I got a few interesting responses about the last two aggro-control articles.
First, Koen van der Hulst, a.k.a. Thug was, the guy who played the ninja in the Head to Head with Fish. I lost his e-mail, and he still hasn’t sent in the decklist, though that log is several months old. Anyway, he asked me to post about one of the most interesting control v. aggro-control counter-wars we’ve both seen, one that happened in a previous game:
“He: EOT Cunning Wish
“Me: Respond with Ancestral Recall.
“He: Mana Drain it.
“Me: Misdirect your Drain to your Wish.
“He: Force of Will.
“Me: Force of Will.”
He said he got the idea from Type II, so maybe you can keep your eyes peeled for it. (He also complained that he lost that game anyway to a resolved The Abyss, and wants to sue it.)
Second, a reader named Erik e-mailed to ask why I didn’t kill Koen’s Mishra’s Factory with my Gorilla Shaman in that last demo game. Simply put, Shaman can only munch noncreature artifacts. I think it’s a common error; I misread it that way the first time myself back in Alliances days.
Third, #manadrain and #bdchat on EFNet op Cid Aguilar, a.k.a. Psychocid, AIMed to say he beat another TheManaDrain regular’s Growing ‘Tog deck with Sligh. Cid is a seventeen-year-old high school senior, and his tech was – get this! – Immolation.
Fourth, speaking of obscure cards, I’d like to clear up a misunderstanding with Bryce Reynolds, a.k.a. Kl0wn, and Jason Staples, a.k.a. Leviat, both TheManaDrain regulars. Plaguebearer is now an important Type I sideboard card, since a creature effective only against one – and two-mana creatures is far more effective here than in other formats. In”What IS Aggro-Control (The Control Player’s Bible, Book III, Part XXXIII)”, I attributed its discovery to a discussion in passing among the Paragons. It originally came from Josh Reynolds, a.k.a. Sliverking, an obscure piece of tech to combat the Fish decks the Virginia Paragons (that’s Josh plus Darren and Shane Stoots) were so annoyed with (another piece of tech they had against it was Tsabo’s Web for all the manlands). It became evident, however, that it was very good against Phyrexian Dreadnought. Some people really like it now, but at the time, it was covered by the Paragons’ nondisclosure policy.
Much later, however, Bryce and Jason mentioned the idea independently to TheManaDrain owner Steve O'Connell, a.k.a. Zherbus, before a Northeast tournament in the site’s name. They asked him not to tell anyone about it, too. Thus, it got funny when Zherbus mentioned it later on over the Paragons’ mailing list; I said something as if it had already been mentioned a long time ago, and he did a word search of all the e-mails for”Plaguebearer.”
The best Type I deckbuilders and playtesters aren’t very picky about who discovered what, but I like to keep track of the credit. My column is perhaps an informal patent registry – since, aside from the Paragons list, people from Pat Chapin to the Morphling.de groups have dropped lines to say what they’re up to, though I keep it to myself if they say so. If a piece of tech gets public notice, especially in a big Type I tournament, I retrace the e-mails in this column.
Bryce and Jason don’t correspond with a lot of people outside Binghamton, NY, so let me introduce them. Bryce is a cab driver, cinema usher and tourney organizer, and can fill every role in a rock band except keyboards. Interestingly, he dropped out of both college and high school, though he did try majoring in Film, English, Psychology, and Music along the way. Jason, on the other hand, works for IBM.
Sifting through Scourge: Landcycling
We experienced a motherlode of Type I tech thanks to Legions and its creatures, so I’m sure you could hardly keep your pants on while awaiting Scourge.
Yes, we saw a handful of Legions cards in noncompetitive play and especially in theme decks. However, Carl Devos, a.k.a. Professor X, the Belgium chapter of the Paragons, is the only Type I player on the planet happy with the set, having used a few Morph triggers in his Vengeur Masque. (Apparently, some people see the silver lining in anything.)
Anyway, I’d like to begin this installment by focusing solely on one of the new mechanics.
Landcycling creatures
The dual lands are one of the most important mistakes that distinguish Type I from younger formats. Later knockdowns beginning with Underground River and the other original Ice Age painlands did not count as two basic land types. While this made them immune to hosers such as Flashfires (which was used against old Rebel decks), this also gave them zero synergy with mana fixers from Tithe to Land Grant. You have to love having all forty duals; before Land Grant was printed, for example, I once put together a casual 5-color green-based deck using Birds of Paradise, Quirion Ranger, and Nature’s Lore, of all things.
