Road to Kyoto '15 - 25/3/15

Yesterday, I went 3-1, losing to Painter and winning lands, aggro loam, UR delver.

The secret Bitterblossom played a huge part in winning against lands and aggro loam.
It helped to generate blockers vs a Marit Lage token and bought enough time for me to go for the kill.
Against aggro loam, Liliana could only stare at it while the tokens came down (and protected my goyf from a sac ability).
The sideboarded Life from the Loam came into good use as well so I think it deserves a solid spot. It does help against the delver matchups too.

I gave up trying to replace a goyf slot with Tasigur/Angler as I had a potential power boost from Bitterblossom (tribal ench) and I could reduce the damage count from blind Dark Confidant flips.

However, I do have thoughts on replacing Bob #3 with a Dig through Time as sometimes Dark Confidant isn't able to get the needed value when he's killed on sight. Naturally, my biggest issue is that a potential 8 in the blind Bob flips can be very intimidating and I could very well just lose a very critical game to it so I am unsure of whether or not this risk is worth taking. I shall ponder on this point.

I thought that I was up against RUG delver (when playing against UR delver) so I was quite happy when I stuck an Isochron Scepter with Diabolic Edict. I think Scepter and Abrupt Decay would go a long way in fighting some of the tough matchups (like painter) so I feel like I want to have this sideboard slot.

Also, because shardless is not as popular, the power of Divert seems very diminished as removals are cheap so they naturally have 2 mana up. I think I want to go with Redirect in place of Divert.

Duress was crappy in a critical moment vs Painter. I shall play 2x Thoughtseize (need to buy one).

Below is my current list:

3 Delver of Secrets
1 Bitterblossom
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Tarmogoyf
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Dark Confidant
1 True Name Nemesis
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
1 Gitaxian Probe
4 Stifle
2 Spell Pierce
3 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Diabolic Edict
4 Wasteland
8 Assorted Fetches
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island

1 Thoughtseize
1 Isochron Scepter
2 Marsh Casualties
1 Duress (gonna change this)
2 Divert (and this)
1 Grafdigger's Cage (hits 8 cards in Elves so why not)
1 Force of Will
1 Flusterstorm
1 Vendilion Clique

1 Massacre (random - need more thought into this)
1 Life from the Loam
1 Pithing Needle
1 Squid

Road to Kyoto '15 - 18/3/15

Went 2-2 yesterday, losing to RUG delver, the mirror and winning bant delver, burn.
In the RUG delver match, it ultimately came down to a Nimble Mongoose that I couldn't touch with my 2x Abrupt Decays and Disfigure (-_-") in hand.
In the mirror, I lost to Tasigur being hard to remove (as it should be - additional reason to play D. edict).
The final game came down to a delver and it not flipping but it did.

Following my premonitions on the previous day, I would replace Disfigure #2 with Diabolic Edict #2.

I am replacing a Tasigur with the 7 mana ugly angler fish delve 5/5 (I have no idea what it's called. The only copy I own is a foil Japanese version) to remove that slot's natural weakness to Karakas and its size can usually press down a 4/5 goyf. Its ability always seems to be non-trivial at most points so it might be negligible (or perhaps I'm not setting it up properly).

I have a Bitterblossom in place of delver #4 of which I cannot grasp the full effectiveness of.
Feels like it can give a huge edge in the mirror and RUG can't really deal with it as well.

I think Abrupt Decay #4 in the sideboard isn't really useful since it's a very marginal effect.
I wonder what good cards are in the new set. Perhaps I can work on the sideboard with cards from Dragons of Tarkir...

Road to Kyoto '15 - 17/3/15

When I lost to the Marit Lage token last week, that loss really stuck into my mind.

I need an out to it or I would just outright lose to it.

With that notion in mind, I replaced Disfigure #2 for a Diabolic Edict.

