{From Right Field is a column for Magic players on a budget or players who don’t want to play netdecks. The decks are designed to let the budget-conscious player be competitive in local, Saturday tournaments. They are not decks that will qualify a player for The Pro Tour. As such, the decks written about in this column are, almost by necessity, rogue decks. They contain, at most, eight to twelve rares. When they do contain rares, those cards will either be cheap rares or staples of which new players should be trying to collect a set of four, such as Wrath of God, City of Brass, or Birds of Paradise. The decks are also tested by the author, who isn’t very good at playing Magic. His playtest partners, however, are excellent. He will never claim that a deck has an 85% winning percentage against the entire field. He will also let you know when the decks are just plain lousy. Readers should never consider these decks “set in stone” or “done.” If you think you can change some cards to make them better, well, you probably can, and the author encourages you to do so.}
If you’ve read my columns over the years, you’ll know that I like White. I don’t want to get into the psycho-social reasons for that. Suffice it say, I like White. With Regionals about three weeks away, readers have been flooding my e-mail in-box with one question:
What Will Dr. Romeo Be Playing at Regionals?
Before I get to that answer, I need to say that I think that it’s fan-freakin’-tastic that we – Americans, the best and smartest players in the world, heck, the best and smartest people in the world – get to be the first to use Saviors of Kamigawa in a major tourney. I love the freshness of it all. The eyes of the Magic-playing universe will be on us – you and me – and I think it’s great. I mean, don’t you love when the field is completely wide open? Don’t you just love it when nothing’s settled, when anything is possible, when any deck can win?* I know that I do. I can’t wait!
Huh?
“That’s the exact opposite of what you wrote a few weeks ago! Geez, Seth Burn disagreed with you so strongly that he had your name in the title of his first column back on StarCityGames.com! Your own editor even dropped in a comment that he disagreed with you!”
You are correct, times three! So, which one is my real opinion about the issue? Both are tightly written, highly persuasive arguments. Neither one involves any sarcasm or facetiousness. On the other hand, why does it even matter what my opinion is? Regionals is June 25th, love it or hate it, and there’s nothing any of us can do about it. Besides, isn’t the whole point of all this to get people talking? The fact that it resulted in one of my three favorite Magic writers/deckbuilders talking about/to me is just gravy.
Man, I love this gig!
Will Saviors of Kamigawa Cards Ever Be Mentioned?
Regardless of this free, fun, open, all-things-are-possible format, I’ll be playing White Skies. We all know my predilection for White meat. I love a deck with evasion (flying), combat tricks (Ethereal Haze), and more evasion (flying). I have to warn you, though, that this deck has four Umezawa’s Jittes. Some people can’t fathom this. After my last couple of columns, I got several e-mails that looked like this:
Dear Mr. Romeo,
I know that the Jitte is the bizzle and all, but why do you think you’ll see it at Regionals? Didn’t you see the Invitationals decks for Standard? Only one person ran the Jitte. Obviously, the best players in the world don’t think it’s that good. Why are you so worried about it?
Thanks,
Random Fanboy
Fact: Only one person even ran the Jitte at the Invitational
Fact: That person was one of the four players to be 3-0.
Unsupported Leap in Logic: The pros don’t think the Jitte is any good.
What?
Look, folks, the Pros know a ton more than we do. They see in dimensions we don’t even know exist. They know what’s coming months down the road. It could very possibly be that these folks didn’t play the Jitte because
*gasp*
they knew how strong it was. Knowing it was that strong, they knew hate would be rampant and didn’t want theirs to be killed by all of the Jitte hate, hate that included other Jittes. One of the best ways to foil a reactive defense is to never present the offense that the opponent is waiting for. (“If that Kodama of the North Tree had been a Jitte, my Oxidize would have won the game.” “But it wasn’t. So, instead he trampled you to death.” “Exactly!”) The pros, being the smart guys that they are, decided not to present the target. When you get so many people together who are smart in a particular way and then present them with a problem that begs for their special abilities, they often come up with the same solution. In this case, that solution was to not run the Jitte. This is a lot like The Lichtenstein Alternative. (If I have that name wrong, please, let me know where I can find a reference to it.) I forgot where I heard this story first, but it’s very cute and goes like this.
