Following last week’s article, I received an impressive amount of feedback via e-mail. It’s always great to hear from you guys in a personal, one-on-one fashion, and I always read each of them eagerly. Occasionally I receive column requests, and last week I received numerous requests for information on my newest Reveillark list. (Feel free to e-mail me about anything you’d like to see written about; thanks to James, Fred, Monty, and Christopher for the e-mails specifically asking about Reveillark.) I’m always happy to oblige my readers, and so this week I’m going to delve back into the blue and white oceans of Reveillark and share the updates I’ve made since M10’s release.
When we last left our hero, Tenth Edition was about to rotate out and U/W Reveillark was about to lose two important tools: Mind Stone and Wrath of God. What I immediately realized after playing around with new builds of Reveillark is that there were two viable paths the deck could deviate into: a dedicated control build, not unlike the already existing version, or a more aggro-control build that had a better matchup against decks like Faeries. I’ll start by introducing the less traditional aggro-control build…
Creatures (28)
- 4 Meddling Mage
- 4 Knight of Meadowgrain
- 4 Mulldrifter
- 4 Sower of Temptation
- 4 Reveillark
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
Lands (19)
Spells (13)
While there were versions before M10 that were rocking Knights, this deck packs the full eight. It plays the traditionally aggro-control game of being beatdown in the control matchups and the control in the beatdown matchups. What’s interesting is that the knights give it a surprising amount of game against a deck like Faeries, traditionally an unfavorable matchup, by applying early pressure. Additionally, to do so you don’t have to sacrifice your good matchup against five color; you still have plenty of long game elements to provide you card advantage even though you’re playing the beatdown deck. White Orchid is no Mind Stone, but alongside Path to Exile and Fieldmist Borderpost he is a solid Knight that gets you a land often enough.
Not unlike the Merfolk deck from last week, one of the real standout cards is Harm’s Way. I don’t think you want more than three due to its reactive nature and the necessity of having some spot removal (Path), but it’s very good at protecting Sowers and Meddling Mages, making sure Knights win combat wars, and giving you a tremendous maindeck weapon against the red decks. Also like the Merfolk deck, you can’t really play with Ponder, a card I previously claimed was crucial, because it can mess up your curve too much in a deck like this.
Speaking of Merfolk, there’s a reason I eventually moved away from this list: it’s because I felt it played like a slightly worse version of Merfolk. While this deck does have some unique advantages over Merfolk, including a better Five Color, Kithkin, and Red deck matchup, I felt like Merfolk was better on the whole. That said, having maindeck Reveillark and Finks can really lead to a lot of additional power, and so I wouldn’t dismiss this deck entirely: I could easily see it making to the elimination rounds of a PTQ. If you want to try out this deck, here is how I was sideboarding against some of the major decks in the metagame:
Kithkin
+1 Harm’s Way, +1 Path to Exile, +2 Hallowed Burial
-4 Meddling Mage
Cascade-based Jund Decks
+1 Harm’s Way, +1 Path to Exile, +2 Celestial Purge
-2 Kitchen Finks -2 Knight of Meadowgrain
Note: If they have Bituminous Blast and/or Enlisted Wurm as well as Bloodbraid Elf, then you want to trade out four Knights for the four Canonists.
Five-Color Control
+3 Glen Elendra Archmage, +1 Negate
-4 Sower of Temptation
Faeries
+3 Celestial Purge, +1 Negate, +1 Path to Exile
-3 Harm’s Way, -2 Sower of Temptation
Combo Elves
+4 Ethersworn Canonist, +2 Hallowed Burial, +1 Path to Exile
-4 Kitchen Finks, -1 Harm’s Way, -4 Knight of Meadowgrain
Red Aggro
+1 Harm’s Way, +3 Celestial Purge, +1 Negate
-4 Sower of Temptation, -1 Meddling Mage
After trying that build, I wanted to investigate other unexplored Reveillark strategies. I tried out Reveillark with Red for Firespout, Siege-Gang, and Flamekin Harbinger, and then Reveillark with Red and Black for Anathemancer, but found only marginal success so I won’t share those lists with you for fear you will actually play with them and expect to win more than FNM. After a lot of tweaking and trying different versions, I ended up right back where I started: a more controlling build of Reveillark.
Before I share my list with you though, I want to show you Boise player Pedro Martinez’s list that placed second at the Portland PTQ last weekend, only losing game three to a topdecked one-of Banefire out of the sideboard of UBr Faeries. Some of the cards I have added to my build have been innovated from his list, and I think it’s important you guys have a PTQ list for comparison purposes.
