Showdown #20: A Sylvan Library

Showdown

Spootyone

10 July 2014

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Hello all and welcome to another edition of Showdown, where I pit my current standard build against those sent in by you, the members of Tappedout. Last week we saw Apoptosis take on a G/B constellation brew with his Naya hexproof build in his very first Showdown 2.0. Hopefully you all enjoyed that very much for he will be filling in on those off-weeks for me until further notice. For now, though, I'm back!

In my previous article, I took on a Grixis build by CommanderOfBolas in which I ended up winning the match 2-0. Though it's possible I could have done things a little bit differently, I felt fairly confident about the build I have created and have been piloting for a little bit now. Since then, I have listened to you all and seen with my own eyes that Eidolon of Blossoms simply isn't good enough in my particular deck. I've done some adjusting to instead allow for the last 2 copies of Garruk, Caller of Beasts in the side, another Archangel of Thune in the main, etc. If you're curious, I highly encourage you to check out the deck and leave opinions, comments and even a +1 if you feel so inclined (psst...you should totally feel sooo inclined).

This week I have decided to continue my battle against the control deck. Admittedly, this deck is one I've been wanting to battle for a while but have been dreading the write up simply because...it could be a long one haha. That said, I know it'll be fun just the same. I present GoldGhost012 and his mono-blue control deck featuring none other than Codex Shredder:

How To Kick Ass With Codex Shredder 101

Standard* GoldGhost012

SCORE: 166 | 287 COMMENTS | 25325 VIEWS | IN 51 FOLDERS

Despite seeming to be a bit of a "joke" deck, the build does seem quite effective. With access to a ton of counterspells of varying types and board wipes in the form of both Whelming Wave and Cyclonic Rift. The win condition for this build is a full playset of Codex Shredder, a.k.a. the slowest mill strategy since Fog. Don't get me wrong -- I love Codex Shredder. I used to use it all the time back when I was a mill player. However, I do fear the long-term prospects of this deck's success, especially without access to something like Sphinx's Revelation. Perhaps a match will blast a logic fist into my brain organ! Let's check it out.

I used to add in some music to listen to while reading. I figured I'd give that another shot and see how people responded. So for you all today I have a great soundtrack that I've been enjoying quite a lot!

Game 1

I win the flip and choose to be on the play. I keep an opening hand of Temple Garden, forest, Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix, Setessan Tactics and 2x Archangel of Thune. Knowing the matchup, I wish those tactics were a third land, but the curve of caryatid into courser is just too stronk for me to pass up right now.

Ghost keeps an opener of 3x island, 2x Dissolve, Syncopate, and Elixir of Immortality. Seems like a decent hand to me. I guess I'll know shortly.

S1: Temple Garden tapped. Pass.

G1: Draws island. Plays island and Elixir of Immortality. Pass.

S2: Draws Temple of Plenty. Well, it's a land. Forest, caryatid. Pass.

G2: Draws Countermand, plays island. Pass.

S3: Draws Banishing Light. I attempt to cast Courser of Kruphix and it is countered with a Syncopate. I follow up with Temple of Plenty, scrying and keeping Fleecemane Lion on the top before passing.

G3: Draws Encroaching Wastes. Ghost plays a third island and then passes the turn.

S4: Draws Fleecemane Lion. I attempt to cast the lion and it is countered with Dissolve. Ghost scrys Dictate of Kruphix and keeps it on top. Pass.

G4: Draws Dictate of Kruphix. He plays an island and passes.

S5: Draws forest. Thank goodness. I play my forest and then attempt to cast Archangel of Thune, which is countered with Countermand. I mill an elspeth, lion, plains, and Polukranos. Pass.

G5: Draws island. Plays island. Pass.

S6: Draws Elspeth, Sun's Champion. I attempt to cast the second angel but it is countered with a Dissolve. Ghost scrys Countermand and keeps it on top. Pass

G6: Like a G6, Ghost draws that Countermand. He plays Encroaching Wastes and passes.

S7: Draws Sylvan Caryatid I cast the caryatid and pass. At end of turn, Ghost flashes in his Dictate of Kruphix.

G7: Ghost draws AEtherize and Cyclonic Rift and passes.

S8: Draws Temple Garden and forest. Yuck. I attempt to cast Elspeth and it is countered with Countermand. I mill Poluk, Mana Confluence, Garruk and a Courser of Kruphix. I play my temple garden tapped and pass.

G8: Ghost draws 2x Codex Shredder. Niiice. He plays both and mills me for one with each. Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and Mutavault hit the bin. Pass.

