Miniseries Series 1: W/U Control Part 2

Hi guys, and welcome back to the W/U Control Miniseries. Last week we discussed the theory of W/U Control. Today we're going to do a slight amount of theory, and then move into deckbuilding.

What are the four aspects that make up any blue-based control deck?

The answer is:

Card advantage, removal, finishers, and countermagic.

We're going to need all of these in our deck, so we're going to run through it element by element, discussing the different cards that might be good for each. Then, afterwards, we'll work out how many of each type we want, and then finally build the deck.

Card Advantage


Ior Ruin Expedition: This card from Zendikar is essentially a time-delayed 2-mana 2-card spell. The problem is, it's a terrible topdeck.Worth considering if there's a lack of other good options.

Jace Beleren: The best card advantage spell in Standard right now, by far.

Elspeth, Knight Errant: While it doesn't actually give us cards, it gives us fractions of a card every turn and stymies the opponent's attempts to kill her.

Divination: Unplayable.

Hindering Light: We won't be playing many creatures, so this card isn't really worth it.

Mind Spring: We absolutely need 2-3 of these in here. They can pull a game in your favor instantly.

Removal


Path to Exile: Absolutely. Best removal in the format, and an automatic 4-of.

Journey to Nowhere: Also good, takes care of most creatures permanently. It also doesn't trigger Cascade if it's broken, since the spell isn't being played. Add to the fact that Pulse costs more than it, and we have a good card.

Celestial Purge: Most decks nowadays with White are maindecking a couple of these, and I'm going to follow suit.

Oblivion Ring: Probably more of a sideboard card.

Finishers


Baneslayer Angel: Best creature in Standard, and the first choice for finisher.

Sphinx of Jwar Isle: A good choice, and can certainly close the game away.

Sphinx of Lost Truths: Card advantage, flying, and a beefy toughness. What's not to love?

Conqueror's Pledge: Not really playing to it's strengths in this kind of deck.

Countermagic


Flashfreeze: This card has targets against virtually all decks in the metagame right now. I think I'll try two.

Essence Scatter + Negate: Both good, situational, 2-mana counters. I think they make the cut: most decks in Standard have a nice balance between creatures and spells. Negate is slightly better though since it gets rid of cards that can't be stopped in other ways.

Offering to Asha: Too expensive.

Cancel: Also too expensive.

Mindbreak Trap: Essentially Double Negative, this card might be worth a sideboard option.

Other:


Day of Judgement: A hybrid of removal and card advantage. We'll want to play four.

Wall of Denial: Excellent for holding off big creatures. Hard to kill except with Gatekeeper.


Now we go on to the deckbuilding phase.

First we're going to want about 25 lands in this kind of deck, so that leaves us with 35 cards.

In today's Standard, I think we'll want about 6-7 finishers. Today's Control can't stall the game forever, so we want to stall it long enough to play our big cards.

IN: 4 Baneslayer Angel

4 of the finishers simply have to be Baneslayer. Baneslayer is that good.

IN: 2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
IN: 1 Sphinx of Lost Truths

I'm going to go with 7 finishers, and I'd like to have a 2-1 ratio since I think Jwar is better, but I'm not entirely sure.

28 slots remaining.

We'll now go with removal. I'd say we'd want about 10-12 pieces of removal, including Day of Judgement.

IN: 4 Day of Judgement
IN: 4 Path to Exile

Path and Day are both very good cards, and should be featured. Next, we'll want to add a couple of purges:

IN: 2 Celestial Purge

I'm going to leave the last piece of removal open, since I'm not sure how many I'll want. I'm going to base that on how many other cards I add to the deck.

18 slots left.

Now on to card advantage. We're going to want 3 Jaces, no question. 4 is too many, since you can only have one out. The fourth should go in the side.

IN: 3 Jace Beleren

We'll then want a couple of Mind Springs:

IN: 2 Mind Spring

And lastly, we want about 2-3 other card-advantage providers. The question is, what?

IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 1 Ior Ruin Expedition

Mind Spring is better than Ior Ruin, but 4 is too many, so I'll add one.

