Dark Ascension Pack Wars

Hello everyone!  Welcome to this week’s Fedger’s Furnace.  This time around, Mr Chris and I played a best-of-3 pack wars with Dark Ascension booster packs.  For those that don’t know, pack wars is where you make a deck out of a single booster pack plus 3 of each basic land without looking at what’s in the booster.  Here’s how it went

Game 1

I mulligan once and then I get an excellent second hand:  I have a Pyreheart Wolf,  Markov Blademaster, Soul Seizer, 2 mountains, a swamp and a forest.  From my experience in pack wars, one is lucky to have two cards that you can play from your opening hand.  Not only can I play two cards, but they both have an excellent synergy and one is my rare!  Feeling confident I stick with it.

Turns 1-4

Chris wins the roll off and goes first. The first play of the game comes on turn three when he plays a Warden of the Wall (after laying 2 Plains and a Mountain).   My first play is a pyreheart wolf on my third turn (after laying 2 mountains and a plain).  Turn 4 Chris lays a Forest and Summons a Niblis of the Mist who taps my wolf.  Not to worry, he untaps on my next turn.  I opt to attack with the Wolf.   Chris could block with both but would lose his Niblis and give my wolf a +1/+1 counter so he lets it through for one.  I lay a swamp and play my rare; Markov Blademaster. 

Turn 5

Chris attacks with his Niblis for 2 and passes to me.  I play and equip a Heavy Mattock to my Blademaster making him a 2/2.  I attack with both of my creatures, Chris has no choice but to let them through since he only has one blocker.  The Blademaster’s first attack pumps him in time for his second so when the dust settles Chris has taken 6 damage (putting him on 13) and the Blademaster is a 4/4. 

Turn 6

Chris’s turn 6 is a blank.  I attack with both creatures once more and Chris gang blocks my wolf with his two defenders.  The Blademaster deal a whopping 9 damage to Chris (growing to a 6/6 in the process) and I opt to damage the Niblis with my wolf.  Both creatures die, the only difference being that the wolf comes back, and in greater power.  At the end of turn 6 it’s looking grim for Chris who is losing 18-4.  Chris’s next turn is a blank and with one creature remaining he’s unable to block the next attack.  One – nil to me.

Game 2

Turns 1-3

Chris lays a plains and mountain on his first two turns.  I Evolving Wilds a swamp and then play a Forest followed by a Dawntreader Elk on my first two.  On turn three Chris plays an Island and gets a Screeching Skaab out - milling his Silverclaw Griffin and a Forest.  I attack with the Elk & Chris takes the damage after which the Pyreheart wolf from game one makes a triumphant return. 

Turn 4

Chris attacks with his Skaab and my wolf loyally blocks its path.  The Skaab dies and the wolf returns as a 2/2.  Chris taps 4 lands and summons a Nearheath Stalker.  On my turn, I attack with both creatures for 4, taking Chris down to 14.  I then add a Somberwald Dryad to the team.

Turn 5

Chris’s Stalker makes its way into the red-zone and I accept the trade for my Dryad…except it’s not a trade and I forgot about the Stalker’s undying ability – whoops!  The stalker returns as a 5/2.  Chris adds a Drogskol Captain to the proceedings which (unfortunately for Chris) does not have any fellow spirits to buff.  My turn to attack and I hit Chris with both creatures again for 4, he’s on 10 now. I pass to Chris.

Turn 6

Chris targets my only island with a Scorch the Fields, luckily the only card I need it for has flash so in response to Chris’ play I cast Nephalia Seakite getting a quick use from the island before it is destroyed.  Chris then attacks with the his stalker and I accept the trade for my Seakite.  I hit Chris for another 4 with my creatures (he’s on 6 now) and summon a Gavony Ironwright.

Turn 7

Warden of the wall, remember him?  Chris summons him this turn.  I activate the Elk’s ability in Chris’s turn, adding a Mountain to my land reservoir in preparation for a Markov Blademaster, which I cast on my turn.

Turn 8-10

Chris adds a Loyal Cathar to his board and passes to me.  I bust out a Screeching Skaab of my own milling a Black Cat and Drogskol Captain then pass to Chris whose turn 9 is a blank.  I decide that now is the time to send my forces into the red zone and tap everything.  Chris can only block one because of the Pyreheart Wolf’s ability and he opts to take out the Blademaster.  Meanwhile the Ironwright, the Skaab and the Wolf take Chris down to 1 life.  The Loyal Cathar returns as a Unhallowed Cathar.  Chris can’t find an answer next turn and when my combat phase rolls around he can’t stop my creatures coming in for lethal.

I win the set 2-0 – woot woot!

Fedger’s Thoughts

I definitely had the Lion’s share of the luck in these games.  Mana fixing’s very helpful in this format and I was blessed with an Evolving Wilds and a Dawntreader Elk.  Also my rare was cheap and had great synergy with the Pyreheart wolf included in the pack.  I won the third game thanks to this (but unfortunately failed to hit record and thus couldn’t report on it).

Chris’s rare was a Fiend of the Shadows which he had in his hand the first game but just couldn’t find the swamps to cast it.

Seeing the Markov Blademaster and the Pyreheart wolf work in tandem has made me want to create a red/black vamp deck similar to Carnival of Blood.  It would be filled with Vampires that get bigger when they hit directly and the means to get them through the red zone unhindered with the cards like Pyreheart wolf, removal, auras that give them evasion and a few Onyx Mages to make an opponent think twice about gang-blocking.  I’ll put this idea on the back burner for a while as the next three weeks of blogs will be dedicated to the playtest, fiddling and re-playtest of Dark Ascension’s Dark Sacrifice.

I’ll see you then!

Fedger

Mind For Mayhem Playtest

Greetings all! Welcome to the playtest for Mind for Mayhem.  In my last blog I took Eldritch Onslaught and made some changes to it, in the hope of making the deck more focused, consistent and efficient.  I renamed the deck mind for mayhem and on Monday tested it out against my good friend Kelly.  She brought her own edited deck; ‘Spirituous Spirituous’ which is a fiddled Spectral Legions deck from Inistrad.  Some of the changes from the original deck include my old Sturmgeist, another Geist-Honored Monk, a playset of Intangible Virtue and more ways to get spirit tokens a la Mausoleum Guard and Midnight Haunting. Now, on to the battle!

Game One

Turns 1-3

The first play of the game comes on turn 2 after we both hit our land drops.  I summon a Deranged Assistant; Kelly has no answering play so on turn 3 I opt to attack with my assistant taking her down to 19.  I then cast a Burning Vengeance (wehay!).  Kelly’s turn three is another blank.

Turn 4

Again, I opt to attack with my Assistant but this time Kelly is prepared with a Midnight Haunting.  She trades one of the tokens with the assistant and still has one left over.  I replace my lost assistant with an Armored Skaab milling a Dream Twist, Charmbreaker Devils, Silent Departure and mountain.  Kelly casts an Enchantment of her own in the form of an Intangible Virtue making her token a 2/2 with Vigilance.  Said token attacks me for 2 taking me down to 18.

Turn 5

My flashbackery begins when I flashback a dream twist allowing Burning Vengeance to burn Kelly’s token for 2 and me to mill a Desperate Ravings and two islands.  The armoured skaab attacks in my combat phase and Kelly’s life is at 18.  She has no turn 5 play and I cast a Desperate Ravings from my hand at the end of her turn, drawing a Deranged Assistant and an Island.  I have a Civilized Scholar in hand which I sure hope doesn’t get discarded.  Unfortunately for me, it does.

Turn 6

The Armored Skaab charges at Kelly once again but this time is met by a 2/2 spirit after Kelly casts another Midnight Haunting.  (She forgot to multi-block here and kicks herself when she realises).  I round off my turn by summoning another Deranged Assistant.  Over to Kelly who plays a Gallows Warden. Before the warden resolves, I flashback a desperate ravings so that burning vengeance takes out one of the spirits before it gets the toughness boost.  The ravings let me draw a land and another Armored Skaab (which gets pitched).  Kelly attacks with her one remaining Spirit token and takes me down to 16 life.

Turn 7

I flashback Silent Departure, targeting her Spirit token with the burn and Gallows Warden with the bounce.  The Warden’s departure finishes off the wounded Spirit and the way is clear for my Assistant and Skaab to hit Kelly for two putting her on 16.  Gallows Warden returns to the battlefield on Kelly’s turn and that is her only play.

Turn 8

I cast another Armored Skaab but this time I use the deranged assistant for his mana ability.  As a result I mill 5: a Grim Lavamancer (damn!), a Civilized Scholar, a Nightbird’s Clutches and 2 lands.  I then attack with the Armored Skaab and Kelly smartly takes the damage (down to 15).  Had she blocked with the Warden I would have been able to finish him off with Burning Vengeance damage.  Kelly, having had enough of my Burning Vengeance shenanigans, casts oblivion ring targeting the enchantment.  I opt to get one last 2 point burn out of it by flashbacking Desperate Ravings which Kelly mana leaks.  I still get to deal the 2 damage and that takes Kelly’s life total down to 13.  After the stack resolves, my beloved Burning Vengeance is exiled under the Oblivion Ring.  Kelly’s combat phase brings her Gallows Warden through the Red zone for 3 (taking me down to 13).  Before her end step I cast a dream twist from my hand; milling 2 islands and a Silent Departure.

Turn 9

I have nothing but land in my hand so I look to my graveyard for options: a dream twist, a nightbird’s clutches and a silent departure.  I flashback the dream twist, hoping for more options.  I lose a murder of crows and another civilised scholar but a silent departure does fall into the graveyard.  I attack Kelly with my Skaab twins.  I tap my Assistant, Igor, for his mana and his mill and I’m pleased to see a Dream Twist hit the graveyard. The mana generated by Igor contributes to the flashbacking of that very dream twist – allowing me to mill a mountain, a Skaab and another Dream Twist.  Let’s flashback that dream twist as well.  Murder of Crows, Deranged Assistant and Geistflame get milled.  Kelly has nothing to cast on her turn and opts to play it safe and keep her warden back for defensive duties.

Turn 10

I draw, play and flashback a Think Twice drawing an Island and a Burning Vengeance (!!!) in the process.  The Skaab twins attack Kelly again; one of them gets blocked by her Warden.  Igor produces colourless mana, mills a mountain and I cast Burning Vengeance.  Kelly responds by placing a Curiosity on her Gallows warden and attacking with him, putting me on 10.

