Casual Corner - Titania's Dominion

               Greetings fellow spell slingers! It's been a while since I've posted anything here on the Fanatix blog and I've been itching to talk about some of the latest happenings in the Magic world. As we all know, the holidays is a turbulent time, one in which we scatter, scuffle, and scramble about ferociously in an effort to eventually (hopefully) take it a little slower with our friends and families. When things do slow down, I'm always on the lookout to find an opportunity to jam some extra games when possible, and while that didn't happen too terribly often this year, the hustle and bustle of the season couldn't stop me from thinking about Magic. What's been on my mind? Straight up? Casual formats!

                Look, I find Standard, Modern, and Legacy plenty interesting, but I've been completely enthralled with all things Casual lately. So, I'd like to discuss a couple of Casual formats today: one old, one new, and I'm always on the lookout to play something blue. So, if you're interested in the ramblings of a single-minded, Singleton-format-loving madman, read on dear reader, read on.

                First up, I've got to talk about a bit about the release of Commander 2014. I've got to say that I think Wizards of the Coast, under lead designer Ethan Fleischer, did a tremendous job with these. I know, I know. These decks have been out for a while. They're so 2014, but it's refreshing when you see the caretakers of our game go to such lengths to try and satisfy as many players as possible. Personally, I thought they did a great job of giving most of the niche audiences a little something to appreciate. For those that like to see design space explored aggressively, we have a cycle of Planeswalkers that can start in the Command zone. This is a pretty natural progression, I know, but with only five slots to play with, I feel like Wizards threw a pretty juicy bone to those that love more radical designs as well as those that enjoy seeing some of the story elements get fleshed out. I was a little skeptical at first, afraid that this tactic was going to be too gimmicky, but I think ultimately the Planeswalker Commanders were well-executed and well-received. Plus, even with all the haymakers crashing about, they found a few slots for the efficiency-loving Legacy players, too. Containment Priest is hateful, hateful hate bear and Malicious Affliction has been a blowout every time I've seen it cast. All in all, this release was a great addition to the Commander product line and I'd highly recommend them as a way to begin your journey into the format.

                Aside from the above-mentioned praises of the C14 decks, I really enjoyed that they made the choice to make them mono-colored. Even prior to the C14 release, I had always had an affinity for single-colored Commanders. I find the deck-building constraints to be a bit refreshing, actually. It really forces you to "go deep" in a color to explore all the color has to offer. Sure, you often find yourself turning to artifacts for must-have effects that don't exist in your mono-colored ecosystem, but even so, I feel like the constraint really pushes you scrutinize all the nooks and crannies of the color. I'm always tickled when I get to peer into Magic's past and find a gem that would in no way conform to modern development practices or stumble across a more modern card that bends (or breaks in half) the color pie (Hello Time Spiral block!), but is the perfect fit for my theme or strategy. How about a few examples? Something old: Desert Twister. Yes, the very first Vindicate was a costly mono-green card. Something new: Utopia Vow. A trippy card from Planar Chaos that allows green to do a pretty solid Pacifism impression. Something Blue: Psychic Venom. Because, you know, sometimes you have to have snakes on a Plains.

                With all that said, I'd like to move into the main topic: reengineering one of the C14 decks. As much fun as they were to play out of the box, the C14 decks really compelled me to put on my brewer's hat (drag out my brewer's cauldron??) and seek to build around one of the new cards. The spark-wielding Commanders were interesting and Feldon of the Third Path seemed nuts, but the legendary creature that kept catching my eye was Titania, Protector of Argoth. She's got such an interesting set of abilities. This seemed like the perfect build-around card. Plus, I knew it would push me to finally acquire a card that I've always admired from afar, but never had a chance to play with: Doubling Season!

