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Editor:Sharon Van Der Werk. Wednesday 2nd September 2005.
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 Last Minute Tips!
Block is beginning to come to a close, but it isn't over yet! I've already piloted my white weenie deck through a tournament two months prior. I've made some play mistakes, but my job here is to inform you on the strengths and weaknesses of the White Weenie Deck as well as some of the things I did wrong during the 6 round tournament. First, though, here is my list: -Land- 23 Plains -Creatures- -Spells- -Sideboard- * Versing Mono-Black* You gotta love playing against the black deck. It seems like they have to outskill you at every possible turning point of the game in order to have a chance. We should all know by now that Otherworldly Journey + Raving Oni Slave equals a loss of 6 points of life. Celestial Kirin is especially the bomb in this matchup. Don't play the Kirin until you have enough land to use the ability right away. Black can easily destroy it if you're foolish enough to play it turn 4, unless of course you have multiple Kirins in your hand. * Versing TOGIT Control* This match-up is supposedly in WGu's favor, but I think the match-up just requires more skill to turn it around. WGu has "Dumb" and "Obvious" good cards for the matchup like Final Judgement and White Myojin, but played correctly, White Weenie has essentially the same power in cheaper cards. It requires a lot of stretching to find a lot of otherwise unavailable points of damage, but it is certainly not skewed in any way. *Versing Gifts* A very annoying matchup, especially if the opponent packs the Hana Kami + Death Denied + Kagemaro lock (or even the Ethereal Haze lock). The matches I won versus Gifts.dec was from the courtesy of Umezawa's Jitte or luck. The trick to winning against this match is to play real tight and squeeze in every single point of damage. At the same time, though, you have to make sure you do not overextend so that a single Hideous laugher or Kagemaro won't wreck you. *Versing White Weenie* Celestial Kirin AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Seriously, Celestial Kirin and Opal-Eyes, Konda's Yojimbo help tremendously versus the mirror.This match is usually draw dependent, but if you can outplay your opponent using combat tricks, you'll have a serious advantage. Round 1; Black Hand *1 st match against a popular deck. Anyway, Celestial Kirin gives me a gigantic edge in this matchup so if I play tight, I should be able to pull through. Game 1 - I get an early Hand of Honor with some other Samurais while he plays Raving Oni Slave and Takenuma Bleeder. I get Jitte online and he has no answer. +4 Opal-Eyes -4 Isamaru, Hound of Konda Game 2- He gets an incredibly aggressive start. I drew 3 of my 4 Eight and a Half Tails, but some combination of Kiku's Shadow and Horobi's whisper destroys them all. He equips Yukora with an O-Naginata and I get my face smashed. Game 3- I get an early Opal-Eyes which slows his onslaught of Takenuma Bleeders and Raving Oni Slaves. In this game, I finally draw my elusive Otherworldly Journeys. He ends up losing 12 life from his own Raving Oni Slave. I play out Celestial Kirin and Shoal for 0, taking out his Manriki-gusari and his Raving Oni Slaves. I swing with my 3/3 pegasus for the win. 2-1 Record: 1-0 Note to self: Wooooooooooooooo! Otherworldly Journey! I still can't believe he didn't side out his Raving Oni Slaves! Round 2; White Weenie *A mirror match already!? Then again, White Weenie is one of the most popular archtypes for block. Game 1- A series of Celestial Kirin activations left us almost permanentless. He swings with his Celestial Kirin, but I topdeck my own Celestial Kirin and then ANOTHER Celestial Kirin. I beat him down. -4 Isamaru +4 Opal Eye Game 2- He fails to race my dudes. I was still afraid he might pop out a Jitte or a Shoal because those are the cards that usually win in the mirror. However, even if he did get any of those, I had a whole slew of untapped mana and an Eight and a Half Tails on the table. 2-0 Record: 2-0 Round 3; Togit Control (WGu) *Uh-oh, I'll have to play tight in order to win this matchup. Game 1- In game 1 he kept a one land hand with a top, but the top 3 didn't give him a second land and I got a double Isamaru, hound of Konda opening. Nevertheless, I curved out beautifully, and he conceded at 8 life. Game 2- A fast Myojin of the Cleansing Fire beats my face in. A Yosei bolsters his forces and I grudgingly concede. Game 3 - I keep a 1 land hand which turned out to be a huge mistake. I didn't draw my second land until the third turn. On the other hand, he plays out a Kodama of the North Tree followed closely by Yosei, the Morning Star. Good game. Note to self: Never keep 1 land hands AGAIN! 2-1 Record: 2-1 Round 4; White Weenie Game 1 - He plays out a lantern kami while I hold my own in my hand. He plays out his hand while all I do for the first 3 turns is lay down the lands. I lay down a fourth turn Celestial Kirin. He swings with a couple of his samurais, and passes the turn. During my turn, I play lantern Kami, taking down both his lantern Kamis. I pass the turn, and he plays and equips a Jitte, only to have Otherworldly Journey smash it, and smash the rest of his army. Now, I'm free to play and equip my own Jitte and beat face. -4 Isamaru +4 Opal Eyes Game 2 - Again, Celestial Kirin blows up a lot of stuff, but he needles in response to a freshly cast Eight and a Half Tails. He also had needled my Jitte and I'm left looking for answers (Darnit! Maybe I should've played with Blessed breath so that I could've nuked those 1 casting cost needles!) Finally, though, I topdeck PATRON OF THE KITSUNE, and sacrifice my Eight and a Half Tails to play it. His measly 2/2's only deal 1 damage each, and I end up beating his face in. Note to self: Patron of the Kitsune proved its worth in this game 2-0 Record: 3-1 Round 5; Gifts Ungiven (BGu) *Another bad matchup, but I plan to win! Game 1 - I get in the early beats but can't survive as he puts together the Death Denied + Kagemaro + Hana Kami situation and I'm left wishing I had a better answer to the whole archetype. Game 2 - He extracts me first for Shining Shoal, then for Hokori, the Dust Drinker. He puts me in a haze lock until I finally drew one of my Samurai of the Pale Curtains. Unfortunately for me, he has Hideous Laughter and a huge Kagemaro comes online after my board is wiped clean. Note to Self: Kagemaro AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! 0-2 Record: 3-2
Round 6; White Weenie Game 1 - I lose game one because he gets his Celestial Kirin active before I can draw any of mine. -4 Isamaru +4 Opal Eyes Game 2 - His Charge is met by my shoal and opal eyes activation and he loses to my tremendous Patron of the Kitsune. Game 3 - I lose to Eight and a Half Tails advantage not to mention he had an active Manriki-gusari AND an Umezawa's Jitte! Note to Self- Darnit! I kept Umezawa's Jitte in my hand because I was looking at Manriki-Gusari, but I somehow forgot that he had an Umezawa's Jitte! 1-2 Record: 3-3 Hope this helped! John Mourino |
