Planechase is the best thing EVER!
Planechase is the best thing EVER!
Planechase trip report (again, all according to memory)
Game 1 - Thought I was doing OK with one of the decks I like, in Simic. Just managed to get an Overbeing of Mind out on turn 4, which seemed good. Then Kelnish's goblins (especially his prot-blue Piledriver) took from from 18 to about -10 in one swing immediately after my turn. Owwww. I don't think he got any extraordinary resistance from the rest afterwards (though they certainly folded less quickly than my blue-based deck), but my memory could be failing on that point.
Game 2 - I took a pretty greedy keep, with two lands, but 5 3-mana removal spells. Thought I'd be fine. Turns out I3 got an Eldrazi token on about turn 2 and proceeded to jump up and down on us. I went down to 4 life and no land from annihilator. Just about recovered, put out a doomed traveler who works really well against annihilator, and even got up to 3 lands. Kelnish went down in the meantime, very surprised that he'd been killed before me with my miserable draw and play.
I worked out that if I killed the Eldrazi, I was dead next turn anyway, so taunted I3uster a bit and then turned around to take out Siriel's Magma Phoenix (I think? Maybe Skaargan Firebird or whatever it is). Out of spite he burned me out instead of going after I3, so I was gone.
Turned into a really close game at the end, with the Planechase cards swinging it this way and that. Both of the two could have won if they'd drawn just a little more burn or another haste creature. In the end, Siriel gracefully committed sudoku via burn.
Game 3 - Bit frustrated, so I decided to go for something of a joke, with the 5-colour ramp deck. Might as well get some entertainment. We promptly started on a plane which put a permanent into play for us, and I got Maelstrom Archangel. Not only was that a free 5/5 flier on turn 0, it meant that whenever I hit someone, I could cast the spells in my hand (very powerful but limited by cost and colour) for free. I3 turned out to have had the same sort of idea about going for the 5-colour, but got a little less lucky with his first free creature, though it was still obviously good. I did lots of damage to Kel, put a few more big guys out, got them wrathed by I3, then we hit a randomising plane. As it turned out, I got Progenitus on the field. Coupled that with one of the nice defenders in the 5-colour deck, and I took a reasonably comfortable win from a deck I'd thought would really struggle with all the weird randomness of Planechase.
Game 4 - This was a bit of a mess, where I don't think anyone's gameplans worked out perfectly. I got hit down low early, because the Rakdos deck doesn't like creatures which block. Really really thought I was dead, but the planes span and I got to pick the next of the five top planes in the deck. Promptly went for the one where all instants and sorceries got rebound. With two Terminates in hand, and broadcasting that threat loud and clearly, I just about staved off people enough for a turn or so. So someone flipped the plane, I managed to get one rebounding Terminate off in time but not the other, and then was allowed to put Grave Titan into play for free. With two creatures removed from my opponents, reasonable power on the board and Terminate coming back in my upkeep, I managed to shove out the lethal damage quickly.
Game 5 - I do not even know what in hell's name happened here. Still wanted to do something a bit crazy (got that wish, certainly), so I picked up the Jace Mill deck. Kinda hoped I might mill one person out before dying, but we'd see. Found out that it had one of the Swords in, which I certainly didn't remember but was quite awesome.
Anyway, I kinda sucked for almost all of it. When putting free spells on the battlefield, I ended up Mind Controlling a Dutiful Dead, then burning an Into the Roil to get my damn spell back. Eventually stole I3's Divinity of Pride, and the lifelink from that certainly saved me, so I have to thank him.
As it turned out, since I was essentially no threat - and my Howling Mine was drawing everyone cards - people only seemed to vaguely swipe at me if they had nothing better to do and I crept along, mostly in single digits of life. Actually, with Kel running Izzet and Siriel piloting Burn, everyone except Siriel (at a very healthy 15, thank you very much) did end up very close to dead as the game hit its middle stages. Kel eventually burnt out I3 with a Volcanic Geyser, I3 having looked to be getting into a decent position despite having to run 75 cards (obviously a concern for me, running Mill). Then we kinda sniped back and forth at each other (meanwhile, I got in a hit with the Sword to mill Kel for 10, and hit him with a Mind Sculpt for 7). I was obviously the weaker one of the three remaining players.
Then Planechase reared its ugly head. We got a randomisation, and I ended up with an Icy Manipulator to tap down the threatening fliers the other two kept having and I just couldn't deal with. (Meanwhile, Siriel threw a Searing Spear at my face to take me to 1). Staved off a couple of lethal attacks (Hypersonic Dragon coming in for 6 off a discarded Wee Dragonauts was very promptly Roiled), and dealt with lethal-looking situations. Then we flipped planes again, to Glen Elendra: if you do damage to someone, you can swap the creature that did damage with one of their creatures. I started making attacks with all my crappy little utility guys just so I could be sure I'd do damage and get to steal - trading a 1/4 for taking away one of their flying attack options and turning it into a flying defence option for me seemed pretty damn great. (I especially had to go after Siriel's creatures because he had a much better position and seemed to have absolutely loads of good dragons and phoenixes).
Then a Mind Sculpt showed up, and I decided I might as well fulfil my starting goal and threw it at Kelnish to give him an empty library. I also had an Unsummon and its mana left over, so I bounced an Aether Adept I'd traded to Siriel for one of his fliers. Kel had precisely the right card and mana for this situation, and out of nowhere I found that he had copied my spell with Reverberate. He Unsummoned another of Siriel's creatures, and I was suddenly not just dead. Kel promptly died to decking, and it went to me and Siriel going back and forth: I had no clue what I was going to do, and with his Burn deck drawing two per turn, I thought I was going to just be dead. The one direct damage spell he did manage to draw got a melodramatic cry of "noooooooo", and was then promptly hit with my saved Counterspell. (There had already been at least two counters to spells which would have burned me lethally in the earlier part of the game, I think - one I'd stopped, and Kelnish had caught the other).
