Better late than never.. No Deck tech this week

Like the title says, there ain't gonna be a deck tech this week. Its because Con is in the process of moving house so this week he is rather busy... Sorry y'all!

Deck Tech Wednesdays - Dragonstorm- Con

Phew, finally getting a break between activities to blog.
So anyways, as Zane has mentioned in his tourney report for last sunday's event, i was playing Dragonstorm. I actually had this deck for quite awhile and decided to dust off the rituals and go to town  XD.

Storm is a pretty big combo archetype around that focuses on the namesake mechanic first appearing in scourge (If i remember correctly) and using rituals to build up loads of mana and storm count.

Dragonstorm was the variation of the storm deck i decided to sleeve up for the competition. Why? Because i love dragons, storms and any deck easy to play. Okay fine it wasn't THAT easy to play for me.

Anyhow, lets check out my list!

Dragonstorm

The Lands:

Mountain:

 Duh.

Spinerock Knoll: 

Useful in cheating Dragonstorms on. Can also be used to bridge the gap between the burn strategy and the storm strategy. In fact, i think i've actually heard people call this deck knollstorm. Probably due to the usefulness of this card as a finisher.

Molten Slagheap/Fungal reaches:

Storage lands to create large explosions of mana when ready for the storm. useful as mana sinks throughout the gam.

The spells:

Lotus Bloom: 

Can usually put the opponent on a 3 turn clock. T1 lotus bloom suspend is pretty sick if you're kicking off the storm or not. It's awesome because when it's 3 time counters are gone, it will also be cast, meaning it would contribute to the storm count.

Lightning Bolt:

This deck also relies on a burn-esque strategy in order to activate the Spinerock Knoll

Shock:

More cheap burn spells

Grapeshot:

Grapeshot is an amazing win condition due to it's super synergy with Pyromancer's swath. when stormed and when the swath is in play, each copy will deal 3 points of damage, making this a very powerful spell to blow up an opponent's face.

Increasing vengeance:

Used as a way to copy your own rituals for larger explosions of mana. Interacts awesomely with Past in flame due to it's 'cast from graveyard' bonus. 

The past in flames also let u pay {R}{R} for the vengeance and still cast from the graveyard. I almost feel like i'm cheating someone whenever i pull this off XD

Seething song-->flash back vengeance = 15 mana!

Desperate Ritual:

The very first of the rituals. They help increase your mana and your storm count, making this one of the most important spells in the game. The ability to splice into each other is also a nice bonus

Seething song:

The bigger ritual. Usually pulling off most kills with storm involves seething song.

Pyromancer's swath:

awesome interaction with grapeshot. Also facilitates the switch to the burn 'mode'. Can also be used to get rid of spells in order to use them in conjunction with Past in Flames

Past in Flames:

Modern legal Yawgmoth's Will?! Yes please! Haha, this spell is the one that lets us use the graveyard as fuel for the storm later on in the game. It can also be used to pull off shenanigans all over the field. Past in Flames also helps the storm count jump by allowing the same spells to be played on the same turn. Especially if they are ritual spells.

Bogardan Hellkite:

The main attraction to Dragonstorm. When all 4 are out, the dragons deal lethal. JUST BY ENTERING THE BATTLEFIELD.

Dragonstorm:

And this is how you pull out 4 freaking 8 mana dragons. Really.

Most storm chains end in Dragonstorm or Grapeshot. 

Well that's about it for this week everyone, next week i'll be piloting this deck again in order to get a feel for the deck. Heck i might even play it abit more often. haha! Storm is definitely more fun that i had originally thought. Plus it helped me win second prize last sunday :P

Until next time, Con out! 

Tournament Report 14/10/2012

It's finally time for another tournament report! After our playgroup took a break from Magic for the past two weeks, we're finally ready to roll! I went into this tournament with only two hours of sleep due to some sleeping issues, so I didn't do that well. We were playing with a new payout, with a $10 entry fee.
12 points gets 10 RtR booster packs,
9-11 points gets 4 RtR booster packs
6-8 points gets 2 RtR booster packs
0-5 points gets 1 RtR pack

Now, less talk and more reporting.

Deck used: GR Tron

Round 1: Dragonstorm  (Con)
He was playing Storm today as he wasn't done with his new deck yet.

Game 1: He gets his Storm combo off and killed me with a 24 damage Grapeshot while I struggled to get my Tron pieces.

