Much has been said about Block lately, and a lot of it focuses on G/W and U/B. Most of the articles, however, have tackled the subject from U/B’s point of view — today, I’m going to talk about the G/W approach.
My first contact with G/W was a while before Grand Prix: Montreal, after seeing part of a list from Andre Coimbra. While the list changed a lot, the main idea never did, and it’s vital that you understand this fundamental idea behind the deck so you can play it properly. That’s what I’m going to talk about in this article.
First, why did we play straight G/W, and not G/W/r or even G/W/u? Simply because the other colors weren’t needed. They didn’t do anything that the G/W version couldn’t do already, and they made your deck much less consistent. I believe that, apart from the mirror and Slivers, Red makes the deck a lot worse against everything else. If everybody starts playing the Poison Sliver deck (I think it’s bad, myself) though, you might as well change to G/W/r because Fiery Justice is an absolute game-breaker. Most of the concepts I’ll talk about here apply to either version.
I’ll use the list we developed for Montreal as a reference. Of the six Brazilian players playing it, one won, I finished 22nd, another guy finished 32nd, and another made the Top 64. Of the two that didn’t make Day 2, one lost two 75-card mirrors to another two Brazilians, and the other had zero byes because his rating was frozen as he hadn’t been playing for three years. I think it’s a fine starting point for any G/W list you want to build. Here is the list:
Creatures (19)
Lands (23)
Spells (18)
Sideboard
There are some questions I always get (or should get) asked about the deck…
Is Thrill of the Hunt better than Stonewood Invocation?
Yes, I believe it is much better than Invocation. It is awesome in the mirror, and I think it’s easier to save a guy from Tendrils with Thrill than with Invocation. Some people swear by Invocation, including Tomoharo Saitou – whose opinion on beatdown decks I consider to be pretty relevant – but I just don’t get it. Thrills have been amazing for me and, though I don’t ever want more than two, I wouldn’t swap them for Invocation.
How good is Llanowar Reborn?
Awesome. Llanowar reborn is the difference between winning and losing a big variety of matchups. It makes your Tarmogoyf bigger than theirs, it makes your Call of the Herd burn-proof, it makes your Saffi or Riftsweeper beat for an extra point of damage, it makes your Mystic Enforcer drive past Vesuvan Shapeshifter. I would never consider playing less than four of them. They are great for the deck’s strategy of playing one beater and then going all the way with it, because it considerably shortens their clock while costing you absolutely nothing. It’s also great when you have a Griffin Guided creature; they play Damnation, and you have a 3/3 attacking next turn.
Is Temporal Isolation worth it?
Yes, it is. Temporal Isolation is good in almost every matchup. It is a card that swings the game in the mirror completely, it stops Korlash and a future Korlash, it stops Finkel, it stops Hellkite, etc, etc. It was so good we wanted two extras in the sideboard. I wouldn’t play those two again, though.
Why no Chromatic Star?
Originally we had four of those, to pump Tarmogoyfs and threshold Enforcers. Then we wanted to make room for certain cards, so we cut them down to two. Then we arrived at the tournament site and the number of Goyfs was so big that we decided we’d rather have our opponents pump our Goyfs for us, and not the opposite. The colored mana isn’t really needed here, so I’d never play Chromatic Star. True, it makes it a little harder to Threshold Enforcer, but it’s still not worth it.
Mystic Enforcer or Calciderm?
I’d play my sixth Enforcer before considering Calciderm in its place. True, Calciderms are good – I played WW in Yokohama mainly because of them – but Mystic Enforcer does everything you want it to do without dying in the meantime. One unopposed Mystic Enforcer will win the game against U/B, whereas one unopposed Calciderm will not. It can be chumped, blocked by Korlash, or simply nullified by a timely Tendrils on another guy. Fifteen damage is not enough for a deck without direct damage if the opposition has lifegain. Against some beatdown decks Calciderm may be better, but the deck is good enough against beatdown that you don’t have to worry about it. No matter what anyone else tells you, playing the Enforcers is correct.
The deck above won the whole tournament, as we know… that said, if I had to play the deck again, I’d make some small changes. The only problem we noticed with it was that we got too many “do nothing” draws: hands like Serra Avenger, Enforcer, Griffin Guide, Isolation, and three Lands. You can’t really keep this kind of hand. Our first instinct was to cut a Serra Avenger and a Griffin Guide for two two-drops (Mire Boa, probably), but I don’t think you can cut the Avengers with so much Pickles going around – the card is very good against them, for obvious reasons. You can cut a Griffin Guide for one two-drop, but I don’t think it’s enough. One card I’d be happy to cut is Riftsweeper – now that everyone plays around it, it isn’t that good anymore. The ideal scenario would be three Riftsweepers and three Mire Boas – which I think is the best two-drop we aren’t running already – but for that you have to cut something else, and I don’t really know what to ditch. I’ll assume for this article’s sake that we have three Riftsweepers and two Mire Boas.
