Chalice of the Void from the Wrong End of the Table
In case you didn’t notice, incidentally, the game in Part 1 took only twelve turns, despite all the combat math along the way. Out of our other games, I picked one in particular to demonstrate how Chalice changes the complexion of 2003 Suicide Black’s disruption:
03:12:27 – — Dead Dread says: ”Get ready to walk the plank!”
03:12:27 – — Rakso says: ”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”
03:12:46 – Rakso drew 7 cards.
03:12:49 – Dead Dread drew 7 cards.
03:12:56 – Rakso says:’keep’
03:13:02 – Dead Dread says:’i’ll keep’
03:13:05 – It is now turn 1.
03:13:06 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
03:13:06 – Underground Sea is tapped.
03:13:07 – Rakso plays Sol Ring.
At this point, I thought I had an okay hand, with a Sol Ring to boost my next turn.
03:13:08 – It is now turn 2.
03:13:12 – Dead Dread draws a card.
03:13:25 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
03:13:27 – Dead Dread plays Mox Jet.
His was definitely better, considering I didn’t have Force of Will.
03:13:34 – Swamp is tapped.
03:13:41 – Dead Dread plays Demonic Consultation.
03:13:43 – Rakso says:’k’
03:13:47 – Dead Dread says:’chalice’
03:13:50 – Rakso says:’k’
He removes two Hypnotic Specters, a Phyrexian Negator, a Nantuko Shade, Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, three Sinkholes, and two Swamps, and gets his Chalice.
Demonic Consultation is one of the most powerful tutors in the game, since it costs only one mana and the irrelevant loss of cards you might never draw. The latter is especially negligible in a deck as redundant as Suicide Black. In combo, though, aside from Burning Wish and Lion’s Eye Diamond, one could take the minor gamble of Consulting early for a restricted card like Black Lotus or a draw card (note having key cards safely in the sideboard to be Wished out made Consult even better).
Translation for Suicide: You can Consult for Necropotence against control if it looks like there’s no better chance of winning.
Anyway, Wes grabbed Chalice here and it was easily his best Consult all those hours.
03:14:17 – Dead Dread moves Chalice of the Void from Dead Dread’s library to tabletop.
03:14:29 – Mox Jet is tapped.
03:14:31 – Dead Dread plays Sol Ring.
03:14:34 – Sol Ring is tapped.
03:14:44 – Rakso says:’for 1′
03:14:44 – Rakso says:’okay’
03:14:48 – Rakso says:’I think I get it’
Don’t you?
Although”The Deck” isn’t completely hosed by Chalice at any setting, an early Chalice for one is extremely dangerous. This cuts off Ancestral Recall, Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Swords to Plowshares, Brainstorm, and even Gorilla Shaman or your only maindeck solution to Chalice. Moreover, it also stops Isochron tricks with all of these.
This means you are drastically slowed down – no more manipulation and removal – while Phyrexian Negator and Nantuko Shade still deal the same amounts of damage. If you read”Counting Tempo, Part III” which touched on aggro-control decks, then you know Suicide Black just needs to trip you up a bit to make sure you never get back up.
03:14:50 – It is now turn 3.
03:14:54 – Rakso has taken control of Chalice of the Void.
03:14:56 – Chalice of the Void now has 1 counters. (+1)
03:14:58 – Dead Dread is now the controller of Chalice of the Void.
03:15:02 – Rakso draws a card.
03:15:06 – Rakso plays Polluted Delta.
03:15:22 – It is now turn 4.
03:15:25 – Dead Dread draws a card.
03:15:30 – Dead Dread plays Wasteland.
03:15:32 – Dead Dread says:’sea’
03:15:35 – Dead Dread buries Wasteland.
03:15:36 – Rakso’s life is now 19. (-1)
03:15:37 – Rakso buries Polluted Delta.
03:15:41 – Rakso moves Tundra from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
03:15:43 – Underground Sea is tapped.
03:15:44 – Tundra is tapped.
03:15:44 – Sol Ring is tapped.
03:16:36 – Rakso plays Decree of Justice.
03:16:42 – Dead Dread says:’k’
03:16:47 – Rakso plays Wilkinson Warrior 1/1.
03:16:47 – Rakso draws a card.
03:16:51 – Rakso buries Underground Sea.
03:16:59 – Swamp is tapped.
03:17:00 – Mox Jet is tapped.
03:17:09 – Dead Dread plays Hymn to Tourach.
03:17:12 – Rakso randomly buried Cunning Wish.
03:17:14 – Rakso randomly buried Brainstorm.
03:17:18 – It is now turn 5.
03:17:20 – Rakso draws a card.
