July 2013 FNM Card - Rakdos Cackler with Picture

This July's Friday Night Magic Promo Card is Rakdos Cackler!

 

And here is the regular Rakdos Cackler card from Return to Ravnica.

June 2013 FNM Card - Izzet Charm with Picture

This June's Friday Night Magic Promo Card is Izzet Charm!

Here is the regular Izzet Charm card from Return to Ravnica.

Featured Deck: Standard Grixis Delver

This week I would like to feature the deck of my friend Bryan Jeffrey Borromeo. Although Grixis decks tend to be more control-ish with great access to a wide variety of removals, counterspells and card draws, I liked what Bryan did in this deck that he incorporated this advantage of Grixis to an aggressive based strategy.

Why Grixis Aggro?
Bryan explained to me that he tried Grixis Control but the metagame was just too aggressive and powerful for a very reactive deck like Grixis Control. It was very slow against midrange decks like UWR reckoner and Jund mindrange builds. With the Grixis Delver Aggro build, it gave him opportunities to deal early damage and deal about 10 damage before the opponent drops his or her threats. That way, employing the flying creatures and the burn spells like Searing Spear + Snapcaster Mage combos can still steal a win for you.

Choice of Cards.
I asked Bryan about his choice of cards. Basically what he did was to put value creatures early in the game and dump Olivia Voldaren and Duskmantle Seer in the late game to finish the game off. Duskmantle Seer is a card that I expect to be used more after the release of Dragon's Maze with the printing of the Split cards and since those cards are very useful, people would definitely use split cards in their deck lists. Duskmantle Seer can single-handedly punish those decks with split cards (split cards when revealed with Duskmantle Seer's ability deal damage equal to the total mana cost of both halves of the split card). The classic Runechanter's Pike + Thought Scour combo can let you race with any creature that you play in the late games, giving this deck it's needed reach. Also, the removal and counter package of this deck was designed to deal with virtually anything that your opponent may have. Dreadbores for Planeswalkers. Rakdos Return for control match ups. Searing Spears, Izzet charms, Mizzium Mortars can deal with creatures your opponents will play against you.

Delver of Screts

The comeback of Delver in standard? It might be outrageous to say this ^_^ but Bryan's deck is definitely a good start. Delver has proven its power before but since Standard didn't have access to cards fixing the top cards of your library to ensure flipping of Delver early in the game, Delver may not be the powerhouse that it used to be. However, with many spells in this deck, flipping Delver early is not that difficult. But the thing is, this deck doesn't solely depend on Delver of Secrets to win the game. Delver is just another win condition in the deck which I think makes the deck strong.

Frostburn Weird

One of the cards that I like to discuss in this build is the four Frostburn Weird in the main deck. Frostburn Weird is a common card and I think many people just didn't care about it and has underestimated this card. I think this card is very strong for what it's worth. It blocks virtually any aggressive creature in the format right now. It can also kill and survive Geist of Saint Traft. Although Boros Reckoner can still be a problem, at least you can save damage for 1 turn since reckoner will surely deal the damage it took to this creature instead. Against Control decks, Frostburn Weird can attack 4 damage each turn until it is dealt with by the control player. You can save your other creatures for later after waiting for the control player to cast a Supreme Verdict. You might end up watching many control players wasting their removal in this 1/4 common creature.

Standard Grixis Delver by Bryan Jeffrey Borromeo

Lands: 4 Watery Grave 2 Blood Crypt 2 Dragonskull Summit 2 Drowned Catacomb 3 Sulfur Falls 3 Steam Vents 1 Desolate Lighthouse 3 Island 2 Mountains Creatures: 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Frostburn Weird 4 Snapcaster Mage 2 Vampire Nighthawk 2 Olivia Voldaren 2 Duskmantle Seer Sorceries: 2 Dreadbore 2 Mizzium Mortars 1 Rakdos's Return Artifacts: 2 Runechanter's Pike Instants: 4 Thougthscour 4 Searing Spear 1 Devour Flesh 2 Counterflux 2 Izzet Charm

Sideboard: 2 Psychic Spiral 2 Dissipate 2 Desecration Demon 2 Izzet Staticaster 2 Rolling Temblor 2 Negate 1 Dreadbore 1 Jace, Memory Adept

Playtesting vs Bant Control: 3-0
Playtesting against the Bant Control of our fellow friend, the deck was undefeated 3-0, not counting the games which the opponent kept less than 6 cards in mulligans or playing with only 2mana for the rest of the game because they may not be optimal games to measure the strength of this deck.

