Showdown #21: Wrath of Prometheus

Showdown

Spootyone

24 July 2014

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Hello all and welcome to another edition of Showdown where I pit my current standard build against those submitted to me by you, the members of TappedOut. Last time we were together I faced GoldGhost012 and his Codex Shredder mono-blue mill deck. I managed to squeeze out a victory due to a playset of sideboarded Mistcutter Hydra, which he just couldn't take care of in time.

Since the last article, I've been toying around with the cards in M15. The card I'm most excited for from the set would have to be Nissa, Worldwaker, and I'm certainly far from alone in that sentiment. I'd wanted to add her into my current deck and find a way to slightly tweak the build to make it more ramp-centric. Unfortunately, I quickly found through testing that Nissa only works as I intended in a mono-green shell. I do think a white splash is a reasonable and viable strategy, but that would mean not running either Elspeth, Sun's Champion or Archangel of Thune, which I simply cannot let go of right now.

For this reason, I'm going to continue to use the same build until rotation unless the metagame changes drastically and I need to adjust my sideboard to fit it. Hopefully you all are alright with that! I do have a Nissa-centered build to try using once rotation occurs, but that may change if Khans brings me some good, different things to play with!

This week I have a slightly scary matchup. One of the things that midrange decks are supposed to be good at is taking care of the aggro decks in the format. However, the aggro decks that are in the format are REALLY good right now. Between Boros Burn and things like Boss Sligh, it can be quite difficult to stabilize. I have tons of aggro-hate mainboard and even more in the sideboard, and today I have chosen to put it to the test. I present to you all Casino647 and his Naya Zoo deck:

deck-large: when-you-least-expect-it-standard-naya-zoo

What is the most frightening card in this deck? Madcap Skills. For months now, this card has single-handedly caused me to lose numerous matchups against mono-red, rakdos aggro, hexproof and more. Considering the fact that my first creature is usually one that is tapped for my second creature to be cast, a Madcap Skills on T2 can easily mean a death if I don't have removal. However, if I can survive long enough to land an Archangel of Thune and untap with her, I basically just win instantly. I truly feel like this is going to be a tough matchup, but I'm hoping to do it justice regardless!

People seemed to not dislike the music last time, so I'll add more to listen to. enjoy!

Casino wins the flip and chooses to be on the play. Unfortunately for him, the opening hand has the wrong colored lands for the spells and there aren't any early creature drops. The 6-card hand contains all green creatures and no green mana...yuck. The kept hand contains Stomping Ground, Temple Garden, plains, Loxodon Smiter, and Ghor-Clan Rampager. This isn't great for his deck but he really has nowhere else to turn at this point, sadly.

On the flip side, my opening hand is a real beaut: forest, Temple Garden, Temple of Plenty, Elvish Mystic, Fleecemane Lion, Courser of Kruphix, and Polukranos, World Eater. I can't complain about this hand. It's the nut draw.

C1: Temple Garden tapped. Pass.

S1: Draws Mutavault. Also a fantastic draw. I fear for my future as most of my luck seems to be happening now... I play a Temple Garden untapped and the Elvish Mystic and pass. (s 18/20 c)

C2: Draws Temple Garden. He plays his Stomping Ground tapped and passes.

S2: Draws Mana Confluence. I play Fleecemane Lion and then play my scryland, finding another confluence on the top of my deck and placing it on the bottom. Pass.

C3: Draws Fleecemane Lion. That was a turn too late. He plays his plains and his Loxodon Smiter and then passes the turn.

S3: Draws forest. Lots O' land. I tap out for Courser of Kruphix and reveal a plains on top of my deck. I play it, gain a life, and reveal Elvish Mystic under that. Well, it's a good thing my opener was good because my draws have been garbage so far. Pass (s 19/20)

C4: Draws Sunblade Elf. This is also pretty late for this card, but at least it's a creature. He attacks with his smiter. I choose not to block both because my blocks aren't fantastic and because he could easily have a million combat tricks. I take 4. He follows this up with a Fleecemane Lion and a Sunblade Elf and a tapped Temple Garden. Pass. (s 15/20 c)

S4: Draws Elvish Mystic and reveals Polukranos, World Eater. With his number of threats on board and possibility of combat tricks, I want to have a good blocker. I play my Mutavault, gain a life, and then monstrous my lion while he has no mana open. I pass the turn. (s 16/20)

C5: Draws Selesnya Charm. Moar combat tricks. Alright now is the time for aggression. He attacks with all of his creatures. I block the smiter with my lion and let the others through. Before combat damage, he bloodrushes the smiter with Ghor-Clan Rampager and deals a total of 9 damage. Ouch. He passes. (s 7/20 c)

