Rogue and Budget Decks – Underworld Dreams Part 2
19 Dec 2009 | David Li Wang
Rogue and Budget Decks – Encel’s Chthonian Head Trip aka Underworld Dreams Part 2
Before I move on to the testing, I just want to reiterate (I love the actual card too) that the decks I write about, aren’t designed to win the next PTQ and they aren’t always by designed by me, as shown by this deck, designed by my friend Ben Encel. These decks are there as Tier 2 alternatives you can play that are enjoyable. I know many Spikes read these articles but remember, not everyone is a Spike. Some people play magic for the fun of it (Timmies) and others to express something (Johnnies). There may be an alternative way to do something that may be better, but it is ultimately up to you, how you do it.
I know Ben received a lot of criticism for his choice of 21 lands, which I too was surprised about initially, and yes occasionally, you can be screwed but sometimes it does work out, and when it does, it becomes an awesome Magic experience at FNM’s and that’s why some people play Magic. When you’re enjoying Magic, you’ll keep playing it!
For those who didn’t see last week’s article and are wondering about what the deck is like: visit http://community.goodgames.com.au/articles/magic/2009/12/11/rogue-and-budget-decks-encels-chthonian-head-trip-aka-underworld-dreams-part-1/
The deck can be purchased from Good Games for a mere $153 ($114 for the main deck and $39 for the sideboard).
Lands (21)
21 Swamps
Creatures (9)
4 Vampire Nighthawk $8.00
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir $8.00
1 Nightmare $2.00
Non-Creature Spells (30)
4 Underworld Dreams $24.00
4 Howling Mine $20.00
4 Font of Mythos $20.00
4 Sign in Blood $2.00
4 Tendrils of Corruption $1.00
4 Consume Spirit $4.00
4 Duress $4.00
1 Diabolic Tutor $1.00
1 Sorin Markov $20.00
Sideboard
4 Disfigure $1.00
4 Deathmark $6.00
4 Vampire Hexmage $8.00
3 Malakir Bloodwitch $24.00
Now to the testing and I have to explain that because last Friday, Ben left his bag behind (with the deck) on a bus, I was unable to test with him. However, on the weekend I did manage to grab one of my Magic buddies, and test with him, using a proxied Chthonian Head Trip deck. The notes I took were pretty messy, so I won’t be able to tell you every detail and card etc.
Match 1 – Jund
I’m playing Underworld Dreams while my friend is playing Jund with Leeches replaced by Siege-Gang Commanders.
I mulligan and then keep a hand with 3 Swamps, 1 Underworld Dreams, 1 Diabolic Tutor and 1 Howling Mine.
Opp Turn 1: My friend plays Savage Lands and passes his turn
My Turn 1: I draw a Font of Mythos and play a Swamp.
Opp Turn 2: He plays his lone Akoum Refuge land which is in place of a Dragonskull Summit that he hasn’t bought yet.
My Turn 2: I draw and drop a Swamp, in order to play a Howling Mine.
Opp Turn 3: He plays Rootbound Crag and casts Blightning. I discard Vampire Nighthawk and Diabolic Tutor and I’m now on 17.
My Turn 3: I draw Howling Mine and Swamp and play Underworld Dreams.
Opp Turn 4: He draws 2 and is now on 19. He plays Bloodbraid Elf, cascading into Terminate (which he chooses not to cast) and I then drop to 14.
My Turn 4: I draw another Underworld Dreams and Swamp and play Font of Mythos.
Opp Turn 5: He draws 4 cards and drops to 15. He then casts Garruk, untaps 2 lands, plays Sprouting Thrinax and he then swings.
Life totals are now 11-15 in his favour.
My Turn 5: I cast Underworld Dreams and target him with Sign in Blood, he drops to 9 and smiles because it’s the first time someone has targeted him with Sign in Blood and he has lost 6 life from it.
Opp Turn 6: He draws 4 and drops to 1. He plays Bloodbraid Elf cascading into Maelstrom Pulse, which target Underworld Dreams and take them both out. He swings for 9 damage. Ouch…
Life totals are now 2-1 in my favour.
My Turn 6: I draw Consume Spirit and it is game over, thanks to my Font of Mythos!
Game 2
I mulligan to 6 because the 1st hand has 1 land and the 2nd hand has 3 Swamps, 1 Howling Mine, 1 Vampire Nighthawk and 1 Tendrils of Corruption.
Post sideboard makes the Jund match up even more difficult as evident in this game, when I don’t even have an Underworld Dreams, which is very important in the Jund match up, and I lose to the turn 3 Blightning, turn 4 Thought Hemorrhage followed up by Garruk and Broodmate Dragons that I can barely deal with. Lightning Bolts finish me off.
Game 3
A nice hand of 3 Swamps, Howling Mine, Underworld Dreams, Duress and Sign in Blood persuades me to keep.
My Turn 1: I cast Duress to remove the Blightning threat in his hand.
Opp Turn 1: He plays Savage Lands and ends turn.
My Turn 2: I draw Swamp and cast Howling Mine.
Opp Turn 2: He plays Dragonskull Summit and ends his turn.
My Turn 3: I draw Font of Mythos, Vampire Nighthawk and cast Underworld Dreams.
Opp Turn 3: He drops to 18 and plays Sprouting Thrinax.
My Turn 4: I draw Nightmare and Gatekeeper of Malakir and cast Font of Mythos
Opp Turn 4: He drops to 14, casts Bloodbraid Elf, cascades into Blightning, prompting me to drop to 17 and discard both Nightmare and Gatekeeper. He swings and I’m down to 11.
My Turn 5: I draw into Sign in Blood and I cast it at him. He drops to 10 and I follow up with a Vampire Nighthawk.
Opp Turn 5: He drops to 6 after drawing 4 cards. He swings at me with both creatures. I block the Bloodbraid with the Nighthawk and I drop to 10. He casts another Blightning and I discard 2 useless Swamps and drop to 7.
My Turn 6: I draw a Sorin Markov and
Opp Turn 6: He drops to 2 and swings with Sprouting Thrinax, which I respond to by casting Tendrils of Corruption to give him 3 tokens. I gain the 6 life to move up to 13. He Maelstrom Pulses the Underworld Dreams to keep him alive for another turn.
My Turn 7: I draw into another timely Underworld Dreams, and cast it along with another Vampire Nighthawk and Duress him. Duress finds 3 Lightning Bolts sitting in his hand and I remove one and he scoops, knowing that he would die the next turn.
This game was close, due to no Thought Hemorrhages being cast to remove Underworld Dreams and the Maelstrom Pulses coming too late.
Match 2 – Boros Bushwhacker
Game 1
The first game is near impossible to win, unless you have multiple Tendrils of Corruption and this was shown by the onslaught that killed me on turn 6.
Game 2
A turn 1 Disfigure to deal with Goblin Guide and turn 2 Deathmark on Steppe Lynx, followed up by a turn 3 Vampire Nighthawk allow me to have a comfortable start. However once the draw engines come in, he draws into 2 Lightning Bolts that deal with the Nighthawk and Hexmage, before a Ranger of Eos, followed up by Goblin Bushwhacker and Co finish me off on turn 9. I manage to drop him to 6 life though.
Match 3 – Naya
Game 1
I haven’t played against Naya much and my friend had just built his Naya deck (with proxied Baneslayer Angels) and so this experience was great.
Turn 1 Duress ripped an Ajani Vengeant from his hand, while he led with Noble Hierarch. I followed up with Howling Mine and he slammed down a Woolly Thoctar during his turn. Underworld Dreams was cast next, and deal 2 damage to him during his draw step and he swung in for 5 damage. Life totals were now 15-18 in his favour. I attempted a Tendrils of Corruption on his Thoctar, but he Path to Exiled it, to gain a land, before casting a Ranger of Eos and playing a Wild Nacatl. My Nighthawk matched his Nacatl and they traded during his next combat step but after this, Ajani Vengeant came down with another Nacatl and Scute Mob, and with no removal I died, while he was on 10.
Game 2
His start was incredible but mine managed to delay him. Disfigure dealt with Noble Hierarch and Wild Nacatl, Vampire Hexmage killed of the turn 4 Ajani Vengeant, Vampire Nighthawk traded with Woolly Thoctar, Gatekeeper of Malakir killed of a Baneslayer Angel and the following Baneslayer was dealt by Tendrils of Corruption. When I landed Malakir Bloodwitch, it seemed as if the game would be mine, before double Lightning Bolts killed it off and double Great Stable Stags finished me off.
Overall, it was great fun playing this deck and considering it’s only $153 at Good Games, you should give it a go, to have a break from playing Tier 1 decks and have some fun winning with Howling Mine, Font of Mythos and Sign In Blood. They are bound to cause a few laughs or smiles!
That’s all for this week! Next week I’ll bring you a new deck! Good Games! Good Times! GG!
For discussion.