The recent release of the core set Magic 2011 offered us new options for a tribe-type deck. Vampires replaced its lord Nocturnus with a captivating one, though I still go for the first one as evation is much preferred rather than permanent +1/+1 pump. The new set also offered a lord, Knight Exemplar, for the new tribe for white. The powerful ability of giving indestructibility to its kins (as well as the +1/+1 boost) gave me an idea of checking the rest of the Knights in the current Standard format. I’ve created two potential deck ideas, the mono white and the blue white version.

First off is the mono white list:

Mono White Knights
Maindeck
4 white knight
4 knight exemplar
4 knight of the white orchid
4 sigiled paladin
4 student of warfare

4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
4 Conqueror’s Pledge
2 Brave the Elements
2 Elspeth, the Knight Errant

4 Marsh Flats
4 Arid Mesa
16 Plains

The deck’s simple approach is to get the beatdown as early as possible. This list is actually inspired by my build on the Kithkins during the Lorwyn days in Standard. my As you will notice, each has its equilavent card. For example, Student of Warfare represents Figure of Destiny and Conqueror’s Pledge for Cloudgoat Ranger.

The deck have at least twelve critters for the early turns and a late game or post mass removal card via Conqueror’s Pledge. This sorcery works well with Honor of the Pure and to keep you with enough gas. Brave the Elements functions primarily for alpha-strike or in cases of a Maelstrom Pulse on your same-name knights. Elspeth is of course for additional pump and evasion.

Here’s the blue white version:

Blue White Knights
Maindeck
4 white knight
4 knight exemplar
4 knight of the white orchid
4 sigiled paladin
4 student of warfare

4 Honor of the Pure
4 Mana Leak
4 Conquerors Pledge
4 Elspeth, the Knight Errant
4 Fieldmist Borderpost

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Marsh Flats
12 Plains

As for the UW list, the only blue card is Mana Leak (which I think is the best common card in M11) for stopping mass removals and relevant big spells of the opponent.

The list also includes the borderpost-Knight of White Orchid combo which works very well in ramping up the mana and helps thinning out the deck.

Sideboard Options

There is no final sideboard yet as it will be meta based. The notable cards I could include are:

Kor Firewalker - primarily for stopping RDW. Most of your knights are hard to deal with due to first strike so I think you’re in great shape on pre-board. Just avoid over committing into an Earthquake.

Path to Exile - the sideboard option for the UW list in dealing with random big threats.

Leyline of Sanctity - sb option against Red Decks and Valakut Ramp. Their current lists are just doing insane in the recent Nationals so this one is a must to be four-ofs (Leylines to be effective needed to be a set).

Oblivion Ring - for random non-land threats. I prefer my sideboard to be more of generic as we can’t what to encounter in the meta.

War Priest of Thune - this guys is specifically for Spreading Seas as this can hurt your early aggro. Again, this option can be metagame based.

Negate - I think a copy or two of these in the UW list sb is good enough. Same purpose with the O-ring.

Additional Brave the Elements can also be used.

I think that’s about it. Feel free to comment out your suggestion below or in cases that you’ve playtested the deck, a matchup report would be nice.

Also check out our Magic Iloilo Facebook page.

Until next time y’all.

It’s always my dream to have byes during Grand Prix events like the pro does. Having 3 byes is a big advantage since you only have to win 3 games to make it into day two and have a chance for the money finish as well as get the opportunity to battle with the pros in round 4. That reminds me of my recent Grand Prix experience last March held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia wherein it was very exhausting to duel 8 straight rounds in Day 1. It was the best experience for me being able to make it to day 2 despite not getting the most coveted money finish (Top 64).

This year, Grand Prix Manila is back and is already fast approaching this coming June 12, which also happens to be our Independence Day! This is the moment where I’ll have the opportunity to play one of the biggest tournaments in Magic. Grand Prix in Manila only happens once every two years so this kind of event should not be missed if you are an avid magic player like me.

Neutral Grounds provided some Grand Prix Trials to grant a chance for the winner to acquire 3 byes for the Manila Grand Prix. JB, our friend from Bacolod announced 3 weeks ago that there will be a Grand Prix trial to be held in their place, so some of my fellow MTG players decided to join the said event. At first I wasn’t sure if I could play since Regionals and the GPT only has a 1 week gap that would consume some of my working time. However, my friend from Bacolod told me that there will be a house warming at their new apartment on the same date with the event therefore I decided that I’ll just join the tournament and then afterwards attend my friend’s house warming. Such an amazing way of combining travel, Magic and fun! Hehehe.

The Preparation

My plan was to play Blue White Control since I’ve been playing it at Magic-League minis with different configuration ever since Wall of Omens became legal, which is my favorite card in Rise of the Eldrazi. That time, Blue White Control has two versions namely: ‘Tap Out’ and ‘With Permissions’. After playtesting some games, I opted to play the version ‘With Permission’ for it has the advantage against the Tap Out version and other combo decks like Polymorph and Open the Vaults. Moreover, it’s also excellent against the Bogeyman of Standard, ‘Jund.’ Initially my build was this:

Lands
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
7 Island
6 Plains
1 Sejiri Refuge
3 Tectonic Edge

Creatures
4 Baneslayer Angel
3 Wall of Omens
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

Spells
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Path to Exile
2 Negate
2 Day of Judgment
4 Spreading Seas
1 Gideon Jura
3 Mind Spring
1 Martial Coup
3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Deprive
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sideboard
1 Path to Exile
2 Negate
2 Day of Judgment
3 Celestial Purge
3 Flashfreeze
1 Jace Beleren
2 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

This is what I’ve been playing on Magic-League and MWS for a while, which my virtual teammate suggested to me. It’s showing great results and the play style is perfect for my taste as a control player. After that the decklist was done, its time for me to find the cardboards. My primary concern was to find Baneslayer Angels I could borrow since I don’t have a wallet slayer in my card pool, same as the Wall of Omens which is so hard to find here at our local community. Came in Friday Night Magic at Rei’s Place, the event winner master Tonton offered me to use his Blue White Control deck since he can’t go to Bacolod for GPT, an offer that I cannot refuse. It has all the cards that I was dying looking for. Below is the savage Blue White Control deck list of Master Tonton:

Lands
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Kabira Crossroads
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Scalding Tarn
6 Island
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Marsh Flats
4 Plains

Creatures
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Wall of Omens

Spells
2 Negate
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Gideon Jura
2 Path to Exile
2 Day of Judgment
3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Deprive
1 Martial Coup
4 Spreading Seas
3 Mind Spring
3 Oblivion Ring

Sideboard
2 Negate
1 Path to Exile
1 Day of Judgment
4 Flashfreeze
3 Celestial Purge
2 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Jace Beleren
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

The list is perfect! I was happy to see that Tonton’s build is quite similar to my dream deck with some few changes. I kind of like the idea of the fetch lands in the deck since it can alter unnecessary cards of the top once you brainstorm with Jace. The Kabira Crossroads and Deprive synergy is unforgiving against Red Deck Wins. I think 4 permission spells is the correct number in the main deck, protecting your bombs like BSA and JMS away from oblivion. I also agreed with Tonton about the maximum number of Jace in the deck because once he sticks around, you’re most likely gonna win, also you’ll have the edge against other Blue White Control having only 3 Jaces. Manlands run rampant nowadays so 4-ofs Tectonic Edge is the right answer. The singleton Gideon Jura act as your 5th Baneslayer Angel but more savage for it has a lot of usage: it fogs Mythic Bant, RDW and also messes up the combat plan of the opponent trying to defend their planeswalkers. Kor Sanctifiers currently earned respect in the sideboard since Oblivion Ring became a factor in mirror match, also blows up Howling decks once paired with Jace. The original Jace Beleren is there to combat Jace war in other blue decks with JMS. Finally, the mascot of the deck, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre is the best pound for pound answer in late game battle against the mirror match ups or planeswalkers that are about to unleash their ultimate, and lastly, a nice solution for miller decks.

