While everyone else is fully focused on Constructed for the summer, I’ve been spending my Magic time drafting. I’ve also been testing the Sliver Wild Pair deck and done a lot of work on the sideboard, stuff I want to share before I get into the topic of this week’s column. Currently I haven’t touched Wafo-Tapa’s maindeck, but my updated sideboard is as follows.
1 Mystic Snake
3 Detritivore
1 Frenetic Sliver
3 Seal of Primordium
1 Vesuva
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Triskelavus
1 Telekinetic Sliver
1 Reflex Sliver
2 Riftsweeper
The main changes are the addition of Seals for the mirror and also for additional mana disrupting against U/B. I’m sure they are good in other matchups as well, but I don’t have a sideboarding strategy written out as I usually just do it on the fly. I found that I kept wanting a second Reflex Sliver when Telekinetics were key in a matchup, as they are against G/W. Reflex turns on your Opposition engine right away, and helps stabilize if you get low on life. Triskelavus is also good against G/W and some other decks, and can be searched up via Gemhide Sliver.
This week, I want to do a complete drafting guide for the G/R archetype in TPF. I’d say overall this is my favorite archetype to draft, with U/W coming in a close second.
Time Spiral
Back in TTT, G/R was definitely in the top echelon of decks you wanted to draft. U/R was clearly the best deck, but as I said a few weeks back in my Blue archetype article, U/R has largely fallen from power in my opinion. G/R has remained strong throughout all three sets though and this is where it all began. I want to go over the basic things you should be looking for in the Time Spiral booster should you find yourself in these colors, and also highlight some cards that have gained or lost power now that the block is completed.
Strength in Numbers
Back when I wrote about this deck in TTT, the pick between this and Empty the Warrens was pretty close since you had two more packs to get copies of the other. The pick back then was based mainly on what your deck looked like at that point in the draft. I believe this is no longer true and that Strength is now far and away the better card.
Usually this acts like a cheaper Strength of Cedars, and has the best ability tacked onto it for a color combination with lots of fat creatures: Trample. I’d go as far as to say this is my favorite card to have in the archetype even if I’m still going to pick Lightning Axe, Rift Bolt, and Penumbra Spider over it in the common slot.
Herd Gnarr
More sets have brought more suspend creatures to the archetype, which is a good thing for this little guy. He’s also nigh unkillable when powered by a Sprout Swarm and makes for a nice combo with Strength in Numbers or Fury Charm. I wouldn’t go crazy picking this highly, but some people I play with don’t even see it as a strong card and they are definitely wrong.
Thallid Germinator
While this could get somewhat repetitive, I can think of only two words: Sprout Swarm.
Seriously though, this guy has gone up a lot in value since Thallids are very playable thanks to Sporoloth Ancient and friends. Some solid players I know take this guy over Strength in Numbers, but I usually prefer the pump spell.
Aether Web
This card gets a bad rap, and I’m not sure exactly why.
It’s because of this that the card is very unexpected nowadays, and often a complete blowout if your opponent doesn’t know you’re playing it. It helps too that Infiltrator il-Kor is around now, and G/R has some trouble with fliers. This card fills lots of holes and the surprise value makes it even better.
Coal Stoker
I’m not the biggest fan of this guy in G/R. He’s still playable but I guess the real key is that there are other cards I’d rather be picking with my early selections and this guy goes high enough that you’re not going to see him late. The only real benefit is that Future Sight brought lots of morphs that any color can play and that helps. Overall this is a solid card but overrated by the general population in G/R.
Bogardan Rager
This guy does a number of things, from ambushing an attacker, dealing four with an evasion guy, or letting a smaller creature take down a fatty. I like this card more than most, and especially in G/R where you’re often looking for a way to punch through those last points of damage. This is really strong with Saproling and Goblin tokens, as you can alpha strike and guarantee the Rager’s ability going to the face, since you should have more guys than your opponent has blockers.
Orcish Cannonade
I believe this is the best color combination to have this card in, since you’re almost always the aggressor. The drawback is largely irrelevant, and it usually clears the way for your small guys and also reloads your hand. I really like this card in G/R, and get it late on Magic Online.
Viashino Bladescout
I was hesitant to mention this guy, because in general I think he sucks.
However, there is a catch. I know, I know, there’s always a catch. This time it’s a good thing to know.
I consider myself a pretty strong player, especially in Limited environments. Since I think this guy basically sucks, it is almost never on my mind, and I will therefore walk right into it, expecting to trade for a trick from my opponent’s hand and also possibly gain some tempo. This guy isn’t a normal trick, as it leaves a 2/1 body behind instead of just going to the graveyard like an instant. The typical situation where he shines is when you both have one guy, and you kill theirs and add another with the Scout.
What I’m getting at here is that good players realize this card is marginal at best, but there are matchups like the G/R mirror or G/R against G/W where this guy is a complete all-star and very surprising, much like Aether Web.
