Commence rant prelude
Yeah, I know; B/G Control isn’t nearly as catchy as The Rock. The latter has fewer syllables and well – it’s also a professional wrestler. But where is the targeted discard, like Duress and Cabal Therapy? Where are the tutors like Living Wish and Vampiric Tutor? What happened to the manlands?
Even the deck’s strategy is different. B/G Control doesn’t gradually build card advantage and win with a variety of creatures and tricks like the real Rock does; instead, it beats hard with a big black dragon and strives to blow opponent’s out with a gigantic Death Cloud. B/G Control follows a much narrower, focused strategy rather than promoting a toolbox of answers built around long-term card-advantage.
So don’t call it The Rock. Call it anything else, because as soon as we forget about “The Rock” in Standard we can begin to truly understand [insert non-Rock name here].
End rant.
By now, most people know that B/G was this year’s breakout archetype at the State Championships. “Breakout” is a little deceiving, though. To put it another way, B/G was the fourth most popular archetype in the top 8s, after Affinity, Tooth and Nail, and G/U Control. More specifically, here’s the B/G top-eight report:
- Alabama 3rd
- Arizona 4th
- Arkansas 4th
- Connecticut 5th
- Indiana 7th
- Illinois 5th
- Kansas 1st
- Kentucky 1st, 5th, 6th
- Michigan 3rd
- Mississippi 8th
- Nebraska 2nd
- New York 4th
- North Dakota 3rd and 4th
- Oregon 4th, 7th
- South Carolina 6th
- Tennessee 3rd, 4th, 5th
- Utah 2nd, 5th
- Washington 4th
- Wisconsin 5th
- Wyoming 3rd, 4th
That’s 28 appearances in total, representing 7% of the total decks in top-8s.
Two rogue builds were included above: One based on Time of Need and another that focused on breaking the splice mechanic (you can find a tournament report about the deck here). Since both of these decks were pretty evenly split between black and green spells and focused on control strategies, I included them. I also included the zoo (creature-heavy) builds of B/G. Despite all the creatures, these builds do much more than mindlessly beat down; almost every creature has non-beatdown abilities that help control the game.
Now it’s time for me to pull a Philip Stanton. Get ready for lots of numbers, and don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ve crunched the numbers for forty-five out of the fifty states…. And I’m ignoring the other national championships, since I’m lazy.
Actually, there is a good reason. There is a somewhat coherent American metagame that differs significantly from, say, the Japanese one (where Tooth and Nail appeared in about as many top 8s as Affinity.) So these statistics are more meaningful if they are constrained to one national metagame… And this just happens to be the metagame I’m most interested in. Coincidence? I think not.
The next bit of data examines individual card choices. The first number is the total of all copies of the given card that appeared in the maindeck of B/G Control builds that top-eighted. The second number shows how many B/G Control builds included the given card in the maindeck. The third number is the average number of copies of the card that appeared in decks that played it (the first number divided by the second one). For your convenience, the list is divided according to types and color of spells and listed from most to least popular. Finally, the last number shows the percentage of the decks that played the card.
