Tournament entry will be $20 per player. Registration starts at 11:00 AM and the tournament will begin promptly at 12:00 PM.

Prize breakdown for the top finishers will be:

1st – $200

2nd – $100

3rd-4th – $50

5th-8th – $25

We are located on:

5671 E Fowler Ave

Tampa, FL 33617

Call Us @ 813.914.7000

*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy hosts an EDH league every Sunday; tournament signups begin @ 2 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Jeremy is always in attendance to play EDH in our league, offer deck advice, and record matches for his popular YouTube channel. If you don’t have an EDH deck, don’t worry, we normally have a few extras if you want to play. See you here!

The Newest Archetype in Magic the Gathering

In last week’s article, we covered the concept of archetypes.  Archetypes were defined as a mental short cut that educate both our overall strategy during competition and a means to organize decision-making under that strategy.  We covered the major three archetypes in magic:  Beat down, Control, and Combo.

When a player decides to build a beat down deck, they look for the capacity to do damage early and often.  The creatures, burn, and other means of destruction packed into the deck have the single goal of obliterating the opponent.  Therefore, the card choices and game-time decisions generally tend to be very aggressive.  The archetype demands this aggression and allows the beat down player to build the deck and play the cards accordingly.

However, the last article noted that playing beat down in EDH can be a tough venture.  Multiplayer games suppress the effectiveness of the beat down strategy through politics and increased life totals.  In fact, it has been written that only Control and Combo are viable contenders as Darwinian survivors in the EDH format.  While this point it debatable, it is certainly a debate that deck architects should cover before purchasing cards and registering a deck for a tournament.

The Newest Archetype:  Group Hug

To understand the player base and nature of games during multiplayer EDH, one must understand some of the goals of the format.  Players like to win, players like to compete, but they might not do so at the exclusion of fun.  EDH players tend to be a particular kind of gamer.  Often times the players will be competitive, but will want to compete by playing according to some different rules.  EDH players seem to admire fantastic game states, mind altering swings in tempo, epic wins, historic fails and all the while sporting a fully blinged-out foil deck!

If folks wanted to be ultra competitive, then they would just play standard or extended.  If they just wanted to play with expensive cards, they would have signed on for legacy or vintage tournaments.  However, they want a little bit of it all.  EDH players seek a balance of the aforementioned characteristics of the game under the umbrella of FUN.  If it is not fun, then why do it?  After all, there are no pro tour admission tickets on the line, nobody is walking away with thousands of dollars in prize money, and often games are run outside of tournament settings.  I have never really picked up an extended Affinity deck and played a bunch of casual games on Sunday afternoon “just for fun.”  I have tested the deck to try to win a tournament or to understand the constructed metagame, but we all have better things we could do for fun.

Enter the Group Hug.  If you are an EDH newcomer or veteran to the format, you should spend some time getting to know the format’s newest archetype.  It comes in many different colors and card combinations, but can best be defined through the use of “helper cards” and fantastic, unselfish strategies to achieve balance in a game, make the game last and expand enjoyment, and ultimately create fantastic game states worthy of recounting over the coming months.

I have had some crazy multiplayer games when someone piloted the Group Hug archetype.  There were cards that had each player drawing 3 cards a turn, dumping our hands into play, and selectively gaining players life as they became the target of others around the table.  Just when you thought things couldn’t get any wilder, some new over-the-top card would have us all bursting with excitement and rolling on the floor laughing at the incredible and ridiculous situations that are possible in Magic.

Group Hug formed as an archetype for a couple of reasons.  The first, and foremost genesis for this deck type was a direct response to the occasional brokenness of the EDH format.  If you really wanted to build a deck that would consistently win on turns 3 or 4, it is possible.  It is not fun, but it is possible.  If you want to sit down with your hundred-card concoction and deny every other player the chance to enjoy a game of magic, you can use some pretty annoying cards and employ an annoying set of social skills to achieve that goal.  It is not fun, but possible.  In a format that seeks to maximize the available design space, increase access to the card pool, and deliver big on fun, there are also shadowy players that will abuse this freedom and crush the opportunity for enjoyment.

Douchebaggery

The Urban Dictionary has over 160 definitions for douche.  The variants of douche bag and douchebaggery knock that estimate easily over 250.  Let’s cover a few of the choice definitions:

Douchebaggery:

The greatest word of all time, simple yet pleasing in its onomatopoeic beauty. For one to commit douchebaggery, he/she is not limited to but may include some or perhaps all of the following behaviors:

- the wearing of flat-billed baseball caps backwards

- using an enormous amount of gel to spike the hair porcupine style

- wearing polo shirts or any other type of shirt with the collar popped, a disgusting gesture that should’ve died in the 1980s with parachute pants

- the sideways peace sign gesture

- overdone pursing of the lips

- too many visits to the tanning salon

- pointing at oneself, holding up beer cans, or making other obscenely immature gestures in solo or group photos

- following trends for the sake of fitting in

- adding “The” or the suffix “-ster” to one’s name, as in “The Rickster”

Essentially, “douchebaggery” is one of those things as easily understood by definition as it is by one’s demonstrations of it.

Douche bag:

Someone who has surpassed the levels of jerk and ass***e, however not yet reached f****r or motherf****r.

Or

A person with a sh***y personality that needs to “take themself the f*** down” or “go home and get their f*****g shine box.” A douche bag usually assumes the form of a hair-gelling pretty-boy but can also be described as an overzealous, pompous, or vexatious ass***e that most people wish were killed with a Mortal Kombat fatality.

Basically, nobody is looking to play multiplayer EDH against a Douche bag.  In online game, the term griefer refers to someone who does not cooperate with others and often finds enjoyment in irritating or annoying players.  These characteristics are taboo at the EDH tables.

Therefore, players began building decks that were the polar opposite of being a douche bag or griefer.  They began to calculate ways to be more cooperative, super political, and essentially a helper deck that serves as a catalyst for fun.  Here are a couple of lists that I have highlighted from the community.  Note:  The lists contain no real win conditions, but are packed with cards that heal, draw cards for everybody, and essentially create amazing game scenarios (like Hypergenesis, Eureka, or  Tempting Wurm).  The decks run very few counter spells, no prison style cards, and would never attempt to blow up lands.  If anything, they might be a tad underpowered and rely on politics and people needing the Group Hug benefit as a means for survival.  I have rarely seen a player running a Group Hug deck be the target of mass attacks or become singled out for another player’s hate cards.

Project Group Hug

General: Phelddagrif

Creatures-

Arbiter of Knollridge

Ghosts of the Innocent

Eternal Witness

Tempting Wurm

Magus of the Vineyard

Veteran Explorer

Noble Benefactor

Braids, Conjurer Adept

Iwamori of the Open Fist

Liege of the Hollows

Questing Phelddagrif

Hunted Wumpus

Peacekeeper

Indentured Djinn

Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer

Heartwood Storyteller

Wall of Shards

Kami of the Crescent Moon

Nullmage Advocate

Spurnmage Advocate

Soldevi Sentry

Spells-

Words of Wisdom

New Frontiers

Condemn

Pongify

Swords to Plowshares

Vision Skeins

Show and Tell

Selesnya Signet

Azorious Signet

Simic Signet

Temporary Truce

Saproling Cluster

Elephant Resurgence

Unifying Theory

Metamorphose

Howling Mine

Spectral Searchlight

Second Sunrise

Fecundity

Windfall

Truce

Dream Fracture

Rites of Flourishing

Samite Sanctuary

Hypergenesis

Horn of Greed

Upwelling

Wheel and Deal

All Suns’ Dawn

Horn of Plenty

Gate to the Aether

Cultural Exchange

Weird Harvest

Fold into Aether

Flux

Font of Mythos

Path to Exile

Divine Intervention

Eledamari’s Vineyard

Arcane Denial

Oath of Lieges

Land

Snow-Covered Island

Snow-Covered Forest

Vivid Grove

Vivid Creek

Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

Ghost Quarter

Selesnya Sanctuary

Vivid Meadow

Snow-Covered Plains

Forbidden Orchard

Simic Growth Chamber

Nimbus Maze

Adarkar Wastes

Azorious Chancery

Flood Plain

Coastal Tower

Calciform Pools

4x Plains

6x Island

9x Forest

Here are a few comments from one of the authors of this list (I believe that Dale Lovelace composed the following section):

How does it win?

