"What should I play this weekend?"
-Every person ever
Magic is a different game than it used to be. Very rarely is there a best deck. The only thing that matters is you finding the best deck for you. That basically means finding something that you play well, that you enjoy playing, and that is relatively well tuned for the expected metagame.
And yes, that is in order of importance.
Do I have a sick list for you to play this weekend? Of course I do. Which list would you like?
During the last couple weeks, I mentioned these six decks as the ones to expect and prepare for:
G/B/W Reanimator
Jund
The Aristocrats
Bant Hexproof
U/x/y Control
Naya Blitz
Since then, the decks have morphed around a bit. Naya Blitz has mostly become R/G Aggro, and the control decks are rarely seen. When they appear, it’s typically U/W/R at the head of the pack. Grand Prix Guadalajara and the StarCityGames.com double Standard Open weekend in Dallas both happened last weekend, and there was one constant.
Apparently Naya is back.
As always, the differences between the decks are significant, but each is trying to accomplish the same thing. Jund is pure midrange, but Naya has morphed into a more aggressive shell with some midrange elements.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 4 Dryad Militant
- 4 Loxodon Smiter
- 4 Experiment One
- 4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
- 4 Boros Reckoner
- 4 Voice of Resurgence
Lands (22)
Spells (10)
Sideboard
Aaron won the Sunday Open and also made the Top 8 of the Saturday Open. You can read about the evolution of his deck here. Overall, that’s a very impressive weekend, even though he couldn’t quite win both tournaments. It’s worth noting that he didn’t change a single card in his 75 between the two days.
His deck feels like a fatter Naya Blitz. While forced to play weaker one-drops like Dryad Militant, Aaron’s deck gains some resiliency from Voice of Resurgence, Strangleroot Geist, and Boros Reckoner. With most decks ready for the creature-heavy, single-pronged attack from Naya Blitz, players have moved away from it and on to different strategies.
I like Aaron’s deck a lot, but then again, I like each of these Naya decks in their own way.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 4 Huntmaster of the Fells
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 4 Thundermaw Hellkite
- 4 Loxodon Smiter
- 4 Boros Reckoner
- 4 Voice of Resurgence
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (4)
Ken’s deck is similar to Aaron’s, but he went bigger with Thundermaw Hellkites and Huntmaster of the Fells. This type of deck with only Avacyn’s Pilgrim for acceleration makes me a little queasy, but obviously Ken did just fine without more acceleration. I imagine that his midgame topdecks were pretty good. Still, I would look at lowering the curve and potentially playing fewer of the cards that you don’t want to draw multiples of.
Is bigger better?
The sideboard Boros Charms are fantastic, as are the Unflinching Courages. You have to respect the red deck; otherwise, you’re going to lose to it.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 3 Restoration Angel
- 4 Thundermaw Hellkite
- 3 Flinthoof Boar
- 3 Loxodon Smiter
- 2 Experiment One
- 4 Boros Reckoner
- 4 Voice of Resurgence
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (5)
Papa Willy’s deck is a little different, mostly because Willy respects a good mana curve.
Assemble the Legion is a nice sideboard card against controlling decks like U/W/R and Jund. The Blasphemous Acts are a solid option whenever you have Boros Reckoner in your deck. Again, we see Boros Charm and Unflinching Courage, both of which should be Naya staples. Willy takes his aggro hate a step further with a Thragtusk and some Pillar of Flames, both of which I like.
Awkwardly enough, Ken and Willy were both Acidic Slimed out of the tournament. Coincidentally, I’ve been playing some G/B/W Reanimator on Magic Online recently…
Creatures (18)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
This deck wins by having an unbeatable late game. Most mistakes that people make when constructing their G/B/W Reanimator deck involve not respecting the opponent’s early game. You have to keep on pace with them or else your endgame never matters.
People have figured out that one of the ways to beat G/B/W Reanimator is by keeping the pressure on. The various aggro decks just unload their hand, knowing that Reanimator can only win with a lucky, quick Angel of Serenity. Naya decks can beat Reanimator because they have pressure plus things like Thundermaw Hellkite to get in the last few points of damage; Bant Hexproof ignores Reanimator’s plans and enters into a racing situation that it can’t hope to beat; and The Aristocrats will sneak in early damage and then burn them out with Blood Artist or Boros Reckoner.
G/B/W Reanimator needs more interaction if it’s going to survive. I remember feeling the same way before Grand Prix Atlantic City and giving Josh Cho a list with three or four maindeck removal spells. Looking back on the list, it looked funny, but since the metagame has adapted to Reanimator once again, I’m reminded why I built the deck that way to begin with.
Farseek is better than Arbor Elf because the games can get grindy and your mana guys tend to die. It also helps fix the mana, which can be awkward at times. I’m a huge proponent of Vault of the Archangel now that we have cleaner mana since it’s probably your best card against Bant Hexproof. The best way to win that matchup is by racing.
Like this deck needed more options.
The sideboard is in flux, as I’m still trying to narrow down what I actually want. Voice of Resurgence is a good blocker against aggressive decks, but its City of Solitude effect isn’t something I want against control. Since it’s only good in one matchup, it’s probably not worth it.
Gaze of Granite and Ray of Revelation might look similar since they are mostly there for Bant Hexproof, but that matchup is pretty bad. I definitely like Ray because you can bring in one or two against Jund depending on how many Ground Seals they have, but Gaze is probably too slow. The theory was that I could use it against other decks, but that hasn’t panned out very well.
I know I need Sin Collector, another Vault of the Archangel, more Acidic Slimes, and some enchantment removal. Another slot for Sever the Bloodline to handle Olivia Voldaren is also very important. Past that, I’d like something for the mirror, but Deathrite Shaman can be very underwhelming. Progenitor Mimic would probably be the best card, but splashing is a slippery slope.
I’ve decided to branch out and try other things.
Creatures (14)
Lands (23)
Spells (23)
Usokui won a Premier Event and then lost in the finals of another…
To the mirror match!
People are quickly catching on. If you would rather Fireball people than Slime all their lands, you should play this deck.
Compared to G/B/W Reanimator, the four-color version has more painful and awkward mana, but that’s smoothed out by Faithless Looting doing its best Brainstorm impression. It’s far more reliant on its graveyard, but it will almost never run out of gas. It can also dominate the mirror match with Boros Reckoner / Harvest Pyre, whereas G/B/W has no real way to break stalls or interrupt your combo.
Not just for U/W/R anymore.
Adam Prosak has been seen casting Farseeks in his build, with a sideboard full of life gain animals. I can’t say I disagree with his assessment of the aggro matchups being difficult, but a few Abrupt Decays is not likely to help with that.
After playing with the deck and analyzing the list, I decided that perhaps some of the greed is not necessary. While Mulch and Grisly Salvage are fantastic cards for the engine, I felt like I could try it without them. Most of the cards I wanted were in W/B/R anyway.
All of that makes me think that it would be better off as this:
Creatures (11)
- 1 Angel of Serenity
- 2 Aurelia, the Warleader
- 2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
- 4 Boros Reckoner
- 2 Sire of Insanity
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (20)
- 2 Blasphemous Act
- 3 Unburial Rites
- 4 Faithless Looting
- 4 Lingering Souls
- 2 Tragic Slip
- 2 Mizzium Mortars
- 3 Dreadbore
Sideboard
I played a slightly tweaked version in a Daily Event and went 2-2, losing to G/B/W Reanimator (soundly I might add—Acidic Slime is a pain) and G/B/W Varolz. The deck felt clunky and awkward, and I definitely missed having additional cards to kick-start the engine. That said, I’m sure some version of W/B/R is serviceable, but I probably wouldn’t play with it.
All that Reanibrewing brought me here:
Creatures (8)
Lands (26)
Spells (26)
I had a similar list before Grand Prix Verona, but I couldn’t pull the trigger when such high stakes were involved. David McDarby then posted a Top 16 finish with his take on the archetype, albeit without red. There’s merit to the archetype, but it’s difficult to find the right mix. I posted the list on Twitter for critique and got several varied suggestions.
For example, why not more Faithless Looting / Forbidden Alchemy / Desperate Ravings? Well, I wanted to go pretty hard on Unburial Rites, unlike the Solar Flare decks in the past, but not hard to the point where I’m reliant on it.
In normal games where I don’t draw a missing piece of my combo (either Angel of Serenity or Unburial Rites), I want to be able to win. When playing with G/B/W Reanimator, I lost the occasional game to zero Angels or Rites being in the top half of my deck, but such a thing shouldn’t be happening if you don’t want it to. In essence, I wanted to be a U/W/R control deck with a potential combo finish, which is why I included so many removal spells (and played things like Izzet Charm, which can function as removal, instead of things like Desperate Ravings).
One Blasphemous Act is typically fine, but the second is almost always bad. Sphinx’s Revelation could very easily be a different draw spell, but I wanted another big card to dig for. Faithless Looting and Izzet Charm encourage you to discard your excess lands, so Revelation probably isn’t the right card anyway.
The things people questioned the most were the Pillar of Flames and the Slaughter Games. Regarding Pillar, I wanted a cheap removal spell, and the fact that it deals with difficult to answer threats, such as Voice of Resurgence and Strangleroot Geist, is another bonus. Remember that I’m only trying to not die until I can do something powerful, which will likely outclass anything else that’s going on. Loading up on "better" removal like Mizzium Mortars or Dreadbore won’t help me escape the early game unscathed.
As for Slaughter Games, it’s mostly there for G/B/W Reanimator, specifically Acidic Slime. Unburial Rites is another fine card to name. Without access to either of those, Reanimator will find it difficult to kill you before you can fire off a Fireball.
Moving on, it wouldn’t be a GerryT article without my old favorite:
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (26)
Spells (29)
- 2 Dissipate
- 1 Syncopate
- 3 Think Twice
- 1 Essence Scatter
- 1 Terminus
- 2 Pillar of Flame
- 2 Searing Spear
- 1 Mizzium Mortars
- 3 Azorius Charm
- 3 Supreme Verdict
- 1 Detention Sphere
- 4 Sphinx's Revelation
- 1 Assemble the Legion
- 2 Turn
- 2 Warleader's Helix
Sideboard
Ken’s deck is wild!
I like 26 lands with no Thought Scours if you aren’t focusing on the Augur of Bolas / Restoration Angel synergy. I like the varied split of removal and counterspells. I like Warleader’s Helix. I like the fourth Sphinx’s Revelation in a more controlling deck. I really like that the only nonland four-of in the maindeck is Sphinx’s Revelation.
One thing I dislike is the singleton Terminus, as I would never remember to miracle it. I’m not going to play an entire tournament slowly peeking at the top card of my deck hoping it’s my one-of. Yes, there are more in the sideboard, but still.
The other thing I really dislike is the use of Assemble the Legion. Diversifying your threats against a wide variety of answers is often smart, but there are very few things your opponents can use to attack Aetherling. Slaughter Games is clearly an issue—and for those types of matchups you could and probably should sideboard something else—but decks that have Slaughter Games and are worried about Aetherling are few and far between.
For something more "normal," this is the list that I’ve been playing:
Creatures (10)
Lands (25)
Spells (25)
Lastly, we have some spice:
Creatures (4)
Lands (27)
Spells (29)
Turbo Fog has been on the cusp of being awesome. While new things like Sin Collector make the G/B/W Reanimator matchup a little worse, there are a few things from Dragon’s Maze that add a lot to the deck.
First is the obvious addition: Maze’s End. Before, you were kind of durdling around, not really building to anything except maybe a planeswalker. Even that plan was sketchy, since you could lose to any number of things. Now, we have a plan that literally says "you win the game" on it. Of course, playing thirteen lands that enter the battlefield tapped is an opportunity cost, but I think it’s one that’s fine—at least for this deck.
Second, there’s Saruli Gatekeepers. With only ten Gates, it won’t be active on turn 4 every single time, but it does a very good Fog impression and gives you some much-needed life gain against decks with reach.
The only other piece of technology I have this week is for Bant Hexproof. Every single sideboard I see is still garbage. It’s an assortment of random cards that don’t pass for a plan in any single matchup. Please please please work on fixing this. I’ve said this a million times, but the only thing stopping that deck from becoming great is a reasonable sideboard. Obviously, I don’t have the answer, but there has to be something better than what I’m seeing.
However, I can add that Mending Touch should probably be part of your sideboard. Another reasonable card I’ve seen is Moorland Haunt. Granted, the mana base is not perfect, but Haunt is a very good utility land that could help out some of your bad matchups and protect your guys from edicts in the meantime.
Am I still working on Grixis, Varolz, and Mono-Red? Of course, but there are so many sweet decks to choose from. Pick something you’re confident in, but know that no matter how perfect your deck, there will be some "bad" deck that you didn’t prepare for. Each card is very powerful, and any timely topdeck can knock you out of the tournament. It will happen, so don’t get too upset since there’s always another tournament next weekend.
See you this weekend in Baltimore!
GerryT
@G3RRYT on Twitter