“The Worst Deck Name Ever”
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Johnathan Bentley and I am a Systems Engineer who lives in Ottawa. I am a level 1 Judge (trained by Kyle Ryc) and I love playing Magic. I’ve been playing since Onslaught, but competitively since Zendikar. Ever since the day someone played [card]Wrath of God[/card] and 6-for-1’ed me, I’ve been a control player.
I also have Brewer’s Disease.
I love building decks. However, I like winning more. It’s unfortunate that the Internet has allowed players to blindly copy decklists and run them at tournaments. What this has done is marginalized the skill that is deckbuilding. I’m not saying I never run stock lists. Choosing a Netdeck allows you to save time, the time you would otherwise spend tinkering and tweaking and making cuts. But the rewards for trying new things can be great when your opponents are not prepared.
Ever since the card [card]Venser, the Sojourner[/card] was spoiled; I’ve been trying to find a way to abuse him. After going through roughly 4 different iterations of the deck (at one point I played [card]Dispatch[/card] – I haven’t given up on the card but it’s not time for it yet) it started to look very similar to Caw-Blade. So since it’s basically Caw-Blade with [card]Blade Splicer[/card] instead of [card]Squadron Hawk[/card], my working title was – Blade-Blade.
[deck title=Blade-Blade]
[Creatures]
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Blade Splicer
1 Consecrated Sphinx
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Batterskull
1 Mortarpod
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Venser, the Sojourner
2 Day of Judgment
4 Preordain
3 Dismember
3 Mana Leak
2 Divine Offering
[/Spells]
[Land]
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
3 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Inkmoth Nexus
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
3 Spellskite
3 Flashfreeze
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Karn Liberated
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Razor Hippogriff
1 Redirect
1 Batterskull
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Here are some comments I’m sure to get / have got already:
“You’re just playing a bad Caw-Blade”
You need to be playing at least one of these two cards in Standard, or else you’re doing it wrong: [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card] and [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card]. (Okay, honourable mention to [card]Batterskull[/card]) This deck leverages the power of these cards in a big way. [card]Squadron Hawk[/card] is in Caw-Blade to give bodies to put the swords on – [card]Blade Splicer[/card] fills that role while actually being able to kill things while un-equipped. This positions it favourably against aggro. If I had been attending a higher-level tournament, I would have tuned the maindeck to be better against Caw-Blade, but as it was I anticipated about 30% of the field to be Caw-Blade. I wanted to not drop a game against budget red decks or mono-green decks ([card]Blade Splicer[/card] says hello to [card]Vengevine[/card]).
“Venser sucks”
Here is a list of things Venser does in this deck:
– Resets Living Weapon equipment (usually [card]Batterskull[/card] but [card]Mortarpod[/card] has pulled its weight)
– Creates a new Golem token off [card]Blade Splicer[/card]
– Brings Jace from 1 to 3 (–very relevant!–)
– Another search from [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card]
– Guaranteed unblockable to murder other planeswalkers/get Sword hits in
– Untaps a land (although often there are only one or two lands in play that would come back untapped, somewhat annoying)
– Gives a creature “vigilance”
– [card]Razor Hippogriff[/card] out of the board
– Karn out of the board
– [card]Phyrexian Metamorph[/card]
ASIDE
[card]Phyrexian Metamorph[/card] is insane. If you don’t have your 4, get them now. Any colour has access to them, they can’t be Inquisitioned or [card]Duress[/card]ed, they are good in every match up except U/R Splinter Twin. The card is only going to get better as more creatures are printed that have Enters the Battlefield triggers, since you get your value out of them right away. Blade-Blade is the deck that’s most able to leverage how awesome Metamorph is.
End ASIDE
“Why are you playing with a bad draft uncommon?”
