Deep Analysis – Taking on the Best Deck, by Richard Feldman at... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?

Article=15742

Deep Analysis – Taking on the Best Deck

by Richard Feldman

Last week I tuned Spectral Visions to a point where I had turned around the
auto-loss Red matchup, and had settled on a build that I was ready to take
against Faeries, the best deck in the format.

Spectral Vision
Suggested by Richard Feldman on 2008-04-20 as a
potential deck for Standard
As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/15742.html
Print this deck!

Maindeck: Sideboard:
Sorceries
2 Chameleon Colossus
Creatures 4 Ancestral Vision
3 Cloudthresher
4 Ponder
1 Cloudthresher 4 Primal Command
1 Shriekmaw
1 Shriekmaw 4 Slaughter Pact
4 Pyroclasm
1 Dralnu, Lich Lord
4 Spectral Force 4 Search For Tomorrow
4 Thoughtseize
4 Tarmogoyf Basic Snow Lands
Stats:
5 Snow-covered Forest
Average mana: 1.65
Instants 1 Snow-covered Island
Average creature mana
1 Snow-covered
4 Remove Soul Mountain
cost: 3.90
4 Rune Snag Average creature power:
1 Snow-covered Swamp
4.20
Average creature
Lands
toughness: 4.10
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Shivan Reef
Deck Composition:
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Underground River Basic Snow Lands: 13.33%
4 Yavimaya Coast Creatures: 16.67%
Instants: 13.33%
Lands: 23.33%
Sorceries: 33.33%

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Download this
deck in in
deck in
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To recap, my deck’s biggest selling points against Faeries are the

Pyroclasms, the Spectral Forces (the key to beating Bitterblossom), and the
Ancestrals that let me keep up with their card advantage.

I did the first set against Patrick Chapin’s Faeries list from a few weeks ago.

U/b Faeries
Suggested by Patrick Chapin on 2008-03-30 as a potential
deck for Standard
As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/15618.html
Print this deck!

Maindeck: Sideboard:
Tribal Enchantments
1 Sower Of Temptation
Creatures 4 Bitterblossom
4 Flashfreeze
4 Mistbind Clique Basic Snow Lands
4 Deathmark
2 Oona's 3 Thoughtseize
5 Snow-covered Island 3 Peppersmoke
Blackguard 1 Snow-covered Swamp
4 Pestermite Lands
Stats:
4 Scion Of Oona Average mana: 1.47
3 Faerie Conclave
Average creature mana
2 Sower Of 4 Mutavault
cost: 3.00
4 River Of Tears
Temptation 4 Secluded Glen
Average creature power:
4 Spellstutter 1.90
4 Underground River
Average creature
Sprite toughness: 1.70

Instants Deck Composition:

Basic Snow Lands: 10.00%
3 Cryptic Creatures: 33.33%
Command Instants: 11.67%
4 Rune Snag Lands: 31.67%
Sorceries: 6.67%
Tribal Enchantments: 6.67%
Sorceries
4 Ancestral Vision

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Download this
deck in in
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Maindeck Game 1

Opening hand: Two Forest, two Yavimaya Coast, two Tarmogoyf, Primal
Command. This hand is neither manascrew nor manaflood, but it is
wretched. I have two 0/1 Goyfs, no way to grow them until turn five, and
only two different colors of mana among four lands. Ship it back for two
Yavimaya Coast, two Search for Tomorrow, Shriekmaw, Primal Command.
Keeper.

The opponent mulligans once.

I lead with Yavimaya Coast and Search for Tomorrow.

Opponent draws and plays Secluded Glen, revealing Mistbind Clique, and
suspends an Ancestral.

I draw Primal Command, which is not as welcome as it would usually be.

Play the other Yav Coast and suspend the other Search.

Opponent draws and plays Mutavault.

I fetch out a Swamp, then draw and play Underground River. My hand is
now Shriekmaw and two Primal Commands, and I have a Search coming in
next turn. The opponent has an Ancestral with three counters on it, along
with Secluded Glen and Mutavault, and he definitely has Mistbind Clique in
hand.

Opponent draws and plays River of Tears, then passes.

Search fires off and resolves, fetching Mountain. Draw Ponder, play Primal
Command targeting Mutavault. Opponent lets it resolve. I search up
Spectral Force; if he didn’t have a Snag for the Command, I suspect he

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won’t for the Force, either.

