G
Gizmo
Guest
I got a pack with strong black, and then both green and white as viable secondary colours. I spent about 70% of the time using the green, but swapparooed for the white the rest of the time.
BLACK
Cruel Deceiver
Skull snatcher (B1, 2/1, Ninjitsu B, when unblocked remove two cards from a graveyard)
Wicked Akuba
Takenuma Bleeder (B2, 3/3, When it attacks/blocks lose 1 life)
Villainous Ogre
Hired Muscle (BB1, 2/2, when you play an arcane/spirit put a counter on it. Flip it after two counters, becomes a 4/4 with remove a counter to give fear)
Throat Slitter (B4, 2/2, Ninjitsu B2, When unblocked Dark Banishing)
Genju of the Fens (B, Enchant Swamp, 2: swamp become a 2/2, B: +1/+1, when the swamp dies you pick up the Genju)
Rend Spirit
Hideous Laughter
Pull Under
GREEN
Soilshaper
Sakua-Tribe Elder
Gnarled Mass (GG1, 3/3 Spirit)
Order Of The Sacred Bell
Life spinner (G3, 3/3 Spirit with a pointless ability)
Sakura-Tribe Spring caller (G3, 2/4, in upkeep add G to your mana pool for the turn)
Kashi-Tribe Warriors
Scaled Hulk (G5, 4/4, +2/+2 per Arcane/Spirit that turn)
Kodama’s Might
Wear Away
Serpent Skin
ARTIFACT
Blinding Powder (1, Equip for 2, Unattach: prevent all combat damage to this creature this turn)
LAND
Forest x8
Swamp x9
I also had a Midnight Covenant and a Dance Of Shadows which I Sbed in on occasion, but the Dance wasn't too useful because everyone was playing Black monsters. The white was mostly useful for controlling big Spirit rares, and wasn't particularly great. When I come up against people with a few of the big flying legend monsters I went to the white and it paid off quite well.
The white Swapparroo consisted of
Kitsune Diviner
Samurai of the Pale Curtain
Moonlit Strider (W3, 1/4, Sac: Give protection, Soushift 3)
Indebted Samurai (W3, 2/3 Bushido, when a samurai dies gets a +1/+1 counter)
Kitsune Healer
Harsh Deceiver
Silverstorm Samurai (WW4, 3/3 Bushido, can play as instant)
Yosei, White Dragon
Hundred Talons Strike (W, +1/+0 and First Strike till eot)
Cage Of Hands
Plains x8
I went 5-0-1 losing my last match and came in 3rd overall behind two people on 5-1-0. My deck was ok, but most of my early wins were aided by shockingly awful opponents who played better cards than me but were trying really hard to lose by chumpblocking left, right and centre, or forgetting to give things protection when I tried to kill them (he was battering me with a Jugan 5/5 green Dragon guy, and I hit it with a Pull Under the turn I was going to die, knowing he had the Moonlit Strider to save it with... unfortunately he didn't seem to know he had the Moonlit Strider, so Jugan bit the dust and I won the game). Hideous Laughter won me most of the other games that were going close and was definately the MVP, although the Hired Muscles and Genju were also both very strong cards.
Round One: G/B
He gets flooded in the first game, I get flooded in the second game, third game drags on a bit but he insists on chumpblocking or trading creatures for Genju swamps, and I win.
2-1
Round Two: G/B
See above, it was pretty much a carbon copy of the first match.
2-1
Round Three: W/G
I get flooded in the first, then he gets flooded in the second. Third game drags on and he has loads of nasty big flying spirits (this is the guy with the Jugan, and also the Patron Kitsune and the 3/5 Spirit Linked flyer as well). I win by sideboarding in my white for the final game, using Kituse Diviner to control his big spirits and then I win with judicious use of an SBed Dance Of Shadows.
2-1
Round Four: W/R
This is the only game really worthy going into detail on was one where we had gone into a long long loooong stall in the first game of the match, so much so that I was down to the last cards in my library (i'd been turning the land in my hand upside down and pretending to read it as though it were a flip card, to try and bluff I had stuff). Drawing my final card I was faced with having to win on that turn or die by decking... but my opponent was down to 3 life and I had a cunning plan...
