Finishing in the top 4 of Grand Prix Memphis was a dream come true after a week filled with mediocre results while preparing. Nothing I tested with felt
more powerful than the other decks in the metagame, and I was quickly realizing the edges would be gained in the actual gameplay. This wasn’t the worst
place to be, but then again, it wasn’t my cup of tea either. I’m usually the one who shows up with the best positioned deck, or even a brand spanking new
one to unleash on some unsuspecting victims. That just wasn’t the case this time around. I was completely unsure of myself.
I was flabbergasted.
Throughout all of my testing, the deck I was constantly gravitating back to was Abzan Control. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion felt like a very powerful finisher
in the metagame once again, and the rest of the deck fell in line to accommodate the overpowered mythic rare. My list kept going through a constant stream
of variations, but nothing felt “right.” I even recorded a Versus Video that will be going up Friday with a version with Sylvan Caryatid and Whisperwood
Elemental.
I spent most of the week in communication with Steve Rubin who was the original innovator of the Abzan Control list he designed for the Open Series in
Washington D.C., but I still just couldn’t get behind how top heavy the deck was. The problem I had with Abzan Control was that it felt too slow in too
many situations. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is an unbelievably powerful Magic card but at the same has just as an unbelievable casting cost. Eight mana is
just too difficult to get to with how aggressive this format was getting. It also wasn’t good against enemy number one: R/W Aggro.
R/W Aggro has the ability to play multiple roles with the inclusion of Outpost Siege. Without this card the deck would most likely fall to the steady
stream of attrition-based spells Abzan decks have access too, but it is able to keep up with it. This enchantment actually swings the matchup significantly
in their favor if the Abzan deck is designed to be too reactive. Goblin Rabblemaster and Stormbreath Dragon are both lights out if left unchecked, which
means the Abzan Control player is forced to play a high number of removal spells to adequately deal with these high profile threats. The R/W players know
this, which allows them to always have more flexibility in sideboarding in the matchup. They get to control the pace of the games and often are only
disadvantaged when they draw too many or too few lands. This was just not the place I wanted to be. Well that was until Jacob Van Lunen sent me a picture
of the list he wanted to try out. He was helping me prepare for the event by playing the versions of the deck I was interested in at the time.
Jake had the idea that Fleecemane Lion might be exactly what the deck needed to speed itself up without being forced to play Sylvan Caryatid. I initially
dismissed the idea since the metagame was so heavily skewed to beat Goblin Rabblemaster and Mantis Rider. Lightning Strike and Bile Blight were in too many
decks, and I didn’t want to turn them on in game 1. I couldn’t fathom playing any copies in the maindeck, but why not at least try out a set of them in the
board? It didn’t take too many matches to realize that he was on to something.
The reason why Fleecemane Lion is the perfect sideboard card for this deck is that everyone is prepared for a slugfest of attrition after sideboard and
boards accordingly. Cards like Lightning Strike and Bile Blight get removed for better cards in the matchup. Not only does this allow the 3/3 to go
unopposed in the earlygame, but the opponent will be forced to use a premium removal spell on the little guy to allow the heavy hitters like Siege Rhino,
Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and Courser of Kruphix to stay in play for that much longer.
Fleecemane Lion plays many roles in the sideboard of this deck. It is a road block in the earlygame against Goblin Rabblemaster decks, an early beat stick
against control decks, and a Spellskite in the mirror. The only matchups you don’t bring the card in against is Abzan Aggro and various forms of Heroic.
Everything fell in line once I had the Lion technology, and my list was ready to go by Thursday afternoon. All that was left to do was get to Memphis
alive. Brian Braun-Duin, Todd Anderson, Andrew Shrout, and I barreled into Todd’s car and started our journey. I had the bright idea of leaving Thursday so
we wouldn’t have to make the eleven-hour drive in one day. We stopped in Nashville for the night and prepared to finish the trip in the morning. What we
didn’t expect is to wake up with the fear of potential ice storms.