Game 2: He couldn't get his combo working, while I got Karn and Ulamog out.

Game 3: He mulls down to 5 cards on the play and still got a pretty crappy hand, so he scooped after a few turns.

Results: XOO

Round 2: American Delver? (Jason)
I'm not actually sure what deck he was playing, but I assumed that it was American Delver judging by the colours used.

Game 1: He managed to drop a Turn 3 Geist, but I managed to get rid of it using Pyroclasm as he was all tapped out. It was useless though, as he was able to stop me from searching out my Tron lands using counter spells while slowly beating me down using Mutavault and Snapcaster Mage.

Game 2: I had to take a lot of damage while assembling my Tron lands, and was one turn away from dropping Emrakul for game as I was at 13 mana. Unfortunately, I messed up on my turn, using the Chromatic Sphere that I had on field to draw instead of waiting to use it on his turn to blow up one of his creatures using Combust, which would have ensured that I would survive his turn and drop Emrakul on mine.

Results: XX

Round 3: Jund (Johnson)
It's time to battle Jund again! I heard from Elmo he was running Sowing Salts this time round, which worried me a little.

Game 1: I managed to drop an early Karn to get rid of his Tarmogoyf before it wreck my face in. Karn also
controlled his board pretty well, depriving him of his lands. When he finally managed to get rid of my Karn, I drew into another one, dropping an Ulamog the turn after that. He scooped after that.

Game 2: He played a Thoughtseize on Turn 1, ripping Karn right out of my hand. I struggled to get my Tron pieces up while he destroyed them with a Tectonic Edge and controlled my hand with Liliana. I was unable to recover from that, so I lost.

Game 3: I managed to get Tron online, but he completely screws me over with Sowing Salts, exiling all my Urza Towers. Needless to say, I wasn't able to recover from that and lost to him.

Results: OXX

Round 4: UG Tron (JY)
A Tron matchup! We were both playing to see who would get the second pack as we were both 1-2 at this point.

Game 1: He pulls off his Mindslaver combo, which meant I lost.

Game 2: He mulls down to 4 and scoops shortly after being unable to recover from the 3 card deficit.

Game 3:  I finally understand how it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Turn 3 Karn, which ensured that I wouldn't get Tron online, which means I lose.

Results: XOX

So, I ended up going 1-3 this tournament. Oh well. We played two rounds of Pack Wars with the boosters we got from the tournament, though I had to buy a pack for the second round. I ended up pulling some pretty meh cards, while Con, Elmo and JY got Shock lands for their packs.

We went for dinner afterwards and dropped by World of JJ afterwards to get a pack. I managed to pull an Abrupt Decay from the pack I got, which was pretty cool. I might consider playing a different deck next week, seeing as everyone seems to be running a lot of land hate for any potential Valakaut decks, which means that I'm basically collateral damage in the war against Valakaut decks. Q.Q.

Until the next tournament then. Peace out!

Zane

Pack to Deck update~ A change of plans

Hey yo guys! As you are aware that I, Dan Astryte, Overlord of Space and all things sweet, am working on the Pack to Deck currently. And if you checked my last post, it was about building a B/W tokens deck. Well. Things changed.

No, I'm still doing it, if that's what you're asking. Ohh nononono... What changed is actually my target deck. So what changed? I'm going to go build a U/G Infect deck now.

Wait Dan! Infect? What? Why? When? How? Calm your horses and pull up your pants, whichever you have yo! Lemme explain.

So I've been playing with tokens on Cockatrice see? Well, I found out that it actually has rather bad match ups against... well... The team. And if I can't even win more than 1/3 of the time, I find the deck rather unfitting of my playstyle.

Thing with B/W Tokens is that you need to swarm and power up your army or else, they ain't much. And also consider that you can only do about what... 1 summoning/per turn until you hit turn 4/6? Yeah. Not only limited mana prevents me from countering the enemy, but also slows down the rate I can build up my army.

Basically, it ain't my style. I prefer to rush in and knock the enemy out ASAP. Kinda of like Ry and his aggro, but more on the thinking side as well. Coz nothing like a lil mind game to mess with your opponents~

Which is what I like about U/G Infect~ MIND GAMES YO! And the fear of being wiped out at turn 2 earliest, is certainly not exactly a good way to start your game, yeah?

So here's the new card list that I'm aiming for!

