I love it. No more tinkering with “Should I cut X of this?” or “Should I splash/add X of that?” No need to hold a Shrapnel Blast in hand with no artifacts. This list is as simple as it gets – Twenty spells, twenty creatures, and twenty lands; and four of everything that isn’t a Mountain. Other burn decks try to make room for a Shard Volley here or an Incinerate there. There’s nothing wrong with those cards, but the extra utility one gets out of Magma Jet (dig) and Flames of the Blood Hand (negating Baneslayer Angel, Martyr of Sands, Kitchen Finks, etc.) push them ahead of the pseudo-Bolts.

I goldfished this list and found that a turn three kill is not necessarily an elusive strain, but still hard to come by. Nonetheless a more likely outcome was turn four or five, and that’s without counting things like fetchlands, duals, and Thoughtseize.

One small problem I have with this deck is Cryoclasm in the sideboard. It’s cute, but I would much rather run Molten Rain. Cryoclasm does nothing about Dark Depths, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, manlands, and Hypergenesis’s entire mana base, just to name a few things.

And now the question every deck asks itself: what can Worldwake bring to the table? It narrows down to maybe only two cards with even a remote possibility: Searing Blaze and Chain Reaction. Searing Blaze could warrant the inclusion of fetchlands for the full effect more often. Chain Reaction would be a great tool against Thopter and the miscellaneous aggro decks in the format. But the more I think about it, the more I realize this deck needs to go to your opponent’s face far more often than your opponent’s creatures. And since Searing Blaze requires a single target creature, while Chain Reaction is as close to a direct reprint of Wrath of God as red will get, my first version will only bring in Chain Reaction from the new set.

Back to the point about fetchlands: With as little digging as there is in this kind of deck (four copies of Magma Jet will not get the job done), you want to have a small a chance as possible of drawing, of all things, a mountain when the game’s on the line. Anywhere between four and eight fetches could work, as long as there’s some way to weed out the late game duds.

Here’s my version post-Worldwake.

I really wanted to fit Dragon’s Claw in here too, but it’s one of those cards that has to be a three- or four-of in the sideboard. On top of that, Dark Depths is becoming even more prevalent in the format, while other (mostly) red decks are hard to come by. There’s too much in Zoo that won’t trigger the Claw to warrant boarding it in for that matchup. So, alas, it stays home for now.

I’ll give this a shot at the PTQ at TJ Collectibles in Milford, Massachusetts on the 20th. I won’t be hard to find – I’ll be donning the ManaNation colors and being my usual eclectic self. Hope to see you there.

One last announcement: Fantasy Realms, the WPN location in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has started Friday Night Magic in a “joint production” with Team Sportscards Plus in Adams, Massachusetts. The two stores will alternate hosting FNM each week, starting at the Realms on February 5th. Check the mothership’s tournament locator for more details.

Until next time, go ahead and play with fire.

-Sam

So two weeks ago we discussed Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle in Extended, and I made a mention of how standard is not the pseudo-legendary land’s “comfort zone.” Au contraire! You may not have access to Scapeshift so you can deal 18 or so damage in one fell swoop, but you do have plenty of ramp and creature control tools to make it a winner. After seeing some lists from last October’s Game Days, I put together this:

You had a good run, Time Sieve, but I may have found my new favorite deck in Standard. It has all the factors I look for in a Standard deck – a blast to play, under the radar, and the ability to hang with the Junds and Bushwhackers of the world. Yeah, there’s the expense factor, but as long as I don’t have a job outside of this column, you gotta work with what you have.

I took this list to the tournament practice room of Magic Online to see what it could do. (P.S. – You can find me on MODO as ‘DJ Samurai’.)

Match 1 vs dumpyfatkid (R/W/U control)

On the play, I kept two Terramorphic Expanse, Valakut, Mountain, Forest, and two Harrow, while my opponent mulliganed to five. I held off my first Harrow until he tapped out for Ajani Vengeant, which kept a second Valakut tapped down. The next turn, I topdecked Bloodbraid Elf into Expedition Map and attacked Ajani down to one counter. He held my Bloodbraid down while drawing cards with Jace Beleren, but playing Jace rendered him unable to counter a Khalni Heart Expedition, followed by my third Valakut. An Expedition Map for Terramorphic Expanse and a second Khalni Heart Expedition ended game one in my favor.

In game 2 on the draw I kept two Mountains, Terramorphic Expanse, Oracle of Mul Daya, two Banefire, and Expedition Map. He made it interesting off the bat with a turn two Luminarch Ascension. I tried throwing burn spells and hasty guys at him to keep the Ascension down, but he had answers ranging from Flashfreeze on Goblin Ruinblaster to Double Negative on Bloodbraid Elf and Harrow, sacrificing my only forest. After Spreading Seas turned my lone Valakut into an Island, he got his fourth Ascension counter, and the Angels finished the job from there.

In game 3 on the play I kept two Mountain, Forest, Naya Panorama, Oracle of Mul Daya, Khalni Heart Expedition, and Goblin Ruinblaster. He got the turn two Ascension again and put another Spreading Seas on a Valakut, but I played a second one and Bloodbraid Elf cascaded into Naturalize for the Spreading Seas. He rebounded with another Spreading Seas on a Valakut. Khalni Heart Expedition induced a Flashfreeze so I could put through Goblin Ruinblaster to destroy his lone nonbasic, a Sejiri Refuge. He tried to buy himself a turn with a Wall of Denial, but a topdecked Rampant Growth with only one land up spelled the end for him.

2-1 win

Match 2 vs pvtdanser (Vampires)

I won the die roll and I kept my opening hand of Khalni Heart Expedition, Terramorphic Expanse, Forest, Mountain, Naya Panorama, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Bloodbraid Elf. I ended up with eight lands in play on turn four and got an active Valakut going very early despite facing Vampire Nocturnus and two Bloodghasts. Thank goodness there was no Nighthawk involved.

On the draw game 2 I kept Terramorphic Expanse, Naya Panorama, two Mountain, Grazing Gladehart, Lightning Bolt, and Oracle of Mul Daya. Once again I was looking down the barrel of Nocturnus and double Bloodghast, but this time he got through with a Disfigure on my Gladehart and a Nighthawk to keep himself out of Valakut range.

Game three was marked by a play where I had set up to kill him the next turn with Valakut and a kicked Burst Lightning. I had Oracle of Mul Daya in play, and went down to four life after an attack from Bloodghast. With my opponent at nine life, he attempted to play Tendrils of Corruption for seven on my Oracle, but I denied him the life gain by killing it off myself with Burst Lightning. The win thus came two turns later, but a win is a win.

2-1 win

Match 3 vs shahi (Jund Ramp)

I won the die roll and kept four Mountain, Naya Panorama, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Banefire – a sketchy keep to say the least. I thought this was a mirror when he led with Forest, Mountain, Rampant Growth, but when he put a Swamp into play tapped, I knew I was up against something very different. I resolved an Oracle of Mul Daya, but it ate a Lightning Bolt at the end of the turn. He then played Garruk Wildspeaker and made a beast token, made a second beast token the following turn, and played Siege-Gang Commander the turn after that. I spent my Banefires on a beast and Garruk, but he followed up with another Commander and swung in for the win.

