Jeremy Beardsley – Strictly Average – MTG https://strictlyaveragemtg.com When Strictly Better is just out of reach. Wed, 06 Mar 2019 01:29:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.2 124146750 Evolving White Weenie https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2019/03/07/evolving-white-weenie/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2019/03/07/evolving-white-weenie/#respond Thu, 07 Mar 2019 08:30:48 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=5805 MTG Arena

Good morning Strictly Friends and Family.  When we last met, I was discussing how much fun I was having with Heroic Goblin Visitation.  During my testing, I came to the sad realization that although this deck was fun, and was pretty good for normal weekly events, but wouldn’t quite cut it on a competitive scene.  Today, I will talk about the failings, and what deck I am currently on for SCG Cincinnati. However, before we get there, I wanted to talk a bit about playing the Heroic Goblin Visitation Deck in MTG Arena best of one matches. Here is the build I used to climb the ladder in Arena:

I found that the power of this deck in this format is in the fact that this deck surprises opponents and sometimes just steals games with a resolved Divine Visitation. I made a few changes to accommodate the fact that I cannot always rely on 4/4 angels to get the job done throughout the current Arena metagame.  The addition of Lyra Dawnbringer to the main deck gives the angels created from Divine Visitation an additional +1/+1 and lifelink, while Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and Tajic, Legion’s Edge are added as one-ofs, allowing to defend against problematic decks.

Although this deck may not be the most competitive meta deck, I have found this build to be a fairly simple way to move far up the ladder, and pass through many of the daily quests. The main aggro approach loses hard to board wipes and is very susceptible to effects like Goblin Chainwhirler so if you give this deck a go, remember that it is okay to play conservatively. Unlike traditional aggro decks, it is very viable to go the midrange route and overwhelm your opponents with beefy fliers.

Another important thing to note is during the lower tiers of the ladder, I noticed many other players being unfamiliar with cards like Tajic, Legion’s Edge, and attempting to burn out other creatures with him in play.  It is possible to use this to your advantage, but do not hedge too heavily on it. Tajic is also a nice answer to that pesky Chainwhirler.

Standard Testing

Despite much luck at local events, and friendly MTGO leagues, I found the Boros build of the White Weenie deck to be quite lacking in competitive MTGO leagues. Control decks were very bothersome for me and it started to become apparent that although extremely fun, this deck may not be the correct deck for the upcoming team event. Board wipes were extremely problematic, and I found that I had a real tough time with decks that had any sort of countermagic. I began to look at other tournament results and found that Azorius Aggro was currently very popular.  Although I would have to sacrifice some of the fun interactions of the Boros deck, I decided to give this Azorius List a go.

This decks approach is the typical White Weenie deck in the sense that there are a ton of 1 drops that on their own are quite innocuous, but when paired with buffers like Benalish Marshal and Venerated Loxodon can grow extremely big in just a few turns. One of the hardest cards for me to deal with in the Boros version is Cry of the Carnarium, but the natural toughness of Snubhorn Sentry and the ability to buff creatures with the Marshal and Loxodon put my creatures out of range of this spell very quickly.

The sideboard of this deck is what really makes it stand out over the Boros version, as having access to blue gives the ability to win matches where the other deck just folds. In most situations where a board wipe or removal spell wrecks my primary game plan, I was so close to the finish line that the opponent needed to resolve their Kaya’s Wrath or Cleansing Nova or they would just lose the next turn.  Having access to Negate and Disdainful Stroke for my opponent’s board wipe usually meant the game was decided in my favor.

It is also very important to note that in the matchups where Tocatli Honor Guard is good, it becomes a decision on which effect is more potent; canceling the ETB effects, or the buffing from Venerated Loxodon. I usually do a straight swap on the Loxodon for the Honor Guard and bring in Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants as a tertiary way to buff my team.  The Baffling End in the sideboard is a nice answer to Runaway Steam-kin, and almost every other creature in the current Red Decks, and can even be used as a cheap way to shut down the Rekindling Phoenix token, if they chose to block with the bird. Baffling End is also proving to be extremely powerful versus the Mono-Blue deck in the format.

