Augustin's $t4ks (cEDH Primer)
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 206 | 199 COMMENTS | 42935 VIEWS | IN 93 FOLDERS
Tournament, October 26th —Oct. 27, 2016
Finally a commander torunament in our shop, not French commander but the real one, wizards banlist, 40 starting life.
i've made a few changes for 1 vs 1 games, Ravages of War didn't arrive before the torunament and I expected aggro to be the biggest problem. Eventually we had 7 players at the event:
- 2 x elf aggro
- 1 x Karametra, God of Harvest midrange
- Venser, Shaper Savant control
- Angry Hermit combo
- Maelstrom Wanderer control/combo
- and me
First game was against Karametra, usually a good matchup if I have a decent start. managed to get Lodestone Golem out on turn 2, was removed with Sword to Plowshares in the attack on turn 3. I followed up with Augustin and Overburden. Umezawa's Jitte came next, removed a Birds of Paradise then... Last action of the opponent before conceing was Karmic Guide on Birds of Paradise which cost him 2 lands because of Overburden - no trick but it seemed to be the only possible play anyway. Jitte killed the bird again and the game was over. At that point I realised we were not playing best of 3 but only one game per round (because the tournament started late and long rounds were to be expected).
2nd game against Maelstrom Wanderer was absolutely sick. Took a Mulligan because the first hand wasn't fast enough for my liking...then it was brutal
Turn 1: Mishra's Workshop, Mana Vault (countered by Force of Will), Sphere of Resistance
Turn 2: Land, Mana Crypt, Lodestone Golem
Turn 3: City of Brass, Grim Monolith, Land Equilibrium
Turn 4: Ancient Den, Augustin
Turn 5: Venser, the Sojourner
by then my opponent had managed to get Chromatic Lantern and Glen Elendra Archmage.
Smokestack and Tangle Wire were countered by Glen Elendra. I got Academy Ruins from the top, then Armageddon...no need to keep playing.
Game 3 was against Venser, which had also been victorious in the first two rounds.
Turn 1: Seat of the Synod, Sol Ring, Talisman of Progress
Venser: Island, Sol Ring, Wayfarer's Bauble (damn, too fast)
Turn 2: Land, Augustin
Venser: Land, go
Turn 3: something essential, don't remember exactly what it was, probably Land Equilibrium or Smokestack...countered.
Venser: eot seached with the bauble, land, go
...as I had only Mana Vortex, Portcullis and The Tabernacle at Penrell vale left, I saw that this won't end well. Mana Vortex stayed on the board for one turn, then was bounced by Venser. Augustin was stolen by Treachery but I kept playing because some cards could have provided a solution but none of them showed up in time.
I believe the final result then was
1. Venser - 3:0
2. Me - 2:1
3. Angry Hermit - 1:1 + bye
...at least we were the ones who got prizes in the end. I'm pretty much satisfied because we all played the decks from the usual multiplayer rounds and didn't have much time to adjust the decks let alone test any changes in advance.
As 1 vs 1 games will certainly need more changes than just 2 or 3 cards, Therefore I have created this new list deck-large:augustins-t4ks-tournament-version It's easier to optimise both lists if people comment suggestions and ideas for either the multiplayer version or the tournament version and I will keep both lists online so that I can quickly have a look whenever I want to change between mutiplayer and one on one.
skrid54321 says... #2
Id cut city of Brass for Skycloud Expanse. No damage, plus it can filter colorless mana.
October 25, 2016 11:45 a.m.
skrid54321 says... #3
Thalakos Lowlands could and should be replaced with Flooded Strand as well
October 25, 2016 11:48 a.m.
Winterblast says... #4
They will probably be added but won't replace another colour producing land, rather one that makes only colorless...the problem with skycloud expanse is that it only works if there is already other mana available, just as it is with the signet. I've already taken out reflecting pool because it often didn't work and I'm not sure if that's also the case with skycloud expanse. More colour is always good so I will test it.
Thalakos lowland works well in the deck because I'm often bouncing most of my lands anyway and then the doesn't untap side effect isn't relevant. Maybe you have mistaken it for the old fetchlands that came into play tapped?
Flooded strand could replace a basic land or another uncoloured land...I haven't used fetchlands at all because I don't really want to reduce the already low amount of lands while playing. Being able to shuffle is great though, so I might include one fetchland.
October 25, 2016 12:03 p.m.
skrid54321 says... #5
My problem was not with lowlands downside. I personally think the fetch has essentially no downside, so its just a strict upgrade. It does not thin in commander, the percentage change is negligible. As for Skycloud Expanse, keep in mind it can filter colorless mana.
October 25, 2016 12:11 p.m.
Winterblast says... #6
I'd still rather remove a land that produces no colour at all instead, because colour is the main problem, even though there are not many coloured spells in the deck. Kor Haven, Mishra's factory or Blinkmoth Well are on my cut list anyway.
Maybe I can find skycloud expanse at the shop tomorrow, if not I can only go with flooded strand
October 25, 2016 12:20 p.m.
Winterblast says... #7
I've put in a random Bribery for the tournament tomorrow (instead of cyclonic rift). Most people will have at least one ugly eldrazi basher in the deck and if that potentially hits turn 2, it's pretty much over. Even later, with a softlock in place it's probably game winning...it's absolutely random but it's a trump card.
October 25, 2016 7:06 p.m.
TheLordStormCrow says... #8
What are your thoughts on Dovin Baan, Narset Transcendent, Grand Abolisher, Torrential Gearhulk, Cataclysmic Gearhulk and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage?
Winterblast says... #1
There's a tournament on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to the experience. Commander tournaments are quite rare and I will need to tune the deck a bit for 2 player games...probably using Pithing Needle again and maybe Forcefield and Sword of Fire and Ice too. Another planeswalker (jace) might be added but there's not much time left to prepare or test. Unfortunately Ravages of War and Sunder won't arrive before tomorrow so I will have to rely on what I already have.
Still waiting on details to be revealed but it is surely a torunament with the original banlist, not the French one, meaning Augustin is going to hit fully powered as given above. I will write a short report in the updates then, if I can remember enough of what happened in the games!
October 25, 2016 4:31 a.m.