How far have you ever traveled to play Magic? Two miles? Or maybe two thousand miles? My farthest trip was from Moscow to Barcelona. “Play the game, see the World” is not just a slogan; it’s one of the most important reasons I play tournament Magic. In 2008, at the Moscow airport Domodedovo I encountered a guy who traveled to GP Hanover just like I did. A year later, I was one of the guests at his wedding, thousand miles from Moscow in the opposite direction from Hanover. True friendships are surely made through Magic.
Traveling to GP-level events from Russia isn’t easy, so we generally use these occasions as a holidays. Three days of playing and four days of sightseeing in a good company is one of the things I’ve look forward to doing most every spring for the past four years. Germany, Italy, Spain—all these countries were amazing, and I hope that I’ll continue exploring new horizons with my friends for a long time. I’m unable to attend the upcoming StarCityGames.com Invitational in Indianapolis, but I’m definitely looking forward to attending these amazing events in the near future!
Large non-PT events are often held in established formats, so there is enough time to prepare. Obvious additional restrictions include simplicity and the ability to win the match fast; I’m not going to explain these obvious things in details, but I want to emphasize them as reasons why I consistently choose green aggro for important events.
Another reason is that I always want to stand against the obvious villain (mostly because I dislike blue mirror matches), so my Standard choice for upcoming events will be anything but Delver. G/R Aggro is the most common one, but Restoration Angel definitely made its matchup against Delver worse, so it’s time to try other solutions. One of the Delver’s generally known weaknesses is its inability do anything with hexproof threats. Thrun, the Last Troll was kept in check by Phantasmal Image, but Restoration Angel does the same job worse, so it’s time to try again; this time with the biggest hexproof creature in Standard: Dungrove Elder.
Mono-Green is the same as G/R in its heart but without Huntmaster of the Fells, Kessig Wolf Run, and Bonfire of the Damned. Of these three cards, only the last one is a huge loss; Huntmaster of the Fells is not an ultimate threat against Delver anymore. You can’t consistently flip it and even can’t attack into open Angel mana. So giant tree (no, not Tree of Redemption) looks like a legitimate choice to punish armies of flying 3/2s.
There are some different approaches to Mono-Green, including the so-called “Fight Club” variations from Block Constructed, but Ulvenwald Tracker and Prey Upon are weak against both Vapor Snag and Restoration Angel. Ulvenwald Tracker is still very good as a turn 1 play against Delver decks, but it’s not good enough to justify playing a playset and casting them turn 1 over mana dorks. So let’s set Fight Club and Predator Ooze aside until the rotation and look at an all-in hexproof deck.
To resolve Elder is the ultimate goal, so you should build your game around it: try to cast Wolfir Avenger into Mana Leak, etc. After the hexproof threat is online, you should just be as aggressive as you can—it’s still very possible to outrace you, especially if an opposing Delver deck has a Sword while you don’t.
Creatures (26)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
- 2 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 2 Phyrexian Metamorph
- 4 Dungrove Elder
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 2 Wolfir Silverheart
- 3 Wolfir Avenger
Lands (24)
- 24 Forest
Spells (10)
Champion of Lambholt is a card that substitutes for Kessig Wolf Run (as are Revenge of the Hunted and Bellowing Tanglewurm). In creature mirrors Champion is very good and far easier to find than Bellowing Tanglewurm. The problem is that Champion, like many other good cards, is weak to Vapor Snag. But both Delver and Solar Flare will very likely side in Timely Reinforcements against you, so Champion of Lambholt deserves her place in the sideboard against them.
Eaten by Spiders is an interesting addition to the already played Plummet, Corrosive Gale, and other clunky ways to beat Restoration Angel and Delver of Secrets. Sword-equipped creatures are hard to race, so dealing with them is extremely important. Another card to try in this slot is Crushing Vines; it has ability to be useful after a creature is equipped with the Sword of Feast and Famine.
An interesting note: Delver decks and Sam Black Delverless U/W Midrange are going to sideboard into a kind of control with Consecrated Sphinx. But all these green hate cards are also good against Sphinx, so this plan is not so good especially when it is known. So Frost Titan looks like an interesting substitute aiming to dodge generally adopted technology.
As I said, the only card I definitely miss from G/R is Bonfire of the Damned. Unfortunately, to use it in the same deck as Dungrove Elder we would have to somehow make Forests to produce red mana. The only realistic way to do that in Standard is Abundant Growth. This card was very impressive during our Block Constructed testing, so let’s look at my attempt.
Creatures (26)
- 3 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Acidic Slime
- 2 Borderland Ranger
- 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 4 Dungrove Elder
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
- 2 Wolfir Silverheart
- 4 Wolfir Avenger
Lands (22)
Spells (12)
The idea of the deck is the same—just resolve Dungrove Elder and smash. So the question is if the red splash works as intended. I did relatively small amount of testing, and my feelings are mixed but not worse than usual small-sample conclusions are. The real problem I’ve noticed is that Elder is usually a little bit smaller than in the conventional build. 4/4 is normally good enough, but sometimes the only thing we need is just bigger tree. This means the last deck to consider in today’s article is the one with the biggest threats.
