Grand Prix Calgary Diary: Day -4.
So, as I mentioned yesterday, the Grand Prix is coming up, and I don't have a deck for it. Not that I haven't been trying to find one. It can often prove difficult to figure out what's positioned well against the expected field, a practice commonly referred to in Magic circles as metagaming. Today's post will be more about what a Standard Constructed tournament entails, how the various decks in the format operate, and what it all means for my decision for GP-Calgary. (Feel free to scroll past the next two paragraphs if you know what Standard is, and possibly just skip this whole post if you keep up with Standard actively.) In a Constructed tournament, you play with a deck of cards prepared before the tournament, and generally you play with the same deck for the length of the event. As this event is in the Standard format, cards from the last two blocks (groups of expansion sets which are thematically tied together and released consecutively) and any core sets (sets aimed at newer players which feature simpler but not necessarily weaker cards) printed after the first of those blocks are legal to play. Your deck must contain at least 60 cards, and other than basic lands (a group of five different cards each of whose only function is to produce a single color of mana, the game's main currency to spend on spells and abilities,) it must contain a maximum of 4 of any one card. This '4-of' rule is in place to ensure that the gameplay itself doesn't degenerate into mind-numbing repetition between players who packed their deck with only 3 or 4 different cards. Not to mention that certain mechanics, such as the ability to cast 'miracle' cards for absurd cost reductions if you reveal them as the first card you've drawn this turn, would become (more) obnoxious. "Oh look, I'm drawing another Bonfire of the Damned!" "…." You may also bring a sideboard containing up to 15 cards, any of which you may add to your deck for the second and third games of each match (but which must all be removed before the start of your next match). You may also remove cards from your main deck for these games, as long as the deck remains at least 60 cards. The sideboard allows you to react to what you've seen from your opponent in the first game. It can give you the opportunity to play some narrower cards which would be better against expected opposition but risky to play in your main deck, and in some rare cases can even transform the deck's gameplan entirely. Metagaming in the general sense is playing a game that is about another game. In this case, the game is the actual matches of Magic: the Gathering being played at the Grand Prix, and the metagame is determining the likely composition of the field (that is, what decks people are likely to play) and figuring out what kind of deck would be good in playing the game against the decks you expect to see across from you. For instance, if you expect to see a lot of counterspells, you may choose a deck that makes the counterspells less effective. If you expect to see a lot of fast aggressive creatures, you may choose a deck that plays removal spells equally as swiftly to protect your life total, then plays either larger creatures or a means of wiping out the remaining threats. You might expect that metagaming in this fashion would be useless in such an event, since there are 1,734 cards in the format at present and even with the 4-of rule the number of possible 60-card decks is astronomical. However, in reality several factors change the math. Firstly, the power level of these cards varies considerably and competitive players naturally gravitate toward the more efficient powerful cards. Most cards do not see significant Standard play because they simply don't have a big enough impact on the game to justify the costs of playing them over other options. In addition, the cards' synergy is important -- some cards just work better together, and your deck needs to have a cohesive strategy that it can execute with reasonable consistency. This need for consistency also leads players to frequently run the maximum 4 of each card deemed crucial to the deck's function, and to keep their card selection exclusively within 2 or 3 colors. A further influence on deck composition is players' ability to see what has been winning in the present format. Although given sufficient time, a talented deckbuilder can finely tune a deck to better match up against their opposition, this process is greatly accelerated by the ever-increasing number of top finishers' decklists posted online after significant tournaments. In addition, professional Magic players frequently write columns which discuss their recent decks, ideas for future decks and even their expectation of the impact of new cards as they come out. Now, just because a deck isn't already being touted by a pro player or placing highly at existing events doesn't mean that it isn't actually very good, but results do matter and players will frequently model their decks upon what they see succeed. If they choose to deviate from these known quantities, they may discover the next great deck, but they will have to put a lot of work into tuning it with no guarantee of success. Many a player has tried to make their pet deck run as smoothly as possible only to find it simply does not win consistently against the popular decks. As a result, while there is still a wide variety of decks that one could possibly run into, from the latest GP-winner to some guy playing 250 cards to support an alternate winning condition (Generally not recommended, since you have to be able to shuffle your own deck without assistance), it isn't uncommon for specific archetypes (styles of deck) to make up substantial percentages of the field. To try to identify the major players in the metagame, the best tools are traditionally tournament results. At present, however, it has only been three days since the most recent set release, and so the metagame is in