Dime a Dozen #9: Finding the Fundamental Turn

The concept of the Fundamental Turn is something that I rarely hear mentioned with regard to the Pauper format. I myself never considered exploring the Fundamental Turn until hearing 2010 Player of the Year Brad Nelson mention it on a podcast recently. As a growing format, Pauper is filled with many opinionated players, deck-brewing hopefuls, and Daily Event regulars. The Fundamental Turn affects all of these people, whether they know it or not. Today I will attempt to shed some light on this integral component of the Pauper metagame.

What is it?

As far as I can tell, the Fundamental Turn (FT) was defined by Zvi Mowshowitz, and has been expanded on by theorists like Chingsung Chang. It is essentially the point in time when a given deck either sets itself up to win the game, or wins the game outright. A deck’s FT is dependent on its composition, and it denotes its relative potency within a format. I will do my best to expand more on this as we continue.

Why should you care?

Because I said so. Trust me!

If that’s not a good enough reason, how about this?: Knowledge of the FT impacts several aspects of the game, including card evaluation, deckbuilding, mulligan decisions, and in-game decisions. If we can determine what the FT is for the top decks in the field, we can understand what cards and strategies are capable of combating those top decks effectively. We can also make better mulligan decisions by identifying what kinds of openers are on par with the FT of the format. Lastly, we can estimate how much time we have to actualize our deck’s plan and better anticipate the upcoming plays our opponent will make.

I want to note here that the concept of the FT does not take into account the numerous variables that make each game of Magic different (for instance, variance factors like mulligans, mana screw, mistakes, misclicks, and so on). It is rather an approximation of how a deck will (typically) operate. Again, it is an approximation, not an infallible or exact science.

The Fundamental Turn: Izzet Post

Let’s start by analyzing the FT of Izzet Post (which is a deck I’m sure you all know and love dearly). In reality we’re starting here because I feel like I have the strongest grasp of what this deck’s FT actually is. Here is an example Izzet Post list that went 4-0 on October 29th:

Izzet Post by _DissonancE_

Creatures (4) 4 Mulldrifter Other spells (32) 1 Capsize 3 Compulsive Research 1 Counterspell 2 Electrickery 2 Electrostatic Bolt 4 Flame Slash 1 Lightning Bolt 2 Mana Leak 1 Mysteries of the Deep 2 Mystical Teachings 4 Preordain 3 Prohibit 4 Prophetic Prism 1 Rolling Thunder 1 Serrated Arrows Lands (24) 4 Cloudpost 4 Glimmerpost 8 Island 2 Izzet Guildgate 6 Mountain Sideboard (15) 2 Duress 2 Earth Rift 3 Hydroblast 4 Pyroblast 1 Serrated Arrows 1 Ulamogs Crusher 2 Yamabushis Storm

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As a control deck, Izzet Post plays a defensive role in the early game, using cheap spells like Flame Slash and Prohibit before exacting its oppressive endgame with more expensive spells like Capsize, Ulamogs Crusher and Rolling Thunder. But how did we go from cheap interactive spells to big flashy finishers? Those are two distinctly different phases of the game. In between those two phases a transition occurs, and that is where the FT can be found.

For a deck like Izzet Post, the FT is not literally the turn where the opponent concedes, but rather the point where the Post player’s life total has begun to stabilize and he or she has started to move towards an endgame. I think I can pretty much identify what turn that is.

Can you? Click here to see if you agree! »

This is the FT for Izzet Post. Think about what the Post player is able to do on that turn: they can resolve Serrated Arrows and start mowing down any small creatures still hanging around from the early game. They can resolve Mystical Teachings and tutor up critical solutions like Electrickery, or pseudo-win conditions like Ghostly Flicker and the aforementioned Capsize. They can also usually resolve Mulldrifter with the help of Cloudpost or a Signet, netting them both cards and a blocker. Turn 4 is when the dynamic of the game will likely shift. The longer the game goes beyond this FT, the less likely we are to beat Izzet Post. Conversely, if we play a deck that has an earlier FT than Izzet Post, we just might be able to give them fits. I wonder what deck that could be…

The Fundamental Turn: Mono Green Infect

My math skills are by no means my best asset, but I do know that 10 is less than 20. For the Infect deck, counting to 10 is the name of the game. In a world where the opponent’s life total doesn’t matter, lots of broken things are bound to happen. Let’s take a look at some of those broken things with this sample list, also a 4-0 from October 29th:

Mono Green Infect by GALL

Creatures (15) 4 Blight Mamba 4 Glistener Elf 4 Ichorclaw Myr 3 Rot Wolf Other spells (26) 2 Apostles Blessing 2 Crop Rotation 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Invigorate 3 Mutagenic Growth 4 Rancor 3 Seal of Strength 4 Vines of Vastwood Lands (19) 17 Forest 1 Sejiri Steppe 1 Teetering Peaks Sideboard (15) 1 Fog 4 Hornet Sting 4 Nature’s Claim 2 Predators Strike 4 Sandstorm

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The Infect plan lives or dies in the early turns. The entirety of the deck is focused on pumping up an early creature, mitigating the effectiveness of blockers via trample or a protection effect, and countering removal with Apostles Blessing, Vines of Vastwood and in the case of this list, Crop Rotation for Sejiri Steppe. The low converted mana cost of the spells, along with any experience you might have seeing this deck in action, should give you a fairly good idea of what its FT might be.

Click here to see my opinion. »

This one is a bit debatable, as I think a more accurate FT for Infect is something like 2.5, give or take a few poison counters. Can the deck flat-out kill you on Turn 2? Yes. Most of us know that all too well. However, you are more likely to die on something like Turn 3, either from a Glistener Elf‘s second pass or the first swing from a Blight Mamba or Ichorclaw Myr. Even if you aren’t dead dead, you’ve probably taken enough poison to make their Rancor or extra attacker certain to finish you off next combat.

It should be no surprise that for a deck to be capable of beating Infect, it needs to interact with them during the first three turns (or else!).

The Curve is Key

I’m sure you’ve noticed that the FT is directly related to what kind of spells have been cast or can be cast at a given point in the game. This in part stems from the mana we have available to us, which thereby stresses two integral aspects of deckbuilding: having plenty of spells that are low on the curve, and playing more lands. The former ensures that we have things to do on and leading up to our FT, and the latter ensures that we hit land drops so that we’re able to do those things.

Most Pauper decks that show up in the Dailies are good about playing cheap spells, but I find that some fall short in the land count department. Pauper players are pretty clever when it comes to making up for low land counts, be it by using cheap cantrips like Preordain or utility creatures such as Kor Skyfisher and Quirion Ranger. Odds are if you’re a newer deck builder, or even just tweaking a deck that you found online, you should probably be playing some more lands!

Accelerate!

Playing a deck with an FT that is on par with or faster than your opponent’s is a clear way to get an edge. Since we’ve just learned that a deck’s FT is related to the mana it has to cast spells, we can now posit that one way to achieve a faster FT is to accelerate our mana. Cloudpost decks already do this by playing locus lands and Izzet Signet, and even a deck like Affinity contains mana acceleration in the form of Springleaf Drum and the Affinity spells themselves (Frogmite, Myr Enforcer and Thoughtcast), which become very cheap very fast.

The Infect deck detailed earlier, for instance, could utilize something like [card]Lotus Petal[card] as a means of expediting its FT and powering out more of its creatures on Turn 1. While I am not saying that Lotus Petal needs to be added, doing so could offer the potential benefit of netting more quick wins.

Monstrous Results

I’ve recently been building and testing a deck that I think utilizes the concept of the FT quite favorably. Partly inspired by a Gruul strategy that appeared online oh-so-briefly earlier this year, this deck is perfect for those who still have a bit of Halloween spirit in them. Let’s take a look at my initial list, and juxtapose what it does well with what could be improved.

