I spent the last few weeks before Pro Tour: Kyoto in Michigan at Patrick’s place, preparing for the Standard rounds of the coming tournament. We spent a lot of time tweaking Five-Color Control and building up other interesting possible decks (such as Howling Mine “Burn”). One day, while we were sitting around eating strawberries as usual, we finally decided that these other decks didn’t have a place in the metagame. Our Noble Hierarch deck was decent, but it had some weaknesses we couldn’t overcome. Surprisingly, we decided to run Five-Colour Control once more.
Testing with fun people is such a plus. A good playtest group makes a big difference. For this tournament, I mainly prepared with Chapin, Wafo, Oli, Antoine, Nassif, and Herberholz.
I arrived in Kyoto on the Monday before the tournament, with Gabriel Nassif, in order to do some sightseeing and last minute testing. Sadly, I caught a cold in that time, and I was forced to play the PT while sick. As the week went on, Jamie Parke, Mark Herberholz, Michael-Jacob, Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, Antoine and Olivier arrived, ready for some more testing and drafting. Jamie Park and Mark Herberholz decided to play Blightning Aggro, whereas the rest of us played Five-Color Control. Besides the Ruel Brothers, all our lists where different by a few cards. This is what I ran.
Creatures (12)
Lands (27)
Spells (21)
Let’s look at some of the unusual card choices, followed by a matchup analysis. I’ll then round out with a small tournament report in which I’ll analyze situations in which I could have played differently. And yes, there will be a sideboarding guide to help my fellow Five-Color Control players.
Wall of Reverence
The card is very good against every creature-based deck. It stops every creature in the format that is commonly played, besides an ultimate Figure of Destiny. The life gain aspect puts you out of the range of Banefire or other burn spells. The card was amazing for me, and I am sure we will see more of it in the future.
I think Wrath of God is only really good against White Weenie, B/W Tokens, and Noble Hierarch, making Wall of Reverence a better maindeck card. It is particularly good against the decks that people play at FNM, since it is only really bad against control.
Pithing Needle
Mark Herberholz already ran this card at Worlds in Memphis. The card is amazing against the W/R Reveillark strategy, as you can shut down every major threat (Windbrisk Heights, Figure of Destiny, and Ajani Vengeant). Most of the other decks have several targets as well, and it was always a cheap solution to a problem.
Scourglass and Wrath of God
I decided to run some Scourglasses in the Sideboard. In my opinion, it is the best sideboard card you can find against Black/White Tokens. Being able to destroy their Glorious Anthems and Planeswalkers along with their creatures is amazing. They usually don’t have enough pressure on the board to kill you in one hit, so the delay of one turn even helps you as you can counter the very next threat they play afterwards.
I still ran one Wrath of God because Scourglass might be too slow against the White Weenie decks.
Wydwen, the Biting Gale
We expected Faerie Decks to either not run Agony Warp or sideboard them out. Assuming they don’t have Agony Warp, this is one of the best cards you can get. Being able to force the faerie player to tap mana in his turn is amazing, as you get the window to resolve something in your turn.
It is also very effective at killing Planeswalkers, thus it is part of the plan against Faeries, Five-Color, and Planeswalker decks.
A short matchup analysis:
Versus Faeries
The Faerie matchup is very close. The outcome of the game is decided by whether the Faerie player runs out of countermagic before he kills you. Pithing Needle helps you answer the threats they are bringing in, like Glen Elendra Archmage or Jace Beleren.
After talking to Gabriel in Kyoto, this is how I would sideboard the Faerie matchup. He mentioned that Cryptic Command is very slow in the matchup, and that you might want to cut some — I agree.
