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Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 04 Feb 2017, 01:23
by Voda
Hi dear Forge community !

Today, as I read more and more stuff about player's experience in Quest mode, I decided to begin a new quest that will (hopefully) tend to a good and entertaining long run. And for myself as well as for players who are seeking some Quest log I wanted to write down here what I'll come across during my journey. This is also for me a good exercise to practice English, and if you feel generous enough, don't hesitate to pm me (no need to flood the topic) about any grammatical mistake I may make.

For the parameters, I am playing in classic mode, the card pool is modern, and I will (mostly) play in main world. I am currently working on an enhancement of the enemy pool (adding new ones and removing those I don't like), but it may take a while until I make it, so for now I will content myself with what is currently in the game. The difficulty is medium, I let the starting pool distribution balanced and I allow the unlocking of new set, but I don't think I'm gonna use it (unless I get very very far in the game). Other quest preferences are the default ones (such as base winnings = 25 gold), but I may change them later if I see the need. I usually start by building 40-cards deck in the beginning, and for each two boosters won I increase the min. deck size by 5 until I reach 60 (that means, once I've got 2 more boosters, my deck should have 45 cards, then at 4 boosters, 50, at 6, 55 and once I've reached 8 boosters shit is getting real). One last precision : I'm playing on the android version.

Let's embark !

Ok, starting with having a look at this pool.
We've got into some pretty good stuff. Starting with Kozilek, the Great Distortion and Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver as mythics. Kozilek is great but without the good colourless mana support he won't do much. Ashiok is not my favourite planeswalker, but I'll be very happy playing with it !

Let's see what else there is on the rare side : 3 counterspells (Voidslime, Twincast and Counterlash), as well as a Blue Sun's Zenith and a Monastery Siege to support the long grindy control game... maybe not now. Otherwise, a Relentless Assault for a very aggressive deck, and some beautiful mana fixing in Prismatic Omen and Joiner Adept, and ramp with Nissa's Renewal.

Then while looking at the rest, I was thinking of playing blue-black or sultai control, to play my counterspells, Ashiok and if I see the need of playing green, my mana fixing cards. In fact, the sultai self mill archetype was surprisingly good, with a Wreath of Geists, 2 Returned Centaur, a Drown in Filth, a Shambling Shell, a Grim Discovery, a Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator... but what finally turned me on was the Sultai Soothsayer that I saw at the end. Did I say that I love Sultai ? Well, here is what I've got to build with my pool, and I am very happy with it :

beginning Sultai | Open
Main:
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Counterlash
1 Monastery Siege
1 Nissa's Renewal
1 Prismatic Omen
1 Joiner Adept
1 Voidslime
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator
1 Paragon of Eternal Wilds
1 Sultai Soothsayer
1 Wanderer's Twig
1 Eager Construct
1 Essence Scatter
1 Wavecrash Triton
1 Returned Centaur
1 Daring Demolition
1 Demon's Grasp
1 Ambush Viper
1 Giant Spider
1 Canopy Spider
1 Stalking Drone
1 Oona's Gatewarden
1 Zombie Outlander
1 Drown in Filth
1 Shambling Shell
1 Wreath of Geists
1 Sift
1 Murderous Compulsion
1 Grim Discovery
6 Island
7 Swamp
7 Forest

Sideboard:
1 Baleful Stare
1 Shrike Harpy
1 Gravetiller Wurm
1 Spreading Algae
1 Elgaud Shieldmate
1 Returned Centaur
1 Natural State
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Winds of Qal Sisma
1 Jugan, the Rising Star
1 Petals of Insight
1 Caress of Phyrexia
1 Smothering Abomination
1 Mind Rot
1 Twincast


Although I could have played a 40-cards deck, I was already happy with the 50 cards this deck features, so I went with it.

What was worth noticing in my cardpool was the presence of a Boros Swiftblade, and Hearthfire Hobgoblin ; there was some decent cheap red burn (Shock, Seal of Fire) as well. I'll keep boros aggro in mind, but for now it lacks cheap creatures so let's save it for later.

Ok that's it for the intro, let's jump into some games !

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 04 Feb 2017, 03:03
by Voda
Match 0 : Paralyzing Grasp
The first match I played bugged before its end, so let's call it match 0.
I was facing a 'Paralyzing Grasp'-themed opponent (with enchantments tapping creatures). I couldn't remember the details but the games went well. A key card here was Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator, because I could have him transformed very early, and it was a big card advantage engine, as I was able to put more creatures on the field than he could enchant. Sadly, the game crashed before I win.

Match 1 : UB Faerie
Facing UB Faerie, many little flyers. My deck wasn't ready for that (although it had spiders with reach). I lost game 1, manage to beat him game 2 with a top-decked Canopy Spider that prevented his 1/1s from attacking and some long-run card advantage tricks, but was harshly beaten in game 3. Well, a crash and a lose, this doesn't seem like a good beginning...

0 - 1

Match 2 : ???

Unfortunately I totally forgot this match. But it was a clear winning, I get a Khans of Tarkir booster pack but nothing really useful to me.

1 - 1

I did however wanted to try the boros build at this point. I ended up with a 60 cards deck (I could, again, just have built a 40 cards one - but I like to live dangerously), with a green splashing to get some pump spells. Let's be honest : this wasn't a good deck, I was playing some weird face burn spells that weren't efficient, and the 3 colours were not helping me playing aggro enough. But I tried it aaaaand...

Match 3 : gates-themed
This opponent was playing synergies with guildgates (lands) from Ravnica. And it was insane : his creatures were bigger than mine, and one of them could +1/+1 by just tapping a gate. At least it was a quick death (for me) and I thought "hm... well maybe I should go back to sultai and his well balanced 50 cards deck".

1 - 2

Match 4 : mono G Treefolk

This match I started to understand the real power of Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator. It carried both game I won, making any trade very poor for my opponent because I could then get any dead creature back. Add some Zombie Outlander and an Ambush Viper and it was game. Most damage I inflicted to him came from his own big treefolks...
Get a Betrayer of Kamigawa booster but nothing more to say here.

2 - 2

Match 4.5 : James Bond (GW sliver)

This is noted as .5 as it doesn't get recorded in my statistics because... it crashed once again. But it was some very intense games so it was really worth describing it in here. Well, at least game 3 was, because I easily won game 1 with the unstoppable Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator once again, and the slivers crushed me game 2 as I mulligan to 5 and couldn't handle their army. Then went game 3, where I was using at their maximum potential my high toughness creatures, to protect Ashiok while I was trying to put some Slivers on my side with her minus ability (the slivers were pumping all slivers on board, so I could benefit as well). But he had much more creatures than I did, so I couldn't attack into his board, and I was dangerously facing a self milling death (Monastery Siege was speeding up the clock !), until he gave me my win condition : he used a removal that gave me a 1/1 flyer while destroying one of my creature. This little bird, slowly pumped by a recursive Shambling Shell, was taking one by one (well, at the beginning at least, until he got to a 5/5 thanks to Shell) the opponent life's total. One turn before I had lethal, unfortunately, the game crashed while I was casting a spell (the board was very heavy, and each turn the AI took more and more time to make a decision).

Because I should have won, have fought bravely, and already faced an unfair crash, I decided to grant me 400 bonus gold for the next duel only, to then buy the one booster I should have earned for this epic victory. However the stats remains :

2 - 2

Well that's it for the first report of my buggy-losing beginning of a quest. Not much of an heroic tale at the moment, but, after all... difficulties give birth to greatest stories, don't they ?

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 09 Feb 2017, 13:17
by Voda
Alright, let's continue with some more matches.


Match 5 : rampage

Facing beast and rampage creature (a capacity I didn't know at all). The strategy was to give me small creatures, and eat them while forcing me to block his big rampage creatures. It didn't work well tho, in game 1 he was overwhelmed with creatures he gave me, so I won with only playing 3 spells (little achievement here !). Second game was easy too, putting Ashiok in play early. Opponent didn't do too much, then I stole a big body with Ashiok minus ability creature and start attacking for the win.

3 - 2

I got a Battle for zendikar pack for the eldrazi and colourless support that may me want to brew something with Kozilek one day.

As I said, I got 400 gold more for this win, to get a booster I should have earn against the tough slivoids. In shop there was a Dragon of Tarkir booster pack for 395 gold (it is clearly one of my favourite set), so I went for it. Negate - Naturalize - Pacifism. I like that. A Radiant Purge as a rare, something I've never seen but already liked.

