Long time no see. You’re probably wondering where I’ve been.
Between doing coverage for @SCGLive in Columbus with Joey Pasco, not winning a match at the SCG Indianapolis Invitational or Grand Prix Vancouver, and streaming like a maniac on my off days, my schedule has been quite full to say the least. This article has been overdue for a while, so I’m glad I finally had the chance to put pen to paper.
When I heard that a G/R deck with four Bonfire of the Damned won a PTQ a few weeks back, I shook my head in disgust. I assumed it was some lunatic who jammed far too many overcosted, high-variance Slagstorms into his Wolf Run Ramp deck, dodged Angel Delver for most of the tournament, and cleaned up on a bunch of green decks.
Boy was I wrong…
Creatures (24)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Borderland Ranger
- 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 4 Huntmaster of the Fells
- 3 Wolfir Silverheart
Lands (12)
Spells (24)
Seeing this decklist for the first time was a moment of clarity for me. I knew it was going to be the deck I was going to play from that moment forward for so many reasons:
Home Sweet Home. Bonfire of the Damned is a card with too much power to remain homeless for long. Christian Calcano tried to give it one with his win at Grand Prix Minneapolis, but his U/R Delver deck never really caught on past that tournament. Truthfully, Bonfire of the Damned is meant to be side by side with mana accelerants and other cards that let you have access to more mana than you normally should—something Calcano’s deck could never do.
With access to eight mana accelerants, four Borderland Rangers, and 24 actual lands, casting a non-miracled Bonfire of the Damned for a relevant amount is not only a realistic option, but an expected one.
Fantastic Mana. One of the weaknesses in G/R Aggro pre-Avacyn Restored was its inconsistent mana base. Being reliant on Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves to cast Strangleroot Geist, Hellrider or playing and equipping Swords ahead of schedule in a format full of Gut Shots was an idea I always found rather ambitious. With the removal of Hellrider and the addition of Borderland Ranger, you still get to play eight mana accelerants but you no longer rely on them nearly as much as you used to.
There’s only one route from Kessig into Stensia. Unless you come with me. And come with you, Borderland Ranger, I shall. This is the card that holds everything together for this deck. Like Civic Wayfinder before it, Borderland Ranger isn’t very flashy, but it does everything you want it to:
- Ensures you hit your land drops.
- Holds a piece of equipment.
- Provides the mana necessary for large Bonfire of the Damned / Kessig Wolf Run activations.
- Trades with Geist of Saint Traft.
- Allows you to play only one Mountain.
The thing I’ve noticed most about Borderland Ranger in my testing/streaming of G/R Aggro is that when playing against a deck with Mana Leak, your opponent will rarely counter this card because, "It’s Borderland Ranger. That card isn’t even good." In reality, it’s the glue that holds this deck together and, as Pro Tour Hollywood champion Charles Gindy can attest, has held previous decks together as well:
Creatures (24)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Civic Wayfinder
- 1 Boreal Druid
- 4 Tarmogoyf
- 4 Imperious Perfect
- 4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
- 3 Chameleon Colossus
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (20)
Spells (14)
Sideboard
After playing over 100 matches and having a lengthy conversation with Michael Jacob on Magic Online, I made a few tweaks to KBR3’s PTQ-winning decklist:
Creatures (24)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Borderland Ranger
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 4 Huntmaster of the Fells
- 3 Wolfir Silverheart
- 1 Druid's Familiar
Lands (12)
Spells (24)
So what’s new?
This isn’t AVR Limited! Druid’s Familiar isn’t just restricted to being the best uncommon in Avacyn Restored. Believe it or not, it also has Constructed applications, and major ones in this deck. Not only can "Big Bear" be searched for via Green Sun’s Zenith, but it does a wonderful job of making Slagstorm and Black Sun’s Zenith relatively embarrassing when paired with another 2/2 creature like Borderland Ranger.
