Showdown 2.0 #2: Mitosis

Showdown

Spootyone

16 July 2014

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Welcome back to another weekly showdown, where I substitute in for Spootyone and challenge your submission against one of my builds, and then provide feedback that the larger tappedout community can see and discuss. This week we have a doubleheader. First up is a showdown between Apoptosis Twisting the Hexbolt and DrLitebur's athreos-says. My deck is a basic hexproof auras deck that I've been tweaking. DrLitebur's submission is a B/W build that punishes you for killing his creatures through Athreos, God of Passage and Xathrid Necromancer. Will The Walking Dead lay waste to the living? Or shall the aura inspired forest creatures turn back the tide of the living dead? Let's find out...

Apoptosis wins the flip and keeps Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, 2x Gladecover Scout, Bassara Tower Archer, Gift of Orzhova, and Chained to the Rocks early removal, early one drop and a way to keep the pressure applied. Pretty solid start.

DrLitebur keeps Temple of Silence, swamp, Master of the Feast, Shadowborn Apostle, Mogis's Marauder, Athreos, God of Passage, Whip of Erebos. Nice mix, and Apoptosis deck has no way mainboard to stop Whip of Erebos, a solid opener

A1: plays Temple Garden (A18/D20), casts Gladecover Scout
D1: draws and plays Temple of Silence, scrys Xathrid Necromancer (keep)

A2: draws Temple Garden and plays it (A16,D20), attacks with scout (A16/D19), casts Bassara Tower Archer
D2: draws Xathrid Necromancer, plays Temple of Silence, scrys Shadowborn Apostle (bottom), casts Shadowborn Apostle

A3: draw Stomping Ground and plays it untapped (A14/D19), casts Gift of Orzhova onto Bassara Tower Archer and attacks with both, no block (A17/D15)
D3: draws Elixir of Immortality, plays swamp, casts Master of the Feast, attacks with Shadowborn Apostle (A16/D15)

A4: draws Temple Garden not what I need, Madcap Skills would have been perfect, plays Sacred Foundry tapped, casts Chained to the Rocks to exile the Master of the Feast attacks with both (A19/D11), second main casts Gladecover Scout an overextension, but I feel like I want to apply pressure
D4: draws Shadowborn Apostle, casts Athreos, God of Passage,

A5: draws and casts Godsend that might be game, godend totally screws plans that rely on the graveyard, plays Temple Garden tapped, attacks with everything, shadowborn trades with a scout (A22/D7)
D5: draws Shadowborn Apostle, casts Elixir of Immortality not sure whether I should drop both shadowborn and know I'll go to 1 life or crack the elixir now, either way looks bad Cracks the elixir (A22/D12)

A6: draws Stomping Ground and plays tapped, equips Godsend onto Bassara Tower Archer and swings with everything (A28/D5)
D6: draws swamp and concedes

Apoptosis wins game 1!

Thoughts on game 1. DrLitebur was just a little too slow in getting the Whip of Erebos out, which could have made things interesting. Missing that land drop T4 and T5 was costly. This is what happens when you only run 20 lands. Probably my biggest suggestion for any deck is making sure your mana base is solid based on your build. Here are some good resources that can help with this:

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/890_MmmmmmmmmanaFive_Rules_For_Avoiding_ManaScrew.html

http://www.onlinewebpage.com/simplelandcalc/

http://tappedout.net/mtg-articles/2010/jan/18/mana-ratios-basics/

http://tappedout.net/mtg-articles/2010/jan/27/mana-ratios-nonbasics/

Sideboard tech for Apoptosis, while that went well, he could certainly have Drown in Sorrow and I know graveyard recursion is important for him through Athreos. So absolutely bring in Deicide, I also want to bring in my surprise package of 4x Prophetic Flamespeaker, and 2x Archangel of Thune. Basically, my thinking is that if all my opponent sees in game 1 is hexproof creatures, then their spot removal is coming out, which means I'll bring in creatures that are much more efficient when loaded up with auras. Two cards come to mind: Loxodon Smiter and Prophetic Flamespeaker. Also I'll bring in the 4th Chained to the Rocks since it's an exile effect and good to prevent graveyard triggers. What comes out? 2x Boros Charm since black and white have powerful sacrifice effects (Devour Flesh/Celestial Flare) over destroy, out comes 4x Witchstalker, it's vanilla comparatively to the Prophetic Flamespeaker in the three drop. I'll also swap out 2x gladecover scouts.

