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We last left off with part two of this series, GB Elves. You can find that article here:

 

http://my.tcgplayer.com/blog/view/id_1818/title_shadowmoor-standard-primer-part-two/

 

and part one on Faeries, which is located here:

 

http://my.tcgplayer.com/blog/view/id_1814/title_shadowmoor-standard-primer-part-one/ 

 

 

Today is the final part of the primer, which will ouline RG Big Mana, Reveillark, and Mono Red. Here are the lists I refer to throughout the article for sideboarding strategies.

 

 

GR Gig Mana

 

GR Big Mana/Mana Ramp is a controllish style acceleration deck, aimed at 'ramping up' and playing late game spells much earlier, and overwhelming the opponent with powerful, high cost effects. The core of this strategy is using Wall of Roots and another accelerator, which differs based on the build. In the GR version, the consensus seems to be that Into the North is the correct card of choice.

 

Snow versions of this deck popped up right before Worlds this past year, and the simple explanation for the switch from regular basics to snow mana is quite simple: Skred. Skred is like a red Swords to Plowshares in this format, is usually never a dead draw. On the contrary, after about turn six, Skred will almost always be able to kill any relevant creature in the format. Another reason why Snow mana is desirable is that you can fetch Coldsnap dual lands with Into the North, which fixes the mana. Lastly, Into the North can also act as a delayed removal spell in the form of Mouth of Ronom, which is also fetchable. 

 

Despite being a 'big mana' strategy, the deck plays four Tarmogoyf because of how effective the card is on it's own. When I played the deck, Tarmogoyf was rarely good in the early game, and was often sandbagged for mid and late game battles. Playing two in the same turn is quite devastating because the amount of spot removal that reaches them at 4/5 is greatly diminished, and 5/6 limits the opponent to Terror and Shriekmaw (which are still plentiful, don't get me wrong). The creature I want on the board in most every match up as soon as possible is Siege-Gang Commander. The card is just awesome at swinging creature stalls and or finishing the opponent. It also puts your opponent under a massive amount of pressure if you have a Garruk with four counters on it. Lastly, Cloudthresher is here because it effectively Wraths against Faeries for 2GG or hardcasting, and is an overall beatstick.

 

One of the cards that I play main deck that a lot of people seem to disagree with lately is Sulfurous Blast, for which I cut Incinerate completely. Incinerate is just not that great anymore. Sulf Blast aids GR further against Faeries, and is awesome against basically every creature deck in the format. It's a blank in the late game, however, so I've been trying to decide if I want to go to a third Primal Command and cut the fourth Blast, or if I really need four. Hopefully I'll have that question answered by the time I need to choose a deck for Regionals.

 

Cards that disrupt our mana like Mwonvuli Acid-Moss are not good for this deck. Most LD spells set us back, especially early on. In the same vein, this deck has very little it can do against strategies involving the graveyard. Reveillark is a really bad match up, and so is the new Juniper Order Ranger deck that seems to be growing in popularity on Magic League. However, one of the advantages we have is that both of those decks struggle against Faeries, which is the elephant in the room. Hopefully we can prey on such a metagame. Another card that is obviously good against this deck is Flashfreeze, which it seems just about every Merfolk and Faerie deck will be packing some of. The card is clearly a hard counter against us, and is very frustrating to have to play through.

 

Alright, let's get on to the matchups:

 

 

Faeries

 

The match up requires you to play as conservatively as possible. They have the advantage because of how good Mistbind Clique is, so don't try to use a Sulfurous Blast unless you can for sure get a two for one. When I first started playing the deck, one of my opponents let me wrath the board with a clique on the stack, and then used his last mana source to activate a Mutavault and keep his guy and I'm tapped out with no action. Since then, I've also learned that it's usually not terribly hard to play around their Rune Snags; just don't walk a Harmonize into one, as that is the way we are able to pair card advantage. Harmonize is one of the cards I always want to resolve in this match up; the other being Siege-Gang. An uncontested SGC forces them on defense, because it's five power worth of guys in a single shot, and it can sink a large portion of their team. They will undoubtedly be forced to kill the head, so be aware that you aren't necessarily home free if it sticks.

 

+: 3 Chameleon Colossus, 2 Squall Line, 3 Firespout, 2 Krosan Grip, 1 Primal Command

-: 4 Wall of Roots, 4 Tarmogoyf, 2 Garruk, 1 Skred

 

After board, we get a ton of cards to improve the match up. Faeries is going to leave in Rune Snag because of the mana intensiveness of all of our cards, so be aware of that. We bring in more wog effects against them including Firespout and Squall Line. Krosan Grip kills blossom and Primal Command gives us card selection and slows them down. Chameleon Colossus is way better than Tarmogoyf because Goyf just doesn't get big in this match up (they are boarding out their own Nameless Inversions), and they can't chump the 4/4 with Bitterblossom tokens or kill it with Terror. Garruk is clunky, slow, and they can just attack him straight up and then we're back at square one, so he gets axed. Wall of Roots is a really slow accelerator against them, and doesn't block anything but Mutavault. Lastly, the reason I cut a Skred is because though it kills everything, one for ones aren't optimal against this deck: the only think I want to kill with it is Mistbind Clique and Mutavault, and it always gets countered by Spellstutter.

 

The match up, despite all of these great cards against them, is still a struggle, as tempo counters like Cryptic Command set us way back if used properly. Play your spells with a game plan in mind, and try to make advantageous trades over even ones, as they are trying to grind us out, and have no problem trading on the board because of Bitterblossom's inevitability.

 

Verdict: Unfavorable (and a coin flip after board)

 

 

BG Elves

 

This match up is really good, but they have a few cards that scare us, namely Profane Command. I played a bunch of games against this deck, and pretty much all of the ones Elves won were because they had the Command to force through a game winning alpha strike. Sulfurous Blast and Siege-Gang are really awesome cards in this match up, as they stall the board and finish them both. One thing I usually try to do is to save Skred for their Tarmogoyfs, as they will usually get as big as 5/6, and Chameleon Colossus, which can get out of control really quick. Sulfurous Blast kills all of their other creatures, though, so play with that in mind.

 

+: 3 Chameleon Colossus, 3 Firespout, 1 Primal Command

-: 4 Cloudthresher, 1 Harmonize, 2 Garruk Wildspeaker

 

After board, we get our own Colossi, more Wraths, and another Primal which put us out of range quickly. I usually never need to draw a million cards in this match up, and they are usually forced to Thoughtseize a Sulf or Spout, which means you are still able to Concentrate. I cut Cloudthresher because it's really just a guy, albeit a big one. Garruk, however, really sucks in this match up, and feels completely unwarranted and unnecessary because they can get to him in combat early on, and he's really bad late game. They basically have no way to deal with a Colossus beyond Thoughtseize, though, so getting one into play really puts them on defense.

 

Verdict: Very Favorable

 

 

Reveillark

 

Let me just go ahead and say that this match up is a nightmare. The reason a lot of versions of RG splashed back was because the Reveillark match up just isn't hardly winnable. Basically, they have all these awesome tempo guys with Blink, draw a ton of cards with Drifters, and Reveillark is sick advantage which we can only disrupt with Primal Command. The reason I don't address the match up very well in the sideboard is that Reveillark probably won't be on the radar because of Faeries. However, as I said before, this may change if Hollywood brings out some groundbreaking new technology.