+2 Wydwen, the Biting Gale, +4 Scepter of Fugue, +1 Pithing Needle
-2 Cryptic Command, -2 Broodmate Dragon, -1 Cruel Ultimatum, -2 Wall of Reverence
Versus R/W Reveillark
In my experience the R/W Reveillark matchup is pretty easy. All their threats are easy to stop — the only way they win is if you are running out of solutions or they are able to kill you before you find the solution. I sideboard out a land in the match up cause they are usually not that fast (meaning you have time to draw cards with Mulldrifter or Esper Charm) and they are not able to stop you from drawing extra cards.
+1 Wall of Reverence, +2 Infest, +2 Celestial Purge, +1 Pithing Needle
-2 Volcanic Fallout, -1 Vivid Meadow, -2 Terror, -1 Broken Ambitions
Versus WB Token
The walls are usually not that good in this matchup, as they are able to create a big enough mass in time to put enough pressure on you to overwhelm you, plus they keep Terror or Path to Exile in. Scourglass is a really good answer to Bitterblossom and Glorious Anthem supported by Planeswalkers. Their clock usually doesn’t kill you in one turn, and you should be able to sweep the board (besides Sculler) and have countermagic back up.
Infest obviously helps against Forge-Tender, and Celestial Purge limits Bitterblossom and Sculler. It is okay to kill the Bitterblossom with Esper Charm, but it is not automatic. It really depends on the situation.
+2 Infest, +2 Scourglass, +1 Wrath of God, +2 Celestial Purge
-2 Wall of Reverence, -2 Terror, -3 Plumeveil
White Weenie
Scourglass is much worse in this matchup than against Black/White Tokens, as the White Weenie clock is significantly faster and you might not have the time to set up a Scourglass. Plumeveil does a pretty good job in this matchup, as they are not creating multiple creatures out of one card like the Token deck.
Fallout is weaker after sideboarding, as they typically overload on Forge-Tenders.
+2 Infest, +1 Scourglass, +1 Wrath of God, +1Wall of Reverence
-2 Volcanic Fallout, -1Mulldrifter, -2 Broken Ambitions
The Mirror
Before sideboarding it usually comes down to who can resolve a Cruel Ultimatum. You should play your Cryptic Commands very rarely, unless it is about Cruel Ultimatum. After sideboarding the games go much faster, as people usually bring in cards like Scepter of Fugue or Ajani Vengeant. If your opponent runs the same list as you do, you might want to sideboard the Pithing Needle out.
+4 Scepter of Fugue, +1 Pithing Needle, +2 Celestial Purge, +2 Wydwen, the Biting Gale
-4 Volcanic Fallout, -3 Broodmate Dragon, -2 Plumeveil
B/R Blightning
They have a very hard time beating the combination of your walls and your good cards like Cryptic Command and Broodmate Dragon. The biggest threat they have is Goblin Outlander, as it dodges a lot of removal and all your walls. A lot of Blightning decks didn’t run Demigod of Revenge, but I think with Five-Color Control winning the PT, most of the up-and-coming decks will run the Demigod.
+1 Wall of Reverence, +2 Celestial Purge
-1 Pithing Needle, -2 Volcanic Fallout
Four-Color Noble Hierarch
You don’t have any solutions to a fast Doran, the Siege Tower in the preboard game, so the games are usually one-sided. Post board you get some solutions in form of Celestial Purge and Wrath of God. Scourglass is usually too slow as they hit you for something like nine on the turn you play it. Volcanic Fallout at least handles all their mana creatures, Gaddock Teeg and Tidehollow Sculler.
+1 Wall of Reverence, +1 Wrath of God, +2 Celestial Purge
-1 Pithing Needle, -2 Volcanic Fallout, -1 Mulldrifter
Tournament Report
Round 1 – Renedo, Rodrigo with W/R Reveillark 0-2
Game1: I win the die roll and he runs his turn 1 Figure of Destiny into my Plumeveil without the possibility to trade. In the following turns he plays three copies of Ajani Vengeant — the last resolved.
