I haven’t played this much Magic in a long time.

The last two weeks I’ve been playing a lot of Magic Online with various decks, tweaking and tuning them. Sometimes it’s not about preparing for an upcoming tournament; it’s about trying to figure out the puzzle.

After some initial work, I was here:

Naya

Gerry Thompson

1st Place at Test deck on 06-09-2013

Standard

Creatures (30)

Planeswalkers (3)

3 Domri Rade

Lands (24)

Spells (3)

3 Bonfire of the Damned

Sideboard

Last weekend I made Top 8 of a Magic Online Premier Event with this:

Naya

EMTEE

7th Place at Magic Online Premier Event on 06-09-2013

Standard

Creatures (31)

Planeswalkers (2)

2 Domri Rade

Lands (24)

Spells (3)

3 Bonfire of the Damned

Sideboard

After that tournament, I would play this:

Naya

Gerry Thompson

Test deck on 06-16-2013

Standard

Creatures (30)

Planeswalkers (3)

3 Domri Rade

Lands (24)

Spells (3)

3 Bonfire of the Damned

Sideboard

Yes, this is incredibly close to the list that Willy Edel used to get second at Grand Prix Guadalajara. The reason my list eventually gravitated toward his is mostly because of the R/G Aggro matchup, which is heavily played on Magic Online. For a real life tournament, my list might be a touch different.

The main thing I changed was moving away from Strangleroot Geist and toward Flinthoof Boar. R/G Aggro beats the bigger decks by having a huge tempo advantage. By the time a deck like Naya (or even Junk Reanimator) starts presenting roadblocks in the hopes of stabilizing, R/G already has one-to-three creatures in play. With Firefist Striker and Ghor-Clan Rampager, it’s pretty easy for R/G to make your best blocker close to useless. That further cements their tempo advantage, and then something like Hellrider finishes you off.

Unflinching Courage was my go-to sideboard plan, but with Strangleroot Geist they could often take the first hit, Searing Spear my guy, and quickly undo the work I did. With a slightly above average draw, the Courage wouldn’t be enough to race or buy me enough time to truly stabilize. With Flinthoof Boar instead of Strangleroot Geist, you are presenting a 3/3 that is difficult for their 2/2s to get through. Once your pig has some Courage, it’s almost impossible to remove or block, and it gains you a significantly higher amount of life.

Because of the creature advantage R/G would naturally have, I started playing Experiment One in large numbers. By turn 3, it would hopefully be a 3/3, and I’d have another real blocker. The games where you don’t have a one-drop are significantly different than ones where you don’t, so I wanted more.

However, in other matchups, drawing multiple one-drops was pretty bad, as you’d be left with a bunch of 1/1s. You want exactly one one-drop per game, whether it’s Avacyn’s Pilgrim accelerating you or Experiment One doing a Wild Nacatl impression. Willy’s list was even closer to perfect than I could have imagined. Cutting an Experiment One is almost certainly correct, and it might be better to only play two, just as Willy did.

In that Premier Event, I didn’t face a single R/G deck, but I did face Usokui3 twice. If you follow my content at all, you’ll know that I’ve been promoting his Four-Color Reanimator deck for a few weeks now, and he effortlessly dispatched me in the Swiss and in Top 8. Willy went 1-3 against Junk Reanimator in Guadalajara, so that matchup definitely didn’t seem very good.

I wanted something a little…darker.

Dark Naya

Gerry Thompson

Test deck on 06-16-2013

Standard

Creatures (23)

Planeswalkers (1)

1 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Lands (24)

Spells (12)

Sideboard

I’ll admit that this list looks odd. For starters, there are Overgrown Tombs that don’t cast Boros Reckoner and Blood Crypt / Dragonskull Summit that doesn’t cast Voice of Resurgence. Admittedly, the Dragonskull Summit should probably get cut, but I’m not sure yet.

The goal behind building this deck was to find something that could stand up to red decks, blue decks, and green decks. Since I was playing on Magic Online, beat red was my first focus. Initial versions of the deck had Pillar of Flame, but if you’re not casting Pillar until turn 3 (after you’ve effectively skipped turn 2 to cast Farseek), the fact that it costs one mana doesn’t actually help you. If you want to use cheap spot removal to slow down aggressive decks, you have to cast it on time regularly.

Something like Warleader’s Helix is closer to what I was looking for. Searing Spear got the nod over Pillar in the maindeck because I could blow out Ghor-Clan Rampager shenanigans and kill Olivia Voldaren. It could be Mizzium Mortars, but I doubt I’d ever overload it.

For blue and Reanimator, I wanted powerful black cards like Sin Collector, Slaughter Games, and Rakdos’s Return. Sin Collector gave me another nice target for Restoration Angel, which I desperately wanted. Obviously, a 3/4 flier is fine, but it can be brutal when it comes with a Duress attached.

Blood Baron of Vizkopa over Thragtusk is a huge gamble, but it’s one that I’m willing to make. With decks like Junk Aristocrats out there, it’s nice to have a five-drop that mostly KOs them. They can always burn you out with Blood Artist or swarm you with Lingering Souls plus Gavony Township, but if you can’t stop that from happening, Thragtusk wouldn’t have won the game for you anyway.