Card | Total | # of Decks | Avg Copies | Popularity |
13 | 13 | 1.0 | 46% | |
23 | 10 | 2.3 | 36% | |
9 | 9 | 1.0 | 32% | |
12 | 4 | 3.0 | 14% | |
4 | 4 | 1.0 | 14% | |
1 | 1 | 1.0 | 4% |
Card | Total | # of Decks | Avg. Copies | Popularity |
63 | 18 | 3.5 | 64% | |
4 | 1 | 4.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
2 | 1 | 2.0 | 4% |
Card | Total | # of Decks | Avg. Copies | Popularity |
112 | 28 | 4.0 | 100% | |
107 | 27 | 4.0 | 96% | |
66 | 20 | 3.3 | 71% | |
48 | 12 | 4.0 | 43% | |
41 | 11 | 3.7 | 39% | |
36 | 10 | 3.6 | 36% | |
27 | 9 | 3.0 | 32% | |
24 | 7 | 3.4 | 25% | |
16 | 5 | 3.2 | 18% | |
6 | 3 | 2.0 | 11% | |
6 | 3 | 2.0 | 11% | |
6 | 2 | 3.0 | 7% | |
4 | 1 | 4.0 | 4% | |
4 | 1 | 4.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
1 | 1 | 1.0 | 4% | |
1 | 1 | 1.0 | 4% | |
1 | 1 | 1.0 | 4% | |
1 | 1 | 1.0 | 4% |
Card | Total | # of Decks | Avg. Copies | Popularity |
70 | 25 | 2.8 | 89% | |
75 | 24 | 3.1 | 86% | |
81 | 23 | 3.5 | 82% | |
51 | 15 | 3.4 | 54% | |
46 | 14 | 3.3 | 50% | |
29 | 9 | 3.2 | 32% | |
26 | 9 | 2.9 | 32% | |
16 | 7 | 2.3 | 25% | |
8 | 4 | 2.0 | 14% | |
7 | 3 | 2.3 | 11% | |
7 | 2 | 3.5 | 7% | |
5 | 2 | 2.5 | 7% | |
4 | 2 | 2.0 | 7% | |
4 | 2 | 2.0 | 7% | |
4 | 2 | 2.0 | 7% | |
4 | 1 | 4.0 | 4% | |
4 | 1 | 4.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
3 | 1 | 3.0 | 4% | |
1 | 1 | 1.0 | 4% |
Looking at the Trends: Lands
The lands are pretty straightforward. Whether or not you play the legendary lands has a minor impact on how the deck plays. City of Brass, on the other hand, has a major impact on the consistency of the mana base.
To function ideally, the deck needs GGBBB available. Whether or not you can cast a green mana fixer/accelerator in your opening hand basically determines if you have to mulligan. It’s shocking that nearly two-thirds of the decks didn’t bother playing City of Brass.
And what the hell was going on with Blinkmoth Nexus? That’s like using an anti-City of Brass. Sure, Nexus let’s you keep a creature in play after Death Cloud – but you won’t even get the chance to cast Death Cloud if Nexus messes up your early mana development. Some of the decks with Nexus didn’t even bother with City of Brass. Friends don’t let friends play Blinkmoth Nexus in B/G Control.
Looking at the Trends: Artifacts
No real surprises here. Mirrodin block constructed is not far behind us. Everyone loved Solemn Simulacrum then and little has changed. Let’s not even talk about that deck that played two Aether Vials. What was that person thinking?
Well, umm. Vial is so strong in Affinity. What can I do with B/G? I know; I’ll fight fire with fire! Sure…
Looking at the Trends: Green
Birds of Paradise proved to be the surprise hit. They were more popular than Oxidize! With that nasty Goblin Sharpshooter gone, the Birds can roam the skies in relative safety once again. I wouldn’t have guessed that the Birds would be the fourth-most played spell in green’s arsenal. They must be doing something right, or perhaps people just want to play the copies they fought so hard to acquire before they rotate out with Ninth Edition.
In contrast to the Birds, it’s shocking that less than 40% of the decks played Oxidize. How non-Nate Heiss writers have drubbed into our brains that Affinity was the best deck in the format? I’d wager that the decision to eschew Oxidize is why only two out of the 28 B/G decks managed to win the whole shebang.
And Troll Ascetic was surprisingly popular, showing up in 25% of the decks. I forgot that the Troll even existed. If people wanted an edge against G/U Control, I guess it makes sense – but otherwise…
Looking at the Trends: Black
Night’s Whisper ended up being the surprise hit, gracing more than half the decks with its presence. I guess card advantage in a control deck is good.
Horobi, Death’s Wail showed that it doesn’t have to be constrained to Mono Black decks. I was surprised to find out that 25% of the decks used this anti-Affinity beatstick.
Then there is the remarkable disappointment: Cranial Extraction. After all the hype, it averaged a mere 2.0 copies in four decks. Did people really think it wasn’t worthy in the maindeck, or could they not find the cash to afford this pricey card?
By sticking with just the cards that were really popular (those that showed up over 80% of the B/G builds), and making some obvious inclusions to the mana base, you can generate the core of the archetype that few people will challenge.