Dorks vs. Rocks

                Before we power slide down the rabbit hole, I'd like to take a quick aside and pose a question. Well, first I want to set up the question. I've been pondering one of the interesting deck building decisions that you need to make when crafting a mono-green EDH deck: dorks vs. rocks. For the uninitiated, "dorks" is short for "mana dorks" and most often refers to cheap creatures, usually one or two mana (but not always) that produce mana. On their own they have a few tradeoffs. If drawn early, they can be one of the more powerful things you can do in EDH. The one-mana versions like Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves are about as close to Moxes as Wizards R&D is comfortable allowing. Ramping your mana in EDH is nearly always a plus. (I say "nearly always" to avoid getting side-tracked on the topic of politics in EDH and remaining threat-neutral during some portions of the game.) However, there are some obvious drawbacks. Drawn late in the game, your friendly forest critters provide little more than a warm body on the battlefield. Sometimes that's valuable. There's often things to do with stray creatures, but on turn 14 you're not going to impress anyone by using your Birthing Pod to chain your Elves of Deep Shadow into a Sakura-Tribe Elder.  Perhaps the more likely scenario: it becomes a small appetizer for an opposing Sheoldred or is a casual bystander when Sir Sweepsalot (every group has one) decides to wreck the board...again. This brings me to the major tradeoff to consider when considering the inclusion of mana dorks: they're vulnerable. So, what's the alternative? Rocks. "Rocks" is short for "mana rocks" and refer to artifacts that produce mana. There are some doozies out there (I'm looking at you Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, and Grim Monolith), but perhaps the most commonly played one is the obscenely powerful Sol Ring. But here again, we have a tradeoff. While more resilient to mass creature removal, these rocks only produce colorless mana. Often, this is a minimal drawback, but if colored mana is a concern, there are plenty more options such the Signets, Darksteel Ingot, and Coalition Relic. Here's the thing though. Mana rocks have become so prevalent in EDH that most players are packing some form of hate for them, ratcheting their liability factor up a couple of notches. So, what's a Green mage to do? I usually hedge my bets and run a split of some sort, but keep a keen eye on your play group's tendencies and balance your dork-rock ratio accordingly. If you've got any thoughts on how to conquer this portion of mono-green deck building, be sure to leave a comment and share your approach.

                Alright, we've clearly got a build-around-me style Commander here with Titania, so let's break down the card's abilities and start assembling the pieces that will most readily play nicely with her. Step one, let's take full advantage of her enters the battlefield trigger by playing a healthy portion of lands that sacrifice themselves as well as spells that allow you to sacrifice lands. Wait, should all that apply to her second ability? Yes! Her self-synergy is amazing. As far the land base goes, here again, playing a mono-colored commander lets us go a little deeper into the card pool; We'll have an easier time establishing green mana when we need it, so we have extra slots that can be devoted to lands that generate value with Titania's first ability. Step two, we really want to leverage Titania's token generating ability. This part of her rules text is what makes her such an insane build-around card. Of course, Titania will not stay on the board all the time , so we're going to be scouring Gatherer for cards that bolster our token-producing options and are generally good with token strategies. All the while, we'll keep an eye out for cards that will be insane during the times when Titania gets to stick around for a couple of turns. Lastly, we'll explore a strategy that Titania brings to the table, but isn't printed in her rules text. Because we're "devoted" to green, we can also dabble in a few a "Forest-matters" or "Green-matters" cards that should be maximized in a deck like this. Below I'm going to break down some of my choices into three groups: Land-centric, Token-centric, and Forest/Green-centric. Many of the choices will be obvious inclusions for their general power or utility, but others are making the cut because we're pushing the strategies that Titania presents to us as far as we can. On to the cards!

Land-centric

                This group will either actually be lands or will allow us to abuse lands, usually by allowing us to play additional ones per turn or by having effects when they enter play. Alright, let's get the nastiness out of the way: Strip Mine. Yes, recurring this seems nasty, but in multiplayer it is much less punishing and Titania on her own won't recur it that many times. Even with Crucible of Worlds in the 99, recurring Strip Mine won't break any games wide open and EDH games have a nice self-correcting power balance. If you get too aggressive with land destruction, you'll feel the heat immediately. Okay, now the obvious fetch lands. I try to play these in EDH anyway, but they're extra good here and you should include them in you can. What about these OTHER fetch lands? I'm referring to the Panoramas from Shards of Alara. Admittedly, I haven't played with these much, so I don't know exactly how good they are, but in a mono-colored deck they do provide many of the same benefits as your "real" fetch lands. Some other interesting lands that I'm excited to play are Lotus Vale and Scorched Ruins. These seem to be tailor-made to play well with Titania. Even she's not out to make Elementals, having lands in your graveyard will be a common occurrence with this deck and should almost always be a value-generating benefit.

                There are some other neat lands that sacrifice themselves, but what about nonland cards? How about the obvious: Life from the Loam. This is a one-card engine and is a ton of fun to play. In this deck we'll be recurring all manner of utility lands and some sweet, sweet cycling lands. Other nonlands in our land-centric group include ways to power out a mana advantage. Exploration, Burgeoning, Summer Bloom, and Oracle of Mul Daya are among the cards that really let us leverage our land theme. In some games, these cards will be virtual Time Walks as you will be operating several turns ahead of your opponents where mana production is concerned. Here again we have something old: Gaea's Touch, something new: a card I can't wait to try, Wave of Vitriol and something that acts very Blue: Font of Mythos. Hopefully, the font will let us exploit our multi-land-per-turn advantage. And of course, we want to press that advantage by doing some sweet stuff when the lands enter, so let's touch in a Lotus Cobra and Rampaging Baloths for good measure. What's that? Rampaging Baloths also plays well with our token-centric strategy? Let's take a look at some of those cards, too.

