The Cure
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Latest Update: March, 04. 2010
What's The Cure?
The Cure is an aggro/combo deck that makes uses of several entwined combos to bring gigantic monsters to the table really fast and win long before the opponent has time to stabilize. The most important of these cards being Kavu Predator, False Cure and Berserk. Any of these cards alone are strong enough to spell doom for the opponent, but any two of those will likely give you the game on the spot. The very low mana requirements of this deck plus the extreme redundancy of its combo parts allows for a blazingly fast and consistent clock (in the turn 2-4 range) that outraces most aggro, while its aggro core and unconventional structure makes it impervious to most forms of traditional combo hate.
The deck also features built-in protection against lifegain, enchantments, land destruction and some removal spells like edicts or snuff out. False Cure is specially cruel against Tendrils, turning the win condition against its caster. The creatures also have protection from Burn because of all the free pump spells and abilities the deck packs, which make them near unkillable by red decks. Because the deck has so many ways to go off, it also has partial built-in protection against silver bullets like cabal therapy, extirpate, chalice of the void, and meddling mage.
The Cure (Legacy G/b)
Author: Carlos Hoyos (DrJones)
Version: 1.4
Lands (13)
4 Bayou
1 Forest
4 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (24)
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Wild Mongrel
3 Dark Confidant
4 Kavu Predator
4 Skyshroud Cutter
3 Quirion Ranger
2 Tarmogoyf
Spells (23)
4 Lotus Petal
4 False Cure
3 Berserk
4 Invigorate
4 Reverent Silence
4 Chalice of the Void
Sideboard (15)
4 Compost
3 Tempting Wurm
3 Thoughtseize
3 Krosan Grip
2 Choke
Previous Version:
Lands (13)
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
4 [U] Bayou
1 [TSP] Forest (1)
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
Creatures (24)
4 [AL] Elvish Spirit Guide
4 [PLC] Kavu Predator
4 [OD] Wild Mongrel
3 [RAV] Dark Confidant
2 [ARB] Putrid Leech
4 [NE] Skyshroud Cutter
3 [VI] Quirion Ranger
Spells (24)
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [ON] False Cure
4 [U] Berserk
4 [MM] Invigorate
3 [NE] Reverent Silence
3 [LRW] Thoughtseize
2 [TSP] Might of Old Krosa
Sideboard
SB: 3 [MR] Chalice of the Void
SB: 4 [UD] Compost
SB: 3 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 2 [SHM] Gleeful Sabotage
SB: 3 [TE] Choke
FAQ
- I) Why would I want to play this deck?
If you like big creatures, this deck has the biggest ones. Stupidly big at that, really. The damage dealt is enough to kill two or even three players, so even if they block your creatures by, let's say, Progenitus or two Dreadnaughts, you still have enough punch to kill the opponent. On turn THREE. Another reason is if you enjoy playing combo but you don't like losing against daze/force of will/chalice/leyline; the deck is not as fast as pure combo decks, but is not as easy to hate either, plus the opponent will likely have the wrong sideboard to begin with! The deck packs its OWN combo hate, too.
You also might want to play this deck if you liked Berserk Stompy, because both decks are pretty simmilar.- II) How fast/reliable is this deck?
Very fast, out of 500 goldfishes, and assuming that you play your deck optimally (which might require practice) here are the statistics:
Going first:
Average Winning Turn: 3.6.
% 2nd turn kills: 7.5%
% 3rd turn kills: 32.5%
% 4th turn kills: 55%
% 5th or worse: 5%
Mulligans required: 0 (70%) 1 (20%) or 2 (10%)
Going second:
Average Winning Turn: 3.045
% 2nd turn kills: 18.5%
% 3rd turn kills: 60%
% 4th turn kills: 20%
% 5th or worse: 1.5%
Mulligans required: 0 (80%) 1 (15%) or 2 (5%)
Going second makes the deck noticeably more stable and faster. It also enables some 2nd turn kills that can't be done when going first. Note, however, that sometimes it gives the opponent one turn more to live because he starts. It also means you have one extra threat and he has one card less for defense. I have the feeling that this deck is stronger when going second, which is weird for an aggro deck. Testing about this remains unconclusive.- III) Does this deck lose to Force of Will/Duress/Swords to Plowshares?
The short answer is no, but a combination of those cards can slow the deck just enough for the opponent to have time to cast spells that really can give this deck a problem. Merfolks, for example, run Force, but many testers consider this deck a bye because it has to face too many creatures that get too big too soon, and swords alone is insufficient to stop the swarm. Heavy discard decks can be a problem pre-board, but after siding in the Chalices and Compost they become easy.
