States will be held tomorrow, so now it’s time for final tweaks. Standard is almost established at the first point of equilibrium (that will be cut into pieces by next Saturday’s SCG Open: Baltimore). But that’s later; now you should choose the deck that beats decks to beat or the deck that beats decks that beat decks to beat. There are no viable combos, so the Standard metagame revolves around two poles represented by Mono Red and Solar Flare. Mono Red, of course, failed at Nashville, but don’t be fooled—it was because of over-hate; red decks are still dangerous.
I’m going to write about two decks today. The second one is (Werewolves) RUG, and the first one was born from Mono Red (or, more precisely, from Wolf Run Red) and from Valakut. I started this article a week before Brian Sondag win in Nashville, so my approach on red-green mana ramp differs a lot from his.
Novalakut
The first part of the R/G Ramp idea came from the proposal that if you want to win an aggressive mirror, you should play more powerful spells and bigger creatures (see Kessig Wolf Run Red decks). Moreover, Titans were the menace of the previous format, and why wouldn’t they dominate this one? This is how I came to Inferno Titan instead of Stromkirk Noble (moreover, control players finally came to Sun Titan instead of 1/1s and 1/2s). As for Valakut… I am known as “Valakut player,” so I obviously tried to reanimate shards of the powerful engine. Even if the only available damage-dealing land is Stensia Bloodhall.
When people in our local community saw my deck for the first time, their reaction was mostly, “Ha! Valakut without its primary win con is unplayable!” But mana ramp emerged earlier than Valakut: G/R Show Ramp insulted creatures with Skred not long ago. Casting big guys is awesome; why not try again? It was, after that, an awkward moment when I realized that Cultivate had rotated out, but this problem is solvable.
The first draft of the deck was very similar to Aggro Valakut, and it featured even Hero of Oxid Ridge. But the lack of Lotus Cobra finally forced me to choose the “kill all creatures and then cast Titans” approach. Old Valakut was not very good against control decks, but there is a bunch of good anti-control tools available now: Koth of the Hammer, both Garruks, and Kessig Wolf Run (which is the most amazing card from the entire set, if you want to know my opinion).
Garruk, Primal Hunter seems necessary as the green deck’s weapon against Solar Flare. By the way, both green walkers are acceptable, so the question is whether your manabase can support triple green. Therefore, the main problem of mana design for this deck is how to support both Garruk and Slagstorm. I think that Slagstorm is the deal now, and I really want to cast it during my third turn. Brian Sondag solved the problem of GGG by making his deck mostly green; I just don’t understand why he has four copies of Slagstorm in the deck with eleven red-producing lands.
The deck by Brian Sondag
Creatures (15)
- 3 Solemn Simulacrum
- 1 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Acidic Slime
- 3 Primeval Titan
- 3 Wurmcoil Engine
- 4 Viridian Emissary
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (14)
Spells (27)
Inkmoth Nexus. I like the idea of getting a Titan and a deadly clock, but I dislike Brian’s realization, mostly because of Geistflame. There are no ways to protect Nexus from removal, so it becomes an awkward glass hammer, especially in the case when the opponent knows what to do. Anyway, don’t mind my whining if not many Mono Red decks are expected in your metagame: R/G Nexus may prove itself to be bigger than a one-tournament bullet. The entire archetype relies on perspective, so, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to present a more conservative approach to mana ramp aka Novalakut.
Quick aside about MS Word
Does your text editor try to change the word “ladies” to “women” or ”people,” while leaving “gentlemen” as is?
End aside
Creatures (16)
- 3 Solemn Simulacrum
- 3 Inferno Titan
- 2 Primeval Titan
- 2 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 4 Viridian Emissary
- 2 Urabrask the Hidden
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (10)
Spells (31)
There is a lack of early action (old Valakut had about sixteen early drops), but I’ve played against Geist of Saint Traft literally every time I decided to test Arc Trail / Incinerate in place of Slagstorms. I’m glad with the current list despite the vulnerability to Merciless Predator, but you can feel free to cut one Slagstorm for any cheap removal you want according to your metagame.
Viridian Emissary is an all-star here; or maybe one-star, as it was an important part of Texas Aggro Valakut during the previous season. Emissary works well with Slagstorm; he attacks (even in a late game with the help of Kessig Wolf Run); he blocks; and he saves Thrun, the Last Troll from Liliana’s Cruel Edict. Brian played the full four Green Sun’s Zeniths and even Birds of Paradise, but I think that they are a little bit excessive.
Other unusual cards in the maindeck are Urabrask the Hidden, Tumble Magnet, and Devil’s Play. Devil’s Play is just a way to win the late game in two turns (like Inkmoth Nexus); Urabrask needs a more detailed explanation. Brian’s deck looks weak to Gideon Jura, who was popular in Nashville and whose popularity should increase during the next weeks. Urabrask the Hidden is a way to deal with opposing planeswalkers out of nowhere and to win fattie battles (while Magnet can help you keep bad dudes tapped and powerless).
Speaking about Magnet, it has proven to be great in my testing; a third copy is worth consideration, especially against decks with Sun Titan and Phantasmal Image. Image is also weak against Inferno Titan (one more reason to choose the red Titan over other threats). So, the deck has enough maindeck threats and answers to beat Solar Flare and, especially, to do it reasonably quickly.
Aside about control decks or, specifically, about Solar Flare.
http://starcitygames.com/scglive/files/20111008233624000000.html
There are final standings of SCG Open: Nashville. Top 8 and top 16 are amazing, but I’m willing to note the following point: two players at 23 points, three players at 20 points, a player at 17 points, etc. Finally, twenty players (that is roughly five percent of the whole attendance) had two unintentional draws, and twenty percent of the players had at least one unintentional draw. Why are you playing the deck if you even can’t defeat an alarm clock, not to mention opponents?
End aside
My sideboard includes a bunch of Batterskulls, who is criminally underplayed right now: the card is still great against Mono Red; it can’t be killed by Doom Blade, and it is hard to deal with using Oblivion Ring. Common builds of Solar Flare are light on countermagic, so Batterskull seems to be the most widely available weapon against both cornerstones of the format.
That is probably all about red-green ramp for today, and I’m going to the next topic. Let your Kessig Wolf Runs touch opposing Phantasmal Images to death and pump your Viridian Emissaries for the win!
Something borrowed, something blue
The mana cost of Garruk, Primal Hunter means that your deck will be heavily green, so there is little space for design. Or not? The best example I know is Raphael Levy deck from PT Nagoya, who splashed blue in a typical Block Constructed Big Red deck for three Consecrated Sphinxes. Unconventional? Check! Game-breaking? Check! So did Brian Kibler for SCG Open Nashville: his deck features Garruk, Primal Hunter and Thrun, the Last Troll alongside Consecrated Sphinx and Inferno Titan! So, he borrowed blue for the update of his Bladebreaker from previous Standard.
Creatures (16)
- 1 Inferno Titan
- 2 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 2 Consecrated Sphinx
- 4 Viridian Emissary
- 4 Skinshifter
- 1 Snapcaster Mage
- 2 Daybreak Ranger
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (13)
Spells (27)
Brian’s deck is the least conventional take on RUG, previously highlighted by several articles and tournament results. This archetype may not be the best in terms of raw power or card advantage, but it is very interesting to play, and it often features Werewolves (who are very attractive for semi-casual players). I didn’t avoid this menace and spent a lot of time (that would be rather spent on PTQ preparation) on different R/U/G builds. There are so many options to consider, and there is probably no “right choice”: it’s right to build your deck according to your own style.
As the deck is casual-friendly, I feel that I want to say some words about very basic things, aiming to help inexperienced players avoid the “customization trap.” I looked at discussions about some decks considered “Werewolves” and tried to collect and explain typical mistakes. The following statements may be considered “obvious” and “boring” to some players, but I think that I still need to explain. If you belong to the sort of players who dislike such a conversation, ctrl+F to “Arrogant Bloodlord.” For those who will read the next paragraphs, I ask you to forgive my mentoring tone: all my words are proven by extensive testing.
First, Snapcaster Mage is dis-synergistic with double-faced cards, but he is very good in the deck with sixteen or more instants. Playing four is not necessary, but three is the correct number in almost any situation. More important, without Tiago Chan, your deck will be short on threats; that is a crucial mistake.
Second, Geistflame is actually good. Yes, Shock deals more damage, but look: there is only one early threat immune to Geistflame: Puresteel Paladin. At the same time, there are:
Reckless Waif , Stromkirk Noble , Grim Lavamancer , and Spikeshot Elder in Mono Red;
Signal Pest , Inkmoth Nexus , Spined Thopter , Porcelain Legionnaire , and Memnite in Tempered Steel;
Snapcaster Mage , Azure Mage , and Phantasmal Image in various control decks;
Elite Vanguard , Champion of the Parish , Avacyn’s Pilgrim , Birds of Paradise , and Skinshifter in various G/W/x decks.
So, there is almost no drawback in dealing one damage instead of two, but you can use the same spell twice. Geistflame and Gut Shot proved themselves to be good in Indianapolis, and they’re still great.
Third, Desperate Ravings is not as bad as you think. Ravings is definitely not Think Twice, but you probably already have four. Additional card drawing is vital because the deck should have some late-game plan. There are only two good options: three Desperate Ravings or two Consecrated Sphinxes, so one of them is necessary.
Finally, there are three Constructed-playable double-faced cards: Garruk Relentless, Daybreak Ranger, and Mayor of Avabruck. Any other sweet card (like Gatstaf Shepherd) is unplayable, just because they are not worth your whole turn without casting spells (and because so many opponents will have Think Twice and Forbidden Alchemy to make other DFCs even worse). So, a Werewolves deck (that aims to win something more than FNM) should not contain other Werewolves.
Now it’s time to back our Arrogant Bloodlords from the brink and to continue discussion.
Emissary of the Wolves
The most interesting tech I found this week is Brian Kibler Viridian Emissary. I wrote earlier that he is nuts, and if I’m not sold on Brian’s Skinshifter, Emissary seems to be auto-include: R/U/G decks are often light on threats, so protection from Liliana is great.
The second point is that the singleton of Kessig Wolf Run is great. Even in a three-colored deck. This land is amazing, and it’s sad that manabase doesn’t allow you to play more. According to these points, let’s look at my attempt on R/U/G Werewolves deck.
Creatures (15)
- 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 2 Consecrated Sphinx
- 3 Viridian Emissary
- 3 Snapcaster Mage
- 2 Daybreak Ranger
- 4 Mayor of Avabruck
Lands (14)
Spells (31)
I’ve touched most of spectacular things earlier in this article, so note these endless two-ofs in the sideboard: the metagame is established, but States is States, so I tried to keep maximum flexibility. As a result, there is even a transformational-like sideboard into straight sword-based beatdown.
There are no Titans in this deck, but Consecrated Sphinx is the seventh Titan right now (after Wurmcoil Engine), and she is far more popular than Frost Titan, while having the same mana cost, the same toughness, and an even more destructive effect.
I’m not sure about Azure Mage (as we’re willing to side in many cards against Solar Flare and other control decks), so she can be excluded in favor of Tree of Redemption. Surgical Extraction is an attempt to add another corner of attack on Solar Flare: a large number of builds don’t include Grave Titan and collapses like a house of cards without Sun Titan.
While Werewolves are great, Forbidden Alchemy and Think Twice make flipping difficult, so if you’re going to play into a Solar Flare dominated metagame (very typical approach), a Werewolves-less build would be better idea.
Creatures (12)
Lands (17)
Spells (31)
Overall strategy is similar, but this deck has fewer threats, more countermagic, and more Slagstorms. To be honest, I like the Werewolves’ deck more, but metagame calls to another decision.
I like the singleton of Green Sun’s Zenith very much, especially post-board. Moreover, Snapcaster Mage can flashback a countered Zenith for further use. Some Zenith-based tweaks may be interesting to try (Skinshifter, Viridian Corrupter, etc.), but I prefer steadiness right now. And, as the ending point of this article, I want to draw your attention to Batterskull, and I wish you’ll batter your States tomorrow! Good luck to everyone playing!
@amartology on Twitter