At the end of last week’s Flores Friday, I said that I was going to go with another version of U/G, and if I didn’t win, that I was going to play G/W at the Philadelphia-area PTQ the next Saturday (last Saturday to you and [present tense] me).
First up, the mock:
Creatures (13)
Lands (23)
Spells (24)
This deck is actually pretty sick but it is hard to play. I probably could have won all my matches at last week’s mock, but I made some minor mistakes and the margins didn’t hold. This is a common theme when you are playing a rogue deck in a format of very powerful decks. I stole a good deal of the tech from Brian Kowal (a lot of the maindeck threes, the ability to Gifts for Top, Counterbalance, Living Wish, and Eternal Witness to complete the soft lock), and especially Vedalken Shackles.
Most of the matchups in the format are very favorable provided you hold the margins (Boros, Affinity, especially Ichorid), but TEPS is weaker than with G/W even though you have the Counterbalance combo. U/W ‘Tron is basically unwinnable. I decided to play one Annul in place of the multiple Krosan Grips I had in earlier versions, because I was losing to Mindslaver out of ‘Tron. Annul might not be as devastating as Krosan Grip in other matchups, but it is still quite serviceable; the Plow Unders took up a lot of room, but I felt I needed them against ‘Tron and Tooth and Nail decks.
Both U/G and G/W are very good against the single-minded aggressive decks, but they flip matchups on the details. For instance, Aggro Loam is super easy to beat with Down, Up III; whereas G/W can never beat it in a million years. TEPS is favorable but not a lock for G/W, but U/G can lose to TEPS even if it gets the lock. Neither deck can really beat a ‘Tron deck, but we found in the two mock tournaments that ‘Tron decks can’t really advance in a field that includes Boros.
Quick rundown:
Round 1 – Luis with Ichorid
Game 1 I have the lock with a Trinket Mage, but Luis runs a blind Cabal Therapy nailing my Mage and starting his engines. I rip the singleton Tormod’s Crypt (obviously), and that is that. By “that is that” I don’t mean I won immediately, or he scooped, but that I got a really nice chunk of cardboard and bought the time I needed to close it out.
Game 2 Ichorid is Ichorid, and I lose on maybe a five- or six-outer. He just has the initiative and doesn’t give it up, filling his graveyard with Therapies. While he doesn’t knock down my wall, he knocks more than enough bricks out of it to fit a key horror or two right past.
Game 3 Ichorid is Ichorid, and Luis has a bad set of mulls. I make Chalice of the Void for one, which turns off all his Cabal Therapies to give me time to think, and blanks any Putrid Imps he might mise. Then it is a couple of Shackles that make life annoying.
1-0
Round 2 – Kephalid with TEPS (Jelger version, not Levy)
Game 1 Keph sets up his one Chain of Vapor to break my Counterbalance combo. I make the requisite sacs and shuffles, but am forced to flip my Top to counter the Chain. However, I have knowledge of what is on top. Keph goes through the motions, sequencing into Tendrils. I am very clever and cycle past my Top, revealing Gifts Ungiven, assuming I have it. He uses Sins of the Past to re-buy the Chain, and kills me. Well played (a.k.a. bad beat)!
Game 2 is a good example of me screwing up the margins. I run into the Top / Counterbalance combo quickly, and haphazardly play two more Tops with two mana left. This is awful. I should have simply played one Top, leaving the other on top of my deck along with Eternal Witness, drawing a land. Keph overwhelms me because I can’t properly manipulate after countering his Seething Song. I could have flipped a Top to counter his Careful Study, but that would have forced me to draw the Witness. I didn’t want to waste my last mana and opportunity for a key counter. Of course he ends up discarding Mind’s Desire and needing Sins to win. If I had just left open three instead of two, I would have won this one almost 100%. Instead I lost, and was out of the running.
1-1
Round 3 – Julian with the G/W
Julian (2005 New York State Champion, barn, and lie spewer) played my G/W with Exalted Angel in lieu of Ravenous Baloth, and Orim’s Chant over Gilded Light (essentially the same deck that he would play in the PTQ to a fine record).
Game 1 I would have won, but my mana was very awkward. I hit all my drops, but they were Sandbar, Tree, Wish for Well, Seat; basically I had multiple Shackles access in a matchup where I knew the Shackles were good, but literally no Islands. Julian ran me over with his turns 2 and 3 Angel.
Game 2 I won, easily hitting my resources. All my plays were two-for-one.
Game 3? I screwed up. It came down to the end game, in which Julian made Dragons. Most people don’t understand how good the Dragons are in the G/W deck. They are important card drawing and mana fixing in a deck that has only 22 lands, but they are also a key threat. We found that across many matchups, the board would often lock and the Dragons would finish off the bad guy. Julian’s addition of Exalted Angel was as much an extension of this playtest element of the sevens (can’t Counterbalance me!) as anything else.
I had Shackles, but only four total Islands. I didn’t see that I could swing with Eternal Witness to get two Jitte counters, give Dragon -1/-1, and then steal with Shackles. I played another Shackles and ran the math on Top, but Julian hit another Dragon and threatened pretty big. The last turn I had both Dragons with an untap, with multiple Jitte counters to gain life, and a Baloth, but Julian – from no cards – ripped the only card he could to win the game right there: Sword of Fire and Ice. The Sword’s massive damage boost on the unblockable flyers did exactly enough damage so that I couldn’t live with both Jitte and blocking. Well played (a.k.a. bad beat again)!
Julian definitely bad beat me on the two-outer. Then again, if I had seen the Jitte play, I would have won.
1-2
Round 4 – B/W
This was a straightforward implementation of what Orzhov would and should look like ported to Extended, with all the best cards for its strategy. I got it pretty easily with Jitte advantage in Game 1 (and I only play two… what a miser!) and then by drawing a million Control Magics in Game 2.
2-2
I honestly think the U/G is a fine deck now, especially since I fixed the Boros matchup, which has gone from a 2-8 thrashing to super favorable. However, it is pretty tough to execute. I could easily have gone 4-0 with the same pairings, and someone like Jon or Bob would have, but instead I merely broke even. Not good, even though the skill level at the average mock is multiple times that of the average PTQ.
I therefore shelved U/G short term in favor of glorious, deceptively un-clever (but well positioned) G/W.
Second, the Philly PTQ:
The PTQ was actually in West Chester, not Philadelphia. I’ve always loved Philly PTQs, and my first ever win was in downtown Philly (back when I lived there) in 1996. I have no beef with the current Gray Matter site, though, having qualified for Pro Tour: Charleston there with Paul and Steve.
In the car ride, Steve commented that we were basically playing our same decks from that triumphant teams event: me with G/W, him with ‘Vore mana control (now Terravore though, not Magnivore); Paul really should have been on TEPS.
Creatures (24)
Lands (22)
Spells (14)
Sideboard
For Week 1, at least, this was definitely the best beatdown deck in the format. While I would have made some changes given my knowledge of the actual PTQ, I think it was the right choice in archetype.
Once we have the data, the records will play out. G/W is just not being played at a very high clip versus Affinity, Boros, or even Flow. I don’t know if it will remain the best beatdown deck, or the right Deck to Play, but the format certainly had a gap for it that I don’t know has closed yet.
The main differences from last week come from adding Exalted Angel, which I added after being beaten down by Julian, and were the best card in the deck; I had to add a fifth Plains, which is actually good for Eternal Dragon, and go down to one City-Tree when I added the Pendelhaven. I’m not sure why I keep running Flow in my mind while working on this deck’s manabase, but I do; it’s probably an internal limitation that you aren’t interested in… But it’s there for me. I just went with four Grips because they’re that damn good.
Round 1 – ghweiss with Elemental Bidding
I was actually stunned and terrified at this pairing. I was pretty sure Elemental Bidding would be a monster matchup, and Osyp walked by, chuckled, and gave me the “good luck against a Greg Weiss deck” pat on the head (we had been arguing about G/W beatdown versus G/W Slide being the right choice).
If you don’t know about Greg’s innovative Elemental Bidding deck, here’s how it works: Before Friggorid, before Aggro Loam, Greg was using Stinkweed Imp to set up his graveyard with Mental Note and Careful Study. His deck drops a critical mass of Elementals – including the haste-producing and Overrun-mimicking Flame-kin Zealot – into his bin, sets up threshold for the monster Cabal Ritual, and wins on Patriarch’s Bidding. You can watch a video on the deck here. Honestly, this deck has a very respectable fundamental turn if the format is lacking graveyard hate, and it wins on the second turn a fair amount of the time.
Game 1
I playtested against Greg at LA last year and knew I was outclassed. I also knew that Greg’s deck was completely non-interactive and that if I stuck Troll plus Worship, I’d probably win. I won the flip and stuck my mondo combo turn 3 or 4.
Game 2
I sided in extra Worships and Rule of Law. Rule of Law was actually horrendous, and I was just lucky I didn’t draw it. I knew that Greg would have answers to Worship, but I didn’t think I’d have any other way to win but to stall for time.
What happened was that I got a quick Elves plus Worship, but he got Living Inferno to manage my board (but not immediately, fortunately). Greg drew his Chain of Vapor but I was able to stall and sequence multiple Worships before the Inferno was online. Once it was, I meted out creatures every turn so that I could keep my life north of zero, a key strategy in Magic: The Gathering. Greg used his Inferno to clear both my Elephant tokens in one turn, which cost him the Inferno, but left a clear path to victory with his remaining army on the ground… Except that I was sandbagging Vitu-Ghazi, which I played turn eight. The City-Tree let me create a Saproling whenever lethal damage was on the stack, buying me time to draw real threats. It took a little contortion, but Vitu-Ghazi and three Worships, and eventually an Exalted Angle and Jitte, pulled me out of it.
1-0
Round 2 – Jim Halter with McKeown NO Stick
I actually played this one badly because I got confused about who was playing what deck in the Halter / Luis / Elias / McKeown car, and I had Jim on Solution (i.e. a bye) instead of Scepter (a rough matchup).
I had a good draw, but Jim had turn 2 Scepter on Lightning Helix. I was lurking in Josh Silvestri Forum last week and happened upon an argument regarding Lightning Helix in Scepter that caused me to believe that most of the players involved had never played, I don’t know, Magic before. Lightning Helix is the second best Scepter imprint after Orim’s Chant. Jim would have lost with any other imprint but Chant itself, and even with Helix it was close. I relentlessly played Elephants and had a quick Troll. It came down to an early decision on my part to play up Temple Garden instead of basic Plains. I didn’t think it would matter in a U/W matchup but I died to Jim’s burn all-in with Fire / Ice et al. I actually could have played out of it, but when Jim let me resolve Loxodon Hierarch I thought I was safe in the short term, so I cycled Gilded Light main (I was gripping three) to find a land. I missed and got burned out. Jim had to use almost all of his hand, a new Mox, and all of his mana (Cunning Wish) to run this play, so there was definitely space for Gilded Light heroics as he had not combo’d Scepter plus Chant this game; plus, I was holding Jitte. I’m not sure that I would have won, but it definitely beats giving up margin on two different sloppy plays.
Game 2 I kept double Elf with one land because I had two Grips and two Plows. Jim had the Fire / Ice and completed Teferi plus entourage before I even made another drop.
1-1
Round 3 – Jim Davis with TEPS
Usually PTQs are pretty soft in terms of opponents, but I played versus only people with lifetime Pro points early, and Jim was even wearing his Prague T-Shirt. Luckily he was TEPS.
Game 1 I tried to bluff but I didn’t have the Gilded Light, and Jim told me “he doesn’t have Premium anyway” so he killed me to death on a fairly sloppy sequence.
Game 2 I hit Rule of Law (best card ever versus Lotus, by the by), and then just some guys. Jim was tight on mana – how can’t he be with Rule of Law out? – and I got it with just a Loxodon and Angel. I think I had mised Gilded Light by then, though.
