In October, I travelled to San Jose for the Team Grand Prix. My team finished 44th place, after losing the last of eleven rounds on day 1, to miss the cut to day 2. Then three weeks later, I won the sealed PTQ in San Antonio; so I’ll be in Montreal in February for Pro Tour Gatecrash. And this past weekend I returned to San Antonio, this time to play in the Standard Grand Prix. My record was 11-3-1 with two byes, and I finished 16th place for $600.

My preparation for the GP began right after I won the PTQ and no longer had to focus on sealed and draft. I put together the UW flash deck to play at the Monday standard tournament at Asgard, but I wasn’t that impressed. I considered playing BR zombies (with Thundermaw Hellkite in the sideboard), but I’m still not sold on the mana in that deck (see this article for an explanation ). I tried various GW aggro decks, but they all seemed too gimmicky for me. With two weeks before the GP, I was either going to play Bant Control or Grixis Control, depending on which performed better in testing. Then I found this list:

9 Forest 4 Gavony Township 3 Plains 4 Sunpetal Grove 4 Temple Garden 4 Arbor Elf 2 Armada Wurm 4 Avacyn S Pilgrim 4 Borderland Ranger 4 Centaur Healer 4 Loxodon Smiter 4 Restoration Angel 4 Thragtusk 1 Collective Blessing 4 Selesnya Charm 1 Staff of Nin

2 Armada Wurm 4 Chalice of Life 4 Cloudshift 4 Intrepid Hero 1 Trostani, Selesnyas Voice

The things I liked most about this list were the maximum number of mana creatures, the four Borderland Rangers, and the four Gavony Townships. The first change I made was to add Garruk, Primal Hunter for the Staff of Nin and the Collective Blessing, and I moved Centaur Healer to the sideboard and put Strangleroot Geist in the main deck. The sideboard got overhauled completely once I decided Chalice of Life wasn’t good enough (but it might be good enough now).

Garruk was very impressive from the beginning. So much so that I added a 3rd to the sideboard, and then added it to the main deck, eventually ending up with 4 between main and side. Strangleroot Geist was not as impressive but I couldn’t figure out what creature I wanted in that low curve spot. I tried Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Mikaeus, the Lunarch, and Wolfir Avenger, but wasn’t happy with any of them. In the meantime, my roommate, Will Lowry, was trying to get me to play a deck with 4 Abrupt Decay. I looked at this list, and decided maybe we could splash for the removal spell and then have access to the best replacement for Strangleroot Geist: Lingering Souls. I made the changes and never looked back.

We both played the list at the SCG IQ in Austin. I lost in the top 4, but Will won the tournament. Now we had our deck for GP San Antonio, and we just had to put the finishing touches. After the final week of testing, this is what we registered:

4 Forest 4 Gavony Township 1 Plains 4 Sunpetal Grove 4 Temple Garden 4 Overgrown Tomb 1 Swamp 1 Isolated Chapel 1 Woodland Cemetery 4 Arbor Elf 2 Armada Wurm 4 Avacyn S Pilgrim 4 Borderland Ranger 2 Loxodon Smiter 4 Restoration Angel 4 Thragtusk 4 Lingering Souls 3 Garruk, Primal Hunter 3 Selesnya Charm 2 Abrupt Decay

Sideboard

2 Triumph of Ferocity 3 Rest In Peace 2 Ultimate Price 2 Golgari Charm 1 Abrupt Decay 2 Trostani, Selesnyas Voice 1 Nearheath Pilgrim 2 Loxodon Smiter

With this deck and two byes, I began my San Antonio Grand Prix journey.

Rounds 1 and 2 – Bye
2-0

Round 3 – William Herdman (UW Human Aggro)
Billy is a nice guy from College Station where he runs Clockwork Games. I’ve known him for years now. It’s unfortunate to play against someone you know at a big event, but I probably knew 150 or so of the 800 players so it was bound to happen eventually. Game 1 he had an aggressive start, but he flooded out as I bought time by chumping his Sublime Archangel with Lingering Souls tokens while Garruk drew me into the cards I needed to win. Game 2 he was stuck on 2 land and I had an early Garruk and he couldn’t recover.
3-0

Round 4 – Kyle Simpson (Bant Control)
Game 1 he double Farseeks into a turn 4 Armada Wurm. I have my own Armada Wurm, but can’t find a time to play it before I die. Game 2 I use Garruk to keep the pressure on him, forcing him to use his Supreme Verdicts, and then using my Thragtusks and Angels to finish him off. Game 3 he mulligans to 5 and never really is in the game.
4-0

Round 5 – Eric Froehlich (Bant Control)
Game 1 he is stuck on 3 lands, so I kill him quickly with Lingering Souls and Township before he can draw out of it. Game 2 is tricky. I try to keep enough pressure on him to force him to use his Supreme Verdicts, but he keeps having enough answers to delay, eventually setting up a [card]Sphinxs Revelation[/card[ for 7. Luckily I had Golgari Charm to counter his first Verdict, and then Garruk kept enough pressure on him to kill him.
5-0

Round 6 - Wesley Boyette (4 Color Stuff)
Game 1, I mulligan to 5 and he has Huntmaster of the Fells early to slow me down, but I stabilize with Thragtusk and Angel and some Lingering Souls before he Bonfires me out of the game. Game 2 he Slaughter Games my Thragtusks and I flood out while he casts more Huntmasters and even Entreat the Angels!
5-1

Round 7 – Kris Hoffman (Reanimator)
Game 1 I have enough pressure that he’s forced to use his Angel of Serenity on my creatures, and I then Selesnya Charm the angel and he can’t recover. Game 2 he mulligans to 6 and is stuck on 2 land for several turns. We play a 3rd game for fun and he can’t beat my Rest in Peace.
6-1

