==ISLANDHOME #32==
October 8th 2008
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Post-Rotation Standard: Welcome to the new Standard!
Shards of Alara Limited Tips
Madonia Minute: Some decklist with almost as much 1-ofs as an EDH deck.
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Casual Day at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
==POST-ROTATION STANDARD==
Author: Brian Paskoff
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Post-Rotation Standard: Welcome to the new Standard!
Shards of Alara Limited Tips
Madonia Minute: Some decklist with almost as much 1-ofs as an EDH deck.
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Casual Day at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
==POST-ROTATION STANDARD==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Fall brings a lot of changes; cooler weather, leaves changing color, and an all-new Standard format. Almost nine hundred cards have left the format, and we only get 226 new ones, so the Standard card pool is noticeably smaller. The first sets of new blocks often come with big shifts in the metagame, even though they may happen gradually. Without knowing what to expect at FNMs and the like, players often stick to the old pre-rotation archetypes, adding new cards to replace the ones that cycled out. Those players eventually find that either the new additions make the deck work just as good or better than it did before, or the old archetype proves too weak to survive in the new meta. Rogue decks pop up, and either don't last through testing or get tweaked into powerful new format-defining decks. Whatever you feel like playing, here's a few ideas to keep in mind.
1. Don't play a new card just because it's new. I often browse the Standard forums of websites like MTGSalvation.com to see what everyone's working on, and quite often there will be decklists using 90% new cards. Stuff in the new block is designed to have synergy with other stuff from the new block, but Wizards makes sure there's synergy between blocks as well. It's okay to get excited over new cards, but don't neglect Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block(s) because you're too busy looking at the new cards to remember there's alternatives.
2. Go rogue! Now's the perfect time to test new deck ideas, because everyone else is doing the same thing. I know I keep repeating myself, but every format-defining deck started out with someone testing it at an FNM and tinkering with it until it reached perfection.
3. Test, test, and retest. Play against your friends with your new decks in Magic Workstation, Apprentice, or the increasingly unpopular and outdated Real Life. Goldfish the deck by shuffling up and dealing yourself out hands, playing a few turns in to get a feel for the deck and how it can win under the most optimal conditions; this is probably the best way to test your manabase and make sure you're not getting land/color-screwed half the time.
Now on to the decks themselves. Here's a few decks I've noticed, either new or old with tune-ups.
There's more decks out there of course, but these are the ones I've heard the most buzz about. Saturday is the first post-rotation Standard event at FNC, and I can't wait to see what everyone brings!
1. Don't play a new card just because it's new. I often browse the Standard forums of websites like MTGSalvation.com to see what everyone's working on, and quite often there will be decklists using 90% new cards. Stuff in the new block is designed to have synergy with other stuff from the new block, but Wizards makes sure there's synergy between blocks as well. It's okay to get excited over new cards, but don't neglect Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block(s) because you're too busy looking at the new cards to remember there's alternatives.
2. Go rogue! Now's the perfect time to test new deck ideas, because everyone else is doing the same thing. I know I keep repeating myself, but every format-defining deck started out with someone testing it at an FNM and tinkering with it until it reached perfection.
3. Test, test, and retest. Play against your friends with your new decks in Magic Workstation, Apprentice, or the increasingly unpopular and outdated Real Life. Goldfish the deck by shuffling up and dealing yourself out hands, playing a few turns in to get a feel for the deck and how it can win under the most optimal conditions; this is probably the best way to test your manabase and make sure you're not getting land/color-screwed half the time.
Now on to the decks themselves. Here's a few decks I've noticed, either new or old with tune-ups.
Faeries: Faeries loses two very important things: Ancestral Visions, and Rune Snag. Visions was a free draw spell, and without Rune Snag, Faeries has no access to a good two-mana counterspell. Ponder and Broken Ambitions are the best replacements for these two cards, and they're not nearly as powerful. Faerie decks were already on the decline thanks to the popularity of Mono-Red and Kithkin, but the loss of two staple cards might just push the archetype into tier 2 status.
Red Deck Wins: Mono-Red loses a lot, but it also gains a lot. Blood Knight was the best answer to Kithkin, Magus of the Scroll and Keldon Megaliths provided reliable burn every turn, Skred cleared even huge creatures out of the way, Sulfurous Blast filled in for an instant-speed Wrath of God on most occasions, and Magus of the Moon single-handedly stopped five-color decks from running rampant. For replacements, it's hard to say. Stigma Lasher might make its way maindeck for lack of a better two-drop, Hell's Thunder fits nicely in Magus of the Moon's slot now that there isn't any hate for non-basic lands anymore (Fulminator Mage is just a Stone Rain if you're relying on it to break up Quick n' Toast's tempo, it doesn't have the lasting effect of Magus of the Moon), and Lash Out fills in for Skred in a pinch.