11 slots remaining.

That leaves us with 9-10 slots for Wall of Denial and countermagic. Based on that, I think we'll want about 6 counterspells. I don't like Essence Scatter since we'll have so many anti-creature cards, so:

IN: 4 Negate
IN: 2 Flashfreeze

Now we have 5 slots left. I think we'll want 4 Walls, since almost every deck plays quite a lot of creatures nowadays.

IN: 4 Wall of Denial

Which leaves us with our last card:

IN: 1 Journey to Nowhere

So let's look at the deck we have.

Lands (25)

2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
8 Island
7 Plains
4 Sejiri Refuge

Creatures (11)

4 Baneslayer Angel
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
4 Wall of Denial

Spells (24)

2 Celestial Purge
4 Day of Judgement
2 Flashfreeze
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
3 Jace Beleren
1 Journey to Nowhere
3 Mind Spring
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile

Now, we'll need a sideboard.

My first step in a sideboard is adding extra copies of cards in the main that aren't 4-of's, and are situational.

IN: 1 Jace Beleren
IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 2 Celestial Purge
IN: 2 Flashfreeze

Next, we'll want some anti-Jund cards, since Jund is just dynamite at the moment. We have Celestial Purge and Flashfreeze, so we don't need too much.

IN: 3 Devout Lightcaster

Now some anti-control:

IN: 3 Luminarch Ascension

Which leaves us with three slots to go. For this, I'd like to use a catch-all Oblivion Ring.

IN: 3 Oblivion Ring.

So here's the final list:

Lands (25)

4 Glacial Fortress

9 Island

8 Plains

4 Sejiri Refuge

Creatures (11)

4 Baneslayer Angel

2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

1 Sphinx of Lost Truths

4 Wall of Denial

Spells (24)

2 Celestial Purge

4 Day of Judgement

2 Flashfreeze

1 Ior Ruin Expedition

3 Jace Beleren

1 Journey to Nowhere

3 Mind Spring

4 Negate

4 Path to Exile

Sideboard (15)

2 Celestial Purge

3 Devout Lightcaster

2 Flashfreeze

1 Jace Beleren

3 Luminarch Ascension

1 Mind Spring

3 Oblivion Ring

And here's our (probably horrible) W/U Control list. I'll test it out tomorrow, and give you my thoughts! See you for the finale!

Playing The Best Deck

Lately, I've been noticing something. For the first time in my (short) competitive Magic career, I have been playing The Best Deck. Everyone knows what the best deck is right now. It's Jund. Jund has power, consistency, and cascade (into power). It has a wide variety of angles, it can attack from aggro and control. Essentially, I'm in love. Jund does have a few weaknesses, like Baneslayer Angel, but lately decks have been playing 2x Terminate main, something which I'll probably have to do.

This is something I partially lucked into. When Faeries and Five-Color were the best decks, I didn't play them since I didn't have the cards or the skill to do so. When ALA came out, and Jund rose up to a borderline Tier-1 strategy, I realised that after the rotation it would survive intact. So I decided to get good at it now. I started playing Jund before M10 came out.

But never, never did I imagine I would end up playing The Best Deck. Everyone said, even me, that once control shapes up, Jund isn't that good anymore: but it is. It has card advantage, card quality, and powerful explosive starts. Essentially it shares the traits of Faeries.

Faeries is a control deck that can go aggro at a moment's notice. Jund is an aggro deck that can go control at a moment's notice. Both have card advantage. Bloodbraid Elf vs. Cryptic Command. Both have strong beasts: Mistbind Clique vs. Broodmate Dragon. And in both decks, the mirror is the most important to side against.

I am running eight sideboard cards in my sideboard this week to combat Jund. 4 Deathmark, 4 Goblin Ruinblaster. Why? Because just about every time I actually lose a match, it's to Jund.

It's a weird experience, to be honest. Everyone was talking about the evil Fae menace last year, and I stuck by that it was a good deck and perfectly legitimate, but beatable. Now? I'm playing that deck. People everywhere are talking about beating Jund, about how they can't beat Jund, about how they're sick of Jund: and I realise I'm playing That Deck.