Hippogriff has been phenomenal. Just about every deck I can think of will be bringing in artifact hate against Caw-Blade (or Blade-Blade). They spend a card and tempo to kill my [card]Batterskull[/card], then I play the Hippogriff and gain 5 life and the card is back in my hand. Against Caw-Blade I have seen many opponents board out [card]Mana Leak[/card]s and this provides quite the tempo swing (as it can’t be [card]Spell Pierce[/card]d). It also blocks [card]Squadron Hawk[/card]s, a valuable role since I don’t run any of my own.
“One [card]Redirect[/card]? What are you, retarded?”
[card]Redirect[/card] is narrow, but powerful. When played properly, it should be a two-for-one. I think one is the right number, maybe two if there’s room in the board.
A few more words about the deck – Pat Chapin once said that creatures worth playing are either “Baneslayers” or “[card]Mulldrifter[/card]s”. “Baneslayers” provide value while on the battlefield, the longer they stay in play. “[card]Mulldrifter[/card]s” provide value immediately when they hit the battlefield. [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card] has essentially invalidated most “Baneslayers”, since the tempo loss is too great. This is a deck full of “[card]Mulldrifter[/card]s”. The only worthwhile target for spot removal is usually [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card], although I’ve had several Golem tokens [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]ed and I love it when that happens. If you love card advantage, or have fond memories of the card [card]Mulldrifter[/card], I suggest you try out this deck. I had a blast playing it both Saturday and Sunday – my combined record was 13-2-2.
The tournament
I believe there were 40 people in the event (it might have been 39). Going in, I wanted a way to focus on technical play. This is what I settled on:
Round 1
My opponent didn’t show up. He was playing in the Legacy 1k at the time, I guess some sort of clerical error or something. This was recorded as a Bye for me.
1-0
Round 2 – Zach Spence with B/R Vampires
This is a very favourable match up for me. I won the die roll.
Game one – Zach starts off with a tapped land and a vampire on turn two – I think it was [card]Vampire Lacerator[/card]. I go turn 3 [card]Blade Splicer[/card]; he Bolts the token and plays another vampire. Turn 4 I play Metamorph copying [card]Blade Splicer[/card]. He Bolts the token and attacks in. Turn 5 I play [card]Blade Splicer[/card]. He drops a Gatekeeper with kicker and I sacrifice a [card]Blade Splicer[/card]. Turn 6 I play Metamorph number 2 copying Blade Splicer. Zach scoops.
Game two – I have a Mystic, and he uses [card]Manic Vandal[/card] to kill the [card]Batterskull[/card] after I’ve got a hit in. I play [card]Blade Splicer[/card], this buys me two turns, during which I use my [card]Dismember[/card]s to kill 2 Highborns. [card]Razor Hippogriff[/card] returns the [card]Batterskull[/card]. Pretty quick match.
2-0
Round 3 – Arend Kraehling with Caw-Blade
He wins the die roll.
Game one he has a [card]Squadron Hawk[/card] draw, I have a Mystic draw, but he has the [card]Divine Offering[/card] for my [card]Batterskull[/card] and the [card]Spell Pierce[/card] for my [card]Mana Leak[/card] and sticks a Jace. I kill the first Jace on turn 6 by making my creatures unblockable with Venser, but he kills Venser and sticks a second Jace. I lose.
Game two was relatively long, very back and forth, but in the end I have one extra piece of equipment, I burn through 2 Vensers just for the -1 ability and eventually I get there.
Game three starts with 7 minutes on the clock. We both have Mystic draws. I try to [card]Divine Offering[/card] his [card]Batterskull[/card], he plays [card]Spell Pierce[/card]. When he tries to Offering mine, I [card]Redirect[/card] it to his instead. When he taps low (for Hawks I think) I resolve [card]Consecrated Sphinx[/card]. Time is called. I rip a [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card] off the top, resolve it and equip but I have two attacks to kill him from 27. After my last turn he is at 6. If I had an extra 30 seconds in the round I would have won the game, and the match. Next time I will concede earlier. Lesson learned.