S5: Draws Polukranos, World Eater and reveals Archangel of Thune. My savior-ess! Alright. I need to survive so she can help me stabilize, but it's going to be rough. I play a forest and gain a life, then tap all but my mutavault to cast big Poluk. I have no plans of doing anything at the moment but protecting my precious and few life points. Pass* (s 8/20 c)

C6: Draws mountain. Alright. This means he can monstrous his lion or use the elf's ability (probably the former before the latter, tbh). The Selesnya Charm in hand was going to be used for pushing through damage, but now it simply has to be used to remove that opposing hydra. At the same time, however, there are currently a ton of blockers (including a Mutavault that can be activated) to block with that can actually just kill all his dudes. And he knows there's an Archangel on the way, too, which is frustrating. I can't help but feel like the best course of action for him right now is to get rid of that Polukranos while he still can and before it deals some serious damage to his team. (Yes, I have another, but he doesn't know that). He chooses to play the mountain and pass the turn.

S6: Draws Archangel of Thune and reveals a third Polukranos, World Eater. Sick. Well, it looks like I'm about to stabilize as planned. I tap out for my angel and another Elvish Mystic, and then follow that up by playing a forest from my hand. I gain a life and all my creatures get a counter. I've got this game as long as the angel is alive, so I might as well just sit back and prevent myself from dying. Pass (s 9/20 c) EoT Casino monstrifies his lion.

C7: Draws Sacred Foundry. Not good. The reason why I chose for him to not use his charm then was because I had not chosen to monstrous my hydra. The biggest threat on the board is the angel and he needs to save the removal for that first, even if the situation is still grim after it's gone. Having nothing good to do, he passes the turn.

S7: Draws Polukranos and reveals a forest. Given the info at hand, it would be better to attack with the angel before playing a land, but since that would be cheating (obviously) I do what I would always do and choose to go ahead and play the forest from the top, revealing a plains, gaining a life, and distributing counters to my team. I then choose to tap out to monstrous my Poluk for 3 (He still needs the removal for the angel, so can't use it here). I target his elf and it dies. Seeing as he didn't use its ability, I can only assume he has something else he wishes to play. I attack with my angel. He exiles it with the Selesnya Charm and I pass. (s 10/20 c)

C8: Draws Advent of the Wurm. Well..it's not a land. It just doesn't matter right now. All he can do is hope to draw all removal spells and that's just not going to be enough anyway at this point. Pass.

S8: Draws plains and reveals Sylvan Caryatid. I attack with my Poluk (10/10) and lion (6/6). He chooses to block the hydra with his lion and let the other through for 6 damage. I play a plains, gain a life and pass. (s 11/14 c) EoT he makes a 5/5 wurm token with Advent of the Wurm.

C9: Draws Advent of the Wurm. Well...okay. There just aren't attacks anymore. The opposing creatures are simply too numerous, too big, and too scary on the swing-back. I'll give it one more turn before I call the game. Pass.

S9: Draws Sylvan Caryatid and reveals Courser of Kruphix. I attack with my lion and hydra. His lion blocks my hydra and he lets my lion in for 6. I play my Sylvan Caryatid, Mana Confluence, gain one life and pass. (s 12/8 c) EoT he makes another 5/5 wurm token.

C10: Draws Ghor-Clan Rampager. Oh my. Can this do it? He attacks with everything. I activate my Mutavault, block one of his wurms with my 4/6 Courser of Kruphix, block the other with my 2 3/3 Elvish Mystics, block his lion with my Sylvan Caryatid and block his smiter with my activated Mutavault. He bloodrushes the smiter with his Ghor-Clan Rampager and gets in for 6 total. Not enough. he concedes.

Sideboard tech with Spooty:

Boarding against aggro decks is basically down to a science for me with this deck. Planeswalkers aren't nearly as effective or quick enough, so we board out both Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, both Garruk, Caller of Beasts and 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion. We bring in more removal in the form of a third Setessan Tactics, and more lifegain in the form of 3x Nylea's Disciple and a single Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. Here we go!

Sideboard tech with Casino:

It feels clear to me that what the deck needed last game (besides a better opening hand) was more removal/reach. Ajani Steadfast feels like a card best used for outracing other aggro decks. And Advent of the Wurm is a little too slow to mean anything when I also just have a ton of cheap 5/5s that can get even bigger. I've chosen to bring in the playset of Chained to the Rocks and a single Mizzium Mortars since it likes to burn angels.

Casino is on the play and has to mulligan a hand of mountain, plains, 2x Chained to the Rocks, Selesnya Charm, Madcap Skills and Loxodon Smiter. (we're going to need to have a talk about your mana base, my friend). The second hand isn't much better, with 2x chained to the tocks, no white mana, and only a 3-drop as a creature. The 5-card hand contains Temple Garden, plains, Experiment One, Loxodon Smiter, and Chained to the Rocks. Again, it's only five cards, and that's going to probably be an issue, I'm afraid to say.

