The"Big Three" are no more. The 1.5 community has proclaimed Landstill the current best deck. The U/r/w Landstill deck that is often scoffed at in Type I is a near out-of-control powerhouse in 1.5. With the largest 1.5 tournament of the summer coming up on July 10^th in Syracuse, NY, can anyone break the stranglehold that Landstill has on the metagame? Is Landstill nearly guaranteed to take home the playset of Italian Mana Drains... Or can one deck dethrone it?

Its presence in most areas has knocked Food Chain Goblins (FCG) out of Tier One. It has a solid game against Dragon and can usually win if it can drag the game into turn 4 or later. Against the random junk that one will so often see in a 1.5 tournament, it performs amazingly well. So how can we put it in its place before it becomes the only Tier One deck?

First, one may not believe that Landstill can be so powerful in 1.5. But take a second and think about the tools that it has. Swords to Plowshares - a much more prevalent card in 1.5 than it is in Type I - not only removes annoying creatures, but keeps Worldgorger Dragon in check. Stifle not only performs the same function as Swords against Dragon, but also doubles as early land destruction for sac-lands. It even kills relevant Goblin abilities. Lastly, Nevinyrral's Disk mops up anything that those two didn't take care of or anything that made it by the eight counters.

Although eight counters may not seeí like enough, they suffice when used wisely. The draw may seem weak, but random scrubs are still breaking Standstill at the worst moment and still walking their creature removal into Teferi's Response."Oh look, he's attacking with a manland? He only has a Tundra and Wasteland untapped? What could he possibly cast to stop my Swords to Plowshares?" The better the opponent, the weaker Landstill's draw becomes - but unfortunately, no one has been able to take the deck off its high horse yet and consistently beat the counters and removal.

You don't think that Landstill is that popular or powerful of a deck in 1.5 yet? Look at Amrod's tournament on June 12^th. I particularly enjoyed this tournament, since it contained a diverse mix of 1.5 players - players from Syracuse, Albany, and also the state of Virginia showed up to get their grubby hands on some cold hard cash. This tournament had a significant blend of different areas and local metagame. And what was the one deck that everyone was prepared for? Landstill, of course. Only one Dragon deck made a showing in a field that was comprised of nearly fifty percent Landstill variants. Not one Food Chain Goblins deck was present. Where are the Big Three now?

I played Landstill at this tourney and ran into all sorts of crazy hate from Virginia. Enchantress decks were packing maindecked Seal of Cleansings, sideboarded Multani's Decrees, Replenish, and Aura of Silence. My best weapon against Enchantress, the Disk, never got a chance to untap. I also played against Crazy 88's, a MWC deck, which packed Illumination to stop both the board-sweeping goodness that Disk provides and my turn 2 Standstill.

Guess what split first and second? Traditional Landstill and a deck metagamed to beat Landstill. Normally, I'd be excited to see a rogue deck split first, but the rogue deck was a version of Landstill - U/B Landstill, to be precise!

As of now, we are left with the choice to play Landstill or play something that beats Landstill. To play Landstill or not to play Landstill -"Aye, there's the rub." And you thought Hamlet had problems. So what beats Landstill?

Our first option is to follow in the footsteps of the metagaming Virginians. U/B Landstill is a simple metagame choice. It has no official catchy name yet, although I've seen it called Evil Landstill or Duckhunt. While the deck seems weaker against aggro than traditional Landstill, it is a house against most forms of control. It retains the removal of the Disk and replaces Fire / Ice and Swords to Plowshares with Diabolic Edict and sometimes Innocent Blood. Both of those black cards are stronger against Troll Ascetic, although weaker against the hordes of goblins. Main deck Duress is strong against so many decks - and who wouldn't feel good about a turn 1 Duress, turn 2 Standstill?

Besides the wrecking ball of Duress, the U/B version packs two or three Skeletal Scryings to augment its draw. A stronger mana base makes the deck even less vulnerable to Wasteland than the original Landstill. In my opinion, the deck only really suffers when it comes to win conditions. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to fit in Decree of Justice? Oh well; you can't have everything. Here's a list modeled off of what Obfuscate Freely played at Amrod's June 12^th tourney and Diablos' Duck Hunt:

//Lands
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Faerie Conclave
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland
5 Island
2 Swamp
2 Twisted Abomination (or 2 Decree of Pain)

//Counter and Disruption
4 Duress (or Innocent Blood if aggro is expected)
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Stifle
2 Teferi's Response
2 Misdirection

//Removal
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Terror (or Diabolic Edict)

//Draw
4 Standstill
2 Skeletal Scrying

Of course, other minor differences exist in the builds - but I'm not going to waste your time with an age-old debate about the differences between Terror and Edict. Choose the one appropriate to your metagame. If aggro is going to be running wild, consider fitting in those four Innocent Bloods. But then again, if aggro is the archetype to beat, playing U/w/r Landstill is likely a better choice.

What if you don't want to beat Landstill at its own game? What if you want to give it a beating the old fashioned way - with creatures? Well Allan Race (a.k.a. Scrumdogg) has proposed an experimental list that tries to steal wins from Landstill by running untargetable and regenerating creatures. This aggro-control is experimental in nature and has not received much playtesting at the time that I am writing this, but it has sparked some serious interest in the 1.5 community. Diablos has given the rough list a facelift and I recommend testing this version:

The Untouchables

//Land
4 Wasteland
3 Treetop Village
4 Windswept Heath
3 Savannah
2 Tropical Island
7 Forest
4 Birds of Paradise

//Beats
4 Troll Ascetic
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 River Boa
1 Gigapede

//Utility
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Wonder
1 Genesis
1 Spore Frog
1 Viridian Zealot
1 Eternal Witness

//Control/Search/Prevent
2 Solitary Confinement
4 Sterling Grove
4 Survival of the Fittest
4 Swords to Plowshares

Even though Diablos removes Anurid Brushhopper from the list, I side with Allan on this one. If we are looking for creatures that Landstill will have a tough time killing, then the Brushhopper deserves a slot or two. In some sick twist of fate that makes my head want to explode, the U/B Landstill, with its Edicts and Decree of Pain, would likely be stronger against this deck than the U/w/r Landstill!

So what will ultimately dethrone Landstill? Only time will tell. Godzilla has proposed a theory about the current 1.5 metagame and what will come. Here it is, simplified and summarized: Landstill beats FCG. Landstill loses to certain versions of aggro decks, like OshStomp, while FCG usually beats those aggro decks. So one can conclude that FCG has prevented viable Landstill foils from being played.

But now, Landstill has removed FCG from the metagame. With FCG's relative disappearance from the upper tier, other aggro decks now have a chance to take down Landstill... But what will likely happen when Landstill is out of the picture? That's right; FCG will come back and stomp on those aggro decks. With FCG then on top, what will be the most logical deck choice? Landstill. See the ugly cycle?

Although I have put a bit of a pessimistic spin on his cycle, Godzilla views it in a positive light. He says:

"This is actually a very interesting time for the format. Aside from Dragon, I don't think that any deck (even Landstill) is necessarily assured of a Tier 1 status three months from now. Now is a time when new deck ideas will have the most potential for viability and for testing competitively. Without a single deck like Landstill choking innovation, I think we're going to be seeing a much richer and diverse metagame everywhere. Simply put, that is awesome."

Awesome or not, we have not answered one of my original questions. What will take home the playset of Italian Mana Drains? Maybe I'm a pessimist, but my money is on a U/r/w Landstill. Heck, I'll go so far as to say that my money is on U/r/w Landstill played by Mike (a.k.a. TeenieBopper)! As to what I'm playing, I'm not telling, but rest assured, it will have some sort of game plan for Landstill.

Matt Pietarinen
Pietarinen@hotmail.com
Peter_Rotten on The_Source (grexin.shonic.net)