Match 6 : landfall (Aragorn)
Game One he wasn't doing much (only playing a land that was continuously returning to his hand), I countered and removed some small creatures he was playing, he replayed them, but wasn't aggro enough. Second game was bears and removals on my side, nothing more to say.

4 - 2

3-wins-strike : Mutagenic Growth, and Ashcloud Phoenix. The red-white aggro is becoming more and more tempting. Then...
Oath of the gatewatch pack : Needle Spires. Oh my. And a Reckless Bushwhacker plus some white allies. Apart from that, some nice colourless support (Cultivator Drone, Crumbling Vestige, Walker of the Wastes). This is certainly going somewhere.

Match 7 : green white (Hercule)
I lost game One, was very close because my Zombie Outlander (look at his protection from green) almost had him but he played Heroes' Reunion… and had bigger creatures than me. Game two : an unanswered Riverwheel Aerialists did the job. Game three : Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator and some ramping to reach 10 mana and 2 resurrect each turn. Again, Nighteyes is broken in this kind of limited format.

5 - 2

Random rare : oh my, isn't Brimaz, King of Oreskos a really good card ?
then...
Born of the gods pack : Ghostblade Eidolon, Felhide Spiritbinder. OK. Now is the time. Let's go back to white red. With the rule on deck size, I should now build at least 55-cards deck (I've won 6 boosters), but I went for the 60 cards already. Here is my build :
Boros double-strike | Open
Main:
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Ghostblade Eidolon
1 Fencing Ace
1 Graceblade Artisan
1 Observant Alseid
1 Propeller Pioneer
1 Lithomancer's Focus
1 Kor Sky Climber
1 Makindi Aeronaut
1 Kor Scythemaster
1 Pacifism
1 Champion of Arashin
1 Felhide Spiritbinder
1 Rageform
1 Rise to the Challenge
1 Ashcloud Phoenix
1 Relentless Assault
1 Hellraiser Goblin
1 Pain Kami
1 Goblin Glory Chaser
1 Firefist Striker
1 Reckless Bushwhacker
1 Bloodfire Expert
1 Banners Raised
1 Seal of Fire
1 Shock
1 Valley Dasher
1 Kolaghan Aspirant
1 Boros Swiftblade
1 Hearthfire Hobgoblin
1 Resolute Blademaster
1 Boros Recruit
1 Runes of the Deus
1 Scuzzback Scrapper
1 Fortify
1 Mutagenic Growth
1 Torch Gauntlet
1 Eager Construct
1 Teetering Peaks
1 Needle Spires
1 Vivid Crag
8 Plains
11 Mountain


Sideboard:
1 Radiant Purge
1 Suspension Field
1 Erase
1 Smite the Monstrous
1 Fate Forgotten
1 Outnumber
1 Celestial Flare
1 Act of Treason
1 Griffin Sentinel
1 Thunderblade Charge
1 Destructive Tampering
1 Immolating Souleater
1 Nyxborn Shieldmate
1 Blessing of the Nephilim
1 Blessed Spirits

Let's try it !

Match 8 : morph (Doc Holiday)
Game one : Boros Swiftblade with buff. Game two : he was stuck on two lands, I gave him a quick death. Damn it boys this deck is powerful.

6 - 2

Dragons maze : WTF Sacred Foundry. Yay go for it !

Match 9 : forest matters
His creatures were buffed depending on the number of forests he owns. Game one was a mostly flying Kor Sky Climber, plus a double strike 1/1 to prevent any attack from his 13/1. Still a close one here, as he had many big creatures that effectively blocks my non-evasive ones. Game two was more expeditious, just an aggressive line of play with a Reckless Bushwhacker at the end.

7 - 2

Random rare : Dominus of Fealty

So theoretically, from now on I should only build at least 60-cards deck.

Match 10 : mono W soldier
Game 1: too many bigger creatures than mine on his side (but with a face down Ashcloud Phoenix I was 2 damage away from killing him !)
Game 2: I managed to survive by taking the most benefits out of my blocking situations, while killing him with some flyers. REALLY close.
Game 3: about 10 damage dealt by Goblin Glory Chaser alone by playing him on turn 1, then Brimaz, King of Oreskos finishes the job.

8 - 2

Stratus Dancer as a random rare,
and in a Zendikar pack : Rampaging Baloths. Both will go into the sultai build. I decided to go back to it and here is the result :
I <3 Sultai | Open
Main:
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Monastery Siege
1 Nissa's Renewal
1 Prismatic Omen
1 Joiner Adept
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator
1 Paragon of Eternal Wilds
1 Sultai Soothsayer
1 Wanderer's Twig
1 Eager Construct
1 Essence Scatter
1 Returned Centaur
1 Daring Demolition
1 Demon's Grasp
1 Ambush Viper
1 Giant Spider
1 Canopy Spider
1 Oona's Gatewarden
1 Zombie Outlander
1 Drown in Filth
1 Shambling Shell
1 Wreath of Geists
1 Sift
1 Murderous Compulsion
1 Grim Discovery
8 Island
8 Swamp
8 Forest
1 Sultai Banner
1 Riverwheel Aerialists
1 Stratus Dancer
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Counsel of the Soratami
1 Benthic Infiltrator
1 Murk Strider
1 Hand of Silumgar
1 Elusive Krasis
1 Far // Away

Sideboard:
1 Baleful Stare
1 Shrike Harpy
1 Gravetiller Wurm
1 Spreading Algae
1 Returned Centaur
1 Natural State
1 Jugan, the Rising Star
1 Caress of Phyrexia
1 Smothering Abomination
1 Splinter
1 Matsu-Tribe Sniper
1 Naturalize
1 Naturalize
1 Netcaster Spider
1 Negate


Seems pretty cool and funny.


That's it for today ! This time I was more lucky (skilful ? ahah) with my matches. I am starting to be clearly more powerful than the easy-level opponents, although some matches weren't exactly easy wins... I am having a lot of fun with this quest and this log. I hope someone somewhere is finding some interest in what I am saying ! I think it shows what an average quest could look like. I want to read other's journal, so don't hesitate to start one. One of my ideal goal is to have some other's quest decks as opponents added to my quests (and I will certainly add mine to my future quests). By the way, is there any quick means to check what is not AI friendly in a list of cards ?

See you in the next entry !

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 19 Feb 2017, 22:55
by Xyx
Voda wrote:is there any quick means to check what is not AI friendly in a list of cards ?
In the Deck Editor, On the Card Catalog tab, there are buttons for List View and Image View. Make sure you have List View selected (the three horizontal lines.) You should see an "AI" column at the end of the table. If you don't see the "AI" column, click the wrench icon and add it.

The AI column can have two flags:
"AI": The AI has trouble with this card.
"?": This card shouldn't go into randomly generated decks. Like, no Nightmare in a deck without a lot of swamps.

You can ignore the "?" flag if you are building the decks yourself.

The "AI" flag is not black and white. Sometimes the AI is still able to handle a flagged card well enough depending on the deck it's playing, and sometimes it'll do bone-headed things with a card that isn't flagged. The only way to be sure is to try it out.

It's important to note that the AI just plain won't cast some cards. Creatures don't seem to be a problem but some instants/sorceries never get cast. You may need to use the Developer Console to cheat a Telepathy or Revelation onto your battlefield so you can look at the AI's hand and see what got stuck there.

I recently posted huge lists of old cards that the AI has problems with.

Please also give the oldschool quest worlds a try:
  • The Domains: The Golden Age of Magic (Limited Edition Beta)
  • Rabiah (Arabian Nights)
  • Terisiare: The Brothers' War (Antiquities)
  • Dominaria: Legends (Legends)
  • Terisiare: The Dark (The Dark)
  • Sarpadia (Fallen Empires)
  • Terisiare: Ice Age (Ice Age, Alliances)
  • Homelands (Homelands)
  • Jamuraa: The Mirage Wars (Mirage, Visions)
  • Portal (Portal)
I'll be updating these soon and I'd love some feedback. :)

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 28 Feb 2017, 15:22
by sorinmarkov
Hey Voda,
Thanks for the quest log! Enjoying following your adventure.

S.M.

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 28 Feb 2017, 23:40
by Voda
@Xyx : thank you for the insightful reply. I mostly play on the mobile version, and it doesn't seem to have the AI flag in it. I will try on the desktop app, but I still have to update it ! Haven't touch it in many months - and I guess I was anyway going to use it for some content development such as AI deck building and testing.

