MTG FNM Report - URdrazi

It's a new Standard environment and luckily the URdrazi deck I've been playing recently didn't lose a lot to rotation. Here's what I played:

Mainboard	Sideboard
4x Kozilek's Sentinel 4x Dimentional Infiltrator 4x Herald of Kozilek 4x Vile Aggregate 4x Eldrazi Skyspawner 4x Eldrazi Obligator 2x Thought-Knot Seer 4x Reality Smasher 4x Spatial Contortion 2x Brutal Expulsion 1x Mirrorpool 2x Ruins of Oran-Rief 2x Sea Gate Wreckage 4x Corrupted Crossroads 4x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 5x Island 5x Mountain	3x Spell Shrivel 1x Void Shatter 2x Dispel 2x Negate 2x Roast 3x Seismic Rupture 2x Brutal Expulsion

I've been quite enjoying playing this deck, and even with the loss of Ghost-Fire Blade, I think it's got a lot of angles. It can play aggressive, with two ways to play a turn four Reality Smasher in Eldrazi Skyspawner and Herald of Kozilek, and can close out the game with a well-timed Eldtazi Obligator. It can also play the defensive roll as Kozilek's Sentinel and Herald of Kozilek block very effectively while Dimentional Infiltrator and Eldrazi Skyspawner can fly in for damage.

Round 1: 2-0 vs Counter Burn

I was excited to see this deck in the tournament. It looks like the idea was to flash in a Rattlechains while pushing tempo in the early game and use Pyromancer's Goggles with cards like magmatic insight to grind out value in the mid to late game. Unfortunately my opponent mulliganed to 5 in the first game and I swarmed over him. In the second game, I managed to get a Eldrazi Skyspwaner down early and it went the distance while my opponent was forced to deal with everything else.

Round 2: 2-0 vs RG Eldrazi Ramp

This is another deck that didn't lose a lot of cards to rotation. Thankfully I was able to keep up the pressure and close out the game before my opponent could start playing his big spells. Brutal Expulsion was absolutely fantastic in this match-up, remanding an Explosive Vegetation and exiling a Hangerback Walker was…. Brutal.

Round 3: 2-1 vs UG Eldrazi Agro

This was basically the mon-blue Eldrazi list splashing green for Sylvan Advocate and Lumbering Falls. I won the die roll, and while I think that made a huge the difference, I do think the UR version has advantage in the matchup. Vile Aggregate blocks Thought-Knot Seer and Sylvan Advocate fantastically, the Herald of Kozilek gives me an extra way to ramp out a Reality Smasher and Eldrazi Obligator can setup a massive alpha strike.

So I went 3-0 on a quiet night at FNM. I had a lot of fun and feel that the URdrazi deck is a solid choice in the early meta. 

-Odd

As easy to stop as it is to comprehend. - Flavour text, Reality Smasher

MTG FNM Report - 5 Colour Dragons

It's been a while since I've done a blog post as I've been quite busy at work, but I've still been playing FNM. I've mostly been running a version of my Temur Dragons deck, but I thought that the new standard was a good time to try my 5 colour dragons again. With the speed of the format slowing down and everyone playing more marginal lists while they feel out the format, I thought I could durdle around a little more without sacrificing my win percentage too much.

Here's the list I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Heir of the Wilds 4x Beastcaller Savant 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 2x Shaman of Forgotten Ways 4x Thunderbreak Regent 1x Avaricious Dragon 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 4x Whisperwood Elemental 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 1x Dromoka, the Eternal 1x Dragonlord Ojutai 1x Dragonlord Silumgar 1x Dragonlord Dromoka 1x Dragonlord Kolaghan 1x Dragonlord Atarka 3x Frontier Bivouac 3x Opulent Palace 3x Wooded Foothills 4x Evolving Wilds 2x Lumbering Falls 1x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 1x Cinder Glade 3x Mountain 3x Forest 1x Plains 1x Island 1x Swamp

