by Vincent Thibeault
I have been playing for quite a few weeks now with a tweaked version of a deck called Aggro Spread or UGR Tempo. Billy Moreno first offered different lists where he was trying to use Jace in conjunction with creatures that have come into play abilities. In 29 matches with it at FNM and local tournaments, I managed to lose only twice and got a few draws. My only two losses were against RDW with black for Blightning and removal from the side, and against a White Weenie played well enough by a 10-year old kid, one of my youngest opponents ever. I played a few games on Magic Online with it, and managed well in the 8man queues, winning the last two I tried, and got to the final of my last one.
I am not sure how well the deck will do in this changing metagame, and the surge of popularity of RDW is not a good sign because it is its worst match-up, but if the latter gets hated out for Nats, Aggro Spread is definitively a contender. Here is a version that won the PTQ in Albuquerque that is closer to the original Billy Moreno’s version:
Main deck
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Nest Invader
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
2 Sarkhan Vol
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Vengevine
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Resounding Wave
4 Roiling Terrain
4 Spreading Seas
2 Forest
3 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
3 Raging Ravine
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tectonic Edge
Sideboard
2 Acidic Slime
3 Basilisk Collar
2 Caldera Hellion
4 Cunning Sparkmage
2 Mold Shambler
2 Spellbreaker Behemoth
The main strategy of the deck is quite simple. You try to disrupt the opponents’ mana as early as possible and you put some pressure on the board with Nest Invaders, Lotus Cobra and Bloodbraid Elf. Resounding Wave is used as an additional mana denial tool but it can also deal temporarily with troublesome creatures, giving you the opportunity to attack after unsummoning their blockers. The Lotus Cobra can allow you to cycle the Wave when you get to 6 mana with a fetch land; it does not happen often but when it does life gets a new meaning. Despite that, Resounding Wave revealed itself to be one of the weakest card of the deck, alongside Roiling Terrain and Sarkhan Vol, and the destroy land plan did not seem to work too well versus Mythic and Naya and a lot of decks with Noble Hierarch. The deck also seemed to lack winning conditions, and I needed a monster that could pack a punch without being too vulnerable to removal. With that in mind, here is the tweaked version of the deck that allowed me to win more consistently with it.
Main deck
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Nest Invader
4 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Acidic Slime
2 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Resounding Wave
1 Roiling Terrain
4 Spreading Seas
2 Forest
3 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Mountain
4 Raging Ravine
2 Rootbound Crag
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tectonic Edge
Sideboard
1 Roiling Terrain
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Acidic Slime
3 Basilisk Collar
4 Cunning Sparkmage
2 Flame Slash
1 Vapor Snare
2 Pithing Needle
Goblin Ruinblaster and Acidic Slime replace 3 Roiling Terrain. Roiling Terrain can be useful versus decks with Planeswalkers like UW control but overall it is just a cute card that raises eyebrows. With just one, you do not draw it in your opening hand very often and when you get it you may play it after your other destroy land effects and the damage it deals is now more relevant. Siege-Gang Commander often lands on the board on the third turn with a Lotus Cobra and a fetch-land. It can chump block forever, be used as removal, direct damage and does not mind a Wall of Omens too much. And that card is even more broken after sideboard when you play against aggro and midrange decks. You bring in the Sparkmage and the Collar, and the Collar can be used with great savagery by the Commander. Once equipped, it can also sacrifice itself to do 2 damage Lifelink and Deathtouch; the last two abilities are still possessed due to the last known information rule.
The 2 Burst Lightning are the 5th and 6th Lightning Bolt. Birds and Hierarchs have now a shortened life expectancy and its easy now to deal with Putrid Leech and 4 toughness creatures that can sometimes pop up like Linvala or Woolly Thoctar. When you side in the 2 Flame Slash against creature decks, you get 8 one-mana burns, this means that you can deal with the opponents creatures for a minimum cost and allows you to keep the tempo by removing their threats and putting yours at the same time.
When you play Bloodbraid Elf, you might want to keep one red mana open if possible, so you may pay the kicker if you get the Ruinblaster. Even if you cannot pay the kicker, if you flip the Ruinblaster you will still put a lot of pressure on your opponent and attacking with a 2-1 and a 3/2 haste for 4 mana is a good investment.
Sideboard
Sideboarding with this deck is quite simple and often will surprise your opponents. Against UW control and Superfriends, you remove the burn package (Bolt and Burst) and you bring in the mana denial package (Roiling Terrain, Goblin Ruinblaster, Acidic Slime), the 2 Pithing Needle and the Vapor Snare, unless you know for sure that they do not play Baneslayer. Spreading Seas, Roiling Terrain and Acidic Slime are often used to destroy basic plains; you want to make sure that you will be able to use your destroy non-basic land effects on their lands. Nothing is worst than having Ruinblaster and Tectonic Edge in your hand and not being able to use them against your opponent before they get to 5 mana. This match-up is about even for an opponent that knows what is going on, with a slight advantage for Aggro Spread.
