Tournament Report: Eternal Extravaganza 3 with Punishing Jund, 10/24/15

Eternal Extravaganza 3 promised be exciting as one of the first major Legacy events following the banning of Dig Through Time. After a year of Delve-fueled madness, there was finally a prospect of a "return to normalcy" in the Legacy metagame.

I decided to stay on the Jund train as the deck has treated me very well over the last few months, and the demise of Omni-Tell as a Tier 1 deck has put it in a much stronger position. Expecting a lot of Shardless BUG and Blade players to come crawling out of the woodwork, I decided to play the 4th Punishing Fire in my maindeck flex slot. In the sideboard I wanted to try out Pernicious Deed instead of Toxic Deluge. Deluge is a great card but I was finding the life loss hurt a lot in this deck. Otherwise the list has remained basically unchanged for a while:

PUNISHING JUND, 10/24/15
Creature Spells (15) 4x Deathrite Shaman 4x Dark Confidant 4x Tarmogoyf 3x Bloodbraid Elf	Noncreature Spells (22) 4x Thoughtseize 2x Lightning Bolt 4x Abrupt Decay 4x Punishing Fire 3x Hymn to Tourach 1x Sylvan Library 4x Liliana of the Veil
Lands (23) 4x Verdant Catacombs 3x Marsh Flats 2x Wooded Foothills 3x Badlands 2x Bayou 1x Forest 1x Swamp 4x Grove of the Burnwillows 3x Wasteland	SB: 2x Duress SB: 2x Surgical Extraction SB: 2x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 2x Pyroblast SB: 2x Golgari Charm SB: 1x Phyrexian Revoker SB: 1x Trinisphere SB: 1x Nihil Spellbomb SB: 1x Life from the Loam SB: 1x Pernicious Deed

There were around 320 players present so the event would be a full nine rounds. Here is a lazy rundown of my matches:

Round 1: Omni-Tell (1-2)
People are still going to play this deck? Come on!!

Round 2: Canadian Thresh (2-0)
Game 2 I got to live the dream of Trinisphere/Loam lock.

Round 3: Death & Taxes (0-2)
I was in a strong position to win the second game, but at 8 life I proceeded to hit Bloodbraid Elf, Bloodbraid Elf off Bob triggers. Greatness at any cost.

Round 4: GW Maverick (2-1)

Round 5: Manaless Dredge (2-0)

Round 6: Aggro Loam (2-1)

Round 7: A.N.T. (2-0)
Real bad beats for my opponent. Game 1 he died to a totally non-interactive draw on my end after apparently bricking on all his cantrips. Game 2 I nut-drew him.

Round 8: Canadian Thresh (2-0)
Only Pernicious Deed action of the night in game 2 to clean up his board.

Round 9: Miracles (2-0)


Final Record: 7-2

I placed 23rd and was awarded a Tundra for my trouble. Overall it was a great event, and I hope to attend the next one!

Tournament Report: Legacy for Lotus with Punishing Jund

Another event at Die Hard Games, but this time a Lotus was on the line along with some other Eternal goodies. This won't be much of a report because I'm pretty tired.

4x Deathrite Shaman
4x Dark Confidant
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Bloodbraid Elf

4x Thoughtseize
2x Lightning Bolt
4x Abrupt Decay
3x Hymn to Tourach
3x Punishing Fire
4x Liliana of the Veil
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Sensei's Divining Top

4x Verdant Catacombs
3x Marsh Flats
2x Wooded Foothills
3x Badlands
2x Bayou
1x Forest
1x Swamp
4x Grove of the Burnwillows
3x Wasteland

SB 2x Duress
SB 2x Grafdigger's Cage
SB 2x Pyroblast
SB 2x Surgical Extraction
SB 2x Golgari Charm
SB 1x Nihil Spellbomb
SB 1x Maelstrom Pulse
SB 1x Phyrexian Revoker
SB 1x Trinisphere
SB 1x Life from the Loam

I tried out K-Command for the 1st time where I normally play an Ooze, which was underperforming. I also decided to give Top a spin (haha) in place of Sylvan Library.

Trinisphere was SB tech I saw in a list somewhere which looks useful against Omni-Tell. I've been playing it for a little bit now and have been very satisfied with it (hasn't come up in the Omni matchup yet though). Haven't tried Slaughter Games yet but its still on my radar.

There were just over 100 people at the event so it was going to be 7 rounds. My matches went as follows:

Elves (2-1)

Belcher (1-2)

MUD (2-1)

Omni-Tell (2-0)

Reanimator (2-1)

Merfolk (0-2) (Got a game loss for having an SB card in my maindeck, then got boned by an early Back to Basics!)

