In the wake of my last two articles, there has been some excellent debate as to whether Black should be included in the Belcher lists. I admit that I did not adequately address this issue last week, nor the week before. It is a legitimate question, and I don’t know what the right answer is. I had decided at the outset to work primarily with the list that was developed by Nat Moes because I had seen it in action and saw that it worked. The more I think about it, it seems to me that the real reason to run Black is not the tutor suite or spell base but the sheer acceleration quotient of Dark Ritual. Every other card that nets two mana that costs either zero or one is restricted. That said, the question is whether running Dark Ritual is worth the dilution of the manabase. It could very well be. I am interested in trying to tune the list myself, but I wanted to first take it for a spin and see how it fared against the Probasco Gifts list. Next week, I’ll fully address the questions raised regarding whether Belcher should have Black, Blue, or neither, and try out as many lists as I can conjure up. After that, I’ll do a review of Future Sight and then turn my attention to other subjects. It may be that Future Sight provides more options for Belcher as well.
Last week I ran a set of five games, pre-board. This week, I’m running the same decklists, but we’ll move right ahead into sideboarding, playing a five game set.
For reference, here are the decklists:
DeckID=20523
Burning Belcher
Nat Moes
4 Goblin Charbelcher
4 Empty the Warrens
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Rite of Flame
4 Tinder Wall
4 Land Grant
3 Seething Song
4 Chromatic Star
3 Goblin Welder
4 Pyroblast
2 Living Wish
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Memory Jar
1 Lotus Petal
1 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Channel
1 Chrome Mox
1 Black Lotus
5 Moxen
1 Taiga
Sideboard
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Shattering Spree
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Goblin Welder
1 Taiga
Since Belcher was on the play in the last game of our previous set, I’ll have Gifts play first in this set, and then we’ll alternative from there.
Sideboarding with Belcher
Once more, here is the sideboard Nat Moes provided:
Sideboard
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Ancient Tomb
2 Shattering Spree
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Goblin Welder
1 Taiga
The first question is deciding what we want to bring in as a general matter. It’s clear that Nat has included Xantid Swarms here for the control matchup, but it seems to me that they are of questionable overall utility. I’ll be bringing them in because they are there, but I’ll be doing so grudgingly. If they prove ineffective, they’ll get cut. I am also aware that the Gifts player will be bringing in Pithing Needle, so we’ll probably want the two Shattering Sprees.
As I look through the mainboard, there are essentially three categories of cards:
Mana
Threats: Empty the Warrens, Belcher, Wheel / Jar
Support: Welders, etc.
This could prove problematic, but I don’t really see a choice but to cut the Chromatic Stars and a Welder. As a side note, I wonder if Chromatic Star is really worth the slot without more colors. Perhaps that cycling dude from Future Sight should replace those once Future Sight becomes legal.
In the end, I make the following sideboard choices:
4 Chromatic Star
1 Goblin Welder
+ 2 Shattering Spree
+ 3 Xantid Swarm
I’ll bring in the fourth Swarm when I’m on the play. Swarm is less good on the draw since Gifts has an extra turn and is fairly adept at comboing out.
Sideboarding with Gifts
On the play, Duress is pure gold. I’ll be bringing in three Duress. We also want the two Pithing Needles. Here’s what I settled on:
+ 3 Duress
+ 2 Pithing Needles
– Tormod’s Crypt
– Pyroblast
– Timetwister
– Skeletal Scrying
– Library of Alexandria
If Library is weak, it’s especially weak in this matchup. The Belcher deck is a deck that is oriented around doing something on the first turn. Library is a tremendous tempo loss and produces no useful color of mana. Scrying is fairly slow, and simply worse than Duress here. Timetwister is also a dangerous proposition against Belcher. Needle and Duress are better proactive solutions.
Game 1:
I shuffle up and here is what Gifts sees:
Mox Sapphire
Polluted Delta
Underground Sea
Flooded Strand
Brainstorm
Brainstorm
Repeal
This is a great hand. Keep.
