Joined: Nov 10, 2013 Posts: 17753 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
My therapist told me to stop thinking about that rank 1 elf deck. I barely remember anything about that match but it all comes back to me whenever someone touches me
I just wish I knew that modulo submitted a deck with my waifu wharf infiltrator too, so that I could have avoided this humiliation in the name of giving that card her much needed spotlight:P
Like, I'm pretty sure that big lili is the only card I'm unsure about out of all his list.
Joined: Nov 10, 2013 Posts: 17753 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
are you kidding? Joker, your deckbuilding contests will probably be the only interesting thing left to do with Duels. You can keep doing these and it would be really fun. I certainly intend to finish playtesting this contest, thank goodness for this.
Yeah, I was hoping to start testing and voting for decks in further contests, when I actually had the cards to build the decks. Oh well, I might still finish my collection, and we'll see if the contests continue when people have had time to digest the change.
are you kidding? Joker, your deckbuilding contests will probably be the only interesting thing left to do with Duels. You can keep doing these and it would be really fun. I certainly intend to finish playtesting this contest, thank goodness for this.
Let's finish this round and then we'll see how people react about more rounds. I just said how i feel, knowing that won't be more cards, new things to try just shuts down my enthusiasm a little bit. But i won't stop playing now.
Joined: Nov 10, 2013 Posts: 17753 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Ok second half of round seven of playtesting underway!
My deck by Kel first...against mono red! Pulled off a win but it took a while against all that removal. He got me to 8 life. No dice. 7-0
Last deck this round, Elks deck! Will the prophecy stay true?....oh no it's Radkos vamps, and I made a huge assignment error in blocking on his last swing. I used Graf Harvest to make a zombie to blow ck a bloodmad but he wasn't swinging for lethal and if I hadn't blocked, I would have been able to swing for lethal, so I kill the bloodmad with my token. Leaving him at 2 life with me having Scrounger, Wayward and Colossus against his Child of Night and Another bloodmad vamp. If he blocks with child if night, he survives and then I'm in trouble. I decide to alpha strike cuz maybe he's as dumb as me... and he lets the attack through and dies!! Yay for rank 1's!! He would have survived if he blocked. Elks deck wins. 7-0
Onto round eight! Four decks remain!
Let's start with my deck by Kel first and make Elk sweat...up against a rank 39 (scariest one) playing Boros humans. Absolutely nothing I can do against Hazorets ability to discard for damage. I have plenty of tokens to block but can't beat the burn, all his guys have menace too so I can't attack to put pressure. 7-1
Deck not eliminated yet! Only one of the other three needs to win for that to happen...
Modulo up next with yolo...I accidentally mull to 6... bad start. I'm up against a mono black zombie deck, he drops Cryptbreaker t1 and makes a token T2. I'm in trouble cuz this guy must be good. He drops a third zombie T3 and I'm thinking I'm finished cuz I only have Key to the City out but he decides to swing instead of draw! He only has 2-3 cards and he swings!! I was holding up Bidding as a trap so I key to the city drop them and kill Cryptbreaker. I do the same stunt next turn and now I'm drawing cards like crazy with Key. He gets me to 6 but I have crazy board now and I finish off the guy. 8-0!
Congrats Modulo making top 3 as I tear up MY OWN SUBMISSION by Kel . His deck retires with an overall record of 25-6
Next deck eliminated means we will have our winner(a).
WWs aggro is next...against four colour ramp, really tough but I won. 8-0
Ok elks deck to close out the round...wins, 8-0
Round 9
Modulos yolo...up against a rank 37 Boros artifacts player. This guy is terrible, he keeps misusing key to the city. He only has that Scrounger and white one drop and that's all he needs with so much removal. It was brutal. I only got 12 cards deep but couldn't get a fifthland to drop TWO mysteries, dammit. 8-1
If either of the other decks win, they win the crown. If they both win, they both get crowned and it's a tie!
WWs aggro first...huge tough win against red, black and white? I forget. Played it safe. Little Lilly was huge. 9-0! WW is certainly a winner... let's see if Elk joins him or will he get torn up along with Modulos deck?!
