This week’s adventures in the fog were considerably more successful than they were previously. There were four rounds again, against Esper (BWU artefacts), Naya aggro (RGW), Vampires and finally Zombies. I finished with a 2-1-1 record.
Before I do my post-game analysis I want to say a little bit about the list I ran.
Misty Rainforest has become something of a pet of mine. I like it for a number of reasons. It’s a superb mana fixer, obviously. Need an Island? Have one. Short of green sources? This Forest will see you good. It seems like an auto 4-of for decks running blue and green. They’re a premium card and as such are fun to play and convey a certain cowbell; running a playset says something about how serious you are as a competitive player. Some of these reasons are better than others.
I was doing some playtesting with Kabira Crossroads to see how right Calafell was about them and swapped them in for some white sources but they didn’t work – I was still getting screwed for white. Then I swapped out the fetchlands. This stung a little at first but when I saw the difference it made that soon changed. It seems counter-intuitive that swapping out a fetchland for an Enters the Battlefield Tapped magical-life-gain land would make the mana base more consistent but that is exactly what happened. Suddenly I could play fogs and wraths when I needed them. The extra life was also useful to my staying alive long enough to mill strategy.
I’ve read the advice not to get emotionally attached to cards a million times and now I’ve finally listened. I’m worried I might have to cut Luminarch Ascension because it has never done anything unless I’m already going to win and if I do it’s going to sting. They only came online if my fogs were working and if my fogs were working my turbo engine was also working. The ascensions were pointless.
Oh, and how right was Calafell? Very right. That 2 life gain a couple of times a game is equivalent to half a fog in combination with the right plays.
Down to business.
Round 1
My first match was against Esper. My opponent’s deck was seriously aggressive and had some rather cunning removal. It was probably missing some control magic, though. A well timed counter of a fog effect on a 16 damage attack would have been useful.
My opponent scooped the first game after a few turns then boarded in his card removal, taking cards out of my hand and exiling them. Despite this I Archive Trapped him down to an empty library on my own turn. End of turn he dropped a draw effect and committed suicide. Losing on your own terms has a certain appeal, I guess.
2-0.
Round 2
Naya aggro: my favourite. A slow deck running fat creatures, mana producers and sorceries. First game he couldn’t stop Jace’s ultimate and conceded to an inevitable milling. Second game he killed Jace but had no answer to my Luminarch Ascension. I had 3 Angels on the table and 6 white mana free at the end of his facing down his single tapped flyer. He denied me my 6 Angels and conceded.
One thing of note here is that this is the first time I’d managed to get my Luminarch Ascensions online and producing Angels. My newly designed mana base was clearly helping me with my secondary plan as well as my fog effect, although it remains to be seen how much longer the secondary plan will last.
2-0 and 2-0 in matches.
Round 3
Black White vampires.
This deck has all manner of tricks for card advantage and is an awkward matchup for Turbofog. Mind Sludge, Vampire Hexmage, Haunting Echoes… They’re all horrible. First game I was thoroughly beaten by card advantage of various breeds and therefore being unable to fog.
Second game I boarded in Baneslayer Angels, which actually changed the game. My opponent declined to attack into them (I had a pair on the table) and after clearing away his only flyer a single attack changed life scores from 25-13 my favour to 35-3. Shortly after he conceded to an inevitable milling.
This game saw one of my favourite plays of the evening. I was targetted with a Mind Sludge so I Responded with a free Archive Trap, a Fog and an Into the Roil on an Oblivion Ring on my Baneslayer. I thought this was particularly neat as I advanced all three elements of the deck.
1-1, taking me to 2-0-1.
Round 4
Black Zombies. I needed this to go in my favour to finish first and I was reasonably confidant that it would.
I never had control of this match. Both games saw aggressive, high damage swings from the start. My final play in the match was Day of Judgment followed by an upkeep Silence followed by my opponent unearthing a million or so zombies for a fatal swing against no fogs. I wish I could remember more of the specifics of this match but many of the cards were from Alara and were unfamiliar to me.
0-2 for a 2-1-1 record.
Parting Shots
I’ve learned a lot about Magic over the last few weeks of playing Turbofog. Make the right play at the right time, know yourself and your opponent, that kind of thing. I’ve also learned that I love the kind of Magic that involves minimal interaction, that allows your opponent to play out their game then nullifies their efforts. When I used to play years ago, before my hiatus, I had most fun with blue control and my favourite card was the white Limited Resources, but that was as nothing compared to this way of playing. It’s official guys: I’m a griefer.