Opponent draws and re-plays Mutavault, then passes.

Draw Pyroclasm. Play Spectral Force; it resolves. Opponent plays

Spellstutter Sprite on end step.

Opponent’s Ancestral fires, then he plays another Mutavault and taps out
for Mistbind Clique.

Draw Yavimaya Coast. Play Ponder, seeing Ancestral Vision, Remove Soul,
and Spectral Force. Hmm. I like the Spectral Force in that mix, but I don’t
love it when I have two five-cost spells (Primal Command and Shriekmaw
with body) to be casting over the next two turns anyway, so I’m going to
shuffle. Draw Rune Snag. Beat for eight with Force, then play Yavimaya
Coast and Shriekmaw the Clique.

Opponent draws, beats with Spellstutter Sprite, suspends Ancestral, then

resolves another Clique.

Draw Ponder and cast it. See Rune Snag, Spectral Force, and Forest.
Beautiful! Put the Spectral Force on top, followed by Forest and then Rune
Snag. Beat with Shriekmaw and play the Force. This way I have a blocker
for potential Mutavault beats, as well as a Forest coming next turn with
which to protect my Primal Command.

Opponent draws, beats with Mistbind Clique (dropping me to six; my three

Yavimaya Coasts have dealt me nine this game), plays a third Mutavault,
and passes.

I untap the team, draw Forest, and play it. My hand is Rune Snag,
Pyroclasm, Primal Command. Obviously casting Pyro here would kill my
Shriekmaw and that’s it. I have two Spectral Forces and a Shriekmaw ready
for battle, and he’s at nine, but since he hasn’t conceded, the only logical
conclusion is that he’s going to try to get me with either Cryptic Command
or Pestermite here to stop some damage. I have Rune Snag available, but
he has six mana, so he can pay for it in either case.

Because these are his two outs, I do not play Primal Command pre-combat
under any circumstances, since that would let him counter it with Cryptic
Command, tap my team down, and swing for the win next turn. Instead, I
simply move to attack, and force him to blow the Command prematurely,
ensuring that I can resolve my Primal Command post-combat and keep my
life total afloat long enough to swing for the win next turn instead.

I move to attack, but he has Pestermite instead of Cryptic Command. Now

it’s time for some simple math. Obviously Pestermite will tap down one of
my Spectral Forces, but the other Force and the Shriekmaw are still lethal,
with two points to spare. Obviously he plans to block the Spectral Force
with a Mutavault, but if I Rune Snag his Pestermite and he pays, he won’t
have enough mana left to activate it.

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I Rune Snag it, he pays, taps one of my Forces, chumps the other one, and
takes exactly lethal anyway.

1-0

Maindeck Game 2

My opening hand has no Blue sources or Searches, but two Blue cards, a
Pyro, and a Cloudthresher. Ship it back for Yavimaya Coast, Terramorphic
Expanse, Ancestral Vision, Pyroclasm, and two Primal Commands. Run it.

Opponent keeps his opener.

Opponent leads with Secluded Glen revealing Bitterblossom and Ancestral

Vision.

I draw Tarmogoyf, play Yavimaya Coast, and suspend my own Ancestral.

Opponent draws, then plays River of Tears and Bitterblossom.

I draw Rune Snag and play Terramorphic Expanse.

Opponent draws, then plays Island. I Expanse for Mountain on his end step.

I draw Forest and play it. I summon Tarmogoyf to draw a counter;

unfortunately, the counter is Spellstutter Sprite.

Opponent draws, then plays Secluded Glen revealing Scion of Oona. His
Sprite and a token knock me to 17.

Draw Remove Soul and pass. He goes for Scion on his end step, and
naturally I Remove Soul it.

Opponent’s Ancestral goes off. He beats me to 13 with his dudes, then

plays River of Tears and passes.

My Ancestral goes off and is hit by Spellstutter Sprite. My Rune Snag won’t
really help here. Draw Yavimaya Coast and play it, then cast Pyroclasm.
Opponent Rune Snags, and I Rune Snag back.

Opponent draws a card and passes.

On my upkeep, opponent plays Mistbind Clique championing a token. Draw

Primal Command to go with the two in my hand. Still only four lands out,
though; not like I could have cast it if they were untapped. Pass.

Opponent draws and hits me for four with the Clique.

On my upkeep, opponent plays another Clique, and I’m dead next turn
guaranteed.