Token-centric

                Most players I know really enjoy token strategies and I'm no exception. You get to play with even more cardboard (or dice, or coins, or paper clips)! The cards chosen here are doing lots of cool things to leverage this strategy. In particular, I was looking for cards that accomplished one of the following: makes more tokens, makes our tokens better in some way, or generates value from the tokens entering play. Here again, we'll start with the obvious one I mentioned earlier: Doubling Season. This, along with its more token-focused little brother, Parallel Lives, have been the backbone of many token strategies for a long time. Some other goodies that I'm looking forward to playing are Ant Queen, Hermit Druid, and the EDH all star, Avenger of Zendikar. Wait, what is this little gem from Prophecy? Squirrel Wrangler? Not a powerhouse per se, but he's doing basically everything this deck wants to do. He's in! So now that we're filling the Multiverse with irrelevant 1/1 Insects, Squirrels, and lowly 0/1 Plant tokens, what are we going to do to actually win? Here, we'll lean an old favorite, Coat of Arms, a new favorite, Craterhoof Behemoth, and a very blue (sad) Garruk Wildspeaker that has to wait a turn before he can throttle people with trampling tokens.

Forest-centric

                In the final group, I wanted to include a few cards that made good use of the fact that we're all green and should have a relatively high number of Forests in play. These cards weren't quite as plentiful as I thought they might be, but there are several that I think will be potent in this build. My nomination for something old is Fortitude. This is a decent way to protect Titania from some of the board sweepers and removal we expect to see floating around. It plays well with our commander and just might buy her way out of a jam here and there. Our new (ish) inclusion in this category is Baru, Fist of Krosa. His grandeur ability will never be a thing, but I like his pseudo landfall ability enough that I thought he warranted inclusion. The mass trample is what sold me. Perhaps the card in this group I'm looking forward to casting the most is Beacon of Creation. I imagine this card tag-teaming with Ant Queen and Coat of Arms to assemble an insect-led invasion. Who doesn't want to beat down with thoraxes and mandibles?!

                Lastly, I rounded out the build with some general utility calling on the battle-tested prowess of cards like Reclamation Sage, Scavenging Ooze, and everyone's favorite uncle, Yavimaya Elder. Green isn't the best at producing raw card advantage, but I aimed to squeeze in a few options by including Praetor's Council, Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury, and Garruk's Packleader. I've yet to actually cast Creeping Renaissance, but I'm hoping it normally reads "draw a ton of cards from your graveyard." I'm really looking forward to jamming some games with this deck as I think it will prove to create very fun and interactive games. I've got my complete list below. As always, be sure to share what cards you think I completely missed. What sleepers do you think would be right at home here?

//Commander
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
//Lands	//Spells	//Creatures
1 Bant Panorama	1 Armillary Sphere	1 Ant Queen
1 Crystal Vein	1 Awakening Zone	1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Dust Bowl	1 Beacon of Creation	1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Encroaching Wastes	1 Beast Within	1 Baru, Fist of Krosa
1 Evolving Wilds	1 Burgeoning	1 Cartographer
18 Forest	1 Coat of Arms	1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Gaea's Cradle	1 Concordant Crossroads	1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Ghost Quarter	1 Constant Mists	1 Deranged Hermit
1 Havenwood Battleground	1 Creeping Renaissance	1 Eternal Witness
1 Jund Panorama	1 Crop Rotation	1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Lotus Vale	1 Crucible of Worlds	1 Lotus Cobra
1 Misty Rainforest	1 Doubling Season	1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Myriad Landscape	1 Expedition Map	1 Paleoloth
1 Naya Panorama	1 Exploration	1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Petrified Field	1 Explore	1 Reclamation Sage
1 Reliquary Tower	1 Font of Mythos	1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scorched Ruins	1 Fortitude	1 Squirrel Wrangler
1 Slippery Karst	1 Fresh Meat	1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Strip Mine	1 Gaea's Touch	1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Tectonic Edge	1 Harrow
1 Terramorphic Expanse	1 Kavu Lair	//Walkers
1 Thawing Glaciers	1 Life from the Loam	1 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
1 Tower of the Magistrate	1 Manabond	1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Tranquil Thicket	1 Parallel Lives	1 Nissa, Worldwaker
1 Verdant Catacombs	1 Praetor's Counsel
1 Windswept Heath	1 Realms Uncharted
1 Wooded Foothills	1 Restore
	1 Scapeshift
	1 Summer Bloom
	1 Sylvan Scrying
	1 Wave of Vitriol
	1 Worldly Tutor
	1 Zuran Orb

                 Ah yes, I did say in the opening that I wanted to discuss a new format, didn't I? I really wanted to talk about the very cool Tiny Leaders format, but the more I thought about, the more I thought it deserved its own article. Plus, the format seems to have caught on like wildfire AND it's being shaken up by upcoming cards from Fate Reforged, so I think I'd prefer to wait and dedicate a post to it. With all that said, that's going to do it for this installment.

