Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride – Two PTQ Reports

A cold front had hit the small two-million populace of San Antonio, Texas on that fateful morning. The cold also brought forth a massive amount of rain, making the mood of the day quite depressing. Still, there was a PTQ to be played, and I had been testing for this one for the past two months. I was playing a special little homebrew deck that I offered to the U.S. Nationals team for the Extended portion of Worlds. Since then I have tested the deck extensively, only to find a few bad matchups including U/W Tron, G/W Slide, and Tooth and Nail. Against every other deck, it seems I have an advantage or I’m close to even.

Here’s the list I played at the first PTQ.

A little over a year ago I went to the first GP I ever traveled for, in Charlotte. I played a deck similar to this one. It was a Green/White Chalice concoction that was made to beat Boros and all of the heavy two-casting-cost decks at the time, like Tog and Scepter Chant. It even had maindeck Blinkmoth Wells to make sure you couldn’t be Chant-locked.

One of the highlights from the day was when I had a Chalice for two out against a No-Stick deck featuring Exalted Angels and Lighting Angels. I was at three, with my opponent at 22. He had double Exalted Angel and a Lightning Angel out, and I was dead on his next turn. On my turn I attacked in for thirteen or so with a bundle of creatures, including Elephant Tokens, Trolls, and Hierarchs. I had Seedtime in my hand, and I passed the turn. For no reason the guy tapped out to cast a very greedy Fact or Fiction at the end of my turn. I merely cast Seedtime. He leaned back in his chair and sighed, checked the life totals, and I asked “that’s it, right?” He replied “Yup, real good game!” and we shook hands.

After filling out the match result one of his friends informed him that the Chalice would have countered the Seedtime! He was furious, and called a few judges over to try and get me disqualified. Eventually the head judge and I sat down, and he told me straight up that I did nothing wrong, and not to worry about it, and that he can appreciate the jedi mind trick.

After battling my heart out and losing against Kyle Goodman and Gerrard Fabiano I took down Ervin Tormos and had to play the one and only Billy Moreno in the final round with Day 2 on the line. It went to game 3 but obviously he got the nut Affinity draw, playing two Myr Enforcers and two Frogmites on turn 2.

I really like to build decks and watch them evolve through tuning and such, as the metagame becomes more and more known. In the decks I’ve tinkered with so far in Extended, Trinket Mage has been the center point in almost all of them. My first try came out to a bad version of Nassif’s deck. Abusing Counterbalance with Top along with Trinket Mage for the answer-all approach. I was actually playing a U/B/W version of the deck that included Dark Confidant, Meddling Mage, and Vindicate. Problem was that it lost to Boros, so I dismissed it after losing nine games in a row.

I was searching for zero- and one-mana artifacts on Apprentice when I stumbled upon Chalice of the Void, and I remembered the deck I played last year at GP: Charlotte. I actually offered this list to the U.S. National team prior to Worlds. Can’t help but think how much better they would have done on Day 3, given the heavy Boros field.

As I mentioned earlier, a large cold front had come into San Antonio the day of the PTQ, and ice on the roads had prohibited travel. On top of that, World of Warcraft Regionals was running on the other side of the event hall, so the turnout was less than spectacular. I think the final count was in the mid 50s (how lucky!).

Round 1: G/W Slide

This is a very bad matchup, and given that he actually cast Wrath of God three times each game there was no way I could win. After board I had Meddling Mage to stop his Wrath, Condemn to stop his Exalted Angels, and Krosan Grip to stop Astral Slide, but I never drew any of it and I got Chant-locked with Life from the Loam, cycle lands, Eternal Witness, and Astral Slide.

0-1

Round 2: Gifts Rock

This match was really tough and mentally draining. We both had excellent draws with him starting out with a couple of Sakura-Tribe Elders to staunch my Troll Ascetic beats, followed up by several Gifts that helped him stabilize. We both gained a ton of life – at one point I was at 45 and he was at 29 – but after I found the Trinket Mage for Tormods Crypt it totally shut him down, and I began to peck away with some Call tokens. He Living Wished for Meloku and bounced all his lands to make thirteen tokens, followed up by one each turn, but thanks a Jitte I was holding back in fear of Putrefy / Vindicate, I was able to out-race him. Time was called but I finished him on turn 1 by pumping and moving Jitte a couple of times to spread out the damage.

