Game #213.1: Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder
Date: 2016-11-29
Location: Red Castle Games, Portland OR
Vs. Atraxa +; Doran, the Siege Tower; Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Result: Fun Loss
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Things were pretty crazy in this one. The last 5 games were played against an Atraxa deck that started as a stock pre-con and got to swap out a card for each game it played and each game it won. Atraxa is already a beast, and this one kept getting better (winning 4 of the last 5 games I played against it!). I liked that idea enough that I decided before this game to steal/adapt its methods. I brought Yidris as a deck to just play, but upgraded it to an official “deck”. You can read the rules for the project HERE, and see the changing decklist HERE. The achievement I set for this game was to Cascade at least twice in one turn.
I stared the game with a 2 land hand. Atraxa started with a Plains-Sol Ring- Felwar stone… into a Citadel Siege, Rhystic Study and Ishai and Astral Cornucopia! Sydri’s opening included a Solemn Simulacrum, and Doran had some walls.
My life was made easier by a Chromatic Lantern and a Coiling Oracle (hitting a land) on turn 4. On turn, I tried to play a Frenzied Fugue on Atraxa, but it was Mana Drained (upgrade!). Doran cast Day of Judgement (Board Wipe 1), and followed it up with a Dromoka.
On turn 6 I cast Yidris, and on turn 7 a Guilt Feeder, cascading into a Chain of Vapor to bounce Atraxa. Sydri threw a Solemn Simulacrum under a Prototype Portal. Atraxa cast a Merciless Eviction (Creatures, not Artifacts for once). Board Wipe 2.
On turn 8 I cast a Burgeoning (first time ever, and boy do I love it) which I somehow cascaded into the suspend wheel (Yidris must have come back with haste or something), and then a Vial Smasher cascading into a Rakdos Charm (blowing up the Astral Cornucopia) [Cascade twice achievement]. Sydri played a Muzzio. Doran played a Luminate Primordial and hit my Ydris.
Turn 9 I played an Etherium-Horn guy into Kydele, and then cast another Wheel into a bunch of lands (which Burgeoning let me play out). Turn 10 I cast Garruk’s Wake (mostly wiped Board 3) and followed it up with Thrasios — all three sub-commanders are in play at the same time.
Sydri had out voltaic key and construct and Doran was playing with a Sapling of Colfenor and a Nissa (and had played a good number of other creatures). Atraxa, meanwhile, has been building up large creatures attempting attacks and then being thwarted. On turn 11 I cast Ghastly Conscription getting 9 creatures from Doran’s ‘yard after having exiled a Runehorn Hellkite from my yard to Wheel again. Then I cast Waste Not (yay!) and I morph a Wardscale dragon.
Sydri achieves infinite mana an infinite creatures ( but no haste) using Voltaic Construct and a Gilded Lotus and something else. Atraxa’s player has to leave, but finishes his last turn with a Duneblast, saving our lives (Board Wipe 4).
On turn 12 I Volcanic Vision for a Wheel and then cast a Spelltwine getting a Garruk’s Wake and something to exile an artifact from Sydri. (Board mostly wiped 5).
Sydri plays an Altar of Shadows and has 3 of 4 of the Stations and is using them slowly. Doran plays an Anafenza. My turn 13, i try to cast Devestation Tide (into a Windfall), but the Tide is countered AND Doran kills my Waste Not (only got me 2 zombies, but a lot of mana) and exiles my Yidris. Sydri Altars away a 46/46 Consuming Aberration.
Sydri gets out Caltrops, meaning anything that attacks dies if mana is available. I get the opportunity to attack with Yidris (With a whispersilk cloak) again on turn 14 somehow (and caltrops isn’t active), putting Sydri at 18 commander damage and then get a Boompile. Someone attacks me. I Boompile (board wipe 6). Yidris happens again somehow, and I cast a Bloodbraid Elf into a Fellwar Stone.
On turn 15 I cast Cruel Entertainment (just because. By this point I’m basically dead). Sydri’s player is able to use Doran’s creatures to do exactly 32 damage (I’m at 32 life) with some Daghatar/ Dragon-that-gets-counters trickery.
Next turn Sydri wins with a full complement of all 4 stations. Crazy Game. Many hours. Lots of fun. I like Yidris.
About the Deck (http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/project-yidris/ )
There’s a page that talks about it here, and one here too.
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I had packed the Yidris deck to just play for fun, but decided to borrow the “advancement” and slowly transform the “Entropic Uprising” into the Yidris deck that I’d likely want to play. I didn’t steal the concept exactly, because I don’t tend to focus on playing one deck, and because a reward for “winning” is antithetical to my EDH philosophy. I bounced around a few ideas as I was talking to the people I was playing with (including the Atraxa player). Some were simple, some were crazy (“once a card is removed from the deck, it can never be returned”, “no ‘new’ card can leave the deck until all of the ‘old’ cards are out”, ideas that had me swapping large numbers of cards each time, and not being allowed not to). After mulling it over, here’s what I’ve come up with…