1st at Top Deck Games Vintage 1k w/ Jeskai Mentor

A couple weeks leading to the event I played Jeskai Mentor using Oliver Tiu’s maindeck from the Vintage Super League.  I played the mirror online with Steve Nowakowski and a couple matches in the tournament practice room. These went well enough that I was locked in with a list for the event.  The restrictions on 4/24 changed this and it was time to find another deck or options to fill the slots left by 2 Gush and 3 Gitaxian Probe.  Steve and I discussed Sylvan Mentor as an option as that would help with an alternative draw engine but he was seeing some inconsistencies while goldfishing.

We heard that Menendian 4-0d a daily with Jeskai Mentor and I was sold on sticking with the archetype.  I reviewed his list and liked adding the 4^th Mox and 4^th Mentor but wasn’t a fan of the 2 Flusterstorms.  I still wanted to respect the Shops matchup and thought my matchup against blue decks should be reasonable.

Jeskai Mentor
4 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet

1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Monastery Mentor

2 Dack Fayden

4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
1 Gush
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Pyroblast
1 Spell Pierce
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Stony Silence
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time

SB:
2 Pyroblast
2 Disenchant
2 Fragmentize
1 Balance
1 Plains
1 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
3 Grafdiggers Cage
2 Containment Priest

Round 1 – Jeskai Landstill
My opponent led with Tundra and Volcanic but no cantrips so I thought I was in for a mirror or potentially Landstill/Control.  A turn 3 Standstill landed but my opponent missed a couple land drops while I was still making mine.  On his turn 4 he attacked with a  Factory and on EOT I killed it with a Swords drawing him to 9 cards.  This was nice as I was able to get value out a mediocre card and mitigate some value from the Standstill.  On my turn 4 I played a Dack Fayden fully expecting it to get countered by Force of Will but when it did it would give me the 7^th card in the graveyard for a Treasure Cruise in hand.  Surprisingly it resolved then was joined by Treasure Cruise.  He did manage to find another Standstill but with my card selection and card advantage from Cruise I was able to grind out a long game eventually with Mentor and friends.

-1 Stony Silence -3 Swords -1 Mystical Tutor
+2 Pyroblast +2 Disenchant +1 Plains

I was a bit unsure how my Pyroblast to bring in as with only 2 Volcanics he could cut me off red entirely via Wasteland but thought the upside of stopping Landstills was enough.  The Disenchant was primarily for Moat and Crucible if he had them.  Game 2 went very long with me almost decking via an unanswered Dack.  I knew my opponent had a Swords to Plowshares and 2 Supreme Verdict so I needed to pace my threats with this removal in mind.  The first Verdict was expended killing 3 tokens made from Mentor #1 and Verdict #2 killed Mentor #2.  The 3^rd Mentor did the trick after a Time Walk and a flurry of spells.

Round 2 – Paradoxical Outcome
I have hand which is high in disruption but light on cantrips.  A turn 2/3 Mentor came down and I got to see his hand of 2 Paradoxical Outcome and some Thoughtcasts via Probe.  I counter the first Thoguthcast with Spell Pierce to start applying more pressure and because he was getting closer to 6 mana to pay for it on the Outcomes.  The 2^nd Thoughtcast I let resolve saving counters for the real battle ahead.  On turn 4 he goes to cast the first Outcome which I REB he Force of Wills back pitching Mind’s Desire leaving the last card as Outcome.  I can Force pitching either Force or Ponder.  If my Ponder + draw step draw 2 spells (need 3 spells total) then I can kill him but otherwise I’m in a bad spot with Outcome bouncing around 5 targets.  I decided to keep the FoW because I had 4 mana already so any mana source or blue card would have the Force be active.  I drew a Pryoblast which is neither a land or blue but did the trick to seal game 1.

-3 Swords
+2 Pyroblast +1 Stony Silence

I mulligan to 6 this game and keep a risky but powerful hand of Strip Mine, Misstep, Ponder, Pyroblast, Mentor, Force of Will.  I scry bottom after the mulligan and he leads with Underground Sea -> Voltaic Key which I decline to counter.  My draw fails to yield a land and things are looking grim, I use the Strip Mine hoping to buy time.  On turn 2 he went for a Preordain off of Tolarian Academy which I decided to counter.  I took him playing Academy as a sign of weakness as I think he would want to slowplay it to hide a sneaky Outcome so I put him on no other lands incentivizing countering the cantrip.  I topdeck a fetch->Volcanic and fire off the Ponder seeing Black Lotus, Misstep, and something bad.  I draw the Lotus and play Mentor.  After another turn cycle he plays a Mystic Remora but the only land is still Academy, if he doesn’t have any fast mana then I don’t want to counter but each Mox counts as 2 mana sources so I make the safe play and counter it with Misstep.  I don’t remember the exact end game sequence but I drew into a Mox to make a 2^nd token and attack for some damage.  On 8 life facing down Mentor and 3 tokens he plays Time Vault with a blue floating.  I Force the Time Vault and he Flusterstorms back so my Pyroblast is not good enough.  Luckily for me and doesn’t have another mana source and I can attack for lethal next turn, was planning to Pyroblast but Scroll->Gush was on top.

Round 3 – Dredge
I have what is a solid hand against most decks in the format but Turn 1 Bazaar of Baghdad informs me otherwise.  A turn 2 Bazaar also shows up, my hand is stripped shortly after and then dead on turn 3.  Would rather lose to a nut draw game 1 where I’m 5-10% to win.

-2 Pyroblast -3 Swords -1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
+3 Grafdigger’s Cage +2 Containment Priest +1 Rest in Peace

I have a nice hand with Lotus, Snapcaster Mage, Jace Vryn’s, Probe, and Grafdigger’s Cage.  It was funny drawing my two graveyard centric cards but luckily I could get value from Snap before the Cage came down.  I played Probe -> Snap Probe drawing a Mox along the way to get Jace and Grafdigger’s Cage down.  I haven’t played much Vintage and thought I was safe with Cage protected with a couple Missteps to stop Therpay/Nature’s Claim but the Cage was answered a few turns later by Abrupt Decay.  Luckily for me my opponents’ dredges weren’t superb and the planewalker half of Jace Vryn’s combined with Snap managed the board of Bloodghast and a few tokens while Containment Priest handled the yard.  I don’t remember much after this point but believe Dig Through Time into sweet cards was involved.

Before Game 3 I sided in a Fragmentize due to seeing 2 Serenity.  This game I have a hand without any hate but it has Mox Sapphire, Brainstorm, Fetch, Ponder, Preordain, Force of Will to dig into hate.  Ancestral Recall was the draw step which drew into Lotus and other good cards but no hate cards.  I then crack the Lotus for blue casting Brainstorm but still no hate found, I crack the fetch and cast Preordain bottoming both, finally the Ponder yields a Grafdigger’s Cage.  With drawing so many cards on turn 2 I Mystical -> Treasure Cruise and can easily cast it hoping to draw more hate.  Another cantrip finds a Containment Priest but it will need to wait a turn.  Eventually Mentor and a surplus of other hate cards got there.

With only having 30 players I was able to draw rounds 4/5 into 5^th place.  I could have tried to play round 5 for seeding but it was against Mentor expert Joe Brennan and I didn’t want to take the small risk of missing on 3-1-1 if I loss.

Quarter Finals – Smokestack Shops
I was in 5^th place after the final Swiss standings and would be on the draw against Shops.  I knew he was on Workshops but didn’t know the exact version.  He kept on 7 while I mulliganed to an unexciting 6 which had Library.  He played a Mox and then Workshop->Trinisphere and I can Force it pitching a Gitaxian probe leaving a hand with a Mox and 3 lands or let it resolve to get Library active.  Due to having Library and many lands I thought I had a better chance win by fading a Waste/Strip and getting Library online.  The library was quickly Wastelanded and then Smokestack showed up.  I declined to play a land after the Smokestack hoping he would not draw Crucible but the deck is all permanents so can easily feed a Smokestack @1 until Crucible arrives.

-2 Pyroblast -4 Mental Misstep -1 Stony Silence
+2 Fragmentize +2 Disenchant +1 Plains +2 Containment Priest

Boarding in Containment Priest as an Ambush Viper is funny but correct.  Against a more traditional Shop Aggro deck you get to bring in Balance and 2^nd Stony Silence but here both are bad as Stax plays Null Rod and only 5 creatures.

