In case you missed it in the forums, Area 51 in Gravepine, Texas, isn’t the only store running a League like ours. Top Shelf Games in Fort Wayne, Indiana (6742 East State Boulevard, Fort Wayne, IN 46815-7762, (260) 749-6669), is also running a Thursday night League based on the Armada League. The movement has begun!
The Kresh deck has been back and forth, stuff in, stuff out, just for variety’s sake. Here’s the build:
CREATURES (30)
Acidic Slime
Anathemancer
Artisan of Kozilek
Big Game Hunter
Bloodshot Cyclops
Bone Shredder
Butcher of Malakir
Caller of the Claw
Charnelhoard Wurm
Creakwood Liege
Eternal Witness
Farhaven Elf
Greater Gargadon
Hamletback Goliath
Lord of Extinction
Madrush Cyclops
Mitotic Slime
Nantuko Vigilante
Nezumi Graverobber
Pelakka Wurm
Primeval Titan
Solemn Simulacrum
Spawnwrithe
Spearbreaker Behemoth
Stalking Vengeance
Thicket Elemental
Wilderness Elemental
Withered Wretch
Woodfall Primus
Yavimaya Elder
ARTIFACTS (6)
Altar of Dementia
Eldrazi Monument
Scrabbling Claws
Skullclamp
Sol Ring
Tormod’s Crypt
SORCERIES (7)
Cultivate
Decree of Pain
Demonic Tutor
Explosive Revelation
Living Death
Natural Order
Regrowth
INSTANTS (11)
Berserk
Consume the Meek
Fling
Krosan Grip
Grab the Reins
Makeshift Mannequin
Momentous Fall
Red Elemental Blast
Reroute
Summoning Trap
Worldly Tutor
ENCHANTMENTS (8)
Fires of Yavimaya
Goblin Bombardment
Greater Good
Lurking Predators
Oversold Cemetery
Pernicious Deed
Survival of the Fittest
Vicious Shadows
LANDS (37)
Akoum Refuge
Bayou
Bojuka Bog
Exotic Orchard
9 Forest
Forgotten Cave
4 Mountain
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
Overgrown Tomb
Rakdos Carnarium
Reliquary Tower
Savage Lands
Skarrg, the Rage Pits
Stomping Ground
8 Swamp
Tainted Wood
Temple of the False God
Twilight Mire
Vesuva
You’ll note fewer creatures (30) than I normally run, and it will eventually have an impact. Just for the League, I decided to temporarily take out Oversold Cemetery and Reroute and insert Tsabo’s Decree and Tsabo’s Web. Instinct tells me there will be Tribal decks, and the Web is just so good at shutting down stuff: Academy Ruins and Maze of Ith being the first thoughts.
Turnout is 20, so we’re back to old numbers.
GAME 1
I’m seated with Scott (Kodama of the North Tree), Torin (Thada Adel), and Aaron F. (Teneb). I end up mulliganing four times before I see a three-land hand, and when I do, it’s all Swamps. Kind of frowns (three Forests would have been better), but it’s how we’ve agreed to do it, so I keep it. The first enchantment is Higher Ground.
TURN 1
Scott: Snow-Covered Forest
Me: Swamp, Skullclamp
Aaron: Swamp
Torin: Island
TURN 2
Scott: Snow-Covered Forest, Nature’s Lore
Me: Swamp, Withered Wretch. My two draws so far didn’t get lands, but the Clamp and Wretch are okayish.
Aaron: Forest, Into the North.
Torin: Island
TURN 3
Scott: Vine Trellis, Treetop Village
Me: Swamp, Clamp the Wretch, attack Torin (37)
Aaron: Fetid Heath
Torin: Island, Thada. No one else is playing Islands to get walked on.
TURN 4
Scott: Indrik Stomphowler takes out the Skullclamp
Me: Tainted Wood, Creakwood Liege. Attack Aaron (37).
Aaron: Genesis
Torin: Reliquary Tower
TURN 5
Scott: Attacks me (36). Brawn.
Me: Make a token, get nothing else.
Aaron: Lurking Predators.
