Showdown #4: Prowling Hexproof
Standard forum
Posted on Oct. 9, 2013, 4:49 a.m. by Spootyone
Showdown #4: Prowling Hexproof
Welcome all to another edition of my showdown series where I playtest my current standard deck against various other standard decks that have been submitted to me. As always I will be piloting both decks to the best of my knowledge and ability and as though I know nothing of the opposing deck but what I learn through the match.
Today we face against a deck submitted by unzensierte
deck-large:naya-hexproof-29-09-13-1
At first glance, a lot of this deck intrigues me. There are many suggestions that I might immediately make, but that's the whole point of this series -- opening my eyes to new ideas. We'll see if this brew is competitive-worthy.
Game 1
Spooty (s) wins the flip and is on the play. He keeps a hand of 2x Sylvan Caryatid , Fleecemane Lion , Boros Reckoner , Spear of Heliod , Selesnya Guildgate and Temple Garden
Unzensierte (u) mulls a hand with lands, but no real gas. The kept hand contains 2x Fleecemane Lion , Boros Charm , Unflinching Courage , forest and plains.
S1: guildgate tapped. pass.
U1: draws Heroes' Reunion . Plays forest. pass.
S2: draws forest. plays forest and taps to cast sylvan caryatid. pass.
U2: draws Witchstalker . plays plains and casts fleecemane lion. pass.
S3: draws temple garden. With an opposing lion on the field, I kind of want to just blitz the enemy as best as I can. Shocks with temple garden (s 18/20 u) and taps out with the caryatid to cast a second caryatid and our own fleecemane lion. pass.
U3: draws sylvan caryatid. There's nothing to be done about the opponent making their lion monstrous. Our only hope is to out-race them. For that, we need to get this unflinching courage on something. taps for sylvan caryatid. Attacks with fleecemane. No blocks. (s 15/20 u) pass.
S4: draws Archangel of Thune :) Attacks with fleecemane lion. no blocks. in response, the lion is made monstrous (s 15/16 u). temple garden tapped. pass.
U4: draws forest. plays forest. enchants fleecemane lion with courage and swings for 5 lifelink damage (s 10/21 u). pass.
S5: draws Trostani, Selesnya's Voice . The enchanted lion is going to pose problems for me if I can't put up some sort of stop to it. I think we need to get our angel out so we can begin gaining life and getting stronger. taps one caryatid and all lands for archangel of thune. attacks with lion for 4. No blocks. (s 10/17 u). pass.
U5: draws forest. Alright we can make this guy monstrous now, which is a huge boon for us. plays forest. attacks with lion. S blocks with the caryatid and U makes the lion monstrous in response.
(s 7/23 u) pass.
S6: draws Advent of the Wurm . Alright, the situation is bad because of the opposing lion. We need to keep our lion back to block and we need to gain as much life as possible. For that reason, I choose to play trostani here. casts trost and attacks with archangel (s 10/20 u) everyone gets counters. pass.
U6: draws Temple of Triumph . I'm actually not sure how to win this one at this point. We got very close, but even with Boros Charm in hand, I don't think it's possible to overcome the field disadvantage we face. plays temple of triumph tapped and scrys Temple of Abandon off the top. it goes to the bottom. attacks with lion. S blocks with lion (s 9/26 u) casts fleecemane lion number two. pass.
S7: draws temple garden. With the ability to play advent of the wurm and then repeatedly populate the token every turn, I believe this game is won. Attacks with thune, plays advent of wurm in response, gains life form trostani, everyone gains counters, angel has no blocks, everyone gains counters. (s 19/21 u) pass.
U7: draws Ghor-Clan Rampager . Even with that plus double strike from boros charm, there is no way to get back ahead. All that can be done is to concede, unfortunately.
Spooty wins game 1!
Sideboard tech with Spooty: Siding out -- 4x Selesnya Charm , 2x Spear of Heliod . Coming in -- 3x Glare of Heresy , 3x Unflinching Courage . We didn't see very much, but we definitely saw white permanents and we definitely didn't see any removal.
Sideboard tech with Unzensierte: No sideboard available (In the future, I'm going to remember to ask that the opponent have a sideboard available.)
Game 2
U is on the play and mulls a one-land hand with honestly just some awkward cards in hand that need land drops. The kept hand contains Temple of Abandon , Temple of Triumph , plains, Heroes' Reunion , Ghor-Clan Rampager and Prowler's Helm . The hand isn't phenomincal, but we have lands and cards to play.
S keeps a hand of seles. gate, Temple Garden , Voice of Resurgence , Fleecemane Lion , Sylvan Caryatid , Advent of the Wurm , and Archangel of Thune . This hand is beautiful.
U1: temple of abandon tapped and scrys for forest. It's put on the bottom since we really need gas to get moving. pass.
S1: draws archangel of thune. guildgate tapped. pass.
U2: draws Witchstalker Now we need that forest. It was impossible to know we would've needed the forest, but still this kinda sucks. temple of triumph tapped and scrys for Witchstalker ..heh...it goes to the bottom. pass.
