Answer to Tusk Challenge.

Hi players, a while ago I posted this small challenge, what would be the best way to block 2 thragtusks.

You can check the challenge here:
http://www.tradewindrider.blogspot.com.br/2013/01/small-challenge-it-is-opponents-turn.html

Sadly, not many people gave the best answers. I don't think there is just one answer, since we don't really
know what is in opponent's hand. But there are some better than others, probably 2 or 3 among the best plays.

I'll tell now the best play, in my opinion, and why. =)

In the actual game, sadly, I didn't do my best play, I just tought of it after the game.

Facts to consider:

1 - He has 8 damage possible with Kessig-Wolf-Run

2 - He has sever the bloodline in his graveyard.

3 - He has 3 cards in hand.

4 - At this point we are losing the game, we want to kill him next turn if possible.

5 - He could use bloodline before attacking, he didn't because he wanted to keep mana for Kessig, so it is pretty clear he is trying to kill us. He is going agressive.*
* Probably because he lost 2 severs to 2 faiths shield, so he didn't want to invest more mana into it at that point

6 - We need 3 tokens to kill him.

7 - He might have damage in hand, also sever from grave would be really bad for us.

The idea here is to use block and unsummon to induce him to tap the most mana possible, so that minimizes the chance he plays evil spells after attacking, also we need to survive the attack, not go very low in life and we want to have 3 tokens left to kill him.

Lets analyze some possible plays:

1 - block no tusk at all.
This is not a good play:
>he would tap only 6 mana trying to go lethal with kessig, leaving 5 mana to play dangerous spells.
>He could also not tap mana at all, dealing 10 damage and finishing with some form of burn.

2 - block each tusk with 1 token
This is not a good play:
>He could tap all his mana to deal 10 damage. But that is unlikely, since it is not lethal damage.
>He would probably leave mana open, kill 2 tokens in combat, and try to sever our remaining tokens, that would be bad for us.

3 - block 1 tusk with all tokens, let other tusk pass.
This is decent, but not the best.
>He could tap ALL his mana to make the passing tusk 13/3. That is very taunting for him, lethal damage just there.
but...
>He could make a very good play: tap only 4 mana to make the blocked tusk 6/3. Kill 2 tokens in combat AND 7 mana open to cast sever. That would be really bad for us, we don't want him to have this possibility, and it looks like a really good play from the other side of the table.

4-The BEST play:

Use only 1 token to block 1 tusk.
Let other tusk pass.

He could:
>Tap all mana to make passing tusk 13/3 (unsummon, we keep 3 tokens, he has no mana)
>Tap 9 mana to make blocked tusk 11/3 (unsummon, we keep 4 tokens, he has only 2 mana)
Both would make lethal combat damage, both would be nice for us,
He could also:
>Tap no mana at all, let 1 token die in combat damage, them use sever after attack. This would be bad for us, but it is a bit less likely he does it, because it doesn't look THAT good from the other side (he doesn't know if we have faiths shield, that would mean death for him in that line of play, we just played 2 faiths, so he is very likely considering that possibility).

Well players, this is my opinion, I do feel this problem has some "open answers", there is not only one way to consider the possibilities, what do you think ? =)

Rakdos Weird Kontrol.

Atualmente, Rakdos é um deck muito jogado e eficiente, no estilo aggro. Pequenos bichinhos eficientes, seguidos de finalizadores gordos com ímpeto tornaram Rakdos aggro um forte concorrente em torneios.

Right now, Rakdos Aggro is a very powerful and well known deck, aggressive style. Small cheap efficient atackers early game, big powerful haste creatures to follow make it a strong contender in tourney.

Mas existe um lado de Rakdos pouco explorado, e surpreendentemente, é razoavelmente eficiente: Rakdos Kontrole! ;)

But, there is underexplored side to Rakdos, and surprisingly efficient: Rakdos Kontrol! ;)

Vamos à lista e depois uma breve explicação sobre esse divertido e unusual deck. Apesar de ser um pouco lento e muito difícil de jogar ocasionalmente, pode também ser muito forte.

Let's see the list and a brief explanation about this fun and unusual deck. Although it is a bit slow and very hard to play sometimes, it can be really powerful sometimes.


