Waiting for Godot: A Case of the Crabs

I'm trying something a little different today. I participated in a Zendikar Swiss draft recently where the first round was an interesting case study in a card that has been on my Magic mind lately, (Hedron Crab). Rather than commit two columns to a walkthrough of the entire draft, however, I’m going to take an in-depth look at the round-one games, discuss some implications, and be done with it. Accordingly, instead of walking through the whole draft, I’m just going to summarize it and skip to the decklist.

I first-picked (Kazandu Blademaster) and second-picked (Journey to Nowhere). Third pick, I was staring at a (Marsh Casualties) and no white picks, so I headed into a color combination I had avoided in all my previous Zendikar drafts because of the conflicting heavy color requirements: (mana=B)(mana=w).

My final pool underscores the awkwardness of drafting black and white in Zendikar. Many times, the best on-color pick in a pack requires double colored mana, making deckbuilding a tricky tradeoff between consistency and power. I felt I either had to go with heavy white with a tragically weak bottom end but fairly reliable mana, or an even mix of black and white, sacrificing consistency for improved power. I opted for the consistency of the “Wb” version over the higher power level of the “BW” version, but either way, I would not be heading into battle with a deck I was happy with.

I know, it’s pretty ugly. For starters, I don’t like the (Luminarch Ascension), but I’ll get into why I included that later. Then, with no equipment, my two (Kor Outfitter)s are hard-to-cast (Silvercoat Lion)s, and the (Cliff Threader)s are worse than that against non-red opponents. The ally presence is incredibly weak, and is only great when pumping a turn-two (Kazandu Blademaster)—hardly something I can expect to happen reliably. I ultimately decided I would win more often by swinging with a bunch of random bears backed by (Bold Defense) and (Windborne Charge) than I would by bloating my curve and straining my mana to support the good black cards I left in the board.

I made and saved out a heavier-black build, though, and brought it in against black and/or non-red opponents. In hindsight, I feel it should have been the other way around, starting the BW build and bringing in the Wb build I submitted against red decks, but really, both versions had serious problems. While those heavy black cards are certainly an upgrade to the white dregs I ended up running, they still aren’t all that great in a half-black deck. Obviously the rippers want all the black they can get, and the (Guul Draz Specter) needs some luck to be good even in monoblack—too often, it is a disappointing 2/2 flyer for 4 that either doesn’t survive or can’t connect, so while it’s a clear upgrade to my worst white, I hardly considered the specter a must-play bomb.

Well, you go to war with the deck you have, not the deck you might want or wish to have. Let’s put the regrets aside and jump to the round-one action.

R1G1

I lose the roll and look at the opener:

I can’t tell you how weird it was to look at a starting hand in triple Zendikar containing two Swamps and two Plains. Hardly a God draw, but an obvious keeper. Villain drops an Island, and I pull a (Journey to Nowhere) and play a Plains. On turn two, a (Hedron Crab) hits the board followed by a second Island, and the milling begins.

R1G1 #1

Just how much of a threat is a turn-one (Hedron Crab)? Whether or not you need to use precious removal on it depends on whether or not you think you are likely to win before the crab can mill you out. For a baseline case, let’s figure out the turn by which a first-turn crab (or a second-turn crab before the land drop) is likely to deplete my library, assuming the crab deck contains 18 lands and no other support for milling. Every land drop past Villain’s first mills three cards, and I’m “milling” myself with my opening seven cards, plus my draw each turn. The chart below combines these two aspects of library depletion to find the average turn—from Villain’s perspective—by which I will be out of cards.

