Hello and welcome to Untapped, StarCityGames.com newest column! I’m Matt, and I’ll be taking you on a fun trip each week through the wacky, weird, and fun decks you like to read about and love to play!
For a quick word about yours truly, I’ve been playing Magic since the original Ravnica set came out about seven years ago and have been blogging consistently about Magic for around a year now. I love to make quirky, weird, and creative decks in all formats. Although Limited is my go-to format, I have come to really enjoy Standard, and that’s the landscape I like to paint the most these days. I hope to bring you a little bit of everything here, but first up, I want to bring you an unusual deck I’ve been working on for a while.
I never realized it until Innistrad, but I love graveyards. (Uh, well, in Magic. Real ones give me the ooglies.) The graveyard can become a second library, another place from which to draw your spells. One particular card stood out as a potential diamond in the rough.
Burning Vengeance is the real deal, from the concise, efficient cost to the always-awesome Raymond Swanland art. With all the flashback goodies present in the block, Burning Vengeance was sure to lend itself to some strong archetype, right? Okay, maybe not a 32-copies-in-the-Top-8 good, but I hoped the enchantment would at least measurably impact the metagame. I fiddled around with different deck ideas and interactions, but they proved ineffective and inconsistent. Burning Vengeance, along with its previous variants like Rumbling Aftershocks, Where Ancients Tread, and Boggart Shenanigans, has the unfortunate crutch of requiring other cards to do its job; however, I believe that Burning Vengeance has an advantage that the others don’t.
Burning Vengeance, although inherent card disadvantage at first, doesn’t need long to take off. A correctly built deck that utilizes flashback cards will already be oozing card advantage (as you’ll have your hand and your ‘yard), so being able to cast your spells normally and impact the board at the same time is very attractive. Also, unlike similar enchantments in the past where you’re forced to use spells awkwardly to activate the enchantment, casting spells is a natural part of the game. You don’t need to play a certain kind of spell, such as five-power creatures or those of a certain tribe.
As Burning Vengeance began to fade back into the annals of bad red enchantments, Return to Ravnica dropped, and we got a similar effect.
Okay, now we’re talking. Guttersnipe reminded me of Burning Vengeance because it has a unique synergy with the enchantment: whenever you cast a flashback spell, you get the Burning Vengeance-style ping on both ends. With each damage source on the board, casting that Geistflame and flashing it back will deal eight damage to your opponent (or up to four to something else and four to your opponent).
With all that damage potential at my fingertips, I started brewing the same day the Guttersnipe was spoiled, and I’ve been fine-tuning the deck ever since. Originally just an Izzet-colored deck, I was finding the results disappointing. It’d still win more games than not, but it needed some help. Perhaps another color…
As I considered the flashback spells available to me, I came across this old favorite.
Oh. Oh!
Now I could protect myself, get in the red zone with my fairly shrimpy team, and cheaply flash it back for ma-ma-ma-MAXIMUM VALUE.
Okay, so with the design leaning towards a U/W/R build and with my sights set, I scribbled up this list. I decided to go foreign to avoid the typical “USA” indicator this color combo gets, so we’ll go with something a little more…foreign.
Creatures (14)
Lands (22)
Spells (24)
And now for a little deck tech…
Maindeck
Snapcaster Mage
Tiago Chan was a mainstay in pre-RTR Standard, and this is a perfectly fine deck for him. I included some spells without flashback, so he can always hit one of those, or he can slim the cost of a flashback spell I’ve already binned.
Augur of Bolas
Don’t underestimate this card. There isn’t a turn I can think of in any given game that I don’t want to cast this. The deck has twenty targets, so I’m quite likely to hit at least one each time, and occasionally I’ll have some choices. He has a nice body (those fins…), as he can survive piddly burn and effectively stiff-arm early creatures like Rakdos Cackler and Stromkirk Noble. That one power isn’t irrelevant, either. I’ve played a lot of games where the Augur dealt more than its fair share of damage.
