Why I Threw Solar Flare Away — Part 2: Scryb & Force at Worlds 2006

Happy New Year!

Today, I’d like to continue with the second part of my Scryb & Force primer. The first part can be

found here.

As I wrote last time, I think everyone understood why I gave up playing Solar Flare, and realized the strength of

Scryb & Force. After the Lord of Magic Championship, many of my friends said, “Scryb & Force is good

for Champs.” and played their own Scryb & Force. Of course, I did the same… but I posted a terrible

result (2-3) while they all made the Top 8.

At that time, I played Scryb & Force with Ohran Viper instead of Yavimaya Dryads. I’m not saying that

Ohran Viper is a bad card, but after Champs I was certain I needed Yavimaya Dryad in the deck. After all, it was

built with a sometimes-punishing manabase.

After the release of Time Spiral online, at quickly collected the cards I needed for Scryb & Force, which

were all very expensive at the time. For example, Psionic Blast was selling for 20 tix! As I couldn’t

afford Call of the Herd, I tested Scryb & Force without Calls — I ran with Yavimaya Dryad instead. That

deck made me a lot of Time Spiral Boosters in 8-man Constructed tournaments, and selling my winnings enabled me to

buy some Calls. After purchasing four of them, I slotted them into the maindeck and played in 8-man as usual.

I began to lose.

Of course, Call of the Herd seems to be essential for this deck, because the other creatures (except Spectral

Force) are almost unable to attack. However, many decks are strong against Call of the Herd. For instance,

at the time there was no Blue control deck that didn’t play Remand and / or Repeal. Call of the Herd was good

against Wrath of God, sure… but little else. A teammate of mine noticed this, and suggested to me that I should

play it in the sideboard (because it was good against Boros, of course). At the time of Grand Prix: Yamagata, my

testing reached the same conclusion.

I passed this deck a friend of mine. He posted a 7-1 over eight rounds of play.

Okay, I expect that there are some questions from you.

Q. No Plaxmanta?
A. Plaxmanta was good against Repeal, Faith’s Fetters, and Lightning Helix. It was bad against Wrath of God. I

played this deck many times, and noticed I played this as Ashcoat Bear more than a Plaxmanta. So I changed it for

Mana Leak, which is very good against Wrath of God.

Q. Can you easily hit UUU for Teferi?
A. Good question. It is very easy to do it if I have Scryb Ranger and Birds of Paradise. Besides, I have 4 Yavimaya

Dryads in the deck, which also fetches Blue mana for Teferi (in the form of Breeding Pool). Of course, sometimes I

can’t do it, but Teferi was just too strong in the control matchups — those games in which I

don’t want to play Spectral Force.

Q. I still think Call of the Herd is stronger than Yavimaya Dryad…
A. I used to think so too. But Scryb & Force’s concept is to play Spectral Force in the early turns, and

smash with it. Call of the Herd can’t help accelerate to Spectral Force, whereas Yavimaya Dryad can bring the

mana, and Ohran Viper can bring the card itself.

Q. Do you really think Psionic Blast is strong? I don’t like to “waste” it by using it to

kill creatures.
A. You’re right. It is almost exclusively for aiming at a player’s face. So, if you face a beatdown deck,

you should side it out. Against a control deck it is a very nice idea to play it when your attacking creatures are

ineffective, which is very often the case. I think you must play this card in Scryb & Force.

Matchups

Versus Boros Deck Wins
The main question is “ How do I get Spectral Force into play”. That’s all. When you can do that,

your victory is imminent. When you can’t, you lose. It’s important for you to keep your life higher than

ten. You should defend yourself rather than attacking. Survive until you get Spectral Force.

Sideboarding:
In: 3 Carven Caryatid, 4 Call of the Herd, 2 Serrated Arrows, 3 Repeal
Out: 4 Remand, 4 Ohran Viper, 4 Psionic Blast

Ohran Viper isn’t very good against Boros, especially when drawing. Carven Caryatid can stall all creatures

except Soltari Priest, which dies to Serrated Arrows. I think it is also a good idea to play Spike Feeder, because it

can be the best help in your survival plans.

This matchup is about 50:50 or 60:40. But if Boros had Pacifism, it would be a lot more difficult.

Versus Izzetron
Keep this in mind… “they can’t cope with an 8/8.”

If you can resolve a Spectral Force, you almost always win. A turn 2 Ohran Viper helps you to with that plan, and

of course a turn 3 Spectral Force is rarely countered.

Sideboarding:
In: 2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Out 1 Spectral Force, 1 Mana Leak

If you’re on the draw, side out a Mystic Snake instead of a Mana Leak.

This match depends on when your opponent completes his Tron. If he does it early, it is very difficult to

win… Then again, that’s natural. Overall, this matchup is 60:40.

