[No] Bad Cards 2: Rising Air Current (Part 2 of 2)
This article details a player's experience at Format Library Championship 41, discussing deck weaknesses, potential modifications, and match recaps, ultimately concluding with a drop after an 0-2 start but still enjoying the competitive experience.
The Shadowknight Rises, Pt.2
RESULTS AND MODIFICATIONS
âFormat Library Championship 41 Results: [1-2] [1-2] [2-1] [1-2] [DROP]
This deck kind of crystallized the week before this tournament started, so I didnât get as much practice as I would have liked, Iâm very sure I misplayed in my match (1-2) against Nessapouliata on Chaos Turbo (which I didnât play against as much in the limited testing window) and the 55 had the win in it despite Nessa being both meticulous and difficult to predict. Iâm sure my siding is suboptimal, however Chiron applies a great amount of pressure and maining him at one or two copies may be correct. Dustshoot is also a standout card as always if you lose g1 vs Turbo, previous builders in this vein mained it.
In my duel with Pattn13 in round 2 I walked away with a new appreciation for the low utility of blind MST by hitting JoG twice and had some serious Solemn Judgment envy. We canât support the LP cost of a Solemn, but we might be able to afford a Seven Tools of the Bandit, or main a Giant Trunade, just to stop counterplay. A serious weakness to Creature Swap was revealed as well, which could warrant the secondary effect of Spell Shield Type-8 since our Chiron suite in the sideboard already banks on turning dead Spells into S/T removal. If I were smarter I might have brought in the Spear Dragons I had in triplicate to help deal with Sheep tokens, but I was respecting my own Skill Drain more than their tokens and paid a steep brokerage.I had decided to drop after going 0-2 because I got good reps in against Turbo in a tournament environment, and it highlighted how unprepared I was for the event despite the deck being in a pretty solid state, and X-2s arenât likely to make it to the top in a 200+ player field. Then I saw I was paired up against picatron for Round 3, and I wasnât gonna pass that duel up. The match was mostly a sacking competition, with game 1 being a Chaos Warrior steamroll after a questionable opening turn from me, game 2 me grinding my way back from squandered advantage I started with, and game 3 was closed out by exactly the Ring of Destruction I needed.I probably should have beaten MrBigNoodle considering that I had all the trinity draws, but, I am really not familiar with Cat Stein and things got interesting. Also forgot to revive a Twin-Headed Behemoth after a Cyber Jar, which could have changed things, but, not too worried about it, just need to keep better track in the future. I am grateful to have had strong opponents to test this against. Ultimately I donât feel like the deck itself needs as much work as much as I just need practice, but there is definitely room for improvement. Between main and side, I would say about 40 of these cards are âset in stoneâ as probably ideal for what this deck is trying to do but Iâm eager to see what 55s people come up with.R1 Replay (vs Nessapouliata):R2 Replay (vs Pattn13):R3 Replay (vs picatron): R4 Replay (vs MrBigNoodle): âPuy helpfully pointed out an elephant in the room regarding my Turbo matchups when I asked her to take a look:
