Peasant Magic Groningen

Results November 25, 2011

2011-12-21T16:28:00.002+01:00

It's been a long, long time since I uploaded any actual decklists to this site. Things have changed in my life, and Magic hasn't been the first thing on my mind every day for a while now. Instead I'm thinking of stuff like how wonderful it is my girlfriend's pregnant! It's still nice to read some of the comments on my latest (banned list) update calling for more updates though, so here is a small one. Only two decks had a better than 5/3/0 result, and one of those was mine. Not that I won, but at least I didn't completely fail at building a decent deck, I just played the wrong one :)

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/B
01.	Andre Pannekoek	UB Reanimator		5/5/0/0
02.	Desmond Scholtens	Burn		5/4/0/0
03.	Siebe van der Veer	MBC		5/3/0/0
04.	Jasper Boelens	Affinity		5/3/0/0
05.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Umbral Elves		5/3/0/0
06.	Maarten Jacobs	MBC		5/3/0/0
07.	Gijsbert Haaksman	GU Mimic		5/3/0/0
08.	Sebastiaan Tuinstra	GU Madness		5/3/0/0
09.	Johan Nobel	RUG Proliferator		5/2/0/0
10.	Martijn Hennink	GW Hatebears		5/2/0/0
11.	Chris *****	Vial Slivers		5/2/0/0
12.	Niels *****	Burning Vengeance		5/1/0/1
13.	Oswin ten Brinke	Affinity		5/1/0/1
14.	Elderik Peeman	Grapeshot Combo		5/2/0/0
15.	Johan Nobel	Affinity		3/1/0/0
16.	Allard van der Made	UB Reanimator		5/1/0/0

Andre Pannekoek - UB Reanimator

Creatures
4 Hapless Researcher
4 Owl Familiar
4 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Pathrazer of Ulamog (U)

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Careful Study
4 Duress
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
3 Reanimate (U)
4 Exhume
3 Dragon Breath

Lands
10 Island
9 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disfigure
SB: 4 Spell Pierce
SB: 4 Steel Sabotage
SB: 3 Daze

Desmond Scholtens - Burn

Creatures
4 Spark Elemental
3 Hellspark Elemental (U)

Spells
1 Burst Lightning
4 Chain Lighting
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Needle Drop
3 Shard Volley
4 Flame Rift
2 Magma Jet (U)
4 Rift Bolt
4 Fireblast

Lands
19 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Burst Lightning
SB: 4 Incinerate
SB: 3 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 3 Kiln Fiend
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

I hope you can forgive me for posting less and less often. I'm not yet planning on quitting this blog though, so please bear with me ;)

Until next time!

Banned List Update 6

2011-11-03T19:49:00.003+01:00

As of 07/11/2011, Cranial Plating and Thopter Foundry are banned in peasant tournaments in Groningen. At the same time Ancient Den, Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Tree of Tales, and Vault of Whispers will be pulled off the banned lists and are, once again, legal to play at our tournaments.

So, what happened while this little blog didn't get updated? We rebranded our Peasant tournaments to Budget, and have been playing Pauper events for the last few months as an experiment. Our conclusion was that it is not quite as varied as Peasant, and certainly doesn't offer the same amount of build-around-me cards as Peasant. Starting this month we will be running Peasant events again. Playing Pauper did offer a few insights though.

One of our players pointed out (a while ago) that the Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek combo, while seemingly beatable, kept other control decks in check. Playing Pauper reinforced that impression, as that format has a wider range of control decks than our Peasant metagame had, while still having a lot of agressive decks. There doesn't seem to be a playable control deck that can handle both the early onslaught of the various aggressive decks as well as the inevitability of that combo. Once we knew we wanted to kill the combo, the question remained which one of the pieces we had to ban.

This is where our second insight helped us, namely that Affinity isn't a problem in Pauper. The artifact lands have been banned not once, but twice in the, I mean our little history of Peasant. The last few years of Magic have really enriched the metagame with numerous good cards and archetypes, as well as answers to decks that previously seemed unbeatable. When first we unbanned the artifact lands because of this, eventually a gross list incorporating the Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek combo proved to be so much better than anything else that we could bring to the table, that we couldn't think of any solution other than banning the artifact lands again. Our first reaction was to ban Sword of the Meek, but than we asked ourselves, is there a deck that wants to play Thopter Foundry without the Sword? We figured that, without artifact land in the equation, there is no such deck. Then we asked ourselves, do we want to bring back artifact lands? After all, affinity is, as I said before, not a problem in Pauper, and certainly not more explosive than the various infect decks that prompted us to ban Invigorate.

Once we decided it was okay to bring back artifact land, we knew Thopter Foundry was the card to ban. Of course, that meant Cranial Plating also had to go. In the end I think we have a list that more closely resembles the Pauper banned list, adjusted for Peasant concerns. I hope you will enjoy the changes to the banned list and the certain changes to the metagame it entails. Have fun!

To see the full list of banned cards, click here.

PS. In an effort to clean up the rules section, I stopped chronicling changes to the banned list. I hope you can appreciate it.

Banned List Update 5

2011-06-05T11:19:00.004+02:00

As of 02/06/2011, Invigorate is banned in peasant tournaments in Groningen.

We realize this banning comes short after the March bannings, but we did put Invigorate on the watchlist then. After only two tournaments we have to conclude that Invigorate is simply too strong in infect decks. Yes, an infect deck is still beatable, but you have to have a one-mana answer, because they can kill you on turn two. Black has good options that fit in black deck's strategies, but other colors aren't as fortunate.

We believe that, rather than let the metagame warp itself around these super-aggressive infect builds, it's better to eliminate the worst offender in the deck. This will slow down infect decks by a turn or two and give other decks the room to be somewhat more inventive with their answers.

To see the full list of banned cards, click here.

Results April 29, 2011

2011-06-05T11:09:00.001+02:00

A tad late, but we're not dead! It's been a bit hectic for me lately, so I didn't spent too much time on magic, let alone on this blog. There's been two tournaments since, the Spring Qualifier and the end-of-season Finale. More on the last one later, but first the results of that qualifier. Unfortunately, they're not quite up to speed, because I can't remember what everyone was playing. Apologies for that.

PS. Since Johnny played the same deck as in september (save for some sideboard slots) and I don't have decklists for André and Sietze, I'll be posting the top 3 deck only.

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D
01.	Gijsbert Haaksman	Grapeshot Combo		5/4/0
02.	Rob de Jonge	B/G Infect		5/4/0
03.	Jasper Boelens	Thopterpost		5/4/0
04.	Sietze Wijma	Elves		5/3/0
05.	André Pannekoek	???		5/3/0
06.	Johnny Niemeyer	Cheese		5/3/0
07.	Matthijs Hoogeveen	Umbral Elves		5/2/0
08.	Desmond Scholtens	???		5/2/0
09.	Martijn Hennink	Brown-White Beatdown		5/2/0
10.	Remco van der Berg	???		5/1/0
11.	Niels Gramser	Moosebite		5/1/0
12.	Julius Sijtstra	MBC		5/1/0

Gijsbert Haaksman - Grapeshot Combo

Creatures

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Dark Ritual
4 Rite of flames
4 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Grapeshot
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Manamorphose
3 Words of Wisdom
4 Seething song
1 Ignite Memories(U)

Lands
4 Ancient Spring
4 Irrigation Ditch
4 Island
4 Sulfur Vent

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Early Frost

Rob de Jonge - BG Infect

Creatures
4 Vector Asp
4 Blight Mamba
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Plague Stinger
1 Cystbearer
3 Rot Wolf

Spells
4 Berserk (U)
3 Bonesplitter
3 Rancor
3 Vines of Vastwood
1 Sylvan Library (U)
4 Invigorate

Lands
2 Evolving Wilds
11 Forest
6 Swamp
3 Teramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Doomblade
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 3 Snuff Out

Jasper Boelens - Thopter Teachings

Creatures
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Mnemonic Wall
2 Mulldrifter

Spells
1 Condescend
1 Enlightened Tutor (U)
1 Expedition Map
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Azorius Signet
1 Counterspell
2 Momentary Blink
1 Muddle the Mixture
4 Prohibit
3 Prophetic Prism
1 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Quicksilver Geyser

Lands
1 Azorius Chancery
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
8 Island
6 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 2 Sunlance
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 1 Hindering Touch
SB: 3 Journey to Nowhere
SB: 3 Lone Missionary
SB: 1 Dismantling Blow
SB: 1 Holy Light
SB: 1 Serrated Arrows
SB: 1 Ulamog's Crusher

That's all for this installment!

Until next time!

Results March 25, 2011

2011-04-26T21:49:00.010+02:00

Once again I missed a tournament. This time because I went to a concert of Acda & de Munnik! This means that I don't have all the information I'ld like to present, but I do have some decklists for you!

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D
01.	Johnny Niemeyer	Cheese		5/4/0
02.	Siebe van der Veer	MBC		5/4/0
03.	Maarten Jacobs	Thopterpost		5/4/0
04.	Rob de Jonge	Infect		5/3/0
05.	Julius Sijtstra	MBC		5/3/0
06.	Niels Gramser	Moosebite		5/3/0
07.	Matthijs Hoogeveen	Umbral Elves		5/3/0
08.	Jeroen Hillemans	Tortured Existence		5/3/0
09.	Johan Rots	MBC		5/3/0
10.	Desmond Scholtens	Burn		5/2/0
11.	André Pannekoek	Thopter Control		5/2/0
12.	Thom Gellekink	???	???	5/2/0
13.	Oswin ten Brinke	???	???	5/2/0
14.	Remco van den Berg	WU Allies		5/1/0
15.	Robert Bekker	???	???	5/1/0

Johnny Niemeyer - Cheese

Creatures
4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg War Marshal

Spells
4 Chain Lightning
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Quest For Pure Flame (U)
1 Dragon Fodder
3 Searing Blaze
4 Fireblast

Lands
1 Barbarian Ring (U)
19 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Lava Dart
SB: 4 Flaring Pain
SB: 3 Guerilla Tactics
SB: 4 Smash To Smithereens

Siebe van der Veer - MBC

Creatures
3 Crypt Rats
1 Darkling Stalker

Spells
4 Expedition Map
4 Innocent Blood
2 Relic Of Progenitus
4 Consume Spirit
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Drain Life
4 Hymn To Tourach
1 Evincar's Justice
4 Tendril Of Corruption
2 Necrologia (U)

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
22 Swamp
1 Urza's Factory (U)

Sideboard
SB: 1 Forest
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 3 Molder
SB: 1 Relic Of Progenitus
SB: 3 Unmake
SB: 1 Darkling Stalker
SB: 2 Desecrated Earth

Maarten Jacobs - Thopter Teachings

Creatures
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Mnemonic Wall
2 Mulldrifter

Spells
3 Condescend
1 Enlightened Tutor (U)
1 Expedition Map
1 Power Sink
1 Azorius Signet
1 Counterspell
2 Momentary Blink
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Prohibit
4 Prophetic Prism
1 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)
3 Compulsive Research
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Quicksilver Geyser

Lands
1 Azorius Chancery
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
8 Island
6 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 1 Bojuka Bog
SB: 2 Sunlance
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 1 Hindering Touch
SB: 3 Journey to Nowhere
SB: 3 Lone Missionary
SB: 1 Dismantling Blow
SB: 1 Serrated Arrows
SB: 1 Ulamog's Crusher

Rob de Jonge - Infect

No decklist provided.

Creatures

Spells

Lands

Sideboard
SB:

Julius Sijtstra -

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
2 Expedition Map
4 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Drain Life
4 Hymn To Tourach
2 Unmake
4 Tendrils Of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Evincar's Justice
SB: 3 Anodet Lurker
SB: 4 Pewter Golem

Niels Gramser - Moosebite

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
1 Kitchen Finks (U)
3 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Blastoderm
3 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
3 Unearth
3 Doom Blade
2 Nameless Inversion
1 Sign in Blood
1 Grim Harvest

Lands
1 Evolving Wilds
3 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Snow-Covered Forest
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 2 Faerie Macabre
SB: 3 Diabolic Edict
SB: 1 Doomblade
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 2 Rending Vines
SB: 1 Tranquility
SB: 2 Rending Vines

Mathijs Hoogeveen - Umbral Elves

Creatures
4 Birchlore Ranger
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Netle Sentinel
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest Of Titania
4 Timberwatch Elf
4 Viridion Joiner

Spells
4 Rancor
4 Manamorpose
3 Umbral Mantel (U)
2 Distant Melody
2 Harmonize (U)

Lands
14 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 2 Kaervek’s Torch
SB: 4 Lightning Bolt
SB: 2 Nihil Spellbomb
SB: 3 Scattershot Archer
SB: 4 Naturalize

Jeroen Hillemans - Tortured Existence

Creatures
3 Spore Frog
3 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Wall of Roots
3 Crypt Rats
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
2 Ondu Giant
3 Wickerbough Elder
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Artisan of Kozilek (U)

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
1 Rampant Growth
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
11 Forest
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 1 Spore Frog
SB: 3 Grim Harvest
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 3 Night Soil
SB: 3 Nourish
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 1 Wickerbough Elder

Them's the lists!

Until next time!

Banned List Update 4

2011-03-07T20:58:00.003+01:00

As of 07/03/2011 Empty the Warrens is banned in peasant tournaments in Groningen. At the same time, Counterbalance, Darksteel Citadel, and Demonic Tutor will be unbanned. Invigorate will be added to the watchlist.

So, the Banned List Update is back with a vengeance. Last year we had a quick update when we added Empty the Warrens to the watchlist. The deck has been dominating the last two tournaments as well, even though the January tournament was ultimately won by another deck, it has pocketed another win in February despite proper sideboarding and maindeck hate, this time in the hands of another player. We promised to take more drastic measures last year in case of this exact scenario, and we like to keep our promises. It's as simple as that really.

Invigorate is added to the watchlist. We heard poison was wrecking the metagame in Germany, so we took a good look at poison. We believe that, since the deck is creature based, a proper control deck like MBC should be able to handle it. We did notice however that Invigorate is basically a free Giant Growth on steroids. The card borders on unfair, and we think it's even better than Berserk in poison decks. Until we learn more though, we can't really tell if it is too unfair, and that's why we've decided to add it to the watchlist.

Once again, we took a good look at the current metagame and the banned list to see if other adjustments were possible. It's no fun after all if it just keeps getting larger. The result is the unbanning of the three cards mentioned above.

Counterbalance has been banned for over a year now, and in that time, no really succesful blue-based control deck has managed to evolve. Since such a deck is healthy for the metagame, to keep the combo decks in check, we decided to give it another chance to shine. We fully expect the card to show up in succesful decks again, causing a good deal of groans and annoyed faces, but we also belief that the archetype it is played in should play a role in peasant again.

Darksteel Citadel has always been banned and unbanned together with the other artifact lands. We believe it doesn't help affinity much on its own, but it might help out metalcraft. The new mechanic offers a few saucy commons that can beat real hard real fast but just don't have the support right now. We hope Darksteel Citadel can provide that support without favoring one of the colors, and without enabling the affinity deck of yore.

Last but not least, Demonic Tutor will be allowed in decks again. It was banned primarily for its role in Grapeshot Storm, but since the printing of Goblin Bushwhacker, Empty the Warrens has become the faster and more consistent deck of the two. In addition, new lifegain spells (Lone Missionary, Rest for the Weary) have been printed that can really put a dent into Grapeshot's effectiveness. All in all, Demonic Tutor might enable less obnoxious, slightly slower combo decks to replace the void left by the banning of Empty the Warrens.

As always, feel free to comment, and happy deckbuilding. We hope you'll enjoy the new metagame!

To see the full list of banned cards, click here.

Results February 25 , 2011

2011-03-07T20:56:00.003+01:00

First up, apologies. I was in New Zealand during the January tournament, so I haven't gathered any decklists. I can give you a standing, but I don't even know what everyone played. I know what the winner played though: Cheese. Yes, that's the mono-red Quest for the Pure Flame deck that won the Fall Qualifiers! This month (or I should say, last month) I was back however, so here are the results of February!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! We've got a new update to the banned list that I will be posting about later this evening. It'll probably shake things up quite a bit, so stay tuned ;)

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	Johnny Niemeyer	Dirty Kitty		5/4/0/0
02.	Niels Gramser	Moosebite		5/3/0/0
03.	Johan Rots	WeeBee		5/3/0/0
04.	André Pannekoek	Dirty Kitty		5/3/0/0
05.	Martijn Hennink	Reanimator		5/3/0/0
06.	Siebe van der Veer	WeeBee		5/3/0/0
07.	Michiel Deunk	WU Allies		5/2/0/0
08.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Umbral Elves		5/2/0/0
09.	Joey Bouwkamp	BG Infect		5/2/0/0
10.	Oswin ten Brinke	WeeBee		5/0/0/0

Johnny Niemeyer - Dirty Kitty

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
2 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Niels Gramser - Moosebite

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Grim Harvest
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
2 Kitchen Finks (U)
2 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Blastoderm
3 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
3 Unearth
4 Doom Blade
2 Sign in Blood

Lands
1 Evolving Wilds
3 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Snow-Covered Forest
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 2 Sandstorm
SB: 3 Diabolic Edict
SB: 2 Nameless Inversion
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 2 Rending Vines

Johan Rots - WeeBee

Creatures
4 Dauthi Horror
3 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
4 Chittering Rats
3 Liliana's Specter
1 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
4 Duress
2 Castigate
3 Grasp of Darkness
4 Zealous Persecution (U)
2 Oblivion Ring

Lands
2 Kabira Crossroads
5 Plains
12 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Hallow
SB: 4 Disenchant
SB: 4 Obsidian Acolyte
SB: 3 Unmake
SB: 3 Faceless Butcher

André Pannekoek - Dirty Kitty

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
2 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Martijn Hennink - Reanimator

Creatures
4 Hapless Researcher
4 Owl Familiar
4 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Pathrazer of Ulamog (U)

Spells
4 Careful Study
4 Duress
4 Lotus Petal
4 Preordain
3 Reanimate (U)
4 Exhume
4 Dragon Breath

Lands
10 Island
9 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disfigure
SB: 4 Steel Sabotage
SB: 4 Daze
SB: 3 Stench of Decay

Siebe van der Veer - WeeBee

Creatures
4 Dauthi Horror
3 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
4 Chittering Rats
3 Liliana's Specter
1 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
4 Duress
2 Castigate
3 Grasp of Darkness
4 Zealous Persecution (U)
2 Oblivion Ring

Lands
2 Kabira Crossroads
5 Plains
12 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Hallow
SB: 4 Disenchant
SB: 4 Obsidian Acolyte
SB: 3 Unmake
SB: 3 Faceless Butcher

Well, six decks but only four different decklists. The metagame must be pretty clear! Dirty Kitty took the tournament for the bazillionth time though, despite two WeeBee decks poised to beat it with 4 maindeck Zealous Persecutions and loads of discard. What's that hammering sound? Could it be?

Until next time!

Banned List Update

2010-12-31T14:31:00.003+01:00

Only a minor adjustment to the watchlist, but worth noting anyway.

Because of the continued dominance of André's Dirty Kitty deck, we decided to put Empty the Warrens back on the watchlist. The card has been on and off the watchlist before, but before Zendikar the deck proved to be very beatable with some dedicated sideboard hate. Goblin Bushwhacker changed all that however, as the deck can now play the full set of Fecundities, and is far more lethal with 2/1 hasty goblins.

So far no one else has picked up the deck, and we think sideboards are not optimally equipped to beat the deck. If, however, more people start playing Dirty Kitty, and their overall performance takes on Affinity-era proportions (losses to only mirror matches and dedicated maindeck hate decks) despite proper sideboarding, we will have to take more drastic measures to ensure a healthy environment.

To see the full list of banned cards, click here.

Results December 17, 2010

2010-12-31T13:45:00.002+01:00

December brought 12 players, not as much as earlier tournaments this season, but more than enough for a fun night. André remains the man to beat with Dirty Kitty, but the new Umbral Elves list from last time proved good enough to be one of the top decks again. Oh, and I've got one brand spanking new deck for you, courtesy of me. I lost to Umbral Elves and Thopter Teachings, but it's a blast to play! As you will see, sideboard could shore up a few matchups!

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	André Pannekoek	Dirty Kitty		5/5/0/0
02.	Maarten Jacobs	Thopter Teachings		5/4/0/0
03.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Umbral Elves		5/3/0/0
04.	Erik-Sander Kwebeman	W/U Thopter Control		5/3/0/0
05.	Martijn Hennink	Golem Storm		5/3/0/0
06.	Remco van den Berg	???	???	5/3/0/0
07.	Desmond Scholtens	Naya Landfall		5/2/0/0
08.	Jasper Boelens	???	???	5/2/0/0
09.	Niels Gramser	Moosebite		5/2/0/0
10.	Johan Nobel	Mono Green Eldrazi		5/2/0/0
11.	Johnny Niemeyer	Boros		5/1/0/0
12.	Oswin ten Brinke	Faeries		5/0/0/0

Maarten Jacobs - Thopter Teachings

Creatures
4 Liliana's Specter
4 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
1 Ghostly Demise
4 Agony Warp
4 Counterspell
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Doom Blade
1 Echoing Decay
1 Grim Harvest
1 Into the Roil
3 Isochron Scepter (U)
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Sword of the Meek (U)
1 Thopter Foundry (U)
3 Mystical Teachings

Lands
2 Bojuka Bog
4 Dimir Aqueduct
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Island
6 Swamp
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Annul
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Coffin Purge
SB: 2 Dispel
SB: 1 Ghastly Demise
SB: 1 Diabolic Edict
SB: 2 Echoing Decay
SB: 1 Grim Harvest

Mathijs Hoogeveen - Umbral Elves

Creatures
3 Arbor Elf
3 Birchlore Rangers
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Quirion Ranger
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest of Titania
4 Timberwatch Elf
3 Viridian Joiner

Spells
4 Rancor
4 Manamorphose
3 Umbral Mantle (U)
2 Distant Melody
2 Harmonize

Lands
14 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 2 Kaervek's Torch
SB: 4 Lightning Bolt
SB: 3 Scattershot Archer
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 2 Night Soil

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - W/U Thopter Control

Creatures
4 Kemba's Skyguard
4 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
4 Preordain
4 Counterspell
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Mind Stone
2 Muddle the Mixture
1 Revoke Existence
2 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)
2 Stoic Rebuttal

Lands
3 Evolving Wilds
10 Island
10 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Spell Pierce
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 2 Revoke Existence
SB: 4 Safehold Elite
SB: 1 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Martijn Hennink - Golem Storm

Creatures
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Glaze Fiend
3 Trinket Mage
4 Chrome Steed
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer

Spells
4 Preordain
3 Sensei's Divining Top (U)
4 Springleaf Drum
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
2 Helm of Awakening (U)
4 Golem Foundry
4 Mistvein Borderpost

Lands
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Island
5 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 1 Welding Jar
SB: 1 Chromatic Star
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Turn Aside
SB: 3 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Stench of Decay

Remco van den Berg - ???

Creatures

Spells

Lands

Sideboard
SB:

Hope you had fun reading this!

Until next time!

Results November 26, 2010

2010-12-31T12:58:00.002+01:00

First of all, apologies for the delay. This tournament was some time ago, and I hadn't come around to posting the lists. Anyway, with only 10 players, it was quiet this time. We had no less fun though, as André once again proved to be a competent pilot of the most feared combo deck in our metagame.

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	André Pannekoek	Dirty Kitty		5/5/0/0
02.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Umbral Elves		5/4/0/0
03.	Johan Rots	Mono Green Eldrazi		5/3/0/0
04.	Martijn Hennink	Brown/White Aggro		5/3/0/0
05.	Rob de Jonge	Trollshroud Stompy		5/3/0/0
06.	Desmond Scholtens	R/G Aggro		5/2/0/0
07.	Oswin ten Brinke	Faeries		5/2/0/0
08.	Siebe van der Veer	Black Hand		5/2/0/0
09.	Emily Niël	Poison		5/1/0/0
10.	Remi Niël	Dirty Kitty		5/0/0/0

Johan Rots - Mono Green Eldrazi

Creatures
4 Overgrown Battlement
4 Wall of Roots
4 Fierce Empath
3 Mold Shambler
2 Krosan Tusker
1 Pelakka Wurm (U)
4 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Artisan of Kozilek (U)

Spells
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Crop Rotation
4 Explore
2 Lightning Greaves (U)

Lands
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
14 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 1 Bojuka Bog
SB: 3 Lignify
SB: 4 Moment's Peace
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 3 Nourish

Martijn Hennink - Brown/White Aggro

Creatures
4 Memnite (U)
4 Court Homonculus
4 Glint Hawk
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Leonin Squire

Spells
2 Bone Saw
4 Lotus Petal
4 Bonesplitter
4 Gelid Shackles
4 Glint Hawk Idol
4 Tumble Magnet

Lands
1 Mishra's Factory
17 Snow-Covered Plains

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 3 Sunlance
SB: 4 Revoke Existence
SB: 4 Holy Light

Rob de Jonge - Trollshroud Stompy

Creatures
4 Jungle Lion
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
2 Skyshroud Ridgeback
4 Slippery Bogle
3 Kavu Predator (U)
4 Silhana Ledgewalker

Spells
2 Berserk (U)
4 Giant Growth
4 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Invigorate

Lands
17 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Sandstorm
SB: 4 Scattershot Archer
SB: 4 Naturalize

There you have it, a nice update on the Mono Green Eldrazi deck and Umbral Elves, a new aggro-combo deck!

Until next time!

Results October 22, 2010

2010-11-22T18:11:00.005+01:00

22 players turned up for the Fall Qualifiers, and one player won a direct invite for the end of season Finals! Congratulations to Enne, who won again with his wonderful mono-red concoction! There's actually not much to say, so I'll let the results and the decklists speak for themselves. Have fun!

