MPDC 35.03

I'm back from some more PDC action! I tweaked last week's deck.

Main Deck:

4 Catalog
2 Drag Under
4 Convolute
25 Island
2 Exultant Cultist
4 Just the Wind
4 Wretched Gryff
4 Deny Existence
4 Stormrider Spirit
4 Tezzeret's Ambition
3 Turn Aside

Sideboard:

4 Negate
1 Dispel
4 Revolutionary Rebuff
2 Sleep Paralysis
1 Turn Aside
3 Select for Inspection

I took out the Ingenious Skaabs as I realized that most of my spells are reactive so I can't really pump them at will. Also the deck isn't about playing a Skaab on turn 3 but more about taking control of the game and winning in the late game. I also drafted more Tezzeret's Ambition so I'm going to run 4 this time around. Turn Aside also went main deck as I always seem to side them in anyway. I took out 2 Drag Under because they seem to be too slow and replaced them with 2 more Wretched Gryffs. Let's see if I can improve on last week.

Match 1 I'm paired against UB aggro. My opponent starts off with a Night Market Lookout and Dhund Operative. I manage to play a Cultist to stop the attacks but I don't have any counter spells. I'm getting a little flooded as he plays a Sky Skiff and starts to crew it with the Lookout to drain life. Another Operative comes down but all I have are lands, Turn Aside and 2 bounce spells. I case Tezzeret's Ambition to try and find some answers but come up with nothing. Now he has a pair of Lookouts manning the Skiff  He swings in with the Operatives and Skiff, leaving me at 10 life. I tap out for a Gryff to stop the bleeding but Murder takes care of it and I lose a few turns after.

Game 2 my opponent gets an Operative past me again as the 2 drops come down before I can set up my mana. I Drag Under it to buy some time and find some lands as I'm stuck on 3 Islands. Drag Under a second time finds my fourth land but now a Self-Assembler resolves and I'm desperately trying to gain control of the board. I actually have to discard due to hand size but I Madness out a Just the Wind to bounce the Assembler. Operative shows up again but I Convolute a Sky Skiff. I'm stuck on 4 lands so I play Catalog into a Just the Wind at teh end of his turn. I hit 5 Islands and ship the turn. Convolute deals with his Assembler but the Operative hits the board again as I don't have enough mana to cast two spells at once. I counter a second Operative but the one on the board has me on a 3 turn clock. I start digging with Ambition as the Operative knocks me down to 5 life. I counter another Assembler and cast a second Ambition, this time pitching Just the Wind to bounce the Operative. I'm out of counters though and my opponent pours his hand onto the board. I'm now facing a pair of Operatives and a pair of Lookouts. I scoop them up since there's no way to come back from this.

For Match 2 I'm playing against what seems to be monoblack as my opponent starts with 3 swamps and a Thriving Rats. Deny Existence counters his Foundry Screecher but again I don't have anymore counters and a second Rats and Operative hit the board. I bounce the Operative to buy some time but the Rats are eating away at my life total. Die Young kills my Stormrider Spirit as I play Catalog + Just the Wind to bounce one of the Rats. The Operative makes a return and my opponent casts Glassblower Puzzleknot, so I assume there's some blue mana in there somewhere. I Deny Existence the second Rats but he plays a third. I succumb to his team a turn later.

For Game 2  I board in the  Revolutionary Rebuffs because I'm spending 3 mana to counter 2 mana creatures. Hopefully this will even out the playing field. A Rebuff gets a Thriving Rats and I play a Cultist against his empty board. Another Thriving Rats comes down and I attack with the Cultist. After getting the 2 points of damage I sacrifice the Cultist to a Wretched Gryff and my opponent takes the opportunity to cast an Operative on his turn. Live Fast allows him to refuel his hand but I Convolute the Die Young. I attack with the Gryff leaving him at 13 life and then play Ambition + Just the Wind to bounce the Operative. Again he takes advantage of me tapping out and plays Maulfist Squad creating a Servo and replaying his Operative. I Convolute his Ambitious Aetherborn but I'm being overwhelmed on the board. I play another Gryff and double block the Squad going to 6 life. It's all in vain though as he plays a second Maulfist Squad. I play a Stormrider Spirit to survive with 1 point of life but lose the following turn. I go 0-2 and drop from the tournament.

Wow the metagame has definitely changed. If all the decks are going to be this quick then monoblue control may not be the way to go. I consistently felt that I couldn't keep up as cheap creatures flooded the board and I'm using way more of my resources trying to deal with them then I would like to. I may have to switch to a different deck for next time.

-thePaperboy