Unlocking the Vault #2: Getting Started

In Unlocking the Vault #1 I discussed the joys of playing Classic and how I reached the point I’m at today. In this article, I’d like to address those who might be looking into getting started in Classic. I’ll explore what new players should be looking out for and how to combat the most common strategies in Classic, among other topics. Let’s go!

To begin, one needs to understand how the popular decks and combos work in Classic in order to try to stop what they are doing and to set up your own game plan. Most decks in Classic will attempt to win with a combo most games they play. Understanding what cards your opponent is playing (and trying to figure out what kind of deck he is using) and thus what cards to be on the lookout for is the first step to being successful in Classic. A prime example: If you are on the draw and your opponent plays a Turn 1 Bazaar of Baghdad, activates the Bazaar and dumps Bridge from Below, Stinkweed Imp, and Dread Return into the graveyard, you know that your opponent is playing Dredge, and thus you need to adapt accordingly. How you interact with your opponent for the next few plays will determine the outcome of the game.

Yet while Dredge is a relatively easy deck to spot, other decks may not be as obvious.

Here is a breakdown of some of the most powerful combos in the format, on which common Classic decks’ game plans are based, with a brief synopsis of how to deal with them:

Time Vault-Voltaic Key

I’ll start with the infamous Time Vault-Voltaic Key combo. This combo, when active, will lock an opponent out of the game by allowing a player to take infinite turns. Blue control decks are the most likely to employ the Vault-Key combo, though some builds of Workshop and Storm decks will also utilize this combo. There are several ways that these decks will try to power out their combo, and spotting them ahead of time can be the difference between winning and losing. Tutors such as Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Imperial Seal, as well as Tinker, are the most common tools that blue-based decks will use. It’s a safe bet to predict that all blue-based decks in the format will run this combo. Look out for the lands that your opponent is playing. Underground Sea and Polluted Delta are usually telltale signs to be cognizant of the Vault-Key combo, though just about any blue-producing dual land or fetch land should raise warning flags. Typically, if your opponent has one of the two combo pieces in hand, he will use the tutors or Tinker to find the other piece and try to win the game on the spot. This means that you may not have the privilege of visually spotting either combo piece before it’s too late. Nonetheless, the combo requires 4 total mana to combo out in one turn, and that’s without casting any tutors (2 mana to cast the Time Vault and 2 more mana to cast and activate the Voltaic Key). Workshop decks that use Kuldotha Forgemaster could employ the Vault-Key combo; thus, removing the Forgemaster is imperative. Even if the opponent is not using the Vault-Key combo, it’s likely that they will Tinker up a Blightsteel Colossus to ruin your day anyway, so removing the Forgemaster is a good plan.

Mainboarding a card like Null Rod negates this strategy since it prevents both Time Vault and Voltaic Key from being activated. Other budget options to stopping the effectiveness of the tutors include Aven Mindcensor and Leonin Arbiter, which can be utilized in aggro decks using White. The Mindcensor is particularly intriguing because it is not conditional in the way Arbiter is (though it still allows the opponent to search the top four cards of their library), can be played at instant speed, only affects your opponents, and has evasion once it is on the battlefield. But Leonin Arbiter has the important benefit of coming in a full turn earlier. My preference is for Aven Mindcensor since it doesn’t stop you from playing your own fetch lands and stops your opponent from searching all but the top four cards of his library as long as it is on the battlefield. The longer the game progresses, the less relevant Leonin Arbiter is.

Oath of Druids-Forbidden Orchard

In the current metagame of the Classic format, Oath of Druids is the pinnacle win condition of blue-based control decks. Decks running Oath will cast the enchantment and force a creature onto your side of the battlefield with Orchard. After doing so, during their next upkeep, Oath will trigger, putting a giant, problem creature onto the battlefield to set up a win. Spotting Oath of Druids early is fairly difficult, though it’s common for blue mages to use Lotus Petal to quickly power out an Oath. Obviously, seeing Forbidden Orchard is a dead giveaway, though some decks have been recently sporting their own Orchards in their mainboard as an answer to the prevalence of Oath decks in the format (I’ll elaborate later on). It goes without saying, but if your opponent plays an Oath of Druids, do not needlessly play creatures of your own! Oath is very resilient to hate, as the deck can respond to many threats through a suite of countermagic, bounce, and removal, in addition to its card filtering with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Brainstorm, fetch lands, and tutoring. Also, Orchard provides all colors of mana and, being a land, can’t be countered, making Oath-Orchard one of the strongest two-card combos in the format.

