'ello!
It's been over a month since I've posted about Magic, and I'm sorry. But, I'm back, and ready to get to it!
I don't remember my exact decklist for pre-DTK FNMs, but it was very similar to the list here. I also wasn't able to take note of my exact match results, so I'm going to have to wing it off of Planeswalker Points. With that, let's get it!
FNM 3/6/15
Going 3-2 in the swiss, I was on to top 8. Winning with tech Rabblemasters from the sideboard against UW control in the top 8, I went into the top 4. However, I was shut down in my rampage across the land, losing in 3 games to, I believe, Gu Devotion.
FNM 3/13/15
Once again 3-2 in the swiss, I made it all the way to the top 4 again before getting stopped in my tracks.
DTK Midnight Prerelease 3/21/15
I chose the dragon brood of Atarka at the only prerelease I went to, being rewarded by a promo Dragonlord Atarka, a foil Atarka's Command, and a Dromoka's Command. Unfortunately, I didn't even make it to top 8 with my pool. However, I suppose I can't complain, by the fact that this event kicked off spring break for me.
FNM 3/27/15
Being wise enough to save 7 Fate Reforged packs from previous weeks' winnings, I was able to trade them in for Dragons packs, with the only notable card being a Narset Transcendent. With the fact in mind that some people opened upwards of 2 boxes and didn't get a single planeswalker, I counted my blessings.
I do remember the list I ran this time.
Going 3-1-1 in the swiss, a few matches that I recall include winning 2/3 games against a deck I will dub as a 'budget' dragon deck of the Atarka colors. I wasn't even mad losing the second game with me getting stuck at 3 lands and not finding a 4th until I was facing down a Thunderbreak Regent, Savage Ventmaw, and a Foe-Razer Regent.
In the 5th round of the swiss, I was up against a sweet-looking GW Warriors deck, sporting cards such as Surrak, the Hunt Caller, Hidden Dragonslayer, Den Protector, Avatar of the Resolute, and Dromoka's Command. Games 1 and 2 went quickly with a win to each of us. In the final game, I was quickly beaten down to around 10 life before I was able to stabilize. At that point, we both built up an impressive board state, with him deciding enough was enough, swinging all-out. He had forgotten that I had Winds of Qal Sisma, however, losing the majority of his forces, dying for exactly enough on the crack-back.
Top 8, I was against a Temur anti-control deck, crushing it appropriately.
In the top 4, I faced my bane, David, running his usual UW control. However, I was able to back-to-back-to-back Crater's Claws him out, with the second sucking up a counter, giving him the confidence to tap-out for an Elspeth, giving me ONE chance to topdeck the third Claws for the win before he locked the game up.
With my head high, I went into the finals against Lyndsey, running Esper control. Game one was grindy, with me winning it. Game 2 I was stuck on 4 lands with 5-drops rotting in my hand, getting pummeled in card advantage by an opposing Narset. With the sight of an Elspeth, I packed in, heading for the final game. She never hit a 4th land, however, resulting in a guilt-ridden win for me.
Well, I suppose I will call it quits there for today, leaving you guys on your toes about last week. The main reason for doing so is that I'm being yelled at to get into the car to go to school, but I digress.
Until next time,
~The Ravenhunter
Monday, April 6, 2015
Wiz Updates 4/6/15
Hey, guys.
It's been over a month and I've hated myself for not making the time to post. However, I'm here now, and I have good news!
That's right! I've made a Polar Cat with the same talents as Brutus! To be fair, this isn't news to me, since I've had her for a while, but whatever. I plan on making a duplicate Polar Cat for each of my wizards, as well as a damage talent for that wizard's school. However, until I accomplish that feat, I suppose I'll settle for moving Sophie around.
This will probably be the pet I will use for questing in the new world whenever that will pop.
I believe that will do it for now, as I'm still 'taking a break' from wiz at the moment.
Until next time,
~The Ravenhunter
It's been over a month and I've hated myself for not making the time to post. However, I'm here now, and I have good news!
That's right! I've made a Polar Cat with the same talents as Brutus! To be fair, this isn't news to me, since I've had her for a while, but whatever. I plan on making a duplicate Polar Cat for each of my wizards, as well as a damage talent for that wizard's school. However, until I accomplish that feat, I suppose I'll settle for moving Sophie around.
