With Five-Color Control on the rise, and the deck that should keep it in check being held back by the combination of Great Sable Stag and Volcanic Fallout, a lot of people tend to be clueless on what to play in their next tournament in a Five-Color Control heavy metagame. Today I will talk about my solution to Five-Color Control. Later, I’ll share some tips on M10 Sealed.
You could easily build a Mono-Blue Sanity Grinding style deck that can only deal with Five-Color Control, but it will lose to the rest of the metagame pretty badly. It is very hard to fight against Plumeveils, Volcanic Fallouts, and other mass removal with a creature-based deck. So your two-drop creatures should be able to attack even though your opponent has the Plumeveil mana without you having to spend your whole turn or a card to deal with the Wall. I searched for the two-drop creatures with which you can easily attack even when your opponent probably has a Plumeveil.
Black Knight
Cylian Sunsinger
Deadly Recluse
Goblin Outlander
Grixis Grimblade
Inkfathom Infiltrator
Inkfathom Witch
Jhessian Infiltrator
Mistmeadow Skulk
Nacatl Outlander
Putrid Leech
Tidehollow Strix
Wren’s Run Vanquisher
Most of those cards are either very fragile (like Grixis Grimblade) or just don’t do anything (Inkfathom Witch) — and most of those cards are just bad in any other matchup. We can easily shrink the list to a list of creatures which are able to fight Plumeveil and still be fine in other matchups.
Black Knight
Goblin Outlander
Putrid Leech
Wren’s Run Vanquisher
This list clearly showed me the direction — Jund. On that basis, I built the following list.
Creatures (23)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
Lightning Bolt
The removal of choice in this list. As the only removal spell, it seems a little light, but I want this list to be as good as possible against Five-Color Control. It supports the aggressive theme of Anathemancer and Blightning very well.
Blightning
There are not as many Wilt-Leaf Lieges around as there used to be. The card is excellent against Five-Color Control, and it’s pretty good against Combo Elves as well. Sadly, the card is pretty bad against any Spectral Procession deck (especially the ones with Wilt-Leaf Liege), but it gets much better post-board when you have access to Chaotic Backlash.
Anathemancer and Bloodbraid Elf
Both cards can get easily blocked by Plumeveil or destroyed by a Volcanic Fallout. The enters-the-battlefield abilities of the cards are just too good to ignore. Anathemancer supports the theme of Blightning, Lightning Bolts, and post board Chaotic Backlashes (most White Weenie decks still run up to ten non-basics). Bloodbraid Elf is too good not to run in any Jund list, and usually gets better in every post-board game as you are boarding out the cards you don’t want to flip over.
Great Sable Stag
The more common card to take this spot is Boggart Ram-Gang. Even though the Ram-Gang is an excellent card against Five-Color Control as well, I chose the Stag. I want to have access to four of each Great Sable Stag and Volcanic Fallout. If you are running Fallouts main deck, you might want Ram-Gangs and the Stags in the sideboard. Great Sable Stag gives you some pre board game against Fae combined with all the damage from Anathemancer, Bolt, and Blightning, and has to be contained your Jund opponent, as he is pretty good in dealing with Putrid Leech and other Black guys. He is pretty weak in every other matchup, and is the card you probably board out most.
Sarkhan Vol
The most unusual choice in the list. As Five-Color Control has a lot of trouble dealing with Planeswalkers I tried to add one to my list. Garruk Wildspeaker just doesn’t accomplish what I try to do, while Liliana and Chandra Nalaar are too weak in this sort of deck. Sarkhan Vol makes it really hard for your opponent to cast any sorcery-speed based mass removal, and lets your Bloodbraid Elf trade with their Plumeveils. The Threaten ability is great in dealing with Broodmate Dragons, and is pretty good against any creature-based deck once you are the aggressor. Against Combo Elves, you can kill a Devoted Druid if they have one on the board.
Versus Five-Color Control
As the deck is built to deal with Five-Color Control, you don’t want to board any cards. They usually have a pair of Runed Halos to deal with your Anathemancers, and some more mass removal.
