Saturday, August 29, 2009

Halo 3: ODST can't come any faster, can it?

So I can't wait for ODST to hit, it looks like so much fun...

I have been a big fan of the Halo storyline since the begining and it just keeps getting better as it goes along. This time you are going to be "The Rookie" in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (elite human soliders that are dropped into hotzones). Being able to see a different perspective of each fight is just icing on this sweet, sweet cake. Not to mention that Firefight mode looks fantastic, I just want to play it now! And on top of the actual game, you get a invitation into the Halo: Reach BETA....I remember Crackdown's invi to H3, and this time they are going to give you a game you want to play right away and the invitation. SCORE!


Hope to see you in game soon....

Friday, May 22, 2009

Regionals - UW Lark! Pt. 2

I had planned on giving you a round by round explanation of what occured, but I lost my notes and the event hasn't been processed yet, so I can't look up who I played to jog my memory of the event. Instead I have an update of the sideboard and the boarding plan that goes with it. The mainboard hasn't changed, but the sideboard has been overhauled to shore up some of the holes the list I took to Regionals had. The new sb is as follows:

3 Celestial Purge
3 Negate
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Story Circle
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Austere Command

With this new sideboard, this changes the plan on what cards come in and what come out.

BW Tokens
-3 Path to Exile, -3 Kitchen Finks, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage
+3 Celestial Purge, +3 Negate, +2 Command

This is an interesting match-up for us. We take out the Finks because they only block 1 guy and the lifegain is negated in less than 1 swing. Purges are better than the Paths because they hit the Blossoms and Scullers if they don't take them out, which if they don't, it makes our Purges that much better. Negate is much faster than Archmage and fills the exact same role, 2 turns earlier. 

GW Tokens
-3 Kitchen Finks, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage
+3 Negate, +2 Austere Command

Pretty much the same reasoning as BW Tokens, Negates are faster than Archmages and Command deals with the threats they present much better than the Finks.

TurboFog
-4 Sower of Tempation, -2 Wrath of God
+3 Negate, +1 Kitchen Finks, +2 Glen Elendra Archmage

The key to this match-up is to drop an Archmage or Jace and defend it to the win. Removing the Sowers and Wraths frees up room for more relevant cards in this match-up.

Red Deck Wins / RB
-3 Jace Beleren, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage, -4 Sower of Tempation, -2 Wrath of God
+3 Celestial Purge, +3 Negate, +1 Kitchen Finks, +4 Story Circle

So this is probally the worst match-up outside of Faeries. The Story Circles help postboarding, but you have to watch out for Everlasting Torment and Anathemancer. The whole match, watch out for Volcanic Fallouts, as they burn down most of your deck.

5c Control
-4 Sower of Tempation, -2 Wrath of God
+3 Negate, +1 Kitchen Finks, +2 Glen Elendra Archmage

This is an easy match-up, as the deck cannot deal with Reveillark. While Wall of Reverence and Broodmate Dragons can be a problem, leaving in the Path to Exiles and 2 of your Wraths should push you right over the edge.

Planeswalkers
-1 Path to Exile, -4 Sower of Tempation, -4 Wrath of God
+3 Celestial Purge, +3 Negate, +1 Kitchen Finks, +2 Glen Elendra Archmage

Same idea as above, only they have less relevant cards to deal with Reveillark.

Faeries
-2 Glen Elendra Archmage, +4 Wrath of God
+1 Celestial Purge (2 on the draw), +3 Negate (2 on the draw), +1 Kitchen Finks

This is the worst match-up of all. Path to Exile Mistbind Clique with the Trigger on the stack, and cross your fingers...(The reasoning behind this is to deal with Bitterblossom).

Elves
-3 Jace Beleren, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage
+1 Kitchen Finks, +4 Story Circle

This is a pretty easy match-up for us as they are a creature based deck, which this is set up to crush. Story Circle on Green should get the job done, just be prepared for their Profane Commands.

Bant
-3 Jace Beleren
+2 Negate, +1 Kitchen Finks

An ok match-up depending on their build and draws. Sowers are REALLY good against them, try to stick one on a Rafiq or War Monk and protect it 'til next round.

Boat Brew
-3 Path to Exile, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage
+3 Celestial Purge, +2 Austere Command

This is deck is not good and the kids playing it are usually worse. The extra sweepers come in for tokens and Celestial Purges are better than the Paths b/c they deal with Ajani Vengeants.

So I hope this gives you an idea of what I am up to right now and gives you a jumping off if you are interested in playing Type II. Any questions or ideas you have I look forward to reading in the comments. Thanks for reading and keep on playing.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Regionals - UW Lark!

So for the Indianapolis Regionals last week, I sleeved up UW Reveillark and went 4-2-1, dropping from the tournament after my 2nd loss in round 7. In the weeks leading up to the tournament, I was leaning more towards EsperLark after some brainstorming and playtesting with Nocco. I played WB Tokens at a Monday Night Magic, but was just not happy with the mirror match and I felt that in the WG Overrun match-up, you were just so far behind when they T4 Overrun your 3 Spectral Tokens and 1 Faerie Rogue Token.

So here is the list I registered:

3 Path to Exile
4 Mind Stone
3 Jace Beleren
3 Kitchen Finks
4 Cryptic Command
2 Glen Elendra Archamge
4 Sower of Temptation
4 Wrath of God
4 Mulldrifter
4 Reveillark
4 Adarkar Wastes
1 Arcane Sanctum
2 Faerie Conclave
4 Island
1 Mutavault
4 Mystic Gate
5 Plains
3 Reflecting Pool
1 Seaside Citadel

Sideboard:
3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Celestial Purge
2 Negate
2 Remove Soul
2 Runed Halo
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Austere Command

Here is my sideboarding plan vs the big 4, WB Tokens, WG Tokens, 5c Control, RB Aggro and the meta-deck of the day, TurboFog!

WB Tokens
-3 Path to Exile, -3 Kitchen Finks
+2 Negate, +2 Celestial Purge, +2 Austere Command

WG Tokens
-3 Kitchen Finks, -1 Sower of Temptation
+2 Negate, +2 Austere Command

5c Control
-4 Sower of Tempation, -2 Wrath of God
+2 Negate, +2 Runed Halo, +1 Kitchen Finks, +1 Glen Elendra Archmage

RB Aggro
-3 Jace Beleren, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage, -4 Sower of Tempation,
+3 Burrenton Forge-Tender, +2 Celestal Purge, +1 Negate, +2 Runed Halo, +1 Kitchen Finks

TurboFog
-4 Sower of Tempation, -2 Wrath of God
+2 Negate, +2 Runed Halo, +1 Kitchen Finks, +1 Glen Elendra Archmage

In the next post I will talk about the tournament rounds and some thoughts after actually playing through 7 full rounds with the deck.

Until next time, thanks for reading and keep on playing.