I am actually very aware of your old-school quest worlds, as I was trying to gather some information about them when discovering and experimenting the quest mode. I think there is a big gap in documentation (or explanation) of the different in-game worlds, as they are just alphabetically ordered names in a list, without description. I, as a new player to Forge when it has already many quest worlds (many of them being yours, as I understood later), was very confused with this list. Add to this the fact that I don't have a great knowledge of old MtG sets... I decided to begin some sort of self-made "quest worlds documentation" in order to gather the scattered informations about them you can find on this forum ; this was the time I read a lot about your works on quest worlds, and that many of the names I wasn't familiar enough with were just referring to old sets from whom you made worlds. It then started to become clearer in my mind.

Well, it seems to be the right opportunity to congratulate you for your work ! It is impressive. However, I have to disappoint you, because I only looked at them and didn't go further in playing them. As I mentioned, I am not familiar with old sets, for the simple reason I began playing Magic with Time Spiral release, and never get hooked by pre-modern area Magic because of the old card designs (I find them hard to read, both in text and art, and overall not... sexy enough I guess ?) - I'm just not having fun with them. I imagine it can sound horrific to some of the nostalgic players in here (and I guess there is plenty of them), but they are simply not what is Magic to me. So I will pass on your old-school quest worlds for now Xyx, sorry :/ but be sure that if one day I want to discover this era of Magic your worlds will certainly be my choice of predilection.

To bring the digression to an end, I just wanted to come back to what I think could be a good feature to the Quest mode : adding some in-game description of the various quest worlds. Something that explains the different sets being used, the author(s) of the world, the number of opponents at each level to have an idea of how long a quest could be, a recommended difficulty and other parameters...


@sorinmarkov : Thank you very much for your message ! It is really motivating.

Just wanted to say that the quest is still going on, I just didn't have the time to write it here properly. Since I play it on my phone, I keep track of it with notes on my phone as well and it needs some rewriting work before I can post it here.

I am happy because I am writing more and more interesting details in my notes, finding my own style and becoming more efficient. I read my previous entries and was not quite satisfied with them, as I felt like there is a lot of English mistakes and a lack of details (especially about the cards the opponents are playing). I guess I can do better with the materials I have for the next entry.

There have been a lot of funny and great events that happened in this quest since the previous entry, and I am quite impatient to share it with you ! So stay tuned, I will come back tomorrow with an entry.

- Voda

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 01 Mar 2017, 23:09
by Voda
So here we are ! Back with some more epic quest, loots and fearless easy opponents.

Match 11 : vs Catwoman (GW cat tribal with Kjeldoran War Cry) using the "I <3 sultai" previously shown
Game 1 : I could finally use my Elusive Krasis with this duel ! He is certainly one of my favourite card. First as a good blocker, than a finisher along with Rampaging Baloths that did a very good job, the turn after I countered her last creature. Nothing was left of her.
Game 2 : My Benthic Infiltrator attacked 3 times in this game, and he exiled 2 Kjeldoran War Cry and a Jedit Ojanen of Efrava : I was pretty amused by that ! Still, she killed me with more creatures than I could have handled...
Game 3 : Benthic Infiltrator shined again ! This time he was enchanted by a Wreath of Geists and acted more as a finisher than some weirdo doing Ingest shenanigans. Him + many removals was good enough.

9 - 2

Born of the gods : Satyr Firedancer

Match 12 : vs 5 colors Shrines (from Champion of Kamigawa) using the Boros aggro
Game 1 : basic Boros strategy. Creatures attacking. Since he was playing mostly enchantments it wasn't too hard.
Game 2 : This one was a lot more tricky. His first shrine was the Honden of Infinite Rage, and I had mostly 1 toughness creatures… I lost 1 creatures/turn and couldn't killed him before he played the Honden of Cleansing Fire. I thought it was over and just passed turn, waiting for him to kill me with 1/1s from his Honden of Life's Web … that came kinda late. As I was about to concede to speed game up (I was at 2 life, he had more than enough 1/1s to kill me), with my finger literally 3 millimetres away from the "Concede" button, I hesitated for a second and noticed that he had only 1 card left in his library. Only 1 card. With like 3 Honden of Seeing Winds on the battlefield, drawing him (literally) dozen of cards. Well, I just passed my turn - again. And I won. Easy game.

10 - 2

Ravnica : city of guilds : Overgrown Tomb wow !

Match 13 : vs Grandpa Simpson (Boros first & double strike) using the Sultai build
Game 1 : he played many equipments but only 2 creatures, that I easily removed. I just attacked with bears and won.
Game 2 : I was stuck on three lands and couldn't deploy my hand, while his deck worked well, having big flying double-striking creatures…
Game 3 : Riverwheel Aerialists was really efficient at the end, while I had enough removals in the early stage of the game (furthermore he cast some auras, so I two-for-one'd him a couple of times).

11 - 2

Mythic for 10 win strike : Sorin, Grim Nemesis. Wow, I want to build a deck with him. Plus Phyrexian Etchings as random rare.
Modern master 2015 as booster pack : Fulminator Mage, Dispatch, Electrolyze.

Well this is a rather good loot !

Match 14 : vs Barney Rubble (UW walls) using Boros aggro
Game 1 : He stopped me from attacking rapidly and efficiently with his walls, then put his Sovereigns of Lost Alara and could easily attack into my small creatures. Clean death for me.
Game 2 : Stinging Barrier… again, my 1-toughness creatures didn't do well, there was nothing I could do and I thought this game was lost… but I had the removal for his Sovereigns of Lost Alara, and he seemed to have no other win condition. I put a Propeller Pioneer that didn't care about his non flying walls, then enchanted it with Ghostblade Eidolon. That was of course completely insane and I won 3 turns later. Sharing some personal thoughts on this game : It is interesting to note that I made a lot of mistakes at first when I think I couldn't win, because I was too lazy to read his cards and figure out which creatures should attack. These misplays didn't cost me the game though, but they could have easily if the endgame was more disputed.
For game three, since I saw that the Sovereigns were his only win con (he played nothing else but walls), I included everything that could take care of him (like a Radiant Purge, even if Sovereigns were the only valid targets here), as well as all my flyers.
Game 3 : My deck worked much better , Rageform (on a Mountain) turn 4 into bestowed Observant Alseid on it turn 5, and he hadn't many good walls at the moment (at least none that could handle my double strike 4/4 !). He didn't block the first attacks, until they were menacing lethal so that he was forced to chump block and I progressively cleaned his board while extending mine and won.

This match was very interesting overall. It was clear to me that my before-sideboarding deck had no chance (unless I hit the very right configuration of cards), because my removals (like Shock) weren't efficient against his deck. So it was all about seeing that Sovereigns were his only real win condition and sideboarding to counter it (with Smite the Monstrous, Radiant Purge, Celestial Flare… ). From there, I also had to slightly change my own win con, since small non-flying creatures weren't efficient, I needed bigger or flying creatures. Oh, and cards like Shock and Seal of Fire had to go out. There was some interesting choices involved, and I was happy solving this "puzzle".

12 - 2

Zendikar : Lavaball Trap, nah. Goblin Bushwhacker : yep THAT's a card.

Match 15 : vs Montgomery Burns (Mardu prevent lifegain) using Boros aggro
Game 1 : He removed every creature I played, and start killing me with a Grollub… nah… But once I removed it, he played nothing else than enchantments that basically say "players can't gain life" (he had 4 or 5 of them in the end). Boros Swiftblade and Goblin Glory Chaser were my reliable buddies to help me finishing him off.
Game 2 : 2 Devour Flesh, making me lose my Needle SpiresLast Breath on my Resolute Blademaster… Then Alms Beast took care of my empty board while I didn't draw creatures for 4-5 turns and lost.
Game 3 : I simply had more creatures than he had removals, so that worked fine for me.

13 - 2

Random rare : Dictate of Kruphix

Coldsnap : I chose the Coldsnap booster because I remember it as one of the first boosters I opened when I was younger, as a reward for joining in at a local event. I remember it crystal clear and opened a foil Ohran Viper. So I thought that it would be pretty funny to see what I could get on my first ever Coldsnap booster on Forge... And guess what ? an Ohran Viper ! Oh I can tell you I was happy :mrgreen: but wait, there's more !

Match 16 : vs Snow-White (Bant snow deck) using Sultai
Game 1 : After looting the Ohran Viper myself, I was very amused to see an Ohran Viper on her side ahah ! There are everywhere. But let us not be disturbed by these weird coincidences and get back to the main topic. It was a pretty long game, but I almost always have the better end game with the Sultai deck, this was no exception and I just patiently removed his cards while deploying threats (Rampaging Baloths and Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator, mostly).
Game 2 : Same outcome, again my control deck beats his midrange. Removals, counter, reanimation… I'm so glad to see my deck having more and more interactions.

