Over the last few weeks, there have been a handful of Daily Event results to sort through for Classic. Dating back to September 8th, there have been 10 Daily Events, and of course, the Top 8 from QT #1 of the Classic Quarter League featuring the Classic Invitational. These results are certainly a great place to start when trying to figure out which deck to play in QT #2 in order to earn that coveted Classic Invitational invite for July 2013. Speaking of which, you can find all the information you need to register for the next QT right here: http://www.classicquarter.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4752.
Scanning through the results and decklists of these 11 events, one thing became painfully obvious to me. There was one card that appeared in list after list.
Nope, it wasn’t everyone’s favorite whipping boy for highlighting the expense of breaking into an Eternal format.
Nope, not this blue card either. It’s certainly a staple of many decks, but this wasn’t the card that I noticed.
Nope, not the little blue menace, though I was surprised when I saw just how few Delver decks there were. Delver managed to win QT #1, but it was not this card that caught my eye.
Bingo! Wasteland was found in every non-Dredge/non-ShOath deck in the field except for 5. Dredge is a deck that will never be able to use Wasteland to its potential and ShOath just doesn’t have the room in its manabase to fit in Wasteland (though a singleton Strip Mine to tutor-up against Karakas makes a lot of sense). Needless to say, out of the remaining decks, only 5 that placed did not include Wasteland.
Ironically, the Top 8 of the 1st QT included 2 non-Dredge/non-ShOath decks that did not use Wasteland: albertorodalv’s winning Delver list and PlanetWalls’ innovative 4th place deck, Pod Shop [Editor's note: I keep insisting that it be called Mishra's Birthing, but that name isn't sticking for some reason. --PlanetWalls]. In the recent Daily Events, 3 more decks did not use Wasteland, a UB Jacerator deck piloted by ChrisKool, a unique combo deck piloted by Cronin exploiting Rest in Peace, and a budget Affinity list whose non-inclusion of the card was probably more of a function of its pilot not owning any Wastelands than a strategic move to eschew them altogether.
Further, each deck that used Wasteland played at least 3 copies of it except 2 Delver lists (which each utilized only 2 Wastelands) piloted by the same person on consecutive days with nearly identical 75-card lists.
Here are the cold, hard numbers: Out of 57 decks placing in events over the last 6 weeks, 47 utilized Wasteland. This represents an astounding 83% of the field! If one accounts for a couple of decks that did not use Wasteland, but which represent archetypes that traditionally do (Affinity and Delver), that number jumps to an out-of-this-world 86%, a number that would make even Leyline of the Void jealous.
Before going further, here is the complete breakdown of all 57 decks that placed over the last 6 weeks:
13 Oath (8 GG Variant, 5 ShOath)
11 Workshop (4 Metalworker, 3 Stax, 3 Slash Panther, 1 Pod Shop)
7 Delver (5 RUGb, 2 UB)
6 Affinity
6 Merfolk
5 Dredge
3 GW Bears
3 4C/Bant Fish
1 UW Stoneforge (Legacy Port)
1 UB Jacerator
1 WBR Helm of Obedience-Leyline of the Void/Painters Servant-Grindstone Combo Deck
So what does this say about the Classic format? Well, for starters, Wasteland is warping the format, perhaps in a harmful way. There is only 1 pure combo deck and only 1 traditional pure control deck among these 57 decks. (I don’t consider Delver lists control decks, but they are the closest thing this format has to a tier 1 control deck at the moment – notwithstanding that some are less controlling than others.) It’s quite easy to understand why this is the case: Workshop decks have come roaring back, and without the Power 9, combo and control do not have much of a chance. Lotus Petal is no substitute for the Vintage Moxen, and despite combo decks having access to unrestricted Lion’s Eye Diamond, a single Wasteland can be enough to decide a match.
We can also conclude that Oath and Workshop are battling it out for supremacy like two gladiators from rival cities. Oath is perhaps the best blue deck to compete with Workshop, while Workshop destroys nearly everything else. It’s clear, if you aren’t playing with the Big Boys, that your only hope is to do something way over the top (Dredge), or pack your Wastelands.