Note that unlike other combo decks, every single copy of the trio can do a considerable amount of damage if unanswered, so you can't simply ignore one card and try to stop the others. Also, the life gaining effects are uncounterable and can affect several cards at once. For example, having two kavus on play: in this situation, even if the opponent casts swords on one after playing invigorate, that doesn't make it a true 2-for-1 because the other Kavu also gets bigger.- IV) Questions related with specific card choices:
Why Dark Confidant? Dark Confidant might look like an awkward deck choice at first, with so many 3cc and 4cc spells. However, there are three very important reasons to play him. The first one is because drawing cards is good. No, seriously, look back at the statistics and see the enormous difference that a single extra card makes in this deck. The second reason is because this deck is so fast that if he sticks around the game will end really soon, so at most you will take about 8 damage in very unlucky situations, which is equal to nothing because trying to race this deck is suicidal. The third reason is that Dark Confidant is a beater, and the more you can have the better. Many testers play up to 4, while slower builds should explore other options or add Sensei's Divining Top to their lists.
Why Mongrel? Mongrel seems another awkward choice because there aren't any other cards in the deck that can abuse it. There are many reasons to play him, though. The main one is that he can grow very big very soon, making him perfect for Berserk. Some 2nd turn kills can only be made thanks to Mongrel. Another reason is that he gives another use to cards that otherwise would sit dead in your hand like extra lands, unplayable cards due to chalice or trinisphere, cards you don't need in that matchup, etc. As a plus, he avoids some semi-popular hate usually aimed at Tarmogoyf, such as Hibernation, Perish, Mind Harness or Snuff Out. He can also take a Tarmogoyf in combat if really needed, but where he really shines is against counterbalance/trinisphere decks that make most of your hand useless. It has some sinergy with Tarmogoyf and Quirion Ranger.
Why no/so few Tarmogoyfs? In earlier versions I didn't play any copies of Tarmogoyf. My reasoning was that he is not very good in the early game as he takes a bit of time before growing up, which in turn makes him a bad target for Berserk if you want to kill fast. Besides that, Tarmogoyf cannot race an early opposing Tarmogoyf, something Wild Mongrel and Putrid Leech have no problem doing. While all of the above is true, the most up to date decklist includes two copies of Tarmogoyf to fix a vulnerability in the mid-late game, as I discovered that Mongrel, Putrid and Kavu were pretty bad topdecks if you have no cards in hand and are low at life.
Your manabase seems fragile and risky! Feel free to change it to your tastes, but keep the number in the 12-14 range as long as you play Quirion Ranger.- V) What's the most damage you did in one turn?
Even though this deck commonly deals +30 combat damage, the most damage I managed to do was 70 trampling damage on my second turn against a goblin player that told me to gently <censored> before disconnecting.
If you mean "most damage in turn one", that would be 16 damage (leaving in play 2 skyshroud cutter to finish the job the next turn).- VI) How do I know if I'm playing this deck correctly?
Suboptimal plays make you slower, which affects your perception about several cards in the deck. You'll notice you are playing the deck right when Dark Confidant becomes amazing and Tarmogoyf becomes horrible.- VII) Can you post a 'budget' version?
Ok. For a semi-budget version, you just need to buy 2 berserks (the ones From the Vault: Exiled are relatively cheap) and play up to 2 Rite of consumption. Play duress or cabal therapy instead of Thoughtseize. You can also replace 3 fetchlands with 2 land grant and a swamp. Chalice of the Void can be replaced by 2-3 Vines of Vastwood, and you can add Might of old krosa to make the deck speedier.
A true budget deck with no Berserk might want to use 4 land grants and 3 ankh of mishra; it also might need to splash white for swords and qasali pridemage, and require at least 2 revised bayou. Murmuring Bosk is an option but can't replace them. Note that a slower builds will have to devote slots to answer cards that the faster build can mostly ignore, such as Sower of temptation.
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Strategy review
The Cure follows the Blitzkrieg strategy with focus in Speed. The goal lies in building a lot of pressure very early so that the opponent has to spend his or her turns in defense mode instead of developing his game. Usually, this means that your first threat will get destroyed or countered (otherwise, the game will end really soon), but the deck packs so many that you are almost guaranteed to get one in play sooner than later. Because most of the threats cost 2, the deck can play Chalice of the Void set at one to greatly undermine the opponent's ability to respond, while barely affecting you. A first turn CotV is devastating against decks that rely on Ponder/Brainstorm/Sensei's Divining Top to find the lands they need. The inclusion of 8 mana accelerators lets you to "virtually skip" your first turn and begin the game directly in your second.