S9: Draws Temple of Plenty and forest. Aww c'mon now. I cast Banishing Light on one of his Codex Shredder and then play my Temple of Plenty, scrying plains and keeping it on top (mill fodder). Pass.

G9: Draws AEtherize and Dissipate. He mills my plains to the bin and passes the turn.

S10: Draws Temple Garden and forest. ...I quit. I play the shockland tapped and pass.

G10: Draws island and Dissipate. Plays island and mills Archangel of Thune before passing.

S11: Draws plains and forest. Really? I concede. I'm way too far behind to be okay with all the 1 for 1s that will be happening as soon as I happen to draw spells. Sideboarding will help me out.

GoldGhost012 wins Game 1!!

Sideboard tech with Spooty:

That BLEWWWWWW. I was alright with the 1-for-1s early in the game when I thought there was a chance for me to come back with a timely Garruk or Ajani, but the lands came fast and furious when I needed them least. Bad luck doesn't help at all with a "bad" matchup. Luckily for me, I have Ghost's Achille's heel located in my sideboard. The playset of Mistcutter Hydra will absolutely be coming in as it is essentially unable to be dealt with. Additionally, the latter 2 copies of Garruk, Caller of Beasts and the second copy of Advent of the Wurm. In their place, we will be removing the 2x Setessan Tactics, playset of Sylvan Caryatid (which doesn't help too much in this matchup), and one of the Banishing Lights, which doesn't have a ton of targets.

Sideboard tech with GoldGhost012:

Sideboarding this deck is a little difficult for me so bear with me here. Out of the board, I would like to bring in some number of Jace, Memory Adept, Negate, and/or Pithing Needle. Jace would help to speed up the milling process, but as we saw with the last game it all mostly comes down to stabilizing early and then winning through card advantage. Both negate and pithing needle help handle the assortment of walkers that I will have. Also, Ratchet Bomb is one way to handle Mistcutter Hydra. We have to assume we will be seeing those, so this is likely the most important card to bring in.

Both Whelming Wave and AEtherize feel like the best targets for cards to side out in this matchup. I'll remove two of each to bring in 2x Ratchet Bomb, 1 Negate and 1 Pithing Needle. GoldGhost012, I'm curious to hear what you'd do in this situation!

Game 2

I choose to be on the play and keep an opening hand of 2x Temple Garden, forest, Mana Confluence, Elvish Mystic, Fleecemane Lion, and Advent of the Wurm. I like the blend of lands and spells and I even have a decent curve to go with.

Ghost keeps an opening hand of 3x island, Codex Shredder, Dictate of Kruphix, Dissolve, and Ratchet Bomb. Lands and spells and a good curve here as well. Nice!

S1: Forest, Elvish Mystic. Pass.

G1: Draws island. Plays island, Codex Shredder. Ghost mills a forest. Pass.

S2: Draws forest. I attack for 1 with the elf and then play a Temple Garden untapped and cast my Fleecemane Lion. Pass. (s 18/19 g)

G2: Draws island. Plays island. Casts Ratchet Bomb. He then mills a forest and passes.

S3: Draws forest (that's four forests in a row O.o). I play the forest. I attack with my lion for 3 damage and pass. I want to play the wurm, but if I do so before he adds a counter to the bomb, I play right into his plan. As Goldghost, I can see that there is likely an advent coming up due to me not attacking with the elf. He could choose to tick up the bomb to prepare for killing the lion as well. Seeing as I could just respond to the ticking up by playing the wurm anyway, this becomes an aggravating situation to say the least. Though opinions may differ here, I will choose to have him not tick up this bomb for now in an effort to stave off the possibility of a wurm token. He can adjust later on if need be, and he has other ways to deal with the lion. (s 18/16 g)

G3: Draws island. Agh. Well this makes up for last game. He plays the island, mills an Archangel of Thune, and passes. EoT, I cast an Advent of the Wurm. It resolves.

S4: Draws Elvish Mystic. I play a forest and attack with the lion and the wurm token. Ghost blows up his Ratchet Bomb at zero, killing the wurm token, and in response I choose to monstrous my lion. 4 damage is dealt. Pass. (s 18/12 g) EoT Ghost flashes in a Dictate of Kruphix.

G4: Draws island and Dictate of Kruphix. Not...great. He plays an island and mills a forest. Honestly, removing all these forests is helping me, GoldGhost012 :P He passes.

S5: Draws Temple of Plenty and Elspeth, Sun's Champion. I attack for 4 with the lion and then play an untapped Temple Garden to attempt to cast the Elspeth. It is met with a Dissolve, which allows Ghost to scry Dissipate. He chooses to push this to the bottom since he needs an answer to the lion yesterday. Pass. (s 16/8 g)

G5: Draws island and Dissipate. Alrighty then. He plays an island, mills a Courser of Kruphix and passes the turn.

S6: Draws Temple Garden and forest. I attack with the lion and mystic for 5 total damage. I play my scry land and keep an Archangel of Thune on top (scrying doesn't really matter when there's a Codex Shredder in play). I then cast another mystic and pass. (s 16/3 g) EoT Ghost flashes in a second Dictate of Kruphix.

G6: Like a...okay, I'll stop. He draws Codex Shredder, Dissolve and an island. With no answer for the lion on board, he must concede.

Spooty wins Game 2!!

That monstrous'd Fleecemane Lion was really just impossible to get around. Honestly, having a playset of it and a playset of Mistcutter Hydra to worry about makes me want to add in more answers to them. Thus, I have decided to remove one copy of Voyage's End and put in a second AEtherize. Hope this helps!

Game 3

Ghost chooses to be on the play and mulls a one-lander. 6-card hand is a one-lander as well (not to mention, it's Encroaching Wastes :/ ). The five card hand isn't horrible: 2x island, Encroaching Wastes, Dissipate, and AEtherize. If this goes south, it's most likely due to not having enough cards, I'd say.

I keep an opener of forest, plains, Temple Garden, Mana Confluence, Courser of Kruphix, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and Mistcutter Hydra. This hand is pretty meh. I will keep, but only because I have a Mistcutter Hydra, which is by and large the most powerful card in this matchup for me.

G1: Island, pass.

S1: Draws Temple Garden, plays the garden tapped and passes.

G2: Draws Codex Shredder. Heyo! He plays another island and then plays the Codex Shredder and mills a Mistcutter Hydra off the top of my deck]] D: Pass.

S2: Draws Temple of Plenty. I play it tapped, see a Polukranos, World Eater, keep it and pass.

G3: Draws island. Plays island. Mills the Poluk off the top and passes.

S3: Draws Mana Confluence. Well, the shredder is causing me to flood a bit out of coincidence. That's annoying. I play a plains and then cast a Courser of Kruphix. It resolves. Elvish Mystic is revealed and I pass the turn. He didn't counter the courser because it isn't a huge threat and seeing the top of my deck actually can be beneficial to him since he can pick and choose what to mill based on what he sees.

G4: Draws AEtherize. That's going to help him stall in the future -- whether he knows it yet or not. He plays an Encroaching Wastes and passes the turn, satisfied with me drawing a mana dork for the turn.

S4: Draws Elvish Mystic and reveals Fleecemane Lion from the top, which Ghost proceeds to mill away, revealing a Temple Garden. I play a forest and then tap out for a 3/3 Mistcutter Hydra. I swing with it and the courser, but they are both returned to my hand by the opposing AEtherize. Pass.

G5: Draws Dictate of Kruphix. Interesting. Well, I honestly don't know the best game plan here. Mistcutter Hydra is a card that his deck cannot beat, but has to race...and this deck isn't quick by any means. Even an AEtherling off the top would simply be too slow I feel. Regardless, I shall press on and do my best. He passes the turn, happy with me drawing the shockland.

S5: Draws Temple Garden. I shock myself with it and then cast a 4/4 Mistcutter Hydra and attack for 4. Pass. (s 18/16 g) Eot Ghost flashes in a Dictate of Kruphix and mills an Archangel of Thune off the top.

G6: (I promised!) Draws Cyclonic Rift and island. Rift is a dead card without seven lands right now. He plays the island and mills a Courser of Kruphix off the top before passing.

S6: Draws Polukranos, World Eater and Banishing Light. Nice. I attack for 4 with the hydra and then attempt to cast Banishing Light. Ghost has two things on board: his win-con and a way to keep him with enough fuel to stall the game. I'd say he can't risk losing the card draw from the dictate, so he chooses to counter the spell with Dissipate. I then play a tapped Temple Garden, cast an Elvish Mystic and pass. (s 18/12 g)

G7: Draws Encroaching Wastes and Cyclonic Rift. He plays the wastes and then mills an Advent of the Wurm from the top. Pass.

S7: Draws Banishing Light and Fleecemane Lion. Well, that's appealing. I attack for 5 with my creatures and they are returned to my hand with AEtherize. I then cast Fleecemane Lion, cast a Banishing Light on his Dictate of Kruphix, play the Elvish Mystic again, and lastly play a Mana Confluence before passing the turn.

