Today, we’re going to be looking at a couple of cards, and making a case for why these cards may be a good choice for your main deck and/or sideboard in Standard right now.
Now, each of these cards may or may not be right for your deck, but hopefully, we’ll see a strong enough case for each.
The case for… Pithing Needle. This card is one that is already rising in popularity based on the Planeswalker-based deck that won the Atlanta $5K. Pithing Needle is an easy and elegant answer to Planeswalkers, and is unlikely to be easily answered. Furthermore, as a colorless artifact, it can be easily slotted into any sideboard. However, let’s take a look at it matchup by matchup, looking at the top 5 finishing decks (comprising the top 7 spots) of the Atlanta standard 5K:
Against… Planeswalker Control: Pithing Needle is a huge benefit against the bevy of Planeswalkers in this deck, but can also be set to shut down fetch lands as well, in this case Arid Mesa and Scalding Tarn. Many players don’t realize that if they don’t fetch in response to the Pithing Needle, they can’t activate it afterwards. This is not a triggered ability, by the time you are naming a card with Pithing Needle, it’s too late for the opponent to do anything. Most of you probably know this, but it bears repeating, and even seasoned players often forget to fetch in response, not quite realizing it until it’s too late. Finally, this card will shut down Celestial Colonnade as well, which can be a huge boon in keeping you alive or keeping them from blocking. As far as answers for the Needle, they have 3 Oblivion Rings in the main deck, and only Meddling Mage could be of any assistance from the board of our sample deck. The numbers below are taken from Lewis Laskin First Place Atlanta 5K U/W/R Planeswalker Control deck.
Potential cards to name: Gideon Jura (3); Ajani Vengeant (3); Jace, the Mind Sculptor (3); Elspeth, Knight-Errant (3); Arid Mesa (3); Scalding Tarn (3); Celestial Colonnade (4); Tectonic Edge (2);
Against… Jund: Jund has a number of spicy targets for Pithing Needle, whether it is early game or late game. Putrid Leech is a good idea early, both for your life total and because it stops them from haumphing on your Wall of Omens. Further up the chain, it also stops Garruk Wildspeaker from Overrunning you, and Siege-Gang Commander from machine- gunning you. They’ll still have an army of 1/1’s, but they aren’t Shocks with legs. It’s just a spread out 5/5 for 5. Looking at the mana base, we have Verdant Catacombs to trip up the fetch lands, and a pair of Anima-Lands as potential targets in Raging Ravine and Lavaclaw Reaches. Some of the other options not included in our sample deck, but seen elsewhere, include Oran-Rief, the Vastwood, if they’re running the miser’s one-of, and Master of the Wild Hunt, although those aren’t seeing a ton of play either. As for answers to the Needle, the deck typically runs four Maelstrom Pulses between the main and board, usually split 3-1. Other than that, not really any realistic answers (I doubt Thought Hemorrhage, while capable, would be considered a viable answer here. They’re likely going for something different than preempting your Pithing Needles.) The numbers below are taken from Alex Bertoncini Second Place Atlanta 5K Jund deck.
Potential cards to name: Putrid Leech (3); Siege-Gang Commander (4); Garruk Wildspeaker (2); Lavaclaw Reaches (1); Raging Ravine (4); Verdant Catacombs(4)
Against… Mythic Conscription: Pithing Needle isn’t quite as strong against this deck’s spells, largely only shutting down the pair of Planeswalkers in the deck; Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Jace v. 2.0, although naming a Knight of the Reliquary can also be a powerful play. The greatest power, though, is in the ability to name almost every single non-basic land the deck runs. Our sample deck runs 5 different Fetch or Anima- Lands, specifically Arid Mesa, Celestial Colonnade, Misty Rainforest, Stirring Wildwood, and Verdant Catacombs. All of them are viable targets, although not in that specific order, as mesa is not your first choice. The Mythic deck has one main deck answers in the form of Negate, and Qasali Pridemage out of the board, although Qasali Pridemage can also be named without the ability for responsive Exploding of the offending Pithing Needle. Mythic’s sideboard gives Pithing Needle some additional targets in the form of the aforementioned Pridemage, Dauntless Escort, Admonition Angel, and Thornling, which can certainly help if you are on the Wrath plan. The numbers below are taken from Ali Antraizi’s Fourth Place Atlanta 5K Mythic conscription list.
Potential cards named: Knight of the Reliquary (4); Elspeth, Knight-Errant (2); Jace, the Mind Sculptor (3); Arid Mesa (1); Celestial Colonnade (4); Misty Rainforest (4); Stirring Wildwood (2); Verdant Catacombs (3). Sideboard: Admonition Angel (2); Dauntless Escort (3); Qasali Pridemage (3); Thornling (1)
Against… U/G Polymorph: This is probably one of the least favorable matchups for Pithing Needle. The main deck has minimal targets, in Garruk Wildspeaker, Jace Beleren, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and then the ubiquitous fetch land every deck seems to run, in this case Misty Rainforest. However, our sample deck only runs 8 total targets, with minimal numbers of everything but the fetch land, and nothing in the board either. This is probably not the deck you are bringing Needle in against, as they also have main deck Deprive, Into the Roil, and Spell Pierce, with Negate in the board as well. The numbers below are taken from Tanner Lange’s Fifth Place Atlanta 5K Polymorph list.
