Table Manners: Rise

To my dearest Roesita,

It has been just over a year since we first awakened to each other. It was so much more than just a rebound. We shared discoveries, and together emerged unscathed from the staggering shocks of a world at war. Your infinite finesse laid bare my wild heart, invoking despair that our next kiss would be our last. All is dust without you, Roesita! Nay, perish the thought! Such fleeting distractions are merely regressions of traitorous instinct. I could never deprive myself of you.

Roesita, I’ll level with you: I know we don’t have much more time together, and I’m devastated. The one recurring insight I can offer for comfort is that I’ll be by your side, ’til you are not of this world anymore.

. . . . . . . .

But, alas, there is no such woman. If only . . .

Still, as a format, Rise is pretty damn sexy. Described by its designers as “battlecruiser Magic,” the set is dedicated to the proposition that all creatures are not created equal. Levelers grow to titanic proportions, while hordes of lowly spawn are sacrificed to proportional Titans. In any other set, a 1/5 with reach for CMC 3 would be amazing, but this is the land of the 8/8 for CMC 8, and at common, no less. Most of the creatures can be game-winning threats, and some go far beyond that. The best, or at least second-best removal spell, is blue, for crying out loud! And yet, the entire set is an absolute harmony of sublime design.

In order to draft Rise well, one needs an understanding of archetype. The term refers to the idea that a deck can be more than just the sum of its parts, that true strength comes from the complimentary effects, the synergies of different cards, instead of simply relying on the power of a few bombs or an aggressive curve. For example, in most formats any card that costs 9 mana would be absolutely unplayable; however, if one’s deck can consistently cast such a card on Turn 5 or 6, well, then that’s something different. And, if one was able to draft several such high-cost cards, wouldn’t it be worth building such a deck? Alternatively, paying 8 mana to give each creature one controls +3/+0 isn’t a very efficient ability, except perhaps when one can easily generate 8-10 creatures by the time that mana is available. These are the kinds of things that drafting an archetype allows.

An interesting implication of drafting by archetype is that it’s different than drafting by color. Whereas one would usually interpret signals by the power level of cards and mana symbols of the cards being passed, the drafter now has to consider that even within their colors, many cards are valued differently according to the archetypes they support. A Might of the Masses at P1P8 (Pack 1, Pick 8), for example, is a mediocre pump spell and by no means necessarily a signal that green is open. It is, however, a clear sign that nobody to the immediate right is focused on drafting a token-based deck, as a 75% discount on Might of Oaks is pretty good. Likewise, Venerated Teacher is an easy first pick when one is drafting levelers, despite being nothing but a Gray Ogre by itself.

The more common Archetypes are:

UW Levelers

As the name suggests, this deck uses evasive creatures with the Leveler mechanic along with tempo-generating spells to win. Its creatures can usually out-match or fly over any early opposition, and in the late game can become virtual Serra Angels. Umbras are of great use in creating threats quickly while protecting one’s mana investment, and both white and blue Invkokers are handily playable. Staples include Emerge Unscathed, Knight of Cliffhaven, Skywatcher Adept, Enclave Cryptologist, Champions Drake, Halimar Wavewatch, Deprive, and Guard Duty. Time of Heroes and Venerated Teacher make this deck the most consistently- but still second-fastest deck in the format, and Training Grounds is just plain silly.

UB Levelers

This is the nasty older brother of the UW build. Sacrificing the more efficient and durable white levelers for the slower, but more powerful black ones, this deck isn’t known for blazing fast wins. Instead of the absurdity that is Time of Heroes, this archetype plays black removal to control the game while building a superior board position. Because of the higher activation costs of black levelers, Venerated Teacher and Training Grounds are even more ridiculous. In addition to all the blue cards mentioned above, UB Levelers thrives on Null Champion, Nirkana Cutthroat, Zulaport Enforcer, and the black removal suite. It should be noted that Induce Despair is at its weakest in this deck, as most of the creatures will have CMC 3 or lower.

