The Combat Phase – All In: Mono-Green in Standard

Oddly enough, let’s start this right off by talking about Magic. Here’s a fun little deck I call “All in.” Because you can never have too many poker references in a Magic article. I went 4-1 in a 64-person tournament one night, and couldn’t draw into the Top 8 because my tiebreakers sucked. I lost 2-1 in the last round, but I was happy with the deck. Yesterday, I played in an eight-man, and this is how it went down.

I start off with a nice mulligan to six, and then see a hand of double Silhana Ledgewalker, Might of Old Krosa, Giant Solifuge and two forests.

BrainCrevice plays Watery Grave.

Yay! That’s a good sign for my deck.

MLGreen plays Forest.
BrainCrevice plays Dreadship Reef.
MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Silhana Ledgewalker.
BrainCrevice plays activated ability from Dreadship Reef.
BrainCrevice plays Snow-Covered Island.
MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Silhana Ledgewalker.
BrainCrevice plays Remand, targeting Silhana Ledgewalker.
MLGreen plays Allosaurus Rider.

“The Riders! The Riders!” is what you have to scream every time you play these guys. As if they are the cavalry… wait… who was it that rode to that fortress and saved the day at dawn?

*Ring Ring*

Joshie: “Hey, what’s up?”
“Who was it that showed up at the fortress to save the day in Lord of the Rings?”
“At Minas Tirith?”
“Yeah, was that the Riders?”
“The Riders of Rohan, yes. Why do you want to know that?”
“Because I’m writing a column and I couldn’t remember who it was that rode in to save the day.”
“No, man! No. You can’t associate Allosaurus Riders with Lord of the Rings. That’s lame. That’s just wrong. Dinosaur riders should be associated with “Ridin’ Dirty” not that stupid scene in Lord of the Rings. Allosaurus dirty riders. Allosaurus ridin’ dirty.”
I laugh. “Okay Joshie.”

*Click*

The screaming of “The Riders! The Riders!” actually came long ago on my living room table. I don’t have any idea why, but whenever I would play Elven Riders I would scream it as if they were actually a good card come to save the day. I think it was the very cool Melissa Benson artwork that did it.

BrainCrevice plays Underground River.
MLGreen plays Quicksand.
MLGreen plays Giant Solifuge.
BrainCrevice plays Cancel, targeting Giant Solifuge.

Yes, you keep countering my stuff. I will now smash you in the face for six.

BrainCrevice plays Snow-Covered Island.
MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Might of Old Krosa, targeting Silhana Ledgewalker.

Yes, that would be a cheek-bone smashing eleven points of damage coming in.

BrainCrevice plays Seize the Soul, targeting Allosaurus Rider.

MLGreen “Ow!”

BrainCrevice plays triggered ability from Seize the Soul, targeting Spirit, token.
BrainCrevice plays Desert.
Spirit, token blocks Silhana Ledgewalker.
No legal targets to choose for Seize the Soul’s triggered ability.
BrainCrevice plays Desert.
MLGreen plays Spectral Force.
BrainCrevice plays Repeal, targeting Spectral Force. (X is 5).
Spectral Force is returned to MLGreen’s hand from play.
BrainCrevice plays Think Twice.
BrainCrevice plays Underground River.
MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Spectral Force.
BrainCrevice plays Think Twice, from the graveyard.
BrainCrevice plays activated ability from Dreadship Reef.
BrainCrevice has conceded from the game.

Game 2, I get a nice opening draw, but not enough early pressure. He counters just about everything I play, and then BrainCrevice plays Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Then I die about twenty turns into the game.

When your opponent is playing counters, it’s really all about the riders. Can’t be repealed either.

I start game three with Boreal Druid, Silhana Ledgewalker, Call of the Herd, The Riders, Moldervine Cloak, Giant Growth and a Forest. I rip lands like a pro in the following turns. Let’s take a look at a really good face smashing, shall we?

MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Boreal Druid.
MLGreen plays Allosaurus Rider.

BrainCrevice plays Desert.

MLGreen plays Silhana Ledgewalker.

Hit you for two.

BrainCrevice plays Snow-Covered Island.

MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Llanowar Elves.

Hit you for four.

BrainCrevice plays Dreadship Reef.

MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Moldervine Cloak, targeting Silhana Ledgewalker.
BrainCrevice plays Remand, targeting Moldervine Cloak.

You counter and draw a card; I will smash you for eight.

BrainCrevice plays Underground River.

MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Moldervine Cloak, targeting Silhana Ledgewalker.
BrainCrevice has conceded from the game.

Round 1 takes almost the full time, so I know someone else in the tournament has to be playing heavy counters and control. I start with a hand of Boreal Druid, double Call of the Herd, Giant Solifuge, and two Forests.

You know, Giant Solifuge is pretty damn good too. I mean, they save the day sometimes too. But what are you going to yell? “The Giant Spiders! The Spiders! The icky disgusting, venom dripping spiders… um… yay?”

Wanna hear how they eat?

“Prey is located with the pedipalps and killed and cut into pieces by the chelicerae. The prey is then liquefied and the liquid ingested through the pharynx.”

The only way that could be more disgusting was if “pharynx” was another word for “anus.”

He’s really someone you want on your team, not on the other side. But you actually want them in their barracks under lock and key until it’s time for the fighting to start.

MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Boreal Druid.
Zerosum says “horrible hand”
Zerosum plays Adarkar Wastes.

MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Call of the Herd.
Zerosum plays Urza’s Mine.
Zerosum plays Dimir Signet.
MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Giant Solifuge.

You play a mana fixer, and I’ll smash you in the face for seven, mmkay?

MLGreen “I see a Wrath in my future.”

Zerosum plays Compulsive Research, targeting Zerosum.
Zerosum discards Urza’s Mine.
Zerosum plays Urza’s Tower.
Zerosum “maybe”

MLGreen plays Call of the Herd.
Zerosum plays Azorius Signet.

I prefer elephants and insects that liquefy their prey to Signets and Research and more Signets.

Zerosum has conceded from the game.

Game 2 starts with a hand of Elf, Quicksand, two Forests, Solifuge, Moldervine Cloak, and a Giant Growth.

Zerosum plays Adarkar Wastes.
MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Llanowar Elves.
Zerosum plays Urza’s Power Plant.
Zerosum plays Azorius Signet.
MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Moldervine Cloak, targeting Llanowar Elves.
Zerosum plays Adarkar Wastes.

MLGreen plays Forest.
MLGreen plays Silhana Ledgewalker.
Zerosum requests an undo.
Zerosum plays Spell Snare, targeting Silhana Ledgewalker.
Zerosum plays Tidings.
MLGreen plays Quicksand.
MLGreen plays Giant Solifuge.

Hit you for eight; pray you didn’t find a Wrath.

Zerosum plays Urza’s Tower.
Zerosum plays Faith’s Fetters, targeting Llanowar Elves.

MLGreen plays Forest.

Hit you for five.

Zerosum plays Think Twice.
Zerosum plays Adarkar Wastes.
Zerosum plays Dimir Signet.
Zerosum plays Faith’s Fetters, targeting Quicksand.

MLGreen plays Llanowar Elves.
MLGreen plays Quicksand.

Hit you for five.

Zerosum requests an undo.
Zerosum plays Think Twice, from the graveyard.
Zerosum plays Urza’s Power Plant.
Zerosum has conceded from the game.

Yes, I know I got lucky he didn’t find a Wrath. But really, I just love smashing face while people Compulsive Research, play Signets, Think Twice, etc etc etc.

I love Green right now. I’ll get more into that later, but for the first time in a long time, I really feel like it has the ability to race the combo and control decks. Someone playing Dragonstorm and no blockers hates this deck. They hate a first turn Rider that gets bigger every turn, like a Whirling Dervish that came out on turn zero.

Yeah, Wrath kills the whole deck, and Wrath is really, really popular right now. But hey, sometimes they don’t find a Wrath… and sometimes they don’t even get up to Wrath mana before they are dead.

I get up earlier than Wendy. I go downstairs, have some coffee, turn on the comp, and join another eight-man. I just can’t resist. This deck is just too fun. Let’s just grab the highlights.

Turn 5: MLGreen.
MLGreen plays Might of Old Krosa targeting Llanowar Elves.
MLGreen plays Might of Old Krosa targeting Llanowar Elves.
Andronchik plays Remand targeting Might of Old Krosa.
MLGreen plays Might of Old Krosa targeting Llanowar Elves.

Since the elf had a Cloak on it, that was a 12/12 elf.

Next game I get a first turn rider who grows to 5/5. He goes all the way. Nothing can stop him, and I’m holding two Might of Old Krosa.

MLGreen plays Allosaurus Rider.
Andronchik plays Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir.
Andronchik plays activated ability from Serrated Arrows targeting Allosaurus Rider.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir blocks Allosaurus Rider.
Andronchik plays Repeal: targeting Prismatic Lens (X is 2).
Prismatic Lens is returned to Andronchik’s hand from play.
Turn 8: Andronchik.
Andronchik has conceded from the game.

I win the next round as well, but I would bet people are getting sick of logs so I won’t show you how I smashed another Blue mage with free spells and pump spells too cheap to counter effectively. Then I get smashed by a Black/White deck that I have no chance against. Riders hate Condemn. And Wrath. And Edict. And after sideboarding it just gets worse.

Here’s the current list:

And now for something completely different.

I’ve always wanted to be able to do a hundred push-ups. Not over the course of days; rather, all in one set. Just drop down, push up, 1,2,3,4… 98, 99, 100!

Always wanted to be able to do that. And I want my veins back. You know, in my arms. Like when I was young. Having dropped thirty-five pounds last year through diet and exercise, I don’t look rolly and fat when I take off my shirt anymore. But I do still look smooth. I like when veins stick out on my arms. I miss that.

So, my New Year’s resolution is to do 100 push-ups in a single sitting by the end of the year.

End of the year… I wonder what this year is going to bring? I gotta tell ya, it has the promise of being magnificent. And I’m ready for some magnificent.

2004 sucked hard.
2005 sucked harder.
2006 sucked hardest.
2007?

2007 starts me on the road to following my Personal Legend.

It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear, and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives.
Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist

I think we all know I’m supposed to be a writer, not a computer tech. And I’ve taken steps to try and make that dream a reality this year. Quit my job. Moving to Madrid. Writing a novel. Writing for StarCityGames.com. Trying to get Marilyn’s memoirs published.

2007 has the potential to be either magnificent or a colossal failure.

If you’ve never read “The Alchemist,” I highly recommend it. A quick little fable about pursuing your dreams that only takes a couple hours to read. It’s very enjoyable, and has sold over 20 million copies and been translated into 54 languages. I didn’t even know humans had 54 languages! I bet it’s been translated into clicks, whistles, and high pitched keening, so dolphins and whales can buy the audio version.

I have been doing a lot of work already trying to make my Personal Legend a reality. I’ve contacted fifteen agents and received fifteen rejections. I’ve submitted the first thirty pages of my novel to Wizards of the Coast’s book publishing label. I’ve paid someone to compile – and type into Word – Marilyn’s written journal of her struggle. To type in the touching goodbyes that were said at the memorial. To copy into Word the very best of the sympathy cards. And, to top it all off, I contacted Mike Flores seeking advice.

You see, I thought Mike Flores was a full-time writer. I mean, have you ever thought about that man’s output? Ten years worth of Magic articles, most of that time with two articles a week! Podcasts. Being a commentator on Pro Tour Top 8s. Testing. Qualifying. No one can do all that, have a family, and hold down a full time job.

Well, apparently, Mike Flores can.

Mike and I talked for about ninety minutes, and he reminded me of a lot of things that I had forgotten. Gave me some great advice on self-publishing that was echoed by my friend Steve Savage of “The Savage Files.” Gave some excellent suggestions, and I have to admit, really helped me out a lot in planning and attitude for the next year. I would go more deeply into it, but more than a little bit of it is confidential for him and some of it for me.

The point of all this being… Thanks Mike.

The timing is fortuitous for all of this to happen. I’ve been loving Magic for months now, and spending far too much money on MTGO. This season is Constructed for qualifiers, and Wizards produces a tribute card to The Lovely Marilyn that’s not only beautiful but a real boost to Green’s power. And Green mages get Ball Lightning. I doubt it’s a better time to be a Green mage.

