Daily Dose 35 - Standard

Daily Dose of Standard

KrazyCaley

11 February 2013

1663 views

vs. doozer99

Bolas for a Better Tomorrow is my weapon of choice.

Game 1

E wins the toss and plays first.

C keeps an opener of Island, Swamp, Chromatic Lantern, Counterflux, Murder, Dreadbore, and Barter in Blood.

Another one of those "draw one land and all is well" hands.

Turn 1

E plays Forest for Deathrite Shaman and passes.

Let's talk about Deathrite Shaman for a minute. What a phenomenal one-drop. He exiles annoying cards, he has flexibility, he can ramp you in the right situation. He can have a big, big impact, and yet, it's totally fine if he goes away.

C draws Dreadbore and plays Island, then passes.

Island over Swamp is actually an interesting choice. The Island first puts me on the track to the fastest possible Counterflux, while Swamp would set me up for the fastest possible Dreadbore. Against this deck, I probably have the most to fear from Thragtusk, so I am setting up for the Flux. It's all most likely a moot point, however, if I don't draw any red-producing lands, as then I'll just cast Chromatic Lantern and render it all irrelevant.

Turn 2

E plays Woodland Cemetery and casts Lotleth Troll. He passes after attacking with Deathrite Shaman. (E 20, C 19)

Some species or another of B/G Zombies, most probably.

C draws Island, plays Swamp, and passes.

Inconsistent play, given that I went with the Island above. My reasoning was that I wanted to be ready for Dreadbore next turn if I had a red mana, in the plausible case that he taps out, leaving Lotleth Troll unprotected.

Turn 3

E plays Overgrown Tomb untapped (C 19, E 18). He casts Rancor on Lotleth Troll, and attacks with it alone. (E 18, C 15). He passes.

C draws Counterflux. He plays Island and casts Chromatic Lantern, then passes.

Now hold still for one turn.

Turn 4

E plays Overgrown Tomb untapped. (E 16, C 15). He attacks with the troll and hits. (E 16, C 11). He casts Predator Ooze and passes.

Ah, my old buddy Predator Ooze. What are you doing over on that side of the table? Come here and give me a big hug! WAIT NO DON'T

C draws Drowned Catacomb and plays it. He casts Barter in Blood.

I am now decidedly behind. He only has two cards left, but if one is a mana and the other is a Thragtusk, I'm in serious trouble. Only he knows the truth, but in any case, he makes what is almost certainly the right decision here.

E sacrifices Deathrite Shaman and Lotleth Troll.

I suspect that some players would actually sacrifice the Ooze here, but that would of course be a mistake. Indestructibility > Regeneration, and the Rancor can easily be thrown on the ooze next turn anyway.

C passes.

Turn 5

E plays a Forest, puts Rancor on the Predator Ooze, and attacks with it, hitting. (E 16, C 7). He passes after casting Deathrite Shaman.

Perhaps he should have saved the Shaman in case of another Barter in Blood and instead just sat back and drew some cards while seeing if I could cook up an answer to this two-turn clock.

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He casts Dreadbore on the Deathrite Shaman. He passes.

Defeat ensues otherwise, and I need to keep Tribute to Hunger effective besides.

Turn 6

E attacks with the Ooze, hitting. (E 16, C 2). He plays Overgrown Tomb tapped and passes.

C draws Island and concedes.

Tribute to Hunger and Barter and Blood were the suck-out draws.

Sideboarding

C boards in 2x Curse of Death's Hold. He boards out 1x Think Twice and 1x Mystic Retrieval.

Card advantage doesn't need to be so heavy with the Curse out, although the problem is usually getting TO the Curse.

Game 2

C plays first. He keeps an opening hand of 2x Mountain, Island, 2x Counterflux, Chromatic Lantern, and Gilded Lotus.

Even though this hand is hardly ideal, I do tend to keep hands that give me the Turn 3 Lantern, Turn 4 Lotus, Turn 5 Bolas possibility, especially against decks with no probable way of stopping Bolas.

E keeps their opener.

Turn 1

C plays Island and passes.

