Can you smell it? There is vibrancy in the air, Springtime is starting to push winter's sour puss northward, giving us a hint of the wonderful summer to come; plants are budding again, The Rock is heading to Wrestlemania as the WWF Champion, and Planeshift becomes legal for tournament play.

This weekend I had the privilege of attending Grand Prix Boston. I got to compete against some of the best in the world. I won a few rounds and lost only two, but with 600+ players (the largest GP in North American history), well... That's just not going to cut it. I had a ball, though, and will have a tourney report coming along (with photos!) within a week or so. Getting to play against the pros and getting to talk strategy with guys like Adrian Sullivan, Mike Flores, and Eric Taylor was just too neat. The main thing I found out about myself is that my Limited skills still need quite a bit of polish.

So in that spirit, I'd like to discuss the new standard.

Will Planeshift radically change the format, knocking out the Top Tier Decks, and replacing them with new juggernauts? Probably not. Still, it's a good set, with lots of solid, tournament worthy cards that are a ton of fun to play with. I haven't been this excited about a set for quite a while.

I think the influence Planeshift will have on the format will be subtle, but it may allow the Tier 2 decks (such as Machine Head and Blast-o-geddon) to blur the line between best and second best decks. Very efficient cards like as Terminate, Hull Breech, Eldamari's Call, Shivan Wurm, Fleetfoot Panther, Meddling Mage, the various Familiars, and Orim's Chant may revitalize certain forgotten decks, giving them new life. Best of all, flexible options like the Battlemages or gating creatures, could see action - in turn, creating a truly enjoyable and surprising format.

Which deck really has me excited? Pounce.

Since pre-Ice Age days, (you can take that literally or relate it to the set) I've been playing some version of Erhnam-Geddon. When I first built it, it consisted of lots of two-power drops (such as Mishra's Factories, Elvish Archers and Savannah Lions), along with some boosting effects, some beef (the Djinns) and the backbreaking duo of Balance and Armageddon. Of course at that time, E-G also had access to the best spot removal spell ever printed, Terminate be damned: Swords to Plowshares. The deck was fast, competitive in a slower environment, and the creatures could all carry their own weight. Any one of them left unchecked could end the game quickly.

Pounce is almost a direct grandchild of Erhnam-Geddon. It has all of the elements I like to see in a deck, (disruption, speed, lots of big butts) and a great deal of synergy.

My reason for not playing Fires (and this will make sense to most control players, but everyone else will probably shake their heads) is that it has no mid- or late-game. It falls apart to a Blinding Angel with counter backup and has other small issues, but the larger one is that it tries to "Fishbow"". It does not really focus on the opponent, and that worries me. I prefer to have some way of screwing up my opponent's game plan. Armageddon does so admirably. No deck in the format can just ignore the impact 'Geddon has. Unlike Wrath to a creatureless or pseudo-creatureless deck like Nether-Go, 'Geddon always sets my opponent's mana development back. It's a must-counter for control, and it will possibly keep a Shivan Wurm off the table.

Now, Swords to Plowshares is not available to us in this format, but we do have a card that is nearly as flexible: Fleetfoot Panther. Fleetfoot does several things, it can act as removal for any creature with three toughness or less (often times surviving the exchange to boot), allow another creature to act as removal (once damage is on the stack), it can hideously foil damage- based removal, and beats down pretty well to boot. Simian Grunts were playable, but Fleetfoot Panthers (in the right deck) are just so much better.

As I was working through my love affair with the Panther (which began with Darwin's preview article way back when), I realized a couple of other things about this set. Thornscape Familiar is just a fantastic card - not only a solid Grizzly Bear on offense, but it also allows for a turn 3 Armageddon or Ancient Spider, and makes the mighty Fleetfoot Panther no more expensive than a Terminate.

Since the "bug" bit me, I've been tinkering with Green/White builds encompassing Planeshift. Pounce is a bit different from "The Red Zone," since it actually stays pure W/G. If I were looking to add red, my first choice would not be Rith, instead I'd probably use the more flexible Thornscape Battlemage or the insanely powerful Flametongue Kavu. However, I wanted a deck with a clean mana base, allowing me to run two of the most efficient three-drops ever made: Fleetfoot Panther and his older brother, the Noble Panther. Both can take out any other grounded three-drop being played in the format (Chimeric Idol, Silt Crawler, and even Plague Spitter, if your timing is correct). Additionally, they both get an incidental ramping from the Thornscape Familiar, or the possibility of hitting the table on turn 2 due to Llanowar Elves.

