You should move to Seattle.
Paseo’s is in Seattle. Paseo’s is the finest sandwich shop in the world. The owner is Cuban; for three months during the winter, he closes the restaurant and heads for warmer climes. He can afford it, because he makes money hand over fist during the other nine months by selling pulled pork sandwiches that have been slathered in a spicy marinade and slow-roasted for hours. After Cedric Phillips arrived in Seattle for last weekend’s StarCityGames.com Open Series weekend, Cedric and Kyle Boddy went straight from the airport to Paseo’s. It is that good.
And when Paseo’s is closed during the winter, you can go to the Elysium Brewing Company, a microbrewery that has won too many awards to list. The Elysium has a seasonal pumpkin ale during the winter; when the weather turns to spring, fights break out over the last few casks.
I can walk ten minutes to four different pho restaurants from my house. Gavin Verhey, noted connoisseur of Thai cuisine, can sample from among over a dozen Thai restaurants in the University District alone.
Between Puget Sound, Lake Union, and Lake Washington, pretty much every point in the city is within fifteen minutes of miles of open water. Or, if you prefer, you can head east and hike in the Cascade Mountains, or west to the Olympics.
The summers are gorgeous. It never snows in the winter. The city is beautiful. The people are friendly.
These are all fine reasons to move to Seattle.
The best reason, however, is the sick karaoke squad you can drum up on a moment’s notice. Kyle Boddy can always be counted on for some Jewish rap, and Daniel Duterte is perpetually ready to drop everything to belt out “Don’t Stop Believing.” Zac Hill is frequently the ringleader of our ragtag crew of miscreants; Zac’s musical tastes range from mid-nineties pop to Sublime, Linkin Park, and the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. Zaiem Beg is always quick to counter accusations that his Long Island Iced Teas are “girly” by pointing out that Long Islands are essentially a full cup of liquor. Lee Sharpe is famously “White and Nerdy.”
This past week, though, we had some out of town ringers joining us. Cedric Phillips had come out to do battle in the StarCityGames.com Open, and Evan Erwin and Conley Woods Brad Nelson were in town to play in the Magic Online Community Cup. Now, Evan Erwin is a man who can party. Anyone who can keep up with Zac Hill is a true master; it must be something about those Southern diets. Brad and I tried to teach Steven Birklid’s girlfriend, Erika, to dance. Erika, meanwhile, in true Jay-Z fashion, proclaimed that while she may have many problems, women were not among them. Respect.
As for Cedric, well. Let’s just say that Cedric was pretty deep in the tank between whether or not he should sing something by Taylor Swift, who is one of his favorite artists, or “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia. Cedric eventually chose the former, but when another young lady stepped up to perform “Torn,” Cedric immediately rushed the stage to join her in a duet. Ced, it seems, is trying to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jackson; I had to chase him into the street when he refused to do shots with the crowd.
The party kept flowing, and good times were had by all. In fact, after well over a dozen men hit the dance floor to join Nate Price in “Party in the USA,” one gentleman at a different table asked his friend if he was sure that they weren’t in a gay bar. And, as the evening was winding down, one young lady, apparently concerned for her safety in the night, requested not one but two Magicians to join her while going home… but perhaps some stories are best told elsewhere.
In between songs, we talked about the upcoming StarCityGames.com Open in Seattle. I was going to skip the Standard half because of a conflict with my graduation ceremony, but I got to talking about Legacy with Zac Hill, Kyle Boddy, and Cedric Phillips. I mentioned a UGW Daze aggro deck that I’d been working on during finals, and was roundly condemned by everyone. Cedric asked me why I wasn’t just playing Dredge; I told him that while game 1 against Reanimator was pretty good, it was really hard to win after boarding when they set up Blazing Archon with a Coffin Purge for your Angel of Despair, and I figured I’d have to win two matches against Reanimator to win the tournament.
Zac was on board with that line of thinking, but thought that playing a midrange Green deck in a format with Lion’s Eye Diamond and Entomb was stupid, no matter how many counterspells I was playing.
Kyle was more blunt. “That deck is bad and you should feel bad. At least you don’t have Stifles.”
