The Stack #29- We Respond

Happy Saturday Zoners.

Apologies for the last couple of break days. Life seems to have us preoccupied a little at the moment, but we appreciate you guys checking in with us on our regular "skedge."

Cause we're here today, responding with, well, responses.

GG, VJ, and I picked out our faves to share with you today.

So let's get to it!

THIS IS THE STACK!

GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
Have your friends ever gone to activate a fetch land at a somewhat inappropriate moment? Maybe they just wanted to save time or were bored because they didn't actually have anything to do on your turn. S that D. Shut that down with your instant speed Sinkhole...aaaaaand then draw a card for the maximum strength rub-ins. In order to prevent long term scarring, you should apply cold water directly to the site of the burn.

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
I agree with my cohorts: tutors are played at a sickening frequency, and what better way to insult the tried and true Demonic Tutor than by drawing a card for two mana? Some of the best control I've seen, or it could just be that I like everything about Ravnica.

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
One of the funnier memories I have of this card is a turn where GG played it in response to try to draw into a counterspell and then tried to crack his fetch land EOT. Hence came the line we've repeated a lot since- "Sometimes I play this game."

Good pick. Tutors are annoying. Shut It Down.

VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
I have a lot of fun with this card because I don't see a lot of other players using this. When I first saw it, lights went on in my head and I thought, "hmmm, could be a Blue kill spell, or Path to Exile." I've been using it ever since. It just seems like one of those unexpected game-changers, and I have indeed used it against a Volcanic Geyser for 30 damage.

Willbender was a close second as well, since I've seen Willbenders turn Doors to Nothingness on their owners.

Uncle Landdrops-  THUMBS DOWN

I've had a lot of trouble with this one, and I was hoping it would be tech. I'm glad VJ's getting mileage out of it though. I will continue to try to work it into various lists, but so far I've had no luck.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
This is a pretty good one. I was glad to see it get moved down to CMC2. There have definitely been superior versions in the past, but I think this in a great place for basically every format except Legacy; where cards have to be unfair to be playable, of course. I couldn't see myself actually starting this in a Commander deck, but then again, I am amazed someone started a Volcanic Geyser. What do I know?

UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK 

Uncle Landdrops-  THUMBS UP
This or smacking the Temple Bell is probably the most likely response I have to most plays, and of those two, Miko is obviously my favorite. What can I say? I love land.

This usually isn't a desperate move either. I do this in response to people playing dudes, ending turns, upkeep triggers, etc. I play a lot of answers usually, so this is more about meta-interactivity. It's what I do before I decide to do something. Or nothing.

Also- being proactive on the draw creates a different dimension to the game. Most of the time it's pretty likely I have an answer already in hand, and I like to think it helps keep my opponents feeling some kind of pressure.


Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I have never not played this in an EDH deck. That should tell you something about how much I use it. I eat breakfast maybe once or twice a month. I activate Mikokoro like, every day. It is extremely powerful. IF you aren't using this in all your decks you just don't get it..or you don't want to win.

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Temple Bell is a tad more preferable simply because you don't have to pay 2 each time you activate. However, the advantage of this is you can start pulling sly UL style bluffing by turn 3, if all goes that way. It serves two purposes, but I guess the second one is a better response than adding 1 mana to your pool. Unless someone plays Armageddon. Then you might want to put something in your pool before all is lost. But even then, you might be able to draw a land with the second ability.

As always feel free to share your favorites in the comments below.

Please tell me you'll respond. Until then, have an A1 Day.

-UL

Applicable Surprises From Worlds Week

Happy Tuesday once again Zoners!

As you may know, I'm not much into playing other Magic Formats.

Still, I couldn't miss the few chances I had to check out what people were playing last week during the World Championships and Magic World Cup.

So this week, we're gonna take a break from all my harebrained strategies and talk about some of the cards I was excited to see getting play in the competitive environment.

OVERVIEW

Much of the stuff I'm going to talk about was listed in the Sideboard, but that really isn't representative of a typical sideboard.