a state of relative instability. There have only been a few tournaments held with the new cards, and while many of the previously existing decks have continued to see success with minor updates, some have been diminished substantially and new decks are more populous than usual. The most significant tournament held so far is the StarCityGames Open in Richmond yesterday. The top 32 decklists were posted from that event at http://www.starcitygames.com/events/130720_richmond.html Now, a brief description of the archetypes that appear more than once in the above lists. This may be a little technical in places, but I'll try not to overcomplicate it. Deck names typically indicate colors and style of play. Jund Midrange: With 3 players in the top 8 and another 3 from 9th to 16th, Jund Midrange has stepped up to become the deck to beat for this week. Jund means that the deck consists of black, red and green cards; it's a reference to a plane in a previous block which featured only those colors. Midrange, on the other hand, means that the deck normally tries to play for a long game won by its superior threat density. Specifically, Jund Midrange tries to accelerate your mana production with cards like Arbor Elf and Farseek while removing opposing creatures with a variety of low-cost spells in the early game. You then try to take command of the battlefield by playing powerful creatures that cost 4 or 5 mana which have either an immediate benefit upon entering play (Thragtusk, Huntmaster of the Fells) or the ability to take over a game completely if not dealt with (Olivia Voldaren). You can further press the advantage by playing Rakdos's Return to wipe out an opponent's hand, Garruk, Primal Hunter to draw several cards at once, and activating Kessig Wolf Run to make your creatures so powerful that they can trample right over opposing blockers for massive damage. On top of all that, you get to miracle Bonfire of the Damned from time to time to wipe out most if not all of your opponent's creatures while additionally hitting them in the face for as much damage as your mana production will allow! The major strengths are that your deck is effectively 'a pile of good cards', all of which are abstractly strong, and as such the threat density is great -- you can win fast games if they don't have answers, and long games when your threats exceed their answers. The main weaknesses are that the deck is quite draw-dependent in these long-game situations, with only the Garruks as maindeck ways to draw additional cards, and Jund can also sometimes fail to meet its aggressive colored mana needs. All in all, Jund Midrange is a strong deck and one that I will certainly consider playing at the Grand Prix. UWR Flash: Likely Pro Tour Hall of Fame inductee William Jensen played this deck to 1st place in the Swiss before losing an unfortunate quarterfinal to Jund. UWR stands for Blue, White and Red (the U is because B is taken by Black), and Flash describes very well the style that this deck plays -- the vast majority of its spells are cast at instant speed, including some of the game's most efficient creatures as well as a package of card draw spells and countermagic. The deck can blunt aggressive assaults with an early Augur of Bolas that can potentially put an extra card into your hand while beefing your board presence, as well as early removal spells (Azorius Charm, Pillar of Flame, Turn//Burn). Azorius Charm can also be used to draw a new card, and the deck loves to draw cards. Its most powerful spell is Sphinx's Revelation, which draws you as many cards as you can afford to draw while gaining you the same number of life in the process. A resolved Revelation is not only good in control matchups frequently a game-ending situation for aggressive decks, as it can raise your life total to a safe level while potentially digging you towards the Supreme Verdict you need to wipe the battlefield clean of creatures. Counterflux, Rewind and Syncopate help mop up anything else that threatens your control of the game. The creatures just top it off: Snapcaster Mage allows you a second use of any one of the removal, card draw or counterspells you cast earlier in the game, while Restoration Angel serves as both the deck's main beatdown and a way to reuse your Augurs and Snapcasters for maximum incremental value. I've had some success playing UW decks that can switch between control and aggression in the past, and while I don't think I have enough practice to pilot this one as well as I'd like and it can sometimes be prone to the same kind of color problems as Jund (this is in fact a theme with almost all the decks that showed up twice or more at the SCG Open), I do find it an appealing option and it's definitely on my shortlist. Bant Hexproof: Bant means green, white and blue cards -- it's from the same origin as Jund. The deck, however, is wildly different -- while Jund Midrangetakes pleasure in grinding out its opponents with superior threat density, Bant Hexproof will quite gladly put all its eggs in one basket, dropping an early threat and then piling enchantments onto it until its original creature is a comically large juggernaut plowing through opposing battlefields at will. As this is a pretty awkward plan if they kill your creature, that's where the Hexproof part comes in, as hexproof is a mechanic that appears on creatures to make it so that you can target them with your positive effects (see: enchantments,) but they cannot target them with their removal spells (see: sad face.) The deck's top threats are Invisible Stalker, a 2-mana hexproof creature that can't be blocked and Geist of Saint Traft, a 3-mana hexproof creature which creates an Angel token every time it attacks to do an extra 4 damage. Suit up either with a couple of good enchantments and the game can become hopelessly uninteractive to such an extreme degree that hexproof is widely disliked by competitive players (although it inspires the opposite reaction from casuals