Great Sable Stag: Maindeck or No?

I've been wondering for a few days if Great Sable Stag is maindeckable in today's Standard. Today, I decided to check it out. I originally considered using a Five-Color Control list, but I'm unskilled at it and wouldn't really need GSS. I then decided to switch to a Jund list. Jund has Cascade, which should allow me to see a lot more GSS'es over the course of a few matches.

Here's the list I used, copied from a tournament, replacing GSS in the sideboard with the Kitchen Finks maindeck.

Lands (25)

4 Savage Lands

4 Twilight Mire

3 Vivid Marsh

3 Vivid Grove

4 Reflecting Pool

3 Graven Cairns

1 Swamp

1 Forest

1 Mountain

1 Fire-Lit Thicket

Creatures (18)

4 Bloodbraid Elf

4 Great Sable Stag

4 Boggart Ram-Gang

4 Putrid Leech

2 Sygg, River Cutthroat

Spells (17)

2 Maelstrom Pulse

4 Lightning Bolt

3 Sign in Blood

4 Bituminous Blast

4 Volcanic Fallout

Sideboard (15)

3 Anathemancer

4 Kitchen Finks

1 Maelstrom Pulse

2 Snakeform

3 Blightning

2 Infest

On to the match reports!

Match 1 vs. Crucifera (Five-Color Control)

Game 1 I start with Sign in Blood, and Bloodbraid Elf into Boggart Ram-Gang. He Cryptic Commands's the Ram-Gang, and I swing. I swing again next turn and he flashes in a Cloudthresher, killing my Bloodbraid Elf. I use Maelstrom Pulse on it, then pass. He plays Liliana Vess, and I discard a land. End of turn, I double Lightning Bolt Liliana to kill her.

I play Bloodbraid Elf into Boggart Ram-Gang again, and hit him down to 9. He Firespouts, then passes. I play a Great Sable Stag. When I swing, he flashes another Cloudthresher. I use a second Maelstrom Pulse after combat. He plays Jace and passes. I play Putrid Leech. He plays end of turn Plumeveil. He uses Jace to bring it up to 7 counters, then plays...Jace? I remind him of the subtype rules, and he ruefully puts both in the graveyard.

He blocks my Putrid Leech with Plumeveil. I pump, and he Agony Warps it in response. I pass, so does he. I play Sygg, and he plays an end of turn Makeshift Mannequin for Cloudthresher. He then plays Cruel Ultimatum after untapping, and I concede.

Sideboard: In: 1 Maelstrom Pulse, 3 Anathemancer. -4 Volcanic Fallout.

Game 2 I play a turn 3 Boggart Ram-Gang, the first play of the game, and swing. He evokes a Mulldrifter. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Great Sable Stag and swing for 6. He plays Kitchen Finks. I play a second Boggart Ram-Gang and attack with just them. He blocks with one and takes 3. He passes without playing a fifth land. I swing with all my guys. He Makeshift Mannequins a Mulldrifter. I Lightning Bolt it before blocks, and he goes to 3. I then play Anathemancer for the win.

Game 3 I play a turn 2 Sygg. We both pass: I suspect a Plumeveil, so don't attack. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Anathemancer, and he Cryptic Commands my Anathemancer, bouncing Sygg to my hand. I swing for 3. He untaps, and plays a full-priced Mulldrifter. I untap and cast Bituminous Blast, cascading into Great Sable Stag, and swing again. He goes to 14. He plays Firespout. I play Boggart Ram-Gang and Sygg. I swing with the Ram-Gang, and he plays Plumeveil and blocks. Ram-Gang dies, and his Plumeveil becomes a 1/1. He draws and plays Anathemancer for 4. I play Boggart Ram-Gang and swing. It gets double blocked by Plumeveil and Anathemancer. I pass.

He plays Liliana Vess. I cast Maelstrom Pulse, and play Putrid Leech. I swing for 1 with Sygg, and pass. He plays Makeshift Mannequin for Mulldrifter. I untap, lay a seventh land and unearth Anathemancer for 7. I swing, he blocks my two guys. He plays Kitchen Finks, bringing his life up to 10. He plays a full-price Mulldrifter and passes. I draw Anathemancer, play it, and knock him down to 2, then play Lightning Bolt to win.

1-0

Match 2: FastMast (Master Transmuter Deck)

He makes the first play of the game, casting Fabricate for Master Transmuter. I play Boggart Ram-Gang and swing for 3. He plays Ornithopter and a full-price Borderpost, then passes. I play a second Boggart Ram-Gang and swing. He blocks one with Ornithopter. He goes to 14.

He untaps and plays Master Transmuter. I untap, and Bituminous Blast into Bloodbraid Elf into Great Sable Stag. That's just sick. He plays a Sphinx Summoner, searching for a Master Transmuter, but I just alpha strike for the win.

Game 2 (No sideboard)

He mulligans to 5, plays an Ornithopter and a land, and passes. I play Turn 2 Sign in Blood. He passes, and I play Putrid Leech and pass. He plays an Etherium Sculptor, and I swing with Putrid Leech. He takes 4, and I play Great Sable Stag. He passes again, and I play Sygg and swing. He blocks, and saves his guys with Ethersworn Shieldmage.

He plays Tidehollow Sculler, stealing a Bloodbraid Elf. I swing with Great Sable Stag and Putrid Leech. He takes 3 and blocks Leech with the Sculptor. I cast two Lightning Bolts, one at him, one at his Sculler. He plays a Scourglass.