Versus Combo Elves
The first game is really hard, but after board it gets much better when you have access to 6 mass removal spells. The first game you should try to Blightning them twice in the first few turns to have a chance, as a pure beatdown draw would be just too slow, even if it is supported by Lightning Bolt. After boarding, a draw including either two mass removal spells or one mass removal spell and a Blightning should turn the game in your favor.
+2 Infest
+4 Volcanic Fallout
-1 Goblin Outlander
-4 Anathemancer
-1 Sarkhan Vol
Versus Faeries
The first game is dependent on who is playing first, and the strength of the Faerie draw. It is really hard to win a game against a turn 2 Bitterblossom followed by a Mistbind Clique or two. If your opponent struggles to find a Mistbind Clique, or can’t play one because Lightning Bolt would be too big a blow out, you should be in good shape. If you are playing first, a turn 2 Putrid Leech is almost as hard to handle for them as a turn 2 Bitterblossom is for you on the draw.
+4 Volcanic Fallout
+2 Bituminous Blast
-3 Sarkhan Vol
-3 Goblin Outlander
Even though I don’t really like boarding out the Goblin Outlanders, the plan post board is pretty simple. Create pressure with Putrid Leeches and Great Sable Stag, and dealing them some splash damage with Blightning, Volcanic Fallout, and Anathemancer. The Bituminous Blasts are there to give you a solution to Mistbind Clique.
Versus White Weenie / GW
Your first game is very hard to win, as you don’t have a way to deal with either Cloudgoat Ranger or Spectral Procession. So if White Weenie is a bigger part of your metagame, you shouldn’t run this deck. Still, as White Weenie is a part of every metagame right now, there are a fair amount of sideboard cards to try and make the matchup even.
+1 Goblin Outlander
+2 Infest
+4 Chaotic Backlash
-3 Sarkhan Vol
-4 Anathemancer/Great Sable Stag (versus GW Blightning)
Your post-board plan is pretty simple. Play a lot of Protection guys and swing with them for a fair amount of damage. As soon as you stay back with them, they eventually have to overextend, and your Chaotic Backlash should become lethal. The plan is fine as long as they don’t open with Honor of the Pure into Spectral Procession. If they do, they are a big favorite. Volcanic Fallout would be a good card in this scenario, but they will board in some Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tenders, and as you are a dog in the matchup, you can’t have a real plan against your opponent’s nut draw (and still win consistently). Depending on the number of non-basic lands my opponent played in the first game, I either board out the Stag or Anathemancer. If he showed a mix of Windbrisk Heights, Mutavault, and Rustic Clachan I keep the Anathemancer, while if he showed the Windbrisk Heights only I go for the Stag. Against GW you want to board out Blightning in this spot, as they usually are running the full set of Wilt-Leaf Lieges, and have far more non-basics than the average White Weenie.
Versus Jund
You should have a fair edge in the matchup, as your opponent will be running cards like Sign in Blood, Volcanic Fallout, and Maelstrom Pulse, while you have more forms of direct damage to support your Anathemancers, and Sarkhan Vol, against which it is really hard to race, or just hold the ground. The number of Protection guys even gives you some form of Kitchen Finks safeguard.
+3 Kitchen Finks
+2 Bituminous Blast
-1 Goblin Outlander
-4 Great Sable Stag
They usually have much more of sideboard than you do, including Anathemancer, Blightning, Snakeform, Deathmark, and Chameleon Colossus. This is no big deal though, as you have far fewer dead cards in the first game, and you have a fair solution to Chameleon Colossus with Sarkhan Vol (or, in some sense, Kitchen Finks). Just try to be the aggressor, as you have a lot of good cards that get worse if you are the control player.
Versus Blightning Aggro
As most of the Blightning lists are back to running Demigod of Revenge again, you should try to be the beatdown, as you lose the long game to the Avatars. You shouldn’t try to keep a Protection guy back to block their Figure of Destiny, as they can usually deal with the guy easily and you are missing two important points of damage while gaining nothing.