This will probably be the pet I will use for questing in the new world whenever that will pop.
I believe that will do it for now, as I'm still 'taking a break' from wiz at the moment.
Until next time,
~The Ravenhunter
Monday, March 9, 2015
FNM Report 2/27/15
Hello!
Here is the list I was running. Same thing as the couple weeks prior, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it, I suppose.
Round 1, I was matched against Seth, playing some variant of RW Aggro, something I can't remember clearly. Losing 1-2, I was put on the back foot to start off this tournament.
Round 2 saw me play Cori, piloting a (very) budget deck in Abzan colors. I felt a little bad about beating him so badly, but I quickly got over it. 2-0. 1-1.
Round 3 had me versus my father, playing his BR deck. Winning the die roll, I flooded the board quickly game 1, which was followed by a fast second game, putting me at 2-1.
The fourth round paired me against Eric, playing his UW Control deck. Game 1 was grindy but got out of reach for me, with him ending the game with an Elspeth. The second game I quickly beat him up with a full board. The final game went to time, with neither of us being able to pull out a win in time, although I think he would have won if time had permitted. 2-1-1.
The final round of the swiss had me against Caleb, playing something I don't remember clearly. Regardless, I won the match within 2 games, putting me at a solid 3-1-1 going into the top 8.
In the top 8, I played against JC, running Gu Devotion, if I remember correctly. Games one and two went quickly, with me and him each winning a game, respectively. The third game was grindy, to say the least. After a pair of Hornet Queens from each side, a timely Fog along with a trio of Whisperwood Elementals saw me through.
In the final 4, I got paired with David. Playing his signature UW Control, he won both games with an Elspeth.
Sadly, no win. But top 4 is respectable, nonetheless.
I won't go into detail with my results in the two-headed giant tournament the following day, I'll just leave it that I did well, placing second alongside my father. I was running my usual Devotion, while he mixed it up with an aggressive RW build constructed by me, inspired by a video set done by LSV, which can be found here. Using the winnings, which was store credit, we decided to acquire some boxes for storage, along with a pair of Elspeth vs. Kiora duel decks, which is exciting.
Welp, I had better call it there. I hope I can find time this week to write about some sweet Dragons of Tarkir spoilers. In the meantime, I hope you all have a good week!
Until next time,
~Ravenhunter
Here is the list I was running. Same thing as the couple weeks prior, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it, I suppose.
Round 1, I was matched against Seth, playing some variant of RW Aggro, something I can't remember clearly. Losing 1-2, I was put on the back foot to start off this tournament.
Round 2 saw me play Cori, piloting a (very) budget deck in Abzan colors. I felt a little bad about beating him so badly, but I quickly got over it. 2-0. 1-1.
Round 3 had me versus my father, playing his BR deck. Winning the die roll, I flooded the board quickly game 1, which was followed by a fast second game, putting me at 2-1.
The fourth round paired me against Eric, playing his UW Control deck. Game 1 was grindy but got out of reach for me, with him ending the game with an Elspeth. The second game I quickly beat him up with a full board. The final game went to time, with neither of us being able to pull out a win in time, although I think he would have won if time had permitted. 2-1-1.
The final round of the swiss had me against Caleb, playing something I don't remember clearly. Regardless, I won the match within 2 games, putting me at a solid 3-1-1 going into the top 8.
In the top 8, I played against JC, running Gu Devotion, if I remember correctly. Games one and two went quickly, with me and him each winning a game, respectively. The third game was grindy, to say the least. After a pair of Hornet Queens from each side, a timely Fog along with a trio of Whisperwood Elementals saw me through.
In the final 4, I got paired with David. Playing his signature UW Control, he won both games with an Elspeth.
Sadly, no win. But top 4 is respectable, nonetheless.
I won't go into detail with my results in the two-headed giant tournament the following day, I'll just leave it that I did well, placing second alongside my father. I was running my usual Devotion, while he mixed it up with an aggressive RW build constructed by me, inspired by a video set done by LSV, which can be found here. Using the winnings, which was store credit, we decided to acquire some boxes for storage, along with a pair of Elspeth vs. Kiora duel decks, which is exciting.
Welp, I had better call it there. I hope I can find time this week to write about some sweet Dragons of Tarkir spoilers. In the meantime, I hope you all have a good week!
