Showdown #15: War, What is it Good For?

Showdown

Spootyone

17 March 2014

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Hello all and welcome to another edition of Showdown where I pit my current standard deck against those that have been sent into me from this site. It's been a while since I've made one of these! In fact, this will be the first time using my brand new deck that I have been working on for about a month or so now. I encourage you to check out the deck tech I have for it located here before reading this if you have not already so you may begin to get an understanding for what my deck wants to be able to do and how it came to be. A notable change since its initial release has been the addition of Simic Charm for more disruption, some protection, and a way to get in a combat trick here or there. Additionally, Sphinx's Revelation was removed to have room for the "inferior" Urban Evolution for reasons that have been outlined on the deck home page, here. I can't tell you just how excited I am to test this baby out so you all can see (hopefully) just how powerful and fun it can be. So let's just skip right to the opposition, shall we?

This edition's challenger is....

A Good Man Goes To War

Casual* Dalektable

SCORE: 303 | 350 COMMENTS | 50259 VIEWS | IN 217 FOLDERS

This is a White Weenie deck created by Dalektable. Once beginning as a budget build, it has stepped up to Rise to the Challenge that I have put before him. What am I afraid of? Swarm. I am afraid of getting completely annihilated by a swarm of tiny dudes ready to ping me to death in a sheer matter of turns while I'm trying my best to stabilize using Cyclonic Rift and Simic Charm. The single most difficult threat Dalek has against me I've found is his 1-drop Soldier of the Pantheon. Not being able to be targeted by Kiora, the Crashing Wave or by Simic Charm makes him much more of a threat when he begins to be backed up by Ethereal Armor and Ordeal of Heliod. And obviously, Brave the Elements can be a major threat against me given how much of my creatures are of the green persuasion. I'm hoping that I can survive to cast my large creatures while still remaining on the draw for each and every game (something I've been choosing to do for a while now with optimal results). Will Dalek's mighty armada be able to take down the colossal Sylvan Primordial once he has awoken? Let's find out.

**Spooty wins the flip and chooses to be on the draw. The kept hand contains 2x Sylvan Caryatid, Simic Charm, Urban Evolution, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Temple of Mystery and Breeding Pool. While this hand isn't particularly amazing, I like that I have a bit of ramp and the Elspeth that I know is so vital to this matchup. Just need to draw lands. **

Dalek keeps an opener of 3x plains, Soldier of the Pantheon, Ethereal Armor, and 2x Ordeal of Heliod. As long as the soldier can stay on the field, this hand provides massive amounts of early damage. Seems to be a keep.

D1: Plains, Soldier of the Pantheon. Pass.

**S1: Draws Sylvan Caryatid. Third caryatid already? Kind of just not what we wanted here, but we'll make it work. Plays a tapped Temple of Mystery and scrys forest off the top. It stays. Pass. **

D2: Draws Ordeal of Heliod. Third ordeal? Alright, guess the shuffler is broken. Plains, casts Ordeal of Heliod on the soldier and attacks. A counter is added to the soldier due to attacking and 3 damage is dealt. Pass. (s 17/20 d)

**S2: Draws forest. Plays forest. Casts Sylvan Caryatid. I would've probably preferred to play Simic Charm but sadly the soldier has pro multicolored. Pass. **

D3: Draws Gods Willing. Perfect! Plays plains. Casts Ordeal of Heliod of the soldier and attacks. This activates both ordeal. The first resolves and adds a counter. The second resolves and adds a counter, then is sacrificed and heals Dalek for 10. The soldier deals 5 damage. Pass, leaving up mana for Gods Willing. (s 12/30 d)

**S3: Draws Kiora, the Crashing Wave. Not very good for this particular board state, sadly. Otherwise, I'd be perfectly happy. Okay...Big swings are happening very quickly here and I honestly have nothing in my hand to fix it. If I can get elspeth out then I can make chump blockers for days, but a single Gods Willing or Brave the Elements just kills me. Alternatively, I could play 'Speth and use her -3 to kill the soldier. What are my outs? Cyclonic Rift comes to mind to bounce the soldier. What else? Perhaps Arbor Colossus can offer a trade? Again, the two aforementioned cards that give his soldier protection break through those plans. It would seem our only line of play is to assume he does not have those cards -- no matter how slim that chance is. For that reason, I choose to shock myself with Breeding Pool and play out the remaining 2 Sylvan Caryatid in an attempt to ready the board for 'Speth. Pass. (s 10/30 d) **

D4: Draws Soldier of the Pantheon. Alright the opponent is tapped out. Now's the time to really mess with their head. Casts third Ordeal of Heliod on the soldier and attacks. The first ordeal resolves and adds a counter +10 life. The second does the same. Given my reasoning above, I do not block and take 7 damage. Pass. (s 3/50 d)

**S4: Draws Sylvan Primordial. I love you man, but for now it's board-clear time. Taps out for Elspeth, Sun's Champion and uses her -3 ability to kill all creatures with power 4 or greater. Namely, the opposing ridiculousness that is the 7/6 1-drop. Pass. **

D5: Draws plains. Plays plains. Well...that was a bit lame. Gods Willing certainly doesn't protect against wraths. We are suddenly in desperate need of some serious "reach" in the form of an additional Gods Willing or a Brave the Elements. Casts Soldier of the Pantheon and passes.

S5: Draws Temple Garden. Alright. We have somehow stabilized for the time being. Now we need to protect ourselves. 2 copies of a protection-granting card will kill us potentially even through Sylvan Caryatid and soldier tokens. We have to keep that in mind. Keeping one caryatid up to block, I cast Urban Evolution. Dalek gains 1 life. The drawn cards are Cyclonic Rift, Simic Charm, and Hallowed Fountain. the fountain and the Temple Garden enter tapped. Elspeth uses her +1 to make 3 soldier tokens. Pass. crosses fingers (s 3/51 d) **

D6: Draws Gift of Orzhova. I-hate-my-protection-from-multicolored-so-much-right-now-you-have-no-idea. There is little reason to attack or to cast the Ethereal Armor here. It doesn't help us in this board state and could easily draw different forms of removal that will destroy us for good. Pass.

**S6: Draws Courser of Kruphix. My savior!! Okay so now we have green blockers, white blockers, and a blue Cyclonic Rift to protect us. We are, effectively, safe (most likely). Casts Courser of Kruphix. Cyclonic Rift is revealed from the top of the library. Ups 'Speth and makes 3 more soldiers. Attacks with the 3 current soldiers to deal 3 damage (no blocks). Pass. (s 3/48 d) **

D7: Draws Fabled Hero. You really just aren't my hero that I needed right now, guy. It's strange to me how the board has suddenly become so turned against me so quickly. Might as well play out the hero. If we are lucky, it may win us the game next turn. Casts Fabled Hero and passes.

**S7: Draws Cyclonic Rift and reveals Cyclonic Rift off the top. Well...I'm about to be a real jerk to my opponent, I guess. But for now, stability. Play it safe, and play it logically. We have a wall of life to take down and only 3 points to our name. Just don't be stupid. Attacks with 6 soldier tokens. One is blocked by the Fabled Hero and Dalek takes 5 damage. Elspeth is upped and 3 more tokens are made (4 loyalty). Kiora, the Crashing Wave is cast and Her +1 ability is used on the opposing hero to lock him in a bubble for a turn. Pass. (s 3/43 d) **

D8: Draws plains. Nope. Plays plains. We know the opponent has Cyclonic Rift so there's no point in wasting our auras. Pass.

**S8: Draws Cyclonic Rift. Forest is revealed from the top of the library. It is played and Spooty gains one life. forest is revealed from the top. Cyclonic Rift is cast for overloaded cost and all of Dalek's non-land permanents are returned to hand. Uses Kiora's -1 to draw a card. Draws forest. Elvish Mystic is revealed from the top. Plays forest and gains one life. Attacks with 8 soldier tokens and the courser for 10 total damage. Ups Elspeth and makes 3 more soldiers tokens. Pass. (s 5/33 d) **

D9: Draws Ethereal Armor. It doesn't win me the game right now. He has at least one more rift but we need to at last bait it out or something. Casts Soldier of the Pantheon. Casts Fabled Hero. Pass.

**S9: Draws Elvish Mystic. Reveals Kiora's Follower from the top. Overloads Cyclonic Rift #2 to clear Dalek's board. Attacks with 11 soldiers and the courser for 13 total damage. Ups Elspeth to make 3 more soldiers. Uses Kiora's -1 to draw Kiora's Follower and reveals Sylvan Caryatid off the top. Casts Elvish Mystic. Casts the follower. Pass. (s 5/20 d) **

D10: Draws Hopeful Eidolon. I'm pretty sure there is no way for us to win without the opponent just misplaying. Casts Soldier of the Pantheon and Fabled Hero. Pass.

**S10: Draws Sylvan Caryatid. Overloads Cyclonic Rift #3. Attacks with 14 soldier tokens, Elvish Mystic, Kiora's Follower and Courser of Kruphix. Before damage, Simic Charm is cast on a soldier to pump it up and that's lethal damage. **

Spooty wins game 1!

I am so, so, so, so, SO glad that game was documented. I love comeback stories and -- even more so -- I love the fact that I finally was able to show you guys I'm not terrible all the time! As expected, Elspeth, Sun's Champion was proven to be the star of that game, taking what would have been a disaster and turning it into a victory clutched from the depths of hell. The weakness Simic Charm and Kiora, the Crashing Wave can have in this matchup was also shown well here as neither of them could handle the onslaught that the Soldier of the Pantheon was bringing down upon me.

**Sideboard tech with Spooty: That game was so fun. What do we need to bring in? Nylea's Disciple is coming in as an earlier body that gains me some much-needed life so I can stabilize. Simic Charm is also good here despite what last game showed us. As long as Soldier of the Pantheon isn't the only threat against us it does some seriously good things for us. Kiora's Follower isn't great here because of its tendency to trade down. Ramp is important but I can't rely on mana dorks being the only source of that. Urban Evolution is also fairly weak here due to the fact that it simply isn't cheap enough. it's also out. So that's 3 disciples and a simic charm for 2 followers and 2 evolutions. **

Sideboard tech with Dalek: That was...a bit of a shame. I was pretty sure this was going to be a slaughter and then suddenly there was not a single thing we could do to win. Pithing Needle will be coming in to handle elspeth to the best of our abilities. Rootborn Defenses could come in but I honestly think two elspeths that can sometimes kill one or two of my dudes is not justification to have a slot in the 60 right now. After all, I'd hate to have rootborn in hand when my opponent casts Cyclonic Rift. That's a sickening feeling. Fiendslayer Paladin is not at all strong in this matchup, either. Three paladins and 2 Imposing Sovereign are coming out in favor of 2x Celestial Flare, 2x Banisher Priest and 1x Pithing Needle. I just hope that elspeth doesn't ruin the day again...

Game 2

Dalek chooses to be on the play and mulls a no-land hand. (this hand had Pithing Needle in it so it realllly pains me to put it back). The 6-card hand has 1 land and no threats under 3 mana...not very good either. The 5-card hand contains 3x plains, Soldier of the Pantheon and Spear of Heliod. This game could simply come down to bad hands, so if it appears as such I may do an extra game.

**Spooty keeps an opener of 2x Cyclonic Rift, Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, forest, Temple of Plenty and Temple of Mystery. Opener with 'Speth and 2 rifts is an amazing get for me. Total keep. **

D1: Plains, Soldier of the Pantheon. Pass.

