Monthly Archives: May 2015

How Fearsome Awakening Won the Internet

Fearsome Awakening
Fearsome Awakening adds yet another layer to the most dynamic Standard format of all time.

Dragon-themed decks continue to perform well in Standard… All different sorts of Dragon decks, from a resurgence in our Mono-Blue build to a brand new Fearsome Awakening reanimator that really has the gears turning.

First up!

Five-color Blue Dragons

Friend of the ‘cast Brendan Hurst (@hamiltonianurst) won a Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier with “exactly” the list we posted in “How to Win a PTQ with Dragonlord Dromoka”

Unlike most PPTQs there is tons of Twitch TV coverage of Brendan’s win.

Check out the full sequence of the coolest play possible with Five-color Blue Dragons here

But that’s not all!

Jeremy Sullivan represented Five-color Blue Dragons in Lutherville/Timonium, putting up a third place finish at a Star City Games Invitational Qualifier with an updated list with even more “Mono-Blue Devotion” sideboard transformative action.

Jeremy’s list:

Five-color Blue Dragons, by Jeremy Sullivan

3 Perilous Vault

3 Dig Through Time
1 Disdainful Stroke
4 Dissolve
4 Encase in Ice
3 Icefall Regent
2 Nullify
4 Silumgar’s Scorn

2 Dragonlord Atarka
3 Dragonlord Dromoka
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death

4 Crucible of the Spirit Dragon
4 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
5 Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Temple of Mystery

Sideboard
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Omenspeaker
4 Master of Waves
2 Wall of Frost

Jeremy deliberately played Temple of Deceit over Temple of Enlightenment main deck to feign Esper; this made life harder on Dragonlord Dromoka, but Jeremy counterbalanced by cutting a Dragonlord Ojutai to make room for more Icefall Regents main deck.

“Nine times out of ten I wanted Icefall Regent more than Ojutai.”

Note the above deck is one card different from the version reported by Star City; Jeremy played only one Disdainful Stroke main deck, not two (putting his deck at 61 cards).

According to Mike, Christopher Smoot “won the Internet” this week.

4 Fearsome Awakening
2 Hero’s Downfall
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Whip of Erebos

4 Dragonlord Atarka
3 Dragonlord Kolaghan
2 Kolaghan’s Command

2 Commune with the Gods
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Deathmist Raptor
2 Den Protector
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sylvan Caryatid

2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Forest
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
4 Llanowar Wastes
1 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Temple of Malady
3 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard
2 Foul-Tongue Invocation
1 Murderous Cut
1 Pharika’s Cure
3 Thoughtseize
2 Virulent Plague
1 Deathmist Raptor
2 Den Protector
1 Hornet Queen
2 Magma Spray

The highlight of this deck is of course Fearsome Awakening.

… You know, for when you need a fifth-turn 10/10 Dragonlord Atarka.

Dragonlord Atarka
(seventh-turn 8/8 Dragonlord Atarka is plenty good by the way)

There are plenty of cool things going on with Smoot’s deck, including Whip of Erebos, Hornet Queen, and nugging yourself with Kolaghan’s Command to set up Fearsome Awakening.

“When other people are playing Foul-Tongue Invocation, you want to be the guy with Hornet Queen.”

Fearsome Awakening may have won the Internet, but there are so many more cool Dragons decks in this podcast! G/R Devotion, Temur with Sarkhan Unbroken, and spitballing Elspeth, Sun’s Champion alongside Dragonlord Atarka in the same deck.

Finally, Chapin and Flores go over some of the listeners’ ideas for containing Deathmist Raptor and Den Protector card advantage in Standard.

This week’s challenge: Brew with Sarkhan Unbroken!

All this and more in “How Fearsome Awakening Won the Internet”

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Dynamic Den Protector!

Den Protector and Deathmist Raptor are the dynamic duo driving many Abzan decks, from Abzan Megamorph to Abzan Control… To Abzan Dragons?!?

den-protector
Den Protector

Before we get into all of this Den Protector / Abzan goodness… A bit of a team announcement:

Michael and Patrick have joined Team Ultra PRO for Pro Tour Magic Origins!

Patrick still “has Pantheon blood” running through his veins, but our intrepid podcasting duo is super excited to join Team Ultra PRO. In case you don’t know about this team, it is absolutely lousy with Hall of Famer / Pro Tour Champion combos like Bob Maher, Paul Rietzl, and Ben Stark (and now Patrick)… As well as regular-old Pro Tour Champions like Craig Wescoe and up-and-comers like Justin Cohen and Adrian Sullivan.

Read more about Team Ultra PRO and meet the full team lineup here.

Okay… Deck lists:

Makihito Mihara and Yuuya Watanabe played a Golgari Dragon Megamorph deck reminiscent of Mike’s Mono-Blue Five-color Dragons deck at Grand Prix Shanghai. Both finished in the Top 16 in Shanghai.