03:17:25 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
03:17:25 – Wilkinson Warrior 1/1 is attacking.
03:17:28 – Dead Dread’s life is now 19. (-1)
03:17:29 – It is now turn 6.
03:17:33 – Dead Dread draws a card.
03:17:35 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
03:17:51 – Swamp is tapped.
03:17:52 – Mox Jet is tapped.
03:17:53 – Dead Dread plays Nantuko Shade.
03:17:55 – Rakso says:’k’
03:17:59 – Tundra is tapped.
03:17:59 – Underground Sea is tapped.
03:18:00 – Sol Ring is tapped.
03:18:01 – Rakso plays Skeletal Scrying.
03:18:09 – Rakso removes Cunning Wish from the game.
03:18:15 – Rakso removes Underground Sea from from the game.
03:18:17 – Rakso removes Decree of Justice from the game.
03:18:19 – Rakso’s life is now 16. (-3)
03:18:21 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
03:17:58 – It is now turn 7.
03:18:30 – Rakso draws a card.
03:18:43 – Rakso plays Volcanic Island.
03:18:45 – Rakso plays Mox Sapphire.
03:18:47 – It is now turn 8.
03:18:50 – Dead Dread draws a card.
03:18:52 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
03:18:56 – Swamp is tapped.
03:18:57 – Swamp is tapped.
03:18:58 – Dead Dread plays Hymn to Tourach.
03:19:05 – Rakso randomly buried Wasteland.
03:19:06 – Rakso randomly buried Wasteland.
03:19:12 – Nantuko Shade is attacking.
03:19:20 – Rakso says:’no block’
03:19:23 – Mox Jet is tapped.
03:19:24 – Swamp is tapped.
03:19:26 – Rakso’s life is now 12. (-4)
03:19:36 – It is now turn 9.
03:19:38 – Rakso draws a card.
03:19:46 – Rakso plays Tundra.
03:19:50 – It is now turn 10.
03:19:53 – Dead Dread draws a card.
03:19:56 – Swamp is tapped.
03:19:57 – Swamp is tapped.
03:19:58 – Mox Jet is tapped.
03:20:00 – Dead Dread plays Hypnotic Specter.
03:20:03 – Rakso says:’k’
03:20:06 – Nantuko Shade is attacking.
03:20:08 – Rakso’s life is now 9. (-3)
03:20:10 – Swamp is tapped.
03:20:11 – It is now turn 11.
03:20:14 – Rakso draws a card.
03:20:18 – Rakso plays Isochron Scepter.
03:20:19 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
03:20:21 – It is now turn 12.
03:20:23 – Dead Dread draws a card.
03:20:25 – Dead Dread plays Wasteland.
03:20:31 – Dead Dread says:’sea’
03:20:34 – Rakso buries Underground Sea.
03:20:35 – Dead Dread buries Wasteland.
03:20:39 – Nantuko Shade is attacking.
03:20:39 – Hypnotic Specter is attacking.
03:20:43 – Dead Dread says:’pump 1′
03:20:45 – Swamp is tapped.
03:20:46 – Rakso randomly buried Mystical Tutor.
03:20:49 – Rakso’s life is now 7. (-2)
03:20:50 – Rakso buries Soldier.
03:21:18 – It is now turn 13.
03:21:49 – Rakso draws a card.
03:21:56 – Rakso says:’Chalice nailed me’
03:27:20 – Rakso says:’maybe I should get some sleep’
03:27:21 – Rakso says:’:D’
Not much explanation required here. I cycled and drew a bit, but didn’t get much. However, had that Brainstorm and Mystical Tutor not been cut off, it might have been different. Note that even Cunning Wish is affected; in this case you can no longer Wish for Swords to Plowshares.
A couple of games, Wes nailed me with an opening Chalice for zero, then a slightly later Chalice for one, and the stall was all he needed. But again, in Manila, I once got an opponent who saw me play a Mox, then reacted with Chalice for zero on his turn with shaking hands. You can understand why, but that’s not actually the setting that hurts the most in the early game.
Isochron Scepter from the Right End of the Table
Finally, I told Wes I’d slip in an Isochron Scepter-laden log as a gag. Isochron isn’t as good against Suicide because you have to get it out before you’re hit by the barrage of discard. It’s a heartbreaking topdeck, moreover, unless your next topdeck is an instant. Finally, an up-to-date Suicide player will board in Null Rods to negate the growing number of Scepters in control decks, considering there isn’t much else for him to bring in anyway.
This one particular game, though, Isochron was a laugh riot against Suicide Black.
01:36:14 – — Dead Dread says: ”Get ready to walk the plank!”
01:36:14 – — Rakso says: ”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”
01:36:22 – Rakso rolled a 2, using a 20 sided die.
