UG Enchantress

“UGh.. Enchantress.” Get ready to hear that a lot. Ironically, they won’t know how right they are.. Get it? UG Enchantress.. Ok, moving on. Despite having already written about an Enchantress-type of deck in the past, I decided to revisit the archetype. Why? Because this one plays very differently and involves a different combination of G/X. In short: awesome deck, let’s learn about it.

The first thing you need to understand about a UG Enchantress list is that it has a lot of key components working together to do awesome things. Wild Growth/Fertile Ground, in combination with Cloud of Faeries, are a great example of this. Together, they combine to create a LOT of mana. Now imagine using them with Words of Wind as a means to re-use your Cloud of Faeries again and again.. told you: awesome.

Another cool engine of the deck involves the namesake Enchantress cards and the enchantments themselves’. Using these, you can crush an opponent under sheer card advantage pretty quickly, as they allow absurd amounts of card drawing. Combined with the aforementioned mana engines, and you can just run away with the game once you get both going.

The enchantments. Each enchantment has its own role in the deck, and the number of each should reflect this. For example, Exploration is amazing at the start of the game, but with only twenty lands, you don’t really want to draw them later on (except to draw cards with the Enchantress’). Thus why you should not be playing 4. Seal of Removal on the other hand does double duty as both a Faerie bouncer and protection from enemy creatures. At just U, this makes it an easy 4-of.

While not an enchantment, I want to talk about the number of Brain Freezes. As I researched the deck, I found that the card was a 1-of in at least one of the lists. Quite frankly, I just do not trust when a deck contains only 1 copy of such an important piece. I chose to put 2, as well as some copies of Yavimaya Enchantress as a second win condition in the sideboard, just in case you are facing an opponent who plays Gaea’s Blessing for some reason.

Because the deck lacks any real creature removal, it contains 4 Elephant Grass, which help to provide protect from the opponent’s creatures’. I want to mention that it is important to consider what enchantments you want in the deck, and ensure that they reflect a style of play that is enjoyable to you. Mirri’s Guile and/or Sylvan Library are great examples of cool cards that are worthy of consideration. I suggest you start going through card lists and see what interests you. Happy Brewing!

UG Enchantress

Land

10 Forest

1 Island

5 Fetchlands

4 Tropical Island

Total: 20

Creatures

4 Argothian Enchantress

4 Cloud of Faeries

4 Verduran Enchantress

Total: 12

Spells

4 Enchantress’ Presence

3 Exploration

4 Seal of Removal

4 Wild Growth

4 Fertile Ground

3 Words of Wind

4 Elephant Grass

2 Brain Freeze

Total: 28

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

2 Chain of Vapor

2 Naturalize

2 City of Solitude

3 Yavimaya Enchantress

2 Counterspell

Dracoplosion

One of the things I miss most about older MtG is the cleverness. I know this might seem strange, but when it came to things such as artwork, vocabulary and even card names; Wizards of the Coast did some pretty cool things. Take today’s deck for example: it uses a card called Draco. Did you know that Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky, or that it is the Latin word for dragon? Oh, you did? How awkward.. well anyway, today we’re going to be talking about Dracoplosion!

Alright so let’s start with the combo. You got your Dracos and you got your Erratic Explosions. Since these are easily your biggest source of damaging the opponent, you definitely want to be running 4 of each. The idea is to cast an Erratic Explosion with Draco being on the top of your library. Generally, you do this by using Lim-Dûl's Vault, Brainstorm and/or Scroll Rack, but I suppose if you’re desperate then you can just roll the dice and/or become religious.

Lim-Dûl's Vault. This is one of those cards that are severely underplayed in various formats. While it doesn’t put a card directly into your hand, it does everything else you want in a tutor. Don’t think of it as just a tutor either, it can also be used to smooth out your draws, and helps find your numerous combo pieces. One piece of advice I would like to add regarding Vault is that you have to take extra care when cracking fetch lands. Because of its numerous decisions, combined with its use in the actual combo setup; it is important to remember that Vault is both an invaluable, but difficult, card to play.

The control. The deck doesn’t play any Sol lands or mana ramp, so it takes a few turns to get going. Because it is so reliant on the combo as a win condition, the deck also needs an aspect of control to buy you some time. Duress and Force of Will do double duty as both protection for both you and the combo. Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Fire // Ice also help, as they can stop your opponent from amassing too many early threats. The good news is that once the combo goes off, you only probably only need one of them to finish off the opponent.

While researching decks that used Draco and Erratic Explosion, I discovered various different versions of them. Many had incorporated other colours and strategies of their own, including the use of White for Orim’s Chant and Green for Worldly Tutor. I had also read about decks that chose to focus more on Scroll Rack rather than Lim-Dûl's Vault. I think there are benefits and negatives to each approach, and you should try tinkering with several before deciding on the one that fits you best. Happy Brewing!

