Title: Strong Statements-8/8/08
Tags: LBC Toast Block
Blog Entry: For almost the entire block season, I have been playing a multi-color control deck, and I have finally found the best 5c control list that I could make (If you know me, or my ego, that translates into “No one can do better.”). This deck is very strong and has a terrific game against most decks. The list is very tight and I’ve been tinkering with it for almost 3 months, I think I’ve found the optimal list. LBC Buttered Toast: 4x Kitchen Finks 3x Murderous Redcap 4x Shriekmaw 4x Mulldrifter 4x Cloudthresher 1x Oona, Queen of the Fae 3x Broken Ambitions 4x Firespout 4x Makeshift Mannequin 4x Cryptic Command 4x Reflecting Pool 4x Flooded Grove 4x Sunken Ruins 4x Vivid Grove 4x Vivid Creek 4x Vivid Marsh 1x Island SB : 4x Thoughtseize 3x Sower of Temptation 3x Puppeteer Clique 3x Wispmare 2x Snakeform (Up for debate, but it’s SOOOO good.) I recently took 3x Fulminator Mage out of the SB in favor of 3x Puppeteer Clique after playing in a block tournament at my local store. I was playing an inferior 5c deck that was a converted elementals list. I lost in three due to one card… Puppeteer Clique. I made sure that I had irrelevant targets in my graveyard and it still managed to beat me in game two. In game three, I was able to stabilize after one landed, but a second one packed me up. The Puppeteer Clique is so good in the mirror match and against Elementals. When everything has a CIP ability, the card is abusive. I also put in the Snakeforms after realizing that as a response to a Mirrorweave, making the target a 1/1 Snake with no abilities is just unbelievable, besides dealing with EVERYTHING, it cantrips. I might up the count by cutting something else. Matchups : Kitkin : Kithkin/Mirror Master or whatever you want to call it is the matchup you want to see all day, all night and if there is another section of the 24 period I’m referring to, fill that with Kithkin matchups too, the Evening, Dawn, Twighlight, whatever. The Kithkin matchup is so good that it makes you feel like you’re cheating. Cards to worry about in their MD : None . Kithkin have no cards in their main deck to worry you. This is generally because Burrenton Forge Tenders have been moved to their SB’s in favor of Figure of Destiny. Mirrorweave can be a very scary card, but generally you’re disrupting them enough that a Mirrorweave isn’t going to be that nuts and you also have countermagic. Cards to worry about in their SB : Burrenton Forge Tender. This guy shuts off your Firespout and can save their Wizened Cenn from being shot in the dome by Murderous Redcap. Handling it with a Shriekmaw (Evoke) is one great way to get it out of their so you can Firespout, but forcing it into an attack is probably better. SB plan : -1x Oona, Queen of the Fae, -1x Cloudthresher, -3x Broken Ambitions. +2x Snakeform, +3x Sower of Temptation. The Number : Game one- 80-20 in your favor. Post board- 85-15 in your favor. Sower of Temptation is unbelievable against them since they can’t answer it and they can only get Forge Tender for your Firespout. RDW/Demigod : This matchup is quite similar to the Kithkin matchup, only that RDW/Demigod has a lot more threats. Cards to worry about in their MD : Puncture Blast. Puncture Blast is a really strong spell, far better than should be allowed. It is a really good answer to Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap and it can shrink a Cloudthresher. The good news is that if I use my turn three to play a Finks and they use their turn 3 or four to kill it with Puncture Blast, I gain two life out of the exchange and I exchange my turn three spell for their turn 3 or 4 spell. Their turn 3 or 4 is more important to them than my turn 3 spell is to me in a slower deck, so you don’t mind that much. Demigod of Revenge : There is a story behind this card for me, since I was playing a Type 2 version of Buttered Toast last weekend in a Mox Jet tournament. Since the matchups are still the same in standard since the deck is essentially the same. In the semifinals, I played one of my best friends, who was playing Merfolk. I haven’t explained the Merfolk matchup yet, but it’s the worst matchup I can think of. You’re about 35-65 on the play and 25-75 on the draw. After losing game one when I mulliganed to 5, I won game