StarCityGames.com Power Nine tourney has come and gone. Fish has established itself as a serious contender in the metagame (Nooooooooo!), and Mishra’s Workshop has re-opened it’s doors for business. When JP was doing interviews for the Top 8 and reviewing the decklists, I saw him cringe every time he read”4 Standstill”.
The metagame was very diverse, with every major archetype represented. One thing I didn’t notice however was the numbers of some of the decks. There were thirteen Fish decks, something that didn’t surprise me much. When I checked out the number next to the Four-Color Control description (Great job Ben!) I saw the number fourteen. I walked around quite a bit that weekend and I swear I only saw three, maybe four matches with 4CC at the table, not counting myself.
Once I saw that 4CC was really out in force, I wondered why it didn’t do better. Unfortunately I don’t have the answer. A possible explanation is improper metagaming. Decks like Fish and Suicide Black thrive on taking advantage of the weaknesses of the upper tier decks to get ahead. 4CC operates on a similar principle, hoping to have the tools to handle whatever it sits down in front of it.
Here’s the list that won the whole shebang:
3 Polluted Delta
3 Wasteland
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 City of Brass
1 Flood Strand
1 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
2 Exalted Angel
1 Gorilla Shaman
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Cunning Wish
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Decree of Justice
2 Skeletal Scrying
2 Fire / Ice
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mind Twist
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Balance
Sideboard
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Gush
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Coffin Purge
1 Disenchant
1 Damping Matrix
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Blue Elemental Blast
Fairly normal list, the only interesting variations is the lack of a fourth fetchland and the third Exalted Angel along with dropping Shamans from the maindeck, though he’s left one in the sideboard. For me, Gorilla Shaman is one of the reasons to play 4CC as opposed to Hulk or Drain Slaver. It fits in nicely with the deck’s mana denial aspect, but also fills a very important role in taking out Null Rods, Chalices, etc. It also attacks for one, which is hot. I like the sideboard a lot – he did a good job metagaming and making sure he had the right tools at his disposal. Damping Matrix is awesome against the various Mishra’s Workshop and Goblin Welder-based decks such as Drain Slaver, 7/10, etc. He has a Shaman in the board to bring in, but I don’t really like it as a one-of.
Crucible of Worlds was deemed by many to be the breakout card of the tournament. I only saw it in action while watching one of Mark Perez’s games, and it was quite a beating. The week before the event I was fooling around with the deck and decided to squeeze in a pair of Crucibles, one main and one in the board. I had hoped to be able to form an opinion about the card’s role in 4CC, but I never drew the card. Not once. The entire day. I’m not terribly disappointed, because while playtesting (yes, I’m as shocked as you are that I actually playtested) it was pretty good when it got going, but there were times I just really didn’t feel like casting it. I’d have Mana Drain mana sitting around, and I’d usually rather cast Skeletal Scrying or Cunning Wish or something like that.
Don’t get me wrong though, Crucible is incredibly powerful. For me, the verdict is still out. In the second place Workshop/Chains deck, Crucible seemed to be a complete powerhouse. What made it better in his deck was the fact that he was able to play Mishra’s Workshop, one of the best mana accelerators in the format. When Stephen Menendian said that tempo was becoming increasingly more important, he was 100% correct. Workshop is awesome at giving a huge boost in tempo, which allows the deck to offset the loss of a land drop each turn by having the mana available to further develop it’s board position. With 4CC, that isn’t always the case. When I would cast it, I’d usually try to set it up with a Time Walk, a card that’s vastly underrated by the majority of the Type 1 community, but that’s a different article entirely.
Most of the players running Crucible – myself included – ran it to combat Fish by being able to recur Wastelands/Strip Mine on the Fish player’s manlands. The problem with this is that each turn you’ll be giving up a land drop to deal with one of their threats, only for the Fish player to continue casting Cloud of Faeries and Grim Lavamancers and eventually cave in your skull (though I don’t think the beatdown dished out by 1/1’s could really crush a skull).
I really only picked up on this after the tournament, but I did prepare for the Fish matchup in other ways… I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. I played this in Richmond:
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Cunning Wish
3 Skeletal Scrying
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Balance
1 Fire / Ice
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Time Walk
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Exalted Angel
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 City of Brass
Sideboard:
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Fire / Ice
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Disenchant
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Gush
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Coffin Purge
Very plain, yes I know, but I prefer to run a more general and well balanced list as opposed to a super-awesome-techy-Mc-Techerson list with all sorts of crazy, untested cards. In Richmond I played with a Crucible maindeck instead of Decree of Justice, and dropped Mind Twist entirely. I’m not sure if dropping Twist was a good idea or not though. I figure it was because Twist sucks against Welder-based decks and against I-Play-Misdirections-And-Little-Blue-Men.dec.
This deck is very sleek and has decent matchups against most of the metagame, as is usually the case with the dominant multi-color control deck (in the past, Keeper, etc).
The Matchups
Tog
-1 Cunning Wish, – 2 Swords to Plowshares
+ 3 Red Elemental Blast
This is a matchup that will take place many times, and the jury is still out on who has the advantage. I’m thinking it’s fairly even, but I prefer 4cc’s non-blue draw engine compared to the vulnerable-to-Red-Blasts Accumulated Knowledge engine that Tog runs.
4CC
-2 Swords to Plowshares
+2 Red Elemental Blast
I’m not exactly sure how to board for this, but this makes the most sense. Leaving in the full complement of Wishes gives you more answers to Exalted Angels and Red Elemental Blast isn’t as important against 4CC as it is against Tog, since most of 4CC’s threats are non-Blue.
Draw7 and TPS
-1 Cunning Wish, -2 Swords to Plowshares
+3 Red Elemental Blast
Both of these decks are heavily reliant on Blue draw sevens and, more importantly, Brainstorm. The draw sevens are what the deck needs to win, but Brainstorm is what helps streamline the deck, making it easier to find said draw sevens. Disrupting any and all of their card drawing (including Brainstorm in many situations) makes the matchup a bit easier, though not a cakewalk by any means.
Dragon
-1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Cunning Wish, -1 Fire/Ice
+1 Blue Elemental Blast, +1 Swords to Plowshares, +1 Coffin Purge
I’ve always loved playing against Dragon with 4CC. Everything Dragon doesn’t want to see on the other side of the board is in 4CC between the maindeck and sideboard: Wastelands, cheap removal, and a smattering of graveyard hate. Game 1 can be a bit rough, but after boarding 4CC has five one-mana answers to Dragon’s combo and can still deal with any other threats Dragon might throw out there fairly easily.
Most 4CC lists don’t play any form of graveyard hate anymore, but I’m paranoid and like to always have at least one Coffin Purge in the sideboard. Just in case.
Belcher
-1 Cunning Wish, -1 Crucible of Worlds
+2 Rack and Ruin
Game 1 you have to try and stop their draw and disrupt their plan as much as possible, while killing them quickly. Post board you need to rely more heavily on your mana denial, which will generally be enough to stop them, but they have access to Goblin Welders, which can circumvent this and your countermagic, making it easier to get the Goblin Charbelcher into play. They generally won’t be able to activate it on the same turn, allowing you to completely wreck them with Rack and Ruin. Plows and Fire/Ices are kept in to deal with the aforementioned Goblin Welders.
Stax
-2 Cunning Wish, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Skeletal Scrying
+2 Rack and Ruin, +2 Fire/Ice
Getting out a quick Exalted Angel is the best thing to do against Stax, as it is against many decks that can’t easily deal with it. Post board the Fire/Ices that are meant to help crush Fish come in handy, allowing you to shut off their Trinisphere for a turn. They usually won’t expect this and it will let you take a combo-ish turn by letting you play out all of the Moxen that were likely stuck in your hand, and bust out some removal to boot.
7/10 Split
-1 Fire/Ice, -1 Mystical Tutor, -1 Cunning Wish, -1 Brainstorm
+1 Swords to Plowshares, +2 Rack and Ruin, +1 Crucible of Worlds
Sundering Titan is a huge problem for 4CC. It’s not only a huge threat, but coming into play is just as big a problem, as is removing it with a non-Swords to Plowshares removal spell. City of Brass and Fetchlands help offset the Titan’s ability, giving you a chance to try and play catch-up.
4CC is playing a very Titan-vulnerable mana base and by boarding in Crucible of Worlds you not only get access to the multiple Wasteland trick, but you are also able to be sure you won’t be missing any land drops. This should hopefully let you deal with the Welder and Titans and eventually disrupt them to the point where they can’t do anything.
The boarding may seem a bit erratic, such as the removal of a Brainstorm, but the purpose of this is to try and play around Chalice of the Void a little. Chalice for one hurts 4CC a lot more than one set to any other number. It’s not only shutting off Swords to Plowshares and Brainstorms, but Gorilla Shaman, which is an MVP against Welder-based decks. Trying to leave yourself with as few dead cards as possible can make a huge difference.
Workshop Slaver
-1 Skeletal Scrying, -1 Cunning Wish
+2 Rack and Ruin
Pretty basic, just fitting in Rack and Ruins. Dealing with Goblin Welders is important, as is being prepared to deal with possible Chalices of the Void from their sideboard. Gilded Lotus is very important to the Workshop Slaver’s game plan. Countering them is usually a”very good thing”, depending on how much available mana they have. It’s a judgment call where you need to take in to consideration the board position of both players, what you have in hand, their available mana sources pre and post Lotus and your ability to deal with the possible threats they can present.
Drain a.k.a. Control Slaver
-1 Mystical Tutor, 2- Swords to Plowshares, -1 Crucible of Worlds, -1 Cunning Wish
+3 Red Elemental Blast, +2 Fire/Ice
Again the splash effect of the extra Fire/Ice against Fish comes into play. Many players just don’t play around Fire/Ice anymore, and when they don’t, it can swing the game a great deal. If they are boarding in Red Elemental Blasts, you have the”Red Blast Advantage” as I like to call it, just as you do against Tog. Basically, your Red Elemental Blasts are better than theirs. You are able to hit all of their card drawing in addition to countermagic, while they are hitting very little of your own. As a bonus, Fire, which can be a huge threat to them, is also immune to Red Blast.
This is a very tricky control matchup. They have very different threats than traditional control decks and are capable of very explosive turns. Playing carefully and using your Wastelands at the right time goes a long way.
Food Chain Goblins
-2 Cunning Wish, -1 Crucible of Worlds
+2 Fire/Ice, +1 Swords to Plowshares
This is a very favorable matchup. You have excellent removal and Exalted Angel. FCG really doesn’t like to see an Angel on the other side of the table. The plan is simple: kill guys, smash with Angel.
Fish
-2 Gorilla Shaman, -2 Cunning Wish, -2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Crucible of Worlds, +2 Fire/Ice, +3 Red Elemental Blast
Flametongue Kavu = the suck against Fish. It costs four mana and that makes it very hard to resolve against a deck packing Dazes, Spiketail Hatchlings, Stifles and Wastelands. Fire/Ice does the same thing, albeit without the hefty body FTK brings along to the party. The lack of the extra creature isn’t that big of a problem because you’re still packing Exalted Angels and, just like any other aggro deck, Fish really hates to see one across the table.
So now that you’ve seen my views on how to play certain matchups, I hope that none of you will play 4CC, because I don’t really want to play against it at GenCon this year. If you do choose to though, congratulations, because you’ve chosen to play the sleeper deck of the format. Oh, and have fun attacking with Exalted Angel – it rocks.
I will leave off with my latest Revenge of 1997 list:
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Braingeyser
1 Future Sight
1 Sylvan Library
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Burning Wish
1 Regrowth
1 Holistic Wisdom
1 Balance
1 Kaervek’s Torch
1 Prophetic Bolt
1 Fire / Ice
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Zuran Orb
1 Fastbond
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mind Twist
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Decree of Justice
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Undiscovered Paradise
4 Flooded Strand
3 City of Brass
2 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
Sideboard:
1 Mana Vault
1 Platinum Angel
1 Mindslaver
1 Plaguebearer
1 All Sun’s Dawn (Take That Bleiwiess!)
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Timetwister
1 Primitive Justice
1 Deep Analysis
1 Amnesia (Take That Mike Long!)
1 Vindicate
4 Artifact Mutation – I hate Sundering Titan. I hate it in the face. Hard.
If I don’t write again before then, good luck at GenCon everyone! I’m looking forward to meeting the person who comes in second to me. 🙂
Carl Winter
Member of Team”We Do Match Coverage Because We Scrub Out And Lose To Hatred And Guerilla Tactics”