Versus Azorius Tron
This is almost the same as against Izzetron… but Azorius Tron has Wrath of God. That makes it much harder for

you. In this matchup, Spectral Force is not very strong at all — it’s much weaker than it was against

Izzetron.

Sideboarding:
In: 3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Out: 3 Spectral Force

However, Teferi is very good against Azorius Tron, because they can do nothing when they don’t

have Teferi. Avoid having your Teferi countered, and you can win. All considered, this matchup is a bit severe. I

think it is 40:60.

Versus Orzhov Beats
It is very easy to win against Orzhov if you’re well practiced against it. Temporal Isolation and Dark

Confidant are the threats, so keep your Spectral Force safe from removal spells. If you can do this, you win.

Sideboarding:
In: 3 Serrated Arrows, 3 Repeal
Out: 4 Psionic Blast, 2 Remand

I think you don’t need to play Carven Caryatid, because after sideboarding that deck is likely to act as

control deck. For example, they must play Wrath of God, so be aware of it. If you know this, I think you can beat

this deck easily. This matchup is 60:40

Versus Dragonstorm
I think many of you are worried whether Scryb & Force is good against Dragonstorm. According to my experience,

this matchup sees the following situations.

1. Dragonstorm’s combo starts on turn 4 or earlier.
2. Dragonstorm’s combo starts very late turn after a huge Gigadrowse.
3. Dragonstorm’s combo never starts.

In the first situation, if you have a single counterspell, you can stop Dragonstorm and you win. If you

don’t, you lose. Never mind… this deck has ten counterspells, so you should see one at least.

In the second situation, in many case Scryb & Force kills Dragonstorm earlier than the combo starts. Even if

it can’t, if you have Scryb Ranger and Birds of Paradise on board, you can still play one or two counterspells,

thanks to untapping ability. Be sure that you can activate the ability in both your turn and opponent’s turn.

If you can’t make these, you lose… but I think it is only the luck of the draw.

Needless to say, in the third situation, you win.

So, Scryb & Force is not weak against Dragonstorm. Indeed, I think Scryb & Force is the best

beatdown deck against Dragonstorm.

Sideboarding
In: 2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Out: 2 Spectral Force

Teferi can defeat Gigadrowse – Dragonstorm’s biggest threat. This matchup is also 60:40.

Versus Blue/Black Control
In Game 1, unless you get screwed, you win. The worst card in that deck for you is Desert, but that’s all. They

can’t deal with Spectral Force. But after sideboarding, this matchup changes entirely. This is because of

Deathmark, Seize the Soul, and Sudden Death. Those spells can deal with your creatures very easily. So you

mustn’t lose Game 1, and then you only need one win from the following two. It may be difficult, but it’s

not impossible.

Sideboarding:
In: 2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Out: 2 Spectral Force

It may be good idea to play Call of the Herd instead of some Yavimaya Dryads if you expect this matchup to be big

in your local metagame. Overall, this matchup is 80:20 in Game 1, but 40:60 after sideboarding.

Versus U/R/W Control
This deck is the worst matchup for Scryb & Force. The all cards that U/R/W plays are totally lethal for the poor

creatures of Scryb & Force. It is natural you lose against this deck. Pray not to meet this deck in a tournament.

Sideboarding:
In: 2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, 4 Call of the Herd
Out: 3 Spectral Force, 3 Ohran Viper

A terrible matchup, one that I rate as 30:70 overall.

Versus Solar Flare
Against Solar Flare, the key point is whether Wrath of God resolves or not. You must counter it if you can. It is

sometime a good idea not to counter Zombify targeting Angel of Despair. I think it is possible for you to win even if

you couldn’t counter Wrath, thanks to Psionic Blast. However, the best advice I can give you in this matchup is

this: Never Give Up.

Sideboarding
In: 2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, 4 Call of the Herd
Out: 3 Spectral Force, 3 Ohran Viper

This matchup is 60:40. Then again, it depends on which version of Solar Flare is en vogue in your metagame…

What are the weak spots of Scryb & Force?
As many of you know, when you play Scryb & Force you will take a lot of mulligans. This is natural – a

deck with so few lands is not always stable. And when Birds of Paradise or Llanowar Elves get killed immediately,

Scryb & Force becomes unable to act smoothly.

Here are some cards that can work very well against Scryb & Force:

Icatian Javelineer
Magus of the Scroll
Seal of Fire
Pyroclasm
Deathmark
Darkblast
Plagued Rusalka
Serrated Arrows

Try to play these if you expect many Scryb & Force deck to appear in your local metagame.

I considered the version of Scryb & Force posted above to be extremely strong, and decided to run it in

Paris. Here is a brief report on my Worlds 2006 Standard rounds.