Standard is amazing right now. It’s about a diverse a field as I have ever seen. Last week playing “All In” I made it to finals of three eight-man tourneys in a row. Smashing face like it was nothing, as everyone was playing some Blue concoction that couldn’t deal with mono-Green beats running Allosaurus Rider. It was a lot of fun.

Today, I have entered three eight-man tourneys, and made it to the second round in one of them. Lots of Blue/White and Mono-Black Rack.

Mono-Black Rack.

So funny. I would never imagine that it could survive in this environment, but it does, and is flourishing.

And let’s not forget Zoo with Worship in the side. That’s always good.

The diversity of decks right now is just staggering.

Three weeks ago, I bought all the cards for Dragonstorm. It appeared to be the best deck in the format. For a change, I decided “Hey, I’m going to be the one playing Tooth and Nail / Affinity / Blue Tron this time, instead of always being on the wrong side of the obviously best deck.”

The first week I played the deck, I faced nothing but other Dragonstorm decks, and mono-Blue Teferi decks. I quit playing the deck and designed “All In.” The next week I played that in eight-man tournaments, found only Blue/x heavy counter decks, and smashed them. Just like it was designed to do. The heavy counter decks all started falling to Boros, Zoo, and Gruul. Right now would be a good time to switch back to Dragonstorm while people are giving up on counters. The metagame on MTGO is always like this.

Amusing story time.

One of my friends is divorced, and playing the field right now. Joshie and I turned him onto Neil Strauss’s “The Game,” and he devoured it. Then he joined some pick up newsgroups and started to practice some techniques at the bank, clubs, grocery store, etc.

It’s been a lot of fun following his adventures. He’ll call me up and tell me about dates, people he’s met on Match, his nights out at his favorite club. All very entertaining for an old guy like me. I don’t have the attitude to be a pick up artist. When I date someone it’s always an interview to see if they are going to be my wife. I’ve always been like that. I’d go out with someone until I knew whether they were the right one, or I’d break up with them and look for the next candidate. I’m all about marriage to the right person. Once I know that I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with someone, I need to go. Sometimes that takes a date. Sometimes six months. Sometimes two years.

But I love hearing about adventures.

My friend Quagmire has adopted the pick up technique of “cocky-funny” invented by David Deangelo. This is his normal personality, so he is most comfortable using this approach, and has been very successful with it. And by successful, I don’t mean he is breaking hearts left and right. Success is gauged in phone numbers received. Or dates. Or a kiss close. The Game, for some people, is more about succeeding in getting women interested in you.

So, Quagmire goes out to his favorite bar and is hanging around and there is a group of three gorgeous girls. He is trying to figure out a way to approach them when fate takes a hand. An older “gentleman,” trying to look young, goes over and tries to hit on these girls. One of them actually gets angry with him and starts to tell him off. He skulks off, tail between his legs. They flip him off as he walks away.

Quagmire sees his opening.

He walks over to the girls…

“I have to apologize for my dad. He just got out of prison and he forgets he’s old sometimes.”
“That was your dad?”
“Um, yeah.”
“How old are you?”
“Why, do you need me to buy you a beer?”
“No seriously, how old are you?”
“I don’t know, how much do you weigh?”

He went home with all three of them.

“Allll rrright…”

Extended qualifiers are here and I am in full-on flail mode. I started off calm and collected. Examining the Top 8s of MTGO every morning. Looking over deck lists. Trying to find something that appealed to me, or build something meta that everyone will tell me is crap until it wins a qualifier. I started out with mono-Green of course. Building what I thought would be a faster version of “All in” with Chrome Moxes, Phantom Centaur, and Ravenous Baloth. What I rapidly found out was that nothing is faster than Allosaurus Rider. And then I quickly found out that Allosaurus Rider is slower than TEPS. Slower than Dirty Kitty. Slower than Affinity.

Man, is extended fast!

Fast, Fast, FAST!

I go back to the drawing board and start to explore more deck lists and Top 8s. Will I be reduced to playing a net deck? Can I find a way to beat the decks that win on turn 4? Or will I be reduced to playing Boros or Affinity?