Torin: Academy Ruins. Treachery on Genesis, which seems a little wonky. Aaron Predators into Acidic Slime, which renders the choice moot. Mana Vault. Aaron gets Deathbringer Liege. Duplicant, Aaron gets Angel of Despair, taking out Withered Wretch. Torin Imprints the Angel. Sculpting Steel copies Mana Vault.
TURN 6
Scott: Thornling. Aaron gets Harmonic Sliver, taking out Duplicant. Attacks me with Stomphowler, I block with the token, and sends the Brawn into Torin (34).
Me: Oran-Rief, the Vastwood. At least I’ll have the second Green next turn.
Aaron: Temple Garden untapped (35), Grave Titan. I respond with Krosan Grip, targeting the Predators. He ships a land to the bottom. Aaron kills Stomphowler with the Liege. Genesis attacks Torin (30) and Acidic Slime comes my way (34).
Torin: Pays for one Mana Vault, takes pain from the other one (29). At this point, I think taking the 2 damage is worthwhile; otherwise, he’s just taking his turn untapping one of them and not doing much else. He casts Ray of Command on the Titan, attacking Aaron, who blocks with one of his Zombie tokens.
TURN 7
Scott: Duplicant, getting Grave Titan.
Me: Big Game Hunter on Scott’s Thornling while he’s tapped out. Put a counter on the token that came into play this turn.
Aaron: Diabolic Tutor (killing Vine Trellis with Deathbringer) for Eternal Witness, getting back Lurking Predators.
Torin: Pays for one Mana Vault, takes pain from the other (28).
TURN 8
Scott: Sylvan Scrying. The new Enchantment is Liability. Drops Temple of the False God, and casts Eternal Witness, getting back the Thornling.
Me: Yavimaya Elder, sacrifice it immediately to get two lands so I can drop one this turn. I get a Mountain and a Forest. It will turn out that not getting a second Mountain will hurt, although it seemed at the time that getting the extra source of Green was more important. These are the decisions on which games of Magic are won and lost. The only Red thing I had in hand was Goblin Bombardment, but I know that some of my best Red spells cost RR (Stalking Vengeance being the operative), so it’s something to think about in the future.
Aaron: During Aaron’s upkeep, Torin casts Echoing Truth. Aaron recasts Lurking Predators.
Torin: During his upkeep, Academy Ruins brings back his Duplicant. Casts Mana Vault. Aaron ships a land. Demonic Tutor ships another land. Sculpting Steel ships a third land. Sculpting Steel copies Duplicant, taking out Aaron’s Eternal Witness.
TURN 9
Scott: Khalni Heart Expedition. Predators whiffs. Okina, Temple of the Grandfathers.
Me: Forest, Goblin Bombardment. Predators whiffs again.
Aaron: Fetchland, cracks it, losing an extra to Liability (34). Casts Teneb, tapping and blowing up my Liege. I fling it at Aaron’s face, me to (32), him to (33).
Torin: Cloak and Dagger. Predators brings up Cloudthresher. Me to (30), Torin (26), Scott (38), Aaron (31). Leyline of Anticipation and Predators sends away Primal Command.
TURN 10
Scott: Harrow (37), Predators gets Academy Rector, triggering his Expedition (36), getting two more Forests.
Me: Spearbreaker Behemoth. Maybe should have played Kresh there. Predators ships a land.
Aaron: Tolsimir Wolfsblood, taps Brawn. Attacks Scott with Teneb (26).
Torin: Pain (25) and equips Thada.
TURN 11
Scott: Thornling. Predators gets Vampire Hexmage. Kind of icky for Kresh.
Me: Cast Kresh anyway, and put a counter on him with Oran-Rief. I need that other Mountain to cast the Stalking Vengeance I drew, and I’ll be in business.
Aaron: Attacks Torin with Teneb (15). Thinks for a bit. Casts Ob-Nixilis. Casts Scapeshift, and sacrifices 10 lands (21). Just as he’s putting them in the yard, and before he even searches his library, Michael calls a new Enchantment (unlucky!). There are 10 Ob-Nixilis triggers, and he says that he should kill me because my deck can come out of nowhere with a lot of damage. I agree with him, but he decides to kill Torin instead and take Scott down to 15.
TURN 12
Scott: Elephant Grass. That’s awesome.