This game was all about his Ancestral superiority. Even though it
represented four damage, I think I was foolish in retrospect to Remove Soul

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his Scion; I should have saved it to defend my Ancestral. I already had a

Rune Snag, so if he tried to Cryptic Command it, I would have been able to
answer that - and if he tried to Snag it, I would have been able to pay - but if
he tried to Clique it, as he did, I would have had Remove Soul at the ready.
Now, as it happened, I missed my fourth land drop and so my Remove Soul
would have been countered by his Rune Snag, so my Ancestral still would
have ended up toasted and I would have lost the game anyway, but that
doesn’t change the fact that I should have played the Remove Soul
correctly in the first place. (I don’t think there’s much of a case to be made
for “play around him having Spellstutter Sprite and Rune Snag and I miss
the fourth land drop!”)

1-1

Maindeck Game 3

My opening hand is Island, Forest, Yavimaya Coast, Ponder, Rune Snag,

Pyroclasm, Tarmogoyf. Delicious!

Opponent keeps his as well.

I lead with Island and Ponder, seeing Mountain, Primal Command, and
Search for Tomorrow. Those all sound swell; put Mountain on top, then
Search, then Primal Command (to guard it against discard, should he
randomly have any).

Opponent starts with a tapped Secluded Glen.

Draw Search for Tomorrow. I don’t suspect he’ll play Bitterblossom if I leave
mana up for Rune Snag, but I have an interesting line of aggressive play
open to me here, in which I play Goyf first, let him tap out to resolve his best
two-drop while I’m tapped out, Search next turn and let him resolve his best
three-drop, then resolve turn-four Primal Command. Unfortunately, this lets
him resolve a good two-drop and a good three-drop, and then just puts a
good creature into my hand. He’ll know about it, and he won’t have used
any of his counters yet. That’s not an awesome board position, so I’d rather
just sit back on Snag and discourage his development. Pass.

Opponent draws, then plays Secluded Glen revealing Oona’s Blackguard

and Oona’s Blackguard. That can resolve; I’ll Pyroclasm it away, along with
its followers, if it gets annoying.

Draw Primal Command. Play Yavimaya Coast and suspend Search for
Tomorrow.

Opponent draws, plays River of Tears, beats with Blackguard, and passes.

Draw Terramorphic Expanse. Play Mountain and Tarmogoyf. It resolves.

Opponent plays Pestermite on end step, which picks up a counter from the
Blackguard and taps down my Island.

Opponent draws, then plays Island and beats for four. I discard

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Terramorphic Expanse to pump Goyf.

I search up Swamp and draw Remove Soul. I play a pre-combat Pyroclasm,

hoping to draw a counter. I do; it’s Cryptic Command, which I happily Rune
Snag. My newly 4/5 Goyf knocks the opponent to 16 and I’m done.

Opponent draws and plays River of Tears.

On my upkeep, opponent plays Pestermite to tap my Goyf. I don’t want to

blow a Remove Soul on that, so I’ll let it resolve.

Draw Shriekmaw. Not bad. I could play that here, or Primal Command. I
think Shriekmaw would let me better take the offensive alongside Goyf, so
I’ll run that one. Sadly, it is hit by Rune Snag.

Opponent beats with Pestermite, plays Bitterblossom, and passes.

Draw Yavimaya Coast. Play Primal Command targeting Bitterblossom and

searching up Cloudthresher. I choose the Bitterblossom over gaining life, by
the way, because I know if Primal Command resolves I can expect the
Cloudthresher to resolve as well, unless I give him the opportunity to
topdeck a counter. The half-Plow Under lets me be sure he won’t topdeck
one. Beat with Goyf, taking him to 12, and pass.

Opponent draws and re-plays Bitterblossom, then beats with Pestermite.

Draw Yavimaya Coast and play it. Beat with Goyf, knocking him to eight.

On opponent’s upkeep, after Bitterblossom trigger resolves, I summon

Cloudthresher. In response, he champions his Bitterblossom with Mistbind
Clique, which is fine by me. The life totals are now 7-5 in my favor, and the
board is my Cloudthresher and 4/5 Tarmogoyf to his Mistbind Clique. He
draws and passes.

Draw Ancestral Vision and beat with the team. He chumps Cloudthresher,
obviously, and goes to 1. This causes Bitterblossom to be un-championed,
which means he loses on his next upkeep. Game.

