I wanted to play my updated 4-Color Dredgevine list in my little tournament last weekend, but it’s hard to just stop brewing. I couldn’t do it. In that
time, I made a Bant list that was inspired by Kyle Sanchez Ruel Has Crabs deck. Instead of trying to Mill them out, I was still on the Dredgevine
plan.
Here’s the list I used to win the tournament:
Creatures (33)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Meddling Mage
- 3 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Knight of the Reliquary
- 4 Hedron Crab
- 2 Lotus Cobra
- 1 Enclave Cryptologist
- 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
- 4 Vengevine
- 1 Aether Adept
- 4 Fauna Shaman
Lands (25)
Spells (2)
Starting with a base of my SCG Open Minneapolis list, I wanted
to try a few things. Number one was cutting red and going back to a more Ochoa style list. It seemed like Rotting Rats would be solid in that version,
and I even wanted to try it in my 4-Color list. The post-sideboard games were typically huge grinds, and I felt like Rotting Rats was probably a good
way to fight those battles.
Jund was a good matchup, but it depended on their lists. I could deal with their ground guys easily, but I was having problems beating Sarkhan the Mad,
Siege-Gang Commander, and Grave Titan. Anything that could break a ground stall or create card advantage was great against me — otherwise, I could
constantly trade with their dudes and eventually fly over for the win.
Rotting Rats was excellent – but with that and Sedraxis Specter, Obstinate Baloth was starting to become a problem. The Ochoa list with Rats was all
right, but without Bloodbraid Elves, I was having trouble consistently returning Vengevines. Perhaps I was playing incorrectly, or maybe I just needed
training wheels. Either way, it made the deck less consistent and certainly less powerful.
I also hated the U/G/B mana base. Not having Ziggurat was nice for unearth purposes, but that hardly mattered if you couldn’t cast your creatures in
the first place. Awkwardly enough, adding more colors increased the consistency.
At first glance, you might feel like the Hedron Crabs aren’t very powerful in this Bant list. And yes, you only have Vengevines to dredge into… but
there’s also the possibility of just making really huge Knights. Crab is also integral to the Soul Sisters matchup.
I’m pretty proud of this Bant list. I started with an incredibly archaic list, but quickly tuned the numbers one-by-one and ended up with great plans
for all the matchups.
For example, against Soul Sisters, you just start milling them as soon as possible. The Emeria Angel will keep you safe from their attackers, Ranger
will get you up to two or three Crabs, and if you have a Knight active, that’s game. Meddling Mage on Brave the Elements is key.
The Halimar Depths is for when you have a Knight active with some Crabs, but you need to actually make a land drop in addition to activating Knight.
Typically, I’ll side out the Halimar Depths in a matchup where it’s attrition-based and I don’t want to get flooded, or where I need the Bojuka Bog.
Like Halimar Depths, the Terramorphic Expanse (or Evolving Wilds, but I prefer to go old-school) is there for the situations that arise against Soul
Sisters. Sometimes you have to stabilize at a low life and get to milling them out, at which point you can’t always rely on fetchlands.
Against Naya, goal number one is to find Linvala. Your second goal is to Meddling Mage their Linvalas, as they probably have very few spot removal
spells. The plan against Mythic is very similar, except you need to Meddling Mage Sovereigns as well.
The Jund matchup is still solid. Things like Siege-Gang Commander and Master of the Wild Hunt can be problematic, but you want a couple of Linvalas to
shut down Leech and fly over when they’ve got some Thrinax tokens clogging the ground. Thankfully, Linvala protects you and your creatures from nearly
everything. As I said, Grave Titan and Sarkhan are major concerns — but Linvala can’t do it all, I suppose.
Even with all my satisfaction for how things turned out, things could be different. Nothing is ever set in stone. I like the Cryptologist to fetch with
Ranger in the midgame, the Meddling Mage to stop things like Titans and Sovereigns, and Linvala to crush the other green decks.
Aether Adept could be cut, but it’s nice to have that answer to Baneslayer. In a pinch, you could also just bounce your Birds to rebuy some Vengevines.
The card isn’t bad, but it’s not great either.
Lotus Cobras are solid since you basically have to mulligan any hand without an accelerator or Hedron Crab. Fauna Shaman hands are acceptable, but you
run the risk of just being kold if they kill it. Overall, Cobras have been all right, and will get better if you want to add a color, but they could be
cut if something else becomes a necessity.
