Finally!
After two fruitless Pro Tours at San Diego and San Juan — I probably have an issue with cities starting with “San” — I managed to pull out a nice finish in Pro Tour Amsterdam.
I left Gothenburg last Thursday with absolutely no clue what I was going to play in Extended. I started feeling the magic flowing in my hands again during the Grand Prix, so I felt confident things would go my way this time.
The new Extended format was extremely open, and offered a wide variety of options. I had three decks in mind to play:
- Mono-Red
- Doran
- White Weenie
All three are decks I wouldn’t mind playing. I played Mono-Red in Berlin two years ago when no one expected it, and I loved it… But in Amsterdam, Mono-Red was something people were expecting. It was the first deck I tested on Magic Online, and I wasn’t impressed enough by its performance.
In fact, I thought about giving up on the deck after my very first match. I was playing in a two-man tournament, paired against some control deck. I got game one quite easily, which gave me a lot of confidence going into game two. But then I had to face a Story Circle on turn 3 — was that even in the format?
Game three, my opponent started with a Leyline of Sanctity in play… And if
that
wasn’t a sign to stay away from Mono-Red…
There’s a lot of strong hate out there for Mono-Red, if people want it. If the first opponent I met had such powerful sideboard cards, what could I expect at the Pro Tour?
Then there was Doran. I played Doran for a whole Standard season, back in Grand Prix Seattle when Yann Massicard won with the deck (and it did well again later in Grand Prix Sao Paulo). It looked a bit better thanks to the interaction between fetchlands and Murmuring Bosks. The problem was that no one around me was playtesting it, and I had a hard time finding a version I trusted enough to play.
Rumors were going wild online about who was playing what. I heard that Gabriel Nassif was playtesting a White Weenie deck. I didn’t quite believe it at first — but I talked to Jay Elarar a couple of days before the Pro Tour, and he confirmed Gabriel was playing WW. Furthermore, he said that he was considering it and that I should consider it too.
Arriving on the site on Thursday afternoon, I got to talk to the French crew — Antoine, Gabriel, Jay, and a few others that included Paul Rietzl and Kai Budde. Lots of them were convinced White Weenie was
the
deck to play. I didn’t have anything against playing the deck, and they were all quite convincing. So I went for it.
Here is the list I played:
Creatures (22)
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Ethersworn Canonist
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
- 2 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Steppe Lynx
- 4 Student of Warfare
Lands (23)
Spells (15)
The main difference between the main deck and the version that Kai, Paul, and Antoine played was the number of Mana Tithes, Path to Exiles, and Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tenders.
With very few playtest games behind me, I had to trust my instincts. Path to Exile main deck seemed like such a dead card against a large part of the field: Control decks (no matter how many colors they were packing), Pyromancer Ascension, and Ad Nauseam.
The list I was given had a Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender and two Path to Exiles and a Mana Tithe. I decided to run one Path, two Mana Tithes, and no Forge-Tenders in the main deck. I do believe that’s still the correct configuration pre-sideboarding.
When no one knew the deck, no one would expect Mana Tithe. How many times did my opponents run into it? Every time, they had to read the card again with big eyes. You can leave one white mana open for so many different reasons: to pump your Figure of Destiny, to keep your Brave the Elements for backup — and Mana Tithe is the last card they think about.
Even if they do, they’ll have to run into it anyway. A one-mana counterspell is a little more versatile than a maindecked Path to Exile.
As for the Forge-Tender, it sounded nice to have an extra target for Ranger of Eos, but I didn’t really feel it was necessary. Against Mono-Red, you’ll try to race with Student of Warfare and Figure of Destiny. Ranger of Eos will probably arrive too late to do anything relevant — and you could have just pumped one of your one-drops for more damage. Against Scapeshift, since you don’t always reach your fourth mana on turn 4, the Forge-tender on turn 6 isn’t going to do anything either. The same goes against Ad Nauseam, against which you already have Ethersworn Canonists. Admittedly, a lone Forge-Tender
could
help — but the matchup is already so much in your favor…
Speaking of Ethersworn Canonist, they sure are great against Ad Nauseam, and decent against Pyromancer Ascension, but I have to say that they helped me a lot… when choosing what to sideboard out. Now that I have played ten rounds with the deck, I believe they are a bit suboptimal. There are other two-drops I would have loved to play over Canonists: Knight of Meadowgrain, Knight of the Holy Nimbus, or even Kor Firewalker.