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	Enne Faber	Cheese		5/5/0/0
02.	Maarten Jacobs	Thopter Teachings		5/4/0/0
03.	Martijn Hennink	Brown/White Aggro		5/4/0/0
04.	Sietze Wijma	Ponza		5/3/1/0
05.	Desmond Scholtens	Arcane Tide		5/3/0/0
06.	Jasper Boelens	Boros		5/3/0/0
07.	Johan Rots	Black Hand		5/3/0/0
08.	Wytse de Jong	R/G Aggro		5/3/0/0
09.	Douwe van Noordenburg	Taïga		5/3/0/0
10.	Oswin ten Brinke	Faeries		5/3/0/0
11.	Robert Bekker	G/W Cloak		5/2/1/0
12.	Gijsbert Haaksman	Enlightened Blink		5/2/1/0
13.	Wouter Scholtens	Goblins		5/2/0/0
14.	Rob de Jonge	Taïga		5/2/0/0
15.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Elves Warrens		5/2/0/0
16.	Arne Haak	Thopter Teachings		5/2/0/0
17.	Michiel Deunk	Tortured Existence		5/2/0/0
18.	Johan Molendijk-den Brok	W/U Allies		5/2/0/0
19.	Marc Evers	Naya Landfall		5/1/0/0
20.	Bartele de Haan	Burn		5/1/0/0
21.	Remi Niël	W/U Thopter Control		5/1/0/0
22.	Emily Niël	Elves		5/2/0/0

Enne Faber - Cheese

Creatures
4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Keldon Marauders
2 Mogg War Marshal

Spells
4 Chain Lightning
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Quest for Pure Flame (U)
3 Reckless Abandon
4 Dragon Fodder
3 Searing Blaze
4 Fireblast

Lands
1 Barbarian Ring (U)
19 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 4 Flaring Pain
SB: 3 Guerrilla Tactics
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens

Martijn Hennink - Brown/White Aggro

Creatures
4 Memnite (U)
4 Court Homonculus
4 Glint Hawk
4 Kor Skyfisher
2 Leonin Squire

Spells
2 Bone Saw
4 Lotus Petal
4 Bonesplitter
4 Gelid Shackles
4 Glint Hawk Idol
4 Necrogen Censer
2 Tumble Magnet

Lands
1 Mishra's Factory
17 Snow-Covered Plains

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 3 Sunlance
SB: 2 Leonin Squire
SB: 4 Holy Light
SB: 2 Wispmare

Sietze Wijma - Ponza

Creatures
1 Akki Blizzard-Herder
4 Drooling Ogre
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Coal Stoker

Spells
3 Lotus Petal
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Misguided Rage
4 Molten Rain
2 Pillage (U)
4 Stone Rain
1 Lay Waste
4 Roiling Terrain
1 Seismic Spike

Lands
21 Mountain
2 Quicksand

Sideboard
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Tremor
SB: 1 Cryoclasm (U)
SB: 1 Coal Stoker
SB: 2 Icefall
SB: 1 Seismic Spike

Desmond Scholtens - Arcane Tide

Spells
3 Brainstorm
4 High Tide
3 Ponder
3 Preordain
4 Reach through Mists
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Dampen Thought (U)
1 Evermind (U)
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Peer Through Depths
2 Stream of Consciousness (U)
1 Oona's Grace
4 Psychic Puppetry

Lands
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 4 Gigadrowse
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus

Jasper Boelens - Boros

Creatures
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Plated Geopede
2 Aven Riftwatcher

Spells
3 Assault Strobe
3 Burst Lightning
3 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Incinerate
1 Isochron Scepter (U)
4 Lightning Helix (U)
3 Searing Blaze

Lands
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Mountain
4 Plains
4 Teetering Peaks
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 2 Flaring Pain
SB: 3 Guerilla Tactics
SB: 2 Journey to Nowhere
SB: 3 Revoke Existence
SB: 2 Prismatic Strands

Johan Rots - Black Hand

Creatures
4 Dauthi Slayer
3 Order of the Ebon Hand
4 Mesmeric Fiend
4 Chittering Rats
3 Liliana's Specter
1 Vampire Nighthawk (U)

Spells
3 Bonesplitter
4 Paralyze
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Sign in Blood
4 Engineered Plague (U)
2 Snuff Out

Lands
2 Barren Moor
20 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Child of Night
SB: 4 Diabolic Edict
SB: 3 Tendrils of Corruption
SB: 4 Dross Golem

Wytse de Jong - R/G Aggro

Creatures
4 Jund Hackblade
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Rip-Clan Crasher
2 Boggart Ram-Gang (U)
3 Bloodbraid Elf (U)

Spells
2 Assault Strobe
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Colossal Might
4 Manamorphose
3 Predator's Strike
1 Staggershock
4 Violent Outburst

Mana
4 Firewild Borderpost
8 Forest
9 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Vines of Vastwood
SB: 4 Hull Breach
SB: 4 Seismic Shudder

Creatures

Spells

Lands

Sideboard
SB:

As you can see, this isn't all. I plan on updating this blog with the other 14 decklists soon!

Until next time!

Results Ingolstadt, October 16th, 2010

2010-11-08T22:07:00.003+01:00

For the first time in the history of this blog, I will post results from outside Groningen. On the 16th of October, over in Ingolstadt, Germany, people picked up their commons and uncommons and played a well-attended tournament (18 people) with the same rules as we do. They've been playing for a while, but this time I got their T8 decklists! Enjoy a fresh take on Peasant!

Andreas H. - Gummi Bears

Creatures
4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Goblin Sledder
1 Mogg Raider
2 Goblin Lookout
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron
4 Mudbutton Torchrunner
1 Goblin Ringleader (U)
3 Warren Pilferers

Spells
4 Æther Vial (U)
4 Tarfire

Lands
17 Mountain
4 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Sylvok Lifestaff
SB: 1 Goblin Tinkerer
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

Christoph H. - Dirty Kitty

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Chirurgeon
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Goblin Sledder
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Benjamin T. - WeeBee

Creatures
4 Nip Gwyllion
2 Mourning Thrull
4 Nightsky Mimic
4 Tidehollow Sculler (U)
1 Cadaver Imp
3 Stinkweed Imp
1 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Blind Hunter

Spells
2 Bonesplitter
4 Edge of the Divinity
1 Raven's Crime
3 Sign in Blood
2 Pillory of the Sleepless
4 Unmake

Lands
1 Barren Moor
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Orzhov Basilica
2 Secluded Steppe
5 Snow-Covered Plains
9 Snow-Covered Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 4 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 3 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 4 Oblivion Ring
SB: 3 Guardian of the Guildpact

Bastian K. - Faerie Solicitation

Creatures
4 Zephyr Sprite
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
3 Bonesplitter
4 Counterspell
4 Daze
2 Echoing Truth
4 Mana Leak
3 Standstill (U)
1 Withdraw

Mana
4 Desert
15 Island
2 Mishra's Factory (U)

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Spell Pierce
SB: 2 Withdraw
SB: 2 Latchkey Faerie
SB: 2 Deep Analysis

Markus M. - Eldrazi Tron

Creatures
4 Wall of Roots
2 Fierce Empath
3 Mold Shambler
4 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Artisan of Kozilek (U)

Spells
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Crop Rotation
4 Explore
3 Lightning Greaves (U)
2 Reap and Sow
4 Dosan's Oldest Chant

Lands
12 Forest
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower

Sideboard
SB: 1 Fog
SB: 2 Nature's Claim
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Fists of Ironwood
SB: 1 Moment's Peace
SB: 2 Naturalize
SB: 2 Toil to Renown
SB: 2 Faerie Macabre
SB: 1 Rending Vines

Sebastian D. - Moosebite

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Eternal witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
2 Kitchen Finks (U)
2 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Blastoderm
3 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
4 Unearth
4 Doom Blade
2 Sign in Blood

Lands
1 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
3 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
Not submitted

Alexander H. - Moosebite

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Eternal witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Blastoderm
2 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
3 Unearth
4 Doom Blade
3 Hymn to Tourach

Lands
1 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
3 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Sandstorm
SB: 2 Grasp of Darkness
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 1 Wickerbough Elder

Markus S. - Pestilenz

Creatures
3 Blight Mamba
4 Ichorclaw Myr
3 Necropede (U)
4 Plague Stinger
3 Contagious Nim
3 Cystbearer

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Giant Growth
4 Rancor
4 Grasp of Darkness
4 Invigorate

Lands
10 Forest
10 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Bojuka Bog
SB: 1 Swamp
SB: 2 Nameless Inversion
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 2 Crypt Rats
SB: 1 Putrefy (U)
SB: 1 Overrun (U)

As you can see, there's quite a few commons in there that haven't seen play in our metagame yet! I wonder if these choices will have their effect on our own deckbuilders?

Until next time!

Results September 24, 2010

2010-10-20T19:48:00.005+02:00

17 players turned up for the fifth peasant tournament of season 3, the last tournament before the Fall Qualifiers! Every year we hold a Peasant Championship Tournament at the end of the season, and for the first time, there are multiple ways of winning an invite. One of the invites is given out to the person with the most points in the first five tournaments. Today, Robert was battling it out with Siebe to win that invite. If you know that Siebe was in the lead, I bet you can figure out who won the invite when poring over the results!

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	André Pannekoek	Dirty Kitty		5/4/1/0
02.	Maarten Jacobs	Thopter Teachings		4/3/1/1
03.	Desmond Scholtens	Elves Warrens		5/4/0/0
04.	Jasper Boelens	Thopter Control		5/3/1/0
05.	Johan Rots	MBC		5/3/0/0
06.	Wytse de Jong	Machinehead		5/3/0/0
07.	Siebe van der Veer	MBC		5/3/0/0
08.	Niels Gramser	Prosperity Trap		5/3/0/0
09.	Bert Oldenburger	Arcane Grapeshot		4/1/0/1
10.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	RG Slivers		4/1/0/1
11.	Guus Venhuizen	???	???	5/2/0/0
12.	Martijn Hennink	Mono Green Eldrazi		5/2/0/0
13.	Sietze Wijma	Elves		5/2/0/0
14.	Remi Niël	???	???	4/1/0/1
15.	Marc Evers	Naya Aggro		4/1/1/0
16.	Robert Bekker	GW Cloak		5/1/0/0
17.	Douwe van Noordenburg	Taïga		3/0/0/0

André Pannekoek - Dirty Kitty

NB! I actually don't have a decklist for André's deck, but this is what he played last time, so it probably won't be much different.

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwacker
2 Mogg Raider
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Mountain
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Maarten Jacobs - Thopter Teachings

Creatures
4 Liliana's Specter
4 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
1 Ghastly Demise
4 Agony Warp
4 Counterspell
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Doom Blade
1 Echoing Decay
1 Grim Harvest
1 Isochron's Scepter (U)
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)
3 Mystical Teachings

Lands
2 Bojuka Bog
4 Dimir Aqueduct
2 Evolving Wilds
9 Island
5 Swamp
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Coffin Purge
SB: 2 Dispel
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 1 Ghastly Demise
SB: 1 Diabolic Edict
SB: 2 Echoing Decay

Desmond Scholtens - Elves Warrens

Creatures
3 Fyndhorn Elves
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
3 Llanowar Elves
2 Quirion Ranger
3 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest of Titania
2 Imperious Perfect (U)
2 Timberwatch Elves

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Manamorphose
3 Fecundity (U)
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
11 Forest
6 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tormod’s Crypt
SB: 3 Birchlore Ranger
SB: 2 Grotag Siege-Runner
SB: 3 Naturalize
SB: 4 Wellwisher

Jasper Boelens - Thopter Control

Creatures

Spells
3 Condescend
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Counterspell
1 Echoing Truth
4 Journey to Nowhere
3 Muddle the Mixture
4 Rune Snag
2 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)
2 Deep Analysis

Mana
1 Azorius Signet
2 Bant Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
14 Island
4 Mind Stone
5 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 3 Disrupt
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Green
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 3 Hindering Light
SB: 3 Rest for the Weary
SB: 3 Oblivion Ring

Johan Rots - MBC

Creatures
2 Crypt Rats
3 Darkling Stalker

Spells
3 Expedition Map
4 Consume Spirit
4 Cruel Edict
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Evincar's Justice
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
22 Swamp
1 Urza's Factory (U)

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 4 Chittering Rats
SB: 2 Pewter Golem

Wytse de Jong - Machinehead

Creatures
3 Goblin Deathraider
4 Jund Hackblade
3 Kiln Fiend
3 Shambling Remains (U)
3 Singe-Mind Ogre

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Terminate
4 Blightning
4 Staggershock
2 Bituminous Blast (U)

Lands
8 Mountain
3 Rakdos Carnarium
5 Swamp
2 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Veinfire Borderpost

Sideboard
SB: 2 Flaring Pain
SB: 4 Diabolic Edict
SB: 2 Shrivel
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Yamabushi's Storm

Siebe van der Veer - MBC

Creatures
2 Crypt Rats
3 Darkling Stalker

Spells
2 Expedition Map
4 Consume Spirit
4 Cruel Edict
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Evincar's Justice
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Nausea
SB: 4 Chittering Rats
SB: 2 Pewter Golem

Niels Gramser - Prosperity Trap

Creatures

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
1 Brightstone Ritual
2 Mystical Tutor (U)
2 Prosperity (U)
4 Rite of Flame
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Impulse
4 Manamorphose
3 Pyretic Ritual
4 Seething Song
4 Distant Melody
4 Empty the Warrens
1 Runeflare Trap (U)

Lands
7 Island
3 Izzet Boilerworks
6 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 4 Spell Pierce
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Grapeshot

That's right, Prosperity Trap wins the award for most awesomest deck! The Fall Qualifier will be in two days (October the 22nd), and the winner will also be invited to the Peasant Championship Tournament. I wonder if Dirty Kitty will continue to perform or if another deck will rise to the top, but most of all I wonder what impact Scars of Mirrodin will have!

Until next time!

Results August 27, 2010

2010-09-20T19:29:00.004+02:00

A stunning 24 players turned up for the fourth peasant tournament of season 3! With another solid finish, Robert is nearing Siebe at the top of the charts. The real winner, however, was an old favorite, piloted by its designer Niels. Nice!

As for me? I am still on the same quest as last month, only this time the obscure new deck didn't put up a good result. To be fair though, three of my four losses were due to an opponent's topdeck in the third game, the turn before I could kill them. Yeah, that was pretty frustrating...

Anyway, you're here for the decklists. Have at it!

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	Niels Gramser	Moosebite		5/5/0/0
02.	Jasper Boelens	WeeBee		5/4/0/0
03.	André Pannekoek	Dirty Kitty		5/4/0/0
04.	Robert Bekker	GW Cloak		5/4/0/0
05.	Oswin ten Brinke	Faeries		5/3/2/0
06.	Egbert Jonkers	Elves		5/3/1/0
07.	Siebe van der Veer	MBC		5/3/0/0
08.	Anne Cnossen	Boros		5/3/0/0
09.	Erik-Sander Kwebeman	Thopter Control		5/3/0/0
10.	Johan Nobel	Mono Green Eldrazi		5/3/0/0
11.	Joey Bouwkamp	MBC		5/3/0/0
12.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Slivers		5/3/0/0
13.	Enne Faber	Cheese		5/2/0/0
14.	Guus Venhuizen	Elves		5/2/0/0
15.	Desmond Scholtens	Burn		5/2/0/0
16.	Remi Niël	Goblins		5/2/0/0
17.	Julius Sijtstra	Scepter Control		5/2/0/0
18.	Jan Kotlarski	Tortured Existence		5/2/0/0
19.	Thom Gellekink	Steal-'n-Sac		5/1/1/0
20.	Gijsbert Haaksman	Reanimator		5/1/0/0
21.	Remco van den Berg	GW Cloak		5/1/0/0
22.	Sietze Wijma	Faeries		5/1/0/0
23.	Martijn Hennink	Mindstorm Madness		5/1/0/0
24.	Wytse de Jong	Land Destruction		5/0/0/0

Niels Gramser - Moosebite

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
2 Kitchen Finks (U)
2 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Blastoderm
3 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
3 Unearth
4 Doom Blade
2 Sign in Blood

Lands
1 Evolving Wilds
3 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Snow-Covered Forest
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 2 Sandstorm
SB: 3 Diabolic Edict
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 2 Night Soil
SB: 2 Rending Vines

Jasper Boelens - WeeBee

Creatures
2 Kor Skyfisher
4 Chittering Rats
4 Liliana's Specter
4 Shrieking Grotesque
1 Stonecloaker (U)
3 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
3 Bonesplitter
3 Castigate
1 Doomblade
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Zealous Persecution (U)
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Snuff Out

Lands
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Evolving Wilds
2 Kabira Crossroads
6 Plains
11 Swamp
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 3 Echoing Decay
SB: 2 Seal of Cleansing
SB: 2 Prismatic Strands
SB: 2 Unmake
SB: 1 Snuff Out

André Pannekoek - Dirty Kitty

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwacker
2 Mogg Raider
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Mountain
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Robert Bekker - GW Cloak

Creatures
3 Scryb Sprites
3 Kor Skyfisher
3 Lone Missionary
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Aura Gnarlid
3 Yavimaya Enchantress (U)

Spells
1 Giant Growth
3 Pacifism
3 Hyena Umbra
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Vines of Vastwood
4 Armadillo Cloak
2 Boar Umbra (U)

Lands
12 Forest
8 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 3 Gelid Shackles
SB: 2 Giant Growth
SB: 1 Scryb Sprites
SB: 2 Spider Umbra
SB: 4 Grizzled Leotau
SB: 1 Lone Missionary
SB: 2 Snake Umbra

Oswin ten Brinke - Faeries

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
2 Bonesplitter
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Snap
3 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush

Lands
2 Desert
15 Island
3 Izzet Boilerworks

Sideboard
SB: 3 Hydroblast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Tremor
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Negate

Egbert Jonkers - Elves

Decklist not submitted.

Creatures

Spells

Lands

Sideboard
SB:

Siebe van der Veer - MBC

Creatures
2 Crypt Rats

Spells
2 Duress
2 Expedition Map
4 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
4 Diabolic Edict
3 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Evincar's Justice
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Chittering Rats
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 4 Pewter Golem

Anne Cnossen - Boros

Creatures
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Plated Geopede
2 Aven Riftwatcher

Spells
4 Burst Lightning
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Incinerate
1 Isochron Scepter (U)
4 Lightning Helix (U)
3 Searing Blaze
1 Rift Bolt

Lands
3 Desert
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Mountain
5 Plains
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Hallow
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Journey to Nowhere
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring

And that's eight! What a blast, and finally... finally a blue deck in the top 8!

Until next time!

Results July 30, 2010

2010-08-07T12:40:00.005+02:00

The third tournament was a doozy! One of the worst performers from the previous tournament took, what was essentially the same deck, to a flawless victory this time around! I'm very happy, because that means I can show you an exciting new take on burn!

As for me? I am on a quest, this season, to play obscure new decks, just for kicks! This time around I built quite an awesome deck, at least, it's hilarious to play! My opponents were a little less charmed, though it wasn't good enough to stop the eventual nrs 1 and 2. But hey, I guess that's how Karma works ;)

Have fun browsing decklists!

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	Enne Faber	Cheese		5/5/0/0
02.	Rob de Jonge	Predator Stompy		5/4/0/0
03.	Johan Rots	WeeBee		5/4/0/0
04.	Martijn Hennink	Swamped		5/2/0/1
05.	Jan Kotlarski	MBC		5/3/0/0
06.	Robert Bekker	GW Cloak		5/3/0/0
07.	Siebe van der Veer	WeeBee		5/3/0/0
08.	Oswin ten Brinke	Dirty Kitty		5/3/0/0
09.	Maarten Jacobs	Tortured Existence		4/1/0/1
10.	Remi Niël	Channel Fireball		5/2/0/0
11.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Slivers		5/2/0/0
12.	Johan Nobel	Spitfires		5/2/0/0
13.	Desmond Scholtens	Sligh		5/1/0/0
14.	Emily Niël	Rats		5/0/0/0
15.	Guus Venhuizen	BG Midrange		2/0/0/0

Rob de Jonge - Predator Stompy

Creatures
2 Ghazban Ogre
4 Jungle Lion
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Kavu Predator (U)
4 Silhana Ledgewalker

Spells
4 Giant Growth
4 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Invigorate
1 Bounty of the Hunt (U)

Lands
17 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Sandstorm
SB: 4 Scattershot Archer

Johan Rots - WeeBee

Creatures
4 Dauthi Horror
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
4 Chittering Rats
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)

Spells
4 Bone Splitter
2 Unearth
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Zealous Persecution (U)
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Snuff Out

Lands
2 Kabira Crossroads
5 Plains
12 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 3 Hallow
SB: 3 Disenchant
SB: 3 Defender of Law
SB: 3 Holy Light

Martijn Hennink - Swamped

Creatures

Spells
1 Elixir of Immortality (U)
4 Innocent Blood
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Evil Presence
4 Contaminated Ground
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Renewed Faith
4 Tainted Well
4 Unmake
4 Karma (U)

Lands
4 Barren Moor
4 Bojuka Bog
3 Orzhov Basilica
10 Plains
2 Polluted Mire

Sideboard
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 4 Rest for the Weary
SB: 1 Shrivel
SB: 2 Solemn Offering

Jan Kotlarski - MBC

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
2 Expedition Map
3 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Unmake
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)
4 Corrupt

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 2 Wrench Mind
SB: 1 Stench of Decay
SB: 1 Unmake
SB: 3 Pewter Golem

Robert Bekker - GW Cloak

Creatures
3 Scryb Sprites
3 Kor Skyfisher
3 Lone Missionary
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Aura Gnarlid
3 Yavimaya Enchantress (U)

Spells
2 Giant Growth
3 Hyena Umbra
2 Spider Umbra
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Vines of Vastwood
4 Armadillo Cloak
2 Boar Umbra (U)
2 Snake Umbra

Lands
10 Forest
8 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 1 Forest
SB: 3 Gelid Shackles
SB: 1 Giant Growth
SB: 1 Scryb Sprites
SB: 4 Grizzled Leotau
SB: 1 Lone Missionary
SB: 1 Kor Skyfisher
SB: 3 Pacifism

Siebe van der Veer - WeeBee

Creatures
4 Dauthi Horror
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
4 Chittering Rats
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)

Spells
4 Bone Splitter
2 Unearth
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Zealous Persecution (U)
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Snuff Out

Lands
2 Kabira Crossroads
4 Plains
13 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 3 Hallow
SB: 3 Disenchant
SB: 3 Defender of Law
SB: 3 Holy Light

Oswin ten Brinke - Dirty Kitty

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

And that's eight! And yes, I did get to play against the MBC deck ;)

Until next time!

PS. I'm expecting some blue next time! What's up with that color?

Peasant deckbuilding and the metagame

2010-07-12T22:34:00.007+02:00

Dear Anonymous,

As the word count of my reply was nearing 500, I realized that answering your question would take more words than I anticipated. For reference, this is what you asked:

Hey Martijn,
it would be great if you got some time to write an blog article about the metagame in the moment.

Which decks do you think are tier 1 or 2 and why?

What does a peasant deck need to perform constantly well?

thanks

You're asking a lot of questions, so let's start with the first.

The Metagame

Seeing as the metagame continually shifts, since a good deal of players is prone to switch decks between tournaments (like me for example), it is hard to predict what exactly will see play on any given night. Right now the metagame is a healthy mix of aggro and control strategies. Notably, pure combo decks have been missing lately, but I do not nesessarily think that's a bad thing. There are viable combo decks out there, they're just not popular with the players.

MBC clearly is on top of it at the moment, since it is best in this creature-oriented metagame. When the metagame shifts again though, expect MBC to post less stellar results. Ultimately it's a matter of checking the tournament results and deck lists to know what's hot and what's not. Certain players like me and Julius will probably switch decks often, while other players like Jan and Maarten are more likely to stick to a select few strategies.

The Peasant Gauntlet

Since the metagame shifts so often, it is hard to say if a deck is tier 1 or tier 2, since that depends on what the others are playing. Personally I'm more interested in a gauntlet to test my decks against multiple different strategies. These are the decks I would most like to test against, all of which I think have good odds at winning a tournament, given the right metagame.

For aggro, there are two decks I want to test against: Boros and WeeBee. Taïga looks strong, but I think Boros beats that deck every time because it matches threats and gains life at the same time. White also has the best sideboard cards of all colors, imho. The heavy burn component makes sure you test against that strategy as well.

Boros

Creatures
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Plated Geopede
2 Aven Riftwatcher

Spells
4 Burst Lightning
3 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Incinerate
2 Isochron Scepter (U)
3 Lightning Helix (U)
3 Searing Blaze

Lands
3 Evolving Wilds
9 Mountain
5 Plains
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 3 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Oblivion Ring

WeeBee is a little more controlling, with more evasion and recursion. Instead of burn it has a strong discard theme and better lifegain, which means it is better positioned against some deck in the field than Boros.

WeeBee

Creatures
3 Dauthi Horror
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
4 Chittering Rats
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
2 Wispmare
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Stormfront Riders (U)

Spells
4 Bonesplitter
2 Unearth
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Unmake

Lands
2 Kabira Crossroads
5 Plains
12 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disfigure
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 4 Holy Light
SB: 1 Unmake

The control decks in my gauntlet would be MBC, Tortured Existence and WU Thopter Control. MBC is the king of control decks in a creature-oriented metagame, but I might have mentioned that already. It has strong lifegain, nasty disruption, and positively unfair card advantage if left at a comfortable life total. The downside is that it can be hated out fairly good with Circle of Protection: Black or even Karma.

MBC

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
2 Expedition Map
3 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Unmake
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 2 Wrench Mind
SB: 1 Stench of Decay
SB: 1 Unmake
SB: 3 Pewter Golem

Tortured Existence is also a very strong strategy. Sure, it has a weak point because it's so reliant on the graveyard, but you need to play your Relic of Progenitus very carefully or it won't help you avoiding a loss.

