Showdown #19: Some New Tactics

Showdown

Spootyone

26 June 2014

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Hello all and welcome back to another edition of Showdown, where I pit my current Standard build against others that have been sent in by you, the members of TappedOut. 2 weeks ago, I debuted my latest build -- a G/W tribute to my original deck that I ran in these articles. Since then, I have done some additional testing, learned some more, and have a slightly tweaked build made to further test out two cards -- Setessan Tactics and Eidolon of Blossoms.

The first of these feels like a no-brainer and it plays like one too. I am always happy to draw it unless I'm playing against control. Setessan Tactics is a card that any midrange player should be playing to beat up on other creature deck, but it becomes especially brutal in G/W, where most of the creatures are above the curve naturally. The other is a card that I'm still iffy on. I don't have a ton of enchantments in the deck and it's possible that the slot is better used for other cards. But, hey, that's what these articles are for!

This time around I have a color combo I haven't faced very often (or at all?). My deck's weakest point is against control builds as they can typically either outlast me or wrath away my threats, leaving me unable to threaten enough damage in time. However, this sort of strategy changes dramatically when white is removed from the control deck. I present to you all CommanderOfBolas and his Grixis Control build:

Gods of Grixis (First at FNM)

Standard CommanderOfBolas

SCORE: 25 | 19 COMMENTS | 4155 VIEWS | IN 9 FOLDERS

Non-Azorius control builds inherently scare me much less than not. This is simply because there is no Supreme Verdict or Sphinx's Revelation. These two cards add a lot of stabilization and longevity to a control deck. What CoB does have is access to Anger of the Gods, which can easily wipe part of my board. Thoughtseize and Rakdos's Return are also huge issues for me since discard can easily disrupt my tempo quite a bit. There are some parts of this deck I question, but I will save my examination of those until after the match proceeds.

Game 1

CoB wins the flip and chooses to go first.

CoB keeps an opening hand of Steam Vents, Watery Grave, Mana Confluence, Counterflux, 2x Hero's Downfall, and Dreadbore. Seems like a great hand! lands of all colors and plenty of answers.

I mulligan 2 one-landers and then a 5-land 5-card hand and restart my cycle for entertainment purposes

I keep the next 7 of 2x forest, plains, Temple Garden, Courser of Kruphix, Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, and Garruk, Caller of Beasts. It's heavy on lands and high-cost spells, but we will likely draw into more threats.

C1: CoB plays Watery Grave tapped. Pass.

S1: Draws plains and plays Temple Garden tapped. Pass.

C2: Draws Ratchet Bomb. Guess he might as well get that going on curve. He shocks himself with his Steam Vents and plays the bomb before passing. (s 20/18 c).

S2: Draws Temple Garden. We're not exactly drawing into those aforementioned threats yet. I play the second shockland tapped and pass. CoB ups the charge counters to 1.

C3: Draws swamp. Perfect! He plays out the swamp and passes the turn.

S3: Draws Polukranos, World Eater. There we go! I play a forest and the Courser of Kruphix and reveal another one from the top of my library. Pass. CoB could kill this courser now, but it's basically a waste of a downfall. Seeing that there is another right away means that he might as well just tick the bomb up to use on that and save his serious kill spells for the biggest threats. Courser is a threat, but it isn't going to kill him yet.

C4: Draws Thoughtseize. Ouch. Well, ouch for me at least. He plays the Mana Confluence and then casts the thoughtseize, seeing my hand. He has answers already for all the cards in my hand, so he chooses to take Garruk, which can net me the most potential cards. Pass. (s 20/16 c)

S4: Draws Courser of Kruphix and reveals Eidolon of Blossoms. I play a plains and gain one life and then attack with my courser for two damage. I play Polukranos, World Eater and pass the turn, drawing out what ends up being a Hero's Downfall at EoT. He takes one damage from confluence. (s 21/13 c). He also ups the bomb to 3 counters.

