Who hates first-turn Island, Careful Study, double-Basking Rootwalla? Raise your hand please.

I've got major issues with U/G Madness - and I think the Wirewood Channeler/Pemmin's Aura combo is just silly, albeit possible in a disruptionless environment. (Read: Post-Odyssey Standard.) But I've been playing an alternative U/G deck to a quite decent record at local tournaments lately, improving my rating by about seventy points or so in the course of four tournaments. I'm not going to Nationals, as I'm nowhere near that good, and this article is probably a little late for it, but I'd seriously suggest at least taking a look at this deck when you choose your Nationals deck. It's got the explosiveness of U/G without the drawbacks of relying on Madness outlets. In a way, it's a lot like R/G Beats, without the burn, but with card-drawing, bounce and countermagic. I think that's a pretty fair trade to make. And let's not forget that many people think you're playing U/G Madness, and react accordingly, which gives you a slight edge, as your madness outlets aren't nearly as key.

Some quick background on myself before I describe the deck for you: I started playing Magic during the Revised/4^th Edition era, playing what I now realize were laughable decks with my friends. After playing on and off through Tempest or so, I quit during high school, as I no longer really had the time for it. Upon discovering that several of my friends at college were just learning or had played back in the day like I had, we decided to dust off the old cards and play again. There were some awkward moments at first - What's this stack thing? - but we learned the new rules, and got into the new cards, and before we knew it, we were playing close to tournament-level decks, although admittedly Tier 2 or 3 at best.

Welcome to the internet, folks, where everything is possible.

Using StarCityGames as our base, we tried lots of netdecks, tweaked up down and sideways. After playing each other for a while, we wanted to try playing other people, and so we made a trip en masse to the local card shop, where, surprisingly, we all did reasonably okay.

A month and a half later, I've participated in my first six tournaments ever, raised my rating from 1600 to just a shade under 1700, and won the last two. A control player at heart (I would give anything to have been playing tournament magic during the eras when Draw-Go and Counter-Rebel were around), I was just amazed at the starts that U/G Madness could get... And just as amazed at what happened when they couldn't find a Madness outlet, or their lone Wild Mongrel or Aquamoeba got countered or Smothered. Arrogant Wurms are great for three mana, but if you have to pay five for them, you're in some trouble. The explosive starts were matched only by the utter failure of the deck when it couldn't find an enabler.

So I set out to design a deck that had the explosiveness and control elements of U/G Madness, while retaining consistency. Voila! U/G Aggro was born, since I don't have a clever name for it. The decklist looks something like this.

U/G Aggro 2K3 (Odyssey-Onslaught-7^th Standard)
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Call of the Herd
4 Circular Logic
3 Llanowar Elves
3 Merfolk Looter
2 Phantom Centaur
1 Quiet Speculation
1 Ray of Revelation
2 Roar of the Wurm
3 Standstill
4 Unsummon
4 Wild Mongrel
3 Wonder
10 Island
10 Forest
2 City of Brass

(A quick note on land: If you're a serious collector of Magic, or an admirer of land art, It may be worth investing in a few sets of APAC lands. They're just gorgeous to look at, and fun to play, particularly when your opponents ask what set they're from. Yes, they're expensive, but they're worth it.)

Sideboard
2 Callous Oppressor
3 Compost
2 Evacuation (Seriously? Yeah, seriously.)
2 Quiet Speculation
2 Ray of Revelation
2 Spellbane Centaur
2 Turbulent Dreams

Before you say it - no, this is not a Madness deck. Really. The Merfolk Looters, while providing a discard outlet should one become necessary, are really there for late game deck searching and filtering. Got extra land in the late game? Loot them away. Need to find Wonder? Start digging. There are really only ten cards that have any kind of Madness quality to them, and they're too good not to play. Basking Rootwallas may madness for zero, but they're still a very acceptable one-drop that can really annoy an opponent early in the game, taking three-point chunks of life if you have nothing better to do with the mana. Roar of the Wurm is just insane at a flashback of four - but in longer games with control decks, hard-casting them is certainly feasible. The Ray of Revelation is just a great Silver Bullet-type card, assuring that you don't lose to maindecked Worships, and Wonder, while a bit overcosted for a 2/2 Flier, makes one of the better blockers you can find, since no one wants to kill it; a two-point clock is great, too. Yes, I've hard-cast Wonder a lot in this deck.