Dracoplosion

Land

4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Volcanic Island
4 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Swamp

Total: 19

Creatures

4 Draco

Total: 4

Spells

4 Erratic Explosion
4 Brainstorm
4 Portent
4 Lim-Dul's Vault
4 Force of Will

1 Scroll Rack
4 Duress

3 Overmaster
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Chain Lightning
3 Fire // Ice
1 Chain of Vapor

Total:  37

Sideboard

1 Misdirection

2 Chain of Vapor

4 Daze

2 Pyroblast

4 Tormod’s Crypt

2 Pyroclasm

UG Show and Tell

“Thank you Johnny, that was very nice. Alright class, who would like to go next? Very well, Timmy, show everyone what you brought.. AHH, WHAT IS THAT THING??” Back in the early days of Magic, the internet wasn’t nearly what it is today. Oftentimes, when someone would get a creature onto the battlefield, it could be the first time you ever saw it. While this wasn’t really the case throughout all of the Ancient era, it certainly could have been for some people. And what’s a great way to show off big creatures to those people? It’s simple really,  you just Show and Tell.

Mana sources. The deck includes a variety of different mana sources, with each one serving an important function(s). The Sol lands (Ancient Temple and City of Traitors), combined with Lotus Petal, allow for fast mana and thus fast starts. The Wastelands are very important, and it is surprising and sad that I added them so late. They are for Maze of Iths and Karakas’.  The fetch lands and coloured mana sources? They do the obvious.

Akroma and company. There is no question that Akroma is the #1 creature in the deck. She protects herself from 2 of the most relevant creature removal colours and she is tough. Akroma is the only creature I put in as a 4-of, because she’s just that strong. Nicol Bolas was another strong contender for including as a playset, but I decided against it for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that I wanted to showcase the versatility of the big creatures in the format. The other was that while he may be strong, Bolas doesn’t do everything. He doesn’t have the protection of Iridescent Angel or the Haste of Spirit of the Night, both of which can be relevant in certain situations.

Why U/G and Living Wish? There are a couple of reasons for these choices. The main one being that Ancient doesn’t have the card filtration that Legacy does. While Brainstorm is, well, Brainstorm; Sleight of Hand is not Ponder.  As such, I wanted to use a tutor-type spell to find the cards required for different scenarios. The other reason for Wish was that I wanted to make the creature list to be flexible. Because of the low power level of Ancient’s creatures, there aren’t really any that you can drop on the battlefield and win instantly with. You need to choose your targets more wisely, thus making a Wish a very important spell in the deck.

Why not Red? I decided on Quicksilver Amulet over Sneak Attack because Ancient creatures just don’t quite have the 1-punch impact of the more modern designs. In the end, I decided that the 1 creature that might fit this role wasn’t worth it, as I was set on adding Living Wish to the deck. Because of this, the deck loses some speed but adds consistency. I would add however, that if I were going to play Sneak Attack in the deck instead, then Bolas would definitely be a 4-of. Happy Brewing!

UG Show and Tell

Land

3 Island

1 Forest

4 Tropical Island

4 Ancient Tomb

1 City of Traitors

7 Fetch lands

4 Wasteland

Total: 24

Creatures:

3 Akroma, Angel of Wrath

1 Nicol Bolas

Total: 4

Spells

4 Show and Tell

4 Quicksilver Amulet

4 Living Wish

4 Lotus Petal

4 Brainstorm

4 Sleight of Hand

4 Force of Will

3 Misdirection

1 Intuition

Total: 32

Sideboard

1 Iridescent Angel

1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath

1 Spirit of the Night

1 Nicol Bolas

1 Serra Avatar

1 Symbiotic Wurm

4 Naturalize

4 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Exalted Angel

Balancing Tings

“Accidents can be fun.” – no parent, ever. I stumbled upon today’s deck while looking into another archetype that had been requested. While I decided to write about this one today, fear not! It does not mean I won’t ever write about the other. Occasionally it can be hard to figure out which deck I want to write about, but hey, that’s what life is about sometimes: Balancing Tings.

The land base. There are actually a couple of options here, despite the lands’ relatively unique sac-style of play. The most common approach (and the one I stuck with), is the use of the Invasion-cycle that create 2 colours of mana when sacrificed. While I do understand the appeal of the Odyssey-cycle lands in a 5-colour deck without fetch lands, I just do not think the lack of ramp is worth it. 24 sac lands might seem a bit light to you, in which case these can make a great addition to the deck if you want. I obviously went with Wasteland, which has its pros and cons in the comparison.