On the play in game 2 I mulliganed into two Mountain, Valakut, Bloodbraid Elf, and Harrow. He had no plays until a turn four Garruk, but I responded with Oracle of Mul Daya and Grazing Gladehart to hold off the rush, gaining 14 life in one turn at one point with Valakut, Terramorphic Expanse, turning the Expanse into a Mountain, Rampant Growth, and Khalni Heart Expedition. He conceded before I could drop a Bogardan Hellkite.

Game 3 was no contest. He couldn’t get much offense going after my triple-Valakut opening hand, along with Bloodbraid Elf, Oracle, and Lightning Bolts on anything relevant.

2-1 win

These results confirm my suspicion – this deck has staying power. The one thing that put me off was, what good is all this mana if you have nothing to do with it? That’s why Derek Huang put these unused resources to very good use on his way to a Top 8 berth at the TCGPlayer 5K in Atlanta last weekend:

I like the inclusion of Lavaball Trap. It may seem a little costly, but consider all it does: blow up two lands and sweep the board at instant speed. Does that warrant eight (or hopefully five) mana now? Especially in the mirror match, which is becoming popular online due to its fairly inexpensive cost. The most expensive card in the deck I’ve had to pick up thus far has been Bloodbraid Elf at about three tickets each. Even Hellkites go for 2.5.

When making revisions to this deck for Worldwake’s release, I took into account these factors, both from playing my version and looking at Derek’s performance in Atlanta:

• X spells are a Bloodbraid Elf’s worst nightmare.
• Too many ramp spells can be bad in the late game when you’ve weeded out most of your lands.
• Pyroclasm will not get the job as a sweeper against most aggro decks.
• Spot removal (Lightning Bolt and Magma Spray) should stay in the sideboard unless the format is dominated by aggro. Sure, the field might be 1-in-3 Jund right now, but two things invalidate that argument: Things like Broodmate Dragon and Putrid Leech can outlive a Lightning Bolt, and you have slightly better odds of facing a control deck of some variation (most likely Grixis or Red-White-Blue).
• With all that in mind, here’s the new list, post-Worldwake.

So there you have it. Valakut Ramp, like Time Sieve, is a relatively inexpensive choice and a blast to play. It’s a slight blip on the Standard radar right now, but as it grows in popularity it may set off some alarms. Have fun at your prerelease – assuming it hasn’t been snowed out.

Until next time, there’s no easy way to say goodbye.

-Sam

Screw the rules. I promised you a Scapeshift article and that’s exactly what you’ll get.

Scapeshift is a card that had to wait a while before finding a home. When it first came out in Morningtide, the best use I could find for it was 8-Post (Cloudpost + Vesuva). Then it became obvious that wasn’t going to last, and they never had to be dusted off until Zendikar came out with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. That’s when all the talk started. Initially the deck was straight-up red/green, as shown in this very early incarnation:

RG Scapeshift Combo by SaTiVa
4th Place, Magic-Leage.com Extended Trial, September 29, 2009

1 Bogardan Hellkite 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 4 Solemn Simulacrum 4 Harrow 3 Lavaball Trap 2 Lightning Bolt 1 Banefire 1 Life from the Loam 4 Scapeshift 4 Search for Tomorrow 2 Worm Harvest 4 Khalni Heart Expedition 2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Snow-Covered Forest 9 Snow-Covered Mountain 4 Stomping Ground 3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle Sideboard 2 Ancient Grudge 4 Krosan Grip 2 Skred 3 Volcanic Fallout 4 Firespout

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but then Pro Tour-Austin rolled around, and the Japanese took a good thing and made it better.

UGR Scpaeshift by Makihito Mihara
54th Place, Pro Tour-Austin 2009

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 4 Wood Elves 2 Harrow 4 Peer Through Depths 4 Remand 2 Firespout 4 Scapeshift 4 Search for Tomorrow 4 Khalni Heart Expedition 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Breeding Pool 2 Forest 1 Island 4 Misty Rainforest 3 Mountain 2 Scalding Tarn 4 Steam Vents 4 Stomping Ground 2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle Sideboard 2 Meloku the Clouded Mirror 3 Ravenous Trap 2 Repeal 1 Firespout 2 Shattering Spree 2 Chalice of the Void 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Tormods Crypt

See? Blue makes everything better. I appreciate the explosiveness of this deck much more so than Tooth and Nail, as unlike Tooth, there is plenty of protection, as well as more ways to sift and dig and more ways to survive.

Five Cards I Like in this Deck…

Coiling Oracle – One of my all-time favorites. This card is a win-win: either you ramp, or it replaces itself. For two mana and a body? Yeah, it’s a 1/1, but anything that stalls Zoo and does something relevant is a winner in my book. I don’t see why this isn’t an auto-include.

Cryptic Command – With all the ramping in this deck, that spare mana lying around has to go to some use. Why not shut down your opponent’s offense for a turn, or counter his game-winner, or draw a card, or kill Marit Lage?

Kitchen Finks – Gavin Verhey touched on this in his very good article about this deck last week over at Star City. It is a ridiculous anti-aggro tool and serves as an alternate win condition against control decks. Alas, I like it a lot more against Zoo than Faeries, etc., and while Zoo is a force to be reckoned with, you likely won’t play Zoo often enough that you need more than two in your main deck. Definitely put two more in your board, though.

Life from the Loam – Resiliency – don’t head to a PTQ without it. If Ghost Quarter’s ruining your day, bring in Loam to laugh in his face. And if you bring Ghost Quarter into the deck (I approve this decision, though I haven’t worked it into my build below), who doesn’t like recurring Wastelands? Oh, that’s right, your opponent.

Sylvan Scrying – Time and time again while playing Faeries or Thopter, I wish I could dig for that one copy of Boseiju to force Scapeshift through a counter wall. Well, here’s your answer.

…and Four I Don’t Like

Harrow – Blasphemy! Well, not really. There’s enough ramp in this deck that Harrow isn’t a bad choice, but can be easily cut if need be.

Harmonize – Way too much of a mana sink for this deck. If I’m going to dig for Scapeshift I’d rather be able to do it for two mana and at instant speed, thank you very much.

Primal Command – Again, a mana sink. Seems great against aggro, but doesn’t do much for you other than gain seven life in that matchup.

Solemn Simulacrum – Another body is always nice, but I want to keep my pre-Scapeshift spells as cheap as possible.

With all that in mind, here’s my current build of Scapeshift.