While speed is a major component of this deck's strategy, you don't have to hurry if you feel the opponent has a trick in his sleeve. The safe play would be starting with Confidant, aiming for a 3-4 turn kill, as is the most likely card to resolve. Another option is to drop mongrel or leech so that they "clear" the path for your Kavu Predator. However, Kavu Predator followed with a gain life card is by far the strongest early play and might be worth the risk. If you can wait a turn before playing the life gaining cards you might be rewarded with a topdecked kavu or false cure, so don't be impatient.
If you have a Quirion, try to keep the number of lands in play low, so that you can feed mongrels if needed and your opponent has to guess if you are mana-screwed or not. Don't force this rule if you have a kill in hand that requires 3 mana. Try to attack with Quirion and Dark Confidant as much as you can, the opponent probably will not risk to lose blockers to pump spells and trades favour you.
Learn to read your opponent's mind: look for clues in their behavior that reveal if they hold a force or swords and act accordingly. With little practice, it's very easy to cast berserk without getting 3-for-1. Don't worry about making sacrifices: your low land count means that you'll keep drawing stuff while they draw lands, and you pack more threats than they pack answers. Just keep the pressure!
Tips and Tricks to play the deck, and some 2nd turn kills.
Card by card explanation:
- Fetchlands: The deck needs
first turn to cast Kavu, and
second turn for False Cure, and lands have to be forest, so you need ways to find Bayou. Also, they thin your deck of lands to keep drawing the good stuff. Don't activate them if you don't need them because it protects you from Wasteland.
- Lotus Petal/Spirit Guide: Needed for first turn mongrel/kavu, to cast Berserks and Mights of Old Krosa, avoid daze, pay for trinisphere, and attack if needed.
- Chalice of the Void: Set at 0 slows down combo and lock decks, and set at 1 shuts down most removal and a lot of utility cards your opponents might be playing (specially control and combo decks). While the last one configuration also shuts down Berserk, you usually won't need it if you get one of these in play (in the other cases, just play Berserk first).
- False Cure: Turns your cards into burn. Combo wins. Double Cure does thrice the damage. Allows to win through circles of protection and glacial chasm among other things. Foil against Tendrils and life-gaining effects. Also can be played as pseudo-discard against blue decks, as they will be forced to counter it or risk losing on the spot.
- Kavu Predator/Mongrel: The Cure's main beaters. Play at least 11 big beaters.
- Quirion Ranger: Generates mana by replaying the lands you return to your hand. Protects from LD (wasteland,armageddon) and tap effects(stasis,fire/ice), untaps your beaters to stop tarmogoyfs, target for early pump spells, and feeds lands to mongrel.
- Dark Confidant: Beater and draw engine. The opponent will likely not block it because it makes you lose a lot of life in the long run, so turn him sideways a lot!
- Reverent Silence: Works against counterbalance, moats, humillity, treads of disloyalty, propaganda solitary confinement, survival, and some more. The deck only needs 3 to work, just in case you need to make space for some card in your sideboard.
- Skyshroud Cutter: Eats diabolic edicts and innocent blood, avoids counterbalance. In some rare cases you will want to play him first turn for double berserk kills. In two-head giant has thrice the effect.
- Tempting Wurm: Cheap monster that works at its best against decks that empty their hand soon (affinity) or play few permanents (Canadian Threshold, Ad Nauseam Tendrils, Burn). Good in topdeck mode when hands are empty, and the second one you cast is drawback-free.
Other cards to consider:
- Land Grant: Worse than fetchlands against counters, trinisphere and discard, but better against stifle, root maze and moon effects. Pumps Goyf, and better than fetchlands if you play Ankh of Mishra.
- Rite of Consumption: Cheap black berserk replacement that WotC seem to have designed specifically for this deck, as seen in the subtle drawback they included. Testing says that you don't want to play more than two.
- Ankh of Mishra: I heard fetchlands aren't so hot when they cost 5 life. Second replacement for berserk in ultra-cheap builds because a single one played soon can do a whole lot of damage. Worth playing against landstill, zoo, loam decks, and in some cases against ANT, because 5-7 damage so early in the game can cause Ad Nauseam to fizzle.
- Wasteland: As long as you don't take out quirions nor lands. Some testers use this instead of discard or pump. I took them out only because sometimes they are useless and I can't afford that.
- Nostalgic Dreams: Good as a two-of in decks that can't run Dark Confidant.
