Hello folks!
I am currently sitting in the hotel lobby of a very cloudy, warm, and humid San Juan on the island of Puerto Rico. I thought it would be tough to write an article this week, between testing Block Constructed, drafting, and (most importantly) enjoying the beaches, the rainforest, and the summer resort. Unfortunately, the weather forecast isn’t very optimistic and we’ll have to endure this sad grey sky for the whole week… which leaves me some time to talk about the previous Grand Prix… Grand Prix: Washington last weekend.
As you probably know already, and as a reminder, I am not a Constructed expert. I can analyze a format, choose the right deck, and tune it, but you will rarely hear of one of my brews. Coming into this tournament, I had very little clue about the current Standard format, as I’d focused most of my recent Magic play on Limited and Block Constructed. I had a day to collect as much information as I could when I arrived on Friday. To talk to people and hear their thoughts, and to check what the shops had sold in order to deduce the main trends. Whether you are set on what you are going to play or not, this is something you should do it every big tournament. Your playtest group might be totally wrong about what’s going to be played, and your deck tech might now be obsolete. For example, you might be planning on playing Burn and think no one expects it, but if you hear the shops have sold countless Dragon Claws and Kor Firewalkers, then you might have to reconsider.
From the information I collected, Jund and UW were going to be the most popular decks. Into this mix, you could add Naya, Mono Red, and Bant. Among the people I talked to was Kazuya Mitamura, who was undecided and had two decks from which to choose: a classic Jund deck and a Mythic Bant build (no Conscription).
Here is the Bant list:
Creatures (27)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Knight of the Reliquary
- 4 Dauntless Escort
- 3 Baneslayer Angel
- 4 Lotus Cobra
- 4 Vengevine
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (26)
Spells (2)
The matchups against Jund and UW are favorable; not extremely favorable, but as favorable as they can get against decks that can gain so much from card advantage. The Vengevines and Dauntless Escorts are awesome in both matchups, and they are the main differences between this Bant deck and the pre-ROE Bant decks. It was pretty much the deck I was looking for. In addition, it is a very consistent deck, meaning that it will rarely lose to itself. The mana is great, you will always find a way to use it in the early and late game, and there are no dead cards main deck. Add to that the fact that I have always loved playing Birds of Paradise on turn 1, and there was no question about the deck for me.
I asked around about what people thought about Eldrazi Conscription. I was unsure of which version of Bant was better. Finest Hour has the potential to end a game very quickly, in a less risky way than Sovereigns of Lost Alara, but it was much less spectacular. Only two slots are necessary to fit in the Finest Hour, while it takes five or six cards for the Conscription setup to work, depending on how many Sovereigns you want to run (three or four). The Conscriptions are probably more powerful, but they decrease the stability of your deck by adding six- and eight-mana spells that you will need some time to cast, which can result in a potential hand jam. Finest Hour is a permanent threat even after your guys have been swept by a Day of Judgment, one that is going to win you the game eventually with Colonnades and Vengevines. I managed to turn a few games around by attacking with a random creature, pumped with Elspeth. A 2/2 deals 14 damage in one turn, 16 if it’s a 3/3. If it’s shot, then you can do the same thing the turn later with any other creature.
Overall, I believe the old Finest Hour version of Mythic Bant with Vengevine is superior and more stable than Mythic Conscription.
The biggest problem facing the deck was probably Naya. Naya had ways to deal with your big threats, and your guys can’t really match his. Bloodbraid Elves give them the cheap card advantage you can’t have, Lightning Bolts keep you from abusing Jace, you don’t have any reliable way to deal with Cunning Sparkmage/Basilisk Collar maindeck, and Path to Exile takes care of your Baneslayer Angels and Knight of the Reliquary. Winning against Naya would only come from a good draw on your side and a bad one on his.
The sideboard had to focus on improving your chance against UW and Red-based creature decks. This is what Kazuya and I came up with:
Sideboard:
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Bant Charm
2 Path to Exile
1 Kor Firewalker
4 Negate
2 Emerge Unscathed
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Qasali Pridemage: A way to deal with both Oblivion Rings and Basilisk Collar while keeping a good creature ratio in the deck. You will find 3 or 4 of them in most Mythic sideboards. While making the in/out board, we realized we never wanted 3 of them in any matchup, since we also wanted Bant Charms in there.
