Subject: Top 8 Regionals 5CB Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 20:08:25 EDT From: JesterMint To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hey, its Paul Weber from Neutral Ground Atlanta. I decided to give my 5CB a try at regionals. For all of you who know I've been playing the deck since Visions. Then took a break and went to senior stompee for a while and eventually ended up back with black. Perish just said NO MORE STOMPEE. Anyway, I find the 5cb deck a extemely effecient deck that beats opponents on early speed and midgame control. I found when looking around at other 5cb decks that many people weren't constructing the decks as effeciently as possible. Number one- do not play any two casting cost creatures without a toughness of at least two. Number two- sideboard transforms the deck from a creature advantage deck to a wheenie control deck. Number three- Getting the land right is the hardest part and the most important part. Anyway the decks listed below as I played it on Saturday. 4 Black knights 4 Dauthi Slayers 3 Fallen Askari 3 Shadow Guildmages 2 Suquata Lancers 4 Man O Wars 2 Diabolic Edicts 3 Mana Leaks 1 Armeggedon 1 karveks Spite 3 Necratals 2 Necratogs 2 Disenchants 2 Ukatabi Orangutans 1 Firestorm 4 Incinerates 8 Swamps 3 Underground Rivers 2 Sulfuric Springs 1 City of Brass 1 Gemstone Mine 3 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Reflecting Pools Side Board 1 Disenchant 3 Chills 1 Perish 2 Forsaken Wastes 2 Dread of Night 4 Pyroblasts 2 Tranquil Domains Round 1 Play against a white wheenie. I get early beatdown with black nights and he casts 2 scrolls with some wheenies. Luckily i have 2 orangutans and beat him down pretty quickly. Game 2 i draw a dread of night and clean up on 3 one toughness creatures. Three man o wars do the rest of the job. 1-0 Round 2 I am embarrased to actually write up this match. First of all I get paired with someone who lost 1st round. I remeber this game pretty well even though it went fast. He wins dice roll and plays city of brass and says go. I play a swamp and say go. He vampiric tutors at the end of my turn. I thinkin pros bloom at this point. He goes and plays gemstone mine and casts hermit druid. Now i'm think some sort of living death deck. Alright, I go and lay a Underground river and having no wheenies say go. He lays down a third non- basic land and casts shallow grave. I read the card just to make sure I understand what he's doing. Ok so he's going to use the hermit druid in response and if worsts comes to worst I'll lose half my life to a big creature. I decide not to mana leak it still not exactly sure what he's doing. So he uses the hermit druid and starts turning over cards. He goes through his whole deck because he had no basic lands. He puts the revealed cards in his graveyard in the order he wants. Naturally the top creature is a revenant. It comes into play attacks for 24 and kills me. I'm feeling pretty crappy losing 3rd turn to an incredilby bad combo deck. Second game I kill his hermit druid with an incinerate. He procedes to lay another with a shadow guildmage. I double edict and proceed to win that game. 3rd Game looks pretty much like 1st although I have 2 incerates in my hand but no red mana. He casts the shallow grave 3rd turn and I counter. Next turn casts that card that deals damage equal to the number of creatures in your graveyard and uses the hermit in responnse. I lose taking 23 damage. I was really upset knowing that this deck would probably take my chance of making top 8 away. 1-1 Round 3 I play a blue/white gerrards/wrath/counter He wasn't the best player to be playing the deck and I drew pretty good and counter both his gerrards and wrath. With my creatures beating him down I beat him pretty early. 2nd game went pretty much the same except I had both Pyros and forsaken wastes( the best card against controll in Type II currently not very good against sly though). 2-1 Round 4 I play a 5cw. Traditionally 5cb beats 5bw. Black has the necrattals and shadow guildmage while white has tithe and good shadows. Big difference. I crush him just as easy as my first match against mono white. 3-1 Round 5 Identical to round 4 4-1 Round 6 Play against a good player sorry I forgot his name. He was playing blue green. I not only have a good match up against him but I draw great. The games go pretty quickly me drawing my necratalls and man o wars. He comments how efficient the deck is. Thanx. 5-1 Round 7 Play against Aziz whos playin a 5cw with Mox diamonds. Unfortunately I draw no orangutans but beat him anyway. Round 2 seems he gets mana flooded and loses to some necratals. 6-1 Round 8 Play against the mono white that beat Pat Callahan. And for those of you who don't know Pat he's a fifteen year old that looks 18 and could give any magic player a good game at both type II and limited. My opponent was playing both freewind falcons and repentant blacksmiths main. Thats why pat lost (Pat- sly), Anyway my deck as you know by now gobbles up this deck. There wasn't much of a game and I won. 7-1 Round 9 I can't draw in knowing I played down 2 matches one second round against hermit man and one against Aziz. I get matched up with Jay Schnieder who's a great player from neutral ground. He''s playing mono red but colorful sidboard. I lose first game after firestorming for 5 against 4 creatures and Jay. Jay takes 10 because one of those creatures were a pup. Oh, too bad he didn't have 2 more pups. Anyway 2nd game he mulligans then thinks about parising again but keeps his one city of brass. He loses pretty quick. 3rd game he gets two scrolls with 6 land in play and proceeds on frying each creature I lay. I luckily top deck the NECRATOG and kill him after pumping it up 5 times and incinerating him. Tough match but I won. Make top eight placing in the thrid seed. 8-1 TOP 8 I play Chris Donohoe which I've got to say was not only playing his own original creation but a excellent and deadly deck at that. He was playing a little of everything that aids in Living Death (goblin bombard, mulch, firestorm, sack creatures and more). I don't want to give to much out on Chris' deck though because it does have a surprise factor to it which luckily I knew. I beat him in my best match of the day after losing the first game and mullingan 2nd. 9-1 I play against Pat. Not only is pat playing the hardest deck for me to beat but I get manascrewed and don't draw my chills. Anyway I qualified after losing to the HORRIBLE HERMIT DECK. Arggghh I hate revenant. So I lose against Pat and watch him proceed to completely destroy Jay. Watching two red decks battlin' it out isn't the most exciting thing though. 5 Color Black is such a strong deck!!! I hope to see more of them in the future. --Paul Weber