Round 8 – Taylor Webb (BR Zombies)
Taylor and I go way back. I played him in the top 4 of the first PTQ he ever won a few months after I won my first PTQ. We both won PTQs for Gatecrash on the same day, so now after 10+ years we’ll finally go to a PT together. Game 1 I had mana creature into Borderland Ranger, which let me ramp into early Thragtusk and Restoration Angel. Game 2 he killed my mana elf and I couldn’t catch up, but game 3 I had
Trostani and he couldn’t find an answer.
7-1

Round 9 Parker May (Blue Reanimator)
Game 1 he had Lingering Souls and I couldn’t draw any of mine to stop him from just beating me down with spirits. Game 2 he cast Supreme Verdict twice to buy the time he needed, and killed me with more spirits and Craterhoof Behemoth.
7-2

Celebrations after day 1 were mostly tame; I just wanted to get to bed early so I could do well on day 2. We did eat Mexican food on the River Walk for my friend Jose’s 30th birthday, but I went to sleep soon after. Both Will and I made day 2 with 7-2 records with the same deck. We woke up early on Sunday ready to win out.

Round 10 – Conrad Hammon (Naya Midrange)
Game 1 he had 2 enter the battlefield tapped lands and didn’t get to Farseek until turn 3. He still missed land drops and I killed him with spirits. Game 2 I had Garruk early and he was flooded. We traded Restoration Angels and he Bonfired my team for 7, but I still had enough gas to follow it up and kill him.
8-2

Round 11 – Christopher Schelling (Grixis Control)
Game 1 he had an early Olivia Volderan, but only had 5 mana to use. I kept alpha striking with my team of lingering souls and borderland rangers to get him down to 6. He cast Forbidden Alchemy, keeping an unknown card but discarding Thundermaw Hellkite and 2 lands. At this point I put him on Mizzium Mortars, so I play Armada Wurm, and he doesn’t have an answer and has to trade his Olivia. A turn later, he dies. Game 2 he’s in control the whole time, including a turn 4 Olivia and a turn 6 Mortars on my whole team. Game 3 he mulligans to 4 cards, and I have double Triumph of Ferocity to draw 3 times as many cards as him, so he’s never really in it.
9-2

Round 12 – William Craddock (BR Zombies)
Game 1 he kills my mana elf, and I die on turn 4 with 2 Thragtusks in hand. Game 2 I have Nearheath Pilgrim paired with an Angel, plus Trostani and he can’t keep up. Game 3 looks ok for me as I have turn 3 Trostani and follow it up with Thragtusk, but his Bonfire on 2 and Falkenrath Aristocrat puts me to 3 life with only land in hand. He goes out of his way to keep me from getting a beast token to populate, so I’m stuck without a way to gain life…. But then I draw Armada Wurm! I gain 10, and attack him with Thragtusk down to 15. He draws the land he needs for Thundermaw Hellkite at attacks me for 9 in the air, so now I’m down to 4 life with no cards in hand. This time, I draw Ultimate Price! I populate a wurm to gain 5 more life, kill his dragon, and untap and kill him on the next turn, doing exactly 15 points of damage. I got very lucky to win this game.
10-2

Round 13 – David Gomez (GW Midrange)
David’s deck is very similar to the original deck I started from. I win game one with Garruk and Armada Wurm, slowing down his Township assault. However, games 2 and 3 I lose when I flood and never draw Gavony Township to match his. I was pretty unhappy losing this matchup.
10-3

Round 14 – Pedro Carvalho (RB Aggro)
With the last loss, top 8 was probably not an option, but winning out still meant at least top 16. Game 1 he has a very aggressive start with Stromkirk Noble and two Knight of Infamy, but I have a turn 3(!) Armada Wurm. He rips Bonfire and alphas, so I trade everything away and play Thragtusk. He dies shortly after. Game 2 I play turn 4 Trostani, he plays Hellrider and alpha strikes, but I have blocks to kill his whole team and stay at one life. I untap and play Thragtusk, this time gaining 8 life, and he concedes.
11-3

Round 15 – Erik Carson (Bant Control)
I’d seen him play an earlier round, so I knew he was killing people with Door to Nothingness. Game 1 I had Garruk in play basically the entire game, so he was always on the back foot. I kept an Abrupt Decay in hand to kill Chromatic Lantern in case he tried to kill me, but he never drew it. The game took about 25 minutes to play, but I was victorious. Game 2 was more of the same. I got him to Dissipate my Triumph of Ferocity so that my Garruk would resolve. He cast Sphinx’s Revelation at least 4 times this game, maybe more with Elixir. I had to spend one Abrupt Decay to kill his [card]Pithing Needle[/cad] on Gavony Township, otherwise I wouldn’t have enough pressure. I saved the other one for Chromatic Lantern, but he has a second one and showed me the Door on turn 4 of extra time.

An unintentional draw isn’t ideal, but still had a shot at top 16. I snuck in at 16th, with my round 15 opponent at 17th. Maybe he’ll play faster in the future.

The deck was a success. Will and I were playing next to each other Round 15, both at 11-3 with shots to top 16. He lost a close match to Gerry Thompson, but still finished in the top 32. My friend Jose played the same list in the TCG Player 5k on Sunday and split in the top 8 for $450, so everyone that played the deck made money this weekend, except Andrew Sullano.

The deck is very good, I think I would play at least 70 of the same cards going forward. I want to add in a couple of Sever the Bloodline, and maybe an Akromas Memorial. If you have any questions about the deck, I’ll answer them. Just follow me on twitter!

