Topics

Original thread started 20.04.2012
Hello and welcome to my fifth article. At first I would like to mention the fact that some may agree with my decisions and my arguments and some may not but I choose to post this article to those who are interested. I will take any critique. Happy reading.

I have long ago realized Staxx is never going to be the deck to beat in Highlander but that doesn't keep me from trying to have some fun with it and trying to optimize it anyways. I use math for some of my decisions but some decisions are also based on experiences and personal choices even though I know this is not always the best way to do it.

When I first start to design a deck I go through the following steps of deck-building:


1. At what level should this deck be able to compete? I have chosen for my deck to not be tier 1 but instead design my own casual deck, which should be able to compete with the top Highlander decks occasionally. For that I need some sort of all-in strategy, because a strategy with lower top-level than the top decks and lower bottom-level than the top decks will never beat the top decks. This deck can perform at an extremely high level but can also do absolutely nothing sometimes.

2. What do I want the deck to do and what theme should I go with? I have once again chosen to build a Staxx deck. This time it will be a lighter Staxx version since I don't run that many themed cards. Out goes Smokestack, Armageddon, Ravages of War, Rising Waters, Static Orb, Trinisphere, Sphere of Resistance, Nether Void, Dust Bowl and the likes. This time I'll run some more efficient spells which may win me some games.

3. Which colours does it need to do whatever the theme is? I have chosen a five-colour version because I feel I need white for Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, Wrath of God and Elspeth, Knight-Errant, I need blue for Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Tezzeret the Seeker, I need green for Oath of Druids, Garruk Wildspeaker, Primeval Titan, Life from the Loam and Sylvan Library, I need black for discard spells, tutor spells, Damnation and Bitterblossom and I need red for Wildfire effects and Inferno Titan. It is quite possible to build a similar deck with only three colours, but I intend this deck to be fun and functional rather than just functional. My idea of fun is this.

4. Find the potential cards and start the deck building.




The deck list:

36 lands
-----------------------
10 dual lands
10 fetch lands
Krosan Verge

Creeping Tar Pit
Celestial Colonnade
Stirring Wildwood

Flagstones of Trokair

Exotic Orchard

Academy Ruins
Wasteland
Rishadan Port

Ancient Tomb
Crystal Vein

City of Brass
Glimmervoid
Tendo Ice Bridge
Reflecting Pool

The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
-----------------------




12 Mana Stones
-----------------------
Mox Diamond

Grim Monolith

Prismatic Lens
Fellwar Stone
Talisman of Progress
Talisman of Dominance
Azorius Signet
Dimir Signet
Golgari Signet
Orzhov Signet

Coalition Relic
Worn Powerstone
-----------------------




7 Theme Cards
-----------------------
Winter Orb
Tangle Wire

Life from the Loam
Crucible of Worlds

Wildfire
Burning of Xinye
Devastation
-----------------------




5 Disruption Spells
-----------------------
Mana Drain
Thoughtseize
Duress
Inquisition of Kozilek
Hymn to Tourach
-----------------------




4 Sweeper Spells
-----------------------
Day of Judgment
Damnation
Wrath of God
Humility
-----------------------




4 Removal Spells
-----------------------
Swords to Plowshares
Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Consuming Vapors
-----------------------




13 Draw or Tutor Spells
-----------------------
Sensei's Divining Top
Sylvan Library

Gamble
Demonic Tutor
Tainted Pact
Intuition

Ancestral Vision
Timetwister
Fact or Fiction

Muddle the Mixture
Wargate

Primal Command

Yawgmoth's Will
-----------------------




7 Planeswalkers
-----------------------
Garruk Wildspeaker
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Ajani Vengeant
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Tezzeret the Seeker
Gideon Jura
-----------------------




6 Creatures
-----------------------
Kitchen Finks

Primeval Titan
Inferno Titan
Wurmcoil Engine

Rune-Scarred Demon
Iona, Shield of Emeria
-----------------------




6 Other Win-Conditions
-----------------------
Oath of Druids

Thopter Foundry
Sword of the Meek

Bribery
Bitterblossom
Batterskull
-----------------------
100 Total




About the card choices:
The Lands: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is a meta-environment card and I find it good enough at the moment. Even without any Armageddons in the deck. I will test some other cards instead of Tabernacle once Avacyn Restored has release.

The Mana Stones: I have chosen to cut Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus because I don't think I want to ramp any more once I have four mana. "Wasting" a turn on ramping is fine in turn 2 or sometimes turn 3 but I do not wish to spend my fourth turn on ramping. Thran Dynamo has some serious power though but for now I wish to play more threads and less ramp.

The Theme Cards: I don't play many theme cards any longer and as explained in the intro there's a reason for it: I wish to do something different than just being a Staxx deck. By cutting stuff like Nether Void, Smokestack, Rising Waters and Armageddons I get more room for Thopter-Sword combo and some tutors for example.

The Disruption Spells: Once again I've added some discard spells to this version because I feel they are extremely functional. They take out the one Price of Progress, Stoneforge Mystic, Qasali Pridemage or Garruk Wildspeaker, which would otherwise have killed me. I can't find any other good discard spell at the moment so it'll have to stay at four. Muddle the Mixture have been added but I'll talk about that one later.

The Sweeper Spells: I no longer run Barter in Blood as the fifth sweeper spell. I find it very useful but I don't need that many removal spells. Humilty is great in the deck with man-lands, Gideon Jura, Batterskull or any token generator.

The Removal Spells: I have cut Oblivion Ring. It was almost as strong as Maelstrom Pulse most of the times but other times it fell short and went almost useless. Also I didn't need that many removal spells any longer and it was the weakest link.

The Draw or Tutor Spells: I've added Gamble, Intuition, Ancestral Vision, Timetwister, Muddle the Mixture and Yawgmoth's Will. Gamble is great in turn 1 to fetch an Oath of Druids or a combo piece for the Thopter-Sword combo. It also finds Loam-Waste combo pieces. This card will most likely not always be in my Staxx Oath deck because I will test other cards instead of it. Intuition is in here for testing with the Loam-Waste combo but I'm not sure the combo is strong enough any longer. It was in 2009 but creatures, planeswalkers and board position has become much more important since then. Ancestral Vision has proven to be very strong in the deck because often I don't do anything on turn 1 before I play a Signet on turn 2. Timetwister is in for testing but I think I will cut it again. It's really strong against control but really weak against aggro and I do not like to play cards that depends that much on my opponent. Muddle the Mixture is great and won't get the kick until I drop from the deck either Winter Orb, Oath of Druids, Life from the Loam, the Thopter Foundry-Sword of the Meek combo or Bitterblossom. Yawgmoth's Will is also in for testing at the moment. Such a powerful card cannot go untested. So far it has either been a fizzle spell that did nothing, a 4-mana spell that got me a land, a Swords to Plowshares and a Thoughtseize or a game-winning 10 mana spell. I will keep it in for a few more months for testing. Futhermore I would like to test the deck without Wargate for some time because even though it's very versatile (x = 0 finding Wasteland or Academy Ruins, x = 2 finding Oath, Thopter-Sword, Winter Orb or Bitterblossom, x = 3 finding Crucible or Tangle Wire and x = more than 3 finding a win-condition) it is also very slow.