In the most recent Daily Events, Affinity has come out strong (perhaps as a means to fight off traditional Workshop decks). These decks have even taken to adopting one of the most powerful cards from Workshop decks: Tangle Wire. Affinity is brutally fast and can turn a game around in the matter of a single turn.
How can we exploit this information to prepare for QT #2?
Naturally, the easiest solution is to run more basic lands. This is easier said than done. Four-color decks are almost out of the question with basic lands, and 3-color decks are even pushing the envelope with a number of basics in their list. Two-color and mono-colored decks are the easiest ways to punish people playing with Wastelands that simultaneously make it easier to run Wastelands. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the decks that fit these criteria:
GW Bears
Fish
Merfolk
Standstill (?)
Dark Times
This list is not 100% exhaustive, as I’m sure a case can be made for a large number of basics being included in several other decks. For the purpose of this exercise, I’m highlighting those I feel have the best chance.
Starting with GW Bears, ChrisKool took 2nd place in the 1st QT with this list:
GW Bears by ChrisKool
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Last year, GW Bears started performing well in an environment very similar to today’s metagame. The top of the metagame at the time was Oath and Workshop, and thus the deck was tuned to beat both. ChrisKool’s deck is no exception. Kataki, Relic Warder, and Pridemage all work well against Workshop decks while Pridemage, Relic Warder, Mindcensor, and Arbiter all work well against Oath decks (as does Karakas).
Wasteland works well in this deck, too, which supplements with Ghost Quarter, Stip Mine, and Thalia to punish manabases. Storm decks, if they do appear, will have a hard time dealing with Teeg and Canonist, as well as the singleton Stony Silence.
Perhaps the only decks that GW will have a difficult match-up against are other creature or tempo decks. ChrisKool eventually lost to Delver in the finals of QT #1, so trying to shore up that matchup through some sideboard tweaks (or perhaps adding a trump such as Tarmogoyf or Knight of the Reliquary) could help push GW over the top. Umezawas Jitte is another card to consider, perhaps as a 2-off maindeck.
Return to Ravnica also brings the possibility of GW adding Dryad Militant as a Turn 1 play. It doesn’t affect Workshop decks, and Oath decks don’t typically recur cards from the graveyard, but it does help against the Delver and other Blue Tempo deck matchups.
Similar to the environment that spurred GW Bears, Fish decks also thrived thanks in part to their ability to deal with a wide range of threats. Here is a recent example from the Daily Event on September 8th by FistAlpha:
Bant Fish by FistAlpha
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This deck has a few interesting things going on, starting with Shardless Agent. In a way, this is sort of the blue version of Bloodbraid Elf, as it will typically cascade into another creature such as ‘Goyf or Pridemage. I don’t particularly agree with its usage in a deck not built around it, as there is too often the chance that it will brick when it hits a Lotus Petal, Stony Silence (against decks that don’t care about it), or Mental Misstep… or even flipping over a Swords to Plowshares with no targets. That being said, you can’t argue with the value of getting two creatures for one, even if one of those creatures is a vanilla 2/2 that can die to Ancient Grudge.
Beyond the Agent, this Fish deck is very similar to those of last year packing Pridemage, ‘Goyf, Noble Hierarch, Meddling Mage, and Edric, Spymaster of Trest (or Cold-Eyed Selkie). The countermagic suite helps deal with any threats that can turn the tide of the game.
Noble Hierarch in particular is a great card to fight off Wasteland. It allows the Fish deck to be able to play a 2-drop on Turn 2 (provided that the Hierarch is played on Turn 1 while simultaneously buffing creatures against the other creature decks.
The lack of Brainstorm in a deck like this is surprising, but not unheard of. One might also consider the impact that Judges Familar might have in such a deck. This is a great start to building a Fish deck for the next QT.