- Swords to Plowshares: The main reason to splash white in this deck, but creatures shouldn't be a concern for you if you are playing this right.
- Maelstrom Pulse: Instead of Thoughtseize/Duress/Gleeful Sabotage.
- Hidden Gibbons: Pumps goyf, good 1st turn drop, reverent silence doesn't destroy it. Can replace discard or leeches.
- Null Rod: Shut downs equipment, moxes, LED, charbelcher, scepters, vials, sensei's divining tops, and other dangerous cards.
- Putrid Leech: Strong in the early game, can be used if you get short of beaters or don't want to play Mongrel.
- Vines of Vastwood/Might of Old Krosa: Playing at least 2 copies of any of these will accelerate up to 0.7 turns.
Cards better to avoid: Concordant Crossroads, Root Maze, Vexing Shusher, Carpet of Flowers, Regrowth, Forgotten Lore, Birds of Paradise, Chrome Mox, Rain of Gore.
Matchups and Sideboard planning:
Be cautious when making changes to the current decklist, because if it works at all is due to Black Magic, and seemingly innocuous changes can devastate its perfomance (something I discovered the hard way). I'm assuming both opponent's deck and mine are standard builds, because otherwise results may vary.
Also, siding cards in is an NP Problem because there's no actual room to make changes. Here's a quick list of cards that you shouldn't take ever from the main deck:
- Lands: Even though just one land doesn't slow the deck too much, it doubles the mulliganing required.
- Quirion Ranger: Not even one, doubles mulligans and the deck will be slowed by half a turn.
- ESG/Lotus: I took just one out, then got 20 straight games without them in the opening hand, slowing the deck by a full turn. Has to be something with the MWS shuffler, so beware!
- more than two beaters: If you take too many, you can end without targets for berserk (actually you need one more, but there's no room)
- any life-gaining card: Slows the deck a lot because you don't reach critical mass.
Empirical results show that 61 cards work as good or even better than 60. My explanation is that reducing the chances of drawing any set (life gain, combo piece, land, beater, pump) by 1/61 is much better than lessening the chances of drawing one specific part by 1/8 or 1/12. 62 cards was not as succesful in playtesting, though. Some suggestions for a 61th card decklist include: 4th Berserk, 4th Dark Confidant, 2 Sensei's Divining Top (taking out one chalice or reverent silence), 2 Vines/Might of Old Krosa (taking out 1 chalice of the void).
Specific matchups and sideboard explanations
Enjoy!
Succesful Decklists:
1. Stompy False Cure by Thomas (3rd Place 18 Oct 2009)
Last edited by DrJones; 07-04-2010 at 05:25 PM. Reason: Updating the first post with a new version, rewriting some passages
What happens if your opponent plays Force of Will?
If a Kavu Predator does pass through, there's no Force of Will that can save you. Countering Kavu Predator/Wild Mongrel is good only if the opponent doesn't have another in his/her hand. Countering a Berserk on a Mongrel can save your life because it eats the hand. Force of Will to False Cure slows the deck one turn.
Countering the life-gaining spells is useless, and it's only attempted by those that don't know the deck and let False Cure to resolve.
StP on berserked Kavu Predator, GG (cause you use False Cure).
This deck seems fragile to say the least.
The spells that gives the opponent life might be uncounterable but the spells that wins you the game (false cure and kavu predator) can just be countered and then you can do nothing about it as you have no alternative win plan, no protection and no tutors.
StP? Do you mean Swords to Plowshares? Please don't use shortcuts when writing.
Swords to Plowshares is a good way to defend yourself from some of the kills. In fact, the deck can also pack Swords to Plowshares itself. I don't do it, because the meta doesn't require it, but it's good against the mirror. However, Swords to Plowshares doesn't offer entire protection.
For example:
False Cure + False Cure + Reverent Silence = 18 life loss for you. GG.
Red splashes for fling avoids Swords to Plowshares, Sylvan Safekeeper also says GG to swords. The decklist posted don't have them because, honestly, I haven't find swords scary enough to include them yet.
Saying that this deck is fragile is blind talking. The very reason this deck runs no tutors it's because it's very consistent. Discard hurts it a lot, but the compost post-board gives you the advantage.
The spells that win me the game can be countered, but I run 16, so good luck countering all of them. And it doesn't run tutors because it has so many alternatives to win the game that it doesn't need them. At worst, you have a Mr. Stompy with Mongrels and Mights of Old Krosa (can be changed by Rancor if you want a slower pace, but higher resiliency)
The deck is beatable, but please don't pre-judge it without having tested it. :-)
You seem to have misunderstood what I meant. I was talking about your opponent casting Swords to Plowshares on your Kavu when you're attacking. Because not only does it set you back, my major concern is that if you've cast a False Cure, since it also affects you, the lifeloss from Swords will leave you very short on life.