The Planeswalkers: As always I like to play only Planeswalkers that are strong against aggro because I have this theory that every PW is strong against control since they tend to leave them untouched for a longer period of time. I play the strongest PWs in the format like Jace, Garruk, Elspeth and Ajani and then I've added Sorin because it's strong against aggro, Gideon because it's strong against aggro and Tezzeret because it fetches either Winter Orb, Crucible of Worlds, Tangle Wire, Thopter-Sword combo or Batterskull while it also untaps mana stones.

The Creatures: The only cheap creature I play is Kitchen Finks because I like expensive creatures for Oath of Druids. Kitchen Finks is obviously the worst creature to Oath into but it's surprisingly strong even then because it "drags" out the game which leads to more Oathing. I have gone away from the extremely expensive bombs like Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre because I wish to cast my creature spell after ramping. Otherwise I should cut a lot of ramp and then the deck would turn into a regular Oath deck. Rune-Scarred Demon is not as strong a fighter as the Titans but Oathing into it is about as good as it gets.

The Other Win-Conditions: Bribery continues to be a strong card in the deck. Bitterblossom has been out for some time but it's back in. It was a mistake taking it out. I sometimes test the deck without the Thopter-Sword combo but it always seems like a bad choice even though the first of the two cards I draw always is a dead draw until the second one is drawn or tutor'ed for. Batterskull is sometimes not a good card but it rocks against aggro and is often better than Baneslayer Angel. Another thing about Batterskull: It allows me to play a non-creature spell which gives me a creature which is good in an Oath-deck. It's not as good against control as it is against aggro, but the fact that it can be returned to my hand works fine against control. I will test the deck without this equipment sometime soon.




Cards I have on my watch list for future testing:
-1. Koth of the Hammer. Being one of the most powerful PWs in the format, he's very interesting. However he cannot defend himself. He untaps a land which is good for ramping and when Winter Orb is on the battlefield and he attacks other PWs really well. He's also strong with Humility.

-2. Griselbrand. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Griselbrand because it's the optimal creature to Oath into and it's still not Jin-Gitaxias expensive to cast. I will test this bomb instead of Timetwister since I don't feel this card is strong enough unless I'm surrounding by control players.

-3. Temporal Mastery. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Temporal Mastery because it looks to be a really powerful card for this format as well as many others. I might be wrong. To be honest believe this deck will benefit from taking an extra turn a little more than other decks even though it's strong in every deck to take an extra turn. Playing a deck that does not draw many cards with stuff like Harmonize and Thirst for Knowledge, Miracles seem stronger. I will test this sorcery instead of Wargate because I feel like it's a too-expensive tutor spell at the moment.

-4. Entreat the Angels. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Entreat the Angels because it looks to be a lot of raw flying power for a medium amount of mana. Playing a deck that does not draw many cards with stuff like Harmonize and Thirst for Knowledge, Miracles seem stronger. I will try this sorcery instead of The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale because I no longer need that land at the moment.

-5. Liliana Vess. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Liliana Vess because I have absolutely no idea if Miracle cards like Temporal Mastery and Entreat the Angels combined with combo cards like Oath of Druids, Thopter-Sword and Loam-Waste makes Liliana Vess strong enough for this deck. I certainly know Liliana sometimes can win a game by fetching an Entreat the Angels followed up by a Temporal Mastery. If it's good enough, I do not know. She has no board presence so she's very slow and vulnerable.

-6. Baneslayer Angel. Not the best creature to Oath into (Just like Kitchen Finks, only more powerful) but is easier to cast than the rest. If Griselbrand doesn't turn out to be good enough, I will test Baneslayer Angel. Perhaps I will also test Baneslayer Angel instead of Kitchen Finks for some time or instead of Batterskull.

-7 & 8. Despise & Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.




That was all for know. I will appreciate any critique because I'm always ready to learn.
Thx, Patrick





Update 25.04.2012:
I've decided to cut the expensive but powerful Iona, Shield of Emeria and instead play Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Iona was great to Oath into but she was almost too expensive to cast. The deck does not have a very difficult time casting this angel but she was not worth the mana. Taking her out is sad because she was very strong to Oath into but I have to find the right balance. Sometimes I have to go for easier-to-cast-creatures and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is. Elesh Norn feels really strong because it has a ETB (Enter the battlefield) effect just like the Titans but it doesn't hit that hard on the opponent. However with a single token-generator she's more powerful than any other creature in my deck.
  -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
+1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

This time I will not comment on strategies, card choices or comboes in the deck. I will just post the deck and see what you guys have to say. Any critique, suggestions or questions are fine


Staxx Oath
--------------------------------------------------

Lands (36 lands, 35 produce mana)
10 Dual lands
10 Fetch Lands
Krosan Verge

City of Brass
Glimmervoid
Reflecting Pool
Exotic Orchard
Tendo Ice Bridge

Celestial Colonnade
Creeping Tar Pit
Stirring Wildwood

Ancient Tomb
City of Traitors

Wasteland
Rishadan Port

Flagstones of Trokair

Mishra's Workshop

The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

--------------------------------------------------

Mana Artifacts (16)
Chrome Mox
Mox Diamond

Azorius Signet
Dimir Signet
Fellwar Stone
Grim Monolith
Orzhov Signet
Prismatic Lens
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Progress
Golgari Signet

Awakening Zone
Coalition Relic
Worn Powerstone

Thran Dynamo

Gilded Lotus

--------------------------------------------------

Theme Cards (11)
Crucible of Worlds

Winter Orb
Rising Waters

Tangle Wire
Smokestack
Nether Void

Armageddon
Ravages of War
Wildfire
Burning of Xinye
Devastation

--------------------------------------------------

Other Removal (12)
Swords to Plowshares
Lightning Bolt
Mana Drain

Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Oblivion Ring

Wrath of God
Damnation
Day of Judgment
Barter in Blood

Humility
The Abyss

--------------------------------------------------

Discard (2)
Thoughtseize
Inquisition of Kozilek

--------------------------------------------------

Draw/Tutor (6)
Sensei's Divining Top

Demonic Tutor
Tainted Pact

Sylvan Library
Phyrexian Arena

Fact or Fiction

--------------------------------------------------

Win Conditions (16)
Oath of Druids

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Iona, Shield of Emeria (This card could also be Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur)

Liliana of the Veil
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Garruk Wildspeaker
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Ajani Vengeant
Tezzeret the Seeker
Gideon Jura
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Bitterblossom

Bribery

--------------------------------------------------
100 cards


At the moment and in my current meta environment the only card that feels a bit odd is Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

Let me hear your comments if you'd like. The only thing I need you to keep in mind is this: I do not wish to change into a completely other deck and I do not wish to change into a more-creature build (with or without Oath of Druids). I wish to keep the same theme and 2-4 creatures in the deck.

