11: Peppersmoke over Inner-Flame Igniter and Hurly-Burly. Good removal for you is better than hating removal from others, even it it's good against you.
18: Gilt-Leaf Ambush over Fodder Launch. 25: Neither should make your deck, but Lace with Moonglove over Vinebreeder. 26: Wispmare over Eulogist. Wispmare is useful to have for the sideboard.
34: Agreed this is close and I'm not sure myself but I had Inversion #3 over Jagged-Scar #2. 35: Marsh Flitter over Boggart Mob. Flitter could make the deck; Mob won't. 37: I had Lignify > Woodland Changeling > Footbottom Feast here. Lignify deals with things no other removal can, is searchable by your Treefolk Harbinger, and I think it's what your deck needed most here. Woodland Changeling is extremely good and you did need more cheap Elves as well, so that's a very close pick.
Build: -1 Vinebreeder +1 Ambush
This deck puts a surprisingly high number of Elves into its graveyard as spells (Ambush, Inversion, Ending) plus any discards to Scarblade, making Vinebreeder actually a viable considerable for your maindeck. That plus curve reasons I assume is why it made your deck. I still can't see playing it while leaving an Ambush in the side though, and with a 10/7 land split Vinebreeder won't be reliable enough as a 2-drop to fulfill a curve role.
The questions: Elixir: No. There's 5 reasonable targets for it, but the Archers won't always have flyers to murder, you won't usually want to discard 2 Elves in the same turn to Scarblade, which leaves one Branchbender and one Magistrate as good targets, and while abusing them would be fun you have better maindeckable cards.
Pick 3: Nope; I think Magistrate and Gilder was a fine Elf start worth following up on, and Huntmaster in that pack was the perfect Elf to do that with.
Pick 6: This was close, but I agreed with your pick. Aethersnipe is great and will usually make your B/G Elf or Treefolk deck as a splash. However Treefolk Harbinger is in-color, helps with land as you noted, and can usually tutor for removal. You could have had up to 4 removal targets for it and wound up with two anyway. It also added a bit of flexibility in case Elves dried up and Treefolk were more abundant or in case you simply wind up with a Thorntooth Witch you wanted to abuse.
Congrats on the win....here is where I would have differed:
P1P4 dreamspoiler witches over Elite. Elite usually goes much later, and dreamspoiler is fine in G/B(esp with ambush Fist etc to trigger)
P1P6 I would have taken AEthersnipe as a splash. i think even Bogstrider is a better pick here if you want to stay in color.
P1P9 Peppersmoke is fine removal even w/o the card draw.
P2P5 (18) Marshflitter is a great card that i think I woudl take over hating the Launch.
P2P7 (22) Fist is the pick
P3P4 (34) I would still take the Inversion, can never have too many
P3P5 (35) Again I would take marsh Flitter
As to your questions:
I would have taken the dreamspoiler witches P3, but I think that they fit fine in G/B and since blue was not flowing i would not have switched to fairies
I also would have taken the snipe, just for the splash. What did you think of the Harbinger, does not seem very good in the deck, but I guess being able to search for removal is some good.
For the build i would Take out the Harbinger and teh Scarred Vinebreeder for 2 Bogstrider Ash or 1 Bogstrider and 1 Moneglove Winnower.
I've been having fun with my version of this deck. I play Stupor in the main. But the big difference, I use Treefolk Harbinger to get Doran. The Harbinger is probably too slow for a real deck, but I love when I have a 0/3 and an 0/5 dealing all that damage.
I think that sticking with black/green was a wise move. Especially when you got all that black creature removal. Your elves swarmed with creature removal support. Not much to complain about that draft.
I agree with you up to a point about testing, but Stifle-Nought has put up decent results in PEs and the like, and I thought people might enjoy the exposure to it. Plus, this deck is a dog to Flash, and while I did test that match-up, I didn't have any interesting replays to narrate or discuss.
If you're going to test a deck, you should test against the good decks, not against marginal decks like stifle-nought.
By the way, the Flash article I said I'd write (which you referred to in this article) got commandeered over here, which is Zherbus's new Eternal Magic website.
I'm eager to read about your forays into Lorwyn Block Constructed. My experience in the queues and the Tourney practice room have demonstrated to me that aggro is most definitely not dominating the format. In fact, aggro seems pretty weak.
Like you, I figured goblins was the best aggro build since almost all of the creatures are immune to Shriekmaw, one of the key anti-aggro cards in most control builds. Maybe I just haven't found the right build, but I've only had moderate success with my various iterations. One of my problems is that there are a lot of counters in the format and I'm finding that I'm not that good at playing around counters. Also, the fog+draw effect on Cryptic Command is great for stalling.
Other control builds to keep in mind, in addition to those you listed, are 1) Sonic Boom port from Standard (mono-blue with counters and Guile), 2) GB aggro-control (Fertile Ground is very good with both Doran and Garruk, also contains Masked Admirers and Profane Command), and 3) RB aggro-control (Chandra, Liliana, and Wort; Profane Command again). Fear does come in handy quite a bit, but there are lots of black creatures showing up in control or aggro-control decks (all of the one's already mentioned plus Oona's Prowler and Wynden for faeries and Shriekmaw can just block for the Mannequin deck even if the CiP trigger is useless against goblins).
Love reading these every week, another excellent week. Finals in these oddball events seem to split more than in standard though, which I find interesting.
Yes, there are multiple versions of the plans deck - other ones uses more plans and expect to draw into more plans for even more cards to choose from, which can be a big advantage. Most standard ones that use blue also use Perilous Research to get rid of the plans when it's not useful anymore. There are also a bunch that use Rule of Law with white in order to at least make the 'one spell a turn' downside symmetrical.
I have seen a versin of the Plans deck with blue running the blue Command to return the plans to your hand...not too bad, but needs work. (this was Lorwyn block)
11: Peppersmoke over Inner-Flame Igniter and Hurly-Burly. Good removal for you is better than hating removal from others, even it it's good against you.
18: Gilt-Leaf Ambush over Fodder Launch.
25: Neither should make your deck, but Lace with Moonglove over Vinebreeder.
26: Wispmare over Eulogist. Wispmare is useful to have for the sideboard.
34: Agreed this is close and I'm not sure myself but I had Inversion #3 over Jagged-Scar #2.
35: Marsh Flitter over Boggart Mob. Flitter could make the deck; Mob won't.
37: I had Lignify > Woodland Changeling > Footbottom Feast here. Lignify deals with things no other removal can, is searchable by your Treefolk Harbinger, and I think it's what your deck needed most here. Woodland Changeling is extremely good and you did need more cheap Elves as well, so that's a very close pick.
Build:
-1 Vinebreeder
+1 Ambush
This deck puts a surprisingly high number of Elves into its graveyard as spells (Ambush, Inversion, Ending) plus any discards to Scarblade, making Vinebreeder actually a viable considerable for your maindeck. That plus curve reasons I assume is why it made your deck. I still can't see playing it while leaving an Ambush in the side though, and with a 10/7 land split Vinebreeder won't be reliable enough as a 2-drop to fulfill a curve role.
The questions:
Elixir: No. There's 5 reasonable targets for it, but the Archers won't always have flyers to murder, you won't usually want to discard 2 Elves in the same turn to Scarblade, which leaves one Branchbender and one Magistrate as good targets, and while abusing them would be fun you have better maindeckable cards.
Pick 3: Nope; I think Magistrate and Gilder was a fine Elf start worth following up on, and Huntmaster in that pack was the perfect Elf to do that with.
Pick 6: This was close, but I agreed with your pick. Aethersnipe is great and will usually make your B/G Elf or Treefolk deck as a splash. However Treefolk Harbinger is in-color, helps with land as you noted, and can usually tutor for removal. You could have had up to 4 removal targets for it and wound up with two anyway. It also added a bit of flexibility in case Elves dried up and Treefolk were more abundant or in case you simply wind up with a Thorntooth Witch you wanted to abuse.
Congrats!
Congrats on the win....here is where I would have differed:
P1P4 dreamspoiler witches over Elite. Elite usually goes much later, and dreamspoiler is fine in G/B(esp with ambush Fist etc to trigger)
P1P6 I would have taken AEthersnipe as a splash. i think even Bogstrider is a better pick here if you want to stay in color.
P1P9 Peppersmoke is fine removal even w/o the card draw.
P2P5 (18) Marshflitter is a great card that i think I woudl take over hating the Launch.
P2P7 (22) Fist is the pick
P3P4 (34) I would still take the Inversion, can never have too many
P3P5 (35) Again I would take marsh Flitter
As to your questions:
I would have taken the dreamspoiler witches P3, but I think that they fit fine in G/B and since blue was not flowing i would not have switched to fairies
I also would have taken the snipe, just for the splash. What did you think of the Harbinger, does not seem very good in the deck, but I guess being able to search for removal is some good.
For the build i would Take out the Harbinger and teh Scarred Vinebreeder for 2 Bogstrider Ash or 1 Bogstrider and 1 Moneglove Winnower.
regards,
___helper_monkey on MTGO
I've been having fun with my version of this deck. I play Stupor in the main. But the big difference, I use Treefolk Harbinger to get Doran. The Harbinger is probably too slow for a real deck, but I love when I have a 0/3 and an 0/5 dealing all that damage.
I think that sticking with black/green was a wise move. Especially when you got all that black creature removal. Your elves swarmed with creature removal support. Not much to complain about that draft.
Those two cards were bugged for awhile too... Hell, I' don't think Chains works right with half the cards on MTGO.
I agree with you up to a point about testing, but Stifle-Nought has put up decent results in PEs and the like, and I thought people might enjoy the exposure to it. Plus, this deck is a dog to Flash, and while I did test that match-up, I didn't have any interesting replays to narrate or discuss.
If you're going to test a deck, you should test against the good decks, not against marginal decks like stifle-nought.
By the way, the Flash article I said I'd write (which you referred to in this article) got commandeered over here, which is Zherbus's new Eternal Magic website.
I hadn't heard about the collective restraint/ghostly prison bugs. I'll add them in next week's article.
Thanks!
It does that for Ghostly Prison too, probably the same bug.
Romeo is the master. I also enjoyed Romeo's articles every week. I hope he gets well soon.
I'm eager to read about your forays into Lorwyn Block Constructed. My experience in the queues and the Tourney practice room have demonstrated to me that aggro is most definitely not dominating the format. In fact, aggro seems pretty weak.
Like you, I figured goblins was the best aggro build since almost all of the creatures are immune to Shriekmaw, one of the key anti-aggro cards in most control builds. Maybe I just haven't found the right build, but I've only had moderate success with my various iterations. One of my problems is that there are a lot of counters in the format and I'm finding that I'm not that good at playing around counters. Also, the fog+draw effect on Cryptic Command is great for stalling.
Other control builds to keep in mind, in addition to those you listed, are 1) Sonic Boom port from Standard (mono-blue with counters and Guile), 2) GB aggro-control (Fertile Ground is very good with both Doran and Garruk, also contains Masked Admirers and Profane Command), and 3) RB aggro-control (Chandra, Liliana, and Wort; Profane Command again). Fear does come in handy quite a bit, but there are lots of black creatures showing up in control or aggro-control decks (all of the one's already mentioned plus Oona's Prowler and Wynden for faeries and Shriekmaw can just block for the Mannequin deck even if the CiP trigger is useless against goblins).
Great stuff. Has anyone said anything about the game crashing when people pay for Collective Restraint?
Yes I should, that will be done starting with the next set of recaps, coming out next week.
That dragon stompy deck looks good! Yeah, I almost made top 8. . but it wa close.
You're correct. I have to work on my comprehension skills.
-Alex
I thought it was his Tog that Kenji got Force Spiked.
You may want to differentiate splits in finals from outright wins.
Is Teeg a non-factor? I'd think it would be a powerful hoser of the big combo decks (and dredge).
Tsk tsk, Note - Remove the Privledges Positions from your deck, may help you out next time.
Love reading these every week, another excellent week. Finals in these oddball events seem to split more than in standard though, which I find interesting.
Thanks for another great post. Maybe I should become a pink designer :)
Yes, there are multiple versions of the plans deck - other ones uses more plans and expect to draw into more plans for even more cards to choose from, which can be a big advantage. Most standard ones that use blue also use Perilous Research to get rid of the plans when it's not useful anymore. There are also a bunch that use Rule of Law with white in order to at least make the 'one spell a turn' downside symmetrical.
I have seen a versin of the Plans deck with blue running the blue Command to return the plans to your hand...not too bad, but needs work. (this was Lorwyn block)
Great article.
Note LED's can also be a dredge enabler for ichorid.
Jet
I hate leagues :P I'm 2-3 my last 3 weeks in 2 leagues combined. I'm not that bad heh. Anyway, didn't read the article, just venting.
The main reason Abeyance is run over Chant in legacy decks is to stop activated ablities. Top, Fanatic, and Crypt being the most common.