+3 Kitchen Finks
+2 Bituminous Blast
-4 Great Sable Stag
-1 Goblin Outlander
I keep the Sarkhan because they are great when you are ahead in the race to steal their blocker (or if they don’t have one, their biggest attacker). It is very hard to get ahead, though… but your Kitchen Finks are doing a great job at that.
That’s it about the Standard for this week. I’m now moving to another topic — M10 Limited (especially M10 Sealed).
As I am playing at Grand Prix: Brighton next weekend, I finally played some prerelease events on Magic Online to prepare myself. So far, nobody I’ve asked actually likes the format, but I don’t think it’s that bad. The most annoying cards tend to be the uncommon bombs, such as Mind Control, Fireball, and Serra Angel, among others. Still, I want to share some cards I initially overrated / underrated.
Vampire Aristocrat
Because of the M10 rules, I didn’t think that this card was more than a Grey Ogre. But his pump ability has far more impact than I thought. You can use his ability in combat with a First Striker that’s double blocked, and he survives most of the mass removal spells like Pyroclasm or Earthquake. As a lot of removal spells are auras, like Pacifism or Entangling Vines, you can get use of those guys and protect them from your opponent’s Tendrils of Corruption. It is not as amazing as Nantuko Husk was pre-changes, but it is still a decent card.
Mind Rot
Another card I didn’t like as much in earlier formats, but it seems pretty good in this one. With card advantage being very rare, and the decision to play or draw not being clear, this card shines. Especially when drawing first.
Coral Merfolk / Goblin Piker
As two-drops are pretty rare in the format, I expected these guys to be good. Sadly, they are not. They get outclassed so fast by a three-mana 1/4, or a card like Sparkmage Apprentice / Elvish Visionary, that you can’t get any value out of them. I would sideboard them against a Black-based deck, as all their creatures are three-mana 2/2s, but otherwise they are simply terrible.
Illusionary Servant and Ice Cage
I underestimated both cards, and I got in trouble several times against an Illusionary Servant — I even had to Mind Control one. There are only a few activated abilities that target in the format to create card disadvantage (such as Blinding Mage or Prodigal Pyromancer). Ice Cage is a little worse, as it doesn’t trade with an opponent’s aura — and the threat you managed to shut down with it is even more annoying now. If I am playing, Blue I would think about playing one of them.
Cancel, Negate, Essence Scatter and Flashfreeze
I did play all of these several times in my deck, and they were great most of the time. Negate and Flashfreeze might be the most debatable, but they have so many great targets, such as the Planeswalkers, Fireball, overrun, or any removal spell. As the format tends to be bomb-oriented, I would main deck all of those cards, and sometimes board out Flashfreeze and/or Negate.
Deadly Recluse
In a format where most of the common creatures cost three mana, this is a fine card to trade with your opponents’ three-drops. He can also stop a fair amount of the bombs like Serra Angel, Air Elemental, or Dragon Whelp. I am usually not a huge fan of the small deaththouch guys… that’s why I didn’t know if I should play it at my first prerelease. However, the card did really shine all the time.
Canyon Minotaur
Another guy that was rarely played in ACR, but still a guy that can deal with almost every common creature in this format. The card is at its worst against Green decks, as he only trades with Centaur Courser and is getting outclassed by later drops like Stampeding Rhino or Craw Wurm. It is still not a great card, but it is much better than it was in ACR.
Should you play or draw first in the format?
Even though your manabase should be fairly solid in this format, I think most of the time it is right to be drawing first. There is not a lot of tempo in the format, as most of the two-drops simply get outclassed by the three-drops, while there are only a few four-drops available. If you are playing first, a card like Mind Rot can ruin your day, while it hurts you far less if you have the extra card. In addition, there are many bombs in the format, and you do want to draw your bomb as soon as possible, and also be able to deal with your opponent’s bomb when he plays it. In both these cases, drawing first is slightly better.
This is it for this week. Thanks for reading.
Manu B