So Many Insane Plays – Clash of the Titans!

Just two remain. The day has been long, and the battle wearying. The light dims.
The groans and cries have turned to whisper.

The Dark Mage takes respite in the quietude, meditating, his face concealed in shadow beneath a heavy hood. Across the battlefield his foe stands granite still, jaw jutting upward. Flowing locks of white mane adorn a cragged face, set with two piercing gray eyes.

Ancient and powerful, these two Planeswalkers bestrode every realm of Dominaria. They compete not for profit or pride, but for sport. Scores of magicians fell this day. And now the two victors steel themselves for final battle.

The Dark Mage draws his power from the most potent sources, forbidden artifacts and forceful spells; many long forgotten, others rarely seen. These time-shifting, reality-warping instruments of power are bequeathed in more than one instance by the dark lord himself. The Dark Mage is a disciple of Yawgmoth, and a master of the Dark Arts. But he is not simply a talented Necromancer. He’s also adept at manipulation and deception, a cunning Blue Mage.

This is his library:

The Bant Mage is hardly less dangerous. His power derives chiefly from a Green enchantment that allows him to summon the most monstrous colossi, past, present or future. An array of traps and diversions protect and buffer his maneuvering.

Terastodon is the latest implement of destruction. As Rich Shay described:

There is nothing else like him in Magic. He can give you 18 power all at once. He can remove an opponent’s lands. He can remove your own Oath when it no longer seems like a good card to have in play. During the course of the day, I gave myself 3 elephants; I gave my opponent 3 elephants; and I used every combination in between. I realize that the arrival of Terastodon into the world lead to a thread joking about him. But my opponents who watched their manabases being torn apart weren’t quite so amused. And really, what is a Fish deck going to do about you having 18 power divided among 4 creatures?

The Bant Mage recently plundered the treasure of Zendikar, even during the recent Worldwake. Almost a fifth of his library are spoils from Zendikar.

The Dark Mage rises from his meditation and the combatants square off.

Game 1:

The Bant Mage won the die roll, and chose to play.

Time Walk
Mox Pearl
Force of Will
Misty Rainforest
Misty Rainforest
Forbidden Orchard
Forbidden Orchard

The Bant Mage thoughtfully considered this hand. Is it strong enough?

Time Walk is one of the most powerful spells ever printed, part of the vaunted ‘power nine.’ But here? Here, it’s just a cantrip. Or, worse, bait. It’s pitch fodder to Force of Will.

On the merits, this hand is all about Force of Will. It’s got no gas. It’s got no action. It’s a one-note wonder. But, is that note strong enough to justify keeping this hand? Force of Will is a weapon that shatters glass cannons. TPS is no glass cannon.

The Bant Mage throws it back, and draws:

Island
Forest
Forbidden Orchard
Mystical Tutor
Force of Will
Oath of Druids

A keeper.

While the Bant Mage agonized over his decisions, the Dark Mage had long settled on his grip:

Merchant Scroll
Dark Ritual
Necropotence
Polluted Delta
Polluted Delta
Island
Yawgmoth’s Will

Necorpotence is the dominant feature of this hand. Known simply as “the Skull,” Necropotence is greatest siphon in the history of Magic, translating life for cards in an unbelievable surge of card advantage. Necropotence was once rated by the now-defunct magazine Inquest as the worst card from the expansion Ice Age. In time, it proved to be one of the most dominant cards ever printed in every format in which it existed, prompting bannings and restrictions from Ice Age Block to Extended to Eternal.

Dark Ritual, Necropotence is the single most potent two-card turn 1 play for TPS. It’s a largely unbeatable tactic. It must be stopped from the outset. It’s the combo equivalent of turn 1 Mishra’s Workshop into Trinisphere.

The problem is that the TPS pilot has no way to protect Necropotence. A single Spell Piece will stop it, a two-for-one for the opponent. A Force of Will is less worrisome, since the opponent will trade two for two.

Still, what makes this hand so attractive is that it ‘curves’ out. Turn 1 Necropotence may be countered, but turn 2 Merchant Scroll can find Ancestral. Ancestral Recall will develop the pilot’s resources and help build toward a lethal Yawgmoth’s Will, which is already in hand.

Yawgmoth’s Will is without question the most powerful tactic — some might call it strategy — in Vintage. It is and has been the most dominant card in the format. The best decks in the format have long sought to accelerate into a game-winning Yawgmoth’s Will or fall back into one. Each of the major engines of TPS, Mind’s Desire, Yawgmoth’s Bargain, Necropotence, Gifts Ungiven, Tinker/Memory Jar — each of them — is designed to pass through Yawgmoth’s Will as a short-cut path to a lethal Tendrils of Agony.

Turn 1:

The Bant Mage leads with Forbidden Orchard. Under other circumstances the Bant Mage may open with basic Island, to conceal his deck choice. Here, such deception is unnecessary. At the same time, the Bant Mage knows there is no risk of being Wastelanded. The only risk is facing a successfully resolved Timetwister, which might shuffle him into a new hand without Orchard.

On his first turn, the Dark Mage plucks Misdirection from the top of his library! Misdirection serves here as a pseudo Force of Will, allowing the Dark Mage to shield his Necropotence from opposing countermagic by redirecting the counterspell to the Misdirection.

The Dark Mage lays Polluted Delta, and draws an Underground Sea onto the battlefield. A Dark Ritual generates the requisite mana to cast Necropotence.

The Bant Mage does not hesitate to throw Force of Will at it, removing Mystical Tutor from game. The Dark Mage responds with Misdirection, pitching Merchant Scroll.

Necropotence resolves! The Bant Mage prays that his Oath of Druids will resolve as well.

The Dark Mage now faces a difficult decision. His hand is Polluted Delta, Island, and Yawgmoth’s Will.

How many cards should he draw from Necropotence?

Each option has merit.

The Dark Mage’s hand is already strong. A refill of 4 cards, creating a 7 card grip, allows the Dark Mage to maximize the use of Necro over multiple turns. It allows the TPS pilot to make land drops, and build toward an overwhelming Yawgmoth’s Will.

A refill of 5-6 cards is slightly more aggressive, and would allow the TPS pilot to ditch a few excess cards, such as the additional land, with the expectation that future Necros will contain needed land.

A 7 card draw is aggressive, but not suicidal. It would send the Dark Mage to 12 life, giving him at least one more fill up, and then some. It allows time for development, and sets its sight on winning on turn 3, not on turn 2, although that remains a possibility with the right draws.

A 9 card draw is aggressive. It would open the possibility for a turn 2 kill, give a good chance of drawing a Force of Will and another Blue card, but leave enough life for another refill and to use Vampiric Tutor or Imperial Seal.

An 11 card draw is gorging. It’s hyper-aggressive and aims to draw a bunch of broken acceleration like more Rituals and Moxen and at least one tutor to try and set up a turn 2 win with Yawgmoth’s Will. Since it would set the TPS pilot back to 8 life, it wouldn’t allow much room for a turn 3 back-up attempt in case something goes wrong.

No one said optimizing Necropotence was easy.

The Bant Mage has turn 1 Orchard, which telegraphs the possibility of turn 2 Oath, with a turn 3 Oath trigger This poses a dilemma. Turn 2 Oath can translate into turn 3 Iona or, less concerning, Terastodon. Iona can prevent the Dark Mage from playing Tendrils or Yawgmoth’s Will. That means that turn 2 Oath must be met either with Force of Will or with overwhelming force, shock, and awe.

The Dark Mage decides to Necro for 9, going to 10 life.

Necro draws:

Duress
Island
Bloodstained Mire
Mox Emerald
Yawgmoth’s Bargain
Tolarian Academy
Timetwister
Gifts Ungiven
Mind’s Desire

This is an assortment of powerful spells, but synergy is lacking.

What would you keep? What would you pitch?

The Dark Mage keeps: Yawgmoth’s Will, Tolarian Academy, Mox Emerald, Duress, Mind’s Desire, Timetwister and Gifts Ungiven, removing from game:

Island
Island
Bloodstained Mire
Polluted Delta
Yawgmoth’s Bargain

Turn 2:

The Bant Mage knows that he’s up against the wall, but that it’s not over yet. If he can resolve Oath and summon Iona…

He draws Spell Pierce, making his hand: Island, Forest, Oath of Druids, and Spell Pierce, with a Forbidden Orchard on the table.

