Unlocking the Vault #43 – The Real Decks of QT #3

Posted on March 27, 2013 by enderfall

We have arrived at the midpoint of QT#3. My tournament was an unmitigated disaster, having dropped two winnable matches in the first two rounds. Sometimes, the cards just don’t break your way in Classic despite your best-laid plans. Turns out that Tinker and Time Vault are still pretty good in Classic! So instead of giving you a midpoint analysis of my tournament, I have selected 6 decks to talk about that have caught my attention and have preformed well thus far.

Before I start looking at the decks that I’ve chosen, I’d like to highlight some of the trends that have emerged in the first 3 rounds. Going into the tournament, here is what the metagame looked like:

5 Oath
4 Workshops
3 Affinity
3 Delver
3 BUG
3 Flashing Rectum/2-Card Monte Combo
2 Helmline-Rest In Peace Combo
2 GWB hate
2 UW Control
2 Dredge
1 Burning Oath Combo
1 UGB Fish
1 Show and Tell-Omniscience Combo
1 Slivers
1 Merfolk
1 Infect Combo
1 Baleful Tezz
1 Welder Shops
1 UR Standstill
1 Rogue Hermit
1 Nivmagus Combo

~OATH~

The first and foremost trend that I noticed was the success that Oath decks are having. The 5 Oath decks are a combined 10 – 5 with a pair of 3 – 0 decks. On one hand this is quite remarkable, yet on the other, it’s probably quite predictable. Oath has always been a top deck in Classic, but the last couple of years have seen Oath morph into many different things: ShOath, Oath Storm, GG Oath, etc., and often some of these experiments have led to sub-optimal builds. Lately it seems that the GG variants are having the most success, which I attribute to them being more streamlined, and most importantly, better equipped to win on the first Oath activation without having to pass the turn. This field of Oath decks are predominantly GG versions, with only FishyFellow opting for the more Show and Tell-heavy version.

~AFFINITY~

Another menace in the metagame, Affinity, has seen mixed results. Out of the 3 decks in the field, one is 3-0, one is 2 – 1 and the other is 1-2. Naturally, Thewoof2 is the 3-0 Affinity pilot since the most recent decklists were popularized by him, which gives him the experience edge over the other two pilots. It’s much too small of a sample size to make any accurate projections, but the fact that Thewoof2 is 3-0 leads me to believe that the deck is still as strong as ever.

~COMBO~

There was also a smattering of different combo decks, ranging from Helm-Line with Rest in Peace, Nivmagus Elemental Storm, Burning Oath, Show and Tell-Omniscience, Infect, and the newest brew, Flashing Rectum. Collectively, these decks have gone 8 – 13 – 4. I’m not sure if it’s safe to say that combo is dead, but the results have been quite poor thus far. Many of these decks have already dropped from the tournament, so seeing much improvement in the record over the final three rounds is unlikely unless two decks catch fire the rest of the way.

~WORKSHOP~

Workshops have performed well with a combined 7-4 record, three of which are 2-1 or better. While not surprising in the strictest sense, what has been surprising is that Workshops are 2-0 versus Affinity. Long the bane of traditional Workshop decks, perhaps Montolio and bactgudz have found the secret to beating Affinity? Round 4 could very well be an Affinity rematch for Montolio, being paired up with the Affinity master Thewoof2. If Montolio pulls that match out, I’ll start to believe that there may be a reliable way for Workshop to beat Affinity.

~CONTROL~

Control decks have not fared well thus far, with a combined record of just 5 – 9 – 1. Only PhilipJFry’s UR Standstill deck and Naoto’s Tezzeret deck have achieved a 2-1 record or better. I didn’t help the poor performance of control decks, though, and as I alluded to earlier, I felt like I had winnable matches both rounds. At the end of the day, I’m not sure there is a Control deck better than Standstill in Classic. The results are hard to ignore.

~AGGRO~

Finally, aggro decks have gone 10 – 5 thus far. Four of the five decks are 2 – 1 or better, including 3 Delver of Secrets-based decks. The lone non-Delver aggro deck is actually an update of the QT #2 winning deck, GWB Hate Bears. Perhaps this is a sign that it’s okay to sleeve up those Delver’s again?

