Being Typecast & DGM Standard Predictions

Spoiler: I did not win the Washington, DC World Magic Cup Qualifier. In the process, I failed my country.

However, my deck selection process was interesting enough that despite Dragon’s Maze being on the horizon, I wanted to share it and, consequently, what I learned about Standard.

After the StarCityGames.com Invitational in Los Angeles, I tried to stay away from U/W/R Flash in Standard. My performance there was a paltry 3-3, which left me with a solid Top 16 finish. Once Pro Tour Gatecrash rolled around, I was back on Flash for a lack of better options. It served me well, and I was once again hooked.

Grand Prix Charlotte was my next event. While I 0-2 dropped that tournament, I went 8-1 in a side Standard tournament before scooping Owen Turtenwald into Top 8 so that I could drive home. I was back to never losing with Flash!

Then Grand Prix Verona happened. My trusty Flash failed me yet again. After that, I tried to demonstrate my range or, you know, play a deck that is actually good on that given week. Before the StarCityGames.com Invitational in Atlanta, I tried numerous decks and lost with all of them. Come tournament time, I was locked into Flash without even bothering to play games with it.

I knew my options, I knew what to do in the matchups, and hopefully I’d read the metagame correctly. Overall, I went 6-2, losing to G/B/W Reanimator and Esper Control—two matchups I felt prepared for but knew weren’t the best.

For the WMCQ, I didn’t care what I played because I didn’t consider winning it to be a priority. Team tournaments, while usually fun, aren’t something I would rather play in over an individual tournament. Not only do I not want to look on in horror as my teammate throws away the match, but I don’t want to be responsible for my teammates losing either. There doesn’t need to be any guilt involved. If I lose in a tournament or if my friend loses, I want it to be our fault and no one else’s.

Of course, the World Magic Cup does give away Pro Points, prestige, and money, but I was going to have to win a 400-man tournament. It didn’t seem likely.

So what’s wrong with Flash? Why didn’t I want to play it? For one, it wasn’t proactive enough. It was getting to that point again where nearly every deck in the format was coming at me from different angles and I couldn’t hope to control everything. That’s one of the reasons I went back to casting Boros Reckoners.

I looked at various Arbor Elf decks, including G/R Aggro, Jund Aggro, Jund Midrange (now with more Arbor Elf!), and G/B/W Reanimator. Playing a first turn mana creature is historically a great way to get ahead in the early game (just ask Brian Kibler), and there is a plethora of options for midgame cards that keep you ahead.

The Aristocrats was also under consideration, as I like aggro decks with controlling elements, but I dismissed it. If I wanted to play a deck that was very close to a glass cannon, I would probably play G/B/W Reanimator. Between those two decks, it seemed like there’d be a heavy dose of Electrickerys and Izzet Staticasters running around, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

In the meantime, I played a few matches with Cedric Phillips‘ G/R Aggro update splashing Falkenrath Aristocrat. The mana was bad at times, Gyre Sage and Borderland Ranger were basically unplayable, and I won very few games. I was even mulliganing (unlike in my Versus video with Bard Narson).

There were several ideas that I wanted to pass along to Cedric but was too lazy to [Editor’s Note: Good to see you always have my best interests in mind Gerry. –Your new boss] I guess that was for the best, as Cedric and Tommy Ashton pretty much crushed their tournaments without my help. Who’s to say that my advice would have even been good?

U/W/R Flash was always lurking in the back of mind, and I knew I was very likely to play it instead. With that knowledge, I made it a point to keep the deck updated. Todd Anderson and I eventually gave up and decided to play G/B/W Reanimator, mostly because we had a couple of incredibly valuable resources at our disposal: Brian Braun-Duin and Chris VanMeter.

I made a list, but the smooth-talking BBD and CVM had some sick technology. In the end, I registered this:

Reanimator

Gerry Thompson

Test deck on 04-21-2013

Standard

Creatures (22)

Planeswalkers (2)

2 Garruk Relentless

Lands (23)

Spells (13)

Sideboard

I went 1-2. I really liked the list and a lot of the things it was doing, but it could have used some minor changes. The mana creatures were great, Thragtusk was worse than Acidic Slime in the majority of matchups, Fiend Hunter was the Centaur Healer I always wanted, and three Angel of Serenitys was the right number.

Overall, BBD and CVM do good work. The only things I thought were wrong were the maindeck Garruk Relentlesses, which were a little too narrow in my opinion. Lingering Souls was fine on chump block duty but didn’t do anything aside from that. Playing Gavony Township to make Souls good only made your mana and control matchups worse because it was one less slot for Cavern of Souls.

The Golgari Charms in the sideboard were unwieldy. Deathrite Shaman was also underwhelming since everyone had Garruk Relentless for the mirror. Other than that, the deck was great.

Another awesome thing was that everyone thought I was on U/W/R Flash and kept or mulliganed their hands appropriately. I have officially been typecast.

I Slimed Bant Control so many times in round 1 that BBD would have been proud. In the second round, I lost a super close match to The Aristocrats. In the third round, I lost yet again. Afterward, I talked to BBD about potential changes to the deck, including Sever the Bloodline and another Cavern of Souls. We disagreed on some things, but those are changes that I think are correct.

Of the contingent of StarCityGames.com employees at the WMCQ, Todd Anderson made it the furthest at 6-1, but he lost soon after.

For Sunday’s PTQ, I decided to play U/W/R Flash, but I took it in a different direction.

