Early Melira Pod Testing for GP Detroit

Initially, I did some testing without fetchlands. That led me to the conclusion that I needed fetchlands. Then, having acquired said fetchlands, and behold, I saw that they were good.

Now that that’s out of the way, my early testing may help you if you are less experienced, or force you to call me out for terribad-plans if you are more experienced. I welcome both. Here are some results from my early testing phase (including daily events and casual room matches):

vs. Bogles (one match)
Game 1: Lost, Game 2: Won, Game 3: Won. Result: 2-1
Spellskite was very important and killing Kor Spiritdancer is also top priority.

vs. U/R Splinter Twin (one match) and RUG Twin (one match)
Game 1: lost, Game 2: lost. Result: 0-2
Game 1: lost, Game 2: lost. Result: 0-2
Sideboarding Plan: +1 Linvala, +3 Duress, +2 Dismember, +1 Shriekmaw, +2 Decay.  -1 Pod, -1 Chord, -1 Archangel, -1 Spike Feeder, -1 Ooze, -1 Eos, -3 Deathrite.
In these matches, my mulligans are really what destroyed me. I guess it takes time for MTGO to warm up that shuffler. 🙂

vs. UWR Control (one match)
Game 1: won, Game 2: won. Result: 2-0
Sideboarding: +3 Duress, +1 Voice, +2 Lingering Souls. -3 Deathrite, -1 Spellskite, -1 Chord, -1 Pontiff.
This match was also uneventful, as my opponent got mana screwed in game two.

vs. Soul Sisters (ugh, one match)
Game 1: won, Game 2: won. Result: 2-0
Boarding: +2 Dismember, +1 Shriekmaw, +2 Decay. -1 Spellskite, -1 Ooze, -3 Deathrite.
Orzhov Pontiff single-handedly shut this guy down, he was an all-star.

vs. Affinity (two matches)
Game 1: lost, Game 2: lost. Result: 0-2
Game 1: lost, Game 2: won, Game 3: lost. Result: 1-2
Boarding: +1 voice of resurgence, +2 lingering souls, +2 dismember, +1 linvala, +2 abrupt decay, +1 harmonic sliver. -1 spellskite, -1 scavenging ooze, -1 metamorph, -1 shriekmaw, -1 birthing pod, -3 deathrite shaman, -1 chord of calling.
The first match was gross, as I forgot to sideboard. lolz, right? The second one was very close with me losing the turn I had the crack-back.

vs. Amulet of Vigor combo (one match)
Game 1: lost, Game 2: won, Game 3: lost. Result: 1-2
I had no idea how to play against this crazy deck. He rolled over me when I couldn’t disrupt him.

vs. UW Tron Gifts (one match)
Game 1: won, Game 2: lost, Game 3: lost. Result: 1-2
This matchup is bad bad bad for me. Not sure how to plan for it.

vs. BG Midrange (two matches)
Game 1: won, Game 2: won. Result: 2-0
Game 1: won, Game 2: won. Result: 2-0
I don’t remember much about the first one other than that it was easy.
The second was very hard-fought but I overcame a lot of his board presence to do exactly lethal one turn.

Part of playing this deck is to know when to attack, when to Pod, and when to just hold back. There were many times where I would want to Pod up an answer to something that I didn’t really need to answer. The temptation is there to simply shut down everything the opponent is doing, regardless of your own plan. This is sometimes good and sometimes a trap and knowing the difference means everything.

Going into beatdown mode is sometimes easy because you just chip in for damage here and there before activating Pod and sometimes hard because they might have resistance or creatures to attack you back.

This deck is very complex, and now that I have the completed deck I am going to test it extensively. Here’s my updated list:

 

Note: That should say “31 creatures”

My First Magic 2014 (M14) Draft

At the M14 Prerelease, I lost in the finals. The deck that beat me? Blue/Green. My opponent used Zephyr Charge+Plummet to kill my non-fliers, and given the fact that I had 10 or so fliers in my deck, the Plummets were usually just Doom Blades. It was quite the savage beating.

So I went in to my first draft thinking about how good fliers were, how good green was, and how good black was. I know that white and red can also be very good, but only in the right circumstances. I knew that I would lean on green in some capacity unless blue/black presented itself or another color came on really strong.

I would post the draft visually, but it looks like the draft converter is having troubles.

Here is the deck I ended up building:

Round 1:

My blue/green guys outpace his white/red guys rather quickly. He does win the flip on Molten Birth twice, though!!! I was pretty freaked out by that, but still had enough to win. Archaeomancer getting back Enlarge did the trick.
2-0 games

Round 2:

Played against blue/white fliers and good stuff. I was terrified of this guy because he was playing very well and had a lot of counterspells. He also had the flier that taps my fliers, which could just completely swing the game in his favor. Luckily for me, he had to go see a movie and he conceded in game 2. I hope it was the Wolverine; I hear that movie is sweet!
2-1 games

Round 3:

This time I face off against a red/black deck. Yikes. Talk about a powerful color combination. And he does not disappoint. I steal game one thanks to a pretty darn good draw. Game two, however, winds up with his Mark of the Vampire on his Canyon Minotaur and my bunch of dudes. Crazily enough, though, he swings into my wall of guys and we trade like 2 for 2. In the end, it looks like he just drew a lot of lands and 3 unidentified cards in his hand. Perhaps all enchantments or lands?
4-1 games

Won!

Overall, I had fun with the draft and am definitely looking forward to drafting core set for a while. I feel like the simplicity of the format is more appealing after the crazy gold-fueled madness that is Return to Ravnica block.

My favorite color is green, and it does not disappoint in this draft format. Thankfully I’m also fond of the other colors so I can keep my options open. If I had one piece of advice for those trying to improve their draft game… Don’t jam your favorite color/archtype and try to force it. You have to evaluate each pack on its individual merits. You also need to pay attention to what’s coming your way and what you’re passing. Identifying something good that tabled could be your key to victory.

Until next time, have fun with Magic 2014!