1x Hangerback Walker 2x Stubborn Denial 1x Silumgar, the Drifting Death 2x Dragonlord's Prerogative 3x Sagu Mauler 3x Crux of Fate 1x Polluted Delta 1x Swamp 1x Island

It's very similar to my previous try at 5 colour dragons, playing all the dragonlords and a ton of ramp. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs RU Thopters

In the first round, I played against a new player with his casual thopters deck. In round 1 I ramped into Surrak followed by three Whisperwoods and in the second I ramped into dragonlords Kolaghan and Dromoka. The mana seemed fine if slow, with the Beastcallers doing a good job fixing. I could have cast a turn 4 Sarkhan in game 2 if I had started with a Rattleclaw instead of a Beastcaller... but with two dragonlords in my hand and no Sarkhan, I think I made the right play. I suppose it worked out either way.

Round 2: 0-2 vs Mono-Red Midrange

Even against the midrange version of the red deck, I was just far too slow. The combination of all my tapped lands and my opponent cleverly burning all my mana-dorks means I never really got going and got run over. Ouch.

Round 3: 2-0 vs RG Midrange

This round was better for me. My opponent was also a new player and I was easily able to play bigger threats sooner than he could. I like the way the deck plays when my opponent doesn't disrupt me or put on too quick a clock.

Round 4: 2-0 vs GW Midrange

The last round saw me paired up against another new player. The first round saw me ramp out a quick Dragonlord Atarka and in the second I beat down with Heir of the Wilds and Flamebreak Regent. 

It was nice to see so many new faces at the tournament... and I felt a little bad crushing them with mythic dragons. Not so bad that I didn't enjoy it though :D I think the deck is mostly fine.. though I either need to come up with a proper sideboard that has a plan against the red decks or just write off those match-ups entirely. 

-Odd

"They come because I call. They stay because I listen." - Flavour Text, Beastcaller Savant

MTG FNM Report - Final Big Standard - Temur Dragons

A couple weeks ago, I took a slightly retooled version of my Temur Dragons deck to Outer Limits in melville to play my last FNM before Theros Block rotated out of standard. Here's the deck I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Elvish Mystic 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 1x Hangerback Walker 4x Frost Walker 1x Deathmist Raptor 1x Managorger Hydra 4x Savage Knuckleblade 4x Thunderbreak Regent 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 3x Stormbreath Dragon 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 3x Crater's Claws 3x Stubborn Denial 1x Treasure Cruise 4x Temple of Epiphany 2x Temple of Mystery 1x Temple of Abandon 3x Wooded Foothills 3x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 2x Mana Confluence 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 4x Forest 1x Mountain

4x Disdainful Stroke 3x Feed the Clan 3x Destructive Revelry 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Wild Slash 1x Treasure Cruise

The deck is very similar to the one I played before, with the sole addition of Stubborn Denial. Last time I saw a lot of spots where it would be great, so I decided to run them mainboard. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs Mardu Midrange

For the second week in a row, I drew the Mardu Midrange deck in round one. I do think it's a good matchup for me, and the result seems to bear me out. Sarkhan was fantastic value, being a 4/4 dragon and eating a Hero's Downfall in game one and worked with a stubborn denial in game two to be two dragons, three cards and a threat post wrath. 

Round 2: 2-0 vs BW Aggro

In the second round, my creatures were just bigger than my opponents. Sarkhan was massive value and having stubborn denial for the removal spells meant that I was just too much for an aggressive deck to overcome.

Round 3: 2-0 vs Esper Control

The third round saw me paired up against a non-dragons version of the Esper control deck. Sarkhan was great again, but the man (or monkey) of the match was definitely the Knuckleblade. The ability for it to bounce to blank removal was in full play, and that combined with Stubborn Denial meant I could keep my guys alive long enough to punch through the control deck.

Round 4: 2-0 vs RB Dragons

In the last round, I played a very tight RB Dragons deck. It actually played out a little strangely as I landed a Knuckle-Monkey and sat behind the activation and counter spells until I could smash through for the win. The threat of activation on the monkey means he can attack through just about anything and lets me race against a deck that doesn't play as many creatures as I do. 

