The Combat Phase — League Deck Help Required

Combining my schedule with my time zone makes it tough for me to catch a PE Tournament online. When I was on the East Coast, I could find a tournament at ten or noon many days of the week, and always on Saturday and Sunday.

Here? Not so much.

In a break from designing bad Green decks, I decided that a League would give me some pretty good bang for the bucks, some competition, a change of pace for the readers, and some education about sealed. Because you guys will help me, right?

Here’s my card pool.

MTGO League Cardpool

Jamie Wakefield

Test deck on 06-03-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (41)

Lands (1)

1 Molten Slagheap

I start how I always start with a league: pulling out all the bombs in each color. My Black has a ton of removal. My Green has some fatties, mana fixing, slivers, and one of my favorite spells – Wurmcalling. Blue looks promising right off the bat with Fledgling Mawcor, Viscerid Deepwalker, Sage of Epityr, Errant ba-roooooken Ephemeron… and then it dries up, as far as I can tell. White has a few good cards but nothing amazing. Red has all sorts of goodness in the creature department and a host more slivers.

This is the deck I go with, because I’m bad. And simple.

MTGO League Deck A

Jamie Wakefield

Test deck on 06-03-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (19)

Lands (17)

Spells (4)

Round 1. My opponent is awful, but his cards are pretty good. My land screw didn’t help much either.

I smash him in the first game with a nice easy curve and enough land.

In the second game he gets out some Keldon Marauders, a Dustwasp, an Uktabi Drake (which he casts after his combat step), and a Thallid Germinator. I’m drawing dead and concede when he plays a Sporesower Thallid.

In game 3, I mulligan for the third time and keep a two-lander. While I draw two more in short order, it stops there. My hand is choked with Wurmcalling, Molten Firebird, Havenwood Wurm, Might Sliver, and Fury Sliver. Meanwhile, my opponent has out a Prodigal Pyromancer, Radha, Sporesower Thallid, and one of the Askaris. I concede when he casts a Pardic Dragon.

So far, I do not like this game called “Sealed.”

Time for a break. Wendy and I need to go to Fnac, Corte Ingles and a clothing store. So Wendy reaches a good place to stop work, and we head out. We head down our usual streets, and I spy a familiar figure.

A rather large woman, resting against the wall of a church with a little cup. Her face is shrouded with a veil. She has a hand made sign that says “I need money for food, please help.”

And I come to a sobering revelation.

You cannot save the beggars of Madrid by giving them money.

I have given this woman about ten Euros in the multiple times that I have passed her. And yet, here she is. Same position. Still sitting. Still shrouded. Still overweight. Same sign. And you know what? If I give her ten more Euros, or even a hundred over the next year, she will still be here.

When I first arrived in Madrid, my first city mind you, I had great fun giving beggars money. It was new to me. I wouldn’t leave the house without change, and referred to it as beggar money.

Three months later I see the exact same people in the exact same positions, still needing money. Needless to say, I have become more discriminating with my change. Only the mentally ill, the handicapped, or the old and toothless get my coins now.

Street Performers though, they can still garner a good tip if they’re good. At least they’re working for their money.

We get back and I look over the deck, knowing that I need more elimination. Black has some excellent removal, but three colors in sealed always scare me. Of course, I do have Search for Tomorrow, Phyrexian Totem, Prismatic Lens, Gemhide Sliver, and Molten Slagheap for mana fixing, so maybe it would be okay. Wow, in fact, that’s a ton of mana fixing.

I build this.

MTGO League Deck B

Jamie Wakefield

Test deck on 06-03-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (16)

Lands (16)

Spells (9)

And hate it.

16 Creatures, 16 land, 41 cards is not a winning deck.

"Didn’t you used to be at least passable at this game, Wakefield?"
Various readers.

When I build a Sealed deck, I generally just try to put in some bombs, always play Green because I’m drawn to it, and hope to get some elimination or fliers. Agonizing over the deck for a couple of days has made me realize I should try and build a deck with an actual plan.

