NPH Decks Decks and more Decks
A new set release is my favorite time in the Magic Year. I think that prereleases are some of the best events all year. There is nothing quite like the feeling of cracking open a pack and hoping to find that perfect set of cards that will of course rocket you to superstardom, or at least a few prize packs.
I went 4-2 at our prerelease on Saturday at TOGIT. I was one win away from making top 8 when I got paired with Emmett. Emmett and I sat next to each other during deck building. I cut the last few cards out of his monstrosity, and he helped me focus my deck into the U/W flying threat that it became. We both knew every card in the others deck, and neither of us wanted to play the other. His deck, I can't even rightly describe as a deck. It was more of a bomb rolled up in a bomb, surrounded by more bombs, and supported by the commons that, with the insane amount of synergy in his deck, made them into bombs. I really wish I were kidding. He had I think 5 mana myr, Myr Galvanizer, a metric ton of good removal in his 3 colors, Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Hordesmelter Dragon(Thanks, Emmett, I forgot this one because you never played it against me.) and Karn, the Released. He played all of them. I saw him play in the first round against an opponent with both Sword of War and Peace and Batterskull, who played both in every game, and still lost in two games. Emmett was at 1 the turn when Karn restarted the game. Emmett had quite a few permanents in play on turn one. He won shortly thereafter.
I, on the other hand had only one bomb: Sunblast Angel. What I did have a lot of was synergy. Every creature in my deck except Glimmerpoint Stag flew. All of them. Ok, all except the Silver Myr. Most of them had 3 power or more. I had on color Myr, good removal, and a few tricks. I frequently ended the game at higher than 20 life thanks to my Razor Hippogriff, Vapor Snare, and Glimmerpoint Stag. My damage curve didn't really start until turn 4 usually, unless I got a turn two myr, but it ramped very quickly after that. One game I went turn 5 swing for 2 flying. Turn 6 swing for 9 flying. Turn 7 swing for 9 flying, dead. That wasn't uncommon. So I didn't have anything that was going to really swing a game in my favor other than Sunblast, but my deck was solid. I went 3-0 pretty easily. Lost in round 4 to a good R/B list run by my friend Rob who piloted his removal heavy deck with ease to a 2-0 win. Now in those games I had 5 spells the first game total, and 10 lands, and the second game I had no lands, but that happens. Up till Rob, I hadn't lost a game, let alone a match. I win round 5 2-0 against a very good player, Jonathan Sukenik, running a self admitted bad deck. But any deck in Jon's hands is dangerous as his 3-1 performance so far indicated, and he played his cards as best he could, but my flyers won that match for me. So I'm 4-1 and a win puts me in top 8. Emmett and I were talking about how, both being 4-1, we were likely to play each other and how neither of us wanted to play the other one, when the pairings went up and BAM there it was. So Emmett and I played. I should say Emmett played and I watched him beat me up. He had turn 4 Jor Kadeen with metalcraft in game 1, yeah I died. He had Geth in game 2 after I made him discard Karn. He decked me out from there, as my removal turned off his attack step, but not Geth's ability. Insane deck is insane. Emmett made top 4 and they all split the packs. Good work Emmett. OH and a shout out to my buddy Minjin who made a top 8 for the first time in his Magic career ever. He actually made top 4 and split the packs as well. It was nice to see someone so happy about it. Reminds me how much I love this game.
On to new stuff!
For an inveterate deck builder like myself, a new set release is Christmas and birthday presents all rolled into one wonderful little metallic plastic package. All that is to say that I've been brewing a batch of amazingness, or at least innovation, which is of course why you all read my blog so here goes.
Tempered Tezz
60 cards
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Island
2 Marsh Flats
4 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Swamp
22 lands
4 Memnite
3 Spellskite
4 Signal Pest
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Hex Parasite
1 Puresteel Paladin
2 Etched Champion
21 creatures
3 Mox Opal
1 Batterskull
2 Dispatch
1 Mortarpod
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
4 Tempered Steel
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
17 other spells
Ok, well this deck has been floating around in my brain for a while now. I've been playing a lot of Grixis Tezzeret lately, and that list inspired me to try out this mana base. I was thinking of I can realistically and consistently run Koth, Tezz and Jace in the same dack, why not run Tempered steel, and just win? I need to fill out the 2 Marsh Flats to 4, but otherwise it is a pretty strong list. The exact grouping of creatures is a bit rough, but this deck has some of the craziest openings in Standard. Turn two Tempered Steel, turn 3 Tezzeret is not only possible, but really scary when turn 1 showed me a signal pest, memnite and hex parasite off an opal and a seachrome. Now this is a best case scenario, but that is 10 damage swinging on turn 2, and 15 on turn 3. What turn does Splintertwin go off again? Oh right, turn 4. Yeah you're dead before that. Nice infinite combo, bro. Throw in the disruption and stalling that Spellskite represents, and you've got a pretty strong deck.
