|
Viewing 10 - 18 out of 25 Blogs.
| Page:
|
2 |
|
Classroom X – NOT Ordeal with Goblins This is the third installment of Classroom X. These articles are the product of the extreme casual environment of Dan Eckstein’s classroom. Dan (or Mr. X) is a math teacher in a small town in Southwest Missouri. Between location and family Dan rarely gets to play other than across the desk after school with his students. As a result he has no real pressure to win and he gets to play with any weird deck he comes up with. We have been looking at a Deck that was designed around Bitter Ordeal. The concept was pretty simple use the Invasion sac lands and some other sacable’s to play a Bitter Ordeal with a high Gravestorm count. Use that removal to hit key valuable cards out of the opponents decks. Mixing in a little Balancing Act to empty an opponent’s field and using our higher mana base to reestablish quicker than our opponent. Here is the list. Sideboard is constantly changing. Deal Or Bitter Ordeal 4 Tinder Farm 4 Sulfur Vent 4 Irrigation Ditch 4 Geothermal Crevice 4 Ancient Spring 4 Archaeological Dig 4 Wild Cantor 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 3 Cabal Ritual 4 Rite of Flame 4 Burning Wish 4 Death Wish 3 Balancing Act 3 Bitter Ordeal 3 Thoughtseize Wishboard 1 Balancing Act 1 Bitter Ordeal 1 Thoughtseize In past installments we showed how easy it was to play through the counters and hit a control deck in the jewels leaving it helpless and worthless. At that time RoninX commented about our game against agro which is the toughest match for this deck. After a dominating show against a top 8 Zoo deck we were concerned that some of the readers might actually carry this deck into a PTQ or something. To be just and fair we are now going to post our hardest pairing. Goblins. For our opposing deck list we once again went to the Top 8 list. In this case we used Carlos Camilon lists. He took Second at Nashville’s PTQ. Here is the list in case you need it. 1 Swamp 3 Mountain 1 Blood Crypt 2 Mutavault 3 Wooded Foothills 4 Bloodstained Mire 1 Overgrown Tomb 4 Aunties Hovel 3 Gempalm Incinerator 4 Goblin Matron 4 Goblin Piledriver 4 Goblin Ringleader 1 Goblin Sharpshooter 4 Goblin Warchief 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Mogg War Marshal 1 Siege-gang Commander 4 Skirk Prospector 3 Chrome Mox 2 Blood Moon 3 Patriarch’s Bidding Deal or Bitter Ordeals problems with this deck are three fold. First it has plenty of threats. Second it’s really fast. Third its mana base isn’t as fragile as many of the other typical decks. As normal we don’t just say what happens. We show you. Two of Eckstein’s students will pilot the decks and Eckstein will do the play by play.
Hand 1 – Bitter on the playBitter – Wild Cantor (2), Tinder Farm, Cabal Ritual, Chromatic Star, Archaeological Dig, Balancing Act Goblins – Goblin Warchief, Wooded Foothills, Goblin Matron, Bloodstained Mire, Auntie’s Hovel, Mogg Fanatic, Chrome Mox Turn 1 – Bitter – play Tinder Farm Goblins – Draw Goblin Piledriver, Play Auntie’s Hovel showing Mogg Fanatic, play Fanatic Turn 2 – Bitter – Draw Sulfur Vent, play Vent, play Wild Cantor Goblins – Draw Patriarch’s Bidding, Play Foothills (19) to fetch a mountain, play Mox imprinting Bidding, play Warchief, attack (17) Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Burning Wish, Play Dig, Play Cantor, play Star Goblins – Draw Goblin Matron, play Mire fetching Mountain (18), Play Matron fetching Mogg War Marshall, Play Piledriver, Play Marshall, attack (note the Piledriver is an 11/2 – Bitter goes to 0) Eckstein notes to his Bitter player that he could have played Act the turn before. While the Act / Bitter combo potential is tempting any chance to get rid of a Warchief is a good idea.
Hand 2 – Goblins on the playGoblins – Chrome Mox, Patriarch’s Bidding, Goblin Piledriver, Mutavault, Wooded Foothills, Goblin Warchief, Goblin Ringleader Bitter – Ancient Spring, Tinder Farm, Rite of Flame (2), Wild Cantor, Geothermal Crevice, Chromatic Sphere – Plenty of mana but no action – mulliganIrrigation Ditch, Balancing Act, Geothermal Crevice, Burning Wish, Archaeological Dig, Tinder Farm Turn 1 – Goblins – play Foothills fetching Blood Crypt (19) Bitter – Draw Balancing Act, Play Tinder Farm Turn 2 – Goblins – Draw Mogg Fanatic, Play Mox using Fanatic, play Mutavault, play Warchief, attack (18) Bitter – Draw Rite of Flame, Play Crevice Turn 3 – Goblins – Draw Mogg War Marshall, play Marshall, play Piledriver, attack (7) Bitter – Draw Sulfur Vent, Play Dig, Sac Farm, Crevice and Dig (WRGBW), Play Rite of Flame (WWRRGB), Play Wish for Bitter Ordeal, Play Act discarding Ditch and Vent, Turn 4 – Goblins – Draw Mutavault, Play Mutavault Bitter – Draw Chromatic Star Turn 5 – Goblins – Draw Bidding Bitter – Draw Sulfur Vent play Vent Turn 6 – Goblins – Draw Blood Moon Bitter – Draw Wild Cantor, Play Star Turn 7 – Goblins – Draw Goblin Warchief Bitter – Draw Burning Wish Turn 8 – Goblins – Draw Goblin Piledriver Bitter – Draw Ancient Spring, play Spring Turn 9 – Goblins – Draw Bloodstained Mire, play Mire fetching Mountain (18), activate and attack with Mutavault (5). Bitter – Draw Wild Cantor, debates with himself for a long time, decides to pass. Turn 10 – Goblins – Draw Auntie’s Hovel, Attack with Mutavault (3) Bitter – Draw Bitter Ordeal, Sac Lands (RUBW), sac Star (WWRB) drawing Thoughtseize, Play Balancing Act, (Goblins discard Bidding) Turn 11 – Goblins- Draw Matron, play Aunties Hovel showing Ringleader. Bitter – Draw Tinder Farm, play Farm Turn 12 – Goblins – Draw Auntie’s Hovel, Play Aunties Hovel revealing Piledriver, Play Piledriver Bitter – Draw Irrigation Ditch, Play Ditch, play Cantor Turn 13 – Goblins – Draw Wooded Foothills, Play Foothills fetch Mountain (17), play Warchief, attack (Bitter blocks Piledriver – 1) Bitter – Draw Tinder Farm – Sac land (RWGU), Use G to play Cantor, Sac Cantor for R (RRWU), Play Wish for Pyroclasm, Play Pyroclasm. Play Farm Turn 14- Goblins – draw Skirk Prospector, play Matron fetching Warchief. Bitter- Draw Star – Scoop That was a long one. Eckstein points out that the Goblin play could have play Blood Moon on turn 10 with more success.