Kiln Fiend

Built around its namesake, Kiln Fiend decks are the fastest in the format, easily goldfishing on Turn 4. However, due to its inflexible reliance on a single card, many players prefer not to draft the deck. There are two varieties, UR and BR, but unlike the leveler archetypes, there’s no significant difference in drafting or play strategy between the two. The skill in drafting this deck revolves around being able to pick removal early and Kiln Fiends late, which is precarious due to the latter’s utmost importance. Obviously, Kiln Fiend and premium removal are at the top of the pick order, with Valukut Fireboar, Goblin Tunneler, and any card with the rebound keyword coming after.

Eldrazi Green

If all you’ve ever wanted to do in Magic is swing with big mountains of fat into your opponent’s face, this is the deck for you. The key to drafting this deck lies in acquiring a proper ratio of large creatures to the cards that enable one to play them. Efficient accelerators such as Overgrown Battlement, Joraga Treespeaker, and Kozileks Predator are key, whereas Artisan of Kozilek and Ulamogs Crusher are the best of the beat-y bunch. The ideal game plan here involves casting and swinging with some sort of Eldrazi while still in the early turns, as the Annihilate effect is absolutely devastating against a board of ~6 permanents. This deck often plays one or both of red and black as support colors for the removal they offer.

Spawn

Exactly what it sounds like (no, not the late Mr. Simmons), the Spawn deck wins by amassing an army of 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn, and then figuring out some way to deal damage with them. Hellion Eruption and Gigantomancer are The Bombs for this deck, though Might of the Masses, Lavafume Invoker, Bloodthrone Vampire, and Raid Bombardment will do in a pinch. Because there are so many shared cards, this deck conflicts with the previous archetype, but green is usually deep enough to support both. Cards like Wildheart Invoker will fit fine in either, though this archetype will pick Predator where Eldrazi (usually) prefers Battlement.

Additional, but rarer decks include Grixis Control, Defenders, WG Levelers, Enchantments, and 5-color Green.

Ok, I think 1200 words is enough of an intro, don’t you?

Deckbuilding

This deck has plenty of ways to use extra mana, between levelers and invokers. We don’t mind running 18 lands, and we certainly won’t mind the extra bit of flexibility doing so affords. I still needed a 22nd card. Although I extolled the virtues of Inquisition, I’d rather not mainboard it. It may be always playable in my book, but there are only certain matchups where it is consistently good (Levelers, for example). Cadaver Imp is lovely, especially with our powerful mid-game, but it’s not worth breaking our mana base over. On the exact opposite side of things, Stomper Cub is a good man at 5 power for CMC 5 (and quite good with Umbras), but is hardly what our deck needs. Similarly, Leaf Arrow doesn’t deal with anything we can’t kill anyway; Naturalize, however, does. Umbras give players such a high degree of confidence that any enchant kill becomes a potential blow out. Add to this consideration the occasional Sphinx-Bone Wand or Keening Stone, and keeping a Disenchant around starts sounding like a good idea.

Games

R1G1

We choose to play, mostly because Staggershock and our levelers get better, even though our deck wouldn’t mind drawing either.

We keep a strong hand with all our land types, some removal, and two win conditions.

Only one enchantment I care to kill Turn 2, but it’s a doozy (Training Grounds).

Though we could effectively counter Survival Cache with Staggershock, since the board is still open, it’s better to save burn to establish and maintain presence. UW has lots and lots of small creatures that either get bigger, or do other unpleasant things. Right now, we only have two routes to victory, and while they’re both quite good, that doesn’t mean we can afford to sabotage either. There’s no reason to give our opponent even the smallest opening.

Despite his rather high level of disruption, he only manages to land a single threat, and not for very long, at that. Still, three counters is an awful lot, and will certainly influence our decisions in the future.

Something to keep in mind

R1G2

We’re put on the play.

Mulligan, six lands.

-Our next six is a thing of beauty.