E plays Hinterland Harbor and passes.

Oh dear god it's a BUG deck. These are incredibly hard to predict. From what I've seen already, it's not the control-ish variety you seen sometimes. So what IS it? Let's find out.

Turn 2

C draws Barter in Blood, plays Mountain and passes.

This draw makes me feel much better; it'll keep the trolls and oozes off my back for a bit.

E plays Hinterland Harbor and casts Deathrite Shaman, then passes.

Turn 3

C draws Island. He plays it and passes.

With no Bolas in hand, another land in reserve for turn 4, and just a Deathrite Shaman out, I decide to see if I can spend some of my counterspells against creatures rather than go right for Chromatic Lantern.

E plays Woodland Cemetery tapped and attacks with the Shaman. (E 20, C 19).

Darn.

Turn 4

C draws Curse of Death's Hold and plays Mountain. Then he passes.

If this WERE a B/G deck, this would be an inexcusably bad play; I should obviously, in that case, cast the lantern to be set up for the Curse next turn. But against a deck that is potentially running coutnerspells, best to take it a bit more slowly and not cast the lantern until I can also reserve mana for a Counterflux. I really want to cast Curse of Death's Hold when he can't do anything about it.

E attacks with Deathrite Shaman, hitting. (E 20, C 18). He passes.

Good patience from my opponent.

Turn 5

C draws Swamp and plays it. He casts Chromatic Lantern and passes.

Broadcasting that I have a counterspell, but he'll have to cast something sooner or later, lest I get too much mana.

E plays Overgrown Tomb untapped (E 18, C 18), then attacks with the Shaman and hits. (E 18, C 17). He casts Lotleth Troll and passes.

By playing Overgrown Tomb untapped and then not using it, he is also representing a counterspell. But is it Negate, or is it Syncopate? Decks of this type usually run Syncopate, but it could very easily be Negate, especially after a sideboard.

Turn 6

C draws Murder. He casts Curse of Death's Hold, which resolves. Lotleth Troll dies. C passes.

I decided to risk it, figuring that I had ample kill and enough time to clean up the mess if it didn't work. The gamble paid off, in any case.

End step, E casts Abrupt Decay on Chromatic Lantern.

Interesting. I'm sure he'd prefer to have had the counterspell, though.

E casts Garruk Relentless  ^Flip and makes a Wolf with it. He passes.

Problematic. Will need to draw a [[Dreadbore or a Bolas soon to deal with this issue.

Turn 7

C draws Think Twice. He casts Gilded Lotus and passes.

I could save mana instead for Counterflux and that Think Twice, but I REALLY want Gilded Lotus to be out so I can a- get it out of the way for later, and b- start casting a bit more freely, especially with what is probably one of his more dangerous threats out, and especially with those potential Syncopates lurking in his deck. Plus, he hasn't actually seen a Counterflux yet from me, and might very well figure that the Gilded Lotus will be able to cast any counterspells I may have. And, at least, I can use Think Twice with it once to start. AND I still have a Murder on tap.

E makes a Wolf token with Garruk.

I thought for sure he'd flip him instead.

E casts Dreg Mangler. He casts Rancor on it. C responds by Murdering it.

If endless games playing against miinor_threat have taught me anything, it's that you always, always, ALWAYS 2-for-1 Rancor when given the opportunity.

E attacks with the Wolf token and passes. (E 18, C 16).

I noticed he hadn't used Deathrite Shaman to eliminate his own Abrupt Decay fpr 2 damage yet at this point. I didn't know if this meant he was forgetting to use the Deathrite Shaman completely, which seemed unlikely, or if he perhaps had some way to get it back, which seemed more likely. The test should be whether he eliminates my Murder at the end of my next turn.

Turn 8

C draws Dreadbore. He blows up Garruk Relentless  ^Flip with it. C passes.

"Seems good," as they say at my local card shop. Also, he IS forgetting to use the Shaman, which is keeping me from having to waste some kill on it and/or the wolves for now. He also seems to be stuck on four land, which helps.

