==ISLANDHOME #20==
July 16th 2008
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Eventide Prerelease Recap
Eventide Launch Party Details
Elder Dragon Highlander: Eventide Card Review
EDH League: Pairings!
Learn from the Worst: A guest article from Michael Innace!
Rules Corner: Packed with Eventidey goodness!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
We had a lot of fun drafting SHM-SHM-EVE at Grim last week, and if enough people bring packs again, we might be able to do another unsanctioned draft! Otherwise, it'll just be another Chaos Draft. Either way, come down for some fun!
Reminder: Eventide is NOT legal in any constructed formats this weekend.
It's also not legal to sanction any draft using Eventide until next Friday, so the draft at Brothers Grim on Friday will be our last sanctioned SHM-SHM-SHM draft.
==EVENTIDE PRERELEASE RECAP==
Author: Brian Paskoff
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Eventide Prerelease Recap
Eventide Launch Party Details
Elder Dragon Highlander: Eventide Card Review
EDH League: Pairings!
Learn from the Worst: A guest article from Michael Innace!
Rules Corner: Packed with Eventidey goodness!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
We had a lot of fun drafting SHM-SHM-EVE at Grim last week, and if enough people bring packs again, we might be able to do another unsanctioned draft! Otherwise, it'll just be another Chaos Draft. Either way, come down for some fun!
Reminder: Eventide is NOT legal in any constructed formats this weekend.
It's also not legal to sanction any draft using Eventide until next Friday, so the draft at Brothers Grim on Friday will be our last sanctioned SHM-SHM-SHM draft.
==EVENTIDE PRERELEASE RECAP==
Author: Brian Paskoff
I hope everyone had fun at the Eventide prerelease this past weekend! We had way more players than we expected, so I apologize for any delay in starting events or getting pairings up. We even ran out of Overbeing of Myth promos! And that's not all we ran out of: By the time team events started, we realized we were fresh out of Shadowmoor tournament packs. After calling Glen Friedman, the TO of Gray Matter, he gave us the idea of replacing the two tournament packs each team would normally get with six packs of Eventide. Each tournament pack has 45 unique cards and 30 basic lands, so three boosters = one tournament pack. This led to some busted decks, and while a load of fun, proved why drafting triple Eventide would be a bad idea. Almost every deck was "mono color" Mimics and Auras, and the winner of the game was usually the player who equipped their Nightsky Mimic with an Edge of the Divinity and swung for 7 enough times by playing only white/black spells, or any other Mimic, Aura, and their respective colors.
The addition of Eventide to Shadowmoor block limited seems like a major change. Not only are mono-color decks even easier to build, smoothing out manabases and allowing you to play a "five color" deck using only one type of basic land, but two color decks previously difficult to build in pure Shadowmoor are easier now with enemy-colored hybrids. No longer do you need to worry about mana problems if you've got bombs in both white and black, because there are enough white/black cards to bring your deck together.
Auras are still king in SHM/EVE limited, but the relevance of some of them are a little diminished. Steel of the Godhead is an amazing card, but now you've got less opportunity to pick up blue/white hybrid creatures. A lot of the time, I saw Shadowmoor Auras on creatures who only turned on half of the enchantment. Giving your Cold-Eye Selkie +1/+1 and making it unblockable is great though, even if it doesn't get lifelink.
Now here's the bad news. Wizards' new "grass roots" initiative has put prereleases in the hands of stores, not big TOs like Gray Matter. Big prereleases like the one you attended last weekend might be a thing of the past. To me and lots of other players, prereleases were the only real "big tournaments" we got to attend, and a rare and welcome chance to play with people you never get to meet. Plus, little stores aren't going to be able to run multiple flights, team events, side drafts, etc. But Gray Matter may try to hold another large prerelease at the same location for Shards of Alara in late September. What I'd like to know is, if there was another big prerelease at the Long Island location, would you rather play there, or at a local store prerelease? Reply to this email and let me know!
And thanks again to everyone who came out!
Keep next weekend free for Eventide Launch Parties at Brothers Grim and FNC!
So now that the prerelease is over, the next big event coming up is the Eventide Launch Party! I'll be hosting two of these release events, one next Saturday at FNC and one next Sunday at Brothers Grim. FNC's release event will be at 1 PM on Saturday the 26th, and Grim's will be at 2 PM on Sunday the 27th. Save the date for one or both, and I'll have price and other details in the next issue!
The addition of Eventide to Shadowmoor block limited seems like a major change. Not only are mono-color decks even easier to build, smoothing out manabases and allowing you to play a "five color" deck using only one type of basic land, but two color decks previously difficult to build in pure Shadowmoor are easier now with enemy-colored hybrids. No longer do you need to worry about mana problems if you've got bombs in both white and black, because there are enough white/black cards to bring your deck together.
Auras are still king in SHM/EVE limited, but the relevance of some of them are a little diminished. Steel of the Godhead is an amazing card, but now you've got less opportunity to pick up blue/white hybrid creatures. A lot of the time, I saw Shadowmoor Auras on creatures who only turned on half of the enchantment. Giving your Cold-Eye Selkie +1/+1 and making it unblockable is great though, even if it doesn't get lifelink.
Now here's the bad news. Wizards' new "grass roots" initiative has put prereleases in the hands of stores, not big TOs like Gray Matter. Big prereleases like the one you attended last weekend might be a thing of the past. To me and lots of other players, prereleases were the only real "big tournaments" we got to attend, and a rare and welcome chance to play with people you never get to meet. Plus, little stores aren't going to be able to run multiple flights, team events, side drafts, etc. But Gray Matter may try to hold another large prerelease at the same location for Shards of Alara in late September. What I'd like to know is, if there was another big prerelease at the Long Island location, would you rather play there, or at a local store prerelease? Reply to this email and let me know!
And thanks again to everyone who came out!
Keep next weekend free for Eventide Launch Parties at Brothers Grim and FNC!
