MTG: Standard, Hyper Aggressive Red

Hey it's been a while since I wrote something, I just haven't had a whole lot to talk about.  With Pro Tour Qualifiers coming up for me in January I figured now is the best time to start practicing up on standard.  I've decided for the near future I'm going to focus strictly on playing aggressive decks in Standard since I feel it's a big whole in my skill set and it's something I'll have to rely on if I ever qualify for the Pro Tour since odds are I won't be on a team and will have to rely on my 75 beating my opponents instead of play skill.

I started with red lists posted by Tom Ross here.  I found the deck super fun to play, it's not often you get to 3-1 tournaments repeatedly with low powered draft picks.  As sweet as it was attacking for 5 with Akroan Crusader and Titan's Strength eventually I cut the heroic elements and tried to make the deck as consistent as I could.  This is where my tweaks and play have brought me currently . . .

Standard:  Hyper Mono Red Aggro

18 Lands
18 Mountains (so much cleaner than a Modern mana base)

30 Attacking Creatures
  15 One Drops
3 Legion Loyalist
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler

  15 Two Drops (I wanted to keep the hit % on Burning-Tree Emissary as high as I could)
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Firefist Striker
3 Goblin Shortcutter (a key play on turn 3-4 that lets you get them into suicide attack range)

12 Burn & Pump
4 Lightning Strike
2 Skullcrack (an experiment right now, it's useful vs Grey Merchant, a blocking Master of Waves, Brave the Elements, Sphinx's Rev, and occasionally a lava spike is all you need)
2 Dynacharge (might be a relic from playing Akoran Crusader, but I keep hoping to draw it in lots of games and has rarely under preformed)
4 Rubblebelt Maaka (The extra toughness lets any attacker punch through a Nightveil Spectre or Frostburn Weird)

15 Sideboard
3 Mizzium Mortars (mostly for Mono U Devotion)
2 Electrickery (for the the mirrors, might not be needed)
1 Dynacharge (needed vs Jace AoT)
1 Legion Loyalist (for Master of Waves)
2 Skullcrack
1 Mountain
3 Chandra's Phoenix (vs all the removal that gets boarded in)
2 Seismic Stomp (apparently it's necessary to beat RG Devotion)

The reason I've stuck with this deck instead of some type of Boros deck is it's positive Mono Black Devotion match up.  You're able to get under their removal consistently and punish them for playing expensive cards like Hero's Downfall, Desecration Demon, Underworld Connections, etc.  In order to keep the match up positive in the face of all the removal (Nausea! shudder) they'll be boarding in I board out a lot of the x/1 creatures and bring in Skullcracks and Chandra's Phoenix.  It's been pretty successful for me so far.

That's it for this post, if there's an interest (or if I just feel like it) I'll write about the popular match ups, a rough sideboard guide, and some explanations on card choices.  If I feel ambitious I might tackle the math behind the proper numbers of Lands and Burning-Tree Emissary hits required to make the deck purr.

Also I just posted a updated build of my game Patient 9, you can play it in your browser here and read about it here.  If you could give it a try that'd make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

If you've got any questions comment or email me, till next time!

Patient 9, Entry 8, Alpha v2.262 Released

The third version of the alpha is done. You can download the newest version here or try out the web based version here, please read the info below on controls, the game doesn't present all the information properly yet.  Any feedback is appreciated, just email me or comment in the blog.

GAME INFO

If you don't have Flash just open the downloaded file in any Internet Browser.

Controls are: W, A, S, D to move, CAPS to sprint. J for talk/confirm, K to cycle through inventory, L to use.

Typewriters save your progress, just walk up to them and hit J. You can load from the title screen.

I feel really confident that the majority of the games code is stable and ready to be attacked by testers.  Unfortunately I had to put a lot of the artistic assets on hold, hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to churn them out and get the game looking even prettier.  That's all for now, till next time.

Patient 9, Entry 7, Alpha v2.23 Released

Second version of the alpha is done. You can download the newest version here, please read the info below on controls, the game doesn't present all the information properly yet.  Any feedback is appreciated, just email me or comment in the blog.

GAME INFO

If you don't have Flash just open the downloaded file in any Internet Browser.

Controls are: W, A, S, D to move, CAPS to sprint. J for talk/confirm, K to cycle through inventory, L to use.

Typewriters save your progress, just walk up to them and hit J. You can load from the title screen.

New features

• basic player inventory
• enemies that follow the player
• minor game play changes as the player gets more mental illness'

Now that most of the game is there, my main goal for the next alpha release is the try to stabilize the code and finalize the mechanics as much as possible. From there I'll fix whatever bugs pop up and play around with the mechanics within the confines of what's currently in the game. Then I can begin adding in artistic assets to make the game not look so blocky and basic.  That's it for now, eventually I'll write something more design orientated but that'll have to wait till next time.

MTG: Modern, Splinter Twin Tweaks and the GB Rock Matchup

GB Rock Results:
I played a set of 10 games against my buddy Jonny, 2 maindeck, 8 sideboard, and went 8 wins 2 loses overall.  Obviously this is a variance upswing for me, but it's nice to know that I can win this and I'm not just a dead fish.

Maindeck Games
g1:  Win on the play.  I Charmed both his Bobs and was able to kill a Liliana by attacking, he ran out of steam at that point.
g2:  Win on the draw.  Jon stalled on 2 lands, I was able to develop a nice Snapcaster board but couldn't combo kill him, eventually Cryptic Command buried him.  Ooze gave him a slight chance.