Here we go, last game of playtesting for this contest... good luck Elk...playing against a rank 36 Boros deck who keeps a one lander, drops a mountain then discards Gisela . I get Cryptbreaker, festering mummy and then lord of the Accursed. I refuse to swing into a one land and decide to draw cards instead and opponent can't take the humiliation and concedes. Yay Elk! 9-0
So the winners and WWs aggro and Elks Yet Another Zombie Deck!! Congrats boys! I'll vote for both and I encourage others to as well. I'll play both in future Twitch matches if we still do those
My Churn Undead Record: 4-3 Notes: getting this running (and churning) with unblockable recurring wimps is so much fun. The Throne and orerry put it over the top. Can be fragile though. MVP: Graf Harvest, Throne of the God-Pharaoh Ditch: I go back and forth about whether the Dusk and/or Never should just be Anguished Unmaking. I love their additional usage after discard though.
Game logs:
Spoiler
1- bu (draw): Cryptbreaker, Siphoner with a t2 hub, they play ingenious skaab. Stall at 2 Land so I play copter to start churning. They murder the copter, I play colossus. They Yahenni's expertise into colossus, next play Lord and Cryptbreaker, so there's a sudden horde I can't handle in time. 2- bw lifegain? (play): I get to work with Siphoner, copter and binding. They get T3 flip lily, T4 Gisela, but I've tossed a haunted dead with copter that comes back their EOT to tap her down. I keep attacking and get out a Throne, so it doesn't matter that they play baby lily and kill my Siphoner and hold back their lifelinkers to block; next turn crew all and say go for the win. Throne damage: 9. 3- 5c superfriends? (play): quick start with Wanderer, Scrounger that gets a declaration, binding & harvest, T4 sac the clue for a 4th land and play Miasmic (dumps a second harvest), t5 Orrery, overwhelm them. 4- gb ramp (play): Cryptbreaker, discard dusk for a token, Miasmic to draw (dump a Scrounger), Scrounger & copter, they get a big Nissa but I drop a harvest and kill it, then opp, with unblockable zombies. 5- wb Zombies (play): Scrounger (pushed), Miasmic (dump dusk), they play Wanderer & copter, Siphoner & Miasmic (dump never), they play servant and Cryptbreaker, next top deck a lord and outrace me. 6- wur control (draw): Cryptbreaker, top and discard a binding with no white sources, Cryptbreaker gets harnessed, as does the second one I play. Get an Orrery, takes a while to dump my hand cause I've got nothing on their side to use removal on, then they memory, but I can spend quickly. Things stretch out, they get a few PW that I work through, and they show a full suite of cast out and declaration, but I still have some recursion left, and once the Throne comes down it's over. Throne damage: 6 7- gbu ramp (draw): I don't get any of my Churn, so when languish hits it hurts a bit, but the real obstacle here is opp's Retreat to Kazandu, which along with oblivion sower and Nissa's renewals, had me working them down from somewhere north of 40. That's enough time for them to find Ulamog. Looooose.
Juicy Mummies Record: 0-4 Notes: trash, moving on to the next deck
Game logs:
Spoiler
1- uwb control (draw): stall at 3 Land for a while, long enough for opp to play and ult big Jace. Theoretically this deck should be okay against counters, but those aven guys cost way too much to embalm. And that's before they start bouncing my tokens. Scoop. 2- bw aggro-ish (play): Yeah, these creatures are all expensive little bodies. Too many hoops to jump through to get the tribal synergy going. I get rolled. 3- ur burn/mill? (play, AI): opp burns my first three weenies and casts tower, big Jace and docent while I wait for a fourth land to cast out one of them. I choose Jace. Does it matter? Not in the slightest. 4- uwg (draw): I get an early temmet, they get Nissa voice. I get a duelist, they get avacyn. I manage to hit it with blessed alliance but I'm cycling things looking for a third land and getting 5cc stuff instead. I get one but they already have a kiora, and a Knight of the white orchid ready to eat my guys.
