The Definitive Guide to Beating Everything with Living End

Eldrazi Winter? Yes, we’re currently in the midst of the epic battle between the Spaghetti Monsters and the Robots, but all is not lost. It turns out that Living End has a pretty good shot against the Devoid menace. Sure, Eldrazi decks can spit out four 2-powered creatures on turn one; but we can use Simian Spirit Guide to cast Living End on turn two, wiping away all those unfairly free threats. The Eldrazi can do bonkers things, and so can Living End.

GPT Top 8 match, turn 1

In preparation for the upcoming Modern Grand Prix in Detroit, I’ve been analyzing all of the likely match-ups. Based on my experience in three recent Grand Prix Trials (10th, 8th, and 2nd after Swiss, respectively) and my relentless practice on MTGO, I have compiled a basic sketch of the format’s most common decks and how Living End should approach them. Included in each deck review is a list of the match-up’s most dangerous cards, and a suggested list of sideboard cards to bring in.

NOTE: These are vague generalizations based on a variety of experiences and discussions. Every game and every deck should be considered independently, and not all decks will have the same cards detailed below. Pay attention to your surroundings and your opponent, and act on your instincts!

The match-ups are listed in alphabetical order, based on the deck’s common name (ex. Affinity, Kiki-Chord, etc.)

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“Drive to Work” is the TED Talk you’ve always wanted

When I’m not playing Magic or other games, I work my “day job” as an attorney. I’m not the traditional kind of lawyer, though. I don’t go to trials, I rarely have clients, and very little of my work involves arguing. Most of my time is spent training people on how to do their jobs better and how to follow complicated employment laws. I tend to think of my role as a teacher for adults more than a practicing attorney. Ultimately, I’d like to be a consultant and show organizations how they can operate more effectively (think – the Bobs from the movie “Office Space” – but more law-related).

There’s a point here, and it’s not about telling you my career goals. I’m constantly looking for ways to increase my skills and knowledge (which EVERYONE should always be striving to do), and I’ve found tons of inspiring podcasts. One set of offerings are the TED Talks, a collection (or really, a Movement) of inspiring speeches and presentations on hundreds of topics. There are TED Talks arguing for certain types of fish to be eaten, talks on the effects of body language in dating, political talks, talks on business planning, science, art, sports, and on and on and on. They’re really neat and worth checking out, no matter what you’re into.

image from http://freshwetpaint.com/

The TED Talks are awesome, but what if I told you there was a series of similar conversations specifically related to Magic: the Gathering? That’s what Mark Rosewater (Magic’s Head Designer) does with his “Drive to Work” podcast.(In fact, that’s exactly what Mark pointed out back in Episode 95 about player’s emotional connections to games)

This is why the Magic Online economy is dumb

 

I got a foil Canopy Vista in my first Battle For Zendikar draft today, and apparently it’s worth LESS than a non-foil version on Magic Online. Yeah, that makes sense. #MTGOFinance

The above screenshot is from Cardhoarder.com at 9:50pm EST 10/9/15.

Unsolicited recommendation: I’m a big fan of using Cardhoarder.com to buy and trade MTGO cards. I use their bots (CardhoarderBuyBot) to quickly turn the higher-value cards from draft and sealed pools into event tickets for more draft and sealed events. CH’s buy prices are pretty good compared to selling to most bots, and is faster than waiting for humans to trade.

I also like that you can pay with PayPal or Credit for a discount from paying with tickets, which is a good call if you’re going to buy the bulk of a deck at once. I’ve done that a few times – bought a deck off of CH, played a bunch of events, then vendor-sold back the deck (often gaining value on cards that have appreciated during the time I played with them, particularly fetch lands and other tier 1 cards) to use the tickets on other cards or events (or sell them for cash to ticket vendors online).

When you’re mediocre at the game, it basically works out to be a decent deck rental system in the long run.

 

Playing in the past while waiting for the future

While waiting for Battle for Zendikar to release on MTGO so I can binge on sealed events, I decided to play a throw-back Khans of Tarkir/Fate Reforged draft – Magic Online has a 6-2-2-2 swiss queue (so you get to play all three rounds regardless of how bad your deck is) that costs about nine event tickets total (seven tix for the packs from a vendor bot plus two tix entry fee).  It’s cheap and it’s fun, so what the heck.

Apparently a pile of badness gets there once in a while. I went 2-0 and split the third round to get four packs (two of each set) instead of playing for the 6/2 posted prize distribution.

Sometimes you never know what will win games. Highlight of the event: I won a game by casting Deflecting Palm on a 7/7.

As you probably have noticed, I don’t post on this site very often, but I am constantly tweeting random Magic-related things on my Twitter account. Head over there and follow me @badmagicplayer

Night of the Living End: A Modern PPTQ Tournament Report

Note: this article has super TL;DR potential. If you’re interested in seeing the inner workings of the Living End Modern deck, then I recommend reading the whole thing. Otherwise, check out the two videos below, and the TL;DR is I went 4-0-2 in swiss, beating Burn, Bogles, Grixis Control, and 8-Rack, then beat Abzan CoCo combo in the quarters and lost to it in the semis.

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Aside from its substantial financial barrier to entry, Modern is a fantastic format right now. The metagame is diverse and full of interesting deck strategies. You can win with aggressive creatures (Zoo, Elves), a midrange/tempo strategy (Jund, Abzan), control (Grixis Tasigur), or combo (Scapeshift, Amulet Bloom, Splinter Twin), with plenty of decks somewhere in between (Infect, Bogles, Black-red 8-Rack).

Speaking of combo decks, lately I’ve been messing around with the Living End combo deck. The Living End archetype was developed by Travis Woo of ChannelFireball.com a few years ago, and has gone in and out of popularity amongst fringe-deck players. The deck revolves around filling the graveyard with creatures by the using the Cycle mechanic to draw more cards, and then exploiting spells with the Cascade mechanic to cast Living End for free and bring all the graveyard to life while leveling the opponent’s board.

Before we get into too much detail about my recent play experiences, check out the video below for an analysis of the decklist I’ve been piloting.

It’s a great time to play a degenerate combo deck in Modern given how open the format is, and Living End is especially well positioned due to the sheer number of unknown cards and mechanics it throws at most players. It’s amazing how many players at in-person events have never heard of Cascade (thanks mostly to the banning of Bloodbraid Elf, one of the few constructed-playable Cascade cards), and thus play incorrectly in response to me casting Violent Outburst or Demonic Dread. Additionally, I have had many opponents not understand how the card Living End works, resulting in a small but favorable advantage.

For those unfamiliar with how the Living End combo works, check out the video below for a brief demonstration.

I recently lost in the semifinals of a PPTQ at Flat Land Games (great store, check it out if you’re in southeastern Michigan!) playing Living End, and I’ve included a round-by-round tournament report below. I was undefeated in the swiss rounds (4-0 then two intentional draws) and then played against the same deck archetype in both Top 8 rounds.

Silumgar in the New Standard

Welcome to the new Standard format! It looks a lot like the old format, actually.

The format staples are still here, but Dragons of Tarkir gave every deck something special to work with. Reanimator decks got the Demonic Tutor stylings of Sidisi, Undead Vizier. Mono-red aggro decks increased their one-drop options with Lightning Berserker and Zurgo Bellstriker. Green beat-down decks can go on a relentless offensive using multiple Deathmist Raptor. And control, which arguably benefited most from Dragons of Tarkir, increased its draw consistency with Anticipate and doubled its removal power with Ultimate Price. Nearly every Standard archetype acquired from the new set either a maindeckable powerhouse or a sideboard staple. Dragons of Tarkir was basically Oprah:

After a decent time away from competitive Magic, I sleeved up 75 blue and black control cards and battled in a local PPTQ the day after Dragons of Tarkir released. I’ve been playing blue/black control for the past few months on MTGO and figured it would be a good call to just play what I know (versus learning a brand new archetype) in this first event of the new format. I added some of the new cards into my list and practiced a bit with friends.

I went into the event fully confident in the deck, but things didn’t go as well as I had planned. I ended up 3-3, blowing two chances to make it into the top 8 playoff. But before we get into the details, let’s see the list:

2 Silumgar, the Drifting Death

2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

2 Perilous Vault

2 Crux of Fate

4 Anticipate
4 Dig Through Time
4 Dissolve
2 Negate
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Hero’s Downfall
1 Silumgar’s Command
2 Bile Blight
3 Ultimate Price

4 Temple of Deceit
4 Polluted Delta
4 Dismal Backwater
3 Radiant Fountain
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Opulent Palace
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
4 Island
4 Swamp

Sideboard:
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Drown in Sorrow
2 Bile Blight
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Silence the Believers
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Duress
3 Self-Inflicted Wound

The Exploits of a Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease Control Mage

Control is back in limited Magic!

I had one of the most exciting Prerelease weekends in recent memory, thanks to the epic shenanigans brought by the Silumgar brood’s Exploit mechanic. Sure, the sealed pools were especially bonkers given the seeded booster pack containing 14 on-color cards for the dragonlord we chose to follow (ex. my choice of Silumgar gave me 14 blue and black cards all in one booster, one being a foily blue/black promo rare), but that just allowed us to dive deeper into experiencing the new Dragons of Tarkir set.

I played sealed events at two great local game stores – Gamer’s Gauntlet in Clinton Township and Stadium Cards & Comics in Ypsilanti (Michigan) – and chose the Silumgar pack for both. I originally intended to run Silumgar for only one event and try a different color pair for the other,  but abusing the Exploit mechanic was too much fun for me to only play with it once. Interestingly, I found that the two decks played differently, even though they both contained many of the same cards. It only took a few key cards differing in each deck to completely alter the approaches I took to controlling my opponent and paving the road to victory.

I ended up 4-1-1 in the first event and had a 4-2 record for the second, splitting the Top 8 prize in each. The whole weekend was a blast – I won more than a booster box’s worth of Dragons of Tarkir (DTK) packs, played some fantastic limited Magic with old friends, and gained deep insight into the value-crazy control archetype for DTK/Fate Reforged limited.  Read all about my DTK Prerelease exploits, below.