Feel free to test and tweak this decklist for your FNM this week. Feel free to comment and post your experiences and ideas about this deck.

Enjoy and win!

Standard Esper Planeswalkers (Superfriends) And Dragon's Maze Additions

Last week, I finished 1st in our local shop's FNM after tweaking my Esper control list into an Esper Planeswalkers deck - or what others know as - Esper Superfriends. Last week was the last FNM before the release of Dragon's Maze so I would like to talk about cards that I think can be helpful in further improving the deck.

First of all, why move to Esper Superfriends? That decision in my part has a lot to do with the current meta game. If you want to win, the traditional Esper Control would take a very long time to win the game and while you are milling your opponent with only one Nephalia Drownyard (yes this happens a lot of times), your opponent can eventually regain board advantage, and you will be trying to control the board again. I'm not saying this is not a winnable situation, but when games end up in draw because of the lack of time per round, a draw can sometimes be equal to a loss especially if you are trying to be in the top 2 or 3 for the tournament.

Too much aggressive decks in the format right now. The cards that I added are very good in dealing with aggro decks in the early to mid game just enough to give you support after casting Supreme Verdict.  Lingering Souls for example is very good in slowing the game for you as it can serve as a chump blocker that can help you delay the game for a while and in waiting to draw your removals. In the later part of the game, these spirits can serve as attackers and they are very deadly especially when you already have Sorin's Emblems in play. I will try to briefly discuss the roles of each Planeswalker in this deck.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

Sorin is probably one of the best Planeswalkers for this deck. He works well with Supreme Verdict as you can always make a token after casting Supreme Verdict to give you a 1/1 lifelink blocker ready to defend Sorin. Sorin's lifelink tokens is also very useful in a format filled with aggro. Once you start making emblems, the lifelink will become very insane and can get you back out of the range for burn and small aggro creatures.
Playing with Sorin involves a lot of patience. It may also be one of the Planewalkers that is more challenging (if not the most) to use since you should be able to think carefully when to create tokens for blockers and when to create Emblems to set you up for your Spirit tokens attack via Lingering Souls. For me, if you want to play a deck with Lingering Souls, you should play Sorin in your deck. They just "complete" each other. Period.

Liliana of the Veil

Many would probably argue that this may not be a place for Liliana. But Liliana is a very strong card and I would like point to out that in my experience of using Liliana, it can definitely be used now, in this metagame with a lot of Aggro decks. Liliana is a powerhouse as you can see in Modern. But in standard, I'm actually a bit sad that she's not being used because of the super aggressive metagame of standard right now. But for me, the best time to cast Liliana of the Veil in a deck like Esper is after casting Supreme Verdict or Terminus. Her +1 ability is very good late game as cards like Think Twice and Lingering Souls or other flashback cards that you may opt to add in the deck are very good with Liliana's +1 ability. Liliana usually draws out the burn spells and removals in your opponent's hand, it is better to have those burn spells thrown to Liliana than to your face. Lastly, if you are still waiting to draw your removals, don't hesitate to drop Liliana and use her -2 ability. By doing so, you remove one of your opponent's creatures and you will have a virtual fog next turn since your opponent will surely attack Liliana in the following turn.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

Tamiyo is there only to stop... Thragtusk! Just kidding, but it may also be true. :) Late in the game, Tamiyo can be very useful. In scenarios like you have Nephalia Drownyards to mill the game for you, Tamiyo can tap the bigger creatures your opponents control. Tamiyo can also lock down creatures that your oppenents cast after you cast a board sweep. If you are lucky enough to have a Tamiyo emblem, it may already be an automatic win especially in a deck like Esper since you can cast your spells, draw cards, and remove threats in the board repeatedly. But of course, in times where your opponent has a lot of creatures in play and you need to draw a Supreme Verdict or Terminus, Tamiyo's -2 ability is the perfect effect in this situation since you can draw multiple cards and can eventually get you the removal spells that you need.

