Table Manners: MSS #2

Posted on March 28, 2011 by ZonkotheSane

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  1. I would have taken the Myr for first pick. You really commited yourself with the rats. Of course that would have made a completely different deck. The one pick I really don’t understand is Tel-Jilad Defiance over Infiltration Lens. You didn’t even put it in your main deck! Infiltration Lens practically makes any one of your creatures unblockable or provides a huge card advantage.

  2. I gained respect for Tel-Jilad Defiance as a high-value sideboard card recently; with living weapon (or the general power of equipment in MBS), it can have a very substantial effect on the board state!

  3. I tried to use it a few times and I always had to waste it. On the other hand, Infiltration Lens was always awesome or annoying when my opponents had it, especially in infect. Especially if you have repeatable proliferate, then it is awesome. The opponent waits till his turn to kill Flensermite with a sorcery instead of blocking it, and then you have the very important first poison counter in.

  4. I also think that Infiltration Lens is a very good equipment in an infect deck. It forces your opponent either to block, resulting in amazing card advantage or let your creature pass which is obviously also a desired result attacking with rather small critters.
    Nice walkthrough, keep them coming.

  5. I feel like TJD provides an opportunity to blow out an opponent that’s simply lacking with Infiltration Lens, but I would’ve been on the fence between these two cards, as well.

  6. @ milegyenanevem:

    I wouldn’t fault anyone for picking the Myr out of preference, but it really is the weaker card. I believe that the greater part of flexibility is the willingness to switch commitments, and not the unwillingness to commit at all. Thus, I’ve no troubles whatsoever taking an early gamble, because I can always switch out later. Scars, more than most formats, supports this style of drafting, because so many decks share the same cards, and five cards constitutes a main color. I’ve won an 8-4 Draft handily after being logged off for the entire first pack.

    As for Infiltration Lens, the card is just bad. It doesn’t have any immediate effect (or really any at all) on the board, it doesn’t make the creature any more difficult to kill, and it does, and I cannot stress this enough, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from a defensive position. It’s a card that is only effective when its controller is already in an attacking position, which, in Infect, is almost always a winning position. Also, most Infect decks will want to attack with multiple small creatures, so it’s no trouble to just block the unequipped ones. Lens is actually far more potent in Dinosaurs, or at least in Infect builds with Vatmother, Hydra, or Tangle Angler, and I didn’t have any of those.

    Proliferate, while a great support mechanic for the Infect archetype, should not be one’s primary game plan, at least in the aggressive decks that are (seemingly) interested in Lens. I have seen a (very) few Infect-Control decks, however, but those have no interest in the Equipment since they rely on evasion, removal, and card advantage.

    Tel-Jilad Defiance, on the other hand, is _always_ playable as a cantrip. Furthermore, as ChrisKool has pointed out, it can be quite the blowout against equip-heavy and Metalcraft decks.

  7. Great walkthrough sir! I’ve been talking up the little mite now for weeks as people have been hating on it hard. 2 drop infect 1/1 is fine, lifegain? Sure, why not? The way I explain it is if you go first and play it on turn 2 and swing, bing! 1 poison. They play mana myr, you swing and no one wants to trade their mana myr for that guy! Bing! 2 poison. If they do trade, great, it took a 1/10th of their life total and killed an important mana duder. Slap an equipment on that guy like a Claw and now he’s a crazy threat. I’m also not a fan of Lens for the same reasons you said, I like TJD much more as it’s a combat trick much of the time that draws me a card.

    Keep em coming, you are much better at these than I was. :)

  9. You should remove that bit at the beginning about taking a land and passing “bad” cards, that’s terrible advice, especially in Scars.

    This is a format where people audible drafts late and sometimes have difficulty finding enough playables, and sending someone a late gift instead of a land can make or break a deck. This is especially true since almost no cards are unplayable (except echo circlet), I’ve run caustic hounds, golden urns and rally the forces to great effect. What card in p1p1 is unplayable?

  10. @ drn:

    My argument wasn’t that the cards I pass are useless, just that the consistency provided by a higher land count would be better for the deck. I apologize if that wasn’t clear.

  11. I agree with most of what you said. Septic Rats is great in an infect deck, the Myr is good in – well, in any other deck basically. So I see your point in picking it. Also agree that proliferate should not be the first plan, although it is always good that whenever you proliferate, you are closer to finishing the opponent.

    But still, Infiltration Lens is great in any infect deck. If you have plenty attackers, then it doesn’t really help, but then you win anyway. It is great at the beginning, when you don’t have too many creatures (you can be in an attacking, but not winning position easily at the beginning of the match). But it is best when both players have many creatures. Normally nothing would happen, if you attack, then you just trade a creature. But with the Lens! You attack with one of your creatures, so you don’t even risk too much. If he blocks, that’s 3 for 1. And it’s not useless when you are in a defensive position. If you attack, the opponent probably blocks because he is afraid of an Untamed Might. With some bluff you can have two chances to topdeck the card you need.

  12. @ milegy

    Doubtlessly, Lens is better against weaker players; but that isn’t exactly a compelling argument in its favor. True, it will push through stalemates, but that situation is all too rare in Infect match-ups. Usually, if one deck stops attacking, the other starts. Hmm. An example, perhaps: Whenever I see an opposing Lens, I’m almost always fine with ignoring it. It just means my opponent has one less card I have to worry about. If I’m Infect, all I have to do is use that +1 card advantage to establish an earlier alpha force, putting my opponent on defense and nullifying their Equipment. If I’m non-Infect, I’ll just race anyway, killing the equipped creature when necessary.

    The card is best when one’s opponent wants to block, to preserve their life total. This implies that they can’t afford to take the damage and swing back, which in turn means one is already winning. A card that is best when one is already winning is not one I value highly.

  13. I wasn’t gonna answer again, since there is no point in repeating the arguments, but one thing caught my attention. You say Lens is better against weaker players. I suppose you are talking about my bluff idea. But that’s not how bluff works. If they think it is a bluff, then they lose in other situations when it is not.

    Suppose you are in a defensive position, your opponent just tapped out to put more threats to the battlefield, you have 3 infect creatures and an Untamed Might in your hand, he has 5 creatures. You attack with a Plague Stinger. He will gladly block it with his Glint Hawk. You can use your Untamed Might to kill it and save your creature, and that’s it. Now if you have Lens equipped, you have two chances to draw the blockers/removal you need. If he thinks it is a bluff, it’s even better: you win. If the non-weak opponent always thinks it’s a bluff, then the card reads: equipped creature is unblockable. Pretty good, huh?

    Of course there are many assumptions for this scenario. If the opponent has mana and instant speed removal, then you are doomed, but then you are doomed anyway.

    If you play aggro and dont want to block anyway, then of course it is useless for your opponent. But if you do want to block, you won’t, and that’s pretty good from such a cheap card.

  14. Hello everyone,

    while I usually try to stay out of heated discussions (not sure why, actually….) I would like to add my two cents to the “Infiltration Lense” debate. I consider myself a decent drafter and have played my fair share of Mirrodin block drafts. Not as much as I would like but I do think I have a good grasp of the format. Personally I will usually play one Infiltration Lense in a poison deck if I don’t have everything chock full of bombs and removal- which happens rarely. The reasons for me are mostly:

    1. Infect creatures are usually small and love the ability to stay unblocked.

    2. Opponents often make the mistake to block equipped creatures to early/late.

    3. If you have Tangle Angler along with multiple blockers it’s usually game over.

    4. The disadvantage of not being very useful in a defense position holds true for many cards in the formats.

    I like Tel-Jilad Defiance as it is often a very flexible card with many applications but I do feel I would have played the Lens. I can understand that players have different preferences which makes it so much more interesting.

    Keep up the good work

  15. @ milegy:

    I guess I wasn’t understanding your points very well. I apologize.

    Still, thanks for commenting!

    @ Plejades:

    Your points are good, concise, and cogent. I appreciate the contribution, but would you mind deliberating on the fourth one?

  16. Lens is insane in infect, and all of the 1-drop equipment should be reasonably high picks if you are in the archetype. Darksteel Axe is obviously the best, followed by both lifestaff and lens, and then copper carapace is solid but unspectacular.

    Because the infect curve includes no 1 drops (ignoring vector asp) you want 2-3 of these equipment to allow you to curve out. Lens and Lifestaff are also fantastic due to low equip cost, so you can play another 2 drop on 3 when you equip and still increase your board presence. Lens’ cheap cost to play and equip and infects lack of evasive creatures makes it an auto-include in these decks.

    People tend to vastly overrate cantrips. TJD is decent filler or a good sideboard card, but not something I would strive to play.

    Also, I just went over your picks, what was the thought process behind lifestaff P2P2 over Rust Tick? Not only is Lifestaff common and likely to show up later, but Rust Tick is just a better card, it can play defense or tap down multiple artifact defenders/lock down problem artifacts. I have never cut Rust Tick from my 40.

  17. @ drn:

    Why do you say cantrips are overrated?

    Lifestaff was the better card for the deck. I will never be unhappy with a Lifestaff in my 7 (or even two or three of them, so if I get another later, great!), but Rust Tick requires that the opponent control an artifact worth tapping. While that condition isn’t uncommon at all in this format, it is still a restriction, where Lifestaff simply needs a creature to hold it.

    I don’t believe I’d cut Rust Tick from the deck either, but I wouldn’t pick it over Lifestaff while drafting Infect. In that deck, the ‘Staff almost becomes Bonesplitter with a bonus, and I can never have too many of those.

  18. I don’t know what to tell you, Rust Tick is a power uncommon, allowing you change targets and get problem artifacts under control in any color combination. It is usually a 1-3 pick, especially in decks that do not have a lot of artifact removal, like yours, just 1 Sylvok Replica.

    Sylvok Lifestaff is a mediocre common, made slightly better in an infect deck trying to race a non-infect deck. Lifestaff is also playable only in aggressive decks with lots of low cmc creatures, Rust Tick is playable in literally every deck in the format, all the time. The two cards aren’t very close. Darksteel Axe (bonesplitter) is a much more defensible pick over Rust Tick, and probably correct in infect.

    As far as cantrips, I just think people overplay useless spellbombs/TJD/Wellsprings even when they have no upside as useless filler, etc, when they could be playing impact cards. It may be right to side out Lens for TJD against a super aggressive metalcraft deck, but playing TJD over lens in infect is wrong far more than it is right.

  19. @ drn:

    Shall we agree to disagree? My goal here isn’t to convince anyone – I’m just trying explain my reasoning, and I hope I’ve done that at least.