Wednesday, July 23, 2014

SpartanNerd thoughts on MOTUC and COMIC CON reveals.


Ok.!
SQUEEEEEEE!

Seriously.  I must have this.!!!.
When will they make an Attack Track?

About Tongue Lasher, he is my favorite Snake Man.  But the tongue here just looks wrong.  I prefer the paper-ish tongue on the vintage figure.
The new She-Ra looks cool…

Eldor always has looked cool.  Way better than He-Ro.
I won’t bother posting a pic of Sweet Bee.  Not interested.

Friday, July 18, 2014

SpartanNerd Review…M15 Pre-release sealed deck experience


SpartanNerd Review…M15 Pre-release sealed deck experience


For the first time ever, this weekend I made it to the top 4 of a magic tournament.  But this time was even more extra special…It was a sealed deck pre-release!
In case the reader is unfamiliar, Sealed Deck is a limited form of MTG that requires you only play with cards you open.  Generally, you get five booster packs, open them, and build your deck from those cards and those cards only.  The Pre-Release is just a little different, because you get to play with a promo card and an extra “seeded” pack, which is meant to support your strategy.  You choose a color when you sign up, and your seeded pack will contain cards of that color and with synergy with your strategy.  (was that redundant?)
This time was different, I believe, because I studied for the event well ahead of time.  And I went into the event with a plan in mind.
But it didn’t hurt that my cards worked really well together!
Here are pics and commentary!
0 whole deck
I crafted this deck from my card pool.  Green and Black were my star colors.  I felt very comfortable playing these two colors together.  I splashed a little red and white for added removal.

1 drops
These one drops really didn’t do that much.  They became targets for Yisan, who I will be discussing shortly.
2 drops
Satyr Wayfinder and Black Cat are old friends of mine.  They accomplished their jobs well.  The Satyr Wayfinder made sure there were things in my graveyard to use as resources.  This was one of my goals.
3 drops
Now for the good stuff.  Netcaster Spider was a star at blocking flyers.  In limited formats, such as sealed deck, people choose flyers when they can.  The Necrogen Scudder is an old friend.  He hurts you when he enters the battlefield, though.  And then there is Yisan.
Yisan deserves his own paragraph.  Yisan the Wanderer Bard is a music card.  Right up my alley!  Never once was he removed. I guess my opponents didn’t think him that big a threat.  But guess what?  Oh yes.  He was the secret to winning most of my games.  You pay his ability cost, onc green and two others, and then tap him.  You get a “verse counter.”  Then you get to find a creature from your deck with the Convereted Mana Cost of the number of verse counters he has on him.  SICK!  As mentioned already, the one drops were usually elvish mystics.  The two drops, well they were the Satyr Wayfinders usually.  The three drops were the only two possibilities.  And the four drops were the next card I want to discuss.

4 drops
Undergrowth Scavenger.  His power and toughness are equal to the number of creature cards in the graveyard.  And I scored two of these guys in my sealed deck!  He was almost always a 6 or 7 power and toughness and demanded an answer from my opponent, that they usually wouldn’t have.
5 drops 6 lilliana
Other cards that took advantage of the graveyard were Rotfeaster Maggot, and Lilliana Vess.  Have I ever Mentioned that Lilliana is my favorite Magic card ever?  (I actually have a top three.  All black.  Lilliana Vess, Grave Titan, and Elbrus the Binding Blade/Withengar Unbound.)
Once during the evening I got to ultimate Lilliana.  My opponent just scooped right away!
The Rotfeaster Maggot was included to help me recoup life loss from Necrogen Scudder and from a few other cards that had me paying life.

7 promo
Ah, the promo of the evening.  If he wasn’t answered, GG.  Usually my opponents wouldn’t sac someone or pay three life right away.  But card advantage is one secret to winning in Magic.  It didn’t usually take but two card draws and them being hammered a couple of times with him for them to pay the life.
10 soul of inistrad
One more worthy mention.  I actually got Soul of Innistrad.  One of the cards I had my eye on since it was previewed.  The Soul was a star if I ever got him out.  at 6/6, he’s hard to kill.  In the graveyard, he can get creatures into your hand from your graveyard.  On the battlefield he can too.  Only once was he removed.  (Pillar of Light.  A white exile spell with the condition that the toughness of the creature must be 4 or greater.)  Exiling him is just about the only way to deal with him.