C5: Draws Temple of Malice. The scryland enters the field and he sees Hero's Downfall on top -- a keeper. So let's talk. Ratchet bomb now can kill my courser, but he knows I have another courser to take its place. However, it being on the field essentially makes the one in my hand a dead card as he can just blow them both up as soon as I commit to playing it -- something I will not do. Alternatively, the one that can be killed now is dealing damage every turn. This is obviously bad. And forcing the opponent to attempt to commit another one to the field afterwards really just results in them losing mana in the end since it's still a 1-for-1. I'm going to choose to kill this first courser now. Other people may have varying opinions on this matter. CoB sacs the bomb to kill the courser I own and then passes the turn.

S5: Draws Eidolon of Blossoms. While the opponent likely has an answer to whatever I choose to play here, I'm going to attempt to set myself up for a good next turn by playing the eidolon here. I play the eidolon, but it is met by the opposing Counterflux, thereby ruining my plan. CoB takes one damage from confluence. I play a forest and pass. (s 21/12 c)

C6: Draws Hero's Downfall. He now has an answer for every one of my threats for the next 3 turns and all he has to do is sit on them. Pass.

S6: Draws Fleecemane Lion. Hey, there's a threat! and one I can play in addition to courser, too. I play the courser first, revealing Temple of Plenty from the top of my deck. I play that land, gain a life, and scry a revealed Elvish Mystic to the bottom of the library, revealing Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Nice! I then play the lion out and pass the turn. CoB is posed with a difficult position here, now. There are three answers and three threats to deal with, my 2 walkers and the lion. The difficulty lies in the fact that courser is still going to be dealing 2 every turn and both of my planeswalkers get to either replace themselves or create more threats before dying. Regardless, CoB chooses to make good use of his mana and destroys the lion with a Hero's Downfall at EoT. (s 22/12 c)

C7: Draws Izzet Charm. Ahh, very nice. This can potentially counter one of the walkers before they can get value out of themselves. Pass.

S7: Draws Elspeth, Sun's Champion and reveals Sylvan Caryatid from the top. I know nothing of the opponent's hand except that it is likely to be 3 nonland spells. In this situation, I would rather do everything I can to keep the pressure on to make SURE he needs to have answers. I play the plains, gain a life, and then cast Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. (CoB ends up not being able to counter my spell, coincidentally). I use Ajani's first +1 to turn my courser into a 5/7 beater and then attack with it. With a new threat on board, CoB is forced to use his remaining Hero's Downfall to kill it. I pass the turn. (s 23/12 c)

C8: Draws Firemind's Foresight. Well, it's not useless if he can't cast it. He kills Ajani with Dreadbore and then passes the turn.

S8: Draws Sylvan Caryatid. That's bad here. I attempt to cast my Elspeth, but it is countered by the opposing Izzet Charm. I pass the turn.

C9: Draws Underworld Connections. He plays the connections on his Mana Confluence and then uses it to lose one life and draw Keranos, God of Storms. Niicce. Pass. (s 23/11 c)

S9: Draws forest. Darn. I play the Sylvan Caryatid and pass the turn.

C10: Draws AEtherling. He plays Keranos, loses one life to confluence, and passes the turn.

S10: Draws forest. nonononono. I play the forest and pass.

C11: He reveals Temple of Malice with Keranos and then draws another Keranos with the ability. He plays the temple out and scrys Steam Vents, which he keeps in order to cast one of the other cards in his hand next turn. He then uses his Underworld Connections to draw the steam vents and passes the turn. (s 23/10 c)

S11: Draws Courser of Kruphix. I play the courser and reveal Temple of Plenty from the top. I play it, gain a life and scry to reveal Setessan Tactics. Dead card. It hits the bottom and this reveals a Fleecemane Lion. Pass. (s 24/10 c)

C12: He reveals another Temple of Malice and then draws Devour Flesh with Keranos. BoC Shocks himself with a steam vents and then plays his AEtherling before passing. (s 24/8 c)