The Trial Day

Before going to Bacolod, I have this mix feeling of excitement yet feeling so tired with meager sleep because of some important events I have to attend to, the night before the trial. I and my wife woke up early to catch the first trip going to the other island together with my non-magic friend. Team Ramon made the first trip but we were not able to catch up so we waited again for several minutes. We arrived at the venue after almost 2 hours of travel, meet up with Team Ramon (Ramon, Raprap, Louie and Kenneth), Team ‘Mayong gab-e Jimmy’ (Jimmy and Melvin) and we discussed the possible metagame. Feeling hungry due to not having dinner and breakfast, except for RH beer flowing in my veins, we wasted no time and started eating yummy dishes at the 18th Palapala Restaurant, which is also the venue for the tournament.

We waited for over 2 hours before the event started, patiently waiting for the arrival of the Tournament Organizer. Several minutes later, we were briefed and paired manually (old school index card pairing) since there was no laptop available for the pairings. The event will be played for 5 rounds of Magic plus top 8 and this is how it went…

Round 1 vs Mark using Blue White Control

Game 1: The game took several turns of draw go, my only threat was Baneslayer Angel but he got a lot of answers until I was able to drop Gideon with backup counter for his Oblivion Ring. I think his hand is clogged with creature kills and sweepers so Gideon take a home run in a few turns protected with Negates against his Path to Exile.

SB Strategy:
+2 Kor Sanctifiers, +1 Jace Beleren, +2 Negate, +1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, -2 Day of Judgment, -4 Wall of Omens

Game2: The Jace war occurred turns earlier but I manage to stick JMS with backup Negates. From there, I just countered his JMS to avoid disrupting my Jace Ultimate skill the “-12: I win”.

Record: 1-0
Matchup: 2-0

Round 2 vs Ramon using Open the Vaults

Since we are both are from team Iloilo, it’s quite upsetting that we got paired early on despite the fact that there are possibly other opponents out there that has the same points with us. We just decided to draw then win in all the remaining rounds in the hopes of getting into top 8. These help us scout other players about their deck and prepare our strategy against them.

Record: 1-0-1
Matchup: 3-1-1

Round 3 vs Rap-rap using Blue White Fog

Again, it’s very frustrating that I got paired with another Iloilo player, straight in 2 subsequent rounds. If we were going to draw this round, we both got a difficult task ahead and a slim chance of getting into top 8.We have no choice but to play it given that we only got 2 more rounds to go.

Game 1: As expected, the early turns went draw go and the first play from Raprap was Font of Mythos. Feeling a little bit greedy, I let it resolve since I got an Oblivion Ring. A couple of turns later I cast JMS with counter backup and to my surprise it was resolved and from there, the MVP got his job done right, ultimate for “I win”.

SB Strategy:
+2 Kor Sanctifiers, +1 Jace Beleren, +2 Negate, +1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, -2 Day of Judgment, -4 Wall of Omens

Game 2: Raprap caught me off guard as he went aggro mode with turn 2 Meddling Mage for Oblivion Ring then turn 3 Meddling Mage for Negate. I just nod my head in despair and laugh at the situation since I’m holding the said cards. I only got Path to Exile to answer this pesky 2/2’s, unfortunately I didn’t draw them after I wasted my draw spells like Spreading Seas and Mind Spring just to find them. Moments later Raprap added more pressure with his Baneslayer Angel. I also got Baneslayer of my own but he was prepared with a kill and his team took the win for him.

SB Strategy:
+ 1 Path to Exile, - 1 Spreading Seas

Game 3: An early Howling Mine for Raprap showed up in turn 2, then he followed it up with Kor Firewalker and Meddling Mage for Oblivion Ring. My Kor Sanctifier made his first appearance and quickly dispatch the Mine and also acted as my personal bodyguard against Raprap’s weenies. I followed it up with Baneslayer Angel, not only 1 but 2. My angels continued to bash, but unfortunately, Raprap’s Rest for the Weary gave him time to find an answer with a Path to Exile that removed one of my chicks. But with a Celestial Colonade waiting for his turn to shine, that replaced the lost angel with her duties.

Record: 2-0-1
Matchup: 5-2-1

Round 4 vs John using Mono Green Aggro with Land Destruction

Game 1: John played super aggressive with first turn Arbor Druid that resulted into a turn 2 Leatherback Baloth. The beast ate a chunk of my life and I ended his carnage with an Oblivion Ring. John followed it up with a kicked Mold Shambler that ate my only white source. Thanks to my ample of luck for I was able to draw 2 white sources in a row and dropped the femme fatal Baneslayer Angel two turns in a row. But John was not to be outdone as he was able to drop horde of creatures starting with Mul Daya Channelers and Mana Dorks that became indestructible with Eldrazi Monument. My sweepers became useless at this moment, so I just waited for a time to draw Oblivion Ring or until he runs out of creatures to offer to the Monument. My hope was shattered as he summoned a gigantic elephant named Terastodon that laid waste to my white sources. To make things worst, he never runs out of cards because of his Momentus Fall that drawn him 1/6 of his deck by sacrificing his behemoth elephant. Turns later as he assembles his horde with Wolfbriar Elemental, my angels became chump blockers over his fatties. After knowing that I couldn’t Oblivion Ring then sweep the board with Day of Judgement, plus seeing a second Terastodon keep me off my white mana, I was forced to scoop on this game.

SB Strategy:
+1 Path to Exile, +4 Flashfreeze, +1 Day of Judgment, -4 Spreading Seas, -2 Mind Spring

Game 2: On draw, John started again with Arbor Druid then 2 more Llanowar Elves but stuck on 1 land. My only defense was a lone Wall of Omens and that lessen the bloodshed of the mana dorks. John found a beatstick in the form of Leathback Baloth that could surely tombstone my lonely wall. A turn later, Day of Judgment came for the little green men, which were all palesinners and they all succumbed. After the catastrophe, the superstar Jace the Mind Sculptor came up and he alone controls the board that later burst out his ultimate.

Game 3: A godly lightning fast plays by John early on with Arbor Druid then followed by 2 Mul Daya Channelers that quickly reduces my life into 4 in just a few turns. Thanks to my guardian angel Baneslayer Angel I was able to hold back is monsters and gains me back my lost life. The time was called and we were into the last 5 turns. John tried to find more threats with Momentus Fall; however my Flashfreeze and Negate prevented him from doing so. I can’t easily race him since my life is so low and he has an army of fatties waiting to strike back for lethal, thus along with that, the game was proclaimed a draw after the last 5 turns was finished.

Record: 2-0-2
Matchup: 6-3-2

Round 5 vs Pablo using Mythic Bant

Game 1: Pablo had a great start with Noble Hierarch then Dauntless Escort. Unfortunately for me, I only had a Wall of Omens for defense and quite upset that I keep on drawing lands after some card draw. I manage to drop JMS and searched for answer with brainstorm but gave me a jaw drop after I saw all lands in my hand. Things got worse when he dropped Finest Hour killing my Wall then my JMS. Then his board got nastier as Rafiq of the Many made the Rhino a killing machine which ended the game for me.

SB Strategy:
+1 Path to Exile, +4 Flashfreeze, +1 Day of Judgment, -4 Spreading Seas, -2 Mind Spring

Game 2: Just like dejavu Pablo made a great start with first turn Noble Hierarch then Dauntless Escort. Yet this time, I got a Path to Exile for it then Flashfreezed his second Dauntless Escort. Pablo still got more threats with Knight of Reliquary then Rhox War Monk but my timely Day of Judgment cleared the board for my savior Baneslayer Angel. The mythic player couldn’t find the answer and we headed to the deciding game.

Game 3: Pablo once again had the best start in this entire match as he had Noble Hierarch then Rhox War Monk to begin with. I only got Oblivion Ring for his Knight of Reliquary that came a turn after. I was relieved when Pablo gpt stuck on mana so I just reserved my Path to Exile for much threatening dude. The light of day came in turn 5 as I dropped my MVP in the form of Baneslayer Angel followed by another one on the next turn. After a turn, Pablo couldn’t match the forces of my hot babes, which brought him into concession.

