Long live Pauper!
In our previous article, I discussed the core tenets of Izzet Cloudpost in Pauper. I also asked you guys to vote on my next course of action as the deck’s pilot. While there were fewer votes overall compared to our first article, it was pretty clear what the majority was yearning for. You guys wanted me to play some Dailys!
Daily Events: Your Opinions
“For what it’s worth, I recommend playing against others online. If Magic is anything like chess, you learn more by losing than winning . . . ” –Benjamin Alan Mohr
“I vote you go for Dailys, as not knowing your opponent’s exact list is one of the things that makes Cloudpost difficult to pilot.” –Mark Conkle
“I hate this deck a lot; Flicker is too busted.” –Cody Jackson
Daily Events: My Opinion
My adrenaline tends to rise when playing in Daily Events.
They differ from the relaxed playtesting with friends atmosphere. I enjoy getting to share my experiences with viewers, and I find comments suggesting alternate plays and decisions to be quite helpful. Overall, I think Daily Events will be a good gauge or where the deck is at and where I’m at as a control player.
Now there’s some good and some bad news.
The bad news is I only got to play in one Daily Event due to a busy couple of weeks constraining me for time. The good news is I recorded all of the action for you guys to watch right here!
Here’s an updated Izzet Cloudpost list from last time. This is the exact 75 I played in the videos.
Creatures (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (29)
- 2 Counterspell
- 4 Accumulated Knowledge
- 1 Rolling Thunder
- 1 Capsize
- 2 Serrated Arrows
- 1 Electrostatic Bolt
- 1 Hindering Touch
- 2 Prohibit
- 1 Firebolt
- 2 Compulsive Research
- 2 Mystical Teachings
- 1 Curse of Chains
- 4 Flame Slash
- 4 Prophetic Prism
- 1 Ghostly Flicker
Sideboard
You can hear me discuss the sideboard changes in the deck tech video below!
Condescend: A Quick Thought
Before we jump into the videos, there is one last item I’d like to bring up.
Matt McCormick left a comment inquiring about Condescend. Basically, he wants to hear some of my general thoughts on the card. In all honesty, I’m not a big Condescend fan. I don’t think it’s a bad card necessarily, but I do feel like it’s better on paper than it is in practice.
It’s quite easy to see the appeal. Cloudpost tends to generate a lot of mana, and Condescend puts our mana advantage to use. Makes sense, right? Historically, however, I’ve found that Condescend gets sided out a considerable amount of the time.
People like its beneficial scry ability, which gives it an advantage over other countermagic options. While getting to scry is nice, the X in its casting cost can often be a burden.
Think of it this way. If we are already eclipsing the opponent’s mana capability, then Condescend becomes a glorified “win more” card. It tends to depreciate in value against aggressive decks like Stompy since their mana curve is so ridiculously low.
It’s also lackluster in Cloudpost mirrors since the opponent will have boatloads of mana to pay (and that’s if they don’t just pay R to Pyroblast it). In those scenarios, we’ve just spent absurd amounts of mana on a counterspell that didn’t counter anything.
Well, that pretty much sums up my thoughts. Your mileage may vary, and I could be persuaded to give the card another chance. It would take a lot of persuading though!
Alright, enough talk. Enjoy the videos!
Deck Tech
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Daily Event Recap
After a promising 1-0 start, we ended up taking a dive in rounds 2 and 3. Our round 4 opponent sadly did not show up, depriving us of some empirical data. As of right now, our record looks this:
3-2 in games vs. Stompy
0-2 in games vs. Delver
Not a terribly exciting record. But, with your help, I’m hoping to improve it!
Your Turn
Please feel free to provide an assessment of my skills as a control mage. I don’t have a voting topic for you guys this time around, but I would love to hear any constructive criticism you have about my deck, my play, or my writing.
I’m also very open to any suggestions you have regarding our next article. What would you like to see from here? Another Daily Event, or something else? I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas!
Whenever you want to share feedback, the comments section works best. You can also email me at [email protected].
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s installment. Stay tuned for the next article!
Until next time . . .