Potential cards named: Garruk Wildspeaker (1); Jace Beleren (1); Jace, the Mind Sculptor (2); Misty Rainforest (4)
Against… U/W Tap Out: This is another matchup where Pithing Needle doesn’t shine as bright, in that it has a minimum of targets to hit. It does still hit everybody’s favorite $50 $70 Planeswalker, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and, as with other decks, it does get the Anima-land, this time in the form of Celestial Colonnade. It can get Tectonic Edge, too, if that is a concern for you. However, no fetch lands in this version. In the sideboard, Luminarch Ascension is a possible card to name as well, and one that can wait until they have 3 counters built up. As for answers, though, they do have Oblivion Ring in the main, as well as Kor Sanctifiers in the sideboard. However, I don’t think that Pithing Needle is as good in this matchup as others, and likely doesn’t get boarded in. Your mileage, of course, may vary, and it also depends on the kinds of activated abilities they may have if they differ from our sample deck. The numbers below are taken from Chris Simpson’s Sixth Place Atlanta 5K U/W Tap-Out deck.
Potential cards named: Jace, the Mind Sculptor (3); Celestial Colonnade (4); Tectonic Edge (3). Sideboard: Luminarch Ascension (3)
Verdict: I think Pithing Needle has incredible value right now, as it is effective in many matchups, and largely underutilized. As the meta game adapts, expect its effectiveness to correlate with the amount of targets and answers present.
The case for… Spell Pierce: Spell Pierce won’t get quite the diatribe that Pithing Needle did with a full matchup analysis, but suffice to say, I believe the card to be very strong. So far, the only decks I have found that are using it are Polymorph decks, as additional cheap protection for their combo. However, I think it can be utilized well in most Blue decks as a cheap answer to Planeswalkers. Additionally, it can also answer problematic cards from Jund (Blightning and Maelstrom Pulse) which are often cast off of cascade with no extra mana. It also hits many mana accelerants (Rampant Growth and Everflowing Chalice).
Overall, while the card is weaker in the late game, it can cause opponents to stumble in the early game, either risking blowouts or making them wait till the late game, which is where you typically want to get to as a Blue Mage. While hard counters are nice, playing this card can make your opponent reconsider exactly how big X is in their Martial Coup or Mind Spring, or even help win counter wars in a Blue mirror. I have been utilizing it in Legacy in my Merfolk deck (albeit in the sideboard) as well as in the board of Polly Tramp, and I believe it will make it to the main deck there. It has been quite strong. I think it could easily make the main deck in a few different builds.
Shifting Gears, we had our local WPN championship Qualifier the other day. I battled with Jund, finishing second, with my only loss to the eventual winner running U/W Tap Out. Afterwards, we managed to get an 8- man draft going with the prize packs, which was a lot of fun. I first picked a Halimar Wavewatch in a pack with no other levelers, and not much else action, and didn’t look back, forcing U/B levelers with some removal. It helped that Kurt, 2 seats to my left, announced he was going White thanks to the Gideon he opened, and then flashed everyone. Must. I ended up 2-1, losing to the deck with double Pelakka Wurm and double Cadaver Imp . Here’s the deck I drafted:
Leveling Drafts
1 Reinforced Bulwark
1 Champion’s Drake
2 Enclave Cryptologist
2 Halimar Wavewatch
2 Venerated Teacher
1 Nirkana Cutthroat
2 Null Champion
3 Zulaport Enforcer
1 Drake Umbra
1 Narcolepsy
2 Regress
1 Vendetta
2 Corpsehatch
1 Distortion Strike
8 Island
10 Swamp
A few new lessons I learned from the draft:
• Distortion Strike is the absolute nuts. I often would get my 6/6 to hit them once (“Meh, I can go to 14”) and then Distortion Strike for the win. I definitely have this card rising in my pick orders.
• Too many levelers is bad. Too often, I either had Venerated Teacher and no levelers alive, or too many levelers without a teacher. I needed a third teacher (greedy, I know) to make this deck a true 3-0 deck. As it is, without the teacher, I too often had expensive activated abilities I couldn’t fully utilize.
• Where are the bombs? I passed a few of the smallish Eldrazi at common and uncommon, focusing on my theme. This left me open to blowout by the bigger decks that could gain life (read: Pelakka Wurm) I felt comfortable dealing 20 with my deck, but didn’t really have much more reach than that.
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I am looking forward to triple Rise drafts on MODO, and will probably sink some of my cash and summer into them, for sure.
To all of you battling in Regionals/Nats Q’s, Good luck. I’ll be fighting alongside you as well, although I will likely be conceding if I get close enough, as I am already scheduled to be at GenCon for Wizards of the Coast, which I believe is the same weekend.
Until next time, this is Jeff Phillips, reminding you: Don’t make the Loser Choice
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