Onto my removal.  I passed up a few cards in my card pool.  Festergloom and Crippling Blight, as well as Covenant of Blood.  All black spells that should have worked.  But I opted for the better options in other colors instead.  This was a critical choice, especially with the splash of red.  Heat Ray and Lightning Strike were just too good to pass up.  Oppressive Rays is a star in sealed deck limited.  It rarely got used during this event, however. Ulcerate was one of those cards that penalized my life total.  But it is so powerful at one drop.
8 removal and splash 9 removal

11 other spells
There were three other spells.  I thoroughly enjoyed playing Necrobite.  I would surprise my opponent…he would think he was trading creatures with me, then, BAM.  I got one over on him.  Stab Wound was cited as putting pressure on one opponent.  And I was able to finish off two opponents with Sign In Blood.  This card was also useful in getting me cards a couple of times.
12 swamps 13 forests 14 other lands and radiant fountain

Now for the boring part.  LANDS.  I didn’t get any pain lands.  I did get two Radiant Fountain.  But in the end I thought it better to just run one copy.
So my deck did several  things well!
Flyers.  Check!
Graveyard Digging.  Check!
Life Gain.  Check!
Card Advantage.  Check!
I may never be so lucky with a set of cards again!
I went 3 and 1.  The only loss for the night was against a mirror.  The guy had more Sign in Blood than I had.  He told me I dumped the game against him by playing cautious near the end and not swinging all out.
Other people I played didn’t hardly stand a chance.  I played one White Weenie guy.  The flyers took him out.  I played a guy who played control.  But he couldn’t respond to the graveyard strategy or to Yisan the Wanderer Bard’s ability.  One guy was trying to take advantage of Convoke.  (Bad idea.)
I saw almost no one else play a planes walker, or a Soul.  Wonder why I was so lucky?
In the end, I won TEN PACKS OF M15 cards!  (The top four were tied at 3-1.  We all voted to split the box.)  My winnings netted me an Avacyn, Guardian Angel, and a Chord of Calling, as well as a black-green pain land and a red-blue pain land.  I also traded for Ob Nixilis, Unshackled, and Scuttling Doom Engine.  Not bad!  I even traded for a Jace, the Living Guildpact!
Compared to M14, M15 is THE BOMB.  The power level here is similar to what was in M13, with all those legendary creatures.  The Soul cards also sort of remind you of the Titans.  (M14 was a dud.  It just couldn’t cut it.  The slivers were lame.  Red was good.  Mutavault and Doom Blade were good.  But other things really weren’t so good in the end.
I rate M15 based on my Sealed Deck experience at 5/5.  How did your experience go?  Do you feel the same as me?  Let me know in the comments!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

SpartanNerd has moved to SPARTANNERD.COM !!!!

SpartanNerd has moved to SPARTANNERD.COM    !!!!This is big news, oh Hub City Geeks!  The Blogger (Blogspot) page was sort of stunted...It gave me statistics about traffic (I had over 5000 hits there!), but several other things weren't working correctly, including adsense.  And Google pretty much demands you sign over your identity to them, (which I am not willing to do.  Neither should you.  "Don't Be Evil."  What a joke.)
I will now try using Wordpress.  Which I think I already like better.
Keep the page views coming!  I will keep the old blog up for awhile, let's see how this takes off.  Thanks for all of the support, readers!

New content coming soon...
Review of the Born of the Gods Event Deck.
Review of new MOTUC!
More Transformers.  (I am only going to review the good stuff!)
A review of some recent Marvel movies...Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World
AND MORE OF THE "NERDTAINMENT" THAT WE ALL LOVE!
Don't let me lose you....Get on over to SpartanNerd.com and see what it is all about!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review..."Battle the Horde" Magic the Gathering Challenge Deck

Battle the Horde Challenge Deck












While Magic Game Day was officially this past Saturday our local store, “The Tangled Web” decided to hold off on the celebration until next week.  Luckily, on Monday this week when I made it there they had one deck on sale left for me to purchase.  How good is the Horde?  Continue reading for my review!

