The LiquidLegends Lounge - Page 1482

(standard list with Gideon instead of Avacyn, and a bit more counters in the sideboard + Incendiary Flow in case of recursion decks)

(with a singleton Combustible Gearhulk and even more counters in the sideboard)

(brew with Stormchaser Mage, Docent, Reckless Scholar, and a bunch of bounce/removal)

(he called it so, looked like UW Flash w/o Rattlechains)

(Couldn't shell for copters to just make a weenies/aggro version. Small drops + Always Watching/Stitcher's Graft combo, Gideon, Odric to make everyone fly, and Responder/Gisela as bigger threats.)

(Didn't have full playsets, so brewed around his Kalitas/Flayer/Copter by adding synergies in Oviya(s), Syndicate's Traffickers, Tireless Trackers, OGW Nissa(s), Westvale Abbey, Master of Marionettes, and singletons of Skysovereign and Tamiyo's Journal to fetch with Inventor's Fair.)

(He had a playset of UG lands so he decided to brew an UGr version, splashing for a bit of removal and Uncaged Fury but focusing on energy for Pummeler/Hydra/Cub and counters to protect them)

Game 1 I was flooding, nothing too problematic but I didn't get any card draw spells either so I held as I could but Motorists + Copters are a hell of a card filtering engine (and Inspector replace themselves ) and I couldn't stabilise. Should have shuffled more anyway since I finished building with lent cards right before the tourney.
Game 2 I didn't have a great start either but stalled a couple turns and my opponent started burning out when Linvala hit the board: Pia's token crewing the copter then getting sacrificed to prevent Linvala from blocking, and Gideon dropped the following turn to stall the ground a bit more. His topdecks weren't all great and when I set up Gearhulk flashing back Blessed Allianced (also paying for lifegain) + Immolating Stare on the copter, his back broke.
Too little time left to start game 3, it took him awhile to finish me game 1 and even when I have great cards in hand I actually need to keep removal up too so I only start running my threats out with 6-7 lands.

The guy who lent me missing uncommons and a land, he joked that he was playing only people he lent to so far.
Also the guy I played round 3 last draft, with the 2 colour deaths... happened to him again games 2 & 3, he's even more unlucky than I and at that point I feel sorry for him, but he took it in stride. :/

Game 1 he went t1 Oviya on the play, didn't have removal so I had to Stasis Snare her on turn 3 and I decided to let his tokens ping me until he played something else for me to AoE rather than waste a card (plus I had Fumigate, I'd regain some life).
I stayed stuck on 4 lands and he had an Abbey in play turn 6. Turn 7 he played Copter into Void Shatter, then Skysovereign, welp! I was at 9 by that point so next turn he just crewed, sac'd all to Abbey and smashed me. It was risky considering I had Blessed Alliance mana up, but had I found a 5th land for Fumigate he couldn't really wait either.

From what I saw in the PT the match-up seemed slighty unfavourable for me because he's better at hitting untapped lands to act faster, has mainboard negates and more counters in the side, and TitI can be hard to deal with (and flip dangerously fast).

Game 1 I played Dovin Baan on the draw to fish for counters, or just dare him, since I lacked card draw or much lands anyway. I tought it was worth putting me ahead in a later counter war, but in retrospect it was certainly a terrible play on my part, only made to seem reasonable because I had a full hand with only Gideon or him as plays.
I was lucky I didn't get punished, and my opponent tapped out for Jace himself on his turn. From there the floodgates were opened and Gideon hit the board next turn.
The game didn't end there, but he killed Jace unopposed, Dovin drew me enough cards to match Painful Truths, my opponent traded a Wandering Fumarole for a knight token just to pave the way to remove Dovin... once a Gearhulk dropped with counters up to protect him, and Gideon stood at 3 even after making an emblem the next turn, my opponent scooped.

I showed out Gideon's Reproach (shoe-in for the 4th Harnessed Lightning) and useless removal (and one Dismissal 'cause it's expensive) for more counters and the 3rd Gideon. I wasn't sure whether to include the Quellers since he showed Disintegration and I knew he had Harnessed Lightning (I don't know the Grixis list by heart). Didn't in the end.

Game 2 went quite a bit longer, I started slow as I had to Anticipate t3 for my land drop, and missed the 5th one. I tried to run Gideon t4 but he obviously ate a counter.
I managed to stick a second one in, and later a Gearhulk with low counters TitI in play. I knew I couldn't prevent it from flipping EoT but at least I'd get value out of it. He bounced stuff, killed Gideon, and played another TitI (his 3rd one). Fumigate got me value, and when the coast got clear to replay the Hulk my opponent couldn't stop it and conceded after a couple beats.

Basically I won game 1 because my opponent didn't have counters and tapped out in response to Dovin, giving me free rein, but he apparently saw a ton of lands (17 to my 11 + the ones I sent bottom)... testament to the strengths of Glimmer compared to Painful Truths I guess. But I still played that rashly and badly.
Game 2 I managed to draw more and get some card advantage (Fumigate, bounced Hulk, etc.) but the main part was probably that I drew more counters and played more patiently so I got my threats to stick.

