When last we left our hero…
I planned on taking this week to write about my weekend in Baltimore, attending the SCG Open Series, but my performances weren’t up to my standard, so I’ll just cut the chaff and get to the nitty-gritty of Standard. I thought I had everything figured out. I was tired of not being able to cast Snapcaster Mage for full value, but I was just wrong on both accounts. Standard is an incredibly hostile metagame, full of powerful control decks, aggro decks, and ramp decks. Much like last season, Primeval Titan is beginning to look like an unstoppable powerhouse, but this week he brought along a brand new friend.
After a few Level 8 mages played Wolf Run Green at the Grand Prix in Australia, and Owen Turtenwald won his State Championship with their list, a lot of people took notice. Personally, I was not a fan of the big dumb tree-monster, since that isn’t really what you want to be doing with a ramp deck. Your goals should include casting ramp spells and finishers like Primeval Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, or planeswalkers. The thing is, Dungrove Elder is actually just ridiculous and fits your curve quite nicely. He also plays well with the theme of the deck: put as many lands into play as possible.
I was a skeptic at first, but after a remarkable run in Magic Online events, I am quite convinced. Not only does Dungrove Elder provide you with a cheap, efficient route to victory, but he’s a force to be dealt with at any point in the game. He’s rarely a bad draw and will allow you to race plenty of aggro decks. Just slam down a Kessig Wolf Run when they aren’t expecting it, and you’ll win plenty of those races.
Not only does Dungrove Elder give you an early threat, he provides you with a monster that is very hard to deal with. Most decks are packing plenty of spot removal, but those cards are useless against this guy. For whatever it’s worth, Dungrove Elder is probably better than Troll Ascetic, and that guy was format-defining for quite some time when he first arrived on the scene. Dungrove Elder has the ability to grow larger and larger in stride with every step your deck takes, whether it be casting Rampant Growth or even Primeval Titan. Most cards like this force you to continuously sink mana into them, but Dungrove Elder is a virtual free roll, and that is what makes him so powerful.
For reference, here is the list that I’ve been running:
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (13)
I’ll start by prefacing this part of the article with the fact I am in love with Garruk Relentless, and I think anyone not playing the full amount in Wolf Run strategies is just incorrect. Solemn Simulacrum is a niche card that is only good in some situations, whereas Garruk Relentless is almost always amazing. I’ve actually used his “fight” ability about as much as his Wolf ability in the last few days, and just let me say that it feels really good to play Garruk and beat down on a Birds of Paradise. His ability to deal with annoying fliers is also remarkable, since you have very few ways of actually dealing with a Plague Stinger.
In this version in particular, killing their blocker is awesome because it lets your Dungrove Elders rumble on through to the kill zone, and he even flips over and starts churning out Acidic Slimes or Primeval Titans. At the very worst, he makes an army of 2/2s or 1/1s with deathtouch, and that isn’t too shabby either.
So, what makes this list better than the original? Brian Sondag version had a lot going for it, including a pretty good aggro matchup thanks to Slagstorm. Slagstorm is really awesome against all of the aggressive decks, and Wurmcoil Engine shuts them down entirely after you stabilize. His focus was almost entirely on the endgame and on stabilizing until he got to that point. So what’s changed?
With more and more people adopting the hard counter in control strategies, you can’t be threat-lite. That’s why I’m advocating pushing towards a higher threat density, including the addition of Garruk Relentless as well as Dungrove Elder. You want all of your threats to be efficient, and you can rarely afford to miss a beat when you’re running up the curve. That’s where Green Sun’s Zenith comes in. Green Sun’s Zenith is just absurd in this deck because it is the best creature possible for you at every stage in the game. Need to kill a Lashwrithe? Acidic Slime’s got you covered. Tiny horde beating you down? Search up a Dungrove Elder early on and shut them down.
While Green Sun’s Zenith was good in the older versions, it is just bonkers now. Dungrove Elder gives you a nearly unstoppable threat that most control will almost fold to, and having access to a virtual eight copies is just insane. With six ways to hard-cast it on the second turn, you can occasionally sneak them into play under a Mana Leak. Having access to so many must-kill and must-counter cards, you’ll generally overwhelm your control opponent by the end of the game. Sure, they’ll occasionally have their nut draws, but every deck has those. Just play your game, disrupt their mana a bit with Acidic Slimes and Beast Within, and finish them off when they’re out of resources.
Dungrove Elder also gives you a great target for Kessig Wolf Run. Sure, it isn’t like the card needed any help being good, but having a large, hexproof creature to target can pay off in spades. In fact, I’ve won the majority of my games by pumping up Dungrove Elder after my opponent dealt with my Primeval Titan. The fact that Dungrove Elder is good on defense as well as offense just makes him the best card for that slot.
While you’re cutting things like Slagstorm in favor of consistency, you gain a lot of raw power and speed. Having so many mana-dorks would probably lead you to believe that you’ll get flooded often, but I just haven’t found that to be the case. This deck is incredibly mana-hungry, and you will likely be tapping out every single turn if your draw is even marginal.
