Before I joined the staff at StarCityGames.com, I was told by fellow writers that the forums were pretty brutal on occasion. Last week I got to see exactly what they were talking about. Ironically enough, though, none of the negative comments I received last week had anything to do with the article in question. Rather, they came about because of my time spent over at MTGSalvation, which I find pretty depressing. I’ll readily admit that I’ve been more or less unfriendly in the past in the forums at that site, but that has nothing to do with my articles here on StarCityCityGames.com. I asked some friends and teammates how I should deal with the situation, and I got the same answers from all of them: ignore it. I’m all for criticism (that is, if it can be taken in and applied to improve myself or my writing and/or play), but when I’m getting bashed for having a bad attitude in the past (which I’ve left behind for the most part, though I still have a hard time sometimes dealing specifically with the forum-goers at that particular site) I just don’t see how I can accept that when it’s pretty clear that I have my regrets and I am trying to push forward in a positive and healthy way.
Part of the reason that I’ve made some enemies is because I am generally overly defensive, and I think therein lies the key to ensuring that these things don’t happen again. People will keep pushing my buttons if they know it works, and if I take a page out of Todd Anderson book and keep my cool and not get defensive whenever someone takes a cheap shot, I think my writing and my own personal well-being will benefit. You can’t be friends with everyone, and you certainly can’t please everyone, and I think that that was a lesson that I still somehow hadn’t learned. Many, many people will read my work each week, and most of my comments are going to be from people who either disagreed with what I wrote or who want to hate on me for something totally unrelated. Looking at it that way, the people in the latter category make up such a small portion of my readerbase that I think I may have been taking what they said too seriously. While it’s true that all writers love reading comments praising their work, I also very much enjoy reading comments that contain disagreements and that offer suggestions, and I thankfully got a few of those last week as well. But the ones that are basically just “you’re a jerk” are no help to anyone, and will be henceforth totally ignored on principle.
With that thankfully out of the way, let’s get back to Magic. Last week I mentioned that I would be battling in Ohio this past weekend at a PTQ in Columbus, but I was unfortunately unable to make it to that event. As it turns out, I was obviously incapable of taking the day off work or something, because it was brought to my attention that I had to work. The ironic part about the situation was that due to the nature of my summer job (I work on a cruise ship during the summers when I am not away at school, you see), the torrential downpours and thunderstorms that particular Saturday kept me from going to work anyway.
Regardless, I’ll still talk about the deck I would’ve played. After a conversation with Josh Wludyka earlier last week, I was convinced that rather than play a deck with more or less even match-ups across the board, I should just play the best deck (or, alternatively, a deck that has an overwhelming edge over the best deck). Considering that there is truly no deck that just undeniably beats on Five-Color, I decided on just playing Five-Color instead. It really is simply the best deck, and it’s becoming harder and harder to find a good reason not to play it over something else. Bloodbraid Elf is literally the only card that I can think of that would give me incentive to put down Cruel Ultimatum, but even that card isn’t enough. The cascade decks are all very strong, but Five-Color can defend itself pretty well against anything thrown at it, and so I think I’d prefer to have the best defensive rather than the best offense.
Here’s the list I had decided on for the PTQ:
Creatures (6)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (25)
- 3 Broken Ambitions
- 4 Cryptic Command
- 1 Negate
- 2 Runed Halo
- 3 Hallowed Burial
- 1 Agony Warp
- 3 Cruel Ultimatum
- 4 Esper Charm
- 1 Path to Exile
- 3 Volcanic Fallout
Sideboard
First and foremost, Mulldrifter is gone. While I really like Mulldrifter and always have, I just don’t feel as though it does that much for this deck when compared to Jace. Mulldrifter is probably slightly better against the really fast aggro decks (where an early Jace might only draw you a card), but otherwise Jace simply outclasses it. You can’t return a Jace off a Cruel Ultimatum, but that’s a fairly insignificant point when you you’re drawing three cards with Cruel anyway, and you’ve probably already got a Plumeveil or a Baneslayer Angel in the bin by that point regardless. Jace also doesn’t attack, but in a metagame polluted with Anathemancer decks, the old “twenty you with Mulldrifter” plan is far less effective than it was months ago. In the Five-Color mirror match, there’s really no card you want to resolve more than an early Jace (aside from maybe an Glen Elendra Archmage), as having a Jace in the mirror can often put you so far ahead that it is nearly impossible to lose.
