Good afternoon all! Made it back from Seattle with a 9-6 final record, which I can't be at all disappointed with given that I went 3-6 at my last GP!
The TL;DR summary: I loved this UW build, I thought it performed very well, I made a couple of mistakes (and took a couple suboptimal lines that cost me), but overall I think it was a great choice for the event and am looking forward to continuing to evolve it when DOM hits!
If you want more details, read on. Unfortunately, my memory of these matches (particularly day 1) is a bit sketchy because playing so many matches in such a short timespan really taxes your brain, but I will do the best I can to remember any nuggets from the matches...
I had experimented with deleting Disallow, but I ended up including 2 copies so I could hard counter noncreature spells and/or activated/triggered abilities. 2 copies seemed fine.
Day One
Match one: Sultai Snek/GPG
The first of my 6 (!) Snek matchups for the weekend. This was a somewhat spicy brew that included God-Pharaoh's Gift and Gates to the Afterlife. I took round 1 with double approach, no problemo (he could have won this one though...he managed to resolve a GPG after I had Approached once, but instead of bringing back a Walking Ballista, adding a counter and pinging me for 1 for the kill, he brought back Kitesail Freebooter.
The next two matches were tougher, and I don't think I sideboarded or played this matchup correctly. Frankly, I didn't really know how to sideboard against it: I usually bring Regal Caracal in for the Snek matchups (mostly to throw in front of Bristling Hydras until I can fumigate), but not for GPG matchups, and I bring in Forsake the Worldly against GPG but not snek...so I ended up with some janky mix of the two plans that didn't go well. He rolled me G2, and I lost G3 by taking a very suboptimal line that involved me casting Torrential Gearhulk to flash back something (seem to recall it was Essence Scatter to keep some creature or other from resolving), which ended up putting a 6th creature in the yard, allowing him to cast Gate to the Afterlife, activate, and GPG me to death. I was at 2 life at the point, so likely wasn't winning, but it was a rocky start. (0-1)
Match 2: Jeskai Approach
Took this one easy 2-0. UW is just house against this G1 with all their dead cards. I had a great hand to start G2 (couple negate and disallow), which allowed me to counter both of the Gideons he tried to resolve. Opponent didn't seem super focused either, but I'll take a W when I get one. (1-1).
Match 3: Sultai Snek (with Scarab God)
This was an interesting matchup in which the win came from a mega-punt by my opponent.
Game 1, double approach. Easy peasy.
Game 2: he won with Scarab God and a ton of dudes, BUT there was a key judge call that I think may have tilted my opponent a bit. He had a Nissa, Steward of Elements on the field and did her +2. Opponent was a super-manic card riffler, and when I looked carefully, I saw that he had three cards he was looking at—I guess he had scryed 3 instead of 2. JUDGE! The resolution was a warning to my opponent, and I was allowed to look at the three cards and decide which one was not part of the scry (third one was shuffled back in to his deck before resolving the scry). Ridiculous part was that the 3 cards were Fetid Pools, Aether Hub, Aether Hub, so I didn't even get to bin something worthwhile.
Game 3: opponent mega punt time. First off, he had The Scarab God on the field (I believe with a counter from Hadana's Climb on it, making it a 6/6). I had 9 mana up. He attacks. I flash in Torrential Gearhulk, targeting Slash of Talons and block with TG so they trade. At end step, I disallowed the SG return card to hand trigger, leaving SG in the yard. He takes his next turn, and at end step starts going through his graveyard. I asked what he was looking for, and he said he was returning the Scarab God to his hand. I said "nope, that got disallowed, so he stays in the yard," and he didn't believe me, so he called a judge (who confirmed that SG was dead-zo).
I don't know if it was the 2 judge calls or what, but opponent was definitely tilted. I got an Approach in. I think my hand was Cast Out, Irrigated Farmland, with a couple Ipnu Rivulets on the field and plenty of lands. Approach was 6 down at this point. He duresses with Scarab God on the battlefield. In response, I cycle Cast Out (5 deep) and gain a Glimmer. He takes the Glimmer. My end step, I activate Ipnu Rivulet, revealing card, card, card, Torrential Gearhulk (Approach now on top). He has a negate in the yard, but for some reason, he got super excited by the Gearhulk, and at end step, he activates TSG to snag him. In response, I cycle Irrigated Farmland to pick up the Approach, and slam it on my turn. Whew. (2-1)
Match 4: BG Snek
Lost game 1, which was really unfortunate because G1 is where we shine. But had only 3 lands turn 6 while he had all the sneks and siphoners. GG.
Game 2 and 3 went much better. Another interesting judge call in this one. I had double caracal on the board with 3 cats. He had an 8/7 Jadelight Ranger, a Bristling Hydra, and a Ripjaw Raptor on the board. He swings with the Raptor and the Ranger. I chump the Ranger and throw 2 caracals and 2 cats in front of the Ripjaw Raptor (I had fumigate in hand so basically just looking to max out my life gain…sorry kitties…). He orders blockers, and we go to damage. I say "Caracal and chumping cat die, Raptor dies, I gain 17, you draw a card from Enrage." And he says, "don't I draw 4 because you blocked with 4?" I told him I'm pretty sure that combat damage is dealt simultaneously, so it would only be one enrage trigger. Judge was called, and he said, "no, it's four different things damaging it, so it's four." I asked him to please look it up (and dude at the next table was like, "yeah, I don't think that's right…"). Judge looked it up and confirmed that it's just one enrage trigger. Next turn, I swing with Caracal and remaining cats then wipe the board. At this point, I'm at 30+ life and in complete control. (3-1)
Match 5: UW Drake
I played this deck for a while on MTGO but gave it up when XLN/RIX didn't add much to it. The keys are (1) keep Drake Haven and Abandoned Sarcophagus off the board and (2) exile graveyards before the second approach because their only mainboard counter is usually 4x countervailing winds. I did just that G1 and double approached.
G2 was a bunch of draw/go/cycle. He was burning through a ton of his deck without finding what he was looking for, and whenever he managed to resolve a Drake Haven, I promptly got rid of it through Cast Out/Forsake the Worldly. Ended up decking him with Ipnu Rivulets. (4-1)
At this point, I've achieved my goal of improving my performance from the last GP, so the rest is gravy…
Match 6: UB Midrange (Atsuki Kihara, Hareruya "God of Standard")
I looked up this opponent afterward and wasn't surprised to see that he's had some high-level success. I got rolled both games this matchup, which is a tough one for us to begin with, but made tougher by having a great pilot who drew all the right things. One suboptimal play I made G1 was to Cast Out his Liliana on T5…he cast Scarab God the next turn and I didn't have an answer, and the God is much more impactful than Lili (although both can be a pain). The language barrier made it tough to chat, but he was very kind and humble in his thrashing of me! (4-2).