Anyway, you might get the impression that R&D is inadvertently trying to make up for overloading Type I with too many nonbasic hosers. Landcycling cards present colorless, uncounterable and even un-Duress-able instants that read,”2, Discard this card from your hand: Search your library for a <land type> card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.”
There is an obvious comparison to the Onslaught fetchlands. The big drawback is the fact that you need to spend two mana instead of a land drop to landcycle. Without a Mox in your opening hand, that means waiting until Turn 3 to fix your mana, at best.
The obvious advantage is that the landcycling ability is just the side effect, and the landcycling cards are overcosted-six or seven mana-fat creatures. Thus, you get mana fixers and deck thinners that also let you squeeze extra threats into land slots. If you saw how a Rootwater Thief left alone can neuter”The Deck” in the Fish feature, you can readily appreciate this. In general, though, it doesn’t hurt to have an improved chance of topdecking a game ender later in the game.
Let’s take a look at all seven (white and green have an extra landcycler, though the main cycle is made up of commons):
- Shoreline Ranger
- Twisted Abomination
- Chartooth Cougar
- Eternal Dragon
- Noble Templar
- Wirewood Guardian
- Elvish Aberration
The Blue Landcycler
If you’re familiar with multicolored decks, Shoreline Ranger is slightly more exciting than the rest. You essentially have a”Shoreline Ranger charm,” but some of the abilities aren’t readily obvious:
- Pay two mana and discard it to put any blue dual into your hand
- Pay six mana to put a 3/4 flier into play
- Pitch Shoreline Ranger to Force of Will or Misdirection
- An additional reshuffler to improve Brainstorm (and Future Sight, if you have it)
- Evade a Blood Moon already in play if you have a basic Island in your deck, a Cunning Wish in hand, and a Blue Elemental Blast in your sideboard (the Steve O'Connell plan)
- To a lesser extent, another early discard to fuel Skeletal Scrying
Aside from the obvious pitch bonus, more reshuffling improves a deck with four Brainstorms (on a tip originally passed by Eric Wilkinson from Mikey Pustilnik to New York, I’ve tried cutting two mana slots for the last two Brainstorms and it’s worked out fine). The annoying thing, though, is that the blue flier has the lowest power among the landcyclers, and three power means it takes seven turns for Shoreline Ranger to win a game without help (though some decks will shave a turn off that due to fetchlands and Force of Will). This waters down its value as a squeezed-in extra win condition.
Having at least one Ranger is something I think every blue-based player should consider testing. For”The Deck,” I tried replacing the second Morphling, a Flooded Strand, and another land with three Shoreline Rangers, predicting that two or three might be the right number if the idea turns out well (three was the number I used to test the fetch lands, too). This gives you one less potential dead card in the opening hand, but more threats overall. You may have trouble with The Abyss, but you don’t cast that against all decks. If Shoreline Ranger turns out to be too good, well… The Abyss isn’t very effective against artifact creatures in many dangerous decks right now, and especially effective against others like Growing ‘Tog (even if you can force it into play early enough, Growing ‘Tog can still, among other solutions, play a Quirion Dryad and a Psychatog, then kill with the ‘Tog the following turn). You could actually sideboard The Abyss, Plaguebearer or Peacekeeper (as seen in the Paragon arsenal), or turn back time and use Moat instead, which works fine with Rangers.
Other decks are tighter and have less mana slots, and have too many other early effects that would compete with the two-mana activation. Growing ‘Tog and Psychatog (the control deck, distinguished from Growing ‘Tog which is the aggro-control deck) may try replacing a couple of land slots or maybe a land slot and a support spell slot. You’d consider, though, that Growing ‘Tog has eight threats that seem a bit more because of the cantrips and Gush, while Psychatog can Intuition out a ‘Tog if it can win that way. Again, this is in addition to the difficulty of sparing two mana early and going up to six mana on the board. A more conventional deck such as Forbiddian, though, may have a better shot at working them in, trying one Morphling slot and one or two land slots.
The last group of blue-based decks is combo, and if Shoreline Ranger turns out to be great despite the relatively low power, it may make boarding against them slightly more interesting. Recalling the original”The Deck” builds, Brian Weissman noted that the Serra Angels were good also because they encouraged an opponent not to side out removal like Swords to Plowshares, leaving him with dead cards. Rangers will have a similar effect, though some combo decks board in creatures and Red Elemental Blast kills them. I would definitely test Rangers in”The Shining,” again for reshuffle effects to help the Future Sights and Brainstorms.
