Poker star David Williams is a friend from the very early days of my involvement at the Pro Tour, and a huge fan of EDH. Recently, we were chatting about Worlds, and I naturally asked if we were going to be slinging some spells together during the weekend. He said, “If I’m not busy winning the World Championship, I’d love to.” Conversation then got around to the fact that he didn’t have a deck, and I told him that I’d be happy to build one for him, that I’d welcome the challenge of putting together a deck for someone else to play. He mentioned that he really liked U/G/R and wanted to play “big spells,” so we agreed on Riku of Two Reflections.
My criteria were simple: Build something in the Intet wedge which can make the big, splashy plays and can hold its own against the types of decks Dave’s likely to play against, which most likely includes mine, Scott Larabee’s, and BDM’s. Going in, I kept thinking “Epic without being broken.” I used the mana base of a Riku deck that I had already put together, a few standard ramp ideas from my Intet deck, and went from there. It was fun working without the “Not going to play that card because it’s already in too many of my other decks” restriction.
I wanted to make sure that the deck could stand on its own as well as being saucy with Riku. Riku is a General that makes people panic sometimes, which leads to him not staying on the board very long. I didn’t want to run into the same difficulty that I’ve had with Animar, which is basically the fact that the deck mostly falls apart without him. Knowing that Dave likes options and being able to react to situations, I knew there had to be a toolbox element to it.
There were two other ideas that I wanted to try to keep myself to. The first was cost-efficiency. Since there’s a cost to copying stuff with Riku, I wanted to keep the mana curve lower than it might otherwise be in an EDH deck, limiting the number of 8+ mana spells. The second was the idea that Legendary Creatures are terrible to copy, so there’s only one of them.
The last part of the conversation we had was “how pimpy do you want this thing to be?” After I told him that most of my all-foil decks range around $1,000-1,500, he said, “Not that pimpy.” When I started pricing out cards, I realized that it’s not necessarily the foils that make decks expensive (which leads me to the idea that there’s probably a whole slew of articles on building budget decks), but the mana bases (even the non-foils). He already has his own dual lands, so I didn’t need to acquire those for him. As built, minus duals, the median value of the deck is about $550—just over $300 of it in lands. Dropping the really expensive lands, like Cradle, Wasteland, Maze of Ith, and the shocklands, replacing them with painlands and the like, you can build this deck for right around $300—which seems like a bargain. I resolved myself to make notes while playing the deck to see how relevant having the duals and shocklands were.
ARTIFACT NOTES
In addition to a basic suite of “good stuff” artifacts like Sol Ring and Skullclamp and a little dedicated graveyard hate with Tormod’s Crypt, I added the Darksteel Plate as a method of trying to keep Riku alive a little longer. I played Shield of Kaldra for a long time, and it’s simply outclassed by the Plate.
CREATURE NOTES
The most epic plays seem to frequently involve Avenger of Zendikar (although sometimes they also involve getting killed by Massacre Wurm), so that was a natural addition. There’s something attractive about copying things that copy things, so Riku plus Body Double, Clone, and Phyrexian Metamorph all make sense. The Titans are good enough by themselves, so copying them can lead to giant turns. Man-o’-War is in there for the possibility of casting it (to bounce something), copying it, and using the copy to bounce the original. Picking Cloudthresher made me wonder why I’m not playing it in a bunch of other decks. Heart Warden (or “Mind Stone guy” as one of the local players referred to it) is ramp early, card draw late. The rest of the creatures are pretty obvious. Stalking Vengeance was a late addition when I realized that the deck rolls if there are multiple dedicated control players. As I mentioned earlier, Legendary Creatures don’t make good copy targets, so the only one is Kozilek because who doesn’t like to draw cards? It’s also nice for the recursion ability, since there’s no focused recursion in the deck. It could have just as easily been Ulamog.
ENCHANTMENT NOTES
Playing green, you have to play the three best green enchantments, although with 30 creatures and no library control (I suppose Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk’s Horde might be considered library control on some level, but they’re not Sensei’s Divining Top or Scroll Rack), there might be an argument for not playing Lurking Predators.
INSTANT NOTES
Desertion and Worldly Tutor are about the only things that aren’t going to get copied. It would be a dream to kill someone by copying Cerebral Vortex, and I’m sure there are epic plays to be had by copying Twincast and Wild Ricochet. Comet Storm—which I put in the sorcery column when I was drawing up the deck—is absolutely bonkers as an instant.
