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G/W Trap With Kenny Mayer

Bennie Smith interviews Kenny Mayer, who recently got second at a Modern PTQ in Richmond. Find out all about G/W Summoning Trap from one of its best pilots along with updates to Bennie’s Glissa Pod Standard deck.

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Before I get started, a quick announcement:  make sure to check out the recent episode of The Mana Pool podcast, guest starring yours truly! I had a great time talking about Commander with Chewie, Mike, Brian, and Dirk, and we brewed up some neat ideas to go in a Johan deck…and even coined a new keyword, Johangilence! Did you know that Johan doesn’t actually give your creatures vigilance? It was a rare Tuesday that I wasn’t working and able to record, but hopefully we can all do it again sometime. Check out their recently revamped webpage; they even found an old caricature Josh Swartz did for me back at Grand Prix Richmond (2006).

So I went ahead and dipped my toe into Modern waters at the PTQ last weekend, and damn that water is cold! I got crushed at 0-3 and didn’t win a single game so I won’t torture you with a useless tournament report. Suffice it to say that I was convinced the hard way that G/W Greater Good was just not ready for prime time, especially if you can’t find your fourth Knight of the Reliquary for the deck. After getting stomped by Affinity in my first two matches and then stomped by Jund in the third match, I was about to call bullsh*t on this being such a wonderful and diverse format. Jay Delazier tried to convince me that if I were looking for diversity I should play more Legacy, where anything is possible. I was about to call bullsh*t on him, but he promised that I could even play one of my all-time favorite cards, Tombstone Stairwell, in Legacy. ORLY?

But back to the matter at hand:  Modern. What the heck are you supposed to do about Affinity? That deck is still silly insane, and I was especially angry that no one had suggested I pack Creeping Corrosion in my sideboard until after I’d turned in my deck registration. Not that I was sure that would even help, but it certainly had to be better than the pinpoint removal I had boarded in that slowed them down just a hair. How can a format be diverse when this silly deck was killing you before you could get to four mana?

Then Kenny Mayer came to my rescue. Kenny’s a good man, a good player, and partial to playing decks that are more my speed than the typical PTQ grinder. He tends to actually do really well with them, so when I saw him at the top tables round after round—with Lotus Cobras, Noble Hierarchs and Knights of the Reliquary!—I birded him to see what he was doing so much better than I.

Spoiler:  he was not running Greater Good…

Kenny made it all the way to the finals without a single match loss playing a really cool deck, one that made me envious I wasn’t playing it myself. I thought that you all might be much more interested in hearing about Kenny and his deck, and he graciously agreed to answer my questions.

Q: First, I thought it would be helpful to some of readers if we introduce who you are. From the research I did, here are some of your notable Magic accomplishments:

  • VA Champs 1st place 2006 w/Ghaziglare
  • VA Champs 1st place 2007 w/Makeshift Command
  • PTQ Winner in 2010 w/Saito Zoo
  • PTQ Winner in 2011 w/Vengevine Naya
  • Five Top 8s in the StarCityGames.com Open Series

Q: Which Pro Tours did you go to, what did you play, and how did you do? Did I miss anything?

To date I’ve attended Berlin 2008, Kyoto 2009, San Juan 2010, Paris 2011, and Nagoya 2011. I’ve been pretty fortunate with PTQs in recent years, but my results in regards to playing on the Tour are pretty abysmal.

Q: It seemed like you exploded on the Virginia Magic scene with those back-to-back Champs wins. How long have you been playing Magic?

I was introduced the game right before Scourge was released. I had just enlisted a few months prior and my fellow Airman Jimmy Rogers and myself were looking for something to do during our off time. He used to play the game but stopped playing years prior. It took a little while for me to catch on because I’m not the kind of person that’s good about trying new things, but once I "got" it I was hooked.

Q: When I do a deck search for you on the StarCityGames.com deck database, I see you with high finishes playing aggressive decks like Zoo and Aggro Loam, control decks like U/R Tron and U/G Control, and midrange decks like Ramp, Junk, Rock, Jund, and Doran. What draws you to playing particular decks?

