The biggest problem we had when fighting Humans was the diverse threats coming out of a stupid white weenie deck. It was nearly impossible to build a deck that had an answer to:

1. Honor of the Pure ( plus Doomed Traveller and Moorland Haunt)
   Hero of Bladehold plus Mirran Crusader
2. Thalia plus Champion of the Parish
3. Sword of War and Peace

Sometimes we would come close, but when we played enough games it was never better than 50/50. The closest we probably got was the Five-Color Control/Reanimator deck I built. The deck was based on Gerry Thompson Five-Color Control list. Unfortunately, it couldn’t beat the Mono-Green deck from Todd Anderson, so I abandoned the deck after two days of testing. The deck was very fun to play though, so if you are looking for something different, here’s my last list:

Five-Color Control

Marijn Lybaert

Test deck on 02-12-2012

Standard

Creatures (13)

• 1 Grave Titan
• 1 Inferno Titan
• 3 Sun Titan
• 2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 3 Blade Splicer
• 3 Phantasmal Image

Lands (26)

• 2 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Mountain
• 3 Island
• 3 Shimmering Grotto
• 2 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 2 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1 Copperline Gorge
• 2 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Clifftop Retreat

Spells (19)

• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 3 Oblivion Ring
• 2 Day of Judgment
• 2 Unburial Rites
• 4 Desperate Ravings
• 4 Faithless Looting
• 3 Thought Scour

The card I liked the most in this deck was actually Blade Splicer. Blade Splicer was an answer to Thalia and Mirran Crusader. Plus, the token could block a creature carrying Sword of War and Peace, a card this deck was pretty weak to. Sometimes I would reanimate an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, only to lose to Hero of Bladehold with a Sword of War and Peace the turn after.

Another deck we really wanted to work was Stompy (Mono-Green Aggro). Stompy was one of the few decks that could run four Sword of War and Peace thanks to their eight-mana guys.  Unfortunately, four Swords were not always enough. Turn two Thalia, turn three Mirran Crusader could actually race the Sword. I think the best version of Stompy we found was one with four Prey Upon and four Predator Ooze. Prey Upon was surprisingly good but in the end we kept losing to Mirran Crusader.

After that I tried a B/G Glissa, the Traitor deck. Glissa was great but the rest of the deck was kind of meh. Perilous Myr was a fine answer for Mirran Crusader but it did nothing against Honor of the Pure and Hero of Bladehold. 

Another deck that almost got there was a hybrid between Humans and Delver. My list was very similar to the one from Kenny Öberg. This time it was not Mirran Crusader but Thalia who came to disturb the party.

I think the biggest mistake we made during testing was that we were looking for answers instead of just looking for threats. Blade Splicer and Glissa were a good start but we should’ve gone further. Instead of putting more Gut Shot in our Delver deck, we could have tried Drogskol Captain for example. Huntmaster of the Fells in R/G Ramp is another great example. Threats are better than answers; a valuable lesson I guess.   

Humans ended up being the most played deck at the tournament, but there wasn’t a single one that made Top 8. Did that surprise me? Not really, given the fact that only a few pro players actually played the deck. I do believe it’s still a good choice for the upcoming StarCityGames.com Open Series, though. Underneath you can find an updated list with some sideboard plans.

U/W Humans

Marijn Lybaert

Test deck on 02-12-2012

Standard

Creatures (28)

• 4 Mirran Crusader
• 3 Hero of Bladehold
• 3 Fiend Hunter
• 4 Champion of the Parish
• 2 Geist of Saint Traft
• 4 Doomed Traveler
• 4 Loyal Cathar
• 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Lands (24)

• 12 Plains
• 1 Island
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Seachrome Coast
• 3 Moorland Haunt

Spells (8)

• 4 Honor of the Pure
• 2 Sword of War and Peace
• 2 Angelic Destiny

Sideboard

• 2 Flashfreeze
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 3 Ratchet Bomb
• 1 Hero of Bladehold
• 2 Leonin Relic-Warder
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 2 Dismember
• 1 Angelic Destiny
• 1 Fiend Hunter

This list is quite close to what I ended up playing at Pro Tour Dark Ascension. I basically switched the maindeck Leonin Relic-Warders for two Angelic Destiny and one Geist of Saint Traft. Should Humans stay the most popular deck, I would just leave it like it was. For now I’ll put my money on R/G Ramp and Delver/Spirits to become the two most popular decks. Angelic Destiny is the easiest way to beat R/G Ramp, especially when you can land it on Geist of Saint Traft or Mirran Crusader. I haven’t played against the new Delver list with three Phantasmal Images, but it’s possible that Geist of Saint Traft is just bad against them. If that’s the case, I would replace the Island with another Plains and the two Geist of Saint Traft with one Hero of Bladehold and one Fiend Hunter.

Let’s take a look at some of the matchups.

Versus R/G Ramp

They have a very hard time beating turn two Thalia on the play. Unfortunately, on the draw, Thalia is a bit too slow. You don’t really want to play turn two Thalia when they can just play their Huntmaster of the Fells next turn. Mirran Crusader plus Angelic Destiny is game most of the time (watch out for Inkmoth Nexus), so that becomes your main plan when on the draw. With Loyal Cathar, Doomed Traveler, and three Moorland Haunt you should always have a target for your Angelic Destiny. Right now I feel like this matchup is decided on the die roll.