Again, this is all a lot of speculation because it’ll take some testing to decide how smoothly the two mana activation works with your deck. However, blue is a great place to start because of Force of Will and Brainstorm.
The Other Landcyclers
Staying with blue-based decks a last time, if not for the pitch, Twisted Abomination would look better at five power and regeneration. There’s no reason to use Chartooth Cougar over it, since blue-based decks won’t have a lot of mana for pumping anyway. Eternal Dragon looks like it could break mirror matches, but it looks like too much work and is still vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares, Ebony Charm, or Coffin Purge. Blue-based decks with green have little reason to try Wirewood Guardian, though, over Twisted Abomination (assuming you test something other than Ranger), since five and six power both win in four turns and the double green mana may be cumbersome even that late in the game.
Looking at other color bases, the various Goblin Welder decks can try Chartooth Cougar. Since pitching is no longer relevant, power becomes the concern, and a deck that can expect three red sources on the table around midgame can pump it to 7/4, which wins in three turns instead of five. Whether (or to what extent, if) they replace fetch lands is a question, though, since aggressive decks won’t have two mana to spare to fix mana early.
I’ve emphasized when rating new creatures to pay attention to the many effects that work only with creatures. The most obvious interaction here is Twisted Abomination with some kind of reanimation, but Dragon (Worldgorger Dragon/Animate Dead) took a hit with the Entomb restriction and real reanimation strategies haven’t broken into the competitive tiers. Another is Living Wish, but spending four mana to smooth colors isn’t very effective.
Survival of the Fittest is the most common creature interaction in the strong decks and a landcycler turns a land slot into something that can start Survival or be fetched with one. Decks with Oath of Ghouls can use it, too. This refers to German Tools ‘n’ Tubbies and variants and you have the same caveat that they only have two mana to spare early only on a weaker draw. Other more controllish decks with Survival could try them, though.
Green-based decks don’t get very exciting landcyclers, as mentioned, and should just use the other colors’ if possible. Aside from decks with Survival, though, the only other green-based multicolored archetype is Zoo, and you need something that gets Forests if it has the classic Kird Ape.
As mentioned, Twisted Abomination looks really good, but there is no black-based multicolored deck – Butter Knives was one that had Juzam Djinns, but it was never played outside the Invitational. There is Tainted Mask and its blue splash, and helping Tainted Pact with Abomination is as good as the other reasons.
Finally, there are no white-based multicolored decks, but those with small splashes should test it if they can handle the two mana. Any deck that tests it should try Eternal Dragon over Noble Templar, though. As mentioned, three power makes a landcycler weaker than the rest, and six toughness and not tapping to attack are irrelevant in too many matchups.
Looking at mono colored decks, you don’t get any color fixing and it again depends on whether the deck can handle the two mana. Stompy can’t use landcycling, though Sligh might try one or two. Nether Void decks might be a good candidate, since they have a high mana count, cycling isn’t affected by Nether Void anyway, and it’d have the mana to play a six mana five-power creature if Void isn’t on the board. It’d need deck thinning, but it might be worth a shot.
Incidentally, the landcyclers’ creature types are in the big tribal types (Chartooth Cougar is a Cat Beast, for example), but that’s probably irrelevant outside theme decks.
Eternal Dragon
All my notes imply that you should look for a deck you can cut slots from and something not so fast that it won’t be able to spare the two mana early. Mono white Deck Parfait is one possibility, and Eternal Dragon is the most interesting of the landcyclers.
I defer to my Beyond Dominia co-moderator Raphael Caron, a.k.a. K-Run, on this one, and here’s what he e-mailed:
The idea behind adding the Dragon is to add another option to the deck without removing a key part of it. My recent white/black version needed something to ensure that I would have black mana available at any moment. The addition of Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author]s and Tithes does the trick since Land Tax isn’t working reliably anymore: Too many decks work properly with two or three lands.
The Dragon does the same wanted effect, getting you black mana- at a cost equivalent to Tithe: I think two colorless mana and uncounterability is as good as the one White mana cost (this is my untested opinion right now).
The difference comes with the added bonuses. Tithe’s bonus is to give you an additional Plains card under some circumstances (having less lands than your opponent, a condition controlled in a way by your opponent). The Dragon’s bonus allows you to reuse it later on (you need at least five mana, a condition controlled by yourself). Dragon can be reused in two ways: Repeating the deck-thinning effect, an effect that will allow the second one, putting a fat dragon on the table.
Both bonuses are conditional, but I feel that in the current metagame, the Dragon has an edge over Tithe as less decks play more lands than Deck Parfait does. Also, I prefer the self-dependant condition.
The idea here is to add another option: the Dragon is NOT replacing Sacred Mesa, as some might think. It’s just another trick available to you. It might help against decks that have a lot of Parfait hate and could shorten a long game’s length. Recursivity is always welcomed against counters and spot removal.
By the way, I used Moat again, and it doesn’t affect Eternal Dragon.
The Parfait creator should have fun testing this new trick, which is great for the deck midgame if it hasn’t established control and is reduced to topdecking. I’m not so sure about two colorless being roughly the same as one white mana in a mono white deck, though, because Parfait has few other one-mana plays, but the late game option is probably a bigger consideration since you don’t need to fix colors here. Incidentally, here’s Ralph’s rough test build of”Evil Parfait”:
Artifacts (8)
4 Scroll Rack
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Ivory Tower
2 Claws of Gix
White spells (27)
3 Land Tax
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Argivian Find
1 Balance
2 Seal of Cleansing
1 Aura of Silence
2 Sacred Mesa
2 Story Circle
2 Moat
2 Wrath of God
1 Replenish
3 Eternal Dragon
Black (3)
3 Duress
Mana (22)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Diamond
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author]
1 Plateau
10 Plains
1 Swamp
Test Run
Again, a lot of this column is just so much speculation at this point since I’ve had very little time to playtest the ideas floated. These are my fresh thoughts, and feel free to update them via my e-mail if you’ve seen more of them in action. (Sadly, I made a mistake looking at the calendar and thought the Prerelease would be next week. I missed it in favor of a date and then a free Matrix Reloaded charity screening courtesy of my Mom, with the best seat in the theater reserved and free dinner at a great Chinese restaurant afterwards. It wasn’t a tough choice, mind you.)
The most memorable shakedown came courtesy of Stefan Iwasienko, a.k.a. Womprax from the Morphling.de group. I went 4-1 unsideboarded against his Growing ‘Tog build (with red, a la Roland Bode), the loss due to an amusing Fastbond and triple-Gush opening. There was maybe one game where I wished I could’ve just played Shoreline Ranger as a fetch land early, but when I drew one in the rest, it was useful as a mana fixer, fodder for Force of Will, or a reshuffler for Brainstorm.
Here’s the most interesting game of the five:
00:25:30 – — Wompatog says:”I am ready.”
00:25:30 – — Rakso says:”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”
00:25:32 – Wompatog drew 7 cards.
00:25:35 – Rakso drew 7 cards.
00:25:45 – Rakso says:’go’
00:25:48 – It is now turn 1.
00:25:53 – Wompatog plays Underground Sea.
00:25:56 – It is now turn 2.
00:25:58 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:25:59 – Wompatog plays Ancestral Recall.
00:26:02 – Rakso says:’k’
00:26:05 – Wompatog drew 3 cards.
00:26:07 – Rakso draws a card.
00:26:10 – Rakso plays Tundra.
00:26:11 – It is now turn 3.
00:26:14 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:26:19 – Wompatog plays Polluted Delta.
00:26:20 – Wompatog buries Polluted Delta.
00:26:21 – Wompatog’s life is now 19. (-1)
00:26:24 – Wompatog moves Tropical Island from Wompatog’s library to tabletop.
00:26:27 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:26:27 – Tropical Island is tapped.
00:26:28 – Wompatog plays Quirion Dryad.
00:26:29 – Rakso says:’k’
00:26:34 – Tundra is tapped.
00:26:37 – Rakso plays Swords to Plowshares.
00:26:44 – Wompatog moves Opt from Wompatog’s hand to Wompatog’s removed from game pile.
00:26:45 – Wompatog plays Force of Will.
00:26:46 – Wompatog’s life is now 18. (-1)
00:26:48 – Quirion Dryad now has 1 counters. (+1)
00:26:52 – It is now turn 4.
00:26:55 – Rakso draws a card.
00:26:57 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
00:26:57 – Tundra is tapped.
00:26:58 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:26:59 – Rakso plays Chainer’s Edict.
