It occurred to me that since I haven’t done play-by-play coverage of the Armada League, you don’t much hear about the people I play with
regularly. One of the major parts of this format is people coming together for good times, so I thought I’d introduce you to the rogues’
gallery that accompanies me on my Thursday journeys. It’s also been a while since I’ve updated my major decklists, so they’re
included at the bottom with just a few brief comments, mostly so the updated lists get into the deck database.

I’ll probably do the Reader Mail deal next week, so if you have questions you’d like to see answered here, ship them along. If you want to
do it in person, I’ll be heading over to GP Orlando this week to join Rich Hagon doing coverage, so if you’ll be there, I’d love for
folks to drop by. I still don’t think I’ll have a better hat than Rashad.

One of the great things about Armada Games is that they’ve developed a close-knit family of regulars, of gamers of all stripes, from RPGs to
minis to board games to, of course, Magic. Owners Aaron and Michael Fortino have fostered this atmosphere by getting involved with their customers, by
hanging out with them, by playing games with them, and by developing their store as a place that you can simply come to enjoy yourself. I like
especially how there is little to no “divide of games.” I’ve been in shops where the role-players were actively hostile to the
miniature gamers who hated the Magic folks, etc. I’m sure there’s a little ‘my game of choice is better,’ but it’s not so
apparent, and I think it’s all due to the culture that the ownership has established. Of all the game shops I’ve been to in all the states
and countries I’ve lived in, this is clearly my favorite and not just because it’s my current one. Onto the reprobates, in no particular
order:

Aaron F: As I’ve mentioned, Aaron works extremely hard to make the place great. That unfortunately means that he doesn’t play as much as
he’d like. He has a single deck, Karador, which he’s played for the last year, switching from Teneb as soon as Karador was spoiled. When he
does play, he can be a little—deliberate. In previous Leagues, there’s been a -1 penalty called “Look At Me, I’m Aaron,”
which involved taking a 6+ minute turn and not actually doing anything. Aaron and I are partners for Two-Headed Giant that the shop runs each release
weekend (although I’ve had to miss a few). We won the first two but haven’t done particularly well lately. A keen eye and a keen wit, when
Aaron calls someone a donkey—including himself—he’s almost always right.

Michael F: Michael plays about as much as Aaron does, since he’s just as busy. Michael loves combo. It’s not necessarily dirty, assemble the pieces,
protect it with counterspells combo, but it’s combo nonetheless. I’d say his Skeleton Ship deck that I featured some time back is the least
combo-y of his decks. Michael likes to giggle about the cards he’s played, so you can expect some crazy interactions. He was overly fond of Hive
Mind for some time, but we’ve cured him of that. Michael is also one of my Monday Night Gamers.

Todd P: In the past, I’ve called Todd “the Florida Judge that makes me the least sad,” although I’m not sure that’s necessarily
still the case (but if it’s not, he’s still up there). Todd is now a full-time Armada employee, and bringing him onboard is one of the best
decisions they’ve ever made. He was certainly already an integral part of the Armada family, so it’s a nice natural fit. Back when we
formed Team Lives in the Red Zone, Todd was a member, and he’s now a member in good standing of Zanzibar Jones’ crew, bearing the nickname
“Affirmative Action.” Todd has a Rith deck which I’ve previously featured, and he’s put together a new Ruhan deck that’s
quite some fun (and I’ll probably be sharing with you at some point). Todd is the latest addition to the Monday Night Gamers (his coming on board
coincided with starting his job at the shop). He’s diving in to learning about the wine we serve.

Keith B: The last of the Monday Night Gamers on this list (there is, in fact, only one more, and although he occasionally comes to the store, he doesn’t
play Magic), Keith was kind of the reason I started the Monday RPG in the first place. Keith has been judging Armada’s FNM since before I started
showing up there, we got to know each other, and I knew he was the perfect player for the style of game I like to run. Keith’s EDH style is in
some manner like mine in that he loves themes, and he builds a bunch of quirky, theme-oriented decks. He also loves banding. I guess someone has to.

Ben M:
Ben is the architect of the Florida Judge Community, one of the most influential judges in the US, and a good man. In Zanzibar’s Crew, he’s
Iceberg Slim. His style of EDH play makes baby Jeebus cry. He plays both Progenitus and Maga, Traitor to Mortals. His Progenitus deck is planeswalker
control, tightly designed, and strong. He recurs Mindslaver. Most times he plays, games simply start out 3v1 until he’s eliminated. He brings it
on himself. Every time I battle him, I tell him it’s for all the ten-year-old kids he’s Mindslavered. That said, I keep nettling him about
shipping me his Progenitus list because I think there’d be some appreciation for it.

Chris K: The first time Scott Larabee was returning to join us for play at the shop, I asked if he wanted me to make sure specific people were there;
Chris’s name was the first that came up. Chris is pretty straightforward and builds relatively explosive decks, so you always have to pay
attention in the mid-game that there’s not a “BOOM!” coming from his direction (to yours, at least). Chris is irrationally fond of
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, including it in nearly every deck, getting endless grief about it especially from Aaron and Matt (below). I can’t
say that I like it when my opponents—all of them—draw cards, unless it’s part of an Underworld Dreams strategy. Occasionally, he gets
a little focused on retribution (he’s an adherent of my philosophy of Disproportionate Response), so it’s a good idea to not idly blow up
his stuff. He has an interesting “I don’t care” attitude about in-game politics. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen
him ‘make a deal’ with anyone.

Matt N: Young Matt, a USF freshman, is a pleasure to sling spells with because he really understands the balance of powerful vs. fun. His Isperia deck is a
perfect demonstration of his understanding of that balance. I’ll probably feature it as well in the near future. He’s a little pointed in
focusing his resources on players who are trying to make the game unfun for people, an attitude I can really appreciate. Like me, he likes decks that
he can and must play based on board situations and not ones that just vomit cards onto the table.

Sean A: Sean is relatively new to the shop as a regular player but is fitting in quite nicely. I think he’s regarded as the best player in his local
cabal, and some shows through in both his clever play and deck design. He’s also a genuinely good guy and goes out of his way to be friendly at
the table, both in play and personally.

Michelle J: Michelle will appreciate me saying she did it to herself. Also relatively new and part of the same kitchen table group as Sean, Michelle likes things
a little more straightforward. She plays Omnath, Locus of Mana and his Elves (with a few other good green creatures, like Acidic Slime). Also a bit of
a gentler player, she doesn’t always slam a mana-pumped Omnath into faces when she could. She’s a little emotionally over-attached to
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary and gets quite sad when people repeatedly kill him. She claims she doesn’t understand, but I think she’s just
being coy. Her other favorite card is Bellowing Tanglewurm, the killing of which will elicit further claims of unfair treatment of her creatures.

Shawn W: Shawn sports the best muttonchops this side of Undercover Brother. Shawn’s thing is getting creatures onto the battlefield without casting
them, so you’ll see lots of Quicksilver Amulet and Elvish Piper themes running through his decks. He has Kresh and Adun Oakenshield, both showing
some similarities to each other. Shawn likes to be aggressive, often a little more than is strategically sound. If he would have been playing when we
formed Team Lives in the Red Zone, he would have been in. He’s one of those people who shows up to the shop ready to play, which I appreciate a
great deal—no time-wasting with not being ready to go when it’s time to go.

TJ: TJ is sort of lovably goofy and plays with his head down too much but is always upbeat and interested in having some fun. He’s just a good game
shop regular. His immortal moment was a long time ago (relative to my time playing at Armada), shortly after I had first starting playing there,
following a turn in which I survived a vicious onslaught from someone else by playing Angel’s Grace by dropping Sparkmage Apprentice. I’m
not sure whose idea it was to write “I KILL L5s” on the card, but I wasn’t displeased to autograph it.

Kyle K: Kyle isn’t a bad guy, a reasonable conversationalist about movies and literature, but for some reason, he gets hated on a lot. “Attack
Kyle” is a common refrain, and I’m not sure why for the most part. He’s played some really annoying decks in the past, so maybe
that’s it, but these days, his decks aren’t designed to intentionally irritate people as much as they used to. I think his one
“hostile to creatures” deck is a challenge to play against. That said, if you’re playing at Armada, you should attack Kyle.

There are a number of other fine folks who play at the shop with some regularity (so no slight intended to anyone I didn’t mention), but this is
the crowd that I’m hanging with most these days (and I’d mention Mihail B. and Shea R., but they’ve decided bowling on Thursday is
better than EDH). It’s a pretty decent bunch.

RTFC Play of the Week

This past week was the last open week before we start a new League, so there were many, many super-casual games. I was playing Ruhan in a game with
Shawn, Chris, and Matt. At one point, I had Bribery’d Shawn, actually saying, “I’ll Bribery you for your General,” since
someone had Oblation’d it earlier. I had hit Shawn once with Ruhan already, when he announced that he’d try to end the game.