1-1

Round 3: Aggro Loam

I never saw Therapy during both games so either he didn’t draw it or didn’t play it. He also didn’t draw a Putrefy for my Chalice on two, which stops Burning Wish, Life from the Loam, Devastating Dreams, Werebear / Vinelasher Kudzu, and Wall of Roots.

2-1

Round 4: TEPS

Game 1 I used Ghost Quarter and Chalice for two to stop him from going off.

Game 2 he combo’ed off on turn 6 after I used two Ghost Quarters and a Chalice for zero to stop double Lotus Bloom.

Game 3 I got a turn 2 Chalice for two out, and followed it up with Hierarchs and Call Tokens.

3-1

Round 5: Boros

I drew some combination of Cloak, Troll, and Hierarch both games.

4-1

Round 6: Scepter Chant

I got paired down, so we had to play. = (

He was playing a Thirst for Knowledge package with full compliments of Artifact Lands and Chrome Moxes, so his mana didn’t work quite as well as most Scepter Chant decks. This caused a lot of problems for him in the match.

Game 1 I got a very fast draw followed up with Pithing Needle for his Scepter. He didn’t have a Wrath, so I won.

Game 2 was really long, but he eventually got an Exalted Angel I couldn’t deal with, and used his Chants as Time Walks to finish me off.

Game 3 I was able to get a couple of Meddling Mages down, and used my Krosan Grips to destroy two of his Ancient Dens leaving him unable to cast Wrath.

5-1

Quarterfinals: B/W aggro

This was a really good guy who’d only just started playing Magic with the real cards. He used his B/W Panda Connection deck and added Gerrard’s Verdict, Duress, and Silver Knight. Dark Confidant was a real beating in this matchup, since I had no real way to deal with it. The deck also had an answer for my Troll Ascetic with Armadillo Cloak – Chainer’s Edict – and some number of Jittes in his maindeck, so I had to step cautiously.

Call of the Herd was an absolute mauling in this matchup, since it generated a lot of card advantage for me. Whether I discard it to a Duress or Verdict, or simply play it then flash it back, he had little way to deal with multiple 3/3s.

Naturally I drew two Calls both games I won, and the game I lost I mulliganed to five and my turn 1 Bird met a Funeral Charm.

6-1

Semifinals: Aggro Loam

I played a friend of mine from Dallas named Brian Heiney. He’s a decent player, but is usually more lucky than good, if you catch my drift.

Game 1 Cabal Therapy ripped my entire hand of Chalice, Cloak, Hierarch, Troll away, thanks to his Birds, so I was in big trouble. Thankfully I managed to draw Troll Ascetic, Tormod’s Crypt, Pithing Needle, Armadillo Cloak, Hierarch, and Call of the Herd in that order to finish him off.

Lol.

Game 2 He missed Therapy for Chalice on turn 3, and flashed it back to get rid of a Hierarch, but I drew into one 2 turns later which got Putrefied. He then wiped my board with Devastating Dreams. I had a Chrome Mox and some lands in hand so I was okay, but Brian destroyed all but one of his lands in wake of the Dreams. He ripped land, land, Terravore when he had no cards in hand, while I drew three lands and two Llanowar Elves.

Game 3 I came out of the gates quickly and got a quick Chalice for two out before he was able the Therapy it. He had a questionable hand with a bunch of cycle lands and Stomping Grounds, so he didn’t have any Black. He drew into a fetch land and destroyed the Chalice, and then I played a pair of Meddling Mages to lock him. I got a Armadillo Cloak on a Troll and used my Tormod’s Crypt to take away Threshold from his Werebears to trample over for the win.

7-1

Finals: Scepter Chant

Game 1 I got a quick Chalice for 2 down and his entire hand was shut down. For some reason he still Cunning Wished for a Lightning Helix and attempted to cast it on me. He got an Exalted Angel down but I was able to race him with double Hierarch and Call tokens.

I sideboarded in Meddling Mages, Chants, and Krosan Grip.

