Sunday, December 07, 2008

Black-White control v4.0

4x thoughtseize
4x tidehollow sculler
4x bitterblossom
4x nantuko husk
4x kitchen finks
4x spectral procession
4x murderous redcap
3x ajani goldmane
3x grave pact
2x profane command
4x fetid heath
4x caves of koilos
4x windbrisk heights
8x swamps
4x plains

Sideboard
3x mindtwist
4x fulminator mage
4x condemn
4x relic of progenitus

Vs Aggro, especially decks featuring Figure of Destiny, Tree-top Village and Mutavault (elves, white weanie): -4 Thoughtseize, -4 Tidehollow Sculler, +4 Fulminator Mage, +4 Condemn.

Vs Mid-Range Aggro (Depending on if they play mulldrifter or esper charm or ultimadeums): if yes, -2 Profane Command, +2 mindtwist; otherwise, leave everything the way it is, because I destroy mid-range aggro. (Possibly +4 Fulminator Mage -4 Tidehollow Sculler, if they are three or four color or if they have lots of firespout effects.)

Vs Combo/Reveillark/Mannequin: +4 Relic, +3 Mindtwist, -4 Kitchen Finks, -3 Grave Pact. It is about keeping my opponent from getting their combo (i.e. reveillark + mulldrifter or esper charm or mannequin + mulldrifter) early game and utterly destroying them by turning guys sideways early and often.

Vs 5-color control: +3 Mindtwist, +4 Fulminator Mage, -3 Grave Pact, -4 Kitchen Finks. To win this matchup, I need to be holding a bitterblossom and at least one thoughtseize/tidehollow sculler. I need to either draw a fulminator mage to keep them off of cryptic command, or get lucky with a turn four or five mindtwist (when they tap out to evoke or play mulldrifter) to get all the esper charms and mulldrifters from their hands. In other words, I need a little bit of luck. But having bitterblossom on turn two is huge.

Faeries: I gave up my wispmares in my sideboard, and I'll just expect to get destroyed by faeries if I have to play them. I have good answers in my maindeck already in Spectral Procession, Murderous Redcap and Bitterblossom. If I get a turn two bitterblossom, turn three procession and a turn four redcap (killing their scion of oona or their sower of temptation) I might be able to stall long enough to get down an ajani or a gravepact. If I'm lucky and they don't immedeately cryptic command it back to my hand, or spellstutter sprite it on the way in, I might come away with a victory. I might go -2 Profane Command +2 Fulminator Mage, depending on if they run multiple mutavaults and faerie conclaves. I can't bring in Condemn, because I can't have them gaining any life.

As for the husk + tidehollow sculler combo of permanently removing my opponent's card from the game, I believe I have to sacrifice the tidehollow when it comes into play, with its triggered ability on the stack. The tidehollow leaves play, then its ability resolves, but it isn't in play anymore, so the removed card stays removed, and my husk is 4/4 until the end of the turn. It can be a useful trick, especially if I can grab a condemn or wrath of god or firespout.

As for infest...I'm putting all my hopes and dreams into getting a grave pact. I do not have any way to draw cards, so it's all top decking with this deck. I guess I am trying to draw threats, not answers. That may be a design flaw of the deck--overly aggressive for a control deck? If I had three infests in my maindeck my two losses might have gone differently: boogie's white weanie, and keppie's U/W control with Stillmoon Cavalier maindeck. It would have been a dead card vs 5c control, it would have been mostly dead vs GRW mid-range aggro + violent ultimadeum I faced the first round, as well as the RBG mid-range aggro + mannequin I faced round three. Grave pact was definantly the call those three games, to deal with broodmate dragons, cloudthreshers, and the like. So is it a sideboard that replaces grave pact? Or is it maindeck, with -1 redcap, -1 procession and -1 finks?

Did I forget anything?

Oh, and all I need are +3 Caves of Koilos and +2 Fetid Heath. Ideally, I would have +2 Elspeth, but I doubt my ability to get any of those, since they're $25 a pop. But I think if I did have her, I would -1 Ajani, -1 Murderous Redcap.

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