As I was going through some of last week's articles on StarCityGames.com the other day, I came across Shlomi Mir's "My Pet Rock" article. After reading it for about one paragraph, I came upon a very disturbing statement:

"Land destruction blows."

Now this is a statement that I wholeheartedly disagree with, considering that my Ponza deck recently pushed my Constructed rating above the 1900 mark. Shlomi even went as far to state that Tooth and Nail could stand a chance against Ponza. Two words, Shlomi - "No, SIR!!!!" I have been playing mono-red Land Destruction in Standard for the past four months, and not once have I lost to Tooth and Nail. No deck that revolves around a sorcery that cost nine freaking mana can last against a well-built land destruction deck.

I'll prove this with a post-Champs tournament report. The tournament took play in Panama City, Florida, where I arrived to the Colors on Cardboard, my local game room to find out that there were about thirty people for the tournament. The K-Value of the tournament was 24. Here is the deck I played.

3 Stalking Stones
18 Mountain
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
4 Arc-Slogger
4 Slith Firewalker
2 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
4 Hearth Kami
3 Chrome Mox
4 Electrostatic Bolt
4 Molten Rain
4 Stone Rain
4 Demolish
3 Pyroclasm
2 Pulse of the Forge

Sideboard:
1 Pulse of the Forge
4 Shatter
3 Zo-Zu the Punisher
3 Granulate
4 Culling Scales

One thing you might be wondering about my deck list: "Where are the Magma Jets?" I will agree that any card that allows red to have card selection is savage, but Pyroclasm is far superior because it's often a three-for-one against Affinity (or any other aggressive deck, for that matter). I also think that Granulate is an extremely overlooked card... So overlooked that I almost cut them for Detonates at the last minute, but decided against it. The fact of the matter is that Granulate is an absolute wrecking ball against Affinity. It may be slow - but when backed up by Shatters, Bolts, and Pyroclasms, it becomes the nail in the coffin for the Affinity player.

On to the tournament.

Round 1:
Some common guy, never got to figure out what he was playing.

I didn't know my opponent, but since I had never seen him before I wasn't worried. I never really got to figure out what he was playing, because I got second-turn land destruction with Chrome Mox both games. Arc-Slogger brought it home both games.

I didn't sideboard at all due to the fact that I had no idea what he was playing.

Round 2:
I get paired against my teammate Chris Webb.

He is playing the exact same list as I am and we decide to intentionally draw even though it is only the second round. We spent most of the round scouting, trying to figure what our matchups could be in the coming rounds. Since there were only thirty people in the tournament, it was very easy to determine what was going on. There were quite a few Affinity decks, some mono-black, red-green with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Tooth and Nail, a handful of G/B, and a lone U/R deck, along with a few kids playing absolute jank. The only two decks I was really worried about were the U/R deck because of all the countermagic, and the mono-black deck because he was running Persecute in the board, and Barter in Blood main deck.

Round 3:
Nice guy, playing Mono-Black Control.

I feel really bad not remembering this guy's name because I talked to him all night and he was a really nice guy.

I was a little worried about the matchup, but I figured that I could win it out. Game 1, he won the die roll but took a mulligan down to five cards - which was a relief. He played a second-turn Guardian Idol, which I promptly blew up with Hearth Kami. I played some LD and a Slith Firewalker, but he Echoing Decayed my Slith Firewalker. I eventually drew into a Kumano, Master Yamabushi Flame and I went to the dome.

Game 2, I boarded out all my Pyroclasms because I did not see any rats in game 1. I boarded in three Zo-Zu, the Punishers.

He chose to play first and we both mulliganed down to six cards. My hand wasn't too great, but not bad enough to take another mulligan.

I blew up some land but missed my fourth land drop, and then he Persecuted me, calling red. I looked at my hand and then threw it in the graveyard, netting him four-to-one card advantage, and getting rid of two Arc-Sloggers. I tried to topdeck in vain, and eventually laid a Slith that got fairly big... But he sealed the game with an arbitrarily large Death Cloud.

I played game 3 very badly and had no right to win it. I was still a little upset about the Persecute, but it was still no excuse for how terribly I played. I made a number of mistakes, such as playing a first-turn Stalking Stones when my hand had two Mountains and a Slith. My teammate Chris literally had to walk away from my match in disgust.

I drew a lot of land destruction, however, and blew his Guardian Idol up with a Hearth Kami. I started to beat down with a Slith and an Arc-Slogger, but he cast Barter in Blood. I drew another Slith and activated my Stalking Stones, but he Bartered for a second time. He sat at one life for a while, but I topdecked another Arc-Slogger, then activated it at his face for the win.

