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Main » Articles » Constructed BrewHaHa

Constructed BrewHaHa

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on June 30, 2016
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

I’ve been playing a lot of Magic lately, and I haven’t been focusing on a particular format because Eldritch Moon is on the horizon. This means my upcoming competitive metagames will be turned upside down, so I might as well play whatever Magic I can.

Today I want to go over the decks I’ve been playing lately and what looks interesting to try in the near future. The formats in scope today are Legacy, Modern, and a hint of Standard with Eldritch Moon. Let’s get to it!

Legacy

I wrote an article a few weeks ago about my favorite deck: Esper Stoneblade. Deathrite Shaman wasn’t in the list, and I still don’t want the versatile Elf. It feels bad when it dies to Swords to Plowshares or Lightning Bolt and I have nothing to show for it. The sketches of the deck with Deathrite didn’t have enough Blue cards for Force of Will either. I have been playing local Legacy events at Get Your Game On each week and have been making improvements to the Esper version.

This is where I’m at now:

Esper Stoneblade ? Legacy | Kyle Boggemes

I tried the Sword of Fire and Ice and it was significantly worse than the Sword of Feast and Famine. When I am tutoring for equipment, I want to have the option for a more unique effect.

Four True-Name Nemesis is too many copies because they’re weak against combo decks, so, I went back to three. I started to play a single copy of Liliana of the Veil, but went to two because she was so powerful. It’s a bad idea to overload on creature removal in Legacy, but she has the versatility to also be a game-winning threat against control decks. The sideboard Lingering Souls play very well with Liliana’s +1 discard ability, so, I added a second copy. Elspeth, Knight-Errant is still a great card, but I wanted to reduce the mana curve if I’m playing Liliana because I want to empty my hand quicker. I also want Lingering Souls against Delver decks because they block the annoying 3/2 flyer.

If I had to choose to play another Legacy deck, I would go with Joe Lossett’s version of Miracles.

Miracles ? Legacy | Joe Lossett

My favorite part about this version of Miracles is the absence of Council's Judgment. Venser, Shaper Savant is a great catch-all that is also Blue, so it can be pitched to Force of Will. I rarely get to play 2 Karakas and 2 Venser, but that combo is spectacular in Legacy. The Cavern of Souls naming Wizard takes it a step further and I like the approach. It can be dangerous to bounce Venser each turn, opening yourself up to having the engine being countered.

I moved away from Entreat the Angels in favor of Monastery Mentor for a short time, but I appreciate going back to the more miracle-heavy build. A Miracles deck with a single Entreat needs to protect it as a win condition, but a second copy means you can play the first one more aggressively. The Eldrazi matchup is scary, but you have a chance with a top-heavy version such as this. Miracles is traditionally favored in a long game, but not versus 4x Cavern of Souls.

Counterspell is a staple of Miracles notably absent from this list, and I agree with the change. It used to be good enough to counter any spell for uu in Legacy, but I think those days are behind us. I think of this deck as a rock strategy with Counterbalance and Force of Will to be better positioned against combo decks rather than trying to counter every spell the opponent plays.

Modern

After reading Eric Froehlich's tournament report about R/G Land Destruction at GP LA I was excited to get a chance at a new archetype. I barely beat this deck in the finals of the TCGPlayer Modern State Championships with R/G Bushwacker a few weeks prior. I imagined Bushwacker would run all over a land destruction deck, but it was a hard match. This got me thinking the strategy had some legs and I would try it out at a local event.

R/G Land Destruction ? Modern | Eric Forelich

I didn’t like everything about this deck, but I did learn a lot by playing it once. The land destruction package is relevant in some matchups, but pretty bad in others. If a deck plays low to the ground and also has access to a lot of basics, you want to transform into a R/G Control shell. I played a match against Merfolk where I had the nut draw of land accelerant into two land destruction spells on the play. This wasn’t good enough because he played turn one Aether Vial.

Most versions of this deck don’t play Primal Command, but I was very impressed. It plays a similar role as Beast Within except it finds you a win condition. All four modes are powerful and useful in Modern. The most typical modes are to search for an Inferno Titan or Thragtusk and put a land on top of your opponent’s deck. Since there are 21 lands alongside ten acceleration spells and twelve land disruption spells, I could flood out and not find a way to win. I would play more Primal Commands going forward because they are high impact and have synergy with the resource denial strategy.

Bonfire of the Damned wasn’t impressive as I didn’t successfully miracle during the tournament. It’s nice to have a sweeper that doesn’t kill your own Arbor Elf and Birds of Paradise so it’s not the worst thing in the world. Anger of the Gods sounded great in theory, but I never wanted them because I was afraid it would mess with my mana and also kill my Thragtusk.

Lightning Bolt was a singleton in Eric Froehlich’s deck, but I was really happy with a playset. This is the best spell in Modern and I was happy to consistently kill mana dorks on turn one. The downside of playing Lightning Bolt is you only have so many spells that don’t blow up lands or make mana so I want more high impact cards.