Against Mythic and Mythic Conscription, you turn your deck into an anti-aggro machine. You side out the Ruinblasters, the Slime, the Seas, the Jace, the Wave and you side in the Cunning Sparkmage, the Basilisk Collar, the Flame Slash and the Pithing needle and the Vapor Snare. They can play Linvala, which is your worst enemy, but you can deal with her with the Flame Slash, the Burst Lightning and the Vapor Snare. Knight of the Reliquary is not safe anymore at 4 of toughness. You deck will have only one blue card left so you do not need to fetch your island early, and you do not need more than one in play. Of course if you do not see any Planeswalker you may leave out the Pithing Needle, and then keep in the Ruinblaster. You side in a similar fashion for Naya, NLB, Mono Green and most midrange decks, except Jund. The sideboard is said to be transformational because you change your game plan (destroy their lands) to a new one (destroy their creatures). The advantage of a transformational sideboard is that the opponent will often side his deck in a way that will beat your main deck. But then, your game plan changes and their new strategy may not do well against it. For example, an opponent may reduce his mana curve and play around Spreading Seas by playing his islands first, or he may not bring in Pithing Needle to stop the Sparkmage-Collar combo.
If you are expecting the Sparkmage combo on the other side, you should side out 2 Lotus Cobra to reduce to number of potential targets. Your own burn spells and Sparkmage should be enough to get the advantage. You may also side in the Acidic Slime, so you may deal with their Collar, O-ring or Behemoth Sledge.
Jund is a good match-up so far, and attacking their mana is a sound strategy. I usually side out the Jace, one Lightning bolt and one Siege-Gang Commander, and I side in Roiling Terrain, Goblin Ruinblaster, Acidic Slime and the 2 Flame Slashes to deal with Putrid Leech. Jund comes in many sauces obviously and if I am against a version with Lotus Cobra or Geopede, I obviously keep my Lightning Bolt and side out a Resounding Wave. You may quite easily lock them out of the game by keeping them off a color. The match-up versus Jund is very good, let’s say 65-35, and unless they have a very fast start you should be able to win.
RDW is the deck worst match-up, which is why I hesitate to suggest it wholeheartedly for the Nationals. You could make some space in the sideboard for cards like Spellbreaker Behemoth or the new Obstinate Baloth, but it would weaken your other match-ups where you get an almost overwhelming advantage post-sideboard. RDW is getting a lot of hype lately, having won not only a PTQ, but also the Czech and the Japanese Nationals, which is not a mean feat. RDW is however a deck that could seemingly get hated out if people would take it more seriously and allowing more sideboard space to fight it. We can think of Kor Firewalker, Obstinate Baloth, Baneslayer Angel and Dragon’s Claw. My hope that the deck will get hated out was however crushed when I say the new red :eyline, Leyline of Punishment, allowing red to deal with lifegain and damage prevention. Once the :eyline is in play, the Firewalker becomes a simple bear, his pro-red ability not preventing damage anymore. Moreover, Red has now an easy way to deal with Baneslayer Angel with Combust, an instant that deals 5 damage to a blue or a white creature for only two mana. So not only is this deck winning a lot two weeks before my Nationals, but this deck also gets new tools to deal with potential hate cards. It seems that the expected metagame will contain a lot of RDW and following that hypothesis it seems foolish to choose a deck that has a bad match-up against it. Anyway, for the time being my plan is to side out the destroy land effects and the Jace and enter the 4 Sparkmage and the 3 Collar. It is not amazing but I can steal a game here and there.
Will the red tide keep rising? Will its natural predators reveal themselves? That we will see in the next few weeks. I plan now to work long and hard on the Limited format M11, starting at the pre-release and getting as much practice as I can before the 23 of July, so I can be ready for the Canadian Nationals. Pro tour Amsterdam will have the same Limited format so it is a format that I have to master. A lot of pros are complaining that a core set should not be a Limited format for a pro tour because the number of deck archetypes and potential strategies are fewer than what you find in an expansion. Fair enough, that is going to make my life easier even though breaking that format will not be as simple as some people think. That is all for now, happy pre-release and good luck.
Kar Yung Tom (KYT) is the Digital Content Manager for Face to Face Games. He oversees the F2FTour.com and Magic F2F websites. He is also the lead host of the First Strike podcast.