The Monday Mulligan #2: I Don't Hate Mondays!

But first I would like to thank everyone for the support on last weeks article! It feels nice that people enjoy reading your writings, expecially if it's your first time. With the feedback I got last week, I posted a poll on the series' title on the boards. Eighteen people let their voices be heared, saying that they found "I Hate Mondays" too negative of a title (ten yes vs. eight no). There series will therefore be going further under the name "The Monday Mulligan", because it got the most votes (two!) other than the original title. And to quote RaiserUK: "It's on topic and doesn't have the negative spin. "

Morningtide: White

CardName: Ballyrush Banneret
Cost: 1W
Type: Creature - Kithkin Soldier
Pow/Tgh: 2/1
Rules Text: Kithkin spells and Soldier spells you play cost 1 less to play.
Set/Rarity: Morningtide Common

Amrou Scout, Burrenton Bombardier, Kithkin Greatheart, Kithkin Zephyrnaut, Kithkin Daggerdare, Surge of Thoughtweft, Riftwatcher, Changelings. There are a lot of quality Kithkin Soldiers in standard at the moment that like to cost less. The problem is that the prime aggro deck, WW, has better things at the 2-drop spot, like 2/2's with flanking. I know I'm going to look into a white (mayby splash green or red) Kithkin Soldier deck when Morningtide comes out and if it doesn't work, I'll have Lorwyn block constructed.

CardName: Burrenton Bombardier
Cost: 2W
Type: Creature - Kithkin Soldier
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: Flying Reinforce 2-2W (2W, Discard this card: Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature.)

Awesome! 2/2 Flyers for are commonly played in white (Aven Changeling and Aven Riftwatcher {yes I know it's 2/3}) and this is a combat trick to boot. I will love fizzling a Strangling Soot or Incinerate or beating for +5 when you target my X/2 with a Nameless Inversion. This will be played.

BTW, it is a Kithkin Soldier to boot.

CardName: Burrenton Shield-Bearers
Cost: 4W
Type: Creature - Kithkin Soldier
Pow/Tgh: 3/3
Rules Text: Whenever Burrenton Shield-Bearers attacks, target creature gets +0/+3 until end of turn.

A 3/3 for 5 isn't something to write home about. Giving itself or a co-attacker +0/+3 if it attacks is also not something you want to pay extra for. If you want a 5 mana Kithkin, take Plover Knights.

CardName: Changeling Sentinel
Cost: 3W
Type: Creature - Shapeshifter
Pow/Tgh: 3/2
Rules Text: Changeling (This card is every creature type at all times.) Vigilance

At first I thought it had First Strike, making it perfect to block and kill flankers. Sadly it has Vigilance; the entire point of vigilance is being able to attack AND block. With a butt of 2, that ain't gonna work. Being a changeling makes it a little better, but it won't find space in my Changeling Aggro lists.

CardName: Coordinated Barrage
Cost: W
Type: Instant
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: Choose a creature type. Coordinated Barrage deals damage to target attacking or blocking creature equal to the number of permanents you control of the chosen type.

Why do I have to kill attackers and blockers? I want to kill utility creatures too! That is the prime reason this won't be played over Sunlance. This will only be good in token heavy decks, that can crank out multiple creatures with the same type consistently, like Gnarly Beats. But the whole point of removal in Gnarls is being able to hit annoying utility creatures (like Deathspore Thallid), which this can't. Else you have Temporal Isolation and Oblivion Ring.

CardName: Forfend
Cost: 1W
Type: Instant
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: Prevent all damage that would be dealt to creatures this turn.

Uhm, no thanks? What in the name of Gaea would the use of this possibly be?

CardName: Kithkin Zephyrnaut
Cost: 2W
Type: Creature - Kithkin Soldier
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: Kinship - At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Kithkin Zephyrnaut, you may reveal it. If you do, Kithkin Zephyrnaut gets +2/+2 and gains flying and vigilance until end of turn.

*Gulp* So in a Kithkin Soldier deck (20 lands) this is a Serra Angel two-thirds of the time? For ? Sign me up! Gaining vigilance isn't that important, because when you want to block it is a lowly 2/2 again. And like I said about the Bannaret, there are quite a few nice Kithkin/Soldiers. Hmm, a Kithkin deck. Isn't there a Kithkin Piledriver in my binder somewhere....?

CardName: Mosquito Guard
Cost: W
Type: Creature - Kithkin Soldier
Pow/Tgh: 1/1
Rules Text: First strike Reinforce 1-1W (1W, Discard this card: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.)

I think that Goldmeadow Harier, Knight of Sursi and to lesser extend Ivory Giant are all better one drops with late game applications (Reinforce vs. tapping or hardcasting a 2/2 flying flanker).