S2: draws Traostani. I would like land starting next turn or things will get messy. Plains, sylvan caryatid. pass.
U3: draws temple of abandon. plays the temple and scrys for plains. it goes to the bottom. gets out the helm and passes.
S3: draws temple garden. Woot! Shocks self with temple garden and taps out with caryatid to cast trostani. pass. (s 18/20 u)
U4: draws Boros Charm . plays plains. casts witchstalker. passes.
S4: draws Glare of Heresy . I just want to chain advents here, honestly. pass.
U5: draws sylvan caryatid. I'm a little confused at the win-con for this deck. It would seem that it's supposed to be one that is an all-out attack focusing on one unblockable creature using boros charm and the rampager with maybe some enchantments. I'm going to try to win that way. attaches the helm to the witchstalker and plays heroes' reunion for some extra time. attacks with witchstalker and passes. (s 15/27 u) EoT S casts advent of the wurm, making a token and gaining 5 life. (s 20/27 u)
S5: draws fleecemane lion. We really should be okay just continually making tokens. attacks with wurm. passes. (s 20/22 u)
U6: draws forest. I can't win this without drawing into removal, which this deck lacks, but I'll play it out just to be sure. plays forest. casts sylvan caryatid. attacks with witchstalker pass. EoT S populates wurm token with trost and gains 5 (s 22/22 u)
S6: draws plains. And now things get nutty. plays plains, taps out with caryatid to cast archangel of thune, gains 4 life, all things get counters. swings with both wurms. pass. (s 26/10 u)
U7: draws ghor-clan rampager. We can do a total of 22 damage this turn, which is not enough. And otherwise we are dead on board. Concedes.
Spooty wins the match!
The Aftermath
Alright so first off I want to thank unzensierte for submitting his deck idea for the showdown. I think the first thing this deck needs is a more powerful win condiiton. A full set of Ethereal Armor alongside some other possible enchantments like Messenger's Speed , Madcap Skills and Dragon Mantle in place of the Heroes' Reunion and Ghor-Clan Rampager would probably help out a lot. In addition, shocklands would help with mana issues that we faced.
As for a sideboard, Glare of Heresy or any form of removal seems necessary. Other than that, it really just depends on the player's meta.
From my deck, I feel that Glare of Heresy was good to bring in and that Unflinching Courage really wasn't needed. I removed the latter for some other sideboard items.
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Thank you for checking out my showdown series! If you'd like to submit a deck, just let me know. I do request it contain a sideboard and that it not be limited to the actual real-life cards the player has. As I've been getting more entries, I've had to be more selective. And don't forget to check out both decks for comments, suggestions, and upvotes! :)
deck-large:archangel-of-thune-tempo-breaker
deck-large:naya-hexproof-29-09-13-1
By: Spootyone
unzensierte says... #4
Your deck is something I see a lot at FNM so seeing my deck up against it before a tournament helps alot. Sideboard was waiting for this to see what my decks weakness was and I see that opposing lifegain was my downfall. I would have played my hands differently but it gives a look at how another person would play my deck. Thanks for the insight and maybe we can have a rematch in the future over skype or something.
October 9, 2013 6:18 a.m.
thataddkid says... #5
I'd like it if you tested out my standard simic deck.
The wincon is beefed up creatures beaters or a Cloudfin Raptor or Elusive Krasis to fly over the enemy in a stalled board.
October 9, 2013 6:39 a.m.
Will you please playtest against SLIVERS!!!!! SLIVERS!!!!!! SLIVERS!!!!!
October 9, 2013 7:16 a.m.
jonhydude Thanks!
Schuesseled, thataddkid, Matsi883
I'll take a look at all respective decks and let you all know what I think!
unzensierte I'm glad you enjoyed! Yeah, I apologize for any inconsistencies there may have been in my playing of your deck. Not only am I still learning things myself, but with a deck as unique as yours it can be hard to make the best decisions -- not to mention explain them haha.
October 9, 2013 9:11 a.m.
unzensierte says... #8
If you want to add me to Skype, Twisted.Limit. I just added my current deck I will be taking to FNM and it beat your deck.
October 9, 2013 9:13 a.m.
unzensierte says... #10
It was a Mono Green Devotion that splashed Red. Could ramp up to 15 mana on turn 4.
October 9, 2013 9:59 a.m.
Ouch. Yeah, I'm sure I would have issues with that at least part of the time.
October 9, 2013 10:10 a.m.
i would love it if you play tested one of my decks i have and see how they fare you can go ahead and pick anyone one of them im curious as to what you think your input has helped out quite a lot whenever you comment it is always spot on
October 9, 2013 3:06 p.m.
tntturtle5 says... #14
Haha, Im really looking forward to a Revel In The Power Of A Jund Blitzkrieg showdown :)
October 15, 2013 4:56 p.m.
Great! :D I'm planning on doing in in the upcoming day or two. And I got the privilege to start this as an article series, so it shouldn't be hard to miss :)
jonhydude says... #2
Cool match bro.
October 9, 2013 5:22 a.m.