Play Analysis
My board: 6 Lands (one of them tapped and locked down) and a Plumeveil
My hand: 2 Volcanic Fallout + 2 or 3 lands
My life total: 18
His board: Knight of the White Orchid, Ajani Vengeant with 4 counters, 6 lands
His hand: 3 or 4 unknown cards
His life total: 20
My play: I played one of the Volcanic Fallouts at the end of his turn, redirecting the damage to Ajani Vengeant. In my turn I play my second copy of the card to finish the Planeswalker off. He then starts playing creatures and I die before I can find any other non-land spell.
The better play: I could have done nothing about Ajani Vengeant, as I have enough lands at that period of time and I could delay the ultimate for four turns with my cards in hand. With the time I get from destroying his creatures instead of his Ajani Vengeant, I might have drawn into gas and won the game.
Game 2: He Flame Javelins my early Plumeveil and I receive some early damage from his creatures. On the sixth turn, I tap out for a Broodmate Dragon and he is able to resolve a Siege-Gang Commander. I wasn’t able to find a solution for the card immediately, and the Siege-Gang Commander puts me on a low enough life total so that Banefire finishes the job.
Round 2 – Tanaka, Rizumu with W/R Reveillark 2-1
Game 1: I keep a two-land hand with Mulldrifter and don’t manage to find a third land until it is already too late. When I tapped out to dig for land, I not only didn’t find one, he also had the Ajani Vengeant to lock me off.
Game 2: I can follow up his turn 3 Goblin Assault with a Wall of Reverence and counter most of the action he plays. On turn seven I resolve a Cruel Ultimatum and start digging for a Broodmate Dragon. When I arrived at 52 life thanks to two Wall of Reverence, I finally find a Dragon and the game is over a few turns later.
Game 3: I am able to sweep a board, including two Figures of Destiny and a Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender, with Infest. He then is able to resolve a Ranger of Eos, fetching another two Figures, and he Path to Exiles my Wall of Reverence. I am able to resolve a Cruel Ultimatum some turns later, and follow it up by a Broodmate Dragon and another Cruel Ultimatum.
Round 3 – Dolbeer, Jed with Faeries 0-2
Game 1: He Broken Ambitions the first play of the game (an evoked Mulldrifter) and follows it up with Bitterblossom. He follows that up with two Vendilion Cliques, with me countering the first. I am able to sweep the board of the Tokens with a Volcanic Fallout, and the very next turn I’d be able to Cryptic Command one of his four lands so I could resolve a Broodmate Dragon. Sadly, I draw a land that comes into play tapped, and he counters all the action I play.
Game 2…
Play Analysis
Opening Hand: 3 Vivid Lands including a Marsh, 2 Scepter of Fugue, 1 Plumeveil, 1 Pithing Needle
My play: I kept the hand. He Thoughtseizes both of the Scepter of Fugues before I am able to play one, and follows up with one of his own, which I am able to Broken Ambition. I then draw another Scepter which I am able to resolve, but he drops enough pressure and I am never able to stabilize. I die to his beats, as he had a Terror for my Plumeveil ready.
The better play: I probably should mulligan that hand. An opening hand with three Vivid lands seems to slow against a deck like Faeries. I also don’t have any card draw to dig for solutions to the problems the Scepters wouldn’t handle.
Round 4 – Vargas, Andrew with Five-Color Control 0-2
Game 1: I try to bait some of his counterspells with Broodmate Dragons. He uses both, a Cryptic Command and a Broken Ambitions. Sadly, on the turn I played the second Broodmate Dragon, I also played a land when my hand was the following:
Land, Cryptic Command, 2 Cruel Ultimatum, 2 Volcanic Fallout.
The problem with playing a land there is that my opponent would be able to resolve a Cruel Ultimatum if he has a Cryptic Command going along with it, and I would need to discard a Cruel Ultimatum. This is exactly what happened, and I followed up with the Cruel Ultimatum I didn’t have to discard. Later in the game he finds a second Cruel Ultimatum which I can’t deal with, and I lose.
