One of the first decks I wanted to make when Planar Chaos was spoiled was a new take on Annex–Wildfire. But which direction to take the deck? I could play eight Annexes with Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, or I could splash White for Three Dreams and run the U/R/W wedge. Eventually I decided I wanted to center my deck on Green mana for early Farseek and Into the North, and play Green card drawing in Harmonize instead of the ubiquitous Compulsive Research. Rather than going the vulnerable Annex route, where my strategy could be trumped sideboarded by Disenchant or some such, I decided to try plain old land destruction, but land destruction that could create big waves with its splash damage.
Here is the first draft:
Creatures (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (31)
I decided to go four colors for two reasons: If you are a three-color deck you can only play one Dragon, if that (for example, if you are B/U/R, you don’t get Crosis, or any Dragon at all, in Standard). In order to diversify my threats effectively, I actually needed four colors. The second reason was that, while White is not a core strategic color for this style of deck (I am not a Blue deck and therefore can’t break Three Dreams), the addition of Flagstones of Trokair in a Wildfire deck is of course a welcome one.
I would generally consider both Adrian Sullivan Eminent Domain and Ken Ho’s take on Magnivore as informing this new deck.
Card Breakdowns:
4 Crime / Punishment
I wanted this card for two main reasons. The more immediate in my mind was that I wanted an out against Silhana Ledgewalker, the doom of so many of my Standard designs. Crime / Punishment is a versatile weapon against the Ledgewalker that also snags Dryad Sophisticate and the ever-annoying Scryb Ranger. In controllish matchups, Crime / Punishment is useful in a mana control deck as it can destroy multiple Signets.
2 Oros, the Avenger and 2 Teneb, the Harvester
These are the main threats of the deck, and are the reason why I wanted to try the style at all. The addition of 6/6 creatures is what makes Wildfire possible… You get a creature that can live through the Wildfire and a significant basket into which you can throw all of your eggs. Both creatures have useful abilities. I think that I actually want more Dragons (or relevant threats) having played about 20 games so far. You really want to tap six mana sometimes, just like you did with Jushi Blue.
2 Wrecking Ball
This is a supplemental land destruction spell that can double as creature removal. I think four might be the right number, because against Spectral Force and most enhanced beatdown creatures you really just want to kill some giant, and against Blue decks you need to set up a test spell to annoy the opponent and help to close your real threat.
2 Gaea’s Blessing
My initial version actually had Magnivore in this spot, but I figured Gaea’s Blessing would be a good threat. The jury isn’t back yet on this card… I’m honestly not sure how I feel about it.
4 Harmonize
This is the main engine of the deck, and the element that allows you to avoid needing early game Blue mana. Pro Tip: This card is very good.
4 Farseek and 4 Into the North
These are your Signets. Unless the game goes very long, they are usually just better than Signets, though you could make the argument that I should be playing Magnivore. Into the North is really powerful, even though this deck has no Snow duals. I have one Mouth of Ronom… You really want to play Into the North for Mouth of Ronom early against any deck with Teferi, as it makes the opponent’s decisions extremely difficult. One trick that I figured out but have never actually executed on is to hold Into the North long, and use Gaea’s Blessing to get back Mouth of Ronom, then reload. It sounds a bit janky, but the Blue games tend to go more than 20 turns and I think it could work.
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss and 4 Rolling Spoil
These are the primary pre-Wildfire mana control cards. Mwonvuli Acid-Moss is your Annex, and plays shoulder-to-shoulder with Harmonize as your four-mana card advantage play. Rolling Spoil is a Ravnica Block holder. It is less devastating than I thought it might be, due to the tricky Scryb Ranger, but still useful. I think that the numbers on this card and Wrecking Ball should probably be reversed.
3 Wildfire
You blow stuff up.
4 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Godless Shrine
1 Mouth of Ronom
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
5 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
3 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Terramorphic Expanse
I think the mana is close to correct. I wanted at least fourteen sources of Green mana. The Terramorphic Expanse never really screwed me in testing, but I think it should be a Mouth of Ronom just so that life becomes more difficult for Blue decks.
As is my custom with new rogue decks, I started by attacking the extremes of what will be outmoded Standard by the time Planar Chaos becomes legal. The decks I tried were stock Dralnu du Louvre and Mono-Green Aggro from Frank Karsten’s Online Tech column (the two most popular decks online at present). My main objection – and non-concession to the obvious – is that Dralnu du Louvre can probably benefit from Damnation, but it is unclear. Right now the deck can leverage Mystical Teachings against its Last Gasp, Sudden Death, etc.
Mono-Green Aggro
Game 1:
Oros and Teneb (OaT) is overrun by MGA due to the pesky Scryb Ranger. OaT has a pretty spicy hand of four mana plays (either Acid-Moss or Rolling Spoil, but the Scryb Ranger blanks. OaT actually has all the answers but can’t spot kill anything because Acid-Moss is the mana fixer. Winner: MGA
0-1
Game 2:
OaT is about to Wrath the face with Rolling Spoil, but MGA rips Blanchwood Armor to save one 2/1. That particular 2/1, or shall we say x/x-1, goes all the way. Winner: MGA
0-2
Game 3:
I was already rather leery about my new deck at this point given that it couldn’t take either of the first two games from a beatdown deck that should be heavily vulnerable to its removal cards, but Game 3 was a blowout. Farseek into Wildfire made it pretty. Winner: OaT
1-2
Game 4:
MGA mulls to five and OaT mulls to six. MGA is quickly in with three guys and armor… OaT hits Farseek into Crime / Punishment. Wildfire plays cleanup, sadly taking only two of MGA’s lands in the process (but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do). MGA has a lot of clever plays, like dodging Rolling Spoil with Might of Old Krosa, and OaT takes forever to draw a Dragon, but MGA never has more than one land through the middle turns and OaT eventually takes it. Winner: OaT
2-2
Game 5:
OaT mulls to six on the play. This is a strange game because MGA goes Elf into Scryb into a quick Stonewood Invocation and Might of Old Krosa, which leave a mark to the tune of ten damage. OaT has to Crime / Punishment for two just to kill a 1/1 Scryb while ramping. Obviously the next turn is Silhana Ledgewalker, then Cloak. Luckily Oros comes off the top and holds back a bit. Eventually Oros’s ability plus a post-combat Rolling Spoil take out the Ledgewalker. OaT draws a pair of Harmonizes, which set up a perfect Wildfire: four lands on the other side of the table, Flagstones of Trokair in play for the good guys, Dragon already down. Winner: OaT
3-2
Game 6:
MGA gets a Birds of Paradise into the Silhana, then draws multiple Cloaks, but OaT has Crime / Punishment to slow down MGA’s offense, then milks one-for-one land destruction. Teneb appears, followed by Wildfire. MGA rips like a champ, including more Silhanas, but an earlier Dredge on Moldervine Cloak exposed a Scryb Ranger that, thanks to Teneb, made the Red Zone impregnable for the duration of the game. Winner: OaT
4-2
Game 7:
OaT mulls. MGA opens on two Mights and two Invocations, winning very quickly. Birds block Oros, but Scryb Ranger could have done the same thing. Winner: MGA
4-3
Game 8:
MGA mulls to six. OaT has turn 2 Into the North but stumbles on mana, dying to a Dryad with a Cloak and one Stonewood Invocation. Winner: MGA
4-4
Game 9:
OaT draws both Wrecking Balls to slow down the MGA offense, then finds Oros and cleans it up easily. Winner: OaT
5-4
Game 10:
OaT mulls to six. MGA gets a highly explosive draw with Silhana Ledgewalker and Scryb ranger but OaT has the Crime / Punishment. It looks okay for OaT, but one turn prior to dying, the Scryb Ranger helped put out the only Spectral Force to show up in this ten game set. The first swing put OaT To six, leaving the Dragons five rips, one draw step, one Gaea’s Blessing, and a Harmonize, to find either Crime / Punishment or Wrecking Ball. Neither appears. Winner: MGA
5-5
An even split is not what I wanted to see out of this matchup, but there were a couple of things that I didn’t anticipate. The first one, which appeared almost immediately, was the power of Scryb Ranger in the matchup. That card is very annoying because Mwonvuli Acid-Moss is not just a land destruction card in this deck, it is also a necessary component for ramping up mana and finding the right color (specifically the second Red mana for Wildfire). Ditto on Rolling Spoil. Rolling Spoil should be one of the best cards in the matchup, doubling Stone Rain and Damnation, but Scryb Ranger helps to successfully dodge that spell.
Most of OaT’s wins felt “right,” and most of its losses felt like OaT was just getting unlucky. Even in games where OaT lost, it was consistently up many cards, and MGA was generally stuck on two lands. I don’t think this is the default nature of the beatdown versus control matchup because MGA has no reach… Probably when OaT plays four Wrecking Balls the matchup will get better against threats covered with enchantments and 8/8 monsters.
Dralnu du Louvre
Game 1:
Dralnu du Louvre has the double Aqueduct draw on the draw, which is a no-win situation. All that happens is that Spell Snares and Remands start hitting the graveyard without interacting with any Green cards. A well-placed Wrecking Ball is the first in a line of devastating spells, taking out an Aqueduct for massive tempo. All of Dralnu du Louvre’s applicable counters are Rune Snags early, which do nothing against OaT’s acceleration. There is one turn when Dralnu du Louvre finally gets to four lands so that Mystical Teachings and Commandeer can send a Mwonvuli Acid-Moss to a Mouth of Ronom, “turning on” the two Teferis and Dralnus in hand, but even that is anticlimactic because OaT has been clocking with Oros for two turns. Desperation Dralnu meets Wildfire into Crime / Punishment (Orzhov side). Winner: OaT
1-0
Game 2:
Dralnu du Louvre sticks Teferi and Dralnu, but OaT sneaks down Oros. Recently Cuneo told me that you just play a spell a turn and Blue Standard decks will simply run out of counters. Apparently he’s right. The only thing Dralnu du Louvre could have done this one was Teachings for Commandeer versus an Acid-Moss and pitch two copies of Think Twice, but it seemed better to just Think Twice, um, Twice and have Teachings to set up Teferi later. Oros is a massive trump once it is in play and is difficult to beat with a single answer. Maybe if Dralnu were not under so much pressure? Even two Rewinds didn’t help enough. Winner: OaT
2-0
Game 3:
This was an extremely weird, extremely long, game… the first of several. OaT had most of its tools most of the game. The tide really turned on an early Commandeer. A well-placed Rolling Spoil neutered the Skeletal Vampire, but the tiny number of creatures in OaT really punished the deck. The late game was actually about combat, with a 3/4 and a random 3/3 flyer hitting the Red Zone. Repeal was huge here, not just to control OaT’s Dragons but to reclaim a Teferi set up by Teneb (big ouch). Winner: Dralnu
2-1
Game 4:
OaT mulligans to six, gets some spells, deals with the first Teferi, keeps Dralnu under key mana for the major drops… at least for a while. Dralnu du Louvre eventually gets to six, taps for Skeletal Vampire. OaT tries to draw some cards… and loses to Commandeer. Winner: Dralnu
2-2
Game 5:
Dralnu du Louvre mulls to Rewind and five lands, which is actually not bad in this matchup. In the semi-finals of Northeast Regionals 2000, Sayan Bhattacharyya actually mulled to Enlightened Tutor and five lands against me, and dodged my Duress with Circle of Protection: Black (he was on the play in Game 3). Napster drew nada and Sayan eventually won the title. Anyway, in this game, OaT had no acceleration, so the game went really long again. All the games that seem like they can go either way can’t really. OaT sticks a Wildfire and stretches the game to seven cards in deck, but the problem with the non-blowout really long games is that any Mystical Teachings might be lethal because Commandeer is trump. Winner: Dralnu
2-3
Game 6:
Dralnu du Louvre didn’t draw the right counters early… only one Rune Snag. Spell Snares did nothing. OaT stuck Acid Moss after Rolling Spoil into Dragon. The big problem for Dralnu here was the strategic stranding of three Underground Rivers. Any spell was damage, and two points is a Time Walk for a 6/6 clock. At the end of the game, OaT had one card, whereas Dralnu had seven cards the whole time, and even six lands out… just none of the right ones to beat a 6/6. Winner: OaT
3-3
Game 7:
Seven was yet another interminable game, but an odd one. OaT powered out a Dragon when Dralnu had four open, and then chanced a Harmonize into a semi-full grip. Teachings for Commandeer would have been savage… but Dralnu du Louvre actually had the Commandeer and just played Teachings for Rewind (savage). This should have been game, but Commandeer does deuce three from your own side. OaT sees the Dragon returned to hand, and Teferi brings the beats in fine style. You’d think Dralnu du Louvre could just win with OaT on two, but that pesky Mouth of Ronom is almost as good as Dralnu du Louvre’s own Commandeer. Eventually the Dimir finds a second Teferi, sticks and swings for the game. Winner: Dralnu
3-4
Game 8:
Dralnu has every answer, chaining card draw into Rewind over and over. The big play is Commandeer on Harmonize, which is like a strange form of cycling. It takes a while, but Dralnu wins. Winner: Dralnu
3-5
Game 9:
Commandeer off the top misses an Acid-Moss by one turn, but is in time to steal the first of two Harmonizes. The fuel from that one (completely untapped) finds Rewind for the second Harmonize (same turn). Skeletal Vampire and Sudden Death team up to beat Oros, and Batman eventually gets it. Winner: Dralnu
3-6
Game 10:
The main difference between this game and the other super long ones is that Dralnu du Louvre wins with actual Dralnu. Playing with Dralnu is strange. You don’t swing. Ever. You play a land (hopefully) and pass three or five turns in a row. You just sit on the three Rewinds in your graveyard while the other deck does nothing. You Think Twice for lands and eventually get the Skeletal Vampire.
3-7
I actually think 3-7 isn’t that bad for this kind of a deck against the key true control deck of the format. There are tons of ways to gain value over time, for example Detritivore with a ton of lands out can really grind at a deck like Dralnu du Louvre. The big problem is that solo Commandeer. One card, four Mystical Teachings…. Commandeer on anything seems like it is good enough to win in this matchup because Harmonize is so good, and because OaT is so threat light.
The key plays from OaT side are to find Mouth of Ronom quickly, and to close in as little time as possible. I think it might actually be right to do nothing if you hit a 6/6… That way you can’t lose to Commandeer.
The Dralnu du Louvre side is all about Teachings, Commandeer, and Rewind. I almost think you can side in three Commandeer and win manascrewed consistently. It takes time for Oros and Teneb to set up… Commandeer on any preparation spell is a kick to the teeth. You can do the same thing against other low threat control decks, so it might actually be an absurd strategy.
…
I’m not sure about OaT from this initial exploration. There is definitely an exploitable top-down incentive, and some of the cards are definitely powerful, but if B/U gets better than ever with Damnation, it might end up a positioning nightmare. I guess we’ll have to watch the emerging post-Planar Chaos Standard trends (duh) to see if this idea is worth tuning further.
LOVE
MIKE