two. Once we had heard that a player we knew from our local store playing RDW had won the other matchup, I proposed a split for the concession since we all know how RDW vs. Merfolk goes. After getting bent over in game three by my friend, he conceded to me. So after losing the die roll and game one to RDW since I kept a hand with 3 filter lands and no other lands, when my opponent played a Magus of the Moon that I didn’t draw an out to, we went to game two. In game two, I was firmly in control, having countered a Magus of the Moon that I had 2x Firespout in hand for and I hard cast a Shriekmaw for Figure of Destiny. He played a Demigod of Revenge, which dealt me 5 that turn. I played a Mulldrifter for my turn, he played a second Demigod, which I chump blocked, taking another 5 from the first. On my turn, I committed my only play mistake of the game, I forgot to attack for three with my Shriekmaw when my opponent was tapped out with two tapped creatures before casting Damnation. On his turn he plays a 3 rd Demigod of Revenge, with me at 7, which caused me to throw my hand on the table in a fury as three Demigods were on the board across from me. The contents of my hand were 2x Firespout, 1x Cryptic Command and 1x Damnation, so if I had enough mana, fogging him and Damnation on the next turn would’ve won me the game essentially. But that cost me a Mox Jet. So, enough stories, Demigod of Revenge is a really good card against this deck, but it can be answered by countering it after resolving the trigger or just by flashing in a Cloudthresher. Boggart Ram Gang does prevent Finks from persisting, but it isn’t awful to trade guys and gain 2 life when you have so much card advantage that it is an acceptable loss. Cards to worry about in their SB : Fulminator Mage. Fulminator Mage can put a hurting on your fragile mana base, particularly by destroying a Vivid and leaving you with only filter lands. It isn’t that bad though, considering that almost your entire deck is card advantage or implied card advantage, trading a land which cost you nothing 1 for 1 with a 3 mana guy which cost them their third turn isn’t awful for you. Stigma Lasher also can also wreak some havoc, but it’s not so bad, it hurts Finks alone and has Wither. SB plan : -2x Cloudthresher, +2 Snakeform. You have minimal options, but you also have Kitchen Finks, which is a beating for RDW. I personally don’t side in Sower of Temptation because it is easily answered with a Lash Out or any burn spell, but you could also take out 1x Oona and 2x Broken Ambitions for 3x Sower of Temptation. The Number : Game one: 70-30 in your favor, Post Board: 65-35 in your favor. Kitchen Finks, Firespout, Shriekmaw, Cryptic Command and a mountain of card advantage is too much for RDW. Demigod is generally the majority of their wins. Elementals : This deck is a decently tough matchup due to it’s ability to nearly match your card advantage with Reveillarks and Mulldrifters. Cards to worry about in their MD : Reveillark. Reveillark is the only card worth mentioning out of their deck since you have X number of answers to Incandescent Soulstoke and Cloudthreshers. The potential card advantage off of Reveillark is enough to warrant it a “must-counter” label. It’s also a 4 power flier, which is nothing to scoff at. The biggest difference between the decks is that one has Firespout and countermagic, the other gets rolled by Firespout and countermagic. Cards to worry about in their SB : If they have Puppeteer Clique, be sure to counter it, it is of the utmost importance. Otherwise, you know about Fulminator Mage and perhaps Stigma Lasher. You know the routine. Reveillark + Fulminator mage is some tech against you as well. SB plan : -4x Cloudthresher, +3 Puppeteer Clique, +1 Sower of Temptation. Snakeform is also an option, so it could as easily be -4x Cloudthresher, -1x Oona, +3x Puppeteer Clique and +2 Snakeform. Watch what happens when the evoke Reveillark and you stack the sacrifice clause and Snakeform it. :O LOL!!! The Number : Game one: 65-35 in your favor, post board: 75-25 in your favor. You can get rid of their early guys with Firespout and handle the late game Larks and Thresher’s with counter magic and Shriekmaws. Fairies : Ironically, I have very little experience playing against Fairies, but the deck is so public