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Personally, I traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a standard tournament with first prize being a full play set of Return to Ravnica. My friend Tannon Grace and I played the exact same 75 card list, and ended up splitting in the finals. Neither of us lost a match all day. Here is what we played:

4 Avacyns Pilgrim 2 Arbor Elf 4 Borderland Ranger 4 Restoration Angel 4 Huntmaster of the Fells 4 Thragtusk 4 Farseek 4 Entreat the Angels 4 Bonfire of the Damned 2 Oblivion Ring 4 Temple Garden 4 Rootbound Crag 4 Clifftop Retreat 3 Gavony Township 5 Forest 3 Plains 1 Mountain

Sideboard:

4 Centaur Healer 3 Pillar of Flame 3 Selesnya Charm 2 Ray of Revelation 2 Garruk Relentless 1 Oblivion Ring

This was based on the block constructed deck I played at PT Barcelona. The biggest difference between this and other Naya decks is the inclusion of the full four copies of Entreat the Angels. This card is
very good, and I’m surprised by the reactions I’ve gotten from other players when they see it in my list. There isn’t any reason why it needs to be limited to just UWx control decks; it works just as well in a midrange deck like this. And, unlike my block deck, this deck actually has the mana base to support it (though I am really looking forward to putting Stomping Ground into this shell in the future). Selesnya Charm out of the sideboard was very good all day long. I have a more in depth report from the tournament up on my blog, but I will share this one story to illustrate my point about Entreat the Angels. Its game 2 in the first round of the top 8, and Tannon is on the draw against BWG tokens. Turn 1, Tannon plays Avacyn’s Pilgrim off of a Forest. Turn 2, he plays a Rootbound Crag and casts Farseek for Temple Garden. On his third turn, he miracles Entreat the Angels for 2 Angels and plays another land. The next turn, he miracles Entreat for 4 this time, locking up the game and the match with 20 power worth of fliers.

There were many other good decks that showed up that I think can be real players with some more tuning. Most intriguing to me was a Bant deck that utilized Thragtusk, Restoration Angel (expect every GW deck to play max on these cards until next October), and Cackling Counterpart. The best interaction in the deck is Cackling Counterpart on Thragtusk and populate: each time you populate, you get another
copy of Thragtusk! This can get out of hand really quick. Once the board is sufficiently clogged up, the deck would cast an overloaded Cyclonic Rift to force through an absurd amount of damage, if it hadn’t won already.

The BGW Token list that made the top 8 was also impressive to me, because it showed off how deceptively powerful the card Rootborn Defenses is. When I played against it, my opponent cast Lingering Souls on turn 3, and then didn’t flash it back on turn 4. I was very confused, but as he kept 3 mana up the rest of the game, I started to figure it out: he was saving Rootborn Defenses in case I tried to Bonfire him! Combined with Vault of the Archangel, the deck could create some blowout combat steps.

A mono red deck made the top 8 as well, proving that sometimes the Red Deck Wins, even in a world of Thragtusk and Centaur Healer. The zombie lists playing Rancor also did very well, putting 2 copies into the top 8.

Jody Keith played a UWR control list to the top 4, and I was very impressed by it. Cards like Syncopate and Dissipate performed very well for him all day in a field of unsuspecting players after Mana Leak rotated. His deck was very different from Todd Anderson’s SCG Open winning list, but the same color combination. This shows that there is definitely more than one way to skin a cat!

Overall, the cards that impressed me the most this weekend from all decks were Jace, Architect of Thought and Huntmaster of the Fells. Jace allowed all the blue control decks to quickly get up on cards, and most of the time this was too much for the other decks to overcome. Huntmaster of the Fells has seen his popularity drop off since he debuted to much fanfare after PT Honolulu, and I think some people might have forgotten about him. Tannon and I were able to complete take over games with the werewolf, and I didn’t see a lot of the other Naya decks running him.

The new standard format looks very diverse so far, and I hope it continues to be in the future. Good luck brewing!

Ty Thomason
@ceciliajupe

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The Gate Cycle (Azorious Guildgate, Golgari Guildgate, Izzet Guildgate, Rakdos Guildgate, Selesnya Guildgate)

RTR marks the highly anticipated return of the original Ravnica block shock lands, so much of the focus has been on those, but I think these lands are just as important! Others have already and accurately noted the affect these will change the Pauper mana bases, and the importance of them in Limited should be readily apparent. In Standard, these will be the 9-12th dual lands in a two color deck if you are playing a color combination of one of the RTR guilds. This adds a level of consistency to two color decks that should not be overlooked. Current RB Zombie decks run only 8 dual lands, and therefore occasionally lose to not having red mana to play the red spells in hand. The “enters the battlefield tapped” drawback is much less of a drawback than most people think, and I’ll happily play 4 Golgari Guildgates in my BG Zombie list if it means I don’t have to play any basic forests. Unfortunately, these only help half of the two color combinations, so Gruul, Boros, Simic, Dimir, and Orzhov decks will have to find other ways to make the mana work, or just not be played at all.

Rakdos Cackler

The power level of creatures being printed is getting higher by the set, but this card is still very solid. It gives mono black aggro 12 one-drop two-power creatures, and the “can’t block” drawback hasn’t caused Gravecrawler to see any less play. The fact that it also fits into red decks can only mean that it will see that much more play in the new Standard.

Centaur Healer

With Wurmcoil Engine, Timely Reinforcements, and Batterskull rotating,
there isn’t as much life gain available to deckbuilders. This guy could show up out of the board as a speed bump in GW decks as they build up to Thragtusk mana.

Giant Growth

The original pump spell is back, and it’s still incredibly efficient. Luckily for everyone, all of the infect cards are rotating! The difference between one and two mana is huge for cards like this. While Selesnya Charm will see more play because of its flexibility, the “Green Brute Force” still has a place, especially with Fencing Ace.