No, I have perfectly understood you. Of course, Swords to Plowshares can damage you a lot if you have played False Cure and have a Predator. Ouch.
The deck started with Sylvan Safekeeper and Fling for that reason.
But after testing real matches, I discovered that the scenario didn't came up often, and at worst you are throwing an "Ordago" (a term from a Spanish card game that means that you decide the result of the entire game to a single play, and hope the opponent doesn't have a better hand). So I took them out.
The problem with Force of Will and Swords to Plowshares, is that against this deck you cannot afford to mulliganing onto them as much as you could do against another kind of combo. Good news is that this deck can't afford to mulliganing too much or losses stream. When it had 9 lands, I had to play some times with no lands, hoping to draw one on the next 2 turns (it's still very dangerous even with that kind of starting hands, don't worry)
Edit: I'm going to test Xantid Swarm in the deck to see how they perform against control. Maybe they'll work better than Night's Whispers.
Last edited by DrJones; 06-22-2007 at 01:44 PM. Reason: Listening to feedback
I decided to run a forest in the sideboard over main deck.
Its worked really well. I cut the side down to 2 Deeds.
I've been playing this deck these weeks on MWS non-stop, and it's amazing.
Latest changes:
Swapped Tarmogoyf and Xantid Swarm. Tarmogoyf raises the number of green beaters from 8 to 11, and they are also good against control. Xantid swarm is still amazing, but with tarmogoyf the deck can pass better through removal and counters.
When needed, Xantid swarm replaces 1 Land Grant and 2 Summoner's Pact (too risky if the opponent runs counters).
Changes to the Sideboard:
3 Compost (they were 4)
3 Null rod (they were 2)
I think this decklist, as it stands now, is optimal and competitive enough to be moved to the Open Forum. Do I need to add anything else to the thread before the move?
How about how it dose against different top tier decks.
I can't think of any additions or changes to the "base" deck.
Everyones meta is different.
I have had great success with this deck as well.
good luck.
Nice deck. Swapping Tarmogoyf and Swarm is definitely the correct decision.
However I think there is one card that should certainly be added: Grove of the Burnwillows!
grove of the burn willows isnt very good I do not need red mana and its not a forest.
Originally Posted by DrJones
Goldfished about a hundred games with a this list and variations of it. I was quite pleased by the results of a + 1 Dark Confidant - 2 Land Grant (60 cards) version. The deck works with surprisingly little mana, and the Confidant ist just great. Even with Petal+ESG to play him first turn without any lands, you can quickly draw some lands off of it (yes, I'm aware of the high risk of him being destroyed. I just want to give an example for an otherwise subpar hand that can be really good with Confidant). Wild Mongrel didn't impress me, too; I like that you can often discard fetchies to make him 4/4 or even larger and then go for the pump-Berserk-plan, but that isn't as great as it may sound. I thought about Silhana Edgewalker; sadly, he is a really tiny creature, but has two great abilities. Might try it out soon.
By the way, I was really impressed by Kavu Predator. This morning, my brother and I argued whether the Stifle/Dreadnought deck was Tier 2 or worse, me saying it was Tier 2 because it can power out a 12/12 Trampler second turn. Well, though the decks are hardly comparable, I like how this deck will often have a 7/7 or even 12/12 Trampler first turn. It just feels great.
The deck works perfectly with -2 mana sources, but that increases your mulligans a bit (I think an increase of 1 for every 4 or 5 games). Maybe it's because I played it too much on MWS, but I feel better having them, and also adds a bit of protection against Blood/Magus of the Moon.
Wild mongrel doesn't look too impresive because it's not the best deck to abuse it. Still, it's the best creature this deck can afford. There's another build that plays Phyrexian Negator instead, I should put a link to it in the first post, if you prefer a Suicide Black shell. Mongrel is a "beater" and also gives an use to your dead cards, which is one of the reasons the deck works so well; it also gives a backup route for Berserk without kavus nor False Cures (adds resiliency). It doesn't trample, but Berserk tend to fix that. Also, it's the only other 2cc creature that can achieve a 2nd turn kill in this build by combat damage.
What Silhana ledgewalker has against it is that is not a beater, which is an huge loss. When you lose speed, some cards start becoming a problem. But don't let my talk stop you, or this deck won't evolve.