CardName: Order of the Golden Cricket
Cost: 1W
Type: Creature - Kithkin Knight
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: Whenever Order of the Golden Cricket attacks, you may pay W. If you do, it gains flying until end of turn.

If you desperatly need a Kithkin over flankers and Slivers, or need evasion over flanking.

CardName: Shinewend
Cost: 1W
Type: Creature - Elemental
Pow/Tgh: 0/0
Rules Text: Flying Shinewend comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it. 1W, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Shinewend: Destroy target enchantment.

Look: a flying KoALa! Sadly it is a 1/1 and you need to pay to kill something. I think standard has better alternatives for enchantment destruction, even tied to a creature.

CardName: Stonybrook Schoolmaster
Cost: 2W
Type: Creature - Merfolk Wizard
Pow/Tgh: 1/2
Rules Text: Whenever Stonybrook Schoolmaster becomes tapped, you may put a 1/1 blue Merfolk Wizard creature token into play.

If you can tap this repeatably (say with a Springleaf Drum), it is a very nice token producer. But do you want to run such cards in the first place? Is it worth playing tappers for the Schoolmaster? (Bet you didn't know that that was actually a fish, did you?)

CardName: Weight of Conscience
Cost: 1W
Type: Enchantment - Aura
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: Enchant creature Enchanted creature can't attack. Tap two untapped creatures you control that share a creature type: Remove enchanted creature from the game.

If it said "can't block", maby. I don't want you to stop attacking me, I want you to stop blocking my weenies. ATTACK ATTACK!

Gatherling Metagame Breakdown

Play-offs:
- Use UR Illusions, piloted by 53N531
- Sticks 'n Stones, piloted by hurriboy
- WW, piloted by Toshiro_Umezawa
- Burnt Nemo, piloted by Baron_Sengir6989
(the last spot was actually for coolbartbr with Blue Beats, but he dropped)

Metagame:
Aggro:
WW, piloted by Toshire_Umezawa
5 Color Slivers, piloted by bigdummy76

Control:
Burnt Nemo, piloted by Baron_Sengir6989
Burnt Nemo, piloted by Lawnmower Elf
Faerie Teachings, piloted by stiffdiddypinky
G(r)imdrifter, piloted by SypherSun
Control, piloted by colakim3

Aggro-Control:
Use Illusions, piloted by 53N531
Blue Beats, piloted by coolbartbr
Illusions, piloted by RaiserUK
Blinkdrifter, piloted by SpielMage
Blinking Flash, piloted by ZeroFusion
Blinking Rebels, piloted by ShardFenix
Bounce, piloted by joekewwl

Mid-range:
Sticks 'n Stones (LD Edition), piloted by hurriboy

Unclassifiable:
Unkown, piloted by Yggdrasilmethod

Discussion:
Were have all the aggro decks gone? Last week we had six aggro decks and this week just two. Also notable is that all red decks packed Skred.

The top 4 should have been three-quarter aggro-control and an aggro deck. In the semi-finals, the Illusions beat Burnt Nemo, while Sticks pounded WW. This actually quite a feat, because the LD heavy version of Sticks doesn't have a good matchup versus WW. Did hurriboy just outplay Umezawa? In the finals it was Sticks versus Illusions, with Sticks being the underdog because of the many flyers and counters on the other side of the table. Sticks took the first game, but couldn't finish it in games two and three. I actually find this a bit sad, because it deserves a first place after all this time and multiple play-offs/runner ups.

Because of the low level of play, the play-off percentage of aggro decks was really good this week (50%). Illusions keeps up its high level of play, getting 66% into play-offs, with the winning Illusions deck going undefeated. The other aggro-control deck of choice, Blinkdrifter (and Blinking Rebels), didn't do as well, neither of the two(/three) decks got through to the top 4. The UB Illusions list should be a lot better in a control orientated field, with all its discard, but this wasn't it's day in the sun.

All four control decks didn't do "it" this week. Stiffdiddypinky's Faerie Teachings deck missed play-offs on tie-breakers, while both Burnt Nemo decks lost to UR Illusions and Sticks respectively. Lets not talk about last weeks winner, G(r)imdrifter, shall we? I've heard out of first hand the piloted played rediculously bad, though it probably wouldn't have made much difference anyways. Burnt Nemo is just a bad matchup and the Faeries aren't easy either.

My recommendations for next week: If you want to play aggro-control, go with UR Illusions. WW is still the best aggro deck in the field, but it might need some changes with all the fat blue flyers around. Sticks is really powerfull and needs more backers, the only problem is predicting the field to switch from LD to no-LD and back. I think G(r)imdrifter (which has the same meta-predict problem as Sticks) and Storm Control are the best control decks at the moment.

