Anyone who has been participating in the Twitter/Google Wave enabled Standard discussions leading up to States this year is probably familiar with Thomas Dodd aka Amistod. Below is his tournament report from states. Enjoy!

Hey guys, it is Thomas, coming to you from just outside Atlanta. We had a great 2009’s turnout down here and I would like to share the deck I played. But first, a short PSA on Blightning.

I personally feel that Blightning is the best card in standard and I wanted to share a few ideas on what makes it so. With the move to make stronger creatures and the cascade mechanic, it is now more important than ever to keep your opponent from actually casting his spells. In the past, players like Zvi Mowshowitz created powerful U/W control decks featuring: counter spells, instant speed draw, and solid removal for the ones that slip through. It wasn’t that difficult to generate true card advantage. The cascade mechanic from Alara Reborn creates a situation where you cannot allow your opponent to cast their spells. You cannot simply trade a 2 mana spell for their Bituminous Blast. Think about creatures like Master of the Wild Hunt and Emeria Angel, or even Planeswalkers! These cards must be removed immediately, before they start creating pseudo card advantage. Compare Garruk to Call of the Herd. Wizards has turned the tables and really shaken things up. It is near impossible for a classic control strategy to compete against these cards. So next time you Blightning a friend, take a look at what he discards. Something tells me it will be more than just a 2 for 1. Blightning, coupled with the best of the cascade cards is what makes Jund so powerful. When my test group was getting ready for states, we developed a twofold solution to Jund. Create a deck that delivers Mind Rot’s more effectively and consistently than Jund, or a deck that does not fold to Blightning. The deck that I ended up playing has a great game against Jund because it does not interact with their cards. Sprouting Thrinax is pretty terrible when my Goblin Guide has already dealt 6.

2 Ajani Vengeant
4 Burst Lightning
3 Earthquake
4 Goblin Guide
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Plated Geopede
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Hell’s Thunder
4 Zektar Shrine Expedition
3 Path to Exile

4 Arid Mesa
7 Mountain
4 Naya Panorama
1 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Terramorphic Expanse

sideboard:

1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Earthquake
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Mana Barbs
2 Baneslayer Angel
1 Path to Exile
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Plains
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

The sideboard ideas were taken from Brad Nelson’s Boros Articles and the adjusted maindeck is one that Mike’s fans should be familiar with. I noticed most cutting-edge Boros lists were essentially boarding in to the deck we were running as the original 60. The most notable difference between these decks is the lack of Steppe Lynx and Ranger of Eos. The last minute call to move the path’s maindeck was Mike’s and it tested much better than Act of Treason or Mark of Mutiny.

The ride to states was an interesting one as it was mostly two friends discussing the intricacies of the WWE takeover of the WCW. When we arrived at the site, there seemed to be an alarming number of Fog decks. Rumor has it that the vendor sold 80 Angels Song that morning. We have eight rounds due to the 160 participants.

The 2009’s in Atlanta, GA

Round 1: Ryan with Grixis Pyromancer’s Ascenion

Ryan flashed me Time Warp, Cruel Ultimatum, and a few lands while shuffling and I still couldn’t quite figure out what he was playing because game one, I won the die roll and dealt lethal on turn 4.

In: 2 Mana Barbs, 4 Goblin Ruinblaster

Out: 3 Earthquake, 3 Path to Exile

Game 2: I mulligan a one-lander and keep a disgruntled 6 on the draw. He Esper Charms my turn 2 Zektar Shrine and proceeds to play all four Time Warps, Rampant Growthing himself in to a Cruel Ultimatum taking him to 7 life. 6 land draws later and I am dead.

Game 3: I keep two lands on the play and do not draw a third land. I felt like the keep was strong but his spells are more powerful than mine and he had time to play them After board, Ryan had access to full four: Lightning Bolt, Burst Lightning, Terminate, Countersquall, Volcanic Fallout and Esper Charm. All of which helped buy him time in to Cruel Ultimatum. I was unable to draw any of my sideboard cards both games.

0-1 / 1-2 games

Round 2: Nate with Jund

Game 1:This one is fairly typical. He Blightings, I respond with take 7 off shrine. This is more like it!

Out: 4 Goblin Guide, 1 Ajani Vengeant

In: 4 Goblin Ruinblaster, 1 Earthquake

I expect him to board out Sprouting Thrinax here, not sure if he did. He pretends to know what I sideboard out. (He is mostly right).

