Magic the Gathering Blog
Land Down Under
There are two decks I've been watching closely in the Extended metagame; Pox Rock and Green Depths. I love the destructive nature of them both, their ability to grind down an opponent or win out of nowhere.
The two decks share a pedigree of sorts, coming out of the BG Rock decks of ages past. They also share an awful lot of cards. As such I thought I might as well tinker with the next evolution of the two decks. Here it is, Land Down Under:
Land Down Under
A deck for Extended.
// 17 Creatures
4 Bloodghast
4 Dark Confidant
1 Eternal Witness
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Tarmogoyf
// 3 Instants
2 Darkblast
1 Putrefy
// 2 Legendary Artifacts
2 Umezawa's Jitte
// 12 Sorceries
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Smallpox
4 Thoughtseize
2 Grim Discovery
// 3 Basic Lands
1 Forest
2 Swamp
// 19 Lands
2 Marsh Flats
3 Mutavault
4 Dark Depths
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
// 4 Legendary Lands
1 Gemstone Caverns
3 Urborg, Tomb Of Yawgmoth
// Sideboard:
4 Extirpate
3 Krosan Grip
2 Shadow Of Doubt
4 Deathmark
2 Duress
Here's a deck that has the insta-win capabilities of Green Depths, or the grind-it-out capabilities of Pox Rock. There are some extra synergies here as well:
* Hexmage + Jitte = good times. The Jitte triggers off the first-strike damage, so you can then shrink you're opponent's creature in response before normal damage occurs, or buff your hexmage out of death range.
* Grim Discovery + Bloodghast + Fetch Lands. You get extra extra utility out of your Bloodghasts thanks to Grim Discovery, and if you fetch the Eternal Witness with it you can also recover a removal spell, Smallpox or Jitte. You can even start to get back your man lands if you're so inclined.
* Grim Discovery + Hexmage + Dark Depths. Lose the combo? Get it back again. Can be done several times thanks to Eternal Witness.
* Smallpox + Bloodghast. Clearly a key synergy in the deck, this is part of what allows you to keep coming back and back and back and back.
* Dark Confidant + Darkblast. The ability to hit your opponent's Boros 1/1s or Elves will be crucial in the upcoming metagame.
* Hexmage + Dark Depths + Tarmogofy. Triggering the combo also happens to make your Goyf bigger.
As you don't have all the tutors, you may not necessarily have the combo-consistency of other Depths decks, but you will certainly be able to grind it out against GB depths, shut down several combo decks through hand disrution, and hopefully grind it out until your combo comes online - if your opponent lives that long.
There are two decks I've been watching closely in the Extended metagame; Pox Rock and Green Depths. I love the destructive nature of them both, their ability to grind down an opponent or win out of nowhere.
The two decks share a pedigree of sorts, coming out of the BG Rock decks of ages past. They also share an awful lot of cards. As such I thought I might as well tinker with the next evolution of the two decks. Here it is, Land Down Under:
Land Down Under
A deck for Extended.
// 17 Creatures
4 Bloodghast
4 Dark Confidant
1 Eternal Witness
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Tarmogoyf
// 3 Instants
2 Darkblast
1 Putrefy
// 2 Legendary Artifacts
2 Umezawa's Jitte
// 12 Sorceries
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Smallpox
4 Thoughtseize
2 Grim Discovery
// 3 Basic Lands
1 Forest
2 Swamp
// 19 Lands
2 Marsh Flats
3 Mutavault
4 Dark Depths
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
// 4 Legendary Lands
1 Gemstone Caverns
3 Urborg, Tomb Of Yawgmoth
// Sideboard:
4 Extirpate
3 Krosan Grip
2 Shadow Of Doubt
4 Deathmark
2 Duress
Here's a deck that has the insta-win capabilities of Green Depths, or the grind-it-out capabilities of Pox Rock. There are some extra synergies here as well:
* Hexmage + Jitte = good times. The Jitte triggers off the first-strike damage, so you can then shrink you're opponent's creature in response before normal damage occurs, or buff your hexmage out of death range.
* Grim Discovery + Bloodghast + Fetch Lands. You get extra extra utility out of your Bloodghasts thanks to Grim Discovery, and if you fetch the Eternal Witness with it you can also recover a removal spell, Smallpox or Jitte. You can even start to get back your man lands if you're so inclined.
* Grim Discovery + Hexmage + Dark Depths. Lose the combo? Get it back again. Can be done several times thanks to Eternal Witness.
* Smallpox + Bloodghast. Clearly a key synergy in the deck, this is part of what allows you to keep coming back and back and back and back.
