Yeah I know, this is supposed to be a Limited column… yet recently I’ve been writing a lot about Constructed. Let’s face it: this is the summer of Constructed (with the exception of the Two-Headed Giant Pro Tour that’s fast approaching).
Once the dust had settled on Legacy last week, I was still in a Constructed mood, and wanted to immediately start working on Block with Future Sight. A couple of my friends insisted that we should really be working on Standard for Regionals in a couple of weeks, but I had my sights set on Block.
While we were in Columbus at the GP, Chris Ripple mentioned that we should work on a Tarmogoyf deck for Block, and we talked about some initial framework. While we had a start on the decklist, we could go a number of ways. It wasn’t until I got back home that I figured out what I wanted to try. This was my first attempt at breaking Bridge from Below and Dread Return in Block.
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Mystic Enforcer
4 Gathan Raiders
3 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Bridge from Below
4 Dread Return
4 Chromatic Star
4 Street Wraith
2 Greenseeker
4 Llanowar Mentor
3 Harmonize
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Horizon Canopy
2 Graven Cairns
2 Swamp
1 Plains
7 Forest
Chris Ripple went a different direction with the deck, based around Stormbind. He also has Search for Tomorrow and more cantrips.
The idea with this deck is that it attacks from two fronts. The first is simply making a huge Tarmogoyf, or threshing up an Enforcer quickly. Second, you can Dread Return back a Hellkite, or go off and make a bunch of tokens with Bridge. We decided that in order for any deck to be considered playable it needed to at least have a good matchup against U/B and mono-Red, as those archetypes are basically the litmus test for Block Constructed right now. After a few tournaments with Future Sight are in the books, I’m sure there will be a few other new decks to beat as the new set really does shake up the format. This deck did pretty well against U/B since you just keep playing Enforcer or Dreading it back, and they have to counter or Damnation it every time. You’d think the deck would also fare well against Red, but it wasn’t as good as I thought. The games I won were by getting a large Tarmogoyf online early to stop the beats so that I didn’t just get burned out. After about 20-30 games with this deck, we decided to take it in a different direction as some things about it were feeling clunky. The big lesson I learned with this deck is that Bridge is amazing against Damnation, and therefore having a morphed Gathan Raiders or an untapped Llanowar Mentor was always bad news for my Dralnu opponent. Also, Mentor was obviously nuts with the Flashback on Dread Return, but most of you know that already from Standard Dredge lists.
This deck could probably still be a contender with a little work, and some ideas for the sideboard are Seal of Primordium, Honorable Passage, and Extirpate (off the top of my head). Honorable Passage has proven to be the actual nuts in a format dominated by large Red men and Disintegrates.
Creatures (29)
- 4 Bogardan Hellkite
- 4 Greater Gargadon
- 4 Looter il-Kor
- 4 Mogg War Marshal
- 3 Akroma, Angel of Fury
- 2 Magus of the Bazaar
- 4 Bonded Fetch
- 4 Gathan Raiders
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
This is my baby for Block Constructed as of right now. The synergies are overwhelming in the deck and while some of them may be obvious, I feel like I should try to touch on them anyway.
First off, this deck is much more fluid than the first build. You have Mogg War Marshals, who are amazing with Gargadons and also with Flashback on Dread Return. Gargadon is simply amazing with Bridge. This deck has more discard outlets, and also many more fatties than the initial version, and the best part is that besides the Hellkites, you can suspend the Gargadons and unmorph the Akromas so that you can still get a fatty out easily without actually casting Dread Return. Speaking of Akroma, don’t forget that if your discard outlets get killed you can simply morph her, sacrifice her to Gargadon, and then Dread Return her.
This deck often gets explosive draws where you end up casting and Flashing Dread Return on turn 4, netting two fatties, my favorite obviously being Akroma and Hellkite wiping their board. Reanimating Gargadon is pretty spicy too when it doesn’t have to wait a while to suspend into play.
One thing I should mention is that managing your Bridges well is key to success with this deck. You can’t just haphazardly discard them at the first possible time. It’s better to save them and keep a discard outlet up to use in response to a kill spell, or obviously in response to a Damnation.
The Magus of the Bazaars are currently being tested, as those two slots are very open at this point. We initially started out with three Epochrasites in the deck and only 22 lands, but testing has shown that it needs more land. There also weren’t Expanses in the deck to begin with, and they’ve been pretty good for me so far. In the Bazaar slot I’ve tried Shapeshifters, Jaya Ballard, Careful Consideration, and a 24th land, and none of these options have felt great. I haven’t played enough games with the Bazaars yet to determine if they are good, but they seem like they should be. This deck is still in somewhat of an early stage, so I’m sure it could go a number of different ways from this starting point. I played it to a 3-1 record last week in a local tournament, losing to a double mulligan to five and also to Honorable Passage when my Akroma attacked for lethal.
The manabase is pretty close to where I think it needs to be, unless I go up to a 24th land at some point. The Cairns are awesome, and you also have the benefit of some of your opponents playing Urborg and turning on your Dread Returns that way. When all else fails you can just discard it, flash it back, and make some Zombies that way.
The sideboard hopes to address some of these problems. As far as matchups go, this is the information I have so far after a good deal of test games. Unfortunately we are lazy and didn’t write down any results, and the deck has also gone through multiple iterations so that makes it harder. The sideboard is definitely nowhere near optimal at this point, and if anyone has ideas in the forums I’d be glad to hear them.
Against Mono Red
Game 1 has been around a coin-flip so far from the games we’ve played. I’d say 55-45 in favor of the Bridge deck, as you can get the double Dread Return on turn 4 draw and they just lose to that. Bridges themselves are pretty poor in this matchup, since they have Gargadons and War Marshals to break them up, so try to get a Zombie or two if you can, but don’t bank on Bridge for any huge part of your game plan.
I usually side out Bridges and Bazaars and possibly some Looter il-Kors for Willbenders, Pacts, and possibly some Dead / Gones to bounce their Gargadons.
The Willbenders and Blue Pacts are there against Red and have been really good for me. The main way you lose that matchup is if they get a huge Gargadon advantage or they just Disintegrate you out. Willbending Avalanche Riders post-board has been pretty good for me so far as well, if they still run that card.
Against U/B Control
This matchup is a complete blowout in favor of the Bridge deck.
You simply attack them from too many angles, thanks to Bridge and how fast you can cast and Flash Dread Return. The other day I was Extirpated three times (on Bridge, Dread Return, and Akroma), and still won by just casting Hellkites when I had exhausted my opponent’s answers. The truth is that they have very few ways to actual turn off your Bridges, and this alone should win the matchup for you.
I would probably side in the Jayas in this matchup just in case they have some sort of Pickles combo in the sideboard that you need to break up.
Against G/R Big Mana
I haven’t tested this as much as I’d like, but it seems to be in favor of the Bridge deck. I guess the key here is that you have the same big Red threats that they do except that you can power them into play faster and more efficiently. Just watch out for Acid-Moss.
This is the matchup that the Shapeshifters really shine as it gives you even more ways to win the war of fatties. It’s possible that the Pacts are also good in this matchup, I’m just not sure as of yet.
Against White Weenie
Initially I thought this matchup would be problematic as they are pretty fast and have Griffin Guide, but I’ve since removed the Sulfur Elementals from the board and am not worried about it. They cannot beat a Dread Returned Hellkite early in the game, and should they have Isolation to stop it, you can hopefully sacrifice to Gargadon to at least kill their side and buy you some time. Let’s not forget that Akroma has Protection from White and should stop any Griffin Guide nonsense.
I definitely board in the Pacts and the fourth Akroma here as you need Pact to stop stupid Honorable Passage at a key moment. I doubt Willbender would be playable with this function in mind though I suppose you could bend a Griffin Guide too. If the game goes long at all, you shouldn’t have any trouble winning so make sure you’re aware of Honorable Passage and be ready to handle it.
Hopefully I did a good job explaining the many interactions in this deck (I’m sure I forgot some due to the sheer number of them). I really think it has the potential to be a serious contender in Block this summer as Extirpate and Tormod’s Crypt, while annoying, are nowhere near game over like they are for the Standard Dredge decks. I’ve been Crypted multiple times and not cared a single bit, as it just acted as a Counterspell for my Dread Return. Good Bridge management is key to negating any power Tormod’s Crypt may have over this archetype.
Nick Eisel
Soooooo on MTGO
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