SOI Standard Poor-Man Challenge: Round 4 Results

Deck Challenges

zandl

10 June 2016

1115 views

zandl's challenge by tempest
      versus
Bounty of the Tides- Necro-Alchemy on a Budget! by Mortem

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Results Show

tempest (2)   vs.   Mortem (0)

Game 1 Show

Mortem was able to deal with Tempest’s early plays with ease, but a big problem came in the form of a Hedron Archive on turn-4. From there, Tempest cast a Bane of Bala Ged on turn-5 and another right after it. Mortem was able to use Rise from the Tides to create a pile of permanents to exile and block with, but Tempest got the upper hand with a topdecked Essence Depleter after Mortem was forced to tap out. All it had to do was activate twice and the game was over.

Game 2 Show

Again, Tempest’s creatures were easily dispatched in the first few turns of the game. Mortem was building up to a big Rise from the Tides, but missing out on the sixth land-drop was detrimental. Hitting Oblivion Strike with Invasive Surgery and delirium (and another in the hand) wasn’t enough to save an Aberrant Researcher  ^Flip from a follow-up Visions of Brutality. Tempest’s Baloth Null brought back a pair of Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flips and Mortem was quickly running out of options. In the end, the sixth land came up a turn too late after accounting for the delay on Rise from the Tides.

Zandl's Silverblack 2016 - UB Delirium Control by Boza
      versus
U/B Poor Man's Sleepy Dead People by DarkLaw

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Results Show

DarkLaw (2)   vs.   Boza (0)

Game 1 Show

Boza had a fair bit of trouble getting any creatures to stick to the board for more than a turn. Darklaw’s removal was appearing in droves and Boza didn’t have a way to prevent what was happening. Still trying to create a board presence and with only spot removal at the ready, Boza could only watch as Darklaw’s Rise from the Tides flooded the board with Zombies. Gisa's Bidding and a few removal spells managed to hold off the horde for a little while, but a second Rise from Darklaw finished the game decisively.

Game 2 Show

Boza seemed to have a lot more to do this game. Necromantic Summons kept popping up at the right moments, usually targeting Aberrant Researcher  ^Flip. Not to be intimidated, Darklaw always seemed to have the removal for it. Pore Over the Pages was doing a lot of work for both players, though Darklaw’s spells were better suited for the matchup. Boza was drawing into more spot-removal spells as Darklaw was finding countermagic and more fuel for Rise from the Tides. Without a way to win quickly or suppress Rise, Boza’s lifespan was dramatically cut short when the first one was cast. Another copy right behind it was certain death.

Moneyless Vampires by Nightdragon779
      versus
Black-red Crazy poor vampires by amerishin

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Results Show

amerishin (2)   vs.   Nightdragon779 (0)

Game 1 Show

Night’s aggressive early plays put a lot of pressure on Amerishin from the get-do. A Village Messenger  ^Flip transformed right away and a Pale Rider of Trostad was Night’s turn-2 spell. Slowly, though, Amerishin took advantage of Heir of Falkenrath  ^Flip and Insolent Neonate to cast both copies of Twins of Maurer Estate off madness at instant-speed. The 5 toughness on the Twins was enough to withstand even Incorrigible Youths, essentially giving Amerishin an impenetrable defense. The Heir to the Night  ^Flip and a new Olivia's Bloodsworn swung through the air for the game as Night drew into more small creatures and lands.

Game 2 Show

Night was once again the aggressor in the beginning but fell short as soon as turn-4. A few topdecks in a row of only lands caused Night to run out of fuel pretty quickly while Amerishin’s madness spells were just starting to hit the board. Night did have removal for the first few of Amerishin’s creatures, but haste was becoming an issue. While trying to build up a modest defense, Night was overwhelmed by a Stensia Masquerade and the loss of tempo from trying to block immediately put the game in Amerishin’s favor until it was all over.

poor man challenge deck by TheDeckBuilder_mage
      versus
Because even paupers like control by tpmains

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Results Show

tpmains (2)   vs.   TheDeckBuilder_mage (1)

Game 1 Show

Mage’s opening plays revolved around a Stormchaser Mage and Sanguinary Mage with Expedite. After taking about 8 damage, TP decided enough was enough and removal neutralized all of Mage’s creatures on the board. Mage needed a few turns to find new threats, but this time allowed TP to set up enough lands to efficiently deal with any problems. TP found card-draw whenever the hand was getting a bit low while a few counterspells sat on watch. Mage was having trouble drawing into new creatures and those that did appear were instantly countered/exiled. TP wound up flashing in a trio Ulamog's Nullifiers over a couple turns to win the game before Mage could get anything else going.

Game 2 Show

Mage’s pair of Stormchaser Mages were putting a good amount of pressure on TP to find some answers (and lands). TP’s Anticipate logically went after a much-needed basic in lieu of a dead Flaying Tendrils. A few copies of Complete Disregard dealt with the Stormchasers before they could do much more damage to TP, but then Mage put down a pair of Reckless Scholars. Now sitting only on countermagic and Transgress the Mind, TP was being beaten to death by 2/1 creatures as a Flaying Tendrils sat at the bottom of the library. Nothing else worth noting was drawn and TP was out of the game.

