Chris Schafer
10/22/2012 10:32:00 AM
(Be sure to also check our States Report aggregate page which collects all of the States Reports that have been submitted, including any great reports that didn't happen to make it to the front page!)
My trip to Montana States begins at The Gamer's Haven in Spokane, Washington. We have a good idea of what the metagame is going to look like and some starting points for decks from the TCGplayer event in Hartford, and the StarCityGames Open in Cincinnati. We expected to see UWR Miracle control, Aggressive Zombie variants, and Jund Midrange. So, our playtest group sat down and brewed new concoctions and adjusted existing lists and came to the conclusion that Bant Control would be very well positioned at this event. It had a strong mix of anti-aggro and long range against control. It has answers to just about everything and a wealth of options when it comes to sideboarding.
After testing several existing lists we noticed. They weren't consistent. We thought white based aggro strategies with Thalia would be a major issue so we reduced the Sorcery removal effects and added to the creature base. If you could force them to stall for one or two turns then you could just take over the game.
We had many versions, which were all very similar, but the final list looked like this:
We saw many version running Tamiyo,
Armada Wurm, and
Augur of Bolas. Tamiyo really doesn't do much for the deck.
Augur of Bolas misses way too much and it felt like dropping a 1/3 for 2cmc. He locked up the ground, but not enough to make an impact. We also believed
Angel of Serenity was a better finisher than
Armada Wurm.
Garruk, Primal Hunter – Absolutely nuts against control. Multiple times he generated five cards due to a
Thragtusk or
Serenity. After clearing the field against aggro he would lock up the ground.
Jace, Architect of Thought – Three was the perfect number. There are times when you don't really want to cast him. He stalls against aggro, but not very well. He shines in the control matchup where you can get two or three activations out of him. If he goes further than that, the game is probably over.
Thragtusk – Now that Delver isn't in every other deck people need a new creature to hate. Welcome to the club buddy. This guy is going to start popping up in just about every deck.
Restoration Angel – We wanted to abuse the
Thragtusks as much as possible and the deck has a problem with some Planeswalkers. We found the best answer for a turn three Jace is dropping in an Angel and swinging. Now they have this gal to deal with and their investment only granted a minimal return. If a Thrag is in play she shifts five damage up to eleven and spins your opponents head around very quickly.
Angel of Serenity – The perfect late game monster. Knocking out blockers if you're the beatdown, reviving your team out of your graveyard, and obliterating tokens.
Centaur Healer – This was our late addition and it took a lot of rearranging to bring him up to three. He really smoothes out the match against aggro and is a decent beater against control. If he draws out removal or a
Counterspell, well, that's even better. It also gave us more targets for
Restoration Angel and recursion targets for
Serenity.
Terminus and
Supreme Verdict – Pretty much mandatory for the aggro matchups. The numbers on these seemed correct. We didn't want more than four main deck and we felt the majority should be
Terminus.
Detention Sphere – This card is an all-star in this format. We figured that the UWR Miracle deck would be popular and this dealt with that deck perfectly. Eliminating their threats at any stage of the game for a low cost. This card, along with Mortars and Sever, was one of the main reasons we cut
Entreat the Angels from our list.
Sphinx's Revelation – I would usually dump these early against aggro. Two or three cards early on can break them as they are just using their draw step. Against control you can palm this for a while and go for five or six when the game goes later. Responding to an Entreat for six cards and then seeing a
Detention Sphere or any other sweeper put you far ahead.
Syncopate – The decision to run a few counters came from our desire to be more interactive early. On the play if we didn't have a
Farseek, we still wanted to be able to stop Thalia. On the draw it meant we could still interfere with Jace or an Aristocrat. It was never dead and provided our deck with some action earlier in the game.
Farseek – The ramp and fixing this provides cleans up every bad draw. This card reduces the deck's mulligan percentage. The times I see players cycle
Azorius Charm to draw the land they need, well,
Farseek does exactly that.
Azorius Charm – I rarely draw a card unless I'm playing against control and I want to be more proactive than what my current hand provides. Stuffing a creature back on top of their library is almost always a better play. You steal damage away and a draw step. If you have a creature attacking you and you put it on top of their library, you will have two draw steps before it attacks again.
Sideboard – The extra
Centaur Healer,
Terminus, and
Supreme Verdict are for aggro. The
Jace, Memory Adept was a last second addition and proved too vital against the mirror and other control matchups. The
Dissipate and
Negate came in against control.
Rest in Peace was for any graveyard based strategies. The
Detention Sphere was for decks running annoying Planeswalkers.
Ray of Revelation was for decks running annoying
Detention Spheres that liked knocking out our Planeswalkers. The Geists were there to stop opposing Geists more than anything, but most control decks reduce their sweepers after game one and he can close a game very quickly.
On to the event…
We arrive at Rooks Comics and Games in Bozeman, Montana at 10:30. We register, scout the competition, and play a few warm up games before the player meeting. The room looks to be full of zombie variants, Jund midrange, and Bant control. I was trying to avoid decks packing Thalia and I looked to be in good shape. She is a huge annoyance and can easily carry a game on her back. Craig Wescoe had also just posted an article detailing a UW Humans list running 2 of her main and I thought some people might run his deck.
First round is posted. Here. We. Go.
My opponent is playing Jund zombies. He plays very aggressively first game and knocks me to 8 life very quickly. A turn 4
Supreme Verdict resets the board and I follow it with a
Thragtusk that puts me back in the driver's seat. He kills the
Thragtusk, but scoops to an
Angel of Serenity and another
Thragtusk.
SB: I bring in
Centaur Healer,
Supreme Verdict, and
Terminus. I board out one Jace and both
Syncopate.
He keeps a very reactionary hand with little aggro. I'm on 5 cards when he
Rakdos's Returns me for 3, then follows it up the next turn for another 3. I have no cards and he drops
Pithing Needle naming Jace. I rip into the lands I need and an
Angel of Serenity, stocking her up with a
Restoration Angel,
Thragtusk and
Centaur Healer. He floods out with mana and I'm starting the day off well.
1-0
Round Two
Another heavy aggro match. This one was running
Bump in the Night and I was a little more concerned because he could go over the top once I established some guys on my side of the table. At one point during game one he has three
Blood Artists in play and is crashing in with
Geralf's Messenger and
Gravecrawler. I'm at 5 when I block his Messenger with a
Thragtusk and flash in
Restoration Angel, avoiding killing either creature and ticking me up to 8 life after the crawler connects. I swing back for eleven and he double blocks
Thragtusk with two
Blood Artists and one on the beast. I lifelink my team with
Azorius Charm and send all of
Thragtusks damage at one
Blood Artist. I end up netting 5 life from the exchange, putting me at 13. He swings again knocking me to 8. I play
Angel of Serenity, removing his team. He draws nothing relevant and scoops.
SB: Same as round 1 bring in
Centaur Healer,
Supreme Verdict, and
Terminus, board out one Jace and both
Syncopate.
He plays an early
Lotleth Troll. On his third turn he draws doesn't play a land and attacks. I Charm his zombie back on top his library. He has no play and passes. I play a
Centaur Healer and am way ahead at this point. 2 turns later I play a
Thragtusk and follow it shortly after with a
Serenity for the win.
2-0
Round Three
This gentleman is playing the UWR Miracle deck from the StarCityGames open. We had tested this match extensively and I wasn't concerned. Game one is a series of large
Entreat the Angels followed by me playing
Detention Sphere or
Terminus. He has no real threats for me and my card advantage takes over.
SB: I bring in Negates, Dissipates,
Supreme Verdict,
Detention Sphere,
Geist of Saint Traft and
Ray of Revelation. I board out
Terminus,
Azorius Charm, and
Centaur Healer.
Game two we are both missing land drops early. I decide to slide out a
Geist of Saint Traft and he doesn't have a counter for it. Still missing land drops he
Azorius Charms the angel to save some damage. He drops to 12 before finding his fourth land. I swing in and he plays
Snapcaster Mage, flashback the Charm at the token… and then doesn't block. I'm confused. I attack again and he drops to four life. I swing the following turn and he dies to the Angel token. I'm not sure if he was confusing Geist with
Invisible Stalker, but I'll take the freebie.
3-0
Round Four
This one completely threw me off my game. Game one was an early
Deathrite Shaman. He followed this turn 3 with a
Liliana of the Veil. I knock out Lili with a
Detention Sphere and he blows up my enchantment with Vraska, allowing Lili to go back to work. The following turn he plays
Garruk Relentless and I lose to Planeswalker beatdown.
SB: Thinking I'm playing some sort of green black control I board out
Terminus and Verdict and bring in my
Counterspells
Game two he leads off with another
Deathrite Shaman, then follows with a
Rancor. The next turn is
Cavern of Souls into
Geralf's Messenger and I realized I completely read the deck wrong. He merely hit all his ‘walkers game one. I lose because I have no answers to any of his creatures.
3-1
Round Five
My opponent is playing Jund Control. These are relatively grindy matchups. I spend most of the game terrified of Rakdos Returns. He swings turn four with a Keyrune and I steal his combat step with
Restoration Angel. I play
Thragtusk and he responds with Olivia on his turn. I swing in for eight damage knocking him to nine life. He untaps and passes. I sphere his Olivia and he gains control of
Thragtusk in response so I can't attack with it this turn. Resto puts him to six. He plays a Huntmaster but a
Angel of Serenity clears the way and he takes exactly lethal.
SB: I bring in Negates, Dissipates,
Supreme Verdict,
Terminus, and
Detention Sphere. I take out
Centaur Healers and the Charms.
Game two I keep a hand with Revelation and a
Farseek and lands that don't make green mana. I die with six lands in play and
Thragtusks and
Farseeks in my hand.
Game three he mulligans to five and I have a monster grip. When he finally Rakdos Returns me for four, I respond by drawing six from
Sphinx's Revelation.
4-1
Round Six
Another zombie matchup. The story is pretty much the same here. At one point I am at the receiving end of a bonfire for five, knocking me to just under 40 life.
Serenity recurs and he has no chance of racing me.
5-1
Round Seven
We look at standings and find out we need to play to assure a Top 8 slot. He is basically playing the version of Bant Control we tested when we first stated.
Augur of Bolas completely misses the three times he plays it. He also wasn't running
Farseeks and mine set up early Jaces and larger Revelations. I generate more gas and he can't keep up.
SB: I take out the Charms, Healers,
Terminus and one
Farseek. I bring in Big Jace, Negates, Dissipates, Verdict, Sphere, Geist, and Ray.
Game two was more of the same. I felt like I had brought a tank to a gun fight. I land a Garruk with
Negate to back him up and his army of beasts make quick work of my opponent.
6-1 going into Top 8.
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Top 8
For the Top 8 we decided to share decklists and my opponent was the same opponent I lost to in the main event. Seeing his list, I felt much more comfortable with the matchup. He opened with some zombies and I
Terminus at miracle speed. He played a
Liliana of the Veil and a
Restoration Angel swooped in and took it out. His Vraska turns my Angel to stone. I summon a
Thragtusk and it turns into a 3/3 after dealing Vraska five damage.
Angel of Serenity tucks the
Thragtusk and
Restoration Angel, but he never sees an answer for her.
SB: This time I bring in
Centaur Healer,
Terminus,
Supreme Verdict. I take out 3
Detention Sphere. I'm hoping he brings in a lot of Enchantment hate thinking he can gain advantage my Spheres with all his
Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charms.
Game two he keeps a pretty average 6 and I curve out with
Centaur Healers and card advantage.
Top 4
Quarter finals is against a very unique control. This is the grindiest match of the day for sure. We go back and forth with spells. He Entreats six or seven times and each time they meet a
Terminus, Sphere or Verdict. He has me on the ropes with some
Lingering Souls, but
Thragtusks pull me back in. I manage to force him to
Overload a
Cyclonic Rift, that gives me three
Detention Spheres with nothing but Angel tokens inside. When
Garruk, Primal Hunter arrives he has no answer and beasts eventually overwhelm him.
Sideboard: I take out
Terminus,
Centaur Healer, Charm, and a
Farseek. I put in Jace,
Negate,
Dissipate, Verdict, Sphere, Geist, Ray.
Game two I keep a mulligan to six with a green land and a
Farseek. He drops a
Geist of Saint Traft on his third turn and I never see a second land.
Game three it's my turn to play Geist, but he has
Lingering Souls. With another Geist in hand I swing in, he doesn't block and I play
Jace, Architect of Thought and +1. He flashes back souls and plays a Jace of his own breaking mine. I attack again he double blocks and throws one in front of the Angel. I play
Jace, Memory Adept and start milling. I hit one of his Elixers of Immortality, but I know he has another. I cross my fingers on his turn. He plays another Jace and I
Negate him. I mill again hitting the second Elixer. My plan is to just protect my planeswalker. He attempts to
Oblivion Ring him and I break it at end of turn with
Ray of Revelation. I mill again. He draws for his turn and concedes.
Finals
Brandon is a buddy and we playtested this list together before driving to Montana. The last minute Sideboard change which added the Memory Adept and his main deck
Ghost Quarter were our only differences.
Game one I drew better in the mirror match. I hit Revelations and he didn't. More cards usually wins and this time it did.
SB: I take out
Terminus,
Centaur Healer, Charm, and a
Farseek. I put in Jace,
Negate,
Dissipate, Verdict, Sphere, Geist, Ray.
Game two he runs out a turn 4
Garruk, Primal Hunter and I
Syncopate. My Architect of Thought is sphere and I aim a
Ray of Revelation at the enchantment. He has a
Dissipate to
Shatter my perfect plans and the game goes long. Geists trade with Geists,
Supreme Verdicts are laid down. There are about seven
Detention Spheres on the table when I play another Architect of Thought. At 8 counters he tries a Jace and I
Negate. On my turn I ultimate my Jace. I dig through his library and exile his
Ray of Revelation. I don't cast it because underneath all my Spheres are nasty creatures and Planeswalkers and I don't want to give him the opportunity to flash it back. I search my library and grab the Big Jace. My Jace mills him to twenty two cards. He draws a card and extends his hand.
All in all I'm just glad I didn't see one single
Delver of Secrets. Glad that there is a new format and it looks like it is only going to be crazier when Gatecrash arrives.
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