So I went 4-0 for the week and didn't drop a single game on the way to the win. I was perfectly happy with how the deck worked and was also quite pleased with my play. I couldn't have asked for a better send-off for the big standard environment and I had a great time.

This deck stays mostly intact after rotation, though the loss of the Elvish Mystics and Stormbreath Dragons are certainly going to be problematic. We'll have to see what I come up with for the next FNM.

-Odd

"The Temur have no patience for subtlety." -Stubborn Denial, flavour text

MTG FNM Report - TeMore Dragons

A couple weeks ago, I took a slightly retooled version of my previous Temur Dragons list to FNM at Outerlimits in Melville. Here's what I brought to the table:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Elvish Mystic 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 1x Hangerback Walker 4x Frost Walker 1x Deathmist Raptor 1x Yasova Dragonclaw 1x Managorger Hydra 1x Boon Satyr 4x Savage Knuckleblade 4x Thunderbreak Regent 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 3x Stormbreath Dragon 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 4x Crater's Claws 1x Treasure Cruise 4x Temple of Epiphany 2x Temple of Mystery 1x Temple of Abandon 3x Wooded Foothills 3x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 2x Mana Confluence 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 4x Forest 1x Mountain

4x Disdainful Stroke 3x Feed the Clan 3x Destructive Revelry 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Wild Slash 1x Treasure Cruise

This time I took out the four Goblin Rabblemasters that I played previously and replaced them with four different three drops to get a feel for which I would prefer to play. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs Mardu Midrange
The first game was a super tight race, but Surrak put me ahead for the win. In game two my opponent got stuck on three lands for a few turns and I managed to draw enough guys to play through his removal and finish him off before he could really get going. I played Yesova once, and while she traded I never got to activate her ability. I also decided that in this matchup, Stubborn Denial would have been much more useful than Disdainful Stroke.



Round 2: 1-2 vs Abzan Rally the Ancestors Combo
In the second round, I played down against a really sweet combo deck using Rally the Ancestors. I must admit, I had no idea what was going on and he crushed me game one.

The deck works by using Rally the Ancestors to return a bunch of cheap creatures including Mogis Marauder and Nantuko Hust to attack for massive damage all at once.

I threw the match with a really bad misplay in game three where I had him chump blocking on the ground and tapped out to play Sarkhan. I should have left mana open to counter the Rally that destroyed me on the next turn. Oh well... we live and learn.

Round 3: 2-1 vs Abzan Evolutionary Leap
It seemed to be my night for playing Abzan combo decks. This round I was matched up against a deck using Evolutionay Leap to sacrifice a bunch of cheap value creatures like Black Cat and Sulti Emissary, cycling through the deck to a succession of Flashbag Marauders and  Siege Rhinos.

I managed to win in the air  thanks at least partially to Sarkhan who seemed like great value. Disdainful Stroke was also good, but again, I think Stubborn Denial would have been better.

Deathmist Raptor saw the board a few times, and was quite underwhelming.




Round 4 - 2-1 vs Mono-White Aggro
The last round saw me playing up against the only undefeated player and a Mono-White Aggro deck. He ran over me in game one,but Feed the Clan was spectacular in games two and three, giving me the time to stabalise and beat him with dragons in the air. I sideboarded out Frostwalkers, but I'm not sure if I should have left them in to trade early. Maybe Surrak could come out when I'm not trying to race on the ground instead.

All told, I went 3-1 on the evening and I think I came second. I had lots of fun with my deck and saw some cool brews from my opponents. None of the new three drops really stood out to me, but that just means they need more testing. I do think that next time I'm going to try some Stubborn Denials either in the mainboard or the sideboard.