Game 2 I had another quick start lined up, but he had Meddling Mage for Chalice, and then again for Sword of Fire and Ice. He was manascrewed this game but I still had my own Meddling Mages out naming Wrath of God and Lightning Helix. He had a Hallowed Fountain and two Islands out with 4 cards in hand, and I had two Trinket Mages in hand along with a Call of the Herd in the graveyard. My two Meddling Mages and Call Token would mean that I would have him dead in two turns provided he doesn’t draw White mana for Wrath of God. My options here were to either play a Trinket Mage getting a Pithing Needle to stop his possible, but improbable, Scepter lock, or get Chalice of the Void so I could lock him if he does draw into a Plains for Wrath. Also by getting the Chalice I would give him far less incentive to block with his Meddling Mage so I would have him dead for sure in two turns if he didn’t have a Wrath. I really didn’t think he had a Scepter in hand since he has passed the turn without making anything twice when he could have run a Scepter out there. My main focus here was making the best possible plays post-Wrath, and what better follow up than a Chalice for two. I also could just get the Pithing Needle on my next turn with the other Trinket Mage in my hand so I went for the Chalice of the Void with my first Trinket Mage.

He passes the turn to me again and I draw into Jitte. Naturally I play it and equip and send in everyone but the Mage naming Wrath, and he chump blocks my Trinket Mage and Meddling Mage with both of his Mages, putting him to eleven. At the end of my turn he casts Thirst for Knowledge, a card I didn’t know he had, and discarded a Chrome Mox. On his turn he imprints a Helix on Chrome Mox, casts Scepter imprinting Orim’s Chant and passes the turn with two mana open. He Chants me during my upkeep and I can only get nine damage in with my Call token, Meddling Mage, and Jitte counters. The next three turns were spent playing draw go until he drew into a second Scepter along with another Lightning Helix. I was at fifteen, so I had seven turns to draw a Krosan Grip or Orim’s Chant. I didn’t, so I lost.

Game 3 was a nightmare. I goofed on turn 1 when I imprinted a Chrome Mox with Birds of Paradise with a Trinket Mage in hand. Turns out I wouldn’t have won the game anyway since he had a quick Exalted Angel, so I didn’t beat myself up over it.

Had I gone for Pithing Needle in game 2, or simply not played Jitte and used my second Trinket Mage to get a Pithing Needle, I would have a slot at Yamagata right now. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

…

Two weeks later I hit up another PTQ in Lubbock, Texas. I wasn’t looking forward to the five-hour drive, but I really wanted to play in a big Extended tournament sometime before GP: Dallas. That five-hour drive quickly turned into a seven-hour drive because the driver didn’t want to go faster than the speed limit.

I added a Sensei’s Divining Top and a Flooded Strand to the maindeck in place of a Chalice of the Void and Tree of Tales. I also took the Pithing Needle out of the sideboard to make room for a third Chalice.

This PTQ actually had less people than the San Antonio one, so I was pretty confident. I also stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before, so there was no way I could scrub out.

Round 1: White Weenie

I had the privilege of popping her tournament cherry. She was a nice girl who had a little bit of a punk rock vibe and jet black hair. Much better to look at compared to all the big greasies lurking around the venue.

1-0

Round 2: U/W Infinite Mana Skyscribing

Didn’t really know what to call this deck but he sat next to me round 1 so I had some idea about what was going on. I remembered seeing Stuffy Doll blocking a Rumbling Slum that was Wildsized, so I put him on the dramatic Stuffy Doll / Guilty Conscience combo. Boy was I wrong, It was actually a cute little number that featured the much more efficient Tidewater Minion, Freed from the Real, and an Azorious Chancery to make infinite White mana combo, with Stuffy Doll thrown in for kicks. To protect his combo he used Vedalken Orrey with some cheap countermagic. He used another card to make infinite Blue mana but I forgot what it was. After he has so much mana he uses Skyscribing to draw his entire deck to find some more gas.

2-0

Round 3: Flow Rock

Finally a matchup I can actually talk about.

I won the die roll so I was able to keep the pressure during the entire match. We traded Call tokens twice with Flashback on each side, and then his Putrefy killed my Hierarch. I played another Call and flashed it back before he played a D-Flow that was irrelevant since I had a Chrome Mox, Bird, and Forest in play. He was forced to start chump blocking with some of his Birds and Elves, since he took six early on to setup his mana and only had two basic lands in play so he couldn’t keep up.

Game 2 Troll met Cloak for the first time today, and he had no answer.

3-0

Round 4: Domain Zoo

This matchup is in favor of King in the Castle. The real key is staying out of Tribal Flames range and using the excess Birds and Elves to block the Swiftblade. They usually take 6-9 damage from their own lands, so you only need to hit them a few times before they will be forced into chump block mode.

