Standard Elves and Warriors

Today I went to participate in Modern PPTQ (mostly because players asked for cards or decks from me/I wasn't really taking the tournament seriously) but I took two type 2 decks with me because I wanted to test if one of those could be viable for the upcoming type 2. In between rounds I grabbed one of those type 2 decks and played against some modern decks (playing a different format decks against each other sometimes (many times) does not make sense but some matchups are very playable and sometimes one realizes how the formats are different, it is not just about speed and power level of the cards. Each format's tier 1 decks are developped in very strange way...a way that it means that those decks become a meta-deck for something. Such decks can be 'easily' broken by something 'odd' for that format if you see what I mean..). The reaction of onlookers were not the ones I would expect (I did not expect any reaction that is). Anyway players were telling me that this or that deck cannot work. Some even said that they tried it themselves but that it didn't work. This is something I don't really like. If I ignore the fact that it is none of their business. And even if this decks won't work I tried to make it work and sometimes this alone helps understand the upcoming meta and the power of cards in the environment (not really the case of these two particular decks, but in general). Trying to build a deck is something that people should be doing at least from time to time. It is something that primarily taught me how to play and how to value cards. Even though we have a card that is reprinted its value in the upcoming format might be different than in the previous one.
Patrick Chapin says that a deck needs to go either big or be fast enough to win. Both the Elves and Warriors can do this. None of these decks is any of those very expensive midrange decks but that doesn't mean they don't have the means to win. Elves go big and with that I really mean BIG. Warriors are simply fast. It is not Atarka red but still quite good anyway. Do not underestimate the power of 2/2 with Double Strike. ^_^

Also I did not build this deck to win a PPTQ with it. I build it so I can play with something different from time to time and to stop thinking to hard about what permanent I should deal with and what card to discard. I'm not also very good at playing aggro decks so this helps me a bit to learn that as well. Even if I would play with this deck only the day I put it together it would be enough for me, because I would see how it works, what it does and I would certainly find out some info, had some fun etc...(people know that I don't usually play aggressive decks or burn, so this sometimes leads to interesting situation. keeping a hand that this against midrange is not good against fast aggro). The change of deck and perspective is a good thing. For example I played control decks or midrange decks in legacy for a long time and then one day I decided to play Zoo out of the blue and you know what? It was the first time I faced Stoneforge Mystic and Batterskull from the point of view of an aggro deck. It wasn't a pleasant experience but I won the tournament anyway^^. (I got lucky?^_^)

I put together the first deck (BW Warriors) because one little kid asked me to build a deck for him not costing much (This is a budget deck thus. It costs like 31 tix and 166 USD in paper. This price includes the price of Thoughtseizes) In order to look for all the cards and get them I created the deck on MODO so I could use that as a reference. Later I even bought the cards that I did not have (I sold Caves of Koilos erm..but anyway it cost me roughly 1 tix to complete the deck). This deck might not be anything stellar or competitive but it can win games. It can win games against tier 1 decks (popular decks are usually expensive). One needs to be cautious and has to accept the fact that if wrath effect takes place it usually means game over. But with few Dash creatures it actually still gives a chance and Valorous Stance can help too. (even though the discard is there for the wrath effect NOT to happen). The deck itself works. It might not be what some people like but they can't deny that this deck works. What is the definition of 'deck works?'. For me that is a deck that can put up a fight against tier 1 decks (and thus win sometimes). I also expect the deck to have a strategy that itself can win or synergies that can make the deck win.

Some time ago I was told that this deck can't win against Drown in Sorrow, Siege Rhinos, Sidisi and End Hostilities. But I was sure that with one or two cards that could still be printed this deck could actually work even if it would be just only for a while. Dragons of Tarkir brought such cards. Blood-chin Rager and Arashin Foremost are the cards that made this deck playable for me (Blood-Chin Fanatic is erm fine...). With these cards one can safely attack and get past/through 4 thoughness creatures (Courser of Kruphix) and the damage from Arashin that goes through is very important and also this means that one Siege Rhino just won't stop this deck. Drown in Sorrow might be a problem, but one needs to be able to play it on t3/4. This deck can deal enough damage to squeeze those few damage later even though it looks unlikely and in g2/3 it can discard cards like End Hostilities and Drown in Sorrow. I played against Junk decks and other tier 1 decks and beat them so do not tell me that it is impossible with such a bad deck. The deck is fine, it can't do much about many things, but it is straihgtforward and fast aggro deck and that alone can work at some local tournaments and with bit of a luck it could possibly win a bit bigger tournament. Sideboard plan is important as well. Discard is pretty straightforward, Valorous Stance against all those big creatures and more utility and some other Chief of the Scale or more dash creatures to deal with mass removal like Drown in Sorrow/Anger of the Gods.