I’m a believer that all cards have situations in which they are excellent, and this guy just gets overlooked as a sideboarding option against a good player. I’m okay maindecking this if I have no other tricks, but I prefer to save it and bring it in against someone who is likely to forget it even existed.
Tromp the Domains
I really don’t understand this, which is why I’m mentioning it again.
I’d like to bold the following statement, but that’s something you do when you’re ten years old and want to show emphasis. Since I’m a little bit older than ten, I’m just going to tell you to listen up and stop passing this card.
Grown ups use italics, deal with it.
In all seriousness though, if I open Tromp in the first pack, the only cards I’m possibly taking over it are Teferi, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, Spectral Force, Verdant Embrace, Firemaw Kavu, Jaya Ballard, Bogardan Hellkite, Triskelavus, Disintegrate, Sacred Mesa, or Stormbind. Some of these I’m not even sure about, and while that may seem like a long list you have to realize that Time Spiral is a huge set with the purples included, and Tromp is merely an uncommon. If you open a pack with Teferi and Tromp and just aren’t sure of the right pick, I’m almost certain you can never go wrong taking Tromp, as it is easily splashable and almost as good as if it were in one of your main colors.
There are a number of cards that are close, like Endrek Sahr, Sengir Nosferatu, Stronghold Overseer, Draining Whelk, Ixidron, Psionic Blast, Serrated Arrows, Stonewood Invocation, Akroma, Faceless Butcher and many more, but I’d almost always prefer Tromp over them. If you have a question about Tromp versus something you think might be better with your first pick of the draft, just post it in the forums and I’ll certainly address it there.
Now that I’m done with that rant, I do want to stay on course here and say that Tromp is obviously very good in G/R, especially since you have lots of ways to potentially produce tokens. Having Tromp in your deck also makes a splash later in the draft more attractive, since it makes the Overrun better for free.
By the way, stop passing Tromp!
Overall Gameplan
The Time Spiral booster is a very good one for this archetype. You have lots of chances to pick up excellent creatures like Durkwood Baloth, Nantuko Shaman, Keldon Halberdier, Goblin Skycutter, Herd Gnarr, and others.
The removal is also good, with Grapeshot, Lightning Axe, Rift Bolt, and Orcish Cannonade leading the way. Finally, there are plenty of bombs in both colors and some of the cards like Bogardan Rager and Herd Gnarr are underrated and you can expect to get them in the later picks. Here is a generic pick order for the Top 10 commons in the archetype.
Lightning Axe
Rift Bolt
Grapeshot
Penumbra Spider
Strength in Numbers
Thallid Germinator
Search for Tomorrow
Nantuko Shaman
Durkwood Baloth
Orcish Cannonade
These can obviously fluctuate a little, but the Top 5 are essentially set in stone, unless you wanted to take Spider over Grapeshot for some reason. Gemhide Sliver also isn’t on this list, and can be picked higher depending on what cards you’ve drafted already. As I said, it’s a rough list.
Planar Chaos
If Time Spiral is the bread and butter pack for this archetype, then Planar Chaos is where you get the cards that help you in the long game and give your deck power instead of just consistency.
Giant Dustwasp
I’ve hated wasps since I was a little kid and got stung by three in the same day. I have no idea why I just shared that, but this is one wasp that we can all grow to love.
Got trouble with flying? No problem.
Need to power up storm? Ditto.
Want a fat evasion creature? This is your man.
This is by far the best Green common in this set, and if you take Mire Boa over it you should be ashamed of yourself.
Citanul Woodreaders
Power up.
Rarely will I cast this guy on turn 3 in G/R, but he is good at reloading you if the opponent manages to stabilize and you need to find burn. There have been situations where I wanted to take this over Dustwasp but I doubt it is ever correct in G/R.
Stingscourger
The main removal in G/R is burn, and sometimes that doesn’t cut it against a bigger guy. This is where Stingscourger steps in to clear the way for the beats. Dead/Gone does the same thing while also being more flexible, but the Scourger is top notch here.
Fury Charm
I mentioned this earlier, but the ability to give Trample is absolutely crucial in these colors. There are lots of huge common men and none of them can attack through a large Empty the Warrens or a fully operational Sprout Swarm. This would be playable even if it was just +1/+1 and Trample, and the fact that it can unsuspend a guy early or blow up a Sarcomite Myr or Prismatic Lens make it that much better. This card got a lot better now that Kavu Primarch is in the environment.
Utopia Vow
I have always had mixed feelings about this card, and figured that I would eventually make up my mind about it. This was back when PC came out, and I still am not sure whether I like this card or not. At any rate, this card serves a similar function to that of Stingscourger by stopping a large man from blocking little guys. The only thing is that sometimes casting this card ends up losing you the game if they are splashing a bomb or just need double or a certain mana. Overall, the card is playable if you draft it, but I’d rather just not see it in the packs as weird as that sounds.
Overall Gameplan
Planar Chaos is all about the middle of the road cards for the archetype. I’ve talked a lot in the past about the value of Uktabi Drake and I shouldn’t have to explain why Skirk Shaman, Mire Boa, or Dead/Gone are good. The Top 10 common pick order looks something like this.
Dead/Gone
Giant Dustwasp
Stingscourger
Prodigal Pyromancer
Mire Boa
Citanul Woodreaders
Brute Force
Uktabi Drake
Evolution Charm
Skirk Shaman
Future Sight
This is the worst set in the block from a writer’s perspective. The simple reason for that is that a lot of the good cards are very splashable or have morph. Oh, and yeah, Sprout Swarm is broken and has warped the format in certain ways. Psychotic Episode and Cancel have gained a ton of value, and it’s recommended that you have some way to break through an active Swarm in most of your draft decks, or at the very least in the sideboard. Some other interesting options include Wistful Thinking and Piracy Charm
Kavu Primarch
This guy does so much for the G/R archetype by being so versatile. You can cast him on turn 3 pretty easily if you have a dork on turn 2. He also gets kickered in most games, and will win the game if you can give him some kind of evasion or Trample. If we were talking about U/G I’d suggest Veiling Oddity, but since this is R/G, I’ve already gone over the two pump spells that give Trample in these colors.
Llanowar Empath
In some ways I like this card better than Woodreaders in G/R, since it’s cheaper and can possibly be better if you hit a creature and leave a good spell on top. G/R would rather have a 2/2 than a 1/4 anyway, and rather pay less mana for it. Thankfully we don’t have to choose, since they’re in different sets, but I think the Empath would win out.
Petrified Plating
When the set came out I figured this card would be pretty good just because Giant Strength was always fine. The problem is that there are too many bounce spells in this format, or other ways to get two-for-oned when you play it. It also has suspend, which is more of a liability than a benefit, since people make risky plays with it and end up having to cast it on their opponent’s guy. Overall I don’t like this card, but I’d play it if I had nothing else.
Riddle of Lightning
This card certainly gets better in this color combination, as you have access to some higher casting-cost men. I still think I’d take Flowstone Blade over it, but probably not Fatal Attraction.
Grinning Ignus
This guy powers up Storm and also accelerates out a fatty. Plenty has been written about him but he still goes late and I almost always want at least one in my GR decks.
Overall Gameplan
Future Sight should put on the finishing touches for you, but don’t expect anything amazing, unless you crack Sprout Swarm or luckily get shipped it. One nice thing is that there is a lot of Red removal available in case you didn’t pick any up in the earlier packs, as you should definitely be able to get your hands on some here. Green also has a good selection of creatures, like Nessian Courser, Sporoloth Ancient, Fomori Nomad, Grinning Ignus, and Thornweald Archer. The Top 10 commons look something like this:
Sprout Swarm
Ghostfire
Gathan Raiders
Flowstone Embrace
Riddle of Lightning
Fatal Attraction
Sporoloth Ancient
Kavu Primarch
Nessian Courser
Fomori Nomad
This list is very relative. Sporoloth Ancient can be moved up to 3rd in the order. Nomad and Courser are largely dependent on your curve and I may take Courser over Primarch if I really needed the three-drop. The only thing that is really set in stone here is that Sprout Swarm is far and away the best common in the set, and Ghostfire is a lock for second.
Now that I’ve gone over the archetype by set, I want to give a couple examples of decks I’ve had recently that did well. I usually post at least a 2-1 or better with most of my G/R decks, which I guess is why I like it so much. On Magic Online you don’t get to play all three matches usually though, so I’m talking mainly about three-on-threes or live eight-mans.
Anyway, here are some sample decklists.
Llanowar Mentor
Gemhide Sliver
Emberwilde Augur
Mogg War Marshall
Mire Boa
Primal Forcemage
Uktabi Drake
Nessian Courser
Prodigal Pyromancer
Shivan Sand-Mage
Needlepeak Spider
Imperiosaur
Nantuko Shaman
Spectral Force
Reckless Wurm
Durkwood Baloth
Conflagrate
Rift Bolt
Fatal Attraction
Fury Charm
Utopia Vow
Arc Blade
Evolution Charm
9 Forest
8 Mountain
This is a pretty medium strength build but definitely has some power. I split the finals of an 8-4 online with this last week.
Stingscourger
Goblin Skycutter
Skirk Shaman
Thornscape Battlemage
Thallid Germinator
Sulfur Elemental
Aether Membrane
Sparkspitter
Centaur Omenreader
Empty the Warrens
Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
2 Giant Dustwasp
Sporoloth Ancient
Citanul Woodreaders
Nacatl War-Pride
Search for Tomorrow
Dead/Gone
Grapeshot
Pyrohemia
Lightning Axe
Wurmcalling
Foriysian Totem
9 Mountain
8 Forest
This deck was unreal, as I’m sure you can tell just by looking at it. I ended up losing the finals of this one when my opponent wouldn’t split, and I got stuck on two lands in game 2 after losing to Sacred Mesa.
Hopefully this guide was thorough enough despite the fact that it’s very hard to give pick orders in this format. Any questions should be posted in the forums.
Nick Eisel
Soooooo on MTGO
[email protected]