Bant Charm & Path to Exile: The main idea behind Bant Charm in the board is that we wanted a creature removal spell that wouldn’t be dead against WU. Kazuya initially had 4, but I never wanted to board in 4 against WU, and they are only fine against fast creature decks. You would want them also in the Bant Conscription, Boros, and Red matchups, but you would rather play Path to Exile against these fast decks. Baneslayer Angel is an annoying threat in WU that you will have to tackle… with one problem being that WU doesn’t always run Baneslayer Angels but Sphinx of Jwar Isle against which none of your removal does anything, so you might as well have a card that counters Path to Exile . With 3 Jace and 2 Bant Charms, you should be fine against Baneslayer Angel. You don’t really want to have more removal in that matchup, nor against faster decks, and there’s no room for them in the sideboard anyway. 2 Bant Charms and 2 Path to Exile seems to be the right mix.
Kor Firewalker: The deck has a hard time dealing with Red-based creature decks. We first thought of adding a third Path to Exile to the board, but when we realized that we would board it in only against Mono Red or Boros, we decided that Kor Firewalker was simply better card, even as a one-of. It would also be a fine addition in the Jund matchup.
Negate: Not much to say about them. You board them in against UW, Polymorph and Open the Vaults. You need the full set.
Emerge Unscathed: We wanted 2 cards for the Jund matchup to save Baneslayer Angel from Terminates and Maelstrom Pulses. You want a cheap card that you can play even after your lands have been Blightninged away. Emerge Unscathed also works great against Boros and Mono-Red, your plan being to go the distance with the lifelink Angel. Bear in mind how Oblivion Ring and Journey to Nowhere work. If your opponent has a creature and casts an Oblivion Ring on your only guy, play Emerge Unscathed before it enters the battlefield, and he will have to Ring/Journey his own guy… It basically has the same function as Vines of Vastwood. The advantage of the rebound protection is that it can allow your Knight of the Reliquary to attack through a Thrinax or Saproling tokens for lethal damage.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence: Vengevines needed a replacement in the board against Naya, Boros and Bant. The Vengevines are great against control and slow decks, but are quite weak against aggro decks due to tempo issues. You are rarely the offensive player, and they die to a first strike Geopede. Linvala shuts down Birds, Hierarchs, and Knights of the Reliquary in the Bant matchup, and is a fine answer to Cunning Sparkmage while it survives. You do not want to play many of them because of its legendary status, and because it is still a vulnerable creature, but it does enough in the games when you have it in play to deserve one or two sideboard slots.
I was happy with the deck and sideboard, although I would definitely add a fourth Baneslayer Angel to the sideboard instead of the second Linvala to improve the aggro matchups, since it’s by far the only card you want to see once you reach five mana.
Here is a suggested sideboarding guide:
Versus Jund:
-3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
+2 Emerge Unscathed
+1 Kor Firewalker
Jace is very unimpressive in the Jund matchup. You can’t really protect it, and it dies in many different ways.
Versus UW:
-3 Baneslayer Angel
-1 Knight of the Reliquary
-2 Birds of Paradise
-2 Lotus Cobra
+4 Negate
+2 Qasali Pridemage
+2 Bant Charm
In the UW matchup, you don’t want to over-commit to the board, and that’s why you can take cheap creatures out. You want to make sure your creatures will be around on the table long enough to deal enough damage by backing them up with Negate and Dauntless Escort, and eventually win with man-lands or Vengevine. Baneslayer Angel is too hard to back up with Negate, and its lifelink ability isn’t relevant enough.
Versus Mono Red:
-3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-4 Vengevine
-1 Finest Hour
+2 Emerge Unscathed
+1 Kor Firewalker
+2 Bant Charm
+2 Path to Exile
+1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
As mentioned above, Vengevine dies too easily to Geopede, and you want to be able to survive long enough to attack with Baneslayer (if you decide to play a fourth copy, replace Linvala with a Baneslayer Angel) or a big Knight of the Reliquary.
Versus Boros/Naya:
-3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-4 Vengevine
-2 Finest Hour
-1 Dauntless Escort
-1 Birds of Paradise
+2 Emerge Unscathed
+1 Kor Firewalker
+2 Bant Charm
+2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
+2 Path to Exile
+2 Qasali Pridemage
Boros probably is a 50/50 matchup, while you are an underdog against Naya. Just like against Mono Red, survive long enough to win with Baneslayer Angel (replace the second Linvala with the fourth Baneslayer Angel).