==EVENTIDE LAUNCH PARTY DETAILS==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
So now that the prerelease is over, the next big event coming up is the Eventide Launch Party! I'll be hosting two of these release events, one next Saturday at FNC and one next Sunday at Brothers Grim. FNC's release event will be at 1 PM on Saturday the 26th, and Grim's will be at 2 PM on Sunday the 27th. Save the date for one or both, and I'll have price and other details in the next issue!
==ELDER DRAGON HIGHLANDER: EVENTIDE REVIEW==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
I don't know about you, but the first thing I look forward to when a new set comes out are the legends to build an EDH deck around. There's only two legends in the set, and neither of them are very useful. Ashling the Extinguisher is only a 4/4 for 4 with no evasion, forces you to play mono-black, and its saboteur ability isn't even that useful. There are much better mono-black legends, such as Horobi, Death's Wail, and Maga, Traitor to Mortals, if you want to go that route. The other legend, Sapling of Colfenor, is BG, a powerful color combination in EDH, but while its ability might come in handy when it hits, there's much better card advantage available in BG. Industructability is a fine ability, but it doesn't shrug off things like Oblation, Condemn, or Spin into Myth.
Now for the cards themselves:
WHITE:
Archon of Justice: Being able to remove a permanent from the game is very useful, if you can control when the Archon dies.
Endless Horizons: The amount of removal in the format makes this card very risky, unless your plan is to thin your deck out... or you're up against a deck with no enchantment removal like a Kaervek the Merciless deck.
Hallowed Burial: A great alternative Wrath against reanimator decks.
Spirit of the Hearth: Making yourself untargetable shuts down more things than you think. Your opponent's not going to be playing Gifts Ungiven while this cat's in play.
BLUE:
Cache Raiders: There's lots of things that benefit from being replayed again and again - Mulldrifter, Karmic Guide, Mystic Snake... just find any permanent with a good "comes into play" effect and have fun.
BLACK:
Nightmare Incursion: I'm so excited about playing this card in a mono-black EDH deck I could plotz.
RED:
Rekindled Flame: This card gets better and better the more players there are in the game.
GREEN:
Helix Pinnacle: Let's get one thing straight: the only reason this card is playable, even in EDH, is because it has shroud. EDH games go long, and avoiding mass removal for a few turns can mean certain victory.
Primalcrux: Mono-green decks might be able to use this.
Regal Force: See above.
Wicker-bough Elder: It costs 1 less than Indrik Stomphowler, even though it technically makes up for it by costing G to blow something up... but it's a decent body with an important removal ability.
WHITE/BLACK:
Cauldron Haze: Ghostway is a much better anti-removal spell.
Deathbringer Liege: Yes. Play this if your deck can support it. It's probably one of the top five creatures in the set for EDH.
Divinity of Pride: "Players start at 40 life." It's an 8/8 flying lifelink for 5.
Evershrike: Could be interesting with recurring enchantments such as Rancor or Spirit Loop.
Unmake: It sadly gets outshined by Swords to Plowshares, but if you need another removal spell....
BLUE/RED:
Call the Skybreaker: It turns late-game lands into 5/5 fliers.
Dominus of Fealty: Bringer of the Red Dawn couldn't be played in anything but a 5-color deck, but this can be played in as little as two colors, plus it steals even non-creature permanents.
Mindwrack Liege: It's expensive, but bringing out red/blue fatties for 4 mana is awesome.
Nucklavee: Playing both Anarchist and Scriviner in your blue/red deck and need a card slot free? Here you go!
BLACK/GREEN:
Creakwood Liege: Verdant Force sees a lot of play in EDH, and this could too, despite it being easy to kill and the token-making not quite as out-of-hand in multiplayer.
Desecrator Hag: There's better Raise Dead effects (Eternal Witness?) but it's a fine card.
Doomgape: Green produces enough tokens to feed it, and it's a 10/10 trampler.
WHITE/RED:
Balefire Liege: If it could Lightning Bolt creatures too it'd be a lot better, but the life gain and pumping is good.
Moonhold: I can't decide if this card is too narrow or not, it seems very "win more".
Waves of Aggression: Perfect for an aggro-heavy deck.
BLUE/GREEN:
Cold-Eyed Selkie: It's only a 1/1, but with the right pump spells - and an opponent playing blue - this creature can get ridiculous.
Murkfiend Liege: Seedborne Muse definitely sees play in EDH, and while the Liege only affects your blue and green creatures, it's still very good.
Overbeing of Myth: Drawing an extra card every turn is good I hear.
Spitting Image: This is the EDH card I've been waiting for, literally! There are lots of creatures you'll want to copy in the format, and the ability to do it over and over again is amazing.
ARTIFACTS:
Scarecrone: Lots of hardcore EDH players like to take on the challenge of making a Karn, Silver Golem deck. I can't see this not being included in it. Even if you're not playing an artifact-heavy deck, getting back creatures such as Sundering Titan, Duplicant, and Solemn Simulacrum is a good deal.
Ward of Bones: Playing this in a multiplayer game won't make you any friends.
LANDS:
Of course all the enemy-color filter-lands are auto-includes if you're playing those colors. Springjack Pasture... not so much.
Now for the cards themselves:
WHITE:
Archon of Justice: Being able to remove a permanent from the game is very useful, if you can control when the Archon dies.
Endless Horizons: The amount of removal in the format makes this card very risky, unless your plan is to thin your deck out... or you're up against a deck with no enchantment removal like a Kaervek the Merciless deck.
Hallowed Burial: A great alternative Wrath against reanimator decks.
Spirit of the Hearth: Making yourself untargetable shuts down more things than you think. Your opponent's not going to be playing Gifts Ungiven while this cat's in play.
BLUE:
Cache Raiders: There's lots of things that benefit from being replayed again and again - Mulldrifter, Karmic Guide, Mystic Snake... just find any permanent with a good "comes into play" effect and have fun.
