Nice deck.
If yesterday’s exploration of a league build-in-progress_ was a departure from my typical article, then so will this be. A departure. Sort of.
As the title suggests, today I’m writing about a Ravnica draft archetype for which I don’t exactly have an appropriate name. Actually, I prefer the name Bounceland.dec, but a) the foo.dec format is a trifle overused and b) I don’t think the term “bouncelands” for describing the lands like Dimir Aqueduct has quite caught on yet. Nevertheless, I will use that term in this article liberally.
The title also suggests that perhaps this archetype isn’t up to snuff compared to some of the more established ones. Yes, that dreaded Food for Thought stigma was applied voluntarily. I did so for a number of reasons.
1. Bounceland.dec might not actually be any good.
2. If it is good, I’m almost certainly not the best pilot of it.
3. It’s difficult for a poor man like me to draft enough to fully explore all the deck’s possible nuances.
4. Something else.
If any or all of the above are true, then why should you bother reading this? Why would I bother writing about it? Well, because in the relatively short time I “discovered” and toyed around with the archetype, I’ve had a surprising amount of success. No, it hasn’t won every draft, but if I can take a seemingly impossible concept and run with it and win every once in a while, then there’s got to be something to it.
I mean, there just has to.
Discovery and Explanation
So what exactly is Bounceland.dec? How did I come up with it, if I even in fact did?
It all started at the prerelease. You see, I had attempted with the best of my ability not to look at the spoiler beforehand; I wanted the purest of prerelease experiences. Also, I wanted to see the spoiler in visual form so I could appreciate all the art (and flavor text, which wasn’t present for the most part on the text spoilers available at the time). Sadly, I succumbed the day before the prerelease and pored over the spoiler for as long as I could. I didn’t want to be at a disadvantage. You dig?
I didn’t really get a feel for the cards until I built my prerelease deck. Actually, since I 1-2’d pretty quickly, I didn’t really get a feel for the cards until I helped my friend build his deck. As I was sorting through his cards, I took a second look at his bouncelands – I had only been playing one of my pair as a color fixer. My first impulse with them was to treat them as slow fixers, but upon further inspection, I noticed something interesting. Each bounceland you play nets you one mana.
(Sure, it’s obvious to you all, and it should have been extra obvious to me since I was around during the actual Karoo days [which I played and liked, but I suppose I never got]. In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, say you have two regular old lands. One plus one mana equals two mana. If, however, you have a regular land and a bounceland, then [by turn 3] you have one plus two equals three mana. Three mana from two lands. Neat, huh? This paragraph is in parentheses to protect the DUUUH.)
After the prerelease, Limited strategy articles began to trickle in the various drainpipes of the ‘net, and most caught on to the fact that bouncelands can help you “cheat” your mana base a bit. Since each effectively counts as two mana, a deck that normally would require 17 land could theoretically get away with 15 if two of them were bouncelands (with perhaps a Signet thrown in for good measure). In this scenario, sure, you only get to play with one extra spell in your deck, but in Limited that can make a big difference.
So that’s precisely what people did, and it worked out for them fine, and everything was golden. End of story. End of article.
Except there are a couple of issues with this. The most damning is that, with such low numbers of bouncelands in the deck, there’s a very good chance you won’t draw any. Suddenly your land count looks pretty abysmal and you’re risking mana screw frequently. While 15 plus a Signet isn’t all that bad, the situation is amplified when players attempt a 14-land build with three bouncelands. With such a light landcount, you need a bounceland or an unusually land-heavy opening hand to stand a chance. Clearly cheaters never win.
The second issue is one anyone who’s played a bounceland-heavy deck (or against one) notices almost immediately. If you’re on the draw and attempt to play a bounceland turn 2, you’re gonna be discarding, baby. Oh. You’re a dude. That is, unless you’ve got a turn 1 play or you mulligan. How many playable turn 1 spells are there, anyhow?
How could these hurdles be overcome? The idea intrigued me, and I began formulating a draft plan, but how to test it? What’s a boy to do?
Plan β
Still, it’s a great chance to familiarize yourself with the set and to try out various draft experiments (at least until they take your Ravnica away {y}). Despite it all, I highly recommend the experience. Why weren’t you there, anyhow?
So once a few of the more crippling bugs were taken care of (they probably wouldn’t want me talking about the time Vindictive Mob could be blocked only by Saprolings. Oh, those were some sad, sad times), I dove right in the queue and attempted to draft bounceland.dec. Naturally, my biggest mistake right off the bat was taking the namesake lands too early, as they more often than not easily make it around the table.