Welp, that’s about it this week.  Please take a few moments and let me know how I am doing.  Feel free to comment here, or tweet at me; let me know if you like what you are reading, or if there are things you dislike. The only way I can keep creating content that you enjoy is if your feedback.

Until Next Time, good luck, have fun, and don’t forget to smile,

Strictly

 

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2019/03/07/evolving-white-weenie/feed/ 0 5805 Fun with Heroic Goblin Visitation in Standard https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2019/02/26/fun-with-heroic-goblin-visitation-in-standard/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2019/02/26/fun-with-heroic-goblin-visitation-in-standard/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2019 08:30:20 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=5732 Before I get into discussing this deck, I wanted to give a brief sidebar, an update from the Main Cave over here at Strictly Place. As some of you may have noticed, I haven’t been active on the content side; this isn’t only the case for content but pretty much everything gaming and fun related.  Last year I was forced to take an unexpected break from buying/selling, interacting with patrons, and writing content due to a medical issue combined with other personal matters.  In this time, the team has done an amazing job of keeping the ball rolling. As I return with my own brand of content I will do my best not to step on the toes of the amazing creators we have.  I have missed you all, and look forward to sharing some insights to the mind of an Average old madman.

Heya friends, it’s me, Big Papa Strictly. I’m here to talk a bit about Standard and my current pet deck. A few weeks back, Scott and Joe (two of the big forces behind the success of this site) were looking for a Standard player to join them in Cincinnati for the SCG Team Open at the end of March. After some finagling and trip planning, I was able to make it work. Thus began my journey to learn the Standard format.

During my reading and research, I stumbled across an article by my MTG Spirit Animal, Craig Wescoe. He was covering,  in his words, The Three Best White Aggressive Decks in Standard. When I first came back to playing MTG around Born of the Gods, Craig’s articles are what got me interested in playing at a higher level, and I love to play his aggro builds.  Yes, I completely blame Craig for all of the hate I got from my locals for playing Azorius Heroic. Within his article, one deck that really jumped out at me was the Boros 2.0 list originally piloted by Zastoparikus. 

Admittedly, at first glance, I thought this deck was a meme, but I couldn’t resist taking it for a test drive. After completing my first league at 4-1, with no previous practice with the deck or the format, I realized this deck wasn’t bad.  Who would have thought that a Legion Warboss popping out 4/4 angels, or casting a Heroic Reinforcements with Divine Visitation on board was a thing that could happen consistently in this standard format?

This deck proved to be super fast; Legion’s Landing flips consistently on turn 3, with the help of a low curve and cards like Legion Warboss. The Lava Coil in the main board is super clutch (I’m looking at you Seraph of the Scales and Rekindling Phoenix). Tocatli Honor Guard does a great job hosing explore creatures, and other problem creatures your opponents control, namely Hostage Taker and Goblin Chainwhirler.

The sideboard seems solid, with what I feel is one exception.  I dislike taking up a slot for The Immortal Sun. I’ve played this deck both hyper-aggressively and fairly conservatively with Lyra Dawnbringer and Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice out of the sideboard. I never really found a situation where I needed the 6 mana artifact to win the game.

During my league play, I learned that a lot of people were not prepared for Divine Visitation + anything else in this deck during game 1.  The current meta is so skewed to beat other decks that I found myself stealing game 1 during a lot of my matches. This allowed me to win many matches that I am probably poorly favored in, as I would side out my visitations after mauling the opponent game 1, and just aggro them out game 2.  They were letting my Legion’s Landing and History of Benalia run all over them because they were saving enchantment hate for a card that was now in my sideboard. Divine Visitation is the kind of gimmick that no one wants to lose two games in a row too.