BLACK:
Nightmare Incursion: I'm so excited about playing this card in a mono-black EDH deck I could plotz.
RED:
Rekindled Flame: This card gets better and better the more players there are in the game.
GREEN:
Helix Pinnacle: Let's get one thing straight: the only reason this card is playable, even in EDH, is because it has shroud. EDH games go long, and avoiding mass removal for a few turns can mean certain victory.
Primalcrux: Mono-green decks might be able to use this.
Regal Force: See above.
Wicker-bough Elder: It costs 1 less than Indrik Stomphowler, even though it technically makes up for it by costing G to blow something up... but it's a decent body with an important removal ability.
WHITE/BLACK:
Cauldron Haze: Ghostway is a much better anti-removal spell.
Deathbringer Liege: Yes. Play this if your deck can support it. It's probably one of the top five creatures in the set for EDH.
Divinity of Pride: "Players start at 40 life." It's an 8/8 flying lifelink for 5.
Evershrike: Could be interesting with recurring enchantments such as Rancor or Spirit Loop.
Unmake: It sadly gets outshined by Swords to Plowshares, but if you need another removal spell....
BLUE/RED:
Call the Skybreaker: It turns late-game lands into 5/5 fliers.
Dominus of Fealty: Bringer of the Red Dawn couldn't be played in anything but a 5-color deck, but this can be played in as little as two colors, plus it steals even non-creature permanents.
Mindwrack Liege: It's expensive, but bringing out red/blue fatties for 4 mana is awesome.
Nucklavee: Playing both Anarchist and Scriviner in your blue/red deck and need a card slot free? Here you go!
BLACK/GREEN:
Creakwood Liege: Verdant Force sees a lot of play in EDH, and this could too, despite it being easy to kill and the token-making not quite as out-of-hand in multiplayer.
Desecrator Hag: There's better Raise Dead effects (Eternal Witness?) but it's a fine card.
Doomgape: Green produces enough tokens to feed it, and it's a 10/10 trampler.
WHITE/RED:
Balefire Liege: If it could Lightning Bolt creatures too it'd be a lot better, but the life gain and pumping is good.
Moonhold: I can't decide if this card is too narrow or not, it seems very "win more".
Waves of Aggression: Perfect for an aggro-heavy deck.
BLUE/GREEN:
Cold-Eyed Selkie: It's only a 1/1, but with the right pump spells - and an opponent playing blue - this creature can get ridiculous.
Murkfiend Liege: Seedborne Muse definitely sees play in EDH, and while the Liege only affects your blue and green creatures, it's still very good.
Overbeing of Myth: Drawing an extra card every turn is good I hear.
Spitting Image: This is the EDH card I've been waiting for, literally! There are lots of creatures you'll want to copy in the format, and the ability to do it over and over again is amazing.
ARTIFACTS:
Scarecrone: Lots of hardcore EDH players like to take on the challenge of making a Karn, Silver Golem deck. I can't see this not being included in it. Even if you're not playing an artifact-heavy deck, getting back creatures such as Sundering Titan, Duplicant, and Solemn Simulacrum is a good deal.
Ward of Bones: Playing this in a multiplayer game won't make you any friends.
LANDS:
Of course all the enemy-color filter-lands are auto-includes if you're playing those colors. Springjack Pasture... not so much.
==ELDER DRAGON HIGHLANDER LEAGUE==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
PAIRINGS!
Well last week I had a realization: since the idea of this league is to test your EDH deck on a "tournament" level, and some league players can't make a tournament every week, having a new "round" of pairings every week doesn't really make sense. Instead, everyone is going to play everyone in a sort of "round robin" style, and at the end, the player with the best record is the winner. This also lets us hold EDH league events during months with lots of large events that some of the more hardcore players might attend. And, it lets players join up late, since if they don't play a match in time, it's their loss.
So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen and lhurgoyfs, here's your starting lineup!
Brian Paskoff - Grand Arbiter Augustin XIII
Michael Bauer - Cromat
Michael Evans - Sisay
Nick Seidler - Phelddagrif
It's sparse right now, but I've been told by a few players that they're putting the finishing touches on their decks, so we'll see!
- We'll be using the "Big Deck" mulligan rule - that is, you get one free mulligan. After that, go to six.
- No proxies allowed; EDH cards are easy to find (most of them are dollar-bin rares).
- You will be allowed to tune up your deck between rounds, as long as you keep your general the same.
- The Elder Dragon Highlander rules (and banned list) can be found here.
- General reservation will be on a first come, first served basis.
- Matches will be best 2-of-3, though if both players want to play one game because it takes a long time, you can report it 2-0 if you want. (I had a match with Matt Brocking that lasted about two hours, finally losing to a Serra Avatar with a Flickerform on it.)
Well last week I had a realization: since the idea of this league is to test your EDH deck on a "tournament" level, and some league players can't make a tournament every week, having a new "round" of pairings every week doesn't really make sense. Instead, everyone is going to play everyone in a sort of "round robin" style, and at the end, the player with the best record is the winner. This also lets us hold EDH league events during months with lots of large events that some of the more hardcore players might attend. And, it lets players join up late, since if they don't play a match in time, it's their loss.
So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen and lhurgoyfs, here's your starting lineup!
Brian Paskoff - Grand Arbiter Augustin XIII
Michael Bauer - Cromat
Michael Evans - Sisay
Nick Seidler - Phelddagrif
It's sparse right now, but I've been told by a few players that they're putting the finishing touches on their decks, so we'll see!
- We'll be using the "Big Deck" mulligan rule - that is, you get one free mulligan. After that, go to six.
- No proxies allowed; EDH cards are easy to find (most of them are dollar-bin rares).
- You will be allowed to tune up your deck between rounds, as long as you keep your general the same.
- The Elder Dragon Highlander rules (and banned list) can be found here.
- General reservation will be on a first come, first served basis.