Turn	Land Seen	Crab Triggers	Cards Milled	Cards Drawn	My Library
1	3.15	2.15	6.45	7	26.55
2	3.6	2.6	7.8	8	24.2
3	4.05	3.05	9.15	9	21.85
4	4.5	3.5	10.5	10	19.5
5	4.95	3.95	11.85	11	17.15
6	5.4	4.4	13.2	12	14.8
7	5.85	4.85	14.55	13	12.45
8	6.3	5.3	15.9	14	10.1
9	6.75	5.75	17.25	15	7.75
10	7.2	6.2	18.6	16	5.4
11	7.65	6.65	19.95	17	3.05
12	8.1	7.1	21.3	18	0.7
13	8.55	7.55	22.65	19	-1.65
14	9	8	24	20	-4
15	9.45	8.45	25.35	21	-6.35

Here are the formulas I used for each column:

• Land Seen = Cards Drawn * .45 (45% of the deck is land)
• Crab Triggers = Land Seen – 1 (Only lands played after the first trigger the crab)
• Cards Milled = Crab Triggers * 3
• Cards Drawn = 7 + (Current Turn -1) (I’m on the draw, but this is from the perspective of Villain’s turns)
• My Library = 40 - (Cards Drawn + Cards Milled)

The “cards milled” estimate for turns 1-4 are off because the formula assumes that all the lands drawn have been played, but those aren’t the relevant turns anyway. By the mid-to-late game, it is safe to assume all lands drawn have been played, particularly when trying to mill out an opponent by way of an early (Hedron Crab).

We can see that with no other support for the crab, I will have about one card left in my library at the start of my twelfth turn. This is a good indicator of why a single crab is not a good play as a “random alternate win condition.” In its best-case scenario—played on turn one and never removed—the lone (Hedron Crab) isn’t producing a win via milling until the the thirteenth turn, on average. This is generally going to be way too slow for the Zendikar draft environment.

There are many factors that can accelerate this pace, of course, many of which are solid cards independent of their effect on (Hedron Crab)’s mill rate. Consider, however, that this death-by-milling estimate is based on casting the crab before the second land drop, which will only come up about 20% of the time to begin with. It needs a lot of help even in its best-case scenario to be a relevant threat. In this match, it remains to be seen whether or not Villain has that help.

As psychologically painful as the early (Hedron Crab) can be, watching your poor, beautiful spells shipped directly to the graveyard, my approach given the math behind the turn-one crab is to pretend it isn’t there. If support cards do show up, or it’s looking like I won’t be able to deal 20 damage before turn 12, killing the crab becomes more of a priority. For this game, though, I have an aggressive deck with an aggressive start, so until I have a good reason to do otherwise, I am going full throttle at him in an effort to turn the crab into a bad lifegain spell when it finally chumps one of my attackers.

I drop (Kor Outfitter) on turn two, as there is not going to be a better time for it, and Villain certainly isn’t going to block it with the crab. It’s only the incorrect play if a suitable blocker hits the battlefield by my next turn. (Teetering Peaks) makes the crab a 2/2 for a turn, but it doesn’t attack into the (Kor Outfitter). If the crab had swung in, would I have taken the trade? Probably, simply because the outfitter is likely to become outclassed fairly quickly from here. I wouldn’t trade with, say, a (Cliff Threader) or anything that would stay offensively relevant throughout the game. A (Welkin Tern) joins the crab, and playing the outfitter over the (Kor Aeronaut) looks even better.

I untap, pull another Plains, hit for two, drop the aeronaut, and pass. Villain misses the land drop, but has (Goblin War Paint) for the (Welkin Tern), which hits me for 4 and gives me a legitimate target for my (Journey to Nowhere). I untap and pull a (Disfigure). What is your plan for the turn?

R1G1 #2

Sending the tern on a (Journey to Nowhere) puts me way ahead on offense, and I would still rather stick to the racing plan against the crab, saving the (Disfigure) for something that might keep my men from attacking, particularly given the missed land drop. I drop a Swamp, swing for 4, and journey the tern.

Villain fails to find a fourth land and casts (Ior Ruin Expedition). Meanwhile, I am having the opposite problem as I draw my seventh land before casting an incredibly lame (Hagra Diabolist)…no allies in play, and three in the graveyard. Villain uses (Burst Lightning) on it at my end of turn, which I’m not too upset about given the circumstances. I pass the turn back with the life totals at 16-9.

