Got Angels on My Side

After US Nationals, I was qualified for Worlds due to my high rating. I thought about sitting on it until the cutoff, but between all the StarCityGames.com Open events, States, other various tournaments, and Grand Prix Toronto, I figured if I played well enough, I should stay qualified. If not, then I’d just try harder.

For a good nine years, I’d always been qualified, so I never even really thought about not being qualified, but towards the end of those nine years, I didn’t try as hard as I could have. My being in this spot right now could be good for me, as it forces me to try to play as much as I can and put in the practice to do well. It worked out pretty well for Nationals. A good friend of mine lent me a few decks on Magic Online, so I played a bunch. Then I drafted and spoke to Anton Jonsson for additional draft advice.

With the new Standard rotation, I knew a few new decks would emerge and that a few staple decks would just change a bit. I worked on a Mono-Green Elf deck that showed up on the internet and a U/W/G Venser deck, but ideally I wanted to play U/W, since it’s the deck I enjoy playing the most, and I’ve been working on improving it since Nationals.

Last week there was a large Standard Tournament in NYC at Wizard World. I figured this would be good practice for States, since it would give me an idea of what the metagame looked like and would help me know what cards I want to add to my deck and what cards I shouldn’t be playing.

After a few different builds, the version I decided to play is as follows.

I’ll discuss what I like and dislike about this deck and the small changes I would make, but first I thought it might be useful for me to walk through my tournament experience round by round. The turnout was about 170 players, meaning it would be only eight rounds of Swiss.

Round 1 Eldrazi Green

A few people were telling me that this is a bad matchup for me, but I wasn’t convinced. My game plan is to counter their mana ramp with Negate and Mana Leak, and then try to Oust an early Treespeaker or Overgrown Battlement. I figured if I can deny them their mana, then I can drop a Gideon or Baneslayer and beat them down before they can cast their powerful spells.

My other thought was that with the addition of Volition Reins, I can steal one of their big Eldrazi guys or even a land or Chalice to slow them down. Also, they really have no answer at all to an early Jace and Oust, which prevents their mana from developing. Linvala is also a good way to shut them down. What I was most concerned about was the game going extremely long to the point I’d lose to Eye of Ugin, since I was only maindecking two Tectonic Edges and zero Spreading Seas.

Game 1 was a battle back and forth. My opening hand was good, with multiple Preordains allowing me to setup what I wanted and what I didn’t.

As a side note, if you do decide to play this list in a tournament, it would be good to walk around the tables of the players with your same record, and be aware of what your potential future opponents are playing. Then, when you turn 1 Preordain, you‘ll know if you need a certain card or not.

Several turns later, my opponent had down just about every land in his deck except for his one Eye of Ugin, which I managed to Edge away the turn before he was about to start searching. We were kind of in a stalemate with my two Baneslayers holding off his board of two Primeval Titans — we were in a topdeck war. I managed to draw Jace, the Mind Sculptor and decided to Brainstorm, since I knew he was going to make a chump attack to get through to kill the Jace. I figured if I drew into an Oust or Condemn, I’d be in great shape.

I missed and drew all blanks, but things were still fine for me, as the board was now my two Baneslayers against his one Titan. I still couldn’t attack because of his Maze, but after I topdecked another Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Fatesealed him, he scooped the turn after.

I went to sideboard and was for sure bringing in three Flashfreezes and one Tectonic Edge. I took out two Condemns, one Jace Beleren, and one Oust, since I wasn’t sure whether he’d leave in his Battlements or not.

Game 2, he dropped a turn 1 Treespeaker, and I had the Oust. Then things went smoothly for me. I countered his mana ramp spells, and after dropping a Gideon, I managed to Mana Leak his Titan with Negate and Flashfreeze backup for his two Summoning Traps, and he scooped. This is something you have to be extremely careful about; getting wrecked by Trap is a possibility you always have to consider when thinking about countering one of their creature spells.

1-0

Round 2 U/W Proliferate deck

Game 1, I kept a hand with a few lands and three Jace, the Mind Sculptors. This hand might be an auto-loss to a Mono-Red deck, but I figured if I were up against a U/W mirror or another slow deck, I’d be okay.