* Dark Confidant + Darkblast. The ability to hit your opponent's Boros 1/1s or Elves will be crucial in the upcoming metagame.
* Hexmage + Dark Depths + Tarmogofy. Triggering the combo also happens to make your Goyf bigger.
As you don't have all the tutors, you may not necessarily have the combo-consistency of other Depths decks, but you will certainly be able to grind it out against GB depths, shut down several combo decks through hand disrution, and hopefully grind it out until your combo comes online - if your opponent lives that long.
Magic Theory: Looking Foward To Power Creep
There's been a bit of hubbub of later of the power creep of creatures and, to a certain extent, the nerfing of counterspells.
Those who have been playing Magic for years understand the ebb and flow of power within the game. The original sets, alpha through to revised, were, in reality, a 'best guess' at how the game would work. It's known the creators never expected decks with four-ofs of any one rare; this assumption proved to be incorrect and the busted cards became known pretty quickly.
And in the beginning, the busted cards were artifacts, instants and sorceries:
* Black Lotus
* Mox Pearl
* Mox Sapphire
* Mox Jet
* Mox Ruby
* Mox Emerald
* Ancestral Recall
* Time Walk
* Timetwister
There were literally zero creatures that could compete with the power level of these spells. Even the lesser instants and sorceries - Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, Counterspell, Sinkhole - were highly efficient. Creatures were merely the things you fit around successfully resolving your Recalls and Time Walks.
Yes, there were some lights in the shadow; certainly Savannah Lions set the benchmark for what W would buy you, Ball Lightning in 4th Ed is still a great card today, and Lord of Atlantis is the most effectively costs Lord to date, but overwhelmingly the creatures of that era would not see play today.
When did this begin to change? Erhnam Djinn in Chronicles and Juzam Djinn in Arabian Nights pushed back against Serra Angel in terms of effeciency. But the still could not compete with the power levels of Stasis, Fastbond, Balance, Demonic Tutor, and the many, many other instants, sorceries and enchantments that would steal their thunder for years.
So when did it really start to change? Probably not with the printing of Morphling in Urza's Saga, which should be seen as a fantastic abberation in a set full of otherwise boring creatures. Probably not Goblin Welder in Urza's Legacy, which, while powerful, is really more a tutoring sorcery than a creature. A better guess might be Urza's Destiny, which gave us the 5/5 Phyrexian Negator for 2B and the 4/4 Masticore with a bunch of great abilities for 4.
But the rise of creatures was really precipitated by the printing of two tribes; Slivers in Tempest block and exceedingly good Goblins in Onslaught block. These two tribes allowed creatures to 'get back in the game', so to speak. As tribes they were powerful and synergistic. But there's one thing they weren't; efficient. As an army, Goblins and Slivers were hyper-powerful, but by themselves they were just as anemic as their older creature cousins. This same efficiency could be seen in Mirrodin block; by themselves the Affinity and Modular creatures were pretty pathetic (7 mana for a 4/4? no thanks!). But as a group they were unstoppable.
It wasn't really until Ravnica that the modern standards for power/toughness efficiency in creatures was set. Ravnica, of couse, was the home of the 'Hunted' cycle: 1UU 4/6 unblockable creature, BB for a 7/7 trampler, 2GG for a 8/4 regenerator, 3RR for a flying, hasty 6/6. Of course, each of these creatures had considerable downsides, in that they gave your opponent permanents of their own, but they certainly set a new benchmark for power/toughness efficiency.
This new realm of efficiency was reinforced by the Gold creatures Ravnica introduced. Watchwolf became the watchword for mana efficiency, the WG 3/3 vanilla creature. Guildpact gave Giant Solifuge, a hasty, trampling, shrouded 4/1 for 2R/G R/G. Rumbling Slum was fantastic at 1RGG for a 5/5 that pinged your opponent - you sure didn't care about it pinging yourself. And if you were prepared to lose your entire board position, then 3UU for a 8/8 flyer didn't seem so bad at all.
Timespiral block reinforced this, bringing with it the suspend mechanic, allowing people to spend R to cast a 9/7 or 2U to cast an unblockable 6/6. Spending 1R on a Vanishing 3/3 that was guaranteed to do at least 2 damage was far more impressive than Ravnica's 3/3 that hung around.
And then we got Future Sight, which certainly lived up to its promise, allowing us to glimpse just how efficent creatures would become. The 5/5 flyer for BB in Tombstalker; the 0 mana 1/1 flyer in Nacromoeba, the 3 5/5 in Gathan Raiders.