Thx a lot, Patrick

Just wanted to share my latest version. Note that I don't play a few auto-includes like Maze of Ith and Moat due to meta game decisions. Feel free to comment in any way!

The Lands:
10 Fetch Lands (Thx to Nastaboi)
10 Dual Lands
City of Brass
Glimmervoid
Tendo Ice Bridge
Reflecting Pool
Exotic Orchard
Stirring Wildwood
Flagstones of Trokair
Darksteel Citadel
Ancient Tomb
City of Traitors
Rishadan Port
Wasteland
Dust Bowl
Academy Ruins
Mishra's Workshop
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
36 lands
-Tendo Ice Bridge is good because often you only really need one mana you couldn't already produce to cast your bomb which will win the game.
-Reflecting Pool works like a Shadowmoor-Eventide Filter Land which ensures the second or third mana of the same type. It's really great with Glimmervoid, Tendo Ice Bridge and City of Brass.
-Exotic Orchard is most often a Dual Land or a Shards of Alara Tri Land which is more than good enough.
-Stirring Wildwood is the only Man Land and it's really solid. It also produces the most used colour in my deck: White + Garruk, Primal Hunter green mana. I would like to run Celestial Colonnade too but I can't find room for it right now.
-I do not play Maze of Ith, which is sort of a mistake. It's like this, however, for meta game decisions. I don't need it in my areas right now. I will most probably include it again in six months. Until then I've also cut Expedition Map even though it allows Tezzeret to fetch up Wasteland-lockdown.

The Creatures
Baneslayer Angel
Frost Titan
Grave Titan
Primeval Titan
Sun Titan
Wurmcoil Engine
6 Creatures
-I play four titans + the two strong lifelink creatures. I do not see any reason to play Inferno Titan.
-I don't play Hokori, Dust Drinker, Braids, Cabal Minion, Trinket Mage or any other strong but tiny creature because of Oath of Druids.
-I'm thinking about trying Rune-Scarred Demon because Oath'ing into this would be equal to win because often you only need that one extra "perfect" card after Oath'ing to ensure you won't drop the game. It costs 7cc which is a lot but I only see it being one mana too expensive so I should give it a try.

The Planeswalkers
Ajani Vengeant
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Garruk Wildspeaker
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Gideon Jura
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Karn Liberated
Tezzeret the Seeker
8 Planeswalkers
-I haven't figured out exactly how many PW's is right in this deck but I just realized I too often lost to three counter spells during one single game so I had to include more threads.
-Karn is really expensive so he's still testing but he's really strong once resolved. He's a strong answer to Blood Moon and he's really easy to cast after resolving a Thran Dynamo.
-I'm trying out Garruk, Primal Hunter too but the GGG mana is hard. For that I've added Stirring Wildwood, three more Fetch Lands, changed the Signets (I really like the way they are right now) and added two more 5-colour mana stones (Manalith and Spectral Searchlight).

The Theme
Winter Orb
Static Orb
Rising Waters
Tangle Wire
Nether Void
Armageddon
Ravages of War
Wildfire
Burning of Xinye
Devastation
Crucible of Worlds
11 Theme Cards
-Since the beginning of the deck I've cut Life from the Loam, Sphere of Resistance and Smokestack while adding Rising Waters and Devastation. Those did not change for each other but have been added and been cut over time. Lately I've removed Smokestack because it didn't do enough if my areas where many players use a lot of stuff like Llanowar Elf, Dark Confidant, Cultivate'n stuff.

The Mana Artifacts
Grim Monolith
Worn Powerstone
Thran Dynamo
Mox Diamond
Coalition Relic
Darksteel Ingot
Spectral Searchlight
Manalith
Gilded Lotus
Azorius Signet
Selesnya Signet
Orzhov Signet
Simic Signet
Awakening Zone
14 Mana Artifacts
-I now play four Manalith's which feels quite right at the moment because they:
1. Makes sure you have the fourth mana for the PW's and the Wrath's
2. Helps you ramp up to stuff like Gideon Jura and Wildfire's
3. Helps you a lot in the fight against Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon and Back to Basics.
4. Helps you cast the difficult spells like Garruk, Primal Hunter, Wargate, Firespout, Vindicate, Malestrom Pulse and of course all the 4cc spells with dual mana.
-The Signets have been changed so the two most used colours White and Blue are shared with three Signets each. Orzhov helps the four Wrath effects and Garruk 2.0 now gets both Simic and Selesnya.

The Draw Spells
Fact or Fiction
Gifts Ungiven
Demonic Tutor
Tainted Pact
Sensei's Divining Top
Thirst for Knowledge
Timetwister
Memory Jar
Wargate
Primal Command
10 Draw Spells
-Wargate can find any land on x=0, Oath of Druids or Winter Orb on x=2, Crucible of Worlds on x=3, Humility or a PW on x=4 and any bomb on higher CmC. This card is good even on the starting hand.
-Primal Command has proven to be really strong because it adds life, it functions as a 0.8 Time Walk (Has been tested) and it tutors for bombs. It's the perfect draw spell this deck needed.
-Memory and Timetwister are really the bombs in this deck because it ramps this much. Memory Jar + Academy Ruins has also proven to be quite powerful in the late game.

The Defense
Fire//Ice
Maelstrom Pulse
Oblivion Ring
Swords to Plowshares
Vindicate
Damnation
Day of Judgment
Firespout
Wrath of God
The Abyss
Humility
11 Defensive Cards
-I no longer play Faith's Fetters, Collective Restraint or Crumbling Sanctuary which always were pretty decent cards. I can't find room for them and I don't feel I need them at the moment. One should keep an eye on them however. Collective Restraint got worse and worse after including more and more PW's.
-I don't play Moat but instead I play Humility. Moat is by far a stronger card than Humility but at the moment Moat won't do me much good because my opponents are either UW Skies, Mono Red Burn or Mono Green Eldrazi Ramp so Humility locks down half of the Skies deck (Yeah they're actually not 1/1's but 3/1's all of them) and all of the Mono Green deck. Meta game decision.

The Other Win Conditions
Oath of Druids
Bitterblossom
Bribery
Upheaval
4 Other Win Conditions
-Bribery is always good. Even against aggro you can find Kitchen Finks or Obstinate Baloth quite often.
-I neat trick with Upheaval is to Oblivion Ring one of your own permanents and then cast the Upheaval to save some mana.

-Total 100 cards
I lose to heavy counter decks where they can cast more than four counter spells during a game if they have but one win-condition like Trinket Mage. I lose to Mono Red Burn in 40-60. Most of the times this deck performs really well online and in the Danish environment.

We are five Danish people who are considering travelling to Germany for the next Highlander Grand Prix. Does anybody have any info regarding this tournament yet?

