Five With Flores

It’s the first You Make the Play of the new year… or for that matter over three months! Featuring Celestial Colonnade and a host of new Worldwake cards!

The scenario:

You are playing a Raka control deck… U/R/W board control, no counters main deck, but lots of good cards. For sake of argument, this is your deck:

Pretend Raka Control Deck

4 Everflowing Chalice

2 Divination
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Spreading Seas
4 Treasure Hunt

3 Ajani Vengeant

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Day of Judgment
4 Path to Exile

2 Celestial Collonade
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Halimar Depths
4 Island
1 Kabira Crossroads
2 Mountain
2 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn

Before you make any comments (and I’m sure there will be comments), I am not pretending this is the optimal Raka-colors deck; this is just a with some stats that you can use to help formulate your solution to today’s You Make the Play.

The reason you went U/R/W over Grixis or Esper is that Everflowing Chalice can ramp you to Day of Judgment or one of two very good Planeswalkers on the third turn. Given the interaction between one of those and Treasure Hunt (as well as Halimar Depths and Treasure Hunt), it seemed worth running around Esper Charm and Cruel Ultimatum.

To you are putting a lot of faith in Treasure Hunt. You’ve cut down to 23 lands because of Treasure Hunt’s “cantrip” capability as well as the presence of Everflowing Chalice (aka Motherlovin’ Cup), which should help you get action.

Okay! The problem:

It’s a simple one… given the above deck, do you keep or no?

On the play?

On the draw?

Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Treasure Hunt
Ajani Vengeant
Lightning Bolt
Day of Judgment
Celestial Colonnade
Scalding Tarn

I think this should make for an interesting discussion; I think you should think so, too.

So I am not going to work on the solution until we have at least 25 comments

That shouldn’t be a problem. This You Make the Play drew 38!

LOVE
MIKE

A review of hot new Worldwake uncommon, Tectonic Edge. Also free deck list!

This card is masterful. U/W with Crucible of Worlds is currently my second favorite Extended deck. Tectonic Edge fits right in (at least sideboard) and will be some kind of wonderful in any attrition-type match against other decks vying for the control role.

Superficial comparisons can be made to two iconic cards:

Wasteland
“It’s worse than Wasteland!” Well… Yeah, it’s probably worse than Wasteland. That said, so what? Ancestral Vision is worse than Ancestral Recall, but managed to be a fine card. On that note, Tectonic Edge can give you a measure of redundancy over your Wastelands if you’re playing, say, a deck with 30+ lands that can play multiple lands, over and over. Its fundamental limitations on both the opponent’s minimum mana situation and the additional mana activation cost do in fact make this card less perfect than the fearsome Wasteland, but, again… So what?

Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl is another card you could have said was worse than Wasteland; in fact, in head’s up comparison, Dust Bowl is slower than Tectonic Edge, though it does not have the same [opponent's] minimum mana requirement. On balance, Dust Bowl allowed you to sacrifice other lands, allowing for a long-term, methodical, assault on nonbasic lands that Tectonic Edge does not.

Ultimately - Tectonic Edge is probably strictly worse than a card that was strictly worse than another popular card (Strip Mine)… But should still be very good in a good many places. This is a card that I can see playing in my sideboard in Standard, going up to 28 or even 30 lands to fight decks like Jund or other Grixis or Esper control decks (you heard it here first). The non-destruction / cycling attack from Spreading Seas will leave a land in play, “allowing” the opponent to ramp up to four, giving you an open to ‘Edge. It’s all coming together, no? A great companion to Treasure Hunt and Jace, the Mind Sculptor provided you are not under threat of lethal force.

Snap Judgment Rating - Staple / sideboard - high

LOVE
MIKE

P.S. Free Deck List

U/W Two Combos

1 Chalice of the Void
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Sword of the Meek
4 Thopter Foundry

3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Repeal
4 Thirst for Knowledge

4 Kitchen Finks

2 Baneslayer Angel
1 Day of Judgment
1 Martyr of Sands
3 Path to Exile
2 Wrath of God
1 Yosei, the Morning Star

2 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Den
3 Arid Mesa
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Marsh Flats
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Snow-covered Island
3 Snow-covered Plains
1 Tolaria West

sb:
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Vedalken Shackles
2 Repeal
2 Baneslayer Angel
1 Day of Judgment
1 Path to Exile
1 Wrath of God

I really wish I had played this U/W deck instead of the other one in the Connecticut PTQ a few weeks back. Or at least some of the cards I missed, like Vedalken Shackles or the Thopter combo.