And then there was Tarmogoyf. The 1G (possible) 8/9 with no drawback.
With Lorwyn promised to be a creature-focus block with a strong tribal theme, the future for creatures only looked better. Oona's Prowler was a 3/1 flyer for 1B. Mulldrifter was Divination on a 2/2 flyer. And then their were the blue faeries; Mistbind Clique, Scion of Oona, Spellstutter Sprite, Sower of Temptation, Vendilion clique. Even the aggressively costed Kithkin and Merfolk couldn't keep up. Doran, a BGW 'effective' 5/5 made others look tiny, but wasn't much use one Sowered away.
By this time huge, efficient creatures were common. A 2RR 7/7 and 8/8? Sure. No-one even played them, percieving the downside too harsh. A 1G 4/3 (Talara's Battalion)? Not even worth bothering about when your 2/2 'vigilant' Gs (Nettle Sentinel) were doing the job for you, or just helping you combo off.
So there was no need to be surprised when the next block, Alara, featured a 3/3 for G in Wild Nacatl, or a 5/4 for WGR in Wooly Thoctar. Or two 4/4 flyers for 3BRG in Broodmate Dragon. Or a 4/4 for BG in Putrid Leech. And even less surprise when a 5/5 Flying, First Striking, Lifelinking Angel for 3WW turned up in M10, or a 6/6 Flying Trampling Demon for 2BB turned up in Zendikar.
The important thing to note is; are any of these as powerful as a Black Lotus? A Time Walk? An Ancestral Recall? Even a Sinkhole? Probably not. If those cards were in Standard you'd build your deck around them in a second.
Just how good does a creature have to get before you'd run one over Time Walk? I don't know, but it would have to be pretty close to Tarmogoyf for a single colored mana. Can we expect something like that in the future? Perhaps.
But what's great about the power creep of creatures is that it clearly gives Wizard's some comfort in returning some of the older, more powerful spells to us. Sure, we've only seen Lightning Bolt and Swords to Ploughshares to date, but how far away can Counterspell or Stone Rain be? If the only way to survive an onslaught of hyper-efficient creatures is through mana denial, spell denial, or highly efficent removal, then it's going to get printed again.
The only question now is when - and how good will creatures be when they do?
There's been a bit of hubbub of later of the power creep of creatures and, to a certain extent, the nerfing of counterspells.
Those who have been playing Magic for years understand the ebb and flow of power within the game. The original sets, alpha through to revised, were, in reality, a 'best guess' at how the game would work. It's known the creators never expected decks with four-ofs of any one rare; this assumption proved to be incorrect and the busted cards became known pretty quickly.
And in the beginning, the busted cards were artifacts, instants and sorceries:
* Black Lotus
* Mox Pearl
* Mox Sapphire
* Mox Jet
* Mox Ruby
* Mox Emerald
* Ancestral Recall
* Time Walk
* Timetwister
There were literally zero creatures that could compete with the power level of these spells. Even the lesser instants and sorceries - Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, Counterspell, Sinkhole - were highly efficient. Creatures were merely the things you fit around successfully resolving your Recalls and Time Walks.
Yes, there were some lights in the shadow; certainly Savannah Lions set the benchmark for what W would buy you, Ball Lightning in 4th Ed is still a great card today, and Lord of Atlantis is the most effectively costs Lord to date, but overwhelmingly the creatures of that era would not see play today.
When did this begin to change? Erhnam Djinn in Chronicles and Juzam Djinn in Arabian Nights pushed back against Serra Angel in terms of effeciency. But the still could not compete with the power levels of Stasis, Fastbond, Balance, Demonic Tutor, and the many, many other instants, sorceries and enchantments that would steal their thunder for years.
So when did it really start to change? Probably not with the printing of Morphling in Urza's Saga, which should be seen as a fantastic abberation in a set full of otherwise boring creatures. Probably not Goblin Welder in Urza's Legacy, which, while powerful, is really more a tutoring sorcery than a creature. A better guess might be Urza's Destiny, which gave us the 5/5 Phyrexian Negator for 2B and the 4/4 Masticore with a bunch of great abilities for 4.
But the rise of creatures was really precipitated by the printing of two tribes; Slivers in Tempest block and exceedingly good Goblins in Onslaught block. These two tribes allowed creatures to 'get back in the game', so to speak. As tribes they were powerful and synergistic. But there's one thing they weren't; efficient. As an army, Goblins and Slivers were hyper-powerful, but by themselves they were just as anemic as their older creature cousins. This same efficiency could be seen in Mirrodin block; by themselves the Affinity and Modular creatures were pretty pathetic (7 mana for a 4/4? no thanks!). But as a group they were unstoppable.