It doesn’t, or at least it’s not supposed to. I can actually also almost see it milling someone out, but I wouldn’t count on that one. If this deck wins a game, though, I’ll probably end up dismantling it. That’s just not the point.

So, what does the deck want to do?

Help people out and be everyone’s friend. The suggestions that I want are for possible cards that help out other people.

For a deck that can’t win, you’re playing some powerful cards…

Sometimes, helping someone out means taking down a relevant general (Condemn), a relevant creature (Swords), countering a game ending spell, or doing something similar. In order to do that, though, you should give someone something in return. Swords and Condemn give life, Dream Fracture and Spellshift give the player in question another spell, etc. And Witness/Dawn lets me do all of my cool stuff all over again.

Another Deck List

You can see that each player used the archetype in a similar fashion.  There are some variants floating all over the web.  On our YouTube site, we have featured a couple of Group Hug style decks.  The first one we covered followed a tournament in an interview with local judge, Dale Lovelace.  He noted that he did not invent the idea, but these deck types are springing up all over the Internet.  Players love them and the folks that pilot the decks often serve as cornerstones of EDH in the local community.  It is like Christmas shopping with Santa Claus or having a bake sale with Little Debby.  Playing in a group that has a single or even multiple Group Hug decks can make the tournaments a blast and result in some great stories.

Another advantage of the Group Hug archetype (aside from fun and popularity) is the cost of making the build.  I noticed that many of the Game Academy prices on the cards used in this deck were cheap.  The entire deck will run players a lot less to build because the cards are not that “hot.”  Forced Fruition, Hive Mind, and Weird Harvest are not exactly flying off of the shelves.  They are all interesting cards, but give players a chance to win in an entirely different way by just playing the game for fun.

Thanks for reading.  Leave your comments and questions below and we will do our best to provide answers.  The EDH league on Sundays around 2 pm would love to have you.  Build up one of these group hug decks and I will pay your entry fee for the week!  Not only is it fun, but also it will be free the first time you give it a run.

*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy will host Legacy tournaments every Thursday; signups begin @ 6 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Keith will always be in attendance, so if you have any questions or need deck advice don’t hesitate to ask! =)

Since the last time you’ve all heard from me, I made some significant changes to the Life deck, now incorporating Black in the main deck, replacing Meddling Mage and Pithing Needle with Thoughtseize and Tidehollow Sculler. I’m a big fan of the new changes, as being able to know exactly what your opponent can do to stop you from going-off is extremely valuable information. That’s not to mention some of the cute tricks you can do with a Tidehollow Sculler with Vial [1] or Diamond Valley [2]. Additionally, Doran becomes much easier to cast, and we can now easily support multiple copies in the main deck, greatly strengthening the deck against strategies that can win without having to deal damage, i.e. Grindstone, Academy Ruins [3] and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

[1] Using Vial to make a Tidehollow on an opponent’s draw step allows you to deny the opponent their top deck for a turn.
[2] Put Tidehollow’s ability on the stack, then sacrifice him to Valley to permanently exile a card from your opponent’s hand.
[3] The presence of Academy Ruins in 38-Land allows them to easily deck the Life player.

As many of the true innovators out there know, making drastic changes to a deck requires much time and effort; it’s not unusual for the theory behind certain card choices and strategies to prove itself invalid. Nevertheless, it’s important to learn as much as possible for such experiments. In the case with Life, we did not immediately think that Black was a stronger choice than Blue, rather it was the product of a failed experiment.

Due to the popularity of those troublesome strategies mentioned above, myself and some non-local players [4] decided it may be worthwhile to combine Life with Cephalid Breakfast [5], adding to the deck’s flexibility, while also adding a possible turn 2 nut-draw kill. This is exactly the same sort of reasoning used recently by Yurchick’s GP Oakland 2nd-place Thopter-Depths, and as far back as Kai Budde’s Oath of Trix, which combined the aggro-stomping Oath of Druids engine with the popular Illusions-Donate kill. As it turned out, two problems plagued our hybrid deck. First, the presence of Dread Return, Sutured Ghoul, 3x Narcomoeba, Dragon’s Breath and Lord of Extinction made the deck mulligan at least 80% more often. In many testing sessions, I’d be ecstatic to only mulligan to six, but even then, those hands would commonly include a Narcomoeba or the like, effectively making them five-card hands. Second, many games you’d be forced to choose whether to go for the cephalid kill or infinite life. The two are completely mutually-exclusive since the using the cephalid reduces your library to only a few cards at most. If the opponent had a Sensei’s Divining Top in play, there was some probability that there is a Swords to Plowshares just waiting on top of the library for the Ghoul to hit play, complicating the decision to some degree.

[4] Doug Azzano, in particular.
[5] The combo involves targetting Cephalid Illusionist a large number of times with Shuko, or Nomads en-Kor to deck oneself. Several Narcomoebas come into play, which are sacrificed to Dread Return targetting a very large Sutured Ghoul (removing Lord of Extinction or Terravore). Dragon’s Breath gives the Sutured Ghoul haste.
[6] Turn 1 Shuko or Nomads en-Kor, turn 2 Cephalid Illusionist.

Though we had a lot of problems with consistency, we found that a few of the matchups had vastly improved (at the expense of others). We were nearly beating Merfolk every game as we could determine the exact number of Stifles and FoW’s we needed to fight though before committing thanks to Cabal Therapy and Thoughtseize.

After giving up on Cephalid-Life, it became clear that we could strengthen some matchups by making the blue-for-black swap, while also slightly shoring up our weak manabase [7]. Here is the list:

Dark Life
4 Aether Vial
4 Shuko
3 Nomads en-Kor
3 Daru Spiritualist
3 Task Force
4 Thoughtseize
3 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Doran the Siege Tower
4 Eladamri’s Call
4 Living Wish

3 Diamond Valley
2 Starlit Sanctum
4 Windswept Heath
4 Marsh Flats
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Savannah
2 Bayou
2 Scrubland
3 Plains
1 Forest

Sideboard
1 Diamond Valley
1 Nomads en-Kor
1 Daru Spiritualist
1 Doran the Siege Tower
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Progenitus [8]
3 Nature’s Claim
3 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Gaea’s Blessing

[7] We were already playing a couple sources of black mana in the main deck for Doran and sideboarded cards.
[8] To prevent being decked. Build up to a full hand, then discard Progenitus whenever you draw it.

