A quick correction: While it is true that I find X-Blade as an easy way to build decks for the format (especially useful when I decide to enter the PRE 10mins before it's about to start and I have no idea what to play), the rogues deck I played that week had absolutely nothing to do with that archetype. It was basically "evasive creatures plus some nice cards to enhance them" kind of a deck. That's not X-Blade.
Just wanted to correct that.
Regarding the hall of fame tournament: It's a pity that I stopped playing in the PRE for like a year or so because now I'm out of top-16. And now it doesn't seem possible for me to make into the first 16 considering the time left for the tournament. Enter sad face here. Ah well, I'll hopefully play next year then.
As much as I'd like to take credit, Magus of the Moon turns off Valakut, and is entirely there to hose the opposition deck. Nearly worked in the sole loss to a *-drazi ramp deck.
Mikey, you get better at the vid thing every week. Keep at it!!
I think you provide good insight into what this deck is capable of, and you reflect on your card choices nicely at the end. Great Work, man. I hate green as a color, but this session makes me kind of want to pick up the deck. I probably won't though, as I am even more interested in the Delver list.
Nice job.
I am also not too familiar with the Pauper metagame these days. Is it true that infect is the Deck to Beat?
@deluxeicoff- I like the point of your Hornet Sting comment. I am sure that is the best way to combat the pump spells, even though it seems counter intuitive. Good observation.
I'd urge you to focus on hornet sting over sandstorm vs. poison. Sandstorm requires you to wait for them to be attacking, and if they have 'the answer, (67% of their deck)' your just throwing a card away. Hornet Sting can be played on your turn, so if they do 'have it' they have to cast something like an invigorate on your turn, saving you crucial time and not adding to their side of the board with massive 5/5 infect men.
Success on MTGO has really begun to be a strong indicator of RL success. I remember years ago when "that MTGO guy fob" did really well at Nationals. Soon after that, people just started calling him LSV.
I am with you on modern control. I have no doubt that at some point in the upcoming PTQ season, a gifts and/or teachings based control deck will be the best deck in the format. I have no idea what it will look like (not a master deckbuilder or metagame understander), but I sense it will happen.
Great show again, guys. I feel like a fanboy constantly commenting on your podcast, but someone's gotta give you rating, right?
Anyway, I wanted to address a couple of thigs that caught my ear in the cast:
1- OP Promises- Remember when they cut player rewards? They gave promises that there would be something to replace that. All I have seen is more bad unplayable cards for FNM prizes (Go for the Throat was pretty sweet, but Savage Lands?)
2- Online Grinders in the Top 8- In addition to SEVERUS winning the whole thing and the CFB-ers (arguably online grinders themselves), Richard Bland is an online grinder from the UK. He writes for Blackborder.com. I like his articles. I am not sure what his user name is, but he does test with the Orsini-Jones brothers. I am sure he is an online grinder though because I have heard of a distinct lack of B & M stores for tourneys in the UK (I could be wrong here, but I heard this a lot from UK grinders after the announcement of the OP changes).
Craig Wescoe is another online grinder (nacatlsforlife) who has been playing some version of white weenie (which is how I would classify the deck he played) since he started MTG. He is also the person who called a judge on Drew Levin after losing some high level tournament last year. Drew Levin said something about how he and his friend bet on the outcome of the match, resulting in a DQ and the term "Wescoe check". He publicly apologized to Drew shortly thereafter. He writes for tcgplayer.com, and I also like his articles.
So yeah. If you want to qualify for worlds play MTGO.
3- Control is viable in Modern. Shuuhei went 6-0 in Modern with a Gifts deck, and I have been doing a ton of testing (as you know, Keya). I have formed a clan on MTGO dedicated to Modern as a format (awaiting approval) and have seen just about everything under the sun in terms of viability. Combo is somewhat lacking actually.
Great show, again.
Are you guys taking the week off for the holiday?? Please don't. I'll record one if you don't and I am sure no one wants to hear my lame jokes and worse anecdotes.
Also, beware of lavadart/fireblast in response to your land destruction spells. Seems almost every time I have this matchup, the green post player forgets those tricks and timewalks themselves...if traditional grapeshot is a problem, just use the snake shaman/fetch land for one white and play benevolent unicorn in sideboard. Of all colors, green should make that an easy option.
Other ways you could win would be Bonehoard, Spider Spawning, Slag Fiend, Splinterfright, and Boneyard Wurm. Obviously these are all dependent on what is in your and/or your opponent's graveyards.
Three cards are also in standard that could allow you to survive another turn (depending on what is in your opponent's hand) would be Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull, and Peace Strider.
Pauper is so amazing... a tiny amount of bannings and it's by far the healthiest format ever. Says a lot about wizards 'grand scheme' foresight. Every color is represented and strong.
