If You Build It…: The Sweepah Build + Game 1

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Travis R. Chance

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  1. I like the deck concept. I think you need a few more game enders though. Maybe isperia + a couple fatty fliers to drop before you land destro. I think it’s pretty pathetic how people concede after a misplay. Is it really game crippling in EDH? Most likely not. I’ve done it numerous times and come back to win. Times where I get to truly finish a 4 man game are far and few between. There’s always the “tired” person, the sore loser that gets their combo shut down, and then the “i think i have no chance” person. Ah well. Would like to see some full playout vids but it seems to be harder and harder to keep full games. Nice deck Travis!

  2. Thanks so much! This is def proving to be a daunting build to pilot. I would say I agree with the lack of “push” in the deck in terms of win cons, but so many ppl have scooped to a ‘Geddon, counter, or even something far less impacting that it’s hard to gauge. That, and I have had two massive crashes, losing videos that were great demonstrations of the deck in its full regalia.

    Alas, I fear the risk I took on this endeavor may not yield the intended results. We shall see…

  3. I generally hate your arbitrary musical interludes, but the one at the beginning of this deck build had me rollin’.

    You DEFINITELY should’ve been playing Enlightened Tutor; it fetches up Crucible for before you ‘geddon, Moat/Prison/Propaganda if you’re about to get beaten into paste, Rhystic Study to draw a zillion cards early on, O-Ring or Shackles for problematic whatsits and basically everything in between. (Or one of your artifact lands, in the worst case scenario of you being completely hosed.)

  4. A deck predicated on locking your opponents out of lands might have some griefer aspects?

    Yeah, I mean, I guess. Maybe.

  5. You don’t have celestial colonnade, which should be very good due to your crucible of worlds to keep it coming back. Horizon canopy for some card draw? Snow lands + scrying sheets combo seems good. Maybe ghost quarter for the land denial.
    As for finishers, what about 1x sovereigns of lost alara + 1x eldrazi conscription. aside from that, eternal dragon keeps coming back, yosei is good, or keiga.
    I think you should have played enlightened tutor as well.

    the games get pretty boring when people think slow or lag though…

  6. Control is never an exciting match; to use the term “boring” is rather subjective, no?

  7. You know everyone may have conceded which, sucks but its better than having some random guy spectate on your game and then talk crap to everyone in all caps the whole time. Sadly the block feature does not work for the in-game chatbox. I saw a little bit of the deck yesterday, and Travis was right. One of the games he had to reboot was sickening with Spelltithe Enforcer out.
    @Travis The whole way you built your deck was actually pretty neat. Normally I just scroll through all the cards in the colors adding what looks cool and/or fun then pare it down, which takes forever…

  9. Fenix: yeah, that sucked hard (losing the two hr vid I had where I was dominating three bros from Turn 3 on). I think I recovered the video from the point where I crashed, so I will just add narrative over a play back so we can see how it all unraveled.

    Here as I make my third video I am realizing some of the things I missed, but such is to be expected on the fly. I am in the process of making some edits; truly this was THE hardest deck I have piloted in this format thus far. I can’t get a good game in to save my life!

    Secondly, please remember the point of this series, people: 1.) to demonstrate how I go about building decks in Singleton formats – the method, the madness, the evolution, and the random hurdles one overcomes when they just shuffle up on their gut instinct and play some games, 2.) to hopefully entertain our viewers with my musings, ramblings, and my Dennis Miller-like references (oh, and sound effects and bad music) rather than wane aficionado on essentially the most fringe of formats, and 3.) to bring more awareness to and about the community, as well as push my philosophy that this format can be played on a higher level where you build a deck to win, not to hold hands and hope to nice guy your way into being the last dude drawing breath. I am in no way the best, but I am far from the bottom of the laundry. Sure, these videos are long, not all my attempts at humor hit home, and maybe I miss a beat in my builds here and there, but ultimately I am just trying to do something different: be myself, not just a player of the game. I appreciate all the feedback, interest, and insight, but I have little to say regarding the “these videos are too long” comments. It’s EDH; what did you expect?

    Oh, and I am playing the borderpost already :)

  10. Lol a burly owl dude with a lollipop..hahahaha.

    Your videos make me laugh, cry, and keeps me at the edge of my computer chair. More audience OOOOs and AHHHHs would be hilarious, everytime you cast a bomb card or someone concedes.

    A list should be made to humiliate those who do concede early, due to misplay, no hope, or rudeness. I mean, we play a 2 hour game only to having the end result to wind up the last two players concede.

  11. Damn Trav, your so funny its not even funny! :)

    Some suggestions: where the hell is Catastrophe?
    You should include Treachery and I would play Tabernacle.
    What about Counterspell?
    And WTF 38 and Crypt and Diamond + some mana artifacts?
    Also maybe Academy Ruins, more Carddraw or Desertion.

    Deck seems kinda brutal.
    The games where really full of painful missplays. Would be nice to see you play against real opponents and very concentrated :)

  12. Yeh man REAL opponents…not randos…I mean yeh you might get grudged but REAL opponents will be able to recognize the current THREAT at any given moment in a game and not necessarily team up on you, so they can say they beat the infamous SO MANY TROLLS ACK!!!