Until next time,
~Ravenhunter
Misc. Updates 3/9/15
Hey all!
I'm glad I could find the time to write these, at the expense of sleep on Sunday nights, of course. I sleep so little, anyways.
Not much has happened for me in the past week as far as online gaming, so I will plug some things at the end of this post.
The Pain of Pets
As some of you might know, I've been struggling to get a 'good' pet for years now. For some time, I deemed THIS acceptable.
I'm glad I could find the time to write these, at the expense of sleep on Sunday nights, of course. I sleep so little, anyways.
Not much has happened for me in the past week as far as online gaming, so I will plug some things at the end of this post.
The Pain of Pets
As some of you might know, I've been struggling to get a 'good' pet for years now. For some time, I deemed THIS acceptable.
*shudder*
Luckily, I found (hatched) Rudy over the past summer.
<3
However, after so long, I have finally made a good (but still not perfect) pet.
So, yeah. We'll just say that I was excited when I leveled him up to epic earlier.. I could, could, grind him up to mega. But it takes too long, and, quite frankly, I don't want to be heartbroken like a few other times I've taken pets too far. Rudy, for example. Sigh. I digress.
The Mentality Matters is a blog that one of my close friends has started fairly recently, focusing on the various aspects of the mind. Nothing incredibly scientific, but a few topics are delved deeply into. Admittedly, I haven't yet read all the articles, but i have skimmed, and I think it's worth checking out.
PessimisticEdge is a blog dedicated to the, well, pessimistic (negative), point of view. Not yet boasting a large number of posts so far, this will hopefully be written over soon.
Most of you know about my TappedOut account by now, but if you don't, this is it. I don't use it often, mostly for writing posts, but still; add me! :)
This is my playlist of music that I listen to. It's mostly just random music videos that I remember to bookmark. A lot of people ask me about my taste in music, so I suppose here it is.
What else? Oh yeah! I recently created a tumblr, but haven't used it much. :/
Yup, I think that just about covers it. If you want to email me, shoot me one at gorman.ravenhunter@gmail.com !
Until next time,
~Ravenhunter
Monday, March 2, 2015
MTG Updates 3/2/15
Ahh. Feels good to be able to sit down a write this after so long.
So basically, I don't want to delve (heh) as deep as I did last time, so I'll just do the past month of events. (Which includes Game Day and a Two-Headed Giant event, for value!)
I have been playing Green Devotion, splashing red for Crater's Claws and Xenagos, the Reveler. This past month I have been playing exclusively that deck, and loving it. Here is the list I've been using.
FNM 2/06/15
Off to a good start winning the first round, I was humbled by my second opponent to go on to win the rest of my matches, winning a Gruuling devotion mirror in the finals.
FNM 2/13/15
Went completely undefeated, not even losing a game, to face my father in the finals. He was rocking a B/R brew featuring Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, attempting to grind out opponents with small, aggressive deathtouch creatures. Luckily, I didn't have to have my Arbor Colossus(s) trade with his Typhoid Rats, as he conceded the match to me. (We share a card pool anyway, so the prize split didn't matter.)
Fate Reforged Game Day 2/14/15
Ah, Valentine's Day. I hate it. -_- It didn't hate me, though. I went undefeated once more, facing devotion mirror in the finals AGAIN to pull out and win off a Barrage of Boulders. Ladies may not want to be with me, but Ugin does. <3
FNM 2/20/15
Round 1, I played against Nick, who has been down on Magic for a while, but has returned, ready to save the day with... 5 Color "Lucky Charms"?! Either way, Temur Charm proved to be almost worthless once more, putting me at a good start with a win.
Round 2, I was pitted against Jeremy, playing Goblins. Usually, I have an OK matchup against various red decks, due to Theros block all-stars Courser, Caryatid, and Polukranos. Unfortunately, it didn't work either game, putting me at a humble 1-1.
Round 3, the computer paired me against Lane, piloting Villainous Wealth. Unfortunately, I was able to use Dictate of Karametra better than him, allowing me to Crater's Claws him out in our 2 games. 2-1
Round 4 saw me playing against Ben, rocking an aggressive Jeskai brew featuring Shaman of the Great Hunt, Mantis Rider, and Goblin Rabblemaster, backed up with a bunch of burn. Losing game one, it triggered my Temur Battle Rage (of which I run none), allowing me to crush him game 2. However, this Jeskai student would not be put down, so it was off to the races. Unfortunately for him, I have big creatures, he had small burn spells. Also, WINds of Qal Sisma did a good number on him, leaving me at 3-1.