11 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit

1 Elixir of Immortality
3 Tablet of the Guilds

4 Pillar of Flame
4 Dreadbore
4 Tribute to Hunger
4 Mutilate

4 Sign in Blood
4 Underworld Connections
4 Slaughter Games

3 Moan of the Unhallowed
1 Diabolic Revelation

Sideboard
3 Cremate
4 Duress
2 Rolling Temblor
3 Ultimate Price
3 Pithing Needle

Breve explicação:

Brief explanation:

11 Swamp
1 Mountain

4 Evolving Wilds:

O deck precisa de muitos pântanos para que mutilate funcione, por isso Evolving Winds ao invés de Rakdos Guildgate.

The deck needs a lot of swamps to enable mutilate, so Evolving Winds is better than Rakdos Guildgate.



4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit

1 Elixir of Immortality
É muito bom poder reutilizar as kill conditions, descarte e remoção. A vida combina bem com o tema.
Re-using kill conditions, removal and disruption feels nice. The lifegain is a nice bônus in the theme.

3 Tablet of the Guilds
Útil para recuperar a vida que se paga para comprar cartas extra.
Useful to recoup the life paid to draw cards.

4 Pillar of Flame
4 Dreadbore
4 Tribute to Hunger
4 Mutilate
A remoção é uma parte importante do deck, é preciso preservar a vida inicial para poder comprar mais cartas com ela.
The removal suite is a very important piece here, you need to save your initial life so you can draw more cards with it.

4 Sign in Blood
4 Underworld Connections

Underworld Connections é uma das peças chave do deck, sem ela, muitas vezes o deck fica sem gás.
Underworld Connections is one of the key spells here, without it, the deck might get out of gas.

4 Slaughter Games
Muito forte essa carta, remover as cartas mais fortes do deck do oponente gera uma forma estranha de card advantage. É também uma das cartas mais difíceis de jogar. Contra decks muito rápidos é válido tirá-la no entanto.

Very strong card, exiling the strongest cards in your opponent's deck creates this weird card advantage factor. It is among the most difficult to play cards in the deck. Against very fast decks, maybe it is better to move it to sideboard.

3 Moan of the Unhallowed
Uma das melhores kill conditions, pois serve também como defesa na terra e pode ser re-utilizada. O flashback também pode ajudar em alguns casos.

Among the best kill conditions available, it is a nice ground defense sometimes and can be re-used in long games. Flashback is not bad at all in this deck also.

1 Diabolic Revelation
Comprá-la no lategame pode ser vitória certa.
Getting this one in the lategame might give you the victory.

Sideboard
3 Cremate: anti reanimadores e undying / anti reanimator and undying
4 Duress: ajuda contra controle / helps against control.

2 Rolling Temblor  + 3 Ultimate Price: contra decks rápidos / against fast decks

3 Pithing Needle:
Alguns terrenos são problemáticos, Needle ajuda contra terrenos com habilidades. Pode também ajudar contra planeswalkers em alguns casos.
Some lands cause a lot of trouble to this deck, Needle can help stop those. Can help also against heavy planeswalkers decks.

Esse deck é fácil de montar, mas não muito fácil de jogar. Tente treinar bastante antes de desistir dele, pois conforme treina vai percebendo o potencial do deck. Ele pode ser um pouco irritante para os oponentes, eu fiz o possível dentro do contexto do deck para que ele não demore muito a matar enquanto o oponente compra terreno - terreno - terreno.

This deck is very easy to build, not so easy to play. Try to practice a lot before you give up on it, you'll realize more and more how much potential the deck has. It can be a little annoying for opponents, I tryed my best to make it kill not so slowly while opponents draw land after land.


1-Fraco/Weak
2-Mais ou menos/Not so bad (Not so good either)
3-Jogável/Decent.
4-Bom/Good.
5-Deck Campeão/We have a champion.

Poder do deck/Power level:  3.8

Pontos fortes/Strong Spots:
Muita remoção, disrupção forte, muito poder de compra.
Lots of removal, strong disruption, lots of card advantage potential.

Pontos fracos/Weak spots:

Poucas kill conditions, lento para matar, dificuldade contra remoção de grimório, possibilidade de mãos lentas.

Few kill condtions, slow to kill, hard time against milling, .possibility of slow hands.

Maior prazer/Most pleasant:
Usar Slauther Games para arrancar Sphinxs Revelations e/ou Thragtusk.
Using Slauther Games to rip Sphinx Revelations and/or Thragtusk

Maior zica/Most unpleasant:
Morrer para Nephalya Drownyard.
Die to Nephalya Drownyard.

Small Challenge: It is opponent's turn. He is attacking with 2 thragtusks. What is the best play and why ?

Mini Desafio: É o turno do oponente, ele ataca com os dois thragtusks. Qual é a melhor jogada e por quê ?