Theflakymage's Thezombieshuffle Record: 3-4 Notes: I think this is better than the record allows, and it's definitely more fun. Has two of my favorite AKH cards in Supernatural Stamina and Throne, plus In Oketra's Name is just disgusting with a little horde in play. MVP: Name, Copter Ditch: I took a few mulligans on hands that were just too slow, and they often featured Mastery. Would this be faster/better with something like Graf Harvest instead, or is that just another deck?
Game logs:
Spoiler
1- uwb mill (draw): rrrg, deleted my notes, but this was an awesome game. Opp thought they had an easy win lined up with 3 Tutelage played t3-5. I answered with 3 In Oketra's Name. Ha! 2- ur burn (play): first lord gets firecraft, second lord gets fiery temper, Gideon gets committed, Kalitas gets insult/injury, cradle token gets twin bolted, I play a dark salvation for tokens, then a second kills the hazoret they bring out. Brutal expulsion knocks out two of those, so I have two left and I get a Throne out, and their board's empty. They memory, play jhessian thief. I knock that out with a token + Stamina, but their next turn there's disciple of the ring and a hand full of burn. I can't answer. 3- bw tokens (play): yuck, mulligan to six to get black mana, end up with 7/8 lands (and a copter) the first three turns. T5 find a dark salvation to kill their militia captain before it flips, but they have oketra and a fistfull of wimps. Final count: 10 lands, 5 nonlands. 4- uw (play, AI): take a risky hand with 3 lands including vent, copter, Throne, never & mastery. Risk is mitigated when they mulligan to five, concede before their third turn and AI stalls at 2 for a couple turns. They get a reclamation sage and Thalia (Throne says Thanks!), but it's too late. Throne Damage: 11. 5- rb artifact jank (draw): they play Scrounger, my servant gets pushed, I go lord, they play snare thopter? Sure. Colossus from me, they go Filigree and Inventor's Apprentice. I'm down to 8 so t5 I play another servant and Never the thopter. T6 I swing with my 4 Zombies looking for them to trade or chump with an ION up my sleeve. They don't block at all, and the Name makes it 20 even. Awesome. 6- wr vehicles (draw): not a great hand after first mulligan. Colossus, 2 names, 4 lands (2 cradle). They play motorist, t2 I top a binding. T3 they depala, uh oh. I go colossus and attack. They swing with both their dwarves, then play copter. I swing to get them into name range, sac cradle for a defense token, but that eats harnessed lightning, they play another motorist and I die. 7- rb (draw): I play wanderer, they go bloodrage brawler. They let my Wanderer through (I have Stamina in hand), then i play binding. Another brawler, T3 I go colossus and swing. Colossus gets a temper and I'm down to 8 from the brawlers. Play and ult Gideon, leave my guys on defense. They play ahn-crop crasher though, so I trade binding for a brawler and I'm at 1, and stuck at 1 black mana so I can't play out my hand. Cryptbreaker + Name trades with the other brawler, and I get out another Cryptbreaker but I don't have a second answer for the crasher exert.
11-0 with your deck Elk. I can't believe I'm beating Radkos vamps
Sweet! Glad to hear it!