Generally, I’m a guy that will play anything aggressive or midrange-oriented if it’s remotely viable in a format. I like knowing that in the five-to-six years that I’ve played Legacy (to varying frequency) that I’ve never sleeved up a Brainstorm. Obviously the card is insane and probably the best/second best in the format, but I actively like playing decks that just don’t really desire that effect. Basically, I have a deck orientation very similar to that of Kibler only with like half of the actual play skill. If it has Knight of the Reliquary in it, you’ve probably already sold me.

Q: Do you like designing decks from scratch or are you more of a deck tinkerer?

I’m pretty lazy when it comes to building decks from scratch since there are so many sources of information in this day and age that it’s so hard to get a leg-up on people with new technology. With Daily and Premier Events firing off on a regular basis on Magic Online and the StarCityGames.com Open Series and Grand Prix circuits occurring nearly every weekend, I just find it a better use of time to tinker around with something rather than build from the ground up. Besides, why work on Constructed decks when you could be drafting or more importantly, cubing?!

Q: Do you work with anyone coming up with decks to play for various events?

Other than random conversations Matt Scott and I have before events we both attend, it’s not likely I do much collaboration anymore. The people around here I used to play with mostly fell out from the competitive scene so while we used to test Constructed matches that generally doesn’t happen anymore. There are certainly random Facebook conversations with various other players active in the area, but nothing too intensive. I don’t have the patience for Magic Online these days either, so basically all I do to prepare for events is weekly cube events I host at my apartment.

Q: You made the finals at last weekend’s PTQ playing a deck very similar to a decklist you found online:

G/W Trap
Nichola Montaquila
1st Place at Pro Tour Qualifier on 02-26-2012
Modern
Magic Arena

Creatures (28)

Lands (25)

Spells (7)

Sideboard

Magic Card Back


I have to say, I really enjoyed watching you play the deck. It had just a brutal inevitability to it that seemed incredibly fun and splashy and powerful. Is that what made you want to play this deck or were there any other reasons?

First of all, many thanks to Nichola Montaquila for having such an awesome deck and doing well enough with it to grab my attention. I was all set to run something like Tron or Tooth and Nail until about Monday or Tuesday last week when Reuben Bresler posted on Facebook about his experience at the Ohio Magic Weekend that featured two PTQs. He mentioned the G/W Trap deck winning one of them and I was instantly intrigued. I knew my friend Matt Kranstuber (co-host of the "In Contention" podcast with Sam Stoddard) was in charge of running the events so I asked him for the list, and when he got back to me I was instantly in love with the deck.

It’s essentially the deck from Extended that players like Lauren Lee and Brian Kowal played at Pro Tour Amsterdam back in 2010 with Through the Breach in the Baneslayer slot and Emrakul instead of Iona (which is something I remember Levy advocating when he played the deck in the Extended portion of Worlds later that year). Those changes, combined with a much better mana base due to Ravnica duals and Dryad Arbor and the fact that Modern has been sufficiently neutered to a reasonable format from numerous bannings, made this deck a very viable choice. As mentioned earlier, anything with Knight of the Reliquary has my attention, and put it into a shell where it can do broken things like this one and I’m on board.

Q: How much time were you able to practice with it before the PTQ?

Very little. I went to the local shop Friday night in case anyone there was also planning on going to the PTQ and wanted to play some games but unfortunately nobody was/did. I goldfished it in basically every free moment I had though…this is a really fun deck to goldfish.

Q: What changes did you make to it and why?

The only change I was originally intending to make was adding a third Finks over the seemingly random Gaddock Teeg. I understand what Teeg was intending to fight (Gifts, Twin, and various other degenerate strategies), but its lack of synergy with Through the Breach and Summoner’s Trap didn’t impress me. In addition, it seemed like the Sejiri Steppe would lose me more games due to its come into play tapped nature than it would win me as a Knight bullet.

