Unlocking the Vault #17: Cage Match

Ironically, I had planned to follow-up my Delver primer with a primer for Oath of Druids. Oath was the “best” deck during the Winter Celebration, so naturally I thought it would be a good time to finally get around to writing the Oath primer. Why is that ironic? Shortly before I sat down to write the primer, Wizards spoiled this beauty:

Wow! Talk about a card that completely shakes up the format. If you could measure the impact the release of this card will have on Eternal formats on the Richter scale, this would be something like a 7.5. Maybe even an 8.0. For Classic, there is still a considerable amount of time before this card hits the card pool, but for certain, this card will define the metagame as soon as it is released. The question is: how much will this affect the format, and will it change things for the better?

What is Fair?

First, let’s try to define the term “broken”, a term most often used to define something that is not fair. In general, the universal definition of broken is, in the loosest interpretation, any spell or action that tries to break the fundamental rules of the game. This includes, breaking the fundamentals of interacting with the graveyard, casting spells for free or at a significantly reduced rate, manipulating the library to one’s advantage by tutoring, etc., and generating infinite anything (with infinite turns at the top of that list). There are other things one may deem broken, but for Classic these are perhaps the most important.

Dredge decks have been abusing the graveyard for years. Bazaar of Baghdad and the dredge mechanic use the graveyard as a resource, rather than as a zone to place expended cards. It seems that with each set comes a new card that abuses cards in the graveyard. Thus, with the addition of these cards, Dredge decks can perform increasingly broken things like reanimating a large creature or putting cards into play for “free” directly from the graveyard. Perhaps the biggest complaint against a Dredge deck is that playing against it is similar to two people playing games of solitaire against each other, trying to see who can reach their goal in the fewest number of moves. Yawgmoth’s Will similarly abuses the graveyard to its advantage, recasting spells that have already been cast (or countered).

Oath decks aim to cheat prohibitively large casting-cost creatures onto the battlefield using a 2-mana enchantment. It doesn’t help that Oath has access to cards like Forbidden Orchard whose normal drawback actually powers up Oath with an uncounterable effect. Tinker aims to provide the same effect, though prohibited to an artifact creature, or alternatively an important non-creature artifact, usually Time Vault, a card that breaks the fundamental rules of the game on its own.

Blue decks have lots of spells that can be cast for “free” including Force of will, Daze, and Mental Misstep, to name just the most commonly played. Some may say that these cards prevent other people from doing broken things, and that is certainly true. In effect, though, casting a Force or Misstep is really just trading one broken action for another. In a similar vein, Workshop decks use lands that generate more than 1 mana upon activation to pump out artifacts faster than they would without them. Dark Ritual (as well as other rituals), Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Mana Vault also are efficient means to generate “free” mana by accelerating your mana to cast larger spells. Fastbond and Gush are used to generate mana and card advantage. Channel is another example of accelerating mana resources to do broken things with. Affinity is the most broken mechanic the game has ever seen.

Tutors manipulate the library to single out the card that the caster needs, with the likelihood that he will do something broken with it. They allow deckbuilders to functionally have more copies of a card in their deck than otherwise allowed for an oftentimes completely acceptable cost. Tinker functions as a tutor in this regard, as well. There are other means of manipulating the library such as the Brainstorm/Fetch Land interaction.

In the past, all of these strategies have had to deal with some sort of answer that aimed to stop them from doing those broken things. Dredge decks had to fight through graveyard hate, Workshop decks had to deal with large amounts of artifact hate, Blue and Storm decks had to fight through spheres and disruptive little hate bears, Tutors and Tinker had to fight through those same disruptive bears and countermagic. Oath decks had to deal with creature-less decks and enchantment removal. Above all else, if a particular card becomes too powerful, the Banned/Restricted List does a fine job of moderating the format.

So, why is all of this relevant?

Almost universally, there was never a silver bullet that could neuter nearly all of those strategies at the same time. Until now…

Look at that thing! The design of this card is remarkable, and for a format like Classic that has built-in tensions pulling like a tug-of-war, this card nearly has it all. Let’s analyze this card piece by piece.

For just a single colorless mana, virtually every deck can cast this card. Most importantly, it can be cast on the first turn, which is a big deal against Oath and, to only a slightly lesser degree, Dredge, which needs the perfect blend of cards and luck to go off on the first turn on the play. Tinker is stopped cold unless you can cast Tinker Turn 1 on the play. Yawg Will likely won’t be able to go off on Turn 1 on the play without an absolutely bonkers opening hand. At a single mana, Dredge only has Cabal Therapy to try to preemptively stop a Cage, but missing on a Therapy is not the ideal way to spend the first turn.

