MTG Lab

Shuffling

2009-12-30T16:26:00.001-08:00

Shuffling has been something that has puzzled me to no end. I can't understand how having 27 lands in your deck you can still get mana screwed. I have a 2 land opening hand with a possibility of drawing 1 of the 25 remaining land in the rest of the 53 cards in the next three turns and don't draw a single land, how sad. Well I searched for an article on shuffling and I found this little jewel and it even debunks another "expert's" video in the process.

The link below:

How to Cheat

5C Cascade - BeckerDotDec 2.0

2009-12-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

I've done a lot of play testing with this deck and I've found that the 8 to 10 lower spells (Converted Mana Cost of 3 or less) are the core of the deck. The deck changes dramatically when these spells change. The Mike Flores BeckerDotDec with its 4 Blightning and 4 Esper Charms as the 8 lower spells simply shred opponent's hands making them dependent on their top deck. I've found several decks that are quite a bad match-up for this strategy. Grixis Control counters these spells, draws more than discards, and often runs double negative main deck, and there isn't anything to stop their Cruel from going off except Deny Reality and there are no answers for Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Boros and Red Deck Wins (RDW) often empties their hands before much can be discarded and end up running off their top deck even without discard. I have also found it inconsistent against its "best match-up" Jund, after all Jund also Blightnings and many things that 5c Cascade can do. I also found that when running all 5 colors one must take full advantage of the sideboard.

The 2nd strategy that I tried was life gain (in addition to the Baneslayers and Captured Sunlight) the lower spells being quality creatures with lifelink. After hearing about the Naya Lightsaber commentaries that Naya simply runs better quality cards than many other decks and began thinking what are the best cards available. I ended up deciding on Rhox War Monk and Vampire Nighthawk. I had 1 Jenara for a while but the lack of lifelink was detrimental to the deck. The reason Blightning and Esper Charm were originally chosen was for the obvious 2 for 1 card advantage but if the hand is empty Blightning turns into a lightning bolt that only targets players (and planeswalkers) and Esper Charm usually draws you two lands (27 land deck.) While the RWM and VN often garner 2 for 1 and absorb removal leaving your Baneslayers to smash face. They also give you the crucial life gain against the meta-aggro. I found that with the lower spells being these lifelink creatures that its not as good against Jund and Grixis. So the sideboard changed dramatically (I used to run Blightning and Esper Charm in the side.) After seeing the Spread 'em deck I didn't see a reason why this deck couldn't convert to a Spread 'em deck after board. This works exceptionally well against many decks in the meta right now (including Valakut and Crypt.) The only other decks were decks that gain control through enchantments like Luminarch Ascension and artifacts like Eldrazi Monument (So I'm trying Solemn Offering.) So here is what after hours of play testing has created.

Non-Land

3 Baneslayer Angel

4 Bituminous Blast

4 Bloodbraid Elf

4 Captured Sunlight

4 Deny Reality

4 Enlisted Wurm

1 Maelstrom Nexus (thinking about changing this to Angel's Mercy)

1 Rafiq of the Many (thinking about changing this to Angel's Mercy)

4 Rhox War Monk

4 Vampire Nighthawk

Land

2 Arcane Sanctum

3 Crumbling Necropolis

4 Exotic Orchard

1 Forest

1 Island

2 Jungle Shrine

1 Marsh Flats

1 Mountain

2 Plains

4 Rupture Spire

3 Savage Lands

2 Seaside Citadel

1 Swamp

SideBoard

3 Ardent Plea

4 Convincing Mirage

4 Solemn Offering (I'm thinking about getting rid of these for Day of Judgement, possibly 3 Day and 1 more Ardent Plea)

4 Spreading Seas

Against the Meta

Boros, Vampires, and Red Deck Wins

Keep the Same

Jund and the new Esper Deck (choke out the white mana)

-4 Deny Reality

-4 Vampire Nighthawk

-2 Enlisted Wurm

-1 Angel's Mercy

+3 Ardent Plea

+4 Convincing Mirage

+4 Spreading Seas

Grixis

-4 Bituminous Blast

-4 Rhox War Monk

+3 Ardent Plea

+4 Spreading Seas

+1 Convincing Mirage

(Save Nighthawk for Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Deny Reality land)

