Izzet Really Control Without White?
Standard
SCORE: 52 | 140 COMMENTS | 25564 VIEWS | IN 19 FOLDERS
Misplay Night Magic Update #4 —Jan. 18, 2014
Oh boy.
There are nights that go well, and there are nights that don't. This was one of those nights. Overall, I went 2-3 (Oddly enough, with every FNM I've taken this deck to, my record has gotten worse by one loss each time.), which is absolutely horrible, but I can't win them all. Unfortunately, I could have prevented probably at least one loss, which may have resulted in a completely different record, as I would have been placed against different people. However, I misplayed so much that I got angry at myself. Hypothetically, had I not misplayed as much, and been against the same people, I may have been able to go 4-1 or better. (Or worse. There's no way I'll ever know.)
So what exactly happened? Well, I'll try to explain it as well as my memory allows.
Match 1: Selesnya Aggro/Midrange
I still don't know how to classify that deck. Anyways, this was just against a normal Selesnya deck. Oddly enough, I never saw a single Advent of the Wurm or Loxodon Smiter, let alone any Voice of Resurgences. I did, however, see a ton of Boon Satyrs, Fleecemane Lions, and occasionally a Soldier of the Pantheon. Game one came down to me being unable to do anything against his board state, and I lost. Game two, however, was lost right out of the gates. I boarded in Curse of the Swine, and I had that, as well as some finishers and Opportunity in hand. (I had them in because I've only been able to get one Jace, Architect of Thought.) It was a horrible hand, as my only removal consisted of Curse of the Swine, and I had no way of dealing with any of his threats, and unfortunately this led to my swift demise. I should have mulliganed, but I didn't, and it cost me the match. This was, quite possibly, one of the biggest misplays of the night.
Record: 0-2
Match 2: Boros Burn
I've seen the deck before, but it took me a while to recognize exactly what it was. It was especially dangerous to me since I have no lifegain aside from an Elixir of Immortaility in the sideboard. Therefore, the only option I really had was to outrace it. In game one, I got extremely lucky, as I managed to get out an AEtherling, killing him with 2 or 3 life left. Any burn spell would have made me lose, but I thankfully didn't. Game two, however, didn't go nearly as well. I managed to get an AEtherling out again, but, like a complete idiot, I tapped out to do so. (I believe I countered a Warleader's Helix. I didn't want to take the 4, but it wouldn't have killed me, and I could have saved the counter for something that would've.) Due to that, he managed to Chained to the Rocks it, leaving me with very little, and I eventually just died from a combination of Mutavault and burn. This unfortunately led to a Game 3 that I could've prevented from happening in the first place. I got pretty mana screwed, and had no way of coming back from a quick start, and lost essentially immediately.
Record: 1-2
Match 3: White Weenie
This was a homebrew deck made of a bunch of smaller white creatures. Nothing particularly exciting happened, partially because I had answers, and partially because he only got to 3 mana, and hardly put out any creatures, and I won quite easily.
Record: 2-0
Match 4: White Flying
Another homebrew deck consisting of a bunch of flying creatures like Serra Angel. Somehow he had an Ajani, Caller of the Pride in there as well. In both games, I got out a Stormbreath Dragon, which just completely wrecked him. (I feel bad for him too. After the match, he was 0-4. I don't know if he won, the last round, or if he dropped out.)
Record: 2-0
Match 5: Golgari Midrange
This was a strange deck, and it was during this match I misplayed a ton. I don't remember a whole lot during the first game, but I couldn't deal with multiple Polukranos, World Eaters in a row (after being forced to 2 for 1 myself on his first with two Mizzium Mortars) and just lost horribly. Game two, however, was the worst I've played in a while. He got out a Scavenging Ooze fairly early, and instead of leaving mana open for a counter, and Lightning Strikeing it at the end of his turn had he played nothing, I opted to use Mizzium Mortars on it like an idiot. This let him resolve a Polukranos, World Eater that I didn't have an answer for until two turns later, when I topdecked a land to play a Turn / Burn. However, I over-thought everything horribly. He had mana open to flash in a Boon Satyr, so I waited a turn, took a huge hit, and then during my turn, I Lightning Strike'd his Elvish Mystic to leave him without the mana open for a Boon Satyr flash. But, like I said, it was during my turn. The next turn, he got another land, and I ended up using Turn / Burn on it (when he had the mana anyways), but he ended up not bestowing it on him anyways, so I took a ton of damage for literally no reason. He then proceeded to get a Lotleth Troll and Dreg Mangler, which I had no other answers for than Curse of the Swine, as my hand consisted of that, two Dissolves that I never left mana open for to use, and AEtherling. Oh, and he also had two Mutavaults. Needless to say, I lost horribly, and I felt absolutely horribly afterward.
