Daily Dose 54 - Standard

Daily Dose of Standard

KrazyCaley

18 April 2013

1621 views

Community Deck Again

So many community decks to play against, so little time. I'll get back to the MTGO randoms before too long, but I'd like to get to some of the very kind and patient users who have been waiting forever to get in a Bolas match.

Today Elaine is once again the pilot, as she did not quit Magic forever after all, and Heartpiercer is your deckbuilder.

RUGslug, you're up next, by Monday. exarkun809 is in the hole.

Bolas for a Better Tomorrow

Standard* KrazyCaley

SCORE: 107 | 506 COMMENTS | 23118 VIEWS | IN 42 FOLDERS

vs.

deck-large:they-see-my-prime-speakin-they-hatin

Will Bolas catch Zegana evolving dirty? Let's find out.

Game 1

Caley wins the toss and plays first.

Tails never fails recently.

C keeps an opener of Mountain, Drowned Catacomb, Dragonskull Summit, Think Twice, Murder, Devour Flesh, Counterflux.

As close to ideal as it gets with this deck.

E keeps an opener of Breeding Pool, Hinterland Harbor, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Experiment One, Loxodon Smiter, Restoration Angel, and Prime Speaker Zegana.

I like this deck already.

C1

C plays Drowned Catacomb and passes.

E1

E draws Forest. She plays it and casts Avacyn's Pilgrim and passes.

C2

C draws Mystic Retrieval. He plays Mountain and casts Devour Flesh, killing the Pilgrim. Then he passes.

My policy towards mana creatures early is basically to always, always kill them. I usually have more kill spells than my opponents have creatures.

E2

E draws Avacyn's Pilgrim. She plays Breeding Pool untapped. (C 20, E 18) and casts the Pilgrim and Experiment One. Then she passes.

C3

C draws Dreadbore and plays Dragonskull Summit. He kills the Experiment One with Dreadbore. Then he passes.

E3

E draws Temple Garden. She plays Hinterland Harbor. She passes.

Wait for the kill spell and cast Restoration Angel is the best plan here.

C4

C draws Barter in Blood. He does nothing and passes.

I know I said I always killed mana creatures, but I lied. There are a number of reasons not to do so here.

Four, I want to be able to Murder something if and when she taps out, to dodge her possible resto angel. As an incidental benefit, it's good for me to show kill spell mana, as she might think carefully before tapping out to cast something. If she taps out and casts a creature, I kill it with Murder. If she holds back, I cast Think Twice and have bought myself a free turn without her casting a creature I have to really worry about. I win either way. If I cast Murder right now, or on her turn with her having four mana open, I am playing with needless risk.

E4

E draws Cavern of Souls. She plays Temple Garden untapped. (C 20, E 16). She attacks with Avacyn's Pilgrim and hits. (C 19, E 16). She passes. End step, C casts Think Twice drawing Dreadbore.

This basically confirms that she is sitting on a Restoration Angel or bluffing me. Even if she's bluffing me, I have no problem with being bluffed into taking one damage a turn while I draw cards.

C5

C draws Swamp and plays it. He passes. End step, E flashes in Restoration Angel. C casts Murder on it.

E5

E draws Cavern of Souls. She plays it naming Merfolk.

Here comes Zegana.

E casts Loxodon Smiter.

Huh.

She attacks with Avacyn's Pilgrim and passes. (C 18, E 16).

C6

C draws Sulfur Falls and plays it. He casts Barter in Blood to kill everything, then passes.

Barter is basically as good as a wrath in that deck.

E6

E draws Glacial Fortress.

It's my favorite time of day, when I'm out of creatures and I just draw lands forever.

E plays Glacial Fortress and casts Prime Speaker Zegana, then passes.

C7

C draws Island. He plays it and casts Dreadbore on Prime Speaker Zegana, then passes.

E7

E draws Rapid Hybridization. She plays Cavern of Souls naming Angel and passes.

C8

C draws Murder, does nothing, and passes.

E8

E draws Detention Sphere, does nothing, and passes.

That makes me feel a little better.

C9

C draws Staff of Nin. He casts it and passes.

E9

E draws Sphinx's Revelation. She casts Detention Sphere on the Staff and passes; in response, she gets pinged. (C 18, E 15).

C10

C draws Counterflux. He does nothing and passes.

E10

E draws Temple Garden. She plays it untapped (C 18, E 13) and passes.

Probable Sphinx's Revelation inbound.

C11

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He does nothing and passes. End step, E casts Sphinx's Revelation for 5, but C counters it with Counterflux.

Might as well use it on this what with all the Cavern of Souls sitting around.

E11

E draws Detention Sphere. She does nothing and passes.

C12

C draws Chromatic Lantern. He casts it and passes.

E12

E draws Forest. She plays it and passes.

C13

C draws Watery Grave. He plays it tapped and passes.

E13

E draws Cavern of Souls. She plays it naming Insect and passes.

Insect....I actually do not know what that is protecting.

C14

C draws Chromatic Lantern. He taps out for Bolas. Bolas blows up the D-Sphere with Staff of Nin under it. C passes.