Just imagine how you feel when the opponent does exactly that. Heh.By the way, I was really impressed by Kavu Predator. This morning, my brother and I argued whether the Stifle/Dreadnought deck was Tier 2 or worse, me saying it was Tier 2 because it can power out a 12/12 Trampler second turn. Well, though the decks are hardly comparable, I like how this deck will often have a 7/7 or even 12/12 Trampler first turn. It just feels great.
In my version of the deck, I have been running Birds of Paradise and Elvish Spirit Guides, and where are your Rancors? They put birds and bob to work!
Also ESG > tinder wall in my opinion. Why worry about great turn 2 plays when you can have great turn 1 plays?
Here comes the long awaited (sort of) report about how this deck managed on "The Source Tournament".
Let's post a bit of shameless self-promotion first, to introduce our deck to newcomers, haha.
THE MOST AWESOME REPORT IN EXISTENCE!!
FEATURING THE BEST INVENTION SINCE SLICED BREAD!!
"T H E - U N S T O P P A B L E - M O N S T E R"
"Is green the new best color in legacy?"
Here's what people said about the deck:
<Noobslayer> wow
<Fred[Ger]> what?
<The Rack> unbelievable
<Di> i dont want to die next turn if possible
<finley> ...
<Silyus> have you 30 of that in the deck?
<System> Player Lost
The Cure is a revolutionary new concept of aggro/combo decks, which unites chain of combos with pure sinergy to achieve a consistant clock that can kill as soon as turn 2. The nature of the combo makes it immune to usual combo hate cards, while its efficient aggro shell fights past your opponent's disruption.
This is the decklist that took 14th place on the Source Tournament VIII, tied in points with other decks ranging from 10th to 18th.
The Cure (Legacy G/b)
Author: Carlos Hoyos (DrJones)
Lands/Mana:
4x Bayou
3x Bloodstained Mire
3x Wooded Foothills
1x Forest
2x Land Grant
4x Lotus Petal
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
Creatures:
4x Kavu Predator
4x Wild Mongrel
4x Skyshroud Cutter
4x Quirion Ranger
3x Tarmogoyf
3x Dark Confidant
Spells:
4x False Cure
4x Berserk
4x Invigorate
3x Might of Old Krosa
3x Reverent Silence
Sideboard:
4x Compost
3x Chalice of the Void
3x Null Rod
3x Xantid Swarm
2x Crumble
The Report:
Jokes aside, the tournament was a blast. I did not face any single european (it seems they were all on the top tables), so I had to play all my games at very wrong times both for me and my opponent. Some of them stood over 3am to play me, which was unbelievable nice (that, or they are truly addicted).
Decklists were supposed to be secret, but a mere search of threads started by my opponents usually told me beforehand which deck were they playing. Mine was publicly known, but still delivered. I should have switched Crumbles for Pithing Needles (and play some MD), but I got stuck with them.
Round 1: Noobslayer with unknown deck
First game, I open with Bayou and Quirion Ranger. He plays a fetchland and passes the turn. I then get BB from the same Bayou thanks to quirion and proceed to False Cure, Reverent Silence, Invigorate. GG.
For the second game, I board in Compost with no clue about his deck. He starts with a Plated Sliver, taking me by surprise. fortunately, he seems to be playing discard instead of counters.
I play Bayou, Quirion ranger and Compost out of two Lotus Petal. He plays Sinew Sliver and attacks. Next turn, I play Wild Mongrel. He plays Jitte and duress and takes away a Might of Old Krosa, but it's useless. Next turn I attack with both, invigorate twice the mongrel, return bayou to my hand with G floating and discard my hand to play a lethal berserk. GG.
1-0-0
Round 2: Di with Survival
First game I start defensively because I think he's playing Thres, so when he plays survival I only have a quirion on board. I play Kavu Predator soon after to fix that, but on his turn he discards anger and plays rofellos, birds of paradise, and nimble mongoose. Next turn I attack and leave him at 6, but it's too late, next turn he plays bone shredder and ravenous baloth with Genesis on graveyard.
Second game I start with Kavu Predator + invigorate. He uses cabal therapy twice to discard two berserks, but he leaves the board open and dies next turn with a lucky draw.
Third game, I have to mull to five, and end without creatures. He plays Nimble mongoose and sacrifices it to discard me two false cures before I can combo him. I play quirion, he plays Survival and Flametongue to kill quirion. I topdeck a Wild Mongrel and play it. He plays mongoose and timber wall.