Round 4:
Coy Cotton, Playing R/G Kiki-Jiki.

I knew what he was playing when we sat down and knew that the matchup was in my favor since his deck was so mana-intensive. As long as he didn't draw multiple Sakura-Tribe Elders in the early game I knew I could win easily. I blew up a lot of land and utterly smashed him, despite him drawing two Tribe-Elders.

I boarded out my Hearth Kamis for three Zo-Zus and a Pulse of the Forge.

He played turn 1 Birds of Paradise, which got toasted by a Bolt. He then played two more Birds on the second turn, which I Pyroclasmed off the table. He played a bunch of Tribe-Elders and I played a bunch of LD, but I kept him off his red mana for most of the game... But I couldn't seem to draw into a threat.

To make it worse, he played a Plow Under on me and a Kodama's Reach. On the last possible turn before he can infinitely recur his Plow Under by copying Eternal Witness with Kiki-Jiki, I topdeck Arc-Slogger. I activated my Slogger on both the Witness and the Kiki-Jiki, and Arc-Slogger chalked up another win.

He showed me his hand after the game was over - he was holding Rude Awakening. If he had topdecked one more land, I would have been through. Coy was a really nice guy, but unfortunately someone ended up stealing his deck later that night while I was playing my finals match.

Round 5:
Anthony Lazzarini, playing U/R Obliterate.

Anthony and I are both 3-0-1 - and since it was the final round of the Swiss we decided to draw, guaranteeing us both a seat in the top 8. This was a relief, because I knew that since we were drawing I would not have to play him in his Top 8 match. Furthermore, Anthony would most likely get paired against Jonathan Marsh in the top 8, who was playing G/B Tooth and Nail, which is a bad match up for U/R. So basically, if I won my top 8 match, chances were that I would have an extremely easy match in the Semis.

I watched Chris play his match this round and he is playing against G/B. He ended up barely winning the match.

Quarterfinals:
Tim Hutchinson playing Green/Black control.

Tim is a really nice guy who I have gotten to know better recently. Many players underestimate Tim because his rating isn't that high, but he is actually pretty good.

I do not remember anything from game 1 other than I won.... Sorry.

Game 2, I board the same as I did in round 4. He plays first and starts off with a very good draw that involved Tribe-Elder and two Kodama's Reaches. My land destruction is pretty much useless against this draw, and I try to beat down with some Sliths and Zo-Zu but he draws Barter in Blood. Then he cast Cranial Extraction, removing all my Arc-Sloggers from the game.

Next turn, I drew a Pulse of the Forge and say, "go." He then casts another Cranial Extraction, removing my Kumano's. I tired to win with Pulse of the Forge, but he beat me down and I didn't have enough mana to Pulse him out.

Game 3, I played first, and drew the nuts. I got second-turn Stone Rain, and continued with the LD for a few turns. I couldn't seem to hit my fifth land though, and Arc-Slogger sat in my hand. He played some random Viridian Shamans, and Eternal Witnesses to get back his land. I Pyroclasmed his board, then eventually drew my fifth land and played Arc-Slogger. I burned him out with Arc-Slogger and Pulse of the Forge.

Unfortunately, Chris lost to Affinity in the Top 8. Chris would have won the match, but he got mana screwed. Oh well, you can't when them all.

My top 8 prediction was correct and Johnathan and Anthony got paired, and J. Marsh smashed Anthony. I was very happy to find this out and I went ahead did my victory dance ahead of time because I knew that I would smash Johnathan's Green/Black Tooth and Nail deck. Johnathan's Tooth and Nail deck was an exact copy of the second place deck at Florida Champs this year. If you haven't seen the list, check it out.

Now, I think that playing Black in Tooth and Nail is definitely the way to go - but this decklist has some major problems. For one, it is running two Platinum Angels, instead of the Leonin Abunas/Platinum Angel combo. I have no idea why anyone would ever want to run two Angels over the Abunas, since I heard that having an untargetable Platinum Angel was some good. Another problem with the deck is the double Kokusho, The Evening Star. There is absolutely no point to running this combo. If you want to dome your opponent you should run Rude Awakening, not have to waste a Tooth and Nail. Rude Awakening is far more efficient; it's cheaper and does more damage. I also think that every Tooth and Nail deck should run Sundering Titan in the main deck, seeing how he absolutely amazing. I really like the sideboard of this deck however. Cranial Extraction and Nezumi Shortfang are great in the mirror, and other control matchups.