E14

E draws Vorapede.

That worked out well.

E casts Detention Sphere on Bolas. Then she casts Vorapede and passes.

Ohhhh.

C15

C draws Mystic Retrieval and Dreadbore. He casts Dreadbore on the Vorapede; it comes back. Then he casts Murder on it. E responds with Rapid Hybridization targeting it, but C Counterfluxes it. E passes.

E15

E draws Hallowed Fountain. She does nothing and passes.

C16

C draws Nephalia Drownyard and Desolate Lighthouse. He plays the Drownyard and E concedes.

Sideboarding

C boards in 3x Slaughter Games and boards out 3x Counterflux.

E boards in 3x Pithing Needle, 2x Sigarda, Host of Herons, and 3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. She boards out 2x Rapid Hybridization, 3x Elusive Krasis, and 3x Shambleshark.

I hate to cut those creatures, but I need to have all those sideboard cards.

Game 2

E keeps an opening hand of Hallowed Fountain, Forest, Cavern of Souls, 2x Loxodon Smiter, 2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben.

C keeps an opener of Swamp, Island, Drowned Catacomb, Sulfur Falls, Slaughter Games, Mystic Retrieval, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

Probably a bad keep, but I am pulled by the siren song of a Slaughter Games AND a Mystic Retrieval.

E1

E plays Hallowed Fountain tapped and passes.

C1

C draws Mystic Retrieval, plays Island, and passes.

This could be really hilarious if I live.

E2

E draws Arbor Elf and plays Forest. She casts Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and passes.

C2

C draws Desolate Lighthouse. He plays Sulfur Falls and passes.

E3

E draws Hinterland Harbor. She plays it and casts Arbor Elf. Then she attacks with Thalia and hits. (E 20, C 18). She passes.

C3

C draws Dreadbore. He plays Drowned Catacomb and kills Thalia with Dreadbore, then passes.

E4

E draws Prime Speaker Zegana. She plays Cavern of Souls naming Merfolk. She casts Thalia, Guardian of Thraben followed by Loxodon Smiter using Arbor Elf to untap a Forest, then passes.

C4

C draws Devour Flesh. He plays Swamp and casts the Devour Flesh. E sacs the Elf. (E 21, C 18). She passes.

E5

E draws Detention Sphere. She casts Loxodon Smiter. She attacks with Thalia and the old Smiter, and hits. (E 21, C 12). She passes.

C5

C draws Think Twice. He casts it, drawing Gilded Lotus. He plays Desolate Lighthouse and passes.

E6

E draws Restoration Angel. She attacks with her team and hits. (E 21, C 2). She passes.

C6

C draws Dragonskull Summit and concedes.

Sideboarding

E makes no changes.

C boards out 2x Gilded Lotus and board in 2x Essence Scatter.

Game 3

C keeps an opener of Dragonskull Summit, Desolate Lighthouse, 2x Murder, Devour Flesh, Think Twice, Barter in Blood.

This is a FANTASTIC hand if I can just draw a land, especially blue (but then again, when don't I want to draw blue?).

E keeps an opener of Breeding Pool, Hinterland Harbor, Experiment One, Arbor Elf, Sigarda, Host of Herons, Pithing Needle, Prime Speaker Zegana.

C1

C plays Dragonskull Summit tapped and passes.

E1

E draws Vorapede. She plays Breeding Pool untapped and casts Arbor Elf, then passes. (C 20, E 18).

C2

C draws Liliana of the Veil. He plays Desolate Lighthouse and casts Devour Flesh to kill the Elf, then passes.

C'mooooon land.

E2

E draws Restoration Angel. She plays Hinterland Harbor and casts Experiment One, then passes.

C3

C draws Dragonskull Summit and plays it tapped. He passes.

E3

E draws Temple Garden and plays it tapped. She attacks with Experiment One and hits, then passes. (C 19, E 18).

C4

C draws Barter in Blood. He does nothing and passes.

E4

E draws Sigarda, Host of Herons. She attacks with Experiment One, but C kills it with Murder. E passes.

C5

C draws Think Twice. He casts Liliana of the Veil and uses her +1. C discards Think Twice; E discards Prime Speaker Zegana. C passes.

E5

E draws Restoration Angel. She casts Pithing Needle naming Liliana of the Veil, then passes.

C6

C draws Island and plays it, then passes.

E6

E draws Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. She casts it and passes. End step, C kills it with Murder.

C7

C draws Drowned Catacomb and plays it, then passes.

E7

E draws Glacial Fortress and plays it, then passes. End step, C casts Think Twice and flashes it back, drawing Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Watery Grave.

C8

C draws Sulfur Falls. He plays Watery Grave tapped and passes.

E8

E draws Cavern of Souls, plays it naming angel, and casts Sigarda, Host of Herons. C concedes. E wins the match 2-1.

No answers for that.

Thoughts

It's good to see Sigarda, Host of Herons in the sideboard. She's really good against the control heavy decks, you really need a wrath to kill her at all.

Essence Scatter is my best answer against Sigarda, but alas, I didn't even know she was in the deck until she got cast game 3.