2-1

Maindeck Game 4

Opening hand: Yavimaya Coast, Underground River, two Ancestral Vision,

Tarmogoyf, Pyroclasm, Spectral Force. This hand is fairly borderline. It’s
slow, but it has two Visions and several different early-game plays. It’s also
got Pyroclasm in case I need to dig myself out of a hole (though I don’t
have a Red source yet). I’m on the fence with this one, so I’ll try it out and
let it inform my future mulliganing decisions.

Opponent leads with Secluded Glen.

I draw Search for Tomorrow and Suspend it. Against Faeries (and who else
plays Secluded Glen?) I want both of my Ancestrals coming in on the same

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turn, to make them harder to counter, so I’ll wait and suspend them both
next turn.

Opponent draws, plays River of Tears and passes.

I draw Terramorphic Expanse, play Underground River, and suspend the

two Ancestrals.

Opponent draws, plays Mutavault, and passes.

Search fires off and fetches Forest, which is promptly tapped by Pestermite.
I draw Remove Soul and decide to keep mana open to play that rather than
summoning a Goyf. Play Terramorphic Expanse and pass.

Opponent draws, beats with Pestermite, and plays a Swamp. I crack

Expanse for Mountain on his end step.

On my upkeep, I get to Remove Soul a Clique. I draw another Pyroclasm,

but opt to play a 4/5 Goyf instead of clearing away the Pestermite.

Opponent draws, beats with Pestermite, and passes.

My Ancestrals are down to a counter apiece. On my upkeep, another Clique

comes in, and I can’t stop this one. Draw Search for Tomorrow, then beat
with Goyf. Life totals are now 14-16 in his favor.

Opponent draws, plays Mutavault, and beats with Mutavault and Clique to
knock me to 8.

On my upkeep, both Ancestrals are hit by Spellstutter Sprites. What a huge

beating.

Draw Tarmogoyf. Pyro away the Spellstutter Sprites and beat with Goyf,
then play a second Goyf.

Opponent draws, plays Scion of Oona and Underground River, then taps
out to attack for exactly lethal with the two Mutavaults and the Clique.
Rough.

2-2

I thought the critical play of this game was Spellstutter Sprite on my

Ancestral, but I checked the top three cards of my library - two lands and a
Search. Really, what killed me was the second Clique resolving and my
having no way to deal with it. My only answer to that is a resolved
Cloudthresher or two successive resolved Pyroclasms. I had the two Pyros,
but this four-color Green deck is not set up to have RR in one turn, and -
not surprisingly - I didn’t have it in this instance. Clique is probably the best
argument for my boarding in perhaps a Slaughter Pact or two, and
Spellstutter Sprite is a huge argument for bringing in Thoughtseize.
Bizarrely, I may not actually want to bring in the three Cloudthreshers I
budgeted for (okay, I may still want one), which might free up some extra
space in my board.

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In game 5 I start with two Goyfs and a Pyroclasm to keep a Bitterblossom

manageable. I Rune Snag a Mistbind Clique on the way to Primal
Command mana. The first Command gets Snagged, but the second one
gains me back the life I’d lost to Bitterblossom tokens and fetches a
Cloudthresher, which clears the way for the 4/5 Goyfs to knock the
opponent to 2, at which point the Blossom finishes him.

Game 6 starts with my opponent taking a mulligan, then getting stuck on

two lands after playing Bitterblossom and Oona’s Blackguard. I go to Pyro
those guys away, he tries Spellstutter Sprite, and I have Remove Soul. I
Ponder into a total of three Primal Commands, each of which resolves (on
lands), gaining me seven life and putting Spectral Force and Cloudthresher
into my grip. I lay Spectral Force when he has Bitterblossom out, and let his
Ancestral resolve rather than burning two Rune Snags on it. He tries first to
Pestermite my soon-to-be lethal Spectral Force (I Rune Snag it), then he
tries to Sower it. I also Rune Snag that, at which point the Force is actually
lethal.

I open game 7 with a mulligan (no green), and my opponent does the same.
I have Ancestrals on turns 1 and 2, and a Search on turn 2 as well. My
opponent dings me with Scion of Oona and Pestermite, but my Ancestrals
go off and I resolve a Spectral Force and a Primal Command after he plays
Bitterblossom. I Rune Snag his Cryptic Command on my evoked
Cloudthresher, which clears his board and allows my Force to come across
for the win.