Game 2: We both mulligan and I win at 18 life. This deck is quick and he stumbles.

1-1 / 3-2 games.

Round 3: Nik with Boros Bushwacker

I am excited to see the “mirror” here because my list is designed to have the edge. Nik is playing the old version without Hellspark Elemental or Earthquake. (Looks like someone doesn’t read FWF)

Game 1: is pretty typical with Ajani Vengeant being the MVP and he never sees it coming.

Out: 3 Hellspark Elemetnal, 1 Path to Exile, 4 Goblin Guides

In: 2 Baneslayer Angel, 2 Elspeth, Knight Errant, 1 Plains, 1 Ajani Vengeant, 1 Earthquake

Game 2: Nik plays out his hand before I can find Earthquake and double Ranger of Eos seals the deal.

Game 3: I am back on the play and I am able to dominate the game through my board presence. Earthquake clears his team and keeps my Planeswalkers alive to deal the final damage. This is where my board really shines. I don’t have Ranger of Eos so I don’t have the Soul Warden option that Nelson spoke of, but his analysis was correct. Slow the game down and win on your big spells. It is very hard for the stock Boros List to deal with Earthquake and Planeswalkers. This round will end up being the hardest games I will have to play.

2-1 / 5-3 games.

Round 4: Matt with Jund

Game 1 I have turn 2 and 3 Zektar Shrines with a third in hand. He pulses both on his 3 but I drop the one in my hand and still get in for 7. I really REALLY wanted turn 4 twenty-one damage here. Why couldn’t he just have Blightning’d me? The tempo loss here was too much and I die to Elf and friends.

Out: 4 Zektar Shrine, 1 Ajani Vengeant

In: 4 Goblin Ruinblaster, 1 Earthquake

Game 2 I see no sideboard cards but I am on the play and it is just too quick for him. I removed the Shrines here because I thought that I could still get the maximum value out of Goblin Guide since I am going first. So I switch it up for Game 3.

Out: 4 Goblin Guide

In: 4 Zektar Shrine

Game 3 his awkward draw and respect for Zektar Shrine keeps him from tapping out and I am able to win with Goblin Ruinblasters.

At this point, I am feeling great. I am out of the fog/seas bracket and I know my deck has what it takes to win the next four. All I have to do is the same thing I have been doing all day.

3-1 / 7-4 games

Round 5: Rob with Naya Lightsaber

It was a quick round for me. BOTH games I keep a two land five spell hand on the play and do NOT draw another land. I am extremely disappointed to be out of contention without actually losing to a player.
3-2 / 7-6

With the exception of round 1 and 5, I had extremely close games all day. I really believe this is just the nature of standard. I do not remember a time where I have ever had to work so hard each round to win each game. In testing, I realized I wanted to play the most consistent deck and not have to worry about seas or Goblin Ruinblaster. While I do agree that Jund is the most powerful deck the games are swingy, especially the mirror. I still believe I played the right deck for this tournament and I wouldn’t adjust the main deck. This deck is very fun to play and I always enjoy decks that finish rounds with 20 minutes to spare. The most important thing about this deck is that it doesn’t fold to Blightning the way most decks in standard do. You can discard Hellspark Elementals or Hell’s Thunder, or excess land. If you go first and their first spell is Blightning you probably win on your untap. This deck has one of the lowest curves in the format, so you are not stuck missing land drops and drawing five drops after a double Blightning.

I wanted to leave you with a great new list that a good friend of mine sent me. Although, it is drastically different than Black Baneslayer, I still view this as the same kind of deck. It was amazing how the nearly mono cascade Black Baneslayer went from being the most powerful strategy to not because its spells were virtually untouched by rotation. Each spell I added to the deck diluted the original purpose, but seemed necessary to the deck survival. Blair Simpson made top 8 of Alabama states with a list similar to this. Here is his updated list:

4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Borderland Ranger
2 Master of the Wild Hunt
2 Ajani Vengeant
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Trace of Abundance
4 Blightning
3 Bituminous Blast
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Path to Exile

4 Jungle Shrine
4 Savage Lands
3 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
3 Plains
2 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swamp

Sideboard:

3 Jund Charm
2 Trace of Abundance
3 Fleshbag Marauder
2 Thought Hemorrhage
1 Ajani Vengeant
4 Goblin Ruinblaster