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Title: Shadowmoor Standard Primer part one
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Blog Entry: My fellow wizards, that time is nearly upon us. The World of Shadowmoor type two is about to become so much more clearly defined to all of us. Why?   Pro Tour Hollywood is only ten days away.   If you were like me, you may have been a powerful armchair wizard who watched all of the coverage for Pro Tour Honolulu two years ago. I spent an entire Sunday afternoon at the computer streaming the top eight live. Watching Craig Jones peel the Lightning Helix was one of the most insane things I have ever seen in magic (and only to be topped by the Nassif vs Chapin Worlds match last year). However, there was a bigger takeaway than just "Cool, a Pro Tour that affects my FNM decks!" That takeaway is that Pro Tour Honolulu would directly affect the Regionals metagame.   Now, wait a minute, you say. Honolulu happened months before Regionals in 2006, and Dissension was legal for Regionals, but not the Pro Tour. So how is this comparison accurate? Well, for one thing, the Charleston PTQ season that followed allowed for the development of under the radar decks that were hugely successful at Regionals like Ghost Husk, which was not a big deck at the PT. However, it was quite clear that Honolulu made a serious impact on how and what we would come to play with and against.   Pro Tour Hollywood will do the same on a somewhat smaller scale. The obvious difference is that if the format is turned upside down, then we non-qualified players will only be left with two weeks to test the new tech. This is unlikely, however, as Faeries is a monstrous elephant in this format and is top of the class because of how hard it is to beat effectively. It's quite unfortunate that the deck is so good; it's closing the window for archetype design space dramatically. Despite that, I highly doubt that all the pros are going to take Fae to the Pro Tour, as that leaves players with very little edge, and this game is won on edges.   With the coming of Morningtide, I decided that I wanted to get a feel for the decks in this format. Basically, I played a bunch of them. FNMs, Box tournaments, City Champs, and pre board ten game test sets, I learned a lot about a lot of decks over the past few months. With both Hollywood and Regionals on the horizon, I think this is a great opportunity to share what I have learned.   The idea here is that I walk through each Tier one deck and discuss it's strengths, weaknesses, and whether or not it's a contender in the current SHM environment. I'm outlining the 'Big Five', which are Reveillark, BG Elves, Mana Ramp, Faeries, and Red Aggro. So, let's get started.   This link is to five updated lists based on what I played. These lists are brand new, and not necessarily what I played previously. However, I feel as though I understand each of these archetypes enough in order to comment on how they play out. If you disagree with a sideboarding strategy or match up approach, feel free to comment, as I look to learn as much from my readers as they do from me. Now, let's begin.       Faeries   Faeries is the uncontested best deck in the format. If you don't believe me, there were two SCG Standard cash tournaments this past weekend, and combining the two top eights, just under half the field was playing Faeries, and the two finals decks of both tournaments were Fae. The player who won the 5k also won the 2k with the same copy of Faeries, which means he must be able to play the deck pretty well, and indicates that the deck's dominance is real. On Sunday for the 2k, literally half of the field was playing the deck.   The general idea is that you suspend Ancestral Vision, and then follow it up with a Bitterblossom. From there, you can sit behind a multitude of Flash creatures, counterspells, and spot removal until you kill them with alpha striking tokens. The biggest misconception about Faeries is that people think that Wrath of God/Damnation is effective against it; I mean, it is a creature deck after all, right? Lately, Faeries builds have gone as low as 12 creatures, and with Bitterblossom and man Lands, the effectiveness of WoG/Damn worsens considerably.   There are two ways to consistently beat Faeries. First of all, they are a mid-game control deck. They spend the first couple turns setting up their powerful effects, which means that they can be put on the back-foot early with lots of aggression coming at them. Red decks do this quite well. However, the problem is, Faeries also has an aggressive plan involving Scions and Mistbind Cliques, and can race with the right draws. Another misconception people have is that the red decks automatically beat Faeries, which is not the case at all. I think Faeries can post anywhere between 3-7 and 5-5 in that match up: it's much better against red than you might think. However, it has a very hard time against a turn one Goldmeadow Stalwart, turn two Wizened Cenn, which I discovered this weekend.   