Scapeshift by Sam Feeley

4 Coiling Oracle 2 Kitchen Finks 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 3 Condescend 2 Cryptic Command 1 Life from the Loam 4 Remand 2 Repeal 4 Peer Through Depths 4 Scapeshift 4 Search for Tomorrow 2 Sylvan Scrying 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 2 Breeding Pool 4 Forest 3 Island 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Mountain 4 Steam Vents 4 Stomping Ground 2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle Sideboard 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 3 Echoing Truth 4 Firespout 2 Shadow of Doubt 2 Kitchen Finks 3 Relic of Progenitus

As always, I’ll take suggestions, but I’m also toying around with Threads of Disloyalty, and I’m trying to figure out where Ancient Grudge and Krosan Grip would go, if anywhere.

With this deck I would make sideboard as follows:

Scapeshift: +2 Shadow of Doubt, +1 Boseiju, -1 Flooded Grove, -2 Repeal

Zoo: +4 Firespout, +2 Kitchen Finks, -2 Sylvan Scrying, -4 Remand

Thopter: +1 Boseiju, +3 Relic of Progenitus, -2 Repeal, -2 Kitchen Finks

Dredge: + 3 Echoing Truth, +3 Relic of Progenitus, -2 Sylvan Scrying, -2 Repeal, -1 Life from the Loam, -1 Condescend

Faeries: +4 Firespout, +1 Boseiju, -1 Flooded Grove, -4 Remand

Dark Depths: +3 Echoing Truth, +1 Boseiju, -1 Flooded Grove, -2 Kitchen Finks, -1 Remand

All-In Red: +3 Echoing Truth, +2 Kitchen Finks, +3 Relic of Progenitus, -2 Sylvan Scrying

One last thing – Do not, I repeat, DO NOT splash a fourth color. I’ve tried it and it slows the deck down far too much. You can argue all you want for Cranial Extraction, etc., but if you’re going to stop them, stop them with on-color solutions like Shadow of Doubt.

More Valakut next week, only this time in Standard.

Until next time, enjoy the scenery – while it lasts.

-Sam

Hope you didn’t get too blasted that you forgot that the Extended PTQ season is upon us. Ah yes, Extended season, the glorious three months of the year where we dust off our Tarmogoyfs and Ravnica dual lands in the name of a free plane ticket (baggage fees sold separately). I am one of many players who has a love-hate relationship with this wonderful time of year. We love the huge cardpool and the wide range of decks, combos, and creativity the format gives us, but we hate the mass quantities of money cards that restrict us in our feasible options. Do I have to fork over $200+ for a set of Baneslayer Angels or Tarmogoyfs? Do I have to play a dozen fetchlands or Ravnica duals? Do I have to resort to playing a strictly inferior deck because I have to pay off my student loans?

The answer to all of these questions, thankfully, is no. Baneslayers, Goyfs, fetches, and duals are expensive not because they guarantee you the blue envelope, but because they are quality cards with reach in multiple formats and archetypes. Your success does not depend on the extent of your bank account, but rather your play skill and ability to find a deck that can trump the players who think it’s all about the Benjamins.

Knowing that I don’t have all the money in the world to work with (Thanks, horrible job market!), I set off to find a deck that could play with the big boys but wouldn’t break the bank. I perused the decklists from Pro Tour-Austin and Worlds for the glass slipper and rediscovered Ivan Lopez Garcia’s Tooth and Nail list from Austin. I retooled the sideboard and came up with this for my first batch of testing.

In goldfishing, the deck could churn out a turn five Iona + Painter’s Servant with great regularity. But when it came time to play against humans, as I tested against every deck imaginable from All In Red to Zoo, I found that while the deck is a blast to play, it lacks five crucial things that would otherwise make it viable.

Speed

This deck does not race at all. A turn five win seems impressive until you look at all the other decks that can lock it down turn turn five or earlier:

• All In Red – A turn one Deus or Demigod does not bode well for a deck that wins with a nine-mana sorcery. God forbid they bring Blood Moon into the picture as well.
• Zoo – Domain, Naya, or Rubin? Pick your poison. It’s still not going to end well for you with that onslaught of creatures and burn spells, or in the case of Rubin Zoo, Baneslayer Angels.
• Burn – The following is a list of cards that do not hurt you in any way, shape, or form in Burn decks: Mountain. Yeah, you heard me. Just the basic land. Everything else either hits you directly or facilitates something even more painful.
• Scapeshift – The win may come turn five on average, just like Tooth, but Scapeshift has a good amount of control to back it up.
• Dark Depths – Turn two 20/20? Kitchen Finks is not going to be much help.
• Dredge – I really underestimated the speed of this deck. Turn 3 swing with a bunch of 3/3 hasty guys? Yeah… can’t deal with that.

Card Draw

Harmonize? That’s it? Sure, you can thin the deck with Sakura-Tribe Elder and Sylvan Scrying, but that doesn’t do nearly enough. You’ll see over the course of the game at most fifteen or so cards, and you need to ensure that one of them is Tooth and Nail.

Protection

Thoughtseize Tooth, Iona, or Painter’s Servant; Meddling Mage naming Tooth and Nail; Venser your Tooth and Nail cast with Boseiju mana; Mistbind Clique you on the upkeep you were supposed to go off; Ghost Quarter your Boseiju… yawn. As Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes fame would say, you can present the control deck the material but you can’t make it care.

Resiliency

Sorry, but you’re going to have to wait until game 2 for that Krosan Grip with that Blood Moon that just shut off your tron. Sorry, but you’re going to have to wait until game 2 for that Relic of Progenitus to deal with that Thopter Foundry-Sword of the Meek combo that put the game out of reach. Sorry, but… I think you get the picture.

Removal

Oblivion Stone seems like a good fix-all to your creature, Blood Moon, and Thopter Foundry issues, until you realize you need eight mana to pop it right away. You could play it one turn and pop it the next, but that gives just the window they need to Pithing Needle it or otherwise make it irrelevant.

I talked with some friends about how I could overcome these issues. The most common suggestions were to splash white for Day of Judgment/Wrath of God and Path to Exile, or blue for Peer Through Depths, Condescend, Remand and the like. And while those could work in theory, the blue version dies more quickly, and the white version slows down your Tooth even more. Another workaround was to cut every creature except for the ones that Tooth and Nail was to fetch, but that rendered the deck even more vulnerable to aggro.

Instead of trying to force anything more into something that clearly wasn’t working, I hung up the Tooth and Nail hat and decided to look for a deck that had everything Tooth didn’t. Something that was a blast to play. Something that people may be expecting or not expecting. All these signs pointed me to…

Scapeshift

More on that next week.

Until next time, look before you leap.
-Sam

1. It’s a ridiculously fun deck that will catch many opponents off guard.
2. It’s a great option for the budget player.
3. There are no real horrible matchups. It may not have a great matchup against everything like Jund, but any deck that can’t beat you by turn 5 can’t beat you period.

Sorry to leave you hanging on that aspect. Now, on to States. I was forced to change my sideboard again with no Flashfreeze or Day of Judgment in sight. I got to the Knights of Columbus in Charlestown, Mass. just under the sign-up gun (which is pretty impressive coming from the Berkshires leaving at 8 in the morning) and registered this list:

Hindering Light counters pretty much anything Flashfreeze really should counter (Maelstrom Pulse, Bituminous Blast, etc.) and cantrips at that. Dispeller’s Capsule is there for those random problem cards such as Pithing Needle and Oblivion Ring. Here goes nothing.