Me: I have Anathemancer. Aaron has nine non-basics. I don’t have enough to cast it, Bombard it, and Unearth it, or I would kill Aaron. I think a little about targeting Aaron, but I don’t think I can survive an attack from both him and Scott. Taking out Scott is the only sure thing I can do, so I target him to get him in range (8). I have 8 things to sacrifice, so I wait until Aaron’s turn.
Aaron: Attacks me with Teneb (20). Casts Indrik Stomphowler, targeting Bombardment, and I take the sure kill on Scott. In hindsight, had I targeted Aaron with Anathemancer, I can block his attacks (Ob-Nixilis being the big one), then shoot stuff at him and Unearth to kill him, but only after getting smacked to near zero by Scott. It may have been worth the risk after all.
TURN 13
Me: I have no answers. I draw Tsabo’s Decree, which will be good if he plays Conspiracy. Since he doesn’t, he kills me, but falls short of the 40+ he needs for Overkill (since I Decree away the Ob-Nix).
Aaron wins the table. I think he still wins if I kill him and then Scott kills me, but I didn’t really take the time to check.
GAME 2
I sit down with Patrick (Rune-Tail), Tory (Angus MacKenzie), and James (Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile). James has put together the first Kithkin EDH deck I’ve seen, and his General seems really interesting.
The first Enchantment is Field of Souls.
TURN 1
Me: Bayou. The Bayou, which was originally a white-bordered one, has been altered by Aaron’s girlfriend Kristy. In the deck I’m playing, she’s also done a Greater Good and a Worldly Tutor, all of which are worth taking a look at.
In case you’re curious, I would consider none of these legal for sanctioned play. When in doubt about an altered card, consult the Head Judge (and always bring a backup just in case).
Tory: Island
James: Mistveil Plains
Patrick: Miren, the Moaning Well.
TURN 2
Me: Forest
Tory: Bant Panorama and cracks it.
James: Plains, Knight of Meadowgrain.
Patrick: Eiganjo Castle. Where’s that Legendary Landwalk guy when you need him?
TURN 3
Me: Mountain, Bone Shredder. I probably wouldn’t play it without the Field of Souls, but Field of Souls is an enticement since I can fail to pay Echo and get something out of it. And the Knight has lifelink. Of course, with three white (two of them mono-) decks, this game is going to last, so a little early lifegain might not be a big deal.
Tory: Forest, Spore Frog, Greaves, attaches. Attacks Patrick. Spore Frog gets in there!
James: Burrenton Bombardier.
Patrick: Plains, Sol Ring, Rune-tail, which flips.
TURN 4
Me: Forest, Wilderness Elemental.
Tory: Plains, Angus.
James: Kor Haven.
Patrick: Taj-Nar Swordsmith for 2, gets Greaves, equips it.
TURN 5
Me: Forest. Attack Patrick, who blocks (I forgot Rune-Tail), and takes only one from the Trample (38).
Tory: Seaside Citadel, equips Angus.
James: Nothing. Stalled at four lands.
Patrick: Plains.
TURN 6
Me: Lurking Predators.
Tory: Mobilization. I ship a land. So here’s the deal. This Lurking Predators will trigger about 35 times in this game. I will get maybe 5 creatures off it. Worst LPreds ever. I’ll tell you when I actually get something off of it.
James: Kithkin Harbinger, gets Militia’s Pride.
Patrick: Battlegrace Angel. Attacks me (37), Patrick to (41).
TURN 7
Me: Keep Summoning Trap mana.
Tory: Vengeful Archon. I get a Spawnwrithe.
James: Militia’s Pride.
Patrick: Plains. At EOT, I Trap, and the only creature I see in seven cards is Big Game Hunter. It takes out the otherwise-nasty Archon.
TURN 8
Me: Creakwood Liege and Suspend Greater Gargadon.
Tory: Nothing
James: Order of the White Clay.
Patrick: Fight or Flight. Decree of Pain is the card that’s on top, and since Patrick has mana, I decide to ship it. He doesn’t cast anything else, and I kick myself a little. Swordsmith attacks James, who blocks with Order. Patrick to (44).
TURN 9
Me: Scrabbling Claws
Tory: Nothing.
James: Ballynock Trapper.