Round 5 had me against Kaleb, cruising (not literally) with Gu Devotion. Unfortunately, game 1 was over with just under 15 minutes left on the clock. He was able to Aqueous Form his way to victory game 2 on turns. 3-1-1
In the top 8, I was playing against Tyler, playing Gr Devotion as well, but with Rabblemasters. I Crater's Claws'd him to death from 21 with 3 lands in play game 1, which he was impressed by, to say the least. Game 2 I kept a loose one on the draw, eeking out a victory after triple-Rabblemaster beats.
On to the top 4, I had played against Ben once more. Winning game one boosted my confidence a little too high, keeping a loose one games 2 and 3, with me facing death while barely putting a dent in his life total.
While I still have to speak of this most previous Friday Night's adventures, along with the fun of 2-Headed Giant, I believe I shall end it here, as I have to get ready for school!
Until next time,
~Ravenhunter
So basically, I don't want to delve (heh) as deep as I did last time, so I'll just do the past month of events. (Which includes Game Day and a Two-Headed Giant event, for value!)
I have been playing Green Devotion, splashing red for Crater's Claws and Xenagos, the Reveler. This past month I have been playing exclusively that deck, and loving it. Here is the list I've been using.
FNM 2/06/15
Off to a good start winning the first round, I was humbled by my second opponent to go on to win the rest of my matches, winning a Gruuling devotion mirror in the finals.
FNM 2/13/15
Went completely undefeated, not even losing a game, to face my father in the finals. He was rocking a B/R brew featuring Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, attempting to grind out opponents with small, aggressive deathtouch creatures. Luckily, I didn't have to have my Arbor Colossus(s) trade with his Typhoid Rats, as he conceded the match to me. (We share a card pool anyway, so the prize split didn't matter.)
Fate Reforged Game Day 2/14/15
Ah, Valentine's Day. I hate it. -_- It didn't hate me, though. I went undefeated once more, facing devotion mirror in the finals AGAIN to pull out and win off a Barrage of Boulders. Ladies may not want to be with me, but Ugin does. <3
FNM 2/20/15
Round 1, I played against Nick, who has been down on Magic for a while, but has returned, ready to save the day with... 5 Color "Lucky Charms"?! Either way, Temur Charm proved to be almost worthless once more, putting me at a good start with a win.
Round 2, I was pitted against Jeremy, playing Goblins. Usually, I have an OK matchup against various red decks, due to Theros block all-stars Courser, Caryatid, and Polukranos. Unfortunately, it didn't work either game, putting me at a humble 1-1.
Round 3, the computer paired me against Lane, piloting Villainous Wealth. Unfortunately, I was able to use Dictate of Karametra better than him, allowing me to Crater's Claws him out in our 2 games. 2-1
Round 4 saw me playing against Ben, rocking an aggressive Jeskai brew featuring Shaman of the Great Hunt, Mantis Rider, and Goblin Rabblemaster, backed up with a bunch of burn. Losing game one, it triggered my Temur Battle Rage (of which I run none), allowing me to crush him game 2. However, this Jeskai student would not be put down, so it was off to the races. Unfortunately for him, I have big creatures, he had small burn spells. Also, WINds of Qal Sisma did a good number on him, leaving me at 3-1.
Round 5 had me against Kaleb, cruising (not literally) with Gu Devotion. Unfortunately, game 1 was over with just under 15 minutes left on the clock. He was able to Aqueous Form his way to victory game 2 on turns. 3-1-1
In the top 8, I was playing against Tyler, playing Gr Devotion as well, but with Rabblemasters. I Crater's Claws'd him to death from 21 with 3 lands in play game 1, which he was impressed by, to say the least. Game 2 I kept a loose one on the draw, eeking out a victory after triple-Rabblemaster beats.
On to the top 4, I had played against Ben once more. Winning game one boosted my confidence a little too high, keeping a loose one games 2 and 3, with me facing death while barely putting a dent in his life total.