The sideboard should be changed too. Sunlance was great against many decks, and I’d play eight of them if I could. I can’t, though, so I’d stick with two Serrated Arrows as Sunlance wannabes. Kestrel was also great, and I’d definitely either play a fourth, or two Stonecloakers, which serve the same purpose when dealing with Isolation and can randomly save your guy from Tendrils and Pact. Right now I think the Cloakers are better than the fourth Kestrel, so I’d remove the two Bound in Silence for the two of them. Whirling Dervish are much better than they seem to be against any kind of Black deck – when you have answers to Enchantments, their only out is Damnation. Now most people run Vensers or Snapbacks, but it’s still a great card, and it’s the best thing you can do on turn 2 against certain decks.
Let’s now look at how to play the deck.
To play the deck properly you need to, as I said before, understand what it’s trying to do. The deck can be considered an absolute beatdown – it has no relevant disruption elements. It cannot, however, be played like you’d play Mono-Red or White Weenie. The difference between those decks is that G/W, while capable of the same explosive draw WW has, is not unhappy to fight an attrition war – it is built for that. Keep that in mind, as it is probably the most important thing I can tell you about the deck. Other than that, it really depends on the matchups.
U/B
U/B is probably the most common match up you’ll face. I’ve seen many people claiming G/W has a horrendous matchup against U/B, and I fail to see why. The maxim that “there are wrong answers but no wrong threats” definitely applies here to the most. Your plan is to never over-commit into Damnation. I cannot imagine losing a game to U/B in which they don’t draw Damnation – they must draw it. You cannot make the mistake of letting them pinpoint removal all your other creatures and save the Damnation for the Enforcers, though. That usually happens when they have a Finkel running and you don’t apply enough pressure. So, if they do have the Finkel, try to force them into a Damnation or Lose situation, so you can play your Enforcer later. Most of your cards are made to follow that game plan – Llanowar Reborn allows you to apply more pressure without wasting resources, and so do Saffi, Griffin Guide, and Call of the Herd to some extent. People think Tendrils is an ace in this match up, and if they have four you stand no chance – they are wrong. The life gain from Tendrils is relevant, of course, but not that relevant. Mystic Enforcer will still kill them whether they are at six or eighteen… it will just take a bit longer. Do not fear the Tendrils – just don’t run your Griffin Guide into it. Sometimes, it might be correct to attack and then play the Griffin Guide, so you deal the damage if they remove it. You also have to keep in mind that Tendrils will boost Tarmogoyf before it kills it – if they Tendrils a 0/1 Tarmogoyf for one, it will NOT die. By the time State Based Effects are checked, it’ll be a 1/2 that’s taken one damage. Most people at the PTQ level don’t know that.
Most people don’t seem to know that Urborg is for both players, either. The number of people I saw taking damage from Horizon Canopy with Urborg in play was enormous, both at the GP and at the PTQ. You don’t need to take that damage if you need colorless mana, so please don’t!
Against U/B you should sideboard like this:
-3 Riftsweeper
-4 Serra Avenger
-2 Thrill of the Hunt
+4 Whirling Dervish
+3 Cloudchaser Kestrel
+2 Stonecloaker
One thing you have to keep in mind while sideboarding with this deck (and with every deck, really) is that you cannot change either the idea or the mana curve too much. You can’t remove eight creatures for eight spells and expect to remain the beatdown, and you can’t remove eight two casting-cost cards for eight four casting-cost cards and expect to defend yourself from early beats. In this case, we remove two and “four” casting cost beaters for two and three casting cost beaters, so we are fine.
After sideboarding, you should expect them to have Snapback/Venser if they didn’t before, a number of Take Possession/Isolations (it’s often correct to save your Kestrel in hand unless you absolutely must play it) and more Slaughter Pacts than before, so be careful with your Griffin Guides. If you have a Whirling Dervish, it’s often correct to play him on turn 2, and make nothing else until they are forced to respond. Exceptions are Saffi, Griffin Guide, and sometimes Call of the Herd. Be aware that, when you use Saffi, your Dervish will come back as a 1/1.
You should also be aware of Momentary Blink. Other than Cheon and Vargas, I saw no one else playing the card, but I must say it’s absolutely ridiculous. If I was going to play U/B, I would certainly have a Blink in the Sideboard, as it nullifies not one. but two Isolations on Korlashes and Finkels. Because of that, I saw some people boarding in Sunlance to get rid of Finkels – I don’t really disagree, but I’d rather keep the Isolations and risk the Blink, as they also deal with Korlash.
I saw many players with U/B boarding in Aven Riftwatcher versus G/W. I think that is wrong. For the same reason Tendrils lifegain isn’t that relevant against G/W, nor is Riftwatcher’s. You don’t care that they gained seven life with it – your Enforcer is still going to kill them.