Game 3 I decided, on the draw, to keep a hand with no disruption. One of the virtues of my deck is that it is highly resistant to hand destruction, and my hand was quite keepable despite having no Plow Under, Rule of Law, or Gilded Light; for instance, this hand would have mauled Flow, Boros, or Affinity easily. It paid off because Jim actually mucked into a double Duress hand. I made a conscious decision not to mulligan because Jim was clearly playing to beat my spoilers. If I had mulled into a hoser card, I would have just handed him the game… My hand would have collapsed like I was the combo deck player, not him. The double Duress hand has three elements in this scenario: 1) it can save you if you are TEPS, 2) it wasn’t very good here, stealing Sword and Call, and 3) it killed his Storm count. Duress has no velocity. I was left with a reasonably fast Elves and threats draw, and put Jim into a five turn goldfish; he was forced to go for it with a small Time Spiral with only three cards to set up. He didn’t get there.
2-1
Round 4 – John Esposito with Affinity
Game 1 I played a bit sloppy, trying to snare a Frogmite with Llanowar plus Pendelhaven. I didn’t think John could win with his last turn all-in but he had the second Shrapnel Blast (the first one killed my third turn flipped Angel). He managed my Jitte with Ravager.
Games 2 and 3 I showed him four Grip and four Worship.
3-1
Round 5 – Elias with Macey Rock
Elias said Sean McKeown broke his deck by forcing him to add a Wish engine to Macey Rock. This was fine because it was like Sean gave me back a match for Round 2.
Both games played the same way. I made Elves. Elias made a fast Jitte and a Sword, up a million cards. I won with Exalted Angel. He just never plucked the Putrefy for my turn 2 / turn 3 Angel Game 1 (though he was proud of his first turn Therapy for two Trolls), and Jitte didn’t save him when I eventually found my own to deuce. Won that one on twenty.
Game 2 he had turn 2 Maher and multiple equipment again, up six or even eight cards both games. I stalled and got him with Angel plus Sword in the late game, thanks to drawing two Krosan Grips.
4-1
Round 6 – Alex with NO Stick
I basically got bashed 0-2 this matchup, but it was just bad luck. My deck is a dog to Scepter in Game 1 for sure, but it’s far from unwinnable. I was competitive in Game 1 versus Halter – probably the most impressive of my three Scepter opponents – despite a horrendous call on the one lander in the second. In this matchup I drew all of my lands Game 1 and Game 2, and my twenty-plus threat deck decided I didn’t need any way to win besides Saprolings and inert equipment. Game 2 was particularly trying because I – not kidding here — stuck all four Plow Unders, but I couldn’t find a Krosan Grip. One Grip or one Troll and I had the game (he was relying on Scepter on Fire / Ice to keep my Jitte down after I had killed Teferi). Game 2 I actually thawed all of my Plains out with Eternal Dragon and then ripped four straight Forests.
Nice. Deck. michaelj.
4-2
Round 7 – Tom with Flow Deck
Flow is really easy. I don’t really know how else to put it. Stupidly, I ignored Tom’s first turn (sac dual to Forest to Deep Shadow) and put myself in a spot where I was actually going to lose my first three lands, but I got out of it with a Dragon, having drawn two Elves. There isn’t really any way for Flow to win because all your cards are better than all of theirs in-context, and then you trump with Worship, all in a deck with Jitte main and double digit basics.
Game 2 I just stalled and hit Worship again. I’m not sure if Tom – correctly – removed Destructive Flow, but I just played for basics, which didn’t really disrupt me that much (though it was a bit annoying to have only one Forest as all my Elves were Boreal Druid). He didn’t have an out to Worship, playing Ancient Grudge rather than Krosan Grip (which inbred Julian did at the first mock just to beat me).
Tom was a super nice guy, by the way.
5-2
I probably shouldn’t have stayed in, but what are the chances I hit NO Stick again?
…
…
…
Game 2 I won on a mull to five with three spells: Llanowar Elves, Jitte, and Krosan Grip. I had another Llanowar eventually, and Vitu-Ghazi (not a spell) contributed somewhat, but it was really just those first three.
Game 3 he was stuck on two but was all in on Scepter with Chant on turn 2, and even though I cycled a million I could not find Krosan Grip. I did, however, stick Plow Under on a manascrewed opponent through an Orim’s Chant… and still lost.
5-3
I talked quite a bit going into the tournament about how Ancient Grudge should keep NO Stick out of the limelight, and I probably should have just played one Sacred Foundry and four Ancient Grudges, likely over Plow Under. I think with four Ancient Grudges I would have had a very good chance at winning the tournament. Note that I didn’t even get to play my best matchups (Boros or Trinket Angels), and in probably the most diverse Constructed format of all time, I played against NO Stick – a relatively unpopular deck, at least online – three times!
I’d blame the read, but Julian went 6-1-1 with G/W Haterator (Chant over Gilded Light), finishing 10th. This was actually a tragedy. Pay attention here, because you’ll actually learn something for once:
Julian’s one Boros pairing was MattR. He beat MattR soundly in Game 1. In Game 2, he Worship locked MattR at one with Dragon, drawing a second Dragon. Julian probably should have seen that MattR’s not conceding meant the Worship was no good. He played the second Dragon to try to win on 10 per turn, but MattR had all four Cloaks and Jitte advantage. Julian actually had to cycle through his deck to find three Worships to win this game. MattR eventually found Ray of Revelation and won. Julian needed three, not two, Worships because Ray of Revelation will clear the first two. It was actually a credit to Julian that he was netting damage, but MattR had enough time to draw out of it.
Julian had MattR on the ropes in Game 3, and would easily have won with +5 card advantage and double-digit life with five more minutes.
He had to either concede Game 2 – painful, I know – when MattR didn’t concede, or at least try to aggressively cycle into the multiple Worships, and abandon that plan once he saw the fourth Cloak. By conceding, he would have raised his EV by giving himself time to win Game 3 in a favorable matchup.
I said it was tragic: MattR finished 9th, and Julian 10th.
I have no ability to sit still, so there is no guarantee I will still be on G/W beatdown by the next PTQ, but please take my word for it that this is one of the elite decks of the format. It is weak against basically three classes of decks: 1) NO Stick, and 2) ‘Tron et al, and 3) Aggro Loam. Aggro Loam is unwinnable unless you are willing to play three or more Tormod’s Crypts, but its short-term success will likely ensure that someone else will get them for you. I tried to solve the problems against the first two with Plow Under, but having stuck six Plow Unders in games I didn’t win, I think that the only option is to forget about U/W ‘Tron and Tooth and Nail because they are so weak in the meta, and concentrate on making NO Stick a bye on volume.
There are two ways to do this. The obvious one is -1 Plains, +1 Sacred Foundry, and possibly -1 Forest, +1 Stomping Ground (but I don’t like this), adding four Ancient Grudges to the board. I felt very confident every time I had Krosan Grip, and Ancient Grudge gives you the hate volume necessary to pin down the matchup. Most decks lose not just to Isochron Scepter, but G/W has powerful card draw in Eternal Dragon (trump in the long game) and can fight Angel with Angel. It is fine against Wrath of God due to equipment and Vitu-Ghazi… Even in my copious three losses, my NO Stick opponents were winning on tenuous margin.
The other option is Pull From Eternity (BDM tech). I like Pull for a couple of reasons. First of all you stay in two colors, and don’t de-stabilize the Flow matchup, which is like having a free win per tournament, or putting in more Molten Rain targets for Boros. The second reason is that you can pull Rule of Law rather than Plow Under from the board. I know I complained about hitting a million Plows and losing, but Plow Under is still very good against a lot of decks that are not high profile but are viable in the meta, like Gifts Rock and Black Control variants. Pull From Eternity has one big plus over actual Scepter removal, and that is that sometimes you can nuke a late game Scepter and still lose because the opponent has Academy Ruins on board. Pull From Eternity just neuters a perm. It is also an insane trick against Mind’s Desire, clearly weaker than Rule of Law, but probably good enough because the TEPS matchup is so good.
Tomorrow we close out Week 1 with a series of surprises.
LOVE
MIKE