3 – 0 DECKS

Among the decks that are currently 3-0, Montolio’s Workshop deck is one that caught my attention. Perhaps that’s because I strongly considered playing a Workshop deck myself, but perhaps more now due to the win that he secured against Affinity.

Montolio’s deck is nothing revolutionary. One might assume it’s a standard Metalworker Shop list and dismiss its strengths. Pre-board, the deck has everything you look for in a Metalworker deck: Staff of Domination to combo out, Spheres and Chalice of the Void to lock out opponents, and Crucible of Worlds to Strip-lock opponents out. Rishadan Port is used effectively here as well since it can tap for mana to activate Mishra’s Factorys and to activate Staff or Steel Hellkite.

Post-board is where Montolio’s innovation lies. His singleton Ratchet Bomb is effective in many different match-ups, but perhaps most importantly against Affinity. Wiping out 2-3 one or 2-drops from Affinity can be enough to get the more powerful Workshop deck back in the game after Affinity’s initial rush. Mid-game, a Bomb can clear out an army of tokens from Genesis Chamber as well. It can also slow down any Skullclamp shenanigans. Karakas can help fight off Oath decks that lean heavily on Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and/or Griselbrand, while Grafdigger’s Cage can slow down both Tinker and Oath (while also being effective against Dredge, etc.).

For the Mirror Match, Montolio can bring in some additional robot reinforcements with Duplicant, Wurmcoil Engine, Triskelion, and a pair of Precursor Golems. All in all, Montolio’s deck is powerful and streamlined. With there being a distinct lack of Null Rod and Stony Silence, it appears to be a perfect choice for the metagame.

On the flip side, Affinity does have one 3-0 deck, piloted by Thewoof2. Here’s a look at his decklist:

Honestly, this is nearly card for card the list that Thewoof2 has been playing for a few months now. The sideboard has some interesting cards, however, including 3 Bombs. I’m not sure if it’s used the same way that Montolio uses it to fight off Affinity (mirrors in the case of Thewoof2), but it seems important as an out to things like Oath, Serenity, and Zombie tokens. There’s not a whole lot to say about this deck that hasn’t already been said. Thewoof2 is 3-0, so clearly the deck is still among the top decks in Classic.

As I alluded earlier, Oath decks have been performing well. One of the decks that caught my eye was call1me1dragon’s Grisel Oath. The deck is a different take on the GG Oath deck that one would normally see. Right off the bat, you’ll notice the distinct lack of Emrakul and Blightsteel as well as Dragon Breath. Without any Robot, the deck also lacks Tinker, even though it does have Vault-Key.

Where the real innovation lies is the singleton Memory’s Journey. Journey is a card I predicted would see some Classic play back when Innistrad was released. Here, call1me1dragon can use it to find the missing piece(s) to Vault-Key after an Oath activation. Since Griselbrand doesn’t care about instant-speed spot removal, even if you have an answer for it, he’ll often draw 14 cards. When combined with the contents of the graveyard it gives call1me1dragon a reasonable chance to take all the remaining turns. It’s an interesting take on the deck that I’m curious to see how it performs from here on out.

If I was to take an Oath deck into a tournament in the near future, it would probably look a lot like moonkhan’s deck, which is 2 – 1 thus far:

There are a couple reasons why I really like this deck (we’ll ignore the mistake of Darksteel Colossus over Blightsteel). First, there are 2 Dragon Breath in the deck. The single greatest weakness with Show and Tell is that you give your opponent a chance to respond to your “game winning” creature. Call1me1dragon’s solution is to use Grislebrand to dig through your deck to find Vault-Key and never give your opponent another turn. Here, moonkhan uses Dragon Breath to end the game on the spot as it’s unlikely that they could recover after sacrificing 6 permanents or taking 11 trampling infect damage. He even has a Grislebrand of his own! To me, one Dragon Breath is not enough to reliably hit it on an Oath activation. 2 seems like the perfect number.

The second aspect of moonkhan’s deck that I particularly like is the full set of Abrupt Decay‘s that are present in his board. Decay answers the biggest problematic card that is present in almost every sideboard these days: Grafdigger’s Cage. Uncounterable and instant-speed, this single card can turn what might appear to be a stable board state to game over. I can’t say enough good things about Decay and I’m not sure why more Oath decks aren’t taking notice of what it can do for them.

2 – 1 DECKS

Each deck that PlanetWalls has entered in the Classic Quarter League has been a refreshing brew and this QT’s version is no different:

PlanetWalls’ deck is a mixture of UW Control with Rest in Peace-Helm of Obedience combo. There is quite a bit of board control here with a full set of Meddling Mages, Detention Sphere, and countermagic. There are a couple avenues to victory as PlanetWalls can combo out with Helm or beat down with Misthollow Griffin and Porcelain Legionnaire. I’d imagine that the most common path to victory is to combo out, as there are 3 Enlightened Tutors to find the missing combo pieces.

PlanetWalls’ sideboard is chock full of goodies! Magus of the Unseen is a little-used gem in Classic. Stealing a Tinker-bot or Lodestone Golem can be back breaking! Another “techy” use is to steal the opponent’s Time Vault to stifle the often game-ending combo.

Misdirection is a great card to deal with Abrupt Decay which can completely ruin the combo plan. It can also protect Mage and win a Counter War.

Cursed Totem shuts off a whole host of creatures in Classic ranging from Deathrite Shaman, Metalworker, Steel Overseer, Triskelion, Griselbrand and many, many more.

Needlebug is something I would never have thought to see the light of day in Classic. A 2/2 artifact creature for 4 mana with flash is nothing to write home about. It’ll likely never win a game by thrusting itself into the red zone (except maybe in Shop matchups), but against Workshop, Affinity, and Tinker-bots, it is the best wall there is to stall the game until RIP/Helm can be assembled.

The rest of the board is rounded out by a few cards that can help in specific match-ups. Supreme Verdict is there to clear the board of creature threats. Annul is there to slow down artifacts and Oath. It can even help in a pinch in a mirror match where RIP is live for both players. Cage is a one-of for Oath and graveyard strategies. My only qualm are the two Powder Kegs. Ratchet Bomb is strictly better since it can hit any permanent, but perhaps that’s PlanetWalls’ concern as the Bomb would hit his RIP and Energy Field as well. It’s an interesting tradeoff, which I’d love to hear about should such a situation actually came up during the tournament.

The final deck I want to discuss today is the new combo brew that was concocted by several of my clanmates. Here is Cronin’s decklist:

This deck is chock full of broken things! There is the ubiquitous Vault-Key. There is Show and Tell to drop either a large fatty or Omniscience to cast said fatty. There is Academy Rector as another way to cheat Omniscience into play. There is also Tinker, Channel, and long-forgotten Flash. If that’s not enough, the sideboard can be fully transformed to Oath of Druids!

With this many broken combos, it’s very similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The key is to make sure that your deck doesn’t trip over itself in finding the best path forward to winning the game. Sometimes the deck will have to simply get there with a Show and Tell. Other times, it’ll have to grind out victories while setting up the kill condition. I haven’t tested with this deck yet, but it sure looks fun to play! With both pilots of the deck being 2 – 1, it also appears to be a strong deck to boot.

Conclusions

It’s easy to see that the decks that are successful are those that are set out to do broken things. The 5 undefeated decks are Affinity, Workshop, Oath x2, and a Gush-Fastbond-based Delver deck with a Tendrils of Agony kill condition. Clearly, if you aren’t casting a game ending combo or utilizing unfair mana advantages from things like Mishra’s Workshop and the Sol Lands (Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors), then you are probably doing it wrong.

While there are quite a few “fair” aggro decks near the top of the standings early on, I’m not sure how they will hold up in the end. Classic is still a powerful format even without the Power 9. It’s taken me several QTs to figure out what I’ve been doing wrong all along. I’m not going to make that same mistake on the final chance to qualify for the Invitational on July 21st. Next time, I’m going to try to do something broken too.

enderfall
Clan Magic Eternal
Follow me on Twitter @enderfall

 

  1. The only problem I have with this article is that you consistently accidentally imply that my deck is playable in this format.

    Which it isn’t.