Competitive EDH - Exploring Animar decks

(I might edit this later...I need to do something else...now...)

Some time ago I wrote a post about building a budget Animar following certain rules. I spent some time playing with the deck against normal French EDH decks and was actually doing quite fine. In order to do better I had to cut some lands (six) and add or replace some cards. I added several one drops like Wild Cantor, Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic. I also added Gatecreeper Vine (I was looking for anything that costs 0-2 and fetches a land) because having three different colors on turn 3 seemed tricky with just basics and this card helps even though it slows me down. I cut Rancor and Clout of the Dominus because in general the creatures in the deck can swing quite well. I also wanted to find some creatures with morph that would be cool but the only one I discovered was Fathom Seer. On the other hand the card is just insane! Better than Gush in this deck and I really like Gush!

When playing with this deck the cards that were usually killing me were any global removal spells (but there aren't so many on common and uncommon slot), Umezawa's Jitte and Golgari Charm^_^. But I managed to win games in which the board got wiped out several times. Playing with the deck was quite fun too. It was nice to see the different draws. Wondering how I can win even though I faced cards I could hardly deal with was a pretty nice challenge. After one game in which I managed to play two Refuges and a Mountain I died to Blood Moon^_^. That was the reason for which I decided to still have access to creatures like Reclamation Sage or Flametongue Kavu. When facing cards of rare and mythic rarity I started to get annoyed by certain cards in my deck like Aether Adept and 5 drops that draw cards. When there are better cards on the same rarity slot why the hell play these ones? Because the ones that are better are not modern legal was my answer (because the deck was build with that condition - it was supposed to be Modern legal). In the end I just gave up on modern-legal cards since who will actually play with same limitation as me? I added Legacy cards (Shrieking Drake, Quirion Sentinel, Peregrine Drake, Owl Familiar, Raven Familiar, Merfolk Traders, Wall of Blossoms, Fierce Empath etc...). After these changes I could actually keep up quite well with the 'normal' French EDH decks and I wasn't swearing too much when I did not have UU to play Aether Adept...

Some time later I decided to see how a competitive version of this deck works because I really liked the c/u version. I put some cards together but the deck did not work well. It wasn't consistent enough and could hardly go off (except some obvious two/three card interaction). I changed about 20 cards in the deck and tried once again. More or less the same was happening but I saw that the games when I resolve an Eldrazi ended up in me winning unlike trying to kill my opponent with Animar (that worked WAY BETTER in the common/uncommon version). So I decided to focus more on the Eldrazi rather than general damage. But in the meantime I just tried someone's decklist from some tournament. I did not like many cards in the deck, so I took them out and replaced them. There are still many cards I don't like in the deck but it 'feels' better even though the cards that I cut might be actually good. I thought that this deck could have the similar feel of the common/uncommon version - a more powerful brother - but I was mistaken. The deck either really wants to go for a silly combo or just die. So I tried to making it faster which meant though that all the synergy I enjoyed in the c/u version was simply gone.

Several hours later of playing Animar vs. other decks I found out that the deck needs more one drops. I couldn't really come up with any except more mana dorks and some random cards like Sage of Epityr, Scute Mob, Tinder Wall and...Cursecatcher.

THe decklist follows after some notes. These are cards that I'm not really content with:

• Flametongue Kavu
• Wirewood Herald (but still anything that finds Fierce Empath can't be bad?)
• Cursecatcher
• Gilded Drake (but well steals annoying general?)
• Avalanche Riders (hm destroys a land)
• Shardless Agent (two counters on animar...hmmm).

Cards I cut and why. I still have some slots open so some of these cards may come back in (I did not find anything better or more fun yet)

• Sylvan Tutor - many times I had this card in my hand and would rather have a creature there even the worst one I could think of, si I just decided to keep Worldly Tutor.
• Aluren - this card is really horrible...The card's mana cost is just too much and is not worth playing it. It is a loss of tempo and does not really accomplish anything. Usually was the only card I held in my hand after few turns.
• Wild Growth - it gives green mana and that was the primary reason I did not want to see the card. One needs a land that produces green already and most of the times I just did not have 3 different colors on T2. I think that Utopia Sprawl is already sufficient. I rather added Tinder Wall and Wild Cantor.
• Earthcraft - ok, this card can be awesome but I did not really manage to chain the creatures the same way I could in my common/uncommon version. This card may come back but I can play my Eldrazi quite fine without it...
• Eternal Witness - GG was just too much for me...
• Rofellos - a creature for GG usually producing G? No, replaced with Fyndhorn Elves (I cut those later though too)
• Glimpse of Nature - I don't know why but many times I just couldn't play it at the right time. I was always one mana short than I needed and many times I did not need the card draw anyway...so I decided to try without it and I never missed the card...
• Daze - um....?

So after few days playing with different builds of Animar deck I found out that it is pretty annoying for both me and my opponents. The deck wins in a way that is not fun at all, is fast but horribly dies to Toxic Deluge. It usually revolves around two - three creatures and not so much 'fun' interaction is going on (Shrieking Drake, Phyrexian Metamorph). It's nice to play creatures for one colored mana...but other than that it is pretty boring to me (speaking of the combo version I tried to come up with).

Animar
By STsung

Creatures [56] 1 Artisan of Kozilek 1 Quirion Sentinel 1 Faerie Impostor 1 Cloud of Faeries 1 Arctic Merfolk 1 Wirewood Herald 1 Pestermite 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 1 Fathom Seer 1 Sylvan Ranger 1 Coiling Oracle 1 Shrieking Drake 1 Cursecatcher 1 Hapless Researcher 1 Llanowar Elves 1 Phantasmal Image 1 Deceiver Exarch 1 Arbor Elf 1 Man-o'-War 1 Raven Familiar 1 Birds of Paradise 1 Wall of Blossoms 1 Wood Elves 1 Bloom Tender 1 Rattleclaw Mystic 1 Painter's Servant 1 Augury Owl

1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre 1 Flametongue Kavu 1 Wall of Roots 1 Gatecreeper Vine 1 Gilded Drake 1 Fierce Empath 1 Dream Stalker 1 Dryad Arbor 1 Reclamation Sage 1 Wild Cantor 1 Elvish Mystic 1 Peregrine Drake 1 Sage of Epityr 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 1 Slithermuse 1 Primeval Titan 1 Avalanche Riders 1 Sea Gate Oracle 1 Mulldrifter 1 Spellskite 1 Quickling 1 Fyndhorn Elves 1 Trinket Mage 1 Elvish Visionary 1 Owl Familiar 1 Imperial Recruiter 1 Shardless Agent 1 Tinder Wall

Instant [4] 1 Brainstorm 1 Gush 1 Worldly Tutor 1 Chord of Calling Sorcery [4] 1 Gitaxian Probe 1 Green Sun's Zenith 1 Land Grant 1 Shared Discovery Artifact [3] 1 Cloudstone Curio 1 Mox Diamond 1 Skullclamp Enchantment [2] 1 Survival of the Fittest 1 Utopia Sprawl

Land [30] 1 Flooded Strand 1 Bloodstained Mire 1 Command Tower 6 Forest 1 Arid Mesa 1 Gaea's Cradle 1 Mountain 1 Copperline Gorge 1 Volcanic Island 4 Island 1 Taiga 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Breeding Pool 1 Tropical Island 1 Steam Vents 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Stomping Ground 1 Polluted Delta 1 Windswept Heath 1 Eye of Ugin

Tundra

Mountain - landscape experiment

One day I'd like to be able to paint some custom basic lands. For that I need to learn how to paint some landscapes. I'm far from any good but I'm trying. In the future I might discover how to paint this or that and see if I can paint something looking good. So far I produced something someone commented as 'beta land'. Maybe later I'll be able to paint something less beta^^.