I'm starting to think that perhaps a wider range would be more useful than an outright more efficient spell. Technically I have better game against Show and Tell, Marit Lage etc and it serves the exact same purpose against Stoneforge Mystic (unless there is a Deathrite Shaman beside it).

I think I might like that it catches Nimble Mongeese as well and can let me come back when paired up against True Name Nemesis. I'll be testing it a little. I do not think that the extra mana in the cost would come back to haunt me more than the added flexibility. If it does pay off, I could consider switching out Disfigure #1 as well. This does weaken the elf matchup if anything but I've been seeing more Emrakuls than Wirewood Symbiotes so it might make more sense.

I have also removed a 4th Ponder and put in a Gitaxian Probe last week as I wanted a way to fish out information against RUG so that I can better optimize my plays because there is a lot that goes into the sequencing like fetches/wastelands/Stifles/Daze that matter in the early game and that information really makes things very different.
(There are 3 different Ponder arts too. Just saying.)

I have a Bitterblossom replacing Delver #4 to test for now but I'm a little worried that it doesn't pair well with Dark Confidant (which could be replaced with Dig Through Time).
I'm not sure how this impacts the deck. I used to dislike Delver #4 in Classic (where I played it the most) so I want to test a cut on it to see if it makes any difference and test Bitterblossom at the same time.

Have to come up with a refined sideboard as well. Still internally debating on what to use and I need to buy Thoughtseize #2 too.

I'll see how I fare tonight.

There is a modern deck that isn't too far off in terms of card selection so I think I should be going that direction when it comes to GP Singapore in June since I can finally play in it.

Dimension Robo~

On Saturday, I went with my brother's friend for a 2 man Vanguard tournament.
I wielded my brother's Dimension robo deck and my brother's friend played my DOTX deck.

I played DP because Daikaiser is still the most badass nonsense  (poorly designed because the fundamental game design is being attacked by its unique skill and the clan is so bugged) and Commander Laurel is also insane, especially since now most people have moved on to the perfect guards that can only guard the VG so the stride unit attacking the side, then restanding with Commander Laurel's skill would give a good handsize probably enough to tide you through the next few turns while trying to get to the end game of breakride + legion.

I have no idea why the tournament format is so ugly, with its double elimination 1-1-3 where two people play best of 1 games, if there is a win on both sides, the winners play a best of 3 game.

The single elimination portion of the tournament (top 16) was 3-3-3, best of 3, if there is a win on both sides, the winners play another best of 3 game.

It took about 4 hours to get through 3 rounds, after going 2-0, we were in the top 16 and we lost subsequently.
The only good thing was that the organizer offered cookies and gave everyone bottled water in the midst of the tournament and I thought that that was really cool. I've never seen this type of effort to give welfare to players. If I had a cardshop, I'd want to do that too.

There was a bunch of seeker decks that really rushed very heavily and they skip their g3 ride to get the first stride/legion. I am still debating on whether or not that odd play is a good move on their part because it seems fundamentally flawed but yet tactically reasonable.
In any case, I did not get to Shin Great Daikaiser over Daikaiser which kinda sucked and my last round hand was really bad (with a bunch of small triggers and nothing to really stride or breakride on).

Went back without anything but a playmat that I bought at $15. Jibril is so hot.

Road to Kyoto '15 - 15/3/15

It's been awhile since I've blogged, mainly because there have been many changes in my personal life that I am having a rough time getting through. I haven't gotten much testing done despite having a full week of break although I did go 3-0-1, winning a GW deck with astral slide, Belcher, Sneak and Show and drawing with lands (which I am pretty sure is a bad matchup) to secure some store credits.
I played 2 games with lands and lost really quick to a turn 1 Dark Depths + Thespian Stage in game 1 and to another quick Marit Lage token by turn 2 in game 2. Not having Liliana of the Veil or Far/Away effect really cements that kill.

My Dark Confidant #3 and Underground Sea #3 came in the mail.