Match 7: BW Vampires
I wish, wish, wish that I had seen more of this deck. Cakewalk. 4x Field of Ruin makes Adanto no big deal, plenty of board wipes, and he has no way to interact with Approach game 1.
Game 2 he brought in Kitesail Freebooter, and hit one T2. Sadly, I had my spicy SB tech in hand at the time (Hour of Revelation), so the cat was out of the bag. Kept his Radiant Destinys from getting out of hand, managed the board, and got there with Gearhulk beatdowns. (5-2).
Match 8: Sultai Snek
We're both win-and-in, and I'm disappointed to see Sneks again, but so be it.
G1, I resolved a T3 Gideon, which is always great for me because he typically gains me 6-8 life before dying. He's a threat, so opponents need to deal with him, but he's just a sacrificial lamb for this deck. He attempts to Vraska's Contempt him T5 (negate), then tries to resolve Skysovereign, Consul Flagship (disallow). Got him with double Approach.
G2 was just about the same. Board wipes showing up right when needed. I think opponent was pretty mentally tired at this point—at one point, he missed his Jadelight Ranger explore triggers (he cast the Ranger, then said "Combat?"…don't think he ever realized he missed the trigger). Likely didn't matter because I had 2x Settle in hand, but it just shows how important the mental game is. (6-2, made day 2!).
Grabbed an awesome dinner at Blue C Sushi with my son (who went 4-3-1…not shabby!) and a buddy from Portland who was also playing. Got a good night's sleep without letting thoughts of cardboard interfere too much.
Day Two
Match 9: UW GPG (Yuuki Ichikawa)
I didn't know my opponent by name before the match, but figured he was someone legit when I saw his 2017 World Championship hoodie! About the nicest, most humble, enjoyable opponent you could ask for. Gerry Thompson was playing right next to us, which was kind of cool too.
G1: we both mull to 6 and miss our third land drops (which makes us both laugh quite a bit). I Spell Swindled his God-Pharoah's Gift, which made him laugh and say, "Double Approach?"—I joked that I didn't know if I brought enough treasure tokens, but I had exactly 7. Didn't manage the same-turn double-approach, but got there.
G2: I think I could have won this game if I'd played a bit differently. I kept the board clean enough—kept him off GPG with Forsake the Worldly and used my boardwipes strategically (and used my life total as a resource), while he was just digging deeper and deeper with Champions of Wits, eternalized Champions of Wits, Chart a Course, and Strategic Planning. I Scavenger Grounds our yards away. After a field of ruin, I count his library and he's at 20 cards, and I have 2 Ipnus on the board. I end up cracking the Ipnus too soon, and he resolves a GPG, which may have given him the creatures needed to bring back for the win. Think he got down to 1 card in library.
G3: I didn't really have the answers in this one. I managed to resolve Approach, and I had ipnu and cycler in hand, but he had ipnu as well. I might have been able to get the Approach back in my hand, but as it turned out, he had a negate in hand anyway, so I don't think I was going to win that one. In hindsight, I really needed to put away that G2, and I think I probably could have if I had taken a more optimal line than I did.
After the match, Yuuki was chatting with Shouta Yasooka (who had been watching), and I was de-boarding. I show Yuuki the Crook of Condemnation that I didn't see the entire match, and we both laugh. Then I showed him the Spell Swindle and he laughed again and told Shouta about how his GPG got swindled. Just a fun GP moment that I'll remember. Can't say enough nice things about this guy. (6-3)
Match 10: Sultai Snek (Corey Baumeister)
After losing to a pro, I just laughed when I got paired with another one! Mike Sigrist was playing next to us for this one, which again, was kind of cool.
G1: Got there with double approach. No worries.
G2: He looks at his opening hand and goes, "ehh….I'll try to make it work." To which I reply, "I think that probably means that you have the nuts…" Sure enough, T1 Duress, T2 Siphoner, T3 Snek, T4 Rishkar. Lolz.
G3: He mulls to 6 and gets stuck on lands for a while. I resolve Caracals, he resolves a Carnage Tyrant with a Hydra on board. My turn, I swing with all (the good ol' sacrificial-cats-before-fumigate play). Sure enough, I wipe the board after. At this point, I'm in pretty firm control and manage to get 2 gearhulks on the board, then another caracal, and he scoops it up. Super nice guy, and really enjoyable match. (7-3)
Match 11: Red Aggro
First Bomat Courier I faced all day. Really not a lot to say about this match—kept a bad hand G1 (it was serviceable against any deck but his). Didn't see sweepers G2. Lost with about 40 minutes left in round! (7-4)
Match 12: Grixis Midrange
G1, got there with an easy double approach.
G2, he resolved siphoners T2 and T3, and just drowned in card advantage. I also missed a Search for Azcanta trigger here (I drew the card before remembering to flip). Don't know if it would have changed things, but my only missed trigger of the day…
G3, he stuck a Chandra and a Lili, and I couldn't get rid of Chandra before she emblemed. Just the way it goes, I guess. (7-5).
Match 13: Sultai Snek
G1, got there with an easy double approach.
G2, he got there with Hadana's climb and ballistas.
G3, I think Gideon and Gearhulks got me there, but can't really remember…really mentally tired at this point, but I now know I'll leave with a record that's better than .500, so pretty stoked. (8-5).
Match 14: UB Midrange (or maybe Grixis?)
I played too timid G1 and let my mind play tricks on me and got punished. Started the game with double approach in hand. He managed to double Gonti me, and I really don't know what he has, although his eyes got a little big the first one, which for some reason made me certain that he had taken Spell Swindle. I approach once, and he's built up a good board with TSG and a bunch of zombos. I had the opportunity to Approach again, but I didn't have mana for countermagic, and I was paranoid about the swindle. Turns out it was a fumigate and I would have been totally clear. Instead, he reanimates all the things and kills me before I can try again. Some regret over this one, but I really can't be too disappointed.
G2, I just couldn't get anything going, and he stuck an early Arguel and Search for Azcanta, so he out-carded me like crazy. (8-6). No pro point for me, but it's all good.