Force of Will no.3

Casual EDH attempt no.5 - Budget Animar no.2

Our group came up with something new to balance the game....Explanation quoted from one of the originators:

Explanation for a creating a new format is simple. I have been playing magic for merely 8 years so far and every year since Lorwyn block the core of the game is from my point of view losing healthy balance and it is much more connected with producing power over quality, which may be very clearly seen in Alara block or Zendikar block including RoE which is just bunch of powerful,game changing, yet strongly unbalanced cards. Problem with players and entire franchise nowadays is, that most of the players are playing just for winning over someone which is totally obliviating the basic idea of a good game... having fun, no matter what. This problem is unevitably rooted in tournament play, where best players are not playing decks that are showing endless possibilities of MtG game, just playing the best cards... Commander should have been different but it is simply not. Therefor we agreed with Tony to create something that should be easy to build, cheap to buy, open for new ideas, much more personal, fulfilled with ideas, fun to play and even to win format. Obviously, now, the banlist is short, but after few games we will be able to expand it. I hope we will find this experiment strongly satisfying experience.

For me since Lorwyn Magic started to be a completely new game and since Zendikar it started to show in all formats (even t1). I wouldn't say that the problem is in 'winning' in general (I mean winning and having fun is subjective and it will always be a problem. it's not a problem in this group though except perhaps one person) but the problem with good and powerful cards is obvious (that's what I don't like about type 2 nowadays.) So anyway the new rules for deck construction are:

1. Your Commander is chosen as normal, rarity is irrelevant
2. EVERYTHING else in your deck must be common or uncommon. If a given card was printed at different rarities (Serra Angel, for example) go with the LOWER rarity
3. The deck must be EDH legal (i.e. Rofellos is banned as your Commander)
4. The deck must be French 1v1 'Duel-EDH' legal (no Sol Rings)
5. The deck must be Modern-legal (bye bye Skullclamp)

I personally don't like these rules rather I do not like rule no.5. I would like to keep EDH vintage legal because there are many cards I'd like to play (cards from Urza block are simply too awesome). My favorite cards are older than eight edition usually. I also don't think that these rules will bring balance and creativity but who knows (it certainly will lead to deckbuilding which is good)? It might in the end be a 'strongly satisfying experience' but so far I highly doubt that.

I was thinking if I want to join everyone doing this. At first I was like 'no way'. I don't like changes and I like the endless possibilities that all the sets provide. EDH is already limiting quite well for me^_^ (the reason why I think German Highlander makes more sense and follows 'normal' gameplay). Limiting it even more does not feel right. But on the other hand I already played all common decks and I had quite a lot of fun with those. So why not try it?

I wouldn't call myself creative even though sometimes I come up with something creative^_^. I took my previous Animar deck and took it apart and started looking ((physically -running around my room and checking contents of boxes I haven't opened in a long while) for commons and uncommons I could play. Animar should be a strong choice. There are hardly any global removal spells and most spot removal is black and no one bothers to play anything red usually. When I used to play all common decks I soon realized that having more creatures is really powerful so we will see how it goes in this 'new format' and how annoying the deck will be.

When going through my cards I found cards I did not expect to have (and commons and uncommons that are pretty expensive nowadays, hehe)^_^. I was looking for several effects - mana ramp/fixation, card advantage and bounce effects. I have to say that to produce 57 creatures was a really tedious task that took ages and I still miss some kind of Flametongue Kavu (I put there Perilous Myr). When I couldn't find enough draw effects on creatures I started looking for any looting effects as I'll most probably end up with lands in my hand and no creatures to play. There are still cards I'd like to replace (Clout of the Dominus for example) but I did not find anything better yet. When I play with this deck tomorrow I'd like to figure out if Animar's protections will be sufficient or the deck will need more protection for the general (which brought an unpleasant thought to my mind. I will need to be killing my opponents one by one by general damage...that does not sound like fun...) Also I need to find out how consistently I can get to other finishers. So here's my deck following the rules above. Not tested in multiplayer yet...

Creature [57]
1 Bond Beetle
1 Faerie Impostor
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Wood Elves
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Pestermite
1 Deceiver Exarch
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Priest of Urabrask
1 Invasive Species
1 Clone
1 Shaman of Spring
1 Mulldrifter
1 Acidic Slime
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
1 Haru-Onna
1 Merchant of Secrets
1 Quickling
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Eternal Witness
1 Deadwood Treefolk
1 Voidmage Husher
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Zhur-Taa Druid
1 Perilous Myr
1 Roaring Primadox
1 Drumhunter
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Alloy Myr
1 Scuttlemutt
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Augury Owl
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Wild Cantor
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Fertilid
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Wall of Roots
1 Citanul Woodreaders
1 Llanowar Empath
1 Species Gorger
1 Borderland Ranger
1 Elgaud Shieldmate
1 Keymaster Rogue
1 Stingerfling Spider
1 Timberland Guide
1 Satyr Grovedancer
1 Reckless Scholar
1 Thought Courier
1 Gryff Vanguard
1 Silvergill Adept
1 Kavu Climber
1 Mist Raven

Artifact [1]
1 Crystal Shard
Enchantment [2]

1 Clout of the Dominus
1 Rancor
Land [37]

9 Forest
9 Island
7 Mountain
1 Ancient Ziggurat
1 Gruul Turf
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Kazandu Refuge
1 Command Tower
1 Frontier Bivouac
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Thornwood Falls

BTW the deck is worth 25 bucks not counting the general...which costs like 10 USD, eh...

EDIT: I cut like 6 lands and it works WAY BETTER.

Wurmcoil Engine

I received a Japanese Wurmcoil Engine promo that I wanted to save. After staring at it for a while I'm not sure what to paint there instead of the textbox (spiky stuff...hm). So I decided to rewrite the text and leave it that way till the time I figure out how to make this card textless...It looks better now even though that my handwriting is not the nicest thing to look at...

Force of Will

If you are reading my blog because of alters I post here I'd like to link you to http://stsungalters.blogspot.com or my website at http://stsungalters.com. If I'll continue producing more alters than (written) posts I'll stop posting the alters here. They will be posted on my blog dedicated to alters.

Rant alert...

