Clan Check.

Who's all still in this clan?

I miss everyone :(

Where's hatter?

Everyone who's interested in preserving our clan post a reply please =)

First Shards Draft

This was my very first Shards draft, and I got first place! I ran the Naya shard colors, and found that the combination of burn and fat creatures works quite well. The Ranger of Eos was always useful for grabbing my squire and the wild nactl. whcih was always a 3/3 for one mana. All the .five mana creatures were amazing; I got really lucky with 3 rakeclaws, and with a pick 3 wooly thoctor. What I found worked well was attacking with one big creature, letting it get big with exalted, and targeting my opponent with Soul's Fire. I finished off a lot of games with burn.

First Opponent: Played red, black, blue, and white. He beat me the first game because he had the mythic Prince of Thralls demon, and two heralds to look for it. He got it into play for free. He had 2 Blood Cultists, which were rediculous in play together. A Bull Cerodon was hard to beat, especially after Oblivion Ring removed my biggest creature, but my burn won in the end.

Second Opponent: Red, Black, and Green, but got mana screwed and conceded quicly both games. His best cards were Sprouting Thrinax, Branching Bolt, and Rhox Charger.

Third Opponent: Blue, White, and Green. He had a Bant deck, featuring Rafiq of Many, an indestructible 5/5, and a lot of creatures. We were 1:1 going into game 3, but yet again, burn won for me in the end.

This is an extremely fun set to draft, and I wish you all the best of luck. I hope to see more Shards posts for some new ideas!

First EEE draft

This was my very first experience with Eventide - I thought it looked amazing as I was drafting it. But alas, I was completely owned by a 1505 rated player.......He was running mono white with Muchos Removal and life gain and the black/white liege that kills my crap. I didn't win a single game. I still don't know enough about Eventide to give any advice, and any experiences you guys have so far would be greatly appreciated =)

hey guys

just wondering if anyone has played EEE yet, or SSE. I haven't had the chance yet, i've been working a lot lately. I would like to see some posts if anyone has been playing lately =)

Can someone help me a bit? ^^

I'm having an off line tournament with some of my friends and I have to make a deck of 40 cards. We bought some boosters and after each round we open a new booster and so on. Can someone help me with making a good deck? I saved all card list in the MTGO .dek format for easy editing.

The link is http://www.typographist.com/cards.dek

The list is currently 96 cards but you can assume there are an infinite amount of lands and the minimum card count should be 40.

Also here's a screenshot of the cards....

GW Morselhoarder...again (it's fun!)

GW with Morselhoarder combo, again.  SSS draft, result:  draft won.

2 Niveous Wisps
1 Ballynock Cohort
1 Raven's Run Dragoon
1 Turn to Mist
1 Resplendent Mentor
1 Armored Ascension
1 Mass Calcify
1 Mirrorweave
1 Kithkin Rabble
1 Silkbind Faerie
1 Wildslayer Elves
10 Plains
1 Seedcradle Witch
5 Forest
1 Wicker Warcrawler
1 Flourishing Defenses
2 Pili-Pala
2 Power of Fire
2 Mountain
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Somnomancer
1 Sinking Feeling

1 Morselhoarder

So this one is actually quite a bit worse than the last one, but I managed to take it all the way (and against some stiff competition too...).  More importantly...It was fun.  Once again the infinite possibilities are there (men, damage, and with the help of the wisps, infinite life) just waiting to pop out, but not disrupting the base of the deck too much.  It's essentially a GW but with a more controlling type of game than my usual GW decks.  My 2 drops were horrible in this thing, and I was a scared man.  I did a lot of siding in of inquisitor's snare often actually for a pila-pila.

Match one was against a 1830's player playing mono green.  His deck was pretty fast but also just laiden with fat at the end of the curve.  He had the green intiate and loads of barkshell blessings, so combat was always a joy to anticipate.  First game went on for quite a while, he hit me early, I stabilized, and eventually began cautiously hitting him with a pila pila supported by seedcradle witch for a few turns.  He was down to like 10 when he attacked into me with a crabapple cohort...I had a bit of pressure, as he had his deus out for 2 turns now, and I'd been wisping it each turn.  I ended up blocking his cohort with my finks, and seedwitched them he responded with the predictable barkshell, with conspire and support by the intiate on the cohort, I let the targets get assigned and on the stack, then, since I had flourishing defenses out...I cast mirrorweave at his wildslayer elves.  I've never seen flourishing defenses trigger so many times, it was awesome.  He scooped.  Game 2 was over so fast...it was one green blurr.  His deck worked effeciently and fast, just as it should, and I didn't have a very quick start.  Token resistance, but it proved futile.  Game 3 was a fair game, not too flashy, another game like the first, but without the crazy ending, just I begin hitting him, he stabilizes, he hits me some...then I mass calciify and win.

Match 2 was against a monored deck piloted by a guy in the low 1600's.  We play 2 games, I win them both, but they were interesting exchanges.  Both games basically were characterized by a struggle in the beginning followed by mass calcify for massive card advantage.  The thing about mono-red, all those intiates really can set you up for a calcify pretty hardcore...because it encourages you to keep casting stuff.  Still he was quick, and I had to do a lot of hard blocking (seedwitch takes one for the team early, that kind of stuff) to survive long enough to calicify.  The warcrawler was a nice large man to hide behind.

Match 3 was against blue/white piloted by someone in the high 1700's.  Game 1 I got an early faerie, then a morselhoarder, the cheered inwardly and waited for an opening (for him to tap out) before I went all combo.  I got the opportunity by casting seedcradle witch, having it countered by repel intruders, and the casting sinking feeling and POF on the morselhoarder.  He laughed, and let me play it out, it really didn't take too long to do all 17 points once you got a rhythm going.

Game 2 I just had a good opening, he didn't and he ended up scooping rather quickly.  

So woot, last time I managed infinite men, this time I've managed infinite damage.  Now I've got to get the life for the trifecta.

Until next time I'll be grabbing those 13th pick sinking feelings!

I attempt to go all tricksy hobbit...GW combo SSS Draft

SSS Draft Comboilicious GW, resulting in an elimination in the final round.