Versus Bant:
-4 Dauntless Escort
-4 Vengevine
+2 Bant Charm
+2 Path to Exile
+2 Qasali Pridemage
+2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Your best weapons against Day of Judgment are useless against Bant. You probably have a slight edge against Mythic Conscription since you have fewer dead cards (considering that drawing an Eldrazi Conscription is a dead draw). You have many ways to deal with the aura, so I believe the Finest Hour package is a better option in this match.
Bear in mind that the sideboard plans above are only suggestions; feel free to sideboard differently. They also change depending of the version of the decks your opponents are playing, and if you are on the play or on the draw.
As for my tournament, I finished Day 1 at 7-2 (with 3 byes) and dropped at 9-5 on Day 2. I lost round 4 to what probably is the worst matchup you can face: Naya Allies. You have no way to clear his board, and it takes too long for you to kill him, so he can freely extend, pile up allies until they are big enough, or gain protection from Green/White and kill you. Add to that the fact that he can deal with your Baneslayer Angel and Knight of the Reliquary with Path to Exile and Oblivion Ring, and you have your nightmare matchup.
Day 1 Summary:
Round 1-3: Byes
Round 4: Loss: Naya Ally, 1-2
Round 5: Win: Mono Red, 2-0
Round 6: Win: UW, 2-0
Round 7: Win: Mythic Conscription, 2-0
Round 8: Loss: Boros, 1-2
Round 9: Win: UW, 2-1
Day 2 Summary:
Round 10: Win: UW, 2-0
Round 11: Loss: UW, 1-2
Round 12: Win: Boros, 2-1
Round 13: Loss: Jund, 1-2
Round 14: Loss: UW, 0-2
-Drop-
6-5 (9-5)… not a very satisfying result. That tournament was yet another marathon. I could have kept playing to learn even more about the deck, but I didn’t have the heart to do it and would rather go get some food and draft to get ready for the next tournament.
If I had to play the tournament again, I would probably play the same list, with an extra Baneslayer in the board. Kazuya ended his tournament on round 6 with an 0-3 record, going 0-2, 0-2, 0-2. The guy is running bad these days, also going 0-3 drop in Lyon 2 weeks ago, so I wouldn’t take his result too seriously. If you are picking teams for the next fantasy PT, make sure you pick him; he can’t run badly forever, and when he break his losing streak, he’ll probably win another Pro Tour.
The deck is a lot of fun to play. I am not sure it’s the deck you should play, but I think it was the right choice, especially when you take a look at the Top 8 decks. But with so many rounds, anything can happen. Even though I am disappointed, I wouldn’t have changed much about my tournament (except the fourth Baneslayer in the sideboard).
To conclude this week’s article, I would like to share a short blowout story. The following happened in round 17 of the GP. Sebastian Thaler, former Rookie of the Year, is playing his last round for Top 16. Loser only makes top 64. He is running UW and is paired against RU Polymorph. It is game 3. His opponent is on 5, has 2 cards in hand, and 5 lands up. Sebastian has a Knight of the White Orchid on the board, a Mind Sculptor in hand, 8 lands in play, and nothing else relevant. He has Elspeth, Knight-Errant in his deck to potentially win right away. What’s your play?
Sebastian went confidently for Jace, Brainstormed into nothing relevant, and attacked…
… into a Stone-Idol Trap.
The Construct attacked Jace the next turn, and was Polymorphed into an Iona, naming White. Sebastian didn’t have another Jace, and soon succumbed to the Legendary Angel.
“Stone-Idol Trap… STONE-IDOL TRAP!”
That’s all he kept repeating on the way back to the hotel.
Sebastian confessed he didn’t know the card was in the format. He did not expect to get blown out by that card. But it’s a lesson for all of us… it’s the difference between a Top 16 (or better) finish and a Top 64 finish. How much do you study the format prior the tournament? Stone-Idol Trap is usually a one- or two-of in most UR Polymorph lists, but if you’ve never seen one before, it’s tough to see it coming. In this case, I’m positive that if he had know about the card, he would have just attacked into it, and used his Jace post-combat to bounce it… but he didn’t.
As a side note, I am glad to see that the rising stars are doing well. I hate to see GP Top 8s filled with people I never hear of again. The fact that known players are winning these days gives me faith in the game…
Stay tuned this weekend for Pro Tour: San Juan, and please cheer for the Frenchie!
Raph