I’ve had a lot on my plate recently. That, combined with my overall laziness, meant that I didn’t get around to testing Adam Prosak Nationals Qualifier deck until about a week ago. Thankfully, it was at seemingly the perfect time! His deck is awesome right now.
Here’s the list that I’m talking about:
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (28)
Spells (20)
Sideboard
Adam doesn’t like fun, so he conceded in the top 4 of his Nationals Qualifier so he wouldn’t even be tempted to go to Nationals this year, otherwise this deck might have gotten a little more press. It looked really fun, and this type of deck is right up my alley. All I really want to do is play additional lands and draw cards, but I wasn’t quite sure how good it would be.
Cedric was going to attend the StarCityGames.com Open in Seattle, and while I wanted to go, it probably wasn’t going to happen. I might have worked a little harder to get it done, but there was also an MMS in Madison the same weekend, which is within driving distance for me. There was also a PTQ on Sunday, in which I couldn’t play, but I enjoy rail birding more than playing anyway.
Ced loves being the guy playing the deck that no one respects. It’s just how he does things. You could say he plays the game one way. Anyway, he and I were discussing the viability of Prosak’s list, seeing as how Next Level Bant, the new “it” deck, was a virtual bye. Then Ali Aintrazi goes ahead and makes Top 8 of the Philly SCG Open with a similar list, although this one was fueled by aliens.
Here’s Ali’s list for comparison:
Creatures (13)
- 4 Oracle of Mul Daya
- 3 Avenger of Zendikar
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 4 Overgrown Battlement
- 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (29)
Spells (14)
I had a brief love affair with Ramp decks. Who doesn’t love casting big spells? Playing a ton of lands allows me to do that, especially if I can cheat them into play. The whole “Ritual, Ritual, Ritual, big spell” plan never appealed to me. I want my lands to stick around!
The problem with this strategy in the past has been that either you are geared toward beating aggro or control, and if you draw the removal portion of your deck against control, or the disruption/huge threat aspect against aggro, you’re screwed. Standard doesn’t have the typical aggro deck though, since the midrange Planeswalker decks are too good against straight aggro.
This UG Turboland deck is able to play all the anti control stuff and basically ignore the opponent. You don’t play removal because there’s nothing really worth killing. If you are unfortunate enough to get paired against a very aggressive deck, you’re probably going to lose, but the oft-maligned Fog is here to help.
Cedric insisted that All is Dust was one of the reasons the deck was good, regardless of whether or not we would play Eldrazi Temple. I just didn’t like the card. Against UW it seemed okay, but you are probably going to blow them out regardless. Against Mythic, it is solid game 1, but post-board your plan against the hyper aggro deck with 4 Negates is a seven-mana sorcery? Please.
In addition, I didn’t want to blow up my board after I worked so hard to get Oracle plus Jace online. It just seemed counterintuitive to what you wanted to do. You aren’t trying to grind them out or answer their permanents, so I just focused on doing what the deck is supposed to do:
Step 1: Play lands.
Step 2: …?
Step 3: Profit.
Roil Elemental seemed like a much better answer. It’s unlikely that they decide to dilute their deck with Path to Exile, since using that on a Lotus Cobra or Oracle of Mul Daya isn’t going to help them win the game.
Lotus Cobra? That’s not in any of the above lists! Well, it probably should have been. While it may seem counterintuitive to play Cobra with Avenger of Zendikar and stuff like Mind Spring, the snake does so much more for you early game that it’s worth it to make your late game bombs slightly worse. After all, they are still bombs, and they are probably going to win you the game regardless of whether you Spring for 5 or 7.
I think the main reason people didn’t want to play Cobra was that it was a more fragile Rampant Growth, but I didn’t want to cut Rampant Growth. Ramp and Explore are awesome with Cobra, so you want to play a ton of each. You really need to accelerate from two mana to four mana, and drawing multiples is a good thing, so why skimp?
I wanted to keep the curve low and the mana acceleration abundant, but I also wanted to be able to draw into my bombs. Enter Ponder. Adam Prosak told all of us to stop cutting Ponder from our lists, and after playing enough games to understand why, I agreed completely.
In the MMS, I used Ponder to:
1) Find a Rampant Growth, Oracle of Mul Daya, or Green source, depending on what my draw needed.
2) Set up the top of my deck to make Oracle truly abusive.
3) Shuffle the crap I saw on top of my deck due to Jace, Oracle, or Halimar Depths.
4) Be able to make my land drops for Lotus Cobra.
5) Plan ahead two turns in advance with perfect information.
6) Help tear through my deck trying to find the Roil Elemental, Time Warp, Avenger of Zendikar, or Mind Spring that I needed to lock up the game.
7) Keep sketchy hands.
Naturally, I don’t recommend #7.
I am, at my core, a Ponder hater, but it’s absolutely perfect in this deck. I wouldn’t cut any. I wanted a 29th land, but cut it for the 4th Ponder and was glad I did.
Cedric was sticking to his All is Dust guns, while I heard late that Luis had picked up the deck as well, which was disappointing since we didn’t get a chance to chat about it pre-tournament.
I was riding down to Madison with Steve McKenna, and we picked up Sean Weihe and Stephen “Nosy Goblin” Hink on the way. McKenna, a Rock player since he was out of the womb, was playing Jund. Sean and Nosy were both going to play Chapin’s NLB, which seems like an awesome deck aside from the Turboland matchup. Whenever I see a ringer sleeve that one up, they always seem to do well.
We were short a couple of Jaces, since for some reason Sean only owns seven, so we stopped at their store where we acquired seven more. It’s really that easy, people.
The car ride was uneventful, as was the Days Inn at which we stayed. Sean had everything I needed for the UG deck except Oracles and two Fogs. Those weren’t difficult to find at all, so I had everything I needed despite owning nothing.
This is what I registered:
Creatures (11)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (28)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
The maindeck was solid, whereas the sideboard was a bit rough. Finding good cards in straight UG can be difficult.
I wanted to keep the curve as low as possible and be able to ramp as much as I could. Time Warp, Mind Spring, and Avenger are things that you probably only need to draw one of per game, so there’s no point in maxing out on either of them. Ponder fills so many gaps in this deck it’s actually unbelievable.
I was pretty deep in the tank for a while about which lands to run. Ali only played three Depths, but that seems ludicrous. Depths is a huge freeroll since your mana is solid and you have plenty of ways to take advantage of the Sage Owling.
Flyers are the actual biggest bane for this deck, so I knew I wanted some amount of Tectonic Edges to deal with Celestial Colonnade. Past that, I wanted some fetch lands, but which ones I wanted was actually difficult to decide.
The deck probably wants more Forests than Islands, since your Green mana can find you Blue mana. You can’t really function in the early game without Green mana either, so that seemed obvious. Lotus Cobra benefits from the land you play immediately after it being a fetch land, but if you only have Green fetch lands, the chances of that happening aren’t likely.
There is also the same argument for Ponder, where you want to cast Ponder off a basic, and then you probably need Green mana after that, so you would want more Green fetch lands than Blue. Cobra gaining you mana is much more important than shuffling after a Ponder, especially since there are already a lot of shufflers, so if anything I wanted to run more Blue fetches.
I needed to run at least five Islands though, so I wouldn’t run out of basics to fetch. In the end I wound up running the maximum fetches that I thought I could get away with, just not the right ones I would prefer.
The sideboarded Roils were for Mythic, and maybe NLB, although I wasn’t sure how effective they would be there.
Baloths were mainly for Jund, but also garbage like RDW. I could see myself siding them in against the Bant decks, and maybe Naya depending on their configuration.
Deprive was to cement the control matchups, but I also ended up bringing it in versus stuff like Thought Hemorrhage.
Little Jace was to out-Jace the Blue decks, but to also just give you more threats and more card drawing. Cedric wanted another Mind Spring, but I felt like I had enough big cards in my list. I didn’t want to draw a grip full of seven-drops at any point.
Narcolepsy was to solve the Leech problem that many decks have. If Jund plays a turn 2 Leech and you don’t have an answer, chances are they have already won. If they don’t have the Leech or, even better, you contain it, then you are a fairly heavy favorite.
Fog was for the aggro decks like Naya or RDW, where they can’t really disrupt you, so the matchup just turns into a race. I wanted them against Mythic as well, since it seemed like you would play Avenger, they’d play Sovereigns, and then you’d need to buy a turn. That plan is probably terrible.
Mold Shambler was to kill Planeswalkers, but Terastodon probably would have been better.
For those not in the know, making Top 8 at the MMS qualifies you for a large tournament at GenCon, where first place gets $10,000. You also get a free four-day Gen Con badge and some cash prizes. I already qualified with Koros in Minneapolis, but I figured I could help block for some friends, and if I played against a bunch of dudes I didn’t know, at least I could win some dough.
So round 1 I played my friend Justin Meyer and offer to concede, but he politely refused. As per my recommendation, he is playing NLB, which is a very good matchup. Typically I would offer a split to hedge with my friends, but I already did that by offering to concede to him. If he didn’t want me to concede, I didn’t really want to “give” him 10% of me (or whatever we agreed upon), since the matchup was heavily in my favor. If he just offered to split, I wouldn’t turn him down, but I’m not going to offer to give him money.
I won the match, but it wasn’t quite that simple. Game 1 was easy. Oracle, lands, Avenger, etc.
I sided in a miser’s Roil Elemental, which was a freeroll since I was up a game and the matchup was good. If I draw it and it sucks and I lose because of it, oh well. I’m up a game and I get to test it. If I play it and it’s awesome, then I’ve probably won the match.
Second game, he played a turn 4 Sphinx of Lost Truths and started clocking me with some help from a Noble Hierarch. With the way he played out his next couple turns, I was reasonably sure he had a counter spell, and it was probably a Deprive rather than a Negate.
I had Oracle but was stuck on six lands. I finally Pondered into my seventh when Avenger wouldn’t have mattered anymore, so I couldn’t cast that guy. He had just played a Colonnade, so maybe I could bait out his counter spell with the Mold Shambler I was holding, and then lock up the game with the Roil Elemental I was holding.
Colonnade was a reasonable threat, but it wasn’t worth saving. Justin wisely chose to let it resolve and then knock me into single digits. He then chose wisely again, countered my Roil Elemental, and killed me.
I could have played Jace instead of Mold Shambler, which probably would have resolved. Then I could bounce his Sphinx and hope he taps out to kick it, which I didn’t expect him to do, but at least it would have been another way to give me some outs. If he didn’t kick it, I could bounce it again, and get a couple turns of reprieve.
In hindsight, that would have been the better play.
After seeing Roil Elemental, Justin reached for his sideboard, so I did the same, and took it out.
Game 3 was another blowout in my favor. Thankfully, no Elspeths showed up.
1-0, 2-1 in games
Second round, I played against Jund. First and third games were easy, but second game I lost to a flyer courtesy of Sarkhan. I Narcolepsied his Thrinax and he Bloodbraided into Pulse. I re-Narcoed it, but when he played Sarkhan, I was basically drawing dead. I decided to bring in Deprive for game 3, since it felt like Sarkhan was the only way I was going to lose.
2-0, 4-2
I’m usually pretty good about remembering what I’ve played against, but for some reason, round 3 eludes me. For some reason, I think it was NLB, and I won 2-0, but in all honesty I have no idea.
3-0, 6-2
After third round, I was pretty happy, and celebrated by buying a hot dog for $3.50. My deck was running well, there were good matchups all around, and I was probably out of the Mono Red bracket…
Aaaaaand spoke too soon.
Game 1 of round 4 I was facing down Goblin Guides on turns 1, 2, and 3. I kept a two lander with Rampant Growth, but Goblin Guides kept revealing my fate: I was peeling a useless Oracle of Mul Daya. At the end of the game I had all four in my hand and was still stuck on three land.
Second game I had a quick Rampaging Baloth and he couldn’t kill it.
Game 3 highlighted the weakness of Fog. He played a turn 2 Kiln Fiend and I held off on playing my Cobra. He Bolted me and attacked, which I took. Then I played Cobra, fetch land, Explore, fetch land, Rampant Growth. On his turn, he played a few burn spells and I pulled the trigger on Fog.
I played an Oracle but didn’t have much else going on. He burned it and attacked me. I drew another Fog to buy a turn, but couldn’t really draw anything except Avenger.
Fog is cool and all, but if I’m not going nuts with Jaces and Mind Springs, Fog is a mulligan that I can’t afford. Against RDW, they don’t give you time to mess around with Jace or Mind Spring, so you need to be doing something else. I’m not sure what that something is other than ramping into fatties, but Fog doesn’t really help either way.
3-1, 7-4
Fifth round was awkward. My opponent started with Stirring Wildwood, Sunpetal Grove, Sunpetal Grove plus Cobra, Sejiri Steppe. Right around that point, I had an Avenger in play, so he wisely chose to concede rather than show me more cards.
I couldn’t tell if he was Mythic or Naya, so I hedged. I kept in two Fogs, brought in one Roil Elemental (which is great versus Mythic but only okay versus Naya), and sided down to one Time Warp (which is good versus Naya but bad versus Mythic and their Negate).
Turns out he was Mythic, and we both started with Cobras. His accelerated him into a Baneslayer and then he offered the Cobra trade, which I took. Jace bounced his Baneslayer, so he killed it with his Wildwood, but missed his land drop. He peeled it the next turn, but I played Roil Elemental and a land, and he conceded.
4-1, 9-4
Another celebratory hot dog was called for.
And in the next, another Goblin Guide attacked me on turn 1. Grr…
Somehow, I won game 1. I led with two Khalni Gardens, which would have been good against his Kiln Fiend. He had other ideas, and played Flame Slash, Burst Lightning, and Lightning Bolt, then attacked for 10.
But I cast Fog.
I ended up stabilizing with Avenger at four life. He didn’t peel a second burn spell, and Time Warp killed him.
I lost the second game, but it seemed so close! On the last turn, he used the card he had (Burst Lightning) in combination with the Smoldering Spires he drew to clear both my blockers.
In the final game, I played Rampant Growth, another Rampant Growth called Time Warp, and then Rampaging Baloths. Then an Avenger. He had six cards, but apparently they were all Goblin Bushwhackers and other assorted garbage.
5-1, 11-5
For you RDW players out there: I was really scared of Traitorous Instinct or even Mark of Mutiny. Not like you need the help in this matchup, but it’s something to think about.
With 220 or so people, it didn’t look like I’d be able to draw in, so this wasn’t a win and in round. I was still hoping to get paired against someone I liked so that I could concede to them, but it was not to be. I had to face Jund again.
I won game 1 mostly because he didn’t have Leech. I played an Avenger at a healthy life total and pumped my plants, but he Bituminous Blasted into Bolt so things didn’t get out of control. Still, I was able to get in damage with my plants, and finish him with Time Warp. For some reason, I got a vibe that he wasn’t the type of dude to play Sarkhan, so I didn’t bring in Deprive.
Then I got Thought Hemorrhaged on turn 4, and he correctly named Avenger. After that, it was a struggle to not die to his threats while attempting to stick my own. Two reasonably sized Mind Springs later, and I was almost through my entire library.
I had a few chumpers, but was at one life. Finally, I found a Rampaging Baloths and made two beasts, but he peeled Blightning, just when I thought I was finally going to win.
That game, he showed me Pyroclasm, Doom Blade, Terminate, Bituminous Blast, Lightning Bolt, and Thought Hemorrhage, so I needed to retool my sideboard.
With all of his removal, it was very likely that he removed some threats. The games were also going to be huge grinds, and I needed to find either Deprive or Baloths to fight his Hemorrhages, so I brought back in some Jaces.
I had a nice draw game 3. Turn 2 Ramp, turn 3 little Jace, while he mulliganed and didn’t play anything. A medium sized Mind Spring followed by an Avenger basically sealed it. His hand full of lands couldn’t help him.
6-1, 13-6
The people in my car were all dead, so they went to grab some beers and food. Shortly after they left, I was paired against Owen Turtenwald, who asked me if I wanted to concede. I did so happily, but was slightly less happy when he lost in the Top 8. Justin Meyer, who I beat round one, also lost in Top 8.
Since my peeps were gone, I decided to hop in a 4v4 draft, where I opened Drana. In my last three drafts up until that point, I had p1p1ed Drana in two of those.
I only went 2-1 and we lost, but eventually my homies showed up. They wanted to go see A-Team, which for some reason, I was pretty excited for. The movie seemed like it would be pretty bad, but Steve is definitely old enough to remember watching the show on TV. He was excited, but I didn’t think I’d be able to sit through the entire movie without being mildly intoxicated.
We got to the theater and I reminded Steve that we should get beers to smuggle in, and he agreed. He told Sean and Nose to buy us tickets and we’d be right back. Our planning wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t going to get any better.
I bought bottles instead of cans, which may or may not have been a mistake. Bottles seemed like the correct play, but I’m not a master smuggler by any means. Either way, Steve was surprised at my choice, and we headed back to the theater.
My jeans and track jacket were a little too tight to just jam them into the pockets, so I tried putting them in my waistband in the back. Hopefully my jacket would cover them and there would be no problem.
Steve said he couldn’t really tell if I was packing or not, but he was struggling a little himself. He jammed one down his front waist and put another in his pocket.
Then we started to walk toward the theater through the parking lot. We couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous the other person looked. I told Steve to “be cool,” but that obviously wasn’t happening. We waddled into the theater, but couldn’t find our friends. The lady taking the tickets was right in front, so we couldn’t even go inside to look for them. I didn’t have either of their numbers, and Steve left his phone in the car.
So we waddled back.
By the time we were at the car, Steve was done with it. No amount of beer was worth that awkwardness, but I felt committed. Steve called Sean, and we met him inside. Apparently they were playing air hockey and didn’t notice that we wouldn’t be able to get in.
I sat down next to Steve, pulled out my beverages, and gave him the “I know you’re jealous” look, which he was.
So I gave him one of mine.
Turns out, I didn’t need it, since the movie was actually pretty sweet.
Nosy wanted to play my list the next day in the PTQ, while Sean was going to play my NLB list with Cobras and Knights. Steve was sticking with Jund. After getting all that sorted out, we crashed.
My buddy Adam Gunderson, who taught me how to play Magic, 6-0ed the swiss both days with NLB. He wasn’t able to draw round 7 and lost both times, but still made Top 8 both times. In the MMS, he chopped Top 4 with Brian Kowal playing Jund, another Jund deck, and a Mythic deck.
This time, he lost (I believe) in Top 8 to Flores’s UW Eldrazi deck. The PTQ had Jund on Jund finals.
Sean started 5-0, but made a mistake that cost him the match round 6.
Nosy didn’t do very well with Turboland, but you really need to be extremely practiced with the deck in order to do well. He also had a couple of very funny situations come up.
Nosy had a Roil Elemental that stole his Mythic opponent’s Sovereigns of Lost Alara. The next turn, he attacked with it and searched his deck for a Narcolepsy. and put it on the Sovereigns in case his opponent found the removal spell for his Elemental.
Granted, Narcolepsy isn’t supposed to come in versus Mythic, but still.
The second awesome moment was Nosy’s loss against UW. He had an Oracle but was short on lands and kept revealing big spells on top of his deck.
His opponent proceeded to Meddling Mage three turns in a row, locking out the card that Nosy was going to draw.
Overall, I think the deck is really good, but it loses a lot of value when people know what you’re up to. It could also use some fine tuning. Both mine and LSV’s lists are archaic, but I’m sure in the next couple of weeks there will be enough grinders on MTGO tuning the list that it should be close to perfect.
Next stop: The StarCityGames.com Open weekend in St. Louis!
GerryT