Overall the match-up's better than I thought, partly because I run Gideon main deck (reminiscent of last game day when in the BW mirror me keeping Gideon and Secure the Wastes maindeck > Liliana and Kalitas (emblem's huge for manlands)), since Confiscation Coup and the kept removal would beat Avacyn but not him, and 2x Transgress and 2x delirious To the Slaughter are his only answers to a resolved 'walker.

My opponent thought a mistake that I didn't board Quellers in... considering he had Galvanic Bombardment which is useless till one hits the yard (eg. technical card advantage since only tokens die to the first one) and Radiant Flames boarded out, and they only get countered by Void Shatter, he's probably right.
I'm not sure what to cut though: maybe one Dovin and one Immolating Glare (2's enough), and board less Negate/Rejection for the 3rd?

That one is what I think my worst non-recursion match-up, it runs Quellers maindeck, plays at instant-speed a lot too, can protect its copters from my removal... basically clocks slower than Vehicles deck and can't remove my manlands/hulks, but even more resilient to board wipes and can't be ground-chumped.

Game 1 was dictated a lot by my opponent drawing his full playset of Reflector Mages over 8 or so turns (even counting clues and loots, it's bad). One removed Gideon's token, another got looted away, but when he tapped out to play the remaining two right into Radiant Flames, with Gideon still alive, it hit hard. I don't remember how I handled both played copters that game.

Game 2 had us laugh at our limping starts, with him missing his 4th land drop and me going Spirebluff, Aether Hub, Aether Hub, use both energy to cast Stasis Snare on his t2 Copter, and he proceeds to play another one. Welp.
Nothing pretty much happened, when I got my 4th land I could only play Dovin (no double W for Gideon), and had no counters available... a Queller ate him and the game went by fast (plus when you see your opponent loot away Gideon you know he's got another one in hand ).

Game 3 saw me taking a bunch of damage to an unanswered copter, though I ate into his creature count a bit.
At that point, vs his Copter, Selfless Spirit and Inspector I had Gideon and his token. I played Dovin, +'d the Spirit and swung to put some pressure on him (not like I can block the copter anyway). He killed Gideon, my turn went another one, a token, + the spirit. + Show Spoiler +*
He hit Dovin this time (already on 5), and had been looting away lands, a counter or two, but also a Copter since he already had as many as able creatures. I swung again, seeing if the spirit would block, then when he didn't +'d it with Dovin to prevent its sacrifice and wiped the board with Radiant Flames.
Topdecked Avacyn crewed to kill Dovin, next turn Gideon + token crewing finished mine, and he was only on 3 life but we were both pretty low on cards and I wasn't finding card draw or threats. Descent cleared the board but the copter was still there and I only had 3 card types (shoulda suicided a Fumarole somehow!).

Hulk flashed in Immolating Glare, countered by Queller, still got to block Gideon. Then Gisela comes down... welp. I play a land and hold onto the Harnessed Lightning I drew only a couple turns earlier... he topdecks and plays Thalia.
So I'm facing Queller, Gideon on 6, token, Copter crewed by Thalia, and Gisela, with only 10 life. He swings with everything, Lightning kills the Queller and Immolating Glare removes Gisela, blocking Gideon makes me survive and win the game.
My opponent's pretty devastated since he only lost to himself (keep a blocker back to play around whatever my last card is, though iirc he'd lose to another Hulk 100%, and win over 2 turns instead, since 2 lands were on top of my library). People point out that he should have used the emblem to get lethal in the air, but that only worked if he kept Thalia or the token as a blocker, since I'd kill the Queller and Gisela all the same.

* it's probably a shit play in general (still won me the game considering the top of my library and that I finished with 5 life when it gained me 6) and the line I'd gain the most from rethinking about, since I had so many decisions available at this fork in the game.

I drew little removal and a bunch of lands that game, but my opponent didn't get that many creatures either and I hit 2/3 Gideon, so I guess it's a pretty representative game?
Match-up's hard, though since the copter loots and doesn't draw, once his hand's close to empty I can come back, same with hitting Gearhulks with removal in the yard. Quellers are very good if they can hit Harnessed Lightning or Radiant Flames then not attack though, because then I can only kill them with AoE so I can't kill them + copter.
Gideon wins if he sticks but he's hard to stick and dies in 2 copter hits, unless my opponent has a bad draw I don't think I can play him turn 4 as I need removal, either for a Queller, or a Copter/Avacyn coming in next turn.
Not sure if I sided well either, Descent, Blessed Alliance, a couple Negate for his planeswalkers/copters, Linvala. Prob should have put my own Quellers since they block everything but the copters, Avacyn and Gisela, and a Gideon emblem/removal can handle that, then later on they can chip in.