Now, I'm a competitive player, and for any competitive player right now, I recommend you check your schedule and make sure it's blank for the next two hours, since there's a link I'm going to provide that you must, repeat, MUST read in order to cultivate the mindset of a competitive player.

So I don't see anything inherently wrong with playing the best deck apart from the sideboard hate it's likely to receive. I had a white deck last week sideboard 15 cards in against me. So is it time to give up Jund? I think not. Jund is a powerful machine, and it's got a long way to go before it's pushed out when Alara rotates. Part of me thinks Jund isn't going anywhere: and so I'll be playing the deck.

Why? Because I'm skilled at it. Because I have the cards. Because I love the deck. But mostly? I like playing the best deck. And Jund, without a doubt, is.

EDIT: Like an absolute dumbass, I forgot the link. Here it is:

http://www.sirlin.net/ptw

Read it all. You might disagree with a lot of the concepts. I did. It actually took me about a year to come to accept it as the cold hard truth. It's a very good use of your time.

How To Do Better At Your Next PTQ - Part 4

Part 4 - Sideboarding for the Event Metagame

Sorry for the delay between parts: Zendikar spoilers will do that. I've learnt my lesson. I will aim to finish this series, Zendikar or no, within the next week, and then I'll only do series' that I stick with once a day until it's done. I'm also going to aim to finish the Last Look At Lorwyn series.

Now, on to the actual advice.

At a PTQ, your metagame will probably be subtly different to the ones in another country or even another city. Perhaps a lot of good players in your area play Faeries: so you shouldn't, facing the double threat of being outplayed in the mirror and outhated by the lesser players who can only win through excessive sideboard hate.

Instead you'd want to play a deck that has a good match against Faeries and against anti-Faeries. An anti-Faeries deck would work, if you were confident in beating the lesser players in the mirror.

Either way, if you bring a specific sideboard and turn out to be wrong, you're in trouble. That's why you should bring about 30 cards, and construct your sideboard at the event.

Note: you should not construct your sideboard piecemeal unless you have to. Make plans. For example, with GSS Jund, I might bring in my 30:

Kitchen Finks
Volcanic Fallout
Firespout
Maelstrom Pulse
Vithian Renegades
Guttural Response
Cruel Ultimatum
Mulldrifter
Doom Blade
Broodmate Dragon
Glen Elendra Archmage
Stillmoon Cavalier

This would leave me free to have several sideboard plans. For example:

Heavy 5CC metagame:

4 Glen Elendra Archmage
3 Firespout
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Volcanic Fallout

This is a fairly balanced sideboard, but with 4 slots dedicated to Glen Elendra Archmage, an excellent foil to Five-Color. The deck also features light anti-Time Sieve (Maelstrom Pulse and Archmage) with some anti-aggro and Elf Combo, and a good plan against Blightning, which often beats Five-Color Control. With Great Sable Stag and Fallout, the deck is strong vs. Faeries, and the GSS / Anathemancer combo gives you a good chance in the Jund mirror.

Heavy Fae metagame:

4 Volcanic Fallout
3 Deathmark
3 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Kitchen Finks

Here, the Volcanic Fallouts cede to Fae, but mostly the sideboard relies on the maindeck Stags and the Stags  in other sideboards to beat Fae. Kithkin, B/R Blightning, Elf Combo and the mirror are all handled here: the main decks expected to survive the first few rounds. The hope is that most of the Fae will die in the middle rounds, since there's a lot of hate ready for it.

Heavy Elf Combo metagame:

4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Firespout
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Glen Elendra Archmage

This deck is aimed at Elf Combo with the 8 sweepers, and the decks likely to beat it, with Volcanic Fallout hitting Faeries, Kitchen Finks hitting burn, and Archmages hitting Five-Color Control and Time Sieve.