You’ll also notice I chose to include Baneslayer Angels over two of the traditional three Broodmate Dragons, which is somewhat controversial. Baneslayer Angel dies to spot removal (and you only need one spell to do it as opposed to the two you need for Broodmate), but if it doesn’t then you can’t lose to an aggro deck. That is, if you play it later in the game as your finisher and can protect it, you won’t even need to have Haloed Anathemancer since you’ll soon be so far ahead in life that even getting Fireball’d for seven won’t put you in a losing position. If the Jund decks can’t find a Maelstrom Pulse or the Kithkin decks don’t have the Path, they can no longer make profitable attacks and you can begin to close the game in the following turns while having all of your mana to work with. Baneslayer Angel also happens to be very good at dealing with the mirror’s Broodmate Dragons, as well as giving you somewhat of an immunity to Thought Hemorrhage (that is, as long as you’re playing both), both of which give it somewhat of an edge over Broodmate right now. Add on to all of this that the United Kingdom Nationals winning deck, “Barnslayer Combo,” plays a full set of Baneslayer Angels that would make an utter mockery of any Broodmate Dragons you cast against them, and the pros begin to outweigh the cons.
My sideboard plan for aggro decks is twofold: on one hand, I have the sweepers like Hallowed Burial and Volcanic Fallout to keep the board in check, but I also have Wall of Reverence. Wall has fallen off the radar lately, but it’s possibly the best response to Anathemancer that I can fathom in the current format. My good friend Dale DeWood suggested the card to me, and after running it through some testing matches it seemed legitimate enough to make my sideboard for the PTQ. Of course, since then I’ve given it more time and the card can single-handedly shut down Jund decks, most often forcing them to choose between Pulsing this or the Baneslayer Angel I followed it up with. The plan isn’t as effective against Kithkin as it is against Jund, since against the White aggressive decks the board gets very cluttered and you’re going to want to sweep it rather than gain life, but overall I think it’s the best way to defend against Banefire and Anathemancer without needing to always draw Runed Halos in multiples. I also have Deathmarks and Great Sable Stags for their respective aggro match-ups, as well as the additional Halo for Anathemancer decks.
I’m more or less comfortable with this list’s strength in the mirror, due largely in part to the three maindeck Jaces. Jace is absolutely superb in the mirror, and having three Ajani Vengeants to join him after boarding is even more reassuring. I chose Glen Elendra Archmage over Identity Crisis for my mirror sideboard plan, though I’m not sure if this is exactly what I want to be in the final version for the PTQ in two weeks (I have that day off of work already). I haven’t been overly impressed with Identity Crisis on the whole, but it certainly is pretty strong against the mirror and Time Sieve, so I can see the general appeal. I feel like Sieve is one deck that I don’t have much game against, but Glen Elendra is actually very, very good against them, and arguably more effective than Crisis given that it comes online sooner. Even if you can resolve a Crisis on turn 6, they can still get back into the game merely by drawing a new hand in two turns with Howling Mines, so I’m not entirely convinced that Crisis is the correct approach to that match-up. I’d also consider Pithing Needle, Thought Hemorrhage, and Maelstrom Pulse for that match-up if one was to be looking for technology to beat the Sieve deck.
Still, I’ve seen Identity Crisis maindeck in some lists, so it clearly has a ton of merit even if it isn’t always the best card for the job. My reasoning behind playing Glen Elendra instead is based mostly on the fact that it fights back against every other possible sideboard plan in the mirror, including Crisis. If you can set up a situation to resolve an Archmage (probably best done by double Esper Charming your opponent in their end step), you’re probably going to win. At that point you’re essentially free to play anything you want as long as you leave mana open for Glen Elendra, including Cruel Ultimatum. I suppose the argument could be made that the best card to have here would be an Identity Crisis (since you can force it through and also lock them out of the possible Ultimatum topdeck), but I think that reinforces the fact that you should be playing Glen Elendra first before considering additional slots for Crisis.
