On Wednesday, Manu and I talked about Intelligent Netdecking. Today, we are going to talk about its latest example on action: U/W Turbo Fog. My brother Antoine, Manu, and I instantly fell in love with the decklist that won a National Qualifier in Japan:
Spells (40)
Here is a pretty interesting deck once again. It seems to have much room for improvement (such as Reliquary Tower, and the funky sideboard), and it should be even more tunable after some testing. The engine is pretty simple, as we all know: you and your opponent draw plenty of cards each turn, but most of the cards he draws are useless as he can’t deal you combat damage. When you’ve stopped his beatdown, you only have to play one of your Planeswalker’s ultimate ability to finish the game. If the build is not optimal, the core seems very solid.
In the first version we built, three changes were made to the main deck:
– Island and Plains replaced 2 Reliquary Tower: You don’t play Mystic Gate to avoid being vulnerable to Anathemancer to Fulminator Mage, or to weaken your Borderposts. Reliquary Tower makes your mana even weaker. Anyway, when you have 10 cards in hand at end of turn, you should win any matchup.
– 3 Angelsong replace 3 Batwing Brume: Brume can steal one game in a while from Faeries, but as the matchup seems pretty bad anyway, Angelsong seems more flexible.
– Evacuation replaces Wrath of God: Your opponent draws so many cards that “back in hand” or “in his graveyard” won’t make much difference. Therefore, Evacuation, which is better against Manlands, seems like a good 16th Fog.
Once our version seemed good, we were ready to attack our first bunch of Magic Online 8-4 Constructed queues. Quite quickly, we realize losing to WG and WB is pretty difficult. However, Mono Red is a pain, even with a good sideboard to combat their direct damage and post-board Everlasting Torment, while Faeries seem just unwinnable. These things were to be predicted, but the deck definitely shows some potential. The first games versus Boat Brew are very disappointing. We feel like we have them, but then, at some point, they start playing Siege-Gang Commander, Ranger of Eos for Mogg Fanatics, Ajani Vengeant, Volcanic Fallout, Banefire Liege, and even sometimes Banefire itself. Against those, a pair of Halos isn’t enough, as they end up drawing too many threats for you to deal with. Therefore, we decide to add a Pithing Needle to search for with Tezzeret, and a third Halo. The matchup doesn’t become easy all of the sudden, as you still have to pay a close attention on how you will use those two key cards, but it gets a lot better, and you’re now a favorite.
After a few more matches, the UB Borderposts also leave of the deck. They are just not good enough now that you don’t play Batwing Brume anymore. With only 4 Borderposts left in the deck, Tezzeret almost never untaps two mana producers anymore. Of course, the card is still fine, but the change underlines its insufficiency.
Manu, how many games have you won with Tezzeret’s Ultimate ability?
Manu: Well, once in Limited… but for Standard, my count is still at zero.
Oli:Antoine?
Antoine: Not once.
Oli: Same here.
The deck just doesn’t need the bearded guy, which is more of a gadget than a truly useful card. However, in order to compensate for his loss, we must add a second Pithing Needle. From there, most of the build is done. We now have a deck that crushes WB and GW, beats WR, is pretty fine against Five-Color Control, loses to Red, and just can’t win against Faeries. There are just two questions we need to answer now. How do we deal with Maelstrom Pulse, and do we really want to try and beat Red decks?
Antoine, after testing a lot versus Elves and Cascade during the last few days before the Grand Prix, considers Hindering Light is the best card versus them, and it’s true that what the deck actually needs against Five-Color Control is extra Negates. So if they can make you draw… But is it enough when you always want to use as many mana as you can (except for the ones you keep for Fogging?)
The Red deck matter is more delicate, as you will probably win about 20% of games with your main deck. If you have a very heavy sideboard (something like 4 Celestial Purge, 4 Dragon’s Claw), you can get it up to 40%. This is decent, but is it really worth using that many sideboard cards for such an improvement? Considering we have three byes, don’t we want to gamble on avoiding one of the most popular decks, simply because it should get further from the top tables as the tournament advances? That’s what we decide to do, and as we were not sure we had enough against Pulse, we decide to cut most of the anti-Red crap (Celestial Purge is good in other matchups) and add Meddling Mage to deal with the new Vindicate.
