01 MTGA Blog Decks v01 20150319

Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1
Deckbuilding Posts
June 17, 2012 to September 9, 2012 (M13)
2015

Contents
ISD Block online White Green deck (June 17, 2012) ..................................................................................... 4
ISD Block online Black White deck (June 17, 2012) .................................................................................... 10
A 1-Garruk Deck online (July 17, 2012) ....................................................................................................... 13
A 2-Garruk Deck Online (July 17, 2012) ...................................................................................................... 22
Rubiera vs PurpleHerb (July 21, 2012) ........................................................................................................ 38
Rubiera vs oldpolack54 (July 22, 2012) ....................................................................................................... 64
The Beatings Continue (Online) (July 27, 2012) .......................................................................................... 69
Practice Decks in Standard using ISD block and M13 mostly (July 29, 2012) ........................................... 102
1-Liliana M13 and 1-Griselbrand online deck in Standard (August 5, 2012) ............................................ 116
Giant Battle of Wits Decks online standard (August 11, 2012) ................................................................ 125
This week's online standard beatings Part 1 (August 11, 2012) ............................................................... 135
This week's online standard beatings Part 2 (August 11, 2012) ............................................................... 153
Rubiera vs dolphin99it (August 18, 2012)................................................................................................. 170
Two online standard games against Jace and Jace's helpers (August 19, 2012) ...................................... 181
Training Decks Online (September 9, 2012) ............................................................................................. 194

ISD Block online White Green deck (June 17, 2012)
The strategy for this deck can be summarized as "I don't have that many cards to play with at this
moment."
Sideboard:
I played the above deck but it turned out to be too unbalanced. Below is a more balanced white
green deck I have been playing.

ISD Block online Black White deck (June 17, 2012)
Same as my White Green deck, this deck is cobbled up with the best cards I have in my small
selection.
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11
12
A 1-Garruk Deck online (July 17, 2012)

I came up with the following deck using my recent buys.
13
Having a Garruk in your deck is great if you come across it early in the game. Otherwise, it just
sits there in your library as though you didn't have it. Another flaw with this deck is a missing
low mana card for the first few turns.
14

Here is a game using it:
15

I was able to exile a Huntmaster of the Falls using Appetite for Brains.
16

But I couldn't do anything about the second Huntmaster of the Falls, and once this card flips, it
causes a lot of damage.
17
18

I was able to soulbond a Wolfir Silverheart but it got captured by Geist Honored Monk.
19

I put up a fight but it was to no avail.
20
Once my opponent used the counters ability of Gavony Township, it was game over.
21

A 2-Garruk Deck Online (July 17, 2012)
I bought a second Garruk, two of Increasing Ambition, and a playset of Diregraf Ghoul. The latter card is
the perfect one mana starter in a black green deck. I took out a few cards I have enjoyed playing with in
my lower power deck variations, such as Deadly Allure and Sever the Bloodline.
22

I now understand why Witchbane Orb is purely a sideboard card: if your opponent uses curses, this card
is key, but if not, it is completely useless and takes up valuable real estate in your deck that you can give
to more generally playable cards.
I began playing this deck with game 203209452. Some of the games I have played are not in my
"Games" section and I also played some games in the new online client. Of the games I have for replay
up to 203293572, I have won 4 and lost 5, which is not bad for tournament practice.
In the 10 recorded games between 203337726 and 203410540 I won 1 and lost 9 (ouch). From these
losses I have learned that I still do not know how to use the two Garruks correctly-somehow I get them
exiled and don't yet know why; and Increasing Ambition is just too heavy of a card. Also, I could use
more anti-cards like Tragic Slip. I could also use Unburial Rites to get cards out of my graveyard and
directly into the battlefield.
23

Here is an ISD block constructed game I won against a weaker deck.
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I gained some life via Blood Artist when two of my creatures died.
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28

Unruly Mob got two counters.
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30

My opponent's Fiend Hunter temporarily exiled of my Garruk tokens.
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After some attrition I am up 24 to 5.
33

I use Appetite for Brains to exile Cathar's Crusade.
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35

I made a couple of changes and started playing the deck in Standard beginning with game 203551534. I
am losing every game and will likely lose most, but the variety of Standard makes for much harder play
when I don't have any power cards from the Scars of Mirrodin cycle or M12.
36