SIDE NOTE: Spellskite COMEPLETELY TURNS OFF SPLINTERTWIN! Yes, that's right. One resolved Spellskite makes the Splintertwin player absolutely have to kill the Spellskite before being able to cast Splintertwin, or the Spellskite will just pay two life and redirect Splintertwin to itself, making your combo dead. Spellskite has to be a legal target for the redirect to work, but Enchant Creature can hit any creature, like Pacifism, so it works. (Not a judge, but I'm pretty sure.) Oh and though it looks like a wall, being a 0/4, it doesn't have defender, and CAN ATTACK! Are you afraid of the new combo deck on the block? Board Spellskite, works in almost every matchup too, so it's a versatile choice.
Dispatch also deserves a special note here. Dispatch also buys a turn against Splitertwin, tapping the exarch in response to the Splintertwin, or, if you have metalcraft, exiling the exarch entirely, and countering the twin being cast. Stoneforge, Puresteel, and Tezz represent the card draw and advantage in the deck, Spellskite, Hex Parasite, and Dispatch represent the disruption, Tezz and Tempered Steel represent the creature pump. It's a resilient and fast deck. I highly suggest trying it out.
Oh, yeah, and it's a Batterskull deck, and can play the Batterskull game with the best of them
I also needed to break apart my Grixis Tezzeret list in order to free up my Koth's and make
this list:
Big Red:
4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Inferno Titan
4 Urabrask, the Hidden
4 Moltensteel Dragon
4 Sphere of the Suns
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Red Sun's Zenith (or Volt Charge)
4 Tumble Magnet
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Tectonic Edge
12 Mountain
Sideboard
1 Island
4 Splintertwin
4 Deceiver Exarch
3 Hex Parasite
3 Ratchet Bomb
This is probably the most straight forward list I've built so far with NPH.
Strategy? Hit 4 mana and do something stupidly powerful. One of the lessons I've learned playing Grixis Tezz with Koth is that a turn 3 Planeswalker is a beating. I suspect that a turn 3 Moltensteel Dragon is equally hard to deal with. Urabrask is really strong, and Inferno titan has never been better. Would I like to swing with my Inferno Titan the turn I cast him? Yes please! That's 12 damage, 6 of it direct damage that can be spread across multiple targets, in one turn. Oh and I forgot, to do that I have to have Urabrask in play, so he'd be attacking too, making it 16 damage. Now this deck is very good at killing you once it has hit you once or twice, with bolts and zenith, or Koth's ultimate. But the sideboard is the real beauty. Splintertwin infinite combo after board off of one island, four scalding tarns, and 4 Sphere of the suns. Surprise factor is pretty big here. Even with free spells in standard, if they tap out, you can combo off without fear, unless they have a Spellskite in play. Have I mentioned how stupid good Spellskite is? Don't say I didn't warn you.
Want to make this deck really insane?
Add White.
4 Arid Mesa
8 Plains
4 Tectonic Edge
10 Mountain
3 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Urabrask, the Hidden
4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Sphere of the Sun
4 Inferno Titan
4 Everflowing Chalice
3 Karn the Released
4 Moltensteel Dragon
Starting turn 3 this deck throws haymakers like no other deck in the format. Koth into Urabrask into Hero or Elesh? Just amazing. Yes there are 14 legendary creatures (counting planeswalkers), but MAN when they hit the board, does stuff happen! Oh and Karn is good. No, really. Karn is just so versatile. He answers any permanent on the board, or absolutely demands that the opponent either kill you in two turns or deal with Karn. And this deck can cast him on turn 4 rather easily.
I haven't even scratched the surface with what I think this new set brings to the table. For example, although I dismissed it early, and am not convinced yet it has the speed for the new standard metagame, Birthing Pod is a deck builders dream card. I've got a ton of ideas for it. I also think that Necrotic Ooze may have gotten better, and Fauna Shaman definitely did. All in all, this is a great time to be a deck building fanatic.
So go out there and build something fun!
As always, thanks for reading.