Record: 3-0-2
Matchup: 8-4-2

I was happy that I won my last round because it assured me of the top 8 slot. I was so glad that another Ilonggo player, Master Ramon, made it into top 8 as well. After playing my final match, I jumped to watch the last game between our friend Louie and Sonny from Cebu. We cheered for him as he needed win the match to secure himself a slot on the top 8. Unluckily, the game ended as a draw and we just crossed our fingers hoping he could sneak into the top 8. Our TO Freddy told us that there will be 30 minutes break because he needed to pass the results to Manila just for the tie breakers and the placing for the prizes. It is perfect timing for all of us are already hungry like wolves, so we ordered delicious foods to full our empty stomach. After the break, the placing was announced and prizes were also given to the winners. We were disappointed that Louie didn’t make it to the top 8, finishing at 9th place only due to losing to the tie breakers. However we keep our hopes high as I and Ramon will battle in the top 8 and bring the glory to Iloilo.

Top 8 vs Sonny using Jund

Game 1: A turn 2 Putrid Leech for Sonny put a grim in my face, a scenario that I never wished to happen. I try to off color his mana using Spreading Seas so he couldn’t add more threats. I found the answer for his Leech with my Oblivion Ring. Since Sonny was off colored, I had time to setup for my kill, Baneslayer Angel with backup counter for kills. Sonny tries to dig for answers as he laid Bloodbraid Elf that cascaded to Putrid Leech but the angel just offset the damage of the Jund critters.

SB Strategy:
+4 Flashfreeze, +3 Celestial Purge, -2 Day of Judgment, -2 Path to Exile, -2 Negate, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Game 2: Another great start for Sonny with a turn 2 Putrid Leech. I was forced to Purge the Leech as he Duressed my hand and took a Flashfreeze. Sonny replaced the lost Leech with Sprouting Thrinax and I was saddened for I was stuck on 2 lands. Jund is unforgiving once the opponent is screwed, punishing me for doing so. Few turns later, with no lands and answers showing up, I quickly scooped.

Game 3: Before we started the game, we greeted each other good luck. For 3 consecutive games Putrid Leech was very eager to kill me as it showed up in turn 2 for Sonny. Good thing I had Celestial Purge that exiled the leech. I keep Sonny off red mana by Spreading Seas the Savage Lands but Bolted me in response then Blightning me on his turn. My life was dwindling fast as Sprouting Thrinax left untouched and continued his onslaught, forcing me to cast Day of Judgment for his lone lizard. I only have permissions in my hand but only a Celestial Colonade as a threat. Fortunately for me, Sonny was screwed as I blew up his tapped Savage Lands with Tectonic Edge. I couldn’t race with Sonny since my mana isn’t enough for me to attack with Colonade then defend an army of saproling and leave mana open for my counters. Blightnings got countered even an unkicked Goblin Ruinblaster just to keep a healthy life, which then left me with just a Deprive for protection. Sonny bait a second Ruinblaster, I let it resolved unkicked, then blocked the goblin with my Colonade, took 3 from the saprolings which put me to just 3 lives. A turn later, Sonny attacked all his saproling tokens and I blocked 1 with my Colonade, giving me 1 life to spare. Sonny took the cards in my graveyard, I knew he is counting counter spells in there, tried his luck by hard casting Blightning for the win, but it was easily met by Deprive bouncing my Sejiri Refuge to gain at least 1 precious life. During my turn, I dropped Wall of Omens ready to stop the little green dudes and had to force Oblivion Ring into a Saproling token, thinking if he’s going to top deck a green source then Bloodbraid Elf for shenanigans or a hasty Ruinblaster will sneak in and only my Colonade will be able to defend it. Instead, Sonny got his ace in the form of Malakir Bloodwitch which stunned me as I’m holding only a Flashfreeze as permission. Thanks to my Mind Spring for 4 cards. 2 turns later, I was able to drop my bombs, JMS that bounced the Vampire then Baneslayer Angel ready to get my life back. Thanked God I ripped Deprive on my turn, a perfect spell to seal the deal. Sonny tried to end Baneslayer’s life by Terminating it but my Flashfreeze was reserved for it and from there he lost the tempo and I was able to gain my life back while reducing his life to lethal damage next turn, putting an end to the short story as Sonny extended his hand for concession.

Record: 4-0-2
Matchup: 10-5-2

After Ramon finished his top 8 match, he treated the whole Iloilo team for buckets of iced cold Red Horse Beer and some mouth-watering pulutans, which is such a perfect treat against the scorching hot atmosphere inside the venue. Unfortunately for Ramon, he lost to Rheinard using a Blue White Allies that we previously thought think was a mismatch against his deck.

Top 4 vs Rod using UWR Planeswalker

Game 1: A game of draw go and boredom since in this matchup you’ll rarely see action early on but the most exciting event was the Jace wars, Oblivion Rings, Spreading Seas for manlands, negates for planeswalkers then a resolved and active Ajani Vengeant for Rod that put pressure on me and I have to find answer for it before the Armageddon clock runs out. In an unexpected turn of events, I was able to knock Ajani with my hidden Colonade, which gave Rod some frustrations. My Baneslayer Angels got answered, and in that case Rod had a momentum by sticking a Jace the Mind Sculptor which locked my draws and helped him setup his Power Rangers (Jace, Ajani, Gideon and Elspeth). The game took over an hour to finish and Freddy the TO teased that we were stalling, producing laughter from the crowd.

SB Strategy:
+2 Kor Sanctifiers, +1 Jace Beleren, +2 Negate, +1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, -2 Day of Judgment, -4 Wall of Omens

Game 2: I was upset that I have to mulligan twice and kept a mediocre hand while going first. I just keep my stance by having a will to win and play it out. It is the same scenario as game 1 wherein the game took long, propagating our land count to something like 10. Planeswalkers clash out with who’s the toughest but some succumbs to my Baneslayer Angels and Colonades. I manage to stick a lone Baneslayer for a while that netted beyond my normal life but not for long as Rod had Martial Coup that grant him threats together with his Jace and Elspeth. Elspeth continued to build up her Ultimate until my stacked Ulamog in hand got ready to jump when I found my last mana to cast him which resulted to a blowout that even Rod was surprised for his coming. As soon as Rod couldn’t find an answer via brainstorm from Jace, he decided to concede and we proceed to the decider.

Game 3: Spreading Seas showed to both of us, but Rod was locked in blue colors as I turn all his white sources into Seas and he continued to miss land drops while I build up my own and dropped an uncontested Baneslayer Angel. The angel went the distance while I Negates Rod’s incoming Jaces. He still can’t find a white source as I dropped my own Jace then a second Baneslayer, which was enough for Rod to scoop.

Record: 5-0-2
Matchup: 12-6-2

Finals vs Rheinard using UW Allies

It’s time to avenge the loss of our teammate Ramon in the top 8. Before the game started, Rheinard offered me a deal that we split the prizes and just play for the byes. But since I’m not interested about the prizes and was only up for the byes, I declined his offer and we played it out.

Game 1: Rheinard plays a turn 2 Kazandu Blademaster that later followed by its twin brother. I only have a Wall of Omens for defense which slowed down the damage I took from his team that soon tags along with Jwari Shapeshifter who became a third Blademaster. I started to bait Oblivion Rings and Path to Exile but Rheinard has a lot of permission to protect his Allies. Came in a turn that I was down to 8 and thinking I’m going to die for lethal after my turn. I tried my luck by casting Day of Judgment with a backup Negate for his permission and I was glad it resolved. After that scenario he was out of gas and I was able to setup my offense with Jace the Mind Sculptor then Baneslayer Angel that made Rheinard packing for the next game.

SB Strategy:
+1 Path to Exile, +2 Negate, +1 Day of Judgment, -4 Spreading Seas

Game 2: Again Rhienard had a great start with Halimar Excavator then Kazandu Baldemaster followed by Hada Freeblades that gave him two options to win by milling me to death or by beatdown mode. My only outs were to minimize his ally count using Path to Exile and Oblivion Ring for his dudes. Unfortunately, he never runs out of gas as he continued to pour down allies like Talus Paladin then more Blademaster. I tried to clean the mess with Day of Judgment but it got Unified Will, leaving me down to a lethal 5 life. My only savior would be Gideon Jura if it got resolve and I was surprised it did! He was forced to attack Gideon while I slowly took down his team with Gideon’s Assassinate skill. The only one that I couldn’t touch is the Blademaster since it has vigilance, but thanks to my Wall of Omens that kept the soldier boy starring. That made me became the aggressor as I transformed Gideon to a beat stick. It slowly gobbled chunks of life from Rheinard but then a Talus Paladin granted him enough life to survive. I continue to build up counters for Gideon and then assassinated his annoying Paladin. Rheinard summoned Sea Gate Loremaster with the hopes of giving him more gas as well as granting the Blademaster a threatening body that could rampage his way for lethal. I tried to bait Path to Exile for his Loremaster which gave him a moment to decide, but later denied my kill which resulted for him to tap out and forced me to block with my lonely wall. My plan goes well as I Martial Coup the board that opens an attack from Gideon for the win.