Other than that, it remains the same – do not over-commit into Damnation, as it’s the single most important card in the match up by far. Depending on the version of U/B, the matchup can range from favorable to unfavorable. If they really want to make beating G/W the goal of their life, they will likely improve their match up to a favorable level for them, but you can still win it because you have answers to their answers that are also threats! If they really want to beat you, you should expect a number of Temporal Isolations, as there is no single card that is better than this against G/W other than Damnation. After that comes Take Possession, so I’ll repeat it – save your Kestrels!
G/W
The mirror is your next more likely to appear matchup. Surprisingly, there is a lot that can be said about it. First rule is that the aggressor always wins. You may have read that whoever makes the first move loses in control matches – it’s the opposite for G/W. Starting the game is a very big advantage. Starting and having Llanowar Reborn means you are already ahead. Depending on what they do, you might want to spend your counter or not. It’s almost always correct to put the counter on Tarmogoyfs or Serra Avengers, which are the most likely to crash through creatures, but sometimes it’s good to put the counter on the first thing you play. At the Grand Prix, for example, I played a mirror in which my opponent’s first land was a Horizon Canopy! That clearly meant his second land was also a Canopy, and therefore that he would be taking a billion damage, so I identified myself well placed to be the aggressor and played a 3/3 Riftsweeper on turn 2. You should avoid pumping your Saffi, though, because they’ll simply kill it with theirs and the counter will be wasted.
Being the aggressor also gives you the Thrill of the Hunt advantage. If they tap out to play blockers, they are powerless to stop your Thrill, and if they wait with mana up for theirs they will fall behind. Thrill is one of the most important cards in the matchup, so use it wisely. If your opponent knows you play Thrill of the Hunt, bluffing it will have tremendous effects on the rest of the game. During the GP, I attacked into Mystic Enforcer with my Saffi. My opponent not only took the two damage but he also put me on Thrill for the rest of the game – which I didn’t have. Of course, he could have blocked and I’d look like a fool – but would he really?
The single most important card is Temporal Isolation – it has two very different roles, and you must know when to use them. When you are the aggressor, as you should try to be, you should delay the use of your Temporal Isolation. If you want to use it, think again. Temporal Isolation is your combat trick and your blocker remover. They are attacking you? Who cares! Your life total is not relevant, theirs is – but they don’t know it yet, and when they do it’ll be too late. Use the Isolation to push through and to counter their tricks, and not just because you have two available mana. If you are defending, however, you should try to use it to change the situation from defender to aggressor. There is no use dying just because you had to remove a blocker, so do it on the attacker if you must. Beware Stonewood Invocation, though. At the GP an opponent pointed out that I shouldn’t have waited to play the Isolation because he could have had Invocation (which he did, but no fourth land), and he was right. That was when I was playing it defensively, though.
Griffin Guide is another card that you should either play on turn 3 or delay it to the utmost. I’m always in favor of creature over Guide, so you don’t get savagely out-tempoed by Isolation. If you wait to play your Guide, you also have better information on where to place it, because they have already played theirs and you know how to react. Most of the time, I used Guide as the killing blow.
Another card worth mentioning is Flagstones of Trokair. If you have it and Edge, you might consider cycling it immediately so you don’t risk them killing your Flagstones with theirs. Regardless, you should always play your Flagstones as soon as possible so they cannot use the mana the turn they play theirs.
Sideboard:
-3 Riftsweeper
-2 Griffin Guide
+3 Cloudchaser Kestrel
+2 Stonecloaker
We were originally adding Serrated Arrows, for creature combats, but it was deemed too slow. If your opponent has Archers, though, you should add them and remove the last Guide and one Saffi.
Games play exactly the same, except now you have Stonecloakers, which can be good in Goyf situations and also counter Isolations, and Kestrels for Isolation and Guides. One thing that changes is that after sideboarding you should always search for the Plains with Expanse and hardcast Edge – between Serra Avenger, Kestrels, and Stonecloakers, you want access to all the White mana you can have. There might be turns in which you want to play both Stonecloaker and Avenger, or Stonecloaker and Kestrel, or even Kestrel and Avenger, and very rarely you’ll need to play two Green cards. With two Plains and one Forest in play, 98 out of 100 people would crack the Expanse for the second Forest, when most of the time the correct card to get is the third Plains.
Pickles
U/G and Mono Blue pickles play likewise against this deck, so I’ll group them together. Pickles is a passable match up – you can win or lose depending on the draws. They can’t possibly beat you without the Pickles combo, so you only have to worry about that. Anything else you shouldn’t worry about, because you’ll eventually swarm them as they have no mass removal. Serra Avenger is key in this matchup, both because it avoids the lock completely and because it’s very easy to recast if bounced, be it mid combo or not. If you suspect you are going to be locked, try to leave WW open so you can replay your Serra Avenger if it gets bounced, or play one in case you draw it. Riftsweeper is also huge, as most versions have many suspend cards – Ancestral Visions, Cloudskate, Search for Tomorrow, and I’ve even seen Epochrasite. Other than that, you should go for total aggression. There is no mystery in this matchup – try to kill them before they combo in a way that doesn’t leave you hopeless if they do combo.