**S1; Draws Breeding Pool. Plays Temple of Mystery tapped and scrys Sylvan Primordial off the top. Because we aren't even close to being able to cast him, I'll just ship him away for the time being. Pass. **

D2: Draws plains. Not good at all. Plays plains. Swings for 2 with the soldier. Pass. (s 18/20 d)

**S2: Draws Sylvan Primordial. Funny joke, deck. Plays Temple of Plenty tapped and scrys Nylea's Disciple off the top. I'll certainly keep a sideboard card on top right now. Pass. **

D3: Draws Brave the Elements. I'd have preferred another threat but at least it isn't land. Plays plains. Plays Spear of Heliod and swings for 3 with the soldier. Pass. (s 15/20 d)

**S3: Draws Nylea's Disciple. Plays Breeding Pool tapped. Pass. I'm leaving up mana to use Cyclonic Rift here. **

D4: Draws plains. Attacks with the soldier for 3. Before damage, Spooty casts Cyclonic Rift to return it to Dalek's hand. I really feel like I need to continue to push damage through here. In response, Dalek casts Brave the Elements giving the soldier pro blue. The damage goes through. Plays plains. Pass. (s 12/20 d)

**S4: Draws Breeding Pool. Plays forest. Plays Nylea's Disciple and gains 2 life. Pass. (s 14/20 d) **

D5: Draws Ordeal of Heliod. As much as I want to be happy about that, it doesn't help the board state at all. And equipping it just opens me up to a 2-for-1. With no profitable attacks I pass the turn.

**S5: Draws Sylvan Caryatid. Well, that's a bit late. All well. Taps out for Kiora, the Crashing Wave and uses her -1 ability to draw Elvish Mystic (Dalek gains 1 life). Again, late, but not horrible. I'd like to ramp into this Elspeth or the Primordial, so I shock myself with the Breeding Pool and cast Elvish Mystic. Pass. (s 12/21 d) **

D6: Draws plains. I'm beginning to think I'm incredibly unlucky right now or that there is too much land in the deck, but I'm pretty sure 21 lands is definitely not too many. All well. Plays plains. Nothing going. Pass.

**S6: Draws Temple Garden. And there we go! Shocks self with the Temple Garden to cast Sylvan Primordial, blowing up the opposing Spear of Heliod and retrieving a Temple Garden from the deck onto the battlefield tapped. I then attack with the disciple for 3 damage and use Kiora's +1 ability targeting the opposing basic plains. Pass. (s 10/18 d) **

D7: Draws Banisher Priest. Not horrible right now at all. Casts the Banisher Priest and exiles Sylvan Primordial. Then he casts Ordeal of Heliod on the soldier and swings in at spooty with it, granting it a counter and dealing 3 damage. Pass. (s 7/18 d). We have to hope now.

**S7: Draws Sylvan Primordial. Not bad. But I have a better plan in mind. Taps out to cast an overloaded Cyclonic Rift to return all on Dalek's nonland permanents to his hand. This causes the exiled primordial to return to the field, destroying an opposing plains and retrieving a Breeding Pool tapped onto the battlefield from my deck. I attack with the disciple and mystic for 4 damage total and then up the kiora targeting an opposing plains. Pass. (s 7/14 d) **

D8: Draws Soldier of the Pantheon. We're in a near-unwinnable position at the moment, sadly. Plays plains, plays 2x Soldier of the Pantheon, and replays Banisher Priest to exile the opposing primordial. Pass.

**S8: Draws Kiora, the Crashing Wave. Irrelevant at the moment. Casts Sylvan Primordial and destroys an opposing plains, while retrieving a temple garden from my own deck onto the battlefield tapped. I attack with the disciple for 3 damage (no good blocks) and then up the Kiora to 4 loyalty targeting the opposing Banisher Priest. I then tap my remaining 2 mana sources for a Sylvan Caryatid. Pass. (s 7/11 d) **

D9: Draws Fabled Hero. Not at all fantastic yet again. Casts Fabled Hero and passes the turn since there are no good attacks.

**S9: Draws Courser of Kruphix. She's here to heal me again! Thought I totally wish I'd had her earlier with all the primordial land shenanigans. Attacks with the disciple and primordial. A soldier chumps the primordial and Dalek takes 3 damage. I then cast the Courser of Kruphix and reveal breeding pool from the top. It is plays tapped and I gain 1 life. This reveals Temple of Mystery from the top. I use Kiora's -1 to draw the temple and reveal Cyclonic Rift from the top. The temple is played and I gain one life, leaving the rift on top. Finally, I cast the Elspeth, Sun's Champion and use her to make 3 1/1 soldier tokens. Pass. (s 9/8 d) **

D10: Draws Ethereal Armor. And now we know the opponent can overload a rift next turn. We are dead on board. Dalek concedes.

