-or, "preboarding"
Just when I thought I was out..
I'll start with the game plan, as laid out to me by Sean.
The original configuration had the fourth Disfigure, an additional Swamp, and 2 more Cabal Therapies.
There were Dystopias in the board, but I talked Sean into Spinning Darkness instead. If I reveal it to Dark Confidant, so what? I gain three life back! In addition, I was offered a few Dilu Horses.
The shop was sparsely populated again, which was a bummer. Andrew had returned from his back surgery, just in time to let a loud nerd know that his story was not good. The words "shut up, nerd" are some of the sweetest.
Round 1: Arabian Block Constructed w/ JB
JB was playing a "Greatest Hits from 1998" theme deck, complete with Beta Kird Apes and Psionic Blasts. This deck was conceived the prior week at Fellini's, after about half a pitcher and half a pizza, steeped in nostalgia for the days when Ernham Djinn was the best man in town.
In game 1, I led with Ritual into Thoughtseize + Hymn, which left him with land, Birds in play and a Serendib Efreet stuck in his hand. Then I played a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and killed him with it.
For this and every subsequent game 2, I boarded in the Dilu Horses.
This was my opener.
I might have kept that on the play, but I had images of him playing a Birds (and my subsequent suicide)- instead, I kept five to his seven. My Thoughtseize got Disrupted. (JB was polite enough to drop it while I was shuffling, though my brain rudely forgot about that until Thoughtseize was on the stack.)
Luckily
I peeled a Hymn, which made me feel clairvoyant. He played a Kird Ape,
which is strong against most of my ground guys, but Knight of Infamy and
pump knight have game against that.
Then he cast Earthquake for 1.
Reeling, I cast a Bob which died to Chain Lightning, then a Lilana which died to Psionic Blast. Kird Ape continued its assault, and after it had dealt me ten damage, I drew a Dark Confidant. This was an opportune time for him to draw Time Elemental. I won't lie, Time Elemental didn't scare me at first, but I quickly realized that JB is not the AI from Shandalar, and therefore would not be blocking with the Time Elemental for value. Bob hooked it up with some extra action, but a Serendib Efreet put the final nail in me before I could mount a counterattack.
I
went to five again in the third game, and the first play was me getting
his Tropical Island with a Wasteland. (He had played a City of Brass on
turn 1, but I declined to hit that.) Knight of Infamy was met with a
Brainstorm, and then put him to 16. He fetched next turn, then tapped a
City of Brass to play a Serendib Efreet. Attacking wasn't viable, but
City of Brass was doing good work on my side. Unfortunately, he played
Control Magic on my Knight of Infamy. My notes are clear on this.
My grip was full of BB cards, and though I drew a second black source eventually, this board put me under.
Those are some nice-lookin' cards, at least.
Round 2: Storm w/ Greg
Greg is my fellow Judge-mat-using-competitor.
I had skillfully drawn the Ritual-Thoughtseize-Hymn combo again, which left him with Brainstorm and Dark Ritual in his hand. I followed that with a Tarmogoyf, and he Brainstormed at the end of my turn. Over the next three turns, I drew Disfigures while he Brainstormed once and played lands. Then, at 5, he cast a third Brainstorm, two Rituals, two LEDs, an Infernal Tutor, blah blah blah, I died.
In came the Dilu Horses, out went the Disfigures.
My single Cabal Therapy made its first appearance in my opener, and he had declined to draw Brainstorms in his opening hand. He had a Therapy of his own, however, which hit the two Tarmogoyfs in my hand, leaving me no action. I did peel a Lilana after he cast a Bob, but he had revealed an Infernal Tutor already. A Ritual and an LED later that turn convinced me I was dead, but he was playing around graveyard hate and only got another Bob. I drew a Confidant of my own, and cast it with Wasteland up. In his upkeep, he revealed an Abrupt Decay, so I cleverly Wasted his Tropical Island to keep him off BG.
Did you know that Abrupt Decay is an instant?
Anyway, every day is a lesson. He cast Ritual, Petal, Petal, Tendrils when I was at 8. Bob did a lot of work that game.
Round 3: Terrence
Terrence "Top-8" Demby was playing a Modern deck. Cabal Therapy was very good for me this match, as he was playing a suboptimal mix of 4 Cultivate and 0 Kodama's Reach.
Interlude: Cubing
Lukas is a store employee who is my former roommate. He and I share many likes: gambling, drafting, and Carver's Country Kitchen. What better way to enjoy ourselves than doing a Winston draft, best of 5, loser pays for lunch next week?
I neglected to mention that in Round 1, Game 1, he arrived at the shop with my winnings from last week. Waffle fries, man.
My match with Terrence was as brief as the write-up, so we attemped to get a little drafting in before the fourth round. My memory is spotty regarding the draft, but it was full of white and green aggressive two-drops, Pacifism-effects, and a Moss Kami. So, when he played a fourth-turn Stinging Barrier, I figured my work would be cut out for me. On the right is a scene from game 1. I conceded right after this picture. He would have killed me with Stinging Barrier and the off-color ability of Stormscape Apprentice.