A fourth land drop puts a counter on the expedition and ships (Marsh Casualties) (ouch!) and two Plains to my graveyard. One of the worst aspects of facing an early (Hedron Crab) in the first game of the draft is that it exposes my deck not only to my opponent, but to all future opponents in the draft who watch the replays. This is a factor that surely affects the crab player’s chances of winning games two and three, but it’s a difficult factor to put into a statistic, especially because some players will use that information much better than others.

My biggest concern is what Villain will do with four mana that might affect my offense, though, and it turns out to be (Windrider Eel). I pull another Swamp, and consider which sea creature to (Disfigure), the eel or the crab. What’s your choice?

R1G1 #3

If the board were clogged and my library were a touch thinner, it would definitely be time to consider taking out the crab. If I had more gas in hand, it would be a no-brainer: take out the eel, attack for 4, and play another threat. With no additional pressure, it’s not as easy a choice, but since I do have a 2/2 flyer, I maintain the aggression, taking out the eel and dropping Villain to 5 life before passing the turn back.

Land number five mills (Kor Sanctifiers), Plains, and (Heartstabber Mosquito), but more importantly Villain does have a crab helper in (Living Tsunami), which comes down to ensure landfall and stop my offensive all in one tight package. Not good. Worse yet, I pull yet another land for my turn, and have nothing to do but pass. My best hope now lies with the (Bold Defense) or (Surrakar Marauder) somewhere in my final 14 cards.

The guaranteed landfall provided by the tsunami mills two lands and my (Kazandu Blademaster), and also completes the (Ior Ruin Expedition), netting Villain a couple of fresh cards. No further play leaves me wondering what tricks I should prepare for as I draw the second (Cliff Threader). I’m excited to see the landwalker until I remember that the (Living Tsunami) can keep the board free of Mountains, and the (Teetering Peaks) can still produce red. I play out the threader anyway, at which point an end-of-turn (Inferno Trap) burns out the 2/1 and makes the Mountainwalk issue moot.

With ten cards left in my library, the next landfall trigger takes away my (Surrakar Marauder), a (Kor Aeronaut), and a Swamp. It really comes down to the (Bold Defense), now. A (Shatterskull Giant) joins the ranks of the opposition, which may put the game out of reach. (Pillarfield Ox) on the draw doesn’t do much to change my circumstance, and I concede after the next landfall trigger mills away my last hope in (Bold Defense), leaving me with three cards in my library and no outs to a win on my next turn.

Despite my generally favorable odds, the turn-one (Hedron Crab) managed to mill me out. I was a bit unlucky with the flooding, though, and would take the same approach to an early crab with that hand every time—it just didn’t work out in this case. Even if I had elected to (Disfigure) the crab, then the eel would have survived to benefit from the tsunami and I would have been taking 4 per turn in the air. This speaks to another point about early crabs: even when they do end a game via decking, it may have been a game the crab player would have won without the annoying crustacean. If I had shuffled my graveyard into my library at the point where the crab milled me out, I’m still going on to lose much of the time because of the (Shatterskull Giant) and the (Living Tsunami). In other words, it’s not that the crab is good, it’s that (Living Tsunami) is great.

R1G2

I don’t switch to the black version of the deck since my (Cliff Threader)s are good in the matchup, but I do bring in the (Soul Stair Expedition) for a (Kor Outfitter) to take advantage of potentially being milled. On the play, I regroup for game two with these seven:

No black yet, but swinging with a 3/3 first strike, vigilance blademaster on turn three seems good. Keep!

To continue testing my theories about early (Hedron Crab)s, Villain drops it on turn one. Again, I intend to stick to my guns and race the crab instead of spending removal on it, particularly with the (Soul Stair Expedition) in hand. I pull the (Swamp) I need, but lay the Plains to get the (Kazandu Blademaster) going and cross my fingers. A (Burst Lightning) could really cripple me, but if the blademaster lives to see 3/3, my chances in this game go way up.

