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Constructed
Magic the Classroom – Obsessions
Have you ever had one of ‘those’ cards. You know the card that just can’t keep out of your head. Every time you find yourself starting a new deck or theorizing what could be in a new expansion you can’t help but think of that card. It can be an obsession. Sometimes it’s healthy, sometimes not. In my Magic life I can recite multiple times where I’ve been a victim to this obsession.
My first was Biorhythm. That was a fun win. I used the Symbiotic Elf and his cronies. Mixed with Wrath and Oblivion Stone and just a spice of acceleration mixed in and I had a deck. I once beat 14 opponents at once in a multiplayer game. End of Turn blow up Stone destroy all and put tokens from my Symbiotes into play. My Turn cast Biorhythm and win. That was fun.
That obsession didn’t last long though. Biorhythm just was to straightforward for me. As I grew in the game my inner teacher began to latch onto certain cards. Invariably these cards required an explanation or a teaching of some kind. The first State Championship I ever attended was with a deck that looked to abuse Mind’s Desire. I used Affinity based permanents with Chain of Vapor and a bunch of draw spells. On my critical turn I would dump my whole hand on the table. Use Chain to bounce them back again and then play them for free via Affinity. Cast Mind’s Desire with the floating mana and BOOM a very large Tendrils (or at least a load of Frogmites and friends).
Mind’s Desire lasted forever. I went through the Twiddle/Desire, the Cloud of Faeries/ Desire, and finally the Perfect Storm of TEPS. In fact I still have my TEPS list from Extended last year. I just can’t take it out of its sleeves.
Since this summer I’ve had a new pet. Warp World did well for me all summer long, in Standard anyway. Of course I loved the casting of WW itself but also the games where it just went Ramp/Aggro were great as well. But as rotations go the Warp World has just gone flat. I’ve tried to make it work from multiple angles but have not been successful.
And there is good reason to want it to be successful. When evaluating Warp World you have to consider two factors. What do the non Warp cards do pre-warp? How do they fare coming off of the Warp?
Pre-Warp we want to gather permanents and/or card advantage. This is similar to all decks but the real kicker is Post-warp. How do our cards generate advantage off of the Warp itself?
Let’s look at the Warp ratio for some common decks being played today. The Warp Ratio is a number that is devised by taking the number of permanents deployed divided by the number of cards used. Since Warp World count varies every game and every matchup we’ll just look at the whole deck and develop an average. So now it’s the number of Perms deployed by the whole deck divided by 60. (Decklist found on Deckcheck.net)
- Jund- .72
- Naya Lightsaber – .95 ( I gave Ranger of Eos 3 perms even though the two he fetches aren’t played right away)
- Boros Bushwhacker – .88
- Mono White Tokens – 1.03 (For Emeria Angel I added a very conservative 3 Landfall triggers)
- Borderland Bant – 1.15
- Vampires – .79
Today I want to run you through the adjustments I’ve made and see if anyone out there has an angle that I haven’t tried.
Here is my list that I ran to 17th (of 98) at a PTQ this summer.
First notice that this list has a 1.27 Warp ratio. When you look at this list you would think that it would be an easy transition to Zendikar Standard. But I assure you it is not. In the land department we really aren’t that phased. The Reflecting Pool is not that big of a loss and the Thicket can be replaced as well. Kazandu Refuge can even work here because of our lack of early drops.
The heavy hitters of Warp World, Siege-Gang, and Hellkite are still around. The rest of the deck is all role players. Here is a list of our losses
- Fertile Ground – Adds a permanent and gives extra mana. Replacing it has been extremely difficult. The problem is that most good mana accelerants that are in permanent form are creatures. Every one has creature removal while few decks main enchantment removal. This enchantment was also safe because it was too innocent. Why would you waste a spell to get rid of Fertile Ground?
- Farhaven Elf – I personally ran this elf over Birds in my list. Many people ran Birds for the multi-color aspect but I preferred Farhaven Elf because of the bonus permanent. Both are easily removed but the Elf mana fix keeps on giving.