Once Upon a Time, in a Castle in Europe . . .
One night at a party attended by eleven Nobel Prize winners, the host asked each of them to write down on a piece if paper the name of a European country that none of the other ten would write down. You could see their brows furrow as they ran through a map of the continent in their minds, looking for the most obscure principality, state, or republic. When the papers were revealed, ten had picked Lichtenstein. One had picked France. The lone wolf said that she knew that the others would be looking for the most obscure country, leaving the obvious ones as the ones no one would pick. Later that summer, the same eleven were gathered for another dinner party. Again, the host asked each of them to write down the name of a European country that none of the other ten would write down. When the pieces of paper were turned over this time, two had picked France, two had picked Spain, two had picked Italy, two had picked Germany, and two had picked Switzerland. The one who had picked France the first time, however, had picked Lichtenstein the second time around. Knowing that the others had lost the first game by taking the most popular choice and knowing that they would remember the results of that game, she realized that her best option would be to pick Lichtenstein. None of the others would. “Lichtenstein had lost them the game last time. Why would any of them choose it this time?” [Mmm, Game Theory. I loves it so. – Knut, who used to write actual articles and stuff]
Our very own Tim Aten understood this. He knew that the Jitte wouldn’t show up because the other people were too smart to play it. Which meant that he also knew that the maindeck hate for it wouldn’t show up. Which left him free to play the Jitte. This is The Princess Bride Conundrum™ in action at the highest levels, and Tim knew exactly where the Invitational fell in the cycle as it related to the Jitte. The fact that Tim went 3-0 shows you that the Jitte’s a strong card. Or, if you’re one of those folks who likes the cable news networks that “liven-up” facts:
MAGIC NEWS NETWORK NEWSFLASH – 100% of Magic Invitational Decks Running Umezawa’s Jitte Go Undefeated! Nobody Runs Even a Single Kokusho! The Evening Star Declared Junk!
By the way, did you also notice that no one ran Kokusho, the Evening Star? If the Jitte is bad because only Tim Aten ran it at the Invitational, then Kokusho is clearly even worse. You should unload them now. I’ll buy all you have for $1.50 each. Hurry before the price plummets even more. Whoops. I’m already down to a buck-twenty-five.
We Are Now Done with the “Dopey Folks Who Don’t Really Understand Stuff” Portion of Our Column
Regionals is typically dominated by aggressive, creature-based decks. The Jitte fits that strategy like a silk thong. If you go to Regionals unprepared for the Jitte, you will be dominated by the Jitte all day long. Do you really want to say this to your friends:
“I was this close to beating him, but he just kept swinging with that Phantom Warrior wearing Umezawa’s Jitte.”
Besides, White Skies just loves the Jitte. White Skies also hates the Jitte. With nigh-unblockable guys (i.e. flyers) to carry it, the Jitte is awesome in a White Skies deck. On the flip side, a single swing by the other guy with the Jitte on his side can result in two counters that can be used to kill two Suntail Hawks. We need the Jitte. We want the Jitte. We will have the Jitte.
White Skies also screams for Glorious Anthem. If you’re not playing with the Anthem, why even play mono-White? I mean unless you just can’t afford it.
That’s Eight Expensive Rares!
Hey, you asked. I apologize to my budget deck brethren, but I have the cards. I bought two Rat’s Nest pre-constructed decks, netting two Jittes. I opened the other two. As for Glorious Anthems, that card was in Urza’s Saga, 7th Edition, and 8th Edition. I’ve had plenty of time to get those.
Sadly, I’m also going to be running two more rares, Shining Shoal. Against some decks, that card is simply a finisher for White Skies.
Okay, that’s it for the rares. You can breath now.
