By Tomohiro Kaji (translated by Alex Lin)
At the last premier event, Grand Prix Sendai, Next Level Bant* had three undefeated players at the end of Day One, and put over 70% of its pilots into Day Two – an incredible statistic for the brand new deck – and the tournament ended with deck’s creator, Brian Kibler, taking home the first place trophy. However, at Japanese Nationals, while it would be natural to expect the number of Kibler-style Bant players to have increased, instead, only four players have chosen it as their weapon of choice for the weekend. So, what were last time’s Kibler Bant players playing?
They were playing this:
Masaya Kitayama, 2010 Japanese Nationals / 4-0
4 Forest
3 Island
2 Mountain
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Scalding Tarn
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Raging Ravine
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Borderland Ranger
2 Cunning Sparkmage
4 Vengevine
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Siege-Gang Commander
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Eldrazi Monument
Sideboard
2 Cunning Sparkmage
2 Clone
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
2 Chandra Nalaar
4 Dragon’s Claw
3 Flame Slash
[The following is an interview taken after Day 1. –KYT]
Kaji: Why did you decide to play this deck?
Kitayama: Well, my friend, Nagashima, won a PTQ with the deck, which was the main thing that got me interested. Also, players like Takahashi, Watanabe, and Sasagi have been working on it. The idea came from the desire to use the three defining cards of the format – Bloodbraid Elf, Lotus Cobra, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor – in the same deck.
Kaji: I see. So to some extent the deck idea was solidified for that PTQ then?
Kitayama: Yeah. There are a few differences between this build of UGR and the versions that some of the other players have – for example, I took Lightning Bolt out of the main deck and put in Cunning Sparkmage instead.
Kaji: And what was the reasoning behind that?
Kitayama: Well for one thing, it weakens your Cascades and often doesn’t have enough of an effect on the game. Additionally, this ensures that Cascade will result in bringing back a Vengevine from the graveyard 100% of the time. Reducing the luck factor with Cascade was a major reason for the switch.
Kaji: Adding a Vengevine in the graveyard into the equation is definitely a pretty big deal breaker, isn’t it? So, what decks are you weak against?
Kitayama: Mono Red is the worst. Earthquake is just such a beating, killing all of your mana creatures at once and burning you at the same time. It’s the reason that there are four Dragon’s Claws in the sideboard – they have no synergy with the rest of the deck, but it can’t be helped.
Kaji: What about other sideboard cards? Why do you have Flame Slash instead of Lightning Bolt? It’s an instant, you can burn players as well…it’s a really common card to see in most main decks.
Kitayama: Well, the main reason is Putrid Leech. Also, after sideboarding you have to worry about Linvala, Keeper of Silence. As a card that can turn off all of your mana creatures, you really have to deal with her immediately. But since she’s a 3/4, one Bolt isn’t enough, so even though it’s at sorcery speed, I went with the four damage spell.
Kaji: And how were Clone and Chandra Nalaar?
Kitayama: Clone is there for Sprouting Thrinax, Cunning Sparkmage, and other similar threats that are difficult to deal with using only one card. By copying them, they essentially cancel each other out. Chandra Nalaar is there to be used against Baneslayer Angel decks as a kind of Flametongue Kavu.
Kaji: After playing with the deck, are there any difficult points you’d like to mention?
Kitayama: I’m a bit concerned about the mana base, so deciding to keep your opening hand can be difficult. A hand without green mana is pretty often a mulligan. Additionally, a hand without mana creatures means that your first play will be a Sea Gate Oracle on turn three, or one of your four-cost spells, so keeping those hands also requires a lot of thought.
Kaji: Thank you very much.
Kitayama ended up doing pretty poorly in the draft portion, but he’s still in the running for Top 8. The Standard rounds are starting again, so hopefully he can repeat yesterday’s 4-0 performance!
*They call it ‘Kibler Bant’ in Japan, actually.
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.