- Matches will be best 2-of-3, though if both players want to play one game because it takes a long time, you can report it 2-0 if you want. (I had a match with Matt Brocking that lasted about two hours, finally losing to a Serra Avatar with a Flickerform on it.)
==LEARN FROM THE WORST==
Author: Michael Innace
Author: Michael Innace
Hello everyone, and welcome to the first installment of Learn From The Worst, with me, Mike Innace. Brian Paskoff has been kind enough to help me pass my free time this summer by writing strategy articles for Islandhome. As you may or may not know, I'm a public school teacher during the regular school year. My summers are usually spent working at a beach camp on Fire Island, commuting on the ferry every other day. This year, I dropped that job like hot garbage and found myself with lots of time with which I have nothing to do. So, writing a strategy article might help keep me off the streets while possibly providing some insight to aspiring competitive Magic players.
In this article we're going to take a look at Lorwyn Block Constructed. I'm aware that the format is about to change, but I don't think that will affect the ideas I'll be presenting. This format has five decks that you'll regularly find at Pro Tour Qualifiers. If you don't know much about this format, those decks are (in no particular order):
Faeries
Kithkin
Quick 'n' Toast
Elementals
Oversoul.dec
Remember when I said "no particular order"? I lied. Those first four decks are considered the tier 1 decks of the format, and Oversoul.dec is the only resounding tier 2 deck. Oversoul.dec (which I've been calling 'Jumanji') is nothing to scoff at, and I happen to believe that Gaddok Teeg is one of the best cards in the format. However, a well-timed removal spell from Jumanji's opponent can put Jumanji in a very bad card disadvantage situation. I'm talking about:
Jumanji: "Attempt to cast Shield of the Oversoul on my Kitchen Finks."
Opponent: "Nameless Inversion. Untap, play big spell. Wow, my board is much better than yours, eh?"
You might be saying to yourself "But what about Goblins and Rogues and Soldiers and Elves?" But forgive me when I say that anything but these five decks as of right now would be considered tier three or worse.
So far this season, I've been rocking Elementals. There are way too many sneaky plays you can pull off with Incandescent Soulstoke. Smokebraider is also unfair. Here's the list I was using:
4 Smokebraider
4 Incandescent Soulstoke
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Reveillark
4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Mulldrifter
4 Fulminator Mage
3 Cloudthresher
2 Shriekmaw
2 Primal Command
1 Horde of Notions
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Primal Beyond
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
2 Graven Cairns
2 Mystic Gate
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Wooded Bastion
4 Vivid Crag
3 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Grove
You may notice the absence of Flamekin Harbinger. It was a very tough call, but after some extensive testing with this deck, all he was really good for was making sure you had a Smokebraider to cast on turn 2. Don't get me wrong – that is quite powerful, but his late game power didn't compare to that of Primal Command. Primal Command gets the Elemental you need without the expense of a card AND THEN does something else!
Against Kithkin, it would usually gain 7 life. Against other Reveillarks it would shuffle up their graveyard. You name it, it was good. This version of Elementals starts Fulminator Mage because of the monstrous number of Toast decks I encountered at my first PTQ. The last version only had three lonely Mages in the sideboard. After deciding that most skilled players like the powerhouse deck that Toast is, 4x Fulminator Mage and 4x Mannequin seemed like a good battle plan.
My sideboard was as follows:
4 Thoughtseize
4 Firespout
2 Austere Command
2 Shriekmaw
1 Cloudthresher
2 Puppeteer Clique
I'll make the sideboard explanations short, because I don't want Elementals to be the focus of my article. Thoughtseize went in against decks with Cryptic Command. Firespout went in against decks with…well…creatures. Austere Command was Firespout 5 and 6. Shriekmaw was extra spot removal. Cloudthresher obviously came in versus Faeries and Puppeteer Clique comes in against other Reveillark strategies.
I had a theory on my way to the New Jersey PTQ last weekend. I rode in with Ralph Navarra and Rob Grippa. Ralph and I were piloting the exact same 75 cards (no gay jokes, please). Rob was playing a Pseudo-Mono-Black Control deck that he created himself. I'd give you the list, but I can't for three reasons:
#1) Rob would get mad if I did that, and I can't disobey his trust.
#2) Rob played 2 games with the deck before the PTQ -- it's not tested or tuned.
#3) I…don't have a list.
Anyway, like I was saying…I had a theory just before the tournament. I noticed along the way that when testing for this format we only tested against three decks: Kithkin, Faeries and Toast. We disregarded the Jumanji matchup thinking that most players piloting that would be less skilled. And enough games with any deck, and you can assume how a mirror match is going to go. My theory was that going rogue might be the best bet in a format like Lorwyn Block Constructed. There are only five competitive decks. Two of those decks are found often in Standard, so you may already know how to play against them well. In a format like Standard, where there are close to a dozen 'good' decks, or Extended where there are several thousand good decks and their variants, it's near impossible to get testing in against every matchup. When testing LBC, you can get probably ten good games under your belt in about 30-45 minutes. So to test against a gauntlet of LBC decks, you'd really only need to devote about three hours of your time. To boot, most LBC decklists are stock lists, with very few adjustments made, thanks to R&D handing us the Tribal "Mechanic".
My theory proved somewhat right, based on the final standings of my trio. Ralph and I, who are 1900+ players, with extensive testing under our belts went 5-3 and 4-4 respectively after 8 rounds of swiss. Rob, who played five games AT MOST with his deck, and has been sporting a 1700 rating for the last six years went 6-2. His round one loss made his tiebreakers really awful and only one 6-2 finisher made it into the top 8.
I'm convinced that Rob's success has less to do with playskill (no offense, buddy) and more to do with the fact that his opponents had no idea what was coming next. With a little tuning, his deck may have taken down this tournament.