I’ve never been a fan of Path to Exile. I want my cheap removal spells to kill their early guys so that I can make it to the mid-game, but Path doesn’t
really slow them down. However, in this format, with this deck, I want to kill very specific creatures: Primeval Titan, Linvala, Sovereigns, and
sometimes Cunning Sparkmage — and that’s all. The thing is, you have Meddling Mage as a Tutorable answer to most of those things, so you don’t even
have to overload on Paths.
Ranger of Eos is great in this deck. It’s Bant’s version of Bloodbraid Elf, ensuring that your Vengevines are always coming back. You don’t need crap
like Kor Skyfisher. I probably should have played four, but I wanted the cool one-ofs. I considered Perimeter Captain instead of Obstinate Baloth,
since it’s Tutorable, but Baloth seems more powerful. By the time you cast Ranger for Captain, they might not have any creatures and will be on the
“burn you out” plan. Baloth at least does something at that point.
Celestial Colonnade might seem a bit greedy with all the Ziggurats, but it’s not. It’s like a Glacial Fortress that’s Tutorable with Knight for when
they kill your mana guys and all you’re left with is Forests. Colonnade seems like a better version of the Fortress since if the game goes late, you
have another threat. So far, it’s been pretty good.
I tried a few crazy things, like Fatestitcher instead of Adept, which also allows you to do a couple cool things like “Sejiri Steppe your giant Knight,
untap it, attack for lethal damage.” A Soaring Seacliffs could also fill that role, but Steppe is typically good enough. And let’s be honest, no one
can sleeve up a Soaring Seacliffs for Constructed and be proud of that fact.
Having something like Shriekmaw or even Nekrataal would be great for these Fauna Shaman decks, but it would be a little too good.
I started with Extractor Demons in my Bant list, but without Renegade Doppelgangers or other things to dredge into, unearthed Lava Axes aren’t entirely
necessary. Finding all of your Vengevines should be enough. Sometimes things happen like you mill your Sejiri Steppe or all of your Forests to fetch,
but it’s the risk you take.
Anyway, onto the tournament. It was thirty people, which meant five rounds. $300 to first place, and some pack payout in there somewhere.
Round One: Pyromancer Ascension
In the first game, I’m surprised by a maindeck Pyroclasm. There isn’t anything that I really could have (or should have) done, as I still had
Vengevines going in and out of my graveyard. He found an Ascension and charged it, but bricked for a turn, and that was all I needed.
+ 1 Bojuka Bog, 1 Meddling Mage, 1 Qasali Pridemage, 4 Unified Will
-2 Path to Exile, 1 Aether Adept, 1 Halimar Depths, 1 Enclave Cryptologist, 2 Lotus Cobra
I sided out the Adept because I didn’t see anything that led me to believe that he had the Polymorph sideboard plan. Despite wanting to be as fast as
possible, I had to cut some accelerators here so they don’t get swept up in a Pyroclasm.
Second game, Pyroclasms killed my guys again, and — in another surprise — this time Relic of Progenitus wiped my board and graveyard. I was stuck on
three lands, so naturally I still had all gas. Without another Relic, a big Knight of the Reliquary was too much for him to handle.
Round Two: R/G Valakut with Inferno Titan
I Meddling Maged Primeval Titan, but got hit with a turn 4 Inferno Titan instead. Thankfully, he had nothing to follow it up with, so it was kind of a
real game. No mid-range green deck can really beat an Inferno Titan, though, so that was about all he needed.
+ 4 Unified Will, 1 Path to Exile, 1 Meddling Mage
-1 Aether Adept, 1 Linvala, 1 Enclave Cryptologist, 1 Sejiri Steppe, 2 Ranger of Eos
The games are pretty fast here, so the slower things like Sejiri Steppe and Ranger of Eos don’t come out to play very often.
I had the nuts in game two, which involved a Vengevine attacking on turn 2, with gas to follow. It didn’t take long to convince him to go to game
three. Every other match or so, you have a game where Vengevine is in play on turn 2, and it’s very difficult to lose those games. That’s definitely
one advantage to having a card like Hedron Crab in your deck, where at times it feels like half a card, and other times it feels like you’re not even
playing the same format as your opponent.
Third game was kind of a grind. My clock was slow, so I used some Unified Wills to counter his acceleration. He ended up getting a single Valakut
active, but by then I had some Vengevines coming at him.
Round Three: U/W/R Control
My opponent said he got his list from PV on Magic League, and it was constantly surprising me.
