This past weekend, Manuel Bucher and I flew out to Denver to Gunsling at the Conflux Prerelease.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Wizards, for bringing back the Big Prereleases!
Our adventure begins Thursday night as we are getting ready to fly out to Denver in the morning, when we discover that we don’t have the flight info. People in Denver spoke of us arriving at exactly 5:15pm local time, which implied that we actually had tickets. We tried getting in touch with the organizers, but it was already pretty late into the evening.
Enter Mike Long.
I called Mike and asked him if he could help send the message that we didn’t have our flight information. Mike seemed a relevant person to ask for help, as he was the guy that originally put the Denver tournament organizer, Scott Marshall, in touch with Bucher and I, plus Long is just a result-getting guy.
Not 60 minutes later, we had our flight information and all was worked out. When Mike Long wants to get in touch with someone, he makes it so.
We met up at RIW Hobbies with Mike Jacob on Friday morning to watch him sleep, which did not turn out as productive as the original plan of playtesting Standard, but what are you gonna do? At least he is adorable when he is unconscious.
We also drove through a blizzard to a nearby town where my friend, Stu Parns, was waiting with a sick Elder Dragon Highlander Deck (and something like 100 extra cards so that I could customize it to my liking). His deck was unreal. Aside from how fun it was to play and how strong it was, it was also all foreign foil and so on, pimped to the extreme.
Elder Dragon Highlander is a casual format that Manuel and I were requested to play this weekend, though neither of us had ever played before. For those who don’t know, the general idea is that you play a 100-card highlander decks with only a small banned list (Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Sway the Stars, Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Panoptic Mirror, and about 20 others).
Warning: I plan on talking about EDH a lot in this article, but for what its worth, there is a very strong Post-Conflux Standard deck you should really try later in the article.
In EDH, you choose a “general” that has to be a Legend. The colors in that general’s casting cost determine what colors of cards you can play. If your general isn’t a color, then you can’t use any cards that have that mana symbol on it (anywhere).
In addition to determining what colors you are, the general is also a card that starts removed from the game that you can play by paying its casting cost. If it would go to a graveyard, you may remove it from the game. If it is removed from the game, you may play it again for its casting cost plus two mana for each time you have already done this.
If someone’s general deals 21 damage to a player over the course of a game, that player loses the game automatically. Players start with 40 life. Multi-player games are very common, and it is usually common practice to not have the same general as another player in the game. As far as I know, the only generals that are banned are Rofellos and Kokusho.
This format has a cult following and is particularly popular among judges. I have to be honest, I wrote the format off a little on account of just “how casual” it appears, plus the banned list is fairly absurd, in my opinion. However, I have to say that I was really surprised, and in a very good way.
I have played “Five Color” (the format) before, and never really got into it. Generally, when you have played one “big deck” casual format, you have played them all. However, Elder Dragon Highlander has a lot of interesting things going on.
First of all, the fact that you can have access to a legend of your choice over and over (such as Teferi, Venser, Braids, Oona, etc) adds an interesting dynamic to the game (and it’s great fun).
Second, the fact that your general determines your colors is pretty neat. For instance, Stu’s general is Vorosh, the Hunter. I must admit that I laughed at this when I first heard it. Why would you choose Vorosh? Well, he wanted to play Blue, Green, and Black, but didn’t want to mess his mana up to play Red and White. What better general can you think of? His deck is a U/B/G infinite combo deck that doesn’t really need its general, so you might as well just make your colors right.
From what I understand, there are basically three schools of though when it comes to selecting a general. Some pick their general to play that Legend over and over, like Teferi or Venser or Braids. Others pick their general to set their colors, such as Karona the False God, Cromat, Sliver Queen, or the Planar Chaos Enemy Shard Dragons. Finally, some pick their general just because the card is fun for them. Remember, this format is pretty casual.
It is really cool that, since typically no two players in a game will have the same general, there is an inherent asymmetry to the games. I like that, though obviously it would be awkward to enforce in a competitive environment, meaning that if there was ever an Elder Dragon Highlander Pro Tour, mirror matches would be legal (and annoying, since your guys are legends).
It is definitely worth noting that 100-card decks are much more reasonable to shuffle than 250 card decks. With a little dexterity, you may even be able to shuffle the deck as you would a normal 60-card one. A 100-card highlander deck is a ton of variety, but with all the tutors still legal, consistency is not a problem. There seems to be kind of a lot of shuffling going on in the format, but it is not as bad as Extended.
Finally, it is just a lot of fun to be able to play with almost any card you want. It is very impressive that the architects of this format have managed to sculpt a format that allows for semi-competitive play that has a broader list of playables than I have ever seen in any format. There are so many old cards that I never get to play any more, but love. EDH is the perfect showcase. It is hard to make a truly degenerate deck, but you can do some really, really cool things in this format.