In game 2 I’m able to get down an early Mentor but it was then met by a Tabernacle and Tangle Wire which slowed down my development.  Eventually I was able to start fighting through his denial by poking with just Mentor then Mentor and token until he finally ran out of steam.  Between Resistors and Tabernacle I was constantly constrained to playing 0-1 spell a turn and deciding how many creatures to keep.  He went for a desperation Ensaring Bridge but I had a Force of Will and we were on to game 3.

For game 3 he has a turn 1 Resistor while I have a couple of Moxes and Force of Will.  Early on he plays a Crucible which I decline to counter saving it for something more impactful.  This works out as he has another Crucibles.  I’m developing my game with some expensive cantrips while leaving up 1 mana for Force.  I get a Mentor in play off a Tundra which doesn’t last long but can’t attack profitably into his Factory.  He casts a Trinisphere but with already having 1 Resistor in play I decline to counter, I’m not sure about this choice but I generally err on the side of not countering resistors but maybe should treat 3sphere differently.  Next comes a Revoker which is a big play, my only mana is 2 Moxes and an Island so if I let it resolve then I can’t cast any spells.  I don’t want to burn Force on it though as my hand has a Swords and his deck has very few targets.  This was flawed logic for multiple reasons, 1 I want to use Swords on the Factory which is stopping me from attacking and with having a Disenchant in hand I can still answer any problem permanent he plays.

I keep finding Scalding Tarns and natural Tundras but they are just Lotus Petals in face of Crucible/Waste.  Eventually I draw a Treasure Cruise which you can cast for just U against Trinisphere which I found surprising.  This let me find a Flooded Strand into a glorious Plains and from there I had too many cards and solid mana which translated into a win.

Semi-Finals – Dredge (same opponent as R3)
Game 1 was very reminiscent of our round 3 match including 2x Bazaars on his side.

-2 Pyroblast -3 Swords -1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy -1 Mental Misstep
+3 Grafdigger’s Cage +2 Containment Priest +1 Rest in Peace +1 Fragmentize

It’s possible you also want to board in Balance against Dredge but I didn’t like the idea of needing to lose a large chunk of my hand in order to kill some creatures made through hate pieces.

Game 2 we both mulligan and my hand is very mediocre but has a Grafdigger’s Cage.  I play a Mox and the cage with 3 lands and a Swords in hand.  A turn 2 Unmask reveals my unexciting hand but he has Bazaard twice and is low on cards.  Due to most answers costing 2 mana I felt a little safer.  We both draw go for a few turns with me not drawing anything but mana and finally seeing a Dig Through Time but nothing graveyard except 1 Fetch and the Swords.  An Abrupt Decay hits my Cage and he has a turn to do some work but only manages a few tokens, he decides to Evoke Ignot Chewer targeting a Mox stacking the kill artifact then die part and using Bazaar after my Mox has died but only has 1 Bridge.  My Dig Through Time finds a Containment Priest and Jace Vryn’s Prodigy which are enough to stabilize and win.

I don’t remember game 3 as all these post-board Dredge matches start to blend together.

Finals – Aggro Shops
Once again I’m on the draw against Shops but this time the aggro variety.  Not sure which build is harder for me but at least my Swords will be live and a more relevant sideboard.  I mulligan game 1 but my 6 card hand is great with 2 lands, Mox Sapphire, Ancestral Recall, and Mentor.  When deciding to keep his opening 7 he deliberated for a long time and I can understand why.  He began with Lotus->Ravager then Wasteland->Sphere.  This is a powerful start but if he doesn’t have any double mana lands then it could spell trouble.  I played the Sapphire and passed, on his turn he played Ancient Tomb into Thorn.  Seeing the Ancient Tomb was rough as I was hoping to get a reprieve on threats.  I played a land a passed the turn.  I kept getting poked by the Ravager while he played a Factory and Ballista @ 1.

An EOT Recall now gave me a wealth of options including more lands, Time Walk and Gush.  I could tap out and play Mentor into his 3 mana but if he drew any non-Workshop land he could just kill the Mentor with Ballista.  Additionally I have a Force of Will in hand that I would like to keep up.  I play the Time Walk and then cast Mentor with an Island up.  I make a comment about hoping he doesn’t draw a land because I want him to try and kill my Mentor as I will Gush in response.  He draws a Workshop and then casts Skysovereign which I didn’t expect to see in Vintage.  I counter it with Force of Will and then my opponent sacs his Mox and Thorn to Ravager shifting the counters to Ballista to make it a 4/4 and removed 3 counters to kill Mentor.  I don’t think he realized that he could respond to the Prowess trigger and kill it when it was still a 2/2.  This is extremely relevant as operating through a single resistor is nothing.  From here my opponent is out of resources and I’m able to eventually win.

-2 Pyroblast -4 Mental Misstep -1 Mystical Tutor
+2 Fragmentize +2 Disenchant +1 Plains +1 Balance +1 Stony Silence

Game 2 is one of those games where every turn you feel like you’re about the turn the corner and stabilize but they keep having the Sphere or Tangle Wire to maintain the advantage.  I have a Mentor in hand but only a single white source.  If I can topdeck a white mana source then I can play Mentor -> Swords on Ravager while he is tapped out but my life is very low from 2 Factories and the Ravager.  I brick on white mana and instead have Mentor -> Ponder but I’m dead on board from modular shift onto the unblocked Factory.  He plays Skysovereign killing Mentor and swinging with 1 Factory + Ravager but I was dead regardless.

For game 3 I keep a 7 which has two Moxes, Library, Land, Mentor, Swords, and Preordain.  I’m feeling golden as aside from a turn 1 Ballista@2 I have most my bases covered with removal, cantrip and Moxes to blank resistors.  Instead he plays Ancient Tomb -> Dismember and a Mox for a Resistor.  I tap out for a Dack Fayden and can either steal the Mox to shut down his mana development and build mine or maintain a higher loyalty.  I decide to steal the Mox but this backfires as he has Wasteland -> Ratchet Bomb and blows it up immediately.  Now I lost my 2 Moxes and the stolen one and down to a single loyalty on Dack.  The upside of this is I have a Dig Through Time in hand so whether my Moxes are in play or in the graveyard they are still generating mana.  I loot with the Dack up to 2 loyalty while my opponent taps out for Ravager.  I Dig EOT and find a Jace Vryn’s and Disenchant.  I decide to kill my Dack taking Ravager as he had nowhere to shift the counters.  The game goes on for a while and I’m able to whittle away my opponent’s threats with combination Disenchant, Fragmentize and Swords.  During this time he was able to get a Chalice @ 1 in play but luckily I have 2 Disenchant in my sideboard and drew one so was able to flash it back with Jace.  The game went on much longer but I had control with active Library vs him drawing off the top.

From the list I played I liked running 4 Moxes and 4 Mentor but some of the supporting cast could use work.  Merchant Scroll was great but Stony Silence and Mystical Tutor were both poor.  The Spell Pierce was serviceable but nothing more.  If I was to play the deck again I would experiment with the 5^th Mox or Sol Ring and try to get a Jace, the Mind Sculptor back in the deck.  I was afraid by adding the 4^th Mentor the deck could not support too many expensive spells but adding an additional mana source should make it work.

Flash in the Pan – Baltimore Standard Classic Top 8

I played UW Flash to an unimpressive finish at GP Providence but during the tournament I felt like I was learning the deck better and improving my play. After scrubbing out of the Legacy main event I hopped in a Standard Challenge with a list that was very close to Gerry T’s maindeck but with some differences in the sideboard. I went 4-0 in the challenge and liked how the MD played but made some small sideboard tweaks to end up with the following list.

Spells
4 Smuggler’s Copter
3 Revolutionary Rebuff
3 Stasis Snare
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Creatures
4 Reflector Mage
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
4 Thraben Inspector
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Archangel Avacyn

Lands
6 Island
10 Plains
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
1 Westvale Abbey

Sideboard:
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Negate
2 Spell Shrivel
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Bruna, the Fading Light
2 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Fragmentize

The deck plays a bit like Fairies of old where you are mostly operating at instant speed and it is difficult to know from your opponents side which cards to play around. This gives you windows to make decisions such as taking a hit from a creature to use Spell Queller on what they play later in the turn and then if nothing can still answer the creature. When playing against UW Flash make plays that give you information about the contents of your opponents hand to improve your own decision making. For example if you are afraid of your Copter getting hit by Stasis Snare first main your main spell for the turn and if the counter it then free to get in with Copter if not then need to decide risk/reward. If you can timewalk any deck in this format but not giving them give targets for removal/spells that is a good way to get an advantage.