Early game was looking good; he tapped out for a Sea Gate Oracle, and I dropped a Jace and started Brainstorming. He got down a second Oracle, and then he played the new Elspeth Tirel. Soon I was drawing all blanks, even with Jace, and the Elspeth was doing a number on the board. Each turn he was either gaining life or making tokens. Eventually he played a Venser and Contagion Engine, and I lost.

I looked at my sideboard and decided to bring in two Spell Pierces, one Tectonic Edge, one Sphinx of Jwar Isle, and two Revoke Existences, thinking he might have Volition Reins or some Everflowing Chalices I could get with it. I took out four Ousts and two Linvalas. I left in the Condemns to have a cheap way to kill a Colonnade, in addition to my Edges.

Game 2 went my way from the start — my cheap counters were able to stop his planeswalkers and my six Jaces made sure I’d win the Jace war. I then got down a Baneslayer, which he didn’t have an answer to, and I won a few turns later.

At this point I noticed he never played any counters. He was playing a bunch of cards that I would’ve liked to have fit in my deck, which made me realize there was a good chance he wasn’t playing any Mana Leaks or Negates, which seemed good for me and bad for him.

Game 3, he got mana-stalled, and I Edged two of his lands and stole two others with Reins. Afterwards, he laid out his deck. It seemed really cool, since he had a bunch of cool interactions, but without cheap counterspells, I felt it would be too easy to fall behind.

2-0

Round 3 Mono Green Elves

I played against Wescoe in a feature match and figured I’d win with ease. My deck is the Elf deck’s worst nightmare, as I have Oust, Linvala, and Baneslayer. Game 1 was not close. I Ousted a guy or two, and then played a turn 4 Linvala, then a Baneslayer, then a Sunblast Angel, along with a Gideon.

I brought in Flashfreeze and a Revoke Existence, thinking he would have a few Eldrazi Monuments and maybe something else. In hindsight, I think I didn’t need to bring it in since the matchup is so good. It seems bad to risk it and have it stuck in your hand. I took out two small Jaces and two Reins.

Game 2, he mulliganed, and I just wrecked him again.

The only thing you have to be concerned about is Plummet, since it kills all your good creatures, but he was only playing two. If Elves becomes more popular, and they start packing four Plummets, you want to add another Linvala to the board or something along those lines.

3-0

Round 4 R/G Valakut Ramp

This matchup got worse because I took out the Spreading Seas. With Seas, I was less likely to just flat-out lose to the Valakuts.

Game 1, I turn 2 Preordained after playing a turn 1 Colonnade, and I saw two lands. I had two more lands in my hand and a Jace, so I figured since I already had four lands to play my Jace, I wouldn’t need the extras. I just wanted to dig for Reins and other good stuff. Ended up most likely costing me the game, as I just never drew another land after playing Jace and Brainstorm multiple times. In hindsight, I still think my play was right, but maybe a bit too greedy, as I lost with Baneslayers, Gideon, and Reins in my hand.

I boarded in pretty much the same stuff as I did when I played against Mono-Green Eldrazi, but it didn’t matter, as I just got wrecked game 2 after dropping a turn 3 Jace and Brainstorming into all lands, which made me realize my deck was clearly misbuilt by only playing three fetchlands. I wasn’t maximizing my gain from Jace, and it cost me the game here.

3-1

Round 5 R/G Valakut Ramp

I’m still not convinced this is a bad matchup, as long as I play well and don’t have bad luck.

Game 1 things went well for me, as I countered his early ramp and dropped a Jace. Game 1 in this matchup, what you want to do is get the Jace up to five counters the turn you play it in order to play around Lightning Bolt, and that’s what I did. Eventually I got down a Baneslayer and took game 1.

For game 2, the same stuff happened; I played around Summoning Trap by not countering his Oracle of Mul Daya and Ousted it the next turn. We got to a point where I basically had the game.

I had a Jace down, and I saw Gaea’s Revenge on top of his deck. My board was Gideon and Jace, and I was about to play a Baneslayer with Negate in my hand. He had seven lands in play and only a few cards in hand, so I left the Revenge on top and forced all his creatures to attack Gideon, making it impossible for him to even cast the Revenge that turn. I played a Baneslayer and passed with two open.