The one thing I’ve noticed is how much worse it makes you against control. Granted, Thragtusk isn’t a hotshot there either, but a random guy that leaves behind another random guy after a Supreme Verdict can be relevant. There appears to be a resurgence of control online—or perhaps it has always had a steady fan base—but either way Blood Barons have definitely been lacking there. Thragtusk over Blood Baron is an upgrade in some places, but I’d want some Barons in my sideboard for sure.

For the most part, my plan worked, and I was doing well. Every game was close, which I kind of liked, but it felt like I could do better. Despite having efficient beaters, I wasn’t winning games off pure aggression like I was with Naya and its Thundermaw Hellkites.

My plan of having efficient creatures wasn’t all it was cracked up to be against U/W/R Control. Voice of Resurgence wasn’t an effective clock when it wasn’t backed up by anything else, and the wee Elemental it left behind was a minor annoyance for them. Against aggro decks, it was good, but the mana was never perfect.

Aside

How sick is it that whenever I play something else against U/W/R, their deck flows very smoothly, they usually beat me, and I get super jealous? I have that twinge of regret every time my opponent casts Sphinx’s Revelation for six while I have eight lands and no cards in hand. Perhaps I was a little hasty in dismissing U/W/R, but I’ve been super happy playing with all different kinds of decks lately. My conversations with Brad Nelson have even been about Magic. It’s super weird!

I should have taken Reid Duke advice and finished out my tournament at #SCGBALT. Dropping at 2-2 gave me little information as to whether I should play the deck again the next week. Instead, I was frustrated, mostly because I lost a game to Junk Reanimator when I had all counterspells and he had a Cavern of Souls and then later lost a game to a different Junk Reanimator deck when I had all interaction and he had Sin Collectors and Acidic Slimes.

That’s just how it goes sometimes, but I should have stayed in the tournament. Granted, playing in those win-a-boxes was a lot of fun, so it’s not like I gave up a ton of value.

EMTEE – HUMAN Buying Sphinx’s Revelation 26

End Aside

One of the main things I learned by playing these midrange decks was that I really wanted a card drawer for the midrange mirrors. Garruk, Primal Hunter has always been my go-to guy for that job, so I started slotting him in wherever possible. Domri Rade is a fine option in the Naya deck, but Garruk is more reliable.

There were so many games where I flooded out and they topdecked better, but there are always things you can do to mitigate those risks.

I wasn’t quite done yet. Dark Naya didn’t seem dark enough, so I put some virtual sleeves on this:

Jund

Gerry Thompson

Test deck on 06-16-2013

Standard

Creatures (13)

Planeswalkers (2)

2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Lands (25)

Spells (20)

Sideboard

Really? This is what it’s come to?

It felt bad but good enough. The white cards in Dark Naya, like Sin Collector, Restoration Angel, and Blood Baron of Vizkopa, allowed me to fight on a different axis than Jund does, but I figured if I wasn’t getting the free wins that Naya was then I should probably just be playing Jund.

This is for Magic Online where R/G Aggro is rampant. You probably won’t want those maindeck Vampire Nighthawks in real life, but online they are quite good. Other than those, the biggest difference between my version and the stock (Reid Duke, Owen Turtenwald, etc.) version is the lack of Sire of Insanity. That guy is awesome, especially when powered through a Cavern of Souls, but with the lack of control decks Rakdos’s Return felt like a generally superior card.

The rest of the format is speeding up, their curves are getting lower, and they will likely have few cards in hand by the time you get to six mana. If you cast Sire of Insanity, you will likely lose some gas, and then they get the first draw step. With Rakdos’s Return, you can clear their hand away before you sweep away their board with Bonfire of the Damned or Mizzium Mortars. You can also use it proactively to protect your Olivia Voldaren from removal spells. In the late game, it’s a Fireball, whereas Sire of Insanity is a Craw Wurm.

Which would you rather peel on turn 12?

Liliana of the Veil is not good against the majority of the field, so I’m not playing any. I’m relying on Barter in Blood or blocking to kill Geist of Saint Traft. Invisible Stalker can be Bonfired away easily enough.

Tragic Slip could easily be Pillar of Flame, but I’d be worried about loading up on Pillars against a mirror match, U/W/R, Reanimator, etc. From playing the Voice side of things, Jund didn’t seem to care about my Elementals unless they were basically dead on the swing back.

After trying many options, I decided on Underworld Connections in the sideboard. They help out in midrange and control matchups, whereas something like Deadbridge Chant might be too slow. If your opponent is trying to Acidic Slime you, that probably won’t work out so well, but I think most Jund opponents have something like Vraska the Unseen or Deadbridge Chant in their sideboards. However, I want Acidic Slime against their mirror trumps and against weird stuff like Assemble the Legion.

Past that, I like Duress to force through my trumps and the full amount of Ground Seals post-board.

