Disappearing Torrential Gearhulk
Standard
SCORE: 6 | 24 COMMENTS | 1914 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER
Standard Win-A-Box —Feb. 19, 2017
So I went to my first ever MtG event this past weekend. I was nervous as all get out and thought I was going to make a fool of myself and lose every game.
Round 1:
The first game I was super nervous and made some simple mistakes. The guy I played against was very helpful, but also very unforgiving. It was a good way to start out though. It made me realize that I had to bite down and play my deck like I knew how and to quit letting my nerves get the better of me. He played a deck built around Advanced Stitchwing and Pized Amalgam
Game 1
He got out 2 Fevered Visions right off the bat. I had no cards in my hand to counter. I realized shortly after the game started that I shouldn't have kept my hand, but for some reason I didn't. I had no enchantment hate in my deck so he bled me dry fairly quick. then got an Advanced Stitchwing out on to the field and with nothing to block the flying I was left dead in the water. DEFEATED
Game 2
Second game I did much better. I held my ground and lasted a lot longer then the first game. I added some enchantment hate from my sideboard and was able to stop his Fevered Visions from coming out. I got a couple of creatures out to help block (I can't remember what). Then though he pulled the 2 Advanced Stitchwings from the graveyard which pulled 2/3 Prized Amalgam's from the graveyard too. From there it was a very short game. DEFEATED
Round 1 Results: 0-2-0 A very resounding defeat
Round 2:
My confidence was at an all-time low at this point. I didn't think I could feel more nervous than I had when I first walked into the tournament, but I did. I kept seeing my name flash by the last place slot. Good thing that this game didn't go like the last game! This guy was a little bit older and a lot more forgiving. He gave me an energy token to put my dice on top of. Gave me some good tips. Shook my hand. Most of all though he gave me the chance to small talk which really helped loosen me up and really cut the tension that was in the air. He was playing a deck that seemed to be based around Voltaic Brawler and Architect of the Untamed.
Game 1
The First game I held my own, but both Thing in the Ice  Flip that I laid down got hit by some spells in his hand that I wasn't expecting. I lost the first Thing in the Ice  Flip to a Blossoming Defense that I wasn't able to counter and the second to a Lightning Axe that I wasn't able to counter. From there the mana seemed to instantly dry up and the Torrential Gearhulk never got to leave my hand. I was able to drop a Baral, Chief of Compliance, but that 1 toughness wasn't enough to bring him to his knees cowering in fear. DEFEATED
Game 2
The Second game I got a beautiful hand. 4 Lands a couple cheap counterspells and a Thing in the Ice  Flip. I got the Thing in the Ice  Flip down fast. Countered some of his heavy-hitting spells that he had hiding in his deck and got Thing in the Ice  Flip flipped. Getting Thing in the Ice  Flip flipped that early on lead to a swift victory. It was a well-played game that helped skyrocket my confidence. VICTORY!!!
Game 3
The Third game started out strong. I had a nice hand and confidence. I thought it was going to go the same way as the second game, too bad I didn't see the flood coming. There I was just sitting there reveling in the previous victory and this glorious hand that I had, when out of nowhere MANA FLOOD hit me like a freight train heading down a steep hill hits a watermelon at the bottom. Luckily though 2 of the mana that I kept getting flooded with were Wandering Fumarole's, Without those 2 guys to save my life this would have been a much different game. I had a few creatures to put onto the field to act as shields and a few counterspells to keep his creatures from ever reaching the field and then the Wandering Fumarole's to do the damage. Too bad for me that it wasn't enough. We ran out of time went back and forth for a couple of turns and ended in a very sad draw. DRAW
Round 2 Results: 1-1-1 A much need draw for me and my confidence!
Round 3:
The third round got even better. I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in forever and I did even better than I did in the second round. He was running a deck that was built around Spire of Industry and Sram, Senior Edificer. I'm not sure what else was in his deck though, because he never got any room to breathe.
Game 1
The first game I got a beautiful hand. From there it all went downhill for my opponent. I was able to counter absolutely everything that he tried to play, get a Thing in the Ice  Flip down and slowly bleed him dry. It was a very, very quick victory.VICTORY!!!
Game 2
The second game was even more devestating. I got a nice hand after I used a mulligan. Then I quickly got a Thing in the Ice  Flip out followed by a Baral, Chief of Compliance, followed by another Thing in the Ice  Flip. While always leaving myself plenty of room to counter things I was easily able to flip a Thing in the Ice  Flip. Then when he thought he was going to be able to come back and put up a fight I flashed in a Torrential Gearhulk that allowed me to play another counter which flipped another Thing in the Ice  Flip which got rid of the Sram, Senior Edificier that he got out. Then on my turn, I was able to attack an empty board and take my second win for the round! VICTORY!!!