- Wort, the Raidmother – this card is a gimmick. It’s a gimmick I like but a gimmick none the less. It does make your Warp World almost uncounterable since you place two copies (or more) on the stack. With the proper design double Warpage should never lose. The added benefit of extra permanents was actually more handy than the conspire. In the PTQ I actually took a game loss because of the desire to Double Warp instead of just winning and playing Wort later if needed.
- Murderous Redcap – This is role player that is most missed. With the acceleration suite Redcap is playable on turn 3 and serves the role of early removal. The bonus Synergy with Siege Gang is also incredible. At least half of the games that I won off of Warp came from direct damage from Hellkite, Redcap, and Siege throwing tokens.
Warping Landfall
That was the card list that I lost due to rotation and that is where my saga begins. So enter the first spoiled card that I saw Rampaging Baloths. “This Landfall mechanic is going to ROCK!” I thought to myself. Imagine Warping into a Baloth. Every land that hits will be a 4/4 Beast as well! I instantly fell in love with the Landfall Warp. I even went so far as to drop the Bogardan Hellkites. Lotus Cobra slithered his way in easily. I did some Judge questioning and found a disappointment when it came to the Expeditions. Enchantments warp in after lands so the Expeditions would gain no counters from the Warped in lands. If I had a card like Farhaven Elf I would be able to gain a token from that land but not the Warped ones. Khalni Heart Expedition still made the list but Zektar does not. Even when I looked at adding the Hellkites back in I was still short of cards so I looked to the other color. Obnoxious, I mean Ob Nixilis said “put me in coach” and I had to agree.
Final Warp Ratio is 1.33 which is much more potent but it really has harder time getting there. This deck is just to top heavy pre-warp. Admittedly I tested this mostly in a heavy Jund/Vampire environment.
The pre-warp card advantage of Jund was just too much to handle. Basically games came down to can I get a Warp off? Sure I had a couple Snake accelerated Warps that were really cool but not enough to warrant any serious play.
Vampires was a little easier but not a lock. While I was able to Warp more often and his Warp ratio was very low the synergy within the few perms he got to lay was real good. Sometimes good enough to win post warp. Hitting a couple of Bloodwitches off of Warp was just cruel with the number of Vamps also coming into play. One of my students actually started boarding in his own Ob NIxilis as well. By the way, your opponents CIP’s (I mean ETB’s) happen first.
Boros Bushwhacker is also an issue. It’s fast enough to win before Warp and has a decent retaliation attack because the Ranger can grab multiple dudes that come in cheap and become hasty from a kicked Bushwhacker.
There is a very interesting (to me anyway) math dilemma with this deck. You want to use fetches to max the Prewarp potential. But if you use too many in the game then your decrease the lands hit off of a Warp which decreases the power of Landfall thereby decreasing the power of the Warp effect.
Warped Allies
So I started looking for way to make the deck Win directly off of Warp World. That way I wouldn’t have to wait for the win or defend against my opponent’s first swing. Also the occasional DoJ in my opponents hand wouldn’t spell my ruin. Of course raising Hellkite up to 4 was the first move but I still need more. Enter Hagra Diabolist. If we can Warp a Hagra and say 3 other Allies we take 16 life away from our opponent. Add in another Ally or a Hellkite and its game over.
Now we have 8 cards that can do significant damage and potentially win the game off of the ETB’s alone. To make Hagra effective enough we need more Allies. Turntimber Ranger is an easy inclusion since it also generates better Warp and increases our Warp Ration. Others in Green, Red, and Black don’t really stand out but some would be necessary. Oran- Rief Survivalist is playable and Bala Ged Thief affords us some protection.
As many of you could imagine this deck was a step back. While the Warp Ratio is at least 1.2 (that’s assuming no other Allies trigger Turntimber Ranger) it still doesn’t have much game without a Warp and the lack of acceleration just makes it harder to survive long enough. I did enjoy the wins that I pulled out but they were far between.
Warped Now
Realizing that the Warp World will need to be just a casual deck I’ve decided to max our Warp Ratio. That’s were the real fun is anyway. Sure I’ll lose more than I’ll win but when you have that mind set it’s not so bad. It’s almost funny that I say that while the Mothership (Wizards.com) sings the praises of Spike with ‘Spike Week.’
