As much as I love the Jund deck (and judging by the number of comments Mike got for posting the decklist, it sounds like most of you are fans as well) I can’t keep myself from building and trying out new decks.

We have been talking a lot in the office about the Painter’s Servant and Chaotic Backlash. Chaotic Backlash seems like a reasonable sideboard card to have considering that three of the five top decks in the format are planning on resolving a Spectral Procession on turn 3. Combined with Painter’s Servant (naming White, of course), it is pretty easy to dome any deck for lethal by turn 5. I have been alluding to this deck on Twitter recently, and as promised, I am posting two lists that we have been working with.

Backlash “Beats”
4 Aunties Hovel
4 Graven Cairns
4 Sulfurous Springs
3 Savage Lands
7 Mountain
3 Swamp

4 Anathemancer
4 Goblin Outlander
4 Painter’s Servant
4 Stillmoon Cavalier

2 Lilianna Vess

3 Profane Command
3 Chaotic Backlash
4 Volcanic Fallout
3 Thoughtseize
4 Terminate

This is a straight BR build of the deck that we first brewed up earlier this week. Aside from the Servant/Backlash combo, this deck can also play the control game very well by dropping a Servant on white and then clogging up the board with an Outlander and Cavalier. With Servant in play, your Fallouts are now White, so they deal no damage to your pro-White army. Once you get ahead on the board, you can usually win a race by poking in for 2 a turn, then finishing the game with a Backlash/Anathemancer/Profane Command-returning-Anathemancer etc.

This deck was playing very well against the variety of token decks and 5c, but had a pretty terrible matchup against Elves. Fallout can be terrible in this matchup if they get a heavy Vanquisher draw, and we really have no good answer to Chameleon Colossus. We pondered all sorts of sideboard cards (Threaten, Flame Javelin, Banefire) but none of that was making us very happy. What we really wanted was Wrath of God and Path to Exile, and that meant adding another color.

Lark Lash
1 Mountain
2 Plains
3 Swamp
4 Reflecting Pool
2 Graven Cairns
1 Vivid Crag
2 Rugged Prairie
3 Vivid Marsh
1 Battlefield Forge
2 Vivid Meadow
1 Fetid Heath
1 Cave of Koilos
2 Sulfurous Springs

4 Anathemancer
4 Goblin Outlander
4 Stillmoon Cavalier
4 Painter’s Servant
3 Reveillark

2 Lilianna Vess

3 Chaotic Backlash
4 Path to Exile
4 Volcanic Fallout
3 Thoughtseize

SB (Tentative)
1 Thoughtseize
3 Ajani Vengeant
2 Thought Hemorrhage
4 Wrath of God
2 Whispmare
3 Runed Halo

Matt Ferrando built this version of the deck yesterday after we tested the Elf matchup with the BR build. Lark replaces Profane Command since they have virtually the same function in the deck, and Path replaces the surprising inadequate Terminates. Lark gives the deck more resilience and the potential for even more exciting/back breaking plays. Evoke Lark, return 2 Anathemancer, (your opponent has disconnected).

BDM tested this deck out on the Magic Online Beta last night and was crushing pretty solidly. Unfortunately we have not had a chance to revisit the Elf matchup, which is a high priority since that will likely be a popular deck for Regionals next week.

So which deck will I play? I have to say I am very tempted by this Backlash deck. Assuming the Elf matchup has improved, I will definitely play it (assuming I can get the cards of course). If not, Jund Ramp is still an excellent deck and I would not be disappointed to be dropping dragons at Regionals either.

With only a week until the tournament I encourage anyone who is interested to test the deck out and post comments!

~WillPoP

Mike, BDM and WillPoP test Jund Ramp against LSV “Persist” Tokens and GB Elves and discuss the virtues of playing Gift of the Gargantuan at Regionals next week.

Jund Regionals Test Part 3

Mike, BDM and WillPoP test Jund Ramp against LSV “Persist” Tokens and GB Elves and discuss the virtues of playing Gift of the Gargantuan at Regionals next week.

Jund Regionals Test Part 2

Alara Reborn Card Preview: Glory of Warfare

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Mike = fivewithflores
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Obligatory but humiliating PTQ summary: As posted, I ended up playing Bant in both the NJ and Brooklyn PTQs a couple weeks ago. I went undefeated against non-zoo decks, but went entirely defeated zoo, resulting in double X-2-drop finishes. /end summary

Alara Reborn releases this weekend, and I don’t think I have to tell anyone who has been following the unofficial spoilers out there that this is shaping up to be an exciting set. Looking forward to Regionals and the T2 PTQ season, I thought it might be fun to speculate a bit about how some of these new cards could be used to update the GW “Little Kid” deck that I was fond of during the last block constructed season.