Game 2: I have an opening hand with Pithing Needle. When I hit seven mana, I evoked a Mulldrifter with four mana up and had to discard at the end of my turn. I discard the Pithing Needle, which I should have played earlier in the game naming Treetop Village, which he is playing. After I could take over control of the game on six life with the help of Scepter of Fugue, he is able to deal the last six points of damage with Treetop Village.
So that was that regarding Standard. Next, here is the deck I drafted in the second half of Day 1, which would need me to pull off a 3-0 record despite me being sick and not playing my best Magic:
6 Forest
6 Plains
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Rupture Spire
1 Obelisk of Naya
1 Obelisk of Jund
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Gleam of Resistance
1 Dark Temper
1 Sarkhan Vol
1 Apocalypse Hydra
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Yoked Plowbeast
1 Jungle Weaver
1 Bull Cerodon
1 Kranioceros
1 Rhox Charger
2 Guardians of Akrasa
1 Aven Trailblazer
1 Sacellum Archers
1 Matca Rioters
1 Nacatl Savage
1 Steward of Valeron
1 Knight of Skyward Eye
1 Wild Nacatl
Sideboard
1 Angelic Benediction
1 Spore Burst
1 Where Ancient Tread
1 Realm Razor
1 Jund Battlemage
1 Tukatoungue Thallid
I played the Relic of Progenitus because there was a lot of unearth in the draft. I definitely should have played the Angelic Benediction over land number 18, as I had two Guardians of Akrasa along with it.
Round 5 – Jan Doise with Esper 2-0
Game 1: He is screwed on Black and White mana for several turns, but his Dregscape Zombie is able to deal me some damage as I kept a very slow hand. He uses Executioner’s Capsule my Kraniceros, and I follow it up with a Bull Cerodon and a ten power Apocalypse Hydra. He finally finds his Blue mana and plays Ethersworn Adjudicator. I am able to get control of the card with the help of Sarkhan Vol and use his ability on itself. The Bull Cerodon and the Apocalypse Hydra finish the job.
Game 2: He mulligans and then keeps with a very sad face. He plays a turn 2 Puppet Conjurer off two Swamps, and after he played another Swamp on turn 3 he didn’t play lands for the rest of the game. I had a very good curve including turn 1 Wild Nacatl followed by Nacatl Savage, and Obelisk of Naya into Kraniceros.
Round 6 – Pearce, Remi with Bant splash Black 1-2
Game 1: He resolves an early Tower Gargoyle which I can’t deal with. I try to race him on the ground, but he gets enough guys so I am not able to race the Gargoyle, and I die.
Game 2: He attacks with his turn 3 Kathari Screecher into my Aven Trailblazer when I controlled 2 Plains, Mountain, and a Grixis Panorama, all of them untapped. I block and fetch for a Swamp with damage on stack, and his creature dies. He’s color-screwed on Blue and Green mana for some turns, but I am not able to expand my board as I am flooded. I attack him with Aven Trailblazer for several turns. He finds the White mana and resolves a Rhox War Monk. On my turn I resolve a Hellkite Overlord — which finishes the game very fast as he didn’t have his Oblivion Ring.
Game 3: His turn 3 Jhessian Infiltrator, turn 4 Kathari Screecher followed by Rhox War Monk and Rhox Bodyguard is able to race my turn 2 Knight of the Skyward Eye, Guardians of Akrasa, and Rhox Charger. I am able to Dark Temper the Jhessian Infiltrator, but the turn before I would kill him he Esper Charms himself to find Resounding Roar to finish me off.
Round 7 – *Bye*
I end up with a 3-4 record and miss Day 2. Still, I had a great time in Japan and at the Pro Tour, and I am sure I could have made a better result under better conditions.
If you guys have any questions about the build, the sideboarding, or the trip in general, I will be sure to be available in the forums. Thanks again.
See you in Chicago!
Manuel B