You should also take care not to run your Griffin Guide into a Willbender, as that’s probably game-losing. You should also try to Graft and Guide your worst creatures, because they’ll likely be bounced. Turn 2 Riftsweeper with Graft counter is an awesome play.
Sideboard:
-3 Griffin Guide
-2 Mire Boa
-3 Temporal Isolation
-2 Thrill of the Hunt
+4 Sunlance
+2 Serrated Arrows
+3 Cloudchaser Kestrel
Sunlance and Arrows should be used to kill the first morph that shows up, most of the time. I rather like Kestrel, because he is a flier that takes away random Take Possessions and Utopia Vows from the U/G version, and he is better than Mire Boa in my opinion. You should expect a number of Serrated Arrows from the Mono Blue player, and Vows and Penumbra Spiders from the U/G player. If you are playing against U/G, you might want the Temporal Isolations, and then you should remove the Saffis.
Most Pickles players will remove a number of Suspend spells due to Riftsweeper, but they can’t remove all of them and a 2/2 beater is still fine. Mire Boa’s ability is irrelevant and it dies to Serrated Arrows, so even if they have no Suspends I still prefer the 2/2 body.
Slivers
Slivers has gained a lot of popularity lately, due to Wafo-Tappa’s good finish in Montreal. That is severely bad news for G/W players, because this is close to as worse of a match up as it can be. Game 1 is completely dependant on whether they draw the cards they need – Telekinetic Sliver and Wild Pair – or not. If they do, there is absolutely nothing you can do, so try to kill them fast before they can draw them. Sorry that this is so brief, but that’s really how it is.
Sideboard:
-3 Riftsweeper
-2 Mire Boa
-4 Temporal Isolation
+4 Sunlance
+2 Serrated Arrows
+3 Cloudchaser Kestrel
Isolation is pretty bad against them, because they don’t really care about attacking or blocking, and on top of that they have Frenetic Sliver to nullify it. Sunlance and Arrows, on the other hand, are pretty key in the matchup, and about your only chance. Games 2 and 3 are much better for you due to them, but they are nowhere near good.
If you have Sunlances in hand, the time you use it will depend on the rest of your hand. If you are on the play and you have two two-drops, it’s often correct to play your second two-drop and Sunlance their Gemhide. If you are on the draw, it’s often better to play your two-drop and save your removal for the relevant Slivers like Dormant and Telekinetic, because you’ll accomplish nothing playing the Sunlance on the Gemhide – you deny both players a turn and you don’t want that. Your removal costs only one mana – you should use that to your advantage. You cannot afford to waste turns to remove guys.
You should keep in mind also that Serrated Arrows can “fizzle” Wild Pair to some extent. Most players don’t play any 0/0 creatures (Shapeshifter or Spike Feeder), so if you shoot the Gemhide with the ability on the stack they’ll get nothing. You can do the same with the 2/2 Slivers, but then you risk them getting Triskelavus and the like. Still it’s probably worth it as I’d rather them getting Triskelavus than Whitemane Lion or Telekinetic Sliver.
Overall, not your happiest pairing.
…
I think that covers the four most important matchups you’ll face, as well as giving you a general idea of how you should play G/W (or at least how my friends and I realized we should play it). I want to make it clear that I’m in no way trying to talk anyone into playing G/W – I actually don’t think it’s the best choice right now. Most U/B players are adapting to beat you, and while they won’t beat you all the time, the matchup that was previously favorable is not so much anymore (though, I repeat it, I don’t see it anywhere near as bad as most of the other writers). Slivers is also getting much more credit than it deserves – it’s the “new hype”, and that’s a bad match up for G/W. Once the dust settles, the U/Bs go back to normal and Slivers go back to where they should have never left, I might consider playing G/W again, and this is the list I’ll probably play and this is how I’ll play it. I know that, despite me saying this, there will be a lot of people playing G/W at their PTQs or upcoming GPs – after all, it did win the last GP – and that’s why I wrote this article. I hope it helped those who want to play it, as well as those who want to understand how we made certain choices, or even those who want to know how to play against it.
I’d also like to use the opportunity to pre-emptively (because I’ll probably not write an article until then) mention the fact that I’ll probably be eligible for the Latin American Invitational ballot in two weeks, and I would really, really like to go, so if you have no one to vote for yet and could spare a moment to vote for me, I’d be most thankful.
Cheers!
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (Now PV for the Sideboard coverage!)