This past weekend I attended a PTQ in Columbus. I ran a version of Bubble Hulk, written about by Kuan-Kuan Tian this past week on this very website. You can read his article here. This is the list I ran:

Actually, before we get to the list can we talk about the name a little? 'Bubble Hulk'? I mean, I get that you guys came up with it, but come on. That name doesn't strike fear into the hearts of me and send women fleeing into the streets and children crying and... you get my point. Therefor, I have a few suggestions. Please choose one you like or make up another one yourselves.

Incredible Hulk/Breach Hulk/Hulk Smash/Flash Hulk v2.0/Double Hulk/EOTTTBYL*

Incredible Hulk is my favorite. Anyway, here's a deck list:

2 Body Double
2 Carrion Feeder
1 Mogg Fanatic
3 Protean Hulk
2 Reveillark

4 Careful Study
3 Chrome Mox
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
2 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Living Wish
4 Seething Song
3 Summoner's Pact
4 Thoughtseize
4 Through the Breach

4 City of Brass
2 Forbidden Orchard
4 Gemstone Mine
3 Sulfur Vent
3 Ancient Spring
2 Geothermal Crevice

3 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Chain of Vapor
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Hapless Researcher
1 Protean Hulk
1 Riftsweeper
1 Shifty Doppelganger
1 Wispmare
1 Yixlid Jailer

Pretty fitting that I ran a Hulk deck in Columbus, huh? Anyway, on to the report...

Round 1: Ryan with TEPS

I am on the draw. He combos out turn 5 in game 1 when he Desires for 5, hits a Desire off the first for 9, then Tendrils. Ugh.

In game 2, I am on the play. I combo out at the end of his third turn with Summoner's Pact for Hulk, then Seething Song into Through the Breach because that's how I roll.

Game 3 I got there turn 4 with a Careful Study into Footsteps of the Goryo for the win, but not after a very tense turn in which he cast Plunge into Darkness and paid ten of his own life. He had 6 mana (all red and black) left over after that, so he Burning Wished for Empty the Warrens and made a dozen or so little red men. Unfortunately for him they didn't have haste. Nice.

1-0, 2-1

Round 2: Ian with B/G Rock

Game 1 was not very close. He didn't draw any of his discard and I put the Through the Breach combo together without much trouble by turn 3 and we were shuffling up while the guys next to us were still in their mulligans.

I brought in 4 Chain of Vapor, the Riftsweeper and the Harmonic Sliver. In fact, in every match that I sideboarded (which is every match after round 1) I did this exact same thing. The reason being is that the Chains get rid of, well, anything. The Riftsweeper can get whatever has been RFG'd by Extirpate, Leyline, etc. for me to combo off. The Harmonic Sliver comes in to be a maindeck answer to troublsome artifacts and enchantments. Both creatures are green, which lets me Summoner's Pact for them if need be.

Game 2 he gets first turn Gaddock Teeg off of a Mox. I play a land and pass. He casts Cabal Therapy naming Hulk... and I have a Footsteps of the Goryo and a Mox in hand. 2nd turn win anyone? Turns out the answer is no, as he correctly sacs the ugly Kithkin man to flashback his discard spell and grapple my Footsteps.

Things got interesting from here. Without a way to reanimate my Hulk from the grave but with a Living Wish and a Summoner's Pact in hand I cast the Wish naming... Shifty Doppelganger! Turn 4 cast, turn 5 activate the Through the Breach on a stick got me there just in time, as he had taken me down to 5 with a Treetop Village and a Dark Bob-cadant (with a little help from my City of Brass).

2-0, 4-1

Round 3: Mark with Deathcloud

Whereas B/G rock has a decent chance to get me game 1, the Deathcloud version is usually much too slow and packs less discard. I opened up with a turn 2 win, but got Duressed... so a turn 6 win after a Thirst for Knowledge and a Careful Study finally turned up a Footsteps for me to combo with.

Game 2, he couldn't piece anything together and I got there turn 5 with Through the Breach.

3-0, 6-1

Feeling Good about this one!

Round 4: Aaron with Ideal (made top 8)

In game 1 I had the win in hand but completely brain farted and misplayed for the loss. I had a Hulk and a Footsteps in hand and on turn 3 I cast Careful Study. I drew my two cards and discarded a pair of Sulfur Vents.

Wait... Hold on...

Damnit.

Complete punt. Obviously he Wishes for Cranial Extraction (taking Hulks) and then casts Enduring Ideal on turn 5. I wish I weren't so terrible at Magic.

Game 2 I bounce his Tormod's Crypt with a Chain of Vapor and win the game turn 4 with Careful Study into Footsteps.

Game 3 I am on the play. He puts a Leyline into play on turn 0 and a Crypt on turn 1. I Wish for Ingot Chewer and take care of his artifact and bounce the Leyline with a Chain, which he recasts on turn 4. I once more bounce it. He casts it again turn 5 and drops a Tormod's Crypt.

This game is fun.

I Wish for Wispmare and pass, to which he casts his Enduring Ideal and grabs a Form of the Dragon. I Chain of Vapor it (that's 3 so far for me this game) at his end of turn.

By the way, i am doing all of this on 2 mana the whole time. I didn't get that second mana until turn 4 mind you, so it was a bit tough.

I Wispmare his Leyline and pass. He searches up Form and passes. On my turn I sac all 3 of my sac lands and go to 6 life to hardcast a Protean Hulk because I drew my 4th Chain of Vapor (!). That means all I have to do to win is bounce his Form (because one is discarded for some reason and 2 more are in hand). On his turn he hits me down to 1 and searches for a Leyline.

Wait, I'm at 1? With a City of Brass in play? Damn.

This means my only out is Gemstone Mine, which I haven't seen any of during the entire match. Top card is...

Ancient Spring. GG.

3-1, 7-3

If I don't misplay hardcore game 1 then I win easy 2-0 and move on to the next round undefeated. Oh well, now I just have to win out.

Round 5: Jon Swearingen with Goblins

I interviewed Jon for my blog when he Top 8'd in Detroit earlier this season. This time he brings Goblins to the table. Jon is a much better player than I am, but his matchup is awful, as he prefers to beat face with dudes whereas I... don't care about any of that.

Game 1 I draw my Mogg Fanatic the turn I was going to combo off. Sucks... but I Footsteps for the win turn 3 anyway.

Game 2 I have to mull to 5. Sucks... but I Footsteps win turn 3 anyway.

Thoe are some good breaks I guess.

4-1, 9-3

Round 6: Scott with Goblins (made the finals)

Remember earlier when I said that this is an awful match up for Goblins? Yeah. About that... it is. But this round didn't really operate that way.

Game 1 all I need to combo off is a Hulk, Pact, or Wish. 5 turns later, after 2 Careful Studys and a Thirst for Knowledge (for a total of 19 cards of my library, for those of you playing along at home) I don't get there and 1/1s and 2/2s take him the distance.

Unreal.

Game 2 he Cabal Therapies the third turn Through the Breach win out of my hand... but I mise another one of the top to get the win on the third turn. Justice!

Game 3 he mulligans to 5. Nice. I mulligan to 6. Not so nice. I also proceed to draw no land (with an opening of a Mox and, what else, a City of Brass of course) for 5 full turns. I almost got there anyway, but at 3 life and with a Mogg Fanatic on the board my second City of Brass wasn't going to help me.

No justice.

This match up is as close to a bye as I get. Unfortunately, the Magic Gods did not see me fit to make top 8 this time around.

4-2, 10-5

Round 7: Nicholas with Zoo

Hoorah for playing against aggro! If Gobs is bad, this match up is almost worse since they don't even have Cabal Therapy. Only Vindicate for outs makes Reuben happy!

Game 1 I have turn 2 Wish into turn 3 Seething Song-Breach win because I'm good like that.

Game 2 a Jitte on a Kird Ape makes me fizzle out because I drew my second Carrion Feeder and my Mogg Fanatic. WTF.

Game 3 is my second mistake of the day and it cost me the match (just like before).

His second turn is double Fanatic. I combo out on either turn 3 or 4 with a Footsteps. With the Hulk I grab a Body Double and a Carrion Feeder. I sac the Double to Feeder, to which he, in response, kills my Feeder. At this point, I get all flustered and grab another Double and another Feeder. What I should have done instead is gotten a Reveillark anyway. But I didn't. So I lost.

4-3, 11-7

Sigh.

Round 8: Brendan with Zoo

Another Zoo? Sure.

Brendan is another guy I know from around Columbus. We both made prize at an Extended tournament over the summer.

This match was over quickly. I got a turn 2 win (finally!) with Song-Breach-Hulk in game 1.

Game 2 he gets there with first turn Kird Ape, second turn Gaea's Might for +4/+4 and a Firebolt, third turn Tribal Flames for 4 and a Firebolt. Add to this my City of Brass damage and I was down to 2. I needed another non-City land of the top of my library to win, so of course I drew another City.

Game 3 I win on turn 4 with Footsteps after I Thoughseized myself to get the Hulk in the 'yard.

5-3, 13-8, 29th out of 130ish

Maybe next time.

The changes that I would make to the deck are as follows:

+1 Ancient Spring

+1 Sulfur Vent

-2 Geothermal Crevice

I only did this because I couldn't find any more of the sac lands I needed. They are surprisingly hard to find at a PTQ. If you play this deck, make sure you have all of these in your possession when you come in the building.

+4 Cabal Therapy

-4 Thoughseize

This is for a few reasons. Sometimes you just don't want to take damage. Other times you just want to see what an opponent has. Mostly, though, is for those few times when you absolutely positively have to get a hardcast Protean Hulk from play to your graveyard. If I had Therapies I could have beaten my Enduring Ideal opponent game 3 because I had a T-seize in the grave already.

+2 Serum Visions

-2 Thirst for Knowledge

With 8 ways to discard a Hulk for Footsteps (4 each Therapy and Careful Study, and that's not even counting a Wish for Hapless Researcher), these guys may be overkill. Serum Visions digs for what you need for the low low cost of U. I'll take it.

-2 Forbidden Orchard

+2 Tendo Ice Bridge

Usually this won't matter, but occasionally you need to beat face with a 6/6 green dude (or a 0/0 blue dude pretending to be a 6/6 green dude). If that is the case then the 1/1 Spirits you give your opponent could come back to bite you. This is why my only out was Gemstone Mine in the last game of my Ideal match.

-2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

+1 Forbidden Orchard

+1 ???

The extraneous Boseijus seem poor even in the control matchups. A Living Wish rarely gets countered, and even if they do then you have another chance to get your combo through. The Orchard is for those times where you are stuck on 2 mana and just need the third for Seething Song or Footsteps. If that is the case, then having an endless stream of colorful mana is preferable to the one time use of the Ice Bridge.

What's that last spot? I haven't decided yet. Kataki is subpar, as it's a match up that you should win anyway because this deck is just quicker. Should it be another Boseiju? Venser? Contested Cliffs? Kami of False Hope? Carrion Feeder? I do not yet know what I will do with it.

I think that Team On The Bubble struck gold with this one. There were 2 players (including myself) in the room with this deck and we both top 32'd. If I did not make 2 small misplays then I am 7-1 (theoretically) and make top 8. If I don't get completely unlucky against Goblins then I do not lose (again, theoretically). This was the right deck for this past weekend for sure. Whether it will stay that way is unknown, but I anticipate that it will be at least playable in Extended for the forseeable future.

Reubs

*End of turn Through the Breach, you lose.

Tags: Tmp Magic Ptq Hollywood Pro Tour Qualifier Bubble Hulk Columbus

Related to: Magic: the Gathering

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