Restoration Angel
A combo with the ETB guys above, it also saves my Guttersnipes from Pillar of Flame and any targeted removal. Refreshing a Snapcaster or Augur’s trigger for 3W isn’t irrelevant, and her sizeable stats make her a serious threat in the air.
Geist of Saint Traft
After I threw in Feeling of Dread, the Holy Roller wasn’t far behind. Feeling of Dread EOT when they hold back to block my resolved Geist can be backbreaking (as you can then do it again the next turn), and it was too good to pass up. I don’t foresee a lot of stuff killing him, so I’m fine with just a pair.
Guttersnipe
The engine that finishes them off, the Guttersnipe has the paradoxical quality of being the best card in this deck yet the hardest one to effectively cast. His slight frame makes him pretty susceptible to any scalable removal, and he often won’t do anything if you play him on curve. That being said, if you can find the right time to resolve him and you’re able to protect him and/or untap, you’ll have your opponent’s life total in a vice grip. Don’t forget that you can redirect his trigger to a planeswalker, slimming even a lofty Tamiyo or Garruk, Primal Hunter to a manageable (read: dead) state.
Desperate Ravings
I was skeptical about this card at first; although its cost and color synergy seemed to almost mandate its inclusion, discarding at random is unattractive. In practice, though, I wish I had fifty of them. Desperate Ravings lets you look at two more cards at instant speed and, if you’re holding even a medium-sized hand, you’re more likely to throw away something you’ve been holding that you don’t need at the moment. After some practice, here’s how I see it. If you draw and discard the answer, that’s still an answer you wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t done anything. If you didn’t cast the card you needed before you chaos-Loot, that’s your mistake. Furthermore, in this deck, nearly everything can be salvaged from the graveyard in some way or another.
Feeling of Dread
So good! This card won me so many games when I played a U/W Humans deck in pre-Dark Ascension Standard. It provides massive tempo advantage and creates that needed window to swing through and get there with your small creatures for some extra damage.
Geistflame
Really? I mean, I know it’s a flashback spell, but…one damage?
One damage still kills a lot of things in the format: mana dorks, Knights of Glory, Rakdos Keyrunes, Spirit tokens, Falkenrath Aristocrats, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, or even a first turn Gravecrawler. You know what else it kills? Players. How many times has your opponent sat at one or two life while you furiously rip turn after turn waiting to find that final push? I’ve killed plenty of players in Limited with a five-mana Geistflame. With a Guttersnipe, it’s a Lava Spike, and with a Vengeance, it’s a Lightning Bolt. I’ve heard those cards are good, and the ability to even kill two little things on one card is just invaluable.
Burning Vengeance
I’ve found that a playset of Vengeances is kind of obnoxious. Two seems like the perfect number because Guttersnipe will do the majority of the work, at least against your opponent. It’s harder to kill as an enchantment, and it can target creatures in a pinch. However, it can’t block or attack, which can often mean the difference between the fast lane to victory and rough, gravely pavement.
Dissipate
These three copies have saved my hide tournament after tournament. Dissipate is the “just STOP it!” counterspell of the format. Its main weakness is its double blue cost, but it has the flexibility and stopping power to make the cut anyway. Also, Snapcasting a Dissipate is about the best feeling in the world.
Izzet Charm
Originally one of the most lauded Charms of the set, nearly every other Charm has since seen a top table. Izzet Charm is at its best in this kind of deck; it can cheaply answer a sweeper or removal spell, sputter a Farseek, or kill their early aggression. Using it as an instant Faithless Looting to find a land or needed spell is also a great mode for this spell, and the ability to flash it back with Snappy gives it all the more additional value.