One complaint I have is that the banned list is extraordinarily suspect. It boggles the mind to try to comprehend how this list was chosen, but I get what they are trying to do. Basically, they are trying to put a damper on all the infinite combos that are too easy, plus they banned the Power 8 because, mise. I feel that, but I think that whoever it is that sets this format’s list, should consider a few more cards.
I appreciate that this format is meant for casual play, but I would tend to try to put a damper on some of the combos that are too easy and uninteresting. The problem is not with card power, as cards like Demonic Tutor and Timetwister are all fine. That is not the issue (although Sol Ring and Mana Crypt are obnoxious and should be banned, no question).
I have some suggestions, but I will get to those in a minute. Let me resume with the story of my weekend. Where were we?
Oh yeah, Detroit, in a Blizzard. This was not what was happening though, so we decided to change the weather. Three hours later, it was 55 degrees and we were in Denver.
A couple of Denver buddies of ours, Nick Bonham and Jason Henry, picked us up at the airport and escorted us to an FNM. I did alright with a five-color draft deck with exactly four summon spells (one of which was a Blister Beetle) but honestly, do you really want to hear my draft strategies? Heh.
We played a bunch of post-Conflux Standard and pretty much just smashed all comers with Faeries. The reports of Faeries demise have been greatly exaggerated. It is far from unbeatable, but it is comical how much people are sleeping on the Fae. Bitterblossom is still legal!
Upon checking into the hotel, I was struck with a bit of déjà vu, as the hotel (and site) was the same venue where GerryT cleaned up shop six months ago. So many fond memories (ah, such Justice…).
Saturday morning rolls around, and we go to the site to sling some gun. We are armed with a couple of Standard decks, a couple of Extended decks, a couple of Elder Dragon Highlander decks, and a couple of Shards-Conflux Sealed decks. The most interesting Standard deck we played with was probably a Mono-White deck that we threw together so that we would have a less powerful option to use when playing against players who were not looking to get Cryptic Commanded beyond belief.
There is not a lot of strategy value in reviewing the deck as it was basically just a bunch of White and artifact cards that seemed like fun. The interesting thing was that we actually did quite well with the deck. Just playing a bunch of mid-range powerful White cards is not as bad a strategy as it sounds. It also delighted us to no end to win with fun cards we don’t normally get to use, like Icy Manipulator and Endless Horizons.
The more interesting lists I have to present are the Elder Dragon Highlander Decks we played. I know, I know, some of you are probably groaning at the thought of a premium article spending so much time and energy and Elder Dragon Highlander, but to this I would say three things.
1) Seriously, how often do I write about “casual formats?” Cut me a little slack. I will have decks with Conflux in them next week.
2) Open your mind! Sometimes you can find inspiration in the most unlikely of places, just as you can find great times.
3) Fine, I will ship a nice list later in the article for post-Conflux Standard. It is of a concept that we are actually strongly considering for Pro Tour: Kyoto, once it is tuned.
Vorosh, the Hunter EDH Deck
Stu Parns and Patrick Chapin
1 Vorosh the Hunter
1 Mystic Snake
1 Spitting Image
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Clutch of the Undercity
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Putrefy
1 Bound/Determined
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Diamond
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mind Stone
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Duplicant
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Mulldrifter
1 Jace Beleren
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Deep Analysis
1 Careful Consideration
1 Force of Will
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Remand
1 Misdirection
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Cryptic Command
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Opportunity
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Trinket Mage
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Counterspell
1 Mana Drain
1 Concentrate
1 Pact of Negation
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Corpse Dance
1 Decree of Pain
1 Skeletal Vampire
1 Tainted Pact
1 Damnation
1 Grim Harvest
1 Chord of Calling
1 Regrowth
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fastbond
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Restock
1 Genesis
1 Yavimaya Dryad
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Harmonize
1 Wood Elves
1 Life from the Loam
1 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Nature’s Lore
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Sylvan Library
1 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 High Market
1 Temple of the False God
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Tolaria West
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Flooded Grove
1 Twilight Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Island
2 Swamp
4 Forest
So after I spent the day gunslinging and tuning the deck, this is the list I arrived at, more or less, though I have not even looked through the card pool to determine what else I might want to play aside from just cards that were on the top of my mind. I had such a good time playing, I am going to build my own copy, though it will most likely just be some version of this deck.
