States is always a blast. It’s a completely raw format with a large number of decks that people believe are good. Last year I played a mono-white soldier deck to a near-miss Top 8 record. It was great, mainly because I wasn’t worried about winning. This year wasn’t much different.
So the night before the tournament, instead of worrying about Magic, I went out with a friend and saw a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Rather stunning, actually. I need to do that more often.
As for the testing, the preparation began several weeks ahead of time with my testing partner, Jason Rose. We had been looking at the Mirrodin spoiler and saw some definite potential in some of the cards… But we didn’t see anything we felt could stand up to Goblins, so that’s where we started. Once we had Goblins, we started running different decks into it to give us an idea of how fast a deck needed to be to compete. B/W was the next thing we found that we thought was strong, as it had solid control elements, a good late-game plan, and enough removal to stop Goblins. For the weeks leading up to States I thought it would be my deck.
We got our hands on the Affinity deck about two weeks before States and started working with it. I thought it was kind of neat, but I doubted its potential – mainly due to the presence of Akroma’s Vengeance in so many of the better decks. Still, our version ran Lightning Greaves and it was tearing B/W to shreds, so I got worried about my choice of B/W (I’m now told that this is unusual; B/W supposedly tools Affinity).
Jason knew he didn’t want to play Affinity for the same reasons I didn’t: Too many weaknesses. He also didn’t like Goblins because of the fact that it was something everyone would be ready for and it lost horribly to Circle of Protection: Red…. So we needed another option. He suggested a few days prior to the event that we try out a three-color Astral Slide deck, arguing that it would handle any aggressive strategies it faced and that if played properly it can also defeat nearly any control strategy. I liked Slide and thought that it would be solid without Wild Mongrels and Circular Logics giving it hell, so I agreed. He came up with a list and I assembled it. We played a few games, but basically didn’t have time to test it at all. I had to rely on what I knew about Slide from the past to guide me. Here’s the list that we both took to States (technically, his list was slightly different but it was nothing more than sideboard choices):
4 Exalted Angel
3 Eternal Dragon
3 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Wrath of God
3 Akroma’s Vengeance
4 Lightning Rift
3 Astral Slide
4 Renewed Faith
2 Decree of Justice
4 Tranquil Thicket
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Forgotten Cave
7 Plains
3 Mountain
2 Forest
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard:
4 Circle of Protection: Red
4 Karma
4 Naturalize
2 Viridian Shaman
1 Akroma’s Vengeance
So what’s the Green in the main deck for? Simple: Tranquil Thicket. The extra four cycling lands were amazing. We felt that they were the best”Green” cards in the whole deck. The Naturalizes and Shamans out of the board were meant for Affinity (obviously) and they weren’t useless, but the Thickets were the real MVPs. Don’t underestimate the importance of the one-mana cyclers in this deck. When it was first created last year, many versions of Slide ran Akroma’s Blessing largely because it cycled for one mana. Spark Spray fills that role in most versions now – but however you want to do it, I recommend twelve one-mana cyclers at the very least.
The Angels are obvious, as are the Dragons. We’d have run four Dragons if it was a straight two-color build, but three was plenty in this case. The new thing that got test-driven at States was the Simulacrum – and I found him to be incredible. For starters, any game where I Slid him out, I won. Even without a Slide, though, he’s fantastic. He’s a real workhorse for any control deck and I highly recommend him, especially in this deck.
The spells are pretty straightforward. I maindecked three Vengeances for Affinity, four Faiths for Goblins, and two Decrees because they’re amazing and they steal wins from people who don’t plan for them. Three Slides is plenty, since the real card you want on the board is Lightning Rift. Four Wraths is a given in any format based on Onslaught Block.
I believe now it’s time for the round-by-round. Forgive the lack of names, but I didn’t take them down. I never thought that I’d be writing this.
Round 1: White Weenie with Red
Game 1 – He started things off with a turn 2 Isochron Scepter imprinted with Raise the Alarm. I answered with Slide and followed it up with a face-down guy on turn 4. Next turn, with a white and two red showing, I sent my morph at him. He blocked with two tokens from his Scepter, which surprised me. I stacked damage, Slid my guy out, and returned the Angel to play face-up at the end of the turn. He couldn’t handle me draining him for four a turn and it was soon over.