Game 1 and 2 went pretty much the same way. I got a quick Call and Hierarch out while he got in a quick ten damage. I used my Birds and Elves to hold the fort while I attacked with elephants until he couldn’t attack anymore. In game 2 I used a timely Condemn to stop his Boros Swiftblade when he targeted it with Gaea’s Might, which set him too far back to recover.

4-0

Round 5 and 6: ID

4-0-2

Quarterfinals: Affinity

Game 1 I mulliganed to five and didn’t get three mana sources until he had three Frogmites and two Cranial Plating in play.

I sideboard in Condemn and Krosan Grip for two Chalice, a Chrome Mox, Tormod’s Crypt, and one Phantom Centaur.

Game 2 I had a quick start with Call followed up by Hierarch. Meanwhile he had an Ornithopter, Cranial Plating, and a pair of Ravagers. I had Krosan Grip and Condemn in hand, so I flashed back Call with a Bird untapped and attacked with my other Elephants. On his turn he attacked out, and I blocked my Bird and Call on his two Ravagers. He went all-in on the Ornithopter, and I used Condemn.

Game 3 his hand was kind of slow, and had to leave his Frogmites back because of my Call tokens. Eventually he got Plating out along with a Blinkmoth Nexus, but I had the Krosan Grip for the Nexus and used my Ghost Quarter on his Vault of Whispers to stop instant speed equipping. He was blocked my Calls with his Frogmites so all he had in play was a Glimmervoid, Frogmite, and Seat of the Synod, with three cards in hand. He didn’t draw any more land, and the Elephants finished him off.

Semifinals: G/W Haterator / Flores deck

A friend of mine Paul was playing this deck and he was observing my deck the entire day, so he knew what was going on.

Game 1 I got a Jitte out on turn 3 and never looked back, killing two Exalted Angels along with a pair of Call tokens. He did get the Troll plus Worship combo out, but since I had twelve counters on Jitte I had all the time I needed to find Engineered Explosives and Bird of Paradise to enable Sunburst for four.

I sideboarded in three Condemn and two Krosan Grip for two Chalice, a Chrome Mox, a Pithing Needle, and Tormod’s Crypt.

He played Jitte on turn 2 so I went with the Troll / Call plays, before using Krosan Grip on his Jitte after he attacked. Then I played my own Jitte and he had no answer after he used Orim’s Chant for a couple of turns.

Finals: Tooth and Nail

Going into this match I knew I was a dog game 1, with a lot of sideboarding additions to hopefully swing it in my favor.

Game 1 was pretty intense. I was able to keep him off Tron with Ghost Quarter, and I built up a very strong force with three Elephant Tokens, Loxodon Hierarch, and a pair of Troll Ascetics. I also managed to get a Chalice for two down to stop his Moment’s Peace, Wall of Roots, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and Sylvan Scrying. I still lost, since he was able to Stomphowler my Chalice and then take four extra turns with double Moment’s Peace before he used Mindslaver to look at my deck. I was still hopeful, but it was looking grim since he was using Top and shuffle effects each turn. At around turn 15 or so he finally got his other Tron piece and drew a card off Top to play Tooth and Nail with Entwine, getting Sky Hussar and Kiki-Jiki.

-1 Tormod’s Crypt, -2 Armadillo Cloak, -2 Loxodon Hierarch, -1 Chrome Mox, -1 Engineered Explosives, -2 Brushland
+4 Meddling Mage, +2 Ghost Quarter, +1 Chalice of the Void, +2 Orim’s Chant

After board my game-plan was to set Meddling Mage on Tooth and Nail, drop a Chalice for 2, and make Pithing Needle naming Oblivion Stone.

My opening hand was Windswept Heat, Yavimaya Coast, Birds of Paradise, Trinket Mage, Chalice of the Void, Meddling Mage, Llanowar Elves. Yah it’s probably the nut draw. I used Trinket Mage to get Pithing Needle and had all of the components in play.

He had Duplicant for my Meddling Mage, Stomphowler for my Chalice, and wasn’t even playing O-Stone.

Yup.

Heres the updated list for King in the Castle* and a matchup analysis guide.

This is probably the deck I will be playing at GP: Dallas. Seedtime was added to the sideboard since I can’t expect to dodge the U/W Tron/Cloudpost matchup forever, and it is quite potent against them.

Boros

This is the best matchup. You should never lose this.

– 1 Tormod’s Crypt, -2 Pithing Needle, -1 Sensei’s Divining Top, -1
+ 3 Condemn, + 2 Krosan Grip

Condemn and Krosan Grip are essential after board, since they have Armadillo Cloak and Worship. Engineered Explosives and Chalice are both very good in this matchup, since all their cards cost one and two.