B/G Control Core
10 Forest
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
9 Swamp
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
2 City of Brass
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Eternal Witness
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Echoing Decay
3 Kokusho, the Evening Star
3 Death Cloud
I took some statistical liberties with the mana base, and it obviously needs to be adjusted based on what fills out the rest of the deck. Some things are obvious about it: You always want more green sources than black ones, since green spells can fetch Swamps (though only one third of the decks at States played City of Brass, I don’t think it’s optional). Taking a few points of pain to ensure that you can cast a green mana fixer with your opening hand is worth it.
And there’s no good reason to not run both legendary lands. They help Kokusho swing past chump blockers, insulate you against Sundering Titan, and provide an easy way to kill an opposing Horobi, Death’s Wail.
Playing Birds of Paradise changes the land base significantly, allowing you to cut one or two lands.
Sakura-Tribe Elder and Eternal Witness? They don’t need explaining.
You must have some sort of artifact removal. Ideally, I prefer Oxidize and Viridian Shaman, but if you have to choose one over the other and you want maximum flexibility (which makes more sense for the skeleton of a deck) then go with the Shaman. Though statistics showed that most people leaned toward three copies as the right number, I’m insisting on four. The Shaman is one of the best anti-Affinity cards in the format, often trading two-for-one, and against everything else it provides an early beater or chump blocker. It’s never a dead draw. Go with four of them always.
There’s some debate about whether three or four Echoing Decays is the right number… But I think four is correct. They are crucial against Affinity, often even going two-for-one. They also provide the best answer to Rude Awakening, G/U Control’s finisher of choice. Against everything else, Echoing Decay may not be as impressive – but there are always valid targets.
Kokusho is simply the best creature threat in the format. If you want to get an edge in the mirror match, playing a fourth copy is a good plan – but otherwise, three seems like a better number since you don’t want them clogging up your hand in the early game.
Finally, there is Death Cloud. I used to think this card was BBBad in this deck because of its mana cost and its slowness against Affinity. I’ve changed my mind. The card has great synergy with mana acceleration and Kokusho and, well, it does everything: Blows up all your opponent’s lands, Mind Twists their hand, Wrath of Gods the board, or Fireballs your opponent for those final points of damage.
But this core is only forty-five cards, leaving fifteen free slots. Consequently, there are a tremendous variety of B/G builds… And none of them are perfect. It all depends on the metagame and what you’re gunning for. Let’s consider some of the other popular spells for B/G Control.
Beyond the Core: Solemn Simulacrum
64% of the decks turned to Jens for help. For four mana you get a card advantage machine that accelerates out Kokusho and has excellent synergy with Death Cloud, since you sacrifice creatures after discarding to the Cloud. There are only two problems: speed and space. Paying four mana for a 2/2 against Affinity isn’t going to cut it; the extra cards are pretty irrelevant. And in a deck that already has access to numerous cheaper mana accelerators/fixers, you have to ask yourself if Jens is necessary.
The decision about whether or not to play Jens becomes more complicated with Viridian Shaman and Molder Slug – two creatures that don’t like to cooperate with the Sad Robot.
Beyond the Core: Birds of Paradise
Speed is your greatest ally against Affinity 0 and your greatest adversary. The Birds go a long way helping you win the race, since Viridian Shaman on turn 3 is great but often feels like you’re struggling to keep up. Casting the Shaman a turn earlier makes all the difference, often putting Affinity in the situation where it has to hit the gas pedal to keep up. Later in the game, it’s nice to have a chump blocker when Blinkmoth Nexus is wearing Cranial Plating.
The Birds are also surprisingly good with Death Cloud. It seems counter-intuitive, since the Birds will just be Clouded away – but that’s the point. They get Death Cloud online sooner, make it bigger, and take one for the team so that more important creatures can remain in play after the Cloud resolves.
Like Jens, though, space becomes a concern. You have to play Sakura-Tribe Elder, and Kodama’s Reach is pretty exciting too (especially on turn 2). But at which point has the deck become too diluted with too much mana acceleration and too few threats?
Beyond the Core: Oxidize
This is your best weapon against the Affinity menace. If you don’t play this spell, it means you’re willing to give up game one against Affinity. That means that your plan is to sideboard heavily and win games two and three. And that, in turn, means that you’re not going to be winning the majority of your matches against Affinity, since it’s so prone to “I win” draws and resilient to hate.
