MtG FNM Report - GU Defender Mill

Another FNM at Outer Limits last week. This time I decided to play something very different as I was getting a little bored of my Vampires week in and week out. So here's what I ended up running:

Mainboard	Sideboard
4x Gatecreeper Vine	4x Essence Scatter
4x Axebane Guardian	4x Negate
4x Doorkeeper
4x Fog Bank
4x Hover Barrier
4x Ludevic’s Test Subjects
2x Galvanic Alchemist
2x Jace, Architect of Thought
2x Inspiration
4x Increasing Confusion
4x Cyclonic Rift
11x Forrest
11x Island

So this deck is basically a really bad combo deck. Lots of defenders to mill with Doorkeeper and setup Axebane Guardian for a big Increasing Confusion. Fairly simple but very different from my aggro vampires. This deck even has an infinite mana combo with Axebane Guardian and Galvanic Alchemist.

I'd just like to point out that I have opened both my Jace's. I would never trade for this kind of card but it's worth so much that noone wants to trade it off of me, so I might as well play him.

Round 1: 2-0 vs UW Flash
Milled him out both games. Going into this tournament I was quite worried about the control match-up but it turns out that Increasing Confusion is very resilient to counter due to it's flashback and all his draw helps me mill. Great first match.

Round 2: 1-2 vs Golgari
Manged to mill him out in the first game but some unlucky land draws in the second and third coupled with a huge amount of destruction was just too much to overcome. This was a very strong opponent who eventually went on to win the night, so I'm not disappointed.

Round 3: 2-1 vs GWU tokens
Wow, the new Jace is absolutely crazy against a host of 1/1 tokens. Both my wins came due to flipping a Ludevic's Test Subjects and the one I lost was due to manascrew. Good performance.

Round 4: 0-2 vs 4 colour control
Let me start by saying that I really like this deck, it's just the sort of madness that I enjoy playing. Tons of board-sweep and cantrips make for a difficult game, but mainboard Elixir of Immortality and Laboratory freaking Maniac means that I never had a hope. Seriously. Laboratory god-damn Maniac. Jeez.

So I went 2-2 for the night and came in 5th. Not bad for an out of guild deck in this metagame. I was specifically impressed with Ludevic's Test Subject, after the opponent has seen them once they are a truly frightening drop :)

I had a ton of fun playing this. Even the games I won felt really stressful and close, which is a big change from my more point-and-shoot vampires. I think I will try a similar deck again once Gatecrash comes out and I can pick up some funny land and some useful spells from the Simic guild.

Next time I'll be trying out a Izzet build. So tune in next week to see how that went.
-Odd
"After several frustrating experiments, the visionary Ludevic realized he needed to create a monster that fed on torch-wielding mobs." -Ludevic's Abomination, flavour text

MtG FNM Report - RB Vampire

Another outing for my vampires at Friday Night Magic at Outer Limits

My Deck:

Mainboard	Sideboard
4 Stromkirk Noble	3 Smelt
4 Falkenrath Exterminator	4 Annihilating Fire
4 Stromkirk Captain	4 Brimstone Volley
4 Vampire Nighthawk	4 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Olivia Voldaren
3 Bloodline Keeper
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Mizzium Mortars
4 Murder
4 Deviant Glee
6 Swamp
8 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit

This is much the same deck as I've been playing with the addition of Deviant Glees. I figure that the trample can help the vampires get through to pump themselves up, plus it can turn a late game Noble or Exterminator into a viable threat.






Round 1: 0-2 vs Monogreen
Really irritating to lose the first round. This was quite a strange deck... You don't see a lot of mono-colour in the current metagame. Turns out Blessings of Nature and Wolfir Avenger are quite irritating. Still, I'm pretty sure I could have won this handily if I hadn't been completely mana screwed both games.

Round 2: 2-0 vs BW Exalted
Same deck I've played every week (it seems like). It's improved a fair amount, but there's only so much you can do with exalted triggers.

Round 3: 2-0 vs Monored
The second mono coloured deck in the tournament. Nice a quick with lots of burn. I really like this deck as red is my favorite colour, but in any creature match-up the opponent needs to seriously outweigh my vampires and red just doesn't have the beef to compete.

Round 4: 2-0 vs Rakdos
Finnished off against a fairly standard Rakdos deck. It was quite good, but again Captains swing the balance and Olivia is the supreme finisher.

Despite losing the first round I came in fourth and picked up a couple boosters... so not a bad night. I'm a little disappointed that this deck still hasn't won the FNM as I think it is very possible. Next week I'll be running something very different.