1 Mountain

1 Power of Fire

1 Silkbind Faerie
1 Resplendent Mentor
1 Island
1 Somnomancer
8 Plains
2 Morselhoarder
2 Safehold Sentry
1 Flourishing Defenses
7 Forest
1 Sinking Feeling
1 Prison Term
2 Rune-Cervin Rider
1 Safehold Elite
1 Heartmender
2 Turn to Mist
2 Thistledown Duo
2 Farhaven Elf
2 Niveous Wisps

Well I posted a while ago that I had been beaten by a deck utilizing a morselhoarder combo, so I kept it in the ole playbook waiting for an opportunity.  It happened tonight, so I decided to post the deck, and how it ended up playing out.  I had the capacity for infinite men, infinite damage, and infinite life in one draft deck...so I was kinda excited to see what I could pull off.  Incidently toward the very end I had an agonizing choice...A second sinking feeling very late pick...OR inexplicably....the prison term.  I went with the term...(actually upset at having to make the decision this late in the pick order!) since it's just too good to pass up, but it would have made the combo go off a bit more reliably had I had 2 morsels and 2 sinkings.  But Prison term was not something to pass up, the deck should function without the combo too!  Indeed the prison would save my butt several times.

Match 1:  Armigilion 1831 Green/White.  Okay, so this should be a good test.  My opponent is clearly skilled.  Let's go.  First game I get off to a good UW type of start, the deck just does what a good UW deck does, I lay down a duo, get the Faerie out, and have a hand full of more UW happiness.  He's laying down threats like no tomorrow, but mine all fly.  I outrace him.  Game 2 was a horse of a different colour.  We each set down early drops and good ground defense.  I dropped resplendant mentor and began gaining a lot of life for a protracted stall.  He eventually got rid of the mentor, but by then I was at 45 life.  He started to get the upperhand a little, having 2 shields making indestructable fliers of two of his men, but he was still very low on life by this point and had to play a bit defensively.  I had difficulty closing the deal though.  After a while of move and counter move I finished him with one of the versions of the combo, infinite men.  Here's the screenshot...was kinda neat.

Match 2:  Aurean 1604 Red/Black.  First game he hit me early, I stablized and hit him back, and ended up using my morselhoarders the old fashioned way, for beats.  Couldn't quit use them to finish had to rely on one damage a turn from my faerie for the last 3 points.  Second game he lead in with 2 early drops and a power of fire used on his turn to off an elf of mine.  I had gotten a mountain with my elf, because I had my of POF in hand, and returned the favour with a POF on my safehold, taking out the POF'ed guy, and eventually everything else.  I pluncked a morsel hoarder to get the chunky beats in, and saved my POF sentry from a chain flinger/Fate transfer with a Turn to mist on his flinger in response.  So far so good, this match a good example of the pieces of the various combos doing just fine on their own.

Match 3:  mysteriogi 1817, playing UW.  We had a real knock down drag out tempo battle game 1, move counter move, down to 1 turn.  He won.  Game 2 was similar, he just inched me out by a turn again.  It was a fun couple of games.

Overall, it seemed really positive.  I never felt like the combo was taking away from the deck, but I suppose the denfenses and sinking feeling had the potential to do that.  Defenses though was pretty good in that deck anyway, and fit the whole stall until you combo plan.  Having multiple plans though was really important and made it kinda fun to play.  I really wanted to go off more than once, but alas it was not to be.  I think if I had 2 sinking feelings I would have.

G/w

Match 1: Sick_Variance 1712 G/R - we have very similar decks. game one we each were low on life, game stalled until I dropped Primus. Game 2 i get mana screwed and can't answer runes of the deus. Game three he makes a HUGE mistake which almost cost him the game, but then he recovered and killed me.

Sad day.

The deck was pretty bad though, I deserved that loss.

Mono G

I started out picking white cards in this draft (When don't I?) but U/W was not being pitched my way at all. So, second pack i opened a Howl (Which I took over a spawnwrithe, good call or bad?) got passed a tower from above AND the 3/3 haste with wither and I started thinking about mono green, which I ended up running, splashing only for the witch.

I'm kind of worried about the lack of removal (Tower from above is the only card, and that's not "really" removal, and one destroy target flier in the board). So far it hasn't been a problem. (I'm waiting for final match at the moment)

Match one: Opponent is B/u (Bad option in my opinion, unless you're passed enough bomby uncommons) He doesn't know the game too well yet, under a 1600 rating, easily beat him in two games.

Match two: Opponent is 1831, also playing G/R. First game he doen't get to play a single spell (Mana screw) Second game he turn 2's a devoted druid but only puts out a second druid with it, and a hungry spriggan. I kept a hand with nothing until turn 4 (My mana curve SUCKS) and drop a wildslayer elves (3/3 wither guy) which holds off his turn 4 oversoul of the dusk (scary.) He doesn't want to attack into wither and lets me hold out long enough to drop a morsal hoarder and attach a ruins of the deus to it. i didn't know how double strike with trample worked vs the oversoul - my 8/6 deals 5 damage to the oversoul, and 3 trample to the opponent, then 5 to the oversoul and 3 to the opponent again. good to be cleared up. i still easily won after my slow start.

other than the mana curve and lack of removal, this deck seems pretty good. i ran 18 lands, which i hardly ever do, to try to accomodate for my fat curve (and I didn't get a single devoted druid)

I thought I'd give the initiates a try - they're surprisingly quite nice when extra mana is around. turning a wildslayer elves into a 4/4 means it can take on just about any creature in the set quite easily.

Morselhoarder

I just got beat by this combo in draft.  First time I'd come across it...thought I'd share.

Morselhoarder+Sinking Feeling+POF

Morselhoarder+Sinking Feeling+Flourishing Defenses

Eventide Excel Spreadsheet

Here's a link to easy to reference eventide spreadsheet...I have it pre-sorted by colour grouping, and within that by rarity.  Hope someone finds it useful.  Actually, I lie, it's first sorted by rarity then by colour grouping, so you can look at all the commons at once, etc...

http://hatter.modo.googlepages.com/eventide.xls

U/W For the Win!

Sorry it's been forever, my english composition summer class has been taking ALL of my magic time :(

I didn't get a photo of my deck because took a second screenshot before I saved the one of my cards =\ I had to take the other shot becuase all of my cards disappeared during the sideboard phase; so if i lost i would have something to report for my troubles.

