Werewolves

Okay, so since Werewolves had a great outing on Friday night (5-0-1 baby!) I wanted to write about the deck and the path it's taken to get to where it is now. I've been wanting to play Werewolves since they were first spoiled, but unfortunately Innistrad just did not have the toys we needed to make it anything more than a casual deck. Dark Ascension however gave us a lot of new toys that I believe finally make this a competitive deck. Immerwolf, while providing standard lord buffs also makes it so our guys are permanently in Night mode and this is where they are the most dangerous. We also got our hands on Huntmaster of the Fells which is just an absolute house. Over the course of two turns, you have 2 life gain, a 2/2 wolf, 2 damage to your opponent's head and 2 damage to one of their creatures, pretty good for 4cc.

Now let's talk about some of the card choices. Young Wolf, what else is there to say, he gets buffs from Immerwolf and flipped Mayor and he's hard to get off the field. They have to kill him twice and you're going to get in a few hits with him early because quite frankly your opponent doesn't want him to die.

Mayor of Avabruck is an absolute house. If your opponent can't deal with him, he pumps out 3/3 wolves turn after turn and in conjunction with everything else in the deck, very quickly starts the swarm.

Daybreak Ranger, or as I like to call him Formatbreak Ranger, is our removal guy, he blows up flying spirits and Delvers all day long and when he flips, he's capable of taking down pretty much anything, even Titans, especially with his buffs.

Instigator Gang is the coffin nail. Coupled with Full Moon's Rise, he's giving +3/+0 to all of your guys, that already have trample. Pretty sick.

Garruk Relentless also plays so many roles in this deck. He turns out 2/2 wolves. Later in the game it's correct to flip him, not only for 1/1 deathtouch wolves, but also the ability to search for guys after a wrath effect and also the overrun late in the game.

Here is what you came for.



Now after my playtesting and the feedback from Austin Faust, how played the deck on Friday, I have made some changes. Swords are bonkers in the format right now and I thought we needed a little bit more reach. Nick suggested that even though it doesn't fit the Werewolf theme maybe we needed more to do on turn 2 than Mayor. So we are adding Strangeroot Geist. Geist is another undying guy that holds a sword real well and also gives us much needed comeback from a Black Sun's Zenith. We are also going to try a 2/1 split on Sword of War and Peace and Feast and Famine. The other addition is to the sideboard. Mondronen Shaman I think is really good against control decks and I think better than Instigator Gang in those matchups. Something to try. For your consideration, Werewolves 2.0.

Getting My Bearings Back

So lately I've had a lot of trouble not getting upset about losing when I play Magic. I think it's because of where I'm at as a player. And I think this ties in to my rant on the reserved list. I am becoming what I ranted against and hate most. I am becoming someone who cares more about the monetary aspect of the game than the game itself. I've gotten into the mindset where if I can't go top 4 at an FNM and get promo cards and prize packs, there's no reason for me to go.

This is the worst kind of player and it's exactly the reason why I was excited that BHJ created a tourney at the Rotunda Mall because most of the guys who play up at Legends are these types of players.

This game is supposed to be fun, it's supposed to be a GAME. Somewhere along the line I have forgotten that and I need to find my way back to where it's a game first and winning tourneys is secondary. That is my goal in the next few weeks.

For those that don't know I will be running Standard tournaments of my own at Collectors Corner MD on Harford Rd in Parkville starting April 3rd. Signups at 11am and we start play at 11:30am. This is in no way meant to intrude on the Rotunda's business which is why I'm doing the tourneys when I'm doing them. I figure those that don't play Magic League or on Magic League off weeks can come support my tourney. This month we're giving out promo Baloths and Kor Firewalkers. In addition 2 packs per entry for the prize pool. Come out and help me get back into enjoying this game ya'll!