Thanks for reading. I'll see you on the battlefield!




Eric Peel has been playing Magic: The Gathering since he discovered the game in college, around the time of Invasion block. Most of the time Eric's simply a devoted family guy, but occasionally he finds time to sling spells or become temporarily devoted to a Therosian deity. He enjoys multiple formats, finding fun and competition in Limited, Constructed, and Multiplayer Magic.

His current favorite card is Bloodghast.

UnKhanTrollable

All aboard the hype train! Next stop. Tarkir!

                Magic players really have it good when you think about it. I don't many other games that get such an infusion of new toys as frequently as us noble spellslingers. I'm not really sure at what clip video game publishers release DLC, but I can't imagine it matches the rate that Wizards of the Coast gives us new goodies and definitely not for the same game...for twenty years straight! No, Magic has something special going on when it comes to keeping things fresh. A few weeks ago, I was getting all set to begin writing an article about the upcoming rotation. I also wanted to start taking a look at what kind of expectations we have for the first-ever "wedge" set.

                A quick aside: Mark Rosewater, Magic's Head Designer, has tried on many occasions to stress to the player base that Khans of Tarkir is a wedge set and not the beginning of a wedge block. The foundation of the block is based on a unique draft structure that they wanted to experiment with and it is all wrapped up in the trappings of a time travel story. So, the Khans block will not have as many parallels to the Shards of Alara block as one might guess without considering that information. End aside.

                I was all set on examining how rotation works and ready to take a stroll down memory lane with the Return to Ravnica block, but I couldn't keep pace with the changes and spoilers that WotC was unleashing. The first, dubbed, again by Mark Rosewater, as a game changer was quite literally that. In his article, Metamorphosis, he goes into great detail about the new two-set block paradigm and how Standard will rotate in the future. He also breaks down all of the factors and consideration that led them to make the change. It's very well-written and has some visuals that very clearly illustrate the shift. The community's response to the changes was overwhelmingly positive and I'm looking forward to watching the next few years of Magic unfold.

                Next, the spoilers begin leaking out via social media as the WotC crowd travels to various cons. Before we know it we get THE announcement. The one we've been speculating on for so long: Fetches. Allied Fetches. This is pretty huge. It will impact multiple formats and should, at least, begin to break down some of the barriers to getting into Modern and, to a lesser degree, Legacy. But they will be terrific in Standard, too. It's now known that the Sultai's mechanic will be Delve which will play exceptionally well with the fetch lands. And then there's Courser of Kruphix. Already a Standard stand out, Courser's value gets shifted into overdrive with fetches in the format. As you can see, its monetary value gets shifted into overdrive as well:

Image courtesy of www.mtggoldfish.com

                Now, it's Christmas in September and the spoiler season is in full swing and new cards are dropping daily. The wedge theme is bringing blow after blow of mid-range goodness delivering some very  stout creatures. The majority of the creatures we've seen to date are all up side in the rules text, leaving you only to figure out how to cast them on time given their demanding mana costs. Even the recently spoiled Butcher of the Horde is sporting mostly upside, regardless of being a Demon, a race that typically asks for a mandatory payment in exchange for some benefit. Exciting stuff built into the game's very first white Demon. There's so much to talk about...so many presents to open. Every new card has to be analyzed, every one warrants a discussion. Spoiler season is awesome. New formats are awesome. And Khans is shaping up to be awesome.

                There's way too many spoilers to cover here, but I would like to open it up for discussion. With so many audiences being targeted with each new set, let's toss out a few fire starters. Check out the questions below, jump into the comments and chime in. See you at the Prerelease!

1. Of the Charms spoiled so far, which do personally like best? Which do you feel will see the most play in Standard?

2. Of the legendary Khans spoiled so far, which are you most looking forward to building around in Commander? Which do you think will cause the biggest splash?

3. How would you go about attacking Courser of Kruphix after the upcoming rotation?

4. Which mechanics are you looking forward to playing with in Limited the most?

I want to here from you! Let us know what you think and comment here on the blog. :)

-Eric Peel

A Deep Dive Into the Shark Tank

Examining the Standard Metagame at Game Day.  