Since we know he’s playing oodles of counters, our game plan is to advance, maintain, repeat. Give them nothing, and take from them everything. Once we establish position, he’s forced to choose between holding counter mana up, curtailing his resources, and actually stopping us from winning.

We cast Beastbreaker on Turn 2, solidifying our position. From there, we just remove blockers when he taps down, and ride our leveler to victory.

R2G1

We choose to play, keeping a strong if land-light hand. It has high-quality removal and creatures, so we keep. (I apologize — I missed the screenshot, and MODO didn’t save the game. Even worse, I don’t recall anything myself!)

We win?

R2G2

We’re put on the draw with a fairly weak hand. Of our entire hand, only one spell (the black Invoker) is immediately playable, and rather fragile at that. Since we know our deck can do better with six than a virtual four, and we have the draw, we mull.

Our six has some of the same problems, but with much better removal, so we keep.

Our removal deals with any potential threats he plays. I say potential, by the way, because his levelers may have become dangerous, given time. Instead, they were given Staggershock. We draw both of our Lusts, and win the game without ever attacking.

R3G1

We choose to play, keeping a solid but unexciting hand.

We get lucky in drawing Beastbreaker on Turn 2, swinging with the then-4/4 a turn later. There aren’t very many hands that can keep up with that opener, not when it’s followed by beefy beef with beef on the side. He never even gets to think about attacking.

R3G2

We’re put on the draw, and keep another decent hand.

He gets an early 2-drop, which we could kill, but it’s really irrelevant. Most 2-drops are; this is the only format I’ve ever drafted where Grizzly Bears is nigh-unplayable. The effect of a vanilla 2/2 on the game is literally negligible, and we’d much rather save Last Kiss for something with an ability. As it turns out, it doesn’t matter, as our opponent fails to remove our second Invoker before Turn 8, while we sat on a comfy 14 life points.

Ok, ok, so we didn’t exactly have an archetype. It wasn’t our fault ? we positioned ourselves well, but the cards just weren’t coming. That’s alright, though, because we ended up with a fine deck regardless. How can that be, you may ask. Didn’t you tell us we needed to draft archetypes to win? Well . . . yes, I did; and yes, you do. Our deck was an example of a hybrid, something between more rigid archetypes. You see, green is by far the deepest color (deeper, in fact, than the deepest color in most sets), and most tables can support five green drafters easily. Part of what makes forests the resource they are (besides their usefulness in making cardboard, which then gets inked and shrink-wrapped and passed around tables by people who should really be writing their papers instead) in Rise Draft is the wealth of powerful cards that don’t fit into archetypes at all. They have synergies, of course: Beastbreaker and Snake Umbra were born for each other, and Eldrazi Green loves an Invoker or two. However, these cards do not contribute to a specific mechanic or stratagem — they’re just good. So, we do have an archetype, of sorts. It’s called Base-Green Goodstuff.

Some notes, before the goodbye this time:

-Lust for War is very, very good. I remember rating it highly when the format first came out, but it wasn’t until Luis Scott-Vargas began first-picking it that I did as well. Any card that can win games by itself is worth picking early, and often. Like acne, except not.

-Bears suck. Also, 2/2s are bad (I kid, I kid — I’m sure they’ll win a game eventually! (the 2/2s, I mean)). But seriously, folks. This format, more than any, is about playing win conditions, and balancing the tasks of supporting one’s own and disrupting the opponent’s. Because Nest Invader accelerates, it is playable, whereas Glory Seeker is not.

(A clarification: I’m using the term ‘unplayable’ in a fairly loose sense. Of course, any creature with a positive integer in the power box is playable, in the sense that it can contribute to one’s winning the game. However, when my opponent plays a Glory Seeker, for example, I don’t just not groan, I chuckle gleefully. Occasionally, a giggle will escape. The card is simply so ineffective, I’m glad my opponent didn’t save the slot for something actually good.)

Also, here’s a fun discussion question: what would you pick, in that initial pack, and why?

Happy drafting!