I HAD:
Takenuma Bleeder, but with a Cage Of Hands on it
Order Of Sacred Bell (4/3), with Serpent Skin, but also a white Gaseous Form on it
Gnarled Mass (3/3)
Sakura-Tribe Springcaller (2/4)
Villainous Ogre (3/2)
HE HAD:
Kitsune Eigth And Half Tails Tails, the little white protection ****bag
Harsh Deceiver
Kabuto Moth
Ogre Recluse (4/3, whenever a player cast a spell it becomes tapped)
But I'm holding the exact combination of cards I need to win, which I've been holding onto because I know they are the last three cards of my deck and I've been planning for this - Wear Away, Kodamas's Might, and Throat Slitter. I declare my attack phase and declare all my creatures (apart from the Caged Bleeder) as attackers, including the Order Of The Sacred Bell that cannot deal damage. Before blockers are declared (because I have to tap his Ogre Recluse out) I cast a Wear Away, splicing the Kodama's Might onto it, but because of his Nine Tails being around I have to Wear Away my own Serpent Skin - the +2/+2 from the Splice goes onto my Springcaller, making it 4/6 so he has to block it this turn. He now declares his blockers, getting in front of everything but the Order Of The Sacred Bell which can't deal damage, but I then Ninjitsu the Order into a 2/2 Throatslitter, and throw the Kodamas's Might on top to make it 4/4 and win the game, with only a few minutes left so we don't bother starting another.
1-0
Round Five: W/B
He rolls me in the first game as I draw 10 land and 5 spells. I SB madly into the white, and because I take out 11 green cards but only put in 10, I also add a random Midnight's Covenant as a filler. It destroys him utterly as it comes down third turn onto a Skullsnatcher and he never catches up and gets anything big enough to block it. In the third game it's a slower game as he has more control, but once again it's Midnight Covenant, this time on a Hired Muscle 4/4 guy that is handing out Fear that stops him. Two wins courtesy of the bad card I put in as filler - bonus!
2-1
Round Six: W/B
Disappointingly he rolls me over quickly in the first as I get flooded for what seems the umpteenth time, and in the second one although I fight valiantly he simply has to much good stuff for me to control - I can't deal with evasion very well and he once again has some brutal flying rares. All his creatures seem to have some sort of combat trickery attached, preventing damage, tapping creatures, giving protection, giving +1/+2... it makes him hard to attack. I hang on as long as I can on 1 life, but eventually a Kabuto Moth becomes one flyer too many, I don't topdeck the Throatslitter or Rend Spirit, and have to concede defeat.
0-2
I come away with 8 boosters of prizes, and two foil Rares (the Yosei I got in the sealed deck, and a Baku Altar - certainly I can't complain with that haul. It would have been nice to win but my deck was pretty mediocre, or at least it really did struggle against flyers and I had been fortunate that bad play on my opponent's parts had taken me to 5-0 in the first place.
Quote Of The Day:
Opponent: "How many cards in your hand?"
:-?
Me:"None"
:-(
Opponent: "Make Konda, Lord Of Eiganjo."
Me: "****"
:'(
Opponent: "This is the first time I actually get to use him. Every time I've played him so far he gets Pull Undered right away"
:-D
Me: "Draw a card, Pull Under your Konda"
BLACK
Cruel Deceiver
Skull snatcher (B1, 2/1, Ninjitsu B, when unblocked remove two cards from a graveyard)
Wicked Akuba
Takenuma Bleeder (B2, 3/3, When it attacks/blocks lose 1 life)
Villainous Ogre
Hired Muscle (BB1, 2/2, when you play an arcane/spirit put a counter on it. Flip it after two counters, becomes a 4/4 with remove a counter to give fear)
Throat Slitter (B4, 2/2, Ninjitsu B2, When unblocked Dark Banishing)
Genju of the Fens (B, Enchant Swamp, 2: swamp become a 2/2, B: +1/+1, when the swamp dies you pick up the Genju)
Rend Spirit
Hideous Laughter
Pull Under
GREEN
Soilshaper
Sakua-Tribe Elder
Gnarled Mass (GG1, 3/3 Spirit)
Order Of The Sacred Bell
Life spinner (G3, 3/3 Spirit with a pointless ability)
Sakura-Tribe Spring caller (G3, 2/4, in upkeep add G to your mana pool for the turn)
Kashi-Tribe Warriors
Scaled Hulk (G5, 4/4, +2/+2 per Arcane/Spirit that turn)
Kodama’s Might
Wear Away
Serpent Skin
ARTIFACT
Blinding Powder (1, Equip for 2, Unattach: prevent all combat damage to this creature this turn)
LAND
Forest x8
Swamp x9
I also had a Midnight Covenant and a Dance Of Shadows which I Sbed in on occasion, but the Dance wasn't too useful because everyone was playing Black monsters. The white was mostly useful for controlling big Spirit rares, and wasn't particularly great. When I come up against people with a few of the big flying legend monsters I went to the white and it paid off quite well.
The white Swapparroo consisted of
Kitsune Diviner
Samurai of the Pale Curtain
Moonlit Strider (W3, 1/4, Sac: Give protection, Soushift 3)
Indebted Samurai (W3, 2/3 Bushido, when a samurai dies gets a +1/+1 counter)
Kitsune Healer
Harsh Deceiver
Silverstorm Samurai (WW4, 3/3 Bushido, can play as instant)
Yosei, White Dragon
Hundred Talons Strike (W, +1/+0 and First Strike till eot)
Cage Of Hands
Plains x8
I went 5-0-1 losing my last match and came in 3rd overall behind two people on 5-1-0. My deck was ok, but most of my early wins were aided by shockingly awful opponents who played better cards than me but were trying really hard to lose by chumpblocking left, right and centre, or forgetting to give things protection when I tried to kill them (he was battering me with a Jugan 5/5 green Dragon guy, and I hit it with a Pull Under the turn I was going to die, knowing he had the Moonlit Strider to save it with... unfortunately he didn't seem to know he had the Moonlit Strider, so Jugan bit the dust and I won the game). Hideous Laughter won me most of the other games that were going close and was definately the MVP, although the Hired Muscles and Genju were also both very strong cards.
Round One: G/B
He gets flooded in the first game, I get flooded in the second game, third game drags on a bit but he insists on chumpblocking or trading creatures for Genju swamps, and I win.
2-1
Round Two: G/B
See above, it was pretty much a carbon copy of the first match.
2-1
Round Three: W/G
I get flooded in the first, then he gets flooded in the second. Third game drags on and he has loads of nasty big flying spirits (this is the guy with the Jugan, and also the Patron Kitsune and the 3/5 Spirit Linked flyer as well). I win by sideboarding in my white for the final game, using Kituse Diviner to control his big spirits and then I win with judicious use of an SBed Dance Of Shadows.
2-1
Round Four: W/R
This is the only game really worthy going into detail on was one where we had gone into a long long loooong stall in the first game of the match, so much so that I was down to the last cards in my library (i'd been turning the land in my hand upside down and pretending to read it as though it were a flip card, to try and bluff I had stuff). Drawing my final card I was faced with having to win on that turn or die by decking... but my opponent was down to 3 life and I had a cunning plan...
I HAD:
Takenuma Bleeder, but with a Cage Of Hands on it
Order Of Sacred Bell (4/3), with Serpent Skin, but also a white Gaseous Form on it
Gnarled Mass (3/3)
Sakura-Tribe Springcaller (2/4)
Villainous Ogre (3/2)
HE HAD:
Kitsune Eigth And Half Tails Tails, the little white protection ****bag
Harsh Deceiver
Kabuto Moth
Ogre Recluse (4/3, whenever a player cast a spell it becomes tapped)
But I'm holding the exact combination of cards I need to win, which I've been holding onto because I know they are the last three cards of my deck and I've been planning for this - Wear Away, Kodamas's Might, and Throat Slitter. I declare my attack phase and declare all my creatures (apart from the Caged Bleeder) as attackers, including the Order Of The Sacred Bell that cannot deal damage. Before blockers are declared (because I have to tap his Ogre Recluse out) I cast a Wear Away, splicing the Kodama's Might onto it, but because of his Nine Tails being around I have to Wear Away my own Serpent Skin - the +2/+2 from the Splice goes onto my Springcaller, making it 4/6 so he has to block it this turn. He now declares his blockers, getting in front of everything but the Order Of The Sacred Bell which can't deal damage, but I then Ninjitsu the Order into a 2/2 Throatslitter, and throw the Kodamas's Might on top to make it 4/4 and win the game, with only a few minutes left so we don't bother starting another.
1-0
Round Five: W/B
He rolls me in the first game as I draw 10 land and 5 spells. I SB madly into the white, and because I take out 11 green cards but only put in 10, I also add a random Midnight's Covenant as a filler. It destroys him utterly as it comes down third turn onto a Skullsnatcher and he never catches up and gets anything big enough to block it. In the third game it's a slower game as he has more control, but once again it's Midnight Covenant, this time on a Hired Muscle 4/4 guy that is handing out Fear that stops him. Two wins courtesy of the bad card I put in as filler - bonus!
2-1
Round Six: W/B
Disappointingly he rolls me over quickly in the first as I get flooded for what seems the umpteenth time, and in the second one although I fight valiantly he simply has to much good stuff for me to control - I can't deal with evasion very well and he once again has some brutal flying rares. All his creatures seem to have some sort of combat trickery attached, preventing damage, tapping creatures, giving protection, giving +1/+2... it makes him hard to attack. I hang on as long as I can on 1 life, but eventually a Kabuto Moth becomes one flyer too many, I don't topdeck the Throatslitter or Rend Spirit, and have to concede defeat.
0-2
I come away with 8 boosters of prizes, and two foil Rares (the Yosei I got in the sealed deck, and a Baku Altar - certainly I can't complain with that haul. It would have been nice to win but my deck was pretty mediocre, or at least it really did struggle against flyers and I had been fortunate that bad play on my opponent's parts had taken me to 5-0 in the first place.
Quote Of The Day:
Opponent: "How many cards in your hand?"
:-?
Me:"None"
:-(
Opponent: "Make Konda, Lord Of Eiganjo."
Me: "****"
:'(
Opponent: "This is the first time I actually get to use him. Every time I've played him so far he gets Pull Undered right away"
:-D
Me: "Draw a card, Pull Under your Konda"