...but then I couldn't figure out how to use Killing Wave, and made yet more changes to the deck and
went back to playing ISD block constructed only beginning with recorded game 203600952 from a match
I lost 0-2.
This configuration of this deck is very stable. I could use a 4 Garruk lineup but I am saving my money for
when I add M13 cards and move it to Standard.
Between games 203293572 and 204032964 I won 10 of 52 games. That is a very low percentage yet I am
playing in tournament practice, where I used to win 0 games before I had this deck. The big winners are
red green decks with the more expensive cards like Bonfire of the Damned, and decks with Tamiyo and
Temporal Mastery.
July 27 Update: Between recorded games 204263414 and 204727274 I have won 3 of 11. The tracked
total is now 13 wins in 63 games, or 20.6 percent wins (1 of 5).
37

Rubiera vs PurpleHerb (July 21, 2012)
I just played two incredibly awesome matches against PurpleHerb online-lost both 1-2. The
opposing deck is a top deck denier with the best of the best cards in ISD constructed, especially
AVR's Bonfire of the Damned, Temporal Mastery, Feeling the Dread, Tamiyo, and
Vanishing Tide.
Here is my deck list.
Here is my opening hand for one of the games I lost.
38

Terminus puts my battlefield cards at the bottom of my library.
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40

Every time I have a few creatures ready to attack Bonfire of the Damned kills them and hits me
with life loss.
41

...and then my opponent can skip turns with Temporal Mastery.
42

... and then Snapmaster Cage can turn every card in my opponent's graveyard into a card with
Flashback.
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44

Here comes Tamiyo to tap my creatures into useless globs.
45

... and I try another attacking lineup.
46

I Soulbond a Wolfir Silverheart but it gets tapped by Tamiyo.
And then the two Snapcaster Mages swoop in for the kill.
47

Here is the end of game turn transcript.
48

Here is one of the games I won. This one was by far the longest of all six games. This is the
awesomest (English, why is this not a word? Please!) Magic online game I have played to date.
The big winner in this game to get my opponent into the low single digits was Strangleroot
Geist, which deals two damage with Haste and is Undying. After one kill it comes back from the
graveyard for one more time dealing three damage.
49

I was very lucky early in this game and was able to exile Tamiyo with Appetite for Brains.
50

I am at 20-14 when I get hit by Devastation Tide.
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After a Terminus swipe of my creatures I have my opponent at 18-1, and this is where the game
stalls for many turns as I try creature after creature. All I need is one lousy power hit.
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55

I get lucky again and play a Garruk to the fullest.
56

I take out a Snapcaster Mage, flip the Garruk, and start dropping tokens with Deathtouch.
57

Here comes a Bonfire of the Damned.
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59

Here comes a Devastation Tide.
60

I play Garruk again and drop a token.
Here comes Feeling the Dread to double tap my creatures.
61

Here is another Bonfire of the Damned.
62
My opponent plays a Snapcaster Mage, and I kill it with a Death Wind. Blood Artist deals my
opponent the one life loss needed for me to win the game.
PurpleHerb texted "oh noes."
63

Rubiera vs oldpolack54 (July 22, 2012)
This game against a medium strength White Red deck came down to the wire (I lost, no surprise
being a beginner). I exiled a Hellrider using Appetite for Brains.
64

I took out Reckless Waif before it transformed and by doing so transformed my Garruk.
65

I lost Blood Artist to Pillar of Flame.
66

I took out a boosted 5/5 Champion of the Parish with Tragic Slip.
67

But my opponent played Spare from Evil, leaving me unable to block a game-winning 7 attack
for 7 life.
68

The Beatings Continue (Online) (July 27, 2012)
I am learning a lot. (And that is what a consistently-losing player should always say).
First Game
----------I exile my opponent's Dungeon Geists.
69

Undead Alchemist generates tokens and bleeds my library. I need an improved deck that can
kill Undead Alchemist. Once the wave of tokens is in place, its pretty much game over.
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71