Patrick

I will do this as shortly as possible because it's very likely boring reading for most people. However I feel like I have to say something.

Gifts Ungiven should be banned in my eyes. Every blue player will play it and it will always be a good card. It is easily splash-able and it will ensure a much higher percentage of winning the game once resolved. Gifts Ungiven can find many different combo pieces and will therefore be an auto-include in any control deck. Life from the Loam got banned because of this card. Gifts Ungiven is a 2:1 card but it won't draw the two random cards but two of the seven best cards in the deck (or whatever). This card will always be a threat to the format for as long as it stays in.

Demonic Tutor should be banned in my eyes. In a 100 cards singleton format, a tutor spell is just more powerful than it other times is. For that reason Vampiric Tutor, Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor has been banned. The fact that is costs one whole more mana to cast than the previous mentioned tutor's matters not much. It is much better than any of them. Demonic Tutor is a card that is hard to "defend" when talking to non-Highlander players about the banning list of the Highlander format. It is simply too good.

Wheel of Fortune should not be banned in my eyes. Yes it is better in red than in blue (Timetwister) but I don't see it be near good enough neither unfair to be banned. I won't argue much here because I have not tested the card in any way. If the HL Council has, I'm fine with this even though I find it peculiar a red card is banned when a blue is not if they do the same. Timetwister should not be banned because it doesn't do that much. Even in the right situation.

Life from the Loam should not be banned in my eyes. In no way is this card better than Crucible of Worlds if cards like Gifts Ungiven and Intuition wouldn't exist and Crucible is far from being good enough. Back when LftL got banned I think a mistake was made. People were "crying" (Sorry it's easier to explain using familiar words) about the fact that Gifts Ungiven was too good and that the Wasteland Lock-Down was dominating the control match-up's. They were right. As a result Intuition and Gifts Ungiven should have been banned because those cards are over-the-top good in a 100 cards singleton format. Life from the Loam does nothing dangerous alone, Gifts does.

Trinisphere should not be banned in my eyes. I have tried asking the HL Council for the reason why this card was banned and the response has been "sry - can't find it". To my knowledge (And I'm sorry if I'm mistaken) I believe this card has been bd. I can seeanned for a very long time, maybe right from the beginning, for no reason at all. I suspect it to be taken from the Legacy ban list where it makes perfectly sense to ban such a card. I don't think it belongs to the HL ban list. It won't kill of any deck, even aggro will be able to run around it in this format. I would not even play it in my Staxx deck, where it suits better than any deck. Obviously it will be amazing with M. Workshop but without Wshop turn1, I don't think this card is any threat to the format.

Patrick

Who is currently in the HL Council?

The Ban list haven't been updated since April 2010, which is kind of sad. Library of Alexandria is still not shown as banned on the list. Just an example. Direct link:

http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=2.0

It is a bit difficult for me to tell the ban list to new players in Denmark if the ban list is not up to date.
Thx a lot
-Patrick

I have chosen to close this thread because sharing my statistics are not appreciated.

Made the front page on wizards homepage

http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/deck/469

I especially like the "he or she" in the end

I have chosen to close this thread because sharing my statistics are not appreciated.

This topic is now closed due to mistake I've made. I exceeded the maximum number of letters per reply so I would have to create a new topic to correct the mistake. Done!

Sorry for the troubles

Closed

In every sanctioned format a set will be legal from the time of the first release event. This has been true for Highlander too right? For some reason it wasn't with Worldwake:

http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=362.0

Will this be the case of Rise of Eldrazi too? Will Rise not be legal in Highlander until 15.may?

-Patrick
ps. please explain if I've misunderstood something.

First of all I wish to say: The mulligan rule works fine the way it is. I'm actually quite happy about it.

There is only one minr change I hope you'll consider.

Instead of "rejecting" any number of cards from one of the opening hands, drawing the same number of cards and finally shuffling the rejected cards back into the library I suggest the following:

For one of the (opening) hands during each game only, each player may "reject" any number of cards from his or her hand. They set these cards aside, draw the corresponding number of cards from their deck and, after that, put the set-aside cards on the bottom of their library in any order.



Reasons for the suggestion:
1. Will make game play faster
2a. Has no dis-advantages compared to the shuffling rule
2b. For some decks this new on-the-bottom rule has a few advantages compared to the shuffle-rule but it is - to my best opinion - not anything worth noticing because it will even out in the long run.
3. Even though the cards that would usually be shuffled away now can't be drawn during the first few turns (Variates), it still doesn't change the game. There are so many fetch-lands and other shuffle-effects around in this format, that this change will not have any effect at all after a few turns or less.

Overall speaking it will increase the fun of the format and it won't ruin anything. Will even give the players four-nine minutes (Depending if the game ends in 2-0 or in 2-1 to any of the players AND depending on the players spend two or three minutes shuffling each time) more playing time in the match. That is beneficial for all.

Patrick Kassow, Denmark

To the Highlander Council:

Should you not remove Question 12 from the FAQ at www.highlandermagic.info ?
I see no use for the question any longer after the Magic 2010 Core set rule changes.
Or is it just me?

Question: Is it possible to ban a card without it being on the watch list for 3 months first? Can one feel safe about playing a card like Animate Dead (or whatever) if the Animate Dead is not already on the watch list?

-Patrick

The second Highlander Tournament in Denmark was held 20.12.2009
Only 12 Players were registered due to the xmas holidays
Proxies were allowed for an extra buy-in fee but the extras was added to the prizes

Top 4 Deck Lists
1. Kristian Kamp with Mono Red Dumb
2. Iohan with RGw Turbo Agro
3-4. Nicolai Lund Hansen with 4-Colour Control
3-4. Oscar Christensen with 4-Colour Midrange Agro


Kristian:
Wooded Foothills
Wasteland
Ghitu Encampment
Valakut, the molten pinnacle
Arid Mesa
Scalding Tarn
Bloodstained Mire
28 Mountain
Zo-zu the punisher
Tattermunge Maniac
Ball Lightning
Reckless Abandon
Fireblast
Taurean Mauler
Figure of Destiny
Banefire
Gauntlet of Power
Volcanic Hammer
Goblin Ringleader
Magma jet
Demonfire
Gauntlet of might
Goblin King
Warren Instigator
Lava Spike
Wort, the Raidmother
Goblin Ruinblaster
Kaervek's Torch
Boartusk Liege
Magus of the Moon
Incinerate
Bloodmoon
Stigma Lasher
Disintegrate
Vexing Shusher
Rolling Thunder
Hell's Thunder
Goblin Bushwhacker
Flame Javelin
Sulfuric Vortex
Wild Ricochet
Mogg War Marshal
Goblin Grenade
Ruination
Fireball
Flames of the Blood Hand
Chain Lightning
Goblin Warchief
Goblin Matron
Lava Burst
Blaze
Æther Vial
Pulse of the Forge
Fanning the flames
Skirk Prospector
Goblin Piledriver
Ankh of Mishra
Countryside Crusher
Price of Progress
Fulminator Mage
Black Vise
Mogg Fanatic
Lightning Bolt
Dragon Fodder
Volcanic Geyser
Char
Titan's Revenge
Siege-Gang Commander
Ghitu Fire
Boggart Ram-Gang
Goblin Chieftain
Hellspark Elemental
Goblin Lackey
-------------------------------------