S12: Draws Fleecemane Lion and reveals Mana Confluence from the top. I play the land, gaina life, and reveal Ajani, Mentor of Heroes from the top. I think we actually might be able to race this AEtherling depending on the rest of his hand. I play the lion and immediately monstrous him before the opponent has a chance to untap and kill him. I pass. (s 25/8 c)

C13: He reveals Thoughtseize and deals three damage to me. Not great. He can't really afford to play it now and the real threats are on the top of my deck, anyway. He plays the temple of malice and scrys an island to the bottom. His plan right now essentially has to be to block with AEtherling until he can build up enough kill/sac spells to rid me of my lion. Unfortunately for him, doing this will require a lot of resources and may still not pan out well in the end. That said, the upcoming Ajani is going to be more of an issue than the lion is currently since it can make the lion into a threat he cannot block and will die to. For this reason, I am choosing for him to use his underworld connections to hope to draw a counterspell. With it, he draws Rakdos's Return. It's a good one but not a winner yet. He makes the AEtherling unblockable and swings for 4 damage. He then blinks the AEtherling to keep it up as a block for my turn and passes. (s 18/7 c)

S13: Draws Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and reveals a forest. The forest enters, I gain a life, and a Temple of Plenty is revealed. I cast Ajani and use his +1 to place 3 counters on my lion. I then attack with my lion and my courser. The lion is blocked by his AEtherling and he pumps the AEtherling's toughness thrice to keep it alive. Courser deals 2 and I pass the turn. (s 19/5 c)

C14: He reveals mountain with Keranos and then draws a Temple of Deceit with it. He uses the underworld connections to lose a life and draw a card, which is Blood Crypt. With no way to win before dying, he concedes.

Spooty wins Game 1!

Wow, I'm surprised I came back from that one. I thought for sure that I was a goner when I saw the opening hands and then later when he got Keranos out. Luckily, my deck is built to make sure nearly every creature in it needs to be answered, which was too much for him to handle. Technically, I did lose game one due to bad mulligans, though. Don't forget that.

Sideboard tech with Spooty: I like to take out Sylvan Caryatid against pretty much any deck running Anger of the Gods or Supreme Verdict. Setessan Tactics is also a dead card in this matchup, and Archangel of Thune, while awesome, can be replaced with a better threat. My playset of Mistcutter Hydra will be coming in, along with the Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Advent of the Wurm, and another Elspeth, Sun's Champion...just to really lay on the threats.

Sideboard tech with CommanderOfBolas: The biggest thing we need to do right now is to adjust to answer more planeswalkers. This means more counterspells as opposed to kill spells, though the kill spells need to stay in. Doom Blade is better than Izzet Charm since it's much more reliable. Firemind's Foresight felt clunky and Elixir of Immortality doesn't feel needed here. And Devour Flesh is pretty terrible since I'll be able to easily sac my mana dorks as opposed to the real threats. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a great card against me, I've found, and we can bring in another copy of Counterflux. Finally, Pithing Needle can come in as an answer to walkers or to Fleecemane Lion. Phew...

Game 2

CoB keeps an opening hand of 2x Blood Crypt, Temple of Malice, Steam Vents, Keranos, God of Storms, Anger of the Gods and Underworld Connections. It's a little slow but it's a control deck after all.

I mulligan yet another 1-lander and then keep a hand of Temple of Plenty, Mutavault, plains, 2x elvish mystic]] and Advent of the Wurm. No one's saying it's great but at least it has land and the vault is nice.

C1: CoB plays a Temple of Malice and scrys a Blood Crypt to the bottom. Pass.

S1: Draws forest. That's actually really awesome. Forest, Elvish Mystic, pass.

C2: Draws Doom Blade. Cool, cool. This can be used now to set him off tempo potentially, or it can answer a fatty later. I will use it for the latter. He plays a Steam Vents tapped and passes.

