Sorry for my absence but...

Planeswalking Stupid…

Ok So
I’ve been away for ages… I know… I know… but wait till you hear what happened, you think you’ve had a bad week? By Karn I’ve been struggling. So it all went wrong last week when I discovered that the plane of Mirran had finally fallen into the hands of those Phyrexian pansies… Something clearly had to be done and I was going to retake the plane, even if it meant doing it myself (which sadly would be the case)

I summoned as many of my fellow walkers I could. Naturally the famous ones proved hard to reach, as they nearly always do when a true crisis looms.  So I got rainchecks and voice mails from Garruk, Beleren and Vess.  Ajani did show up for about five minutes, but spent most of the time on his blackberry and then made a feeble excuse and disappeared.  Sarkhan made an appearance, just as the bar was closing and was nearly as drunk as I was, unfortunately I had forgotten just how mad he is these days and he promptly turned the girl I was talking to into a dragon forcing me to make a sharp exit. In hindsight it may have been the booze that caused the sudden transformation, or lack of it, as it dawned on me that the cold night air had had a dramatically sobering effect on me. Needless to say it was clearly time for more shots.

While Sarkhan and I were deciding on the next venue I got a text from Nissa offering me her apologies and her best and informing me that she had just texted Sorin, whom I had I had refrained from inviting. (trust me he’s not the kind of guy you want at a party)

So only Sarkhan and I remained from the old school and whilst there were a number of the newer walkers present, including one who looked very much like a stuffed animal,  they were too green for the battle I had planned. So it was clear to the pair of us that there was only one course of action left to us, yep you guessed it! More Shots!

A number of hours later, I had lost Sarkhan and my bearings entirely, but fate had seen fit to put me in the heart of the Mirran conflict.  I was surrounded on all fronts by scantily clad Phyrexian Succubi and cenobites. Their lifeless faces seemed to taunt me more with each and every step, I had apparently caught them of guard and I knew that if I had any chances of reclaiming the plane of Mirrodin single handedly then I could ill afford to show fear, Although admittedly I had appeared to have soiled myself and the odour was at best unpleasant. I was also unarmed, I blamed my lack of weaponry on Sarkhan as the last time I remember seeing  my sword, he was using to prop himself up while he urinated outside the pub from whence we had come.

“Danm you vile Succubi,” I screamed, “I will drive you out of Mirrodin in the name of Karn!” the emotionless face's of the demon whores stared back in silence.   I found a staff from somewhere in strange grey landscape and rushed at the first wave of them with berserker rage. They crumpled like plastic dolls as I tore through their ranks obliterating each and every one with fury. For what seemed like hours I battled the robotic wenches, and for a moment it seemed as I might break the Phyrexian Strong hold on my own. Unluckily for me, just as I was about the face the last of the devil bitches I saw movement from the outer terraces.

“Stop! Police.” They cried.”

 I had not heard of these new metallic guardians and I was uncertain what to make of their strange war cry. The rest is blur. I fought valiantly, but it’s fair to say I was bested and I awoke later in the police Station. Once there I learned to my horror that I had not in fact Planeswalked to Mirrodin, but actually to the Ladies lingerie section of Marks and Spencers on Western Road. As the officer read of the list of charges which ranged from assaulting a police officer to breaking and entering and destruction of private property I learned that the army of robotic succubi had turned out to be a selection of ladies manikins sporting an inexpensive, provocative yet practical range of ladies under garments . Of course Ii told him that the charges were nonsense and the whole thing was great misunderstanding and as soon as they returned my staff,  I would be on my way and I would bother them no more. He told me that Marks and Spencers were unlikely to return the hockey stick I had stolen and were keen to work out how I was going to pay for the ten thousand pounds of Damage I had caused to their store dummies.   It took me a week to get myself out of that tiny cell, how I did that? Well that’s another story….

Oh and while I'm here a big shout out to Blog Follower Joe Rodway for his 1st place victory in the London National Quallifiers... You see I'm always ready to give a mention to a fellow player even if they can't be bothered to levae me acomment on my mono white deck they phoned me up about...  

Vanilla Ice (cat;s out of the bag)

If you follow my blog or you have ever played me then you probably know I keep going on about my Mono white control list. I was trying to save this one for Grand Prix London, but some very clever chap from Seattle took a near faultless run with a very similar deck, so similar in fact that a friend actually called me up to let me know that the list was on the Wizards site (if you get a moment Joe, could you post a comment just to let folks know I’m not making this up). Anyway, the reason I was keeping it under wraps, is that it’s a strong list and it works and I was actually planning to play it at GP London, but since the cat’s out of the bag I thought I’d post my list now.