Azorius Charm
A great cycler and role player, this charm is all tempo. Using either of the non-cycling modes will buy you the time you need to advance your board or keep them from killing you. Remember that, for the lifelinking portion, your Guttersnipe does deal damage. 😉
Runechanter’s Pike
This classic from the past year of Standard returns here as a welcome pumper for my otherwise anemic creatures. Although the apparent nonbo of exiling instants from my yard can’t be shaken, I’ve found the Pike gives my squad sufficient power to do the job. Even with a small X value, the first strike is often enough to keep the opponent at bay. Rakdos Keyrune is awesome despite its one toughness, right? The Pike won’t often be higher than three or four, but you’ll be dealing damage to them in other ways to make up the difference.
Lands
The land base was fairly straightforward, so I’ll focus on the count and the two utility lands.
I only play 22 lands in this list, and that’s very intentional. It seems that most decks, even fast ones, play 23 lands or more to guarantee they land their curve. Some G/W Aggro decks I’ve seen use a total of 32 mana sources, creatures included. The deck is inexpensive, four being the highest cost, and the speed and efficiency with which I’ll be moving through my deck will help me hit the lands I need and Loot away the ones I don’t. With only four lands not producing more than one color, I do realize that the other eighteen will need to pull most of the not-insignificant color burden.
Moorland Haunt, more than Desolate Lighthouse or Slayers’ Stronghold, provides a highly relevant ability despite the fairly low creature count. A Spirit with a Pike is a familiar sight (rhymin’ yo), and this deck really likes this kind of effect. It’s an easy sacrifice to a Desecration Demon or a chump blocker for any non-trampler, or it’s an EOT addition after a board wipe. Despite only playing fourteen creatures, this land always seems to find a target.
Close Calls
Though I originally had several other cards on this list, I’ll just focus on one that didn’t make the cut.
When this deck was only U/R, I originally played a handful of Electromancers. The Electromancers helped slim my more expensive spells down as well as provided a nice, relevant body on turn 2. I wasn’t too upset if it was destroyed, but it still helped me make some strong plays (Think Twice with flashback for 1UU, Brimstone Volley for 1R, and Desperate Ravings with flashback for 1UR). Things were good for the Electromancer in those days. He was my best turn 2 play, and he and my deck lived in peace and harmony.
However, during the transition to three colors, I noticed two distinct problems. First, he was harder to cast. The Electromancer is probably best on turn 2 in a cheap instant deck so you can run out one or two on your third turn to manipulate your opponent’s board advancement, but not having him on turn 2 made him a bit awkward to cast late game. Secondly, with the revision of some of my spells to cheaper versions (Feeling of Dread for Think Twice, for example), the Electromancer lost a bit of his value. Sure, he still made Desperate Ravings a three-mana Thoughtflare, but it wasn’t quite as relevant.
He was replaced by Augur of Bolas, a card that is easier to cast and arguably more relevant in combat for a deck like this. It also has with the ability to give me card advantage and provides another target for the Restoration Angel that white brought. It’s possible the Electromancer is a better choice, as he lets you jam a lot more instants and sorceries into one turn, but for now I’ll hold off on him.Â
Sideboard
The sideboard, like most sideboards, was a challenge to construct. I’m pretty sure it’s still not right, but let’s look at the picks.
Searing Spear
Arguably a maindeck card, this nerfed Lightning Bolt is in there for decks that don’t gain life (this represents six damage with Snap) and decks where efficiency is more important than longevity. That’s pretty vague, but I’d side this in against nearly any deck that doesn’t play Thragtusk and plays some number of creatures you can target when you’re not aiming for their mug.
Purify the Grave
An amazingly synergetic sideboard card, this very inexpensive spell not only can deprive your opponent of valuable graveyard fuel, but it can also be a Char for WW with a Guttersnipe out. That also removes two cards from a graveyard. After your opponent has spent mana and/or cards targeting them, you sly dog. A must against Reanimator, Angel of Serenity, Zombies, and the mirror match (any Snapcaster.dek you come up against, really).
Clone
Clone is a strange one, I admit, but with all the powerful creatures and legendary bombs running around, the Shapeshifter is a very nice card to bring in for those long games. Thragtusk is a fine target, as is Sigarda, Host of Herons or another Geist of Saint Traft. Whether it’s a good creature to Pike up or just a doppelganger to your opponent’s biggest threat, Clone is my pick for this slot.
