In preparation for Albertan Champs this year I built and playtested 3 different decks before deciding on the deck I would eventually pilot to a 7th place finish at the event. Today I’m going to go over those 3 decks, the deck that eventually won my Champs and GP Brisbane, and chime in on the Planeswalker Point situation.

Solar Flare

When first approaching the new Standard format I was immediately drawn to Solar Flare. Solar Flare is a deck that I absolutely adored in its first configuration in Standard a few years ago, and happens to be the first deck I ever top 8’d Champs with.

In some of my previous articles here and here, I spoke in depth about Solar Flare, and the different versions I had built. In this article I’m just going to show the final configuration of Solar Flare that I was planning on playing until the night before Champs.

[deck title=Solar Flare by Francis Toussaint]
[Creatures]
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Phantasmal Image
1 Grave Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Sun Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Doom Blade
3 Mana Leak
3 Think Twice
2 Dissipate
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Day of Judgment
2 Unburial Rites
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
3 Plains
2 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Dissipate
3 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Nephalia Drownyard
3 Timely Reinforcements
1 Batterskull
1 Day of Judgment
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Flashfreeze
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

What I was going for with this deck was a more draw-go approach to Solar Flare in hopes of getting an edge against the mirror, as well as against Wolf Run Ramp. The main piece of technology at the time was a [card]Nephalia Drownyard[/card] in the main as well as a second Drownyard in the board.

I wouldn’t recommend the current build of this deck. At the moment as it gets run over by Wolf Run Ramp and UB. After a few tweaks Solar Flare could become a solid choice though.

Mono Red

When Solar Flare first began to dominate the tournament circuit Mono Red was the first deck I went to in hopes of being able to potentially combat Solar Flare. Unfortunately, the Starcity Open directly after I constructed Mono Red featured Solar Flare decks with plenty of maindeck hate for Mono Red such as [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card], [card]Batterskull[/card], and up to 3 [card]Timely Reinforcements[/card] in the main. Because of the multiple decks playing maindeck hate for Mono Red at SCG Nashville I didn’t feel comfortable playing Mono Red.

Despite Mono Red not being the right choice for that tournament in particular, I believe Mono Red is a great deck in the current metagame due to it’s favourable matchup against UB. Since UB’s dominant performance at GP Brisbane I believe that there should be plenty of UB running around for Mono Red to prey upon.

[deck title=Mono Red by Francis Toussaint]
[Creatures]
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Reckless Waif
4 Stormblood Berserker
3 Chandra’s Phoenix
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Geistflame
1 Arc Trail
4 Incinerate
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Brimstone Volley
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Kessig Wolf Run
12 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Arc Trail
3 Traitorous Blood
2 Manabarbs
4 Vulshok Refugee
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The first thing you probably noticed about this deck is that it’s not actually mono colored. It splashes green for [card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card], as well as the flashback on [card]Ancient Grudge[/card]. Some people call the deck “Wolf Run Red,” or other such names, but I find those names confusing with the RG Ramp deck running around so I consider it Mono Red.

This list is a fairly basic Mono Red build that ports in some new technology. Other than the green splash, the only card that is somewhat out of the ordinary is [card]Geistflame[/card]. Geistflame is a great value card for the mirror and other aggressive decks, but is also good against Snapcaster from the control decks, and against [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card] in Wolf Run Ramp. Even if your not killing creatures with Geistflame, the Flame is still great with [card]Shrine of Burning Rage[/card] and [card]Chandra’s Phoenix[/card].

Wolf Run Ramp

Going in to Champs this was a deck that had just broken out and won the Starcity Games Nashville Open. The majority of the time leading up to Champs I was planning on playing Solar Flare, but in testing we found that Wolf Run Ramp was absolutely crushing Solar Flare in its configuration at the time.

The night before Champs I was still undecided on whether I should play Solar Flare, which I had tested thoroughly or Wolf Run Ramp, which I had only the odd game or two under my belt with. What ended up pushing me towards Wolf Run Ramp, despite my unfamiliarity with the deck, was Ted Slone telling me he’d decided to audible to Wolf Run Ramp after overwhelmingly positive results against Solar Flare piloted by Paul Vanderburg in testing.

[deck title=Wolf Run Ramp by Francis Toussaint]
[Creatures]
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Viridian Emissary
3 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Acidic Slime
3 Primeval Titan
3 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Rampant Growth
4 Beast Within
3 Slagstorm
4 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Green Sun’s Zenith
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Forest
3 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Batterskull
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Tree of Redemption
1 Viridian Corrupter
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Slagstorm
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The only differences between my list and the list that won in Nashville is –1 [card]Forest[/card], +1 [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] maindeck and –1 [card]Ancient Grudge[/card], –1 [card]Tree of Redemption[/card], +1 [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card], +1 [card]Batterskull[/card] out of the board.

