Masters players, being the best of the best, like to play controlling decks with all the answers. The feeling is that as long as the deck has the tools to make the win possible, they will outplay their opponent and achieve the victory. Tog, with its card drawing, counter magic, creature control, and game-ending Upheavals, fits perfectly into the Masters players mindset… So I created another deck, which did beat Tog…
The man’s made his name here critiquing art and telling us how important it is to Magic. And here comes the 8th Edition, specifically redesigned just to make the art larger. What does the man who breathes artistry think of it?
The biggest complaint I get from beginning Magic players is that they don’t have the money to invest in all the rares for those decks, thus disqualifying them from tournament play. My response to this is always”trade for what you need.”
One build of Stompy, three builds of Sligh, all angry things up in your face. And, of course, the usual Raksian analysis!
The deck did well enough that I decided to bring it to play between rounds during FNM. After beating each U/G deck that crossed my path, and a variety of others, I started seriously considering this deck as a real contender… And since then, I have personally piloted this deck to over 80 wins in 101 games.
As many people know, I’m the decklist guy for most major events for Wizards at this point. I type between 110-130 wpm, depending on how tired I am. For a 345-person Rochester draft tournament, it would take a single person, using my shortcut program, twenty-three hours of continuous typing to finish the first draft pod alone.
This one starts as a bit of a love story; I am truly falling in love with Living Wish. I know that it’s a rare.,.. But it’s another one of those rares that you just have to get. If you’re a newer player and like green, make sure to get four Living Wishes. The toolbox effect out of the sideboard can be huge.
For Constructed events, all decklists are posted. This allows the community to dissect the results from a tournament and figure out which deck did the best statistically against the field, which matchups proved to be particularly difficult for certain decks, and which decks were just bad. Arguably, more people Draft than play Constructed tournaments – and yet they never get the sort of analysis that Constructed gets because you don’t provide us with the decklists.
Old Extended had some broken decks, but nothing like Type 1. I play TnT – Mishra’s Factories, Juggernauts, Su-Chi’s, Triskelion, plus the broken stuff: Ancestral Recall, Goblin Welder, Survival of the Fittest. I’m short one Factory, but the deck still does okay.
For those that don’t know, you need an Enchantress or Enchantress’ Presence in play and a couple of one casting-cost Enchantments out along with a Words of Wind. You play an enchantment and trigger the card drawing, then pay one to turn it into a bounce instead of drawing a card. But Deep Dog had a very hard time of losing if they got a Wild Mongrel on the table and a Basking Rootwalla in their hand….
The basis behind this entire deck lies in one sentence found in the text box of four of the deck’s creatures:”At the end of each turn, put a (+1/+1, regeneration or other) counter on (creature)”. What this means is that the creature in question doesn’t have to be in play at the time a creature goes to the graveyard in order to get a counter – hence, Wrath of God and Living Death can be followed up by a freshly-cast Ghoul and it will still get the counters!
Black has great creature removal and hand destruction. Blue has card drawing and counterspells. Green has huge cheap efficient creatures. Red has burn and land destruction. And White? Well, White has weenies, and good weenies alone aren’t a good enough reason to want to play white.
For most Limited tournaments in the past, the preparation has been just that: Limited. But Chicago is different from many of the major Limited tournaments I’ve participated in during my Magic career, because I have a very solid and defined plan. And I’m going to allow you guys to take a look at the terms of my complete and actual plan for Pro Tour: Chicago. We can argue about White another day – if it still sucks after Legions.
Follow Sideboard’s live coverage while cheering on all of your favorite StarCityGames.com writers… Rob Dougherty, Michael Pustilnik, Mike Turian, Sol Malka, Nick Eisel, Ben Ronaldson, Ken Krouner, Nate Heiss and Geordie Tait! And while you’re at it, cheer me on for getting snowed in and not being able to make the trip. Sigh.
Look, your test group might think that life gaining is fun – but excuse me, I know no such people. And it’s not for lack of idiots; there are quite the group of morons at my store. So do not blame it at that I am a too”Johnny: kind of player. Timmy hates life gaining too – at least over here in the Netherlands.
