MM2: GP Las Vegas sealed pool (made day 2!!)

3 Responses to MM2: GP Las Vegas sealed pool (made day 2!!)

1. jay says:

   June 2, 2015 at 6:07 am

   Congrats on Day 2! I played you when you were 2-2, and you gave me this link to check out.

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   • sameer says:

     June 2, 2015 at 6:15 am

     Thanks 🙂 Unfortunately, I scrubbed out on day 2, but it was still fun, and I learned a bunch.

     Reply
2. sameer says:

   June 9, 2015 at 8:53 pm

   I ended up building a G/U/r/b proliferate deck from this pool. Green and blue had good creatures, including several with graft. Black had 2 removal spells with proliferate, which combos well with graft. And red had 4 more removal spells, including Comet Storm (which is RR but also wins games), as well as the bouncelands to enable a second splash color.

   Creatures (13):
   – 2cc: Thrummingbird, 2 Aquastrand Spider, Gnarlid Pack
   – 3cc: Plaxcaster Frogling, Vigean Graftmage, Kavu Primarch
   – 4cc: Chimeric Mass
   – 5cc: Helium Squirter, Mulldrifter, Skyreach Manta
   – 6cc: 2 AEthersnipe

   Non-creatures (11):
   – 1cc: Wayfarer’s Bauble, Vines of Vastwood, Burst Lightning
   – 2cc: Rampant Growth, Tribal Flames
   – 3cc: 2 Tezzeret’s Gambit, Grim Affliction
   – 4cc: –
   – 5cc: Spread the Sickness
   – 6cc: Fiery Fall, Comet Storm

   Lands (16): Gruul Turf, Rakdos Carnarium, 6 Forests, 5 Islands, 2 Mountains, 1 Swamp

   7 of the creatures usually have +1/+1 or charge counters, and another 2 have +1/+1 counters if the kicker is paid. This combos quite well with the 5 proliferate effects and the abilities that can be granted by creatures with graft. (Note that Chimeric Mass has charge counters, not +1/+1 counters, so it cannot be granted these abilities.)

   Here’s what I would do differently if I were building the pool today:
   – While a 7/7 Kavu Primarch did win me a game or 2, it was usually a 3/3 that had little impact on the board. It rarely had +1/+1 counters, so it didn’t usually interact with my graft creatures or proliferate effects. I should have played an Alloy Myr instead to help fix my colors, accelerate me into my powerful 5/6-drops, and occasionally enable a 5/5 Skyreach Manta.
   – Almost everyone I showed my deck to thought I should have played Selesnya Guildmage, usually in place of the Vigean Graftmage. I was actually quite happy with the Graftmage; it was often a 3/3 or a 4/4 due to the proliferate effects, and the threat of activation was often sufficient to deter my opponent from attacking. Selesnya Guildmage is amazing but I only had 8 green sources in my deck, and the only way I could play it on turn 2 was if I drew 2 of my 6 Forests. However, if I already had an Alloy Myr in the deck, then I’d be more willing to replace a Gnarlid Pack and a Forest with the Guildmage and a Plains. Both are early-game bears (though the Guildmage is more difficult to cast on turn 2) that can be a lot more in the late game, but the Guildmage is far superior in those situations. And the Plains also improves Tribal Flames and Skyreach Manta.

   A few people also thought that I should have played Pelakka Wurm. While that card can be a beating, I already had a number of expensive cards in my deck, and also had doubts about my deck’s ability to produce GGG.

   I went 7-2 with this deck, although 1 of my losses was due to a misplay where I got greedy and was blown out by a maindeck Smash to Smithereens followed by a Sigil Blessing that combined to bring me from a comfortable 14 life down to 3.

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