The other way to beat Faeries is to attack their manabase. Faeries only runs something like five basics. That's only a fifth of their lands. This means that both Fulminator Mage and Magus of the Moon have a huge role in affecting the outcome of the game against UB. However, Fulminator Mage is 'just' a Stone Rain against them, and Magus of the Moon can be dealt with by floating black mana, letting it resolve, and then Nameless/Terror to kill it. Thinking that either of these cards yields an auto-win Faeries is naive.   Other specific cards that have been used somewhat effectively to hate on Faeries include Cloudthresher, Vexing Shusher, Raking Canopy, and Crovax Ascendant Hero. However, each of these do not break the match up, and each of them is only effective if it can remain in the game. With access to counters, bounce, and removal, Faeries is flexible enough to deal with any threatening hate card any other archetype might have access to.   For reference, I really like this sideboard, which was posted with the decklist:   4 Thoughtseize 4 Fledgling Mawcor 3 Flashfreeze 3 Damnation 1 Nameless Inversion   Anyway, onto the matchups. My evaluation scale is as follows: Very Unfavorable -> Unfavorable -> Even -> Favorable -> Very Favorable     Match Ups     RG Mana Ramp   Mana Ramp has some pretty good cards against Faeries, including Cloudthresher and Sulfurous Blast. They run a game plan where they can cast a Sulfurous Blast at our end of turn step, not care as to whether or not we counter it, then main phase either a second, or a Cloudthresher, usually wiping the board. With four main deck terrors, none of their creatures are really very scary.   +: 3 Flashfreeze, 4 Thoughtseize -: 3 Nameless Inversion, 4 Scion of Oona   Gerry Thompson suggested this sideboard plan in his YouTube video with Evan Erwin from the Richmond $5k. The idea is that since mana ramp has both Sulfurous Blast and Firespout after board anyway, Scion's effectiveness is quite low, and we'd rather have the proactive and reactive disruption in it's place because Manaramp is slow enough that you can pair your counter and discard with their relevant spells.   Verdict: Favorable     BG Elves   This matchup is hard, as the turn two, unanswered Imperious Perfect is very bad for Faeries, as it's better than Bitterblossom. Wren's Run Vanquisher, Tarmogoyf, Chameleon Colossus, and man lands make this match up a struggle. Bitterblossom is still quite good in this matchup, as it allows you to trade advantageously with their guys if you get a scion to stick. However, they also have Thoughtseize and Nameless Inversion, both of which make these plans less effective and more difficult to carry out. Despite that, barring a terrible draw, this matchup is only 4-6 at the very worst, and near perfect play makes it 6-4 in favor of Faeries. The match is very interactive on Faeries side, and requires a lot of skill to play well, as there are many situational, judgmental plays that are difficult to evaluate without skill or experience. With four Terrors and three Nameless Inversions, game one is definitely not unwinnable.   +: 3 Flashfreeze, 1 Nameless Inversion, 3 Damnation -: 4 Rune Snag, 1 Cryptic Command, 1 Mistbind Clique, X   I'm still not sure what I want to cut as that last card; probably another Cryptic. The reason being some players might bring in Raking Canopy, and we need an answer to it. After board, they almost always have thresher, so, play cautiously with that in mind.   Verdict: Even to Favorable     Reveillark   This is 'the match up', as in the one that's nearly impossible to lose. All of their spells are very mana intensive, which means Rune Snag is almost always a hard counter. They play a slow game, have no real removal, and none of their guys are very big. Mistbind Clique is an insane time walk, but be careful not to play into their own Rune Snags. Bitterblossom enables Spellstutter Sprite to the n th degree, and the 1/1 is often a hard counter unless you kept a blossom-less hand.   +: 4 Thoughtseize -: 4 Terror   After board, we only need Thoughtseize, and Nameless kills every creature in their deck and can be revealed to Secluded Glen. Their sideboard plan is to play Crovax with Pact of Negation backup, which is really not difficult to stop at all, as we have our own counters plus Thoughtseize, which prevents them from assembling it.   Verdict: Very Favorable     Red Decks   This matchup unfortunately got much worse with Shadowmoor, as cards like Boggart Ram Gang and Flame Javelin abuse us further. Basically, our game plan is to have removal for their men and counter the big burn spells, which are Flame Javelin and Shard Volley. I countered Shard Volley with Spellstutter quite often, which was a massive trade for a 1/1. Javelin is such a big problem because it doubles as removal for Clique, which previously was too big for red decks to one for one.   +: 3 Flashfreeze, 2 Thoughtseize, 1 Nameless Inversion -: 2 Cryptic Command, 4 Bitterblossom   The idea here is that Bitterblossom is going to do their job for them, and Cryptic is too slow. I want to kill Crushers and Ram Gangs, so Nameless number four is necessary. Flashfreeze hits every spell in their deck, and Thoughtseize is basically damage reduction. If I Snag a flame Javelin, I've just cut the effectiveness of their cards. I don't want all of them though because they are atrocious top decks, and we really would rather Terror or Nameless a creature over Seizing it. Don't jump the gun and kill one of their worse creatures if you don't have a way to kill a Magus of the Moon, as some lists like the one above are playing it main deck.   A common misconception is that Faeries cannot win this matchup. This is wrong. If you look at the deck Evan Erwin played at the Sunday 2k in Richmond, you can see that he was playing a very specific 'hate on Faeries' style of Red deck, and lost to Faeries. Don't mentally scoop before the match is over just because it looks bad on paper.   Verdict: Unfavorable     Faeries Mirror   Lastly, the Faeries mirror match. In order to win this, we need a specific game plan. First of all, don't play into Rune Snag, because after the first, a snag from either side of the table is most likely a hard counter, so we want to be the first to one-for-one. Secondly, be aware that the die roll matters. If we play first, we're are allowed the luxury of having an uncontested turn two Bitterblossom which they cannot counter or deal with, and vice versa on the draw. Blossom parity means that the player with the Scion will most likely have the advantage. The other important spell is Ancestral Vision, which allows us to play a smoother game and have massive CA. I would rather have a resolved Ancestral than a resolved Bitterblossom in the mirror, but much of the time, both will occur. After board, the match up depends on several things.   +: 4 Fledgling Mawcor, 4 Thoughtseize -: 4 Rune Snag, 3 Nameless Inversion, 1 Mistbind Clique   Fledgling Mawcor is sick sideboard tech, and if we have them and our opponent doesn't, the shifting of power will become immediately apparent because we can contain their Bitterblossom while expanding our own position. Thoughtseize is there to take away their powerful effect, which is usually always Bitterblossom. If it comes down to choosing between Blossom and Ancestral in a vacuum, I think Bitterblossom is still the right call. The Mistbind Clique gets cut because it's kind of slow, and we really aren't Time Walking the mirror because everything they have has flash too. Nameless is mopey and doesn't kill their 4/4s, and is basically worse than Thoughtseize here.   Verdict: Even to Favorable, depending on the build     So that's how this deck is pitted against the tier one decks in the field. Here are some of the other decks that it played out against:   Kithkin White Weenie - Very Unfavorable: This match up is insanely hard to win, because in many cases they have Militia's Pride, which is basically their version of Bitterblossom, only they can churn out multiple creatures per turn, and on the attack. Couple this with the man lands, some removal, and the back-breaking power of Mana Tithe, and I really think this may be the match up Faeries just cannot win. However, luckily, KWW has a lot of trouble with Wall of Roots, Aven Riftwatcher, and Wren's Run Vanquisher, all of which are played in the top archetypes. The green and red creatures in this format are just too big for KWW to bash through, making it a non contender in the environment.   Merfolk - Unfavorable: The problem with this matchup is that they function similar to Affinity in some regards, particularly belching like five huge guys onto the table. With eight lords, counter magic waiting in the wings, and some great sources of card advantage, Merfolk is a fringe deck on the edge of tier one that doesn't make it into the limelight solely because it struggles so severely with the red decks and especially GB Elves. After board, you should have 4 Terror, 4 Nameless, and 3 Damnation, which should improve the match up.   GW Ramp - Very Favorable: GW Ramp is basically a worse version of GR Ramp, and Faeries has no problem picking this deck apart. A resolved Oversoul of Dusk spells disaster, but is so mana intensive that it will rarely do so, and is countered by even Flashfreeze in games two and three. This is another match up were cloudthresher can become an issue, but the only other sweeper they have is Wrath, which can't hit man lands, get a potential two for one with clique, and is shrugged off by Bitterblossom.   Dragonstorm - Favorable: When Faeries first became the deck to beat, I was under the impression that this matchup was difficult, which is just about the exact opposite of what is true. You have spellstutter for their Lotus Bloom at the very least, and Cryptic Command is a massive beating against them. Play smart, and don't take unecessary damage off of pain lands if you can help it, as that only further allows them to rock a Dragon out from under a Knoll with two incinerates/shard volley. If you survive to a resolved Ancestral Vision, you are probably going to win the game.   This is where I'm going to wrap up for today. Next time we'll explore BG Elves, and perhaps Reveillark.   Later.