Innovations - U.S. Nationals

“What time is it?”

I was already awake, packing my bag. Pro Tour: Honolulu Top 8 competitor Paul Rietzel was wiping his eyes, looking around. I told him it was just noon, but I am not 100% sure he could even understand what I was saying. He kicked out some of the cans in bed with him (and Matt Sperling), and lay back down.

Suddenly he jolted up.

“My Kithkin deck!”

I looked at him, puzzled. He began searching the room frantically. He had just realized that he had his Kithkin deck in his jacket pocket, the jacket he had taken off downstairs in the Mezzanine during the late night high stakes “Catch-Phrase” Challenges.

If you have not heard of Catch-Phrase (as none of us had before this weekend), it is a party game that involves a small handheld device that a group of people pass around a circle, situated with two teams alternating seating. The device has a word or phrase that appears on the screen, and the person whose turn it is has to get his or her teammates to say that exact word or phrase without saying anything in it (and no talking about letters or saying words that rhyme with it).

When your team gets it, you pass the device, and the next person pushes a button to change the word. You repeat this while a beeping sound increases in tempo to the point at which the device buzzes and the round ends. Whoever has the device at that point is the loser, and the other team gets a point. If the person was in the middle of talking about a word or phrase, the other team can try to steal by correctly guessing (one guess), which is worth two points.

I know it sounds like a simple game, but it is a ton of fun, and as long as there is an understanding to not slow roll people, the game works out beautifully. It leads to huge crowds gathering to see what the excitement is all about.

The problem with waking up without all of your clothes accounted for is that if you had decks in your pocket, it kind of sucks. This is a common problem for some (Paul has actually had to rebuy Affinity four times). Personally, I recommend taking your cards out of your pocket and setting them in your room if you plan on getting “wild.”

How did things get so out of control?

As it turns out, there was a jewelry convention in town and 6,500 women were staying within a half-mile radius of us… and they were on the prowl. Let’s just say that if a young Magic player was looking for a nice 41-year old woman to show him around the town, the odds were pretty good. Our hotel was operating at a 10:1 ratio of women to men at all times.

I walked into the hotel bar looking for an ATM at one point, and couldn’t help but notice that there were nineteen women and one sixty-year old guy, and that was it. I did not even make it to the bar to ask before I swarmed by 133 years worth of beautiful women. The three of them were not actually together, and just approached me from all sides.

I am not a piece of meat!

I realize that I am telling this story out of order, so let me refocus. I will spare you the water-balloon fight with Pocahontas in a Jacuzzi, a Limo, someone ordering 99 drinks at once at the bar, degenerates flipping coins for a hundred a flip while offering 6:5 odds, and the other off-topic stories that seem to rub some people the wrong way (or at the very least set a bad example to the impressionable youth…)

The U.S. National Championships took place in Kansas City this weekend. Five-Color Control totally dominated the format, with only its cousin, Jund, having good performances. America is going to have its work cut out for it with such a tough Japanese team. Fortunately, we put together a pretty nice squad. I am proud to present the 2009 U.S. National Team:

Five-Color Control

Charles Gindy

1st Place at Nationals on 08-02-2009

Standard

Creatures (9)

Planeswalkers (2)

2 Ajani Vengeant

Lands (26)

Spells (23)

Sideboard

Five-Color Control

Adam Yurchick

2nd Place at Nationals on 08-02-2009

Standard

Creatures (6)

Planeswalkers (3)

3 Jace Beleren

Lands (26)

Spells (25)

Sideboard

Five-Color Control

Todd Anderson

3rd Place at Nationals on 08-02-2009

Standard

Creatures (9)

Planeswalkers (1)

1 Ajani Vengeant

Lands (26)

Spells (24)

Sideboard

Hmm, interesting…

Yeah, so not surprisingly, Five-Color Control has completely taken over Standard. Yeah, I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Top 8 featured a “variety” of decks, such as Jund, R/W/x, as well as a “variety” of Five-Color decks, but the truth is that they are all basically just the same, with the only difference being if they are Jund-based with creatures (i.e. Bloodbraid) or really just a Five-Color Control deck (though there is a definite spectrum there, and they blend together). Sure, there was a R/W deck, but it has Identity Crisis, Great Sable Stag, and Hindering Light, so you tell me what colors it is.

The problem is that Reflecting Pool is too good in this format, and Faeries is so unbelievably good in the abstract that the only viable strategies are ones that revolve around using the genetically engineered super-hate that was designed to try to keep the Fae menace under control. Is it possible the cure was worse that the condition…?

Top 8 Stats-
32 copies of Great Sable Stag
31 copies of Reflecting Pool
31 copies of Volcanic Fallout
11 copies of Cruel Ultimatum
0 copies of Ball Lightning

Don’t get me wrong, there is a huge temptation to say that this format is great and fun and so on, but that would only be because I happen to like Five-Color Control. The thing is, I actually don’t like this format at all any more. Five-Color, and Jund, and everything between, loses a lot of its charm if everyone has to play it. Where are the Boat Brews? The bad Red aggro decks? G/W Elves? Tokens? Naya Ramp? Kithkin? Time Sieve? Reveillark? Turbo Fog? FAERIES?!

If you want to be the hero, you have to have enemies to battle. If you are the only deck that can actually win, you are the enemy.

This format is entirely the product of two key factors:

1) Cryptic Command, Reflecting Pool (with Vivids), and Bloodbraid Elf are much better than the other cards.
2) The hate designed to beat Fae is so over the top that it has taken over the format.

It was all fun and games when some people used Vivids as tools to try to figure out control decks that were designed to combat the metagame as we saw it unfolding. With Faeries as public enemy number one, we were able to get away with an absolutely unfair manabase that made our mana among the best in the format, despite putting cards like Cruel Ultimatum, Hallowed Burial, and Great Sable Stag together.

With every passing set, Five Color has just been getting better and better, as it is consistently the only deck that can take advantage of almost every new card that is printed. Lorwyn block was totally overpowered and focused on tribal synergies that Five-Color could not exploit, which is really the only reason that this didn’t happen earlier.

Slowly, though, Five-Color Control has been building and building. Sure, it takes dips and dives, but at this point, what non-Jund, non-Five-Color deck can actually beat Jund and Five-Color? The only reason Jund is even a deck is because Bloodbraid Elf and Bituminous Blast are so absurdly busted (i.e. the whole Cascade mechanic). The worst part is that the common perception is that Anathemancer is supposed to be “bad” now…

LOL!

G/W Elves is so strong, but it isn’t even viable because its worst matchup is Five-Color Control. Kithkin was supposed to be the next big thing. Thing is, it loses to Five-Color, and badly. Faeries? When I was your age, we had to walk 10 miles uphill (both ways) in the snow, barefoot, on broken glass, just to get cards like Plumeveil and Broken Ambitions to fight the Fae, and we were happy every time we could get the matchup close to 50%.

Great Sable Stag?

Really? Ha! It is obviously not just the Stag, because Volcanic Fallout is absolutely bonkers in conjunction with him as well as the abstract. It is just that we have reached the critical point where Fae is simply outclassed by the hate, and it is hate that is actually very strong on its own. The Stag has as many applications outside of Faeries, as does Fallout (just about).

Personally, I look forward to Vivid lands rotating out, so that building decks can actually become interesting again. As it is, it is too easy to have everything you want. As a result, I can’t really build anything but Five-Color or Jund since the mana is so easy, and there is almost never a reason not to (beyond a Jund deck that tries to be the best Bloodbraid deck in the room).

Why not try lots of different Five-Color decks? Because at the end of the day, you eventually always come back to the core Five-Color Control deck that Shuhei, Wafo, Gindy, Yurchick, and Anderson all play/played. If you can do anything you want, why would you not Cruel Ultimatum? What can you do that is better than that? There is room to innovate, no question, but honestly, this format is pretty far gone.

The awkward part is that there are still a lot of Standard tournaments left for PTQ players before the Zendikar rotation. What does this mean for the future of the format? Well, it will be no surprise that Anathemancer will be on the rise. I actually think Jund will increase in popularity above Five-Color, since I think Jund is only a little worse against the “field” but wins the head-to-head (in fact, it is the only major strategy that beats Five-Color).

For reference, here are the Jund decks that I am talking about. This strategy is not going to be top tier in a field of random decks, but it is decent, and it wins the head-to-head against Five Color, which has been looking more and more important.

Jund

Brian Robinson

Nationals on 08-02-2009

Standard

Creatures (18)

Lands (25)

Spells (17)

Sideboard

Jund

Brad Nelson

Nationals on 08-02-2009

Standard

Creatures (25)

Lands (24)

Spells (11)

Sideboard

Brett Piazza’s version of the Mannequin build is almost identical, though it is Nelson’s list that is listed. To the best of my knowledge, I believe the deck is actually the product of deck building genius Conley Woods (of Pro Tour: Honolulu Top 8 fame). They use the classic Mulldrifter-Mannequin engine to deal with the main problem with Jund decks, running out of gas (due to no Cryptics, Cruels, Esper Charms, etc).