Turns 11-12

I do a quick count of the cards in my deck; seven left.  Ample time to end the game, but I must be more sparing with my mill.  I attack Kelly for 3 with Igor and the Skaabs (sounds like the name of a band) putting her on 8, I then flashback a Silent Departure, taking Kelly down to 6 with the burn, and bouncing her Gallows warden before he has a chance to sate his curiosity.  Kelly returns the Gallows warden to the battlefield as well as a Doomed Traveler on her turn.  Before Kelly’s end step I flashback Geistflame dealing a total of 3 damage to her (taking her down to 3).  Then, on turn 12, I flashback the Nightbird’s Clutches, preventing her Traveler and Warden for blocking my 3 point attack.  Game one to Mind for Mayhem.

Game 2

Kelly Mulligans and I stick with a questionable opening hand:  5 lands, a deranged Assistant and the Skaab Ruinator.  I figured I should probably mulligan but I was blinded by the ruinator.  Let’s see how it pans out eh?

Turns 1-3

Kelly starts and opens with a Doomed Traveler on turn 1 and follows up with a turn 2 Intangible Virtue.  Doomed Traveler attacks me for 1.  I get the Deranged Assistant out on my second turn and attacked again by the Traveler on Kelly’s third.  On my third turn my assistant mills a Burning Vengeance (Damn!).  I mill 4 more with an Armored Skaab’s ability - 2 mountains, a dream twist and burning vengeance number two (Double-Damn!).  At the end of my turn Kelly plays a Midnight Haunting bringing two 2/2 vigilant flying Spirit tokens into play.  Uh-oh!  With no creatures occupying my graveyard as of yet a ruinator summon looks a long way off.  Currently the score is 20-18 to Kelly.

Turn 4

Kelly attacks with both spirits and the Traveler.  Unwilling to give her another token I let the Traveler through, taking 5 damage and putting me on 13.  She brings out a Spectral Rider in her second main phase whilst I cast another dream twist, milling a deranged assistant, a mountain and another Dream Twist.  My turn and I draw a much needed Murder of Crows which hits the battlefield immediately (assistant mills a mountain for mana).

Turn 5

Kelly attacks with her intimidating spectral rider and her doomed Traveler who lives up to his name when he meets my Armored Skaab.  I want to activate the Crow’s ability in the hopes of drawing (and therefor pitching) a creature for the Ruinator.  No such luck, I draw land so I pitch the Ruinator since he doesn’t care whether he’s in hand or in graveyard.  The Traveler is still with us (albeit in spirit, that’s 3 now) and I take 2 damage from the rider.  I take out two of her tokens with 2 castings of silent departure (1 flashback and 1 the old fashioned way). As tokens, they are removed it from play rather than sent to her hand.  I’m not 100% sure on the rulings here but I assume this doesn’t count as a creature ‘dying’ so I don’t activate the Crow’s ability.  For the flashbacked Silent Departure I required the Assistant’s mana and he milled a Think Twice in the process.  Kelly’s spirit count is down to a more manageable 1 now and I relieve the crows from their defensive duties and send them in for 4.  Unwilling to suffer her first wound, Kelly blocks the crows with two freshly summoned Spirits off the back of a midnight haunting.  The crows hit the graveyard but I still have one more use for them yet ;) .

Turn 6

Kelly hits me for 4 with her remaining spirit and the rider and then adds a Chapel Geist.  Over to me, I check my graveyard and find that I need just one more creature to cast the ruinator.  I tap the assistant for mana and mill *fanfare* a civilised scholar!  I promptly exile the crows, the scholar and the assistant from the graveyard, tap two islands and finally cast my mythic rare; Skaab Ruinator from the graveyard. At the end of the turn the score is 20-7 to Kelly.

Turns 7-8

Kelly sends in the Spectral Rider for 2 dropping me to 5.  She then adds a Gallows Warden giving her other spirits 0/+1.  I need to find an answer next turn as an all-out assault on Kelly’s part will finish me.  Still in Kelly’s second main phase, two flashbacked dream twists mill my third burning vengeance, an armored skaab, the grim lavamancer, a desperate ravings, nightbird’s clutches and an island.  My turn, I flashback a desperate ravings – drawing an Armored Skaab and Island, randomly discarding the island.  I draw a Charmbreaker Devils with a flashbacked think twice and pass to Kelly.  Who, after doing some maths, opts to hit me with everything.  Game 2 goes to the deck with Spirit.

Game 3 – The decider

My opening hand consists of no real threats, but plenty of cards to get things set up nicely.  I have a deranged assistant, 2 dream twists, a think twice, a Sulfur Falls and 2 islands.  I opt to play first and we’re off!

Turns 1-2

My turn 1 play is a dream twist which mills another dream twist, a silent departure and a civilised scholar.  So far so good.  Kelly opens again with a Doomed Traveler.  Next turn I bring about a Deranged Assistant and Kelly casts intangible virtue.  No tokens to take advantage of it thankfully. If she thinks I’ll be blocking her Doomed Traveler any time soon she’d best think again!  I let him through and he deals 1 damage to me.  First Blood.