Here’s the plan I came up with.

Kill all your stuff, play a broken guy, win.

Draw an assload of slivers, attack you with them, win.

And this is that deck.

MTGO League Deck C

Jamie Wakefield

Test deck on 06-03-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (14)

Lands (17)

Spells (9)

That looks pretty good to me. Eight excellent Slivers. Six creature elimination spells, including the double-use Strangling Soot. Late game Wurmcalling, Sengir, Havenwood Wurm, and Deadwood Treefolk.

It’s nothing like what I usually build, since it only has fourteen creatures and it’s three colors, but I feel pretty good about it.

What do you bet I go 1-3 with it in my remaining games?

My first game with this deck is insane. Insanely hard and complex with both my opponent and I having far too many options on the table. There’s a Rathi Trapper on each side, Clockwork Hydra, Savage Thallid, and I’m stuck on five mana holding a bunch of six mana cards and a Bogardan Hell… I mean Molten Firebird in play that I can’t decide when to block or if I should draw another card or not.

That’s what separates out the good players from the bad, right? Able to make the right decisions when there are a dozen non-land permanents on the board?

Yeah. I lost that one.

Game 2 sees me mulligan to five and keep a one-land, one Search for Tomorrow hand. My opponent curves out perfectly with turn 1 suspend Durkwood Baloth, turn 2 Gossamer Phantasm, turn 3 Mire Boa.

I’m sitting on three lands when his Baloth comes into play, right after my opponent used Snapback on my only creature.

Magic is so fun.

Frustrated for some reason, I return to the Red/Green build. I can’t explain it.

My next game is again a happy place of fun, excitement, and joy.

Turn 1: MLGreen plays Forest.
Turn 2: MLGreen plays Forest, Prismatic Lens.
Turn 3: MLGreen plays Molten Slagheap.
Turn 4: MLGreen plays Mountain.
Turn 5: MLGreen plays Mountain.
Turn 6: MLGreen plays Forest.
Turn 7: MLGreen plays Forest.
Turn 8: MLGreen plays Forest. MLGreen plays Search for Tomorrow. MLGreen plays activated ability from Molten Slagheap.
Turn 9: MLGreen plays Mountain.
Turn 10: MLGreen plays Mountain.
Turn 11: MLGreen.

Oh, I drew a Mountain… Never fear that I didn’t have ANOTHER LAND TO PLAY, I just choose not to so as to bluff like I actually had something.

Turn 12: MLGreen plays Mountain.
Turn 13: MLGreen plays Forest.

MLGreen: thirteen turns, fourteen mana sources on the board. Go me.

The next two games are a symphony of Sliver beatdown. Both of them looked similar to this.

MLGreen plays Two-Headed Sliver.
MLGreen plays Uktabi Drake.
MLGreen plays Ashcoat Bear.
MLGreen plays Coal Stoker.
MLGreen plays triggered ability from Coal Stoker.
MLGreen plays Bonesplitter Sliver.

My opponent was dead on turn 7 both games.

Three games down, one win with the Red/Green version… let’s try each version of the deck one more time.

I try the Red/Green deck first (again) and play another guy playing mad slivers.

In the first game we both start slow, then I explode on turn 4 with a Might Sliver, then turn 5 I play a Coal Stoker and a Molten Firebird. Soon after comes a Two-Headed Sliver and Havenwood Wurm.

Game 2 is all about his Poultice Sliver, Zealot il-Vec, Pulmonic Sliver, and Sporesower Thallid. And I, with a mulligan to five again and high-mana cards in hand.

Game 3 I start with three Mountains and pray for a Forest. Turn 2 I play a Keldon Marauders. Next turn I draw a Forest, scream with glee, and start the beats.

Turn 3 play Gemhide Sliver.
Turn 4 play Might Sliver.
Turn 5 play Battering Sliver.

And you would think I won right? Especially since I’m holding a Havenwood Wurm and have seven mana. Naw. I hand the game to him instead by holding back the Might Sliver and only attacking with the Gemhide Sliver and the Battering Sliver. Oh wait… he has two Plains and a Shade.