Sideboard Games
g3:  Win, play.  I had a slow hand that just traded resources until a surprise Batterskull got him.
g4:  Lost, draw.   He curved into Goyf, Liliana, backed by discard was a little to much to deal with.

g5:  Win, play.  He stalled on 2, triple Pestermite denying a 2 drop stole the game.
g6:  Win, draw.  He mulls to 5, I'm able to leisurely close out the game.

g7:  Loss, play.  I got double Tect Edges off my Kiki/Batterskulls :(  24 land or Crucible of Worlds woulda been nice.
g8:  Win, draw.  He stalled out, I killed a Liliana with Vendilion Clique.  Seems that every time I can attack down a Liliana I win.

g9:  Win, play.  Traded cards in the early game, Cliqued him and saw Oooze, Bob, Thoughtseize, Fulm Mage let him keep it and beat him down after he Thoughtseized and Bob.  Dark Confidant is back breaking if it lives on turn 2, but I've noticed Pestermite/Vendilion Clique beatdown can trump Bob if you're later in the game.
g10:  Win, draw.  Grinded out a long game with Grim Lavamancer and Relic of Progenitus.

After this I would go 0 wins 5 loses against GB Rock on Magic Online, confirming my suspicion that the set of 10 was me getting lucky.  I still learned that the first 3 turns are absolutely critical in this match up, if you're able to contain GB Rock during them the mid and late game look very promising but you'll get absolutely crushed their 2 drop and 3 drop are able to stay in play since any removal or discard spell will usually tempo you out at least a full turn.

Grim Lavamancer and Relic of Progenitus pulled their weight in a lot of my games, they where never dead vs GB Rock and either neutered a green creature or in Grim's case traded with some miscellaneous removal spell.  If I'm not lazy I'm going to try out another set of 10, possibly after a rebuild of the deck since not everything feels like it's synergistic

Modern: Ofelia Twin

23 Lands
5 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
3 Sulfur Falls
1 Desolate Lighthouse (I'd play moar if I could)
2 Tectonic Edge (Extremely ambitious but so much value)

21 Spells
4 Sleight of Hand (Working well)
2 Peek (Snap + Peek eot after bluffing the combo attempt)
2 Dispel
2 Spell Pierce
2 Remand
2 Cryptic Command (Solves a lot of problems and makes your Snaps absurd, could cut 1)
2 Izzet Charm (I'm biased but it's been pulling it's weight)
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Flame Slash

16 Combo Stuff n Things
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Deceiver Exarch
4 Pestermite
4 Splinter Twin
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

15 Sideboard
1 Dismember (For Linvala, Spellskite, and random removal, could be a Combust)
1 Ancient Grudge (For Value)
3 Blood Moon (For UWr, the 3rd is due to Wear/Tear and needing to occasionally cheese out Jund)
2 Batterskull (So hard to kill, occasionally rofl stomps opponents)
2 Engineered Explosives (The Goyf Slayer)
3 Grim Lavamancer
3 Relic of Progenitus

Changes since last post:

Relic of Progenitus + Grim Lavamancer vs GB Rock.  Relic's are to contain Tarmogoyf, Deathrite, and potentially Scavenging Ooze.  The Grim Lavamancer's I've found very effective vs Dark Confidant, Goyf, and Deathrite.  Try to prioritizing removing creatures from both graveyards since a "late game" Scavenging Ooze can get outta control otherwise, and also hoarding card types in your bin that Deathrite Shaman can't eat is a potential soft exploit.  Since you control the effects of both cards I haven't found them dis synergistic with Snapcaster Mage over the course of 11 sideboard games (not the biggest sample size mind you).  These numbers are currently very high, they'll probably be brought down later.

Sleight of Hand > Serum Visions:  This is basically a tempo based decision, when I'm casting my cantrips I need to draw gas immediately to present as many options as possible so I can get some type of tempo or board advantage.  I'm older more combo focused versions of Twin like my old Grixis Twin list that I came in 19th with Serum Visions was far stronger since the plan was to combo kill and looking at as many cards as possible, even at a lethargic rate, was superior to getting a good card now.  Where as this variant is split between controlling the pace of the game and combo killing, and in other to control the game you need to see relevant cards as quickly as possible.

Minus the Combo Package:  This was mostly to make room for the Grim/Relic package, things are still in flux.    Though one things I've noticed is the match ups where I boarded in more combo where relatively good match ups, so it might be win more, the exception being Burn.

Potential Changes:
-1 Desolate Lighthouse, -1 Cryptic Command
+2 Fetchlands, or +1 Fetchland +1 Mountain

I've noticed Grim Lavamancer's don't come online as consistently or quickly as I'd like on occasion, roughly 1/5 games.  Also the 3 colorless land count has occasionally made forcing the combo slightly harder then it should be.  I don't want to cut the Tectonic Edges since they help hedge against flooding, provide mana choke tactics, and are critical vs  Treetop Village, Celestial Collonade, and Raving Levine.  Lastly hitting 3 mana is critical in Twin, so every land is super helpful.

+1 Izzet Charm
-1 ?? I have no idea

If my plan vs GB rock is to contain them the first three turns Izzet Charm has always preformed in this regard, Goyf living for a few turns is acceptable but if Dark Confidant flips on card on turn 3 it's over me about 90% of the time.

Weird Cards:
Pulse of the Grid/Thirst For Knowledge:  It's probably not correct in this build at the moment, but if I'm able to commit more cards to the board then my opponent, say like Grim Lavamancer, Spellskite, and Shrine of Piercing Visions (oh how I miss you) you'll be able to consistently keep your hand lower then your opponent while maintaining resource parity so that Pulse will rebuy itself.  Also it works splendidly with bluffing the combo attempt.