Belcher draws:
Black Lotus
Mox Emerald
Mana Crypt
Seething Song
Elvish Spirit Guide
Rite of Flame
Pyroblast
This hand has Pyroblast and Elvish Spirit Guide. It goes back. Mulligan into:
Black Lotus
Lotus Petal
Mox Pearl
Memory Jar
Empty the Warrens
Empty the Warrens
Keep.
Turn 1:
Gifts plays Mox Sapphire.
Immediately we face a difficult decision. We could Repeal the Sapphire here just to draw a card and then Brainstorm. That would dig us a card deeper and make our Brainstorm stronger. On the other hand, if the Belcher player drops Xantid Swarm, we may want the Repeal around to bounce it. I decide to just play Brainstorm, drawing:
Time Walk
Pithing Needle
Force of Will
Good lord, that’s strong. Dropping Needle here on Belcher will immediately take out half of Belcher’s threats. I put back Underground Sea and Repeal. Once I play the Needle the only threat remaining will be Empty the Warrens. Break Flooded Strand for Volcanic Island and play Needle naming Belcher.
Belcher draws Elvish Spirit Guide.
Belcher attempts to play Black Lotus.
Now Gifts faces a difficult decision. Should it counter the Black Lotus? Here are the salient considerations:
Black Lotus fuels Empty the Warrens
On the other hand, our Needle takes out Belcher as a threat.
On the other hand, our Force of Will does nothing against Empty the Warrens. In order to stop Warrens, if they have it, we need to cut off the mana.
However, this could be bait. The fact that Belcher mulliganed suggests that it is more probable that the Black Lotus is necessary to play Empty the Warrens than otherwise.
Therefore, I’ll force the Lotus. I’ll pitch the Time Walk and not the Brainstorm. 18 life.
Belcher is one mana short of being able to play Empty the Warrens, so it passes the turn.
Note that if Belcher had been on the play, Gifts would have been unable to stop Black Lotus.
Turn 2:
Gifts draws Mox Pearl.
Tap the Sapphire and play Brainstorm, drawing:
Recoup
Tendrils of Agony
Mana Drain
Pretty awful. Put back Recoup and Tendrils. Play Delta, break it for Sea and pass the turn.
Belcher draws Taiga.
I’ll have the Belcher player play Mox Pearl. There is no reason for the Gifts player to counter it.
I have the Belcher player play the Lotus Petal. The only reason to counter this right now is to cut off the Belcher player from a colored mana. However, as only the second mana source, it would seem logical that any further mana production would be counterable.
Unfortunately for Gifts, Belcher drops Taiga and removes Elvish Spirit Guide, and plays Empty the Warrens.
Should Gifts Drain the last copy of Empty the Warrens?
If we Drain it, Belcher will have four Goblins. If we don’t Drain it, we’ll be dealing with six Goblins. The Gifts player is at seventeen life. Six Goblins is three more turns of play, including next turn. Four Goblins, assuming we can use all the Drain mana, that gives us Five more turns, including next turn. However, if we burn even one mana, we only get four more turns. Finally, if we burn all four, then we still have four turns. In short, Draining an copy of Empty the Warrens saves a turn, even if we burn for all four mana.
Mana Drain targeting Empty the Warrens. Four Goblins enter play.
Turn 3:
Gifts draws… Force of Will…
Oh the irony. I could play Mox Pearl and then use three of the colorless mana floating, and tap two of my Islands to Force of Will the Mox. Although that play saves three life, it’s not actually worth it. It’s not worth it, first of all, because I don’t gain any turns. If I could use all 4 of the colorless mana, that would be a different matter. Second, if I draw a card like Brainstorm, I’m going to want all of the resources I have to maximize the cards in hand. Third, Mox Pearl is an important mana source at this stage of the game. If I’m going to win, it’s going to because of Gifts and then Recouping Yawgmoth’s Will. I need all the mana I can get.
I burn four mana and go to 13 life.
Belcher draws… Tinder Wall. Attack with 4 Goblins, sending Gifts to 9 life.
Tap Taiga and play Tinder Wall. Pass the turn.
Turn 4:
Gifts draws Brainstorm! Odd that we’ve drawn a third Brainstorm already, but that makes our plays last turn correct. Now we face a difficult decision. Should we Brainstorm now? Next turn I’ll be at five life with one more turn to survive.