Anyways, the deck was blue and white, with a liege, a silkbind faerie, a steal of godhead + 2x thistledown duo and 2x repel intruders, the u/w witch, 2x turn to mist and some filler cards. performed very very well, only losing one game in the entire draft. back to back repel intruders vs a 1850 rated player (redcap and b/r liege both countered!) led to his concession and my victory. Man I LOOOOOVE shadowmoor

I'm still under 1800 - my goal is to get up above it before the end of the summer =) not that ratings really matter, but it would be kinda cool to be in the "good player" range ;)

i've noticed the clan is kinda slow, with the lack of posting and stuff. makes me sad, but i realize we all have other obligations than magic :( what do you guys think of eventide? did anyone attend the prerelease? what are cards (commons especially) we should be looking for when we start drafting the set?

Howlin' "Monogreen" with dirty RB splash

"Howlin' Monogreen with dirty RB splash" (eliminated in finals)

2 Mountain
2 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Tatterkite
1 Tower Above
1 Knollspine Invocation
1 Juvenile Gloomwidow
1 Flourishing Defenses
2 Swamp
12 Forest
2 Scuzzback Marauders
1 Safehold Duo
2 Elsewhere Flask
3 Scuttlemutt
1 Foxfire Oak
1 Safehold Elite
2 Safehold Elite
1 Elemental Mastery
1 Incremental Blight
1 Sapseep Forest
1 Raven's Run Dragoon
1 Farhaven Elf

Another interesting draft deck...I passed a howl pack 1 and was non-committal with some greenish things, couple of elites, 2 scuttlemutts, then got passed another howl...figured i had a good shot at tabling the other...so I picked it and decided to give it a go.  The other one did table, so I had 2 howls after first pack, and some pretty hot accelleration/fixing.  As you can see I decided to use some goodies that found thier way to me...Knollspine seemed nice with the high curve, and incremental blight is just altogether good, particularly if you manage to hit it with defenses out.  The defenses may have been a bit of overkill, I was originally goin get all counter crazy with the 2 blowfly infestations I have in my sideboard and never ended up maindecking.  Seemed a bit too much space, and the wrong colour to boot.

Match 1:  Blue/Black (1620's)...He did quite well, his hand disruption was really annoying.   Game 1  was really helped out by a pair of scuttlemutts keeping his fear and aura craziness at bay.  Also playing the tatterkite immediately after his leech binder was very helpful in neutralizing it early on.  At some point I howled for like 8 wolves and that tipped the scales somewhat.  Game 2 ended quicker, he got an unmolested leech out early and it chewed through a sacrificial scuttlemutt, but after he used up his counters i put a respectable man down (marauders) and a bit later howled for 7 wolves or so.  

Match 2:  Monored (1623) Featuring Jaws of Stone, Grim Poppett, Demigod of Revenge, etc.  Game 1 I kept laying threats, removed a couple of his with a blight, and the persist on the elite and marauders really soaked up a lot of his removal.  When I finally howled, it was more than he could soak up.  Game 2 I start with a mull, he stalls out at 4 mana and I kept laying threats then lived the dream with blight/defenses 3 for 1 + 6.  The scuttlemutts helped out a lot.  3 scuttlemutts is just juicy.  In case you're interested the pick for the 3rd scuttlemutt was kind of interesting, I wish I had saved it...suffice it to say I picked the 3rd one quite aggressively giving up some sauce on an early pick, what it was, I kind of forgot, as I'm tired.  Hopefully I won't do anything too stupid next round.

Match 3:  Mono White, Godhead(1743):  Game 1, I start on a mull on the play...my original hand was perhaps workable but very risky.  Hand 2 was definitely better.  I get him down to 1, but he's able to slip a 6 point hit with a steel of godhead and get out of range...then stabilize with godhead of awe.  He suckered me into using the scuttlemutt quite nicely.  Game 2 knollspine ends up getting me out of a bad godhead situation and I eventually set up for a big howl.   Game 3 he goes postal using his tools, spiritual procession, good early creatures finishes me off with a nice ascension and swing for 10+2.  A fun match.

URW SHM Draft, now you see it...

I thought I'd post something, as it has been a while.  I just finished an interesting little draft...

"Now you see it..."

1 Elvish Hexhunter
1 Safehold Elite
1 Merrow Grimeblotter
1 Turn to Mist
2 Turn to Mist (3 total, one was foil...that's why it listed it this way)
2 Parapet Watchers
1 Mistmeadow Witch
1 Briarberry Cohort
1 Silkbind Faerie
1 Kinscaer Harpoonist
6 Island
5 Plains
1 Merrow Wavebreakers
1 Furystoke Giant
6 Mountain
1 Mercy Killing
1 Kulrath Knight
1 Puca's Mischief
1 Thistledown Duo
1 Puncture Bolt
1 Scuttlemutt
1 Leech Bonder
1 Somnomancer
1 Oona's Gatewarden

So this one came out pretty nice, and was a lot of fun to play.  So many cards worked well together.  I picked up a really late Puca's Mischief pack 1, and opened a furystroke pack 2.  I really tried to play these two cards up as much as I could.  Thus, I played 3 turn to mist and managed to get a mistmeadow  witch.  Most games turned into Puca's Mischief "in and out" or Furystroke "in and out".  Turn to mist is such a nice card on its own, but it is fairly broken with puca or furystroke, having both just gave a really nice consistency.  From there I tried to keep it really simple, played a lot of creatures with a minimum of other spells beyond the mists.  I had 2 puncture bolts, but only played one, and I also put up mercy killing...it can really be nice with Furystroke, either as a way to "bounce" the fury stroke...or just to set up more creatures eot for an upcoming furystroke, or in a pinch to get rid of something really annoying on the other side of the board.  The support creatures weren't ideal...but they did the job.  I'm sure I was giving some odd signals left and right drafting 3 colours as evenly as I did.  Manabase wasn't too bad.  I had a few mulligans because of it, but it worked out.  The read isn't really needed until late game, but unfortunately you need 2 mtns for 2 out of 3 of the spells so I needed to play it as a major colour.  The blue was definitely a bit more important than the white, hence the 6-6-5 breakdown.

