1600 or the Server Fries - Part 6
What a difference a weekend makes.
It's only been a couple of days since I've seen the latest chapter of my blog here on Brainburst, and already there are many of changes in my GR Spiritcraft deck. Some new decks have come up and certain artifacts have risen to become a stumbling block to decks like this one.
The only stumbling block I need in my MTGO career is the Expletives Deleted Shuffler!
I must say that a lot of the other MTGO players have been very accommodating to me (even when I start whining and wondering why I'm not surprised about losing every game with a deck that was at least a bit successful the other day.) and gave me a lot of feedback on nursing my deck.
While I was playtesting, I also found some Betrayers decks that are becoming a force:
Ninja Decks
Say hello to the 'in' deck for the expansion. Ninjutsu is an excellent mechanic in use; you get to replace an unblocked attacker with a more powerful creature and you get your previous attacker back. It'll be a contender in Kamigawa Block Constructed.
If it weren't so slow. A quicker deck can overpower a Ninja deck once they have a strong early start. However, you'll have problems in mid and late games when a BU deck such as this particular deck can overtake the game, unless you have something that can't be targeted once it gets on the field.
Such as my replacement for Ryusei for this deck's goon:
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| Kodama of the North Tree |
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Having played Northside in my deck, I realized that the 6/4 trampling, non-targetable guy is better for the metagame than a 5/5 flier that Starstorms upon death. Northside is also optimal against other decks that require targeting opposing creatures. It found a place in this deck, at least until Saviors shows up.
Rat Decks
A favorite tribal deck is now stepping up to block tournament level, with their Betrayers legends like Ink-Eyes (she got her name before her deal with the Oni, mind you), flip cards that discard and grave rob, as well as some cards that have Bushido and Ninjutsu.
It's a good thing I took one last glance at the text window before I bugged out of one game where I jobbed against a rat deck, or else I wouldn't have gotten a tip about a killer card to side in against Rat Decks:
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| Yamabushi's Storm |
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A card that I initially set aside as mere filler could very well be the card I need against this deck. If you note the decklists for Rats, the majority of the crits have 1 toughness, making them a perfect target for a mass removal spell. How much I need to depend on this card remains to be seen.
Any Decks with Umezawas Jitte
Ah, Toshi's favorite toy. The Skullclamp of Kamigawa. At least it's a rare. It can hose any deck that is against it, and it costs 10 bucks to own. I'd sell my blood to get a couple Jitte's, but I think I hear DCI's sniffer dogs putting their collective schnoz at it and doing the 'positive response' pose. The DCI have been very ban-happy as of late.
Outside of fighting Jitte with Jitte, people are forced to put in maindeck artifact hate, something long thought gone in Block Constructed. At first that meant Wear Away, but Betrayers has something better that will not only take care of Jitte, but any other artifact you'll come up against, save for a certain Divining Top?
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| Splinter |
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The five 'Remove all copies of one card from game' cards in Betrayers-previously seen in Urza's Destiny-are less powerful Cranial Extractions, and they provide the needed removal for decks that don't run or splash black. For the cost of a Southside, the Jitte will not be a problem for you anymore. That puts Splinter over Wear Away although you should still keep the latter card, just to be on the safe side.
Finally, with all the more expensive cards in this deck, I had to do something more with my lands so that I can get them on the field quicker, and it is the reason why people may look at my deck and go Whiskey Tango Foxtrot over "You have Sakura-Tribe Shaman in your deck? Shouldn't Frostling be better in the mirror game?"
A good question, and I have a well-thought answer about it: Frostling may be good two-for-one removal against some decks (like Rats and the Mirror) but there is a more pressing problem for me as I play this deck: You got it, folks, it's the Blankety-Blank shuffler. I need to get lands out of my library and onto the field as soon as I can. Nothing irks the bleep out of me more than getting only 2-3 lands in my hand and not seeing another one until 1-2 draws after I concede. Green is the color of mana acceleration, and in the environment of Magic: Online where you have two opponents-the other player and the shuffler, I need to take advantage of mana acceleration as much as I can. (On a side note: The reverse shuffler screw, where you draw nothing but lands, puts an equal sized burr in my side, but that doesn't happen as often.)
Kodoma's Reach may do an excellent job of taking two lands out of your library, but the Snake Shaman from the Sakura Tribe can and does serve a higher purpose when it's played, on both sides of the game I'm playing. It has a 1G casting cost, can chump block, and pulls out a needed land at the other guys end of turn when it gets out of the way, a land that untaps at my next turn. With this card, I'm obviously sacrificing synergy with the other cards for extra speed. Only time will tell if I made the right move.
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But before I go for now, I'd like to show you a new format that may not be introduced to Brainburst, but has been showing up on MTGO for some time now. It's a combination of Prismatic and Singleton and is excellent for those who want to play Singleton (or Prismatic Singleton) but don't have the money or cards yet.
I give you: Rainbow Stairwell!
Here are the format rules:
60 cards total
24 lands: 4 of each basic land, 4 non-basic (no repeats)
36 other cards: 6 cards of each color and artifacts.
The 6 cards must contain one of each converted mana cost from 1 to 6.
For example: For black you could have: 1: B - Duress 2: 1B - Terror 3: 1BB - Swat 4: 2BB - Faceless Butcher 5: 3BB - Marrow-Gnawer 6: 4BB - Silent Spectre
Banned Cards: All gold cards, all split cards, all cards with "pay X" anywhere (counting cc, activation cost, and Kicker), and no Beacons, Pulses, or Wishes are allowed.
I've yet to get into my first Rainbow Stairwell game at this time, I might get into one before this article is published, but I built a deck that will work pretty well in this new casual format with the decks I've have in my collection. It seems to be pretty doable with a lot of powerful cards (four of the five Dragon Spirits from Champions are present) and I can't wait to play it.
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David "Daveykins FoxFire" Gonterman
FoxStudiosDavid@MTGO