00:27:02 – Wompatog buries Quirion Dryad.
I couldn’t do anything about the first-turn Ancestral Recall, but that was a good opening hand. If you remember the Fish demonstration, yes, I gained a little of that card advantage back.
00:27:04 – It is now turn 5.
00:27:04 – Wompatog says:’:(‘
00:27:07 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:27:09 – Wompatog plays Volcanic Island.
00:27:10 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:27:11 – Tropical Island is tapped.
00:27:11 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
00:27:12 – Wompatog plays Psychatog.
00:27:13 – Rakso says:’k’
00:27:18 – Wompatog plays Black Lotus.
But yes, he had a really good draw.
00:27:19 – It is now turn 6.
00:27:21 – Rakso says:’crap’
00:27:23 – Rakso draws a card.
00:27:25 – Rakso plays Polluted Delta.
00:28:17 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:28:18 – Rakso plays Brainstorm.
00:28:21 – Wompatog says:’k’
00:28:23 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
00:29:04 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
00:29:05 – Rakso moves a facedown card to Rakso’s library.
00:29:16 – Rakso plays Mox Pearl.
00:29:19 – Tundra is tapped.
00:29:19 – Rakso plays Ancestral Recall.
00:29:24 – Wompatog buries Black Lotus.
00:29:26 – Wompatog plays Mana Drain.
00:29:31 – Wompatog’s life is now 17. (-1)
00:29:31 – It is now turn 7.
00:29:35 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:29:38 – Psychatog is attacking.
00:29:39 – Rakso’s life is now 19. (-1)
00:29:43 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:29:44 – Tropical Island is tapped.
00:29:44 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
00:29:45 – Wompatog plays Psychatog.
00:29:46 – Rakso says:’…’
Okay…
00:29:49 – It is now turn 8.
00:29:52 – Rakso buries Polluted Delta.
00:29:53 – Rakso’s life is now 14. (-1)
00:29:55 – Rakso moves Underground Sea from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
00:29:58 – Rakso draws a card.
00:30:01 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:30:01 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:30:02 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
00:30:04 – Rakso plays Mind Twist.
00:30:07 – Rakso says:’2′
00:30:07 – Wompatog moves Mox Ruby from Wompatog’s hand to Wompatog’s graveyard.
00:30:09 – Wompatog moves Mox Emerald from Wompatog’s hand to Wompatog’s graveyard.
00:30:10 – Rakso says:’!’
00:30:13 – It is now turn 9.
00:30:16 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:30:21 – Psychatog is attacking.
00:30:21 – Psychatog is attacking.
00:30:24 – Rakso’s life is now 17. (-2)
00:30:26 – It is now turn 10.
00:30:30 – Rakso draws a card.
00:30:31 – It is now turn 11.
00:30:34 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:30:36 – Wompatog plays Mox Sapphire.
00:30:39 – Psychatog is attacking.
00:30:39 – Psychatog is attacking.
00:30:41 – Rakso’s life is now 15. (-2)
00:30:44 – Rakso says:’eot’
00:30:59 – Tundra is tapped.
00:30:59 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:30:59 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:31:00 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
00:31:02 – Rakso plays Fact or Fiction.
00:31:04 – Wompatog says:’k’
00:31:42 – Rakso moves Swords to Plowshares from tabletop to Rakso’s hand.
00:31:43 – Rakso moves Stroke of Genius from tabletop to Rakso’s hand.
00:31:44 – Rakso moves Island from tabletop to Rakso’s hand.
00:31:46 – Rakso buries Force of Will.
00:31:47 – Rakso buries Strip Mine.
00:31:48 – Rakso buries Fact or Fiction.
00:30:43 – It is now turn 12.
00:31:50 – Rakso draws a card.
00:32:02 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
00:32:13 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
00:32:15 – Rakso plays Swords to Plowshares.
00:32:18 – Wompatog removes Psychatog from the game.
00:32:20 – Wompatog’s life is now 18. (+1)
00:32:23 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:32:23 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:32:24 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:32:25 – Rakso removes Cunning Wish from the game.
00:32:33 – Wompatog says:’k’
00:32:35 – Rakso creates new card: Swords to Plowshares.
00:32:36 – Tundra is tapped.
00:32:37 – Rakso plays Swords to Plowshares.
00:32:40 – Wompatog says:’resp’
00:32:42 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:32:43 – Tropical Island is tapped.