I was prepped and ready to run a very similar list in a local tournament, but I figured it’d be more exciting if I wrote about something new. I convinced Nolan Blackwelder to switch decks with me prior to the tournament so I could talk, instead, about his interesting concoction, Bomberman [9].

[9] Nolan lost in the top 8 with the Life list, though he was winning both games prior to receiving a game-loss, and the unfortunate mistake of forgetting to board in the Progenitus against Stax.

Here is the list I piloted.

UWr Bomberman
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Fire/Ice
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Trinket Mage
3 Auriok Salvagers
2 Intuition
1 Painter’s Servant
1 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Grindstone
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle

1 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
1 Dust Bowl
4 Flooded Strand
3 Arid Mesa
4 Volcanic Island
4 Tundra
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den

Sideboard
2 Shattering Spree
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Meddling Mage
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Painter’s Servant

I don’t agree with all the card choices, but I decided to play the deck as-is. With around twenty players, the tournament structure was annouced to be four rounds, with a cut to the top-eight. Here we go:

Round 1, Robert Cone (U/G Natural Order)
Robert started on the play, and after a mulligan, ran out a Llanowar Elf on an Elvish Spirit Guide (no land). I untapped and played a Swords to Plowshares, practically ending the game on the spot. Robert found a City of Brass on the next turn and played a Concordant Crossroads, and on the following turn played a Birds of Paradise before passing. I ran out a Trinket Mage fetching Lion’s Eye Diamond and beat in for two. Robert didn’t do much on his following turn before passing back, where I resolved an Auriok Salvagers and generated infinite mana with Lion’s Eye Diamond [10], before drawing my deck with an Aether Spellbomb and going for the kill with Pyrite.

[10] Sacrifice the Lion’s Eye Diamond for three mana, then return it to your hand with Salvagers for two. Replay, rinse, repeat.

I sideboarded in the extra Painter’s Servants, Engineered Explosives and 2x Meddling Mage for the Tormod’s Crypt, Pithing Needle and 4x Accumulated Knowledge. This time Robert led off with a turn one Verdant Catacombs and City of Brass before playing a Vexing Shusher, while I played a Painter’s Servant. Robert resolved a main phase Mystical Tutor fetching Natural Order, and passed back before I ran out a Trinket Mage, fetching Grindstone. Robert, untapped and went for his Progenitus, I played out my 4th land drop along with the Grindstone. Robert scooped immediately, though I actually tried to stop him to ask if he had a second Progenitus in his deck. He hadn’t realized at the time, but Grinding into a Progenitus with Painter’s Servant ends the game in a draw, as the Progenitus keeps replacing itself only to be hit by the Grindstone again, creating an infinite loop [11].

[11] This is only the case because Progenitus’s ability is a replacement effect. If it were a triggered ability, the game would continue leaving the player with only Progenitus in his library.

Round 2, Todd Palmer (Merfolk)
I played first, but Todd started with an Aether Vial before getting first blood by beating in with a Mutavault. I played a Trinket Mage fetching Engineered Explosives. Todd attacked again with the Mutavault, but I opted against blocking, and Todd Vial’d a Lord of Atlantis into play to add a point of damage, before adding a second Mutavault. I untapped and used Engineered Explosives to dispatch the Lord, before attacking with Trinket Mage. Todd stayed aggressive by sending both his Mutavaults, sending me to 11 life. A turn later, Todd came in again with both Vaults, and I decided to throw the Mage in front of one, but Todd Vial’d a Merrow Reejerey to pump his Vault. I attempted a Swords to Plowshares, but he has Force of Will, sending me to 8 life. On my following turn, I cycled an Aether Spellbomb, but didn’t have much action, with only a Swords to Plowshares, a Lion’s Eye Diamond and a bunch of lands, and had to send the turn back. Todd ran out a Jitte, and hooked up his Reejerey, but I send it to the farm, and dropped to 3 from the Vaults. He passed the turn back, and I was all dead-on-board, until… I peeked at the top card of my library… Auriok Salvagers. I ran him out, into Todd’s two card hand, but he had no Force of Will. The Lion’s Eye Diamond hit the board next, and Todd scooped it up.

I sideboarded out all the copies of AK, the Tormod’s Crypt and the Intuitions for 2 Red Elemental Blast, 2 Engineered Explosives, a Pyroblast and 2 Painter’s Servant.

In game two, Todd started out with a Silvergill Adept, followed by a Lord of Atlantis and got in for a few points before an Stp dispatched the Lord. An Engineered Explosives on two was met by Force of Will, and a Mutavault joined Todd’s team. A Red Blast took out the Adept and a Trinket Mage hit play, but a Jitte came online for Todd, and the game ended soon after.

In game three, Todd led off with Wasteland and Pithing Needle on Grindstone. I had a Pithing Needle of my own, but opted to hit up his Wastelands. A Standstill came down, which was met by my Force of Will. Todd ran out an Aether Vial and a second Standstill along with a Force for my Counterspell. We passed the turn back and forth several times, with Vial moving up to three counters, but without ever putting a guy into play. Finally, a Rejeerey hit play along with a Mutavault, and I was forced to break the Standstill with a Swords to Plowshares. I tried a Painter’s Servant but Todd had another Force of Will. A Dust Bowl hit play, and I was started taking out the Mutavaults, while using various removal on Todd’s remaining creatures. This went on for several turns before time was called, with the board being my Pithing Needle and Academy Ruins against Todd’s Aether Vial, Pithing Needle and three turned-off Wastelands. On turn one of the final five, Todd peeled a Tormod’s Crypt but I put the Servant on top with Ruins in response, and followed with a turn two Trinket Mage fetching Grindstone and played an Explosives on one (to deal with the Pithing Needle on Stone). Todd could only add a Reejerey to his army on turn three, while I had enough mana up to Grind him out of cards on the fourth, forcing him to deck on the final turn. Phew!

With only four rounds before the cut, I was safe to draw into the top eight.

Quarterfinals
Natalie Scott (Dredge)
With Natalie on the play, the first spell she attempted was a turn two Putrid Imp. I went for the Force of Will, hoping to lock her out of discard outlets, but she had a Careful Study, discarding a few dredgers. On the following turn, I was able to counter a Breakthrough, but the damage had been done, and within three turns I was facing down six Bridge from Below tokens and a Bloodghast. I managed to peel an Engineered Explosives (which I called ahead of time, as it was my only out), and put an end to the tokens, but was already down to three life. The Bloodghasts cleaned things up fairly quickly.

I cut a Fire/Ice, three Swords to Plowshares, the AK’s, Intuitions and the Pithing Needle for 4 Red Blasts, 2 Tormod’s Crypt, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 2 Meddling Mage and 2 Painter’s Servants.

I elected to play, but my opening seven was just a bunch of Counterspells, Salvagers and lands. Without a winning gameplan here [12] I sent it back and received a similar six. The five wasn’t much better, and finally I wound up keeping the following four: Tormod’s Crypt, Red Blast, Painter’s Servant and Counterspell. Notice the lack of lands. Natalie came out the gates with a Pithing Needle on Crypt, followed by a turn two Tireless Tribe pitching Golgari-Grave Troll. She managed to dredge for three turns, without card drawing, her draw wasn’t very explosive. Not to mention, she didn’t hit a single Narcomoeba and only a single Bridge from Below. A Therapy came down, and missed on Trinket Mage. Finally, I peeled a second land, and ran out my Painter’s Servant naming blue. Natalie, still not hitting much action on her Dredges, continued to dig before passing back the turn, not realizing that her Pithing Needle was about to succumb to my Red Blast. And with that, the Red Blast knocked off the Needle and the Crypt took out her bin. A pair of Fire/Ices locked the land-light dredge deck out of blue mana for a couple turns before a Meddling Mage shut off Dread Return entirely. Natalie finally was able to hit a few Narcomoebas a few turns later, but it was too late. A Trinket Mage found Grindstone, and Natalie entered her scoop phase.