I don’t know how many of you have ever driven through an ice storm, but I can tell you it is miserable. I spent 25 years living in North Dakota, and I can
safely say that ice storms are at the top of the list for worst possible situations to be in. A blizzard is just a ton of snow and wind. It’s really not
that bad. The snow might be annoying and slightly dangerous, but it really only impacts your visibility. The worst part of a blizzard is when the snow
being driven on heats up and then instantly freezes to create black ice. It’s nature’s trap card. You can’t tell you are driving on it until the back tires
start swaying in a direction you are not intending to drive. Sometimes you can correct the situations, and sometimes you spin out of control and do
multiple 360s going down the interstate at 50 miles an hour.
Ice storms are already the worst part about blizzards, but at least in North Dakota the people know how to drive in them. Not just North Dakotans, but
anyone from the midwest. We understand those conditions. We got that on lock. Go slow, stay patient, and everything will be fine. Well that just isn’t the
case down here in the south. Some of these drivers have no idea what they are doing, and that’s the scariest thing. I know I won’t be a part of an accident
unless it involves somebody else’s stupidity.
It didn’t take long until the conditions started getting worse, and we began to see cars piling up in the ditches. Some were minor slips, while others were
full blown blockbuster flips. Things started getting stressful, but I knew what we had to do. I gave Todd the best advice possible and he listened. We got
ourselves sandwiched between two semis and drove at a constant 20 miles an hour until the conditions cleared up. It’s always safe to stay behind a
semi-truck. They know what they are doing, and you are less likely to find yourself in any type of accident caused by your neighbors, and the roads are
likely to be safest after a stream of semis have driven on them.
We finally found dry land and easily made it to the tournament site. Here’s what I played:
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (21)
The tournament itself went swimmingly. I got to spend some time with friends, eat barbeque, and find my way to another Standard Grand Prix top 8. Like all
before it, I quickly was dispatched without a piece of hardware and found myself heading home. I wanted to complain about my horrendous draws in the
semifinals, but what could I really say? I had a good deck, played it well, and got lucky enough to get my seventh Standard Grand Prix top 8 out of nine
since 2012. I even got the infamous Brian Kibler tweet of approval!
Can we ban @fffreakmtg from Standard
GPs? He’s just too dominant in the format. #GPMemphis
— Brian
Kibler (@bmkibler) February 22, 2015
As you all know, my tournament reports tend to be less meaty so I can save room for dessert. Abzan Control with Fleecemane Lions in the sideboard was and
still is one of the best decks to be playing. Let’s talk about why that is and how you are supposed to play out each matchup. I’ll leave the story telling
to Patrick Chapin and Brian Braun-Duin.
Will Fleecemane Lion still be good?
Yes! One thousand times yes! This card is the perfect addition to the sideboard for this deck. Without it, the deck is somewhat clunky and has a high risk
of having opponents easily get underneath it with aggressive creatures. The card plays an important role in post sideboard games by allowing the deck to
have efficient removal spells alongside a denser threat package.
But won’t people be prepared for them?
Sure? I don’t really know how you prepare for a 3/3 that costs two mana. Sideboarding in Fleecemane Lion is as far from a glass cannon strategy as it gets.
Just because they now expect the card does not mean it won’t be good against them.
We’ve already talked about why you don’t want the lions in the maindeck, but the same doesn’t hold true if they are now prepared for the feisty little
beast. Just because we want their maindeck Lightning Strikes and Bile Blights to have bad targets in game 1 does not mean we aren’t excited if they keep
them in after sideboard. Fleecemane Lion is simply a small part of our sideboard strategy. We don’t actually care if they live or die. Them spending slots
in their deck to change their game into interacting with him is exactly what we want. It is simply just a good card we have access to.
So what about those matchups?
VS R/W Aggro
Game 1 is all about who gets initial traction. Both decks are capable of some very devastating starts, but they have a higher percentage chance of
achieving said starts due to the punishing effect Goblin Rabblemaster has on a game. Thoughtseize is actually quite decent in game 1, since their deck is
filled with weaker cards like Lightning Strike, Wild Slash, and Hordeling Outburst.
One of the more interesting lines I have been taking with Thoughtsieze on turn 2 after a turn 1 tap-land is to scry before casting the spell. Prior to Fate
Reforged, the order of operations was to always view their hand and assess the situation before making any decisions with Temples. The format feels
slightly faster that knowing if there is a good card on the top of the deck for the matchup could completely change what card you take from their hand.
Simply another removal spell on the top could change your decision of taking a creature and allowing you to strip a precious removal spell from their hand.
After all, you would probably keep the removal spell on top anyway, but you now have stripped them of their most precious resource.
It’s difficult to know how they are going to sideboard, but our general strategy should always be to preserve our threats. Being able to be proactive
allows us to at least have a gameplan if our removal doesn’t line up well. Cards like Abzan Charm are either dead or necessary depending on if they have
the resources to cut their two toughness guys for cards like Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Ashcloud Phoenix. Hopefully the most recent Grand Prix will help
differentiate between them since people will start playing Ben Stark’s version.
Out:
In:
*The third Drown in Sorrow and the second Glare of Heresy are dependent on how you predict they will sideboard and what cards they have access to.
Sideboarded games are much more interesting than game one, but at the same time are bigger blow outs. Both decks now have the ability to run away with the
game due to aggressive starts or all threats being dealt with. It is crucial to figure out if the game will boil down to a race or attrition early to know
how to play your Sorin, Solemn Visitors. This planeswalker is great to play on turn four to summon Tom Ross onto the battlefield when you think the game
will be based around resource management, but saving it for a huge life swing is exactly what you need if you predict dragons to be in the forecast.
VS Abzan Aggro
This matchup is much more cut and dry. They are going to try to beat you down as hard as humanly possible. Wingmate Roc is one of their best spells, which
will always need an immediate answer. Those answers include killing everything in sight and succeeding, Thoughtseizing the card from their hand, casting
End Hostilities, or putting a +1/+1 counter on each of them with Abzan Charm only to blow them both up with Elspeth, Sun’s Champion.
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
Out (on the play):
In (on the play):
There really isn’t much about this matchup that you need to know. Kill all of the things and make sure you don’t fall too far behind. Post-sideboard games
play out a bit slower, since they will have some planeswalkers in their deck, but it doesn’t change the goal. Kill all the things while trying to build
some sort of a board presence.
VS Devotion-Based Green Decks
Game 1 is slightly more difficult than sideboarded since you don’t have access to Fleecemane Lion, Drown in Sorrow, or the third End Hostilities.
Fleecemane Lion plays an important role after sideboard due to how nicely it interacts with End Hostilities. I have been calling it “The Build your Own
Duneblast.”
Just keep them off anything important and prioritize surviving to Elspeth, Sun’s Champion before anything else.
Out:
In:
VS W/U Heroic
This matchup is all about keeping them from creating big monsters that draw them extra cards and kill you. It sounds easy, but their spells cost so much
less than ours that it can make it difficult. Just remember that they have worse topdecks than you, so it is important to not try to get cute with the
matchup.
Out:
In:
VS Abzan Control
The mirror match is very similar to how Mono-Black Devotion mirrors played out in the previous Standard format. Sometimes someone just gets ahead, and it
is impossible to catch up. This especially holds true for my version of the deck, since I chose to not have access to an Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. If you
think the mirror will be popular, you might want to find a slot for the eight-mana planeswalker, since it is the only way to catch up on terrible board
positions.
The goal of this matchup is to hit lands off your Courser of Kruphix and draw as many Abzan Charms/Read the Bones as possible. I will say that I’m not sure
how to sideboard the mirror match now that both players might have access to Fleecemane Lion, since the entire deck becomes potentially playable outside of
the Erase. You will have to experiment with this matchup to see how you want to approach it, but nothing is out of the question.
I hope you guys like my take on Abzan Control. This deck was the hot knife I was looking for when I embarked upon Memphis, and I am fairly certain it will
continue to show great success. After all, it is just the best cards in the format smashed into one deck.