What immediately struck me as I played (and usually lost) the earlier builds was how often I had all five colors of mana available, and early. I had usually been playing Green/Black or Green/White with a small splash, but if I could get “domain” this easily in this deck, certainly the dream of five color drafting is attainable!
I drafted, and I tweaked, and eventually I got to the point where I felt I was getting the hang of this five-color bounceland thing, and then for whatever reason I’m not supposed to talk about, I couldn’t draft Ravnica anymore. Oh, what a bitter pill to swallow. Just when I was getting not terrible.
It’s not like I’ve learned nothing from the experience, and it’s still paid off (to an extent) on the live server. I’m only asking you to consider giving the deck a shot. Don’t rule it out immediately. You’ll be a better person for it.
Hmm. Have I even specifically said what the deck is? You know it’s five colors and it’s got a lot of bouncelands, I suppose. How about a decklist?
Archetypal Bounceland.dec
1cc
2 Terrarion
Voyager Staff
Elves of Deep Shadow
2cc
Farseek
Last Gasp
Cyclopean Snare
Dimir Guildmage
Drake Familiar
Selesnya Guildmage
Golgari Signet
3cc
Congregation at Dawn
Galvanic Arc
Civic Wayfinder
Shambling Shell
Skyknight Legionnaire
Stinkweed Imp
4cc
Faith’s Fetters
5cc
Ribbons of Night
Brainspoil
Dowsing Shaman
Golgari Rotwurm
6cc
Flash Conscription
Auratouched Mage
Tolsimir Wolfblood
Vedalken Dismisser
Land
3 Forest
2 Swamp
Island
Mountain
Plains
2 Boros Garrison
2 Dimir Aqueduct
Selesnya Sanctuary
Golgari Rot Farm
Yes, it’s kind of clunky and top-heavy, but you’d probably be surprised at how well it works. Actually this is probably one of the riskier builds because it desperately needs Green mana to run and it’s also rather Black-heavy. I also don’t like having too many double off-color spells that aren’t gamebreakers like Skyknight Legionnaire, but the fact that the deck can run it is pretty impressive. I’m not too thrilled with the Dismisser either. That six-cost slot should be reserved for the biggest bombs.
It’s also very creature light, but spells like Congregation at Dawn can really help out in the midgame. The deck has plenty of other ways to gain card advantage, so the Congregation’s drawback is almost negligible.
This deck doesn’t quite embody what I would consider the ideal mana curve, either, but it comes close. Bounceland.dec should have a large number of one-casting cost cards to prevent the potential discard when you play a bounceland on the draw. It, however, should not have very many two-drops because you want to be playing a bounceland that turn. This heavy-at-one, heavy-at-three pattern is something I’ve been working on developing better, but far too many of Ravnica’s two-drops deliciously tempting. Mmm, Guildmages.
If you did your math (and if you count bouncelands as two), you’ll notice there are twenty-two mana sources in the deck. That’s a lot! Can you believe that even with only fourteen lands, mana flood is more commonplace than mana screw. (Unless you’re silly enough to keep a one-lander.) This is another one of the deck’s major weaknesses, but going down to 13 is pushing it. Cutting a bounceland for a basic is probably more ideal. 5 is still plenty. I guess.
Card-Specific Notes
You’ve now seen the deck. How might you go about building one for yourself? You could either take my intensive three-week course or you could read the section below.
Core Cards – these are the spells that define the archetype. Sure, other decks may want them, but trust me when I say that you want them more.
Bouncelands: obvious enough. I think I’ve said all that needs to be said about them, so let’s move on.
Terrarion: your all-purpose cantrip and mana fixer. This card actually does triple-duty in the deck – it helps you cast the odd spell you don’t currently have a land for, it offsets the bounceland issue and it fills a hole in your curve.
Civic Wayfinder: he’s like MacGuyver, this guy. He isn’t just a three-drop in a deck that craves them; he doesn’t just give you card advantage; he doesn’t just fix your mana; he’s a warm body! Ok, so he’s actually sort of mild, but I’m fairly certain this is the best Green common for the deck. Scatter the Seeds is always useful, but the Wayfinder’s a lifesaver.
I thought there might have been a few more, but these are the core deck every Bounceland.dec really really needs. Actually, you can probably get away without Civic Wayfinder, but you’ll miss him.
Note that while the above cards are crucial for making the deck tick, none of them is what I’d consider a first-pick. The Wayfinder probably goes the earliest of the bunch, but the Terrarion and the lands can come anywhere from sixth to tenth.
Mantle Cards – so I guess that makes these the spells you merely want. I won’t restrict myself to commons for this section, but naturally you probably won’t see all of these uncommons in every draft.