14 - 2

Random rare : Batterskull. It's funny because I've heard of this card as a powerful one, but never get the chance to see or even play with it. I'm sure it will do great.
Time Spiral : Draining Whelk. Maybe I should take a look at a real countering deck. But also a Crookclaw Transmuter : a card I really love (especially with Elusive Krasis), will definitely go into the sultai build. Think Twice as well. Lots of good blue stuff !

So I've been working on this idea of counterspell, trying to make use of the ones I own into a deck. I'll save the deck list for the next entry, that should come soon.


But that's it for this time ! I just wanted to draw a tiny conclusion before moving on. This part of the quest was very exciting. It wasn't easy at all, but my decks (Sultai and Boros) are doing well. Some games were intense. Some loots were crazy. However I'm not that confident for what is going to happen, as after the next win I'll get to 15 wins and unlock the Medium opponents. It'll be pretty tough since I'm already almost losing to the Easy ones.

You'll see if I can handle them very soon !

- Voda

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 02 Mar 2017, 01:12
by Voda
Here we are back.

As I said, I've built a new deck that basically revolves around countering things. I try a Simic build, to have access to Voidslime and some ramp to get to the biggest threats. Speaking of big threat, this deck features some eldrazi, with Kozilek, the Great Distortion as the guest star !

No need to keep you waiting, here is the decklist if you want to have a look :
Simic Draw-Go | Open
Creature (13)

1x Llanowar Elves
1x Ambush Viper
1x Hedron Crawler
1x Murmuring Phantasm
1x Stalking Drone
1x Cultivator Drone
1x Elusive Krasis
1x Monastery Flock
1x Crookclaw Transmuter
1x Kozilek's Channeler
1x Draining Whelk
1x Rampaging Baloths
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Sorcery (4)

1x Rampant Growth
1x Sift
1x Petals of Insight
1x Nissa's Renewal

Artifact (3)

1x Wanderer's Twig
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Batterskull

Instant (10)

1x Essence Scatter
1x Negate
1x Nullify
1x Think Twice
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Cancel
1x Voidslime
1x Adverse Conditions
1x Whiplash Trap
1x Counterlash

Enchantment (4)

1x Dictate of Kruphix
1x Overgrowth
1x Treasure Trove
1x Corrupted Conscience

Land (26)

1x Crumbling Vestige
7x Forest
13x Island
1x Sanctum of Ugin
1x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
1x Skyline Cascade
2x Wastes

Sideboard (15)

1x Spreading Algae
1x Canopy Spider
1x Narcolepsy
1x Naturalize
1x Runner's Bane
1x Stratus Dancer
1x Twincast
1x Baleful Stare
1x Benthic Infiltrator
1x Divination
1x Monastery Siege
1x Netcaster Spider
1x Elgaud Shieldmate
1x Giant Spider
1x Riverwheel Aerialists


Let's not wait and try it against some opponent !

Match 17 : vs Shrek (mono B demon and ogre) using Simic draw-go
Game 1 : a beautiful Draining Whelk on his Painwracker Oni, who gave me the game.
Game 2 : a beautiful Counterlash on his Gutwrencher Oni into casting Rampaging Baloths who gave me the game. Funny enough to be worth noticing, his own Raving Oni-Slave (he played two of them, I removed one) made him lose half his life pretty quickly.
That was a clean match ! I guess Shrek is not that hard as an easy opponent (at least when you have some removals). I slightly updated the deck, mostly to include my Ruin Processor, in order to have synergy with Sanctum of Ugin and the overall colourless support.

15 - 2
Well, it looks like we are finally at the 15 wins cap (it means we are now facing Medium opponents), so I guess this was the last time I can complain about the opponent being too easy.

Shadowmoor pack : Godhead of Awe. Well, why not.

Match 18 : vs Sidisi (Sultai delve - medium level, of course) using Simic draw-go
Game 1 : Draining Whelk on Shambling Attendants, nice value. She played many delve activator cards (Tracker's Instincts, Mental Note…) but each time she tried to resolve one creature of her kind, I had a counterspell up. Draining Whelk ended the game quickly.
Game 2 : I rapidly ran out of steam, and draw lot of lands. She played 2 Hooting Mandrills, 2 Sultai Scavenger… there was nothing I could do.
Game 3 : Monastery Flock was a perfect wall in the beginning (blocking Scavenger and Mandrills), but then again he played too many creatures and I was overwhelmed… being mana flooded again !

15 - 3
It looks like medium AI is not ready for me ! Oh, wait, actually it's the other way around.
And here ends my win strike as well ! (13 wins or so)

Haven't noted the loot here.

Match 19 : vs Aladdin (WU Brave the Sands - medium) using Simic draw-go
Game 1 : I had to mulligan down to 4, his Archangel of Tithes then simply kills me.
Game 2 : Batterskull was efficient, and he had no big threat I couldn't counter. My living weapon was really good at winning the game by itself.
Game 3 : I save my counterspell for his Archangel of Tithes, which worked as planned and I thought this was a winning move for me, but then he played Dragonlord Ojutai out of nowhere ! I thought it was over because I had nothing and couldn't attack into his board, except with a little Elusive Krasis… The turn before I was about to die, I however topdecked my Batterskull ! I had enough mana for casting and equipping it to the Krasis, so it became much larger, and thanks to the lifelink he gave me enough life to stay longer. He was playing more and more flyers, but the Elusive Krasis was fast and unstoppable ; he managed to steal this unlikely win.
DAMN I LOVE YOU KRASIS

16 - 3

Morningtide : a meh Scarblade Elite, but a noticeable Heritage Druid, that I will happily sell as I am not an elvish player at all. It turned out to be the third most expensive card I own (right behind Fulminator mage, and Batterskull).

Match 20 : vs Minerva McGonagall (mono U wizard) using Simic draw-go
Game 1 : It started as a not so great game, with her having some early little flyers, then a not answered Sower of Temptation that stole my Stalking Drone. Then however I was able to put Batterskull into play and she couldn't make me loose any life I didn't recover soon after. It ended with me playing Rampaging Baloths, then a Counterlash that put Kozilek, the Great Distortion into play. Game over.
Game 2 : The first turns were just ramping with Llanowar Elves turn one into Cultivator Drone turn two, and Hedron Crawler the turn after. I spent a lot of time with only 3 lands and these 3 creatures in play, sadly looking at my Ruin Processor in hand. I bounced and countered some wizards until I draw my fourth land and played my eldrazi, which she couldn't remove. A Giant Spider prevented her from winning with little flyers and the eldrazi quickly granted me access to deadly swings.

17 - 3

Battle for zendikar : Sire of Stagnation. You deserve your black splash, don't you ? Too bad he doesn't cost 7 manas, I actually lack synergy with Sanctum of Ugin ! Also some Evolving Wilds, and a Lifespring Druid to help me with the splash. An Eyeless Watcher that I may be interested in. I can tell you I was happy to see this pack as a choice and even more when I cracked it.

So I thought about splashing black into the Simic draw-go and if so, why not playing my powerful Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator as well ? And this how I finally ended up in another Sultai build ! This one however, compared to the self mill version, is more control-focused and try to go into the instant/flash creatures idea. Here is my deck list :

Sultai draw-go | Open
Creature (16)

1x Llanowar Elves
1x Ambush Viper
1x Hedron Crawler
1x Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator
1x Stalking Drone
1x Cultivator Drone
1x Elusive Krasis
1x Lifespring Druid
1x Monastery Flock
1x Crookclaw Transmuter
1x Kozilek's Channeler
1x Draining Whelk
1x Rampaging Baloths
1x Sire of Stagnation
1x Ruin Processor
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Sorcery (3)

1x Rampant Growth
1x Sift
1x Nissa's Renewal

Instant (10)

1x Essence Scatter
1x Negate
1x Think Twice
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Cancel
1x Voidslime
1x Adverse Conditions
1x Far / Away
1x Whiplash Trap
1x Counterlash

Enchantment (1)

1x Dictate of Kruphix

Artifact (4)

1x Wanderer's Twig
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Sultai Banner
1x Batterskull

Planeswalker (1)

1x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver

Land (25)

1x Crumbling Vestige
2x Evolving Wilds
6x Forest
10x Island
1x Sanctum of Ugin
1x Skyline Cascade
2x Swamp
2x Wastes

Sideboard (15)

2x Oona's Gatewarden
1x Murmuring Phantasm
1x Naturalize
1x Nullify
1x Runner's Bane
1x Stratus Dancer
1x Twincast
1x Baleful Stare
1x Benthic Infiltrator
1x Divination
1x Monastery Siege
1x Elgaud Shieldmate
1x Giant Spider
1x Riverwheel Aerialists


Match 21 : Blue devil (mono U multiple spells per turn) using the new Sultai draw-go
Game 1 : I lost to 2 Cloud of Faeries and a Skyshroud Condor played on turn 2…
Game 2 : He suspended an Ancestral Vision on each of the first 3 turns ! I Negate the first at its resolution, and as he was playing nothing else I slowly ramped and put Ashiok into play. On turn 5 I cast Rampaging Baloths and got an Illusory Angel with the help of Ashiok. He played his fourth Ancestral Vision, making basically nothing at this point, and I followed with Evolving Wilds making two 4/4. I was almost playing goldfish.
Game 3 : a Negate on an early Ancestral Vision, a Far//Away that took care of a problematic Infiltrator il-Kor, and an Adverse Conditions to help making the final swing with Stratus Dancer and Kozilek's Channeler. No big bomb or finisher needed here.