Jace, Architect of Thought

Patrick Chapin wrote an entire article on Star City Games about how good he thinks this guy is. Gerry Thompson and Brad Nelson each have taken to Twitter declaring this the second best Jace ever after they
played with it. And yet, most people I talk to still seem to think this card isn’t very good! Personally, I think it is much better than Vraska (a card with 2 abilities that don’t actually do anything), and it’s clearly better than Jace, Memory Adept. Even if you just use the -2 ability twice, it’s 4 mana for 4 cards. He’s not going to control the game like JTMS or Gideon, but that’s not his purpose. Like Jace 1.0, it’s best to look at it as a card drawing spell that occasionally draws you much more cards. Also, the +1 is deceptively powerful. It
can blank an entire battlefield of Lingering Souls, and if you have any creatures in play to protect Jace, they become much better at doing just that. Don’t forget that the “ultimate” ability lets you
search your own library, too. You can Bribery their best creature, and get a second Jace from your deck and use it right away! Comparing this (or any planeswalker) to Jace, the Mind Sculptor isn’t fair, so don’t
let that cloud your judgment on this guy.

Martial Law

This is the real Dungeon Geists. Playing this againt an aggro deck forces them to commit more creatues to the board, letting you punish them with Supreme Verdict. I can actually see UW decks playing the max 4 copies of this, and just 2-3 Verdicts. Control decks will have to find a different way to win in the mirror than just a single creature or two, either going with Entreat the Angels or a milling strategy.

These are just the cards I think are being overlooked right now. Obviously, cards like Lotleth Troll, Abrupt Decay, Dreadbore, and others are going to be big players as well. And don’t confuse my recommendation on these cards as a speculation based on card pricing, since card value isn’t strictly related to how good a card is (but if you can get Jace at less than $20, it’s probably a good deal). That’s all I have for now, I hope you enjoy your Return to Ravnica.

Ty Thomason

@ceciliajupe

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Editor’s note: Ty has also started up his own Magic Blog. Check it out here.

Many things change from set to set when it comes to sealed deck building. The number of lands to play, number of colors to play, and whether to play first or draw first are all dependent on the sealed environment. In Ravnica (and most likely in the upcoming Return to Ravnica), 3 color was the low number of colors played, but in Shadowmoor you could occasionally get a mono-colored deck. Zendikar block necessitated a play first strategy, and many old-timers can tell you about playing 16 or fewer lands in Mirrodin sealed. But since the upcoming GPT is M13, we will focus on that.

Core set tempo has increased with the last few sets, but I still think the nature of sealed means you should be choosing to draw first. There are always exceptions to be mindful of, but as a general case I would say draw first. Land counts should be between 16-18 mana sources (usually 17). I also would almost always try to play two colors, and two colors only. I’ll go over the exceptions to these rules to help you better understand the reasoning behind the rules themselves, and give you the tools to identify times you shouldn’t be following the rules.

When should you play first?

Play first if your mana curve is very low AND aggressive. A low curve defensive strategy is always better on the draw, even in draft. When considering if it’s right to play first, be mindful of mulligans. If your deck can mulligan to six and still operate on only 2 or 3 lands, it’s probably ok to play first. The way I figure this is a simple count of cards that cost 4 or more mana. If over half my cards cost 4 or more, I’m more likely to want to be on the draw, but if it’s only four 4-drops and one or two 5-drops, I’d consider playing first.

Play first if you plan on casting Sign in Blood or Divination as your first spell. Two swamps and Sign in Blood is a really good opening hand, until you have to start discarding on turn 2. So in cases where I have multiples of these cards, I will choose to play first when I normally wouldn’t.

Play first if your opponent wants to play first and you think they are right. Just because they are trying to be aggressive and even if they are successful game 1 still doesn’t mean it’s right for you to play first game 2. The quality of your opponent will factor in to your decision here.

When in doubt, choose to play first. This changes from set to set, but with M13 I think playing first if you aren’t sure is the safer play. That said, hopefully after reading this article you have less instances when you aren’t sure. The reason I say to play first is that I think you are more likely to lose a game by choosing to draw when you should have chosen play than vice versa.

When should you play 16 or 18 lands?

Play 16 lands when you have multiples of Arbor Elf and/or Farseek in your deck. The lowest I would consider playing is 15 if I was solid base green and had 3 Arbor Elves and at least 1 Farseek. In both of these instances, play an extra land if your mana curve is high, or the rules for playing 18 lands come up.

Play 16 lands when you are almost mono color and a lower curve. I won’t play 16 lands with more than two 5-drops, and having early drop creatures in both colors would also keep me at 17. But if you have a solid WW deck with multiple Ajanis Sunstrikers and only splashing red for some Searing Spears, 16 lands might be the right call.

Play 18 lands when the 23rd spell is really bad. Sometimes there just aren’t enough cards in the two colors you want, but instead of playing a third color, splashing, or playing something really bad, you can just play the 18th land. Playing 18 lands means you have to shift your mulligan decisions. You should lean more towards mulliganing 5 land 2 spell hands, and lean more towards keeping 5 spell 2 land hands.

Play 18 lands if you have to cast a 5cc spell on turn 5. Sometimes you end up with a great deck, unfortunately the low curve was replaced with extra Turn to Slag and Essence Drains. Go ahead and play 18 lands. The last thing I want is to die with multiple 5cc removal in hand and stuck on 4 lands.

When playing with different land counts than you are used to, keep it in mind when making decisions. Lower land counts mean you should probably cast spells sooner rather than waiting. Extra lands in the deck require a more cautious approach to trading cards and using removal.

When should you play something other than 2 colors?

Play mono color if the gods smile on you and give you an amazing deck with enough playables in one color. You should still look at splashing a second color for extra removal or evasion creatures, if the colored mana requirements aren’t too harsh.

Do not play 3 evenly split colors ever. Even with “perfect mana”, it’s still not perfect mana.

Splashing is something I find many top players to have vastly different opinions about. Some will splash for removal almost every time, and look to find ways to splash bomb-type creatures. I am not one of these players. I almost never splash, and when I do, I want to have at least 2 “free” sources of the splash color. (A free source is something like Evolving Wilds or Glacial Fortress or Farseek). Splashing multiple colors is something that requires you to have free sources, or something like Gem of Becoming to get two of the splash lands. In general, I would rather play a couple of mediocre cards 21-23 and be two colors than to splash with no free sources.

Playing 1 main color and 2 splash colors is possible, but it usually requires your main color to be green.

What all of these points of advice allude to is the balance between power and consistency in sealed deck. These are not mutually exclusive things! Your deck can be powerful and consistent, if you’re lucky. Also beware of some traps. Making your deck more consistent and less powerful might be just making your deck consistently bad! Sometimes your best bet might just be to hope to get lucky, but hopefully it doesn’t have to be. I like to play weaker colors with less depth if they have very powerful cards rather than playing the deep colors and splashing the power cards.

I hope this advice helps you in your future sealed deck tournaments. Also, don’t forget to play in the GPT at Asgard Games on September 22 and win your plane ticket to California!

Later!

Ty Thomason

@ceciliajupe

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Looking at the current Standard metagame, I realized that almost all of the best decks share a common ability to control the way their mana develops. This means being able to play additional mana sources when you are light on lands, and also having something to do with your mana when you have excess lands sitting around.

Look at this Yuuya-style Delver list that won the last PTQ on Magic Online:

4 Glacial Fortress 8 Island 2 Moorland Haunt 1 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Geist of Saint Traft 3 Restoration Angel 4 Snapcaster Mage 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Gut Shot 3 Mana Leak 4 Ponder 3 Runechanters Pike 4 Thought Scour 4 Vapor Snag

This deck can run 19 lands because it plays 12 “cantrips” (Ponder, Thought Scour, and Gitaxian Probe) to search for mana in the early game. In the mid to late game once the mana has been set up, these same spells can be used to search for additional business spells, especially when combined with Snapcaster Mage. Combine that with the pseudo-man-land Moorland Haunt and you get a deck that does not get mana screwed as often as others, and can apply consistent pressure over almost the entire game.

Another deck that has been popular lately has been red-green aggro:

4 Copperline Gorge 10 Forest 4 Kessig Wolf Run 1 Mountain 4 Rootbound Crag 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Borderland Ranger 4 Huntmaster of the Fells 4 Llanowar Elves 2 Phyrexian Metamorph 4 Strangleroot Geist 1 Viridian Corrupter 2 Wolfir Silverheart 2 Arc Trail 4 Bonfire of the Damned 1 Dismember 4 Green Suns Zenith 2 Sword of Feast and Famine

When Avacyn Restored first came out, these decks played Wolfir Avenger in the 3-drop slot. While it might be a better card than Borderland Ranger, it didn’t really fit in with the rest of the deck. The emphasis shifted more to Bonfire of the Damned and Wolfir Silverheart, both of which require extra mana to be effective. So Borderland Ranger is now the 3-drop of choice. Also note that the mana creatures (Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves) function in two ways: they help your mana during Stage 1, and during the later turns they can pick up a Sword of Feast and Famine or get pumped by Kessig Wolf Run to push through the last points of damage.

The current Birthing Pod lists also use the 1-drop mana creature into Borderland Ranger shell to get out of Stage 1 as fast as possible, but they have additional ways to take advantage in the late game, turning the mana creature into Elvish Visionary or Phantasmal Image with the namesake artifact.

A good way to see the consistency that these decks have is to compare them with other aggro decks that do not have the same mana principles in mind. Here is a typical blue-white Human list from earlier this year:

4 Glacial Fortress 12 Plains 3 Moorland Haunt 1 Island 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Champion of the Parish 4 Doomed Traveller 4 Grand Abolisher 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 4 Mirran Crusader 4 Hero of Bladehold 2 Fiend Hunter 4 Honor of the Pure 2 Dismember 3 Oblivon Ring 2 Sword of War and Peace

At first glance, it looks similar to the Delver list earlier. Both are UW aggro decks with Moorland Haunt as the end game. But despite running 5 more lands than the Delver list, the Humans list is much more likely to be mana screwed. This is because it wants to reliably cast 3 and 4 mana spells, but it has no way to ensure it gets to those land drops. Also, keeping a hand with the land to cast Hero of Bladehold is risky, because if your Hero gets countered or killed, you now have a bunch of mana in play that doesn’t really do anything. As the format has gotten faster, missing land drops has a higher chance of costing you the game, and, as a result, this deck no longer sees significant play.

Another example of the “24 lands and pray” plan is actually one of my favorite decks in Standard right now: Goblins.

18 Mountain 2 Cavern of Souls 4 Hellion Crucible 4 Spikeshot Elder 4 Goblin Fireslinger 4 Goblin Arsonist 4 Goblin Wardriver 4 Mogg Flunkies 4 Krenkos Command 4 Goblin Chieftain 4 Krenko, Mob Boss 2 Hellrider 2 Goblin Grenade

These are just a few decks that illustrate my point. I’m sure there are many others that exist in Standard, Modern, or even Legacy. Keeping these principles in mind when choosing a deck can lead to a much more pleasant tournament experience.

Ty Thomason

@ceciliajupe

* He originally called them Phases, but changed his terminology later on to avoid confusion with
the comprehensive rules definition of a phase. Check out the article here.

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edit: We have now reopened in the new location!