The win conditions in the deck are pretty few and far between, which is why some of them have built-in protection. While Anurid Brushhoper and Nimble Mongoose are both excellent at staying alive, I find their clock can be a bit slow at times. Because of this, I focused more on the Terravore game plan, which can beat down for the win very quickly. If it’s not already clear, the idea is to play Balancing Act while floating enough mana to cast a Terravore, Brushhopper or Mongoose. The sideboard also includes an Insidious Dreams, which can be used to find a threat if you don’t have one already, while maximizing Balancing Act on your opponent’s hand.

Strategy. One of the best pieces of advice that I found with regards to playing Tings is that you need to focus on your land management. You want to make sure that the colour(s) of mana that you are going to need during your key turns are available. The deck has a strong game against aggro, but can struggle against control and combo. I tweaked the deck to have a better game against both, with cards such as Duress and Overmaster in the sideboard.

Most of the decks that I saw contained 1 or 2 copies of Obliterate to combat control. I decided to omit it however, because a) I included other options and b) I believe it to be too slow for the Ancient format. The deck was designed for Extended after all, while we are playing against an entirely different kind of monster. I could also see a combination of Wish cards and Lion’s Eye Diamonds to be a strong possibility in the deck. Happy Brewing!


Balancing Tings

Land

4 Archaeological Dig

4 Ancient Spring

4 Geothermal Crevice

4 Irrigation Ditch

4 Sulfur Vent

4 Tinder Farm

4 Wasteland

Total: 28

Creatures

3 Anurid Brushhopper

4 Terravore

1 Nimble Mongoose

Total: 8

Spells

4 Balancing Act

4 Chromatic Sphere

4 Orim’s Chant

4 Lotus Petal

4 Moment’s Peace/Peace Talks

3 Fire // Ice

1 Pyroclasm

Total: 24

Sideboard

4 Overmaster

4 Duress

2 Disenchant

1 Abeyance

1 Hull Breach

2 Ivory Mask

1 Insidious Dreams

Miracle Grow

Today’s deck was named after some real life magic! Specifically: the power of poop to pop out some serious plant power. Now say that out loud and try not to smile.  Despite today’s list being quite different from the original version, the thing I like about Alan Comer’s deck was that it is entirely Ancient-legal. That being said.. I don’t think it would be as competitive nowadays, so I made a few changes! So, let us sprinkle some of our own magical poop to create the new and improved Miracle Grow!

Alright, the name of the game is aggro control. You want to lay down a threat and ride it out to victory by controlling your opponent’s resources and board state. While many tempo decks prefer to incorporate Red, I decided to go with White. The main reasons for this are because a) it’s different and b) it offers things Red does not. While arguments can (and probably will) be made for either, it really depends on whether you want to focus more on aggro or control.

Let’s talk strategy. After having just said that.. try not to use Swords to Plowshares unless you have to. Dryad should get big enough that it can take care of their land creatures, so you should save Swords for the ones it can’t. Despite being more control-ish, that doesn’t mean you don’t want to play the aggro game too. Determine which course of action is best based on your board state and go from there. In other words: play Magic.

As you can see, the deck contains a lot of spells, which are meant to enable your win conditions in Dryad and Mongoose. If a Mongoose is on the board but no Dryad and you don’t have Threshold, then for the love of Garfield, DON’T try to conserve your hand for one. Mongoose is a viable win condition on its own; don’t forget that! Ok Mongoose, cover your ears because Dryad IS the main win condition of the deck. The counterspells are there to protect it, and the Rancor is there to help you power through chump blockers. Take note of the Abeyance(s?) as well, which are meant to stall the opponent while growing Dryad and without costing you a card.

Why no Werebear? There are SEVERAL reasons. Allow me to list some of them.. I wanted to run Meddling Mage to focus more on the control aspect. The prevalence of graveyard hate in the format meant trying to ease the pressure off of Dryad, as both the goose and the bear are just not amazing without a large graveyard. Lastly in our list, Werebear is green and I wanted a creature spell to help boost Dryad as well. Whew! Now bring on the naysayers.. Happy Brewing!

Miracle Grow

Land

4 Tundra

4 Tropical Island

1 Island

1 Forest

9 Fetchlands

4 Wasteland

Total: 23

Creatures

4 Quirion Dryad

4 Nimble Mongoose

4 Meddling Mage

Total: 12

Spells

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

4 Daze

4 Sleight of Hand

1 Counterspell

3 Abeyance

4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Rancor

Total: 25

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

3 Counterspell

1 Misdirection

4 Stifle

1 Abeyance

1 Hydroblast

1 Disenchant

Angry Tradewind Survival

Before its banning in Legacy, Survival of the Fittest was an interesting engine that allowed a variety of different play styles and deck construction. Among these, was the idea of a tool box-type strategy, relying on SotF to search for answers as required. While researching another article, I stumbled across today’s deck, which I thought would be fun to write about. The really cool thing about it, was that one of the first versions that I found was actually tailor made for this format! Its name? Angry Tradewind Survival.