End of turn, he played Combust — something I wasn’t expecting. So he untapped and played Revenge, killing my Gideon. I Jaced next turn to find an answer and didn’t, so he then killed my Jace, and I lost a few turns later. If I just played more safely, I likely would’ve won, since Revenge was the only way for him to win.

Game 3, I was on the play and managed to double Reins his lands along with an Edge, leaving him short on mana. He then lost to a few swings from Gideon.

4-1

Round 6 Valakut Ramp

So far, it had been basically the same decks over and over, as I thought it would be. At the beginning of a new Standard format, players choose decks they know are good and stick to something they’re comfortable with. Because of this, lots of my sideboard cards never really got used, but it’s good to be ready for decks even if you don’t happen to play against them.

Not much exciting happened here, and I now felt I knew how to play this matchup. Avoid losing to Trap, don’t tap out early for anything but Jace, and save my Tectonic Edges for their Eye of Ugin. I won, putting me at 5-1 and one win away from Top 8, most likely.

5-1

Round 7 Eldrazi Green

Wow, I really would’ve liked to have the fourth Flashfreeze in my board (I could’ve even maindecked them), but I think it’s pretty rare to be paired up against green decks nearly every round.

Game 1, I flat-out punted. I was on the play, and my opponent mulliganed and went for a turn 2 Overgrown Battlement, so I just stopped thinking for a moment and Mana Leaked it to keep him off of his mana. He then played two Traps, and I just conceded on the spot — a really bad play on my part that I probably wouldn’t have made if I’d practiced more.

Game 2 was more punting, as I played carelessly and wasted my Edges and lost to an Eye. Overall, I was disappointed by how poorly I played that round, when both games I should’ve won if I’d just taken my time and played better.

5-2

Round 8 Eldrazi Green

This round I was determined to play as well as I could, and I did just that — winning both really close games where there were a ton of tricky decisions that needed to be made. My opponent even came up to me and complimented me on my play skill in that match, which made me feel really good.

6-2

I ended up in thirteenth place, which isn’t bad, but I’m certain that I could’ve won this tournament if I’d played better. That seems to have been the trend for the past few tournaments I’ve played in since Nationals.

At Nationals, I lost game 5 in the Top 8, which I could’ve won if I’d named the right card with Meddling Mage: Mana Leak.

At the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Maryland a few weeks ago, I played carelessly and thought my Sensei’s Divining Top was a Brainstorm and got a game loss — in a game I was going to probably win next turn.

Then during the Magic Online Championships, I started off 7-0, only needing to win one out of the next three matches to make Top 8 but didn’t get there.

I’m not sure what it is, but I feel like when I’m close to doing well, I somehow manage to punt it away. This is something that I’ll definitely work on because I want to try to put up the best finishes I can, especially at the next two GPs that are coming up. I suggest you guys try to figure out where you’re going wrong in the game and figure out a plan on how you can work on it.

Changes to the Deck

So, after playing with the deck in a tournament setting, here are a few things I’d change.

I’d definitely change the sideboard. But before I change the sideboard, I’d want to see what I’d change in the maindeck.

Starting with the mana base, I’d have it look like this:

1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
6 Island
4 Plains
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Seachrome Coast
2 Tectonic Edge

I think five fetchlands is the right number, with 26 lands total. I’m only playing one Seachrome Coast, giving me a max of five tap lands, as I feel they can really hurt you, and I wouldn’t play any more than five.

I’d also want to put the four Spreading Seas back in the deck; to this end, I cut two Condemns and two Negates, having the deck look like this.

I removed the Kor Firewalkers, not because I didn’t play against any red decks, but because your game 1 matchup isn’t even that bad. You can just end the game with a Baneslayer, and you have Mana Leaks and Oust for the early game. Also, you’re already going to bring in four Flashfreezes, as well as the Condemns. Also, I cut the Sphinx because another Reins is just better. So now that you have the new list, let’s see how I’d board against the popular decks.