There are two cards people are on the fence about: Blightning and Magma Spray. Blightning requires you to splash for black, and although it's great early game, it's mediocre after a few turns where it'll either get countered by control decks or hits an empty handed aggro player. Magma Spray is great against RDW's worst enemy, Kitchen Finks, and stops Mulldrifters pre-Mannequin, but belongs in the sideboard if anywhere at all.
Kithkin: Kithkin loses nothing whatsoever from the maindeck, only missing the occasional Disenchant, Mana Tithe, Sunlance, and Ronom Unicorn from sideboards - and those are all easily replaced. Unlike other decks where whether replacement cards are good enough is a deciding factor, Kithkin will only lose popularity if the metagame shifts enough for swarm aggro decks to lose ground.
Tokens: I was so disappointed to think of this deck off the top of my head after building my Sek'kuar token-themed EDH deck, and then start talking to people and realize everyone thought of the same idea at the same time. Sprouting Thrinax just looks so good next to Nantuko Husk and Bitterblossom that it's hard to resist trying it out. Tokens is really much more Wrath-resilient than any other aggro deck, as nearly every spell puts more than one creature on the field. Goblin Assault seems like a good idea on paper, but in practice you can't really amass a large number of tokens with it, and the one extra mana cost than Bitterblossom really hurts it. And don't forget the power of Torrent of Souls, Furystoke Giant, and Seige-Gang Commander to really give a boost to your little guys. The only downside? Playing with Dragon Fodder makes me nostalgic for Mogg War Marshal.
Quick and Toast: With a new multicolored set out and the rotation of Magus of the Moon, Toast has little trouble reliably playing five colors. All five Charms are good cards to look at; especially Bant Charm, which is better than Putrefy in this deck, and everyone who's been playing for a while remembers how powerful that card was. Even though Toast is a control deck, it never relied too heavily on Rune Snag in the first place, so it won't mind continuing to use Broken Ambitions just like it did in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed.
Solar Flare: This is going to be an off-shoot of Quick and Toast, playing (at least at my first impressions) the same kind of Vivid lands + Reflecting Pools manabase. The difference is that instead of controlling the game with Cryptic Command while beating in with Mulldrifters and tokens from Oona while wiping the board with Firespout, Solar Flare relies on reanimating big creatures much easier than just casting them. Makeshift Mannequin'ing an Empyrial Archangel is going to be hard for a lot of decks to beat. Solar Flare was a big deck back when I first re-started playing, and I even made top 8 with it in my first tournament back to the game, so I'm glad to see it possibly make a resurgence. However there's a lot more graveyard hate now than there was two years ago, from the uncounterable Faerie Macabre to the pesky Relic of Progenitus, so Solar Flare players are going to have to figure out how to beat the hate if they want to make tier 1.
Stoic Angel Control: There's little to dislike about Stoic Angel in a format that's expected to include lots of swarm-based aggro decks like Tokens and Kithkin. Those decks just can't survive only being able to untap one creature per turn, so if Stoic Angel sticks, you're going to win the race. Super-exalted creatures like Battlegrace Angel and maybe even Rafiq of the Many himself can make your Stoic Angels even more dangerous, and of course Bant Charm, Wrath of God, Oblivion Ring, Cryptic Command, and Kitchen Finks are all in-color and balance out the rest of the deck.
Red Deck Wins: Mono-Red loses a lot, but it also gains a lot. Blood Knight was the best answer to Kithkin, Magus of the Scroll and Keldon Megaliths provided reliable burn every turn, Skred cleared even huge creatures out of the way, Sulfurous Blast filled in for an instant-speed Wrath of God on most occasions, and Magus of the Moon single-handedly stopped five-color decks from running rampant. For replacements, it's hard to say. Stigma Lasher might make its way maindeck for lack of a better two-drop, Hell's Thunder fits nicely in Magus of the Moon's slot now that there isn't any hate for non-basic lands anymore (Fulminator Mage is just a Stone Rain if you're relying on it to break up Quick n' Toast's tempo, it doesn't have the lasting effect of Magus of the Moon), and Lash Out fills in for Skred in a pinch.
There are two cards people are on the fence about: Blightning and Magma Spray. Blightning requires you to splash for black, and although it's great early game, it's mediocre after a few turns where it'll either get countered by control decks or hits an empty handed aggro player. Magma Spray is great against RDW's worst enemy, Kitchen Finks, and stops Mulldrifters pre-Mannequin, but belongs in the sideboard if anywhere at all.