Turn 3

The assistant mills a mountain and adds a colourless mana to my manapool which I put towards a think twice drawing an island.  I pass to Kelly whose Traveler nicks me for 1.  After the attack she adds a Voiceless Spirit to the proceedings.

Turn 4

I tap the assistant for mill (Think Twice) and mana which flashbacks said Think Twice (drawing land).  I guess I must’ve shuffled too well because (with the exception of a single silent departure) I haven’t drawn anything but land so far.  Kelly enchants her voiceless spirit with Curiosity and attacks with both her creatures which takes me down to 15 and allows her to draw a card too.  I flashback a dream twist before she passes to me which disappointingly mills a Burning Vengeance, Grim Lavamancer and a mountain.

Turn 5

More land for my draw step, in most decks being mana-drowned is a death sentence.  Luckily, this one is less susceptible as I have plenty of options in my graveyard.  I flashback a think twice hoping for anything but land but my library delivers a mountain.  I contend myself by silently departing her curious spirit and passing.  Kelly attacks me for one with her Doomed Traveler and then adds a Mausoleum Guard to her side.  I flashback another Dream Twist which sends an Armored Skaab, Charmbreaker Devils and my – wait for it – Skaab Ruinator to the Graveyard.

Turn 6

Draw - land - *sigh*.  (My hand currently consists of a dream twist + 4 land!).  The assistant helps me summon the Skaab ruinator, milling a nightbird’s clutches in the process (exiling 3 creatures from my gravehand).  Over to Kelly who knowing that I won’t block, attacks with both Humans reducing me to 11.

Turn 7

Mountain drawn.  I tap both the Assistant and the Ruinator and send them at Kelly who rebukes the Ruinator in response.  She takes 1 point of damage, a small consolation.  A quick count of the creatures in the graveyard reveals I need two more to cast the ruinator again.  Best get to milling!  I start with a dream twist which gives me 1 (a deranged assistant along with a geistflame and some land).  I have another dream twist available for flashback, I do so which dumps and Island, Silent Departure and a Civilised Scholar.  Without delay I exile the Scholar, the Assistant and the Lavamancer, pay 3 mana and the ruinator makes a triumphant return.  Kelly summons my old Sturmgeist who enters as a 4/4 and attacks me with her humans again taking me down to 8.

Turn 8

I need to start slowing her down now as if I keep letting the Guard and Traveler through I’ll be a goner in 3 turns.  I draw – yep, you guessed it – more land.  I have a hand of land so instead I move to the graveyard and peruse my flashback options, of which I have many.  I start by flashbacking Silent Departure to send the Sturmgeist back to her hand and the Ruinator wastes little time in attacking her for 5.  On her turn, Kelly attacks me with the Guard and the Traveler.  I chump the Guard with my assistant, activating his ability (mill Armored Skaab) on his way out.  I take one damage from the Traveler and I’m down to 7.

Turn 9

This time I draw a deranged assistant (only my second non-land draw of the game). I attack with the Skaab Ruinator (Kelly’s down to 9.) then bounce her Guard back with a flashbacked silent departure.  I finish off by summoning the deranged assistant.  Kelly keeps the pressure on and attacks with the Rider and Traveler taking me down to 4. She follows up by re-summoning a mausoleum guard and voiceless spirit.

Turns 10-11

It’s tense at the table.  Where before, there had been plenty of banter, now there was only quiet determination.  I bounce and burn her Riders and Voiceless spirits with a flashbacked Silent Departure and Geistflame leaving her with the not-so-doomed Traveler and the Guard.  The Ruinator attacks again making the score 4-4.  Kelly’s humans attack once again, and just as before I chump the Guard with my assistant (who mills a murder of crows on his way out).  I take 1 damage.  Kelly shores up her defences with a Sturmgeist and a Spectral Rider but it’s for nowt as all I need to do next turn is flashback the Nightbird’s clutches to prevent her Sturmgeist blocking and my Skaab Ruinator sails through the red zone unopposed to finish her off.  Game three to Mind for Mayhem.

Fedger’s Thoughts

I’m still very much enjoying this deck – there’s something very satisfying about the way it plays.  Once established its very hard for an opponent to stop the momentum – we didn’t see it here but in previous plays, once I’ve got a burning vengeance set up, a good flashback larder and a beater, opponents get left defenceless time and time again as their creatures get repeatedly bounced or burnt.  The third game demonstrated that: even without burning vengeance, a well-stocked graveyard can still provide enough control to keep a beater crashing through the red-zone unmolested.

The deck is still prone to beater drought, as we saw in game 1, though this is somewhat mitigated by my star player: the Skaab Ruinater.  The third game would have been a completely different story had I not managed to summon this guy twice.  By that same token though, the 2^nd game shows that he needs support otherwise he may have to stay on the defence.

This deck requires that you play for time, so the longer it goes on the better your chances of getting established, that being said, play for too much time and you may well deck yourself.  This is a bit easier to control with the removal of the Curse of the Bloody Tombs though.

