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By: thewoof2, Christopher Gallon
Apr 01 2015 12:00pm
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Have you ever thought with the 100,000's of cards created that the BEST deck that could be created is not even close to the known meta decks?  Looking at this objectively, people have spent considerable time combing through all the cards and developing the optimal deck for each format, but what tends to happen is really just an assumption that people have found the best combination of cards and copy it exactly or make what they think is small incremental improvements.  Also as new cards come out and the meta changes the decks adapt slightly.  So we think we have developed the perfect deck but are we really just parroting each other therefore only making these meta decks seem even more solid?

What if IBM got out their Watson supercomputer (this is the computer that beat the best humans in Jeopardy! and then beat all of Congress) and programmed it to learn Magic's rules and play billions and zillions of matches with all cards to determine the BEST deck versus our known meta.  Would the deck look like anything close to what we play today?  The answer lies ultimately in how intelligent and how many variants have humans REALLY tested.  Not to put down our entire process and progress, as we are just human, but I think we have only barely scratched the surface on the best decks.

It was with this in mind that I created the PERFECT deck.  Throw out all norms and assumptions and think how Watson would build a Vintage deck.  That is how I developed the new powerhouse in the format, without further ado here it is:

 

And yes it is not a mistake, I have no sideboard.  Why?  This deck is so good it doesn't need one.  I felt having a sideboard would actually be unfair and I wanted a challenge.

Vintage Daily Event 3/15

Match #1 vs BuckBurn with Shaddai

Key Commentary:

  • Game 1 I dropped a turn 2 Venser, the Sojourner, which many times means Good Game, unfortunately he had the God draw and was able to storm kill me.
  • Game 2 was close and was exactly the challenge I was looking for, I almost pulled it out and am confident with a sideboard I would have no problem.

Match #2 vs thediabetical with Shaddai and Richie

Key Commentary:

  • Game 1 I showed the power of Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, on its own it just beats MUD.  Opponent had to concede immediately.
  • Game 2 I fared much worse and got overrun.
  • Game 3 I got Tamiyo, the Moon Sage again online and it was over from there, he had no chance...

OK OK enough jokes, APRIL FOOLS!  Hope you got a good laugh like we did, it was funny stuff.  What really happened was I was using this deck previously in the casual room and then played some challenges 1v1 with friends and when I joined the DE it brought the last deck I used in casual rather than the challenge decks I thought it would.  I ended up losing my next two matches but in one game I was able to ultimate Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and then got Ancestral Recall which I could cast over and over again...  here is that snipit:

So jokes aside, I often do wonder if we have really landed on the best deck.  Innovation is hard and copying a tried and true deck gives you immediate chance of winning but my guess is the Watson deck would look substantially different than our current meta.  One thing this mistake highlighted is a card like Tamiyo, the Moon Sage which at face value seems very weak actually did alright, I am not saying it would make the Watson deck but it does suggest a world of opportunities are possible.  An old classic player PlanetWalls comes to mind on innovative deck creations that beat the meta consistently including his Frost Titan and Birthing Pod builds which were much better than my casual creation!

So let's move on to some real games.

Vintage Daily Event 3/27

I decided to mix it up a tad in this DE and bring along a new Landstill deck I made modifications to, here is the list:

 

This list uses the normal Landstill shell but adds in a little flavor with Dack Fayden and Snapcaster Mage.  Many Landstill decks are running 4x Null Rod which I understand in many cases is part of their mana denial strategy, I just feel it is a weaker card in the meta right now compared to my alternatives.

Match #1 vs Flash_Hulk

Key Commentary:

  • Game 1 was over once he was able to resolve the Ancestral Recall and I drew no Force of Wills from my Standstill.  I suppose in retrospect I could have just waiting with Mana Drain mana and not cast Standstill but I felt like I needed the draw or I would just lose the counter war.
  • Game 2 he got the nuts draw, nothing much I could do there...

Match #2 vs Andrewoff

Key Commentary:

  • This was an epic game that looked bleak but I was able to stabalize at 1 life.  A double Lightning Bolt gave me the win after a long game but I only had 9:09 minutes remaining so I knew I had to play quickly the next two games.
  • Game 2 again turned on me when he was able to resolve the Ancestral Recall, note to self I think Spell Pierce might be a bad card choice the deck takes so long to win that your opponents always seem to have mana to pay the 2.  I was able to take the clock lead back during this game however.
  • Game 3 we were both racing against the clock.  He did run out of time but I think I had the game in hand either way with a convincing life lead and board position.

Match #3 vs austindz2

Key Commentary:

  • Game 1 I made a mistake on not sac'ing Black Lotus to the Dack Fayden activation but I don't think it mattered.  He got a jump on me and I couldn't stabalize.
  • Game 2 my deck performed as planned, drawing so many more cards than my opponent that he could not handle all my counter magic.
  • Game 3 was tough for me but he must have gotten bad draws as I was able to keep attacking with lands without much resistance, 

Match #4 vs Cuthbertthecat

Key Commentary:

  • Both games my opponent was severely land screwed, with my Wastelands he really had no chance to even get in a good game.

Wrap-Up

So I ended up getting another 3-1 result this time with a modified Landstill deck.  I feel the deck played fairly well but I felt like Spell Pierce and even Flusterstorm at times were underwhelming.  I also understand why people dislike this deck, it is slow and so control oriented it can be boring to play against.  That said, people seem to dislike Dredge, MUD, Storm and any deck with Gush so I guess it's all just a matter of opinion and whether or not you win.

Woof

1 Comments

Rings of Brighthearth by mindlesslemming at Thu, 04/02/2015 - 14:45
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needs Rings of Brighthearth