Record: 6-0-2
Matchup: 14-6-2

It was a glorious moment for me and for team Iloilo! For the first time I’ll be having byes for the Grand Prix and savor the feeling of being like a pro as what I always dream of. I was given a box of Rise of the Eldrazi as a prize and was congratulated by my teammates and other friends. After the tournament, we were off for the party and celebration then went to my friend’s work place at Transcom City and drink till early morning.

Overall, I had the best Magic experience making me think that maybe, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than be good. I felt so relieved that I was able to make it despite the critical situations I experience during the course of the event. The deck was very good and I trusted on it that it can bring me glory. As for the upcoming Grand Prix Manila, I’m very excited and I hope I could use the deck once again but having its component is quite difficult for me to find. I guess I would be brewing something new and find the right deck that is ideal for the metagame.

The Eldrazi was awakened and last Saturday we experienced a brand new and exciting limited game play of the pastime we love most, Magic the Gathering. Before the event, I was surprised that Wizards released the complete visual spoiler 2 days earlier while previous sets usually have it in public just after the Prerelease. Due to this, it gave us the opportunity to know all the cards prior to the Prerelease event.

Upon knowing the cards in the set, I have learned that it is based on fatties featuring the titanic Eldrazi dudes and their 0/1 harmless minions, the RPG type guys the levelers, walls that do some crazy stuff, and some awesome auras that can give your crits a little bonus and a second life, thanks to Totem Armor. I personally like the whole set just for the limited format so I’m a little thrilled to try it out at the Prerelease.

I came at Rei’s Place ahead of the scheduled plan – which is unusual for me to do, LOL - and everybody was excited to experience the fun that the new set could offer. We were handed 6 fresh boosters of Rise of the Eldrazi and a cool and shiny Prerelease card Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. I cracked my boosters giving me this card pool…

My Sealed Pool (90 cards)
White (13 cards)
1 Affa Guard Hound
1 Caravan Escort
2 Harmless Assault
1 Knight of Cliffhaven
1 Lone Missionary
1 Oust
2 Repel the Darkness
2 Soul’s Attendant
2 Totem-Guide Hartebeest

Blue (16 cards)
3 Champion’s Drake
1 Distortion Strike
1 Enclave Cryptologist
1 Fleeting Distraction
1 Hada Spy Patrol
1 Halimar Wavewatch
1 Jwari Scuttler
1 Lay Bare
1 Merfolk Observer
1 Merfolk Skyscout
1 Nacrolepsy
1 Regress
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Venerated Teacher

Black (18 cards)
1 Bala Ged Scorpion
2 Bloodrite Invoker
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Contaminated Ground
1 Curse of Wizardry
1 Escaped Null
1 Induce Despair
1 Pawn of Ulamog
2 Perish the Thought
1 Pestilence Demon
1 Vendetta
1 Virulent Swipe
1 Skeletal Wurm
2 Zof Shade

Red (17 cards)
1 Akoum Boulderfoot
1 Brood Birthing
1 Disaster Radius
1 Fissure Vent
2 Flame Slash
1 Goblin Tunneler
1 Grotag Siege-Runner
1 Kiln Fiend
3 Lagac Lizard
1 Magmaw
1 Raid Bombardment
1 Soulsurge Elemental
2 Spawning Breath

Green (14 cards)
1 Boar Umbra
1 Broodwarden
1 Daggerback Basilisk
1 Growth Spasm
1 Kozilek’s Predator
1 Leaf Arrow
1 Living Destiny
1 Naturalize
1 Nema Siltlurker
1 Ondu Giant
2 Pelakka Wurm
1 Spider Umbra
1 Vengevine

Others (12 cards)
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Eldrazi Conscription
2 Hand of Emrakul
1 Keening Stone
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Forest

I was overjoyed when I opened a Vengevine, the card that I am chasing for in this set and a Pestilence Demon, a new addition for my Demon collection. Yet, I got a little bit frustrated when I saw that the other cards are epic fail for my constructed decks. I segregated the cards by color and choose those that are playable in limited, thinking the set is kind of slower than the Zendikar limited format.

At first, I was pleased to build a good Blue White Skies Deck featuring Champion’s Drake and some levelers but I’m not comfortable with the amount of playable level up dudes, besides it lessen the effectiveness of the drake. Furthermore, some of the cards in that color aren’t that excellent so I just leave them to the sidelines against much slower decks that have plenty of slow bombs. I easily abandoned black since it is not that strong and doesn’t have a great synergy with other colors, so that leaves me to Red and Green.

After some deep thoughts on what cards to play, I manage to setup this dreadful but fun deck to play…

The Deck

Deck Name: RG Mamaw Ramp
Lands (18 cards)
10 Forest
8 Mountain

Creatures (11 cards)
1 Artisan of Kozilek (Lebron James of the deck)
1 Broodwarden (The mother of all 0/1’s)
1 Daggerback Basilisk (The Fatty Killer)
1 Kozilek’s Predator (Ramp Model Number 1)
1 Ondu Giant (Ramp Model Number 2)
2 Pelakka Wurm (Kobe Bryant wannabe)
1 Vengevine (The Chase Card! Sweeeet!)
1 Akoum Boulderfoot (All time Utility Guy)
1 Magmaw (Mao’s invitational Card)
1 Soulsurge Elemental (The Underdog)

Spells (11 cards)
1 Eldrazi Conscription (The Element of Surprise)
1 Boar Umbra (Love Feeds)
1 Growth Spasm (Illegal Fixer)
1 Spider Umbra (Thunderbird)
1 Brood Birthing (Birth Control)
1 Disaster Radius (The Weapon of Ass Destruction)
2 Flame Slash (Dream Crusher)
2 Spawning Breath (Lighter)
1 Dreamstone Hedron (Mega Mind Stone)

Notable SB (5 cards)
1 Fissure Vent (for annoying artifacts)
1 Grotag Siege-Runner (Siege Tank)
1 Leaf Arrow (Baygon)
1 Living Destiny (Canabis)
1 Naturalize (for annoying artifacts number 2)

About the Deck

The theme of the deck is to ramp up to cast my big and scary monsters like Pelakka Wurm which I got 2 pieces and Artisan of Kozilek, a guy that can resurrect anyone from my team and can annihilate the opposition in the long game. What I like about Pelakka Wurm is that it gives you a large amount of life after the opponent’s beat you up in early turns, as well as a nice cantrip it if dies, so there is nothing to lose here.

My accelerator spells features the new way of ramping, putting some harmless 0/1 spawn into the battlefield, this includes Growth Spasm, Brood Birthing a semi Spectral Procession, Spawning Breath which has a dual purpose spell that can kill annoying weaklings and gives you a 0/1 ramp dude in return, while Kozilek’s Predator is a nice beatstick that gives you a couple of its younglings for mana.

The 0/1’s are also not for display after you ramp for your biggies, thanks to Broodwarden and Magmaw this punny spawns are not to be underestimated.

The Game Plan

1. Always draw first when winning the die roll.
2. Reserve the kills for super annoying cards.
3. Always read the f***ing cards especially those from the opponent.
4. Don’t be greedy.
5. Don’t make some buffoonic acts especially with mulligans.
4. Attack! Attack! Attack!

The Matchups

Round 1 vs Ramon

In game 1, Ramon played aggressively as more threats were laid down for the assault in early turns. My first play was Growth Spasm then Ondu Giant. The big fellow act as a traffic aid, stalling the board for a moment until I was able to cast a huge dude in the form of Akoum Boulderfoot which I blessed with piggy powers via Boar Umbra. Ramon was forced to chump block until he run out of blockers and after he draw no answers, he quickly scoops.