The crab mills (Surrakar Marauder), (Kor Aeronaut), and (Kor Outfitter) off of a Mountain, but thankfully my blademaster lives, as the mana goes towards a (Zektar Shrine Expedition). Great news all around: Villain clearly doesn’t have (Burst Lightning), and the shrine is effectively a dead card as long as my first-striking blademaster is alive. I draw a Plains, drop my Swamp and play the (Makindi Shieldmate). Let the beatings begin! Blademaster hits for 3, and I pass.

Another land drop mills (Cliff Threader), Plains, and (Hagra Diabolist), and Villain casts (Welkin Tern), leaving a Mountain up. I draw an (Ondu Cleric) and plot the course. What’s your plan for the turn?

R1G2 #1

I’m not worried about killing the (Welkin Tern) right now, so I case the (Soul Stair Expedition), drop a land, cast the (Ondu Cleric), and hit for 4. I’m milled again for two lands and (Luminarch Ascension), and a (Shatterskull Giant) joins enemy ranks, already outclassed by my blademaster. The tern makes the life totals 21 – 13, and I untap and draw another Plains. Not very exciting, but (Soul Stair Expedition) is a turn away from being active, and the blademaster is still a wrecking ball, dropping Villain to 9. I pass with (Disfigure) mana up.

(Goblin War Paint) buffs the (Shatterskull Giant) before I take another 2 from the (Welkin Tern), and there’s no land drop for further milling this turn, leaving my library at a fairly safe 20. It goes to 19 when I draw (Kor Aeronaut). I drop my Plains and plan the turn.

R1G2 #2

With the active (Soul Stair Expedition), it’s time to turn all that milling into a big advantage. I sacrifice the expedition and grab (Hagra Diabolist) and the unblockable (Cliff Threader). Playing the diabolist gains 4 life for me, drops Villain to 5, and makes the blademaster a 5/5, turning it into a creature that must now be chumped. I swing in, and Villain makes a decision representative of the kinds of mistakes players with crabs tend to make: the 6/5 enchanted (Shatterskull Giant) steps in to chump the blademaster over the (Hedron Crab). Over-attachment to the idea of milling me out leads Villain to make what could have been a game-changing mistake if I had been out of gas in hand. At 19 cards in my library, it is highly unlikely that milling is going to matter, yet a simple land off the top gives Villain a viable double block in the 7/1 shrine token and the giant.

Villain swings with the tern and makes another (Zektar Shrine Expedition), and my kicked (Kor Aeronaut) ends the game.

Yes, Villain stalled out on four lands, and yes, I had a very aggressive start, but these are exactly the kinds of common occurrences that can cause the crab to fail in its best-case scenario. Villain would have been better off with a simple (Kraken Hatchling) over the (Hedron Crab) in this game, something that is true of most (Hedron Crab) appearances in Zendikar Limited.

Onto the rubber match, I leave my deck as is.

R1G3

Back on the draw, I find an opener that reminds me of my distaste for black-white decks:

Given my low Swamp count, I’m pretty fortunate to have both the (Marsh Casualties) and the double black needed to fire it off right in my opener. Of course, the (Kazandu Blademaster) is also in my opener, and is only halfway to castability. It’s highly likely that my next land draw will be a Plains, though, so I keep and make a point to find one in my first two draws.

Villain opens with a (Teetering Peaks), and I rip a second Plains right off the top. I love it when a plan comes together. I play one of them and pass, and Villain has a turn-two (Zektar Shrine Expedition) off a Mountain. I draw Plains number three, cast the blademaster, and pass it back, again bracing for a disappointing (Burst Lightning). Instead of (Burst Lightning), however, an Island leads to the (Hedron Crab), making me suspect Villain has multiples. (And that’s another thing: having two crabs usually just means increasing the likelihood of having a single crab early, which in itself is still not that great.) Racing the mill again, this time on turn three instead of turn one.