as a pure upside mechanic.) These enchantments all pump the creatures' stats, as well as granting beneficial effects like flying, first strike, lifelink and trample, making your basket particularly strong if it isn't broken. The deck also plays some variety of other creatures, which are generally less surefire baskets for your eggs because they either make extra early mana (Avacyn's Pilgrim, Elvish Mystic), or punish would-be removal users in similar ways but are easier to block (Gladecover Scout, Voice of Resurgence, Fiendslayer Paladin). But the crazy games are the ones where you get a Stalker on turn 2 and spend turns 3 and 4 slapping enchantments on it and rolling over your opponent's life total. When they lose on turn 4, it's like you barely played Magic at all. (I once almost had a turn 3 kill in testing -- it's possible, but fragile.) Strengths: Again, if you draw well enough, your opponent has very few options to do anything about it. Also, you get to finish your matches in 20 minutes or less. Weaknesses: That's an if you can't rely on consistently, and what things they can do about it can sometimes end a game almost as decisively. I tested this deck fairly extensively in the last couple weeks, as it was my first choice as a player who didn't have a lot of experience. You will see it at the GP, and it will probably be second only to Jund in popularity. Its minimal interaction means that it tends to live and die by your draws and whether your opponents have the right answers. When it works, you feel unbeatable. When it doesn't, you feel like you would've been better off playing a ham sandwich. I don't really want to play it, but I've got it built, so I could default to it if necessary. Esper Control: Esper is white, blue and black, a la Jund/Bant. Control is, well, control. You just keep the battlefield clean and you eventually kill them with one of a very limited number of win conditions (varying from Esper deck to Esper deck). Control decks often tend toward this color combination because blue gives them the counterspells and draw spells they need for a long game, white gives them access to board sweepers, and black tends to get strong spot removal spells. All of these things are typically critical parts of the control machine. In this case, Esper control decks have tended to vary over time, and especially in the early days after a new set becomes legal, there are different variants on every part of the machine. The specific set of counters, removal, win conditions and even sweepers tends to vary from deck to deck. Some run a single copy of Jace, Memory Adept as a win condition that can deplete an opponent's library rapidly or draw additional cards, while others run a suite of different on-color planeswalkers to maximize incremental advantages each turn. Some things tend to stay the same though. As above, Sphinx's Revelation is quite powerful, some number of Dissipates and Syncopates tend to give them plenty of room to counter problem spells, Far//Away helps deal with one creature temporarily and/or another permanently as you please, and access to Snapcaster Mage backs up the whole package as effective extra copies of whatever you need. In addition to Jace, Memory Adept, Aetherling is the other fast win condition, a 6-mana creature that is almost impossible to block or remove as long as you still have immediate access to blue mana, while Nephalia Drownyard takes time and mana to operate but is brutally difficult for opponents to meaningfully interact with as it whittles their libraries down. Esper is a reasonable choice, but I think I'll probably have to rule it out at the GP -- there are just so many decisions to make in a true grindy control game, and I haven't the practice to reliably complete such matches within the 50 minute time limit. Naya Midrange: Another name for a color combination (all four of them originated from the same set) Naya is red, green and white. While it shares the title Midrange with Jund, it actually plays a rather more aggressive style, running around 50% more creatures and only planeswalkers and Bonfire of the Damned as its spells. Naya likes to spend its first turn playing an Avacyn's Pilgrim to give it access to extra mana later, but unlike Jund it's packed with 2-mana and 3-mana threats (Voice of Resurgence, Boros Reckoner, and the creature-synergistic planeswalker Domri Rade) and plays some awe-inspiring top-end beasts like Thundermaw Hellkite, Kalonian Hydra, and Aurelia, the Warleader. If it's an efficient, powerful creature and it's in those colors, chances are someone's at least tried it in a Naya midrange deck this year. Sometimes there are additional spells, like Selesnya Charm, but often these are left in the sideboard, and it generally varies with the deckbuilder. And you even get Kessig Wolf Run to make your threats nastier! Another tempting deck, on grounds that the strategy is generally pretty straightforward -- make guys, attack with guys, occasionally block with creatures if you have to. Probably not as exciting to me as Jund or UWR for GP-Calgary due to its limited number of answers, but if I find myself in the mood to just try to crush opponents with raw creature power, I know where to look. So that's the five decks that showed up more than once -- there are other interesting options, ranging from mono-white Human tribal to mono-green beatdowns to a couple of decks that take advantage of the unexpected power of the phrase 'sacrifice a creature' (which I am not ruling out as a direction myself, as I've got some experience with this style of deck as well), but the above are all realistic choices to try to emulate for your own upcoming Standard tournaments! As for me, I spent way longer writing this than I should have. I probably could've tried to build one of the above decks instead, but I'm working tonight so the missed testing opportunity's impact is fairly muted regardless. I'll be back tomorrow with something close to a final decision!