This is what I played:

4 Rampant Growth 4 Farseek 4 Primeval Titan 4 Frost Titan 4 Temporal Mastery 4 Ponder 3 Whipflare 3 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Karn Liberated 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter 2 Vapor Snag 2 Cavern of Souls 1 Inkmoth Nexus 1 Kessig Wolf Run 2 Sulfur Falls 7 Forest 4 Island 1 Mountain 4 Glimmerpost 4 Hinterland Harbor Sideboard 2 Green Sun S Zenith 3 Blasphemous Act 2 Thragtusk 1 Ancient Grudge 2 Grafdigger S Cage 1 Karn Liberated 1 Garruk Relentless 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1 Natural End 1 Huntmaster of the Fells

This deck has been gaining popularity, especially when Gerard Fabiano wrote about it last week.
The idea of the deck is to play a titan, and then take an extra turn, which is usually enough to win the
game. Playing a titan is still one of the most powerful things to do in standard, and I wanted to play them
one more time before they rotate. Most of the lists are pretty similar, so I’ll just talk about the cards I
played that were out of the norm.

I chose to play Whipflare over Bonfire of the Damned because I wanted more early game
presence. This deck doesn’t need any extra power for the late game; it needs to survive that long. Playing
a ramp spell on turn 2 and then another on turn 3 along with Whipflare is a common play, and Bonfire
doesn’t let you do that. Sometimes when you draw Bonfire, you would rather ramp than pay the miracle
cost, and casting it from your hand isn’t always enough. Clearing out small blockers for your titans to get
through is much easier with Whipflare, and it lets you cast additional spells after combat. Essentially I felt
I was more likely to lose a game in the first 5 turns than the last 5 turns, so I chose the spell that did more
during those turns.

Whipflare performed very well for me all day, doing serious work against Geist of Saint Traft
and Delver of Secrets, along with various zombies and mana producers. The other card that was amazing
throughout the day was Garruk, Primal Hunter. Drawing six cards from a titan was enough every time,
especially when one of them is Temporal Mastery. It’s also a threat that cannot be targeted by spot
removal and it lives through Day of Judgment effects.

The sideboard cards are mostly to help against aggro matchups since I didn’t expect much
control. I didn’t include anything for the mirror match since I felt the deck was off the radar, but I would
add two Phantasmal Images to the board for future tournaments. Every card was effective throughout the
day, including the Melira. I was able to zenith for her in game 3 of my quarterfinal match against UG
Infect, and my opponent had no outs.

This deck is actually fairly simple to play, the only real decisions being which lands to search out
with your ramp spells and Primeval Titans, and whether or not to miracle Temporal Mastery. Many times

it’s better to just draw the card and not cast it, saving it as a seven mana Time Warp for when you have a
titan or planeswalker in play. Other times it lets you cast a titan one turn sooner. The deck mulligans a lot,
but it mulligans well. I won several mull to 5, and even one mull to 4.

I lost my first round of the Swiss, playing against the mirror. I then won seven matches in a row,
beating various Naya, Delver, Zombie, and other decks. Naya is probably the easiest matchup, since they
can’t really kill a titan ever. Delver is a coin flip but you are a slight favorite after board. Zombies can be
a problem if they have a perfect draw, but usually Primeval Titan for Glimmerpost is enough to stay out
of range. My top 8 matches were against Infect, Delver, and a UB Tezzeret deck that I lost to in the finals.
The loss seemed more like my deck giving up and not drawing any ramp game 3, but it might be a bad
matchup.

If you are playing a standard tournament in the future, I would recommend playing this deck, or a
deck that can actually beat this (i.e. don’t play Naya). I’m still deciding between playing this again at the
Austin PTQ this weekend, or playing in the Magic Online M13 sealed PTQ. Good luck to you in your
future tournaments!

Ty Thomason

@ceciliajupe

Discuss this post here!

Roy Xu took first place with an Esper Stoneblade / Thopter build.

First Place: Roy Xu with Esper Stoneblade / Thopter:

3 Thopter Foundry
1 Sword of the Meek
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Batterskull

4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendillion Clique

3 Force of Will
2 Mana Leak
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Zealous Persecution

2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek

3 JaceThe Mindsculptor

4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Marsh Flats
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
2 Wasteland
1 Karakas
1 Academy Ruins
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp

Sideboard:
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Perish
1 Disenchant
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Path to Exile
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Force of Will
1 Spell Pierce
1 Flusterstorm
1 Sword of Feast and Famine

By: Jeremy Crawley

So I was supposed to start a Legacy column, and that obviously didn’t happen, so I just decided to write another article about Modern and Legacy. First I will start with Modern, and move on to Legacy.

Before I get to decks I wanted to talk about the Modern ban list a little bit. So this is a new format, which means there are a lot of exciting new ideas and possibilities that are floating around, massive card price speculation, and just general excitement. First off, you can play any card that was printed in a “new border set” (8^th edition and further) except for the following list of cards:

• Ancestral Vision
• Ancient Den
• Bitterblossom
• Chrome Mox
• Dark Depths
• Dread Return
• Glimpse of Nature
• Golgari Grave-Troll
• Great Furnace
• Hypergenesis
• Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• Mental Misstep
• Seat of the Synod
• Sensei’s Divining Top
• Stoneforge Mystic
• Skullclamp
• Sword of the Meek
• Tree of Tales
• Umezawa’s Jitte
• Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
• Vault of Whispers

I think Wizards did a pretty good job with the banned list, except there are some choices I disagree with. The most obvious choice is definitely Skullclamp, as it’s even banned in Legacy. Sensei’s Divining Top makes sense because of the presence of Counterbalance as well as the fact it makes matches in large tournaments always go to max time. The next thing to really notice is that most of these cards are basically just the best cards that made certain decks too powerful. Most of these cards are basically the enablers of the best decks in Extended recently… Artifact Lands = Affinity; Bitterblossom/Ancestral Vision = Faeries; Chrome Mox/Dark Depths = Vampire Hexmage Combo; Sword of the Meek = Thopter Foundry combo; Stoneforge Mystic/Umezawa’s Jitte = WoTC doesn’t want CawBlade killing Modern too; Hypergenesis = probably the Hypergenesis deck; Glimpse of Nature = Combo Elves and Affinity to some extent; Valakut =  one of the dumbest decks ever created (Scapeshift or Primeval Titan nonsense)