Round 1 vs. Brian Kaviar (Bant)
There’s not much I can do to stop turn 1 Noble Hierarch, turn 2 double Lotus Cobra, and turn 3 Jenara, Asura of War. At least it’s not Baneslayer, right? Well, it might not produce 10-point life swings every turn but it’s still a pain when I have no flyers. The real downfall point in this matchup, though, was between games one and two, when I failed to side in Negate, instead going for Hindering Light. It didn’t sound like a bad idea at first, seeing as I was staring down the barrel of Path to Exile and Bant Charm. But Hindering Light doesn’t win counter wars against Negate targeting Open the Vaults, which he pulled off three times. Sounds like a scoop on my part.

0-2 games, 0-1 matches

Round 2 vs. Alfred Benoit (Naya)
I should have lost this match. In game one I started to combo off on turn 5, but thanks to some sloppy math my Glassdust Hulk only got him down to 1. Worse yet, he would be drawing four cards next turn with four already in grip and three Howling Mines in play on my side. But I dodged a rather large bullet as he could only attack me down to four life with no Lightning Bolts in hand, and I swung in for the win the next turn. In game two, he had complete board advantage, with a Wooly Thoctar, a Rampaging Baloths, two Beast tokens, and Great Sable Stag. Worse yet, though I had blockers, I was at 5 life and my two Master of Etherium, Glassdust Hulk, and Etherium Sculptor couldn’t even chump the Stag. But instead of equipping his Behemoth Sledge to the Stag and swinging for the win, he elected to swing with the team and take me down to two life, at which point I gladly dropped a Fieldmist Borderpost and cracked back to turn what should have been my second loss into my first win.

2-2 games, 1-1 matches

Round 3 vs. Brandon Franks (Jund)
Ah, finally my chance to take on the 800-pound gorilla. We split the first two games in average fashion. In game 3, though, I chose not to mulligan a seemingly keepable but otherwise subpar hand, which, in combination of Pithing Needle naming Time Sieve, allowed Brandon to do something nobody has been able to do to me playing this deck – strip me of my hand. My lack of options forced a scoop into the dreaded X-2 bracket rather early.

3-4 games, 1-2 matches

Round 4 vs. Lindsay Dow (White Weenie)
In game 1 Lindsay applied the pressure with two Honor of the Pure, Knight of the White Orchid, and Steppe Lynx, then put me on the clock with a turn 5 Conqueror’s Pledge She would not be able to swing again, however, as I did my math properly this time and swung in with two Glassdust Hulks. She had a rough go of it game 2, as she could only muster three lands by the time I locked up the game.

5-4 games, 2-2 matches

Round 5 vs. Matt Esposito (TurboFog)
This match was a card draw extravaganza. In game 1 he went turn 3 Jace, turn four Font of Mythos, which only enabled me to combo off faster. He clinched game 2 with a Twincasted Archive Trap with 25 cards left in my deck. He made game three very interesting by naming Time Sieve with Pithing Needle, but with all the card draw going on, his discard options cost him the game. He was forced to discard two Font of Mythos and two Safe Passage. With Negate protection against Angelsong and Archive Trap, I got into position to make a run for a strong finish.

6-5 games, 3-2 matches

And then I got the phone call. My girlfriend said we should probably leave sooner rather than later because the weather was going to get bad soon. I reluctantly dropped despite being in contention for a prize if nothing else. Nine points and a drop was good enough for 62nd place out of 126, a pretty small turn out for Massachusetts States. Sure enough, as we headed back west to Lee, the snow piled on. Good call by my ladyfan.

Old Man Winter 1, Sam Feeley 0

Despite the very average showing, I am still convinced that Time Sieve is not dead, nor is it “mostly dead.” Furthermore, it won’t be dead until Open the Vaults rotates, whenever that is. Maybe I’ll consider other sideboard tweaks, like Angelsong, Baneslayer Angel, Doom Blade or whatever… but for now, this is my story and I’m sticking to it.

Well, it’s time for this column to put Standard aside for a while. I’ll be playtesting a bunch of different decks for Extended season, and maybe I’ll see you on Workstation. Again, if you have any ideas for Standard or Extended, give me a holler at samuraientertainment@gmail.com. I’m also on Twitter and AIM as DJSamurai37.

Until next time, curse you New England weather!
-Sam

Well, now that our trip down Saturday Night Live Memory Lane is complete, back to our regularly scheduled article. Hope you and yours had a happy Thanksgiving. I know I did. But I know what you’re thinking. “Do I get my long awaited PTQ report?” Yes and no. Yes, you’re getting a report. No, you’re not getting a PTQ report. But this report may be a lot more helpful, as it’s my first tournament with the Time Sieve deck I’ve been bragging about. On top of that, if the report entices you enough to play Time Sieve at States this weekend, the primer that follows will be of utmost interest to you.

The Floor Wax – The Tournament Report
Unfortunately, I had to leave for Boston for Thanksgiving weekend before the cards I ordered from Cool Stuff showed up, so I was forced to go with a strictly inferior list. I brought this to FNM at Your Move Games in Somerville, Mass. on Friday.

Okay, so it doesn’t look like it fails that hard, but Time Warp is one of those cards that is either a four-of or a none-of in a deck. But since I’d rather have three Time Warps than zero, I bit the bullet. Oh well.

Round 1 vs. Henry (Esper Ramp)
Henry had an interesting take on Esper decks, using Master Transmuter to pump out fatties like Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Magister Sphinx, Platinum Angel, and others. He started to get the combo going, and his Sphinx Summoner tutored for Platinum Angel, but the Angel would end up staying in his hand as I went off and swung away for the win. Game 2 was where Dispeller’s Capsule actually came in handy, as he dropped Platinum Angel successfully but lost it to the Capsule. Decks like these make me wonder if I should include two or three Capsules just in case.

2-0 games, 1-0 matches

Round 2 vs. Ian Paul (Bant Allies)
I saw Ian’s deck earlier in the evening, and let me tell you, you better be ready to race him before he plays Rite of Replication on Ondu Cleric. That will put the game completely out of range for most decks. But anyway, I got game 1 in rather ho-hum fashion, but game 2 was put out of reach when he dropped turn 1, 2, and 3 Noble Hierarch. Maelstrom Pulse, please? Not gonna happen. Kabira Evangel gave his Turntimber Rangers and their wolf pals protection from white and he swung in for the win. Game three, though, I started to go off but could not power my way through for the win. I had used up three Time Warps, but what I really needed was another Open the Vaults. If I didn’t draw it, I would lose a match I really should have won.
Craig Jones, ladies and gentlemen!

My Glassdust Hulks got huge and unblockable, and I got there with a couple minutes left in the round.