Since last month I decided to start altering more often and try to earn some money this way so I could at least pretend that I 'live' in this society. So far it hardly works but I have commissions and I like doing this even though I can hardly focus my eyes after doing one or two alters. (that means also playing less Magic, oh man alters are time consuming and I don't charge much...)

I find it stupid that there is simply no place for some people and no way for them to reasonable earn at least enough money to pay for the rent and food. I tried to be one with the society and follow everything but I simply can't and all the work experiences I had (except working for Tomas Klimes and Jan Horsky) show this. I do not share the values of nowadays society and I don't have what it takes to live here. I treasure truthfulness, honesty, respect and honor and that is something I hardly find among those people I see everyday. In this society of lies, ignorance, selfishness, pretence and prejudice I'm not really sure if I can go on.

Each month for a certain period I'm in a state of turmoil, anxiety and depression. It is difficult for me to do even what I like to do and trying to do something for money is even worse. Everything just reminds me how far I let this all go. My will is strong and deep inside me there is still something that makes me go on but for how long? Can I get back to 'living' a life?

This is an alter that I just gave up finishing. After spending ages figuring out how to alter Wasteland I did not want to go through that again with Force of Will. I'll probably try once again in the future and give it more time but today (yesterday) I don't feel up to it.

UWR cards

This blog is flooded with my alters. That was not supposed to happen. So here are four alters in one post. They are all for the same person and the cards left Czech Republic for Alaska few days ago.

EDIT: I got payed in cards. When I received the cards I found another card there. It was a very nice suprise from the person - Stoneforge Mystic. It really made my day.

Wasteland Attempt no.1

I always wanted to alter Wasteland but I knew that mixing those 'browns' would be problematic for me...and it turned out to be a serious problem. So this card will get a revision...sooner or later.

Red Elemental Blast

Past in Flames

Thoughtseize

Umezawa's Jitte no.3

I was asked to save a heavily played Jitte so here it is...

Casual EDH attempt no.4 - Budget deck and level of annoyance

At the last session I was told not to play with my decks because no one can actually deal with those (instead I was handed a white weenie deck...). The reason given was that one of my cards in the deck is more expensive than the decks I played against. Which is true but even if I would swap my manabase for basic lands they wouldn't be able to deal with my 150USD deck (and I was certain that I can put together a way more annoying deck for way less - I used to play all common UB control highlander). So I was wondering about what next I should build. I did not choose the right general for it for starters but I was interested in what it would do and how much it would cost because I did not expect the deck to cost much.

I put together Animar - comes into play deck...while thinking about the deck I did not really have my playgroup in mind in general but I was thinking about the player who was complaining about my deck on Tuesday. He wants to sell his Prime Speaker Zegana deck for 80EUR so I guess the deck that follows should be comparable to it (price wise). His deck is a nice Hydra deck and it actually is quite good and really difficult to deal with unless one plays Wrath effect every two turns. 1-on-1 the hydra deck is even more deadly than in multiplayer. That's not the case of this deck, but what it can do is so insane that it can actually stay alive in MP game and kill one player at a time with Animar having quite a lot of other creatures in play. Anyway back to Animar and 58 creatures I put together...

Animar, Soul of Elements

Creature [58]
1 Shrieking Drake
1 Wood Elves
1 Acidic Slime
1 Fierce Empath
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Mulldrifter
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Priest of Urabrask
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Pelakka Wurm
1 Clone
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Treasure Mage
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Inferno Titan
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Roaring Primadox
1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Man-o'-War
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Raven Familiar
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
1 Primordial Sage
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Somberwald Sage
1 Garruk's Horde
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Eternal Witness
1 Mystic Snake
1 Faerie Impostor
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Arctic Merfolk
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Genesis Hydra
1 Master Biomancer
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Gatecreeper Vine
1 Flamekin Harbinger
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Fathom Mage
1 Bond Beetle
1 Trinket Mage
1 Quickling
1 Pestermite
1 Deceiver Exarch
1 Bloom Tender

Artifact [3]
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Skullclamp
1 Crystal Shard

Enchantment [1]
1 Equilibrium

Land [36]
1 Command Tower
7 Island
7 Mountain
13 Forest
1 Ancient Ziggurat
1 Winding Canyons
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Shivan Reef
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Gruul Turf
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Yavimaya Coast
(mana base is random for the time being)

While putting this together I wanted to avoid any rare cards or mythics but I also needed some 'finishers' or at least I thought so. That's how Bogardan Hellkite, Inferno Titan and Steel Hellkite ended up in the deck. Honestly I had problems coming up with more creatures I could put there. At first my only finishers in mind were Pathrazer of Ulamog and Pelakka Wurm. But when I was looking at 83 cards and still had to add more creatures I just aadded from the pool of creatures that actually came to my mind instantly.

Anyway by just solitairing this deck I can see what it can do especially on turns 4-6 if Animar survives in play. I have to say that it is amazing. Now I understand why Animar decks can be so deadly.

So next time someone will be telling me that he can't deal with a deck that costs 150USD I'll play with this (supposedly costs 75 bucks) and I can still cut cards to make it less expensive and maybe even more efficient. (ho! There is Mercurial Pretender...and well I guess I could come up with some morph creatures as well). This certainly is budget deck but way more annoying than the rest of the decks I put together (I think). Cheap does not necessarily mean bad. (I guess any infect deck should be cheap as well)

Hm...I had to write a post about this because I spent majority of the day figuring the deck out. But now I can just toss it away and try to come up with something fair...Any ideas?

Cabal Ritual

Another quickie...

Lotus Petal no.2

Patience nor productivity are at really low levels...so here is a super fast alter of a Lotus Petal I got yesterday. The card's condition is really poor so anything would help it^_~.

Legacy - UR Delver

Next month there should be another Prague Eternal. I'm not really sure if I'll be able to participate or not but if I would want to I need a deck to play. Sleeving a legacy deck is not a problem for me as I can put together almost anything from Dredge to Stoneblade. But choosing a deck I'd like to play is difficult since the printing of 'Delver of Secrets'. Since the day I saw it for the first time I knew I would hate this card and I knew that this would define a new legacy. No matter what...games against Delver decks are not usually enjoyable. When I sometimes tried playing such a deck I did not really like playing it either. But maybe I just need to accept the fact that this card exists and make peace with it.

Now Wizards of the Coast is taking it to another level. They printed Moonsilver Swiftspear and TREASURE CRUISE, a common sorcery speed Ancestral Recall. Treasure cruise is just insane no matter in what format and Moonsilver Spear is THE card any Pyromancer or Delver deck needed. I personally hope that they will ban the card. For the time being when I play it and draw three cards of it ..it feels like cheating.