Since first building this list on MTGO, I have logged a minimum of 18 leagues, with over half being this deck, and the other half being me testing other decks so I could understand how they work. I was confident enough to build this one in paper, and test it at a local event.  With my closest LGS recently closing its doors, I headed over to The Mighty Meeple about an hour from me, for some Standard FNM.  I like going here because some of the local grinders hang out alongside some random appearances from local Tour players. I can usually expect a fairly competitive turnout.  This event did not disappoint, with a 22+ person standard FNM.

After a long break from paper magic, I was reminded that owning cards can be an issue; it is not as easy as opening a ManaTraders account and renting whatever deck I want. My Lyra Dawnbringer‘s and one of my Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants didn’t arrive in time for the event, and apparently Tocatli Honor Guards were sold out everywhere local. I was forced to make some last minute changes, and test out some other cards in the 75.  This is the list I went to battle with. 

The biggest change to the mainboard was playing Goblin Instigator over the Honor Guard, and I wasn’t terribly disappointed with its performance at the event. I ended the night with a 3-0-1 record, officially splitting the last round which we played out for fun after the fact.  This was the only matchup where I missed having the full complement of Tocatli Honor Guards as my opponent was playing a RB aggro variant with Goblin Chainwhirler and Siege-Gang Commander.  This matchup did go to three games, and game 3 was super close. But it would have been no contest if the spots where I drew Instigator, I had drawn Honor Guards. During Game 2, I drew into a shock land while holding a Heroic Reinforcements in hand.  If I didn’t win here, I would have lost to a Rekindling Phoenix on his next attack.  I chose to shock myself to 2 life, leaving me open to death to a burn spell (spoiler, he didn’t have one) and was able to activate Legion’s Landing’s token generation, and then cast Reinforcements, giving me a large enough hasty army to win.

The rest of the changes I made to this deck were merely to test out certain cards and see if they were worthy of sideboard slots; although good at times, there was nothing else exciting about the changes I made. I will be doing more refining of this list and changing slightly as I decide if I am going to go to battle with it at the team event, and will work on a full sideboard guide if this deck continues to perform the way I want it to.

In my next article, I will cover how I have adapted this deck for play on MTGArena, and the results I have found.

Until Then, Be Kind to each other,

Strictly

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2019/02/26/fun-with-heroic-goblin-visitation-in-standard/feed/ 2 5732 What deck should I play? https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/09/14/what-deck-should-i-play/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/09/14/what-deck-should-i-play/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2018 08:30:40 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=3506 Heya Strictly Friends! I’ve missed you guys, and have missed sharing my random thoughts and ramblings. Today, I wanted to take a bit and write about the most common questions I am asked across all mediums in Magic: “What deck should I play?” Everybody you talk to will give you a different answer. Recently I have put a lot of thought into this, and I have started to change my approach to deck choice for different events.

The first question I ask back when someone asks me what deck they should play at XXXXX event is simple. What are your goals for playing Magic at this event? This question does throw some people off, but I feel it is the most important thing to consider both when choosing what deck to play, and in some cases what event(s) to play.  This refers more to lower-level events, but asking yourself that question will help guide you in deck decision, even at larger events (I’ll get back to larger events in a few; for now, let’s stick to weekly FNM style events). When attending weekly events at your LGS, you may find that you have many possible and varying goals week to week.

My current goal at FNM is simply to test out more cards, and variations on my Modern UW control deck.  On a week to week basis with that as my goal, I don’t necessarily consider what deck to play. Instead I consider what silly tech will I try out. Getting more practice with a deck is a viable goal for attending a weekly event.

Another scenario that comes up often is using Magic as a tool to just get outta the house.  Some weeks I just want to get out of my house (the one downside of working from home) and see my buds.  This means playing a deck like my current UW list, or a deck like Storm are off the table.  These are the weeks I gravitate towards Burn or a similar deck that will let the outcome of my match be decided in the first 7 minutes of the round. I can spend time between rounds talking to friends and trolling other guys playing grindy matchups.