Sideboard tech for DrLitebur, unfortunately his sideboard doesn't give me a lot to work with as it's loaded with targeted removal that just doesn't help. Even Thoughtseize or Duress could have been useful in removing auras or creatures. Since my deck is balanced between the two, being able to see my hand is not only valuable information, but also a way to completely deplete me of one resource or the other. Looking at the sideboard, there is no Drown in Sorrow and a lot of targeted removal that is worthless in this matchup, bringing in 2x Revoke Existence and swapping out 2x Hero's Downfall is the only choice based on what he saw in game one and he would have no idea that there are any creatures that would be targetable... If it were you would you bring in targeted removal knowing that it could very well be a dead card in your hand?

Onto game 2...

DrLitebur mulls a one land hand and keeps 2x Temple of Silence, swamp, Elixir of Immortality, Master of the Feast and Whip of Erebos decent opener

Apoptosis keeps a nut draw of Temple of Plenty, Sacred Foundry, Voice of Resurgence 3x Ethereal Armor, and Madcap Skills this is one of those hands where you have to do you best not to smile as you look at your opponent across the table.

D1: plays Temple of Silence, scry's Sin Collector (bottom) this is bad in this matchup and in general is better as a sideboard card, you can see how Thoughtseize or even Duress would have been at attacking my hand.

A1: draws Godsend, plays Temple of Plenty, scrys Unflinching Courage (keep) yes I need a 3rd land, but I want that for the trample and lifelink more, I'm sure that a land will be in there.

D2: draws Shadowborn Apostle plays Temple of Silence, scrys swamp (keep), casts Shadowborn Apostle
A2: draws Unflinching Courage, plays Sacred Foundry (A18/D20), casts Voice of Resurgence

D3: draws and plays swamp, casts Master of the Feast
A3: draws a 2nd Unflinching Courage that's irony folks casts 2x Ethereal Armor and attacks with a 6/6 first striking elemental. The Shadowborn Apostle explodes and the elemental drinks deeply.

D4: Apoptosis draws Prophetic Flamespeaker, DrLitebur draws swamp really??? 20 lands in the whole deck and I have 5 of them???, Did I mention irony? Casts Whip of Erebos and attacks (A13/D25) the whip will help a lot
A4: draws Gladecover Scout what was I saying about that third land?? Ugh. Need it to race, maybe the lesson here is to never count your chickens before they hatch, that is if chickens were mana sources and hatching was tapping. Anyway... you get the idea. Note to self: when you need to draw a third land to advance from early to mid game, you damn better not get greedy when you scry and send those nonlands to the bottom, casts Ethereal Armor onto Voice of Resurgence, casts Gladecover Scout and attacks with voice (A13/D14)

D5: Apoptosis draws Gladecover Scout thank you Master of the Feast for helping me dig, hoorah for card advantage!, DrLitebur draws Mogis's Marauder and casts it and Elixir of Immortality, plays swamp attacks with everything (A6/D21)
A5: draws Stomping Ground there it is folks and plays untapped (A4/D21), casts Unflinching Courage onto voice and attacks (A20/D5) lifelink on a 16/16 hexproof with trample spells death if you don't have an answer

D6: Apoptosis draws Eidolon of Countless Battles, DrLitebur draws and plays swamp
A6: draws and plays Mana Confluence, casts Eidolon of Countless Battles onto voice (A19/D5) and attacks with a 26/26 voice that has first strike, trample, and lifelink for the game.

Apoptosis wins the game and matchup!

Thoughts on the matchup, boom goes the dynamite. Hard to win when your deck won't interact with your opponent's board and you can't race. But keep in mind that game 2 was closer then it looked, if Apoptosis didn't draw a land T5 DrLitebur wins game 2 and knows that spot removal could help. But that Master of the Feast is not good when it's letting your opponent draw cards like crazy. I would prefer Desecration Demon, a few more land, 2x Drown in Sorrow and switch up the main, removing guys like Sin Collector over more efficient creatures that have even a greater impact on the board state like Pack Rat. Also I hate Shadowborn Apostle, yes you may be able to cheat in a demon but most of the time it's an inefficient creature that serves as a chump blocker. Also, like I previously mentioned Thoughtseize and Duress in the sideboard can be key. They work amazingly well with Pack Rat as you can always use them to spawn rats if you don't need to attack your opponent's hand.

Onto Round two as promised: for your reading pleasure a double header! It's Apoptosis's Twisting the Hexbolt against Schuesseled's Artificer's Dictate. Schuesseled's deck is a combo deck to make animated artifacts that are very difficult to deal with while controlling the board and burning your face. It reminds me of a deck for multi-player I made 15 years ago that included: Armageddon Clock, Animate Artifact, and spiritlink. That's right folks, I made a deck around that combo, it was awesome! (remember that spot removal was more of a premium back then and counter magic could protect your board more easily). Anyway, onto the match.