Eldrazi Green

In: 4 Flashfreeze, 1 Volition Reins, 1 Tectonic Edge
Out: 2 Jace Beleren, 1 Oust, 2 Gideon Jura, 1 Everflowing Chalice

You don’t need the extra Jaces, since they aren’t playing any, and I’m trading the Chalice for the Edge. You obviously want the counterspells in, while Gideon doesn’t do much against them. Your basic plan is the same as it is game 1 — get out a Jace and lock up their mana. Just remember to do what you can to not get Summoning Trapped.

Mono-Red

In: 4 Flashfreeze, 3 Condemn, 2 Spell Pierce
Out: 4 Spreading Seas, 2 Jace Beleren, 2 Volition Reins, 1 Sunblast Angel

Flashfreeze is obvious, and so is Condemn. I like Spell Pierce over Negate, since it’s just cheaper and most of the time will do the same thing. Seas don’t do anything, so I take them out, along with Jace, Reins, and Sunblast Angels, which cost too much without having a real impact on the game. Sunblast can do something with Gideon but it’s not worth having it in against them, since they only have a few creatures, and most have haste. Your basic plan is to conserve your life total as much as possible, and you can then try to get down a Baneslayer. With Jace, I’d almost always Fateseal them the turn I play it. I’d also counter almost anything they play just to keep up — you don’t want to somehow fall behind and lose with Flashfreezes in your hand, so if I’m able to counter something, I do it. Also, remember late game you can Condemn one of your own guys to gain some life if you’re afraid of getting burned out.

Valakut Ramp

In: 4 Flashfreeze, 1 Volition Reins, 1 Tectonic Edge, 2 Negate
Out: 4 Oust, 2 Jace Beleren, 2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence

We’re boarding in close to how we’re boarding against Eldrazi Green, but the cards we’re taking out change. Linvala and Oust really don’t do much against them. Your plan is the same: mana denial and drop a Baneslayer or Jace and try to win through them. As far as holding your Seas for their Valakuts, it mostly depends on the game state, so you’ll just have to trust your judgment.

U/W Control

In: 2 Negate, 1 Tectonic Edge, 2 Spell Pierce, 1 Volition Reins, 2 Revoke Existence
Out: 4 Oust, 2 Linvala, 1 Sunblast Angel, 1 Spreading Seas

You can leave in the Sunblast Angel, but if their build has Sun Titans like most do, then it’s not that good. Sideboarding should be clear, and your plan is Jace. Just try to keep yours in play and counter theirs. Your cheap counters should help, and having three Reins is pretty nice as well.

Elves

In: 4 Flashfreeze, 3 Condemn
Out: 2 Jace Beleren, 1 Volition Reins, 4 Spreading Seas

These are all pretty straightforward. I decided to leave in the one Reins, since it can be surprisingly good at times, possibly taking a Garruk before they get a chance to Overrun you.

 

I think those are the most popular decks. Of course, you’ll run into a bunch of different decks, especially in the early weeks of Standard. Your board is overall pretty versatile and is pretty well prepared against everything. If you want, you can add a Trinket Mage package, which will be good against Eldrazi and Vengevine decks, since you can search out Brittle Effigy or a Spellbomb.

I think this should give you a good idea of how U/W plays out, and why I’m playing some of these cards. I don’t like Wall/Journey/Sea Gate, and those are the cards you want with Sun Titan, so that why I’m not playing him.

I think Elspeth is good, but only in a white beatdown deck with Ajani Goldmane and Honor of the Pure. It doesn’t fit here. And finally, I think Venser is good, but not in this type of deck. It shines in a deck where Venser is topping off the curve, and ideally would have Cobra to ramp it into play.

Thanks to everyone for reading and joining the MODO-Police page I created on Facebook to try to make MODO and Magic fun for everyone. If you guys have any questions or comments let me know.

For those of you who watch GGsLive.com, I mentioned how I want to do a coaching series where I’d try to help players who are trying to make it to the Pro Tour. I’m not sure of the details of it yet, but this is something in the works to try to help you guys out.

Again, thanks for reading, and post your thoughts in the forums.