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This past weekend was the StarCityGames.com Atlanta Open, and boy what a weekend it was! RIse of the Eldrazi has shaken up Standard quite a bit, and I am sure everyone is thankful for that. Gone are the days of Jund's dominance, and Islands look here to stay. When even I, the White Weenie king, am piloting a Blue deck at a big tournament, it should speak volumes about how good the color is right now. I never play Blue! Ever!UW Control was the deck to beat coming into the Atlanta Open, and I don't think that that will change with the arrival of the U/W/r Planeswalker deck. I simply believe that U/W Control players will have to adjust their decks accordingly. Here is the U/W Control decklist that I played:
| UW Control Featured by Cedric Phillips on 2010-05-09 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 3 Everflowing Chalice Creatures 3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle 4 Wall of Omens Enchantments 2 Oblivion Ring 4 Spreading Seas Instants 2 Negate 3 Path to Exile |
Planeswalkers 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment 2 Martial Coup 3 Mind Spring Basic Lands 7 Island 7 Plains Lands 4 Celestial Colonnade 4 Glacial Fortress 1 Sejiri Refuge 3 Tectonic Edge | 3 Kor Sanctifiers 1 Oblivion Ring 3 Celestial Purge 3 Flashfreeze 2 Negate 1 Path to Exile 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre 1 Tectonic Edge |
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| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
Invincible is the word I consistently used on the day when people asked my opinion on U/W Control. That is how the deck made me feel when I was piloting it. Yes, I did not Top 16 the tournament, but that shouldn't discredit the deck or my decklist. Both of my losses were a case of the opponent running good (Elspeth into Gideon when dead on board, running Sovereigns of Lost Alara on an empty board) or me having mana issues. Clearly, this is all a part of the game that we play, so don't take that as me bemoaning my misfortunes, but more of a case of what actually occurred.
A few housekeeping notes on my decklist:
1) The Lack of Baneslayer Angel
Due to my inexperience with UW Control, I didn't understand why there was a such a split camp on Baneslayer Angel versus Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Now that I have played in a ten-round tournament with the deck, I can safely say that those who are pro-Baneslayer Angel are dead wrong. At no point in the ten rounds that I played did I ever wish I had Baneslayer Angel in my decklist. Yes, it is much better against aggressive Red decks, but I am more than willing to decrease my game 1 percentage against aggressive Red decks in order to increase my percentage against Jund and other deck sporting any sort of removal. Every time that I had a Sphinx of Jwar Isle, I was trying to figure out how what series of events could take place for me to lose the game, and rarely could I come up with one. Cut your Baneslayer Angels and just play Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
2) Maindeck Negate
This shouldn't surprise too many people, but in case I need to explain it, I shall. I wanted four Negates throughout my decklist, but there simply isn't enough room in the sideboard to accommodate all four of them and everything else. Moving two maindeck does not hurt the deck, and they actually give you a leg up against U/W/r Planeswalkers, U/W Control, and Polymorph.
3) Tectonic Edge in the Sideboard
I like having a lot of lands in control mirrors, as missing your land drops is an easy way to lose a game you would otherwise win. I was boarding out Wall of Omens in control mirrors for obvious reasons, but most tend to forget that you lean on the cantrip that Wall of Omens provides to ensure you hit your land drops. By removing four cards that cantrip, you increase your chances of missing land drops, so I opted to sideboard a land to mitigate that. Not only does sideboarding allow U/W Control to consistently hit land drops, but it plays an important role in the Celestial Colonnade battle in the mirror.
4.) Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre in the Sideboard
Some people have Emrakul, the Aeons Truth in this slot, but I do not see myself ever casting that card. First and foremost, this slot is to ensure that you do not lose to a Turbofog deck. It isn't foolproof, but it does enough to ensure that you do not lose to that terrible deck. However, I expect my sideboard cards to be useful in more than one matchup, and that is exactly what Ulamog is. It is very realistic to cast Ulamog in the U/W Control mirror, to trump people playing with a single Iona, Shield of Iona, and while slow against U/W/r Planeswalkers, it can still be cast to blow one up.
My matchups in the tournament were as follows:
Round 1 versus U/W/r Planeswalkers - 0-2
Round 2 versus Jund - 2-0
Round 3 versus White Weenie - 2-0
Round 4 versus Jund - 2-0
Round 5 versus Jund - 2-1
Round 6 versus Mythic with Conscription - 0-2
Round 7 versus Mythic - 2-1
Round 8 versus Vengevine Bant - 2-1
Round 9 versus Allies - 2-1
Round 10 versus Open the Vaults (concession because GerryT had a better chance to make Top 16)
My matchups versus Jund did not feel close at all. Game 1 is a little sketchy because Day of Judgment and Jace, the Mind Sculptor are so ineffective against Jund,, but my sideboarded games could not have been easier:
-3 Day of Judgment
-3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-2 Negate
+3 Flashfreeze
+3 Celestial Purge
+1 Path to Exile
+1 Oblivion Ring
This package allows you to play the one for one game quite favourably, and then refill your hand with a Mind Spring for three or four. Jund decks still have to keep you honest and keep removal in their deck, and it is dead for the most part. I do not care if my Wall of Omens dies to a removal spell, as that is a waste of a turn and mana. You do need to be mindful of Consuming Vapors.
My overall experience with U/W Control was extremely positive, and I cannot imagine changing much about the deck. U/W/r Planeswalkers is a legitimate contender in this format, so you will have to adjust your answers to their questions, but that is far from impossible when Oblivion Ring, Planar Cleansing, and Pithing Needle are in the format.
Now, onto Legacy!
On Sunday, I opted to play Zoo. I am not a big fan of Zoo in Legacy, but I felt that the deck was very well positioned on the weekend due to the results of the previous Legacy Open, and what decks people are able to build in Legacy. Merfolk is the most popular deck in Legacy due to how inexpensive it is and how well it handles combo and other Blue decks. One deck Merfolk has a major issue with is Zoo; that was a part of my decision.
The next part is how good of a matchup Zoo has against Goblins. To be fair, Goblins has access to the tools to beat Zoo, but none of those cards were In David Sharfman's winning decklist. Those cards include Mogg War Marshal; Wort, Boggart Auntie; and Goblin Goon, with Mogg War Marshal being the best of the three.
With a positive matchup against the most popular deck and the last Open winner, I came into battle with the following:
| Zoo Featured by Cedric Phillips on 2010-05-09 (Legacy) | ||
Creatures 3 Burning-Tree Shaman 4 Grim Lavamancer 2 Kird Ape 4 Loam Lion 4 Qasali Pridemage 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Wild Nacatl Instants 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Lightning Helix 4 Path to Exile Sorceries 4 Chain Lightning |
Basic Lands 1 Forest 1 Mountain 1 Plains Lands 4 Arid Mesa 2 Plateau 1 Savannah 2 Taiga 4 Windswept Heath 4 Wooded Foothills | 3 Tormod's Crypt 4 Knight of the Reliquary 2 Krosan Grip 4 Mindbreak Trap 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Karakas |
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| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
A few things to highlight here:
1) Burning-Tree Shaman? Really?
Yes. Really. A lot of Zoo lists opt to play Knight of the Reliquary in this slot, and I have no idea why. In Legacy Zoo, Knight of the Reliquary is merely an undercosted 5/5 that can get much bigger. It does not search out anything relevant, like it did during Extended. Zoo is already a deck full of undercosted efficient threats, so if I am going to pay three mana for a creature in such a fast format, it better have an immediate effect on the game. My choices were better Burning-Tree Shaman and Boggart Ram Gang, but I chose the centaur shaman. Why? Take a look at the activated abilities in Legacy:
Fetchlands
Sensei's Divining Top
Umezawa's Jitte
Wasteland
Rishadan Port
AEther Vial
Mutavault
Maze of Ith
Any card that cycles
Get the point yet? Burning-Tree Shaman actually won me my very first game of the tournament against Merfolk. My opponent had a tapped Merfolk Reejerey equipped with an Umezawa's Jitte with four counters, two AEther Vials in play, and an active Mutvault at six life, versus my board of Loam Lion and Burning-Tree Shaman, and actually could not win the game. If Burning-Tree Shaman was Knight of the Reliquary in that situation, I would have surely lost.
Did I mention how good Burning-Tree Shaman is against 43 lands, where Knight of the Reliquary has no effect on the game?
2) Knight of the Reliquary in the Sideboard
I wanted a card that was going to be outstanding in the mirror, one that could not be blown up by Qasali Pridemage, and Knight of the Reliquary fit the bill. A lot of people have Umezawa's Jitte within their Zoo decklists to handle the Zoo mirror, but it never really manages to do that because all of the creatures are so big. With four Knight of the Reliquary and four Tarmogoyfs after sideboard, I would have eight giant creatures to win the game with where most Zoo lists only have six.
3) 1 Bojuka Bog and 1 Karakas in the Sideboard
I wanted my Knight of the Reliquary to get a little extra value, and these two lands allow us to have outs against Reanimator and Dredge. Sadly, I never got to board in the package.
My matchup in the Legacy tournament were as follows:
Round 1 versus Merfolk - 2-1
Round 2 versus Stasis - 2-1
Round 3 versus White Stax - 1-2
Round 4 versus Painter - 2-0
Round 5 versus Canadian Threshold - 2-1
Round 6 versus Bant - 2-0
Round 7 versus ANT - 1-2
Round 8 versus 43 Land - 2-0
My loss to ANT was a heartbreaker, but the person who beat me, David Mayer, ended up winning the tournament and played very well along the way. Yes, he did make a blunder in the top 4 by casting a Dark Ritual and passing the turn, but these things happen. I watched a lot of his matches on the day, and he really had a great grasp on his deck. Congrats again on your victory, David!
If you have to choose a deck to play tomorrow in Legacy, play Gerry T's Reanimator list. It was the best deck in the tournament by a mile, and will probably be the deck to beat in the coming Legacy tournaments. When GerryT has a great finish with a U/B deck, you would be wise to copy and paste the decklist. Just saying...
Despite what Todd Anderson says, Legacy is alive and well. In fact, Standard is doing just fine as well. Now is a great time to be playing Magic!
Finally, if you live around the St. Louis area, there is a Midwest Master Series being held by our friends at Pastimes. There is over $4000 in cash and prizes being handed out, and a WPN side event too, with all of the Rise of the Eldrazi drafting and win-a-box Constructed tournaments. It looks like I will be headed out there this weekend, so if you want to come out and tell me how smart or stupid I am, or are looking to shove a pie in my face, or just want to sling some spells for the weekend, come on out to St. Louis and have fun at the Midwest Master Series.
Until next week!
Cedric Phillips
caphilli@purdue.edu
