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....

Born of the Gods...Magic the Gathering set review.

I pre-ordered my first ever booster box of Magic The Gathering cards in January, on the first day that they allowed me to at the Tangled Web in Spartanburg.  I was solidly excited...I love Greek styled things like the God of War video games, and I have a Fat-Pack box full of Theros cards from the previous set.

All through January, I kept up with the web chatter about the upcoming set, as was a little disappointed that more awesome stuff wasn't revealed.  This is billed as a small set...165 cards as opposed to 249 cards in a big set.

In the Pre-Release, it seemed no one hardly got any gods or planeswalkers.  I have yet to see an Ephara card.

I told myself, "Well, I am getting a box in a week.  I will get some good stuff."

What I really wanted was outlined in this post.  I didn't hardly get any of this stuff.  The one copy of Phenax was nice...How about three more, or at least an Ephara.  (Unreasonable, you say.  I got three copies of Tromokratis.  And Three copies of Eater of Hope!!  ARGGH)

No Brimaz.  In fact, I have only seen one, in the case at the store for $40!  (The only way I am going to get him for the fencing ace deck is trading or out of a booster pack.)  No Herald of Torment.

I only got one Phenax, and one Kiora.  I got a Mogis as well, but traded him to SpartanNerd #1  (He wanted it really bad).   I also got that Chromanticore for my hopeless Mazes End deck.  On the other hand I bet I have a playset of each common.   I got plenty of uncommons, but almost no complete playsets of them.   But I thought I would at least have four copies of Bile Blight or Searing Blood.  Nope.  One copy of Bile Blight.  That's it.  I am going to have to pay out or trade for more copies.  (That was a card I was really hoping to get four copies of.)

MY RATING

I am pleased with my investment...It was good savings and a way for me to jump into the new set.  But I didn't score anything major with a box of boosters.  I was left still wanting.  And I don't like that one bit.  I know, they are called Mythic Rare for a reason.  But a person who orders a booster box is a loyal customer, and should be rewarded better.

My booster box gets a 2\5.  I am a loyal customer.  I will pre-order another.  I know it is a gamble.  This time I feel I have a foundation,  but not the nice house on top.

The Born of the Gods set gets a 3\5.  What are we comparing it too?  I would give Theros a 5\5. I would give Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash both 5\5.  Core Set 2013 Also gets 5/5.  So there's your reference, readers.  BOG is OK.  It seems to continue to support the Black devotion strategy well, and adds options for beatdown decks.  Tribute is a wicked mechanic, while Inspired promises to create some combos.  I hate that they axed Monstrosity, however.  The new god cards are nice, but I wish they had weapons, and I also wish their devotion requirements weren't so high.  Some of the rares in this set seem to be as powerful as uncommons in some other sets.  Then there are a few useless cards...Eater of Hope (I now own 5 copies!) Heroe's Podium, Champion of Stray Souls, Nessian Wilds Ravager, etc.  BOG scores 3/5 because it does work well with Theros, but on its own, it is kind of weak.

Drafting with Born of the Gods

First of all, I should say I had a blast drafting with Theros.  I figured out it was best to make a Heroic flavored deck, and that worked out really well for me.  So I figured Born of the Gods should be as fun to draft.

Not exactly this time.  Not that it was un-fun.  But I wasn't very lucky with my card pool.  This time I have grown as a player quite a bit, and was able to manage.

At the Tangled Web, there were 40 entrants into the release day draft.  Our draft consisted of one Theros booster, and two Born of the Gods boosters.  We opened the Theros booster pack first.

The rare in my Theros pack was Prophet of Kruphix.

This is a card that I owned one of already, but never played, not being a Green-Blue "Simic" player.  But I new this card was killer, and so I said to myself, "I guess I am going to make a green-blue deck."  I played blue the week prior in the sealed deck pre-release tournament, so I was sort of familiar with the new blue cards...I felt this would work in my advantage.  (I was right about that.)

My other rares were Whelming Wave and Tromokratis.  Not bad.  Two blue cards.  I drafted two Floodtide Serpents.  And almost every card I got the rest of the night was blue or green.  I drafted some chumps, including a couple of copies of Kiora's Follower.  Too bad I couldn't have a Kiora, The Crashing Wave.  I only hate-drafted 5 cards.  (drafted cards I couldn't use because I had to or because of value...not so much this time.  I did hate-draft Heroe's Podium...A rare but bad card for limited.)

I basically tried the strategy of bombing the board with Whelming Wave at the right time.  That was my plan.  If Floodtide Serpent or Tromokratis were out, basically that ensured victory.  The new twist wast the Prophet of Kruphix.  She allowed me to flash in my creatures, and was over-all a game changer.  Too bad she is so weak as a fighter.  (2/3)

The people in my 8-person pod in general didn't draw any gods or planeswalkers.  There was a lot of moaning and groaning about how bad our packs were!

I built a solid, good deck.  It just wasn't quite good enough.  The red and black decks were crazy, and white wasn't bad either.  I also played against one fringe player who built five colors in order to play the two gods he got, and the Chromanticore he got also.  (Lucky dog.)  At the end of the tournament I was ranked right in the middle at 20.  Not bad for my fifth time ever drafting!

Check my next post for how I feel about Born of the God's in general!

Born of the Gods Pre-Release Excitement

Just two more days until we get our first taste of Born of the Gods in a sealed deck tournament.

I signed up for Blue as my color of choice...My logic being it is usually the blue cards that I have a hard time getting.  My color is black, so I figure I will get all of those I need anyways.

Sealed deck is challenging.  Luckily they have put all of the cards online ahead of time.  This sealed deck will be half Theros and half BOG, so, it might not be that hard after all.  I can't wait to draft BOG.  It was fun to draft Theros.

What cards will I get?  Definitely Arbiter of the Deal, Ephara, or Phenax.  I really want Phenax.  He seems like the most powerful of the new gods, in my Esper style.  Ephara doesn't seem so bad either.  As for the Arbiter, It is a late game play.  I hope I don't get that one so much.

Can you imagine this card with a bunch of Pack Rats?  You could mill big!  

Other cards I hope to see?  Bile Blight!  Meletis Astronomer!  Brimaz, King of Oreskos!  And Hero of Iroas!

Playing multiples of this guy should be great!  Bestow stuff for cheaper!

I'm thinking the white cards may be good in the Fencing Ace deck*, while the other cards just interest me a lot.

What about the black cards?  Herald of Torment seems like a winner, as a bestow demon.  I refuse to believe Champion of Stray Souls was meant to be played in Standard.  It is expensive, and its abilities can be accomplished other ways with less mana.  Maybe they are pushing tribal Skeletons or something.  But he isn't legendary, so...

This guy can be bestowed, so you are ramping up that black devotion!

The other card I am really looking forward to is Chromanticore.  A ridiculous card.  But I have a pet project of a Mazes End deck, and Chromanticore should fit in there nicely.

Of other cards, Hero of Leinna Tower seems to be one of the most promising green cards.  Searing Blood is going to cause some problems.

This whole set seems to want to squash out small token strategies.  Stuff like Searing Blood and Bile Blight seem to be aimed squarely at the Selesnya token style.

Oh yeah.  Minotaurs are going to be beast in Booster Draft and Standard.  And Ragemonger and Mogis are ridiculous.

In other words, I think I pre-ordered the best color.  I could have went with white.  But blue here seems to address some of what the rest of the set is doing.  And the Inspired mechanic that triggers when stuff untaps is going to cause some craziness.

I intend to keep everyone informed on what happened at my Pre-Release (Seeded) Sealed Deck tournament.





*OK.  A little bit of rant.

You.  Poet.  Write this down.

It seems like Heroic is the favorite mechanic of the Wizards.  They are always touting the benefits of hitting something that has heroic and causing craziness.  And white seems to carry this mechanic the best.  It is great when it works, 30% of the time or less.  Most of the other time, your creature gets removed and its auras go to the graveyard as junk.
I want to believe in the Heroic mechanic.  It is very satisfying to hit a Fabled Hero with Madcap Skills and Ethereal Armor on turn 4 and smack your opponent for a ton.  (At least 10).  But people like Fabled Hero are too easily burned, canceled, or otherwise snuffed out.  I want to believe in Savage Summoning, but this pushes the color wheel to four colors.  Not where

Groovy Dork List....MOTUC, Magic, Coffee, Pathfinder, Arkham, and MineCraft.

Groovy...I was able to find a massive local source of Masters of the Universe items!  A dude at the Barnyard Flea-market sells them.  Workable on the price (I AM a cheapskate, remember!), and also a knowledgeable and enthusiastic fan.  I will be reviewing the three items I picked up today soon!

Dork...The problem finally appeared.  Snout Spout has a crack in his trunk.  The trunk is apparently made of blue foam-rubber.  :(



Groovy...I am Back-in-Black!  I am playing Mono-black devotion as my current for Magic: the Gathering strategy!  Just keep putting black permanents out, get that devotion ramped up, and then slam the opponent with a Grey Merchant of Asphodel.  And unless they cancel the Merchant, there is little they can do.  The fine folk at the Tangled Web were ready to trade the other day.  I scored a few more Nightveil Spectors, which I really, really needed, and a Desecration Demon as well!  Readers of this blog will know that my color is black.  I have recently been playing other colors, but it seems the old dark evil ways are returning!

Dork...Don't get me wrong...I had a blast, but I would play someone, anyone really, for almost 45 minutes.  And then somehow lose...I would disrupt their strategies over and over, only to be trumped eventually.  You can only run Four gray merchants!



Groovy...In the same vein...The Born of the Gods set looks amazing!  I can't wait to see what else they reveal.  I have preordered a box, and me and my two boys are going to play in the sealed deck pre-release.  I already see cards with promise for the Fencing Ace deck, and for the black devotion deck.  The inspired mechanic sounds interesting, and Mogis, God of the Slaughter is going to be crazy!

Dork...They haven't released a new challenge deck  :(  The Hydra has been a blast!



Groovy...The Keurig Vue system is wonderful!  This machine makes not only coffee, but cafe drinks and iced tea!  Most everything I have tried tastes great!

Dork...(semi-dork, I guess)...Those Vue cups cost a bunch.  BUT, I am subscribed to the Cafe Express Savings Club, that basically means I only pay half for the Vue cups.



Groovy...I am now a Dungeon Master...I mean Game Master.  Me and the SpartanSmurfs, and even the SpartanWife have been playing Pathfinder.  This is our first taste of this kind of gaming.  I don't know what I think about it yet.  I like being the game master.  But I don't always feel like it.  These games tend to run over an hour.  Also, the SpartanSmurfs are too easily killed off.  I have to be careful not to off them unintentionally.  This has already happened three times.  The first time I considered it a real death, to try and send them a message.  I didn't like it, though.  So I have been inserting lucky saves into the game.

Dork...I have a pretty good imagination, and can flesh out the Pathfinder world pretty good for the boys.  But they on the other hand tend to just want to battle constantly, rather than take in their world.



Groovy...I have been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum again.  That game is terrific!  I especially like taking out the armed thugs!  That is a lot of fun.

Dork...I don't get MineCraft.  I played it.  I just don't get it.