Guerrilla Tactics:  Kills Dark Confidant and the majority of turn 1-2 plays and forces Liliana to not +1, and a bad shock isn't the end of the world to Snapback.

Well that's it for this post, lots of thoughts and stuff left to tweak before the Grand Prix.  If you've got any questions comment or email me, till next time!

MTG: Modern, Splinter Twin Musings and Grand Prix Detroit Prepartion

Grand Prix Detroit is coming up for me, luckily I won a GPT so I'll have at least 2 byes, 100% moar than I had at GP Toronto.  Thanks to Patrick "Ofelia" Dickmann for the list, advice, and constant beratement. Here's the list I went 7-0 with.

Modern: Ofelia Twin
23 Lands
5 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
3 Sulfur Falls
1 Desolate Lighthouse (I'd play moar if I could)
2 Tectonic Edge (Extremely ambitious but so much value)

21 Spells
4 Serum Visions (Maybe this should be Sleight of Hand)
2 Peek (Snap + Peek eot after bluffing the combo attempt)
2 Dispel
2 Spell Pierce
2 Remand
2 Cryptic Command (Solves a lot of problems and makes your Snaps absurd, could cut 1)
2 Izzet Charm (I'm biased but it's been pulling it's weight)
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Flame Slash

16 Combo Stuff n Things
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Deceiver Exarch (not a typo)
4 Pestermite
4 Splinter Twin
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

15 Sideboard
1 Dismember (For Linvala, Spellskite, and random removal, could be a Combust)
2 Ancient Grudge (1st is for random Torpor Orbs, Spellskites, etc, 2nd is for Afffinity)
3 Blood Moon (For UWr, the 3rd is due to Wear/Tear and needing to occasionally cheese out Jund)
2 Batterskull (So hard to kill, occasionally rofl stomps opponents)
2 Engineered Explosives (Never leave home without them)
2 Grim Lavamancer (Some men just want to watch the world burn)
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (Moar combo for match ups where racing > interaction)
2 Deceiver Exarch

The biggest difference from this list and what I've played in the past is that it focuses a lot more on interacting with your opponents and drawing the game out so you can set up either a combo-kill or tempo them out with blue collar beatz.  I've had a lot of fun with Ofelia's version of Twin, but every once in a while I have awkward games where I feel like I'm playing a bad control/combo or aggro/combo deck.  I guess that's the price you pay for playing a hybrid deck.

The big perks of having snaps and moar interactive spells is . . .
- you can keep a wider range of hands, unlike combo focused builds where it's very hard to keep without at least 1 to 2 combo pieces in hand
- resiliency versus discard since losing a combo piece isn't the end of the world
- another target for Splinter Twin/Kiki-Jiki in Snapcaster Mage
- an alternate game plan by doing damage

Where as what I've missed from the 8 blue / 7 red old versions is
- a much higher ability to top deck when you're empty handed
- able to punish any tap outs from your opponents more consistently
- able to combo kill/race against combo decks more consistently

The biggest reason I've been pondering about this I'm trying to figure out a optimal direction to build Twin for Detroit, I'm sure the metagame will be your standard chili pot of random decks but due to the World Magic Cup and the MOSC I'm expecting more UWR Control and Melira Pod, which is sort of awkward since from what I've seen I prefer playing a slower more measured game against those 2 since they both have ways to slow me down, BUT I'd rather have near max combo pieces against random decks.  Here's a little table showing my thoughts on how the approaches match up against some of the most popular decks.

Force Combo = Near maxed out combo pieces
Passive Combo = Something closer to Ofelia style, 7 blue and 5 red pieces

I'm really happy with having 3 more combo pieces in my sideboard since against decks like Scapeshift, Burn, and Affinity you don't have inevitability with your interaction and just have to try to finish the game as quickly as possible.

Well that's about everything I have in the tank regarding Twin right now.  If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them or email me.  Till next time!

Patient 9 Entry 6

The first Alpha for Patient 9 is up and ready. It's a super loose rough, all part of the scrumming process I touched on in Entry 1. You can download the game here.

Game Info

If you don't have Flash just open it in any Internet Browser.

Controls are: Z for talk/confirm. Arrow keys to move.

Typerwritters save your progress, just walk up to them and hit Z.

If you give it a whirl and feel like giving me feedback here are the main questions I have for you:

- how does the game feel (in it's rough stage)

- what mechanics, if any, would you want added to diversify game play (intended length is roughly 3 hour with moderate replayability)

- do you like the proportions on the sprites? ( I moved away from the RPG Maker anime/chibi look)

Of course anything else that comes to mind is appreciated. Just comment on this blog, or email me your feedback. Thanks a lot!

Back to game talk, I noticed a huge up surge in motivation after I got the Alpha out for people to play. That was a huge perk to scrumming/iterating game builds that my class experienced in school when we made our 3d game(Legends of Goldwing), during any long creative process you start to get burnt out over a lack of results and it starts to feel like a endless sea of tasks that go no where. But when you get to see something every few months showing progress you get revitalized start getting your enthusiasm back, for a bit. Now I'm finding it way easier to brainstorm ways to improve and rebuild Patient 9, and the feedback I'm getting from my friends is critically important since I started to develop tunnel vision on what I had and not what the game should and could be.

The next alpha should be out in 1-3 weeks, the last 7 days since the Alpha's completion I've has been pretty consistent getting work done. Right now my I've got a lot of polish lined up, a basic player Inventory system, and a few more complimentary mechanics coming down the pipeline. That's all for today's post, if you've got any questions or comment feel free to post them in the comments section below or email me at alexneufeldt@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!

