A Guest Appearance by Pelakka Wurm

Concerning:

Kuldotha Rebirth :: Goblin Guide :: Galvanic Blast
Goblin Chieftain :: Lightning Bolt :: … and did I mention Pelakka Wurm?

Special Guest Star: Pelakka Wurm!

I got a chance to game with my good friend Brian David-Marshall tonight. We elected to do a 10-game set: me playing Daniel Jordan’s U/R/G control/TurboLand deck (you know the same seventy-five I tested here) versus Brian playing a stock Kuldotha Rebirth Red Deck.

#FloresRewards savant Thea Steele asked for more Constructed reporting so I thought I would recount this particular playtest set.

BDM and I played all Game Ones (no sideboards). I have played U/R/G against Kuldotha Red more than once and won each time; I was therefore surprised at how our games played out.

GAME ONE

I kept:

Preordain
Oracle of Mul Daya
Lightning Bolt
Forest
Island
Mountain
Scalding Tarn

This seemed like a very strong hand but Brian had first turn Kuldotha Rebirth on the play, as well as a Memnite; he also followed up with gas. I lost a close one to I believe the first of a long line of “my last card is the second or third Lightning Bolt”… I think I would have won if he had a different play on turn one (even a Goblin Guide), or if he were playing another deck. I had to push decent spells more than once with Preordain to try to get a hold of the battlefield.

0-1

GAME TWO

I kept:

Explore
Oracle of Mul Daya
Goblin Ruinblaster
Forest
Forest
Raging Ravine
Raging Ravine

Brian was meant to go first the first five games, so this was a “going second” hand; Explore lets me break serve, of course, and the deck has two different lines it can take even just from the opening hand. The Ruinblaster is usually a 2/1 non-Stone Rain in this matchup, but Brian’s deck does have a couple of targets… He drew one this game 🙂

Brian was stuck most of the game and I had a third turn kicked Goblin Ruinblaster. My turns went like this:

Explore > Goblin Ruinblaster (on Smoldering Spires) > Oracle of Mul Daya > Lotus Cobra > Frost Titan

His Forked Bolt took out my Lotus Cobra and Oracle right before the Titan, but Brian was a mile behind for most of the game.

1-1

GAME THREE

Brian complained about a bad mulligan, to which I replied “that’s because your cards all stink.”

And yes, most of his cards do, in fact stink.

But he has lots of them. I get Overrun by a bunch of 1/1s. I just have poop like Oracle of Mul Daya that he can easily manage with Lightning Bolt or Panic Spellbomb.

1-2

GAME FOUR

I went first this game, by accident.

I took full advantage, though, and played second turn Explore into Preordain; then Lotus Cobra + Oracle of Mul Daya… Into Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

It took a minute but I won from there.

2-2

GAME FIVE

Brian played the first of several games where he opened on Goblin Guide + Memnite.

I drew a lot of Lightning Bolts, but didn’t have time to play them all. I got a Red source, but only one, despite some freebies from Goblin Guide. Also all of his cards pretty much suck, and you don’t want to be trading 1-for-1 with them if you can help it, or you will fall behind.

I tried to spend my time on Jace and Frost Titan but it didn’t quite work out that way.

2-3

GAME SIX

I was supposed to go first this game, but I accidentally stole serve in Game Four.

Brian again opened up with Goblin Guide + Memnite on the play… Then more gas on turn two.

I almost won with multiple Explores into Oracle of Mul Daya… But he had Goblin Chieftain + Lightning Bolt to “exact-sies” me.

2-4

GAME SEVEN

Brian got another super aggressive draw and Bolted me out.

2-5

GAME EIGHT

Brian got another super aggressive draw, but this time killed me with a Galvanic Blast for four rather than the usual Lightning Bolt.

2-6

GAME NINE

This time I shipped to five cards. Brian claimed he would “un-mulligan” me, but the Goblin Guide was of minimal benefit (relative to, you know, taking a bundle of damage.

I actually managed to stabilize, but he had five cards in hand and three of them were Devastating Summons and Goblin Bushwhacker.

2-7

GAME TEN

Game Ten really highlighted the central argument of this matchup, especially Game One.

Brian just overplayed his hand — all in on multiple copies of Kuldotha Rebirth, and laid out all his Memnites like they were nothing.

Meanwhile, in Game Ten — as I always did — I was playing Oracle of Mul Daya. Now Oracle of Mul Daya plays like Jace, the Mind Sculptor against other Blue decks, but against a legitimate Red Deck, it is basically a four mana Grey Ogre. That is awful!

So the turn I played my 2/2 for four, Brian already had eight or so attackers. It didn’t matter if I would eat one, I was going to lose a huge chunk of life total.

As you know from reading my DailyMTG report with this deck, I often sided out the Oracles for Pyroclasm. Brian claimed he wouldn’t play the same way in a sideboarded game… But he really wouldn’t be able to.

I didn’t realize before how reliant on Pyroclasm the U/R/G deck must be to beat Goblins. I had beaten it multiple times, but now that I reflect on the wins, I think I played a sideboarded Pyroclasm once if not twice most of the matches.

That said, it might also be possible that my opponents held back in Game One.

I don’t know about you, but one of my main guiding principles of play (regardless of deck type) I try to play as deceptively as possible. So if I am not going to play a Green card until turn four or five I will often pretend to be a U/R deck for as long as I can. Against a Goblins deck in Game One, maybe they will hold back for fear of U/R’s main deck Pyroclasms.

Brian, of course, knew better.

2-8

Now when Brian approached me for some testo, I was in the middle of testing my U/G TurboLand deck (up 2-1 on the night and 4-2 overall with the current build). I asked Brian to let me play him a real match with the U/G deck; we ran.

This is the current build of U/G:

Frosty TurboLand

4 Frost Titan
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Genesis Wave
4 Joraga Treespeaker
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Overgrown Battlement
4 Primeval Titan

7 Forest
4 Halimar Depths
4 Khalni Garden
5 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Tectonic Edge

sb:
1 Eldrazi Monument
4 Ratchet Bomb
4 Into the Roil
3 Negate
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Pelakka Wurm

Notable differences in the main are -2 Rampaging Baloths / +2 Frost Titan; -1 Forest / +1 Island.

I ground out the first game with a bunch of Overgrown Battlements and Khalni Gardens; one Frost Titan helped me slow down BDM; he conceded to my Genesis Wave for nine.

The second game I made theses switches…

+4 Ratchet Bomb
+4 Into the Roil
+2 Obstinate Baloth
+1 Pelakka Wurm

-1 Joraga Treespeaker
-2 Lotus Cobra
-4 Oracle of Mul Daya
-4 Genesis Wave

I know, I know… Genesis Wave is what the deck is all about!

But against Red Decks I have to similarly focus on what I could cast under pressure; anyway Genesis Wave is a non-bo with cards like Into the Roil.

I kept a hand with Overgrown Battlement and Pelakka Wurm only for Game Two. Luckily my lands were all Khalni Gardens and I had ample time to play our special guest star.

Brian stopped attacking so much which gave me a an open for Into the Roil and engough time to take it!

The Wurm hit, then Primeval Titan, then it was a victory lap! (not really)

Thanks BDM 🙂

LOVE
MIKE