Match 1 was a lot of fun.  He was playing UW, and had a godhead of awe, which really mixed things up a bit.  The first game he had me pretty low, and then I stablized with a Puca's mischief and a mistmeadow witch.  It was difficult, as he had the godhead and I had no way to steal it...but I eventually got enough blockers to settle the situation down.  Second game he had the godhead again nice and early and set it up with a steel of the godhead (good enough place as any to put it), but i misted it...beefing up my thistledown duo and making him flying so I could block and kill his other flyer...and then I mercy killed the duo before the godhead came back as I had furystroke ready.  From there I had Mistmeadow and proceeded to blink the furystroke as many times as needed keeping 4 mana open to protect the combo.

Match 2 was against a WG deck, and the turn to mists tended to be great on their own since he was playing 2 copies of the WG aura.  1 game I believe was a puca, the other a furystroke.

Match 3 was against an excellent player playing RG.  The first game wasn't very fancy...no combo stuff.  The turn to mist just ended up giving me the tricky edge I needed to outrace him with flyers...but it was down to the wire and there were some interesting plays.  I really enjoyed that first game.  Game 2 I stood up to the intial fury, and set up puca/mistmeadow which he attempted to disrupt with that cinder that lays the -1-1, but I had the turn to mist to save it with and he scooped.

So if you ever pick up a Puca or a Furystroke...aggressively go after those blinkers....It's a lot of fun.

Eventide Prerelease Part 2

Ok so here's my second flight at the Eventide Prerelease (removal is underlined, bombs are bolded)

White: Recumbent Bliss, Balleynock Trapper, Patrol signaler, Ballynock Cohort, Order of Whiteclay, Kithkin Zealot, Endure, Kithkin Shieldare, Prison Term

Blue: Merrow Levitator, Razorfin Abolisher, Wilderness Hypnotist, Merrow Wavebreakers, Prismwake Merrow, Parapet Watchers, Drowner Initiate

Black: Smoldering Butcher x2, Sickle Ripper, Corrosive Mentor, Soul Reap x2

Red: Hothead Giant, Mudbrawler Cohort, Bloodshed Fever, Cinder Pyromancer (Which does not hit creatures! This is nowhere near as good as the Prodigal variety)

Green: Monstrify x2, Crabapple Cohort, Roughshod Mentor, Nettle Sentinel, Gleeful Sabatoge, Savage Conception x2, Wickerbough Elders, Aerie Ouphs, Farhaven Elf

W/U: Turn to Mist, Silkbind Faerie, Mistmeadow Witch, Glamer Spinners

U/B: Gravelgill Duo, Memory Sluice, Scarscale Ritual

B/R: Emerstrike Duo, Scar, Fists of the Demigod, Traitor's Roar

R/G: Firespout, Manamorphose, Giantbaiting, Loamdragger Giant, Gutteral Response

G/W: Old Ghastbark, Kitchen Finks, Raven's Run Dragoon, Heartmender

W/B: Batwing Brume, Beckon Apparition, Bloodied Ghost, Unmake

U/R: Noggle Ransacker, Inside Out, Riverfall Mimic, Clout of the Domines x2, Stream Hopper

B/G: Deity of Scars, Sapling of Colfenor, Drain the Well

R/W: Battlegate Mimic, Duergar Assailant, Fire at Will

G/U: Fable of Wolf and Owl, Trapjaw Kelpie, Gilder Bairn

Colorless: Grim Poppet, Scarecrone, Blight Sickle, Shell Skulkin, Chainberaker, Elsewhere Flask, Blazethorn Scarecrow, Lockjaw Snapper, Hoof Skulkin, Antler Skulkin, Gnarled Effigy, Fang Skulkin, Scuttlemut, Sapseed Forest

I knew that 10 scarecrows and scarecrone was gona be good but that didn't help me choose colors. I decided to cut red because firespout is easily splashable and nothing else was really very good. I was sad to lose double U/R aura but I only had 3 U/R creatures to but them on. After my first round of cuts I was left with

White: Recumbent Bliss, Balleynock Trapper, Patrol signaler, Ballynock Cohort, Order of Whiteclay, Endure, Duergar Assailant, Fire at Will, Prison Term

Blue: Merrow Levitator, Razorfin Abolisher, Wilderness Hypnotist, Merrow Wavebreakers, Prismwake Merrow, Parapet Watchers, Inside Out

Black: Smoldering Butcher x2, Sickle Ripper, Corrosive Mentor, Soul Reap x2, Emerstrike Duo, Scar

Green: Monstrify, Crabapple Cohort, Roughshod Mentor, Nettle Sentinel, Savage Conception x2, Wickerbough Elders, Aerie Ouphs, Farhaven Elf, Manamorphose

W/U: Turn to Mist, Silkbind Faerie, Mistmeadow Witch, Glamer Spinners

U/B: Gravelgill Duo, Scarscale Ritual

R/G (Splash): Firespout

G/W: Old Ghastbark, Kitchen Finks, Raven's Run Dragoon, Heartmender

W/B: Batwing Brume, Beckon Apparition, Bloodied Ghost, Unmake

B/G: Deity of Scars, Sapling of Colfenor

G/U: Fable of Wolf and Owl, Trapjaw Kelpie, Gilder Bairn

Colorless: Grim Poppet, Scarecrone, Chainberaker, Blazethorn Scarecrow, Lockjaw Snapper, Hoof Skulkin, Antler Skulkin, Gnarled Effigy, Fang Skulkin, Scuttlemut

At this point I though for a long time. I decided my deck would have a green base but I couldn't decide on the other colors. Finally I decided that white could be splashed for the bliss and witch and I gave up on order of whiteclay which I think is overrated, so I made another round of cuts (I did keep the potential for prison term open just because I have a lot of mana fixing)

White (Splash): Recumbent Bliss, Balleynock Trapper, Prison Term

Blue: Merrow Levitator, Razorfin Abolisher, Wilderness Hypnotist, Merrow Wavebreakers, Prismwake Merrow, Parapet Watchers, Inside Out, Turn to Mist, Silkbind Faerie, Glamer Spinners

Black: Smoldering Butcher x2, Sickle Ripper, Corrosive Mentor, Soul Reap x2, Emerstrike Duo, Scar, Bloodied Ghost, Unmake

Green: Crabapple Cohort, Roughshod Mentor, Nettle Sentinel, Savage Conception x2, Wickerbough Elders, Aerie Ouphs, Farhaven Elf, Manamorphose, Heartmender, Kitchen Finks , Raven's Run Dragoons