Omni-Tell (2-1)

Final Record: 5-2

My record was good for 17th place, just out of prizes. I don't know if it was luck or skill, but I came out on top against unfavorable matchups all day. Beating Omni-Tell twice in one event was just absurd. Even in this era of Delve madness Jund is still good, so don't be discouraged from playing it!

GWb Maverick Decklists

          

Introduction
GWb Maverick has been the most popular and best performing Maverick variant since 2013, primarily due to the addition of these three Black cards that shore up some weaknesses of the classic GW build:

• Deathrite Shaman provides a formidable arsenal of abilities on an efficient, Green Sun's Zenith-able body. Enables incidental graveyard interaction while affording reach, lifegain, and mana production/fixing. Having 2 toughness also allows Deathrite Shaman to block better than other mana creatures while decreasing your vulnerability to -x/-x effects.
• Thoughtseize enables cheap, early, stack-based interaction against combo decks. While Maverick has access to many hatebears, being able to pressure combo decks on two different axes is invaluable.
• Zealous Persecution fulfills the need for fair decks to have access to -1/-1 and sweeper effects to combat True-Name Nemesis, Elves, and Death & Taxes. Zealous Persecution is uniquely effective in this role due to its asymmetric effect.

Note on Deck Nomenclature
Maverick decks splashing Black used to sometimes be referred to as "Dark Maverick" to distinguish them from pure GW or Punishing Maverick decks. However, the Black splash has become so dominant that this term is now obsolete. "Maverick" now comes with the expectation of a Black splash, rendering the "Dark" qualifier unnecessary.


The Lists

Michael Antrim, 9th-16th @ Star City Games Open Indianapolis (2/1/2015, 582 players)
Thomas Herzog, 5th-8th @ Star City Games Open Indianapolis (9/28/2014, 260 players)
Thomas Herzog, 3rd-4th @ Star City Games Open Indianapolis (6/1/2014, 347 players)
Thomas Herzog, 5th-8th @ Star City Games Open Detroit (4/20/2014, 225 players)

This list has been jointly developed by Maverick veterans Michael Antrim and Thomas Herzog, who have experienced widespread competitive success with it. I believe their style of list, representing a return to Maverick's roots, is the gold standard and the best place to start. Many characteristics of their list have been adopted by other players:

• 2 Libraries and 3 Equips main (eschewing Batterskull) with a heavy emphasis on creatures (note the quantities of Qasali Pridemage) 
• This manabase is the most functional for GWb Maverick, with 3 basics, a very light Black splash, and Gaea's Cradle providing access to explosive plays with Equipment or powering Zeniths through your own Thalia. 
• Antrim had great showing against Elves in Indianapolis, a bad matchup, with an extra G Teeg (3 total) and an extra Jitte in the 75. The extra G. Teeg also does work against Miracles, another bad matchup.
• Note that a 61 card maindeck is not uncommon for an archetype like Maverick and is totally acceptable.

More Lists:

Josh Pestana, 9th-16th @ Star City Games Classic Charlotte (1/10/2016)

Chris Ferber, 5th-8th @ Star City Games Classic Las Vegas (12/13/2015, 94 players)

Raymod Cornely, 3rd-4th @ Star City Games Premier IQ Baltimore (3/1/2015, 230 players)

David McDarby, 1st @ Star City Games Open Portland (12/7/2014,  players)

Chris Scagnelli, 9th-16th @ Star City Games Open Syracuse (8/10/2014, 230 players)

Corey Armstrong, 5th-8th @ Star City Games Open Los Angeles (11/3/2013, 281 players)

Jacob Lindy, 6th @ Star City Games Open Philadelphia (9/2/2013, 280 players)

Jack Wang, 1st @ Star City Games Open (6/23/2013, 220 players)

David Doberne, 2nd @ Star City Games Open Seattle (4/21/2013, 261 players)



Click here to see the GWx Maverick Introductory Primer

Click here to see the Punishing Maverick Primer and decklists

Click here to see the Maverick Card Interactions & Rules Primer

DECK: Punishing Maverick, 6/1/15

I've decided to play some Maverick again after a nearly seven-month hiatus. When I first started Legacy I only played Maverick because it was all I had. Now that my collection has expanded to include other decks I spend less time with it. However, Punishing Maverick is my true "pet deck", and was the inspiration for starting this blog with the Punishing Maverick Primer. Despite that, I actually don't have a lot of practical experience with the deck and am still figuring out my own list. There are around four maindeck flex slots that I'm constantly shifting around. Here is the latest attempt:

Creature Spells

Noncreaure Spells

Lands

Sideboard

This maindeck is "retro" to say the least-its pretty similar to the one Max Tietze won an SCG Invitational with in early 2012. The Elspeth should probably be a Batterskull but I like her too much not to give her a shot. Courser is a recent addition that I've seen in some other lists that could be interesting. Its a good blocker and provides lifegain and card advantage. 