-Odd
"You are beneath contempt. Your lineage will be forgotten." Disdainful Stroke, flavour text

MTG FNM Report - Temur Dragons

This week I threw together a Temur Dragons list and ended up at Outer Limits in Melville for Friday Night Magic. Here's what the deck looked like:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Elvish Mystic 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 1x Hangerback Walker 4x Frost Walker 4x Goblin Rabblemaster 4x Savage Knuckleblade 4x Thunderbreak Regent 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 3x Stormbreath Dragon 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 4x Crater's Claws 1x Treasure Cruise 4x Temple of Epiphany 2x Temple of Mystery 1x Temple of Abandon 3x Wooded Foothills 3x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 2x Mana Confluence 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 4x Forest 1x Mountain

4x Disdainful Stroke 3x Feed the Clan 3x Destructive Revelry 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Wild Slash 1x Treasure Cruise

The plan of this deck is straightforward: Play dudes and smash. It is mostly efficient creatures (many with haste) with a little ramp and a full four Crater's Claws to finish off an opponent who manages to stabalise. This deck is mostly an excuse to play my three Sarkhan Unbroken, who I like to call Sarkhan the Misnamed because he is fully broken. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs GW Aggro

I won the first game by drawing all three Sarkhans and while he could deal with the first two, the third one stuck and easily took over the game. I sideboarded out the Rabblemasters for burn in game two and ran over my opponent with Frostwalkers and Knuckleblades. 

Round 2: 2-0 vs Temur Midrange

The thought of a mirror match had not crossed my mind before starting the tournament, but that's what I ended up with in the second round. I was running dragons, while my opponent was fielding more of a ground force and the flying really won this round for me. I sideboarded out the Rabblemasters again, this time for Disdainful Strokes which managed to counter an Arbor Colossus that would otherwise have been a big problem. 

Round 3: 0-2 vs GB Elves

I hadn't seen anything like this deck before, and I didn't have a plan or an answer. It operated a lot like a combo deck, playing all the one drop mana elves into Collected Company or Chord of Calling into Shaman of the Pack for huge chunks of damage. I made a poor keep in game 1 and boarded out Frostwalkers for game two. It didn't really make any difference as my opponent went off long before I could put in under enough pressure. 

Round 4: 2-0 vs GW Manifest

My opponent didn't draw any of his Whisperwood Elementals and I managed to outrace him in the air thanks to my dragons. Managorger Hydra was frightening in game two though. I think my matchup is quite good against Green White as my creatures can mostly just attack through anything my opponent plays. 

So I went 3-1 on the night and got third, having only lost to the eventual winner of the tournament. I was mostly happy that the deck preformed as expected and it was great dun attacking in for massive damage. I only had to sideboard out the Forstwalkers once, so I think they're absolutely viable... the same cannot be said for the Rabblemasters. As much as it pains me, they seem to be poorly positioned in the current metagame and I will have to try out some alternatives in the next tournament. 

-Odd

"'As the clans carved out their territories, we saw allies where the Mardu saw only obstacles.' -Yasova Dragonclaw" Frostwalker, flavour text 

MTG FNM Report - More-Du Dragons

Once more, I ran back my Mardu Dragons deck for FNM, this time I played in the Dracoti Box Event at the Jozi Diner.

Here's what I played:

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 3x Wild Slash 2x Draconic Roar 3x Hero's Downfall 4x Crackling Doom 4x Seeker of the Way 2x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Flamewake Phoenix 2x Butcher of the Horde 2x Outpost Siege 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 2x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 2x Mana Confluence 1x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 3x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 5x Mountain 3x Swamp 1x Plains

2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 1x Goblin Rabblemaster 1x Thoughtseize 3x Read the Bones 2x Chandra, Pyromaster

As the Dracoti event is quite competitive, I decided to make my deck as consistent as possible by removing a lot of my one and two-of's. I was also expecting a bunch of red aggro decks, so I'm playing three Wild Slash in the mainboard. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs GW Aggro

I played against a fairly casual Green White aggressive deck. It was an unfortunate match-up for my opponent as I had more than enough removal to keep him down until my dragons could kill him in the mid to late game

Round 2: 0-2 vs Jeskai Dragons

Next, I played against a really sweet brew of Jeskai Dragons. I never really felt in a good position against this deck and the few times I did get ahead the combination of Soulfire Grandmaster and Draconic Roar easily brought my opponent back to enough life to stabalise. The fact that Ojutai's Command can return the Soulfire from the graveyard is also a beating. Overall I though I might have been able to win, but couldn't quite draw enough gas to overcome all his counters. 