  13. Exxa: I explain why I don’t like Tabernacle (no mana, few men are ever on table, negates cost reduction on Arbiter) in the build and in the next video. Treachery is not out yet online- next set. Counterspell is a one-for-one, which is kinda the entire point of this vid: to prove that you can’t go that route for Permission/Control in this format. It simply doesn’t do enough, at all, esp. at UU. Deprive, Daze, and Mana Drain are just superior, for their synergy and that alone.

    Also, I am on 39 lands, with 6 (plus) artifact mana… it’s enough, eps with Land Tax, Gush, etc.

    I agree with the needed oomph in card draw- I actually address this in the next vid. Remember, I have to make these vids prior to publishing, so I am just finishing up with my third installation now. I don’t expect to get everything right at first crack, but these suggestions can often help if I miss something that should have been obvious with my moon-shattering intellect.

    Mr. Deeds: I have no control over the quality of my opponents; and even less over what they will do throughout the course of a game. I always preface games with “no quitters/competitive decks welcome” to try and bypass this, but, much like the term “Casual,” “competitive” is in the eye of the beholder. I take no pride in beating the less-equipped, be it by way of access to superior cards or not. Yes, I may have all the dual lands and foils out the wazoo, but I also am on a hobo diet and having to take the train vs. cabs 90% of the time. You do the math…

    Also, you need to address your antisemitism stat! I think the word you are looking for is “cheap,” not the obvious ethnic stereotype to which you defaulted. While I appreciate the intended humor, some folks may find this infuriating and beat down your door with bags of car wash tokens and bludgeon you till pee-blood comes out your eyes and your mouth and not even your own favorite uncle will be able to recognize you save for the copy of the DVD “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead” that will more than likely be summarily placed in your most holy of orifices. That, and Jewish ladies are sessy times on the whole. Move to NYC, you may change your mind, Adolph Jr. And lest not forget the ironic next line of the AC/DC song after which you have chose to name yourself: “…done dirt CHEAP!”

  14. Oh, and Academy Ruins in a deck where your rarely have mana seems meh to me. Sure I may garner a few cool results over a number of games, but we are only rocking a few here- most of the cards won’t even make a cameo (sadfacex323452123435668768)!!!

  15. Maybe to ensure quality opponents next time you could arrange a private game amongst people you know. You can put me down for a game if you want, I have several well built commander decks including but not limited to a Doran aggro deck and a Savra control deck.

  16. I still don’t see why your not playing Nacle.
    It does not negate your commander, because you still get cheap counters etc.
    Also you have way to many lands so I don’t understand your “makes no mana” argument.
    Maybe you should try to use more mana artifacts and way less lands, because I think having that many lands in an armageddon type deck is very antisynergistic.
    I mean at some point you were playing bounce-play-land and not Magic, since you don’t have any way to fart out more than 1 land a turn.
    For a deck like yours I’d consider 34-36 lands enough. Since your playing stuff Mox Diamond I’d reccon 34 and add 2 Mana Artifacts.

    While I agree with you on leaving out counterspell now I still wonder why your not playing Catastrophe?

    For more Carddraw I’d suggest Mulldrifter (which is a win con) and Deep Analysis.
    Also you should add Celestial Colonnade for fixing and winning purposes :)
    If you do more carddraw consider playing Chrome Mox aswell.

    And as for the opponent debate: why don’t you just play your buddies like Chriskool and Rant?
    They’re obv. really good.

  17. My mom told me I was concieved during this awesome AC/DC song so its really sentimental to me…and one of my possible fathers lives here in Philly, so I decided to settle here. I would visit NYC, but I can’t stay long because the smell and increased risk of being killed in a terrorist plot makes me paranoid.

    @Exxa…I think that just ruins the variety, and the slim chance that Travis gets a video full of nerd rage is the best…though it would be funny to see a ChrisCool nerd rage.

    PS: Sorry I said ‘man parts’ during your video yesterday.

  18. eXXa: I have played a similar deck to this in 100CS, probably the most influential build of all the ones I have mustered. Some of your suggestions are off base, entirely. I don’t think you looked at the deck, and instead are just rattling off what you would play in entirety, Artifacts over lands mean that any sweep, which is very very very popular in the format (Austere Command, Planar Cleansing, Akroma’s Vengeance) means I just lose. Lands hit the table, cost nothing, and give me what I need to endure – esp. in tandem with things like Crucible of Worlds, all the ‘return land(s)’ spells, etc. You are talking about a completely different deck. Land is the fundamental of the game, and while I may be blowing up my own, I have many ways to get them back, or find my way to more. Artifact mana offers less in this regard, costing me mana to get some on return. It’s simply not the same.
    Chrome Mox is is card disadvantage, as far as I am concerned, and like the other artifacts, it’s a dead draw later in the game 9 times out of 10.

    Colonnade is not a win con when you usually have three or four mana, tops. That, and entering play tapped doesn’t help much when your post ‘Geddon.