4-1 games, 2-0 matches

Round 3 vs. Oliver Tiu (TurboFog)
Fog is great aggro decks, but even better against decks that win with a limited attack range. Thus, Oliver can sit back on his Angelsongs and Safe Passages to deny me a win and force me to run out of turns. In game 1 everything looked to be going Oliver’s way when I mulliganed to five and kept a hand with two Borderposts but no land. Worse yet, even though I was on the draw I still couldn’t hit land for the first couple of turns. And then Oliver did something he would end up regretting: he played Font of Mythos turn four. Despite staring down the barrel of six mana and four counters on Luminarch Ascension, drawing three cards a turn would allow me to find the lands I needed to turn things around. He attacked me down to 8 with his angels, but that would be the last relevant thing he would do that game. Game 2 started out rather awkwardly. On the play, Oliver led with a little number called Relic of Progenitus. Ick. Right from the get-go he can render Open the Vaults irrelevant. Fortunately, my opening hand and my subsequent draws were much more useful than the previous game. Despite the two of us drawing six cards a turn at one point thanks to his Font of Mythos and my trio of Howling Mines, he could not draw permission or Fog effects to save his life, and I got there on the back of Master of Etherium.

6-1 games, 3-0 matches

Knowing I would be guaranteed a prize by drawing with my Round 4 opponent, we gladly reported an intentional draw, and by virtue of a strong first tiebreaker, I picked up first place in addition to some packs and the foil Oblivion Ring.

The only negative thing I could take from this tournament was that I didn’t get to play against Bloodbraid Elf and company to see if Time Sieve can hold its own against Jund.

The Dessert Topping – The Time Sieve Primer
Okay, so how do you go about playing the real version of Time Sieve? Glad you asked. Here’s the final list.

Sideboard Notes
So how do you sideboard against key matchups? Here’s my initial plan.
Jund: -2 Font of Mythos, -4 Architects of Will, -2 Glassdust Hulk; +4 Flashfreeze, +4 Celestial Purge
Naya: -2 Font of Mythos, -4 Architects of Will +4 Flashfreeze, +2 Celestial Purge
Vampires: -2 Font of Mythos, -4 Architects of Will, -1 Glassdust Hulk; +4 Celestial Purge, +3 Day of Judgment
TurboFog: -2 Font of Mythos, -2 Architects of Will +4 Negate

In general, the cutting order is as follows:

1. Font of Mythos (2)
2. Architects of Will (1, 2, or 4)
3. Glassdust Hulk (1 or 2)
4. Etherium Sculptor (1 or 2)
5. Kaleidostone (2 or 4)

Situational Plays to Consider
Ramping with Borderposts – The aforementioned Esper Ramp deck didn’t once play a Borderpost without paying three mana for it. Don’t be afriad to do that yourself. It can save you a turn in going off in some situations.

Dodging Maelstrom Pulse – Blightning? Broodmate Dragon? Bloodbraid Elf? Jund’s supposed killer B’s are mere moths compared to the hornet that is Maelstrom Pulse. While we’re on the subject of Borderposts, be careful with how many you drop. Learning not to overextend on Borderposts, Etherium Sculptors, and Howling Mines until you gain control of the game will be clutch in the Jund matchup. The longer you can limit Pulse to a 1-for-1, the better off you’ll be.

You Just Fell for the (Archive) Trap – Shrug it off if you have Open the Vaults in hand, but with all the card draw going on, if your opponent drops a Path on your Etherium Sculptor, DO NOT SEARCH FOR THAT BASIC LAND! DANGER WILL ROBINSON! Furthermore, he’s drawing the same number of cards you are from Howling Mine and Font of Mythos, so you don’t know if he has one, or God forbid, multiple Archive Traps waiting in the wings. Who knew Path to Exile could read “Make an ass of target opponent”?

For those of you who are wondering where Path to Exile is, my feeling is this: Conley Woods had an interesting point during his deck tech about “Magical Christmasland”, and it relates to his inclusions of Mold Shambler and Goblin Ruinblaster: mana is really shaky in this format right now. We are in a standard environment where players are running the most basic lands on average since Mirrodin-Kamigawa-9th. The last thing you want to enable your opponent to do is get free mana, not to mention proper mana, and accelerate into threats, all at the mere cost of one guy who can get eaten by any number of removal spells or 5/5 $50 bills.

Best of luck to you at States, whatever you decide to play – and best of luck to me in getting to the tournament in the first place. Gah.

Until next time, look at that shine!
-Sam

Pyromancer Ascension is a well designed card in the sense that it can appeal to Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. It has explosive possibilities for Timmy, combo appeal for Johnny, and efficiency and consistency for Spike. Finally, there’s something that the three bickering brothers can agree on. Today we’ll look at three different ways to build around Pyromancer Ascension, one for each of our psychological profile friends, as well as how they win and where they could use some work. Let’s start with Timmy’s explosive number, Pyro-Go.

We talk about efficiency and consistency being Spike values, but Timmy gets a piece of the tournament pie in this FNM-viable deck. Of course, Timmy is Timmy, so he also gets what every Timmy dreams of. One of the most hellacious knockouts I have ever seen in the form of Chandra Ablaze’s ultimate and Pyromancer Ascension. Your head asplode, indeed.

This deck wins by recurring anything and everything over and over with copies of Naya Charm. To complete the Ascension, Lan cascades into his spells rather than casting a bunch of cheap ones. He also has eight shots at Pyromancer Ascension with Violent Outburst. (Pray you don’t hit Lightning Bolt instead.) There’s also been talk of putting together a mana base that can get infinite turns by recurring Time Warp with Naya Charm. While explosive, again remember that it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to pull off considering what our mana options are in today’s Standard. Once again I point to the lack of Vivids and Reflecting Pool in this format as something hindering this deck concept.

Of course, we save the tournament winner for Spike. This list captures what I believe is the core idea of a Pyromancer Ascension deck: Get two counters on the enchantment as quickly as possible with cheap spells, then lower the boom with Cruel Ultimatum and Lightning Bolt, while taking all the time in the world (quite literally) with Time Warp. You also have efficient digging with Jace, Ponder, and a surprise addition in Worldly Counsel. The sideboard also sets up quite nicely with Bogardan Hellkite as extra protection from things like those pesky Vampires. I just don’t know abut Grixis Charm, though. Remember that if you copy it with Pyromancer’s Ascension, the copy is locked into the same mode as the original. I would add an extra win condition, such as Banefire, Burst Lightning, and/or Bogardan Hellkite.

Other cards to consider
Sphinx of Lost Truths
The great part about not kicking Sphinx this deck is that if you’re short on quest counters, you can discard cards from the Comes into Play – I mean Enters the Battlefield – trigger to fill up your graveyard and give you more options to level up.

Sphinx of Jwar Isle
I didn’t know a 5/5 untargetable flyer that gives you valuable information would have such a hard time finding a home in this format. This, along with Guardian Seraph, is one of the most underrated cards in Standard. Respect the peeker.

If you’re going to build one of these lists for States or FNM, I would suggest Karl’s Grixis list. It does everything you want Pyromancer’s Ascension to do – and everything it should do – with no extraneous bells and/or whistles. It’s consistent, it’s fun, and most importantly, it’s good. Make tweaks if you must, but give it a shot.