01:36:33 – Dead Dread rolled a 1, using a 20 sided die.
01:36:35 – Dead Dread says:’ha’
01:36:48 – Rakso drew 7 cards.
01:36:50 – Dead Dread drew 7 cards.
01:36:59 – Rakso says:’play’
01:37:01 – It is now turn 1.
01:37:04 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
01:37:07 – Rakso plays Mox Pearl.
01:37:07 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
01:37:08 – Underground Sea is tapped.
01:37:10 – Rakso plays Isochron Scepter.
01:37:21 – Rakso says:’k?’
01:37:24 – Dead Dread says:’sure’
01:37:26 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
This is an enviable opening play, and unless anyone is maindecking Disenchant equivalents again, it’s tough to deal with.
01:37:29 – It is now turn 2.
01:37:33 – Dead Dread says:’i’m still playing suicide’
01:37:36 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:37:44 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
01:37:46 – Dead Dread plays Black Lotus.
01:37:48 – Rakso says:’!!!’
01:37:49 – Swamp is tapped.
01:37:53 – Dead Dread plays Duress.
01:37:57 – Dead Dread is looking through Rakso’s hand…
01:38:07 – Dead Dread says:’oww.’
01:38:23 – Rakso moves Isochron Scepter from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s graveyard.
01:38:31 – Dead Dread buries Black Lotus.
01:38:33 – Dead Dread plays Sinkhole.
01:38:36 – Rakso buries Underground Sea.
01:38:39 – Dead Dread plays Demonic Consultation.
It’s especially hilarious against Suicide since he has no way to deal with it except to somehow keep me below two mana, and then force the Necropotence he grabbed.
01:39:20 – It is now turn 3.
01:39:22 – Rakso draws a card.
01:39:24 – Rakso plays Volcanic Island.
No such luck, however.
01:39:25 – It is now turn 4.
01:39:28 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:39:30 – Dead Dread plays Wasteland.
01:39:32 – Dead Dread buries Wasteland.
01:39:34 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
01:39:35 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
01:39:36 – Rakso plays Fire/Ice.
01:39:37 – Rakso says:’cycle’
01:39:39 – Swamp is tapped.
01:39:40 – Rakso buries Volcanic Island.
01:39:40 – Rakso draws a card.
01:39:50 – It is now turn 5.
01:39:52 – Rakso draws a card.
01:39:53 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
It might have worked since Wasteland is uncounterable, but it doesn’t.
01:39:54 – It is now turn 6.
01:39:58 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:39:59 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
01:40:01 – It is now turn 7.
01:40:05 – Rakso draws a card.
01:40:07 – Rakso plays Mox Sapphire.
01:40:08 – It is now turn 8.
01:40:10 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:40:12 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
This is getting funny since he has no choice but to topdeck enough mana to play more than one spell a turn or a Dark Ritual he can bluff with. The waiting game, however, is severely in my favor.
01:40:14 – It is now turn 9.
01:40:18 – Rakso draws a card.
01:40:20 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
01:40:21 – It is now turn 10.
01:40:23 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:40:25 – Dead Dread plays Wasteland.
01:40:28 – Dead Dread buries Wasteland.
01:40:38 – Rakso buries Underground Sea.
01:40:42 – It is now turn 11.
01:40:45 – Rakso draws a card.
01:40:46 – It is now turn 12.
01:40:51 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:40:53 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
01:40:58 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
01:40:59 – Rakso plays Mystical Tutor.
01:41:03 – Rakso moves Ancestral Recall from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
Again, the waiting game suits me just fine.
01:41:06 – It is now turn 13.
01:41:15 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
01:41:18 – Rakso plays Flooded Strand.
01:41:19 – It is now turn 14.
01:41:26 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:41:28 – Dead Dread plays Swamp.
01:41:33 – Swamp is tapped.
01:41:35 – Swamp is tapped.
01:41:38 – Dead Dread plays Sinkhole.
01:41:55 – Rakso buries Underground Sea.
01:42:07 – It is now turn 15.
01:42:10 – Rakso draws a card.
01:42:12 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
01:42:13 – Rakso plays Black Lotus.
01:42:14 – It is now turn 16.
01:42:18 – Dead Dread draws a card.
01:42:21 – Swamp is tapped.
01:42:22 – Swamp is tapped.
01:42:23 – Dead Dread plays Nantuko Shade.
01:42:32 – Wasteland is tapped.
01:42:34 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
01:42:35 – Isochron Scepter is tapped.
01:42:37 – Rakso says:’Drain it’
Wait, why did I use Scepter? Well, maybe I don’t have removal or something.