Tortured Existence

Creatures
3 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Wall of Roots
3 Crypt Rats
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
2 Ondu Giant
3 Wickerbough Elder
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Artisan of Kozilek (U)

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
11 Forest
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 1 Spore Frog
SB: 3 Grim Harvest
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 3 Night Soil
SB: 3 Nourish
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 1 Wickerbough Elder

WU Thopter Control is a superb deck that doesn't see enough play here. It's win condition is impossible to fight against for a lot of decks (even Relic of Progenitus is not very good here), and it has counters to protect you and your combo. Ancient Grudge is not your friend though (maybe a case for Taïga after all?).

Schepijs rightly points out that aggro can be a problem if they are too fast and you fail to find your combo in time. Rest for the Weary might be a good idea for your sideboard, and Safehold Elite also helps a lot! I'm also inclined to make room for maindeck Preordain. It gives you something to do on turn 1, and finds the combo sooner.

WU Thopter Control

Creatures

Spells
2 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)

3 Condescend
3 Counterspell
3 Muddle the Mixture
4 Rune Snag

1 Echoing Truth
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Deep Analysis

1 Azorius Signet
4 Mind stone
4 Fieldmist Borderpost

Lands
2 Bant Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
14 Island
5 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Circle of Protecion: Black
SB: 1 Circle of Protecion: Red
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Mine Excavation
SB: 4 Safehold Elite

Despite the banning of Demonic Tutor and Demonic Consultation, I think there are four really good combo decks at the moment. The best, in a vacuum, is probably Dirty Kitty. It is consistent, explosive, but also very reliant on Fecundity and its */1's surviving. In a metagame that's prepared for the deck it will lose a lot of 2nd and 3rd games. If the metagame is not prepared however...

Dirty Kitty

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Flaring Pain
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Hurly-Burly

Arcane Tide, though I am still proud of the list, is not a deck people like to play against, so I leave it at home nowadays. It also just fizzles sometimes. That being said, it is a very powerful deck that can goldfish as early as the 3rd turn.

Arcane Tide

Spells
1 Evermind (U)
4 Brainstorm
1 Gigadrowse
4 High Tide
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Reach Through Mists
2 Dampen Thought (U)
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Psychic Puppetry
2 Stream of Unconsciousness (U)
1 Oona's Grace

Lands
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 3 Gigadrowse
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Mystic Remora

The third combo deck is Elfball. Though reliant on small green man, and thus as prone to sweepers as Dirty Kitty, it can also proxy as an aggro decks, which means it's the only combo deck with a plan B. Also, you can run Temporal Fissure instead of Kaervek's Torch to bypass white's damage prevention completely. That strategy means attacking with small men is your only plan though, but that's a lot easier when your opponent has no permanents in play. Note that the following decklist is rather old, since it's been a long while since anybody played this deck. Matthijs did play an interesting variant with Channel for a while, but that deck focused more on the Channel + Fireball combo, using elves as a secondary way to gain mana.

Elfball

Creatures
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Heritage Druid (U)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Quirion Ranger
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest of Titania

Spells
1 Chromatic Star
2 Fireball
1 Instill Energy (U)
2 Kaervek's Torch
4 Land Grant
4 Manamorphose
4 Distant Melody

Lands
11 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 1 Kaervek's Torch
SB: 4 Magnify
SB: 2 Sandstorm
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Naturalize
SB: 3 Nourish

The fourth combo deck I would test against is Eldrazi Reanimator. I think a good decklist has yet to be developed, but putting a turn 2 hasty Eldrazi onto the battlefield is a very strong strategy. Of course those are ideal strategies, and Tormod's Crypt and Relic of Progenitus hurt, but you should at least make sure your deck can handle an Eldrazi entering play that early. Or accept the occasional loss of course.

Eldrazi Reanimator

Creatures
4 Hapless Reasearcher
3 Merfolk Traders
2 Vodalian Merchant
4 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Pathrazer of Ulamog (U)

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Duress
4 Careful Study
4 Preordain
4 Ponder
3 Reanimate (U)
4 Dragon Breath
4 Exhume

Lands
8 Island
6 Swamp

So, those are the decks I would run in my gauntlet, though obviously other decks are capable of good finishes as well, like the MGE deck I played in June's tournament. It's often a turn (or two) slower than Eldrazi Reanimator, but also a bit more consistent and it doesn't depend on the graveyard. Moosebite is another good deck, which struggles in the current metagame, but has already won a tournament in the past. If you want to include a good midrange deck to the gauntlet, this is good choice.

That being said, if your deck performs well against a good portion of the above decks, you have a good shot at winning a peasant tournament. But what about that last question, what does a deck need to perform well?

Deckbuilding

Ultimately there is no one thing a peasant deck needs to perform constantly well. Since most decks are disrupted by one deck or another, you are bound to lose games sooner or later. I do design my decks with a few thoughts in mind though, since even though you can't perform constantly well, you can at least make sure your deck perfors well in an average metagame.

1. Burn decks will always be around.
I usually try to run some lifegain to make sure I can beat burn.

2. Big monsters must be dealt with.
The Eldrazi made this point more important than ever. If you can't handle a 3rd- or 4th-turn Eldrazi, you are going to lose games with no permanents on the table.

3. A lot of small creatures will wear you down.
Holy Light, Nausea/Shrivel and Martyr of Ashes are some of my favorite tools to fight those pesky hordes of */1 creatures.

4. The graveyard is a powerful resource.
Tortured Existenc is one of the best decks, and it is not the only deck that abuses the graveyard. I never fail to sideboard Relic of Progenitus.

Well, that certainly was enough for an article. I hope I answered your questions to your liking, and I hope you had a good read. Until next time, have fun!

Results June 26, 2010

2010-06-26T12:03:00.007+02:00

Another tournament gone by, another slew of decklists. Quite a few innovative decks this time around, and I saw some uncommons I never saw before: Control Magic, Quest for Pure Flame, Lightning Greaves and Boar Umbra, amongst others. I must say, I'm happy to report that I didn't run into those Control Magics with my Mono Green Eldrazi deck :)

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	Siebe van der Veer	MBC		5/4/1/0
02.	Martijn Hennink	MGE		5/4/0/0
03.	Robert Bekker	GW Aura's		5/4/0/0
04.	Jan Kotlarski	Tortured Existence		5/3/1/0
05.	Johan Nobel	Boros		5/3/0/0
06.	Niels Gramser	Moosebite		5/3/0/0
07.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Warrens Elves		4/2/0/1
08.	Sietze Wijma	Elves		5/3/0/0
09.	Johan Rots	WeeBee		5/3/0/0
10.	Julius Sijtstra	MUC		4/1/0/1
11.	Marc Evers	Naya Landfall		4/1/0/1
12.	Remco van den Berg	RW Walls		5/2/0/0
13.	Desmond Scholtens	Sligh		5/2/0/0
14.	Remi Niël	Goblins		5/2/0/0
15.	Enne Faber	Cheese		4/1/0/1
16.	Emily Niël	Mono Blue Affinity		4/0/0/1
17.	Egbert Jonkers	Eldrazi Ramp		5/1/0/0

Siebe van der Veer - MBC

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
2 Expedition Map
3 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Unmake
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 2 Wrench Mind
SB: 1 Stench of Decay
SB: 1 Unmake
SB: 3 Pewter Golem

Martijn Hennink - MGE

Creatures
4 Wall of Roots
2 Fierce Empath
3 Mold Shambler
4 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Artisan of Kozilek (U)

Spells
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Crop Rotation
4 Explore
3 Lightning Greaves (U)
2 Reap and Sow
4 Dosan's Oldest Chant

Lands
12 Forest
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower

Sideboard
SB: 1 Bojuka Bog
SB: 1 Quicksand
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Lignify
SB: 3 Nourish
SB: 2 Overgrown Battlement
SB: 1 Mold Shambler

Robert Bekker - GW Aura's

Creatures
3 Scryb Sprites
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
4 Aura Gnarlid
3 Daggerback Basilisk
2 Wildheart Invoker

Spells
2 Giant Growth
3 Hyena Umbra
3 Spider Umbra
3 Vines of Vastwood
1 Canopy Cover (U)
3 Nimbus Wings
2 Boar Umbra (U)
2 Mammoth Umbra (U)

Lands
9 Forest
10 Plains
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Brainwash
SB: 3 Holy Day
SB: 4 Eland Umbra
SB: 3 Pacifism
SB: 1 Palace Guard

Jan Kotlarski - Tortured Existence

Creatures
3 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Crypt Rats
1 Eternal Witness (U)
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Farhaven Elf
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Tilling Treefolk
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
3 Wickerbough Elder
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Artisan of Kozilek (U)

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
1 Bojuka Bog
9 Forest
9 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Spore Frog
SB: 2 Grim Discovery
SB: 1 Nausea
SB: 2 Night Soil
SB: 3 Nourish
SB: 2 Shrivel
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 1 Faerie Macabre
SB: 1 Tilling Treefolk
SB: 1 Mold Shambler

Johan Nobel - Boros

Creatures
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Plated Geopede
2 Aven Riftwatcher

Spells
4 Burst Lightning
3 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Incinerate
2 Isochron Scepter (U)
3 Lightning Helix (U)
3 Searing Blaze

Lands
4 Desert
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Mountain
4 Plains
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 3 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Oblivion Ring

Niels Gramser - Moosebite

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
2 Kitchen Finks (U)
2 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Blastoderm
3 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
3 Unearth
4 Doom Blade
2 Sign in Blood

Lands
1 Evolving Wilds
3 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Snow-Covered Forest
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 3 Leaf Arrow
SB: 1 Sandstorm
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 2 Night Soil
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 2 Rending Vines

Mathijs Hoogeveen - Warrens Elves

Creatures
3 Fyndhorn Elves
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
3 Llanowar Elves
2 Skirk Prospector
2 Quirion Ranger
4 Tinder Wall
2 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest of Titania
4 Wellwisher

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Manamorphose
2 Ashnod's Altar
3 Fecundity (U)
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
11 Forest
6 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 2 Birchlore Ranger
SB: 2 Elvish Visionary
SB: 2 Grotag Siege-Runner
SB: 2 Naturalize
SB: 2 Imperious Perfect (U)
SB: 4 Lys Alana Huntmaster

Sietze Wijma - Elves

Creatures
4 Arbor Elf
2 Birchlore Rangers
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Treetop Scout
4 Elvish Visionary
3 Nissa's Chosen
4 Wellwisher
2 Wirewood Herald
1 Elvish Brancbender
4 Timberwatch Elf
3 Sylvan Messenger (U)

Spells
4 Giant Growth
1 Rancor
1 Wirewood Pride
2 Predator's Strike
1 Alpha Status (U)
1 Overrun (U)

Lands
18 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 7 Forest
SB: 2 Norwood Ranger
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 2 Thornweald Archer

Johan Rots - WeeBee

Creatures
3 Dauthi Horror
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
3 Chittering Rats
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
2 Wispmare
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Stormfront Riders (U)

Spells
4 Bonesplitter
2 Unearth
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Unmake

Lands
2 Kabira Crossroads
5 Plains
12 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disfigure
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 4 Holy Light
SB: 1 Unmake

In the end, Siebe did it again with MBC. Nice job!

I was happy with the performance of my eldrazi deck as well, and that maindecked Dosan's Oldest Chant won me more than one game on the day. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to play big annihilating monsters in Peasant!

Until next time!

Results May 28, 2010

2010-06-12T20:45:00.032+02:00

There's nothing like kicking off a new season! People, suddenly freed from the urge to play "the best deck" in order to qualify for the season's championship, start picking up new cards. Or do they? Well, I've seen quite a few new cards, but in the end, and old favorite reclaimed its position at the top of the food chain. Will it last? Only time will tell!

Oh, one other thing. I'll be listing the results slightly different from before. Now you can see additional statistics, like how many matches each players played, and to whom the byes, if any, were awarded!

Results

Nr.	Name	Deck	Colors	P/W/D/Bye
01.	Siebe van der Veer	MBC		5/4/0/0
02.	Jan Kotlarski	MBC		5/4/0/0
03.	Johan Rots	Crushing Walls		5/4/0/0
04.	Maarten Jacobs	Tortured Existence		5/4/0/0
05.	Rob de Jonge	Machinehead		5/3/0/0
06.	Sietze Wijma	Elves		4/2/0/1
07.	Martijn Hennink	UB Lobotomy		5/3/0/0
08.	Sebastiaan Koopman	Wee Fiends		4/2/0/1
09.	Mathijs Hoogeveen	Warrens Elves		5/2/1/0
10.	Robert Bekker	RW Walls		4/1/1/1
11.	Remi Niël	Goblins		4/2/0/0
12.	Oswin ten Brinke	Taïga		5/2/0/0
13.	Johan Nobel	Boros Burn		5/2/0/0
14.	Guus Venhuizen	Quillspike Cloak		4/1/0/1
15.	Desmond Scholtens	RW Walls		4/1/0/1
16.	Julius Sijtstra	GU Tokens		4/1/0/0
17.	Emily Niël	Mono Blue Affinity		4/0/0/0

Siebe van der Veer - MBC

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Dark Ritual
4 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Necrologia (U)

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 2 Terror
SB: 1 Pewter Golem

Jan Kotlarski - MBC

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Night's Whisper (U)
4 Sign in Blood
1 Beseech the Queen (U)
2 Diabolic Tutor (U)
4 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
22 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Wrench Mind
SB: 3 Unmake

Johan Rots - Crushing Walls

Creatures
3 Keldon Marauders
4 Overgrown Battlement
2 Vine Trellis
4 Wall of Roots
4 Blastoderm
4 Endangered Armodon
1 Vent Sentinel
4 Ulamog's Crusher

Spells
2 Fireball
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Firespout (U)
3 Harmonize (U)

Lands
12 Forest
2 Hickory Woodlot
5 Mountain
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 4 Nourish
SB: 4 Utopia Vow
SB: 3 Penumbra Spider

Maarten Jacobs - Tortured Existence

Creatures
3 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Wall of Roots
3 Crypt Rats
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
2 Ondu Giant
3 Wickerbough Elder
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Artisan of Kozilek (U)

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
11 Forest
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 1 Spore Frog
SB: 3 Grim Harvest
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 3 Night Soil
SB: 3 Nourish
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 1 Wickerbough Elder

Rob de Jonge - Machinehead

Creatures
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kiln Fiend
2 Hypnotic Specter (U)
3 Vampire Nighthawk (U)

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Unearth
2 Doom Blade
3 Sign in Blood
4 Terminate
4 Blightning

Lands
8 Mountain
10 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens

Sietze Wijma - Elves

NB! The decklist below is illegal, as it has more than 5 uncommons between its maindeck and sideboard.

Creatures
2 Arbor Elf
2 Birchlore Rangers
1 Defiant Elf
1 Elvish Pioneer
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Treetop Scout
2 Elvish Visionary
2 Nissa's Chosen
2 Thornweald Archer
4 Wellwisher
2 Wirewood Herald
1 Elvish Brancbender
4 Timberwatch Elf
3 Sylvan Messenger (U)

Spells
4 Giant Growth
1 Rancor
1 Wirewood Pride
1 Dragon Fangs
1 Predator's Strike
1 Alpha Status (U)
1 Overrun (U)

Lands
18 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 2 Forest
SB: 1 Elvish Pioneer
SB: 2 Norwood Ranger
SB: 1 Wirewood Symbiote (U)
SB: 1 Dragon Fangs
SB: 2 Naturalize
SB: 2 Wirewood Hivemaster (U)
SB: 1 Elvish Guidance
SB: 1 Gilt-Leaf Seer
SB: 1 Wood Elves
SB: 1 Overrun (U)

Martijn Hennink - UB Lobotomy

Creatures
2 Cavern Harpy
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Chittering Rats
4 Sea Gate Oracle
3 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Errant Ephemeron

Spells
2 Bonesplitter
4 Agony Warp
4 Echoing Truth
4 Recoil
2 Lobotomy (U)

Lands
8 Island
12 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Disfigure
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Doom Blade
SB: 2 Terror
SB: 3 Recover
SB: 4 Weatherseed Faeries

Sebastiaan Koopman - UR Wee Fiends

Creatures
4 Flamekin Harbinger (U)
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Wee Dragonauts
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
4 Distortion Strike
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Counterspell
3 Double Cleave
3 Searing Blaze
4 Snap
3 Wings of Velis Vel
2 Staggershock

Lands
2 Halimar Depths
8 Island
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 1 Ponder
SB: 2 Deprive
SB: 3 Disperse
SB: 1 Double Cleave
SB: 1 Negate
SB: 1 Tremor
SB: 1 Wings of Velis Vel
SB: 1 Regress
SB: 1 Staggershock
SB: 1 Ricochet Trap (U)
SB: 1 Ingot Chewer

Typical that we should see Vine Trellis in a decklist after my last blog no? Anyway, a whopping 8 new cards from Rise of the Eldrazi got into the top 8 this day! With Evolving Wilds, Leaf Arrow, Cadaver Imp and Snake Umbra from the Championship Tournament, that makes 12 card adopted into top 8 decks within the month. Did I mention Rise of the Eldrazi is awesome for peasant? Awesome!

See you next time!

The Future of Peasant - Rise of the Eldrazi

2010-06-11T17:29:00.002+02:00

Welcome to the second installment of the Future of Peasant. This time, Rise of the Eldrazi is (mostly) fresh up for a review. We've had some time to evaluate the cards already, so I hope my evaluations are a bit more on target.

Let's have a quick look at Worldwake's anticipated cards to see what I mean by that. If I remember correctly, I saw 5 out of the 10 cards played at our peasant tournaments since Worldwake hit the market. Clearly not all that I anticipate is actually playable, or slots into a deck easily! The cards I did see were Æther Tradewinds (nr 10), Groundswell (nr 9), Rest for the Weary (nr 6), Halimar Depths (nr 5) and Searing Blaze (nr 2). It's a shame I didn't see Treasure Hunt and Calcite Snapper yet, I'll have to do something about that in the near future!

But, enough about that, let's see what Rise of the Eldrazi has in store!

For reference, you can find the full Visual Spoiler for Rise of the Eldrazi here!

Psychic Venom and Evil Presence had a baby! Hooray! Ok, you're probably wondering why this gets the honorary mention, well... Two different players piloted Psychic Venom decks to an abysmal result this season, and one of them piloted a list concocted by me. It was great fun drawing up the deck (on request), and it's a blast to play, even if you can't win. Hearing your opponent groan in dismay as another of his lands becomes a liability is one of the more satisfying sensations magic has to offer :) What about this card then? I think this might be the additional punch this deck needs to be a real contender! Ok, I lied there, but I still squeeled with glee when I saw this in the spoiler!

We start of with a functional reprint. Why does this make the list? Because some decks, like landfall and 3-or-more-color strategies, desperately wanted more than just the four.

I haven't seen this card in action yet, but it brims with possibilities. Finding artifact, Eldrazi and lands, this can either fix your mana in the early game, or dig for something relevant in the mid to late game. I'm sure we'll see more of it!

This seems like any X/U Aggro's wet dream. Punch through a high-powered attacker, not once, but twice! Excellent with both Kiln Fiend and Wee Dragonauts for maximum carnage.

Sometimes simple is the best. I've been a fan of Temple Acolyte for ages, and depending on your deck, this might be miles better. While not as good on defense, it has the power to actually kill something, and it gains 4 life instead of 3. Keep this card in mind when you're looking for a way to beat burn in your white decks.

It's Vine Trellis, but better. That's good too, because Trellis wasn't played in peasant. Together with Wall of Roots though, Overgrown Battlement quickly produces enough mana to put some serious beats on the table, all the while taking the hit on edict effects to save the men that really matter. Tasty!

Oh wow, this one's a doozy! I don't think it's the best card in the set, but it's seriously good! Gravedigger already was quite a decent card, but just a bit too expensive. We would probably have been happy with a 1/1 'digger for 2B, but instead they gave us a 1/1 'digger with evasion for only a slightly more complicated cost. Do you know what that means? That means this will pick up a Bonesplitter after doing its job to smash your opponent's head in. Impressive!

At 4 we find an innocious Eldrazi-aligned card. A lot of commons and uncommons in the set produce so-called Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens. Small critters that can be sacrificed for a colorless mana. At first sight that isn't that special, but if you build your deck around this, you can generate a lot of mana really fast. Of these cards, I like Nest Invader the best for peasant. It provides you with a warm body while setting you up for good old Blastoderm on your 3rd turn. That's a very, very fine play for an aggressive deck!

Well, I haven't seen a bad card yet on this list, but these Eldrazi, well they're something else completely! This card on its own revives the age-old reanimator strategy. There used to be a time when both your reanimation spells (besides Exhume that is) and the creatures you wanted to reanimate were uncommon. Of course, with only 5 uncommons to play with, that made for very sad panda's. Well, those panda's won't have to grief no more because reanimating this puppy on turn 2 could very well end the game on the spot!

At 2 we find a creature that I thoroughly underestimated when I first saw it. Three toughness already stops a few creatures, like Kird Ape and Trinket Mage, but the card selection is what really makes this card tick! Court Hussar saw a lot of play in standard when it was legal, and the comparison to Sea Gate Oracle is very valid. Even if you have to chump-block a larger creature, you still have that card you picked up on the Oracle's way in. One thing is clear, we have come a long way since Merchant of Secrets!

This card has already been wrecking the tournaments. I ranked it first in my head the moment I saw it, there's simply so much raw power in this card that it will kill your opponent dead all on its lonesome if it isn't dealt with. Great card!

You know, with more commons to choose from, this top 10 was even harder than Worldwake! I hope you enjoyed my musings, and I hope I inspired you to build yourself a new peasant deck. As always, leave your comments if you think I missed something! And let's not forget, have fun at the prerelease!

Until next time,

-Hennink

Banned List Update 2

2010-05-25T13:00:00.005+02:00

For the second time since I host this blog, there's been an update to the banned list. As of 14/05/2010 Berserk and Diamond Valley are no longer banned.

With Season 3 around the corner, we decided to take a good look at the banned list, particular those cards that were banned since the beginning. The unbanned cards are two of the cards that were on the list because of their price. We believe that that argument no longer holds, unless we also ban cards like Force of Will, Sinkhole, and a host of Portal 3 Kingdom cards. Unwilling to add those cards to the list, we asked ourselves what would happen if we took the expensive cards off the banned list instead.

In most cases, the cards are expensive for a reason. Cards like Library of Alexandria and Mana Drain are simply broken (or at least not costed appropriately), and would most likely have a negative impact on the peasant metagame. We are willing to give Berserk and Diamond Valley the benefit of the doubt however. Since Berserk is cheaper than Sinkhole and Force of Will, and Diamond Valley is not a 4-of, neither looks to be prohibitively expensive. We are confident that both cards will not be a requirement to enjoy, or indeed win, peasant tournaments either. More importantly however, powerwise they both seem to be on par with the best uncommons in the metagame.

Other than that, there are no changes to the banned list or the watchlist.

To see the full list of banned cards, click here.

Results May 9, 2010

2010-05-21T20:46:00.005+02:00

There we are, at the end of the second season! After 12 tournaments, today we battled it out for the title of Season 2 Groningen Peasant Champ! For the first time, Rise of the Eldrazi was legal, and already cards from the set showed up in prominent decks, including the winner's. Six rounds, double points, one trophy!

Results

1. Martijn Beljaars (36 pt - Boros Burn)
2. Douwe van Noordenburg (30 pt - Taïga)
3. Martijn Hennink (24 pt - WeeBee)
4. Rob de Jong (24 pt - Predator Stompy)
5. Allard van der Made (24 pt - Elves)
6. Jasper Boelens (18 pt - Dirty Kitty)
7. Michiel Deunk (18 pt - Izzet Aggro Combo)
8. Niels Gramser (18 pt - Moosebite)
9. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (18 pt - UB Thopter Control)
10. Gijsbert Haaksman (18 pt - Reanimator)
11. Oswin ten Brinke (14 pt - Moosebite)
12. Johan Rots (12 pt - Faeries)
13. Matthijs Hoogeveen (12 pt - Channel Elfball)
14. Guus Venhuizen (8 pt - Astral Slide)
15. Martijn Labohm (6 pt - Moosebite)
16. Bart Holkenborg (6 pt - Faeries)

Martijn Beljaars - Boros Burn
1st place (36 points)

Creatures
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Plated Geopede
2 Aven Riftwatcher

Spells
4 Burst Lightning
3 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Incinerate
1 Isochron Scepter (U)
4 Lightning Helix (U)
3 Searing Blaze
2 Rift Bolt

Lands
4 Desert
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Mountain
4 Plains
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Bloodfire Dwarf
SB: 3 Hallow
SB: 1 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Journey to Nowhere
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 Prismatic Strands

Douwe van Noordenburg - Taïga
2nd place (30 points)

Creatures
1 Jungle Lion
4 Kird Ape
4 Wild Nacatl
2 Keldon Marauders
4 Kiln Fiend
3 Scab-Clan Maulers
1 Bloodbraid Elf (U)

Spells
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rancor
2 Reckless Charge
1 Colossal Might
2 Incinerate

Lands
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
2 Gemstone Mine (U)
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Flaring Pain
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 1 Pyroblast
SB: 1 Gaea's Blessing (U)
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 1 Choke (U)
SB: 2 Vulshok Sorcerer

Martijn Hennink - WeeBee
3rd place (24 points)

Creatures
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Chittering Rats
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Wispmare
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
3 Bonesplitter
3 Unearth
1 Loxodon Warhammer (U)
3 Riding Red Hare
4 Unmake

Lands
8 Plains
11 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disfigure
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Blood Seeker
SB: 4 Holy Light

Rob de Jonge - Predator Stompy
4th place (24 points)

Creatures
4 Jungle Lion
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
4 Kavu Predator (U)
4 Silhana Ledgewalker

Spells
4 Giant Growth
4 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Invigorate
2 Snake Umbra
1 Bounty of the Hunt (U)

Lands
17 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Sandstorm
SB: 4 Scattershot Archer

Allard van der Made - Elves
5th place (24 points)

Creatures
4 Birchlore Rangers
3 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Heritage Druid (U)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Quirion Ranger
1 Wirewood Symbiote (U)
4 Elvish Visionary
3 Quirion Sentinel

Spells
2 Chromatic Star
4 Land Grant
4 Manamorphose
2 Compulsive Research
4 Distant Melody
3 Temporal Fissure

Lands
10 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 2 Magnify
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Scattershot Archer
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Deep Analysis

Jasper Boelens - Dirty Kitty
6th place (18 points)

Creatures
1 Goblin Bushwacker
2 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
4 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Michiel Deunk - Izzet Aggro Combo
7th place (18 points)

Creatures
4 Izzet Guildmage (U)
4 Kiln Fiend
3 Wee Dragonauts

Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Mystical Tutor (U)
4 Ponder
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Incinerate
2 Muddle the Mixture

Lands
11 Island
7 Mountain
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Annul
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Wee Dragonauts

Niels Gramser - Moosebite
8th place (18 points)

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
2 Kitchen Finks (U)
2 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
3 Blastoderm
1 Cadaver Imp
3 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
3 Unearth
4 Doom Blade
2 Sign in Blood

Lands
1 Evolving Wilds
3 Golgari Rot Farm
4 Terramorphic Expanse
8 Snow-Covered Forest
8 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 3 Leaf Arrow
SB: 1 Sandstorm
SB: 4 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 2 Night Soil
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 2 Rending Vines

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - UB Thopter Control
9th place (18 points)

Creatures
3 Crypt Rats
2 Trinket Mage
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
1 Æther Spellbomb
4 Innocent Blood
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sensei's Divining Top (U)
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Counterspell
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Echoing Decay
1 Echoing Truth
3 Muddle the Mixture
2 Sword of the Meek (U)
2 Thopter Foundry (U)
3 Mistvein Borderpost

Lands
2 Esper Panorama
2 Evolving Wilds
6 Island
8 Swamp
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Shrivel
SB: 4 Errant Ephemeron

Gijsbert Haaksman - Reanimator
10th place (18 points)

Creatures
3 Gamekeeper (U)
4 Ulamog's Crusher

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
2 Cabal Therapy (U)
4 Careful Study
4 Dark Ritual
1 Duress
4 Innocent Blood
2 Dragon Breath
4 Exhume
3 Ideas Unbound
4 Impulse
3 Compulsive Research

Lands
7 Island
2 Forest
5 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Disrupt
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 4 Early Frost
SB: 3 Naturalize

And so, after 10 decklists, only one question remains. Who won? Well, faithfully playing fun homebrew decks has paid off! In the end, my third place was more then enough to take home that trophy.