Jace, Memory Adept

Jace is the alternative win condition in the deck. For me, Jace is the quickest mill engine out there and can win you the game in a few turns if left unanswered. What's good in milling is that when you can put the best cards or the cards that your opponent needs into his or her graveyard, and then, he or she won't have answers anymore and this may somehow affect his or her mind state while playing the rest of the game. I usually (only) use Jace's 0 ability to mill out my opponent. But in times that I (or you) desperately need to draw a card, Jace's +1 ability can also give you that draw.

Esper Superfriends April 2013

Lands: 4 Watery Grave 4 Hallowed Fountain 3 Godless Shrine 2 Drowned Catacomb 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Isolated Chapel 3 Nephalia Drownyard 1 Island 1 Plains Creatures: 2 Snapcaster Mage Sorceries: 3 Lingering Souls 4 Supreme Verdict 1 Terminus Planeswalkers: 3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad 2 Liliana of the Veil 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage 1 Jace, Memory Adept Enchantments: 1 Detention Sphere Instants: 3 Azorius Charm 1 Dimir Charm 3 Think twice 2 Dissipate 1 Syncopate 2 Devour Flesh 1 Ultimate Price 3 Sphinx's Revelation

Sideboard: 3 Negate 1 Curse of Death's Hold 1 Jace, memory Adept 1 Terminus 3 Geist of Saint Traft 2 Purify the Grave 1 Rest in Peace 1 Witchbane Orb 1 Detention Sphere 1 Victim of the Night

Matchups:
Round 1: vs Primespeaker Bant (Win 2-1) : 1-0
Round 2: vs UW Humans (Win 2-0) : 2-0
Round 3: vs WUR Reckoner (Draw 1-1) : 2-0-1
Round 4: vs Reanimator (Win 2-0) : 3-0-1

Possible Dragon's Maze Additions:

The uncommon Esper-colored Split cards can be very helpful and are sources of good utilities. I think I can easily swap my Devour Fleshes for Far//Away since my current list can use the bounce ability of far and the Away part is basically the same as Devour Flesh but is more expensive to cast but minus the life gain. I can see Profit//Loss in decks that use Lingering Souls and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. The increase in damage for your part and the reduction in your opponent's part can come very handy in finishing the game or in extending your life in combats. I also like the Loss part since this can help you deal with those pesky mana dorks (especially Avacyn Pilgrim and Arbor Elf) in green ramp decks.

I really like Warped Physique because for me, it can become a better Ultimate Price but with the drawback of depending on your current cards in hand. I can see this being one of the usable removals for black-blue for standard. But I think it is perfect for Esper because cards like Think Twice, Azorius Charm and Sphinx's Revelation ensure you will always have cards in your hand. Also, this can give the deck a direct answer to Boros Reckoner. Lastly, Aetherling. I am currently playtesting Aetherling as a one-of in the deck. I believe the card is very strong individually and it can be the perfect finisher for any control deck. With an ability to dodge removals and board sweeps and the ability to become unblockable, Aetherling can be the one-of creature that will suite your needs. Attack, defend, finish!

Disadvantages of Cards and Time

I was thinking what to write about when I suddenly found myself looking at my deck. I tried to examine my deck list, what cards I put in; what cards I considered putting in and didn't make the cut. I also tried to ask myself why I choose a certain card to be in my deck, when clearly there may be other cards with greater power individually. Cards that may command immediate impact in the game at the time they hit the battlefield. Answering all these questions is not an easy task, and until now I may not be able to justify all my card choices or why I still choose to play Esper when clearly Esper is not finding a lot of success in the rest of the World - in the bigger picture of Standard play. Maybe I just believe in my deck. I still believe in it and because I know what I want and why I play with this strategy - why? it may solely be because I like one element in esper - card advantage.