Based on the strength of these early drops, I felt that if 'Geddon resolved, I should be able to win any race with my opponents. I got excited and went into a flurry of deckbuilding, coming out the other end with this piece of damage maximization:

4x Llanowar Elves
4x Thornscape Familiars
4x Kavu Titans
4x Noble Panther
4x Fleetfoot Panther
3x Ancient Spider
4x Blastoderm
4x Wax/Wane
4x Armageddon
8x Forests
5x Plains
4x Elfhame Palace
4x Brushland
4x Rishadan Ports

Sideboard:
3x Blinding Angel
3x Global Ruin
3x Disenchant
3x Armadillo Cloak
3x Cursed Totem (Although I'm testing Kavu Chamelons, River Boas, Tangle, Aura Mutation, Parallax Wave, Wrath of God and Tariff as well)

This deck is a bit strange, and it's certainly vastly different from any previous G/W build. It has absolutely no creature removal (or at least nothing that cannot also be tossed at an opponent's head) and most every creature does at least its casting cost worth of damage. Pounce has a couple of debatable choices, most particularly Kavu Titan and Ancient Spider. Kavu Titans are frequently cast without Kicker on turn 2, simply so that they can apply beats. Around Turn 4 or 5 they may gate back, replacing themselves as a 3/4 creature and a 5/5 Trampler. While it's true that they do have poor interaction with Parallax Wave, they possess overall higher synergy with the rest of the deck than Jade Leeches would in the same slot.

The Ancient Spider (2GW, First Strike, can block as though it has flying, 2/5) is probably raising a few eyebrows, since Jade Leech, Blinding Angel, Spitting Spider, and Lumbering Satyr are also in contention for this slot. However, it came down to an issue of synergy and metagame. The Spider has first strike (not an inconsequential ability), as does the Noble Panther. That dynamic duo can team up to drop Derms, Leeches, Shivan Wurms (with Wax), and they both get a bargain discount rate with the Familiars in play. Overall, I guess my choice lies in its general usefulness against all decks. Against Skies, Spitting Spider is unquestionably stronger, but also quite a bit more expensive (with a familiar in play, it's three versus five). The phlegmish spider's ability to slip under countermagic is debatable (especially since the Ancient one can hit on turn 3) and his synergy with Armageddon is highly suspect. (If you activate his ability when you 'Geddon, terrific, but if you draw him the turn AFTER you 'Geddon...) The Blinding Angels are good enough to save sideboard slots for, but they run into a cost issue. I'm always leery of loading up a deck with four Armageddons, and then letting it get cluttered with creatures of a higher casting cost. Mana efficiency is the watchword.

As a side note, I was testing this at Your Move Games a couple of nights ago, and Danny Mandel gave me a look of disgust over the Ancient Spiders when browsing through the deck. (He was with Counter-Rebels.) However, when a Spider resolved he realized how bad it was for him, since it can block either of his kill mechanisms (Jhovall Queen or Ramosian Sky Marshall). The card just works well in the strangest ways sometimes.

Of all the potential choices to fill the "other" fattie slot, Lumbering Satyr has the strongest argument for being there. It has high synergy with the Armageddons, Panthers and 8 non-Forests, forests. It also swings for almost three times the damage of the Ancient one. My concern is that since blocking is my primary form of removal, I should be using a creature that excels at it, rather than one whose main task is to negate it. (Additionally, Tahngarth or Flametongue Kavu can kill a Satyr, whereas the spider just laughs at them.) Obviously if you want to optimize your damage rate, I would suggest using Satyrs, but sometimes overfocusing a deck can have ramifications. This is a player's deck, and is designed to give you a variety of options on every turn. It's capable of explosively fast starts, but it can also weave a surprisingly complex defensive grid (usually based upon the Spiders; thus my adoration of the giant arachnids) if it finds itself outgunned. Armageddon is the trump card, turning an opponent's long game strategy into a short-term scramble for survival.

Wax/Wane is another phenomenal spell, with Wane plowing through Waves, Moats, Bursts, Agendas, Waters, and any other natural element you can think of enchanting up to do your dirty work. If your opponent is not running any of those, terrific; you can toss eight points at their head with Wax. This card just feels right in my hands... Much like Swords to Plowshares always did.

The cards I have in the sideboard could probably use some explanation, too. Blinding Angel and Disenchants should be no-brainers, but Global Ruin and Armadillo Cloak look pretty scrubby. The Ruins are weaker version of Armageddon - but against a control or mono-colored deck, the effect is nearly identical. With a bug in play they can be cast on turn 4, and don't require you to massively disrupt your mana base. They simply provide another must-counter threat against control. The major complaint I hear about G/W Geddon style decks is that they cannot beat control with only four Armageddons - well, now you can have up to eight.

