Opening an article is, without a doubt, the most difficult part about writing one. I could lull you to sleep with all my major accomplishments (all two of them.) I could ramble about how I love other writer’s articles and how I want to be just like them. I could even try to convince you that I am the saving grace for Magic articles. But why waste my time? No one believes any of that garbage anyway. So, my introduction(s) will contain me whining about a recent sports event (this time it’s Terrell Owens getting hurt last week against the Cowboys) with randomly inserted links to gorgeous women. Every article that I am going to write will contain sports, women, and Magic because honestly…what else is there?
Ced’s Whining
I was devastated when my man Terrell Owens (who will now be referred to only as TO for the rest of this article) went down against the Dallas Cowboys last week. I am not a big Eagles fan, but boy do I love TO. And truthfully, how can you not love TO? There really isn’t a more self-centered person on television right now (Donald Trump is a close second) and everything he does is a riot. He was going to win his bet with Andy Reid on scoring 15 touchdowns this season (Reid would have to wear tights on the sidelines) but he had to go and fracture his ankle. Sure, him getting injured may be a little poetic justice to all the TO haters out there, but TO doesn’t care. When he has people like Ali on his side, I wouldn’t care either. Ali is just one of TO’s millions… and millions of fans. Aubrey is also a big TO fan. So are Tara, Christina, and Monica. So remember, be a TO fan. You might meet someone you like!
This now ends the corny whining and awesome girls. If you only came for that, my good friend Shawna* will walk you out now. Thanks for playing and please come again. For those of you looking for Magic strategy, it’s on its way and I hope you enjoy it.
Ced’s Strategy
PT: Columbus was quite the event. Eight different decks made the Top 8 with Aluren on the outside looking in. I was very surprised by a number of things at PT: Columbus.
1.) Affinity’s Performance
As we all know by now, Affinity won PT: Columbus, which came as a surprise to many, including myself. While it may have achieved early success, I feel that very little success shall follow its prolific debut due to hate being much more abundant during the PTQ/GP season. I also feel that the Magic community has finally realized that Affinity is the most powerful mechanic in Magic history and that slots in sideboards have to be dedicated to beating it. Others have already commented on how forgiving Affinity can be (read: Osyp and his fairy godmother analogy) and I echo their statements.
2.) RDW’s Consistency
Throughout the weekend, RDW was foiling the plans of many. I watched many RDW matches where it seemed as though the matchup was unfavorable and the way this deck wiggled its way out of certain situations not only surprised me… it left me stunned. A notable story is when Gabe Walls played a turn 1 Crusade (with the help of Chrome Mox), played a few men, and then played Absolute Law. This situation seems unwinnable for the RDW deck but his opponent (whose name escapes me) calmly played Ensnaring Bridge, emptied his hand, and then finished Gabe off with a few Cursed Scroll activations.
RDW has proven year after year to be such a resilient and consistent deck, yet it goes through very few changes. This year seems to be the most radical change to the deck yet with the exit of Tangle Wire and the entrance of Pillage. This also came as a shock to many, as Tangle Wire has been a staple in RDW decks of the past. However, with Affinity becoming more of a force in the environment, Pillage not only acts as a removal spell against them, but a catch-all against a plethora of decks. It versatility is something RDW needed and there really hasn’t been much debate about the new kid on the block. The real debate for RDW is between Magma Jet and Volcanic Hammer. Nakamura leaned towards card quality and instant speed with Magma Jet while others have found the extra point of damage that Volcanic Hammer provides necessary. I really do not have an opinion about it right now as I have not tested RDW much (doesn’t really fit my play style), so I shall let the debate rage on. Besides, if all RDW has to worry about is one point of a burn spell, then it must be in pretty good shape.
