Introductions to tournament reports suck. Nobody cares how long the drive was or how little sleep you got. So, I'm just going to start talking about the deck right off the bat.
Hi, this is an article about The End, the best deck in the format.
What makes it the best? It has sheer raw power and speed. It would be fairly pointless to talk about it without the list, so here's what I ran at Mile High Regionals.
The first thing most people notice is sixteen accelerants. Yes, sixteen. While some may say that's excessive (and it very well may be), it just flat-out wins games. What I like to say about it is that it doesn't do any one thing consistently, but it does something broken just about every game; whether that be a turn 3 Kodama of the North Tree or locking your opponent permanently down; it does dumb things.
Usually I absolutely loathe card-choice explanations in these sorts of articles, but I feel that this actually does need this, just so people will know what the hell is going on. So first, let's start off with the acceleration package.
Sixteen is a lot of cards to devote to a single purpose in a deck, but the one thing this deck needs to do every game is ramp up to ridiculous amounts of mana so you can make your big plays. Utopia Sprawl is the most overlooked card in the format, I would say: for example, if you go turn 1 Birds of Paradise, you can play both a Utopia Sprawl and a Wood Elves on turn 2, letting you do just about whatever the hell you want turn 3. It's one of the very, very few reusable permanents printed in recent years that can generate as much mana as it costs with no card disadvantage (unlike Chrome Mox). I wouldn't cut them for anything, and anyone suggesting their removal is insane. They're just that good. Birds are obvious, as are Elves and Elders for anti-aggro.
As for the fatty portion, there are a few obvious questions. First, what the hell Gleancrawler? Second, what the hell one-ofs?
Gleancrawler is incredible on its own, as it isn't just a trampling 6/6 for six; it lets you swing with your other creatures with impunity, often generating some very good advantages fairly early. If you happen to have a Protean Hulk die (through combat, Greater Good, or Miren), it fetches a Gleancrawler and comes back for more. I'll explain the ridiculousness of this a little later. The one-ofs are for tutoring up, and aren't half bad (meaning incredible) hardcast, too. The Hierarch is for when you really need that four life to get out of burn range, the Keiga is for any problematic creatures, and the Yosei is for locking people down to win.
I was expecting a ton of Heartbeat, and I was having problems beating in game 1, so I maindecked the four Kami of Ancient Law. Though having a bear isn't all that bad, I don't think it was the best choice, as I never sacrificed them for their abilities the entire day. I'm thinking that one of them should be left to tutor for, and the other three should be more Hierarchs. Really, when is a 4/4 for four on turn 3 bad?
As to the manabase, I think it's solid... with the exception that I forgot to run Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers. D'oh!
The sideboard is geared towards beating Heartbeat and Izzetron. Guess what? I never played either of those decks. Naturalizes never came in at all. Shrug.
Anyone that's been playing Magic for a while knows the new and improved rock-paper-scissors - that is, big creatures beat little creatures, Blue control beats big creatures, little creatures beat Blue control. Right now, we have a metagame of little creatures and not all that much Blue control. I know a lot of people will say, “hey, what about Izzetron, that's a great deck!” And this is true... however, I did not see one person playing it at the upper tables at Regionals. I'm not sure if nobody had the cards for it, or if those playing it scrubbed out, but in my metagame it just wasn't present. I don't expect the metagame to stay the way it was on the 20th, but this is a deck that crushed then, and I expect it still will.
The deck itself plays fairly simple. Turns 1-2, accelerate. Turn 3 or 4, enormous fattie. If necessary, drop a Greater Good. Handy fact: I have never lost a game where I get a Protean Hulk and a Greater Good in play at the same time. Sacrifice the Hulk to fetch up a Gleancrawler, then draw your cards. At end of turn, you get the Hulk back to your hand. Next turn, your opponent either concedes or you replay the Hulk, sacrifice it to fetch a Yosei, draw cards, sacrifice Yosei, draw cards, get them both back. By now you should have found a Miren, so you can sacrifice creatures and lock your opponent back without decking yourself. Swing with Gleancrawler until you win. Now, games don't usually go long enough to do this trick, but it does happen sometimes. Don't get greedy and try to do it every game; it's much easier just to win with fatties.