There are some choices here I don’t particularly agree with:

• Ancestral Vision/Mental Misstep: I can see banning Ancestral Vision because of power level, but I don’t think it’s necessary, especially with the banning of Mental Misstep. Decks need to be able to deal with a turn 1 Nacatl or Hierarch in my opinion, and there aren’t really options for control out there right now , especially if you’re on the draw. You can choose to not play blue which seems to be Wizard’s goal unless you like milling people. I particularly don’t want to accelerate my opponent into 3 lands with Path to Exile, nor do I really want to play Lightning Bolt because the color red is awful in general. Ancestral Visions would’ve given heavy-blue decks a good chance to recover from the initial Zoo/Affinity assault, rather than having to go one-for-one (save board sweepers) the entire game, as would our next candidate:
• Jace, the Mind Sculptor: I know he’s extremely good, but he isn’t broken. This isn’t Vintage. WotC obviously knows they shouldn’t have printed a card with this power level so their immediate solution is to of course to not let people play it, instead of doing good R&D in the first place.
• Stoneforge Mystic: With Jitte banned, I don’t think this should be banned. I think this is more of a “Let’s prevent Caw-Blade from happening again”
• Golgari Grave-Troll/Dread Return: I don’t get either of these… I mean maybe Dread Return? What is the difference in just using more Dredge 4 and 5 creatures? Is Dredge 6 that big of a deal? Most people that play Dredge are bad anyways so why worry about this deck?

A card that should absolutely be on the banned list:

• Emrakul: There is no reason this creature should be legal, especially with the Urzatron engine AND all the locust lands (Cloudpost and Glimmerpost). Casting a turn 4 or 5 Emrakul that is uncounterable is not even hard in this format, unless your opponent plays Blood Moon or throws your cards in a fire. Dealing with Kozilek or Ulamog is fine, but Emrakul…. Consuela would say “No Emrakul legal… No no no.”

So the deck I’m currently tooling with right now is Doran Rock. I’ve always wanted to play this deck and now I can.

Creatures (22):

4 Doran, the Siege Tower

1 Treefolk Harbinger

1 Gaddock Teeg

4 Tarmogoyf

2 Kitchen Finks

3 Spellskite

4 Noble Hierarch

1 Thrun, the Last Troll

2 Qasali Pridemage

Spells (18):

4 Thoughtseize

2 Inquisition of Kozilek

2 Maelstrom Pulse

2 Doom Blade

2 Path to Exile

1 Go for the Throat

1 Putrefy

1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

3 Green Sun’s Zenith

Lands (21):

4 Verdant Catacombs

3 Misty Rainforest

2 Marsh Flats

2 Overgrown Tomb

1 Temple Garden

1 Godless Shrine

1 Dryad Arbor

1 Reflecting Pool

2 Stirring Wildwood

2 Forest

1 Swamp

1 Plains

Total (61) – I usually play 61 card decks. I don’t know why I just do.

I like rock decks because all you do is play cards that are just awesome. This is the deck I will be playing initially in  sanctioned Modern tournaments. I don’t think it has a particularly incredible matchup against any deck, but I don’t think it has an auto lose matchup either, except burn, which please skip to matchup #8 for possibly SB options. First, here are some of the awesome things about this deck:

1)      There are 7 ways to get Doran out on turn 2. That is awesome.

2)      With an excellent opening 7, you can win on turn 4. That is awesome, especially when you outrace dumb decks like 12 Post or Hive Mind, and when they fetch for shock lands they lightning bolt themselves and make it easier for you.

3)      With Green Sun’s Zenith you’re playing effectively playing 7 Dorans. Way awesome.

4)      Spellskite + Doran. Unfair and it protects Doran. Definitely awesome.

5)      This deck has a good matchup against Zoo and other creature-based aggro decks, which will be popular. Kitchen Finks is annoying, and typically all your creatures are bigger than them. Awesome.

6)      4 Tarmogoyfs. Probably the most awesome thing about this deck.

Two choices I made that people may question:

1)      No Dark Confidant. I think people that know me can say if I choose to play green and black in the same deck, I will play 4 Dark Confidant and 4 Tarmogoyf. I originally had him in the deck, but took him out, and here’s why

1. Modern is going to be a fast format, and Dark Confidant generates very good mid-game and excellent late-game card advantage, but there is no way to get him out on Turn 1, unlike Aggro-Loam or Junk in Legacy. You could play Simian Spirit Guide to accelerate to Dark Confidant, but if you do that you’re going to definitely be losing anyways, and should sell your Dark Confidants to buy an entire burn deck.
2. There is going to be a lot of creature removal, so he is going to immediately die.
3. Loss of life is relevant in this format, especially if you decide to go the 5 life Thoughtseize on turn 1.
4. I originally subbed him out for 4 Tarmogoyfs because Goyf is the best human wizard, but I didn’t want to get immediately disqualified from every tournament I entered.

2)      No Knight of the Reliquary

1. Simply put he has been quite unimpressive in Modern. He can get Ghost Quarter or Tectonic Edge which would be helpful against 12-post, but he cannot get Wasteland, so he’s just a big dude that is mostly slower than other big dudes in this deck. I would also rather play Doran on turn 2 or 3 anyways.
2. Also tried subbing in 4 more Goyfs for KoTR, but I couldn’t because of reason “D” above.

So for the sideboard of this deck I’m still deciding what I want to do, but below are cards I’m considering or will definitely go in the board for different matchups. By the way I got these by browsing MTGO daily tournament decklists.