Card Advantage

Magic endlessly revolves around the idea of Aggro and Control. People may try to argue one is better than the other but in reality, nothing may be better than the other. I say, you need to play what you are comfortable doing and understand how your deck wins and what's your game plan. It doesn't matter if 90% of the world plays control, it doesn't mean you will force yourself to play control when it is clear that you are comfortable (or love) playing aggro. Aggro and Control decks have their own way of winning and their own way of maximizing their turns to play around the rules of Magic and use them to their advantage. One of these rules is as follows:

In your draw step, draw one card.

Drawing a card each turn is the norm. And Control decks try to win by using this rule to their advantage. Control decks, if you try to observe their deck lists, try to outplay their opponents by gaining advantage to the number of physical cards in their hand or trading two for ones. This is the basic concept of card advantage. When the rule says draw a card each turn, your opponent is bound to this rule and you try to play around this by playing cards like Think Twice and Sphinx's Revelation. If you draw 2 cards per turn and your opponent draws only 1 card, you have more access to your spells and you may win by pure card advantage. Card advantage can also be observed in a card like Supreme Verdict. Say, your opponent has 3 creature cards in play and you cast Supreme Verdict to destroy all creatures. You only spent 1 card to destroy 3 of your opponent's cards, that is again card advantage for you.

But card advantage has its own disadvantages, Think Twice and Sphinx's Revelation may give you card advantage but when you only have 3 lands, your Revelation cannot help. Think Twice may get you cards but you may draw a land, these cards may not be able to affect the game directly. Control also needs to play more lands to ensure land drops each turn. But finding yourself drawing 5 consecutive lands late in the game may cause your defeat. When we rely on card advantage, we may include cards in our decks that doesn't affect the game directly when we draw them and we may find ourselves wishing it was something else. 

Time Advantage

One additional mana per turn.

The second norm in magic is to play only one land each turn. With this, we have the idea that both players need to pass through stages of early (or sometimes weaker) spells and eventually play more powerful and impact spells as the game progresses. Sometimes we also associate mana with creature size, like 1 mana for 1/1, 2 mana for 2/2 and so on. So lands and mana can be like the element of time in the game of magic and Aggro decks take advantage of this and try to win the games through time advantage.

Imagine the scenario of a player putting a Llanowar Elves in play in the first turn and immediately following up with a Leatherback Baloth in the 2nd turn. Not only does this give the player time advantage in terms of mana in the 2nd turn (3 mana during the 2nd turn) as opposed to the opponent's 2 mana in 2nd turn, but it also gives time advantage in terms of the quality of the spell played in the 2nd turn. In the second turn, the norm may be 2 mana for a 2/2 creature but the Leatherback Baloth is a 4/5 creature played in the 2nd turn. This is the idea of time advantage and this is an Aggro player's key to victory.

But again, time advantage also comes with a price. Sometimes, to achieve time advantage, we commit to the board early to finish the game quickly. If left unanswered, we win. But when the opponent answers all our threats despite the card quality that we have, then the aggro player may have a difficult time recovering.

As you can see, card advantage can beat time advantage. But time advantage can also beat card advantage. Understanding what advantages we will utilize is the key to one's game - also with the addition of luck and randomness in the game of course. Most good players try to combine card advantage and time advantage by using quality mana-efficient spells while also employing the concept of card advantage. But choosing either has its own disadvantages. And just like what I always stress in my articles, the keys to understanding the advantages and disadvantages of strategies is to play more games and try these two strategies - may it be building these decks by yourself or borrowing these decks from a friend - as long as you can try it. Keep an open mind and not limit yourself to playing aggro only - or playing only control. If you want to win, be sure you are aware of these disadvantages and you should have a way to protect yourself from these limitations.