The primary “little creature decks” right now are Zoo and Gruul. This deck has about a 2/3 win against Zoo, both pre- and post-board, and wins against Gruul about 80% of the time. Like I said earlier, big creatures beat little creatures; while it's nerve-wracking seeing their fast start, stay calm and play out your acceleration until you can play a big creature. This will usually stop their assault dead in its tracks. Be patient and play more big creatures until you can swing with impunity. Remember, though: the only time you can assume they don't have burn is if they have no cards in hand, and even then it's touch and go. Aggro is magical like that. Unfortunately, the newer Zoo decks are 1/3 burn. This is bad news. Still a fairly good matchup, however, because your creatures are just freaking huge. As far as sideboarding, take out Greater Goods and a singleton Wood Elves for the Faith's Fetters.
Against the current flavor of the month, Ghost Husk, The End does extremely well. The only card you need to worry about is Castigate. This deck's best hands often only have one real business spell in them, and if they strip that you're often not going to do so hot until you topdeck another one. However, most Ghost Husk decks only play three (or sometimes zero!) Castigates, so it's not really a big problem. Each game is about 2/3 in your favor, as really, all you have to do is play a fattie and not die. Your sideboarding is, um, nothing. It's not really necessary, as the two best things against Husk with this deck are acceleration and fatties, and that's what your maindeck is. They usually side in Pithing Needles and set them to Greater Good, which doesn't help much against enormous creatures.
Now to the Bad News Bears section of the matchups: Blue-based control. Ack. If they play first and drop an Urza land, you may as well concede and go on to sideboarding, because game 1 is really terrible. Now, obviously, they can get color-screwed and you can win, or they'll tap out, but that doesn't happen too often. The good news is that the sideboard is geared almost completely towards Tron. Bring in all four Leylines, the Leaks, and a couple of Naturalizes, for Wood Elves and Kami (or, if you're not playing those, Hierarchs). If you can open with the Leyline in play, you've pretty much won, as they have no way to stop a lot of your kids. Other Blue-based control (Azorius, or whatever the younguns are playing nowadays) isn't so terrible, as they'll occasionally have to tap out or run out of counters. Game 2 against most of these decks is close to 50/50.
The other Steam Vents deck, Magnivore? Ugh. Game 1 is something abysmal like 20%; the only way you can win is if you get a really fast draw and they don't have much going. Post-sideboard is even worse, especially if they bring in Bottled Cloister to keep supplying them with gas. Take out Utopia Sprawls for Mana Leaks and a pair of Naturalizes.
The other good news is that against a field of random aggro/control decks, specifically grafty ones, this deck just obliterates. Its creatures are bigger and come out faster, and Char isn't that useful against a 6/6. What else needs to be said? It beats face.
Heartbeat isn't such a great game 1, but it's tolerable if you get a Kami of Ancient Law or some quick beats. I'd call it around 40%. Post-sideboard is better, as you bring in your Naturalizes and Mana Leaks; it's probably around 50-60%. If they try the man plan, you win. Your men are a lot better than theirs.
I said earlier it's the best deck in the format, so I'm sure a lot of you are wondering “what the hell? How can a deck that loses to anything running Steam Vents be the best?” The reason for this is that the three most-played decks right now are probably Ghost Husk, Gruul, and Zoo, in that order, and those are great matchups.
As for what happened before Regionals... nobody cares about what happened before Regionals. I got plenty of sleep and got there early, the end.
Round 1 — Eric with Ghost Husk
We shake hands and Eric wins the die roll. We both keep and he starts off with a Hound, which I reply to with a Bird. He then lays Mr. Mayer and I accelerate with Wood Elves, setting myself up quite nicely. He reveals a Nantuko Husk and lays a Pithing Needle, naming Jitte. Nice. I lay a Sakura-Tribe Elder and a Kami of Ancient Law, eager to get the Protean Hulk in my hand into play... that he Castigates after revealing a Ghost Council. It took him a long time to decide between that and the Greater Good, but unfortunately for me, he made the right play. Awesome. I sadly just play a Greater Good as my life total sinks, and with his Husk, Plagued Rusalka and then Pontiff, we move on to game 2. No sideboarding from me.
I play first and lay a Bird, which gets no response, and then a Tribe Elder. He takes the Kodama of the North Tree from my hand, the bastard. Couldn't he have waited a turn? Sigh. We both play some dorks, and after a couple turns I'm handless. I draw a Forest and pass the turn, which he gamely investigates with a Castigate after laying a Husk. Sucker. I then rip a Protean Hulk off the top, he plays a Needle on Greater Good and a Promise, but it's all over once I get a Keiga, the Tide Star off the top. It wasn't looking too sure; he almost had enough to kill me with Promise tokens, Husk and Orzhov Pontiff.
Game 3 he plays first and apparently keeps a one-land hand. He plays an Isamaru and a Plagued Rusalka, but those don't really stand up to a Protean Hulk all that well. I apologize for the manascrew game; he shrugs it off and says it happens. Nice guy.
1-0
Round 2 — Nick with Zoo
He wins the die roll and decides to play first, I see a hand with some land, a Wood Elves and some fatties. Gee, playing a three-mana spell as my first of the game sure is great when my opponent goes Kird Ape, Watchwolf, Savannah Lions, Char. No excuses here, I lost to my own stupidity (I believe it's the deck's worst matchup).
My second hand is fairly similar to the first, except I have an Elder. Not too bad, eh? Obviously, he gets the same damn draw of Ape, Watchwolf, more two-power dorks. By the time a Gleancrawler hits on my side, the game's over.
After the match takes five minutes, we wait about ten for a match slip to come our way. This was the lunch round, too! Ah well, at least the roast-beef sandwich was fairly good.
1-1
Round 3 — Robert with Mono-Red Burn
Yep, Mono-Red Burn. He wins the die roll and starts us off with a Frostling, which I reply to with a Utopia Sprawl. The next turn is exactly the same, with him missing his second land drop. Then he plays... a third Frostling. Eventually he gets more land and plays some real burn spells, but really, my life total says it all: 20 19 18 16 14 13 10 7 4 1 game over. I think I got down a Gleancrawler after it was way too late. I side in Faith's Fetters and my pair of Mana Leaks.
Game 2 goes a little better. I don't have notes, but I think I got down a Gleancrawler and some other fat early enough to make him go to 14, then 8, then game over fairly quickly.
Game 3 is very long and nerve-wracking. He burns me down to 10 fairly quickly with burn and Viashino Sandstalker, but eventually I get some fat. Thing is, he's got me down to 4 life a couple turns later, and he shocks me at end of turn. Ruh roh. Fortunately, he lets me untap, and I sac my Hulk (with a Gleancrawler on the table) to get a Loxodon Hierarch and an Elder (I think), putting me back to 6. I then sac them to return them to my hand, and he plays the Sandstalker again. Stupidly, I don't block with my Bird, putting me down to 2. He then plays a Flames of the Blood Hand... and I have the Mana Leak. He's tapped out, doesn't have any more burn, and I swing for the match win. Yep, you got that right: my deck can beat Mono-Red Burn. Hooray!
2-1
Round 4 — Andrew with Rakdos Aggro
He wins the die roll and starts off with... Boros Recruit? Whatever works, I guess. I play Birds of Paradise. He plays Rakdos Guildmage. I play Birds of Paradise. He plays Lyzolda, Witch B*tch. I play a Kodama of the North Tree. I'm sure you can guess what happens after this, so we go on to- wait, what's this? I play a Greater Good and swing, and after killing my Birds with Lyzolda a turn earlier, he plays Hit. Hell! Ah well, at least I get my cards from Greater Good, and get a Protean Hulk down for the game a couple turns later.
He starts off with Kill-Suit Cultist, and I get my Sprawl. He gets another Cultist, and I speed up some more with Elder and Birds of Paradise. Then he whiffs on a creature, and I get Kodama of the North Tree again. He doesn't have the Hit this time.