He has two options: hold up Spell Pierce or play Oath.

If he plays Oath of Druids, there is a good chance that he won’t survive to see Oath trigger. But if he does survive the turn, then there is a good chance that he can win the game, if he Oaths up the right creature. On the other hand, Spell Pierce may allow an overconfident opponent to walk into it, giving him a crucial advantage and preventing him from losing next turn.

The Bant Mage settles on playing Oath now.

He taps Forbidden Orchard, creating a spirit token in his opponent’s employ, and the Island, which he’s just added to the battlefield, and plays Oath of Druids.

The Dark Mage silently acknowledges the enchantment, which enters the battlefield.

This battle has become a duel of chance enchantments. Necropotence versus Oath of Druids.

The Dark Mage untapped his Underground Sea, and considered his limited options. He deploys the powerful Academy, and a Mox to complement it, and casts Duress. Upon seeing Spell Piece, the Bant Mage is forced to discard it.

At this point, the Dark Mage’s hand is: Yawgmoth’s Will, Mind’s Desire, and Gifts Ungiven, Timetwister and 10 life.

Once again, the question is: how much to Necro for?

A five-card draw would send give the Dark Mage 8 cards in hand, forcing him to remove one. This would leave him enough life to play a 1) Vampiric Tutor or Imperial Seal, 2) Force of Will, and 3) break a fetchland. However, would it give him enough cards to win with either Gifts or Mind’s Desire?

A six-card draw would send him to 4 life, giving him enough life to play a Vamp and either Force or use a fetchland.

A seven-card draw would send him to 3 life, but give just enough life to play with and manipulate his library once. But he’d have to ditch 3 cards.

The Dark Mage settled on six cards. He brings himself to 4 life, drawing:

Dark Ritual
Rebuild
Polluted Delta
Cabal Ritual
Tendrils of Agony
Dark Ritual

This is an excellent draw, giving him the Tendrils he needs to win the game.

Now he must consider what to pitch. He needs to keep the Polluted Delta, in case his opponent Oath’s up Terastodon. In such an instance, he only needs the Delta to find a Swamp, the Rituals, Yawgmoth’s Will and the Tendrils. He will then have enough storm and mana to win.

The question is, should he keep Mind’s Desire or Gifts Ungiven? He decides to keep the Mind’s Desire, in case he senses that his opponent has drawn countermagic.

His hand becomes:

Polluted Delta
Dark Ritual
Dark Ritual
Cabal Ritual
Tendrils of Agony
Yawgmoth’s Will
Mind’s Desire

And his graveyard has 4 cards (Delta, Dark Ritual, Duress, and Misdirection), and his board is Necro, Academy, Sea, and Mox Emerald.

Now the moment of truth.

Turn 3:

The Bant Mage untaps his Orchard and Island. Oath triggers…

Revealing, a card at a time:

Yawgmoth’s Will
Ponder
Vampiric Tutor
Underground Sea

The game comes down to this one play… a moment of chance…

Thirst For Knowledge
Mox Jet
Underground Sea
Sensei’s Divining Top
Oath of Druids
Force of Will
Lat-Nam’s Legacy

The suspense builds… which would it be? Which creature would be summoned forth?

Tinker
Another Oath of Druids
Spell Pierce
Time Walk
Darksteel Colossus!!!

The Bant Mage cries out in agony. No Iona! The Dark Mage cackles in glee.

The Bant Mage has one last chance: He moves to his draw step and he draws…. Oath of Druids, and passes the turn.

The Dark Mage wastes no time. A series of dark incantations followed by Yawgmoth’s Will concludes as Tendrils shoot out of the ether draining the Bant Mage of his life force.

Game 2:

The Bant Mage reconfigures his plan.

In:
+ 2 Duress
+ 2 Tormod’s Crypt

Duress helps the Oath player compete in the early game, and stem the assault of powerful restricted spells. Tormod’s Crypt is a zero mana solution to Yawgmoth’s Will.