Round 4: Beau
This round started as I was trying to rebuild my deck to not get utterly demolished by Stinging Barrier, no small feat in the pauper cube. Why didn't I put in Flame Slash..
Anyway, Beau is playing a R/G all-basics deck.
In game 1, he drew the burn side of his deck, excepting a Quirion Dryad which got Disfigured in response to the second counter. I led with a Bob into Knight of Infamy after Thoughtseizing an Isochron Scepter. I played a nonstop sequence of black 2-drops, and that he cast a Fireblast by tapping six lands sums up the game pretty well.
The Dilu Horses came in for the last time.
In game 2, I Thoughtseized him and took a Tarmogoyf, leaving him two Quirion Dryads and two Lightning Bolts. A few turns later, he drew and cast an Isochron Scepter and put one of those Bolts on it. I had declined to bring in Krosan Grips. For a few turns, I was live to draw a Tarmogoyf and kill him with it, but eventually he put a Magma Jet on another Scepter after I had run out all of my smaller guys. Somehow, it felt worse than in the old days, when losing to Fire/Ice on a Scepter was normal.
I spent a long time sideboarding for this game. There were Null Rods and Krosan Grips I wanted to bring in, as well as Spinning Darkness, and the Disfigures seemed bad, but only if he doesn't draw Dryad.. The Jittes,
3-drop Knight, the Therapy, and a pair of two-drop Knights came out.
My six for the last game had a Krosan Grip, a kill spell, and a guy, which was acceptable. I put on some early pressure, while he sat back on what I assume was a mass of burn spells. Eventually he traded Bolts 1-for-1 with my guys when I dug into his hand with Thoughtseize and a Hymn, and we got to a state where I had no guys save a Dark Confidant, and he had a 1/1 Dryad and a bunch of lands. He topdecked a burn spell to kill my Bob, but I peeled another next turn. His attack next turn would have put me to 4, though, so I blocked expecting to get blown out, but he had drawn another land. My Lilana got burnt to death with a Fireblast, then I drew lands and Rituals until he killed me with a Tarmogoyf.
♣
Looking back, I'd have waited to play this until more Stoneblade decks were in the room- or at least, tried to get the flying pump knight from Coldsnap into the conversation. Really, all the games I won were from the Ritual Duress Hymn combo plus Tarmogoyf. I remember now why Tarmo-rack decks were popular in Standard!
My notes from the cube match are sparse, but he destroyed me with Pristine Talisman. Plus, this isn't a pauper cube blog! What did you expect?
Next week, the return of real decks!
Until then, try to control your volume- especially if your story is bad.
∎
Just when I thought I was out..
I'll start with the game plan, as laid out to me by Sean.
- get paired against a white deck
- play pro-white knights
- attack and stuff
- thoughtseize him too? i guess?
- pizza
 |
| can you believe he wasn't starting dark ritual? really! |
There were Dystopias in the board, but I talked Sean into Spinning Darkness instead. If I reveal it to Dark Confidant, so what? I gain three life back! In addition, I was offered a few Dilu Horses.
The shop was sparsely populated again, which was a bummer. Andrew had returned from his back surgery, just in time to let a loud nerd know that his story was not good. The words "shut up, nerd" are some of the sweetest.
Round 1: Arabian Block Constructed w/ JB
JB was playing a "Greatest Hits from 1998" theme deck, complete with Beta Kird Apes and Psionic Blasts. This deck was conceived the prior week at Fellini's, after about half a pitcher and half a pizza, steeped in nostalgia for the days when Ernham Djinn was the best man in town.
In game 1, I led with Ritual into Thoughtseize + Hymn, which left him with land, Birds in play and a Serendib Efreet stuck in his hand. Then I played a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and killed him with it.
For this and every subsequent game 2, I boarded in the Dilu Horses.
This was my opener.
 | |||
| pseudo-random |
I might have kept that on the play, but I had images of him playing a Birds (and my subsequent suicide)- instead, I kept five to his seven. My Thoughtseize got Disrupted. (JB was polite enough to drop it while I was shuffling, though my brain rudely forgot about that until Thoughtseize was on the stack.)
 | |
| his keep |
Then he cast Earthquake for 1.
Reeling, I cast a Bob which died to Chain Lightning, then a Lilana which died to Psionic Blast. Kird Ape continued its assault, and after it had dealt me ten damage, I drew a Dark Confidant. This was an opportune time for him to draw Time Elemental. I won't lie, Time Elemental didn't scare me at first, but I quickly realized that JB is not the AI from Shandalar, and therefore would not be blocking with the Time Elemental for value. Bob hooked it up with some extra action, but a Serendib Efreet put the final nail in me before I could mount a counterattack.
I
went to five again in the third game, and the first play was me getting
his Tropical Island with a Wasteland. (He had played a City of Brass on
turn 1, but I declined to hit that.) Knight of Infamy was met with a
Brainstorm, and then put him to 16. He fetched next turn, then tapped a
City of Brass to play a Serendib Efreet. Attacking wasn't viable, but
City of Brass was doing good work on my side. Unfortunately, he played
Control Magic on my Knight of Infamy. My notes are clear on this. My grip was full of BB cards, and though I drew a second black source eventually, this board put me under.
Round 2: Storm w/ Greg
Greg is my fellow Judge-mat-using-competitor.
I had skillfully drawn the Ritual-Thoughtseize-Hymn combo again, which left him with Brainstorm and Dark Ritual in his hand. I followed that with a Tarmogoyf, and he Brainstormed at the end of my turn. Over the next three turns, I drew Disfigures while he Brainstormed once and played lands. Then, at 5, he cast a third Brainstorm, two Rituals, two LEDs, an Infernal Tutor, blah blah blah, I died.
In came the Dilu Horses, out went the Disfigures.
My single Cabal Therapy made its first appearance in my opener, and he had declined to draw Brainstorms in his opening hand. He had a Therapy of his own, however, which hit the two Tarmogoyfs in my hand, leaving me no action. I did peel a Lilana after he cast a Bob, but he had revealed an Infernal Tutor already. A Ritual and an LED later that turn convinced me I was dead, but he was playing around graveyard hate and only got another Bob. I drew a Confidant of my own, and cast it with Wasteland up. In his upkeep, he revealed an Abrupt Decay, so I cleverly Wasted his Tropical Island to keep him off BG.
Did you know that Abrupt Decay is an instant?
Anyway, every day is a lesson. He cast Ritual, Petal, Petal, Tendrils when I was at 8. Bob did a lot of work that game.
Round 3: Terrence
Terrence "Top-8" Demby was playing a Modern deck. Cabal Therapy was very good for me this match, as he was playing a suboptimal mix of 4 Cultivate and 0 Kodama's Reach.
Interlude: Cubing
Lukas is a store employee who is my former roommate. He and I share many likes: gambling, drafting, and Carver's Country Kitchen. What better way to enjoy ourselves than doing a Winston draft, best of 5, loser pays for lunch next week?
 |
| he was like, "wait til i cast coalition honor guard!" |
I neglected to mention that in Round 1, Game 1, he arrived at the shop with my winnings from last week. Waffle fries, man.
My match with Terrence was as brief as the write-up, so we attemped to get a little drafting in before the fourth round. My memory is spotty regarding the draft, but it was full of white and green aggressive two-drops, Pacifism-effects, and a Moss Kami. So, when he played a fourth-turn Stinging Barrier, I figured my work would be cut out for me. On the right is a scene from game 1. I conceded right after this picture. He would have killed me with Stinging Barrier and the off-color ability of Stormscape Apprentice.
Round 4: Beau
This round started as I was trying to rebuild my deck to not get utterly demolished by Stinging Barrier, no small feat in the pauper cube. Why didn't I put in Flame Slash..
Anyway, Beau is playing a R/G all-basics deck.
In game 1, he drew the burn side of his deck, excepting a Quirion Dryad which got Disfigured in response to the second counter. I led with a Bob into Knight of Infamy after Thoughtseizing an Isochron Scepter. I played a nonstop sequence of black 2-drops, and that he cast a Fireblast by tapping six lands sums up the game pretty well.
The Dilu Horses came in for the last time.
In game 2, I Thoughtseized him and took a Tarmogoyf, leaving him two Quirion Dryads and two Lightning Bolts. A few turns later, he drew and cast an Isochron Scepter and put one of those Bolts on it. I had declined to bring in Krosan Grips. For a few turns, I was live to draw a Tarmogoyf and kill him with it, but eventually he put a Magma Jet on another Scepter after I had run out all of my smaller guys. Somehow, it felt worse than in the old days, when losing to Fire/Ice on a Scepter was normal.
I spent a long time sideboarding for this game. There were Null Rods and Krosan Grips I wanted to bring in, as well as Spinning Darkness, and the Disfigures seemed bad, but only if he doesn't draw Dryad.. The Jittes,
3-drop Knight, the Therapy, and a pair of two-drop Knights came out.
My six for the last game had a Krosan Grip, a kill spell, and a guy, which was acceptable. I put on some early pressure, while he sat back on what I assume was a mass of burn spells. Eventually he traded Bolts 1-for-1 with my guys when I dug into his hand with Thoughtseize and a Hymn, and we got to a state where I had no guys save a Dark Confidant, and he had a 1/1 Dryad and a bunch of lands. He topdecked a burn spell to kill my Bob, but I peeled another next turn. His attack next turn would have put me to 4, though, so I blocked expecting to get blown out, but he had drawn another land. My Lilana got burnt to death with a Fireblast, then I drew lands and Rituals until he killed me with a Tarmogoyf.
♣
Looking back, I'd have waited to play this until more Stoneblade decks were in the room- or at least, tried to get the flying pump knight from Coldsnap into the conversation. Really, all the games I won were from the Ritual Duress Hymn combo plus Tarmogoyf. I remember now why Tarmo-rack decks were popular in Standard!
My notes from the cube match are sparse, but he destroyed me with Pristine Talisman. Plus, this isn't a pauper cube blog! What did you expect?
Next week, the return of real decks!
Until then, try to control your volume- especially if your story is bad.
∎
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