Game 8 starts with an Ancestral for me and not for him. I also resolve a
Goyf and suspend a Search while he plays out two Scions. On the turn my
Ancestral comes out, he has Spellstutter Sprite, but I have Remove Soul.
Unfortunately, he also has another Spellstutter Sprite, and I have no other
counter. This leaves him with two Scions and a Sprite to my Goyf. I play a
Spectral Force; he Cryptic Commands it. I play another, and he Commands
that one as well. Game.

Game 9 I lead with Terramorphic Expanse and two Goyfs, while he has
Ancestral and Bitterblossom. The Blossom is taking me down until I
Remove Soul a Scion of Oona and his Ancestral pumps my Goyfs up to
4/4. After a couple of my counters stop his pump attempts and his chump
blocks reduce his Blossom tokens to two, he’s still facing lethal from my
Goyfs so he plays a Sower. I have one last counter to stop it, leaving me
free to Cloudthresher his blockers out of my way and attain victory with my
Goyfs.

That last game really surprised me. I was entirely convinced that I was
going to lose when he opened with Ancestral and Bitterblossom and all I
had was some Goyfs and some counters. However, as it turned out I really
wasn’t giving Goyf enough credit; it only took a couple of turns for them to
grow from 1/2s to 4/4s, and then suddenly my counters became more than
enough for my opponent to be backpedaling despite his strong start,
ultimately leading me to clear a path to a Lhurgoyf-fueled victory in one
brutal turn.

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In the final game, my opponent mulls to five, and we both draw Ancestrals
on turn 2. I Remove Soul a Scion of Oona, and also Remove Soul a
Spellstutter Sprite that tries to stop my Ancestral. I stick a Spectral Force,
but on two consecutive turns he plays Oona’s Blackguard and then
champions it on my upkeep with Mistbind Clique. Those Time Walks put me
in bad shape, but I resolve two consecutive Primal Commands that Time
Walk him back, while gaining me fourteen life. This puts him in desperation
chump-block mode, and eventually he is at one life to my eight, with
Mistbind Clique and Faerie Conclave in play, and needing to topdeck
something to stop my Spectral Force next turn. He doesn’t find it, and I win.

7-3

After the games, I call Zac Hill and run some chats. As a result of our
discussion, I am convinced to cut a Forest for a second Karplusan, and
then to convert both Karplusans to Grove of the Burnwillows; giving life to
my opponent should be less severe a drawback for a control deck like this
one.

However, I am surprised when Zac tells me he tested 3-7 against the

winning Faeries list from GP: Shizuoka, and felt that his back was against
the wall the whole time. This was especially surprising because that list had
four largely dead Nameless Inversions where Patrick Chapin’s list - the one
I just tested against - had the far-deadlier Rune Snags. I decide to run
another set against this list, to see if I come across anything surprising.

In the first game of the set, I start with Ponder and Search for Tomorrow,
then defend a Tarmogoyf from Nameless Inversion with Rune Snag,
bringing it up to 3/4 and taking it out of the range of future Inversions.
Remove Soul stops Scion of Oona, and a defensive Bitterblossom comes
down on his side just in time for Spectral Force to come down on mine.
Goyf and Force prove too formidable for him to overcome, even after a
Cryptic Command forces a re-cast of the Force.

My opponent mulls to five in game 2, and I mulligan a one-lander. At six

cards, I keep a one-lander plus Search rather than going to five. (I don’t
have that good a chance of seeing more than two mana sources at five, but
I have a much higher chance of not having enough cards to win the game.)
He has turn 2 Bitterblossom, but I Ponder into lands and make Spectral
Force before he has Cryptic Command mana. I follow that with a Primal
Command that continues to deny him Command mana, while tutoring up
another Force. However, he then immediately finds his fourth land, plays
three consecutive Cryptic Commands to tap down and bounce my Forces
while beating on me with tokens, and eventually lays Scion of Oona to finish
me off. Wow - an unexpected comeback, to say the least.

Game 3 is a massacre. I lead with Search for Tomorrow while my opponent

suspends an Ancestral, and he just has no answer when I drop Spectral
Force on turns 4 and 5. The Ancestral doesn’t deliver the goods - he’s short
a Blue for Cryptic Command and evidently didn’t see any Sowers - and the
Forces just get him.

