|
Home Decks Combos Articles Visual Spoilers Art Features Links Search Forum |
|
|
|
|
*!!!!SNAP!!!!*
The creatures worked on the curve fairly well and the concept of the deck is solid, but the fact was I couldn't draw into the party pieces quick enough – in the first match I’d managed to get both Marrow-Gnawer and Faces of the Past into play but Ham had enough Flying damage to kill me off in his turn, and that was the closest I ever came to performing the game winning combo. So what would I change? I’m feeling the counter’s were pretty damn pointless in this game – the concept behind them was solid but actually applying their stamp on the game wasn’t within the deck’s tempo; I’d have slowed myself down by a turn or two just to counter one spell which is not a good return. However, removing the Perplexes would be counterproductive since I’m trying to steer towards a tutor and draw engine. They’ll stay in.
New Budget: $1.02 Next up is the creatures themselves; although the curve is fairly nice, most of the cards are really just dead space in this deck, and as such I could probably make better choices. With this in mind I’m going to remove the Bog Rats, the Carrion Rats, one Swarm of Rats and one Chittering Rats.
New Budget: $2.86 Also, last time around I fell short of budget so I need to include that in my new budget: Remaining Budget: +$0.79 New Budget: $3.65 So that leaves me with 16 spaces in my deck on very little money, so I will have to truly consider my options carefully. Remember that prices are taken from MTG Fanatic (from late 2008).
New Budget: $2.89 Also in line with Drathro’s suggestions (Thanks man – I owe you a pint), I decided to pick up a harder version of Swarm Rats in order to add some extra punch to the deck – Pestilence Rats.
New Budget: $2.14 The last three creature spots were a toss up between Kuro’s Taken and Sewer Rats – both offer the deck something different, but in the end a regenerating blocker to deal with beasts and beaters seemed the better choice.
New Budget: $1.69 The last few spaces I wanted to fill with cards that had dual purposes, one of which was to be a means to filter through my deck or at least to allow me to draw a card, meaning they needed to be Cantrips (Spells with the line “Draw a card” as a separate ability) or Cycling cards.
New Budget: $0.82 The last space I wanted to fill with some kind of creature hate. Something to remove annoying little #/1 flyers (No, I’m not bitter; not bitter at all) so I started to shop around. Finally it came down to Lose Hope and Afflict since these were both low on the price scale and featured some means to alter my draw. In the end however I decided upon Afflict for two reasons. One, the ability to draw a card in this deck is more important then the ability to sort my next draw – the first game proved that speed was more important than accuracy and finally, the mana curve of my opponent’s deck. It is a rare circumstance that Ham and I find ourselves in; we have both seen the opponent’s deck and we know what works for the other guys and what doesn’t. What this means is that I can make educated guesses on what Ham has changed and I can say with almost 100% confidence that those Thrulls will still be there next time around because the life-gain and flying aspect simply works to his benefit and my disadvantage.
Final Budget: $0.37 So to round this off, here’s the newly revised deck list:
I have more confidence in this deck and although I’m not 100% sure on what changes Hamsandwich will make to his deck, I feel that whatever transpires, this deck will be able to handle it better than the last – I simply have more options in hand and on the field with this deck. Sure my tempo’s now slightly different, but at least I’ll feel like I’m accomplishing more this time around. So all that’s left to say is: Ham; rematch? This is Luthervamplord, Signing off. hamsandwich:
*wipes tear from eye* "Yes, folks, its official. The sandwich has brought another victory home for the red, white and blue. " "uh, Ham? England's flag is red, white and blue, also..." "er... well, of course. But much like the heroic flag hoisting gentleman of Hiroshima" "Uh, Ham... don't you mean Iwo Jima?" "er... obviously." *Rolls eyes* "Who let this idiot in here anyway?" "Victorious be I! Stomping my way through" "Ham, you didn't really stomp through anything, I mean, let's be honest here, Luther's deck was actually quite strong. Don't you think you should be fixing yours up for the rematch so he doesn't wipe the floor with you? Just a thought." *bites lower lip in contemplation* "Yeah... I guess." *scratches head* "What do you think I should do?" "Well, for starters, stop singing ridiculous patriotic songs, I mean, you guys haven't really won anything significant since 1947, and with the stock market crashing and a defunct two party system emptying the country's coffers and stuffing their friends pockets with all of your tax money, you should really be thinking about moving to England, ya know? But that aside, there are a few things you could do to really help out your deck..." *puts arm around sandwich, both walk off into cheap, dim lighting. cue "Moon River"*
