Standard

The Real FNM Hero

I rarely miss an FNM. Living as I do in a part of the world that is largely cut off from competitive Magic, I’ll take any chance I can get to play in sanctioned tournaments. As one of only two active judges in town, I don’t get much of a chance to play in Grand Prix Trials and the like. It doesn’t get much more exciting for me.

With that said my main aim when playing at FNM is to play a deck I will enjoy. Sure I could show up with Delver or Wolf Run, but I probably won’t enjoy them very much. I also don’t enjoy losing, so whatever I do play has to at least be capable of a winning record. More often than not, I achieve that. Sometimes it’s with a Smitty brew; sometimes it’s a minor tweak on a list from the latest SCG Open. Most of the time, though, it’s with a deck I came up with myself. That’s not to say the idea is original, but I don’t just copy someone’s list. What I hope to do each week is bring you my thought process going in to FNM, the decks I looked at and the list I actually played, along with any highlights from the week and changes I’m considering. Smattered in there will be insights into my community: the players, the store, the camaraderie. Let’s start with week one!

Weapon of Choice

The first week after Avacyn Restored came out was a draft FNM, this would be my first chance to play the new format. A quick check of SCG Open results showed me nothing major in terms of innovation and certainly nothing that caught my eye. The Block decks in the Pro Tour also looked largely out of reach to convert to Standard, since my luck in opening playables has been lousy and I don’t have an unlimited budget. My three choices:

Smitty’s Kamikaze looked like fun, though for the life of me I couldn’t see why [card]Porcelain Legionnaire[/card] was there and [card]Thatcher Revolt[/card] wasn’t. I don’t like changing decks without playing them though so I threw it together as listed.

I added [card]Craterhoof Behemoth[/card] and my lone [card]Wolfir Silverheart[/card] to my [card]Genesis Wave[/card] list, removing the black from it altogether. I looked at Ali Aintrazi’s old Reaver Control list. I had come up with something similar myself and loved it, but I wanted to play [card]Stonehorn Dignitary[/card]. I had heard a couple of people talking about how the format is weak to Venser/Stonehorn right now, and I had never actually resolved Venser in a match before.

The problem with UW Control at the moment is that everyone is playing [card]Cavern of Souls[/card] in their aggro decks. That makes countermagic a liability, but that suits my play style just fine. I am so bad at playing control that I will often have a [card]Mana Leak[/card] in hand and let a game-breaking spell resolve due to forgetting I can counter it. Yup, that happens. I know the Eh Team’s own Scotty Mac has been having success with Esper Walkers and has been touting it from the rooftops, but I wanted a manabase that could play [card]Ghost Quarter[/card]s. I really, REALLY hate losing to [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card] and/or [card]Gavony Township[/card].

Very often I will show up at FNM with two decks ready and only make my mind up when my opponent sits down opposite me. I almost never have 3 good decks ready to go, and I really didn’t know which one I wanted to play more. I was leaning towards Kamikaze when Jon told me he didn’t have a deck.

Jon’s not a new player, but he has only recently come back to the game. He has arranged to buy about a fifth of his deck from someone who decided not to show up until midway through round two, which of course did him no good. I don’t really know Jon that well but he’s a member of the community so I offered him one of my decks to play. When he asked for UW Control I realized that I really wanted to play that, so he took Kamikaze instead. So, my decision was made – Venser Stonehorn it was.

As an aside guys, if you are relying on someone else to bring you cards for a deck, it’s probably a good idea to have a backup plan. I have no problem lending a deck to most people if I have a spare one, but that means you’re playing someone else’s deck. Moreover, if you commit to selling cards to someone at FNM, show up before the event starts.

 

Here’s the list I played:

[deck title=Blink and You Miss Me]
[Spells]
3 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Mana Leak
3 Ponder
4 Day of Judgment
3 Gideon Jura
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Pristine Talisman
1 Entreat the Angels
[/Spells]
[Creatures]
4 Stonehorn Dignitary
2 Drogskol Reaver
3 Restoration Angel
[/Creatures]
[Land]
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Ghost Quarter
9 Island
6 Plains
[/Land]
[/deck]

The idea here should be obvious – get [card]Stonehorn Dignitary[/card] and Venser into play at the same time and make sure your opponent never gets to attack. Once you find a second Stonehorn or a [card]Restoration Angel[/card], you can -8 Venser and start winning from there. Exiling a permanent a turn gets really unfair really fast. A lot of players make the mistake of ignoring Venser’s -2 ability to make your creatures unblockable. You’re likely not going to be racing too many decks (at least pre-board) and until you are in full control, you’ll be using the +1 on Venser, but don’t forget it is there.

Just a side note here on a rules interaction I had to point out to more than one person. [card]Stonehorn Dignitary[/card] says that target opponent skips their NEXT combat step. That means if I blink it on my turn, then use [card]Restoration Angel[/card] to blink it again on your turn, you will skip your next TWO combat steps. That effectively gives me the cushion I need to ultimate Venser without a second Stonehorn.

Tamiyo is very, very good when your opponent is playing few creatures or there’s another problem permanent you need to shut down. She’s also great when you have the Venser lock but can’t find a win condition, as she WILL ultimate and then your [card]Ghost Quarter[/card]s become unfair, your [card]Ponder[/card]s become tutors and you just [card]Day of Judgment[/card] until the board is clear for whatever attackers you have.

[card]Drogskol Reaver[/card] is one of my favourite Timmy cards ever printed. The text box on it is ridiculous and getting to seven mana in this deck is not hard. [card]Pristine Talisman[/card] then lets you draw a card on the opponent’s turn for miracle shenanigans, while the damage on the attack will end the game fairly quickly. Of course the deck also has the tried-and-true Gideon/[card]Day of Judgment[/card] “combo” that so infuriated me as an aggro player.

The sideboard was a complete mess, and the only cards from it that actually made a difference were the three [card]Terminus[/card]. As a result I won’t list it here but some things to consider would be [card]Blade Splicer[/card] or [card]Geist-Honored Monk[/card] for control matchups, [card]Witchbane Orb[/card] against Naya or RG Aggro (nice Bonfire brah), [card]Faith’s Shield[/card] to protect your Venser or Stonehorn from removal, [card]Volition Reins[/card] or [card]Phyrexian Metamorph[/card] against Wolf Run and possibly [card]Jace, Memory Adept[/card] or [card]Batterskull[/card] to shore up that control match. [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card] might also be a good plan against Frites.

How Did It Do?

The deck took me to a 3-1 finish. Not many people were able to deal with Stonehorn, and even those who had O-Ring played it wrong or had it Leaked or O-Ringed in return. I beat UB Zombies in round one despite losing to the old nine power on turn three draw in game one. [card]Terminus[/card] was a house here, as having seven board sweepers is amazing in that matchup until you hit the lock. Game three was won by dropping [card]Drogskol Reaver[/card] while on two life and being afraid of a clone effect, [card]Mortarpod[/card] or [card]Geralf’s Messenger[/card]. My round two opponent was playing [card]Angel of Glory’s Rise[/card] but unfortunately for him got mana screwed in game two when I hit a [card]Terminus[/card] off the top on turn three and sent back three mana dorks. Round three was my loss, to a very fast GW aggro build. I couldn’t get the lock in time and when I did, he removed it.

Round four I faced a GW Ramp deck and the game was a perfect example of how unfair the deck can be. I’ll spare you the gory details but game three ended with two Venser emblems, a [card]Drogskol Reaver[/card] and a [card]Restoration Angel[/card] in play on my side, with three lands and an O-Ring (exiling Stonehorn) on his side. My opponent refused to scoop until I revealed my miracle Entreat for seven exiling two of his lands with the emblems. The deck was piloted by Kyle S., and Kyle hates playing against me. You see, Kyle has actually never beaten me in draft and may only have beaten me once in constructed. He gets very heated and frustrated against me, especially when I do stuff like this. Normally I would feel bad but….sometimes you just have to be the troll.

The event was won by Shane playing mono-red. Shane loves to turn dudes sideways and will default to red whenever it’s even a little bit good. I was terrified of facing his deck but managed to avoid it, which works out well since he’s a member of my loose playtesting team. Not that we playtest for FNM, but still. Shane’s good people and gave me a ride home, during which we broke down the decks we saw and how the event went. I love talking strategy with Shane because he sees everything from the aggro point of view and gives me a different insight on the meta.

Did I Have Fun?

Yes, surprisingly. I’m a combo or aggro player at heart and although the lock in this deck is a combo of sorts, it doesn’t win the game on the spot. Very often the correct play with the deck is “Land, go” and generally that would frustrate me. The deck is also lacking in ways to punish an opponent for a slow start, at least on the face of it. The only real way to do that is Tamiyo or Gideon turn four, which is all sorts of risky. Nonetheless I did find a sort of warped pleasure in watching my opponents grow more and more frustrated at being unable to actually do anything while I slowly amassed a win condition. I’m sure my friend and podcast co-host Jack LaCroix is swelling with pride at that sentence. I’ve wanted to do something with Venser since I got him, and this deck seems to be his best vehicle.

What Would I Change?

[card]Mana Leak[/card] was sided out every round, because every opponent had [card]Cavern of Souls[/card]. [card]Terminus[/card] came in every round, because undying and creature-based decks are all the rage right now. If that sounds like your metagame, there’s your first change. I also really want a [card]Spine of Ish Sah[/card] somewhere in the 75, probably in the sideboard as an answer to [card]Oblivion Ring[/card]. Aside from that, the list feels fine. I very rarely needed three main deck Oblivion Rings so cutting to two might be OK, possibly for the fourth [card]Ponder[/card].

What’s On Deck?

I won’t be able to play FNM this coming week instead I will be playing in a Standard tournament while on the road in Montreal on Wednesday. It’s entirely possible this tournament will see me pitted against Captain Canada himself KYT, or perhaps even Horde of Notions co-host Will Blondon. My thought as of now is to play Kamikaze, though I might just break out [card]Genesis Wave[/card] to prove a point. Other decks I’m looking at for the near future include a Standard version of Alex Hayne’s Hallelujah, a mono-red ritual deck that Gavin Verhey posted in a recent column on DailyMtG and something that abuses the infinite combo potential of [card]Sun Titan[/card] with [card]Unhallowed Pact[/card].

Until We Meet Again…

That’s it for today kids. The aim with these articles is not to provide you with OMG TECH or to try and browbeat you into playing my decklists. It’s to start your creative juices flowing, give you some ideas for FNM decks and to give you some insight into my local community of which I am so proud. And hey, if you happen to find a deck in here that you like enough to take to a serious event…bonus! I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to email me with deck ideas!

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