As for the other cards, I think that R/G taught us just how good Calls of the Herd are. Llanowars provide early mana acceleration into a second-turn Call or put a second-turn Mongrel out of Force Spike-range - not to mention that unlike Birds of Paradise, they can beat for one a turn when necessary. Phantom Centaurs are just massive beatings, and nearly impossible to kill, and with Llanowars can come out on turn 3. I wish I could find more room for another one or two. The Quiet Spec is nice to be able to fetch Roars or the Ray of Revelation in a pinch, but in my opinion it's too slow to rely on. However, having one in there means you have two shots at finding the Ray of Revelation when you need it.

Four Unsummons seems like overkill, but they combine well with Standstill, and are rarely dead cards... Bouncing one of their creatures can often mean a big tempo shift. I know tempo is the buzzword of the Onslaught Block, but it's still huge in today's Standard; the amount of sheer creature mass you can generate in a short amount of time is mind-blowing, and without having to rely on your madness outlets for it. Standstills are a personal favorite. I just don't like Deep Analysis; the current format's decks are generally too fast to let you spend a turn hard-casting it, and paying three life can often be the difference between surviving and dying. Standstill can be dead if you're behind on board position, and you need to be careful that you don't get creatures Smothered or Unsummoned in response - but if you're smart about it, it usually reads,"1U, draw three cards." This deck establishes board presence so fast that your opponent will usually have to break it in order to keep up. Wild Mongrels and Circular Logics should be self-explanatory.

Note: Circular Logic is a really decent splashable Counterspell even without a Madness outlet.

I will admit that the sideboard could probably use some tuning, but it works wonders in what is a localized metagame. The Callous Oppressors may be a little out-of-date tech, but I find that it works great against U/G, and also the W/G Madness that several people at the store play. Compost is a good answer against Zombies, B/G Cemetery, and of course, MBC. Evacuation is questionable, but I needed something in the sideboard to improve the matchup against Elves - which this does, at least somewhat.

A note on Evacuation: You can discard a Rootwalla, put its madness trigger on stack, then Evacuate in response, leaving the board clear except for your Rootwalla. This is best used at your opponent's end of turn, it can be a pain to rebuild an overextended board.

The additional Specs and Rays are mostly for Astral Slide, but also are nice for Wake or any rogue decks based around enchantments. Tutoring for three Rays can give Slide Excedrin Headache #1. Turbulent Dreams is an answer to Ensnaring Bridge, as you'd expect, although maindecked Bridges can be worked around by casting Standstill, then regaining priority, and breaking it, forcing them to draw three without them getting a chance to break it on you. And the Spellbanes are a local choice as an answer to bounce, Oppressors, and as a generally decent three-power-for-three-mana beating.

So I've explained all my logic. But what you really want are matchups - and here they are! I've admittedly had less than extensive testing against some of the Tier 2 decks, as most people at the store play either Tier 1 decks or total Rogues, but I'll give that information on a deck-by-deck basis.

Wake
I actually haven't had much trouble with Wake. Especially going first, the number of threats that this deck can throw down without overextending (yeah, don't empty your hand and then get Wrath of Godded) is pretty remarkable. Rootwallas in particular are great for laying in for three every turn. Again, though, don't overextend and get it all Wrathed away. They're going to have to Moment's Peace and Wrath early and often to keep you from killing them before they get set up. If they get good mana and a couple of early Wraths, you're probably in trouble, but generally, you should win this... I haven't gotten to play against Wake as much as I'd like (only eight or ten matches) but I've yet to lose a match to it... Just keep up the pressure without overextending, and you'll be fine. Unlike U/G Madness, there are so many more threats to counter, so control decks are going to have major issues.

Win percentage: around 65%, give or take 5% or so.
Sideboarding: 1 Quiet Spec and 2 Rays of Revelation in, 1 Unsummon, 1 Llanowar, 1 Looter out.

Tog
Much the same as Wake in that it's a control deck, and can't really keep up with all of your threats; however, no mass removal means you can feel free to extend as far as you want. This is my friend's favorite deck, and as such, I've had lots of games against it (although admittedly perhaps a slightly suboptimal version) and done very, very well. There are just too many spells to counter, creatures to kill, etc. Again Basking Rootwallas are great, and Standstills - often employed by the 'Tog player - become very friendly, as you can often out-pace them with threats, then drop a Standstill, forcing them to break it in order to kill your creatures to save themselves.