You’re also going to want additional mirror technology, so more Negates and the aforementioned Ajani Vengeant go a long way towards winning the mirror match. The other approaches to the match-up, such as the Cruel/Anathemancer/Banefire burnout plan, I think are a bit lacking when you consider that they are easily defended against with Runed Halo if the opponent is smart enough to catch on in game 2. While Cruel and Crisis can always be Haloed, if the only two efficient cards to name with Halo are those two as opposed to Anathemancer and Banefire also, then your opponent’s sideboard cards (in this case, Halo) won’t be pulling double-duty by being very good in this match-up in addition to all the mirror hate they already have anyway. I mean, would you rather them have five cards specifically for you, or seven to eight? (Note: this is based on the assumption that they won’t bring in Halo against you anyway, but I could see how the card is more than legitimate in the mirror regardless)
One card I was considering for the maindeck was Lightning Bolt over either one or both of the spot removal spells. While the original use of Agony Warp was to kill the Forge-Tenders that prevented our Fallouts from killing little Green and White men, these days we see less and less of those cards (Kithkin actually has cut the card from their deck, and Elves! is incredibly unpopular in most places) and so maybe it’s legitimate to cut at least the Warp. I think Agony Warp’s “lifegain” aspect is valuable, but Bolt’s ability to not only kill Great Sable Stags but also to off Planeswalkers might give it somewhat of an edge. I think Path to Exile needs to remain (or Doom Blade, etc) mostly due to Baneslayer Angel, but Lightning Bolt is surprisingly strong at effectively taking care of problem creatures as well as alleviating some of the advantages that mirror match opponents get from resolving an Ajani or Jace (especially if they for some reason don’t maintain priority, although that would be a fairly donkey thing of them to do). If nothing else, it’s something to think about.
Before I wrap things up, I’d like to touch on a few points. First, Obelisk of Alara. I think that given how popular the mirror has become, that card may be very good again. It’s a lot like Liliana Vess in that it is very good in the mirror but otherwise kind of mediocre, which makes it a fairly reasonable card for the maindeck in the current metagame. It contributes to the mirror burnout plan, and it also digs into your library whenever you’re not doing something more important with it. In addition, it’s a fair defense against Anathemancer and also combos very well with Baneslayer Angel (nine you, and I gain nine?), plus it randomly kills x/2s. I haven’t decided if it’s truly better than the lone Broodmate Dragon, but it might very well be.
Secondly, Haunting Echoes. This card hasn’t seen any use yet, but it might be a good card for this archetype. It’s probably a lot better than Thought Hemorrhage against most of this deck’s match-ups given that we have a lot of ways to put cards into the graveyard (since we play counterspells, etc), and it definitely deserves a look. Against Jund decks it can be pretty devastating if you can resolve it when they have an Anathemancer and a Bloodbraid Elf/Putrid Leech in their graveyard, and against Sieve it’s absolutely nuts if you’ve kept their board in check with countermagic. In the mirror, having the ability to sever their card drawing and countermagic is pretty huge, although I wish it was a true Lobotomy rather than a graveyard/library-only deal, but I guess it would be pretty broken otherwise. It might not be that much better than Identity Crisis, but it’s probably a much better maindeck card (since it’s so good against Anathemancer) and also a lot better against Sieve. Again, if nothing else, it’s a card to consider and test for yourself.
I’m not positive yet what I’ll be writing about next week, but considering that I won’t be attending GenCon I can assume it won’t involve a tournament report or any trace of crazy stories and/or shenanigans. Still, I hope that all of you heading to Indianapolis this weekend have a good time, and I wish you the best of luck at the two PTQs taking place there this weekend!
Until next time…
Chris Jobin
Team RIW
“Shinjutsei” on MTGO and everywhere else