I like all your choices and green post is a strong deck overall. But I must critique one thing:
Your lands. You have so many different artists on those forests Jackson Pollock would be jealous! Why is this important some of you may ask? Well, if I gitaxian probe ya, or know that forest "123" was returned to your hand (searched for) and THEN you play a forest by artist "234" - I just got a free duress and know that you drew a forest.
The same logic goes for foil/non foil permanents/spells. If I have my opp on the ropes, and know 2/2 cards in their hand, and they play a foil of one of the existing ones...again, I know what they drew due to their love of shiney things...this is so key in long matchups (which greenpost excels at) and I always have to supress a giggle when my opp is bluffing they have something like sandstorm, when I know what they're still holding.
I loved this article, made me lol several times. I also loved these cards and want them online too. For me personally its about original art/frame/symbol, like Blood Moon from The Dark or Sulfurous Springs from iceage.
yeah putrefax was my first guess too Maybe including a line that said you had to use all your mana would have made it a bit harder and gotten the answer you wanted.
loved the decks though. Out of my paper playtesting group i am the one that always plays rogue decks so i could see myself sleeving one of these up in the near future
Article was a good read, as I am always happy to read about MBC. Though I must say, I think bloodline keeper can be totally casual and should always be in a MBC deck:).
Great article as always LE. Mirran Crusader is ALL over casual, I am surprised you haven't run into to it there. Every other white deck I face runs them. And Heroes of Bladehold.
Pretty sure I've played half of the "unwanted" tribes. But then again this only counts forward from a relatively short while. Have fun whomever actually makes a spot in the invitational.
Putrefax. Comes into play surge gives 5 infect, attack for haste damage ten infect wins you the game. There may be other ways, but off the top of my head this is the only one that did not involve Genesis Wave, and then getting absurdly lucky.
A quick correction: While it is true that I find X-Blade as an easy way to build decks for the format (especially useful when I decide to enter the PRE 10mins before it's about to start and I have no idea what to play), the rogues deck I played that week had absolutely nothing to do with that archetype. It was basically "evasive creatures plus some nice cards to enhance them" kind of a deck. That's not X-Blade.
Just wanted to correct that.
Regarding the hall of fame tournament: It's a pity that I stopped playing in the PRE for like a year or so because now I'm out of top-16. And now it doesn't seem possible for me to make into the first 16 considering the time left for the tournament. Enter sad face here. Ah well, I'll hopefully play next year then.
LE
As much as I'd like to take credit, Magus of the Moon turns off Valakut, and is entirely there to hose the opposition deck. Nearly worked in the sole loss to a *-drazi ramp deck.
kk ty
pdcmagic.com
There is tons of good info there.
is there a mtgo pauper site?
interested in possibly gettin into paup and unsure of whats out there.
Mikey, you get better at the vid thing every week. Keep at it!!
I think you provide good insight into what this deck is capable of, and you reflect on your card choices nicely at the end. Great Work, man. I hate green as a color, but this session makes me kind of want to pick up the deck. I probably won't though, as I am even more interested in the Delver list.
Nice job.
I am also not too familiar with the Pauper metagame these days. Is it true that infect is the Deck to Beat?
@deluxeicoff- I like the point of your Hornet Sting comment. I am sure that is the best way to combat the pump spells, even though it seems counter intuitive. Good observation.
Are you guys making one next week? Don't make me bore your audience to death.
To be fair, I could just record something and then just listen to it myself and all would be the same, right?
lol
I'd urge you to focus on hornet sting over sandstorm vs. poison. Sandstorm requires you to wait for them to be attacking, and if they have 'the answer, (67% of their deck)' your just throwing a card away. Hornet Sting can be played on your turn, so if they do 'have it' they have to cast something like an invigorate on your turn, saving you crucial time and not adding to their side of the board with massive 5/5 infect men.
Glad we are making our fan happy.
Success on MTGO has really begun to be a strong indicator of RL success. I remember years ago when "that MTGO guy fob" did really well at Nationals. Soon after that, people just started calling him LSV.
I am with you on modern control. I have no doubt that at some point in the upcoming PTQ season, a gifts and/or teachings based control deck will be the best deck in the format. I have no idea what it will look like (not a master deckbuilder or metagame understander), but I sense it will happen.
As yes, Wescoe-gate. I remember that now.
Thanks for tuning in!
Great show again, guys. I feel like a fanboy constantly commenting on your podcast, but someone's gotta give you rating, right?
Anyway, I wanted to address a couple of thigs that caught my ear in the cast:
1- OP Promises- Remember when they cut player rewards? They gave promises that there would be something to replace that. All I have seen is more bad unplayable cards for FNM prizes (Go for the Throat was pretty sweet, but Savage Lands?)