 

+: 1 Primal Command, 4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, 3 Chameleon Colossus

-: 4 Tarmogoyf, 4 Wall of Roots

 

Tarmogoyf is never big against them, so the switcheroo to Colossus is understandable. Acid-Moss attacks their mana, which is the deck's big weak spot. Primal Command number three further disrupts their graveyard strategy, so that's an obvious inclusion. Basically though, Reveillark is still an uphill struggle. I've beaten it once, but that wasn't very reassuring because my opponent super-punted and didn't attack a Garruk that went overrun lethal next turn, so take that however you want.

 

Verdict: Very Unfavorable 

 

 

Aggro Red Decks

 

This is another really good match up, namely because Wall of Roots turns Keldon Marauders into a two mana Shock, and Tattermunge Maniac is really ineffective as well.  Primal Command is an utter blow out, and with as much removal as we have, most of their other creatures aren't going to be effective as well. In this match up, I sandbag Skred for Tarmogoyf if I see that they are splashing green; if not, I keep it for Countryside Crusher. Basically, never rely on Firespout or Sulfurous Blast to kill Crusher because they can just save it with Shard Volley.

 

+: 1 Primal Command, 3 Firespout, 3 Chameleon Colossus, 2 Krosan Grip

-:  4 Sulfurous Blast, 4 Cloudthresher, 1 Into the North

 

The game plan doesn't change much after board; we have to switch out Sulf blast for firespout because the former helps them do their job. Primal Command is obviously the blade, and Colossus is just a huge beater to apply pressure, filling the Thresher position. I shave one Into the North and Thresher number four to fill the last two slots with Krosan Grip for their Everlasting Torments. This is kind of an experiment I'm doing right now, as I think Everlasting Torment is garbage. Despite my opinion, other people don't seem to agree, and this is a match up where it actually seems fine. 

 

Verdict:  Favorable

 

 

Other decks that I tested against which were really good match ups included Merfolk, Mono Black Rogues, and Kithkin White Weenie. If you don't like losing to aggressive decks, then GR Mana Ramp is definitely the deck for you. However, be aware that with effectively no counters or disruption, combo decks like Reveillark, the Juniper deck, and Dragonstorm walk all over this. All in all, Mana Ramp is still a great choice in the metagame. Looking over my sideboard strats, it looks like I always want to bring it the third Primal and the Colossi, regardless of the match up. I don't think I can fit any of that in the main, though, as we really need to win game one against Faeries.

 

 

 

Reveillark and Mono Red

 

I'm doing these two together at the end because I believe both decks are going to fall out of favor in this metagame soon. Mono Red is strong against Faeries, but the match up is not unlosable by any means, and against pretty much every other archetype in the format you have a coin flip or worse. In a world of possible Kitchen Finks and Primal Commands, I really don't think non-disruptive aggro strategies are viable. However, I think that somewhere out there is a RB midrange deck that uses bitterblossom that can beat faeries and still have game against the other decks in the meta. We will see come Hollywood.

 

I'm worried about Reveillark's viability because it just cannot beat Faeries. If Faeries were removed from the metagame entirely, I believe Reveillark would be the deck to beat due to the power level of each of the cards in the archetype. Unfortunately, that is not reality we live in, and I think we need to accept it unwise to run a deck that stuggles badly against 'the best deck in the format'. I just really can't support that course of action.  

 

 

Other decks that only seem good:

 

GW Big Mana: This deck looks powerful because you get to play some awesome cards like Oversoul of Dusk, which if resolved, cannot be answered by any spell Faeries has access to. The problem is, all of the cards in this deck fulfill their functions on a level worse than RG Big Mana. Both decks have Cloudthresher, but I'd almost always take Sulfurous Blast and Skred over Wrath of God and Condemn. The match up in general is just worse against Faeries and improves match ups that are already good in the red version.

 

Merfolk: I think this is the one most likely to make me eat my words. Merfolk just has a lot of very synergistic cards that become explosively powerful when used in conjunction with one another. The deck is very good against Faeries, but now that they are gunning for it, I'm not sure that it will continue to play a role in the current metagame. It also really struggles against Mana Ramp, which further deters me from wanting to play it.

 

Seismic Swans: This deck is garbage. I know that a lot of people are hopped up on it because the interactions are cool and Pat Chapin 'designed' it, but really, the deck is terrible. I've actually just never tested it ever, but the games I've watch it play out were awful, barely-able-to-classify-this-as-magic matches that ended with everyone shaking their heads as the combo was disrupted by a Nameless Inversion, Terror, Krosan Grip, etc.   

 

 

Currenly, I'm holding out for a good deck that beats Faeries to surface for the Pro Tour, because I really would not enjoy slogging through eight rounds of Fae mirrors and red decks at Regionals. Hopefully, Wafo-Tapa or the Japanese or even an unknown will come forward with a great new strategy that can address the Faerie Problem. It seems unlikely, but we can always hope.

 

Until next time. 

When we left off, I had just wrapped up my analysis and match up strategies for Faeries, which you can find here:

 

http://my.tcgplayer.com/blog/view/id_1814/title_shadowmoor-standard-primer-part-one/

 

Even if you aren't willing to play the Fae, I still recommend reading through that article, as your own archetypal strategy might hinge on understanding your opponents', and I think Faeries is probably going to stick around for awhile. Also, here is the link for the five decks I'm continuing in this discussion.

 

This article is going to outline another of the five decks in Tier one:

 

 

BG Elves

 

This is one of the old veteran decks from the pre-Morningtide days, where it used to dominate Premier Event top eights on Magic Online. If I recall correctly, Katsuhiro Mori top eighted Worlds for the third time in a row last December with a variant on this archetype. With the advent of Bitterblossom and such a powerful, controllish build of Faeries, it seemed like that, for a period, this deck received little to no attention. However, the deck is still a powerful contender in the current metagame, and with the coming of the Richmond 5k, Elves is clearly still a good deck choice.

 

The deck is pretty basic as far as BG decks are concerned: You have discard in Thoughtseize and sometimes Mind Shatter. You have removal in the forms of Profane Command, Nameless Inversion, and Shriekmaw. And you have the beaters, only they're so undercosted compared to rock decks previously that this deck is Elves and not Rock. Imperious Perfect cranks out tokens and Anthems the team. Wren's Run Vanquisher is a monstrous two-drop that makes Wall of Roots and Chameleon Colossus undesirable blockers. And Tarmogoyf is Tarmogoyf; only in this deck, snaging a Bitterblossom with Thoughtseize on turn one and following it with a 3/4 on turn two is especially powerful, because the two most common types of spells, Instant and Creature, aren't even in the yard in this scenario, and you're on your way to getting in some insane early aggression.

 

One of the cards that some people seem to think this deck automatically needs is Bramblewood Paragon, which in most alternative lists occupies the Tarmogoyf slot. A friend of mine, who tested a similar list extensively on Magic Online, said that in most cases Tarmogoyf is just the superior card. However, he also said that Paragon might be better against Faeries because it makes chump blocking ineffective, and is better in a race. The overall consideration here is that Paragon is a terrible topdeck, is only effective as a 2/2, and needs to say in the game for a number of turns to be powerful. Tarmogoyf, on the other hand, just shows up anytime in the mid to late game and can stomp on most other creatures, and is extremely difficult to remove with Incinerate, Firespout, Nameless Inversion, etc.

 

Another card that is absent from the list I tested was Garruk, which most people still play. In a deck tech interview for the Richmond 5k, Owen Turtenwald explains that Garruk rarely does more than make a 3/3 or break your tempo before dying because of how powerful efficient, low cost cards are in this format. The opponent's creatures are going to just attack your Planeswalker and you're going to make poor trades across the board because you feel obligated to protect it, or it dies and you haven't accomplished much. I would always side it out against Faeries, Mono Red, and Reveillark, as it's low effectiveness against each of these decks is clear based on it's 2GG cost and turn-based activation.