2-0-1
Round 4 – Felix Tse with Grixis Twin
He wins the die roll.
Game one against [card]Splinter Twin[/card] decks tend to be pretty brutal for my deck. I don’t think I’ve ever won a game one vs. Twin. It’s probably the match up I need to test the most. Its close, but I lose.
Game two, I have a turn two Mystic and a turn 3 [card]Mana Leak[/card] for his [card]Deceiver Exarch[/card]. I use Extraction to ensure I won’t get combo-ed out and it’s over pretty quick.
Game three I got a little bit lucky. Felix had a turn 1 [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card], so he knew exactly what was in my hand. I countered his turn 3 [card]Calcite Snapper[/card] with a [card]Mana Leak[/card] I had drawn (he didn’t know it was in my hand) and resolved [card]Blade Splicer[/card]. I resolved [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card], and Felix killed the [card]Batterskull[/card] once that hit the battlefield. On turn 6 Felix fired off a second [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card] and saw that my hand consisted of Jace, Jace, and [card]Flashfreeze[/card]. He played [card]Jace Beleren[/card], drew a card off it, and then passed the turn. I drew for my turn, and declared intention to attack. Felix dropped [card]Deceiver Exarch[/card], tapping my Golem token. I [card]Dismember[/card]ed it (nice draw, right?) and killed Jace with Stoneforge and [card]Blade Splicer[/card], and passed the turn. Felix now has 7 lands in play, while I’m stuck on 4. He resolves [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card]. What would you do if you were Felix? At that point he had no gas in his hand and needed a win condition. He knew that I had 2 Jace TMS in my hand, and with the board state the way it was I could easily afford to burn one to kill his, since he had two cards in hand I would likely win the race. We discussed this play at length with other people and we think the correct play was what he did do – he bounced the Golem token. Then, during my upkeep, he used the [card]Deceiver Exarch[/card] in his hand to tap one of my blue sources during my upkeep, leaving me with only 3 lands, 1 blue, available. Unfortunately for him, I drew the second [card]Dismember[/card], killed his Exarch then killed his Jace, resolved mine the next turn and won the game. If he had been a psychic, he could have fatesealed the [card]Dismember[/card] on top to the bottom, and his Jace would have survived. But without that information, I think his play was still the right one. Sorry, Felix, for going runner-runner. You’ll get me next time.
3-0-1
Round 5 – Peter Sachlas with Boros
I win the die roll. Then we are promptly deck-checked. This will become relevant in a second.
Game one I curve out, he seems moderately prepared but can’t handle the [card]Blade Splicer[/card]. I put a [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card] on the Splicer and ride it to victory.
Game two he gets double [card]Mirran Crusader[/card]. I am able to bounce them with Jace, and continue to chump block, but he eventually gets a [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card] on one and kills me. It still takes a while, though, and at one point my opponent looks over at the clock and asks me to please play faster since there are only 11 minutes left in the round. I oblige, and speed up my play – really, most of the decisions against Boros are relatively straightforward, and I am still not afraid to tank if I need to. While we are shuffling up for game 3, my opponent mentions that he is grateful that I noticeably played faster. I mention my desire to have “a quick game 3”.
Game three was one of the fastest games I’ve ever played. We start the game with 3 minutes left on the clock. It was speed Magic. I get a good Mystic, [card]Blade Splicer[/card] start. He gets [card]Squadron Hawk[/card] going, but I have a solid clock. I draw into the [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card], and equip it to the [card]Batterskull[/card]. He shatters the [card]Batterskull[/card]. I play a second Mystic, searching up [card]Batterskull[/card] and time is called with him at 13 life, after my attack. I now have two combat phases to kill him – and I do! I kill him on turn 4 of time.
No, neither one of us or any of the spectators remembered that we had an extra 9 minutes from the deck check.