In order to max out the ratio I bring in White. The reason for the inclusion is two cards. Emeria Angel is included for more landfall as well as helping our midgame permanent building. I also brought in Kor Cartographer to serve as a quasi Farhaven Elf. Sure it only gets Plains but it still mana acceleration as well as permanent acceleration.
Let’s do the math. Still going with 3 lands hit off a Warp then my Ratio is 1.67. WOW!! That doubles many of the current decks. Talk about a post-Warp advantage! Sure pre-Warp I’m a little weak but this deck is just for the Warp-age fun that happens. If you play it make sure to pack your tokens. Goblins, Birds, Beasts, and Wolves abound.
Anyway, I can see that class is almost out. Feel free to post any ideas you may have for Warp World. It doesn’t need to be any tech that makes this deck a tournament caliber player. Just looking for fun ideas.
Dan is a High School Teacher who does everything he can to squeeze Magic into his schedule. Between being a Father, Husband, and Coach it’s pretty hard. Articles by Dan focus on tips and lessons for beginners that he has learned while teaching his students how to play their best. As a player Dan has a propensity to go Crazy For Combos so occasionally these articles happen as well.
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It’s always good to work with your obsessions. Many people tend to lose the “fun” aspect when they strive for things such as “ratings” or “tournaments” or “Pro Tour” or “Worlds” or “Money…”
I want to write a follow-up to your article in the near future, talking about fun and how decks that don’t win all the time can be better to play than netdecks that win 90% of the time.
One dude that would be awesome in your deck is Knight of the Reliquary. Throw him out turn 3 right after lotus. They need to have a turn four Day of Judgement or and answer to Cobra or you’re going to Warp all over them. Here’s how it works in best case scenario. Land, Land Cobra, Land Knight, Land, tap land for mana, destroy land with Knight to pull a fetch land out, crack fetchland for a new land. Tap 3 for warp world. That’s 3 mana off Lotus Cobra and your choice of a turn 4 Warp World, turn 4 Balroth, or turn 4 anything else. Not only do you get to Warp for what should be a time of fun and awesome, but you also get to have every one of your Knights that come in after be a 4/4. You can easily accelerate out a Warp World per turn if you want in order to capitalize on your ridiculous Warp Ratio. Just a thought.
Samuel
I would love to see that piece. it’s a very overlooked part of the game. We all once started without net decks and it was just more fun (in some ways)
I’m going to try switching Birds to Knights. We’ll see. Your scenario looks fun and it doesn’t switch my ratio any. The main bummer is Cobra dies so fast.
So Cobra dies, they lose a kill spell, and Warp world comes out turn 5. I think the main point is that you have the option of powering out Warp World, which can slaughter a lot of decks that just don’t have the gas after something like that. The one thing that reading through I didn’t understand until after rereading your decklist was your complaining about Fertile Ground cycling out. I was sitting there yelling at my computer “Trace of Abundance” then I saw it in your decklist along with Fertile and I fell out of my chair a little bit. I’m still trying to find a suitable substitute. Cobra is good because the $30 price tag says that it is (Because everything that is expensive is good… right?). Knight is AWESOME because it not only fixes almost all of your mana issues, but it also enables Cobra, Balroths, and Angel to do ridiculous things. And one card that doesn’t get much love, Druid of the Anima, does really well, tapping for mana to also enable a quicker Warp World.
You know what would work best, I’m going back to doing the typie-type. I want to finish this Swedge article before it falls off the rack completely, then I gotta type up states for the lulz, then I’ll do something fun.
I wasn’t complaining about Snake dying. It’s just that I lament the loss of Fertile.
I remember when I first heard the rumor that Harrow might come back. I was so hopeing for a Harrow “on a stick” like Sakura tribe elder did with Rampant Growth. That would be in this deck in a heartbeat. Maybe faster.
I’m very happy to see a good article about a non-tier-I deck that I like! Several comments, because I’ve been tinkering with my own WW deck lately. :)
First, I really like the Ally version. I hadn’t even considered taking WW in that direction, but it looks like a lot of fun and has some early board presence with the Survivalists.
Second, I think you’re misrepresenting Emeria Angel’s value by counting 3 landfall triggers. That’s great for considering how many permanents you’ll have post-Warp, but you really want to know how many you’ll have pre-Warp, to know how much cardboard you’ll be putting into play. My goldfishing with Emeria Angel has been less than satisfactory.