For reference, here is the Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck Manuel came up with:
Azami, Lady of Scrolls EDH Deck
Manuel Bucher
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Academy Ruins
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Tolaria West
1 Mutavault
1 Maze of Ith
1Rishadan Port
1 Minamo, School at Water’s Edge
1 Strip Mine
31 Island
1 Commandeer
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Sage of Fables
1 Sage’s Dousing
1 Forbid
1 Declaration of Night
1 Faerie Harbinger
1 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Trinket Mage
1 Exclude
1 Brainstorm
1 Fathom Seer
1 Careful Consideration
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Compulsive Research
1 Riftwing Cloudskate
1 Counterspell
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Remand
1 Force of Will
1 Stonybrook Bannaret
1 Mulldrifter
1 Man-o’-War
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Control Magic
1 Pact of Negation
1 Mana Leak
1 Treachery
1 Fallowsage
1 Repeal
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Brine Elemental
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Surgespanner
1 Stifle
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Jace Beleren
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Impulse
1 Remove Soul
1 Daze
1 Jushi Apprentice
1 Ponder
1 Cryptic Command
1 Think Twice
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Memory Lapse
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mind Stone
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Aether Vial
1 Nevinyrral’s Disk
He adds that this list is far from optimal, as it is just built out of cards in his box. Still, he didn’t lose a single game all day, so it is certainly a very viable deck for the format.
Seriously, take it from a hard core “Pro-Formats” kind of guy… this format is fun. I do have some suggestions for the format’s leadership, though.
1. Gifts Ungiven absolutely should not be allowed in any way, shape, or form. In this format, something as simple as Eternal Witness, Genesis, High Market, Temporal Manipulation is often unbeatable. (Or piles involving Volrath’s Stronghold, Loam, or perhaps Spitting Image, Loam, or perhaps just getting Strip Mine, Loam, and two cycling lands.)
2. Sol Ring and Mana Crypt are obnoxious. Yes, they are cheaper to acquire than Moxen, but they are in the same league when it comes to power level and are probably typically stronger than Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, and Mox Emerald. It is so unfair when one person is just two turns ahead in this format.
3. I would keep an eye on Eternal Witness and Reveillark. They are so much more abusable than Panoptic Mirror and such. Still, it is probably just Gifts that breaks them both. Also, why ban Sway of the Stars but not Obliterate (or Time Spiral, or Timetwister, or…)
4. It would probably be a lot less fun to play this format if someone built a deck with Magus of the Moon, Blood Moon, Armageddon, Ravages of War, etc. Not sure what to do about this, except try to build the deck. It is probably fine.
Anyway, I have to put the rest of the weekend account on hold, as it is Saturday as I write this, so the wild adventures are actually about thirty minutes away from my perspective (we are now going out on the town…)
Thanks for enjoying a little break from the ultra-competitive. I will be back next week with some new decks that feature Conflux. And as you’ve put up with a little Elder Dragon Highlander during a PTQ season, here is a strong Standard list (sadly, Conflux doesn’t change Extended much, at first examination at least).
Hierarch.dec
Patrick Chapin
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Llanowar Elves
4 Doran, the Siege-Tower
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Rhox War Monk
3 Wilt-Leaf Liege
4 Rafiq of the Many
2 Cloudthresher
3 Path to Exile
2 Nameless Inversion
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Murmuring Bosk
2 Reflecting Pool
2 Forest
2 Treetop Village
2 Yavimaya Coast
2 Brushland
1 Adarkar Wastes
3 Llanowar Wastes
This is not yet where it needs to be against Fae, but can be impressive against Red and Five-Color Control. This version is still fairly raw, but I highly recommend exploring it, as Noble Hierarch is probably the best card in the set, and one of the twenty best creatures of all time. Understanding this card will be one of the keys to the new Standard format. It is a better one-drop than Figure of Destiny, and that is saying a lot.
Noble Hierarch is going to change the format. Try this deck. Work on it. It is a new archetype that should be Tier 1 with a little work.
After further deliberation, here is my All Time Top 10 Creatures list:
10. Arcbound Ravager
9. Golgari Grave-Troll
8. Disciple of the Vault
7. Spellstutter Sprite
6. Goblin Lackey
5. Wild Nacatl
4. Goblin Recruiter
3. Narcomoeba
2. Dark Confidant
1. Tarmogoyf
Honorable mentions go to Goblin Welder, Stinkweed Imp, Mulldrifter, and Sundering Titan.
Thanks for the time this week, you guys. Also, big thanks to everyone who battled Manu and I this weekend. You guys made the trip a blast. Mad props to the minds behind Elder Dragon Highlander. You guys have made a believer out of me, but seriously, ban Gifts Ungiven. Please.
By the way, to the readers at home, if you want to win more and be happier, focus on what is useful. This paragraph is a little disconnected from the rest of this article, but it may contain the most useful strategy advice of the week. When making decisions, focus on what is useful. It sounds easy to do, but when you are actually in a decision, what you should really consider doing is slowing down a minute and asking yourself.
“What is useful? What am I doing right now?”
Join me same place same time next week when we start to bust post-Conflux Constructed wide open.
Later.
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”