Mono Red Goblin Stompy

So I finally got to run Mono Red Goblin Stompy in a couple of tournaments (16 man and a 25 man) that I talked about here.

The deck ran pretty well in the 16 man tournament and I ended up 3-1.

The wheels fell off in the 25 man tournament and I went 2-3. I had a few close games and most of the rounds went to 3 games so my unfamiliarity with the deck may have caught up with me.

The only card I really want to change is Krenko, Mob Boss. I feel like he may be better as an second Murderous redcap, an Imperial Recruiter or the 4th Trinisphere. Reducing your mana cost would be nice or just having another CIP effect would also be good.

Lands

4 x Ancient Tomb

4 x Cavern of Souls

4 x City of Traitors

8 x Mountain

 

Creatures

1 x Goblin Piledriver

4 x Goblin Rabblemaster

1 x Goblin Settler

1 x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

1 x Krenko, Mob Boss

4 x Magus of the Moon

4 x Moggcatcher

1 x Murderous Redcap

2 x Siege-Gang Commander

4 x Simian Spirit Guide

1 x Tuktuk Scrapper
 

Noncreature Spells

4 x Blood Moon

4 x Chalice of the Void

3 x Chrome Mox

3 x Trinisphere

2 x Umezawa's Jitte
 

Sideboard

1 x Boartusk Liege

1 x Dismember

1 x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

3 x Ensnaring Bridge

1 x Goblin Sharpshooter

2 x Koth of the Hammer

3 x Leyline of the Void

1 x Stingscourger

2 x Sulfur Elemental

-Cheers-

Khans of Tarkir Legacy/Modern Set Review

Like the title says this is a Khans of Tarkir Legacy/Modern Set Review.

 

White

Suspension Field - A more situational Oblivion Ring that costs 2 instead of 3. This is certainly nothing to write home about but it is worth noting that in legacy Mono White Stompy decks this will let you play around Daze if you have a City of Traitors or and Ancient Tomb out.

Wingmate Roc - This is certainly not causing a huge splash in legacy but getting two 3/4 fliers for 5 in modern is no joke. The life gain can also help in modern since there is quite a lot of burn running around.

Blue

Clever Impersonator - Being able to copy anything of your opponents baring land is a pretty powerful ability. The mana cost is a bit high for legacy and the effect is more of a sideboard effect but being able to copy a Jace, the Mind Sculptor or a Jitte would be pretty nice.

Dig Through Time - The delve cards are quite hard to evaluate. I think they are obviously powerful but my concern is how many of them you can realistically run. If people are running loads of them then presumably Deathrite Shaman/ Scavenging Ooze/Rest in Peace also get even better since they can aggressively cannabilize your graveyard.

Stubborn Denial - A more situational force spike/spell pierce that can become a hard counter if you have a Tarmogoyf or Tombstalker in play.

Taigam's Scheming - I am always on the look out for cards that do something a little bit different or move stuff from one zone to another. This card is just missing the cantrip part to make it more powerful than strategic planning. Milling up to 5 cards into your graveyard could be quite powerful in some sort of modern reanimator deck.

Treasure Cruise - This may be the best name in the whole set. My comments for Dig Through Time apply here as well. My first thought was that these Delve draw cards could be good in combo but then I remembered that Ad Nauseam is a real card and so is Time Spiral. For the tempo decks I am not sure that this is better than a pre-ordain which you can always cast and helps you smooth out your draws. It may be good though as a 1-3 of just to help re-gas in the mid-game. My predicted home for this is probably in UR delver sans snapcaster mage since you cannot afford the anti-synergy.

Black

Murderous Cut - I keep reading this as Murderous Cat. I hope somebody gets a sweet alter done with that in mind. Not having the downside of Terror, Go for the Throat, etc makes this very powerful. The downside though is that it doesn't kill those turn 1/2 threats. For that reason I think this is worse than Dismember.

Necropolis Fiend - This card is certainly legacy playable but is it better than tombstalker? When I play tombstalker I usually do a pretty good job of clearing out my graveyard. I am not sure I have extra cards to help feed this guy. Also
you usually don't want to totally clear out your yard because of Tarmogoyf and Deathrite Shaman. He could be better in Modern if there is a good way to fill up your yard since the games often for on for a little bit longer and machine gunning all of Birthing pods guys down is pretty good.

 

Red

Monastery Swiftspear - The red cards in the set are a little lack lustre to be honest but I guess we have recently gotten Goblin Rabblemaster, Eidolon and Searing Blood. Monastery Swiftspear is an innocuous card that could just be excellent. It is low on peoples radar but I can see this being a quiet powerhouse in legacy and modern.

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker -  Sarkhan's first two abilities do exactly what we want. They either remove a threat or smack your opponent while gaining loyalty. Mono red stompy is always looking for quick threats and ways to interact with their opponent when they go hellbent. This is certainly a role player for that.

 

Green

Just plain nothing.
 

Artifact

Ghostfire Blade - This is a Bone Splitter with upside for Affinity and should see some modern play as a result. The extra toughness means that your Ornithopter no longer dies to lightning bolt and you are much more resilient against electrolyze.

Land

Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Windswept Heath & Wooded Foothills - These are already legal and staples in legacy (obviously) but their introduction into modern will be very interesting. Most people are predicting an increase in playability of Zoo and Faeries. Bloodstained mire also lets Jund play more basics that it can more easily fetch probably increasing the power level of Jund (collective yay).

Gold

 

Abzan Charm -

 

Choose one —

• Exile target creature with power 3 or greater.

• You draw two cards and you lose 2 life.

• Distribute two +1/+1 counters among one or two target creatures.

 

Anafenza, the Foremost - The stats are right and he has a couple of good abilities. Adding counters to your tapped Deathrite Shaman or other utility will be good and having the potential to stop Narcomeba triggers with the second ability is a nice bonus. The main problem is that this guy costs 3 mana of 3 different colours all at the same time...Wasteland is a real card in legacy guys. For modern he is just a bigish mana efficient donk that doesn't die to Lightning Bolt.

 

Butcher of the Horde - Well this guy hits hard and fast especially if you sac a lingering souls token or a zombie or something to trigger his haste. He also survives lightning bolt...

 

Jeskai Charm -

 

Choose one —

• Put target creature on top of its owner's library.

• Jeskai Charm deals 4 damage to target opponent.

• Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain lifelink until end of turn.

 

Mantis Rider - This guy has it all except resilence to lightning bolt. I have played my fair share of Lightning Angels so I think I am going to like this little guy.

 

Mardu Charm -

 

Instant

Choose one —
• Mardu Charm deals 4 damage to target creature.
• Put two 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens onto the battlefield. They gain first strike until end of turn.
• Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card.

Mindswipe - I may have to at least try one of these out in Modern. Counter Burn!

Savage Knuckleblade - Again another Modern playable card but that is a bout it.

Siege Rhino - Wow this guy has a huge butt.

 

Sultai Charm - This one sure has all the right abilities.

Choose one —
• Destroy target monocolored creature.
• Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
• Draw two cards, then discard a card.

The question for me is 3 mana too much for legacy? I think the answer is yes. We may see it pop up as a 1 of in some ambitious BUG lists though. It is also worth noting that you cannot cascade into it with Shardless Agent (which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it). Bant charm did see some play in Modern and if there is a BUG deck then I can see this getting some modern play at the very least though it competes with Maelstrom Pulse. Off the top of my head most of the cards are monocolored in modern so that clause doesn't matter too much.

Utter End - An instant speed vindicate the doesn't hit lands for 1 more mana. This seems like very good value for standard. It is probably marginally playable in modern and too expensive for legacy.  

-Cheers-  

Goblin Rabblemaster

Goblin Rabblemaster had another great weekend! Consequently, he is over the $5 mark at the moment.

If you haven't bought or traded for some you should do so now. When SCG relists him on their website I think we will see a new even higher baseline for him (they are sold out at $4.99). He is a main deck staple for mono red aggro, Jund (thank you CVM) and who knows what other decks. I still think he is a good card out of the sideboard for UWr control in standard for the mirror match.