[12] I need to be able to lock her out of discard outlets, or have access to an early Tormod’s Crypt.

Being on the draw makes Counterspell much worse, so I cut two copies for a pair of Intuitions.

After such an epic game two, game three was quite anti-climactic. Natalie started with a Putrid Imp, to which I answered with a Tormod’s Crypt and Relic of Progenitus. Natalie was in no position to try to dredge and was forced to just hardcast a bunch of crappy guys. Between a pair of Trinket Mages and seven self-inflicted damage points from a Coliseum and City of Brass, the game ended in a hurry.

Semifinals
Carrena (Stax)
I kept my opening hand, with a Painter’s Servant, Trinket Mage, Force of Will, Intuition and three lands, and was pretty sure this game would be easy. That was, until Carrena resolved a Trinisphere on turn two. I figured that since I was going for the Grindstone kill, I should save my FoW for something more important, like Armageddon. That was until I realized that I couldn’t cast Force without paying three mana! On the following turn, I burned the FoW on morphed Exalted Angel, as I simply didn’t have anything better to do. When I tapped down for a Trinket Mage on the following turn, Armageddon hit the stack, my lands hit the bin, and I packed it up.

I boarded out the narrow removal spells (StP and Fire/Ice) along with two Intuition and a Tormod’s Crypt for Relic of Progenitus, 2 Shattering Spree, the pair of Painter’s Servants, 2 Meddling Mages and 2 Engineered Explosives.

We played land-go for a few turns before Carrena attempted a Crucible of Worlds, which was met by Force of Will (as she had Wasteland). A turn later, she tried a Trinisphere, which resolved, but was met by my Shattering Spree. Unfortunately, this left me tapped out, giving Carrena an opening to resolve Choke. Within a few turns, Carrena added a Smokestack, and fairly soon I was completely out of land. I started to build back, and was able to resolve a Painter’s Servant, and could Trinket Mage for a Grindstone as soon as I drew a mountain to Red Blast the Choke. Unfortunately, Carrena found an Armageddon before I could pull that off, ending my presence in the top eight.

3-1

After playing in the short tournament, I feel like I got a pretty good feel of what the deck wants to do, and how to play it fairly well. I noticed that it typically felt it was easier to go for the Painter’s Grindstone kill than Salvagers combo, particular post-board, although on paper it seems that the latter should be easier to set up.

Here are a few comments on the deck:
1. The Intuition/Accumulated Knowledge engine felt especially bad, as one doesn’t typically have that kind of time to invest, and drawing three cards is not necessarily better than using the Intuition as a tutor. Honestly though, if I was able, I almost always pitched AK or Intuition to Force of Will when given the opportunity. Perhaps I’m doing it wrong, but I don’t really think so.
2. I was very unhappy with the Tolaria West. I think it makes more sense if the deck had Pact of Negation. As is, I never found myself in a situation when I would rather transmute for a spell, than just play a land. That could also just mean that the deck is too land light.
3. The lack of Plateau put me in several situations where I had to choose between having access to red or white mana. The presence of Wasteland in the format, makes this come up more often than one might think.
4. Thirst for Knowledge seems very good in a deck with this many artifacts, particularly since most of those artifacts don’t mind being deposited directly into the graveyard.
5. Though Meddling Mage is a nice trick out of the sideboard, I think Counterbalance would be even stronger, and has the obvious synergy with the fetchable Sensei’s Divining Top.
6. There isn’t enough red mana in the deck to support Shattering Spree and I’m not sure if there is enough board space to worry about blowing up artifacts in a metagame that isn’t heavily shifted towards Stax.

And an updated list,

UWr Bomberman
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Fire/Ice
3 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Trinket Mage
3 Auriok Salvagers
2 Intuition
1 Painter’s Servant
1 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Grindstone
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle

2 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
1 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
3 Arid Mesa
3 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
2 Plateau
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den

Sideboard
3 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Counterbalance
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Painter’s Servant

That’s all for now. Don’t forget to leave me some nice comments!

Keith McLaughlin

*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy hosts an EDH league every Sunday; tournament signups begin @ 2 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Jeremy is always in attendance to play EDH in our league, offer deck advice, and record matches for his popular YouTube channel. If you don’t have an EDH deck, don’t worry, we normally have a few extras if you want to play. See you here!

“Understanding The EDH Metagame: Deck Construction and Archetypes”

Archetypes

Most gamers are familiar with the term archetypes. However, few have ever generalized the concept to everyday life. I might argue that archetypes can be found in all facets of nature. In particular, every instance of competition lends itself to the development of archetypes.

Archetypes are simply an overarching strategy under which a competitor or participant organizes subsequent decisions. Archetypes typically grow in popularity for Darwinian reasons. The most effective or efficient organization of strategies and associated decisions survive the test of time. People copy them and employ them in new settings hoping to capture and a piece of the proverbial pie like others who have found success using them in prior situations.

Rather than stay at this philosophical and largely theoretical level (read as trying not to bore you to death), we will pick some specific examples that demonstrate the generation and reliance on archetypes. Let’s talk about sex. I know…an EDH article that talks about sex? Pretty awesome!

When humans are seeking a mate, they tend to employ various strategies. Let’s explore a couple of strategies that folks have used throughout the course of history. Our first example finds us swinging large clubs, smacking down rival males, and dragging the lady folk away at the end of a fistful of primitive hair. It is so easy that even a caveman can do it.

Physical dominance and the employment of strength, speed, and bodily prowess has become an archetype used by dudes to land chicks for centuries. In High School, we had the “Jocks.” As we get a little older we find the gym rats, professional athletes and dudes that wear “wife beater t-shirts” and try to hold women hostage in their mom’s basements. The range is wide. Some folks run a couple of miles every day around their neighborhood while others go all-in on the body sculpting strategy in hopes of wrestling a desirable mate away from other potential candidates.

Have you ever been in a fight over a girl? Have you swung into action in hopes of defending a maiden’s honor? Do you wear tight fitting Ed Hardy shirts with sequins while flexing at your local drinking establishment? If so, you might just be employing the “physical dominance” approach to landing a date.

However, for each archetype, there is typically an alternate or eerily opposite approach for achieving the exact same end. As the dominant male is pushing boulders up the hill and whomping his women about the head and shoulders with pine logs, there has always been another faction storing up food for the winter, growing crops and pimping out the cave with all the newest, cosmopolitan animal skins. There is always some dude in history trying to assemble his harem in a lush gold palace or a Wall Street geek stockpiling Microsoft stock. Basically, this archetype aims to entice a mate through the shrewd accumulation of wealth and, many times, the allure of material goods.

Back in the day, there was always some geek trying to turn lead into gold, inventing electricity, or pioneering some new technology that would launch them from stone nerd to most eligible bachelor. These guys were studying math, polishing their glasses and adjusting their pocket protectors in order to achieve a future shrouded in hot young wives riding around in that year’s baddest, red sports car.