So I guess it did not take long and someone came up with some UR Delver playing Swiftspear and Treasure Cruise. When this deck won something somewhere...it showed up in quite huge numbers in our local game stores. So I ended playing against few of them and I was swearing from the start of the tournament till the end of it. I was playing Show and Tell and some games got to the situation in which I had Emrakul on the table and couldn't win because an army of 1/1s attacked me and I was down to 2 life. The best matchup and game I had was against ANT. But all those Delver games...those games were just annoying. The deck seemed really fast and it countered all it could. And even when I got to the situation where I got all the counter spells out of my opponent's hand he then just played Treasure Cruise and I lost once again. That really seemed unfair.
In the next tournament I participated I played Jund (because I forgot one of each card from Show and Tell in my EDH deck). Jund was slow and inefficient and it lacked any card advantage...oh yeah playing against 4x Treasure Cruise with Jund wasn't a good idea. I even lost to some players who had no idea what to do with their decks and one even forgot to trigger his Young Pyromancers 3 times (2 were on the table...). That game was quite fun in general, because he tried really hard to lose the game. He attacked with his Pyromancers, let some of them die (my Deathrite Shamans were glad to trade) and then played some cantrips (^_~). I thought that I could possibly win this game if I would manage to draw Golgari Charm but well.. I lost anyway after he played few Cruises and I did not see my charm...

After seeing this I decided to try the deck myself and see if I can win some games with it. I played some games against Miracles and BUG Tempo. (I actually sleeved up more decks and proxied the cards I don't have in 12 copies and so on...I might need to mark the proxies to be able to distinguish them fast)

Today I brought UR Delver to a tournament in Najada and I had some really strange games with it (my pool of decks does not count with such matchups - the decks I have are Sneak and Show, ANT, UWR Delver, BUG Tempo, Shardless BUG, Death and Taxes, UWr Miracles, Jund). In Round 1 I played against Tomas Mar's deck. His decks are full of good stuff. It's a 4c goodstuff deck running Delver. I managed to screw t1 and t3 colossaly but Tomas messed it up once too. This helped me stay alive (keep my land and brainstorm) and dig for one Lightning Bolt I needed to finish him off. This should have been an easy victory for me but I messed it up so much that only luck could get me out of it. I drew the Bolt in the last possible turn and so it was time for game two. I tried to stay focused this time and avoid any silly plays. I decided to try Price of Progress in the deck especially for this kind of matchups so I put that in along with Pyroblasts (in the end I couldn't play it, Blood Moon wouldn't help me either though). Tomas played Deathrite Shaman on t1 and t2 and that was the end for me. I was trying to get some Bolts but I only managed to get one and died to that remaining Shaman. The game wasn't even close. In game three I managed to have creatures in play, get rid of Deathrite Shamans and resolve one late game Treasure Cruise. I had it since the beginning but had no time to play it...and it would get countered most probably. Later via Gitaxian Probe I saw his hand and I knew I can play the card finally (no matter what I would have to try playing it). I drew 3 lands of it but the following three cards were 2 Pyroblasts and yet another land. Pyroblast tried to kill Delver but Delver was regenerated by Golgari Charm. This allowed me to attack for 5 though. The next turn I played the second Pyroblast and won the game.

Next round I played against Merfolk. I had no idea what to expect from this match up. I had a slight advantage because my opponent thought that I play Sneak and Show and probably kept a hand against that (I had no idea that he played Merfolk). My opponent started with Cursecatcher. So I played my creatures and waited with my noncreature spells. Another Cursecatcher then showed up so I used Forked Bolt to get rid of them. I played Young Pyromancer, created about 6 tokens and my opponent conceded. In game two I looked at his hand wondering what I'll be doing with it. There was Jitte in play and one creature. I killed it and hoped for another removal because it was more likely I would draw a burn spell rather than Smash to Smithereens. I drew it after some Ponders and Brainstorms and got rid of the creature that showed up next. When I started wondering about third creature that might show up I realized that I don't even need to care about that because I can deal the remaining nine damage before the creature would attack me (Treasure Cruise is what won me the game).

In the third round my opponent accidentally showed me Sinkhole from his deck. So I knew what kind of deck to expect but I did not know how the games would go. I played t1 Delver and flipped it on turn 2. It died to Smallpox later. I managed to draw a land and started looking for something else. After few Sinkholes about 5 Mishra's Factory attacks and some annoying cards I managed to draw another Delver and flip it the next turn. This creature managed to win the game. In the second game it did not look good. My opponent had 2x Sinkhole, Toxic Deluge, Liliana of the Veil, Smallpox in hand. I played Delver of Secrets and tried swinging with it. I only had one land so I tried to dig for another land. When Tabernacle hit the table I wasn't really sure what to do. I decided to keep my land rather than Delver of Secrets. Looked for more creatures and played them one at a time. They all died and then I tried countering as many Sinkholes I could. That's when Liliana hit the board but I already had Pithing Needle ready for her. My opponent countered that with Ratched Bomb and destroyed the needle. So I played another Needle I had and then I was getting hit with Mishra's Factory and stared at Engineered Plague that affected humans. My only way to win was to draw several burn spells. When we were both at 4 life my opponent started to be afraid of Smash to Smithereens and stopped attacking me. That gave me some time to draw something else than Smash to Smithereens that I already had in my hand (I had Lightning Bold and Smash to Smithereens). I played 3 Treasure Cruises, some combination of Brainstorms and Ponders...I probably had something like 15 cards in my library (that contained 2 bolts)...and then I finally top decked the bolt.

In the finals I played against a mono red deck with 8 Pillars and all sweepers there possible are in red. I had to take mulligan which wasn't good either...In game one I did not manage to counter Pyrostatic Pillar and I knew this card would eventually kill me as there is no way getting rid of it. My opponent was stuck at one land though so I tried dealing more damage to my opponent than to me. Well it almost worked out...but I died. His first sweeper that he played was Volcanic Fallout that I couldn't counter and that was more or less it. If I would have drawn a Lightning Bolt I could have tried to deal the 5 remaining damage with it and Swiftspear...(but still I would get hit by Fireblast.) In game two after few mulligans I couldn't do much. There was no way I could win...even though I tried to survive for a while.

So after an eternity I was allowed to win some store credit in Najada and I had to thank the deck for it. Actually today all the games were fun. But it might also be due to the fact that I did not play against any annoying Delver deck. I don't count Tomas's deck because that deck simply does...everything...So I'll bring the UR Delver to another tournament to see how it fares against ... well those Delver decks I did not encounter.^_~.

UR Delver
By STsung

Creatures [12]
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Monastery Swiftspear

Instant [16]
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt

Sorcery [15]
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
4 Treasure Cruise
2 Forked Bolt
1 Chain Lightning

Land [17]
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Polluted Delta
1 Mountain
1 Wooded Foothills

SB:
1 Smash to Smithereens
3 Pyroblast
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Price of Progress

Steppe Lynx

Casual EDH attempt no.3 part 1 - Sydri

(those who heard me whine about EDH or read my rant can skip majority of the post^_^)

Some time ago I read some article about EDH and it made me think once again. Any article actually does, there are plenty of them but as this one ended up in my mailbox I read it... Most articles actually talk about the very same problems. What is EDH about? What is a fun game to play? Do I want to win and if so how? And how all this can work in my playgroup? Each playgroup solves these 'problems' in different ways usually by limiting themselves somehow or setting up some kind of challenges.