On the other hand, at 1 mana, this card is a prime target for Mental Misstep. As if that card weren’t important enough already, it may start to see more play than Force since every deck can cast a Misstep but not every deck can reliably cast Force.

Being an artifact, there are some important things to note. First, it is a non-creature spell, and thus can be countered with Spell Pierce. Also, niche cards like Annul and Steel Sabotage can counter this card, though only certain decks would remotely consider playing them.

In terms of removal, there are many, many types of cards that can destroy artifacts, simply due to the presence of Workshop and Affinity in the environment. Nature’s Claim gets a bump in value, while Ancient Grudge is limited to simply being Shatter with the Cage in play. Crush, Crumble, and Oxidize are also fine options at a single mana. But while Nature’s Claim et al. become even more important, they are also held in check by the fact that the Cage pilot can run their own Missteps to help protect their precious artifact. This could in turn lead to more 2-mana-cost solutions seeing play, though the options are somewhat underwhelming; Disenchant or Naturalize anyone? Hull Breach?

As an artifact, it is susceptible to Hurkyl’s Recall and Rebuild, if that suits your fancy. Other bounce options include Chain of Vapor, Echoing Truth and the like. But all those bounce spells are simply temporary solutions since the cage will, in almost every case, be played again on the following turn.

Here, Tinker and Oath decks are affected the most. Goblin Welder‘s effectiveness is severely hampered by the Cage, as its best attribute was recurring creatures, especially Triskelion. Although hardly played these days, Flash decks no longer function with the Cage in play, as the triggered ability on Protean Hulk is prevented from dropping the creature combo pieces to win the game. [Aside: with the Cage, could an unrestriction of Flash be viable? – end aside]

Oath has been the predator of creature decks for as long as it has been legal. Cage has evened the playing field for those same decks that were no match for a Turn 2 or Turn 3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, as long as they are willing to play a 1-mana artifact with no effect on the board itself. Tinker at least has the option to search out the missing complement to Time Vault/Voltaic Key (“Vault-Key”). In this case, Tinker‘s value isn’t completely nullified, but it probably means that blue-based decks will need to include Vault-Key so that Tinker isn’t a dead draw. Gone are the days where blue-based control decks could simply throw in Tinker and a large robot and call it a day.
Oath, on the other hand, becomes nothing more than a free Worldy Tutor, without the benefit of choosing the specific creature. But with Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Blightsteel Colossus being the most common Oath “fatties”, Worldly Tutoring for one or the other is the last thing one wants to do (apart from the interaction with Show and Tell, of course). Since Oath is a card that requires a full turn to realize any value, even dropping an Oath on Turn 1 with a Forbidden Orchard and a Lotus Petal is no longer the broken play it once was with Cage entering the environment. Now, creature decks can have a response on Turn 1, even on the play, that prevents Oath from blowing them out.

This is the part of Cage the neuters Dredge. Basically, with this card in play, Dredge can simply activate Bazaar and dredge, hoping to find an answer on the top of their deck and “go off” on that turn. Dredge will likely play more permanent removal rather than bounce spells since the Cage can be re-cast the following turn, unlike say, a Leyline of the Void which could be impossible to replay if that player doesn’t have access to double black mana. In the least, bouncing Leyline would buy a turn or two as Dredge’s opponent could be stuck on 3 mana or less. In this way, expect to see more Ingot Chewers since they can be evoked into play to avoid Thorn of Amethyst, etc. and only cost a single mana, a reasonable expectation for Dredge decks.

In the same vein as Dredge decks, Hermit Druid decks are greatly affected by the Cage. Without access to Dread Return, the deck cannot function; even more so than Dredge. A Hermit deck would need to pack some additional artifact removal or bounce spells, but the deck is already highly tuned and diluting it any further kills its explosiveness, and with that, its effectiveness.

Yawg Will is similarly neutered in this respect, as all those Dark Rituals, cantrips, Lion’s Eye Diamonds/Lotus Petals will be stuck in the graveyard. But a restrictive artifact has not been difficult to deal with for Storm decks in the past (the most popular deck for Yawg Will), so those same counter strategies apply, mainly Hurkyl’s Recall, etc. In fact, without other restrictive effects like Spheres, Hurkyl’s Recall is even easier to cast and avoids Missteps. Nonetheless, the Cage is still a major roadblock that needs to be dealt with before storming out.

