The Deck struck me as really good, but I unfortunately went 1-2 with it..:
I (barely) lost my first match to a B/R deck that had some nice creatures (including the Charmbreaker Devils) but was really spearheaded by Heretic's Punishment (the one I opened pack 3) - a card that's gone from mediocre to absolutely awesome in my impression after that game. So what if he had only 10 cards left in his library when he won? He killed two of my creatures every turn without spending cards!
I won my second match pretty handily against another B/R player who didn't really seem to have grasped the game (he failed to kill my Voiceless Spirit with a Blazing Torch and instead attacked into it with a Kessig Wolf with Skeletal Grimace - without any mana up!). He also declined a block to save his hide (three fliers attacking and Selfless Cathar activation visible on board), so that was almost too easy.
My last match was really interesting - I played against a really, really powerful U/B digging deck which splashed Red for the 13-to-everything. I lost the first round to the boardsweeper (guessing he had it after he fetched a mountain but already with my guys on the table). I won the second game on turn six or so in an absolute beatdown (end-of-turn Midnight Haunting into Demonmail Hauberk, swinging for 5 in the air on T4 seems a pretty nice play. Especially when T2 was Cloistered Youth!).
The third game was really long and close, but I ended up losing to the red Wrath followed by a Stitched Drake and a Murder of Crows. I could've played differently (playing a Mausoleum Guard instead of an Unruly Mob, giving me a presence after the Wrath), but I still think his large fliers would have done me in. Oh well.
Some cards that did way better than I think people evaluate them to; Cloistered Youth, Demonmail Hauberk, Heretic's Punishment, Stitcher's Apprentice, Crossway Vampire, Galvanic Juggernaut.
p2p2 and p2p6: what did Prey Upon ever do to you? If you're planning on splashing green anyway (which I think you should as the land is good enough), Prey Upon seems like a pretty good inclusion, and the blue cards you picked over each of them seem pretty mediocre in my (pretty limited) experience.
ReplyDeleteI may have talked myself into a corner, but I really dislike the idea of Prey Upon, especially if the Green is only a splash. I've played against it once or twice and it's okay, but it's not by any stretch first-class removal in my book. I'm actively looking for excuses to pick other cards if I can, basically.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should give it a shot; it just seems so conditional...
P1P1 - I strongly consider the voiceless spirit here. But time will tell if I'm stupid for that. I'm uncertain whether or not the dual lands are good first picks because of how committing they are. I would love to hear a prevailing opinion on this.
ReplyDeleteP1P4 - I feel like Moan of the Unhallowed is pretty good
P1P11 - I think I take the Zombie Goliath with upside here. Dead weight is frequently good and I wouldn't really want to run Frightful Delusion at this point. 3 mana seems like a lot for a counterspell.
P2P2 - Definitely the Ghoul or the Griffin.
P2P3 - I think the sentry is better, just because of the color commitment. But I don't have your white picks in front of me, not sure how deep into white you are at this point.
P2P4 - Blazing torch is colorless removal, I like midnight haunting but I think maybe it's blazing torch here.
P2P6 - I definitely agree with Penix that Prey Upon is the pick here.
P2P9 - I feel like the Reap is the pick because you could still open a black bomb!
P2P11 - I think make a wish is REALLY good. Or at least it seems really good. Memory's journey seems unplayable to me.
P3P4 - I think the pick here is bonds of faith, but what do I know?
P3P9 - It's possible I'm underestimating the amount of synergy in your deck but I think the departure is better than the equipment.
P3P11 - I think the spirit is REALLY good, maybe I'm overrating it, but I'd pick it over the sentry here.
P1P1 - The Land is a great pick, pretty powerful; especially if you can get Human/Token archetype cards. The second best card is Voiceless Spirit. I've played against it a few times, and it can stop early aggro attacks dead cold if you get it down early.
ReplyDeleteP1P2 - I dunno, after getting the Township, I'd have to take the white human here. Just start forcing that now.
That goes for many of the following picks, as well. I think you strayed to far off into B/U and focused on G/W, could've ended up with some better synergy. Your deck only include 2U and none of the black, so that's a sign that just forcing that G/W with Township was the way to go.
P1P1 – Gavony Township is a very powerful card, often better than top tier removal. I hesitate to call it a bomb, since it isn’t in the same category as something like Olivia or Devil’s Play, but it is definitely a powerful card. Also, it seems very committing, but it is actually fairly easy to splash in this format, so you are only really narrowing yourself to a WXg deck, a GXw deck, or a GW/GWx deck. Furthermore, GW is one of the strongest archetypes in the format. However, Stitched Drake is close enough in power to be worth considering here, but I still take the Township.
ReplyDeleteP1P2- Charmbreaker Devils is easily the best card in the pack. It is actually one of the stronger Rares in the format. Essentially, it is a 4/4 that can grow, which redraws something great at the beginning of each turn. I think too many people are too worried about the random part, but ideally your instants and sorceries are your removal spells, and drawing them each turn is pretty amazing. After that, the pick is Grasp of Phantoms. I predict that is going to be one of the more undervalued cards in the format, but it is very good; it’s in the same range as top tier removal. I would probably take Claustrophobia, Brimstone Volley, and Dead Weight over it, but it would be close between the Grasp and something like Bonds of Faith.
P1P4 – You mention that there’s no good black or blue in the pack, but you completely failed to notice the Moan of the Unhallowed, which is rock solid. Also, Silent Departure is very good. Where you are now, I would say that the Voiceless Spirit is probably the better pick to go with your Township, but you dismissed black and blue much too quickly.
P1P5 – Your draft is very scattered right now. I would say pick the Stitched Drake here, since it allows you to focus a little bit more. UW is very strong, and you’ve gotten good reasons to go into it.
P1P7 – You are seriously undervaluing Silent Departure. It is significantly better than a bear.
P1P8 – I’d take the Occultist. It is almost always going to have a bigger impact on the game.
P1P11– Frightful Delusion is playable, but it is definitely not fine. This is the type of card that you are actively looking to cut from your deck. I probably just take the Blade, even though it isn’t very good, but it can be solid on Invisible Stalkers, or even if you have a lot of UW flyers, which it looks like you are going to have.
P1P13 – Cathar isn’t actually that good. It’s playable, but 13th is a fine place for it because Innistrad is so deep. Riot Devils is pretty much the same way. Both are decent cards, but not the sort of things you are actively trying to put in your deck.
P2P1 – Unburial Rites is stronger, but Dearly Departed is probably better in this case.
P2P8 – Fortress Crab is actually fine. It blocks practically everything while your UW flyers get the job done.
P2P11 – I think you’re undervaluing the Purebloods as well. They are playable, especially in UW since you are always so short on good 5 drops.
P3P9 – Again, you are seriously undervaluing the Departure here. Just because everyone else in the world is undervaluing it doesn’t mean that you should.
P3P10 – Just pick the intimidator. Evasion is good.
P3P11- Definitely should have been the Spirit. You got blinded by fancy play syndrome here.
Also, why in the world would you have cut the blue for the green? Just Claustrophobia and Stitched Drake are better than all three of the green cards you played together.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, guys! We're all learning something here :)
ReplyDeleteP1P1: I feel like this was the pick. Also, I want to try playing with the rares.
P1P2: I know, dudes, I know. I met the Charmbreakers and it wasn't pretty. Especially against a "my only spell in the yard is Brimstone Volley"-repeatable. Should've taken it.
P1P4: @Oray: I didn't "fail to consider" it. I think it looks bad. I'm picking Voiceless Spirit over this like 99% of the time as my current evaluation of the cards go.
P1P7: I seem to have a fondness for creatures. Silent Departure is a fine spell, I agree.
P1P8: The Occultist is good, I agree (2/3s are in this format, like, a lot!). But Mob is almost as good and White.
P1P11: I think I agree more with Oray here, the Blade might make it. I'm not playing a random 4/3 for 5 often in this set. But that might be bad?
P2P1: I actually had my eyes on Rites for a moment, but I think having a really good guy is better than being able to raise one (or hopefully two?) less powerful creature.
P2P8: I agree, Crab is fine. But Outcasts are so much stronger, for one mana more...!
P2P11: Yeah, maybe the Purebloods is what my deck needs but I'm really hoping not to play random vanillas in that part of my curve. That's what I get for passing Charmbreakers, I guess...
P3P9: At this point, I was pretty sure my Blue would be limited to a couple of cards. The Departure is fine but the Hauberk is a house in my deck.
P3P10: My mana's looking good enough to play WW on turn two reliably, and I still think the Cathar is better in my deck here for synergy reasons.
P3P11: I think you're right on this one, Oray. The Sentry was really good in my deck, but that might just be ROT.
On cutting Blue for Green; Claustrophobia and Stitched Drake are both 1UU which would need like 7-8 Islands. I think the Green cards are much easier to play (and I have the Township as incentive, too).