                After a new set releases, Standard fluctuates more than any other Constructed format (excluding the lesser-played Block format), so the Game Day tournament that comes after a set hits the streets is always an interesting one. Because it comes on the tail end of Prerelease and Release events, it has the potential to showcase a more mature Standard environment. An environment that's put new cards through the wringer. An environment that's put new cards on trial in front of a jury of their peers and deemed them worthy of inclusion or denounced them as "unplayable in the current meta." Some cards are forced to quickly pack their bags, fresh borne from their booster pack, exiled forever to Jankville. In the case of the most recent Game Day, (held at your local, friendly game store, Fanatix #Plug), the Standard format had already been put through the paces at Pro Tour Magic 2015. In Portland, the brightest minds in the game came together to dismantle the format and then put it back together, leaving only the most potent strategies standing.

                With the Pro Tour results at front of mind, the local spellslingers had a chance to choose their weapon in an attempt to take down their friends in a battle for pride and prizes. Would they look to mimic the front-runners of the Pro Tour, lean on the results of the large third-party circuits, or attack the format with something  just a little off kilter...the ever-elusive: winning brew. I 'm happy to report that the Fanatix Game Day had representation from all three camps. Let me set the stage: I wanted to get in on the action myself, but I was without a deck and I was without practice. As I've found many times throughout my Magic-playing career, it's oftentimes really fun just to watch and discuss Magic with some other fans of the game. With that in mind, I approached Phil about doing some "coverage" of the event. By this time, round 1 was underway and I needed to hustle. I asked him first about the turn out. His response was perfect: "It's small, but potent." Sixteen players had come out to battle. With regular FNM turn outs of more than thirty, sixteen was a little on the skinny side, but what a perfect number. Already it had the feel of an invitational-style event. Plus, this was my first crack at doing any type of event coverage ever, so this would be a stellar way to tip-toe into the waters. As it turns out, these waters were infested. Infested with spiky sharks.

                When I walked into Fanatix, I was quick to notice the mix of players at the tables. The tournament was loaded with many of Dothan's most regular and renowned players. Small, but potent, indeed. Lots of these guys had earned my admiration as thoughtful, skillful players. It looked as though the gloves were off. There will very little jank at the tables tonight. Before we dive into the deck lists (BEWARE: the water/aqua/fish/shark puns are going to keep coming. Watch out for the buoys!), let's examine the heart of the matter. The purpose of the article. The hearticle, if you will. My goal here is to paint some broad strokes and showcase some of the decks and cards seeing play in the area. With this article, I'd like to take a snapshot of the local scene and present you with the decks to beat. Sure, there will be some ebb and flow (that's what makes Standard so fun and popular) but, as the saying goes: "A gamer's gonna game," so you can count on many of these winning strategies to show up again and again.

Archetype Breakdown

              

                First, let's take a high-level view of the decks that saw play during Game Day. I'm not familiar with any consistently performing Combo decks in Standard, but the other core archetypes, Aggro, Mid-Range, Aggro-Control, and Control, were all represented in some form or fashion. Behold, the contenders and their weapon of choice.

Player	Deck	Archetype
Andrew Tharpe	UW "Floch" Control	Control
Brandon Weaver	Mono-Blue Devotion	Aggro
Brentney Washington	UW Control	Control
Danny Abeyta	Mono-Black Devotion	Aggro-Control
Dean Burger	UG Prime Speaker Mid-Range	Mid-Range
Dustin Thornton	Naya Walkers	Mid-Range
Freeland Hollowell	Mono-Red "Sligh"	Aggro
Garrett Darley	Wr "Firemane" Aggro	Aggro
Jason Temple	Mono-Black Devotion	Aggro-Control
Johnny Page	Jund Walkers	Mid-Range
Matt Campbell	Naya Walkers	Mid-Range
Nick Newman	Mono-Black Devotion	Aggro-Control
Ryan Grace	Jund Mid-Range	Mid-Range
Trevyn Albrecht	Jund Walkers	Mid-Range
Tyler Lindsey	Esper Control	Control
Tyler Underwood	Mono-Black Devotion	Aggro-Control

                Before we get submerged any further, I want to address one thing above. I feel like the "Aggro-Control" label for the popular Mono-Black Devotion decks might cause some of you to raise your eyebrows. Depending on the specific build, you can certainly make arguments that the deck plays more aggressive or more controlling, but I think much of the deck's strength comes from its dual nature and its ability to switch roles in a match very quickly and efficiently. Think about some of the openings you see from the common builds of this deck: Thoughtseize, Pack Rat, Nightveil Specter, Desecration Demon. This is an aggressive curve out! Pack Rat alone can play an aggressive game, deploying threats that grow in size while maintaining a static cost. This is a great tempo advantage! Desecration Demon, in particular, also has a tempo feel because when you stick him early, it's so far ahead in regards to its mana cost to power/toughness ratio that you feel one or two turns ahead of your opponent. In the case that this deck opens the game with this kind of early aggression, the spot removal is used to clear the way and beat down quickly, leaving just a light bit of mop-up duty to our friend (and one of the hardest-hitting cards in Standard) Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Obviously, in other matchups, the mono-black deck can take a more controlling bent and use its removal early to preserve its pilot's life total, deploying threats after weathering the storm of a more aggressive deck. What about against control? Thoughtseize and Underworld Connections really shine here, removing key spells and keeping pace in the card advantage race.