Let’s start by talking about the namesakes of the deck, and the amazing things they make possible. Survival of the Fittest is the search engine of the deck, and allows you to search for whatever creature the situation might require. Combined with Squee, Goblin Nabob allows you to gain card advantage as well, as you are not losing a card in hand to discard. Tradewind Rider’s uses aren’t always as obvious, but allow for a LOT of awesome plays. Just remember that it can return any permanent into play, not just yours OR your opponents’..

Mana. Because of SotF, the deck consumes a lot of green mana. As a result, several creatures in the deck are used to help boost your mana output. Wall of Roots is a great example of getting more from your rampers, because it can also act as a good defender against early aggro. Rofellos doesn’t really need explaining.. he’s awesome at what he does.

Win conditions. The deck sort of has 2 main win conditions. The first being death by a thousand cuts.. aka beat them down with the large number of creatures. The other is a lot more devious: Gilded Drake and Tradewind Rider are good friends, as are Rider and Deranged Hermit. Mystic Snake and Rider are also pretty close. Just think about these options.

Once again, I have chosen to write about a deck that has so many interactions and strategies that I can’t/won’t be writing about each one in this article. As always, I encourage you to try the deck and tinker to find what works for you. Happy Brewing!

Angry Tradewind Survival

Land

5 Forest

2 Savannah

1 Taiga

4 Tropical Island

4 Windswept Heath

3 Wooded Foothills

Total: 19

Creatures

4 Tradewind Rider

4 Birds of Paradise

1 Quirion Ranger

3 Wall of Roots

1 Squee, Goblin Nabob

1 Genesis

1 Anger

2 Gilded Drake

1 Spore Frog

1 Elvish Lyrist

1 Uktabi Orangutan

1 Mystic Snake

1 Seedborn Muse

1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary

1 Deranged Hermit

Total: 24

Spells

4 Survival of the Fittest

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

3 Enlightened Tutor

2 Stifle

1 Eladamri’s Call

Total: 17

Sideboard:

2 Spike Feeder

1 Goblin Sharpshooter

1 Dense Foliage

1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Back to Basics

2 Choke

1 Seal of Cleansing

1 Man-o’-War

1 Worship

2 Naturalize

2 Null Rod

Aluren

“Hey babe, are you a fishing model? Because I find you to be quite allurin’ ”. I am now going to take a moment to apologize to everyone.. these introductions can be hard sometimes! However, with that out of the way, I want to talk about a deck that has a lot of history in the game: Aluren.

Aluren as a card has been around for a pretty long time, but it took a bit more before becoming a viable combo-type deck. In fact, the earliest reference that I found for it came in the form of Raisin Bran – of course, referencing the days when combo decks were named after breakfast cereals. The deck was very cool, and so I don’t want to talk about it as I may choose to do so in its own article some day.

Alright, so with that pointless paragraph out of the way, let’s move on to the actual deck, shall we? Man-o-War is an all-star in Aluren, combining with Cavern Harpy and cards such as Wall of Blossoms and Raven Familiar to dig through your library to find the win condition(s) you need. The loss of life resulting from Harpy is negated by Spike Feeder and Soul Warden, which also happens to be part of the combo to win.

How to win. As I mentioned before, there are several combo pieces that work in tandem with each other (and the separate combos). The actual win condition however, is the combination of Soul Warden and Maggot Carrier. I included 2 of each to be safe, but the numbers for them are at your own discretion. With Aluren in play you want to ‘cast’ Soul Warden, then Carrier – followed by the loop of Carrier and Harpy.

I don’t want to write about too many of the cards I omitted in this brew, because as I mentioned before, they are prevalent in other Aluren-based combos. I do want to mention Wirewood Savage however, as it is great with Harpy to just cycle through your deck to find the win conditions. Happy Brewing!

Aluren

Land

1 Island
2 Polluted Delta
2 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Bayou
4 Tropical Island
4 Forest

Total: 20

Creatures

1 Spike Feeder
3 Man-o'-War
4 Cavern Harpy
4 Raven Familiar

3 Wall of Blossoms
4 Wall of Roots

2 Soul Warden

2 Maggot Carrier

Total: 23

Spells

4 Aluren

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

1 Chain of Vapor

3 Intuition

1 Duress

Total: 17

Sideboard

1 Cabal Therapy
1 Wall of Blossoms
2 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Hydroblast
2 Pernicious Deed
3 Eladamri's Vineyard
2 Elephant Grass

1 Stern Proctor