In game 2 Ramon was out of luck as he was color and mana screwed during the early turns. I was able to setup and summon Artizan of Kozilek at late game. Also I managed to neutralize his early assault with my traffic aider Ondu Giant and some enchant creature (creature kills).

Record: 1-0

Round 2 vs Travis

We had a long game 1 and he was able to beat me up early turn with his cheap and efficient creatures but I was able to stall the board with Ondu Giant and some punny 0/1’s spawns until my savior came up in the form of Pelakka Wurm. These earth eater gave me just enough life to keep me alive and kicking. Though Travis has a lot of answers including the Heat Ray that toasted my poor wurm, God’s grace continues to bestow me as I ripped an Artisan of Kozilek bringing back the wurm and that scenario was enough for Travis to scoop them up.

In game 2, Travis was able to drop the most remarkable green leveler in the set, the Beastbreaker of Bala Ged which soon wishes to become a snake since it was enchanted with Snake Umbra. It chunks my life total below half in no time but thanks to the swarm of spawns for I was able to hold back the onslaughter. While my spawns are busy dying to the Beastbreaker I was able to find answers for it with the 1-2 punch combination of Flame Slash and Spawning Breath wearing off the Totem Armor and finish up his team with a massive Disaster Radius for 6, thanks to Akoum Boulderfoot . In the post apocalyptic scenario, the time is called. Since Travis is still in healthy life and have lot of minions in the battlefield, we opted for a draw. But because I won game 1, that automatically puts me on the winning edge.

Record: 2-0

Round 3 vs Gian

It was a fast start for Gian in game 1 wherein he quickly left my life total into red. Fortunately, he was mana screwed and it stuck him for a couple of turns. Due to that, I was able to set up my ramp for my big guys but still, Gian has a lot of kills that neutralized my threats until I was able to awaken Artizan of Kozilek and quickly dispatched the game in favor of me.

In game 2, Gian was able to play consistently, dropping threat after threat until I was not able to hold off his Eldrazi Minions especially his own version of Artizan of Kozilek and turns later, I was annihilated. I was upset not being able to draw any of my big goons and kills… But oh well, to the deciding game it shall be.

The deciding was like “show me what you’ve got” scene as it came to a point wherein we were trading creatures and kills. When the dust settled down, the most exciting part of the game happened, the top deck mode! It was Gian who was first favored by the Gods, windmill slamming Artizan of Kozilek and brought him a fatty. I got Disaster Radius in hand but no creature to reveal and only a lone Akoum Boulderfoot in play bestowed with Spiderman’s power of the Spider Umbra. If Gian will swing next turn, I’ll be in great trouble, so it’s time for me to slow roll in my draw phase. Thank God the Almighty that he blessed me an Eldrazi Conscription and I rewarded it to my meekly looking Giant standing in front of an Eldrazi Titan. Ready to swing for lethal 15, Gian was forced to block with Artizan of Kozilek, leaving him the Rapacious One and a bloody 6 life. While I was at 9 life, the Rapacious One eats a chunk of it down to 4 which giving him 5 extra 0/1 spawns. I was stunned reading the card as he played Nomads’ Assembly that gives him 6 kor soldiers out of nowhere. Doing the math, I knew I’m dead for the next turn, hence it’s time for my final slow roll. Seeing that my draw was a Kozilek’s Predator, I was ecstatic as I windmill slammed Disaster Radius revealing the card that I drew. After reading the card, Gian offered a hand for concession. It was the most thrilling match in sealed I ever played so kudos to master Gian!

Record 3-0

Round 4 vs Tonton

Tonton is playing some kind of Jund colors (Red, Green, Black) so I sensed he has a lot of bombs and kills. During game 1, he had an early Daggerback Basilisk that ward off my bigger threats from attacking so I waited for the exact moment to kill the most annoying lizard in the table and swing with my team. Tonton started to show off his kills, and my team started to faint one by one. In the midst of despair, Pelakka Wurm showed up and all by itself took the victory (crocodile Dundy “bu-aya”).

In game 2, Tonton was able to unleash his “I never seen it before threats” starting with his Bramblesnap and the Vampire Aristocrat’s hot sister Bloodthrone Vampire. The Bramblesnap was a little bit annoying for it can single handedly crush me if I don’t have any answers to it, so I wasted no time and immediately dispatched it with Spawning Breath right in the precise moment. While Bloodthrone Vampire is pinching me, I began to ramp starting with Growth Spasm up to the last stage of Mind Stone the Dreamstone Hedron, which helped me fuel up the 2 Pelakka Wurm that got stuck in my opening hand. Not even Ulamog’s Crusher can crush the mighty duo!

After the match, we showed each other the cards in our pool and I was surprised to know that Tonton really got the best pool complete with bombs and kills. Good thing they never showed up in between games so I think I was just a lucksack.

Final Record 4-0

Final Thoughts

I was happy to win the prerelease again which rewarded me a cool t-shirt with Sarkhan the Mad on it and 4 free boosters for the taking. Overall, the set is fun to play in limited format but when it comes to constructed playable cards, there are only few I guess. It is also an advantage since I don’t have to spend a lot finding the cards for my deck this coming Grand Prix. For now, I’ll be trying a lot of deck versions with Rise of the Eldrazi in preparation for the big event. I’m very excited for the next standard metagame and try out the new cards from Rise of the Eldrazi. Cheers!

P.S.
My Top 5 cards from Rise of the Eldrazi
5. Consume the Meek
4. Consuming Vapors
3. Gideon Jura
2. Vengevine
1. Wall of Omens

“The best expedition would be an entire team of me.”

Hey, this is my first time to write an article for magic. After long pondering on what to write about, I finally thought of several of my friends who quit the game because of its financial requirements, so I’m writing this to prove them wrong, and to help our fellow newbies to fit in under a strict budget.

This deck is very easy to construct. You can play it in standard and won’t regret having it. It’ll knock your opponent off his chair, or at least leave him with a dropped jaw as you play your killer combos one by one, amping up your life total to a ridiculously high value hell end up giving up.

Also, since it is an allied deck, you won’t have to worry if you had not mastered most of the game, since the concept of this deck is to shower creatures over the battlefield, and in the end, the non-creature spells you hold in your hand will instill a wave of fear over them once your manabase has evened out.

A tempo deck is an early aggro late control, which is very flexible and hard to beat.

So without further ado, I present to you the decklist!

Creatures(23):
4 – Hada Freeblade  @Php50.00ea = Php200.00
4 – Kazandu Blademaster  @Php50.00ea = Php200.00
4 – Halimar Excavator   @Php5.00ea = Php20.00
4 – Ondu Cleric   @Php5.00ea = Php20.00
4 – Harabaz Druid    @Php80.00ea= Php320.00
3 – Sea Gate Loremaster   @Php40.00ea = Php120.00

Spells(15):
4 – Join the Ranks   @Php5.00ea = Php20.00
4 – Negate    @Php5.00ea = Php20.00
4 – Vines of Vastwood    @Php5.00ea = Php20.00
3 – Rite of Replication    @Php40.00ea = Php120.00

Lands(22):
4 - Seaside Citadel   @Php30.00ea = Php120.00
4 - Graypelt Refuge    @Php40.00ea = Php160.00
4 - Sejiri Refuge    @Php40.00ea = Php160.00
5 – Plains    @Php5.00ea = Php25.00
4 – Island    @Php5.00ea = Php20.00
1 – Forest    @Php5.00ea = Php5.00

Sideboard(15):
4 – Oblivion Ring    @Php10.00ea = Php40.00
3 – Planar Cleansing    @Php40.00ea = Php120.00
4 – Marshal’s Anthem    @Php40.00ea = Php160.00
4 – Vedalken Outlander    @Php5.00ea = Php20.00

Grand Total:   Php 1,890.00

WOW!!!

An amazing deck under Php 2000.00!!!

Here I’ll explain the play for this deck.

Your God cards are your creatures

Hada Freeblade – This deck’s only 1 drop, a formidable creature that grows as you play along. Never can it be toppled over once it reaches around turn 5-6. It’ll hold the opponent’s invasion at bay, fearing an attack from this growing threat. So its block his attackers or beat the crap out of him if he doesn’t.