Hand 3 – Bitter on the playBitter – Death Wish(2), Rite of Flame, Cabal Ritual (2), Tinder Farm, Geothermal Crevice Goblins – Goblin Piledriver, Bloodstained Mire, Gempalm Incinerator, Skirk Prospector(2), Goblin Ringleader, Auntie’s Hovel Turn 1 – Bitter – Play Tinder Farm Goblins – Draw Aunties Hovel, play Hovel revealing and playing Skirk Prospector Turn 2 – Bitter – Draw Cabal Ritual, play Crevice Goblins – Draw Goblin Warchief, play Hovel revealing Warchief, sac Prospector, play Warchief, attack (18) Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Bitter Ordeal Goblins – Draw Goblin Matron, play Piledriver, play Skirk Prospector, attack (10) Turn 4 – Bitter – Draw Chromatic Sphere, “This is insane. I hope you are aware of the fact that Instants and sorceries with threshold check if seven or more cards are in your graveyard when they resolve, not when they're played or put on the stack.” Sac Farm (WR), play Rite of Flame (WRR), Sac Crevice (WRRBG), Use G to play Chromatic Sphere, Sac Sphere Changing R to W drawing Wild Cantor (WWRB), play Cantor (WWB), sac Cantor for B (WWBB), Play Cabal Ritual (WWBBB), play cabal “It counts as the 7th card in yard (WWBBBBBB), Play third cabal (WWBBBBBBBBB), play Death Wish for Balancing Act (life –5), play Balancing Act, play Bitter Ordeal for 10 – (pull out - 3 Mountain, 1 Blood Crypt, 1 Mutavault, 2 Aunties Hovel, 3 Chrome Mox) “I’ll leave you with G B and Colorless mana” Goblins – Draw Mogg War Marshall, play Mire fetching Overgrown Tomb (19). “I still have Mutavault” Eckstein stops his notes here. About 5 or 6 turns later Bitter hits with another Ordeal for 4. Enough to remove Mutavault. Eckstein does tell the Goblin player that he could have sac’d his goblins for RR in response to Act and cycled Gempalm Incinerator. Maybe draw a land before the Bitter resolved.
Hand 4 – Goblins on the playGoblins – Marshall, Bidding, Fanatic, Prospector, Tomb, Warchief, Ringleader “You goofed my mana all up.” Mulligan, shuffling A LOT. Mogg Fanatic (2), Bloodstained Mire (2), Patriarch’s Bidding, Mogg War MarshallBitter – Tinder Farm, Chromatic Star (2), Chromatic Sphere, Geothermal Crevice (2), Balancing Act Turn 1 – Goblins – play Mire fetching Blood Crypt (17) play Mogg Fanatic. Bitter- draw Tinder Farm, play Farm Turn 2 – Goblins – draw Mutavault, play Mutavault, play Marshall, Attack (19) Bitter – Draw Balancing Act, play Farm, play Star Turn 3 – Goblins – draw Blood Moon, play Mire fetching Mountain (16), play Blood Moon. Bitter scoops. “I really have no way to play against Blood Moon. Sideboard suggestions?”
Hand 5 – Bitter on the playBitter – Irrigation Ditch(2), Bitter Ordeal, Geothermal Crevice, Ancient Spring, Sulfur Vent, Death Wish Goblins – Mogg Fanatic, Overgrown Tomb, Auntie’s Hovel(2), Goblin Ringleader, Gempalm Incinerator, Skirk Prospector Turn 1 – Bitter – play Crevice Goblins – draw Goblin Ringleader, Play Auntie’s showing Fanatic, play Fanatic Turn 2 – Bitter – draw Thoughtseize, Play Sulfur Vent Goblins – draw Goblin Matron, play Tomb tapped, play Prospector, attack (19) Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Chromatic Sphere, play Spring, play Sphere, play Thoughtseize (Matron – 17) Goblins – Draw Swamp, Play Hovel showing Incinerator, cycle Incinerator (15) draw Bloodstained Mire. Attack (13) Turn 4 – Bitter – Draw Sulfur Vent, Play Irrigation Ditch Goblins – Draw Mogg Fanatic, play Swamp, play Ringleader (Warchief to hand, Bidding, Mire, Mox to bottom of Library) attach (11) Turn 5 – Bitter – draw Wild Cantor “I think I have 1 more turn”, Play Vent, play Cantor Goblins – draw Wooded Foothills, Play Warchief, play Fanatic, attack (4), sac Fanatic, Ringleader, and prospector to play Ringleader (Mogg Fanatic to hand, Bidding, Mountain, Mire to bottom) “two fizzled Ringleaders…..go figure” Turn 6 – Bitter – draw Ancient Spring, sac lands (BGURBWGUUR), sac Cantor for W, sac Sphere to change U to B drawing Cantor (BBBWWGGUURR), Play Death Wish for Balancing Act (2), play Balancing Act (Goblin sacs fanatic to put Bitter at 1), Play Bitter Ordeal (G) for 15 (all mana producing lands, all chrome Mox, 2 Blood Moons and 2 Warchief), play Cantor, Play Cantor, play Ancient Spring. Goblins – Scoops “I’m not going to take a Cantor Beatdown”. Eckstein points out that the Goblins over committed and could have won if he hadn’t sac’d a Fanatic for mana. These 5 games came out 40% for Bitter but I feel it’s important to point out that the wins were either very lucky (triple cabal Rituals) or because of play errors (over play in game 5). I don’t think there is any way to make this decks have winning points over Goblins. For sure, this deck isn’t a PTQ’r. I’m not the type to hype a deck just because I like it. Even if you think no one is going to play goblins the match up against Dredge is even worse and EVERY tournament will have a good share of Dredge. We do appreciate any posting of comments and we always attempt to post a response. Or you can email the class at Daneckstein@hotmail.com.