My sideboard was very valuable because I would occasionally board out the land destruction plan. Kitchen Finks was great because I would board out Stone Rain and need another 3-drop. Sudden Shock was good because Infect could be a tricky matchup otherwise. Eternal Witness would have been a good grindy creature to fetch with Primal Command that’s less than 4 mana. I have enough giant monsters in the main deck and the Witness let’s me play a little lower to the ground.

Inferno Titan was great for me as it comes down and blows up small creatures. If the Game 1 plan is to kill lands then only small creatures would be in play. The Titan is able to close the game very quickly thanks to the pump ability.

A card I want to try in the future is Batterskull. I’m able to equip Arbor Elf and Birds of Paradise in the late game to keep a constant stream of threats. Also, knowing I want to shift from land denial to control I need a great transformational option at the ready. I don’t think Land Destruction is the deck I want to play in the future, but it’s fun and has some great matchups.

Here’s what I would try next:

R/G Land Destruction ? Modern | Kyle Boggemes

The first Eternal Witness will allow me to loop Primal Command a single time in Game 1. If I want to play the grindy game I can do it a second time post board. Bonfire of the Damned wasn’t high impact enough to play in the main, but I like it more than Anger of the Gods against creature decks.

I’m going to try additional 4 mana threats next to Obstinate Baloth; Pia and Kiran Nalaar is a great threat against Liliana of the Veil, Affinity, and Infect. There are going to be scenarios I’m going to tutor for this creature with Primal Command over the other powerful options

R/G Bushwacker ? Modern | Kyle Boggemes

As I continue to play R/G Bushwacker, it’s clear the main bad matchup is Grixis Control. The unique cards I’m adding are in the sideboard: Strangleroot Geist and Witchstalker. In order to fight Snapcaster Mage+Lightning Bolt decks, I need resilient threats that generate card advantage while also applying pressure. Witchstalker can be countered by Mana Leak and Remand, but dodges Lightning Bolt, Snapcaster Mage, and Terminate. If they choose to counter a spell, the Witchstalker grows to a 4/4 which evades Anger of the Gods.

I was typically boarding out Vexing Devils in favor of the transformational Tarmogoyf+Forked Bolt strategy against non-combo decks. The all-in aggro deck is able to quickly take the control role as Forked Bolt is a fast 2-for-1. This is a fine switch because Tarmogoyf and Vexing Devil are both good at getting Experiment One evolved to a 4/4. Drew Ifrate played Bushwacker Zoo at SCG Dallas last weekend and opted for Flinthoof Boar. I’m all right with the boar because of the haste, but I need more resilient threats against my bad matchups.

Vexing Devil is only good when I’m the all-in deck, which I want to play against the non interactive decks. Ghor-Clan Rampager is also worse when the deck slows down because I’m increasing the average mana cost of the deck by adding Tarmogoyf. When I want to morph into the pure aggro deck against combo decks and land strategies, I still have that option at my disposal in the sideboard. I also have a big issue with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Thing in the Ice, so I like Ghor Clan versus Grixis.

I went down to a single Simian Spirit Guide in favor of an 18th real land because ramping into Goyf is not exciting.

Standard

Before I go, I wanted to share a sketch of what came to mind when I saw Gisela, the Broken Blade. I would be surprised if WOTC made a card stronger than this in Eldritch Moon that has yet to be spoiled. This card dominates combat and only costs 4 mana; it reminds me of Baneslayer Angel which was a little clunky for my liking.

G/W Control ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Kyle Boggemes

Despite all of the strong cards in Eldritch Moon I want to add Gisela to the best deck in the format at the moment: G/W.

I want to experiment with the top 4 cards that stand out to me in Eldritch Moon: Thalia, Gisela, Bruna, and Thalia’s Lancers.

My initial impression of Thalia’s Lancers is that it will be underrated, but makes a big impact. I can search for Nissa, Thalia, Avacyn, Bruna, and Gisela. A 4/4 First Strike is nothing to scoff at and helps bridge the gap from Gisela to Bruna to meld the two together.

Thalia is a strong disruptive creature large enough to fight the initial onslaught from humans decks. This is exactly the type of creature I want to be playing because it makes opposing Gideons hard to protect since the token comes into play tapped.

Gisela is very powerful, but has her weaknesses. A 4/3 for 4 mana can die to removal, so I don’t want to throw Gideon away for the flashy new creature. The reason G/W is such a great deck is because the threats are very different. I can use the 4/3’s weakness to spot removal to my advantage because it means the opponent will have to respect this new angle of attack.

Bruna is 7 mana, but it’s a great late game threat. I like Thalia’s Lancers because it means I don’t need to play any more Bruna’s to consistently meld. The Gisela can die in the early game and I can return it to play when I play Bruna which will likely end the game.

As you can see I’m excited to play the constructed formats because there are so many options. I hope Eldritch Moon continues to impress; it looks great so far.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

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TAGS articles, standard, constructed, deck lists, legacy, decks, modern, previews, kyle boggemes, #mtgemn, eldritch moon, esper stoneblade

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