What would you do? Brainstorm now or later?
I decide to wait.
Belcher draws: Rite of Flame.
Attack Gifts to 5 life.
Now we have two options. First, we can play Rite of Flame into Empty the Warrens so that we have 8 Goblins on the table, ensuring a win next turn. Or we could play Memory Jar. The problem with the Jar plan is that it does nothing. I am going to either draw: 1) nothing relevant or 2) something relevant. The only thing that is relevant is Empty the Warrens or Shattering Spree. This is because of the Pithing Needle.
Therefore, I play Rite of Flame, sacrifice the Tinder Wall, and cast another Empty the Warrens. I drop four more men on the table.
Gifts has one last turn to win or die. Let’s see if sandbagging that Brainstorm was wise.
Turn 5:
Gifts draws… Black Lotus!
Gifts plays Brainstorm (off the Mox Sapphire) into Sol Ring, Mox Ruby, and finally Demonic Tutor. Note that if I had played Brainstorm last turn, I wouldn’t have seen the Demonic Tutor.
I put back Mox Pearl and Force of Will.
Play Black Lotus.
Play Mox Ruby. Tap Mox Ruby. Play Sol Ring.
Storm is 4. Sacrifice Black Lotus for BBB. Tap Sol Ring. Play Demonic Tutor with BB floating.
Use a colorless and a Black and a Volcanic island to play Yawgmoth’s Will.
Play a Polluted Delta from the graveyard.
Play Black Lotus from the graveyard. Storm is 7.
I have exactly enough mana with my two lands, Black mana floating, and renewed Black Lotus to play Tendrils for eighteen or Empty the Warrens for eighteen men. That’s what I do.
I’m at four life with 18 goblins on the board to the Belcher player’s eight.
Belcher draws: Play Tinder Wall and pass the turn.
Turn 6:
Gifts draws the second Pithing Needle. Remember that the last card in the Belcher player’s hand is Memory Jar. There is no way that as Gifts player I’d name Memory Jar. It’s too unlikely and not even something I’d think of. The card I’d be tempted to name would be Goblin Welder. However, since our first Needle stops the Belchers, recurring Belcher with Welder is sort of redundant. Even if the first Needle can be removed, stopping Welder doesn’t seem like a priority. I decide to either play the second Needle naming Goblin Charbelcher, once more, or just to not play it. If the Belcher player has artifact removal, it may be worthwhile naming Belcher again. I’m just not sure.
Okay, so now we have to think a bit about combat. Gifts has eighteen goblins to Belcher’s eight. Gifts is at four life. Belcher is at twenty life. They also have a Tinder Wall. If I attack with all 18, then Belcher will attack and win. We need to leave some Goblins behind to block. It also seems important to shorten the game as much as possible.
If we attack with eleven Goblins, he can block nine (using Tinder Wall to block one), and three damage will get through. The following turn I can attack with ten men, and nine damage will get through. The following turn I can do the same thing. If I attack with twelve goblins, he may just block with the Tinder Wall, taking eleven. Then he’ll attack me with eight Goblins and I can only block six, going to two life. Then I’ll untap and win. So, I want to attack with at least nine, but no more than thirteen (that way I’ll have at least five blockers to survive his possible attack).
I attack with twelve Goblins. Belcher just blocks nine of them, going to seventeen life. Eight goblins in both armies perish.
Belcher draws: Simian Spirit Guide. Well, I suppose I should play the Jar and try to get more Goblins on the Table. I tap Taiga, sacrifice Tinder Wall, tap Mox Pearl, and remove Simian Spirit Guide from game to play Memory Jar.
Now, Belcher has two options: 1) It can pass the turn, hoping to Jar when it has all its mana available (untapped). Or, 2) it can break the Jar now and hope to see enough mana to play Empty the Warrens (or artifact removal to kill the Pithing Needle and drop a Belcher). The real risk to passing the turn is that they’ll bounce the Jar and we won’t be able to play it (and the potential for more Pithing Needle, which Belcher isn’t anticipating).
Because of the risk of bounce, I decide to break the Jar now.