Creatures (24)
- 4 Meddling Mage
- 1 Mistmeadow Witch
- 4 Mulldrifter
- 4 Sower of Temptation
- 3 Reveillark
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 2 Glen Elendra Archmage
- 2 Baneslayer Angel
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (7)
Despite missing the PTQ, I had the opportunity to talk to Pedro about his build. I questioned him on some of his card choices, and here is the summary of what he had to say:
On Gargoyle Castle: With four Glacial Fortress, the deck’s mana is fine, so some colorless lands are essentially free. Having the Castles is pretty important because it gives you so much additional gas in the endgame, in addition to easily dealing with Stags and various fliers.
On only three Reveillarks: Stan Bessey, who had played the deck much more than Pedro had, advised him that he didn’t feel like four were necessary, especially with Baneslayer Angel also slotting into the deck.
On Glen Elendra Archmage: Pedro wanted to make sure he had a solid game one against control, and wanted some extra gas. However, drawing them against beatdown was a source of frustration all day. In retrospect, he thinks these should be moved to the sideboard and have Hallowed Burial in the maindecks.
On Mistmeadow Witch: It always died when Pedro played it, but theoretically it’s absurd if you can untap with it and anything with a enters-the-battlefield or leaves-the-battlefield trigger.
On Baneslayer Angel: These were awesome all day for Pedro. While they were additional five drops, against the beatdown decks and Jund cascade it is a major trump to have. Additionally, if you can land it against Faeries, it is hard for them to deal with.
On Jace Beleren: The deck is fairly contingent on drawing a Mulldrifter, and having Jace alleviates this problem by playing a similar role in both digging you closer to your action, making sure you can hit your land drops, and finding the aforementioned Mulldrifter.
On Harm’s Way: While he said he wouldn’t play more than two maindeck because of drawing too many reactive cards and because he also wanted to play Path, Harm’s Way was strong all day for Pedro. It kept his Sowers and Mages alive, while also servings as removal for early attacking creatures. He did mention that a third in the sideboard might be a good idea, especially if you expect red to be a popular choice.
On only two Cryptic Commands: By far the most controversial decision, Pedro said that the two Commands weren’t even originally even in the deck! Shortly before the PTQ, he decided he wanted a little bit of extra disruption against control decks while having a card that was fine against midrange and beatdown, and the best form of disruption he could think of was Cryptic Command. To him, the deck plays like a tap-out control deck, and so leaving mana up for countermagic was counterproductive to the kind of Magic he wanted to be playing.
As an extra bonus, here is the sideboarding guide he sent me:
Five Color Control
+3 Negate, +1 Glen Elendra Archmage, +1 Reveillark
-4 Sower of Temptation, -1 Baneslayer Angel
Jund
-2 Glen Elendra Archmage
+1 Baneslayer Angel, +1 hallowed burial
Elves
+4 Ethersworn Canonist, +2 Hallowed Burial
-1 Reveillark, -1 Mistmeadow Witch, -2 Baneslayer Angel, -2 Cryptic Command
Kithkin
-2 Glen Elendra Archmage, -2 Baneslayer Angel, -1 Jace Beleren
+3 Stillmoon Cavalier +2 Hallowed Burial
Keeping what Pedro had to say in mind on card choices, here is my newest list of U/W Reveillark, and the list I would play if I was going to play Reveillark in a PTQ tomorrow:
Creatures (21)
Lands (25)
Spells (14)
Sideboarding:
Kithkin
+1 Path to Exile, +1 Hallowed Burial, +2 Stillmoon Cavalier
-4 Meddling Mage
Cascade-based Jund Decks
+1 Path to Exile, +3 Celestial Purge
-2 Sower of Temptation, -2 Hallowed Burial
Five Color Control
+3 Glen Elendra Archmage, +2 Negate, +2 Stillmoon Cavalier
-3 Hallowed Burial, -4 Sower of Temptation
Faeries
+3 Celestial Purge, +1 Path to Exile, +1 Negate, +2 Stillmoon Cavalier
-4 Sower of Temptation, -3 Hallowed Burial
Combo Elves
+3 Ethersworn Canonist, +1 Hallowed Burial, +1 Path to Exile
-1 Baneslayer Angel, -4 Kitchen Finks
Red Aggro:
+3 Celestial Purge, +2 Negate, +1 Glen Elendra Archmage, +1 Path to Exile
-4 Sower of Temptation -3 Hallowed Burial
After testing Pedro’s list and comparing it to my own experience, I found several places where our thoughts overlapped and several where they didn’t. I agree that Hallowed Burial belongs main over a card like Archmage. I never liked Archmage maindeck in Reveillark, and despite costing a mana more than Wrath did and having an occasional drawback for you, one of the strengths of a deck like this is that you have a Wrath effect. I feel like three just gives you access to them in the matchups where you really need them, as two isn’t enough to draw them consistently against beatdown. While having eight cards which cost five in a deck with no acceleration isn’t my favorite, I feel like it allows you to just overpower your opponents a lot of the time once you hit the late game and gives you the tools you need against a variety of decks.
