BBQSOD

Is it apparent yet that I’m sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel for topics?

I think I really need to get done being sick so I can start playing and writing about Magic again. I mean, for one thing, I’d really hate to take a W by giving my opponent a terrible head-cold, and for another, I’d hate to get germs on my card sleeves. That would be almost but not quite as bad as getting poison ivy on my hands and, uh, nether regions by going golfing then going to the bathroom.

And now my blog has crossed into an entirely new frontier of poor taste and too much information.

Anyway, if Bloomington, Indiana were an hour closer to Springfield, Ohio, I would probably consider heading there this weekend for a tournament.

In case you’re wondering, it’s $25, 10 proxies and registration starts at 11:30 a.m.

Avalon Kingdom
223 S. Pete Ellis Dr.
Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 331-3008

Also, you could win a Mox Emerald. That’s really why you’re in it, am I right?

Anyway, I’ve been doing Unlimited sealed-deck tournaments in Magic: the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers. Usually I give myself (and everyone else, I assume) a starter and two or three boosters that have at least 30 cards between them.

There are times, though, when the packs really seem to be pushing you uncomfortably into two colors. Granted, I haven’t opened a lot of packs recently, but I don’t remember ever getting six white cards, five red cards, two blue cards, a green card, and an artifact (no black cards) in one pack. Is that odd? I guess I’m playing red and white, eh? Even if they’re not the best cards.

Anyway, I finished by making this deck out of my starter and two boosters:

6x Plains
7x Mountain
4x Forest

1x Savannah Lions
1x Mesa Pegasus
1x Benalish Hero
1x Wrath of God
1x Healing Salve
1x Disenchant
1x Swords to Plowshares

1x Rock Hydra
2x Dwarven Warriors
1x Gray Ogre
1x Hill Giant
2x Earthbind
1x Disintegrate
1x Lightning Bolt

1x Scryb Sprites
1x Grizzly Bears
1x Shanodin Dryads
1x Giant Spider
2x Giant Growth
1x Sol Ring

Round 1: Octavio Muerto

I match his opening Merfolk with an opening Lions, which he meets with a second turn Bears. I take some beats while using my Lions as direct damage to kill Merfolk and Walls of Ice. Finally I get a Hill Giant to stem the bleeding and when he gives his Bears Flight, I take them out with an Earthbind. I get a few beats in until he comes back with Craw Wurm and decides, surprisingly, to creature stall. My 8/8 Rock Hydra and army of weenies stare across the table at his Thicket Basilisk, two Craw Wurms and army of weenies. Yay. Computers are not aggressive. Eventually I break the stalemate with an unblockable Shanodin Dryad that’s all set to go all the way, but I decide to test his countermagic ability with a Disintegrate to the dome for the win.

In game two I have a slow starting hand but manage a second turn Mesa Pegasus that’s on track to win against his non-flying Walls of Wood and Ice and a Ley Druid. His Giant Spider succumbs to Giant Growth and my Savannah Lions will get through thanks to Dwarven Warrior until my opponent pulls some dirty computer tricks and casts Blue Screen of Death for the draw, knocking me out of the tournament.

Judge!

Man, what a letdown.

Anyway, I’ve never really played any sort of limited format, but I get the feeling I should try at some point. I feel like I have a decent handle on the strategy behind the deck building (that is, removal and evasion are the absolute requirements), so I’d like to give myself the opportunity to try. Probably not in a draft format because I never know what’s good or bad in new sets and I’m easily distracted by cards that look good but really aren’t, like, I don’t know, Blood Funnel.

Maybe I’ll make it to the Dissention prereleases in April. That’d be pretty cool, I bet. Plus I’d get some free promo cards.

Maybe, since the Izzet weren’t nearly as Vintage ready as I’d hoped they’d be, the Simic will make up for it, or the Blue-White guild, whatever one that is. There could be some sweet new Vintage aggro or prison coming out of either of those guilds, and that would be cool.

Probably not though, just some support cards like Shattering Spree from Guildpact.

Oh well.

Thinking about Blood Funnel, do you think it could work in a Vintage storm-combo deck? Something like Blood Funnels, a bunch of Kobolds, and some artifacts that cost two or less. Even if your artifacts get countered because you can’t sacrifice a creature, you’re still playing them, so they count for storm, and you’re playing them for free. You’d just have to be able to draw some cards at some point so you’d have ten cards to play before Tendrils for the win. It could be an interesting idea…

I shall have to think more on this.

Until nest time, try to BSOD your opponent into dropping the tournament.