Tags: Combo Fun Goblins Bitter
Classroom X – Ordealing with the Zoo This is the second installment of Classroom X. These articles are the product of the extreme casual environment of Dan Eckstein’s classroom. Dan (or Mr. X) is a math teacher in a small town in Southwest Missouri. Between location and family Dan rarely gets to play other than across the desk after school with his students. As a result he gets to play with any weird deck he comes up with. Last week we looked at a Deck that was designed around Bitter Ordeal. The concept was pretty simple use the Invasion sac lands and some other sacable’s to play a Bitter Ordeal with a high Gravestorm count. Use that removal to hit key valuable cards out of the opponents decks. Last week we showed how easy it was to play through the counters and hit a control deck in the jewels leaving it helpless and worthless. At that time RoninX commented about our game against agro which is the toughest match for this deck. So to be fair the students and I decided that we should also show you our match up vs. Zoo. By the way Goblins is almost an auto loss so we didn’t want to waste your time there. The deck we used was Gauntlet Zoo by Steve Nagy which we got from a top 8 PTQ list. If you are unfamiliar with it here it is. 1 Mountain 1 Blood Crypt 1 Godless Shrine 1 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Windswept Heath 4 Wooded Foothills 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Sacred Foundry 1 Temple Garden 4 Grim Lavamancer 3 Mogg Fanatic 4 Dark Confidant 4 Kird Ape 2 Gaddock Teeg 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Isamaru, Hound of Kondra 4 Vindicate 4 Tribal Flames 4 Firebolt 4 Lightning Helix As our normal two students (nameless to avoid any ridicule for misplays) will play the decks while Eckstein does the play by play.
Hand 1 – Bitter on the play
Bitter – Archaeological Dig, Thoughtseize, Tinder Farm, Burning Wish, Wild Cantor, Rite of Flame, Geothermal CreviceZoo – Gaddock Teeg, Bloodstained Mire, Sacred Foundry, Kird Ape, Vindicate, Firebolt, Wooded Foothills Turn 1- Bitter – play Tinder Farm Zoo – Draw Tribal Flames, play Wooded Foothills fetch Stomping Ground untapped (17), play Kird Ape. Turn 2 – Bitter – draw Bitter Ordeal, play Crevice, play Wild Cantor Zoo – Draw Wooded Foothills, play Bloodstained Mire fetching Godless Shrine (14), play Gaddock Teeg. Attack (unblocked – 18). Turn 3 – Bitter – draw Wild Cantor, play Dig, play Cantor, Play Wish for Pyroclasm. Zoo – draw Isamaru, play Foothills to fetch Blood Crypt tapped (13), play Isamaru, attack with Ape (unblocked –16) Turn 4 – Bitter – draw Sulfur Vent, play Vent, Sac Cantors (RB), Sac Farm (RBWR), tap Crevice, play Pyroclasm, play Bitter Ordeal for 6 (remove –2 Goyfs, mountain, temple garden, steam vents, overgrown tomb) Zoo – draw Lightning Helix, play Sacred tapped, attack (14), play Helix to the dome (Bitter 11, Zoo 16). Turn 5 – Bitter – Draw Ancient Spring, play Spring Zoo – draw Vindicate, play Firebolt(9), play Flames (5), attack (3) Turn 6 – Bitter – Draw Archaeological Dig, Play Dig Zoo – Draw Mogg Fanatic, attack (1), Play Fanatic, sac Fanatic (0) “I bet the next card is a Wish or Act”. Looks at next card – Bitter Ordeal. ”Oh Well”
Hand 2 – Zoo on the Play.
Zoo – Blood Crypt, Kird Ape, Tarmogoyf (2), Grim Lavamancer, Gaddock Teeg, Isamaru –Mulligan Bloodstained Mire, Tarmogoyf, Firebolt, Dark Confidant, Wooded Foothills, Grim Lavamancer. Bitter – Archaeological Dig, Chromatic Star, Rite of Flame, Bitter Ordeal, Sulfur Vent, Rite of Flame, Irrigation Ditch Turn 1- Zoo – play Wooded Foothills fetching Stomping Ground tapped (19) Bitter – Draw Chromatic Sphere, Play Sulfur Vent Turn 2 – Zoo – Draw Tarmogoyf, play Bloodstained Mire to fetch Godless Shrine untapped (16), play Dark Confidant Bitter – Draw Ancient Spring, play Ancient Spring, play Chromatic Star Turn 3 – Zoo – Draw Blood Crypt via Confidant (16), Draw Vindicate, Play Blood Crypt tapped, Play Goyf, attack (18) Bitter – Draw Tinder Farm, play Tinder Farm, play Chromatic Star Turn 4 – Zoo – Draw Wooded Foothills (16), draw Kird Ape, play Wooded Foothills fetching Steam Vents (15), play Kird Ape, attack (15) Bitter – Draw Balancing Act, Play Archaeological Dig, sac Vent (UR), Sac Spring (BWUR), Sac Farm (WRBWUR), Sac Dig for W (WWWRRBU), Sac Star changing U to B drawing Ancient Spring, sac Sphere converting R to B drawing Thoughtseize (WWWRBBB), play Rite of Flame (WWWRRBBB), Play Thoughtseize (13) ditching Goyf, Play Balancing Act discarding Rite of Flame. Play Bitter Ordeal for 14. Zoo scoops realizing that he only had 4 remaining land that could actually yield mana.