Yeah, okay buddy. During the tournament, incidentally, Kyle kept coming up to me after rounds complaining about how awful his deck was.
I ended up playing Reanimator, because I was beating all of the aggro decks pretty handily and felt like the Tendrils matchup was pretty close either way.
Creatures (6)
Lands (17)
Spells (37)
I cut the Minamo before a tournament because I don’t usually get Iona against beatdown and I kept getting crushed by Wasteland. I added a second Swamp rather than an Island so that I could lean on basics to cast multiple Black spells in one turn. I was pretty happy with both of those changes. Luis Scott-Vargas, Mike Thompson, and I all played an Echoing Truth where Gerry’s latest list has a Sickening Dreams; I never tutored for Dreams against aggro, and I wanted it for the mirror and for anything random that Terastodon couldn’t bail me out of, like Humility. I think I boarded the fourth Thoughtseize in against literally everyone, but I’m not sure what to cut for it. Perhaps a Careful Study or the Echoing Truth, but having the bounce spell plus Coffin Purge gives you a lot of ammo in the mirror.
I think pretty much everyone has Bloodghast and Dryad Arbor these days, so if you’re looking for edge in the mirror, you will probably need to find it elsewhere. Extirpate gets Bloodghast but is sort of loose otherwise; Luis wanted a Crypt KEEPER before the tournament and couldn’t find one, but KEEPER sounds pretty sweet. I would suggest that the Diabolic Edict in the sideboard become a Doom Blade; Edict is pretty much always going to kill a Bloodghast, whereas Blade lets you actually point and click.
Round 1: Walter, Belcher combo
Walter won the roll and immediately went deep into the tank. After a while, he came out of it and decided to cycle Street Wraith. Then he cycled another Street Wraith. Then he passed the turn. I Forced his Goblin Charbelcher on turn 2 and Reanimated Iona on turn 3.
In game 2, Walter produced a turn 1 Goblin Charbelcher. I had a turn 1 Pithing Needle.
Round 2: Ulysses, Black-White aggro
I played a Sea and Thoughtseized Ulysses and saw two Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrublands[/author], Wasteland, Vindicate, Stoneforge Mystic, Gatekeeper of Malakir, and Vampire Nighthawk. My hand was Daze, Mystical, Mystical, Sea, Delta. I figured he had Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares in his deck and decided to take an Iona on White line, so I took his Gatekeeper planning on Dazing his Nighthawk. He open Wastelanded me, then drew another and blew up my other Sea. I ended up getting Terastodon and blowing up one of my lands and both of his; he drew three lands in a row and Vindicated me out.
In the next game, Ulysses had Leyline on turn 1 and showed me a Faerie Macabre when I Thoughtseized him. I Tutored up Show and Tell and put Iona into play. He drew his Karakas.
Round 3: Bryan, Merfolk
Game 1: He started clocking me with Cursecatcher and Mutavault. I drew a bunch of lands and Exhumed Blazing Archon with mana up for Cursecatcher plus Daze and a Force in the grip.
Game 2: I Thoughtseized myself and Reanimated Sphinx of the Steel Wind on turn 2 with two Force of Wills.
Round 4: James, Enchantress
In game 1, I Thoughtseized him, took Runed Halo, and had Entomb + Reanimate on turn 2. Iona on White was good enough.
In game 2, I Thoughtseized him, saw that he had kept a one-lander with two Utopia Sprawl, and had Entomb + Reanimate for Terastodon on turn 2.
Round 5: Jared, mirror
In game 1, Jared moved in early, Reanimating Iona on turn 2 with a Force for my Daze. He hit me with it twice before I was able to tutor up Echoing Truth. He then set up an Exhume for Terastodon, but I had drawn the maindeck Coffin Purge and we settled into a standoff where neither of us had the life to cast Reanimate, and where if either of us cast Exhume we would both get Blazing Archon. He decked first.
In game 2, I Entombed Bloodghast, got it back, and beat him up with the Ghast and Dryad Arbor while Coffin Purging his attempts at Reanimate.