Siriel had taken some damage by various means as everything went on, and eventually I believe I drew a bounce effect which, combined with the Icy Manipulator's tap, let me swing in to win. It was a crushing, grinding game, where my deck really didn't do what it was supposed to (not that what it was supposed to do was probably going to be very effective in 4-player FFA), and I survived way too many situations I had no right to.
Game 6 - After that long, painful game with a deck I didn't know well and wasn't very powerful as a Planechase competitor, I just went back to Golgari for something I thought would be fairly stressless to pilot.
I did basically OK for the first few turns, though I threw cheap unconditional removal at a Raging Goblin just to make a point. (I stand by that move). Despite my silliness, the game went on and we got a reshuffle from the planes, which left me with no active lands, but an Oracle of Mul Daya in play and, I think, a Master of the Wild Hunt. Next turn I had three active lands, sacced a Yavimaya Elder to draw three more, and went off to the races.
Though I played it a turn later than I should have because I clicked on the wrong land, I eventually had Grave Pact, Vulturous Zombie and two Masters of the Wild Hunt out. This turned into 'I kill your creatures with my continually-replaced tokens - this means you need to kill those of your your own creatures which I haven't targeted yet. And all the creatures that are dying make my flyer bigger'. In I3uster's words, this turned it into Archenemy against me, but there wasn't really much to be done - when they killed the Vulturous Zombie, I put out a Mortivore (with 10 +1/+1 counters on it from eating more Wild Hunt wolves with the Jund Plane in play which made everyone else sacrifice more creatures ...). It got bounced and I put it back down again, and kept rolling. Screwed up at the end when I left Siriel on 1 life instead of dead, but it wasn't going to matter and I finished it up.
That said, I should compliment Siriel for keeping up the hexproof activation mana on his Sphinx for so long during the mid-game. I was just waiting to throw five Wolves to their deaths and sweep everyone's boards immediately, but never really got the chance. It was tight play.
End Result: 4-2. That's kinda ridiculous, because there's no way I really deserve that record when you look at how tight the actual matches were, but it was fun anyway just to get there and play with everyone else.
Last edited by Seika; May 31st, 2013 at 05:19 AM.
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Democracy on Beast's Lair
The fact that I don't remember half of this tells me I need sleep.
But fuck that!
[04:55] Lianru: i3uster is actuallly quite cute
Decided to reward myself with a little sniffing of cards
Either my phone is silly or broken image!
huh
well, its a picture of a box of innistrad, a box of return to ravnica, 2 boxes of dark ascension, a box of from the vault lands, and a box of soren vs tibald.
things I wish I had in DotPW
Overall summary of last night: I take an advantage in life early, manage to get myself in a position where I can easily win with one good draw or planechase, then luck comes into play and I get wrecked.;_;
Planechase, why do you hate me so much.
Not that every game was like that, it's just the impression it left me. There was at least one game where Planechasing like mad almost gave me the win.
I just want to note that this game here? I managed to not draw more than one burn/card with haste in ten cards with a burn deck.Originally Posted by Seika
And when we got to the discard/burn plane, it picked me twice in a row (when only me and Seika were left) and thus forced me to discard the land that I hadn't managed to play, dealing me three damage and putting me in Seika's kill range.
In hindsight, I should have killed the Divinity of Pride before Seika managed to gain life with it.
Last edited by Siriel; May 31st, 2013 at 11:53 AM.
Wow that is one hell of a writeup. I am pleased to see people playing for a decent amount of time.
Also I forgot Goblin Lackey existed. Why did you have to remind me.
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
I on the other hand have forgotten that Goblin Sharpshooter existed, and am pleased to be reminded of the days when what showed up on your mind when you said ping was Lavamancer's Skill, and not Goblin Test Fucking Pilot.
Also, Cockatrice pleb here.
Rehosted fishy's image:
Beast's Lair: Useful Notes
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Seika moderates: modly clarifications, explanations, Q&A, and the British conspiracy to de-codify BL's constitution.
Democracy on Beast's Lair
Goblin Sharpshooter looks way more dangerous than Goblin Test Pilot.
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
Why is the sorin vs tibalt duel decks so crappy?
what
What what?
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Seika moderates: modly clarifications, explanations, Q&A, and the British conspiracy to de-codify BL's constitution.
Democracy on Beast's Lair
The best part of the Exalted deck is when they drop Sublime Archangel and you struggle to wrap your head around what that card actually does.
It's the case of Vorel, and unfathomably also Pyreheart Wolf. You read the card and completely forget it the next moment. And then die, wait, what?
Are you guys playing atm, seeing that I see 3 people in my list playing MTG2013?
Because I'd be up for matches.
[04:55] Lianru: i3uster is actuallly quite cute
probably the 10/9 on attack part
He never sleeps. He never dies.
Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight.
Yeah, like I've said, that's completely normal.
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=259725&type=card
two Knights, an angel, two cathedrals of war. Knight attacks at 10/9.
You have eight knights so even a monkey can play the deck and win on turn 4. Good thing it didn't see serious play because it kept losing first to infect and then to flicker. Like many things.
Last edited by Ratman; May 31st, 2013 at 03:10 PM.
I'm here.
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