E attacks with the wolves and passes. (E 18, C 14). E casts Think Twice, drawing Island, and flashes it back. With the flashback on the stack, E uses the Deathrite Shaman to wipe Dreadbore and deal 2 damage. The resolves Think Twice draws Counterflux.

Weird that he'd remember to start doing that right then, at the end of his turn.

Turn 9

C draws Swamp, plays it, and casts Barter in Blood. E sacs the wolves. C passes.

With him suddenly remembering to use the Shaman, I need to slow down the bleeding.

E casts Dreg Mangler. C Counterfluxes it. E passes.

Turn 10

C draws Island, plays it, and passes.

He didn't use the Shaman again! I don't know what he's thinking.

E does nothing and passes.

Turn 11

C draws Murder, does nothing, and passes. End step, E uses Deathrite Shaman to eliminate Barter in Blood. (E 18, C 10).

Weird. I really wish I could see what his thinking re: the Shaman has been. I may want to Murder it soon, especially with all these Counterfluxes in hand, but with 10 life, I can afford a little patience.

E plays Woodland Cemetery and casts Vampire Nighthawk, which runs into Counterflux. E passes. End step, C kills Deathrite Shaman with Murder. E uses it to wipe the Murder in the graveyard. (E 18, C 8).

If the worst he can do with five mana out finally is play Vampire Nighthawk, I feel a bit more comfortable with this play, even if he's baiting me.

Turn 12

C draws Murder, does nothing, and passes.

The island in hand is, as ever, more powerful as a bluff than a land right now.

E casts Vampire Nighthawk, plays Overgrown Tomb tapped, and passes.

Not going to get rid of this just yet, not with 8 life and the Nighthawk only doing 1 damage a turn. I definitely don't want to use Counterflux on it; I'll need that to protect Bolas when I cast him. Best to wait until he tries to put Dreg Mangler tokens on it or something. Also, I have yet to see why there is blue mana in this deck.

Turn 13

C draws Island, plays it, and passes.

E plays Drowned Catacomb and attacks with the Nighthawk, then passes. (E 19, C 7).

Turn 14

C draws Dragonskull Summit, plays it, and passes.

With 3 Bolas in 38 cards to go, I can probably expect to draw one in the next six turns or so.

E plays Overgrown Tomb untapped. (E 17, C 7). He attacks with the Nighthawk and hits, then passes. (E 18, C 6).

Him playing these untapped makes me think that he definitely must care about Syncopate, either because he has one in hand or because he's used to playing them. Either way, it looks like I'll need to back up Bolas with a Counterflux.

Turn 15

C draws Dreadbore. He plays Island and passes.

Incorrect. Syncopate made me want to do this, but I can always do it later, like on the turn I draw Bolas.

E plays Woodland Cemetery and attacks with Vampire Nighthawk. C Murders it. E passes.

A vain and probably ill-considered attempt to draw out a counterspell.

Turn 16

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

Math: He has 9 mana. I have 13. Bolas costs 8, which would bring me down to 5 available mana. To Syncopate me, he would thus have to pay 7, leaving him with 2. I could Counterflux the Syncopate, bringing me down to 2 mana. Then we'd each have 2 mana with Bolas on the stack. If he does have a Negate, he'll be fine, but another Syncopate will not suffice. I do not think he has Negate at this point, so I will proceed.

C casts Bolas. E casts Syncopate for six on it. C Counterfluxes the Syncopate. E concedes.

I like it when my predictions are correct.

Sideboarding

C boards in 2x Lone Revenant and boards out 2x Rakdos's Return.

Return goes down sharply in value when your opponent runs Syncopate.

Game 3

E plays first and keeps his opener.

C keeps an opener of 2x Island, Swamp, Dragonskull Summit, Dreadbore, Murder, and Think Twice.

A very picturesque opening hand.

Turn 1

E plays Woodland Cemetery tapped and passes.

C draws Lone Revenant, plays Island and passes.

Turn 2

E plays Hinterland Harbor tapped and casts Arbor Elf, then passes.

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, plays Swamp, and passes.

Even if I had Dreadbore mana out, I might hesitate to do it with no Forests in play.