Kazandu Blademaster – This card tags along with Hada Freeblade, Even if it is not in an ally deck, it’ll show much force, In this card I see the return of Knight of Meadowgrain (and I also think that vigilance beats lifelink in this type of deck), and a plus for its growing ability. Along with the Hada, it’ll make sure you hold the game long enough to take over, or just use it to cripple your opponent and forcing him into bad blocks.

Harabaz Druid – A birds of paradise that gets you into mana overload once you play join the ranks or any small ally.

Sea Gate Loremaster – Like all tempo decks, allies also have that late game downfall if you can’t get an late game overdrive, that’s where this card comes in handy, It literally fills up your hand in late game. And with a harabaz druid in play, you’ll surely have no problem emptying it again.

Ondu Cleric & Halimar Excavator – These are your super 2 drops. Most ally decks would depend on a Tallus Paladin or a Kabira Evangel to ensure victory, but this deck requires a cool head and holding back.

Once these two superheroes ore in play as a Rite of Replication resolves(kicked), made possible in late game or a Harabaz druid, you’re sure to have a dazzled opponent.

Here’s the math.

It’ll be either “gain life equal to the number of Allies you control” or “target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the number of Allies you control” every time an ally comes into play.

Rules for Rite of Replication state that in the case of allies, if right of replication was kicked, each creature coming into play sees the other 4.

So take 1 of your two superheroes and play a kicked Rite of Replication. That’s 5 allies coming into play, so your original copy will see 5 allies coming into play, activating its ability 5 times counting for 6 allies in play(minimum), but that’s not all. The other 5 will also have the same effect as they come into play.

So that’s (6effects x 6allies@minimum) 5 times = 180 life or cards milled.

Your non-creature spells are self explanatory.

Join the Ranks – Overload your early game allies with counters, life or mill.

Negate – The thing ally decks hates most are board sweepers, so this should help.

Vines of Vastwood – This should ensure the safety of you important allies.

Rite of Replication – FTW(for the win) hahaha

The sideboard was practically too cliché, since most decks of this color use this type of sideboard.

Oblivion Ring – No one can argue on the power of this 3 drop, although some might put in a path to exile(with a little extra budget) but I still think the power to remove anything non-land is better.

Planar Cleansing – There always comes a time when you need to sweep yourself, don’t worry, allies will always have something to put into the battlefield. With an extra budget, you could put in Day of Judgment Instead.

Marshal’s Anthem – A lot of people tell me why I don’t put this on mainboard. I keep saying, Why should I? The functions well with rite of replication, and my allies don’t die most of the time, except against vamps or jund maybe.

Vedalken Outlander – Red is a very overused color today, this puts a stop to that.

How to play (under very lucky conditions):

Turn 1 – Drop plains play Hada freeblade

Turn 2 – Drop forest play Harabaz Druid, attack with ½ Hada Freeblade

Turn 3 – Drop Island Play Halimar Excavator and another Hada freeblade, that’s mill 7. attack with ¾ Hada. Tap Harabaz play Join the ranks, Another mill 12.

Turn 4 – Drop Basic land Tap Harabaz, produce blue tap 3 lands, Kick Rite on Halimar excavator, Mill 180 for the win.

Leave your comments and suggestions, happy playing.

DISCLAIMER: I will not put in my experiences when I piloted this deck on a tourney coz it had an abysmal day (lacked too many cards at that time and was an off-day for me)

…Because sometimes you have to do it, other times, you feel the need to wait a turn or so…

Back to business, was thinking of a cheap-ish combo deck (since I love combo) that doesn’t die on one card. Thinking of the Crypt of Agadeem combo, it was cheap but dies to Goblin Ruinblaster or Jund Charm.

I went with the cruel combo list, but the cards aren’t that cheap (m10 lands and such) and will have a conflict of cards with the pool since Ryan Agoncillo (a.k.a. Franz) plays Cruel Control and utilizes most of the cards. So next on the list was the Runeflare Mine combo.

What about this one? Hmmm, kills people when hot, kills you when not. Bahh whatever, I’ll make it since we already have 80% of the cards anyways and most of them are unused by our pool (which includes the BEST player in Iloilo, Marco “Next!” Gonzalez; and uhhh, ermmm, ummm, Franz the young-looking old guy). So we did just that and…

Here’s Version One:

Runeflare Combo V1.0 with Pyromancer Ascension

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Spells (38) 4 Burst Lightning 3 Into the Roil 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Runeflare Trap 4 Worldly Counsel 4 Ponder 4 Time Warp 4 Pyromancer Ascension 3 Font of Mythos 4 Howling Mine Land (22) 8 Island 10 Mountain 4 Scalding Tarn Sideboard (15) 4 Goblin Ruinblaster 3 Swerve 4 Pyroclasm 4 Dragons Claw

This version of UR runeflare relies on the Pyromancer Ascension having 2 charge counters on it
and putting 2 Howling Mines, or a Font of Mythos (for the minimum requirement of making your opponent draw 3 cards) into play so you could trap his behind to kingdom come (reference to what SOMEONE did). Will discuss pros and cons of this deck later since I will compare this one with v 2.0 anyways. Next is the version two.

Runeflare Combo V2.0 (Straightforward Trap + Twincast)

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Spells (37) 1 Trapmakers Snare 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Runeflare Trap 3 Twincast 3 Into the Roil 3 Negate 4 Time Warp 4 Ponder 3 Divination 4 Howling Mine 4 Font of Mythos Lands (23) 12 Island 4 Scalding Tarn 7 Mountain Sideboard (15) 3 Magma Spray 4 Volcanic Fallout 4 Swerve 4 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

Ok, so this version DOESN’T run Pyromancer Ascension. Why you might ask? It’s because it DOESN’T need any. Instead, it uses Twincast instead so when you trap, you Twincast your trap (unless you have 1 or 2 more traps in hand) to deal twice that many damage to your opponent.

God draw version 1:
1st turn play Tarn, sac for Island, Ponder.
2nd turn play Mountain, drop Howling Mine.
3rd turn play any mountain or island and drop another Howliing Mine.
4th turn drop Mountain or Island (your board should be 2 islands 2 mts). and pass turn
Opponent’s draw step: Cast runeflare x2 + twincast.your opponent should be dead by now (unless otherwise) so do the winning dance.

Key Differences between the Two Decks

1.) V1 runs Pyromancer Ascension over Twincast to hit the opponent more damage.
Pros and cons:
Ascension takes time to put charge counters (hence, kinda slower compared to Twincast) but when it
DOES have 2 counters on it, sky is the limit on what you can do. (2x or even 3x bolt, 2x Time Warp, etc.)

2.) V2 has built in Negates while V1 has no counterspells.
Pros and cons:
Negate is a good addition to this deck since it can counter spells that can hinder this deck’s combo.
(Sadistic Sacrament, Maelstrom Pulse, etc. too lazy to add more). But, when crits are killing
you slowly, do you really wanna see negate at your hand? Open ended question right there.

3.) V1 has one less Font of Mythos than V2. (why in your right mind do that?)
Pros and cons:
Well, V1 has a lot of card drawers and sifters thru the deck so I’m betting that one less Font would be okay right? It can go both ways. Since too many instant card drawers mean that less cards would be redundant in the long run so one less Font will have no bearing. The other scenario will be that, he just pulsed your mines, and you have trap + Twincast in hand and you need your ghey opponent to draw at least 3 cards during his/her(Guess who) turn. What do you need? Definitely a Font.

4.) V2 has 1 friggin joker (Trapmaker’s Snare)
Pros and cons:
Snare is odd one out in V2 since it needs firepower (compared to v1 which runs more burn and drawers-not the Oro can type). On a turn, you could snare and look for Runeflare Trap if you have the need to. Otherwise it’s just another dead card. What’s good about this card is that it acts as your 5th Runeflare Trap. What’s bad is you have to commit mana and true enough, sometimes a turn to pull off the combo.