It probably has something to do with vamps not being able to draw blood out of the zombies. They don't get that extra bloodlust (in this case, they probably only get dust)
DJ0045's AKH Zombmeh Record: 3-4 Notes: feel like I saw more inconsistency than usual in these matches, but ultimately the flex slot going to fleshbags is a weakness. Better off with cheaper targeted removal there (grasp or declaration) or festering/doomed dissenter to feed the Belchers. I like flip lily though, she's good at drawing removal and dissauding blockers. MVP: Copter I guess. Vent played well for me in these games too. Ditch: Fleshbag
Game logs:
Spoiler
1- rb sac steal (play): servant, fleshbag takes out their child of night. They play doomed dissenter, I play Wanderer, then those are both sacked when they play their own fleshbag. I play copter, he flings his fleshbag at it when I crew to block his token. I get Gideon out, he steals my token and kills it. I bring back Wanderer, activate a vent, and they can't keep up. 2- wb zombies (draw): they get Gideon of the trials and big lily, I get stuck at three land without more white after a first hub. Eventually scoop. 3- rb vamp madness (play, AI): opp disconnects to start. I have two servants and a Scrounger but stick at two land, while they furyblade into Incorrigible Youths. Should block the youths with a servant there, but I'm hoping for a third land to fuel a dark salvation on the youths. Don't get it, so I make the trade on their second attack. They get out bloodsworn and Asylum Visitor. I top a vent but need to do something, so I use the salvation on the bloodsworn for no tokens. Fiery temper takes out my servant though and I die. 4- wb Zombies (play): I play Scrounger, they get servant. T3 I play binding, holding a fleshbag and push in my hand to see what they play next. It's an anguished unmaking for my Scrounger. Top and play flip lily, so they don't want to trade. They have declaration for her though. They play Anointer Priest, which they sac to my fleshbag and return, then I draw an unmaking the next turn. Push the priest token, hit with binding, play copter. They put suppression bonds on the copter which I unmake their EoT, so of course I immediately draw another copter. Swing with copter and vent, get another binding in hand that I hold till next turn and use to tap their servant and force a trade with their new colossus. I win the turn after that. 5- urb removal (draw): they have a TitI, push my Scrounger, play Baral. I play Lord, then another Lord and Cryptbreaker. They pull from tomorrow on their turn, I mastery and swing. Next turn they flip TitI and play courier. I don't have the mana to salvation the courier and then fleshbag, so I play servant and flip lily, but they have baral's expertise into Chandra. They win. 6- gru (draw): binding to start, they pay fevered visions T3 so I'm thinking Turbofog. Lord and attack, then they radiant flames. T4 copter and servant. They cast Rogue Refiner, now I'm not sure what they're playing but I'm happy to salvation him for a couple tokens. They play kefnet but I've got anguished unmaking for that. Another lord and I swing to win. 7- g (play): start with 2 binding and a servant in hand, go binding first. Top and cast Belcher targeting itself, tap druid of the cowl. They play advocate and rabid bite the Belcher. I play servant and hold back the second binding, they rabid bite the servant. I play the second binding and topdeck lots of land. They cast crocodile of the crossing, I push the advocate, which they immediately get back with a greenwarden. I top a lord which would have been super helpful a couple turns before. I die.
Not sure when the deadline for this is anymore. Maybe the crap news about DotP getting axed has indefinitely extended the deadline? I'm trying Elk's deck now.
Yet Another Zombie Deck
Game 1 vs Simic Energy (25)
Spoiler
On the draw. I keep my opening hand of 2x Swamp, Chapel, 2x Festering, Lord, and Push T1. Opp drops Forest. I top Plains, play Swamp and Festering. T2. Opp drops Island. I top Cryptbreaker and win. Nah, but sort of... I play Chapel, Festering #2 and Cryptbreaker pass without attacking cuz I want the card. T3. Opp drops Island and Empyrial Voyager (2/3 flying d-card that makes energy when it hits). I tap out to draw a Forsaken Sanctuary. Then I top Diregraf. And play it, along with a Swamp. T4. Opp plays Forest and Thriving Rhino and swings for 2. I tap to draw, getting another Chapel. Then I top my other Diregraf. And play it, along with a Chapel. Then I swing with a Festering, hoping he'll kill it and let me Push his Voyager. But he decides to take the scary point of damage (good man...) T5. Opp plays Forest, swings with Voyager, and passes. I tap to draw Shambling Vent and then top Lili. I play Lili, but he's ready with Broken Concentration. I drop Vent and swing with a Festering, which he takes. T6. Opp plays Kiora, swings with Voyager, and minuses Kiora revealing Architect of the Untamed, Lumbering Falls, Big Jace, and another land. He plays the Falls and passes. I tap to draw another Festering. Then I top another Lord. I play my Plains and both Lords and then swing at Kiora with both Festerings. He can't saver her so he lets them both through. T7. Opp plays Architect and spends his stockpile of energy to make a token. Then he swings with Voyager. I tap-draw the other Push and then top Throne. I Push his token and he responds by tapping out to play Appetite for the Unnatural on it for the 2 life. I tap a Lord to make my army menacing, drop Throne because why not and swing for waaaay more life than he has. GG.