In the sideboard I'm playing Containment Priest, which looks like a great addition to Maverick at first glance, but with Omni-Tell making Sneak & Show almost obsolete I'm wondering if it deserves a spot anymore. Bonfire is another spicy one I'm trying in place of the lackluster Electrickery.

I honestly think Punishing Maverick may be better positioned that GWb Maverick right now. Red Blasts are a great tool to have against Omni-Tell and other Dig decks, and Punishing Fire, while slow, can decimate the URx Delver decks. 

I'm having delusions of bringing this deck to Eternal Weekend in a month, but first I have to settle on a list, and then I have to remember how to  play this deck again-its a lot harder than Jund!

Tournament Report: Buncha Duals 4 with Punishing Jund

Buncha Duals is a long running tournament series held by Die Hard Games in Lincoln, RI, where prizes come in the form of duals and other Legacy goodies. This event was the last Buncha Duals, as the owner of DHG is now all out of duals.

I decided to roll with Jund for this event. I've been a bit down on Aggro Loam since SCG Providence and wanted to mix it up, and the deck honestly felt really strong outside of the Omni-Tell matchup. The 75 I registered was:

Punishing Jund, 6/15
Creature Spells (16) 4x Deathrite Shaman 4x Dark Confidant 4x Tarmogoyf 1x Scavenging Ooze 3x Bloodbraid Elf	Noncreature Spells (21) 4x Thoughtseize 2x Lightning Bolt 4x Abrupt Decay 3x Hymn to Tourach 3x Punishing Fire 4x Liliana of the Veil 1x Sylvan Library
Lands (23) 4x Verdant Catacombs 3x Marsh Flats 2x Wooded Foothills 3x Badlands 2x Bayou 1x Forest 1x Swamp 4x Grove of the Burnwillows 3x Wasteland	SB: 2x Duress SB: 2x Golgari Charm SB: 2x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 2x Pyroblast SB: 2x Surgical Extraction SB: 1x Krosan Grip SB: 1x Life from the Loam SB: 1x Nihil Spellbomb SB: 1x Phyrexian Revoker SB: 1x Toxic Deluge

There were >90 people so it was a 7-round tournament. I'm pretty tired and have bad notes so I can only give brief details of each match.

Round 1: MUD (2-0)
This is a matchup I run into a lot and am fairly comfortable with. I made some really loose plays, including completely misunderstanding how Coercive Portal works, but managed to pull out the win thanks to the BGx goodstuff.

Round 2: UR Delver (2-0)
Close and interactive games here but I won out. This matchup is actually a lot harder than one might think due to their heavier burn element compared to other Delver decks.

Round 3: UG 12-Post (2-0)
I'd never played against this deck with Jund before, but it seems quite favorable. The discard spells were just really good. I was hoping for some Loam action game 2 but didn't draw it. Props to my opponent's beautiful foiled deck.

Round 4: Omni-Tell (0-2)
I was kind of hoping to dodge this one but that was obviously wishful thinking. At 3-0 the top tables were swarmed with Omni-Tell players.

Round 5: A.N.T. (2-0)
Got there with loads of discard again, plus help from Surgical in game 2.

Round 6: Omni-Tell (0-2)
This matchup is seriously bad. I might need to try Slaughter Games in my board.

Round 7: Affinity Stompy (1-2)
This was a bit of a wacky deck, with stuff like Chalice, Chrome Mox, Stoneforge Mystic, and Myr Enforcer (who is actually really hard to deal with!) The games were interactive and close but I lost out in the end. I was pretty tired and wasn't really playing optimally at this point.

Final Record: 4-3, out of prizes
Not the best finish overall, but not one I'm unhappy with. As I suspected coming in, the deck is quite strong outside of the Omni-Tell matchup, which I'm not sure is fixable. The second Omni-Tell player I lost to was actually a guy from my store, who ended up making Top 8 which was nice. This was the last big event on my calendar before Eternal Weekend in August, my deck choice for which is still undecided. I think it would be really cool to play Punishing Maverick, which I'll probably sleeve up and test for a bit. First, I have to decide on a list though!