Match 15: RG Dinos
Cakewalk. All the sweepers, all the essence scatters, he can't interact with Approach. He brought in Prowling Serpopard G2, but I easily cast that out (and countered the Naturalize). Easy, easy matchup for this deck, and wish I'd seen RG more than just the final match. (9-6).
Takeaways
I loved the deck this weekend, and would not hesitate to rock it in another standard event. I think it's only going to get better after DOM drops (although exploring a splash of B might be worth it given the improvement in the mana base). The weaknesses are what we've discussed for a while: missing land drops and iffy early-game interaction. But the strengths are strong: extremely favored G1, access to reasonable creature finishers post-board (Caracal, Torrential, Nezzie), good ways to interact with enchantments, good answers to resilient threats (Carnage Tyrant, Phoenix).
In retrospect, I should have found room for at least one, if not two, Farm // Market to handle the proliferation of Sneks. Seriously, they were everywhere. Maybe instead of Crook of Condemnation, although Crook did some work for me. And if UR GPG continues to be a thing, I think the case for a Crook in the main gets even better. Slash was great for the siphoners, but Sneks were a problem.
I also think I got burned by a couple of suboptimal plays (although I reaped the benefit of a couple suboptimal plays/errors by opponents, so they wash out). I think that my game has improved 100% since my last GP, and this one made it very clear to me that deck selection has only so much to do with success—minimizing/eliminating play mistakes, carefully evaluating lines of play before making a decision, and staying mentally focused is just as important, and why I think the pros do as well as they do consistently. I definitely have room for improvement, and hope to keep the upward trend.
Overall, the GP was a blast. For the most part, my opponents were fun to play against (only a couple less-than-friendly folks), and having the opportunity to play against a couple pros was definitely something I'll remember for a while!
Next goal: getting that 10th win for the pro point.
Hey gang! Just a quick update from GP Seattle. I ended the day 6-2 with UW Approach, so I'm pretty stoked to make my first day 2! My matches were against (in order):
Sultai Snek/GPG (it was gross...I took a suboptimal line in this one which I blame for my loss) (loss 1-2, 0-1 for the day)
Jeskai Approach (won 2-0, 1-1 for the day)
Sultai Snek (won 2-1 in turn 3 of extra turns...opponent misplayed a TSG activation that would have won him the game, so lucked out, 2-1 for the day)
BG Snek (won 2-1, 3-1 for the day)
UW Drake Haven (won 2-0...one of the wins being an Ipnu mill out, 4-1 for the day)
UB Midrange (lost 0-2...got steamrolled by an excellent player from Japan...4-2 for the day)
BW Vamps (won 2-0...I love paying this matchup, 5-2 for the day)
Sultai Snek (won 2-0, 6-2 for the day)
I'll do a more thorough writeup after I get back in case folks are interested. The metagame is pretty interesting up here, but there are more copies of winding constrictor than I'd like to see, personally. Just tons of BG and Sultai snake decks.
@the_codaddy: I played your list at my local FNM today and got first place (4-0). I think it was very good. Played against Ramunap Red, Jeskai Approach, UB midrange and B aggro. As you said, Slash of Talons is the truth. I missed the Censors a little bit though.
Hey, congratulations @Pankary! Glad the list worked well for you!
I've gone back and forth on Opt and Censor, but my feeling after practicing with both is that Opt + Essence Scatter has a slight edge over Censor, particularly in the late game. It does feel good to Censor something early, but the early game things you need to worry about are creatures, which Essence Scatter will take care of (and unconditionally vs. Censor requiring them to be tapped out). Censor just stinks in the late game, where Opt and Essence Scatter are both strictly better (hard countering a creature and letting you dig two deep for an answer (or an Approach)).
I've been tinkering with the list a bit lately online. My main focus has been testing whether we need Disallow (I know, I know, but stay with me here):
The deck's weaknesses are (1) resolved creatures [maybe more accurately, resolved resilient creatures--things that recur or are indestructible] and (2) hitting land drops [again, maybe more accurately, hitting the right land drops]. If the goal is to prevent resolved creatures, then Essence Scatter is strictly better than Disallow because it's 1U instead of 1UU. The deck also really (really) wants WW by turn 4 to either cast or threaten Settle the Wreckage. I run 6 colorless lands in my deck (4 field of ruin, 2 scavenger grounds) which can occasionally result in situations where I'm without double colors on turn 3/4, forcing me to field of ruin to get what I need. That really makes it tough to rely on Disallow in the early game to prevent creatures from resolving because if I don't happen to have two blue sources turn 3, the creature will resolve.
The deck's strength is game 1. We are ridiculously favored game 1 against just about every deck in the meta with the exception of heavy creature-based decks. If we want to make those matchups better G1, having 4x Essence Scatter makes sense. It's the cheapest way to prevent creatures from resolving. So that's what I've been testing, along with bumping up one Slash of Talons and one Farm // Market. There's not a bunch of cards you can cut, so Disallow was the likeliest candidate. I also went up one Glimmer of Genius and one Supreme Will because they can help you race the clock that those creature-based decks put you on (and Supreme Will usually counters something or other).
Losing three hard counters seems like a bad idea on paper because we play a control deck, but we don't get into counter wars in game 1. Other blue-based decks in the meta don't play Negate main deck. UB control usually has 3-4 Disallows (and maybe Supreme Wills) main, and decks like UB midrange, sultai climb, grixis energy, etc., just don't maindeck a ton of answers for Approach. They rely on their sideboard to shore up the matchup. Which is the same thought here--having 3 negates and a Jace's Defeat in the board against decks that you want them.
Through 3 leagues, I'm 10-5, with match losses to mono red x2 (land issues), mono black aggro x2 (this, I think, is the deck's absolute worst matchup), and mono green aggro. I think I mostly lost the mono-green matchup because I hadn't played against the deck before, but seems like a pretty good deck. Out of the sideboard they brought in Nissa, Vital Force (after emblem, which isn't too hard to get, Settle the Wreckage becomes legitimately terrible) and heroic intervention (which makes fumigate terrible). I don't know how mono-G fares against the rest of the meta, but I hope it doesn't do well so people don't play it because it has some great tools against us. I might have turned the corner in G3 if I'd had Gideon (I cut him in the list I was playing), but only maybe...
Mono B aggro is my nemesis deck at the moment. Slash of Talons is great against Siphoner, but only OK against Scrapheap Scrounger and Dread Wanderer, and that deck usually runs some number of Supernatural Stamina. Between those two resilient threats, night market lookout (annoying!), aethersphere harvester, and duress out of the SB (I would have won G3 in one of my matches if they hadn't timely duressed my settle the wreckage), it's a really tough matchup.
