Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Domain Zoo in Extended: a little test run

So I'm going to be playing Domain Zoo this weekend in Oregon. I decided on the deck a few weeks ago because I had a lot of the cards for it, and I knew that it would be a top deck and that it was very powerful, and I think playing a powerful deck is more of a sure thing that predicting the field, building a deck to beat the field, and then playing against the decks you were expecting to make up the field. I played in a Magic-League mini (8-man single elim) to try it out. Here's the list I'm running:

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Windswept Heath
2 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
1 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains

4 Wild Nacatl
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Shadow Guildmage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Gaddock Teeg

4 Tribal Flames
4 Lightning Helix
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Seal of Fire
3 Oblivion Ring

Sideboard:
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Ranger of Eos
3 Jund Charm
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Duergar Hedge-Mage

I tried cutting Dark Confidant because a lot of people don't like it, and I haven't noticed it being really amazing for me, and I wanted to try Gaddock Teeg. What has been really good is Tidehollow Sculler, even in the mirror because it tends to slow down as guys come onto the board.

Round 1 I play the mirror. I pretty much get blown out Game 1. I brought in the Finkses and the Rangers and took out 2 Seal of Fire, 2 Shadow Guildmage, and 2 Mogg Fanatic. The second game I get 3 Kitchen Finkses down and he floods. Kitchen Finks is really good. Point taken.

I bring in a Shadow Guildmage and take a Mogg Fanatic for tutoring because he'd be good at taking out opposing Kitchen Finkses. I Tidehollow Sculler and see an Umezawa's Jitte in hand, and then I'm able to stick a Shadow Guildmage with mana up for Lightning Helix to whatever he's about to equip. Then I get a Ranger of Eos down leaving a Steam Vents up, so now as long as I bounce whatever blocks Jitte (which will be Ranger of Eos every time), I'm good to go. He scoops when he realizes Jitte will not get counters.

Game 2 I had a bye, so I sat around for an hour really late to wait to play Magic. Game 3 I play against Faeries, which turns out to be the Japanese variety with Azami, Lady of Scrolls. He gets stuck on land Game 1. Game 2 I play pretty sketchily. I know he has Threads in hand from a Tidehollow Sculler, and I'm holding 2 Tarmogoyfs and Jitte on the board, so I run them out, he steals one, I equip and attack and he double blocks with a Mutavault and my Goyf, and I finish off my own Tarmogoyf. I think there was an Ancestral Vision ticking down, but still no reason to be that impatient. Game 3 I keep a very slow hand and he takes control of the game. I think for this matchup I need a 1 drop, then another 1 drop, bait an Engineered Explosives, then stick my good cards, like a Shadow Guildmage, Gaddock Teeg, Tarmogoyf with Threads backup, one drop + Jitte. This Japanese version doesn't make me want to bring in Slice and Dice or Jund Charm... the worst cards for me are Threads and Shackles, so Duergar Hedge-Mage I think is fine.

I'm agonizing over the Ancient Grudge slot. The people I was testing with the other day think it should be Kataki, since if Grudge is for Affinity, Kataki is infinitely better. I didn't like it because it was narrow. I think it may also need to be Ethersworn Canonist, because it comes in against All-In Red, a deck I am equally afraid of being blown out by and I currently have no board against, and it comes in against TEPS and Elves. I'll hopefully be testing all day Thursday, and I'd like to figure out how to play against Faeries, the mirror, and play a little bit against the fringe decks like All-In and TEPS.

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