18 - 3

Alara Reborn : Lavalanche, but also Bloodbraid Elf and Qasali Pridemage for some selling value or later use, and some more sultai action with Soul Manipulation and Winged Coatl !

But I wasn't satisfied and wanted to open some more pack. I saw a 300 credit Theros booster pack in spell shop, I found it pretty cheap so I decided to go for it.
Oh my…
A Prophet of Kruphix as a rare and… another Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, foil this time !!! Sultai really suits this quest… And the Prophet is really synergistic in the draw-go build. I love that.

Match 22 : vs Electro (authentic Naya) using Sultai draw-go
Game 1 : Not to difficult, he hadn't any play on the first few turns, which allows me to deploy my Ashiok. I stole a Rith, the Awakener that just stayed on defence while I patiently countered his next creatures and a Where Ancients Tread.
Game 2 : I think I got lucky on this one, because he played many of the payoff cards (2 Where Ancients Tread) and lot of ramping creatures, but only a late Woolly Thoctar as a 5+ force creature. I used the only counterspell I was holding on it, and was since exposed to him drawing a big creature. Meanwhile, I played and attacked as aggressively as I can with an Elusive Krasis, a Cultivator Drone and a Prophet of Kruphix because I didn't have any finisher, and this made me win !

19 - 3

Dragon of tarkir : Boltwing Marauder. I also bought a Yavimaya Coast from the shop, because as it is the mana base of my Sultai draw-go is crap. I am trying to run a 3 colours-deck with some colourless on top of it, and this isn't easy. But I really love playing too many colours (and multicolour spells), I am even considering the 5 colours good stuff at this point. You'll have the decklist next time !


So that's it for this session, dedicated to the Sultai/Simic draw go deck. I wouldn't have thought it could do this well actually. On top of that, it seems that I can do fine against Medium opponents (losing 1 out of 5 duels), so that's good for me. It is really funny that I already have two of the same planeswalker (Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver). I really love stumbling upon those little surprises in quest. And there's still a lot more to come !

See you on the next entry !

- Voda

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 29 Apr 2017, 17:39
by Voda
Hi everyone !

Sorry for the long time without any entry, I had less time to play and to write the log. But I have still a lot to relate... So let's go into it !

As I said previous time, I wanted to build some kind of 5 colours good stuff deck. Here is the decklist :

5-colours good stuff | Open
Main :
Creature (14)

1x Ambush Viper
1x Bloodbraid Elf
1x Crookclaw Transmuter
1x Eager Construct
1x Elusive Krasis
1x Joiner Adept
1x Lifespring Druid
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator
1x Omenspeaker
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Rampaging Baloths
1x Sire of Stagnation

Enchantment (3)

1x Monastery Siege
1x Pacifism
1x Prismatic Omen

Land (25)

1x Cinder Barrens
1x Crumbling Vestige
2x Evolving Wilds
6x Forest
1x Gruul Guildgate
4x Island
1x Mountain
1x Needle Spires
1x Overgrown Tomb
2x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
2x Swamp
1x Vivid Crag
1x Yavimaya Coast

Planeswalker (3)

2x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1x Sorin, Grim Nemesis

Instant (5)

1x Advent of the Wurm
1x Anticipate
1x Electrolyze
1x Far//Away
1x Gideon's Reproach

Sorcery (5)

1x Brilliant Spectrum
1x Lavalanche
1x Nissa's Renewal
1x Rampant Growth
1x Tezzeret's Gambit

Artifact (5)

1x Batterskull
1x Orzhov Cluestone
1x Sultai Banner
1x Wanderer's Twig
1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Sideboard :
Creature (7)

1x Canopy Spider
1x Giant Spider
1x Igneous Pouncer
1x Netcaster Spider
1x Oona's Gatewarden
1x Pale Recluse
1x Winged Coatl

Instant (6)

1x Erase
1x Natural State
1x Naturalize
1x Radiant Purge
1x Smite the Monstrous
1x Winds of Qal Sisma

Sorcery (1)

1x Demon's Grasp

Enchantment (1)

1x Suspension Field


As you can imagine it is focused around green for the mana fixing to work.

Let's not wait any more and into some games !


Match 23 : vs Milhouse Van Houten (GW Elderwood Scion) using 5-colours deck
Game 1 : He had his Elderwood Scion on turn 5, so it was pretty scary… but my deck worked surprisingly well, with an early Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator, then a Bloodbraid Elf into Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. He attacked Ashiok with his scion (and it saved me ton of life because it became a 19/19 very quickly…). I waited for the right moment to cast my powerful Away from Far//Away, the perfect answer against his card (which had horsemanship, hexproof…). I played Sire of Stagnation and a Batterskull, and even if he replayed some of his monsters I deployed enough threats for an easy win. Will I get lucky and get the perfect Far//Away again in the next game ?
Game 2 : I had the Far//Away and a Joiner Adept on my first hand, so it was an easy keep. He was stuck on 4 lands, so no early Elderwood Scion ! However he Naturalize'd my Batterskull. But he was REALLY stuck on 4 lands, so all I had to do was attacking with my Joiner Adept and a Lifespring Druid… and a few turns later it was over. Too bad my deck hasn't got the chance to deploy to its full potential, but I already loved it.

20 - 3

Birds of Paradise as a random rare !!! Woah !
Dragon's Maze : Catch//Release. I really want to put it in my deck, but I don't know if would do well. A Boros Guildgate : enough with the boros lands ! There are everywhere. And then 4 Cluestones. Ok why not. Won't make the cut in my current deck as there are not powerful enough for 5 colours and the 3 drops are already pretty stacked.


Match 24 : vs Emrakul (colourless Eldrazi) using 5-colours
Game 1 : It started well, with an Advent of the Wurm allowing me to eat one of his attacking eldrazi. But then a Thought-Knot Seer plus Reality Smasher was to hard to handle. Also, I noticed some bug, as Thought-Knot Seer was killed but let him target himself and draw a card (I reported this bug and it should have been fixed btw). But it doesn't really matter in the end as an 11/11 Walker of the Wastes easily killed me.
Game 2 : Eye of Ugin into 2 Matter Reshaper… but I had some pretty good start as well, with all colours available and a Joiner Adept plus Elusive Krasis on the battlefield. But then, Oblivion Sower… I lost 3 key cards : Lavalanche, Sorin, and Rampaging Baloths from his milling. He played lots of big eldrazis, but meanwhile I assembled my favourite combo : Elusive Krasis with Batterskull. I could attack each turn and have a big thoughness creature on defence, while gaining lots of life ! As he couldn't remove it I only need 3 turns to end the game.
Game 3 : Eye of Ugin, Eldrazi Mimic then Reality Smasher on turn 3, making me lose 10 life… are we playing modern ? Anyway, I was simply dead.
I feel like this opponent is a little bit too strong.

20 - 4

Match 25 : I decided to try the dungeon crawling (green) medium challenge. I started with Defense of the Heart, and he had Eladamri's Vineyard and Upwelling. His goal was to play big green creatures. I was still using the 5-colours deck.
Game 1 : easy game with Nighteyes. He was really powerful here, as I could use my opponent's first dead creatures to fight against his following ones. Thanks to the enchantments the mana wasn't a problem ! I started to collect more fatties than him and was easily able to win.
Game 2 : It begins with him Desert Twister-ing my Defense of the Heart, but I followed with a turn 2 Battleskull ! He played some random big creature, but then I noticed he was still on 2 lands, and that I had a Qasali Pridemage in my hand. I sacrificed him to destroy his Eladamri's Vineyard, slowing him down on his way to cast high CMC spells. He didn't draw any other land, while my Prophet of Kruphix provided me lots of mana. Batterskull on a 5/5 Advent of the Wurm token won me the game.