Peasant Magic Groningen Season 2 Final Standings Top 20
1. Martijn Hennink (127 pt)
2. Jasper Boelens (99 pt)
3. Niels Gramser (88 pt)
4. Martijn Beljaars (88 pt)
5. Rob de Jonge (87 pt)
6. Martijn Labohm (85 pt)
7. Maarten Jacobs (84 pt)
8. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (82 pt)
9. Douwe van Noordenburg (78 pt)
10. Allard van der Made (64 pt)
11. Bart Holkenborg (55 pt)
12. Arne Haak (51 pt)
13. Johan Rots (51 pt)
14. Gijsbert Haaksman (51 pt)
15. Michiel Deunk (49 pt)
16. Oswin ten Brinke (47 pt)
17. Guus Venhuizen (40 pt)
18. Jan Kortlarski (36 pt)
19. Mathijs Hoogeveen (33 pt)
20. Anne Cnossen (22 pt)

I had great fun, and I hope you had fun reading up on these decklists! Season 3 starts on the 28th of May. Whatever the coming year may bring, I'll make sure to keep you up to date!

Results March 26, 2010

2010-05-03T11:25:00.001+02:00

13 players showed up in march for the last peasant tournament of our second season. I concocted a new deck, together with a friend, and had a blast playing it!

Of the top 5 players, four were absent, visiting Grand Prix Bruxelles instead. Good news for me, since I already was on top in this season's standings. Still, with so many players missing, we had a really nice showing! Also, for the second month in a row, combo took the top spot!

Results

1. Arne Haak (13 pt - Arcane Tide)
2. Johan Rots (12 pt - WeeBee)
3. Bart Holkenborg (10 pt - Faeries)
4. Oswin ten Brinke (9 pt - ???)
5. Desmond Scholtens (9 pt - Naya Landfall)
6. Niels Gramser (9 pt - BG Moosebite)
7. Martijn Hennink (9 pt - BeeWee)
8. Rob de Jonge (6 pt - ???)
9. Mathijs Hoogeveen (6 pt - Channel Elfball)
10. Remco van den Berg (6 pt - ???)
11. Jan Kotlarski (6 pt - Taïga)
12. Julius Sijtstra (6 pt - ???)
13. Robert Bekker (3 pt - BG)

Arne Haak - Arcane Tide
1st place (13 points)

Creatures

Spells
1 Gigadrowse
4 Brainstorm
4 High Tide
4 Ponder
4 Reach Through Mists
1 Evermind (U)
2 Dampen Thought (U)
2 Stream of Consciousness (U)
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Psychic Puppetry
1 Oona's Grace

Lands
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 3 Gigadrowse
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus

Johan Rots - WeeBee
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Soul Warden
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Chittering Rats
3 Shrieking Grotesque
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
3 Bonesplitter
3 Unearth
4 Journey to Nowhere
1 Loxodon Warhammer (U)

Lands
8 Plains
11 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 3 Unmake
SB: 4 Wispmare

Bart Holkenborg - Faeries
3rd place (10 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Pestermite

Spells
4 Force Spike
1 Spell Snare (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Snap
4 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush

Lands
3 Desert
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: ? Annul
SB: ? Blue Elemental Blast
SB: ? Relic of Progenitus
SB: ? Viridian Longbow
SB: ? Negate

Oswin ten Brinke - ???
4th place (9 points)

Creatures

Spells

Lands

Sideboard
SB:

Desmond Scholtens - Naya Landfall
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
3 Steppe Lynx
4 Wild Nacatl
2 Elvish visionary
3 Plated Geopede
4 Grazing Gladehart
3 Territorial Baloth
3 Baloth Woodcrasher (U)

Spells
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Explore
2 Manamorphose
4 Harrow
2 Harmonize (U)

Lands
1 Gruul Turf
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
12 Forests
5 Mountain
5 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 4 Lightning Bolt
SB: 4 Nature's Claim
SB: 3 Shieldmate's Blessing
SB: 2 Journey to Nowhere
SB: 2 Night Soil

Niels Gramser - BG Moosebite
6th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Putrid Leach
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
2 Kitchen Finks (U)
2 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
2 Blastoderm
1 Gravedigger
3 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
4 Unearth
4 Doom Blade
2 Sign in Blood

Lands
4 Golgari Rot Farm
4 Terramorphic Expanse
8 Forest
8 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 3 Diabolic Edict
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 3 Night Soil
SB: 2 Safehold Elite
SB: 2 Rending Vines
SB: 1 Mold Shambler

Martijn Hennink - WeeBee
7th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Soul Warden
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Chittering Rats
3 Shrieking Grotesque
4 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
3 Bonesplitter
3 Unearth
4 Journey to Nowhere
1 Loxodon Warhammer (U)

Lands
8 Plains
11 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 4 Rest for the Weary
SB: 3 Unmake
SB: 4 Wispmare

Results February 26, 2010

2010-03-24T18:02:00.004+01:00

15 players showed up in february to try their hands at our monthly peasant tournament. We played five rounds which didn't went all too well for me, but hey, at least I had fun!

I played a monstrous 5-color build that tried to fit in all kinds of good stuff, but turned out to have way too few good creatures to impress my opponents. Luckily, Rest for the Weary is a killer vs Channel + Fireball strategies, or otherwise I would have been left with just the bye.

The breakout news this time, apart from allies being a popular strategy, is that Jasper won his 5th tournament of the season. Since he participated in only 7 of the 11 tournaments so far, I guess we could call him a peasant pro. Congrats!

As usual, I'll only be posting those lists that won more than half of their matches. With five rounds, that means each deck with 9 points or more. But first, I'll give you the full standings.

Results

1. Jasper Boelens (12 pt - Warrens Storm)
2. Maarten Jacobs (12 pt - Tortured Existence)
3. Rob de Jonge (12 pt - Predator Stompy)
4. Michiel Deunk (12 pt - WU Allies)
5. Johnny Niemeyer (9 pt - RGW Junk)
6. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (9 pt - WU Thopter Control)
7. Martijn Labohm (9 pt - Mono Red Burn)
8. Martijn Beljaars (9 pt - WU Allies)
9. Desmond Scholtens (6 pt - RGW Landfall)
10. Niels Gramser (6 pt - BG Moosbite)
11. Douwe van Noordenburg (6 pt - Warrens Storm)
12. Martijn Hennink (6 pt - Too Many Colors.dec)
13. Matthijs Hoogeveen (6 pt - Channel Elfball)
14. Johan Rots (3 pt - RG Tron)
15. Remco van den Berg (0 pt - Allies)

Jasper Boelens - Warrens Storm
1st place (12 points)

NB! This decklist is illegal because it only contains 59 cards in the maindeck! We didn't catch the error during the tournament, so no actions will be taken. If you want to play this deck yourself though, make sure to add a card!

Creatures
2 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recruiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Warchief (U)

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
3 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Flaring Pain
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Hurly-Burly

Maarten Jacobs - Tortured Existence
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
3 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Wall of Roots
3 Crypt Rats
2 Eternal Witness (U)
1 Farhaven Elf
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Mold Shambler
3 Wickerbough Elder
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Krosan Tusker

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
11 Forest
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 1 Spore Frog
SB: 3 Grim Harvest
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 2 Night Soil
SB: 2 Nourish
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 2 Grazing Gladehart

Rob de Jonge - Predator Stompy
3rd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Jungle Lion
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Kavu Predator (U)
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
2 Skyshroud Cutter

Spells
4 Giant Growth
4 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Invigorate
1 Bounty of the Hunt (U)

Lands
17 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 1 Nature's Claim
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Scattershot Archer
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 2 Reverent Silence

Michiel Deunk - WU Allies
4th place (12 points)

Creatures
3 Hada Freeblade (U)
4 Halimar Excavator
2 Kazandu Blademaster (U)
4 Ondu Cleric
4 Umara Raptor

Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Into the Roil
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Join the Ranks
2 Gush

Lands
7 Island
10 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 4 Disenchant
SB: 3 Momentary Blink

Johnny Niemeyer - RGW Junk
5th place (9 points)

Decklist not submitted.

Creatures

Spells

Lands

Sideboard
SB:

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - WU Thopter Control
6th place (9 points)

Creatures

Spells
2 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)

3 Condescend
3 Dispel
3 Counterspell
3 Muddle the Mixture
4 Rune Snag

4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Æther Tradewinds
2 Deep Analysis

1 Azorius Signet
4 Mind stone
4 Fieldmist Borderpost

Lands
2 Bant Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
4 Halimar Depths
10 Island
5 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Circle of Protecion: Red
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Mine Excavation
SB: 1 Muddle the Mixture
SB: 1 Rest for the Weary
SB: 4 Safehold Elite
SB: 1 Sanctum Gargoyle

Martijn Labohm - Mono Red Burn
7th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Goblin Bushwacker
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Plated Geopede

Spells
3 Burst Lightning
3 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Punishing Fire (U)
4 Searing Blaze
3 Flames of the Blood Hand (U)
4 Rift Bolt
2 Fireblast

Lands
17 Mountains
2 Teetering Peeks

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tormods Crypt
SB: 1 Flaring Pain
SB: 2 Kaervek's Torch
SB: 3 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 3 Hurly-Burly
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

Martijn Beljaars - WU Allies
8th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Halimar Excavator
4 Kazandu Blademaster (U)
4 Ondu Cleric
2 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Umara Raptor
1 Wall of Denial (U)
2 Mulldrifter

Spells
2 Hindering Light
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Momentary Blink
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Join the Ranks

Mana
3 Bant Panorama
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
7 Island
10 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Hallow
SB: 3 Disenchant
SB: 1 Mana Leak
SB: 3 Obsidian Acolyte
SB: 2 Prismatic Strands

Results January 29, 2010

2010-02-04T22:25:00.007+01:00

The peasant tournament of january was played, with a total of 17 players. Nice! Since each round went to time, we were only able to play four rounds. Despite this, only one player won all his matches, with a rogue deck, no less!

I myself played an updated MBC list. It performed admirably against the aggro decks I faced, but had no game whatsoever against the Thopter Foundry deck that took second place. That's right, we banned the artifact lands, and the Foundry still sees play! Curious? Read on!

As always, I'll only be posting those lists that won more than half of their matches. With four rounds, that means each deck with 7 points or more. But first, I'll give you the full standings.

Results

1. Jasper Boelens (12 - BG Moosebite Nelis)
2. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (10 - WU Thopter Control)
3. Johan Rots (9 - RG Tron)
4. Mathijs Hoogeveen (9 - Channel Elves)
5. Maarten Jacobs (7 - Tortured Existence)
6. Martijn Hennink (7 - MBC)
7. Niels Gramser (7 - BG Moosebite Nelis)
8. Guus Venhuizen (6 - Elves)
9. Rob de Jonge (6 - Predator Stompy)
10. Martijn Beljaars (6 - Quillspike Combo)
11. Aernout van der Poel (4 - UR Dragonauts)
12. Arne Haak (4 - Mono Green Control)
13. Remco van den Berg (3 - Vampire Control)
14. Douwe van Noordenburg (3 - Taïga)
15. Auke van Heel (3 - Bant Cloak - dropped after round 3)
16. Bart Holkenborg (3 - VENOMinal*)
17. Oswin ten Brinke (3 - Graveriders)

*The name was too cute, I couldn't resist. It was a creatureless build with Psychic and Pooling Venom. I promise I'll do an article on... 'unusual' deck ideas somewhere in the next few months, and this definitely belongs there :D

Jasper Boelens - BG Moosebite Nelis
1st place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
4 Grazing Gladehart
4 Yavimaya Elder
1 Eternal Witness (U)
2 Kitchen Finks (U)
3 Blastoderm
1 Gravedigger
2 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
4 Unearth
4 Doomblade
2 Sign In Blood
2 Harmonize (u)

Lands
8 Forest
4 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Diabolic Edict
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 3 Night Soil
SB: 2 Rending Vines
SB: 1 Mold Shambler
SB: 1 Wickerbough Elder

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - WU Thopter Control
2nd place (10 points)

Creatures

Spells
2 Sword of the Meek (U)
3 Thopter Foundry (U)

3 Condescend
3 Counterspell
3 Muddle the Mixture
4 Rune Snag

1 Echoing Truth
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Deep Analysis

1 Azorius Signet
4 Mind stone
4 Fieldmist Borderpost

Lands
2 Bant Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
14 Island
5 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Circle of Protecion: Black
SB: 1 Circle of Protecion: Red
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Mine Excavation
SB: 4 Safehold Elite

Johan Rots - RG Tron
3rd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Wickerbough Elder
4 Aurochs Herd
3 Havenwood Wurm

Spells
4 Fireball
2 Kaervek's Torch
3 Crop Rotation
4 Gruul Signet
3 Moment's Peace
4 Firespout (U)
4 Reap and Sow

Lands
8 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Urza's Factory (U)
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower

Sideboard
SB: 2 Kaervek's Torch
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Moment's Peace
SB: 3 Citanul Woodreaders
SB: 1 Wickerbough Elder
SB: 4 Dosan's Oldest Chant

Mathijs Hoogeveen - Channel Elves
4th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Birchlore Ranger
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Orcish Lumberjack
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Tinder Wall
4 Priest of Titania
4 Wellwisher

Spells
4 Fireball
4 Kaervek's Torch
3 Channel (U)
1 Land Grant
2 Manamorphose
2 Sundering Vitae

Lands
11 Forest
3 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Forest
SB: 3 Vines of Vastwood
SB: 1 Windstorm (U)
SB: 1 Land Grant
SB: 2 Naturalize
SB: 1 Nissa's Chosen
SB: 1 Rampant Growth
SB: 1 Seeker of Skybreak
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 1 Heedless One (U)

Maarten Jacobs - Tortured Existence
5th place (7 points)

Creatures
4 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Crypt Rats
1 Eternal Witness (U)
2 Farhaven Elf
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Wickerbough Elder
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Krosan Tusker

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
12 Forest
12 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 2 Grim Harvest
SB: 2 Mesmeric Fiend
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 2 Night Soil
SB: 4 Nourish
SB: 1 Crypt Rats

Martijn Hennink - MBC
6th place (7 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
2 Expedition Map
1 Funeral Charm
4 Innocent Blood
2 Chainer's Edict (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Consume Spirit
2 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Wrench Mind
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Corrupt

Lands
2 Cabal Coffers (U)
22 Swamp
1 Urza's Factory (U)

Sideboard
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 4 Sinkhole
SB: 4 Rancid Earth

Niels Gramser - BG Moosebite Nelis
7th place (7 points)

Creatures
4 Putrid Leech
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Grazing Gladehart
3 Kitchen Finks (U)
4 Yavimaya Elder
1 Gravedigger
3 Blastoderm
2 Wickerbough Elder

Spells
3 Raven's Crime
4 Unearth
4 Doomblade
2 Sign In Blood
1 Savage Conception (u)

Lands
8 Forest
4 Golgari Rot Farm
8 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Desert
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Innocent Blood
SB: 1 Naturalize
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 2 Sinkhole

The Future of Peasant - Worldwake

2010-01-30T23:54:00.015+01:00

I thought I'ld do things differently for a change. Instead of going over each card, I'm presenting you with a top 10 of personally anticipated commons. The first installement of The Future of Peasant(and yes, that means I'm planning to do more in this format) will of course be about Worldwake. While sifting through the spoiler, I shortlisted a whopping 21 commons. Curious which 10 made my list? Read on!

For reference, you can find the full Visual Spoiler here!

HM? Yes, I'm starting with an honorary mention. I do believe Mysteries of the Deep will see play, but there's a reason it's not in my top 10. See, there's another card in Worldwake that makes me just a little bit less excited about this one. Which one? Ah, you'll have to read on to find out! I do think Mysteries is too good not to mention though, so here it is.

The moment this card was spoiled, people were talking about running this in standard. Is it that good? Well, probably not, but time will tell. I do know commons that net you more than 2 cards are few and far between. Of course cards like Distant Melody and Rush of Knowledge can draw more cards, but their requirements are arguably harder to meet than that of Mysteries of the Deep, and they force you to build your deck in a certain way, unlike the new kid. Oh, and did I mention Mysteries is an instant? That's right, with a Terramorphic Expanse in play you don't have to choose between that Counterspell or this.

I always loved playing with Peel from Reality. While that card hasn't seen much play in the format, Æther Tradewinds might just be the upgrade you want. Since it can target any permanent, and yes, that includes lands, it is much more flexible than Peel ever was. Since every deck plays land, you'll never be stuck with this in your hand. Worst case scenario, you'll return your own Brackwater Elemental and their Forest. Best case? You're saving your Mulldrifter from a removal spell while returning their Valeron Outlander. Which had two Armadillo Cloaks on it... Yes, I do love the possibilities.

The first, and only, green card on the list is a fairly bland card at first sight. Thing is, in an aggressive deck, the difference between 3 and 4 is huge! I also love how Groundswell manages to put more oomph into a Giant Growth effect, without sacrificing anything. +2/+2 is all that is needed to save a bear from a Lightning Bolt and you still get to pump the creature that wasn't blocked at instant speed. All in all a lovely card that should see play.

Quicksand has long been a staple in various control decks, whenever it popped up in a set. Originally printed in Visions, is was reprinted in both 9th and 10th. But, here's the catch, we've always known it as an uncommon! Now, we all know the uncommon slot is a precious commodity in peasant magic, and frankly, there are better choices than Quicksand. Come Worldwake, however, you'll be seeing Quicksand in the common slot! What does this mean for peasant? I know there are some decks, like MUC, that have been struggling with creature control. This might be just the card those decks need to fight back aggressive decks. I'm sure we'll this one popping up soon enough!

Ok, this is probably worse than Wayfarer's Bauble, but there's something about Pilgrim's Eye that catches my... well... eye. Unlike the Bauble, this can chumpblock for a turn. In that aspect, the Eye is more alike to Sakura Tribe-Elder. Of course it is more expensive, and the land goes to your hand, but more importantly, it isn't green! I wonder how long it takes before Pilgrim's Eye shows up in someone's Urzatron deck...

And here's another... not so innovative card. But did you check those numbers? For a long time, the most efficient life gain spell in peasant was Nourish, and it saw play too. 6 life for GG, what a hammer against burn decks! Too bad it was a little mana intensive though, it wasn't really playable outside of monogreen or Sakura Tribe-Elder-heavy decks. Wizards, however, has deemed the time ripe for another kick in red's balls...

For a mere two mana, only one of which is colored, you can now gain a whopping 8 life! That's almost half your starting total! Only catch? You have to play a land first. So, for doing what you'll be wanting to do anyway, you're nullifying the equivalent of nearly three Lightning Bolts. Three!

It may look unexciting, but this little gem will surely end up in sideboards to stem burn and quick aggro decks alike. I mean, what's an aggro deck going to do when you drop this on your second turn, and then follow up with an Aven Riftwatcher?

Back in Apocalypse, there was this card Index. Nobody played it of course, and I doubt anyone remembers it. I have a soft spot for it though, and I still love to play it in this convoluted combo deck I built with Research the Deep and Spellweaver Healix. In general though, cards like Index, that let you rearrange the top of your deck, are not worth the card slot. The main problem is that they don't impact the board, but still cost you a card. Sure, Sage Owl can attack for 1 or chump block, but we all know that doesn't cut it in peasant. Stacking the top of your deck once feels like such a small effect, that you really don't want to spent that card on it! Even dedicated combo decks are better off playing Brainstorm or Ponder.

Halimar Depths changes all that. Instead of tacking the ability onto a precious card, you have a land that does wonders for your decks consistency. Of course it enters the battlefield tapped, so it's not for all decks, but if you find yourself leaving up a useless Island on a regular basis, I beg you, enter the Depths. I feel stacking the top of your deck is worth entering the battlefield tapped.

Slowly but surely, we're getting to the top of the list. I'm actually on the fence on this one. Will it see play? I don't know... I do know that I want to try it out, desperately! I'm already having visions of swampcycling a Twisted Abomination on turn two and following it up with this on turn three. The list of playable creatures that can survive such a blast is very small indeed!

Speaking of that list of creatures that don't die to the Dead Reckoning scenario above; Say hello to Convertible Turtle! I'm predicting this card to be a nightmare for aggro decks for years to come! The high toughness stops nearly every unpumped creature in the format, and shroud protects it from anything except edicts. Maybe the best part though? It's a blue creature that can attack for four!

Finally, after all the blue love, a red card. But what a beauty it is! How many times have you had to choose between burning away an annoying creature and burning out your opponent? You just know you won't topdeck that last piece of fire if you don't blow up the creature, but if you do, you need to draw two burn spells. Damned if you do, damned if you don't! Well, your days of suffering are finally over. I do think toast is an appropriate description!

Ah, but we're not done with the blue love! You all saw this coming right? After all, there is only one card in Worldwake that can put a card as excellent as Mysteries of the Deep to shame. I fully believe this card is the nuts! In a 24-land deck with no stacking power whatsoever, this card will, on average, draw 1.6 cards. That's not a lot, but at least you will always replace your Treasure Hunt with something usefull.

The card really shines in a deck that is built to take advantage of it. Imagine a deck with aforementioned Halimar Depths and Brainstorm. With only four actual spells dedicated to stacking the top of your deck, you'll transform Treasure Hunt into a card that will regularly draw you three or more cards! You can argue what you will, that's a bargain for 2 mana!

For me, there isn't another common in Worldwake brimming with possibilities like Treasure Hunt does. I'm already looking forward to playing this, thinking of ways to abuse it! I'ld say this is a well deserved first place. It seems, looking at the rest of the top 10 as well, blue never looked better!

Well, how was that? I'm sure you missed some cards, and I'm curious whether you agree with my assessments. I know it was very hard to wittle down my shortlist to a top 10, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a few raised eyebrows! Leave a comment if you feel another Worldwake common needs more love!

Until next time,

-Hennink

Results December 18, 2009

2009-12-19T20:19:00.002+01:00

We are looking at the last peasant tournament of the year! With 9 players, I'll be posting the top 4.

I was lucky enough to win a peasant tournament for the first time! :) I player a tweaked G/W cloak build, adding blue for Rhox War Monk. It looks like already the metagame is adapting to the aggro decks that were played last time.

Results

1. Martijn Hennink (13 - Bant Cloak)
2. Maarten Jacobs (11 - Tortured Existence)
3. Jasper Boelens (9 - WUB AuraBlink)
4. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (7 - MBCu)
5. Martijn Labohm (6 - Mono Red)
6. Bart Holkenborg (6 - Faeries)
7. Oswin ten Brinke (6 - Graveriders)
8. Niels Gramser (6 - GwB Aggro)
9. Guus Venhuizen (3 - Firespout Aggro)

Martijn Hennink - Bant Cloak
1st place (13 points)

Creatures
4 Kor Skyfisher
2 Llanowar Knight
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Safehold Elite
2 Valeron Outlander
4 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Rhox War Monk (U)

Spells
2 Swords to Plowshares (U)
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Armadillo Cloak
4 Shield of the Oversoul

Lands
4 Irrigation Ditch
7 Forest
1 Island
7 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Island
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Galina's Knight
SB: 3 Rune of Protection: Black
SB: 4 Holy Light

Maarten Jacobs - Tortured Existence
2nd place (11 points)

Creatures
4 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Crypt Rats
1 Eternal Witness (U)
2 Farhaven Elf
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
3 Wickerbough Elder
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Krosan Tusker

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
12 Forest
12 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 2 Grim Harvest
SB: 2 Mesmeric Fiend
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 2 Night Soil
SB: 4 Nourish
SB: 1 Crypt Rats

Jasper Boelens - WUB AuraBlink
3rd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Auramancer
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Mulldrifter
4 Shriekmaw (U)
2 Æthersnipe

Spells
4 Angelic Renewal
4 Momentary Blink
1 Necromancy (U)
2 Seal of Doom

Lands
6 Island
8 Plains
5 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 2 Hydroblast
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Crimson Acolyte
SB: 4 Echoing Decay
SB: 2 Prismatic Strands

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - MBCu
4th place (7 points)

Creatures
4 Chittering Rats
3 Crypt Rats
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
4 Innocent Blood
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Grim Harvest
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Probe
2 Deep Analysis
4 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Corrupt

Lands
3 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Esper Panorama
1 Grixis Panorama
2 Island
13 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 2 Infest (U)
SB: 3 Vampire Nighthawk (U)
SB: 2 Corrupt

Results November 27, 2009

2009-12-13T21:15:00.005+01:00

A respectable 16 people showed up in November, so here's some more decklists! There were a lot of aggro decks, but in light of the new bannings that is to be expected, since aggro is always the go-to in a new environment.

