Title: The Blind Eternities 2 - Elves! and MMM
Tags: MMM Elves! Blind Eternities
Blog Entry: In my last blog I discussed my plans to write more regularly. That was roughly two weeks ago, so that plan hasn't been panning out so well. The first queue I'm going to detail I was actually playing while writing my last entry. Constructed queue #20 (first v3 queue) -104 tickets (still less than the value of the deck, but not by much) My round one opponent is playing some sort of 5-color elemental deck with reveillark, though it takes two games to put that together. Game 1 is over very quickly as I hit turn 1 Boreal Druid, t2 Gilt-Leaf Ambush, t3 Hunting Triad, t4 Coat of Arms. Game 2 takes slightly longer, and he manages to wrath after I've dropped a coat. From that point on his elementals are bigger than my elves and they eventually fly over for the win. Game 3 I bring in squall lines for Elvish Promenades since I now have some idea of what he is playing. He keeps a 1 land hand, and I punish him severly for it. Turn 1 boreal druid, t2 heritage druid and bramblewood paragon, t3 attack for 3 (leaving 1 elf untapped) and cast two gilt-leaf ambushes at EOT, t4 overrun. The match was extremely quick, so I write my previous blog. About 40 minutes later MTGO starts beeping in the background, so I figure it is time for round 2 to begin. I bring it to the foreground, only to find that it is beeping to tell me I've lost the match due to timing out. I was livid. I routinely multitask while MODOing it up, so I was aware of the positively irritating alert that version 3 uses if you have priority in a game in the background. It seems absurd to me that there is no alert for "Would you like to play first?" or "Would you like to take a mulligan?" Customer service disagrees as my refund claim is denied. On the plus side I find out that they've switched the payout on queues so that the "1" of 4-2-1-1 is Lorwyn packs. (-104+L) Unfortunately trade bots are not running at full capacity for version 3 when I get this pack, so it just sits there. [insert 2 weeks of real life instead of planeswalking] In the more recent past (i.e. just this evening), I notice that they've put MMM drafts up. I read an article on another website that made some compelling points about the potential future value of Morningtide if version 3 lets WotC up its customer base significantly. Apparently adjusting the prize payout and having trade bugs for a while dealt with the flood of M packs, so I spend $14 dollars cash money to get a draft set of M instead of buying from a bot. (-118+L) One thing I'd learned during release events was that soldiers and rogues were quite dominant. Of course I wasn't the only one to learn this and see nothing significant involving the kithkin or dastardly scoundrels. Through pack 1, I am mostly looking toward a warrior deck, but it isn't running quite as richly as I'd like, and it is completely dry in pack 2. I utilize the contingency plan for RG warriors and end up in Rg elementals/shamans. My curve is low since being slow against rogues or soldiers is suicide. Ultimately, though, the matches don't matter for profitability since I open mutavault in pack #2. 1 Bosk Banneret 3 Sunflare Shaman 3 Fire Juggler 2 Rage Forger 2 Seething Pathblazer 2 Fertilid 1 Warspike Changeling 2 Pyroclast Consul 1 Walker of the Grove 2 Shard Volley 1 Earthbrawn 2 Spite Bellows 1 Roar of the Crowd 1 Mutavault 9 Mountain 7 Forest Relevant SB: Luminescent Rain - This is purely tipping races in my favor. Brighthearth Banneret - This almost made the main deck, but with the prevelance of small creatures that need blocked the bosk banneret took its slot. Round 1 vs. RG Warriors Game 1: My opponent opens with what may be the strongest possible play for his archetype, especially considering he is on the play. T2 brighthearth banneret into T3 unstoppable ash. My t2 sunflare shaman, t3 fire juggler (played after the shaman gets in for 2, of course) look puny by comparison. The race is on as he swings back for 5, then drops ambassador oak. I play a rage forger, leaving R up, and swing in and ping for 2. Blocking with neither tree nor elf, he is reduced to 10 life. He cracks back for 9 and then plays a game trail changeling. I animate my vault and swing in, showing 9 points of damage when he blocks my sunflare shaman. Shard volley is in my hand, though, and it is good enough. I bring in brighthearth banneret for bosk banneret because the greater toughness is outweighed by reducing the costs on slightly more important cards and reinforce being potentially relevant. Game 2: He is on the play. He mulligans to 4. Nothing to see here folks. Round 2 vs. BU rogues Game 1: He starts with 2 islands and then misses land drop #3. He never recovers from the tempo loss and my firemen take him down quickly. Luminescent Rain comes in for Walker of the Grove. Game 2: It is a tight race. The most interesting play of the game involves my board of Seething Pathblazer and Fire Juggler vs. his Mothdust Changeling (tapped) and Festercreep. My life total is 3, his is 8. I have Rage Forger in hand as my only relevant play, and I drop it before combat. I spend a minute in the tank thinking about how this combat can play out, and I eventually swing in with my 2/2 elemental and 3/3 goblin shaman (pinging him to 7), reasoning that if he blocks I'll get another swing in and if he doesn't that I can go lethal. He quickly decides not to block, and I have second thoughts. I've committed to this point, though, and if he has bounce or removal I'm dead anyway. I sac the shaman, he pops the creep to buy another turn, but he doesn't have anything to get 1 extra damage. Round 3 vs. Monowhite kithkin In both games he is faster than me, dropping t2 bannerets that I shard volley to prevent the turn 3 explosion of 2 drops. He is still enough faster than me to win the race both games, though the race is tight g2. The prizes come in and it turns out that MMM pays a mix of L and M. This was a pretty decent draft as my packs simply change from MMM to LLM. I'll gladly spend 2 tix to gain a mutavault. (-118+LLLM) This draft was pretty enlightening if it is typical for MMM now. There seems to be enough squabbling over soldier and rogue related cards that other archetypes can pick up some of the pieces. Shamans seems like it is a contender if you can get enough rage forgers. Each time one resolved for me it was responsible for 4+ points of damage between pings and counters. Coupled with the ease of getting sunflare shaman (which can get in early beats and then turn into a burn spell after the ground is clogged) and fire jugglers (which opponents are hesitant to block), it seems like getting the toughest part is just snagging a couple of rage forgers and going to town.
VIEW FULL VERSION: Link