Following are (were?) the standings going into the last week of Premodern League before the Finals:

Here's something that you might know:

I had first seed going into last quarter's inaugural Premodern League Finals... And promptly went 0-1, losing to eventual winner (from eighth place!) Lan D. Ho. That Finals I played a really weird deck that looks like a Burn deck but you would never play unless you knew, Knew, absolutely KNEW you were going first each and every round:

Wasteland? What is this Tsuyoshi Fujita 2004?

Black Vise? This card got sided out a lot; but my collaborator on this project Rich Shay - probably the strongest Premodern theorist and player of them all - argued that it was just better than Goblin Patrol (if you're that kind of a Burn player) if you knew you were going to be on the play every round.

Well I went 0-1 from the first seed last time; so weeks ago I decided I wasn't going to care over much about seeding this time... Just as long as I made the Top 8.

And then Jeff happened.

Jeff Farris was one of my original Premodern sparring partners. Even before my beginner's luck at the 2022 North American Premodern Championships, Jeff was there at the very first meetup I ever played at. In fact, he spanked me 2-0 with Werebear and Armageddon. Or was it Nimble Mongoose and Cataclysm? I used to joke, "Imagine owning four Mox Diamonds and using them to actually cast a Terravore."

Jeff was just ahead of his time... Green creatures and big White land sweepers now being arguably the most pervasive combination of cards in the format, outside of Phyrexian Dreadnought and its enablers.

More importantly (for me) I had previously been dead set on playing Astral Slide at my inaugural North American Premodern Championship. I made an early mistake of thinking everyone thought like me. Slide was great against LandStill, Burn, and Elves... All the most popular decks I would have considered at the time. I didn't even know about some of the complex combo decks that I would end up facing in early rounds; and Slide certainly had no defense against Armageddon or Cataclysm in either Green or Blue shells (or both).

If I hadn't lost to Jeff one evening at David Tao's house, I probably wouldn't have finished third at LobsterCon that first year; and ergo might not even still be playing the format today.

But... Jeff just moved to Portland.

Put aside that New York lost a real one. A pillar of our local community. The organizer of many a meetup at his office. If, indeed, you can put all that aside.

On one hand: Bully for Jeff going out on top. 55 is literally more than 54.

On the other hand, I was de facto in first place going into the last week of League. SWB, the most powerful end boss in the local scene, was a single point behind me; and worse, he had just gained. SWB put up a 3-0 to my 2-1, beating me for the undefeated night just one week prior.

So here's where my head was at: There were really only two options.

1. Go 3-0
2. Any other outcome

I could literally not show up and if SWB did anything better than 0-3 he'd be locked for first and I'd be locked for second. If Bill Ellis!! went 3-0 he'd still be third.

But what was I going to actually do? Not show up?

I once skipped a Cavs game at the Barclay's Center (5 minutes walk from my Brooklyn domicile) for a Premodern meetup. Obviously I was going to play.

But if I were going to play, I'd have to play for 3-0. No pulling punches. Nothing fun or fancy. Because (outside of The Gathering) every other result but 3-0 was the same as not showing up at all.

"I guess it's time..."

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Michael (@fivewithflores)

If you aren't super familiar with the Premodern format, Mono-Blue 12/12 is more-or-less the consensus "best" deck, and the overall boogeyman of the format.

The core combination is:

Or

It's a weird deck in that it has some very Alan Comer-esque Mono-Blue Turbo Xerox DNA; lots of Counterspells so it can play like a Control deck... But it's also this very lame duck combo deck that can mostly only win by combining a fragile artifact creature with a spell or two you probably had to read.

One of the deck's advantages is that if it assembles its two-card combo, there are quite a few decks that can't even mathematically beat it in Game One. What is Burn supposed to do? Run a Jackal Pup into 12 power?

The other is its pure speed. Going first the deck is robust like no other because it can just combo before the opponent even has a second land. There is no shortage of ways to interact with a Dreadnought, either on the stack or in play, but the window(s) where you'll be able to do so effectively are short.

Swords to Plowshares immediately? You might get caught by Daze.

Double interaction? Daze actually sets up Foil on turn two, even if you don't have a third Island in hand!

Being tapped out momentarily is far less of a liability than you might assume for a fast combo deck. Not only is Daze available as a free Counterspell that, as we have said, sets up big brother free Foil... But Gush into Foil is also present to ruin the opponent's counter-plan!

While Dreadnought was one of the first Premodern decks I ever wrote about here, the strategy has gone through quite a few technological revolutions as the format has matured and the player base has overall become more skilled. At this point there are at least two schools of surprisingly disparate thought that share 50+ cards in common.