On some rare occasions, my goal for a weekly event is to just plain have fun, not care about winning, and do things unexpected.  Have fun with my opponents by playing a deck they do not expect, or decks that leverage cards not commonly played.  With limited live MTG time these days, this scenario is few and far between.  A couple gems from this goal are my short love affair with Mono-Blue Turns (Back when Jace, the Mind Sculptor was banned, and Nexus of Fate was just a bad idea and not a card) and my short spell-slinging fling with Troll Worship. Brief Disclaimer: If you are strapped for cash and trying to earn credit or cash from weekly events, this is a terrible idea.  But loads of fun!

My final weekly goal for deck choice is the ‘HOLY COW, I just got this super sweet card, now I need to show it off to my friends’ goal.  It may sound strange that I would actually include this; but let’s face it, they call me Strictly Average for a reason. Recently, I acquired a playset of my most sought-after card.  The one I have always wanted, but never owned.  And that is the WCMQ Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. So, in order to properly show her off to my friends, I am working on shoring up a UW spirits list that will allow me to cast her in all of her foil glory. This deck probably will never see ultra-competitive play for me, as it’s just not my style.  But with a goal of sick brags, this deck choice is perfect.

Take a step back and look at this theory; ask yourself what your goals are for an event at the larger scale?  If you’re heading to a PPTQ, IQ, GP, or an Open, the level 1 answer is to win as many rounds as possible. If you are going to one of these events for the first time, or are generally a novice at higher level play, the answer is to play your most comfortable deck.  This ties into the goal of winning as many games as possible and getting better.

For those who regularly attend these events, the equation gets super complicated.  I mean, Differential Equations complicated. ‘Well, such and such a deck is better than this one.’ ‘So and so won an event last week with this one deck, everyone is gonna try to beat them with this other deck, and I am gonna be Smart and Level 3 them by choosing the deck that beats the deck that beats this other deck.’

This is all enough to make you go mad. Simply put, having clear goals for a larger event will help guide the deck choice. I attended a Standard PPTQ a while back, and it was after the emergence of RB vehicles style decks. My goal for that PPTQ was straightforward.  I didn’t want to lose to RB, so I crafted my deck to hose RB. (Truthfully this was a poor decision because I went 2-3 at the event).  Although I did terribly versus non-RB matches, I didn’t lose a single game to RB. Some may read this and think I failed because I went 2-3.  Nope, I succeeded in my goal.  I was happy with the outcome because it led to adjusting my overall decklist and playstyle for the rest of that standard format.  And Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Search For Azcanta have paid for themselves multiple times over in prizes.

I hope after sitting through this random stream of thought that the next time you ask yourself, or someone else, ‘What Deck should I play?’ you follow up with asking yourself ‘What are my goals at this event?’

Be Kind to eachother!

-Strictly

 

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/09/14/what-deck-should-i-play/feed/ 1 3506 Cup of Average, Episode 10: From Mold to Gold https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/22/cup-of-average-episode-10-from-mold-to-gold/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/22/cup-of-average-episode-10-from-mold-to-gold/#respond Fri, 22 Jun 2018 18:05:28 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=2546 In this video, I talk about my good friend Marcus’ YouTube Channel, ExoticMTG and my Experience going from Mold to Gold.

ExoticMTG’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsIY… Mold Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_4SQ…

Gold Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGFn8…

Please take a moment to let me know how I am doing, and how I can improve these bits to make them more enjoyable for you.
Check us out on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StrictlyAGames
FaceBook: http://facebook.com/StrictlyAverage

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/22/cup-of-average-episode-10-from-mold-to-gold/feed/ 0 2546 Cup of Average, Episode 9: Jet Lag is Real https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/21/cup-of-average-episode-9-jet-lag-is-real/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/21/cup-of-average-episode-9-jet-lag-is-real/#respond Thu, 21 Jun 2018 13:46:32 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=2538 I am back, from the land of Dorothy and Toto, and well, I still feel like I left my mind, and part of my

cold dark soul halfway across the country. Today’s episode of Cup Of Average includes some humor and my hot take on Magic 2019. I discuss a bit about my travels, being tired, and why I think people are Strictly Lame for berating WoTC for creating the Magic 2019 Buy a Box Promo.