I was impressed with the way Kelly’s deck played.  Intangible virtue really does add a lot of clout to those spirit tokens, especially with Midnight Haunting – effectively 4/4’s worth of creature with Flash.  In our warm up game she slaughtered me when she managed to get two Intangible Virtues out, making all tokens 3/3.  I reckon her deck could do with a couple of sac outlets though, because at the moment, she has to rely on her opponent to kill of her Doomed Travelers and Mausoleum Guard which, in game three, I stubbornly refused to do.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this playtest. The best games are the ones that can go either way which 2 of them were.  I don’t feel that Mind for Mayhem’s full potential was unleashed in any of the games.  Not to worry; there’s plenty of time and blogs for that to happen!

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

Fedger

Fedger's Fiddlin': Eldritch Onslaught

Welcome to the first edition of Fedger’s Fiddlin’.  In the following blog I will be fiddling Inistrad’s ‘Eldritch Onslaught’ to hopefully make it more focused, efficient and consistent.  There are a couple of restrictions to my Fiddling:

1. The deck may contain up to 4 rares.
2. Of the 4 rares, 1 may be mythic.
3. Only a single copy of each rare is allowed.
4. The deck must be legal for Standard.

Efficiency

Firstly I want to up the mill efficiency.  Self mill tends to be an adverse affect in most decks, consequently if a card forces you to mill (as opposed to ‘target player’) we generally get a benefit.  No card demonstrates this better than the Deranged Assistant.  I want to make our mill options always give us extra benefit to really squeeze us much effect out of each card.  So here are the changes to the mill package:

Cut                                                                  Add

2 Merfolk Mesmerist                                       1 Dream Twist

1 Ghoulcaller’s Bell                                          2 Armored Skaab

1 Cellar Door                                                  1 Deranged Assistant

2 Curse of the Bloody Tome

I’m not too worried about the loss of pure mill power here as in previous tests it was too easy to deck myself (especially with a bloody tome).  Cellar door does give us an additional benefit to each mill but the price outweighs the bonus, and there aren’t enough creatures in the deck to consistently get that zombie token.  With all the flashback in the graveyard we should not be needing it as a mana sink either.

I also want to limit the amount of cards that are useless to me when they are in the graveyard.  For this reason I’m cutting Harvest Pyre and Into the Maw of Hell.

Consistency

Once the deck’s combo engine gets going it works amazingly. With Burning Vengeance active we get a ridiculous amount of bang for our mana with flashback spells so let’s add 2 more of them.

Focus

As it stands the deck isn’t too focused.  Yes, we have a good Self-Mill – Flashback – Burning Vengeance Combo but we need something else.  I don’t think burning our opponents to death on Burning Vengeance damage is effective enough a tactic on its own. More often than not I need to use the burn to take out/ finish off an opponent’s troublesome creature. 

I propose instead, that we use beaters as our way of winning and use the deck’s ample bounce’n’burn cards to eliminate any potential blockers.  To this end I add the following cards.

4 Civilized Scholar // Homicidal Brute

This guy is a great 2 for 1 in my eyes.  In his Dr Jekyll form he gives us effective mill with the added bonus of being able to choose what hits the graveyard and in the event that we pitch a creature he transforms to his Mr Hyde side making him a beefy 5/1!  Given that we’re aiming to remove blockers, his 1 toughness shouldn’t be too big of a down-side.

1 Skaab Ruinator

This thing is also a great fit for the deck because he can be cast from the graveyard.  This means when we are effectively searching for him when we self-mill and he sets off burning vengeance when we cast him.  His drawback cost (exile three creatures) might stop us casting him if drawn early but the mill package should keep our graveyard nicely stocked with creatures for at least 1 or 2 castings of him.

Combined with the Charmbreaker Devils and 2 Murder of Crows already in the deck this completes our beater package.

To make room for these cards, I am removing the defensive minded Fortress Crabs, the Pitchburn Devils, Sturmgeist and Scourge of Geier Reach. The last three have nice abilities but they don’t quite fit with the deck’s goal in my opinion – so they are cut.

Remove Blockers

Without the Merfolk Mesmerists and Ghoul Caller’s bell to force an opponent to mill, I see little benefit in having Grasp of Phantoms over Silent Departure.  So I’m going to go ahead and replace both Grasps with Silent Departures.  If your opponent is top-decking, then the Grasps would be preferable but this is not something to rely on and we’re focusing on removing blockers in the most efficient way.

I’ve also added 2 Nightbird’s Clutches for block denial and also some repeatable burn in the form of a Grim Lavamancer from magic 2012 who will give us some use for the unfortunate burning vengeances and lands that end up in the graveyard.

Support

As a bit of land fixing, I’ve gone ahead and added a Sulfur Falls.

Here's all the cuts/adds:

Cuts                                                             Adds

2 Merfolk Mesmerist                                     2 Armored Skaab

1 Ghoulcaller’s Bell                                        1 Deranged Assistant

1 Cellar Door                                                4 Civilised Scholar

2 Fortress Crab                                             1 Skaab Ruinator

1 Pitchburn Devils                                          1 Grim Lavamancer

1 Sturmgeist                                                   2 Burning Vengeance

1 Into the Maw of Hell                                   2 Silent Departure

1 Scourge of Geier Reach                               2 Nightbird’s Clutches

1 Harvest Pyre                                               1 Dream Twist

1 Mountain                                                     1 Sulfur Falls

I’m so excited by the synergy in this deck I went ahead and drew a flow diagram picturing all the interactions in this deck.