Note that we had to do pairings by hand for this tournament, so a definitive ranking is not available. Only seven players made a 3-2 or better record, and those are the listst I'll show you. The last undefeated player of the day was Guus, so he took first place.

T8 Decklists

1. Guus Venhuizen (12 - Elves)
2. Anne Cnossen (12 - Dirty Kitty)
2. Jan Kotlarski (12 - RG Aggro)
2. Martijn Labohm (12 - Mono Red)
5. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (9 - Boros Landfall)
5. Martijn Beljaars (9 - Zoofall)
5. Martijn Hennink (9 - Rapid Eye Movement)

Guus Venhuizen - Elves
1st place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Birchlore Ranger
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Elvish Visionary
2 Quirion Sentinel
4 Thornweald Archer
1 Wren's Run Vanquisher (U)
4 Imperious Perfect (U)
4 Timberwatch Elf
4 Winnower Patrol

Spells
1 Vines of Vastwood
4 Wirewood Pride

Lands
12 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 3 Scattershot Archer
SB: 4 Gleeful Sabotage
SB: 4 Wellwisher
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Anne Cnossen - Dirty Kitty
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
2 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinderwall
1 Wild Cantor
1 Goblin Recuiter (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Warchief (U)

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
1 Grapeshot
3 Fecundity (U)
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 9 Swamp
SB: 1 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Naturalize
SB: 2 Tin-Street Hooligan

Jan Kotlarski - RG Aggro
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Kird Ape
4 Skyshroud Ridgeback
4 Horned Kavu
2 Rip-Clan Crasher
3 Scab-Clan Mauler
4 Bloodbraid Elf (U)
1 Phantom Centaur (U)

Spells
2 Disintegrate
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rancor
4 Incinerate
4 Manamorphose

Lands
9 Forest
9 Mountain
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Hull Breach
SB: 4 Nacatl Outlander
SB: 3 Branching Bolt

Martijn Labohm - Mono Red
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders
3 Mogg Flunkies
4 Plated Geopede

Spells
3 Burst Lightning
3 Chain Lightning
3 Kaervek's Torch
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Incinerate
4 Rift Bolt
2 Fireblast

Lands
2 Desert
13 Mountain
4 Teetering Peaks

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 1 Kaervek's Torch
SB: 4 Punishing Fire (U)
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - Boros Landfall
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
3 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Plated Geopede
3 Kor Hookmaster
4 Skyknight Legionnaire

Spells
3 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Journey to Nowhere

Lands
6 Mountain
2 Naya Panorama
8 Plains
4 Teetering Peaks
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Magma Spray
SB: 1 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Pyroclasm (U)
SB: 1 Intimidation Bolt (U)
SB: 3 Wispmare

Martijn Beljaars - Zoofall
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
1 Kird Ape
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Plated Geopede
3 Wooly Thoctar (U)

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rancor
2 Lightning Helix (U)
2 Zektar Shrine Expedition
2 Harrow

Lands
5 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Naya Panorama
4 Plains
2 Teetering Peaks
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Bloodfire Dwarf
SB: 3 Hallow
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 1 Sandstorm
SB: 2 Vines of Vastwood
SB: 4 Qasali Pridemage

Martijn Hennink - Rapid Eye Movement
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
2 Kor Skyfisher
4 Safehold Elite
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Brackwater Elemental
2 Flickerwisp (U)
4 Mulldrifter
3 Noble Templar

Spells
4 Momentary Blink
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Unmake
3 Dreams of the Dead (U)

Lands
3 Azorius Chancery
7 Island
10 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Rune of Protection: Black
SB: 3 Seal of Cleansing
SB: 3 Auramancer
SB: 3 Holy Light

Apologies

2009-11-25T12:12:00.004+01:00

I haven't come around to posting the decklists of last month's top 6. Apologies for that. Amongst others I have been studying for a TMap Next Foundation exam which I aced yesterday (well, okay, I got 90% of the questions right, close enough right?). So, I'm really happy and with a little bit of luck I'll have some more free time in december.

Anyway, you read it right. A top 6, because only 6 players showed up. A lot of regulars couldn't make it, so we're hoping this is not a trend. A few regulars moved out (of Groningen) or quit magic though in the past half year, so we are looking for fresh blood (queue vampire jokes).

Though I don't have the decklists, I can give you a quick summary of the tournament. There were 4 Thopter Foundry decks. Two standard affinity builds, one wUB affinity build (with basic lands?), and one combo build with Ashnod's Altar. The other two decks were a Taïga deck and my own B/R aggro hand build (with Hymn to Tourach, Blightning, Chittering Rats, and Funeral Charm, and 3 Vampire Nighthawk and 2 Torrent of Souls).

We did get the chance to play 5 rounds by playing each opponent once. I lost, as expected, to Taïga. The deck is too aggressive for my 4 Vampire Lacerators and 4 Carnophage. I also lost 1-2 in a really awkard match vs the weird affinity Thopter Foundry deck. The last game was really awful. I muliganned and kept an opener with 1 land, a Dark Ritual and some quick beats. I subsequently drew nearly every mana source in my deck and imagine I would have lost even to a Homelands sealed deck with that draw. I handily defeated the other three Thopter builds though, gleefully bashing up on artifact land with my sideboarded Gorilla Shaman and disrupting their hand with just a little bit too much discard spells.

My deck, off the top of my head, looked something like this. It plays pretty well, and the Rakdos Carnarium means your light land count doesn't really matter, because you'll reach that magical 5 mana to cast that devastating Torrent of Souls anyway. That card is sick by the way!

Martijn Hennink - BR Hand
4th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Carnophage
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Blind Creeper
4 Dauthi Slayer
4 Chittering Rats
3 Vampire Nighthawk (U)

Spells
4 Dark Ritual
4 Funeral Charm
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Blightning
2 Torrent of Souls (U)

Mana
4 Rakdos Carnarium
13 Swamp
4 Teetering Peaks

Sideboard
SB: 4 Gorilla Shaman
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Flaring Pain
SB: 2 Smash to Smithereens

Banned List Update

2009-11-14T01:18:00.002+01:00

Yet again, there's been an update to the banned list. As of 14/11/2009 all the artifact lands are once again banned in peasant tournaments in Groningen. Despite all good intentions, Affinity has risen to the top again, and has been one of three tier 1 decks in the past half year. The lands were almost exclusively used in affinity, and using them in other strategies (such as Trinket Mage) hasn't been succesful. Instead of banning more pieces of the great artifact puzzle we decided that there is no love lost for the deck, and just rebanned the lands. We can merely learn from our mistakes, at least we tried.

Thopter Foundry has been a huge factor in the succes of the neo-Affinity decks, but without the lands we don't feel it is as dangerous anymore. Because the combo with Sword of the Meek (and Ashnod's Altar) still exist, we did decide to add it to the watchlist.

The second tier 1 deck has been Faeries. Basically there were two builds. One utilized Force of Will, a very powerful card to be sure. The other build abused Counterbalance. While the power level didn't differ much, the second build was considerably less fun to play against. In an attempt to revitalize the metagame and make it more fun we decided to ban Counterbalance.

The third tier 1 deck is Mono Black Control. The deck drifts in and out of competition, winning tournaments whenever aggro is the dominant archetype. In an attempt to make the deck more fair without neutering its core concept, we banned Skeletal Scrying. It is the only card in the metagame that consistently draws more than 3 cards, at instant speed, in a mono black deck. That gave MBC just a little bit too much reach, and we look forward to what uncommon MBC will play in its stead.

If you were thinking Demonic Tutor, think again. Another unfun deck, to play against at least, is the non-ineractive Grapeshot Combo deck. Demonic Consultation and Demonic Tutor were banned to make that deck less consistent in its draws, while at the same time making sure their storm count doesn't rack up as fast.

Two other popular combo decks, Dirty Kitty and ElfBall, were left untouched. They are a lot more interactive, and the past showed us that a wider range of decks can sideboard effectively against the two strategies. We are okay with combo decks, but they have to offer more interactivity and just a little bit less consistency to remain fun to play against.

Of course, banning the artifact lands has the side effect of other cards becoming much less impressive. As a result, Cranial Plating is unbanned as of 14/11/2009, and Disciple of the Vault has been removed from the watchlist.

We are eager to see if the bannings will have the desired results: a more varied metagame that is more fun to play than before. We do believe we made some steps in the right direction, neutering black-based Combo and MBC, and removing Affinity and Counterbalance from the metagame.

To see the full list of banned cards, click here.

Results September 25, 2009

2009-10-21T15:39:00.004+02:00

13 people played in September, and I've got a new T8 for you. I'm missing some of the decklists, but Foundry Affinity and Grapeshot Storm are well known decks. I hope I'll get to see the UR Control list though, so I can post it. Blue control decks made a strong showing this time, with two different faerie builds, the UR Control deck, and another MUC deck that finished outside the T8. Needless to say, Gijsbert and I weren't happy campers with our combo decks...

Also, this marks the first time ever I played the same deck twice at a tournament. I'm quite proud of myself and my first steps to spikehood, but constructing new decks is still what draws me to Magic the Gathering, so we'll have to wait and see if this is a fluke or the dawn of a new psychographic profile ;)

T8 Decklists

1. Martijn Beljaars (15 - Foundry Affinity)
2. Maarten Jacobs (12 - Countertop Faeries)
3. Niels Gramser (9 - UR Control)
4. Guus Venhuizen (9 - Elves)
5. Gijsbert Haaksman (9 - Grapeshot Storm)
6. Bart Holkenborg (9 - Faeries)
7. Oscar de Boer (9 - GW Aggro)
8. Martijn Hennink (7 - Arcane Tide)

Martijn Beljaars - Foundry Affinity
1st place (15 points)

Creatures
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Disciple of the vault
4 Glaze fiend
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Eenforcer
4 Quicksilver Behemoth

Spells
4 Chromatic star
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Springleaf drum
1 Sword of the meek (U)
4 Thopter foundry (U)
4 Thoughtcast

Lands
3 Ancient den
4 Great furnace
4 Seat of the synod
4 Vault of whispers

Sideboard
SB: 3 Krark-Clan Shaman
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Ancient Grudge

Maarten Jacobs - Countertop Faeries
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Sensei's Divining Top (U)
3 Counterbalance (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Snap
4 Gush

Lands
3 Desert
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Annul
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 3 Thornwind Faeries
SB: 4 Errant Ephemeron

Niels Gramser - UR Control
3rd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Trinket Mage
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mulldrifter
3 Spire Golem

Spells
1 Bonesplitter
4 Brainstorm
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Sensei's Divining Top (U)
3 Skred
3 Counterbalance (U)
4 Counterspell
1 Echoing Truth
3 Incinerate
1 Firespout (U)

Lands
2 Desert
11 Snow-Covered Island
5 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Envelop
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 1 Swirling Sandstorm

Guus Venhuizen - Elves
4th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Quirion Ranger
3 Elvish Visionary
4 Thornweald Archer
1 Wren's Run Vanquisher (U)
4 Imperious Perfect (U)
2 Quirion Sentinel
4 Timberwatch Elves
3 Winnower Patrol

Spells
4 Wirewood Pride
3 Distant Melody

Lands
12 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 4 Gleeful Sabotage
SB: 3 Night Soil
SB: 4 Wellwisher
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Gijsbert Haaksman - Grapeshot Storm
5th place (9 points)

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chomatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation (U)
4 Rite of Flames
3 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Grapeshot
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Manamorphose
3 Words of Wisdom
4 Seething Song
1 Ignite Memories (U)

Lands
4 Anchient Spring
4 Irrigation Ditch
4 Island
4 Sulfur Vent

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Early Frost

Bart Holkenborg - Faeries
6th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
4 Force Spike
2 Spell Snare (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Snap
3 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush

Lands
3 Desert
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 3 Annul
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Disrupt
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Negate

Oscar de Boer - GW Aggro
7th place (9 points)

Creatures
2 Thornscape Apprentice
4 Bant Sureblade
4 Safehold Elite
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Blastoderm
3 Charging Troll (U)

Spells
4 Niveous Wisps
2 Phyrexian Vault (U)
4 Armadillo Cloak
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Shield of the Oversoul

Lands
11 Forest
10 Plains
2 Selesnya Sanctuary

Sideboard
SB: 4 Spore Frog
SB: 1 Llanowar Knight
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 2 Steward of Valeron
SB: 2 Valeron Outlander
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring

Martijn Hennink - Arcane Tide
8th place (7 points)

Spells
1 Evermind (U)
4 Brainstorm
1 Gigadrowse
4 High Tide
4 Ponder
4 Reach Through Mists
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Dampen Thought (U)
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Psychic Puppetry
2 Stream of Unconsciousness (U)
1 Oona's Grace

Lands
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 3 Gigadrowse
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Mystic Remora

Results August 28, 2009

2009-08-30T17:13:00.004+02:00

Fresh results are in! The holidays took its heaviest toll yet, only 10 people participated, with a lot of regulars missing. Hopefully we'll see more people show up come September. Low attendance means I will present you with a top 4 this time. Three well-known decks, and a new blink deck I concocted with a little gem from Ice Age as one of my uncommons! In case you don't get it: when you exile a reanimated or unearthed creature with Flickerwisp or Momentary Blink, it does return to play. So, I had a great time, even though we only had time for four games. It's also interesting to note that Astral Slide, Tortured Existence and MBC all finished outside the T4. We are adapting, we are... Enjoy!

T4 Decklists

1. Martijn Labohm (10 - Foundry Affinity)
2. Martijn Hennink (9 - Rapid Eye Movement)
3. Bart Holkenborg (9 - Faeries)
4. Rob de Jonge (9 - Taïga)

Martijn Labohm - Foundry Affinity
1st place (10 points)

Creatures
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Glaze Fiend
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Quicksilver Behemoth

Spells
4 Chromatic Star
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Springleaf Drum
1 Shrapnel Blast (U)
4 Thopter Foundry (U)
4 Thoughtcast

Lands
4 Ancient Den
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 4 Holy Day

Martijn Hennink - Rapid Eye Movement
2nd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Safehold Elite
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Auramancer
4 Brackwater Elemental
3 Flickerwisp (U)
4 Mulldrifter
2 Noble Templar

Spells
4 Momentary Blink
2 Vulshok Morningstar
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Unmake
2 Dreams of the Dead (U)

Lands
3 Azorius Chancery
7 Island
10 Plains

Sideboard
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 3 Rune of Protection: Black
SB: 2 Seal of Cleansing
SB: 4 Dust to Dust
SB: 2 Holy Light

Bart Holkenborg - Faeries
3rd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
4 Force Spike
2 Spell Snare (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Snap
3 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush

Lands
3 Desert
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Annul
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Disrupt
SB: 2 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Negate

Rob de Jonge - Taïga
4th place (9 points)

Creatures
2 Jungle Lion
4 Kird Ape
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Scab-Clan Mauler
1 Boggart Ram-Gang (U)
4 Bloodbraid Elf (U)

Spells
3 Seal of Fire
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rancor
4 Incinerate
2 Fireblast

Lands
11 Forest
11 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 1 Overload
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Smash
SB: 1 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 4 Naturalize

M2010 Set Review

2009-08-28T13:44:00.016+02:00

Welcome to another installment of my peasant magic set reviews. We've had a while to play with M2010, and already some commons have seen play. My usual prediction on the playability of the cards will have to make place for actual facts in some cases! If you have been following this blog for a while, you know what'll happen next. Yes, I will once again pore over each common and label its playability or lack thereof. I'll end with a quick glance at some possible gems in the uncommon slot. Of course half of the cards are a known commodity, but that will only make the job easier for me, right? Alright, I promise I will not include any reprints in this review. Now let's move on!

For reference, you can find the full Visual Spoiler here!

M2010 commons

White

Angel's Mercy
While 7 life is a lot, so is 4 mana. Renewed Faith is about 183 times better than this.
Verdict: Won't see play.

Blinding Mage
Master Decoy without a relevant creature type. Seeing that Master Decoy is already outclassed by its Kithkin sibling Goldmeadow Harrier, I foresee a life of embittered loneliness for this mage.
Verdict: Won't see play

Divine Verdict
A new name doesn't make Neck Snap any more playable.
Verdict: Won't see play

Glorious Charge
When would you ever play this above Kjeldoran War Cry or Surge of Thoughtweft?
Verdict: Won't see play

Griffin Sentinel
See Divine Verdict, but replace Neck Snap with Skyhunter Prowler.
Verdict: Won't see play

Lifelink
Look! A worse Spirit Link!
Verdict: Won't see play

Palace Guard
This card has some merit in limited, but in peasant it is too slow with not enough power to impact the board. Also, there are simply better soldiers to be found.
Verdict: Won't see play

Safe Passage
Can be brutal in limited play. This card will have to compete with Prismatic Strands though, and I just can't see this winning that fight, unless white becomes the best color in peasant or too many multicolor decks make the Strands too unreliable. For now I don't see that happening, but who knows?.
Verdict: Might see play

Siege Mastodon
Strictly for limited, but pretty good in that environment.
Verdict: Won't see play

Silvercoat Lion
The incredible unplayable Eager Cadets, without a relevant creature type!
Verdict: Won't see play

Divine Offering
Good sideboard option, pity it's a sorcery. I would have been all over this if this had been an instant!
Verdict: Might see play

Stormfront Pegasus
This is a pretty decent card. 2 power for 2 mana with evasion, sounds like Gaea's Skyfolk, and that saw play (admittedly mainly to trigger a certain mimic).
Verdict: Might see play

Veteran Armorsmith
Well, this is a very good card that should not be ignored if you want to run a soldier deck in peasant. Someone already did.
Verdict: Already saw play

Veteran Swordsmith
Well, this is a very good card that should not be ignored if you want to run a soldier deck in peasant. Someone already did.
Verdict: Already saw play.

Wall of Faith
Sometimes "Won't see play" means "You should never play these, so you can burn your copies with a clear conscience if you are out of chopped wood in the middle of winter and desperately in need of a fire."
Verdict: Won't see play

Blue

Convincing Mirage
Well... This is better than Phantasmal Terrain!
Verdict: Won't see play

Disorient
Riiiight.
Verdict: Won't see play

Divination
Counsel of the Soratami in disguise! Still vastly inferior to good old Mulldrifter.
Verdict: Won't see play

Essence Scatter
I would play this over Remove Soul for the incredible cool art. Remove Soul sees play from time to time, when blue rises to quell the tide of... well... things it seeks to quell I suppose.
Verdict: Might see play

Ice Cage
Euipment and pump spells are way too popular for this to really shine. Add to that (near) creatureless decks like MBC and Arcane Tide and you can see this is going nowhere.
Verdict: Won't see play

Illusionary Servant
The good news is, equipment can't target your guys, and most other targeted spells aim to kill anyway. This is actually a pretty good card that should put up a fight in blue-based aggro decks.
Verdict: Will see play

Serpent of the Endless Sea
Somewhere inside I feel the urge to build a peasant deck with this and Convincing Mirage... X/X [i]is[/i] a monster!
Verdict: Won't see play

Tome Scour
5 cards eh? Still looks like an inferior Vision Charm, but put enough of these cards together and you end up with genuine a mill deck! You need 12+ of these to reliably mill your opponent's whole deck in a timely fashion however, so I think I'll stick to Arcane Tide if I want to mill opponents to death.
Verdict: Won't see play

Zephyr Sprite
A Flying Men in a relevant tribe. I heard 1 power adds up in faeries?
Verdict: Might see play

Black

Acolyte of Xathrid
If you want to win the game 1 point at a time, Onyx Goblet is probably the way to go in black. This card sure isn't.
Verdict: Won't see play

Child of Night
2 power for 2 mana is nice in black. Lifelink is actually a pretty useful ability, and I'm confident this card will find a home somewhere.
Verdict: Will see play

Disentomb
Raise Dead << Unearth in peasant magic.
Verdict: Won't see play

Doom Blade
Better then Terror in a world where affinity is Tier 1. You probably won't be surprised that it was included in one of last month's decks.
Verdict: Already saw play

Dread Warlock
Similarly, fear becomes much, much better, once you take out the artifact factor. Still, a 2/2 unblockable (there aren't that many black creatures in our meta) for three doesn't really translate into a clock, does it?
Verdict: Might see play

Kelinore Bat
Perfect for limited, perfect crap for constructed.
Verdict: Won't see play

Sign in Blood
A killer card draw spell! Adopted by MBC in the blink of an eye.
Verdict: Already saw play

Soul Bleed
Like I said, Onyx Goblet.
Verdict: Won't see play

Vampire Aristocrat
I still think zombie is a more relevant creature type, don't you? Zendikar might change that though, I heard it is chock full of blooddrinkers.
Verdict: Might see play

Warpath Ghoul
Currently one of the best deals a zombie deck can get a 3 mana. Yeah I know, peasant zombies still blows.
Verdict: Won't see play

Zombie Goliath
Case in point.
Verdict: Won't see play

Red

Berserkers of Blood Ridge
That's a lot of power for a red common. Still, peasant is a fast format in which a 4/4 for 5 with a disadvantage shouldn't make the cut. I'ld be happy to be proven wrong though in this case, I love this card!
Verdict: Won't see play

Verdict:

Green

Verdict:

Artifact

Verdict:

Hmm... that's a pretty impressive list! But it doesn't stop there, because this time there are some uncommons that might shake things up a bit! Let's discuss!

M2010 Uncommons

Verdict:

Very impressive! My predictions gave Conflux 6 commons and 3 uncommons that I though would see play, this time around it's 16 commons and 4 uncommons! To be fair, that does include the Borderpost cycle and Terminate. I hope you'll enjoy these cards just as much as I will. Still, I know I'm going to play me some Alara Reborn cards for a long while!

Hoping you'll enjoy this set as much as I will,

-Hennink

Results July 31st, 2009

2009-08-19T22:23:00.000+02:00

It's been a while since I posted results. I've been rather busy lately, and somehow the update of last month's tournament took me a while to put on the net. Well, just in time for our next tournament, here are the results of July. Finally.

Anyway, it seems like we still didn't shift away from aggro. Jasper tweaked his MBC list with a little gem from M2010, and once again emerged victorious. With only 14 people in attendance, probably because of the holidays, I decided to exclude any lists with fewer than 9 points, leaving us with a T7 for the first time!

T7 Decklists

1. Jasper Boelens (15 - MBC)
2. Martijn Labohm (12 - Foundry Affinity)
3. Jan Kotlarski (9 - MBC)
4. Martijn Hennink (9 - Countertop Faeries)
5. Douwe van Noordenburg (9 - Taïga)
6. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (9 - Subway Soldiers)
7. Arne Haak (9 - Arcane Tide)

Jasper Boelens - MBC
1st place (15 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Innocent Blood
3 Skeletal Scrying (U)
4 Consume Spirit
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sign in Blood
4 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 3 Wretched Banquet
SB: 4 Wrench Mind
SB: 2 Burden of Greed
SB: 2 Pewter Golem

Martijn Labohm - Foundry Affinity
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Glaze Fiend
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Quicksilver Behemoth

Spells
4 Chromatic Star
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Springleaf Drum
1 Shrapnel Blast (U)
4 Thopter Foundry (U)
4 Thoughtcast

Lands
4 Ancient Den
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 4 Holy Day

Jan Kotlarski - MBC
3rd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Innocent Blood
3 Skeletal Scrying (U)
4 Consume Spirit
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Echoing Decay
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Unmake
3 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 1 Echoing Decay
SB: 4 Distress
SB: 2 Burden of Greed

Martijn Hennink - Countertop Faeries
4th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Sensei's Divining Top (U)
3 Counterbalance (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Echoing Truth
4 Mana Leak
3 Gush

Lands
4 Desert
16 Island

Sideboard
SB: 3 Annul
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Tanglebloom
SB: 1 Weatherseed Faeries
SB: 1 Hindering Touch
SB: 4 Rewind

Douwe van Noordenburg - Taïga
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
3 Jungle Lion
4 Kird Ape
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Scab-Clan Mauler
2 Boggart Ram-Gang (U)

Spells
4 Chain Lightning
2 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rancor
4 Reckless Charge
2 Incinerate

Lands
8 Forest
3 Gemstone Mine (U)
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Bloodfire Dwarf
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 3 Ancient Grudge
SB: 2 Smash to Smithereens

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - Subway Soldiers
6th (9 points)

Creatures
4 Akrasan Squire
2 Auriok Glaivemaster
2 Elite Vanguard (U)
4 Soltari Foot Soldier
4 Aven Squire
4 Leonin Den-Guard
4 Veteran Armorsmith
4 Veteran Swordsmith
2 Gempalm Avenger

Spells
4 Bonesplitter
3 Harm's Way (U)
1 Oblivion Ring

Lands
19 Plains
3 Secluded Steppe

Sideboard
SB: 4 Honorable Scout
SB: 3 Rune of Protection: Black
SB: 3 Rune of Protection: Red
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 3 Prismatic Strands

Arne Haak - Arcane Tide
7th place (9 points)

Spells
1 Evermind (U)
4 Brainstorm
1 Gigadrowse
4 High Tide
4 Ponder
4 Reach Through Mists
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Dampen Thought (U)
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Psychic Puppetry
2 Stream of Consciousness (U)
1 Oona's Grace

Lands
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 4 Envelop
SB: 3 Gigadrowse
SB: 4 Hydroblast

Results June 26th, 2009

2009-06-29T21:29:00.002+02:00

People came prepared for affinity this time. There were two different builds, but neither manages to score better than 3-2. With only two decks scoring more, I guess they're still a contender though! I managed to beat one of them with my Bloodbraid Aggro deck, but lost to Faeries (without Counterbalance) and amylynnlee1981's Arcane Tide deck that I tweaked over on magic-ville.fr's peasant forum. Ah well, it's always flattering to lose to your own deck!