Yeah, it’s a slippery slope argument, but you can see where this is going…
It doesn’t matter what the rest of the deck looks like. A lot of B/G players don’t seem to get this, since they claim a good match-up without Oxidize. Let me say it again. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the deck looks like. [author name="Mark Young"]Mark Young[/author] knows how to play Affinity, and after tons of playtesting against him, I can tell you with great certainty: You need Oxidize to beat Affinity with any consistency. Even with Oxidize, it’s a struggle.
On the flip side, drawing Oxidize sucks when you’re fighting against R/G, G/U, Tooth and Nail, and… Well, everything else that’s out there. Yeah, that’s annoying. But it’s more annoying to always come close to winning tournaments but not quite making it because you can’t beat the best deck in the format.
Beyond the Core: Molder Slug
Alone, this card is not nearly enough to stop Affinity. But when you cast removal spells for the first three or four turns and slap this guy down, suddenly you gain inevitability; the pressure of having to topdeck a continuous stream of anti-Affinity spells is relieved. And, like Viridian Shaman, it’s solid – if unspectacular – against decks without artifacts.
On the downside, the Slug often acts like little more than a big Wall or a dumb beast that slams into Arc-Slogger or an infinite number of Eternal Witnesses.
Beyond the Core: Kodama’s Reach (a.k.a. The Hand)
Damn, this is a fine accelerator. Unfortunately, it’s pretty marginal against Affinity. Tapping out on turn 3 without impacting the board when Affinity is emptying its hand on turn 3 is a bad thing. Yet a single copy of The Hand basically ensures that you never have mana problems for the rest of the game… And the Hand is far and away the best spell to help set up Death Cloud.
Beyond the Core: Troll Ascetic
I’m not a fan of the Ascetic. Two toughness means that you’ll always want to hold back that mana for regeneration if the Troll enters combat. This is especially annoying when you’re contending with free 2/2s – need I mention the card’s name?
Nevertheless, the Troll is almost unstoppable against red decks, G/U, and the mirror. And if you decide to go the creature-heavy B/G route, then the Troll is a nice addition to the team, given the lack of available aggressive three-drops.
Beyond the Core: Plow Under
Maindeck this if you really want to hate Tooth and Nail and other control decks. The catch, though, is that sometimes Plow Under doesn’t really do anything. You’ll want to hork after your opponent gets out Kokusho on turn 4 (with Sakura-Tribe Elder and Kodama’s Reach) and all you can do is stare helplessly at the Plow Under in hand. The same applies for when you run into a speedy Arc-Slogger or Kumano, Master Yamabushi from R/G or Ponza.
Even against pure control strategies (Mono Blue and G/U), Plow Under won’t help you win games unless it’s paired with a threat that can’t be answered. You Plow the Blue Mage in the late game and he puts the lands back on the top of his deck without hesitating. Then you even manage to topdeck a threat during the next two turns. But it gets countered and you’re back where you started. It doesn’t help that B/G lacks cheap, aggressive creatures to curve out before dropping the Plow. So, Plow Under seems best against Tooth and Nail – but even then, there seems to be a better sorcery to cast…
Oh, and Plow Under is slooooooooooow against Affinity.
Beyond the Core: Rude Awakening
Eventually, you need to win, and that means swinging with men. Kokusho is a fine option, but it would be nice to have something else. You might need to overload counter magic or cope after having the Dragons hit by Cranial Extraction. A copy or two of Rude Awakening seems ideal.
Too bad it clashes so horribly with Death Cloud.
Beyond the Core: Sylvan Scrying (with Boseiju, Who Shelters All)
With few true threats, B/G can run into problems against decks with heavy countermagic. This happened to me at States in round one against Mono Blue, and it was extremely painful. In game two, his countermagic stalled out my threat-light hand and my opponent took control of the game while I failed to topdeck anything significant.
Two Sylvan Scrying and Boseiju provide a very convenient out, ensuring that you can force through a devastating Death Cloud in the late game. Is it worth it, though? Apparently it was for Joshua Claytor, Kentucky State Champion. Andrew Edgington played a more aggressive build, but also opted for the Scrying/Boseiju plan, taking 5th place in Kentucky.