Bounty : 100 credit, and… Jenara, Asura of War, Ajani Unyielding, and Wurmcalling. Woaaah.
Conflux booster pack : Telemin Performance.

21 - 4


Match 26 : vs Picard (WUG elves) using 5-colours
Game 1 : it was a disaster for me. I had only a little Omenspeaker (1/3) against his army of 2/2 (or more) elves, which wasn't enough. A lot of my early turns were spent trying to fix mana and draw (all I could do !), while he played more and more elves. A Sorin, Grim Nemesis and a Lavalanche let me killed some of them, but he still had like 6 cards in hand and I was overwhelmed.
Game 2 : I get rid of my slow cards to have more early action. An Ambush Viper was really helpful in the beginning to dissuade him from attacking, then a Nezumi Graverobber got some value in transforming (from 2/1 to 4/2) while blocking a 1/1. Then I put the famous Rampaging Baloths into play along with a land, so I got 2 solid blockers. His board wasn't very threatening though. I win a few turns later, having Ashiok and 5 4/4 beast tokens in play.
Game 3 : My deck worked as perfectly as it ever could. Turn 1 Yamiyava Coast into Birds of Paradise. Turn 2 Eager Construct plus a tap land. Turn 3 Sultai Banner into Oona's Gatewarden plus a tap land. He bravely attacked with a 2/2 flyer that I was happy to trade with my Gatewarden. Turn 4 Prophet of Kruphix, which gave me the opportunity to then cast Advent of the Wurm on his turn, perfect to block his 4/4. Turn 5 a free attack with my Wurm, and a Nezumi Graverobber that I was able to transform right away, but at this point it wasn't even necessary. Turn 6 Lavalanche to clear his board, attack, game.

22 - 4

Random rare : Wildcall
Planar Chaos booster pack : Fatal Frenzy.


Match 27 : vs Wonder Woman (mono W equipment) using 5-colours
Game 1 : I let her have fun with an Auriok Glaivemaster and some equipments, until I cast Away from Far//Away. She then played Kemba, Kha Regent, and I removed her with Sorin, Grim Nemesis. Some turns later, however, because I spent some removals on small creatures (they were big with the numerous equipments on her side after all !) I couldn't handle her biggest late cat (didn't note the name here). I had chumpblockers for many turns thanks to my card advantage engines (Ashiok, Sorin …), however she topdecked an equipment that granted flying, so in two attacks it was over.
Game 2 : I included more removals and artifacts-hate. She began with a turn 1 Kor Duelist, which was really frightening with a Gorgon Flail on it. I had to cast my Pacifism. It was however followed by an Auriok Glaivemaster, but my fresh Sorin was still able to take him down. She had a few turns without creatures. Nezumi transformed into Nighteyes… but he was Armed Response'd :( . It was however too late for her to recover, as I had a Batterskull on my Elusive Krasis it didn't take long for me to win.
Game 3 : a 1 drop creature, many equipments, nothing until turn 4 on my side and no removal neither… this was a quick death for me…

22 - 5

Because it was close, I really wanted to take my revenge... and she was still in the list of possible opponents ! I went for it.

The first game went well, but the game crashed :( I tried to reload the game a few times to see if she would appear again, but she wouldn't. I however stumbled upon Snape, who is a caracter I like so I went for him.


Match 28 : vs Snape (BW token) using 5 colours
Game 1 : he began with a Leyline of the Meek, while I had to mulligan to 5. He then played 2 Intangible Virtue, forcing me to use big removal for his 1/1 token which were much bigger. I lost.
Game 2 : Again, a Leyline of the Meek… the game was somehow long, as I couldn't attack into his growing board, and he didn't attack neither. I drew Sorin and thought that I could eventually win with his +1 ability. However a strange bug occurred, as I removed his Leyline of the Meek his token actually grew bigger ! They were 3/3 instead of 1/1. He saw a lethal attack, there was nothing I could do. I was a bit salty (as I just recovered from a loss and a crash), so I decided to use dev functions to grant me victory.
Game 3 : no Leyline this time, however some 1/1 and an Intangible Virtue that almost cost me the game. I have to play carefully with my Batterskull that carried the game ! Later equipped on a Crookclaw Transmuter, it was a pure carnage. This win was a relieve.

23 - 5

Gatecrash booster pack : Boros Reckoner


Match 29 : vs Hellboy (BR direct damage) using 5 colors
Game 1 : I don't know if it was normal, but he played very few spells, holding a lot of cards in his hand. I ramped and play a Sire of Stagnation plus Sorin, Grim Nemesis, and these 2 cards were more than enough to grant me a win (I was still at 10 life)
Game 2 : I saw that Monastery Siege on dragon was an interesting counter against his deck (which mostly includes cards that reads "target player loses ... life"). A few creatures on my side and it was over.

24 - 5

Shadow over Innistrad booster pack : Soul Swallower.


I'll stop this entry here and start the next one on an other post, just to make things more readable. A quick thoughts sharing before I continue though : even if I had some annoying crashes and losses, this was one of my favourite part of this quest. I really love this 5-colours deck and start bonding with every cards it includes. Every one of them proved its usefulness and this is no coincidence I played so many matches with them.

See you very soon for some more 5-colours good stuff !

- Voda

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 29 Apr 2017, 19:47
by Voda
Ok here we are back.

Match 30 : vs Klang (UB) using 5 colours
Game 1 : Even with some flyers, there was nothing he can do against a Sorin, Grim Nemesis on turn 5 and Rampaging Baloths turn 6.
Game 2 : easy game as well, an Away from Far//Away get rid of a big enchanted creature, and a Lavalanche let me end the game.

25 - 5

Gatecrash booster pack : Enter the Infinite. I wish I had Exodia, seems like a good combo.


Match 31 : vs Sauron (UB Underworld Dreams) using 5-colours
Game 1 : He had a turn 1 Black Vise, turn 3 Underworld Dreams, and cards to make me draw. It was quite a clock and I had to play as aggressively as I can and empty my hand quickly. I ended up at 4 life but was still able to win.
Game 2 : I sideboarded to get rid of all my draw cards, and my removals as I thought his deck was only draw-and-punish artifacts and enchantments. I had a big surprise when I saw the Swans of Bryn Argoll entering the battlefield ! However even a 4-attack flyer was not a big clock for me, and since he hadn't his punishing enchantments (such as Underworld Dreams) I could even draw lots of cards by blocking the Swans with my spiders. Just as in first game, Prophet of Kruphix was a very powerful card here, making me able to empty my hand full of cards I draw thanks to my opponent, or to grow a big Jenara, Asura of War. I was at 14 life when I finished him.

26 - 5

Random rare : Garruk, Primal Hunter. Yay another planeswalker ! Somehow he made me want to go back to UG ramp/control.

Champions of Kamigawa booster pack : Reweave. I'm not sure of what this card could do.
Oh I see something ! With token : you could sacrifice your own token to put into play big creatures (or artefact) from your deck. Sounds like a fun combo, but a little to expansive at 6 mana.
I see something else : because it was in Kamigawa, and since Legendary is a card type, maybe there is something to do with cheap legendary permanent to get bigger legendaries ?
Anyway this card won't see any play for a pretty long time in this quest I guess.


Match 32 : Scarecrow (WUBRG Scarecrows) using 5 colors
Game 1 : An early Door of Destinies was much more than I could handle, with a too slow planeswalker-heavy line of play.
Game 2 : Much more easier, his scarecrows stayed little while I deployed my Prophet of Kruphix, Advent of the Wurm and Rampaging Baloths. Not that difficult.
Game 3 : Naturalize on his Reaper King ! After that move, it was a piece of cake. Advent of the Wurm was my main threat during the game, putting him at 5 life all by itself. Elusive Krasis was the finisher.

27 - 5

Apocalypse Hydra as a random rare ! Might make the cut in the 5 colors deck.
Ravnica booster pack : Necroplasm, Remand.


Match 33 : vs Cohen the Barbarian (GW legends) using 5 colors
Game 1 : Lost to Linvala, Keeper of Secret and some forestwalk legend.
Game 2 : Batterskull hit the board while he was stuck on 2 lands. He played chumpblockers when he hit his third land, but I was too far ahead.
Game 3 : Heroes' Podium, Day of Destiny… he ended up with 9/10, 10/13, 13/13 creatures… what a joke.