00:32:44 – Wompatog says:’uu floating’
00:32:45 – Wompatog moves Underground Sea from tabletop to Wompatog’s hand.
00:32:46 – Wompatog moves Tropical Island from tabletop to Wompatog’s hand.
00:32:47 – Wompatog plays Gush.
00:32:48 – Rakso says:’k’
00:32:52 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:32:52 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:32:54 – Wompatog plays Opt.
00:32:55 – Rakso says:’k’
00:33:02 – Wompatog moves a card to bottom of library
00:33:04 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:33:12 – Wompatog removes Psychatog from the game.
00:33:13 – Wompatog’s life is now 19. (+1)
Well, this card also shows how wonderful multiple Cunning Wishes are against aggro-control. That was a nice save.
00:33:15 – It is now turn 13.
00:33:18 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:33:22 – Wompatog plays Tropical Island.
Fortunately, Stefan did not topdeck another creature and I get some breathing room while I topdeck a couple more land to use Chainer’s Edict flashback with.
00:33:23 – It is now turn 14.
00:33:34 – Rakso draws a card.
00:33:37 – Rakso plays Island.
00:33:44 – Tundra is tapped.
00:33:44 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:33:45 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:33:45 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:33:46 – Island is tapped.
00:33:46 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
00:33:48 – Rakso plays Shoreline Ranger.
Ta-da! I could’ve used it earlier when I was looking for a land drop, but I topdecked it and decided to give the glorified Serendib Efreet ability a try.
00:33:59 – It is now turn 15.
00:34:02 – Wompatog says:’i have to find out what this card does ;)’
00:34:03 – Wompatog says:’one moment’
00:34:05 – Rakso says:’3/4′
00:34:06 – Rakso says:’Flying’
00:34:13 – Rakso says:’Can pay 2 mana and discard it to get an Island’
00:34:17 – Wompatog says:’ahh’
00:34:18 – Wompatog says:’ok’
00:34:19 – Rakso says:’3/4 flying for 6 mana’
00:34:24 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:34:26 – Wompatog plays Volcanic Island.
00:34:27 – It is now turn 16.
00:34:29 – Rakso draws a card.
00:34:36 – Shoreline Ranger is attacking.
00:34:40 – Wompatog’s life is now 16. (-3)
00:34:41 – It is now turn 17.
00:34:44 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:34:46 – Wompatog plays Underground Sea.
00:34:47 – It is now turn 18.
00:34:48 – Rakso draws a card.
00:34:51 – Rakso plays Tundra.
00:34:52 – Shoreline Ranger is attacking.
00:34:54 – Wompatog’s life is now 13. (-3)
00:34:55 – It is now turn 19.
00:34:57 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:35:00 – Wompatog plays Mox Jet.
00:35:04 – Wompatog says:’…’
00:35:04 – It is now turn 20.
00:35:07 – Rakso draws a card.
00:35:08 – Shoreline Ranger is attacking.
00:35:10 – Wompatog’s life is now 10. (-3)
This was fun; almost as fun as winning off Gorilla Shaman damage.
Just kidding.
00:35:11 – It is now turn 21.
00:35:15 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:35:16 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:35:17 – Wompatog plays Opt.
00:35:19 – Rakso says:’k’
00:35:25 – Wompatog moves a card to bottom of library
00:35:26 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:35:28 – It is now turn 22.
00:35:30 – Rakso draws a card.
00:35:31 – Shoreline Ranger is attacking.
00:35:36 – Wompatog’s life is now 7. (-3)
00:35:36 – It is now turn 23.
00:35:39 – Wompatog draws a card.
00:35:41 – Wompatog plays Underground Sea.
00:35:43 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:35:43 – Wompatog plays Brainstorm.
00:35:45 – Rakso says:’k’
00:35:48 – Wompatog drew 3 cards.
00:35:52 – Wompatog moves card #1 to the TOP of Wompatog’s library.
00:35:58 – Wompatog moves card #1 to the TOP of Wompatog’s library.
00:36:00 – Tropical Island is tapped.
00:36:01 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
00:36:02 – Wompatog plays Quirion Dryad.
00:36:12 – Rakso says:’hmmm’
00:36:14 – Rakso says:’wait’
00:36:18 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:36:18 – Island is tapped.
00:36:20 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
00:36:27 – Wompatog moves Misdirection from Wompatog’s hand to Wompatog’s removed from game pile.