Belcher draws:
Elvish Spirit Guide
Elvish Spirit Guide
Xantid Swarm
Living Wish
Goblin Charbelcher
Goblin Charbelcher
Simian Spirit Guide
Wow! Just looking at this hand, there are a plethora of options. First and foremost, Living Wish for Goblin Welder can produce a Memory Jar next turn! Second, we could Living Wish for even Gorilla Shaman or some artifact-killing creature to deal with the Pithing Needle. Alternatively, we could Wish for something and play Xantid Swarm. We could also Wish for a land, perhaps Bazaar of Baghdad?
As I see how this game has played out, I already see that I made a mistake sideboarding out a Goblin Welder. In future games, I will probably remove a random mana source before Goblin Welder. The Xantid Swarm in hand could have been Goblin Welder, potentially. Although there are several possible plays, I don’t think any play is stronger here than Wishing for Goblin Welder.
I remove the two ESGs from game and announce Living Wish.
Gifts drew:
Merchant Scroll
Ancestral Recall
Gifts Ungiven
Recoup
Force of Will
Island
Underground Sea
It’s too bad that Time Walk is already removed from game. I really wish that I could Gifts for it and Recoup to try and win this game.
In response to Living Wish, Gifts taps Mox Sapphire and plays Ancestral Recall drawing Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, and Merchant Scroll.
The question here is: should we simply counter the Wish here? There is a possibility that the Belcher player could just grab a land and we can’t counter it. I’ll let it resolve.
Belcher grabs Goblin Welder.
Remove Simian Spirit Guide and play Goblin Welder.
That will have to get Forced. In response, Force of Will pitching Merchant Scroll. Gifts goes to 3 life.
Belcher passes the turn.
Before Jar trigger resolves, Gifts taps Sol Ring, Mox Ruby, and Volcanic Island to play Gifts Ungiven.
I get:
1) Repeal (I can Repeal the Mox Pearl on the Belcher’s board, making them discard it).
2) Brainstorm to put back some goodies. Note that I can’t play Tendrils unless I get Brainstorm. My second Underground Sea and Mox Jet are in hand and my Black Lotus is RFG. The only way I can cast Tendrils is if I find the Lotus Petal or can resolve Brainstorm before discarding.
Tendrils of Agony. I want this in my graveyard either way. I’m holding Recoup so I can target it and flash it back.
Vampiric Tutor. I realize that I’m at three life. However, I want the Mystical to remain in my deck so that I can Scroll for it if I am able to Brainstorm back my Recoup (or a Scroll itself) so that I can use it twice. I can then Scroll for Mystical.
Belcher gives Gifts the Tendrils and the Repeal.
Gifts Repeals the Mox Pearl from Belcher’s board, leaving it with a lone Taiga. Gifts draws: Gifts Ungiven.
Oh well.
Both players discard their hands.
Turn 7:
Gifts draws Island.
Gifts board is: 10 Goblins, 2 Volcanic Islands, 1 Underground Sea, 1 Sol Ring, 1 Mox Ruby, and 1 Mox Sapphire. Its hand is Pithing Needle and Island. Its graveyard has 21 cards, including Tendrils and Recoup. Note that Time Walk and Empty the Warrens are removed from game.
Belcher’s board is a lone Taiga.
Gifts attacks with 10 Goblins, sending Belcher to 7 life.
At this point, it seems that Belcher has no chance. I could Recoup Merchant Scroll for a Mana Drain. But there is really no point. There is nothing Belcher can do.
I play the Island and pass the turn.
Belcher draws: Goblin Charbelcher and scoops.
This game was an incredible back and forth. A lot rode on who played first (which gave Gifts a huge advantage) and the various intricacies of the mid-game. It was critical that the Belcher player made the right plays with regard to the mana preceding the first Empty the Warrens. If Belcher had led with Taiga, it would have signaled the Gifts player to counter one of the Moxen and prevented Belcher from doing anything.
The most important play of the whole game was waiting that one turn to Brainstorm. If Gifts had Brainstormed immediately, it would have lost for sure. The one turn wait enabled it to see Demonic Tutor, which swung the game back to Gifts after what was looking like a bleak endgame.