I could go on with specific examples, but that isn't worth the space. These are merely examples. A fourth option is a transformational sideboard, against say, a heavy Jund mirror which won't be expecting it. The point is, you want to have multiple sideboard plans, and the cards to handle all of them. I wouldn't do this for say, FNM, but for a PTQ, every edge is important, and this is certainly a formidable one.

Until next time, may you outplan your opponents.

The Transformative Sideboard - Preliminary Testing

Before today's blog post, I would like to draw your attention to this piece of news: I have a guest post up on Magic Game Plan this week! The guest post is an exhaustive primer on GSS Jund, and can be found here. It's a long read, even by my standards (2,200 words) but if you're thinking about playing GSS Jund, or even regular Jund, it's an excellent read.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the thing about this blog: I'm not going to back anything up on it's own merit. I'm going to test ideas that come to me. So when I made the transformative sideboard, I decided I had to try it out for myself. As per my tradition, I hopped on to Magic Workstation to play a few matches. I used the exact list from yesterday's post.

Match 1: Matte's U/R Control

We play land-go for the first few turns. I play a Bloodbraid Elf cascading into Boggart Ram-Gang, and it gets hit with Double Negative. DAMN, who plays that maindeck? I mean, seriously. Next turn I play a second Bloodbraid Elf which also gets Double Negatived, but luckily I cascade into Great Sable Stag which can't be countered. He passes again. I play Boggart Ram-Gang, and swing. He casts Flame Javelin on Great Sable Stag and falls to 17.

He plays Jace and draws, and I Lightning Bolt him in the end step. I draw and attack with Boggart Ram-Gang. He plays Lightning Bolt on it, and I respond with Jund Charm to pump it. Jace dies. I then play Anathemancer for 3, knocking him to 11. He passes. I swing with Boggart Ram-Gang, he bounces the 5/5 and draws a card. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Maelstrom Pulse, which I decline to play. He uses Volcanic Fallout in his turn.

I play Boggart Ram-Gang, and it meets an Essence Scatter. I play a second Boggart Ram-Gang and he Flame Javelins it. We pass. I play Great Sable Stag and pass. He plays Swans of Bryn Argoll, and Lightning Bolts Great Sable Stag. He passes. At end of turn, I Lightning Bolt Swans of Bryn Argoll. Refilling my empty hand I remind him why Ancestral Recall is broken by playing Putrid Leech, Anathemancer, and a seventh land. He swings me to 16, so obvioulsy he has a Cryptic Command. During my upkeep, he bounces my seventh land to prevent unearthing and taps my guys. I play Boggart Ram-Gang and swing him down to 4. He draws and concedes.

Game 2 I play Sign in Blood, and he uses Double Negative. He plays Jace, and I kill it with Lightning Bolt during the end step. I untap, lay a land and pass. He plays Plumeveil at end of turn, then passes. I pass again (s0 much land), and so does he. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Boggart Ram-Gang, and swing. He uses Lightning Bolt on Boggart Ram-Gang and blocks Bloodbraid Elf with the Plumeveil. I use Jund Charm to save Boggart Ram-Gang, and he Flame Javelins my Ram-Gang in response. Everything dies except for Plumeveil. He plays another Plumeveil, then passes. We both pass for a few turns as I creep past seven land. I get to about eleven land before I draw a non-reactive card. I play Anathemancer, and he Essence Scatters it. During the same turn, I unearth it for 6 damage to hit him to 14, then attack. He blocks with Plumeveil. I pass.

He plays a Bogardan Hellkite at EOT, hitting me to 15. I try for Bituminous Blast, and he Double Negatives it, then swings with the Hellkite. I go to 10. I untap, and play Maelstrom Pulse on the Hellkite. At end of turn, he activates Gargoyle Castle. I use Bituminous Blast into Lightning Bolt, aiming the Blast at his Castle and the Bolt at him. He goes to 11. He plays Oona, Queen of the Fae, and I use Maelstrom Pulse. He Cryptic Commands Maelstrom Pulse, tapping out. I use Jund Charm and Lightning Bolt to kill Oona. He passes, and I play Putrid Leech. We both pass for a few turns: I don't want to lose Leech to a Plumeveil. He draws, plays Bogardan Hellkite, and then Lightning Bolt for the win.