Game 3 Show

On the play, TP was able to counter a Sanguinary Mage with Horribly Awry and exile a Stormchaser Mage with Complete Disregard in response to a Titan's Strength on turn-3. Without another creature to maintain the pressure, this game fell into the same pattern as Game 1. Though it took TP over a dozen turns to actually deal the first few points of damage to Mage, Mage just couldn’t get anything going. Even saving up a number of spells to cast all at once wasn’t enough to get through TP’s stacked hand of removal and counterspells. An Ulamog's Nullifier dodged the pair of Roast in Mage’s hand as it swung through the air for 10 turns straight to end the game. Mage used it for scrying with Titan's Strength and drawing with Expedite and Slip Through Space, but new creatures simply couldn’t stick.

zandls-soi-challenge by eludemerlange
      versus
Poor Men Flying Over!!! by Nobueno95

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Results Show

Nobueno95 (2)   vs.   eludemerlange (0)

Game 1 Show

With so many flying threats coming from NoBueno, Elude had trouble keeping them at bay with just spot-removal. By the time stabilization was achieved, Elude wasn’t exactly sitting on much to donate to Call the Bloodline. To compound the problem, Retreat to Hagra was almost a dead-draw as any lands off the top were almost certainly better as a lifelink 1/1 instead of a 1-point drain. Slowly but surely, NoBueno was building up a board again and Elude was still scraping the the bottom of the barrel to find value out of the spells coming up. A string a good draws for NoBueno was all it took for Elude to fall too far behind and lose the race.

Game 2 Show

NuBueno’s opening plays of Eldrazi Skyspawner and Whirler Rogue flooded the board and Elude was stuck with a bunch of one-for-one removal and Fleshbag Marauder. Call the Bloodline gave Elude some time to figure out a plan, but NoBueno’s tokens were simply too difficult to interact with. After NoBueno’s board was whittled down to just a few tokens, a pair of Aven Sunstrikers hit the board with megamorph. Without Sanitarium Skeleton and a bunch of mana to abuse it with, Call the Bloodline couldn’t do enough anymore to save Elude from flying and double strike.

SO-Sligh (Poor-man) by DruneGrey
      versus
Wasting my Time by CaptainLick

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Results Show

CaptainLick (2)   vs.   DruneGrey (0)

Game 1 Show

In a quick and violent game, Drune was setting up for a punishing turn-3 Dragon Fodder with Impact Tremors out. A clutch Warping Wail to counter the Fodder, though, was just the tempo swing Captain needed. Drune continued the aggressive line with a Zada's Commando and Reckless Bushwhacker on turn-4 for big damage, even burning through Captain’s Warden of Geometries with Ravaging Blaze the following turn. At this point, Captain exiled the Commando with Titan's Presence and a Spatial Contortion shredded the Bushwhacker, leaving Drune with a stack of lands and an Impact Tremors. Captain wound up falling to 4 life through all of this, but a Walker of the Wastes swung in twice and ended the game before anything else could happen.

Game 2 Show

Warping Wail, Spatial Contortion, and Titan's Presence all presented a series of difficult hoops for Drune to jump through. Even with a Village Messenger  ^Flip transforming right away and dropping a slew of 2-drop creatures to pressure Captain, Drune just couldn’t fight the control. On turn-5, a Walker of the Wastes landed and Drune had nothing that could even come close to burning it away. With a sixth Wastes on the board, the 10/10 crashed through each turn until the game was over.

UR Colorless Beatdown by Wee_Dragonaut
      versus
Rakdrone: Poor-man challenge by CRKFIEND

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Results Show

Wee_Dragonaut (2)   vs.   CRKFIEND (0)

Game 1 Show

Fiend began with an aggressive line of Reaver Drone into Forerunner of Slaughter and Vile Aggregate. Dragonaut’s turn-2 Tide Drifter after a Prophet of Distortion, though, immediately forced Fiend to pump the breaks. From that point forward, Dragonaut’s Whirler Rogue cluttered up the board and a Ruination Guide on the next turn proved to be too much for Fiend, who was still waiting on colorless mana to show up (with only 6 sources in the deck).

Game 2 Show

The pressure of Whirler Rogue with Ruination Guide and Vile Aggregate was too much for Fiend to overcome in this game. Even with colorless mana and a decent string of creatures, the value Dragonaut was seeing was too high to fight fairly. Tide Drifter, namely, threw a wrench into Fiend’s plans yet again as Processor Assault nuked Fiend’s own Vile Aggregate. With Dragonaut’s creatures’ toughness dramatically improved by a second Tide Drifter, Fiend couldn’t realistically make any trades that weren’t just awful. A few turns more of this only saw Dragonaut’s board growing and the game was over soon thereafter.

Statistics

Let’s break down the color trends:









As the charts clearly show, Red has taken a big hit in this round. This seems to be following the trend of the bigger, slower control decks having the right tools to defend themselves before Rise from the Tides or another back-breaking spell can finish the game. tempest’s Green/Black deck and Nobueno95’s White/Blue deck held on tight, though, keeping their colors in the challenge through two rounds on their own. It’s anybody’s guess what will happen in the final round, though, considering there are 7 completely unique builds all vying for the top spot. (Let us now mourn for those lost during the oppressive days of Ethereal Armor and Madcap Skills completely taking over the final round of the last Pauper Challenge.)

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Final Round Participants

The upcoming final round is a round robin, meaning each deck plays every other. The deck with the highest game-win percentage will be declared the champion of the challenge.

tempest’s B/G Eldrazi
DarkLaw’s U/B Rise from the Tides
amerishin’s B/R Madness
tpmains’s U/B Control
Nobueno95’s U/W Flyers
CaptainLick’s Colorless Eldrazi
Wee_Dragonaut’s U/R Eldrazi

Good luck to each remaining deck! The next article will contain:
the final round’s results,
a handful of brews I created at the onset which I thought might’ve been prominent,
a number of "Top 5" lists showing off my favorite submissions and noteworthy cards,
and much more.

It’s going to be a big one and you won’t want to miss it!

Happy tapping, players!
zandl

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