In the first game he stopped my beats with a Wall of Denial, and then cleaned up my little guys with a maindeck Pyroclasm. Ranger of Eos allowed me to
refuel and get some Vengevines going, which I used to take out his Ajani Vengeant. He doubled up on Walls and played out some Planeswalkers, all the
while picking off my little guys. Tectonic Edge took out my white mana and left me with several dead cards in hand. Celestial Colonnade finished me
off.
+4 Unified Will, 1 Meddling Mage, 1 Emeria Angel, 1 Qasali Pridemage, 2 Pithing Needle
-2 Path to Exile, 1 Aether Adept, 1 Linvala, 2 Lotus Cobra, 2 Noble Hierarch, 1 Halimar Depths
With the Walls in his maindeck, I predicted that he didn’t have Day of Judgment. Using that knowledge, I played out five creatures, including a
Meddling Mage on Pyroclasm and one on Ajani Vengeant. Naturally, he had Earthquake, and then a Baneslayer Angel, and I was done for.
His list seemed like a terrible matchup, especially once I saw that he had Destructive Force and Inferno Titans in addition to everything else I saw. I
made sure to scout him when I sat next to him in round four so I would be prepared if we had to play in the top eight.
Round Four: Julian Booher with Jund
We played a few games before the tournament, and I came out victorious in most of them. Still, Julian is a ringer, so I had to play with caution.
In the first game he killed my first two threats, played a Thrinax and refused to block my incoming Vengevine, telegraphing Sarkhan. While I raced to
fill up my graveyard, he tried to kill me as quickly as possible. However, on the turn before I would have died, I had one too many incoming attackers.
+1 Linvala, 1 Meddling Mage, 1 Emeria Angel, 1 Obstinate Baloth
-1 Aether Adept, 1 Halimar Depths, 2 Path to Exile
I don’t exactly remember the second game. I know I got him low and had Colonnade in play, and he had to keep mana open to not die to it. He could have
cast Grave Titan, but then he would have died — so that was one way to beat Titan, I guess.
Round Five: RDW
I could intentionally draw into the top 8, but my opponent was 2-2. I never asked for a concession, but he talked to himself about his options. He said
that he would concede if he was a nice guy (to which one of the spectators replied, “Or if Gerry were a nice guy”), but then he said he wasn’t.
I was fine with it — until he opened up with Mountain, Goblin Guide. Probably the worst matchup for the deck. Still, I had an excellent draw with turn
1 Hierarch, turn 2 Cobra and Fauna Shaman, both of which he killed. My follow-up Ranger and Vengevine were still too much for him, though.
+1 Linvala, 1 Bojuka Bog, 1 Path to Exile, 1 Emeria Angel, 1 Obstinate Baloth
– 1 Aether Adept, 1 Meddling Mage, 1 Enclave Cryptologist, 1 Halimar Depths, 1 Ranger of Eos
Once again, I had a good draw, including drawing my one-of Baloth. Despite what was supposed to be a bad matchup, I escaped with a win.
Top Eight: Jund
Overall, this was an easy matchup. He didn’t threaten me with Grave Titans or Sarkhans, so I just ground him out and then eventually Vengevined him
out. He had some Jund Charms, which I could have Meddling Maged, but I didn’t think he had it.
Top Four: RDW
Julian had just started a draft at this point, and I expressed my displeasure. I told him we’d probably have to leave pretty soon, since I felt like I
couldn’t escape the RDW matchup twice.
First game, I played a turn 2 4/4 Knight that was a little hard for him to deal with, especially with no creature pressure.
Second game, I played a turn 3 Baloth and when he moved in on Devastating Summons, I had two Paths. A Vengevine off the top gave me more than I needed
to finish him.
Finals: Rematch vs. U/W/R control
He offered the 50/50 split and I immediately took it, as the matchup seemed 40/60 at best.
Naturally, he double-mulliganed the first game, and didn’t find any blue mana in the second.
Regardless of my win, am I just a bad Mythic deck? Perhaps. Both decks have incredible nut draws, but the mana base is great. Your draws are
potentially faster and you have more staying power, but I don’t think you can argue that turn 3 Sovereigns of Lost Alara isn’t the most
powerful thing you can be doing in this format. If you’ve got a little gamble in you, Hedron Crab is where you want to be. If nothing else, this Bant
deck is certainly more fun.
In the last couple days, I’ve been playing Naya online since it has everything I felt like I wanted in a Vengevine deck, but it’s just not powerful
enough. It’s looking more and more like Hedron Crab is my new pet card. If I’m not playing it at the Baltimore SCG Open, something has either gone very
right or terribly wrong.
GerryT
Remember, you can get constant updates on how I’m doing in these tournaments by following me at http://twitter.com/g3rryt.