Kithkin: Kithkin loses nothing whatsoever from the maindeck, only missing the occasional Disenchant, Mana Tithe, Sunlance, and Ronom Unicorn from sideboards - and those are all easily replaced. Unlike other decks where whether replacement cards are good enough is a deciding factor, Kithkin will only lose popularity if the metagame shifts enough for swarm aggro decks to lose ground.
Tokens: I was so disappointed to think of this deck off the top of my head after building my Sek'kuar token-themed EDH deck, and then start talking to people and realize everyone thought of the same idea at the same time. Sprouting Thrinax just looks so good next to Nantuko Husk and Bitterblossom that it's hard to resist trying it out. Tokens is really much more Wrath-resilient than any other aggro deck, as nearly every spell puts more than one creature on the field. Goblin Assault seems like a good idea on paper, but in practice you can't really amass a large number of tokens with it, and the one extra mana cost than Bitterblossom really hurts it. And don't forget the power of Torrent of Souls, Furystoke Giant, and Seige-Gang Commander to really give a boost to your little guys. The only downside? Playing with Dragon Fodder makes me nostalgic for Mogg War Marshal.
Quick and Toast: With a new multicolored set out and the rotation of Magus of the Moon, Toast has little trouble reliably playing five colors. All five Charms are good cards to look at; especially Bant Charm, which is better than Putrefy in this deck, and everyone who's been playing for a while remembers how powerful that card was. Even though Toast is a control deck, it never relied too heavily on Rune Snag in the first place, so it won't mind continuing to use Broken Ambitions just like it did in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed.
Solar Flare: This is going to be an off-shoot of Quick and Toast, playing (at least at my first impressions) the same kind of Vivid lands + Reflecting Pools manabase. The difference is that instead of controlling the game with Cryptic Command while beating in with Mulldrifters and tokens from Oona while wiping the board with Firespout, Solar Flare relies on reanimating big creatures much easier than just casting them. Makeshift Mannequin'ing an Empyrial Archangel is going to be hard for a lot of decks to beat. Solar Flare was a big deck back when I first re-started playing, and I even made top 8 with it in my first tournament back to the game, so I'm glad to see it possibly make a resurgence. However there's a lot more graveyard hate now than there was two years ago, from the uncounterable Faerie Macabre to the pesky Relic of Progenitus, so Solar Flare players are going to have to figure out how to beat the hate if they want to make tier 1.
Stoic Angel Control: There's little to dislike about Stoic Angel in a format that's expected to include lots of swarm-based aggro decks like Tokens and Kithkin. Those decks just can't survive only being able to untap one creature per turn, so if Stoic Angel sticks, you're going to win the race. Super-exalted creatures like Battlegrace Angel and maybe even Rafiq of the Many himself can make your Stoic Angels even more dangerous, and of course Bant Charm, Wrath of God, Oblivion Ring, Cryptic Command, and Kitchen Finks are all in-color and balance out the rest of the deck.
There's more decks out there of course, but these are the ones I've heard the most buzz about. Saturday is the first post-rotation Standard event at FNC, and I can't wait to see what everyone brings!
==SHARDS OF ALARA LIMITED TIPS==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
Now that the prereleases and releases are over, PTQ season is officially underway, and sealed's the format to learn. Because PTQs use decklists, you won't be able to change your deck between rounds; the best you'll be able to do if you realize you made a mistake deckbuilding is to hope your deck performs well enough during the first game of each match and then sideboard into the "correct" configuration after game one. But don't worry, I've got some tips to make sure you get it right the first time.
After watching players at the (pre)release events and testing numerous sealed games myself both in Real Life and on Magic Workstation, the most intriguing thing I've noticed is that Naya is by far the most popular shard in sealed. With many good creatures and spells at common in red/green/white, it's very easy to put together a consistent, balanced deck with enough removal and creatures to power your way through the tournament. Naya has the biggest creatures for the cheapest cost, and at all levels of rarity. It's got access to all the red removal spells from Jund, Oblivion Ring for those pesky planeswalkers, and of course green doesn't disappoint as the color with the best creatures. Exalted is the specialty of Bant, but frankly, there are only two good blue creatures with Exalted - both of them are GWU, and one of them's a mythic rare. Your Woolly Thoctar thundering into the red zone backed up by a pair of Court Archers can definitely cause your opponent to have to make some hard choices about which of their creatures they want to keep alive.
Naya's theme is big creatures and big effects for discount prices, a mainstay of limited, and requires no special cards to "build around". If every card is good, the deck will perform consistently every time. Now compare that to Esper, the WUB shard. Its theme is artifacts, but the only permanents that are guaranteed to be artifacts are the ones that are all three Esper colors. You could have white spells from Naya and Bant, and black spells from Jund and Grixis, and so on - none of which will match your artifact theme. The same goes for Bant (how many exalted or goes-good-with-exalted creatures are you going to open?), Grixis (unearth isn't something exactly build around), and to a slightly-lesser extent, Jund (devour sets you up nicely to be two-for-one'd or more and is therefore hard to count on). In draft, all shards are equal, because you can pick and choose which cards you get so you can build up the synergy. But in sealed, where you're limited to what you open, it can be much harder to focus on a shard's theme - but Naya has the tried and true premise of playing big creatures and attacking. While it is possible to have a great WUB deck that isn't based around artifacts, the best WUB decks will be the ones that rely on the synergy of Esper's artifacts.