Schuesseled wins the toss and keeps 3x Shock, Steam Vents, Izzet Guildgate, Ornithopter, and Dissolve Ok, not very familiar with the deck and what it wants to do, but this seems like a fast start for a hand.
Apoptosis draws Temple of Plenty, Temple of Silence, 2x Gladecover Scout, Ethereal Armor, Bassara Tower Archer, and Madcap Skillsthis is what you call a "nut draw". Especially, if you?re a squirrel.

S1: plays Izzet Guildgate, casts ornithoper
A1: draws Godsend, plays Temple of Plenty, scrys Temple Garden (keep)

S2: draws Shivan Reef, plays stem vents tapped
A2: draws Temple Garden, plays Temple of Silence, scrys Madcap Skills (keep), casts Gladecover Scout, EOT Schuesseled Shocks Apoptosis (S20/A18) now that Schuesseled knows Apoptosis is playing hexproof, Schuesseled has to race!

S3: draws Lightning Strike, plays Shivan Reef
A3: draws Madcap Skills and casts it, but runs into Dissolve, Schuesseled scrys Dissipate (keep) counter magic isn't great against this matchup, but works OK if you can keep the big boy pants off of creatures. Apoptosis plays Temple Garden untapped (S20/A16), casts Ethereal Armor and attacks (S18/A16).

S4: draws Dissipate
A4: draws Madcap Skills, casts Gladecover Scout (sticks), casts Madcap Skills, which runs into Dissipate, Apoptosis attacks with the scout (S16/A16)

S5: draws and plays Izzet Guildgate
A5: draws Witchstalker, casts Madcap Skills onto 2nd Gladecover Scout and attacks with both, the ornithoper blocks the one with Ethereal Armor and dies (S12/A16), as Schuesseled, I could keep throwing damage EOT but don't know whether I can win any race, Dictate of the Twin Gods is a solution, but am still a land short. I think that as Schuesseled, I use my resources to try to keep it close and hope for the right cards to surface EOT Schuesseled casts Shock and Lightning Strike at Apoptosis (S12/A11)

S6: draws Darksteel Citadel and plays it
A6: draws Temple of Plenty and plays it, scrys Boros Charm (keep), attacks with everything (S5/A11), casts Godsend, Schuesseled Shocks Apoptosis at EOT (S5/A9)

S7: draws Shivan Reef and is dead on the board.

Apoptosis wins game 1!

Sideboard tech for Schuesseled: After seeing game 1 I realize that this is a bad matchup for Schuesseled, but hopefully the sideboard can help, in comes 2x Anger of the Gods, 4x Negate to prevent dudes from putting on the pants, and 2x Peak Eruption. My goal is to keep the pants off of Apoptosis dudes, use anger as a wrath, and blow up mountains to grind out the game. So I'm not going to race, I'm going to work the control angle. Now what comes out? 4x Shock is easy, I don't think 3x Dictate of Kruphix is good here either as we saw what happened in the last matchup when Apoptosis gets card advantage, even refilling his hand is dangerous as it overcomes the big limitation of his deck: if you can deplete either his creatures or his auras, you win. Lastly, I'll remove 1x Lightning Strike. This leaves me with the big combos, scry power to dig, and lots of counter magic.

Sideboard tech for Apoptosis. I didn't see much of the combos or really what Schuesseled's deck wanted to do, but I can imagine that Ensoul Artifact is the key pretty easily, even so I don't think I need to make specific changes just for it. Thinking about Boros Charm too, it's not amazing in this matchup (it's really for verdict), but anger is a thing to take seriously. Skylasher is ok, since it can't be countered, but burn is worrisome. So after thinking about it, take to the air! In: 2x Archangel of Thune, 2x Skylasher, 4x Prophetic Flamespeaker, 1x Boros Charm. Out: 4x Witchstalker, 1x Chained to the Rocks there were not a lot of targets, 2x Gladecover Scout, 2x Bassara Tower Archer? I guess.

Onto game 2.

Schuesseled on play draws Izzet Guildgate, island, Steam Vents, Negate, Magma Jet, Skullcrack, Shrapnel Blast not great, but ok. I'm not sure about Shrapnel Blast, but I left it in because of the potential alpha strike with it after Dictate of the Twin Gods and Ensoul Artifact. I wish this deck had Boros Reckoner. My thought is, if you run Dictate of the Twin Gods and any burn, get Boros Reckoner in there somehow.
Apoptosis draws 2x Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Prophetic Flamespeaker, Ethereal Armor, Gift of Orzhova, and Chained to the Rocks not fast, but could be lethal. We will see? onto the match!

S1: plays guildgate
A1: draws Stomping Ground and plays Sacred Foundry

S2: draws Magma Jet, plays island
A2: draws Gift of Orzhova, plays Sacred Foundry tapped, EOT Schuesseled casts Magma Jet at Apoptosis (S20/A18) and scrys Skullcrack and Ensoul Artifact, sends Skullcrack to the bottom and keeps a key piece of the combo on top.