The next think I had to do was scour the Saviors spoiler for White cards that might work in White Skies. My focus was obviously on the low end of the mana curve. Sure, there were some expensive cards that I’d taken note of. Reverence, for example, would be great against those Red weenie decks. Charge Across the Araba might be one of those “I just win” cards. They were too expensive, though, mana wise.
The White cards that struck me were:
Spiritual Visit – I could splice it onto Ethereal Haze to gain a creature without losing an extra card.
Araba Mothrider – A two-mana flyer could be what this deck needs to replace Emissary of Hope.
Curtain of Light – It’s cheap, it “blocks” a guy, and it replaced itself.
Hand of Honor – Oh, baby, bring on the Rats.
That was it. None of the three-mana spells seemed good enough to make the cut. There’s a 2/1 flyer for three mana, but Diving Griffin would be better. What about artifacts, though? I saw nothing that impressed me. Pithing Needle could be good to bring in against Sword of Fire and Ice or Sword of Light and Shadow or the Jitte or Sensei’s Divining Top, but (a) I didn’t think I’d be getting any before Regionals (it’s already a twenty-dollar card), and (b) I’d rather run Terashi’s Grasp.
In the end, I decided to use only Araba Mothrider from Saviors. Curtain of Light isn’t as good as simply casting Holy Day or sacrificing Kami of False Hope. Hand of Honor might make it into the sideboard against Black decks, but I wanted more flyers. This was what I started testing:
Creatures (22)
- 4 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
- 4 Lantern Kami
- 4 Suntail Hawk
- 3 Skyhunter Skirmisher
- 4 Leonin Skyhunter
- 3 Araba Mothrider
Lands (21)
- 21 Plains
Spells (17)
The wild card here is the Otherworldly Journey. A lot of people look at this as simply a sideboard card. I’ve won too many games because of that card to think that it’s merely good against a few decks. I’ve beaten G/B Death Cloud decks because I had the Journey in hand when they cast Death Cloud. After the Death Cloud resolved, I had no permanents on the board and no cards in hand. At the end of the turn, though, I had a creature back in play with a +1/+1 counter on it. I’ve also won using it offensively, removing the lone blocker that stood between me and reducing my opponent’s life to zero.
A lot of folks will say that I’m beating my head against a wall. “White Weenie can’t stand up to the top tier decks. Why waste your time?”
Because it’s what I do.
What? You think this would be more entertaining:
From Right Field: What You Should Play at Regionals
Tooth and Nail, G/B Cloud Control, MUC, or Big Red.
Thanks.
You’ve been great,
Chris
Running the Gauntlet
Here’s how I tested this deck. I ran it against the gauntlet of test decks Mike Flores wrote about (except for the Etched Oracle and Trinket Mage decks) without sideboarding for the first ten games. If your deck can’t break even in game one against a certain deck, chances are not good for winning that match. No matter how much better your deck gets after sideboarding, the other guy is sideboarding, too. There are rare exceptions, of course. At Pro Tour Chicago (2000), Brian Kibler and his Rith deck lost every first game they played against Blue Skies decks but didn’t lose a match to Blue Skies all day. Kibler’s sideboarding plan was flawless. I’m not Brian Kibler, and neither are you.
Round One vs. Tooth and Nail
The version of T&N that I ran had maindeck Triskelion and Mephidross Vampire in place of one Duplicant and one Mindslaver. Why? Because in testing previous versions of White Skies, I found that to be the most devastating combo that White Skies faced from Tooth and Nail. If White Skies hadn’t killed T&N before that combo hit, even if T&N was at one life, the Trike and Vampire could wipe out everything, no questions asked. White Skies had no way to win in its previous incarnation. I was hoping that Ethereal Haze, Otherworldly Journey, and Shining Shoal could team up to turn the tide.
I was most worried about this matchup, but the White Skies deck came through. I was pleasantly surprised that it finished 6-4. The four wins that T&N had were typical of the deck – cast an Entwined T&N ASAP – so I’m not going to waste time on those. On the other side of the coin, four of the White Skies wins were as expected. Flyers on steroids beat any deck that can’t (a) block them, (b) destroy them directly, or (c) kill them all at once. The other two were the wins that told me I was on the right track.