Game 3 I play Sign in Blood, then Great Sable Stag. He Lightning Bolts the Stag. I play Anathemancer, which gets Essence Scattered. Next turn I play Anathemancer for 2 (18) and pass. I swing twice more (14) and he passes. Then he plays Oona, tapping out, and I use 2 Lightning Bolts to kill it, untap, and play my own threat I'd been sandbagging: Broodmate Dragon from the sideboard. I swing him to 12 with Anathemancer. He passes. I go to attack, he taps my creatures and bounces the token. He passes. I swing, he attempts Flame Javelin on the Broodmate. I cast Jund Charm, he casts Flashfreeze, I cast another Jund Charm, he goes to 4, passes, and I unearth Anathemancer for the win.

1-0

Match 2 vs. BeerAtog's Time Sieve Combo

He plays Elsewhere Flask, I play Sign in Blood. He plays Jace, I play a Boggart Ram-Gang to kill it. I swing, he lets it through, and I Jund Charm the Ram-Gang. He goes to 15. On his turn, he Cryptic Commands to bounce / draw, then Silences me on my upkeep. I respond with two Lightning Bolts to the face (9) and pass. He plays Jace, we both draw. I play Boggart Ram-Gang, he plays Pollen Lullaby, tying the clash. I play Sign in Blood. He plays Time Warp, Time Warp, Elsewhere Flask and Howling Mine. He plays Time Sieve and shows me Open the Vaults and Tezzeret in his hand, and I concede.

I suddenly have an epiphany of how to beat this deck: Maelstrom Pulse their Borderposts. I side in the Maelstrom Pulses and a Jund Charm for 3 Bituminous Blasts.

He plays a Turn 1 Mistvein Borderpost, I play Sign in Blood. He plays Elsewhere Flask, I play Putrid Leech. He plays a second Mistvein Borderpost. I Maelstrom Pulse them, and basically win right there. I swing for 4 (16, 16) and pass. He plays another Mistvein Borderpost and an Elsewhere Flask. I swing with Putrid Leech, and Jund Charm it. (14, 10). He draws and concedes.

Game 3 he plays Mistvein Borderpost and passes. I lay a land and pass. He plays Elsewhere Flask, I play Sign in Blood. He plays Kaleidostone, and Silences me during upkeep. I Bolt him to 17 in response, lay a land, and pass. He plays Vedalken Outlander and passes. I play Sign in Blood, lay land 4, and pass. I Bolt him to 14 and play Great Sable Stag. He plays Time Warp, then Vedalken Outlander, and passes. I play a full Mulldrifter and swing. He uses Pollen Lullaby. He plays Mistvein Borderpost and Tezzeret. Hw swings with the Vedalken Outlanders, knocking me to 12, and passes. I attack Tezzeret, and get hit with Pollen Lullaby. I play Maelstrom Pulse to kill Tezzeret, and play Putrid Leech. He passes. I Pulse the Vedalken Outlanders and attack for 10, knocking him to 4. He draws, and concedes.

2-0

Match 3 vs. Lorenzo Gerry's U/B Fae

He plays Turn 2 Bitterblossom, I play Turn 3 Putrid Leech. He flashes a Scion and hits me for 3 (17). I attack, and pump PL (15, 18). He uses Agony Warp. I play Great Sable Stag. He attacks for 5. During my upkeep he uses Mistbind Clique, and so far behind, I concede.

I side in Fallouts and a Jund Charm for something.

I play Turn 2 Sign in Blood and Turn 3 Great Sable Stag. He uses Vendilion Clique to take my Volcanic Fallout, and I draw Bloodbraid Elf. Nice. I Lightning Bolt the Clique and attack for 3. He goes to 17. He passes, and I play Bloodbraid Elf into Boggart Ram-Gang. He plays Broken Ambitions to counter the Ram-Gang, and I swing for 6. He goes to 11. He passes. I swing, he Agony Warps Bloodbraid Elf and goes to 8. He passes. I swing him to 5. He draws and concedes.