Shade of Trokair blocks Gemhide Sliver.

Killing it, of course.

Next turn I attack with the Battering Sliver again, still hoping to save my Might Sliver.

Pyrori plays Lightning Axe targeting Might Sliver.

And blocks my Battering Sliver with Defiant Vanguard. Now my board is cleared. Yay.

I still have one trick up my sleeve. He attacks with everything.

MLGreen plays Havenwood Wurm.

Pyrori plays Dust Elemental.

Dust Elemental?

Yeah, that’s game as he plays out his whole hand again, including an enhanced Citanul Woodreaders, and has a 6/6 flier with Fear on the board.

Saturday morning I get up and I miss playing Standard. I should play my last league game but I decide to watch some replays of the last 59-person event.

After seeing that every person in the Top 8 is playing Islands, I suddenly feel like playing some League games.

As I promised myself, I play the tri-color deck.

In the first game, I am light on land and am holding Dark Withering, Deadwood Treefolk, Havenwood Wurm, and then draw Phthisis. I’m noticing that my Black elimination is actually really expensive…

In the second game, I get the perfect Sliver curve and roll him like a fat chronic.

In game 3, I have the same perfect curve and giggle like a schoolgirl. Victory is mine! At least, that’s what I think is going to happen. As I serve for the win, he blocks with everything, Lightning Axes my Might Sliver, puts damage on the stack, and voila, I lose…

… To another Dust Elemental. (*sigh*)

I’m starting to think that guy is the Jitte of Sealed deck.

Okay, how should I have constructed my deck? Because, I’m thinking I need to stay with the Green/Red because the Black removal isn’t that good, and the only times I win with the tri-color deck is when I get a perfect curve of Slivers and no Black cards.

In other news, I’m still wondering where and when Spanish Regionals are, since there’s nothing on Wizards site. I’m also unsure what to play. Like everyone else, NarcoBridge scares the crap out of me. It looks like a deck that will so skew the environment that I wonder if it’s even worth going. Between Dragonstorm and NarcoBridge, how much fun is that tournament going to be? I’m betting not much.

I favor MGA, just for the fact that it’s a combo deck capable of killing on turn 4 without any of that dirty combo feeling. Or any of that hard math stuff. Future Sight adds a couple interesting cards to MGA. Summoner’s Pact should make it a bit more consistent in the late game when you need a Timbermare for the last few points. Spellwilde Ouphe is a nice Win Big or Lose Big kind of card that fits the deck. Throwing on a Cloak and a Might of Oaks for three mana sounds pretty good in theory. Of course, getting it Repealed or Charred for one sounds pretty bad in theory.

Does anyone think a MGA deck with a sideboard of 4 Leyline of the Void and 4 Tormod’s Crypt has a chance? Again, I’m guessing not.

Because of Dragonstorm I was leaning towards Sea Stompy. Remand, Repeal, Mystic Snake, Spectral Force. Every time I play that deck it seems solid to me. A lot of beatdown, some counters to possibly stop Dragonstorm, and a big fatty to finish.

But that seems pretty bad against Bridge decks.

Looking through my list of decks on MTGO shows some awful choices. Discard isn’t going to stop Bridge or Dragonstorm, so that’s out. MGA has a one-in-a-hundred-game chance of beating Bridge. Only one of my mid range strategies have much chance with two turn 4 kill decks in the environment.

I think I’m going to have to play “Busted at Three”

Current version:

Busted at Three

Jamie Wakefield

Test deck on 06-03-2007

Standard

Creatures (26)

Lands (23)

Spells (11)

Sideboard

Until next week,

Jamie

Creatures (41)

Lands (1)

Spells (33)

Creatures (19)

Lands (17)

Spells (4)

Creatures (16)

Lands (16)

Spells (9)

Creatures (14)

Lands (17)

Spells (9)

Creatures (26)

Lands (23)

Spells (11)

Sideboard