Iohan:
Arid Mesa
Bloodstained Mire
7x Forest
Ghitu Encampment
Karplusan Forest
Keldon Megaliths
Mishra’s Factory
Misty Rainforest
7x Mountain
Mutavault
Pendelhaven
Plateau
Savannah
Scalding Tarn
Shivan Gorge
Stoming Ground
Taiga
Treetop Village
Verdant Catacombs
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills
Avalanche Riders
Basking Rootwalla
Bloodbraid Elf
Boggart Ram-Gang
Countryside Crusher
Dryad
Sophisticate
Elvish Visionary
Figure of Destiny
Giant Solifuge
Goblin Bushwacker
Goblin Guide
Goblin Legionnaire
Goblin Ruinblaster
Grim Lavamancer
Hell’s Thunder
Jackal Pup
Jungle Lion
Keldon Champion
Keldon Marauders
Kird Ape
Lotus Cobra
Magus of the Scroll
Magus of the Moon
Mire Boa
Mtenda Lion
Pouncing Jaguar
Qasali Pridemage
Radha, Heir to Keld
Raging Kavu
Rip-Clan Crasher
River Boa
Scap-Clan Mauler
Skizzik
Skyshroud Elite
Skyshroud War Beast
Tarmogoyf
Tattermunge Maniac
Twinblade Slasher
Wild Mongrel
Wild Nacatl
Woolly Thoctar
Blood Moon
Bonesplitter
Chain Lightning
Chain of Plasma
Char
Cursed Scroll
Firebolt
Flame Javelin
Flame Rift
Flames of the Blood Hand
Incinerate
Lava Spike
Lightning Bolt
Lightning Greaves
Lightning Helix
Magma Jet
Price of Progress
Pulse of the Forge
Rancor
Reckless Charge
Rhystic Lightning
Rift Bolt
Sudden Shock
Sulfuric Vortex
Volcanic Hammer
Winter Orb
---------------------------------------

Nicolai:
3 forest
2 mountain
4 island
3 swamp
Exotic orchard
Underground sea
Vivid grove
Savage lands
Vivid creek
Gargogle castle
Vivid marsh
Flooded grove
Vivid crag
Tropical island
Scalding tarn
Cascade bluffs
Sunken ruins
Flecting pool
Watery grave
river of tears
wooded foothill
Bayou
Misty rainforest
Treetop village
Twillight mire
Verdant catacombs
taiga
Terramorphic expanse
Crumbling necropolis
Volcanic island
rupture spire
Mulldrifter
Damnation
Lightning bolt
Mystic snake
Bloodbraid elf
Voidslime
puppeteer clique
pernicios deed
jund charm
Sower of temptation
Tainted pact
Putrefy
miscalculation
dissmiss
Kitchen finks
Coiling oracle
Krosan grip
Gifts ungiven
farseek
Cruel ultimatium
Mind shatter
Flametounge kavu
Makeshift mannaquin
exclude
Maelstrom pulse
Primal command
diabolic edict
Bituminous blast
Regrowth
Vendilion clique
Compulsive research
diabolic edict
rise // fall
vampire nighthawk
Bogarden hellkite
dusk urchins
Murderous redcap
Shadowmage infiltrator
Mana leak
Tarmogoyf
Teferi mange of zhalfir
Glen elendra archmage
Fact of fiction
Venser, shaper savant
Soul manipulation
Krosan tusker
Profane command
Sensei’s divining top
Electrolyse
wall of roots
coalitien relic
Counterspell
Grim harvest
Eternal witness
carefull consideration
Cryptic command
Lavalanche
Mystical teachings
Shriekmaw
Jace beleren
demonic tutor
complicate
-------------------------------------

Oscar:
Scrublands
Overgrown tomb
Windswept heath
Taiga
Sacred foundry
Arid mesa
Verdant catacombs
Marsh flats
Exotic orchard
Godless shrine
Savage lands
Bloodstained mire
Misty rainforest
Stomping ground
Badlands
City of brass
Reflecting pool
Scalding tarn
Treetop village
Wooded foothills
Plateau
Bayou
Temple garden
Blood crypt
savanhnah
jungle shrine
gemstone mine
2Swamp
2Mountain
2Forest
2Plains
Savannah lions
Chamilion collosus
Pernicious deed
Mortify
Elite vanguard
Skyshroud elite
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Berserk
Doran, the Siege Tower
Pride mage
Eternal witness
Carnophage
Wretched anurid
Woolly thoctar
Putrid leech
oblivian ring
anathemancer
boggart ram-gang
rancor
sylvan library
rotling giant
vampire lacerator
phyrexian arena
vindicate
maelstrom pulse
lightning greaves
putrefy
banefire
thoughtseize
bituminous Blast
watchwolf
duress
luminarch Ascension
blastoderm
tidehollow sculler
ajani vengeant
Great Sable stag
Wild nacatl
Kitchen finks
Chandra nalaar
Incinerate
Garruk Wildspeaker
Noble hierach
Goblin guide
Lightning helix
Keldon marauder
Calciderm
Kird ape
Bloodbraid elf
Demonic tutor
Bitterblossom
Profane command
Path to exile
Lighntning bolt
Figure of destiny
naya charm
vines of vastwood
etched oracle
goblin ruinblaster
giant sulifuge
burst lightning
blightning
birds of Paradise
stonewood invocation

It's a 5-colour Oath of Druids with three main colours, one off-colour and one tiny colour
I have played Highlander for four years now but this is the first time I’ve asked for an opinion about my deck online. Please share your thoughts

--Deck List--

Lands:
4x Island
3x Plains
2x Swamp
1x Forest
Hallow Fountain
Watery Grave
Flooded Strand
Polluted Delta
Windswept Heath
Misty Rainforest
Scalding Tarn
Arid Mesa
Marsh Flats
Bloodstained Mire
Wooded Foothills
Verdent Catacombs
Volcanic Island
Tundra
Savannah
Badlands
Tropical Island
Plateau
Scrubland
Underground Sea
Bayou
Arcane Sanctum
Seaside Citadel
Reflecting Pool
Exotic Orchard
Library of Alexandria
Kor Haven
Wasteland
Barren Moor
Lonely Sandbar
Secluded Steppe
Maze of ith

Creatures:
Hellkite Overlord
Sphinx og the Steel Wind
Empyrial Archangel

Other Spells:
Oath of Druids
Bitterblossom
Demonic Tutor
Muddle the Mixture
Shred Memory
Sterling Grove
Wargate
Gifts Ungiven
Intuition
Wrath of God
Damnation
Day of Judgment
The Abyss
Moat
Collective Restraint
All Suns’ Dawn
Recollect
Regrowth
Ajani Veangent
Jace Beleren
Miscalculation
Forbid
Dromar’s Charm
Absorb
Force of Will
Dissipate
Cryptic Command
Syncopate
Counterspell
Faerie Trickery
Condescend
Mana Drain
Impulse
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Lightning Helix
Maelstrom Pulse
Vindicate
Mortify
Fire // Ice
Esper Charm
Ancestral Vision
Fact or Fiction
Deep Analysis
Phyrexian Arena
Future Sight
Sensei’s Divining Top
Life from the Loam
Phyrexian Furnace
Pernicious Deed
Mind Twist
Pulse of the Fields
Krosan Grip
Coalition Relic
Darksteel Ingot


I would like to get an opinion on the deck list and on which cards could be changed for which.