Because he knows that I have at least one Berserk, I trick him and attack with a Mighted Mongrel. He blocks and loses everything, but I still hold Berserk. I then cast Reverent Silence and leave him with and empty hand and without genesis. Sadly, he topdecks another Survival next turn and recovers thanks to Squee.
1-0-1
Round 3: The Rack with Rockin' Funkbrew
The Rack runs regenerating creatures, which are useless against this deck, this leaves discard and swords as the only worries of this match. I hope to get the start first game, and then side Compost for the next ones.
First game I start (Yai!), my starting hand is immune to duress, so I play Dark Confidant to start fast. He cast a duress and misses. I attack and play Wild Mongrel. He plays a timid Spectral Lynx. Third turn, I attack with both and proceed with False Cure, Invigorate, discard hand, berserk. GG.
Second game I side in the compost, He duress a False Cure, leaving compost in my hand. Horrible mistake! I play Compost, but we both seem to be mana screwed. I play Kavu, he cast swords, and then a Dark Confidant (another horrible mistake!). He has to kill twice my Quirion Rangers with the same Darkblast, giving me a whole lot of cards. He casts a 6/7 Tarmo, I play a Kavu and a Mongrel. He plays a Lynx and attacks leaving a Scrubland untapped, but I don't block because I see a swords-proof win next turn. I attack and he blocks Kavu, then I cast Invigorate on Mongrel, which eats a swords. I proceed then to double Berserk Kavu Predator for the win.
2-0-1
Round 4: Tivadar with Angel Stompy
Angel Stompy is an easy match, because it allows me to win by casting Cure on Angel + Invigorate. Sadly, MWS shuffler decided to screw me big time this match.
First game: I mull down to 4 cards and still see no lands, but I cannot mull further. Turn 2 I get to play a 1/2 Tarmogoyf with two Lotus Petal, which gets sworded that same turn. After a few turns, I get to play a Dark Confidant and a Mongrel, but he already has Exalted in play. He attacks and gets out of reach (21 life) at the last moment. I deal him 20 damage next turn and scoop.
Second game: I keep a risky hand with two predators and Tarmogoyf. The first Kavu gets sworded, and the second one gets a Force of Will. He then plays the Meddling Mage naming Tarmogoyf (first time I see a Meddling Mage get the card right) and I get stuck. Seeing that I don't draw any other creature in several turns, I'm forced to cast Berserk on him, but it's too late. My tarmogoyf gets sworded as soon as it enters play, and I end stuck with one land and no creatures. I'm now officially out of T8!
2-0-2
Round 5: Fred Bear with Armageddon Stax
Stax is no opponent for this deck as long as I go first, so I hope I win the dice roll.
First Game: I win the roll (Yai!) and start with Tarmogoyf followed by Quirion and Wild Mongrel. He starts losing life like mad with Ancient Tomb to get a Propaganda in play. I have Reverent Silence on hand, but I don't want to use it yet. He then lays Trinisphere and Armageddon, which wouldn't be pretty if I had not Quirion Ranger in play. I use Ranger tricks to reach mana for Reverent Silence and start beating him with huge monsters. Jotun Grunt is too small to stop them and he dies a painful death.
Second Game: He starts with Trinisphere first turn, followed by Crucible second turn, Armaggedon third turn, and Smokestack for fun. I'll get Revenge!
Third Game: I start with a Confidant. He does nothing, but laying a plains. I play Quirion Ranger and attack. He plays another plains and passes the turn. Is he a goldfish or what? I 3rd-turn kill him with Might of Old Krosa + Berserk + Berserk. Easiest game ever! (MWS sucks for everyone).
3-0-2
Round 6: Agent Funk with Landstill
With our score it's impossible to T8, so we played mostly for fun. Unfortunately, we got a weird accident second game that had to be solved by external sources.
First Game: I bring him down to enough life with Dark Confidant to be able to kill-combo him on turn 4, after he stealed me the goldfish with counterspell last turn, which prevented him to activate his Engineered explosives.
Second Game: Very long game where he keeps recurring Engineered explosives, but he is still unable to kill my Skyshroud Cutters. He keeps countering, duressing me, and throwing swords to my beaters until turn 30, where I got to cast False Cure. He proceeds to break Landstill, then cast Brainstorm for a counter, but it seems he doesn't find one, as he cast Swords on my Cutter. I wait for a whole minute anyways without response about the Ok? on the False Cure, so I assume he has let it resolve and cast a lethal uncounterable/unpreventable/untargetable 6 life loss in form of Reverent Silence. He scoops five seconds later and I think I've won.