He may yet catch on in other formats (Modern/Legacy). I can see him being played out of the sideboard of Sneak and Show and there is also this spicy little legacy number floating around:

Lands

4 x Ancient Tomb

4 x Cavern of Souls

4 x City of Traitors

8 x Mountain

 

Creatures

1 x Goblin Piledriver

4 x Goblin Rabblemaster

1 x Goblin Settler

1 x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

1 x Krenko, Mob Boss

4 x Magus of the Moon

4 x Moggcatcher

1 x Murderous Redcap

2 x Siege-Gang Commander

4 x Simian Spirit Guide

1 x Tuktuk Scrapper
 

Noncreature Spells

4 x Blood Moon

4 x Chalice of the Void

3 x Chrome Mox

3 x Trinisphere

2 x Umezawa's Jitte
 

Sideboard

1 x Boartusk Liege

1 x Dismember

1 x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

3 x Ensnaring Bridge

1 x Goblin Sharpshooter

2 x Koth of the Hammer

3 x Leyline of the Void

1 x Stingscourger

2 x Sulfur Elemental

Update (9/3/2014) - Starcity updated their price for Goblin Rabblemasters to $5.99 a piece and they sold out in less than a day!

Update (9/21/2014) - Starcity is sold out of Goblin Rabblemasters at $11.99 a pop.

Update (9/30/2014) - Starcity is sold out of Goblin Rabblemasters at $14.99 a pop.

Update (10/03/2014) - Starcity is sold out of Goblin Rabblemasters at $19.99 a pop. Well so glad I bought in early on these guys...only regret is that I didn't buy more.
 

-Cheers-

Tips and Tricks - Part 2 (Miracles)

The miracles mechanic was introduced by Wizards just a couple of years ago in Avacyn Restored. Most of the miracles cards that were printed do not see any eternal constructed play thus some players may not know all of the interactions that occur around this slightly unusual mechanic. The cards that many players will run into in legacy are Entreat the Angels and Terminus.

The rules for miracles is as follows:

'702.93a. Miracle is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Miracle [cost]" means "You may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it if it's the first card you've drawn this turn. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."'

1. With the Miracle trigger on the stack you can cast Vendilion Clique, target them and remove the offending miracle from their hand.

2. This also means that you can stifle your opponents miracle trigger and the card will go into their hand but no miracle will happen.

3. If you are playing with miracles in your own deck you can put the miracle ability on the stack and in response fetch a land out of your deck to help pay for the miracle.

4. The miracle just has to be the first card drawn this turn. This means you can trigger it on your turn or your opponents turn.

5. If you are playing with miracles in your deck it is a good idea to change the way you draw your cards so that you don't accidently forget to reveal a miracle.

6. Try and have the right mana in play for your miracles at all times as you don't know when you might draw one off the top.

7. To perform our next  trick you must have assembled Sensei's Divining Top, Stoneforge Mystic and have a Terminus on top. You can activate Stoneforge Mystics ability and in response tap Sensei's Divining Top to draw a card with which you will reveal a Terminus. The end result is that you will get rid of your Stoneforge Mystic and all of your opponents creatures but it will leave you with a Batterskull in play.

Please let me know if you have any more miracles tricks to add.

Cheers,
Simon

Links to prior Tips and Tricks -

http://mtgbazaar-teamz.blogspot.com/2014/08/magic-tips-and-tricks-part-1.html

 

Blog Updates

Apologies to any followers who have been getting multiple Blog updates over the last few days for old posts. I have been consolidating a couple of different blogs and blog posts so that all the blogs are a little more organized. Thank you for your patience.

Cheers,
Simon

Tips and Tricks - Part 1 (Cephalid Coliseum)

One of the best articles that I have read in 2014 was the following article by Frank Karsten:

http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/frank-analysis-tips-and-tricks-for-modern/

These sort of Tips and Tricks are often told by players at events and lauded by commentators on stream. As my time to play Magic decreases I appreciate having these shortcuts in my back pocket to pull out when I do get the time to play. Some of the Tips and Tricks might be very straightforward but I think that those are also very useful as they will apply to more situations.

For Part 1 I wanted to make the Tip and Trick personal. To set the scene I was playing in my first PTQ back when dredge had become an extended deck around the time of Kamigawa Block. I was playing a totally outdated Pschatog deck because I thought it was cool/fun. I was also playing Gifts Ungiven with a tool box to deal with some of the more popular decks. I wasn't doing that great in the PTQ (shock horror for my first PTQ) though in round one I did force spike an entwined Tooth and Nail, so I was feeling pretty happy on the day.