Knowing your matchup is an important path to victory, and when you go rogue, that's an advantage you automatically take away from your opponent. It reminds me of my miserable showing at Regionals 2002 in Ohio. I'd been playing Blue/Green Madness, what I believe to be one of the most powerful Standard decks that didn't get cards banned from it. It was unconditionally the best deck of that format, the trick was finding ways to outclass the mirror match. I'd won every FNM at my local store with that deck week after week. Every Saturday in Jamestown there were cash tournaments. I'd bring the house down with Blue/Green Madness and take home the $25 or $30 that a college student most desperately needed for…refreshments. Then along came Regionals. Round one I am paired up against the scrub to end all scrubs. He is playing some cockamamie Blue/White/Green Astral Slide deck with cards I'd never heard of. He's cycling and drawing, cycling and drawing, casting more 5cc sorceries and enchantments than all the Circular Logics in the world could counter.
I lost.
I lost bad.
But not because he was the better player than me. Far from it. He was better prepared for this game than I could have ever been. I had one hundred or more matches against Mono Black Control, AstroGlide, the Mirror, Red/Green Aggro, White/Green Aggro, under my belt. But he built his homegrown UWg Astral Slide deck and made sure the first deck he tested against was Blue/Green Madness so he could take 32 points from his first round opponent.
My point is that if you're playing a rogue deck, you've given yourself a serious advantage. Provided you have tested against the tier 1 decks and have plans against them. Expecting the unexpected is not something Magic players who test a lot are good at. You often lose to a card you have to read, because "expecting the unexpected" meant "expecting the totally unknown".
So for your LBC endeavors this August (no local PTQs in July), I recommend you find your favorite Eventide card and build some pile around it. Put some powerhouse block cards in there like Cryptic Command or Mind Shatter to keep your opponents on their toes. Test it against the five decks that we see at PTQs. Figure out where it's weak, tune it and devote some sideboard slots to its weaknesses.
That's that. Now I want to share my thoughts on some Eventide cards, now that the full spoiler is out.
Stigma Lasher
This is the one most people are talking about. Rightly so. Truth is, you get quite a handful of big creatures for the price of two mana nowadays. I'm talking of course about Tarmogoyfs and Vanquishers. So a 2/2 for 2 doesn't seem all that spectacular. Tack on this ability and this guy becomes a giant lightning rod. Red's always lacked in decent 'bears', but this guy fits the bill. Admittedly, he's not going to get through very often, but no red deck will be without this guy as long as red is still trying to get you to zero as quickly as possible.
Hallowed Burial
Hey, why not have five Wrath effects in Standard? Not that anyone plays Austere Command in Standard, but you catch my drift. Kitchen Finks may get around the first Wrath, Firespout, Damnation, and Austere Command…but this card says "screw persist". I foresee white decks using this as Wrath 5 and 6.
Dream Fracture
I think there are very few cases where this card isn't strictly better than Cancel. A control deck usually wins the card-for-card game if they can survive an early rush. I think of this card as a version of Remand that's better in the late game. Cancel doesn't really see much play right now, so this probably won't either. I'm just trying to say that I think it's better than Cancel.
Ashling the Extinguisher
A 4/4 for four mana in black is good to begin with. Tack a Diabolic Edict onto it and I think it may be playable in constructed. Standard might have different plans for black, but the idea of having Profane Command and this guy in the same deck is making me grin.
Nettle Sentinel
Alright, so green now has two decent two-power creatures for one mana. Some ballsy players will try to exploit this guy and Tautermunge Maniac for all they're worth. About a week after Eventide is legal, those players will remember that Kitchen Finks are still in the format. Oops. In any case, this card is solid.
Unmake
Still doesn't kill Chameleon Colossus, but this card is good.
Canker Abomination
If this guy was just green, he probably wouldn't be good. But he's black. That's the color that's really good at killing creatures, right? Seems to me if you're packing an average amount of removal in your black deck, this guy is a Juzam Djinn at least. I expect to see a Doran revival with the addition of this card.
Figure of Destiny
Read it carefully. Very carefully. This card is good.
Snakeform
This card is very good. In a blue control deck it will help you survive a big attacker while not giving up any card advantage. In green, it's a very good way to slow down (if not kill) an opposing Chameleon Colossus. I anticipate this card will see play in Standard.
Scarecrone
I'm sure there will be something stupid to do with this card in Extended. It's late and I haven't thought of anything yet.
That concludes my first article. I hope you enjoyed it. Here's my advice to anyone playing in an Eventide Sealed event coming up. If you get a Call the Skybreaker, force it.
Until next time,
Mike
==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian PaskoffIn this article we're going to take a look at Lorwyn Block Constructed. I'm aware that the format is about to change, but I don't think that will affect the ideas I'll be presenting. This format has five decks that you'll regularly find at Pro Tour Qualifiers. If you don't know much about this format, those decks are (in no particular order):
Faeries
Kithkin
Quick 'n' Toast
Elementals
Oversoul.dec
Remember when I said "no particular order"? I lied. Those first four decks are considered the tier 1 decks of the format, and Oversoul.dec is the only resounding tier 2 deck. Oversoul.dec (which I've been calling 'Jumanji') is nothing to scoff at, and I happen to believe that Gaddok Teeg is one of the best cards in the format. However, a well-timed removal spell from Jumanji's opponent can put Jumanji in a very bad card disadvantage situation. I'm talking about:
Jumanji: "Attempt to cast Shield of the Oversoul on my Kitchen Finks."
Opponent: "Nameless Inversion. Untap, play big spell. Wow, my board is much better than yours, eh?"
You might be saying to yourself "But what about Goblins and Rogues and Soldiers and Elves?" But forgive me when I say that anything but these five decks as of right now would be considered tier three or worse.
So far this season, I've been rocking Elementals. There are way too many sneaky plays you can pull off with Incandescent Soulstoke. Smokebraider is also unfair. Here's the list I was using:
4 Smokebraider
4 Incandescent Soulstoke
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Reveillark
4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Mulldrifter
4 Fulminator Mage
3 Cloudthresher
2 Shriekmaw
2 Primal Command
1 Horde of Notions
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Primal Beyond
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
2 Graven Cairns
2 Mystic Gate
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Wooded Bastion
4 Vivid Crag
3 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Grove
You may notice the absence of Flamekin Harbinger. It was a very tough call, but after some extensive testing with this deck, all he was really good for was making sure you had a Smokebraider to cast on turn 2. Don't get me wrong – that is quite powerful, but his late game power didn't compare to that of Primal Command. Primal Command gets the Elemental you need without the expense of a card AND THEN does something else!
Against Kithkin, it would usually gain 7 life. Against other Reveillarks it would shuffle up their graveyard. You name it, it was good. This version of Elementals starts Fulminator Mage because of the monstrous number of Toast decks I encountered at my first PTQ. The last version only had three lonely Mages in the sideboard. After deciding that most skilled players like the powerhouse deck that Toast is, 4x Fulminator Mage and 4x Mannequin seemed like a good battle plan.
My sideboard was as follows:
4 Thoughtseize
4 Firespout
2 Austere Command
2 Shriekmaw
1 Cloudthresher
2 Puppeteer Clique
I'll make the sideboard explanations short, because I don't want Elementals to be the focus of my article. Thoughtseize went in against decks with Cryptic Command. Firespout went in against decks with…well…creatures. Austere Command was Firespout 5 and 6. Shriekmaw was extra spot removal. Cloudthresher obviously came in versus Faeries and Puppeteer Clique comes in against other Reveillark strategies.
I had a theory on my way to the New Jersey PTQ last weekend. I rode in with Ralph Navarra and Rob Grippa. Ralph and I were piloting the exact same 75 cards (no gay jokes, please). Rob was playing a Pseudo-Mono-Black Control deck that he created himself. I'd give you the list, but I can't for three reasons:
#1) Rob would get mad if I did that, and I can't disobey his trust.
#2) Rob played 2 games with the deck before the PTQ -- it's not tested or tuned.
#3) I…don't have a list.
Anyway, like I was saying…I had a theory just before the tournament. I noticed along the way that when testing for this format we only tested against three decks: Kithkin, Faeries and Toast. We disregarded the Jumanji matchup thinking that most players piloting that would be less skilled. And enough games with any deck, and you can assume how a mirror match is going to go. My theory was that going rogue might be the best bet in a format like Lorwyn Block Constructed. There are only five competitive decks. Two of those decks are found often in Standard, so you may already know how to play against them well. In a format like Standard, where there are close to a dozen 'good' decks, or Extended where there are several thousand good decks and their variants, it's near impossible to get testing in against every matchup. When testing LBC, you can get probably ten good games under your belt in about 30-45 minutes. So to test against a gauntlet of LBC decks, you'd really only need to devote about three hours of your time. To boot, most LBC decklists are stock lists, with very few adjustments made, thanks to R&D handing us the Tribal "Mechanic".
My theory proved somewhat right, based on the final standings of my trio. Ralph and I, who are 1900+ players, with extensive testing under our belts went 5-3 and 4-4 respectively after 8 rounds of swiss. Rob, who played five games AT MOST with his deck, and has been sporting a 1700 rating for the last six years went 6-2. His round one loss made his tiebreakers really awful and only one 6-2 finisher made it into the top 8.
I'm convinced that Rob's success has less to do with playskill (no offense, buddy) and more to do with the fact that his opponents had no idea what was coming next. With a little tuning, his deck may have taken down this tournament.
Knowing your matchup is an important path to victory, and when you go rogue, that's an advantage you automatically take away from your opponent. It reminds me of my miserable showing at Regionals 2002 in Ohio. I'd been playing Blue/Green Madness, what I believe to be one of the most powerful Standard decks that didn't get cards banned from it. It was unconditionally the best deck of that format, the trick was finding ways to outclass the mirror match. I'd won every FNM at my local store with that deck week after week. Every Saturday in Jamestown there were cash tournaments. I'd bring the house down with Blue/Green Madness and take home the $25 or $30 that a college student most desperately needed for…refreshments. Then along came Regionals. Round one I am paired up against the scrub to end all scrubs. He is playing some cockamamie Blue/White/Green Astral Slide deck with cards I'd never heard of. He's cycling and drawing, cycling and drawing, casting more 5cc sorceries and enchantments than all the Circular Logics in the world could counter.
I lost.
I lost bad.
But not because he was the better player than me. Far from it. He was better prepared for this game than I could have ever been. I had one hundred or more matches against Mono Black Control, AstroGlide, the Mirror, Red/Green Aggro, White/Green Aggro, under my belt. But he built his homegrown UWg Astral Slide deck and made sure the first deck he tested against was Blue/Green Madness so he could take 32 points from his first round opponent.
My point is that if you're playing a rogue deck, you've given yourself a serious advantage. Provided you have tested against the tier 1 decks and have plans against them. Expecting the unexpected is not something Magic players who test a lot are good at. You often lose to a card you have to read, because "expecting the unexpected" meant "expecting the totally unknown".
So for your LBC endeavors this August (no local PTQs in July), I recommend you find your favorite Eventide card and build some pile around it. Put some powerhouse block cards in there like Cryptic Command or Mind Shatter to keep your opponents on their toes. Test it against the five decks that we see at PTQs. Figure out where it's weak, tune it and devote some sideboard slots to its weaknesses.
That's that. Now I want to share my thoughts on some Eventide cards, now that the full spoiler is out.
Stigma Lasher
This is the one most people are talking about. Rightly so. Truth is, you get quite a handful of big creatures for the price of two mana nowadays. I'm talking of course about Tarmogoyfs and Vanquishers. So a 2/2 for 2 doesn't seem all that spectacular. Tack on this ability and this guy becomes a giant lightning rod. Red's always lacked in decent 'bears', but this guy fits the bill. Admittedly, he's not going to get through very often, but no red deck will be without this guy as long as red is still trying to get you to zero as quickly as possible.