As always, please let me know how I am doing.  I can only get better and give you more content that you enjoy if you share with me what you love, hate, or just plain don’t give a Storm Crow about.

Comments here are cool, but if you want to get in my ear immediately, without waiting to see if the Spam filter lumps your comment in with all of the people offering to ‘Drive More Traffic’ to my site, I can be found here:

Check us out on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StrictlyAGames

FaceBook: http://facebook.com/StrictlyAverage

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/21/cup-of-average-episode-9-jet-lag-is-real/feed/ 0 2538 Cup of Average, Episode 8: SCG Con Interacting with Pro Players at Large Events https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/15/cup-of-average-episode-8-scg-con-interacting-with-pro-players-at-large-events/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/15/cup-of-average-episode-8-scg-con-interacting-with-pro-players-at-large-events/#respond Fri, 15 Jun 2018 13:26:32 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=2496 Today we discuss interacting with Pro Players, and some of the issues I see with fans approaching these guys at large events.  Remember, they are guys like you and me and don’t always have the energy to answer 18,000 questions while trying to compete at an event.

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/15/cup-of-average-episode-8-scg-con-interacting-with-pro-players-at-large-events/feed/ 0 2496 Cup of Average, Episode 7: SCG Con Fun Story https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/13/cup-of-average-episode-7-scg-con-fun-story/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/13/cup-of-average-episode-7-scg-con-fun-story/#respond Wed, 13 Jun 2018 21:56:32 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=2475 Just a short story of a fun interaction at SCG Con where I was visiting with people and making some jokes and came pretty close to ruining an unsuspecting Pro Player.

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/13/cup-of-average-episode-7-scg-con-fun-story/feed/ 0 2475 Cup of Average, Episode 6: SCG Con Lessons Learned https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/12/cup-of-average-episode-6-scg-con-lessons-learned/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/12/cup-of-average-episode-6-scg-con-lessons-learned/#respond Tue, 12 Jun 2018 14:46:47 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=2465 In this Tuesday edition of Cup of Average, I discuss some of the hard-learned lessons at SCG Con, when it comes to changing decklists, evolving throughout a weekend and making play mistakes.

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/12/cup-of-average-episode-6-scg-con-lessons-learned/feed/ 0 2465 Cup of Average, Episode 5: SCG Con https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/11/cup-of-average-episode-5-scg-con/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/11/cup-of-average-episode-5-scg-con/#respond Mon, 11 Jun 2018 13:50:35 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=2426 In this morning’s Cup of Average, I give a quick recap of the amazing weekend I had in Roanoke at SCGCon.  It was an amazing time, and I am looking forward to trying to book this trip next year and connect with as many of you as possible.

I am not gonna harass you guys to Like, Share, Post, etc.  I want it to come naturally if you love what I am producing.  I will ask you to let me know how I am doing though.  I wanna know how to make it better for you, so the Like, Share and Post thing comes naturally.

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/11/cup-of-average-episode-5-scg-con/feed/ 0 2426 Cup of Average, Episode 4: Prepping for Larger MTG Events https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/07/cup-of-average-episode-3-prepping-for-larger-mtg-events/ https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/07/cup-of-average-episode-3-prepping-for-larger-mtg-events/#respond Thu, 07 Jun 2018 18:59:33 +0000 https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/?p=2407 In this episode of Cup of Average, I discuss tips and ideas for those attending their first large MTG event.  Hoping even the seasoned vet can have a nice takeaway from the tips.

]]> https://strictlyaveragemtg.com/2018/06/07/cup-of-average-episode-3-prepping-for-larger-mtg-events/feed/ 0 2407