Sure, there will usually be a turn or two where you do nothing because you’re trying to ramp into Titan, or waiting another turn to use Green Sun’s Zenith, but those turns don’t come too often. You’re usually spending every turn pushing towards your endgame, and no deck in the format has an endgame as good as yours. Your endgame is even absurdly difficult to disrupt, since Ghost Quarter is a joke. Inkmoth Nexus is what people are focusing on, but it is actually just a secondary win condition to Dungrove Elder now. Dungrove Elder is the new “it girl” for Kessig Wolf Run, and I think most people are starting to realize it much sooner than expected. Magic Online has already adopted this version en-mass, and I’ve done the same.
Skeptic converted.
Now, as far as playing the deck is concerned, each turn usually has a few key decisions to make. It is rarely easy to figure out the correct play, since Green Sun’s Zenith forces you to constantly make the decision on whether or not you should pull the trigger. Use it too early to ramp, and you could end up flooded without a real win condition. Don’t use it early enough, and your opponent could just steamroll you before you get off the ground. Should I get an Acidic Slime now and stall my opponent, or should I try and topdeck a land so I can get a Primeval Titan? These decisions are never easy, but luckily we have a card that can fill in the gap while we make these decisions.
Against all of the aggro decks, he usually comes down swinging his large axe at their team. In the mirror, he’s a virtual Stone Rain that preemptively kills their Garruk, Primal Hunter. Pointing his gun-arm at a Birds of Paradise never felt so good, and don’t even get me started on a Phantasmal Image.
Garruk Relentless takes the slot of Solemn Simulacrum for a few reasons, but none more important than his ability to actually win the game. Against control decks, he will singlehandedly hand them the pink slip if he gets in under a Mana Leak. At other times, he just slams down and murders a Snapcaster Mage, allowing your Dungrove Elders to finish the job. He’s rarely a bad draw and will almost always generate some sort of value before he hits the bin.
The flip side to Garruk Relentless is where he really shines. People haven’t gotten the chance to play with him much, but just let me say that his ability to search for creatures is incredibly powerful in this version of Wolf Run. With so many Birds and Elves lying around, you’ll almost always have some fodder to throw away so you can start chaining Acidic Slimes or just jam Primeval Titans until they run out of answers.
His “Overrun” ability is almost never relevant, but he does make some show-stopping 1/1s with deathtouch, and those are nothing to sneeze at. Remember Elspeth, Knight-Errant? Remember how difficult it was to swing into and kill her thanks to her little army? Well just imagine for a moment that those little dorks had deathtouch; take two aspirin for your headache, and call me in the morning because you wouldn’t have had very much fun.
What Garruk Relentless brings to the table is so much more than Solemn Simulacrum. Even if all you do is kill a creature with him, he’s generated a card and forced your opponent to spend time and resources dealing with him. The best thing Solemn Simulacrum ever did was accelerate you… for four mana. Sure, he’ll draw you a card on occasion, but Garruk Relentless is worth more than a land and a card. He’s worth heavy consideration. He’s worth more respect than anyone is giving him.
His major functional drawback is that he forces you to play fewer Garruk, Primal Hunters. Now, I talked about this in length last week, so I won’t shove it down your throat again, but you can read about it here. Long story short, both are great cards, but I would rather have more Garruk Relentless since he’s cheaper and a much better defensive spell.
Batterskull is in the deck over Wurmcoil Engine for this exact reason. The aggressive decks put incredible pressure on you early, and you don’t always have time to hit six mana. Additionally, with the cutting of Solemn Simulacrum, you’re forced to play a cheaper bomb. But Batterskull is no slouch. It does a lot of work against both control and aggro strategies, shining against Mono Red. I’ve actually beaten a Koth emblem with Batterskull suited up on a Dungrove Elder. For those of you who’ve played against a Koth emblem before, you should know how virtually impossible it is to beat.
As for the manabase, it is pretty sound. Sure, you’ll have the occasional opener containing Dungrove Elder and an Inkmoth Nexus, but that actually doesn’t happen as much as you’d think. While you will see the draws where playing non-Forests in the deck is occasionally awkward, you will see much more often how powerful Kessig Wolf Run is with Dungrove Elder.
For those curious, I’ve been waffling between 25 and 26 lands, but I’m still not sure which is correct. I always want to shoot myself when I miss my land drops, which is why I’m probably going to end up playing 26, but I’m not sold. More testing will help me make my decision.
As for the sideboard, it may look a little wonky, but that’s to be expected whenever someone discovers something new and exciting. Ben Friedman had three Gut Shots in his sideboard in his winning list from SCG Open: Baltimore, but the reasoning behind the card is incredibly sound. Actually, the card will gain a ton of value if people continue pushing towards this archetype, since killing a Llanowar Elves or Birds of Paradise on a freebie is pretty absurd when the mirror is all about ramping to Primeval Titan and stalling your opponent with mana denial.