W/U (Splash): Mistmeadow Witch

U/B: Gravelgill Duo, Scarscale Ritual

R/G (Splash): Firespout

B/G: Deity of Scars, Sapling of Colfenor

G/U: Fable of Wolf and Owl, Trapjaw Kelpie

Colorless: Grim Poppet, Scarecrone, Chainberaker, Blazethorn Scarecrow, Lockjaw Snapper, Hoof Skulkin, Antler Skulkin, Gnarled Effigy, Fang Skulkin, Scuttlemut

Now I had to decide on the second color of my deck, Black or Blue? It was a hard choice between the power of Fable of Wolf and Owl and the splashable Mistmeadow Witch versus the Diety of Scars and the Sapling of Colfenor plus the power of removal in soul reap x2 and unmake. In the end I went with black. I also splashed white and red for additional removal and I was very tempted to go into 5 colors for witch but it was too much of a strech IMO. I was esentially G/W/B/r in the end. I ended up with this...

My Final Decklist:

Creatures 14:
Balleynock Trapper
Heartmender
Kitchen Finks

Scarecrone (Very good with Grim Poppet)

Grim Poppet (Very good by itself)

Deity of Scars

Sapling of Colfenor

Chainbreaker

Scuttlemutt

Wickerbough Elder

Farhaven Elf

Aerie Ouphs

Spells 9:

Unmake

Manamorphose
Soul Reap x2
Turn to Mist
Firespout

Recument Bliss

Fire at Will (A bit of a strech but its really good)
Prison Term (Yay for shaky mana bases
Savage Conception

Lands 17:
Forest x7
Plains x5
Swamp x 4
Mountain x1

The deck did well goin 3-1 in matches and 7-3 in games. Despite the seemingly overstreched mana base the only card I ever had trouble playing was the demigod. Hope my insights into sealed deckbuilding help a few people. I am not sure I had the correct build but I like what I ended up with, how would you have built with this pool?

The one and only
-Squest

Eventide Prerelease

So I went to the Eventide Prerelease. Lots of fun, I would recommend it to anyone, new or experienced.
Anyway, I participated in 2 flights (Sealed, Shadowmoor Tournament pack+3 eventide boosters)
So here's how it went
_________________________________________________
Flight 1
I look at my rares first I have Polluted Bonds, Isleback Spawn, Evershrike, Boartusk Liege and Necroskitter. The skitter is a card I have wanted to try since I saw it spoiled on MTGO Salvation and of course the Liege is amazing.
The rest of my pool is
White: Niveous Wisps, Balleynock Cohort, Kithkin Spellduster, x2 Suture Spirit, Apothecary Initiate, Strip Bare, Kithkin Shielddare
Blue: Wilderness Hypnotist, Idle Thoughts, Parapet Watchers, Merrow Wavebreakers, Oona's Grace x2, Dream Thief x2, Merrow Levitator, Talonrend, Cerulean Wisps, Briarberry Cohort
Black: Smoldering Butcher x3, Beseech the Queen, Gloomlance, Sickle Ripper, Aphotic Wisps, Ashenmoor Cohort
Red: Boggart Arsonists, Hothead Giant, Outrage Shaman, Intimidator Initiate, Pyre Charger, Puncture Blast x2
Green: Gleeful Sabotage, Monstrify, (Which BTW is a sorcery, I saw 3 seperate people try to play it as an instant) Crabapple Cohort, Hungry Spriggan
W/U: Plumeveil, Zealous Guardian
U/B: Wasp Lancer, Gravelgill Duo, Fatetransfer
B/R: Torrent of Souls, Traitor's Roar, Poison the Well
R/G: Mudbrawler Raiders: Runes of the Deus, Firespout
G/W: Shield of the Oversoul, Medicine Runner, Reknit, Raven's Run Dragoons, Barkshell Blessing
W/B: Beckon Apparition x2, Harvest Gwyllion x2
U/R: Unnerving Assault, Stream Hopper, Nucklavee, Noggle Bandit, Clout of the Dominus
B/G: Drain the Well, Rendclaw Trow x3, Hag Hedge Mage x2, Desecrater Hag, Woodlurcker Mimic, Noxious Hatchling
R/W: Battlegate Mimic
G/U: Groundling Pouncer, Slippery Boggle
Colorless: Lurebound Scarecrow, Wingrattle Scarecrow, Blight Sickle, Wicker Warcrawler, Revelsong Horn, Antler Skulkin x2, Elsewhere Flask

Wow! SHM-EVE has a lots of possiblities with all those hybrid cards. After staring at my 16 piles blankly for about 5 minutes I went to work. I find that the easiest way to deal with SHM-EVE is to decide which colors you WON'T be in rather than the other way around. I started looking at my piles and white seemed prety weak, Spellduster, Cohort and Suture Spirit aren't bad but they are nothing to write home about and while anteler skulkins are solid I didn't have many white creatures. In term of hybrid only Plumeveil, Battlegate Mimic and Shield of Oversoul really need white and although Plumeveil and Shield are both very good they can't make up for this color's lack of depth. So I cut white and moved all W/X hybrid cards into color X's pile as well as cutting unplayables like so

Blue: Wilderness Hypnotist, Idle Thoughts, Parapet Watchers, Merrow Wavebreakers, Oona's Grace x2, Dream Thief x2, Merrow Levitator, Talonrend, Cerulean Wisps, Briarberry Cohort, Zealous Guardian, Plumeveil
Black: Smoldering Butcher x3, Beseech the Queen, Gloomlance, Sickle Ripper, Aphotic Wisps, Beckon Apparition x2, Harvest Gwyllion x2
Red: Boggart Arsonists, Hothead Giant, Outrage Shaman, Pyre Charger, Puncture Blast x2
Green: Gleeful Sabotage, Monstrify, Crabapple Cohort, Hungry Spriggan, Shield of the Oversoul, Medicine Runner, Raven's Run Dragoons, Barkshell Blessing
U/B: Wasp Lancer, Gravelgill Duo, Fatetransfer
B/R: Torrent of Souls
R/G: Mudbrawler Raiders: Runes of the Deus, Firespout
U/R: Unnerving Assault, Stream Hopper, Nucklavee, Noggle Bandit, Clout of the Dominus
B/G: Rendclaw Trow x3, Hag Hedge Mage x2, Desecrater Hag, Woodlurcker Mimic, Noxious Hatchling
G/U: Groundling Pouncer, Slippery Boggle
Colorless: Lurebound Scarecrow, Wingrattle Scarecrow, Wicker Warcrawler, Elsewhere Flask
Next I tried to cut a second colors, looking at red I saw that firespout, and puncture blasts could easily be splashed and nothing else was really all that good. I am sad to lose some power on the runes of deus and the liege, as well as the chroma power of outrage shaman, but those cards just weren't enough to build a deck around. After my second round of cuts I am left with the following cards