Merfolk decks are perhaps the best mono-colored deck in Classic. Having access to the host of countermagic and uncounterable, instant-speed Lords is quite the force to be reckoned with. Here is the most recent example of Merfolk decks, piloted by Merfolk aficionado Calavera:
Merfolk by Calavera
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This is a straight-forward Merfolk deck which can fight through Wasteland with basic islands and AEther Vial. It lacks the reach of some decks, as it depends on a bunch of creatures that, when alone, or just paired up, don’t present much of a threat.
Legacy players will feel right at home with a deck like this. The deck is a direct port, simply adding Strip Mine and Misstep with some slight tweeks to adjust for the metagame (Gilded Drake, for example).
For players looking to go down the control route, it might be time to dust off those Standstills. Control decks with more than 2 colors will have a hard time dealing with Wastelands. Two-Color Control decks will have a much better time, and Landstill decks might be just the antidote to put control back on the map. It’s been awhile since I’ve played around with some Landstill decks, but here are two versions that should be a great place to start: a UR version and a UW version.
UR Standstill by enderfall
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UW Standstill by enderfall
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The UR list could stand to add Izzet Charm, while the UW list could easily replace the black graveyard hate cards with Rest in Peace.
The other “mono”-colored deck that might be worth looking into is Dark Times. It gets some support from green, but it is for all intents and purposes an all-black deck. Here is a list from my primer earlier this year:
Dark Times w/ Liliana by enderfall
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Abrupt Decay could be useful in a deck like this to dispatch certain problematic cards. Specific to Workshop decks, it gets rind of Chalice of the Void set at 1 or 2 counters, which would otherwise lock this deck out. Otherwise, the deck is basically already tuned, with perhaps some changes to the sideboard necessary to further address the Workshop match.
Until this point I have ignored strategies to defeat Affinity. Sadly, this is because much like Dredge, the type of hate against Affinity is not going to be strong against other decks, which means you’ll have to resort to the sideboard. Sure, some have splash damage against other types of decks, but for the most part, the cards are narrow and neuter Affinity more than others. Cards that will help against Affinity include: Serenity, Null Rod, Stony Silence, Hurkyl’s Recall, Rebuild, Seeds of Innocence, and if you are so daring, Pernicious Deed. Naturally, your options will depend on your deck choice, but there are enough options out there to deal with the deck.
Conclusion
Clearly, if you want to do well in the upcoming QT, your deck needs to be able to beat Oath and Workshop (both Stax and Affinity). If your deck can’t beat both of these decks, you probably will have a hard time advancing to the Top 8. Alternatively, you can take up the old “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” adage and build the best versions of Oath and Shop that you can.
Above all, your best bet to be successful is to know your deck inside and out. Getting ample practice time in will help just as much, if not more, than picking the best deck for the tournament. I would also strongly advise against calling an audible at the last minute.
Best of luck to everyone in the upcoming QT!
enderfall
Clan Magic Eternal
Follow me on Twitter @enderfall
You can also add Energy Flux to the list of Affinity hosers. Kataki is OK, but E-Flux’s 2 mana tax is much more difficult to pay for, though be prepared to have to deal with a 9/9 Ravager as a result.
I played in the Saturday night DE with an updated Workshop Pod list and lost to two Affinity builds to go 2-2. The second time, vs. godmodemagic (when I was fighting for 3-1), he Memory Jar-ed off the top, into 4 0-drops, a second Cranial Plating, and then Berserk. My two Myr Retriever blockers were not up for the challenge.
Affinity is pretty hard to deal with from the Workshop perspective, as far as I can tell. It seems like you need consistent colored mana to hose them, but it’s hard to do so if you’re casting a million artifacts as well.
Yeah, it’s becoming increasingly evident that Workshop started dieing off earlier this year and during the Winter Celebration because of Affinity, and as soon as people stopped playing Affinity, it came roaring back. Some thought that Delver was the culprit, but Affinity is the real problem. I know that I will be prepared for it in QT#2 (or at least, am planning to be prepared
).