Mike - @Rogueinsight on Twitter
I went 4-2 at our prerelease on Saturday at TOGIT. I was one win away from making top 8 when I got paired with Emmett. Emmett and I sat next to each other during deck building. I cut the last few cards out of his monstrosity, and he helped me focus my deck into the U/W flying threat that it became. We both knew every card in the others deck, and neither of us wanted to play the other. His deck, I can't even rightly describe as a deck. It was more of a bomb rolled up in a bomb, surrounded by more bombs, and supported by the commons that, with the insane amount of synergy in his deck, made them into bombs. I really wish I were kidding. He had I think 5 mana myr, Myr Galvanizer, a metric ton of good removal in his 3 colors, Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Hordesmelter Dragon(Thanks, Emmett, I forgot this one because you never played it against me.) and Karn, the Released. He played all of them. I saw him play in the first round against an opponent with both Sword of War and Peace and Batterskull, who played both in every game, and still lost in two games. Emmett was at 1 the turn when Karn restarted the game. Emmett had quite a few permanents in play on turn one. He won shortly thereafter.
I, on the other hand had only one bomb: Sunblast Angel. What I did have a lot of was synergy. Every creature in my deck except Glimmerpoint Stag flew. All of them. Ok, all except the Silver Myr. Most of them had 3 power or more. I had on color Myr, good removal, and a few tricks. I frequently ended the game at higher than 20 life thanks to my Razor Hippogriff, Vapor Snare, and Glimmerpoint Stag. My damage curve didn't really start until turn 4 usually, unless I got a turn two myr, but it ramped very quickly after that. One game I went turn 5 swing for 2 flying. Turn 6 swing for 9 flying. Turn 7 swing for 9 flying, dead. That wasn't uncommon. So I didn't have anything that was going to really swing a game in my favor other than Sunblast, but my deck was solid. I went 3-0 pretty easily. Lost in round 4 to a good R/B list run by my friend Rob who piloted his removal heavy deck with ease to a 2-0 win. Now in those games I had 5 spells the first game total, and 10 lands, and the second game I had no lands, but that happens. Up till Rob, I hadn't lost a game, let alone a match. I win round 5 2-0 against a very good player, Jonathan Sukenik, running a self admitted bad deck. But any deck in Jon's hands is dangerous as his 3-1 performance so far indicated, and he played his cards as best he could, but my flyers won that match for me. So I'm 4-1 and a win puts me in top 8. Emmett and I were talking about how, both being 4-1, we were likely to play each other and how neither of us wanted to play the other one, when the pairings went up and BAM there it was. So Emmett and I played. I should say Emmett played and I watched him beat me up. He had turn 4 Jor Kadeen with metalcraft in game 1, yeah I died. He had Geth in game 2 after I made him discard Karn. He decked me out from there, as my removal turned off his attack step, but not Geth's ability. Insane deck is insane. Emmett made top 4 and they all split the packs. Good work Emmett. OH and a shout out to my buddy Minjin who made a top 8 for the first time in his Magic career ever. He actually made top 4 and split the packs as well. It was nice to see someone so happy about it. Reminds me how much I love this game.
On to new stuff!
For an inveterate deck builder like myself, a new set release is Christmas and birthday presents all rolled into one wonderful little metallic plastic package. All that is to say that I've been brewing a batch of amazingness, or at least innovation, which is of course why you all read my blog so here goes.
Tempered Tezz
60 cards
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Island
2 Marsh Flats
4 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Swamp
22 lands
4 Memnite
3 Spellskite
4 Signal Pest
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Hex Parasite
1 Puresteel Paladin
2 Etched Champion
21 creatures
3 Mox Opal
1 Batterskull
2 Dispatch
1 Mortarpod
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
4 Tempered Steel
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
17 other spells
Ok, well this deck has been floating around in my brain for a while now. I've been playing a lot of Grixis Tezzeret lately, and that list inspired me to try out this mana base. I was thinking of I can realistically and consistently run Koth, Tezz and Jace in the same dack, why not run Tempered steel, and just win? I need to fill out the 2 Marsh Flats to 4, but otherwise it is a pretty strong list. The exact grouping of creatures is a bit rough, but this deck has some of the craziest openings in Standard. Turn two Tempered Steel, turn 3 Tezzeret is not only possible, but really scary when turn 1 showed me a signal pest, memnite and hex parasite off an opal and a seachrome. Now this is a best case scenario, but that is 10 damage swinging on turn 2, and 15 on turn 3. What turn does Splintertwin go off again? Oh right, turn 4. Yeah you're dead before that. Nice infinite combo, bro. Throw in the disruption and stalling that Spellskite represents, and you've got a pretty strong deck.