Luckily, there are several ways to stop or, at least, slow down Oath decks. The most obvious method involves removing Oath or stopping Oath from hitting the battlefield. Great removal options include Nature’s Claim and other Disenchant effects. Creature-based removal in the form of Qasali Pridemage and Trygon Predator are also quite effective. Predator is especially intriguing if you can resolve the card before Oath hits the battlefield, as you will generally be able to answer any future Oaths that your opponent might play, so long as they can not remove your Predator. Stopping Oath from hitting the battlefield through countermagic and Sphere effects such as Sphere of Resistance and Chalice of the Void for 2 are solid plays. You can also attack Oath by stopping the trigger through cards like Eon Hub and Stifle. If you are playing with Workshops, Jesters Cap has long been considered a powerful anti-Oath strategy since most Oath builds only run three creatures total (and Jesters Cap can conveniently exile all of them). It’s difficult to get the Cap on the battlefield through their countermagic wall, but it is nearly an auto-win if you do. Another potential tool is Ensnaring Bridge because it will generally prevent all of the Oath targets from attacking. This, however, would mean that you’ll probably need some win condition other than attacking with your own creatures.

Perhaps the most innovative and brilliant ways to slow down Oath decks, as noted earlier, is to play Forbidden Orchards of your own! Winning the “Orchard War” will keep you ahead of your opponent’s Oath of Druids-triggers. This is one reason Oath decks are starting to pack Wastelands, though doing so hurts Oath decks’ mana bases. Certainly putting Orchards in your maindeck without your own Oath of Druids is not advisable since you will be facing down an army of 1/1s in no time, but as a sideboard option, you could do worse, and it fixes your own manabase to boot!

Crucible of Worlds-Strip Effects

The next combo I wish to discuss is Crucible of Worlds with “strip effects,” i.e., Strip Mine, Wasteland, and/or Ghost Quarter. Crucible is a versatile card, most commonly found in Mishra’s Workshop decks. If your opponent can get this combo online, you will find your manabase locked out within just one or two turns. Eliminating the Crucible ASAP is a priority and can be done through common artifact hate including Nature’s Claim, Ancient Grudge, and Steel Sabotage, among other cards. Playing basic lands will mitigate the effects of this combo because Wasteland will be ineffective. Proper use of fetch lands will help, as well, because if you suspect your opponent might be playing with strip effects, you should wait to crack your fetch land until you absolutely need the mana and grab the basic land that you need.

Lion’s Eye Diamond-Infernal Tutor

This combo is more prevalent in (online) Classic than it is in (paper) Vintage. This is because to Lion’s Eye Diamond (LED) is restricted in Vintage but not restricted in Classic. The combo is well-documented, but for those unaware, LED’s drawback actually makes the Infernal Tutor into an unrestricted Demonic Tutor, leaving 3 mana floating in your mana pool. This just happens to be the same as the casting cost of Yawgmoth’s Will, leading to a degenerate series of plays wherein Lion’s Eye Diamonds and other spells are recast, usually culminating in a giant Tendrils of Agony or Minds Desire. Stopping this engine can be done through a card that has been discussed as a solution to the Vault-Key combo, Null Rod. Countermagic is also successful (countering Yawgmoth’s Will), but the same graveyard hate useful against Dredge can be useful here as well. Also, as discussed earlier, cards like Aven Mindcensor and Leonin Arbiter can be effective at slowing down this combo because they can disrupt the tutors.