So Ladies and Gentleman here is my version

I call it

Vanilla Ice…

Because it’s white, but it really wishes it was black…

You will need

4 Sun Titan

3 Wall of Omens

4 pilgrim’s eye

2 Kemba’s Skyguard

2 Lone Missionary

4 Mimic Vat

4 Day of Judgment

4 Everflowing Chalice

4 All is Dust

4 Elspeth Tirel

1 Elixir of Immortality

4 Emeria the sky ruin

4 tectonic edge

12 Plains

4 Marsh Flats

Ok So I’m going to explain this deck in detail because I play it a lot and I have about 5 different versions and while the concept remains the same in most of them the variations are what make the deck. This one is an early-ish build.

So what does it do?

Well effectively the idea is very simple; it’s a recursion deck designed to bring your creatures back from the dead and at the same time destroy the board with a number of different wrath effects.  Almost every card has a ‘come into play' effect and these will help you draw cards to gain life and find land.  There is a little bit of ramp, which is rare in white and as I mentioned, there are many ways to blow up the world.  

So how do you play it?

Well there are number of ways but here’s a good example…

Turn 1 – drop an Emeria

Turn 2 - Wall of Omens or  Chalice for 1

 Turn 3 - Mimic Vat

Turn 4 - Pilgrim's Eye and Wall or one of the Lifegainers…  

Turn 5 - blow up the world with Day of Judgment and get the Pilgrim’s Eye under the Vat….

With a Pilgrim’s Eye under a Vat you can pretty much block everything except Tramplers and Creeping Tar Pits, and every time you make one you’re getting nearer to the sacred goal of getting Emeria on line and this is how you’ll win….

Core concepts… Every creature in the deck can be brought back with Sun Titan so don’t be precious bout them..... stick them in front of anything. 

Mimic Vats are amazing, and possibly the best target in the game is Sun Titan… If you can get a Sun Titan under a Mimic Vat you can do horrible things, but if your opponent loses something better, like Vengevine or Bloodghast, then take that, even if it’s just to stop them getting it back, . Inferno Titan is one of my favourites and Frost Titan can be funny.

    

Elspeth ? I seriously don’t know why this card doesn’t see more play; it’s a one woman nuke and will halt control in its tracks.  Obviously in this deck she is another wrath effect and yes, she will blow up a Mimic Vat, but that’s ok because Sun Titan can bring them back. One of my favourite plays is to swing a Sun Titan to his death, bringing back a Mimic Vat, and as he dies in combat, putting him under the very Vat he returned…

Tectonic Edges can be used to foil counter spells and don’t worry if an opponent Tectonic Edges your Emeria because Sun Titan can bring them back and he can also bring back Tectonic Edges and Marsh Flats for that matter.

Elixir? Really? Yep, Elixir does two things in this deck; it helps you get your wraths back after you've stripped the graveyard of cards you want to recur, but it also has the added ability of making the deck pretty much mill proof. I'll tell you a true story (involving one of the blogs followers.... if they want to join in the story thats cool but it doesn't matter if they'd rather remain silent) Basically I was playing this deck against their Blue White Ally mill deck and they actually managed to mill every single card n my deck... they passed the turn and I didn't have any cards in my library. If anyome can tell me how I won that game then I'll offer a prize... (obviously the person who played me can't enter, but maybe we can let them be judge?) 

Secret tech? Well there is one card in this deck that folk will not see coming, and it can have devastating effects on your opponant's board while keeping your key pieces safe... All is Dust is horrible in this meta, play it late game from nowhere in order to devastate Planeswalkers and Elves and pretty much anything that's indestructable. 

So there is the basic concept… I have a newer list that that's great for the current meta, I can’t tell you it all yet because London GP is only a month away and I have to keep some tricks up my sleeve, but I will say.... get your Baneslayer Angels now…

Blowing up the world again…

Well I’ve been a busy man of late and my apologies for not writing sooner, but with GP London approaching and MTG Team Brighton to organise, things are hectic.  But when I get the chance there’s nothing more relaxing than blowing up the world and to these ends I have been striving…

This deck came around by taking a look at what’s currently wining and what dropped off the radar since the last rotation.  So we’ve gained Birds and swords and we’ve gained Forgemaster (who saw that coming? *rubs chest with pride) we still got control, we still got vamps we still got Valakut and we still have Reddeck and all its fun variants…  So what did we lose? Well we lost a near miss with Soul Sisters, we lost Pyromancer’s ascension (not before time annoying deck. but good for the budget) and we lost Destructive Force…

This got me thinking…  

I still reckon there’s a soul sister variant in the meta and we’ll find it soon; there’s just no saving Pyromancer’s Ascension without the time warp, but is there a place for destructive force?

Well since you asked… Ladies and Gentleman I give you my new deck…  I call it…

Skywalker… because  the force is strong in this one...…

You will need…

4 Destructive force

4 Roiling Terrain

4 Khalni Gem

3 Dreamstone Hedron

3 Fissure Vent

3 koth of the hammer

4 everflowing chalice

4 sphere of the suns

4 spawning breath

1 platinum Emperion

1 steel hellkite

1 wurmcoil engine

1 elixir of immortality

Lands you need

2 eye of ugin

4 tectonic edge

18 mountains

So how does it work? Well there are a lot of non-basic lands around at the moment with everyone splashing for this, that and their mother. There are also a lot of artifacts around. This deck essentially tries to ramp into destructive force using spawning breath as disruption along the way. There are few things setter than killing a lotus cobra turn 2 to ramp into koth turn 3…

I’ve trialled the deck and it’s actually quite effective… So many decks are ramping and running fetch lands that they simply can’t survive a single destructive force and any lingering plansewalker threats can be dealt with by a post force rolling terrain… Once you’ve blown up the board just use the Eye of Ugin to search out your big colourless beaters or sac the dream stones for Card advantage and use Koth to slap them with mountains...

It’s pretty good against most of the meta but it may be worth splashing for black and Memoricide to take out Valakut;’s titan’s and grim discovery to get your tectonic edges back…

In my experience of playing the deck if you can get the Destructive force to go off then you win and as such it may be worth mulliganning until you can find one.

no Hidden Agenda

No Hidden Agenda

It’s great when you discover a cool combo or some secret tech for your magic the gathering deck, but your idea can live depending on who plays what in your area. Playing Magic in Brighton I tend to see two different decks.  Variants of blue/white and blue/black control and Goblins.  Well with so many similar decks and having to complete with heavy counter decks and at the same time extremely quick aggro decks there isn’t a lot of room for error. So, this decks unusual for me in that it’s not at all combo based and there is no chicanery at all, infact it’s just exactly what it says on the tin. I call it No Hidden Agenda because that’s exactly what it’s about.

It’s infect its sneaky, but there is no smoke and there are no mirrors  

You will need.

4  Tangle Angler

4 Phyrexian Hydra

4 Phyrexian Juggernaut

4 Repel the darkness

4 Oust

4 Condemn

4 Nature’s Claim

1 Elixir of Immortality

4 Everflowing Chalice

4 Whispersilk Cloak

4 razorverge thicket

4 sunpetal grove

4 tectonic edge

4 inkmoth nexus

4 plains

4 forest

So what does it do? Well this one’s really really simple you’re trying to get the whispersilk cloak on one of your fatties and it’ll be dead by dawn, the rest of the deck is there to spoil your opponents day and in ways that will seem flippant and maybe even risky at first,  but it will become apparent quickly that the jokes on your opponent.

What am I going on about?

Well life gain to be frank, this deck makes effective use of the fact that you’re trying to win through infect and as such it abuses a few cards that are weighted in your opponents favour for their speed.  Take nature’s claim for example, put simply it’s naturalize, but at a cost, if you want to be able to speed the card up it’s going to cost you a 4 point life swing in a normal deck this is a definite consideration, but in this deck it’s no brainer because you don’t care how much life your opponent as, Oust and Condemn work on the same theory.

Is a midrange deck and what you’re trying to do is get a whispersilk cloak out early game in readiness for the juggernaut or the hydra.   The inkmoths can help you get early damage through and repel the darkness, condemn oust and natures’ claim will help you sort out the other threats. Tangle adder is there for evasion and he makes a decent blocker too.

Planeswalkers will be a pain ,but then they always are. I suggest some adding some fliers to the side board to help with that little problem.

Game Day On Sunday

This is just a quick post to say I will be running a version of Nitroglissarin on Sundays Game day and I  will be posting the results after the weekend... It does mean that I am most certainly playing for the dark side though and i can I help feeling a little bit dirty...

On course I may change my mind and trial my mono white. control.... mmmm decisions ... Any way I hope what ever you play on Sunday you do well...

new deck coming soon, but meanwhile get some ebay treasures

HERE

Gordon Vader's Marvellous Mechanical Mouse organ

Well it's been a while, but fret not dear travellers  I've been far from idle. In between keeping the planes safe and drinking heavily I took time to tnker with some new spells. So it's a little bit overdue, but it's a fun and it's cheap and it's nuts. Ladies and Gentlmen I give you my new deck  I call it....

Gordon Vader's Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Organ...

for reasons that will probably never be entirely clear....
You will need. 

3 Wall of Vines
4 Overgrown Battlement
3 Wall of Tanglecord
4 Myr Battlesphere
4 Myr Turbine
4 Luminarch Ascension
4 Throne of Geth
4 Everflowing Chalice
3 Ancient Stirrings
3 Contagion Clasp

Lands ... I am currently still trying different options and so far the following list is working... But you could swap out the Oran Reif's for some Sun Petal Groves.

4 Mystifying Maze
2 Stirring Wildwood
4 Oran-Rief The VastWood
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Plains
3 Forest

So what's the plan?  Well i had a look at the top 8 Paris dcks and I figured we'd be seeing a lot of birds with swords... So with this in mind I decided to build a counter offensive.

This one's a builder. It's gonna come out in three different directions, all of them sideways and it'll hold it's own while it does it.  Big Walls with reach will keep bladed hawks and signal pests at bay and if that doesn't work then exiling and de-euipping them with the maze will soon sort them out...


So how does it win? Ok there's a simple combo hidden in the depths of the deck and by the time it happens your opponent won't be able to do much about it, but we'll get to that in a second because the real agenda is getting that Luminarch Ascension online, because the real win for this deck is a storm of angels.

Won't they see it coming? Well you''re half right... Yes of course as soon as you plant the enchantment they'll be on high alert. You may find your opponent changes tactics. Jaces will be set to work digging deeper looking for Into the Roils or Days of Judgement and mid range players may suddenly show their fangs, but importanlty if they go on the attack then that will leave you free to persue the first hidden agenda, which is to get a turbine into play. Aggro players will give you the hardest run, but there are enough walls to keep them out. If they do leave you alone long enough to get a counter on the ascension then that's all you're going to need. Although there are some big defenders in the deck they are really there for another reason.... RAMP!...
 
The deck ramps in two different ways. .  The first is the Walls... Overgrown Battlement will not only hold off a goblin guide, but add a couple of other walls and tthe deck's secret misssion is not going to be far away...

The other route to mana city is obviously the chalice and throne routine and the myr turbine will  help supercharge it...

Early game there are a decent amount of defenders and even the meekest of them will hold off the dreaded squadron hawk and with some tinkering the Oran rief can give them a little boost, You might think its a lot of effort for +1 counter, but  it taps for green and a turn two wall of vines with a counter will send the pesky signal pest to an much needed early grave.

So whats this combo then? Well... what you want is a Myr Turbine as early as possible and with a little tinkering and some proliferating ,it won't be long before you get the Myr Battlesphere. and a Battelsphere plus a turbine is actuually two battlespheres and that is gonna be game. add more turbine and get more Battlespheres...

Sneaking in battlespheres (even in response to a doom blade) is one way to win, but don't forget you can also light up the heavens with an army of angels...

Sideboard?

I'd recommend Tajuru Preservers in case you come across Eldrazi ramp and Leyline of Sanctity incase you meet Valakut..Revoke Existance is also good versus today's game and you may even find a home for fog.


I have also tested an alternative version of this deck involving Steel Overseers over the Wall of Vines,, In this option obviously you can drpp the Oran Riefs for Sunpetal Groves...

So how does it play?

Well, you'll have to build it yourself to see, but the honest answer is pretty well... A good turn one is to find the throne or the turbine or the chalice, with the nncient stirrings..(Ideally you'll have any two of these and will only need to find the third).

A turn two could be a clasp or a chalice or a battlement or an ascension... Don;t worry too much about getting the counters on the acension, you should be able to get one on and then the rest is done by proliferating, so have a giggle while your opponent is forced to waste their removal on one mana walls and squander theor burn just to keep down the enchantment that soon they won't be able to stop at all. and I guarentee they won't see the batt;esphere and the turbine trick before it's too late...

 
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