If you are a regular visitor to Gathering Magic then you know at least one thing about us: we aren't exactly a pair of super-Spike tournament players.  Most of our competitive experience comes form drafts and other limited formats that still hold an element of surprise to the player.  That isn't to say that we don't occasionally get our Standard/Type II feet wet at a FNM or on MTGO.  When we do feel that pull, it is normally because we have created something fun (read: cheap and unique) that is good enough to shuffle up at an event and with a little luck take home a few packs as reward.  Worldwake brought a slew of cool new rares to the table, and one of my favorites was Deaths Shadow.  A 13/13 for one mana is the best cost per power/toughness ratio ever printed.  Trying to find a way to effectively use this nasty creature we stumbled across Ad Nauseam sitting alone in some trade binder.  The light bulb turned on and after a few takes the deck ended up looking like this:

[deck title=Ad Shadows]

[land]

*24 Swamp

[/land]

[creatures]

*4 Vampire Nighthawk

*4 Gatekeeper of Malakir

*4 Deaths Shadow

*4 Black Knight

[/creatures]

[other spells]

*4 Smother

*2 Bloodchief Ascension

*3 Quest for the Gravelord

*4 Ad Nauseam

*4 Tendrils of Corruption

*3 Duress

[/other spells]

[sideboard]

*3 Vampire Hexmage

*3 Infest

*3 Doom Blade

*3 Mind Sludge

*3 Tectonic Edge

[/sideboard]

[/deck]

In a competitive environment the first question of any new build is simple, can you beat the stand-bys:  Boros, Naya, and of course Jund.  The answer, more often than not, is "no".  You won't waltz into a Grand Prix and hand Louis Scott-Vargas his ass, but you'll be more than competitive online and at FNM.  The reason is simple, all the elite decks rely on creatures as a win condition.  With the card advantage of a well-timed Ad Nauseam or Mind Sludge your opponent won't stand a chance.  And just when your foe closes in on your nearly defeated corpse, you can lay out a pair of 8/8 Death's Shadows for a measly two mana.  Leaving enough left over for to Doom Blade a path to victory.  Often within a turn of dropping the Shadows.  Jund is a challenge because of the natural card advantage (it's still freaking Jund!), but Black Knights and Smother can delay long enough for a coupe de grace Ad Nauseam.  All of this might sound preposterous, so we dove in to MTGO's tournament practice room to find out for ourselves.

[caption id="attachment_7997" align="alignleft" width="201" caption="best friends..."][/caption]

A perfectly healthy 5-2 MTGO match record did leave a few things to be desired and gave us some others to ponder.  First, if you are playing against a deck using a non-traditional win condition you will need some luck on your side.  Ad Shadow's first match was against a turbo fog build that won consecutive close calls.  A few matches later, the second loss came at the hands of a Valakut the Molten Pinnacle deck.  Your best bet against any of these types is to sideboard every creature and swarm while praying for a turn five Mind Sludge.  Hopefully with a little luck, or a well placed Tectonic Edge you'll prevail.  Second, if you fail to draw Ad Nauseam at some point in the game you are basically wheeling out a weak Vampire tribal deck.  That can be as bad as it sounds.  Even against creature heavy builds it lost most of the non-Nauseam games.  Finally, Jund is still very tough to play.  Partly because knowing when to 'go off' is much harder due to all the direct damage/haste involved.  So be careful against the King of Standard, err on the side of caution life-wise, for he takes no prisoners.

[caption id="attachment_7998" align="alignright" width="201" caption="...forever"][/caption]

Not everything need be a cautionary tale however.  This deck won the Jund match (barely) and won somewhat easily against the two Naya decks it faced.  There really is something satisfying about not caring when your opponent drops that Basilisk Collar, because nothing they equip will live to see the red zone.  After a few matches it became clear that this is a deck with which you will want to use all your removal early.  Especially on soon-to-be threats like Knight of the Reliquary (who will protect itself with Sejiri Steppe if you let your opponent untap with it) or Scute Mob.  Where Boros is concerned you'll have the natural advantage of life-gain so muddle up the ground (Black Knights are nice here) and save your removal for bigger threats.  In the fist game of the Boros match, hanging on with 5 life against 18, a double dose of Death's Shadow along with a Doom Blade drew a concession.

Apologies for boring you with quasi-real matches and fatherly advice, but we can't help ourselves.  Magic is fun in all of its forms, and that means playing a competitive deck now and again.  For those not too dedicated to the cause, spending a little less $$$ (all-in this decks should cost you no more than $20) or piloting a rogue build is really cool.  Of course if money is no object, and you want a slightly more competitive build try throwing some fetch lands in the mix.  Sorry, that was more advice, right?  Enough of that, now get out and start playing this thing for yourselves.