Triple A
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First Tournament —Oct. 14, 2015
There is good news, and there is bad news.
0-2
Unfortunately for me my first game was against the fellow who won the night, who happens to be the owner of the shop we play in, and who builds very strange but effective control decks.
I went 0-2 against him.
I started well getting out Kor Bladewhirl, Firemantle Mage, and Citadel Siege. I whacked him down to 4 life.
He wiped my field with Languish.
Then he exiled all my tri lands with Crumble to Dust, which left me with no Red mana, and some Creatures in hand which needed Red to play.
A couple of turns after that he took my Plains as well.
I was able to play Zulaport Cutthroat with my Black mana, but then he took control of that with Exert Influence. He used Oblivion Sower and then Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger to finish me off.
Second verse, same as the first.
This time I had Sideboarded in Crackling Doom and Deflecting Palm. I hit him hard at first, getting him down to 10. He didn't take my land this time (I think he felt sorry for me) but did take my Zulaport Cutthroat. He had a Hangarback Walker out with 4 +1/+1 counters on it, and kept hitting me for 6 each turn. I kept praying to see a Deflecting Palm ... but kept drawing land. Mercifully it was all over quickly, and I was left in a quivering mess on the floor (that didn't really happen, but it was how I felt).
2-1
Next match I won. It was against UW Control.
First game I got him down to 2 life. Then he played End Hostilities, got out Dragonlord Ojutai, and played Narset's ultimate ability.
That meant I could not cast the March from the Tomb I had in hand.
He countered all my Creature spells while hitting me with the Dragon, until I was down to 3 life. Then I was introduced to Mr Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and it was goodnight from me.
My strategy against this deck has been to bleed their spells out of them by just playing everything when I can, hope I can get some early damage in and that some Creatures eventually stick around in the late game, and then hit as hard as I can each turn.
That was exactly how the second game panned out, with a lovely last whack with Kalastria Healer, Zulaport Cutthroat and Chasm Guide.
Third game was very similar.
He did board wipe me with End Hostilities towards the end, but I used March from the Tomb to get back key Creatures, including Chasm Guide, so I didn't really lose my momentum.
He did get a bit mana screwed, which was no fun.
PS. He is my husband so I felt extra sorry for him.
1-2
Next match I hit hard and fast with Allies coming out quickly (Expedition Envoy, Firemantle Mage, and Drana's Emissary). I also had Citadel Siege out, but I didn't really need to use it, as it took five turns to kill him.
He kept trying to dig for stuff but just couldn't find the cards he needed.
Next turn he found them all in his first couple of hands and set up a combo that let him kill my only Creature, Zulaport Cutthroat, and then turn two things into 20/20 Creatures. Then he hit me with 40 damage and that was all she wrote.
He was playing Jeskai. I know there is some infinite combo in there but I'm not familiar with what it is. It might have been that or something new.
I sided my usual Crackling Doom and Deflecting Palm in.
He completely changed his deck to a Mill deck with his Sideboard and got two Sphinx's Tutelage cards out. He mixed these with a lot of draw and I lost my library fairly quickly.
He was the player who came second, is a Level 3 judge, and a good friend of the shop owner. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
I was happy to win one game against him, as that rarely happens.
2-1
I got Kor Bladewhirl out second turn, followed by Drana, Liberator of Malakir third turn, and Citadel Siege fourth turn. I had stacks of other Creatures I could have played instead of the Siege but decided to save them for a possible board wipe and get as much damage in while I could.
Drana amped up quickly because I kept using the Siege to put +1/+1 counters on her, and she kept giving herself and Kor Bladewhirl counters as well. It was over by the fifth turn.
Next game I started with two lands in hand, a couple of Creatures and Sword of the Animist.
I got Kor Bladewhirl out and chose to attach Sword of the Animist to her after I didn't draw a land in my first and second turns. That turned out to be the right play, as I didn't draw one more single land that game.
Unfortunately my Opponent got ahead of me tempo wise and I didn't really get any Creatures to play until a couple of turns later. They both happened to be Dragonmaster Outcast. Before I could start the Dragon manufacturing plant she had out Hangarback Walker, Managorger Hydra and Drana, Liberator of Malakir and an Abzan Falconer so all her fliers hit and I had to stand back and watch my Empire crumble. Booooo.
Third game she got Managorger Hydra out very early. I had Kor Bladewhirl out and Kalastria Healer and held back from playing any other spells so she was forced to either use her Hydra to block and have it killed, or take the damage. She chose to take the damage.
Eventually she got Drana, Liberator of Malakir out, so her Hydra went up to 2/2.
Next go I played Zulaport Cutthroat, so the Hydra was now 3/3, and then I played Crackling Doom, forcing her to scaryfice it. That's when you have to sacrifice something that's so good you are scared what the consequence might be.
