Battle for Zendikar Event Deck Review, pt. 2

Well, I went out and did play with the deck in an FNM and I think my results are pretty conclusive: Not powerful enough to win, but fun enough to play.

Round 1 – Five-Color Bring to Light Planeswalker Control

… or maybe cards I own. Well, that would be too harsh, because it seemed to work. Somewhat. I think [scryfall]Kiora, Master of the Depths[/scryfall] was too much and maindecked [scryfall]Jaddi Offshoot[/scryfall] and [scryfall]Molten Vortex[/scryfall] is a bit greedy.

I did almost manage to win the first game with [scryfall]Evolutionary Leap[/scryfall], but in the end my opponent was left with 2 life and I couldn’t cobble together any offense. 0-2.

0 – 1

Round 2 – Abzan Aggro

Very aggressive build with [scryfall]Warden of the First Tree[/scryfall], [scryfall]Drana, Liberator of Malakir[/scryfall] and [scryfall]Rakshasa Deathdealer[/scryfall]. My opponent kept making mistakes and played very conservatively, but this event deck can’t really handle the quality of cards Abzan can bring to the table. 0-2.

0 – 2

Round 3 – Budget Elves

Even with budgetary limitations, the deck is actually pretty strong against me, since I don’t have anything resembling a sweeper. I was on backfoot all the time and couldn’t really attack, so I basically just waited for the [scryfall]Shaman of the Pack[/scryfall] to arrive and kill me. Again, my opponent probably played too carefully. 0-2.

0 – 3

Round 4 – Grixis Ingest

Pretty much a BfZ Block deck. I did see an [scryfall]Ugin, the Spirit Dragon[/scryfall] (which didn’t do much since I only had devoid permanents in play). My opponent couldn’t really get anything going and this was a very beginner deck. It did have some sort of theme with Ingest and Processors, but it clearly wasn’t strong enough to do anything meaningful. 2-0

1 – 3

All in All

This doesn’t really feel like a beginners deck, which an Event Deck should be. Quite a few interactions and triggers. You can get a lot of value by sequencing things well, but you’ll also miss a lot of it if you don’t play right. I probably missed plenty and missequenced plays and I’m pretty experienced (though not with this kind of deck).

You do need a better manabase. I was often one turn behind, because I had to play [scryfall]Jungle Hollow[/scryfall] on the first turn, and thus missed a one-drop. With scry that could have been manageable, but since I didn’t have that, I just couldn’t bring my stuff out fast enough. Basically, [scryfall]Llanowar Wastes[/scryfall] is a must.

It is a fun deck though. You get to do a lot of stuff, even though it isn’t necessarily that good or powerful. You are still going to lose to the [scryfall]Siege Rhino[/scryfall]s and [scryfall]Mantis Rider[/scryfall]s. Maybe this is a playable deck after the rotation. Maybe not.

I wasn’t very impressed with [scryfall]Smothering Abomination[/scryfall] which I really wanted to work, but it was just a liability most of the time. At least I got to draw a card when I had to sac it to itself.

So, buy this for the card value or to play it casually or maybe teach yourself to play better (because this does require a lot of technical skill), but don’t get this for the FNM unless you are willing to lose a lot of games.

5 thoughts on “Battle for Zendikar Event Deck Review, pt. 2

  1. I just purchased this deck and I would like to see this evolve. Say if you had a extra $25 for upgrades, would you buy a second deck for some extras of hangarback, evolutionary, Zulaport Cutthroat, etc… and try to trade for Llanowar Wastes or go another route?

    • Buying another one is probably a good idea. Tasigur and Warden are very strong cards, but not in this deck and you can use them to trade for what you need. Hangarback, Evolutionary Leap and Whisperwood Elemental on the other hand are very good and two in the deck (Whisperwoods maybe in the sideboard) can’t hurt, as well as the Wastes, of course.

  2. Pingback: The Event Deck Project, First Steps | Guild Blog

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