Ghost Dad's Circus Stampede
Standard*
SCORE: 71 | 64 COMMENTS | 19523 VIEWS | IN 35 FOLDERS Top 8: 05/10
FNM Report and Playtest #8 —March 3, 2013
Took the list to FNM for the first time and didn't place in top 8 but I did learn a lot from playing all 6 rounds. The rounds' matchups were in the following order: Esper Control, Naya Midrange, BR Zombies, Naya Midrange, 4C Rites, and BR Vampires.
The control matchup was, as expected, very long and we went to time on game 2 but since I won game 1, the round win went to me.
The 2nd round's midrange matchup was pretty even and he got mana flooded game 1 and the same happened to me game 2 so it was down to game 3. The game was pretty even until I was a turn or two away from stabilizing and then he played Zealous Conscripts, taking my Centaur Healer and then did it again the next turn with Restoration Angel targeting the conscripts and swung for lethal with Selesnya Charm's +2/+2 trample. He had two life remaining when he won. Where's a G/B/W burn spell when you need one, right?
3rd round was against BR Zombies. I won game 1 with Lingering Souls's spirit tokens and Vampire Nighthawk and Sigarda, Host of Herons, the latter of which he couldn't interact with. Lost game 2 after not having drawn any more creatures after the 2 in my opening hands. Lost game 3 to Blood Artist and Geralf's Messenger when my Rest in Peace or Oblivion Ring were nowhere to be found.
4th round was against another Naya Midrange. Lost game 1 when he hit his 5 cmc creature before I did and out of all of the ones he had, it was Sigarda, Host of Herons. I had no way to deal with her outside of combat and I didn't draw into any flyers that game. Game 2 was sad. Had to mulligan down to 4 and just pooped out after that. Bad luck was bad.
At this point, I wanted to just keep playing to further test the list. 5th round came the 4C Rites that hit its infinite mill combo in both of the first two games when I once again didn't draw into any Rest in Peace.
Last round was BR Vampires. Lost game 1 when a few surprise Undying Evil got played and I was eventually overwhelmed by burn spells and Blood Artist triggers. Game 2 could have been different had I not realized that in this one turn I could have played Rest in Peace to shut down Blood Artist and Geralf's Messenger and flash back Lingering Souls to make blockers and stall until I stabilize, which I was likely was going to be able to. Learned from my mistakes.
Many lessons were learned the hard way that night but the event also gave me a better idea of the current local meta and thus enabled me to make quite a few changes to the list to deal with the threats.
Decided to take out Rhox Faithmender altogether. The lifegain is nice but it's a bit too cute and gimmicky and it really slows me down on the offense when he can neither hit hard nor stay behind to block flyers.
Maxed out on Abrupt Decay combined between MB and SB. That spell is sick and having any less than 4 is just a crime.
Gave more spots to Vampire Nighthawk. He has been nothing but a godsend ever since he got released and he still performs as spectacularly as ever in terms of versatility and ability to play both offense and defense at the same time.
Also gave more room to Restoration Angel. She makes a great surprise blink-blocker, especially when paired with Vampire Nighthawk. However, she doesn't have as many good ETB targets to blink (only Thragtusk and Obzedat, Ghost Council, the latter usually not being there to get blinked and thus would have to be blinked during my turn which eliminates the element of surprise) so I am keeping her at 3 and not 4.
Still moving the sideboard around. If I see more reanimators, I might have to move Rest in Peace up to two and maybe cut an Underworld Connections or a Centaur Healer. Still torn on whether to use Merciless Eviction or Sever the Bloodline or Glaring Spotlight. Options 1 and 3 can deal with Sigarda, Host of Herons but also have their own perks and drawbacks. Option 2 relies on just flyer combat in my main to deal with her. I'm still unsure how many of her I will run into on an average night but I have to always be ready when she hits the board.
That's all for now. Thanks for all the comments so far!