Next week, while you recover from the tryptophan in your Thanksgiving turkey, I’ll take a break from decklists and give you a PTQ report. Hopefully it’ll consist of more than two rounds of thoughts. *cough*

Until next time, double your pleasure.
-Sam

Gatson told me he wanted to find a deck that could beat Jund and Vampires, and came up with this. And it worked out – he won those three consecutive FNMs in a room full of Jund. When things work out the way you expect them to, it’s easy to understand why he has fallen in love with his concoction. When I asked him about another red-white-blue control deck, Calosso Fuentes’ Luminarch Ascension deck (seen here: http://mtgurl.com/2U3f )

Gatson felt Fuentes relied too much on mass removal in a Jund-heavy metagame. When you look at the average Jund “aggro” list, it runs only 15 creatures. (Four Putrid Leech, four Bloodbraid Elf, three Broodmate Dragon, and four Sprouting Thrinax populated Jack Wang’s winner in Philadelphia.) So what’s the point of mass removal if there aren’t that many masses to remove? Of course, Jund is not all there is to fear. Lest we forget there are decks with nearly twice the creatures Jund packs in this format, such as Vampires and Bushwhacker. So, not oblivious to this caveat, Gatson pointed out a key change in his list: he cut two main deck Jace Beleren and one Ajani Goldmane for an additional Sejiri Refuge and… Magma Phoenix. Hoo boy. Trade with one vampire, kill all the others. Way to be.

Aside from the concept of Kentucky Fried Vampires, what I really love about this deck is that in addition to Baneslayer Angel and Ajani, this work of art (yes, I said it) is chock full of cards that are nearly invisible on the standard radar, and unjustly so. Have a look at some of the more eye-opening choices.

Guardian Seraph
Such an underrated card in my view, and the most underrated card in standard according to Gatson. What part of “four mana for an offensive threat and a defensive juggernaut that’s out of Lightning Bolt range” do people not understand? Yes, it dies to Path to Exile and Doom Blade, but so does 95% of anything ever printed in this game.

Sphinx of Lost Truths
Much like Conqueror’s Pledge, in no way do you have to kick this spell in order for it to be effective. If you don’t have at least four cards in hand on turn 5 (or whenever you plan on casting the Sphinx sans kicker), you’re obviously not playing control.

Double Negative
In most cases Double Negative is just an even worse Cancel. But remember what Angelfire wants to beat – Jund. Also remember what specific cards are typically in Jund – four Bloodbraid Elf and two Bituminous Blast. Nice two-for-one.

Magma Phoenix
Again, when faced with Vampires, Bushwhacker, or any creature-heavy aggro deck, Phoenix tells the opponent “Roll over and play dead while my airborne buddies smash your face.” Phoenix wasn’t originally going to be in the main deck until more Bushwhacker and Vampire decks started showing up. Talk about good reads.

Mindbreak Trap
One of those cards that, despite its true calling against storm decks in Legacy and Vintage, is still randomly good in Standard. And not just against Great Sable Stag. This uber-counterspell saved Gatson from losing to a Pyromancer Ascension homebrew when his opponent cast Banefire for 7 with two counters on the red enchantment – when Gatson was at 14 life, no less. Remember, kids, you don’t need to pay the trap cost to make a trap effective.

For the budget player, this deck is difficult to pull off with eight fetchlands and four Baneslayers, and maybe the two Day of Judgment in the sideboard. If you can get that far, though, the rest of the deck is much easier to put together. (Thank heaven for no more Reflecting Pool and Vivids, huh?) Whatever your deck of choice, don’t forget Zendikar Game Day this weekend at stores across the country. And remember, if you have your own pet project you want me to dissect, shoot me an email at samuraientertainment@gmail.com

Until next time, stay under the radar.
-Sam

I always love to see “forgotten” archetypes make strong showings at PTQs, Grand Prix, and Pro Tours. In a world where formats are defined by maybe two, three, or four decks, to see an overconfident player get rolled by a legitimate deck he never saw coming brings a smile to my face. Having said that, you can’t expect every player in a major tournament to be playing a different set of 75 cards. Anyone who gets into that mindset clearly has not been to Friday Night Magic or even left their kitchen table. (With all due respect to kitchen table players who might choose never to see the inside of a PTQ, this is just how tournament players operate.) Why do you think we have the term “metagame-defining”? It’s for cards and decks that show their superiority over all challengers.

You can talk about the aforementioned decks, along with Dark Depths, Dredge, and Hypergenesis all you want, but in the end, Zoo is the deck du jour, no two ways about it. As Brian David-Marshall pointed out during the webcast, “it’s the new Rock” – that is, there is not one conformist or median list. You can now tailor Zoo to your metagame with various interchangeable parts. Whether you build it around Domain with Tribal Flames and Might of Alara, or around the Punishing Fire – Grove of the Burnwillows combo (which we might look at down the road as one of the greatest innovations of all time), or any other method, one thing’s for sure: if you’re not playing Zoo, you better be prepared to beat it.

I may sound like I’m contradicting myself, but let me remind you that I am not telling you what to play. When I say “if you’re not playing Zoo, you better be prepared to beat it,” I do not mean to say other archetypes are not viable. Do not come into a Extended PTQ with a deck only geared to beat Zoo – you will be disappointed. There’s no sense in playing the best deck in the room if you can’t play it properly.

See you next week for another look at Standard, including my first analysis of a reader-submitted deck. Until then, watch out for those pesky Blood Moons.

-Sam

Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, let’s get started by looking at the results from the Star City Games 5K in Philadelphia this past weekend. With the absence of Cryptic Command and Vivid lands, I (among many) figured this new Standard would be a format dominated by aggro, specifically Jund and Vampires. After looking at the top 16 lists, here are the numbers we’re faced with:

Basic Archetype: 13, aggro, 1 midrange, 2 control
Colors: 15 without blue, 1 with blue

Okay, so far it’s looking just as we expected. Blue control had its heyday for long enough, now let’s let the other colors and archetypes shine, eh? Let’s dive in further.

Specific Archetype (according to SCG): 6 Jund Aggro, 3 Vampires, 2 Naya Lotus Angel, 1 Naya Aggro, 1 Luminarch Planeswalker Control, 1 Boros Bushwhacker, 1 Mono-White Control, 1 Red Deck Wins

Ten out of sixteen decks definitely don’t look out of place – Jund, Vampires, and Red Deck. “Boros Bushwhacker”, though silly-sounding, is just a super-fast red-white weenie deck (designed and championed by my fellow ManaNation writer Kelly Reid.) It’s a welcome throwback to a couple of years ago and the days of Boros Deck Wins. Naya Aggro is just what it sounds like. But what the hell are “Naya Lotus Angel” and “Luminarch Planeswalker Control”? And furthermore, shouldn’t Mono-White Control wait its turn until extended season, where it has access to the stupidity that is Martyr of Sands? Let’s have a look at those three.