However, he contacts me and tells me he got disconnected just after the swords, and that he was asking a friend if he could counter the life loss on Reverent Silence, and that he had the fourth Force of Will ready in hand. He didn't kept the game state, and the crash happened just after an unsolvable win, so having a rematch didn't look so clear for me. Because we were playing for fun, I told him we would let Parcher rule if it was a game loss or a rematch, and proceed to play the following games for fun.
Third and Fourth games were played for fun, if playing against Landstill counts as having fun. I didn't sideboarded and he won both games, but Parcher ruled on my favor, so they didn't count.
4-0-2
And that was all!
Props:
Parcher, for running this tournament and having to rule our match.
My opponents, for being nice, waiting for me while I wasn't in home, playing at such late hours, and cheer me up.
My Deck, for being so fun!
The People on this thread, for helping developing it.
Cons:
Crumble, because it should have been Pithing Needle.
MWS, for screwing me on round 4.
MWS, for crashing on the last match on an otherwise enjoyable game.
MWS, because it sucks so much.
oddly enough i wouldn't care if they take out bob or quirion. it just draws firepower from the real threats. So bob protects his dogs. :D
I never bother casting Kavu unless I have a life gain spell in hand if I know they are running removal. Also you have duress so again you can get the 411 on your opponent before they move.
Might seems like a fun to play though but I would use it to compliment Rancor. Again in my build I am running birds (which also draw more bolts and plows than bob), so birds protect the kavus too. If they dont bolt the bird, I drop out rancor on it and draw out the fire power since birds often left uncheck will swing for the win.
As a remark, all what Might of Old Krosa cares about is it being played on one of your main phases, so if you played Cutter and they cast Pyrokinesis on Kavu on response to it gaining counters, Might of Old Krosa would give it +4/+4.
Oh sorry, "411" in America means you get the information on them. Duress make
them reveal their hand and thus you can make a better play decision.
I am still in favor of Rancor since it turns a lot of your cards into threats. Before I didn't run rancor and had more discard (4 duress and 4 cabal therapy). I just the therapies in favor of rancor and I haven't looked back.
Hi, Sasa!
As top deck has said, Timber Wall doesn't look right. If done right, the goblin player should be put on the defensive, and 1st turn Kavu + Cutter is more than enough for this. In a deck splashing red it might work, but in a GB build is better to have Quirion Ranger to untap your beaters, or Elvish Spirit Guide to accelerate your monsters, both being good and affordable.
Edit: I moved old decklists to this post, to keep them there for historical purposes, as I had to make room on the first post for the write up.
The Cure (Legacy G/b) (old)
Author: Carlos Hoyos (DrJones)
Lands/Mana:
4x Bayou
3x Bloodstained Mire
3x Wooded Foothills
1x Forest
2x Land Grant
4x Lotus Petal
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
Creatures:
4x Kavu Predator
4x Wild Mongrel
4x Skyshroud Cutter
4x Quirion Ranger
3x Tarmogoyf
3x Dark Confidant
Spells:
4x False Cure
4x Berserk
4x Invigorate
3x Might of Old Krosa
3x Reverent Silence
Sideboard:
4x Compost
3x Chalice of the Void
3x Null Rod
3x Xantid Swarm
2x Pithing Needle
The Cure (Legacy G/b) (oldest)
Author: Carlos Hoyos (DrJones)
Lands/Mana:
4x Bayou
3x Bloodstained Mire
3x Wooded Foothills
1x Forest
3x Land Grant
4x Lotus Petal
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
Creatures:
4x Kavu Predator
4x Wild Mongrel
4x Skyshroud Cutter
4x Quirion Ranger
3x Xantid Swarm
Spells:
4x False Cure
4x Berserk
4x Invigorate
3x Might of Old Krosa
3x Reverent Silence
2x Summoner's Pact
Sideboard: (still in progress)
4x Compost
3x Chalice of the Void
3x Tarmogoyf
3x Crumble
2x Null Rod
Remarkable changes:
1. Added a forest to increase protection against wasteland, and more importantly, Blood Moon (and Magus of the Moon).
2. Land Grant is still there because searchs the forest under a Blood Moon (unlike fetchlands), and also pumps Tarmogoyf.
3. Changed Outbreaks for Tarmogoyfs, as no TES spotted during playtesting, and I needed something to sb against aggro.
4. Xantid Swarm still maindecked as MWS is flooded of Threshold decks and it crushes the deck. In another meta, they might be replaced by Tarmogoyfs.
It happens that some decks start packing Tangle Wire, which is another reason to run Quirion Ranger.
Last edited by DrJones; 08-21-2009 at 05:42 PM.
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