If you can’t employ the physical dominance route to getting a mate, then you might have to buy your way into “sexy.” There are certainly other archetypes. You have the comedian that aims to charm and seduce a mate through humor. We have the entertainer/musician that intends to take center stage in the eye of one or more young lasses, and occasionally you still run into the international playboy that seeks to employ every strategy at once.

Archetypes applied to EDH

In card games, we find a couple of strategies that have endured the test of time. These Darwinian survivors proved fit to succeed. We have beat down, control, and combo. Beat down decks tend to jump into the game with guns blazing. They look to compile a great deal of damage and deliver pain and destruction through severe beatings as they rush toward victory. Control decks look to sweep the leg, keep a player off-balance, and win the war of attrition as they march late into a game with counters and superior card advantage. Combo decks tend to park themselves somewhere in the midst and look to bring together incredible, undeniable synergies to close the game in a single, terrific finale.

White weenie and red deck wins are two variants of beat down decks. Blue is synonymous and typically serves as a cornerstone of great control decks. While combo decks like Time Sieve, Elves!, or the Valakut anchored Scapeshift combos exemplify the honed synergies and complex interactions that folks abuse to achieve alternate win conditions.

These three archetypes seem ever-present in the game of Magic. However, the viability of certain strategies tends to corrode when you alter enough variables in a game of Magic. For example, when life totals are doubled and the relative power of early drops are minimized; the rush archetype tends to struggle. One- and two-drop beaters become less effective as they face down an onslaught of giant elder dragons and some of the most epic removal spells ever played in standard. Board wipe is commonplace and the expected value of a 3/1 creature diminishes over the course of a game in which you are likely going to battle 6/6 fliers and 11/11 indestructible creatures with trample.

Elder Dragon Highlander also introduces a compounding variable beyond the altered, 40 starting life points. Many folks choose to play EDH in groups. Multiplayer games enjoy new complexities of politics, slower pacing, and the propensity to punish the player that jumps out in front with an early threat or overwhelming board presence. Therefore, the beat down player is susceptible to the group’s wrath and often end up on the wrong end of the beat stick.

Control decks flourish in the format. The player who has answers, generates the most card advantage, and dictates the happenings of the game through counters and removal is often the last person standing. The control player has a natural advantage in the slower, multiplayer format due to the sluggish start and oft-cumbersome requirements of complex mana costs. It might be hard to pay for a cruel ultimatum on turn 7 in standard, but the same task is child’s play on turn 20 of an EDH game. The mana is typically available and few folks blink at paying 7 or more mana for a single spell. The game tends to reward doing “big things.”

The variant format also proves a breeding ground for combo players. While some players aim to deal 21 points of general damage to each opposing player, and control players bide their time and counter the most harmful effects and disrupt the most troubling spells, the combo player sneaks into position and springs a trap. I have watched players watching other players. Like clockwork, the combo players begin to dig for pieces of their wicked puzzles. They seek. As time marches, they assemble the makings of their win condition and then wait for the blue players to tap the last of their mana. They wait out the counters and pray for a chance to pounce when the shields go down.

If you are new to the format, it may be worth considering the implications of the most effective archetypes. If you rush to build your red burn deck or assemble your 99-card army of mini-beaters, you may be disappointed during your first games. It happens more often than not that opponents easily neutralize the beat down threat, handicap the rush player, and leave them as a wounded spectator as the rest of the table rolls out 10-cost spells and build the loyalty counters on their planes walkers.

The best advice for the newly initiated to EDH is this: GO BIG OR GO HOME. Elder Dragon Highlander was formed to offer players a chance to have fun. Playing giant dragons and popping off a continuous stream of epic spells is a blast. You should join the movement. If you are looking for outstanding cards for your deck, bench those 2 and 3 drops in lieu of 6 and 7-mana creatures. Play giant legends and the very best creatures to ever grace the mid and later part of Magic games. In many cases, you only use cheap creatures for mana fixing, as slaves to a game plan, or to distract others while you prepare to unleash the true onslaught.

We will close this week with top 5 lists of the best EDH creatures for each color. Check out this assortment of great EDH cards and consider some of your favorites. In the forums, take some time to nominate great cards that I may have missed. Notice that I am purposely excluding weaker creatures like the rather small Tarmogoyf and standard beat sticks like Vampire Nighthawk. Those guys just don’t cut it in a world of Elder Dragons and 4-for-1 netting mythics. You have to expect more from your creatures. Note that many of the picks will net card advantage, serve dual roles (big body, card draw, cycling, removal, etc), and serve as a significant threat. EDH decks can be populated entirely by outstanding creatures that secure a 2-for-1 during game play. The best do a bit more. Check out these top performers:

White

Yosei, the Morning Star
Reveillark
Stonehewer Giant
Eternal Dragon
Akroma, Angel of Wrath

Honorable mention: Baneslayer Angel, Mirror Entity, Exalted Angel

Green

Woodfall Primus
Verdant Force
Genesis
Eternal Witness
Acidic Slime

Honorable mention: Sakura Tribe Elder, Multani, Maro-Sorcerer

Blue

Glen Elendra, Archmage
Draining Welk
Venser, Shaper Savant
Keiga, the Tide Star
Trinket Mage

Honorable mention: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfer, Vendillion Clique

Black

Avatar of Woe
Reiver Demon
Myojin of Night’s Reach
Puppeteer Clique
Ink Eyes, Servant of Oni

Honorable mention: Shriek Maw, Dread

Red

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Anger
Magus of the Moon
Imperial Recruiter
Bogarden Hellkite

Honorable mention: Flameblast Dragon, Other Red Dragons

Gold/Multi-Colored

Djinn Illuminatus
Angel of Despair
Simic Sky Swallower
Trygon Predator
Knight of the Reliquary

Honorable mention: tons of great gold cards, Divinity of Pride, Hellkite Overlord

Artifact Creatures

Darksteel Colossus
Solemn Simulacrum
Duplicant
Memnarch
Sundering Titan

Honorable mention: Sharuum

Overall, Elder Dragon Highlander players have a great deal of creative space when designing decks and creating creature line-ups. If you attempt to build a traditional style beat down deck, you might be very frustrated. The format calls for bigger creatures providing card advantage and amazing impact. Give some of these cards a try in your next build and come visit us on Sundays for EDH.

As a special note: Those interested in the upcoming EDH league will want to attend the EDH tournament on Sunday, March 7th at approximately 2pm. We will be embarking on our first major series with some unbelievable prize support. See you next week when we cover an archetype that might only exist in Elder Dragon Highlander: Group Hug. We will cover the politics and various builds of the catalyst or helper archetype and will highlight the strategy’s ins and outs.

Leave some comments in the section below about your Top 5 list for various colors. What did I miss? What did I nail? Can you assemble a better 5?

When: April 3rd, 2010

Where: Clarion Conference Center in Tampa, FL; Map + Directions

Entry Fee: $25

Prize Breakdown:

1st-$400

2nd-$200

3rd-4th-$100

5th-8th-$50

Tournament Details:

Advanced Format Deck Required

Begin registration @ 8 AM

Late registration @ 9:45 AM (if you register after this time, you will be charged a $30 entry fee)

Tournament begins @ 10:00 AM

Other side events will be run throughout the day

]]> http://www.thegameacademyonline.com/2010/02/25/yu-gi-oh-1000-cash-tournament-april-3rd-clarion-hotel/feed/ 0 http://www.thegameacademyonline.com/2010/02/24/the-deck-to-play-for-sjc-nashville-a-yu-gi-oh-strategy-article-by-allen-pennington/ http://www.thegameacademyonline.com/2010/02/24/the-deck-to-play-for-sjc-nashville-a-yu-gi-oh-strategy-article-by-allen-pennington/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:08:58 +0000 admin http://www.thegameacademyonline.com/?p=678 Wednesday, February 24th – Allen Pennington takes us through his advanced Yu-Gi-Oh! strategy and discusses his deck choice for the upcoming Shonen Jump in Nashville, TN.

Everyone going to an event, whether locals, regionals, or a Shonen Jump Championship, has to decide what deck to play. Some people might have very limited options, making their choice easy. Others may already have a deck in mind that’s been doing very well for them. I am in neither of these groups of people.

I have the mentality that there’s always a “correct” deck to play for every tournament; some deck that will naturally have a much better chance of winning than any other deck. This is the attitude that a lot of Magic: The Gathering players have when preparing for a big event such as a Pro Tour. My perspective of Yu-Gi-Oh! haas been affected by playing Magic and vice-versa. The challenge set before me was to solve the puzzle. What was the deck to play for SJC Nashville?

When my friends heard that I was going to Nashville (also known as “SJC Gaylord”), their first question was, “Are you playing Gadgets or Lightsworn?” Of course I told them that I hadn’t decided what I was playing yet, and was still considering all of my available options. I found the question that they asked was amusing though. It’s as if they viewed Gadgets and Lightsworn as the only possible decks that I could do well with.

Why would people assume that I would play Lightsworn? I think this was partly due to the article that I wrote a few weeks ago on CrowSworn.The other reason was that Lightsworn is the most popular deck and considered by most people to be the “best” deck. Lightsworn is clearly the deck to beat in this meta. If your deck consistently loses to Lightsworn, you should disregard it as a viable deck for any high-level event.

Why isn’t everyone running Lightsworn? It has no bad matchups for game 1, and if you have a good sidedeck, you should win games 2 and 3. There’s one small factor that’s turning away players from using Lightsworn…

“I would be running Lightsworn for sure if the mirror match didn’t exist.”

This was a quote from a brief conversation that I had with a player who top16ed SJC Orlando with a non-Lightsworn deck. (Note: I don’t use any names in my articles because I feel it’s rude to use people’s names without getting their permission first. That’s also why the phrase “one of my friends” will come up a lot in my articles.) From the conversations that I’ve had with good players,  the mirror match seems to be the most common reason for not running Lightsworn.

Obviously, every deck has the possibility of a mirror match. Many of the pro players that I’ve talked to have no problem playing Zombie mirrors or Blackwing mirrors. What makes Lightsworn so special? While there is always some skill involved in any matchup, the Lightsworn mirror match is almost entirely luck. No matter how you build your Lightsworn deck, you’re not going to get anything much better than a 50% winning percentage (even with a solid sidedeck). At a 10-round Shonen Jump Championship, it’s not uncommon for four of your matches to be against Lightsworn. If you can only win 50% of those matches, this has you losing two matches and most likely placing outside the top16.

On the other hand, other mirror matches are more skill based. For example, I have been playing Zombies for the past two weeks and have been winning about 75% of my mirror matches. Zombies, if built properly, have a good chance at beating Lightsworn while being able to beat the Zombie mirror at the same time. Unfortunately, the downside to Zombies is that the match against Gladiator Beasts is nearly unwinnable, and they can have a difficult time beating Blackwings as well.

What I was looking for is the deck that “beats everything”. That deck would be Lightsworn, but Lightsworn doesn’t beat Lightsworn. If you want to win the Lightsworn match, you need to either get lucky and summon a lot of Judgment Dragons or just hope that the person sitting on the other side of the table is a horrible player. You can’t rely on either of those happening at a Shonen Jump Championship.

That leaves the other deck that everyone was assuming that I would play: Gadgets. Gadgets are the deck I’m known for playing, and the deck that’s given me the best placings in premier events for my entire Yu-Gi-Oh! career. Of the eight regionals that I’ve top8ed, five of these were with Gadgets. However, don’t let the statistics lie to you. The first five regionals that I top8ed were all with Gadgets, while the last three were all with a non-Gadget deck. I was playing Gadgets non-stop ever since their release, but at some point I veered away from the archetype.

It seemed appropriate that SJC Orlando would mark my return with Gadgets. It was the start of a new format, and everyone was expecting the top tier decks to be Lightsworn and Gladiator Beasts. I didn’t have any of the cards for Lightsworn and I didn’t like Gladiator Beasts in this format. My plan for this event was simple:

1. Play Gadgets

2. Maindeck three Banisher of Radiance

3. Beat Lightsworn

4. Maindeck three Royal Oppression

5. Beat Gladiator Beasts

6. ???

7. PROFIT!

My plan worked pretty well. Before the event, I played against Lightsworn players for cards four times, and won 3/4 times. At the event, I beat Lightsworn four times. I lost one match to Lightsworn, partially due to getting a game 1 loss for a decklist error. My other loss was to Skill Drain Zombies, a deck that I was somewhat unprepared for. I beat Gladiator Beasts twice, including one in a feature match. I came in 18^th place, nearly top16ing with a deck that many players had thought was not on par with Lightsworn and Gladiator Beasts.

It was expected that I would play the deck for SJC Columbus, the next SJC that I was attending. After suffering a humiliating 0-2 drop, I got frustrated and decided that I was going to play other decks. I won a small win-a-mat event with Blackwings, and played those for awhile locally. While Absolute Zero had a lot of hype, I tested the deck rigorously. After I determined that the deck wasn’t as good as I had thought, I traded it for a Lightsworn deck. I did well at several locals with Blackwings, Lightsworn, and Zombies.

I’m not going to lie; I was doing everything in my power to not play Gadgets at SJC Nashville. Ever since SJC Columbus, I’d been testing everything except Gadgets. I’d decided that Gadgets would last on my list of options. I would only play the deck if none of the top tier decks tested well for me. Well, none of the top tier decks did test well for me, or at least not as well as I would’ve liked. I had a bad day at SJC Columbus with Gadgets, but they’ve done well at every other event I’ve taken them to. They even won one of The Game Academy’s $500 Cash Tournaments.

I think sometimes you just have to play whatever you feel is the best deck and accept that anything can happen. I might misplay horribly at SJC Nashville and miss out on a top16 as a result. I might draw gross hands and not top as a result. I might play against a deck that flat out beats mine. I might lose matches in time, or to a topdecked Brain Control. Things might not go my way, or the opposite might happen. However, I feel that my Gadget deck will give me the best chance at winning SJC Nashville, regardless of how well I actually do.

I could go on to explain the decklist that I’m playing and why I’ve made certain card choices. The important thing is what deck I decided to play, not what 70 cards (40 maindeck + 15 extra deck + 15 sidedeck) are included. I feel that Gadgets are the best deck for me to play at SJC Nashville, but not necessarily everyone else. I almost never misplay with Gadgets when I’m focused. Gadgets have no unwinnable matchups in this format, so I think I have a realistic chance at top16ing SJC Nashville.

*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy hosts an EDH league every Sunday; tournament signups begin @ 2 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Jeremy is always in attendance to play EDH in our league, offer deck advice, and record matches for his popular YouTube channel. If you don’t have an EDH deck, don’t worry, we normally have a few extras if you want to play. See you here!