That’s impressive – but unless you’re expecting tons of counter magic, Sylvan Scrying and Boseiju don’t seem like they are worth the effort. Drawing the Boseiju against Affinity is like a mulligan, and casting Sylvan Scrying when you don’t need Boseiju is also pretty weak. It’s hard to argue with success, though.
Beyond the Core: Night’s Whisper
The most efficient card-drawing spell in the format saw quite a bit of action at States. Aside from Echoing Decay and Sakura-Tribe Elder, B/G doesn’t have many tempting spells in the two-mana slot, which makes Whisper look even better. Only two factors hold Whisper back from being an automatic choice: First, a self-inflicted Shock is bad times against Affinity. Second, those two points of life become very relevant when they preclude the proper-sized game-winning Death Cloud.
Beyond the Core: Rend Flesh
Don’t worry about Welding Jar, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. This is so much better than Dark Banishing, because it kills Disciple of the Vault and Moriok Rigger. It also hits the big guys in R/G and Ponza decks. The targets in G/U, Tooth and Nail, and B/G – remember that Kokusho is a Legendary Dragon Spirit – are generally less exciting, but even then Rend Flesh isn’t a dead card. When Terror is this good, not playing it seems crazy.
Beyond the Core: Barter in Blood
Barter is solid against the entire format, but it constrains deck design, in general, encouraging a smaller creature base. Though it almost always goes two-for-one versus Affinity, not being able to deal with the dreaded Blinkmoth Nexus/Cranial Plating combo is pretty annoying. Similarly, Barter is one of the few answers to Darksteel Colossus or the Platinum Angel/Leonin Abunas lock, but if you’re coping with Sundering Titan/Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker you probably won’t even be able to generate the necessary 2BB.
Beyond the Core: Nezumi Shortfang
Extensive testing revealed that Shortfang was only great against two decks: G/U Control and Mono Blue Control.
Many people think the Rat is good versus Tooth and Nail. They are wrong. You play first and cast the Rat on turn 2. The turn after you force the Tooth player to discard something. And you repeat the process for the next two turns. Sure, you’re getting card advantage, but paying 1B every turn means you’re not committing the necessary pressure to the board that you need to beat Tooth. And by the time it’s turn five or so, Tooth and Nail is – well – casting Tooth and Nail with entwine. So what if the Tooth player discarded three irrelevant cards the previous turns?
Consequently, the place for Shortfang is the sideboard… And even that is debatable. It’s tempting to run more flexible anti-control cards like Cranial Extraction or Plow Under.
Beyond the Core: Horobi, Death’s Wail
People are catching on that almost every non-Affinity deck should run legendary lands… And even Affinity is adapting with Pyrite Spellbomb and Electrostatic Bolt. Add to this the fact that Horobi is a dead card against any red deck and dies to nonsense like Echoing Truth and this card’s wail is looking more like a groan. Still, Horobi is ideal in the sideboard, making a fine substitute for Death Cloud against Affinity.
Beyond the Core: Cranial Extraction
What happened to this popular, “broken” card? Even the decks that played it averaged a mere two copies. I’m betting that most players just couldn’t get a hold of this expensive chase rare in time for the big event… Or perhaps Cranial Extraction’s inability to affect the board position scared players away from it.
While that may be true, Extraction is never a dead card. States may have been a disaster for me (1-2 drop), but I won three games single-handedly thanks to Cranial Extraction. I dissected a Kiki-Jiki/Intruder Alarm deck twice and the other time I removed all the win conditions from a G/u Blasting Station.
Yeah, those two decks are off the radar. But Extraction takes a bite out of the popular archetypes as well. What’s Tooth without Tooth or G/U without Rude Awakening? Or how about any base-red deck without Arc-Slogger? And Extraction is surprisingly decent – not good, but decent – against Affinity once you’ve stabilized, since you can take the combo kill offline (naming Disciple of the Vault or Arcbound Ravager) or prevent a lethal Cranial Plating from being topdecked.