This isn't to say other shards can be built as well - if you've got a Cruel Ultimatum combined with a pair of Kederekt Creepers, it may be time to look into Grixis, for instance. I saw and built more Naya decks than anything else, but I did see some very powerful Bant, Esper, Grixis, and Jund decks as well. Don't be afraid to build a non-Naya shard just because I said Naya was the easiest; quantity doesn't always equal quality!
I've been talking a lot about the shards, but as anyone who's played limited knows, there's always the temptation to splash for one more color than the set would seem to steer you towards. In most sets, you'd want to splash for a third color. In Shadowmoor/Eventide, the "mono-color" block, you'd want to splash for a second color. And in three-color Alara, you'll often be tempted to splash for a fourth color. Every mana fixer in the set is clearly based around a three-color shard, which makes it somewhat difficult to consistently get your fourth color. If you're playing Jund (BRG) and want to splash for a blue card, you'll want to pick up a Grixis tri-land, Panorama, or Obelisk. While those will let you get blue, black, or red, they don't give you green, one of your main colors. There's been tons of times I've seen players get mana-screwed, somehow getting access to two colors and their splash while never drawing their third main color.
So how do you figure out your lands? The usual way of counting the number of mana symbols in each color and then using those numbers to figure out the land ratio still works, but it's complicated when you have things like tri-lands and Panoramas. You won't always open a tri-land in your shard, but ones that tap for at least two of your colors should be an auto-include. Assuming that you have no tri-lands or Panoramas, most decks will probably use a 6-6-5 ratio (i.e. six Plains, six Islands, and five Swamps), or even 6-6-6 for all you fans of 23+18=41 limited decks and/or Iron Maiden.
There are sealed PTQs in every month for the rest of the year, although the one and only New York PTQ is two months away. Of course there are booster drafts every Friday at Brothers Grim, so come down and play!
After watching players at the (pre)release events and testing numerous sealed games myself both in Real Life and on Magic Workstation, the most intriguing thing I've noticed is that Naya is by far the most popular shard in sealed. With many good creatures and spells at common in red/green/white, it's very easy to put together a consistent, balanced deck with enough removal and creatures to power your way through the tournament. Naya has the biggest creatures for the cheapest cost, and at all levels of rarity. It's got access to all the red removal spells from Jund, Oblivion Ring for those pesky planeswalkers, and of course green doesn't disappoint as the color with the best creatures. Exalted is the specialty of Bant, but frankly, there are only two good blue creatures with Exalted - both of them are GWU, and one of them's a mythic rare. Your Woolly Thoctar thundering into the red zone backed up by a pair of Court Archers can definitely cause your opponent to have to make some hard choices about which of their creatures they want to keep alive.
Naya's theme is big creatures and big effects for discount prices, a mainstay of limited, and requires no special cards to "build around". If every card is good, the deck will perform consistently every time. Now compare that to Esper, the WUB shard. Its theme is artifacts, but the only permanents that are guaranteed to be artifacts are the ones that are all three Esper colors. You could have white spells from Naya and Bant, and black spells from Jund and Grixis, and so on - none of which will match your artifact theme. The same goes for Bant (how many exalted or goes-good-with-exalted creatures are you going to open?), Grixis (unearth isn't something exactly build around), and to a slightly-lesser extent, Jund (devour sets you up nicely to be two-for-one'd or more and is therefore hard to count on). In draft, all shards are equal, because you can pick and choose which cards you get so you can build up the synergy. But in sealed, where you're limited to what you open, it can be much harder to focus on a shard's theme - but Naya has the tried and true premise of playing big creatures and attacking. While it is possible to have a great WUB deck that isn't based around artifacts, the best WUB decks will be the ones that rely on the synergy of Esper's artifacts.
This isn't to say other shards can be built as well - if you've got a Cruel Ultimatum combined with a pair of Kederekt Creepers, it may be time to look into Grixis, for instance. I saw and built more Naya decks than anything else, but I did see some very powerful Bant, Esper, Grixis, and Jund decks as well. Don't be afraid to build a non-Naya shard just because I said Naya was the easiest; quantity doesn't always equal quality!