Hand 3 – Bitter on the play
Bitter – Tinder Farm, Bitter Ordeal, Burning Wish, Thoughtseize, Irrigation Ditch, Geothermal Crevice, Balancing Act “This is almost the perfect hand” Zoo – Grim Lavamancer, Bloodstained Mire, Dark Confidant, Wooded Foothills (2), Kird Ape, Tribal Flames. “This one is pretty good too.” Turn 1- Bitter – Play Geothermal Crevice Zoo – Draw Gaddock Teeg, play Foothills fetching Stomping Ground (17), play Kird Ape Turn 2 – Bitter – Draw Rite of Flame, Play Tinder Farm Zoo – Draw Grim Lavamancer, play Mire fetching Godless Shrine (14), play Dark Confidant, Attack (18) Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Archaeological Dig, play Irrigation Ditch Zoo – Draw Wooded Foothills (Confidant – 14) Draw Bloodstained Mire, Play Mire fetch Steam Vents (11), Play Teeg, Play Lavamancer, attack (14) Turn 4 – Bitter – Draw Sulfur Vent, Play Vent, Play Rite of Flame, play Wish for Pyroclasm, play Pyroclasm Zoo – Draw Tribal Flames, play Wooded Foothills fetching Sacred Foundry (8) Attack (12), play Tribal Flames X 2 (2) “Where’s this good hand of yours?” Turn 5 – Bitter- Draw Chromatic Star, Play Dig, “Here I go”, sac All Lands- (BGWRGURU and W from Dig), play Star using R, Sac Star to change G to B drawing Bitter Ordeal, play Balancing Act, play Bitter Ordeal for 12. Zoo Scoops.
Game 4 – Zoo on the play
Zoo- Tarmogoyf, Sacred Foundry, Mogg Fanatic, Dark Confidant, Tribal Flames, Gaddock Teeg, Overgrown TombBitter – Burning Wish, Death Wish (2), Balancing Act, Wild Cantor, Sulfur Vent, Chromatic Star – Muligans Geothermal Crevice, Balancing Act, Tinder Farm, Ancient Spring, Archeological Dig, Rite of Flame Turn 1 – Zoo – Play Overgrown Tomb tapped Bitter – Draw Rite of Flame, Play Tinder Farm Turn 2 – Zoo – Draw Firebolt, play Sacred Foundry untapped (18), play Dark Confidant Bitter - Draw Sulfur Vent, play Geothermal Crevice Turn 3 – Zoo – Draw Tribal Flames (16- Confidant) Draw Kird Ape, Play Mogg Fanatic. Attack (18) Bitter – Draw Irrigation Ditch, “Noticing that you miss a land drop after drawing 2”, Play Archeological Dig, Sac Farm, Sac Crevice, Sac Dig for W (WRBGW). Play Balancing Act. (Zoo Chooses to discard a Flames and Firebolt) Turn 4 – Zoo – Draw Godless Shrine, Play tapped Bitter – Draw Chromatic Star, play Sulfur Vent Turn 5 – Zoo – Draw Dark Confidant Bitter – Draw Burning Wish, Play Spring, play Star Turn 6 – Zoo – Draw Lightning Helix Bitter – Draw Wild Cantor, Sac Sulfur Vent (RU), Play Rite (RRU), play Rite (RRRRU), play Cantor (RRRU), Sac Spring (RRRUBW), Play Wish (RRBW) to get Bitter Ordeal, Sac Cantor for B, Sac Star to change R to B draw Dig, play Bitter for 5. Removing (Stomping Ground, Temple Garden, Steam Vents, Mountain, Blood Crypt), Play Irrigation Ditch Turn 7 – Zoo – “I just need a Hound Dog”. Draw Goyf. “Who am I kidding” flips 8 more cards until he sees an Isamaru. “What would you have had with 8 draws?” Bitter reveals a Death Wish and a Burining Wish with plenty of mana before the 8th draw. “Wish into Balance FTW”.
Hand 5 – Bitter on the play
Bitter – Tinder Farm, Chromatic Star, Irrigation Ditch, Geothermal Crevice, Wild Cantor, Bitter Ordeal, Balancing ActZoo – Kird Ape, Overgrown Tomb, Tribal Flames, Windswept Heath, Firebolt, Wooded Foothills, Mogg Fanatic Turn 1 - Bitter – Play Geothermal Crevice Zoo- Draw Dark Confidant, play Heath fetching Stomping Ground (17), Play Ape Turn 2 – Bitter – Draw Cabal Ritual, Play Cantor, Play Tinder Farm Zoo – Draw Kird Ape, play Tomb (15), play Dark Confidant, Attack (No blocker - 18) Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Thoughtseize, play Ditch, play Star Zoo – Draw Vindicate (12), Draw Tribal Flames, Play Wooded Foothills fetching Steam Vents (9), play Firebolt on Cantor, play Tribal to dome (14), attack (10) Turn 4 – Bitter – Draw Ancient Spring, Sac lands (GBWRGU), Sac Star to change U to W draw Sulfur Vent, Use BG to play Cabal Ritual (BBBWWRG), Play Act, play Bitter Ordeal for 9 pulling out the lands. Zoo Scoops. These games actually came out a little better than our overall testing. Bitter has about a 65 to 70% game against Zoo. The mana base is just too weak to removal. I may still post some games against mono red (Which is a disaster for Bitter) and Dredge (which is kind of interesting a really skill intensive.) Please post or email me any ideas daneckstein@hotmail.com.
Tags: Magic Combo Fun
Check out this site http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/preview/shmpackIt has a sample pack of shadowmoor opened. They've blanked everything but the name, Art, and mana cost but it's still real cool. If it's truly a random pack this expansion is going to be full of hybrid mana. I'm personally digging the 2/B Hybrid. It's mechanics will probably be lame but the thought of spending 2 colorless to make B work is pretty cool. Tron???