With Standard shifting week to week, the importance of being Above the Curve or One Step Ahead cannot be stressed enough. This is what I tend to be good at, so I’m going to highlight a few specific cards and whether their stock is rising or falling.

Warleader’s Helix: Up

Much like how Blue Sun’s Zenith was hardly playable, so was Lightning Blast. As Sphinx’s Revelation has shown us, tag on some value life gain and a card can end up being pretty powerful. That’s the case with Warleader’s Helix. Obviously, Lightning Helix was busted, and the fact that Warleader’s Helix is also insane despite power creep just goes to show you how good we had it.

Helix kills planeswalkers, kills medium-sized creatures, and kills players. It also gains you enough life to be a Fog most of the time. It’s one of the few cards that can lock up a game against aggro once you’ve dealt with their initial rush, similar to Sphinx’s Revelation but much cheaper.

Sire of Insanity: Down

Control is getting badmouthed pretty heavily these days, and I’m certainly part of that. If fewer people are going to be playing control, you should experiment with the idea of dropping the Cavern of Souls / Sire of Insanity soft lock from your Jund maindecks. Rakdos’s Return is still playable, except against a wider variety of decks. At worst, it’s a Searing Flesh, which is typically much better than Craw Wurm.

Profit // Loss: ???

Originally, I was going to say that Profit // Loss is fantastic right now, specifically as an answer to Junk Aristocrats. With Brad Nelson advocating a mirror sideboard plan that includes Intangible Virtue, Profit // Loss might be unplayable before ever getting to see any real amount of play. That said, if your opponents don’t have Virtues, this is probably the best thing you can be doing in the mirror.

I’ve even given more than a few beatings to my own Krenko’s Command deck online with Profit // Loss. Sorry guys!

Curse of Death’s Hold: ???

Curse is basically the same thing as Profit // Loss except much slower. In a slower deck like Jund, it’s probably fine because you’d rather have the permanent answer than a one-shot deal, especially in a deck with Bonfire of the Damned. That said, it might be too little too late.

Blood Baron of Vizkopa: Up

This guy is pretty nice. As it turns out, a lot of the removal is black and/or white. When the creatures are multicolored, a lot of them end up being black and/or white as well. The biggest stain on this guy is Thragtusk, but if you can kill the front half, Blood Baron will do work for you, I promise.

Sin Collector: Down

The first Sin Collector is pretty bad. Between card drawing, redundant copies of cards, and things like Snapcaster Mage, it’s not hard for control to find the Sphinx’s Revelation or sweeper they need against you. Taking out one card, even if they can’t Snapcaster it, probably isn’t going to make much difference. For the most part, the 2/1 body isn’t anything to get excited about.

Unless I was dedicated and there were matchups where I knew I wanted four Sin Collectors or I had something like Restoration Angel in my deck, it’s very rare that I’d actually want Sin Collector in my sideboard. It just doesn’t do enough. Oftentimes, a real threat is better.

Obzedat, Ghost Council: Down

He’s got the same drawbacks as Blood Baron, such as not being able to rumble with Thragtusk and live, with very little upside. Decks that are capable of casting both need a good reason to play Obzedat over Blood Baron.

Paraselene & Ray of Revelation: Down

Focus on what matters. Out of the Bant "Hexproof" decks, it is likely that you’re losing to their creatures rather than their enchantments. Something like Naya might want access to Ray of Revelation because it’s ok against some control decks and they want to kill Unflinching Courage so they can race. For the most part, I wouldn’t expect a couple Disenchants to beat Bant Hexproof on their own.

Pillar their Voices and edict/sweep their Geists. After that, you should have an easy enough time.

Vault of the Archangel: Up

Or race them! This is the land that Junk Reanimator wants even more than Cavern of Souls. There are so many games that come down to racing—or at least games where Junk needs a big life swing to stay in the game in order for their late-game cards to take over.

Huntmaster of the Fells: Up

I have never been a huge Huntmaster fan, but that has changed recently. Against R/G Aggro and their Firefist Strikers, never has immediately putting two bodies in play been more relevant. This guy is fantastic in that matchup and does a good job at bridging the gap between your spot removal and late-game spells.

Terminus: Up

Other than my distaste for miracles because of my own laziness, Terminus has very few downsides. If I were playing U/W/R Control in a tournament, I would almost certainly play some. If I were playing Esper Control, I would play four maindeck.

Essence Scatter: Up

If Terminus is a yes, then this is a hell yes. Few decks are playing Cavern of Souls, and if they use their Cavern for Angel, it means their Beasts and Oozes can be countered. Playing two in U/W/R is an easy decision for me, and playing more than that doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Standard continues to be a wild ride. I’m going to keep exploring, likely by returning to the Four-Color Reanimator deck that gave me a sound thrashing. There are also some U/W/R and U/W Flash decklists in my notebook. R/G Aggro also looks hot, but lots of people are telling me that Junk Aristocrats is where it’s at and my results don’t disagree with that assessment.

No matter what, it’s gonna be fun.

GerryT

@G3RRYT on Twitter