In the wake of Pro Tour Magic Origins, many people are fine-tuning their decks to combat the new metagame. Others are backpacking off other ideas in order to make new ones. Those are the decks I’m interested in.
DARJEELINGTEA has a little stew going, utilizing the power of Hangarback Walker – easily the breakout card of Pro Tour Magic Origins – and combining it with Ken Yukihiro’s Hardened Scales / Managorger Hydra combo to form the backbone of his control shell. Instead of trying to control the game at all stages, this deck is trying to play more of a Fish-style game where you attempt to protect a threat and ride it to victory.
There are some odd choices here, but it seems to have worked out. If the mana’s a little rough, Dissolve isn’t necessarily a card you jam four copies of. When you’re trying to play Hardened Scales on turn one and Hero’s Downfall or Dissolve on turn three, something’s got to give. In this case, cards like Clash of Wills and Calculated Dismissal take the slots of what would otherwise be occupied with CC spells.
Four copies of Ultimate Price is a little aggressive, especially since U/R Thopters did so well at the Pro Tour and has very few targets against that deck. With the new metagame, we’re going to all have to make adjustments and that seems like the simplest thing to start with.
Creatures (8)
Lands (22)
Spells (30)
- 2 Forest
- 2 Island
- 1 Negate
- 2 Jace's Ingenuity
- 2 Death Wind
- 4 Ultimate Price
- 2 Hero's Downfall
- 3 Dissolve
- 4 Hardened Scales
- 2 Crux of Fate
- 2 Languish
- 2 Clash of Wills
- 2 Calculated Dismissal
Sideboard