Now all that remains is to rename it, given that it’s no longer the same Eldritch Onslaught deck I purchased.  In lore terms, the library is often likened to the Planeswalker’s Mind. Since we are sacrificing our ‘minds’ for power I name this Fiddled deck:  “Mind for Mayhem”.

I’ll be playtesting Mind for Mayhem this week and will post the results on Friday.

Thanks for reading!

Fedger

Eldritch Onslaught Playtest

Welcome to my first ever Magic the gathering intro pack playtest where I’ll be pitting Inistrad’s ‘Eldritch Onslaught’ against ‘Deathly Dominion’ from the same set. Piloting Deathly Dominion is my good friend Mr Chris. I will be taking the reins on Eldritch Onslaught. Check out Ertai's Lament for a review of the cards in both decks and a whole bunch of Playtests (Eldritch Onslaught, Deathly Dominion).


Now without further ado:

Game One

Turns 1-3
My opening hand consists of a Murder of Crows, a Silent Departure, A Curse of the Bloody Tome, 2 Islands and 2 Mountains. We both lay lands on our first two turns with Chris getting an extra one from a Rampant Growth. On turn three I curse myself with the Curse of the Bloody Tome and Chris responds with a Reassembling Skeleton.


Turn 4
The Curse Mills an Into the Maw of Hell and an Island and I summon a Fortress Crab. Chris sacrifices the Skeleton in order to play an Altar’s Reap to draw 2 cards. Chris admits that he misses the Skeleton and taps two to bring him back.


Turn 5
An Island and a Deranged Assistant get milled by the Curse and I draw a mountain. I tap the Fortress Crab and send him in for first blood and follow up with the Murder of Crows. Chris attacks with the Skeleton on his turn and, like a fool, I block it with the Crows. I completely forgot about his deck’s mechanic and under-estimated Chris here. I figured (without too much thinking on my part) that he hadn’t noticed the Birds on my side of the field (!?). The crows suffer for my mistake when he busts out a Morkrut Banshee – the morbid activated effect ending my aerial threat. The crows’ ability did allow me to draw a Rolling Temblor and Pitch my Silent Departure though.


Turn 6
Another Island and a Fortress Crab hit the graveyard and I draw my foil rare, the Sturmgeist, which hits the battlefield as a 3/3. Chris casts Demonmail Hauberk and that pesky skeleton makes a sheepish return to the battlefield.


Turn 7
“NOOOOOOOOO” – The curse puts a Burning Vengeance and an Island into the graveyard. Sad times. I draw a Grasp of Phantoms and send the Sturmgeist in for 4 damage, which takes Chris down to 15 and lets me draw another grasp of phantoms. I then proceed to make a play I immediately regret – using the Grasp Of Phantoms to return his Morkut Banshee to the top of his library. Bounce removal’s not so hot when the creatures have ‘enters the battlefield’ abilities. I think Chris forgot about his Demonmail here as he uses a Prey Upon (Sturmgeist vs Skeleton) to activate Morbid, in any case the effect is the same and back comes the Morkut Banshee to take down another flyer. Sorry Sturmgeist, my bad.


Turn 8
A mountain goes to the graveyard along with a Desperate Ravings, then I play another grasp of phantom returning the Banshee to his deck again. I promptly forget to attack with the Fortress Crab and pass to Chris.
Chris’s skeleton makes its way back to the field and is joined by a Devouring Swarm.


Turn 9
I mill another desperate ravings and an Island. I play a freshly drawn Cellar Door. Your move Chris. The Skeleton Perishes in preparation for outfitting the Demonmail to the Swarm I quickly put the Devouring Swarm on to the Harvest Pyre in response. Just to be sure, I exile 12 cards to pay for it. He then plays a Woodland Sleuth whose morbid ability allows him to return a creature card at random to the field; sadly it’s the Devouring Swarm (as opposed to the Skeleton). Before the end of his turn I activate Cellar Door to mill a Silent Departure from the bottom of my library,


Turn 10
Two islands hit the graveyard at the beginning of my upkeep. I flashback desperate ravings to draw a Ghoulcaller’s Bell and my other rare: the Charmbreaker Devils. The Scourge of Geier Reach reach is randomly discarded. Over to Chris and the earth shakes as the Moldgraf Monstrosity is summoned. Chris then taps the Swarm to hit me for 2 and I’m down to 18. We are now at 18 – 15. I activate the Cellar once more and turn a deranged assistant into a 2/2 Zombie.


Turn 11
I mill a mountain and a Dream Twist and tap six lands to bring out the Charmbreaker Devils. Chris brings out the Lumberknot which could be an issue; its Hexproof means that I can’t simply bounce it back into his hand when it grows too big (heh). The skeleton makes a brief return and then perishes whilst outfitting the Demonmail to the Devouring Swarm. I’m not sure what a Swarm of insects would do with a suit of armour but it seems to grant them great strength. The Swarm is now a 6/2 and the Lumberknot becomes a 2/2 due to the sacrificed Skeleton. Chris sends in the Swarm and, with no aerial blockers I’m down to 12.