Brian Robinson is a rookie that bust on the scene in a big way in Kyoto and piloted a pretty elegant evolution of Jund that takes the Five-Color Blood shell with Boggart Ram-Gangs and Sygg, River Cutthroats, and makes up for the lost card power of Cryptic Command with Lightning Bolts and Sign in Bloods, as well as good mana. Obviously Sygg and Sign in Blood, as well as a strong Cascade engine, combat the Jund Problem (running out of gas).

The other two top 8 competitors were Drew Dumanski with an almost identical Shuhei (Wafo-Tapa) build, and Mark Hendrickson with a cool R/W core Five-Color deck. Hendrickson is a strong player, but his deck is not even remotely viable at this point, as it has a near unwinnable matchup against Five-Color Control.

Here is what I played.

Five-Color Cascade

Patrick Chapin

Nationals on 08-02-2009

Standard

Creatures (10)

Lands (28)

Spells (23)

Sideboard

My deck was decent, but suffered from not having as good a Five-Color matchup as I would have liked. I am actually favored after sideboarding, but game 1 is pretty awful for me. You can actually get a little ahead of a lot of Five-Color decks that people build, but the problem is when they add cards like Negates to combat other Five-Color decks, as they end up accidentally gaining a ton of percentage against this build as well.

I have strong matchups against Kithkin and Elves, and my Faerie matchup is actually a little better than traditional Five-Color Control’s, but as I said, the pseudo-mirror is not where I want it, and my Jund matchup isn’t any better than Five-Color’s, for the most part.

Do I think this is the right way to build Five-Color? No, probably not, especially considering how this format has evolved. I think it can be decent, but my two worst matchups are the only decks I think are viable. It is possible that with work, I can tune it to win the Five-Color mirror sufficiently, but that still leaves the problem of Jund. Bloodbraiding into Anathemancers and Blightnings is rough for me, since that is how I beat Five-Color decks, and the Jund decks get to do that to me (whereas it is not as good when I try to do it to them). The problem is that they are basically what I try to sideboard into, but they are “it” the whole time, and more of it.

I went a disappointing 4-4 in Constructed, defeating two Five-Color Controls, G/W Elves, and Bant Ramp. My losses were to Jund, Five-Color, Faeries, and Time Sieve.

I have to go buy another computer. My computer suffered a severe meltdown this week. Any suggestions? I am pretty sure LSV isn’t going to let me take his home with me.

I will be in Boston next week, and honestly, I am pretty excited to be drafting M10. I have been drafting a little recently, and the draft format is SO much better than the Sealed… it is like night and day. First of all, there are half as many broken bombs. Second of all, your mana is usually reasonable. Third, synergy and curve and the right commons can make up for a lot of problems caused by bombs. Also, it is interesting to me that there are so many bad cards that people think aren’t bad, which helps make it easier to get wins against people that have drafted bad decks.

I can’t say that I am looking forward to day 1, as this sealed format is downright horrible, but the draft should be sweet if I can get to it. I am going to miss Shards block, no question. I mean, there is a reason I have drafted Five-Color Control for 73 full block drafts in a row. It is one of my favorite formats of all time, but the truth is, it can be a little frustrating that sometimes I just can’t play it because of my mana. Other times I get flooded because I play so much. I realize that this is the price I pay for the archetype I draft, and it is still worth it to me, but it does lead to random unplayable games, which is no fun.

M10 has certainly had an impact, but it would appear the greatest promise is how the set seems to prime the stage for the New World that will be possible once Lorwyn block rotates. For the time being, I think it has pushed the format off the deep end, with the solution probably being to make more and more inbred Five-Color decks and “real” Jund decks. I think that you can build a deck that beats these two, but it is unlikely that you will actually win the tournament with such a hate deck, as there is no way you are making it past the Fae, Kithkin, Elves, and so on.

It is going to be interesting to see how the results from the U.S. merge with the results from France, which was all R/b and Fae, with next to no Five-Color. What is the cause of this? Well, obviously they had a very different metagame, but it is especially a factor of what good players played. It is possible that a R/b aggro can exploit Five-Color enough to have a place in the meta. For what it is worth, the R/b decks that the French used seem to typically focus on Anathemancer, Demigod of Revenge, Figure of Destiny, and Hellspark Elemental as their creature base. Italian Nationals seemed to show a slightly different picture, with three Faeries and three Five-Color decks, so it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

See you guys next week, when we talk a little more than usual about Judges and mechanical operations (plus a list of what I would play now). I might even find a way to sneak in some of the non-Magic stories from my week in KC…

Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”