One of the most common questions I get from people who haven’t played Time Spiral Block yet is if there are any viable swarm or weenie aggro decks that are viable. Most of them have heard people like me go on about how slow the format is and that White Weenie was doing well before Planar Chaos came onto MTGO. Now aggro decks have to deal with decks with Damnation, better Wall of Roots strategies, and other annoyances like Porphyry Nodes. This has led some to question if it was reasonable to get a version to a top tier level.
To answer this question will take most of the article, but for those with little time and attention span, the answer is yes (for now anyway). The list can be located by using find on **. Thank you for your time and see you next week, you crazy A.D.D.
WW in this block has enough tools and evasion creatures to get a nice consistent turn 5.5-6 goldfish, even through a blocker or two. What it lacks is a huge trump or way to seal the game up like WW decks of old. Unfortunately for us, the only thing we can really do to stall the game out is play Mana Tithe.
On the other hand, this block features some of the best aggressive White two-drops we’ve had in a long time, along with a reprint of Blastoderm in our color. Not to mention Griffin Guide (hereby referred to as GG) is an excellent addition to help enhance attacking and weaken removal. So while limited in some facets, the deck has enough playable cards to be a force.
WW effectively wants to end each game around turn 6 or 7 depending on the draw and how much resistance the opponent can put up against evasion creatures.
WW decks need to focus around two main goals.
1. WW needs to be fast enough to end the game before major threats like Bogardan Hellkite and Wild Pair take the game over.
2. It needs to be able to withstand a Damnation or Sulfurous Blast without losing the majority of its forces. Alternatively the deck could be running ways to disable or stop Wrath effects directly.
WW Construction
Creatures (in order of mana cost)
Icatian Javelineers – Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a two-power one-mana creature in this block… instead we’re stuck settling for the little 1/1 that pings when he’s useless by, oh, turn 3. Turn 4 if you feel lucky. Javelineers get the nod in almost every WW deck out of necessity for a one-drop to force some early game damage while at the same time allowing you a little more leeway against defenders.
Sidewinder Sliver – Terrible even with Sinew Sliver, in roughly 70% of your games you’ll have a nice 1/1 flanker for your troubles. Even if you do lay down Sinew to pump him up, all you’ve done is make Sidewinder not a complete waste of space in your deck. Not to mention Sinew is just a bear as far as our deck is concerned, which is hardly what were looking for in efficient creatures.
Sinew Sliver – I used to like Sinew a lot, until I actually bothered counting how many times he was becoming a 3/3 in a relevant time frame. The vast 13-15% of the time I’d get 3/3 Slivers by turn 4 was offset by the complete lack of evasion or flanking. I mean if you’re down on your luck and looking for two drops, go for it, but you’ve got better options for the most part.
Soltari Priest – Cha-ching, now we get to creatures that don’t make you vomit in your mouth a little when you play them. Play four of these, because they’re pretty much the best evasion creatures you have. Protection from Rift Bolt isn’t a big deal here, but being able to dodge Wall of Roots or an annoying Morph is paramount for the deck.
Knight of the Holy Nimbus – He doesn’t fly or have shadow, but he can beat anything short of a Wall for the first four or five turns of the game. The fact is that there is no other good evasion creature to replace him with, so you have to run him. Serra Avenger doesn’t exactly count as a two-drop and since you need about eight two-drops in the deck anyway, he’s your man.
Squire – I’m the keeper of the cheese and you’re the lemon merchant. That’s what Squire is going to be telling you.
Whitemane Lion – A rescue creature that is otherwise a bear with no evasion. This guy is strictly worse than either of the abovementioned two-drops, or even Sinew Sliver most of the time.
Serra Avenger – A 3/3 flyer for WW, what’s not to like? In block you can’t be picky about your late drops (unless you’re in Green). As long as you treat Avenger as a four-drop you’ll never be disappointed.
Cloudchaser Kestrel – Kestrel is a tempting addition to the maindeck because of the evasion, and a sometimes-relevant ability for the mirror (and against Pair decks). That said, I couldn’t see this being anything more than a 58th/59th card type of addition to the deck. As a board card, Kestrel has a lot more value, being a cheap solution to enchantments and giving you another man against other aggro.
