Back in 2007, he designed a deck and called it Sonic Boom. The name seems to be a reference to a Street Fighter character by the name of Guile, who used a special move called Sonic Boom, because he happened to share a name with a certain 6/6 that cannot be blocked by two creatures or less. It was a sweet mono-Blue control deck piloted by Amiel Tenenbaum at Grand Prix: Krakow that year. Tenenbaum would take the deck all the way to the top 8 before losing to a UW control deck.
Wafo-Tapa Sonic BoomMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
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Land: 4 Desert 2 Dreadship Reef 17 Snow-Covered Island 1 Tolaria West 1 Urza's Factory Creatures: 3 Guile 3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 2 Venser, Shaper Savant | Instants: 4 Cryptic Command 4 Faerie Trickery 3 Pact of Negation 4 Remove Soul 4 Rune Snag 4 Think Twice Sorceries: 4 Ancestral Vision | Sideboard: 2 Draining Whelk 2 Jace Beleren 3 Razormane Masticore 4 Sower of Temptation 2 Take Possession 2 Willbender |
You know who else is cool? MTGO user k_f_chicken, a man boldly playing mono-blue in a format dominated by two-and three-color decks.
And he kicked some ass, I might add. All the way to a 3-1 finish.
k_f_chicken Modern Daily - April 26, 2012Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards |
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Land: 20 Island 4 Tectonic Edge Creatures: 3 Guile 3 Snapcaster Mage Instants: 2 Blue Sun's Zenith 2 Cryptic Command 4 Mana Leak 3 Pact of Negation 4 Remand 2 Repeal 3 Spell Pierce 3 Spell Snare 4 Think Twice | Artifacts: 3 Vedalken Shackles | Sideboard 4 Delver of Secrets 3 Elixir of Immortality 3 Phantasmal Image 2 Pithing Needle 3 Surgical Extraction |
When I saw this deck, I was enamored. It's completely at odds with Modern convention. Guile, while a phenomenal fatty, is not even borderline playable. It's a six-drop with a triple blue color requirement that doesn't actually do anything when you play it. Your opponent has to cast something, and then you have to be able to counter it, which isn't exactly easy. Especially when you consider the fact that Mana Leak and Spell Pierce will be nigh-useless by this point in the game and Spell Snare is situational at best. When you cast Guile, your best counterpells are Remand and Cryptic Command. Both of which require mana to be left open, which means Guile actually costs somewhere between eight and ten.
Except it doesn't because of Pact of Negation.
The combination of these two cards is pretty nuts. Especially when playing against a someone who is obviously waiting for you to spend mana because of those oh so pretty islands staring them in the face. Tapping out for Guile and watching your opponent gleefully slam their spell right into a Pact is a pretty sweet feeling. It's already happened more than once (including against Splinter Twin on one occasion, which was AWESOME) and I hope I see it again. It's the kind of gambit that never gets old. Because it ALWAYS works. Like I said, it defies Modern convention. Who in their right mind plays islands for six turns then "Guile, go."?
Who else but scrubs?
By scrubs, I mean the kind of person that competitive online players immediately identify by their deck choice. By that, I mean the kind of person who learns how card advantage works and applies that knowledge to disparage any card that isn't an immediate +1. Yeah, we know you lost a card, but, hey, it does other things.
I digress.
Wafo-Tapa's Sonic Boom was on my mind that day, and I set about to shake things up yet again with my insatiable desire to play on the fringe. It didn't take me long to identify the other aspect of the Boom that made it so successful: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Ol' Tef was in the Wafo-Tapa original but was missing in KFC's reboot. This was unfortunate, because it's secretly Pacts five through eight. Playing Teferi allows you to flash in your Guile, which makes the big bastard infinitely less clunky. It also provides a method of protection as his static ability disallows your opponent from using the stack to his or her advantage, which makes your counterspells better. Additionally, there are little perks, like his ability to munch any x/3 with little room for error because your opponent isn't able to cast removal spells in the combat step. Tef is a superstar and this deck needs him.
The final card I'd like to talk about is Vedalken Shackles. This card is the literal nuts in Modern. It's so good that I will always tap out for it on turn three. If I have Shackles, nothing my opponent will play matters, bar Seething Song. Modern has gotten utterly creature-centric and Shackles shines in this environment. There are precious few instances where my opponent's next turn will matter to me because chances are it's a creature and will just be stolen and used against them.
So where does this end up? Glad you asked:
Sonic BoomMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
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Land: 20 Island 1 Watery Grave 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Tolaria West 1 Ghost Quarter Creatures: 4 Snapcaster Mage 3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 3 Guile 2 Frost Titan | Instants: 4 Remand 4 Mana Leak 4 Cryptic Command 3 Repeal 2 Pact of Negation 1 Mystical Teachings Sorceries: 1 All Is Dust Artifacts: 3 Vedalken Shackles | Sideboard: 2 Gut Shot 2 Outwit 2 Slaughter Pact 2 Flashfreeze 2 Ghost Quarter 2 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Mindbreak Trap 1 All Is Dust 1 Surgical Extraction |
This is my main deck as of this writing. My go-to guy. It's the first time this slot has changed in quite some time, actually.
Yes, I was still playing Mystical Teachings.
Anyway. Oh, man. So many cantrips and not a single bit of pure card advantage. This is may seem like an odd way of constructing a control deck, but when so many of your spells replace themselves in a deck that has so many excellent other spells, you have no trouble finding something to stop your opponent with. For at least long enough to play something good. They're all temporary bumps in the road; cards that prevent your opponent from advancing their board state (or "tempo plays" if you prefer that vernacular). The entire point is to play jam 'em up, play Teferi, and win.
I have five Guile in this deck: three actual Guile plus two Frost Titan. This helps consistency because I have five ways to stick something big (Pact, Teferi) and five big somethings to stick. Chances are, nine times out of ten, I'll find something to kill you with and something else to prevent you from killing that something by the time I want it. If not, then I'll make you wait. I especially like flashing in Frost Titan; playing him on your opponent's turn allows you to tap two things (it comes in, taps something, then on your turn it attacks, tapping something else) which can really slow an aggro deck down something fierce. Not to mention the fact that after tapping something, it blocks something else! Played during your opponent's combat step, Frost Titan can effectively take out three threats. How's that for value?
Oh, and he can make Mana Leak relevant again. Unless your opponent wants to pay seven mana for a Doom Blade.
So that's basically how you play Sonic Boom. But what about the super secret tech?
Yes, there is a single Watery Grave in this deck. Obviously you'll want to flash back Mystical Teachings to find a fatty once you've tutored for Teferi. What's more, hiding that Watery Grave allows you to Next Level your opponent game two with Slaughter Pact then casually tutor it up off a Misty Rainforest at their end step. With a big ol' grin on your face. It also lets you play your Surgical Extraction without paying life, which may be relevant at some point.
Speaking of land, there's a Tolaria West in there, too. It tutors not only for Slaughter Pact, but also your Watery Grave if you don't see a fetchland. Or your Ghost Quarter if you need to get rid of a manland. Or even your Pact of Negation.
The rest of the deck is pretty self-explanatory. I'm sure you wondered about All is Dust. Well, Evacuation and Devastation Tide aren't really permanent solutions. Evacuation doesn't even hit noncreature permanents. Tide does, but it includes Vedalken Shackles. Dust does his noncreatures but misses Shackles. This deck is built to hit six to seven mana anyway so it's the best choice, I feel.
So that's my latest project. Hope you think it's pretty cool. Stay tuned for more Magic for Hipsters. Should be some more Other People's Decks one of these days, too.
Tolaria West is basically a fourth Misty anyway.
Also, why not just run 4 misty rainforest?