I find an unexciting (Kor Outfitter) on top of my library, but at least it is additional pressure that I can cast right now. I hit for 2, cast the outfitter and pass, and a Mountain enters the battlefield, stripping my library of (Cliff Threader), (Soul Stair Expedition), and (Kor Sanctifiers). Villain has no further play, though, and I’m anticipating a misplayed (Inferno Trap). “Misplayed” because, unless Villain has something else to do with three mana and intends to fire it off for its trap cost, the better play is to treat it like a sorcery and take out the blademaster while a lot of my mana is tied up. As it is, I now have (Narrow Escape) ready to save it should it become targeted by removal.

I hit for two and pass the turn, and Villain shows me that while my read was technically correct, there was no misplay. At my end step, (Trapmaker's Snare) searches up the (Inferno Trap), a move that required taking damage from two creatures to pull off. I’d been hoping to use the (Narrow Escape) to cast the (Hagra Diabolist) a couple of times, but saving my best ally trumps that play, so I send the blademaster back to my hand.

Villain has no land drop and again passes without a play, and I untap and rip (Stonework Puma).

R1G3 #1

Not too complicated, I swing Villain down to 12, re-cast the (Kazandu Blademaster), and pump it with the (Stonework Puma), setting up for (Hagra Diabolist) or (Marsh Casualties) next turn. A fifth land drop mills (Windborne Charge), my second (Cliff Threader) and a Plains, while also adding a third counter to (Zektar Shrine Expedition). The five mana produce a kicked Æther Figment before I take back the turn, pulling another Plains before deciding between the casualties and the diabolist. What’s your play?

R1G3 #2

I spent a few moments trying to find an advantage to playing the (Marsh Casualties) now, potentially enabling all of my creatures to attack, but with the (Zektar Shrine Expedition) ready to pop, there was no good play there. The straightforward (Hagra Diabolist) play wins out, which drops Villain to 9 on the ally ability. The now-4/4 blademaster heads into the red zone, and again, rather than put the crab at risk, Villain brings out the 7/1 to chump. This all but guarantees a win, as now there is nothing on the table to trade with any of my creatures after a (Marsh Casualties). Villain does manage a (Shatterskull Giant), however, while I draw (Makindi Shieldmate). Does this change the (Marsh Casualties) plan at all? What’s my play and attack this turn?

R1G3 #3

Now that the giant can trade with any of my two-toughness men post casualties and I’ve drawn another ally, it changes things slightly. I’m unwilling to trade the diabolist with the giant, so I play the casualties and attack with everything but the (Hagra Diabolist). Villain blocks the (Kor Outfitter) with the giant and chumps the blademaster with the now-shrunken figment. With the shieldmate in the queue, I can’t think of any single-card plays that stave off victory. After drawing and casting a (Welkin Tern), Villain can’t either, and concedes.

The Miller’s Tale

I realize these games weren’t particularly challenging from the “what would you do” perspective, but I’ve been thinking a lot about milling strategies since seeing the Worldwake spoilers. I have recommended against singleton (Hedron Crab)s (and really, double crabs, too) in triple Zendikar from the outset without a heavy landfall deck, and these games were a good indication of why. Crabs are basically useless on defense while they are are off trying to win the game in their own way. When you do draw a crab early, it is no guarantee of a win by milling, and when you do win by milling, a significant portion of the time you would have won without the crab, particularly if the crab had been a relevant threat or defender instead.

That being said, as I wrote last week, Halimar Excavator intrigues me as a centerpiece for a legitimate ally milling deck in ZZW and, for the short time it will be available after the online launch, triple Worldwake drafting. Success with the archetype seems dependent on the right cards coming your way in pack one of Zendikar, and then the right cards (i.e., Halimar Excavators, Join the Ranks, and Perimeter Captains) coming your way again in Worldwake. It will be a risky approach because of the reliance on a pack you haven’t even seen yet, but sometime, when my first three picks are something like (Journey to Nowhere), (Kazandu Blademaster), and (Umara Raptor) and pick four contains a (Hedron Crab) or an (Archive Trap), I’m going to run with it and see what happens.