Round 1: Versus U/R/W Control — Win / Loss / Loss

I met my worst matchup in the first round… Oh my God!

However, Game 1 saw my super draws… I played Yavimaya Dryad on turn 2, then countered all the spells my

opponent played while beating him to death with small monsters.

In Game 2 I took a mulligan, and kept the following hand:

Forest
Birds of Paradise
Llanowar Elves
Scryb Ranger
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Psionic Blast

Needless to say, I didn’t draw second land and my creatures were killed by a turn 3 Wrath. Whatever!

Game 3 saw me take a double mulligan… I succeed in playing creatures in my early turns, but he had a couple

of Lightning Helix – and Wrath. I lost quickly.

0-1

Round 2: Selesnya splashing Blue for Momentary Blink — Loss / Win / Loss

Game 1 saw me take a triple mulligan… I couldn’t do anything at all.

However, in Game2 I managed to play Serrated Arrows on turn 3, and killed all the mana-creatures my opponent had.

He got screwed, and I won.

In Game 3 I made a terrible mistake. I forgot Loxodon Hierarch’s regeneration ability, and swung with all

of my creatures thinking I could kill most of opponent’s creatures. That meant I lost a huge swathe of my army,

and from then on I kept drawing lands and lost the game. Boy, I regretted that mistake…

0-2

Round 3: Selesnya splashing Black — Win / Loss / Win

Game 1 saw me play Psionic Blast to kill a Plagued Rusalka! But I managed to put Spectral Force into play soon

after, and that decided the game.

Game 2 saw Orzhov Pontiff kill most of my creatures… I didn’t expect that card. Of course, I

lost.

In Game 3, I played Serrated Arrows and followed with Repeal. That killed many creatures my opponent had, and a

timely Spectral Force defeat him soon after.

1-2

Round 4: Solar Flare — Win / Loss / Win

Game 1 saw me make a turn 2 Ohran Viper for the first time in this tournament. That was enough to defeat Solar

Flare.

Game 2 saw me mana-flooded… I drew about ten lands in sixteen cards…

Game3 also saw me play a turn 2 Ohran Viper. I want to say that it was enough, but this time the Viper brought me

nothing but lands… Soon my opponent resolved Angel of Despair, and the game seemed pretty bad for me. My

creatures were Llanowar Elves and Yavimaya Dryad, and so my opponent started the race. I added Yavimaya another Dryad

after that. The situation was like this…

My opponent was at eight life, while I sat at ten. It was his turn, and he had a few cards in his hand. I had two

cards (both were lands) in my hand, and a lot of lands in play. I thought he would attack with Angel of Despair as he

had done so, but he stopped attacking. I think it is because he was wary of Psionic Blast or Teferi. He could have

defeated me if he had attacked. If I’d had either of those, I would have won either way. So he should have

attacked.

Thanks to this mistake, I won the game.

Round 5: Mirror Match — Win / Win

My opponent was late for this round. Actually, in this hall (Carrousel du Louvre), the announcement was not

clear. I think he didn’t hear the round being announced. He received a game loss.

After he arrived, we were subject to a deck-check. I had already had my deck checked in round 2, and they

didn’t find any problems then. I wasn’t worried, and passed my deck. However, when the judge returned, he

said that my opponent’s deck contained only 59 cards.

Yeah, I won this round without playing! Unbelievable!

After we’d filled in the slip, he found his “missing” Psionic Blast — it was stuck to a

Birds of Paradise with his sweat. My opponent told the judges what had happened, but it was too late. Your deck must

be in perfect condition before playing.

3-2

Round 6: U/W control — Win / Loss / Win

Game 1 saw me play first, and I made a turn 2 Yavimaya Dryad. He played Think Twice, but he couldn’t deal

with this small 2/1… I think he had a lot of counterspells in his hand.

Game 2, I countered Wrath of God, but he resolved Sacred Mesa. I didn’t draw anything good against it

(Yavimaya Dryad or Spectral Force), so a huge amount of Pegasus tokens stomped me.

Game 3 saw my Teferi played in response to my opponent’s Think Twice. That was so lethal for U/W Control

that he was confused… he played Sacred Mesa on turn 3, which is not at all useful. He screwed himself with his

Mesa, and I won this game.

4-2

After starting with an 0-2, thanks to my rotten luck, I won four rounds in succession. At that time I thought I

could make Top 8 if I posted some good results in Draft… but I actually went 1-5 in the 40-card format. I was

very disappointed there. I want to post some much better results at Worlds 2007, if I manage to qualify again.

Recently, I’ve seen an increasing number of Scryb & Force decks online. I think this deck is very good,

even now. How will Planar Chaos change this deck? Who knows… but either way, I look forward to it.

Enjoy playing this deck… and feel the power of Spectral Force.

Naoki Shimizu