Here are some of the new cards that could be played in this deck:

Bant Sureblade (Unconfirmed)
(G/U)(W)
Creature - Human Knight?
As long as you control another multicolored permanent, Bant Sureblade gets +1/+1 and first strike.
2/1

Behemoth Sledge (Confirmed!)
1(G)(W)
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has lifelink and trample.
Equip 3

Knotvine Paladin (Unconfirmed)
(G)(W)
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever Knotvine Paladin attacks, it gets +1/+1 for each untapped creature you control.
2/2

Mycoid Shepherd (Confirmed!)
1(G)(G)(W)
Creature - Fungus
Whenever Mycoid Shepherd or another creature you control with power 5 or greater is put into the graveyard from play, you may gain 5 life.
5/4

Qasali Pridemage (Confirmed!)
(G)(W)
Creature - Cat Wizard
Exalted
1, Sacrifice Qasali Pridemage: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
2/2

Dauntless Escort (Unconfirmed)
1(G)(W)
Creature - Rhox Soldier
Sacrifice Dauntless Escort: Creatures you control are indestructible this turn.
3/3

Naya Hushblade (Unconfirmed)
(R/W)(G)
Creature - ??
As long as you control another multicolored permanent, Naya Hushblase gets +1/+1 and has shroud.
2/1

Knight of New Alara (Confirmed!)
2(G)(W)
Creature - Human Knight
Each other multicolored creature you control gets +1/+1 for each of its colors.
2/2

I think a couple of these cards can be eliminated right away. Wilt-Leaf Liege seems a lot better than Knight of New Alara. They give equivalent bonuses in the frame of the deck, while the Liege is a 4/4 that will live through a Volcanic Fallout or Infest.

Mycoid Shepherd and Knotvine Paladin both feel a little below the power level curve. Mycoid might be a sideboard card, but that seems unlikely. Knotvine Paladin is just not a good enough bear, and is competing with for the all-of-a-sudden crowded 2-drop slot.

With the T2 card pool, we have the option of including turn 1 accelerators like Noble Hierarch, Birds of Paradise, or Llanowar Elves. There could be a build of the deck that relies more on 3 and 4-drops instead of 2-drops. However, I love Treetop Village and Mosswart Bridge, and would rather try a build with CIP tapped lands that curves out with 2 and 3-drops. Maybe something like:

3 Mosswart Bridge
3 Treetop Village
3 Brushland
4 Wooded Bastion
6 Plains
5 Forest

4 Path to Exile
3 Garruk Wildspeaker

4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Bant Sureblade
4 Steward of Valeron
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Dauntless Escort
3 Wilt-leaf Cavaliers
4 Wil-lead Liege
3 Cloudthresher

The most notable cut here is Gaddock Teeg. With testing he may work his way back in, but with Path to Exile and Terminate (confirmed!) in the format, it seems like he would much less effective against 5c Control. Sure, he can still stop a Wrath and Cryptic Command, but Dauntless Escort can give the deck some insurance against sweepers. Cryptic will still be a beating, but I would rather play some better 2-drops and Garruks than hope that the control player doesn’t have a 1 or 2cc solution to Teeg.

Also missing is the Shield of the Oversoul. The plethora of excellent spot removal make me think that the shield is a little too risky. How often will I be dropping the Shield into a 2-for-1, courtesy of Terror, Path, Agony Warp, or Terminate? Until some testing is done it is hard to say, but I anticipate these cards will see a lot of play for Regionals, and I want to nullify their effect as much as possible.

Depending on how the format shakes out, I would definitely love to find myself rocking a Treetop Village at Regionals. Right now virtually everything seems viable, or at least “good in theory,” so I would not be surprised if I ended up playing mountains or islands instead.

What cards are getting you excited for Regionals? What do you anticipate being popular now that we have seen so many cards from the new set? If you have been hard at work home-brewing or theorizing, post in the comments!

~WillPoP

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WillPoP = sloppystack
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Flores and Price of Progress - Part 5

Flores and Price of Progress - Part 4

Flores and Price of Progress - Part 3

Flores and Price of Progress - Part 1

Enjoy! Let me know if there are any issues.

Top8Magic Fans,

BDM, Flores, Sadin, Will, Gabe, myself and the rest of the Top8Magic crew wish you and yours a Happy Holiday!

We have tons of posts that will slowly be uploaded over the holidays. Expect two to three every 24 to 48 hours.

Happy Holidays,

Top8Magic Crew