3-1
Round 5 — Josiah with Gruul
I don't have notes on this one, so pardon any inaccuracies. What I remember of the early game is his first play is on turn 2 with a 1/1 Scab-Clan Mauler, while I do my usual acceleration deal. Eventually the board's cluttered with two of his Burning-Tree Shamans, and I play a Keiga. Here's the dumb part: he swings in, and I sac my Keiga to Greater Good, thinking it'll put me at five after combat damage. Nnnnnope! I forgot that Burning-Tree Shamans weren't vanilla, so I'm down to three. He has a Char. Crap. However, this mistake is nothing compared to the one a minute later. I side out four of my mana acceleration and put in... three Faith's Fetters. Yeah. He counts my deck, says there's 59, I call over a judge, get a game loss for presenting an illegal deck. At first I didn't realize it, but that last Fetters was wedged between some other cards in my Big Box o' Cards. Remember how I said the matchup against Gruul was about 80%? Well, the one against my own stupidity is 35/65 at best.
3-2
Round 6 — Robert #2 with Ghost Husk
Finally I win a die roll and start off with a Sprawl, while he has a Hound then Dark Confidant. We trade Kamis a turn or two later, and then the Protean Hulk hits on my side of the table. He has all the Mortifies in the world, but that doesn't really help against Protean Hulk and Kodama of the North Tree tag-team.
Game 2, it's the same sort of start, except he doesn't have a Confidant and I have a pair of Gleancrawlers. He plays some dorks before playing Wrath of God, and I bounce right back into Kami of Ancient Law, Birds of Paradise, and then Kodama of the North Tree followed by Keiga, the Blue Bus. Yeah, I hear that's fairly good.
4-2
Round 7 — Kellan with Firemane Control
He goes first, and I have Birds of Paradise into Kami of Ancient Law, but then he Helixes the Bird. Poo. Next turn, he Condemns my Kami, then follows up with a Compulsive Research, then a hardcast Firemane a couple of turns later. My pathetic response is a Wood Elves, and he gets a Godo with a Tatsumasa tagging along for the ride. I play a Hierarch, and he plays... Loxodon Warhammer?! Sure. He swings for the win. I pretend to bring in 15 cards, which he believes. He then says he has nothing at all for me, and I didn't see anything. I really brought in Leyline of Lifeforce, Mana Leaks, Indrik Stomphowler and Faith's Fetters. Okay, so 15 cards wasn't that far off.
I start things off with Birds of Paradise into Sakura-Tribe Elder; he Repeals the Bird. I swing with my Elder beatstick and lay another. I then sac them, untap, Protean Hulk. Boom, that's pretty much ga- oh, Mana Leak. Whatever. I play another one next turn and sac it to Miren, the Moaning Well for a Gleancrawler. He responds with Godo fetching Tatsumasa, and I Fetters the big artifact. He Condemns my Gleancrawler, so I shrug and play some fat creature I forget. And then a great ripping sound goes through the air, as Keiga flies into play off the top of my library, and meets my opponent at the back of the blue bus.
I win game 3 in similar fashion.
5-2
Round 8 — Rob with White/Blue Weenie
I guess Rob counts as Robert #3. Close enough. Anyway, he's playing a heavily metagamed list with maindeck Paladin en-Vec and Kami of Ancient Law, but mostly a bunch of small creatures. I like small creatures. I win the roll and he plays the first spell in Isamaru, Hound of Konda. I reply with an Elder, who takes one for the team, then a Savannah Lions comes down. I play Kami of Ancient Law two turns in a row, and each time the reply is Paladin en-Vec. With a stalled board, I finally get a Gleancrawler, and he plays a couple more dorks. Then Yosei comes down followed by Protean Hulk and we're off to game 2.
I bring in the Fetters and Mana Leaks, making sure I have all four Fetters this time.
The first play is on turn 2, with his Kami and my Elder, followed by his Hand of Honor and my Loxodon Hierarch. Seems good enough, but he Devouring Lights it when I block his Hand, so I play a Kodama of the North Tree. I try to Fetters up his Kami, but it gets Mana Leaked and he gets an Anthem down. My creatures, like my new Gleancrawler, are still bigger. I try to Fetters again, and the same thing happens. He plays a Hound, I get a Hulk. He gets a Jitte, but he's at too low life to do anything by now.
6-2
I end up at 18th and get 21 packs, pulling three duals in them. This is fairly good, but I'm still incredibly annoyed at myself for screwing up my two best matchups.
Really, this deck is good. Play it.
Jesse Mason
kingcobweb everywhere
(Okay I lied, I'm kingcob on IRC)
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