Blue: Wilderness Hypnotist, Idle Thoughts, Merrow Wavebreakers, Oona's Grace x2, Dream Thief x2, Merrow Levitator, Talonrend, Briarberry Cohort, Plumeveil, Noggle Bandit
Black: Smoldering Butcher x3, Beseech the Queen, Gloomlance, Sickle Ripper, Harvest Gwyllion x2
Red (Splash): Puncture Blast x2
Green: Gleeful Sabotage, Monstrify, Crabapple Cohort, Hungry Spriggan, Shield of the Oversoul, Medicine Runner, Raven's Run Dragoons, Barkshell Blessing, Mudrawler Raider's
U/B: Wasp Lancer, Gravelgill Duo, Fatetransfer
B/R (Splash): Torrent of Souls
R/G (Splash): Firespout
B/G: Rendclaw Trow x3, Hag Hedge Mage x2, Desecrater Hag, Woodlurcker Mimic, Noxious Hatchling
G/U: Groundling Pouncer
Colorless: Lurebound Scarecrow, Wingrattle Scarecrow, Wicker Warcrawler

Blue has a bunch of great cards but B/G has a great hybrid combination going. Do I go B/G or B/G/U and should I splashe red?
After a lot of pondering I finally decide that IMO while Blue has a lot going for it, B/G will make a more consistent deck so I cut Blue leaving me with the following

Black: Smoldering Butcher x3, Beseech the Queen, Gloomlance, Sickle Ripper, Harvest Gwyllion x2, Wasp Lancer, Gravelgill Duo, Fatetransfer
Red (Splash): Puncture Blast x2
Green: Gleeful Sabotage, Monstrify, Crabapple Cohort, Hungry Spriggan, Shield of the Oversoul, Medicine Runner, Raven's Run Dragoons, Barkshell Blessing, Mudrawler Raider's, Groundling Pouncer
B/R (Splash): Torrent of Souls
R/G (Splash): Firespout
B/G: Rendclaw Trow x3, Hag Hedge Mage x2, Desecrater Hag, Woodlurcker Mimic, Noxious Hatchling
Colorless: Lurebound Scarecrow, Wingrattle Scarecrow, Wicker Warcrawler

I decide that since I have Neckroskitter and a lot of good black cards with wither I should focus on that and that leads me to splash red for the puncture blasts which are insanse with 'skitter on the board.

My final 2 questions: Should I run the liege even though I have no red creatures (yes, glorious anthem with a body is still really good) and what will my mana base be (check the decklist)

My Final Decklist:

Creatures 15:

Neckroskitter
Rendclaw Trow x3
Smoldering Butche x3
Hag Hedgemage x2
Desecrator Hag
Boartusk Liege
Wicker Warcrawler
Noxious Hatchling
Sickle Ripper
Woodlurcker Mimic

Spells 8:

Fate Transfer
Puncture Blast x2
Fire Spout
Barkshell Blessing
Gloomlance
Beseech the Queen
Torrent of Souls

Lands 17:

Mountain x4
Forest x5
Swamp x8

I ended up going 2-2 which means no prizes :( but I still had a blast

How would you have built with this pool? Would you have included Blue, or splashed Red. Do you think the liege is too clunky? Tell me what you think

Still an inquiring mind, still wanting to know
-Squest

P.S. Later today or tomorrow I will post my second flight's pool and deckbuilding process

Sluishie III?

1 Inkfathom Witch
1 Helm of the Ghastlord
1 Faerie Swarm
1 Kinscaer Harpoonist
1 Zealous Guardian
2 Gravelgill Axeshark
1 Silkbind Faerie
13 Island
2 Leechridden Swamp
2 Somnomancer
1 Biting Tether
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
2 Swamp
2 Drowner Initiate
1 Steel of the Godhead
2 Memory Sluice
1 Barrenton Cragtreads
1 Watchwing Scarecrow
2 Gravelgill Duo
1 Puresight Merrow
1 Oona's Gatewarden
1 Briarberry Cohort


Sideboard
1 Sootstoke Kindler
2 Disturbing Plot
1 Sootwalkers
1 Ghastly Discovery
1 Corrupt1 Swamp
1 Repel Intruders
1 Sinking Feeling
1 Strip Bare
1 Gloomlance
1 Toil to Renown
1 Scarscale Ritual
1 Torpor Dust
1 Puncture Bolt
1 Scrapbasket
1 Deepchannel Mentor
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Poison the Well
1 Spell Syphon


(yes 41 cards, 40 was good but 16 land scared me a little so another island went in swamps and 2 leechriddens seemed to be a good test whether it helped the long stalemates)


Round 1: opp. dagavnor 1732 UW


Game 1:Game end up not drawing a sluice at all, but managed a few attacks turn 4 and 5 with helmed gravelgill duo until it gets consigned. Got initiate late and got his deck down to 10 by the end when oona hit the board turn 11 and he conceded. He didn't help himself by playing blue spells to help aid my mill.


Game 2: initiate out turn 1, turn 2 oona's gatewarden (mill plumeveil away :) his turn 3 last beath the initiate, good move on his part since I get sluice turn 5. It turns into a flight fest with no one attacking. He's got 2 cohorts, mistmeadow witch, and cem. puca mainly. I've got a fat swarm, gatekeeper, cohorts, and 2 gravelgill's and ferw others waiting out the turns or another initiate or sluice. Worried not too much about witch tricks since he's yet to reach 8 lands (7 on turn 11). I draw oona, no counter and again concession.