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In game 4, I start off strong with Search and several answers, but come up
short of the five mana needed to cast Spectral Force and Primal Command.
(It doesn’t matter, as I get Mistbind Clique’d on upkeep.) I Pyro away Scion
of Oona, allowing me to Shriekmaw the Clique, then resolve a Spectral
Force. The opponent tries to Sower it, but I Pyro again and then Rune Snag
his Cryptic Command. He kills the Force with three Nameless Inversions
shortly thereafter, but I have a follow-up Goyf which gets the job done after
the Force has gotten a hit in.

Game 5 is incredibly close. I play turn 2 Ancestral and turn 4 Primal

Command to put my opponent down to three mana on the turn my
Ancestral comes in, allowing me to defend it from his Spellstutter Sprite with
Rune Snag. However, he gets off an Ancestral as well, and while I clear
away his first Sower of Temptation with Shriekmaw, his second one yields
Spectral Force. I Primal Command to fetch Thresher and keep my life total
afloat, but his next Scion-fueled alpha strike knocks me to one. Fortunately,
I have exactly nine lands out, allowing me to Primal Command again, go
back up to eight, and evoke Cloudthresher to knock him to three life and
clear his Bitterblossom tokens out of the way - precisely in range of my
Shriekmaw.

I ship back a one-lander in game 6, then grudgingly keep a one-lander that

has Ponder in it rather than going to five. My opponent’s first four turns see
him suspend two Ancestrals and play two Bitterblossoms. I play two
Spectral Forces, and they are both hit by Cryptic Command. Not close.

I start game 7 with Terramorphic Expanse on turn 1, then Ancestral and

Search on turn 2, and finally Ponder and Goyf on turn 3. My opponent
develops with Scion of Oona, and I Rune Snag a Mistbind Clique that tries
to champion it. Spellstutter Sprite eventually stops my Ancestral, and I am a
land short of playing Spectral Force or Primal Command. I Pyro away his
Faeries and keep at him with my Goyf, but eventually I find my fifth land and
my Spectral Force runs into a Cryptic Command which also bounces my
Goyf. I re-play the Force, but it is hit by two consecutive Pestermites while I
draw Rune Snag and another land. Eventually I get a hit in, and play the
Primal Commands to put my life total out of range of Pestermites and
Faerie Conclaves; eventually his last chance is to Cryptic Command the
Force in order to race, but I still have the Rune Snag from several turns
before, so the Force comes across unopposed.

Game 8 is horrible. My opponent plays turn 1 Conclave, turn 2

Bitterblossom, and my draw is too slow and reactive to stop him from going
beatdown and taking big bites out of my life total. I play Spectral Force and
then die to Scion of Oona, having never reaped the benefits of either of my
suspended Ancestrals.

Game 9 is a lesson in Ancestral superiority. My opponent and I each

suspend Ancestrals on turn 1, but I also have another on turn 2, and a third
on turn 4. However, I have literally nothing backing them up. My opponent,
on the other hand, has Cryptic Command for my first one, then - after his
fires off - draws into another Cryptic Command and a Spellstutter Sprite

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with which to counter my second two. In the meantime, my Force is being

bounced by Cryptic Command and I simply cannot keep up with his three
Bitterblossoms.

The final game, on the other hand, is a lesson in Spectral Force insanity.
My opponent starts with two Bitterblossoms, and his only answer when I
play a Force is Sower of Temptation. I promptly Wrath his side of the board
with Pyroclasm, and then attack him over the following two turns with the
Force (holding off a Pestermite with Remove Soul along the way) to kill him
easily.

6-4 overall. Again, very close to the result of the last set, and a far cry from
3-7.

Now it’s time to think about sideboarding.

The Post-Board Matchup

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to bring in those

Thoughtseizes…but more and more throughout these past 20 games, I’ve
been wondering if there’s a better card for the matchup. It’s certainly the
case that the two big ways in which I lose this matchup are Ancestral
deficiency and losing out on tempo, but Thoughtseize only helps the
Ancestral problem out by defending mine from Spellstutter Sprite and
Cryptic Command - the only time it will help me stop my opponent’s
Ancestrals is when I cast it on turn 1, on the play.