Main Matchup Differences

V1-does good on control decks since an unanswered pyro ascension almost always mean death since all your spells are 2 for 1 now. On the short end, it dies badly (in my experience) to very fast decks (RDW, Boros, Allies) on today’s meta.
V2- does good on aggro decks because it could kill on turn 4 or 5 (on god draws and no disruption or counters) but is kinda just ok with control matchups because if the runeflare traps get countered, you better pray you have plan B.

Sideboarding Strategies

V1.Goblin Ruinblaster - Kill nonbasic land and lol at your opponent since there will be one less land to play spells with (works well with Jund,UW control).
V1.Swerve - To make him taste his own medicine (Sadistic Sacrament,Maelstrom Pulse, whatever targets you or your artifact card drawers).
V1.Pyroclasm - Pyro can also add counters to pyro ascension hence 2 to cast sweeper is very welcome here (insert only on crit-based decks)
V1.Dragon’s Claw - RDW (What else could it be?)

V2.Magma Spray - To spray toxic fumes on a card named Bloodghast or any other recurring crits.
V2.Volcanic Fallout - For wipeout purposes (Mono Green, Boros Bushwhacker, RDW)
V2.Swerve - Same purpose as on V1.
V2.Sphinx of Jwar Isle - Ultra powerful in the Jund matchup or control matchups since control will most likely board out their sweeping and creature removal spells (DOJ, Rei Coup)
V1&2. Prayer – and lots of it so that ur SB strategy will work and WILL see action.

So ok, now Mark owes me TWO, I repeat, TWO buckets of beer. If you don’t understand any or all of the above stuff, feel free to change your hobby anytime. For reference ask Eric (not papa’s boy, the other one) since he won an FNM with a Runeflare trap deck (with unsummon built-in though) but pretty much the same core. What else? Oh yeah, if you’re a chick and want to learn from me, we could arrange a private lesson with just you and me >:), otherwise don’t bother me (unless you want private lessons from GUESS WHO). It’s a rap then. That’s all for now since I’m not feeling industrious at the moment. Ciao-fan!

Zzup babes! Hi I’m Rap and this is my first time writing an article here in Magic Iloilo which is I’m proud to be one of the players in the community. This is about my deck which is nicknamed BANT and this deck ended up at 4th place last tournament. What’s with the initials “BANT”? Well, it means Beat All Near Targets (actually a double-striking menace) and let me tell you how it works. Let’s start with:

Rafiq of the Many and Finest Hour. The powerhouse of the deck that can win games single-handedly. The turn he comes down, he turns your strongest creature into a more powerful, double-striking menace, capable of tearing through opponent’s creatures, players and planeswalkers alike.

The Stoneforge Mystic is one of the BOSS, searching for Whispersilk Cloak which gives your critters an unstoppable overflowing attacks. No worries on spot removals because of shroud and unblockability in it that you could say “I leave my b*tch in your table”. For a reason that most of your creatures have lifelink, with whispersilk cloak equipped to it means a massive lifegain madness.

For the speed of the deck? We got Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise but not only that. The combination of Lotus Cobra and Knight of Reliquary will accelerate the deck’s big spells which can be played as early as 4th turn.

Let’s talk about spot removal. Path to Exile is a common spell choice among deck’s with white splash. One of the most powerful removal in Standard, this lets you deal with hard to kill creatures, stops Bloodghasts from returning to play and Sprouting Thrinax from leaving behind tokens. This kind of card has all the advantage for another reason on helping you fix your mana if ever you get mana problems. Three is the preferred number of PtE to include in the deck but a fourth Path is also recommended depending on your metagame.

Master of the Wild Hunt a another good inclusion in the deck. This card is a GREAT offense and defense creature for it can produce 2/2 Wolf token every upkeep and can also act as a removal especially for flying creature which is the deck’s weakness. This also helps you get rid of those creatures with protection from white, specifically Malakir Bloodwitch and Black Knight. *hmpf*

Oh and before I forget, my favorite card on the deck is Admonition Angel. This “Nuker of Bant” works well with Knight of Reliquary, getting fetch lands for her Landfall trigger and surely it will be a total disaster for your opponent.

The final cards we’ll add are just a couple creatures to ensure we have enough to take advantage of the exalted bonus granted by most of the creatures in the deck. The addition of Rhox War Monk and Baneslayer Angel (Viva Hotbabes) will do nicely for this job. Also, always pay attention in your manlands as they can win the game for you. (which is I always forgot >_< )

This is my deck list:

Whisper Bant by Ralph Villa

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Lands (24) 5 Forest 4 Misty Rainforest 3 Verdant Catacombs 1 Plains 2 Island 3 Celestial Colonnade 2 Sejiri Steppe 2 Stirring Wildwood 1 Sunpetal Grove 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood Creatures (31) 3 Rafiq of the Many 4 Rhox War Monk 4 Noble Hierarch 2 Birds of Paradise 2 Admonition Angel 4 Lotus Cobra 4 Knight of the Reliquary 4 Baneslayer Angel 2 Stoneforge Mystic 2 Master of the Wild Hunt Spells (7) 3 Path to Exile 2 Whispersilk Cloak 2 Finest Hour Sideboard (15) 4 Negate 4 Celestial Purge 4 Flashfreeze 3 Day of Judgment

For the sideboard, I hope you won’t get confused if most cards that you see is for Red, Green, and Black. It’s because Jund colors is Bant’s biggest weakness. In the weeks of tournament I played this deck but didn’t win against Jund that is why I made this new storm of sideboard for them. Their tokens (from the thrinax) causes delay in your attacks and waiting for their removals by killing your creatures one by one, even if you have Whispersilk Cloak they still have answer with Maelstrom Pulse.

If you are thinking “How about facing other tier 1 decks like U/W control, RDW, Vamps, Naya and Boros?” That is not much of a problem. You play the game like outracing the speed of RDW and Boros as gain life is your big advantage. As for control, just don’t forget to save your Negates for Day of Judgment. I hope you liked my list. Until my next article, chao I’m out.

Warning: This is not a detailed narration of my experience during the Gold Rush but a mere overview of my thoughts and feelings before, during and after the tournament.
A few months back when I decided to start playing Magic again after Mirrodin-Kamigawa-Ravnica, I did what most magic players would do- I searched the internet for the best decks in standard. Obviously, Jund was and still is the deck to beat.

Zendikar just came out and my dilemma was whether to invest my money on Jund, which 90% of its components would be rotating out of standard by the end of 2010, or look for another competitive deck composed mostly of Zendikar cards. I finally decided to go with this deck, R/W landfall a.k.a Boros Bushwacker (Fast and Inconsistent)

R/W landfall a.k.a Boros Bushwacker

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Lands (23) 4 Arid Mesa 2 Marsh Flats 4 Mountain 5 Plains 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Teetering Peaks Creatures (23) 2 Elite Vanguard 2 Goblin Bushwhacker 4 Goblin Guide 4 Kor Skyfisher 4 Plated Geopede 4 Ranger of Eos 3 Steppe Lynx Spells (14) 2 Ajani Vengeant 4 Burst Lightning 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Path to Exile

As for the sideboard, I can only recall manabarbs, celestial purge, and earthquake.

First of all don’t ask me why only 3 lynxs or only 12 fetchlands etc. etc. because I only copied this from the net (“Oo, nag net deck ako”) and the deck was well within my budget. I first piloted the deck at the 2009 Gold Rush Tournament and ended up with a 6-1-2 record defeating Christopher Rama, the jerk who tried to DQ me because of my sleeves (”Teh? Nabalbalan ka?? Namit??”) I hate that guy.

Moving on, my 1st loss was against Jund played by a fat guy who kept bragging he had BYES and he keeps saying “round 6 na oh, pagod kana noh? Ako, hindi pa may 3 round byes kasi ako” ULOL. My second loss was against a mirror played by a gay guy from Lasalle, he won because of Elspeth. I didn’t talk to him because I was afraid he might eat my hotdog.( I was, then, eating a hotdog for snacks). On the last round my opponent and I decided to draw until now I regret that decision.

I have no comments on the matches I’ve won. Duh? Who would? Btw, Here are some pics from that tourney.

So, did you get the moral lesson to my story? You guessed it. There is no moral lesson to this story. Just shit and eat before a tournament especially big ones like GPs and Nationals. Until next time.