Mid-way through the PTQ I get paired against a dredge deck and we split the first two games and shuffle up for game 3. We are on turn 4/5 of the game and he has just dredged almost his whole library and put a ton of Zombies into play. He has me more than dead on board when he extends his hand to say good game. I told him to wait and continued to play the game, I knew that at the very least I had a Silent Arbiter in my deck that could stop me losing. I play a cantrip on his end of turn (I believe a mental note), then I untap and draw a Cephalid Coliseum.

I was playing Cephalid Coliseum as an almost free roll to try and "thresh" up my pschatog. Only there is some more text on this little guy.

Card Text:

: Add to your mana pool. Cephalid Coliseum deals 1 damage to you.

Threshold — , , Sacrifice Cephalid Coliseum: Target player draws three cards, then discards three cards. Activate this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.

I asked my opponent how many cards he has in his library. He responds that he has 3 cards. I played the Cephalid Coliseum and targeted him with it, he of course lost on his draw step.

I think there are a couple of things to take away from this story:

1. Don't give up;
2. Play to your outs (and you may have more outs than you think);
3. Make sure you read what your cards do;
4. Life total is not the only way to win or lose at Magic.  

Cheers,
Simon

All copyrights Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Comments to Metamorphosis

Wizards of the Coast or Wizards of the Changing? With Magic's continued unrelenting growth we see Wizards again having to make some changes to the game. Thankfully this one seems to be for the better!

Wizards Announcement:

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mm/metamorphosis

Overview:

1.   Blocks will now be composed of 2 sets (as opposed to 3).

 

       a. This has been in the works since they tested this with Lorywn - Morningtide / Shadowmoor - Eventide.

 

2. Core Sets will no longer be printed.

 

3. Cards will be legal for approximately 18 months as opposed to24              months under the old system.

 

4. Block format will still exist but nobody will play it (actually that is no change).

Thoughts:

1.   This new system will mean that there are quicker rotations of standard legal cards (approx. 18 months v approx. 24 months). A likely consequence of this is a higher cost to play standard.

a.    More volatility in the metagame will mean a higher cost to play standard, though it likely brings more fun/enjoyment too.

                                         i.    Ex. If you bought mono black after it made its debut at the pro tour you could have bought the deck and played it for the rest of its time in standard and been very competitive with little or no changes. If the metagame shifts drastically from block to block which it will seeing as Wizards was willing to bet four pro tours on it changing enough to keep people tuned. Thus Standard players are going to need to invest more time and more money into each new block.

2.   The overall complexity of Standard should be increased since there will likely be more mechanics legal at the same time. This should again make Magic more interesting for well established players.

3.   Legacy only cards should come down in price quicker since they will rotate out of standard quicker.

4.   Core sets were a good outlet for reprints to help stabilize the market and reintroduce mechanics that Wizards might not have wanted to base a whole block off of but are good enough for a small sampling of cards. Take Chord of Calling for example, if it wasn’t reprinted in a core set then you either have to reintroduce convoke as a block mechanic, reprint the card in modern masters or other sealed product or simply not reprint the card.

5.   I don’t draft much anymore and my drafts are generally limited to conveniently located pre-releases, PTQ’s, and GP’s. Thus having the age old lessons learned from drafting many core sets I have been able to stay competitive despite not keeping up with all formats. I will miss this, though this would be a terrible reason to keep core sets.

6.   Could complexity creep hurt new players? Core sets were nice in their simplicity but I don’t have an accurate gauge on how Wizards is trying to get new people into the game; presumably this mantle is being taken up by Duel of the Planeswalkers and its ilk.

7.   I have seen some players comment that Wizards may be willing to print more powerful cards because they will be legal for less time. I personally do not think Wizards will go down that road due to the knock on effects of Modern/ Legacy.

I am guessing that the clarity with which this announcement has been made should make it a lot more palpable to the community. I guess Mark Rosewater is Wizards Steve Jobs. Maybe they should put him in charge of all of the Magic Online change announcements as well...

Cheers,
Simon