The Rest of the Story

About that (Luminarch Ascension). A couple of listeners over at Limited Resources objected via email to our assessment of (Luminarch Ascension) in LR #16, where we called it too unreliable and narrow to be worth playing as a singleton in Zendikar draft. The listeners argued that it was great at any stage of the game except where you are losing (to which I start by saying that the best Limited cards are the ones that are great in that very spot). They argued that you could spend all of your resources to get it active and just win, or force them to spend all of their resources trying to keep it from being active, thus enabling a more traditional win.

Fair points, but Marshall and I countered that if you dump all your resources into it and fail, well then you’ve lost the game making moves you wouldn’t have made otherwise, and that “spots where are you are trying to stave off a loss” happen in roughly half of all your Magic games. Also, when it doesn’t reach four counters or cause your opponent to play badly, you’ve paid two mana to mulligan. I hate paying mana to mulligan. With two listener defenders, though, I decided the next time I had an opportunity, I would run it. That ended up being in this draft. Ironic, because the problems Marsh and I have with (Luminarch Ascension) are the same ones we have with the crab: when played early it might win a game on its own, but it may be one you would have won anyway. It doesn’t affect the board and is a rotten topdeck, especially when behind and looking for outs. Despite these reasons against it, I gave it a test drive.

It never showed up in round one, but in round two, I cast a turn-two (Luminarch Ascension) in games one and three. In game one, it was no match for the swarm of cheap black creatures that followed, and I died with maybe one counter on it. I switched to the heavier black build, and won game two with relative ease without the ascension ever showing. In game three I had the turn-two ascension again, and this time I took it to four counters by turn seven and earned a concession. My early cards included double (Kor Aeronaut), (Crypt Ripper), (Journey to Nowhere), (Disfigure), and (Khalni Gem), though, so by the time I had four counters on the ascension, I also had firm control of the board and appeared to be two turns away from winning on my non-ascension strengths, barring a (Marsh Casualties).

In the finals, I landed a turn-two (Luminarch Ascension) again, this time with two (Kor Aeronaut)s, an (Ondu Cleric) and a (Narrow Escape) to back it up. I thought it would be another win for the ascension camp, but I got stuck on three lands and three ascension counters, eventually losing to a (Bladetusk Boar) that I wouldn’t have been able to stop with ten land given my spells in hand. I thought I had a strangle hold on game two with Villain at 10 life and me with two good threats and (Windborne Charge) in hand, but a turn-six (Chandra Ablaze) completely flipped the game around and I never did another point of damage.

While three games with the (Luminarch Ascension) isn’t a very large sample, it is telling to me that all three involved casting it on ostensibly the best possible turn, yet I lost two of the three anyway. Even the win felt like it simply ended the game two turns early (which is definitely something; I’m all in favor of winning games early). In the end, though, the reasons I recommend against playing it were still valid. It’s going to win you some games, but other times it’s simply a dead draw, and I avoid cards that have the potential to be dead unless there is a very high percentage chance that they will just win games when live. (Luminarch Ascension) doesn’t hit that mark in my estimation.

Worldwake Prerelease Report

As regular readers know, I played in a Two-Headed Giant flight with my seven-year-old son at the Worldwake prerelease in Seattle, and I can’t in good conscience submit an article without a tournament report to go along with it.

Oliver, while picking up the game quickly, is nowhere near ready to enter a tournament on his own, so I’m quite appreciative that there is prerelease support for a “tandem jump” format. Since I could effectively play both sides of a 2HG match if needed, Oliver was able to participate in a prerelease event with no pressure or expectation. All he had to do was hold his cards above the table, untap, draw, and cast his spells after we’d established the plan.

It was a tough test for both my Magic and parenting skills, as I was doing the deckbuilding and strategic work of two while making sure Oliver was engaged and entertained without being overwhelmed. We cracked our eight packs, and Oliver helped me sort everything by color while I scanned for likely decks emerging from the noise of 112 cards. I went in hoping for a couple of (Harrow)s and strong green allies for a no-brainer ally deck, but after the tease of finding two (Harrow)s early, green shriveled up completely and was an easy cut from consideration.

We opened (Scalding Tarn), Raging Ravine, and Lavaclaw Reaches, so my initial inclination was to pair red with a color that could use one of the three red duals. Naturally, though, all the ally synergy we did have was in red-white. Once that fact was accepted, the decks fell into place: a red-white aggro deck with a medium ally theme that Oliver chose to pilot, and a controlling black-blue deck with bounce, decent removal, and some unblockables in Æther Figment and Quag Vampires (Swamps were a given all day long). We had enough landwalkers and removal to compete, but we were definitely bomb-free. With no high-curve gamebreakers of our own, we had to count on synergy and unblockable threats to get the job done before our opponents found theirs.

Round One

First up were a couple of experienced players, although one appeared half-asleep. The game didn’t do much to change that, as it bogged down fairly quickly, with relevant removal from both sides spent on the relevant evasive threats until there were no profitable attacks on the board. I eventually cast my first Treasure Hunt, which flipped an (Into the Roil) off the top. The downside of Treasure Hunt revealing the card became apparent, as it allowed the Villains to play around the roil with the (Rite of Replication) and eight mana they had. Had the (Into the Roil) been hidden information, they would have attempted a kicked rites upon finding land #9, which I could have responded to with the roil. Instead, they tried to tease it out first by casting Vapor Snare on our 2/2 flyer. Unfortunately for them, I had a Vapor Snare for their 3/3 flyer, so I didn’t feel the need to spend (Into the Roil) on the 2/2. Bouncing a land each turn kept them out of kicked rites range, and they finally cast an unkicked rites on their snared 3/3 flyer, knowing I wouldn’t bounce it in response. If they’d gone for the kicked rites, though, the response would have been quite a blowout. Instead, we stayed bogged down and eventually drew.

0-0-1

Round Two

Round two started with Left Villain playing an unkicked turn-one Quag Vampires, which I took to be a good sign for us, as that play looks awful unless followed with a turn-two (Kor Skyfisher). It wasn’t, and their subtly suboptimal play continued. Little mistakes piled up, and they fell for every combat trick, no matter how telegraphed. We didn’t run into any major bombs, and our flyers, landwalkers, and superior play eventually took it down.

I had made it clear to Ollie that we could drop after any round if he was done, but that we couldn’t drop in the middle of a game. After round 2 I asked him if he wanted to quit or keep going. He said he was kinda ready to be done, so we went up to the table to ask them to drop us. “Are you sure? You just won, right? You could still win packs, you know.” I explained the payouts to Ollie, and once he understood that even splitting our next two would win us some packs, it took him about five seconds to change his mind and head back into battle. The lure of prizes is strong!

1-0-1

Round Three

This was the most intense game of the flight. Left Villain was stuck on three Islands for quite a while, but Right Villain came out strong in black-red, and we used a lot of early removal on his creatures. I cast the same Æther Figment three times, returning it once with (Soul Stair Expedition), then responding to an attempt to Tomb Hex it with a kicked (Into the Roil), saving it for a third appearance. They killed it a third time, unfortunately, and it stayed dead.

The swing play came when I had six lands and four cards, and Right Villain had just resolved Butcher of Malakir while Left Villain had just begun connecting with a (Windrider Eel). I was unfazed, however, trying to maintain my poker face with a Nemesis Trap in hand. On their next attack with the two flyers, I would exile the butcher (not triggering his ability), put a butcher token in front of the eel, and then upon destroying the token at end of turn, both Villains would have to sacrifice an additional creature. Can you say, “four-for-one?”

This was going to be the game-winning play…until Right Villain rips a Bloodhusk Ritualist off the top with seven mana, five of them Swamps. With a kicker of four, I discard my hand, and my beautiful 4:1 is stripped away by his even prettier 5:1. So tough! Our fallback plan is for Ollie to use his (Arrow Volley Trap) and me to use my (Quicksand) to take out their (Merfolk Seastalkers) and the butcher, which costs us a couple extra creatures when the butcher dies. We actually almost win anyway on the back of Ollie’s relentless Marsh Threader, but at six life, Right Villain finds a (Magma Rift) and burns it out, leaving them with the only unblockable threats on board. They win a few attacks later.

2HG is pretty much all about unblockable threats, removal for unblockable threats, and bombs.

1-1-1

Round Four

We played against two friendly guys in the last round, and Oliver ripped the sick ally draw to make short work of them. Turn-two Akoum Battlesinger, turn-three (Kabira Evangel), turn-four Tuktuk Scrapper, turn-five (Tuktuk Grunts), right into a turn-six (Stonework Puma) off the top, backed up by an unkicked (Bold Defense). I think maybe I smothered and bounced some stuff, but I’m not sure, I wasn’t paying close attention—I think Ollie could have won that game by himself.

2-1-1

It was a great way for Ollie to finish his first Magic tournament. We ended up winning a handful of packs on the day, which filled him with pride. He had played in a Magic tournament and won packs! There, he ruled. Of course, Ollie wanted to open the packs right away, but as a Limited player at heart, I see unopened packs as valuable supplies that are wasted when opened without Limited intent. Accordingly, I was resistant to just tearing them open, but this was about Ollie’s experience, not mine, so when we got home, I told him he could open one. He eagerly cracked open a pack, sifted carefully through the cards, sliding back the uncommons to reveal his first opened mythic: Admonition Angel.

If you are a cynical player who was disappointed by the supposed “money grab” of incorporating mythic rarity into Magic packs, Oliver was living proof of its validity. He was through the roof at having opened a mythic in a way he simply wouldn’t have been if the angel were the exact same card, but at rare. Wizards makes the game for many different players, and mythic rarity creates extra-special moments for some kinds of players. Oliver immediately asked to call my podcasting partner Marshall (and photographer of the three pictures above), who was playing poker at the time, to share his excitement at having opened the angel. It was hilarious to hear the Oliver side of that conversation.

The next morning at 7:00 AM, Oliver shook me awake asking, “Dad, can I open the other two packs?” I couldn’t deny him the pleasure of ripping open his booty, but I did ask him to compromise, and keep the packs together so they could be part of his next sealed pool. He was barely finished saying, “Thanks dad!” before he was out the door, heading for the packs. A couple minutes passed and I was drifting back into a light sleep when I was jolted out of it by Oliver screaming down the hall.

“I opened a planeswalker! I opened a planeswalker! Oh my God, I OPENED A PLANESWALKER!”

Well, opening a planeswalker in Worldwake can only mean one thing, and sure enough, Ollie burst proudly into the room holding aloft a spiffy new Jace, the Mind Sculptor. He was already elated, but when I told him it was the most sought-after card in the set, he practically hyperventilated, collapsing onto the bed (after I’d put Jace into my protective custody) in a pile of uncontrollable giggling. He wanted to call Marshall then and there, but given that the poker game had gone on close to the point where you switch from calling it “really late” to “really early,” I spared Marsh the phone call until noon.

As if Jace weren’t enough, Oliver’s third rare was also mythic, a sweet Novablast Wurm that really tickled his Timmy fancy. Now that the dust has settled a bit, we are working out what to do with the Jace, since it’s frankly not a very exciting card to play with for a young Timmy like Oliver, who cares not for (Brainstorm)s. He wants to make a Novablast Wurm deck, and I’m thinking green-white tokens, (Eldrazi Monument), (Thornling), (Dauntless Escort), and probably a Garruk just to give him a planeswalker he can really get behind. Maybe (Day of Judgment)? A Timmy-style white-green indestructible deck, at any rate.

If you have ideas for the deck, or if you have parts for it you want to trade to Oliver for the Jace, you can contact me at modogodot at gmail dot com. Make us an offer we can’t refuse!

Best Buds

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