What it Doesn’t Do…

Interestingly, Cage does not affect a card like Minds Desire, which exiles the card before permitting casting for no cost. Desire has always been a card that had excellent power, but often would require the same amount of effort to storm out as a Tenrils of Agony would.

Living End and Living Death also circumvent the Cage’s ability. Cascade and Suspend will also work around a Cage, though it unlikely any cards would stand to benefit from this loophole at this moment.

Good card is Good

So, there are obviously many good reasons to play Cage. Cage is perhaps the best “hoser” card ever printed. Eternal formats have never had to deal with a card that evens the playing field quite like Cage does. For this reason, any deck that does not utilize Oath, Dredge, Yawg Will and Tinker has almost no reason to not include Cage within their 75. In many ways, running Cage frees up more spots in your deck because creature decks no longer need to basically “pick their poison.” Going forward, you can simply play 4 Cages and use another 4-6 slots on cards to accentuate those matchups that are inherently weak without worrying about getting Dredged out as readily. I don’t believe that Leyline is no longer viable, but in fact think that running 4 Cages and 4 Leylines will be the new norm. With that configuration, you effectively have 8 answers for Dredge, 8 for GG Oath, 4 for ShOath, 8 for Yawg Will/Storm decks, and 4 for Tinker decks. For ShOath and Tinker, where you only have 4 sideboard cards, there are other ways to build your deck to help those strategies. Combining Phantasmal Image and Leyline can help deal with Legendary Emrakul and Blightsteel Colossus. Is Image a narrow card? Perhaps, but the answers are there if you need them. For that matter, perhaps Sower of Temptation and Gilded Drake gain more value?

Oath is Dead, Long Live Oath!

Does this mean that Oath is now dead? I am confident in saying that Oath as we used to know it is dead, but that doesn’t mean Oath of Druids as a strategy is no longer viable. A new era of Oath decks must be established in order to combat the likely heavy play of Cage. Even in light of a low adoption of Cage, Oath decks will still need to adapt to the possibility out of the sideboard simply because of how cheap the Cage is, the neutering effect it has, and the fact that every deck can run it (ignoring the mirror and Dredge matchups, obviously). The next logical evolution for Oath is one that has already seen success in the format, ShOath. Utilizing Show and Tell as a means to circumvent the restriction of Cage, the tools are there to remain a top tier deck.

Where do we go from here?

The metagame will revolve around how much play the Cage will actually see. It is my opinion that every Delver, Fish, Workshop, and other Aggro deck will want to play at least 2 Cages in their 75. It would not shock me if a full set of 4 is in all of those decks, and many, if not all, have some number in their main deck. Assuming that is the case, what cards and decks will benefit the most?

Jace, the Mindsculptor and Tezzeret the Seeker are two cards that would certainly stand to benefit. Obviously, neither is affected in any way (if you ignore using Tezzeret’s ability to search out an artifact creature, something unlikely to happen anyway). Tezzeret, ironically, can actually be used to search out a Cage! Casting either planeswalker is made much more palatable and faster with Mana Drain, a card that stands to benefit from these changes. Each planeswalker provides a win condition once they hit the table, Jace all by himself and Tezz by either fetching the combo piece for Vault-Key and/or turning all your artifacts into 5/5s for the win.

Another planeswalker that might see an uptick in use is Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (hats off to the Many Insane Plays podcast for that little nugget of tech). It would be the first time Tezz 2.0 would see Classic play, but it would be relevant in a Mana Drain deck as yet another win condition. Perhaps Tezz 2.0′s best attribute would be to create 5/5s to tangle toe-to-toe with opposing Tarmogoyfs, etc., and its ability to Impluse for an artifact can’t be ignored, especially when trying to assemble Vault-Key.

With that all being said, I believe Vault-Key will be an important aspect of blue-based control decks going forward. It’s probably the most broken thing that one can be doing in an environment that is hostile to Dredge, Storm, and Oath (though Oath decks have historically been an ideal place for the Vault-Key combo).

