FNM WIN - Planning for the Meta

So we left our hero last week after a disappointing series of losses while playing my Genesis Wave elf deck. Here’s the list I ran:

ELVES!

Spells:

Llanowar Elves x4

Arbor Elf x4

Joraga Treespeaker x4

Copperhorn Scout x3

Joraga Warcaller x3

Sylvan Ranger x4

Beastmaster Ascension x2

Elvish Archdruid x4

Wolfbriar Elemental x2

Eldrazi Monument x4

Asceticism x1

Primeval Titan x4

Genesis Wave x3

Land:

Misty Rainforest x1

Mystifying Maze x1

Khalni Garden x2

Tectonic Edge x3

Forest x11

Side Board:

Acidic Slime x4

Autumn's Veil x4

Obstinate Baloth x4

Fauna Shaman x1

Leyline of Vitality x1

Mitotic Slime x1

(My three singletons probably should have been Vines of Vastwood)

This little number can do some rather silly things when allowed to get going. Very few of my opponents allowed me this opportunity. Sigh.

I didn’t feel like trying to fight past the hate again this week so I went back to my pet project since Scars came out; building around Venser and anything with proliferate. I wasn’t happy with my 3 color G/U/W version since it’s weakness was early aggro, of which TOGIT has a lot. I played it two weeks ago, and although the matchup with control is really strong, aggro not so much. So I set about fixing the weakness, while trying not to weaken the control matchup too much.

In other words, I messed with the deck.

Here is the deck I was running:

I have a video where I talk in depth about the deck, but here's the list:

Land:

1 Misty Rainforest

3 Island

2 Celestial Colonnade (should probably be 3)

1 Seachrome Coast

4 Glacial Fortress

4 Plains

4 Stirring Wildwood

4 Sunpetal Grove

3 Forest

Spells:

4 Birds of Paradise

2 Contagion Clasp

3 Everflowing Chalice

4 Thrummingbird

4 Sea Gate Oracle

3 Jace Beleren

3 Garruk Wildspeaker

3 Ajani Goldmane

2 Elspeth Tirel

2 Venser, the Sojourner

1 Precursor Golem

1 Gideon Jura

2 Genesis Wave

Side Board: (a definite work in progress here)

4 Obstinate Baloth

4 Day of Judgement

3 Tumble Magnet

2 Ratchet Bomb

1 Sun Titan

1 Wurmcoil Engine

I first took out green. I figured the acceleration wasn’t really important, as the control matchups went long anyway, and the aggro matchups never do. Also, as much as I love the card, Genesis Wave is overkill in this deck. I really want to break the wave wide open, and I definitely think it can be done, but this isn’t the deck to do it. Honestly I think Genesis wave is going to go into a junk deck with G/B/W and have silly interactions like Ob Nixilis, Admonition Angel, and Emeria Angel. It isn’t a proliferate friendly card that I’ve found, but maybe I’m just playing with the wrong proliferate cards.

No Genesis Waves then.

Also, Garruk Wildspeaker is amazing, but doesn’t help the aggro matchup enough, so out as well.

I also decided that I wanted to run four Day of Judgement in the main. However, the green build was skewed rather heavily towards creatures, which die to the Day. So I took out a lot of creatures. No more Precursor Golem which was probably just a cute trick anyway, as opposed to actually being good. No more Birds of Paradise. Green was out. I was sad about losing the man lands, but the mana does get stronger when I’m two color.

Next I put in the cards I think are good that I wanted to play main:

Tumble Magnet - Seriously how good is this card? Even without proliferate it does pretty much everything a control deck wants, deals with problem cards and slows the game down significantly, changing combat math, making attacks more difficult, making blocking almost impossible, and generally being the colorless utility knife it’s supposed to be. Very good, that’s how good this card is.

Journey to Nowhere - I didn’t realize last week how important this card is as a two drop. It deals with their acceleration, their early threats that they hoped to sneak in under my counter magic when they are on the play and saw my Seachrome Coast turn 1 and the monolithic threats that this format is defined by, titans, Wurmcoil, Abyssal Persecutor, et al.

Spreading Seas - The one time best card in standard is back again. It does everything I want out of a cantrip, dealing with man lands, and slowing down my opponents development.