It wasn't really until Ravnica that the modern standards for power/toughness efficiency in creatures was set. Ravnica, of couse, was the home of the 'Hunted' cycle: 1UU 4/6 unblockable creature, BB for a 7/7 trampler, 2GG for a 8/4 regenerator, 3RR for a flying, hasty 6/6. Of course, each of these creatures had considerable downsides, in that they gave your opponent permanents of their own, but they certainly set a new benchmark for power/toughness efficiency.
This new realm of efficiency was reinforced by the Gold creatures Ravnica introduced. Watchwolf became the watchword for mana efficiency, the WG 3/3 vanilla creature. Guildpact gave Giant Solifuge, a hasty, trampling, shrouded 4/1 for 2R/G R/G. Rumbling Slum was fantastic at 1RGG for a 5/5 that pinged your opponent - you sure didn't care about it pinging yourself. And if you were prepared to lose your entire board position, then 3UU for a 8/8 flyer didn't seem so bad at all.
Timespiral block reinforced this, bringing with it the suspend mechanic, allowing people to spend R to cast a 9/7 or 2U to cast an unblockable 6/6. Spending 1R on a Vanishing 3/3 that was guaranteed to do at least 2 damage was far more impressive than Ravnica's 3/3 that hung around.
And then we got Future Sight, which certainly lived up to its promise, allowing us to glimpse just how efficent creatures would become. The 5/5 flyer for BB in Tombstalker; the 0 mana 1/1 flyer in Nacromoeba, the 3 5/5 in Gathan Raiders.
And then there was Tarmogoyf. The 1G (possible) 8/9 with no drawback.
With Lorwyn promised to be a creature-focus block with a strong tribal theme, the future for creatures only looked better. Oona's Prowler was a 3/1 flyer for 1B. Mulldrifter was Divination on a 2/2 flyer. And then their were the blue faeries; Mistbind Clique, Scion of Oona, Spellstutter Sprite, Sower of Temptation, Vendilion clique. Even the aggressively costed Kithkin and Merfolk couldn't keep up. Doran, a BGW 'effective' 5/5 made others look tiny, but wasn't much use one Sowered away.
By this time huge, efficient creatures were common. A 2RR 7/7 and 8/8? Sure. No-one even played them, percieving the downside too harsh. A 1G 4/3 (Talara's Battalion)? Not even worth bothering about when your 2/2 'vigilant' Gs (Nettle Sentinel) were doing the job for you, or just helping you combo off.
So there was no need to be surprised when the next block, Alara, featured a 3/3 for G in Wild Nacatl, or a 5/4 for WGR in Wooly Thoctar. Or two 4/4 flyers for 3BRG in Broodmate Dragon. Or a 4/4 for BG in Putrid Leech. And even less surprise when a 5/5 Flying, First Striking, Lifelinking Angel for 3WW turned up in M10, or a 6/6 Flying Trampling Demon for 2BB turned up in Zendikar.
The important thing to note is; are any of these as powerful as a Black Lotus? A Time Walk? An Ancestral Recall? Even a Sinkhole? Probably not. If those cards were in Standard you'd build your deck around them in a second.
Just how good does a creature have to get before you'd run one over Time Walk? I don't know, but it would have to be pretty close to Tarmogoyf for a single colored mana. Can we expect something like that in the future? Perhaps.
But what's great about the power creep of creatures is that it clearly gives Wizard's some comfort in returning some of the older, more powerful spells to us. Sure, we've only seen Lightning Bolt and Swords to Ploughshares to date, but how far away can Counterspell or Stone Rain be? If the only way to survive an onslaught of hyper-efficient creatures is through mana denial, spell denial, or highly efficent removal, then it's going to get printed again.
The only question now is when - and how good will creatures be when they do?
Good Games 5k Trial - Gosford
I've been told if I don't blog this, The Pirates will never let it go.
Not that they will anyway, but here goes.
I had woken this morning to a colossal migraine, and to get out of bed pumped half a tab of Nurofen Plus into my gob (don't try that at home, boys and girls). Eventually I got to a point where I was good enough to play.
It was a small crew at the Gosford Good Games for the 5K trial - literally 8 of us. It would be three rounds to top 4, then playoffs from there.
The field was pretty diverse - a couple of Jund, Planeswalker Control, UWr, Boros Bushwacker, Allies and Taronga Zoo. I was pretty confident with that field.
I played a practice match against Grixis before hand and the deck worked like a dream, especially after sideboarding. And then the tourny began.
My first matchup was Jund running Garruk and Eldrazi Monument. I managed to take that one down 2-0, which is what was expected from the deck.
My second matchup was Allies. This went 1-2, and I had little I could sideboard in against it. Allies was super-fast, almost Boros fast. I made a critical mistake in Game 3, throwing a 1-land hand that was entirely removal. If I'd kept it, I could have kept the board clear while I searched for land.
But it was match three that was the major fuckup.
It was Game 1, playing Boros. My opponent had mulled to five, and I was in great form. Board domination. Opponent's hand almost empty. A full clutch.
In response to some major shennanigans on the field, I crack a fetchland, pick up my library, and start searching for a Forest.
No forests.
But I do have my opponent calling a judge.
Because I've picked up the WRONG FUCKING LIBRARY.
That's right, I've turored right into my opponents library. That's tek, right?
Wrong.
I get a game loss - for the record, I should probably have got a DQ. And although I pick up the next game, Boros sweeps me in the third.
I could blame the drugs, but I won't. I'll blame bone-headed stupidness instead.
That said: the deck is good. Here's the changes I would make:
* -3 Bloodbraid Elf, +3 Explore. I always wanted more land. MOAR LAND. And Bloodbraid I rarely wanted to cast. Explore would also fill the 2-drop slot nicely.
* -1 Tectonic Edge, +1 Sejerri Steppe. I think I would of like the ability to instantly protect a Knight (or another creature) using the Knight's fetch ability. Would definitely have swung some games.
* +2 Earthquake or DoJ in the sideboad. The early aggro decks were harder than I thought.
Other than that, the deck is absolutely solid. Pity I'm such a twit.
I've been told if I don't blog this, The Pirates will never let it go.
Not that they will anyway, but here goes.
I had woken this morning to a colossal migraine, and to get out of bed pumped half a tab of Nurofen Plus into my gob (don't try that at home, boys and girls). Eventually I got to a point where I was good enough to play.
It was a small crew at the Gosford Good Games for the 5K trial - literally 8 of us. It would be three rounds to top 4, then playoffs from there.
The field was pretty diverse - a couple of Jund, Planeswalker Control, UWr, Boros Bushwacker, Allies and Taronga Zoo. I was pretty confident with that field.
I played a practice match against Grixis before hand and the deck worked like a dream, especially after sideboarding. And then the tourny began.
My first matchup was Jund running Garruk and Eldrazi Monument. I managed to take that one down 2-0, which is what was expected from the deck.
My second matchup was Allies. This went 1-2, and I had little I could sideboard in against it. Allies was super-fast, almost Boros fast. I made a critical mistake in Game 3, throwing a 1-land hand that was entirely removal. If I'd kept it, I could have kept the board clear while I searched for land.
But it was match three that was the major fuckup.
It was Game 1, playing Boros. My opponent had mulled to five, and I was in great form. Board domination. Opponent's hand almost empty. A full clutch.
In response to some major shennanigans on the field, I crack a fetchland, pick up my library, and start searching for a Forest.
No forests.
But I do have my opponent calling a judge.
Because I've picked up the WRONG FUCKING LIBRARY.
That's right, I've turored right into my opponents library. That's tek, right?
Wrong.
I get a game loss - for the record, I should probably have got a DQ. And although I pick up the next game, Boros sweeps me in the third.
I could blame the drugs, but I won't. I'll blame bone-headed stupidness instead.
That said: the deck is good. Here's the changes I would make:
* -3 Bloodbraid Elf, +3 Explore. I always wanted more land. MOAR LAND. And Bloodbraid I rarely wanted to cast. Explore would also fill the 2-drop slot nicely.
* -1 Tectonic Edge, +1 Sejerri Steppe. I think I would of like the ability to instantly protect a Knight (or another creature) using the Knight's fetch ability. Would definitely have swung some games.
* +2 Earthquake or DoJ in the sideboad. The early aggro decks were harder than I thought.
Other than that, the deck is absolutely solid. Pity I'm such a twit.
Taronga Zoo
[A decklist by Neale Talbot]
This deck leans heavily on a shell developed by Rubin Zoo (and by extension of that, Naya Lightsaber by Mike Flores). I'd like to thank Baz & Jay for their help tuning the deck, Bjoern and his friends for playtesting it, and Marshall for his input in the sideboard.
Once Worldwake was released, I returned to the zoo list Kibler played at Pro-Tour Austin. Once I saw the dual man lands from Worldwake and the Next Big Thing, Tectonic Edge, I knew I wanted to be able to tutor for them using Knight of the Reliquary. Which is why I returned to the Rubin list for inspiration, as Flores' (quite rightly) forgoed the Knight with only Arid Mesa as it's main pump machine.
The result was Taronga Zoo.
Taronga Zoo has performed very well in testing. The results - before a new sideboard was built - were about 60:40 vs Jund, Vampires & Boros, 50:50 vs Grixis and Lightsaber, and 30:70 vs UWr. This gives us advantage over most of the field, with one particularly bad matchup.
Here's the list:
Taronga Zoo Decklist
// 24 Creatures
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Noble Heirarch
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Scute Mob
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Ranger of Eos
3 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Baneslayer Angel
// 8 Instants
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
// 3 Planeswalkers
2 Ajani Vengeant
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
// 25 Lands
4 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
2 Stirring Wildwood
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Arid Mesa
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Oran-Reif, the Vastwood
//
3 x Slingbow Trap
3 x Great Sable Stag
4 x Kor Firewalker
3 x Luminarch Ascension
2 x Burst Lightning
Maindeck
The deck has a lot of clear synergies, but a surprising one is mana denial. Between Ajani and Tectonic Edge, with a good draw you can keep your opponent on 2 effective mana for quite a while.
Although only 24 creatures are listed, you're really running 27+ - three more from the three manlands, and an infinite number you can pump out via Elspeth.
Knight of the Reliquary is a champ, able to tutor up Oran-Rief, a man-land, or a Tectonic Edge. This deck considers Edge almost a spell, rather than a land - "1, destroy target non-basic land, give Knight of the Reliquary +1/+1". Sounds good to me.
In testing the Manlands have been great. They give you extra reach post Day of Judgment, as well as a beat-down machine. Occasionally you'll lose one to a Terminate, but if you play smart you'll generally get around Lightning Bolt. And when they do die, they're only pumping Knight of the Reliquary. Modular, right?
Ranger has a lot of good targets, but one great move late game is grabbing both a Scute Mob and the Dragonmaster Outcast. The sort of devil's choice you love to give your opponent. Or a win condition if they don'thave any removal in hand.
Sideboard
The sideboard is mainly to shore up some of your worse matchups, though UWr is always going to be a dog. We had a fair bit of discussion about Luminarch Ascension, Summoning Trap or River Boa, but Luminarch won the day. You lay it down, then apply pressure, and hopefully UWr is spending so many resources in defence they can't get rid of the Ascension. Hopefully.
Slingbow Trap is pretty spectacular. For G you can kill Abyssal Persecutor, Vampire Nocturnus, Malakir Bloodwitch, Vampire Nighthawk or Broodmate Dragon. For 3G it kills Baneslayer or a Broodmate token. Sure, it's conditional in that they have to be attacking, but when does Vampires not attack?
Great Sable Stag helps the UWr and Grixis matchups, with some splash damage for Jund. The main thing is to try to play it with the ability to pump with Oran-Rief and get it out of Lightning Bolt range.
Kor Firewalker is just nuts - NUTS - against RDW, and can also turn a match against Grixis. Grixis' only real removal options are Into the Roil or Sorin.
Burst Lightning helps against Malakir Bloodwitch, slowing down Boros, nuking a Ball Lightning, or just pushing damage across to your opponent.
Exploring Options
Other options we considered were:
* Dropping the Heirarchs for Loam Lions and turning on the aggro.
* Dropping the Bloodbraid Elfs for Explore and going for Mana Ramp.
* Playing a singleton Quicksand.
* Getting rid of M10 duals entirely and going the whole hog with manlands.
* Dropping red entirely and heading into some sort of GW Little Kid deck
I'm sure all of these will be attempted in time. But for now the deck is what it is. Hopefully this migraine will go away and I'll get to play it today at the Good Games 5k Trial. If not, I hope at the very least you get to have fun with it.
[A decklist by Neale Talbot]
This deck leans heavily on a shell developed by Rubin Zoo (and by extension of that, Naya Lightsaber by Mike Flores). I'd like to thank Baz & Jay for their help tuning the deck, Bjoern and his friends for playtesting it, and Marshall for his input in the sideboard.
Once Worldwake was released, I returned to the zoo list Kibler played at Pro-Tour Austin. Once I saw the dual man lands from Worldwake and the Next Big Thing, Tectonic Edge, I knew I wanted to be able to tutor for them using Knight of the Reliquary. Which is why I returned to the Rubin list for inspiration, as Flores' (quite rightly) forgoed the Knight with only Arid Mesa as it's main pump machine.
The result was Taronga Zoo.
Taronga Zoo has performed very well in testing. The results - before a new sideboard was built - were about 60:40 vs Jund, Vampires & Boros, 50:50 vs Grixis and Lightsaber, and 30:70 vs UWr. This gives us advantage over most of the field, with one particularly bad matchup.
Here's the list:
Taronga Zoo Decklist
// 24 Creatures
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Noble Heirarch
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Scute Mob
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Ranger of Eos
3 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Baneslayer Angel
// 8 Instants
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
// 3 Planeswalkers
2 Ajani Vengeant
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
// 25 Lands
4 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
2 Stirring Wildwood
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Arid Mesa
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Oran-Reif, the Vastwood
//
3 x Slingbow Trap
3 x Great Sable Stag
4 x Kor Firewalker
3 x Luminarch Ascension
2 x Burst Lightning
Maindeck
The deck has a lot of clear synergies, but a surprising one is mana denial. Between Ajani and Tectonic Edge, with a good draw you can keep your opponent on 2 effective mana for quite a while.
Although only 24 creatures are listed, you're really running 27+ - three more from the three manlands, and an infinite number you can pump out via Elspeth.
Knight of the Reliquary is a champ, able to tutor up Oran-Rief, a man-land, or a Tectonic Edge. This deck considers Edge almost a spell, rather than a land - "1, destroy target non-basic land, give Knight of the Reliquary +1/+1". Sounds good to me.
In testing the Manlands have been great. They give you extra reach post Day of Judgment, as well as a beat-down machine. Occasionally you'll lose one to a Terminate, but if you play smart you'll generally get around Lightning Bolt. And when they do die, they're only pumping Knight of the Reliquary. Modular, right?
Ranger has a lot of good targets, but one great move late game is grabbing both a Scute Mob and the Dragonmaster Outcast. The sort of devil's choice you love to give your opponent. Or a win condition if they don'thave any removal in hand.
Sideboard
The sideboard is mainly to shore up some of your worse matchups, though UWr is always going to be a dog. We had a fair bit of discussion about Luminarch Ascension, Summoning Trap or River Boa, but Luminarch won the day. You lay it down, then apply pressure, and hopefully UWr is spending so many resources in defence they can't get rid of the Ascension. Hopefully.
Slingbow Trap is pretty spectacular. For G you can kill Abyssal Persecutor, Vampire Nocturnus, Malakir Bloodwitch, Vampire Nighthawk or Broodmate Dragon. For 3G it kills Baneslayer or a Broodmate token. Sure, it's conditional in that they have to be attacking, but when does Vampires not attack?
Great Sable Stag helps the UWr and Grixis matchups, with some splash damage for Jund. The main thing is to try to play it with the ability to pump with Oran-Rief and get it out of Lightning Bolt range.
Kor Firewalker is just nuts - NUTS - against RDW, and can also turn a match against Grixis. Grixis' only real removal options are Into the Roil or Sorin.
Burst Lightning helps against Malakir Bloodwitch, slowing down Boros, nuking a Ball Lightning, or just pushing damage across to your opponent.
Exploring Options
Other options we considered were:
* Dropping the Heirarchs for Loam Lions and turning on the aggro.
* Dropping the Bloodbraid Elfs for Explore and going for Mana Ramp.
* Playing a singleton Quicksand.
* Getting rid of M10 duals entirely and going the whole hog with manlands.
* Dropping red entirely and heading into some sort of GW Little Kid deck
I'm sure all of these will be attempted in time. But for now the deck is what it is. Hopefully this migraine will go away and I'll get to play it today at the Good Games 5k Trial. If not, I hope at the very least you get to have fun with it.
Labels: deckbuilding, standard, taronga zoo
Abyssal Persecutor, Abyssal Persecutor & more Abyssal Persecutor
Is it the new Baneslayer? Certainly it's the face of the new Worldwake standard. A 6/6 creature with flying and trample seems to be one of the best ways of crushing your opponent at the moment.
Thinking about the Big Lug, here are two decks that try to make the most of the guy, while also abusing some of his friends:
BUG Stompy
// 24 Creatures
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Putrid Leech
4 Nulltread Gargantuan
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Abyssal Persecutor
// 14 Spells
3 Spell Pierce
4 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Explore
3 Into the Roil
// 22 Lands
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Forest
5 Swamp
3 Island
Sideboard
4 Bone Splinters
4 Bloodghast
4 Duress
3 Whiplash Trap
This is a semi-rock deck that plans to get down the Persecutor on turn 3, likely with Spell Pierce mana backup. It is possible to play it on turn 2 with Lotus Cobra, Explores and Fetchlands, but it's unlikely.
Nulltread Gargantaun is an unrealised beast in the format. A 5/6 is absolutely nothing to sniff at, able to battle with and come out on top of any of the Thoctars. Meahwhile it can be used to bounce both the Persecutor once it has done its job or the Gatekeeper if you want to get extra value out of it. Even playing it on T2 and bouncing a Birds of Paradise isn't the worst move in the world as you immediately apply pressure and force your opponent into defence mode.
The mana is probably a little clumbsy, and the removal is light on, but once you're swinging in with a couple of 5/6s and 6/6s, who really cares?
---***---
At the opposite end of the colour spectrum is this use for Abyssal Persecutor
Monoblack Abyssal Control
// 20 Creatures
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Kalastria Highborn
4 Fleshbag Marauder
4 Abyssal Persecutor
// 4 Enchantments
4 Soul Stair Expedition
// 2 Planeswalker
2 Sorin Markov
// 10 Spells
3 Grim Discovery
4 Bone Splinters
3 Tendrils of Corruption
// 24 Lands
12 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
4 Tectonic Edge
Sideboard
4 Duress
4 Doom Blade
3 Marsh Casualties
4 Vampire Hexmage
Talk about abusing mechanics here. I'd be surprised if your opponent can ever keep a creature on the battlefield. Meanwhile every time you sac a creature, you're getting value out of Kalistria Highborn, Bloodghast, Grim Discovery and Soul Stair Expedition. It's imcremental card advantage at its best.
The sideboard has been thrown together and could do with some work - Dead Reckoning, Nemesis Trap and Quest for the Gravelord are all possibilities - but I think the core of the deck is solid. There's something about the idea of beating an opponent over the head with Persecutor, then using Sorin's ultimate to force your opponent to kill it, that I love.
Is it the new Baneslayer? Certainly it's the face of the new Worldwake standard. A 6/6 creature with flying and trample seems to be one of the best ways of crushing your opponent at the moment.
Thinking about the Big Lug, here are two decks that try to make the most of the guy, while also abusing some of his friends:
BUG Stompy
// 24 Creatures
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Putrid Leech
4 Nulltread Gargantuan
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Abyssal Persecutor
// 14 Spells
3 Spell Pierce
4 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Explore
3 Into the Roil
// 22 Lands
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Forest
5 Swamp
3 Island
Sideboard
4 Bone Splinters
4 Bloodghast
4 Duress
3 Whiplash Trap
This is a semi-rock deck that plans to get down the Persecutor on turn 3, likely with Spell Pierce mana backup. It is possible to play it on turn 2 with Lotus Cobra, Explores and Fetchlands, but it's unlikely.
Nulltread Gargantaun is an unrealised beast in the format. A 5/6 is absolutely nothing to sniff at, able to battle with and come out on top of any of the Thoctars. Meahwhile it can be used to bounce both the Persecutor once it has done its job or the Gatekeeper if you want to get extra value out of it. Even playing it on T2 and bouncing a Birds of Paradise isn't the worst move in the world as you immediately apply pressure and force your opponent into defence mode.
The mana is probably a little clumbsy, and the removal is light on, but once you're swinging in with a couple of 5/6s and 6/6s, who really cares?
---***---
At the opposite end of the colour spectrum is this use for Abyssal Persecutor
Monoblack Abyssal Control
// 20 Creatures
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Kalastria Highborn
4 Fleshbag Marauder
4 Abyssal Persecutor
// 4 Enchantments
4 Soul Stair Expedition
// 2 Planeswalker
2 Sorin Markov
// 10 Spells
3 Grim Discovery
4 Bone Splinters
3 Tendrils of Corruption
// 24 Lands
12 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
4 Tectonic Edge
Sideboard
4 Duress
4 Doom Blade
3 Marsh Casualties
4 Vampire Hexmage
Talk about abusing mechanics here. I'd be surprised if your opponent can ever keep a creature on the battlefield. Meanwhile every time you sac a creature, you're getting value out of Kalistria Highborn, Bloodghast, Grim Discovery and Soul Stair Expedition. It's imcremental card advantage at its best.
The sideboard has been thrown together and could do with some work - Dead Reckoning, Nemesis Trap and Quest for the Gravelord are all possibilities - but I think the core of the deck is solid. There's something about the idea of beating an opponent over the head with Persecutor, then using Sorin's ultimate to force your opponent to kill it, that I love.
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