Hello people! We all know Magic: The Gathering is an expensive hobby when playing in its competitive side. For people who like playing Magic but can’t afford the cards, give up the game. Sometimes when you invite people to play they usually reply, “Mahal yang laro na yan!” or “Pang mayaman lang yan..”. So I introduced them to the Pauper Fornat, the all-commons format for Magic:The Gathering. We were able to come up with 2-3 deck that were solid enough to play with in the said format. So here’s the 1st deck, Esper Tempo!

Esper Tempo

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Lands (14) 4 Esper Panorama 3 Swamp 3 Plains 2 Island 2 Halimar Depths Creatures (24) 4 Tidehollow Strix 4 Kor Skyfisher 4 Sedraxis Alchemist 4 Parasitic Strix 2 Ethersworn Shieldmage 4 Sanctum Gargoyle 2 Gravedigger spells (21) 2 Unsummon 3 Into the Roil 2 Agony Warp 2 Journey to Nowhere 2 Oblivion Ring 2 Narrow Escape 4 Fieldmist Borderpost 4 Mistvein Borderpost SIDEBOARD (15) 4 Executioners Capsule 3 Relic of Progenitus 2 Agony Warp 2 Soul Manipulation 4 Vedalken Outlander

The point of the deck is to abuse Parasitic Strix Life gain, Life lose ability.

The Beaters

TIDEHOLLOW STRIX - 2/1 Flying, Deathtouch is no joke it can go offence on turn 2, and on defence coupled with Ethersworn Shieldmage.

KOR SKYFISHER - 2/3 flying for 2 is a good card, having a drawback of returning a permanent on the field. But in this deck its not a drawback. Use this flyer to return and reuse Halimar Depths, Sanctum Gargoyle, Gravedigger and of course Parasitic Strix.

SEDRAXIS ALCHEMIST - a 3 drop 2/2 with the same purpose as Kor Skyfisher. But can also be used on bouncing your opponents creatures, enchantments, borderposts, etc. giving you board advantage by the third turn.

PARASITIC STRIX - the star of the deck! This tweety birrd can dish out2 damage without even attacking, and heal you at the same time (by 2 life). Easily resurrected, if killed ,by Sanctum Gargoyle and Gravedigger.

ETHERSWORN SHIELDMAGE - coupled with other artifact creatures like Tidehollow Strix, your opponents will be hitting a wall when they attack. It also prevents parasitic Strix being removed from the game
via Magma Spray.

SANCTUM GARGOYLE - this is like the ‘messiah’ of artifacts telling them to rise from their graves and go back to the owner’s hand. When you’re Parasitic Strix gets killed, call it back!

GRAVEDIGGER - calls back any creature from the grave. This guy tag-teams with Sanctum Gargoyle to give you an undying army.

Spells

UNSUMMON - return attacking or defending creatures your opponent controls. But most importantly return you Parasitic Strix to your hand.

INTO THE ROIL - same with Unsummon but gives you a draw mechanic when kicked.

AGONY WARP - a 2 for 1 card negating a critter’s attack and killing another. Love this card btw. love

JOURNEY TO NOWHERE - a 2 drop creature remover.

OBLIVION RING - a 3 drop non-land permanent remover. A staple in any deck with white in it.

NARROW ESCAPE - returns any critter you control to your hand and gives you 4 life. Coupled with Parasitic Strix and your ganing 6, while your opponent loses life.

SIDEBOARD:
EXECUTIONER’S CAPSULE - anti-fatty card. Can be brought back by Sanctum Gargoyle. Helps Parasitic Strix’s ability.

RELIC OF PROGENITUS - removes those nasty unearthers and in a mirror match helps you remove the opposition key cards.

AGONY WARP - for aggro-decks that are creature based.

2 SOUL MANIPULATION - a great creature counterspell that also allows you to return a creature from graveyard to hand. Just in case you run out of Gravediggers and Gargoyles.

4 VEDALKEN OUTLANDER - anti-RG and Naya decks. This baby can stop a Gorger Wurm in its tracks.

So that’s about it. IF there are any violent reactions or suggestions. Please do say so. happy playing!

-RonRon

Hi all, Happy Friday. My article for today will discuss about a particular creature that has been under hyped in the current Standard metagame. The recent results in Worlds last weekend showed that Naya Lightsaber is the best deck in the format, followed by the ever popular Jund Aggro. That also would mean that Baneslayer Angel’s price will surely rise up again, with the current value at 60usd each. But we won’t focus on that hype. I’ll reveal today why not all white decks need this BS Angel (I mean Baneslayer, not the one you’re thinking. :)). Going back, I’m sure you already noticed that Wizards was going away from the regeneration thing by creating new cards like Doom Blade instead of Terror, Lightning Bolt instead of Incinerate, etc. This means that regenerating creatures, including those with Indestructibility will rise as the powerhouse beaters in Standard. Now, we look at Thornling:

What does that mean? It means you just pay one green mana and Thornling will beat the hell out of your opponent this turn. I can attest to that as I play against this card with me playing Jund. With a lot of green mana to activate its abilities, I ended up playing my creatures and chump blocked Thornling until I find an answer. It’s difficult since Jund has no answer to Indestructibility so I just ran out of blockers and succumbed to its beats.

So how do you build a deck around Thornling? Here’s what you need:

1. Lots of green mana – this is provided by mana guys like Noble Heirarch, Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves.

2. Defense against RFG removals – I’m referring to Path to Exile. The good answer to that would be Vines of Vastwood and a kicked one is very much better.

With these two requirements, I think you can go with a mono green list or similar to what my teammate Oliver made, which is a Green-White Aggro version. Here’s his list:

GW Thornling by Oliver Mastilero

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Creatures (24) 4 Battlegrace Angel 4 Thornling 4 Dauntless Escort 4 Noble Hierarch 3 Ranger of Eos 4 Steward of Valeron 1 Scute Mob Spells (17) 2 Behemoth Sledge 3 Garruk Wildspeaker 4 Path to Exile 4 Wildfield Borderpost 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 2 Martial Coup Lands (19) 6 Forest 3 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood 6 Plains 4 Sunpetal Grove Sideboard (15) 3 Acidic Slime 4 Celestial Purge 2 Day of Judgment 4 Great Sable Stag 2 Mold Shambler

This deck accelerates into either a turn three Thornling or Battlegrace Angel. The Angel is a good support once Thornling gets online, providing Exalted pump and Lifelink. This is very much preferred rather than the Baneslayer. I know you’ll say it gets killed by B. Blast but Dauntless Escort is there for the support. The main purpose here is to get Thornling online and it will single-handedly win the game, although there are other outs on this deck like Overrun with Garruk or aerial beats with Elspeth.

The sideboard is particularly against Jund with four copies of GSS and Celestial Purge, and a few cards for control and combo (the Slime and Shambler). I think GSS and purge are the deck’s default sideboard and the remaining slots are to be adjusted according to local meta.

As of the deck’s performance, it has won different match-ups with the current Tier 1 decks. See a recent result here. It is also performing very well in our local meta, having won three tournaments already. Lucky you might say, but I’d say just try the deck and see it yourself.

Until next time.

Magic: The Gathering Iloilo Championships 2009

December 5 to 6, 2009
David’s Tea House, Smallville Complex, Diversion St. Iloilo City

Tournament Schedule

Day One
Individual Standard Constructed Format Preliminary Rounds
Reg: 500php (includes lunch buffet)
update: first 20 participants will receive a Zendikar booster pack.

• 9:00am Registration
• 10:00am Start of Tournament (Rounds 1 and 2)
• 12:00m Lunch
• 1:00pm Tournament Remaining Rounds
• 5:00pm: 8-man Zendikar draft (side event)*

Day Two
3-Man Team Event Constructed (Standard, Extended and Legacy Format)
Reg: 100php per team member

• 9:00am Team Event registration
• 10:00am Start of Tournament
• 3:00pm Individual Standard Constructed Top 8
• 5:00pm Awarding Ceremony

Prize Structure for Standard Constructed and Team Event

(Pot money depending on the number of players)

1st place 40% of the pot money + Trophy
2nd place 20%
3rd & 4th 10%
5th to 8th 5%

*side event draft depends on the no. of participants.

For more details just visit the forum thread here.