3.) UG’s Success
This is definitely the biggest surprise to me so far this season. U/G Madness has been my favorite deck since I have been playing Magic, but I was under the impression that if I wanted this type of deck that I should lean towards Arcbound Ravager and his ilk. Ravager reminds me a lot of Kobe Bryant. He has the possibility to explode and have a big game or he could just be off all day and his team loses horribly. U/G Madness is – you guessed it – Shaq. Night in and night out, he is going to give you a solid game and if you’re lucky, he will have a monster game. But even if he doesn’t have a monster game, you still know that with Shaq on your side, you have a great chance of winning. Well, Geoffrey Siron is a Miami Heat fan:
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
2 Wonder
4 Aquamoeba
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Thought Courier
2 Chrome Mox
2 Roar of the Wurm
3 Daze
4 Careful Study
2 Intuition
4 Circular Logic
3 Deep Analysis
9 Island
7 Forest
4 Yavimaya Coast
Sideboard
3 Submerge
3 Oxidize
4 Chill
1 Ray of Revelation
2 Waterfront Bouncer
2 Masticore
After seeing how successful he was with flying hounds and wurms, I decided to give it a shot and see how good the ol’ deck was. After a lot of testing, I found that Reanimator was a terrible matchup. It was Waterfront Bouncer or Lose and with only two bouncers in the sideboard, I didn’t like my chances. Life was an auto-loss as well, but I was willing to accept that. Any deck that attacks is going to have a difficult time with Life. The best plan was to try to deck them with Deep Analysis and board in Ray of Revelation to kill their Test of Endurance, but that plan wasn’t very effective either. Thus I was becoming more and more agitated that I couldn’t win with U/G… The matchups just weren’t there. Game ones against a lot of decks were very difficult. I tried adding Red for Fire / Ice and Flametongue Kavu out of the board but the mana base, which is already rough, became atrocious. So I decided to try to restructure the deck back into the Regionals version I ran two years ago with Unsummon in the main deck and it started working out better. This is the list that I have finally compiled for the PTQ season:
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Careful Study
4 Circular Logic
4 Aquameoba
3 Unsummon
3 Deep Analysis
2 Intuition
2 Roar of the Wurm
2 Wonder
1 Genesis
11 Island
6 Forest
4 Yavimaya Coast
1 City of Brass
Sideboard
4 Oxidize
4 Chill
3 Submerge
2 Masticore/Ravenous Baloth
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Unsummon
The changes are very few, but they do a lot for the deck. The addition of Unsummon is probably the first thing that you will notice. Many bounce spells were put into consideration for the slot, but Unsummon ended up working out the best. Echoing Truth was a very nice main deck answer to Isochron Scepter and the occasionally dual Grim Lavamancer, but dealing with a huge Blinkmoth Nexus outweighed both of those situations. Rushing River was also put into heavy testing. The ability to bounce two blockers and just win was nice, but I found it often unnecessary since just bouncing one guy would be adequate in most situations. I admit that Rushing River w/ kicker is awesome against Affinity, but I feel that you can fight their guys with yours and you play the waiting game just as well as they do (U/G has Wonder, Affinity has Disciple + Ravager). Also, Rushing River was very sub-par against Reanimator. You really want your bounce spell on turn 1 or 2 and you want to bounce Akroma/Rorix and then play a guy as well. The other options were Chain of Vapor, Seal of Removal and Aether Burst. Seal of Removal gives too much warning – things seem to go a lot better when you have the instant speed trick. As for Chain of Vapor and Aether Burst; they are just a little underpowered compared to what is available.
The removal of Daze from the main deck is probably the other drastic change you will notice. Daze is very lackluster right now. I think that the threat of Daze is enough, even if it isn’t in your deck. The threat of Daze causes people to play differently, which is exactly what it is supposed to do. While Daze isn’t very difficult to play around, if people aren’t getting the most out of their mana on each turn, then Daze is doing its job. When I finally noticed that my Dazes weren’t countering anything, I decided to axe them for the Unsummons and it has made a world of difference. People were still playing around Daze while running directly into Unsummons that they didn’t expect. As far as matchup analysis goes with the change of Daze to Unsummon, everything leans Unsummon’s way:
Unsummon makes the Reanimator matchup from Godawful to bearable. I’m not going lie to you and say “Since I have added Unsummon my matchup has gone up 34%!” because it isn’t true and who believes that stuff anyway? Reanimator vs. UG is in favor of Reaniamtor but it’s now a little bit more winnable.
The match against Life is still terrible. I find it to be unwinnable unless something really goes wrong on Life’s side of things.
