Black Green Energy (Core19 update)
Standard*
SCORE: 14 | 15 COMMENTS | 9767 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS
6-16 FNM —June 17, 2017
Had another decent showing at FNM this week going 3-1 overall. Let me breakdown the matches and i'll tell you what i thought about them.
Match 1 - Green White Cat tribal - 2-0 (win)
So this went about as well as I expected. I have a lot of disruption in my deck so tribal decks can't usually get off the ground. Green white doesn't have a WHOLE lot of removal but he did Dusk a couple of my creatures and dawn back a couple of his own. Cartouche of strength almost got him there one game with the cat lord that gives lifelink. My deck is just a little bit too aggressive for this deck to stabilize at the moment.
Match 2 - Grixis cycling 2-0 (win)
Very interesting deck and if my deck was a little bit slower/midrange or control it would have been a tough matchup. As it turns out his deck doesn't really have anything to do until turn 3 and by then i already have a 3/4 and a 4/4 or something like that. So, his deck uses Call the Bloodline and Drake Haven to discard a card and pay 2 for a 1/1 chump blocker and a 2/2 flyer. He also runs Fevered Visions to do that EACH turn. 2x 2/2's and 2x 1/1's each turn cycle is a very solid stabalization strategy. Unfortunately for him, i loveeee drawing cards even if it means losing two live, so i just gassed him out with huge creatures both games.
Match 3 Black green delerium 1-2 (loss)
This is a pretty tough matchup for me if the delirium deck can get on the board early and stabilize before i get big creatures out. (it can have basically the same draw as me, except traverse into snake into rishkar/nissa). So, honestly i just have to hope they have a slower hand and then i can do well. I also should have mulliganed a hand that contained greenbelt rampager 2x rishkars and 4 lands. Even on the draw this hand was not good enough to risk. He also happened to curve out magnificently so it was the nail in the coffin when my first 2 draws were 2 more lands. 3-4 solid creatures is a must against the "mirror" or 2/3 creatures with a fatal push for their snake. The game i won i feel like i played really well, we both had 2+ Winding Constrictors on the board...it was kinda crazy. He had a 7/7 trample grim flayer and 2x 8/9 snakes.....yeah it was pretty crazy. I tried to go for the win with a 2 mana ballista (4/4 with my snakes) and then tried to play rishkar to pump it up 4x more times....he was at 8. But he had a ballista on his side, i was kinda hoping he would forget about it, but he pinged off my ballista with his. But i finally got there with a blossoming defensed bone picker and a couple unblocked creatures.I had my win con of a Kallitas being a 11/12 lifelink and he never//returned it. I really need that card. Maybe 3 in the sideboard even. At least 2
Match 4 Blue Red control -2-1 (win)
This is a matchup that is kinda on my radar, so my sideboard is pretty decent against it. I have 2 prowling serpopards for anti counter spell (which he countered 7 of my spells in the first game...and i even played around his censor that he cycled on turn 4) Game two, i think he boarded in his glory bringers while i boarded out most of my grasps and all of my Fatal Pushes. His Glorybringer just got there in the end. Wandering fumeral kept me back as i only did about 2 damage a turn. the final game i went first and got a cub out on turn 2 and that cub went all the way for me. It is very correct to use all your energy on the cub to pump it up every turn i think (this is without bristling hydra in the deck)
Overall i think this was a good week for me. I knew i was in almost every game i played and felt somewhat in control of my own destiny. If i was a little(maybe a lot) better at the game i might have made better side boarding or mulligan choices. So, i definitely have a lot to improve upon, but Magic is a marathon and not a sprint and i'm having fun with it. I am planning on switching up about 6 of my sideboard cards to make myself a little bit better against both this deck and the rest of what i think the current field will be (temur energy, blue red control, black zombies, green black mirror.) I plan on getting 2x transgress the mind (they are on the way from pucatrade), 2x Never / Return and perhaps 2x Bristling Hydras or Scrapheap Scroungers against control. I think i have enough for control, but the hydra or perhaps even a Nissa, Voice of Zendikar could shore up my matchup against midrange decks.