Dragon Megamorph

1 Dragonlord Atarka
2 Dragonlord Dromoka
3 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Dragonlord Silumgar

3 Courser of Kruphix
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Den Protector
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sylvan Caryatid

2 Foul-Tongue Invocation
2 Hero’s Downfall
1 Murderous Cut
3 Thoughtseize

2 Forest
4 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
3 Llanowar Wastes
4 Opulent Palace
1 Plains
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Malady
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Windswept Heath

sideboard:
2 Bile Blight
1 Crux of Fate
2 Drown in Sorrow
1 Duress
2 Foul-Tongue Invocation
1 Self-Inflicted Wound
2 Ultimate Price
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1 Utter End
1 Courser of Kruphix

Note the Dragon suite: All very similar to Mike’s list, essentially grafting [very close to] his Dragon selection onto an Abzan Megamorph shell.

… Did we say “Abzan”?

This deck cuts the darling Siege Rhino for the Dragons, stripping down to essentially just black and green (Golgari) in order to account for Haven of the Spirit Dragon.

While their deck did not play Crucible of the Spirit Dragon, the combination of Satyr Wayfinder and Haven of the Spirit Dragon simulate playing more Dragon lands.

Satyr Wayfinder Haven of the Spirit Dragon
Combining Satyr Wayfinder and Haven of the Spirit Drago makes up for the missing Crucible of the Spirit Dragon.

Abzan Control

Sixty-one cards?

Patrick Chapin is the patron saint of cutting to sixty cards… But in this case he makes a compelling case for Yuuki Ichikawa’s sixty-one.

TCGPlayer Open 5K

The TCGPlayer Open 5K in Milwaukee, WI had its share of sweet decks, too.

Michael and Patrick discuss Taylor Atchison’s Bant Midrange and Caleb Durward’s Four-color Midrange deck.

If you haven’t seen it yet, Caleb got there.

Four-color Midrange by Caleb Durward

3 Bile Blight
1 Crux of Fate
3 Hero’s Downfall
4 Thoughtseize
1 Ultimate Price

3 Abzan Charm
3 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Fleecemane Lion
4 Siege Rhino
1 Sultai Charm

4 Courser of Kruphix
3 Den Protector

2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion

2 Forest
1 Llanowar Wastes
2 Mana Confluence
4 Opulent Palace
2 Plains
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Silence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Windswept Heath
2 Yavimaya Coast

sideboard:
3 Drown in Sorrow
1 Duress
3 Self-Inflicted Wound
3 Disdainful Stroke
1 Negate
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
3 Arashin Cleric

Caleb got Den Protector, Dragonlord Ojutai, Siege Rhino, and Elspeth, Sun’s Champion all in the same deck. Find out what Patrick and Michael love, hate, and lovehate about this sweet new deck.

All this and more in “Dynamic Den Protector”!

Find out why main-deck Self-Inflicted Wound is beating up the current Standard!

Learn how you can cut Bile Blight while overwhelming Mono-Red with Abzan!

How do you use Boon Satyr to kill your opponent’s guys and then attack with it right away?

What is the card that “does what Utter End does but cheaper” in Caleb’s out-there deck list?

Give us a listen and find out in “Dynamic Den Protector”:

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Dromoka’s Command, Meet Wingmate Roc

Before we get to the main topics, Mike got his physical copy of Next Level Deckbuilding in the mail!

Mike already loved Next Level Deckbuilding (having had the digital version for a year or so) but has lots of nice things to say about the physical release.

If you want to check out Patrick’s new release, Next Level Deckbuilding is available in paperback at Star City Games:

NextLevelDeckbuilding

Next Level Deckbuilding

Gerry Thompson, a friend to the ‘cast, won the MOCS this past weekend with a “retro” Abzan Aggro!

“Gerry Thompson netdecked my grandfather.”
-Patrick

… And it really looks like he did!

If you look at Gerry’s deck, it really looks like a Khans of Tarkir-era deck, rather than one informed by Fate Reforged, let alone Dragons of Tarkir.

Abzan Aggro, by Gerry Thompson

2 Hero’s Downfall
4 Thoughtseize

4 Abzan Charm
4 Anafenza, the Foremost
3 Dromoka’s Command
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Rakshasha Deathdealer
4 Siege Rhino
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

2 Warden of the First Tree

2 Wingmate Roc

2 Caves of Koilos
2 Forest
3 Llanowar Wastes
1 Mana Confluence
2 Plains
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Temple of Malady
3 Temple of Silence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Windswept Heath

sideboard:
2 Drown in Sorrow
2 Duress
3 Self-Inflicted Wound
1 Dromoka’s Command
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Wingmate Roc


Dromoka's Command
By making room for Dromoka’s Command in place of Bile Blight, Gerry reduced his deck’s reliance on black mana, in particular BB on turn two.

Wingmate Roc
Welcome back, Wingmate Roc! This is a threat that lets him get in under Elspeth Sun’s Champion, both on mana and on power.

Mana Confluence
Mana Confluence as a twenty-sixth land does multiple things for the usually-twenty-five-land Abzan Aggro archetype. Among other things, you can side out the Mana Confluence against Red Aggro on the draw!