Dredge Combos

Going back to the example I used earlier, I want to spend a few moments discussing strategies versus Dredge. Bazaar of Baghdad is Public Enemy #1. Strip effects are useful in slowing down the Bazaar, though they do still allow your opponent at least one activation from the powerful land. I’ve heard of instances where a Dredge player mulligans down to one card, that card being Bazaar, and still manages to win the game, so that isn’t a foolproof way to spoil a Dredge deck. The most problematic card in Dredge is Bridge from Below. If the Dredge player can get the Bridge into their graveyard, they can quickly amass a large army of hasty 3/3 zombies. Removing Bridge from the graveyard is imperative. A potentially effective way to deal with it (unique to Bridge) is to destroy your own creatures, though it’s not as easy as it sounds. One neat trick, if you are playing Wasteland and Mishra’s Factory, is to activate the Factory to turn it into a creature, then destroy it with Wasteland.

Dread Return is another problematic card because it can be cast from the graveyard by sacrificing Narcomoebas, Ichorids, and others. Removing that card from your opponent’s graveyard is nearly as important as exiling Bridge from Below. Casting Dread Return targeting Flame Kin Zealot with an active Bridge from Below will often end the game right then and there. Using the various anti-graveyard cards help keep these problematic cards from hurting you. These cards include: Leyline of the Void, Tormods Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, Ravenous Trap and Nihil Spellbomb. Each has its strengths and weaknesses:

• Leyline hits the board on Turn 0, meaning it can’t be countered if put into play this way, though it can be a terrible topdeck if you can’t find the 2 black mana to cast it.
• Tormods Crypt costs 0 mana to cast, meaning that if the player chooses to hold it in hand, it can surprise an opponent to some degree, unlike a Turn 0 Leyline. It can also be recurred from the graveyard through other effects to increase, for example, a storm count, and is generally understood as the best option.
• Relic of Progenitus can be reused for spot removal against certain decks. It also draws a card, but removes all cards from all libraries, including yours, when activated.
• Nihil Spellbomb is like a combination of the Relic and the Crypt, though it is mana-intensive, requiring 1 to cast it and a black mana to draw a card.
• Ravenous Trap is unique in that it can be an instant-speed surprise if the Dredge player is unsuspecting, and at the efficient cost of 0 mana. The Dredge player will actively use his Cabal Therapys, though, which can mitigate the surprise factor.

Once you get into Games 2 and 3, you’ll have access to your sideboard, where you can run the aforementioned anti-graveyard cards. The key is to mulligan aggressively until you find a suitable hand with at least one anti-graveyard card, though don’t push your luck if you have a decent hand that you think can race the Dredge deck. The Dredge player will bring in a sideboard of their own hate versus these cards, but mostly Nature’s Claims and Ancient Grudges.

Another Dredge strategy involves Hermit Druid. Hermit Druid is a “single-card combo” that enables the pilot to dump his entire library into the graveyard since decks running the Druid play zero basic lands. The win condition is usually a resurrected Sutured Ghoul via Dread Return, powered by Dragon Breath, or an abnormally large Lord of Extinction. The key to defeating a Hermit Druid deck is to do everything possible to remove the Druid or keep him off the battlefield. Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt, Darkblast, among other cards, are all suitable solutions, though watch out for the Dredge player’s Force of Wills and Mental Missteps! Other ways to answer the Druid would be to prevent his activated ability from resolving through a timely Stifle or preventing the activation altogether with either a Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker. Chalice of the Void on 2 is also a suitable answer, though you’ll need to watch out for Nature’s Claim. If you can manage graveyard hate for Games 2 and 3, the time to use the hate is when the Dragon Breaths ability is on the stack so that it cannot enter the battlefield attached to the Sutured Ghoul. As a result your opponent, cannot attack with the Ghoul and will lose their next turn due to not being able to draw a card.

Hive Mind-Show and Tell-Pact

This is a Legacy deck that burst onto the scene recently at GP Providence. I’ve noticed that a few people have ported this over to Classic, providing access to tutors and artifact mana sources to power out the combo even faster. You can identify this deck because it runs blue cards and blue mana-producing lands, as well as Ancient Tomb and/or City of Traitors. It’s also possible that the Hive Mind pilot will use Grim Monoliths.

For those of you who do not know, the deck abuses the fast mana in the format to cast Show and Tell and drop Hive Mind onto the battlefield. From there, the pilot casts one of the various Pacts from Future Sight (usually Summoners Pact or Pact of the Titan, depending on what colors his opponent is playing, and holding Force of Will or Pact of Negation as back-up), which his opponent is forced to copy, thus faced with the prospect of paying for the Pact on his next upkeep or losing the game. The key to stopping this is in the timing. While many players believe Daze to be a relatively weak card in Classic, in this instance, Daze-ing your copy of the Pact will stop the spell from resolving if you have the extra mana to pay for the copy of Daze that your opponent gets from Hive Mind. Spell Pierce also works, though it is more difficult to manage the 2 mana to pay to cancel your opponent’s copy and also requires you to have a blue mana available to cast it in the first place. Null Rod is also a potential solution to slow your opponent down from abusing their artifact mana (Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, or Grim Monolith), though it doesn’t stop a Turn 2 Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors with an Island in play. If this deck starts to become more of a nuisance in the metagame, packing Eon Hub in your sideboard to drop into play for free off your opponent’s Show and Tell ability might not be the worst thing to do since it also works against Oath decks (sidenote: Nix is also a potential sideboard option, though its application would be almost entirely limited to the Hive Mind deck. Nix does have applications for other problematic cards in the format such as Gush, Force of Will, Daze, Mindbreak Trap, Cabal Therapy, Mental Misstep, and Dread Return, so if you are looking for answers out of your sideboard for those cards, Nix might be worth a shot, but again, only if Show and tell becomes a significant part of the metagame because other countermagic is often better).

Dark Depths-Vampire Hexmage

This combo was a powerhouse in old Extended and has been ported to Classic. If you see your opponent playing basic swamps, watch out for this combo. There are several ways to counter this combo, though the best way is through the use of strip effects to destroy the Dark Depths before it becomes a 20/20 indestructible menace. A timely Stifle on the Hexmage activation is also effective. If your opponent can manage to get Dark Depths online, Path to Exile is a reasonable solution, as are bounce spells like Chain of Vapor and to a lesser extent, Repeal. Swords to Plowshares will work as well, though providing your opponent with 20 life is certainly not ideal for many decks.

Fastbond-Gush

Fastbond-Gush is a very powerful card drawing engine commonly employed in blue-based Storm decks. If you see a Tropical Island early (especially off a fetch land), there is a pretty decent chance that you are playing against a Gush combo, so you’ll need to play accordingly. This combo was only recently revived since Gush was restricted until late 2010. Gush decks have a tough time in the current metagame due to the prevalence of Workshop decks and their various sphere effects (such as Trinisphere), but there are many people still trying to break the format with this combo, so you may come across it. Aside from the sphere effects in Workshop decks, there isn’t much that one can proactively do to stop it, though getting Fastbond off the battlefield is your best course of action. Nature’s Claim and Disenchant effects work well to do so if it seems important to the matchup.

That wraps up this look into the most common and powerful combos in Classic. By no means is this a comprehensive gaze into all the combos that are out there (this is Classic, after all!), but I hope that this will serve new players well in understanding how to construct decks and to try to foresee things before it’s too late. The take-away point should be that successful decks in Classic need to have many versatile answers in addition to trying to sculpt your own plan of action. Cards such as Nature’s Claim have such solid value across many different matchups that if you are playing green, you should probably have at least one in your deck. Similarly, with the number of artifacts being played in the format, access to the various artifact destruction effects can be valuable, even if just out of the sideboard. These two factors make cards like Qasali Pridemage and Trygon Predator all-stars in Classic due to their versatility.

If you think I may have missed an important combo, please let me know in the comment section and I’ll try to address it, possibly in future articles.

For those of you on Twitter, you can follow me @enderfall. I’ll try to post relevant Classic information. Also, as of this writing, Mmogg from Classic Quarter is organizing a PRE League for Classic that will be free to enter starting July 6th. For anyone with passive interest in Classic and a deck ready to go, please visit this thread on the Classic Quarter forums. This is a great opportunity to get involved in a tournament without the upfront entry fee.