Mangara of Corondor – Mangara is a weak creature on the whole, but amazing against Teferi decks and other single-minded strategies. By using Mangara, you gain the capability to preemptively disrupt any plays from Teferi or Mishra decks, forcing them to generally deal with her or set-up Willbender before doing laying anything relevant on the board. Mangara also has some uses against decks like Scryb & Force post-board when it’ll generally be more useful than Temporal Isolation in dealing with Spectral Force or Timbermare.
I wouldn’t run Mangara in the maindeck due to the obvious power numbers, but as a board option she’s a very valid choice.
Stonecloaker – Another rescue creature, but with evasion and three power, this one has enough of a punch to be worth considering. Trading in a one or two-drop for Stonecloaker is usually a fine deal, the fact that you can actively save your men from cards like Strangling Soot, Void and co. is gravy. I run four in my own build, but I can see why some dislike the card. It’s not a true three-drop and costs a notable amount of mana and tempo if used on a two-drop and not countering a removal spell. I think the pros outweigh the cons for this deck though, and would recommend running some in all WW builds.
Opal Guardian – Nearly every deck in the format is going to be playing creatures in the early or mid-game and that’s when Guardian shines. The obvious downside is the uselessness of Guardian in multiples, limited use against Teferi and B/R control and is a terrible topdeck in the late-game. To me that’s a big issue compared to other maindeck slots unless you’re using it purely to gain an advantage against aggro. As a board card though, he can come in against a number of mid-range decks like Blink Riders, Scryb & Force and be useful.
Celestial Crusader – A limited Crusade attached to an overcosted 2/2 flyer. At best when it comes into play you’re getting a 2-3 power boost to the team, but an otherwise weak creature. Unlike Sulfur Elemental, which may cause significant damage to Teferi decks on its own, Crusader’s two-power just isn’t going to get the job done when you spend the entire turn on the play. A fine option to combat Sulfur Elemental as a board option, but really that’s all the Crusader is good for.
Calciderm – New Blastoderm. Kicks people in the shins. Play four.
Shade of Trokair – I like these guys purely because they help the terrible one slot by giving you a legitimate play. Not to mention when they come back, their complete houses against opposing WW, Damnation control, and other aggro decks. These guys help even when suspended; via psychological factors and forcing the opponent to weigh his options heavier than he normally would.
Can I wait the extra turn /damage to take Shade out with the rest of the squad? Will I take less damage in the long run by letting the WW player tie up his mana each turn? Questions like this give the opponent more of a chance to screw something up.
On the other hand, Shade itself is pretty weak. It’s slow to come off suspend and the normal four-mana price-tag will deter many from even considering him. Personally I like having 2-3 to help with my one-drops and to give me a late-game threat like Calciderm does. However I can understand why some loathe playing a more situational card like Shade, to those I would say at least consider him as a board option for the mirror.
Ivory Giant – A rarity in most builds, but one of those creatures that occasionally pops up. Like Shade, Giant provides you with a potential one-drop with benefits down the line, only this gives you a real kick when he does come back into play. Against a deck like Scryb & Force, you essentially get one free shot at the opponent with their pants down. Realistically it might be good enough for the maindeck, because the last four slots or so all feature situational cards, but at the moment until the meta is a little more defined they seem like more of a board card versus mid-range aggro.
Spells
Sunlance – It doesn’t do enough, short and sweet.
Temporal Isolation – The more I played with refined builds of WW, the less I liked this card. Most of your creatures have evasion and the ones that don’t can win in combat against anything short of a Wall of Roots in the early game. Many times I simply never wanted to cast Isolation on the defenders that might be played early to get in the way and it did nothing against non-creature threats. Mana Tithe is simply better in the role of getting as much damage through as you can.
Griffin Guide – The best creature enchantment in the format and the only one I’ve found worth playing so far. Built-in protection from removal makes this card better than almost any three-drop you can play.
Mana Tithe – Mana Tithe is the best White spell the deck has from the block so far. I couldn’t even have imagined how amazing a White Force Spike would be in this type of block. By playing a full set in your maindeck it accomplishes two very important tasks.
One is that you’ve now forced the opponent to fall out of any sort of mana efficiency if he isn’t willing to risk one of his more important cards get countered at a mana loss. This means huge problems for your deck like Damnation and Spectral Force are going to be coming down that much later. The second is that you can actually now counter early plays like Wall of Roots, Prismatic Lens, etc. that may slow you down or just help impede the opponent’s development.