Cards that could be tested:
Academy Ruins
Nantuko Monastary
Liliana Vess
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Loxodon Hierarch
Compulsion
Dueling Grounds
Exploration
Ghostly Prison
Humility
Luminarch Ascension
Mirari’s Wake
Powerstone Minefield
Propaganda
Reverence
Solitary Confinement
Culling Scales
Engineered Explosives
Mind Stone
Thran Dynamo
Threads of Disloyalty
Chainer’s Edict
Gaea’s Blessing
Hallowed Burial
Idyllic Tutor
Innocent Blood
Merchant Scroll
Raven’s Crime
Rhystic Tutor
Sleight of Hand
Worm Harvest
Bant Charm
Brainstorm
Careful Consideration
Condemn
Darkblast
Doom Blade
Evasive Action
Hinder
Negate
Putrefy
Smother
Tainted Pact
Terminate
Moment’s Peace

The first official Highlander Tournament in Denmark was held the 22.11.2009 with great succes

18 players were registered. Proxies were allowed for an extra buy-in fee but the extras was added to the prizes. We felt allowing proxies was needed due to the fact that Highlander is a "new" format in Denmark.

Top 4 Deck List
1: Oscar Christensen with Midrange Agro
2: Patrick Kassow with 5-Colour Oath
3: Tobias Mauer with Naya Agro
4: Nicolai Lund Hansen with 4-Colour Control


--------------------------------------------

Oscar:

Scrublands
Vivid grove
rootbound crag
Overgrown tomb
Windswept heath
Taiga
Sacred foundry
Arid mesa
Verdant catacombs
Marsh Flats
Sunpetal grove
Exotic orchard
Godless shrine
Savage lands
Bloodstained mire
Misty rainforest
Stomping ground
Vivid meadow
Badlands
City of brass
Reflecting pool
Scalding tarn
Treetop village
Wooded foothills
Plateau
Bayou
Temple garden
Blood crypt
Swamp
Mountain
Forest
Plains
Vivid crag
Vivid marsh

Savanah lions
Chameleon colossus
Pernicious deed
Mortify
Steppe lynx
Elite vanguard
Skyshroud elite
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Journey to ”some” where
Berserk
Doran doran doran doran doran
Qasali Pridemage
Scythe tiger
Eternal witness
Carnophage
Wretched anurid
Woolly thoctar
Putrid leech
oblivion ring
anathemancer
Boggart ram-gang
rancor
sylvan library
mesmeric fiend
rotting giant
vampire lacerator
phyrexian arena
siege-gang commander
vindicate
maelstrom pulse
lightning greaves
putrefy
banefire
thoughtseize
bituminous Blast
krosan grip
watchwolf
duress
luminarch Ascension
blastoderm
tidehollow sculler
ajani vengeant
Great Sable stag
Wild nacatl
Kitchen finks
Chandra nalaar
Incinerate
Garruk Wildspeaker
Noble hierarch
Goblin guide
Lightning helix
Keldon marauders
Calciderm
Kird ape
Spellbreaker behemoth
Bloodbraid elf
Demonic tutor
Bitterblossom
Profane command
Path to exile
Lighntning bolt
Makeshift mannequin
Figure of destiny
Tattermunge maniac
Madrush cyclops

--------------------------------------------

Patrick

Reflecting pool
Wasteland
Hallow fountain
Kor haven
Tundra
3 Plains
Flooded strand
Savannah
4 island
Barren moor
Badlands
Tropical island
Library of alexandria
2 swamp
Plateau
Polluted delta
Scrubland
Windswept heath
Misty rainforest
scalding tarn
Seaside citadel
Underground sea
Watery grave
Bayou
Arcane sanctum
Arid mesa
Marsh flats
Lonely sandbar
Bloodstained mire
Forest
Exotic orchard
Volcanic island
Wooded foothills
Verdent catacombs
Secluded steppe
Maze of ith

Wrath of god
All suns’ dawn
Miscalculation
Forbid
Absorb
Bitterblossom
ajani veangent
exploration
impulse
muddle the mixture
dromar’s charm
swords to plowshares
maelstrom pulse
lightning helix
wargate
life from the loam
mana drain
fact or fiction
pernicious deed
coalition relic
the abyss
future sight
oath of druids
idyllic tutor
path to exile
hinder
damnation
gifts ungiven
collective restraint
recollect
mortify
deminic tutor
ancestral vision
mind twist
pulse of the fields
faerie trickery
intuition
deep analysis
vindicate
regrowth
moat
sensei’s divining top
krosan grip
force of will
jace beleren
dissipate
phyrexian arena
cryptic command
syncopate
fire/ice
counterspell
esper charm
darksteel ingot
shred memory
phyrexian furnace
hellkite overlord
sphinx og the steel wind
empyrial archangel

--------------------------------------------

Tobias Mauer:

Ancient tomb
Wooded foothills
Secluded steppe
Wasteland
Bloddstained mire
Plateau
Gruul turf
Misty rainforest
City of brass
Horizon canopy
Wooded bastion
Ghitu encampment
Savannah
Scalding tarn
Fire-lit thicket
Mosswort bridge
Boros garrison
Pendelhaven
Windswept heath
Mountain valley
Mossfire vally
Reflecting pool
Jungle shrine
Taiga
Murmuring bosk
Rootbound crag
Arid mesa
Selesnya sanctuary
Mutavault
Rugged prairie
Treetop village
4 forest
3 plans
2 mountains

Lightning greaves
Loxodon warhammer
Sunforger
Birds of paradise
Wild nacatl
Sylvan safekeeper
Noble hierarch
Eternal wotness
Great sable stag
Troll ascetic
Harmonize
Cliffrunner behemoth
Wickerbough elder
Garruk wildspeaker
Aridic slime
Primal command
Cloudtresher
Lightning bolt
Ancient grudge
Hellspark elemental
Maga jet
Incinerate
Char
Flametongue kavu
Siege-gang ccommander
Hellkirte charger
Banefire
Demonfire
Path to exile
Swords to plowshares
Mother of runes
Oblivion ring
Ranger og eos
Baneslayer angel
Reveillark
Stonehewer giant
Figure of destuny
Selesnya guildmage
Qasali pridemage
Saffi eriksdotter
Lightning helic
Soolly thoctar
Behemoth sledge
Knight of the reliqualy
Dauntless escort
Burning-tree shaman
Rith’s charm
Naya charm
Kitchen finks
Boggart ram-gamg
Wilt-leaf liege
Mycoid sheperd
Bloddbraid elf
Loxodon hierarch
Ajani vengeant
Spellbreaker behemoth
Giang solifuge
Sarkhan vol
Blitz hellion
Enlisted wurm

