What bigger picture?
Well this will take some explaining...
It hasn't been a good week for me in Magic since I returned after this little hiatus. I had a disappointing FNM last week, followed by an even more abysmal Monday Night Magic, and then I had a repeat FNM with a poor 2-2 performance. These two losses from last night bothered well into this morning (Saturday) for several reasons. Both matches were against Mono Blue Devotion that went on to a Game 3. With 6 games played total from the two matches, my opponents had a Master of Waves on turn 4 every time, even
when keeping a 1 land hand. I lost because of my manabase; either I was falling behind in tempo because of Temples, missing land drops, or couldn't find a White source period. It was terrible and I carried with me into the next day.
I had some time to think about it. I actually believe that I'm playing as correctly as I can, but why am I losing? I know that I've had a break, but did I really expect to just waltz in and mop of the floor with an entirely different version of Burn? I must be high! What about variance? It's possible that I'm being repaid by karma for every time I landed a turn 4 Hellrider in a 21-22 land deck like clockwork, as my opponent stumbled on what they assumed to be a very superior manabase. It's likely, but probably not true, since that idea is putting the fact that I'm responsible for my losses out of my hands. I'd like to think that I'm responsible, someway and somehow, for my losses. I believe it necessary to own up to my mistakes, if I've made them.
It's all
disheartening, but I know that I'm still hungry to play. It's weird. I haven't felt this urge to play this much Magic in a very long time. I just want to play. By the time I decided that I was going to Game Day, I decided that it was now time to just say FUCK IT. I want to play, right? I want to have fun, right? And I want to win, right? Well, then I was just going to have to play what my heart tells me to play and fucking play it to the best of my ability.
My mind wandered to this thread...I read everyone's thoughts on what I wrote about the Eidolon. Feels good, guys. I'm glad ya'll enjoyed it. The last few days (or pages, or whatever) has been pretty enjoyable now that we've all finished our big pow-wow and debate over Eidolon. I'm loving that everyone's branching out and trying what they want to try. Is it possible that we're all growing as players and figuring out what we like individually, all the while sharing reports and data? I sure as hell think so. Cheers to
making progress!
Also, that Spark-Burn list from Dauntless is pretty sexy.
I saw a suggestion that I'd made to LD about running Ash Zealot main and bringing in Eidolon to add further aggression against Control. I figured it was time to take my own advice. Ashley is where my heart lies (it's no secret), so it was a pretty easy choice to make. And at the end of the day, I really like to apply early pressure. I like to do some combat math. I love the "sword and shield" duo of a first striking wall and a flying haste bird that I can rebuy. Nothing says "Come get sum!" like Ash Fucking Zealot. Once that choice was made, everything fell into place for. The sideboard made itself. And quite honestly, it's within 1-2 cards of doing everything that I want it do. I'll explain:
*No 5 drops. I
really want to actively scry away any excess lands after 4. No fuss, no muss. If I get past 4, fine, but I'm not seeking it out just to play a singleton Stormbreath Dragon and/or an Assemble the Legion. 23 land seems good for up to seven 4-drops after sideboarding. That's stretching it and I'm not going any higher.
*I've literally had to reach for some anti-control tech in only 1 game I've played (in 3 different areas/metas, mind you!). People love their creature decks, what can I say? And should I encounter Control, most of the players around here (and for good reason) stuff their deck with an excessive amounts of removal (to the point where almost every game goes to time involving them). I need to be better at dealing with different speeds of creature decks - little aggro, midrange, mirror match, Nykthos decks, etc. I either need to become a control deck or just race faster. The Blind Obedience + Spark Trooper tech seems just as good now as it did 2 months ago. It allows you to slow fast decks
down and keep a midrange deck relatively fee of blockers for Spark Trooper and Company to hit hard. Plus, it all still works well against all Monsters variants.
* I really think just the Eidolon can handle the job nicely coming in against Control, freeing up some board space. Even Spark Trooper can brought for more pressure; it's great because it's aggressive, can plow a a ram (giggity), and it isn't affected by Jace much. Plus it has that Dauntless Spark-Burn feel to it...
* I love the 3/1 split on Firedancer and Chain, plus the 2 Mortars. These cards aren't coming out anytime soon.
Anyways, some more notes from playing with Eidolon: I actually played against some Control tonight and it really made my opponents scratch their heads. It's such a ballsy card. At some point in one game, our life totals went from 20 to single digits in about 2 turns. Most people can't comprehend the fact that a Burn player would risk huge chunks of life to kill the opponent. Well, to that I say, "
Greatness at any cost." And that's a pretty bold statement, but it sums up the point nicely: I'll do whatever it takes to kill you before I die. The 18 points of life I lost didn't mean shit when you're at zero. Most of the Burn puts you ahead in life totals anyway, with Boros Charm and Helix at the top of the list. Also, there's just nothing better than watching your opponents think really hard about each turn. They're having to start thinking like us: 1-2 tuns ahead mentally with resource management and sequencing at the top of the list, with creating decision trees based on what the opponent (in this case: YOU) may or may not do. Admittedly, it's a hard way for most people to think. You'll have learn to occupy yourself somehow while your opponents continually go 'into the tank.'
Anyways, even though I punted tonight, I'm really happy with the deck. Like I said, I'm within a card or two off, maybe, but I feel like I'm molding it to suit me. It's a
good thing to know what you like. To have that conviction. To feel like a deck is an extension of your person.
The important thing is that I really did have some fun tonight. Would I have loved to take 1st? Hell fucking yeah. But I'm content knowing that I played a solid deck pretty damn well. I made a bonehead decision, which cost me the game, but I feel that there's more to work on. Changes can be made, both with deck and with me as a player. It's enough to make someone hungrier enough to keep on playing. The bigger picture, at least for me right now, is to fucking enjoy doing this. It's really easy to get caught up in the competitiveness playing Magic. Especially as a Red player. Especially as a Burn player. We get in that mindset where it's all tunnel vision and burn-kill-destroy aggressiveness. And when we tilt from a rough beat it feels like something out of a bad country song (I lost my dog, my truck, and my sister-wife...). It makes everything from working on a deck
to tournament preparation to grinding feel like a goddamn chore. Amiright?
For example, how often have you pondered that fucking triangle of 2-drops in your head?
You know what I'm talking about: Pillar Bear, Ashley, and YP$.
It's enough to drive someone crazy.
Fucking cray cray.
*Except that Z broke the 4th dimensional barrier by saying "Fuck it, I ain't running any of them!" He may try to blather on about something, something, soft meta, something, something, advantage, something....but whatevs.
Just pick one and go. Play the best damn game of Magic you can. Learn from your mistakes and have fun. Observe and enjoy what you like playing this game.
THAT'S the big fucking picture.
(someone else ran it card-for-card version based on one of dauntless268's peak hour DE wins) - since its doing well both on paper and online I think its def. recommendable.
Control 
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