 

One of the cards present here that a lot of people were surprised to see when I played it at FNM was Primal Command, and main deck, no less. I honestly didn't even know that Owen had started playing them main until this past Saturday evening; I was doing so because the card is pretty much the stoneblade, especially when all my opponents are playing silly red decks. It is just really, really good.

 

Alright, here are the match ups based on what I tested:

 

 

 

Matchups

 

 

Mana Ramp

 

Mana Ramp is a very difficult match up, because all of their removal spells are awesome, and they have an instant speed Wrath of God in Sulfurous Blast, which sometimes matters, like when alpha striking with a team of Perfect pumped 1/1 tokens. Siege-Gang Commander is a blowout card, and don't forget that the 2/2 can be Nameless'd with the token making trigger on the stack. They also have Primal Command, which puts them back into a safe zone lifetotal-wise and slows us way down, while they get a creature which will usually be Siege-Gang. Chameleon Colossus and Tarmogoyf are really awesome against them, but they have a red Swords to Plowshares, so none of your men are safe, regardless of how big they are. Another really good card against Ramp is Profane Command, because if they can't deal with a horde of guys, the card basically ends the game.

 

+: 2 Shriekmaw, 3 Mind Shatter, 1 Thoughtseize

-: 4 Nameless Inversion, 2 Boreal Druid

 

After board, your game plan is to use all of your disruption to put them right out of the game. Mind Shatter wasn't in the build I played last Friday; I played Extirpate instead. However, casting it for three cards or more seems pretty devastating in this match up, and coupling that with Thoughtseize is a great plan. Nameless Inversion is pretty dead post board because they just don't kill anything besides SGC, and Shriekmaw does that better.

 

Verdict: Unfavorable to even

 

 

Faeries

 

If you read part one, you will remember that this match up is very favorable if your Faeries opponent is inexperienced and doesn't play well. With up to seven main deck spot removal spells now, Faeries seems to be getting more and more difficult to beat. One of the most important early game plays this deck can make here is to 'Seize the Bitterblossom. Despite it seeming to be ineffective against aggressive decks, it's still powerful enough to let them race us if they are sitting on removal. It keeps Spellstutter active, and keeps us from making a potential two for one with Mistbind's Champion trigger on the stack.

 

+: 1 Primal Command, 3 Kitchen Finks, 1 Thoughtseize, 3 Cloudthresher, 2 Squall Line

-: 1 Shriekmaw, 4 Profane Command, 4 Nameless Inversion, 1 Boreal Druid

 

Cloudthresher and Primal Command are powerful late-game spells, at which point Faeries usually has used up counterspells. Both are excellent top decks, and Primal Command makes it harder for Faeries to balls-to-the-wall race us. Kitchen Finks helps us survive to the late game, has 3 power, and comes back through Damnation, and Squall Line is another thresher type effect. Profane Command is terrible at forcing through damage, and Shriekmaw is really bad and slow here. Nameless gets axed because you are very rarely gaining advantage by trading one for one in a match up where they pump out new creatures every turn, and it doesn't kill their most relevant threat in Mistbind Clique.

 

Verdict: Even to Favorable, and Unfavorable if they are good.

 

 

Reveillark

 

This match up seems to hinge on how you play it. If you play properly, Reveillark should be a cakewalk. However, there are some things you should bear in mind. First of all, they do have Rune Snag, and some of the newer lists like the one here play Cryptic Command, so be aware that those two counters are present before you decide to go all-in on a Profane Command. They are not very fast, however, so getting in some early damage can really make the difference. Wrath of God doesn't hurt us that badly because of the man lands, so commit only two real creatures to the board at a time. Recognize instances where the combo could go online with one card, and play accordingly. They often try to stall with the man o' war duo of Cloudskate and Venser, which makes the job much harder.

 

+: 1 Thoughtseize, 3 Mind Shatter

-: 1 Boreal Druid, 2 Primal Command, 1 Nameless Inversion

 

Mind Shatter will cripple them, but won't necessarily put them out of contention. I've lost several times in my spell-slinging career to a top decked Reveillark to put my opponent back in the game, so don't underestimate your chances. Be cautious; make reads on how they tap their mana just in case they play Condemn.

 

Verdict: Favorable

 

 

Red Decks

 

The red match up varies based on their build, because there are drastic differences in how people play it. Burn-heavy builds probably have access to Sulfurous Blast, which can make for a difficult matchup. The best card against the red decks for game one are Wren's Run Vanquisher, Tarmogoyf, and Primal Command. Try to match their level of aggression with your own. In this match up, you need to make sure you have a removal spell for their Countryside Crusher, because he can get out of hand really quick. Cards like Chameleon Colossus and Tarmogoyf are good because most of the red deck's burn doesn't reach them.

 

+: 3 Kitchen Finks, 1 Primal Command

-: 3 Thoughtseize, 1 Shriekmaw

 

Kitchen Finks is an excellent card against the creature heavy red decks, but really will only cash in for two life if your opponent is running heavy burn. Getting to Primal mana is crucial, as it puts them a full turn and two cards behind their goal. That much life is usually enough to stabilize and turn the tables.

 

Verdict: Even

 

 

Mirror

 

The mirror is all about your black spells, namely Inversion and Profane. Because neither player will have black creatures to block with, alpha striking with a Feared team plus drain you for X is usually the preferred way I like to finish the match, and it's often what it comes down to. The problem is, both players have Profane Command, so Thoughtseize is high value in the early and mid game. However, both players are usually in top deck mode in a late game creature stall, which makes the card nearly useless. The other card that greatly affects the outcome of the match up is Imperious Perfect, which, if not contained, will start making an army of guys to overrun the board.

 

+: 2 Shriekmaw, 1 Primal Command

-: 3 Thoughtseize

 

I tried Kitchen Finks and it really just didn't do enough in the mirror. Thoughtseize is not very good after board, whereas Shriekmaws two and three are phenomenal; they play well with Profane and take out just about everything on the opponent's squad. Having Fear in a race is just gravy.

 

Verdict: Even

 

 

All in all, BG Elves is another great deck in this metagame. The reason for it's recent resurgence may be due to the previously growing popularity of Merfolk on Magic Online. BG Elves demolishes that deck, and it's very favorable against Kithkin White Weenie as well. I think this deck is very good because it's level of layered aggression forces the opponent to be strategically precise in how they execute their strategy. The amount of interaction is much more than the average aggressive strategy, and allows the pilot to outplay his opponents as opposed to a 'burn 'em and turn 'em' strat. I expect this deck to continue to do well in Hollywood and Regionals, and it's definitely not something I will be underestimating when it comes time to seriously test before Regionals.

 

I'll try to get my article on RG Big Mana up sometime tomorrow or thursday, depending on how much free time I have.

 

Later.

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 nth 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.

Seriously, guys, enter at your own risk. I have no idea what the names are on half the cards in the set, so I refer to a bunch of them by what they do. Sorry if that is confusing. Also, I shamelessly barn and namedrop just about every well-known Iowa magic player on the list. It is painful, but I muster all the strength I can, and move on.

 

...

