Having just finished fifth place at the World Championship, I immediately focused my attention on the World Magic Cup. I was proud to be representing
Canada doing what I love, and it was an excellent way to cap off my 2014 even though *spoiler alert* we didn’t do very well.
Team Canada consisted of myself, Alexander Hayne, Daniel Fournier, and Dave Goldfarb. Although I felt our team was very strong, we finished a disappointing
2-5. The World Magic Cup should, in theory, have been a soft field for our team of two Platinum pros and two very solid players.
Preparation
There are a few obvious things that help keep a team functioning smoothly that our team did well. We didn’t criticize each other. We kept open lines of
communication and offered each other helpful advice and made our opinions known without stepping on each other’s toes. Discussion is good, arguing is not.
Oftentimes an argument is about trying to win the argument rather than finding the truth, which is rarely useful.
Finally, I made sure to keep morale high with regular pep talks and mandatory compliment exchanges.
The key overlap cards in unified Standard deck construction:
Thoughtseize (Abzan Midrange, Sultai Reanimator, U/B Control)
Hero’s Downfall (Abzan Midrange, Sultai Reanimator, U/B Control)
Drown in Sorrow (Abzan Midrange, Sultai Reanimator, U/B Control)
Lightning Strike (Mardu Midrange, Mono-Red Aggro, most variations of Jeskai and Temur)
Goblin Rabblemaster (Mardu Midrange and most variations of Jeskai and Temur)
Anger of the Gods (Mardu Midrange and most variations of Jeskai)
Sylvan Caryatid (Abzan Midrange, Sultai Reanimator, Green Devotion)
Courser of Kruphix (Abzan Midrange, Sultai Reanimator, Green Devotion)
Assorted Lands
From the looks of things, you’re able to play one Goblin Rabblemaster + Lightning Strike deck, one Courser of Kruphix + Sylvan Caryatid deck, and one
Hero’s Downfall + Thoughtseize deck. There was obviously plenty of wiggle room here, and the green and black could easily overlap in something like Abzan
Midrange (which sucked up a lot of good cards).
We ended up playing U/B Control, Mardu Midrange, and Abzan Reanimator, the exact same archetypes as Denmark, the winning team. I played U/B Control, Hayne
played Abzan Reanimator, and Fournier played Mardu Midrange.
So what went wrong? For one thing, smaller countries have less distance to travel to practice together, which probably hurt us a little. Having the World
Championships to prepare for also overshadowed my WMC preparation a little. But in a nutshell, the major factor was it felt like variance went wrong
everywhere it possibly could.
I was happy with our lists, but in hindsight the ideal configuration in my opinion would’ve been Abzan Midrange, Jeskai Tokens, and X (possibly W/U
Heroic). This would just make sure we had the two best decks in the format against a field of tier 1.5 decks.
At the end of the day I still had a blast and think our team was great and had an awesome time hanging out with all of them. I really wanted to help two
great guys get on the Pro Tour doing something we all excel at and wish I could’ve helped qualify Dave and Dan. They are great players who will make it
back to the big stages soon if they keep at it (Hayne obviously doesn’t need any encouraging here – or in any other area). The World Magic Cup had a great
atmosphere, and I hope to make it back there.
With that, Worlds was over. I didn’t make to Sunday, but I still felt I put up a respectable showing and was able to put up a fight against the best in the
world. One of the highlights of the tournament was that my Abzan Midrange deck performed very well and has been showing up more and more, which helps
validate it as one the best things you can be doing in Standard. It’s nice to see other people pick up a deck you put time and thought into building and do
well with it, even if it is a Siege Rhino deck.
Here’s my current list:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (25)
Spells (18)
Going into Worlds, I felt the field would mostly be U/B Control, Abzan Midrange, and assorted Whip of Erebos decks. There aren’t really many options that
beat that lineup even if you know the field completely beforehand. I felt like Mono-Red Aggro and Ascendancy Combo would be good choices, but the decks
continually unimpressed me. My read on the format was good and my deck delivered a 4-0 during the Standard portion at Worlds. My list is very controlling,
right on the border of being able to just call it Abzan Control instead of midrange, but probably not quite there yet. It’s still similar enough to other
lists that it must bear the shame of still being called midrange.
This updated list takes into account Jeskai Tokens a bit more by adding Drown in Sorrow main, which has the added benefit of also being able to mop up a
Hornet Queen and randomly get an unsuspecting Mono-Red Aggro player. The trick is finding the right balance of not having too many dead cards versus
control and the mirror while still having enough removal against the rest of the format.
Utter End is essential right now for slower Abzan lists. Having something that is able to deal with Whip of Erebos, Perilous Vault, Jeskai Ascendancy,
Siege Rhino, planeswalkers, or Banishing Light is simply too important. It just deals with anything fairly well, short of a Stormbreath Dragon or bunch of
goblin tokens, which is exactly what a deck chock full of natural card advantage wants – answers. In a format full of grindy decks, Abzan can grind with
the best of them. The full package of Read the Bones and Nissa, Worldwaker go a long way to making the deck a powerhouse in the lategame. They are both
chock full of value and essentially guaranteed two-for-ones.
Matchups and Sideboarding
VS Jeskai Tokens
Out:
In:
The matchup I’m least familiar with. It seems like you should be at a slight advantage postboard trying to play the long game despite their counters and
Treasure Cruises. They will likely have the upper hand in maneuverability and familiarity with the matchup, since Abzan is well-known and straightforward
to play against, so it might take some more time to figure out what the ideal plan for beating them is.
VS Sultai Reanimator
Out:
In:
While this matchup might look miserable on paper, it’s not actually hard to knock their Whip or Queen out of action before it becomes a problem, or just
kill them when they stumble or durdle too hard. After sideboard, the matchup improves quite a bit as well, since you actually have a good number of answers
to Hornet Queen.
VS U/B Control
Out:
In:
Nissa, Worldwaker does ridiculous work here, and resolving it is almost an automatic win. You are well equipped to play the fast game of Thoughtseize and
running out threats, or the slow game of laying lands and drawing cards depending on the situation and your hand.
VS Mardu Midrange
Out:
In:
A lot is going to depend on how controlling they try to go postboard, since lists can vary postboard from bringing in Bloodsoaked Champions, to barely
having any creatures at all. I would say in general it’s a good idea to try and out-value them since your earlygame is going to be usually be pretty solid
anyways.
VS Mono-Red Aggro
Out:
In:
Cast Drown is Sorrow early and often.
VS Abzan Midrange
Out:
In:
Tempo is important, but so is being able to have strong topdecking potential in the lategame. Murderous Cut allows you to cast two spells in the midgame,
which can be a backbreaking play that gains critical board control or rescues you from a losing position.
I would say Abzan Midrange is usually a fairly straightforward deck to pilot, but there are a few advanced Tips and Tricks to learn.
– Generally you want to be disrupting your opponent’s plans before you leisurely kill them with a Siege Rhino or planeswalker, so prioritize removal and
getting one-for-ones before drawing cards and playing creatures. Sideboarding also follows this plan; most matchups you want to go into full value lategame
mode.
– Abzan Charm can put +1/+1 counters on an opponents’ creatures. This usually comes up when you minus Elspeth, Sun’s Champion and want to take out a couple
three power creatures, like Wingmate Roc and its pet roc.
– Abzan Charm and Utter End exile pesky Soul of Innistrads, Ashcloud Phoenixes, or would-be Whip of Erebos targets.
– Duneblast chooses up to one creature to survive. You don’t have to choose one of your opponent’s creatures if you don’t have one.
– While Nissa, Worldwaker is primarily a 4/4 factory, she can add a little extra mana from time to time, primarily for Duneblast. You can also cast a
second Nissa if you need an extra 4/4 beater immediately.
– Siege Rhino and Nissa, Worldwaker lands trample so you can sneak extra damage with removal spells on blocking creatures, or kill a deathtouch blocker and
trample through. So remember to consider blocking with two or more hornets or snakes the next time a rhino is charging you.
In my mind the top decks in Standard are Abzan Midrange, Jeskai Tokens, and the assorted Whip decks. I’m also confident that practically any strategy can,
and probably will, be successful. I have no idea which of them is the best, and I could see myself going in any number of different directions in the
future. Perhaps it’s time to explore the joys of casting Hornet Queen, or return to my Jeskai roots to try and do some ascending.