U/W Tron / Cloudpost

This matchup is really bad because the best cards in the deck are Armadillo Cloak and Chalice of the Void. Both of them are totally irrelevant in this matchup, so it turns the Green deck into a clunky pile game 1.

-4 Armadillo Cloak, -2 Chalice of the Void, -1 Tormod’s Crypt, -1 Brushland, -2 Loxodon Hierarch, -1 Chrome Mox
+4 Meddling Mage, +2 Condemn, +3 Seedtime, +2 Ghost Quarter

After board I feel like I have a serious edge in the matchup. I have an answer for all the cards that kill me. Condemn for Exalted Angel, Engineered Explosives for Decree, Ghost Quarter to stop their mana advantage, and Seedtime to turn their Fact or Fictions and counters against them. Seedtime is just brutal, and it is almost impossible for them to effectively play around it so I would say the Green deck becomes a slight favorite after board.

I’ve only played this matchup sideboarded around a dozen times so far, and it’s split even.

Scepter Chant

Chalice of the Void is the key here. Resolve it and your chances of wining skyrocket. Game 1 they probably won’t expect it, so they may leave their guard down when they use Wrath of God on some of your early creatures. However, at the same time they can get the nut draw with turn 1 Scepter imprinting Orim’s Chant, to which the Green deck has no outs.

-4 Armadillo Cloak, -4 Loxodon Hierarch, -1 Llanowar Elves, -1 Chrome Mox, -1 Tormod’s Crypt, – 1 Engineered Explosives
+3 Krosan Grip, +4 Meddling Mage, +3 Seedtime, +2 Condemn

Nice sideboard. After sideboarding in twelve cards it seems like the matchup would tilt dramatically in the Green decks favor, but it really doesn’t. I’ve played this matchup sideboarded around 40 times, with the Green deck taking a little more than half of those.

The Green deck brings in seven two-drops which really conflicts with Chalice, so its really more of a posture card, where the threat of you playing it is what the match revolves around. Sensei’s Divining Top is also key here. Waiting to use fetchlands and Trinket Mage to optimize the effectiveness of Top can be crucial, since you only have three Krosan Grip to deal with the Scepter lock. They real card you need to resolve here is Pithing Needle on Scepter, and then another Pithing Needle on Scepter. Once you have that, Chalice becomes almost irrelevant.

The nice part about this matchup is you don’t compromise your aggressive draws by boarding in a lot of cards. You lose Hierarch, but all your other beaters are there so you can still steal a game with turn 2 Meddling Mage naming Wrath of God followed up by efficient beaters.

TEPS

Another favorable matchup. Again, Chalice for two here all but shuts them down. They can still play the spells to add to the storm count, but since they won’t get any mana off Cabal Ritual or utility off of Burning Wish, it becomes very hard for them. Chalice for zero to stop Lotus Bloom, and Chalice for one to stop their mana fixing and rituals, are also very viable options so you have to evaluate how much time you think you have.

-3 Armadillo Cloak, -1 Brushland, -2 Pithing Needle
+2 Ghost Quarter, +4 Meddling Mage

After board they have Duress coming in, so that will usually be the card you name on Meddling Mage. Chalice and Mage usually don’t interact well together, so you should always play the Mage as soon as possible. Ghost Quarter disrupts them so much since they have so few lands in their deck. Another semi-important factor is the effect the random one-of artifacts have on the game. If you draw a Tormod’s Crypt you can effectively counter a Sins of the Past, and Engineered Explosives can destroy Lotus Bloom during the upkeep.

Aggro Loam

This matchup comes down to Cabal Therapy and whether or not they name the right cards. If they don’t draw it, the Green deck is a big favorite since Chalice for two completely destroys them, leaving them with only two maindeck Putrefy as an answer. They also have a lot of trouble dealing with Armadillo Cloak on either Troll, Hierarch, or Phantom Centaur, so game 1 is in the Green decks favor.

-1 Engineered Explosives, – 2 Umezawa’s Jitte, -2 Phantom Centaur
+3 Meddling Mage, +2 Condemn

I left Hierarch in the maindeck over Centaur since he can regenerate your team if they get a Devastating Dreams off. Meddling Mage should almost always name either Cabal Therapy or Putrefy. Occasionally naming Devastating Dreams to stop them from wrecking you on their next turn is also acceptable. Condemn is used to keep Terravore in check in case you don’t get a Tormod’s Crypt. Again, this matchup hinges on their ability to draw Cabal Therapy and hit with it.