Don’t get me wrong, there were certainly situations that came up throughout the event where I wanted Steppe to be in my deck, but I ended up making it a basic forest and I’m sure there were even more situations where that untapped green source was also instrumental to my success. You already have eight lands that are come into play tapped(ish) with four Windbrisk Heights, two Mosswort Bridge, one Dryad Arbor (summoning sick), and one Stirring Wildwood. I didn’t really want any more than that.

Q: How did you do at the PTQ? What did you play against?

I ended up losing in the finals of it to a very good player and friend, Jarvis Yu. We are both PTQ grinders that have been fortunate enough to play a number of PTs in recent years but failed to do much with our invites. Hopefully he breaks that cycle this time, though, and does some awesome things in Barcelona!

The event was pretty small, although looking at attendance of other PTQs this season that seems to be an across-the-board trend. In the Swiss I played against Boros (2-1), U/R Twin (2-1), U/W/R Delver (2-1), Jund (2-1), and then double ID before Top 8. In the quarters I played against Jund (2-1), Mono-Blue Faeries (2-1), and then finally Jarvis with U/R Tron (1-2). I’m almost certain I made a horrendous misplay in game 3* that could’ve put me almost certainly on winning, but I chose the poor line of play and lost.

Q: Are there any changes you’d make to the deck if you played it again?

The maindeck is pretty solid from what I can tell. I actually never had the opportunity to cast Through the Breach the entire day. I didn’t draw it in game 1s and boarded it out for most game 2s. That’s possibly a mistake, but I don’t like it against Twin or Fae due to a variety of tapping effects in their decks and against Jund I don’t like it when they’re doing their best to disrupt you from every possible angle. In retrospect, though, I almost certainly want the fourth Finks and probably want something else instead of Leyline. I understand that R/B Burn is a deck picking up popularity and Leyline shuts that deck down while also doubling as a trump to Storm combo, so I may end up leaving them in next weekend in the end.

Q: Do you have any tips for anyone playing the deck?

Think through your plays very carefully. This deck may look simple, but there is a variety of lines you can take and you have to be aware of exactly how your opponent plans to interact with you. That sounds very vague and ambiguous, but it’s nevertheless very appropriate. Make no mistake, this deck can do some of the most broken things in the format, but small miscalculations on your part are almost always the difference between a win and a loss. Also, don’t go on tilt when you draw Emrakul. It happens…a lot. Just deal with having a virtual mulligan as the price you pay for having such a ridiculous endgame trump.

Q: What are your favorite cards out of Innistrad and Dark Ascension?

From Dark Ascension probably Strangleroot Geist, Hellrider, and Huntmaster of the Fells (wouldn’t it be sweet if there was a deck that could run all of them, oh wait!) and from Innistrad probably Garruk Relentless and how can I not call out my Twitter handle, "Mayer" of Avabruck (#notsosubtleplug)? What can I say; I never really got out of that early-Magic phase where one likes to tap green mana…

*Q: You mentioned you made a big mistake in the last game of the finals that may have cost you the victory. Do you remember it enough to talk about what you did versus what you should have done? Might be handy for someone to know who’d be interested in giving the deck a run to know what you were thinking and what you think you should have done.

It’s game 3 and I was on the play. I kept a hand of Windbrisk Heights, Stomping Ground, Noble Hierarch, Nest Invader, Lotus Cobra, Primeval Titan, Emrakul (at least I think that was my keep). With this hand if I got an untapped white-producing land/fetch by turn three and he didn’t have Pyroclasm, I could activate Heights on that turn.

I proceeded to play turn 1 Stomping Ground/Hierarch, and on turn 2 I drew a Trap and played Nest Invader/Heights (putting a Summoning Trap under it). He didn’t do anything outside of play lands, and once he didn’t turn 2 Pyroclasm I knew that the other cards I needed to worry about were Electrolyze and Firespout (which I thought he had as a one-of for his Gifts piles).

I didn’t draw a land on turn three and chose to risk it and spam the board with the Cobra and a Birds of Paradise I’d drawn. This brought my creature count up to five so that I was still live to activate Heights on the next attack in the face of Electrolyze as long as I drew a white land. Surprisingly, he didn’t have Electrolyze or Firespout, either, so I was getting quite lucky despite my draw being a bit awkward.