This is the deck that Dave Kaplan used to win the Sacred Torch Showdown recently, and along with it quite a few New York-area bragging rights:

Stiflenought | Premodern| Mike Flores

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Phyrexian Dreadnought

• Spells (37)
• 4 Counterspell
• 4 Gush
• 4 Vision Charm
• 4 Foil
• 4 Impulse
• 4 Stifle
• 4 Daze
• 3 Opt
• 2 Flash of Insight
• 4 Portent

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Powder Keg

• Lands (17)
• 17 Island

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Annul
• 2 Tsabo's Web
• 2 Phyrexian Furnace
• 2 Misdirection
• 2 Essence Flare
• 1 Hydroblast
• 1 Hibernation
• 1 Blue Elemental Blast

Buy This Deck Export text

Dave has four copies of Daze and no "Plan B" either in his main deck or sideboard. Dave is almost all-in on the Dreadnought kill, but is subtly also playing a deck that demands more mulligan discipline. This deck is ferocious going first; though I'd argue that the fourth Opt would make it an even more cohesive paragon.

If you contrast that with the build I played last week (only three Daze, shaved Opts and Impulses for an Accumulated Knowledge sub-strategy)... My deck is a little less good at jamming on turn two. I also get asked to keep fewer "I hope one Opt gets me there" hands. On the other side of the coin I just can't imagine ever shipping back a hand that has two Islands and two copies of Accumulated Knowledge. That hand is always going to feel like a winner to me; it's just going to grind out a win over more turns that looks more like ZevAtog and less like Splinter Twin. My friend Lanny Huang says that anyone who says the words "I can't imagine every shipping back a hand that has two Islands and two copies of Accumulated Knowledge" doesn't have the discipline to play Kaplan's style.

So I didn't.

By deep contrast - again for a deck with 50+ cards in common - I have all kinds of Plan B.

Mishra's Factory as a back-up win condition in Game One.

And of course Parallax Tide in the sideboard:

Dr. David Raczka helped to innovate Parallax Tide into the Mono-Blue version, securing both the LobsterCon title and the "Saturday" side tournament in 2024. The 12/12 deck already wants to play Stifle, and Parallax Tide gives it something else to do with that; with Powder Keg -> Chain of Vapor a kind of minor concession in Game One. Neither card helps your combo; both cards can play defense; etc. etc.

In terms of sideboard I went all the way to Essence Flare-land. Kaplan played two Essence Flares but kept some copies of Blue Elemental Blast and Hydroblast. Essence Flare is "worse" than Blasts are against, say, Ball Lightning or a lethal Incinerate... But they do much the same work against Jackal Pup and Goblin Lackey, while making you more consistent against Dreadnought-killer Xantid Swarm.

And, in Kaplan's own words... Against a Meddling Mage, Essence Flare is essentially "a Dismember for the cost of a Dismember".

So anyway, that's most of the context for Dreadnought, why I chose it for the last week of League play, and most of where my deck was coming from.

So how did I do?

Round One: Chris with G/W Oath Ponza

The bad: I lost the roll.

The good (well good for me): Chris mulligan'd to five both games.

The ugly: Even from five cards, he was able to play Carpet of Flowers on turn one of Game Two.

Game One was always going to be tough for Chris. I was able to "turn off" his Oath of Druids by combo-ing with Vision Charm my Dreadnought just wasn't there when Oath checked]. Combine that with being down two cards and he started off way behind.

Game Two was very interesting because the advantage is "supposed" to be with Dreadnought if it has Parallax Tide after sideboarding. The problem is that Carpet of Flowers is essentially a direct answer to the Tide combo; and turn one on the play had it coming down under my Annul.

I eventually executed Tide combo anyway, only because Chris had all four Rishadan Ports in play. So he could still make tons of colored mana each turn; but at least he wasn't tapping down mine. My game plan was actually to let Chris Oath, which would presumably put a lot of his deck into his graveyard, then hassle him with Dominate... but "really" win with Vision Charm.

After a flurry of removal from both sides, he ended up having only one Terravore in play that was smaller than 12/12 so I put two into play knowing I could just go around him. At that point Chris's life total was low from using Sylvan Library liberally, so I only needed one attack.

1-0

Round Two: Yosef with Elves

Default Elves is a relatively simple matchup for Dreadnought. If you have an early 12/12, they probably only have one way to destroy it in their main deck (a Nantuko Vigilante they have to get with Survival of the Fittest). Which isn't to say that it's super favorable: Just not very complicated in Game One.

Elves can mix it up a little with Tangle Wire to tap down your Phyrexian or buy time... But without Survival of the Fittest they usually can't actually destroy it and might not be able to generate critical mass to race it. Remember: Your giant Shrimp only takes two attacks to win.

In Game One I had a fast Dreadnought and what amounted to double-Foil. So even though Yosef had a bunch of 1/1 accelerators, I was able to keep his Survival off the table, which was all that mattered.

The sideboarded games can get much more complicated. Not only does Elves get another creature-based way to kill your Dreadnought (at least one Uktabi Orangutan), but up to four Naturalizes; which, among other things, don't require Survival of the Fittest to set up.

However in THIS Game Two my draw just lined up really well against Yosef's. While he got a lot more tools, he didn't necessarily have a lot more time to use those tools. I didn't quite have the combo on turn two, but the good bad guys had a Foil for the Survival when they needed it (again), and Shrimp ruled the playground.

2-0

For what it's worth, Yosef and I played a ton of test games after the match and Elves got all of them. But Dreadnought got the ones that counted!

So why "off-brand"?

Well, a 3-0 at all is relatively uncommon for me. I built my first seeds both seasons so far on lots of 2-1s.

Moreover I'm not really that much of a Dreadnought guy. I mean I'll play it once in a while, but part of me was just trying to evidence an expanded range so that my Top 8 opponent wouldn't metagame quite as hard against, say, Burn as he might otherwise.

But really?

I beat Rich with this:

If you wait two upkeeps a single Essence Flare will end a Meddling Mage - again - for both the cost and the price of a Dismember. But in one turn? On your own guy? You might just be attacking with a 16/12.

So how did this come about?

Round Three: Rich with Enchantress

Enchantress is one of the most important decks in Premodern, the reigning North American Champion (in the hands of Rich Shay), and one of the most hotly contested matchups specifically for Dreadnought. If you are going into a tournament and you want to beat Dreadnought, you might just choose Enchantress. Which isn't to say the Dreadnought people are lying down, no sir.

Enchantress is extremely robust overall, armed with some of the best card drawing in the format and all the best removal... So it is an outstanding deck to play if you are better than most of your opponents. To wit, the great SWB played it for a long stretch including at least one $1K win and a Top 8 at the Sacred Torch Showdown.

Conventional wisdom says that Dreadnought seeks to win Game One by playing essentially a "Gear Two" plan. Dreadnought has 8 hard counters between Counterspell and Foil (imagine just casting Foil for 4)... And for as many cards as Enchantress might potentially have in hand, it only has less than 4 Opalescence and 4 Replenish to actually win the game in its whole deck. Answer the Opalescences... Prevent them from coming back... And Dreadnought has a plan. Enchantress might be "winning" on every metric - cards in hand, lands in play, impregnable pillow fort defenses between Parallax Wave, Seal of Cleansing, and Swords to Plowshares... But all that card drawing might catch up with it before the end of Game One. If Dreadnought gets its way, Enchantress will deck in Game One.

Dreadnought can't get too comfy, though, because Enchantress might be able to cast too many "must-counter" spells in a single turn... But Vision Charm can help a little. Not only can it Mill out Enchantress a little more quickly than one card per turn, but Vision Charm might just turn over one of the Opalescences or Replenishes Dreadnought was planning to have to Counterspell.

Everything changes in Game Two, when Enchantress brings in Xantid Swarm, Carpet of Flowers, and Gaea's Blessing. Xantid Swarm essentially turns off Counterspells (and is the reason Dreadnought now packs Essence Flare), Carpet of Flowers hard-counters the Tide combo, and Gaea's Blessing means that Enchantress can't be completely exhausted by a few Counterspells.

In Game Two, Enchantress should be way ahead, with so many different ways to get an advantage, that there is usually a Game Three.

For me, my plan with Dreadnought is just to be on the play in Game Three. Revert to Game One configuration and mulligan into a turn-two combo. I don't think you can really plan to beat Xantid Swarm on the merits, so you just have to jam your combo and hope it sticks. You're already set up to beat main deck removal with Daze and Foil anyway; and a turn-two combo on the play gets under Enchantress card drawing AND might catch an opponent with a hand full of Swarms, Carpets, and Blesssings... None of which save them from a 12/12 that has already resolved.

That's the whole strategy going in. But what if you finally just win the die roll and just have the combo in your opening hand?

I went for it in Game One, got a single hit in... And entered the mid-game at 32 life because Rich had the right defenses.

Worse, I was kind of stuck Counterspelling Enchantresses to keep him from getting ahead after he'd killed my first Phyrexian, so I couldn't really play the exhaustion game. Luckily I had gotten the first 12 in, and sans an Enchantress effect, my Accumulated Knowledges and Flash of Insight actually proved the superior draw engine.

Game Two was pretty cool. We both kind of did nothing but try to get position. I had some Powder Keg defense for Xantid Swarm and an Enchantress. Before Rich could get too much of an advantage I executed a Tide combo that still left him with lands... But only a Serra Sanctum for White mana.

My Parallax Tide actually ate two of Rich's Wild Growths, and I patiently let a Parallax Wave dwindle to no counters, so at that point, Rich was actually down to one Enchantress's Presence in terms of actual enchantments in play. At the end of his turn I bounced it with Chain of Vapor and executed the Dreadnought combo with Vision Charm.

On the next turn cycle he started with an "on your upkeep" ... But I pointed out that he had no enchantments in play, and therefore no way to make White mana, so he wasn't casting Swords to Plowshares that turn.

My Dreadnought got in for 16 trample with double Essence Flare, and a helpful Mishra's Factory chipped in the rest over three turns and a chump block. Not the way that anyone drew it up, but that's why we bother to play the games, right?

3-0

I must say that for a deck with as much pedigree as Mono-Blue 12/12, that was a pretty cool combination of hoops to jump through in order to get the record I needed to lock first.

Best deck?

OFF-BRAND.

LOVE

MIKE