The rise of Apocalypse set me to wondering whether Domain decks could really be as successful in Type 2 as they have been in IBC. At the Barcelona Master series, Ben Rubin piloted the following Domain deck to a win:

3 Questing Phelddagrif
4 Collective Restraint
2 Absorb
3 Spite/Malice
2 Global Ruin
4 Fertile Ground
4 Harrow
3 Star Compass
2 Allied Strategies
1 Restock
4 Fact or Fiction
1 Elfhame Sanctuary
2 Obliterate
3 Reviving Vapors

7 Forest
7 Islands
4 Elfhame Palace
2 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Swamp

Sideboard:
2 Kavu Chameleon
2 Plague Spitter
4 Gainsay
3 Exclude
3 Rout
1 Global Ruin

Could we take the same ideas and apply them to the new post-Apocalypse Type 2? To begin with, we need to learn all we can from Ben’s successful deck. First of all, it is all about mana. With twenty-two lands, four Harrows, four Fertile Grounds, and three Star Compasses... Wow, that’s a lot of mana! However, the deck also has another important component that makes the high land count acceptable: Card drawing.

Card drawing comes in the form of four Fact or Fictions, three Reviving Vapors, and two Allied Strategies. This massive card drawing means that we can afford to start a hand with many mana sources and few threats, because we will likely see many more cards than our opponent will.

So to build a Type 2 deck, we need to follow the core of Rubin’s deck — which is mana and card drawing:

4x Harrow

4x Birds of Paradise
3x Star Compass

7x Forest
7x Islands
4x Brushland
2x Plains
1x Mountain
1x Swamp

The land base is the same — however, Fertile Ground has become Birds of Paradise, and Elfhame Palace has become Brushland. This is for the obvious reason that Birds are simply cheaper (and thus faster) and the fact that there are a lot of Stone Rains in my local metagame.*

3x Fact or Fiction
4x Opt

The card drawing aspect of the deck is a bit lighter for the sole reason that I plan on packing a few more creature threats into my deck than Rubin had in his. We will get to those later on, but I feel that seven solid card drawers should be sufficient to help get us the mana and threats we need.

Speaking of threats, Rubin’s only threats were the wonderful Hippos — and only three of those to boot. I love the Hippo dearly, and think that he is a must along with a new kid on the block: Spiritmonger.

3x Questing Pheldagriff
3x Spiritmonger

Okay; we have six good (read = GOOD) threats, but how are we to stay alive until they show up?

4x Collective Restraint
2x Global Ruin
4x Absorb
4x Pernicious Deed

Ruin and Restraint, of course, have excellent synergy with each other and are very effective at smacking Blastoderm and Burst tokens around. With the Restraint out, we can feel free to pump the Hippo as much as we like because our opponent will not get to attack with more than one creature a turn anyway.

Why Deed? Well, black and green are in the deck... So why not? Is it that good? Yes, and more so. Against most decks, being able to Deed means game over for them. Let us not forget that Spiritmonger can regenerate from the Deed, meaning that we can blast everything on our opponents end of turn phase, regenerate our ‘Monger, and serve for huge beats! Damn, I like any deck where I can do that!

So how does the deck match up against some of the common threats? The deck does well a lot of decks thanks to its ability to deal with any style of threat. Against decks like Animal House and Fires, which rely on quick threats, Collective Restraint throws a huge monkey wrench in their plans. A lot of decks don’t run much maindeck enchantment hate, giving us a solid edge. Against Burning Bridge-type decks, which don’t make much use of creatures, the Deed becomes our superstar. It will destroy their Bridge and their Grafted Skullcap in plenty of time for us to beat with the regenerating Spiritmonger and the pro-red/black Hippo.

Domain's main weakness comes in the form of control. Against heavy land-D like Wildfire and Thundercats, the deck is in some trouble. While it carries a lot of land, it is vulnerable to early land destruction with Idol back up until it can get a stable mana base. Often, it will not reach the four mana it needs to Fact or Fiction into more land (hence the reason we use Opt instead of Reviving Vapors). Counter-heavy decks can generally outcounter and outdraw the deck — though the Hippo, ‘Monger, Ruin, and Deed are all must-counter spells. The fact that they are all expensive means that our opponent will have plenty of time to build up a few counters before we begin to drop our threats.

With this in mind come some sideboard ideas:

2 Kavu Chameleon
3 Sacred Ground
4 Gainsay
3 Exclude
3 Rout

Against land destruction, we have Sacred Ground and a lot of land maindecked; against control we have Gainsay and Chameleon; and against rush decks like Fires, we have Exclude and Rout for when they sideboard in their enchantment hate.

 

Thanks for reading,

David Phifer

* - Of course, Seal of Fire shows up a lot too — but you can’t avoid everything!