So today I sleeved some Elves. I wasn't really sure of the deck's efficiency. But Obelisk of Urd seems ridiculous in a deck in which you can play it and swing for lethal next turn and Shaman of the Pack seems too good not to see play. I did not have any high hopes but I just wanted to try it. One thing is having a deck on paper (or digital form in my case) and playing with it. I usually come up with playable decks even though sometimes I cannot play them correctly. I was prepared to play against anything (be it modern or type 2) just to see how the deck behaves and if it can kill in one swing. As I was short of elves I added Sylvan Messenger and Temur Sabertooth (I haven't seen the card during the games I played - five mana usually seems doable...- for Shaman obviously^^). The Messenger seems to be pretty bad in the deck so that is one card I'd like to revise. I'm not even sure what number of black sources I need. I expected to need hell a lot of them because I really need to play that black mana dork on t1... but what number is right so I wouldn't end up with hands like Urborg + Swamp? Anyway when I was playing with the deck in the LGS people were telling me that the elves don't work. After few games I came up with the conclusion that they DO work. They just need a bit of tweaking and then figuring out how the deck should be played against certain decks. It can deal a horrendous amount of damage and if 18 damage + usually 4-6 damage from the Shaman is not enough than what is? Yup, the deck dies to Languish (same goes to the warriors). But it goes big. It feels similar to the Mono Green Elves deck I played at some coreset Game Day. T4 Craterhoof Behemoth was usually enough to win the game. Obelisk does more or less the same (no trample but still...good enough).
No seriously imagine that you play Collected Company and Obelisk of Urd on one turn. Company often brings Nissa and Elite into play...what can you want more? Does that seem weak or not up to tier 1 decks? I may not be playing type 2 and I know close to nothing about it but after seeing those plays I was amazed. No this is not a deck that one should just trash. I guess the pros will show everyone what decks will become tier 1. But I'm certain that this deck will be able to keep up.
And if this deck won't be any good or whatever (I doubt that) I had the chance to play with Nissa and find out how good she is. Now I plan to put in in Abzan Control/Midrange (yes, this shows that I don't feel like playing any of these decks at a tournament. But when I was actually forced to play those mono green elves I went X-0. And the reason? The deck is simple to play, true to its strategy and efficient in that. Unlike all those midrange decks that try to play good card after a good card and deal with opposing threats in between...). Nissa is the best chump blocker early game available but when flipped she does wonders. She DRAWS cards! o_O. Unbelievable...And just imagine this deck siding in Nissa Worldbreaker...eh...^_^ When all those elves get destroyed how about to be overrun by forests? ^_^ Anyway this is more of a 'combo-like' approach to elves. The can certainly be played as a straight aggro without trying to play cards like the Obelisk but I like it as it is with those Obelisks and Nissa.

So erm this post is kind of a rant. But I'd like you Magic players to think about deck building and values of the cards (those who it concenrs). Do it before the set comes out. It helps a lot. Waiting for pro players to come up with something is not what you should be doing. Of course you can. But coming up with something of your own even if you don't end up playing it is a great thing and helps a ton. (You don't need to buy the cards or anything, just proxy them and see what they do.) If you experiment a lot and with different decks and cards you will have a good notion of what the cards do and how powerful they are. Since I haven't done that yet I found out that I was struggling with figuring out how certain card would behave and if it would should be considered a threat or not. At the last type 2 event I participated in (came up second) I knew what to expect from Elves when facing them for example. But not knowing that I could possibly lose because I would not expect the deck to be that explosive. I also added cards to my deck according to what I expected people could be trying to build. (I played with Abzan Control) I myself would like to build UW or UR Control deck with Thopter Sky Network and for that I was ready to add more Dromoka's Commands in my deck and play Virulent Plague that I was avoiding. But since it kills all the goblins as well it certainly has its play in the sideboard now. Since the deck was struggling with having enough lands and the fourth one wasn't showing up consistently enough for me I decided to introduce Nissa. I needed to add a bigger number because the first 2 are there to fetch a land and the last one or two could actually flip. She can save some life and get me the land I need. Unfortunately she searches only basic forests which means that she won't fix my mana. Adding Languish seemed as a no brainer. I expected red decks to be played, mono white aggro decks and some elves (against other decks this deck has enough time to set up and win the game). Languish should be ideal against those aggro decks. It costs 4 mana and can kill almost everything. So I thought that this would help, but in the end I was usually siding that card out and either put in End Hostilities or Drown in Sorrow. So I will have to review this card the next time I play. Abzan Charm in 4 copies felt too much as well against slower decks and those playing Deathmist Raptor the card seems ideal but against all those aggressive decks it is a really bad removal if ever and drawing a card for 2 life is not one wants against aggressive deck. I put 2 Den Protectors in the deck mainly because I had them in Sidisi Whip and in that deck they showed up to be good but in this one they were not performing that well. It is a five mana investment or 2 mana chump blocker. Not entirely what I want. But so far they will stay in the deck. No matter what the deck performed well, it was me screwing the games up but this should get better if I play with it more often and that's what I plan to do, because I'd like to participate in WMCQ and not totally screw up. Since my experience with playing Type 2 is not that great I will most probably screw up anyway^_^. But let's hope that I'll have a great time.

Um...end of rant I guess, thanks for reading.