SORCERY NOTES
Five of the nine are ramp spells, which will give you extra benefit when copied but are probably what lead you into Riku instead of being something you use him to take advantage of. When it came to the slot for Turnabout, I was considering Blasphemous Act and dealing 26 damage for three mana, but in the end, I went for the blowout possibilities and flexibility (plus the old-school cred) of Turnabout. Rite of Replication and Tooth and Nail are obviously awesome by themselves—copied, they’re the “big” I think we’re looking for.
LAND NOTES
Kessig Wolf Run was an addition after playing the deck. I had kind of dismissed the card initially, thinking that Skarrg, the Rage Pits was sufficient, but I now realize the error of my ways. Coupled with Gaea’s Cradle, it’s dumber than dumberson. Cradle, by the way, is pretty good even without Avenger of Zendikar. That said, some of the potentially bonkers plays come when the two meet.
I showed up for League Night several hours early in order to play a few games with the deck. It performed as I expected, with a few instances of being even splashier than I had expected.
GAME 1: Matt (Isperia) and Danny (Damia)
There aren’t that many folks in the shop, so we play a three-man. Danny is a little slow out of the gate; Matt gets a fair number of Equipment going. I Turn 4 Worldly Tutor for Primeval Titan, which I cast Turn 5 with Temple of the False God. There’s a fair amount of back and forth, but I slowly build up a pretty good army. I cast and copy Terastodon to take out most of Matt’s equipment, but Danny casts Mimic Vat. I’m about to take out Danny when Matt casts Pongify on Terastodon to save him. Danny of course puts Terastodon under Mimic Vat, and Matt facedesks. Danny ends up killing us both. No particularly big plays, but copying Word of Seizing is okay.
GAME 2: Matt (Geist of Saint Traft) and Aaron (Karador, Ghost Chieftain)
Danny has to run out, so Aaron jumps in. I get a really slow start with no ramp and only green mana. I have some defenses but get whittled down some by Matt’s attacks. Much of the game is the two of them pecking at each other. When I can eventually cast Riku, he keeps getting killed. I get back in it with Rite of Replication, kicked, targeting Matt’s Sun Titan. With the tokens, I can recur Wasteland to keep Aaron off of Cabal Coffers/Urborg. The turn after I cast Avenger of Zendikar, I cast Primeval Titan to get Gaea’s Cradle, untap it with Garruk, and Genesis Wave for 19, getting 16 hits (a pretty good ratio given the number of instants and sorceries in the deck). Seems like the deck can run without Riku, just as I had hoped. Big Plays achievement unlocked.
GAME 3, which is League, Round 1: Tom (Thraximundar), TJ (Ghave, Guru of Spores), Wayne (Damia, Sage of Stone), and Anthony (Intet, the Dreamer).
A reasonable start, with a Turn 4 Oracle of Mul Daya, which unfortunately shows everyone the Tooth and Nail. I hang onto it a few turns after I can actually cast it (there are a fair number of blue players at the table), hoping everyone will forget about it. Anthony, who hasn’t played in a while, and Tom both get really sluggish starts. This is the game where Riku survives longest. I use him to copy Clone (of Phyrexian Rager), Yavimaya Elder, and Dominus of Fealty. The pressure Dominus (and his shadowy copy) bring make them forget about Tooth and Nail—or at least not be able to pay attention to what’s in my hand. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many big guys to steal with Dominus. Finally, I Tooth and Nail for Primeval Titan (Cradle being one of the lands) and Avenger of Zendikar (what else?), but TJ casts Living Death as an emergency Damnation.