Talrand, Sky Summoner
This fellow! I loved this guy with free Phyrexian spells, and now he has a chance to shine again. This one-man army can spew a squadron of Drakes in no time. Just like with pre-RTR Standard, if you can untap with him, you’re sittin’ pretty. Play him against a non-sweeper deck, a lifegain deck where you need more permanent answers to lower their life total, or perhaps some 25+ creature deck (they’re less likely to board wipe) or a deck filled with flyers.
Detention Sphere
Detention Sphere is a great answer to the Angel tokens, planeswalkers, or enchantments that plague you. An acceptable option against a four-of creature deck, this card punished opponents for their overextension, but it’s also great spot removal for whatever single permanent ails you. With all the Detention Spheres running around these days, it’s nice to have an answer that’s protected from itself. For that very reason, though, I could also see using Oblivion Rings, the Sphere’s easier to cast and more venerated cousin.
Supreme Verdict
Standard’s “oh crap” button. Flip the switch and start over! Obviously a nice one to have with Snapcaster, you can handle a lot of problems with a clean slate. I’d also, if you’re interested to know, considered Planar Cleansing to sweep my opponent’s Keyrunes, planeswalkers, and enchantments. That mana cost, though…
Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
My feelings towards this planeswalker were once described by one of my shrinks as “unhealthy, fixated, and borderline unsavory.” Tibalt remains to be one of my pet ‘walkers, and I’ll always try to play him when possible. He is a great sleeper against control. He’s very innocuous at first, giving you a bit of free card selection each turn until he’s big enough to smack a full-gripped control player or to steal their powerful win condition for that one crucial turn. A singleton is enough; you’ll only need one.
There are a lot of concentrated hate cards that really hurt this deck (Ground Seal, Grafdigger’s Cage, and Rest in Peace), but they are niche enough that I might be able to get away with it. Do bear those in mind when making sideboarding decisions!
On that note, I took this to my local shop’s FNM last Friday and tried it out. In four rounds, the deck performed admirably. Once the groundwork was laid, the deck couldn’t lose, and getting a Guttersnipe or a Burning Vengeance to stick was surprisingly easy. The losses were thanks to awkward draws (once against Zombies and another against a Reanimator deck). With a bit of tweaking, I’m fairly sure the deck can be fun and competitive at the FNM level.
For a little retrospection, I’d make these changes.
+1 Geist of Saint Traft, -1 Geistflame
There were very few games where I resolved the Spirit that I didn’t win. The set of Feeling of Dread kept the way clear, and six damage on turn 4 is how you win games. Geistflame was awesome, but I usually had one when I needed it.
-2 Runechanter’s Pike (to the sideboard), +2 Searing Spear (to the maindeck), +1 Detention Sphere
After some consideration, I came to realize there are only some matches where you’ll need the Pike and the two mana investment will sometimes be too much to equip. Stick it in against Thragtusk.dek or a control matchup where your one creature has to actually make some impact, offensively or defensively. That being said, it’s also nice against a ground-heavy deck, as a Piked creature with any kind of graveyard is often an impassable barrier. I’d probably remove the other Searing Spear from the sideboard and add one Detention Sphere.
This card was always awesome. One copy gets you four cards through your deck, and the mana price was always right. I’d play a bunch more if I could.
I’m going to keep fiddling with Frenchback for a little bit. I think it has the potential to be a really fun and effective synergy deck for a while. Its weakest matchup was 25+ creature decks, so maybe more Supreme Verdicts are in order, maybe instead of Clones. What do you guys think? Is there anything you’d like to add to the list?
I hope you’ve enjoyed the article today, and I invite you to come back each week for another weird Constructed deck. My goal is to breathe fresh air into the format and keep it fun for all you brewers out there.
Join me next week for another fun and bizarre deck, and until then, don’t forget to untap!
– Matt
CaptainShapiro on Magic Online