Much of the Standard and Modern was dominated by Blue/White/Red, which leveraged Sphinx's Revelation and other spells off the backs of Restoration Angel and Snapcaster Mage. Shahar Shenhar's U/W/R was actually what ended up winning the whole enchilada.

In Standard, the primary matchup was either with a mirror or Jund, with Willy Edel, Craig Wescoe, and Brian Kibler the only ones not playing the two big decks (Naya Midrange, Boros Aggro, and Gruul Aggro, respectively).

Due to all the mirror matches, the sideboard was actually pretty instrumental in most of the games I was able to watch. Particularly for non U/W/R players, which is where I found the niftier Commander-worthy tricks.

CARDS FROM STANDARD

Lifebane Zombie was one of the big cards that made Jund decks relevant. Being able to get at Thragtusk, Scavenging Ooze, or Restoration Angel was good-- but knowing if Sphinx's Revelation or removal was in hand helped the Jund players make better decisions.

Being a newer card, this was one of the bigger splashes. It was played in Standard mostly, but I did see it in a deck or two during the World Magic Cup.

Brian Kibler's Gruul Aggro deck sported four whole copies of Burning Earth in the sideboard.

When I saw this in his deck feature, all I could think was, "What a badass."

Burning Earth, as he explained, was pretty instrumental against most of the Standard U/W/R and Jund decks he saw, and to compensate, he played quite a bit more basics than the rest of the field.


Willy Edel's Naya midrange also had a couple copies as well.

Of all the people in the tournament, I liked the decks Reid Duke was bringing to the table the most.

His Jund build sported a 1-of Rakdos Keyrune, which was pretty awesome.


Having one extra mana for a Rakdos's Return or a dude to chump felt like a lot of value in this environment.

I didn't get a chance to see it in play, so I don't know if it was actually good; but against other Jund decks and U/W/R, the flexibility felt neat.

Not sure it's EDH worthy, but those colors would probably do well to have some acceleration. 

Assemble the Legion was in U/W/R sideboards everywhere.

I'm actually a huge fan of this card. I saw a few limited drafts where this thing just gets silly if you let it sit out long enough. And with Revelation support, the game goes so deep it's a huge swing in momentum.

In environments where creatures are few and boardsweeps are uncounterable, being able to re-load is pretty nice.



CARDS FROM MODERN

Shadow of Doubt was a surprise choice I saw in the U/W/R lists. I believe a lot of people were expecting to see Birthing Pod, and it shut down Scapeshift and fetches. 


This is a card GG got me playing, and I really like it in Commander. It hoses people who play tutor style effects.

It's one of the reasons Aven Mindcensor also saw some action too.

Teferi's been in Modern sideboards for a little while now, and I find it pretty funny.

I've never actually seen him in action at the table. He's kind of a running joke amongst the announcers, but that doesn't make him irrelevant.

Teferi found his way into the U/W/R deck, I'm mostly guessing, because the list likes Flash creatures and slowing down counter magic.

The theory is sound though. I mean, he's a handful at the Commander table. That's gotta mean something.

This was actually a card from the World Magic Cup, and honestly, it was the most intriguing to me.

The deck was being played by Brazil and Belgium, and was sort of a cross between Josh Utter-Leyton's Redless Jund and the Standard Jund.

The big difference was that it played Disciple of Bolas, Thragtusk, and this guy.

I've been having a lot of fun playing Desecration Demon in EDH, and I like it a lot more than I initially anticipated.

He's a decent threat in Glissa T's and can force value triggers during combat.

In particular, getting huge damage in was helpful against some of the U/W/R matchups, getting them to use their Revelations before they were ready and mowing down their Restoration Angels.

If you're looking for the rest of the lists, or looking to find some of the replay footage, check out this link to Daily MTG.

Standard/Modern Recap

Anyway, that's all I got for today. Till next time, stay up on the down stroke.



Keep it funky, ya jive turkeys.
-UL