So, it’s possible that the fast play forced my opponent to make mistakes, or that I made mistakes due to speeding up. But in the moment, I was unbelievably relieved not to have drawn that round.
4-0-1
Round 6 – Charles Mercier with Kuldotha Red
Intentional draw, but we play anyways because I want to know what I’m up against in the top 8, and my opponent obliges. Close games, very draw dependent. [card]Mortarpod[/card] is the MVP in that match up.
4-0-2
I finished first in the Swiss, which meant if both Felix and I won our quarterfinal matches, I would have to play him in the Semis.
Top 8
Many people wanted a Top 8 split, which would have given each person $125 and 9 boosters (there was half a box for 5th-8th). I wasn’t crazy on the idea but I said ok. Felix also wasn’t crazy on the idea but didn’t care. David Ryc said “No, sir”.
Quarterfinal Match – Andrew McWhaw with Caw-Blade
I win the die roll.
Game 1 he mulligans to four. I have an average start and overwhelm him.
Game 2 he seems to have a slow start, and so do I, but on my turn 3 I draw Mystic and resolve it (I figured he had sided out his [card]Mana Leak[/card]s in the “mirror”). On turn 4 I put the [card]Batterskull[/card] into play, he has the [card]Divine Offering[/card] ready, but I have [card]Mana Leak[/card].
I don’t like siding out [card]Mana Leak[/card] against Caw-Blade. I don’t play [card]Spell Pierce[/card] so I need a way to stop Jace. Also, the creatures that Caw-Blade plays generate as much short-term advantage as a Jace if not more. For this reason I left them in. The [card]Mana Leak[/card] was a blow out and I won shortly thereafter. I feel bad for the guy – apparently he kept the one-land, [card]Preordain[/card] hand. He left both lands on top with his [card]Preordain[/card] – then drew nothing but land the rest of the game.
David Ryc beat Eric Gaudrault, who was starting the Top 8 with a Game Loss due to a deck check. Rob Hayes beat Felix, and Charles won his quarterfinals match, as seen in the coverage. After this round, David agreed to a top four split, so we each got $250. After the top 4 split, Charles went home and conceded the semis to David.
Semifinal Match – Rob Hayes with UR Deceiver Twin
I lost game one pretty handily.
Game two I kept one of the greediest hands I’ve ever kept – but that hand guaranteed that I had early action, and several ways to guarantee I wouldn’t die to the combo, if he had left it in. The [card]Surgical Extraction[/card] would also allow me to see how he had boarded against me, which would give me good information going into game 3 if he didn’t change his sideboarding plan. He had the removal for my first Stoneforge but I drew a second one. I think by turn 6 I finally had 3 lands – but I was able to play almost every card in my hand up to that point. I won that game.
Game three I kept an average hand. [card]Sword of Body and Mind[/card] really came through for me. Once there is a creature that has toughness 3 or greater equipped with [card]Sword of Body and Mind[/card] there are like 4 answers in their entire deck. In what was probably the most talked about play, I had two cards left in hand, six lands in play with two [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card] down. Rob had two cards in hand as well. I played [card]Sword of Body and Mind[/card], and passed the turn. Rob played [card]Shatter[/card] targeting the Sword. With [card]Shatter[/card] on the stack, I activated an [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card]. Once that ability resolved, I played [card]Redirect[/card], and redirected the [card]Shatter[/card] to the [/card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card]. Next turn, I equipped Sword to my remaining Nexus and hit him with the Sword. The game played out in a straightforward way from there.
I usually board in [card]Redirect[/card] against Twin decks. Please, just try the card out. It’s so fun to play with.
Finals – David Ryc with UR Deceiver Twin
Game one seemed to be close to me – I chose a line of play where I made him “have it” – he was dead if he didn’t have Exarch, Exarch, and Twin. He did have it. It probably would have been better to slowroll my [card]Dismember[/card] – like I said before, I need to playtest this match up more.