Spooty wins the match!

That was a bit lame due to getting bad openers but at the same time... Dalek's deck actually came close to beating me from time to time and if I hadn't played as carefully as I had a single Brave the Elements would have spelled my loss. Luckily, Elspeth's tokens provided a blocker source of an additional color which allowed me to often-times survive such a top deck.

Afterthoughts

White Weenie (WW) aggro decks can be some of the most scary ones around at the moment simply due to cards such as Soldier of the Pantheon (depending on the matchup), Gods Willing, Ethereal Armor and most importantly Brave the Elements. What may have been the reasons that this deck did not succeed? For one, there are only a small number of copies of Brave the Elements in the total 75. I would begin by recommending adding a couple more to at least the sideboard. Additionally, the deck seemed to be in a place between typical WW aggro and a sort of WW auras deck centered around Ethereal Armor. I think I decided to choose a path and go all in on that path to allow for better consistency and to make sure that the plan can follow through. One could either add more creatures like Daring Skyjek or Dryad Militant OR they could increase the number of copies of Ordeal of Heliod and possibly adding in Hero of Iroas. One more thing: The nombo between Soldier of the Pantheon and Gift of Orzhova was an apparent one in some of these games. It is definitely something to look out for in the future. Overall, however, I really liked this deck and was actually quite afraid to go up against it. Hopefully I did it justice to the best of my abilities, Dalektable.

QOTW

Last Showdown I asked for your all's opinions on Born of the Gods. What did you like the most? What were your biggest disappointments? I got a lot of feedback on that and was quite surprised by the results. I'm always happy to hear the opinions of my readers and so today I have a bit of a more serious question for you all. Hopefully you all can be honest with me and tell me how you really feel without hesitation.

I began this not as an article, but as a forum post. Since then, I have been lucky/blessed enough to have it spiral towards where it is at now, and I couldn't be more happy making content for Tappedout. I love the community we have and the fact that we can band together to increase the knowledge and skill of anyone who desires to learn and benefit from what we have to offer. I have begun to delve into making my own ideas into deck techs that have had success of the site. I've also taken a sort of leap of faith in putting my own opinions and feelings out there into the open internet for criticism and approval. I feel as though my abilities have become so much grander than they were when I first began doing this, and my drive to make quality content has not waned. However, it takes time to make this happen. As an adult, hobbies are great but a steady income is equally as important.

Now, I'm certainly not asking for donations. I would feel kind of silly accepting money from people for what I make right now. What I am asking is for your opinions on something I've been thinking of doing for a while now as a bit of a dream. I want to someday be able to make a living off of Magic: The Gathering. And for the longest time I was unsure how I could ever do that. But now I have this opportunity in front of me that I feel I must take advantage of lest it go beyond my reach. And because of this, I have decided to put effort into sending out material to other sites that might accept me and offer to pay me in store credit or otherwise so I may be able to help support myself with these articles I write. The only thing keeping me back is fear.

What could I be afraid of? Being turned down? Nah. I could always come back to TO and continue what I'm doing now. No, what I'm afraid of is how you -- my readers -- will take this news. I do not wish to come off as someone who is just out to get money. That is not the case. And I also dont want anyone to feel I am turning my back to this site, either. I want to know from you all this: IF I were to somehow be lucky enough to write for a site and use that as a means of supporting myself, would you still come by to read what I have to offer? I can almost guarantee that me posting those articles on here would no longer be "allowed" due to the circumstances of being an actual content creator. Would you at all feel negatively impacted by this decision? I want to know.

Magic Trivia

Last installment I asked you all just how many individual sliver cards there have ever been printed and when they were first printed in a magic set. Slivers were first introduced in Tempest as a cycle of 1/1 creatures with varying abilities. So just how many slivers are there now? 90. VRonin even went so far as to list every single one of them. Now that's dedication!

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