                Anyway, other authors have spent many more intelligent words exploring the intricacies of the mono-black devotion deck and its strengths and weaknesses in the greater metagame. My purpose here is to assert that I feel we can safely label the MBD deck as an Aggro-Control deck without losing too much sleep at night. If you feel differently, be sure to make your case in the comments. I love reading other's thoughts on Magic theory.

                With that said, let's look at MBD's share of the tournament. A full quarter of the sharks came wielding dark magic seeing no need to dip into other colors. Well almost. Nick Newman decided that Watery Grave and Temple of Deceit were fine "Swamps" and used them to touch in a full four copies of Far and Away. This adds some more credence to the Aggro-Control nature of the MBD deck. Sure, Nick opted to pay one colorless more for his edict effect, but he also picks up the option to blow his opponent out with a well-timed fuse spell. Additionally, when discussing his decision to run the card, he expressed the importance of having a non-black way to handle Blood Baron of Vizkopa, a potentially troubling card for the deck. Meanwhile, Danny Abeyta opted to give his version of MBD a slightly more controlling angle of attack including singleton copies of Liliana Vess and the Magic 2015 stand out, Perilous Vault. I overheard him comment that some of his opponents weren't sure how to play around the ominous artifact. Tyler Underwood chose to stick with a well-worn path, playing probably the most "stock" version of the deck. With still another take on the deck, Jason Temple chose to pilot a MBD deck which eschewed the mainstream Pack Rat and Nightveil Specter in favor of Herald of Torment and Lifebane Zombie. He tried to offset the glut of three-drops with leaner removal spells, boldly choosing to run Doom Blade in the main deck. Unfortunately, for Mr. Temple, black creatures were well-represented in this event.

                Even with 25% of the field, the mono-black archetype didn't stand tallest. With 37.5 % of the field, green-based Mid-Range decks looked to squash the tournament with a smattering of ramp, removal, under-costed threats, and Planeswalkers. Of the six Mid-Range decks, five of the card crafters chose to leverage the might of the plentiful dual land options currently available in Standard and opted into three-color decks. Three players chose the infamous combination of Black, Red, and Green known to most as simply "Jund". Jund decks stormed the Pro Tour Magic 2015, placing two decks into the Top 8. The builds were quite different, but both relied heavily on small green creatures like Elvish Mystic, Sylvan Caryatid, and Courser of Kruphix to provide a steady stream of mana with which to deploy threats and besiege their opponents. Johnny Page plunged deep into the card pool, stocking his library with a host of "spicy" one-offs like Rakdos's Return, Primeval Bounty, and the often overlooked Clan Defiance. Johnny told me between rounds that, even as a singleton, the Clan Defiance had already muscled its way into getting multiple three-for-ones on the evening. Trevyn Albrecht also snuggled up next to Johnny on the Jund train jamming a different mix of creatures, planeswalkers, and potent singletons. After the tournament, Trevyn joked that of all the planeswalkers he ran, his favorite was...Primeval Bounty...the enchantment that won't stop giving.

                Two other Mid-Range pilots elected the Green-centric Naya shard with which to do battle, looking to capitalize on a wealth of planeswalkers defended by some of the boogie-monsters of Standard, like Polukranos, World Eater and Stormbreath Dragon. One of the Naya players (and owner of the awesome 1-UP Games), Dustin Thornton, told me that the intent of the Naya decks that he and Matt Campbell were playing was to put a spin on the Jund lists that had performed so well at the afore-mentioned Pro Tour. The lists certainly looked powerful! The inclusion of White grants them access to all manner of Standard staples including Banishing Light and Selesnya Charm, as well as three copies of one of the most powerful cards in Standard, Elspeth, Sun's Champion.

                The sole two-color Mid-Range deck was a sweet-looking stack played by Dean Burger. Dean's list also looks to generate high-volumes of mana (and consistent land drops) with a full battery of four of each of Elvish Mystic, Sylvan Caryatid, and Courser of Kruphix. Dean was looking to land large threats early in the form of Polukranos, Prime Speaker Zenaga, and Prognostic Sphinx. He also went big with a top-end showcasing Garruk, Caller of Beats and one of my favorite cards from Magic 2015, the mighty Hornet Queen. I didn't get a chance to see much of Dean's deck in action, but he shared with me afterwards that he really likes his deck against other creature decks, but that he struggles to put up wins against the omni-present Thoughtseize and the often-present Lifebane Zombie, both eviscerating his hand of high-end haymakers.

                The remaining six decks were split evenly between Aggro and Control. On the Aggro front, there was a refreshing tide of diversity among the decks that were looking to end the game quickly. I didn't get to look at their exact lists, but both Brandon Weaver and Freeland Hollowell chose to play aggressive decks that have seen success at a number of tournaments. Brandon was on a very proven Mono-Blue list that has ebbed and flowed from the top tables of major tournaments. Likewise, Freeland looked to be piloting a deck made famous by Tom Ross on the Star City Games Circuit, dubbed Boss Sligh. Freeland reengineered the deck a bit to take advantage of a powerful Aura from Magic 2015: Inferno Fist. The final Aggro deck was one put together by resident Brew Master, Garrett Darley. Aside from his luxurious beard, Garrett is known locally for being very good at uncovering and exploring rogue strategies. He's got a knack for finding powerful, underplayed cards and trawling the format for other cards that can be used to maximize the card's potential. At this event, Garrett looked to unleash the battalion-powered strength of Firemane Angel. With a solid stable of White-weenie creatures, Garrett attacked the field with a barrage of small efficient beaters backed up by the obscene Brimaz, King of Oreskos and the game-swinging Brave the Elements. Garrett said he won most games in which he was able to trigger the Angel. In a post-tournament breakdown, Garrett said that he was impressed by the work that Truefire Paladin did, but that Imposing Sovereign ultimately proved underwhelming.

                Lastly, those damned Control decks! Ever since the printing of Supreme Verdict and Sphinx's Revelation, there has been no denying the power of the Blue-White decks bent on grinding the game to halt in its unending quest for card advantage. All three of the control players  were utilizing the UW core, bringing a full complement of both the Verdict and the Revelation. Even with their similarities, these decks did prove to have some variety. Andrew Tharpe chose to battle with the deck that had just won the Pro Tour. It's perhaps the most controlling of the lists, leaning on both Supreme Verdict and Planar Cleansing to keep the board clear. The deck reuses is sweepers by drawing a massive amount of cards and recycling its cards by way of Elixir of Immortality. Brentney Washington chose the more traditional version of the deck, which manages threats of all types with the powerful duo of enchantments: Detention Sphere and Banishing Light. He was the only control player looking to end the game with the slippery shapeshifter, Aetherling. Tyler Lindsey alone splashed Black, going into full Esper-mode to gain access to Thoughtseize, Devour Flesh and one of my favorite planeswalkers, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver.

Thoughtseize has a near-stranglehold on the format. Among the top 4 decks there were TWELVE copies! - Eric Peel

                So, let's talk about the results. After the spells were slung and the dust settled, a cut to Top 4 left remaining one Mono-Black Devotion, two Jund Mid-Range, and one Esper Control deck. Let's take a moment to assess what all these decks have in common. You have probably noticed it peppered through this article. Thoughtseize has a near-stranglehold on the format. Among the Top 4 decks there were twelve (!) copies in main decks with three more in sideboards. This is nearly the maximum allowed number of copies in the Top 4. I think that speaks volumes to the power of Thoughtseize. I could go on about why Thoughtseize is so powerful, but I think it's clear that it simply contributes to winning decks and it's even more potent in the hands of capable players who consistently make good decision when casting it. Anyway, back to the results. One semi-final pitted both the Jund decks against one another, with Ryan Grace edging Johnny Page to advance. On the other side, Tyler Lindsey's Esper got past Danny Abeyta's MBD.

                The finals opened up with fast-paced play on both sides. Both Ryan and Tyler knew their decks well and played confidently. After some jockeying, Jace and Ashiok eventually took over the first game which concluded as Jace, Architect of Thought dug deep into his arsenal and used his ultimate to fetch up a Stormbreath Dragon from Ryan's library to close things out. In game two, Ryan snuck in a Xenagos, the Reveler, applying constant pressure with Saytr tokens and eventually using the extra mana from Xenagos to land a giant Rakdos's Return for 5. Tyler was pushed onto his heels by a monstrous Stormbreath Dragon. Just as he began to stabilize by sweeping the dragon away, another dragon shows up to hastily close the game. Tyler enters game 3 on the play, and ultimately closes it out earning his share of a booster box and the real prize: a super sweet 'Game Day Champion' playmat.

                It was a great deal of fun watching the area's best players battle at Game Day. I'm going to wrap up the event coverage here, but there's more to come! In between rounds, I got to quiz some of the players about which cards were over performing or underperforming. I asked them about changes they would make. They also shared some of their thoughts about the upcoming Standard rotation. They gave some interesting insight into some of the cards they're looking forward to have leave as well as some cards they speculate will see additional play after Return to Ravnica leaves Standard. So, keep checking back with this blog to see some of the thoughtful responses of the local players.

                Until next time, keep reading and keep practicing. You may be the next alpha shark in the Fanatix ocean!





Top 4 Deck Lists

Tyler Lindsey			Ryan Grace
4	Thoughtseize		4	Hero's Downfall
4	Azorius Charm		1	Garruk, Apex Predator
4	Devour Flesh		4	Sylvan Caryatid
4	Detention Sphere		4	Thoughtseize
2	Dissolve		4	Stormbreath Dragon
2	Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver		4	Courser of Kruphix
4	Jace, Architect of Thought		1	Xenagos, the Reveler
4	Supreme Verdict		2	Rakdos's Return
4	Sphinx's Revelation		2	Abrupt Decay
2	Elspeth, Sun's Champion		2	Polukranos, World Eater
4	Island		2	Underworld Connections
2	Plains		3	Reaper of the Wilds
1	Godless Shrine		3	Desecration Demon
4	Hallowed Fountain		1	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2	Mutavault		1	Forest
4	Temple of Deceit		4	Stomping Ground
3	Temple of Enlightenment		4	Llanowar Wastes
4	Temple of Silence		4	Overgrown Tomb
2	Watery Grave		4	Blood Crypt
SB			2	Temple of Malady
4	Nyx-Fleece Ram		2	Temple of Malice
2	Gainsay		2	Temple of Abandon
2	Negate		SB
2	Sin Collector		2	Abrupt Decay
1	Jace, Memory Adept		2	Mizzium Mortars
1	Liliana Vess		2	Scavenging Ooze
1	Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver		2	Gogari Charm
1	Deicide		2	Mistcutter Hydra
			3	Lifebane Zombie
			1	Arbor Colossus
			1	Rakdos's Return

Danny Abeyta			Johnny Page
1	Liliana Vess		4	Blood Crypt
1	Perilous Vault		3	Forest
1	Sign in Blood		2	Llanowar Wastes
4	Nightveil Specter		4	Overgrown Tomb
4	Gray Merchant of Asphodel		4	Stomping Ground
4	Pack Rat		2	Temple of Abandon
4	Underworld Connections		3	Temple of Malady
2	Devour Flesh		2	Temple of Malice
4	Hero's Downfall		1	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2	Bile Blight		4	Courser of Kruphix
4	Thoughtseize		2	Elvish Mystic
4	Desecration Demon		4	Stormbreath Dragon
1	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth		4	Sylvan Caryatid
17	Swamp		2	Abrupt Decay
3	Temple of Deceit		2	Chandra, Pyromaster
4	Mutavault		1	Clan Defiance
SB			2	Dreadbore
3	Lifebane Zombie		1	Garruk, Apex Predator
2	Dark Betrayal		1	Golgari Charm
1	Devour Flesh		1	Hero's Downfall
2	Staff of the Death Magus		2	Mizzium Mortars
1	Soul of Innistrad		1	Primeval Bounty
1	Ultimate Price		1	Rakdos's Return
4	Duress		2	Sign in Blood
1	Erebos,God of the Dead		1	Ultimate Price
			1	Vraska the Unseen
			3	Xenagos, the Reveler
			SB
			2	Doom Blade
			1	Drown in Sorrow
			1	Golgari Charm
			3	Lifebane Zombie
			2	Rakdos's Return
			1	Scavenging Ooze
			1	Sire of Insanity
			1	Slaughter Games
			3	Thoughtseize

Hope you enjoyed the article! We hope to bring much more coverage and articles with a local mindset in the coming months!

Phil has been playing Magic since 1996. In 2010 he decided to help organize play in Dothan, AL and opened the shop: Fanatix. This article is a continued effort to spotlight and report on the local players that keep Fanatix alive!

For some reason his favorite card is Kird Ape.

Eric Peel has been playing Magic: The Gathering since he discovered the game in college, around the time of Invasion block. Most of the time Eric's simply a devoted family guy, but occasionally he finds time to sling spells or become temporarily devoted to a Therosian deity. He enjoys multiple formats, finding fun and competition in Limited, Constructed, and Multiplayer Magic.

His current favorite card is Bloodghast.