 

So, anyways, Shadowmoor Sealed Deck. The format that moves at speeds nearly as fast as the average snail. I only wish I would have realized this before the PR, so that I could have mentally prepared myself for excruciatingly long games, most of which went to time. All I knew about the format going in was that I knew I wanted to draw first, as Sealed seemed kinda slow. I had. Absolutely. No. Idea.

 

Oh well.

 

Last Friday, I experienced what can only be classified as 'the worst day I've had in recent memory':

• It rained hard for six hours straight Thursday night, so when I go downstairs to take a shower, I discover the west side of my basement is filled with a quarter inch of water. Awesome.

• My boss calls me at 10am to tell me I have to work Saturday. I tell him I'm not gonna be in town, and that I distinctly requested it off. He tells me I'm fired*. Sweet.

• During my bag-packing, I discover that my shampoo bottle has broken open, and is leaking all over my clothes and is everywhere in my bag. Double sweet.

• I learn that I've bombed my latest philosophy exam, and can't pass the class with higher than a C-. Even better.

So as I take off, I'm clearly not in a very cheery mood. However, an hour-and-a-half drive to Ames from Vinton is a great way to just Chill out. By the time I got to the ISU college town, I was in high spirits. I stopped at the local store, 9th Zone, which is co-owned and operated by Level 2 Judge Brian Woerth. There, I hung out with the resident dredge master, Nick Crumpton, who was playing WoW on his laptop. Crump qualified for Pro Tour Hollywood at the very beginning of this past season, playing in the first midwest PTQ in St. Louis. The standing jokes of him regarding that event are that he lost 0 game ones on the day, and that after he beat GP Charlotte winner Mike Krumb, he informed him on how to correctly play Dredge.

So, back to our story, I waited around for about a half hour, and Matt Hansen showes up. Matt and I have been friends for awhile, and I think we're a lot alike. Our differences start with magic, however, as he is quite good, while I am probably only slightly above average. Matt recently brought the extended deck Spirit Stompy into the limelight, after he won a PTQ in Kansas City and then top eighted GP Philly with it the very next weekend. I highly doubt that that is where his accomplishments in the game will end.

We go get Culvers, and then back to the store to test Shadowmoor Standard. A GW deck and a Monoblack deck are built, and after a bunch of test games, he and I take off and go to Matt's place for a bit. He surfs the internet, and then we play some heads up hold'em, which was pretty interesting, in retrospect. I wound up with most of his money, but really highly doubt that I'm that much better than he is.

The rest of the night involves getting food at a pizza place, more poker, me being so tired that I'm dealing cards face up, and finally, sleep.

Saturday rolls around, and I wanted to make it to the 1pm flight. Now, compared with the stories and reports I've heard about other prereleases, it sounds a lot like most other areas get hosed. Barratt Moy is not my favorite person on the planet, but he gives out a gazillion packs at his prereleases. The 1pm flight was more than 32 people, so the swiss round count was 6, and the payout was something ridiculous, I think 6-0 got 54 packs. I obviously wanted to do well with that much product on the line (18 draft sets!!).

We take I-35 down to Des Moines, but get there twenty minutes late; it ends up being fine, as people haven't even started registering pools yet. I open a pretty good pool featuring two Murdurous Redcaps and two Incremental Blights. The pool I'm shipped is, according to the person who registered it, nearly unplayable. It's got a ton of great red and black, but the curve is really top heavy, and every color is Dreadfully sHallow. I end up playing a pretty mediocre list to start off, with lots of garbage ones and twos that were pretty much useless.

Round 1 - Rob Meyers

The backstory on this guy is that he dreamcrushed Sam Black in the last round of the Des Moines PTQ for Hollywood. Sam is in a win-and-in position, while Mr. Meyers is unable to make top eight. He wants to play anyway, and stomps Sam, takes 9th, and basically, no one is ever going to do a favor for him again.

Game one progresses slowly, but I have him on the backfoot early. Unfortunately, he has the UW Hill Giant and the UW Leige, which basically bash my face in. I notice that he is spending an awful lot of time on his own turns, and count down the minutes on my phone. I end up not calling a judge, which, in retrospect, was definitely the wrong thing to do.

Game two is a very long and drawn out affair. I gain a huge advantage by having both Midnight Banshee and Grim Poppet on the board, which is kind of a combo. Still, despite such an Overwhelming position, my opponent still spent minute after minute in the tank at any time in which he had priority, and prolonged his death until there were only about five minutes left on the clock

Game three is a stall, and I get stuck on three lands. Time is called, and he tells me that he can't do fifteen points of damage. He is irate when I block with a creature he thought was an enchantment. He goes to call a judge, and I tell him it's a waste of more time, since he actually picked up and read the card when I played it.

 

He gets really pissy at this point, and I tell him that if he'd played at a reasonable pace, he probably would have beaten me, as his deck was much better than mine. I sign the match slip and walk away. In retrospect, I should have called the judge over to watch for slowplay; my thought was that going that route might be a little hardcore for a prerelease. However, since we are playing for a substantial amount of product, I should have done everything in my power to keep the game going at a reasonable pace, even if it means offending my opponent and calling over a judge. Lesson learned.

So, 0-0-1 is not the most desirable way to start out a Pre-release. That immediately slashes my hopes and dreams of getting the 54 boosters, but if I win out, I can still nab a box. Oh well. I show my deck and sideboard to a few people I respect to get opinions, but the round is up before I can get any feedback.

 

Round 2 - Kevin Shields

 

Kevin is an older gentleman that I don't recognize, but is very pleasant all the same. We talk a bit as we prepare for the match to begin, and I feel much less bitter about my last round, to the point of forgetting it completely.

 

Game one is about getting creatures down. He has a turn three Wilt Leaf Cavaliers, which is pretty good. His GW deck continues to put relevant threats on the board, but I end up with Midnight Banshee, which he didn't have a real answer for.

 

Game two is pretty back and forth, but am pretty much Overwhelmed by his perfect curve of two, three, four. I can't deal with that, and don't help by trying to swing two flying creatures into his Raging Canopy. Awkward.

 

Game three I stabalize at under five life, and make some great trades with his guys which involve a three for one via Murderous Redcap. I keep adding men to the table, and seal the deal with Torrent of Souls for some 18 total power. He scoops.

 

1-0-1

 

I was pretty unhappy with my game two play, and decided that I would really need to tighten up if I wanted to walk away with product. At this point, I find the person who I want to help me with my deck: Steve Locke. Steve is this incredibly arrogant guy who is, despite that, a pretty awesome guy, and is also very, very good at magic. He took 30th place at Kuala Lumper, which was his first PT, and somehow conveys how he values cards in limited in ways that I understand, which is quite a feat. Unluckily, round three is starting and he said he'd help me afterwards.

 

Round 3 - Shane James

 

Shane was quiet when I arrived at the table, and continued this trend throughout the match. I figure that if people want to be serious, they probably would prefer if their opponent was the same, so we just get to business.

 

In game one, I have a bunch of the crappy twos that really do nothing for me, and they get in for a few points. Tattermunge Duo makes his scheduled appearance on turn three, and is pumped for three consecutive turns as I draw more gas and chip away at my opponent's lifetotal. He playes a few questionable inclusions in his deck, but they have to chump block.

 

Game two is much of the same. I have Duo on turn three again, and he does quite a bit. On turn four, I make a key play using one of my terrible cards, Wild Swing. Now, I am on the draw, which first of all should not have happened since you basically always want to be on the draw in this sealed format. Second, Shane had not made his fourth land drop. I decided to just use my Swing as an LD spell, and target all three of his lands. It worked out well, as he didn't cast another spell the rest of the game.

 

2-0-1

 

Awesome, this match only lasted like fifteen minutes! I go find Steve, and he goes through my pool. Immediately he wants to cut my one-drops and two-drops, and replace them with fatty green cards on a splash. I agree with this, and it ends up mattering. He's gotta go get into the trios with Matt and another Iowa master, Brandon Scheel. I talk with Raine Lourie, who is a local player looking to get into the competitive scene. We discuss this format, and soon, the pairings are posted.

 

Round 4 - Aaron Speer

 

I saw him playing earlier, and noted that his deck was very good. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

 

Game one was a massive creature stall. He had something like seven or eight guys, and I'm pecking away at his lifetotal with fliers. He plays a guy that makes all my creatures with -1/-1 counters unable to block, and strikes me for 19 in power. The only way I could survive the assault is if I have removal in hand, which is unlikely in this format.

 

Unfortunately for him, he should have been at least slighty suspicious, as I had left up RRR, and used Flame Javelin on a 4/4, blocking his two biggest creatures, and going to a meager one life, only to swing back for the win.

 

Game two, I keep a mediocre hand and he Overwhelms me with the three drop with trample that gets +3/+3 when he attacks.

 

Game three was such a beating, and is probably the second worst beat I have taken in sealed deck**. He plays the new Wood Elves on turn three, Deus of Calamity on turn four, and pantses it up on turn five with Runes of the Deus, and I scoop with brain matter all over the playing field and on the people to my right and left.

 

2-1-1

 

Well, that's depressing. I now have to win out to get nine packs. I go and watch the trios go down. Matt has probably the best deck in the tournament, a GW aggro-san which featured three copies of Wilt Leaf Cavaliers, multiple tricks, and a very aggressive curve. I watched him 2-0 the child with the triple Flame Javelin deck and was laughing the whole way.

 

Round 5 - Kit Kodiker

 

This is where my memory gets really fuzzy.I'm starting to wear out, and I can't remember what happened in game one, but he gets super flooded in game two and packs it in when I aim Corrupt at his dome.

 

3-1-1

 

I go back to watching the trios. A guy named Alex Black was absolutely destroying people with untappers in combination with Power of Fire, which he was using to machine gun the board. I watched in awe as it happened, and only hoped that I would open something insane like that at the Launch Party.

 

Round 6 - Tom Watson

 

So, I'm waiting by the pairings sheet for our flight, ready to play my last round. It happens that my flight was playing right next to the trios, but they moved them away for the last round, and I didn't get the memo. I show up to my match fifteen minutes late.

 

...

 

It doesn't stop there. I go to find out if I'm screwed, only to learn that my last round opponent got into a skins payout sealed event and forgot to drop from his 1pm flight. So, he tells me from across the room that he concedes the match, have a nice day.

 

!!!

 

MISE

 

So I get a last round bye and three draft sets. Man, what a day.

 

After the trios portion are over, the crew, which consists of JB, Matt, Jesse, Steve, Scheel, myself, Bill Stark, and Iowa City all star Aaron Mechtansimer (sic?) go out for supper. Bill makes the call and says we're going for mongolian, which to me seems like the nutlow. Luckily, the spirit of the omnipresent GerryT smiled upon us, and the mongolian place was closed. We went to TGIFridays instead. We swapped hilarious stories, regaled each other with bad beats, and had an incredible time.

 

It was at this point that Bill told us that he was leaving Iowa, and that he couldn't tell us where he was going, or what for until he'd cleared it with the people in Charge. This was kind of hard for me to take. Bill pushed me to get into the competitive community, and linked me to many of the friends that I have made through magic. Not only that, he's a very positive influence on our state's community, and represents the enthusiastic gamers who think outside the box. I won't say that all of his deck designes are correct _cough_diabolictutorinextendedwtf_cough_, but he's usually on to something. This evening, he posted on MTGia that he was going to be doing an internship at Wizards and would be moving to Renton. I am extremely happy for him and I hope he has the time of his life.

 

Well, that's all for now. I want to have something else up in the following weeks, but with exams coming up soon, it was really hard just to write this. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it.

 

-Andy

 

*A blatant exaggeration. My boss and I happen to have multiple alleles in common. I just wanted my list to look more impressive.

 

**Worst beat in my life was losing to a pretty terrible player at a sealed PTQ in Madison, who's deck contained two Wort, two Mad Auntie, and a host of goblins and removal spells; his busted deck didn't keep him from forgetting to deal me 8 points of damage in a single game from Boggart Shenanigans. To this day, it gives me a sour taste in my mouth just thinking about it.

I recently went to my state's City Champs Finals, which were in Iowa City last weekend (not participating, just drafted and hung out). It was a lot of fun, and I learned that BG Non Axe Elves were alive and kicking when competitor Clayton Mooney whent X-0 with the deck, no draws, then lost in a heartbreaking finals game three against faeries.

That's irrelevant to this article, however. The thing I want to talk about is something that I watched Blake Rassmussen do while we were at the shop.

He purchased four Glittering Wishes.

Now, that doesn't seem like that big a deal at a glance, but after coming home and thinking about it and looking though the spoiler, man, I should probably go do that!

I mean, we have an absolute ton of multicolored utility spells in this format, and Glittering Wish will probably be able to put them to good use. Firespout is absolutely awesome at three mana. No, beyond awesome. I'm still concerned about the printing of that card because of how much reach it has in this metagame. It can hit all the way up to Wren's Run Vanquisher and the new RG/RG/RG Haste Guy, plus it Massacres faeries, and is in the same colors as the 2/2 Boseiju. Speaking of SHusher, you can wish for him too!

The other card I think is going to be sick post rotation, and one that has seen 0 constructed play since release is Idyllic Tutor. I went through the gatherer + spoiler yesterday and there are a ton of incredible enchantments to go for in this format, and I think it's the perfect time to start making some good decks with that card. Here's a list of strong tutor targets that I came up with:


Abundance
Bitterblossom
Bound in Silence
Counterbalance + Cream of the Crop (combo?)
Colfenor's Plans + Puca's Mischief (combo! see below)
Enslave
Eyes of the Wisent
Hoofprints of the Stag
Imperial Mask
Mana Barbs
March of the Machines
Mobilization
Oblivion Ring
Persuasion
Porphyry Nodes
Pyrohemia
Rule of Law
Sacred Mesa
Seal of Primordium
Seismic Assault
Stormbind
Story Circle
Take Possession
Teferi's Moat
Temporal Isolation
Wild Pair


Some of those a little bit of a stretch, but I think every one of them has a lot of potential power in an unknown environment. And now for the new relevant Shadowmoor enchantments:

Greater Auramancey 1W
Enchantment
Other enchantments you control have Shroud.
Enchanted creatures you control have Shroud.

Kind of a new privaleged position, set up so that now they have to deal with this before they can kill your enchantments, and they aren't getting two for ones by using spot removal or bounce to kill your enchanted creatures either.

Prison Term 1WW
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block, or use activated abilities.
Whenever a creature comes into play under an opponent's control, you may attach Prison Term to that creature.

So it's a Faith's Fetters that you can switcheroo when your opponent slaps down something better. I think Oblivion Ring is probably better than this card, as it's less mana intensive on the white and hits more than just creatures. Still, it may turn out to be useful.

Runed Halo WW
Enchantment
As Runed Halo comes into play, name a card.
You have protection from the chosen card.

This card is narrow in general application, but seems really good in specific situations, like when you're staring down a pair of Tarmogoyfs who are about to eat you for dinner.

Puca's Mischief 3U
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may exchange control of target nonland permanent you control and target nonland permanent an opponent controls with an equal or lesser converted mana cost.

While the wording on this card is terrible, the things you can do with it are quite amazing, namely 'donating' Colfenor's Plans to your opponent. After that, they should probably be locked out of the game or be in a problematic position at the very least. Idyllic Tutor would be perfect for this strategy, as you wouldn't have to saturate you deck with four or three-ofs of the combo pieces.

Raking Canopy 1GG
Enchantment
Whenever a creature with Flying attacks you, Raking Canopy deals 4 damage to it.

GOODBYE FAERIES. Oh man, this is an insane hate card against the Fae. I don't even know what to say. They basically have to build up a big force of guys and then Cryptic Command the enchantment before swinging for the win. Or counter it first. If this resolves, Faeries is going to have problems.

Those are the ones I think have potential currently. That may change as the set fills out, but at this point no other enchantments really strike me as amazing. I'll probably post some more deck ideas as I start helping friends test for Hollywood. Until next time.

I recently read an old thread from February on this site in which an active member of the blogging community made questionable claims regarding the definition of card advantage, and that prompted me to write this piece. I hope it's helpful and informative to those who feel they don't fully grasp some of the game's more intricate concepts.

For as long as I can remember, I've been a huge fan of control decks. It's pretty funny and strange for me, as I never really got into casual magic, and as the very first archetypes I played were Affinity and Tooth and Nail, it took me awhile to figure out where my blue mage roots came from. Then it hit me.

Drawing cards is awesome!

Everyone knows this, and everyone pretty much agrees that if the price is right, drawing cards is probably the most impactful thing you can do in magic besides putting your opponent from 1 to 0 (die in a fire, Platinum Angel). Control decks are often designed to gain an incremental advantage over the course of the slow game by doing things such as, you guessed it, drawing cards.

Drawing cards is very commonly labeled 'Card Advantage' which, to be aptly put, means that the player with more cards probably has the advantage. Therefore, cards that draw cards are awesome and have a deeper impact on the game than card that reads "destroy target creature".

However, it seems that people don't fully grasp the concept of card advantage, because drawing cards is only one aspect of the full array of advantage you can gain. Bear with me, as I'm just going make up labels as I go:

The major types of card advantage are Card Draw, Discard, X for Y Sweeps, and Virtual. I hope to explain each type individually so that players might better understand the roles of cards that produce advantage, and give examplets of each type.

Card Draw

Card Draw is basically what we have been talking about. Cards that trade themselves for more cards are producing card advantage. Tidings is a great example of a simple card that produces card advantage. Controlish archetypes often rely on card drawing spells to help them gain advantage. Most control decks play spot removal, which is one of your spells used to take out one of their creatures; no advantage is gained. The card draw keeps those removal spells coming, and eventually yeild a late game threat that the opponent cannot overcome. Also, cards like Dismiss are considered card drawing advantage because you are trading with the opponent's spell then calculating the draw you get as an addition, putting you up one card.

Discard

Discard is more often than not proactive disrupting card selection, ie trading one of your cards for one of theirs. However, some discard spells are incredibly powerful forms of card advantage, namely Persecute, which used to be UR Magnivore's worst nightmare several years ago. A persecute against a monocolored deck can yeild drastic card advantage. Jon Finkel made his opponent, Chris Benafel, discard 6 cards from his hand in the finals of Nationals 2000, which essentially put Benafel much too far behind to win at that point. Jon played one spell, and Benafel was forced to bin 6 cards. That trade allowed Jon to easily win the match, and put him on his way to being the only magic player in history to win the National Championship, Team World Championship, and individual World Championship trophies in the same year.

X for Y Sweeps/Trade

Sweeps, more commonly referred to as WoG Effects, are basically onboard trades you can make in which you trade one card for multiples of the opponents cards. Obvious, basic cards include the namesake Wrath of God and Damnation, Pyroclasm, Hurricane, etc. However, when applying this definition, there are instances where cards like Seige Gang Commander have the same effect. If my opponent were to have three Pestermites on the board, I could sack my goblins to kill each faerie. Those cards are real, while my goblins are just tokens. In this situation, I'm still generating card advantage. Another example still is where the player can generate advantage through trading advantageously in combat.

Virtual

Virtual card advantage is somewhat harder to grasp as a concept, because no actual trades are being made in the literal sense. Virtual Card Advantage is any scenario in which you can blank multiples of your opponents cards. An awesome example of this comes from an FNM I participated in back in February. My opponent has 5 red creatures on his side of the board and one card in hand. Facing eminent doom, I untap and rip Teferi's Moat off the top of my deck. I cast it naming Red, and now all of a sudden, I've just gained card advantage because his creatures are no longer able to function properly (aka bash my face in). Sometimes, Virtual card advantage does have to even involve you making a play. If I'm playing a monoblack aggro deck, and my opponent has four terror and four dark banashing, I've blanked a total of eight cards in his deck before the game began without actually doing anything.

Card Selection

Before we go, there's one more thing I'd like to discuss, regarding Card Selection. In Magic, there are many cards that tell you to draw cards, but don't actually generate card advantage. For example, if I cast Careful Consideration in my main phase, I will draw four, then discard two. The card advantage count right there is x-y-z=n, where x equals the draw, y equals the card you played, and z equals the discard. Therefore, n, your total generated advantage, is +1. However, if you cast the consideration at instant speed, it no longer generates advantage because you have to discard an additional card, which makes n equal 0. This is called card selection.

Basically, card selection is when a card you cast replaces itself with another card, but does not actually generate card advantage. Examples of Card Selection include Telling Time, Impulse, Brainstorm, and Ponder. The Scry keyword from the Mirroding Block is a classic example of card selection. The thing about card selection is that people sometimes see things like 'Careful Study: draw 2 cards, discard 2' and immediately think card advantage! Careful study is actually card disadvantage, as it puts you at n = -1. However, it is still card selection.



I hope this analysis of card advantage has been helpful. If I get un-lazy, I may pick up the pen again soon.

Stop the presses.

 

I finally came up with a catchy title! Now I can write about things all the time and be cool like everyone else.

 

… Yeah…

 

Okay, to give you an overview of how this is gonna work, I’m going to write about whichever decks seem good to me in various constructed formats. Between March and May, the primary format I will be focusing on is Standard, because it is relevant for City Champs Finals, Regionals, and Pro Tour Hollywood. Then, once summer rolls around, I’ll start into Lorwyn Block Constructed, as I believe it is the format for the next PTQ season this year.

 

However, since there are a few PTQs and a GP in the Extended format to round out this season, I thought I’d talk about one of the few decks I’m looking at for the last two PTQs I’m attending: The Extended Perfect Storm.

 

The back story on the deck is that at Worlds in 2006, Raphael Levy got way ahead of the curve by playing a deck that was recommended to him from a friend, which was the original version of TEPS, given life through Lotus Bloom. The deck had been in development at some time on MTGSalvation, and with the coming of Time Spiral, it acquired everything it needed to become tier one. The 2007 Extended Season saw to that, as TEPS was one of the most popular decks in the format, and ended up taking too much hate in the form of Chalice of the Void, Counterbalance, Orims Chant, etc. The deck is named after the vintage deck labeled ‘The Perfect Storm’, or TPS, because they were very similar in strategy and design.

 

With this current Extended format making drastic changes, TEPS has been allowed back into the scene, and has shaken up the metagame. Most people who want to play a sacland combo deck like this usually lean on Enduring Ideal because it’s a one card combo, and requires less judgmental skill and more patience. TEPS is a deck of variables, and keeping track of colors, amounts, and production of mana. It’s hard to play perfectly, and easy to miscount. The disruption in the format is hard to play around, and Gaddock Teeg is a huge problem for the average combo mage. But fear not; we will prevail. Here’s my list:

 

TEPS

 

3 Gemstone Mine
3 Geothermal Crevice
3 Irrigation Ditch
4 Sulfur Vent
2 Tinder Farm

4 Burning Wish
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song
4 Lotus Bloom

4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
3 Channel the Suns
3 Chrome Mox
3 Infernal Tutor
3 Mind's Desire
2 Duress

2 Sins of the Past
1 Tendrils of Agony

 

Sideboard

 

1 Channel the Suns
1 Deathmark
1 Tendrils of Agony

2 Duress

1 Empty the Warrens
1 Hull Breach
1 Mind's Desire
3 Slaughter Pact
4 Tormod’s Crypt

 

Let’s go over the basic idea of the deck. TEPS is a storm deck. We cast lots of rituals which both accelerate our mana and add to our storm count, then kill the opponent with either Tendrils of Agony or Empty the Warrens. The key components of the deck are Mind’s Desire and Burning Wish, which make the deck what it is. Desire is the basic card you want to cast in any given game, and you want to reach a certain storm count threshold for it to be cast. I’m never comfortable casting a desire for less than 6, because it requires that you hit one of your X outs, where X equals the total number of Desires, Sins of the Past, and Burning Wishes left in your deck. If your hand is empty, the value of Infernal Tutor also becomes considered an out.

 

 

For example, I cast a desire for 5 which I burning wished for, and the only card in my hand is a sins of the past. I have used up all the mana in my pool. I have two Sins of the Past, three Desires, and three Burning Wishes left in my deck. That is only eight outs for which I can hit, and Burning Wish requires that I get more ritual effects so that I can cast Tendrils of Agony to actually win. See how bad these odds are? The only time I’d combo off in this way is if my back is against the wall and there is no other option (except to die). The problem is that some people think that you need to ‘go for it’ asap, which is only right when you actually have ‘it’, which is basically enough rituals and generated storm count to combo off. Lots of times, inexperienced players do not.

 

 

I watched my friend Christian combo off for a very weak 4 copies of desire at the Des Moines PTQ this past weekend against Adrian Sullivan in the quarterfinals. Adrian only had 2 lands and a Sakura Tribe Elder in play. Christian decided to ‘go for it’ when he clearly could not reach the proper storm count threshold. Seven copies is comfortable, and anything above that is gas. 4 is abysmal. Adrian is not doing anything next turn except maybe playing a Destructive Flow; perhaps a Baloth if he has a land (which is unlikely since Adrian mulliganed and missed his second land drop, but made his third). There’s no rush to take him out and risk losing when Christian had plenty of time to win. There’s no clock to worry about either, so I really didn’t understand why he decided it needed to be done. I would have taken the risk that my opponent has a Flow, in which case I am screwed anyway because my hand is garbage, but if he doesn’t have it, I’m basically home free and can sit on my lands until I’ve drawn a few rituals.

 

 

My own biggest problem with the deck, and something that Brandon Scheel helped me with, is knowing how to mulligan. Assessing your mulligans with TEPS depends on many factors, including the knowledge of what archetype your opponent is playing and whether you’re on the play or the draw. I tend to keep hands with lots of lands against Previous Level Blue because I just want to play ‘Land, Go’ for the first five or six turns. I always look for Lotus Blooms against aggro, and usually expect at least two rituals. I always mulligan a no lander unless it has multiple lotus blooms and I know that my opponent isn’t a blue deck. I hate not having lands, and Cryptic Command just kind of wrecks my day. Chrome Mox is the worst card in the deck for mulliganing, because it’s basically a blank or puts you at -1 cards, which is a very negative factor in this deck.

 

 

The other problem I have is that I play TEPS on autopilot. Scheel told me that after the first few turns, I should have already gotten an idea about what my game plan is for this game, and be thinking ahead and evaluating the critical turn where I choose to go off. I should always have an idea of what I will be using as a kill, because there are often times where we can go off but not have the black black necessary to cast Tendrils, and be forced to take the Empty the Warrens route instead. I’ve spent some time goldfishing it, and I now think I know what he means. Basically, when I keep a hand, I need to identify the role of each card in it. For example:

Burning Wish, Infernal Tutor, Seething Song, Sulfur Vent, Lotus Bloom, Rite of Flame, Geothermal Crevice

 

I have two cards in my hand that operate in multiple ways: Infernal Tutor and Burning Wish. One of those needs to be saved for getting a Desire, since it’s unlikely that I will just storm my unknown opponent for 10 with Tendrils. Basically, I need to choose between Burning Wish and Infernal Tutor when the time comes to combo off; I’ll set one aside to help generate storm and the other to get my storm card.

 

 

A really helpful tool that I learned from my friend Matt is it’s easier to play TEPS if you think about each spell as a + or a – count to your total mana when going off. For example, Seething song is a +count of 2, while Burning Wish is a –count of two (or a –count of one if you are wishing for Channel the Suns). Thinking of it that way makes it easier to know when you can combo, and so the only effort you put into it is fixing your colors correctly so that you can cast your double colored spells like Desire. Here’s a general in game example:

 

 

 

 

 

It’s turn 4, Lotus Bloom has just unsuspended, you’ve just drawn Infernal Tutor, and you think you have enough to go off. If you do the basic addition and subtraction in the correct order, you’ll wind up with 7 extra mana floating with a Desire for 8 copies (lets assume the Chromatic Stars draw you sack lands) . Here’s how I did it.

 

1) Sacrifice Lotus Bloom for UUU, Sulfur Vent, and Tinder Farm. UUUURRW is in our pool. Storm count is 1 (Bloom).

 

2) Cast Seething Song using RRW. Cast Seething Song 2 using RRR. RRRRRRRUUUU is in our pool. Storm count is 3 (Bloom, Song, Song).

 

3) Sacrifice both Chromatic Stars and filter red mana into black mana. I draw two irrigation ditches, which are irrelevant now. RRRRRUUUUBB is in our pool.

 

4) Cast Infernal Tutor using RB, revealing Cabal Ritual. Cast Cabal Ritual, using BR. Cast Cabal Ritual 2, using BB. RRRBBBBBBBBUUUU is in our pool. Storm count is 6 (Bloom, Song, Song, Tutor, Ritual, Ritual)

 

5) Burning Wish for Mind’s Desire using RR. Mind’s Desire for 8 using UUBBBB. RBBBBUU is in our pool. Storm count is 8 (Bloom, Song, Song, Tutor, Ritual, Ritual, Wish, Desire).

 

This is actually probably one of the most elementary hands you can get with TEPS. We reach storm count threshold easily without being pressed for mana, and have no problems with color fixing, and we even have mana left over if we’re forced to cast more spells naturally. In many instances, you’ll be forced into situations where you have to combo off for less because a –count spell messes up your math, and keeps you from getting to the storm count you want to be at. That’s just how it goes.

 

 

The last thing I’ve recently come to realize is that there is a correct and an incorrect way to play your Chromatic effects. Most of the time, you want them onto the table before your critical turn because they eat one mana to cast, subtracting from your overall mana production. However, if I was to keep a hand with multiple chromatic effects, some lands, and a burning wish, desire, etc, then I’ll hold off on the chromatic effects until I combo because I’m going to have so much mana anyway that I want to reach the storm count threshold.