Fascinating game.
Onto game 2.
Game 2:
Belcher is on the play. In light of the last game, I decide to cut the third Seething Song for the third Goblin Welder.
Belcher fans open an opening hand of:
Taiga
Simian Spirit Guide
Lotus Petal
Mox Emerald
Seething Song
Pyroblast
Empty the Warrens
This is a classic, archetypal hand you’d like to draw.
Gifts draws:
Brainstorm
Merchant Scroll
Merchant Scroll
Gifts Ungiven
Repeal
Mana Drain
Vampiric Tutor
Auto mulligan into:
Time Walk
Force of Will
Polluted Delta
Mox Emerald
Mox Ruby
Lotus Petal
Seems like a barely keepable hand. It has the ability to stop a turn 1 Belcher. Keep.
Turn One:
Belcher begins with Lotus Petal.
Resolves.
Mox Pearl. Resolves
Tap Taiga, sacrifice Lotus Petal, and tap Mox Pearl. Play Seething Song.
This is usually where the bottleneck is. What should Gifts do? The general rule, much like countering Black Lotus, is to counter Seething Song. Think about it: even if he plays Empty the Warrens here, it will be for at least 8 men, putting Gifts on an untenable clock.
Gifts plays Force of Will pitching Time Walk.
In response, Belcher removes Simian Spirit Guide from game and plays Pyroblast.
Ouch! Red Force of Will for the Win!
Storm is five.
Play Empty the Warrens for twelve Goblins.
Note that if the Seething Song was not countered, the Belcher player could have Pyroblasted the Mox on the table and then played Empty the Warrens for ten Goblins.
As it stands, Belcher burns one, going to nineteen. Both players are at nineteen.
Gifts turn.
Gifts draws Mystical Tutor. Wow! We can Mystical for Empty the Warrens ourselves and play Warrens for 8. Alternatively, if we had access to Echoing Truth, we could bounce them all, but we don’t.
Play Polluted Delta and pass the turn.
Turn 2:
Belcher draws: Land Grant. A dead draw.
Attack for twelve. Gifts goes to seven life.
End of turn, Gifts breaks the Delta (going to six life) for Underground Sea. Gifts plays Mystical Tutor.
Now, just to examine our options once more. If we get Empty the Warrens, we’ll play it making eight men. We are at six life, so we’ll only actually buy one turn from that play. We’ll get attacked next turn to two life and then get one more turn before dying. Maybe it would be better to just Hail Mary and play Ancestral. I decide that that actually has a better chance of doing something. I Mystical for Ancestral Recall.
I Ancestral into Pithing Needle, Island, and Force of Will. Junk.
Turn 3:
Belcher untaps and wins.
1-1
Game 3:
Gifts opens up:
Polluted Delta
Mox Ruby
Sol Ring
Gifts Ungiven
Duress
Mystical Tutor
Mana Drain
A very solid hand. We have turn 1 Duress and Sol Ring followed by turn 2 insanity. Keep.
Belcher sees:
Taiga
Chrome Mox
Sol Ring
Simian Spirit Guide
Channel
Pyroblast
Seething Song
No threats. Mulligan into:
Land Grant
Land Grant
Mox Emerald
Simian Spirit Guide
Channel
Goblin Charbelcher
Keep.
Turn 1:
Gifts plays Polluted Delta and breaks it for Underground Sea. Tap Sea to play Duress.
What should Gifts take? It’s tempting to want to take the Channel, but it seems like taking the Belcher is just the right play.
Play Mox Ruby. Tap Mox Ruby to play Sol Ring. Pass.
Belcher draws: Goblin Welder.
Wow. Everything seemed to be going Gifts way. I couldn’t even think of a topdeck aside from another Belcher or Warrens that would swing the game back, but then I drew Welder.
I can see that it was a huge mistake to cut Welder in the first game.
Belcher plays Mox Emerald. Belcher plays Land Grant for Taiga and plays Taiga. It taps Taiga for Goblin Welder.
We are looking at a turn 2 win unless Gifts does something to stop that immediately.
Turn 2:
Gifts has a tough choice here. If I were playing my list of Gifts, this would be a simple matter. I would just Mystical Tutor for my single Fire/Ice and use the Ruby and Sol Ring to Fire the Welder. Unfortunately, Probasco doesn’t run the cards I like.
The problem is that we don’t have enough Blue. We have the Sea, the Ruby, and the Sol Ring on the table, but to play Mystical, we’ll have to use the Sea. We tapped it last turn to play the Duress! Man, we are in a pickle! I don’t see a way out of this. Our only option seems to be a Hail Mary. If only I could get a Pithing Needle in my hand. What if I were to Gifts Ungiven for Black Lotus, Pithing Needle, Yawgmoth’s Will, and Mana Crypt? Would that do anything? Only if I drew a land and he gave me Will and Mana Crypt, which seems unlikely. Hmm. What about Gifts for Black Lotus, Pithing Needle, Demonic Tutor, and something else… Once again, it would all depend upon me drawing a land for the turn. Hmm. This seems bad.
What would you do?
There just isn’t enough time. It’s incredibly ironic that our Duress is actually what put us in this position. The only way to have prevented it is to have Duressed the Mox Emerald. But who would do that in the face of Belcher topdecks that could easily generate plenty of mana and then Belch all over us?
I decide that Gifts only chance is to topdeck something amazing. The question though is: Gifts before or after the draw? It seems that Gifting afterwards is smarter. Unfortunately, Gifts draws another Gifts.
Gifts taps all its mana and plays Gifts Ungiven for:
Pithing Needle
Repeal
Demonic Tutor
Black Lotus
That’s the best Gifts pile I can come up with. If we have even one more mana in hand, Needle is GG for Belcher. That way, the Belcher player is going to be loathe to hand over a Needle.
Instead, the Belcher players gives Gifts Repeal and Demonic Tutor. Gifts passes the turn.
Belcher draws: Simian Spirit Guide. We have plenty of mana. Tap the Emerald. Activate Goblin Welder targeted Mox Emerald and Goblin Charbelcher. Remove a Simian Spirit Guide. Activate Belcher and win the game.
2-1 Belcher over Gifts
Game 4:
Belcher’s hand:
Mana Crypt
Mana Vault
Elvish Spirit Guide
Tinder Wall
Tinder Wall
Tinder Wall
Rite of Flame
Auto mulligan into:
Chrome Mox
Elvish Spirit Guide
Xantid Swarm
Goblin Welder
Rite of Flame
Goblin Charbelcher
This is a tough hand to play, and it’s slow… but it seems keepable.
Gifts draws:
Island
Flooded Strand
Mox Jet
Duress
Duress
Mystical Tutor
Merchant Scroll
Belcher is on the play.
Turn 1:
This Belcher hand is very tricky to play. I’m not sure what the right play is, but it’s pretty clear what considerations should be driving it. First of all, we have to fear Repeal as well as Duress. Repeal on our Chrome Mox could be devastating. What would you do?
It seems to me, after some thought, that the right plays is probably to just drop Xantid Swarm on the table and then pass. Here’s my thinking. After another draw, we’ll have more information as to what to imprint onto the Chrome Mox. If he has a Repeal, he’ll be tempted to use it on the Xantid Swarm anyway. The Swarm will also turn off any countermagic so that if we do become capable of dropping Belcher, we can do it fairly assuredly.
So, that’s my play. Pass the turn.
Gifts:
Gifts draws Brainstorm.
Well, we’re back in this situation again. Taking Belcher turns on Welder. We really have no choice but to take the Chrome Mox.
We could break Strand for another Sea and Duress again. However, I think I’d rather just Brainstorm. I play Island and Brainstorm into:
Pithing Needle
Mox Emerald
Mox Ruby
That’s an incredible Brainstorm. I put back Mox Emerald and Merchant Scroll on top. I then play Ruby and Needle naming Belcher.
Turn 2:
Belcher draws Mox Ruby! Attack with Swarm.
Play Mox Ruby, tap it for Goblin Welder. If Belcher had started with that Ruby, it probably would have been in a lot better shape.
Gifts draws the Scroll. It taps the Jet and plays Duress, taking the Rite of Flame.
Play Flooded Strand and break it for an Underground Sea. Tap both lands and Mox to play Merchant Scroll for Ancestral Recall and play it drawing: Repeal, Force of Will, and Demonic Tutor.
Turn 3:
Holy crap, Belcher draws another Goblin Charbelcher. What can I say? Needle hurts. Attack with Xantid Swarm and Goblin Welder.
Gifts draws: Island.
Gifts plays Repeal on the Xantid Swarm, drawing Mana Crypt. Play Mana Crypt. Tap Mox Jet and Mox Ruby to play Demonic Tutor for Gifts Ungiven. Pass the turn.
Turn 4:
Belcher draws Simian Spirit Guide.
Gifts plays Gifts Ungiven for Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, and Hurkyl’s Recall. Belcher gives it Lotus Petal and Hurkyl’s Recall
During Gifts upkeep, it plays Mystical Tutor for Yawgmoth’s Will. This game is over. It is a small matter to Demonic Tutor up the Tendrils and win the game.
2-2
Now we arrive at the final game in our set.
Game 5:
Gifts is on the play.
Gifts draws:
Black Lotus
Lotus Petal
Island
Polluted Delta
Flooded Strand
Ancestral Recall
Brainstorm
Play Island and Ancestral into:
Vampiric Tutor
Force of Will
Underground Sea
Pass the turn.
Belcher’s hand is:
Lion’s Eye Diamond
Elvish Spirit Guide
Simian Spirit Guide
Tinder Wall
Rite of Flame
Empty the Warrens
Xantid Swarm
This hand can generate eight Goblins on turn 1. But being on the draw, I’m not really comfortable about that. If it had one stable mana source, I’d probably keep it. But since it doesn’t, that makes it hard to topdeck further threats.
Instead, Belcher mulligans into:
Elvish Spirit Guide
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Living Wish
Pyroblast
Goblin Welder
It draws Chrome Mox for the turn.
It is clear that my game plan is to Wish for Bazaar and hope to Bazaar into a Belcher or Memory Jar. Remove ESG and play and tap Jet to play Living Wish. It resolves.
Grab Bazaar. Tap it to draw: Seething Song and Simian Spirit Guide.
Discard Mox Pearl, Simian Spirit Guide, and Seething Song.
Play Chrome Mox, imprinting Pyroblast. Tap Chrome Mox to play Goblin Welder. In response, Gifts plays Brainstorm into Mana Drain, Hurkyl’s Recall, and Demonic Tutor. Put back two lands. Force of Will targeting Welder, pitching Mana Drain
And now, Gifts wins.
Upkeep, break Lotus Petal for Vampiric Tutor. Tutor up Dark Ritual.
Draw the Dark Ritual.
Sacrifice Black Lotus for BBB. Play Dark Ritual. Storm is two.
Play Demonic Tutor. Find Yawgmoth’s Will and play it. Storm is four.
Replay the Lotuses. Storm is six.
Sacrifice Lotus Petal and play Dark Ritual.
Tap Island to play Ancestral Recall.
Demonic Tutor for Tendrils and win the game.
So there you have it. Two sets of five games. Belcher won 3-2 pre-board and lost 2-3 post board. It should be noted that Belcher was on the play three of five games pre-board, and on the draw three of five games post-board. It definitely seemed that Pithing Needle was very powerful against Belcher and Belcher didn’t have sideboard material to equal it. In the future, I think that Belcher needs more artifact removal post board to address Needle. I would also be hesitant to bring in more than two Xantid Swarms. I would bring in three Shattering Sprees and two Xantid Swarms if I were to play this match again in the future. One other thing, Belcher should seriously consider bringing in Tormod’s Crypts (or including them in the board). In fact, they may be just better than Xantid Swarm. The Crypts contribute to storm, enabling Empty the Warrens, and they are Welder targets that help Belcher. By slowing down the opponent, they make either win condition more probable. Thoughts for the future.
It was fun playing this matchup, and it should be quite evident that Belcher has serious game here and can definitely win. Next week, I’ll take a close look at trying to improve the Belcher list by exploring various color permutations.
Until then,