Record: 0-2
I still had fun, but I got extremely angry at myself, and I believe rightfully so. I wasn't mad at the fact that I lost; I was mad at the fact that I lost, but it could have been prevented by better playing, and I knew it. At some point, I plan on practicing a ton, as I know this deck can stand up to several Tier 1 decks and win. (Not every time, but no deck does. That said, it can. I've playtested enough to know that for sure, and I've done it as well.)) However, with bad piloting like I had last night, it most certainly won't.
I also learned that Curse of the Swine is amazing, but not in this deck. In this deck, it kind of sucks. In almost every circumstance, Turn / Burn is better. Why? Because every time you play Curse of the Swine, you're essentially 2 for 1ing yourself, as you still have to deal with the tokens. The same applies to Rapid Hybridization. Yes, there are times when Curse of the Swine is helpful, but that's only when a 2 for 2 or more is in order, and this deck attempts to avoid situations like that. Therefore, I've replaced all copies of Curse of the Swine and Rapid Hybridization with things I feel will be helpful. They're not bad cards, but they don't fit well in this deck.
While the night went terribly, I did learn some valuable things. Next time, I plan not to make the same mistakes, and use the lessons I learned to my benefit. With any luck, this deck will do better another time.
TheAshenKnight says... #2
That seems like a strange thing for them to do. I suppose you have a lot of modern players?
Anyways, yeah, both of those are big threats. The 5 biggest threats, at least that I've seen commonly used, have been Desecration Demon , Whip of Erebos , Obzedat, Ghost Council , Master of Waves , and Assemble the Legion . The only real answer to the Whip (aside from a counter) is to use Pithing Needle on it, but the demon and Obzedat are a lot harder to get rid of, almost always requiring a 2 for 1, unless you have Turn / Burn . The Master has to be countered or outraced, since none of our mainboard removal hits it. (Or didn't until I put in the Ratchet Bomb ) Assemble the Legion just has to be countered though, or we lose immediately, unless we can tick up Ratchet Bomb enough. I wish there were some enchantment removal for blue or red, but since there isn't, we have to rely on counters.
I've thought about Steam Augury before, and I always came to the conclusion that while it helps with card advantage, I like Divination better. That may just be a personal choice, but I don't like discarding stuff, especially when it doesn't benefit me at all (It slightly pumps Spellheart Chimera , but that rarely matters). It may be amazing, but I just haven't used it a lot, and have always decided against it in the past. I'll look at it, though. Instant speed card draw is great, and in most cases I'd say it's better than Inspiration . (Which isn't that good, granted. It's an instant speed Divination for a colorless more.)
I'm not entirely sure about the Frostburn Weird either. It seems to be good against aggro, but this deck usually does well in that matchup. It's not that great against midrange, as it usually it gets overwhelmed by much bigger stuff, and is pretty bad against control, as it dies to pretty much everything. That said, it does put pressure on them, and if it survives, it gets in for a good amount of damage. It also appears to be pretty good against Mono Blue devotion, as it trades favorably with most of the things they have, assuming I can block it. I'll try testing it, since it's probably much better than I'm expecting. It's definitely something to think about, at least. I tend to favor Young Pyromancer , but I certainly see the benefits of the weird.
I'm looking forward to seeing your decklist and what you changed. Good luck with it!
December 30, 2013 4:30 p.m.
Thanks, one other thing to consider is Cyclonic Rift . Probably the best answer I can think of against devotion in general in our colors if you overload it other than just removing stuff fast. Otherwise just a great tempo card. I'm gonna test the deck a little bit today to try some variations of quantities of different cards and then I will post the deck on here.
December 30, 2013 5:04 p.m.
Ok, got the deck up on the site now. This is it Tempo Izzet let me know what you think. Like you I am now considering adding Quicken . I got a set of them but not sure how to add it yet. We'll see. I am also still on the ropes about doing a set of Divination or keeping it split 2 and 2 with Steam Augury . I'll test it some more to decide. Last things I'm still deciding on are the 4th Mizzium Mortars and at least one more Cyclonic Rift main deck.