Hallowed Burial
Hey, why not have five Wrath effects in Standard? Not that anyone plays Austere Command in Standard, but you catch my drift. Kitchen Finks may get around the first Wrath, Firespout, Damnation, and Austere Command…but this card says "screw persist". I foresee white decks using this as Wrath 5 and 6.
Dream Fracture
I think there are very few cases where this card isn't strictly better than Cancel. A control deck usually wins the card-for-card game if they can survive an early rush. I think of this card as a version of Remand that's better in the late game. Cancel doesn't really see much play right now, so this probably won't either. I'm just trying to say that I think it's better than Cancel.
Ashling the Extinguisher
A 4/4 for four mana in black is good to begin with. Tack a Diabolic Edict onto it and I think it may be playable in constructed. Standard might have different plans for black, but the idea of having Profane Command and this guy in the same deck is making me grin.
Nettle Sentinel
Alright, so green now has two decent two-power creatures for one mana. Some ballsy players will try to exploit this guy and Tautermunge Maniac for all they're worth. About a week after Eventide is legal, those players will remember that Kitchen Finks are still in the format. Oops. In any case, this card is solid.
Unmake
Still doesn't kill Chameleon Colossus, but this card is good.
Canker Abomination
If this guy was just green, he probably wouldn't be good. But he's black. That's the color that's really good at killing creatures, right? Seems to me if you're packing an average amount of removal in your black deck, this guy is a Juzam Djinn at least. I expect to see a Doran revival with the addition of this card.
Figure of Destiny
Read it carefully. Very carefully. This card is good.
Snakeform
This card is very good. In a blue control deck it will help you survive a big attacker while not giving up any card advantage. In green, it's a very good way to slow down (if not kill) an opposing Chameleon Colossus. I anticipate this card will see play in Standard.
Scarecrone
I'm sure there will be something stupid to do with this card in Extended. It's late and I haven't thought of anything yet.
That concludes my first article. I hope you enjoyed it. Here's my advice to anyone playing in an Eventide Sealed event coming up. If you get a Call the Skybreaker, force it.
Until next time,
Mike
==TOWER OF BAUER==
Author: Michael Bauer
Author: Michael Bauer
Ever wanted to have your own collection of signed cards, but just can't afford to travel due to time or money? Well, now you don't have to! FNC and Brother's Grim regular Michael Bauer is going to Nationals and he wants to help you!
Yes, this is Michael "The Tower of" Bauer here and I am offering to take your stuff to get signed at Nationals. For the next two weeks, I will be at FNC and Brother's Grim for the regular scheduled tourneys, plus probably a little before hand. If you want stuff signed, you just go to bring it to me. I will have order forms on hand (so nobody can tell me they gave me something they didn't) as well. Cards will be returned at the first tournament after Nationals, most likely the Saturday FNC Standard.
Special requests will be taken in (just don't go nuts) as I do you a favor in between my quest to be United States National Champion of Magic. If you have questions, catch me at FNC or Grim this weekend, shoot me an AOL IM at NewECWNightmare, or e-mail me at mikekilljoy@gmail.com.
Scheduled to appear:
Artists Aleksi Briclot and Dave Kendall
Creator of Magic the Gathering: Richard Garfield
Kenji (Hey, it could happen.)
Plus the USA's top pros!!
==RULES CORNER==
Every prerelease I try to predict the most common questions I'll be asked. This time it was a toss-up between "Do I have to pay the spell's mana cost too when using retrace?" (yes you do) and "Can I retrace as an instant?" (only if the spell is an instant). Well surprisingly, I didn't hear any of those, though as the head judge I didn't get a ton of floor-time to hear many questions. I'm sure as players get to mess around with the new cards, there'll be lots of interesting questions in the next few weeks, so send them in!
Q. If I open five Unmakes in my sealed pool, can I play them all?
A. There's no limit to how many of each card you can play in a limited deck, so go nuts! If you do manage to crack more than three of a common, uncommon, or more than one of a rare, it's a good idea to inform a judge and show them what you opened so they know there's no funny business. In a big limited event though, there'll be decklists and deck swaps to avoid such a problem.
Q. If I get a foil rare in my deck, can I trade it to someone for a non-foil one and play with it?
A. You have to play with whatever cards you get. If you don't want that foil Cascade Bluffs dinged up, shuffle carefully in sleeves, or don't play with it at all. Trading cards from your limited pool is very bad. I've only seen one instance of a head judge allowing a player to swap out a card in their limited pool: At a limited PTQ in the city last year, a player asked the head judge if he could swap the foil common he opened for a non-foil one. He had another of that common in his deck, a non-foil, and didn't want to give away the information that he had two of them to his opponent by showing a foil one game and a non-foil the next. And lastly, if it's humid in the room and foils are warped enough to be considered marked cards, the head judge may issue a proxy.
Q. I have Light from Within in play and my opponent Snakeforms my Divinity of Pride. How big is it now?
A. The only thing that's changed about your Divinity is its creature type, color, abilities, and power and toughness. So it still has five hybrid white/black mana symbols in its mana cost, and gets +5/+5 from Light from Within.
Q. I start my turn by untapping eight Islands and a Wake Thrasher. During my upkeep, my opponent tries to kill my Wake Thrasher with his Mogg Fanatic, but isn't it already a 10/10 by my upkeep?
A. While things can trigger during your untap step, they don't go onto the stack the beginning of your upkeep. So while those triggers are on the stack, your merfolk is just a puny 1/1.
Q. After I concede a game and scoop up my cards, my opponent and I realize that he won by pinging my creatures with Cinder Pyromancer. Can a judge overturn the game since he won illegally?
A. Unfortunately, once a game is over, it's over, and there's no going back. Even if the misuse of the Pyromancer had been caught at the end of the game, judges shouldn't and won't rewind the game - save for rewinding any illegal plays that just happened. Of course, a judge may investigate for cheating if he or she thinks there was any intentional "misreading" of a card. Since it's both players' responsibility to maintain the gamestate, it's extremely important for both players to read every card, especially at a prerelease where you're seeing cards for the first time.