While I still have to speak of this most previous Friday Night's adventures, along with the fun of 2-Headed Giant, I believe I shall end it here, as I have to get ready for school!
Until next time,
~Ravenhunter
Wiz Updates 3/2/15
So, it's been a while, hasn't it? How are you all doing?
....
Right. Uh..
Wizard101
The last time I updated stuff from Wiz was.. August 2nd?! Welp.. I guess I don't have much to say, so I'll let the pictures talk.
So.. yeah. Right now he's at the gates of Hades, and has unfortunately been there for about a month, as I can't find time to actually go do any runs!
As far as anything going on that's NOT my storm, well...
I started (and finished) my Jade gear at the end of January. Unfortunately, I had to spend ~$40 to do so, but I know it's a LOT less than others have had to spend, and for that I am grateful.
And with that, I will end this blog post, but will shortly resume my tales with Tournament Reports. In the meantime, I did this in under 45 minutes, so I feel accomplished! :D
Until next time,
~The Ravenhunter
Saturday, August 2, 2014
8/1/14 FNM Report
Hey, everyone!
I'll just spoil it and say that I got 2nd last night at my local shop's FNM. Noting that, I'll dive right in and get to the decklist and then the matches.
Here's the decklist.
I'll go through the card choices.
4 Elvish Mystic and 4 Sylvan Caryatid: Green decks need mana ramp to get their game going, and these are what we have to work with. While an Elvish Mystic variant has pretty much always been a thing in Standard, this one has an FNM promo and looks sweet in foil. Also, Sylvan Caryatid is good against various aggressive decks in that it's an X/3 and ramps you to your various big green monsters.
4 Courser of Kruphix: This is another creature that helps accelerate mana and blocks well against aggro.
4 Polukranos, World Eater: Big, 5/5, Hydra, thing.., that is ALSO good against aggro, who has been known to Monstrosity for 28 to wipe the opponent's entire board. Just sayin'.
2 Xenagos, God of Revels: Xenagos, gives things big and haste-y, value.
3 Hornet Queen: The reason this deck is a thing. It provides 3 devotion, 6 flying power in green, and deals with Elspeth pretty effectively.
1 Reclamation Sage, 1 Arbor Colossus, 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt: Some good Chord targets. From dealing with D-Spheres, swatting down Stormbreaths, and giving stuff trample, these are good 1-ofs to have.
4 Chord of Calling: A card I was excited about when I saw previewed, I knew it would find a home in Standard. Also Storms with Hornet Queen well.
3 Domri Rade: Good with Courser, provides card advantage, etc. Also it's pretty much impossible to beat a Domri emblem.
2 Xenagos, the Reveler: Planeswalker, tokens, mana, value, etc.
3 Garruk, Caller of Beasts: When you provide green, in standard, good card draw, I will take advantage of it. Also, Garruk -> Hornet Queen is kinda good.
12 Forest: Green sources; can't live without 'em.
4 Stomping Ground and 4 Temple of Abandon: Need red sources, and these also happen to provide green.
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: Devotion was the cornerstone of this deck, and shall continue to be until I get bored of this deck, which will take a while.
Sideboard
Most of these are self-explanatory, and I was wanting to change the Bow of Nylea's into Nylea's Disciple, but I forgot them at home, so this is what I ran.
So, with this setup, I charged bravely into battle! Let's see how it went.
Round 1
The first round had me sitting across from one of my good friends, Emmanuel. He was running an Esper control list from which I saw Ashiok, Far//Away, Elspeth, Hero's Downfall, and Supreme Verdict, as well as lands. Game 1 went poorly for me, with him resolving a Supreme Verdict followed by an Elspeth to which I had no answer to. In Game 2, I had a Bow of Nylea active, putting back various Chord targets. Sadly, he was able to answer Phyrexian Revoker 3 times, causing Elspeth to make a lot of tokens as well as an emblem. I lost 0-2, putting my overall record to 0-1.
Round 2
In the following round, I faced my father, who was running Bg Devotion. The first game swung in his favor thanks to my flooding out and not resolving Hornet Queen fast enough. The second game had me at a fast start and he came back from it, threatening to kill me. However, our stomachs took the reins and he decided to give me the match 2-1 if I went and ordered our calzones. I agreed happily, putting my overall record at 1-1.