Battle the Horde is the second “Challenge Deck” that Wizards of the Coast has produced for us to play solitaire or group MTG with.  The first deck, “Face the Hydra,” was pretty tough, though it had certain weaknesses, some of which “Battle the Horde” also shares.

Horde Magic isn’t new.  I made a Zombie Horde deck before when I first learned about it.  But this challenge deck doesn’t have the exact same rules.  This time, yes, you do take three turns first, but the Challenge deck reveals two cards at a time from the top.  In this game, the Horde’s deck IS its life total.  So if you hit it for three with Lightning Strike, then it mills three cards.  The only way to win is to mill all of the deck and kill all of the creatures.

So let’s talk turkey.  What are these cards and how tough are they?

This deck really uses “theme and variation.”  There are five different types of minotaur in this 60-card deck, most of them some version of the “Hurloon Minotaur.”  In other words, they are 2/3 or 3/2.  There are the Youngblood Minotaurs, which are 2/2, (But see what they did?  they built an excuse in it’s name!)  Then there are the big monsters…Reckless Minotaur and Mogis’s Chosen.

And all of these except for Mogis Chosen has HASTE!  (Mogis chosen is the biggest creature in the deck, at 5/4.  He enters the battlefield tapped, thankfully.

So the deck’s creature breakdown is…

15 Minotaur Youngblood (2/2)
10 Phoberos Reaver  (2/3)
10  Minotaur Goreseeker (3/2)
4 Reckless Minotaur (4/1)  (he is destroyed during the end step of the turn he came out)
4 Mogis’s Chosen (5/4)

This is a horde of 43 creatures!

The other seventeen cards in this deck are either sorcery or artifact cards.  10 Sorcery and 7 Artifacts.




The Minotaurs

The Sorcery Cards

Turns out that some of the sorcery cards can help you in certain situations.  For instance, Intervention of Keranos “deals 3 damage to each creature” at the beginning of combat this turn.  So it is more or less a board sweeper for all the “chump” minotaurs.  (said in the most joking way possible!)  This could help you, though, if you have bigger creatures out.  On the other hand, Mogis’s Chosen will live through this.  Consuming Rage is another sweeper type sorcery that might help you in certain situations.  This card pumps all attacking minotaurs this turn for +2/+0, but then they are destroyed at the end of combat.  If you play “Fog”  They just burned themselves out!

There are three more Sorcery cards, each is more of a problem.  “Touch of the Horned God” gives each attacking minotaur Deathtouch.  “Unquenchable Fury” causes all Minotaurs to have “can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures.”  Some of that “Madcap Skills” type magic for the whole lot of minotaurs.  And finally ‘Descend on the Prey” gives all attacking minotaurs First strike and “must be blocked this turn if able.”


The Sorcery Cards

The Artifact cards add some real “Rakdos” type flavor to this deck.  Each one, when on the battlefield, has the same effect.  The Horde gets to cast an extra card during the main phase.  So if multiple artifacts are out, you are going to be seeing multiple minotaurs, and your problems are going to grow and grow.

But each artifact also has a “Hero’s Reward.”  This is a throwback to the “Face the Hydra” deck, where killing certain heads would reward you in a special way.  The cool thing is, each artifact says “When CARDNAME is put into the graveyard from anywhere…”This means attacking the deck might just reward you!  (Remember, attacking the deck causes it to mill.)

The artifacts in this deck are:

“Massacre Totem,” which lets you put the top seven cards of the Horde deck into the graveyard.

“Refreshing Elixir” (Two copies)  does what you would think.  Sending it to the graveyard will give you five life!

“Altar of Mogis" causes the Horde to sacrifice two creatures.

“Vitality Salve” lets each player return a creature from the graveyard to the battlefield.

“Plundered Statue” (Two copies)  lets each player draw a card.

The Artifacts


Playing the deck

First experience…3 on 1.  Me and the SpartanSmurfs ganged up on the Horde, ever anxious to play new cards!  We played the horde on it’s most difficult setting, (Allowing us to take two turns before it takes the first turn.)  And we stomped it, of course.  SpartanSmurf #1 played Minotaur Tribal, SpartanSmurf #2 played Dimur Graveyard, and I played Turbo Fog Mazes End.