Game 3 he goes on the attack, playing Spellstutter Sprite and attacks. EOT he flashes a Scion, I bolt it. He swings (18) and I get stuck on 2. He swings again (17) and I draw Savage Lands and play it. He plays Bitterblossom. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Volcanic Fallout (probably a mistake to play it). He Brokens the Elf. He Mistbind Cliques me in my upkeep. I pass. He swings me to 9, I draw and play Maelstrom Pulse on Mistbind Clique. He plays Scion in response, and I lose.

And who said Faeries was dead? Even WITH Great Sable Stag it's not the auto-win I expected.

2-1

Match 4 vs. Caonima's Five-Color Control

I play Turn 2 Sign in Blood and Turn 3 Great Sable Stag. He passes. I swing for 3, then play Sign in Blood. He Brokens it. I use Bloodbraid Elf into Jund Charm, and try to pump the stag. He points out Great Sable Stag has protection from black, so I exile the one card in his graveyard instead. I swing him to 11 and end my turn. He passes, then Cryptic Commands to tap and draw. I play Anathemancer for 3 and Lightning Bolt him to 5, then swing for the win next turn.

Game 2 I choose to sideboard nothing at all.

He stumbles on his second land. I play Boggart Ram-Gang and attack. He gets his second land. I play Boggart Ram-Gang 2 and swing to 11. He passes. I attack, he AW's. I pump the -0/-3 one, and he goes to 6. He plays Runed Halo naming Boggart Ram-Gang. I play Maelstrom Pulse, and he dies incredibly quickly.

3-1

So there you have it! Although in none of the matches I used the transformational sideboard to transform fully, I did use 12 of the cards at some point during the day (all except Cruel Ultimatum and Doom Blade) and I was playing against a bevy of control and aggro. I'll do some more testing over the coming weeks.

Lessons I've Learnt:

Scion of Oona + Bitterblossom can and will outrace Great Sable Stag.

Great Sable Stag is very useful against Faeries, but it's not an auto-win.

Maelstrom Pulsing 2 Borderposts with one Pulse will win you the game 90% of the time against Time Sieve Combo. If you have at least one creature out, or need tempo to get to Bloodbraid Elf, use it on a single Borderpost. The tempo against Time Sieve is the only way you can really interact with them.

See you tomorrow!

The Transformative Sideboard

One seldom used fact in Magic is that if you have the manabase right, it only takes 15 cards to transform a mostly-aggro deck into a mostly-control deck. 15 cards, conveniently, is the same amount of cards in a sideboard. So today we're going to talk about the Transformative Sideboard.

The example I will be using is the transformative sideboard I've invented for GSS Jund. I will most likely be playing GSS Jund at least until Zendikar, so expect to hear a lot about it. I'm convinced as to the power and consistency of the deck.

A brief aside: I was able to get 95% of a Jund list today: enough to play it. The sideboard was messy, and I was missing 2 Lightning Bolts, but other than that it was great. I went 3-1, losing to a Goblin deck that I probably would have beaten if I'd practiced rationing my sweepers.

The List:

I'm using the following list:

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 (19)

4 Bloodbraid Elf

4 Great Sable Stag

4 Boggart Ram-Gang

3 Putrid Leech

4 Anathemancer

Spells (16)

2 Maelstrom Pulse

4 Lightning Bolt

3 Sign in Blood

4 Bituminous Blast

3 Jund Charm

After testing Jund Charm, I've determined that it is, in fact, nothing short of absolutely amazing. Throughout the day it's been an excellent combat trick, letting me run my Ram-Gangs and Bloodbraid Elves into Kitchen Finks all day, and a great sweeper as well. I wish I could play 4 maindeck but I can't justify cutting a Pulse or Bolt even for an amazing card like this. It's better than Fallout, and I can sideboard in Fallout against Faeries or Merfolk if need be.