27 - 6

After this loss I decided to try something else. I wanted to go back to the draw-(ramp)-go build, and to its core idea in blue/green (as last time I was playing it in sultai colours + some colourless sub-theme, so it was a bit muddled). I also wanted to play Enter the Infinite :D So here is my result :

Simic draw-ramp-go 2 | Open
Main :
Creature (18)

1x Ambush Viper
1x Benthic Infiltrator
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Crookclaw Transmuter
1x Cultivator Drone
1x Draining Whelk
1x Elusive Krasis
1x Eyeless Watcher
1x Hedron Crawler
1x Joiner Adept
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Kozilek's Channeler
1x Lifespring Druid
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Rampaging Baloths
1x Shambleshark
1x Stalking Drone
1x Winged Coatl

Land (25)

1x Crumbling Vestige
2x Evolving Wilds
7x Forest
9x Island
1x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
1x Skyline Cascade
1x Warped Landscape
2x Wastes
1x Yavimaya Coast

Sorcery (3)

1x Enter the Infinite
1x Nissa's Renewal
1x Rampant Growth

Enchantment (1)

1x Mystic Restraints

Instant (8)

1x Adverse Conditions
1x Anticipate
1x Cancel
1x Counterlash
1x Essence Scatter
1x Remand
1x Think Twice
1x Voidslime

Artifact (5)

1x Batterskull
1x Magnifying Glass
1x Simic Cluestone
1x Wanderer's Twig
1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Sideboard :
Creature (8)

1x Dewdrop Spy
1x Giant Spider
1x Netcaster Spider
1x Omenspeaker
2x Oona's Gatewarden
1x Riverwheel Aerialists
1x Stratus Dancer

Instant (7)

1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Dismal Failure
1x Natural State
2x Naturalize
1x Negate
1x Whiplash Trap


Let's try it out.


Match 34 : vs Homer Simpson (UBR sacrifice) using simic draw-ramp-go
Game 1 : He had a slow start, only a 1/1, and nothing until an attempt to cast Slave of Bolas on my Prophet of Kruphix that I countered. It was then very easy, I cast a Nissa's Renewal which put my life total way too high for his hasty creatures to kill me, so I wasn't even bothered to counter them. Prophet plus a Kozilek's Channeler attacking him every turn was simply enough.
Game 2 : I kept a 1-land hand, but I got Birds of Paradise and ramp spells. Quickly I had a Batterskull on the board, which bated a lot of Spark Elemental. I ended the game with 48 life, and cast Enter the Infinite through Counterlash. Gorgeous.

28 - 6

Khans of Tarkir booster pack : Herald of Anafenza.


Match 35 : vs Radiant (WU flying) using simic draw-ramp-go
Game 1 : too much flyers on his side, none on mine.
Game 2 : I got some good blockers (spiders and my own flyers) but ended up being mana flooded.

28 - 7


Match 36 : vs Niggler (BR sacrifice) using simic draw-ramp-go
Game 1 : easy game, I just hold on my good creatures (such as Prophet of Kruphix) so that he doesn't steal them, and just slowly played some weaker one and ramped. I was then able to cast Enter the Infinite with Prophet on the battlefield. This combo is really nice : on my opponent's turn I got my mana back so I was then able to Counterlash one of his spell, allowing Kozilek, the Great Distortion to come in play. Game.
Game 2 : In the early turns, he pinged me with an attacking Nezumi Bone-Reader, and played a Wall of Souls. Nothing to really worry about, so I just stacked my lands for a while. My Crookclaw Transmuter killed his wall by switching power and toughness, nice value. I really finished him off by playing my Prophet of Kruphix, then a Counterlash on his turn (on some Zealous Conscripts) allowed me to play Rampaging Baloths. Negate his Traitorous Instinct. Game.

29 - 7


Dissension : Evolution Vat. Meh. Otherwise Rakdos Signet.


Match 37 : vs King Edward (WUBRG Elementals) using simic draw-ramp-go
Game 1 : I countered an Ashenmoor Gouger, but he kept on playing bi-lands until he cast Fusion Elemental :o. I had no answer, but after a few turns I had enough power to trade. I was however down to 1 life, and he played many more creatures than I could handle.
Game 2 : As I thought the only real threats were his Fusion Elemental, I just sat on my counterspells while he played 1/1. An early Stalking Drone applied pressure while I ramped. Soon enough I was able to deploy real threats (Riverwheel Aerialists) while holding counterspells, that his Horde of Notions met. He strangely attacked with his Air Elemental, leaving no flying blocker for a final swing of my Aerialists.
Game 3 : I drew no green source, and my counterspell alone weren't enough. I lost to 2/2s.

29 - 8

As a consolation, I found a Modern Master 2015 pack for 395 credits, I went for it.
Swans of Bryn Argoll… but also a Lightning Bolt !

Unfortunately the next match (vs Wolverine and his mono black swamp deck) crashed on the 3rd game, as it was very tense with a pretty complicated board state. The AI was simply stuck in some reflection ("Waiting for opponent..." indefinitely). I was a bit sad because it was a very long game, and I saw it coming and I hesitated to just use the dev's option to win the game. But once you're stuck in the AI reflection there is nothing you can do.


Match 38 : vs Finn the Human (RG heroic) using simic draw-ramp-go
Game 1 : My only non mana source cards were Phrophet of Kryphix and Winged Coatl, that wasn't clearly enough against his huge board.
Game 2 : Nothing to say, his deck was just way too aggro for me to handle…

29 - 9


2 wins, 3 losses with the simic build... that's not a good result. I think I'll try something else. I wanted to make some midrange deck. I decided to take a look at bant colours (blue green white) in some kind of flyers/token idea, in order to feature Jenara, Asura of War and cards like Brimaz, King of Oreskos. You'll see what I came up with in the next entry !

That's it for today ! Phew, quite a lot of games to catch up. It's a bit sad right now, because less and less cards are making a real impact on my card pool, and I end up using the same cards every time (that's also because I am still lacking powerful cards in some colours). I am really motivated to continue until I beat lots of hard AI decks ! but after that unless I hit a lot of new interesting cards I will put an end to this quest and start something else.

I was also thinking of increasing the reward setting, so that I have more money to open more packs that'll make more build options available. So stay tuned, there is still a long way to go before the end of this quest !

- Voda

Re: Just a classic modern quest log

PostPosted: 18 Jun 2017, 22:20
by Voda
Hi everyone ! Back to the quest. These log entries are quite infrequent, but that's because I am still not playing intensively.

As I said last time, I wanted to experiment a bant midrange build. Here is what it looks like :

Bant midrange | Open
Main :
Creature (25)

1x Aerie Mystics
1x Ambush Viper
1x Ascended Lawmage
1x Azorius First-Wing
1x Balduvian Frostwaker the main reason I am playing with snow-covered lands
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1x Crookclaw Transmuter
1x Deputy of Acquittals
1x Elusive Krasis
1x Ethercaste Knight
1x Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi
1x Herald of Anafenza
1x Jenara, Asura of War
1x Joiner Adept
1x Lifespring Druid
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Ohran Viper
1x Propeller Pioneer
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Rampaging Baloths
1x Selesnya Evangel
1x Trostani's Summoner
1x Winged Coatl

Land (24)

1x Crumbling Vestige
2x Evolving Wilds
4x Forest
5x Snow-Covered Forest
5x Snow-Covered Island
5x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Tranquil Cove
1x Yavimaya Coast

Planeswalker (2)

1x Ajani Unyielding
1x Garruk, Primal Hunter

Sorcery (4)

1x Overwhelm
1x Tromp the Domains
1x Wildcall
1x Wurmcalling

Instant (2)

1x Advent of the Wurm
1x Snakeform

Artifact (2)

1x Batterskull
1x Simic Cluestone

Enchantment (1)

1x Pacifism

Sideboard :

Instant (7)

1x Erase
1x Fortify
1x Natural State
1x Naturalize
1x Radiant Purge
1x Smite the Monstrous
1x Whiplash Trap

Creature (6)

1x Canopy Spider
1x Elgaud Shieldmate
1x Elvish Skysweeper
1x Netcaster Spider
1x Riverwheel Aerialists
1x Ronom Unicorn

Sorcery (1)

1x Angelic Edict

Enchantment (1)

1x Circle of Protection: Black

Quite a lot of good cards, I like this deck.