Considering I played against one Ad Nauseam (and lost without seeing my Canonists) and then lost a game with a Canonist when I had a double Mana Tithe that could have countered a Damnation and won me the game (since my opponent had only one spare mana), I would probably cut them from the main deck. Now that White Weenie won the Pro Tour, Ad Nauseam will probably be a lot less popular, since players will assume that everyone will be playing Canonists maindeck. You would then have a big edge in the mirror if you have Knights of Meadowgrain while they’re playing Canonist…
I was also quite unimpressed by Ranger of Eos. Kai told me it was the best card in the deck, but I was mostly tempted to sideboard it out every time.
It
is
great against control decks and gives you a chance to come back after a sweeping Damnation (or just more gas against Doran)… but it is
so
slow. You often want something active immediately when you pay four mana, like leveling up your Student of Warfare up to seven counters.
The deck works very well the way it is built right now, but there are definitely metagame calls to be made before you enter a tournament with White Weenie.
The strength of Mono-White is also its strong sideboard. It has pretty much everything it needs to beat any deck in the format. Most players who played the deck have a couple of differences in their sideboard.
As for mine:
2 Lapse of Certainty
Just like Mana Tithe, players had to read the card. They are particularly good for delaying a Damnation or a Grave Titan against Control, or to counter an Ad Nauseam when your opponent already played his Angel’s Grace. I’ve seen Kai and others boarding it in against Doran and Scapeshift, but I don’t think they are very useful in these matchups.
1 Mana Tithe
An extra counterspell against control and combo (specifically, Ad Nauseam)
2 Rule of Law
The nail in the coffin against Ad Nauseam and Pyromancer Ascension.
3 Path to Exile
They’re not very versatile in the main deck, but you need to have at least four creature removal spells after sideboarding against the mirror match, against Doran, against Mono-Red, and any other creature-based deck.
2 Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender
They are key cards against Mono-Red, Ad Nauseam, Scapeshift, and Pyromancer Ascension.
3 Relic of Progenitus
I don’t think Dredge is a deck you want to play against — and if you
do
face Dredge, these won’t be of too much use. “Hoping they fizzle” is a better option.
However, Relics have a huge impact against anyone running Punishing Fire, Kitchen Finks, and Tarmogoyf — and Scapeshift is running all three. They also mess up Pyromancer Ascension’s plans.
1 Stillmoon Cavalier
This slot might sound a little random, but it’s not. I have always liked the headless horseman, and it does a great job at stopping Doran, who has no way to deal with it. It sure isn’t as big as it could be when facing the legendary Treefolk — but once it’s gone (or if Doran isn’t around), it’s an unstoppable clock.
Against White Weenie, it allows you to make up for some tempo when you’re on the draw and can’t match your opponent’s Figures of Destiny and Students of Warfare when they are bigger than yours.
1 Kor Firewalker
When you decide which cards you want in your sideboard, you want to know how efficient each will be if you draw it in a given matchup. Kor Firewalker single-handedly wins you the game against Mono-Red. 100% efficiency against one deck? Sold. And having one chance to draw it in the right matchup is obviously better than having none…
Thanks to the following sideboard suggestions and considering the metagame of your next tournament, you should be able to tune your deck accordingly.
Sideboard plan suggestions:
Against Doran:
-4 Ethersworn Canonist
+3 Path to Exile
+1 Stillmoon Cavalier
Despite Kai losing to Brad Nelson in the quarters, I believe this is quite a favorable matchup. The key to winning this matchup is blocking the ground with first-strikers while attempting a flying assault. If you manage to buy enough time, you should be able to swing with leveled-up Figures and Students. Honor of the Pure plays a huge role as well, increasing the flying power of spirit tokens that you should be protecting with either Brave the Elements or Path to Exile (Path the target of Maelstrom Pulse to keep the other tokens).
Unless Doran players decide to board in more than two Infests (I would advise them to do so), you should be all right.
Against Ad Nauseam
-1 Path to Exile
-2 Ranger of Eos
-2 Brave the Elements
-1 Honor of the Pure
-1 Spectral Procession
+2 Rule of Law
+2 Lapse of Certainty
+1 Mana Tithe
+2 Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender
Your main deck is already filled with four Canonists, and is almost just as fast as Ad Nauseam. You can probably even race it if you’re on the play without having to do anything else. The sideboard adds even more silver bullets to the deck. Make sure you don’t forget about Infest, which will kill your Canonists and Forge-Tenders all at once.
Against Scapeshift:
-4 Ethersworn Canonist
-2 Ranger of Eos
+3 Relic of the Progenitus
+2 Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender
+1 Path to Exile
This matchup is a lot about whether they can stop your assault and kill you in time. Getting to seven mana takes some time, and you’re usually able to protect your beaters to push forward. Forge-Tenders help you weather the Volcanic Fallouts, and Relics make sure they won’t be playing their Punishing Fires more than once. Plus, Relics keep their Kitchen Finks from coming back after it chumped one of your guys (since it rarely ever
trades
for any of your guys).