Patrick: Blazing Archon. Pernicious Deed is on top, and I keep it there. He puts the Greaves on the Archon.
TURN 10
Me: Kresh
Tory: Seedborn Muse
James: Path to Exile on the Liege. Predators reveals Vicious Shadows, which I ship because I just don’t want to play it at this table. It’s in there mostly as an anti-Spike card, and this game is shaping up to be interesting and fun, so I don’t feel the need to end it. In fact, I won’t be the only person that feels the same way during the game. I sacrifice the Liege to the Gargadon instead of getting the land.
Patrick: Deathless Angel. Swordsmith attacks me, I block with a token and then sacrifice it to Gargadon so he doesn’t gain life.
TURN 11
Me: Cast the Deed.
Tory: Crystal Shard, and Predators finally gets a good creature: Butcher of Malakir. Tory uses the Shard, but I pay the mana. No loss for him, since he’ll untap on James’ turn.
James: Forbidding Watchtower. The Enchantment changes to Elemental Augury.
Patrick: Attacks, Angels at me, Swordsmith at James, but Tory fogs with Angus.
TURN 12
Me: Nothing
Tory: Top. When he declares attackers, Patrick reminds him of Fight or Flight. It’s at this point that I decide to stop writing the play-by-play. I’d much rather just enjoy playing this game, and it’s getting rather involved. I’d also prefer to not slow down play by having to ask folks to hold up while I write down stuff. It doesn’t happen often, but it looks like it’s going to happen here.
I make notes on what happens the rest of the way out, and it gets kind of crazy.
There’s a point where I Tory starts making piles of tokens with Mobilization and Seedborn Muse. At the end of Patrick’s turn, when I have five tokens of my own, and Patrick has five creatures and Tory only three (I really want to get rid of that Seedborn), I Deed for 0. Patrick, not wanting to lose his guys, Paths the Butcher, but I can sacrifice my dudes to the Gargadon anyway. It ends up still costing Patrick his creatures, but Tory gets to keep the Seedborn, since he has enough tokens to sacrifice to the Butcher triggers. I end up with a giant Kresh, but it’s not really going anywhere with Angus and all the fog effects.
The game from there is a little swingy, but for the most part (and I’m not sure Patrick and James realize the extent), Tory has a strong amount of control and is consolidating a rather powerful board. James helps his cause by dropping Crusade.
I get next to nothing off of Lurking Predators. There’s one time that it triggers and Tory actually pays with Elemental Augury to try to put a dude on top for me… and there are no creatures in the top three.
At some point, Tory also wants to keep the game going longer, so he casts Arbiter of Knollridge, and we’re all up in the high 50s in life. Things get kind of insane when Endless Whispers becomes the fourth enchantment. I’ve somewhere in there played Eternal Witness and gotten back Summoning Trap, only to have it once again reveal no relevant dudes. I really don’t want to have to Consume the Meek while that’s in play and give someone else the Witness, but I guess it would be preferable to dying.
While at 76 life, Tory casts Storm Herd. Fortunately for us, James has Martial Coup (although I was still holding the Consume the Meek, which would have made Kresh IMMENSE). Shortly thereafter, I cast Nezumi Graverobber and get him flipped. I start reanimating stuff from my own yard (plus Patrick’s Blazing Archon, so attacks go elsewhere).
During Patrick’s turn, I know that time is going to be called on mine (meaning it’s my last turn), so I need to go for it. At his EOT, I reanimate James’ Sun Titan. I have Stalking Vengeance, Lord of Extinction (who is 48/48), and Hamletback Goliath (61/61) all in play, although life totals are high enough that I think I can only actually kill one person. My plan is to attack with the Sun Titan, regrow Pernicious Deed, and Deed for 7 to kill most of my dudes. Tory, however, has other ideas. When I attack and target the Deed, he casts Evacuation. I have no sac outlets (otherwise I wouldn’t have worried about attacking with the Titan), so the board is cleared before Deed gets into play.
That means everyone survives the entire game (which is worth a point for everyone). It was one of the most enjoyable League games I’ve played in a while. Everyone had a great time, and much Chaos was Embraced, for sure.
Next week, look for new tech with Intet, the Dreamer. If you have outside-the-box suggestions for cards to add to the deck, let me know!