Until next time, keep drawing the nuts.
- Sam

Or is there?

I have come to the conclusion that if you’re going to beat Faeries, you have two choices: play Faeries, or play green. Since green gives more flexibility (there are many different green decks rather than the one conformist Faerie list), I like the latter option. Moat effects do nothing for the W/U control player, typical aggro decks get countered all day long, and Red Deck Wins players may be forced to waste their burn on the pesky mosquitoes rather than their opponent’s face.

Green, on the other hand, in addition to being able to race with Faeries, brings Hurricane effects to the table. It’s the best-equipped color to fight off the locust invasion. Thus, I present to you the top five “fly swatters” in Standard – the best Faerie haters in the format, at least in green.

5. Firespout
Eat your heart out, Savage Twister. If your own creatures are big enough, you can safely cast it for 1RG and clear the way for your big dudes. Even if you don’t have red, it’s still a [card title="Wrath"]Wrath of God[/card] effect against most of the creatures in the Faerie deck (save Mistbind Clique). If you end up running Firespout, use two to four in the main deck.

4. Hurricane
Ah, yes, Hurricane, the original green burn spell. In addition to taking out his board, it can take out your opponent. With the pain lands and Bitterblossom life drain, your opponent becomes an easy target for good ol’ XG. Unfortunately, there’s the part where it’s a sorcery. All in all, Hurricane is good, but not absolutely necessary. If you run it, play two in the main deck or two in the sideboard – unless you have Squall Line (see #3).

3. Squall Line
Hurricane’s faster, younger cousin Squall Line gets the nod over Hurricane because of the instant-speed effect. Think about it – Hurricane can’t respond to Mistbind Clique, Spellstutter Sprite, or Scion of Oona. It’s good, but because of the second and first cards on this little countdown, Squall Line can be in or out. If it’s in, play two in the main deck or two in the sideboard.

2. Raking Canopy
Not only does Raking Canopy eat up every creature in the Faerie deck, it can even stall your Swan Song opponent. If he can’t go off right away, he may be forced to attack you, This is when you bring in Canopy. You may still take four, but you get four cards, and if you’re splashing black, you may be lucky enough to hit Terror, Nameless Inversion, or the like. Raking Canopy is absolutely necessary. Play three or four in the sideboard (I play three).

1. Cloudthresher
A six-mana 7/7 with no drawbacks never hurt anybody, unless that somebody was playing against it. In addition to the built-in two-point Hurricane, the Evoke ability saves you mana if you don’t need the big body, and it swallows up Mistbind Clique all day. Cloudthresher is a lifesaver against Faeries, and a must in any green deck. Play one or two in the main deck, plus an additional one or two in the sideboard.

You’ll notice I ranked the two instant-speed effects ahead of the three sorcery-speed cards. If you’re going to beat Faeries, you need to be able to keep up with the speed of the deck and its tricks – their flash creatures, their counterspells, and their removal. In an aggressive metagame, the aggressive control deck known as Faeries has risen to the top of the field. Can it be stopped? Pro Tour Hollywood and U.S. Regionals are right around the corner, so we’ll soon find out. Regardless of what you play, good luck beating Faeries – you’re going to need it. I’ll see you in Hollywood.

-Sammy Time

Griffin Who?

Griffin Corrigan is a high school sophomore, fellow Bostonian and Your Move Games patron. He has a history of coming up with effective modifications of popular decks. Among these changes are experimenting with Maralen of the Mournsong in Doran Rock, and perhaps the most awe-inspiring one of all, Gristleback in the sideboard of red-green aggro as Project X hate. (You’re gaining infinite life? So am I.)

Card Choices
The mana base is pretty self-explanatory, Eleven of the twenty-three lands (I’m not counting Dakmor Salvage as a land for all intents and purposes) produce green on turn one, which is crucial to setting up the combo as fast as possible (read: Birds of Paradise). On a personal note, though, I particularly like Manamorphose in this deck; cantrip aside, you can’t count on your deck feeding you the right mana every game you play (especially considering you need to come up with RRR for Seismic Assault and then 2WW for [card title="Swans"]Swans of Bryn Argoll[/card]), and sometimes that Sylvan Scrying is best left to fetching the Salvage.

Perhaps the most important card in this deck not named Glittering Wish or Swans of Bryn Argoll is Saffi Eriksdotter. In the forum thread for the first Swan Song article, folks were quick to point out that spot removal such as Nameless Inversion make the deck very manageable. Saffi, though, forces your opponent to go through her first before the Swans.

Then there’s the inclusion of Brion Stoutarm. Upon first examination, my reaction was “Why?” Then there’s the obvious answer: combo decks must have alternate win conditions, especially in a format with Extirpate. Plus, if you have Brion and Swans on the board and you have no other way of saving your Swans should it get Inverted, how’s an eight-point life swing sound?

The sideboard can be broken down into two parts: the Glittering Wish suite and the faerie hate suite. It must say something about the metagame when half of Griffin’s sideboard is dedicated to beating ONE DECK (or two if you count rogues). I don’t blame him, either. Bitterblossom? Scion of Oona? You gotta bring out the high-powered fly swatters for those nasty critters. Don’t think he’s forgotten about other decks, though. He’s got additional board sweepers such as Firespout and Fiery Justice, as well as the late-game finisher Oversoul of Dusk (which, may I add, laughs in the face of a 20/20 Countryside Crusher). Harmonic Sliver acts as protection against Oblivion Ring and Pithing Needle, among other things.

Cuts
Griffin also told me about some cuts he made. Initially he did not have Sylvan Scrying in the deck, but after telling me how it “randomly wins games,” he put it in three copies over singleton Runed Halo, Prison Term, and Prismatic Omen. Of those three, the lack of Prismatic Omen may be the biggest difference in his performance should he play this deck. Why? Certain ichthyoids in the format may have something to do with my reasoning.

Burning Question: Is Swan Song for Real?

At last year’s Orlando Regionals, Bridge from Below came in like a lion and out like a lamb. It seemed to be all hype, and going in it was the top deck, but players adequately tuned their decks to hate it out of the format. What about this year? Is Swan Song all hype? Or does it have staying power? (At least until Time Spiral rotates out.) Discuss in the forums; I’ll be sure to check out what you guys have to say.

-Sammy Time

There is a term used in economics called ceteris paribus, which is Latin for “other things being equal.” In other words, action x will result in consequence y, ceteris paribus (assuming nothing else interferes). Essentially, ignore everything else that could possibly happen to screw up x leading to y and just assume that’s all will happen. In real life, you cannot possibly do that verbatim. In competitive Magic, however, you can assume certain things will or will not happen. There are five key things about your opponent that should not change your judgment, thus forcing you to use the ceteris paribus principle.

1) Your opponent’s age
In a Type 2 Boston City Championship season event, I played against a young man, maybe ten or eleven years old, named Frankie Vargas. When a more experienced player sits across from someone Frankie’s age, they might automatically think, “Thanks for the bye.” Not true. I had seen Frankie play before this match, and he has play skill beyond his years. It also didn’t hurt that he brought Sonic Boom (Mono-Blue Control) to the matchup against my [card title="Doran"]Doran, the Siege Tower[/card] deck. We had a good, competitive match, but Frankie took it 2-1.