Self-Inflicted Wound
Self-Inflicted Wound hits a shocking number of decks. Patrick spitballs about playing it main deck, not even just sideboard.

Mistcutter Hydra
Mistcutter Hydra, a rediscovered piece of technology, can run right by Dragonlord Ojutai!

Michael — and especially Patrick — come to the conclusion that Elspeth, Sun’s Champion might be where you want to go in Standard… But have a hard time landing on where to play their Elspeth, Sun’s Champions.

What do you think?

Give us a listen, and then comment below.

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I’m in Love With the Co-Co

Collected Company
Collected Company (“co-co”) is a powerful source of card advantage and mana efficiency.
Abstract:
Michael J Flores and Patrick Chapin review various recent tournament results, focusing on two new Collected Company builds, G/W and U/G Devotion.

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver

Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa added Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver to the main deck of his Grand Prix Sao Paulo-winning Esper Dragons list.

What are the implications of running Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver main deck? What decks does this acknowledge respect for? What got cut to make room?

Ultimate Price
Ultimate Price

Ultimate Price is no longer “that good” “in the dark” in Standard. Face down creatures have no color, while legendary Dragonlords have too many colors to be hit by Ultimate Price.

Torrent Elemental
Torrent Elemental

Just putting Torrent Elemental somewhere in your seventy-five can give you a huge advantage against Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver control decks.

There are some sweet Dragon plays in this current Standard. Have you ever tried this?

  1. Start with your own Dragonlord Ojutai (facing off against his Dragonlord Ojutai)
  2. Play Silumgar, the Drifting Death
  3. Bile Blight your own Dragonlord Ojutai
  4. Attack!

You get to 1) kill the opponent’s Dragonlord Ojutai (because it gets -3/-3 from the Bile Blight you cast on your own Dragonlord Ojutai followed by the -1/-1 from Silumgar, the Drifting Death), and 2) still get to Anticipate via the Ojutai attack! HOW COOL IS THAT?

“I don’t know if I’d even have to play for the rest of the day if I pulled that off.”
-Patrick

Den Protector
Den Protector

The rise of Den Protector! Patrick and Michael discuss the inclusion of Den Protector in Lucas Siow’s Grand Prix Toronto-winning Abzan deck.

Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Elspeth, Sun’s Champion

Oh, and Elspeth is back. And still great!

The bulk of “I’m in Love With the Co-Co” is devoted to two Collected Company decks, Craig Wescoe’s G/W Collected Company beatdown deck and Nick Peternell’s U/G Devotion with Collected Company. Their conclusion is that these decks are already great, but Collected Company will make for even more exciting technology as the format continues.

All this and more in “I’m in Love With the Co-Co”:

Direct Download

Music Credits: Ed Sheeran and Hitimpulse

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How to Win a PTQ with Dragonlord Dromoka

Dragonlord Dromoka
If you are expecting Esper or the mirror, you need to lay the foundation with Dragonlord Dromoka

“If you’re the guy with the best technology, you’re rewarded by the Magic gods.”
-Top Level Podcast

And last week at least… Mike was the one with the best technology!

For anyone who missed it, Mike won the Salt Lake City RPTQ with a “crazy” Mono-Blue Five-color Dragons list that was born on this here podcast just a couple of weeks ago.

1st Place Utah

In this episode of Top Level Podcast Utah RPTQ winner Mike Flores joins Pro Tour Champion Patrick Chapin to talk about their Five-color Dragons deck. Which is the best dragon? What are the proper play sequences? Why are there so many one- and three-ofs?

Anyway, Mike ended up with “the blue envelope”.

The sad thing is… The blue envelope was just a stack of white papers!

“That’s how they do it nowadays. It’s your choice: You can either have a blue envelope or an invite to the Pro Tour.”
-Patrick

And in now-typical Top Level Podcast fashion, Michael and Patrick put together an all-new all-different build of Mono-Blue Five-color Dragons… Hopefully preserving the good matchups (Esper and Mono-Red) while getting better and more aware of Abzan Aggro and Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver.

Here Be Dragons:

3 Perilous Vault

3 Dig Through Time
1 Disdainful Stroke
4 Dissolve
1 Dragonlord’s Prerogative
2 Encase in Ice
2 Icefall Regent
2 Nullify
4 Silumgar’s Scorn

2 Dragonlord Atarka
3 Dragonlord Dromoka
3 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Dragonlord Silumgar

4 Crucible of the Spirit Dragon
1 Flooded Strand
4 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
5 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Temple of Epiphany
4 Temple of Mystery

Sideboard
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dragonlord’s Prerogative
2 Encase in Ice
2 Icefall Regent
4 Master of Waves
1 Negate
3 Omenspeaker
1 Dragonlord Kolaghan

Find out why Dragonlord Kolaghan made it [back] into the list, how the boys got there, plus some live tweeting from Kenji Tsumura (!!!) in “How to Win a PTQ with Dragonlord Dromoka”.

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