I think my next tweaks will test running either 26 lands or a 4th Opt, and potentially adding Crook of Condemnation main.
Sorry for the long post. I'm gearing up for GP Seattle so I'm really focusing on tuning this list!
I've been running UW for several months now with reasonable results. I used to run 2x Search for Azcanta, but recently have been experimenting with a build that runs 4x treasure map and have been pretty impressed with the maps. Yes, they die to abrade every now and again, and yes you have to pay to scry (vs. the free pseudo-scry of Search), but if you manage to get one to stick, the 3 treasures are really very good for a number of things, including (1) turning on ascend (for Arch of Orazca), (2) ramping to Approach, and (3) getting bonus mana for counterspells. Some other advantages I see with Map are that it tends to flip faster (if it will flip), it draws extra cards with Treasure Cove, they are nonlegendary, and I feel like they are less likely to draw opponents' counterspells (as compared to Search).
Has anyone else experimented with Maps for card filtering? It may be that Search is better, or that some combination of the two is optimal, but I've been pretty impressed with the maps lately. I have also recently had a couple of grindy control matchups lately in which I've been down to fewer than 10 cards in my library (with Arch, Treasure Cove, and Azor, the Lawbringer, I've been drawing a bunch of cards). Seems like another upside to Map is that you're not pitching cards into the graveyard that you might want later...
Got beat by a whole lotta duress cards. What's best to sideboard in during game 2 and 3 against black or UB Control?
Was thinking about a creature heavy sideboard
Currently have.
4 Regal Caracal
2 Sunscourge Champion
2 Negate
2 Jaces Defeat
3 Authority of the Consuls
1 Kefnet
1 Hour of Revelation
Thinking of adding.
Vizier of Many Faces
Cataclysmic Gearhulk - Replace Fumigates
I think Gideon of the Trials is a good option against UB control. The low CMC allows you to roll it out early and neutralize attackers. They usually board in some amount of creature hate anticipating our SB plan. I've tried Kefnet, but it can be tough turning on his attacks/blocks. Also, against anything with white, he's a great Baffling End target.
Brief anecdote: was playing an updated UW list in a MTGO league against a midrange-y UB deck (Kitesail Freebooter, Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, The Scarab God, Gifted Aetherborn).
Game 1, easy win with double Approach.
Game 2, he gets in a Lost Legacy searching for Approach and whiffs (I boarded them out for Torrential Gearhulks). LOLs all around. I punt this one hard. He had resolved a Gonti, Lord of Luxury, taking I knows not what. He resolves the Scarab God. At his upkeep, he casts my Torrential Gearhulk from exile--I thought that he had used the Scarab God's ability to return a TG to the battlefield, so I pass priority with Essence Scatter in hand. Likely wasn't outcome determinative--he had enough mana to zombify the TG if I had countered it--but still, you really have to look at those little boxes to see what's happening on MTGO...
Game 3, I board the Approaches back in, board out the gearhulks, and bring in 3x Gideon of the Trials. An early Freebooter shows him my hand, which has 2 Approaches in it. More LOLs, and when he Lost Legacys me the next turn naming Approach, I get to draw 2 cards (nice bonus). He asks "is Gideon your only Wincon now?" to which I respond, "Ipnu Rivulet :-)" I ended up milling him out for the win (not before I got a frowny face and gg from him).
Notes:
Spires of Orazca plus Gideon does a ton of work to keep you alive (neutralize one dude, Spire the other).
Field of Ruin is a thing, and you really have to think about how to sequence your power lands. Do you want to keep your Spires of Orazca, Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, Arch of Orazca, Ipnu Rivulet, or Scavenger Ground (I have access to all of these in my current build, and I run 2x FoR). Each matchup will be different, but you really have to be thoughtful. I often hold back my FoRs to not give my opponent the information, but I'm sure they do too. In my G3 above, my opponent FoR'd one of my Spires early (and a second one late), but I think he wishes he had kept one for Azcanta.
Baffling End is an incredible card against Grixis and UB (and I think maybe just an incredible card period). May as well read "Exile target Champion of Wits." Hitting freebooters and siphoners is a nice bonus.
Match one was a relatively easy 2-0. My opponent admitted that it was the first time he was playing it, and it showed (for example, he used Field of Ruin to blow up Glacial Fortress in the early rounds when I had Search for Azcanta out rather than waiting until I flipped to Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin). In game 1, there was a nervy moment was when he resolved The Scarab God, but I managed to get rid of it by casting Fumigate and then Disallow on the triggered ability. Double approach for the win. Game 2 was the war of the counterspells. He cast Duress turn 1 and snagged Approach. I aggressively countered his attempts to resolve Hieroglyphic Illumination to keep him down on card advantage, which made things much easier for me.
Match 3 was the toughest of the three, and I would have lost if my opponent had respected Settle the Wreckage a bit more. I used it to hit 3 of his 5 creatures one attack (leaving Longtusk Cub and Whirler Virtuoso), and when he thought the path was clear, he used the Virtuoso to make 7 Thopters and attacked with the squad...right into my Torrential Gearhulk (bringing back Settle the Wreckage).
It was my first time taking this deck out for a spin, and overall, it felt really good. Some of my takeaways:
Against black, consider mulliganing opening hands that have Approach in them. It's not a card you want until later anyway, and you give your opponent an easy Duress target.
Gideon of the Trials was great out of the sideboard, but I'm considering taking him out of the main board. There's something nice about giving your opponent 0 targets for removal, and having him in the main gave my UB control opponent a good target for Vraska's Contempt (he exiled both of my Gideons in game 1). I feel like making your opponent have a ton of dead cards is one of the biggest strengths of this deck game 1.
I was never stoked to see Opt past turn 1 and am considering cutting it (I realize that this is when you want to see Opt, but still felt like filler).
As tempted as I've been to cut Censor it overperformed against the Temur Energy deck, getting rid of a Bristling Hydra and a Glorybringer. Temur needs to be the Aggro deck to beat us, which means turn 3 hydra and turn 4 glorybringer, and it feels so good to Censor those away.
Gideon's Intervention underperformed, and at 4 mana, I don't think it's something I want to run in the future.
Some cards I want to try out (comments/thoughts welcome--I'm not on MTGO and don't have a ton of time to test different cards):
I'm going to experiment with 2 Thaumatic Compass/Spires of Orazca in the main. Between it and Search for Azcanta, it allows us to hit our land drops while also giving mild ramp that lets us approach sooner, and Ithing their best creature will keep us alive longer.