EDH for me was a way to play cards I don't have the opportunity to play somewhere else and make them work. That did not mean that the cards had to be bad. I used to play mono black zombie control and mono blue control. No one ever complained. But the decks I usually played against were more of a german highlander style. No one would even wink after seeing a t2 Karn Liberated (if that would have existed at that time). As fun goes I like strange games and I like watching someone play a deck that works nicely. What is important for me too is that I actually get to do something. In the past I usually played rock decks or pure control so there was always something for me to do. As for winning goes..I guess I'm not the most inventive person, but I can see what certain cards do together and I choose the better ways how to kill someone even though I used to kill people with Gempalm Polluter because I found it cool back then. But I'm not someone who would kill the entire table with Exsanguinate (Cabal Coffers/Urborg).

Years later though we have so many more cards to choose from and so many powerful generals. So how to build a deck one that could be fun for me but wouldn't kill entire table at once? I actually have problems with that. Pretty soon I discovered that most people don't like when someone messes up their game. That was completely unknown notion for me. I used to disrupt my opponent's game all the time. My game plan usually got disrupted many times too and it was better card advantage/recursion that won the game. I started playing 'modern' EDH with Glissa, the Traitor. Anything from the graveyard could come back and the deck ran quite a lot of removal or answers to anything. These cards were primarily targeted removal and that was probably one of my first mistakes. It used to run some tutors but they weren't really important in this deck. It wasn't like....Mikaeus+Triskelion or any combo I could come up in this deck.

Later I added blue (I said good bye to my monoU deck for good). It was simply a rock deck...a deck full of good cards and that usually killed via Mindslaver/Academy Ruins. But that is something majority of the decks at that time ran. When EDH became more popular here and people were running into my deck it seemed that we were from two different worlds. Most people's decks weren't really doing much except playing some random creatures or cards that did not usually do much (did not have a great impact on the game). In my deck most cards were actually doing something. I started feeling kinda bad facing a 7/7 vanilla creature with my Grave Titan.

Some time later when playing some multiplayer games I saw that most people ramp and start actually doing something on turn 6 or more. I couldn't really understand that. Even though my decks were relatively slow I simply had to do something early game. But I played some games in which something really bad happened on t3-4. I played in few games in which one of my opponents played Bribery on t3 or t4. I usually had ways of dealing with the creatures but that wasn't considered as a good think and people did not really like me for that. Once I happened to counterspell Bribery on t3 and was yelled upon. I actually played my competitive 1-on-1 deck against some multiplayer decks and I warned everyone in advance but that's how it ended up. Not only I consider Bribery pretty mean but being yelled upon because I countered it (Force of Will) that's something I couldn't really understand. This was the end of EDH for me. At least I thought so...But as with anything Magic ...I came back.

In the meantime I sticked to French EDH. Something that was way closer to german highlander and something where I could actually build a combo deck and don't feel bad about it. But in the end different people come to EDH tournaments and those that come to have fun or play their game they just lose pretty badly not understanding what's going on.

If you are reading my blog you know that I joined a group that regularly meets on Tuesdays. For that I tried building few decks - Marath Pod, Prossh the Beast, Roon - Blink, Phelddagrif - turboland. All those decks though seem too powerful for the group. So what should I play? Two weeks ago I think I was told to build a different deck and take out Mindslaver out of my deck (I had it there because of 1-on-1 games I used to still play at that time. Because cards like Emrakul or Ulamog weren't usually good enough to kill my opponents). I have no problem taking out Mindslaver or any card messing up with multiplayer but building a new deck because people don't like it that's not something I'm prepared to do. This deck was not supposed to be any good or evil. I decided to keep the deck at home for a while and take a different deck with me next time. I had 3 different generals in mind Sydri, Sidisi and Sedris. It's been a really long time since I played Zombies so I started putting those together. The cards I put in the deck were mostly black and blue. One card was actually red...So I thought about it once again. There are cards I really wanted to try Empty the Pits and Sidisi. For that I would need some sac outlets, self mill etc. In the end I just couldn't decide what I want to do with the deck so I grabbed the cards and tossed them in a Epic Collection box (now I have written where they are...might come handy when I start looking for them^^). I grabbed Sydri from my bed and stared at her for a while. I always wanted some Karn deck but I wasn't really sure how to build it without making it....staxx like. I started writing down a list of cards but it was already Tuesday afternoon and I was supposed to leave soon for the session. So I put the found cards already aside and took out Prossh that changed a bit from the original 'grab the first 60 cards in jund colors'. After figuring out that the deck won't really be much casual I made it more combo. It had ramp, tutors, combo pieces, some necessary spot removal, Toxic Deluge and Prossh^_^. It did not really matter if there were any other creatures except combo pieces and mana dorks.

I took the deck in my hands and put all tutors aside. Then I took out half of mana producing one-drops. Instead of those I added 'mass removal' in the form of Black Sun's Zenith, Damnation, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos and card draw engine Skullmuncher, Underworld Connections, Graveborn Muse. The rest of the slots was taken by creatures that either bring some tokens into play or leave a token in play - Thragtusk, Wurmcoil Engine, Deranged Hermit, Nested Invader, Kozilek's Predator, Grave Titan, Sprouting Thrinax, Hornet Queen. I also added Skyshroud Claim so I would have yet another ramp spell...not one I would normally play. After all these changes my deck actually seemed ready for some kind of more friendly games.

I won all of the games. But I had a bit more fun than before. Most of the time I was holding combo pieces in my hand wondering if I should play them or not. During the games even without any obvious combos I was able to do something, have creatures in play (important) and draw enough cards not to end up mana screwed for example. So after these games I decided to finish my Sydri having something else in mind.

If someone would ask me what to play in an Esper artifact deck I'd list cards like Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek, Disciple of the Vault, Voltaic Construct, Voltaic Key + some big mana rock, Mycosynth Lattice, Liquimetal Coating, Karn, Memnarch, Planar Portal, Temporal Aperture, Darksteel Forge + Disk ... anyway I could go on but you get my idea. When I looked at my first Sydri list it looked like this but hell screw that.

After learning that many creatures is the way to go (and not be considered a big threat) I started adding creatures. I put some big creatures in the deck - Sharding Sphinx, Sphinx Summonner (meant to search for Enigma Sphinx), Enigma Sphinx, Filigree Angel and Steel Hellkite. After this I ran out of 'bad card' options so I added Wurmcoil Engine, Duplicant, Sharuum, Myr Battlesphere. In order to be able to play those cards I need some rocks...so even though I don't like those I added signets, talismans and some random bigger rocks - Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo, Sol Ring. I also added Mind Stone but that was a huge mistake^_~. More mana can be generated or creatures can be cheated into play somehow. Metalworker, Master Transmuter, Etherium Sculptor, Kuldotha Forgemaster, Chief Engineer, Grand Architect found their place in the deck. Next I needed some card advantage...Scarecrone, Baleful Strix, Vedalken Archmage, Trinket Mage, Sun Titan, Solemn Simulacrum. That was more or less it for creatures..Then I added some spot removal - Utter End, Vindicate, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Dispatch, Spine of Ish Sah. Then it was time for some fun cards or cards I wanted to use with other cards - Expedition Map, Trading Post, Unwinding Clock, Executioner's Capsule, Staff of Nin, Nihil Spellbomb, Open the Vaults, Roar of Reclamation, Hanna and both Tezzerets. The remaining slots were mostly filled in with card draw.