MTG: Legacy, 8th @ Heroic Dreams Mox Tournament with RU Delver

Yesterday I played at a Legacy tournament hosted by Heroic Dreams with UR Delver, finishing in 8^th place. My preparation for this tournament consisted of reading every one of Andrew Schneider's articles and Adrian Sullivan's recent tournament report. Armed with all that knowledge and my past experience with the deck in Buffalo (79304 years ago) I came to this deck list . . .

Lands: 19

4 Scalding Tarn

4 Arid Mesa

4 Misty Rainforest

3 Volcanic Island

2 Island

2 Mountain

Creatures: 15

4 Goblin Guide

4 Delver of Secrets

3 Grim Lavamancer

4 Snapcaster Mage

Card Draw: 9

4 Brainstorm

3 Ponder

2 Gitaxian Probe (Great with Snapcaster, and the info helps me prioritize spells to counter)

Burn: 9

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Chain Lightning

3 Price of Progress (Some men just want to watch the world burn)

Counters: 7

3 Force of Will

2 Daze

2 Spell Pierce

Random: 1

1 Cerebral Vortex (Adrian Sullivan special)

Sideboard: 15

2 Engineered Explosives (Good at killing one-drops, particularly Nimble Mongoose)

2 Relic of Progenitus (Graveyard hate for RUG’s creatures)

2 Flusterstorm

1 Blue Elemental Blast

1 Daze

2 Smelt (I like this over Smash to Smithereens for the mana cost and synergy with Snapcaster)

3 Sulfuric Vortex (#Amazing)

1 Price of Progress (Excessive?)

1 Vendilion Clique (Versatile threat vs. control decks)

Round 1: UR Delver Mirror

Gotta love being paired into a mirror that you've never played before when there is literally only two of you in the room.

g1: He'd seen what I was playing from practising earlier, so he never cast his Goblin Guides until late in the game. At that point, they were guaranteed burn spells vs. my low life total while I didn't realize what was up until I had given him extra lands from my own Goblin Guides. I tried altering my game plan halfway through, but was too far behind on material and got smashed by a trio of Goblin Guides.

g2: I put him on the play and adopted him game plan, my Relic of Progenitus kept his Snapcasters and Grim Lavamancers in check while we both sat back sculpting our hands and killing opposing creatures. Despite neither of us playing slow we went to time, and I managed to sneak in the last bit of damage by finding a Bolt off of a Brainstorm.

1-1

0-0-1 "I did not expect this result playing a Burn deck splash blue"

Round 2: Bant Maverick

g1: I lost the roll and had a hard time keeping up with triple Noble Hierarch and Stoneforge Mystic into Jitte (had Batterskull in hand) despite having a Grim Lavamancer on the draw. He ripped a critical StP to remove my Grim Lavamancer and give his Jitte some delicious blood counters, which preceded to murder my board.

g2: We both mulled to six, he kept two lands and four StP on the draw. Surprisingly I didn't quite muster an acceptable offence, whiffed on having a Bolt vs. a Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull. I'm starting to think I'm skimping on Bolts and Ponders to find said Bolts or other clutch sideboard cards.

0-2

0-1-1 "Well, time to never lose again I guess?"

Round 3: 4-Color Spirit Mystic Jund (this deck has everything for all people)

g1: I got smashed by Stoneforge Mystic for a Batterskull and Bloodbraid Elf cascading into Tarmogoyf.

g2: My opponent mulliganed to five, a Gitaxian Probe saw Chains of Mephistopheles which prompted a judge call for oracle text. Thank God my opponent stalled out so that card never hit play, because I still don't know what it does (does anyone?).

g3: Unfortunately my opponent mulliganed to five again, and didn't want to pay life with his Sylvan Library and stalled on two lands (Forest, Wasteland).

2-1 "Ya I really earned that win..."

1-1-1

Round 4: Esper Stoneblade

I get paired down against a 1-2; he's practically out of top 8 at this point, unless something really crazy happens. I ask for the concession since I can still "win out" awesomely I get it, We play 3 games for fun and practice and I get thoroughly rolled.

"0-3"

2-1-1 "Still "earning" these wins!"

Round 5: BUG

Paired down...again. Same routine as last time, and my opponent concedes the match to me. He's slightly tilted and not in the mood for a few fun games and goes off to watch his teammates.

0-0

3-1-1 "This is getting ridiculous"

Round 6: UWr Countertop

What are the odds I get paired down a third time? Apparently 100% since I'm paired vs. David Neganiwina. But this person – this man – has a fire and chose to go for it, no matter how low the odds are that a 4-2 can make it in. Despite getting infinity free wins all day I respect his decision and frankly I want to, you know, play Magic – just a little bit.

g1: From what I saw he kept a more mid-late game focused hand, and my first turn Delver on the play into Daze on his Sensei's Divining Top prompted a Force of Will. From there I blind flipped Delver revealing a Bolt (#Skill), played a second Delver, that would also blind-flip immediately, and somehow I managed to pull that game out.

g2: David kept five lands, StP, and a Brianstorm on the play. I Probed him, into Chain Lightning, Snapcaster into a second Probe and started the slow beats. I was able to protect the clutch Sulfuric Vortex from Vendilion Clique with Force pitching my own Vendilion Clique. The Vortex miraculously resolved, and I won the match.