Win percentage: Realistically, it's probably around 70%, although I've done better than that.
Sideboarding: None, unless they're running a bounce-heavy version, for which Spellbanes come in, or the Future Sight version, for which a Spec and a Ray of Revelation come in. 1 Standstill and 1 Unsummon out in these cases.

U/G Madness
The"mirror" of sorts, this one usually relies on Wonder, as U/G mirrors usually do. However, you have generally more and better creatures, and if you can Unsummon a madness outlet early, you've got a good chance. Phantom Centaurs make wonderful chump-blockers for 6/6 wurms. Unless they get a full-up U/G Madness kinda start, you've got the advantage due to your more numerous and better quality creatures. Everyone has discusses how Merfolk Looters are key in the U/G mirror, as they let you filter, rather than draining your hand like Wild Mongrels and Aquamoebas do - but you've got them maindecked. That's a good thing.

Win percentage: Close, but maybe 55-60%
Sideboarding: 2 Callous Oppressors in, Quiet Speculation and Ray of Revelation out.

MBC
Another underrepresented deck in the local metagame, it's much the same as other control decks, although not quite as easy. Again, don't overextend into a Mutilate, and Haunting Echoes can be a major pain in the rear, although not fatal. More than other games, flashing back Calls of the Herd early is a good idea to keep them from being Echoes away. Too many threats is still a problem for them, though. Save the Circular Logics for big stuff; creatures aren't worth saving unless you're about to do lethal damage, as this deck doesn't lack for creatures.

Win percentage: 55-60%
Sideboarding: Every black deck's least-favorite card, 3 Compost in, 1 Looter, Quiet Spec and Ray of Revelation out. (Unless you see Engineered Plague)

Elves
Okay; this is a nightmare for regular U/G, and it's about as bad for U/G Aggro. Recursive pumping makes for bad situations. Wonder is important in this matchup, because even if they can't get a Timberwatch Elf down, Wirewood Hivemasters can provide lots of chump blockers to buy time. If you get a great start accompanied by Wonder hitting the graveyard, you've got a shot - but this matchup is just annoying, as your only removal is Unsummon. However, having a full set means you're more likely to see one, and bounce a Timberwatch or other problem elf, buying yourself the turn or so you may need for the win.

Win percentage: *groan* 40%. 45% tops.
Sideboarding: 2 Evacuations in and a Quiet Spec in, 2 Llanowars and Ray of Revelation out.

Other decks
Generally, it's got good matchups against most rogues, as the quality and quantity of pressure it applies is tough to deal with. Other decks of note are B/G Cemetery, which is a moderately good matchup; R/G Beats, which is also good, barring an Ensnaring Bridge and no Turbulent Dreams in sight; Goblins is usually laughable; Astral Slide is a little tough first game, but with the Rays of Revelation and Quiet Specs sideboarded becomes a lot easier in the second - but again, control decks have trouble with this many threats. Reanimator isn't a big problem, barring a severe lack of Unsummons or Circular Logics, as countermagic and a lot of bounce is really annoying for them.

So there you have it - a U/G alternate. It really does have improved matchups with just above everything, as traditional U/G Madness can be totally shut down if it lacks a Madness outlet, while this build like discard engines, but by no means requires them. As I said, tempo is the keyword of playing in Onslaught Block, but this is a true tempo deck. It comes out fast and hard, then keeps up the pressure backed up by plentiful bounce, countermagic and card-draw. I hope someone takes as much of a shine to this deck as I did, as I loved building and playing it.

Note:
I'm going to be playing this at Grand Prix: Atlanta in late August, which happens to be the first major Odyssey-Onslaught-8^th Edition Standard tournament. If you play this deck and like it, and have ideas on what I can use when 8^th Edition rotates in, it would be much appreciated... The Llanowars will almost certainly become Birds of Paradise, although I'll miss beating for one, but I can deal. The Composts disappear - I'm okay with that, as black seems to be getting the shaft, but losing the Merfolk Looters and the ability to filter through my deck is going to hurt a lot. If you've got ideas for replacements for them, or general ideas or suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them (after you adequately play with the deck, of course; I don't want to hear"this thing is a pile" from someone who hasn't extensively tried it). My email is jvertefeuillNOSPAM@wesleyan.edu minus the obvious.

Seriously, though; try the deck, you'll like it, particularly if you're frustrated with the consistency of U/G Madness. Thanks for reading and making it this far.