G8: Draws Elixir of Immortality. Damn. he really needed a seventh land there. He mills a Temple Garden off the top, plays an Elixir of Immortality and passes the turn.

S8: Draws Courser of Kruphix. I tap out (losing one from confluence) along with my Elvish Mystic to cast a 7/7 Mistcutter Hydra. I then attack for ten with the lion and hydra, but the lion is returned to my hand with an opposing Cyclonic Rift before damage. I pass. Eot Ghost uses his Elixir of Immortality to gain five life and shuffle his grave into his library. (s 17/10 g)

G9: Draws Syncopate. Ick. I don't think he can get out of this one alive. He mills a forest form the top of my deck and passes the turn.

S9: Draws Garruk, Caller of Beasts. That's awesome, but I also don't think it's necessary at this point. I attack for 8 with my two creatures. I then cast a Fleecemane Lion and pass the turn. (s 17/2 g)

G10: Draws Dissipate. Without a 7th land to overload Cyclonic Rift, he is dead on board. He concedes.

Spooty wins the match!!

Afterthoughts

Well, that was an interesting matchup to say the least! Honestly, I think a lot of what this match came down to was whether or not I was able to land a hard-to-answer threat or not. when I didn't, I got swamped by card advantage. But when I did, I came out ahead. Looking back on things, I almost certainly should have brought in the other Ratchet Bomb. I could tell by game three that the deck desperately needed more answers to Mistcutter Hydra. And so I highly recommend boarding in the entire three. I apologize if not having the third one in there caused any bias to the game's results, but boarding against Mistcutter Hydra is something I'm not very accustomed to haha.

If I had to give a rating to GoldGhost012's deck, I'd give it about a 7/10 for competitive, but a 10/10 for fun (at least for the player who is using the deck). And I think that's totally alright! This feels like one of those decks you play to mess around with and even just go to an FNM to troll other players with, and that's quite alright. However, if the deck were to be used competitively, it needs some adjustments.

I don't think that mono-blue control can handle the current metagame. Being without access to the core of U/W control (i.e. Supreme Verdict, Detention Sphere, Sphinx's Revelation), there are a lot of cards and situations that a deck like this simply cannot beat. And if mill is the route one wishes to take, then there are obviously faster ways to do so other than Codex Shredder. Not to mention one would almost certainly want to go U/B for the goodies that would provide. Again, I don't think that is what GoldGhost012 is after, though, so what he has going is quite alright! I would think of removing the Encroaching Wastes, though. They seemed unnecessary.

Looking to the Future...

As I'm sure many of you are quite aware of by now, M15 is just around the corner and it's time to start brewing up the possibilities it provides us with. I will be doing my best to test some of the new additions and will hopefully be incorporating one or more of them in my next Showdown. More importantly, however, is the fact that I'm looking towards rotation. While it's still a while away, I like to get started with the prep a little earlier than most. To each, their own.

From what I've seen from M15, it looks like I'll be going for a MGD shell (much like many, from what I can tell). It would seem that a ramp core featuring Nissa, Worldwaker is quite a powerful one and there are a lot of options for that sort of deck when it comes to its top end. I've been heavily advocating Hornet Queen and I hope it turns out good because I REALLY want to play with it in standard.

Being myself, though, you can probably imagine that I'm looking for a way to separate myself from the norm in what will almost assuredly be a common archetype for months to come. And so, I'm looking for splash options. I typically only stick to the colors of green, white, and blue, so I'm looking to splash blue or white.

White gives the option of things like Banishing Light and Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. You could even go for the addition of Ajani Steadfast and/or Elspeth, Sun's Champion. As an avid follower and devotee of the Conclave, I would be very happy to just adjust The Conclave's Revenge into this sort of shell. I think that adding in these cards will give the deck a little more versatility and longevity without corrupting the forest manabase too much.

The other option would be to splash blue, with honestly doesn't seem all too appealing to me at this moment. Prognostic Sphinx would be a great card to play, but the double blue casting cost seems a little intimidating in a deck that is meant to run almost exclusively forests. Kiora, the Crashing Wave is a card that I would be very happy to add into the deck, however, as her abilities allow for ramp, card advantage, ways to handle opposing midrange AND a secondary win con that is oh-so righteous. I suppose my choice will be made for me through a few weeks/months of testing and by whatever goodies we have in the upcoming Khans of Tarkir block! I'm excited.

Many thanks to GoldGhost012 for his great submission! If you would like to be the next member to face The Conclave's Revenge, feel free to comment on this article with a link to your deck via the site (use the deck-large command).

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @Spootyone

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