The matchups against U/G, RDW, Affinity, Tog, and Scepter Chant are where Unsummon truly shines and is where U/G will get most of its wins. Having main deck bounce against the mirror match is a very powerful tool. Not having a fear of resolved Roar of the Wurms is always a nice bonus, plus it makes math very difficult for your opponent. After sideboarding, having seven bounce spells in the main deck (three of which are free and the other four cost one Blue mana) should really put the matchup in your favor.
Against RDW, Unsummon does a lot more than it seems. It can really mess with their plans of killing an Arrogant Wurm (which is a big threat for them to kill), it can deactivate a Grim Lavamancer over a two turn span, and it can at least delay Blistering Firecat from ruining your day. I have liked it a lot more than Daze in this matchup.
Against Affinity, Unsummon’s uses are quite obvious, but they also have a large effect. Having an out to a creature carrying a Cranial Plating, a gigantic Ravager, or a gigantic Nexus is always a bonus.
Against Psychatog, having the ability to mess with their all-in Togs is a nice touch, but it is really used to dodge their creature kill more often than not.
Against Scepter Chant, the option of picking off a troublesome Meddling Mage or dealing with a flipped Exalted Angel is D.I.**
Against Mind’s Desire, I feel that Unsummon and Daze are equal. They are both very narrow and I wouldn’t want to draw either in that matchup. A well-timed Unsummon on a Sunscape Familiar can ruin them while they try to go off, but a well-timed Daze can prevent them from getting going but it also sets you back a turn, so pick your poison.
The other main deck changes were the removal of Merfolk Looter/Thought Courier and Chrome Mox and the addition of Genesis. The format is too fast for the Looter/Courier combo right now, therefore the card advantage they provide cannot be exploited. To add a practical aspect to this theorizing, they didn’t test very well either. Every time I drew a Looter/Courier, I was wishing it was something else. Chrome Mox got cut because U/G is not a deck that can exploit it as well as others. U/G is a midrange deck that has some difficulty recouping the card advantage it loses. As nice as a turn 1 Mongrel/Aquameoba is, we are sacrificing four cards to get there. I decided to go for a much more stable (albeit a little painful) mana base instead.
Genesis makes an appearance for the Rock matchup (boy does it shine there) and is the best available option in the event that the game goes long. Admittedly, Genesis can be a slow effect in some cases, but its potential to dominate a game warrants its inclusion.
The sideboard also went under a few changes. I removed the Waterfront Bouncers for added redundancy with the fourth Oxidize and fourth Unsummon out of the sideboard. Having two Bouncers in the sideboard ended up being too inconsistent. It is a great creature, but you have to draw it and two is simply not enough. I have the Masticore/Ravenous Baloth slot for Red decks. Masticore is probably the better choice, but Ravenous Baloth also has a powerful effect.
Everything else should be pretty self-explanatory. If anyone has ever played with or against U/G Madness, you should know how the deck works and how fast it can be. The sideboard cards are rather easy to see what matchups they are for as well. Submerge is for the mirror and Rock, Chill is against a Red deck etc etc.
Ced’s Exit
I feel that U/G Madness can be a major player early in the PTQ season. Its sideboard is very versatile, which is one of the things that makes the deck so powerful (other than its “oops I win” draw.) If Affinity is abundant where you play, you can board Oxidizes, Energy Fluxes, and/or Rebuilds. If RDW and Goblins are everywhere, then pack your Chills, Ravenous Baloths, and/or Masticores.
Hopefully you enjoyed my analysis on U/G Madness in Extended. I am looking to write more in the future, but I have limited time being in college and all. If you enjoyed or hated what you read or just have questions about the deck/article just hit up the forums. My next article will probably be about Psychatog and what I think is wrong with it right now (as long as Knut lets me keep writing for him).
Until the assassins complete their mission,
“The guy who got DQ’d at an Indy PTQ”
Cedric A. Phillips
GFC Teammate
Stangs215 on AIM
[email protected]
* Napoleon Dynamite is too fresh not to be somewhere in my article…but for my loyal readers (or people who decided to scroll down) I shall show you the illustrious Shawna. [That may be the worst sexy outfit I have ever seen in my life. – Knut, assaulted by weird colors]
**D.I. = der infi…please refrain from using this god awful magic term. People like Kyle Boddy drill this into your head.