I keep an opener of Temple of Plenty, Mana Confluence, Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix, Nylea's Disciple and 2x Archangel of Thune. It's a little light on lands, but I'm hoping courser can help me get to that point. With a couple land draws, this is a great hand to have against an aggro deck.

C1: He shocks himself with his Temple Garden and plays Experiment One. (s 20/18 c)

S1: Draws Mutavault. Nice. I play my scryland and see a plains on top. Beautiful! Pass.

C2: Draws Stomping Ground. Alright well at the very least he has a mountain for his Chained to the Rocks, now. He attacks for 1 and then plays the stomping ground tapped before passing (s 19/18 c).

S2: Draws plains. I play the plains and then play my Sylvan Caryatid. Pass.

C3: Draws Loxodon Smiter. he plays the plains in his hand and then plays the first of his 2 smiters, evolving the Experiment One from before to a 2/2. Pass.

S3: Draws Fleecemane Lion. I tap everything to play Courser of Kruphix, revealing Banishing Light from the top of my deck. I play my Mutavault and gain a life before passing the turn. (s 20/18 c)

C4: Draws Boros Charm. He plays his second Loxodon Smiter to evolve the Experiment One to a 3/3 and then attacks with it and the first smiter. I block the ooze with my courser and take 4. He passes. (s 16/18 c)

S4: Draws Banishing Light and reveals Setessan Tactics. All the removal! I feel like I would like to try to lessen his board state before risking all of my turn playing something like my angels which could possibly just die. For this reason, I use my Banishing Light to remove one of his 2 Loxodon Smiters. I play my Mana Confluence and gain a life, following that up with my Fleecemane Lion, losing my that same life from the confluence. I pass. (s 16/18 c)

C5: Draws Sunblade Elf. Ick. He attacks with both of his creatures. I choose to block his Experiment One with my lion and he gives it double-strike with his Boros Charm. My lion dies and his creatures survives. I take 4. He then plays his Sunblade Elf out as a 2/2 and passes the turn. (s 12/18 c)

S5: Draws Setessan Tactics and reveals Banishing Light from the top. Well...this game is probs just about over. I tap out and lose one life to play out my Archangel of Thune #1. I pass. (s 11/18 c)

C6: Draws Chained to the Rocks. That actually makes this game a LOT closer than before. He uses one of the chains to pin my Archangel of Thune to the rocks, and attacks with everything. I have to block and a combat trick could end me easily, but I just can't play around that. I block his elf with my courser and he deals 7 with his elf dying. He passes. (s 4/18 c)

S6: Draws Banishing Light and reveals a second Setessan Tactics. That's actually not great here without any huge creatures on board. I cannot take any risks right now and need more life asap. I tap my caryatid and all my lands apart from Mana Confluence to play Nylea's Disciple, gaining 5 life and passing. (s 9/18 c)

C7: Draws Selesnya Charm. This is rough. He knows I have a second Banishing Light and 2 Setessan Tactics total coming up. He does not know I have another angel. He would basically have to understand his two creatures are goners and that he needs to get as much out of them as possible before they go. With this in mind, he attacks with both creatures. I cannot double-block anything because a bloodrushed Ghor-Clan Rampager blows me out and leaves me just about dead. In fact, a Ghor-Clan Rampager right now just about leaves me dead no matter what. I choose to block the ooze with my courser and his smiter with my disciple. Before damage, he buffs his Experiment One with the Selesnya Charm, killing my courser and dealing 1 damage. He passes the turn. (s 8/18)

S7: Draws Setessan Tactics. Dead card. Playing the archangel here just kills me in many ways, so I choose to exile his Loxodon Smiter with my Banishing Light and pass the turn.

C8: Draws Sunblade Elf that was an important draw step and the draw wasn't fantastic. He attacks with the Experiment One and I let it through (I need the caryatid for mana at this point). He follows up by playing the elf and passing. (s 5/18 c)

S8: Draws Fleecemane Lion. I play out the lion and pass the turn. The angel is basically a dead card now since I need both my mana and life as a resource and can't risk his having removal for it.

C9: Draws plains. That is not gas. He uses his last Chained to the Rocks to remove my lion (he just can't play around another angel anymore) and attacks with both. I lose to basically any combat trick so I'm just going to preserve my boardstate a bit. I block his elf with my caryatid and take three. Luckily for me he has no combat trick. He passes.

S9: Draws Elvish Mystic. That's bad. My only way to survive is to tap out my blockers and go to one to resolve my second Archangel of Thune and hope he has literally nothing and draws literally nothing. Literally. I do so and pass the turn. (s 1/18 c)

C10: Draws mountain. AGHHHHH HE NEEDED ANYYTHINGGGGGG. He plays the mountain and passes the turn. Attacking does not help him currently.