Also, you don’t want to play more than two Path to Exiles. You never really want to Path a Tarmogoyf, since your guys can be bigger anyway and Relics help you to keep it in check. Neither do you want to Path a Bloodbraid Elf, nor a Kitchen Finks. Giving Scapeshift an extra land is
really
bad for you.
You want to play Path to take care of blockers when you think you can take the game before they reach seven mana —but you don’t want to have more than two since you never really want to path two creatures in the same game, or to have your hand loaded with them without enough pressure.
The Canonist should be good against Bloodbraid Elves in theory… unfortunately, they have such a poor impact on the game and die so easily that they don’t do their job properly in this matchup.
And while you might consider Lapse of Certainty, I think it’s way too situational in this matchup. Delaying a lethal Scapeshift only gives you a turn to turn the tables. I would rather try to win before reaching that point in the game.
Against Pyromancer Ascension
-2 Brave the Elements
-1 Path to Exile
-1 Spectral Procession
-2 Ranger of Eos
-1 Honor of the Pure
+3 Relic of the Progenitus
+2 Rule of Law
+2 Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender
Brave the Elements helps you in matchups where you’re facing a lot of blockers. In this case, it’s possible that you’ll be facing Tarmogoyfs or Quirion Dryads — but I doubt they’ll be very efficient against you. You still want to keep a couple in against Firespout. You basically replace 2 Brave the Elements by 2 Forge-Tenders which are a bit more versatile.
The rest of the cards you board in are very efficient as well, as they mostly keep the Ascension in check. You might want to add a Celestial Purge or two in your sideboard if you feel it is necessary — but I don’t.
Against Mono-Red:
-4 Ethersworn Canonist
-2 Brave the Elements
+2 Burrenton Forge-tender
+1 Kor Firewalker
+3 Path to Exile
This matchup isn’t as easy as it seems. Sideboarding is easy, though.
Against Control:
-4 Ethersworn Canonist
-2 Brave the Elements
-1 Path to Exile
+1 Mana Tithe
+2 Lapse of Certainty
+4 Relic of Progenitus
This is by far your worst matchup. Any deck running Damnations is a problem, since you can never really play around it. You can take care of the Punishing Fires, but never reliably prevent a Damnation to sweep your board. If you don’t commit, Punishing Fires will take care of your guys one by one — or you won’t put enough pressure until he finally plays either a Damnation or Cruel Ultimatum. Your plan is basically to go all-in, and hope his Damnation runs into your Mana Tithe or Lapse of Certainty.
The deck’s overall results were quite impressive: Kai went 9-0-1 in the rounds, and Paul Rietzl won the whole thing. Officially, twenty-three players played White Weenie, and thirteen made day 2. I believe most of the ten who didn’t make day 2 weren’t playing Gabriel/Jay’s decklist but something like Kithkin.
As for the constructed part of my tournament, it went like this:
Round 1: Bant/Blink
2-1
Round 2: Ad Nauseam
I’m still not sure
how on Earth
I lost that round… I guess I could have drawn better…
0-2
Round 3: Scapeshift
2-1
Round 4: Mono-Red
I won game 3 thanks to having Firewalker in my opening hand.
2-1
Round 5: Faeries
This should also be a fine matchup, but the Damnations after sideboarding make it a lot harder.
1-2
Round 12 (6
th
Constructed match): Doran
2-0
Round 13 (7
th
Constructed match): 5cc
I didn’t think there was a way I could win this match…
0-2
Round 14 (8
th
Constructed match): Scapeshift
2-1
Round 15 (9
th
Constructed match): W/G Hideway
2-1
Round 16 (10
th
Constructed match): WW Mirror
Noah Boeken won the die roll and drew a lot better in both games.
0-2
6-4, not a very good score but a positive score; considering I lost a very good match and a mirror match, losing twice to Damnation, I feel the deck delivered. I am happy with the deck I chose to play and would probably play it again had I had to rerun the tournament.
I will skip the boring Limited part of my report — since after next weekend, no one will care about M11 Limited any more. I’ll just mention that I finally managed to 3-0 an M11 sanctioned Draft (now that’s the right timing!), mostly thanks to a first-pick Grave Titan followed by a second-pick Diabolic Tutor. 5-1 in Limited for a final score of 11-4 put me in 31
st
place.
Next stop is Grand Prix Bochum in Germany — hopefully, I’ll continue my good run!
Cheers!
Raph