--------------------------------------------

Nicolai

3 forest
2 mountain
4 island
3 swamp
Exotic orchard
Underground sea
Vivid grove
Savage lands
Vivid creek
Gargogle castle
Vivid marsh
Flooded grove
Vivid crag
Tropical island
Scalding tarn
Cascade bluffs
Sunken ruins
Reflecting pool
Watery grave
Barren moor
Forgotten cave
Bayou
Misty rainforest
Treetop village
Twillight mire
Verdant catacombs
Lonely sandbar
Terramorphic expanse
Crumbling necropolis
Wasteland
Volcanic island
Tranqiul thicket

Mulldrifter
Damnation
Lightning bolt
Mystic snake
Bloodbraid elf
Voidslime
Prophetic bolt
Anathemancer
Life from the loam
Sower of temptation
Tainted pact
Putrefy
Brainstorm
Banefire
Kitchen finks
Coiling oracle
Krosan grip
Gifts ungiven
Oracle og mul daya
Cruel ultimatium
Mind shatter
Flametounge kavu
Makeshift mannaquin
Acidie slime
Maelstrom pulse
Primal command
Ponder
Bituminous blast
Regrowth
Vendilion clique
Compulsive research
Ob nixilis, the fallen
Sylvan livrary
Chainers edict
Bogarden hellkite
Hinder
Murderous redcap
Shadowmage infiltrator
Mana leak
Tarmogoyf
Teferi mange of zhalfir
Glen elendra archmage
Fact of fiction
Venser, shaper savant
Soul manipulation
Krosan tusker
Profane command
Sensei’s divining top
Electrolyse
Forhaven elf
Harrow
Counterspell
Grim harvest
Eternal witness
Forbid
Cryptic command
Lavalanche
Mystical teachings
Shriekmore
Jace beleren



--------------------------------------------

Highlander Tournament 4.4.2009

Warning: This is not very interesting to read unless you have some kind of connection to the arrangement! Now intro

I had the honour to arrange the first (From what I know) Highlander Tournament in Denmark. We tried to gather as many people as we could and we ended up being 12 players on the list. That isn't much, but we couldn't hope for more. We set up some nice and cosy environments for Magic: The Gathering and we waited untill people showed up this saturday morning

Well let’s just say this right away. We didn’t get as many as we had calculated us to be. Rune, Rasmus, Jakob, Patrick C and Oscar all chose not to show up. We ended up being 7 players and that had to be fine for one of the first Highlander Tournaments in Denmark. We planned four rounds of 60 minutes with a final in the end. It was free buy-in and the prize was strawberries and some chocolate for the first and second prize winners to split.

I’m writing this article from my point of view. I’ve written down some notes from each match and here is how I went:




Round 1 vs. Jakob Sørensen
G1. I knew the fact that Jakob is playing mono blue with splash of red. A wizard deck with burn and counter back-up. Jakob won the dice roll and chose to play first.

The first few turns started out slow. Both players played lands and nothing else. I suspended a Ancestral Vision though and in turn 3 I resolved a Jace Beleren. I didn’t have much luck with the cards even though I had massive card advantage. My opponent had Mind Stone and Terrain Generator so he ran from me in the speed and he pressured his advantage with a suspended Aeon Chronicler for 4 pretty early in the game. I removed the last counter from Ancestral Vision and targeted myself. Jakob played Swerve and I had to Dissipate it. He had Cryptic Command in hand and the mana for it. Ancestral Vision targeted Jakob for 3 cards. The following few turns I felt the lack of cards in my hand compared to my opponent wasn’t enough to stop him.

At the end of game 1 I targeted Aeon Chronicler, who had become massively huge, with a Mortify. My opponent played Snapback in response targeted Aeon. If he could return Aeon it would seal him the game. I had to play Force of Will for 0 mana. He responded once again. This time with a Boomerang. Aeon was returned and there was nothing I could do the following turns. He resolved his very own Jace Beleren and suspended Aeon. I was overrun and had to concede if I wanted to win the match before the time would run out. 0-1




G2. I suspended Ancestral Vision turn 1 and felt I had a great start. We both played lands the following turns. Turn 4 I resolved a Bitterblossom and knew it would win me the game. Jakob didn’t have any counter spell and the very next turn I therefore resolved a Liliana Vess. The game was almost sealed here, but Jakob played Seal of Fire and Banefire and beat the planeswalker. I was far ahead and could easily resolve Empyrial Archangel. Along with Bitterblossom it sealed the game for me. 1-1





G3. We both had terrible starting hands. My opponent had to mulligan to 6 cards and I had to go even further down to 5. Jakob only had 2 lands and failed to play a land in turn 3. At the end of turn I played Esper Charm for refilling my hand. I untapped and felt like pressing the advantage and played Vindicate on his Dreadship Reef with 2 counters (The other land was a Mountain). He removed the counters in response and played Capsize targeting his own land. He avoided the catastrophe, but I was far ahead now. The following turn I played Demonic Tutor and fetched Library of Alexandria with 6 cards in hand. I played the Library and waited 2 turns. It was almost gg. Few turns later I resolved Liliana Vess. It got burned away by the blue-red player. My Morphling the next turn went all the way. It got a little help from Demonfire and Bogardan Hellkite 5 damage. It got tight after game 1 and Jakob had a few bad draws unfortunately for him. 2-1




Round 2 vs. Henrik Esmann
G1. I had no idea what Henrik would play. I won the dice roll and chose to play first.

I played turn 1 Library of Alexandria. I knew it would enhance my chances by a lot. What was almost even worse for my opponent was a turn 2 Bitterblossom. I know from standard how hard a turn 2 Bitterblossom can be, and I had no idea how Henrik should be able to stand against both a Bitterblossom AND a LoA. Henrik quickly responded the following turn with a Seal of Primordium. I didn’t get a single Faerie-Rogue creature token out of my Blossom, but LoA got to draw me 3 cards before it’s activity later got ruined.

Henrik played Dusk Urchins and in the same turn I killed it with Lightning Helix. I did not want to take the 5 damage over two turns and more than anything: I did not want him to get the card advantage that would follow.