Beyond the Core: Lose Hope
Of all the cards analyzed above, this is the only unpopular one I insist on including. Testing has shown that Lose Hope is very good in B/G Control, especially against Affinity. It’s incredible how much of a difference it makes when you Lose Hope a first-turn Arcbound Worker. It also ensures that you have enough quick answers to Disciple of the Vault and Blinkmoth Nexus. These are all great uses, and being able to scry on top of them is just gravy.
Lose Hope also makes Sakura-Tribe Elder a surprisingly good chump-blocker, allowing the Elder to take down stuff like Viridian Shaman and Frogmite.
The early turns against other base green decks often consist of bashing with dorky three-drops like Viridian Shaman and Eternal Witness. Lose Hope takes out opposing Witnesses, giving you tempo and improving your card quality advantage.
The Many Builds of B/G
Now that we know what the core of B/G Control looks like and have an idea of the most tempting possibilities beyond the core, let’s look at some decklist possibilities. Beating Affinity is the logical place to start. After all, Affinity did account for about 40% of the decks in the top-8 at States.
Anti-Affinity
11 Forest
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
8 Swamp
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
2 City of Brass
4 Oxidize
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Eternal Witness
3 Kodama’s Reach
3 Molder Slug
2 Lose Hope
4 Echoing Decay
3 Rend Flesh
3 Kokusho, the Evening Star
3 Death Cloud
This is it: the “Affinity killer.” How good is it? Just how often does it win game one against the dreaded Artifact deck?
It’s slightly favorable for B/G Control. That’s all. (And it’s probably a good idea to squeeze three copies of Horobi, Death’s Wail into the sideboard so that you can gain more of an edge after sideboarding.)
Anti-Control
10 Forest
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
9 Swamp
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
2 City of Brass
2 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Eternal Witness
4 Kodama’s Reach
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Echoing Decay
3 Night’s Whisper
3 Cranial Extraction
3 Kokusho, the Evening Star
3 Death Cloud
(Yes, I still stand by what I said about the importance of Oxidize earlier… But in some metagames, like Friday Night Magic at the local store I play at, Affinity is actually not that popular. Lots of people are sick of it or eager to test out new deck ideas. So playing a list like the one above becomes a reasonable idea. Just keep in mind that in more serious or professional settings the best deck will be there and in large numbers).
This build trades removal for faster threats (Troll Ascetic), card advantage (Night’s Whisper and Solemn Simulacrum), and Cranial Extraction. These changes mean that game one against Affinity is very difficult, so much of the majority of the sideboard will need to address this problem.
Tooth and Nail is a special control deck that is in a league of its own. An anti-Tooth build would look similar to the one above, except it you would want to maindeck Barter in Blood and/or Plow Under. Molder Slug is another good choice, since it has to be dealt with before the big artifact men can enter the red zone – Kiki-Jiki, Mirror-Breaker nonsense aside. I can’t imagine needing to hate Tooth and Nail that much, but it’s nice to know that the tools are there if you need them.
Turbo Cloud
10 Forest
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
7 Swamp
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
2 City of Brass
2 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Sylvan Scrying
4 Kodama’s Reach
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Eternal Witness
4 Echoing Decay
3 Night’s Whisper
3 Kokusho, the Evening Star
4 Death Cloud
Think of this as the combo build of B/G Control. All it cares about is pumping out as much mana as possible, drawing extra cards, and wrecking an opponent with a quick Kokusho or massive Death Cloud. Since Death Cloud is so important, the Scrying/Boseiju combo seems like it’s worth the space.
An Ode to Success
After all of that number crunching, card analysis, and theorizing, let’s see what some of the successful builds from States look like. Where did these builds go right or wrong?
Joshua Claytor: 1st at Kentucky
Lands:
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
12 Forest
10 Swamp
Creatures:
4 Eternal Witness
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Kokusho, The Evening Star
Spells:
4 Kodama’s Reach
2 Sylvan Scrying
4 Echoing Decay
4 Oxidize
4 Barter In Blood
3 Death Cloud
4 Plow Under
Sideboard:
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Naturalize
1 Death Cloud
3 Persecute
2 Rude Awakening
He took the anti-control approach, placing an emphasis on hating Tooth and Nail and winning the mirror. It’s a very focused build and I like its discipline. However, I cringe at the lack of City of Brass and I’m willing to bet that he got lucky with either very few Affinity matchups or very soft Affinity players.
Peter Nguyen: 1st at Kansas
11 Swamp
8 Forest
3 City of Brass
3 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Oxidize
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Eternal Witness
3 Viridian Shaman
3 Molder Slug
3 Lose Hope
4 Night’s Whisper
3 Nezumi Shortfang
3 Echoing Decay
2 Horobi, Death’s Wail
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
2 Death Cloud
Here’s a vastly different approach: Light on removal and heavy on creatures. From Viridian Shaman to Nezumi Shortfang to Horobi, Death’s Wail-there’s a creature dedicated to every possible matchup. And with the full complement of Night’s Whispers and three Lose Hopes, this deck is likely to find the desired answer.
With only the Elder for mana acceleration and just two copies of Death Cloud, the mirror match is trouble, and Tooth and Nail looks problematic as well. But beyond that, this deck has quite a bit of game, despite its unrefined appearance.
Omar Hernandez: 4th at New York
Lands:
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
13 Forest
8 Swamp
1 Okina, Temple To The Grandfathers
Creatures:
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Eternal Witness
4 Viridian Shaman
3 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Nezumi Shortfang
3 Molder Slug
2 Kokusho, The Evening Star
Spells:
2 Night’s Whisper
3 Echoing Decay
2 Rend Flesh
3 Death Cloud
4 Oxidize
Sideboard:
2 Grim Reminder
3 Naturalize
3 Phyrexian Arena
1 Rend Flesh
2 Persecute
4 Cranial Extraction
Here we have what appears to be a more tuned build. Sorry Mark, but there is no way that Kansas States is as competitive as New York’s. Omar ups the anti-affinity slots and adds the third copy of the most broken card in the deck – all changes for the better, I believe. But what happened to City of Brass? Can’t he squeeze just two of them in there?
Aaron Breider: 3rd at Michigan
Lands:
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
1 Okina, Temple To The Grandfathers
11 Forest
7 Swamp
Creatures:
2 Horobi, Death’s Wail
4 Birds Of Paradise
4 Molder Slug
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Eternal Witness
Spells:
4 Kodama’s Reach
4 Rend Flesh
2 Echoing Decay
4 Death Cloud
4 Oxidize
Sideboard:
4 Plow Under
4 Naturalize
3 Persecute
2 Echoing Decay
2 Greater Harvester
Aaron presents us with an interesting hybrid between the anti-Affinity and combo strategies. Since the mana base is heavily skewed toward green, the lack of City of Brass doesn’t bother me. The only minor changes I would make would be adding one or two additional copies of Echoing Decay. My other concern is that, even with Birds of Paradise, running only twenty lands in a deck that want to cast Death Cloud seems risky. I’d add at least one land.
What about sideboards? Well, they depend too much on a deck’s natural strengths and weaknesses and your local metagame. It’s hard enough to cover the varieties of B/G decks. Talking about sideboards in any meaningful way could take up another entire column.
Okay, that’s not totally true. I can tell you one important thing about the sideboard:
1) Have additional hate for Affinity, even if you’re already biased in the general direction.
Pretty brilliant, eh? Moving right along…
Flexibility Galore
No other archetype in Standard has the flexibility that B/G Control does. This is both a blessing and a curse: With so many options, finding the optimal configuration for the deck is challenging – but even more than usual, knowing your local metagame is critical. Once you know what you’re up against, it’s simply a matter of adding the proper tools to the deck. And though this column has raised lots of questions and possibilities, I hope that I have made at least one thing patently clear: B/G can adapt to handle just about any metagame.
This also means that B/G Control is not particularly friendly to net-deckers. There is no universal build, and even the core of the deck leaves a tremendous number of open slots. Each build has its own focus, which may or may not be applicable to your local metagame. More than perhaps any other deck in the format, it rewards careful tuning and testing. Therein lies the temptation and the challenge.
Take it easy,
Rick
rick at rickrust dot com
P.S. – And don’t forget that B/G Control is not the Rock.