00:36:28 – Wompatog plays Force of Will.
00:36:29 – Wompatog’s life is now 6. (-1)
00:36:35 – Tundra is tapped.
00:36:35 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:36:37 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
00:37:03 – Tundra is tapped.
00:37:03 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:37:04 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
00:37:06 – Rakso removes Cunning Wish from the game.
00:37:09 – Wompatog says:’k’
00:37:20 – Rakso creates new card: Red Elemental Blast.
00:37:20 – Rakso moves Red Elemental Blast from limbo to Rakso’s hand.
This game was sealed since I had two Mana Drains, a Cunning Wish and ready Chainer’s Edict flashback but my clowning around resulted in a wonderful finale.
00:37:28 – It is now turn 24.
00:37:31 – Rakso draws a card.
00:37:34 – Rakso plays Volcanic Island.
00:37:36 – Rakso says:’7 mana floating’
00:37:56 – Tundra is tapped.
00:37:56 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:37:57 – Underground Sea is tapped.
00:37:58 – Island is tapped.
00:37:58 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
00:38:00 – Rakso plays Stroke of Genius.
00:38:06 – Rakso says:’9 cards’
00:38:06 – Wompatog says:’concede :(‘
00:38:09 – Rakso drew 9 cards.
00:38:11 – Shoreline Ranger is attacking.
00:38:12 – Wompatog’s life is now 3. (-3)
00:38:19 – Rakso says:’killed by Shoreline Ranger’
00:38:22 – Rakso says:’What do you think?’
Again, this is hardly conclusive, but it was something new and fascinating. I hope you have as much fun testing the new mechanic with your duals, and hope landcyclers prove to be more than poor fetch land proxies for at least some decks. Till next week.
Oscar Tan
rakso on #BDChat on EFNet
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
The Control Player’s Bible, Book I (The Fundamentals Of 5-Color Control, 19 Chapters)
Part I: Overview
Part II: History, 1994-1996
Part III: History, 1996-2000
Part IV: History, 2000-2002
Part IV.1: History, 2002
Part V: A Sample Control Mirror Match
Part VI: Playing The Core Cards: Counters And Tutors
Part VI.1: Playing The Core Cards: Cunning Wish And The Core Extension
Part VII: Playing The Core Cards: Card Drawing And Removal
Part VII.1: Cutting Core Cards
Part VIII: Playing The Sapphires
Part IX: Playing The Jets
Part X: Playing The Pearls
Part XI: Playing The Rubies
Part XII: Playing The Emeralds
Part XIII: The Sol Rings: Rounding Out”The Deck”
Part XIV: Building A 5-Color Mana Base
Part XIV.1: Building A 5-Color Mana Base After Onslaught
Part XV: The Best And Worst 5-Color Mana Cards
The Control Player’s Bible, Book II (“The Deck” V. Aggro, 18 Chapters)
Part XVI: Why Control Sucks
Part XVI: The Inquest Idiocy Quiz
Part XVIII: Head To Head: Sligh
Part XVIII.1: Head To Head: Goblin Sligh
Part XIX: Head To Head: Stacker 2
Part XX: Head To Head: Stompy
Part XXI: Head To Head: Zoo
Part XXII: Head To Head: The Funker
Part XXIII: Head To Head: German Tools ‘N’ Tubbies (Tnt)
Part XXIV: Head To Head: White Weenie
Part XXV: Deck Deconstruction:”The Deck” V. Aggro
Part XXVI: Deck Deconstruction: Aggro V.”The Deck”
Part XXVII: Sleazy”The Deck” Sideboarding V. Aggro
Part XXVIII: The Aggro Gauntlet, Part I
Part XXIX: The Aggro Gauntlet, Part II
Part XXX: The Aggro Gauntlet, Part III
Part XXXI: The Aggro Gauntlet, Part IV
Part XXXII: Aggro, The Final Exam
The Control Player’s Bible, Book III (“The Deck” V. Aggro-Control)
Part XXXIII: What IS Aggro-Control?
Part XXXIV: Head To Head: Fish
Back To Basics
Part 1: Why Timmy And [author name="Brian Kibler"]Brian Kibler[/author] Shouldn’t Play Type I (Why Fat Is Bad)
Part 2: A Mana Curve Can Be A Line Or A Blob
Part 3: Counting Card Advantage
Part 4: Recounting Card Advantage (A Clarification Of Part 3)