Anyway I was tired of it. So I needed a break.
Interesting tidbit: RWU Control won the Standard portion of the event this week. And last week, the same player went 4-0 with the deck. (We both went 4-0 last week.)
The drafts at JHU aren't very competitive. So it gets kind of wonky sometimes. But let me show you what I picked up.
THE "GOOD STUFF"
ALLY COUNT: 6 (3 Umara Raptor, Makindi Shieldmate, Stonework Puma, Sea Gate Loremaster)
TRICKS: 4 (Bold Defense, Whiplash Trap, Arrow Volley Trap, Into the Roil)
Pseudo-/REMOVAL: 4 (Arrow Volley Trap, 2 Paralyzing Grasp, Kor Hookmaster)
FLIERS: 7 (Kor Aeronaut, Welkin Tern, 3 Umara Raptor, Windrider Eel, Emeria Angel)
Basically, the deck was not super aggressive but had a lot of fliers, which is what UW is supposed to do. There was a vague ally subtheme, which would help me win in a lot of the longer games, if games ever went long.
THE "BAD STUFF"
It would die to just about any deck faster than it -- namely against cards like Plated Geopede and Steppe Lynx. Also if a green deck could ever accelerate into something huge like Baloth Woodcrasher, or have multiple Timbermaw Larvas that would also present a problem.
The mana was also suboptimal. I was running
9 Plains
7 Islands
2 Sejiri Refuge
But I had 3 bears with WW in the cost, and they didn't always get cast on turn two. Possibly I should've run more Plains.
Match One vs BG
These games were very interesting and very close. He had Marsh Casualties, which kills everything in my deck pretty much. But game one he used it on a single creature for whatever reason. Game two, he used it pretty early on two creatures. But by that time I would have played around it.
Game one was definitely won off the back of the card advantage power house that is Sea Gate Loremaster. Game two I Whiplash Trapped both my creatures to make his Mosquito kill his Surrakar Maruader, but the tempo loss was pretty awkward on my end. I have no idea if that was worth it. Actually it probably wasn't, and I should've bounced my guy after it was targeted. I'm dumb. I had to keep chumping his Timbermaw Larva, which was like a 9/9 or something, but I could still get through with fliers. So eventually I won the race.
This match really highlighted how devastating Greenweaver Druid is in a deck that can maximize its usage. He had Baloth Woodcrasher, Mosquito, Mold Shambler, etc. I tend to value the Druid quite highly as a result, but many good players disagree. So I guess it really depends.
Match Two vs RW
Um, so I lost. Utterly. I lost to Geopede, Sunspring Expedition, and Zektar Shrine Expedition, and a VERY good Scalding Tarn. Like, a killer Scalding Tarn. In game two, he had a Kazandu Blademaster, which kept getting bigger due to his other allies. Then he stuck a Nimbus Wings onto it, and it was a 5/6 vigilance, first striking, flying monster. I had a couple answers, but awkwardly, I had an Arrow Volley Trap in my hand, and I always HAD to chump block it because I was at 4 life.
Not my best performance, I must say. If I had one or two Journey to Nowheres this matchup would've been less difficult, considering he played several cards that provided me with card advantage already. But despite a few oddball card choices, his deck was very solid.
Match Three vs ???
He forfeited because he was playing EDH. Weird.
The guy to my right that I was passing to... he got a crazy-insane red deck. It was awkward because I probably should have started taking red, considering the crazy signals I was passing. He got 4 Plated Geopedes and a Hellkite Charger (which I passed, yes). And ended up winning with Rb. That's okay. He was happy, and I was not unhappy with my deck. UW is a color combination I really like.
I got some playtesting done in between. Turns out the Mono Red matchup is really not great for Jund. But the results ended up 2-3 in his favor. So it wasn't overwhelmingly bad. Mono Red is really a deck that can shine right now, despite its poorer matchups versus certain white decks. I will not play Mono Red, however. It is not my kind of deck. I'm looking at RWU and GW Tokens -- and slowly, slowly building behind the scenes.