The other question is what to board out. I am sure that I do not want to cut
any Ancestrals, Ponders, or Spectral Forces, but beyond that I am iffy. After
much deliberation, I settle on this plan:

+4 Thoughtseize
+1 Cloudthresher
-2 Primal Command
-2 Remove Soul
-1 Shriekmaw

Pretty much the only part of that I am confident about is the Shriekmaw. I
went with two Primal Command and two Remove Soul because those were
the two cards I most often found myself holding and wishing I were not
holding. However, I didn’t want to cut all the Primal Commands because the
+7 life cushion has come up enough times to convince me it’s something I
want to be able to dig to in a long game - and that was before bringing in 4
Thoughtseize. I didn’t want to cut all the Remove Souls because without
them, my only answer to topdecked Spellstutter Sprites and Mistbind
Cliques is Rune Snag - which is not always powered-up enough to be a
hard counter. I’ll try this setup for now, and see if I can identify a better
configuration as the games progress.

I’ll test against Chapin’s Faeries post-board, as his board has the
Flashfreezes, and since I’ll be boarding out the Oona’s Blackguards - the
main difference between Chapin’s build and the winning GP list - anyway.

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I’ll also be taking out the Scions, which were almost always useless.

+4 Flashfreeze
+1 Sower of Temptation
+1 Deathmark
-4 Scion of Oona
-2 Oona’s Blackguard

I open by mulling a one-lander into Island, Forest, double Ponder, Goyf,

Cloudthresher. My opponent keeps at seven and promptly destroys me.
Ancestral, Bitterblossom, Spellstutter my Search for Tomorrow, Deathmark
my Goyf, Mistbind Clique, and all I’ve got is a 3/4 Goyf and an awful
topdecked Thoughtseize.

In game 2, I mulligan to five and never see a fourth land.

I start game 3 off, resolving Ancestral, then Spectral Force, then two
consecutive Primal Commands. Then his Ancestral goes off, and suddenly
all my stuff is countered by Flashfreeze, Cryptic Command bounces my
Spectral Force, and Spellstutter Sprite counters it on the way back down,
and even though I’ve cleared his board three times this game, I’m facing
down five Faeries with a board full of lands - and he still has two spells in
hand. What an immense beating.

In game 4, I mulligan to five again and my first spell of the game is turn 5
Spectral Force. By that time I am on a two-turn clock from Mistbind Clique
and Bitterblossom. I don’t topdeck anything that lets me race.

Game 5 sees me mulligan, get low on mana early, and have two of my
Searches hit by Flashfreezes. My hand clogs up with countermagic while
Bitterblossom wears on me, and by the time I can start dropping Spectral
Forces, he’s fired off two Ancestrals to my one, and I’m too far behind.

Game 6, I mulligan, we both suspend Ancestrals, and I Thoughtseize two of

his counters with a grip full of counters myself. After several turns of
Mutavault beats, mine comes in; I have five lands and three counters, he
has six lands and three counters, so my Ancestral is stopped. Worse, two of
his counters are Spellstutter Sprites, which leaves him with a lethal attack
force when combined with his multiple man-lands.

I start game 7 off with a mulligan and an Ancestral, while my opponent

mulls to four. To make a long story short, he gets stuck on one land while I
plow through him with two Spectral Forces.

In game 8, I keep Rune Snag, Remove Soul, and Ancestral, and those are
the spells I’m stuck with until the Ancestral resolves. By that time I am low
on life, but the Ancestral serves up two Goyfs and a Spectral Force. I
resolve them, but Pestermites keep them in check and start hammering on
me again. Cryptic Command stalls for one more turn, and the Pestermites
get me while I draw more land, Searches, and Ancestral.

Game 9 I lead with Ponder and Thoughtseize, a Tarmogoyf is countered, a

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Clique resolves, and before I know it I’m dead with four cards in hand.

I start off the final game with Thoughtseize, double Ponder, and Ancestral.
Then I die to Pestermite, Spellstutter Sprite, and Mutavault before I get to
play a single spell.

1-9.

So, to recap, that’s a 7-3 set followed by a 4-6 set in game 1, then a 1-9 set
in game 2.

What happened?

Several very specific answers pop into my mind, but this whole
start-to-finish deck design process makes me curious. What do you guys
think?

What went wrong? Did I sideboard wrong? Do I need to alter my sideboard

composition - and if so, what changes should I make? Am I just doomed to
an awful post-board matchup against Faeries no matter what I do?

Stay tuned for my answers to these questions next week - but in the
meantime, post your thoughts in the forums!

See you next week.

Richard Feldman
Team :S
lcd_cow@yahoo.com

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