Turn 12
The Charmbreaker Devils return a Silent Departure back to my hand, the curse mills a Murder of Crows and a Deranged Assistant. I cast a Ghoul Caller’s Bell and then Flashback a silent departure to return the Molgraf Monstrosity to Chris’s hand, making the Charmbreakers 8/4. I grow it further by casting a Silent Departure the old fashioned way to bounce back his Woodland Sleuth making my Devils a 12/4. The Devils and the Zombie token turn sideways, the Lumberknot chumps the Devils and the Zombie scratches Chris for two. Over to Chris, who’s Skeleton makes another brief visit only to be Devoured by the Swarm (making them 7/3) which then proceed to nip at my health with fervour. I’m down to 5. With Morbid active his Woodland Sleuth comes back and brings with it a creature from the graveyard.


Turn 13
I’m feeling fairly confident here; Chris is on 14 life so I should be able to bounce his only defender back to his hand and cast enough spells to grow the Devils power and send them in for lethal. Charmbreakers return a grasp of phantoms, the curse mills 2 lands. I cast the grasp to put the Sleuth on Chris’s Library and grow the Devils to 8/4. I activate the Ghoulcaller’s Bell to rid the game of the Sleuth, I mill a Merfolk Mesmerist. A Think Twice lets me draw a Geistflame growing the Devils to 12/4. I then attack with the Devils and the Zombie for 14. Aha! Victory…
…almost. Before the Devils can do their nasty work they get ambushed by a Viper with Flash and deathtouch. Ach So close! On Chris’s turn I’m powerless to stop the swarm and they finish me off. First match to Mr Chris!

Game 2

My opening hand consists of a Burning Vengeance (Woo-Hoo!), Silent Departure, Dream Twist, a Harvest Pyre, a Mountain and an Island. Excited by the Burning Vengeance I elect to keep the hand and go first.


Turns 1-3
I Dream Twist a Desperate Ravings, Island and Armored Skaab into the graveyard. Chris then returns fire with a Typhoid Rats. I manage only land on my second turn and Chris plays a Skirsdag High Priest on his. He also sends the Rat in for 1 point of damage. On my third turn, I cast Burning Vengeance; hoping that I will see some action from the deck’s showcase combo. Chris attacks with both the rats and the Priest and I’m down to 17.


Turn 4
I pass to Chris after laying land and he attacks with both creatures again. I take the 2 damage and hit Chris with 2 of my own damage when I flashback my dream twist. A Ghoulcaller’s Bell, Cellar Door and a Mountain get milled before I play Think Twice from my hand to draw a Merfolk Mesmerist.


Turn 5
I play Rolling Temblor to wipe out Chris’s Rat/Cleric double act. Chris squeezes one more bit of use out of the Rats by sacrificing them to an Altar’s Reap and draws 2 cards. I summon a Merfolk Mesmerist. Chris’s summons a Reassembling Skeleton.


Turn 6
I’m pleased to see a Deranged Assistant make his way into my hand and eagerly cast him. I send the Merfolk Mesmerist into the Red Zone to take Chris down to 17. Over to Chris who attempts to make his Skeleton fight my Deranged Assistant with a Prey Upon. To save my Assistant I flashback a think twice and use the Burning Vengeance damage to take down the skeleton before the Prey Upon resolves. I get an Island from the think twice. Chris still gets the desired result as the death of the Skeleton causes Morbid to go live, allowing Chris’s Woodland Sleuth to randomly return a creature to his hand. After the creature is randomly (and secretly) returned from the graveyard I rejoice when I see it is not the Preist.


Turn 7
I tap the Assistant for Colourless mana and mill a Grasp of Phantoms which gets flashbacked (Burning Vengeance Damage goes straight to Chris’ face) and the Sleuth sleuths back to the top of his library. I attack Chris with my Merfolk taking him down to 14. Chris’s turn. He casts a Reassembling Skeleton from his hand (the Woodland Sleuth’s effect must have returned said Skeleton) and passes to me.


Turn 8
I draw a Silent Departure and flashback desperate ravings doing 2 damage to Chris’s life a la Burning Vengeance. A murder of Crows and a Mountain get drawn and my Harvest Pyre gets discarded. I silently depart the Skeleton, the deranged assistant mills an island, the merfolk mesmerist attacks Chris for 1 and I summon a murder (of crows). Chris Dead Weights the Murder of Crows making it a slightly less fearsome 2/2 and re-summons his Skeleton. At the end of the turn its 15-11 to me.


Turn 9
Fortress Crab hits my hand.*sigh* Now is not the time for a defensive play dammit! With all the bounce in my hand and graveyard, not to mention the burn increments I get from burning vengeance, what I really want are some beaters. I attack with the Mesmerist and the Crows taking Chris down to 8. I then play a Silent Departure to bounce the dead weighted crows who immediately get replayed. I much prefer them in their 4/4 state. Chris elects to attack with his Skeleton, I block with the deranged assistant, activating its ability on its way out to mill a desperate ravings. The dead Assistant and Skeleton trigger the Crow’s ability twice. In my eagerness to use the Crow’s ability I lose it again, to the same trick from game one! The Morkrut Banshee makes her first appearance this game and gleefully Murders my murder, again. In retaliation I flashback desperate ravings drawing a mountain and a Pitchburn Devils and discarding said mountain. Chris takes two more direct damage.