Round 3: 0-2 vs Mardu Warriors

I feel really bad about this round. I made two really bad keeps of hands that were screaming out to be mulligan'd and didn't really play magic. That being said, my opponent played well and didn't give me any time to recover. Hopefully this will finally teach me to be more disciplined in the future. 

Round 4: 0-2 vs 'Thopters 

This is certainly a real deck (as if you hadn't figured that out from PT coverage). I didn't see my thoughtseizes or crackling dooms and got quickly put away with ensoul artifact. Ouch.

Round 5: 2-1 vs Mono-Black

I had fun in my last round and managed to claw back some self-respect against a cool grindy mono-black brew. Crackling doom was really great against Priest of the Blood Rite and the sideboard Anger of the Gods was super useful against Macabre Waltz.

So that was my five rounds and I went 2-3. Not the record I wanted, but I wasn't too disappointed. If I'd played better and been a little lucky I could have done miles better. I really do think it's time for me to switch up decks... if only for a change of pace. 

-Odd

"Never mistake deception for cleverness." Wild Slash, Flavour Text

MTG FNM Report - Mardu Dragons

This past week, I took a slightly different version of my Mardu dragons deck to TopDeck in Sandton. Here's the list I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 2x Valorous Stance 2x Ultimate Price 2x Draconic Roar 3x Hero's Downfall 3x Crackling Doom 1x Kolaghan's Command 4x Seeker of the Way 2x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Flamewake Phoenix 2x Butcher of the Horde 2x Outpost Siege 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 3x Mana Confluence 1x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 2x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 5x Mountain 3x Swamp 1x Plains

2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Mastery of the Unseen 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Lightning Strike 1x Thoughtseize 1x Goblin Rabblemaster 1x Crackling Doom

This week I took out the two Sarkhan Dragonspeakers for a couple Outpost Sieges and a couple Goblin Rabblemaster's for two Flamewake Phoenix. I decided that Outpost Siege was a definite must in the deck and I've found Rabblemaster mostly underwhelming, so I wanted to try an alternative. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs RW Agro

In the first round I played against an aggressive red/white deck running a lot of combat tricks. It was an unfortunate match-up for my opponent as the Mardu Dragons list has more than enough removal to stem the agro tide and I managed to get multiple 2-for-1's when he tried to use his tricks. 

Round 2: 2-1 vs GW Counters

Managed to get there against this surprisingly solid green/white deck. In the first game my opponent smashed me with an Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and all four Avatar of the Resolutes... ouch. In games two and three, my removal was able to hold down the fort (or is it the outpost?) until my dragons could win the game.

Round 3: 0-2 vs Abzan Control

Wow, was this a grindy match-up. Flamewake Pheonix seemed great in game 1 (even though it didn't ultimately help). My opponent had Dromoka's Command for my Outpost Sieges and so could take over the late game. This should be the match-up for the Mastery's in the sideboard, but my deck isn't really setup to take any advantage of them and they seemed sub-optimal to bring in when it actually came down to making the choice. 

Round 4: 1-2 vs Mardu Agro 

In the first game my opponent managed to run over my land heavy draw. The second saw a Seeker of the Way put me enough ahead on life to close out the game easily and in the third game I stumbled a bit on mana and had to top-deck a land to play a Stormbreath for the win... unfortunately it didn't happen.

I went 2-2, had a good time and liked all the changes I made to my list this week. However, if I play this deck in future I need to have another look at the sideboard plan against control. I might try something different next week to change it up.

