First I will start off with a list. This has been testing well for me:
4 Tombstalker
1 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror
4 Mental Note
4 Counterspell
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Duress
3 Fact or Fiction
2 Circular Logic
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Counterbalance
2 Chainer's Edict
2 Ghastly Demise
22 land
It is a spin on Antoine Ruel and Nikolay Potovin's lists from Valencia. I am intrigued by this kind of control because it is composed of relatively cheap counter magic and excellent card draw backed up by some of the best creatures in the game. It is still rough around the edges, and there is one card missing that surprises a lot of people: Tarmogoyf. I moved him to the sideboard because he seems like too much of a liability with Threads of Disloyalty gaining popularity. Why Mental Note? It is fairly straightforward. I want to fill my graveyard so that my Circular Logics, Ghastly Demises, and Tombstalkers become that much better. Also, I can lessen the chances of losing a good card with Top. I'm not saying it is the best list, but it is getting there even if it is a little rough around the edges.
If you are reading this blog, you have an interest in Extended, so you have obviously seen the Top 8 list from Valencia. I want to discuss some of the surprising Day 2 lists that I think deserve to be mentioned. Saul Aguado's Balancing Act Deck was very interesting. I had not seen a list since Olivier Ruel's from GP Singapore, so this list was very new to me. The Gargadons make the deck much more stable. This deck was a surprise to me because I was not expecting it to played very much, if at all. Koutarou Ootsuka's NoStick list (also piloted by Yuya Watanabe to a Day 2) was intriguing to me as well. I thought that the deck would fall off the map with the introduction of Krosan Grips and Ancient Grudges. Also, he played black instead of red, like I am used to seeing. Seeing that deck do well was interesting. Marcus Seine's list was the most rogue list from in the tournament in Day 2. His deck is basically a large amount of removal, Pyroclasm, Terminate, and Pernicious Deed, paired with a large amount of discard spells, like Duress, Rise//Fall, and Augur of Skulls. I think that if you wanted a deck that did well against aggro and control, this would be a definite front runner (and he boards Blood Moons as another hate card). These lists and others can be found here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/ptval07/day2decklists
Here are some cards in the format that stand out to me, for good and bad reasons:
1. Thoughtseize. My friend said that any deck that played Duress and/or Cabal Therapy should be playing 4 of these now. That assessment is completely incorrect. Control decks, like Gifts Rock will not play Thoughtseize because 90-95 percent of the cards you want to be discarded with Duress or Therapy are not creatures. Also, who wants to take 5 damage turn 1 (Fetch, Dual, Thoughtseize) for a card that is far below average in that style of deck? I can see the card in the sideboard of control decks, however, like Psychatog, where it becomes much better because it is good against control as a turn 1 play. Thoughtseize will also keep the Insidious Dreams package in Enduring Ideal decks because Thoughtsieze ensures its game-winning potential. Yes, Thoughtseize is good, and it will find a place in many decks, but I do not think that it is always better than Duress, and I think it is important to remember that idea when building decks.
2. Tombstalker. This guy is a beast; there is nothing more to say. Most impressive is his ability to dodge the best removal and answers to creatures in Extended. Notable cards that do not touch Tombstalker are Smother, Ghastly Demise, Threads of Disloyalty, and Shriekmaw (if he gets play). The fact that he has a mana cost of 8 (it is only a formality, most of the time this guy comes down for two black for me) only makes him better. He is tough to Pernicious Deed (which can be a good thing if you are playing Deed) and Repeal. He never gets countered by Counterbalance, and you can dodge Force Spikes all day. I am completely surprised that this guy does not see more play; he is beastly.
3. Venser, Shaper Savant. He has already shown how good he is against Enduring Ideal, and now he becomes even better because of Gaddock Teeg. He will bounce a creature and block Teeg when they attack. For this reason, I am considering him as a sideboard card against aggro in general in control decks, especially UW Tron.
4. Gaddock Teeg. I could not leave this guy out, could I? This guy is the single most overrated card to come out of Lorwyn. He does not deserve any of the hype he is getting; combo decks handle him fairly easily (Wish for Pyroclasm) and the base control deck, Gifts Rock, also readily handles him with their three-drop Pernicious Deed. One deck that he will absolutely wreck is UW Tron. Teeg single-handedly shuts off almost the entire deck, and that is scary. He will not be played in the main because of the other aggro decks where he is always just a vanilla 2/2. His spot will be in the sideboard as a wish target, but that is all the play I think he should be getting. He is too easily handled to be worth playing mutiple copies in the board. Against combo decks, he has a chance to be back-breaking, but he will usually only buy you one turn.
Here are my lists for the best cards in general categories:
1. Best creature: Tombstalker, Tarmogoyf, Sundering Titan, Dark Confidant, Trinket Mage
2. Best spot removal spell: Smother, Ghastly Demise
3. Best draw spell: Thirst For Knowledge
4. Best combo card: Balancing Act. Let me explain. Ideal has become so popular that I am sure that Ronom Unicorns and Kami if Ancient Laws will be running rampant. TEPS will not handle the Stifles that many control decks are playing or the Top/Counterbalance duo. These deficiencies will hinder the performance of these decks enough for me not to play either of these decks. Saul Aguado's list from Valencia overcomes many problems for combo decks. Living Wish fetches a Boseiju if needed, so Balancing Act can get through counter magic, and its enabler, Greater Gargadon will escape anything short of a Pull From Eternity or Riftsweeper, which I am not expecting to see a lot of those in boards. Also, the regular mana base instead of saclands makes is much more resilient and less prone to disastrous Vensers or other such cards. It can play the longer game against aggro with Lightning Helix and Wall of Roots.
5. Most important card: Leyline of the Void/Tormod's Crypt. Dredge and Breakfast variants will lead to the rise of the counts of these cards in boards. Other decks that rely on their graveyards will also be sucked into these cards' hate. Gifts Decks suddenly must deal with the graveyard hate if they want to recur the cards they just dumped. The fact that they will be the most popular sideboard cards also says something.
Thoughts? Questions? Anything? Leave a comment; if you do please tell me what deck you think you would play and why. I want to hear other people's ideas to get a better idea of how other players are thinking.