My deck was complete and I could try it out...I wasn't sure what it would be doing...and if I would like it. But playing many cards early and then doing something with them - sacrificing, putting them into play, getting them back from the graveyard etc...seemed fun. I could play with my artifacts all alone^_^

It was fun to play with Sydri today...erm yesterday so I'll keep the deck as is for the time being. I might do some changes later. So far I would probably (certainly) cut Mind Stone for something producing colored mana and cut some creature (Master of Etherium) for Sphinx Sovereign. That creature looks like it could do some crazy stuff and not be totally overkilling...Who the hell would be playing 6/6 flyer for 8 mana? If I manage it I will try to fit in a Dispeller's capsule as well...

I know that I did not really write much about the deck. But this post is more about changing the perspective and trying to delve into something else because that something else might actually be fun. I know that the 'problem' lies in me even though I know what it means to have fun and I like to see what people can do with their decks and I let them to a certain point. Noone wants to die without doing anything... But I always was good at knowing what cards are good and never saw a reason why not play them. But if other players are not prepared for them or they are not even prepared for interactions those cards can have...what should one do? Limit oneself I guess..but how? Magic being a really well designed game has a lot to offer with cards that are not stellar or other format staples. Even an all common deck can be a fun deck to play or a relatively good deck in general (UGw blink and UB control respectively that's what I have in mind). So here's probably the cheapest deck I produced so far...if not taking mana base in account this is worth 150USD. Twice less than my previous attempts^_~. (compared to the decks I usually put together worth 1500-2000USD - mostly because of mana base +/- 900USD)

Sydri is great general. She animates artifacts like Karn but allows to play cards that are not really that dangerous or mean and allows to play all those awesome Shards of Alara block cards. Master Transmuter is a card I like. I never thought that gaining 57 life would be cool or anything, but at least it's not Blightsteel Colossus or Sphinx of the Steel Wind. I personally don't have anything against those cards. People around me usually could easily deal with that so I had no problems playing it or facing it. But in this group...it's a huge problem. Not only they can't usually deal with it when they need to but most of these players aren't really prepared for a card like this (not to mention that it's not the nicest way how one can die...it certainly is better to die to ... animated Spine of Ish Sah^^). Triskelion is overkill with Sydri and I never expected to draw SO many cards with Vedalken Archmage. This is a card I wouldn't normally play because it would immediately die in games I was used to play. But here in multiplayer everything is possible^_^. Creatures stay in play for quite some time and one has time to build an interesting board...or have enough blue mana to animate opponents' equipments when someone plays Damnation^_^ After those few games I thought that Academy Ruins is cheating^^ (usually was holding it in my hand waiting for things to go awry...they didn't do). Now I feel bad for wanting to add Petrified Field (Academy Ruins). I might add Buried Ruin but hell with Academy Ruins. Anyway also this is the first deck I put together in which fetch lands don't do more than just fix the colors^_~. If I'd be adding another colorless land it will be High Market...in majority of the games I played I was missing a sacrifice outlet (I'm used to Thopter Foundry but since I don't have it in the deck I need something else to replace it...Trading Post is not enough^^)

So here's the first deck list I put together.

Sydri

1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Vedalken Archmage
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Grand Architect
1 Scarecrone
1 Chief Engineer
1 Master Transmuter
1 Duplicant
1 Sharuum the Hegemon
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Enigma Sphinx
1 Filigree Angel
1 Master of Etherium
1 Sharding Sphinx
1 Trinket Mage
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Metalworker
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Shimmer Myr
1 Baleful Strix
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Triskelion
1 Sphinx Summoner
1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Sun Titan
1 Myr Retriever

Instant [8]
1 Dispatch
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Path to Exile
1 Hinder
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Utter End
1 Swords to Plowshares

Sorcery [6]
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Vindicate
1 Compulsive Research
1 Roar of Reclamation
1 Open the Vaults

Artifact [23]
1 Courier's Capsule
1 Mind Stone
1 Dimir Signet
1 Clock of Omens
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Unwinding Clock
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Ancient Den
1 Azorius Signet
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Voltaic Key
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Trading Post
1 Expedition Map
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Staff of Nin
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Sol Ring

Land [34]
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Mystic Gate
1 Temple of Enlightenment
3 Island
1 Underground Sea
3 Swamp
1 Phyrexia's Core
1 Arid Mesa
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Watery Grave
1 Command Tower
3 Plains
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Tundra
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Temple of Silence
1 Godless Shrine
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Underground River
1 Academy Ruins
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
1 Scrubland
1 Polluted Delta

Planeswalker [2]
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

Sword Art Online playmat

Fellwar Stone

It's time to get some different red paint...erm...I just destroyed ...ehm already destroyed Fellwar Stone. *sniff*

Duel Commander - The Mimeoplasm adventure no.2

Random blah blah you don't need to read^_~

My calendar was showing two events on 11th October - an EDH Tournament in Hradec Kralove and Machinae Supremacy concert in Prague. The concert got the priority but there was a condition. If I would get enough money for it out of Khans of Tarkir I would go. Otherwise I'd attend the next one that could possibly happen in 3 years time^_~. If I would get at least some money from the tournaments I'd go to Hradec Kralove to play EDH. My last chance to open or win something was at Najada's League Top 8 draft. As expected...I managed to open nothing worth enough money to help me go to the concert. During that week I borrowed some money so I could survive through the week and send out all orders. On Thursday I needed to return the money and still have enough money for another batch of orders. Going to Hradec Kralove started to look unlikely as well.

On Friday my plan was to go to Beroun where I would vote and return to Prague so I could possibly go to Hradec Kralove. That day my mother called me and mentioned that my father is in Prague and could take me to Beroun and that by the way he is about to go to Hradec Kralove the next day. Long story could be told here but let's skip that. The next day we left for Hradec Kralove. I arrived on time and went to register.

During the registration time we played few games with Martin so I had some time to remember what cards were actually in my deck. I managed to screw up few times even though I won those games *facepalm*. Something like that should not be happening to me during the tournament.

EDH Tournament Report

Round 1 - Doran, the Siege Tower - Petr Stefan

In game 1 I kept a hand that was actually good but would become completely useless if a discard hit me. It would also totally die to Aven Mindcensor or Scavenging Ooze. All of this was quite probable from a Doran, the Siege Tower player but I did not expect that to happen and well that is what killed me in the end. My opponent played Mother of Runes on turn 1 followed by Aven Mindcensor and Scavenging Ooze. That was too much for me to handle because my only out was Toxic Deluge. These creatures were joined by Doran itself which was beating me pretty hard. After several blank draws I lost the game.