Round 3
Round three paired me against one of my best friends, Lyndsey. She was piloting a Bant Flash deck with the Archangel/Chimera/Fathom Mage combo in it. However, she was not able to assemble such a combination and I promptly curb-stomped her both games, putting my record at a winning 2-1.
Round 4
The computer had me paired against Julian, who is known for his trolling ways. He did not disappoint because he was running a Golgari Dredge/Bg Devotion hybrid featuring Abhorrent Overlord and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. From memory, the first game went in my favor due to an unanswered Hornet Queen. The second game didn't end well for me, dying with my opponent at a life total in the low 50s and multiple Harpy tokens on his field. The third game was pulled out of my keister by what I believe was an unstopped early swarm of creatures. 3-1.
Round 5
In the final round before the cut to top 8, I faced a fairly new face to the shop, Dylan. My opponent this round was running what appeared to be White Weenie, featuring a playset of Brave the Elements, which blew me out more than once over the course of the tournament. I started off the game somewhat slowly, trading my first-turn Elvish Mystic for an early Soldier of the Pantheon. I won the game nonetheless, thanks to multiple Hornet Queens. Going into game two, I was feeling cocky, causing me to keep a greedy hand. This punished me the greatest as I got swiftly disposed of. The final game almost went to time, but I pulled out of the match with a 2-1 win. Overall record: 4-1
Top 8
I played against another control deck piloted by David, but he chose to cut black, sticking to straight UW. I flooded the board quickly game one, not slamming into a Supreme Verdict. Game two swung in my favor, but he put up more of a struggle, having an Elspeth to make plenty of tokens. I felt kinda bad about winning this from a social standpoint, but I quickly got over it as I continued nomming on my food.
Top 4
As I sat down against my second-to-last opponent, I recognized a face that hasn't been seen around in a while, Chris. He was shipping into a Bant Midrange-Flash-Control, thing. He admitted to building his deck an hour before the tournament, which isn't entirely uncommon at my shop. I'd seen him play some of his last round, resulting in my knowing to play around certain cards. Regardless, I flooded the field both games, resulting in a 2-0 win in my favor.
Finals
I was excited as I sat down to play the top 2 for the fourth time in a month and a half. I was somewhat nervous, as I should have been, to sit down against Dylan once more. We went to a third game, with me having the first game and he winning the second. The third game was another greedy game in general for me, having taken 10 off of a Reckoner hit to the face. This ultimately ended up losing me the game thanks to an Eidolon of Countless Battles bestowed onto an Archangel of Thune. However, I still walked away with a full stomach and 7 packs for my troubles.
Wow. Another long MTG post, I believe this will suffice for now.
Until next time,
~The Ravenhunter
I'll just spoil it and say that I got 2nd last night at my local shop's FNM. Noting that, I'll dive right in and get to the decklist and then the matches.
Here's the decklist.
I'll go through the card choices.
4 Elvish Mystic and 4 Sylvan Caryatid: Green decks need mana ramp to get their game going, and these are what we have to work with. While an Elvish Mystic variant has pretty much always been a thing in Standard, this one has an FNM promo and looks sweet in foil. Also, Sylvan Caryatid is good against various aggressive decks in that it's an X/3 and ramps you to your various big green monsters.
4 Courser of Kruphix: This is another creature that helps accelerate mana and blocks well against aggro.
4 Polukranos, World Eater: Big, 5/5, Hydra, thing.., that is ALSO good against aggro, who has been known to Monstrosity for 28 to wipe the opponent's entire board. Just sayin'.
2 Xenagos, God of Revels: Xenagos, gives things big and haste-y, value.
3 Hornet Queen: The reason this deck is a thing. It provides 3 devotion, 6 flying power in green, and deals with Elspeth pretty effectively.
1 Reclamation Sage, 1 Arbor Colossus, 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt: Some good Chord targets. From dealing with D-Spheres, swatting down Stormbreaths, and giving stuff trample, these are good 1-ofs to have.
4 Chord of Calling: A card I was excited about when I saw previewed, I knew it would find a home in Standard. Also Storms with Hornet Queen well.
3 Domri Rade: Good with Courser, provides card advantage, etc. Also it's pretty much impossible to beat a Domri emblem.
2 Xenagos, the Reveler: Planeswalker, tokens, mana, value, etc.
3 Garruk, Caller of Beasts: When you provide green, in standard, good card draw, I will take advantage of it. Also, Garruk -> Hornet Queen is kinda good.
