UB Dream Halls

Not that long ago, I wrote about a deck that is not fun to play against. Guess what; today, we are going to be talking about another one. It’s fun to read about though, so don’t stop reading! Alright then, let’s get the awkward intro out of the way so we can dive into the deck. What can cause an opponent to simply not want to play against you? When most of the game involves them just watching you play. Any time this happens, we can refer to it as living the [UB] Dream Halls.

Let’s get started. There are two things you want to do with this deck – 1. get the engine out and 2. then get it going. The engine in this instance is the namesake of the deck: Dream Halls. To do this, it is important to incorporate mana ramp, so you can get Halls out ASAP. Sol lands and Lotus Petals are great ways to do so; the latter also being of use in later rounds. The other aspect of getting the engine out is collecting the combo pieces. The deck contains lots of cantrips and tutors in order to find both the ramp and the centerpiece of the deck, and their importance cannot be stressed enough.

The main thing you want to do once the engine is out is get it running. Since this is a Storm deck, that means drawing and casting spells to a critical mass before destroying your opponent; in this case via Tendrils of Agony. Because the deck mostly contains Blue spells, once Dream Halls hits the board it should be very easy to cast all the spells that you want and win the game.

Mana Severance. Admittedly, despite containing two copies of the card, this was the one that came closest to being cut. While it can certainly help you minimize on dead draws once you get going, the fact is that with Dream Halls out you shouldn’t lose anyway. I had debated switching them out for two Omen, but decided to leave it in anyway because it’s a pretty unique card that has its uses, and also as a sort of nod to Zvi’s first incarnation of the deck.

Mono Blue. When I began writing about the deck, it was originally going to be just one colour. Had that been the case, I probably would have just used Brain Freeze as the win condition. To be honest, this might be the correct route to go since a mono coloured deck has obvious advantages with Dream Halls.  However, I find the main problem with Brain Freeze is that Gaea’s Blessing can really ruin your plan. As always, I encourage you to tinker and see what works best for you. Happy Brewing!

UB Dream Halls

Land

4 Underground Sea

3 Island

4 Ancient Tomb

3 City of Traitors

7 Fetchlands

Total: 21

Creatures

Total: 0

Spells

4 Dream Halls

4 Lotus Petal

4 Brainstorm

4 Impulse

1 Omen

4 Sleight of Hand

4 Force of Will

4 Meditate

1 Future Sight

3 Intuition

4 Tendrils of Agony

2 Mana Severance

Total: 39

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Counterspell

4 Duress

1 Pyroblast

2 Chain of Vapor

BRaGging Rights

Whoever claimed a 3-colour control deck had to contain Blue, clearly never tried playing a deck like this before. While it may not have the ability to sculpt its hand or counter any threats, it does draw you lots of cards and [thus] lots of answers. What’s the best way to beat a Blue-based control deck? Attack their resources/answers and overwhelm them with your own. Today we are going to learn how to win and earn our BRaGging Rights.

Let’s start off with the mana base. Being a tri-colour deck, you want to ensure access to all three colours. This build focuses more on Black mana, but contains enough Red and Green to not go too light on either of them. I should point out that only Black cards contain more than 1 of their respective mana colour in their casting cost, so tweaking the mana base is certainly an option.

I put a copy of Thunderscape Apprentice in the deck because it is just so versatile. You can use him to help protect your creatures, and should that not become necessary, just ping your opponent for 1 at the end of their turn. This spot was originally open for a Nimble Mongoose, but the deck started to focus more on control and less on tempo as it evolved. Another benefit being that Apprentice is Red, meaning he can grow any Dryad(s) that are in play.

Card advantage. Because the deck lacks any sort of hand manipulation via cantrips, the best way for it to get the cards it needs is to draw them. Phyrexian Arena is a card drawing machine, and if you can land it early on, you have a serious advantage over your opponent. The other side of card advantage is when your opponent doesn’t have a hand – Hypnotic Specter, Hymn to Tourach and Duress all do their job at ensuring this to be the case. And what do all of these cards have in common? They all cost Black mana. A turn 1 Dark Ritual can really give you the edge by allowing you to play these early on.

While Specter, Hymn and Duress act as forms of card advantage, they also act as a means to control your opponent. They are not the only means of doing so however; as both Lightning Bolt and Terminate are excellent forms of control.  Lightning Bolt is an amazing card, which I don’t really need to get into. Terminate tends to be less known, which is a shame as it is probably the second best form of single creature removal available (Swords to Plowshares being #1).

As previously mentioned, this brew started as something different before becoming the control-style deck that it did. As you all know, this really is an open format with a lot of deck building potential and I encourage everyone to go through their old card lists and see what interests them. Happy Brewing!

BRaGging Rights

Land

3 Taiga

3 Badlands

3 Bayou

1 Forest

1 Swamp

1 Mountain

4 Bloodstained Mire

4 Wooded Foothills

4 Wasteland

Total: 24

Creatures

4 Quirion Dryad

4 Werebear

1 Thunderscape Apprentice

4 Hypnotic Specter

Total: 13

Spells

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Terminate

4 Duress

4 Hymn to Tourach

3 Phyrexian Arena

4 Dark Ritual

Total: 23

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Red Elemental Blast

2 Pyroblast

2 Pyroclasm

3 Hull Breach

1 Avoid Fate

1 Regrowth

1 Pernicious Deed

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