-Odd

"To wield lightning is to tame chaos." - Lightning Strike, Flavour Text

MtG Tournament Report - Madru Dragons

Once more, I took the Mardu Dragons list that I've been playing to Outer Limits in Melville. This time is was actually a Saturday as I was at The Doors on Friday. Here's the list I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 2x Valorous Stance 2x Ultimate Price 2x Draconic Roar 3x Hero's Downfall 3x Crackling Doom 1x Kolaghan's Command 4x Seeker of the Way 4x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Butcher of the Horde 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 3x Mana Confluence 4x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 2x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 4x Mountain 2x Swamp

1x Thoughtseize 1x Self-Inflicted Wound 1x Crackling Doom 2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Mastery of the Unseen 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Lightning Strike

I've been super impressed by this deck the last few times I've played it. It reminds me a lot of the old Vampires deck I was playing at the end of Innistrad (when I came back to Standard play) in that it has tons of removal and nice evasive creatures to finish off the game quickly. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs GU Ramp

I played my first round against a fairly new player with a more or less casual GU ramp deck. This was a terrible match up for my opponent. Crackling Doom was amazing, and I could really just ignore the ramp creatures and remove the big threats. I drew only 5 non-land cards in game 2 and still won handily. 

Round 2: 1-2 vs GR Devotion

The first game ended quickly as  I ran over my opponent with Goblin Rabble Master and Butcher of the Horde. In the second game I managed to kill Dragonlord Atarka, but then died to the giant Genesis Hydra that he followed up with. Unfortunately, I mulliganed down to 5 in game three and couldn't find a third land.

Round 3: 0-2 vs Mardu Midrange

I got thumped by the old Mardu Midrange deck from Khans Block in round 3. My deck did what it wants to do, but my opponent played two Outpost Siege (the only two in his deck!) against me in both games and the card advantage was just way too much for me. 

Round 4: 2-1 vs Mardu Aggro 

My sideboard sweepers let me easily bring home the win against the aggressive mardu deck that was playing a ton of one and two drops. 

So I went 2-2 for the night... not the best result, but I had a lot of fun. I think I'm going to drop the two Sarkhan's for Outpost Siege. As I saw in round 3, with my deck looking to 1-for-1 for the majority of the game, the Siege is probably important to pull ahead in the mid to late game. 

-Odd

"Speed to strike, fury to smash." -Mardu Banner, flavour text

MtG FNM Report - Mardu Dragons

Every since Dragons of Tarkir was released, I've been playing either 5 Colour Dragons or Temur agro and neither of those decks have a lot of space left for removal. So this week I decided to play Mardu Dragons, as the deck looked like fun and plays tons and tons of the a fore mentioned removal. Here's what I ran: 

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 2x Valorous Stance 2x Ultimate Price 2x Draconic Roar 1x Lightning Strike 3x Hero's Downfall 3x Crackling Doom 1x Kolaghan's Command 3x Seeker of the Way 4x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Butcher of the Horde 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 3x Mana Confluence 4x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 2x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 4x Mountain 2x Swamp

1x Thoughtseize 1x Self-Inflicted Wound 1x Crackling Doom 2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Mastery of the Unseen 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Lightning Strike

This list is based off of the popular Pro Tour build with some concessions made to what cards I have or could borrow, especially in the mana base. The plan is fairly simple: disrupt the opponent with discard and removal and then beat them to death with dragons (have I mentioned I love dragons?).

Round 1: 2-0 vs BW Warriors

After getting thumped by this deck last week, it was hugely satisfying to take it down so handily this week. Game one felt quite tense, but my spot removal lined up when I needed it to and the six sweepers out of the sideboard were great in game two. 

Round 2: 2-0 vs GB Heroic

I love seeing strange builds at FNM and this one was great. It was basically a combo deck that pointed a bunch of pump spells at green heroic creatures to attack for massive chunks of damage. Unfortunately for him I was able to thoughseize out his creatures in game one and had all the removal for them in game two. 