Round 3 Results: 2-0-0 My first victory and definitely got me excited to play again!
All-in-all I was 3-3-1, which for my first ever tournament I thought was pretty good!!
Just found out that I was way wrong on my thinking of Panharmonicon. So i'll most likely not be adding it in. Dynavolt Tower and Aetherworks Marvel are also in the running still.
Of the new cards that are coming out I really like Felidar Guardian and Baral, Chief of Compliance I'm going to look into adding them into my deck now.
January 9, 2017 7:44 p.m.
Panharmonicon does indeed let you cast two instants from your graveyard if you have one on the battlefield. Creatures and artifacts which themselves have enter the battlefield triggers, will trigger twice because of panharmonicon.
January 9, 2017 8:59 p.m.
Also, you don't need Aether Theorist, Acrobatic Maneuver, or Deny Existence in your deck. Definitely add a couple Chandra, Flamecaller as she is cheap right now and her ability to -x and sweep the board often comes in handy. Also, the new counterspell coming out in Aether Revolt, Disallow will be really good in your sideboard.
January 9, 2017 9:04 p.m.
Ballzanya, Thanks. I thought I was wrong In my thinking about Torrential Gearhulk's ability, but since I'm not it would be great to add. It would be great to cast glimmer from my graveyard along with a counter spell. with Aether Revolt coming out I'm planning on dropping the Acrobatic Maneuver and adding in Felidar Guardian in its place. I'll look more into Chandra, Flamecaller also. I've already been looking at Disallow it looks pretty awesome! Thanks for the advice!
January 9, 2017 10:33 p.m.
Temur_Frontier says... #14
Why Unlicensed Disintegration? Is there not better removal in your colors? Seems a poor reason to splash black (especially since you're now 4 colors) when you don't even get the full value due to the complete lack of artifacts in your deck.
January 10, 2017 2:26 a.m.
Alright, did some editing to get rid of all of the black cards. I only kept Unlicensed Disintegration for the creature removal. This is the first deck that I worked on, so my range of card knowledge wasn't the best. I've gotten a little better at it! What cards would you recommend instead? I've taken out a bunch of stuff and added more cards in. Thanks for all of your help guys!
January 10, 2017 8:32 a.m.
Temur_Frontier says... #16
Oh, ok that makes sense. No worries. Hmm, if you did wanna splash black, not sure I recommend a four color deck for standard tho, Anguished Unmaking is really solid removal. Galvanic Bombardment is ok, but your Torrential Gearhulk will be exiling them from grave and that can interfere. A Shock might be better just because of versatility. Skywhaler's Shot is good for the big creatures that your Harnessed Lightnings can't hit. And the Shot can get recurred with Torrential Gearhulk, so I'd go with that unless you find something better.
January 10, 2017 6:33 p.m.
If you're worried about the Saheeli Rai + Felidar Guardian combo, Shock should be your go-to. You might also consider Brutal Expulsion, though it is pretty mana intensive. You can bounce a creature and get rid of Saheeli Rai at the same time. It's also useful against Mardu Vehicles since it can exile Scrapheap Scrounger and bounce a crewed vehicle.
February 18, 2017 9:19 p.m.
Going to my first FNM Standard tournament tomorrow! Any advice or just plain wishing luck would be much appreciated! :P Any advice would be appreciated, but I could definitely use some help in stocking the sideboard!
@Ryjo Thanks! You're right Brutal Expulsion is mana intensive, but it could be really helpful. I've got to get my hands on an Authority of the Consuls too!
February 18, 2017 9:24 p.m.
Forget Authority against combo decks. They will remove it, and it does almost nothing while it lasts. Authority is GREAT against aggro decks. Dynavolt Tower is a better answer to Saheeli combo. Yes they can also remove it, but it has great value while it lives, gaining you energy for every instant you cast, and you can burn your opponent if there's no creature to target.
But maybe just Negate, Disallow, and Gearhulk into Disallow is all the answers you really need. Brutal Expulsion is quite good against GB decks.
JerryW72 says... #8
Just thought of adding Panharmonicon to double up on Torrential Gearhulk's ability. Dynavolt Tower would work to hit some heavy damage since I have a lot of ways to get energy, but only Harnessed Lightning to spend it. Lastly Aetherworks Marvel to hopefully play one of the Torrential Gearhulk without paying any mana.
December 31, 2016 11:05 a.m.