While sitting here in a despondent state of mind, thinking devious and terrible things, I drew another likeness between the game and the real world: In the blur of our life experiences, all the failures and successes and the people we passed along the way, we are just creating more fodder to fill our grave when we are finally done with it all. In Magic - at least this PTQ season - we seem to be filling our grave as well, but with a less morbid feel to it, and benefits instead of the discarded people and painful experiences. Live life, not regret, to its fullest...

So if you are Q'd, go to the freaking PT. Pardon me while I file away the credit card bill from paying for Worlds.

A large amount of the decks in the environment are willing to add a few cards to fill the grave - but one deck concept my testing group was working with was absolutely dependent on it. Instead of your normal fare of careful study, we added both Mental Note and Hapless Researcher, and added a few Quiet Speculations to make sure we hit seven, not six, cards, and had threshold.

The reason... Is Hunting Grounds.

It is unusual, but block is actually a lot faster than type 2 (the control cards are as good), so that for a Hunting Grounds to be effective, you need it down as fast as possible and then give them a reason to play a spell.

3 Hapless Researcher
4 Mental Note
4 Careful Study
1 Quiet Speculation

3 Deep Analysis
1 Moment's Peace
1 Krosan Reclamation

I talked about the graveyard-filling elements above, and I'd like to mention how good they are at letting you get to the cards you need to stay alive before passing on. The Deep Analyses are the deck's Card Advantage - like any other control deck in the format. I feel you need a few more flashback spells than four to justify running Quiet Speculation, and the other two fit the bill for the deck.

4 Aether Burst
3 Kirtar's Wrath

The only ways to deal with creatures in these colors are Aether Burst and some terrible spells. Because of Kirtar's Wrath's high cost, it falls into the latter category, but it does allow the lock for the deck. With a Hunting Grounds out and no creatures, your opponent has to do something to kill you - or else you can just wait and hard-cast a fatty.

4 Hunting Grounds
3 Phantom Nishoba
3 Living Wish

Here's the protein of the deck (I gave up meat a few months ago) - so yes, the point is to get out an early Hunting Grounds and drop a 7/7 into the playing field. There is no Mystic Snake in the format, so you can't depend on countering everything - or anything, for that matter. The lifegain from Nishoba is an important factor, allowing you to send him in without worrying about who he could have blocked. The Living Wish opens your options right up: I'll list the creatures to get below.

4 Envelop

What is this here for? I've ignored every other possible piece of countermagic up to this point - what is different about Envelop? This deck cannot beat Haunting Echoes. Envelop is in here for the sole purpose of stopping graveyard hate, as well as Upheaval and the like.

4 Riftstone Portal
4 Sungrass Prairie
2 Cephalid Coliseum
12 Island

Having blue is very important, and having white or green isn't important without having the other. Maybe there should be some plains over islands in this deck - but I mostly played against it, not with it, so I'm not sure.

The sideboard needs to have some Wishable cards in it... So here they are:

1 Plains
1 Nantuko Monastery
1 Cloudchaser Eagle
1 Phantom Nishoba
1 Mystic Enforcer
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Auramancer

OBC Hunting Grounds
3 Hapless Researcher
4 Mental Note
4 Careful Study
1 Quiet Speculation
3 Deep analysis
1 Moment's Peace
1 Krosan Reclamation
4 Aether Burst
3 Kirtar's Wrath
4 Hunting Grounds
3 Phantom Nishoba
3 Living Wish
4 Envelop

4 Riftstone Portal
4 Sungrass Prairie
2 Cephalid Coliseum
12 Island

Sideboard:
1 Plains
1 Nantuko Monastery
1 Cloudchaser Eagle
1 Phantom Nishoba
1 Mystic Enforcer
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Auramancer
2 Quiet Speculation
3 Roar of the Wurm
2 Ray of Revelation
1 Moment's Peace

Now for all of you thinking that this is a fresh break from the boring OBC metagame, you're right - it's a different, unplayed deck. Don't forget that I'm terrible, and this deck will not win the tournament by a long stretch.

Please go give me (and only me) a vote for the Invitational on the Sideboard right now! Voting for fifteen other people just doesn't count.

Thanks,
Andrew Stokinger
Team Academy.com
Themagicacademy@hotmail.com