Let's give it a try !

Match 39 : vs Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (GW persist) using bant midrange
Game 1 : Heartmender was his first creature, but I had problem finding the right colours of mana… nonetheless I get the chance to play some flyers (Winged Coatl, Azorius First-Wing and Jenara, Asura of War) which led me to victory.
Game 2 : He started with a Rite of Passage, but it didn't do much. A Juniper Order Ranger met my Radiant Purge I just sided-in. However a Kithkin Spellduster surprised me, as I didn't notice he had flying and just ate an attacking Azorius First-Wing :o the game became more tense… an Ajani Unyielding was a welcome bonus to get rid of the Spellduster and get long-term value. A buyback'ed Wurmcalling helped as well, and even if he gained lot of life it was no big deal winning this game. A surprising Woodfall Primus destroyed Ajani though, but I was already winning.

30 - 9

Modern Master 2015 : All Suns' Dawn, Expedition Map

30 wins… so that means I am going to face hard AI… pretty scary. I think I am going to lose a lot.

Match 40 : vs Jubilee (WUBRG multicolour creatures deck) using bant midrange
Game 1 : not a good starting hand (mulligan to 6 with 2 lands but not on right colour). 2 moxes on her side, ugh. I quickly lost.
Game 2 : 2 Knight of New Alara, Earnest Fellowship and two Transguild Courier. Not sure how I could beat that.

30 - 10

Now I am witnessing the limitation of default configuration, as well as my greediness on selling cards (which basically I don't do at all - unless I have more than 4 copies of a card, which hasn't happened yet in my quest). Since I've heard draft tournaments are a good way of keeping gold flooding, I'll hit the amount of gold needed to enter it by selling my big useless cards (I am looking at you, Fulminator Mage EDIT : I now realise that with all the AI running dual lands he would have been great). So let's go for this magic 2014 draft !

I started by trying some Blue Green spell heavy archetype (2 Howl of the Pack), but as in the beginning of pack 2 I saw a (foil) Archangel of Thune (!) I then went for Green White lifegain, with some blue splash. Looks like it is still bant time.

Quarterfinal :
Game 1 : A pretty well buffed Young Pyromancer was really scary (5/1 double strike) and hit hard. However I was soon able to slam the Archangel of Thune, followed by an 11/11 Voracious Wurm. Damn.
Game 2 : It went very quick as I just curved out, turn 1 turn 2 turn 3 creatures, combat trick, and he couldn't out run me since I had some lifegain along the way.

Semifinal :
Game 1 : Elvish Mystic, then he curved out slivers… Not much I could do.
Game 2 : he had the same kind of beginning, but I had ramp, all colours of mana, flyers and the archangel.
Game 3 : very slow beginning, too much lands… and then my opponent cast Primeval Bounty :o a simple Galerider Sliver was enough to kill me since I didn't draw enough flyers.

I died… but then it crashed ! "Quest draft undetermined place". It was an invalid integer. Well the game ragequit for me. After some retries I finally have the chance to see the result. I was third, and get 1 pack only, duh. Wild Ricochet as a rare. And Nightmare as additional reward.

However the foil Archangel of Thune is worth more than the entry fee of the tournament, which seems more than fair right ? And I can include her in my regular Bant deck.

Match 41 : vs Neo (RG beatdown) using bant midrange
Well he beats me fair and hard, very aggressive, I couldn't do anything.

30 - 11

Match 42 : vs Kasen Ibaraki (BGW Siege Rhino) using bant midrange
Game 1 : although he had time to deploy an annoying Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, I had a smooth combo in Trostani's Summoner followed by Tromp the Domains. Not too difficult to win after that.
Game 2 : I had to mulligan to 5 due to no-land hands. And it wasn't enough.
Game 3 : Turn 3 Anafenza, the Foremost and a Birds of Paradise, although I had a very good hand, were more than enough to kill me.

30 - 12

Match 43 : vs Blackbear (mono W soldiers) using bant midrange
Game 1 : I just wrote "lost"
Game 2 : he was stuck on 2 lands for a long time, so I had a good chance. If only I my draws weren't all lands.

30 - 13

Let's make a recap : I lost against the first 4 hard AI opponents I was facing. And most of the time it wasn't even a tight game. That means I have to change a few things before moving on.
First I rose the base winning reward to 200 gold. That might be not enough and I'll need to revise it upwards. I also removed the penalty for loss. I will also sell more cards to get more useful ones. And since I still had available challenges I went for them to take my mind off things and potentially get nice rewards.

Match 44 : Challenge : a wolf in sheep's clothing using 5 colours good stuff (I made a mistake and didn't select the bant deck)
Game 1 : a providential Lavalanche get rid of his army of wolves.
Game 2 : after stalling the game, a Sire of Stagnation was all I needed to have easy attack and ton of card advantage.
Rewards : 200 gold, Galepowder Mage, Mizzium Mortars, Consuming Aberration, and a Morningtide pack : Battletide Alchemist

31 - 13

I had another challenge waiting for me ! The great wall, featuring a lot of non-creature spell hate, and mainly big defenders on his side of the field.
Match 45 : the great wall using bant midrange
Game 1 : This game went perfectly for me, although I was stuck on 4 lands, I didn't need more thanks to my mana dorks. Crookclaw Transmuter took care of one annoying Fog Bank, and thanks to Deputy of Acquittals, I had the opportunity to cast it a second time, dealing with the other Fog Bank ! After that it was easy to get in with Overwhelm-ing Saprolings and big flyers.
Game 2 : Selesnya Evangel and Herald of Anafenza in the first few turns. Let's go token swarming !
But Wall of Reverence. I wasn't going wide quick enough, and he started to gain ton of life. Nevertheless, I continued to deploy as many creatures as I can, until I hit the very useful Rampaging Baloths and a Trostani's Summoner. Once I had enough creatures so that attacking was useful, I was already under 10 life (he dealt 2 damage per turn), and he was somewhere around 50. But my army did the job, and I finished him putting him at -4 while I was at 2 life, so it was definitely very close (since I would have been dead on his turn).

32 - 13

Bounty : 500 gold ! And Sheoldred, Whispering One, Oran-Rief Hydra, Indomitable Archangel, Ally Encampment.
Shards of Amara : Flameblast Dragon

I also decided to buy a Modern Master booster : Lodestone Golem, some bounce lands, another Overwhelm, a foil Brute Force. Nice pack.

So after this, I felt confident again, and decided to go back to hard AI.

Match 46 : vs Galahad (BW Knight) using bant midrange
Game 1 : Qasali Pridemage was able to destroy one of his moxes, which slows him down a bit, then with a bit of Pacifism I was able to cast the Ajani Unyielding and make him stay. I switched between his +2 and -2 ability, while casting more creatures than he could handle (Trostani's Summoner was doing a great job here). An Overwhelm allowed me to finish this beautifully.
Game 2 : Same beginning : my Qasali Pridemage took care of his mox. After that I tried to block his creatures with an Elusive Krasis, but he had a Doom Blade for both my Krasis and my Ambush Viper. He managed to get in with his Knight Exemplar and Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers, but a turn later I was able to eat his Knight with Advent of the Wurm. I then added to the board a Batterskull, but his White Knight prevented my equipped Germ from doing much, so I attached the weapon to the Wurm and start attacking with my 9/9 vigilance trample lifelink creature. This time, it was a Tromp the Domains that allowed me to finish this beautifully.

33 - 13

Ravnica : Ursapine, but also a Muddle the Mixture.

I also bought a Khans of Tarkir pack. And it's a Siege Rhino !! Plus 2 taplands

Match 47 : vs the Zombie (UB zombie) using bant midrange
Game 1 : too much zombies
Game 2 : I almost had it, putting him very low and having my Archangel of Thune and Prophet of Kruphix, but he began to play flying zombies bigger than my Angel and I couldn't attack anymore. Then he had enough damage to get in with a big swing of 4+ attack zombies and finished me.

33 - 14

That's it for today ! Well the lesson is, hard AI is hard. But I saw I can sometimes win against it. If you are able to remove the moxes early for instance... Or maybe use a more aggressive strategy ? I am looking at a Rakdos build I might try for next time. Nothing subtle.

But I am definitely going to up the gold reward, so that I can buy packs more often and get better cards that can change the feel of my cardpool. For instance I would love not to auto-include Batterskull in every deck, but it's such a good card that I would need insane synergy to consider not playing it. I need more card choice !

You'll see where I can get on the next entry ! Until then, enjoy Magic !

- Voda