So. I altered my deck in a big way this go round. I took my third color out. Yes, that's right. My deck evolved from White/Green Human/Spirit Tokens to White/Blue/Green Splicer Golems and at the finish line we are White/Blue Splicer Golems. My Sploicers are getting awesomer! Er---That is... I'm seeing what is wrong with them and trying desperately to change them into something better.
When sitting down and looking at the past few Recaps, you see that practically all of my cards are... what? 4 drops? All 4 drops?! Where's the curve? Where is the range? Where are my early creatures and spells?!? Well.... That was the problem. I didn't have any. I was either lucky on the occasional win... or got mana screwed. See below for my new and (hopefully) improved deck.
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Cloudshift
1 Island
2 Plains
2 Levitation
1 Sleep
1 Titan Forge
Despite my new and improved deck, I still did not make out very well. I ended up winning 1 round 2:0 and losing the others all 0:2. I was not a happy Bekah, but I learned more about my deck and what I liked and disliked about the new bits.
First off, you may have noticed something a bit... off. I left Gavony Township in, like a bad player. Altering your mana right before a tournament is not the best of ideas. This screwed me over in some ways later, as I would pull both and they would not be beneficial other than giving me a colorless mana.
Round 1, Game 1 I was against a premade deck, the White/Blue Avacyn Restored Event Deck, played by Zach. Despite some good moves on his part with the Nearheath Pilgrim and Porcelain Legionnaire, My opening hand set me up with Ponder, Intangible Virtue and a Blade Splicer. Not realizing Intangible Virtue was on the field, buffing my creatures, Zach swung in, just to lose a man. He eventually played a Phyrexian Metamorph to copy my 3/3 golem. While I was low on men, he swung at me again, but I was able to cast Restoration Angel on his turn to blink my splicer and get an additional blocker. Not only did his creatures die, but I was able to swing in for 13 damage next turn to win the game.
Round 1, Game 2 Zach played Gideon's Lawkeeper while I had Doomed Traveler first turn. Nearheath Pilgrim and Fiend Hunter showed up shortly after, stealing my Restoration Angel. Which, I really did not mind at all. If he had stolen a Golem, it would not have returned. Having a tapped Golem and an untapped Splicer, He swung away with Fiend Hunter and Nearheath Pilgrim. I had another Restoration Angel in hand, luckily, flashing it out to blink my Splicer, get a Golem, block both, killing both and net losing nothing. Upon Fiend Hunter dying, I returned my Angel back into play, blinked the Splicer again and got a third Golem! Board position at the end.... Zero critters on my opponent's side. 3 Golems that are 3/3, 2 Restoration Angels that are 3/4 and a, I believe a Master Splicer, buffing all of my Golems for an additional +1/+1. It. Was. Glorious!
That round was utterly amazing for me. I felt like my opponent was not as familiar with his deck, nor as well versed in some of the Jankiness that Restoration Angel can pull off. In some ways, I feel bad about winning against opponents that are simply not more familiar with MTG, their cards, etc. I was there once. We all were. Practice is what makes us better players though, right? Over time we learn the insanity we can pull off, the combo's that can destroy, and learning how to control the battlefield to our own advantage, whether with true control decks or bigger, more badass creatures. Oh, and reading our cards helps now and then.....
Speaking of...
Round 2, Game 1 I played a fellow coworker of Jake's, Brian, this round... Again. I always seem to end up against him at some point in the night. I still am unsure how to beat this one. Jake and Brian dubbed this deck "Legion of Doom" as it is the evil version of the "Superfriends" matchup. It includes Karn Liberated, Liliana of the Veil, Nicol Bolas and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage all in one deck. First game, I was left with 3 mana.... again .....while Brian got out his Solemn Simulacrum for mana ramping. I had Doomed Traveler and a Wing Splicer out to start. Once he had his Gilded Lotus on the battlefield, I was done for. His Pristine Talisman did not help, gaining him life throughout the game. He got Nicol Bolas's Ultimate off. Twice. End Game 1.
Round 2, Game 2 Brian did Mulligan this game, but it didn't help me in any way. Basically replicate Game 1 over this. He 0:2'd me. Hard. He has gotten three of his planeswalkers out at once before... Karn Liberated, Liliana of the Veil, and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. My pitiful Master Splicer and lack of mana, then pulling 2 Gavony Townships did not help. Did I mention I was no longer in Green?
Round 3, Game 1 Oh, this was an interesting game. I actually did really well. The problem with this game was that I was playing Ian. He runs a fun Mono-Blue Mill deck. I did Mulligan, but despite hitting all my lands, blinking a Wing Splicer and getting my opponent down to 3 life.... He milled me out. :( Mind Sculptor and Increasing Confusion were my worst enemies out of his deck. Chancellor of the Spires got him to Ponder from my graveyard, but he didn't run many threats other than Chancellor.
Round 3, Game 2 See above. I still Mulliganed and He still Milled me. This game he was able to hit Jace, Memory Adept and hit my library for 10 cards each turn. I killed it. Eventually. The damage was still done.
Round 4, Game 1 I played David this go-round. It wasn't pretty. While I was being mana screwed and not able to play a thing, he hit Phantasmal Image, Sun Titan, and Gideon Jura. Sun Titan is a beating when all your creatures are tapped against Gideon. End Game 1.
Round 4, Game 2 David still had it. There was no way I could pull off this game. He also was running Karn Liberated. I was a bit useless with my Doomed Traveler and Master Splicer. He would simply exile any card on the table and/or from my hand. I did one of those clever things I was told early on... Keep a card in hand. Who cares if it is useless? Magic is psychological as well. It isn't just about what is on the table, but also what people think you may have in hand as well. They may be more... cautious if you have something in hand rather than sitting on nothing.
I thought "why not?" and decided to test the theory, even though David and I both knew I was a bit screwed. And you know what? It might have actually helped if one of the ... more... how do I say... Less intelligent tournament members in the shop didn't walk right up behind me, say "Why don't you just play your island? He's just going to exile and restart the game anyway?!" ---- Can you say, "godawful etiquette"? I mean... Last game of the night. One card in hand. I don't care if I'm at 1 life or 50,000. You don't tell another player's opponent their card(s) in hand! >_< Le Sigh. Despite such, I was cheerful to my opponent, "Well, that cat's out of the bag," and left the battlefield behind. Yet I couldn't stop myself from being thoroughly scathing and told off the dolt that ruined my plans.
So... Ponder = Awesome. As is Sleep. Ponder definitely saved my mana base, but I still feel the need for a better curve somehow. Or a surprise waiting in my deck for an opponent to be even more scared of.
One of our good friend's mentioned Blightsteel Colossus and Shape Anew, as I am not running any other artifacts and could simply replace a Golem with Colossus.
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? I'm all for them. Please share and I will see how they work, especially if they are obnoxiously Janky. ^_^