Anyway, like one very observant reader commented last time around, MBC would be very good in our aggro-oriented metagame. Guess which deck came in first? Welcome back at the top! I'm doing a T9 this time, since 9th place also got a 3-2 record. Have fun perusing the decklists!

T9 Decklists

1. Jasper Boelens (15 - MBC)
2. Bart Holkenborg (12 - Faeries)
3. Allard van der Made (9 - Neo Affinity)
4. Arne Haak (9 - Arcane Tide)
5. Martijn Hennink (9 - Bloodbraid Aggro)
6. Gijsbert Haaksman (9 - Taïga)
7. Erik-Sander Kwebeman (9 - WU Exalted)
8. Maarten Kwant (9 - Goblins)
9. Martijn Labohm (9 - Foundry Affinity)

Jasper Boelens - MBC
1st place (15 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Innocent Blood
2 Skeletal Scrying (U)
4 Consume Spirit
2 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Echoing Decay
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Unmake
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Tangle Bloom
SB: 4 Distress
SB: 1 Echoing Decay
SB: 2 Burden of Greed

Bart Holkenborg - Faeries
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
4 Force Spike
2 Spell Snare (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Snap
3 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush

Lands
2 Desert
18 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Annul
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Disrupt
SB: 2 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus

Allard van der Made - Behemoth Affinity
3rd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Frogmite
4 Somber Hoverguard
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Quicksilver Behemoth

Spells
3 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Springleaf Drum
3 Shrapnel Blast (U)
4 Thoughtcast

Lands
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
2 Mishra's Factory (U)
4 Seat of the Synod
2 Tree of Tales
2 Vault of Whispers

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 3 Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Naturalize

Arne Haak - Arcane Tide
4th place (9 points)

Spells
1 Evermind (U)
4 Brainstorm
1 Gigadrowse
4 High Tide
4 Ponder
4 Reach Through Mists
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Dampen Thought (U)
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Psychic Puppetry
2 Stream of Consciousness (U)
1 Oona's Grace

Lands
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 3 Gigadrowse
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Echoing Truth

Martijn Hennink - Bloodbraid Aggro
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Horned Kavu
4 Jund Hackblade
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Rip-Clan Crasher
2 Boggart Ram-Gang (U)
3 Ember Weaver
3 Tattermunge Duo
3 Bloodbraid Elf (U)

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Colossal Might
4 Predatory Strike
4 Firewild Borderpost

Lands
6 Forest
2 Gruul Turf
7 Mountain
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Undergrowth
SB: 4 Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 Flaring Pain

Gijsbert Haaksman - Taïga
6th place (9 points)

404: Decklist not found! I hope he'll send it to me.

Creatures

Spells

Lands

Sideboard
SB:

Erik-Sander Kwebeman - WU Exalted
7th (9 points)

Creatures
4 Akrasan Squire
4 Aven Squire
4 Bant Sureblade
4 Esper Stormblade
4 Ethercaste Knight
3 Talon Trooper

Spells
3 Path to Exile (U)
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Hindering Light
2 Mask of Memory (U)
4 Steel of the Godhead

Lands
7 Island
2 Lonely Sandbar
9 Plains
2 Secluded Steppe

Sideboard
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 4 Deft Duelist
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Seal of Cleansing
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 Prismatic Strands

Maarten Kwant - Goblins
8th place (9 points)

Creatures
1 Goblin Sledder
4 Mogg Conscript
4 Mogg Fanatic
1 Mogg Raider
4 Mogg Flunkies
1 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Warchief (U)
4 Mudbutton Torchrunner
4 Goblin Ringleader (U)

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Incinerate
2 Fireblast

Lands
19 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Goblin Vandal
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens

Martijn Labohm - Foundry Affinity
9th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Glaze Fiend
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Quicksilver Behemoth

Spells
4 Chromatic Star
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Springleaf Drum
1 Shrapnel Blast (U)
4 Thopter Foundry (U)
4 Thoughtcast

Lands
4 Ancient Den
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens

Results May 30th, 2009

2009-06-02T09:57:00.008+02:00

I forgot to write a tournament report for the last tournament, didn't I? This time I didn't scribble notes, but I do have some new decklists! Allard capitalized on the unbanned artifact lands and won with a new take on affinity. I happily got in 6th with the awesome Arcane Tide deck, losing to Vise Burn and Silly Simic. Enough talking, more decklists!

T8 Decklists

1. Allard van der Made (15 - Behemoth Affinity)
2. Arne Haak (12 - Silly Simic)
3. Maarten Jacobs (9 - Resounding Borders)
4. Niels Gramser (9 - Bloodbraid Aggro)
5. Douwe van Noordenburg (9 - Taïga)
6. Martijn Hennink (9 - Arcane Tide)
7. Elske van der Vaart (9 - Naya Aggro)
8. Johan Rots (6 - GW Slivers)

Allard van der Made - Behemoth Affinity
1st place (15 points)

Creatures
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Frogmite
4 Somber Hoverguard
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Quicksilver Behemoth

Spells
1 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Springleaf Drum
3 Shrapnel Blast (U)
3 Tooth of Chiss-Goria
4 Thoughtcast

Lands
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
2 Mishra's Factory (U)
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Tree of Tales

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Moment's Peact
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 1 Scale of Chiss-Goria

Arne Haak - Silly Simic
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Shorecrasher Mimic
3 Lorescale Coatl (U)

Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Daze
3 Favor of the Overbeing
3 Mana Leak
3 Snakeform
2 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush

Lands
6 Forest
14 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Wickerbough Elder

Maarten Jacobs - Resounding Borders
3rd place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Etched Oracle (U)
1 Mulldrifter
4 Krosan Tusker

Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Dismantling Blow
4 Kodama's Reach
4 Resounding Thunder
4 Resounding Silence
4 Swirling Sandstorm
2 Ordered Migration
1 Vengeful Rebirth

Borderposts
2 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Firewild Borderpost
2 Mistvein Borderpost
1 Veinfire Borderpost
2 Wildfield Borderpost

Lands
9 Forest
3 Island
2 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Power Sink
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Night Soil
SB: 1 Dismantling Blow
SB: 3 Matca Rioters

Niels Gramser - Bloodbraid Aggro
4th place (9 points)

Creatures
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Hellspark Elemental (U)
4 Horned Kavu
4 Rip-Clan Crasher
3 Blastoderm
3 Bloodbraid Elf (U)

Spells
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Rancor

Lands
9 Forest
12 Mountain
1 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Naturalize
SB: 3 Ancient Grudge

Douwe van Noordenburg - Taïga
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
2 Ghazban Ogre
3 Jungle Lion
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Scab-Clan Mauler

Spells
3 Chain Lightning
3 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rancor
4 Reckless Charge
2 Incinerate

Lands
2 Gemstone Mine (U)
8 Forest
11 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Bloodfire Dwarf
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 2 Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 Compost (U)
SB: 3 Smash to Smittereens

Martijn Hennink - Arcane Tide
6th place (9 points)

Spells
1 Evermind (U)
4 Brainstorm
1 Gigadrowse
4 High Tide
4 Ponder
4 Reach Through Mists
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Dampen Thought (U)
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Psychic Puppetry
2 Stream of Consciousness (U)
1 Oona's Grace

Lands
17 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Disrupt
SB: 4 Envelop
SB: 3 Gigadrowse
SB: 4 Hydroblast

Elske van der Vaart - Naya Aggro
7th (9 points)

Creatures
4 Qasali Pride-Mage
4 Steward of Valeron
4 Werebear
2 Woolly Thoctar (U)
3 Gorger Wurm
3 Streetbreaker Wurm

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Armadillo Cloak
2 Behemoth Sledge (U)
4 Harrow
4 Oblivion Ring

Lands
5 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Naya Panorama
6 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Treetop Village (U)

Sideboard
SB: 3 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 3 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 3 Shelter
SB: 2 Wickerbough Elder

Johan Rots - GW Slivers
8th place (6 points)

Creatures
4 Plated Sliver
4 Sidewinder Sliver
4 Virulent Sliver
4 Muscle Sliver
4 Sinew Sliver
4 Spinneret Sliver
3 Talon Sliver
2 Victual Sliver (U)

Spells
4 Gather Courage
3 Thrill of the Hunt
4 Armadillo Cloak

Lands
8 Forest
8 Plains
3 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tranquil Thicket

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Ray of Revelation
SB: 3 Holy Light
SB: 3 Root Sliver (U)

Decks that didn't finish in the T8 included Esperzoa Affinity, GU Scepter, and Vise Burn.

Banned List Update

2009-04-27T21:25:00.004+02:00

There's been an update to the banned list. As of 01/04/2009 all the artifact lands are no longer banned in peasant tournaments in Groningen. To prevent Affinity from becoming the menace it was before the bannings in June last year, Cranial Plating has been banned. The organizers feel this should keep affinity in check, while allowing other decks (Esper, Neo Affinity) and/or interactions (Tinker Mage) to come forward. Disciple of the Vault has been added to the watchlist, as its interaction with sac outlets like Atog still raises questioning eyebrows.

Empty the Warrens has been removed from the watchlist. In the last six months, a healthy amount of storm decks have seen play, most of which chose to play the watched card. While the deck booked some solid results with at least one win and some high finishes, the peasant invite showed that a prepared field can easily deal with the card without clogging up sideboards. Two decks were played in a field of 16 players, neither of them made the top 8.

To see the full list of banned cards, click here.

A final change concerns Wizard's new Gatherer (click here to open), which brings a few relevant updates. Amongst others, Mana Crypt is now listed with rarity "Special", instead of "Common", meaning you're no longer allowed to play it in peasant.

Alara Reborn Set Review

2009-04-25T15:23:00.001+02:00

Welcome to my second set review for peasant. This time Alara Reborn is the brand new set, and my my, does it have some goodies for peasant! Once again I will pore over each card that might seem worthwile to the format as far as I can tell. Reborn being all-gold needs some way to structure, so I'll group the cards by allied color combination, or, in the case of tri- and enemy colors, by shard (even though those technically don't exist anymore). I hope you'll find this intuitive to read. Anyway, no dallying, this is what I think...

For reference, you can find the full Visual Spoiler here!

Alara Reborn commons

White/Blue

Ethercaste Knight
So, a basic 1/3 exalted guy for two mana. How good can that be? It's decent on defense and it boosts your best attacker through exalted, but artifacts are fragile, it has no utility value, and it's somewhat difficult to cast. I think there are better options, but a quick Esper rush deck might surprise me.
Verdict: Won't see play

Ethersworn Shieldmage
An improved fog on a small body in Momentary Blink colors? In the right deck this can foil your opponent's combat math and direct damage time and time again. I like that you can fearlesly attack your board into any creature without losing your team.
Verdict: Might see play

Fieldmist Borderpost
Hey, what do you know! This is an auto-include in Esper W/U rush, if such an archetype is even viable. It's multicolor, helping a certain Stormblade, and an artifact, turning on the rest of the deck. Also, it effectively goes into your deck's land slots, as long as you play a few basics as well.
Verdict: Will see play

Glassdust Hulk
Five mana is a lot, though an Etherium Sculptor helps with this of course. For five mana however, you get a positive beast. A 4/5 unblockable will get the job done pretty fast, as long as you don't walk into any Ancient Grudges. I like it, though never as a 4-of.
Verdict: Might see play

Offering to Asha
I really like it when lifegain is tacked onto otherwise playable cards. If you're in a tight fight, even 2 life off an Aven Riftwatcher can make the difference. In W/U control decks this card fills the top curve in permision. 4 is a lot to pay extra, so it's not too easy to play around, and it gains you enough life that I think it's worth it.
Verdict: Might see play

Sanctum Plowbeast
So at the unplayable cost of 6 mana I get a 3/6 wall that's easily destroyed by all colors? That means I would have to play this for the landcycling only, and that's not worth it.
Verdict: Won't see play

Stormcaller's Boon
Hmmm... Cascade is cool, but the main effect of this card is not really worth it.
Verdict: Won't see play

Talon Trooper
French vanilla ftw? I'm torn. Decent stats by any means, for the cost anyways. I don't want to be excited about this one, but it turns on Esper Stormcaller and can fend of Mulldrifters, Aven Riftwatchers, Shrieking Grotesques, Hypnotic Specters, Guardian of the Guildpact, Faeries, Ninja of the Deep Hours and a lot more, all day long. Arg... Should I give this a try?
Verdict: Might see play

Esper

Arsenal Thresher
This curves in on turn 3 right after Etherium Sculptor. And wow, you can reveal artifact lands if you like! In the right deck this is easily a 5/5 for 3 mana. This might fight Myr Enforcer for the beatstick slot in affinity!
Verdict: Will see play

Esper Sojourners
Ick! An inefficient creature with a seemingly irrelevant leaves play ability and a very hard casting cost. The cycling ability is pretty in limited, but not enough to make this playable in peasant.
Verdict: Won't see play

Esper Stormblade
A 3/2 flyer for 2 mana, are you kidding? Great card, and there should be enough gold artifacts around by now to make this playable in affinity!
Verdict: Will see play

Vectis Dominator
Nah, you should never give your opponent a choice, since he will just choose the least annoying. Also, as a 0/2 it will do nothing on an empty board. Too bad really, I was hoping for a playable WB creature.
Verdict: Won't see play

Blue/Black

Architects of Will
A Hill Giant with a Sage Owl ability that cycles for cheap is perfect for limited, but I question its usefulness in peasant. Thing is, there are better utility creatures out there, and 3/3 isn't all that hot either.
Verdict: Won't see play

Brainbite
At 4 mana this is too expensive, even though it's a 2-for-1.
Verdict: Won't see play

Deny Reality
A sorcery-speed Boomerang at 5 mana. Deny Reality isn't off to a great start, and what's worse, the cascade won't often help you in the typical UB deck, which often plays at least 8 counterspell variants. Also, bouncing stuff, especially this late in the game, doesn't really solve any of your problems.
Verdict: Won't see play

Etherium Abomination
Hum. I don't really need to explain to you why this won't see play, right?
Verdict: Won't see play

Jhessian Zombies
At six mana I want better stats out of my land cyclers, maybe a 5/3 regenerator?
Verdict: Won't see play

Mistvein Borderpost
Once again, a borderpost in a color that cares about artifacts. Playable at any rate, it's even better in U/B, as long as you don't go all out on the Mirrodin artifact lands.
Verdict: Will see play

Soul Manipulation
Stunning common! This is the kind of affordable two-for-one any peasant player should be looking out for. Just be careful you don't go all out on the graveyard dependent cards like Accumulated Knowledge and Rune Snag, or else you will be wrecked by Relic of Progenitus.
Verdict: Will see play

Vedalken Ghoul
I'll tap my desert and take 1? If only it would be dangerous if it went unblocked as well...
Verdict: Won't see play

Grixis

Grixis Grimblade
Efficient creature, even though deathtouch is not really a constructed-worthy (though constructed-annoying) ability.
Verdict: Might see play

Grixis Sojourners
This one is actually playable. The cycling ability is just an expensive, though uncounterable, cremate, but the base stats are totally worth it. Besides, sometimes a cremate is just what you want in peasant!
Verdict: Might see play

Magefire Wings
Power increase and evasion on a cheap aura might actually make this playable. Even if you get only one hit out of this before they destroy the creature, it's still worth it.
Verdict: Might see play

Sewn-Eye Drake
Flying makes this so much better than Lightning Elemental. Still, at 1 toughness for four mana this is too fragile.
Verdict: Won't see play

Black/Red

Breath of Malfegor
Overcosted in a format with just one opponent.
Verdict: Won't see play

Demonic Dread
Even though cascade is probably best on a low CC, the effect of this card is awful.
Verdict: Won't see play

Igenous Pouncer
Six mana is still too much, but this at least packs some punch and can come in unexpected. Of course the surprise of you playing these is spoiled as soon as you cycle your first because six mana is nowhere in sight...
Verdict: Won't see play

Kathari Bomber
Incorrectly spoiled as an uncommon, this card still has one big weakness: Aven Riftwatcher. Only two decks played these in the last tournament however, so it seems like it's declining in popularity. Since it's a common now, I can play it besides Hypnotic Specter or Ashenmoor Gouger (I previously stated I'ld rather play these than the Bomber). That means this is actually a fairly efficient creature, sort of a Dragon Fodder stuck on a Firebolt. As an uncommon it wouldn't have seen play, as a common though...
Verdict: Might see play

Monstrous Carabid
Cycling can be relevant in certain decks, and this card is certainly playable in those decks, as long as they play both colors. Astral Slide and Lightning Rift are already popular choices. Usually these get paired with green for Tilling Treefolk, but maybe this will put some more beats in the deck?
Verdict: Might see play

Singe-Mind Ogre
Peasant is a speedy format, so most of the time you'll get 2 damage out of this at most. Then there's the times your up against a deck with Mulldrifters or Myr Enforcers in his or her hand and it burns for a lot more. Maybe. If this wasn't so unreliable I'ld run it. As is, I still want to test it.
Verdict: Might see play

Terminate
A reprint of a solid card that's already seeing play in Blightning Beatdown decks. Not much of a prediction here.
Verdict: Will see play

Veinfire Borderpost
Mana fixing in a color that can use it. Also this is another target for Shrapnel Blast.
Verdict: Will see play

Jund

Jund Hackblade
Huh! Insane if you can turn it on. Most of the times you'ld have to run uncommons or rares to do so (Tattermunge Maniac for example), but there's also the borderposts. B/R especially could run this. Wouldn't even be bad if it could attack only after you dropped down your Ashenmoor Gouger. Oh, did I mention you should play Veinfire Borderpost?
Verdict: Will see play

Jund Sojourners
Not bad, not bad. 3 power for 3 mana is right on the curve, and the cycling ability can actually be relevant. Still, you'ld want to drop this on turn three, and I don't know how consistent you could get those three colors together...
Verdict: Might see play

Putrid Leech
Well well well... A 4/4 for 2 mana, if that won't see play, nothing will! Fits in the (up till now nonexistent) B/G Mimic deck perfectly. Make sure you pack some lifegain somehow, cause this is going to hurt!
Verdict: Will see play

Sangrite Backlash
Meh, Ligthning Bolt, Last Gasp, and Agony Warp are more attractive options.
Verdict: Won't see play

Red/Green

Colossal Might
Excellent pump! The trample is crucial here. Fits right into Taiga-style decks.
Verdict: Will see play

Deadshot Minotaur
One mana too expensive, bummer! Perfect stats, a relevant ability (vs Faeries and Blink for example) and cycling. At 4 mana this would have been perfect, at 5 mana it's, well... One mana too expensive!
Verdict: Won't see play

Firewild Borderpost
Red/green usually has a lot of one-drops, some of which require basic lands (Kird Ape, Wild Nacatl), so I don't see this getting much airtime really. On the bright side, it's Shrapnel Blast fodder and fixes your mana really reliably.
Verdict: Will see play

Godtracker of Jund
If there were enough cheap 5-power creatures in the common slot this might see play. There aren't, so this won't.
Verdict: Won't see play

Gorger Wurm
Well, it's as cheap as a common 5-power creature is going to get. But no, still not competitive.
Verdict: Won't see play

Rhox Brute
Pretty efficient, not as good as the mad hatter (Wickerbough Elder) or Blastoderm.
Verdict: Won't see play

Valley Rannet
Well, these landcyclers certainly aren't anything to the peasant scene. Move along!
Verdict: Won't see play

Violent Outburst
The cascaded spell resolves before this, which means you really want to reveal that Rip-Clan Clasher! Very playable common!
Verdict: Will see play

Naya

Cerodon Yearling
A propos Rip-Clan Crasher? Go find a corner and cry, this is your new and improved brother! Of course, unlike G/R, R/W hasn't established itself as a playable archetype yet...
Verdict: Might see play

Naya Hushblade
Tech: the shroud only kicks in after you played the multicolor aura. I have never seen a more perfect target for Armadillo Cloak or Shield of the Oversoul!
Verdict: Will see play

Naya Sojourners
If only this had 4 toughness.
Verdict: Won't see play

Trace of Abundance
Currently there's not a deck that would want to play this. The only peasant deck I know of that used aura's like these was a G/U twiddle deck that actually needed to target a multiple enchanted land to generate massive amounts of mana.
Verdict: Won't see play

Green/White

Captured Sunlight
Four life eh? Here's the deal, you don't want to play lifegain unless it comes with some sort of utility or gains you a lot of life for a small cost (i.e. Nourish or Hallow). Cascade means you'll always get something else out of this, maybe an Armadillo Cloak? I think I like this card, but I still wonder if the slots aren't better spent on cards that actually win you the game.
Verdict: Might see play

Grizzled Leotau
Lol at the ridiculous toughness. This is Doran's best new friend! Luckily for us, Doran is a rare.
Verdict: Won't see play

Leonin Armorguard
Pretty decent army booster, though a Hill Giant body doesn't actually add that much too an effect like this.
Verdict: Won't see play

Pale Recluse
Anybody interested? No?
Verdict: Won't see play

Qasali Pridemage
Anybody interested? No? What's wrong with you! This is the best common since ages! The power of a Watchwolf and the utility of a Viridian Zealot combined put this common in the hall of fame as far as I'm concerned. If you're in G/W, there isn't a single reason to not play this. It's that good! I would consider this card even if I was playing G/W slivers! If not mainboard, then sideboard. Just wow!
Verdict: Will see play

Sigil of the Nayan Gods
This is a good aura. Problem is, G/W already has an abundance of great, stellar, and insane aura's. Armadillo Cloak this ain't.
Verdict: Won't see play

Sigil Behemoth
Too expensive.
Verdict: Won't see play

Wildfield Borderpost
I'ld wager there's a deck out there that really wants to play this stellar mana fixer.
Verdict: Will see play

Bant

Bant Sojourners
Too expensive for too small an effect
Verdict: Won't see play

Bant Sureblade
With great aura's like Shield of the Oversoul and Armadillo Cloak and excellent weenies like Qasali Pridemage (see below) and Steward of Valeron in G/W this is relatively easy to trigger. W/U gets a few solid commons in this set as well, though up until now there have been less playable multicolor commons in that color combination. That being said, a 3/2 first strike for 2 mana is excellent!
Verdict: Will see play

Crystallization
Why not just play Pacifism or Oblivion Ring? If your opponent destroys the Crystallization, you still haven't accomplished anything.
Verdict: Won't see play

Winged Coatl
Snakeform mark 2.0? Another removal spell in G/U, and a card that can unexpectantly grow Shorecrasher Mimic mid combat. I would have like this so much more as a 2/1 though...
Verdict: Might see play

Hmm... that's a pretty impressive list! But it doesn't stop there, because this time there are some uncommons that might shake things up a bit! Let's discuss!