Turn 3

E plays Forest and casts Dreg Mangler. He attacks with the Elf and Mangler and hits. (E 20, C 16). E passes. End step, C Think Twices up a Dragonskull Summit.

C draws Curse of Death's Hold and plays Dragonskull Summit. He passes.

Commence Operation: Kill-everything-with-more-than-1-toughness.

Turn 4

E plays Forest and attacks with all his creatures. C Murders the Dreg Mangler. E responds with Negate and everything hits. (E 20, C 12). E casts a Lotleth Troll and passes.

If it wasn't in there already, it most definitely SHOULD have been boarded in after last game.

C draws Counterflux.

I have a frustrating hand that is likely to win the game if I can survive the current onslaught, but which isn't great FOR such survival. I must choose how to deploy my available spells carefully.

C casts Dreadbore on Dreg Mangler.

My reasoning for what I will concede is a debatable play:

3 - Even if he puts the tokens on, he will need to make his land drop next turn in order to still be able to regenerate the damn thing, and that might be too risky for him.

C passes.

Turn 5

E taps out, including Arbor Elf, to put Dreg Mangler tokens on the Troll. He attacks with the Troll and hits. (E 20, C 7). He passes.

He DOESN'T make a land drop and is basically daring me to kill the troll or play Barter in Blood. But I have no way to do so! If this was an intentional bluff-calling, then my hat is certainly off to him.

Turn 6

C draws Drowned Catacomb. He plays Dragonskull Summit and plays Curse of Death's Hold, killing Arbor Elf. He passes.

I lose unless I can draw a sacrifice spell soon. At least the Curse keeps me from dying to Rancor, and prevents any further 1-toughness shenanigans. He can still kill me if he has 3 creatures in hand after drawing next turn, though.

E plays Forest and attacks with the Troll. (E 20, C 3). He passes.

Turn 7

C draws Mystic Retrieval.

This WOULD buy me some turns if I had more mana, as I could Murder the troll during combat. But as it is it needs one more mana to function. Fortunately, I do have a card that buys me one more turn.

C casts Lone Revenant and passes.

Turn 8

E attacks with the Troll. C blocks with the Revenant.

This would have been a more interesting call if I had 4 more life, but as it is, it's forced.

E discards two copies of Lotleth Troll to pump the existing one. As Combat ends, the Revenant dies and the Troll tramples over for 2. (E 20, C 1).

Turn 9

C draws Tribute to Hunger.

The big-time suck-out draw. A land would also have at least kept me alive a while.

C passes.

I have no reason to cast it now, as all his mana is still open. He knows a trick of some kind is coming, though, since I haven't conceded.

Turn 10

E attacks with the troll. C casts Tribute to Hunger. The troll dies. (E 20, C 6).

I had Counterflux mana ready, just in case, but it appears probable that spending his Negate earlier might have left him a bit stripped of counters, otherwise he certainly should have tried to counter this.

E casts Deathrite Shaman. C counters it with Counterflux. E passes.

With Mystic Retrieval in hand and 6 life, I feel this is the correct play.

C draws Counterflux, does nothing, and passes.

Turn 11

E does nothing and passes. C flashes back Think Twice drawing Tribute to Hunger.

I call idle turns like this one Pax Death's Holdicana

C draws Murder. He does nothing and passes.

Turn 12

E does nothing and passes.

He started to tap some mana here, but changed his mind, apparently.

C draws Swamp and plays it. He passes. E concedes. C wins the match 2-1.

Premature. I only have seven mana in hand. I know for a fact that he has stuff left that can kill me, so why concede now? The odds are definitely against him now, but no reason not to play it out.

Thoughts

• Was the blue mana really just for Syncopate and Negate? I wanted to take a look at his deck.

• The two most interesting gameplay moments in this match, I think, were in Game 2, when I had to a- figure out that he had Syncopate by the manner in which he played his shock lands, and then take that into account when casting Bolas, and b- when I tried to fake a Barter in Blood in game 3, and he proceeded to laugh, not just in the face of Barter in Blood, but any kill spell whatsoever.