U/W/R Flash

Gerry Thompson

Test deck on 04-21-2013

Standard

Creatures (9)

Lands (26)

Spells (25)

Sideboard

Again, I went 1-2. A first round loss to the Cedric/Tommy deck put me on the back foot early. I rebounded in the second round with a win over Bant Control. My tournament was cut short by pairing versus Kenny Castor, as I conceded to him in the hopes that he would be joining me in Dublin. Unfortunately, he lost in the next round.

This build was interesting. The cards from Dragon’s Maze lend themselves better to a pseudo tapout strategy, so I wanted to try a build like this in order to familiarize myself with the new style. The fourth Sphinx’s Revelation is necessary in versions like this.

This marked roughly the fiftieth time I’ve tried the deck without Thought Scour, and I’ve hated it every time. Thought Scour helps you make your land drops, fuels your Snapcaster Mages and gives them options, and turns Harvest Pyre into Doom Blade. I’ve found that without Thought Scour missing land drops becomes commonplace even with adding an extra land. You also sit around with mana unused far more often, which is how U/W/R typically loses.

Every time I try to play without Thought Scour I would like someone to yell at me. You can play without it and have success, but I’ve won far more games with Thought Scour builds than without. On the other hand, I could take or leave Augur of Bolas, although I’m pretty sure he should be in the deck as well. The engine of Augur of Bolas / Restoration Angel / Snapcaster Mage is incredibly powerful.

Blasphemous Act was just as bad as I thought it was going to be, at least as a sweeper. Against decks like Bant Control that incidentally gain a bunch of life, killing them with Harvest Pyre can be an issue. My round 2 opponent got Act/Reckonered for 26, and Searing Spear finished him. However, my round 1 opponent deployed a Thundermaw Hellkite and killed me just with that.

I’ve played with Assemble the Legion before, and it was always high variance. Either the board is stable and they die a few turns later or they have a bunch of rampaging monsters doing the Kessig Wolf Run. I wanted more early removal, I wanted to hide behind Boros Reckoners, and I wanted Assemble the Legion to actually be good. That’s why my Assemble decks will always have a Ghost Quarter and/or Pithing Needle somewhere in them.

Overall, the deck was lacking, but then again, my tournament was cut short by a concession, so who knows. The saving grace was finally pulling the trigger on Rapid Hybridization. The 3/3 left behind is often manageable between Boros Reckoner and Restoration Angel, and things like Thundermaw Hellkite and Obzedat, Ghost Council need to die.

Now for some Dragon’s Maze Standard predictions!

1) Dragon’s Maze won’t shake up Standard too much. Existing archetypes will continue to thrive, as most decks get upgrades, but I don’t see DGM providing all that much in the way of new archetypes.

2) Jund will run more mana acceleration to take advantage of early Sire of Insanitys and will be the best Sire of Insanity deck. Rakdos’s Return was a maindeck card, and Sire is much better—both because of the rate and because the body makes it better against decks that dump their hand quickly. A Rakdos’s Return for four won’t always get their entire hand, but a Cavern-fueled Sire will almost every time.

Also, Cavern of Souls is underplayed right now considering how much U/W/R and Esper Control are played. Any Sire of Insanity deck needs a strong reason not to play it.

Jund

Gerry Thompson

Test deck on 04-21-2013

Standard

Creatures (20)

Planeswalkers (2)

2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Lands (25)

Spells (13)

Sideboard

Strangleroot Geist might seem strange since it’s a card that not many people have played with recently, at least in Jund. I think it’s a fantastic card for pressuring control decks early and blocking twice against decks like Naya Blitz. Perhaps the other two should be maindeck over the Tragic Slips.

3) Control decks will adapt to things like Sin Collector and Sire of Insanity, but it will be difficult. For the longest time, our hands have been safe, but not for much longer. Some solid answers to Sire include Devour Flesh, Far // Away, Unsummon, Warleader’s Helix, Harvest Pyre, Selesnya Charm, Turn // Burn, Renounce the Guilds, Warped Physique, and just having a better board presence, perhaps by using planeswalkers.

Esper and Bant look like they have better answers than U/W/R, for whatever that’s worth.

4) Ascended Lawmage is a tad slow, but it might be that extra hexproof guy that Bant needs. Unflinching Courage is also pretty nice.

5) The new protection from colors guys, Lavinia of the Tenth and Blood Baron of Vizkopa, will shake things up. Players are not used to designing their decks with protection from color creatures in mind since there haven’t been many around as of late. Your red deck will need a plan against Lavinia, and decks like Jund may need Mizzium Mortars over Bonfire of the Damned for Blood Baron.

6) Drown in Filth is pretty nice in G/B/W Reanimator.

7) Voice of Resurgence is very good. It might not make G/W playable, but it will show up in some sort of deck.

Before I go, this is my updated U/W/R deck—this time more controlling.

U/W/R Control

Gerry Thompson

Test deck on 04-21-2013

Standard

Creatures (9)

Planeswalkers (2)

2 Ral Zarek

Lands (25)

Spells (24)

Sideboard

Council of the Absolute probably has a place in the sideboard, but I’d wait for Reanimator to die down before you start cutting Rest in Peace or Clone. Perhaps Aetherling deserves a spot too, but I think using the cheaper win conditions is where I’d rather be.

Got any brews you’d like to share? I’m always looking for sweet decks to feature in Versus videos. Thanks!

GerryT

@G3RRYT on Twitter