I am seeing that this deck takes away a lot of cards that may be good or might be bombs (lands are good to mill early too if get them mana screwed that way, but it still counts as a card later on also). There usually isn't a rush for the sluice to be played. I held out 3 turns to get all critters on board enough to defend myself while I tapped 2 of them (with thankfully not up to 2 a turn).


Round 2: opp. spellstopper 1617 WG


Game 1: He starts quick with t3 ballynock and t4 rune-cervin rider. I stablize t4 with barrencrag and t5 gravegill axegrinder followed by swarm t6 (4/4). Then he pull a painters servent for green, slaps a shield of oversoul on balllyknock. Can't combat that once he turnder to mist my swarm (only flyer).

Game 2: Found out he was playing WG (after seeing all plains and W cards game 1). He mulls once, I get t1 initiate and go to work. t4 mill painter servant thankfully. Wainting with oona in hand and to draw a sluice hopefuly to make it quick before he cranks out the fliers. I trade my sommomancer for his hexhunter to get out the torpor dust on ballyknock Got enough land (including 2 leechriddens on board with gatewarden and duo) to mill with each cast.

He mists his ballyknock and hes sitting 7 life 15 in library and I top biting teeth for his ballyknock. Have been noticing swamps being milled and he finally gets one for his urchin. Too late for him. Drawing cards isn't going to help him. Oona hits and he plays it out concedes at 1 in library and 4 life.

Seems his aggro deck or nothing so far with not too many bombs in the graveyard, but still a solid under t7 kill deck.

Game 3: I start with a mull. He seems to have gone WB and gets me down to 12 before i can stabilize. He shields his hexxhunter and recklessly attacking all out gave me a chance a few times to get rid of his black critters to hopefully get my helm out on gravelgill in hand, but cast scuttlemutt after attack :( Soon after he pumps out more critters than me and I am overrun. No milling (or oona) usually means no win almost it seems this round.

Anyone know what else could be tweaked or added? This build I think would work 7 out of 10 times unless your against an aggro deck and can't stabilize. Let me know what you guys think.

WB does it...

1 Mistmeadow Witch
1 Consign to Dream
1 Glamer Spinners
1 Tatterkite
2 Kinscaer Harpoonist
1 Leech Bonder
8 Island
1 Somnomancer
8 Plains
1 Inquisitor's Snare
1 Repel Intruders
1 Drowner Initiate
2 Steel of the Godhead
1 Barrenton Cragtreads
1 Prismwake Merrow
1 Safehold Elite
2 Watchwing Scarecrow
1 Turn to Mist
1 Ballynock Cohort
1 Thistledown Duo
1 Puresight Merrow
1 Last Breath
1 Briarberry Cohort
1 Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
1 Mercy Killing

Sideboard
2 Whimwader
2 Illuminated Folio
1 Inescapable Brute
2 Cerulean Wisps
1 Boggart Ram-Gang
1 Gleeful Sabotage
1 Parapet Watchers
1 Smolder Initiate
1 Strip Bare
1 Cinderbones
1 Mudbrawler Cohort
1 Dream Salvage
1 Niveous Wisps
1 Farhaven Elf
2 Last Breath


Round 1: Opponent also playing WB. First game he got mana screwed 3 lands on turn 6. I got fliers out and over his defenses too quick for him to react. Second game surpisingly came down to the single initiate I got (late pack 3 also) to ween him down to deck out. Positive notes on sideboarding was I found sb in 2 whimwaders for liege and killing (never got to cast it) and it helped greatly. Puca's mischief is just annoying BTW especially if both players are playing WB.

Round 2: Opponent played UB (saw splash of red), and didn't seem to have a good build. Mana screwed 3 lands in 8 turns in game 1 (de javu). Again sb in the whimwader for liege (again couldn't cast at 2 plains again) and fliers proved to win both games. Game 2 he got mana flooded and i got out Leech bonder+godhead (makes sure you get your attacks through and unload your counters). Great synergy with glamer spinners to migrate godhead from bonder to merrowsight when it got blocked to oust another blocking creature. Bounce and tricks but nothing too fancy seems to get it done.

Round 3: opponents playing RB deck. Again running into mana porblems game 1 for opponent and running out of gas to keep up with fliers. Game 2, I can't race him down quick enough against his power of fire macabre guarding. Last turn beofre i had him at leathal damage with thistledown w/ godhead he uses kindler on freshly cast oona. Game 3 he triple mulls and I just roll over 5 turns and done. I really did end up liking this deck build very much :)

Moral of this draft: I see at least 4 games I win 80% due to their bad mana, but I look at mine with just 16 and it seemed to work out except for getting 3 plains for the liege and all my mana was fine. Need to pay attention to the mana costs and ratio more closely whether to go 16 or 17 lands. Also, watchwing scarecrow has grown on me a bit this draft.

Experiments with "sluishie" Part II

SHM Draft, "sluishie" Monoblue, result:  eliminated in second round.

2 Whimwader

1 Consign to Dream

1 Faerie Swarm
1 Painter's Servant
1 Silkbind Faerie
1 Leech Bonder
17 Island
2 Cerulean Wisps
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
2 Parapet Watchers
2 Drowner Initiate
2 Memory Sluice
2 Curse of Chains
1 Torpor Dust
1 Oona's Gatewarden
2 Spell Syphon
1 Flow of Ideas

Sideboard
1 Elvish Hexhunter
1 Whimwader
1 Dream Salvage
1 Sootstoke Kindler
1 Zealous Guardian
1 Ember Gale
1 Cursecatcher
1 Demigod of Revenge
1 Safehold Sentry
1 Cinderhaze Wretch
1 Spiteflame Witch
1 Blowfly Infestation
1 Thornwatch Scarecrow
1 Strip Bare
1 River's Grasp
1 Torpor Dust
1 Heap Doll
1 Gloomwidow's Feast
2 Emberstrike Duo
1 Safewright Quest
1 Put Away

Match 1:  Ratava, Mono-White, 1620

Game 1 I did the old fashioned way.  Damage.  Nice that this deck can actually do that.  Painter's Servant is nuts in this deck.  My Faerie swarms are huge, my siphons become hard counters, intiates go bonkers off every spell either mage casts, Whimwader gets in there, Oona even goes hogwild when every card in there deck is blue, including the land.  I side out the cantrips for additional threat reduction, as he seems to enjoy casting Spectral Possession twice a game.  Actually quite quick, a lot nastier than my last sluishie opponent.

Game 2:  He goes nuts on me with turn 2 elite, turn 3 and turn 4 spectral possession.  Very hard to recover.  He continues laying down threats after that as well.

Game 3 ended on turn 5.  It was one of those crazy hands.  Turn 1, intiate.  Turn 2, intiate...mill for 2.  Turn 3, sluice for 8 mill for 4.  Turn 4, sluice for 8 mill for 4.  Turn 5 gatewarden, mill for 4.  I could have outraced a godhand in RB or RG with that hand.  Like I said, if you could get 3 intiates and 3 sluices this deck would be insane.  So far I like this version a lot better.  But Monowhite really isn't that disruptive.  

Match 2:  Dmatthews, Monogreen, 1798

Dmatthews beat me handedly in 2 games.  His deck was fast and I didn't get the right disruption in time.  He abused a lot of untapping mechanisms... presence of gond, drove of elves (untargetable, quite nasty), rhys the redeemed, he was quite good at amassing a hugy army rather quickly.  Spice that with severe beaters, and it was quite agressive.  I just couldn't handle it.

Noted:  Mudbrawlers is a beating for Monoblue, I mean there are lots of ways of dealing with it...but still.  

I'm guessing he'll go on to win the whole thing, so I'm not too dissapointed.  I'll save this deck...msg me online sometime and play me with a draft deck, I'd love to try it out again.

So far I'm not overly bullish on the whole thing as an archetype.  I think it works better as one of those things that evolves rather than is forced.  I wouldn't go whole hog into forcing it at the expense of pathways that could lead to more traditional victory, but I wouldn't mind picking up the occassional initiate or sluice when they come my way if there's not a strong pick in the pack...and if you're in colour and you pick up 2 intiates or sluices in pack 1...I'd consider going for it.  Overall, at least I got to 2nd round and got beat by a proper deck.

End of Sluishie Experiment for today, I'm bushed.

Experiments with "Sluishie" Part I

Okay, so after getting beat the other day by a decking deck "Sluishie" I decided to give it a whirl so I could learn a few things.  I decided to "try" and see what building and playing the deck taught me.

First of all, the draft didn't go so well.  I didn't "commit" until pick 5 of the first pack.  Once I did, I didn't find as much as I wanted.  However, I was able to get together some useful data, and actually won a match, so it wasn't that expensive a lesson.  I learned a lot.

The deck...

1 Flow of Ideas
1 Silkbind Faerie
1 Thistledown Liege
12 Island
2 Ghastly Discovery
1 Cursecatcher
1 Cerulean Wisps
1 Wanderbrine Rootcutters
5 Swamp
1 Parapet Watchers
2 Sinking Feeling
2 Drowner Initiate
1 River Kelpie
2 Memory Sluice
2 River's Grasp
1 Torpor Dust
1 Turn to Mist
1 Spell Syphon
2 Briarberry Cohort

Sideboard
1 Dream Salvage
1 Moonring Island
1 Chainbreaker
2 Gravelgill Axeshark
1 Apothecary Initiate
1 Devoted Druid
1 Seedcradle Witch
1 Swamp
1 Cinderhaze Wretch
1 Blight Sickle
1 Sinking Feeling
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Advice from the Fae
1 Mistmeadow Skulk
1 Ashenmoor Cohort
1 Smolder Initiate
1 Cinderbones
1 Pale Wayfarer
1 Aphotic Wisps
1 Emberstrike Duo
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Last Breath

Okay, first off I learned I didn't even build it right from what I had.  But I was sorta reaching for straws.  First of all, I should have given redcap a chance, even though it was BB.  Second of all card draw is really important a advice from the Fae should have been included.  The sinking feelings were really terrible anyway.  I usually always added another creature during the sideboard as well.  

The first match I won in 2 games against a mono-white deck.  It was kinda fun, because the deck did what it was supposed to do pretty well actually, despite it being a kinda depleted version of what it could be.  I also got a feel for what was important and what wasn't, what worked and what didn't.  It also feels awesome to deck someone in draft, particularly with this thing, since its generally when they expect to be killing you next turn.

Card draw is critical.  Flow of Ideas can be a you win card.  If you survive to late game and cast it, you can often win on the next turn.

It's not crucial to have an intiate in play, and if you only have 2 you have to hold them back sometimes or at least play them when you can be assured of using the ability a few times, which means mid to late game.  Against mono white I could lead with it...and against an opponent with blue in their deck I'd lead with it...but not against say, red/black or red/green.  The thing to remember about this is....1 intiate + 1 other creature + 1 sluice = 10 cards off the top.  That's alot.  Just surviving to the late game takes about 15-20 cards off thier deck, not counting sluice or intitate.  That's not bad.  Just with 2 intiates and 2 sluice I was able to deck someone twice in a row.  My deck was horrible too.  With a good build this type of thing has potential.  Here are some of my thoughts, and I may try this again...because its interesting...

Most of the deck isn't that much different from standard monoblue, UW or UB.  If you are in these colours anyway from the get go...switching to a more sluishie configuration isn't that hard.  If you can nab like 4 intiates it would be sick.  If you can nab 3 sluice....that's just juicy.  You can fill the rest of the deck with reasonably good cards...

Aethertow...really good.  Wish I had some.

Consign to dream...quite good fairly easy to get.  Wish I had some.

Scuttlemutt....quite good.  Wish I had some.  This guy ramps mana (you're gonna be hungry for it), helps consign to dream, and does what scuttlemutt does...gets jiggy with colour all over the place.

Topor Dust...quite good and easy to get.  Wish I didn't just have 1.

Parapet Watchers...The house.  I wish I had more.

Untappers...really good with ghastly discovery and conspire.  Silky is pretty important.

Oona Gatekeeper....Awesome.  Didn't have any of these either.  The 1 cc is important because it works well with intiates and you get them out in a pinch with little mana to enable conspire on sluice.  

Now here's the thing.  You want lots of creatures.  Don't load up on tricks so much that you run out of defense.  The thing is you need for conspire and such too.  Sluice without two creatures in play is pointless.  Advice from the Fae is really nice for getting what you need, and if you can possibly have more creatures to boot, its awesome.  

I'll try to get a better list sometime, but give it a whirl if you see an opportunity at the pieces early on and you're in the right colours anyway.