Round 6: Alex, Mono White Stax
When Alex pulled his deck out of his box, he flashed Ancient Tomb and a White spell that had old borders and not a lot of text. I thought it was Wrath of God, so when he opened on Plains I put a turn 2 Iona into play and named White, figuring that if I got Inkwell he was drawing live to Wrath. He had his one Karakas.
In game 2, I got Terastodon after he played Smokestack. I sacrificed the Terastodon to Smokestack and Reanimated it back. We both ended up with a bunch of Elephants. I Mysticaled for Force and Forced his Oblivion Ring and just barely pulled it out.
In game 3, I kept Thoughtseize, Entomb, Reanimate. He played Ancient Tomb, Chalice of the Void for one. Then he played Trinisphere. Then he played Armageddon. I kept drawing lands and had drawn my Show and Tell, so I was just waiting on a large animal. He played Chalice for two. I kept drawing bricks. He played Chalice for three. I promptly drew Iona. Mishra’s Factory got me.
Round 7: Jeff Cunningham, mirror
In game 1, I kept a slowish hand and got Thoughtseized. Jeff Reanimated an Iona fairly quickly and I conceded when he cast Mystical Tutor for Force of Will.
In game 2, I Entombed Bloodghast and beat Jeff down with it and a Dryad Arbor. I was able to Purge Jeff’s Bloodghast, and held on to a second Purge and an Echoing Truth while the troops went all the way.
In game 3, I mulliganned and kept a one-land hand full of Blue cards. I found a bunch of lands, but didn’t have much gas. Jeff ground me down into the midgame until my grip was Terastodon, Force of Will, Reanimate, and Careful Study, and I didn’t pull the trigger on the Reanimate because Study was my only Blue card. Jeff set up Iona, had his own Force, and got me. I probably should’ve tried to Study into a second Blue card, but that line didn’t occur to me until later.
Round 8: Goblins
I’d forgotten to desideboard while talking to Jeff after our match, so my nut draw of Entomb into Exhume with Force and Thoughtseize got pretty awkward. “Why is this Bloodghast here, and where is my Sphinx of the Steel Wind?” I called a judge over and handed him the slip while I went about fixing my sideboard.
Still flustered from that mishap, I promptly mulliganned in game 2. After looking at my six card hand of Sea, Swamp, Thoughtseize, Careful Study, Reanimate, Iona I realized I didn’t have enough cards and drew a seventh.
John Carter: “Why am I coming back to your match?”
Lost that one, oddly enough.
…
Reanimator is pretty sweet. I would probably play 74/75 again, adding a Crypt Keeper to the sideboard over probably Sadistic Sacrament, because it’s pretty rare that I want to tutor for Sacrament against Tendrils; I have to have three mana and they can’t have Tendrils in their hand, and it has to be better than Reanimating Iona. Sacrament has some other applications, but none of them are totally awesome and Crypt Keeper even provides some overlap against the mirror.
There hasn’t been quite enough said about the mechanics of actually playing Reanimator, so I want to touch on a few points about the targets:
It’s actually pretty rare that you want to set up Iona against beatdown decks. Like, you can lock them out, sure, but unless you had a nut Entomb into Exhume draw, you probably won’t be able to race a couple of Merfolk, much less a Zoo deck that can potentially cast some burn spells. It’s generally better to get Blazing Archon or Sphinx of the Steel Wind and aggressively tutor for Thoughtseize and Force of Will to beat the other guy’s removal spells.
Similarly, you frequently want to get Inkwell Leviathan against control decks, not Iona. Note that if you are getting Inkwell against a Knight of the Reliquary deck, they can probably use Knight to turn off your Islandwalk, and then grow Knight to an 8/8 relatively quickly. Consider Sphinx of the Steel Wind here.
I’ll probably write about the UGW brew next week, assuming there’s interest. The main innovation is Noble Hierarch, which lets you win Tarmogoyf fights and allows you to cast a two-drop while cantripping or holding up permission. I also cut Stifle, because that card is pretty terrible.
Move to Seattle. You know you want to.
Max McCall
max dot mccall at gmail dot com