Bogles FNM – January 6th 2017

The format is Modern, the deck is Bogles. Let’s go!!!

Deck List

If you don’t know what Bogles’ game plan is, it is pretty simple. Lay a hexproof creature, make it big with cheap Aura’s and hope the opponent can’t deal with it.

Round One

I haven’t played modern for a while, standard has been taking my time recently, but I was ready to give it a go. I lose the die roll, not fun in modern. My hand seems fairly solid, not hugely explosive but a Bogle and a few enchantments, I keep.

My opponent goes, turn one Island, Hedron Crab. I put my head in my hands. Great, Mill. Luckily modern mill is a deck I have had practice against, as one of my close friends plays the deck. I play a Bogle and the opponent makes a slight exhale. We both know what is happening, so time to get it going. Turn 2 he lays a fetch, I mill three, cracks the fetch, mill three again, and plays two Jace’s Phantasms. I am being assaulted on all fronts. I play an Etheral Armour and Spirit Link, attack for three with “lifelink”. Turn three my opponent plays a second Hedron Crab and a fetch land that he cracks. Half my library is gone and he swings with two 5/5 flyers. Painful. I slap a Spirit Mantle, making my creature unblockable and a 5/5, and swing in putting my opponent to 11. The next turn goes with my opponent finding a third Hedron Crab but missing on a land. I know my Bogle is Lethal next turn but he doesn’t concede making me assume he has a Crypt Incursion to gain the extra life. I swing. he plays a Crypt Incursion and I put him to one life. He finds a fetch land that would probably finish me off but can’t crack it due to his life total.

I sideboard in Leyline of Sanctity and two Natural States as I am very scared of an Ensnaring Bridge. Opponent chooses to play first. He mulligans and I keep my Seven. My hand has no creatures but a few lands including a fetch and a Leyline of Sanctity. I put down the Leyline of Sanctity and basically win on the spot. I make a huge Dryad Arbor and win on turn 4. Win 2-0

Round Two

Game one went poorly. My opponent was on Jund and I had 11 lands in my first 14 cards. I got beat down by Grim Flayers.

Leyline of Sanctity came in to stop silly discard spells. I was on the play and this match went to plan. Winning on turn six with a big Bogle that had trample and a Daybreak Coronet even though a few of my auras went missing from Abrupt Decay.

Game three and time was getting a bit restricted. I mulligan to five and have a hand with no lands, but spells and a Leyline of Sanctity. I am on the draw and get a Scry so thought I’d try it. Scry in to a Temple Garden and then draw a second land a turn later. I manage to slowly get a Bogle that was big enough to hold off the opponent but it wasn’t very fast, due to Maelstrom Pulse and Abrupt Decays. His two Dark Confidants managed to give him the card advantage but he also took some damage. Turn 3 of extra turns and my opponent has two life. He flips a Tarmogoyf off his Dark Confidant, committing Seppuku and I win 2-1.

Round Three

I win the dice roll for the first time in the night and keep my seven. My opponent is on Abzan. This game was slow, with a Silhana Ledgewalker being my main threat. Abrupt Decays making the killing slower than I would’ve liked. Eventually my opponent was down to five life with two blockers, one being a Kitchen Finks and the other a Tarmogoyf, to my four attackers, one 3/3 Silhana Ledgewalker and three 1/1 Gladecover Scouts. I topdeck a Path to Exile allowing me to remove the Kitchen Finks and swing for exactly lethal.

Game two I sideboard in Leyline of Sanctity again but don’t see it. This game had lots of back and forth with me fighting through a Liliana of the Veil and an Engineered Explosives. After finally topdecking a Daybreak Coronet, the turn after my opponent destroyed my last one, I managed to get through the game winning damage. My opponent said this was the first time he had lost to Bogles with his Abzan deck. Win 2-0

Round Four

I win the dice roll and choose to go first, obviously. I keep my seven as it is the most solid hand I have had all night. Turn one, play a Bogle and pass. My opponent leads off with an Elvish Mystic. Once I realised it was Elves I decided to get greedy and play a turn two Kor Spiritdancer, that doesn’t have hexproof. The opponent didn’t clear the Spiritdancer and I enchanted it up and beat in for eight damage on turn three. Turn four the Spiritdancer got even bigger and swung for lethal.

Game two I sideboarded in two Torpor Orbs to make sure I didn’t lose to a Shaman of the Pack. I loaded up a Bogle with some enchantments. The opponent went off and flooded the board, leaving me afraid of a big Shaman of the Pack, as I hadn’t found my Torpor Orb. My opponent lays and Elvish Archdruid and swings for what would be lethal. I make a block and then Path to Exile the Archdruid, leaving me at a reasonable life total and eating one of his creatures. After my opponents all in attack my Bogle is large enough to swing through for lethal. Win 2-0

Conclusion

The deck went 4-0 with a few tight moments but when the deck fires it really fires. Leyline of Sanctity put in a lot of work through out the night. In a meta that isn’t prepared for Bogles or plays lots of “fair” decks it can perform exceptionally well. People say it is easy and linear and as modern decks go it can be but there are lots of intricacies people don’t always see.

If you fancy a good beatdown deck that your opponent can’t deal with then please give Bogles a try.