I got Firemantle Mage out next and went boom, because the Menace meant that she couldn't block anything.
She played Siege Rhino.
Next I got out Chasm Guide, which meant I could do a lot of damage and she had to choose what to block. She could only block one thing and she chose the Firemantle Mage. I still had Haste on the field.
Next she played Hangarback Walker and chose not to attack as she really needed to keep two Creatures for blocking, in case I activated Menace.
I might have gotten the number of life all mixed up as I'm being lazy.
On the final turn she was down to four life. I got out Zulaport Cutthroat and hit with all four of my Creatures right away. Which meant she either had to block and kill all four, taking four damage, or let four of my Creatures hit her.
Yeah. Let's see your stupid Hangarback Walker do something now.
I won. Yay.
Sideboard Changes
I miscalculated that people would not be playing Mill which was stupid of me because it's been favoured in my local meta lately.
I didn't face any decks that relied on life gain, but my partner said that every deck he faced had it in. Otherwise I would side out Tainted Remedy and side in Cranial Archive.
I don't want to remove Crackling Doom as it's the only thing I have to deal with Hexproof and also helps with Indestructible.
So, I've decided that Deflecting Palm will need to go. In its place I will put Utter End, which will remove Sphinx's Tutelage, and be another weapon against Indestructible Eldrazi.
As I was listening to other players it became apparent that there were quite a few Eldrazi decks.
There was also a RW Ally deck being played. It did not win one match.
MVPs
The were so many cards that were valuable.
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Sword of the Animist for its land fetching.
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Kor Bladewhirl and Firemantle Mage for their First Strike and Menace shenanigans.
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Chasm Guide for her Haste.
The most useful card of the night, which helped speed everything up and make my Creatures HUGE, was Citadel Siege.
Overall the deck performed how I thought it would and I won't be tweaking anything in the Mainboard.
If I HAD to remove something it would probably be Dragonmaster Outcast, but that is meant to be a very situational card anyway.
The deck was as fun as hell to pilot.
I will be interested to see how next week pans out with a Sideboard change.
There should also be less players as I think there were more people there honing their decks for Game Day.
I would suggest mainboarding all crackling dooms and side boarding in ruinous path if you need the extra removal. It lets you get rid of hexproof dudes and big dudes and your little dudes outclass other little dudes. maybe mainboard 1 march that way making trades or blocking isnt so painful where you can over come the trades into turn 5 or 6.
October 9, 2015 10:29 a.m.
4 Crackling Doom2 valorous stance2 citadel siege2 swords1 march
in your swag slot.
October 9, 2015 10:31 a.m.
Ruinous Path is in my Maiboard as a "bait and switch". If the Opponent is playing something that is annoying to remove, I don't want them to know I can get rid of it until the 2nd game. That's when I board Crackling Doom in.
You know Crackling Doom can get rid of Indestructible Creatures too, right?
I won't drop below 3 Citadel Siege in my Mainboard. It is proving too valuable.
I prefer March from the Tomb in my Sideboard. Due to the speed of this deck there are many, MANY matches where it just doesn't provide me with much value. It's in the Sideboard mostly to deal with board wipe.
Thanks for the suggestions.
October 9, 2015 1:48 p.m. Edited.
I see your points on everything other than crackling doom. If you are playing Mardu colors you will be expected to have crackling doom. so i dont see the point in not having the powerful removal right off the bat in game one and boarding in extra removal if needed.
October 9, 2015 2:22 p.m.
Also, No Gideon, ally of zendikar? he becomes an Ally to receive all your buffs and summons an Ally to trigger your buffs and Buffs all creature +1/+1 to get out of burn/languish ranges. I feel like He would be PERFECT in this deck.
October 9, 2015 2:33 p.m.
Crackling Doom is not as powerful as Ruinous Path for killing Planeswalkers.
So I guess the idea of powerful is subjective.
I know what Gideon does.
I love how people tell me that he gives all Creatures +1/+1 AND spawns Allies. You pretty much have to choose one or the other unless you are incredibly lucky and your Opponent has not heard of Ruinous Path. You know, the card you want me to take out of the Mainboard.
He does NOT get my Creatures out of Languish range at all. You know what card actually does that? Citadel Siege. That is partially why I don't have him in this build. I did have him in, but repeated playtesting against a variety of decks showed that this deck is more effective without him.
If you want to make an Allies deck with him you can. For now I'm not going to.
I probably sound a bit tetchy. It's late here and I'm very tired of talking about Gideon, Ally of Zendikar with all and sundry. In fact, I think I'm going to make a note about that so I can stop having this discussion.
October 9, 2015 3:52 p.m.
The_Redpill says... #8
Nice and flavorful, I like your method for dealing with Eldrazi. +1
October 9, 2015 7 p.m.
fireblake00 says... #9
im just letting know your deck is amazing and very good i like it alot and im building it as well i will tell you how i do in my local FNM
October 10, 2015 5:35 p.m.