SpartanSmurf #2 played a solo match against it.  That was, his Tribal Minotaur deck against the Minotaru Horde.  It defeated him badly….

I was rubbing it in, so he suggested I try.  I used the Turbo Fog deck and beat it twice!  I think I know why.  I fogged every time a creature would swing at me.  Sometimes Consuming Rage would be activated, and I would fog, thus taking no damage, but then the entire horde was killed.  This happened twice, and then the Keranos Intervention card also killed the miniotaurs.

But I beat the deck twice….

I decided to switch decks, and try out mono black devotion.  After two wins with Turbo Fog, maybe a different kind of control strategy was called for.

Nope.  Every time, it seemed the Minotaur Horde would grow too strong for me to control…No matter what really.  And it doesn’t help that there is basically no artifact removal or mill in the black deck.

The Challenge Deck beat Mono Black twice!…

Hero Cards

This deck is meant to be taken on with Hero cards as well.  I have some of these…They go with the Face the Hydra Deck or this deck.  But I haven’t played them so far, thinking my decks were good enough.  One big difference in this deck and the Hydra deck is that the Hero cards that go with it (From Born of the Gods Pre-Release and other events) all instruct you to somehow exile it after it is used.

Weaknesses of the Horde Deck.

Detention Sphere.   Imagine having out all 15 Youngblood minotaurs.  D-Sphere.  You win.  Also the new Bile Blight, which gives everything with the same name -3/-3.

Supreme Verdict.  Of course.

Fog.  Minotaurs are only effective attackers if they hit you!  You fog them, and Consuming rage can kill them, and they get no benefit out of it.

Jace, Memory Adept (and any other card that mills.)  The horde can’t remove planeswalkers, (unless it attacks them directly.)

What is my rating of the Beat the Horde Challenge Deck?  I like it pretty good.  It is a fine solitaire game.  It is a neat challenge for a group.  What more could we ask for, really?  I do wish some of the cards will be printed/ updated for “Journey Into Nyx.”

So I give this deck a 5/5.  Remember, the Hydra was 4/5…I took off a point for the art.  But the art on Beat the Horde is really good, and like I said, I hope they use some of the art in the next set.

Now, I wonder what would happen if I pit the Horde against the Hydra???



The Playmat/ Instructions






Friday, February 28, 2014

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review....Transformers Generations Grimlock- from The Fall of Cybertron

I have some history with Transformers.  I have certainly never been a hardcore collector.  CHEAPSKATE, REMEMBER!  But I had a couple as a kid, and even have the remnants of those few as an adult.

My children, on the other hand, have had quite a few Transformers.  And I have had the priceless privilege of helping transform them.  :(

Here is my strong opinion.  They just don't make them like they used to.  It seems like nowadays they are all plastic, while in the 1980's at least some of the main body parts were die-cast metal, or something similar to that.  Back then there were tight screws holding the joints together, but today, they make them so the joins can snap off and on easily.  In general they are ball joints, so this makes it even less less like the originals.  Then there is the Michael Bay influence.  Transformers nowadays take cues from the "Bayformers."  And I ain't necessarily a fan.

(For the record, I liked the first movie, and thought the second was tolerable.  But I hope I never see Transformers 3 again.  And do you think I am going to see the fourth movie?  NO WAY!)

Back to the subject at hand.  I went to the Wal-Mart this morning, and browsed the toys aisle.  It seems the girls are taking over.  There was only one aisle for the boys.  And three for the girls/babies.  So walking up the boys toys aisle, I thought I would maybe buy a new Chima lego set to review.  Or maybe finally get that lego Ninjago dragon I have been eyeing to review.  Instead, I saw Grimlock.  But I REALLY SAW GRIMLOCK.  He looked like the vintage toy I never had.  He looked like the G1 cartoon even.  He was marked $20, which I thought was reasonable.  (He was actually $23.95, but I wanted him more than I wanted to argue.)  There were a few others with him in similar boxes.  Most of them I thought were dumb or at least just not as cool as Grimlock.  Notably, there was a Sharkticon Megatron.  (Megatron is NOT A SHARKTACON.)

So I got him, and here's my review.  In fact, it is my first ever Transformers review, so, let me know what you think.  How many Hub City Geeks out there are interested in honest reviews of Transformers?