Many of the cards in this section are cards that other decks want, and not just you. However, the unique nature of Bounceland.dec makes you want them a teensy bit more. (Oddly enough, the Core cards aren’t high picks, but the Mantle cards are. Take ’em early, take ’em often.)
Auratouched Mage: ah, my new best friend. His best friends, of course, are the fantastic (common!) Auras with come-into-play abilities. No need to be frustrated that White got the only card of the cycle that you wouldn’t want to play on your own creature – play all five if you’d like! Or nab a Followed Footsteps and go nuts clicking on all those triggered abilities. Actually, you’ll probably win before that gets out of hand. This card was one of the first that opened my eyes to the freedom that playing five colors can bring.
Farseek: you’re probably wondering why this isn’t a Core card. It comes close, but what hurts it is that it costs two mana. Too many twofers hurt the deck in the long run, and since it’s nearly impossible to play none, you’d much rather its slot be taken by a Guildmage or Last Gasp, especially when situations force you to play a two-mana spell on turn three.
Still, if you get ’em, play ’em.
Flight of Fancy, Strands of Undeath, Galvanic Arc: well, the Arc is the best of the three, and many other decks want it, but the other two enchantments are still tremendous in this deck, with or without Auramage. The deck has a low creature count, so any way you can increase their utility is desirable, and the card advantage gained by playing these Auras contributes to the deck’s already numerous sources of card advantage.
Oh sure, I guess you could just play more creatures, but that’d be no fun ‘tall.
Elfi Oscuri: for some reason, I tend to pair the heavy Green in this deck with Black, making it kind of like a Golgari deck with three splashes. The Elves might have something to do with this. Notice how they wonderfully fill three roles in the deck like some of the Core cards. (As an aside, Wizards should consider offering the old art as some sort of promotion. Well, if there weren’t royalty issues involved. If there in fact are. Goth chicks are hawt.) [I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see these as an FNM prize. – Knut]
Guildmages: with the exception of some of the rares, these are easily the best Hybrid mana cards you’ll regularly see in drafts. The best part is you can play any of them! The only bad part is they cost two mana, but I don’t feel too bad when I have to play one on turn 3.
Defensive creatures: a pretty blanket category, but if you don’t have any, you’ll probably get blanketed by little weenies. The deck I listed above is short on these. Some of my favorites include: Drift of Phantasms (natch, but sometimes it’s hard to play early enough), Nullmage Shepherd, and Benevolent Ancestor.
Nougat Cards – Sure, nougat probably comes before mantle, but I hate nougat. So these are the cards that are pretty bad but are a necessary evil in the deck sometimes.
I suppose they’re necessary evils in other decks sometimes, but 5c often suffers from some bland mid-to-late picks. Since you’re taking bouncelands over real cards, you miss out on some of that meaty goodness other players get. It’s a bit of a tradeoff.
Cyclopean Snare: some of you may have winced when you saw this in the above decklist, but it’s not all that bad. A five-mana-per-use Icy is still an Icy when you call it one. Just because you might get it last pick doesn’t make it unplayable.
Rolling Spoil: strictly a sideboard card, I mention it because it’s one of your few defenses against some of the hyper-aggressive Boros decks out there. It could help against some of the token-generating Selesnya decks too, but I’ve faced fewer of those and generally have less of a problem with them. It also takes out the odd Garrison once in a while. I try to nab one every draft if I can. Rain of Embers is a rather poor substitute because a single protection/damage prevention effect can ruin your day.
Boros decks, if you haven’t figured out, are the bane of Bounceland’s existence. I’m still struggling with ways of dealing with the Boros threat, but of course Bounceland.dec isn’t alone in fearing Razia’s might.
Stone-Seeder Heirophant: actually I’ve not had the guts to try this baby out yet, but it seems like it might be pretty abusive with the bouncelands. Then again, once you hit four mana, your deck’s humming right along and you’re rather liable to get flooded anyway. I only mention this card as a possibility for you daring types who like playing four-mana 1/1s.
I suppose that about covers it. In a vague, outliney way. Remember that even though I go into a draft planning on drafting five colors (preferably four, but that fifth always finds a way of sneaking in), it doesn’t mean I start taking mana fixers immediately. The theory is to take really disgustingly powerful stuff first, then the stuff that lets you play it. What other deck can run Hex and Agrus Kos and barely chip a nail? Damn, and I just got a manicure.
Tomorrow will be the real test, though, where I force the deck in an honest-to-god real-life draft and see if I get egg on my face (or feet in my mouth). Will the draft rock? Will it fail? Does this sentence break the previous two’s parallel structure? See Bounceland.dec in action tomorrow! Only on SCG Daily!