We now have a final version, in which we add one Mystic Gate, considering we’re losing to Red’s Anathemancer anyway.
Lands (1)
Spells (59)
Oli: And now, ladies and gentlemen, to analyze the deck’s matchups, I’ve the pleasure to introduce you Manueeeeeeeeel… wait for it… Buuuuuucher!
Manu: Hi everybody!
Oli: Manu! Long time no see! How’s Seattle?
Manu: Actually, I am in Tacoma, something like 50 miles from Seattle, where the tournament is actually being held. It’s great! I bought swim trunks for $50, but the cashier told me they only cost $20. How much better could it be?
Oli: Maybe it’d be a little better if I didn’t have a deadline approaching. Ready to start?
Manu: Yep! We are going to talk about WB, Swans, and Toast. For each of those matchups we will share how we fared against them, what we think about them, and how we sideboard. Let’s get started with WB.
WB: 6-1
(This is the sum of the results that Antoine, Manu, and Oli had versus BW in Barcelona.)
Oli: I think that result reflects the matchup percentage. They have almost no way to win in the first game, and even though they are slightly better after boarding (Thoughtseize, Identity Crisis), you are still a heavy favorite. Once in a while you can lose to multiple discard spell draws, but even then they are to slow to finish you off before you get control of the game.
Manu: And Identity Crisis is usually not that huge a deal. As they can’t deal with an on-board Howling Mine or Font of Mythos, the card doesn’t impact the game too much if you are drawing four cards a turn.
Oli: Exactly. The only thing you fear is multiple discards and Redcap/Ajani/Marsh Flitter combo. How about?
IN: 3 Celestial Purge, 1 Glen Elendra Archmage, 2 Path to Exile
OUT: 3 Negate, 2 Pithing Needle, 1 Runed Halo
Manu: I am actually not a huge fan of Path to Exile when you already board in three Purges. I’d rather have more Negate for the Thoughtseize.
Oli: The only games I’ve lost in the matchup were to multiple Scullers. Once I’ve started sideboarding all the removal, I just didn’t lose a sideboard game to WB. But I guess you could board one less and bring in two Negates.
Manu: Sounds fair!
Cascade Swans (0-2-1)
Manu: Swans… I think you are a huge favorite game 1. But their sideboard is very good against the deck.
Oli: Game 1 you shouldn’t lose. Basically, all you have to do is play Pithing Needle or Runed Halo on Swans and you win. After board, though, you never know exactly what they have.
Manu: You mean Seismic Assault.
Oli: Indeed I do! The plan game 1 will be not to hurry playing your Howling Mines. You don’t really want to give them a spot to cast Seismic Assault. Otherwise, it won’t take them too much time to gather 10 lands in the matchup… You should just play a counter-Needle game, basically.
Manu: They sideboard cards like Vexing Shusher and Qasali Pridemage, so Pithing Needle is your MVP. And with the success of the Swans deck in Barcelona, I would definitely add two more Needles to the sideboard.
Oli: The problem is that sometimes you have to name a Disenchant guy on the first Needle. If they have Pridemage and you Needled Wickerbound Elder, you’re screwed. The opposite applies as well. Therefore Needle is necessary, but it doesn’t really take care of Assault anymore.
Manu: I usually did Needle Seismic Assault with the first Needle, and probably the second Needle too, until I see one of the Disenchant guys.
Oli: That’s what I did too, and the plan didn’t exactly work for me! However, I definitely agree about the Needles 3 and 4 in the sideboard, maybe even a pair of Tezzeret to fetch them.
Manu: Tezzeret sounds interesting, as it gives you also a real kill as they usually have access to a pair of Primal Commands.
IN: 3 Meddling Mage, 2 Path to Exile, 3 Glen Elendra Archmage
OUT: 4 Pollen Lullaby,2 Fount of Mythos, 1 Holy Day
Manu: I didn’t like the Meddling Mages. And I like more Fogs, as they have lots of creatures post-board.