S10: Draws Sylvan Caryatid. I am still basically dead to any top deck combat trick, especially a Boros Charm. I have to assume the card left in his hand is nothing but land, because if it were not, I'd be dead by now. I use my Setessan Tactics to target my angel and then use the fight ability to kill the Experiment One. It is regenerated as a 1/1 and I gain 4 life, and all my creatures get a counter. Pass. (s 5/18 c)

C11: Draws Selesnya Charm. So very close. I guess this needs to be removal for the angel now? I'm honestly just getting tired of thinking at this point lol. STAHP HOLDING ON. JUST LET GO ALREADY!! He plays a plains and attacks with both of his creatures. There are only a couple things that can kill me in this exchange, so I'm going to choose to not play around them at this point. I block his ooze with my caryatid (1/4) and use my Mana Confluence to lose a life and turn my Mutavault into a creature to block his elf. Before damage, he uses the elf's ability and I take no further damage. My mutavault is killed. He passes. (s 4/18 c)

S11: Draws Nylea's Disciple. Alright here we go, now. I tap out and lose a life to cast the disciple. I go to 4, and then gain 3. the trigger causes everyone to acquire a counter. I then attack with my now 5/6 angel and gain 5 life, giving everyone a counter. Pass. (s 12/13 c)

C12: Draws mountain. I think that may have cost him the game. He exiles my angel with the charm in hand and passes the turn.

S12: Draws forest. I play the forest and then use my setessan tactics to cause both of my creatures to fight his, killing them both. I pass.

C13: Draws Fleecemane Lion. There's no reason to continue this game at this point. He cannot deal enough with I have a 3/6 and a 5/5 on the battlefield and he has nothing. He concedes.

Alright, let's address the elephant in the room. This match involved two mull-to-fives by my opponent. Normally, this would result in my scrapping one of the games and redoing it, writing it off as bad luck, but I think this situation doesn't call for that. After getting poor mana in his opening hands all those times, I took another look at the deck list and saw that there are only shocks and basics as his mana base. Now, this isn't horrible or anything, but it does explain the situation.

3-color aggro decks almost certainly need to be running a playset of things like Mana Confluence and even some number of the enemy-colored painlands from M15. Why? Well, why not? If one is truly that concerned about their life total, they probably shouldn't be playing aggro in the first place. See, in none of the games we just witnessed did my opponent lose because they ran out of life. Thhey lost because of being unable to pressure my deck to the extent that is necessary and to the extent that I know a build like this can have. The reason it didn't happen was because both games my opponent started with 5 cards and no real threat until T3. When you keep in mind that's the exact same time that my own deck begins to bring out the big hitters...well, I'm sure you can understand why that is a problem. Casino647, I highly recommend you add in the painlands and confluences.

Now, I don't want to just point out the negatives, here. Let's take a look at game 2 for a moment. My aggro opponent mulled to 5 and kept a hand that didn't put on real pressure until he was attacking on T4. I, on the other hand had an amazing opener with nearly every anti-aggro card in my deck being present AND enough mana after 2 draw steps to cast it all. Why on earth did the game go so long and how in the hell did I almost end up losing? The answer lies in the removal. And this is where the concept of "tempo" comes into play.

For those of you who may be newer players, "tempo" typically refers to the rate at which you or your opponent are setting up each individuals' boardstate. Many cards, such as Unsummon, can disrupt your opponent's tempo by forcing them to either recast their creature or letting it stay off the battlefield, and this can waste their mana or time (in turns), especially in the early turns of the game when it is so very precious. Many aggro decks (much like Delver of Secrets  ^Flip decks in other formats) run cheap, high-power creatures and a slew of tempo-disruption in order to win the game. And this is exactly how I nearly lost that second game of the match.

Casino647 was able to get his board into a state that it had numerous total power on board, and by the time he had, I was ready to cast my haymaker Archangel of Thune. However, his Chained to the Rocks changed everything by removing my board-staller and allowing him to get in for a ton of damage. Suddenly, the whole game had shifted. I had to play around a second chain every single turn or risk dying, and coincidentally enough he actually had it. If not for those cheap combat tricks or removal, this would've been a no-brainer for me, but it wasn't. In fact, I probably spent a good 90 minutes writing up that second game alone because I was trying to go through all the different possible situations that could occur to determine which play was best without biasing anyone. And I trult hope that game was enjoyable to read, because it was absolutely intense to be a part of. And I'd like to thank Casino647 for his submission as his deck is quite good! (just get those lands in there, d00d)

If you'd like to be the next contender in Showdown, please leave your decks linked into the comments below! Be sure to use the "deck-large" option so I don't miss them! Apoptosis will be back next week to take on one of the submissions. And I look forward to seeing you all again in 2 weeks!

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @Spootyone

For more articles by me, check out legitMTG.com!

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