Worlds is over and with it the 2011 professional Magic season. Pro points might be dead, but there is another kind of point players are still trying to pick up. There is just one more StarCityGames.com Open before the great Invitational in Charlotte; then this year is in the books. That means time for one more Magic Candy before we start another year. Let’s get started.
#1 Mono-Blue Illusions
Creatures (21)
- 4 Phantasmal Bear
- 4 Lord of the Unreal
- 4 Phantasmal Image
- 1 Stitched Drake
- 4 Snapcaster Mage
- 4 Delver of Secrets
Lands (10)
Spells (29)
Sideboard
Consistency is going to be the theme of this week. Standard right now is about ten decks deep and really shows that the best decks are the mono- or ally-colored decks over the three-color and enemy ones. Mana is very important right now and should not be overlooked in deciding a deck to play.
Illusions was the deck that I was looking into playing for Worlds. I really liked how the deck played out and the power it had. It is not like this deck does not mulligan however. Its mulligans do not come from the mana, but more from not having anything proactive to do in the first couple turns. Creatures are very important to have in your opening hand, and Ponder does not solve this.
Many players have been adopting Geist of Saint Traft in the maindeck and sideboards of this deck. I don’t think this is a bad move, but it is not something I would want to do. This comes down to a consistency issue. The deck is already powerful enough, and the card is really only good against control and Mono Red. I also don’t like to have to dig for white sources with my Ponders.
The other big debate about the deck is Timely Reinforcements or Oblivion Ring for the Mono Red matchup. Oblivion Ring is very good at beating Shrine of Burning Rage, but Timely Reinforcements does something that no other card can do. It allows you to come back from bad situations against the mirror match as well as Mono Red. I loved playing with this card and could not see trying to fit in even more off-color three-drops to try to help the Mono Red matchup. Timely Reinforcements also helps get back the life that Mental Misstep, Gut Shot, and Dismember end up taking away.
#2 Red-Green Wolf Run
Creatures (14)
Lands (26)
Spells (20)
I love Jun’ya Iyanaga’s take on this deck. Everyone thought that Arc Trail was the early removal spell to help out against aggressive decks, but not this guy. He knew you had to be even faster and lose the opportunity to two-for-one your opponent in the early turns. Galvanic Blast and Shock are just what this deck needs to stay on tempo against the aggressive decks in the format.
Ignoring creature acceleration allows him to not only have time to play the removal spells, but dodge his opponent’s Gut Shots as well. This also helps make room for more two-drop ramp spells that don’t die to the removal running around.
This version is by far the best one out there right now and exactly what I would be playing if I end up going to the Invitational. I am a big fan of this deck and give big props to our current World Champion.
#3 Tempered Steel
Creatures (20)
Lands (10)
Spells (30)
Sideboard
Tempered Steel was a very good choice to play at Worlds this year. Not many players were prepared for the matchup, and that is why many of my teammates ended up doing very well with it. Wolf Run is this deck’s worst matchup (besides Chapin’s deck, which I ran into round one of the event), which makes it a difficult deck to pull the trigger on for a big event. Even with that, this deck is still a very rewarding deck to play right now. Not many players are running much hate for some reason. Just because the deck went 1-4 in the Top 8 of Worlds does not make it a bad deck. Also, this deck is not a bad Top 8 deck. Results-based logic rarely represents a deck’s power. I might be a bit biased because I really wanted to see Luis against Paulo in the semis of Worlds. How cool would that have been!
Not much hate for the deck has sprouted up since the deck did so well at Worlds. The only real thing I can see is Wolf Run running more Ancient Grudges as well as more Mono Red decks splashing for them. I guess a couple more Human decks are running Leonin Relic-Warders, but you should be fine as long as you can pull off the Conley death stare.
#4 Mono Red
Creatures (19)
Spells (41)
- 21 Mountain
- 4 Incinerate
- 3 Galvanic Blast
- 3 Arc Trail
- 4 Gut Shot
- 4 Shrine of Burning Rage
- 2 Brimstone Volley
Sideboard
Mono Red is not a flashy deck. The one thing this deck can do is win games of Magic against players who don’t have much faith in it. There are very few decks in the format that have a good sideboard against the deck right now, which makes it a great choice for competitive events.
The way this format is shaping up makes this an even better choice. Not many decks can play the real threats for this deck like Batterskull and Wurmcoil Engine. These cards are not good against the fast blue decks and their Vapor Snags. The only real threat to watch out for now is Timely Reinforcements. This means you should be packing Spikeshot Elder, which is already a good card against all of the other fast decks.
The only thing I advise you to not play is Koth of the Hammer. This guy is just not good right now. He gets trumped by a quick Titan and is too slow against all of these aggressive decks. Just run cheap guys and the removal to go with them. Shrine of Burning Rage should be the only big spell this deck runs right now.
