Author Topic: [MTG] Deck Critique for Legacy Format  (Read 3959 times)

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Nachofan99

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[MTG] Deck Critique for Legacy Format
« on: September 02, 2011, 03:20:42 PM »
Going to SSG in Atlanta for a Legacy tournamanet and I would really like to win the whole shebang at least once in my life.  I have won numerous small tournaments and events (think 20-50 people nothing in the 100s) so I'm a competent player.

Here is my current decklist:

4     City of Brass
4     Hypergenesis
4     Ardent Plea
4     Violent Outburst
4     Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
2     Sakashima the Impostor
2     World Queller
4     Force of Will
4     Show and Tell
4     Gemstone Mine
4     Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
3     Blazing Archon
4     Hickory Woodlot
4     Saprazzan Skerry
1     Eureka
4     Mulldrifter
4     Tendo Ice Bridge

Sideboard

2     Ingot Chewer
2     World Queller
4     Misdirection
1     Blazing Archon
2     Voidstone Gargoyle
2     Platinum Angel
2     Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

Matchups:

No RUG/Natural Order: They autolose.
Merfolk: Can be tough if they are playing 20 counterspells/20 merfolks.dek  However, still win after 1 resolved SnT or HG.  Blazing Archons are great here.
Stoneblade: I own their face if they don't have an early Force of Will. If I keep a Donkey hand or they have early FoW I'm in trouble.
Dredge: Slower than my deck, they autolose.
Hivemind: Have not played against Hivemind.  Kind of scared.  Have Platinum Angels and Voidstone Gargoyles in the SB for the matchup however.  Other good SB cards?
ANT:  Slower than my deck most of the time.  Have Platinum Angels+Voidstone Gargoyles in the SB.
Zoo: They autolose.

Things that hurt my deck:

1) Force of Will
2) Wasteland
3) Discard

Any kind of help would be useful at this point.  I have played dozens of games and typically win - unless they have an early FoW or I keep/draw into a Donkey hand.  I have tried multiple other cards in certain slots, this is the refined decklist.


Sinfire Titan

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Re: [MTG] Deck Critique for Legacy Format
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2011, 04:43:02 PM »
I think you need to look up the Bant decklists, as they've been very prominent lately. That deck is FAST, and can actually kill you before you can get Hypergenesis off. Goblins will also be problematic, as they can overwhelm you by turn 3.

Replace either Tendo or Gemstone Mine with Tarnished Citadel. More useful, if considerably more painful.


[spoiler][/spoiler]

Nachofan99

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Re: [MTG] Deck Critique for Legacy Format
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2011, 10:42:00 PM »
I Hypergenesis on Turn 2 or 3 regularly by abusing the Cascade mechanic.  I also Show and Tell gigantic monsters like Emrakul on Turn 2 by using the Mercadian Masques lands that provide 2 mana.

Tarnished Citadel is bad City of Brass.  I usually only need to cast 1 or 2 spells to end the game, so I only need mana 1-2 times.  By taking 3 damage each time I use Citadel for mana of a color (which I will need in that 1 or 2 turns) it just hurts me more.

I think you need to see the mechanics of the deck better to understand what it does.

T1: Drop Hickory Woodlot or Saprazzan Skerry
T2: Violent Outburst or Ardent Plea - Cascade into Hypergenesis - Play Entire Hand or Cast Show and Tell and drop gigantic monster Emrakul or Jin-Gitaxias
T3: Game is over.

By "Bant decklists" do you mean "Stoneblade" which is usually just U/W or "Natural Order" in Bant?
« Last Edit: September 02, 2011, 11:17:32 PM by Nachofan99 »

Sinfire Titan

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Re: [MTG] Deck Critique for Legacy Format
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2011, 10:06:37 AM »
Bant lists are tri-colored, using a turn 1 Green Suns' Zenith to fetch Dryad Arbor and going into a turn 3 kill easily via excessive ramp. A turn 2 Natural Order into some huge threat, usually Terastodon and take out their mana base. Some variants do use Stoneblade, but the most common ones use JTMS.

The deck lists run FoWs and other counterspells, most of which will stop Hypergenesis.

And, again, you need something to deal with Goblins. EVen a turn 2 Emrakul won't help if they went first, as they can literally plow into him and finish you off in the process. Hypergenesis actually helps them do this far more than it helps you win. You'd need no less than three or four creatures to actually stand a chance at seeing your next turn.

There are two other decklists you need to worry about too. Affinty and Storm. Storm I'm not too familiar with (never played against it), but Affinity is a beast because of SoM block giving it so much gas. Storm relies on Ill-Gotten Gains and combos off really fast (potential turn 1 kill).


Consider sinking some money into the Moxen (Diamond, Chrome, Opal). Opal's a bit tedious to use, but Diamond and Chrome should help you immensely.