Sideboard on the play:
+1 Angelic Destiny
+2 Flashfreeze
-3 Fiend Hunter

Sideboard on the draw:
+1 Angelic Destiny
+2 Flashfreeze
-3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Versus Delver/Spirits

Against a normal Delver list, we were slightly favoured, but I don’t know how much Drogskol Captain and Dungeon Geists change the matchup. A third Dismember might be a good choice right now.

Sideboard:
+2 Mental Misstep
+2 Dismember
+1 Fiend Hunter
+1 Oblivion Ring
+2 Ratchet Bomb
-3 Hero of Bladehold
-2 Angelic Destiny
-3 Mirran Crusader

Hero of Bladehold is pretty bad against Dungeon Geists and Vapor Snag. Angelic Destiny is usually too slow. If you know they’re keeping their four Vapor Snags and/or artifact removal, take out two Sword of War and Peace instead of two Mirran Crusader.

Versus Mono-Green

Your biggest weapon is obviously Mirran Crusader, but you usually need Honor of the Pure/Angelic Destiny/Sword to race their Sword of War and Peace. A good thing to remember is to play your excess lands so their Swords do less damage.

Sideboard:
+1 Hero of Bladehold
+1 Angelic Destiny
+2 Dismember
+1 Oblivion Ring
+1 Fiend Hunter
+2 Leonin Relic-Warder
(+2 Mental Misstep)
-4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
-2 Geist of Saint Traft
-2 Loyal Cathar

After sideboard you get some solutions to Sword of War and Peace as well as some extra trump spells (Angelic Destiny/Hero of Bladehold). On the draw I sometimes put in the Mental Missteps, but I’m unsure if that’s correct. Sometimes you draw it on turn five and puke very hard. Dismember is a good way to keep them from hitting with a Sword of War and Peace. There’s no need to kill the creature in response to the equipping. Let them attack first so they can’t equip another dude right away.

Versus Tempered Steel

A tough matchup, but not all is lost. Tempered Steel and Etched Champion are basically the only two cards you’re afraid of. If they don’t draw those, you can easily win. If they do, you have to get lucky.

Sideboard:
+2 Leonin Relic-Warder
+3 Ratchet Bomb
+1 Oblivion Ring
+1 Fiend Hunter
+2 Dismember
+2 Mental Misstep
+1 Hero of Bladehold
-4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
-2 Sword of War and Peace
-2 Loyal Cathar
-4 Doomed Traveler

When first playing this matchup we were sideboarding completely differently. We thought Thalia would be great, but it just didn’t do enough. We were keeping all our small guys and taking out Mirran Crusader instead. This left us with a bunch of do-nothings which usually gave the opponent enough time to draw Tempered Steel or Etched Champion. Sure, Mirran Crusader is pretty bad against an untapped Etched Champion, but at least your opponent is taking four should he decide to attack with his Champion. Mental Misstep goes in to protect you against Dispatch.

Versus Humans

Sideboard:
+1 Hero of Bladehold
+1 Angelic Destiny
+1 Oblivion Ring
+1 Fiend Hunter
+2 Dismember
+2 Leonin Relic-Warder
-1/2 Geist of Saint Traft (I usually keep one on the play)
-2/4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (against a version with Gather the Townsfolk I keep two on the play)
-1 Doomed Traveler
-2 Loyal Cathar

My result at the Pro Tour was once again pretty disappointing. I started out strong on Day 1 (6-2) but the wheels fell off on Day 2. If only I would have gotten the guts to force Self-Mill in any of my two drafts.  In my first draft I got passed Increasing Confusion, one of the better Limited rares in Dark Ascension, like seventh pick.

My general advice for the new draft format is to commit to a theme as soon as possible. The best decks are those with a lot of synergy. My first draft deck had four Village Cannibals, Ravenous Demon, and a bunch of Humans and sac outlets. All of my cards worked together and I was getting much more value out of my cards than my opponents. In my second draft, I first picked Flayer of the Hatebound but what followed were mediocre red cards that didn’t work together. Not only is red really weak in Innistrad, I was also hoping for cards that everyone could use. When you’re drafting a really aggressive Vampire deck, it’s not a complete disaster when the guy in front of you takes Brimstone Volley and passes you Bloodcrazed Neonate. In a random midrange red deck on the other hand, the Neonate is nearly unplayable and you end up without any playables in the pack. Same goes for pretty much any other color. Commit to a theme in pack one and you’ll end up with a strong deck. Durdle around and you’ll end up with a mediocre or bad deck.

After this yet again disappointing result, I’m afraid the Pro Tour is coming to an end for me. Looking back I can’t think of anything but the great times I had. This trip to Hawaii was once again so much fun. Being able to spend two weeks in paradise with my wife and some of my closest friends is all one could ask for. Dude, I even got to swim with dolphins!

One of the funniest moments on our trip came when the chicken of the owner of the first rental house jumped on our table and left a gigantic turd. After a close investigation, it turned out the chicken was sent out by Channel Fireball just to spy on us. Chicken Fireball tasted pretty good on the barbecue that night.

I’ll have one more shot at Pro Tour Barcelona, but after that it might be time to call it quits. Don’t count me out just yet though. It wouldn’t be the first time that I Top 8 my last shot.

Thanks for reading,

-Marijn