Commit // Memory: Interested in thoughts for this card in the mirror or against Duress. Seems like a good way to use those Ipnu Rivulets aggressively and also give you a way to get those Duressed Approaches back, but mana cost seems high.
Failure // Comply: Thoughts on this card as sideboard tech? Seems like it could be useful to pave the way for the second Approach (take that, Negate)...
Cataclysmic Gearhulk: What do folks think about using this as sideboard tech against tokens/creature-based strategies (RR, Temur Energy)? It's almost a wrath and the 4/5 body could bring the beats.
River's Rebuke is another card I think is worth consideration for the sideboard given the many creature-based matchups we'll likely face.
Any other suggestions for lifegain/not dying against aggro matchups beyond Sunscourge Champion would be appreciated. Renewed Faith and Sanguine Sacrament seem worth testing as an instant-speed life bump, and Oketra's Last Mercy might do a good job of keeping us alive for 1-3 more turns for 3 mana. I even paused while looking at Exquisite Archangel in my binder...I don't know if we want to load up on more 7-drops (and turn 7 is a long time to wait for something to keep you alive against aggro), but it's a card anyway...
Finally, a question: there have been references to a "Desert Package" for this deck, but it's not clear what that means. Is it just a couple copies of Desert's Hold combined with replacing a plains and island with Desert of the Mindful and Desert of the True?
Thanks everyone...the information in this thread is really helpful for me. I'm surprised that this deck hasn't had better results at big tournaments, but I'm guessing it's because (1) it's less represented in the meta and (2) variance seems to hurt us more in the aggro matchup than it hurts aggro against us.
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The TL;DR summary: I loved this UW build, I thought it performed very well, I made a couple of mistakes (and took a couple suboptimal lines that cost me), but overall I think it was a great choice for the event and am looking forward to continuing to evolve it when DOM hits!
If you want more details, read on. Unfortunately, my memory of these matches (particularly day 1) is a bit sketchy because playing so many matches in such a short timespan really taxes your brain, but I will do the best I can to remember any nuggets from the matches...
First, here's the list I was jamming:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Field of Ruin
1 Scavenger Grounds
3 Island
5 Plains
Planeswalker (1)
1 Gideon of the Trials
Enchantment (6)
2 Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin
4 Cast Out
2 Slash of Talons
3 Opt
4 Essence Scatter
2 Disallow
3 Supreme Will
3 Glimmer of Genius
3 Settle the Wreckage
1 Spell Swindle
Sorcery (6)
3 Fumigate
3 Approach of the Second Sun
1 Crook of Condemnation
3 Negate
1 Jace's Defeat
3 Forsake the Worldly
1 Hour of Revelation
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
3 Regal Caracal
3 Torrential Gearhulk
I had experimented with deleting Disallow, but I ended up including 2 copies so I could hard counter noncreature spells and/or activated/triggered abilities. 2 copies seemed fine.
Day One
Match one: Sultai Snek/GPG
The first of my 6 (!) Snek matchups for the weekend. This was a somewhat spicy brew that included God-Pharaoh's Gift and Gates to the Afterlife. I took round 1 with double approach, no problemo (he could have won this one though...he managed to resolve a GPG after I had Approached once, but instead of bringing back a Walking Ballista, adding a counter and pinging me for 1 for the kill, he brought back Kitesail Freebooter.
The next two matches were tougher, and I don't think I sideboarded or played this matchup correctly. Frankly, I didn't really know how to sideboard against it: I usually bring Regal Caracal in for the Snek matchups (mostly to throw in front of Bristling Hydras until I can fumigate), but not for GPG matchups, and I bring in Forsake the Worldly against GPG but not snek...so I ended up with some janky mix of the two plans that didn't go well. He rolled me G2, and I lost G3 by taking a very suboptimal line that involved me casting Torrential Gearhulk to flash back something (seem to recall it was Essence Scatter to keep some creature or other from resolving), which ended up putting a 6th creature in the yard, allowing him to cast Gate to the Afterlife, activate, and GPG me to death. I was at 2 life at the point, so likely wasn't winning, but it was a rocky start. (0-1)
Match 2: Jeskai Approach
Took this one easy 2-0. UW is just house against this G1 with all their dead cards. I had a great hand to start G2 (couple negate and disallow), which allowed me to counter both of the Gideons he tried to resolve. Opponent didn't seem super focused either, but I'll take a W when I get one. (1-1).
Match 3: Sultai Snek (with Scarab God)
This was an interesting matchup in which the win came from a mega-punt by my opponent.
Game 1, double approach. Easy peasy.
Game 2: he won with Scarab God and a ton of dudes, BUT there was a key judge call that I think may have tilted my opponent a bit. He had a Nissa, Steward of Elements on the field and did her +2. Opponent was a super-manic card riffler, and when I looked carefully, I saw that he had three cards he was looking at—I guess he had scryed 3 instead of 2. JUDGE! The resolution was a warning to my opponent, and I was allowed to look at the three cards and decide which one was not part of the scry (third one was shuffled back in to his deck before resolving the scry). Ridiculous part was that the 3 cards were Fetid Pools, Aether Hub, Aether Hub, so I didn't even get to bin something worthwhile.
Game 3: opponent mega punt time. First off, he had The Scarab God on the field (I believe with a counter from Hadana's Climb on it, making it a 6/6). I had 9 mana up. He attacks. I flash in Torrential Gearhulk, targeting Slash of Talons and block with TG so they trade. At end step, I disallowed the SG return card to hand trigger, leaving SG in the yard. He takes his next turn, and at end step starts going through his graveyard. I asked what he was looking for, and he said he was returning the Scarab God to his hand. I said "nope, that got disallowed, so he stays in the yard," and he didn't believe me, so he called a judge (who confirmed that SG was dead-zo).
I don't know if it was the 2 judge calls or what, but opponent was definitely tilted. I got an Approach in. I think my hand was Cast Out, Irrigated Farmland, with a couple Ipnu Rivulets on the field and plenty of lands. Approach was 6 down at this point. He duresses with Scarab God on the battlefield. In response, I cycle Cast Out (5 deep) and gain a Glimmer. He takes the Glimmer. My end step, I activate Ipnu Rivulet, revealing card, card, card, Torrential Gearhulk (Approach now on top). He has a negate in the yard, but for some reason, he got super excited by the Gearhulk, and at end step, he activates TSG to snag him. In response, I cycle Irrigated Farmland to pick up the Approach, and slam it on my turn. Whew. (2-1)
Match 4: BG Snek
Lost game 1, which was really unfortunate because G1 is where we shine. But had only 3 lands turn 6 while he had all the sneks and siphoners. GG.
Game 2 and 3 went much better. Another interesting judge call in this one. I had double caracal on the board with 3 cats. He had an 8/7 Jadelight Ranger, a Bristling Hydra, and a Ripjaw Raptor on the board. He swings with the Raptor and the Ranger. I chump the Ranger and throw 2 caracals and 2 cats in front of the Ripjaw Raptor (I had fumigate in hand so basically just looking to max out my life gain…sorry kitties…). He orders blockers, and we go to damage. I say "Caracal and chumping cat die, Raptor dies, I gain 17, you draw a card from Enrage." And he says, "don't I draw 4 because you blocked with 4?" I told him I'm pretty sure that combat damage is dealt simultaneously, so it would only be one enrage trigger. Judge was called, and he said, "no, it's four different things damaging it, so it's four." I asked him to please look it up (and dude at the next table was like, "yeah, I don't think that's right…"). Judge looked it up and confirmed that it's just one enrage trigger. Next turn, I swing with Caracal and remaining cats then wipe the board. At this point, I'm at 30+ life and in complete control. (3-1)
Match 5: UW Drake
I played this deck for a while on MTGO but gave it up when XLN/RIX didn't add much to it. The keys are (1) keep Drake Haven and Abandoned Sarcophagus off the board and (2) exile graveyards before the second approach because their only mainboard counter is usually 4x countervailing winds. I did just that G1 and double approached.
G2 was a bunch of draw/go/cycle. He was burning through a ton of his deck without finding what he was looking for, and whenever he managed to resolve a Drake Haven, I promptly got rid of it through Cast Out/Forsake the Worldly. Ended up decking him with Ipnu Rivulets. (4-1)
At this point, I've achieved my goal of improving my performance from the last GP, so the rest is gravy…
Match 6: UB Midrange (Atsuki Kihara, Hareruya "God of Standard")
I looked up this opponent afterward and wasn't surprised to see that he's had some high-level success. I got rolled both games this matchup, which is a tough one for us to begin with, but made tougher by having a great pilot who drew all the right things. One suboptimal play I made G1 was to Cast Out his Liliana on T5…he cast Scarab God the next turn and I didn't have an answer, and the God is much more impactful than Lili (although both can be a pain). The language barrier made it tough to chat, but he was very kind and humble in his thrashing of me! (4-2).
Match 7: BW Vampires
I wish, wish, wish that I had seen more of this deck. Cakewalk. 4x Field of Ruin makes Adanto no big deal, plenty of board wipes, and he has no way to interact with Approach game 1.
Game 2 he brought in Kitesail Freebooter, and hit one T2. Sadly, I had my spicy SB tech in hand at the time (Hour of Revelation), so the cat was out of the bag. Kept his Radiant Destinys from getting out of hand, managed the board, and got there with Gearhulk beatdowns. (5-2).
Match 8: Sultai Snek
We're both win-and-in, and I'm disappointed to see Sneks again, but so be it.
G1, I resolved a T3 Gideon, which is always great for me because he typically gains me 6-8 life before dying. He's a threat, so opponents need to deal with him, but he's just a sacrificial lamb for this deck. He attempts to Vraska's Contempt him T5 (negate), then tries to resolve Skysovereign, Consul Flagship (disallow). Got him with double Approach.
G2 was just about the same. Board wipes showing up right when needed. I think opponent was pretty mentally tired at this point—at one point, he missed his Jadelight Ranger explore triggers (he cast the Ranger, then said "Combat?"…don't think he ever realized he missed the trigger). Likely didn't matter because I had 2x Settle in hand, but it just shows how important the mental game is. (6-2, made day 2!).
Grabbed an awesome dinner at Blue C Sushi with my son (who went 4-3-1…not shabby!) and a buddy from Portland who was also playing. Got a good night's sleep without letting thoughts of cardboard interfere too much.
Day Two
Match 9: UW GPG (Yuuki Ichikawa)
I didn't know my opponent by name before the match, but figured he was someone legit when I saw his 2017 World Championship hoodie! About the nicest, most humble, enjoyable opponent you could ask for. Gerry Thompson was playing right next to us, which was kind of cool too.
G1: we both mull to 6 and miss our third land drops (which makes us both laugh quite a bit). I Spell Swindled his God-Pharoah's Gift, which made him laugh and say, "Double Approach?"—I joked that I didn't know if I brought enough treasure tokens, but I had exactly 7. Didn't manage the same-turn double-approach, but got there.
G2: I think I could have won this game if I'd played a bit differently. I kept the board clean enough—kept him off GPG with Forsake the Worldly and used my boardwipes strategically (and used my life total as a resource), while he was just digging deeper and deeper with Champions of Wits, eternalized Champions of Wits, Chart a Course, and Strategic Planning. I Scavenger Grounds our yards away. After a field of ruin, I count his library and he's at 20 cards, and I have 2 Ipnus on the board. I end up cracking the Ipnus too soon, and he resolves a GPG, which may have given him the creatures needed to bring back for the win. Think he got down to 1 card in library.
G3: I didn't really have the answers in this one. I managed to resolve Approach, and I had ipnu and cycler in hand, but he had ipnu as well. I might have been able to get the Approach back in my hand, but as it turned out, he had a negate in hand anyway, so I don't think I was going to win that one. In hindsight, I really needed to put away that G2, and I think I probably could have if I had taken a more optimal line than I did.
After the match, Yuuki was chatting with Shouta Yasooka (who had been watching), and I was de-boarding. I show Yuuki the Crook of Condemnation that I didn't see the entire match, and we both laugh. Then I showed him the Spell Swindle and he laughed again and told Shouta about how his GPG got swindled. Just a fun GP moment that I'll remember. Can't say enough nice things about this guy. (6-3)
Match 10: Sultai Snek (Corey Baumeister)
After losing to a pro, I just laughed when I got paired with another one! Mike Sigrist was playing next to us for this one, which again, was kind of cool.
G1: Got there with double approach. No worries.
G2: He looks at his opening hand and goes, "ehh….I'll try to make it work." To which I reply, "I think that probably means that you have the nuts…" Sure enough, T1 Duress, T2 Siphoner, T3 Snek, T4 Rishkar. Lolz.