Eldrazi Green

-4 Enlisted Wurm

+4 Solemn Offering

The hardest match-ups so far has been the new Esper deck and Naya Lightsaber

The Deck To Play At States

2009-12-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

If we go with the advice of the experts and look at the results of high level tournaments. We can conclude that if we play a deck that isn't "the deck to beat," then we have a higher rate of success. For example, the last Worlds tournament, Jund was "the deck to beat" yet a Naya deck came out on top in the Standard portion of Worlds. States is just a week away and Jund is arguably still "the deck to beat" even though Boros and Mono-Red have definitely shown to be contending decks. Here is what I think the options are to make the top 8 in States:

5C Cascade - This deck literally does nothing for four turns, but it is incredibly powerful. It made top 8 at the recent Nashville $5K...twice

Junk Mana Ramp - This deck ramps quickly and drops one bomb after another. The quality of cards in this deck is hard to beat.

Sphinx Control - Austria's very own Philipp Summereder made a very powerful control deck that did respectable at Worlds. What is great about this deck is the sideboard and few people will have effective sideboards against it.

Naya - This is arguably the best deck in Standard today because of its speed and the quality of its cards. The ability to third turn Bloodbraid elf or even second turn Wolly Thoctar is incredible.

Bant Lotus Ramp Angels

2009-11-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

Creatures 21
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Oracle of Mul Daya
2 Baneslayer Angel
3 Empyrial Archangel
4 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
2 Iona (another win con against most decks today)

Spells 16
4 Harrow
3 Khalni Heart Expidition
1 Rampant Growth
3 Path to Exile
4 Summoning Trap

Land 24
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Island
10 Forest

Side
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3 Celestial Purge
3 Rise from the Grave
4 Great Sable Stag
3 Oblivion Ring

Violent Jund - Standard Zen

2009-11-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

Violent Jund

Nonland

3 Lavalanche

4 Violent Ultimatum

4 Acidic Slime

4 Mold Shambler

2 Chandra Nalaar

2 Terminate

2 Ob Nixilis

3 Rampant Growth

4 Lotus Cobra

2 Borderland Ranger

4 Harrow

2 Khalni Heart Expedition

Land

2 Verdant Catacombs

4 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Dragonskull Summit

4 Mountain

4 Swamp

9 Forest

White/Blue Control - Standard Zen

2009-11-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

Currently a Tier 1 control deck has yet to surface, I've been working on this thing since Zendikar came out and this is my current decklist and sideboard.

White/Blue Control

Nonland

4 Into the Roil

4 Narrow Escape

4 Ponder

4 Negate

4 Journey to Nowhere

4 Oblivion Ring

2 Jace Beleren

2 Emeria Angel

2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

2 Sigil of the Empty Throne

4 Wall of Denial

Land

3 Glacial Fortress

3 Sejirl Refuge

2 Terramorphic Expanse

3 Scalding Tar

4 Arid Mesa

3 Island

5 Plains

Sideboard

2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle (if there is too much removal -2 Emeria Angel)

4 Flashfreeze

3 Mindbreak Trap

3 Telemin Performance (for those pesky creatureless Plainswalker decks)

3 Mind Control (for that Pro-White Bloodwitch)

[Bounce the O-Rings and Journeys while the ability is on the stack, and turn the bounce into a Celestial Purge that hits any color]

Give me some constructive critiques.

Eldrazi Green/White - Standard Zen

2009-11-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

This is just the skeleton, there is a lot of play testing needed but I think it can be more powerful than Eldrazi Elves.

Nonlands

Captain of the Watch 3

Emeria Angel 4

Steward of Valeron 4

Conqueror's Pledge 3

Martial Coup 3 (XWW)

Rampant Growth 4

Harrow 4

Beastmaster Ascension 3

Wall of Denial 4

Eldrazi Monument 3

Clarion Ultimatum 1

Lands

4 Misty Rainforest

4 Sunpetal Grove

4 Seaside Citadel

2 Terramorphic Expanse

2 Island

4 Forest

4 Plains

Mana Ramp, and Smash Face