 

 

I hope this article has been helpful. When writing this, I felt that many people would gravitate to this deck thinking it was an Extended version of Dragonstorm. While Dragonstorm does have similar aspects, it doesn’t have the mana fixing layer that this deck requires, since it’s casting spells in 4 colors. Dragonstorm can be played well on autopilot because there is little variance in how your critical turn is played. With TEPS, there are many decisions to be made in the turn you choose to go off. How you make those decisions will affect the outcome of the match, and dictate whether you win or lose.

 

 

Happy PTQing.

Iowa legend Dan Skinner once had a thing he used to do on MTGiowa, our state community message board, where he would post a screenshot of a modo game. He would then prompt the community to realize the correct play based on board position, knowledge of the format, etc in order to challenge the competitive players to look for the right answer. Some of these YMTP articles were fun, intricate logic puzzles, whereas others were judgmental plays that forced us into lengthy debates about maximizing potential.

I've recently taken up playing TEPS, and I found a really difficult situation that I don't think a lot of players would be able to get out of given a real event. During a solo test session, I decided to basically create a senario where my opponent was playing a deck that had the god draw against me, and that I would need to combo off or risk the chance of dying on my opponent's fourth turn.

In true Kuan style:







As you can see, we are on the draw against Zoo. They have probably the scariest draw possible, and after revealing Gaea's Might off of Confidant in the previous turn, they can bring us down to a mere two life next turn and kill us if they have one of their eight burn spells. Don't forget, they have confidant, so the chances of them having either Helix or Flames is not worth the risk. Let's try to go off this turn.

But damn! That stupid Gaddock Teeg! Our lives would be so much easier if WotC didn't hate us so. Regardless, we will have to combo out through the teeg, dealing with it eventually.

Here is our decklist, for those who wish to know what to tutor for and wish for:


http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=13484


So, have you come up with our route to victory? Post the step by step in the comments. First person to come up with the correct play by play gets a trophy.


If you happen to come across this article later, I highly recommend trying to solve it yourself, rather than just looking at the answers below. If no one gets it, I'll post the correct combo, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this one is easier than it looks.

So, PTQ this past weekend in my home state of Iowa. Big names in attendance included the illustrious Bill Stark, rocking some kind of mono black concoction that he started 0-2 with. Gerry Thompson was also there, and sadly didn't get back on the train. Adrian Sullivan was there, as were Madisonians Brian Kowal and Jeremy Shapiro. My master, the great emperor and Pope of Modo, username: SICKSICKSICKSICKSICKSICKSICK was in attendence, though he pulled up some tables in the corner and decided he would rather top 4 a singleton PE than waste his time in the realm of idiots he has to actually look at.

Players already qualified who were in attendance included Brandon Scheel, just coming back off an 11th place finish at Kuala Lumpur and a top 32 at GP Vancouver, and Steve Locke, who top 32'd KL for his own invite. Dredge Master Nick Crumpton came later, and I ribbed him after hearing that he tried explained to Mike Krumb how to play Dredge at the PTQ he won in STL (man that is awk).

I had showed up to Ames, which is north of Des Moines, planning to play Affinity because I had it built on modo and I felt very comfortable playing the deck in a PTQ. The night before, I was testing with my friend Matt, the infamous Mr. Cheeks, who had decided to rock destructive flow. I ended up audibling to TEPS, which was probably a mistake because the most experience I had with the deck was the fifteen minutes of goldfishing I did with a stack of proxies.

I didn't expect to do well, and of course i didn't. If i had wanted to win the PTQ, I would have played affinity, because I know it and would have had confidence in my skills as a player, which I don't have when I don't have any confidence in my deck.

Dropping at 1-2, I vowed to play teps again because I felt previously that it was out of my range of decks that I could play; TEPS is a deck of mathematics. I am terrible at math. Therefore, it's only natural that I should try to shy away from the deck. However, I was wrong. TEPS is not a hard deck to play at all; it does, however, require you to be in a certain state of mind. I'll probably get into that later in the week. Moving on.

***

The tournament has ended, Adrian Sullivan is the winner! Congratulations.

***

Yepskies, Adrian won playing the Destructive Flow deck he's written about. He played Ben Rassmussen (GWB Rock doran i think, there were living wishes in his deck) in the finals, who, as I recall, lost to Iowan Gabe Stoffa in the finals of a Minneapolis PTQ for Valencia. I would say rough beats, but Ben was never in these games. He punted a long and drawn out game one in which he could have beaten Adrian if he had started Fireballing with Profane Command at basically anytime before the last three turns. Instead, he just sandbagged the awesome X spell and died.

So, gj Adrian. He is pretty well known in these parts as a cheater, ranging from somewhat shady to utterly savage. Scheel put this into perspective for me later, but he had this to say:

"I wouldn't be quick to outright call him a cheater, but I also don't think he's above slowplaying." (as is evident by his willingness to play Blessing in any and all decks possible)

I have to agree with this, because for a while Adrian was a very frustrating character to watch. Firstly, he may be one of the few to wrangle his way out of dying to a pact he openly agreed that he did not pay for. Yes, judges were called. Second, his shuffling method is questionable. I see nothing that might gain him an advantage, but maybe that's the point. Other than that, however, I think he's actually fine. His personality is engaging and despite his eccentricity, he's overall pleasant to be around. I'm still not sure what to think of him, so until then, I will probably be unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt if I play him.

Onward! The breakout deck for this tournament was GW Tallowisp, which propelled Chicago players Rusty Kubis and Rashad Miller into the top eight. When the decklists go up later this week, I'll probably do a rightup on this interesting archetype. Basically, it's an aggressive green deck with the 'Wisp engine, fetching Armadillo Cloak, Griffin Guide, and Temporal Isolation. Rashad fell in the quarterfinals and I didn't get to see his match, but I followed Rusty's semifinal match against Adrian very closely. Rusty made some playes that I felt were questionable (Griffin Guiding his wisp when I felt that Adrian was very loudly broadcasting Putrefy), and ended up getting flooded at key points in game three when threats or spells would have been much more helpfull for him. Thems the breaks I guess.

The deck I took most interest in from this event was PT Philly top eighter Jeff Novekoff's Previous Level Blue build, which eschewed Threads of Disloyalty for Smother, and cut the repeals and singleton Rude Awakening for Dark Confidant. He also had Dwarven Blastminer in his sideboard, which seemed quite excellent for the metagame. I believe he started out 5-0, then UD'd two rounds in a row, then lost to Adrian playing for contention. I didn't get the exact decklist, though I now regret not asking him if I could have it. Blue decks seem to be on the decline, and a counterspell deck with Dark Confidant gets my attention because the burgle effects are starting to decrease in place of hate for a broader range of matchups. It's definitely something to consider as the season starts to wind down in the final month.

I'm contemplating going to Witchita this weekend. Iowa took a blue envelope from Kansas last extended season when Scheel left his backpack and all cards in STL the night before (it was a double PTQ weekend with STL on saturday and KC on sunday), and had to borrow teps from the very person who had qualified in St. Louis, learning to play the combo the night before. Matt, still being unqualified, wants to get every available chance at doing so. I don't think he has to worry, as he's easily among the 10 best PTQ players in the central midwest, and has only missed qualifying for the PT once since Los Angeles. I know he'll get there.

I'll probably do some writing about TEPS coming up, as I've come to learn the deck since the PTQ, and feel much more confidence in my ability to play it since then.

Till nextime.

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