Then Flores posts a nice article that opens my eyes to some great sideboard cards I didn’t even know about, specifically Gilded Light and Rule of Law. I quickly log on and buy four of each, and build the deck he proposes. It’s perfect for my play style, and I put it together when I get home from work and enter it into a tournament.

0-3 drop!

Some fun. Losing to Blue/White Control, Affinity, and Tooth and Nail in rapid succession. Back to the drawing board.

Joshie comes in one morning and says something funny. And Joshie says a lot of funny things. Like, as usual on a Friday, all the techs in the district go out to lunch at “The May Garden,” the local Chinese restaurant. I have sampled Hot and Sour soup at five different restaurants in Vermont, and The May Garden has the best. So we order, our Hot and Sour soup comes, and as usual we all nod and agree that it is the best thing ever.

Joshie: “I could live on this and nothing else for a year, I bet.”
Dan: “Yeah, but what do they make it out of? Do you care?”
Josh: “I don’t care if it’s made out of babies.”

This morning, the funny thing he says is “I’ve broken the format. I didn’t mean to, but I did. I built a deck that goes off turn 1.”

Okay, that’s not very funny. That’s actually pretty exciting. Until he shows me the list. Then it’s pretty funny. I explain to him that he’s just built Flores Green/White Haterator.

“What? No way.”
“Take a look.”

He logs onto StarCityGames.com and quickly scans over the article.

“That’s not like my deck at all! That deck is crap compared to mine.”
“Your deck is too slow. Like Flores deck it will lose to Blue/White Control, Affinity, and Tooth and Nail.”
“How?”
“I don’t know… killing you before you get Worship down? Destroying all your creatures with a Wrath? Attaching a Cranial Plating and swinging for nine on turn 3? Destroying all your land with a Sundering Titan? The ways are endless.”

He assures me that his deck is different and I have to try it. Sure, why not. I need some of the cards he proposes anyway. I buy another hundred tickets at the MTGO store, and when I got home from work I buy what I need for about thirty tickets. I build the deck and enter another tournament. Ever hopeful.

0-3 drop!

The search continues. I find a nice mono-Green deck that runs four maindeck Chalice. That looks cool. I buy some Chalice of the Void. I make up the deck and get smashed. I browse some more and find a very cool deck that tickles my fancy that no one else is playing. “Elemental Bidding.”

I buy some Biddings and Cabal Ritual. Who needs money for food anyway? Not me! I’m still too fat!

I can’t get it to work. It’s just too slow now. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I play with it a bit, adding in Life / Death and Zombify, since a second- or third-turn Verdant Force is good against some decks. That shows a little bit of hope, and then I start looking at Green. Maybe I can just come up with a way to use Bidding, or just cast the Elementals with Cabal Ritual and fast elves? Add in some Greenseekers and some Wild Mongrels to put fatties into the graveyard. Add in Duress in the side for TEPS. Make it a two-pronged deck that can serve early with Mongrels and Elves, and then pull off a late-game Bidding? Maybe I could just make a super speedy elf deck, and if someone Wraths I can Bidding them all back? My head is swimming, and I continue to work on this… but right now it’s a B-level deck at best.

Do I have anything to show you this week? Well, it’s another B-level deck, but it does show some promise. It’s definitely the one I’m having the most fun with, but it still needs some tweaking.

Isn’t it pretty?

17 lands and 36 creatures. How can you not love that? Graveyard removal. Life-gain. Artifact and enchantment removal. And the best Sorcery ever printed — Overrun. How can you not love that?

Smash you in the face.

The Eternal Witnesses are amazing in here. You know, like they are in every deck that utilizes them… But the point being — need more life? Get back a Baloth. Need to remove someone’s graveyard again? Get back a Loaming Shaman. Need to get rid of that pesky Jitte or Worship? Just get back a Harmonic Sliver. And the Indrik Stomphowler not only destroys Seismic Assault or Cranial Plating, they can also be sacrificed to the Baloth for four life! Oh the synergistic beauty of this deck. I just loves it.

I think I broke the format!

But maybe not…

Good luck, and have fun.

Jamie