Turn 10
I draw a Mountain, I summon Pitchburn Devils. Over to Chris who returns the Skeleton to the field and summons a Woodland Sleuth, no Morbid triggered recursion this time. Before the end of Chris’ turn I activate the Merfolk’s ability to Mill a Think Twice and an Armored Skaab.


Turn 11
I draw a Grasp Of Phantoms which I use to return the Morkrut Banshee to the top of his deck, I flashback silent departure to return the Sleuth to his hand and 2 damage bringing Chris down to 4 and with his Skeleton still tapped Chris has no blockers to stop the Mesmerist and the Devils from attacking for lethal. Game 2 to me and we’re tied at 1-a-piece.

Game Three; Match Point

I mulligan and then stick with a Ghoul Caller’s Bell, Desperate Ravings, an Armored Skaab, a Fortress Crab, 2 Islands and a Mountain. Chris opts to go first.


Turns 1-2
Chris has no turn one play. I manage a Ghoulcaller’s Bell which makes Chris mill an Ambush viper on his turn; good to know that’s not lurking in his hand. I mill an Island. I cast Desperate Ravings on my turn – drawing a Deranged Assistant and a mountain. I discard an Island.


Turn 3
Chris has hit all three of his land drops so far, however none have been swamps. I tap the ghoulcaller’s bell again to force myself and Chris to mill a Geistflame and Devouring Swarm respectively. I play an Armored Skaab milling a Curse of The Bloody Tome, Think Twice, Silent Departure and a Mountain (not a bad haul of Flashy-backers)!


Turn 4
“Hurr-aaay” Chris hits his first swamp and immediately turns it into a Disciple Of Grieselbrand. Over to me and I draw a Deranged Assistant and send the Armored Skaab in for 1. Chris opts to block the Skaab with his Disciple, then, activate the disciple’s ability to sacrifice it and give Chris one life I summon a fortress crab and pass.


Turns 5-8
Over the next few turns Chris does not make any plays. He’s stuck on two swamps and is waiting for a third. Over the course of the turns I summon a Deranged Assistant and another Fortress Crab attacking him each turn with the mighty power 1 creatures. I contend myself by playing various draw/mill cards such as Desperate Ravings and Think Twice and remember to activate Ghoul Caller’s bell each turn which , infuriatingly for him, makes Chris mill many, many swamps. On turn 8 Chris casts a Rampant Growth and gets the third land he’s been waiting for (Though it comes into play tapped – “Next turn”, he vows). I finally get a proper beater in the form of a Shiny Sturmgeist which comes into play as a healthy 4/4.


Turn 9
Chris’s first turn with three swamps. He’s been waiting for a suitable Doom Blade victim to activate Morbid for his Morkrut Banshee. Like a magnet to metal the Doom Blade rushes for my Sturmgeist. Chris follows up with the Banshee who gives -4/-4 to my deranged assistant. He then uses prey upon to force my Armored Skaab to fight his banshee. Just like that, in one turn I’ve gone from 5 creatures to 2. I ring the Ghoulcaller’s bell and we both mill land. My turn and I put Chris’ banshee on top of his library with a grasp of phantoms, and complete the removal by ringing the bell yet again and making him mill it. I mill a merfolk mesmerist and send in the Fortress Crab twins for 2 taking Chris down to 6.


Turn 10
Chris enchants one of the crabs with a dead weight – making it a 0/2. He then summons a Festerhide Boar to try and get some board presence. Before the end of Chris’ go I cast a Desperate Ravings (drawing a mountain and Charmbreaker Devils and discarding land. I cast said Charmbreaker Devils on my turn and decide to put Chris’ boar on the Harvest Pyre (exiling 6 cards to be sure). Chris sacs it off with Altar’s Reap before the Pyre gets near. I then attack Chris for 1 with the healthy crab and he’s on 5. (Getting there!)


Turn 11
Chris plays another Deadweight; this one finds the Charmbreaker Devils making it a 2/2. Next he summons a Hollowhenge Scavenger. But it’s too little too late, all I need to do is cast grasp of phantoms on his lone blocker which pumps the Devils to 6/2 and send them in for lethal. Game three to me.

Fedger’s Thoughts

I really enjoy playing this deck. The act of milling my deck in search of flashback options is a refreshing way of playing and can be surprisingly effective when it works. You get amazing value for mana and synergy once you have some cards ready for flashback, burning vengeance and a decent beater ready to take advantage of a red zone recently vacated by bounced or burnt blockers.


Its main weakness (as demonstrated perfectly in the third game is its lack of offense). Chris’s only defence for 9 turns was a lonely disciple of greisband and yet I was only able to chip away at him slowly with power one creatures.


It takes some patience to get the combo going and there will be games where both burning vengeances and charmbreaker devils get milled but when used right it is both rewarding and a damned fun deck to play.


Check out my next blog on 13/02/2012 where I’ll be replacing some cards in this deck with others from Inistrad and Magic 2012 to really maximise the synergy between the cards.


See you then and thanks for reading!
Fedger