I've been talking a lot about the shards, but as anyone who's played limited knows, there's always the temptation to splash for one more color than the set would seem to steer you towards. In most sets, you'd want to splash for a third color. In Shadowmoor/Eventide, the "mono-color" block, you'd want to splash for a second color. And in three-color Alara, you'll often be tempted to splash for a fourth color. Every mana fixer in the set is clearly based around a three-color shard, which makes it somewhat difficult to consistently get your fourth color. If you're playing Jund (BRG) and want to splash for a blue card, you'll want to pick up a Grixis tri-land, Panorama, or Obelisk. While those will let you get blue, black, or red, they don't give you green, one of your main colors. There's been tons of times I've seen players get mana-screwed, somehow getting access to two colors and their splash while never drawing their third main color.
So how do you figure out your lands? The usual way of counting the number of mana symbols in each color and then using those numbers to figure out the land ratio still works, but it's complicated when you have things like tri-lands and Panoramas. You won't always open a tri-land in your shard, but ones that tap for at least two of your colors should be an auto-include. Assuming that you have no tri-lands or Panoramas, most decks will probably use a 6-6-5 ratio (i.e. six Plains, six Islands, and five Swamps), or even 6-6-6 for all you fans of 23+18=41 limited decks and/or Iron Maiden.
There are sealed PTQs in every month for the rest of the year, although the one and only New York PTQ is two months away. Of course there are booster drafts every Friday at Brothers Grim, so come down and play!
==MADONIA MINUTE==
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia
Hello and welcome to the 10th edition of everyone favorite weekly article, The Madonia Minute.
I've decided this week to give Paskoff a week off from editing and make my points clear and concise.
Today I am going to allow my loyal readers into my testing quarters and show everyone my deck choice for this weekend and my choice for States which is a month away.
Cruel Madonia
Creatures
4x Mulldrifter
4x Kitchen Finks
1x Nuckalvee
2x Shrikemaw
1x Reveliark
1x Fulminator Mage
1x Unearth guy
4x Cryptic Command
2x Esper Charm
4x Bant Charm
1x Bitterblossom
1x Mannequin
2x Broken Amitions
2x Cruel ultimatum
2x Pyroclasm
1x Firespout
2x Wrath of God
1x Infest
1x Cascade Bluff
2x Sunken Ruins
2x Flooded Grove
2x Mystic Gate
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Vivid Creek
3x Vivid Grove
3x Vivid Meadow
2x Vivid Marsh
2x Island
Sideboard
3x Fulminator Mage
4x Thoughtseize
1x Wrath of God
1x Cruel Ultimatium
1x Oona's Grace
2x Broken Ambitions
3x Nameless Inversion
This is the deck I recommend for an open field. It punishes mediocre draws, and forces your opponent to be on the back foot in the mid-game, where your deck is geared to take.
Kithkins - Our plan is too stay alive in the early turns, we don't take any useless damage from our mana sources, so kithkins best start has us at 13 on turn 3. Our game from there has us on an early Pyroclasm, or firespout, to put them on the defensive. Your creatures are stronger than them in the late game and their answers to recurring threats aren't good. Your Charm takes care of any Wilt Leaf, or Glorious Anthem problems that can occur. Kithkins should be one of, if not the most popular deck at states since it loses nothing. Be able to have a commanding advantage against them is important. Kithkin is very focused on Firespout and can have the tendency to live and die on the back of it. A lot of lists I've seen floating around have 4 Burrenton Forge-Tenders in their first 60. We decided on a lone Infest for the troublesome one drop replacing a Firespout, which at 3 mana doesn't kill your problematic card when needed. Wrath of God also doesn't target so if its giving you fits you do have myriad ways around it and Nameless Inversions for game 2 and 3.
Faeries - Ancestral Visions, not Bitterblossom, was the most important card for Faeries. With Visions rotating, the deck becomes very control heavy, with more counterspells and various splashes. I've seen lists with Chameleon Collosus main deck and also Doran finding his way into the land of Fae. The streamlined variant is a lot more dependent on Bitterblossom. They need to have that early drop to make Mistbind Clique functional as well as Spellsutter Sprite a hard counter. I was testing primarily as the Faerie player and the games I was winning, I had early Bitterblossom pressure. I won 4 out of 11 pre-boarded games and each game I lost I was really far behind, even on a turn 3 bitterblossom, Esper Charm is too good against the Faerie player, hitting bitterblossom and also their hand, its also a far superior Counsel of the Soratami especially at instant speed. Mistbind Clique is still problematic, but over half or your cards are instants, so it does allow you to still float mana and utilize your hand.
I've seen other decks like Elves, Merfolk, combo decks with infinite returning of artifacts. Burn is still the bane for the 5-color deck. Your spells are fair (except Cruel Ultimatum) and they just continue to pepper you with burn spells. If burn continues to be prevalent then a possible Runed Halo sideboard would be worthwhile. The format is still wide open so its a tough call.