01:42:42 – Swamp is tapped.
01:42:43 – Swamp is tapped.
01:42:43 – Swamp is tapped.
01:42:47 – Rakso says:’necro?’
01:42:58 – Dead Dread plays Necropotence.
01:43:01 – Rakso’s life is now 19. (-1)
01:43:01 – Dead Dread says:’heh’
01:43:02 – Rakso buries Flooded Strand.
01:43:12 – Rakso moves Volcanic Island from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
01:43:19 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
01:43:20 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
01:43:22 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
01:43:23 – Rakso says:’;)’
01:43:26 – Dead Dread says:’sure’
Or, maybe I set him up, but he couldn’t wait any longer and chanced it.
01:43:28 – It is now turn 17.
01:43:32 – Rakso says:’five mana’
01:43:34 – Rakso draws a card.
01:43:34 – Dead Dread says:’whatcha doin’ wit all that mana?’
With me just topdecking all those turns, Wes knows this is a rhetorical question.
01:44:02 – Rakso says:’BBB’
01:44:03 – Rakso buries Black Lotus.
01:44:04 – Dead Dread says:’k’
01:44:09 – Rakso removes Yawgmoth’s Will from the game.
01:44:09 – Dead Dread says:’k’
01:44:14 – Rakso moves Underground Sea from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
01:44:24 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
01:44:28 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
01:44:30 – Rakso removes Ancestral Recall from the game.
01:45:14 – Rakso moves Black Lotus from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
01:45:21 – Dead Dread says:’k’
01:45:28 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
01:45:31 – Rakso removes Cunning Wish from the game.
01:45:34 – Rakso moves Ancestral Recall from Rakso’s removed from game pile to Rakso’s hand.
01:45:45 – Wasteland is tapped.
01:45:50 – Rakso moves Isochron Scepter from Rakso’s graveyard to tabletop.
01:45:51 – Rakso plays Ancestral Recall.
Do note how you can use Skeletal Scrying and Yawgmoth’s Will with Cunning Wish to make Ancestral on Stick show up more often.
01:46:41 – Rakso removes Black Lotus from the game.
01:46:47 – Rakso moves Time Walk from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
01:46:49 – Rakso removes Mystical Tutor from the game.
01:46:57 – Rakso removes Fire/Ice from the game.
01:46:58 – Rakso moves Time Walk from tabletop to Rakso’s hand.
01:46:59 – Underground Sea is tapped.
01:46:59 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
01:47:00 – Rakso moves Time Walk from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
01:47:03 – Mox Pearl is untapped.
01:47:03 – Mox Sapphire is untapped.
01:47:03 – Wasteland is untapped.
01:47:03 – Volcanic Island is untapped.
01:47:03 – Underground Sea is untapped.
01:47:05 – Rakso draws a card.
01:47:06 – Dead Dread says:’nice’
01:47:08 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
Soon, I show him two Decrees and he concedes.
The other games weren’t as unique. You either saw me valiantly struggling against the disruption, but eventually succumbing to a Negator or a Shade, or you saw me stave it off long enough to end with a gigantic Will or Decree. The funny thing was, I started with my test build that had Chalice main decked, and I lost more games with that one, especially when Chalice was dead in hand and I didn’t have enough mana to drop it for two. When I switched to the one with Scepters, you got a lot more of the above.
Well, that’s it for this installment, which is long enough as is. For the next articles, I’ll try to fill in the modern Suicide Black skeleton and demonstrate the current Paragon builds of mono-Black. First, you have Steve O'Connell Chalice Black, which is more of a cross-breed with Nether Void after elder Paragon Matt D’Avanzo suggested Sphere of Resistance as a”mini-Void.” This evolution changes the complexion of Suicide’s disruption even more. Second, you have Steve Menendian’s Spoils Mask, which is the logical evolution of Chris Flaaten’s Tainted Mask, swapping Spoils of the Vault for the Tainted Pacts that fetch the Illusionary Masks.
Till next week.
Oh, and if you liked this article, do me a favor and lobby Pete Hoefling, Star City owner, for a charity package of those new Star City tokens. Certain impoverished writers living in Third World countries can’t afford them. 😉
I wouldn’t mind you signing a foil Decree of Justice and mailing it, boss.
Merry Christmas, ho-ho-ho!
Oscar Tan (e-mail: Rakso at StarCityGames.com)
rakso on #BDChat on EFNet
Team Paragons of Vintage
University of the Philippines, College of Law
Forum Administrator, Star City Games
Featured Writer, Star City Games
Author of the Control Player’s Bible
Maintainer, Beyond Dominia (R.I.P.)
Proud member of the Casual Player’s Alliance