Modern Musings

Watching GP Charlotte coverage this weekend got me thinking about Modern again. Looking back, I started getting into Modern late in 2012 with an Affinity deck ($9 Mox Opals!) but never finished it. I began building GW Hatebears at the end of 2013 and had it finished about a month before the new bannings and unbannings. Hatebears felt kind of bad since it was trying to be Maverick in a format without Wasteland, Stoneforge Mystic, and Green Sun's Zenith, so I moved into a new deck after another 2 months: Scapeshift. I love ramping and doing stuff with lands, and it plays what is possibly the sweetest Blue card, Cryptic Command, so it seemed like a very natural choice.

I tried to play a lot of Modern last Spring and Summer leading into the PTQ season and GP Worcester but I ended up being too busy to go to any PTQs and by Fall I was just playing Legacy instead, despite having the option to play Modern locally twice a week. Since then my Modern deck has remained virtually untouched. A lot of players have strong feelings about Modern; I'm honestly still not sure where I stand on it. The essence of Modern is simple and appealing. People want to build a deck that they can play a long time from a larger cardpool and with strategic depth that Standard Magic simply can't offer. While this experience best describes Legacy, the Reserved List and other factors have made the entry costs of that format quite prohibitive, and thus Modern has to provide a microcosm of that experience to both the Pro Tour and a wider audience. Unfortunately Modern can still be quite an expensive format, especially when Wizards has shown a willingness to ban entire decks out of existence. While the incessant bannings make Modern seem unhealthy, they have shaped it into a format that can offer something different from others. Due to the paucity of individually powerful cards in the format due to bannings, decks built around synergy and redundancy have arisen, which has certainly caused complaints about the over-effectiveness of sideboard cards and BGx decks that can efficiently disrupt synergies. But the nature of the format has allowed unique and quintessentially Modern decks to arise such as Twin, Amulet, Boggles, Living End, Tron, Ad Nauseam combo, and Pod. While some of the bannings seem absurd, they may be necessary to ensure Modern doesn't simply become a worse version of Legacy, but something different instead.

While it isn't for everyone, at the end of the day Modern is here to stay. It has become a very popular format and will only continue to grow as it inevitably gets cheaper with the reprinting of staples. However, in the wake of the MM2 release and accompanying financial upheaval, it remains unclear when prices reach a level where this growth can finally and completely be realized. 

Deck Tech: 4C Aggro Loam

           

Introduction
This deck is an almost exact copy of this list which took down the 500 player 2014 Bazaar of Moxen tournament in the hands of Niklas Kronberger. While previous 4C Loam decks focused on playing Burning Wish and Devastating Dreams, Kronberger utilized a more aggressive Black component and Liliana of the Veil, which is an excellent card in a Loam shell. Since bringing this strategy to the forefront with his big win, Kronberger's version has now become the standard for the archetype.

This iteration of 4C Loam is a midrange deck that could be described as a mash-up of Jund, Maverick, and Lands. Generally, it plays out like a Rock deck with removal backed up by large threats. However, it sacrifices some interaction to play Chalice of the Void, which can be cast on the first turn with a Mox Diamond and is very powerful against certain strategies. The combination of Punishing Grove and a strong Wasteland plan against fair decks and Chalice and hatebears against combo decks gives the deck impressive breadth. The deck is tied together by a number of card advantage and selection engines. Its weaknesses are heavy reliance on the graveyard and variance.


The List

Lands (26)
4x Verdant Catacombs
1x Windswept Heath
2x Bayou
2x Scrubland
2x Taiga
1x Savannah
1x Forest
4x Wasteland
1x Karakas
1x Dryad Arbor
2x Grove of the Burnwillows
1x Maze of Ith
2x Barren Moor
2x Tranquil Thicket

Noncreature Spells (23)

4x Mox Diamond

4x Chalice of the Void

2x Green Sun's Zenith

3x Life from the Loam

1x Sylvan Library

3x Abrupt Decay

3x Punishing Fire

3x Liliana of the Veil

Creature Spells (11)
4x Dark Confidant
1x Tarmogoyf
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Scavenging Ooze
4x Knight of the Reliquary

Sideboard (15)
SB 4x Leyline of the Void
SB 3x Ethersworn Canonist
SB 1x Gaddock Teeg
SB 1x Relclamation Sage
SB 1x Phyrexian Revoker
SB 1x Thrun, the Last Troll
SB 1x Krosan Grip
SB 2x Golgari Charm
SB 1x Toxic Deluge


Maindeck Card Breakdown

Mox Diamond - A crucial component of the deck providing acceleration and putting lands in the graveyard for Knights. Lands pitched can also be bought back later with Loam.