I play Bloodbraid Elf, hoping for a Boggart Ram-Gang, but instead hit Putrid Leech. I swing with my three guys. I expect him to block at 10 life, but he forgets about Putrid Leech's pumping, takes the hit, and dies.

2-0.

Match 3: Ace of Spades (Faeries)

I play a Turn 3 Great Sable Stag and apologise. He passes. I plays Bloodbraid Elf into Boggart Ram-Gang, and he Broken Ambitions the Ram-Gang. I swing for 6. Next turn I play Bloodbraid Elf into a Fallout, which I deign not to play. He Peppersmokes Boggart Ram-Gang and goes to 3, and concedes next turn.

(No sideboarding)

He plays Turn 1 Thoughtseize, revealing Putrid Leech, Bloodbraid Elf, Bituminous Blast, and lands. He takes the Putrid Leech, but I draw a duplicate next turn, and play it Turn 2. He passes. I play Sygg, and swing with the Leech for 4. I end the turn, drawing off Sygg. He plays a Bitterblossom. I topdeck Maelstrom Pulse and play it, and he casts Flashfreeze on it. I swing him to 9, pass, and draw off Sygg.

He passes. I swing, he flashes in a Scion and blocks a guy with the token. After combat, I Bituminous Blast it, cascading into a Boggart Ram-Gang. I end the turn.

He Agony Warps my Ram-Gang and passes. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Putrid Leech. He Cryptic Commands the Bloodbraid Elf and taps my guys. I pass. On my upkeep, he Mistbind Cliques. I swing with the Leeches, and he blocks with a Clique and a token. I pump the one blocked by Clique and both die. Next turn, he Mistbind Cliques in my upkeep. I attack with Putrid Leech. He blocks, and I kill the Clique again. I cast Bloodbraid Elf into Great Sable Stag and swing. He blocks, goes to 2 from Bitterblossom, draws, and concedes.

3-0

Match 4: Ace of Spades (Five-Color Control)

Ace of Spades asks me for another set. I explain I'm doing coverage for a blog, but will gladly play him if he switches decks. He offers to let me switch too, but of course I decline.

Game 1 I play a Turn 3 Putrid Leech. When I swing, he casts Plumeveil. I pump it and both die. I play Sign in Blood and pass. He passes. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Great Sable Stag and swing for 3. He takes it, then plays Hallowed Burial.

I play a Great Sable Stag and pass. He evokes a Mulldrifter and passes. I swing him to 14. He untaps, and Cruels me. In response I cast all my burn: 2 Lightning Bolts and a Volcanic Fallout. My guys die, my hand is discarded, he goes to 11, and I go to 9. I've never won a game where Cruel resolved against me, but I fight on anyway. I play a Sygg, and pass. He passes, and I play Great Sable Stag and pass. He plays an end of turn Plumeveil, then Cruels me again. I swing him down to 13, and play Putrid Leech. He plays Essence Scatter. He evokes a Mulldrifter, plays Broodmate Dragon, and I concede.

Sideboard: +1 Maelstrom Pulse, +3 Anathemancer, -4 Volcanic Fallout

Game 2 I play a Turn 2 Sign in Blood. He passes. I play Sygg, he passes. I play Great Sable Stag, and he plays an end of turn Esper Charm to make me discard. I discard Bituminous Blast and Anathemancer. He evokes a Mulldrifter. I swing for 4 and pass, drawing off Sygg. He Esper Charms himself and passes. I play Boggart Ram-Gang and swing him to nine. He plays Hallowed Burial. I Lightning Bolt him twice, then play Anathemancer for the win.

Game 3 we play land-go for a few turns. Then he evokes a Mulldrifter. I play Great Sable Stag and pass. He plays Runed Halo naming Great Sable Stag. I cast Maelstrom Pulse and swing. He plays a full Mulldrifter. In my turn I Bituminous Blast it, cascading into a Sign in Blood, which I cast. I swing. He plays Broodmate Dragon and passes.

I play another Bituminous Blast, hitting the non-black one (since I have Great Sable Stag) and cascade into a Boggart Ram-Gang. He blocks it, and his Broodmate becomes a 1/1. He draws, and plays Puppeteer Clique to steal Boggart Ram-Gang. He swings me for 3. Next turn I untap, swing with Great Sable Stag knocking him to 8, play Anathemancer for 7, then Lightning Bolt for the win.

4-0!

So as you can see, not only did all 4 decks I faced have blue and black in it, but I also won every single match I played. If I were to play this deck at a PTQ or FNM, I'd add the Anathemancers maindeck and put the Fallouts in the sideboard. They're simply less necessary now, with the rise of Five-Color Control, and Anathemancer was powerful in just about every match. I'd also add a fourth Anathemancer. They're very, very good. I might also replace the Kitchen Finks in the sideboard with something else, but I'm not sure what yet.

Lessons I've Learnt Today:

Always force your opponent to play through his mistakes, or he'll think he has the right to do it again. (I left this match).

Anathemancer is even better than I thought. Same with Sygg.

Jund is my deck of choice. If I had the money, I'd build it, and even take it to a local PTQ. I wonder if Jeremy has a Jund mana base...I have 3 Pulses after all...

Question for the Readers!

Many of my articles are far longer than I expected to write regularly: over a thousand words. I don't mind this, in fact, I can keep it up quite easily. However, they might be too long for you guys: and that's what this blog is for. The people. So tell me: is this blog too long? Should I save the long posts for special occasions, and are the match reports to detailed?

I always accept critique, but this time I'm openly asking for praise or criticism. Please leave a comment, and leave your two cents. You can comment anonymously.

Thank you,

Jay Bailey (Mtgsalivanth)