The Sideboard:

Here's the sideboard I cooked up:

2 Maelstrom Pulse

3 Volcanic Fallout

2 Broodmate Dragon

2 Cruel Ultimatum

4 Mulldrifter

1 Doom Blade

1 Jund Charm

Sideboard Plans:

Here's my sideboard plan:

Vs. Elf Combo

-4 Great Sable Stag, -4 Anathemancer, -4 Boggart Ram-Gang, +1 Jund Charm, +4 Mulldrifter, +3 Volcanic Fallout, +2 Cruel Ultimatum, +2 Broodmate Dragon.

Maelstrom Pulse is rarely a use here: they can replace the Pulsed cards with one Ranger even in the unlikely event you hit two. Your plan here is to use your 7 sweepers to stop your opponent going off (using Mulldrifters to draw them) and then play a Broodmate Dragon or Cruel Ultimatum and win off that.

Vs. Kithkin

-4 Anathemancer, -2 Boggart Ram-Gang, -4 Great Sable Stag +1 Jund Charm, +3 Volcanic Fallout, +2 Maelstrom Pulse, +2 Broodmate Dragon, +2 Cruel Ultimatum

Keep the Ram-Gangs and Leeches in: they're good blockers and survive your sweepers. You want to save your Pulses for Honor of the Pure here, so you can kill all their guys with sweepers. Otherwise, same plan as against Elf Combo, except you don't want to tap out when they have armies-in-a-can, so no Mulldrifters. BMD's and Cruels are worth tapping out for.

Vs. B/R Burn

-4 Boggart Ram-Gang, -4 Putrid Leech, -4 Anathemancer, +1 Jund Charm, +2 Maelstrom Pulse, +1 Doom Blade, +4 Mulldrifter, +2 Broodmate Dragon, +2 Cruel Ultimatum

Putrid Leeches are bad here since you have to burn life to keep them alive, so they kill you quicker. Mulldrifters are good for refilling your hand and blocking / killing some of their creatures, whereas Broodmate and Cruel generally seal the game for you. In Broodmate's case it may not, but they'll need to use so much burn they won't catch up and you'll lay another finisher eventually.

Vs. Five-Color Control

-3 Jund Charm, +3 Mulldrifter

You generally want to use the Mulldrifters to draw into more aggro. Jund Charm is almost useless here.

Vs. Time Sieve Combo

-3 Jund Charm, -3 Bituminous Blast, +2 Maelstrom Pulse, +4 Volcanic Fallout

Target their Tezzerets. They only have 2. If preferable, get them with Lightning Bolts at instant speed. The main strategy for this is to avoid it. It's not too popular.

Vs. Warp World

-4 Anathemancer, +3 Volcanic Fallout, +1 Jund Charm

Grey Ogres bad. Sweepers good vs. Siege-Gang. Need I say more?

Vs. Jund

Option One: -3 Great Sable Stag, +2 Maelstrom Pulse, +1 Jund Charm

Use your Jund Charms as combat tricks, and cascade as much as possible. Pulses are dicey. Hold them back if you're ahead but if they get ahead, you can generally strategically even it out.

Option Two: -3 Putrid Leech, -4 Boggart Ram-Gang, -4 Great Sable Stag, +2 Maelstrom Pulse, +3 Volcanic Fallout, +2 Broodmate Dragon, +2 Cruel Ultimatum, +3 Mulldrifter

Option two is to transition into Five-Color Control and fight them that way, using sweepers and removal to hold them off until you play Broodmate Dragon or Cruel Ultimatum. Pick whichever choice you're more comfortable with, and be sure to playtest both.

So essentially, the idea of a transformational sideboard is not to side in CARDS that make your matchup stronger, which are of course, unreliable when not drawn, but to take on the role of aggro or control that your deck needs to take. Most decks can be beaten if you take the right role, and a transformational sideboard allows you to do so. Try it out, and see how it goes! But don't try to out-control a full Five-Color Control list. They hold the cards there.

Until next time, may you surprise your opponent by dropping a Cruel after a Bloodbraid Elf.

Lessons I've learnt today:

Broodmate Dragon is a great sideboard card.

Great Sable Stag is almost always relevant.

Sweepers are awesome. Very, very awesome.

See you tomorrow!

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)