Third, it seems like there are several good green four-drops that you’re ignoring. In my experience, Keeper of Progenitus has been an utter house, since you can usually make use of the mana far more effectively than your opponent(s). Oracle of Mul Daya is also pretty solid — you basically only ever draw gas while he’s on the board, and hit extra landfall triggers and accelerate mana (and permanent count) all at the same time. Ant Queen is also a decent one- or two-of, providing permanent advantage and a mana dump if the Keeper is on the board. I’ve actually thought of running WW as mono-green with just a splash of red for WW itself, but I haven’t tested it.
My original WW deck was RBG with a dragon theme, with Bogardan Hellkites, Broodmates, and a singleton Karrthus. Once Zendikar hit, I swapped out the Broodmates, Karrthus, and one of the Hellkites for a playset of Rampaging Baloths and a pair of Madrush Cyclops. The Cyclops is kind of a win-more card, but for casual play, it’s hard to beat Warping into it and swinging with a dozen or more 4/4 Beasts from your land-army.
Mising Ant Queen may be a good idea but the thing is that accelerating out that warp world is key. So it’s before and during turn 5, at the latest, that you want your boatload of permanents coming in. This is where one drops like Birds and Heirarch and Cobra make things ridiculous by the time you drop Warp World to get your ridiculous damage. You could also run Jund World with Warp World and Lightning Bolts from red, Balroths, Oracles, Harrows, and Cobras from green, and Ob Nixilis from black.
Matt
I am currently beating myself for not thinking of Oracle.
That was an awesome suggestion. I’ve played the cyclops but find a win more also. That’s not the real problem. I really hate seeing it in my hand. Not that it’s unplayable in hand it’s just I want to only play it after warping.
I’ll be honest — I haven’t updated my version for Standard since Lorwyn block rotated out, so I’m still running Farhaven Elves and Fertile grounds in mine. It mostly sees play in a casual Legacy/Vintage format around here, anyway.
I’m not sure I like the mana-critter approach, although it may be the best option for a valid Standard deck. Board wipe (Pyroclasm/Fallout) isn’t super-prevalent right now, since everything seems to have 3-4 toughness, but I feel like it’s better to rely on permanents creatures that get more lands into play if possible. First, there’s a lot of creature removal out there, and second, getting two permanents for one card is great with WW, while mana birds/elves is mediocre at best.
That said, Lotus Cobra does seem like the most direct replacement for Fertile Ground in the two-drop slot, even if he is a giant target for removal. Khalni Heart Expedition is okay, but doesn’t accelerate you to your four-drops on three the way you want.
Borderland Ranger seems like a pretty solid option, too. In conjunction with Oracle of Mul Daya, he’s almost a strictly better Farhaven Elf, because you pretty quickly aren’t hitting all of your (extra) land drops when using the Oracle. He actually provides a good reason for running the one-drop mana elves, too, since they can accelerate him out on two instead of three.
A word about the Oracle. I’ve been running him in place of Bloodbraid, and I’m not entirely sure it’s an improvement. Bloodbraid is essentially mana accel, since (in my build) it only hits Fertile Ground/Trace or Farhaven Elf. I don’t know whether Bloodbraid is quite as solid with different early drops — cascading into an elf or a Khalni Heart Expedition doesn’t seem as good to me.
In contrast, while Oracle is great for playing lands and only drawing gas, it also tells your opponent what you’re drawing every turn. If you’re hitting nothing but creatures and lands then Warp World shows up on the top of your deck, you opponent knows it’s time to board wipe if possible. (Or to play Duress or other discard, if you don’t have mana to cast it yet.) Oracle is also pretty frustrating when you have something like Fertile Ground on top that you both can’t play via Oracle and that’s a weak draw for next turn.
@Sam: I would avoid Lightning Bolts and Harrows, since they’re blanks when you WW. Ob Nixilis is obviously nuts with WW, since he wins the game when you hit him, but I don’t own any and so I haven’t tested with him. I’d probably run two if I could, since even if you hit both with WW and they kill each other, their triggered effects are going to kill your opponent.