I take a brief intermission to purchase full art lands and Lili avatar and pimp up the deck (no point in hoarding for the next set apparently) and then its on to...
Game 2 vs Grixis Emerge (28)
Spoiler
On the draw. I mull a no lander into 2x Swamp, Chapel, Cryptbreaker, 2x Dread Wanderer, and Diregraf. T1. He plays Swamp and passes. I top Mummy and play Swamp and Wanderer. He immediately quits. Seriously. Maybe the full art land spooked him? Whatever. It didn't give me the autowin so I had to play it out vs AI. T2. Opp plays Sunken Hollow and passes. Top Unmaking, swing for 2, and play Mummy. T3. Opp plays Mountain and Pilgrim's Eye, making me worry that this is gonna be a Grix control build. I top Festering and play it, tapping his Eye and swing for 4. I'm sweating a Languish so I just pass. T4. Opp plays Swamp and swings for 1. Then he plays Wretched Griff with emerge. Top my other Cryptbreaker and play the 2nd Wanderer, tapping his Griff and swing for 5. T5. Opp plays Swamp and Alchemist Vial and swings for 3. Then he plays Resourceful Return on his Eye and finally casts Vexing Scuttler with emerge, getting Return back. Fine by me. I top Swamp, play it, and drop a Cryptbreaker, tapping Scuttler. Swing for 7, taking him to 2. T6. Opp plays Return on his Griff and swings with the Scuttler. I Unmaking it, denying him his emerge target. He passes. Top Plains, he Vials my Mummy and I swing for lethal.
Game 3 vs Orzhov Control (23)
Spoiler
On the draw. Again. I keep a potent but slightly worrisome hand of 2x Swamp, Wanderer, Scrounger, Diregraf, Belcher, and Lili. T1. Opp drops Forsaken Sanctuary. Top Festering, play Swamp and Wanderer. Opp concedes. Different dude. Same exact opening and result. Weird. I'm stuck playing it out vs AI again so... T2. Opp plays another Sanctuary. Top Swamp (phew!) and play it and Scrounger and swing for 2. T3. Opp plays Plains and Start // Finish. Top Unmaking and swing with all. Opp trades a token for Wanderer and I play Lili and kill the other token. T4. Opp plays land and passes. Top Sanctuary and play it. Swing and cast Diregraf. T5. Opp plays land and Cast Out, exiling Lili. Top Mastery, swing for 6, and play Festering and Belcher, killing a Diregraf token with Belcher's counters. T6. Opp passes and I swing for lethal. And then I discover that I'm having network issues. I end up having to reboot the router to get them sorted out. Perhaps my opp didn't quit this time and it was just me getting silently DC'd that resulted in an AI takeover? Or those scary full arts...
Game 4 vs Izzet Control (30)
Spoiler
On the play, finally. I mull a 1 lander into a horrible 2 lander (both lands would ETB tapped and the hand had no 1-drops and 1 2-drop) into Swamp, Sanctuary, Chapel, Festering, Wanderer, Throne. T1. Swamp, Wanderer, go. Opp drops an Island. T2. Top Lord, play Chapel, Throne, swing and ping. Opp plays Mountain and passes. T3. Top Plains, swing. Opp zaps Wanderer with Bombardment. I play Lord and pass. Opp plays Island and passes. T4. Top Swamp, play it, and cast Festering. Opp Convolutes. Lolok. I swing and return Wanderer to play. Opp is at 14. Opp drops Island and Commits my Lord. Boooo! T5. Top Swamp (grrrr!) and play Sanctuary and swing. Opp at 11. Opp drops Sulfur Falls and passes. T6. Get my Lord back and swing. I figure he's itching to counter my Lord so I just pass. He wasn't expecting that and sort of waffles with the pause button a few times before letting his turn start. Then he plops down a land and plays Glyph Keeper, leaving 1 mana up. Opp at 8. T7. Top Unmaking and play Lord and swing into his Keeper. He turns my game upside down with another Bombardment on my Lord! His Keeper eats my Wanderer. I return it and ping him for 1 off of the Throne but... ouch. Opp plays Enigma Drake and swings for 5. T8. Top another Lord. I decide I need to clear the Drake even more than I need to stick the Lord so I bait his Convolute with the Lord and then Unmake the Drake and swing for 2. Opp at 4. He plays land and passes. T9. Top Plains. Swing with Wanderer and then return it after he kills it. Opp at 3. Opp plays land and passes again. T10. Top Swamp. Rinse. Repeat. Opp at 2. But this time he Pull from Tomorrows at my eot and then casts Rise from the Tides on his turn. I've got a few tops that could save me - Belcher, Mummy (play it, swing with Wanderer, return Wanderer and have Mummy tap itself), Wayward (who I haven't seen ONCE since testing this deck) or the other Wanderer. Otherwise I'm toast. T11. Top Plains. Time to break out the Butter and Jelly. I swing and return just to take him to 1.