G3: He mulls to 6 and gets stuck on lands for a while. I resolve Caracals, he resolves a Carnage Tyrant with a Hydra on board. My turn, I swing with all (the good ol' sacrificial-cats-before-fumigate play). Sure enough, I wipe the board after. At this point, I'm in pretty firm control and manage to get 2 gearhulks on the board, then another caracal, and he scoops it up. Super nice guy, and really enjoyable match. (7-3)
Match 11: Red Aggro
First Bomat Courier I faced all day. Really not a lot to say about this match—kept a bad hand G1 (it was serviceable against any deck but his). Didn't see sweepers G2. Lost with about 40 minutes left in round! (7-4)
Match 12: Grixis Midrange
G1, got there with an easy double approach.
G2, he resolved siphoners T2 and T3, and just drowned in card advantage. I also missed a Search for Azcanta trigger here (I drew the card before remembering to flip). Don't know if it would have changed things, but my only missed trigger of the day…
G3, he stuck a Chandra and a Lili, and I couldn't get rid of Chandra before she emblemed. Just the way it goes, I guess. (7-5).
Match 13: Sultai Snek
G1, got there with an easy double approach.
G2, he got there with Hadana's climb and ballistas.
G3, I think Gideon and Gearhulks got me there, but can't really remember…really mentally tired at this point, but I now know I'll leave with a record that's better than .500, so pretty stoked. (8-5).
Match 14: UB Midrange (or maybe Grixis?)
I played too timid G1 and let my mind play tricks on me and got punished. Started the game with double approach in hand. He managed to double Gonti me, and I really don't know what he has, although his eyes got a little big the first one, which for some reason made me certain that he had taken Spell Swindle. I approach once, and he's built up a good board with TSG and a bunch of zombos. I had the opportunity to Approach again, but I didn't have mana for countermagic, and I was paranoid about the swindle. Turns out it was a fumigate and I would have been totally clear. Instead, he reanimates all the things and kills me before I can try again. Some regret over this one, but I really can't be too disappointed.
G2, I just couldn't get anything going, and he stuck an early Arguel and Search for Azcanta, so he out-carded me like crazy. (8-6). No pro point for me, but it's all good.
Match 15: RG Dinos
Cakewalk. All the sweepers, all the essence scatters, he can't interact with Approach. He brought in Prowling Serpopard G2, but I easily cast that out (and countered the Naturalize). Easy, easy matchup for this deck, and wish I'd seen RG more than just the final match. (9-6).
Takeaways
I loved the deck this weekend, and would not hesitate to rock it in another standard event. I think it's only going to get better after DOM drops (although exploring a splash of B might be worth it given the improvement in the mana base). The weaknesses are what we've discussed for a while: missing land drops and iffy early-game interaction. But the strengths are strong: extremely favored G1, access to reasonable creature finishers post-board (Caracal, Torrential, Nezzie), good ways to interact with enchantments, good answers to resilient threats (Carnage Tyrant, Phoenix).
In retrospect, I should have found room for at least one, if not two, Farm // Market to handle the proliferation of Sneks. Seriously, they were everywhere. Maybe instead of Crook of Condemnation, although Crook did some work for me. And if UR GPG continues to be a thing, I think the case for a Crook in the main gets even better. Slash was great for the siphoners, but Sneks were a problem.
I also think I got burned by a couple of suboptimal plays (although I reaped the benefit of a couple suboptimal plays/errors by opponents, so they wash out). I think that my game has improved 100% since my last GP, and this one made it very clear to me that deck selection has only so much to do with success—minimizing/eliminating play mistakes, carefully evaluating lines of play before making a decision, and staying mentally focused is just as important, and why I think the pros do as well as they do consistently. I definitely have room for improvement, and hope to keep the upward trend.
Overall, the GP was a blast. For the most part, my opponents were fun to play against (only a couple less-than-friendly folks), and having the opportunity to play against a couple pros was definitely something I'll remember for a while!
Next goal: getting that 10th win for the pro point.
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I'll do a more thorough writeup after I get back in case folks are interested. The metagame is pretty interesting up here, but there are more copies of winding constrictor than I'd like to see, personally. Just tons of BG and Sultai snake decks.
I'm hoping to see nothing but vampires tomorrow!
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Hey, congratulations @Pankary! Glad the list worked well for you!
I've gone back and forth on Opt and Censor, but my feeling after practicing with both is that Opt + Essence Scatter has a slight edge over Censor, particularly in the late game. It does feel good to Censor something early, but the early game things you need to worry about are creatures, which Essence Scatter will take care of (and unconditionally vs. Censor requiring them to be tapped out). Censor just stinks in the late game, where Opt and Essence Scatter are both strictly better (hard countering a creature and letting you dig two deep for an answer (or an Approach)).
I've been tinkering with the list a bit lately online. My main focus has been testing whether we need Disallow (I know, I know, but stay with me here):
The deck's weaknesses are (1) resolved creatures [maybe more accurately, resolved resilient creatures--things that recur or are indestructible] and (2) hitting land drops [again, maybe more accurately, hitting the right land drops]. If the goal is to prevent resolved creatures, then Essence Scatter is strictly better than Disallow because it's 1U instead of 1UU. The deck also really (really) wants WW by turn 4 to either cast or threaten Settle the Wreckage. I run 6 colorless lands in my deck (4 field of ruin, 2 scavenger grounds) which can occasionally result in situations where I'm without double colors on turn 3/4, forcing me to field of ruin to get what I need. That really makes it tough to rely on Disallow in the early game to prevent creatures from resolving because if I don't happen to have two blue sources turn 3, the creature will resolve.
The deck's strength is game 1. We are ridiculously favored game 1 against just about every deck in the meta with the exception of heavy creature-based decks. If we want to make those matchups better G1, having 4x Essence Scatter makes sense. It's the cheapest way to prevent creatures from resolving. So that's what I've been testing, along with bumping up one Slash of Talons and one Farm // Market. There's not a bunch of cards you can cut, so Disallow was the likeliest candidate. I also went up one Glimmer of Genius and one Supreme Will because they can help you race the clock that those creature-based decks put you on (and Supreme Will usually counters something or other).
Losing three hard counters seems like a bad idea on paper because we play a control deck, but we don't get into counter wars in game 1. Other blue-based decks in the meta don't play Negate main deck. UB control usually has 3-4 Disallows (and maybe Supreme Wills) main, and decks like UB midrange, sultai climb, grixis energy, etc., just don't maindeck a ton of answers for Approach. They rely on their sideboard to shore up the matchup. Which is the same thought here--having 3 negates and a Jace's Defeat in the board against decks that you want them.