The real reason Druid’s Familiar has made an appearance is how poorly positioned Thrun, the Last Troll is in the current Standard. For as good of a card Thrun is in a vacuum, it is absolutely terrible in practice. Think about the following statement:
Every non-green tier 1 deck has access to Phantasmal Image:
- U/W Delver
- B/U Zombies
- Any Esper deck
- RUG Pod
Are you sure this isn’t AVR Limited? Champion of Lambholt may look odd, but it’s probably the second best thing you can be doing in a green mirror match except for casting Wolfir Silverheart every turn. And oddly enough, it pairs ridiculously well with the big bad Wolf.
In the following example, we will assume our opponent is at 20 life:
- With Champion of Lambholt in play as a 1/1, playing Wolfir Silverheart turns it into 2/2, and then pairing the two up turns it into a 6/6.
- The following attack puts our opponent to 14.
- With Champion of Lambholt being a 6/6 and Wolfir Silverheart being an 8/8, quick math shows that that’s the last 14 necessary to kill our opponent.
And don’t get me started on how well it lines up with Kessig Wolf Run…
Seriously though. Stop trolling us with the AVR cards. Triumph of Ferocity certainly needs some explaining. A removal heavy Esper deck is difficult for G/R Aggro to beat because it has no way to draw any extra cards. With Triumph of Ferocity, it forces the Esper player to kill every single one of your creatures because you’ll overwhelm them with all the extra cards you’ve drawn if they don’t.
It’s a very narrow card, but it does its job incredibly well.
If you saw the results of the SCG Standard Open in Seattle, you’ll see that I got 21st place with Naya Pod in Standard. I ended up playing that deck last weekend due to a miscommunication with the person I borrow cards from. While I do like that deck and can appreciate all the work that Brian Kibler has put into it, I prefer the above decklist as my weapon of choice until M13 rotates in. However, there are some advantages to Naya Pod over G/R Aggro:
Birthing Pod is extremely powerful. Unchecked, Birthing Pod is an unbeatable card for every deck in the format. The advantage it generates is completely insane and as long as you draw reasonably well while it is in play (read: drawing creatures to activate it with), it is rather difficult to lose the game.
Restoration Angel and Blade Splicer are like peanut butter and jelly. Restoration Angel and Blade Splicer are awesome cards on their own, but together they are a nightmare for a ton of decks. They’re the reason that Esper Midrange even exists, so being able to play those cards alongside mana acceleration and Huntmaster of the Fells is rather appealing.
Good cards are good! Few decks are on the same power level as Naya Pod. Seriously, look at all these cards:
- Huntmaster of the Fells
- Restoration Angel
- Blade Splicer
- Zealous Conscripts
- Gavony Township
- Geist-Honored Monk
- Wolfir Silverheart
- Hero of Bladehold
All of those cards are first picks in their Booster Draft format, and this deck plays multiple copies of each. Power is one thing this deck doesn’t lack!
But for me, consistency is king. And that was the major problem I had with Naya Pod over the nine rounds last Saturday. The reasons I’m leaning towards G/R Aggro over NayaPod are its consistency, its fantastic mana, and its "Oops! I win!" draw with mana accelerants and Sword of War and Peace.
In the end, the choice is yours. The good thing is, either way you decide, you’re selecting from two very good decks.
Now the shameless self-promotion…
Since I have quit my job as a life insurance agent (I know, I know!), most of my time has been dedicated to streaming and doing commentary for @SCGLive. So if you’re looking to see more of me in action, here are the ways to find me:
Streaming (http://www.twitch.tv/ceddyp)
Tuesday = 4:00-6:00 PM PST
Wednesday = 4:00-6:00 PM PST
Thursday = 4:00-6:00 PM PST
Commentary
Next event = July 21-22 at SCG Open Series: Las Vegas with Patrick Sullivan (I’m as excited as you are!)
http://www.facebook.com/CedricAPhillips
https://twitter.com/#!/CedricAPhillips
Until next time my friends!