So again, run a full set, preferably in the maindeck.
The List **
Creatures (30)
- 4 Soltari Priest
- 4 Icatian Javelineers
- 2 Cloudchaser Kestrel
- 4 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
- 4 Serra Avenger
- 4 Calciderm
- 4 Shade of Trokair
- 4 Stonecloaker
Lands (22)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
General Matches
It almost seems silly to talk about individual matches because each archetype has at least two or three significant variations. But I’ll give it a shot anyway against what I have tested against.
In general, most Teferi decks don’t have enough removal or significant creature presence to compete with an early onslaught. Generally the only way the U/B versions have to significantly slow you down is laying a morph blocker on turn 3 (which honestly doesn’t stop much) or casting Damnation. And if your running Mana Tithe, we know they probably won’t risk a Damnation until they’ve got five lands in play first. Post-board it gets a bit uglier for you, because they’ll typically then have enough Sudden Death and Snapback to stall you out until the bigger men they have – and Damnation – get fully online.
Against B/R control decks, this deck is nothing more than a speed bump. It’s incredibly difficult to beat any deck packing 14-16 removal spells, let alone when half of them are board sweepers. The early creature drops they normally run such as Sedge Sliver also don’t make life any easier for you. Basically the deck is impossible to beat, barring them getting mana screwed in the early game.
Meanwhile, stuff like Blink Riders and Scrub & Force are completely subjective, result wise. It all depends on builds. For example, I had an easy time with most of the Blink Rider builds I came across until I played against one with Stingscourger, Riftwing Cloudskate, and Sulfurous Blast. The key to these matches is the turn in which the opponent can start defending against your various evasion creatures.
Most of the Scryb decks play very few ways to actually stop Soltari Priest for example. Lay one turn 2 and GG on turn 3, and we’re off to the races! Even a turn 4 Spectral Force will have problems racing you at that point. That in part is why WW is so annoying to play against. Certain games it’ll constantly swarm you with men that are difficult to block or destroy. Other times the deck will dump a few random weenies onto the table with no curve or game-plan and get smashed. It’s annoying, I assure you.
Basic WW Gameplan and Execution
At the moment, I’m just talking the general WW builds I’ve seen, so if I miss something specific to your own build, don’t take it as a cut and start complaining. Thanks.
The basic plan in every match is roughly the same; play three critters on turns 1-4, and somewhere in between play Griffin Guide. Sounds easy enough right? Unfortunately the deck is quite straight-forward and pretty much every deck in the format has a plan to stall a ground attack until they can come back and smash you. So the key behind your moves are to cause as much damage as possible while not expending all of your resources.
This is done by using cards like Stonecloaker, Mana Tithe, and Griffin Guide to keep your men alive for as long as possible. After that, it’s simply up to what your deck coughs up to bring you the rest of the way. Like many of the aggro decks currently in the format, the deck doesn’t feature a whole lot of reach. If you can’t win by turn 8, the odds of you winning are incredibly low.
Execution is key, which means properly planning out how many drops you have at each slot, if you plan to use stalling tactics to delay the board and if / when you want to use Stonecloaker. For example, I’ve seen a number of players not use Stonecloaker to save a Knight or Soltari Priest in the face of Damnation. Though it depends on the hand, this usually puzzles me, because of the mana investment and time factor involved.
If one uses Stonecloaker to save a two-drop, then on the following turn it leaves you open to either play a one and two-drop or lay a pair of two-drops on the board. If you save Stonecloaker, it will cost at least five mana to resolve Stonecloaker and a one-drop for the same amount of power. And if you only have a two-drop to go with Cloaker, then the price-tag moves up quite a bit.
That’s what I mean by execution, once you lay the creatures down, you’ll have minimal control over how effective they are. This is why it’s important to consider the amount of damage you can force through for the next couple of turns. The relevant decisions you have are few and far between, so focus on the lines of play that maximize damage and then weigh risk.
Anyway, with luck this will give you an idea of where I went with my WW build, even if you don’t agree with the build I settled upon.
Josh Silvestri
Team Reflection
Email me at: joshDOTsilvestriATgmailDOTcom