Game 2 – He put out some early beats that got Wrathed away with me at eight. He then imprinted Shrapnel Blast on his Scepter. End of my turn, he tossed an artifact land at me, untapped, and threw another artifact land at me, going for the throat. Unfortunately for him, I had the Renewed Faith to survive. I then untapped, Vengeanced, and dropped Angels for the kill.
1-0-0
Round 2 – R/W Slide
Game 1 – Not much to this one; he saw three Rifts while I saw zero. I lost in short order.
Game 2 – This game I Naturalized his Rifts while riding the one I drew to victory.
Game 3 – We had little time to finish the match. I laid a face-down creature turn 3 and unmorphed Angel turn 4 as time got called. He was stuck on two lands and probably couldn’t pull out of this, but we weren’t given the chance to find out.
1-0-1
Round 3 – U/W
Game 1 – He countered my first Rift and we ignored each other for a few turns. Late game, he started tapping out to drop Dragon and Akroma, Angel of Wrath, so I slipped a Rift and Slide into play and controlled his attackers long enough to burn him out.
Game 2 – I worked on him with a Rift and a Dragon for several turns. He Vengeanced and followed up the next turn by tapping out for a Decree of Silence. Not fearing Stifle, I cycled a Decree of Justice at end of turn for the win.
2-0-1
Round 4 – B/W
Game 1 – We built our mana and threw Dragons and Angels at each other for a while. A late-game Rift went unanswered and it burned him out.
Game 2 – He stalled on just swamps for a time and by the time he’s able to get double White to Vengeance away my Angel, I could cycle a large Decree of Justice at the end of turn to kill him.
3-0-1
Round 5 – B/W
Game 1 – His hand destruction tore me apart, and after a Persecute knocked out half my hand I couldn’t quite recover before his Dragons and soldiers took me out.
Game 2 – I worked on his life total with Simulacrums and Angels and drooped a Karma with him at six with two swamps in play. He conceded.
Game 3 – This was a tough game. He stabilized and dealt with my threats, but not before I put him at nine. All I had was Simulacrum with nothing in hand. He, on the other hand, laid his fourth swamp and entwined a Promise of Power, putting a 9/9 in play and going to four. I untapped, drew nothing, and sent the Simulacrum at him. He blocked, it died, and I peeled Karma. How savage! (Read: lucky.)
4-0-1
Round 6 – MBC
Game 1 – He didn’t deal with my Rift, and it took him down all by itself. He Consume Spirited me once or twice, but Faith kept it from ever being a real concern.
Game 2 – Some savage discard spells kept Karma from coming down and I couldn’t handle being Mind Twisted multiple times. He finished me with multiple large Consume Spirits.
Game 3 – Another close one. We fought back and forth until the late game when the following situation came to pass. He, with four swamps (and some other lands) and a Phyrexian Arena out, put me at seven with his 6/6 flying demon token while leaving Undead Gladiator back on defense. He Consume Spirited me to three, putting himself at seven, and said go. I had Simulacrum and Karma in play. I untapped, drew nothing helpful, and sent in the Simulacrum, hoping that he wouldn’t see that he had to block to live. He blocked (frown), the Simulacrum died, and I peeled Karma #2 for the win.
Unbelievable!
Oh, and he had the other Consume Spirit in hand. Whew!
5-0-1
Round 7 – Goblin Bidding
Game 1 – He threw guys at me while I tried to slow the bleeding with a turn 3 Rift. He proceeded to blow his load, Patriarch’s Bidding and all, and put me at two before I Wrathed it all away and dropped Angel after Angel after Angel to seal the game.
Game 2 – I hid behind Circle of Protection: Red and let his Sulfuric Vortex kill him. When he Stoned (yes, he had Oblivion Stone to deal with Circle) everything away, I dropped a second Circle and a Rift. No contest.