Maindeck

Creature
Blighted Agent
Glistener Elf
Ichorclaw Myr
Plague Myr

Instant
Giant Growth
Groundswell
Might of Old Krosa
Mutagenic Growth
Vapor Snag
Vines of Vastwood

Land
Forest
Hinterland Harbor
Inkmoth Nexus
Yavimaya Coast

Sorcery
Artful Dodge

Sideboard

Artifact
Grafdigger's Cage

Creature
Viridian Corrupter

Instant
Mana leak
Ranger's Guile
Spell Snare
___________________________________________________

Well that's what my new aim is for folks! I hope that you can help me with my journey! Until next time! Ciaos!

Astryte, trading out!

Deck Tech Wednesdays - Affinity - Con

I think it's been about 8 years since the first couple of Affinity decks started popping up, possibly becoming one of the most infamous standard decks ever.
Even now, Affinity has somewhat of a presence in both Legacy and Modern.

The idea behind affinity centered around pumping out fast, efficient creatures to pummel the opponent's face in ala aggro.

So without further ado, here's this week's Deck Tech!

So recently, Ryan and i have been testing around with Affinity on Cockatrice.

And this is the List

The Creatures:

As previously mentioned, most of these guys are quick and efficient beat sticks.

Arcbound Ravager:
This guy get really big really quick. Modular is kinda big here too. By sacrificing itself, it could drop a large power bonus on your more evasive dudes like Etched Champion or Vault Skirge.

Etched Champion: 
Almost always has metalcraft active, making this guy mostly unkillable and unblockable.

Master of etherium:
Pumps up the size of your strike force. Also used in the attack itself. Usually huge.

Memnite/ Ornithopter:
Turn 0 freebies, probably the reason why Affinity empties it's hands out fast. They're free creatures that get bigger and badder with the addition of other creatures. A cranial plating on an Ornithopter wins games.

Steel overseer:
more 'lord' cards for the weenies

Vault Skirge:
Flying, lifelink for 1 mana and 2 life, cheap, efficient, able to pull off huge swings in life total when lords are around or when cranial plating is attached to it

Other stuff:

Cranial Plating:
Makes your guys into serious threats. Needless to say, low casting cost and equip cost. Not to mention the ability to attach at instant speed using the {B}{B} effect.

Mox Opal:
On a good day, you'd get one in your opening next to an Ornithopter/ Memnite/ Citadel. makes puking your hand out that much easier.

Springleaf Drum:
Produces mana, helps you empty out your hand. With a/an Memnite/Ornithopter it can help to drop your etched Overseer/Ravager on turn 1

Welding Jar:
Contributes to Artifact count and helps protect your threats from artifact destroy

Thoughtcast:
Tends to be super cheap draw. Fuel for the fire XD

The Lands:

Blinkmoth Nexus:
Yay for more cheap beats! Also can animate itself to contribute to artifact count

Inkmoth Nexus:
Same for above. Except with infect. Gets pumped by the other Nexus and is deadly with a cranial plating attached. Poison tends to be an alt Win condition against all the Life gain around.

Darksteel Citadel:
I think one of the major reasons behind the popularity of the legacy version of this deck is the inclusion of the artifact land cycle. Unfortunately, they're all banned save for Darksteel Citadel.
Free artifact, indestructible and mana producing.

 Glimmervoid:
Almost never gets blown up due to the fact that there are so many artifacts just floating around. The ability to produce any color makes it an auto include in all affinity decks.

Island:
HOMGWTFLOLBBQ
seriously. played in so many decks, it should totally be banned.
-Gets Slapped-



The plan is simple. Vomit, pump up, attack.
I'd say more but Ry would accuse me of dissing Aggro XD

Till next time!
-Constantine

Pack to Deck - 1st Trade

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF ALL AGES AND WALKS OF LIFE!

I welcome you to the second episode to Pack to Deck! With your host, Dan Astryte!

Hey yo everybody come on let's get down! This is the D.A the Man~

So... As you all know, I'm in charge of Pack to Deck. And today... I decided to join Con for the training over at Paya Lebar.

What was to be my first time... Wait! Second time joining them for training, would also become the event that will start the ball rolling.

Deck Tech Wednesdays- Con

Sorry folks, i've been sick the whole week. So i won't be doing a deck tech this week.
i'll be back in full force next week! XD

and now i leave you with a monkey as an apology!

Just look at how sorry he is!