Where's the Beef?

In my deck, that's where!

So yeah, I'm enjoying my Naya Midrange deck, which I've been alternately titling "Domri'z Doodz," or "Where's the Beef?" Because, you know, the deck has lots of beefy doodz. Anyway, here's where I'm at now:

Land (24):
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple Garden
4 Stomping Ground
4 Forest
2 Mountain
3 Temple of Abandon
3 Temple of Triumph

Doodz (25):
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Loxodon Smiter
2 Boon Satyr
3 Polukranos, World-Eater
3 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Aurelia, the Warleader

Spells (11):
1 Chained to the Rocks
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Magma Jet
3 Domri Rade
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Sideboard (15):
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Wear // Tear
3 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Assemble the Legion
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Boros Charm

And here's how the matches went!

My brambles are no longer as concerned on turn 5 after I've already dropped 15 power on the board.

Round 1: vs. Gruul LD. Well, I give the guy credit for trying. But there's a reason why LD isn't good right now. When you're spending your resources to try to start blowing up lands on turn 3 or 4, and I'm dropping 4/4 elephants a turn or two sooner .... yeah. It didn't really end well for him. Win, 2-0. Record: 1-0.

Obey your master.

Round 2: vs. Mono-Blue Devotion. I was on the ropes for most of this match. Game one, he was poking at me with Nightveil Specters, stealing my lands, while I struggled to get a board presence. But then I landed a Stormbreath Dragon to hold them at bay while he started flooding out. Games two and three, he hit Thassa and/or Master of Waves early and often and I couldn't keep up. I think I need to tighten this matchup up a little bit. Loss, 1-2. Record: 1-1.

Awkward combat math combined with a threatening clock.

Round 3: vs. Boros. I played against a friend and new Level 1 Judge. This matchup seems pretty good for me, though. He didn't get great aggro draws, and my doodz quickly and thoroughly outclassed his. I was struck once again how swingy Boros Reckoner can be. In matchups where he's not as good, he's really not that good. But in matchups where he is good, he's one of the best cards in my deck. Also, Aurelia can finish a game nicely once I get a couple of beefy doodz out. It was also somewhat satisfying to scry a Domri to the bottom of my library after he got Pith'd. Win, 2-0. Record: 2-1.

I'm still not entirely sure how I'm supposed to chain this to the rocks.

Round 4: vs. Mono-Green Devotion. Piloted by a kid who's the younger brother of another regular at the store. But he's starting to come into his own, and he's been doing farely well lately. I was happy to meet him in the 2-1 bracket. Unfortunately, the actual match wasn't that exciting. We went to three games, where each game was decided on who got the biggest beefy dood out first. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't satisfying to finish the game by Chaining Nylea to the Rocks, and subsequently Mortars'ing his board before swinging for way more than lethal. Win, 2-1. Record: 3-1.

So yeah, I'm back above .500! Well, at least for this week.

Some thoughts on the deck:

• I hate to say it, but Stormbreath Dragon hasn't really been exciting me that much. He's decent, but rarely awesome. It's nice having a 4/4 hasty evasion dood, but ... sometimes I feel like it's just an expensive Loxodon Smiter. I wonder if I could cut down to two of him.
• I feel like I need a little more removal. I'm starting to think that the Magma Jets might should be Thunder Strikes. Too many times, I had a Jet, but my opponent had a 3-toughness dood that I wanted to off. But ... scry. :(
• Domri continues to impress. Most of the time (if not all the time), he was just a kill spell, or cycled, and absorbed some burn or beats. But for 3 mana, that's not horrible. I was pretty reckless and impatient with him, though, too. If I would have either played him after playing a dood to protect him, or played him and not swung with one of my other doodz, I could have gotten more value out of him. Either way, great card. I might consider going up to 4.
• I didn't get a chance to use Chandra much. She impressed me a lot in testing, but she didn't really come up all that often. She did pick off a couple of 1-toughness doodz, and she cleared the way for my one game win in the mono-blue matchup. But ... yeah. I'll keep my eye on her and see how she performs.
• I'm realizing one of the keys to this deck is tempo. I hit oversized doodz on curve and beat face. To that end, I feel like maybe I could work in an Advent of the Wurm somewhere. 5/5 flash for 4 mana seems good.
• I'm not really sure about Boon Satyr. I like the idea of having a 4-power flash, but I never really wanted to do the Bestow, and the flash wasn't really that relevant. A potential cut.

So yeah, I have a few things I could tweak with this deck to tighten it up a little more. I'm enjoying it, so I think I'll keep rocking it for now. Yay Magic. :)

On the Judging front, I went to a nice Judge Conference in the Twin Cities a couple weeks ago. That was pretty cool. Lots of great seminars, some good networking, some sweet Judge foils, and a nice presentation from our Regional Coordinator. Yay, Midwest. :)

And I'm continuing to be pushed towards Level 2. I think I'm ready. I just want to tighten up my rules knowledge a little bit more in preparation for the exam. And I gotta head judge a Competitive event. We might be able to just run a random Tuesday event at Competitive and let me do that. That's kinda cheesy, though. I'd rather do an actual bigger event. But whatever. I just wanna get 'er done at this point.

Yay. :)