2-0 "Drew above average g1 and average g2, I don’t know what to say”

4-1-1 "Make top 8 with one legit win, jeeez"

Round 7: Rug Delver

g1: His hand was loaded with Spell Pierces and Forces while I had no pressure off my mulligan to six. I ran out a Goblin Guide around turn five, it resolved, I turned it sideways, it didn't hit and land and he took two (to my surprise). An unflipped Delver, Grim Lavamancer, and Snapcaster Mage joined the fight and combined their powers in order to seal away game one.

g2: There wasn't much action this game; I mulliganed to six and kept a one lander (Mountain) with Relic of Progenitus on the draw. After not drawing my second land I ran out my Relic hoping it would resolve and I'd be able to cycle it into a blue source if I didn't naturally draw it, tragically it got Dazed. From therem all he literally did was play a Tarmogoyf and beat me to death with it. Ironically, the Relic in my bin made it a 5/6, keeping it out of Grim + Bolt range.

g3: I mulliganed five lands and two Goblin Guides into Gitaxian Probe, Goblin Guide, Chain Lightning, Force, Brainstorm, mystery card. I roughly figured I was about 33% to draw a land off the Probe (35.8% to be exact), and had to decide if I felt a mull to five had a better chance of winning then 33% times my odds of this hand winning. I think I chose wrong by mulliganing to five, as RUG Delver can trade cards effectively, and any offence I'd be able to muster would most likely be shut down easily. My six card hand had enough going for it; it had a better chance of winning the game despite having a 66% chance of straight losing on the spot. My five had Land, Delver, Chain Lightning, Price of Progress, mystery card. My Delver got bolted and practically grinded my offence to a halt. My opponent’s turn two Tarmogoyf pretty much sealed the deal from there.

1-2 "Didn't respect the match up enough and lost, seems right"

4-2-1 -> Dead @ 8th place

The main point of this tournament was to get practice for future Legacy tournaments, so breaking even for the day was a fine result. I can't complain about my finish or constantly mulling in the top 8 since I got ridiculously lucky to get paired down three times in a row. My only real complaint was how top-heavy the prize structre was, it wasn't the classic 1st=8x, 2nd=4x, 3/4th=2x, 5-8th=1x but 1st=600, 2nd=300, 3-4th=100(would be 150$), 5-8th=50$ (would be 75$). That's just the awkwardness that comes up with a variable number of participants and a big random card prize like a Mox. I still like the deck, though; it's kinda neat that the only two people piloting it came in 4th and 8th (me), respectively.

Problems

• Stoneforge Mystic into broken equipment, cards to consider...
  • Smash to Smithereens seems slightly better than Smelt if these are the only artifacts I'm blowing up despite being worse with Snapcaster Mage.
  • 4th Ponder can help dig for more Burn/Shatters for the Mystic and its toys.
  • Spell Snare – because we’re ballers like that.
  • Fire/Ice (as a burn option)

• Tarmogoyf/Nimble Moongoose
  • Relic of Progenitus: Keeps both in check very well.
  • Mind Harness: My first-round opponent swears by it, and since he made top 4 I'm inclined to believe him.
  • Spell Snare: Only hits the Tarmogoyf and suffers from timing issues, I'd probably have to the full four to get the results I want.

Cards on the recruit list

• Maindeck
  • Fire/Ice: A Patrick "Ofelia" Dickmann suggestion, I'm really digging this as a way to keep my burn count high, and give myself a potential 2-for-1 vs. one-toughness creatures, and a tricky race winner or Force of Will fodder all in one neat package.

• SOMEWHERE
  • Umezawa's Jitte: Another Ofelia suggestion, I'm worried about paying that much mana and getting blown out by my creature dying since everything I have is very vulnerable to spot removal.
  • 20th land: taps for mana, sometimes other cool shit.
  • Vapor Snag: A great way to force through damage while having a maindeck card that's good vs. a Goyf/Goose or decent vs Griselbrand. Might be slightly worse than Fire/Ice.
  • Izzet Charm: I know I'm biased when it comes to this card, it's probably too expensive for what you get.

• Sideboard
  • Mind Harness: I’ll most likely play three, I’m sick of losing to Tarmogoyf.
  • Meekstone: The 3^rd piece of Ofelia tech; seems like a nice way to keep big dumb creatures back and in check.
  • Dismember: Probably the weaker option, but it's good to know about and the card is insanely efficient and versatile.

The only cut I'm sure of is the Cerebral Vortex; it was basically just Force of Will fodder all day. Besides that, it'll take some time to brew and test up the updates for the Decked Out/Untouchables tournament next week. Thanks to Jon Teigesser and Ryan Duffield for loaning me ze cards,Seth Black for the ride, and Andrew Boa for editing. Hopefully I can one up myself next week.

MTG: Standard, Practice for local PTQ/WMCQ with GB Ooze

Today I realized what sweet value 401 is offering at their PTQ and WMCQ (thank god Skyfox Games isn't getting good events anymore!) which resulted in me getting super pumped and opening Magic Online to battle in 2 dailies. I went 3-1 and 2-2, resulting in a cold 6 tix, 1 QP profit, ya living large :P Here's a updated/mutated version of the GB Ooze I cashed with the 2.5K.