Alara Reborn Uncommons

Ardent Plea
A really nice cascade card. It does something relevant, and if you cascade out another exalted (which shouldn't be to hard too accomplish if you build your deck right) this can give you a pretty relevant bonus on your third turn.
Verdict: Might see play

Wall of Denial
People are all over this, and it surely is one of the most annoying walls ever made. It's still only a 0-power creature though, so all it will do is stall. I think you're better of playing Plumeveil, if you must play a wall that is.
Verdict: Won't see play

Illusory Demon
This is raw power! It will hit your opponent hard and mercyless! Since you don't want to be playing four, you even have two uncommon slots left for manlands! The downside is its 3 toughness, right in Lightning Bolt range. The upside is its cmc of 3, right in Unearth range!
Verdict: Will see play

Mask of Riddles
A deceptively powerful effect: combat triggered Curiosity + Fear on an equipment. There's so much powerful blue card drawing at the common level that I doubt this will see play though, simply because you don't need to spend an uncommon slot on this effect. If it triggered on any damage this might have been a whole different story.
Verdict: Won't see play

Mind Funeral
One of the most powerful milling effects we've seen in a while, at least at the common and uncommon rarity. Between this and the common mill cards (Drowner Initiate, Ink Dissolver, Memory Sluice, etc) your clock probably isn't fast enough though. I haven't done the math though, so by all means, try it out!
Verdict: Won't see play

Anathemancer
Very strong in any format that is dominated by nonbasics, such as the current standard. Depending on whether you use Crystalkeep or Gatherer as your official guide to what's common and what's uncommon, this might be the right choice. We, in Groningen, use Gatherer, so Mishra's Factory and Maze of Ith are uncommons. Other than that you'll mainly see basic lands, so we are not going to play this. Maybe the French will? By the by, if Wizards is ever going to make peasant an official format, they're definitely going to use gatherer, so using crystal keep has never been an option for us.
Verdict: Won't see play (in Groningen)

Bituminous Blast
A strong effect, but Terminate gets the job done better and costs 3 (!!!) mana less. Don't let the cascade fool you.
Verdict: Won't see play

Demonspine Whip
So, a recurring Enrage? Interesting! The equipment is cheap enough to be playable, and the effect can be pretty brutal. It doesn't even matter if you're a bit mana flooded, since this will only make your critters more powerful. I'ld give this a try.
Verdict: Might see play

Bloodbraid Elf
This card has been hailed as the best card in the set by several people in online discussion threads, even above rares and mythic rares. That says something about the power of this beauty! 3/2 haste is fine at 4 mana, though at the top of the curve, but cascade really does make a difference in a deck with this! RG aggro is where this would see play, meaning you'll cascade into a relevant creature or a burn spell every time. Lovely!
Verdict: Will see play

Mage Slayer
Very expensive, but so is Loxodon Warhammer, and that sees play in some slower decks. There are, however, only a handful of common creatures that trigger on dealing damage as opposed to combat damage, so the place to use this is on big creatures. In that case I think you're better of spending your six mana on a hard hitting creature instead.
Verdict: Won't see play

Vithian Renegades
A better Viridian Shaman, without a relevant creature type. This does take up a valuable unc slot, and you could just as easily play Tin Street Hooligan in these colors.
Verdict: Won't see play

Behemoth Sledge
Armadillo Cloak meets Loxodon Warhammer. This is a very powerfull effect, and if you were about to run the Warhammer in a GW deck, you might as well use this. Thing is, if you're in these colors, you can also simply play Armadillo Cloak and/or Shield of the Oversoul and spend you unc slot on something relevant like a Phantom Centaur.
Verdict: Won't see play

Reborn Hope
A nice utility card, but is this worth an uncommon slot? I can't tell, but I can guess. Probably not.
Verdict: Won't see play

Sigil Captain
Useless in multiples, but there are so many very useful 1/1 creatures in GW that I'ld play this as a 1- or 2-of. Imagine this with Silhana Ledgewalker, Essence or Soul Warden, token generators. Certainly a very powerful effect!
Verdict: Will see play

Zealous Persecution
Nausea sees wide play with the amount of 1-toughness creatures in the format (elves, faeries, goblins, etc), so this theoretically could see play as well. This suffers from the same problem as Behemoth Sledge though. There are common alternatives that are almost equal, or good enough to get the job done, so why waste an uncommon slot on it?
Verdict: Won't see play

Double Negative
Tricky. If cascade sees play, this is a nice answer. Cascade won't see play widely though, and with the exception of the 3/2 hasty elf, you don't really need to counter the original spell. Versus storm you can use Hindering Touch, which is a common. Basically it's see above.
Verdict: Won't see play

Lorescale Coatl
This is pretty nutsy! You'll never need to overcommit after laying this down, since it will eventually outgrow every other creature in the format! Blue has enough common card draw to accompany this as well. GU Mimic was very playable before, but lacked a solid uncommon slot. This will do very nicely.
Verdict: Will see play

Nulltread Gargantuan
But, if you can't afford to wait, you might also play the fattest cmc 3 currently available in the format. The drawback is super steep though, costing you board position and a draw. Still, I can imagine there are still people who'll want to abuse this with Coiling Oracle and Elvish Visionary to negate the drawback. And make no mistake, a 5/6 can go the distance.
Verdict: Might see play

Gloryscale Viashino
Why does it have to have 3 toughness? Lightning Bolt I hate you! Other than that, this will do some serious facebashery when you turn it on, not very difficult in these colors (how very nice this card combines with Armadillo Cloak and Shield of the Oversoul!).
Verdict: Might see play

Flurry of Wings
While potentially very cool (both on offense and defense), this is one difficult mana cost to accomplish! The amount of hate vs 1/1 creatures in the format due to goblins, elves, etc, doesn't help either. A pity, cause I want to like this card.
Verdict: Won't see play

Thopter Foundry
Cheap artifact, life gain, recycling of excess lands and Chromatic Spheres and Stars. Alara block has brought a few playable uncommons to affinity, and this is no exception.
Verdict: Might see play

Results April 24th, 2009

2009-04-25T09:51:00.004+02:00

The second season is off to a fresh new start. I'll write up a tournament report later. Sadly my rogue deck didn't make T8 (I finished 9th). In total we had 18 participants, another nice turnout! One important change was the unbanning of artifact lands and the banning of Cranial Plating. There was one affinity deck, but it wasn't very succesful. So far it doesn't look like affinity will warp the meta like it used to do. Anyway, on to the decks that did make the top 8!

T8 Decklists

1. Maarten Jacobs (12 - Tortured Existence)
2. Douwe van Noordenburg (12 - Taïga)
3. Wouter Scholtens (11 - GW Slivers)
4. Michiel Deunk (10 - RG Fires)
5. Gijsbert Haaksman (9 - Storm Combo)
6. Martijn Beljaars (9 - Quillspike Combo)
7. Allard van der Made (9 - WU Blink)
8. Rob de Jonge (9 - Blightning Beatdown)

Maarten Jacobs - Tortured Existence
1st place (12 points)

PS. I couldn't find Maarten's decklist between the paper lists, because he provided the decklist digitally. Here it is!

Creatures
3 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Crypt Rats
2 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Yavimaya Elder
4 Wickerbough Elder
1 Krosan Tusker

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
1 Unearth
1 Grim Harvest
3 Sylvan Library (U)
1 Sylvan Bounty

Lands
11 Swamp
11 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 2 Grim Harvest
SB: 4 Nourish
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 4 Festercreep

Douwe van Noordenburg - Taïga
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
2 Ghazban Ogre
3 Jungle Lion
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Scab-Clan Mauler

Spells
3 Chain Lightning
3 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rancor
4 Reckless Charge
2 Incinerate

Lands
2 Gemstone Mine (U)
9 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Bloodfire Dwarf
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 2 Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 Compost (U)
SB: 3 Smash to Smittereens

Wouter Scholtens - GW Slivers
3rd place (11 points)

Creatures
4 Plated Sliver
4 Sidewinder Sliver
4 Virulent Sliver
4 Muscle Sliver
4 Sinew Sliver
4 Spinneret Sliver
4 Talon Sliver
3 Victual Sliver (U)

Spells
3 Gather Courage
4 Thrill of the Hunt
3 Prismatic Strands

Lands
8 Forest
7 Plains
2 Secluded Steppe
2 Tranquil Thicket

Sideboard
SB: 3 Hallow
SB: 3 Obsidian Acolyte
SB: 3 Ray of Revelation
SB: 4 Holy Light
SB: 2 Root Sliver (U)

Michiel Deunk - RG Fires
4th place (10 points)

Creatures
3 Llanowar Elves
3 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Horned Kavu
4 Scab-Clan Mauler
4 Blastoderm
2 Flametongue Kavu (U)

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Rancor
3 Fires of Yavimaya (U)
4 Rift Bolt

Lands
10 Forest
9 Mountain
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Naturalize
SB: 3 Rain of Embers
SB: 1 Smash to Smittereens
SB: 2 Smash

Gijsbert Haaksman - Storm Combo
5th place (9 points)

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation (U)
4 Rite of Flame
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Grapeshot
4 Manamorphose
4 Words of Wisdom
4 Seething Song
4 Ignite Memories (U)

Lands
4 Ancient Spring
4 Irrigation Ditch
3 Island
4 Sulfur Vent

Sideboard
SB: 3 Disrupt
SB: 4 Force Spike
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Unsummon

Martijn Beljaars - Quillspike Combo
6th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Carrion Feeder
2 Essence Warden
4 Devoted Druid
4 Safehold Elite
4 Quillspike (U)
4 Rendclaw Trow

Spells
4 Commune with Nature
4 Rancor
4 Unearth
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
3 Rite of Consumption

Lands
4 Desert
8 Forest
6 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Hidden Spider
SB: 4 Echoing Decay
SB: 3 Moment's Peace
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 2 Phyrexian Ghoul

Allard van der Made - WU Blink
7th (9 points)

Creatures
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Temple Acolyte
3 Trinket Mage
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
1 Æther Spellbomb
2 Brainstorm
2 Condescend
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Path to Exile (U)
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Repeal
4 Swords to Plowshares (U)
4 Momentary Blink

Lands
1 Ancient Den
1 Azorius Chancery
8 Island
8 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Icatian Javelineers
SB: 1 Disenchant
SB: 3 Divine Offering
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Hindering Light
SB: 1 Wispmare
SB: 1 Deep Analysis

Rob de Jonge - Blightning Beatdown
8th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Gobhobbler Rats
3 Keldon Marauders
2 Ravenous Rats
2 Rotting Rats
4 Ashenmoor Gouger (U)
1 Shambling Remains (U)

Spells
4 Duress
4 Lightning bolt
4 Unearth
4 Terminate
4 Blightning

Lands
11 Mountain
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens

Decks that didn't finish in the T8 included Elfball, IsoMUC, and Affinity.

Results March 22nd, 2009

2009-04-21T12:03:00.009+02:00

So, the finals! The invite! The epic showdown at the end of the season! Has it really been a year?

I expected a lot of goblin tokens and faeries this tournament, so I build a rogue deck with 4 maindeck Engineered Plague, powered out by 4 Dark Rituals. The decklist is included below, since I made T8. This time I wrote a short tournament report, so let's kick off with that.

Round 1: 2-1 vs Jan (Mono Black Control). I lose game 1, but discard + pressure + Relic of Progenitus (nullifying Skeletal Scrying) win me game 2 en 3.

Round 2: 2-1 vs Douwe (Dirty Kitty). The weird thing is I didn't even see my Engineered Plagues in any of the games. Discard and echoing decay work wonders though if you can keep up the pressure. Two Dross Golems tend to end things fast if your opponent has no answers.

Round 3: 1-2 vs Wouter (Balance Faeries). I beat him handily in game 1, it wasn't even close! Then, somehow, it all went awry. Game 2 I had to mulligan to 5 and never could amount any pressure. Game 3 I kept Swamp, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Duress, Engineered Plague, Echoing Decay, Faerie Macabre and fail to draw a second Swamp the entire game. Eventually he drew an Echoing Truth to bounce Engineered Plague and start beating, a few turns later he has Counterbalance and Top online... and I still didn't draw a Swamp. This took him like 17 turns! Very frustrating, but isn't that how magic sometimes works? I was pretty miffed thought that this had to happen versus a very good matchup.

Round 4: 2-0 vs Maarten (Mono Black Control). Turn 1 Dark Ritual, Duress, Hymn. Turn 2 Hymn. Turn 3 Hymn. With a godhand like that you beat every deck. Game 2 went like the matchup versus Jan, Relic of Progenitus for the win.

Round 5: 0-2 vs Allard (W/U Blink). I had pretty high hopes at this point. 3-1 is a very nice start. Instead of winning I get paired up vs blink, which turns out to be a truly unwinnable matchup. I can't race him because of the ridiculous amount of life gain (blinking Temple Acolyte and Aven Riftwatcher) and both games end with Allard smothering me in card advantage.

Round 6: 0-2 vs Oswin (W/B Discard). I though I had a decent chance here, turns out CoP: Black sucks when you're mono black. I still think this is not unwinnable, especially with the golems (I was winning g2 until he ripped a CoP off the top of his deck), but it's certainly not in my favor.

In the end my predictions were not entirely correct, and I beat the snot out of Dirty Kitty without drawing a single Engineered Plague. In hindsight my unc slot could have been better spent. 3-3 wasn't really what I hoped to achieve either, but at least I T8'ed. In the end I managed to grab 7th place in the final standings as well. Not bad, considering that I played a different deck each time!

Also, I'm happy to have influenced the metagame somewhat. I first discovered and played Temple Acolyte, which has become a staple for blink decks. Also, I first built the W/B discard decks with Guardian of the Guildpact and Swords to Plowshares, further refined and piloted to a 2nd place in the finals by Oswin. I do take some pride in that :) Let's see if I can stumble upon similar gems in the coming season!

All in all we had 42 different players during the past season. Around 25 of those showed up more than once. I'm looking forward to the coming season, hopefully we will keep such a high attendance!

Enough of all that talk though, you were wondering about the other decks that made it into the T8, no doubt. Well, karma at least affirmed my prediction somewhat, as Faeries won the whole thing! As for the rest? Enjoy!

PS. The points haven't been published, so I don't know how many points each contestant got. Some I do know.

T8 Decklists

1. Wouter Scholtens (16 - Balance Faeries)
2. Oswin ten Brinke (? - WB Discard)
3. Allard van der Made (? - Trinket Blink)
4. Gijsbert Haaksman (12 - MUC)
5. Jasper Boelens (? - Psychatog)
6. Niels Gramser (? - Elfball)
7. Martijn Hennink (9 - Engineered Aggro)
8. Martijn Labohm (? - Blightning Beatdown)

Wouter Scholtens - Balance Faeries
1st place (16 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Sensei's Divining Top (U)
3 Counterbalance (U)
4 Counterspell
3 Echoing Truth
4 Mana Leak
4 Gush

Lands
4 Desert
16 Island

Sideboard
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Viridian Longbow
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Guerrilla Tactics

Oswin ten Brinke - WB Discard
2nd place (? points)

Creatures
4 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Faerie Macabre
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
2 Kami of the Ancient Law
1 Kitchen Finks (U)
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
2 Ronom Unicorn
3 Shrieking Grotesque

Spells
4 Bonesplitter
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
3 Swords to Plowshares (U)
4 Unearth
3 Unmake

Lands
2 Barren Moor
10 Plains
8 Swamp
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 2 Echoing Decay
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 2 Relic of the Progenitus

Allard van der Made - Trinket Blink
3rd place (? points)

Creatures
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Temple Acolyte
3 Trinket Mage
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mulldrifter

Spells
1 Æther Spellbomb
2 Brainstorm
2 Condescend
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Path to Exile (U)
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Repeal
4 Swords to Plowshares (U)
4 Momentary Blink

Lands
1 Azorius Chancery
9 Island
9 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Dispeller's Capsule
SB: 4 Icatian Javelineers
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Hindering Light
SB: 1 Wispmare
SB: 2 Deep Analysis

Gijsbert Haaksman - MUC
4th place (12 points)

Creatures
3 Spire Golem
3 Errant Ephemeron

Spells
4 Opt
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Counterspell
3 Echoing Truth
1 Isochron Scepter (U)
4 Rune Snag
3 Think Twice
1 Capsize
4 Propaganda (U)
3 Rewind

Lands
19 Island
4 Desert

Sideboard
SB: 4 Force spike
SB: 4 Relic of the Progenitus
SB: 4 Tangle Bloom
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Capsize
SB: 1 Spire Golem

Jasper Boelens - Psychatog
5th place (? points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats
3 Psychatog (U)

Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Condescend
4 Force Spike
3 Ghastly Demise
3 Mental Note
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Counterspell
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
1 Echoing Decay
1 Echoing Truth
1 Engineered Plague (U)
1 Deep Analysis
2 Gush
1 Mystical Teachings

Lands
2 Desert
2 Dimir Aqueduct
11 Island
6 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Mesmeric Fiend
SB: 3 Nausea

Niels Gramser - Elfball
6th place (? points)

Creatures
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Heritage Druid (U)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Quirion Ranger
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest of Titania

Spells
1 Chromatic Star
2 Fireball
1 Instill Energy (U)
2 Kaervek's Torch
4 Land Grant
4 Manamorphose
4 Distant Melody

Lands
11 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 1 Kaervek's Torch
SB: 4 Magnify
SB: 2 Sandstorm
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Naturalize
SB: 3 Nourish

Martijn Hennink - Plague Aggro
7th (9 points)

Creatures
4 Skittering Skirge
2 Crypt Rats
4 Faerie Macabre
4 Dross Golem

Spells
4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
4 Echoing Decay
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Vulshok Morningstar
4 Engineered Plague (U)
1 Loxodon Warhammer (U)

Lands
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 4 Diabolic Edict
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 2 Pewter Golem

Martijn Labohm - Blightning Beatdown
8th place (? points)

Creatures
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders
2 Ravenous Rats
4 Ashenmoor Gouger (U)
1 Hypnotic Specter (U)

Spells
4 Duress
4 Lightning bolt
2 Shard Volley
4 Unearth
4 Terminate
4 Blightning
2 Fireblast

Lands
10 Mountain
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Fearie Macabre

Results February 27, 2009

2009-03-06T15:19:00.003+01:00

Last tournament before the invite! Since I was already placed I took some jank deck to a 2-3 finish. Blink decks continue to dominate, and we also see the return of some old favorites: Dirty Kitty, Tortured Existence and Burn. I still think Tortured Existence has too many draws and Burn faces too much lifegain, but Dirty Kitty? I guess everybody better be prepared for it come finals!

T8

1. Gijsbert Haaksman (15 - Blink Riders)
2. Anne Cnossen (12 - Dirty Kitty)
3. Allard van der Made (12 - Trinket Blink)
4. Arne Haak (12 - Faeries)
5. Jan Kotlarski (10 - Tortured Existence)
6. Niels Gramser (9 - Raven's Rack)
6. Martijn Labohm (9 - Blightning Beatdown)
6. Douwe van Noordenburg (9 - Burn)
6. Jasper Boelens (9 - UG Madness)
6. Oswin ten Brinke (9 - WB Discard)

Decklists

Gijsbert Haaksman - Blink Riders
1st place (15 points)

Creatures
2 Aethersnipe
4 Auramancer
4 Avalanche Riders (U)
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Mulldrifter
1 Riftwing cloudskate (U)
4 Temple Acolyte

Spells
4 Angelic Renewal
2 Call to Heel
4 Momentary Blink
2 Seal of Cleansing
2 Seal of Fire

Lands
6 Island
5 Mountain
8 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Blue elemental blast
SB: 4 Echoing truth
SB: 4 Psychic Purge
SB: 3 Relic of the progenitus
SB: 1 Seal of Cleansing

Anne Cnossen - Dirty Kitty
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Goblin Matron
2 Goblin Sledder
1 Goblin Warchief (U)
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Tinder Wall
2 Wild Cantor

Spells
4 Empty the Warrens
4 Fecundity
1 Grapeshot
4 Lotus Petal
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song

Lands
8 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 1 Flaring Pain
SB: 1 Grapeshot
SB: 4 Naturalize
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus

Allard van der Made - Trinket Blink
3rd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Aven Riftwatcher
2 Errant Ephemeron
4 Mulldrifter
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Trinket Mage

Spells
1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Leonin Scimitar
4 Momentary Blink
1 Path to Exile (U)
3 Relic of Progenitus
4 Swords to Plowshares (U)

Lands
2 Azorius Chancery
8 Island
9 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Deep Analysis
SB: 1 Disenchant
SB: 1 Dispeller's Capsule
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Hindering Light
SB: 4 Icatian Javelineers
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt

Arne Haak - Faeries
4th place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Pestermite
4 Spellstutter Sprite

Spells
2 Bonesplitter
4 Brainstorm
2 Call to Heel
3 Counterbalance (U)
4 Counterspell
4 Gush
2 Sensei's Divining Top (U)
3 Snap

Lands
20 Island

Sideboard
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Mana Leak
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Snakeform
SB: 1 Weatherseed Faeries

Jan Kotlarski - Tortured Existence
5th place (10 points)

Creatures
1 Battlefield Scrounger
3 Crypt Rats
1 Elvish Skysweeper
3 Elvish Visionary
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Golgari Brownscale
2 Grave Scrabbler
2 Krosan Tusker
3 Spore Frog
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Tilling Treefolk

Spells
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
3 Sylvan Library (U)
4 Tortured Existence

Lands
9 Forest
10 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 1 Elvish Hexhunter
SB: 3 Faerie Macabre
SB: 4 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 2 Nantuko Vigilante
SB: 1 Scavenger Folk

Niels Gramser - Raven's Rack
6th-10th place (9 points)

Creatures
1 Blizzard Specter (U)
3 Crypt Rats
4 Trinket Mage

Spells
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 AEther Spellbomb
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Oona's Grace
4 Raven's Crime
4 Recoil
4 The Rack (U)
4 Wrench Mind

Lands
8 Island
14 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Deep Analysis
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 2 Relic of the Progenitus
SB: 2 Tanglebloom
SB: 1 Tormod's Crypt

Martijn Labohm - Blightning Beatdown
6th-10th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Ashenmoor Gouger (U)
1 Hypnotic Specter (U)
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Mogg Flunkies
2 Ravenous Rats

Spells
4 Blightning
4 Duress
2 Fireblast
4 Lightning bolt
4 Terminate
4 Unearth

Lands
10 Mountain
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 3 Fearie Macabre
SB: 1 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

Douwe van Noordenburg - Burn
6th-10th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg Fanatic

Spells
4 Black Vise (U)
4 Chain Lightning
3 Fireblast
1 Flame Rift
4 Incinerate
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
1 Magma Jet (U)
4 Rift Bolt
4 Shard Volley

Lands
19 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Bloodfire Dwarf
SB: 2 Flaring Pain
SB: 4 Guerilla Tactics
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

Jasper Boelens - UG Madness
6th-10th place (9 points)

Creatures
3 Basking Rootwalla
2 Man-o'-War
3 Phantom Centaur (U)
4 Werebear
3 Wild Mongrel

Spells
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Arcane Denial
4 Brainstorm
3 Echoing Truth
2 Fact or Fiction (U)
3 Memory Lapse
2 Mental Note
4 Rune Snag

Lands
7 Forest
10 Island
4 Terramorphic expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Aether burst
SB: 1 Counterspell
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 3 Snakeform

Oswin ten Brinke - WB Discard
6th-10th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Faerie Macabre
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
2 Kami of the Ancient Law
1 Kitchen Finks (U)
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
2 Ronom Unicorn
3 Shrieking Grotesque

Spells
4 Bonesplitter
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
3 Swords to Plowshares (U)
4 Unearth
3 Unmake

Lands
2 Barren Moor
10 Plains
8 Swamp
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 2 Echoing Decay
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 2 Relic of the Progenitus

Conflux Set Review

2009-02-23T13:38:00.004+01:00

Welcome to my first set review for peasant. While I am sure I will write about the older sets somewhere in the future, Conflux is the new kid on the block and deserves my immediate attention! Below I will discuss each card that might seem worthwile to the format as far as I can tell*. So, without further ado...

*PS. If I say "Won't see play" and you play the card to a strong finish, do let me know.

Conflux commons

White

Court Homonculus
Conflux brought us a rush of worthwile common artifact creatures, and this is one of the best. In any base white artifact deck this will be your Kird Ape of choice as it beats for 2 on turn two!
Verdict: Will see play

Darklit Gargoyle
This is the other artifact you really want to play if you're going Esper in peasant. It attacks for an evasive 3 damage on turn 3, which is already worth it. If you play toughness pump in your deck this will get even larger, enabling you to hit for 5 or more! Sure, it's an artifact and thus very vulnerable, but that didn't stop affinity from being a pain in the ass, did it? And remember, Kataki is not around in peasant ;)
Verdict: Will see play

Gleam of Resistance
White mana fixing, there's a nice card! Still, there's probably better options for that available, like Armillary Sphere, Pentad Prism, Prismatic Lens... No, the main effect has to worth it, and frankly, it isn't. In limited this shines, peasant is way too fast for this.
Verdict: Won't see play

Lapse of Certainty
Memory Lapse is a very strong card, but I feel this is just a tad too expensive. Still, mounting your offenses on the first three turns and then wait with counterbackup seems like a solid plan, so I'm curious where this will go.
Verdict: Might see play

Rhox Meditant
Card drawing is premium in peasant, Skeletal Scrying is one of the best uncommons available. Momentary Blink is also a frequently played card, so at first glance this seems okay, right? Wrong, at 4 mana this is simply too slow with too little power to affect the board. I'ld rather play Mulldrifter, Ninja of the Deep Hours, or even Elvish Visionary for my cards.
Verdict: Won't see play

Blue

Brackwater Elemental
I really like this card! Though a one-shot (or actually two-shot) card, a disposable 4/4 is big enough that the only sensible course of action seems chumpblocking or lose a sizable chunk of your life total. You'll need to be playing a token deck to chump block though. I'ld give this a try in an agressive blue deck.
Verdict: Should see play

Faerie Mechanist
Four mana is just too much for a Ponder, even when it has evasion. Trinket Mage already searches up some of the juiciest targets without a margin of error. Still, card advantage is card advantage, and especially hot on cip creatures.
Verdict: Won't see play

Parasitic Strix
This is a very strong card! I just don't know if someone will be able to fit it in a deck somewhere! The combination of decent body, comes into play effect and artifact sounds promising though.
Verdict: Might see play

Traumatic Visions
In constructed I actually like this a lot more than Gleam of Resistance or Fiery Fall, the better tricks in limited. I can see this being played in various control decks, especially if they splash a color.
Verdict: Should see play

Unsummon
Though a great tempo card, Unsummon has long since been surpassed by both Aether Burst and Echoing Truth.
Verdict: Won't see play

Worldly Counsel
Funny thing is I once played a domain deck at a peasant tournament. Extensive testing showed me that you'ld much rather play Impulse and be sure of you cards than play this for 2 on your second turn because you need that third land and find... nothing. Trust me, don't play this.
Verdict: Won't see play

Black

Absorb Vis
I can't see MBC replacing Corrupt or Consume Spirit with this, despite swampcycling being nice with Cabal Coffers.
Verdict: Won't see play

Drag Down
Last Gasp and Diabolic Edict give this card a stiff competition, but if domain ever catches on, this can even deal with Gathan Raiders on steroids!
Verdict: Might see play

Rotting Rats
This is a sweet card if you can abuse it. As long as you plan on using your graveyard or play madness this should get you excited, as you help along your own game plan while messing with your opponent.
Verdict: Should see play

Sedraxis Alchemist
An adorable card, even better than Man-o'-War when "on". The problem is that Man-o'-War is traditionally best in a Momentary Blink deck where you don't have a blue card and a black mana source available on turn three most of the time. I think there's too many hoops to jump through, but who knows?
Verdict: Won't see play

Wretched Banquet
Please welcome the new Innocent Blood. Okay, having your opponent sacrifice his second turn Order of Leitbur is obviously better than seeing this stranded in your hand, but this is a very good card! Should at least replace Ghastly Demise in Psychatog decks if nothing more.
Verdict: Will see play

Yoke of the Damned
This isn't a very remarkable card at first sight, but I'ld like to say that it deals with black creatures at a Terror mana cost. Just be sure you have a sac outlet and you're fine.
Verdict: Might see play

Red

Dark Temper
At first sight this seems really cool, problem is, you'll only be playing this as a foil to protection from black, and the only worthwile creatures with that ability have a toughness of two or less, making Lightning Bolt and/or Chain Lightning a much better choice. If Phantom Centaurs and pro-black creatures
with Armadillo Cloaks start popping up in your metagame you definitely want this is your B/R sideboard though!
Verdict: Might see sideboard play