On turn 4 I did draw a land for the first time that game (basic Forest). I declared attacks and he had no effects so I sent in three guys. The giant misplay happened right here. I was hoping to just hit an Emrakul (or even a Titan) with the Trap. I didn’t even really think about this like I should have. I was so surprised that he didn’t have anything that I just wanted to capitalize on this opportunity.

Had I even thought for more than a moment I would’ve realized that just casting the Primeval Titan from my hand was 100% the correct play instead of gambling on a Trap. One could make an argument that I was "playing around" Condescend by activating Heights for Trap (which would’ve still left me with enough mana to pay for Condescend for two), but the fact that I had a Trap in my hand makes that argument not even a real thing.

So instead of doing the correct thing (which would leave me with Hierarch, Birds, Cobra, Nest Invader, token, Titan, and five lands to his three mana) I activated Heights for Trap and only found a Knight of the Reliquary (which was a paltry 2/2 at this time). Jarvis then cast EOT Thirst and during his main phase Pyroclasmed my entire board away. I proceeded to do nothing for the rest of the game, sitting on two Emrakuls, Titan, and Trap all looking at me from my hand and was frustrated with myself for doing that.

Thanks again for your time Kenny!!

You can follow him on Twitter, and you can check out all Kenny’s decks in the StarCityGames.com Deck Database here, including his awesome Legacy Aggro Battle of Wits deck that placed 32nd at a SCG Legacy Open last year.

Standard

I’ve had a couple people ask me if I had any updates to the Glissa Pod deck I wrote about a few weeks back. I’d pretty much be willing to run the revised decklist I posted at the end of this article, with a few tweaks:

-2 Evolving Wilds, +2 Grim Backwoods

With the addition of Viridian Emissary and Perilous Myr alongside the undying gang I think the Backwoods are definitely worth running. I don’t think I want three of them though…

-1 Wurmcoil Engine, +1 Massacre Wurm

Thinking back to all the lines of play I wanted for my endgame playing this deck, every time I wanted to Pod into Massacre Wurm and keep the Wurm in play afterwards. It’s why I don’t think this deck wants a seven cost creature to Pod into, not even one as good as Sheoldred, Whispering One. You just want to apply pressure with the Massacre Wurm’s life loss ability, so it occurred to me why should I even mess around with Wurmcoil Engine? Why not go turbo-Massacre with a second copy, along with the possibility of Phyrexian Metamorphs? I’m even strongly considering swapping out the Acidic Slime for a second Vorapede to strengthen this line of play.

Sideboard:  -1 Bloodline Keeper, -1 Geralf’s Messenger, -1 Stingerfling Spider,-1 Naturalize; +1 Sylvok Replica, +1 Nihil Spellbomb, +1 Grave Titan, +1 Wurmcoil Engine

With the rise of U/B Control, I think bringing in the Titan and Wurmcoil is probably better than the Massacre Wurms at six. I also think another Nihil Spellbomb would help in the Zombies matchup.

Has anyone been messing around with Glissa Pod lately? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

I’ve been itching to get back to working on Necrotic Ooze. Faithless Looting has me thinking of a R/B/U version with Spikeshot Elders might be fun. I hope to have something to try out the next FNM I can get out to.

By the way, I’m planning on holding Jay to the promise of developing a viable Tombstone Stairwell deck for Legacy. If any of you are into Legacy and have some ideas for Tombstone Stairwell, let me know!

That’s it for this week!

Take care,

Bennie

starcitygeezer AT gmail DOT com

I’m still looking for a roommate, so if you know anyone looking for a place to live in the Richmond, Virginia area please get in touch!

Make sure to follow my Twitter feed. I check it often so feel free to send me feedback, ideas, and random thoughts. I’ve also created a Facebook page where I’ll be posting up deck ideas and will happily discuss Magic, life, or anything else you want to talk about!

New to Commander?
If you’re just curious about the format, building your first deck, or trying to take your Commander deck up a notch, here are some handy links:

My current Commander decks (and links to decklists):

Previous Commander decks currently on hiatus: