New Horizons at Armada (II)

I ran New Horizons again at Armada Games last Saturday night to a 3-0-1 finish. Here's the list.

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Terravore
2 Engineered Explosives

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Forest
1 Island
2 Tundra
3 Tropical Island
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Murmuring Bosk (let's you explosives for 4 against Moat)
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Extirpate
4 Krosan Grip
2 Mind Harness
2 Hallow
2 Rhox War Monk
1 Swords to Plowshares

Although UW Counter-Thop seemed to be a good matchup in our testing, we hadn't played too many games to test, and I was a bit worried about Moat resolving (no outs). That, and the thought that a Savannah needed to be in the deck prompted me to add a Murmuring Bosk (in place of a Horizon Canopy). Bosk is almost a Savannah, but also allows Engineered Explosives on four - a nice solution to Moat and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Moreover, the old list had Tormod's Crypts in the board, which seem much worse than Extirpate.

Here is a quick summary of my matches.

Round 1 - JDub White - Dredge
JDub had pretty slow draws in all three games. In game one, he took a double mulligan, and was only able to get a single dredge per turn. He wasn't able to get a whole lot going, and my Terravores got really big in a hurry. In game two, I Extirpated JDub's Bridges from Below, but he was able to outrace my men by a single turn. Finally, in game three, JDub had to slow-roll his Bridges to play around Extirpate (which I had). I got a few men out but he had Firestorm (pitching Grave Troll and some Ichorids and stuff). I Extirpated his lone dredger and was able to play more dudes and end the game before Jdub could get anything going.

Round 2 - Nolan Blackwelder - Belcher
Nolan managed to take game one when I tried to Daze his Burning Wish when he had a Spirit Guide. I knew he had it, since it was revealed by Land Grant, so this was a straight up punt. I lost to Belcher with a Stifle in hand. Games two and three were simpler as Nolan made Empty the Warren tokens both games, which I answered with Engineered Explosives.

Round 3 - Robert Cone - Mono-Red Goblins
These games were pretty quick as my creatures are way to big to race without a pretty quick start from the dumb red men. Robert had double Lackey in game one, but I had two Swords to Plowshares (and a Tarmogoyf to boot, but didn't want to get blown out by Stingscourger). I traded a Wasteland and Stifle for a Port and Wasteland, and Robert was quickly out of gas. The goyfs quickly cleaned up.

In game two, Robert kept a slow, but burn-heavy draw. A Fireblast took out my first Knight of the Reliquary, but I had another and a Terravore to boot. Robert tried to race with a Warchief and double Piledriver, but Hallow on the second Piledriver (while on the stack) set him either further back, and the following turn had him chump blocking 7/7's with his 1/2's.

Round 4 - Kitt Holland - UW Counter-Thop
Intentional draw.

Paul Hyden ran the exact same list as me, but finished 1-1-1 (drop) losing to Counter-Thop (Holland), beating Aggro-Black (Wayne Stout) and drawing with UB Painter/Grindstone (Mark Paoli). Paul admits that he needs to practice with the deck though, as he didn't feel that he played optimally in any of the his matches.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the list. Paul and I agree that Extirpate is the nuts, and the Murmuring Bosk doesn't seem to be too big a PITA when drawn. It sucks not having the fourth Horizon Canopy, so I might find a way to add the fourth back in. I didn't get to Hallow any Prices of Progress, but without the card, I think we'd be forced into some very tough decisions against Zoo, Burn and Mono-Red Goblins (while playing around PoP, Fireblast and whatever else).

I hated Sensei's Divining Top all night. It's a big hit in tempo, and I would've rather just had the fourth Ponder, and either add back the Swords to Plowshares, add another Engineered Explosives, or a Preordain. On the other hand, I didn't play any games against control or aggro-control, and clearly that's where the Top shines brightest. I'd be willing to give the card another try.

Here's the updated list:
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Terravore
2 Engineered Explosives

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Forest
1 Island
2 Tundra
3 Tropical Island
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Murmuring Bosk (let's you explosives for 4 against Moat)
3 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Extirpate
4 Krosan Grip
2 Mind Harness
2 Hallow
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Swords to Plowshares

A few other cards worth trying out:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - This might be insane in the mirror and against Counter-Thop, but it is a bit slow.
Seasinger - Could be a blow out against Merfolk or the mirror, although it is vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares and Jitte.
Sickening Dreams - If it resolves against Merfolk or Goblins you simply win the game.