Chalice of the Void - Most commonly played on 1, could be played on 0 against Storm and Belcher decks. Effective against a variety of fair and unfair decks.

Green Sun's Zenith - Relevant at all stages of the game, can be another turn 1 play tutoring a Dryad Arbor and provides more copies of threats later.

Life from the Loam - The namesake card, can buy back lands like Wastelands and cycle lands, and feed your Knights or clear the top of your library through dredging. Not as integral to this deck as it is in Lands, and more often than not taking a regular draw step rather than dredging is correct. Can be boarded out in many combo matchups.

Sylvan Library - Powerful card advantage engine that can be a little difficult for some decks to answer. One of the best cards to have in any grindy matchup.

Abrupt Decay - Unmatched in efficiency and versatility.

Punishing Fire - While very powerful against creature decks in conjunction with Grove of the Burnwillows, can be boarded out against many decks.

Liliana of the Veil - The biggest payoff of this version of the Loam deck, Liliana is a good fit for the archetype since you don't mind putting many of your cards in the graveyard, such as Punishing Fire, Loam, lands, or extra Chalices and Moxes.

Dark Confidant - Card advantage that is often "free" due to the quantity of zeros in the deck, and is necessary to increase velocity in a deck that can be prone to variance.

Tarmogoyf - Efficient large creature, functions as the 5th copy of Knight in a sense. Can be a 7/8 based on card types in this deck alone.

Gaddock Teeg - Weak body but effective against a variety of decks including Miracles, Elves, Storm, and Sneak & Show. Having access to GSZ means there are effectively three copies against such decks but only one against others where he is ineffective like Delver and Death & Taxes.

Scavenging Ooze - Provides both graveyard hate and lifegain.

Knight of the Reliquary - A huge threat with many powerful synergies in the deck, and the main win condition. Can be enlarged by Moxes, cycle lands, Wastelands, discarding lands to Liliana, and Loam dredges. Tutor ability can be used for Karakas against Reanimator/Show & Tell decks or Grove of the Burnwillows to assemble Punishing Grove against creature decks.

Lands - 4 Cycle Lands, 4 Wastelands, 1 Karakas, 1 Dryad Arbor, 1 Maze of Ith, and 2 Groves is the core utility land package supplemented by fetches and dual lands.


Sideboard Card Breakdown

Leyline of the Void - Arguably the most powerful graveyard hate card available, this card is played primarily due to the difficulty of supporting either 1CC or symmetrical hate cards such as Grafdigger's Cage or Rest in Peace.

Ethersworn Canonist - Useful tool against critical mass combo decks such as Storm, Elves, and Burn, with peripheral applications against other decks such as Omnitell and Manaless Dredge.

Gaddock Teeg - Discussed above, you often want the second copy in matchups where he is powerful.

Reclamation Sage - The choice of this card over Qasali Pridemage is primarily due to having a different interaction with Show & Tell due to being a triggered ability.

Phyrexian Revoker - Pithing Needle's 2CC big brother, a versatile hate card against a number of strategies including 12-Post, Death & Taxes, Miracles, MUD, Painter, Sneak & Show, and Miracles. Remember that this card can name LED against Storm decks as well.

Thrun, the Last Troll - Resilient threat primarily for Miracles but can come in against Delver or Blue midrange decks as well if desired.

Krosan Grip - Can handle different threats and some more effectively than Abrupt Decay, including Aether Vial, Sensei's Divining Top, Batterskull, and Sneak Attack. Remember that Counterbalance can counter this card since Split Second allows triggered abilities to happen.

Golgari Charm - Versatile answer to both small creature decks like Elves and Death & Taxes, Empty the Warrens swarms out of Storm decks, and things like Sneak Attack and Rest in Peace. The regeneration mode can sometimes be a blowout as well.

Toxic Deluge - Arguably the best "big" sweeper in Legacy, can clean up any board providing you can afford pay the life.


Conclusion

While much of the Loam shell is difficult to modify due to its interlocking and synergistic nature, there is some room to customize the deck with utility lands, Green Sun's Zenith targets, and tweaking numbers on support cards. This is an interesting and different deck that can be very unfair, but like many decks without Brainstorm is prone to "losing to itself". If you wish to learn more about the deck, check out the discussion in the Aggro Loam thread on The Source. If you think you're ready to take the plunge, remember to always proxy and play games with the deck against varied and popular matchups before buying the cards you need!