by Kar Yung Tom
Upon further investigation, it turns out that the two Japanese top 8 lists in my previous article might not be as valuable as I thought. The number of players playing at the tournaments were a lot lower than I expected. The Chiba PTQ had 42, while the Kanazawa one had 25! However, two recent results from Japan have caught my attention. The winners of a 92 and 72 player tourney were both Fauna Shaman decks. Will I be playing either of these decks come Nationals? We will just have to wait and see.
Hajime Nakamura (7-0)
1 Plains
2 Island
4 Forest
4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Stirring Wildwood
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
3 Seaside Citadel
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Noble Hiearch
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Fauna Shaman
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Vengevine
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Baneslayer Angel
2 Path to Exile
4 Mana Leak
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Sideboard
2 Oust
3 Celestial Purge
3 Negate
2 Wall of Denial
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Gideon Jura
Daisuke Nakamichi (7-0)
2 Plains
2 Mountain
4 Forest
4 Arid Mesa
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Jungle Shrine
2 Raging Ravine
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Sunpetal Grove
4 Noble Hiearch
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Fauna Shaman
3 Lotus Cobra
1 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Cunning Sparkmage
1 Dauntless Escort
4 Vengevine
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Ranger of Eos
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Path to Exile
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Oblvion Ring
1 Sword of Vengeance
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Ajani Vengeant
Sideboard
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Dauntless Escort
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Obstinate Baloth
2 Baneslayer Angel
I am too busy playtesting to offer any insight of my own, but hopefully, my loyal readers can start a productive discussion in the comments section.
Speaking of which, to all you people planning to show up at the Canadian grinders tomorrow, I will be around a bag of official First Edition Mana Deprived t-shirts. They finally came in today.
Until next time,
KYT
The Fauna Bant list, to me, seems a little strange. Why not run a 1-2 of Sovereigns and 2 Conscription? Mana Leak can't possibly be easy to play in a deck that is even more tuned to aggro than Next Level Bant (excluding Walls of Omen and including Knights of the Reliquary). They are random wins, they are great Shaman targets, and they demand answers. Some people have argued that they make your draws a bit more complex. I haven't found that issue, what with Jace to shuffle these high-end cards back in, or Shaman to convert an extra Sovereigns into something more relevant.
Also, why only two Elspeth? With even less digging in the deck, I'd think the more relevant planeswalker (in this archetype, anyways, and especially to this more aggro-tuned deck) would be needed. I run 3, even with my Walls of Omen and two Sea-Gate Oracles. I'm never sad to see multiples, as people gun for her hard when she's on the table, and the sinking feeling my opponents get when they've finally plowed through my defenses to kill the one, and another drops, is priceless. I've gone Elspeth Ultimate more in this deck than Soldiers or Mythic or any other deck I've played with her. The extra Elspeth is in a non-creature slot so it doesn't hurt Vengevine or Shaman at all.
But of course, this guy did go 7-0, and he is Japanese, a people who have proven their different take on Magic time and time again...
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