[Trick]

Here it is folks, we cover four of the top competitive decks, an amusing combo which hearkens back to Mirrodin, and discuss why Doran may not be right in Block.

Check it out!

-- Trick

[Phyrexian_Jester]

I like how lee said in the thread "Let's stomp these fairies!!!"

I want to stab my throat for saying it, but Kithkin are good ;)

But it felt like he gave very little props to the kithkin.  They are better than good.  I saw them win on turn 4 in Tallahassee.  Granted it wasn't because of kithkins, but it still won on turn 4.

Player A: swinging with 3 1/1 flying spirit tokens.
Player B: Evoke Cloudthresher
Player A: Mirrorweave your Cloudthresher
Player B: 

So i guess Mirrorweave won on turn 4, but still an awesome deck/card.  Also something not mentioned in the episode (i know they can't say EVERYTHING) about Mirrorweave and something that was slightly confusing as far as rulings go.

If you Mirrorweave an animated Mutavault, all other creatures become an un-animated mutavault (with the ability to animate however).  This is because Mirrorweave only copies all printed characteristics on a card.  So if you turn all your opponents attackers into lands after they have been declared attackers, you will be safe from attack this turn

But overall, a much better episode than last week imo

[imachampion]

Good analysis of the decks. I was surprised to see a lack of RDW in Block. Do you feel that it is not as good as the other decks...or did you not cover it because it hasn't made a big splash?...yet.

[Trick]

Because it hasn't made a splash yet. I think it's got a lot of juice between the various Tattermunge's and the reprint of Slith Firewalker, among other things, but I don't know if it can match the speed of Kithkin or Faeries.

[enkimdu]

I'm still in the middle of watching (well, listening mostly) to the episode, and I have one quick, non-content-related comment.

Use notes. There are a couple times where one or both of you have trouble remembering things (e.g. whether or not Levy was in the top two at Birmingham). A little newsreader-style cheatsheet would handle that just fine, and let the video flow even better. There's no expectation that you'll remember each card name and event result, but when you know the general topics you'll be covering, I think you can have those kinds of notes ready to help you along.

[uskomaton]

But it felt like he gave very little props to the kithkin.  They are better than good.

I think it's the same reason I don't give them any props, it's a no-brainer deck, requiring
hardly any skill to be successful with. And like most aggro, it's bloody boring.

[enkimdu]

Okay, post-episode, some thoughts to complement what y'alll covered in the show:


An additional Mirrorweave trick is to get a +1 creature advantage, then Mirrorweave a lord (e.g. Thistledown Liege or Wizened Cenn). As long as you're at least a guy up on the opponent, if they chose to block one for one, your entire team lives, their entire team dies. My friend did this a couple times to people using Mirrorweave and Merrow Reejerey together at the first PTQ at Hollywood.

On dealing with faeries, I don't think Raking Canopy is a good choice. It's a little slow as a three-drop -- meaning it's likely to be countered -- and it's reactive. The Faerie player can play the control game, keeping you from doing anything while the Blossom builds and army, and then flash out a Scion EOT, bounce Canopy with a Cryptic, and swing for massive damage. I prefer to use proactive threats, with an emphasis on Instants and Flash creatures, so you can wait for that EOT Scion and then respond with a Thresher to wipe their board and leave a sad and lonely Scion (that you can then Nameless at your convenience, hopefully).

In terms of static responses to Faeries, I like Stuart Wright's approach from the Standard portion of Worlds: Eyes of the Wisent. If you side in four Eyes (ahem), you're just as likely to have one as they are to have a Bitterblossom, and can do the following:

Their second turn: "Bitterblossom, go."

Your second turn: "Eyes, go."

Now they get to try and figure out how not to hand you 4/4s while maintaining the posture of a control deck. If you can force them to operate main phase even for a turn or two, that's a huge advantage (or, rather, it strips away one of their huge advantages).

I experimented with Spring Cleaning in the first Hollywood PTQ as a way to clear out the Blossom, but it actually wasn't worth it. Better to have generally proactive cards like the Thresher. I had one faerie opponent who led quickly with double Blossom, and then died as I Firespouted him, then evoked Thresher, then Profaned Thresher back into play. Better than just hoping for a Spring Cleaning and still having to deal with all those 1/1s that made it into play before you drew one.

[enkimdu]

I think it's the same reason I don't give them any props, it's a no-brainer deck, requiring
hardly any skill to be successful with. And like most aggro, it's bloody boring.

I don't know that Kithkin is really that much of a no-brainer. In addition to the usual aggro "how not to overextend" thinking, you also need to decide how and when you're going to try and play out Mirrorweave, and if you need to leave mana up for it (and up to represent a Mirrorweave -- it's very much like playing a tempo-counterspell deck in that regard). There's a similar concern about how and when to play out the Heights, what to put under them, and when to use them.

I feel Kithkin and Faeries are on par with each other, skillwise. You can play either deck in a fairly rote manner, but you gain a lot if you don't do so and really put some effort into fine-tuning your play.

That said, I've been testing against Kithkin a lot lately, and they feel like cockroaches. They just keep spilling out from the baseboard no matter how many you stomp on or how much poison you spray in the kitchen. Pesky.

[Phyrexian_Jester]

[kithkin are] bloody boring.

I can seldom count the times a timmy deck ever went to top 8.  Exciting doesn't win.  Efficient wins.  Kithkin are efficient.

[CopySix]

Another great episode guys . . . solid summary of the Block.

I hate fads / trends but have found myself running Kithkin or a Faerie deck on many a FNM . . . I just cannot argue with the effectiveness.

[CLaPorte]

Great Show!  First time I've ever watched the show, and I was really impressed with it.  Just wanted to give some props, and since you guys were talking about block I was wondering what     your thoughts were on Merfolk?

[leesteht]

Merfolk as a tribal beatdown deck is not really as effective without Lord of Atlantis. Despite having Mirrorweave, the deck doesn't have Procession and surge to help it overcome Kithkin.

However, there are a few Merfolk/Mill decks that are making small splashes which might be a bit interesting. You have the counterspells that Kithkin does NOT.