Gut Shot is also incredibly potent against many of the format’s biggest threats against you. It kills a multitude of strong creatures in the format and is a versatile sideboard card against any opponent trying to do you in with an Inkmoth Nexus of their own. The thing is, Gut Shot looks like a terrible card on paper, but it deals you less damage than Dismember and usually gets the job done. If you end up leaning on Dismember, I won’t blame you, but there will be plenty of times where you’ll regret it thanks to the hefty toll on your life total.
With that said, Dismember is still a fine card and still up for consideration for my sideboard in some number, but I would rather start with Gut Shot and see where I end up.
I’ve seen a few lists packing Sword of Feast and Famine in the maindeck, and I don’t think that’s a bad idea by any means. Batterskull is currently well-suited for the metagame, but if everyone jumps on the Wolf Run Ramp wagon, then Sword of Feast and Famine should be the natural progression. As more people adopt that strategy, and Batterskull exits people’s maindecks, then you can expect Red decks to get better, and so on.
For whatever it’s worth, Sword of Feast and Famine is a complete blowout in the mirror, and there just aren’t that many ways to efficiently deal with one if it sticks on the second turn. Sure, Beast Within will kill it, but at what cost? You won’t be able to slow down their mana development, and they’ll have a moderate amount of pressure to hit you with in the meantime, as the 3/3 it generates isn’t irrelevant. Additionally, if they surprise you with the Sword, and follow that up with an untap phase and an Acidic Slime or Primeval Titan, it is probably lights out. I don’t think I even have to continue on about how good Sword of Feast and Famine is with Kessig Wolf Run because everything is better with Kessig Wolf Run.
With all of the ways that the deck has to kill artifacts, I figured Naturalize was a natural fit for the sideboard over Ancient Grudge. You really need to be able to kill certain enchantments against control decks, but my main problem has been Oblivion Ring. Ancient Grudge can also be a bit hard to cast in the early game, since you won’t always have a Rampant Growth or Birds of Paradise. In these scenarios, you want Naturalize against the Tempered Steel or Puresteel Paladin decks, since you can actually cast the card before they kill you.
You’ll usually have backup in the form of Viridian Corrupter and Acidic Slime, but having an early answer to their threats is always needed. Gut Shot has also been amazing against Tempered Steel, since most of their early threats are just tiny dorks until they get their namesake card online. Even if they do, you’ll have plenty of ways to kill it, turning your Gut Shots back on again.
As for control decks, Thrun and Acidic Slime are powerhouses against them, not to mention Sword of Feast and Famine. Their only real answer to Thrun is Phantasmal Image, but that will often force them to tap out, giving you a window to resolve another threat. If they don’t draw Image, then they’re probably dead unless they stick a very quick Titan. But with Dungrove Elder, Thrun, Green Sun’s Zenith, planeswalkers, and Primeval Titans, your control opponents will be overrun with threats that they have to deal with immediately.
Day of Judgment is one of the deck’s weaknesses, since your reliance on Llanowar Elves and Birds of Paradise make you particularly vulnerable to it. Luckily, you have plenty of mana denial, and it isn’t that hard to recoup after a Day of Judgment, since your deck is so threat heavy. The games you lose will be the games where you miss land drops, which is why I’m leaning more towards playing the 26th land. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but I might just have a land or two in the sideboard for when I side out some of the mana dorks.
For anyone clamoring for a sideboard plan, I don’t have one. At least, I don’t have anything set in stone. Hell, I rarely have my 75 solidified the day before a tournament. I’m always testing out new ideas, and that changes the cards I side in and out, as well as how I play against certain matchups. Last week, I tried out Mayor of Avabruck, and he was pretty solid. However, the Mayor just isn’t nearly as good in this version as Thrun is against the control decks, since most of them will be keeping in a lot of their removal to kill your Birds and Elves.
In the older version, you had very few relevant targets for removal spells, making Mayor of Avabruck an all-star.
When your deck changes, you have to mold your strategy and adopt a new plan against your opponents. Thrun is where you want to be right now, but only because you’re slinging threat after threat against your opponent, and their removal spells actually have a bit of value.
If you didn’t catch it, and you have premium, I suggest watching GerryTV. The delivery is a bit off, but only because Gerry isn’t used to having a camera in his face for hours at a time. Over the next few weeks, you can expect a lot of great work out of it, and the content is invaluable. Gerry is a great mind, and you would do well to listen to him about all things Magical.
This weekend, StarCityGames.com is coming to Kansas City. Unfortunately, I won’t be attending, as I really don’t want to drive 14+ hours and couldn’t find a flight in my price range. I will, however, be playing Magic Online for most of the weekend, since there is an online PTQ, as well as a multitude of Daily and Premier events for me to test out some new cards for the Wolf Run deck (more information about it next week).
Good luck to anyone attending Kansas City, and please tell Gavin Verhey farewell before Wizards of the Coast whisks him away to their island in the sky. He’ll be featured as an SCGLive commentator for the very last time, and we probably won’t get to see him around all that much afterwards. His last article for StarCityGames.com was phenomenal, and I recommend it for anyone trying to better themselves as people, let alone Magic players. If you missed it, you can catch it here.
And Gavin, if you’re reading this, then good luck. Just don’t let this happen.
Thanks for reading.
Todd
strong sad on MOL