Out:
– 1 Tinker
– 1 Darksteel Colossus
– 1 Island
– 1 Forest

The 17th and 18th lands are unnecessary in this matchup; TPS does not attack Oath’s manabase Tinker and Darksteel Colossus are at their lowest ebb in this matchup, as we just saw.

It’s arguable that another mana could be cut for a Bribery, but 16 mana with Strip Mine is a comfortable spot. And Bribery is of only limited utility, since it’s not likely that the TPS pilot will be using Inkwell Leviathan as a win condition.

However, it is possible that the Oath pilot should sideboard in another Terastodon to survive being hit with Sadistic Sacrament.

The Dark Mage was very happy to win the first game. It allows him to be more aggressive and experimental in game 2.

Sadistic Sacrament, he believes, will give him the upper-hand, post-board. It can strip out win conditions, and de facto win the game. Also, he’ll bring in another Chain of Vapor to slow Oath of Druids. His plans:

In:
+ 2 Sadistic Sacrament
+ 1 Chain of Vapor

Out:
– 1 Rebuild
– 1 Sensei’s Divining Top
– 1 Inkwell Leviathan

Game 2:

The Bant Mage seemed confident in his new hand:

Gifts Ungiven
Ancestral Recall
Sensei’s Divining Top
Spell Pierce
Library of Alexandria
Tezzeret the Seeker
Misty Rainforest

This hand features Spell Piece for turn 1 countermagic, and the unparalleled Ancestral Recall.

The Dark Mage contemplated his new hand:

Yawgmoth’s Bargain
Vampiric Tutor
Duress
Memory Jar
Swamp
Cabal Ritual
Dark Ritual

Turn 1 Duress can clear the path for turn 2 Memory Jar or Yawgmoth’s Bargain. It’s a keep.

Turn 1:

The Bant Mage brought Misty Rainforest onto the battlefield, and passed the turn.

The Dark Mage drew another Duress. The stench of the swamp filled the battlefield, and the Dark Mage pitched his arm and cast Duress. The Misty Rainforest transformed into a Tropical Island, and Spell Pierce countered Duress.

Turn 2:

The Bant Mage drew Mana Crypt. He then tapped his Tropical Island for Ancestral Recall, which resolved, drawing:

Misty Rainforest
Oath of Druids
Underground Sea

The Mana Crypt fell onto the middle of the battlefield with a dull thud. Sensei’s Top appeared, and spun, revealing:

Spell Pierce
Time Walk
Mystical Tutor

He keeps the Spell Pierce set on top, and Time Walk just below that.

Then he plays Underground Sea, and passes the turn.

The Dark Mage now reconsidered his options. He can draw an unknown card, and play Duress. Or, he can Vampiric Tutor for Black Lotus and try to play either Yawgmoth’s Bargain or Memory Jar.

The situation is precarious. The opponent saw 7 cards on turn 2. The problem with the second two options is if they counter Black Lotus. Then, the TPS pilot is stuck on only having four mana next turn (Dark Ritual + Cabal Ritual), and short of being able to play anything in hand.

The risks are high. But, on the other hand, the situation is only going to deteriorate. Top is a very difficult foil, as it can conceal countermagic where Duress cannot pry.

The Dark Mage Vamps for Lotus, and plays it.

The Bant Mage activates Top, drawing Spell Pierce, and cast it. The Dark Mage acknowledges the resistance, and passes the turn.

Turn 3:

The Bant Mage takes some damage from Mana Crypt, and redraws the Top. He replays Top, activates it to draw Time Walk, which was placed below the Top the turn before, and plays Time Walk and Oath, tapping out. He untaps his permanents, having been granted a free turn, redrawing Top yet again.

Now comes one of the most difficult decisions of all: The Bant Mage has Top, Tezzeret, Gifts Ungiven, and Misty Rainforest in hand. His board is Mana Crypt, Tropical Island, Underground Sea, Library of Alexandria, and Oath of Druids. What’s the next play? He has five mana, and another land in hand. He can play Tezzeret, and find Time Vault. He can play Gifts Ungiven for broken cards. Or, he can play Top and try to manipulate his library further. For example, he knows that Mystical Tutor is on top of his deck. What’s the best route to victory here?

Of course, some combination is possible. The Bant Mage could play Gifts and use Top, or play Tezzeret, which can tutor up Black Lotus to fuel Top or Gifts. There are interesting alternatives, but only make the choices here more complex and difficult. The skill required to navigate these puzzles is high.

Ultimately, the Bant Mage decided that the best offense in this situation is a strong defense. Tezzeret sets up a virtually guaranteed win next turn. But is the risk worth it?

The Bant Mage tapped Mana Crypt, Tropical Island, and Library to cast Gifts Ungiven, getting:

Force of Will
Spell Pierce
Duress
Merchant Scroll

The Dark Mage allowed him to have Force of Will and Merchant Scroll, the lesser of evils.

The Bant Mage played Sensei’s Divining Top and Misty Rainforest, then passed the turn.

The Dark Mage drew Mox Emerald for the turn, which would allow him to cast Memory Jar this turn. But seeing as he just gave his opponent Force of Will, Jar wouldn’t resolve. So, instead, he plays Duress and takes Force of Will.

On his endstep, the Bant Mage broke Misty Rainforest for another Underground Sea to spin top, seeing: Mox Emerald, Mox Ruby, Yawgmoth’s Will.

Turn 4:

The Bant Mage draws Yawgmoth’s Will. End of game. Yawgmoth’s Will allowed Ancestral Recall and Time Walk to be replayed, a Misty Rainforest, Duress, followed by Top again. Then, on the Time Walk turn, another Duress whittled down the opponent’s hand, Merchant Scroll found Spell Pierce, and Tezzeret found Time Vault. That’s game.

Game 3:

The Dark Mage considered his new hand:

Swamp
Yawgmoth’s Will
Polluted Delta
Vampiric Tutor
Ponder
Duress
Sadistic Sacrament

This is an archetypical TPS hand. It develops mana, disrupts, and sets up a tremendous turn three game winning play. In this case, it does that with the specific sequence of turn 1 Duress, turn 2 upkeep Vamp, then Ponder, turn 3 Yawgmoth’s Will, or something along those lines, depending on what develops.

The Bant Mage opens game 3 with this hand:

Tezzeret the Seeker
Brainstorm
Oath of Druids
Force of Will
Black Lotus
Force of Will
Yawgmoth’s Will

This hand permits the play of turn 1 Oath of Druids, with double Force of Will protection. Unfortunately, there is no way to trigger Oath, nor mana sources to play spells and manipulate the library. That said, this hand has a win condition (Tezzeret) which makes it immune to Sadistic Sacrament. Also, it has double Force of Will, which is enough to stop virtually any attack TPS may mount. And most importantly, it has Brainstorm, which can be used to dig for lands and other mana sources.

The Bant Mage is apprehensive, but decided, right or wrong, that it’s as strong as any average six-card hand might be.

Turn 1:

The Dark Mage considers his options. The obvious turn one play here is Duress over Ponder. The more subtle, but arguably more important, decision is whether to play Swamp or Polluted Delta on turn one. Here’s why: if you play Delta on turn 1, and fetch out Sea, and lead with Duress, then you can’t Vampiric Tutor for a Blue spell for use on turn 2. This is because your only other mana source in hand is a Swamp. The pilot needs to decide now what they want to do on turn 2, and whether they will want to Vamp in their upkeep for a Blue spell. Mana management of this type is one of the most difficult aspects of Vintage Magic. It’s not like there isn’t enough to think about.
The Dark Mage uses Polluted Delta to bring an Underground Sea into the battlefield. Drawing upon the mana produced by the Sea, he opens the game with Duress. The Bant Mage lets Duress resolve. Countering Duress here would mean losing another good Blue card.

Force of Will is an obvious target, except that there are two. Taking Brainstorm is a very strong option, as it’s clear that the Bant Mage needs mana. On the other hand, Tezzeret seems like a poor option here, as it can’t be played at the moment, and it can always be recurred with Yawgmoth’s Will. Oath of Druids is an amazing win condition, but the Oath pilot needs Orchard for it be of any use. Black Lotus allows these other cards to see play, so it, too, is an obvious take.

Different Vintage players may give you different answers to this question. The Dark Mage ended up taking Brainstorm as it reduces the quantity of active Force of Wills, while limiting access to mana at the same time.

The Bant Mage drew a third Force of Will and considered his options.

Playing Oath of Druids here gets it onto the table, and out of the way. On the other hand, breaking Lotus now may prevent a more important play. The Bant Mage decides to wait. He played Black Lotus and passed the turn.

Turn 2:

The Dark Mage drew Dark Ritual, the best unrestricted mana accelerant in Vintage. Now, Sadistic Sacrament was online, and could be played immediately.

The Dark Mage leads with Ponder, seeing:

Cabal Ritual
Time Walk
Dark Ritual

The Dark Mage draws Dark Ritual.

Then, he plays Dark Ritual, Sadistic Sacrament, which is Forced pitching Force.

The Bant Mage draws Merchant Scroll. He cracks Black Lotus for UUU and plays Scroll, which finds Ancestral Recall, which he promptly plays, finding:

Strip Mine
Misty Rainforest
Misty Rainforest

He plays Strip Mine on Underground Sea and passes the turn.

Turn 3:

The Dark Mage plays Vampiric Tutor for Duress. Since his only mana source is now a Swamp, he has to pass the turn.

The Bant Mage draws Gifts Ungiven, and plays Misty Rainforest.

Turn 4:

The Dark Mage draws Polluted Delta on the turn. He taps Swamp, and casts Duress taking Force of Will, leaving the Bant Mage with Gifts Ungiven and another Misty Rainforest. Then, he plays Polluted Delta, and passes the turn. He could play Dark Ritual, Yawgmoth’s Will this turn, but he would have no mana left to take advantage of his graveyard. A turn he must wait.

The Bant Mage draws Forbidden Orchard. He sacrifices Misty Rainforest for an Underground Sea. Then he plays Orchard. Drawing upon the mana from Orchard and the Underground Sea, he casts Oath of Druids, generating a Spirit token for the Dark Mage. Another turn and Oath will activate!

Turn 5:

The Dark Mage draws Mystical Tutor for the turn. He breaks Delta for an Underground Sea. Then, he taps the Swamp, and plays Dark Ritual and then Yawgmoth’s Will.

The first thing the Dark Mage does is replay the Underground Sea which was Strip Mined. Using the Sea, he replays both Dark Rituals, generating 5 mana. He considers his options. Ponder… Vampiric Tutor…5 Black mana plus unused Underground Sea…

He counts it all out several ways, but he can’t seem to get to lethal storm and enough mana to find and play Tendrils.

It’s less sexy, but there is another way to win the game.

He casts Duress #1 out of his graveyard, taking Tezzeret, and then Duress #2, taking Yawgmoth’s Will. Then, he uses the three remaining Black mana to play Sadistic Sacrament, taking and Iona, Terastodon, and Regrowth, exiling them from the Bant Mage’s library.

Then, to seal the deal, the Dark Mage taps Underground Sea and casts Vampiric Tutor for Necropotence.

Finally, he enters combat. He attacks with a lonely Spirit token for 1 damage.

The Bant Mage concedes, head hung low.

Sadistic Sacrament removed most of the Bant Mage’s win conditions. The pair of Duresses took the rest: Tezzeret and Yawgmoth’s Will to recur Tezzeret. Necropotence ensured that the Dark Mage never decked because of the loss of the draw step. The Bant Mage can try his best to stop the Dark Mage from winning with Tendrils — and even set up the Time Vault combo – but that won’t prevent the Spirit token from making the final blow 20 turns later, or prevent him from decking.

And so it ends. This clash of titans concludes not with a bang, not with the beating of Iona’s wings or parasitic protrusions violently sucking the life energy out of the opponent, but with the sad silence of hopelessness, of being slowly pecked away, one damage a turn for twenty turns. Doomed.

As much as it pleased the Dark Mage to emerge victorious, the greater pleasure was crushing his opponent’s spirit and stealing a part his soul.

Until next time…

Stephen Menendian