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Since one of my friends need cards to build his reanimator Karador deck, I have taken out several popular cards (such as sakura-tribe elder) and replaced them with more fun and cutesy cards such as the almighty Bramblesnap .
Feedback is always welcome! Happy Brewing!
Won Champion in an "FNM" in my local store. It's like winning an FNM but it happened on a wednesday. 10 players joined and here're the match breakdown:
2-1 vs. Naya Hexproof Enchantment
This was a match-up I feared going in the tournament. Anyways I won mostly because of the availability of removals on-hand and Pain Seer 's card advantage, giving me 2 free draws by revealing lands and letting me draw a spell on the same turn. 2nd game was a flop because I still didn't know how to sideboard the deck. 3rd Game I won because of a well-curved old-style aggro.
2-1 vs. G/W Aggro
This was against a national player, and he's always one of the people I hate to go against whenever I play tournaments in the shop. Game 1 was a nail-biter, he was down to 2 and I was down to 1, until I bestowed a Spiteful Returned on Tormented Hero gaining me valuable life with enough aggro and defense power to last the next turn. Game 2 was lost because he got a free VoR token when I casted Ultimate Price on his turn. Game 3 was thanks to a Lifebane Zombie bestowed with Spiteful Returned eating his life away in 3 turns.
2-0 vs. Rakdos Minotaur Tribal
Game 1 and he was on play but the abundance of Thoughtseize s made me take out whatever was on his curve while maintaining aggro pressure by Tormented Hero . Game 2 I went with a 1 land hand, it was a risky move whose delayed land drops paid-off when I was able to Duress out his Whip of Erebos and make a 2 for 1 with Bile Blight
1-1-1 vs. G/W Aggro (different player but same deck)
We talked about this match and we settled with a tie. Afterall, I was assured a 1st place winning myself the PR pass for Journey to Nyx.
DECK CHANGES: I made the deck true to its aggro nature, it became really fast given the right curve by changing Deathrite Shaman to Rakdos Cackler . Also, I'm not planning to splash Red for a sideboarded rakdos return or Slaughter Games . Any thoughts?
LGS: Agora Hobby - Singapore
1-2 today
R1 Monoblue 2-0
Cleared with ease n removed his creatures and slowly won with obzedat.
-02 lifebane-02 Scavenging Ooze+02 bile blight+02 mistcutter hydra
R2 junk reanimator 1-1 (lost to dice roll)One of the best games I have ever played! First game lasted 40mins. His deathrite shamans etc were countered n removed by my scavenging oozes. Game was a stand still until his angel of serenity came out..Sideboarded+01 pithning needle (for lotleth)+01 Rest in Peace-02 Lifebane Zombie
2nd game lasted for abt 5mins max. T1 temple of plentyT2 shockland n rest in peaceT3 temple n sylvan caryatidT4 forest n vraskaT5 vraska +1, abrupt decay n hero downfall n landT6 elspeth +1 n vraska ulti T7 hero downfall his creature for win..
Very fast game
R3 gw aggro 1-2Made lots of mistakes cos I was still high over d previous game. Forgot to activate deathtouch reaper of the wild, abrupt decay n bile blight during opponent phase..
But I loved vs d junk reanimator:)
Main mistake was I was too engrossed ovrr d previous game:)
This deck feels really polished now. I had steady access to lands in this game, and Heartstone really pulled its weight. This game was challenging due to one player using Sydri, Galvanic Genius to turn my equipment into creatures when I blew up Ashling, so I would lose my precious artifacts and my general. But Ring of Three Wishes arrived and turned the game in my favor when I used it to get Vandalblast . Next turn I played Gratuitous Violence to blow up Ashling for 14, leaving me with 2 life and the win. Whew!
-1 Mountain
-1 Angelheart Vial
+1 Fling
- cheap surprise damage if there are no other options.
+1 Crystal Ball
- Card filtering seems good. Vial is too slow.
Added 3x Underworld Connections for some draw.
Removed 1x Door of Destinies .
Added 3x Deathbellow Raider .
I figure either Minotaur plays aggressively, might as well take the one that can regen if need be.
Added 1x Kragma Warcaller , bringing it to 3x.
Removed 1x Mogis, God of Slaughter .
Love Mogis, but he's more of just an added annoyance, this deck can play well without him.
Added burns with scry Magma Jet and Bolt of Keranos .
Removed Fall of the Hammer .
I really like the idea of the hammer in this deck, though I know it's not the most popular card out there, as it can definitely be inconsistent. The more consistent burns that help my draw seems to be the way to go for now. I'll have a better idea when I get to test it out.
Just some cards off the top of my head, still looking for some suggestions to fill in the gaps.
vs boros burn:
-1 jarad, golgari lich lord-1 shadowborn demon-2 deathrite shaman+2 devour flesh+2 nylea's disciple
vs control
-1 jarad, golgari lich lord-1 nemesis of mortals-2 whip of erebos-1 commune with the gods-3 shadowborn demon+4 thoughtsieize+4 mistcutter hydra
vs blue devotion:
-2 lotleth troll-1 jarad, golgari lich lord-2 whip of erebos-1 nemesis of mortals-1 commune with the gods+4 mistcutter hydra+2 ultimate price+1 shadowborn demon
vs naya hexproof
-2 whip of erebos+2 devour flesh
vs black aggro
-1 jarad, golgari lich lord-1 commune with the gods-1 whip of erebos+2 nylea's disciple+1 shadowborn demon
vs monsters
-1 jarad, golgari lich lord-2 lotleth troll+1 shadowborn demon+2 ultimate price
2-1 at a casual event
1-2 to top tier mono-black deck
2-0 to dimir mirror match
2-1 to mono red
All-in-all I'm happy with how this deck is built at the moment. I side-boarded Whip of Erebos for Far / Away , just for a bit extra control.
Tried this deck out with some friends last night. I've come to the conclusion that Inspired is just too slow and unreliable for a standard deck. It became a pretty efficient engine if I got the right cards and the opponent did nothing to disrupt my game for the first 5 turns, but how often does that ever happen? Got sick of seeing the deck's stupid face so I dismantled it to make something else.
But seriously, if anyone has better ideas for utilizing/exploiting the Inspired mechanic semi-competitively in standard, I'd love to hear about it. Post your decks! Comments for everyone!