Round 3: 0-2 vs Mono-Red

This round saw me paired up against Aiden who was piloting a borrowed Mono-Red deck after a few months out of the game. He played it really well and I just couldn't stay alive long enough to stabilise. I felt like I had the removal in game 2 but still lost as he would get small value or damage out of every turn. I'm not really sure what I could have done differently and I think the match up is ok as long as I can land a lifelink creature... I will have to think hard about this one.

Round 4: 2-0 vs Grixis Minotaurs 

This was also a slightly strange deck, it seemed to be a normal BR minotaurs deck but splashing blue for Anticipate. Valorous Stance was handy to protect Rabblemaster in both games, through I should probably have 'boarded them out for game two. Once more the removal suite let me keep the creature deck under control long enough for my dragons to eat them.

So I went 3-1 this week, came in fourth and got myself two boosters and the promo Swords to Plowshares. I had lots of fun with all my games and felt the deck was good in all my match ups. It did feel quite tense in game ones, but it seemed like I could sideboard into the best suited removal for whatever the situation was. All in all it performed well and even the mana base was solid (I never had major issues). I think I'll just run it back again next week. 

-Odd

"Do not fear the lightning. Fear the one it obeys." 

  - Crackling Doom, flavour text

MtG: The State of Standard

I've been playing magic again since the end of the Innistrad block, putting in my reps playing standard every week at my local FNM and I think it's worth taking a minute to appreciate how great a job Wizards are doing with their set design.

Gone are the dark days of Kaw-Blade and Affinity where one deck ruled standard, in our modern era the Magic design team have been exceptional in balancing new sets to support both great limited and constructed formats. As I type this we are sitting the meat of the Dragons of Tarkir meta-game and I couldn't be happier.

The meta-game in standard at the moment feels really broad and open. It seems to me that there are more options for truly competitive decks in standard than at any other time I've been playing magic. You can choose between Mono-Red, UW heroic, Abzan Agro, Jeskai Tempo, Green ramp, GB Devotion, Bant Megamorph, Abzan Midrange, UB Control, Esper Dragons and Abzan Control... and those are just the acknowledged Tier 1 decks.

If we move down a half step we pick up other decks like RG Bees, RG Dragons, Temur Aggro, Sultai Whip and various flavors of collected company to name just a few. We're absolutely spoiled for choice.

The meta-game is so broad that I feel like the difference between the top Tier 1 decks and a well tuned home-brew is really negligible in terms of pure power and a lot of that difference can be made up by playing something that no-one expects. For a while I was quite happy playing a (probably hugely sub-optimal) 5 colour dragon ramp deck, and I'm currently running an aggressive Temur deck that I feel confident with against any deck in the mega-game.

It feels like every time there is a GP or PT level tournament, the entire format shifts and a brand new deck lands up on top and that makes it exciting as a brewer, a competitor and a magic player.

Well done, Wizards. Keep it up.

-Odd
"Dragons emerge from tempests fully formed and terribly hungry" - Decent of Dragons, flavour text

how's your grammar?

I came across a totally interesting question this week, what's the difference between an idiom and a proverb? The really interesting part is, I had no idea how to answer that, no clue.
After a bit of googling I think I found out, still not 100% sure on this though,but that's not really the point of this post.

Idiom
a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word understood on its own:

Proverb
a short sentence, etc., usually known by many people, stating something commonly experienced or giving advice

It's still a bit vague... But accorcing to these definitions, a proverb must be a SENTENCE while an idiom is just a phrase (a group of words)???

A proverb is a saying such that almost everybody knows and you understand easily what it means. For example "Necessity is the mother of invention" is a proverb.

An idiom is a phrase such that almost nobody knows why it means so. "Kick the bucket" is an idiom to mean "die". Do you understand why it means so?

The point is that I learned this at some point in my english grammar classes, as well as tautology, spoonerisms, and a host of other super interesting grammatical devices. However, I have forgotten this, most of it anyway. And that makes me sad, and thus shall I blog about it.

I would like to issue a challenge, that we all keep our eyes and ears open for cool grammatical happenings. Let's try re-learn some of the ish we learned in high-school.

Borg