He cast Insurrection. It didn’t look that bad, until he cast Breath of Fury on one of the creatures. Now it looked devastating. He attacked with
everyone, and I thought that I had a play. I saw that Ruhan was going to attack this turn at least twice, so I could Reflect Damage, thinking that its
latest wording said “This turn…” Everyone roared their approval; Shawn laughed and said, “What a blowout!” Later, we were
telling Armada employee and judge Jesse Fisher the story, and he said, “I think Reflect Damage is only the next time.” Turns out, Jesse was
right. Shawn said, “It was still funny,” and we moved on. Attitudes like that are what keep playing fun.

DECKS I’M TAKING INTO 2012

If you don’t feel like combing over decklists, you can stop reading down where Kresh starts. There are 11 decks listed here, plus the Karador
deck that hasn’t changed since I first posted it. I’ve also basically retired Merieke, Cromat, Isperia, Thraximundar’s Slivers, and
Vorosh, plus there’s a half-constructed mono-white deck and the Riku which I gave to David Williams (and not counting the Sharuum deck from last
week, which I haven’t physically put together yet). Eighteen or nineteen decks was a little cumbersome to deal with, so paring it down made some
sense—especially since I know there is new stuff coming out, and I’m going to want to build with new themes, new Generals, and I feel like
a few of the decks will get a complex about not being played enough.

Hopefully I’ll have some time to Embrace the Chaos in Orlando with some folks I haven’t yet met in person. If you’re around,
don’t forget to say hello. If you’re around earlier in the week, we expect to see you for EDH League at Armada on Thursday.

KRESH THE BLOODBRAIDED

One of my signature decks, Kresh is one of my favorites because it’s so aggressive and swingy. I’m actually considering taking out the
Living Death element and putting in something to help me recycle the deck’s business cards.

Kresh the Bloodbraided

Sheldon Menery

0th Place at Test deck on 01-15-2012

Commander

Creatures (32)

Planeswalkers (2)

Lands (37)

Spells (28)

INTET, THE DREAMER

Intet is my ‘play rough’ deck, and I generally won’t pull it out with ‘friendlier’ players, although I’ll
occasionally play it with friends for whom it’s evenly matched.

Intet, the Dreamer

Sheldon Menery

0th Place at Test deck on 01-15-2012

Commander

Creatures (30)

Planeswalkers (1)

1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands (37)

PHELDDAGRIF

I like my Phelddagrif build to be always kind of janky, so this fits. It’s all the Maro-sorcerers that fit the colors, plus card draw and
hexproof/shroud stuff. I’ve never actually squeezed off a Greater Good / Psychosis Crawler combo. When it comes down to it, nobody deserves that.

Phelddagrif

Sheldon Menery

0th Place at Test deck on 01-15-2012

Commander

Creatures (27)

Planeswalkers (1)

1 Venser, the Sojourner

Lands (38)

THRAXIMUNDAR

All tied around the ability of the Commander, this deck can happily also win without him via various other shenanigans.

Thraximundar

Sheldon Menery

0th Place at Test deck on 01-15-2012

Commander

Creatures (28)

Lands (38)

KARRTHUS, TYRANT OF JUND

Spells (44)

Karador has remained the same, and the other decks as I mentioned have come up on time to be retired.

RTFC Play of the Week

DECKS I’M TAKING INTO 2012

KRESH THE BLOODBRAIDED

Creatures (32)

Planeswalkers (2)

Lands (37)

Spells (28)

INTET, THE DREAMER

Creatures (30)

Planeswalkers (1)

Lands (37)

Spells (32)

PHELDDAGRIF

Creatures (27)

Planeswalkers (1)

Lands (38)

Spells (34)

THRAXIMUNDAR

Creatures (28)

Lands (38)

Spells (33)

KARRTHUS, TYRANT OF JUND

Creatures (35)

Planeswalkers (2)

Lands (38)

Spells (24)

RUHAN OF THE FOMORI

Creatures (19)

Lands (38)

Spells (43)

ANIMAR, SOUL OF ELEMENTS

Creatures (43)

Lands (38)

Spells (18)

LORD OF TRESSERHORN

Creatures (33)

Lands (38)

Spells (28)

THE MIMEOPLASM

Creatures (29)

Planeswalkers (3)

Lands (34)

Spells (33)

SOL’KANAR THE SWAMP KING

Creatures (29)

Lands (38)

Spells (33)

RITH, THE AWAKENER

Creatures (36)

Planeswalkers (1)

Lands (19)

Spells (44)