If anyone has Cruel Ultimatiums and would like to trade them that would fantastic as we own Zero.
I built this deck on the back of the typical 5-color variant. Effective mana, Cryptic Command, awesome spells. I didn't want to make 'another' 5 color deck. I wanted some similarities, but a devastating finisher at the end.
Quick note about Sealed and Drafting. I smashed Paskoff in three consecutive sealed battles and I've noticed that RGW (Naya) is easily the best combination if your pool is eh. I think I had GW in every pool I've built. The exalted mechanic is amazing, I think its the best limited mechanic in a long time. It forces so many mis-blocks and math errors. I think the set for limited purposes is awesome. Id draft it anytime anyone's up for it. Constructed not so much as it took me 50 or so hours of over 125 decklists to come up with something to print this week. Obviously I have a lot of free time and with my commitments to playing magic more or less over, I want to help everyone improve, if it means winning an FNC event or preparing for a PTQ or beyond, let me know if I can help. Ill sit down with anyone that needs help with testing, deck building, confidence, whatever it is I can probably help. Don't think its weird to ask for help, I know its only a card game but when you put time into something you should want to do the best you can. Maybe you're out there reading this and saying, wow he's got an ego, or he isn't that good...etc. People are of course entitled to their opinions and that's what great (the only thing at the moment) about our country. I'm doing what most people won't do, trying to help others get better at something I'm relatively decent at. Besides Gerry Thompson and his group, I probably produce the strongest tournament level decks format after format. In the past year I've produced Doran Zur, Pickles with Black, Teferi/Doran Control and now Cruel Madonia. I also helped produce fringe decks like Goats that could have won the PTQ with more testing and a stronger player (no offense to Dylan, he didn't have enough games with the deck.)
I know my article isn't supposed to be about how great I am, because I'm not great. I just know peoples reaction to when someone is willing to help them improve they get defensive and place themselves in denial.
Girl tip of the week, not brought to you by Evans:
Always attempt to use Magic terminology when speaking to a young lady. It makes you sound smart and worldly.
Social Gathering tip of the week, not brought to you by Paskoff.
To help socially awkward guys, (Paskoff this one is for you buddy) don't invite your date to a place that smells like fish, its not a good omen for the rest of the night.
Songs listened to while writing this masterpiece
Fall Out Boy - Dead on Arrival
Fall Out Boy - Grand Theft Autumn - Where is your Boy
Brand New- Jude Law and a Semester Abroad
The Entire Forever the Sickest Kids Album, if you haven't heard them, definetly recommended.
Thanks for reading,
John Madonia
I've decided this week to give Paskoff a week off from editing and make my points clear and concise.
Today I am going to allow my loyal readers into my testing quarters and show everyone my deck choice for this weekend and my choice for States which is a month away.
Cruel Madonia
Creatures
4x Mulldrifter
4x Kitchen Finks
1x Nuckalvee
2x Shrikemaw
1x Reveliark
1x Fulminator Mage
1x Unearth guy
4x Cryptic Command
2x Esper Charm
4x Bant Charm
1x Bitterblossom
1x Mannequin
2x Broken Amitions
2x Cruel ultimatum
2x Pyroclasm
1x Firespout
2x Wrath of God
1x Infest
1x Cascade Bluff
2x Sunken Ruins
2x Flooded Grove
2x Mystic Gate
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Vivid Creek
3x Vivid Grove
3x Vivid Meadow
2x Vivid Marsh
2x Island
Sideboard
3x Fulminator Mage
4x Thoughtseize
1x Wrath of God
1x Cruel Ultimatium
1x Oona's Grace
2x Broken Ambitions
3x Nameless Inversion
This is the deck I recommend for an open field. It punishes mediocre draws, and forces your opponent to be on the back foot in the mid-game, where your deck is geared to take.
Kithkins - Our plan is too stay alive in the early turns, we don't take any useless damage from our mana sources, so kithkins best start has us at 13 on turn 3. Our game from there has us on an early Pyroclasm, or firespout, to put them on the defensive. Your creatures are stronger than them in the late game and their answers to recurring threats aren't good. Your Charm takes care of any Wilt Leaf, or Glorious Anthem problems that can occur. Kithkins should be one of, if not the most popular deck at states since it loses nothing. Be able to have a commanding advantage against them is important. Kithkin is very focused on Firespout and can have the tendency to live and die on the back of it. A lot of lists I've seen floating around have 4 Burrenton Forge-Tenders in their first 60. We decided on a lone Infest for the troublesome one drop replacing a Firespout, which at 3 mana doesn't kill your problematic card when needed. Wrath of God also doesn't target so if its giving you fits you do have myriad ways around it and Nameless Inversions for game 2 and 3.