I was really happy with the addition of [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] in the main. I would have liked to have an additional [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] main, but was afraid of straining the mana base too much. After playing the deck, I would add another [card]Ghost Quarter[/card]. [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] was really clutch against [card]Gavony Township[/card] in one match I played, and is only getting better now that UB is using Drownyard as a win condition.

I was also happy about the adding another [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card] to the board, and if I were to do it again I would cut another [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] for the 3rd [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card]. The deck that you want [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] the most against is [card]Tempered Steel[/card], but against Steel [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card] is as strong, if not better, than [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] in that matchup. However, against tokens [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] is close to useless, where as [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card] is the best card in the matchup, and the token deck is increasing in popularity.

The first round of Champs I was playing against an aggressive version of Wolf Run Ramp, and before the first game was even over I realized I had a glaring misbuild in my maindeck. I immediately realized it’s a huge mistake not to play the full 4 maindeck [card]Primeval Titan[/card]. In Nashville I believe it may have been correct not to play 4 [card]Primeval Titan[/card]s because he wasn’t going to play against the mirror. Now there are plenty of Wolf Run Ramp decks running around, and in the mirror it’s critically important to hit a [card]Primeval Titan[/card], and playing less than the full 4 [card]Primeval Titan[/card] and 4 [card]Green Sun Zenith[/card] is wrong. I would probably cut a [card]Solemn Simulacrum[/card] for the 4th titan.

As for the tournament, I don’t have too much to say. I lost my first round of the day, and proceeded to win-out and draw in to top 8. I felt I had been playing my best magic all day until the last game of my quarter final matchup against 4c [card]Burning Vengeance[/card]. In that final game my inexperience with the deck reared it’s ugly head and resulting in a full on train wreck. The whole game I wasn’t sure how much pressure to apply, not wanting to overcommit, but it turns out that I wasn’t committing nearly enough. The final nail in the coffin of misplays was playing a [card]Thrun, the Last Troll[/card] when I already had a Thrun in play. Never played Thrun before that match. Turns out Thrun is legendary. Who knew?

UB “Do Nothing” Control

[deck title=UB Control by Jeremy Neeman]
[Creatures]
3 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Grave Titan
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Black Sun’s Zenith
4 Dissipate
4 Doom Blade
3 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Geth’s Verdict
4 Mana Leak
1 Negate
4 Think Twice
2 Wring Flesh
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Nephalia Drownyard
9 Island
6 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Black Sun’s Zenith
1 Negate
2 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Phantasmal Image
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Spellskite
1 Wring Flesh
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=UB “Do Nothing” Control by Doug Potter]
[Creatures]
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Grave Titan
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Consecrated Sphinx
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Karn Liberated
4 Mana Leak
4 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Think Twice
3 Doom Blade
2 Dissipate
2 Black Sun’s Zenith
2 Despise
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Inkmoth Nexus
9 Island
6 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Dismember
3 Mental Misstep
1 Batterskull
3 Negate
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Doom Blade
1 Black Sun’s Zenith
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Don’t want to be that guy who always says “I had the idea for that great deck before it won those tournaments,” but in this situation I’m going to have to. Going in to Champs my Solar Flare deck was slowly turning in to more and more of a draw-go control deck, and I already added the Drownyards. I mention multiple times that I thought a UB control deck could be really great, but didn’t have the time to test the deck out, and didn’t want to play an untested deck at Champs.

Turns out Jeremy Neeman and Doug Potter both agreed that UB Control would be a great choice for the weekend, and were both greatly successful with UB.

A Short Word on Planeswalker Points

For those of you out there who have yet to read “An open Letter Regarding Planeswalker Points” I highly recommend it.

In the article they address how people who commit to “gaming the system” have an advantage over everyone else, even successful competitive players. What troubles me though, is that if even successful competitive players from the US are at a disadvantage against people gaming the system, then how is anyone from Canada suppose to be successful?

Where I live the closest Grand Prix in “driving distance” is a 14 hour drive (minimum) 1-2 times a year, flying isn’t cheap, and we get 1-2 PTQ’s per season. I have no chance of competing against an American in “grinding” PWPs. If I want to qualify for a Pro Tour I can no longer qualify on rating, and making top 16 of a Grand Prix won’t do me any good. Now, my only reasonable way of getting to a Pro Tour is by winning a PTQ, and I basically have no reason to travel to any Grand Prix.

I know for a lot of people the new changes seems great, and the new system definitely has some positive aspects to it. I feel the new changes to the game have completely removed my incentives to travel to any event out of the Province other than Nationals.

Conclusions

Moving Forward, UB will without a doubt be a great choice for Standard. Due to UB being so great, I believe Mono Red will also be great now due to it’s favourable matchup against against UB. As for the PWP dilemma, I know not everyone shares my dystopian view on the matter, but hopefully everyone can agree that the system is flawed. I know that there are plenty of smart people at Wizards working hard to fix the matter, and I sincerely hope they work it out. As always, thanks for reading.

Francis Toussaint