then I hit Revoke Privileges, which I play on the drake, and my opponent crews the crusher. At this point I can force the trade with my eagle, assuming they double block with the plunderer and the untapped swooper. I can also sacrifice the freighter to get in with the servo and deal 1 more damage, which would bring my opponent to 1.
I decide to offer the eagle, and oddly, my opponent chumps with just the Skyship Plunderer. That means if nothing changes, they can no longer kill the eagle, nor crew the crusher. Regardless, my opponent draws, then concedes.
Deadlock Trap is a decent card, but I don't have a lot of energy, so I am unsure if I would want to run it. This pack really has nothing that would draw me into a different color combination, but it does present a few options for Green White. Wispweaver Angel is a strong top end, and does provide some small value with the flicker. I also am really happy to see Glint-Sleeve Artisan, as it is just better in every way over Bastion Enforcer. Narnam Cobra is also a pretty decent replacement for Ninth Bridge Patrol, which isn't a strong card. Beyond that, Ornamental Courage, Woodweaver's Puzzleknot, and Refurbish are all possible in some decks, but none particularly fit well here.
One other note is that I decided that I preferred going up in mana, as adding the angel brought up the curve, and it was already questionable at 16.
Stage 3 Matches:
For this stage, I am using videos, which are just me going over the replays. I am trying this out over recording while I am playing, as this provides more flexibility in making the videos for me.
With Walking Ballista I was able to pull a decent amount of profit out of this sealed, which is always a big plus.
Wrap Up
Let me know what you thought of the videos, as I haven't recorded any in many years. I'd be interested to know what people think of the video of a replay instead of a at-the-time recording.
Join me next time with the first Amonkhet Friendly Sealed!
1 Comments
Sorry about some of the images. Gatherer is currently down, so the links aren't working. If the card pics are there, you can ignore this.