Turn 5 Henrik played Eternal Witness and I knew it would be too dangerous at that point of the game. I had no creature removal for it and he could return Dusk Urchins. I therefore played Force of Will for 0 and took the card dis-advantage. It ruined my LoA activity, but it was necessary. The following turn I resolved Liliana Vess. My opponent played Nezumi, Graverobber and River Kelpie the turn after. Luckily I got a Fact or Ficion and in his End of Turn it revealed my opponent:

Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Ajani Vengeant
Morphling
Darksteel Ingot

A power pile of cards. Henrik chose to give me either Nicol Bolas or the rest. I chose the rest, because I only had 6 lands in play and no in hand. I also wanted to get to 7 cards in hand for Library. My LoA was now useful again. I cleared the board with Damnation and still had Liliana in play. My opponent took his turn, unearthed Corpse Connoisseur (A card he had discarded earlier for Vess) and killed Liliana with it. Henrik now had nothing but a 2/2 River Kelpie in play and had no useful cards in the graveyard. I untapped my lands and played the card I’ve just drawn: a Morphling. Morphling was perfect for this situation. Henrik tried to stabilize with a Haakon, Stromgald Scourge together with Attrition. That combo is quite awesome, but it can’t touch a shrouded Morphling. Some later I resolved Stillmoon Cavalier and since I had already beated with Morphling for 5 and 5, Stillmoon sealed the first game. 1-0




G2. The early turns resolved in some early creatures from Henrik’s side. I got a morphed creature to play who turned out to be Exalted Angel the following turn. There was no stopping it. My opponent didn’t get the luck to draw a removal spell. He did, however, play a Golgari Grave-Troll for 5 mana. It was 0/0 and went straight to the graveyard as a static ability. Pretty smart, because he now could dredge the next turn and maybe get something up and going. While my opponent played a creature who went straight to the graveyard I got 4 life each turn and got the time to play some stuff. I played Time Warp to attack once again with Exalted. I felt it was the right thing to do against an agro-based dredge deck.

In the following turn (My extra turn) I drew Panoptic Mirror and now the attack turned out to be bad luck. I played the Mirror and passed the turn well knowing what I was going to do in my next upkeep. Not much happened in my opponents turn and in my upkeep I let Panoptic Mirror’s triggered ability go to the stack and responded by tapping 2 lands, tapping Mirror and removing Regrowth from the game. I played Regrowth in my upkeep and returned Time Warp. Henrik couldn’t stop my next turn’s Time Warp and I got as many turns as I wanted in a row. He conceded and didn’t wait for my win. 2-0




Round 3 vs. Kristian Kiær Kamp
G1. I knew Kristian were playing a WUBrg control. The deck looks a lot like my own. On the paper this looked like it would surely be my strongest opponent.

Kristian started out playing a Ponder and we both made draw-land-go turns. My hand was lands, Mind Stone, Dissipate, Fact or Fiction and Ajani Vengeant. I knew resolving either a Fact or the Vengeant would almost win me the game. I played a turn 2 Mind Stone and one turn later in my opponents third EOT I baited with FoF. He spend 2 of his 3 lands to Negate my FoF. That was the right decision any day, but it costed him the game. I untapped and resolved Ajani Vengeant. Kristian didn’t get an answer and my planeswalker won the game with the ultimatum.

G2. In my opponents turn 2 EOT I played Tainted Pact. I only play 2x Plains, 2x Swamp and 2x Island for duplicate cards. I already had a Swamp in play, so I could almost get any card in my library. The first card that was revealed, was a Mind Shatter. I chose to keep the very first card, because I had the lands in hand to play it for a lot very soon. It would be a fantastic card to resolve against a control player. Kristian failed to make a land drop in turn 5, so in my turn I tried to Vindicate one of his 2 blue lands. He played Cancel.

Kristian took his turn and targeted my earlier cycled Eternal Dragon with his Animate Dead. I knew I now faced a 4/5 flying dragon, but I was okay with it, because in my next turn I could Mind Shatter him for 4. I played Complicate on Animate Dead for 3 mana and Kristian payed the 3 and tapped out with the exception of one single land. I untapped and played Mind Shatter for 4 and that was exactly the whole hand.

I took a beat and played Oath of Druids right away. I took a beat again from Eternal, but I had Pulse of the Fields in hand and he had no counter spells because his hand was all gone. I stabilized at 16, 12 and 16 life. After Eternal had dealt damage the turn after Oath had hit play, Kristian chose to play a Condemn on his own creature to gain life and to stop my Oath. Luckily I had Dissipate and Oath therefore revealed us the first card in the library: Shadowmage Infiltrator (Finkel). Not the biggest creature in my deck (Actually the only small one together with Stillmoon) and it was quite unlucky, but my opponent only had Eternal, so he would not be able to block my Fear creature. I passed the turn. Kristian untapped and played Story Circle. In response I put Gifts Ungiven to play. I had not thought the decision through. The idea was to get some counter spells with Gifts, but I changed my mind. I decided Circle was not that big a thread anyways. Gifts found me:

Panoptic Mirror
Time Warp
Regrowth
Honden of Seeing Winds

I went for my combo, Regrowth and Honden because Honden would win me the game. Kristian was still in top-deck mode and had no cards in hand. He could not give me TW and Mirro. He could not give me Regrowth. He could give me Mirror and Honden, but Mirror is just too dangerous. He had no choice but to give me the enchantment and Time Warp. That was just as I had predicted on forehand.

Kristian let Story Circle resolve naming “Blue” for Shadowmage Infiltrator. Kristian kept attacking with Eternal Dragon to force me into tapping 3 lands each turn. Pulse of the Fields was strong and I stayed at 12 and 16. It looked like a stand still, but for the fact that I had just got 2 great cards to hand.

I played Honden of Seeing Winds in my turn and I now knew that my opponent had a serious clock with the card advantage I was fronting. Kristian attacked again with Eternal and I played Pulse. The game very slowly developed for my benefits. In Kristians EOT I Terminated my own Finkel. It was useless and now I could Oath in my upkeep again. It resolved. In my upkeep Oath once again revealed a creature card as the first card of the library: Akroma, Angel of Wrath. Kristian had bad luck for several turns with nothing but lands. When Honden of Seeing Winds is in play, one have to find an answer sometime soon. Eternal Dragon chump-blocked once, but Akroma flew all the way to victory and sealed the game. 2-0


The Tournament was over and I was 3-0. We could have played a fourth round and a final, but we agreed on the fact that we did not have to play more matches. I’m sorry I’m only writing from my point of view. I only had notes from my own matches. The day went fine and it was cosy environments to play some Magic: the Gathering in. We all had a good time and it was nice to see some great plays even though it was a casual tournament. On Tuesday I’m announcing the first Highlander Tournament in Faraos Cigarer København. I do not expect us to be many the first times, but I hope we can establish an environment of players who will come regularly and play some singleton. It will be 20kr buy-in and booster packs for the winners. If no one shows up, we’ll concider it failed and we’ll try again in some months. So be ready and finish your 100 cards highlander decks. It’s “great” fun Thx for this time and see you all again.

Patrick Kassow

There can be only one