In game two my opponent opened with Deathrite Shaman. He was so kind to actually attack with it though so I killed him with my Phyrexian Devourer+Triskelion+Necrotic Ooze combo a bit later.

In game three I kept a hand with a fetchland and Wasteland which was not a good idea, those were all the lands I saw during that game. At that time I did not know that Sinkhole would be the most played card against me that day and there wasn't anything I could do with colorless mana...

Round 2 - Sen Triplets - Miroslav Vana

After this terrible loss I did not really expect to finish in top 8 but I could still try. I checked my opponent's hand so I could get rid of counterspells or discard but instead of that I saw a hand full of enchantments. One of them was Rest in Peace that really had to go. There was also Mystical Tutor but I wasn't really sure if that card could look for anything reasonable. I probably won soon after this. I did not write much information during this match except my opponent's cards in hand and life totals. The life totals were like 29 -> 26 and 29 and game over. I remember that the last game I won thanks to Survival of the Fittest because my tutor and reanimation spell were discarded. I did not have a creature in hand but I top decked Brainstorm thanks to which I managed to find a creature. I could discard it then and tutor my combo pieces and play Necrotic Ooze from my hand to win the game.

Round 3 - Rafiq of the Many - Viktor Coufal

When my opponent started with a tapped land followed by another one and playing a mana dork on turn 3 I did not expect much of resistance. My life totals I wrote down during the match were 29, 21 and 8 (the second attack was actually pretty brutal). It was my opponent who lost though. In the second game I reanimated Griselbrand which was pretty much the end of the game.

Round 4 - Kaalia of the Vast - Martin Vlnas

This round is were all the fun began. I lost game one. Kaalia of the Vast -> Rune-Scarred Demon -> Ravages of War wasn't any good.

Game two was a catastrophe for both of us. I kept a hand with a fetchland that could not fetch Underground Sea which was a HUGE mistake because I needed to play some cantrips to get to another land. I fetched for Tropical Island facepalming myself (showing my opponent that I'm completely screwed if he destroys that land...). I peeked at my opponent's hand seeing a hand full of rocks, Orim's Chant, Hymn to Tourach and Toxic Deluge. My hand consisted of two tutor spells, reanimation spell and Entomb. I couldn't really play those though because I couldn't draw a black source. I managed to draw or tutor Flash and put Woodfall Primus into play this way. In order to survive I needed my opponent to be also mana screwed and be drawing blanks. In this case rather color screwed so I destroyed his two sources of red and hoped that Kaalia would never hit the board (not that there would be anything that my opponent could put into play with it). I hoped that the Primus would be enough for me to win. My opponent destroyed my Tropical Island so I couldn't play anything (obviously) when I finally drew a land it was ... wait for it... Boseiju, Who Shelters All. My opponent drew a card, played a Swamp. I drew another land. It was Wasteland. At least I could destroy another red source if it would ever hit the table (and would be a non-basic LAND). In the meantime I was swinging with Woodfall Primus. When I drew another land I really started wondering how many lands produce colorless mana in my deck. I played the card I drew - Cavern of Souls - and named Ooze. When I couldn't really come up with other lands producing colorless mana in my deck, to my surprise I drew Flooded Grove which in this case was yet another colorless source. At that moment I was glad I cut Twilight Mire and replaced it with Mana Confluence. My opponent was down to 7 so he played Orim's Chant to earn at least one more turn to draw Swords to Plowshares. Then I finally drew Cephalid Coliseum. My opponent killed my only creature with Toxic Deluge because he wouldn't be able to do it a turn later. Then I drew Survival of the Fittest. I discarded Phyrexian Devourer and Triskelion keeping Necrotic Ooze in hand (finally Flooded Grove was a land I appreciated!). No matter what though I still needed a source of black. The next card I drew was a Forest or Island I do not recall but it allowed me to use Cephalid Coliseum and look for something in three cards. The last card was Marsh Flats so I finally killed my opponent (I was glad that I won at least once) at 30 life this time. I could have tried to tutor a mana producing creature but that would most probably die (I actually used Birds of Paradise to look for the combo pieces, those poor Birds were removed from the game for quite some time - Mesmeric Fiend).
Game 3 was pretty boring - I killed my opponent on turn 3.

Round 5 - Horde of Notions - Zbynek Boltek

These two games went pretty badly. I Thoughtseized my opponent discarding Reanimate leaving him Sword of Fire and Ice, Garruk Wildspeaker, Dust Bowl and Eternal Witness. After seeing his hand I was ready to shake his hand but I continued playing. I had a plan but it would most probably be wrecked by Dust Bowl and that is also what happened. Then Fauna Shaman with SoFaI equipped killed me. I could have destroyed the Sword but then Reanimate, Eternal Witness and Shaman's ability would kill me instead. In the second game we were changing control of Woodfall Primus for quite some time. In the end it ended up on the wrong side of the table for me and I lost. Losing this match most probably meant no top 8 for me so I wasn't really happy about that. Especially knowing that intentional draws would mean that I would not even get the chance to get into top 8 with 4-2 record. After this we played two more games in which ones I just killed my opponent very easily. It was fun though and I hoped that this player would make it far in the tournament. He lost though a mirror match in the first round of the top8.

Round 6 - Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon - Jiri Ponikelsky

My next opponent as I learned later is the owner of the restaurant where the tournament was held. He played a monoblack infect and that scared the hell out of me. Black has discard, graveyard hate and a 4/4 body that can be 10/10 Infect Flying creature quite easily. I 'poisoned' quite a lot of players with Skithiryx so I knew how evil this creature could be. Anyway it was me who played the first discard spell. I saw a hand full of lands and Lashwrithe + Coalition Relic. I discarded the Relic, let my opponent swing with a creature for 7 and then I just killed him with my combo.

In game two I reanimated or Show and Tell'ed Griselbrand into play. I also had Dryad Arbor in play (since my opponent had Diabolic Edict in hand) and that was pretty much it. He wasn't aware that Dryad Arbor is a creature so played the Edict, no matter what I expected Griselbrand to die. Griselbrand was a target of another removal spell later so I drew 14 cards and found a another win condition there. I spent some time explaining how the Ooze combo works - I should prepare some text for that...

After this I signed up for a booster draft because I did not expect to get into top 8. While waiting for the draft to begin we started playing some Legacy. During one of those games few players came rushing in to tell me that I made it to the top 8.

Round 7 - Doran, the Siege Tower - Martin Pelikan

My opponent had to go so I practically got a bye. Good for me.