S3: draws Ensoul Artifact and plays Steam Vents untapped (S18/A18) showing counterspell capability
A3: draws Stomping Ground at this point with only one creature in hand and my opponent showing counter magic, I would normally be nervous to cast it, but this deck lives and dies on risk, plays Stomping Ground (S18/A16), casts Prophetic Flamespeaker. EOT Schuesseled casts Magma Jet (S18/A14) scrys Dissipate and Izzet Guildgate this is a bad spot, I need an answer to that flamespeaker and these guys are not it. As Schuesseled I think I just realized that using those Magma Jet to scry was not good and that I have two options: 1. Chuck them both to the bottom and pray for a Lightning Strike or 2. Keep the Dissipate knowing that I can buy a turn with Negate, I think I want to dig. Both to the bottom

S4: draws Negate, not having that land drop will hurt.
A4: draws Archangel of Thune, casts Ethereal Armor, but runs into Negate, plays Temple Garden untapped (S18/A12), casts Gift of Orzhova and attacks (S14/A16), exiles Stomping Ground.

S5: draws Shrapnel Blast no help, seeing the board I wish that I had sided them out and kept in the shocks, but we're not dead yet!
A5: draws Bassara Tower Archer, attacks (S10/A20), exiles Temple of Plenty. Plays Stomping Ground untapped (S10/A18), casts Archangel of Thune

S6: draws and plays Shivan Reefok, now it looks very bad, one turn to find an answer
A6: draws Gift of Orzhova, casts Bassara Tower Archer, casts Gift of Orzhova, which gets stopped by Negate. Attacks with both, in response to combat, Schuesseled casts Skullcrack (S10/A15), both hit (S3/A15)

S7: draws Ensoul Artifact and concedes.

Apoptosis wins game 2 and the match. Thoughts: one can question whether as Schuesseled I should have cast the two Magma Jet early in the match, as if I had held onto them, I would have been able to kill either the Archangel of Thune or Prophetic Flamespeaker. At the time, I was working under the assumption that Apoptosis was only playing hexproof creatures, there was no evidence to the contrary in game 1 and as a combo deck I felt that it was important for Schuesseled to dig for that combination, counter magic, or Anger of the Gods when there was no threat of auras resolving - at least more than holding back. In hindsight that was the wrong play. Another mistake in hindsight was the choice of leaving Shrapnel Blast in the main, if they had been Shock or Lightning Strike the game could have gone the other way. But I had to assume that Apoptosis was going to keep up hexproof creatures, which means I needed a way to close the game out and Shrapnel Blast and Ensoul Artifact after resolving Dictate of the Twin Gods would allow an alpha strike. In hindsite, not enough targets in the main = dead spells in hand and I apologize to Schuesseled if I played his deck poorly. Regardless, I think I want a bit more creature presence, I already mentioned Boros Reckoner, which is amazing with Dictate of the Twin Gods and any burn (e.g. Lightning Strike reckoner for 6, then reckoner sends 12 to your opponent). Also, 4x Chandra's Phoenix comes to mind, with this much burn it's a resilient and sustainable source of pressure. Alternatively, I would also like 1-2x Chandra, Pyromaster in the main to help dig. I would also think about Jace, Architect of Thought a lot, as he can really dig for the combos too (if you think control first, burn second).

As Apoptosis, the deck did fairly well, but the sideboard surprise only works if I win game 1. Winning game 1 puts me in a strong position to surprise my opponent and close the game out in 2. If I lose game 1, then after game 2 my opponent knows my trick and will sideboard accordingly. Of course, Apoptosis can then sideboard back the hexproof creatures, leaving the opponent to second guess whether they are potentially putting dead cards back in their hand. There are ways around this that do not involve spot removal, which was discussed earlier in the article. As for what that sideboard 4x creature surprise in the three drop should be I've been debating Prophetic Flamespeaker versus Loxodon Smiter. The profit is potentially more explosive with all of the auras and helps sustain the deck and Prophetic Flamespeaker, but the loxodon is more resilient and works well against blue control and black hand disruption, arguably two common powerhouses in the format (and the example of how black can dismantle my deck.

So that wraps up this weeks doubleheader showdo- but wait? what's that? One more? Nono, there isn't time this week and you've read enough! But look for another possible doubleheader in two weeks. I'm strongly considering APPLE01DOJ's 50 #'s of Grade A Beef -R.I.P.-. I think this matchup will really favor APPLE01DOJ: Thoughtseize can cripple my hand and Abrupt Decay can effectively hurt my board and neutralize my removal (i.e. Chained to the Rocks), and he has really efficient beaters. Until then, may your draws be plentiful and you never be manascrewed.

-Apop.