and popular that the concepts are well known. Cards to worry about in their MD : It’s Fairies people, the cards that are bad news for you are Cryptic Command, Mistbind Clique, Spellstutter Sprite and Scion of Oona. If you need an explanation for why those cards are good, you may be in over your head with constructed right now. Cryptic is BLOWOUT.card, Mistbind Clique gives them a 4/4 flier that just time walked you. When you go to shoot a guy of theirs with Shriekmaw or Redcap, Scion is a terrific counterspell. The lack of substantial worry for Bitterblossom is simple, you aren’t worried about them getting 1/1 creatures on the small scale, you can sweep the field or trade blows. Bitterblossom is great, but it isn’t as good as Cryptic or Mistbind Clique is. Cards to worry about in their SB : Problem cards are Puppeteer Clique, Thoughtseize and uh… Puppeteer Clique. Thoughtseize quickly removes the best card in your hand, be it Cryptic, Cloudthresher or Firespout. Puppeteer Clique, as I’ve said, can be really good when almost all of your creatures have a CIP ability. SB plan : -3x Murderous Redcap, -3x Broken Ambitions, -4x Shriekmaw. +3x Wispmare, +3x Sower of Temptation, +4x Thoughtseize. You want to rip their hand apart early with Thoughtseize, which, I realize only happens on turn 2+. You also want to blow up their Bitterblossom with your Wispmare and put a blocker in the sky. You can’t win a counter war with the Fae, so putting Sower of Temptation in can help you use their guys against them, and besides, taking a Scion of Oona with Sower is sooooooo dirty. The Number : The final verdict with Fairies is really complicated, they have a very fast game that is backed up by countermagic for your answers. The advantage you have is more efficient and well sized creatures, a medley of answers and the potential for card advantage. My number based off of a small amount of testing is 45-55 in their favor. They have a good game plan for beating Toast, but you can handle them, besides, someone else has the same plan, only they do it better. Merfolk : The worst matchup that can be envisioned for my poor Toast deck. This deck takes Fairies game plan of implementing early threat level creatures with counterspells for the answers. Cards to worry about in their MD : The Merfolk deck is the worst matchup for Toast specifically because they can follow a linear, fast game plan that is fool proof. The specific cards to worry about are Cursecatcher, Cryptic Command and Sage’s Dousing. These three cards prevent you from being able to play an answer to the onslaught that is a Banneret induced assault. The problem with this matchup is that the Merfolk deck has a ton of cantrips, so even when they drop 4 or 5 guys by turn three because of the Banneret + Reejery combination that pumps out an attack force and still have 3 cards in hand because of Silvergill Adept and they can play Sage’s Dousing on your Firespout for U or 1U and draw a card. Cards to worry about in their SB : Burrenton Forge Tender is the only real sideboard technology that Merfolk can bring in to really hurt you, but it’s the same as for Kithkin, it is Firespout protection. SB plan : -4x Cloudthresher, -1x Oona, -1 Vivid Grove, +4 Thoughtseize, +2x Snakeform. Merfolk can still use Mirrorweave tricks, so Snakeform is a beating, Thoughtseize is the most relevant thing you can do against their deck, taking a cog out of their hand or removing their answer for your Firespout. The SB plan is really just to remove irrelevant cards from your MD so you can have a faster game to keep up with them. You remove all of your 6 drops, so siding out a land is alright and you get two cantrips into the deck. The Number : The number is bleak and this is the only match that I’ve found where there is a substantial difference between the play and the draw. Game one: On the play- 35-65 in favor of Merfolk, on the draw- 20-80 in favor of Merfolk. Post board: On the play- 45-55 in favor of Merfolk, on the draw- 35-65 in favor of Merfolk. This matchup is extremely difficult to win, you can’t play mistake at all and you definitely can’t win on the draw without a nuts hand or a few opposing mulligans. Until you come before me to bask in my wisdom again, Tom Mtglordtom24 in the forums.
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