Fiery Fall
This nearly suffers the same fate as Gleam of Resistance, except that this is actually removal. 5 damage will get rid of almost anything your opponent can throw at you, and if basic landcycling smoothes out your 3+ colors, this might not be the worst card to add.
Verdict: Might see play

Molten Frame
If affinity or Esper is hot in your meta, this has more then enough targets. Cycling makes this maindeck playable as well. Problem is, there are much better sideboard answers available in monored, most notably Shattering Pulse and Smash to Smittereens, so most players will just opt to sideboard against artifact creature decks instead of maindecking this.
Verdict: Won't see play

Quenchable Fire
Blue is played just enough to make this card a liability in your maindeck. Out of the sideboard it can deal a whopping 6 damage for just one card. That's on par with good old Lava Spike (cmc + 2 damage) but in one wholesome package. Also awesome topdecking material.
Verdict: Should see sideboard play

Wandering Goblins
Nice in limited, but a toughness of 3 and a big activation cost sets you up for a very disappointing Lightning Bolt before damage goes on the stack.
Verdict: Won't see play

Green

Ember Weaver
I'm psyched about this card, a 3/3 first strike with reach is well above the curve in R/G beats, and this fits into the vurve perfectly! T1 Mogg Fanatic or Kird Ape, T2 Keldon Marauders or Scab-Clan Maulers, T3 this or Gathan Raiders. Yup, very nice!
Verdict: Will see play

Matca Rioters
This is one of those cards that's hard to judge. It needs the full 5 basics to be worth it, but it is a huge beater if you accomplish that. Then again, domain likes to burn people to death (Exploding Borders, Tribal Flames) and use its creatures to stall (Wall of Roots, Sakura-Tribe Elder) so as to give anti-creature decks as few targets as possible. I'm torn.
Verdict: Might see play

Nacatl Savage
If you're bent on hosing artifacts, a 2/1 that helplesly stares at the Ornithopter + Cranial Plating beatdown isn't going to help you much.
Verdict: Won't see play

Sylvan Bounty
Lifegain is at a premium in peasant magic, if the card can play a secondary role. Aven Riftwatcher and Temple Acolyte are both very solid cards, and my guess is Sylvan Bounty is as well. Not as good as the two white creatures, but fairly decent anyway. Six mana is a lot, but so is 8 life, and each cycled Bounty gets you one land closer to paying for the next copy.
Verdict: Might see play

Wild Leotau
Hello! 4 toughness is the golden spot where Lightning Bolt and Last Gasp can't touch your critter. With a minor drawback for those with a good memory and 5 power for 4 cmc, this is a really solid card. I only wonder if this will win out over Blastoderm in the 4 cmc slot...
Verdict: Might see play

Gold

Exploding Borders
Domain decks have posted decent to good results in the past, and this card is Tribal Flames 5-8. You can bet that somebody will try to make domain work again, and this card will be the core of that deck.
Verdict: Will see play

Goblin Outlander
White is a very strong color in peasant, ranging from staple creatures like Aven Riftwatcher to quality removal like Oblivion Ring and Unmake. This card laughs at those prissy attempts to stall the inevitable defeat at your gory hands!
Verdict: Will see play

Might of Alara
Without the shocklands there is no home for this functional reprint. A domain deck won't play this and an aggressive deck can't play this reliably.
Verdict: Won't see play

Nacatl Outlander
This doesn't seem worth it. Blue isn't that heavily played in my meta, and even if it is, it's usually alongside white or black. Guess where the removal is coming from?
Verdict: Won't see play

Scattershot Archer
If Faeries sees a lot of play in your meta, this is a decent sideboard call, otherwise this is a very underwhelming card.
Verdict: Might see sideboard play

Tukatongue Thallid
Two dudes for one mana? Nantuko Husk loves this! While very narrow (a 1/1 doesn't do a lot otherwise), this certainly has a place.
Verdict: Should see play

Valeron Outlander
Llanowar Knight is a legitimate threat in a color combination that might not see enough play in a world where 3/4 of the T8 might contain black cards. Maybe 8 copies of it and three of the best auras in the history of magic (see Asha's Favor) can change this?
Verdict: Might see play

Vedalken Outlander
Protection from red is nice, though not as relevant as pro black and pro white. Also keep in mind that, being an artifact, every other color has numerous ways to kill this. All in all a lot less sexy than Galina's Knight, who also had a more relevant creature type.
Verdict: Won't see play

Zombie Outlander
Green really is the worst color to have protection from, since the guys will just trample over you and the removal comes from other colors.
Verdict: Won't see play

Artifact

Armillary Sphere
Colorless card advantage in the common slot? Sign me up! This is like Courier's Capsule, except you know what you will get, smooth out your mana, and can play it in any deck. Especially good in Urzatron decks, where you can search both of your colors with colorless mana, might even replace signets in that kind of deck (which are pretty juicy targets for artifact removal).
Verdict: Should see play

Bone Saw
There are a few worhtwile 0-drops in peasant magic, but my guess this isn't going to be one of them. Shuko owns this big time, an equip cost of 0 is way more useful than a casting cost of 0. In short, play Bonesplitter instead.
Verdict: Won't see play

Kaleidostone
The cantrip is nice, but there are harly any 5-color spells you want to play (those are almost exclusively rare or mythic), and there's better/faster mana fixing available. Armillary Sphere for example, or Pentad Prism.
Verdict: Won't see play

Mana Cylix
Making this a common does not make this a better card. I'm sure I can think of at least 10 cards you should play before you ever touch this.
Verdict: Won't see play

Land

Rupture Spire
This is, hands down, the best multicolor land available in peasant. Thing is, I can't think of a deck that would want to use this to fix its mana. Domain want basic lands, Naya beatdown wants basic lands and, more importantly, a threat on turn 2. For this card to work there has to be a deck that doesn't mind sacrificing its second turn and desperately needs the colored mana. Even Urzatron would rather lay down a Sakura-Tribe Elder, Armillary Sphere or a Signet than this. So, this is probably my boldest prediction, and the one I'ld most like to be proven wrong about.
Verdict: Won't see play

So, there you have it, all wrapped up. Hope you enjoyed it!

What? What about the uncommons you say? But you can only play five of them, how important can they be?

Ah, you're right, those 5 uncommons are all that separates this format from Pauper magic. You need look only once at the decklists viable in both formats to see what a difference those uncommons make. So here, have at it! The list is going to be a good deal shorter though, since your uncommons need to win you games. They should be the stars of your deck, not the support. Hence, the list is not sorted by color.

Conflux Uncommons

Celestial Purge
This is a very, very, very, very good card. It is, however, still a sideboard card, and there are but a few of those that can actually survive being an uncommon. Celestial Purge, sadly, isn't one of them, as it's simply too specific. If you want to remove something from the game, play Oblivion Ring instead!
Verdict: Won't see play

Paragon of the Amesha
This card will win you games if left uncontested. You need all five colors for it to be anything good, but a 5/5 lifelink, flying, first strike is sure to make an impression! If you can't activate it reliably, this is worse than Kitsune Blademaster and Ballyknock Cohort.
Verdict: Might see play

Path to Exile
I played Swords to Plowshares in peasant, and it is still superb, even if it's (nearly) your only uncommon. The merits of Swords versus Path have already been extensively debated on the internet, and they all hold true in peasant as well. Generally speaking, Swords is better in the early game and in controlling decks, whereas Path is better in the late game and in aggressive decks. Guess what goes better together?
Verdict: Might see play

Esperzoa
Now this is a threat! Needs to be dealt with fast, or your opponent is dealt with fast! Now if only artifact lands weren't banned in our peasant league...
Verdict: Will see play

Voices from the Void
5 mana discard doesn't cut it in a format where Hymn to Tourach is available at common. As brutal as Mind Sludge and this are, they are simply too slow to see play.
Verdict: Won't see play

Dragonsoul Knight
See Paragon of the Amesha. It lacks the very useful lifelink, but makes up for that by killing your opponent in just three blows. Well worth the cost, but still a little bit fragile at 2/2.
Verdict: Might see play

Hellspark Elemental
This is the uncommon mono red burn has been waiting for! This should replace all Magma Jets, Black Vises, and Genju of the Spires. Try it out!
Verdict: Will see play

Volcanic Fallout
Pyroclasm is one of the few uncommons worth sideboarding, and it just got replaced. Hell on faeries, elves and goblin tokens around the globe.
Verdict: Will see play

Shard Convergence
This is an interesting take on green card advantage. Comparable to Tidings in power, but one mana cheaper, and in the color that can get it out on turn three. Needless to say, Domain is all over this card, as its five-color drops are secured and the quality of its future draws shoots up.
Verdict: Should see play

Spore Burst
This is another contender in domain decks. But my guess is that its not good enough, there are simply better options available for your precious uncommon

slots.
Verdict: Won't see play

Countersquall
A very nice card, but U/B usually reserves its unc slots for things like Psychatog, Loxodon Warhammer and Fact or Fiction. You know, cards that swing the game a bit more than a card that can perfectly be replaced by a common... No, I meant Counterspell, not Negate.
Verdict: Won't see play

Hellkite Hatchling
If you can devour 2+ creatures, this becomes a very big flyer with the toughness in that golden 4-spot. It's a disaster waiting to happen though, since any Unmakes, Oblivion Rings or Echoing Truths your opponent might be playing will be an immediate 3-for-1, if not worse.
Verdict: Won't see play

Scarland Thrinax
Nice, but we have Carrion Feeder at common. Just in case you readers forgot. Nice try though.
Verdict: Won't see play.

Shambling Remains
This is competing directly with Ashenmoor Gouger for the uncommon slot in Machine Head decks. Depending on the number of Keldon Marauders and Lightning Bolts in your meta, either one might win out. Unearth is a great ability, but it remains (ha ha ha) to be seen if it is as good as that golden 4-spot.
Verdict: Might see play

And that really is the end of it. This time I really hope you enjoyed it. Have a nice day and good luck at your next peasant tournament!

-Hennink

Results January 30, 2009

2009-02-19T14:47:00.004+01:00

19 participants this time, nice! MBC failed to prolong the top spot as numerous deck prayed on the anticipated field of ponderous control decks. It's been a while, but Psychatog finally reared its ugly head again and took first place. WB Discard and Momentary Blink decks remain contenders for the T8, but be sure to check out the decklists for Blightning Beatdown and Rack'em Up too.

T8

1. Eric Sander Kwebeman (13 - Psychatog)
2. Rob de Jonge (12 - Blightning Beatdown)
3. Niels Gramser (12 - Rack'em Up)
4. Oswin ten Brinke (12 - WB Discard)
5. Jan Kotlarski (9 - Tortured Existence)
6. Gijsbert Haaksman (9 - Blink Riders)
7. Siebe van der Veer (9 - MBC)
8. Maarten Jacobs (9 - Rack'em Up)

Decklists

Erik Sander Kwebeman - Psychatog
1st place (13 points)

Creatures
3 Psychatog (U)

Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Force Spike
1 Defy Gravity
3 Ghastly Demise
3 Mental Note
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Counterspell
4 Diabolic Edict
3 Mana Leak
1 Deep Analysis
2 Fact or Fiction (U)
3 Gush

Lands
2 Dimir Aqueduct
10 Island
5 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Mesmeric Fiend

Rob de Jonge - Blightning Beatdown
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders
2 Mogg Flunkies
2 Ravenous Rats
4 Ashenmoor Gouger (U)
1 Hypnotic Specter (U)

Spells
4 Duress
4 Lightning bolt
4 Unearth
4 Terminate
4 Blightning
2 Fireblast

Lands
10 Mountain
11 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 3 Fearie Macabre
SB: 3 Smash

Niels Gramser - Rack'em Up
3rd place (12 points)

Creatures
3 Crypt Rats
4 Trinket Mage
1 Blizzard Specter (U)

Spells
1 AEther Spellbomb
4 Raven's Crime
4 The Rack (U)
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Wrench Mind
1 Oona's Grace
4 Recoil

Lands
8 Island
14 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Tormods Crypt
SB: 4 Hydroblast
SB: 2 Relic of the Progenitus
SB: 2 Tanglebloom
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 2 Deep Analysis

Oswin ten Brinke - WB Discard
4th place (12 points)

Creatures
2 Kami of the Ancient Law
2 Ronom Unicorn
4 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Faerie Macabre
1 Kitchen Finks (U)
3 Shrieking Grotesque
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
4 Bonesplitter
3 Swords to Plowshares (U)
4 Unearth
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
3 Unmake

Lands
2 Barren Moor
10 Plains
8 Swamp
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 3 Disenchant
SB: 2 Echoing Decay
SB: 3 Nausea

Jan Kotlarski - Tortured Existence
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
2 Elvish Skysweeper
3 Spore Frog
3 Elvish Visionary
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Crypt Rats
1 Eternal Witness (U)
4 Golgari Brownscale
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Grave Scrabbler
1 Battlefield Scrounger
2 Krosan Tusker

Spells
4 Tortured Existence
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
3 Sylvan Library (U)

Lands
9 Forest
10 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 1 Elvish Hexhunter
SB: 1 Scavenger Folk
SB: 4 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 3 Faerie Macabre
SB: 2 Nantuko Vigilante

Gijsbert Haaksman - Blink Riders
6th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Auramancer
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Avalanche Riders (U)
4 Mulldrifter
3 Aethersnipe

Spells
2 Seal of Fire
4 Angelic Renewal
2 Call to Heel
4 Momentary Blink
2 Seal of Cleansing

Lands
6 Island
6 Mountain
7 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Pyroblast
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Relic of the Progenitus
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Seal of Cleansing

Siebe van der Veer - MBC
7th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Duress
4 Innocent Blood
2 Skeletal Scrying (U)
4 Consume Spirit
2 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Evincar's Justice
3 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 3 Sinkhole
SB: 3 Wrench Mind
SB: 1 Brush With Death
SB: 4 Pewter Golem

Maarten Jacobs - Rack'em Up
8th place (9 points)

Creatures
3 Crypt Rats
2 Stinkweed Imp
4 Trinket Mage
1 Blizzard Specter (U)

Spells
1 AEther Spellbomb
4 Raven's Crime
4 The Rack (U)
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Wrench Mind
1 Oona's Grace
4 Recoil

Lands
1 Dimir Aqueduct
7 Island
13 Swamp
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Relic of the Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Nausea
SB: 1 Crypt Rats
SB: 2 Stinkweed Imp

Results December 19, 2008

2009-02-19T14:04:00.007+01:00

With 18 participants, competition was pretty stiff. The MBC deck that took two places in the November T8 took 1st and 2nd place, cementing it's role as a tier 1 deck.

T8

1. Siebe van der Veer (15 - MBC)
2. Maarten Jacobs (12 - MBC)
3. Gijsbert Haaksman (11 - Aura Blink)
4. Martijn Hennink (9 - Life Rack)
5. Martijn Labohm (9 - Cloak Zoo)
6. Anne Cnossen (9 - Faeries)
7. Allard van der Made (9 - Elfball)
8. Oswin ten Brinke (9 - WB Discard)

Decklists

Siebe van der Veer - MBC
1st place (15 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Duress
2 Skeletal Scrying (U)
4 Innocent Blood
4 Consume Spirit
2 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tanglebloom
SB: 2 Nausea
SB: 3 Sinkhole
SB: 3 Wrench Mind
SB: 4 Pewter Golem

Maarten Jacobs - MBC
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Innocent Blood
2 Skeletal Scrying (U)
4 Consume Spirit
2 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Unmake
1 Evincar's Justice
2 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
24 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 4 Mesmeric Fiend

Gijsbert Haaksman - Aura Blink
3rd place (11 points)

Creatures
2 Martyr of Sands
3 Errant Ephemeron
4 Safehold Elite
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Auramancer

Spells
4 Enlightened Tutor (U)
1 Feldon's Cane
4 Angelic Renewal
4 Momentary Blink
1 Rune of Protection: Black
1 Rune of Protection: Red
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Engineered Plague (U)
1 Oblivion Ring

Lands
2 Island
13 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 1 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Green
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: White
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 3 Unmake

Martijn Hennink - Life Rack
4th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Crypt Rats
4 Shrieking Grotesque
3 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

Spells
3 Bonesplinter
4 The Rack (U)
3 Unearth
4 Hymn to Tourach

Lands
6 Plains
12 Swamp
1 Tainted Field (U)
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Circle of Protection: Black
SB: 3 Nausea
SB: 4 Wispmare
SB: 4 Unmake

Martijn Labohm - Cloak Zoo
5th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Nacatl
4 River Boa
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Guardian of the Guildpact

Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Incinerate
2 Kaervek's Torch
4 Armadillo Cloak

Lands
5 Forest
7 Mountain
5 Plains
3 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Tranquil Thicket

Sideboard
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Moment's Peace
SB: 2 Pollen Lullaby (U)
SB: 3 Pyroclasm (U)
SB: 3 Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 Penumbra Spider

Anne Cnossen - Faeries
6th place (9 points)

Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Pestermite
1 Weatherseed Faeries
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours

Spells
4 Opt
3 Counterspell
3 Daze
4 Snap
2 Loxodon Warhammer (U)
3 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush

Lands
20 Island

Sideboard
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Disrupt
SB: 2 Hydroblast
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Weatherseed Faeries

Allard van der Made - Elfball
place ( points)

Creatures
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Heritage Druid (U)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Quirion Ranger
1 Wirewood Symbiote (U)
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest of Titania

Spells
2 Chromatic Star
2 Fireball
2 Kaervek's Torch
4 Land Grant
4 Manamorphose
4 Distant Melody

Lands
10 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 1 Island
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 3 Magnify
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Arc Lightning
SB: 3 Deep Analysis
SB: 2 Thorn-Thrash Viashino

Oswin ten Brinke - WB Discard
8th place (9 points)

*Decklist not submitted

Results November 28, 2008

2009-02-19T13:31:00.010+01:00

This is the first tournament where decklists were gathered with the intent of making the T8 public to create a healthy metagame. This tournament took place several months after the bannings that affected affinity, high tide and tendrils storm, but the dust still hasn't settled.

Results

1. Allard van der Made (15 - Elfball)
2. Martijn Hennink (12 - Blinking Bant)
3. Siebe van der Veer (12 - Vise Burn)
4. Maarten Jacobs (12 - MBC)
5. Gijsbert Haaksman (9- MBC)
5. Arne Haak (9 - RG Madness)
5. Jasper Boelens (9 - RG Storm)
5. Martijn Beljaars (9 - WU Life)
5. Douwe van Noordenburg (9 - Genju Burn)

Decklists

Allard van der Made - Elfball
1st place (15 points)

Creatures
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Heritage Druid (U)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Quirion Ranger
1 Wirewood Symbiote (U)
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Priest of Titania

Spells
1 Lotus Petal
2 Fireball
2 Kaervek's Torch
4 Land Grant
4 Manamorphose
4 Distant Melody

Lands
11 Forest

Sideboard
SB: 2 Forest
SB: 2 Island
SB: 1 Kaervek's Torch
SB: 2 Magnify
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Deep Analysis
SB: 3 Thorn-Thrash Viashino

Martijn Hennink - Blinking Bant
2nd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Temple Acolyte
4 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Kitchen Finks (U)
4 Man-o'-War
4 Mulldrifter
4 Errant Ephemeron

Spells
4 Momentary Blink
4 Bant Charm (U)
4 Oblivion Ring

Lands
4 Bant Panorama
5 Forest
5 Island
6 Plains
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Wispmare

Siebe van der Veer - Vise Burn
3rd place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders

Spells
4 Black Vise (U)
3 Chain Lightning
1 Firebolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Shard Volley
3 Incinerate
1 Magma Jet (U)
4 Rift Bolt
4 Fireblast

Lands
20 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 4 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 4 Flaring Pain
SB: 3 Guerrilla Tactics
SB: 1 Incinerate
SB: 3 Volcanic Hammer

Maarten Jacobs - MBC
4th place (12 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Innocent Blood
3 Skeletal Scrying (U)
4 Consume Spirit
1 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Unmake
3 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
24 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 3 Relic of the Progenitus
SB: 4 Tanglebloom
SB: 4 Mesmeric Fiend

Gijsbert Haaksman - MBC
T9 (9 points)

Creatures
4 Crypt Rats

Spells
4 Duress
4 Innocent Blood
2 Skeletal Scrying (U)
2 Consume Spirit
2 Demonic Tutor (U)
4 Diabolic Edict
2 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Corrupt

Lands
1 Cabal Coffers (U)
23 Swamp

Sideboard
SB: 3 Tormods Crypt
SB: 3 Funeral Charm
SB: 3 Echoing Decay
SB: 1 Nausea
SB: 4 Ravenous Rats
SB: 1 Brush With Death

Arne Haak - RG Madness
T9 (9 points)

Creatures
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Kird Ape
4 Wild Mongrel
1 Arrogant Wurm (U)
4 Gathan Raiders
2 Reckless Wurm (U)

Spells
4 Chain Lightning
3 Lightning Axe
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rift Bolt
2 Pyroclasm (U)
4 Fiery Temper

Lands
10 Forest
12 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 4 Tremor
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

Jasper Boelens - RG Storm
T9 (9 points)

Creatures
3 Tinder Wall
4 Storm Entity (U)
4 Simian Spirit Guide

Spells
4 Lotus Petal
2 Brainstorm
4 Chromatic Star
4 Chromatic Sphere
1 Mystical Tutor (U)
4 Rite of Flame
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Grapeshot
4 Land Grant
4 Manamorphose
4 Seething Song
4 Empty the Warrens

Lands
2 Forest
5 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 3 Lava Dart
SB: 2 Pyroblast
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Flaring Pain
SB: 4 Wrap in Vigor

Martijn Beljaars - WU Life
T9 (9 points)

Creatures
4 Nomads en-Kor
4 Daru Spiritualist
2 Defiant Falcon
4 Ramosian Lieutenant
4 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Outrider en-Kor (U)
4 Task Force
2 Spirit en-Kor

Spells
1 Feldon's Cane
2 Dizzy spell
4 Worthy Cause (U)
4 Arcane Denial
2 Azorius Signet

Lands
2 Desert
5 Island
11 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
SB: 4 Hallow
SB: 4 Psychic Purge
SB: 4 Echoing Thruth
SB: 2 Inside Out
SB: 1 Rune of Protection: Red

Douwe van Noordenburg - Genju Burn
T9 (9 points)

Creatures
3 Martyr of Ashes
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Keldon Marauders
3 Slith Firewalker (U)

Spells
4 Chain Lightning
2 Genju of the Spires (U)
4 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Incinerate
4 Rift Bolt
3 Fireblast

Lands
21 Mountain

Sideboard
SB: 2 Bloodfire Dwarf
SB: 1 Martyr of Ashes
SB: 3 Pyroblast
SB: 3 Flaring Pain
SB: 3 Guerilla Tactics
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens

Peasant Magic Rules

2009-02-19T12:30:00.027+01:00

Magic too expensive? Not at all! Starting at a few bucks, you'll have a deck to compete in a real tournament. Since march 2008, we play Peasant Magic on the last friday of the month. What is Peasant Magic you ask? Good question, here are the rules we use in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Building your deck follows the normal deck construction rules (i.e. a minimum of 60 cards, exactly 15 sideboard card, no more than 4 of each card, except basic land, etc). There's a catch though, between your deck and your sideboard you are not allowed to play more than 5 uncommons and no rares! Rarity is based on gatherer information, including the online sets Master's Edition I, II, III, and IV. Lowest rarity counts, so if a card has been printed as a common and got reprinted as an uncommon, it still counts as a common for peasant. A few examples: Serendib Efreet is a rare, Mishra's Factory is an uncommon, and Exile is a common. Click here to open Gatherer.

You may play any card printed in a black or white border, as long as you adhere to the previous rules and the banned list below. This means, for example, that you may play with Portal Three Kingdoms cards, but not with the special gold-bordered printings of the World Championship decks.

There are certain cards that you cannot play, these are the cards on the banned list. The cards are on this list for different reasons. Some of them are very expensive and don't fit with the spirit of peasant magic, others have proven to be too strong in the format, still others might be balanced, but not fun to play against.

Banned Cards
Bazaar of Baghdad
Brain Freeze
Cranial Plating (banned as of 07/11/2011)
Demonic Consultation (banned as of 14/11/2009)
Empty the Warrens (banned as of 07/03/2011)
Frantic Search (banned as of 29/06/2008)
Invigorate (banned as of 02/06/2011)
Jeweled Bird
Library of Alexandria
Mana Drain
Skeletal Scrying (banned as of 14/11/2009)
Skullclamp
Sol Ring (banned as of 29/06/2008)
Strip Mine (banned as of 29/06/2008)
Tendrils of Agony (banned as of 29/06/2008)
Thopter Foundry (banned as of 07/11/2011)

All commons and uncommons from the Un-sets (so far Unglued and Unhinged).

Watchlist
There are currently no cards on the watchlist.

Recently Unbanned
Ancient Den (unbanned as of 07/11/2011)
Great Furnace (unbanned as of 07/11/2011)
Seat of the Synod (unbanned as of 07/11/2011)
Tree of Tales (unbanned as of 07/11/2011)
Vault of Whispers (unbanned as of 07/11/2011)

Tournament Information
Since Wizards of the Coast doesn't support this format the tournaments are not sanctioned, but that doesn't make them any less competitive. Since the bannings in June 2008 the format has shown a healthy variety of decks drifting to the top tables and it is very popular with close to 20 people participating in each event. The tournaments are held at De Oude Drogisterij, Lage der A 4, Groningen. The site opens its doors at 18:30 and the entry fee is usually € 5,-. The tournament starts at 19:00. Click here to go to the magicgroningen peasant forum (a Dutch site), where you can find more info.

As mentioned the rules presented here are the house rules we use in Groningen. In France, for example, most peasant tournaments use Crystal Keep to determine rarity, rather than Gatherer. Also, banned lists tend to vary from place to place, depending on which cards have been troublesome in the metagame.