This is the story of how four little Goblin Outlanders helped me to make Top 8 of the recent Edison PTQ.

First off, sorry I haven’t updated in a couple of weeks. For those of you who don’t know, I am nearing the final stages of completing a book. It isn’t about Magic at all, but online marketing, and I am writing it with my longtime friend and teacher, David Szetela. If you want to be a dear and order a copy from Amazon.com (of which like $.15 or so will trickle down to YT), I certainly won’t stop you (hint, hint):

Okay, back?

Yes, yes.

So I am working on this book, which has been eating up most of my writing, that is blog-writing time. However I was much berated at the recent Edison, NJ PTQ about my blog-writing delinquency, so, um, here’s a blog post, I suppose.

Most of you probably only care about my deck list, so I will supply that now so that you can go ahead and copy it down on a nearby paper napkin in crayon and be on your way:

Blightning Beatdown

4 Anathemancer
4 Blightning
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goblin Outlander

4 Flame Javelin
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Tarfire

4 Auntie’s Hovel
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Graven Cairns
6 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool
4 Savage Lands *
1 Swamp

sb:
4 Bitterblossom
4 Doom Blade
3 Stillmoon Cavalier
4 Lash Out

My deck was 60 correct cards (but see the land asterisk at the end).

The main difference between this deck and crappier versions of Blightning Beatdown is the Goblin Outlanders main and more Protection from White side. Basically Blightning blows out most decks, but has a horrible Kithkin matchup (traditionally). Most of you probably remember I played Blightning at the Philly 5K and lost to the eventual winner, Kithkin savant Corey Mann, in that Blightning / Kithkin nightmare (Corey by the way Top 8’d this PTQ as well… That guy should just always play Kithkin).

My strategy was to just play a ton of Protection from White and demolish Kithkin. I played against a lot of White decks, actually, and this was a great solution. I in fact beat the Kithkin dream draw in a matter of seconds with the double Outlander draw, which is very difficult to race. I even had Black Knight for a while, but I cut it to play Doom Blade when it became obvious U/W was going to be the deck to beat.

My sideboard, if I had it to play again, would have been different. Stillmoon Cavalier was not the strongest card, but the most relevant in the only matchup I lost. I would play four now, because I was always happy to draw it, and because Bitterblossom was not any good. The rest I would fill out with Terminates, possibly switching the core Doom Blades to Shriekmaws to better fight Baneslayer Angels (run around Glen Elendra Archmage better). Stillmoon Cavalier is also a great Baneslayer Angel foil, if you didn’t figure that out. He is hard to deal with in the long term, and jumps in front of that classy lady all day.

For those of you still reading, the tournament:

Round 1 – Eddie Wong with U/W Baneslayer

This is how my day started.

I lost the flip.

I played a Goblin Outlander.

He played a Broken Ambitions and revealed a Baneslayer Angel to my Anathemancer. I didn’t want to draw Anathemancer (knowing his deck probably had very few nonbasic lands) and anyway it probably would have some utility in the graveyard, so I left it on top to disappear. He shipped the Baneslayer, looking for lands.

The game went on, with him stumbling on lands somewhat. I was able to get him to about four with a Goblin Outlander and Demigod of Revenge, but he had Archmage (which I weathered down), Reveillark, another Reveillark, the squad. Now he was attacking me back. I Lightning Bolted him to one with his re-bought Archmage on the stack.

Then he played Glacial Fortress. Lucky ducky!

He only had seven lands in play and had gone nigh-all in the previous turn; I declared with the mighty Outlander on the table. He tapped all my guys, leaving only three lands up. I flipped back that turn two Anathemancer for the one point. He had two more Cryptic Commands in hand!

Second game I had my Doom Blades and Stillmoon Cavaliers in. The sideboarded matchup was much simpler. He would make some play that costs five, I would tap two to deal with it, and get in for five. His draw was not optimal but I still had bonus Doom Blade and additional removal in hand at the end, so I thought it was probably an okay matchup.

1-0

Round 2 – Oliver Simon with B/U/R Fae

Game One Oliver stalled on two. It didn’t really matter what I did.

I sided in Bitterblossom for the only time on the day.

On my second turn I ran one of them Blossoms out there. Oliver stared at it for about forty-five seconds before finally sending a Broken Ambitions its way. “Just having a little fun,” he chuckled.

Oliver was the one to stick Bitterblossom.

The rest of the game was a battle of Anathemancers and Blightnings, which he eventually won.

