I brought my Junk Angel deck to Ancient Wonders on Tuesday for the usual Standard tournament. I scored 4–0, placing clear first. Hurray! This was a far cry from the 1–3 result I had on Sunday. For a moment, I allowed myself to believe the deck was consistent enough to be truly competitive. After 15 more matches however (5 at FNM and 10 on Game Days)  I can finally conclude that this deck is probably not consistent enough to stick with for the remainder of the season.

As of right now, the list looks something like this:

Creatures (21):
3 Angel of Serenity
2 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
2 Centaur Healer
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice

Spells (16):
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Mulch
4 Unburial Rites
4 Farseek

Lands (23):
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Seraph Sanctuary

Sideboard (15):
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Restoration Angel
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Centaur Healer
2 Ray of Revelation
3 Zealous Conscripts
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Angel of Serenity

The deck seems pretty solid against control. My cards have decent value. I resolve Angel of Serenity exiling creatures in my graveyard, and when they cast Supreme Verdict or Terminus, I gain card advantage. Also, Thragtusk is an excellent card against control, often requiring two sweepers to completely get rid of. Unburial Rites can also provide card advantage.

 

That said, control decks run lots of planeswalkers (Jace, Tamiyo, etc.), and planeswalkers can be a problem for this deck. I do run Restoration Angel and Craterhoof Behemoth, which are fairly effective answers to planeswalkers, but they’re not as good as Dreadbore or Detention Sphere or other such cards.

This deck also has a pronounced weakness to artifacts. I have zero ways of interacting with artifacts, and it can cause problems. Case in point: on Sunday my opponent cast a Chromatic Lantern on turn 3, a Door to Nothingness on turn 4, and then just won the game several turns later. I had no way of stopping it. This deck is also weak to Grafdigger's Cage.

 

As bad as this deck is against control, it at least survives a few turns. Against aggro things could be disastrous. I've had games on the draw where I've just been crushed by turn 4. We have been constantly tweaking  the deck to try and make those matches more favorable (for example, we added Avacyn’s Pilgrims, additional Fiend Hunters, and now Centaur Healers), but I’m still not sure this deck is viable against aggro. Most of my losses have come from the GW Aggro decks that run Rancor, Loxodon Smiter, and Ajani, Caller of the Pride. If given the chance to stabilize, I can usually win, but getting there is not easy. My zombie matchup is a bit better, but still stressful at times.

One thing this deck has going for it against both aggro and control is the infinite life combo with Fiend Hunter, Fiend Hunter, Restoration Angel, and Seraph Sanctuary (There's also another combo with Trostani, Selesnya's Voice and 3 Fiend Hunters). Sometimes this combo will take an opponent completely by surprise and just win the game. Against aggro it's a near instant victory. However, against control, sometimes the combo is lackluster; it can result in this awkward situation where the opponent chooses to simply play on, comfortable with a draw because he knows you can't get enough attackers on the board to kill him. It's quite annoying. The combo happens frequently in the mirror match.

I think this deck is about 55/45 against the midrange decks in the format, like Jund. Jund runs 3-4 copies of Rakdos Keyrune, which can actually be kind of a problem when combined with Kessig Wolf Run, but for the most part I think we have a better endgame. I actually played 3-4 Jund decks this weekend and I think I came out about even, and lost one of those matches because of misplay.

Anyway, here are my results for the week:

Last Sunday: 1-3

Tuesday: 4-0

Friday: 1-2

Saturday: 3-2-1

Sunday: 3-2

With an overall record of 12-9-1, you can see this deck is hardly overwhelming. I'll only continue playing it until I find something better....See you next time.

It was a rainy Friday night here in Portland; perfect for playing Magic. I drove out to Guardian Games for FNM. There were about 20 players, some regulars, but I noticed right away that a lot of the veterans were missing. Maybe its because players haven't yet acquired the cards necessary to build the decks they want to play (Jace is $50!). I dunno. I brought the Junk Angel deck I posted last time, with some minor alterations to make the deck more viable.

Whereas the deck seemed to limp along at the Oregon State Championship, scoreing 0-4, at FNM the deck felt like it was on 8 cylinders. A couple games I got really lucky, but most of the games felt like they were solidly in my favor.

Round 1 I played against Bant control. He had to mulligan both games so the match was never really fair. I won 2-0.

Round 2 I played against Natty running U/R Delver. I never really got a chance to see how Natty's deck was supposed to work. He never cast a first turn Delver, which I was thankful for. He just seemed to switch the cards in his hand around a lot with Izzet Charm and Desperate Ravings. Eventually he played a Runechanter's Pike and I could see what he was trying to achieve, but there just werent enough creatures. I took the match 2-0, and I think I did get to 'hoof him in game two; Revenge for the thrashing he gave me with Bant Pod at the last PTQ.

Round 3 I played against another Bant Control deck. This time, my opponent didn't mulligan, and the games were extremely close. My biggest concern was running up against the time control, so I tried to play quickly. Game 1 seemed to be dragging on and on; I think it must have taken 30 minutes. I ended up winning it, but not without some crazy shenanigans. My opponent eventually took control of the board with a Sigarda, Host of Herons and a Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. Within a few turns, he had ticked the Tamiyo up to 8 counters while knocking my life down to12. The following turn, he ultimated Tamiyo, but tapped out for an Angel of Serenity. The following turn I summoned a Craterhoof Behemoth and dealt like 40 damage, winning the game. Craziness.

Game 2 was similarly climactic. My opponent once again summoned Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, but this time when he ticked her up to 8 I stole her with a Zealous Conscripts and gave myself the emblem. The following turn I summoned another Zealous Conscripts, stole his Thragtusk, bashed him with it, then used Restoration Angel on it so I could keep it forever. Yeah, it was pretty epic. I won the match 2-0.

Round 4 I played against Jund. I ended up losing this match 1-2. In game 2, I never drew a black mana and I had a handful of Sever the Bloodlines and Grisly Salvages; I didn't last long. Game 3 was close, but Fiend Hunter is generally not good against Thundermaw Hellkite. Especially when Jund is running so much spot removal. I also found Rakdos Keyrune to be an effective blocker against my Thragtusks.

Round 5 I played against GW Aggro, a deck that gave me a lot of problems at States. This time though, I seemed to have GW's number. The combination of Centaur Healer, Thragtusk, and Angel of Serenity ensured that I was able to enter the midgame, where Junk Angel is most effective. I won the match 2-0.

So there you have it. I scored 4-1 and placed first after tiebreaks. I used my credit to purchase a signed Wooded Foothills (completing a playset!). See you next time.

Fuck you, Guttersnipe











Now that the sting of losing has finally subsided, I guess its time to blog about States. As many of you know, I attended the Magic the Gathering Oregon State Championship this weekend, scoring 0 wins and 4 losses before dropping. Ouch. I don't know what happened. I felt like I spent a lot of time and thought preparing for this tournament, but I didn't expect the large number of aggro decks that eventually showed up and I basically just got run out of the building. Here is the deck list I ran:

Creatures (16):
2 Armada Wurm
1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
4 Fiend Hunter
3 Angel of Serenity
2 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk

Spells (20):
2 Lingering Souls
4 Mulch
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Unburial Rites
4 Farseek
2 Sever the Bloodline

Lands (24):
4 Temple Garden
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Seraph Sanctuary
2 Vault of the Archangel
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Woodland Cemetery
1 Isolated Chapel
2 Forest
2 Cavern of Souls

Sideboard (15):
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Restoration Angel
4 Cathedral Sanctifier
2 Angel of Glory's Rise
2 Craterhoof Behemoth
2 Ray of Revelation
1 Angel of Serenity

In round 1 I faced GW Aggro. This new GW Aggro deck is especially potent because of cards like Silverblade Paladin, Loxodon Smiter, Rancor, and Sublime Archangel. He won the die roll, went first, and played an Avacyn's Pilgrim. It seemed like every turn thereafter he played a Loxodon Smiter. Even though I was eventually able to cast a Thragtusk it wasn't enough to hold and I lost the game.  I lost the second game in similar fashion.

In round 2 I faced, surprise, GW aggro again. Sigh. Same deck, same result.

In round 3 I played against BR Vampires. I think my opponent was running an exact copy of this deck. I got my face smashed in once again as my opponent seemed to draw the nut curve both games.

In round 4 I played against a deck based around Guttersnipe. I can't believe I lost this round. I just went home with my 0-4 score. So, States went awful.

Still, I do like the tournament a lot. Unlike most other tournaments, States gives players some opportunity to show off their deck building skills. That said, the tournament does have several flaws: First, the card pool is quite small, so it's really difficult to innovate and come up with something that can "corner" the metagame. Usually, whatever deck you create has been tried and published in the weeks leading up to States, and you are simply running a variation of the deck. It comes as no surprise that most players are prepared for the cards you're running. Which leads me to my second point: States has a lot of aggro. Maybe this is because the card pool is so new or fresh, but for whatever reason, the last two State Championship tournaments have featured a lot of aggro decks. Last year it was Mono Red. This year it was GW and BR. Something to keep in mind next year.

Gonna make some changes to the deck. Until next time.

On Tuesday I rejoined the ranks of the Magic playing community. I ventured to Ancient Wonders for their usual Tuesday Standard tournament, scoring 3-0-1 and tying for first place. For the moment, I don't want to disclose the decklist I used, as State Championships are this weekend, but I will give my thoughts on the current state of Standard, and the decklists/cards that I currently like. To accomplish this, I examine a few of the top decks from the most recent tournament, SCG Cincinnati (see the lists, here).

First, we have a U/W/R Control list piloted by Todd Anderson. I like this list a lot and think it will be a popular list at states, although I wonder if the deck will be that prevalent given Jace's current $50 price tag. Nevertheless, I think anyone who is going to States should be well prepared to face this deck.

The deck's basic plan is to win with a miracled Entreat the Angels or a planeswalker ultimate. Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Jace, Architect of Thought are a powerful team, and difficult to eliminate using creatures alone. Tamiyo does an amazing job of dealing with Thragtusk, probably the most prevalent creature in Standard, and Jace is effective against most aggro decks. Anderson's deck has Pillar of Flame and Snapcaster Mage, as well as Terminus and Azorious Charm to live through early aggression. When you add Detention Sphere, the deck is easily able to deal with most threats.

Nevertheless, in my opinion Anderson's deck is not the ideal way of meeting the format. The deck  seems weak to Thragtusk, which in my opinion makes it instantly questionable. In addition, the deck actually has very few win conditions.

Next we have the 4-color Reanimator list piloted by Chris Weidinger. I like this list a lot and playtested something similar online, though I personally did not include red. While Dreadbore is an important card in this list---helping you deal with the pesky planeswalkers mentioned above---it always seems to find its way to the graveyard after Grisly Salvage or Mulch. Therefore, Weidinger is really relying on his creatures to eliminate any pesky planeswalkers, and they fail in this respect. Griselbrand and Angel of Serenity just gets locked down by Tamiyo. What this deck really needs is a card that can kill planeswalkers from the graveyard.

At third place we have a Jund Midrange deck piloted by Lauren Nolen. I also like this list, especially its inclusion of Farseek. I absolutely love Farseek right now and I think it is one of the strongest turn two plays. Farseek is especially potent in this deck, because of the high number of 4 drops: Garruk Relentless, Olivia Voldaren, and Huntmaster of the Fells. And of course, the inclusion of Thragtusk makes this deck especially resilient against aggro and control. The Rakdos Keyrunes give this deck some resilience to sweepers.

I want to get to the rest of the decks in the format, but everything is developing so rapidly I have to get this post out there before it becomes outdated and irrelevant. States this weekend! Stay tuned.