The Deviant Glees did really well, trample is very handy.

-Odd
"I often think on how excited they must feel to be chosen as my prey." -Stromkirk Noble, Flavor Text

Corporate Head Hunters

I get a couple calls a month from agencies trying to poach me from my current employer. I am not opposed to these calls even though I am not looking to change jobs. It's always nice to know that your skills are in demand. It's quite an ego boost actually.

What I don't understand is the way in which these agencies do it. I have yet to speak to one who would give me any sort of detail about the proposed job. Not who it's for. Not how much they'll pay. Nothing.


Now if I was looking for a job and had approached them then they have every right to be cagey with their information, they hold all the cards in that situation. But I am  not looking for a job. I am quite happy where I am and I am certainly not going to jump ship based on a vague promise of a job I know nothing about.

Does that approach ever work? I doubt it. If I was so unhappy with my employer that I would jump at any offer, then I would be searching for a job and the head hunter would be unnecessary.

Maybe one of my readers could explain this to me? I'm baffled.

-Odd
"If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable" -Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Geeks, Games and Greatness - Episode 19

Here is episode 19 of the podcast. This week we discuss Doctor Who, Comic book movies, Magic the Gathering, Arrow, Disney buying Star Wars, various scientific breakthroughs and other assorted randomness.

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MtG FNM Report - RBU Vampires

Another weeks FNM at Outer Limits in Melville.

My Deck:

Mainboard	Sideboard
4x Stromkirk Noble	4 Smelt
4x Falkenrath Exterminator	4 Negate
4x Stromkirk Captain	4 Brimstone Volley
4x Vampire Nighthawk	3 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Olivia Voldaren
3 Bloodline Keeper
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Murder
4 Call to the Kindred
5 Swamp
6 Mountain
4 Island
1 Steam Vents
3 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit

So this particular build of my Vampires is strange. Splashing blue just for Call to the Kindred and Negates in the sideboard. I had originally tried this with two Nicol Bolas plainswalker but found that they were too slow. By that state of the game, I'm usually two or three life points off the win.

Round 1: 2-0 vs Selesna
My opponents deck came out very slowly and I just beat down with vampires. I didn't see a Call to the Kindred but the blue mana didn't mess me up too much, so it was fine.

Round 2: 2-1 vs BW Exalted
Pretty much the same deck I played against last week with much the same result. Played a Call to the Kindred game one, but the creature got snuffed before it activated. I also had to mulligan down the second game to 5 cards because of blue lands, which lost me the game. Not great, but took the win anyway.

Round 3: 2-0 vs Golgari
Quite a tough deck, but the vamps came out nicely both games without the blue splash messing me up. In a creature vs creature match, the first striking vampires (thank you Stromkirk Captain) take the game away from the opponent.

Round 4: 2-1 vs Golgari Zombies
Wow, these things are tough! I think this is the first time I've come up against a true Tier 1 deck and it was a serious battle. Blue land caused just enough problems first game to throw it but the deck behaved in games two and three with Olivia swooping in to save me on 2 and then 5 life. This was a great match... lots of fun.

Round 5: 1-2 vs Selesna 
Once again I was forced to mulligan to 5 in the first game, which I lost. Second game went well for me but lost the last game to the 5/5 hexproof flying Sigarda, Host of Herons. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see any Captains in these games, by my opponent played well and beat me fair and square.

Learning Points:
Call of the Kindred is not a competetive card. I knew this going in... but thought it would come off at least once. The problem is that it makes the enchanted creature a massive target and sets up an easy 2-for-1 for my opponent. It's also at 4 mana, at which point I'd really much rather be dropping an Olivia or a Bloodline Keeper.

I will still be using the Calls for my casual version of the Vampires as I want to play a Blood Tyrant and a Garza Zol in that.

Moral of the story: Vampires kick ass on their own and I really don't need to mess with the deck too much. I should just stick to what they do well and concentrate on keeping the deck streamlined and efficient. Having said that... I did come in second and came within an inch of winning the tournament undefeated, so I really can't complain.

-Odd
"No slinking in the dark for them, no luring whispers. They claim their prey in the speed and glory of the hunt" -Falkenrath Marauders (flavor text)

Geeks, Games and Greatness - Episode 18

Episode 18 of the Geeks, Games and Greatness Podcast. We chat about Magic, Bad Piggies, Alchemy, Invisible helmets, jumping from the edge of space and end of the world portents.

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