6-0-1
Round 8 – Affinity ID
Unfortunately, I never got a chance to actually play against Affinity. Ah well; no big loss.
6-0-2
Quarterfinals – Mono-Red Goblins
Game 1 – I dropped a turn 3 Slide and followed it with a Wrath a few turns later. I took some beats, but Slide and a Faith kept me out of his reach. When he went for it with a Vortex, I dropped a Rift and outraced it.
Game 2 – Pretty simple game here: A turn 2 C.O.P. Red left him paralyzed the entire time. Even Flashfires didn’t make a dent because of the way my mana base is built; it only took out two Plains. For some reason he dropped a Vortex, so I never even needed to play a win condition, as I hid behind my Circle.
Semifinals – B/W
Game 1 – He wasn’t sporting Persecute main deck, so I could play more conservatively with my threats. I played the board control game with him while my Rifts burned him out.
Game 2 – He played Arena on turn 3 and missed his next two land drops. What a rip-off – that shouldn’t happen! He still made a game of it, but I was too far ahead and I eventually finished him with a large Decree of Justice. He probably would have taken this one if he hadn’t missed two whole turns of development… And that’s a shame.
Finals – MWC
Game 1 – Culling Scales is an interesting choice of control cards. I thought about how to play around that card, and I eventually came up with the answer: I dropped my first Rift on about turn 12 or 13 when I had a ton of mana available. He killed it, but not before I dealt eight to him in response. He just shook his head because he knew that he was in trouble. I did the same thing with the next two Rifts and killed him.
Game 2 – I kept cycling land, Plains, and two Dragons on the draw and didn’t see land #5 until way too late.
I once said that Slide never gets land screwed; make that almost never.
Game 3 – He stopped at six lands while I developed further. A Vengeance from me took away Story Circle and Stone from his side of the board. I dropped Slide and then Angel and started hitting with her, protecting her when necessary. When those threats finally got dealt with he was low enough on life for Rift to mop up. He tried Scales to stop it, but I had Naturalize to answer that and he was out of answers.
What a surreal feeling! 9-0-2 and the title of State Champion. Not at all what I expected when I showed up that morning to play. I switched decks practically at the last minute, and even had a different sideboard from what Jason and I had originally envisioned, due to the fact that I couldn’t acquire the four Shamans that we thought would be necessary against Affinity. (If you think that sliding Jens in and out is fun, try doing it with a monkey against an artifact deck!) Therefore, I wasn’t expecting to take home the plaque.
Still, I’m obviously excited that I did so well and I definitely believe that Slide was the best choice for that tournament. It seemed to me that no one was prepared for it since I never saw a single Stabilizer. Regardless, things went well, I got some breaks and some lucky draw steps, and I pulled it out. Can’t ask for much more than that.
In retrospect, however, I think that the deck needs a bit of work. The non-lands in the main deck were all pretty solid except for the Incinerators. They’re good, but the deck needs answers to Decree of Justice (something we didn’t think of before), so I’d put Slice and Dice in place of them. The mana is okay, but it needs tweaking. I played so many control matches where I discovered the deck’s weakness with running out of basic land targets for the Dragons, Simulacrums, and fetch lands. Often I’d draw fetch lands or cast Simulacrums late game without any basics left to tutor for. I don’t think twelve is enough, and I’d up that count if I had to do it again. As far as the sideboard is concerned, I’d put a third Decree of Justice in there and some Scrabbling Claws as well in place of a Karma and the Shamans.
If I tried to tie all these ideas together I think the revised deck would look like this:
4 Exalted Angel
3 Eternal Dragon
3 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Wrath of God
3 Akroma’s Vengeance
4 Lightning Rift
3 Astral Slide
4 Renewed Faith
2 Decree of Justice
2 Slice and Dice
4 Tranquil Thicket
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Forgotten Cave
8 Plains
4 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard:
4 Circle of Protection: Red
4 Naturalize
3 Karma
2 Scrabbling Claws
1 Decree of Justice
1 Akroma’s Vengeance
Thanks for reading. Feel free to email me at [email protected] with questions or comments.
Mark Lovin
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Questingphelddagrif on MODO