Round 8 - Horde of Notions - Jakub Havelka

These games were interesting. Kumano's deck is actually a combo deck. I'm not sure if he wins via something else other than Deceiver Exarch/Pestermite/Zealous Conscripts and Kiki-Jiki/Splinter Twin combo or not. In his hand he had Mystical Tutor, Eternal Witness (oh man how she was annoying during the whole tournament) and Stoneforge Mystic. He played Phyrexian Arena early and was drawing extra cards. I managed to Flash Woodfall Primus into play destroying some lands - usually hitting green and red sources. I was attacking with Primus killing some creatures in the process and dealing some damage as well. At one life my opponent wanted to finish me off -> Mystical Tutor -> Enlightened Tutor -> Splinter Twin on Exarch but I ruined his plans by killing the blue creature. I won't lie, I was lucky.
Game two was quite similar for me, because I had Mystical Tutor and Woodfall Primus in hand. That seemed crucial actually because I needed to destroy some of his lands in order to slow him down. His turn 2 Dark Confidant wasn't anything I'd like to see. Zealous Conscripts, Treachery, Dark Tutelage, Eternal Witness and Deceiver Exarch were in his hand. So I destroyed some lands and once again tried attacking with the Primus. Later on I managed to put in play Rune-Scarred Demon with which I tutored Toxic Deluge. My opponent looked for Chord of Calling the turn later and played it during the attack. He looked for Phantasmal Image, chose Rune-Scarred Demon to tutor and block the original Demon. I was down to 18 life which wasn't much because he could steal one of my creatures and deal 12 damage but those six life would still be enough for me to win. That is most probably why he tried a different plan (he was down to 6). He played Kiki-Jiki, I killed the goblin so he wouldn't go infinite. On my turn I played my general copying Kiki-Jiki that made a EOT copy of Woodfall Primus destroying another land hoping that this would be enough (because alpha strike wasn't enough). I won.

Finals - Cpt. Sisay - Jan Kousal

This was the deck I wanted to end up playing against as it seemed the easiest one to beat. There were 2 other Mimeoplasm decks in the top 8, Elves, Doran, Cpt. Sisay and 2 Horde of Notions. I certainly did not want to play against any blue deck. Anyway game one seemed pretty bad at the beginning for me. My opponent played Aven Mindcensor and one more creature (Mother of Runes?). I had Toxic Deluge to get rid of those creatures but before I managed to play it Safi showed up wrecking my plan (killing the Mindcensor). Anyway I was forced to play the Deluge. After that I was facing Aven Mindcensor alone. My opponent decided to play Armageddon then. He wasn't aware that on top of my library I stacked 3 lands and Duress (with shuffle effect in my hand) - Lim Dul's Vault is awesome^_^. So I played my three lands, shuffled my library and looked for anything that could help me deal with that annoying bird. My opponent had Kor Haven in play and later managed to play two other lands. I destroyed one somehow. Later on I reanimated Terastodon destroying Kor Haven because it was most probable that I would need to deal some damage with creatures in order to win. (so my own lands were a necessary target as well) I was facing three creatures, was down to 4 life and my opponent had Swords to Plowshares in hand. One creature wouldn't really do... Later I drew and played Primeval Titan. I attacked with it few times, thinning my library so I could draw something better. Later I hardcasted Griselbrand and started swinging with more creatures I had in play (knowing that Griselbrand would gain me 7 life no matter what). I was afraid something would go wrong but it did not and I won this game.

I hoped for the second game to be really short because I was starving. My opponent had 7 mana available on turn 3 so I was forced to look for a removal for his general. I was afraid that something would happen to my combo so I rather killed the general first before trying to kill him. When thinking what could instantly screw me up I only came up with Crop Rotation. I wouldn't be able to do anything with it anyway so I tried...and I won.

After the tournament I was left alone. Everyone just ran away from our 'feature match' and I could finally eat my dinner. I ordered chilli noodles with spinach and chicken steak. I have to say that it was delicious. During my meal the organizer of the tournament came to me and gave me my two prizes. With my belly full I went to watch the ongoing draft matches. Majority of the players were drunk so it was quite fun to watch sometimes, sometimes it was sad to look at. In general we had quite some fun. Seeing players counting to eight or six trying to figure out how many cards in their graveyard they need to remove from the game and how many lands to tap was funny. The rest of the night we played legacy.

I'd like to thank everyone for everything, Dominik for writing report from the last tournament (reason why I participated in the tourney), my parents for their support and the ride, Martin for the ride back and accommodation and the other players for chatting with me, playing etc. Cheers to the organizers and judge for everything. It was awesome experience.

I'd love to write more but I cannot convert my feelings into words right now. This post looks pretty dull to me compared to the good time I spend there.

As I did not really expect myself to actually show at the tournament I did not really make any changes to the deck. There are cards I'd like to try out like Sultai Charm (another draw a card/discard a card effect but it can also deal with this deck's nightmares - Linvala, Scavenging Ooze, Aven Mindcensor...etc) and Dig Through Time (7 cards? that's a lot) for example. These cards are quite expensive for the deck but they are good. Cutting something though is difficult. Recurring Nightmare and Jace, the Mind Sculptor are the first cards I would take out.

Thanks for reading
S'Tsung

The Mimeoplasm by STsung Creatures 1 Arbor Elf 1 Birds of Paradise 1 Deathrite Shaman 1 Elves of Deep Shadow 1 Elvish Mystic 1 Fyndhorn Elves 1 Griselbrand 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur 1 Llanowar Elves 1 Massacre Wurm 1 Necrotic Ooze 1 Phyrexian Devourer 1 Primeval Titan 1 Rune-Scarred Demon 1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon 1 Sylvan Primordial 1 Terastodon 1 Triskelion 1 Woodfall Primus 1 Dryad Arbor 20 cards Instants 1 Abrupt Decay 1 Brainstorm 1 Dismember 1 Entomb 1 Fact or Fiction 1 Flash 1 Frantic Search 1 Go for the Throat 1 Intuition 1 Lim-Dul's Vault 1 Mystical Tutor 1 Peek 1 Thirst for Knowledge 1 Diabolic Edict 14 cards Sorceries 1 Buried Alive 1 Careful Study 1 Compulsive Research 1 Diabolic Intent 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Duress 1 Exhume 1 Gitaxian Probe 1 Green Sun's Zenith 1 Inquisition of Kozilek 1 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Ponder 1 Preordain 1 Reanimate 1 Show and Tell 1 Strategic Planning 1 Thoughtseize 1 Toxic Deluge 18 cards Enchantments 1 Animate Dead 1 Dance of the Dead 1 Necromancy 1 Pernicious Deed 1 Recurring Nightmare 1 Survival of the Fittest 1 Sylvan Library 7 cards Planeswalkers 1 Liliana of the Veil 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 2 cards Land 1 Bayou 1 Bloodstained Mire 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 1 Breeding Pool 1 Cavern of Souls 1 Cephalid Coliseum 1 City of Brass 1 Command Tower 1 Drowned Catacomb 1 Flooded Grove 1 Flooded Strand 2 Forest 1 Hinterland Harbor 2 Island 1 Llanowar Wastes 1 Marsh Flats 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Phyrexian Tower 1 Polluted Delta 1 Scalding Tarn 2 Swamp 1 Tropical Island 1 Mana Confluence 1 Underground River 1 Underground Sea 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Wasteland 1 Watery Grave 1 Windswept Heath 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Woodland Cemetery 1 Yavimaya Coast 38 cards