Tags: Magic Art Shadowmoor
Classroom X – Deal or Bitter Ordeal This is the first installment of Classroom X. These articles are the product of the extreme casual environment of Dan Eckstein’s classroom. Dan (or Mr. X) is a math teacher in a small town in Southwest Missouri. Between location and family Dan rarely gets to play other than across the desk after school with his students. As a result he gets to play with any weird deck he comes up with. Today’s deck is built around a house of a card. Bitter Ordeal 2B - Sorcery Search target player's library for a card and remove that card from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Gravestorm (When you play this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
Dan noticed that many combo and control decks in the current environment are really dependent on just a few cards. Remove those cards from the game and you have a deck of dead draws. Many of the agro decks are based on too many colors and really only pack a few genuine cards to produce mana. The Onslaught fetch into a Ravnica dual is really helpful for mana fixing but it leaves a deck wide open for Bitter Ordeal.
It is necessary for you to understand that in Eckstein’s room we allow proxies. That is we print off copies of cards and sleeve them up to play. This makes up for the cost of the game that many of us can’t afford and it lets us experiment a lot more freely. When one of us really needed a deck for the now defunct Scholarship Series we would use money earned on this site to play for it. Hopefully we can start getting paid again soon. Without worrying about the coughing up the cash for cards like Thoughtseize and Burning Wish Dan built the following. Deal Or Bitter Ordeal 4 Tinder Farm 4 Sulfur Vent 4 Irrigation Ditch 4 Geothermal Crevice 4 Ancient Spring 4 Archaeological Dig 4 Wild Cantor 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 3 Cabal Ritual 4 Rite of Flame 4 Burning Wish 4 Death Wish 3 Balancing Act 3 Bitter Ordeal 3 Thoughtseize Wishboard 1 Balancing Act 1 Bitter Ordeal 1 Thoughtseize Imagine the following. Playing against Next Level Blue and taking away his Tarmogoyf’s. He is left with a Dark Confident and Trinket Mage beat down. (Only need Gravestorm of 4). Previous level Blue is even easier. And by the way the Gravestorm copies aren’t counterable by normal Counterspell tactics. Playing against G/U Tron and removing Platinum Angel, Sundering Titan, Triskelion, and both Mindslaver’s. No win possible. (Gravestorm of 5) Playing against TEPS and removing 4 Burning Wish and 1 Tendrils of Agony. Another auto win. (Gravestorm of 5). Playing against Ideal and removing all of his Form of The Dragons. Playing against Dredge with a Gravestorm big enough to remove all of his Dread Returns and Ichorid’s. With those out of the way he’s begging for Narco’s, Imp’s and Tribes to beat with. Watch out for Balancing Act. The Agro decks get harder. You almost have to pull of the Balancing Act before you Bitter Ordeal. Today well test against an easy match up in Previous Level Blue. Two students will be playing while Mr. Eckstein will take notes. VS. Previous Level Blue – List from Paul Cheon GP Vancouver.
Hand 1 – Bitter on the playBitter – Sulfur Vent, Rite of Flame, Irrigation Ditch, Ancient Spring, Wild Cantor, Geothermal Crevice, Death WishPLU – Tarmogoyf, Snow Covered Island, Spell Snare, Force Spike, Ancestral Vision, Cryptic Command, Vedalken Shackles. Mulligan to – Tarmogoyf, Rude Awakening, Threads of Disloyalty, Flooded Strand, Breeding Pool, Sensei’s Divining Top Turn 1 – Bitter – Play Geothermal Crevice PLU – Draw Miren, the Moaning Well, Play Breeding Pool untapped (18), play Top Turn 2 – Bitter – Draw Burning Wish, Play Spring, Play Cantor PLU – Draw SC Island, Play Strand Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Burning Wish, Play Sulfur Vent, Play Burning Wish to get Bitter Ordeal (EOT PLU activates top revealing Delta, Strand, Goyf, Sac Strand to get SC Island, Activate top again to show Spike, Command, Steam Vents. Move Command to top then Spike) PLU- Draw Cryptic Command, Play SC Island Turn 4 – Bitter – Draw Chromatic Sphere, play Ditch, play Sphere, play Burning Wish for Thoughtseize.(EOT PLU activates Top – Spike, Vents, Counterspell, Counterspell to top) PLU – Draw Counterspell, Play Miren Turn 5 – Bitter – Draw Cabal Ritual, Sac Sulfur (RU) play Rite of Flame (RRU), Sac Crevice (BGRRU), Sac Spring (WBGRRUU), sac Ditch (WBGGRRUUU), Use Sphere to change G to W draw Bitter Ordeal, Sac Cantor for B (WWBBGRRUUU), play cabal (WWBBBBBBGRRUU) play Thoughtseize (18) (PLU Counterspells) play Death Wish for Balancing Act (9) (WWBBBGRRU)Play Act (PLU activates top, taps to draw Spike plays Spike Bitter pays G), (BBBU), Play Bitter Ordeal for 11 – ( getting all remaining non fetch lands). PLU is looking at a no mana and just a Goyf in hand and scoops. The PLU student inquires if should have held his counter for the Act or the Wish instead. On playback it’s irrelevant. If Thoughtseize resolves then the Bitter player removes Goyf and follows with an Ordeal for 7 grabbing the remaining Goyfs and all other sources of green mana. PLU would then be unable to Entwine the Rude Awakening and would have no other sources of victory with an eventual decking due to having 7 less cards in library plus losing cards to any future Bitter Ordeals.
Hand 2 – PLU on the play.PLU – Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Force Spike, Snow Covered Island, Cryptic Command, Flooded Strand, Counterspell Bitter – Wild Cantor, Rite of Flame, Ancient Spring, Archaeological Dig, Chromatic Star, Thoughtseize, Bitter Ordeal Turn 1 – PLU – Play SC Island Bitter – Draw Chromatic Sphere. Play Ancient Spring tapped Turn 2 – PLU – Draw Force Spike. Play Flooded Strand. Sac for Breeding Pool tapped (19) Bitter – Draw Irrigation Ditch. Play Ditch tapped. Play Chromatic Star. Turn 3 PLU – Draw Tarmogoyf. Play Polluted Delta Bitter – Draw Thoughtseize. Play Archeological Dig, Sac Spring (BW). Play Thoughtseize. (PLU Counterspells). Use Star to change W to B drawing Ancient Spring. Play Thoughtseize. (PLU Sacs Delta(18) for Island and Force Spikes). Sac Ditch (GU) Play Cantor(U). Sac Cantor for B. Sac Dig for B. Play Bitter Ordeal. (7 copies removing – 3 Goyfs, Rude Awakening, 3 Counterspells). Turn 4 – PLU – Draw Flooded Strand, Play Strand, play Goyf (5/6). Smiles Bitter – Draw Tinder Farm, play Farm tapped. Turn 5 – PLU- Draw Threads of Disloyalty, Play Strand, attack (15) Bitter - Draw Geothermal Crevice, play Crevice, play Chromatic Sphere. Turn 6 – PLU – Draw Steam Vents, Play Vents Tapped, attack (10) Bitter – Draw Wild Cantor, Play Springs, Play Cantor Turn 7 – PLU – Draw Sensei’s Diving Top, Play Top, Play Threads of Disloyalty on Cantor (Bitter Sacs in response-one burn (9)), attack (3) Bitter – Draw Death Wish, Scoop After the game Eckstein points out that Bitter could have used Dig and Rite on turn 2 to remove all four goyf and a potential Thoughtseize though it would have been spiked. And on turn 3 Bitter could have use Rite first and then had the extra mana to play through the Spike. Bitter added Deathmark to his Sideboard.
Hand 3 – Bitter on the playBitter- Burning Wish, Wild Cantor (2), Geothermal Crevice, Tinder Farm (2), Death WishPLU – Tarmogoyf (2), SC Island (2), Spell Snare, Steam Vents, Sensei’s Divining Top Turn 1 – Bitter – play Geothermal Crevice PLU – Draws Ancestral Vision, plays SC Island, play Top (debated Vision) Turn 2 – Bitter – Draw Chromatic Sphere, play Tinder Farm, play Wild Cantor PLU – Draw SC Island, Play SC Island Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Balancing Act, Sac Tinder Farm (RW), Play Burning Wish, (PLU Spell Snares), Play Tinder Farm, Play Cantor (EOT PLU activates Top – Cryptic Command, Vedalken Shackles, Ancestral Vision – Switches Vision and Shackles) PLU – Draw Command, Play Steam Vents untapped (18), Suspends Vision (4) Turn 4 – Bitter – Draw Irrigation Ditch, Sac Crevice (GB), Sac Cantor(B), “Here comes the Counterspell” play Death Wish fetching Bitter Ordeal, Sac Tinder Farm (RW), Sac Cantor (B), play Bitter Ordeal for 5 (removes 2 Goyfs, 2 Breeding Pool, Rude Awakening), play Irrigation Ditch Eckstein stops note taking at this point the PLU students does attempt to use Visions targeting Bitter in hopes of decking him first but a large Bitter on turn 12ish makes him scoop.
Hand 4 – PLU on the playPLU – Cryptic Command, Threads of Disloyalty, Ancestral Vision, Flooded Strand, Repeal, SC Island, TarmogoyfBitter – Archaiological Dig (3), Thoughtseize, Balancing Act, Death Wish, Sulfur Vent Turn 1 – PLU – Play Strand, fetch Breeding Pool untapped (17), Suspend Vision (4) Bitter – Draw Sulfur Vent, play Vent Turn 2 – PLU – (Vision 3) Draw SC Island, play Island, Play Goyf (1/2) “That’s a play I normally wouldn’t make but it seems the safest place is the field” Bitter – Draw Death Wish, Play Archaeological Dig, Play Thoughtseize (18) throw away Cryptic Command. Turn 3 – PLU – (Vision 2) Draw SDTop, play SC Island, play Top, attack (16) Bitter – Draw Ancient Spring, play Dig, Sac Vent (RU), Sac Digs for W(RUWW), play Act, discard Vent, Death Wish and Dig. Turn 4- PLU – (Vision 1) Draw Vision Bitter – Draw Sulfur Vent, play Vent Turn 5 – PLU – (Vision draw Command, Spell Snare, Counterspell) Draw Polluted Delta, play Delta to fetch Breeding pool tapped (16) Bitter – Draw Geothermal Crevice, play Crevice Turn 6 – PLU – Draw Strand, play Strand and fetch Island (15) Bitter – Draw Thoughtseize, play Spring, play Thoughtseize (14) throw Counterspell. Turn 7 – PLU – Draw Steam Vents, play nothing bluffing another Counterspell. Bitter – Draw Wild Cantor, sac Vent, Crevice and Spring (BBWGRU), use G to play Cantor, sac Cantor for B, play Wish for Bitter Ordeal and play Ordeal for 5 removing 3 Goyfs and 1 Rude and 1 Counterspell. PLU Scoops. Two lessons in this game. First is the fact that Goyf is still safer in hand and shouldn’t be dropped until you can back him up with counters. In this case the Goyf would have seized anyway. Second is that many a blue mage bluffs the counter and sometimes the best course is to just power through it.
Hand 5 – Bitter on the playBitter – Archaeological Dig, Wild Cantor (2), Ancient Spring (2), Death Wish, Geothermal Crevice, Wild CantorPLU – Spell Snare, Threads of Disloyalty, Tarmogoyf, Polluted Delta, Ancestral Vision, SC Island, Counterspell Turn 1 – Bitter – play Geothermal Crevice PLU – Draw Delta, play Delta sac for Breeding Pool (17) suspend Vision (4) Turn 2 – Bitter- draw Rite of Flame, play Ancient Spring, play Wild Cantor PLU – (vision 3) draw Spell Snare, play Island Turn 3 – Bitter – Draw Tinder Farm, play Dig, Sac Spring, Sac Dig (BBW), play Death Wish, (PLU Counterspell), play Wild Cantor, attack (16) PLU – (vision 2) draw Force Spike, play Delta fetching Breeding Pool (13) Turn 4 – Bitter – Draw Wild Cantor, Play Farm, play Cantor, attack (11) “I hear those Cantor’s belong in every agro deck.” PLU – (vision 1) draw Tarmogoyf, play Goyf (3/4).” I think he’ll take care of your army” Turn 5 – Bitter – draw Death Wish, sac Crevice and Wild Cantor for (BBG), play Death Wish, (PLU Spikes), sacs Farm (RW) pays W to the spike, Gets Balancing Act from Death Wish resolving, play Rite of Flame (RR), sacs Cantors for WW, plays Act.(PLU keeps Goyf in hand). Play Ancient Spring. PLU – (Vision draws Flooded Strand, Counterspell, Cryptic Command) Draw Steam Vents, play Strand to fetch ?????? “I don’t have any green sources”. PLU Scoops. This is a possible deck flaw with Cheons deck. He could easily run 4 Pools and still be set for Shackles in most games. I can not imagine why he didn’t unless he was concerned over the CIPT or the life. The two players of this deck are just high school students so be merciful if you noticed any play errors. But we would appreciate any comments you may have. You post comments or email Mr. Eckstein directly at daneckstein@hotmail.com.
Tags: Bitter Combo Casual Fun
Fish Fodder- Drowning?? Well, I am back. (Maybe). Let me explain. I would like to apologize for my absence. In my real life I am not actually a fish (Surprise). I am actually a school teacher/ coach. Myself and many of my students play Magic after school in my room but this is greatly limited during the winter months. I am also a Basketball Coach, which interferes with my playing and playtesting. Now that the basketball season is over I was hoping to get back in the grove. Two things have become roadblocks to that. First came the major disappointment of the canceling of the Magic Scholarship Series. We kind of had an unofficial team thing going on. We would playtest and build decks to compete with. Every Series within 4 hours drive we would have about 6 players attend with good results. But alas that is gone. I really hope that Wizards has made some viable alternative and is just waiting to release it. Another came from my recent demotion at TCGPlayer. If you didn’t know I was also Dr. Deckstein in the featured articles before the blogs started up. As a mostly casual writer I found the move over to Fish Fodder and the featured blogs an easy switch. With the upcoming basketball season I knew that I wouldn’t be able to post on a regular basis and the minimum word requirements weren’t as rigorous. But now I’ve lost my featured blogist status as well. Actually I should say that we’ve lost our status since many of the blogs came from the students and then edited by myself. What I want from any and all readers is a comment in response to this blog. I feel that if there is enough feedback that shows that we have an audience we can start posting in the feature slot again. (At least that is our hope). For those unfamiliar with Fish Fodder you can click the following link to see some of our work. http://my.tcgplayer.com/user/Prof%20X/blogs The concept is pretty simple. We bring you some kind of off the wall deck or some additional tech to a current deck and then run through some hands against another published deck list. Our current deck that we think is very fun to play really abuses Bitter Ordeal. Play it just once and remove 4 Goyf’s from your opponents deck and you’ll see how fun it can be. That can happen on turn 2 or 3 I might add. If responses to this are favorable we’ll bring it to you next week. Once again please comment and let us know for good or bad what you think.
Tank Renewal
This week I had one of the best experiences a Goldfish can have. Dan cleaned my tank. At first it’s really scary as you get scooped up and place in a baggie of water. Fortunately I saw it coming. Dan always lets the bag float in my tank for a while so it becomes the same temperature as my normal water.
I guess I’m a little claustrophobic and that bag is just uncomfortable. But while I’m stuck inside of it Dan cleans out the water in my tank. I miss my Castle but I know in the end it’s worth the wait. Then I get the preview as I sit in the bag now floating on top of my newly cleaned water. The temperature shifts but its slow enough I can deal with it. Then I am finally released into the great wide open and it’s a fish’s ecstasy.
At first I didn’t know why Dan cleaned my tank this week. It wasn’t really that dirty. I figured that Dan would be really disappointed in his PTQ experience. But after a night of looking and relooking at different builds he may have played he realized that there is some element of luck involved in this game and “The Force” wasn’t with him Saturday.
When I saw his deck for the week I realized why I had the treat. He’s been real focused on setting up Enduring Renewal combos. There are plenty of them. Here are a few.
Enduring Renewal Plus …..
….. Burrenton Forge-Tender = Ducks red burn over and over. Note it can also stop the Stuffy Doll combo since you can prevent that Damage being done to Stuffy as well
…..Children of Korlis = Nice safety net most of the time. If you take damage on your turn you can recycle and gain extra life for each W you can produce.
….Martyr of Sands = Large life gain for every 1W you can produce. Assuming White cards in hand.
….Mogg Fanatic = Repeatable damage for each R.
….Thrull Surgeon = A little mana intensive but repeatable pickable discard for every 2BB you can make.
….Stingscourger = Repeatable creature bounce is cool for Red/White
… Voidmage Prodigy = Repeatable counter. The UUUU mana cost is hard to achieve and be able to play with the cost of Renewal.
….Bottle Gnomes = 3 life for 3 mana
….Basal Sliver and Mindlash Sliver = Sac Mindlash to Basal’s ability then replay Mindlash and sac again. Generates infinite B mana and infinite storm count and a lot of discard to empty out you opponents hand (and also your own).
….Nantuko Husk and Ornithopter = Sac thopter over and over until Husk is big enough for you taste.
…..Necrotic Sliver = Every turn Vindicate. It just cost a little bit more. See Basal Sliver above.
…..Garza’s Assassin = The recover option is tricky but helps if you draw Garza’s Assassin after playing Enduring Renewal.
…..Groundbreaker = Nice way around the draw back of the Sacrifice.
…. Timbermare = Never pay the Echo cost.
…. Dawnfluke = 3 prevention for every W you can produce.
….Avalanche Riders = repeatable land destruction. Just don’t pay the Echo.
…..Calciderm = Another Drawback avoidance technique.
…..Mulldrifter = Evoke cost only. Nets +2 cards every 2U you can pay.
… Shriekmaw = Like Mulldrifter. Play the repeatable Terror.
…..Thermopod and Ornithopter = Infinite R.
…..Aethersnipe = Same as the other Evokers. Pretty much Evoke and Renewal are a good mix.
…..Firemaw Kavu = on the high side but 6 damage every turn is hard to come by.
….Deadwood Treefolk = this isn’t spectacular but it does help you get around the drawback of Renewal.
….Mournwhelk = more Evoke.
….Mogg War Marshal = 1R for two tokens each turn. Only once a turn unless you have a sac engine.
….Deathrender = While not a direct combo with Enduring Renewal it adds a lot of punch to about half of the above combinations. Imagine this turn. Enduring Renewal and Deathrender in play. Play Children of Korlis using W from Caves of Koilos. Pay 2 to equip. Sac Children putting the Enduring Renewal trigger on top of the Stack. When Deathrender triggers you replay the Children and repeat. Infinite Life……
Wow, that’s quite a list. And I’m sure I’ve missed something in there. Well anyways Dan decided to build a deck Focusing on a handful of the above list. His choices basically where Mono White, Red/ White, and Black/ White. He went Black/ White.
Here is his list.
Renewable Stuff
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Vivid Meadow
4 Vivid Marsh
4 Gemstone Mine
9 Plains
4 Enduring Renewal
2 Deathrender
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Makeshift Mannequin
2 Sunscour
3 Dawnfluke
4 Shriekmaw
2 Diabolic Tutor
4 Children of Korlis
4 Martyr of Sands
By popular demand Dan is going to see if this combo holds out against another deck from TCGplayer.com. In this case I get to play the Stuffy Doll deck that Bill Stark Piloted at States this year. I am personally much happier playing this deck than Spaniels “Cocker is mental” deck I ran last time.
If you aren’t familiar with the deck here it is.
Bill’s Stuffy
1 Fungal Reaches
1 Molten Slagheap
4 Scrying Sheets
4 Mouth of Ronom
14 Snow-covered Mountain
4 Skred
4 Molten Disaster
2 Disintegrate
4 Incinerate
3 Dead / / Gone
4 Coldsteel Heart
4 Martyr of Ashes
4 Stalking Yeti
3 Chandra Nalaar
4 Stuffy Doll
Game 1 – I win the roll – Actually we played Rock/Paper/Scissors and Water always wins.
My Hand
Snow-covered mountain (3), Coldsteel Heart, Incinerate (2), Dead/ Gone
Mulligan
Snow – covered mountain (2), Stalking Yeti, Martyr of Ashes, Chandra Nalaar, Coldsteel Heart
Dan’s Hand
Sunscour, Martyr of Sands, Vivid Marsh, Gemstone Mine, Dawnfluke, Children of Korlis, Deathrender
Mulligan
Caves of Koilos, Wrath of God (2), Plains, Shriekmaw, Enduring Renewal
Turn 1
Me – Play S C mountain
Play Martyr of Ashes
Dan – Draw Vivid Meadow
Play Vivid Meadow
Turn 2
Me- Draw Stalking Yeti
Play S C Mountain
Play Coldsteel Heart
Attack with Martyr (Dan 19)
Dan – Draw Martyr of Sands
Play Plains
Turn 3
Me – Draw Incinerate
Attack with Martyr (Dan 18)
Dan – Draw Plains
Play Plains
Turn 4
Me – Draw Incinerate
Attack with Martyr (Dan 17)
Dan – Draw Gemstone Mine
Play Caves of Koilos
Play Enduring Renewal
Turn 5
Me – Draw S C Mountain
Play S C Mountain
Play Stalking Yeti
Attack with Martyr (Dan 16)
Dan – Draw Caves of Koilos
Play Caves of Koilos
Evoke Shriekmaw (15 from Caves) targeting Yeti
Evoke Shriekmaw (14 from Caves) targeting Martyr
Turn 6
Me – Draw Scrying Sheets
Play Scrying Sheets
Activate Scrying Sheets reveling Coldsteel Heart
Play Coldsteel Heart
Dan – Draw Vivid Meadow
Play Vivid Meadow
Play Martyr of Sands
Sac Martyr of Sands (Dan – 20)
Play Martyr of Sands
Sac Martyr of Sands (Dan – 26)
Play Martyr of Sands
Turn 7
Me – Draw Disintegrate
Play Chandra Nalaar
Chandra(7) deals 1 damage to Dan (25)
Dan – Draw Children of Korlis (to yard)
Play Gemstone Mine
Sac and Play Martyr 3 times (Dan 43)
Turn 8
Me – I can’t do 18 a turn. Concede.
Game 2Me – Incinerate, S C Mountain (2), Martyr of Ashes, Stuffy Doll, Scrying Sheets, Coldsteel Heart.
Dan – Vivid Marsh, Caves of Koilos, Children of Korlis, Plains (2), Diabolic Tutor, Gemstone Mine.
Turn 1
Me – Play S C Mountain
Play Martyr of Ashes
Dan – Draw Enduring Renewal
Play Vivid Marsh
Turn 2
Me – Draw Skred
Play S C Mountain
Play Coldsteel Heart
Attack with Martyr of Ashes (Dan 19)
Dan – Draw Caves of Koilos
Play Caves of Koilos
Turn 3
Me – Draw Fungal Reaches
Play Scrying Sheets
Activate Scrying Sheets to reveal Mouth of Ronom (in hand)
Attack with Martyr of Ashes (Dan 18)
Dan – Draw Shreikmaw
| 