Through 3 leagues, I'm 10-5, with match losses to mono red x2 (land issues), mono black aggro x2 (this, I think, is the deck's absolute worst matchup), and mono green aggro. I think I mostly lost the mono-green matchup because I hadn't played against the deck before, but seems like a pretty good deck. Out of the sideboard they brought in Nissa, Vital Force (after emblem, which isn't too hard to get, Settle the Wreckage becomes legitimately terrible) and heroic intervention (which makes fumigate terrible). I don't know how mono-G fares against the rest of the meta, but I hope it doesn't do well so people don't play it because it has some great tools against us. I might have turned the corner in G3 if I'd had Gideon (I cut him in the list I was playing), but only maybe...
Mono B aggro is my nemesis deck at the moment. Slash of Talons is great against Siphoner, but only OK against Scrapheap Scrounger and Dread Wanderer, and that deck usually runs some number of Supernatural Stamina. Between those two resilient threats, night market lookout (annoying!), aethersphere harvester, and duress out of the SB (I would have won G3 in one of my matches if they hadn't timely duressed my settle the wreckage), it's a really tough matchup.
I think my next tweaks will test running either 26 lands or a 4th Opt, and potentially adding Crook of Condemnation main.
Sorry for the long post. I'm gearing up for GP Seattle so I'm really focusing on tuning this list!
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Has anyone else experimented with Maps for card filtering? It may be that Search is better, or that some combination of the two is optimal, but I've been pretty impressed with the maps lately. I have also recently had a couple of grindy control matchups lately in which I've been down to fewer than 10 cards in my library (with Arch, Treasure Cove, and Azor, the Lawbringer, I've been drawing a bunch of cards). Seems like another upside to Map is that you're not pitching cards into the graveyard that you might want later...
Thoughts?
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I think Gideon of the Trials is a good option against UB control. The low CMC allows you to roll it out early and neutralize attackers. They usually board in some amount of creature hate anticipating our SB plan. I've tried Kefnet, but it can be tough turning on his attacks/blocks. Also, against anything with white, he's a great Baffling End target.
Brief anecdote: was playing an updated UW list in a MTGO league against a midrange-y UB deck (Kitesail Freebooter, Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, The Scarab God, Gifted Aetherborn).
Game 1, easy win with double Approach.
Game 2, he gets in a Lost Legacy searching for Approach and whiffs (I boarded them out for Torrential Gearhulks). LOLs all around. I punt this one hard. He had resolved a Gonti, Lord of Luxury, taking I knows not what. He resolves the Scarab God. At his upkeep, he casts my Torrential Gearhulk from exile--I thought that he had used the Scarab God's ability to return a TG to the battlefield, so I pass priority with Essence Scatter in hand. Likely wasn't outcome determinative--he had enough mana to zombify the TG if I had countered it--but still, you really have to look at those little boxes to see what's happening on MTGO...
Game 3, I board the Approaches back in, board out the gearhulks, and bring in 3x Gideon of the Trials. An early Freebooter shows him my hand, which has 2 Approaches in it. More LOLs, and when he Lost Legacys me the next turn naming Approach, I get to draw 2 cards (nice bonus). He asks "is Gideon your only Wincon now?" to which I respond, "Ipnu Rivulet :-)" I ended up milling him out for the win (not before I got a frowny face and gg from him).
Notes:
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Decklist was similar to Peter Villarrubia's from Nationals:
2 Field of Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Ipnu Rivulet
5 Island
6 Plains
Creature (1)
1 Torrential Gearhulk
2 Gideon of the Trials
Enchantment (6)
4 Cast Out
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Farm // Market
4 Censor
1 Disallow
1 Negate
4 Glimmer of Genius
1 Settle the Wreckage
3 Supreme Will
3 Opt
Sorcery (7)
3 Approach of the Second Sun
4 Fumigate
2 Solemnity
3 Negate
2 Torrential Gearhulk
2 Sunscourge Champion
1 Gideon's Intervention
3 Authority of the Consuls
2 Kefnet the Mindful
Match one was a relatively easy 2-0. My opponent admitted that it was the first time he was playing it, and it showed (for example, he used Field of Ruin to blow up Glacial Fortress in the early rounds when I had Search for Azcanta out rather than waiting until I flipped to Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin). In game 1, there was a nervy moment was when he resolved The Scarab God, but I managed to get rid of it by casting Fumigate and then Disallow on the triggered ability. Double approach for the win. Game 2 was the war of the counterspells. He cast Duress turn 1 and snagged Approach. I aggressively countered his attempts to resolve Hieroglyphic Illumination to keep him down on card advantage, which made things much easier for me.
Match two was a somewhat spicy cat aggro matchup (Pride Sovereign, Adorned Pouncer, Oketra's Monument etc.). Game 1, I had plenty of sweepers and won with double Approach. Game 2, opponent managed to get me from 23 to 1 in a single attack: embalmed Adorned Pouncer, two Sacred Cats, and a Vanquisher's Banner in play, and she cast Blossoming Defense and Appeal to make it a 10/10 double strike and swung with the team. I managed to Fumigate the next turn and limped on until I got double Approach. Cast Out was necessary in this matchup to shut down both Anointed Procession and Gideon's Intervention (which had named Approach).
Match 3 was the toughest of the three, and I would have lost if my opponent had respected Settle the Wreckage a bit more. I used it to hit 3 of his 5 creatures one attack (leaving Longtusk Cub and Whirler Virtuoso), and when he thought the path was clear, he used the Virtuoso to make 7 Thopters and attacked with the squad...right into my Torrential Gearhulk (bringing back Settle the Wreckage).
It was my first time taking this deck out for a spin, and overall, it felt really good. Some of my takeaways:
Some cards I want to try out (comments/thoughts welcome--I'm not on MTGO and don't have a ton of time to test different cards):
Finally, a question: there have been references to a "Desert Package" for this deck, but it's not clear what that means. Is it just a couple copies of Desert's Hold combined with replacing a plains and island with Desert of the Mindful and Desert of the True?
Thanks everyone...the information in this thread is really helpful for me. I'm surprised that this deck hasn't had better results at big tournaments, but I'm guessing it's because (1) it's less represented in the meta and (2) variance seems to hurt us more in the aggro matchup than it hurts aggro against us.