There were a number of cards, however, that failed to help me out. Some even made me question why they were there in the first place. The Soulgorger was not one of them. Dealing over twenty-five percent of the damage I needed to win two games is reason enough for him to stay. Considering that I didn't even utilize my sideboard, I am strongly considering dropping the entire mess. Aphotic Wisps was useless every time. It does replace itself, but Fear did nothing for me and I was often tapped out dropping my creatures at a healthy enough rate to ward off the eventual swarm of rats (no pun intended). I am actually going to strip the deck down to a minimum, keeping only the cards that really helped me win. From there we will rebuild, because if there's one thing I've learned from growing up in America it's this: Though we may have won a battle, the war will never be over. Out:
Yes, even though the armor was solid its demand for two white and one colorless mana was just too great. At most, it was giving my guys a +4/+4 bonus, but more often than not I was ending up at +3/+3 at most. After a couple turns it was vitrually useless. So I've decide to drop it in favor of Edge of the Divinity. The Edge is cheaper to cast, but will give my Mourning Thrull a static boost. The only downside is not casting it on the Soulgorger, but at this point I don't see that as necessary. As I said, the Wisps were pretty useless, and Oona's Gate Warden just seemed to underperform in the one slot. In:
So my thoughts here are simple: more bodies, removal with options. Much like Nameless inversion, Final Revels takes it a step further by providing me with a board sweeper or a universal pump spell. Marsh Flitter gives me more bodies for my Soulgorger with the added option of a flying sneak attack. I'm sure Luther will be trying to deal with the flier issue, but either way Marsh Flitter will be a bonus. I run a few in my paper Soulgorger deck so i've seen their effectiveness. Seeing as how I didn't even use my sideboard, I could drop the entire batch and end up at $17.00 even, leaving me three whole U.S. dollars for my celebratory cokes. To even out the mana I'll have to swap a few Plains for Swamps and leave the final deck looking like this:
There we are. Ready for another go with MDV's resident vampire. Did he make enough adjustments to overcome the sandwich? We'll have to wait and see... sandwich out.
You can discuss this article in the MDV forums
here.
Articles
Spotlights from 2009: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Luthervamplord:
That ladies and gentlefolk, is the sound of my pride breaking like brittle wood
over the broad shoulders of my worthy opponent’s deck. Despite technical issues,
and the program throwing my end out constantly, I have to concede that my
The
first choice is a creature to help power my existing engine of Night Dealings,
and also a means to deal with annoying creatures like Ham’s flyers which was
suggested to me by Drathro of the MDV forums – Crypt Rats. Whilst these guys can
kill off my own creatures, it all stacks as damage which as I mentioned powers
the Dealings and more over, kills creatures I simply cannot normally dispose of
through combat and blocking.
Something
I noticed about the majority of my rat’s is that they are really low on the mana
curve and with that thought came the memory of a card called Unearth. With
Cycling and a means to reproduce all but Marrow-Gnawer from my graveyard either
as a chump blocker or a means of disruption, the card makes an excellent
addition to the deck.
Rat's
- R - Plenty V2. 
Alright,
so it wasn't the beatdown of the century, but the sandwich's latest creation
proved too much for the rat tribal to handle. I can't say how many games I could
have won out of ten, but the first two went to me in solid fashion. Surprisingly
(or maybe not so surprisingly), my Empyrial Armored Mourning Thrull pretty much
took the first game with constant medium sized life swings. Rats just don't
block fliers well, and Luther seemed to tap out playing his rats, leaving him
without resources to play his counterspells. In the second game I was able to
land a Phyrexian Soulgorger and punch him through (with a Nameless Inversion on
board) for a quick eleven damage, and from there I let my weenie flyers peck
Luther into a concession.
Vampsandwich
Part Deux. 