In the first, White Skies was clearly in control of the board. That allowed me to hold cards in hand and keep mana up. On my opponent’s turn, he cast an Entwined Tooth and Nail. In response, I played Ethereal Haze.
{Rules and Timing Note of the Triskelion/Vampire Combo: Ethereal Haze stops all creature damage, not just combat damage. So, it’s great against the Trike. However, add in the Vampire, and they can just keep stacking the Triskelion activations on top of your E-Haze, thereby nullifying it. In order to prevent the damage from the Trike, then, you must cast the Haze before the Trike comes into play. That means in response to the Tooth being cast.}
Okay, so I stopped the combo from wiping out my board on his turn. Big deal, right? He was just going to do it during my turn instead. Not if the Triskelion wasn’t in play, he wasn’t. During his end of turn step, I cast Otherworldly Journey on the Trike, meaning that it would not be in play during my turn. The Vampire was only able to block one flyer, and I swung for the win.
The final victory came during a game in which I couldn’t stop the Trike/Vampire combo. They came. They saw. They wiped out my side of the board while he was at three. When he swung with his Vampire on his next turn, I used a Skyhunter Skirmisher to power a Shining Shoal, redirecting the three damage from the Vampire to my opponent.
What I Saw on the Battlefield
So far, I’m not impressed with the Araba Mothrider. A 1/1 flyer for two-mana is nothing for White to write home about. Heck, Angelic Page is a 1/1 flyer for two with an ability that is often useful. I never found Bushido to be very good, at least in this matchup. Already, I’m looking at dropping the only Saviors card in post-Saviors White Skies, possibly for Diving Griffin. So sad.
Round Two vs. Mono-Blue Control (a.k.a. MUC)
When playing against MUC, it finally struck me – yes, after all of these years – why it is that countermagic is so frustrating to play against. You don’t actually get to play. It stops you before you can get going. Sure, Barter in Blood kills two of your creatures, but at least you got to get them into play. You had a chance to swing with them if the BiB didn’t hit on the first turn afterwards. Counterspells just stop what you wanted to start.
While White Skies did end up going 4-6 against MUC, I didn’t even feel good about the four wins. One came when White Skies got a very fast start and MUC got mana hosed. (He had three lands in his opening hand but didn’t hit another before the game ended.) In another, he didn’t get out the Vedalken Shackles. The other two were tough battles that usually ended when I was able to resolve a Shining Shoal.
The losses, though, were ugly. Shackles took whatever it wanted since most of the creatures have such low power even with an Anthem out. Jitte was able to foil a Shackles once in a while, removing counters to make it too big to take, but that was the MUC player’s plan: get me to remove the counters.
Clearly, there are problem decks for any deck. The key to building a good deck is to minimize the number of decks against which you have major problems and look for sideboard answers. MUC may be the biggest problem that White Skies faces. It has its own flyers. It has Shackles. It has countermagic. Terashi’s Grasp will obviously come in from the sideboard. Possibly, there will be a fourth Otherworldly Journey to thwart Vedalken Shackles. What else? I dunno right now. I’m kinda stumped.
What I Saw on the Battlefield
Again, Araba Mothrider did not do very well. I think I have to go with Diving Griffin. I know that that doesn’t sit well with many folks. They want Saviors cards in here. At some point, though, you need to realize that the new set doesn’t add anything to your deck. Saviors may not add anything to Tooth and Nail, for example.
That’s going to be all for this week since this piece is already a little long. Join me next week for my SCG Daily run (explaining how I got here and why I do what I do) as well as my regular piece looking at the final White Skies matchups.
As usual, you’ve been a great audience. Now, I’m thinking of a number between one and a thousand.
Chris Romeo
CBRomeo-at-Travelers-dot-com
* As long as that deck runs Green and (a) Tooth and Nail, (b) Death Cloud, or (c) Plow Under, or Islands and Vedalken Shackles, that is.