Grimlock came in this box.  This is the image that caught my eye at the store.


Doesn't he look just like Grimlock!  Unaware of what "Fall of Cybertron" meant, I thought it was just an updated version.  Instead, one of the SpartanSmurfs informed me that this is a video game version.  Who knew?  The word TransFormers has a little extra type...it says "Generations."  Not sure what that means.  But I hope to see more toys like this.  You'll see why!  But first, more packaging.


See that line graph.  OH YEAH!  Actually, they were better when I was a kid.  You had to look at the graph through a translucent red piece of plastic to decode the stats!

And more awesome packaging.  The sides and bottom of this box are also pretty neat.



So.  Now that I waited all day to open this up, throw away the box, and play with it some, here is a review of the ACTUAL TOY.

Grimlock is pretty durable.  I mean, he's not G1 Transformer durable.  But still, he's not falling apart like some of those Bayformers.  His knee joins were so tight I was afraid I was going to break him somehow.  Of course he's articulated.  Maybe even "Super Articulated," to use the retiring Poe Ghostal's words.  He has feet that rock up and down (but not side to side.  Knees that bend.  Thigh-cut joints, swivel arms.  Hinged elbows.  And his head turns from side to side.  All this articulation doesn't count the other stuff you can move.  You can move the backpack some, for instance, and the claws on his "cuff-links"

Also, notice those awesome weapons!  Grimlock came with a sword that might remind you of a cross between a lightsaber and a skill saw.  And that shield seems to be a copy of what one of the baddies on Quake 4 use.  Worth noting, there are additional holds in his arms and shoulders, where you can peg the accessories to and stylize him as you like...I'm willing to bet you could arm him up pretty heavily with similar modeled Transformers.


He has a light effect too.  One is generated from the button on the back of his T-Rex mode...(More on that later,)  But this transformer has the translucent plastic on the back of his head that allows light to shine through his eyes.  You know.  Similar to MetalHead from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.

OK.  Here's a back view.

Not much to see here.  He has a backpack, which is actually the inverted T-Rex torso and head.
Grimlock's instructions say that he is a Level 2 "Intermediate" Transformer.  So, being an adult, I shouldn't have had much trouble this time....


I really didn't.  It took me about 5 minutes.  I only referenced the instructions for accuracy....

Speaking of instructions I remember saving these as a kid and just staring at them for weeks.  I would read all of the text.  I would be really sad when I had to throw them away also.  The instructions here don't seem to have the same "soul" as the G1 Transformers.  But maybe it's just me.

To transform him, basically, you have to flip his backpack over his head.  His chest becomes his back.  His arms become the T-Rex legs,H  And his legs and feet become the T-Rex tail


As a T-Rex, he isn't THAT impressive.  I don't dislike him.  But he seems a little....little.  If you know what I mean.  To me part of this reason is because he doesn't have much of a chest/belly.  In fact, he has none at all!  Just hollow nothing that you can unfortunately see.

(The instructions show that you are supposed to put the weapons on it's hips.  I din't just make that up. See...Accuracy, people.)

I also find his tail to be most unsightly.  You can clearly see Grimlock's mech feet on the tail  Which is dumb.  They should have been able to disguise them better.



Luckily, his charm isn't all in the form.  Nosiree.  This guy has a surprise trick!

That's right.  You saw it here first, Hub City Geeks.

This Grimlock can Actually Breathe Actual Fire!  (Not actual, actual, literal fire.)

Don't Doubt me, underlings!  "Me Grimlock Angry!"

If you are a true nerd, and you must be if you enjoy reading this blog, then you probably remember that Grimlock and the other DinoBots could breathe fire, giving children everywhere the misconception that actual real ancient dinosaurs could breathe fire, and also blurring the line between the fictional dragon and the factual dinosaur.

How this works...There is a button, really more of a pressure switch, on the back of the dinosaurs neck.  You press this, and his whole head lights up, as well as he opens his mouth in a menacing way.

(You can activate this in robot mode, but it lights up his chest and body rather unsuccessfully.)

So now for a comparison time...What?  Oh yeah.  This is my first ever Grimlock....I'll have to compare to something else.