Conversely, someone who appears to have played this game much longer than someone like Frankie may not be experienced at all. I know that half the time I sit down from someone I’ve never played before, they appear my age or older, and are playing in maybe their first or second tournament. This happens most often at prereleases, but nonetheless, it is important to remember that play skill and age do not correlate.

2) Your opponent’s deck
The Pro Tour commentators constantly remind us that when making a pick to win the event, you go by player and not by deck. The biggest scrub in the world could be running [card title=Academy]Tolarian Academy[/card] against a well-established player playing, well, not [card title=Academy]Tolarian Academy[/card]. Nonetheless, who would you pick? The player who knows what he’s doing or the newbie with the most powerful deck of all time? (Or is that Dredge? We’ll save that debate for another article.)

3) Your opponent’s record
Everyone has a bad day playing Magic every once in a while. Even pros will scrub out of a Pro Tour or Grand Prix once every few events. If you get paired down, you may think you’ll have an easier path to victory. If you get paired up, you may think the win may be harder to come by. In reality, in the former situation, a win is very crucial due to the impact on tiebreakers. In the latter, a win would be huge for your record the same reason. You can’t let standings in the early and middle rounds determine your mindset before the match. When there’s a spot in the top 8 on the line, however, then you really want to make sure you don’t screw up.

4) Your opponent’s gender
There may be no girls on the Internet, but there are certainly girls who play Magic, and some of them are pretty good. Take, for example, an acquaintance of mine, Melissa DeTora. Over the last year she has played in feature matches at Grand Prix-Montreal, Pro Tour-Valencia, and Pro Tour-Kuala Lumpur, against the likes of Guillame Wafo-Tapa, Quentin Martin, and Gabe Nassif. She’s no pushover, either. She is a regular in the New England PTQ scene, has won several PTQs, and finished in the money most recently at Kuala Lumpur.

Of course, Melissa is not the only female to enjoy success at big events. Names like Michelle Bush, who finished 2nd at Grand Prix-New Orleans, and Annalyn Bustamante, who finished in the top 16 at Grand Prix-Dallas, may also ring a bell to the event coverage junkies.

5) Your opponent’s name
This is perhaps the biggest one of them all, even more so than judging your opponent by the X or Y chromosomes.

Let’s say you’re playing at your first Pro Tour. You’re excited to travel, play Magic for big money, and bring back lots of great stories to your friends. Then the pairings for round one are posted, and you get to play not another PTQ entrant, but Kenji Tsumura.

Some might think, “Crap, I might as well scoop as soon as I sit down.” Hey, there’s no shame in trying. If anything, playing against players of Kenji’s level can only help you learn. All you can do is play your best, and if the card gods are with you, you may pull off a big upset.

Lessons Learned
So what can ceteris paribus teach you? The only thing that matters is your opponent’s skill level, regardless of who they are or what they’re playing. Simply put, come to each match prepared for a dogfight. If it turns out to be a shellacking, more power to the winner. If it turns into a slugfest, all it can do is give you the necessary experience for your Magic career, win or lose.

-Sammy Time

No report this week (don’t worry, I’ll have one next week); rather, I present to you some speculative analysis. Sounds fun, right?

With Shadowmoor around the corner, and spoiler/preview season in full swing, speculation about the best post-rotation decks is once again a hot topic. And why not? After all, one card in a set can change the constructed metagame. Such was the case with the reprint of Dragonstorm in Time Spiral, as well as Bridge from Below in Future Sight and Doran, the Siege Tower in Lorwyn, just to name a few. This time around, the Johnnies have already gone crazy for one card in particular from Shadowmoor: Swans of Bryn Argoll.

It’s a solid card in itself, but what makes it more ridiculous is the deck archetype that comes with it, something I refer to as “Swan Song.” This red/green/white combo deck uses the aforementioned Swans of Bryn Argoll in conjunction with Seismic Assault and Dakmor Salvage. Yes, Dakmor Salvage, the lone Dredge card in Type 2. The combo can go off as early as turn 3 with the right hand and draws. Here’s what you need:
Turn 1: Karplusan Forest, Birds of Paradise.

Turn 2: Land that produces red, Seismic Assault.

Turn 3: Land that produces white, Swans of Bryn Argoll. With Dakmor Salvage in hand, discard it to Seismic to deal 2 damage to the Swans. Replace one of the draws by dredging Salvage. Repeat process until you have enough lands in hand to kill your opponent.

Swan Song’s Utility Belt

As if that weren’t enough, the deck has lots of protection and tutors to work its way around many potential stumbling blocks and disruptions. Because of its multicolor theme, I have a feeling there will be a revival in demand for Glittering Wish with the release of Shadowmoor. Not every deck would play it, but Swan Song certainly would. With it, you can grab Swans, Gaddock Teeg, Vexing Shusher (an uncounterable bear that can make other spells uncounterable), and Fulminator Mage (a 2/2 for 3 that sacrifices to destroy a nonbasic land), among other things.

Even without Glittering Wish, the deck has so much utility it’s not even funny. Manamorphose, a common instant from Shadowmoor, turns the two mana you spend to play it into two mana of any colors, and it cantrips! Sylvan Scrying allows you to get Dakmor Salvage if your draws aren’t kind. Idyllic Tutor can get Seismic Assault or Oblivion Ring for protection. And when you dredge Gaea’s Blessing with Dakmor Salvage, well, then it’s just “lather, rinse, repeat.”

The Problem With Speculation

Of course, because Shadowmoor hasn’t been released yet, because we don’t know every card in the set, and because we are still a month and a half away from the next Type 2 tournament of consequence with Shadowmoor, Pro Tour Hollywood, so many things about Swan Song are still up in the air. Initially some thought the deck needed as many as 39 lands in order to work. Others thought you needed much more acceleration, such as Rite of Flame or Simian Spirit Guide or Lotus Bloom. (Some were quick to remind those people that this is not a storm deck.) Like any deck in theory, it will take a lot of testing to see if it will stand up to the other prominent decks. What kind of success could it enjoy? Can it challenge Project R for top combo deck? Does it have answers for aggressive decks like faeries, Red Deck Wins, and kithkin? How will it deal with control? What else could come out of Shadowmoor that hoses or helps this deck? So much remains to be seen.

On top of that, while the list I propose for Swan Song is red/green/white, other lists use blue and black instead. Some may run green and white but no Glittering Wish. One list I’ve seen even worked in a Reveillark suite. Unlike many constructed archetypes, not one color combination or general list has been agreed upon just yet.

Burning Question: What Else Do You Expect?

In the meantime, feel free to discuss any other changes in the Constructed scene you see coming out of Shadowmoor. What cards and decks benefit the most from the theme, the new cards, the new mechanics? I’ll be checking in at the forums to see what you think.

-Sammy Time