Game 5 vs Izzet Energy (23)
Spoiler
On the play. Mull a no lander into 2x Swamp, Chapel, Diregraf, Belcher, Mastery, and Unmaking. Slow, but I don't like my odds of mulling better so I keep it. T1. Swamp, go. Opp plays Highland Lake. T2. Top Wanderer. Chapel, Wanderer, go. Opp plays Hub and Twinbolt, pinging me and the Wanderer. T3. Top Swamp. Play Swamp and Diregraf (+1 off of the Wanderer). Opp plays EW and cracks for Mountain and Harnesses some Lightning to zap my Diregraf. Grr. T4. Top Festering. Play Swamp and deliberate for a while. Do I put the counters on Belcher and make it an easier target or do I put them on Festering and run the risk of a 2 for 1. I opt for the latter since he's already played one Harnessed. "Go on sucka... got another one? Hah! Didn't think s-" ZAAAAP! "@#$%!" He misses a land drop but plops down a Renegade Map with his other mana. T5. Top Scrounger. K. Play it. Opp cracks the Map for a land and plays Dynavolt. Ugh. T6. Top land. I waffle between Mastery and Unmaking but decide to nip his energy engine in the bud with Unmaking first. He's mana tight and will have to deal with Scrounger so I should be able to play around any counters he's holding up. Swing for 3 and nuke the Tower. "Alright, sucka. Got the other one? Hah! Didn't think s-" PLONK! "@#$%!" Opp plays the other one and passes. T7. Top land, swing and play Mastery. Opp plays TiTI and Heart of Kiran. T8. Top Scrounger. Swing hard. Opp blocks with the wall but goes to 7. I drop Scrounger and return Wanderer. Opp plays Collective Defiance burning Wanderer and cycling his hand, then drops a land and plays another Map and finally finishes his turn with a concession.
5 Game Verdict:
Spoiler
Record: 4-1 Couple of easy games but it performed quite well, even in the hardest one. Taking that Izzet deck to 1 after mulling to 6 AND getting flooded was fun, even if I lost.
Theme: 5/5 Aside from Scrounger (which returns from the dead so it could be like a metal zombie, sorta) its all solidly zombieland.
Mana: Smooth I got flooded once, but there were no games where I had cards stuck in hand that I couldn't play.
Criticism/Suggestions IDK. Like the first deck, I ran into too many weak decks to really get a good feel for what this one likes/lacks. Heck, I never even saw some of the cards in it like Wayward, Salvation, or Graf Harvest. Recurring beats were quite good in the control matchups and Throne helped to put the difficult game in reach while adding a little versatility in that it's harder for creature-hate filled decks to deal with.
Last edited by TheFlakyMage on Sun Jun 18, 2017 1:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
Not sure when the deadline for this is anymore. Maybe the crap news about DotP getting axed has indefinitely extended the deadline? I'm trying Elk's deck now.
Ah. Well, it seems like I've played the 2 most popular. Maybe I'll have time to squeeze in one more session tomorrow before meeting with fam for Father's Day.
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. His deck retires with an overall record of 25-6
I swing and return just to take him to 1.