Game two I had a pretty good start, and [card]Sword of Body and Mind[/card] went the distance for me.
Game three I kept a slower hand, with at least one [card]Mana Leak[/card], since his deck wouldn’t have action before turn 3. I [card]Mana Leak[/card]ed his [card]Calcite Snapper[/card] on turn 3. We get to an empty board by turn 6, while I had a Jace in my hand that I really wanted to resolve. I used [card]Surgical Extraction[/card] at the end of turn 6 targeting [card]Mana Leak[/card]. It resolved. David’s hand was [card]Combust[/card], [card]Lightning Bolt[/card], [card]Pyroclasm[/card], [card]Inferno Titan[/card], and David only had one mountain in play. I untapped, played Jace, then started fatesealing. I found a [card]Batterskull[/card], which I played, used my [card]Flashfreeze[/card]s to counter [card]Pyroclasm[/card] #2 and [card]Inferno Titan[/card], and won the game.
And all of a sudden it was over. It was a pretty short tournament for me – a bye, an ID, a very short quarterfinals match due to bad beats. I spent a lot of time watching other matches and talking to friends that I don’t get to see that often, so the rounds just flew by. In terms of CMT Opens to win, this one was the softest to date, but had a couple of things gone slightly differently, my 6-2 in the Saturday 3k could have been a 6-1-1 and that could have been a different story altogether.
Some thoughts about the deck and Standard
I love this format. Wizards, please don’t ban anything. If you weren’t willing to ban anything in Jund, you shouldn’t ban this either. Be consistent.
Is this deck a Conley Woods deck? Is it only good for the one tournament, until the deck is known? Ultimately, the answer is I don’t know. What I do know is that the deck plays objectively powerful cards and has a strong recursion engine in Venser. In a metagame more likely to be playing Caw-Blade, I play 2 Vensers in the main. I just got tired of losing to bad aggro decks and tuned the list accordingly. If you are a control player, and think that your play skill can dig you out of holes, this deck gives you the tools to do so.
“That thing has first strike?”
“Let me read that card.”
I heard this quite a bit. I personally think [card]Blade Splicer[/card] is quite strong, and I intend to look into a singleton [card]Wing Splicer[/card] for the deck. The fact that the tokens are colourless is VERY relevant in a format defined by Swords.
[card]Sword of Body and Mind[/card] is a house against UR Splinter Twin. It’s the only sword in Standard that gives protection from Blue. The opportunity cost for putting a singleton in a deck that has the ability to tutor is marginal. So do it! Also, you have an out in case your opponent goes to 5 million life. That won me a game at the PTQ in Providence, and I understand KYT also did the same thing in Ottawa this weekend while on the bubble.
Props
Everyone involved in organizing the event – special mention to Dave Tellier who worked his ass off over the last couple of months. They were prepared for 300+ people, and the venue was fantastic (if a little hard to get to).
Everyone involved in the coverage – what I had the opportunity to see was high-quality work.
Ben Moir, who told me how stupid my plan for the UR Splinter Twin match up was.
Phil Powell, who put in playtesting hours with the deck and told me how bad many of my maindeck choices were.
Kyle Ryc, Chris McGuire, Jason Wong, Andrew Mantha, Vincent Johnston, Mahmoud Khabatou – thank you for doing a fantastic job judging!
You, the reader. Thanks for reading!
Whoever designed the trophy. It is nothing short of beautiful:
Slops
Me, for forgetting to draw a combined total of 6 cards off Consecrated Sphinx.
People who complain that Standard is boring and that there’s no innovation. Stop bitching and Start Brewing! *
* Trademark – Yo! MTG Taps!
Johnathan Bentley has been diagnosed with Brewer’s Disease and as such is compelled to try new things, rather than stick with boring ‘stock’ decklists. Aside from winning CMT Ottawa 2011, he has yet to put up an incredibly notable finish – this makes him: Under the Radar.