Faeries - Ancestral Visions, not Bitterblossom, was the most important card for Faeries. With Visions rotating, the deck becomes very control heavy, with more counterspells and various splashes. I've seen lists with Chameleon Collosus main deck and also Doran finding his way into the land of Fae. The streamlined variant is a lot more dependent on Bitterblossom. They need to have that early drop to make Mistbind Clique functional as well as Spellsutter Sprite a hard counter. I was testing primarily as the Faerie player and the games I was winning, I had early Bitterblossom pressure. I won 4 out of 11 pre-boarded games and each game I lost I was really far behind, even on a turn 3 bitterblossom, Esper Charm is too good against the Faerie player, hitting bitterblossom and also their hand, its also a far superior Counsel of the Soratami especially at instant speed. Mistbind Clique is still problematic, but over half or your cards are instants, so it does allow you to still float mana and utilize your hand.
I've seen other decks like Elves, Merfolk, combo decks with infinite returning of artifacts. Burn is still the bane for the 5-color deck. Your spells are fair (except Cruel Ultimatum) and they just continue to pepper you with burn spells. If burn continues to be prevalent then a possible Runed Halo sideboard would be worthwhile. The format is still wide open so its a tough call.
If anyone has Cruel Ultimatiums and would like to trade them that would fantastic as we own Zero.
I built this deck on the back of the typical 5-color variant. Effective mana, Cryptic Command, awesome spells. I didn't want to make 'another' 5 color deck. I wanted some similarities, but a devastating finisher at the end.
Quick note about Sealed and Drafting. I smashed Paskoff in three consecutive sealed battles and I've noticed that RGW (Naya) is easily the best combination if your pool is eh. I think I had GW in every pool I've built. The exalted mechanic is amazing, I think its the best limited mechanic in a long time. It forces so many mis-blocks and math errors. I think the set for limited purposes is awesome. Id draft it anytime anyone's up for it. Constructed not so much as it took me 50 or so hours of over 125 decklists to come up with something to print this week. Obviously I have a lot of free time and with my commitments to playing magic more or less over, I want to help everyone improve, if it means winning an FNC event or preparing for a PTQ or beyond, let me know if I can help. Ill sit down with anyone that needs help with testing, deck building, confidence, whatever it is I can probably help. Don't think its weird to ask for help, I know its only a card game but when you put time into something you should want to do the best you can. Maybe you're out there reading this and saying, wow he's got an ego, or he isn't that good...etc. People are of course entitled to their opinions and that's what great (the only thing at the moment) about our country. I'm doing what most people won't do, trying to help others get better at something I'm relatively decent at. Besides Gerry Thompson and his group, I probably produce the strongest tournament level decks format after format. In the past year I've produced Doran Zur, Pickles with Black, Teferi/Doran Control and now Cruel Madonia. I also helped produce fringe decks like Goats that could have won the PTQ with more testing and a stronger player (no offense to Dylan, he didn't have enough games with the deck.)
I know my article isn't supposed to be about how great I am, because I'm not great. I just know peoples reaction to when someone is willing to help them improve they get defensive and place themselves in denial.
Girl tip of the week, not brought to you by Evans:
Always attempt to use Magic terminology when speaking to a young lady. It makes you sound smart and worldly.
Social Gathering tip of the week, not brought to you by Paskoff.
To help socially awkward guys, (Paskoff this one is for you buddy) don't invite your date to a place that smells like fish, its not a good omen for the rest of the night.
Songs listened to while writing this masterpiece
Fall Out Boy - Dead on Arrival
Fall Out Boy - Grand Theft Autumn - Where is your Boy
Brand New- Jude Law and a Semester Abroad
The Entire Forever the Sickest Kids Album, if you haven't heard them, definetly recommended.
Thanks for reading,
John Madonia
==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
Q. If Magma Spray a Makeshift Mannequined Mulldrifter, will it get removed from the game?
A. Don't mull over this much longer - the trigger set up by Makeshift Mannequin will go off when Mulldrifter becomes the target of Magma Spray, jumping to the top of the stack and resolving before Magma Spray ever sets up its replacement effect. Mulldrifter will go back into the graveyard, and then Magma Spray will be countered due to lack of a proper target.
Q. I play Soul's Fire, making my Woolly Thoctar deal damage to my opponent's Doran. In response he Terrors my Thoctar. When Soul's Fire resolves, will it use last known information to deal damage equal to Woolly Thoctar's last known power?
A. When Soul's Fire tries to resolve, it'll find that one of its targets (the creature that would deal the damage) isn't in play anymore and therefore isn't a legal target. One target is still legal, so Soul's Fire isn't countered... but there's nothing there to do damage anymore and Doran will keep his place as kind of the 5-power (well, technically) three-drops.