...those pesky Undead Alchemist 2/2 black Zombie tokens just kept coming!
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I used Appetite for Brains to exile a card from my opponent's hand AFTER Lone Revenant,
which is hexproof, was played: big mistake.
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Second Game
-------------My opponent had a really souped-up deck. Here Griselbrand is discarded to at a later point be
placed to the battlefield using Unburial Rites.
78

My opponent plays a Falkenrath Aristocrat.
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80

I did get some life when my opponent sacrificed a Human creature.
81

I was able to take out Falkenrath Aristocrat with Tragic Slip.
82

I am up 21-6 and here comes Griselbrand to beat me into submission.
83

One of my dumbest moves to date was to try to take Griselbrand out with a Garruk: it
obviously didn't work!!!
84

My opponent draws seven cards using Griselbrand and now I am facing a suite of supercreatures.
85
86

Three games part of a 1-2 match
--------------------------------First Game
-----------Not only did I get dealt a "God Hand," but also my opponent choked.
This game made me want to have Dissipate in my deck.
87
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89

Second game of the match begins by me exiling a Curse of Death's Hold, which has caused me
to choke in many a game.
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93

I am merrily wearing down my opponent and then Olivia Voldaren is played.
94

I take it out with Tragic Slip.
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96

Between Olivia Voldaren and the 5/5 Demon tokens from Demonic Rising I start taking
serious damage.
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98

The third game was also a slaughter-fest.
99

Hard to believe but I still don't understand "my turn." I threw away two Tragic Slip trying to kill
Olivia Voldaren.
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101

Practice Decks in Standard using ISD block and M13 mostly (July 29,
2012)
I am using these decks for practice and on purpose not adding to them cards from the SOM
Block or M12, with the exception of a few "I do not want to lose every Standard game" cards. I
noticed that lifelink and adding life during play is prevalent in Standard. I am playing these
decks against the strongest field in the Standard Constructed cycle: SOM Block + M12 + ISD
Block + M13. When Return to Ravnica (RTR) comes out in October these decks will face the
weakest field in the Standard Constructed cycle: ISD Block + M13 + RTR.
Out of the gate the first take at a Standard Green Black deck fell flat on its back.
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I made many small changes.
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I also made other decks with green.
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...and my favorites: mono Black and mono Green.
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Without dual lands a tricolor deck is dead in the water, but I need to learn how to play.
...and after a few hours of playing these decks the verdict is the all but mono green lose EVERY
game. The Standard field is just too broad for an ISD+M13 deck that has not been optimized
either with power planeswalkers such as Tamiyo, or, in the case of all decks, dual lands and
useful artifacts.
Although it is too early to make a final judgement, the new Garruk and the new Liliana seem
best suited for mono decks. It takes a lot of mana to drop a 2FFF Garruk!! The ISD 2F Garruk is
much more playable.
115

1-Liliana M13 and 1-Griselbrand online deck in Standard (August 5,
2012)
I would call this a "whatever" deck because it is derived from several "whatevers":
1. Whatever I bought on my way to an M12 set redemption.
2. Whatever I bought for a quality black green deck in ISD block constructed.
3. Whatever I have pulled from online packs (Geralf's Messenger and M13 Liliana).
4. I bought a Griselbrand because I think it is a cool "Fatty" card.
It is impossible to win with this deck because it is always "swim so far to drown at the shore" but
it is definitely a big play fun deck.
Here are the packs I bought.
And this is how the deck evolved as I made changes that let it live longer, yet it pretty much
always loses.
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Here is a typical match. I am able to get my opponent to low life and then the decks just runs out
of steam as I am either unable to hard-cast a Fatty, or just get cards with mixed strategies in the
same hand.
Griselbrand sits in my hand as I count how many swamps I have.....and how much life I have
left. I can't play him for the "lose 7 life, draw 7 cards" if I have life of 7 or less!!! And don't get
me going on the M13 Liliana: not a great card for how rare it is to pull!!!
120
121

Sideboard changes between the first and the second match. Out is top row and in is bottom row.
122

I did get to play Sorin's Vengeance.
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Giant Battle of Wits Decks online standard (August 11, 2012)
I got these two deck lists from the Wizards web site. Both of these online decks went 4-0 in
online tournaments. The concept is simple: build a deck with 200 cards or more and when you
play Battle of Wits, you win. Because you will need to play as many as 40 cards to win during
the average match, you really needs a deck of between 230 and 250 cards.
125

Deck 1 had 240 cards (89 lands-6 plains, 22 island, and 33 swamp and the rest were dual lands,
40 creatures, and 111 other spells). Deck 2 had 243 cards (89 lands-7 plains, 21 island, and 31
swamp and the rest were dual lands, 45 creatures, and 109 other spells). Below are the staple
play sets both decks had in common (4 of each).
126

Cards in both but using different quantities or placement in the deck or the sideboard.
127

These cards are only in deck 1.
These cards are only in deck 2.
128

I have played three games against this deck and lost all three. I have two recorded and in both my
opponent beat me with card other than Battle of Wills. For the one time when this card was
played for the win, the game was not recorded.
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132

My opponent used Pristine Talisman to gain life.
133

This deck is well stocked with powerful creatures and planeswalkers.
134

This week's online standard beatings Part 1 (August 11, 2012)
I used several variations of this blue black deck. I try to make my opponent discard 10 or more
cards and then I play Jace's Phantasm, a 1/1 that becomes a 5/5 under this condition. I am using
Mind Sculpt for 7 cards at a time, and if I get to play my one Jace, Memory Adept, I can drop
them 10 at a time and try to have my opponent discard the entire library. I have not been able to
do the latter, and, interestingly I did lose this way once this week.
135

I am surprised by the preponderance of blue but shouldn't since Delver of Secrets decks are still
very popular. My opponent conceded but I wasn't sure I would win.
136

Invisible Stalker is hexproof, but it take one life each time it attacks: a very slow way to win a
game.
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Here is another game. I got to play three Invisible Stalker, but my opponent's Jace was well
protected.
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Devastation Tide is very disruptive. It forces me to play my hand again.
142

And then Nicol Bolas gained strength unattacked and my opponent was able to play for -9
loyalty points the game winning ability "Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker deals 7 to target player.
That player discards 7 cards, then sacrifices 7 permanents." A permanent is any card that remains
in the battlefield when played (land, creatures, and artifacts).
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Here is a black aggro deck. I lost both games in the match very quickly.
145

Here is the second game against that black aggro (aggressive) deck.
146

Here is play against a Huntmaster deck.
147

This deck had Solemn Simulacrum, and Spheres of the Sun. Latter can add mana.
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I was able to win this game. If my opponent does not have cards that get boosted from the
graveyard or big players like Grave Titan, I can have them drop 7 cards every time I play Mind
Sculpt and then my Jace's Phantasm hits them for 5.
150

Here is a game against Blade Splicer, which drops a 3/3 Golem artifact. I lose to this type of
deck every time.
151

My opponent also had an Elesh Norn, gives my opponent's creatures +2/+2 and mine -2/-2. I
have several creatures that are in the 1 and 2 range. This card makes my late play very hard. I
lost this game.
152

This week's online standard beatings Part 2 (August 11, 2012)
This deck was playing several of Pristine Tallisman.
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Here comes Lingering Souls to drop four tokens.
My opponent gained a lot of life tapping those Pristine Talismans. My deck is too slow to
recover against such a high life count.
155

Here is one of many decks I have played against using Oblivion Ring, which captures one of my
key cards and because I don't have any enchantment removal cards, I lose those cards for the rest
of the game. Here its my Jace that gets trapped.
156

And here comes Lingering Souls.
157

And more Lingering Souls.
158

My opponent played Curse of Death's Hold, which reduces all of my creatures -1/-1, and can act
as a partial board sweeper if 1/1 creatures is all I am playing when it enters the battlefield.
159
160

Here is a deck playing Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, which forces me to use one more mana
for my noncreature spells. This card stalls my game every time....and I never recover.
161

And then with Silverblade Paladin's Soulbond ability of double strike, I lose quickly.
162

Here is another deck using Silverblade Paladin, this time also playing War Falcon.
163

Here is game play against a deck using Grave Titan. I only have one of these in my deck
because of my plan to redeem M12. I could use a play set of these given how much of a beating I
take against it. I hope Return to Ravnica has a card with similar qualities.
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Even though I was up 14 to 8, my deck completely stalled and my opponent had built a wall of
creatures: game over.
167