Grimlock's underwhelming T-Rex mode might actually only be in my mind.  After all, I own the most awesome robotic T-Rex ever made...Gojulas Zoid!  (Actually, not the same one from when I was a kid, which was actually titled Terrox, and was blue and gray.)  Any Transformer up to maybe PowerMaster Optimus Prime, Revenge of the Fallen Devastator, or maybe MetroPlex looks kind of wimpy when compared to the Zoid.

How about comparing him to a similar modern Transformer.


Grimlock is a little bulkier than this Bayformer SpartanSmurf #1 lent me.  I appreciate that difference..I like my Transformers to have a little weight.  You can see that the SideSwipe figure here has skinny feet, and other dubious features.  None of that for Grimlock!

What about those weapons? Well, at first I thought "This sword will look good in Megator's hands."  Nope.  It looks dumb.


Then I thought, why not try He-Man.  Master of all swords.


Now we're talking!  This could easily be some variant He-Man.  Maybe some New Adventures space theme.  I'm sure that's what Hasbro was thinking when they made this sword. ( Because Mattel makes the MOTUC! )

My overall rating of Grimlock.

Well, he IS the first Transformer I have reviewed.  I think I'll go easy on him, and judge each mode separately.

As an Autobot, he is just awesome!  4/5.  Losing a point mostly because the backpack is obviously a T-Rex torso stuffed into his back.  And the battery doesn't light his eyes.

As a T-Rex, He gets a 3/5.  Because he feels kind of scant.  More like a Raptor.  With a really fat tail.

His accessories are great! 5/5  I think I will start to cross accessories for these reviews.  An accessory should be able to be used in other hands, especially in a similar scale.  (I consider Grimlock to be in scale with MOTUC figures, though technically he probably has a much different ratio number because in "real life" the Transformers are bigger than a house!

So Overall, My rating of Grimlock is 4/5.  Do you agree?  Or disagree?  Let me know!




Thursday, February 27, 2014

10 Print List ...... You might be the SpartanNerd if....

10 Print "You tell your kids to clean their rooms, and proclaim "THIS I COMMAND!"

20 Print "You do the Mario on the way to the kitchen."

30 Print "You make a transforming sound when you change into your robe for the evening."

40 Print "You warm up your children's choir with "Co- Bra- LALALALALALA"

50 Print "You lift something heavy, and proclaim "I Have the Power!!!"

60 Print "You weigh yourself, and seeing that you have gained, pronounce "Up, Up, and Away!"

70 Print "You compare your professional relationship with bosses to that of all of the Sith's apprentices.  (Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Darth Vader)"

80 Print "You sing to your child, who says they have to go to the restroom "Nothing can stop the smooze"

90 Print "You say "Mine resolves first" to your child who suggests eating at McDonalds and you say you would rather eat Mexican.

100 Print "You are still crying about the time the Quintessons commandeered Optimus Prime's body, as a ruse to defeat the Autobots.  Optimus' will was too, strong, however, even in death...He saves everyone and flys his ship into an exploding sun (I can hardly type anymore...waaaa)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

SpartanNerd MTG Quest update....TOP 8

I finally cracked the top 8 at the local comic book store's Magic Tournament!  The Hub City was SLAMMED with snow for the past week, keeping me and everyone else indoors, so I spent plenty of time practicing, and it paid off it seems.

Basically, I played two rounds of 2 out of 3 matches against one of the SpartanSmurfs everyday.  One of them had a BEAST of a BNG Minotaur deck, and I was having a hard time with that, and thought to myself..."This is what people will be playing Saturday..."  (nope)

My two deck choices were either the Fencing Ace deck, which I had been playing and working with for awhile, but it always seemed to lose.  However, it would be fresh with some new BNG cards.

But then I thought I would revert to my pre-Return to Ravnica style...MONO BLACK.

Too bad this guy isn't legal anymore...:(
I had been playing some black devotion.  But I thought it was time to step up my game a little.  One of the slow things about my devotion deck was that it was a "budget" deck, featuring the complete Bogbrew Witch combo.  I had some success with this deck in the last Modern tournament that I played, balancing the activity of assembling the combo and ramping up my devotion with Vampire Nighthawks.  Basically, I ripped all of that out of the deck and added something I never hardly played...Thoughtseize!  I replaced the Witch combo with Nightveil Spector, Herald of Torment, and Slitherhead.  (In place of the Festering Newts.)  BNG added Temple of Malice, so that was four more scry lands I could play.  Then there is the added advantage of having mana available to play cards stolen with the Nightveil Spector.  (The deck is mono black.  But the lands are not.  Unfortunately, there is no green and black scry land...yet...)

After playtesting it for a week because of the weather, I decided to add Elixir of Immortality in place of two of the Slitherheads...A fine choice!  The Elixir proved to be a star of the deck.  Cracking it over and over replenished my life (which I had to pay from playing Thoughtsieze), and it kept my cards playable, refreshing my deck.

I really wanted three more copies of Bile Blight.  I have whined and cried about this already.  I hoped to trade someone before the tournament.  No one had theirs for trade, or no one had one to trade.  BUMMER.  In the end, this would make a difference.



So at the Tangled Web on Saturday, February 15, I brought my black devotion deck.

Here is the deck list.

4 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Silence
4 Temple of Deceit
1 Nykthos, Shrine ot Nyx
10 Swamps

2 Slitherhead
2 Desecration Demon
4 Nightveil Spector
2 Herald of Torment
3 Pack Rats
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
3 Spiteful Returned

4 Devour Flesh
1 Bile Blight
2 Liliana, of the Dark Realms
4 Thoughtseize
2 Elixir of Immortality
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Whip of Erebos
2 Hero's Downfall

I also had a sideboard....

4 Duress
4 Doom Blade
4 Dark Betrayal
1 Drown In Sorrow
1 Pain Seer
1 Lifebane Zombie

All evening I played against mostly green and red aggro decks.  I had no problem at all Thoughtsiezeing out Stormbreath Dragons, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Archangel of Thune, or Blood Baron of Vizkopa.


One thing that people were playing that they should not, was Courser of Kruphix.  This allowed me to see what was on the top of the deck...

I had one mirror match, where we played until we had to draw.  It was tough...This was a seasoned player, and to see the same strategy basically across the table was an experience.

In the finals, I lost in the first round.  Devastating.  It was my first loss all day.  But it was a good game against an Azorius Sphinx's Revelation deck.  I think fondly on this match, it was like an ascension...a catharsis.  Here I was playing against a truly great player, and standing him down with devotion for at least one match...I lost in the third game.  How did he beat me?  I didn't draw Hero's Downfall when I needed it.  His Elsepeth, Sun's Champion continued to supply him with fresh 1/1 chumps, that I could have taken care of QUICKLY with a Bile Blight....He also played Supreme Verdict a good bit after he caught on to my game to squash my devotion, and then would have his Elsepeth give him more board presence.

I mean, what good is a NightVeil Spector if you can't swing with him because he gets removed?  And you can't use him for devotion because he isn't there?)

So, I plan on playing at Friday Night Magic this week.  I will use the same deck, but hopefully have a full set of Bile Blight!  There are some other things I might change as well.  Herald of Torment didn't do anything all night.  I like him, but he has to go.  He is not as good as Nightveil Spector, and he hurts you for one life each turn he's out.  He is also expensive to bestow.  Maybe I'll main deck Pain Seer, a weaker version of Dark Confidant....I might swap out the other two Slitherheads for Elixir of Immortality...The Elixir was a surprise star.  I think I might come up with two more copies of Heroes Downfall.  Most of the good players I played knew how to deal with the Desecration Demon.  I like him for the devotion.  And it's not like he was useless...But most people either dropped a removal spell on him, or said "Let him through..."  Then I usually wouldn't swing...usually...I also might go back to playing Underworld Connections.  This card helps with the card advantage better than Erebos, God of the Dead.  Did I mention that I got to swing with Erebos a couple of times?  People don't like that....I also am thinking of adding a couple of secret weapons...aimed at the Sphinx's Revelation deck.

You say, SPARTANNERD...HOW DARE YOU POST YOUR STRATEGY?

Well, it isn't a new strategy or anything.  Plenty of people out in the world are playing black devotion...it is one of the top builds in the world right now!  It is just new to me, and nobody around here hardly is playing it, so....