Sunny Side Up

Chalice for one and you win. If not, the Green deck will lose. They have no hand disruption, so if you draw either Trinket Mage or Chalice you should win easily. The Egg deck is also pretty inconsistent, so if they have any kind of an awkward draw you will have an extra couple of draws to get the Chalice out.

-4 Armadillo Cloak
+4 Meddling Mage

The first Meddling Mage should name Second Sunrise, followed by Cunning Wish. Tormod’s Crypt is also really good in this matchup in response to a Second Sunrise, since they usually don’t have enough mana or resources to cast another one in response. This deck isn’t that popular, but I did do a bit of testing against it after Worlds so I threw it in here.

Ichorid

There are two ways to win game 1. Trinket Mage for Tormod’s Crypt and play it as soon as possible to avoid Cabal Therapy, or put a Cloak / Jitte on a creature and out-race their Ichorids and Zombies. If you accomplish either, the Ichorid deck can’t really do anything about it. Chalice for one stops Cabal Therapy, which can be really useful if they get a really fast draw.

-2 Chalice of the Void, -1 Phantom Centaur
+3 Condemn

Again, Cloak, Jitte, and Tormod’s Crypt are the all-stars, but now after board you have a way to stop their Ichorids with Condemn. Engineered Explosives is also super effective here, since you can either kill all their Zombie tokens or wipe Pithing Needle off the board so you can clear a path for your Tormod’s Crypt.

Affinity

Chalice is nearly dead in this matchup since they usually have all their two-mana cards out of their hand by the time you can play it. However, it’s not totally dead, since it stops them from playing late game Fire / Ice, Shrapnel Blast, Cranial Plating, and Arcbound Ravagers. Pithing Needle is the most important card here, since you want to ideally get one down on Cranial Plating and then Arcbound Ravager. Armadillo Cloak also shines here, since without Plating you can out-race them the majority of the time. Still, Affinity is very powerful, and game 1 is about 50/50.

-1 Tormod’s Crypt, -2 Chalice of the Void, -2 Troll Ascetic, -1 Chrome Mox
+3 Condemn, +3 Krosan Grip

After boarding you have a real control element to the deck, since you can shut down whatever game plan they decide to go with. Affinity is used to playing with its back against the wall though, so it’s not too surprising if they can steal a sideboarded game. Overall, the Green deck is still a slight favorite. Affinity can still get those clunky double Ornithopter, double Arcbound Worker, Frogmite draws.

Domain Aggro

I’ve played against this deck extensively, since everyone in my area seems to like it. The fact is that all your creatures are bigger and come out a turn later if they are on the play. One turn usually isn’t enough, and since you have Birds and Elves to block while you bigger creatures attack their low starting life total, the matchup is in the Green deck’s favor.

-1 Tormod’s Crypt, -2 Pithing Needle
+3 Condemn

After board they could have any combination of cards coming in, from Orim’s Chant to Darkblast to Evasive Action, so you really have to watch how many cards they bring. Since their deck has so many sideboarding options, it’s really hard to play around anything definite, but I can’t imagine them having enough cards to swing it in their favor.

Those are the more popular mathcups in a nutshell. The real reason to pick this deck for your next PTQ is that it is so consistently powerful. It doesn’t do anything impressive, like comboing off on turn 3, putting a Orim’s Chant on an Isochron Scepter, or using Cranial Plating to deal massive amounts of damage, but it still beats those decks with its consistency. It’s also a lot of fun to play. Putting a Armadillo Cloak on a big Green creature has always been fun, but it’s just cool to see it actually be good in a format as wide and diverse as Extended. It also has Trinket Mage, which is probably the best card in Extended right now since you have so many options with it.

If you guys have any more questions about matchups, feel free to ask in the forums.

See you at GP: Dallas!

Thanks for reading,

Kyle

Top 5 Picks
1) “Gulag Orkestar” by Beirut
2) “Clap Your Hands!” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
3) “Grid-Iron-Rap” by Streetlife ft. Method Man
4) “The Way We Get By” by Spoon
5) “Rosetta Stoned” by Tool

*King in the Castle! Do this, do that! I made the deck so I get to name it! (The name comes from Borat in case you’ve been kidnapped for the past four months)