My initial SB will probably be, but note the Gaddock Teeg in the main deck, which I still discuss in the SB:

2 Kitchen Finks

4 Sadistic Sacrament

2 Creeping Corrosion

2 Duress

2 Surgical Extraction

1 Dosan, the Falling Leaf

2 Doom Blade

Matchups and card discussion:

1)      12-Post

1. Sadistic Sacrament – I think this may be the best way to fight this deck, with extra help from your discard spells to slow them down. Most lists I’ve seen (going from the MTGO daily results) are running 3 Eldrazi targets, with at least 1 Emrakul, and some number of Ulamogs/Kozileks. I imagine a turn 4 or 5 win needs to happen or you will inevitably lose to Emracheats.
2. Ensnaring Bridge – Another decent card, but not spectacular by any means. It slows them down by not letting Primeval Titan attack, but once they are able to fetch up Ulamog you’re probably done, unless you draw two. Your Dorans and Spellskites can attack under the Ensnaring Bridge (win), but a quick win is still necessary.
3. Gaddock Teeg – Stops Green Sun’s Zenith. Problem is that it also stops your Zenith’s. Still not a bad option.

2)      Zoo

1. More Kitchen Finks – He soaks up your opponent’s Path to Exiles, clearing way for Doran, which is hard for them to get rid of, especially with Spellskite sitting there.
2. Doom Blade/Deathmark – Probably Doom Blade because of the popularity of Affinity.
3. Gaddock Teeg – Stops Boom/Bust shenanigans and stops Zenith, if they’re playing either.

3)      Affinity

1. Creeping Corrosion – Destroying all artifacts is good in this matchup
2. Nature’s Claim/Krosan Grip – Both awesome cards, and fill a more general slot than Creeping Corrosion. I haven’t really seen too many decks that consistently do well where a general answer like Grip or Claim is needed though.
3. More Kitchen Finks – helps recover from the initial assault of tiny dudes and Signal Pest. Once you stabilize I would find it hard for Affinity to beat Doran, especially if they don’t play Disciple of the Vault, where you should be winning anyways because your opponent is dumb.

4)      Merfolk

1. This deck may continue to be somewhat popular until people realize it’s not good in Modern. I wouldn’t worry about this deck. Just board in more removal and Kitchen Finks. Things will get rough for them quickly if you land Doran turn 2 and they don’t have an answer.

5)      Hive Mind

1. Ethersworn Canonist – Shuts off their accelerants so they can only cast one dig spell a turn. Your discard spells should take care of the rest and shouldn’t be too hard to win.
2. Duress – Good
3. Gaddock Teeg – Can’t play Hive Mind… Probably good. If people start realize how good Disruption Shoal is in this format Teeg will get better.

6)      Splinter Twin

1. Gaddock Teeg – Can’t play Splinter Twin… also good. These decks are also playing Kiki-Jiki as well, which presents a problem. Just win before hand.
2. Duress – Good
3. Surgical Extraction – If you get rid of a Splinter Twin via hand disruption and extract it they basically lose. If they beat you still, depending on how many Kiki-Jikis they have, you should probably quit playing Magic or start playing 12-post.

7)      Pyromancer’s Ascension

1. Duress – Good
2. Surgical Extraction – See above with Splinter Twin
3. Dosan, the Falling Leaf – they play counterspells. He does not let them play counterspells
4. Teeg – Stops Cryptic Command and Disrupting Shoal.

8)      Burn

1. Kitchen Finks- Life gain is good, but you probably lose anyways. Be prepared if your opponent sits down across from you with pink sleeves, or if they are drooling and/or mouth breathing. Pink sleeves signify that they think they’re crafty by not playing red sleeves to give their deck color choice away, but still need pink to remind what color they are playing, and need a similar color sleeve to remind them they need mountains because the colors match. Orange sleeves may also be another good indicator. You should just be proud you’re not playing Mono-red and have a brain, and probably didn’t have to borrow $20 from your mom to play in the tournament you’re in Don’t get mad and throw their 20-sided EDH dice they’re keeping your life total on across the room though, especially when you’re having to adjust your life total on it for them because they’re too dumb to count or just forget to. If you’re at the X-0 tables, try to push them for a deck check because they’ll have their deck in a fat pack box they carry their entire collection in, with cards from 4^th Edition they found on the ground earlier mixed in with their sideboard. You’ll get a match win for that. Other possible wins include them playing either Chain Lightning or Fireblast from the Fire/Lightning deck because they heard any card with the new border is legal.
2. Nature’s Claim – In case they play Blood Moon, which sucks for you. You should be able to Zenith out a Qasali before hand hopefully. Noble Hierarch helps tremendously with Blood Moon, but she will immediately die though sadly.

9)      Any type of control:

1. Teeg – Shuts off Cryptic Command, Gifts Ungiven, Damnation, Wrath/Day of Judgment, and Mystical Teachings
2. Dosan, the Falling Leaf – They can’t play cards on your turn = good
3. Additional hand disruption – Rip apart all the stuff they can play to kill Teeg or Dosan. This match shouldn’t be hard.
4. Surgical Extraction – I would board in if they are using Life From the Loam for card advantage.

10)  Any other type of combo

1. Teeg, additional hand disruption, and most likely Surgical Extraction.

11)  Other Zenith targets I’m considering: for SB

1. Ohran Viper – I think this guy is awesome, especially as a Zenith target. I’d bring him in against Affinity if I put him in the SB. A Doran’d 3/3 with deathtouch and card advantage attached to him is neat.
2. Cold-Eyed Selkie – This is for control and is fetchable via Zenith. Excellent with exalted, and should always get through because they have Islands. Once a control deck gets well-established, I will put one of these in my SB.

Overall I think Doran is an excellent deck choice for a mostly unknown metagame. I don’t really know why Doran decks aren’t creeping up on MTGO at all, but I’m hoping that it’s just because the deck is expensive to build. Every card is solid and if played correctly you should do fine. Please send me suggestions or post after the article if you think I missed something.

Thanks for reading,

Jeremy