So I'm now waiting for Tropical Island #3 and hope to figure out a comfortable sideboard/maindeck configuration within the month.

I tested with 2x Phyrexian Dreadnought to push to close the game fast. It worked against the GW deck but I need to consider which matchups it would be good in (like burn) for it to earn its spot.

Truth be told, I'm not in a very good shape now so I'm just tugging myself along.
Doesn't help that I do not currently have #4 Daze nor #4 Wasteland online so testing could be a little difficult. I never would have imagined that I would need 4 Dazes in a deck (which is why I sold some last time) and the price spike is horrible. A copy is about 25 tickets. *pukeblood*

Road to Kyoto '15 - 4/3/15

Last night, I went to the local cardshop to play legacy since Wednesday is downtime day.

I played a meshup of cards supposed to be BUG delver and went 2-2, losing to deathblade, RUG delver, winning a UB deck with the B 13/13 and Omnitell.

I think I shall play BUG delver for GP Kyoto (because I am too uncertain about the current format to pilot something original) but I need
1) get much more familiar with the deck (plays, what I want to Daze - which I am pretty sure isn't everything I can, how to sideboard)
(I got blown out by RUG delver when I forgot to fetch when my opponent was tapped out - eep bad play)
2) tune the deck
3) buy the cards for the deck
I think I shouldn't have any trouble becoming proficient with a deck.

The third point is the biggest problem because cards take time to come by mail.
I bought my 4th Wasteland and my 3rd Abrupt Decay yesterday.

Just managed to get a deal for a French looking (I can make out what the text is saying so it should be) Tropical Island from twitter at USD 200.
That's Tropical Island #3.

I think I'll get Underground Sea #3 and Dark Confidant #3 from an online shop.
(I thought I had a normal one somewhere -_-")

I think I can work with the deck with long sessions of testing online. (I'm going to be on a week of holiday because I had to clear up some leaves).

Road to Kyoto '15 - 3/3/15

Last night I tested out the control deck, going 0-2 (again), losing to Infect and Food Chain.

Infect is very strong with Pendelhaven and I ran out of cards against it.
Food Chain was tough because it could easily cast the Misthollow Griffins consecutively and I misplayed a crucial moment. Dig through time with Misthollow Griffin looks really good.

At this point, I'm a little demoralized having been on a very weak record.
I'm not sure what I need to do to change this or I should just take a stock list and run it for some time.

Time left: 1.5 months.

Road to Kyoto '15 - 2/3/15

7 weeks to the GP.
If I need to get cards, I would need to get them around now to be safe.
Last night I played Storm to an 0-2 drop. Very rusty with the head, deck and had quite a bunch of awful Ad Nauseum flips. I definitely wouldn't be playing this at the GP since I would definitely flip badly at some point to give up a few games.

I rested over the weekend as my hand was down and mousing would have been difficult.
I managed to settle my flight tickets in the meantime, flying in on Thursday and out on the Monday right after the GP.

There is also a local GPT early April which is in Legacy and nets a 2 round bye.
I think I might have to follow the new set closely and see what is good from there.

Being this undecided at this point is worrying actually. I shall read up more and do more research to see what can hold my interest and hopefully work from there up.


Update: Found a very enticing list not too far from my style of playing that went 3-1 in a DE.

2 Jace, TMS
1 Keranos
2 Snapcaster Mage

2 Thoughtseize
1 Toxic Deluge

4 Brainstorm
2 Counterflux
2 Counterspell
1 Diabolic Edict
2 Dig Through Time
3 Force of Will
3 Punishing Fire
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Spell Pierce
2 Terminate

3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Vedalken Shackles
3 Counterbalance

2 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
3 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea

SB
1 Force of Will
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Duress
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Envelop
1 Flusterstorm
3 Leyline of the Void
1 Massacre
1 Nether Void
1 Night of Soul's Betrayal
1 Perish
1 Pyroclasm