December 31, 2013 1:33 a.m.
PrestigePunk says... #5
change Dissolve or mix it up for Counterflux its a counter PERIOD. haha
January 1, 2014 4:33 p.m.
Jrjersey01 says... #6
TheAshenKnight this looks like a really in deck to play with. I built a more Aggro version that is called
izzet blitz returns Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 4 VIEWSI could really use your help.
January 1, 2014 5:03 p.m.
I'll be competing in my FNM tonight with my version of this deck for the first time. (Which you helped with) I'll let you know how it goes and what I find out!
January 3, 2014 9 p.m.
TheAshenKnight says... #8
@k9terror - Sorry for the delay on commenting. I finally got around to it, though!
@PrestigePunk - I like Dissolve way too much to change it out for Counterflux . The latter is only good versus control, which is why I have it in the sideboard, but Dissolve 's scry ability makes it insanely good all the time, no matter what the matchup is.
@Jrjersey01 - Sorry for the delay to you as well! Hopefully the comments helped.
@zappin - Awesome! Good luck! I hope it goes well for you. I'm curious to know what you'd change afterward.
January 3, 2014 11:01 p.m.
Before I went to FNM last night, I did change a bit, even though I haven't updated my deck on here yet.
I added more Mizzium Mortars , which was a very good thing. Aggressive decks were the hardest to take on, and the mortars gave me the much needed time to setup.
I put in 2 more Divination , totaling 4 in the deck. Another great choice. Card draw <3
I put 2 Counterflux in my sideboard for control matchups. I still like the scry from Dissolve , so I made sure to keep that in the deck.
I through in 2 Quicken for extra trickery with my Anger of the Gods and Mizzium Mortars. The card draw also helps. Although, I consider them weaker points in my deck, and will probably switch them out with Jace when I get my hands on those.
Check out all the changes: Izzet Control
January 4, 2014 6:28 p.m.
Oh, and I ended up going 2-1. I won against Selesnya midrange and mono-green creature deck. I lost (barely) to a Dimir aggro deck.
January 4, 2014 6:29 p.m.
Dalektable says... #11
Just to let you know Pithing Needle doesn't affect AEtherling whatsoever. All of it's abilities are mana abilities.
January 8, 2014 7:43 p.m.
TheAshenKnight says... #12
Fortunately for the Standard environment, none of its abilities are mana abilities. You pay mana to activate them, sure, but that's not what a mana ability is. Those are what produce mana. If you want to get technical, there are certain criteria it has to meet.
- Mana Abilities
605.1. Some activated abilities and some triggered abilities are mana abilities, which are subject to special rules. Only abilities that meet either of the following two sets of criteria are mana abilities, regardless of what other effects they may generate or what timing restrictions (such as Activate this ability only any time you could cast an instant) they may have.
605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets three criteria: it doesnt have a target, it could put mana into a players mana pool when it resolves, and its not a loyalty ability. (See rule 606, Loyalty Abilities.)
605.1b A triggered ability without a target that triggers from activating a mana ability and could put mana into a players mana pool when it resolves is a mana ability.
None of AEtherling 's abilities meet all those criteria. Therefore, they're simply activated abilities, and Pithing Needle can stop all of them.
... I feel like a complete jerk citing the rules like that, especially since you probably have way more experience with Magic than I do, but I wanted to explain my response. Sorry about that. Regardless, thanks for posting. :)
January 8, 2014 10:41 p.m.
Dalektable says... #13
TheAshenKnight Not at all, you knew more information than me. I was mistaken on what i believed a mana ability where as you knew correct no need to apologize. Also as to me having more experience with magic, i doubt it. I'm simply a 16 year old with a slight obsession with the game though i can't play as much as i like, haha.
k9terror says... #1
Damn, I still haven't gotten to take the deck to fnm. The shop I normally play at randomly decided to switch that friday to a modern tournament so half the people played modern decks and the other half standard. I've playtested against a mono black deck devotion and managed to stall the game out but lost due to getting overwhelmed by a whipped back desecration demon. I will give an update when I do get to play an fnm with my variation of the deck. I just added in 2 cards that have previously served me well which are Steam Augury and Frostburn Weird . The weird alone has won me games in the past. Its a wall in the beginning and a 4 power beater later that beats 2/2s in fights. Just a thought for your consideration if you haven't yet. I will soon create my list here on tappedout and let you give your opinion on it.
December 30, 2013 4:54 a.m.