Blacksagres says... #10
Have you thought about adding Rally the Ancestors? Since you have haste, the only downside would be the 6th mana to cast achieving haste, but would trigger a huge load of rallys from your Homies.
October 10, 2015 6:14 p.m.
Blackshadow415 says... #11
What About Munda, Ambush Leader he looks for your allies and puts stuff you dont want on the bottom
October 10, 2015 10:41 p.m.
Blackshadow415 says... #12
Also i would cut like 2 lands your curve tops out at 4 and with the sword you can just get a land
October 10, 2015 10:48 p.m.
I considered Rally the Ancestors but I like the effect of March from the Tomb better.
It lets me keep Rally effects on the field.
I have tried Munda, Ambush Leader. The problem I found with it is that you often want cards to support your Allies and that forces you to put them on the bottom of your library.
I also prefer to have Chasm Guide as my 4 drop.
Sword of the Animist often doesn't see play, as there are only two copies in my deck.
I always end up running one more land than a lot of people. Maybe that's why I am rarely mana screwed.
Thanks fireblake00. Let me know how it goes.
My biggest fear is losing Citadel Siege when it hits the field. If that becomes a huge issue I may need to sub Gideon, Ally of Zendikar for it.
October 11, 2015 8:50 a.m.
fireblake00 says... #14
this deck is very explosive i like it alot but when vs Eldrazi decks.(RUG
/Grixis
)its a race to see who gets to be first i did have a question on sideboarding when going againts that do you bring in all Crackling Doom and or Deflecting Palmand take out Citadel Siege and maybe a sword the only thingthat hurt this deck is counters and my local is heavy blue counter spells.
October 11, 2015 1:33 p.m.
Good questions.
This is how I Sideboard against Eldrazi Control:
3x Chasm Guide
3x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
3x Drana's Emissary
2x Expedition Envoy
3x Firemantle Mage
3x Kalastria Healer
3x Kor Bladewhirl
2x Zulaport Cutthroat
4x Crackling Doom
4x Deflecting Palm
3x March from the Tomb
3x Valorous Stance
4x Ally Encampment
2x Battlefield Forge
4x Caves of Koilos
3x Mountain
4x Nomad Outpost
3x Plains
4x Swamp
You play as many spells as you can each turn to bleed your Opponent of their Counter spells. Every now and then that will leave you with one or more Creatures on the field who can attack before they are removed.
Against Eldrazi it is most certainly a race to do as much damage as possible before they enter the field, then try to take out their bigger Creatures with removal spells like Crackling Doom, and get final damage through with Deflecting Palm.
March from the Tomb becomes an important tool to use at the right time. I take out Citadel Siege, and Sword of the Animist because they are unlikely to stick around.
Dragonmaster Outcast comes out as well because it won't be on the field for very long. Creatures that do extra damage when on the field are good for leeching life, eg. Drana's Emissary.
There's no doubt that Control is a tricky match up for this deck. You can still overcome it with timing.
October 11, 2015 5:52 p.m.
XavieroftheWind says... #16
Is Chasm Guide really effective?
I run an allies deck that would love to have it if it were only 3 cmc.
My own sideboard is a bit more focused on dealing with Dragon Control decks but I see where you're coming from with the cards you chose.
October 12, 2015 1:09 p.m.
I love Chasm Guide. Being able to hit with Allies right away gets more damage through.
I'm always very happy to see it go into the graveyard. I know it will come back with March from the Tomb, and I'mll be able to attack right away.
However, it is my highest cost Creature, which is part of the reason why it works in this build. Also, this deck aims to be very aggressive. I don't know how it would work in something that was a bit slower.
October 12, 2015 5:46 p.m.
I like your deck. Still having a hard time believing in the lifestealers, but I guess they're good because almost no matter what, they'll always cause a lifeswing of 2 at worst. You might be right about Gideon, which would be cool, because he's the most expensive hooker on the harbour. I'll try and gather the deck on mtgo when it releases in the weekend.
October 13, 2015 5:05 a.m.
Look, I'm not going to say that this build is 100% correct.
It's worked in all the simulations we have run against a variety of decks. By now that is a couple of hundred plays.
It will go to tournament for the first time tomorrow.
We shall see how it goes.
The other strong Ally build I have seen is this one:
Honestly, more people should check that one out.
Interestingly enough it also doesn't run Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
Argy says... #1
I thought about Angelic Captain but with all the mana ramp and aggro floating around in the meta this deck does better when it's faster. A Creature being played for 5 mana is too slow. By that stage I could be playing two other Creatures that buff everything else.
Thanks for the suggestion, though.
October 9, 2015 7:36 a.m. Edited.