So I got to my interview far too late this week, but here it is, with a little delay. Last we talked with icarodix, Blinkdrifters primairy pilot. This week we pass the mic to Sensei, AKA 53N531 Lets see what he has to add to the article:

1) Who are you if you're not playing PDC and where are you from?
My name is Dallas Peterson, or 53N531 online and I'm originally from Greenville Texas but right now I'm in NYC/Hyde Park New York pursuing my Bachelors in Culinary Arts
2) What is your favorite format?
You ask silly questions. PDC in general, but FutExt in the specific sense.
3)Do I ask silly questions, that interesting. To the point: What is your favorite deck-archetype (aggro, combo, control, etc.)?
I enjoy building and playing aggressive decks that can control the game through less-than-traditional means.
4) Your favorite card (non PDC)?
Sensei Golden-Tail
5) Your favorite standard PDC card?
Standard? Boy thats a small selection I would have to say Nameless Inversion. It's flexibility for a common removal spell is unprecedented.
6) What is/are your favorite deck(s) in standard at the moment? And why?
Ooo this is tough. I think I enjoy the concept behind Sticks-n-Stones more, but I've found that UR Illusions is more powerful, flexible, and sometimes more enjoyable to play.
7) Are you excited by Morningtide? Are there cards you are anxious to use in standard PDC?
MASSIVELY. I played a LLM draft yesterday at Neutral Ground in NYC and CRUSHED everyone with the 3 Burrenton Bombardier's I drafted in combination with recursion effects and big creatures. The commons in this set are insane.
8) Do you think MTGO3.0 is good for online magic and PDC in particular?
Yes. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an impressionable ignorant fearmonger.
9) What do you think of the meta-game at the moment? Are you missing something?
The 'theoretical' metagame is fine with decks like Sticks, WW and others playing a nice foil the the inundation of Blink decks, but in actuality I think people that play Standard are too stuck on their preconceived notions of how to play the game with the card pool that we have access to. When you hate on the Standard format, think about hating on the players instead.
Thank you very much for your time, thoughts and quick reply Sensei!

Previous interviews:
icarodx

This week I'm going to talk about Use UR Illusions. The list:

Use Illusions, as piloted by 53N531 at MPDC 1.13

Creatures
4 Errant Ephemeron
4 Krovikan Mist
4 Mulldrifter
3 Dream Stalker
3 Fathom Seer
3 Shaper Parasite

Spells
4 Incinerate
4 Lash Out
4 Remove Soul
4 Skred

Lands
11 Snow-Covered Island
8 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Terramorphic Expanse

SIDEBOARD
4 Faerie Trickery
4 Martyr of Ashes
4 Rune Snag
3 Tarfire

Discussion:
We have seen these kind of decks since Coldsnap/Future Sight. The combination of Krovikan Mist, EE and other quality Illusions is a given and produces some gigantic flying beatsticks. The only additions from Lorwyn are the infernal Mulldrifter and Lash Out. With the high cost drifter and EE, you should be able to hit the clash once every so often. If it doesn't trigger, its still scry 1. Even so, if there was some other 3 damage burn spell that could hit both creatures and player, I think that would be run instead.

I think UR Illusions is a big improvement over Blinkdrifter. You trade Blink for burn, giving you reach and removal. Without Blink you can also remove all "bad" CIP creatures, for high power Illusions such as Mist, giving it a much better aggro plan. The CA created by blink is replaced by the duo of Shaper Parasite and Fathom Seer, which can act as multiple Gush with Dream Stalker. Notice that the deck runs perfectly (though slowly) on UUR, making you able to unmorph Seer without much tempo loss in the middle-game.

In the sideboard you have Tarfire/Martyr of Ashes, that can lay waste to (white) weenie hordes and Faerie Trickery for anoying repeatable effects like Grim Harvest and Sprout Swarm. The Rune Snags probably come in for burn against decks that are more spell based (say, control-style decks).

I also think that the UR variant is better than the UB or mono-U one. The removal and reach gives it the edge over just fat Illusions/quick beats or discard.

Previous decks:
GW Changelings

Last monday I updated the Gatherling entry for the event after the first round opponents were known. This way people can enter their lists as soon as the first round. I did this to lower the input barrier for people that drop after round one/two or don't have time and/or energy after the event. Now you can input between rounds etc. This might be a good idea to do at other events. Just remember if you input the final standings after the event, enter the data first, then remove the duplicants from the first round. I think the decks will be removed else. I've also added the decknames to gatherling if the played didn't input a deck himself. So there are a lot of DECKNAME** entries in gatherling now.

And people: Not everyone has entered their lists for 1.13, I edited the names of the decks with the meta overview I had, but we need more...

Until next week!