#5 U/W Humans
Creatures (23)
- 4 Mirran Crusader
- 4 Hero of Bladehold
- 4 Grand Abolisher
- 4 Fiend Hunter
- 3 Geist of Saint Traft
- 4 Doomed Traveler
Lands (11)
Spells (26)
U/W Humans is not a deck that I ever considered picking up until I saw how well this deck does on Magic Online. Not many people put that much stock into the program when it comes to major events, but I am not one of those. Magic Online shows how well a deck can do against a known environment, and this one is doing great. It doesn’t seem to have many bad matchups, and the games you get to play are very skill intensive.
The best thing this deck has going for it is Honor of the Pure. Being able to get a bit bigger against all the other creature-based decks is great, as well as not over committing into a Day of Judgment or Slagstorm.
I am not the biggest fan of trying to play the gimmicky cards in this deck. I would much rather just play the creatures that are good on their own and can beat down. Gideon’s Lawkeeper and Champion of the Parish are good in certain situations, but not enough of them exist to take up slots in this deck.
#6 Esper Control
Creatures (7)
Lands (16)
Spells (36)
This was another one of my projects for Worlds. I was a big fan of Esper Control after I had to give up on the tap-out version. Esper Control plays out the same way every game. Just try to control the game until you land a Sphinx. It’s easy enough, but there are also a ton of flaws when it comes to that. The biggest is when they deal with the win condition.
This deck wins when it draws the right mix of spells to deal with an opponent’s draw but loses when it does not. I still feel that this is the best version of the archetype for players who want to go control.
Jace, Memory Adept is the card I have been using to deal with other control decks. Games go very long, and landing this guy can easily win a game. This goes for White Sun’s Zenith as well. I don’t buy into the milling strategy, since it really can only work online. Fifty minutes is not enough time to come back from 0-1 with this strategy, and it isn’t even that strong anyway. Just try to close the game out with cards that finish games if they resolve. These two spells can easily do this, and that is why they make the cut.
This is the break from decks I would play to those I would not.
#7 Solar Flare
Creatures (9)
- 1 Grave Titan
- 1 Sun Titan
- 1 Wurmcoil Engine
- 1 Consecrated Sphinx
- 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
- 1 Phantasmal Image
- 1 Rune-Scarred Demon
- 2 Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (21)
Spells (28)
This guy has been dominating with this deck for weeks now. He really knows how to win with a deck that I didn’t think could. I don’t trust this deck’s mana base to be able to cast all of the powerful spells in this deck. It is very high variance, and that is not what I want to be playing in a high-profile event.
I am a fan of his random threats. All of these cards are capable of closing many games, but all of the different threats can cause awkward situations for an opponent. They do cause you to lose games because you don’t have more copies of some of the very powerful ones however. This is not something you can control unless you have a good grasp on the format.
The only change I would make to his deck is to cut one of the Surgical Extractions for another Timely Reinforcements.
#8 U/R Aggro
Creatures (12)
Lands (21)
Spells (27)
- 2 Shock
- 4 Mana Leak
- 2 Incinerate
- 4 Ponder
- 4 Gitaxian Probe
- 2 Dismember
- 2 Gut Shot
- 3 Brimstone Volley
- 4 Desperate Ravings
Sideboard
U/R Aggro reminds me a lot of Esper Blade from earlier this year. Esper Blade was a modification of Caw-Blade but was not even as good. I think both Mono Red and Illusions are better than the mashup of both decks. The manabase is always bad for this deck no matter how you want to build it, which makes the bonus of burn spells with Delver of Secrets not worth it. Just play one of the other decks and leave this one to die.
#9 Green/White Tokens
Creatures (22)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 3 Mirran Crusader
- 4 Hero of Bladehold
- 3 Blade Splicer
- 2 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
- 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 2 Geist-Honored Monk
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (12)
Spells (20)
Fabian’s version of this deck is by far the best one out there. This version may even change my mind once I get a chance to play with it. For now though, this deck is not worth playing. The deck just needs too many things to go right. The mana is always a joke, and I never can play the spells I need to on time. One stumble on a crucial turn leaves this deck playing catch-up for the rest of the game, which it is not good at doing. I would not touch this deck!
#10 RUG
Creatures (14)
Lands (13)
Spells (33)
I don’t know where this deck originated, since I have been very sick since Worlds, but it does look interesting. The only problem with it is that it is doing the same thing that U/R Aggro is trying to do. It is giving up consistency for power, but not enough power to justify all of the colors. Mono-Blue Illusions might not be able to do the same things this deck is trying to do, but it does not need to. Drop a couple guys and play a Mana Leak and Vapor Snag. This deck feels like it is trying to be too cute and costing the pilots games because of the mana base.
This week’s breakdown really shows how important consistency really is in this format. Be sure to keep the extra colors out of your decks and try not to do things just to be cute. I hope everyone has a great time at the Invitational, and I hope I am able to get down there and compete myself. I’ll see you guys next week when I break down something very important that every Magic player needs to succeed.