2- Online Grinders in the Top 8- In addition to SEVERUS winning the whole thing and the CFB-ers (arguably online grinders themselves), Richard Bland is an online grinder from the UK. He writes for Blackborder.com. I like his articles. I am not sure what his user name is, but he does test with the Orsini-Jones brothers. I am sure he is an online grinder though because I have heard of a distinct lack of B & M stores for tourneys in the UK (I could be wrong here, but I heard this a lot from UK grinders after the announcement of the OP changes).
Craig Wescoe is another online grinder (nacatlsforlife) who has been playing some version of white weenie (which is how I would classify the deck he played) since he started MTG. He is also the person who called a judge on Drew Levin after losing some high level tournament last year. Drew Levin said something about how he and his friend bet on the outcome of the match, resulting in a DQ and the term "Wescoe check". He publicly apologized to Drew shortly thereafter. He writes for tcgplayer.com, and I also like his articles.
So yeah. If you want to qualify for worlds play MTGO.
3- Control is viable in Modern. Shuuhei went 6-0 in Modern with a Gifts deck, and I have been doing a ton of testing (as you know, Keya). I have formed a clan on MTGO dedicated to Modern as a format (awaiting approval) and have seen just about everything under the sun in terms of viability. Combo is somewhat lacking actually.
Great show, again.
Are you guys taking the week off for the holiday?? Please don't. I'll record one if you don't and I am sure no one wants to hear my lame jokes and worse anecdotes.
:)
Also, beware of lavadart/fireblast in response to your land destruction spells. Seems almost every time I have this matchup, the green post player forgets those tricks and timewalks themselves...if traditional grapeshot is a problem, just use the snake shaman/fetch land for one white and play benevolent unicorn in sideboard. Of all colors, green should make that an easy option.
Other ways you could win would be Bonehoard, Spider Spawning, Slag Fiend, Splinterfright, and Boneyard Wurm. Obviously these are all dependent on what is in your and/or your opponent's graveyards.
Three cards are also in standard that could allow you to survive another turn (depending on what is in your opponent's hand) would be Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull, and Peace Strider.
Love the article.
Pauper is so amazing... a tiny amount of bannings and it's by far the healthiest format ever. Says a lot about wizards 'grand scheme' foresight. Every color is represented and strong.
I like all your choices and green post is a strong deck overall. But I must critique one thing:
Your lands. You have so many different artists on those forests Jackson Pollock would be jealous! Why is this important some of you may ask? Well, if I gitaxian probe ya, or know that forest "123" was returned to your hand (searched for) and THEN you play a forest by artist "234" - I just got a free duress and know that you drew a forest.
The same logic goes for foil/non foil permanents/spells. If I have my opp on the ropes, and know 2/2 cards in their hand, and they play a foil of one of the existing ones...again, I know what they drew due to their love of shiney things...this is so key in long matchups (which greenpost excels at) and I always have to supress a giggle when my opp is bluffing they have something like sandstorm, when I know what they're still holding.
Good stuff.
I loved this article, made me lol several times. I also loved these cards and want them online too. For me personally its about original art/frame/symbol, like Blood Moon from The Dark or Sulfurous Springs from iceage.
AND THEN HE GUT SHOTS YOU WITH ONE OF THE TWO CARDS LEFT IN HIS HAND! OH, SO CLOSE!
;)
yeah putrefax was my first guess too Maybe including a line that said you had to use all your mana would have made it a bit harder and gotten the answer you wanted.
loved the decks though. Out of my paper playtesting group i am the one that always plays rogue decks so i could see myself sleeving one of these up in the near future
"Examining Liliana-" Yes...
Really good article, I always love watching deck progression. Good read.
Article was a good read, as I am always happy to read about MBC. Though I must say, I think bloodline keeper can be totally casual and should always be in a MBC deck:).
Great article as always LE. Mirran Crusader is ALL over casual, I am surprised you haven't run into to it there. Every other white deck I face runs them. And Heroes of Bladehold.
Pretty sure I've played half of the "unwanted" tribes. But then again this only counts forward from a relatively short while. Have fun whomever actually makes a spot in the invitational.
I think you're just splitting hairs now. Either card would have won you the game :D
No, it's not Putrefax but Green Sun's Zenith which will fetch you Putrefax! :P
I should ask harder questions, this was a bit too easy apparently.
LE
Putrefax. Comes into play surge gives 5 infect, attack for haste damage ten infect wins you the game. There may be other ways, but off the top of my head this is the only one that did not involve Genesis Wave, and then getting absurdly lucky.
You made me dig up my favorite WoC site article: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/feature/21
Cheers!
original art blood lust is in ME3
I second Earthbind.
Also Natural Selection.