SIDE NOTE: Spellskite COMEPLETELY TURNS OFF SPLINTERTWIN! Yes, that's right. One resolved Spellskite makes the Splintertwin player absolutely have to kill the Spellskite before being able to cast Splintertwin, or the Spellskite will just pay two life and redirect Splintertwin to itself, making your combo dead. Spellskite has to be a legal target for the redirect to work, but Enchant Creature can hit any creature, like Pacifism, so it works. (Not a judge, but I'm pretty sure.) Oh and though it looks like a wall, being a 0/4, it doesn't have defender, and CAN ATTACK! Are you afraid of the new combo deck on the block? Board Spellskite, works in almost every matchup too, so it's a versatile choice.
Dispatch also deserves a special note here. Dispatch also buys a turn against Splitertwin, tapping the exarch in response to the Splintertwin, or, if you have metalcraft, exiling the exarch entirely, and countering the twin being cast. Stoneforge, Puresteel, and Tezz represent the card draw and advantage in the deck, Spellskite, Hex Parasite, and Dispatch represent the disruption, Tezz and Tempered Steel represent the creature pump. It's a resilient and fast deck. I highly suggest trying it out.
Oh, yeah, and it's a Batterskull deck, and can play the Batterskull game with the best of them
I also needed to break apart my Grixis Tezzeret list in order to free up my Koth's and make
this list:
Big Red:
4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Inferno Titan
4 Urabrask, the Hidden
4 Moltensteel Dragon
4 Sphere of the Suns
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Red Sun's Zenith (or Volt Charge)
4 Tumble Magnet
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Tectonic Edge
12 Mountain
Sideboard
1 Island
4 Splintertwin
4 Deceiver Exarch
3 Hex Parasite
3 Ratchet Bomb
This is probably the most straight forward list I've built so far with NPH.
Strategy? Hit 4 mana and do something stupidly powerful. One of the lessons I've learned playing Grixis Tezz with Koth is that a turn 3 Planeswalker is a beating. I suspect that a turn 3 Moltensteel Dragon is equally hard to deal with. Urabrask is really strong, and Inferno titan has never been better. Would I like to swing with my Inferno Titan the turn I cast him? Yes please! That's 12 damage, 6 of it direct damage that can be spread across multiple targets, in one turn. Oh and I forgot, to do that I have to have Urabrask in play, so he'd be attacking too, making it 16 damage. Now this deck is very good at killing you once it has hit you once or twice, with bolts and zenith, or Koth's ultimate. But the sideboard is the real beauty. Splintertwin infinite combo after board off of one island, four scalding tarns, and 4 Sphere of the suns. Surprise factor is pretty big here. Even with free spells in standard, if they tap out, you can combo off without fear, unless they have a Spellskite in play. Have I mentioned how stupid good Spellskite is? Don't say I didn't warn you.
Want to make this deck really insane?
Add White.
4 Arid Mesa
8 Plains
4 Tectonic Edge
10 Mountain
3 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Urabrask, the Hidden
4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Sphere of the Sun
4 Inferno Titan
4 Everflowing Chalice
3 Karn the Released
4 Moltensteel Dragon
Starting turn 3 this deck throws haymakers like no other deck in the format. Koth into Urabrask into Hero or Elesh? Just amazing. Yes there are 14 legendary creatures (counting planeswalkers), but MAN when they hit the board, does stuff happen! Oh and Karn is good. No, really. Karn is just so versatile. He answers any permanent on the board, or absolutely demands that the opponent either kill you in two turns or deal with Karn. And this deck can cast him on turn 4 rather easily.
I haven't even scratched the surface with what I think this new set brings to the table. For example, although I dismissed it early, and am not convinced yet it has the speed for the new standard metagame, Birthing Pod is a deck builders dream card. I've got a ton of ideas for it. I also think that Necrotic Ooze may have gotten better, and Fauna Shaman definitely did. All in all, this is a great time to be a deck building fanatic.
So go out there and build something fun!
As always, thanks for reading.
Mike - @Rogueinsight on Twitter
Great summation of the prerelease. A stellar turnout at over 64 people, and a lot of good talent present.
ReplyDeleteI will add that I also had a Hordesmelter, and you convinced me to cut the Myr Propogator. Eight rares in six packs does help with sealed deck, fortunately.
See you Friday!
Nice article! I've been racking my brain for post NPH standard decks and this really got my brain going, which is what an article should do.
ReplyDeleteI have the four Tempered Steel if you need them.
ReplyDelete