Q. If I open five Unmakes in my sealed pool, can I play them all?
A. There's no limit to how many of each card you can play in a limited deck, so go nuts! If you do manage to crack more than three of a common, uncommon, or more than one of a rare, it's a good idea to inform a judge and show them what you opened so they know there's no funny business. In a big limited event though, there'll be decklists and deck swaps to avoid such a problem.
Q. If I get a foil rare in my deck, can I trade it to someone for a non-foil one and play with it?
A. You have to play with whatever cards you get. If you don't want that foil Cascade Bluffs dinged up, shuffle carefully in sleeves, or don't play with it at all. Trading cards from your limited pool is very bad. I've only seen one instance of a head judge allowing a player to swap out a card in their limited pool: At a limited PTQ in the city last year, a player asked the head judge if he could swap the foil common he opened for a non-foil one. He had another of that common in his deck, a non-foil, and didn't want to give away the information that he had two of them to his opponent by showing a foil one game and a non-foil the next. And lastly, if it's humid in the room and foils are warped enough to be considered marked cards, the head judge may issue a proxy.
Q. I have Light from Within in play and my opponent Snakeforms my Divinity of Pride. How big is it now?
A. The only thing that's changed about your Divinity is its creature type, color, abilities, and power and toughness. So it still has five hybrid white/black mana symbols in its mana cost, and gets +5/+5 from Light from Within.
Q. I start my turn by untapping eight Islands and a Wake Thrasher. During my upkeep, my opponent tries to kill my Wake Thrasher with his Mogg Fanatic, but isn't it already a 10/10 by my upkeep?
A. While things can trigger during your untap step, they don't go onto the stack the beginning of your upkeep. So while those triggers are on the stack, your merfolk is just a puny 1/1.
Q. After I concede a game and scoop up my cards, my opponent and I realize that he won by pinging my creatures with Cinder Pyromancer. Can a judge overturn the game since he won illegally?
A. Unfortunately, once a game is over, it's over, and there's no going back. Even if the misuse of the Pyromancer had been caught at the end of the game, judges shouldn't and won't rewind the game - save for rewinding any illegal plays that just happened. Of course, a judge may investigate for cheating if he or she thinks there was any intentional "misreading" of a card. Since it's both players' responsibility to maintain the gamestate, it's extremely important for both players to read every card, especially at a prerelease where you're seeing cards for the first time.
Have a rules question you want answered? Send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
==THE ISLANDHOME BLOG==
==THE ISLANDHOME BLOG==
One of the things I wanted to do was have an archive of past issues online so I could refer people back to them as well as let new readers peruse old issues to see what all the fuss is about. So I've archived all the old issues on the blogosphere at islandhomemtg.blogspot.com. Go and relive all the past moments of glory!
If you've noticed, in the past few weeks I've been having a few more guest articles in Islandhome. With tournaments all weekend and work all week, sometimes it's hard to find time to sit down and write an entire newsletter, which is why I love it when I get article submissions! Not only does it give more introspective on the Long Island Magic community from those who are a part of it, it saves me work. ;) It's especially useful to get articles from players who are a part of the metagame, as judges are notoriously bad players.
If you've got an article you'd like to submit, send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com. Try to keep it a reasonable length - there's no word limit, but look at previous Islandhome articles for guidance - and avoid bad language and personal insults. Also try to maintain good grammar and spelling; doesn't have to be perfect, but you should see how long it takes me to spellcheck the Madonia Minute every week!
I can't promise every submission will make it into the next week's Islandhome, but I'll try to get as many in as I can, especially ones that are relevant to a previous/upcoming event.
==UPCOMING EVENTS====GUEST ARTICLES==
If you've noticed, in the past few weeks I've been having a few more guest articles in Islandhome. With tournaments all weekend and work all week, sometimes it's hard to find time to sit down and write an entire newsletter, which is why I love it when I get article submissions! Not only does it give more introspective on the Long Island Magic community from those who are a part of it, it saves me work. ;) It's especially useful to get articles from players who are a part of the metagame, as judges are notoriously bad players.
If you've got an article you'd like to submit, send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com. Try to keep it a reasonable length - there's no word limit, but look at previous Islandhome articles for guidance - and avoid bad language and personal insults. Also try to maintain good grammar and spelling; doesn't have to be perfect, but you should see how long it takes me to spellcheck the Madonia Minute every week!
I can't promise every submission will make it into the next week's Islandhome, but I'll try to get as many in as I can, especially ones that are relevant to a previous/upcoming event.
June 7th - August 31st: PTQ Season for PT Berlin
The next PTQ season starts this summer, and it's going to be Lorwyn Block Constructed! Lorwyn block will consist of Lorwyn, Morningtide, and Shadowmoor. Eventide won't be available during the beginning of the PTQ season, but will be legal before it ends.
July 26th (Saturday): Eventide Launch Party at FNC
Details coming soon!
July 27th (Sunday): Eventide Launch Party at Brothers Grim
Details coming soon!
PTQs in our general area this season:
The next PTQ season starts this summer, and it's going to be Lorwyn Block Constructed! Lorwyn block will consist of Lorwyn, Morningtide, and Shadowmoor. Eventide won't be available during the beginning of the PTQ season, but will be legal before it ends.
July 26th (Saturday): Eventide Launch Party at FNC
Details coming soon!
July 27th (Sunday): Eventide Launch Party at Brothers Grim
Details coming soon!
PTQs in our general area this season:
- 8/9 - Philadelphia, PA
- 8/16 - New York, NY
- 8/30 - Edison, NJ
- 8/30 - Hartford, CT
- 8/31 - Rochester, NY
==STORE LOCATIONS & CONTACT INFO==
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 470-7984
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 470-7984
==FIN==
See everyone this weekend!
Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
-Brian Paskoff
L1 NY
L1 NY
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