There are some sideboarding holes, especially now that GerryT’s hybrid Dark Depths / Thopter Foundry combo deck has become popular, but this version of U/W has still performed well for me. Since the third most common kill is Crucible of Worlds + Gargoyle Castle, you can probably see why Tectonic Edge would be good in this deck (at least in the sideboard).

The most common kill is something involving Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek; though my deck lacks either a Time Sieve or Ironworks combo to go infinite.

The second most common kill is Emeria + Miren + Yosei (you can set everything in this deck up with a Gifts Ungiven, Academy Ruins, and a little time).

Then of course there is something to do with the Martyr combo. I started with Conley Woods’s deck, swapped out Black for Blue, and steadily cut back on Martyrs as they were the weakest part of this deck [presumably without Phyrexian Arena]. Still good, and still cute given that you can turbo charge a post-Thirst for Knowledge Sword of the Meek with one

My favorite Extended deck right now is G/R Scapeshift. I am about 20-0 with it… It seems to have a fair number of structural and sideboarding holes, but I have somehow managed to win [and dodge for the most part GerryT's deck].

Five With Flores is happy to have another post from our friend Thomas Dodd, aka @amistod on Twitter.

Thomas was instrumental in building the mono-Cascade decks and has been representin’ the blog with our signature decks at a number of 5K events, including a Top 16 with Black Baneslayer, you know, before it was cool.

Thomas is back with a great report — and response to the Grand Unified Theory of Magic — and Five is happy, as always to have him.

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On the Monday before the Atlanta 5k, I called my friend, Robbie Cordell, and exclaimed that I had found the deck for us to play that weekend. When I saw Mike’s Grixis list, it was right after listening to Kelly, Will and Mike discuss the Grand Unified Theory, and I felt like the veil had been lifted. My main problem with the Double Negative/Sphinx version is that Duress completely undermines the path to victory. There are as many as ten situational spells in LSV’s list. Once I realized that no card in Mike’s deck “missed”, I was hooked. (As you guys know from my stint with Black Baneslayer, I am absolutely obsessed with never missing a cascade.) Robbie and I began working with the list on MTGO several days before the 5k. Since the first thing I do when I start testing a Flores list is drop one of the expensive spells, I took out Sorin Markov and replaced it with a Terminate. After several matches, we started noticing a trend. We wanted more Nighthawks, and we boarded in the same cards in almost every match. Into the Roil is phenomenal against three drops, but with Verdant Catacombs, not even Spreading Seas could save me from the Leech. The Terminate is really a concession to Putrid Leech. I just can’t seem to play decks that do well against that guy. Countersquall performed better than expected, and we moved it to the main deck. With the added space in the sideboard, this is what we registered:

Grixis Burn, by Thomas Dodd

2 Sorin Markov

4 Divination
4 Spreading Seas

4 Blightning
3 Countersquall
4 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Sedraxis Specter
2 Terminate

4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt

4 Crumbling Sanctuary
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Island
2 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Swamp

sb
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Bituminous Blast
1 Countersquall
1 Earthquake
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Pyroclasm

Apparently, Robbie and Mike can’t lose to Vampires. I, on the other hand, can’t seem to beat them reliably, and it was definitely a problem for me in Atlanta. Another thing I noticed was the lack of a cohesive sideboard plan. All day long, I had an uneven number of cards that I wanted in/out. I would like to give you thoughts on updating the deck, but I think the Esper build Mike posted [here] really covers the same points that I would make. In the weeks after Worldwake, you will definitely see me casting Day of Judgment on turn 3, and Sorin Markov on turn 5.

Round 1 - Mono Black Control - Eric

Eric’s deck wasn’t the best list I have ever seen; however, he had up to 4 Duress, Mindrot, and Mind Sludge after sideboarding.

I sideboarded in the Countersquall for a Terminate.

1-0 / 2-1 games

Round 2 - UWR Fog - Scott

I have to admit, this build completely took me off guard, and I wasn’t sure how to play against it. I sideboarded in the extra Countersquall and beat him in 3.

2-0 / 4-2 games

Round 3 - Vampires - Greer

Greer is a local player and I see him at all the Atlanta events. I know he is a good player who loves his linear decks. Game 1 was typical, and I sideboarded in my Nighthawks and Countersquall.

Game 2 I mulliganed to 5, and I was unable to overcome it.

2-1 / 4-4 games

Round 4 - Vampires w/ Red - Todd Anderson

I always enjoy playing Todd, but when his Bolts dispatched my Nighthawks, this match-up proved to be even worse for me than the mono black Vampire build.

2-2 / 4-6 games

At this point in the event, I decided to drop. The number of Vampire decks in the room was staggering. Three lists made the top 8, and I really believe that it was because the deck was so well represented. There was a swiss side event, and I knew the deck could perform, so I joined.

Round 1 - Junk Home Brew - Ric

I sideboarded incorrectly because I won game 1 so quickly that I didn’t really know what he was playing. Game 2 he had turn 3 Ajani and turn 4 Baneslayer. I couldn’t keep up. I really love decks like Grixis and Black Baneslayer because opponents tend to sideboard incorrectly. He boarded in Thought Hemorrhage, etc and kept a slow draw, so he couldn’t kill me quickly enough. “Misassignment of role = game loss.”

1-0 / 2-1 games

Round 2 - Grixis (Double Negative) - David

I knew going into this tournament that Mike’s build would crush the mirror, and I really expected there to be more of these decks in Atlanta. At one point, I played Blighting, he played Negate, and I Countersqualled. 5 life and 3 cards, please. The 8 pack of Land Destruction is really over the top.

2-0 / 4-1 games

Round 3 - Boros Bushwhacker - Taylor

I had just watched this guy smash Vampires, and I was very happy to play him, considering my sideboard. Game 1 was very easy and after +2 Pyroclasm +1 Earthquake, not even Ruinblasters could save him.

3-0 / 6-1 games

Round 4 - True Mirror - Jared

These were two brutal games that were very close: just two Mages slugging each other with Blightning. He boarded in Nighthawks and I added more removal.

4-0 / 8-1 games

Round 5 - Grixis (Double Negative) - J

J was playing the Doubly Negative version of the deck, with the exception of main deck Blightning. I won Game 1, but Game 2 he found a Cruel Ultimatum first. Game 3 I was on the play and mulliganed to 5. His first play was a Blightning, and that was it for me.

4-1 / 9-3

The mulligan at the finish line was painful but overdue, considering how well the deck performed. I was very impressed with the list, although it might have been a poor choice for this tournament. It was tough to overcome the weakness to Bloodghast. Robbie ended the day at 6-3, finishing just outside the top 16.

There is a lot of buzz about different applications of the Grand Unified Theory. All cards have text that explain what they do, but when looking through a broader lens, the impact of the card may be far more than what the actual text says.

Would you play a card that says: 3W, sorcery, draw 2 cards, target opponent discards a card? That has to be worth 2UB at least, and we all know U > W!

At States last fall, I was observing a match where Vampires was playing against Boros Bushwhacker. Both players had several cards in hand, but an empty board. The Vampire’s hand was Doomblade, Infest, 2 Gatekeeper of Malakir, 2 Fleshbag Marauder.

After several turns of Draw-Go, Boros untaps and plays Ranger of Eos, getting Bushwhacker and Steppe Lynx. He is attempting to have one big turn while still being resilient to an Infest, so he passes the turn.

The Vampire casts an end of turn Doomblade on the Ranger. The Vampire player draws a land, passes, and loses that next turn. The correct play would have been to untap and kick a Gatekeeper of Malakir with Doomblade up for the Steppe Lynx. The Vampire player automatically cast Doomblade without realizing that he was just throwing the card away. The Grand Unified Theory can be applied on the fly to help you navigate tricky situations.

In closing, I want to give a plug to some of the guys out there that are really turning out some entertaining and educational content. You guys should really be listening to: Yo! MTGTaps and Limited Resources on the MTGCAST podcast network. If you aren’t reading QuietSpeculation.com and following Kelly Reid on Twitter, you are really missing out on a wealth of knowledge regarding the financial side of Magic.

Thomas Dodd
amistod on Twitter / MTGO