Q. How does Soul's Fire work with Doran, anyway?
A. Not very well. Doran might deal five damage most of the time, but that's because his ability lets him swing his butt around in combat. That might not be the best metaphor, but to put it simply, Doran's power is zero and that's all Soul's Fire cares about.
Q. Sarkhan Vol's in danger from a rampaging, uh... Homunculus token! Can I flash in a Qasali Ambusher to protect him?
A. If Sarkhan Vol is the only one being attacked, your Ambusher will stay lying in wait in your hand. Qasali Ambusher's ability says it only works if creatures are attacking you. However, if your opponent is sending at least one creature your way while attacking Sarkhan Vol with others, you can flash in your blocker. Once it's in play, it doesn't need to protect you, it can also run to Sarkhan's aid to protect him as well. Or you can choose to make it not block at all, which defeats the flavor, but not the function of the card.
Q. A Hissing Iguanar, a Saproling token, and a Cylian Elf all die to an Infest. Will the Iguanar get to do two damage to my opponent?
A. Hissing Iguanar has a leaves-play ability, specifically one that says to the graveyard from play, so it gets to look back in time to see what else left play at the same time. Its triggered ability will see two other creatures being put into the graveyard from play, so you'll get two triggers.
A. Don't mull over this much longer - the trigger set up by Makeshift Mannequin will go off when Mulldrifter becomes the target of Magma Spray, jumping to the top of the stack and resolving before Magma Spray ever sets up its replacement effect. Mulldrifter will go back into the graveyard, and then Magma Spray will be countered due to lack of a proper target.
Q. I play Soul's Fire, making my Woolly Thoctar deal damage to my opponent's Doran. In response he Terrors my Thoctar. When Soul's Fire resolves, will it use last known information to deal damage equal to Woolly Thoctar's last known power?
A. When Soul's Fire tries to resolve, it'll find that one of its targets (the creature that would deal the damage) isn't in play anymore and therefore isn't a legal target. One target is still legal, so Soul's Fire isn't countered... but there's nothing there to do damage anymore and Doran will keep his place as kind of the 5-power (well, technically) three-drops.
Q. How does Soul's Fire work with Doran, anyway?
A. Not very well. Doran might deal five damage most of the time, but that's because his ability lets him swing his butt around in combat. That might not be the best metaphor, but to put it simply, Doran's power is zero and that's all Soul's Fire cares about.
Q. Sarkhan Vol's in danger from a rampaging, uh... Homunculus token! Can I flash in a Qasali Ambusher to protect him?
A. If Sarkhan Vol is the only one being attacked, your Ambusher will stay lying in wait in your hand. Qasali Ambusher's ability says it only works if creatures are attacking you. However, if your opponent is sending at least one creature your way while attacking Sarkhan Vol with others, you can flash in your blocker. Once it's in play, it doesn't need to protect you, it can also run to Sarkhan's aid to protect him as well. Or you can choose to make it not block at all, which defeats the flavor, but not the function of the card.
Q. A Hissing Iguanar, a Saproling token, and a Cylian Elf all die to an Infest. Will the Iguanar get to do two damage to my opponent?
A. Hissing Iguanar has a leaves-play ability, specifically one that says to the graveyard from play, so it gets to look back in time to see what else left play at the same time. Its triggered ability will see two other creatures being put into the graveyard from play, so you'll get two triggers.
==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!
==UPCOMING EVENTS==
October 4th - December 28th: PTQ Season for PT Kyoto
The next PTQ season kicks off October 4th, and the format is Shards of Alara sealed deck!
December - Mox Tournament at Brothers Grim
This December, Islandhome, in association with Brothers Grim, will be holding a giant Standard tournament. The first place prize will be a Mox Emerald, with many other prizes as well. Side events such as booster drafts and EDH multiplayer games will be held that day too, so keep reading Islandhome for more details!
December - Mox Tournament at Brothers Grim
This December, Islandhome, in association with Brothers Grim, will be holding a giant Standard tournament. The first place prize will be a Mox Emerald, with many other prizes as well. Side events such as booster drafts and EDH multiplayer games will be held that day too, so keep reading Islandhome for more details!
PTQs in our area this season:
10/11 - Edison, NJ
10/26 - Rochester, NY
11/22 - Philadelphia, PA
12/13 - New York, NY
12/27 - Edison, NJ
10/11 - Edison, NJ
10/26 - Rochester, NY
11/22 - Philadelphia, PA
12/13 - New York, NY
12/27 - Edison, NJ
==STORE LOCATIONS & CONTACT INFO==
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 631-698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 631-470-7984
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 631-698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 631-470-7984
==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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