Creatures (16)
- 4 Solemn Simulacrum
- 1 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Acidic Slime
- 4 Primeval Titan
- 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 4 Dungrove Elder
- 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (15)
The amount of threats in this deck is so large that you would just play them one by one against Delver, and the creature that is not countered will probably win the game for you. Casting Dungrove Elder after your opponent has dealt with your Primeval Titan is just a joke. “7/7 for three, and I’ll pay for two Mana Leaks!”
The downside is the inability to play Slagstorm and even Whipflare consistently, so Glimmerpost, Batterskull, Wurmcoil Engine, and Tree of Redemption is a necessary mix to fix your matchups against random aggressive decks. I also didn’t include Cavern of Souls in the 75 because Glimmerpost is a necessary part of the deck preboard, and after boarding all blue decks will side their Mana Leaks out in the fear of Cavern of Souls. So if they do Cavern’s job by themselves, why should we waste sideboard slots?
The deck is very straightforward and powerful, so it would the good choice for a Delver-heavy metagame and for long and important tournaments like an SCG Standard Open, Grand Prix, or PTQ. No matter what event you’re playing, the power of the Big Tree Papa can be useful for you. That’s all about Standard decks for today; let’s go to the final section.
This section is not about Magic decks. I’m going to speak about travel and cover important questions like the size of your backpack… Actually, no. I’m going to offer you a crazy quest. If you have ever played “Ticket to Ride: Europe,” you should remember a tunnel between Stockholm and Petrograd (if you haven’t played, do it!). Building that tunnel requires many preparations and is very risky—but extremely rewarding.
My quest is the following: build your way to Moscow! Grand Prix Moscow will take place on September 15-16, and the format is M13 Sealed. Some people dislike Core Set Limited, but WoTC has put a lot of effort in making it better each year. This summer’s edition is unfolding to be something special with strong references to Alara block and hints for multicolor shenanigans, as well as a new Liliana and three-mana Ajani, so there’s a lot to look forward to. So if you were looking for a reason to finally visit Russia, this is as good as it can get. The deadline is the 15th of September, the reward is time spent in the one of the most interesting cities in the world, and it totally covers all possible expenses and severities.
To make your quest easier, I’ve prepared some strategic tips. I also offer a one-day trip to some of the most historical places in Moscow with me as a guide for anyone who finds me at GP site and says, “I came to GP Moscow from another country using your travel tips.”
Let the road begin.
Lonelyplanet.com says: “Everyone needs a visa to visit Russia, and it’s likely to be your biggest single headache in organizing a trip there.” I have two things to say about this. The bad one is that it’s the truth. The good one is that I’ve survived at least eight similar procedures, and I’m still alive and willing to travel.
So if you’re willing to travel to Russia this September, the most important things you will need are:
- one passport sized photo
- visa invitation letter
- cover application letter
Getting a visa invitation letter is probably the most complicated of them all. Russian laws state that somebody must invite you via a special form. Have no relatives in Russia? I guess I know the solution… No, stop writing a message to me! Normally these letters can be written by your hotel or any travel agency for a small fee (like $20-30 / 15-20 Euro). Just contact the hotel you’ve chosen, and they’ll be happy to oblige. An example of such a form can be found here. (I’m not advising to use this hostel or advertising them; their site just happens a good example of an invitation form.) To locate any suitable hotels / hostels in Moscow I’d recommend using http://www.booking.com/, as it’s never failed to find me a good place to stay at during my European Grand Prix trips.
The next step is to figure out where the closest Russian consulate is located. The full list of all consulates of the Russian Federation worldwide can be found here.
Consulates in the USA are located in Washington, D.C., New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Seattle. However, if you happen to live far from a consulate, you can go to one of the three certified agencies instead: www.travisarussia.com, www.pvsinternational.org, or www.cibt.com/russianvisa. Contact them for additional details.
You will also need to present a cover letter (just some paper containing your name and approximate itinerary) and fill in a visa application form (you can do it online here). You will also need to pay the visa fee (about $140 for USA citizens and about $50 for EU citizens). Please check more details on the official page of the Russian Embassy in the USA.
You need about a month to safely go through all these hoops, so I suggest to starting the quest right now. Please also note that you don’t have to present any financial guarantees or plane tickets when applying for visa, but early purchase can save you a lot of money. To book your flight, I’d recommend visiting site like momondo.com or http://www.anywayanyday.com/. And, obviously, you can find a ton of additional info at the Lonely Planet.
The overall procedure is nearly the same for Europeans. I can only add that if you’re seeking cheap flights, check out the web pages of Air Baltic and Austrian Airlines as they usually rather helpful in that regard.
That’s all for today; good luck to everyone playing this weekend and everyone willing to undertake my quest!