Gargoyle Castle is another card I was impressed by. Although I dropped the count by one just because I found opening hands with two could be problematic, it has been a stellar card for all the reasons Pedro mentioned.
There were some places where Pedro and I did not agree, and one of the main areas were on the numbers of certain cards. First and foremost, I don’t care how much of a tap out control deck you are, Cryptic Command is an excellent card in this deck and does numerous things which are beneficial in almost every matchup. Instead of tapping out, you can just leave Cryptic Command up if you have any kind of board presence and find a way to make it advantageous. Secondly, I added the fourth Reveillark. It’s your best card, I’m always happy to draw it, and I would certainly rather have a fourth Reveillark than a Baneslayer Angel.
While I think Jace is solid, and is a great sideboard option if you’re comfortable cutting other cards, I was extraordinarily happy with Ponder in my deck previously and I wanted the mana curve to come down. I feel like Ponder helps you dig to what you’re trying to find without costing three. In essence, everything I said in my last article about Ponder in Reveillark still applies.
How did I make room for all of these changes? Well, I cut the lonely Mistmeadow Witch for starters. In all of the Reveillark decks I’ve played, the Witch is almost always a win more card. Sure, if you have him in play and a comes into play/leaves play effect and four mana to throw around he’s great — but by the time you hit that situation you’re so often ahead enough it doesn’t matter.
Next, I cut Harm’s Way. I really liked where Pedro was going with Harm’s Way, and was excited to try it. The problem was that it was either really good or really bad depending on the situation, and I hate those kind of situational cards. Yes, it can lead to blowouts by protecting Sower and dealing with Volcanic Fallout, but too often I wanted it to solve a problem it couldn’t. I could definitely see sideboarding some in a heavy aggressive metagame, but I prefer my cards to either always be good when I draw them or be a blowout enough in certain matchups that I can play them maindeck, but Harm’s way is neither; it’s a very hot or cold kind of card.
Lastly, I removed a singleton Baneslayer Angel. I didn’t find it as good as Pedro did against Jund Cascade — it was constantly a victim of Maelstrom Pulse — and I really wanted to have cheaper spells if I was going to play Burial maindeck. Additionally, most of the matchups where it was best in you were already highly favored (Kithkin), with the exception of red. I left in one just as an extra way to close, but it is definitely teetering on the edge of being in the deck or not.
As far as the sideboard goes, I wanted to have game against Faeries. Pedro flat-out admitted to me he didn’t want to sideboard for the matchup, but I believe it is more winnable than most think. (And now Pedro, too, believes it is very winnable.) The worst thing you can see out of faeries is a turn two Bitterblossom, and I wanted to have Celestial purges to contain the dreaded enchantment if you don’t have a Mage or Negate on the play. Additionally, Cavalier is a card I added that’s solid against Faeries and filled out the number of cards I had to take out against two decks Stillmoon is also solid against: Kithkin and Five Color.
I feel like Elves is really falling out of flavor, and that very few PTQ players are playing it, so I cut a Canonist from the sideboard. Of course, combo decks like to rise up just when everybody starts to cut their hate, so I’d probably out the fourth back into the sideboard in a few weeks.
Although there are many routes you can take Reveillark, I feel like the control list above is the best path on the Reveillark road and has the ability to beat anything. With even the most hardened of Faeries veterans saying not to play Faeries any longer, now is a great time to be playing U/W Reveillark. If you are wondering anything about any of the lists or other comments in this article, I’d be happy to discuss the Reveillark archetype with you. Either post in the forums, or send me an e-mail at gavintriesagain at gmail dot com with any questions or comments you have and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible.
Talk to you soon…
Gavin Verhey
Team Unknown Stars
Rabon on Magic Online, Lesurgo everywhere else