[spoiler][/spoiler]

Nachofan99

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Re: [MTG] Deck Critique for Legacy Format
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2011, 12:30:05 PM »
Alrighty, let's see:

1) If I use Moxen, then when I use Cascade I might hit Moxen instead of Hypergenesis; that defeats the purpose of the entire deck.  Everytime I cast Ardent Plea or Violent Outburst, I am guaranteed to hit Hypergenesis because I have nothing else in the deck at mana cost < 3.  Maybe you're not seeing that, but it's reallllly important.

2) I also use Force of Will maindeck and have Misdirections in the sideboard for anti-counterspell tech.  I do understand that my deck is weak against "20 counterspells.dek" and Force of Will (I did note that in the original post).  Force of Will is beyond good and it's just something you cannot do much about...besides also running Force of Will.

3) Unless goblins has a combo on the table, Blazing Archon stops goblins cold.  They cannot attack me period.  At 6 toughness, he's very hard to kill with direct damage, and I also have Force of Will.  Goblins can, of course, draw "God Hands" where they are dealing something like 4 dmg T1 into 16 damage T2 and I get nothing on the table.  So what?  If they go first AND have a God Hand AND I have nothing - it does not matter what deck they or I am playing; that situation is inherently unwinnable.  Your situation of "You Hypergenesis T2 - and only put Emrakul on the table - while they put down 5-6 goblins" is a worst case scenario.  Why aren't I putting down Emrakul, Jin-Gitaxias AND Blazing Archon?  What does Goblins do against that?  Extend hand, concede game.


Affinity is not a problem because every game is a race situation - I have never seen Affinity run much disruption.  They are going to drop 1-3 creatures t1-2-3 and get me to low life; then I drop Blazing Archon or Jin or Emrakul and it's game.

Storm - I did mention ANT=Ad Nauseum Tendrils which is a potential T1 win storm deck in both Vintage and Legacy.  I have Force of Will so their odds of having the combo in hand T1 are similar to my odds of having Force of Will T1; bad luck or bad statistical improbabilities makes you lose no matter what deck you make unfortunately!  Usually ANT just plays "go-fish" with themself drawing and discarding to get the combo in hand.  Meanwhile I have sideboards like Platinum Angel to just fuck them.






Nachofan99

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Re: [MTG] Deck Critique for Legacy Format
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2011, 11:43:09 PM »
Alrighty, here is a post tournament report.

As sadfase as it makes me, I did not super #1 win.  I did, however, come in the top 1/3rd of the pack so that makes me feel a little better.

My losses were to:

1) Charbelcher.  Guy won the roll and went first.  Proceeded to combo out turn 1.  We go to game 2 and I side in Platinum Angels.  I think about mulliganing until I get a Force of Will, but I have a decent hand; turn 2 Platinum Angel+Emrakul+Jin-Gitaxias sounds like an easy win.  As I'm still considering mulliganing for the Force of Will or not, he mulls to 6 and then to 5.  I figure what the heck, I'll keep.  I play land, go.  He proceeds to draw and Charbelcher combo me with a starting hand of 5.  Sigh.

2)  Hivemind.  I have *never* lost to Hivemind but this guy had "the nuts" both games.  First game I Force of Willed his Show and Tell and then he Force of Willed my Force.  Put down hivemind and Summoner's Pacted me.  I have had Elvish Spirit Guide in the deck before, but had pulled them all out like the decklist below.  Needless to say, I would have won that game had I had it in.  Oh well.  I side in Misdirection and Platinum Angels. I have a great hand; Force of Will and Platinum Angel and Show and Tell for T2.  His hand is inarguably better with Double Force of Will+Hivemind+Titan Pact. 

3)  Stoneblade.  I beat 2x other Stoneblades during the tournament but this guy beat me in 1 game and won because I was awarded a game loss for tardiness.  I was about 5 seconds late to my seat.  This was utter bullshit.  Additionally the play for the 1 game I got went like this: "Land go."  "Wasteland, kill your land, go."  "Land go. [13 turns later] Wow that was the best 1 Wasteland ever, it killed all the land in my deck!" (seemingly).  Yes I never drew a 3rd land out of 21 cards.  Bullshit odds but it happens.  So bullshit odds PLUS bullshit judge GARBAGE lead to loss here.

4) Reanimtor.  This guy had a really great deck - like reaaaaally good.  Unfortunately, there is no way this guy SHOULD have beaten me, but did.  Game 1:  "Underground Sea - Thoughtseize."  He checks out my hand and gets rid of Show and Tell which was clearly the best play.  On my turn I draw...Show and Tell!  His turn, 2nd underground sea and...Thoughtseize again.  This time I Force of Will the Thoughtseize and he Force of Wills my Force of Will.  Garbage.  Game 2:  I have a good opening hand and will win T2 easily.  His T1: "Thoughtseize".  Sigh.  I had the Misdirection for it, so I Misdirected it back to him but he Dazed my Misdirection.  Sigh.

I hate to say it, but the way I felt about it was that all of my losses were to pure garbage that just won't happen twice in a row.

I have modified the deck to deal with "Garbage".  In other news, every single time I resolved Hypergenesis I won.  So that has to tell you something.