12 Forest: Green sources; can't live without 'em.
4 Stomping Ground and 4 Temple of Abandon: Need red sources, and these also happen to provide green.
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: Devotion was the cornerstone of this deck, and shall continue to be until I get bored of this deck, which will take a while.
Sideboard
Most of these are self-explanatory, and I was wanting to change the Bow of Nylea's into Nylea's Disciple, but I forgot them at home, so this is what I ran.
So, with this setup, I charged bravely into battle! Let's see how it went.
Round 1
The first round had me sitting across from one of my good friends, Emmanuel. He was running an Esper control list from which I saw Ashiok, Far//Away, Elspeth, Hero's Downfall, and Supreme Verdict, as well as lands. Game 1 went poorly for me, with him resolving a Supreme Verdict followed by an Elspeth to which I had no answer to. In Game 2, I had a Bow of Nylea active, putting back various Chord targets. Sadly, he was able to answer Phyrexian Revoker 3 times, causing Elspeth to make a lot of tokens as well as an emblem. I lost 0-2, putting my overall record to 0-1.
Round 2
In the following round, I faced my father, who was running Bg Devotion. The first game swung in his favor thanks to my flooding out and not resolving Hornet Queen fast enough. The second game had me at a fast start and he came back from it, threatening to kill me. However, our stomachs took the reins and he decided to give me the match 2-1 if I went and ordered our calzones. I agreed happily, putting my overall record at 1-1.
Round 3
Round three paired me against one of my best friends, Lyndsey. She was piloting a Bant Flash deck with the Archangel/Chimera/Fathom Mage combo in it. However, she was not able to assemble such a combination and I promptly curb-stomped her both games, putting my record at a winning 2-1.
Round 4
The computer had me paired against Julian, who is known for his trolling ways. He did not disappoint because he was running a Golgari Dredge/Bg Devotion hybrid featuring Abhorrent Overlord and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. From memory, the first game went in my favor due to an unanswered Hornet Queen. The second game didn't end well for me, dying with my opponent at a life total in the low 50s and multiple Harpy tokens on his field. The third game was pulled out of my keister by what I believe was an unstopped early swarm of creatures. 3-1.
Round 5
In the final round before the cut to top 8, I faced a fairly new face to the shop, Dylan. My opponent this round was running what appeared to be White Weenie, featuring a playset of Brave the Elements, which blew me out more than once over the course of the tournament. I started off the game somewhat slowly, trading my first-turn Elvish Mystic for an early Soldier of the Pantheon. I won the game nonetheless, thanks to multiple Hornet Queens. Going into game two, I was feeling cocky, causing me to keep a greedy hand. This punished me the greatest as I got swiftly disposed of. The final game almost went to time, but I pulled out of the match with a 2-1 win. Overall record: 4-1
Top 8
I played against another control deck piloted by David, but he chose to cut black, sticking to straight UW. I flooded the board quickly game one, not slamming into a Supreme Verdict. Game two swung in my favor, but he put up more of a struggle, having an Elspeth to make plenty of tokens. I felt kinda bad about winning this from a social standpoint, but I quickly got over it as I continued nomming on my food.
Top 4
As I sat down against my second-to-last opponent, I recognized a face that hasn't been seen around in a while, Chris. He was shipping into a Bant Midrange-Flash-Control, thing. He admitted to building his deck an hour before the tournament, which isn't entirely uncommon at my shop. I'd seen him play some of his last round, resulting in my knowing to play around certain cards. Regardless, I flooded the field both games, resulting in a 2-0 win in my favor.
Finals
I was excited as I sat down to play the top 2 for the fourth time in a month and a half. I was somewhat nervous, as I should have been, to sit down against Dylan once more. We went to a third game, with me having the first game and he winning the second. The third game was another greedy game in general for me, having taken 10 off of a Reckoner hit to the face. This ultimately ended up losing me the game thanks to an Eidolon of Countless Battles bestowed onto an Archangel of Thune. However, I still walked away with a full stomach and 7 packs for my troubles.
Wow. Another long MTG post, I believe this will suffice for now.
Until next time,
~The Ravenhunter
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