Golgari Monsters by Jason Moore

Creatures (30) 4 Blastoderm 4 Borderland Ranger 4 Elves of Deep Shadow 2 Fyndhorn Elves 4 Jolraels Centaur 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Primal Huntbeast 4 Putrid Leech Other spells (8) 4 Doom Blade 4 Echoing Decay Lands (22) 18 Forest 4 Swamp

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The foundation of Golgari Monsters is mana dorks. These guys are integral to the strategy (as evidenced by the fact that we’re playing 10 of them)! I’m running a manabase composed predominantly of Forests to ensure a Turn 1 elf every game. If that weren’t enough, I will also mulligan into an elf hand a large percentage of the time. Are you wondering why I’m going to all this trouble? You shouldn’t be. Golgari Monsters has a very specific plan, and an ideal FT of its own. The plan is to accelerate from little elves to big monsters! Though I’m not certain of its FT, a strong case can be made for Turn 3. This is when the biggest, hardest-to-kill creatures like Blastoderm are often powered out. Golgari Monsters can decisively roll opponents over, especially if their FTs are slower than ours.

Borderland Ranger reinforces our capability to reach 4 mana, acting as a sort of middle ground between our elves and beaters. He appears somewhat innocuous, but will be able to get in for damage while enemy blockers get removed or get in the way of our 5/5s.

The deck is good at putting imminent threats on the table quickly. These threats include the shrouded Blastoderm and Jolraels Centaur, both of which are tough to remove or block profitably. It’s amusing to have an inexperienced opponent snap block the centaur with a 1/3 before fully grasping what flanking means. Putrid Leech is also tough to block, but makes the deck a bit liberal with its own life total when combined with Elves of Deep Shadow. The shakiest creature inclusion is Primal Huntbeast, who feels like he wants to be beefed up by some kind of support card. There are a number of other creatures I’ve tried in this slot, and I’m not sure which one is correct (if any). Here is a short list:

Trusted Forcemage turns early elves and Rangers into threats, and can also be paired with shrouded guys. More susceptible to bounce and removal, which can affect combat negatively for us.

Penumbra Spider is a nice roadblock for fliers, but probably too defensive for inclusion in the main.

Hollowhenge Beast really makes me laugh, especially when playing against Affinity. There is something about a goofy looking vanilla 5/5 that’s hard to resist. I think he might be a little too soft to non-red removal though.

The removal spells are in place to interact with the FTs of other decks, namely Infect creatures, Empty the Warrens tokens and so forth. The 12 black sources in the deck have been working fine, and it’s important not to create a color imbalance by boarding into a lot of excess black spells.

Thus far the deck has been very fun. Despite showing potential, though, it’s fallen a little bit short versus blue decks. It’s not due to their countermagic, however, since most opponents can’t figure out what we’re doing and therefore will tap out early (again, it’s not uncommon to resolve a creature they can’t kill on Turn 2 or 3). Additionally, once you resolve the first threat, they are prompted to tap out again in order to find a solution, letting you resolve even more important threats! So what’s the problem? The problem is not killing them dead quite soon enough, since Ghostly Flicker and Capsize tends to preserve those last crucial blockers and gain life ad nauseam. One tip I have for you is that your elves have fulfilled their contracts by Turn 4 or 5, so get them into the red zone along with the rest of your creatures. This puts your opponent into the position either of making the “bad” block, or taking a lot more damage from the monsters.

Three sideboard cards I’d recommend are Fume Spitter, Gleeful Sabotage and Thermokarst. Spitter works well against Infect and Stompy creatures, Sabotage leads to blowouts vs. Affinity and various golems, and Thermokarst can replace Doom Blade against Storm and Echoing Decay against Cloudpost.

Well that’s pretty much all I have to say about the deck for now. I’m hoping to hear some of your thoughts on how to improve it. Please keep the notion of the FT in mind, as I’m sure I will from now on whenever working on new or preexisting decks.

End Step

I’ve merely scratched the surface of this theoretical concept, but hopefully I’ve made you more aware of its existence, its relation to the Pauper format, and its relation to you as a player. Please let me know if I was at all unclear or uninteresting. This is my first foray into writing about theory and strategy, so I’d like to know how you think I’m doing and how I can improve. I’ve got some questions for you:

What do you think is the FT for other Pauper decks?

Would you like me to revisit this topic later?

Would you like me to revisit the Golgari Monsters deck, perhaps in a Daily Event?

Until next time, thanks for reading!

You can find Jason
co-hosting the Pauper’s Cage podcast
on MTGO as BambooRush
on Twitter @dimecollectorsc
and on Youtube at youtube.com/dimecollectorsc