Here is a game against a Liliana. I find this planeswalker to be a big threat even though it has
not seen a lot of tournament play.
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169

Rubiera vs dolphin99it (August 18, 2012)
Game 209006064.
I did not review last week's games because I took out my good M12 cards to await a redemption
of the complete set. This loss has left me with very weak decks in Standard. This one game is
worth recounting because it shows how a good player with a good deck (my opponent) can make
a comeback from 1 life left to win the game resoundingly. I was experimenting with a monowhite deck.
170
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My opponent keeps Solemn Simulacrum with Mimic Vat and plays Batterskull on the token it
generates.
172

I use Defang on it.
173

But here is another Batterskull and my opponent plays two of Pristine Talisman.
174

Here comes Trading Post with so many options to help my opponent's game.
175

There is also Go for the Throat against my creatures.
176

And as my deck slowly runs out of steam, Sorin Markov comes in to finish me off.
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180

Two online standard games against Jace and Jace's helpers (August 19,
2012)
In the first game (which I lost) I did not come across Jace. The combination or combo in this
game is the use of Jace's Erasure to bleed my library card by card and the use of Jace's
Archivist to get me to discard my hand multiple times which both bleeds me of cards and
disrupts my game play. Here I am at 48 cards.
181

While my library is going to zero Jace' Archivist gets tapped continuously to make me draw a
new hand-very disruptive!
182

I am down to 23 cards. Its a lot of clicking to resolve each card drop!
183

...and even more clicking!
184

Here I am with no cards left. I guess I am not the only one who likes playing Jace's Phantasm.
185

Here is a game I just won. I love these blue on blue games. I bought a few dual lands and play
sets of Delver of Secrets and Rhunechanter's Pike. Here is the deck list.
186

My opponent plays Jace's Archivist and I am expecting the same sequence as the last game.
187

But he plays his Jace, Memory Adept and begins to drop 10 of their cards instead of
mine.....and I wonder why my opponent is taking their library to zero and not mine???
188

I exile all of my opponent's graveyard just in case.
189

And here comes the answer: my opponent plays Laboratory Maniac.
190

Luckily I have two of Tragic Slip in my hand. Here I play the first one.
And here I play the second one: bye bye!
191

I draw a card with Think Twice.
192

And it is no other than my favorite card these days: Mind Sculpt. My opponent only has 6 cards
in their library and I am asking for 7: I win.
193

Training Decks Online (September 9, 2012)
I am not juicing up any deck buying from the bots until RTR but I want to get more training in
Standard Constructed from the best players (in "Tournament Practice"). Here are my five
practice mono-decks. The White and Red decks are very weak. I also have a fun artifacts-only
deck.
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Here is my new training deck for Blue Black until RTR comes out. It has a a good selection of
playable cards yet it is lacking in a specific strategy.
198

I played a match (lost 0-2) against a great deck. This deck is all about Karn Liberated yet it is
also full of other great cards (Wurmcoil Engine, Sorin Markov, Solemn Simulacrum). With
Ichor Wellspring my opponent gets draw power. A benefit of draw power is having a greater
chance to play a land card every turn.
199

And then my opponent play Karn. This planeswalker can gain loyalty very quickly. The gameending ability restarts the game with a strong deck for the opponent already built from the exiled
permanents of both players.
200

Trading Post is a great new artifact. There are many ways to use this card. I can't wait to pull it
online or eventually buy it,
201
202

Wurmcoil Engine wears me down, Karn Liberated forces me to discard from my hand and I
end up with no creatures on the battlefield and an empty hand.
203

Karn restarts the game. This is the second match and for it I sideboarded the fatty cards in my
deck. My opponent was unable to start with a good band of powerful creatures, all mine, as they
had been able to do during the first game of the match.
204

I did my best in a hopeless situation.
205

Sorin is a great finisher.
206

Here comes Karn again!
207
208

I got to play my Liliana but its pointless at this stage of the game.
The two Solemn Simulacrum finish the job.
209

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Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

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Magic The Gathering Adventures Blog Posts Volume 1

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A 1-Garruk Deck online (July 17, 2012)

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Here is my opening hand for one of the games I lost.

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Here comes Feeling the Dread to double tap my creatures.