Oli: I’m actually not sure about Runed Halo… Is it still necessary after board? Don’t you have, in theory at least, enough cards versus Assault?
Manu: Or do you think that you lose to an active Assault anyway? I think it’s either Halo or Meddling Mage, but not both – that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Oli: Indeed. Then I’d go for Meddling Mage. Turn 2 Meddling Mage on Assault should win you the game.
Manu: I lost even though I had that play. I couldn’t stick a Howling Mine because of Pridemages, and he beat me down with Pridemages, Elves, and Shushers.
IN: 1 Celestial Purge, 2 Path to Exile, 3 Meddling Mage
OUT: 3 Runed Halo, 2 Pollen Lullaby, 1 Font of Mythos
Oli: That sounds fine, I like the one Purge, which is not good enough for you to want more, but that can still deal with both Shusher and Assault.
Five-Color Control (2-1-1)
Manu: Next up, Five-Color Control. Even though the matchup seems horrible for Turbo Fog on paper, it is really interesting to play.
Oli: Most Five-Color players who haven’t playtested the matchup will ask you how they can possibly lose. They have a solid point, but it is even harder for them to win than to lose!
Manu: Yeah… They don’t lose, but they don’t win either. What it comes down to is the effect of them drawing first from Howling Mine against the clashes of Broken Ambitions.
Oli: Usually, if they win zero or one clashes, it’s your win. If they win two, it’s close. If they win any more, it’s their win. That is, of course, only if Jace can’t mill you for twenty.
Manu: Or if a Jace sticks. Even just letting them draw one every turn is a huge advantage. Don’t feel like you are under pressure; often, the right thing is to do nothing, especially if your opponent doesn’t do anything either.
Oli: As long as you manage to resolve one Howling Mine effect, things should go naturally in your favor. The main danger in this matchup is Maelstrom Pulse.
Manu: Your Pithing Needle usually names Ajani Vengeant, while your Runed Halos name… What do you name? I usually set it on Banefire.
Oli: Cruel Ultimatum if I’ve only one card-drawer in play. If I have more, I name the random Banefire.
Manu: I usually like when they play the Ultimatum. You can untap and play more Howling Mines, as you usually have seven cards in hand anyway.
Oli: Agreed. The card sucks in the matchup. I only mean it for the case when you’ve 4 cards in hand and only one Howling Mine in play. Then it is the wisest option.
Manu: Fair.
Oli: Let’s switch. How about it’s your turn to give the wrong IN & OUT numbers, and my turn to correct them? Actually, you don’t have a choice. This is my column, I do what I want, and you must obey. Sorry buddy.
Manu: I obey, Master!
IN: 3 Glen Elendra Archmage, 2 Hindering Light, 3 Meddling Mage
OUT: 3 Runed Halo, 4 Holy Day, 1 Pollen Lullaby
Manu: Your turn to correct!
Oli: Man! This just seems so… right. I agree with most of it, but I like to keep at least one Holy Day, as having a one-mana spell is often precious, I think I’d cut one more Lullaby.
Manu: So you can’t another Lullaby?
Oli: If by “can’t,” you mean “cut,” then yes. If you mean something else, though… I’m confused.
Manu: I actually mean cut. Nice read, sir!
Oli: You said it yourself, didn’t you? My turn to correct!
Manu: !
Oli: To conclude, how about posting a super brand new version of the deck for our readers’ upcoming PTQs?
Manu: Be careful… Only play this deck if you are a fast player!
Oli: Indeed, before throwing together the latest version of the deck, remember that you need to play fast in order to play two games in the same match, and to always pay attention to the number of cards your opponent draws so he doesn’t forget any, which could be lethal for you in the end!
One last thing: this latest decklist is the one we would play at a GP, having three byes. Maybe you’ll want to tune the deck versus Red for a PTQ. If so, Dragon Claws are probably necessary.
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Good luck, and see you in Seattle!
Oli and Manu