Here’s the list I came up with:

3 Preordain

3 Everflowing Chalice

3 Journey to Nowhere

3 Spreading Seas

4 Thrummingbird

2 Tumble Magnet

2 Sea Gate Oracle

2 Jace Beleren

3 Ajani Goldmane

4 Day of Judgement

3 Venser, the Sojourner

2 Contagion Engine

2 Sun Titan

1 Marsh Flats

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Mystifying Maze

1 Halimar Depths

1 Kabira Crossroads

1 Sejiri Refuge

2 Seachrome Coast

2 Celestial Colonnade

3 Tectonic Edge

4 Glacial Fortress

3 Plains

4 Island

Sideboard:

1 Jace Beleren

1 Journey to Nowhere

2 Ratchet Bomb

2 Condemn

2 Baneslayer Angel

3 Luminarch Ascension

4 Revoke Existence

Sideboarding advice:

Control matchups

+3 Luminarch Ascension

+2 Baneslayer Angel

+1 Jace Beleren

-2 Preordain

-4 Day of Judgement

Journey to Nowhere stays in to deal with the few threats they run.

Alternatively, if the control deck has the ability to produce a lot of threats:

-3 Preordain

-3 Journey to Nowhere

Keeping Day of Judgement in and maintaining most of your card draw spells.

Aggro Matchups

+2 Ratchet Bomb

+2 Condemn

+2 Baneslayer Angel

+1 Journey to Nowhere

-2 Jace Beleren

-2 Spreading Seas (leave these in if you are on the play and take them out on the draw)

-3 Preordain

Combo:

+4 Revoke Existence (usually)

+1Jace Beleren

+2 Ratchet Bomb

+3 Luminarch Ascension

+2 Baneslayer Angel

-4 Day of Judgement (usually)

-3 Journey to Nowhere

-2 Tumble Magnet

-3 Preordain

Ok, I made a video about this version of the deck and was hoping to get it posted far earlier than I was actually able to, so I have lost some of my memory of the matches I played while I was fighting with video editing and converting programs. So please bear with the truncated tourney report.

Round 1

Mike - Elves

Mike is always a nice guy and his elves are always rather mean. They ran me over post haste game 1, but my board cards and main deck creature hate won the next two. One pivotal turn had me attacking with a Sun Titan into his Elvish Archdruid and Ezuri. I knew he had the mana to regenerate his team, so I made him block the titan and use his mana to save the archdruid, then pulled the trigger on Day of Judgement wiping his board, including Ezuri. It was all my game from there.

Rogue Insight 1 - World 0

Round 2

Matt - B/G Rogue (His list can be found here.)

We drew after not finishing a third game. His Eldrazi Monument made me about one turn away from dying every turn and it took forever for him to get to a point where he could kill me, but I conceded to his third Awakening Zone. Game two I won. Game three went to time. Matt has a MUCH better description of our games here. It's a good read, I definitely recommend it.

Rogue Insight 1 - World 0 - Draw 1

Round 3

Josh - Vampires (budget version)

Josh is a great kid, but he was never really in these games. In the first I was able to use Spreading Seas, Tectonic Edge, and Venser’s ultimate ability to completely lock him out of playing spells. I actually felt bad. I won the second game by milling him out by using Jace Beleren’s ultimate two turns in a row thanks to proliferating four times per turn thanks to Venser, the Sojourner and Contagion Engine.

Rogue Insight 2 - World 0 - Draw 1

Round 4

Dean - RDW

Dean is a really nice guy with a very fast and consistent deck.

I lost these fast, but in both games I was very close to gaining control of the board, and one more turn in either game could have made the difference.

Rogue Insight 2 - World 1 - Draw 1

Top 4

I know I won this match, but I was really tired and I actually don’t remember who I played or what they were playing, so I apologize to whoever you are. I’ll kick myself when you tell me I know.

Rogue Insight 3 - World 1 - Draw 1

Since the prize for 1st and 2nd is exactly the same, the FNM card, I drew with the winner of the other top 4 game and took my card and went home to get some sleep. All in all it was a good night.

Hope you liked the article and video.

- Rogue Insight