Valentine’s Day evokes mixed feelings for many folks. Some write it off as a greeting card holiday that has been bastardized by commercialism and profiteering while playing on the vulnerability and emotions of the masses. I simply feel this way about all holidays and avoid the trap by playing Elder Dragon Highlander. If you were lucky enough to be one of the select few that really stuck it to the proverbial man and had a chance to buck the sinister conspiracy that is Valentine’s Day, then this tournament report is for you. If you are steeped in puppy love, boxes of stale chocolates and that all familiar hollow feeling of loneliness then you should also continue reading. You might learn to man up!

The Game Academy hosted, what is sure to become, a new February tradition. On the 14th, both casual and competitive players traded in the delusional notions of endless love and hallmark cards for some real cards: Magic the Gathering cards! Instead of sending love notes, players had the chance to deliver a nearly endless smack down of highlander wrath and smoldering vengence as they marched toward the ultimate prize, a fresh box of the newly released Wordwake!

The Rules are Simple

There can be only one. Each Elder Dragon Highlander deck consists of 99 individual cards and a Legendary General. Aside from basic land, no two cards can share a name. Highlander decks are amazing fun to build and play. They force deck builders to generate lists using a wide variety of cards and offer the chance to explore strange and wonderful interactions. Playing Highlander is like visiting the world’s largest candy shop. There are hours and hours of enjoyment available and each trip offers a totally new experience. Because of the vast array of cards in each player’s deck, many games tend to unfold in brilliantly different ways. Like magical snowflakes, EDH games are rarely identical.

The EDH format is awesome. My wife and I host a channel on YouTube that outlines several ways to build a deck. We discuss the most popular (and most hated) strategies, and have some videos that walk new players through the rules. I would invite everyone reading to check out the format, build a 100-card creation, and meet up with us during our regular Sunday events. Currently we are considering two types of tournament play. Some folks have asked for a heads-up, 1 player versus 1 player style tournament. Each general battles and excels based on its own merits. Other players have clamored for multi-player games. On Valentine’s Day we tried a bit of each. The multi-player game was more casual, and the win-a-box tournament featured 1v1 action.

Generally Speaking

The event was advertised on both Facebook and right here on Thegameacademyonline.com. Players ventured from as far south as Manatee County and as far north as Hernando County. There was an entire box of the new set on the line and the winning general was promised the spoils of war. Some of the decks that showed up included Momir Vig in all of his green and blue glory, the Sliver Queen and her five-color sliver brood, Venser championing blue madness, Brion Stoutarm and a craft red/white mix, along with mono green, and other notable elder dragon legends.

The tournament offered a diverse mix of players and deck ideas. A few couples decided to spend their Valentine’s Day romantically kicking ass in an EDH tournament. It really pulls at the heart strings. There were side games of multiplayer before and after the event, and the Game Academy folks discounted some of the EDH singles for new players. We picked up a Cephalid Colliseum and I think another player landed a Beta Berserk.

After some discussion, the rules were set. It was going to be a virtual Valentine’s Day massacre of double elimination matches. I chose to run the following mono-green deck list:

General:
Rofellos, LLanowar Emissary

Creatures:
Ant Queen
Eternal Witness
Fierce Empath
Force of Nature
Forgotten Ancient
Genesis
Indrik Stomphowler
Jedit Ojanen of Efrava
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
Kodama of the North Tree
Krosan Tusker
Masked Admirers
Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer
Panglacial Wurm
Patron of the Orochi
Primoridal Sage
Regal Force
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Seedborn Muse
Seedguide Ash
Silvos, Rogue Elemental
Solemn Simulacrum
Verdant Force
Viridian Shaman
Viridian Zealot
Woodfall Primus
Yavimaya Druid
Yavimaya Elder

Planeswalkers:
Garruk Wildspeaker

Sorceries:
Beacon of Creation
Collective Unconscious
Desert Twister
Far Wanderings
Harmonize
Hunting Wilds
Hurricane
Journey of Discovery
Kodama’s Reach
Primal Command
Overrun
Natural Order
Nature’s Lore
Rampant Growth
Reap and Sow
Regrowth
Restock
Rude Awakening
Tooth and Nail
Wurmcalling

Instants:
Chord of Calling
Harrow
Krosan Grip
Mystic Melting
Reclaim
Worldly Tutor

Enchantments:
Fecundity
Greater Good
Lurking Predators
Mana Reflection
Sylvan Library

Artifacts:
Extraplanar Lens
Gauntlet of Power
Lightning Greaves
Predator, Flagship
Staff of Domination
Sword of Fire and Ice
Umbral Mantle

Nonbasic Lands:
Wirewood Lodge

Basic Lands:
32 Forests

I like to run a different deck each tournament. It tends to keep my fellow players on their toes and offers me a chance to try out new strategies and creations. I learned a couple of things playing this list. Rofellos, while he might seem small and unassuming, is a total powerhouse. His ability to ramp up the mana count gives a player a chance to cast costly spells and introduce giant green hulks to the game far before their natural time. Dropping an 8-cost Verdant Force on turn 4 gives you 1 giant body, and if left unchecked, can provide amazing board advantage.

There are a couple of quick kill combos in the deck including some tricks with artifacts, but most of my games were won on the back of giant creatures and trample effects like Overrun. The deck dodged disaster and slipped through the tournament without taking a loss. I would encourage players to try out this type of ramp strategy, but possibly consider the “unfun” aspect of winning on turn 4 or 5 with Staff of Domination or Umbral Mantle. After this tournament, I might cut those cards from my list in exchange for the new mythic from Worldwake, Omnath Locus of Mana and Wolfbriar Elemental. Take a quick look over some of the highlights:

Round 1: Rofellos vs. Momir Vig

In a best of 1 EDH game, it is very important to land a good starting hand with plenty of mana. I ended up with 3 forests and the god hand in Regrowth, Umbral Mantle, Sakura Tribe Elder, and Overrun. The Lanowar Emissary hit the board on turn 2 and stuck. Momir Vig directed the disruption by placing the Krosan Grip on my 3rd turn Umbral Mantle. However, Regrowth made sure that the broken equipment made its way back to my hand. By turn 4, the Umbral Mantle was reattached to Rofellos. The synergy between Rofellos’s tap ability and the Umbral Mantle’s untap ability allowed the 2/1 Elf to swell up to a 50/49 attacker with enough spare mana to case the Overrun. The lucky draw and cool synergies allowed for a quick, deadly end to Momir Vig’s assault on the mono-green deck.

Rofellos 1-0 (no losses)

Round 3: Rofellos vs. Venser (monoblue w/ artifacts)

Josh was running Venser. Mono blue decks can be devastating in EDH because there are so many amazing draw effects, counterspells, and EDH houses like Bribery that steal some of your best creatures and use them to beat about your head and face. I have lost to the Venser deck on many occassions and know the long-game was not in my favor. Venser has a propensity to throw people into a mind-slaver lock or some other deadly blue death. At one point in the tournament, I notice that the Venser deck almost achieved the new Jace, the Mind Sculptor’s ultimate ability. That is a pretty sick way to die.

Fortunately for the mono-green goodness, Harmonize kept big creatures in my hand and I was able to work through an onslaught of counter magic. I literally lost 5 or 6 creatures to counter spells before I got a fatty to stick. If it had not been for the mana ramping of Rofellos and the persistent draw provided by Harmonize, graveyard recursion, and more Harmonize, then the game would have gone a different way. In the end, the green general was able to amass an army and overrun the blue defenses.

Rofellos X-0 (no losses)

Round 6

Throughout the tournament, Bill had been headhunting Legends and serving players their elimination losses. Early in the game, his 3-color Nicol Bolas creation dropped a game to the mighty Sliver Queen. However, he battled through red/white, blue/green, and mono-blue to end up as the only other player left standing. The tournament had been hard fought and rightfully claimed by both legendary generals.

While I was confident in the power of my little green elf, I also respected and revered the greatest of the elder dragons. Nicol Bolas and Rofellos reached a cease fire and lived to share the spoils of the box tournament. Bill and I each cracked half of the new World Wake box. I landed an Abyssal Persecutor and a litany of manlands, while Bill opened 3 mythics and a bunch of new playable rares. After the heads-up tournament, some new players had arrived and a few folks played multiplayer until the owners had to close the shutter for a little rest and relaxation.

The Future of EDH at The Game Academy

I have been a constant promoter of the EDH format for almost a year. Elderdragonhighlandr on YouTube features varied decks and information about Grand Prix events, weekly tournament coverage, and other interesting deck interviews from local players, developers and designers from Wizards of the Coast and deck builds and thoughts from Pro Tour players including Patrick Chapin, Cedric Phillips, and TGA’s own Josh Martinez.

The Game Academy will be the future home and sole destination for all of my EDH play. There are leagues that are forming on Sundays and the back stock of EDH staples is at an all time high. It is always amazing to be able to buy almost any card that you need right from the store at which you are playing. The Game Academy is the only store in Tampa that has the cards to support your EDH habit. We will play both tournaments and casual play on Sundays and will be organizing some epic EDH events in the future. Thanks to the Game Academy for this chance to play and write, I hope that we continue to grow this format and that everyone gives Elder Dragon Highlander a try. You will never look back.

Happy Valentine’s Day the EDH way – Jeremy Blair

Fear The Oppression 

I always felt like I never got to fully enjoy the September 2008 format, often called the TeleDAD format (named after the deck to beat, TeleDAD, that played multiple copies Emergency Teleport and Dark Armed Dragon). Many of the best players in the game often refer to the TeleDAD format as “one of the most skillful formats of all time.” I’m not sure whether I agree with that title, but I think it’s one of the most important formats that we can learn from.

 What’s so special about that format? It happened to be the first format that synchro monsters were legal. At first, some doubted the viability of synchros, but they took over the game very quickly. Some synchros, such as Stardust Dragon, had the ability to lockdown games by themselves. Due to the speed of Emergency Teleport comboed with the quick and easy synchro material Destiny Hero – Malicious, the deck had the ability to power out multiple synchro monsters extremely early on. However, we have an even more important lesson to learn than the power of synchros.

 The reason I say that I was never fully able to enjoy this format is the fact that I was never to obtain the top deck myself. While all the best players in the game were trying to figure out how to perfect what was clearly the strongest deck of the format, I was trying to throw together something that wouldn’t get smashed to pieces by it. This made my best option anti-meta. TeleDAD’s gameplan was all about special summoning, so I figured that a deck based around stopping special summons would be a good choice.

 My main anti-meta card of choice was Royal Oppression. As long as it remained on the field, it insured that a TeleDAD deck could not win. Anti-meta decks like mine that played Royal Oppression didn’t special summon at all, so the card had no downsides. The idea here was that an early game Royal Oppression would stop the TeleDAD player from doing anything. Once they were locked down, I could start beating their face in while they were trying to figure out how to recover. This use of Royal Oppression wasn’t new; this was a concept that had been employed by anti-meta decks for awhile.

The TeleDAD format started off somewhat diverse, with Gladiator Beasts, Lightsworn, and a few other decks being solid contendors. However, the format quickly became more streamlined. Other decks were pushed aside in favor of the deck with the most raw power and consistentcy: TeleDAD. The top players in the game eventually realized that they were in a format defined by beating the mirror match. Everyone was searching for the best way to beat the mirror. After weeks of searching, some players had found the answer: Royal Oppression.

It was hard for many players (including myself) to realize how amazing this card was in the TeleDAD mirror match. How could a deck effectively play this card when your deck and your opponent’s deck have an equal amount of special summons? Why run a card that completely conflicts with your deck’s strategy? The theory was simple:

 1. Special summon a lot of monsters

2. Set Royal Oppression

3. Your opponent will attempt to special summon

4. Activate Royal Oppression

5. ???

6. PROFIT!

 Royal Oppression was essentially a “prevent your opponent from making a comeback” card. All you had to do was get a favorable field position and set Royal Oppression. This use of Royal Oppression was completely new and innovative. It forever affected the way people viewed the card. Royal Oppression no longer had the label “for anti-meta decks only”.

 Let’s flash forward to this format, specifically to The Game Academy’s second $500 Cash Tournament. The Game Academy always has coverage of their big tournament, which is cool. One thing that interested me was how they asked players “What’s the best deck/card this format?” and made a video out of it.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntkql2811JM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl7FZNW3oHw

 The responses to these questions were very typical. For best deck, the answers were Lightsworn, Lightsworn, and Lightsworn. For best card, the answers were Judgment Dragon, Judgment Dragon, and Judgment Dragon. If you pay close attention, you might notice some redhead kid say “Royal Oppression” in the second video.

I don’t blame these people for saying that Judgment Dragon was the best card of the format. Judgment Dragon can single-handedly win games; it’s obviously one of the most powerful cards available. However, Royal Oppression can also win games, but in a different way that Judgment Dragon does.

 The top decks of the format are undisputedly Lightsworn, Blackwings, Zombies, and Absolute Zero. Each one of these decks can play Royal Oppression. The fact that Royal Oppression can be played in virtually any deck this format is what makes it a better card overall than Judgment Dragon. In fact, the winner of the last Shonen Jump Championship played a Lightsworn deck with one copy of Royal Oppression maindecked. Since this tournament, Royal Oppression has seen a rise in popularity as a 1-of. It can severly disrupt an opponent who’s not expecting it.

 I’ve been a big fan of Royal Oppression throughout his format. I started off playing Royal Oppression in the form of Gadgets (the deck that I’m “known” for playing).  After a bad week at SJC Columbus with Gadgets, I switched over to Blackwings, also playing Royal Oppression. Royal Oppression has been a staple in Blackwings this format, often played in twos. Shura the Blue Flame and Vayu the Emblem of Honor can dodge Royal Oppression due to various rulings. Even Blizzard the Far North can work around a Royal Oppression if you chain to its effect with the effect of Black Whirlwind.

 Zombies have recently added Royal Oppression to their arsenal as a tech card for the mirror, similar to the way that TeleDAD did a year ago. Most builds of Zombies seem to be playing only a single copy, but I’ve seen several builds playing doubles (including my build of Zombies, which you may get to see later). Many players have taken advantage of the synergy between Tragoedia and Royal Oppression, focusing more on stopping the opponent from OTKing rather than going for the OTK themselves.

 To be completely honest, I can’t find a single deck this format that has an excuse to not play Royal Oppression, whether it’s in the maindeck or sidedeck. If you haven’t thought about playing Royal Oppression, I suggest you start doing so. If you’re not thinking about how to include Royal Oppression in your pile of cards, you should at least be thinking about how to beat it. Whether you like it or not, you’re going to run into it eventually.