Workshop decks are an ideal place for Cage to find a home as well. Oath traditionally has a good matchup against Workshop decks, so perhaps this can tip the scales in Workshop’s favor for once. Because of its casting cost, a Workshop deck could reasonably expect to explode out on Turn 1 with Mishra’s Workshop, Cage, and a Sphere or Chalice of the Void set at one counter. I can’t think of a better way to protect a Cage then by casting a Sphere or a Chalice to prevent it from being bounced or destroyed. Perhaps the biggest boon to Workshop decks is the fact that Cage functions as a single card that used to take up 8 slots in the 75. With the Cage as a potential maindeck card, Workshop sideboards will now only need 4 additional answers to Dredge, likely a Leyline or some Tormods Crypts or Relic of Progenituses. Combine those cards with Phyrexian Metamorph, a card that is a strong maindeck card in Workshop decks anyway, and you suddenly have a strong game against Dredge and Oath, leaving more sideboard slots to deal with creatures, such as Razormane Masticore or Triskelion. With Workshop’s inherent strong matchup against Storm, it would not surprise me to see another resurgence in Workshop decks, provided that Workshop can find a reliable way to deal with Affinity (Null Rods for all those Skullclamps?).

Affinity is also a natural home for Cage, fitting in as another artifact in the deck. It could find a home in the maindeck, at the expense of Steel Overseer, a card that is often too slow to affect the game unless the board is stalled. The Cage is also a fine sacrifice outlet for Arcbound Ravager for a final kill shot since Cage’s effect is stopping just about everything that is done at sorcery speed.

Perhaps the biggest archetype to benefit from the Cage, however, is creature decks. Wizards has made it a priority, for better or worse, to try and improve the power of creatures over the last several years. With the Cage, they now have their “Swiss Army Knife” to be able to fight their worst nemeses at the same time: Dredge and Oath. Storm still presents a problem, but can be dealt with as more sideboards slots open up as a result of the Cage’s flexibility (i.e., by adding Flusterstorm and/or Mindbreak Trap). Fish decks, Delver decks, Merfolk decks, Bears — all stand to benefit a great deal from the Cage.

So how do the current top decks adapt?

Dredge will need to pack more artifact removal to deal with the prevalence of Cage. Bounce spells will no longer be as effective, though the threat of Leyline will still be quite real. As such, Nature’s Claim will probably be a staple in Dredge decks as at least a 3-of. Chewers and Wispmare will remain firmly entrenched in Dredge sideboards.

Oath decks will likely need to adopt the ShOath plan in order to survive. If Cage is not played in great numbers, or the metagame starts to see a receding in the prevalence of the Cage, perhaps GG Oath can sneak in a win at a tournament here or there, but I think its days at the top of the food chain are numbered. But what about new versions of Oath? Could a “Demon Oath” deck become playable, one that revolves around Vault-Key by chaining Demonic Tutors on legs with Rune-Scarred Demon? Probably not, but it’s something worth considering.

Storm Decks will need to pack more artifact bounce, such as Hurkyl’s Recall or Rebuild. Storm decks have been successful with this formula in the past, so they probably won’t see too much negative effect from the Cage, but its splash damage can’t be ignored. Having to tutor up a Recall or Rebuild every game will certainly slow down the explosiveness of Storm.

I terms of new answers, yes, more artifact hate spells will be played, but what about a card stuck in the Vintage/Classic limbo: Gorilla Shaman? Yes, the “Mox Monkey” might finally find a home in Classic Blue Tinker-based decks. While it won’t be able to munch on any Moxes, the Cage comes in at a respectable cost of 1 mana, something that the Mox Monkey can manage.

Conclusion

Classic will always been known as a format of broken things. Despite the printing of Grafdiggers Cage, this will remain what Classic is about.

As always, there will be ways to adapt, but the real question is this: At what point does a strategy start to become unable to fight through the hate? Maindeck Cages would lower the percentage that Dredge is favored in Game 1, possibly enough that if the Cage is to see widespread play, Dredge may be forced out of the metagame. It is important to note, however, that Dredge has always been able to adapt, but if Dredge hate can now also work against other decks, that’s a real problem for all of those decks affected.

Oath has had a relatively free reign with little hate. Besides switching to ShOath, there is not a quick definitive answer to whether it can fight through a metagame rife with Cages.

Creature decks, already on the upswing thanks to Delver, could stake their claim at the top of the metagame as Aggro/Control/Tempo decks now have the tools available to them to fight the broken decks while not diluting their core strategy.

It will be interesting to see how the battle plays out in the metagame. There will be a fine tension as Cage decks will try to land and protect their Cage, while non-Cage decks will be trying to prevent or remove the Cage from entering the battlefield. Surely, any strategy that is immune to the Cage should see an uptick in play. One thing is for sure, though: the Classic metagame will not be the same once Dark Ascension is released online.

enderfall
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