In the third I only played three spells, but two of them were Anathemancers 🙂

I had one in the graveyard and one on the board with Oliver on three. He really needed a Lightning Bolt and a Cryptic Command. I was sure I had it, but he had a surprising Thought Hemmorhage to take out my down Anathemancer. The other, of course, was eventually lethal.

2-0

Round 3 – Rogelio Badillo with G/W Overrun

Game One involved a crisis of faith. I blasted and Blightning’d Rogelio down to no cards, but obviously he topdecked a Siege Goat Commander. I had been managing the board with Goblin Outlander, but was in a spot where I could be raced. My grip: Flame Javelin. He went O. I accepted and sent the Javelin at him instead. I was rewarded with Lightning Bolt and Demigod of Revenge, closed from nine-ish.

Game Two I couldn’t beat two Siege Goat Commanders, though it was exciting.

Third game Goblin Outlanders and especially Stillmoon Cavalier were beyond key. I was able to race through it with a Burrenton Forge-Tender on the table.

3-0

Round 4 – Justin Liu with Kithkin

Justin stalled in the first, but there wasn’t much he could do: I had the double Goblin Outlander draw.

Second game he had the optimal curve of 2/2, 2/2, three 1/1s, pump. However I countered with double Goblin Outlander and Stillmoon Cavalier, that is, three of seven. Thanks to Blightning I was able to easily win this race. The plan held!

Justin went on to make Top 8 with me.

4-0

Round 5 – Andrew Harwell with Reflecting Pool Control

Andrew had some unfortunate draws: Double Reflecting Pool in Game One; double filter land in Game Two. He eventually got there for Kitchen Finks mana but gave me too much initial time in both games to be competitive.

5-0

Round 6 – Chas E. Hinkle with Doran

Chas had a very good curve draw in Game One but I was able to blast away all of his guys and beat him with Ram-Gangs. So obviously I sided those out for Stillmoon Cavaliers and removal.

In the second I had a Stillmoon Cavalier but no Black mana to pair with my Reflecting Pool, so I was stuck on just Red. His deck got me right back.

In the third I shipped to six but ended up with four spells: Two Goblin Outlanders and two Anathemancers. I purposefully played only one Outlander at a time (to match Doran or Wilt-Leaf Liege) but unfortunately he drew two Maelstrom Pulses. If he didn’t draw the second Pulse (or a Nameless Inversion) I think I would have won. I had enough lands in play and two Anathemancers down. He was on 10 with six nonbasic lands in play. I took a total of 22, but 15 of them came from a Doran, so if my second Goblin lived, I think I would have had time to enact the Anathemancer plan.

Oh well.

5-1

Round 7 – Elizabeth Albert with G/W Little Kid

I got the first one on tempo with first turn Figure of Destiny. Her creatures were of course bigger but she couldn’t do much because I had presence starting early.

The second game I was pretty surprised to lose. She tapped for Oversoul of Dusk and I tapped and struck with Demigod of Revenge with another Demigod, Lightning Bolt, Doom Blade, and Flame Javelin in grip. Elizabeth already had a Kitchen Finks, so when she played Wilt-Leaf Liege I took 12, which put me to 5. With the Overoul in play there was no possible way to race! Just one more life point and I was pretty sure I had it. But I guess that’s why people play Oversoul of Dusk.

The third was interesting. I won on the back of a lost Lash Out clash. I got one of her little guys with the Lash Out, which revealed a [second] Celestial Purge to my Mountain. So I just never played my Demigod of Revenge for many turns… Not until she would commit mana. Anyway I had a Goblin Outlander and Stillmoon Cavalier on the battlefield.

I actually made a possible mis-play on a late game attack. Elizabeth had a Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers and Llanowar Elves to my 2/2 and 2/1. I double-struck. She had a Snakeform for what had been a pretty violent Stillmoon Cavalier. Before going to blocks, I dropped the Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers with Doom Blade, forcing her to block with the Llanowar Elves if she wanted to keep value on the Snakeform (getting in for two).

Asher Manningbot commented that I should have let her block, and then Doom Bladed the Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers, preserving my Stillmoon Cavalier. I was operating under the Zvi Mowshowitz paradigm (or perhaps an incorrect interpretation of it) which is that if I control all the information, that I can make a play where I am certain of the outcome. I knew Elizabeth had to use her last creature if she were going to keep value on the Snakeform, which would leave her with no creatures. G/W Little Kid can only defend a Goblin Outlander by racing or by committing. If I put her to no creatures, she would have to commit. I was rewarded with a tap out for Oversoul of Dusk, which gave me the spot to stick Lightning Bolt and Demigod of Revenge, stranding the Celestial Purge she had been milking.

So… Screwup or no?

Asher said I would have had much the same turn, but also a Stillmoon Cavalier if I had waited for a block for the Doom Blade.

6-1

Round 8 – Nick Batdorf with Blightning

Nick’s deck was not set up for the mirror. He had cards that would have been great for my failed matches against Doran, but were highly inefficient against another Blightning deck. For instance he had Earthquake, Terminate, and Stillmoon Cavalier main deck.

In the first Nick stalled so I had to setting for two-point Anathemancers. However I got like a 22-point life swing by pointing two different Blightnings for four different Flame Javelins 🙂 I was actually pretty flooded but eventually closed it with a Goblin Outlander.

In the second I was pretty desperate for lands but was stuck on three. I did however win two Lash Out clashes, which are about as devastating as can be in this kind of a match. The second revealed a Flame Javelin, so I decided to keep that piece. I had a Tarfire and a Lightning Bolt in hand, so along with six from Lash Outs, I only had to do about five points of damage.

7-1

Top 8!

Round 9 – Lucas Siow with Reflecting Pool Control

We ran the ID. Lucas was the eventual PTQ winner.

7-1-1

Top 8 – Chas Hinkle with Doran

A bit of the anti-climax… I got paired against the only deck that beat me in the Swiss rather than one of the three Kithkin decks or the G/W deck (I had beaten two G/W decks of course).

Chas crushed me in the first. I think he played four Wren’s Run Vanquishers whereas I didn’t draw a single Lightning Bolt. I did however draw Blightning, but he kept revealing Wilt-Leaf Liege. Awkward.

In the second I accidentally drew eight cards!

My sleeves were a ragged mess after the Swiss, so I traded with Josh.

Yadda yadda yadda.

Sticky?

Whatever.

I somehow drew eight cards and had to force-mulligan to six.

I probably couldn’t have beaten Chas’s seven 4/4 draw with nine cards.

5th

You don’t put that many hours in for fifth place, but I walked out of the tournament with a now-respectable 1972 rating, which is amazing for the World’s Greatest Tee Shirt. I’ve put on about 200 ratings points since I started wearing it!

That’s it!

Hopefully it won’t be another two weeks before I update again.

But I can’t promise anything for now, sadly.

Much love,

LOVE
MIKE

* Not actually Savage Lands. I played the Grixis tri-land but I don’t remember the damn name. I wrote “Savage Lands” down on the paper napkin I scribbled over to Josh but he gave me the Grixis ones to ensure that I would not, you know, accidentally tap for Green or something. In fact Savage Lands can put the opponent on a bad read because Blightning Beatdown and Jund have many cards in common, but it is actually better for the opponent to put you on a Grixis read, which can — if briefly — lead to some poor short term evaluations and plays. Long story short, I can never remember the name of that land and would rather write this whole paragraph than look it up. So there.

Currently Reading: From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, No. 8)

You Make the Play returns with a mirror match dilemma from this past weekend’s Star City Games $5,000 tournament in Philadelphia, PA.

The situation:
You are 4-1 or thereabouts in the Star City Games $5,000 tournament in Philadelphia last week. Your deck in this one is Blightning Beatdown… So is your opponent’s.

That opponent is Zack Hall, who has a Grand Prix Top 4 this year and is probably better than you.

That said, you got Game One at least in part because Zack shipped to Paris on the play; he had a lot of Flame Javelins to your Bitterblossom, but you got there with the card advantage.

So it’s game two. Having read Why Dave Price Goes Second, Zack opted to draw.

This strategy has served him pretty solidly this game and he is currently ahead. It’s Zack’s turn five and this is the situation:

He plays super duper deck namesake Blightning with three or four more cards in hand. Wow that is a lot of cards.

Zack’s board is a 2/2 Figure of Destiny and four lands (no Ghitu Encampment).

Your board is:

Ghitu Encampment,
Mountain,
Reflecting Pool, and
Auntie’s Hovel.

Your hand is (of which you will have to pitch two cards) is: Demigod of Revenge, Flame Javelin, Flame Javelin.

You missed your last land drop. You have sided out three Bitterblossoms for three Lash Outs this game.

Okay geniuses-in-training! Make the play. What do you pitch and why? More importantly (and it’s kind of the same question)… What do you keep?

LOVE
MIKE

MichaelJ is sick! No voice! Please forgive me, but I wanted to do a video on the deck I am playing at the Star City Games $5K before, you know, the Star City Games $5K.

Those of you who have read Eight Matches With Blightning Beatdown – Part 2 know how this one ends.

I wanted to pretend-play eight matches on MTGO, pretending I was in a PTQ or whatever, but I went 6-1in the first seven, and I got a “draw” … However I wasn’t playing real Magic so the draw was irrelevant. So I just played the eighth (basically the nightmare matchup of Kitchen Finks, guys with large toughness, and Wilt-Leaf Liege for my Blightnings) … and got there easily. This solidified my choice of Blightning Beatdown for the $5K.

This is how I described the match on November 24:

8. G/W Little Kid

Game One – You probably know I made a deck with all G/W cards and Wilt-Leaf Liege for Block that won one PTQ (that I know about). I actually started thinking about this strategy again for Standard just because Wilt-Leaf Liege is so good against Blightning and Cruel Ultimatum. So basically, alongside Kitchen Finks and better guys than are in my colors — let alone my deck — this is the nightmare match.

Luckily he had a slow opening, which was my only saving grace. One too many lands came into play tapped so he couldn’t overrun me with superior forces. I stuck a Blightning that was pretty ironic. A turn or two later and I would have been eating 4/4.

Anyway he got out a ton of 4/x and 5/x creatures (with Liege boosts) but I had a late Bitterblossom to get in for a tiny amount of damage… eventually burned him to death.

Game Two – I side out Blightnings (obviously) for Everlasting Torments.

I luck out that his third land is a Mosswort Bridge, meaning my Figure of Destiny is 4/4 before he has a Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers in play. This is just what I need to get in -one too many times-. Then it’s all Hell’s Thunder and burn to the face. No sweat, thanks to his stumble.

And this here is the corresponding video:

 

DON’T FORGET!

 

I said way up top (and if you read the previous post) I am sick as hell. Meaning my voice is like cigarettes ground into gravel. Forgive me this one time, I really wanted to get the content out to you.

Take care and wish me luck at the $5K.

LOVE
MIKE

P.S. Follow me on Twitter. Please?

Wherein Michael J. Flores discusses the beginnings of his preparation for the upcoming Star City Games $5000 tournament in Philadelphia, PA. This article features initial deck selection, card choices, and testing with a modified version of Blightning Beatdown.

So there is a big Standard tournament coming up the first week of December.

It is a Star City Games $5000 tournament (you know, the kind Alex Bertoncini always wins) in Philadelphia, PA. I lived in Philadelphia for four years, and won my first PTQ there with a heavily metagamed B/R Necropotence deck.

Aside:

Recently, over at Top 8 Magic, I have been thinking a lot about my deck selection over the past couple of years. It all started when Brian David-Marshall accused me of being the Greenest One of All in a recent Top 8 Magic Podcast. [In case you haven’t been reading Top 8 Magic… which you should be] I have been some kind of Green in 80% of my last 20 individual Constructed tournaments. I even did a spreadsheet breakdown.

Yep, down 199 rating points over that time period.

On balance, the twenty individual Constructed tournaments before those I was Green only about 1/3 of the time. Instead, I was up 146 points, qualified for two Constructed Pro Tours, crushed a late summer Standard with my U/W “Wafo-Tapa” deck that won five straight NAC Qualifiers (Steve Sadin, Julian Levin, yours truly, some guy not in our crew, and Chad Kastel), finished Top 16 in that respective NAC, and of course finished two-then-one in the New York State Championships in consecutive attempts.

I am not 100% down on Green at all (in fact, Critical Mass was one of the best decks I ever developed, hands down)… But I think Brian probably has a point that I am biased towards Green.

But not in Philadelphia; when I won that PTQ, it was with B/R.

End aside.

Speaking of B/R, I have been heavily impressed with Oscar Almgren’s Blightning Beatdown since I first stumbled upon it and made the initial Blightning Beatdown videos.

At the pre-States Top 8 Magic Mock Tournament, Brian David-Marshall kicked all kinds of bum with Matt Ferrando’s version of Blightning Beatdown — which didn’t even have Bitterblossom or Demigod of Revenge if you can believe THAT — and recommended it for States on basis of our previous Mock Tournament prognostication with Jushi Blue, B/W Deadguy Ale, &c.

However for myself, Josh Ravitz had already [physically] made me my Jund Mana Ramp deck and told me he would punch me in the face if I didn’t play it. Josh himself, though, smartly switched to Blightning Beatdown! He finished a match out of Top 8 in New Jersey, parallel to me.

So anyway, based on many factors — including a deliberate effort to broaden my color choices, my frustrations with playing Reflecting Pool Control mirrors, and my hatred of plus desire to quash the First Among Equals — I decided to at least try out Blightning Beatdown as the initial weapon of choice. I really love this strategy and its combination of pressure, domination over the Fae, and the namesake card Blightning itself.

For reference, here is Oscar Almgren’s original LCQ-winning version:

4 Bitterblossom

4 Ashenmoor Gouger
4 Blightning
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goblin Deathraiders

4 Flame Javelin
4 Incinerate
4 Tarfire

4 Auntie’s Hovel
4 Ghitu Encampment
4 Graven Cairns
4 Sulfurous Springs
5 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool
1 Swamp

Sideboard
4 Infest
4 Thoughtseize
3 Everlasting Torment
4 Magma Spray

This is the deck that I tested for this exercise:

4 Bitterblossom

4 Blightning
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Figure of Destiny

4 Flame Javelin
4 Hell’s Thunder
4 Incinerate
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Tarfire

4 Auntie’s Hovel
4 Ghitu Encampment
4 Graven Cairns
4 Sulfurous Springs
5 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool
1 Swamp

Sideboard
4 Infest
3 Thoughtseize
4 Gutteral Response
4 Everlasting Torment

Here are the modifications I made for this one:
-4 Ashenmoor Gouger; +4 Hell’s Thunder
-4 Goblin Deathraiders; +4 Mogg Fanatic

I like the relentless pressure that Hell’s Thunder gives you when you already have a little momentum. Neither 4.4 for three mana is particularly good against beatdown, but the Shards of Alara option is a much better racer. Ashenmoor Gouger is better against the Fae, but Hell’s Thunder is much better against Reflecting Pool Control. Those are obviously the two most popular decks, and the First Among Equals is already a cakewalk, so I wanted to err leaning the other way.

Josh played Goblin Deathraiders at States, but no Tarfire. Basically both of us — and Oscar himself — all ran some combination of these Goblin cards. I just wanted more fast action (which might be in slight conflict with this deck’s Ghitu Encampments and annoying basic Swamp).

I borrowed Oscar’s mana base in the entirety; no complaints so far, really, other than I mulligan more than I am used to and I don’t particularly love the Swamp; on balance Josh loves the Swamp and says you might need 26 lands in this strategy (I don’t know if I am that brave, though).

As for the sideboard modifications, I really wanted to play with Gutteral Response because the only way the Fae can get out of your tempo games is usually with multiple Cryptic Commands, and Gutteral Response v. Cryptic Command is about the best fight you can expect in Standard. I really don’t like Magma Spray and if you are already playing Everlasting Torment, I just don’t see the value in it; those are the side justifications.

A brief card breakdown:

Bitterblossom
Unsurprisingly, the best card in the deck. It feels so much better in this deck than in the Fae. I really like the pressure this card provides against control — which typically operates in that old school “remove the threats” way even in 2008 — allowing you to sit back and set up with burn spells. Just such a great card… which is why I and everyone else hates it so damn much. But hey, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!

Blightning
Probably my favorite card to play in the deck. You just feel so powerful resolving this on turn three. Do you realize it only does one fewer damage than a Flame Javelin? Ka-pow! My favorite play is attacking with my 2/2 Figure of Destiny on turn three with mana open, and playing the chicken game. Nope; let’s go to damage. Grumble Grumble. Here, have a Blightning. Grumble Grumble.

Demigod of Revenge
Ferrando didn’t play this card at all! Honestly I don’t play it very much on account of stalling. It is still like the best big guy in Standard, and one of the scariest possible threats against any kind of Counterspells.

Figure of Destiny
Obv.

Flame Javelin
Obv.

Hell’s Thunder
As above; we replaced Ashenmoor Gouger with this guy, 4/4 for three for 4/4 for three. Ashenmoor Gouger is mostly better against Faeries and Hell’s Thunder is mostly better against Reflecting Pool Control. Of the two most popular decks, one is a near bye. So we went with the card that was / is better against the other one, that is more likely to tap out for a Firespout / Wrath of God and give you an open to brain for four.

Incinerate
This is probably my least favorite card in the deck. I can see going to two copies for 26 lands per Josh’s suggestion, and / or swtiching to Lash Out. But no official changes as of yet.

Mogg Fanatic
Mogg Fantastic! I re-added this to the strategy (if you recall my pre-States Demigod Deck Wins videos all featured Tattermunge Maniac) based on the Brett Blackman video. He could not stop ranting about how bad Mogg Fanatic is for Faeries. In.

Tarfire
I actually have loved this card so far. Not powerful, but a Goblin for my Auntie’s Hovels… and it works nicely with this deck’s often tight mana.

As for testing format, I decided to do eight rounds in the Tournament Practice room as an initial run.

But we’ll have to look into those games tomorrow!

LOVE
MIKE