S2: Draws Mistcutter Hydra. I play the Temple of Plenty and scry Mistcutter Hydra number 2. It stays. I don't really want to play into an Anger of the Gods so I choose to just attack with my elf and pass. (s 20/19 c)

C3: Draws Watery Grave. He shocks himself with the watery grave and then plays Underworld Connections on his temple of triumph before passing. (s 20/17 c)

S3: Draws Mistcutter Hydra. If I do nothing, I easily telegraph Advent of the Wurm. That feels pointless to me. That said, the underworld connections means that if I'm not aggressive he will just overwhelm me with card advantage. I play out Mutavault and pass the turn.

C4: Draws Temple of Malice. It feels like he's a little heavy on land currently. He can see I'm pretty obviously telegraphing something, namely Advent of the Wurm. For this reason, he chooses to play his temple, scry Thoughtseize and keep it on top, and then pass. EoT, I cast Advent of the Wurm.

S4: Draws Polukranos, World Eater. Great! I move to attacks and swing with my elf and wurm token. CoB casts Doom Blade on my wurm and takes 1 damage. I then play a plains and cast big Poluk. EoT he uses his connections to lose a life and draw Thoughtseize. (s 20/15 c)

C5: Draws swamp. Polukranos is going to be a huge problem for him if he cannot answer him. He plays Thoughtseize and loses two, revealing my hand and removing one of the two Mistcutter Hydra. Then, searching for an answer to Poluk, he uses his underworld connections to lose a life and draw Counterflux. That's pretty hideous right now, actually. He plays a Blood Crypt tapped and passes the turn. (s 20/12 c)

S5: Draws Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. That's a good one. Let's keep the pressure on first though, as we are totally ahead on board. I tap all my lands and my elf to cast a 4-counter Mistcutter Hydra, and then attack for 9 with it and Polukranos. It all connects and my opponent is just about finished. (s 20/3 c)

C6: Draws Watery Grave. With no way to handle the amount of threats on the board, he concedes.

Spooty Wins the Match!

Afterthoughts

Out of curiosity, I looked at the next four draws of both decks after that final game. I was going to draw 3 lands and a dead spell and CommanderOfBolas was going to draw 4 kill spells/answers. What's interesting about this is that it means he could have very well come back and won had he been able to stabilize a little better and hadn't drawn the amount of lands he did.

I think that CoB's deck is one that is headed in the right direction but needs a couple adjustments. For one, I feel like Hero's Downfall should basically be a 4-of in any deck willing to run it. It's only real bad matchup is against burn, and even there it isn't always a dead card in game 1. Firemind's Foresight is a card that can do great things, but isn't doing too much for me here. There aren't a ton of targets for it to go and get and some of them aren't even very good at that late of the game, namely Syncopate.

Another big thing I noticed was the gratuitous amount of ways his deck hurt himself, be it through numerous shocklands, Thoughtseize, Underworld Connections, etc. If a control build wants to survive, losing 5-8 life in a game just on your own makes this hard to do. Whereas a white control deck would have Sphinx's rev, this deck would have to resort to something different to keep itself alive. If not, it needs to win by attrition or aggression, and I don't think this build has enough of either of those. Besides these things, I think all the deck needs is to be tweaked to fit whatever metagame it is going to fit, be it swapping Doom Blade for Ultimate Price or something else. I really enjoyed the deck a lot!

My deck functioned quite well apart from the initial mana issues I was having. And even with that, I did still win 2/3 games and both on the draw. That makes me feel a little more confident heading forward with this build. I'm still on the fence about Eidolon of Blossoms. While it does cantrip and potentially provide me with more card advantage, it also dies very easily to much of the metagame for me to use it while not building around it. I know that in this match I REALLY wished it were not in the deck so I didn't have to watch it get killed by Anger of the Gods, and when it was countered I felt pretty terrible as well. Time will tell if it stays in the deck.

Ajani also did a great job of keeping the pressure on both by threatening card advantage and by making what small number of creatures I had into sizable threats that also needed answering. I like him. I like him a lot.

Many thanks to CommanderOfBolas for his great submission. I encourage you to keep on striving towards making this brew amazing! If you would like a chance to be the next competitor to face The Conclave's Revenge, all you have to do is submit your build below! I look forward to checking it out :D

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @Spootyone

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