    Mulldrifter is far from a win con in a format where I need to deal close to 120 damage to win – as soon as they see Arbiter they Marvel team up on you. It’s far too expensive and totally underpowered.

    My overall suggestion is: try the deck you’re proselytizing and then maybe you will have a better understanding (beyond the insights I shared in the Build) as to why I have gone the route I have.

    Lastly, organizing a game where people know I am recording may be entertaining, but it in no way reflects the genuine nature of playing a game where only I know. Often, people will ask me if I am recording, if I say yes then they alter their play and their banter for “the camera.” This doesn’t make for good content.

    I am not trying to shoot down every suggestion thrown my way, but I do ask that you trust I know what I am talking about when it comes to highlander formats; it’s kinda been my thang for a very long time.

  20. I don’t know man.
    It just seems to me that after your deck fired an armageddon you won’t be able to recover fast enough to take the heat while 3 guys are gangbangig you.
    Which is why I suggested artifacts, so youre able to recover real quick.

    That’s how you “normally” do “stackish” builds.
    And by normally I mean in straight german Highlander and at a very competitive level, which is 1 vs. 1 only.
    That being said I’ll stop rattling off and trust you on your judgment.
    (Altough I’ve never seen someone actually casting Austere Command, Planar Cleansing or Akroma’s Vengeance in one of your vids and I think you wouldn’t be in any worse shape than after you blow up your own lands :P :P :P ).

    When I think about it now, since your opponent’s are usually slow, your plan of “I just gots all the lands to play 1 a turn and you don’t” seems actually pretty good.

    I still would love to see Catastrophe somewhere in there (ye I know it’s CC6 but imo more potent than austere command in your build (include both)). :)

    If you’re interested I could post the 5c staxx deck which my team and me played at the biggest german Highlander event earlier this year.
    It has nothing to do with your build, but maybe you could literally get some insight on where I’m coming from. ;)

  21. eXXa: I don’t know if you’re aware, but I am something of prolific player of 100 Card Singleton. In fact, I only journeyed into Commander as our coverage was scarce and I rather enjoy the challenge and humiliation of blasting multiple people’s eyes out of their skull/the improved Banned list access. Where as you may not see these spells firing in my vids, trust: they’re out there in heavy, heavy rotation. I do see the notion behind Catastrophe, though at 6 mana… I feel like I manage to bust up people’s mana on the regular and another ‘Geddon effect isn’t really what I am after.

    Remember, this is Game 1; there’s edits to come, and you will see that the deck has definitely ventured into a more precise direction. The impotent win cons is the real issue, as I lock the game down, but sort of sit there while they knuckle and scrape their way back to the land of the spell casting. I am just finishing up the 4th installment, and have let the bodies hit the floor!

  22. Don”t expect any real gems until the 3rd installment… But boy, oh boy, is that third one a monstah!!!

  26. I just finished the 4th installment. You and Deeds should tune in. I talk about you guys :).

  27. also as a sidenote you keep comparing this to 1v1 eXXa..this is not the same format. There are actually a good number of 1v1 cards tht are not as good in this format. And artifact mana is pretty bad compared to just running a few more lands.

  29. Well, I’m not even going to watch the second or third video now. See yah in 3 weeks.

  31. Is trying to win in a format like this not like taking jund into the casual room?

    I mean sure you are going to win but no is turning up with a tuned tournament style deck designed to win.

    From what I just watched all you proved is that most people cannot be bothered finishing a game with a guy who is ultra competitive with all the cards to back it up when you are playing guys who own so few cards they are running poor life gain artifacts.

    If you want to play games like this just joining a random 4 person table is activly wasteing everyones time and every single deck you have played is the same.

    I understand you want to play competitive and thats cool. In real life me and my friends always bring 2 edh decks, the one which is geddons and combos and ultra aggro and the ones which are not. You just turn up against 4 random guys with the first type which is over and over again proving to be a failed experiment.

    Do everyone a favour and get a group of 4 good players together so every video is entertaining aned more to the point an actual challenge.

    That being negative and all I actually love the process of your building and find them really fun to listen too I just feel like I would enjoy it as much if you played jund in the casual room and got the feel good for casting turn 4 bloodbraid into blightning against a board with merfolk wayfinder on it and nothing else.

  32. Anonymous (whoever you may be): In the upcoming videos, I post disclaimer saying my deck is competitive and that I encourage competitive players to join. The inherit problem with this is the same as “what is Casual”: some people think their random pile of weirdness is in fact a God-crafted stroke of competitive genius when in fact it is not. Believe me when I say, I have no fun batting people around, but I simply cannot let players be privy to me taping the games. When I have in the past, it becomes about beating me and solely me, not playing correctly. So, in this capacity, it is lose-lose. The best a white kid from Indiana can hope for is to get an interesting game (as surely someone, no matter what I play or do will quit).

    That said, this is why I will be moving back into 100CS next month. I assure you though, better games are around the corner! Just have some faith!

  33. NOOOOOO!!!! 100CS is not as interesting IMO, as I have no interest at this point for it, but maybe it will change my mind on it.

  35. Forgot to log in with those last two posts, but I’m not the anon from the other post. Failed to mention that.