When looking at Cloaks, I had a couple of cards fighting for this slot. Gerrard's Command actually seemed to be a solid fit. (GC my Ancient Spider and drop your 'Derm.) In G/W it's exceptional, particularly against Fires. However, in play testing, I've found Fires to be less than threatening, what I really needed was a card capable of punching through Rebels. Just a couple of nights ago, I was testing this deck against Counter-Rebels (easily the worst matchup it has), and I found I could punch through for the last five to eight points of damage if my creatures trampled (even briefly). So the cloaks may find a home against Rebels; Kibler has already shown us how effective they are against Fires.

About the only other element to the deck worth explaining is what I left out: most notably, Chimeric Idol, Saproling Burst, and Parallax Wave. All of these spells are wonderfully powerful, but highly anticipated. I had decided early on, not to have any targets for Enchantment removal. The Burst is not really all that impressive in a G/W deck - and the Wave, while terrific, is a white mana hog. Still, it's such a good card that I'm still debating long and hard about playing it as a sideboard card. Chimeric Idols, on the other hand, seemed to be a no-brainer. My initial build had them. (twelve three-power three-drops is impressive), but I found that for every Wrath they survived, there was a formerly-dead Disenchant finding a use. It interacted terribly with Fleetfoot Panther and Wax/Wane. It even screwed up the Noble Panther's first strike abilities. Eventually, I decided to run it without them (adding an extra Spider, Panther and Lands) and I've never really looked back.

The one thing that had seriously bothered me about the previous Blast-o-geddon decks (as well as Maro-Geddon) was the lack of synergy. Both of those decks felt clunky compared to my old, beloved Ernham-Geddon deck of yore. This deck finally has the feeling I've been longing for. It's fast, synergistic, clean, and a ton of fun to play. The creature count is so heavy in the deck that I can usually drop beasties for eight to ten turns without missing one - and as Wakefield used to say, the first fattie your opponent cannot deal with is the one that kills him. What I found is the perceived chunkiness of the older decks is due to their use of Wrath to replace Swords to Plowshares. While sometimes forced into running it, this card is, frankly, terrible in a deck based around the concept of playing out creatures for the first three turns, then blowing up the world. It's too expensive to play post-'Geddon, and tends to take more of your own creatures down than your opponents. Parallax Wave suffers from the same cost issue, although the effect is far more synergistic with the rest of the deck.

However, the beauty of the old deck was the ability to drop two or three creatures and clear a path for them to deal twenty to the dome as fast as possible. Wave can do this admirably... IF your opponent does not have a Disenchant in hand. If a huge portion of your local metagame is Rebels, you may want to run Parallax Waves main deck in place of Spiders. On the other hand, if Fires, Skies, or U/W are reigning high, (and I'll take those odds) go with captain big-butt. Unlike Parallax Wave, he can serve.

There are other options for this deck, of course. Eldamari's Call looks interesting, both because the deck lacks any search capacity or deck thinning, and the obvious synergy with the instant-speed Fleetfoot Panther, but it's disruptive to the curve of the deck. I really want to be laying out creatures for the first four or five turns, not hunting for them. Sabertooth Nishoba is a terrific creature, but expensive. If he were pro-white to boot, THEN we'd have a something to cheer about. Kavu Chameleon is another great card that may be worthy of sideboard inclusion. The problem is, it's not truly phenomenal on it's own merits. Against any deck using the word "Counterspell" or "Perish" the Chameleon's stock begins to rise - but against anyone else, it's just a 4/4 for five mana. All of the other choices (like Wrath, Tangle, Aura Mutation and River Boas) would depend heavily upon your local metagame.

I won't tell you this deck "auto-wins" any matchups; you're probably going to have to stay awake to win them. I will say that you should be competitive against nearly anything, though Rebels will be a major headache pre-board. What is very exciting about this deck is that it really uses the attack phase. You can block, put damage on the stack, and pull all kind of combat tricks, just like Limited.

You can also take another route with this deck. If you replace Elves with Birds of Paradise (or just add the Birds) and mix up the mana base a bit, you can easily splash U for the new hippo, Mana Short, and Powersink - or Red for Urza's Rage, Skizzik, Thornscape Battlemage, Ancient Hydra and/or Flametongue Kavu. Both of these colors can help shore up the Rebel match-up (particularly with Rage), but makes the deck far more vulnerable to mana screw.

So to wrap up, what is Pounce? Is it a scrubby deck that should be largely ignored by the masses? Probably tru dat. (Rizzo is everywhere, Rizzo is everywhere -- The Ferrett)

Does it have surprising depth? Actually, yes 0it does.

Why doesn't it have any removal? (It does, weren't you paying attention? F.L.E.E.TF.O.O.T. something or other)

Why did I create this? Because I wanted a deck I can enjoy playing, all day long, and I'll enjoy this one.

Just thought I would share it with all of you.

Next week, I'll try to talk about all of the great things from GP Boston, and to lay out how to "tweak" a deck for your local metagame.

Take care,

Jon Chabot