Lands: 24

11 Forest

4 Overgrown Tomb

4 Woodland Cemetery

2 Golgari Guildgate

2 Evolving Wilds (experimental Deathrite Shaman synergy)

1 Swamp (Evo target, being a non Ooze land hasn't hurt since it's a extra source)

Creatures: 28

3 Ulvenwald Tracker

3 Deathrite Shaman (Gotta even up the Junk match up somehow)

4 Lotleth Troll

4 Strangleroot Geist

2 Knight of Infamy (Being played over Gloom Surgeon)

4 Wolfir Avenger

4 Predator Ooze

2 Yeva, Nature's Herald (I blame Andrew Naylor)

2 Wolfir Silverheart (Yeva/Salvage caused the swap with Garruk)

Spells: 8

2 Rancor

2 Grisly Salvage (Ridiculous curve filler, medicore card)

2 Ultimate Price

2 Sever the Bloodline

Sideboard

2 Rancor

1 Ulvenwald Tracker

1 Ranger's Guile

2 Appetite for Brains

2 Abrupt Decay

1 Deathrite Shaman

2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

1 Duress

1 Knight of Infamy

2 Triumph of Ferocity (Has been impressing me less and less)

0 Arbor Elf: It never fixed my colored mana, I didn't need a turn 2 Predator Ooze since I play this deck more as a slower/"inevitable" beatdown deck. Cutting it let me increase the land/black count, add more threats, and consistently cast a 2 drop on turn 2, which is what I've been craving this whole time.

2md/2sb Rancor: The metagame is easily a third aggro, Rancor just doesn't preform against those decks, in my experience I've rarely wanted any more then 1 Rancor, so 2 seems to be a fine hedge. The third is brought in against most slow removal/heavy sweeper decks, and the fourth is a random hedge in case I have to board out a insane number of threats.

2 Evolving Wild/1 Swamp/2 Golgari Guildgate: Just a little experiment to see how good adding a extra black source while slightly powering up Deathrite Shaman is. It's been playing a touch better then the old mana base.

3md/1sb Deathrite Shaman: Excellent for stabilizing against aggro, slightly below average against control, but the rise of Junk Reanimator forced my hand into moving 3 into the main deck. The synergy with Grisly Salvage and Evolving Wilds are also adding a few small points as well for it.

2 Yeva: I've been running into problems playing against Supreme Verdict, I have to keep regeneration mana open but can't deploy threats which lets those scummy control players get ahead. Yeva, Avenger, and Grisly Salvage are my attempt to fix that problem. They've worked out really well so far, I've also been very pleased to find out a 4/4 is bigger then a 3/4 (resto). Who woulda thought.

2 Grisly Salvage: This is the role-player that got signed on the team after I decided I wanted moar Deathrite's and Yeva's. It's super power is filling the curve from turn 2 onward by being able to keep regeneration mana open or deploy cheap to medium costed threats along side it. It's effect is powerfully mediocre

0 Alpha Authority(For now!): I want to tweak this current version until I fully understand it before I try to squeeze in another cheesy combo. But when I do it'll be bloody sweet. Here are pics as proof of concept.

Missing one of a victorious 6/5 Lotleth Troll vs Junk Reanimator :(

I'm still a big fan of this deck, it's ability to switch roles against opponents, resilient threats, and oddball cards have kept me coming back for moar. On that note I'll sign off. If you've got any questions or comments feel free to post em or email me. Till next time.

MTG: Standard, 8th @ CBA Games 2.5k with GB Ooze

Since we've returned to Ravnica I've been in a stump when it comes to Standard, for some reason I hated most of the format and didn't find a deck that flowed for me. Then after Quebec City I realized it's a really interactive format that rewards good deck building and tight play, sadly I was doing neither since my shitty deck usually tilted me. Then out of the blue a buddy suggested I try out GB Ooze which he had built physically and online. I started grinding with Kibler's list, after I got enough experience with it I start making modifications. My practice consisted of 3 dailies where I went 3-1, 1-3, and 4-0 and probably about 15 to 20 Practice Room Matches. This is what I sleeved up for the CBA 2.5K.

Lands: 23

11 Forest
4 Golgari Guildgate
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Overgrown Tomb

Creatures: 27

3 Ulvenwald Tracker
2 Deathrite Shaman

4 Arbor Elf

4 Strangleroot Geist

4 Lotleth Troll
2 Gloom Surgeon

4 Wolfir Avenger
4 Predator Ooze

Spells: 10

4 Rancor
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Sideboard
1 Vraska the Unseen (Never got to Judo Chop Olivia)
2 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Ranger's Guile
1 Ultimate Price
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Duress
2 Triumph of Ferocity

I'll go over some of the note worthy additions and subtractions

-4 Dreg Mangler: 3 drops are like trans/satured fat in the deck, they aren't healthy but you need them to make a delicious fast food joint. 11 was way to many, they routinely clogged my arteries/hand . Also Dreg Mangler is a very fair card in a deck that's trying to play semi unfair/hard to kill threats, Mangler is neither.

+2 Garruk, Primal Hunter: My thoughts on Garruk are the same as my GP Quebec City report, he's a better Thragtusk if you don't have slots to support it and is a hard to kill threat (notice a trend?).

+2 Gloom Surgeon: Much easier on the curve then Mangler, but also provides another amazing wall against the slew of aggro decks in the format. Few things make grown men cry as turn 2 Surgeon turn 3 Predator Ooze.

+2 Sever the Bloodline (maindeck): Olivia is this decks bane so I added 2 to the main. It's 4 mana cost is perfectly fine since you want to develop your board in the first turns and THEN start removing threats, also the flashback and pulse qualities give you some much needed hedge against mana flood.

Now for the report.

Round 1 vs Bant Wolf Run Control, 2-0

g1: I battle through triple Azorious Charm and Detention Sphere in the first 6 turns, he double Sphinx's Revelation, but since my threats are dying at a extraordinarily slow rate all he's doing is treading water while I eventually deal lethal.

g2: Rhox Faithmender buys him infinity time, letting him get up to 38 after his third Revelation. A key turn 3 Triumph of Ferocity lets me keep up card wise and I'm eventually able to beat him with about 15 cards left in his deck.

Round 2 vs Naya Midrange, 2-0

g1: I battle through double Thragtusk with my little army of regenerators.

g2: My opponent draws 16 draws off 3 Garruk, Primal Hunters over the course of the match, plays double Armada Wurm, and I'm STILL able to fight through that over time with Predator Ooze+Rancor+Ulvenwald Tracker.

Round 3 vs UWR Flash, 2-0

g1: My opponents stumbles with lands and his Azorious Charm's just buy time but don't translate into any pressur, eventually I'm able to grind him down despite drawing more lands then him.

g2: Opponent stumbles with, doesn't draw Azorious Charm and get's stomped quickly.

Round 4 vs Jund, 0-2

g1: I draw 4 Rancor's this game but only one threat, not a winning hand against a deck with varied removal like Tragic Slip.

g2: I'm a little light on lands for a bit, making it hard to apply pressure while keeping regeneration mana open. I misplayed by not tapping out for Vraska to kill a Vampire Nighthawk that sealed the game with the help of Kessig Wolf Run.

Round 5 vs GW Human Aggro, 2-1

g1: I almost stabilize against double Rancor on a 4/4 Champion of the Parish that's bonded with a Nearheath Pilgrim, but he lethals me while he sits at a lofty 40.

g2: Turn 2 Ooze with back up is very hard for his deck to deal with, the longer the games go the more they favor me since I'll be able to bury him in synergy or durable threats.

g3: On the draw, I close my eyes and play turn 2 Gloom Surgeon turn 3 Predator Ooze, I'm relieved that I'm still in the game when I open them on turn 4. Ulvenwald Tracker and company eventually grind him into dust.

Round 6 vs Humanimator, 2-1

g1: Sadly get comboed out before I can 0 him.

g2: He boards out the combo and morphs into a Resto/Thragtusk. I'm able to easily fight through that, surprise surprise.

g3: He wiffs on a turn 3 Mulch, misses his land drop, and I'm able to kill him on turn 4 with a Deathrite Shaman in play covering any combo shenanigans.

Round 7 vs Unknown, Intentional Draw

We shake hands and draw into top 8. I go from 4^th to 7^th place.

Round 8, Quarterfinals, vs Jund, 0-2

g1: As the second seed my opponenet plays first and slams a turn 4 Olivia that is sadly unanswered and buries me.

g2: I mullagin to 5, I had a small chance with Arbor Elf and Ooze but he has Tragic Slip, Liliana of the Veil, Garruk Primal Hunter, and Olivia to bury me.

With that I'm vanquished from the top 8 with 100$ in my hands. As lame as it was to lose in that fashion, I'm still happy about the finish cause I had fun playing my deck, put work and preparation, and finally won in RtR  T2. On the hour walk home I brainstormed Deadly Allure as a potential answer to Olivia. These are the changes I've made to my list after playing in a Premier Event (awful awful value please don't ever play these!)  and a Daily (amazing value play these!).

Maindeck: -2 Abrupt Decay, +2 Tragic Slip

Sideboard:-1 Ultimate Price, -1 Vraska, +1 Abrupt Decay, +1 Deadly Allure

Lands: 23

11 Forest
4 Golgari Guildgate
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Overgrown Tomb

Creatures: 27

3 Ulvenwald Tracker
2 Deathrite Shaman

4 Arbor Elf

4 Strangleroot Geist

4 Lotleth Troll
2 Gloom Surgeon

4 Wolfir Avenger
4 Predator Ooze

Spells: 10

4 Rancor
2 Tragic Slip
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Sideboard
1 Deadly Allure
2 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Ranger's Guile
2 Appetite for Brains
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Duress
2 Triumph of Ferocity

Special thanks of Nathan Enkel and Jonny Teigesser for loaning me both online and physical copies of the deck. If you've got any questions or comments feel free to post em or send them my way.

MTG: Standard, Grand Prix Quebec City Report, 5-4

My preparation was lackluster since I wasn't a fan of standard before the GP and waited for the Pro Tour to inform my decisions, then I proceeded to get sick Saturday to Tuesday and wasn't able to think till Wednesday. After grinding some solitaire games on Cockatrice (so sad they're being sued by Wotc) I chose Eric Frolich's Naya “Aggro” deck cause it looked very well positioned against the aggressive decks I expected (WRONG) and had game against control decks with hasters and varied threats. After wolfing down some deliciously cheap Friday Subway while scrolling dailies of free wifi this is what I rampantly borrowed/sleeved up.

Lands: 24

4 Sacred Foundry

4 Temple Garden

4 Stomping Ground

2 Mountain

4 Rootbound Crag

3 Clifftop Retreat

3 Sunpetal Grove

Creatures: 26

4 Burning-Tree Emissary

4 Squire aka Gyre Sage

4 Loxodon Smiter

4 Boros Reckoner

4 Hellrider

4 Flinthoof Boar

2 Thundermaw Hellkite

Underpowered Cards: 10

2 Mizzium Mortars

4 Domri Rade

2 Boros Charm

2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Sideboard: 15

1 Boros Charm

2 Nearheath Pilgrim

2 Pacifism

1 Aurelia, the Warleader

2 Rest in Peace

2 Triumph of Ferocity

2 Centaur Healer

1 Thundermaw Hellkite

2 Mizzium Mortars

My tournament wasn't overly memorable, so here's a quick write up of the rounds I remember.

R1: Bye vs Subway: I opted for a 6 inch instead of a 11 inch Ham sub since I didn’t want to be sluggish, picked up some ice for value.

R2: 2-1 vs Esper Control: Got very lucky to win this match, won g2 off Hellrider → Thundermaw → Aurelia, only 3 spells I cast. G3 he got mana screwed.

R3: 0-2 vs Uwr Flash: Everything came together for my opponent and I got revelated out both games.

R4: 0-2 GBWR Reanimator: Got smashed by Gisela 2 games in a row.

R5: 2-0 UWR Flash: All I remember was ultimating Garruk Primal Hunter and Domri Rade at the same time on the last turn and attacking for 108 damage.

R6: 2-x ?? Literally no idea what happened

R7: 2-x ?? Literally no idea what happened

R8: 0-2 vs Naya Midrange: Opposing deck was exactly one level bigger then mine, never had a chance.

R9: 1-2 vs Jund: The first 2 games where even, almost won g3 for planeswalker points but double Sever the Bloodline was just enough to keep him in the game.

After bombing out at 5-4 I proceeded to drown my sorrow in Poutine, a slice of smoked meat sandwich, washed down by a bottle of Red Wine (don't judge! :P). Team drafts provided little comfort as I went against the golden rule, CURVE CURVE CURVE and built 6 drop riddled abominations.

Coming into this tournament I wasn't a big fan of t2, but after jamming big monsters over 8 rounds and interacting with my opponents I've come around. I think the reason I wasn't having fun with t2 was that I hate playing Uwr and all the colors I typically like just aren't up to par. Now I'm digging turning green monsters like Loxodon Smitter or Wolfir Silverheart's sideways while playing varied and resilient threats to dodge sweepers.

My deck was a piece of crap and I hate Efro for making it, I hate Gyre Sage, and I hate myself for playing it. Here's a list of cards I have strong feelings toward.

Gyre Sage: I have no idea why I sleeved up Squire. This piece of crap deck can't effectively evolve it OR utilize the 1-2 mana you generate from it. It's playable in some G/R lists but not here.

Garruk, Primal Hunter: This was a better Thragtusk in the absence of Resto Angel and very resilient.

Boror Reckoner: IMO this is a pillar of the format, you have to have a good reason if you're getting colded by this.

Hellrider: Unless you're hyper aggro there is no bloody reason you should be playing this into Thrag/Resto/Reckoner.

Boros Charm: Very happy I swapped 2 for Mizzium Mortars, functioned virtually as removal while canceling sweeprs.

Mizzium Mortars: Was fine, not being able to dome people was annoying vs control

Aurelia: Sick sick sick card, should be playing moar.

I liked the jist of what this deck was trying to do, but it wasn't aggressive or big enough to do well. In the future I'd either lean more toward a Naya Midrange deck with Thrag+Resto and Aurelia, a hyper aggro red based aggro deck, or a RG Big Stuff deck (personal front runner). Either way I'm just gonna pick the list that I have the most fun playing.

I'd like to thank all the people that loaned me a literal metric ton of cards and put up with my constant moaning, bitching, and rants on #value. Jonny Teigesser, Nathan Rober Enkel Jr, Ryan Duffield, Bjarn, Bjarne Ling + co, Derek Lansche, Brian “Ryzaru” Liu, and Lisa Seelye. Well that's it for this week. I'd like to thank all the If you've got any questions, suggestions, or comments please feel free to post em.

Patient 9 Entry 5

I've got some bad news and good news.  Bad news is my internet is down aka the world is ending, that means I won't be able to easily get references or check the Stencyl forum.  Good news is I've been way more productive without it.  I've made a lot of progress after midnight, instead of mindlessly stalking Facebook or consuming Magic the Gathering content I've been getting work done.  Maybe after it goes up again I should start disconnecting it after a certain time?

I got the ..

Basic dialogue behavior working properly (fixed the collision problem)

Basic random enemy movement

Scene/level changer working (along with locked doors)

I was luckily able to get help from the Stencyl forum for the Enemy Movement for once and was able to use that advice to get the Basic Dialogue behavior working.  It's nice too start getting "code" done for the game, even if it's the basic versions, since I'm feeling way more confident and it's a lot easier to build up on a behavior than it is it get the foundation down (at least I hope so).  Right now here's my to do list, the sooner I get this done the sooner I can get a loose beta going, and then consider getting a website and starting driving traffic toward it.

TO DO LIST

Dialogue Behavior Upgrades

text that can wrap around the screen  (can be post poned, but has to get done inevitably)

track Story Game Attributes to get the appropriate message

fit multiple options and branches into the same actor instance

capability to make decisions in conversation (or at the end of conversations)

Simple Health System:  Take some amount of hits/damage and the player dies or respawns at the beginning of the level.

Enemy Attack:  When "hits" the player takes damage.

Darkness Spawner:  Spawns a black image over the player that simulates darkness

Save Game Behavior:  When you interact with a Typewritter it'll save your progress.

Sprites/Graphics:  Patient 9, 1^st Enemy, Therapist, Darkness Actor, Random Props

Title Screen: Gotta load or start a game from somewhere.

Start making the BETA!  Eeeeeeeee! :)

I'm super pumped about getting this beta up soon, may only take a week or two.  Lately I've been working on a game (mine or my buddies) everyday.  I've noticed it keeps me "in the flow" and keep it on my mind.  Another little benefit is it's a lot easier to do rough conceptualizing while commuting, which seems to take foevar! in Toronto.  I think for my next post/update I might add a little short story that'll take place before the game, something from a characters point of view.  Till next time!