Semifinals:
Two-time JSS winner Johnathan Marsh, playing G/B Tooth and Nail.

Johnathan wins the die roll and obviously elects to play first. I draw my first hand and it consists of three lands, two Pyroclasms, and two Electrostatic Bolts. I promptly take a trip to Paris. I get a wonderful six card hand that consisted of three lands, two Stone Rain, and a Molten Rain. Johnathan plays a second turn Tribe-Elder, but I blow his land up turn after. He still does not miss any land drops for a very long time but I stall him out at about three lands and two Vine Trellises. I get stalled on three land, and Johnathan makes a very iffy play by casting Reap and Sow on one of my mountains instead of searching for another Cloudpost. I immediately peel running mountains off the top, however.

The Vine Trellises are key in this matchup for him, because they run blocking interference on my Slith Firewalkers. I eventually draw into Arc-Slogger and some Electrostatic Bolts to get his walls out of the way. Arc-Slogger does what it does best and smashes for the win.

Game 2, I boarded the exact same way that I boarded in my Quarterfinals match. My opening hand in Game 2 was worth keeping, but I didn't draw into much land destruction - and Johnathan drew a lot of land search. He played a Platinum Angel, and I didn't ever find a way to kill it.

I was rather embarrassed by the fact that I had actually just lost a game to Tooth and Nail - but there's always game 3.

I boarded out my Pyroclasms for game three and brought in three Shatters, because I didn't feel like randomly losing to Platinum Angel again. Game 3 I drew a very good hand with lots of LD and Sliths. Johnathan tries to develop his mana base, but doesn't really stand a chance in the face of all my LD. He dropped a few Vine Trellises, but I burned them off with Arc-Slogger and E-bolts, and then burned Johnathan out with Pulse of the Forge and Slogger.

After the match, I find out that I am going to play Nick in the finals, who is playing Affinity. Chris lost to Nick in the quarterfinals, so Chris tells me a little about his deck, and informs me that he is not playing Welding Jar, which is very good news.

Nick is a very nice guy and I have played him once before at a GP Trial where I smashed him with a wretched U/B March of the Machines deck that Chris and I concocted.

Finals:
Nick Ong, playing Ravager Affinity.

Game one was very short, for I was smashed with a quickness. Nick dropped a lot of guys and I Pyroclasmed, but he made a huge Ravager and it proceeded to destroy me.

For game two, I boarded in eleven cards. Four Shatters, three Granulates, and four Culling Scales. Culling Scales is surprisingly good against Affinity, and it's really the only way a mono-red deck can deal with Atog. We shuffled up, and it looked like Nick had a slow draw. I Pyroclasmed off his guys and he did not sac out to his Arcbound Ravager in fear of me having Electrostatic Bolt. Instead, he just sacked the Ravager and made his Frogmite a 3/3.

On turn 3, he just played two Chromatic Spheres. On turn 4, Nick played a Thoughtcast, and then dropped two more Frogs, a Ravager, an Arcbound worker. I knew that there was only one out left in my deck, and I tapped the top of my deck and drew my card. At first, I couldn't believe that I had actually drawn Granulate. Then, after pausing for a moment, I stood up and slammed it on the table, yelling, "GRANULATE!"

Nick was pretty upset, to say the least.

He played a Moriok Rigger next turn and I Electrostatic Bolted it. Next turn, I dropped Arc-Slogger, and Nick scooped all three lands that were in play.

Game 3, Nick played first and dropped Arcbound Worker. I played a land and said go. Next turn he played another Worker and double Frogmite. I cast Pyroclasm on him next turn, thinking that would be enough to stop him - but I was wrong. Next turn he ended casting not one, but two Thoughtcasts. He then dropped an Atog and a couple of Chromatic Spheres. Next turn, I played Culling Scales, which slowly wiped out his board. He topdecked a Ravager and I Demolished it. I then blew up every permanent he had in play. I dropped a Kumano and it was Game Over.

I think that Ponza is a very strong choice for the current metagame. The only real bad matchup for is the Mono-Green deck that has been showing up on MTGO lately. Ponza does great against the control decks and has enough tools to fight Affinity, although sometimes you just have to get luck and top deck Granulate to beat them. If I were going to play in a Type 2 tournament tomorrow, I would either play this deck or U/G control. The only card I am thinking about changing on this list is Pulse of the Forge. I kind of want to take it out for an undecided number of Seething Songs, because third-turn Arc-Slogger/Kumano is savage.

Thanks, everyone - I hope that my article has helped you in some way or another. You can contact me at sofakingsvg@Yahoo.com.