The first thing to talk about is not playing Path to Exile.
In the testing I had done, it was becoming more and more uncommon that drawing a single Path wasn't as good as it used to be. This is a fundamentally different deck than GW Value Town, and you don't really have much interest in the game going long. Many games you have to just start attacking and hoping your opponent can't kill you. The decks where you absolutely need Path to beat just weren't common (Devoted Druid and Infect). Reflector Mage did a much better job at buying the time while still being a reasonable threat and a hit off Collected Company.
The second card to talk about is, once again, Aether Vial. There is a weird tension where Vial wants you to play more two drops, but cards like Rattlechains and Remorseful Cleric just weren't very good. However, once you cut Aether Vial you really want to play Rattlechains to give back the added playability on your opponent's turn. Playing Reflector Mage means you want some additional mana acceleration if possible (likely Birds of Paradise). That lead me to trying out the following list:
This was a modification of a brew I had with 4x Lingering Souls instead of the Reflector Mages. Lingering Souls is a powerful card but completely unnecessary. The Birds of Paradise made casting Collected Company easier. However, the biggest takeaway was how great Gavony Township was. This card was winning mirrors, setting up very hard to deal with board states against control, and letting Supreme Phantom block a Arclight Phoenix without any worries.
In the end, Collin and I decided that Vial was too important in the mirrors to cut entirely, but we were on board with Township and Reflector Mage. The list we played at the RPTQ looked like this:
The Deck
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mausaleum Wanderer
2 Rattlechains
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Supreme Phantom
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Spell Queller
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Reflector Mage
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Kira, Great Glass-spinner
4 Collected Company
3 Aether vial
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Gavony Township
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Forest
Sideboard
2 Damping Sphere
4 Rest in Peace
4 Stony Silence
3 Unified Will
2 Knight of Autumn
I convinced Collin to play the Kira over the 4th Reflector Mage, and he convinced me to not play a Path over the one Birds of Paradise. Both cards were probably mistakes and should be 4th Mage and 4th Aether Vial. The 3rd Canopy was cut for the Cavern to help with Township since you are actually interested in getting to five mana now. The sideboard is the way it is because there just aren't very many cards you want to bring in or cut against a large portion of the metagame, and the times you do bring in cards you want them to be the best ones.
The Games
I went 1-2 drop. Collin was 4-0 but ended up 5-2 after losing round five and six. I did have some interesting spots in my three matches I'd like to share.
Round 1 against UW control:
Game 1 I mulligan to six on the draw and keep fetchland, Noble, Noble, 3x Company. With the scry of land on top this hand easily got there for the win.
Game 2 I develop slowish but he doesn't have any planeswalkers and I'm able to hold up Unified Will pretty much the whole game. I end up attacking him down to 6 life but before damage he casts Settle the Wreckage. I have six mana and three cards in hand: Spell Queller, Unified Will, and Collected Company. I use my Aether Vial to put in Queller and counter the Settle. He's now at 5 life. On his turn he casts Supreme Verdict with three untapped mana. I have 43 cards left in my library and 8 of them will answer the Verdict if I hit off Collected Company. This is 71% to work. However, I could wait and just Company after Verdict to redevelop. This line is very bad against a Dispel because my Unified Will will no longer be available. Because of this, I decide to fire off the CoCo. He has the Dispel which I counter with Mausoleum Wanderer, but then do not find any card I need. I still have a window to draw some threats, but I draw additional lands and lose to a Teferi.
Game 3 he mulligans to six. I lead with a dual land, and he plays basic plains. I play another land and he plays a second plains. Given that he is most likely missing lands, I deploy a 4/3 Knight of Autumn and he untaps and plays Island Search for Azcanta. This is awkard. He then Paths my Knight and my Spell Queller and 3x Unified Will aren't enough pressure to prevent him from running away with the game from the Search. It's possible I should have held up Spell Queller on turn three since I had a feeling he had the Search in his hand. I could have played Queller and the used Knight to kill the Search later on. I'm still not certain about this play.
0-1
Round 2 against Jund:
Not much to say here. He missed a Bob trigger one game, and I resolved a Company both games and easily won.
1-1
Round 3 against Enduring Ideal (!?)
Game 1 I lead with Noble Hierarch, he plays a Porphory Nodes. I decline to add to the board and the cards trade. He plays some scry lands including New Benalia. I Spell Queller a Suppresion Field just to get a threat on the board. I then have to Queller a Ghostly Prison, and then I must Queller the Runed Halo. I'm still not certain what he's playing. It looks like a RW Prison deck. I attack him down to 8 life and hold up Company instead of playing a Drogskol Captain. He plays a Ghostly Prison and I play Company but can't get enough power in play to kill him the next turn. I instead elect to protect myself from sweepers I haven't seen and put two Selfless Spirits into play. His next turn he plays Phyrexian Unlife and now I'm much further away from killing him. I manage an attack down to 4 life, but his follow up Form of the Dragon locks me out of the game.
Game 2 he starts by suspending two Lotus Bloom. I have a turn three Kira that is answered by Porphory Nodes. I can kill the Nodes with Knight and play Mausoluem Wanderer, or try to hold up Unified Will with his two Lotus coming off suspend. I still hadn't seen Enduring Ideal so I messed this one up and didn't hold up Will. He resolved Ideal and put Overwhelming Splendor into play, and I was pretty much unable to win on the spot. A Dovescape and Form of the Dragon followed and I was done.
I think I could have won both games against Ideal though perhaps game two would have been tricky still. I think I got a bit unlucky against UW control but I was in good positions. Overall I'm still happy with the deck.
What's Next
Going forward I would play 4 Reflector Mage 4 Aether Vial and no Path to Exile. I'd also cut the Knight of Autumns from the sideboard. They really don't do enough for me. I'm not sure what the last two cards in the SB would be, maybe a Dispel and a Ceremonious Rejection. The fourth Unified Will is also an option.
As for Magic, I haven't been playing much outside of Arena anyway so I have no idea what I'll do. I'm qualified for the next (last) RPTQ and after that I'm not sure how much I'll be on the weekend grind. I do plan on attending some Grand Prix (Magic Fest) next year. I'll still play when I'm interested but I have no need to play when I'm not.
Thanks for reading,
Ty
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