The Big Play comes when Anthony, who is just before me, casts Rites of Flourishing and Heartbeat of Spring. I cast Garruk’s Horde then Inferno Titan and Terastodon off the top. The Elephant takes out the Rites and Heartbeat and something minor. I Cerebral Vortex myself because Genesis Wave is on top of my library. I can cast it for about eight, but greed gets the best of me, and I hang onto it. On Anthony’s turn, he casts Vendilion Clique, targeting me. So much for the greed. I give him my hand, and he groans. He still takes the GWave but says, “It’s pretty bad for us.” On the following turn, I cast Rite of Replication, kicked, targeting the Inferno Titan. It is indeed getting ugly. Then Tom tries to Sever the Bloodline on the original Inferno Titan. I consider killing it with my Comet Storm, then happen to glance down at his dice. He’s at 17 life. I verify that, and doing a life total check of everyone else, realize that Wayne is also in range at 25. I have enough mana to deal 28 to everyone—although after I try to roast him, TJ points out that he has Witchbane Orb in play. Curse you Witchbane Orb! (Or not.) Killing Tom and Wayne and dropping Anthony to 9 leaves me in pretty good position. Neither of them pulls out answers, and the Inferno Titan army heads into the killing zone. Big Plays check number two.
GAME 4: Nate (Zedruu the Greathearted), Beth (Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer), Shawn (Adun Oakenshield)
If the other games haven’t convinced me that this is the Big Plays deck Dave is looking for, then this is it.
Turn 3 Fierce Empath fetches Prime Time. Turn 4 Skyshroud Claim gets me Turn 5 Primeval Titan (Cradle and Temple of the False God) and Turn 6 Aura Thief and Riku. Aura Thief is significant because Nate already has Collective Restraint and Wild Research, Beth has Ghostly Prison, and Shawn has Awakening Zone and Doubling Season. After my Turn 6, Nate casts Zedruu, and Shawn (again, with Doubling Season) casts Avenger of Zendikar. I respond by Pyroblasting Aura Thief. When Beth passes the turn to me, I write on my notes, “This is gonna be epic.”
I have eleven lands. I cast Avenger of Zendikar and copy it with Riku, meaning I get two copies. All the Avenger triggers resolve; I end up with 66 Plant tokens. I tap the Cradle for 66 and cast Greater Good and Garruk Wildspeaker. Each one is met with a further “uh oh” from everyone else. Fortunately for me, there’s no mana burn. I attack with Primeval Titan getting two lands, making my Plants 12/13 (all 66 of them). Nate is the first to realize this is game over now and says so. With all those guys, I can sacrifice them to Greater Good one at a time, searching until I get Comet Storm, with more than enough mana to kill everyone. Alternately, Stalking Vengeance will do the trick also. There is, I suppose, a small possibility I could deck myself without getting the right cards, but it’s pretty unlikely, especially since I have the Kozilek in the deck to keep from milling myself out. We think about playing it with me just passing the turn and seeing if someone can do something before it gets back around to me, but we all agree that it’s just better if we spend the time playing another game.
GAME 5: Same players, but Nate switches to Olivia Voldaren
Early in the game, I get what’s coming to me—beatings from everyone, mostly Nate with Olivia. I’m down to about 20 before other people are significant enough threats to pay attention to. I get no ramp or big card draws, but I do get Dominus of Fealty into play with Darksteel Plate and Lightning Greaves on it, which keeps Nate from stealing it and Beth from bribing it. I have enough defense while being able to send Olivia back at Nate a few times. Cryptic Command pays dividends when it keeps Olivia from killing me with General damage and Beth from killing me with a swarm of Sphinxes (to include her nifty combo of Sphinx of Jwar Isle and Conundrum Sphinx) when I use it to tap and bounce then Twincast it (sure, the double taps mean nothing, but getting fatties off the field helps).
After Shawn is eliminated, the relevant play happens after Nate has put ten counters on Olivia. I steal it with Dominus of Fealty, and before I attack, Beth puts a Bribery counter on it. Fortunately for me, I have enough red mana to activate Olivia and kill Gwafa. I swing into Nate for lethal damage (there should be a bonus point for killing someone with their own General), and then Beth recasts Gwafa. A turn after I deal a little damage to her, she puts a Bribery counter on Dominus, but I can attack with the other stuff I steal, which includes her Victory’s Herald, netting me enough life to be out of the danger zone. When I peel Frost Titan to lock down Gwafa, it’s over.
After playing it (and adding the Wolf Run), I’m happy with the deck that I’m going to put into Dave’s hands (probably sometime right around the time you’re reading this, in fact). It’s strong enough to stand with good decks; it Embraces sufficient amounts of Chaos; and it will provide the epic plays that define the format.
Next week, I hope to have reports of how the deck did in the hands of a truly skilled player as well as other highlights from the World Championships. See you then.