Round 1 – GR Energy (2-0)
Before this match I was 0-2 in this matchup so happy to have a chance to play it again with some more experience under my belt. He started with turn 1 Attune turn 2 Voltaic Brawler. I was on the play and turn 2 Selfless Spirit and turn 3 Queller or Stasis Snare. I took the hit for 4 and Quelled a 2^nd Brawler. On my main phase I used Stasis Snare when he didn’t have a green up to protect with Blossoming Defense. On turn 4 he resolved Bristling Hydra when the coast was clear. My life was at 16 when he attacked so I took a hit while racing in the air. On my turn 5 I have Avacyn to block while still swinging for 4 with my other fliers. A couple chump blocks on Hydra later and we are on to game two as he can’t deal with the flying army.

– 3 Revolutionary Rebuff -2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar -1 Reflector Mage -1 Archangel Avacyn
+2 Blessed Alliance +2 Declaration in Stone +2 Gisela, the Broken Blade +1 Linvala, the Preserver

Game 2 is somewhat similar except he was able to stick a Tracker and get two clues before I am able to answer but he flooded out a bit. He made a strange play of killing a Thraben Inspector with Galvanic Bombardment, it was my first time someone used a real removal spell on him and felt amazing. I was on a mulligan and then meant we were both on same amount of cards. I took some early damage from a Lathnu Hellion but then he was put to question of losing Hellion or having enough energy to give hexproof on Bristling Hydra and decided to sacrifice the Hellion. Eventually Avacyn came down and flipped bashing him down to 6 life. Then I passed with another Avacyn to protect and didn’t bother playing anything or cracking clue on his EOT as he left two mana up and then I attacked for lethal and protected my flipped Avacyn from Harnessed Lightning.

Round 2 – GB Delirium (2-0)
I have an aggressive start with Thraben, 2 Selfless Spirit, and 2 Gideon but need to spike a 4^th land for Gideon to cast on curve. Drawing a lot of Selfless Spirit against this deck is rough since they get shot out of the sky by Liliana. He has the turn 3 Lily killing one of my two Spirits then I jam Gideon -> Emblem killing the Lily. I follow it up with a turn 5 Gideon making a token but am almost out of gas only having a Reflector Mage in hand. He plays a turn Mindrack Demon which I bounce and then beat down for 11 damage. On turn 6 he has Kalitas which blunts my ground attackers pretty hard as a 3/4 is bigger than my 2/3 Thraben and 3/3 Knight token. I just get in with the Selfless and Gideon but the Selfless gets killed by Grasp and the token chumps Gideon. He replays the Demon and I attack with just Gideon two turns in a row and he is forced to chump block with Demon and I counter an EOT Grapple with Rebuff. I’m able to keep applying pressure and he can’t find an answer to Gideon or more removal to pair with Kalitas.

-4 Selfless Spirit -1 Reflector Mage -1 Archangel Avacyn
+2 Spell Shrive +1 Summary Dismissal +1 Bruna, the Fading Light +1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets +1 Declaration in Stone

My opponent mulligans this game and I have Copter and Gideon to make his life difficult. I choose not to crew the Copter on my turn 3 in the face of his 3 open mana and instead just attack with my Thraben. My opponent taps to play something medium impact turn 4 and then I’m able to Gideon into crewing Copter with the Knight and have a bunch of counterspells. He has a To the Slaughter with Delirium and is back in it but Copter is filtering my draw and applying pressure. A Vessel crack lets him sneak in a 6-7 mana Emrakul but I answer with Spell Shrivel and the Mindslaver part wasn’t too bad just stopping a just casting a Summary Dismissal and countering it with Rebuff but I have lethal with main phase Avacyn to crew Copter and attack for 5 with it and a Spell Queller.

Round 3 – GB Delirium (2-1)
This round I saw that I was paired down to a four pointer and saw a Grasp in Darkness while shuffling so assumed another GB Delirium deck. Game 1 I am pretty light on action and he had a turn 3 Lily on the play. I have a Reflector Mage to bounce a Mindrack and he then plays Kalitas and upticks his Lily saying targeting nothing. This lets me answer Kalitas with a Stasis Snare and knock Lily down to 4 Loyalty with my Reflector Mage. The Mindrack demon comes back down and a couple turns later I try to setup a double block with Avacyn and a Spell Queller but he has Grasp to kill Avacyn. I am flooding pretty hard this game but find another Stasis Snare for Mindrack but he is able to resolve a Noxious Gearhulk which is unfortunately an artifact so I can’t counter with Rebuff. I try to setup double blocks on Gearhulk since it has menace but he kills enough creatures that I cannot and I lose to a few hits from the Gearhulk.

I boarded in a similar fashion to round two but also brought in the 2^nd Declaration in Stone since he had more creatures I wanted to answer. I mulligan into a very medium hand with 2 Thraben, 2 lands, and 2 Rebuff. The game progresses and I still only have the two Thraben’s as “action”. He casts an early Transgress the Mind taking a Reflector Mage and sees the Rebuffs making them lose some value but still delaying his development by two mana. I beat him down to 12 life from just the Thrabens and then get an Avacyn which is answered quickly. A few turns pass and I’m able to use one of my two Rebuffs to counter a Traverse the Uvenwald w/ Delirium. He fires off another Transgress sees my hand still has 2 Rebuffs. I don’t have much pressure at all but was drawing mix of lands, removal, and counters. Thankfully one of my lands is Westvalle Abbey so despite being very flooded I am poking away for some damage. Copter shows up and I’m able to loot away a few excess lands and just barely push through lethal.

Game 3 he is on a mull to 5 but has a strong start with turn 2 Grim Flayer -> turn 4 Tracker + Land. I have the choice on his turn 3 to block the Grim Flayer with my Thraben or let it through. Because I didn’t have Copter and wanted to try and punish the double mulligan denying him any resources I blocked and then cracked a clue. Keeping with this theme I decided to Stasis Snare the Grim Flayer before letting him connect but this gave the window to resolve Tireless Tracker which I knew about from a turn 3 Vessel. The Vessel also gave instant delirium meaning his Flayer was a 4/4. I drew into a 2^nd Stasis Snare on my turn 3 which made the decision easier, if I didn’t then I would need to take the Flayer hit and Queller the Tracker. On my turn 4 I’m faced with another decision of Gideon or Stasis Snare on Tracker. I went with Gideon making a 2/2 which is a little risky if he has Grasp because he can crack clue and bash for 4 but he only had 1 card in hand so I took the risk. I had no more lands in hand so being mana efficient seemed very important. When I untap with Gideon I have a lot of options including main-phasing the Stasis Snare and getting in for 7 but I think he has Natural Slate and I am in a good enough position that I can afford to play around it. So instead I just make a 2/2 and don’t attack with my knight. He tapped out for something leaving only 1 mana up so I could attack my 2/2 into his 3/2 Tracker but if he has slate then I will get ambushed by a 4/4 Grim Flayer and don’t really want to burn my Snare on the Flayer. On his upkeep after not seeing the Slate I cast Stasis Snare on Tracker and assume my read of Natural Slate was incorrect which is good for me. Gideon does work and I pull out the match.

Round 4 – UW Flash w/ Elder Deep Fiend and Sanctum (2-1)
Game 1 was an ugly affair where I kept a land heavy hand and only drew more lands. I didn’t put up much opposition against his very aggressive start on the play.

-1 Reflector Mage -1 Selfless Spirit
+1 Linvala, the Preserver +1 Bruna, the Fading Light

I’ve played the mirror match a few times now but I still don’t have a strong cohesive plan of how best to approach sideboarding. Certain cards can perform poorly or great depending on the game state. Cards that fall into this category are Reflector Mage, Selfless Spirit, and Gideon but the upside of Gideon is high enough that it is worth keeping around especially on the play.

This game I have the aggressive start with 2 Thraben, and a Copter but my turn 2 Copter is answered with Fragmetize. On the end my turn 4 I pass with mana up and he just flashes in Spell Queller which I let happen. He passes with doing nothing on his turn 4 so I spend the time drawing a card with one of my clues. On upkeep he goes for Elder Deep-Fiend sacrificing the Queller targeting my four lands I draw with last clue and counter with Rebuff for a clean 2-1 and no loss of mana. From this point I get a few more creatures down and can apply pressure. He tries to stabilize with a Gideon but I kill it by bouncing a token w/ Reflector Mage. His has a 2^nd Gideon but is too far behind on board and concedes shortly after.

For game 3 I brought in a copy of Spell Shrivel since it seemed like his list was going bigger and could be useful against Deep Fiends.

Game 3 he keeps a slower hand with no turn one or two plays while mine is more aggressive with Copter and Selfless Spirit. Being able to take the initiative is very important in the mirror as all of your tempo oriented cards are much better when you’re the aggressor. He doesn’t stop my turn 3 Selfless Sprit but I don’t animate Copter into a potential Stasis Snare. He does nothing EoT so he hasn’t cast any spells for first 3 turns. On my turn 4 I get in with Copter and attack but he knows I likely have something so doesn’t try to Stasis before combat. I pass because I am the one with a developed board and have Rebuff and Queller. He goes for Stasis EoT which I answer with Queller. He tries to get back into the game with an ambushing Avacyn but I have the Rebuff and he is too far behind to get back.

Aside:
Despite this standard format being dominated by UW Flash and GB Delirium there are still many decisions to be made with how you construct your deck for these matchups while not sacrificing too much for the rest of the field. Revolutionary Rebuff is a good example as it lets you break serve in the mirror and tempo out GB but against the aggro decks of the format it is not where you want to be. Also if your sideboard is too focused on just these matchups you can easily lose to fringe decks.

There also doesn’t seem to be a consensus yet for how to sideboard in the mirror which makes it more interesting as you need to keep adapting to how your opponent is approaching the MU. Some people may focus on keeping the deck lean and tempo oriented while others go big and try to achieve and advantage in the late game.

Round 5 – Mono Red Aggro (2-0)
I knew what my opponent was playing because he was in the same Standard challenge that I played in on Saturday. My opening hand was ok for the MU with 3-4 lands, Selfless Spirit, Queller, and Avacyn. He was on the play with turn 1 Insolent Neonate and turn 2 Neonate + Inventor’s Apprentice. Turn 3 he had Key to the City but no 3^rd land. I’m taking a bit of damage but with my opponent missing his 3^rd land means my Queller should do work. On my 3^rd turn EoT he discards a land which surprised me but maybe he wants to keep more threats and can operate on two lands. On upkeep he pays two for Keys to draw a card, plays a land and attacks with his creatures. I could go for Queller as a blocker to stop the Apprentices bounce but would rather stop a spell than save 2 damage. Additionally if he feels inclined he could use Keys to make Apprentice unblockable to it is a poor option. Second main he plays another 1 drop which I counter w/ Queller. I untap and play a Reflector Mage bouncing a Neonate. This was likely a mistake as he will likely not mind making the Apprentice unblockable so I save myself more damage bouncing the Apprentice. My opponent uses Key to the City on the Apprentice and attacks with it and the Neonate. This whole time my turn 2 Spirit has been poking away at his life as it is a terrible blocker but I am losing race from his creatures getting on board much earlier. On my turn 5 I attack with everything and then 2^nd mainphase Avacyn planning use Selfless Spirit to wipe the board because I am at 9 life and afraid of getting attacked to 6 and burned out. My opponent has two cards in hand and a single red open but thought for some time before saying ok to my Acacyn indestructible trigger. After this I thought he likely had Lightning Axe and decided to just keep my Avacyn protected by Selfless and go for lethal next turn. He attacks me down to 6 life and I have lethal next turn using Rebuff to stop the Lightning Axe.

-3 Revolutionary Rebuff -2 Spell Queller -1 Stasis Snare -1 Archangel Avacyn
+2 Gisela, the Broken Blade +1 Linvala, the Preserver +2 Declaration in Stone +2 Blessed Alliance

My opponent kept a slower hand game 2 with only having a turn 1 Apprentice but no artifact. I have a turn 2 Selfless Spirit and turn 3 Thalia. The Spirit takes one for the team protecting Thalia from a removal spell. My opponent plays a turn 3 Stormkirk Occultist which I bounce with Reflector Mage. Thinking the cost is clear I attack with Thalia and Reflector Mage and 2^nd main play Gideon making a token. He plays Lightning Axe discarding Occultist killing the Knight token and now having a clean kill on Gideon. My opponent plays a 2^nd Occultist while I’m poking in for damage with the Refecltor Mage. I think he feels the need to try and draw into some action so he attacks with both Occultists into my Thalia but I have a Blessed Alliance to kill the unblocked Occultist after first strike damage. The game goes for a while longer as he eventually answers my Thalia and an Avacyn with Tears of Valakut. I draw into a Westvale Abbey at a high life total and make 3 tokens then sacrifice the tokens and two other creatures to transform into Ormendahl.

Round 6 – UW Flash (0-2)
This round I was against Chris Anderson in the mirror with the winner being able to likely double draw into Top 8.

He was on the play with the deadly start of Thraben into Copter. I have a Copter of my own with a Selfless Spirit to crew it. We trade attacks early where I was digging to find a 4^th land and Chris looking for more threats discarding lands each time. A Reflector Mage on Selfless Spirit sets me back further into a race that I am already losing. I still haven’t found a 4^th land so I play a creature and crew Copter and attack but miss. He takes the opportunity to get a Gideon in play and apply more pressure. I find a 4^th land on turn 5 but stumbling in this matchup in a recipe for disaster. I don’t remember the last few turns but they were a brutal affair.

-1 Selfless Spirit -1 Reflector Mage
+1 Linvala, the Preserver +1 Bruna, the Fading Light

I have a more balanced draw this game and the all-star Copter. We both trade some Copter swings in the early going sculpting our hand but my draw which looked very consistent is getting light on lands again. On turn 4 I have the choice of sitting on Queller/Stasis Snare or playing Gideon into my opponents two untapped mana + clue. With not having any more lands trying to play draw/go is not in my favor as Chris already showed an additional land in his hand from a Shadow land. I have a 2^nd Gideon as well so if he just counters it without a powerful follow-up I’m still in a reasonable position. Unfortunately for me he had both the Rebuff and Gideon of his own. I am able to resolve my 2^nd Gideon to try to stem the bleeding but now he is in the driver’s seat. A Jace comes down on his side bouncing some my Knight letting him kill my Gideon but at least I’m able to crew my Copter and make a profitable block killing a Knight. I play a few more creatures to the board while Chris makes a Gideon emblem. He then thinks for a bit and decides to mainphase a Spell Queller to block my Selfless Spirit and protect at least one of his planeswalkers. Luckily for me I had a Reflector Mage to bounce the Queller and kill both planeswalkers but he was still a bit ahead with a few creatures, Queller in hand and a Gideon emblem. I try to get back into the game by attacking with my Copter having a Queller for his Queller in hand but get ambushed by an Avacyn I can’t do anything about and eventually the game spirals out of control.

Boarding in Jace, Unraveler of Truths in this matchup wasn’t really on my radar before but it seems like a solid option as on an empty board the high loyalty plus card advantage will put or keep you ahead and the bounce option is reasonable when you are behind.

Round 7 – RB Zombies (2-1)
I recognized my opponent this round from the Standard Challenge from yesterday. Game 1 I start with Thraben and he has Cryptbreaker. That card is best start for Zombies as it is one of the decks few sources of continuous discard and also helps them refill their hand for discard outlets like Cathartic Reunion and Haunted Dead. I decide to attack with my Thraben on turn 3 so I can kill the token with Reflector Mage. I have Gideon on turn 4 but his army is getting a bit bigger from a Crypt breaker zombie and Prized Amalgram. Avacyn lets me make some profitable blocks on turn 5 killing a few creatures but he is able to refill the board and continue to go wide. We both have a lot of creatures and my Gideon is still around but I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to protect it so I decide to get an Emblem and attack with everything except my Reflector Mage. He makes block such that my Avacyn flips but has been able to block the flier with a Haunted Dead spirit token a few turns in a row but is low on resources. About three turns after the Avacyn flip I look to the edge of my playmat and there is a Spell Queller which ate a Fiery Temper earlier in the game. My first reaction is confusion about where this mystery creature came from. Then I think it should have died from Avacyn but no wait it’s a 3/4 like Reflector. After I collect myself from the embarrassing blunder I attack with the team, including Queller, and win in two turns.

This mistake is a horrifically bad play that gave my opponent multiple turns to get back into the game but justice was not served and I was still able to get the W. I didn’t let it affect me mentally which I’m happy about and just laughed it off and moved onto game 2.

-2 Reflector Mage -1 Spell Queller -1 Revolutionary Rebuff -1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+2 Declaration in Stone +1 Linvala, the Preserver +2 Gisela, the Broken Blade

My opponent mulled to 5 while I mulled to 6 and things were looking good for me. I had two Copters and two Selfless Spirits to crew them while he didn’t have too much going on. A Catharic Reunion discarded one Prized Amalgram and a Scrapheap Scrounger but nothing too scary. On turn 3 he played a Crypt Breaker while I was bashing in the air. I was feeling a little less comfortable as my hand had Avacyn but nothing relevant on turn 4. Still there isn’t much happening so I should be fine. The Amalgram and Scrounger came back after a Neonate was added to the graveyard. A took the damage down to 14 and got in for more damage in the air. My Avacyn should let me block and then get in enough damage via flipping if the race looks dicey. At the end of my 2^nd main a 2/2 zombie is made from Crypt Breaker discarding a Haunted Dead which then comes into play discarding two Amalgrams and all of a sudden I’m facing 18 damage and it is game over. I could have kept a Thraben Inspector around to play on turn 4 but instead kept lands to try and resolve a Linvala but I didn’t see myself dying turn 6 from 7 power on board to 18!

I don’t remember the full details of game except that I had a smooth draw which involved casting Gideon and Avacyn on curve along with a Queller or Reflector Mage on turn 3. A Voldaren Pariah gets madnessed into play turn 5 but I have two Knight tokens to sacrifice so he doesn’t look to use it right away. When I get up 6 mana I go for a Reflector Mage on the Pariah hoping he tries to sacrifice three creatures so I can respond with Stasis Snare but he sees through the ploy and allows the bounce to happen. It didn’t matter much either way as I’m able to get in for lethal damage.

Going into the last round I’m in 3^rd place in the standings and based on the number of 18 pointers if my opponent can draw I should be in finishing 6^th or 7^th. There were more unintentional draws than most events so a lot of the people at 6-1 needed to play the final round.

Quarter Finals – RW Dwarves (0-2)
My opponent in the Top 8 is no other than Reid Duke which is a tough pairing but I’m looking forward to a good match. I’ve played against Reid three times before this two of which in Miracle mirror matches and once at a pre-release and I was 0-3 and 0-6 in games but looking for a chance to redeem myself.

Due to him being higher seeded he got to play first and both of our decks came out firing on all cylinders. He had Toolcraft Exemplar into Copter while I had Thraben into Copter. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to offer the trade on Copters as he had a turn 3 Veteran Motorist but I did trade with the Exemplar to stem the bleeding. For turn 3 I have both Stasis Snare and Queller hoping to be able to get the Copter off the board. Reid thinks for a bit and then jams a Gideon which I answer with Queller. After this I cast a Selfless Spirit with two mana remaining to crack the clue and feel like I’m getting close to stabilizing. Unfortunately for me Selfless Spirit cannot stop Reid’s Stasis Snare and Gideon makes it presence felt. From here I try to get on board with my own Gideon but I’m too far behind and get run over.

-3 Revolutionary Rebuff -2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar -2 Reflector Mage
+2 Declaration in Stone +1 Linvala, the Preserver +2 Gisela, the Broken Blade +2 Fragmetize

We both have a turn 2 Copter again this game but this time Reid is on a mulligan. I get in for some damage and have another Copter but not any defensive measures or removal. The 2^nd Copter should help with trying to race but that is not the best plan against a more aggressive deck. Reid’s start is the same his first 3 turns of T1 Exemplar T2 Copter T3 Motorist but this time he scrys both to the bottom and misses on his third land drop after attacking for 7 with Copter and Exemplar. I am getting a bit mana flooded but at least have two Copters to push through a lot of the excess lands. I decide to attack with one Copter and leave back the 2^nd one to trade with the Exemplar as I was losing the race. He crews the Copter with Exemplar which is different than what happened in prior turns. I start thinking about how I don’t want to get behind in the race and will be happy to trade Copters forgetting that he can still re-crew with Motorist. I was aware of the interaction but hadn’t had it come up much in testing and was punished severely by forgetting in this instance. This turn he also has a Harnessed Lightning for my Selfless Spirit and things went from bad to worse. I also haven’t been able to find anything relevant to add to the board and get whittled away when he casts a Deepla. I got for a desperation loot to try and find Linvala as my only out but don’t find it and die next turn.

The deck is great with a lot of decision making and consistency so long as you can deal with the highs and lows of the mana. The deck plays 25 lands and really wants to hit land drops up to 5 but after that they don’t have nearly as much value. When you don’t have Copter it can be easy to feel mana light or flooded. Thankfully deck has such a high overall power level you can win many games even when it is not running smoothly. The maindeck felt solid with the only change I would try is to fit in the 4^th Stasis Snare. I’m not sure what to cut but leaning towards the 4^th Reflector Mage since the deck is so heavy on three mana spells already.

My sideboard however could use a bit of work. The Bruna felt very unwieldy and different perform well in the matchups it was designed to be used. In the mirror it is nice that the trigger is on cast so even if it gets stopped by Rebuff you will still get something. The problem is usually Avacyn is answered by a Stasis Snare or Declaration so you aren’t likely triggering for anything very exciting. The Summary Dismissal was also clunky and would be better served as another three mana counterspell. I do like the Gisela’s which were not in Josh Cho’s or Chris Anderson’s sideboard but I do like some of their other ideas such as the 2^nd Jace and 1-2 Scatter to the Winds.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any thoughts in the comments.

OOB Draft 3

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OOB Draft 2

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OOB Draft 1

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Miracles by the Matchups

One of the great aspects of Legacy is the diversity of viable decks. It is not uncommon to play a nine round event and only face the same deck twice. This can be daunting to new players who are trying to get into the format. Thankfully many decks operate with similar strategies which make it more manageable to prepare for so many matchups. My experience in legacy is with playing Miracles so I’ll breakdown how to play and prepare against the more popular decks.

Before I start going into the matchups here are some general tips and interactions to be aware of:

• Although Abrupt Decay on Counterbalance cannot be countered you still have the option of triggering Counterbalance. This play acts as a pseudo scry 1 with fetchlands in play.
• With Sensei’s Divining Top you can activate a look at the top 3 and in response tap to draw, this is useful when you want the top card of your library but do not want to draw Top. I recommend making this play when you have extra Tops in hand but not in play and want to swap it for another card.
• When casting Ponder it is often correct to take the 2^nd best card in your hand and leave the best spell as your next draw. Against hand disruption and Gitaxian Probe you are giving the opponent worse options and less information.
• Be patient with casting your Brainstorms. Brainstorm’s power is known by all Legacy players but in Miracles it has a more important role than just smoothing out draws. When you have the soft-lock of Counterbalance + Top it is better to hold onto your Brainstorms to counter a converted mana cost that you may not have on the top of your deck.
• It is often correct to Jace’s Brainstorm ability over the Fateseal/Scry ability. A common mistake players make with Jace is that after resolving him on a safe board to try and control the opponent’s draws step by Fatesealing. There is no hard rule with choosing what mode to use but as a default you want to be using the Brainstorm mode. This supplies card advantage, card selection, and progresses your plan further. If you use the Fateseal mode for many turns and your opponent finds a way to answer Jace, instead of being ahead on card advantage you’re only on parity. Protecting Jace from Lightning Bolt is nice but don’t get carried away with the +2 ability.

For reference below is my current list of Miracles. The maindeck is close to Brian Demars’ 3^rd place list from GP Seattle with a larger divergence in the sideboard. The deck can be configured in many ways and comes down to personal play style. For a more controlling version increase the land count, cut Ponders, reduce the creature count, and add more removal/counters. Another option is to be tempo oriented with a lower land count, Ponder, more creatures including 2+ Monastery Mentor, and potentially Daze.

Miracles

4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Arid Mesa
4 Island
2 Plains
3 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island

2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Vendilion Clique

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Counterbalance
2 Counterspell
1 Council’s Judgment
1 Entreat the Angels
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
4 Terminus

Sideboard
2 Meddling Mage
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Monastery Mentor
2 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Rest in Peace
2 Blood Moon
2 Flusterstorm
1 Wear // Tear
1 Supreme Verdict

Tempo

The primary tempo decks of legacy are all Delver variants. Each version have a similar plan of playing efficient threats, free counter magic, and mana denial. Due to their average converted mana cost being lower than Miracles they will be advantaged in the early game. It is important to play around their mana denial as best you can by fetching when they are tapped out and prioritizing basics over dual lands, even if it can hinder the options of spells you can cast. Many of their spells such as Daze, Spell Pierce, and Wasteland become much worse as the game progresses.

When trying to play around Daze, figure out if the hand you have can afford to. If you are tight on mana then it may not be an option or if you have redundant threats then running one into Daze is fine. This is also dependent on how much pressure your opponent is applying. If you are on a fast clock then trying to play around Daze only to die to early creatures is not a good proposition. There is also a seesaw effect with Delver decks; if they are drawing a lot of creatures to apply pressure then this means they will have less disruption. Alternately if you are not under much pressure from creatures then expect your opponent to have more disruption.

From the Delver players perspective you need to balance not over-committing to the board and then losing to a well-timed Terminus. However playing just a single threat to have it die to targeted removal or simply allow Miracles to develop into the late game is also not ideal. Spacing two threats at a time and then protecting by Stifling mana or miracle triggers is a good plan in the matchup. Also single cards that present multiple threats such as Young Pyromancer and Dark Confidant also allow you to not over-commit while applying pressure.

BUG Delver
-2 Counterspell
-2 Force of Will
-2 Snapcaster Mage
-1 Entreat the Angels
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Rest in Peace
+1 Supreme Verdict
+1 Mentor
+1 Pyroblast

Grixis Delver
-2 Counterspell
-1 Force of Will
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Supreme Verdict
+2 Blood Moon
+1 Izzet Staticaster
+1 Monastery Mentor

Against the delver decks that care about the graveyard you want to bring in Rest in Peace and while shaving on Snapcaster Mage. Against all Delver variants Blood Moon can be a KO as they have little to no basic lands. Cutting a 1-2 Force of Will is fine because post-board the red Delver decks will have REB effects and expending 2 cards for 1 against a deck with higher threat density is a bad plan. Force of Will would be good against BUG Delver as it cannot get hit by Pyroblast/REB but most builds have Hymn to Tourach which is already card disadvantage. Jace is much better against BUG as they cannot kill it with Bolt or REBs so once it is in play enjoy as your opponent shake their head staring at a hand of Abrupt Decays.

Control and Midrange

For the mirror match the most important cards are Top, Counterbalance, and Jace. Everything is about setting up Counterbalance/Top while stopping your opponent from assembling the combo. In game 1 the matchup is more luck dependent as the player that draws less removal and more controlling cards will be favored. The controlling builds of Miracles have an edge, hitting their land drops and not having dead creatures but will have a bit less control on their draws due to the lack of Ponder.

Post-board there is more room to try and outmaneuver your opponent with efficient answers to the two most important threats. Having creatures is a liability in pre-board games however they perform admirably after sideboarding as both players will be trimming removal. Swords gets cut before Terminus as it answers Entreat and the tokens generated from potential Mentors.

Miracles
-4 Swords
-1 Terminus
+1 Wear // Tear
+1 Mentor
+3 Pyroblast/REB

Shardless BUG is the grindiest deck in Legacy and one of Miracles few poor matchups. The reason for this is that they attack from multiple angles with card advantage from Ancestral Visions and Shardless Agent; troublesome disruption in Hymn to Tourach and Abrupt Decay and efficient threats. We still have some advantages though with more Jace and library manipulation from Top.

After sideboarding there will be many difficult to deal with permanents to overload their Abrupt Decays. Most builds only play two basics so if Blood Moon can come down when there is only one in play then you just need to deal with Deathrite Shaman and can try and win a quick game. Not all Swords are required because Rest in Peace acts as an answer to both Goyf and Deathrite. If you expect to face this deck frequently consider playing 1 Misdirection in the board.

Shardless BUG
-2 Swords
-1 Terminus
-2 Snapcaster Mage
-2 Force of Will
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Rest in Peace
+2 Pyroblast
+1 Monastery Mentor

 

Combo

There are two types of combo decks the one where you creature removal is strong and those where it is dead. Elves is a nice matchup because both the controlling half of your deck and the removal half both line up well against their plan. Respect the Glimpse combo, Elvish Visionary + Symbiote, and Natural Order and you should be fine. If you see your opponent has cards like Pithing Needle, Null Rod, and Choke then bring in Wear // Tear.

Elves
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-1 Monastery Mentor
-1 Ponder
+1 Izzet Staticaster
+1 Supreme Verdict
+1 Flusterstorm

For the combo decks where the creature removal is dead you will have a harder time with pre-board games. This is similar to the Miracles mirror where if you draw the wrong half it will be an uphill battle. Against ANT and TES the CB/Top interaction is very difficult for them to defeat before getting access to Abrupt Decay in the board. Sneak and Show’s main threats are difficult converted mana costs to reveal so they are better are powering through Counterbalance.

Meddling Mage is a strong option against both combo decks naming the main threats of Sneak and Show or Infernal Tutor against ANT. Meddling Mage should be considered a stopgap rather than a serious lock as both builds can answer the card. Against S&S resolving a Meddling after assembling CB/Top is much more meaningful as their main answer is Red Blasts. Naming Sneak Attack with Meddling Mage is generally better as after board you have 3 Red Blasts and 2 Flusterstorm to stop Show and Tell but only 2 Counterspell and 4 Force for Sneak Attack. Containment Priest is a more powerful option against Sneak and Show than Meddling Mage since it can’t be stopped by REB but not being able to come in against storm combo and Infect is a big sacrifice.

Sneak and Show
-4 Swords to Plowshares
-4 Terminus
+2 Meddling Mage
+2 Flusterstorm
+3 Pryoblast/REB
+1 Wear // Tear

ANT
-2 Swords
-2 Terminus
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-2 Snapcaster Mage
+2 Meddling Mage
+2 Flusterstorm
+2 Pyroblast
+1 Rest in Peace

Wear // Tear is not amazing against Sneak and Show as it is rarely a clean answer to Sneak Attack but some builds have Defense Grid which is an otherwise a difficult card. Against storm combo you will want to leave in a mix of Swords and Terminus. The Swords are for Xantid Swarm and Dark Confidant; the Terminus for potential Empty the Warrens. Having Ponder is great against combo decks as it allows you to find the high impact sideboard cards.

Mana Denial

Death and Taxes and Lands both have a heavy mana denial plan with the combination of Wasteland + Rishadan Port so I have grouped them together. Death and Taxes operates as a denial + aggro deck and Lands as denial + combo. Hitting land drops and basics against both builds is important so hands that are lighter on action but have strong mana development are fine as both decks will rarely be killing you quickly. Both of these matchups are slightly favorable but there are draws from both decks than can heavily tax the resources of Miracles. The easiest way to lose is not having enough mana to and dying as they execute their plan. This is one area where the more controlling builds with a higher land count excel.

Against Death and Taxes the counter magic and Counterbalance itself are not at their best due to Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls. The removal spells are all great and punish the Death and Taxes player from overcommitting and unlike against Delver decks they cannot stop you from casting the powerful Miracle spells aside from attacking your mana. The printing of Monastery Mentor improved this matchup as before Death and Taxes could easily side out all of their Swords but now Mentor can take over the game very easily if it is not kept in check.

Death and Taxes
-2 Counterbalance
-1 Force of Will
-1 Counterspell
+1 Supreme Verdict
+1 Monastery Mentor
+1 Wear // Tear
+1 Izzet Staticaster

Against Lands they can have controlling hands with the Life from the Loam engine propelling them into the late game or quick hands by dumping their hand with Exploration and Mana Bond, often threatening a quick 20/20. The Lands player does not want to lose their Marit Lege token to a Swords or Terminus. To avoid this they will try and shut down all of the Miracle players white mana sources to kill in one shot. To play around this it is important not to crack fetch lands unless you really need the mana. This forces the Lands player to try and tap fetch lands with Rishadan Port buying you a turn. Getting Counterbalance in play quickly with a 2 CMC on top to shut down Life from the Loam should be the first priority in the game. After that establish control and win with either Entreat or Jace.

Post board you bring in two awesome enchantments that Lands does not want to see. They only have 4 Krosan Grip so they cannot answer all of your permanents. Watch out for Choke which can be back breaking and come down as early as turn 1.

Lands
-4 Terminus
-1 Snapcaster Mage
+2 Blood Moon
+2 Rest in Peace
+1 Wear // Tear

Miracles continues to be one of the top decks in the format which rewards players who have a strong grasp on the format and how to play each matchup. Hopefully this article has given you some insight on how to prepare for many of the popular decks in the format. I appreciate any thoughts on the article or different approaches to matchups. Feel free to post any comments you have.

Analyzing Jeskai Aggro from PT: Origins

Pro Tour: Origins has finished and now we will have the chance to see its ramifications on the standard metagame. It is a nice time to be an aggro player with two great options in Mono-Red and UR Ensoul. Midrange is also alive and well with two Abzan variants in the top 8 along with one GR Dragons. Things were rough for blue control decks and aggro-control such as Jeskai Aggro with only one Esper Dragons and one Jeskai Aggro deck performing 8-2 or better. In comparison there were five mono-red decks and seven UR Ensoul finishing 8-2 or better.

One strength of Jeskai Aggro is that there are many options for configuring the deck to attack an expected metagame. Assuming the results from the Pro Tour impact the SCG circuit and local tournaments then being prepared for the two aggressive decks will be a top priority while not sacrificing too much against Abzan and GR Dragons. Below is a comparison and contrast of the top four performing Jeskai Aggro decks from the Pro Tour. Using this data will help us find a list well positioned in the current meta.

Jeskai Aggro at Pro Tour: Origins

While Wizards has provided a list of all of the decks that performed 6-4 or better, for the purpose of this article we will be looking only at decks performing 7-3 or better. This criteria yields four players: Marc Tobiasch(8-1-1), Fabian Dickmann(7-2-1), Valentin Mackl(7-2-1), and Rick Meditz(7-3). The spreadsheet below will have green highlights for where all of the players played the card in question and yellow where they differed heavily with 2 or more players choosing not to play the card at all. 

The creature base of 4 Mantis Rider, 4 Jace Vryn’s Prodigy, and 4 Soulfire Grand Master is nearly identical among all of the lists. Fabian Dickmann and Valentin Mackl played the same 75 and opted for Goblin Rabblemaster and Dragonlord Ojutai in addition. Goblin Rabblemaster is a surprising choice considering their build was more controlling with 26 lands and Elspeth, Sun’s Champion. After the results of the Pro Tour Goblin Rabblemaster is weak due to the rise of red decks. Stormbreath Dragon is a bit slow as well; I prefer the direction that Tobiasch took using Hordeling Outburst. If you count Hordeling Outburst as a creature all of the decks were playing a minimum of 13 creatures. Harbinger of the Tides was only played by Rick Meditz.   The card has potential as a solid early game play vs. Red while also addressing an Ensoul Artifact, but usually at the cost of 5 damage.

In the removal department most builds were on two Wild Slash which should be considered a bare minimum; going forward I would look to play three 1 mana removal spells. Valorous Stance is in a unique position because it is a powerful option against GR Dragons and Abzan. It also has some utility against UR Thopters because it can shut down Ensoul Artifact. However, the card is very weak against Mono-Red and time will tell if 2 or 3 are correct.

For the support spells Marc Tobiasch leaned towards a counterspell suite and Jeskai Charm instead of a higher creature count like the other decks. The addition of Jeskai Charm is nice to have more life gain options against Red and outs to an early Ensoul Artifact. The Clash of Wills seem underwhelming if a large part of the field is going underneath your core strategy. Surprisingly the miser’s Disdainful Stroke was present in all lists but I wonder if after they will continue to be after the Pro Tour the results. The number of Dig Through Time varied in the decks but it is important to note that the two decks which only played two had other powerful expensive threats such as Dragonlord Ojutai and Elspeth Sun’s Champion.

Unsurprisingly the sideboards differed quite heavily as having access to three colors provides a wide range options. Especially for an event like the Pro Tour where the metagame is not a solidified, each individual will need to rely on their expectations and the results of their team to predict the format. It is much easier now after seeing the results of the Pro Tour to build a sideboard that will help improve matchups against the top expected decks. The anti-red slots of Arashin Cleric vs Nyx-Fleece Ram show a lack of consensus but three out four decks had a dedicated 3-of for the red matchup. Between these two cards I prefer Ram. Although it doesn’t grant the immediate life benefit of Arashin Cleric it is much better at blocking the Prowess creatures and also won’t be removed by any individual burn spell. Another large benefit of Ram is living through Anger of the Gods if you are fortunate enough to curve Ram -> Anger.

Revoke Existence was only played by half the lists but due to the popularity of UR Ensoul should be included in the sideboard until that deck becomes less popular. With less control decks performing well the number of Negate, Stratus Dancer, and Mastery of the Unseen can be reduced. We still want to respect the midrange decks so Disdainful Stroke, Elspeth Sun’s Champion, and one Mastery should stick around.

Jeskai Aggro

4 Flooded Strand
4 Mystic Monastery
4 Temple of Epiphany
2 Temple of Triumph
3 Shivan Reef
3 Battlefield Forge
2 Island
2 Plains
1 Mountain

4 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Jace Vryn’s Prodigy
1 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Mantis Rider

2 Wild Slash
1 Fiery Impulse
4 Lightning Strike
2 Valorous Stance
2 Hordeling Outburst
2 Jeskai Charm
3 Stoke the Flames
2 Ojutai’s Command
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
3 Dig Through Time

Sideboard
3 Anger of the Gods
1 End Hostilities
3 Nyx-Fleece Ram
2 Revoke Existence
3 Disdainful Stroke
1 Mastery of the Unseen
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
1 Stratus Dancer

The aim of this build is to try and keep a low average converted mana cost to not get overrun by the aggressive decks and still having game against midrange. This version sacrifices the control and midrange matches a bit by playing three 1 mana burn spells and 2 Jeskai Charm but hopefully there will be enough utility that these matchups don’t degrade heavily. The sideboard aims heavily at aggro and midrange with much less to board vs. control; thankfully Disdainful Stroke does double duty against midrange and control.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the article, have fun casting Jace and slinging burn spells. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask.

Role Assessment with Twin

This past weekend I played in the Modern Premier Invitational Qualifier hosted at the Baltimore Open finishing in 2^nd with Grixis Twin. Twin has been one of the premier decks in Modern since its inception and knowing how to properly play with or against is crucial to success in the format. In this article I will briefly discuss 3 popular builds of Twin and delve into the two types of game-plans to implement.

There are three main builds of Twin; UR, Grixis, and Temur, each having their own benefits. Choosing to add a 3rd color is a classic debate in power vs consistency. Both Grixis and Temur versions benefit from playing more powerful cards maindeck, allowing for a secondary angle of attack . However, their mana base lacks the consistency of straight UR and the number of disruption spells. All builds play many of the same sideboard cards but Temur and UR Twin get access to Ancient Grudge which is superior to the Grixis sideboard options of Shatterstorm or Vandalblast. Grixis has strong maindeck options of Tasigur, Terminate, and Kolghan’s Command, while Temur gives the option of Tarmogoyf and Huntmaster of the Fells. Grand Prix results have shown that UR and Grixis have been performing better than Temur recently.

Below is the list that I played in the Baltimore PIQ, from the maindeck I would play a 2^nd Terminate over Dismember. I have experimented in two events with Dismember to see how it performed but was unimpressed. Generally it did the same thing as Terminate but at a cost of 2 life, this manabase can be painful so the flexibility is not worth it. The sideboard has a lot of 1-ofs because having similar but different cards allows you to cover a wide range of matchups. For example Pyroclasm is strong against Burn but Anger of the Gods is not. The reverse of this is true against Abzan Company.

Creatures (13)

• 4 Deceiver Exarch
• 2 Pestermite
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
• 1 Vendilion Clique

Lands (23)

• 4 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Desolate Lighthouse
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 2 Steam Vents
• 3 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Watery Grave

Spells (24)

• 4 Splinter Twin
• 2 Cryptic Command
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Dispel
• 2 Kolaghan’s Command
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 3 Remand
• 2 Spell Snare
• 1 Terminate
• 4 Serum Visions

Sideboard

• 2 Dragon’s Claw
• 1 Engineered Explosives
• 1 Spellskite
• 2 Blood Moon
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 1 Negate
• 2 Keranos, God of Storms
• 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Pyroclasm
• 1 Shatterstorm

Finding the Role – Tempo vs Combo

When playing Twin there are two main roles you will be using, attempting to combo or focusing on tempo to kill your opponent before they have achieved their game plan. Knowing which role to assume will be based on your opponent’s strategy and the texture of your hand. Against decks with linear strategies such as Bloom Titan, Burn, and Affinity it is better to focus on assembling the combo. Against these decks it will often be a race so trying to win via value and tempo will be difficult. In more interactive matchups such as the Mirror, Jund, and Abzan it is challenging to combo through their disruption so tempo and value is often an easier path to victory. In the interactive matchups having a splash color helps because the deck is less focused on comboing and can win by other means whether it is with Tasigur/Kolaghan’s Command or Tarmogoyf. In post-board games the line of role assignment shifts because of high impact sideboard cards such as Blood Moon and Dragon’s Claw which allow you to win without comboing.

Regardless of your opponents deck the type of hands that you draw will also be a key factor for what your plan in the game will be. Let’s look at sample hand 1 of Island, Watery Grave, Scalding Tarn, Polluted Delta, Sulfur Falls, Deceiver Exarch, and Splinter Twin.

This is an extreme example but this hand is only good at comboing so that will be the plan, there is no way you can mulligan this hand but it is not very exciting.

Consider another hand of Bloodstained Mire, Steam Vents, Serum Visions, Lightning Bolt, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, and Pestermite.

This hand is much better equipped at winning a tempo game with early removal, setup, and aggressive creatures such as Vendilion Clique and Pestermite. The role of most hands won’t be as obvious as these two examples and will involve switching between roles as the game progresses. For example with the 2^nd hand we could easily draw a Splinter Twin and then have the option to shift roles. When you are able to threaten both of the plans then it makes it very tricky for your opponent to choose the right play.

When playing against Twin it is important to know which of these roles your opponent is enacting because it will change your plan for the game. If you are saving a key removal spell out of respect of the combo but getting attacked by a Vendilion Clique you need to figure out which plan is worse for you. There are no bonus points for not getting combo killed but dying to Snapcaster beats plus a few Bolts.

Lastly the playstyle of your opponent will give information about if you should try to go for the combo or not. If in prior games they bluffed a removal spell then in future games I might not respect them having the removal. If in a different match the opponent is always developing their board and only sitting with open mana when they have the kill spell then that will make me more likely to respect open mana. The same is true for playing against Twin if you bluff removal and the opponent goes for it then it is less tempting to bluff again and instead develop your board.

General Tips

• On turns that you will be casting Serum Visions pay attention to how many non-fetch lands you have in your hand to determine which land to play for the turn. It is common to use a fetch land first to potentially keep 2 cards on top but also don’t want to miss a color or take excess damage.
• Against decks with Abrupt Decay you can cast Splinter Twin and if they Decay in response Remand the Splinter Twin to avoid the dreaded 2 for 1. On the other side of the coin if you are playing the Decay deck it is sometimes correct to allow them to resolve Twin and then cast Decay when they initiate the combo to play around this scenario. If the Twin player has 3 mana open after casting Twin then I would not suggest this play because they could cast another combo creature to untap the enchanted creature in response and combo off.
• Against Thalia if you have Engineered Explosives you can play X=1 and get a Sunburst of two while paying the extra mana for Thalia.
• Against decks that empty their hand quickly consider using the discard mode of Kolaghan’s Command during their draw step to deal with non-instants. This play is mostly useful if you don’t have a great 2^nd mode to choose at the time.
• In blue matchups if you have a safe opportunity to cast Cryptic Command even on a spell of average value I would recommend doing so. Especially in post-board games with Dispel and Negate it is easy to get trumped and have your large mana investment go to waste. This is not always applicable but don’t put Cryptic on a pedestal, getting an early 2 for 1 is good enough. Also against anything aggressive consider cutting one or both during sideboarding.

Matchups

There are a ton of different decks in the format so I’m going to focus on just the most popular few, if you have any questions about different matchups feel free to ask. There are many ways to approach sideboarding for these matchups but below is the rough plan I follow.

Mirror

Despite the deck’s ability to win by turn 4 the mirror tends to be long and grindy. Attempting to aggressively combo leaves you in a position of weakness of getting your creature tapped in response to Splinter Twin and then losing to their combo the following turn. Due to this it is better to make small incremental value plays and only go for the combo when you can fight through significant disruption. Ideally you can avoid going for the combo and focus on winning through alternate means.

-2 Pestermite -2 Splinter Twin -2 Lightning Bolt
+1 Dispel +1 Negate +1 Jace, Architect of Thought +1 Keranos, God of Storms +1 Spellskite +1 Murderous Cut

In post-board games we are much less focused on the combo and can try to resolve haymakers like Jace and Keranos but need to be careful about losing to the combo. How much your opponent sides out the combo impacts what kind of risks you can take but in post-board games. I am less afraid about tapping out in sorcery speed since most players board out some amount of the combo.

Jund

Of the popular decks Jund and Abzan are your toughest matchups but Grixis has the most game of all the Twin variants. Both builds have been cutting back on Abrupt Decay due to the rise of Tasigur so having Dispel or Spell Snare backup when going off is fine to pull the trigger. The combination of hand disruption, efficient removal, and resilient creatures make this an uphill battle.

-2 Pestermite -1 Deceiver Exarch -2 Splinter Twin -2 Remand
+1 Negate +1 Dispel +2 Keranos, God of Storms +1 Murderous Cut +1 Engineered Explosives +1 Jace, Architect of Thought

After boarding we will have improved removal and the best possible card Keranos to ride to victory. I have tried sideboarding Blood Moon against this deck and Abzan but most players are disciplined and will fetch basics negating the value. If you go to a game 3 and see that they were mostly fetching dual lands then bringing in Blood Moon is a good option. Watch out for Choke which is a common threat, if you have a chance to get lands that won’t be impacted that is good and tap Sulfur Falls before Islands.

Burn

Burn is one of the most consistent decks in the format and goldfishes about as fast as Twin. Having early removal spells is integral to buy time, without repeatable sources of damage it takes the deck much longer to win. Lightning Bolt and Dispel are at their best in this matchup while Remand is poor due to how low their mana curve is.

-2 Pestermite -3 Remand -2 Cryptic Command
+1 Dispel +1 Negate +2 Dragon’s Claw +1 Murderous Cut +1 Pyroclasm +1 Spellskite

I was having trouble in this matchup which is why I ran 2 Dragon’s Claw, if you feel comfortable in this matchup then those slots could be focused on another matchup. The Murderous Cut is a bit out of place but I like it slightly more than the cards that are being taken out and it is a good answer to Eidolon. Most Burn builds will have 3-4 Destructive Revelry so if you have Dragon’s Claw or Spellskite with Dispel or Spell Snare to protect I would consider waiting an additional turn. If you are under immediate pressure then getting them into play is more important. The combination of Revelry and Rending Volley being sided in means Burn will operate slightly slower after board but be better at disrupting the combo.

Affinity

Affinity is a bit better of a matchup then Burn because they rely more on individual cards which if you can answer with removal or Spell Snare hampers the draw. Kolaghan’s Command is at its best here always having impactful options as early as turn 3.

-3 Remand -2 Cryptic Command -1 Dispel
+1 Shatterstorm +1 Pyroclasm +1 Anger of the Gods +1 Murderous Cut +1 Spellskite +1 Engineered Explosives

I only have one dedicated slot for this matchup but both of the sweepers perform well to extend the game. Spellskite is to stop Arcbound Ravager’s modular ability; they can choose not to shift the counters but stops another threat from being created. Spellskite also blocks etched champion which provides inevitability especially after the early damage the deck is capable of.

Twin is one of the best decks in the format and that doesn’t look like it will change in the foreseeable future. With knowing what your role is at any given time it will make approaching each decision in a game more straight forward. The skill ceiling of playing this archetype is quite high but I hope this article has given you some insights into playing with or against Twin for your next Modern tournament. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask.